EVERY MOVE BOOK LAUNCH OMG OMG FLAILY HANDS

Hi again!  Okay, are you ready?  Here we go…

Please join me, and special host  Adele Walsh, for the launch of Every Move, the finale in the Every series!  The launch will be at Readings Carlton (Lygon Street, Melbourne – see map) from 6-8pm on Monday 16 March 2015.

There will be feasting, speechifying, book signing, general silliness, and probably my kids running around like dervishes.  All ages gig, nibbles (nicer than last year! I promise!), drinks on the house, a door prize giveaway, and Adele and me have sworn a sacred oath not to make speeches that are too long or boring.  Maybe if I can get just a bit more organised, I will make a cake.  If you’re round and about in Melbourne, please feel welcome to come along.  We’d love to see you!

If you’re on Facebook, you can join up here; otherwise, please RSVP to Readings Carlton on:  (03) 9347 6633  so we how know much booze food and stuff to buy.  I hope you can make it!

There is no other news that is more exciting.  I mean, I got a new phone tree for my son’s class, and my parents are coming to visit, but the part-ay is the big news, baby.

But I should mention that I received my author copies of Every Move – new books always smell so nice! – and copies have gone out to bloggers and reviewers for the upcoming blog tour. Which means that right now, people are reading the book.  So I am remaining calm, yes, very calm *hyperventilates*

Anyway, I’m supposed to be writing this very second!  So please remember to come along to the launch, if you’re able, and have a most excellent week.  I will tell you about the blog tour as soon as I have more info.

Xx Ellie

Welcome to 2015 and keeping the plates spinning

Hey folks, I’m back :)

We had a lovely family camping trip over Christmas and New Year - I hope your end-of-year celebrations were peaceful and fun.  And I hope you got lots of books for Christmas!  I managed to get a copy of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King (if you’re a Sherlock aficionado like me, why haven’t you read it already? – Go, go read it right now), The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (yay Graeme!), and Forensics by Val McDermid (great, but I think I need something with more specifics).

It’s been a sobering start to the year so far.  A lovely community friend died recently after a struggle against cancer (it’s always described as a struggle, or a battle or a war, but he really did fight so hard), which threw a great deal of perspective on life.  I’ve loved having this rest time, but it’s made me realise how ridiculously busy I was last year.

About three years ago I read a blog post by Becca Fitzpatrick (who is huge, and goes on book tours and stuff, so she has it way worse than me, obvs) about how she was trying really hard to figure out a better work/life balance, and I didn’t really get what she meant.  But by Christmas last year, I was exhausted – I finished a book (Every Word), wrote another (Every Move), started another (new standalone), and edited the first two for publication, as well as launching Every Word here in Australia and Every Breath in North America and the Philippines.  I also did speaking and teaching gigs at schools, went to festivals and launches, did all the other promotional stuff for the books (launching and already-released), and spent a lot of time on social media (which is fun, I admit – I’ve made a whole lot of new friends on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram *waves*).  I also parented, worked my other job, and helped manage a household of six.

I know I’ve got less on my plate than some other writer-people I know, but it was hard work (and I should say to everyone who missed out on email replies and stuff from me last year – my deepest apologies, I’ll try harder).  Somehow I still found time for my four boys and my partner - BUT I didn’t do lots of normal stuff.  I didn’t exercise, I didn’t watch TV, I didn’t garden.  And my partner carried the can a lot (beyond the call of duty, really) and I felt really guilty for not giving my sons more time.

This year, I’ve still got lots of stuff happening – Every Move is launching in March (omg!!! So close now!!!), and Every Word comes out overseas in September; I’m going to Somerset Festival in Queensland, and Reading Matters in Melbourne, and the Romance Writers of Australia conference (I might be teaching a workshop – will keep you posted!), and I’d love to be invited again to Melbourne Writer’s Festival; I’m going to finish my first post-Every-series book, and prep it for publication; and I’m hoping to visit more schools and libraries this year as well.  But I’m going to do my best to balance things out a bit more, and give my partner, especially, a bit more time.  He works very hard – not just at his teaching job, but at home around the property, and most importantly, giving so much time to our boys – and has been so amazing in helping me achieve my own dreams for the last few years, I feel like he deserves to have his own goals and dreams prioritised more this year.  Being a couple is a commitment to negotiation and communication, and finding a balance that works well for both of us and keeps us both content: I’d like to make sure the balance is better this year.

I’m still excited about what's coming up :)  For those of you who’ve asked if I could come to visit your school or library or book group – sure!  Just click on the link over there (*points right*) to my speaking agency, Booked Out, or click on my webpage link for my publishers’ contacts (*points right again*), and let them know when and where!  And for those lovely people who’ve asked if I’m ever coming to visit in North America – well, anything could happen!  I’m still very open to the idea if anyone wants to invite me :)

So what other stuff has been happening?   Well, I said we went camping, right?  Our annual family beach-camping trip was amazing.  I turned off my phone for TWO WHOLE WEEKS – heaven – and spent a lot of time lolling around on the beach in southern NSW.  I know lots of people don’t like camping – insects! dirt! pit toilets! – but I LOVE it.  Vikki Wakefield and I have decided that camping-loving chicks like ourselves are an endangered species, but I think more people should just give it a try.

