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Posts Tagged ‘Cry Havoc series’

Saying goodbye to Singapore and hello China

Posted in A writer's life, China, Creative passion, Cry Havoc series, research, Singapore, Steampunk, The Prudential Light, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

We leave for China today. First stop Beijing. I think I can allow myself to get excited. I know the cats certainly are because they are bouncing around the place.

I have really enjoyed my time here. It has been a positive experience sharing space with my son, his wife Ferdi and their robobvac which is even now harassing my feet. I’ve made it to the pool every morning, with additional visits with the family on hot nights now and then when time permitted.

I’ve eaten way too much food and I was hoping the heat would lower my appetite but air con baby, that keeps me going. We had dinner at The Coconut Hut last night in Beach Road. It is high end Malaysian cuisine. The lamb was amazing and the beef cheek rendang rich. However, we did not linger and we were home fairly early. There was packing to do and so on.

I have been debating whether I should take my laptop to China. I think we will be so tired after sightseeing that I won’t have energy to write etc but I will on the flight there and back.

On the writing front, The Prudential Light draft is now at 50,000 words and I estimate it will be between 60,000 and 70,000 words. I am debating whether to call it book 4 in the cry havoc series because there is some now action that moves things along as well as the memoir/Aunt Prudence’s story. I have also been playing around with taglines.

Do tell me what you think…

The Prudential Light: A Gentlewoman’s Memoir

Manners, Magic, a little spot of mayhem and not enough scones.

However, some people have commented that I should leave ‘a little spot of” out.

Compared to Amber Rose baked goods do not feature as much as they ought to. However, I am revising and I might get hungry. I have managed to fit in some pork pie.

This morning as I was waking up I thought it could be something like…

The Prudential Light: A Gentlewoman’s Imperfect Memoir… as you might have guessed Jemima does scribble in Prudence’s notes on occasion and event critiques her work.

You might be able to tell that I had fun with this story. Aunt Prudence proved much more interesting than I expected. People have skeletons in the closet and she has her fair share.

Singapore has been a perfect inspiration for this story. From the hot, humid weather, to the time in the pool letting my mind wander and characters telling me what’s next and the two museums that helped me with setting and so on. Being out of my normal environment, I had time to focus on writing as well as do some outings.

I’ll always treasure this time. I will be back but just for a day before I head home. The good news is I have an invite back just need to figure out when that might be. I will have to make sure Matthew comes too then.

Oh by way, Ruby Heart is now free. If Amazon want to charge you ask for a price match. I’ve submitted links so I’m hoping they will come to the party.

Check out Ruby Heart and meet Jemima Hardcastle, brave, intrepid and game for anything.

Links.

My store.

Apple.

Barnes & Noble.

Kobo

Google

Amazon

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Singapore Sojourn Part 3

Posted in A writer's life, am wrinting, asian-centric fantasy, Australian author, Creative passion, Cry Havoc series, fantasy, Feminism, General excitment, magic, research, revision, Victorian, victorian paranormal, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I am a week and a bit in.

I have managed to use the pool every morning. Although this morning it was raining and storming. After dallying on my phone for a bit, there was no thunder and less rain so I did my pool work. Maybe a bit shorter than normal.

In other news, my four weeks in Singapore is going to be less than I thought because we are heading to China for 12 days not 8 so I need to connect with people faster than I had originally thought.

I met up with Dev. No photo sorry but we plan to meet up again and do a writing date. I need to get to the library and art gallery and museum again to research. Although I have found some references on line.

We met with Joyce Chng the other day. She gave me some books of hers that I have started reading about female sword makers. You had me at female and swords! Fireheart is YA fantasy. Here is a local link.

Today though it’s Friday and my daughter-in-law and I are going to have a massage.

