What's happening on the DarkSide this week...

Another busy week at DarkSide DownUnder.

I was uber-chuffed to see that Eleni had linked to a Goodreads group called 'Dark Side of the Moon', and their new reading challenge--to read books written by the stars of DSDU.  What an awesome idea.  I might go join in.  

Click through and join the fun on the DarkSide!  

Anna's blogging at LoveCats...

Anna Hackett--one of my awesome CP's--is blogging at LoveCats DownUnder today about great opening lines for stories.

Come and see if your fave is there. You might also wonder why tiny baby clothes are making her smile...

DVD Stack - Watching movies to write better novels.

While this sounds like a just plain awesome idea, my newest phase has some grounding in the actual craft of writing.

When I first began listening to podcasts, I stumbled across Will Write For Wine, hosted by Lani Diane Rich (Lucy March) and CJ Barry (Samantha Graves).  Of course, I thought, "What an excellent concept.  Two of my favourite things.  Let's bang those together and see what falls out.", and listened to them all.  I loved those podcasts, with their dangerously teetering blend of writing craft and drinking games.  Sadly, those podcasts finished up in March last year.  In fact, before I started subscribing.  D'oh.

Stumbling to find something to fill the void, I came across another Lani Diane Rich podcast, this time with the stunningly clever Jennifer Crusie, called Popcorn Dialogues.  In PopD, these two watch a movie, then tear it apart, using the conventions of romance writing craft, to ask why some things work and some don't.  It's really very cool.

They loved ENCHANTED, and tore HITCH into bloody, twitchy little lumps.  They began with 1950's rom coms and are now just heading into a series they've dubbed "Hitmen in Love".

On the website, PopD's catch-cry is "watching movies to write better novels".  So I thought I'd give it a red-hot go.

I've raided the DVD cabinet, and Kmart's bargain bins, and my mum's TV cupboard.  Plus my wardrobe and the space under my bed (I'm one of those people that finds things on the spesh and sekrits them away around my house to give away as gifts.  There's a very good chance 90% of these items won't ever be found again.), and I've collected some romcom DVDs.

Here's what I've got (images from www.imdb.com):

I like the heroine's dress.  That counts, right?

Although Hugh makes me want to poke a stick in my eye, Drew is a romcom staple not to be sneezed at (PopD enjoyed FIFTY FIRST DATES, for the most part).  And I love music, so this is a good start.  The vest is a worry, but I'll soldier on.

I have a nasty feeling about this one (could be echoes of my cleaning-hate), but I'll give it a shot.

I think I've seen this--I used to get quite worked up about Michael Vartan back in ALIAS days.  As I get older, though, he gets too skinny to float my boat much.  :)

I'm not a SEX IN THE CITY kinda chick, so I'm going into this one blind.   Her dress is also cute.
Didn't McConaughey have some weird off-screen bizzo going on?  Or was that the guy from STARSKY & HUTCH?  Are they the same guy?  I mix them up, mainly because they're not...

RYAN REYNOLDS!  Yum.  With stick.
I don't think I even care if this isn't educational.  I'm in it for the pictures.  Hopefully, he loses his shirt within the first five to ten minutes.







Jack Black.  I like him in SCHOOL OF ROCK, and Tenacious D's TRIBUTE just stuck him with superglue in my book of cool.  Which leads me to...

PopD kinda poked this one with a big bad stick.  They called it 'Meh.".  The most interesting part is apparently where Jude's character admits to having a cow.  Really, Jude is a bit too Hugh-ey for me, so I'm not surprised.  I'm worried I'm going to keep wanting Kate to race to the front of the ship and hold her arms out like she's flying all through this one.

Jane Austen - Check
Book - Check

I can feel the educationment happening already...

Ah, more Drew.  Love the fairytale angle.












Finally, I've found these, which I realise aren't romcoms, but they're going on the TBW pile anyhoo:


I'm quite satisfied just by the title.  I mean, really, how could this one not be fabulous?

