D.B. Tait's Blog, page 2

Cold Deception free!

For a short time, the first in the Dark Mountain series, Cold Deception, is free on Amazon.com Amazon.com.au iTunes and Kobo. Go get it!

Secrets, lies, deception. That’s what it takes to stay alive.

At 20, Julia Taylor went to prison for murdering a man who deserved it. Ten years later, she’s ready to put the past behind her and get on with her life. But someone won’t let her. Someone will do anything to drive Julia away, including murder.

As the body count rises, Julia is forced to accept the help of Dylan Andrews, a cop with dark secrets of his own. Unfortunately help has a cost. Dylan is digging into Julia’s past, uncovering secrets she is desperate to keep.

Julia must keep Dylan at a distance, or else risk her own safety, and the safety of everyone she loves …

And if you like it, you can get Desperate Deception: Dark Mountain 2.

 

Out and about!

I’ve had a busy couple of months, finishing a book (Desperate Deception: Dark Mountain 2 – out on 8 October!), having some fun at the Byron Bay Writers Festival and being with my tribe at the Romance Writers of Australia annual conference. 

I’ve also started the third in the Dark Mountain series; Fatal Deception. So far a forensic psychologist (the heroine), a narcissistic psychopath and a rather likable serial killer have turned up on the page. The hero is waiting in the wings, ready to give the heroine some bad news. Her life is going to get a lot more problematic.

I can also hear the siren call of some erotic romance stories. Maybe I can slip one in while I write about murder and mayhem.

Today there was an interesting discussion on Twitter about the lack of a romance genre presence at writers festivals. There’s a common belief among romance writers that the major Australian literary festivals are not interested in genre writing and romance writing in particular. Crime is the usual exception being well represented at most festivals.

I think that’s changing. This year the Melbourne Writers Festival had a good romance presence, the result of a pitch to the festival organisers by Kate Cuthbert and others. Having a good pitch is the key. Lisa Dempster the CEO of the Melbourne Writers Festival gave a useful presentation at the RWA conference about how to get onto writers festival panels. Pitching a good idea that is not necessarily genre specific seems to be what they’re interested in.

I could see this at the Byron Bay Writers Festival. One of the sessions I went to was about Duplicitous Lives – a session about writers who’d written books about adulterous men. Another was about Grief and Creativity. Both panels were about ideas and themes such as denial and forgiveness. I could see genre writers contributing to each panel, brining to them a different perspective.

Honey Brown, Krissy Kneen, Jennifer St George, Moya Sayer-Jones

The Byron Bay Writers Festival did have a panel that was allegedly about romance but wasn’t really. Honey Brown, Krissy Kneen and Jennifer St George ended up talking about sex and erotica. It was interesting but not a panel on romance as a genre. If you are a member of the Australian Romance Readers Association, there will be a write up about this panel in the September newsletter.

Some panels I’d like to see at writers festivals would be feminism and romance; how to write authentically about happiness; does success lead to intellectual dismissal in Australia; writing what you know – using your profession in your writing. Maybe I’ll pitch!

The RWA conference was dazzling this year. Held in partnership with the Melbourne Writers Festival,

Anne Gracie as Barbara Cartland; Marion Lennox as Captain Jack Sparrow; Trish Morrow as the conference logo.

there was a significant non-romance element to the conference which I was a bit ambivalent about. Graeme Simsion author of the Rosie books gave a key note address, and while I loved The Rosie Project and he is a funny and engaging speaker, I still have a niggling doubt that if he was middle aged and female his books wouldn’t have been the hits they are. Is that me being unfair? Maybe it is.

Chris Corbett’s workshop on screen writing was excellent. He was able to present in an hour a concise and funny workshop, jam packed with meaty, useful material. I’m seriously thinking of doing a day workshop with him in January 2016.

Likewise CS Pacat’s workshop on narrative traction was a terrific rundown on how to maintain tension throughout a story. Her Captive Prince Trilogy is a great example of withholding the resolution of tension in order to keep the reader turning the page.

In late October I’m off to GenreCon in Brisbane, while some of my romance writing friends are off to Jindabyne for Romancing the Snowy. Can’t fit it all in!

Snowday!

