Escape Route

There's a fire. The smell of spices and chilies from a lovely Korean/Japanese celebration dinner hangs in the air. There's music, and red wine, and I'm sitting here alternating between writing and building... of all things... a Gundam. The Gundam was a birthday present, straight from Japan and I'm feeling a little nostalgic.

As years go, 2015 was an excellent vintage with one book out and contracts signed for two more, and I'm hoping that 2016 will turn out similarly good. There will, of course, be some drought with Jae, Yunho, Chun and Min already in uniform and Junsu not far off from going. I'm particularly going to miss my Minspiration, but there's work to get on with and, maybe, a Se7en album to look forward to to sit alongside Jae's. There's also an X-Japan concert, on our 24th wedding anniversary... and I'm very much looking forward to that.
Neatly bracketing the concert are two book releases: Ghosts is out on February 10th and  House Hunt will walk the plank sometime in April. (Have a bit of Jack and Gareth, just because.... )


After that? I'm hoping to submit Swings & Roundabouts (Power of Zero #4), FanBait (Power of Zero spinoff) and Warring States #1, the story of a manga artist who uses his stories to make sense of his own love life, over the next twelve months. After that, there's a new paranormal romantic suspense in the works and I'm very excited about that.

Between all of that, of course, there's the day job, real life and... fanfic! Is it really only three years that I've been here? It still surprises me how much the fanfic side of things can keep me going when real life decides to throw spanners. A writer's life can be a lonely one and while, most times, that's fine by me, a bit of interaction now and then works wonders. So, thanks to everyone who takes the time to write stories for me to read, chat with me and cheer me up when I need it.

You all deserve a wonderful 2016! And I'll hope that you get it.

Along with some Minspiration - Happy New Year!

A very Happy New Year to you all - lots of love, success and plenty of stories!
We've had our laziest Christmas break EVER. Barely set foot out of the house once the family Christmas bit was over - the weather wasn't helping - and just lazed around reading, writing, eating and listening to music until I started to wonder if this is what hibernation feels like.

Today though, life started bright, sunny (shock-horror!) and with a tandem ride.  Cold but invigorating - except for the state of the roads after three weeks of heavy rain and a dose or two of frost.  The sudden improvement in weather wasn't the real shock, though. That honour goes to my husband's "Can we have a Japanese dinner tonight?"  Speechless doesn't quite cover it.

He's had to put up with my Bleach-induced Japanese food odyssee (chocolate-covered watermelon onigiri?) for almost a year now and, on the whole, has been very patient with me - even taking me to Toku for my birthday dinner.  Not easy, that, seeing he's Vegetarian.  So now I'm unexpectedly playing with a Japanese-themed New Year's Day dinner.  Created from ingredients I happen to have around the house right at the end of the Christmas break. As challenges go, this.. is a nice one!