Reading Lists

Feeling a little better today! It's a rainy day here, so I'm planning on spending the day curled up on the couch with Polly, a large mug of coffee and my kindle. I'm currently reading Richelle Mead's Dark Swan books, if you like urban fantasy they're well worth a look.

Of course, I read lots of different types of books and another big draw for me is chick-lit, which is why I'm over with Talli Roland today talking about why I love the genre.

Hope you're all enjoying the holidays!

Some Belated Scroogery

Well, the good news is that I'm actually selling copies of Storms. I was really nervous about putting it out, but now that it's published it's not actually that scary. Well, until I start getting reviews in which will be very scary indeed.

The bad news is that my cough has progressed into a full-grade body-wracking rumble that makes me sound like I'm auditioning for the role of over-enthusiastic-consumptive patient #3 in a Victorian era drama. Not only is the cough itself painful, but I've coughed so hard that I've inflamed the muscles between my ribs, and it hurts to breath, move, hold things or, you guessed it, cough.


I also haven't had a full night's sleep in over a week, which has taken my already 'pale Irish' complexion down to 'living undead'.

The fact that this has happened over Christmas just adds to my general feeling of joie de vivre. I have friends home from the UK, I have family occasions that I want to go to, and I've missed them all.

The worst thing is the guilt. I feel like I'm letting everyone down. I'm not sure that everyone understands my illness at the best of times, but when I get another infection on top of it it makes everything more intense.

Sometimes, I'd just like to be able to plan my life without factoring in fibromyalgia. I'm really fed up today.

This has been an awful self-pitying post. Luckily, I'm over at Caitlin Lane's blog today, being a bit more upbeat and talking about writing for a living.

Promise I'll be in a better mood tomorrow!

T'was The Night Before Christmas...

Yes, it's that time of year again. By some dint of a miracle I have all my presents in, and can finally relax with the holiday box of chocolates and a gin and tonic. Good times.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all my blog followers for reading  and commenting on my posts since I first joined Blogger in March. I've met lots of great people and writers through the blogosphere, and I'm so happy that I jumped on board when I did.

I've been absent for a lot of December - putting the finishing touches on Storms, minding a baby, setting up a new (albeit unfinished) website and buying Christmas presents has made for an insane month. Hopefully January will be a more laid back one.


But it's been worth it! Storms in Teacups is now available to buy from Amazon! I'm equal parts scared and nervous.

Finally, if anyone is in a particularly giving mood and fancies giving me a (free) present, I'd really appreciate it if you'd like my new author page here. My reluctance to tell anyone that in my real life that I've written a book  means I have only a handful of likes, and I need 25 to get a stable URL.


Hope that wherever you are you have a fabulous Christmas/holiday season!

Storms In Teacups Book Blurb and Cover!

I'm in the Christmas mood, but there's so much that I still have to do before the festive season is upon us! In some fit of insanity, I decided to release my book at Christmas, so life is even more hectic. Here's the blurb (back jacket copy) for Storms, and my cover which I think is really simple but effective.

ALEX is a journalist who has always dreamed of working for a glossy women’s magazine. Instead, she finds herself working for Dublin’s most notorious tabloid newspaper, rewriting press releases and covering for her colleague Jodie, a well-connected neurotic who still hasn’t figured out how to use an apostrophe

ROSE thinks that she has life sorted. She loves her job as a teacher in a disadvantaged school, and has just moved in with her gorgeous actor boyfriend, Daniel. The only clouds on her horizon are a headmaster with a passion for new-age team-building and a stack of envelopes that she refuses to open but can’t quite bring herself to throw out.

SHANNON feels like she’s stagnating. When she graduated at the top of her class from drama college everyone thought it would be just a matter of time until she got her big break. Instead, she pays the bills with parts in small plays and some low rent television shows. Now she’s in her thirties, is it time she gives up on her dreams and get a proper job?

When a scandal shakes up the lives of all three women, will they manage to stay true to their dreams? Or will the betrayal of one man change their plans for good?

***

Hope all your holiday preparations are going well! :) 

She's Making A List...

I can’t believe that it’s almost four weeks until Christmas. I know my friends in the States have Thanksgiving to break the time between Halloween and Christmas, but in Ireland all we have is the 8^th of December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Ireland may have a reputation as a very Catholic country, but these days it’s known as Christmas Shopping Day, when people from the country come up to Dublin to do their Christmas shopping.

My fourteen year old sister is super organised and already as all her Christmas shopping done. I, on the other hand, have one present organised. Honestly, I may be older but she beats me hands down at organisation. She finds my generally disorganised life hard to understand. I always start off with the best of intentions but have a ‘why do today what I can put off until tomorrow’ attitude to life. As does my husband. And so it continues.

That being said, I’ve a lot to do before Christmas. I need to get ready for Storms’ release on December 30 and organise a blog tour and other kinds of promotion. I’ve also got some deadlines I need to meet for my other WIP’s so I can hit the ground running in 2012. I have to get things sorted for Christmas, and I have a child development course that’s going to run for the next eight weeks. I also need to do some work on my PhD, as I don’t want to end up with an avalanche of work awaiting me in January. I also have doctor visits for Polly, and a report to write.

And with a baby on night feeds, what I want more than anything is to sleep. Possibly until Christmas. You know you’re getting older when you fantasise about finding some pretext to leave the baby with your husband, visit a dodgy hotel alone and sleep for twelve hours. Or maybe it’s just me.

I have a diary where I make lists of my tasks for everyday, but they’re always hopelessly ambitious and I end up with a large proportion of them ending up being bumped onto the next day. By the end of November I’m going to have a list longer than Santa.