Snow! We had a huge dump on Thursday night, so Friday was Snowday! Up in the Blue Mountains that means everything grinds to a halt and we all go a bit crazy. Me? When I woke up at 7:00am I had no power and no heat, but luckily a gas cooktop. This meant I could at least make a cup of tea. So I went back to bed and tried to stay warm. Swathed in woollen shawls and scarves with sweaters and track suit pants, ski socks and gloves, I had the company of Tana French’s latest The Secret Place.

When the power came back on at 10:30am that first hot shower was absolute bliss. The thermostat on my heater said it was only 3C inside. Brr. So cold I couldn’t hold a pen to write. Even now, the next day, there’s still a lot of snow around and the highway is closed again. But it’s a glorious winter day here, the sun is out, glittering on the snow and my heater works. All is good.

Discoverability and other distractions

So, I haven’t been here for a while. There are reasons for that. Not very good ones, but nevertheless, reasons. Cold Deception came out in March and I was writing Desperate Deception. Now I’m gearing up to start Fatal Deception. But there is an elephant in the corner I’ve been ignoring. In my case it’s a big, wooly mammoth.

It’s the problem of discoverability. Really, it’s the problem of promotion. 

I hate promotion. Which is not very helpful if my book is only available as an ebook and isn’t in a bricks and mortar store. I face the issue that most e-published writers face, which is how to let people on the wide, infinite black hole that is the internet know that my book is available from their favourite etailer and that it’s really good and they should buy it.

It’s a simple message but hard to execute.

Why so hard? It means I have to get onto places like Facebook and Twitter and sell myself. As soon as I do that, I have the nuns of my childhood telling me it’s a sin to want to be the centre of attention and I should do a rosary as penance. I told my fellow author and A Team member Lizzy Chandler that I get squirmy at the thought of posting some of the positive reviews I’ve had of Cold Deception on my Facebook page. She looked at me as if I was mad and told me that’s what it’s for. To sell myself. Oh, yeah, I thought. That’s right. So it is.

Be prepared to see a bit more promotion of on my Facebook page.

What else have I been up to? Reading of course. You can see what I’ve read so far this year here. Lots have been good, but the two stand outs for me so far have been Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel and Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. I’m in the middle of Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life which I think will be up there as one of my favourites too.

I’ve also been cooking! My work mates and my Facebook friends know I hummed and hawed about purchasing a Kitchen Aid bench mixer. I finally did and she’s a beauty. Takes a bit of getting used to, but I’m working up to making some bread. I blame Martha Stewart Bakes as the reason I’ve developed the cooking bug.

I’m watching too much television but there is some interesting stuff on. I got completely caught up watching Grace and Frankie and watched the whole series over two days. I’ll watch anything with Lily Tomlin and Martin Sheen. Another series on Netflix which is really intriguing is Residue, a British scifi series with a couple of the actors from Game of Thrones playing the leads. Poor Iwan Rheon, I think he’ a very good actor but might be cursed by playing the detestable Ramsay Bolton.

I’ve missed the Poldark train but caught the Mapp and Lucia one. I read the EF Benson books years ago and loved them. Miranda Richardson is a treat as Elizabeth Mapp.

So, back to promotion. I’ll probably set up a newsletter as most authors do. I’m not sure about them though. Perhaps I’ll just keep to this blog. It’s seem much more user friendly and I can prattle on about anything.

Essentially though, this is in my immediate future. Plotting tools. 

Cold Deception giveaway!

Prologues are definitely out of style. A few years ago, when Jenny Cruise attended the Romance Writers’ of Australia Conference, she railed against them vociferously, stating she’d never seen a prologue that couldn’t be cut.

I sat at the back of the conference room bowing to her greater wisdom (and writing success!) but secretly quite liking prologues, particularly in crime and mysteries. I don’t mind a mysterious set up that the book has to resolve, or where a clue might be planted.

So when I submitted COLD DECEPTION to Momentum it was with a prologue, even though I didn’t call it one. It got cut.

I wasn’t too concerned, there was nothing in it that wasn’t in the book, so I could see it was superfluous. But I did like it. So, here it is for you to read. Do you like prologues? Hate them? Make a comment and go into the draw for a giveaway copy of COLD DECEPTION.

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10 years ago …

Julia couldn’t look at him. Instead, she stared down at her hands and picked at her cuticles.

