Out and about

We are so lucky to live where we do...I do know this of course, but it takes actually getting out and about to bring it home. That's just what we did today.

How awesome is this?

Ok, so we all know I'm no pioneer woman, but I do love our bush land.

 I love the way it smells; the gentle sound of water trickling through gravel creek beds...I love the sound of bell birds and insects buzzing and the absolute quite...almost as though you were cut off from the rest of the world.

 I just love heading out into it...and then I love climbing back into the Ute and heading back to electricity, indoor toilets and hot water, because as I've previously stated...I'm a bit of a Princess!

                                                                                                                                                                       This doesn't, however stop me from appreciating the rugged beauty of our countryside.

Looking at this big timber today out in the middle of nowhere made me think of Alex from my December release based on Alick McLean, a returned veteran of WW1 from my home town. You're all probably well acquainted with him by now, seeing as I ramble on about him so often!

 This is some of the area he would have worked in with his bullock team, bringing in the logged timber for transport downstream.

It's not hard to picture the teams of timber getters camped out here; the smoke from their camp fires floating through the air like a mist and the sound of axes swinging and big saws...sawing.....(well, you get the picture!)

There's a timeless quality to the bush, even though the Pacific highway is only a few kilometers away and now days Macksville (only a short 25km's away) is a modern country town...out here you could very well be back in the 1800's.

Our adventure was cut short today though, due to a mechanical problem (or to use more technical phrasing….the ute carked it). I was really disappointed and wasn't ready to go home, at all. Then it started to rain, so now as I'm sitting inside my nice warm house by the nice warm fire, sipping my nice warm coffee...I’m kind of glad we decided to head back to town before the radiator overheated and we got stuck up on those dirt roads having to fight for our lives like a family on the set of survivor...(I may be slightly exaggerating there).

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Play list for Burn

From the play list for Burnt

I thought i'd put together a list of songs that I found connected so well with some of the scenes and characters in Burnt. So here's the first one.

Delta Goodrem's song, Wish You Were Here is so fitting for the loss Rebecca feels over her best friend, Reggie.

This part always makes me cry. 

 “Hello Rebecca. I’ve been waiting for you to visit,” Roma said softly against her hair, and Rebecca felt the flow of hot tears as they streamed down her face.

She wasn’t sure how long they stood there for, her tears and small sobs raking her body an all the while Roma McDonald held her tightly and let her vent her sorrow and there was a lot of it—eighteen years worth to be exact.

Later seated at the scrubbed timber table in the McDonald’s kitchen, Rebecca felt as though time had been suspended and she was ten years old eating home made biscuits and drinking milk after school, but as her eyes rested on the empty chair across from her, she felt that familiar overwhelming rush of pain and loss. Reggie would never be sitting in her spot again. They’d never laugh over one of them laughing so hard they snorted milk through their nose or tease each other over boyfriends, plan sleepovers or birthday parties.

So many memories came from sitting around this old table. As they got older they’d sat here and discussed their debut dresses and quizzed each other over the road rules before they went for their learners permits and celebrated getting their P plates…so many beautiful memories were centred around this cheerful old kitchen with the sunflower wall paper on the wall.

Rebecca squeezed her eyes shut. God she missed her. So very much. 

Watch the video of Wish You Were Here

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Latest update on Burnt

So for now, there are two ways you can buy Burnt. The first is as an ebook from here- 

and in print Buy in PRINT here

I'm working on getting this uploaded to an Australian based printer so that orders won't take as long to arrive in the mail- but it's proving slightly frustrating at the moment, so for now, you can order print copies from the above link and I'll keep you posted about any other places it will be available from.
Remember you can always ask your local book shop to order it in for you as well...but if they can't do that for you...you as a customer who wants to support their company by buying from them, then your only other option is to purchase online from the above link.

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Surprise!

A brand new release to hold you over until December!

I was a bit disappointed when I found out I only had one book coming out this year, so I decided to publish an extra one just for you guys! Here it is!

Blurb

Sebastian (Seb) Taylor and Rebecca Whiteman were high school sweethearts dreaming of a future together, when one terrible night forever changed their destiny.

Eighteen years after the tragedy Rebecca has brought her children back to the town she left behind to start a new life. 

Seb, an elite SAS soldier in the Australian Army, has returned home injured, angry and grieving to face a town that hasn't forgotten and a father who has never understood him.

Rebecca has enough problems of her own without adding Seb Taylor to the mix; a failed marriage, two children to support and an annoying heavy breather who refuses to stop calling. The last thing she needed was her first love to make a sudden reappearance in her life…


From bestselling author of Morgan's Law and Bridie's Choice comes a story of love, forgiveness and bravery that will touch your heart.

Burnt is available now as an ebook title and in print very soon.
You can download Burnt here .

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Bridies Choice has launched!

It has recently been brought to my attention that I have been neglectful in my blogging duties…yet again! I'm so sorry to anyone who actually reads them! (Karin Bridle) I think you may actually be the ONLY one who noticed you haven’t seen one lately!!!  SO this is for you!

