Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

No Thursday Thirteen for me today. I’ve been too busy working on Wanderlust edits. I’ve just sent them back to my editor, and I’m off to bed. My eyes are tired from staring at the computer screen all day.

Our little dog has become quite deaf, which is very frustrating when we’re out walking. We’ve discovered she can hear a whistle. That’s all very fine but my whistling skills are very haphazard. Sometimes, I produce a really great whistle that makes me proud, but other times it’s rather feeble or worse, just hot air. It makes for interesting times during a walk. I never know if my whistle is going to work or if I need to run after the dog instead. And I thought the reason for the outing was to walk the dog!!

My writing is going well. I’ve finished the first draft of my Harlequin book. It’s a bit rough but I have the framework of 45000 words to mould. I’m working on a Caveman story right now and intend to let everything else sit until I get back from holiday. I’m quite proud of myself – as long as I finish the Caveman story I’ll have four stories of varying lengths to edit and send off after my holiday. Let me pause and do a happy wiggle dance…okay…all done.

I’m off to do some more writing and then I intend to read. I have an ARC of Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh calling my name…

We woke up this morning to rain. Not just light sprinkles but hard, driving rain. The lawn is bright green and really soggy to walk on, while out on the reserve area, there are huge puddles everywhere. You should see my bike. It looks like I’ve been diligently exercising every day since it’s covered with mud. I must clean it once the weather gets a bit better. I’ve actually only been for three bike rides this week since we’ve had a lot of rain and horrid weather.

We were meant to visit family but ended up staying at home. I spent the morning writing before cabin sickness started to play with my head. No matter what the weather I just have to get outside every day or I start feeling dreadful and all fidgety. Mr. Munro and I walked down to the golf club between showers and had a coffee. (I had the coffee while Mr. Munro went for something stronger). We watched a little rugby on the telly and took the wee dog for a very brisk walk between showers to return to watch more telly about a giant squid caught in the Ross Sea in Antarctic. I looked at it and thought yum, mega squid rings, but this particular squid is now in Te Papa, our National museum, in Wellington.

The writing has been going really well so far. Admittedly I’m only four days into the month but I’ve done 10,000 words on my Harlequin manuscript and I’ve done another 1700 on my Cavemen sub. Things are looking good. Is anyone else doing a sub for the Cavemen anthologies?

What are your favorite things to do on rainy days? Do you get cabin fever like me?

It’s the first of the month here in New Zealand, and I’m a writer on a mission. My goal for this month is to write the first draft of a new book and leave it sitting while I head off on holiday in September. The final word count needs to be around 50,000 – 55,000 words so I need to write about 2000 words a day. Entirely possible. I can do that easily.

In between I’m going to work on edits for my next Middlemarch story. I have Rhian nipping at my heels. No pressure or anything! I have an idea for a Quickie Middlemarch story and then I need to work on the twins story. The twins are currently living in Dunedin and getting up to all sorts of mischief. In fact they’ve been so difficult I’ve needed a lot of thinking time to sort them out. Double trouble and all that.

Fancy Free edits are completed and I’m waiting for a release date. I need to complete the cover art sheet this morning before I start writing.

So, that’s me for the next month. What are your plans for August?

I’ve just realized it’s only a month until Mr. Munro and I head off on holiday again. It’s our wedding anniversary at the beginning of September and we’re flying to Hawaii for two weeks to take a cruise around the different islands. Should be lots of fun and it will be nice to see some sunshine for a change. I mentioned over at Dynamic Trio a few posts ago about buying a bikini. Well, mission accomplished. I ended up buying one from my favorite mail order company, and Mr. Munro whistled when I modeled my new purchase. He’s such a sweetie!

Writing wise, I’ve just finished the first draft of my next Middlemarch story. I’m going to let Assassin sit for a week or so before I go back to it. Meantime, my agent suggested I try to write for one of the Harlequin lines. That’s my next task after I complete edits on Fancy Free. Fancy Free was known as “Snap” in a previous life and will be coming out with Ellora’s Cave, probably early next year. Update: edits almost done!