“The offender, Julia Margaret Taylor, has pleaded guilty to the murder of Father Patrick O’Donnell. The offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. There is a standard non-parole period of twenty years.”

Hearing those words, so casually uttered, forced her head up. She thought the court room would be like American television: full of Armani-dressed lawyers and a youthful, fifty-something judge with black robes who ruled his court with an iron fist.

Instead he was old. Justice William Reynolds. Not a judge, not in an Australian courtroom. Justice. The relics of Britain still reigned in this domain. He wore a horsehair wig, like the barristers for the defence and prosecution, and he spoke in a dried out, thin voice that was hard to hear.

The brilliant scarlet of his robes mesmerised her, letting her drift away, far away, back to all the red on the floor, splashes up the table. . .

“The offender made admissions to the investigating police when traces of blood, which was subsequently determined to be that of the deceased, was discovered in a car belonging to the offender’s mother. This discovery was made the day after the body of the deceased was found in his home.”

She continued to tear and pick at her cuticle. Blood oozed from the corner of her nail. She watched it turn into a drop and tried to focus on the words.

“The offender stated she went to the deceased’s home in a state of some agitation after a young friend, here after referred to as AC, confided to the offender that she had been sexually molested by the deceased, who at the time of the offence was the Roman Catholic priest in the Blue Mountains diocese.

“Julia Taylor stated she wanted to confront the deceased as she was concerned about the welfare of AC. She was unable to explain the purpose of this confrontation or why, if she believed the deceased to have committed such a dreadful crime, she did not contact the police.”

“Because she had more courage than me!” Sally’s outraged fury filled the courtroom. “I should’ve killed him after what that bastard did to me and all the others—”

The gavel slammed amid the chaos of court officials running and shouting. Julia looked back down to her hands and picked harder at her cuticle.

“Remove that woman immediately. I will not have this behaviour in my court.”

His voice was loud now. She had no trouble hearing his words but shut her ears to Sally’s sobs and pleas.

“Julia! Julia!”

She wouldn’t look. If she looked she’d remember and she didn’t want to remember.

The court settled like a bird with ruffled feathers. Justice Reynolds shuffled his papers and continued.

“The offender claimed that the subsequent confrontation between herself and the deceased was heated and became violent. She states that at first the deceased denied involvement in any criminal activities against AC, but eventually admitted his actions.

“She states she became enraged with his admission, as he laughed at her and told her no one would believe her since AC was known to be a liar and a thief.

“The offender states that, in her words, ‘when he sneered at me as if I were scum,’ she grabbed a knife from the kitchen bench and stabbed the deceased in the stomach three times. This is consistent with evidence submitted by the forensic pathologist. In addition, DNA from the offender was found on the knife and in blood splatters around the deceased, probably as the result of a cut the offender sustained to her hand in the commission of this offence.”

He paused. She looked up to see him peering at her over his glasses. Frowning, he returned to his papers. She dropped her head again. The white scar across her palm still throbbed.

“The offender then returned to her home in her mother’s car, removed her blood-splattered clothing and showered. She states at this stage she did not really realize what she had done and seemed to be behaving, again in her words, ‘on automatic pilot.’

“Evidence from both her mother, the well-known artist Eleanor Taylor, and from her mother’s partner, Deirdre Castro, indicate later that night at the dinner table, the offender was withdrawn and silent. Her mother questioned her but the offender was not forthcoming. Ms Taylor and Ms Castro stated they were preoccupied with their other daughter, an eight year old who was suffering from a serious case of influenza and subsequently was hospitalised.

“However, the following day, the police attended the house the offender lived in with her mother, sister, and Ms Castro, with the intention of questioning Eleanor Taylor. Information provided to the investigating police officers revealed she was heard to have had a loud and acrimonious argument with the deceased a week before the offence.”

More sobs. Probably Ma.

“The police questioned Eleanor Taylor and asked to examine her car. Upon the discovery of the blood and other matter, the offender, Julia Taylor, admitted she was responsible for the offence.

“At this time it is appropriate to confirm that the deceased was indeed, a sexual predator of the most heinous type. Police evidence indicates that he had been sexually offending against a large number of children and young people for many years in parishes throughout NSW.”

