My birthday’s coming up, and it occurred to me that a great way to celebrate a wonderful year would be to give away a signed copy of As Darkness Falls! My publisher, Hachette Australia, is donating a copy of the book, and I’m donating the signature and postage costs.

So, what do you need to do to be in with a chance to win? Simply use the form below to answer three easy questions – and you can find the answers in chapter one, which can be downloaded for free from the As Darkness Falls website.

The three questions are:

1. What is the name of Bella’s dog?
2. What is the name of Bella’s old home town?
3. What is the name of the Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) in charge of the case?

So, read chapter one, pop your answers in the form below, and press the ‘send’ button. Entries close at midnight at the end of the weekend of 11th & 12th October 2008 – and I’ll use western USA time, not Australian time. On the evening of 13th October, I’ll put the names of all the correct entries into a hat (or a bucket!), and ask my DH to draw out the winning entry.

Notes:

• Only one entry per person, please.
• I respect your privacy and will not use your email address for any purpose other than to contact you if you are the lucky winner
• If you live on this planet, no matter where, you can enter this contest.

Thank you to everybody who entered – this contest is now closed!

One of the most nerve-wracking things about having a book published is waiting for the reviews. The publicity manager at Hachette has been fantastic in sending out review copies, and there have been positive mentions in The Australian Womens Weekly, the Womans Day, a regional magazine called Style, and a lovely review in the online book club for Notebook magazine. A couple of crime fiction reviewers have taken the time to read and review it, and there have also been good reviews in some regional newspapers.

All up, I’m really pleased that the book has garnered such a generally positive response so far. It’s not going to be to everybody’s taste, and that’s okay. No book ever is!

One of the key things that Australian readers have commented enthusiastically about is the Australian-ness of the book – but this seems to have been a bit of a stumbling block so far for US publishers that have looked at it. My American critique partners enjoyed the setting and didn’t have trouble with its Australian-ness, but then, they’ve known me for a while.

So, I was delighted this morning, when I stumbled out of bed and to the computer, to discover that Wendy of the Super Librarian blog has read the book, and given it a great review. I’ve been reading Wendy’s blog for ages, (although I’m not sure if I’ve ever commented) and I enjoy her forthright and thoughtful reviews and her comments about the genre and reading it. I love getting the librarian’s perspective of the book industry, and also the behind-the-scenes perspective of library work.

Wendy is, I’m pretty sure, in the Los Angeles area, which has to be just about as opposite as its possible to be to the edge-of-the-outback setting of the book. So its great to know that the book and the setting worked for her – and, naturally, I’m so pleased that she posted such a good review. It’s made my day!

ETA: Just as I’m about to dash out, I found another great review just posted at Crime Down Under. Today has been a great day

The days are getting warmer, and I have moved the laptop from the dining table – my winter ‘office’ – back to my corner desk in the guest room. I’m still in the midst of reorganising the space; a new filing cabinet required shifting of boxes, and the rebuilding of the rough shelves over my desk to fit the changed space. I’m hoping to get the shelves finished at the weekend, and then the stuff on the guest bed can be put back into the shelves, and into the new filing cabinet.

As part of this whole reorganisation, I emptied out the top drawer of my desk – and found many, many pens. 83 of them. Yep, 83. Clearly, this is where I toss conference pens, hotel pens, fancy pens, and the packs of new ones I buy occasionally when I find a style I like to write with. I haven’t cleared out this drawer for some time, so I went through them all, and tossed out about 50 which didn’t work or which I didn’t like. My collection of pencils is not yet as bad, as I’ve only converted to mechanical pencils a year or so ago, and I’ve only got about 20 (!!) in various different sizes and styles.

We won’t count at this point the rest of my stationery collection. Plain, practical notebooks for writing, and attractive notecards for letters are two more of my minor weaknesses.

Outside, the spring weather is changing the outlook. After 7 years in this house, we still haven’t done the landscaping, but on the slope in front of the house local wattles are growing naturally, and they’re currently a field of gold:

Wattles (acacia) in flower

The lovely purple hardenbergia vines are winding their way through various shrubs here and there, and this one, just outside the sunroom window, is flowering prettily against the green leaves of its host shrub:

Hardenbergia twining

The hardenberia flower is quite small, but it’s pretty.

Hardenbergia detail

I can’t afford to get too distracted by Spring weather, however, as book 2 needs a lot of my attention. It’s coming along, a bit slower than I’d like, but we’re progressing at least a bit every day.

The local book launch last Thursday night was a great evening! Despite the rain and cold, there were about 40 people (maybe more) who came along to Dymocks and celebrated the book’s publication. The Dymocks staff were fantastic, and it was wonderful to have their support for the book.

Thanks to everyone who came along! I do appreciate all your enthusiasm and congratulations.

A reminder to anyone in the Armidale area that Dymocks (in the Beardy Street Mall) is hosting a local launch of As Darkness Falls this Thursday, 4th September, at 5.30pm. There’ll be wine and nibblies, some discussion about the book and the genre, and I’ll be signing books for those that want my scrawl.

Do come along and celebrate with me!