Five things, because I’ve been so busy and have fallen behind:

1) I did sort of finish Hunting the Dark (Moth Book 2), but it was a very drafty sort of first draft, so my editor very kindly gave me more time, while she’s on vacation, to make it more of a Draft 1.5. I should be finished filling in the gaps and tidying it up within the next week or so.

2) In the meantime, I have also started researching/making notes for a completely new YA book. I won’t say too much about it yet, because who knows whether it will go anywhere or sell or whatever… But I did have a long talk with Agent M on Tuesday, and she gave it her seal of approval – so hopefully I’ll have a proposal finished sometime in March. (A proposal is usually 40-50 pages, plus a synopsis.) I’ve never tried to sell anything on proposal before, so we’ll have to see what happens. I will say that I am truly excited about the potential I see in this project; but at the same time that scares me because when we write something and really put our hearts into it, that can make it harder to create. I have this vision of what I want it to be, but the thought of making it into a reality feels a long way off.

3) On top of all that, I am slowly developing the adult book I keep promising myself that I’ll write. I did manage around 40K or so early last year, but then had to set it aside to work on Actual Contracted Projects. Now that I’ve returned to the half-a-manuscript I wrote, I am just not happy with it. I know I can do better. I’ll probably be taking a few elements from it, but mostly starting all over again. I’d love to sell an adult UF/PR sort of series one day – but the world and characters I have in mind are more suspense/action oriented. It’s kind of a hybrid of several genres, and I just want to give it space to be whatever it ‘wants’ to be… if that makes sense. I am thinking of working on this one on-the-side throughout the rest of the year. I don’t have to worry about deadlines or contracts; I can write it first of all for me and just take it from there. Maybe make it my ‘weekend book’ or add a page a day. Something like that.

4) Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of questions via email and Facebook about Moth. Things like: what is the correct reading order of the various stories; will there be more novels in the future; when will the books be published in the US (or other countries); will there be more of the Moth Tales webcomic? I’ve been answering those questions individually, but I think it makes far more sense for me to put up some answers on the site – I promise to get that done soon. I have slowly been making some website updates here and there anyway, but I’m definitely long overdue for an FAQ page. It’s super cool that people seem to love Moth as much as I do, so thank you very much for all your great questions!

5) Finally, it is very important that I tell you how obsessed I have become with New Girl. Wow… I can’t say I loved it to start with, but the TV show really started to grow on me and now I’m totally into it! Apart from the bright, girly clothes (which are cute and lovely, but definitely not ‘me’), I am scarily like Jess in a number of ways. Seriously, if you meet me you’d have to put up with me singing things at inappropriate times, making up theme songs for people (and I can’t even sing), and generally being uncool and geeky – in a hopefully adorable way. *ahem*

I’ve already seen/heard spoilers for Season Two, which is a shame, but it hasn’t stopped me enjoying the show while catching up. I’m almost finished with Season One, and considering the episodes are barely longer than 20 minutes each they make great rewards for reaching writing goals. Like, one episode for every however-many-words, or an episode for every hour spent revising. Trust me, I need the motivation…