Angela Verdenius's Blog, page 9

Blue's Book Cover is Up!

Whoo hoo! Blue's book cover is up on my website for you to drool over - I mean artistically appreciate. (Did I say 'drool over' out loud?). His picture has been watching me from my desk hutch the whole time I've been writing his story. Thank you for the inspiration, Blue!

I can tell you that his story will definitely be released by the end of August. I'll keep you updated as to the release date and when you can pre-order the book.

I hope to get the blurb and excerpt up soon, so I'll let you know when I get it done. Meanwhile, pull out your artistic appreciation and enjoy the study of the reclining hero... - www.angelaverdenius.com

Those Days...and Blue's Progress

You know those days...you get forewarning the water will go off for 6 hrs, you write the note to remind everyone, you fill 3 buckets just in case, do everything needing water early, turn off the main...then you try to wet a cloth, can't figure out why, then are so glad no one is home to see you being a twit... You also do a general update to inform everyone on Goodreads of this and realise it's been done in the book update...Ooops. DARN IT!!!!

On a good note, Blue's story is clapping along nicely. I'm two thirds of the way through it and hammering it like crazy. Not quite sure how I feel about the story-line - yeah, I know, I do this all the time. I'm just a little concerned because of all the stops and starts this book has done over the last few months, and I've had to get my 'mojo' back twice between surgery rather than the full-on writing I usually do without stopping until it's completed. Never mind. I will continue to forge onward.

Another great thing is that I have 3 weeks off work starting Monday. I know, 3 weeks off that ISN'T sick leave! Mum is having an eye op so I'm her driver/nurse/cleaning lady etc, which is all fine, I'd planned for that. Also awesome is I have some horror DVDs waiting for me to watch and a stack of ebooks and paperbacks, and I intend during these holidays to hammer this book. My aim? I want to get this finished by the end of August, maybe sooner, depending on how things go. Like today, when it's my day off but I need to go in to work for several hours for meetings...gah! Okay, pulling up my big girl panties (flowered ones, in case anyone cares), I'll hammer Blue before I go and when I get home.

So yes, aiming to finish Blue's story by end of August, maybe sooner. I'll do my very best. Then the re-read and editing and fixing up mistakes and adding or deleting as necessary. So I can't promise it WILL be finished by end of August, but I can promise I WILL do my very best!!!

Up & At 'Em - and WAR!

So, saw the surgeon yesterday and back to work today. Whoo hoo! And boy, did I hit the floor running at the hospital! But it's good to be back on my feet again.

Now I'm fighting Army Worms in the lawn. The lawn was dying back and I couldn't figure it out, then realized we had a pest problem - but I had no idea how bad until I spotted one in the lawn after watering it...and then last night we had these Army Worms coming into the house! My personal belief is that they were coming to get me because they knew I was planning their demise tonight. IT WAS WAR!!!!

HECK YES! WAR! I declared war on those buggers demolishing my little patch of lawn!!!

We sprinkled baby powder heavily around the outside of the back verandah which stopped them coming in, and tonight I hit that lawn with an all purpose insecticide that is supposed to kill off those blighters.

SO TAKE THAT, ARMY WORMS!!! Die! Die! Die!

Man, I'm really quite stonkered after that rant...

Back on-line - kind of!

Hey all!

I'm back! I actually only had to stay in hospital overnight, which was an experience on its own , and have been home for a few days now. But took it easy and didn't come on-line directly until - I think...Mon or Tues? Anyway, now recuperating (again!) but doing well. See the surgeon on Mon 12th and if all goes well, will be cleared for work again.

Meanwhile, I'm catching up on reading and TV, as well as sneaking a half hour here and there on the computer to write and get my newsletter done.

Thank you to all the well-wishers who emailed me and posted to me on here, you all really made my day and put a smile on my face. *hugs* to you all!

off-line for short time

Hi all

just a quick note to let you all know I'll be off-line for a short time. I'm going in for surgery this arvo (it happened quick!), hope to be home tomorrow but I'm not sure. It may be a couple of days before I can get on-line again.

So I've charged up my Kindle because, you know, have to have it with me - it's my life preserver!!!

Will catch up with you all as soon as I can. Meanwhile - keep reading!

cheers
Ang

Blue - you're killing me!

So Blue's story is killing me. I really thought his would be an easy write. Right? Wrong! When will I ever LEARN?!

*banging forehead on keyboard*

I had the prologue and first chapter done but was having so many problems. I didn't like the stories, the characters were wooden, no one was speaking to me (except Blue, who kept telling me to get a freakin' move on!). I was a mess, looking at the time that has passed with me wrestling him (and if you saw his cover, which I have stuck up on my desktop hutch, you'd know that's not a bad thing!), but wrestling the story and knowing it was...just...well let's be honest - crap!

