Lily Malone's Blog, page 8

I always enjoy Shelleyrae’s Australia Day Blog Hop and I’ve made new and lasting contacts and friendships with many bloggers, authors and readers over the last few years by being part of this blog hop week.

I love Australia Day. This year I’ll be with our neighbours and their kids and the plan is that hubs and I are going to learn to play Poker, while we listen to the Triple J Hottest 100 countdown and I’m sure we’ll have a few drinks on the way.

The day my print copies of MORE TIME AT THE BEACH arrived at my office. My story, Fairway To Heaven is inside.

In bookish news, it’s been a huge 12 months for me since last Australia Day. I’ve had my first print book published with MORE TIME FOR THE BEACH (including FAIRWAY TO HEAVEN); and all three of my e-books at different times have been in the top 100 at Amazon Australia, including my debut title HIS BRAND OF BEAUTIFUL, now three years young. I’ve also been part of my first romance panel, as a guest of Koorliny Stories On Stage in April with my two writing buddies, Jennie Jones and Juanita Kees, and great friend, (convenor of Stories On Stage) Monique Mulligan.

I should have my novella, THE GOODBYE RIDE back in circulation soon. I finished edits for THE GOODBYE RIDE on Saturday and I’m looking forward to seeing the new cover any day now. This book was initially self-published but like my other self-published titles, Escape Publishing now has a Contract for THE GOODBYE RIDE.

When that releases later this year, I’ll have four country/rural titles available as e-books, with FAIRWAY TO HEAVEN also available in print.

In other news, SO FAR INTO YOU – my newest release – is nominated for the Australian Romance Reader 2015 awards for Best Contemporary Romance. If you are an ARRA member, and you read and enjoyed SO FAR INTO YOU, you might consider throwing a vote my way. Check your latest copy of your member e-newsletter for voting information.

FAIRWAY TO HEAVEN is Kindle Book of the Month at Amazon in January. If you haven’t yet had the chance to grab a copy of FAIRWAY  it is only 99c for Australian readers right now – but this sale ends in four days! Be quick. Amazon AUS customers buy link here. Amazon US (Australian) customers buy link here.

AND NOW FOR THE GOOD PART! My #GIVEAWAY

Today, I’m offering Australian visitors to my blog the opportunity to win a print book of MORE TIME FOR THE BEACH. This is a three-in-one book that also features stories by fellow Aussie authors Victoria Purman (SOMEONE LIKE YOU) and Juliet Madison (FEBRUARY OR FOREVER).

I also have 5 Kindle e-copies of FAIRWAY TO HEAVEN to give away. Leave a comment for me below and tell me if you’re after the print book (Australian only), or a Kindle ebook (open internationally). Tell me something about yourself and what you like to read, including favourite Aussie authors, or tell me anything that takes your fancy. That’s how I roll.

If you are on Twitter, you can find me at @lily_lilymalone

Don’t forget to visit all the other blogs that are part of this year’s BookdOut Blog Hop. You can return to the list here: https://bookdout.wordpress.com/2016/01/24/its-the-2016-australia-day-book-giveaway-blog-hop/

Thanks for visiting!

How has your start to 2016 been? I have to keep reminding myself every time I write the date that we’re in a new year. But that’s pretty normal for me, it took me until about August last year to stop writing 2014 on everything.

Last weekend we were in Fremantle with the kids. We went to the Erth’s Dinosaur Exhibition at the WA Museum and I’d tell you, if you have junior palaeontologists in your house and this exhibition visits a city or town near you – take them! It was great. This is the second time Mr 6 has seen the exhibition, and the first for Mr 8. They both enjoyed it a lot.

We went to the WA Maritime Museum at Freo, which is a great modern exhibition and really worth the entry fee. Australia II is there, winged keel and all. There are tours of a submarine that you can do but you need to book. We missed the tour, but it’s something to do another time.