What else happened on this camping trip, you ask, apart from pit toilets, and lolling, and a delightful break from online shenanigans?  Well, in a nutshell:

* We saw seals, dolphins, manta rays, goannas, wombats, lyrebirds, and the usual complement of kangaroos and wallabies, of course.  The wombats were the cutest.  The seals were incredible.  A goanna nearly bit me on the ankle – yeah, gotta watch out for those goannas.

* I jumped in the sea, every morning and every evening – LOVED it.  I was hoping to do a nudie swim on the last night, but when I got down to my swimming spot at sundown, there were about a dozen teenage boys fishing nearby, so yeah…no.

* I started to feel a bit sticky and salty by about Day6, and I always have about a million mosquito bites by then – that’s okay, I’m used to it.  I won’t post pics of the mozzie bites on my butt, because that would be gross and unnecessary.

* Peeing in the bushes FTW

* I got a tick in my hair.

* Apart from ticks, hair also got very salty and frizzy.  Nobody cares when you’re camping.  I was feeling very WildGirl for the whole trip – golden and swimming-lithe and fit – and then when I finally got back home and looked in the mirror, I realised I actually looked like a sunburnt, birds-nest-haired crazy person.  Oh well.

(Side note: I actually love the break from mirrors that camping provides.  If I look at myself in a mirror every day, I start to get all self-conscious or particular about my appearance.  Having a break from mirrors, I feel like I can return to a real sense of self-perception, and let go of self-consciousness.  /End rant)

* Many fish were caught, and some were put back, and some were eaten.

* I received a full-body wetsuit for my birthday, and it has CHANGED MY LIFE.  My god, I can snorkel!  I can swim in the ocean for hours without my extremities freezing off!  This is such a revelation!

* I wrote every day (the pic at right was the view from my writing spot).  I wrote in little school exercise books, and added about 10,000 words to the manuscript that is slowly turning into (working title) No Limits.  It’s some of the most tension-filled, swoony, thrilling stuff I’ve ever written (I think) – this book is going to have all the feels.  I’m completely head over heels for my new leading man…who I’ll tell you about later.  Like, after March.

So that was camping.  Since I’ve come back home, I’ve kept up the exercise routine I tentatively began in December, watched the first season of The100 (and now totally get the obsession), spent a week in Melbourne working on No Limits (65,000 words and counting!) while my older boys were attending music summer school, and done plenty of lolling.  Now, I’m on fire for the New Year!  Bring it on!

And bring on the balance.  With a bit of luck – and a lot of negotiation and communication – I’m hoping my partner and I can keep all the plates spinning this year.

Xx ellie

PS: Christmas Prize-pack Winners – I haven’t forgotten you!  I’m posting out the prizes for you all this week, so keep your eyes out for a parcel in the mail.  If you haven't sent me your contact addy - please do it now!

PPS: If you're at ALA Midwinter this year, remember to go grab an ARC of Every Word from the Tundra booth (4829)!

Every Word playlist, and I can’t believe we went camping!

In the rain and snow!  In July!  But hey, we did.  It’s school holidays, you’re supposed to do crazy stuff like that.  Well, maybe not that crazy.  But it was great!  I saw and played in and skied on solid snow for the first time in my life.  I fell down and lot and got a damp bum.  I had a good time, which is funny cos I was dreading it.

Much like book release periods – I dread being so busy that I can’t write, and I feel drained and exhausted afterwards, but I have a strangely fun time.  Now that Every Word is out there, fending for itself, I feel oddly unoccupied.  Wah!

Anyhoo, just for the feels, here’s something I promised I’d post up: the Every Word playlist.  These are the songs that inspired me during the writing of certain scenes, or just seemed to ear-worm me at different times while I was writing the book, and gave the writing a heartbeat.

Prytania – Mute Math: For the opening credits.  Something about this ‘shaka-shaka’ song really reminded me of Rachel and Mycroft’s whole journey for this book.

Rocksteady – The Bloody Beetroots: For the roller derby scene, obvs.

Gold on the Ceiling – The Black Keys: Mycroft’s current Black Keys fave – he always has a Black Keys song on the hop.

Lay Your Love on Me – Racey: For the hot make-out scene in Mycroft’s room.  I changed my mind a few times about this song, because I thought it was too daggy.  But you know, Mycroft is kind of daggy, in an off-beat way.  What finally convinced me in the end were the lyrics: ‘Every word you say/ every move you make now…’

Wide Load – Ainslie Wills:  This is a beautiful, mournful song of regret by a Ballarat singer-songwriter, and it set the mood perfectly for the scene where Rachel sees Mycroft through the window of his room, late at night.