The drop of blood was larger now. Even a small amount seemed to make a terrible mess.

“While this fact does provide some mitigation in relation to this offence, there is no excuse for vigilantism of any kind in this society.

“My finding, that the offence falls below the middle range of objective seriousness, is the reason for not imposing the standard non-parole period of twenty years. My findings as to the various subjective matters in the offender’s favour, including the discount for the plea of guilty, and her good prospects for rehabilitation, are further reasons for not doing so.”

She let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.

“Julia Margaret Taylor, you are convicted of the offence of murder. I impose a total sentence of fifteen years with a non-parole period of ten years. Take her below.”

She looked up. Eyes the colour of blue ice. A frown as if he couldn’t quite work out a puzzle. Through the explosion of noise in the courtroom, she watched him watching her. With a shrug, he scooped up his papers and stood. Bowing, scraping, moans, and hand on her arm.

“Come on,” the screw said. “Time to go. Shit! What have you done to yourself?”

She looked down. Her hands were covered in blood. She held them up and watched the light glint on a thread, slowly sliding down her wrist.

Beautiful.

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Don’t forget to comment to go into the draw for a free copy of COLD DECEPTION. You have until Tuesday 31 March 2015.

Write Bytes with Amanda Pillar

Hello! Today I’m hosting Amanda Pillar fellow Momentum author. Her latest book Graced is out now!

Here’s the blurb.

City Guard Elle Brown has one goal in life: to protect her kid sister, Emmie. Falling in love – and with a werewolf at that – was never part of the deal.

Life, however, doesn’t always go to plan, and when Elle meets Clay, everything she thought about her world is thrown into turmoil. Everything, that is, but protecting Emmie, who is Graced with teal-colored eyes and an unknown power that could change their very existence. But being different is dangerous in their home city of Pinton, and it’s Elle’s very own differences that capture the attention of the Honorable Dante Kipling, a vampire with a bone-deep fascination for a special type of human.

Dante is convinced that humans with eye colors other than brown are unique, but he has no proof. The answers may exist in the enigmatic hazel eyes of Elle Brown, and he’s determined to uncover their secrets no matter the cost…or the lives lost.

Ooh! Sounds intriguing! Take it away Amanda!

What’s on top of your to-be-read pile?

I usually have two or three books on the go. I’ve got to finish reading Cranky Ladies of History, edited by Tehani Wessely and Tansy Rayner Roberts, and it is fantastic so far! I’ve also started reading More than a Duke by Christi Caldwell.

What do you feel when you contemplate your to-be-read pile?

Depending on its size, it can sometimes be overwhelming. Other times, there is impatience. I just want to be able to get through all those goodies!

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

This one is easy. I have a massive sweet tooth: chocolate. I’d eat a whole block at a time if my waistline and conscious would allow.

How often do you exercise?

I walk five days a week and do karate two times a week, when the job allows! Plus, I’m an archaeologist, so there’s a bit of exercise in that.

Where was your last holiday?

Last year, when my partner and I got married. We took a week off and just relaxed. We’re hoping to go overseas later this year.

What do you like to cook?

Sweet tooth again! I love to cook desserts: cookies and cream cheesecake, chocolate chip biscuits, cakes, muffins…you get the gist! Now I want cheesecake.

If you could live anywhere in the world where would that be?

Melbourne. I know that doesn’t sound too adventurous, but when I was travelling around Europe and Turkey, it made me realise how relaxed and easy-going Australian culture is. And Melbourne is a city with great food and lots to do.

What time of day do you write?

Any time I can! It ends up being in the evenings normally, as that’s when I get a chance to sit down with the computer.

What are the best and worst things about being a writer?

The best thing is being able to just write. I think it’s hard for writers to not write. The worst thing is the isolation at times. Writing is a lonely sport; and people who don’t write don’t always understand how characters can seem like real people when you talk about it.

What was the last non-urban fantasy book you read? 

The last non-urban fantasy book would have been The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy by Julia Quin. I love her work; warm and slightly humours regency romance!

Describe your writing space?  

My space is the chaise part of our couch! I have a laptop table, and I often write on the couch, surrounded by cats and cushions.

What was the last movie you watched?

I am currently watching Tank Girl. I never read the comics it was based on, but it is very 90s!

