Today’s quick post has great news and not so great news.

The great news is that Dark Country is a finalist in the 2009 Australian Romance Readers Awards , in the Favourite Romantic Suspense category. The ARRA web page has the full list of finalists in all the categories.

And, to top it off, I am a finalist for the Favourite Australian Romance Author of 2009 award. There’s some pretty wonderful competition though – and huge congrats to the other finalists!
* Angela Verdenius
* Anna Campbell
* Anne Gracie
* Christine Wells
* Denise Rossetti
* Keri Arthur
* Paula Roe
* Stephanie Laurens
* Tracey O’hara

ARRA members are currently voting to determine the winner – if you’re an ARRA member, don’t forget to check your email for the link to cast your vote. The winners will be announced at a gala dinner in Sydney in May. Many thanks to those who nominated me and Dark Country in the nomination round – I’m delighted to make the finals.

The not-so-great news is that we’re having internet connection woes, and will probably be offline for a few days. Our internet box has to be replaced, but they apparently disconnect the old one when the new one is shipped – and it will take probably three days to get here. So, we’ll be internetless from any time now, until it arrives. I can connect via my iPhone to check emails and do the basics, but it’s tricky to read and write on the small screen, so I’ll only be doing urgent things. On the bright side, I hope this will take away some distractions and give me more focus to write!!

I’m ‘visiting’ Western Australia today, as a guest blogger on fellow author Fleur McDonald’s blog. I recently read Fleur’s first novel, Red Dust, and enjoyed it – set on a property in the north of South Australia, it has all the ingredients of a good story – a great setting, likeable characters, a crime to solve, and a touch of romance. So, please hop over, say hi to Fleur, and read my response to Fleur’s questions about why I write, how I write, and my what inspires me. Fleur will also be guest blogging here very soon.

I’m not quite sure where October went – whoosh! – but I did promise a giveaway draw for subscribers to my newsletter, as something of an apology for the newsletter software snafu in September. So, on Sunday, I’m going to draw one name from the list of subscribers, and that person will win their choice of a signed copy of BOTH my books, OR, if they already have both books, a gift certificate from a bookseller of their choice ($30US/$40Aus), OR a combination of a book plus a gift certificate ($15US/$20Aus). If you’d like to sign up for my newsletter, you can do so here (or click the link at the top of the page). I send out a maximum of one newsletter per month, and I respect your privacy and abhor spam, so I’ll never giveaway or sell your email address.

In general news, things have been quietly busy here. Most of my time is focused on writing book 3, which is moving along, although a little slower than I’d like. The hero, Mark, has been proving a little elusive; there’s a lot underneath his controlled public face, but he’s reluctant to let anyone see it. However, I’m now getting to know him much better, and finding out many interesting things about him – and so will the heroine, Kate

So, I’d better get back to it, and settle in for, I hope, a productive day of writing! I’ll leave you with a few images from my recent morning walks. Our driveway is almost a kilometre long, so down to the gate and back is a reasonable amount of exercise. This morning, though, I hitched a ride with Gordon when he left for work, and hopped out another kilometre down our road, to walk back home. The combination of recent rain and warm spring weather has given a burst of green growth – but I’m sure it will brown off very quickly.

Down the driveway

Old farm cottage

The neighbours cattle - who see few pedestrians!

I’m delighted that I’ll be at Ultimo Library in Sydney this Thursday evening for an author Meet & Greet session. If you’re a Sydney-sider, or visiting Sydney, please do come along for an informal chat and book-signing. You can bring your own books for signing, or buy one there.

The details are:
Date: Thursday 24th September
Time: 5pm to 6pm
Cost: free
Location: Ultimo Library, Level 1, 40 William Henry Street Telephone: 9298 3110
For more information, see the event listing on the City of Sydney website.

I’d like to acknowledge Vassiliki Veros and her colleagues at Ultimo Library and the City of Sydney who have done a great job organising this event at short notice. Thank you!

The UK edition of As Darkness Falls will be published in September, and the cover is now up on various online bookstores. It’s quite different from the Australian cover, but very striking nonetheless:

As Darkness Falls (UK Cover)

I find it interesting how different countries approach book covers, each taking a style that reflects the different readerships and the way in which the publishers are targetting the market. As I understand it, romantic suspense isn’t as big in the UK as it is elsewhere, so they’ve taken more of a thriller approach, without the emphasis of the Australian setting on the cover, which was a key element of the Australian cover. I really like both covers – the Australian, and the UK. The UK one, while it isn’t Australian, is very atmospheric. Here’s hoping UK readers will be tempted to pick the book off the shelf… and read on!

For my friends overseas, the book is now listed as available for pre-order at The Book Depository. I use The Book Depository a lot – they don’t charge shipping, and have good prices and fast service. There’s only 84 days to go until UK release date – 4 September.

We managed to get a few minutes of phone coverage at Lyndhurst a few days ago – just long enough to download emails and find out that the finalists in the Romance Writers of Australia have now been announced. As Darkness Falls is a finalist in the category for Novel with Strong Romantic elements.

I’m delighted to be in such great company – the full list of finalists is on the RWA website. The winners will be announced in August at the RWAus conference.