Ten days ago, we left home: 2 cars, 5 people, and an empty trailer.
Adelaide was calling to us. Well, my younger brother's wedding was, but hey. I'm not arguing with why we went! The two cars? My other half had to come straight home the next day for work, and all of us won't fit without bitching in my car. The trailer? My dad and his wife are selling the home their kids grew up in and getting rid of everything that won't fit in their two units... I am now the proud owner/keeper/onseller/? of an entire enclosed trailer of stuff. Let me know if you're after lace curtains, because I have them coming out of my ears! No, seriously, I still haven't finished unpacking and airing the lace... While the trailer of stuff went home with the other half, the kids and I went north. The Barossa Valley for a night to visit family -- and stayed in a very neat and comfy motel in Nuriootpa. Followed by two days in the Riverland and a great stay at the Cobdogla Station Caravan Park. If you're ever up that way for holidays, I recommend it. Even with the levee bank still there after the floods earlier this year, it's well worth the visit. And the serenity... it was bliss (we were there when there were bugger-all other people around and it was the quietest I've ever heard in the night) Despite my eldest having a bitch about not being able to go home with Dad, she actually settled in and enjoyed it--especially after a trip to the toy shop in Loxton that happened to have some retired toys she'd been wanting for years. That put a smile on her face! Me? I got the unicorn power bank to charge my phone with. My 14-year-old telling me I didn't need it? That made me smile. On Wednesday, we decided that instead of the shortest road home, we'd go via Mildura. Why? To cross the river into NSW, take a photo of the sign on the way across the bridge, get out, jump around in another state, and get back in the car to go back! The aim? To have visited three states in one day (realistically, within an hour) and take photos of all the signs. I just shrugged at the extra few hours that and all the stops put on our journey. Until the last hour. That road is bloody awful. After eleven hours in one day, and the end of a 1600km journey from leaving home to pulling back into the driveway, we were done. Next trip: Fiction & Friction Indie Bookseller signing on the 30th September. Guess where? Yep, ADELAIDE! (Photos coming when I get the chance!)
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RARE23Melbourne was rather large! There was no shortage of authors, that's for sure. I like to get the things I take to signings -- signature book box, T-shirts, bags, autograph book -- signed by everyone there, including models. So, it tends to take a while. Especially since I like to chit-chat! By the end of Sunday, I'd missed around 7 or so authors (and the models there on Saturday). Something I can't help is getting flustered by the sheer size and number of authors to see. I'm sure someone can relate! But I love it, and it's always so much fun to visit all the tables and find out what people write. Chatting gave me new ideas for signing things for my own table, so I'm immensely grateful for that. It was fabulous to meet a stack of new-to-me authors, and even some experiencing their first ever signing. What an amazing way to be inducted into this part of our world! Becca L'Amour and I were told about this place that did desserts of a ... sexual ... nature. So, we went! There's a video somewhere in my files too which is very loud! The theatrics of the staff and the way they made your penis or labia of choice would have to be the selling point, to be honest. Although, the 'cock waffle' was rather delicious! Highly recommend finding this little shop in Degreaves Street when you're in Melbourne next. Time for road tripping... Next stop after Melbourne was getting a parking fine in Brighton -- note to self, person from country Victoria, everywhere has bloody parking machines... SIGH. After that, we cruised down the Peninsula and had a run-in with a mega traffic jam in Frankston (there'd been an accident) on the way to a wreckers I used to use when living there -- hindsight was a great thing when I realised I should've done a U-turn and it would've gotten me where I wanted to be in 20 mins instead of over an hour. You live and learn, hey? The photos we got of the sunset at Frankston beach though, and then Mornington, were stunning. So there is that. On the way to Wilson's Prom... Through Inverness, Fish Creek, and other places and along the Prom. I'd underestimated how big it was though, so getting down there and back didn't leave us any time to go further along down the coast of Gippsland. I'd hoped to get to Lakes Entrance but alas, it wasn't to be. Maybe another trip? Phillip Island was a massive day of photo taking, so I think I'll have to leave that for another post!