This holiday we used AirBnB for the accommodation. Have you heard about AirBnB? It’s a great way of finding (usually shared) accommodation. If you don’t mind being on a property where you might cross paths with your host from time to time, then it’s a great way to (usually) save some money on accommodation and often you can cater for yourselves a little more than normal – which can save on meals and eating out.

This is Christine’s, where we stayed in Freo. We’d highly recommend it and Christine was lovely.

We also visited Adventure World where our family mastered the new ride there, the Kraken!  Lots of fun – we’ll be going back there a few times over the years I’m sure!

The only sad thing about our holiday was it coincided with the desolation of fires at Waroona, Yarloop and Harvey last weekend. We had to detour around the fire zones (which closed both the Forest Highway and South West Highway) to get to Perth and we could see the smoke for the entire 5 hour journey. Coming home, they opened the Forest Highway that morning and we drove through blackened trees where there wasn’t a leaf to be seen and the ground had burned everything down to nothing but sand. Some power poles were burned through which left power lines hanging in the air.

So sad. I have an Aunt at Coolup where we used to spend every Christmas Day from the time I was probably 5, through to being about 25, minus the years I was overseas. We’ve driven through Yarloop, with all its sleepy timber history. There have often been times my hubs has wanted to stop to check out some of the antiques and other shops and we always said: “we’ll do it another time…” Now I guess, there won’t be another time. I don’t think they’ll rebuild the town and even if they did, you can’t rebuild history.

In Busselton on the way home, we saw this great sign outside Barefoot Books in Fig Tree Lane. The bottom book on the list is MORE TIME AT THE BEACH, the print book which includes my story FAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. Barefoot Books sold out before Christmas so it’s nice to know they have more in stock.

Finally, on Friday night I got news that my newest book SO FAR INTO YOU is a finalist in the 2015 Australian Romance Readers Association annual awards for Best Contemporary Romance. This is a big deal! It’s also on the back of a Booktopia Australia’s Favourite Author nomination earlier in the week. I didn’t get through the Booktopia heats and I’m in a very hot category in the ARRA awards, but it’s very nice to be on a ‘list’… So I’m stoked. I get to use this cute graphic on the left for a while!

Meanwhile, Fairway To Heaven (ebook) is Kindle Monthly Deal at Amazon Australia for January. This means it is 99c for Australian readers, all month and it’s doing well on the charts, reaching No 13 during the week and No 3 in Contemporary. If you have a Kindle and you haven’t read it yet, maybe this is the time to risk it! One click it at Amazon Australia here. If your account is with Amazon US, click here.

I had a lovely 5-star review for Fairway from Kirsty Wenn who said “I didn’t want this book to end.” That’s always nice! I had a less than lovely 2-star review from a reader who said “Nice story but very boring”… so, it just goes to show in this writing business you have to roll with the punches and enjoy the good times when they come!

On that very zen note, I’ll leave you to your weekend!

In 2016 I wish you all the joy and happiness in the world!

And I wish me, more of this:

(which would be camping with family and friends!)

More of this:

(which would be card nights with the girls… although I must say this model’s hands don’t look particularly feminine!)

More of this:

(which would be catch ups with my writing mates, Juanita Kees & Jennie Jones, aka: #thedirtydrafters)

More of this:

(which would be walking the Cape To Cape track from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin with good friends).

And more of this!

(Which would be print Bookish success! And all bookish success is of course, very welcome!)

I hope 2016 is wonderful for you and yours …

xx Lily

As Christmas goes, I’m kind of organised this year. Most of the presents are wrapped with a few more to do tonight. Usually I leave everything to Christmas Eve but tonight, I want to have a glass of bubbles and watch Frozen. Living in an all-male house, I feel like I’ve missed out on Frozen. I may even sing Let It Go loud enough to scare away Santa.

Whatever you’re doing this Christmas, I hope it is a happy time for you.

Spotted at Big W in Joondalup, Perth. on Saturday 19/12/15 by eagle-eyed Jennie Jones!

Thanks, Jennie for the pic!