I've been busy- the last thing I remember was, it was September…then I vaguely recall October and then I don’t know where November went...but suddenly it was December and I'm POSITIVE it only had like, two weeks this year instead of the usual four.

Anyway December was actually a pretty big deal this year because it was Bridie's launch month. Except that, because no one actually pays any attention to an official release date, Bridie's came out about mid-November…so it was kind of a non event release day.

However, what a fantastic year I've had . Morgan’s Law came out in May and then Bridie's was released in December…TWO books in one year… I'm VERY happy with that!

Also had another amazing first. Bridie went on the back of a bus! How AWESOME is this?! I only wish I'd been able to see one in person...but the photos were the next best thing :) and I am over the moon to be lucky enough to have had one of my books in such a cool promo! Did anyone happen to see one in Melbourne or Sydney? 

                                                                                                                 

  We've done a heap of radio and newspaper interviews and I'm so excited that I've been able to chat to some of the same presenters again and that they're following the books...I suspect some of them have even read them!! this is VERY exciting!

Thanks to everyone who has bought, read and let me know that they've read Bridie's Choice, it means a lot to me to hear my book babies are out there in the big wide world and being enjoyed. Thank you for helping make my 2012 an amazing year.

Stay tuned for this years release..Still unnamed...this is the book you may remember I've blogged about before with my WW1 local connection as the background story. I have a huge event planned and lots of interesting bits and bobs about this book to show you in the lead up to its release so I promise to try and be a better blogger this year...it won't be from lack of interesting material anyway!

Oh, and before I go...here's a little something for Karin my lovely tech support/go-to-girl and general all around awesome friend.... I was asked in a recent guest blog who I'd cast as my leading man, Shaun... well, I have no idea who I'd cast as Shaun... HOWEVER I'd be happy to look at suggestions *insert wiggling eyebrows here*  

BUT... I know someone who would definitely fit one of my Karlene Blakemore-Mowle books this guy....Sullivan Stapleton. I know this has nothing to do with Bridie's Choice, but this series, Strike Back, is one of my favourites and I can not recommend it enough!

                                                                                        

On that note, I'm going off to quietly drool...and plot some more books.

Karly xxx  

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The Next Big Thing...kinda

I've been tagged in “The Next Big Thing” by  Jennifer Scoullar    Author of Australian Rural and Environmental Fiction.  

I'm instructed to tell you all about my next book by answering these questions and then to tag another author to tell you about their Next Big Thing. So here I go!

Because I've waited all year for this one to come out, i'm going with Bridies Choice!

                                    What is the working title of your next book? Bridies Choice.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

 I wanted to write a bit of a different character to my North Star character, Kate. Someone  a little more cynical maybe, with a troubled upbringing but who had a deep love for her family and the strength to ‘stay the course’.

What genre does your book fall under?

 Rural fiction

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

 Hmmm…..so many possibilities! Well my flavour of the month is Sullivan Stapleton, but he might be a bit too hard core for Shaun…

Ahh there’s nothing like looking over a bunch of images of Aussie actors on Google for inspiration only to realise you feel like an old perv because the age group you need is wayyyyyyyyy below your own, now days….sighhhhh I hate this question!!!!!

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

 What happens when following your heart and your dreams are two different choices?

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I’m published with Allen & Unwin

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

 About three months

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

 I guess the rural fiction genre has a lot of similarities in the stories, being that they’re all based in a rural setting and have strong Australian characters that lots of people seem to be able to identify with…but what I love about rural Australian fiction as a genre is that we have so many talented and unique voices in our authors and the books they put out. I don’t think there is a book you can compare another to in this genre other than there are lots of similarities in the flavour of the setting and the kinds of characters you’ll find.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

 Simply the love of writing. I can’t stop writing down stories. As soon as I finish one, I’m lost until I’m writing another one!

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

How about a hot farmer? A young woman torn between her duty to her family and her desperate longing to follow her own dreams…and did I mention a hot farmer????

I've tagged the lovely  Helene Young  to tell you about her Next Big Thing on her blog next Wednesday 2^nd of January. http://www.heleneyoung.com/

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Bridie is here!!!!!

It's here, it's here...it's finally here!!! And early too... the official release date isn't until December...but all week I've been receiving photos and lovely comments from readers who have already finished reading it!

The lovely Juanita Kees has given me my first review. Do go to her blog page and read all the other reviews she's done on our most popular authors and their wonderful books.


 I have to share this lovely review of Bridies Choice because it made me cry! Here's a small excerpt....

 Bridie Farrell – what a character! The girl has spunk and determination, and takes no nonsense. Yet there is a softer side to her that you feel immediately. Karly has done a fantastic job in allowing us to see the real woman behind the tough facade. And Shaun Broderick…oh my! Not only does he fill a pair of jeans perfectly, he is also every woman’s dream hero. This beautifully written tale will have you hooked from the first page and you won’t be able to put it down.

It's so fulfilling when readers 'get' your characters.....Thank you Juanita, you made my day!

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