This weekend we’re doing lots of family stuff. Last night it was dinner at a local pub for my nephew’s birthday and tomorrow our family is getting together for a mid-year Christmas dinner. Remember it’s winter down here so a hot dinner makes sense for those who live downunder.

And finally, I’ll be at the Romance Galleria for a chat on 1 August at 9.00 pm EST. If you haven’t visited the Romance Galleria before go and check it out. I downloaded the software this afternoon and had lots of fun trying to hustle my body around the rooms. I think we’re in the cafe for the chat.

What are you doing this weekend? How’s your job going? Are you heading off on holiday soon? Have you purchased a new binkini recently? Come on – speak to me

I thought I’d mention two books for you to check out. If you enjoy sci-fi/futuristic stories check out Christine d’Abo’s The Bond That Ties Us. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet but it’s sitting on my hard drive ready for my next spare moment.

Here’s the blurb:

The Bond That Ties Us By Christine d’Abo

Haylie knows her life is about to change the moment she sets foot on the Eurus colony. What she didn’t count on was her instant, overwhelming sexual desire for the seven-foot-tall, sexy as hell alien ambassador. He’s in her every thought and dream, teasing and taunting her body into a sexual frenzy.

Kamran has waited his whole life to find his bonded mate. When she arrives in the form of a slender human with brilliant eyes, he can’t stop his all-consuming need to possess her. If their bond is discovered, they will be forced by Briel law to leave the colony, giving up the lives they’ve worked so hard to build.

While Haylie and Kamran fight their growing desire, their colony is threatened by an unseen enemy. When the colony comes under attack by a brutal alien force, can Haylie and Kamran keep their bond a secret and stop the invasion in time to save everyone?

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Lauren Dane also has a new release coming out this week on July 25. It’s called Threat of Darkness and you can read an excerpt here. I read Lauren’s Ascension not long ago and loved her new werewolf series. Lauren writes great characters – strong heroines who know their own minds and don’t take crap from anyone and heroes that you just want to steal for your own. There are usually intriguing family dynamics at play and by the time I close one of her books I’m ready to apply for adoption into said family. Check out Lauren’s Ellora’s Cave books right here

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I’m finding my writing frustrating at the moment. My word count isn’t as good as it could be, but at least I’m writing a little every day. Too many other distractions in my life at the moment. It hasn’t been a good year. Assassin is almost at 40,000 words. If I keep at it I should manage to finish my first draft this month.

I’m also working on a new idea and started doing character sheets tonight. I don’t normally do character sheets but I’m making a conscious effort to dig deeper into my characters and thought this might help. Charlotte Dillon has an awesome page of links just for writers who want to build their characters. There are loads of articles here that will keep you busy for a while. She also has a link for a character sheet. There are many variations of the character sheet. The one I’m using comes from the Harlequin site.

How do you flesh out your characters? Do you do character sheets or use some other method to make your hero and heroine come alive? And if you’re a reader rather than a writer, what book are you reading at the moment?

Things have been a little slow on the writing front for the last couple of months, but I think I’m finally getting back into the swing of things. I’ve almost hit the 30,000 word mark on Assassin, my next Middlemarch story, and all going well, I should finish the first draft this week. That’s goal number one.

I also have edits for Fancy Free, my most recent sale with Ellora’s Cave, due to hit my in-box this week. That’s goal two – to complete them and get them back to my editor.

And I’m percolating a new story in my head. It’s at the baby stages as yet but will be a paranormal. I’d like to flesh out the characters a bit more, so that’s goal three for this week.

Romancing the Alien is currently on sale at Ellora’s Cave ebay bookstore. It’s down from $17.99 to 13.99 and a bargain because it’s a big fat book! This anthology contains two stories: Talking Dogs, Aliens and Purple People Eaters and Never Send a Dog to do a Woman’s Job. Purchase your print copy here.