I hope you enjoyed the few I've shared of our road trip, and perhaps it's inspired you to get out and travel somewhere in your state, find what's hiding out there. xxxx To celebrate my shiny new cover, here's a little excerpt shared with my newsletter subscribers! EXCERPT I hear plastic snap and lift my head too fast from the wall, cracking my neck in the process. The world spins before me as my eyes adjust. Mr Spunkytrunks is offering me a bottle of water, the condensation on the outside showing me that it’s icy cold and ready for gulping. Without any decorum, my grabby hands snatch the bottle and bring it to my forehead, rolling the cold plastic over my sweat-sticky skin. The heat today makes me wonder why in the ever-loving fuck I brought us here in summer. Of all times of the year, bloody summer. Idiot! With my eyes closed, I smooth the cold, condensation-wet bottle over my face and down my neck. A soft groan escapes me at the cooling sensation, which seems to elicit a slightly louder groan from the young man I’d almost forgotten is with me. Ha! That’s total bullshit; I knew he was there. Slowly opening my eyes, I have to confess that I like what I see standing nearby. As I continue to roll the cold bottle over my neck and top of my chest, I take in the fine specimen of masculinity that gives me tingles. Bronze from the Queensland sun, muscles galore adorning his sculpted biceps and pecs, and thighs that look like they could support… ahem… well, they look sturdy. His shorts hug those thighs, giving me a better look at the legs. I avoid glancing at the bulge for now. I allow my eyes to scan farther down, coming to rest on the tattoos winding around his calves. A dragon curls its head around the right leg just under his knee, a foreleg and claws resting beneath its chin. A husky chuckle brings my eyes slowly back up his body, not missing an inch of the delicious-looking man. The glint in his eyes and the smile gracing his lips brings that tingle up to a burn. He licks those lips as they roll in and out, a cheeky smile appearing on the glistening, kissable… No! Must not think any more dirty thoughts about-- “Like what you see?” His voice. Oh my God, his voice does it for me every time he speaks. It’s like chocolate-smothered cheesecake. Meeting his eyes, I can’t control the slight nod. Traitorous head! And it seems that my tongue is in on the mutiny as it peeks out to wet my own lips, dry despite the water… which is still in my hand. Without breaking eye contact, I twist the cap off the bottle and gulp the cold water. It soothes the parched walls of my throat, the chill refreshing as it cools the burning desire within me. Or at least I can wish it does. All it really does is give me a brain freeze. Within seconds of guzzling almost a full bottle of ice-cold water, my head is throbbing and searing pain shoots through my temples. “Ah fuck!” I swear, clutching my head as I shake it from side to side. “Fuck a fucking duck!” My foot joins in, stomping on the wooden floor, sending echoes bouncing in the small room. “The pain, the pain!” See, this is why I stay away from Slurpees and shit like that these days; I just have no damn tolerance for the things I used to. Damn aging sucks balls. As I’m in the death throes of a massive head freeze, warm hands slip in under mine and a whispered “I’ve been dreaming of this for two days” feathers across my cheek before lips make contact with mine. Their caress is gentle, trialling the contact, but as the desire flaming through me increases, the head chill wanes and my passion kicks in. He must sense when I’m good to go, as the movement of his lips becomes less gentle, more urgent. A groan vibrates in my mouth as my fingers tug on his hair. When did my hands sneak in there? Who cares; the strands are long enough to grab, and smooth to the touch. I tug again, enjoying the effect it has on his kissing. Unable to help myself, I nibble on his bottom lip, tugging the stubble-edged flesh between my teeth. Unlike previous men, this guy seems to like my lip nibbles and it spurs him on. The kiss becomes deeper, more passionate, and I suddenly find myself pulled up out of my seat and pressed hard against him. Hands are on my ample butt, pushing me closer to his ripped body, my soft and squishy to his hard and oh… hard. Swoon. Instinct has me grinding, pushing my pelvis as close to his as I can manage. It’s divine! His fingers squeeze my arse, and mine are on their way to return the favour when a loud bang has us both jerking back. I lose balance, falling backwards into the chair, hair mussed, legs akimbo, and shooting daggers at the person who dared interrupt the first decent kiss I’ve had in bloody years. The interrupter glares straight back, tapping her foot on the floor and her finger on the watch on her wrist. Ronni huffs impatiently at me. “You’ve had your fun, Mum. Now it’s time to go. You promised we’d go to the art gallery today, and Chrissy wants to talk to the keepers at the zoo. It’s getting bloody hot out there and—” I’m gobsmacked. Utterly speechless. “Your timing sucks nuts, kid.” As of last week, I've finished typing Southern Dreams.
Woohoo! It's in the hands of beta readers now, and then back to me for a harsh round or two of editing. Once the formatting is done, I can finalise a paperback cover and get that ball rolling properly. So many steps! Once I'm happy that the book will actually be published this year, I'll put it up for pre-order. This one won't be in KU, but the one I'm adding to and tidying up now will be. Witch Mate? This was part of an anthology and I'm going through it now to make sure it's clean. Well... turns out, I feel like adding to it! So, it'll be bigger than the antho copy and hopefully better. Time shall tell, won't it? In the meantime, know that I am working on things for publication, which should be followed by more things for publication! As belated as it is, welcome to 2023!
