The Last Dragon Release Day

Yep - this is a release day post!

All the links are in the snippet below (click 'see more' to see more), and have a wonderful weekend :D

Post by Dianna Hardy.

New is good! (And The Witching Pen playlist.)

Well, I have spent the last 24 hours trying to figure out how Windows 8 works. And trying to get used to the new keyboard on my laptop - you know how the keys are never exactly the same distance apart as they were when you change your computer (unless you buy the exact same computer again) and typing suddenly becomes slower as you get used to the change? That's where I'm at.

I was going to finish writing The Last Dragon on my old laptop, but ... hmmm ... the new one is NIIIIIIIICCCCEE! And there's something about how it's not so much and ending, but a new beginning... ;)

Short and sweet for today. I am leaving you with the playlist for suggested theme songs for The Witching Pen series, as chosen by readers. I'm definitely listening to all of these as I write The Last Dragon - sooooo helpful.

Have a great weekend, everyone :)

Dianna xxx

PLAYLIST:

The angel in the marble.

I am beavering away at The Last Dragon.

Over 21,656 words complete - a lot more still to go.

I've booked two days away in July, so I can stay in London City near Canary Wharf - the place where The Last Dragon will be rising ;) My partner will be looking after our daughter when I'm away, and I'm having one of those moments where I'm feeling so very grateful for the man in my life - his patience with my whole 'being an author' thing, lol. (We're not easy to live with, folks, are we?)

Anyway, I'm looking forward to two days of solid writing (well, as solid as possible). I don't believe I write as fast as many others, but I do know that I'm thorough with every single sentence I write, in its action and meaning. So here's to an action-fuelled, meaningful two days away :D

Up until then, I'll be chipping away at this book, shaping it into what I want it to be. On that note, I shall leave you with Michelangelo's words (very fitting for The Last Dragon, I'm sure you'll agree) -

"I saw the angel in the marble

and carved until I set him free."

A hundred guest posts coming up...

Well, not quite! But I'm copping out today and instead of a post on here, I'm giving you my blogging schedule to date, which will become much more full now, thanks to my awesome new PR Manager.

Don't miss out on some things below, including the EXCLUSIVE FIRST EXCERPT of The Last Dragon over at Fiction Fascination on 6th June, and the cover reveal for Heart Of The Wolf, on 30th June. Lots coming up!

End of May (date TBC) - guest post over at Paranormal Book Club

6th June - Author interview and EXCLUSIVE FIRST EXCERPT of The Last Dragon, over at Fiction Fascination.

13th June - 20 Questions over at Love Books? Blog Books!

30th June - Cover Reveal for Heart Of The Wolf (Eye of The Storm #3), plus guest post on book three, over at Fiction Fascination.

4th October - The Last Dragon release day

4th and 5th October - Indie Romance Convention, Lebanon TN (book signing / chats via Skype), and exclusive giveaway and SWAG from me for those attending.

31st December - Heart Of The Wolf release day (tentative date which may go into 2014)

Bad things, good things, family life and sunshine.

Yep ... it's Friday and the week has flown by! (And I should have posted yesterday...)

Bad things: my daughter's ear infection has been persistent, even with antibiotics, which she's just finishing off. It makes any parent crazy, and I don't know if I have the right to add double to that with being a writer and trying to squeeze in the writing around illness - everyone needs to work - but it sure feels like insanity is brewing! Trying to coop up an arty type of person is like trying to cage anything wild. It's close to suffocation. Add to that that my partner is also not feeling too well, and we have the perfect recipe for "caged in" ... but he has been fantastic with helping out, even through his own cold, so I really can't complain there. I was out for about two hours yesterday from tiredness alone (and the tell-tale signs of hayfever - God, I hate hayfever) but am refreshed today :)

Good things: over 3% of The Last Dragon has been written and WHAT a 3% it is. Talk about an opening :p Now, 3% doesn't sound a lot, but this is going to be a long book I think, and we all have to start somewhere. I will get more writing time in tonight hopefully...

Also, my daughter (even with her ear) goes to her very first dance class tomorrow morning! She's growing up so fast. Yeah, it's a little sad, but mostly I'm over the moon that she's growing and becoming independent. Of course I'll miss my baby girl a little, but I don't think I'll be one of those mums that pine for the time when their kids were itty-bitty. I want to see her grown up and taking life by the horns. I do kinda wish I didn't have to get any older though, lol. Immortality rocks - I'd choose to be young and immortal any day! In our heads, I don't think we ever grow over the age of 24 - I'm still there at twenty-four.

And it looks like this bank holiday weekend (we get a long weekend here in the UK, with Monday being a holiday) is going to be super-sunny and warm. Welcome back, summer - I have missed you :D

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Dianna x

Writing on The Last Dragon has "officially" begun.

And this was my excuse for not blogging last night. I felt the pull of writing and really needed to get stuck back into it for my own sake - to know that I still could!

I'm not a writer who can finish one project and go straight into the next. I need to be "obsessed" with my characters to a certain extent to write them, so I sort of feel like I need to get to know them all over again to be able to write from inside their heads.

Well, I'm pleased to say that last night, the characters came to life and the writing flowed smoothly :) All under the Scorpio, partially eclipsed, full moon. I completed 1160 words, and since my aim is 1000 words a day, that's good.

Unfortunately, the rest of the night was difficult, with my daughter awake for most of the night with a healing (and highly itchy, and still slightly gungey) inner-ear - no fun at all. I finally got some sleep from about 5:30am. Needless to say, my sense of humour appears to be missing this morning.

Anyway, onto more motivational thoughts... I posted this up on my FB page and thought I'd share it here too:

Yeah ... I'm looking forward to this too :D

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Dianna xxx

Yucky Feelings and My New Book Trailer.

I missed last night's post because I was riled up and went to bed with a bad taste in my mouth. No, I really should not write blog posts when I'm feeling yucky, so I didn't. I had horrible dreams about people spitting in my hair. Isn't it fun being a creative soul? Isn't it fun having an emotional nature? The skill and art of detachment is a life-long process, let me tell you...

Anyway... if you haven't seen it or had enough of it yet, I am posting here my new trailer that I made for one of my current WIP The Last Dragon - something I do not feel yucky about in the slightest :)

(contains spoilers for The Witching Pen trilogy)



And I got some writing done last night too... So I've decided that today is going to be a good day :)

Have a great Friday, everyone! xxx

My New Obsession

This blog post sees you 24 hours late - sorry :s

I became immersed last night, in my new obsession: creating a video trailer for The Last Dragon.

I love doing them, but really, I do become obsessed. I did when I created the one for The Witching Pen series too (which you can see below) - I was at it non-stop for 12 hours. This one's going to take me a hell of a lot longer though. I want a blockbuster-type trailer for a blockbuster-type novel... Admittedly, I doubt I'll achieve it on my little home video maker, but I'll give it a damn good try :)

I've learnt some interesting things too, while I cultivate this: I've learn how to change hair colour on my design programme, I've learnt how to make fairy wings (my version of), I've learnt that there are no good photos of old women on stock photo sites, and I've learnt where the Snickers bars are hidden in my home :D

So if you don't hear from me for a while, it's because I am nurturing my obsessive side - see you at the other end ;)