Run away with me

I hoped for 70,000 words, sort of planned for it - as if the pathetic amount of planning I do would make a difference, I'm at 56,000 and I'm worried. Can I finish this story in 14,000 words? I'm not sure. Three or four chapters - doesn't sound possible to me. I'm beginning to think I write naturally to 100,000 ish. Of course, there was a whopper that reached 160,000 but it was a thriller and I chopped and chopped until I got it to 125,000. Still too long. But characters that come alive as I type, just have to be as they are and if I have to take this beyond 70,000, then I suppose I'll have to. But I'm going to be peeved! Means I have to try again for 70,000 and chances are I won't make it next time either.

Star Light

Watched a program last night on TV - a rare thing for me who doesn't watch much TV at all. It was about the sun and very interesting. Of course, all the fantantic facts and figures have been instantly lost by my pathetically small brain but two things remain. One were the images of the aurora borealis in Norway - how I would love to see that. They were there on a clear night in March when the solar winds are at their strongest and it was still only 80% chance. Lucky them. It looked fantastic - like a shimmering curtain between us and another world. They even had photos of the same phenomenon on Mars and other planets. WOW!! The other thing that struck me was when the commentator said - we exist because of star light. Plants grow in star light. Because of course, our sun is a star. I quite like the idea that we thrive in star light.

New from old

I had a lovely email from a reader asking if I'd thought of writing the story of one of the minor characters in one of my books. Oz - in Fight to Remember - is a demon who has a few issues. He's bad and good at the same time and rather sexy. I did leave this fifth and last of the Trueblood books with a way to write another if I was asked to - though not with Oz! ha ha. In fact I quite often insert a character with the thought of giving them their own story and then wonder if anyone will ask me about them. In'Anna in the Middle' - there's a character I'd planned a whole story for and as yet haven't got around to writing. It would be a MM and though I write that within stories, I've never tried it for a whole book.
I've been asked about Stefan - in Finding the Right One - and he's another that could easily have his own story. But when I've finished a book, I find myself wanting to do something completely different rather than revisit a character I've used before. I found it quite hard to write about Will in Doing the Right Thing and then again in Finding the Right One. Was I being true to his character? Did he 'feel' like the same guy? etc etc.
I suppose the ultimate compliment is that a reader has loved a character so much that she wants to hear more about him. I DO take it as a huge compliment so thank you!! Thanks to all those who contact me and ask about my stories and I will think about Oz and whether he deserves love - because in the end, that's what all my books are about.

Is it me?

I read a ferocious amount of books, consume them, devour them - in almost every genre. I don't write reviews of many and I don't write reviews of books in the same genre as the one in which I write. That's asking for trouble. So the book I've just read, that I loved until two thirds through and then didn't - is not going to be named. I just checked on Amazon and it appears almost everyone loved it. It won a prize so how come I just didn't get the way it seemed wrong for the last third. Without giving the game away - boy dumps girl, she goes away, finds new love, still wonders about old love - who has shown NO decent spark about him at all, she leaves new love for old love, realises she's made a mistake and new love arrives to declare his undying affection.
Same old plot - nothing wrong with that. Very little new under the sun BUT I just didn't get why she left the new love and went back to the old. It just didn't work in the book. I can't be the only one that thinks that- can I? But it seems I am. To be frank, it worries me.

I broke my foot

I am such a klutz. Ran home, slipped and thought oops - something hurts. I assumed I'd just torn a ligament or something. Struggled through the night and this morning an xray confirmed a break. Damn. So I'm going to be in plaster for 4-6 weeks. Good looking guys who'd like to apply for temporary slave status - please get in touch.

The Small Print - available October 1st from Ellora's Cave

The Small Print – Barbara Elsborg

I’m in trouble.

Matty suddenly finds herself back in her childhood home, naked and alone, with no clue how she came to be there. When her greedy uncle sells Milford Hall from under her, Matty hides in the attic.

The woman is trouble.

Vampire historian, Turner, has long had his eye on Milford Hall and there is no price he won’t pay to own it. He doesn’t expect to find an aggravating female living in his attic insisting she has a right to be there. The small print in the contract backs her up but Turner is determined to maintain his privacy. Doesn’t matter she’s the hottest thing he’s seen for years— in order to protect her from his mistakes, Matty has to go.

I eat trouble for dinner

After a self-imposed twenty year absence from Turner, werewolf Catch arrives to put the past right and save his former lover from circling enemies. But one kiss from Matty and Catch has more than Turner to worry about. Neither boy wants to share their new toy.