The Medium Life

 I've booked for the upcoming Romance Writers of New Zealand conference , to be held in early August in  Auckland so I'm pretty excited about that. I probably won't know most of the people, yikes, but that's a good thing, right? It means new people are writing and are interested in publishing and are supporting Romance Writers of New Zealand.  I also don't know who most of the speakers are but good to hear new people and learn new stuff and keep up to date with the business side of the writing.  Photo of myself with Glenda Leader, one of our RWNZ members from back-in-the-day. I think this picture must be a good 20 years old now! Good memories.

This time next week I'll be in Adelaide, South Australia! I've never been to Adelaide (or South Australia) so I'm super excited about that. There seems a bit to do in the city itself and the German village has been recomended; hopefully we can get there by bus. The Botannic Garden has also been recommended as a place to visit and besides that, there is the food. Spare the wine, but the food!!  Then I'll be flying up to Sydney for a bit of a family get together before I head home. I can tell you, there won't be much writing done but maybe I'll get some inspiration. Also, to Maddie readers, I'll be sending out a newsletter when I get back. xxx  

HAPPY MAY!!! Here's a bit of a round-up It is autumn but, rats, it is not nearly as cold as it should be!!  A few years back I bought a ski-type jacket at Aldi (in Australia, with my sister, we don't have Aldi here in NZ) and finally it is cold enough at times to wear the jacket.   I'm back into the knitting, and am back doing scarves. My mother used to knit us kids jerseys and cardigans and I can't imagine how long it must have taken, but its very pleasing to whip out the needles and knock off a few rows now and then. Clearly I am in no hurry to finish.  I've been getting organised with all sorts of things including diaries/planners. I got some cheap notebooks at Spotlight late last year and made them into planners.  I found a weekly planner pad dirt cheap at a second hand shop (.50c) which had a year's worth of planning pages in it and is probably better cos I can stick it up on the wall and actually see it and remember what I'm meant to be doing....

My super-duper sale on all Maddie Summer books has finished. Phew. It was great to see all the books appearing on the free charts, and all the downloads happening. I appreciate every rating and especially a review.  I like seeing what you all say about a book! What I'm working on: There is a fourth Clearlake book which is almost finished for the first editing stage.  The new 'Dating Daisy' story, Captivating Kelly is with my proof reader for a final proof. A Maddie Summers Bluebell Road story for Christmas this year. (It was meant to be Christmas last year but.... well, enough said about that!) And I'm also working on a single title comedy which I am hoping to have traditionally published and when its finished I'll be looking for an agent for that. A busy year ahead!

I've been watching a bit lately, as I recovered from the concussion (which I mentioned in my recent newsletter.) Unable to read or write for the first few weeks, my survival was that I could watch TV after a fashion, from a distance, and often not looking directly at the screen initially, just listening, thank goodness for the TV.  Here are some of the programmes I really liked: DRIVE TO SURVIVE . I do love the Formula 1 and was hanging out for the new series. I also re-watched some of the previous seasons, and now the racing is back on, yay, yay, yay, go Kimi, Oscar, Lewis, Ollie and Liam! (Can't have just the one favourite, no siree)  INSIDE WINDSOR CASTLE : This was terrific on the royals and also some great history. Very easy and interesting to watch for history or royal buffs. Even though I have watched events at Windsor like weddings, I still never really got just what its all about at the castle. RICHARD OSMAN HOUSE OF GAMES : This is the new weekly favourite in the hou...

For the next few days I have a TON OF FREE BOOKS for Amazon.com readers. Six, so maybe not a ton. They are from my other writer name, Maddie Summers, and they are all FREE ON AMAZON . Excuse the capitals. What is the difference between a Maddie and a Joanne? The main difference is the location: all the Maddie books are set in the United Kingdom, and are what I think of as 'cosy' romance. Kind of like curling up with an old school author you love. If you like a sweet'n'cosy romance, then give them a try. GO HERE!