Koala count: 2! And many fairy penguins, thanks to a trip to Victor Harbor to show our exchange student something of our gorgeous coastline and its own special treasures.

CD of choice: Radio

I thought today I’d recycle another of the articles I originally wrote for the wetnoodleposse ezine - to explain a bit more about why I love where I live. 

Cherry orchards, apple trees, vineyards and bushland, my own special spot in South Australia has it all. Norton Summit is a blink of a town a few short kilometres outside the capital city of Adelaide, yet it’s a different world. Whereas the city is situated on the long flat plain stretching north and south between the hills and St. Vincent’s Gulf, Norton Summit is perched at the tip of those hills just to the east.

Follow the winding road up through the valley and suburbia slips away, the air sweetens and million dollar views greet you as you make the steep climb up the escarpment. Take the trip late afternoon and you’ll be rewarded with even more breathtaking views as the valley is bathed in golden red hues as the sun sets over the sea behind.

In pride of place at the top there’s a pub, perhaps uninspiredly yet so appropriately named the Scenic Hotel, with commanding views through the cleft in the bush clad hills, over the city and to the gulf and beyond. The Scenic serves the best seasoned squid in the world, or at least outside that cute little trattoria in Volterra, Tuscany that’s just a tad too far distant for take away. Or try the Scenic Burger, a tower of a burger that will ruin you for chain junk food for life.

Unusually for an Australian town, churches outnumber hotels in Norton Summit. There are two. There’s also a post office agency, a primary school that has almost one hundred enrolments and a cemetery that boasts several hundred more. Don’t waste your time looking for a shop.

Nowhere in South Australia shows the change in seasons to better effect than the Adelaide Hills. Winters are cold and wet, the city below often disappearing beneath the magic white fog that hangs thick and silent over the hills. Perfect writer weather! The whole world dissolves so you can make up your own. Snow makes a rare and brief visit.

Spring sees the blossoming of cherry, apple and pear orchards bursting into life and the winds that whip through the orchards, sending flurries of white petals through the air. Up in the gum trees, old-man Koalas grunt like chainsaws on steroids throughout the day and night, advertising their availability to any passing love interest and causing windows all around the hills to be slammed firmly shut.

Then summer. Summer is hot and dry, picking season full on as trucks weighed down with fresh produce roll their way slowly downhill to the city and the markets and the planes that will take fresh cherries to tropical Christmas lunches in Darwin, Brisbane and beyond. Colourful rosella parrots, the curse of growers and the delight of birdlovers alike,

vie with the pickers for the best fruit while black cockatoos divest the pine trees of cones, firing their detritus down on the unwary below.

And autumn, most beautiful season of them all with still, perfect days and leaves turning every shade from russet through gold. A magic time and nature’s reward between the blowtorch of summer and the winter damp.

It’s a very special corner of the world. Close to the city but a world away.

Can you tell I love it here?

Tell me why you love where you live by posting to my blog and the best judged entry will receive a copy of The #1 Bestsellers Collection, featuring my title, The Italian’s Virgin Bride.

Entries close Sunday April 6th, so make sure you put in your entry. I’m looking forward to hearing about the wonderful places you live!

Koalas sighted: 1

CD playing: refer title

A simply beautiful morning for walking this morning. A little overcast but clear after a cold, cold night, the air feels so fresh after the rain we’ve had (we’ve had rain - hallelujah!) and the colours of the leaves look a little brighter now the dust has washed off. And if you look  hard enough, you can even see the tiniest tinge of green as new grass peeks out of the sundried earth.

And it was so quiet! So quiet I could hear birdsong from way across the valley, the squawk of parrots wheeling through the gum trees, the bleat of the sheep in the paddock. So quiet I could hear the voices in my head speak to me. That’s why I love to walk. It gives those voices a chance to be heard and to argue and laugh and be passionate so that when I get home again, there’s half a chance I might be able to capture something of that passion on the page. But they always put it so much better than I can capture it.

 I love driving for much the same reason. And while there are times I curse the mum’s taxi life so many of us have, I do love the solitude and the chance to take my characters with me to continue a scene, or work out where I’ve gone wrong and how to make it better. It seems so much easier to do that when I’m not staring at a computer screen for some reason. So it drives me to distraction when miss 17 jumps into front seat and immediately starts punching buttons on the radio, switching between channels. Why is it that 17yo’s can’t think without the radio and I can’t think with it? Unlike a CD I choose to play, with commercial radio I have no control over what is played, over the mood or tone or the lyrics. It messes with my head. It messes with my voices. And I need my voices.

