Thank you and excuses

That wonderful woman Alison Kent knows how to look after her overseas readers. After I commented on a blog post at Romancing the Blog by Sylvia Day about how expensive books are in Australia compared to the US, Alison decided to do an overseas give away for readers in far flung countries. So I’m looking forward to a treat in the mail. Thanks Alison!

A book that’s been generating some discussion on some of the crime writing blogs, is Sara Gran’s Dope. I went into my local bookshop to enquire if or when it would be available in Australia and how much it might cost. I knew it had only just been released and probably wouldn’t be available but my friendly bookshop owner confirmed to get in from the US would cost about $40AUS. This compares to $14.93US via Amazon. I’ll have to think about getting it.

Of course while I was there, I had to pick up a little something which consisted of the Lonely Planet Guide to the USA (I’m going there in July. Yippee!) and The Best British Mysteries edited by Maxim Jakubowski. Some nice stories by people like Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and Peter Lovesey.

Which makes me think about where my writing is going. It’s getting blacker and bleaker. Not the lush, sensuous style of a lot of erotic romance writers. I’ve always been a big reader of crime, thriller and mystery fiction and particularly like the moral ambiguity of noir thrillers. As much as I like the playfulness of a lot of romance, I’m coming to the conclusion I can’t write it. It might help of course if I wrote something, but over the last couple of months I’ve been agonising over what I write and why I want to write. As a result I’ve found it increasingly difficult to write anything. I’m keep toying with my latest wip, trying to work out where it’s going and then get diverted into writing short stories. Well, one short story that I’m not happy with.

When this last happened to me I had to go back to writing a journal as a way of writing out the fear and anxiety. I don’t know why I don’t keep a regular journal but I’m slowly realising I need a place to take my whinny, neurotic musings about writing. At least I would be engaged in some writing.

Jack M Bickham said “Writers write. Everyone else makes excuses.” Sounds like I’m making lots of excuses.