I’ve been quiet here because I’ve been trying to focus on the current book – which is progressing, although not quite as fast as I’d like! I do like my heroine, Jo – she works for National Parks, and has a scientific background. She’s capable, pragmatic, and, with a background in the sciences, she’s a logical thinker and problem-solver. Although she’s very self-possessed and something of an introvert, she does have a dry, occasionally black, sense of humour – which she’s going to need, because the plot has a fair few challenges to confront her! The hero, Dominic, is also an enjoyable challenge to write – a detective who’s spent so much time under cover, and is so good at it, that his colleagues aren’t sure which side he’s really on. After a failed op, he’s been posted – exiled, even though no-one actually says it – to an almost-outback district where his predecessor seems to have done little in the way of actually investigating the crimes piled high on the desk. So when a National Parks officer finds the victim of a brutal murder, and it seems linked to a number of unsolved crimes, Dominic is wary of trusting any of his new colleagues. With his superiors putting the death down to a gang-related disagreement and reluctant to allocate scarce resources, Dominic is left to investigate alone. Jo’s knowledge of the vast wilderness area is critical, but when she stumbles across evidence of more criminal activity, whoever is running the violent enterprise turns their attention to her.
It’s always fun to discover more about characters, and weave it all together as the story unfolds. I’m feeling pretty god about this story, even though the words aren’t coming quite as fast as I’d like!
What else is happening? I’m off tomorrow morning down to the coast, where my friend Karly Blakemore-Mowle is launching her new book, The Cattleman’s Runaway Bride tomorrow afternoon. I enjoyed the book, so I’m looking forward to seeing it officially launched and celebrating with Karly. I’ll stay overnight at my friends’ Jenn and Jeanette’s Bed & Breakfast, Wagtail Cottage, which should be fun. Then back ‘up the hill’ again on Sunday morning, so I can have Sunday afternoon with Gordon, who’s only just now arrived home after a few days in Sydney.
I took a bit of a break from writing yesterday to read some of a book I bought a couple of months ago in Sydney – The Anthology of Colonial Australian Romance Fiction. I’ve only read a few of the stories so far, but it’s fascinating to read tales written over 120 years ago. In one of them, Mura Leigh’s A Romance of Coma, there wasn’t a happy ending, with the heroine leaving town after the man she loved had to marry someone else… so now I’m itching to write a short story, to give her a happy ending!
There’s still no news of when my surgery will be, so I’m still waiting, waiting, waiting – just as well there’s plenty to keep me busy!
And a big Happy Birthday to my Mum for tomorrow 🙂 Have a great day, Mum!