What’s your favourite television series?

This changes monthly. I’ve been watching Psych, but I was really enjoying Blacklist, Archer and Supernatural (I’m a little behind). So a pretty diverse range of TV watching.

What are three words to describe your relationship with the world wide web?

Flirtatious. I would love to spend more time online actually being productive, but real life gets in the way more often than not, so I end up doing what I can, when I can.

Windows or Mac?

Windows! Macs drive me nuts, with their strange right clicking and disappearing windows.

What’s the last paragraph you wrote from your work in progress?

‘I met my next love fifty years later. He was young, and charming, and had a head of thick, sunshiny hair…’

Thanks Amanda (love that beetle cushion!)

You can find Amanda at her website and on Twitter. 

Buy her book!

Amazon (Kindle)

Amazon UK (Kindle)

Barnes and Noble (Nook devices)

Google Play (All devices except Kindle)

iBooks Store (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac)

Cold Deception cover reveal!

Tada! Revealing a cover is always exiting! I love this one! Here’s the blurb:

Secrets, lies, deception. That’s what it takes to stay alive.

At 20, Julia Taylor went to prison for murdering a man who deserved it. Ten years later, she’s ready to put the past behind her and get on with her life. But someone won’t let her. Someone will do anything to drive Julia away, including murder.

As the body count rises, Julia is forced to accept the help of Dylan Andrews, a cop with dark secrets of his own. Unfortunately help has a cost. Dylan is digging into Julia’s past, uncovering secrets she is desperate to keep.

Julia must keep Dylan at a distance, or else risk her own safety, and the safety of everyone she loves…

You can even pre-order it here!

Meet my character – Julia Taylor from Cold Deception

Cathryn Hein, rural romance writer and adventurer (her latest novel, The French Kiss, is full of derring-do!) tagged me in a Meet the Character blog hop. So I thought I’d introduce my heroine from my first romantic suspense, to be published next year.

What is the name of your character?

Julia Taylor

Is he/she fictional or a historic person?

Completely fictional

When and where is the story set?

The novel is a contemporary romantic suspense with elements of women’s fiction. It’s set in Katoomba, about an hour and a half drive west of Sydney in the Blue Mountains. So there’s mountain visas, a famous hotel and because Katoomba is a cold climate part of Australia, a bit of snow.

What should we know about him/her?

Julia has just been released from gaol after serving ten years for murder. She had a tumultuous upbringing with a famous artist mother who suffered from a bad drug and alcohol problem and mental illness. As a result, Julia is over responsible about those she loves, which has got her into a lot of hot water.

What is the main conflict? What messes up his/her life?

Julia’s release sets off a train of events, as what really happened ten years ago starts to emerge. To protect her family she has to prevent that as much as possible, but an inconvenient, sexy, smokey-eyed local cop keeps asking pointed questions …

What is the personal goal of the character?

To have a quiet life. This sounds like the most boring goal anyone could have, doesn’t it? But given her past and what she’s released into, it’s not going to happen anytime soon.

Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?

The title is Cold Deception and when it gets closer to publication I’ll be letting the world know through the usual methods – Facebook, here at my website and Twitter.

When can we expect the book to be published or when was it published?

It should be out in March 2015 through Momentum the digital first line of Pan Macmillan.

Now, what happens next?  Kandy Shepherd carries on the tag. You can check out her blog next week or click through to her website now to see what she’s up to. Somewhere on her blog you can find her Lemon Sour Cream Cake. It’s to die for.

Byron Bay Writers’ Festival

For the last few years, I’ve headed up to the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival to partake of some literary goodness. This is a festival for literary writing not genre writing with the exception of crime. I could bang on about how the lack of other genres is a serious omission, but that argument is becoming boring. The organisers want this festival to be what it is and on the whole I enjoy it. GenreCon up in Brisbane in October will fill the gap in that area.

Every year I discover a writer I either didn’t know about or had only a vague knowledge of. One year it was Karen Hitchcock with her wonderful short stories, another year it was Jesse Blackadder  with her historical novel. She’s also published what sounds like a fascinating novel on Antarctica.

This year there were three standouts for me.

