Art Mystery 101

 Hi Guys,

Merry Christmas tomorrow! (And Happy New Year shortly!)

And yes just a brief note from me to tell you that I'm still working on Art Mystery 101. At this stage it's only a few days away from finishing and so should be out some time between Christmas and New Years. I've simply been struggling with the final couple of chapters, but I think I've got them dealt with now. 

After that it should be Good Neighbours - my first book of the new year, an urban sci fi, which is mostly done. I'm just trying to finish it up now and add to the general craziness of the story! (And especially the aliens, because why shouldn't aliens be a little nuts! They came to Earth after all!)

As for me, I've finally got two working eyes again - and let me tell you it's so much better having cataract surgery done when you're unconscious. Much less stressful than watching someone come at your eye with a knife! Also I learned a brand new word, which I'm fairly sure the eye doctors have just made up for kicks. Pseudophakic. (Actually bilaterally pseudophakic.) It basically means I have fake lenses in my eyes. In any case they sort of work and driving has become far less hit and miss, but I think I might need reading glasses for the close up stuff.

On the more negative side, I had a tooth die - which was weird. The outside enamel simply decided to part company with the rest of the tooth and what was left was a huge mercury filling which was slowly crunching down with every bite. Anyway, the tooth's gone now which is a relief, but the bills were shocking. The extraction was about $400 all up, which is good. A crown would have been $1600. And from there the prices for the other options just went up! (The dentist really did try to sell me that crown!) 

By contrast the eye surgery was free. Public health and all that!

But it makes me think - what else is going to fall off or have to be replaced? And how much of me will still be organic by the time I shuffle off? Anyway that's just life I suppose.

So for now, have a good holidays all.

Cheers, Greg.

Yes, I Have A Plan! (And It Might Even Work!)

 Hi Guys,

Ok, so as the title says I have a tentative plan for publishing two more books this year. 

The first is another detective - Art Mystery 101 - which is currently in the process of being edited. And I'm thinking the cover will be similar to the one above - which is another Deep Dream work. The only problem with it is that my character actually is sort of half Oriental and for unknown reasons she actually only has four fingers and thumb on her right hand! (Though ironically enough Cayllee Chambers does have badly damaged fingers on both her hands as a result of an abusive childhood. Could Deep Dream somehow be reading my thoughts?!)

Anyway, the story follows a number of the themes I've had running through my works for a couple of years now, but also takes a couple of sharp left turns. One of them being that she is an actual art forger who has been working quietly away, completely unnoticed by anyone - until an attack / fire / mass murder on the art facility where she is employed for her day drive, threatens to expose her alternative occupation, forcing her to flee.

Of course, nothing is ever what it seems!

The second book is - Good Neighbours - an urban sci fi, set in a fictitious New Zealand town, where our hero is the local vet trying to live a normal life while ignoring the fact that the town is home to an alien research base - and that some of the visitors might actually be insane!

Don't know if this will be the cover - but I love the image!

Good Neighbours is a little further off, but the first draft is complete and I'm flat out working on the edits / revisions. With luck it'll be out for Christmas. Unfortunately, one little wrinkle in my plans is that I'm due for eye surgery next month, so I don't know what that's going to do to everything. The other little wrinkle is that every time I sit down to type, the cat seems to want to sit in front of the screen and get petted!

Anyway, that's where I am at the moment, and I will do my damndest not to get sidetracked as usual. (If the cat lets me!)

Cheers for now,

Greg.