On the writing front I have been writing for a week, pretty consistently. There was one day I only tinkered with some words as we went out to meet Joyce. Today though I forced myself to write more than normal. My hands ache a little. The Prudential Light is at 20,000 words. It’s going to need revising because it’s coming out quickly and I’ll need to add bits in as I research them and also craft the story more. Sometimes I just throw down the story, plot, characters etc to see if there is a story with a beginning, middle and end. Then during my revisions, I add things like descriptions, emotions and thoughts. I can usually do something in three run throughs but some take many drafts.

Aunt Prudence is in my ear, telling more and more of her story and the characters are adding bits that my phone notes are filling up. I think I have a nice story arc going. If I can finish this first draft while I’m here then I’ve got something to go on with.

The China trip is going to blow my mind, I know it.

I’m going to miss my writing buddies. Meet Siri.

This cat’s name is hard for me to pin down.

I hear different words, I think it’s Moguai but it’s Siumoguai so I was close and I’m not totally deaf!

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It’s all happening!!!

Posted in A writer's life, Amber Rose, Book launch, Cry Havoc series, Digital Publishing, Steampunk, victorian paranormal, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Amber Rose is up for pre order at major e retailers! !!

Amber Rose is up at Ingrams for a paperback, a hard back and a large print hard pack, with accessible font.

Phew!

I’m currently working on the universal links. Books2Read this time. Here is the link.

Get your pre-order! Date of release is April 10, 2025. All the files are up so it’s just waiting.

I’ve got to send a newsletter as well today and I have a release day blog post to prepare for the ARRA website.

I’ve also been dictating/narrating one of my Dani Kristoff books because I think I should narrate them myself. Aussie accent and all that. And, gee, Amazon and others offering AI readers. I’d rather have a human.

I also have ideas burning out of my brain for A Prudential Light, a short novel about Aunt Prudence Wainwright. This ‘memoir’ is foreshadowed at the end of Amber Rose and I think it’s going to be a beautiful and poignant story, some of which will be set in Singapore (colonial times). I am heading to Singapore in June so I was hoping to wait until then but I’ll have to make notes as the ideas are rushing out of my brain.

Here’s the cover and the blurb for Amber Rose again in case you missed it. Many thanks to the awesome Maxine McArthur of editing and proofreading and also feedback during drafting.

Also, if anyone ones a review copy please contact me on my contacts page.

Blurb Amber Rose

A book of manners, magic and mayhem…and, perhaps, a tad too many scones

All Ambrose Fulton wants is to enjoy his idyllic life at Hatfield, helping his wife Milly raise their little son, tolerating Aunt Prudence and entertaining their friends.

What he gets is a ferocious assault from a violet-eyed automaton that devastates the estate and makes off with his enchanted clockwork arm, brutally ripped from his shoulder. To the rescue, barely in time to save his life, come friends Edward Huntington, gentleman magician, and his wife, the monster-slayer Jemima.

Whoever sent the machine can only have wanted one thing: to glean the secrets of Huntington’s magical mechanical designs for purposes clearly nefarious. Now as well as wrangling an anxious innkeeper, a fake heir, interfering magistrates, odd magicians and some thoroughly unexpected visitors, they must uncover their mysterious enemy’s identity and stop them or who knows what evil ends Huntington’s inventions will be put to?

A final word as this is topical. I love technology and I think AI can be a useful tool for many things. However, I don’t think it’s good for creative things personally. I don’t use AI in my writing and my covers. As I haven’t bought a cover recently, I don’t think my cover artists use it either. I will, however, keep an eye out for it. This is a personal choice for me.

I am a bit of a geek. When I first used Skype and I was over the moon. This is Star Trek come to life. We have moved on from that. I had an Ericksson flip out phone back in the day. Yes, because it was like a communicator from Star Trek. I read science fiction and have loved it ever since I can remember. I have hope for the Human race, although that hope, that belief has been sorely tested of late. I’ve had an iPhone since the early days. Back then people criticised me for staring into my phone, playing with my phone. Now I watch other people do it while I look at the view or what’s going on around me. I still spend way too much time on my phone. I do Duolingo, puzzles, read books, listen to books, read the news, social media (no longer X) and communicate with people via email and text. I love my iPhone and I love tech, but I guess we must have boundaries.