Something that I love about where I live is that we can pack up our car and drive 30 minutes and feel like we’re in another world. That’s what happened to family Malone last weekend when we went camping with friends at Augusta.

If you don’t know it, Augusta is the very south west tip of Western Australia and it calls itself, ‘the place where two oceans meet’. If you’re not geographically inclined, I’ll help you. Those two oceans are the Southern and Indian (and they’re bloody cold, just quietly). Some people also might call Augusta ‘God’s waiting room’ for rather less geographical reasons and I guess it’s fair to say quite a few retirees do end up in Augusta to enjoy their latter years.

Not only do two oceans meet here, but the Blackwood River also meets the ocean at the rivermouth and the river gives visitors yet another option for water pursuits.

In true family Malone style, there was a drama right at the beginning of our holiday. Our lovely friends Carrie & Russell and their kids had packed a tent for us to borrow, because they would be using their exceedingly ‘glamperous’ pop-up caravan. Lo and behold, a miscommunication between Carrie and Russ (Russ thought Carrie had already popped the latch) resulted in a pop-up malfunction and a broken cable… hence, Carrie and Russ needed the tent that had been intended for us! (The nerve!)

After an SOS call at about 6pm Friday night, and thanks to a couple of friends who offered us the use of their tent, we managed to find an alternative on Saturday morning. (Thanks Beth!)

Some firsts for the weekend. Paddle-boarding (some call it ‘supping’). Carrie is a paddle-board whiz. I’ve never been on one in my life, neither has my hubby, but we gave it a go and neither of us fell in. Win.

Carrie also took me for a sail in their gorgeous little sail boat (the red boat in the photo).

The kids had a ball in the boat; in the river; finding a green sea slug (ewww); jumping off the jetty in both river and ocean; eating icecream; chasing seagulls; waking up at about 5am to the stunning dawn chorus of birds; and catching fish. (Whiting are biting in front of the Colourpatch store everyone!)

Awesome weekend and one of the best things about it – it gave me an idea for a new book. I have a story with a sailing heroine on the horizon, Carrie, so be warned: I may need another research trip!

xx Thank you Carrie for the pics!

I feel like I’ve been waiting months and months to get my hands on More Time For The Beach – the first time a book of mine has made it to print, and to a bookstore shelf. It’s a 3-book bind-up with co-authors Victoria Purman and Juliet Madison, published by Harlequin MIRA, and it’s finally here!

Photo courtesy: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/train-derailment-causes-wa-christmas-delivery-chaos-20151209-gljrtb.html

Like many things in my life, getting the book in my hot little hands didn’t go perfectly to plan. I don’t know if you heard but at the beginning of December a train derailed about 350km east of Kalgoorlie (ie. the middle of nowhere). All freight in and out of West Australia was literally stopped in its tracks and I’m certain that amongst the packages and parcels that got stuck in limbo, sat my box of eagerly-awaited books.

But it’s so good now they’re here!

My contribution to the book is Fairway To Heaven. It’s set in Geographe Bay in Busselton and it’s the story of one woman’s journey to finding joy in life and love by a beautiful beach. Plus, there’s a little bit of golf.

More Time For The Beach *should* be (trains willing) in Big W stores in Australia in time for Christmas. It can also be ordered from Booktopia.

Local (South West) people who are interested in getting their hands on a copy will find it at Barefoot Books in Fig Tree Lane in Busselton.

Shooting tips from our expert!

Wise words from a wise head!

Last weekend, as part of my work’s Christmas party, hubby and I headed to the Augusta Gun Club to try our hand at Clay Target Shooting. I don’t know about you, but I’ve only ever held a gun once in my life. It was an air-rifle and if I wasn’t ten, I must have been eleven or twelve. We were on a farm with some friends and we were pinging at silver-eye birds that had been demolishing fruit in a fig tree.

I remember being handed this air-rifle and told how to use it. How carefully I lined it up, how very excited I was… how much I concentrated on hitting that target. Squeezing the trigger and hearing that noise… then watching a poor little bird flap and flop from the branches and land on the ground hopping and hurt. I’d winged it you see, and the boys who were with us had to grab the bird and put it out of its misery. I felt like the world’s biggest heel that day, and I’ve never touched a gun since.

