To the blog of Australian speculative fiction author Karen Miller, who also writes as K E Mills.

First of all, thanks for dropping by. If you can remember to, please sign in or at least sign your post if you don't have a regular LJ account. I do allow anon comments but I like to know who to say hello and thanks to!

I do try to stay current and up to date here, but my workload this year is off the charts el stupido and sometimes I get a bit behind. So please bear with me -- I mostly manage to catch up! And in the meantime, please don't be shy in chatting to each other.

Ciao!

So here's the progress on Wizard Squared:

52343 / 100000 words. 52% done!

Because yes! I am sick again! Actually, I'm still sick. Apparently, according to my regular GP who is now a half hour drive away, hence rushed the visits to my local medical centre, I'm under attack by a drug resistant bug which is why I am being clobbered all over again right now. Sigh. So now I have a 3rd antibiotic to try which is the atom bomb of antiobiotics and so, fingers crossed, the nightmare will soon come to and end.

I'm still writing. I'll post an updated wordcount later. But today was largely a write off due to chills, headaches, chest pains and coughing.

Did I mention I'm bored with this shit? Well, I am.

Stay tuned ...

Just saying ...



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Tomorrow will see me hit the halfway mark on Wizard Squared, first draft. I'm currently wrangling the mayhem that is Gerald and Co, and having a lot of fun! Wheee!

Also? Today I had a minor epiphany. At the Natcon I was on a panel with the massively erudite and well-informed Peter M Ball, and one of the things we discussed was Magic Realism. Specifically how I could not seem to wrap my brain around what it was, exactly. And today I realised - you know what? I think it's a wankery term invented by literati types who are too embarrassed to admit they're reading and/or writing fantasy.

Because you know what? If it's got magic in it, and the magic is real and it works, then it's bloody well fantasy in my book.

So there!

Also also? Wilson, he is making me laugh. He keeps back a bit of dinner and runs around with it in his mouth and then he tries to bury it in the couch, for later. I don't know why this makes me giggle, but it does. It also makes me check the couch on a regular basis. Oh! Oh! And one of his favourite games is to chase an empty Coke Zero bottle around, playing football with it. So cuuuute!

Okay. That's it. I'm done.

That is until I get the final few comments and see it in typeface layout, at which point I'll have hysterics and try to make it better all over again.

But yay! Despite 3 days of coughing myself to the point of vomiting and crying (I tell you, it's just no fun) I am ready to declare the story substantially finished. And what's more, I'm happy. Or as happy as I'm ever likely to get. You know me.

The book officially has a name now, btw: Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth.

I have urgent, urgent chorey things to do tomorrow and then my brain is free to dive headfirst back into Wizard Squared, which must be finished posty hasty. And even as I'm thinking on that story I've got other stuff bubbling away on the backburner. Though at times I despair, I actually really love this job.

Oh. And bloody Wilson? Fancies that he likes cat food more than puppy food. I have never had a fussy eater before. Little shit. But he's coming along in leaps and bounds, literally. He can jump up on the sofa now, with his little legs. Awwwww.

Happy 4th of July to my lovely US friends and readers. Have a fabulous long weekend. Party hard!

Also? How much do I hate neighbours who start blasting heavy rock music at 2.45 am????? I finally managed to get back to sleep at 5.30. It's actually the daughter, and this happens every time she turns up. If it happens again tonight I'm calling the cops. It's not the first time I've had to do that, and until such time as she stops visiting it won't be the last. One time the music was so loud she couldn't hear them banging on her front door. I tell you, after a month of bad sleep due to this bloody bronchitis, I'm about ready to do something wrong. Grrrr.

But on a better note -- and at the risk of sounding not only like a pretentious wanker but of jinxing myself -- I'm really proud of my second Star Wars novel. I'm working my way through through the final tweak now ... and I'm just -- I'm really proud. I think it's helped me grow as a writer.

And now I must get back to it. The difference between putting down a first draft and getting to the final polish is amazing. I so love this part. I so struggle with the other. Ah, the joys of writing!

Be good, all!

Well y'know, I gotta say ... it's been a pretty bloody crappy week really. What with still being sick and all, and the resulting slow down in output. But I'm creeping along.

Wizard Squared so far:

42310 / 100000 words. 42% done!

Now this weekend sees me do the final tweaky pre-copy edit polish of the next Star Wars novel, and then with that behind me on Monday -- and hopefully feeling fully myself again -- I go hell for leather to finish Wizard Squared. I don't want to spoil -- but I will say this. It's off to a quite disturbing start! But on Monday the playing starts ... before everything goes pear shaped, of course! Wheeee! I love these characters.

Everyone have a safe and happy weekend. I hope next week to also play catch up on mail and LJ entries.

Wheeee! And now I can share with you the lovely Greg Bridges cover for the Australian edition of The Prodigal Mage. It's so cool to see the different interpretations by various artists/designers.

This is the paperback edition that's coming out in Australia/New Zealand in October.

