It's been a long hard summer...

Like you wouldn't believe...

I love summer, I love the endless weeks spending time with my three girls, having late nights, 
lazy mornings, no homework and after school activities. I love the paddling pools and BBQ's 
and the relaxed attitude that occurs as soon as the last day of school is over.

This summer however, I found how difficult summer can truly be for a writer. It's been a frustrating six weeks, sure we've had some really great times (as you'll see from the photos below) but as 
far as my deadlines have gone, well...they've come, and gone, and then moved again. 
We've been away on holiday, our dog was recovering from an operation, we had a birthday (smallest monster turned three!) I climbed a mountain (Snowden) and the hubby was away with work for a full week (the longest we've ever been apart in our eleven years of marriage!).
It's been full on with kids, and work and writing and days out. 


But...

Limerence is finally complete, but it's been a total bitch to write, but it's done (cue cheers 
and popping of champagne corks) I don't know why I've found it so hard to write, other than 
having three children under my feet for the past six weeks of course. Normally when I write it flows, I mean it just pours from my fingers and I'm constantly surprised what my fingers type 
out. There were many times while writing the Odium books where I had to sit back and was 
like 'say whatttt?' because the story took on such an unexpected turn. But Limerence wasn't like that. Everything had to be plotted out with it. I found that I came to a halt if I just tried to wing it, which was hugely frustrating. 


So what was it? What was the problem? Was it that I couldn't just spew out a ton of F-Bombs at the drop of the hat because that isn't Mia's character? Was it because I had the kids interrupting me every ten minutes? I honestly don't know. I know that the difference between vampires and zombies (for me anyway) is more than just a visual thing.
Zombies are  vicious and violent, and while I write my vampires as bloodthirsty evil beings too (no freaking sparkles here!) there is something quite seductive and sensual about them. A zombie doesn't think, it does, where my vampires are cold and calculating, plotting out the demise of humans. The fact that zombies are unpredictable monsters allows me to write more freely, and gives me something that vampires don't.


So maybe that was the problem. Maybe. I guess I'll never truly know. I have left Limerence 2 open for a third and final book. I know where I want the plot to go, and how I want to end the series, but for now I'm moving back on to my unpredictable zombies!
So Limerence should be coming to you by the end of September/early October - later than planned, but it's coming. I'm hoping Odium Origins A Dead Saga Novella Part Two will be out a week or two after Limerence 2 and the audiobook of Odium Origins Part One should be out by the end of next week.
See! I haven't been completely lazy this summer!


In the meantime I hope that you've all picked up a copy of my current anthologies, State of Horror Illinois (My story is 'Out Come the Wolves')  and Fading Hope Humanity Unbound (my story is Honey-Bee) These two short stories are actually two of my very favorite short stories I've ever written, and I'm massively proud of them. If you've read them, let me know what you think.


Right, the kids are playing nicely for once, the husband is watching the Grand Prix, so I'm off to write...

Happy reading book whores!!

Claire xxx

My summer 2014

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