Fast forward about 30 years. This time I’m holding a real gun. A proper one. And the first thing I’ll say is: it was bloody heavy! We were shown how to load it, how to hold it, how to shoot and how to eject the cartridge, and how to do all this safely. I really only remember the one warning: “if you squeeze the trigger now there’s a bullet in it, it will go bang.”

Photo from the Augusta Gun Club Facebook page.

A little bit about the Augusta Golf Club… it’s like shooting off the edge of the world. The gun club is high up on the Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge, overlooking the Blackwood River to the town of Augusta far below. You can see the valley, river and sea and on a clear day, they tell me you can see all the way to Black Point. Saturday afternoon wasn’t clear, in fact, it was hazy and smokey, and someone said it was from smoke blowing across from the dreadful bushfires that plagued Esperance last week.

Now – a little bit of bookish segue here: In my book His Brand Of Beautiful, there’s a scene in the outback where the hero and heroine have a ‘shoot out’ – shooting at rock targets on the branch of a tree. When I wrote that scene, I used Google, and Youtube for shooting research. Christina Clay (the heroine in that book) is a crack shot – having shot clay targets with her father for years… and she beats Tate (the hero) and wins the bet they make. Like many a good romance, the scene ends with a firecracker kiss and a bit of groping by an outback river bed… :) I wish I could go back and write the scene now. I’d have a much better idea of the weight of the gun and how the gun felt in my hand, the noise/kickback/recoil…  you should see the bruise on my arm!

It’s fairly impressive this bruise!

Not that we’re competitive or anything (cough) but hubs and I lined up in the first three people to try our hand. We all got a bit of expert coaching, and up we stepped. I can’t describe how completely alien that gun felt in my hands. I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do with it. I had 10 real bullets in the pocket of the vest they gave me – and those were heavy and alien too, like having a pouch of 50c pieces or a bag of marbles (or both) in your pocket.

We had to shout ‘pull’ when we were ready. I think two or three of the clay discs flew out before I got it together enough to actually try and shoot one. The first time I squeezed the trigger and the gun went ‘bang’, I squealed so loud another two or three targets shot out because of the noise.

The three of us each had ten bullets, and I think it’s fair to say that the odds of getting through unscathed were very, VERY good for the thirty flying clay ‘pigeons’. I have no idea how close any of us were to actually hitting one. Spectators would comment that we were left of the target, or above or under it, or close, or not close at all. I had no idea.

BUT! I was the first to actually hit one. I didn’t smash it in the middle and obliterate it like some of the others did later. I winged it. But it was a hit all the same… and (not that we’re competitive or anything) but, my hubby didn’t hit one!

Winners are grinners: This is the face of the woman who hit the clay pigeon first and the man who didn’t… :)

For the record, later hubs and I had another 5 bullets each. I didn’t hit anything else but he did, if not 1, then 2. But that doesn’t matter, does it… I hit it first!

Thanks Mark Murray for the expert lessons and for lending us your guns, and for the idea to try clay target shooting for our Christmas party in the first place. It was a whole lot of fun.

p.s. Dear work colleagues, if I can’t type this week because of my bruise, can I have the week off?

The first week of a new release is always a nail-biting time… 

So far, my two cousins Sam and Yvette have read So Far Into You. My lovely boss has read my book, and a work colleague confessed to staying up till 2am last night, reading till her eyes were so blurry she couldn’t get the last few pages finished. I’ve had great feedback from writer and reading friends and early reviews have been awesome. (Sneak a peek at reviews here if you’d like)

My mother, however, is in the dog house. This is why.

Me: “So, Mum. Have you downloaded my new book?”

Mum: “No. I don’t like all the ads. When I bought your last book on my tablet, Kindle sends me all the ads. All I do is delete them.”