This one is THE BOAT THAT ROCKED here in OZ.

They rocked.  They rolled.  Then they sank.  

So, how's my DVD stack looking?  Have you seen any?  Are any of them going to change my life?  Or will they make my eyes bleed?

Win Anna Hackett's new Nocturne Bites - ONE NIGHT WITH THE WOLF!

To celebrate the release of One Night with the Wolf, Anna is giving away an e-copy EVERY WEEK in March!  That's all kinds of awesome!

From www.eharlequin.com...

One Night with the Wolf by  Anna Hackett Harlequin Nocturne Bites Werewolf Jade Thorne needs a man—a young, virile man to give her love and pleasure. As a rare female alpha, she must keep her pack safe by pledging herself in marriage to an aging leader from a rival pack. Until then, she wants to experience the raging passion of a wolf in his prime. She even has an ideal lover at hand: her Second, Christian Tallant. But Christian is a wolf who will demand to dominate her body, mind and soul. Now Jade must decide if she can afford to submit to his desire—and if one night with the wolf will really be enough....

Here's what Anna has to say about One Night...


This is my first ever wolf shifter story and I loved writing it. There's also a super sexy chase scene that my wonderful CPs loved! (E - I sooo did!)  So if you're looking for a tight, sexy read featuring a hunky wolf hero and spunky wolf heroine, you'll find One Night available for download at eHarlequin, Amazon US and other ebooksellers.



And woo, that chase scene is worthy of it's illustrious fame!

In order to get your name in the draw, head over to Anna's blog and answer her eeeeeassssy werewolf question!

Big congrats, Anna, and I can't wait to hear what you all think!

E x

What I'm reading...

 Snapshot of today - what I'm reading.  Some I picked up recently (SILVER BORNE, in the boring Aus Kindle release cover, so I put the pretty cover up too), some I've had on the burner for a while (especially anthologies).  What do you think?

DarkSide DownUnder, What We Are Reading. Pick the chatty one...

Today, at DSDU, Fiona Gregory, Paula Roe, Jess Anastasi and myself are talking about What We Are Reading. And in my case, how I felt about it, the plot, the author, the series and what I ate for lunch Monday week ago.

The R-Bomb

Yesterday was a day of woe -- I received a rejection email for my Bites sub. Then, I ate eight Lindt balls (assorted flavours) before lunch and I felt much better, if a bit wired from all the sugar.

I knew, pretty much, that it was coming (the sub had been in since June last year) but it's always a bit of a blow to actually read it. I have another piece that I'm revising to send in right now, but it would appear that Bites is undergoing a guidelines change. So, I'll have to see where I send it when it's done.

In the meantime, I'll write a synopsis for the rejected one and ship it back out there. No surrender, not while I'm keeping the fires burning on confectioner's sugar!

This week, Friday in fact, I'm reviewing the first book, MOON CALLED, of Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series, at DarkSide DownUnder. I'll link on Friday, otherwise hit the linky button on the right to visit the very awesome DSDU.

And speaking of tax reform, I was approached recently by Suzanne Brandyn to do a member spotlight in the Romance Writers of Australia national monthly publication, HeartsTalk. Wow, exciting! So stay tuned. And no, I won't mention tax reform, because, quite frankly, I find it mind-putrifyingly uninteresting. Sorry!

On facebook, Anna Campbell (you might have heard of Anna, her rep for utter awesomeness precedes her regularly), linked to this article by Kate Cuthbert, that I enjoyed.

In other news, we've got a SARA (South Australian Romance Authors) gathering on tonight, our first for the year. In the break, we've gotten all high tech and built facebook and twitter profiles.

If you'd like to see what we're up to, search for 'SARA - South Australian Romance Authors' on FB (we need a few more members before we can get a URL name) and look for us at www.twitter.com/SAusRomA, and we're hashtagging (mmm, that might not be a real word) with #SAusRomA.