Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat reaches 20,000 Words

Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat reached 20,000 words before I went on hiatus, but in line with my new tradition I’ve put an excerpt for you below:

In the last excerpt, Kitty Cordello followed Sera through an archway in time and needed his rescue. In this excerpt, she gets to know him a little better:

Despite the sense of unreality that seemed to cloak her, Kitty knew what she liked, and Sera seemed to embody most of what appealed to her most.

She let her gaze drift down from his well-defined cheek bones, along the line of his jaw and then stopped when she got to his chest. Even in the pre-dawn light, she could see that his pectorals were well-defined, and enjoy the play of sunlight across the ridges and valleys of muscle. A small contented sigh escaped her as she soaked in the view of him.

The cold touch of the early morning breeze did much to dispel the strange sense that she might be dreaming, and she shivered, drawing the sheet around her as she watched him.

“Aren’t you cold?”

He glanced back at her, and this time the expression on his face held a definite sense of play.

“Why? Are you offering to warm me up?”

The next excerpt will be to celebrate 35,000 words. Don’t hold your breath; I’ve now got two stories running neck and neck.

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The Candy Cane Dancer and Pussy Cat Pussy Cat

Good news! The new writing routine seems to be working for me. I have reached 16,000 words on The Candy Cane Dancer. It’s not an excerpt stage, I know so I thought I’d give you a short excerpt from Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat to celebrate the time it reached 1,000 words. Back then I wasn’t in the habit of sharing overly much so now it’s time to do a little catching up. Here is our first glimpse of the novel’s hero, Sera. He starts the story in a very dark place.

EXCERPT

Outside, the desert wind howled like some long-forgotten ghost. Inside, he listened to the sand hiss against the walls, scouring them clean, and imprisoning him with the dead.

Sera! It was like the elements called the short form of his name even while he sheltered from them. Sera! It was like they were tugging on his soul. Seranefret wanted to weep because he’d failed. The Magician had escaped and Pharaoh was imperiled.

Outside, the wind rose in another shriek. Frustration or rage, Sera didn’t know. Perhaps it was despair. If it weren’t for the oath he’d sworn to the high priests of Ma’at and Isis, he’d have stepped through the door and taken his punishment for failing his duty to Ra’s reincarnation. The lash of the sands would have scoured his bones clean and erased him from the world for good.

END EXCERPT

The next excerpt will be to celebrate 5,000 words. Look for it with the next update for The Candy Cane Dancer.

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Personal Update

After a long break from writing, the good news is that I’m finally able to get back on the writing horse and start to make up some lost ground.

As an explanation for why I got off the horse in the first place, here’s a quick snapshot of the last three years:

• In 2009, I had a difficult and unexpected pregnancy, resulting in the early arrival of my youngest. (I really was ‘too old for this’ :-));
• Also in 2009 and for the first half of 2010
• I lost my ability to work as a temp due to lack of childcare facilities with the required flexibility;
• I saw a career path vanish from in front of me – some careers are just not baby friendly… oh well;
• I lost writing time due to being often sick, and to having a baby that just didn’t sleep.

• Mid-2010: I found a new career path and moved interstate, with all the kerfuffle that goes with that;
• End-2010: My husband found work and I found daycare.
• 1st half 2011: Spent settling in to the new job, new location, and new routines. A large chunk of time is lost getting over the flu as childcare assists us in building our resistance to childhood illnesses.
• NOW: Little one is bigger and needs me less. I can write again. New routines are established, writing slowly comes back on-line.

So now, I have a lot of ground to make up, but find myself once more with the time and ability to get back and finish those stories that have been clamoring in my cupboard. I’ll get back to it now, before there’s a riot. With the blog rebuilt, posts will slow down to every couple of days, but I’m looking forward to spending a bit more time here.

Current writing plans:

• Complete and submit the following by the end of the year, although not necessarily in this order:
• The Candy Cane Dancer: an erotic contemporary paranormal tale of romantic suspense involving shapeshifters, fairies and magic;
• Welcome to the Fruit Platter: an erotic contemporary paranormal tale of romantic suspense, involving shapeshifters, sorcerers, ménage and magic;
• Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat: an erotic contemporary paranormal tale of romantic suspense, involving shapeshifters, sorcerers, ancient Egyptians, modern detectives
• Work on the Madeleine Torr contemporary romances.

I think you’ll all agree that this should be more than enough to keep me busy, at least until I can work back up to normal speed.

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Blog Update – Excerpts Page

I have added a page listing all the excerpts from my current and past publications. This page gives a quick overview of the excerpts available on this website. Feel free to TAKE A PEEK.

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Blog Update – Excerpt for Hunters of the Nile

I have added an excerpt for another of my past publications, Hunters of the Nile. Please READ the EXCERPT and enjoy.

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