Hi everyone,
I have had one of those weeks when everything that could go wrong did. Anyway, I am back on track now and will hopefully dust myself off and get back to work. I have been playing around with images, I hope I got this one right and it uploads as planned! It was taken by a friend of mine who was doing some work for us at the shack ( that is beach house in your vernacular!) and it really is stunning. The sunsets and sunrises up there are really spectacular.
It was Anzac weekend and of course a time when Australians remember the sacrifices so many young men made during the First World War. I have sons the same age of some of those lost so it brings it home to you how hard it must have been, and indeed how hard it must be for other war veterans today to see young people throw their lives away on drugs and risky driving when there is so much to live for. Anyway, off my soap box now, I must get back to my characters who I have not spoken to in a week. That is not a good thing as they might have totally changed by now!
Have a great week.
Melanie x

Hi everyone,
I just wrote a long post and somehow lost it. I hope this doesn't appear twice! A big thank you and hello to the lovely ladies in my Adult Education class yesterday: Gek, Deb, Anna, Sharleen, Trish, Claire ( who shares the name of my current heroine!) and Louise. You were all fantastic and a great group to work with. I wish we'd had time to do more.
I hope everyone enjoyed my photo last week of Polly and Pippi. I will have to try and find one of Mango.
I hoped to do another full three chapters last week but I only got two and a half done but that's because I was holding off a viral thing. I was dreading it turning into flu but thankfully it didn't. The rest did me a world of good.
I hope you all have a fabulous week.
All the best,
Melanie xx

Hello to everyone,
Once I am on a roll there's no stopping me, I'm afraid. I am straight into another book, this time a linked one so it's fun playing around with characters and setting the scene and so on. I think creativity comes in waves which is why I work as hard as I can when I'm on one and back off a little when I'm not. The thing is the more you write the easier it becomes, so any of you interested in pursuing a writing career should really think about allocating some time each day( or week) where you just sit and write whatever you like. It is amazing what you will come up with. Of course it will be rough in places, but that's what editing and rereading is for. I do a lot of both as I go along.
This week seems to have flashed past and it is my third one without my car. There is some sort of software problem in the engine's computer and they can't locate it, or at least they have and fixed it twice now but then it does it again. Very frustrating! It's not going to be so bad this week as I have now been given permission to walk as far as I like on my foot. It is healing well and in another five weeks I will be able to RUN and wait for it....wear HEELS!!! I don't wear them all the time but it sure is nice to dress up when we go out and flats don't always do it for me. I'm not short but I like to feel elegant when I need to.
I hope you all have a fabulous week.
All the best,
Melanie xx

Hi everyone,
I am finished the book! It took me longer than I wanted it to but that's because I set myself such impossible standards all the time. Do any of you do that? I find I set a goal that is a little too high and then end up beating myself up about not being able to achieve it. Some days I can write pages and pages, especially if I have some block time, other days I can barely get my thoughts in order. Once I am ahead of my schedule I feel energised and now is one of those times. I can't wait to get started on my next book, the ideas are already flowing and I have just have to decide on the heroine's name and what she looks like. This is so much fun!
We've had a bit of a wild week. On Wednesday night we had hurricane force winds, 174kph which was truly devastating for some people. Roofs came off, trees blew down and there was a lot of damage all around Hobart. We were lucky except for our garbage bins falling over and a few extra leaves scattered about, oh and the walnut tree got every last remaining walnut pelted to the ground! We've had lovely still days since so that is some sort of compensation.
Thank you to all my US readers for buying Innocent Wife, Baby of Shame as you have put me on the Waldies bestseller list for two weeks running. You totally rock!
All the best,
Melanie xx