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Pointy end of the stick

Posted in A writer's life, am wrinting, Australian author, Creative passion, Emerald Fire, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Writing is so glamous! Not!

It’s a lot of hard work generally. I have to admit it has been a bit of a tough week. I worked three days in the day job and did no other writing. I was tired, yes, and a bit burned out I have to admit. Also, doing things after work. Tuesday we went to see Furiosa, which I thought was a masterpiece. Long, but beautifully rendered, with time taken to appreciate a scene, an emotional nuance. Last night we went to The Craft of Crime at the National Library of Australia, where I am now supposedly writing. The Craft of Crime was enjoyable an interview with Sulari Gentill (I’m already a fan) and Chris Hammer, author of Scrublands, who I haven’t read. For me as a writer their session was an inspiration.I bought books, got them signed and hung with mates for dinner. Thank you Matthew, Lily and Georgina. We talked of writing and writing retreats.

This morning I went to aqua aerobics, had lunch and came here to the library. All good. Except one of the manuscripts I wanted to work on won’t load. So something must have gone wrong when I shut it down on my desktop. Never mind, I have another project right here. The words are coming, but slowly today. The weather is unseasonably warm and also wet. I don’t mean it’s hot, it’s just not butt freezing cold like it should be.

However, I don’t have to mope! Monday is a public holiday so I have five days to write and do other things too.

On the positive side, I have been reading through Emerald Fire to reengage with the characters and correct typos. Not quite finished yet as I read it aloud. I have two hard backs of Ruby Heart on their way if the delivery notification is to be believed. These are achievements!

I’ve also been reading for fun. The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill and Spirit Hunters book four by Ellen Oh (kids book for research) and also listening to Paladin’s Strength by T Kingfisher, nearly done and I’ve bought Paladin’s Hope and I see there’s another called Paladin’s Faith. I really enjoy the pace of these, quite slow in places but nuanced and funny at times as she tells the story from both their point of views so you see the lustful thinking, the imagining and their self talk, often at odds with the other. Also, Kingfisher does put a lot of things between them such as headless corpses, heads, magic, demons, other people who wish them ill. I think it’s a great combo of fantasy, horror and romance. Also, the narrator is great too.

Actually, I had a bit of a ‘ah ha’ moment in reading Emerald Fire, that what was is fun about the Cry Havoc series, is Jemima, her relationships and her weird quips and dry musings. Doing the read through of Emerald Fire I found myself laughing at her antics and that’s a great observation, considering I’m writing Amber Rose. Lucky I had just introduce some chaos for Jemima to navigate so she can have some fun dealing with absurd people who say ridiculous things. I’m also having thoughts about the next book which I’m going to call, A Prudential Light, featuring none other than Aunt Prudence. This time it will be a mix of her life when she was younger and the present…apparently she did some really interesting things in her young womanhood.

As mentioned previously I have two books on submission to traditional publishers. And maybe that’s what is getting me down. It’s such a lottery. You can do your best and still nothing might happen. Not a good time, right book, wrong time…who knows.

But I will keep on keeping on!

Also, I’ll be a Geek Markets in Canberra on Saturday 8th June. I’ll be helping out on the CSFG table so if you are in the neighborhood say hi. Entry to the markets is free.

Also, new book cover preview next post.

And my latest binge watch is McDonald and Dobbs, murder mystery set in Bath. I just love Bath and it’s great eye candy. Plots are good, sneaky and well written. Dobbs is a sympathetic characters. Shows are longish like Vera, first season only two episodes. I’m half way through season three so not long before I finish. I have this on Brit Box but apparently it’s available on Freeview Australia, which I have not heard of before.

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