As I've mentioned previously, I'm getting some audio book versions of my novels done, and it's very very exciting. Especially since I spoke to Scott Brick, the actor who's reading The Prodigal Mage and, I assume, its sequel. Scott not only has a great voice, he has enormous respect for the writer and the written word and that means a lot to an author. That the person performing your novel for the audio version cares enough to reach out and ask some questions, to confirm the way you, the author, want certain words pronounced, that kind of thing? Pure gold.

Scott is a huge spec fic fan, and he's actually got his own audio book company, tracking down stuff that's not been picked up elsewhere and recording it as an audio book under his own imprint. I think this is a fabulous initiative, and so I'm taking this opportunity to give him a plug and direct you to his website.

You can find it here.

I tell you, I can't wait to hear the finished version of Prodigal Mage!
 

It's been a morning for errands and housework, and because yes, the bug has well and truly kicked back in -- I had a feeling -- I'm going to rest a while before I tackle the finishing of another Wizard Squared chapter.

In other news vaguely writery, I got the nod for the new SW novel - a little bit of tweaking, no major rewrites required -- which would seem to indicate I learned a lot from writing Wild Space. Yay!

And now, have a giggle.


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I got me some words done. Quite a lot of words done, given the fragility of moi right now. Yay! I feel some hope. And so, to celebrate, I'd like to share with you one of the funniest things I've read in a while. Warning: it's about erotica, so don't say you weren't warned.

The Smart Bitches Trashy Books website is a treasure trove and a must read for those of you who love books and the folk who love books. To laugh a lot, go read this piece. But be warned -- keep your cups of coffee awaaaay from the keyboard.

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Then again, this one's just LOL --


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And yeah, right now this sums me up too ...


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And while I'm staggering about doing bits and pieces before trying to get some more work done, here's the US/UK cover for The Prodigal Mage, book 1 of Fisherman's Children, which is the follow-up duology to the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker duology. The illustration's by David Wyatt and the design is by Peter Cotton. Go, guys!

Gosh. I've been so flat-out actually writing that I kind of forget I've got books coming out! it's a very odd feeling, let me tell you. In some ways it's good because a new book coming out is always the cue to start panicking and thrashing about convincing yourself you've written garbage and everyone's going to hate it. But then I get so hysterical about the writing that I forget to celebrate the new one in my blog and on my website. I am so sad.

Anyhow. Here's the cover. Personally I think it's gorgeous, and the follow up/sequel cover is looking equally faboo. Can't post that yet, though. A quick note -- Prodigal Mage releases next month, August, in the US and UK, as a hardcover. That's the Orbit edition. It's coming out locally Australia/NZ with Voygager as a regular paperback in October. Can't post that cover quite yet, but I will asap. It's by the wonderful Greg Bridges and is truly beautiful.

So here we go ...

The infamous bad writing competition Bulwer-Lytton  has some results.

Read and laugh a lot, out loud!

Over three weeks, and only 3 nights of decent sleep. I'm officially bored now. I'm getting words down but it's a struggle. I'm not only bored, I'm pissed off!!!! I went back to the doctor, I have an inhaler to use and a script for different antibiotics to be used only if I go bacterial again. I haven't so far, I don't think. It's the virus that's kicking me round and round the block.

Woe is me!

So, it's the eve of release for Witches Inc. in the US and the UK -- though some folk have seen copies out early, it would seem. This is Rogue Agent #2 -- I'm working on #3 right now. In between bouts of coughing. Sigh.

Anyhow, it's the new baby, it's toddling off on its own, and if you buy a copy I hope you enjoy it! Romantic Times Book Reviews gives it a 4 star rating.

Coughing and heachachy, but no worse than that. Which is a blessing, I suppose. And more words got done today, for which I say wheee! Didn't get so many done yesterday because the bug was being pushy. Still ... I continue to creep towards the finish line. And that's pretty much all I'm managing to do, so yet again I grovel to all the folk I owe mail and LJ comments to. You know, I really do dream of a day when I can manage all kinds of stuff aside from writing!

Anyhow. Enough whinging. To those various friends out there having a wobbly time right now, I send you hugs and love. And if I don't know you and you're wobbling, well, the same!

So here's the currrent progress:

37542 / 100000 words. 38% done!

I aim to be halfway done the first draft July 1st, and then finished the first draft mid-month. Then it can sit on the backburner and with beta readers while I tackle the next story.

with Wizard Squared. Fluey buggy thing is hovering, but mostly keeping its distance.

Progress to date:

32605 / 100000 words. 33% done!

In other news, The Accidental Sorcerer has been nominated for a Reader's Choice Award by the Salt Lake County Library System, Utah. So many many thanks to the lovely folk of the Salt Lake library district. Thank you for reading, and I'm so pleased you've enjoyed the book!

And now, because I haven't had a good laugh in too long ...


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And this one ...


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And this one ...


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And last but not least, what is now one of my all time favourites ...


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because yes, I'm wobbling again. Am keeping a close eye on the situation and will run back to the doctor as soon as things take a sharp downhill turn. Right now it's a cough and a headache and muscular aches, all of which are viral and can't be helped with drugs.

But seriously???? I'm heading for some major self pity about now ...

The writing's still happening though. Which is something, I suppose.

Grrr.