It's March already and the last two months have flown by. I hate to think how fast the rest of the year will pass, to be honest. The scary thing about time passing is that you try to keep up with everything and then discover months have gone without you really noticing. Case in point... my newsletter. I keep reminding myself to send one but get sidetracked. I think it's been well over a year now. If you find yourself here somehow and you'd like to sign up to a very infrequent, non-spammy NL, please groove on over to the front page. I really do want to get onto a more regular monthly NL, even have the topics outlined too. Latest news here: My writing buddy, Slinky, died in January. Thankfully for my motivation, I'd finished the draft of Southern Dreams the day before losing him. Slinky was the cutest black cat, with Burmese somewhere in his bloodline, and a flatter nose than our other cats. He would lie across my laptop/notebook/lap/chest to get snuggles. His gorgeous noises and random 'scare me half to death' appearances are sorely missed. It's weird not having my buddy to cuddle up with (or trip over). Ten years with him was just not enough. As a result, and work being constant, the process of typing up my draft has taken a little longer. As of now, March 5th, I have about 10K left to type up. After this comes self-editing, adding Slinky's personality to some of Finley's 10 cats, and cleaning it up for betas. More read throughs, tweaks, and edits, and I hope that June will be the month for release. In the meantime though, I have the cover for Southern Dreams done and ready. The revamped cover for Pineapple Dreams too, which I'll reveal soon. And ... a bunch of short pieces done in the writers' group I run each fortnight. They'll be bonuses for NL subscribers. So, that's the latest, and not so greatest, news from Down Under. I just clicked onto this blog bit and saw that I haven't updated since 2019. Oops! Time flies, hey?
We've (hopefully) all survived two years of pandemic restrictions and lockdowns -- I live in Victoria, Australia, and we had LOTS of lockdowns. My kids did remote learning forever, then struggled when they finally got back in a classroom. I'm not convinced they're doing much better, even now. Despite the extra time at home, it didn't help the muse get on board with writing new things. The remote learning and work sucked all the creativity from me, I think. However, I have been creating new stories this year. Note that: new stories. Gah! Not the ones I want to finish first, no. New ones. Thank one of my best mates in high school for that one, okay? She love Pineapple Dreams so much she asked if there'd be more. Of course I said no, that was a short story for an anthology and there was never any plans to write mo-- "Oh!" says the muse. "I've got one for you." *sigh* And so began Southern Dreams. It started as "This will be a short story too, not too long. Wham, bam, write it and get it out there." Yeah, nah. Those characters have issues with each other and I think it's sitting at about 50K at the moment. It's not finished, either. So, on the list of things needing to be complete... well, that list is a little exhausting right now. Needless to say, I'll get them done but please keep the patience alive. I will be re-releasing two short stories from anthologies soon -- Witch Mate? and Taming the Menace will be coming before the end of the year. The catch? Taming is ready but needs a cover. Witch Mate? is ready with a cover, but I have four more parts mapped out to follow it and would really like to have at least one or two parts ready to go before popping them on KU (yes, I'm delving into the void). So, there's my dilemma. Trying to finish one before the others and I'm stuck with no releases. Again. Here's my promise to my readers though--I haven't forgotten you! I am working on new books each week in amongst editing other people's books. I'm not going to pump out sub-rate product just to release though. You deserve much better than that. Quality over quantity, right? Thought you'd understand. :) My write list is at about 40, so there's plenty to come. Plus, when I get myself organised again, I'll be adding my fortnightly writing exercises to newsletters as free reads, so there's that to look forward to. Take care! Aria. Another year done and dusted and another one begins. Christmas was eventful, with my other half slicing open his arm with an angle grinder. Smart man... So I was the one to carve the Xmas ham and get as much organised as possible. It's left him with a great scar and luckily for him, no limitations on movement or feeling. He's fortunate that it didn't go any deeper otherwise it would be a completely different story.
January was hot and icky for weather, and keeping three girls entertained inside out of the heat was challenging to say the least. They did not want to stay inside! Keeping them happy was harder still with multiple work deadlines. On the upside to the month, I did manage to get my word count total for Derby Dolls up to around 63K. I count that as a win. I participated in CreatingInk's 30 day 10 minute author business challenge, which was great for getting things organised (or at least in a list to get organised!) There are a few things I still need to sit down and do properly, but overall I have a better sense of where I need to take things now. The kids and their dad get to fend for themselves for a weekend when I head to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland for a signing on Feb 16th. Books by the Beach -- Romance Edition is happening in Mooloolaba in two weeks. *cue panic* And then two weeks after that is Bookmarked & Sexy in Brisbane. After that I'm going to be concentrating more on releasing Pineapple Dreams as its own story (previously included in Going South anthology) and getting Derby Dolls finished. Honestly, there probably won't be another full length novel from me for a while but I'd rather get it right than put out something that's half-baked. So I'll leave you there and make a note to update again soon! Aria. In case you missed it, here's the link to my May newsletter.
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In the meantime, I've enrolled Entrusted in Kindle Unlimited so you can all go and read it for free if you're with that program. Times of low to no sales gets depressing, so I tend to ignore my dashboards and keep plugging away at whatever work I'm doing. Trust me when I say, there are many days when I'd rather be writing than doing anything else! But I have a commitment to the authors I edit for and honour that before my own goodies. That being said, I miss writing for myself and for my readers. I miss having the time to be a more active part of the publishing world. But I'm still here! For as long as I can be. xxx A |
AuthorAria Peyton is a mum of three, non-wife to one, pet-mum to many. Zany, crazy but never quite fitting in, she loves to write about all kinds of things! And her characters get up to naughtiness behind closed doors... and other times not so private! Archives
September 2023
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