London Calling – The Clash: Arriving in London.  What else could you use?  Plus, Mycroft mentions the Clash specifically during one of those hair-raising drives with Professor Walsh.

Royals – Lorde: In the Underground tunnel, before Alicia and Rachel visit the Sherlock Holmes museum. This song was soo big while I was in London, omg, it was played everywhere. 

Fine Shrine – Purity Ring : This is for Rachel, swimming back to consciousness after a (no spoilers!) traumatic event.  It sounds like a bubblegum pop song that’s been warped and turned inside out so you can see the entrails – which is a lot like I imagined Rachel would feel at that point.

Burning Down the House – Talking Heads: This song would not leave me alone during the writing of Every Word.  Honestly, it’s addictive – try it.

Stay – Rihanna: Out in the yard, before the final scene of the book.  Mentioned on p:327.

Straight Lines – Silverchair : Another song that ear-wormed me.  Consider it a final credits song – for me, it’s about trying to be good and find a balance in your life.

There you go!  Hope you like these tunes, and maybe they’ll give you a little perspective on where I was at while I was writing the book.  I’d like to say thank you too, to all the people who’ve written in, and posted reviews, and gotten in touch through Twitter and Facebook to say they’re loving Every Word.  That makes me incredibly happy.

The Goodreads giveaway has wound up – congratulations to the three winners, from the US, Canada, and Great Britain!  I’ll be sending your copies of Every Word through this week.  Thanks to everyone who participated in comps and giveaways on the blog tour, and again, special thanks to the book bloggers who supported the tour.  Hugs.

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to keep you updated about the progress of Every Move, which I know people are keen to hear about (it’s going to the printers in November – that’s the current timeline, at any rate), and I might even have time soon to put up a new Crime Report interview, which is something I’ve been rather slack about.  Until then, hope you’re doing okay – the weather here is truly miserable and cold (I can’t believe we went camping!), with drips all down the windows, and mud on the front step.  We’re keeping the house fire stoked high, and drying our socks that way.  Hope the weather is better for you, wherever you might find yourself, and have a good week!

Xx Ellie

COVER REVEAL AND RELEASE DATE: Every Word

Okay – cue me, with the flailing hands again.

I swore black and blue that I’d get this up last week, but of course, I was distracted by the actual process of getting the book to the printers (yup, kinda necessary, that).  But now I get to share the shiny cover of Every Word with you.  Yes.

And here it is!

So lovely, right?  Lisa White has done an amazing job.  I can tell you at this point that the covers were designed by her well in advance – back when Every Breath was being designed, before I even had a full manuscript for Every Word ready to go – and the only detail she knew about Every Word was ‘London’.  So she has really been quite psychic about this cover, because it’s a great reflection of what’s inside (see how Mycroft’s looking all angsty?  Well, there’s a reason for that…)

I can also tell you now that Every Word will be officially released on 1 June 2014.  You can pre-order copies through the Allenand Unwin website, if you like, and feel free to drop over to Goodreads and add it to your list, if you have one.

What else has been happening?  SO MANY THINGS.  Oh my god, you know those weeks you have when you feel like the whirlwind has come to you, and everything seems to want to happen all at once?  That has been me, for the past few weeks.  I’ve been working other jobs, and writing grant proposals, and talking to folks in Canada about getting Every Breath released overseas in September, and writing Every Move, and doing copyedits for Every Word, and rewrites for Every Word, and, and…

Oh yes, my house!  It is so messy! (oh, my messy  messy house… *sob*)And my family!  We’ve had a birthday, and a school camp, and parent-teacher nights…all the usual exciting stuff. My head has been just a little full lately.  Last night, I had a dream about a haunted supermarket (say what?), so clearly I have a few too many plates spinning.  Or maybe I’ll use it for a story, at some later point, who knows.

I’ve also got some events coming up.  Lovely folks of Tintern College, I am coming your way on Monday 17 March, and then later again, in May.  I’ll be at Carey Grammar in May too, for the literature festival there, and the Melbourne Writers Festival Schools Program is in August, and I’ll be there!  I even bought some proper lady-clothes for all these things, yes indeed, so you won’t have to deal with the sight of me in my clean-out-the-chookhouse clobber.

In the meantime, I’m gonna keep working on Every Move.  I’m really looking forward to April, when things will be quieter, and I’ll be able to really get into it.  The weather here is cooling now, which is very conducive for working – it’s dark and quiet in the mornings, and not yet freeze-your-fingers-off temperatures, so I’ll be able to get up and make my thermos and sneak out to write into the cool, dim, quiet time before everyone yawns and wakens…

See you in the haunted supermarket J

Xx Ellie