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September 2023

Writing has been slow of late. Not just because I'm taking a million breaks, but that's part of it! Every now and then I find a bunch of tasks I let fall by the wayside (read: sacrificed at the altar of meeting other deadlines) come back into my life via some other means (read: reincarnating and waiting for me at my desk like a Bond villain) and demand attention.

As productivity expert Cal Newport says, one must "face the productivity dragon" rather than "running from the smoking cave", so The Guy from the Wedding has suffered from neglect.

You know, I get nervous talking about books before they're ready. The creative process is so fraught with uncertainty that you never know if something will make it to the final version. Portions of WIP excerpts I've shared already are now on the verge of getting cut (though I promise their spirits will live on in other parts of the book).

There are, however, parts of "Wedding" that I'm now certain will survive the revision processes, so this is what I can tell you about the book:

• It's a new adult contemporary romance between a woman still trying to find herself after leaving a self-centred ex-boyfriend and a guy determined to bounce back quickly after a catastrophic breakup.

• Like my first novella, this book takes places in Perth across a mix of real and fictional locations from the very real East Perth river inlet to a sort-of made-up beer garden in our picturesque Swan Valley.

• In addition to romance, you'll find sisterly love, old and new friendships, small business ups and downs, and quirky characters both in the foreground and background of this contemporary story.

Right now, I'm umming and ahhing over a release date, and I'd love your input.

I do most of my book buying during quiet periods, when I can take time to pre–fall in love with a book before going through checkout. But so many people I know prefer to get swept up in the excitement and retail vibes of the Halloween–to–Christmas season. So here's what I'd like to know...

Do you prefer it when new books come out closer to the holidays, or is the end of the year too busy, noisy and expensive to handle yet another Shiny New Thing? If you subscribe to the email version of this newsletter, just reply to it and let me know what you think!

From friends and around the way

Vanilla Bean Vampire by Selina J. Eckert: When her delivery boy is the next victim, Reese sets aside her pies, determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. But will she be the next to disappear? Get this book

Half-baked Love by Nikki Wilton: Ava has long dreamed of owning her own bakery and marrying her gorgeous boyfriend of three years. So when Cade tells Ava that he wants to make her dreams come true she is over-the-moon delighted. That is until a series of events leave her doubting Cade’s true intention. Get this book

Sweet and Clean Fall Romance Reads: Cute contemporary and historical romance. Check out this giveaway

Sweet Romance Giveaways - September: Discover new authors and their sweet reads! Check out this giveaway

Sweet & Clean Romance Promotion ends Oct 1st. Check out this giveaway

You might enjoy this too:

But when it comes to communities, to human beings, bigger is not always better. In fact, the opposite is often true. It's in small groups that we have the chances to discuss things that are important to us. It's in small groups that we have time and space to debate and grow.

Deeper conversations can only occur in the right context and big communities don't allow for that. Because big communities move fast. As individuals become less and less important the bigger a community grows.

Read more: Small communities are the best communities

By the way, reviews are a huge help to small-time indie authors. Both good reviews and bad ones help readers hone in on the books and authors they resonate with. If you’ve enjoyed one of my books, I’d love it if you would leave me a review or star rating on BookBub, StoryGraph or Goodreads.

The Guy from the Wedding – BookBub – StoryGraph – Goodreads

The Guy from the Internet – BookBub – StoryGraph – Goodreads

The Guy from the Library – BookBub – StoryGraph – Goodreads

The Guy from the Park – BookBub – StoryGraph – Goodreads

The Guy from the Flower Shop – BookBub – StoryGraph – Goodreads

Well, that’s it for now! Subscribe to my newsletter if you’d rather get these updates with pictures, sent to your email inbox. You’ll also get a little thank you gift for signing up.