Author: Jodie Lane

When I started this website, I was determined to post on a regular basis. That really fell apart these last few years – funny how having two kids will do that do you. But I’ll persevere, and every now and again, I’ll pop something new up.

The best news I have lately is I’m over halfway through the draft of the last novel in the Turning Points series. I set out to publish five books in five years (though the writing of Masada took place in the year prior to that first publication), and I’m quite close to achieving that goal. Heart and Stomach of a Queen will be out this November in time for Supanova Brisbane.

In the meantime, I was quite chuffed to learn that A Soldier’s Love (a Turning Points short-story) flew off the shelves, so to speak, as part of the Smashwords Read an e-Book Week sale. The sale is finished now, but I’m delighted that so many copies got out there.

Meric will return, in another short story early next year.

Several months ago I attended a workshop on short stories. It was incredibly informative, run by local author Karenlee Thompson, and involved a number of inspiration and development exercises for writing short stories. We were handed a number of photos, one per table, and had to decide how the person in the photo felt, and why, give them a distinguishing scar or tattoo, and a name. The story I created from this exercise was a simple one, about a man who regretted the choices he’d made in life – taking wealth and security over love.

The piece was a little over 500 words, so when Queensland Writers’ Centre ran a competition for Flash Fiction, I pared it down to the requisite number and submitted it.

Much to my delight, I was short-listed! “A Life Lived” can be read on the QWC Website.

In other news, I’ve had a hiatus from writing “Renaissance Woman” over the last two months due to the arrival of my second child, but a release date of November 2018 is still the plan!

It’s been a busy year. I chose to knuckle down and get To Kill An Emperor written and published – with the result that it was successfully launched last Saturday 4th November!

I also was accepted into Futurevision, a short story anthology by Australian Authors, and entered a number of short story competitons. Work has already started on Renaissance Woman, due out at the end of next year.

It’s the end of January already and I managed to avoid posting anything for almost 2 months. Writing has been a bit hit and miss with family and other dramas, but if you follow my page on Facebook you’ll see I’ve been making progress! Research on the Emperor Domitian will give you all a clue as to the title character of the third Turning Points book, which will be available in the second half of this year.

You can now purchase The Siege of Masada and Transylvanian Knight in EPUB and MOBI formats, as well as PDF, so no excuses for the e-book readers!

The big event coming up next month is my talk at the Abbey Museum, Caboolture, featuring the history of Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for my second book. You can buy tickets for this event here.

November was a crazy-busy month with book signings at Angus & Robertson Brookside, Supanova, Mary Ryan’s Milton and Dymocks Chermside. December is gearing up to be just as busy with the pre-Christmas rush. I did a signing at Dymocks North Lakes last weekend and spent a lot of time directing customers to various sections of the store as they thought I worked for Dymocks. I didn’t mind – it was great to chat to people and I didn’t envy them their pre-Christmas missions for gifts.

A&R Brookside is a gorgeous store with terrific staff!

Delia Strange, who writes the exciting Sci Fi series Wanderer of Worlds, took my books to Supanova!

I will sign books ordered through the website on request, and the option for free local pickup is great if you are in the Brisbane area, so there’s still time for Christmas if you want a unique gift. In the meantime I’m working hard on writing To Kill An Emperor, which will be available next year.

Quite a few months ago I took part in the Sunshine Coast Libraries Digital Author Program. It was half an hour worth of filming and great fun to do, and now you can see the finished result below!

Had a fantastic time last night at the launch of Transylvanian Knight, held in the Geiss Library at my old high school of St Paul’s. A lovely crowd and great atmosphere had me feeling proud and honoured to have the support and interest of so many wonderful people. Transylvanian Knight is now on sale as a paperback and e-book (on Smashwords and Amazon).

       

Original post published 8th October 2016

Last few months have been very intense with getting Transylvanian Knight finished, edited and organised for publishing. 9th November is the Launch Date at St Paul’s School, Bald Hills. Contact me for details on getting there or check out the Facebook Event.

Speaking of St Paul’s, they were kind enough to invite me along to judge the Book Week Parade back in August. I dressed up as a judge and made pronouncements on costumes and characters – such an excellent variety and some very imaginative students. It was so much fun! I also got to talk to their book club about Masada and met some of the readers and writers in the school.

This month I’ll be doing Author Talks at Strathpine Library (Sat 22nd Oct) and Albany Creek Library (Sat 29th Oct).

Just as exciting, I’m about to start writing the next book in Turning Points: To Kill An Emperor. Where and when is Gwyn going this time? Let’s just say some old friends might be appearing in this story…