Me: *a little shocked*: “So delete them and buy my book. It’s no big deal. It’s not every day I write a new book.” 

Mum: “I thought I’d just wait till it was in print.”

Me: “You could be waiting a very long time, Mum.”

Mum: “Your Fairway book is going to be in print. I thought this one might be too.”

Me: “Well it might be, Mum, if the sales go well. But that might not happen at all, and it might not happen for a year or more.”

Mum. “Oh. I guess so.”

Me: “Sam and Yvette have read it. That means Aunty Jan will read it, I bet. She’ll read it before you… then you’ll be in trouble.” Guilt trip. Guilt trip. Guilt trip.

Mum: “That’s true. Okay. I’ll buy your book. I’ll put up with the ads.”

Me: *Job done.*

About a year ago I made a big decision. It was to offer my self-published book, Fairway To Heaven to Escape Publishing to see if they liked it, and wanted to re-publish it in the Escape stable.

Escape’s managing editor, Kate Cuthbert, sent me a lovely note saying, “this book was great” and from that point on, deal memos and contracts were signed. I hit the ‘unpublish’ button at Amazon to remove Fairway To Heaven from sale and it took four or five months before the book appeared again for sale, under Escape and Harlequin’s banner, in April 2015.

Fairway to Heaven got a new cover. It went through an edit with lovely Laurie Ormond, but other than a few changes to the ending, it remained the very same book it had always been. I joke with my writing friends about Fairway as “The Dodgy Fanny” book. It is a book that takes risks both with the heroine (Jenn’s) story, and for her love interest, (Brayden). Some readers have found it too explicit but not because of the sex – more for the medical issue that plagues Jenn’s life and that she must resolve, during the book. 

It’s quite something to have a “dodgy fanny book” in your portfolio… :) 

In this ever-changing publishing environment, many aspiring and established authors wonder about the merits of self-publishing versus going with a traditional publisher. I thought long and hard about it too. I had one title (my first title – His Brand Of Beautiful) with Escape, and after that I self-published two other works, Fairway To Heaven and The Goodbye Ride.

Now, all my books are contracted to Escape and I no longer have any titles self-published. In the end, I think it comes down to what individual authors are seeking from their writing, and what stage they might be in their careers. For me, the motivation for moving from self-publishing was multi-factored. One was the ease of being with a major publisher – getting one royalty statement at Tax Time rather than trying to track Amazon sales against my bank statements.

The other was to engage the marketing expertise of Harlequin, the largest romance publisher in the world, and have them repackage Fairway (with new cover, new blurb etc).

By far the major factor was sales. I wanted better sales. My reviews and feedback for Fairway were excellent, but the book didn’t sell as a self-pubbed title.

In August, Fairway To Heaven became a Kindle Monthly Deal on Amazon Australia. In that month it hit the Amazon Top 100 which was the first time any book of mine had reached that level, and then it kept going. Top 50, Top 20, and the highest ranking I saw it reach was 12 overall and 5 in Contemporary Romance.

Fairway spent more than 20 days in the Top 100, and sales of my debut book, His Brand Of Beautiful also bounced to levels I hadn’t seen before. In October, His Brand Of Beautiful was a Kindle Daily Deal, reaching No 22 in the charts. During the time when both these books were doing well, my newbie, So Far Into You came up for pre-release, and pre-sales and sales in its early days have been wonderful, brilliant, great! (I’m not comparing to anyone except me!)

The good news didn’t stop there! Fairway To Heaven will be in a print book bind-up with Victoria Purman and Juliet Madison called More Time For The Beach, released in January 2015-16.

So from self-pubbed and wallowing, to a Kindle Monthly Deal, the Top 100, and now a print book bind-up. That’s pretty good going. It’s another tick on my writing bucket list. A print book! My first one.

So that’s my Fairway To Heaven story. It’s not every self-published author’s story and it won’t suit every writer, but for me, I’m so very glad I made the decisions I did, and I’m very grateful to Kate Cuthbert and Escape Publishing for the opportunities they’ve given to me.