Cate Kennedy comes across as a warm, normal (which is always a treat) and wonderfully insightful writer who crafts beautiful short stories. She lives on a farm in rural Victoria and has written novels but is more known for short stories. Her description of her writing process and view of the world, plus the extract she read, made me purchase her collection Like a House on Fire immediately. Dipping into the first story was a joy but had to be postponed because of other reading priorities. More later.

MJ Hyland is an all together different type of writer. Intense, vaguely neurotic, black-black hair, red-red lipstick, heavy black eyeliner, she crouched in on herself like someone wanting a dark cave instead of  the light of Byron Bay. And indeed that’s exactly what she said. She writes about what can happen in a cave. No mobile phones or modern conveniences. I bought her novel This is How set in the early 1960s and started reading. The feeling of menace and claustrophobia grabbed me in an instant.

Glenn Carle is a New England Yankee and ex-spy (or is he?) I didn’t expect much from his presentation but found myself absolutely enthralled. For an spy he’s a great storyteller. His book The Interrogator: An Education outlines what happened when he doubted the project he was called upon to complete – the interrogation of a high level al-Qa’ida operative using any means necessary, including torture. I found myself seeing William H Macy  play him in the movie.

There was much discussion in my group of friends about whether his book and what clearly is now a career on the writers’ festival circuit, was just another CIA plot. Is his whole current persona just a device to reassure the liberal intelligentsia that the American intelligence apparatus permits dissent?  Don’t know, but it ads spice to the mix.

There were other highlights; Anne Summers and George Megalogenis  which resulted in some heckling from the audience; Jennifer Mills talking beautifully about woodwork and writing and MJ Akbar on why Australia is obsessed with China and is missing out on a worthwhile relationship with India.

The weather was gorgeous, the size and pace of the whole event manageable (unlike the Sydney Writers’ Festival) and the choice excellent. Let’s hope it’ll be the same next year.

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

I’m terribly disorganised so I ended up doing the Next Big Thing Blog Hop as Keziah Hill instead of DB Tait. Here’s what I said:

What is your working title of your book?

The Laws of Passion

Where did the idea come from for the book?

A life time ago, I was a political activist. In my heart I still am, but I’m lazy. So I thought I’d meld together two of my interests, social justice and romance. The hero and heroine are lawyers. She works in a community legal centre defending the dispossessed and disenfranchised and he works for a big city law firm. Sparks and principles fly. Actually, it’s much more romance than social justice. I did say I was lazy.

What genre does your book fall under?

Light romantic suspense. There isn’t a dead body but there is a mystery. It’s not erotic romance so if I get it published it will be with my Deborah Tait persona.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

God, how I hate this question. Grumble, grumble. No, I’m not going to answer it. The reader will have to make up her/his mind.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Lawyers on opposing sides must work together to prevent tragedy while at the same time resisting the laws of passion.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I’ll submit it hither and thither so we’ll see.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I wrote it a few years ago and from memory I think it took about four months. It needs a serious rewrite which is what I’m working on now.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Maybe Julie James?

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I’ve set it in Balmain, an inner-west suburb of Sydney with a very rich history. It started out as a working-class waterside worker suburb and now is a yuppy paradise. I lived there for a few months in 2002-3 right on the water at East Balmain. If I ever: 1) move back to Sydney and 2) have a lot more money than I do now, I’d love to live there.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

It’s my first non-erotic romance book (although it’s still pretty steamy) and it’s about community in a big city. We read a lot of romance set in rural settings with wonderful home and hearth communities, but it’s possible to find those communities in cities as well.

Thank you Elise Ackers for roping me into this. Elise’s Next Big Thing Blog Hop post is here. Please take some time to visit her website and blog and read about her latest release,Unforgettable.

As well as her website you can contact her on Facebook and Twitter.

Now, to hand over this blog hop to others! Please go and visit:

Elizabeth Dunk (aka Nicole Murphy), fellow Escape Artist whose latest release is Arranged to Love (gorgeous cover!). You can find her on Facebook and Twitter as well.

Kitty Bucholtz once Sydney resident and member of The Writers’ Coven but now returned to the US (we miss her!) You can find her on Facebook and Twitter.

I’m going to tag Paula Roe too because she’s gone MIA and I want to hear what she’s up to. Writing four books at the same time it seems.