Christmas 2022

 I've been a little low in energy this year, so I'm behind in publishing new books, but I'm back to finishing a few and starting some more. Copied (Book 4 of The Dimity Horse Mysteries) is almost complete - there's a lot of editing ahead to ensure all the ends are tied up and not left flapping in the breeze. I almost finished Book 6 of The Outback Riders, but it needs a complete rewrite because I let the plot meander too much ("forward is the answer" works for writing AND riding horses).

Christmas is almost here. I have the Christmas tree up, and there are presents under it. Here's a photographic reminder of the passing of time, starring my daughter's Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Pocket - as a puppy 14 years ago, a young dog, and now an old man who'd prefer to sleep under the tree than play with the decorations. Time passes - make the most of it so that you have plenty of wonderful memories to look back on when you are old. You don't have to become wealthy or wield a lot of power - just be kind, enjoy the small things, walk barefoot on the grass, admire the sunrises and sunsets, smile at people, paddle in the streams and oceans, lay your hand on the bark of ancient trees and the new ones, gaze at the stars, laugh, grow some flowers for bees then spend the time to watch them work... don't spend your life trying to become financially rich when you are already surrounded by riches.

June 2022

This is me the other day in my garden on the farm. Behind me is a cherry tomato that is over three metres high and it's still producing lots of fruit even in the middle of winter. A friend who's a well known photographer took the original photo, smoothed the skin, and made my eyes more sparkly (plus it now looks like I have lots of makeup on) - I don't look this good in real life. You'll find the original on my FB profile.

I'm trying to get Book 4 of The Dimity Horse Mysteries finished - I'm about half way through. I want to keep readers guessing until the last pages and provide lots of surprises - can I achieve this? I hope so. I need to keep motivated but sometimes it's difficult.

I turn 63 on Wednesday. You can see some grey hairs at my temples now - I don't like growing old, but it's a whole better than the alternative. I'm still running for a few kilometres most days because it's great for general health, and I want to get a few of the horses back in work. I was lucky enough to win a few national and state titles with them during my 50s, and I think I'd like to have a go at the nationals again in 2023, so I'd better start working towards that.

Next week, I have an MRI - I have them every few years to make sure a brain tumor that was removed over a decade ago hasn't regrown. If you haven't had one, they are noisy, and I'm glad I don't get claustrophobic once inside. The tumor was large but not malignant, and it was a good chance to reassess what is important in life. A lovely horse woman I knew had the same type of tumor discovered at the same time - unfortunately, she didn't come through. You never know what is around the corner, so say the things you want to say before it's too late. Love life because it is precious and you never know when it will unexpectedly stop. I'm saying the things I want to say in my books.

HUNTED is published, now I'm writing COPIED

 HUNTED is now published, and I hope readers enjoy it as much as MUTED and RESCUED. It's such a worry when you release a new book in case the story and characters you love are not appreciated by readers. As usual, it's a complicated, twisting plot with an emphasis on horses and romance. There are subplots, including the lives of the brumbies, and when Elise  tells her crystalline palace story to Andrea. 

I've started writing COPIED: When Winning is Everything, which is Book 4 in the series. If I wasn't such an apathetic procrastinator, it would be out in a few months, but, whatever. It's not that I sit around doing nothing - I babysit my grandson two days a week, I work with the horses, I'm trying to keep up the running each evening (just 2 - 5k, nothing amazing), and I end up not spending as much time writing as I'd like. 

It's nearly 6pm now, so time to feed the horses and go for a run. It's 600m to our mail box, so if I run that three times it gives me over 3k. I need to slash some running tracks up to the back of the farm because the grass is too long to run through at the moment. It's about 1.5k from the front to the back of our place, which may seem big but on the station it was about 20km from the front fence to the back, or more.

Hunted will be out soon!

A photo of me with my grandson Carwyn. 

 I'm waiting on some changes to the cover of Hunted (The Dimity Horse Mysteries #3) and then it will be available. I hope readers like it - I love it but that's not always a good indication of what readers will like.

 I've started Book 4 of the series, and hope to improve my output this year. It's too easy to become discouraged and disheartened, which slows everything down. Negative self talk is difficult to overcome. 

I've found running is helping with the positivity. Most evenings, I run 2 -5kms. Well, when I write 'run', I mean run+walk as at least a fifth of the distance is walking. It's been good to get the excess weight off, too, and enjoy running again. I want to ride more again, too. I'd like to have a go at winning some more national titles with the horses but I don't know how the 2022 shows will go with the pandemic - so many were cancelled last year. Maybe I'll aim for 2023. Or not. Maybe I'll just write - there are so many books to finish!