Updates!
It’s time for some updates! A few things about my life have changed, and seeing as I’m the one who hears my own bio read out most often, I’d like to stop hearing the untruths before they drive me absolutely crazeh.
I’m no longer teaching at the University of Notre Dame, only because my writing commitments have become weighty enough that the dual writer/teacher role is no longer necessary for me. While I’ve always loved teaching uni students, my writing career is what I’m really passionate about, and I’ve got to give that all my heart and soul right now. Being an author is like pushing an enormous round rock, and once you’ve got that thing rolling you have to keep up the momentum. I owe an incredible amount to UNDA, however. Dr Camilla Nelson connected me to my agent. She was the essential link in a chain that I’d been trying to assemble for over a decade. And she and her colleagues are truly delightful, so that helps. I’ll always be there for the uni and its students if they ever happen to call on me. But at the moment, writing a novel with James Patterson and one of my own per year is keeping me busy enough.
On that note, I’ve been hearing some terribly discouraging things from aspiring authors about a recent article somewhere that stated there are only 12 authors in Australia who can make a living from writing. Well, no one asked me! So if you’re reading those stats, please don’t be disheartened. We know they’re off by at least one. And you never know, one day that one might be you. So put away the tissues and get back to the keys. Discouragement is for pussies.
While we’re being technical, the oft-quoted PhD in literary censorship and terrorism has become the next victim of my authorial life. But the degree isn’t dead yet! I’m in the process of changing my research direction to something more focused on writing. It makes sense to drill down into what I actually do for a living, what my expertise is, in order to contribute to knowledge in a meaningful way. And my new degree direction will include pieces of my creative work, so it seems like a match made in heaven.
Sadly, while I’ve been ‘author, academic and cat lady, Candice Fox’ for many years now, my dear old James McNugget passed away some weeks ago. James the cat was the infamous raggedy butterball who I threw cageless into my car while escaping my first marriage. While I’m still a cat lover and always will be, I think I might extend the tagline of this website to all animals. I’m one of those weird childless adults who visits petting zoos. I recently had a rescued juvenile pigeon in my house for a week, which required three-hourly syringe feeding to keep it alive. Yes, a filthy street pigeon. I love all animals. I think that needs to be known.
My next novel will not be a Bennett/Archer thriller, but the beginning of what may be a new series (there will be at least two books, the second of which I’m writing now.) CRIMSON LAKE will be released in Australia on January 30, 2017. I’m not opposed to one day going back to the Bennett/Archer series, as I was writing a book about Hooky from FALL when I was asked to do a sequel to CRIMSON LAKE. But it may be some time before I return to Hades’s world. I promise, Bennett/Archer fans will not be disappointed in the new characters I’m bringing to you. I’m very, very proud of them. I’ll be doing a CRIMSON LAKE tour in February, 2017. Check the Books page for a blurb.
I think that’s about all I have for you at the moment! Head to the Books page also for links to the novels, where to buy them, and their audiobook versions. Thank you, as always, for hanging in there with me, and supporting Australian books in general. I could not do what I do without every single one of you.
