Waiting.  Does it seem to you like we spend our whole lives waiting?  We wait in line at the supermarket to pay.  We wait on the telephone for someone to stop the really annoying on-hold music and talk to us.  We wait for the doctor.  We wait for Christmas.  We wait…

To me, this week it feels like I am waiting for everything!

My second novel, The Blinding Light was released and I have been waiting for the reviews to come in.  Reviews and sales have been fantastic and I am Completely. Blown. Away. by the response I’ve received to this novel.  I thank every single one of my readers.  You guys ROCK!

Despite this excitement, I’m still waiting.  Firstly I’m waiting for my sales statement from my publisher.  They are distributed quarterly, and I am jumping out of my skin to feel like a “real” author.  Yes – you read that correctly.  Because, you see, I am a newbie to this writing gig.  Loving Jay was my first novel and it was only released in April.  So I’m waiting for my statement so that I feel like a real author.

I’m also waiting on the release of my short story in the anthology, A Taste Of Honey.  It’s due out on the 18th of August.  It is the only short story I’ve written, and I’ll be very interested to see what people say about it.  I’m used to fleshing out a character and having them slowly fall in love, so how will a short story go over?

My next novel is called The Shearing Gun and will be coming out in September.  So I’m gearing up for that.  Editing is complete, but I still have to do my galley proofs, so once again I’m waiting.  Waiting.

I have another novel after that (yes!  I’ve been a busy girl!).  It has just hit editing and my editor emailed me this morning to say she is starting on it.  So now I’m waiting for first edits…

You would think that was enough, yes?  But no, no, no.

I’ve recently written a funny romance called Shawn’s Law.  I wanted to see how many Australian animals and insects I could get to attack my MC before the end of the book.  Relax!  He survives them all.  He needs someone to kiss the boo-boo better sometimes, but he is still there in the end. I’ve submitted this to my publisher, and yes, once again I’m waiting…  This time for a response.  (Fingers crossed!)

Once upon a time (before Loving Jay) I wrote a humorous m/f romance.  I submitted it to a large publisher and got the dreaded silence…  You know?  No acknowledgement of receiving the manuscript, no rejection because it doesn’t quite fit with their publication guidelines, no I’m-sorry-you-can’t-even-write-a-shopping-list email.  Just silence.  (Big publishers are so big, they don’t need to do acknowledgement).  So after licking my wounds, I smartened up the story and resubmitted elsewhere.  I’m waiting for that one too…

Waiting…  I feel like Christmas will come first before some of these.

While I’m waiting, I’ve been dabbling away at two new stories.  I’m not sure how they will work out – if they will even get finished at the rate I’ve been working.  But one of them is a spin-off from Loving Jay.   Jay and Liam appear as the supportive friends to a new character called Kee.  He’s trying to find his way back to the “dating scene” after a bad breakup.  Jay has a lot of advice for him.  A lot.  You know Jay.  He never can keep his mouth shut.

My other WIP is a more serious story that is a spin-off from my novel which will be released at the end of this year.  It’s a tough story, and I’m struggling to describe the depths of my MC’s emotions when it comes to the fact that he would rather be married to a woman he doesn’t love, than be out of the closet and free.  All because of his children.  That love we bear for our children cannot be lightly taken. 

So all in all, I am very busy on all author fronts.  This has been a rather boring blog, but I thought I would update the people on what I’m up to.

Now I will go back to waiting, and pull up my WIP and get busy.

(PS – I have a big surprise coming tomorrow.  So stick around to see it!)

Today I met with a friend who is transitioning from male to female.  I listened as she told me the troubles she is going through with her family.  Although she has been dealing with this problem her whole life, she has only come out to her family eight months ago.

She sat them down just before Christmas and told them she had made the decision to become a woman.

They were understandably upset and confused, and now eight months later, some of them are still struggling.  Mostly because they had no hint of this previously.  To me, I suspected some four months ago, but we have only been acquainted for three years, not fifty, so I simply shrugged when I heard the news and congratulated her.

Over coffee, I shared the news of this person’s transition with my BFF.  One of my BFF’s questions was, “So is he… she… a lesbian now?  If he’s now a woman, does he… uh, she… go for guys or girls?”

I have to admit I don’t know.  It’s a bit of a personal question, isn’t it?

I guess the whole thing comes down to the fact that transitioning from one gender to another has nothing to do with sexual orientation.  In my opinion, your sexual orientation is what you like in other people.  Your gender is what you feel on the inside of you.

But no matter what her preference in other people, asking is one of those no-no questions.  It ranks right up there with asking a gay couple who is the bottom in the relationship.  You just don’t ask.  If they are happy to volunteer the information, then okay, but otherwise, what they do in the privacy of their bedroom is up to them.

I’m always bemused at the thought that people feel they have to right to ask those sort of questions.  The only time I’ve ever had to answer questions about my own sex life was when my father demanded to know if I was still a virgin after meeting my new (and first) boyfriend (cringe! Thx Dad!), and when my doctor was trying to work out the due dates of my children.  In a way, I’m lucky to be heterosexual.

I often wonder how hard it is for some guys to come out to their family.  A group of us mothers met over the recent school holidays for a play-date in the park.  While chatting, two mothers admitted they were already wondering about their sons, as both boys show a determined liking for fairies, glitter, tutus and dresses.  Since these children in question are only four, I’m a little sceptical, but I do wonder about mothers who suspect their child is gay from a young age.  It is probably easier for those boys.

I would have to imagine it is the “manly men” who have trouble telling their family.  These are the ones whose family would say, “But you don’t look gay!”  Just like my transitioning friend, whose family said, “But you don’t dress like a woman!”  Well, no.  She doesn’t because her genitalia and society said that it was wrong to wear her hair like that and paint her fingernails.  She has finally gathered the courage to give a middle finger to the world and break out the nail polish and hair spray (along with pantyhose, high-heels and lipstick!)

Dreamspinner have a new Anthology coming out – it’s called A Taste of Honey.  It’s about bears.  No, not real bears, or shifter bears, but men who call themselves bears.  It’s a form of recognition of a certain type of gay man – one who is happy being hairy and having a real body, not necessarily one that is muscled or svelte.  Yes, you heard right.  They are big and hairy and gay.  And most importantly – happy to be this way.

There may be a small offering in this Anthology from me, but I’m more interested in the other stories.  I already know what my story is about.  I want to know about the others!  I wonder if any of them tackle the issue of manly men coming out to their family?  I can’t wait!

So you panic.  You think of going back to edit it, only to realise IT’S TOO LATE!  Editing is done!  Proofing is done!  What is there, is there…  You panic some more, then realise that panicking achieves nothing (unless there is an elephant stampede – then panicking may help).

You spin out!  You crash! You go up in flames… Okay, maybe not.  Maybe you sit there with a coffee and think logically like an adult.  You come to the conclusion that you’ve done what you can, and come what may, that book is being released – mistakes and all.  You feel better.  You are calm.

Then you go and google yourself again, just to make sure there isn’t a review that has magically appeared in the last ten minutes on the internet…


The Blinding Light releases on Monday, 14th of July and can be purchased (pre-release) from here:

eBook from Dreamspinner:  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5211
Paperback from Dreamspinner:  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5212

eBook from ARe:  https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-theblindinglight-1557675-149.html