So I’m walking around the block today and thinking how totally peaceful and serene it is and enjoying listening to my voices and wondering why I can never think of lines that good, and I swear there was the roar of engines and half a dozen cars pelted past in both directions.

And while I’m there thinking, so much for silence, the voices in my head laughed at me and said, “what’s your problem? - stop  eavesdropping and get home to work!” and I figured they were right.  Silence doesn’t last (at least, not until that big final sleep and even then I’m guessing)  but then neither does chocolate or cherry blossom or even orgasms, and maybe that’s a good thing.

Not only because it makes us appreciate them all the more. But because otherwise we’d never get a thing done. So, to work…

Koala count: FOUR!!! It’s a koala party - and no wonder given the news!

Today’s CD of choice: Forget the CD’s - it’s a party tooter kind of day:-))

 In brilliant news from Romance Writers of America overnight, the world learned that not only have Kelly Hunter and Anna Campbell finalled in the RITA, but our very own Anne Gracie too, for her fabulous The Perfect Kiss!

Congratulations Anne!

And the koala count was very timely today - we have a Japanese exchange student for a week and we’d just picked her up from school and were on the way home, and there they were, munching on gum leaves in the branches over the road, climbing up the trunk, or just curled into balls in the forks of the trees.  The first time she’s ever seen koalas! It was a magical moment, and so wonderful to be able to share something of what makes this area so special. And it helped relax her a little too, I think. Must be awfully scary being whisked away by a family you don’t know to goodness knows where.  At least we have fluffy animals to soften the blow

So apart from the small issue of not actually getting any writing done (please don’t tell my editor), it’s been a wonderful day! Hope your day was similarly special.

Koala count: Zero (they’re all out celebrating:-))

CD of choice: Nick Cave, No More Shall We Part (to get me in the writing mood - it’s not working)

Heard some brilliant news today - Romance Writers of America RITA finalists are being announced today and so far two of my very best writing buddies have made the cut - Kelly Hunter with Sleeping Partner, a totally gorgeous love story set in Penang, and Anna Campbell, with two RITA finals to her credit for her atmospheric and powerful Claiming the Courtesan and Untouched. I loved all of these books and I’m just so pleased they’ve been nominated.

Congratulations to Kelly and Anna! I’ll be there in San Fran to celebrate your success!

Koala Count: Zero - no walk for the mutt yet (Later: been for walk - one koala sighted! A good day - I’ve actually added some meaningful words onto the ms - hurrah)

Today’s CD of choice: Madeline Peyroux - Half the perfect world

 It’s Easter Sunday Downunder and we did the usual things - slept in, ate hot cross buns and then played Easter Bunny by hiding chocolate eggs and rabbits around the garden for the girls to find.

When do kids grow out of this? Our eldest is almost 18 and there’s no way she’s missing out. Will she still be as keen and eager to take part in this annual hunt when she’s twenty-five? Will she still be living at home when she’s twenty-five? Now there’s a scary thought

Happy Easter, wherever you are in the world and however you celebrate it this holiday weekend.  And stay tuned for a newsletter coming soon! I have a signed copy of The Greek Billionaire’s Baby Revenge by the fabulous new Presents star, Jennie Lucas to give away ……

in addition to a copy of each of The No. 1 Bestsellers Collection and The 2008 Mills & Boon Annual …

that’s three prizes coming up soon. So watch your inbox for that one.

Not a subscriber! Then join up soon.

Very best wishes to all for this Easter weekend,

Trish

Koala count:  a three koala day!

Today’s CD of choice: The Best of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

 Last week, in the midst of Adelaide’s great heat wave, I went grape picking for a local vineyard. This is the third year I’ve been out picking their chardonnay grapes and every year it gets better. Not the weather necessarily (this year it was forecast to hit 38 C and it did so, thankfully after we’d finished picking for the day) but for the fabulous sense of community. And for the wine - they do make a decent drop!

This, I figure is how it would be in a rustic Italian village somewhere - in fact, how it must have been done for centuries - the local community all rallying around and pitching in on the day the wine maker says will produce the best fruit and the best sugar levels for the very best wine.

In spite of the heat wave weather conditions promised, around twenty people turned out to pick the grapes. Neighbours, fellow mums and dads from the local primary school, family and friends all turned out to ensure the grapes were picked on time.  In previous years we’ve even had mothers with new babies, pushing their prams up the hill as they picked, nursing their babies in the shade of the vines when needed.