So last night as I'm gloomily typing away and knowing it wasn't going anywhere, I leaned back and looked at it, and said "That's it. This is ending right now." and I put the whole bit into a special file (labelled 'Tries' but really meaning 'Failure'), and I started again - still with Blue, but a new heroine and a new story-line.

Can I just say that it is now going well? Yes, it has put me behind a lot in regards to my personal deadline, but I honestly cannot work on a book that has no heart. So this new story-line is working so much better, and I'm feeling the characters.

So right now, I'm going to stop here and do a couple of hours on Blue's book before I have to go to work. But at least the story is now flowing!

And if Blue decides to give me more problems later, I have the DELETE key! Just sayin', Blue, just sayin'...

Raining and Writing!

Oh my gosh, while I'm writing this it is literally TEEMING down outside! We haven't seen rain in so long, we're pretty excited LOL. Even better, it's my day off work so I can snuggle into my cardigan and write with the rain pouring outside. Can anything be better?

Well...yes. Season 7 of The Walking Dead on DVD and a bag of crunchy chips and some Violet Crumble or chocolate wrapped in licorice (new fad of mine for special occasions), but as that won't be happening until around Sept/Oct, when I get the DVD in my sweaty little hands and can do a back-to-back marathon...

Anyway, meanwhile - raining, mates! Totally AWESOME!!!! We have a tin roof, so I can hear everything.

Which reminds me...I better check said roof inside for leaks. It's been awhile since we had to have new sheets of metal put on the roof, but sometimes the odd leak still sprouts up due to living on the coast and our water is pretty harsh...Now that I think of it, I also haven't cleaned the gutters for awhile...

Suddenly I'm not so relaxed!

The Little Experiment...a novella...

So my little experiment was to write a novella using language a little stronger (okay, a lot stronger!) than I normally have in my novels.

I wanted to write something fast and fun, with no regard to reality or what should or shouldn't be done in a certain time period. A short read to tickle the funny bone, a little steam to make it juicy, and...um...a bit of swearing (thank God my mother will never read it).

This is the first in a planned series, and I published it under a pen name.

Now, if you get my newsletter, you'll know what the rest of this post says, because I've taken the explanation for why I chose a pen name and now why I have chosen to reveal it, from my newsletter, which is the best explanation I can come up with!

Here goes...

From May's Newsletter -

"So what else have I been up to? I'm still debating whether to let tell you all or not...because I am so unsure. Yes, I wrote a novella and published it. But it isn't my usual, in that the language in it is harder - so more swearing (a couple of words I never use in my novels) than what I put in my usual novels. It's not an erotic romance by any means, and is meant to be a fast and fun read, and I'm planning on extending it into a series of novellas. I'm just not sure whether to reveal the name it's published under as several things could happen, the first of which I would hate to see happen -

1. Those who like my current novels may be repulsed by the novella and decide to drop me completely *sniffle*
2. You don't like the novella but will continue to enjoy my novels under my real name *yay!*
3. You'll enjoy reading both my novels under my real name and the novellas under the pseudonym *yay again!*

Seriously, I would hate to lose any of you, and so I hesitate.

So why a pseudonym? Because I can write a different style without it affecting my novels. It's a sort of freedom, but also a branding, so that readers will know what to expect when picking up a book under either my pen name or my real name. Under a different name I can also write a different genre or sub-genre (so if I wanted to go paranormal romance or other). I even asked some well-known authors I know what their opinion was, and they said yes, I should tell you all and let you decide yourselves whether you like both or only one or the other. I guess I'm just a little afraid (okay, I honestly admit it!). Putting something a little different out there isn't easy, especially when you don't know how it's going to be greeted. Am I a wimp or what?!

Okay, so while I'm typing this, I'm thinking...these people are not idiots, Ang, just do it already! So...I will...argh!!!! *big mouthful of Diet Coke to build courage*...

Or maybe not.

Just kidding!

Anyway, here goes...It's Devil in the Kitchen by Ang Kemp. Yes, that's my alter-ego, Ang Kemp. This is it (I can't believe I'm doing this):

Welcome to the Devilish Men clan!
Fast, fun & steamy reads.
Laughter makes the world go around, love makes it sweet, and the Devilish clan of men make it a very hot and entertaining ride!

And the first Devilish man to meet his match is Ian Devilish in "Devil in the Kitchen"



It's available at Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and Kobo.

Now, if you decide to give it a go, and you decide you like it, I have created a website for my alter ego www.angkemp.com Being the first novella, there isn't a lot on the site as yet, but it will (hopefully) start to fill up as I write the novellas in-between oh - let's see, my day job and my full-length novels! On this website is a link to the Ang Kemp newsletter - now this newsletter isn't monthly, simply goes out only for new releases or the odd contest, so you won't get your inbox filled up, okay? You probably won't hear for several months at a time. I even have a contact form there for Ang Kemp in case anyone decides to contact me, so it'll all be separate from the novels and the website under my real name (of which we all know!).

