The Medium Life

I saw an interesting item on the news this week about an influencer that was completely AI. Yikes.  A few days ago, I was half-way through a video about a singer I used to like, and I accepted they were using AI photos of the people they were talking about. But a few minutes in, began to have doubts about this whole thing, and wondered what else has been written about this particular scenario. There were a lot of videos about it, but they were all about this video, just rehashing it. So I investigated further to find out more about this event, and guess what. It never even happened. Even more, when I went back to the original video it didn't even mention AI had been used. Usually there will be some sneaky, right at the bottom, "AI has been used for entertainment and education blah blah blah" kind of thing.  What can you trust? There is a movement amongst authors to proclaim that we are not AI and the book has been penned by an actual human. When you sit back and look at i...

 It has been a very very strange time of late. I went to help a friend man a stand at a family history expo booth for a few hours and came up with an idea for a mystery. No, I tell a lie. I though it would be fun to write a mystery in the setting which was old and atmospheric and just dying for a cosy mystery murder. But I had no idea. Still don't, though its there. The idea to write it is still there. Just need a plot and some characters and all that stuff!!!!! Then there was the doctor's visit and waiting on blood tests: waiting on tests is always a thing. I kept going on line to check my lab reports page, as I was desperate to see what they were and they were just fine. Good news. Then I caught up with an old workmate which was lovely, a new place to try and a good goss over a trim milk latte (watching that cholesterol folks) and a high fat piece of pie (gotta have a treat now and then, right?)  And I put CAPTIVATING KELLY for .99c. Click the pic below to go to the Amazon ...

We had a great sporty weekend watching the Formula One in Baku, Azerbaijan, and then the NRL Preliminary Grand Final between the Penrith Panthers and the Newcastle Knights.  I wanted the Panthers to win but the Knights fairytale story was incredible. Bottom of the ladder last year and now they are in next week's Grand Final. It truly is a fairytale and whatever happens next week, it was one memorable Semi-Final. I've long admired the dedication of sports player, (oh my gosh the physical pain they must endure so much of the time, the ups and the downs, the brilliant highs and the super bad lows!) and I chose sports stars for two main characters in books; players at the end of their careers. The book I'm now working on, A Sweet Tomorrow , (publication: October, Book 4 in Clearlake County) features a former American football star, now managing players.  In Marrying Michelle , the hero, Luke Slater, is a former Kiwi rugby player. His career is over and he faces the new challeng...

I've been playing around with new covers for the City of Sails Series. I found an image of the Auckland skyline to use as a backdrop. Perfect!  On each of the five covers I've changed the colours so they're different, and with different characters but they're clearly a series. I really like the pinky one for All About Sage .  I've also seen a trend where books in a series will have only slight differences in the cover. I spoke to a cover designer at the recent romance writers conference here in New Zealand, who said the cartoon-style covers are showing no signs of losing popularity just yet. Hence the new covers! I'm hoping to upload them all before the end of this month.

Photo taken on my grandparent's farm when I was possibly four or five years old. My grandfather was killed a month before I turned six, so it has to be before that. I just look kind of excited and brave to put my hand on the side of the cow. I love the hand on the hip, too! I was thinking that I maybe remember when it was taken, but I think that's the curse of the photograph memory. If I truly remembered it, I'd remember who took the photo (possibly my father) but I have no memory of that at all. I do know I loved going out to the farm, loved the animals from the Border Leicester sheep to the milking cow, to riding on the tractor and all the farm stuff. Good times.

I was with a bunch of writers recently and heard the phrase, "Golden Retriever hero."  What on earth? Were golden retrievers a thing in books now?  I used to have a golden retriever, adore them, but what was going on? Why not the Scottish Terrier or the Jack Russell, or if we're going large, the Old English Sheepdog? Well, actually it doesn't refer to the dogs at all. It is in fact a reference to a type of hero, inspired from the dog, with all the attributes of the Golden: loyalty, warmth, affection, kindness, and those lovely qualities.  You learn something every day. You really do!