(This mouth-watering image has only a tenuous link with the following post, but I found it in a random folder and thought it was worth sharing! Sorry, I don’t have a photo credit.)
So, I couldn’t stay away for long. Not really a surprise, is it? 
I still don’t seem to have much blogging energy these days, but I suppose it can’t hurt to check in every now and then.
Here’s a summary of what’s been going on…
FAMILY:
A lot of people know this by now but just in case you’re wondering why I’ve been extra quiet, both of my parents were facing serious health problems. I had to take time off to help out, etc. The good news is that after a tough couple of months, things are starting to look much better. Yay!
WRITING:
Moth:
Understandably, writing took second place there for a while, but hopefully things will get back to normal this week – and over the next few weeks. Which is perfect timing because I have revisions late due on HUNTING THE DARK (the second Moth book)… I have posted a few snippets on my Facebook page, but I should really collect them up and put them here too. Just in case I don’t get round to it for a while, here’s a link to one that seemed popular.
The Iron Witch:
Just because the trilogy is complete and out in the world (well… the UK, US & Australia, at least!) doesn’t mean I have forgotten all about Donna, Navin and Xan. If you’d like to see a short story on this website set in the Iron Witch world, you can help to make that happen by ‘liking’ my Facebook page. As I announced there, when I reach 1000 ‘likes’ I’ll release the goods. You even get to vote on your favourite idea, or suggest something else you’d like to see me write. If I don’t hit that lofty FB goal, fear not! I will still post the free story as a Christmas gift by the end of the year.
CLICK for more info. Feel free to vote on Facebook or in blog comments right here. These are the story choices:
A. Donna & Xan (6 months after The Stone Demon)
B. Navin & Donna (where Newton calls in his favour)
C. An Ivy adventure (set after The Wood Queen)
D. Something else? Leave me a comment…
Totally Random Tour:
The Random House blog tour with Emma Pass and Amy McCulloch was a great success, but is now over. If you’d like to catch up with any of the blog posts/interviews that we did, here’s a complete list with all the links.
One of my favourite things was when UK vlogger Sable Caught made our posts about the 5 places that inspire us to write into this awesome video:
OTHER STUFF:
It was my *cough*40th*cough* birthday at the weekend, and after living in denial about it for the past year I did end up having fun. On Saturday morning, we took ourselves off to see this:
Brief, spoiler-free thoughts: Me & the boyfriend both gave Man of Steel a pretty solid 7 out of 10. There were some elements I didn’t love about the film (a big chunk of the third act, for example), but the best thing about the experience for me was the cast. I think most of the actors worked really well, and although (in my heart of hearts) nobody will ever be as good as Margot Kidder and Christopher Reeve as Lois and Clark, Henry Cavill and Amy Adams did a fine job. I would like to watch them in another Superman movie, for sure. I particularly enjoyed seeing Laurence Fishburne as Perry White – that was a great bit of casting. I hope he gets more to do in a second outing.
Overall, tentative thumbs up in terms of relaunching a potential Superman franchise. I’d like to see more satisfying character arcs and less War of the Worlds-style action in the next one (assuming there will be one), but I enjoyed it a lot more than 2006′s Superman Returns.
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