So that's it, my little experiment sent out into the world and me biting my nails like crazy...again. If you have any queries or want to discuss it with me (or maybe rant a little at me), you can always email me on angela@angelaverdenius.com or via the contact form on my website, or even here.

And nope, I have no plans to stop writing full-length contemporary romances in the same style as I do now!"

So saying, getting back to writing Blue's story now...

Echoes is out - and other stuff

Whoo hoo! So Echoes was released yesterday. Totally stoked. I do hope you enjoy it. Any questions about it, lob them my way! I really got to like Ryan, he's a bit of a lonesome kind of bloke...in his own way...

I also finished my little experiment, so I'm ready to start plotting Blue's story. And then I also realised I have to 'move it move it move it' (as the song goes - can't remember which song, and I'd hum the tune but I'm a crappy singer) as time is marching on and I need to meet my 3 books a year deadline! (four if I can squeeze it in, but...argh! I'm trying!).

Actually, Mum agrees I'm trying - or, as she puts it, 'very trying' - but I don't think she means it in quite the same way...*pondering*...

So anyway, Ryan is done and dusted, throw me any questions, and I'm going to start plotting Blue's story next!!!

Oohh - one last thing. Thank you to everyone for their support while I wrestled Ryan! I mean wrote his story. Reading comments here and getting emails always helps to keep me smiling even when I want to throw the computer on the floor and stomp on it! *hugs* to all!

Good books - and Spurned by the Cat

So, books first. Over the last couple of months I've ordered 4 different paperbacks that go into my treasured collection - the Touch-On-Pain-of-Death shelf of our library shelves. So now all 4 paperbacks are sitting on the little library in my bedroom, burning a hole in the shelf, calling - CALLING! - to me to pick them up and read them RIGHT NOW.

However, I am one of those people who once I start reading a series I love, have to read them ALL before I start a book from another series. So saying, I am hooked on the Arisen military/zombie series and currently reading , and as there are still 3 more books to read in this series, it's going to be a little while before I get to those 4 paperbacks.

Never mind! Something to look forward to!

Now to something that staggered me early this morning. We have this little torti cat (think they're called 'Calicos' in the US) who has graced us with her presence for about 5 years now. She's a pure torti with no white, semi-long haired, very pretty. She sometimes lives in our back and front yard. We're not actually sure if she's a stray or whether she belongs to someone, because she's sterilized and in good nick, no matter how long she disappears for. She'll disappear for up to four days then pop back up again, happy and hearty. Once she disappeared for 2 months and we thought she must have died, only to have her pop up one day - 'tah-dah!' So she comes and goes.

Now Duchess (as we call her - or Dutch, depending), had disappeared for about 3 days. No food eaten though we keep putting fresh out every morning and every night. I think either her owners (if she has any) are home more than they used to be, or someone in the neighborhood is letting her into their home. Either way, she had done her disappearing act.

So I was up early as usual going for my morning walk (I know, right? Sick. Why would anyone in their right mind get up early on their day off to go for a walk?!), and I'm trotting along and lo and behold, I'm passing Betty's house and there is Duchess, sniffing the trampoline in Betty's front yard.

"Dutch!" I cry out, "There you are!"
And Dutch looks at me.
"Come here, sweet thing," I coo, stopping and holding out my hand.

My gosh, you'd have thought I was doing something exceedingly nasty. She pulled her ears back (Dutch, not Betty. Betty was smart enough to still be in bed), and trotted under the trampoline. Get this - Dutch went UNDER it and stared out at me.

Now I felt like a fool, with cars going past while I'm trying to coax Dutch out for a pat. And I realised something. Isn't this what kids do when they reach a certain age and don't want their parents to acknowledge them at school? You know, don't kiss them goodbye and wave them into the classroom? This is Dutch. OMG, Dutch didn't want me to say anything to her with other people around!

When did this happen? When did Dutch decide that I was embarrassing? Is she ashamed of me?

I realised something else. Apparently I am perfectly fine to have around when she's in MY yard, or MY carport, and even MY driveway - I can kiss and cuddle her, rub her belly, stroke her, give her fresh food and water, but how dare I approach her out in public?

As I thoughtfully trotted on home with Dutch watching me in righteous indignation from beneath Betty's trampoline (should a lady in her 70s even have a trampoline?), I pondered how animals and humans are so alike.

Yep, I'd been taught my place by Dutch. Guess I'll have to wait until she decides to grace me with her presence once more before I'm worthy enough to pat her.

*sigh*...must be tough for that cat trying to teach us dumb humans our place in the hierarchy...