This year it was scorching hot. It was hard work. But it was fun, catching up with friends, meeting new ones. And when the job was done the boss put on a lunch that made us forget about the hard hot work. Or maybe that was the wine they served with it. They do make a good drop.

Writing is such a solitary business. It’s great to have the opportunity to get out of the house and talk. Talking is great. Listening is great. And if you can do both while helping out a couple of friends (did I tell you they make a decent drop?), then so much the better.

Koala count: a three koala day - bonus!

Today’s CD of choice: Leonard Cohen - I’m Your Man

Meant to mention this before - blame my blog trainer wheels for forgetting to pass this on - but I’m blogging at fellow Presents author Lucy Monroe’s blog site today about Sheikh romances and there’s a couple of books to give away.

Good luck!

 Trish

Koala count: Two

Today’s CD of choice: Portishead - Dummy

Okay, I said I’d explain the banner. This is the story. The following was originally written for the wetnoodleposse blog back a year or two ago. Given the subject matter and the book I was writing about, it seemed appropriate to give it another run around the block.

Anyone else out there love omens? Not the scary movie kind, but the meaningless things you can read into events of no real consequence. Or is that just me?

I love a good omen. Last year around April I completed and submitted the book that’s currently on the shelves - The Sheikh’s Convenient Virgin – featuring Sheikh Tajik al Zayed bin Aman (I called him Taj for short).  And as I always do, once I handed in the story, I pretended to be happy while all the while obsessing about all the things the editor was going to find to hate about it.

Anyway, in the midst of all this obsessing, I look for anything that might make me feel more positive. So one day I was in a supermarket stocking up on food wine for a Saturday night out with friends and what did I spy across the checkout that made my insides sizzle? A beer called Taj. I kid you not. In big, bold letters and all the way from India. “It’s a sign!” I declared, without a clue what kind of sign, but immediately adding a bottle to my purchases for luck.

The next day there’s a feature in the weekend papers – posh Indian hotels owned by none other than the Taj Group.

Now, they both had to be good omens, right? They must have been, because the book went through with hardly a change and it’s on the shelves right now.

Okay, it’s meaningless and daft but it works for me. Like today being a two koala day, which means it’s going to be a great day. How do I know? Because every day I walk the spoodle and every day I search for koalas high in the gum trees. Sometimes I see maybe one. Then I know it’s a sign that it’s going to be a good day. Two koalas means the day will be even brighter and more productive/fun/exciting (insert your word of choice). A three koala day, that’s just about the pinnacle of the koala richter scale, and you know your day will be the best ever. Four – get thee out and buy a lottery ticket forthwith! And if you don’t see any, well, you know they’re there somewhere, you just didn’t happen to see them.

Daft? Very possibly. Meaningless? I don’t know. You see, spotting those gorgeous furry critters up on high, maybe sometimes with a baby hugging on tight, makes me smile. Sometimes they look down at you, all cute furry face and big fluffy ears. How could you not smile? And if I’ve seen three koalas I carry those smiles through the day. Self-fulfilling prophecy? No doubt. It works for me.

And as long as it does, I’ll keep on looking for my koala a day.

Anyone else out there have their own brand of signs and omens?

Koala count: zero

Today’s CD of choice: Seaman Dan - Pacific Pearl

I was going to post about the koala riddle (clue up above:), but today turns out to be a red letter day for Adelaide - it’s our 9th consecutive day of over 35C temperatures, with a forecast top today of 36C. That’s pretty mild considering we’ve been having 39 and 40 degree days lately!

And it’s not going to stop just yet. Forecast maxima for the next 5 days are 38,39,39,38,38. 38 degrees, so it looks like this one is going to be a record to beat. 38 degrees tomorrow. While I’m picking grapes at a local winery (sad, isn’t it, the lengths some people will do to avoid the wip!). 

Good thing I know they make a very good drop. I may need a wee drinkie after that!

Welcome to my new blog!

Replacing my former News Page, my blog will now contain the latest up to date goings on with regard to Trish Morey releases, covers, contests and hopefully much, much more.

Of course, being a new hand at this, you might have to bear with me a while while I run in my wordpress training wheels, but hopefully I’ll get there.

And if you’re wondering about the title, all will be revealed shortly!

With very best wishes,

Trish