Wildlife Wednesday - Bug

I found this bug, which I thought was a St Andrew's Cross bug, but I'm not finding too much info for that name. So I'm (again) guessing I call this thing the wrong name.

Okay, so I think it might be from the Lygaeidae family. Some info is here on the CSIRO website. It says they're a large family and include lots of agricultural pests (which must be why I was vaguely familiar with them).

They're also called cinch bugs.

There's another good website here from CSIRO again, but not much on my bug.

Oh, well, not a lot of info but at least I'm back taking photos of critters (even when my ID is wrong!)  :)

ARRC Photos

Helen Konstan was the ARRC17 photographer and she took some amazing photos over the weekend, but most exciting for me was that she got some of me looking half-decent - and that's not easy! So here are some of her pics.

PS I know it should be Wildlife Wednesday...but I'm out of wildlife temporarily! My mind isn't on the job yet -  I saw a weevil today and popped it on a bush without taking a photo. I've got to get my act together.

Catching up & ARRC

The ENT thinks my ear problems are an inflammation, so I'm on anti-inflammatories and there is some improvement. So that's a good thing! :) Fingers crossed it goes away soon.

I went to ARRC after that good health news. ARRC is the Australian Romance Readers Convention, which was held in Melbourne. I hadn't been to one before, and Cate Ellink was going to stay behind but there was a cancellation and they asked me to fill in on the Sports Romance Panel, so Cate Ellink went along after some discussion about my sweet and sexy sides being both there.

You may know if you follow this blog or the Naughty Ninjas, that I've had some jealousy issues with my two writing selves. Cate Ellink, because she's all about sex, cops a lot of flak and so I try to keep my two selves separate. Going to a convention with both of me was a first and I was quite worried about it - even though the lovely ladies on the ARRA committee assured me it would be fine.

And it was! No one cared. In fact some readers who only knew my clean self, said they'd hunt up my raunchy self too. I think it's the first time my two halves have been united and happy.

I participated in the Sports Romance Panel, a speed dating session, and also the Book Signing. They were all a lot of fun!


Speed dating was 4 minutes with 10 different people to talk with, about...well, I talked about different things with each person. Book covers, travelling, writing, reading habits, juggling work and writing, the publishing industry. Some of the readers were writers too. My session was on Sunday and by then I knew most of the ladies who popped onto the chair across from me, so it was like having a speed chat to friends.

The book signing was more fun that I expected. I sat between K M Golland and Beverley Eikli / Beverley Oakley, so the company was exceptionally good. ARRC produced booklets for the signing, and I signed lots of those. I had magnets and bookmarks, merkins and postcards. I gave away a lot of magnets, especially ones with naked chests, or calendars. Next time I might do a naked chest on a calendar!!! :)

Photo with thanks to @Kaetrin67 and her tweet

The Sports Romance Panel was the best fun. Four authors, and a fabulous moderator - and the other 3 authors hated sport! I sat in my Parramatta t-shirt, so I couldn't even pretend to hate sport!! I didn't feel too bad either. I'm not ashamed of loving sport. I'm not ashamed of loving writing about sex. I realised that I write sports people who love sex, and I enjoy that!

I had a bit of a fan girl moment. In the audience was C S Pacat. I'm a fan of her Captive Prince series. She asked a question about tropes - which trope do you write about? I didn't get to answer the question, but after a lot of thought, I realised what I write. And it's not what the others write (which doesn't surprise me at all!).


I love 'serious' sports people. I'm not up for the 'bad' boy/girl who makes good. I'm up for the professional who works their arse off to get better. To be the best. To keep achieving. I write about the perfectionist.

As a sports nut, I'm not interested in sports for fame, money, 'bad boys', or popularity. I'm interested in the psychology of sports people, the sacrifices they make to be the best, they way they push themselves, and their focus.

It's not really a popular trope when the romance genre (at the moment) is in love with 'bad boys' making good, and popularity, and Beauty and the Beast tropes. That's why I write what I do (even without realising what it was I was writing!) - I struggled to find stories that were about what interested me.

It's incredible that a simple question can open up a whole new idea in your head. It can explain so much about what you write and why you write it. It can show why you're not finding what you're looking for, why you're different, and even an angle for marketing.

I've always known I write differently to most people, but I've never quite been able to work out why that is, or even what it is. One question has changed my thinking. (And if I thought I fan girled her from her books, this question made me an even bigger fan girl! I won't even go to where she spoke to me and I became a jibbering idiot!!!)

So...I had an incredible weekend at ARRC.

Now...this weekend is Round 1 of the Rugby League season.

I'm pretty much walking on air - if only my ears were perfectly happy!!! :)

My apologies

I'm struggling to keep up at the moment, so my apologies that the blog is neglected.

I've got a crazy virus, or something. I've spent weeks with no voice, then when it came back, weeks with blocked ears. But I go to the Ears, Nose & Throat Specialist in a couple of weeks and hopefully they'll work out what's attacking me.

While I haven't been blogging, I have been writing-working. I submitted my MMF story. So stay tuned for news on that (but you know publishing, it could be a while!). I even gave it a title since MMF probably isn't a great selling title. And the title isn't the best selling one either, but it was all I could manage - On The Trilateral Team.

I also entered short stories into a contest and an anthology, so we'll see how they go too.

And if I get some mojo, I might tackle another one. See if work stays crazy or calms down. See how my stupid ears go, and how my brain is frazzled by stupid ears. Who knew sinus issues were so ick!

More news when I return.

Oh, and ARRC (the Australian Romance Readers Convention in Melbourne on 24th - 26th Feb) I'm still hoping to get there. Fingers crossed.