Emmie's adventures in La La Land

Hello everyone! A few days ago, I packed up my belongings and got on a plane for a (very) long time.

Setting off on my journey! 

Apart from being very bumpy, the plane ride went off without a hitch, and I'm now safely ensconced in my new, temporary home in Los Angeles. It's the cutest little apartment, just a bit back from the street. I'm in Venice, about a ten minute walk to the beach. I have a courtyard, an office and -- most importantly for this little princess -- a very comfortable bed.

My little courtyard -- the perfect spot for an afternoon vino
after a hard morning's writing...

In my neighborhood, there are funky shops, innumerable cafes, palm trees -- in other words, it's about as close to St Kilda as you could get outside of Melbourne. (So I like travel, but I also like being at home -- this is the best of both worlds.)

It's winter here, so it's a little chilly. But after doing a little wandering and exploring over the past few days, I've discovered that the best time to be out and about is between 11am and 3pm. It's quite warm and pleasant -- jeans and a jumper (sweater) weather. After 3 it starts to get a little cool and the sun begins to go down. To be honest, I knew I was coming into winter, and packed accordingly, but I'd kind of forgotten about that whole sun-going-down-early thing. At home right now it's still dusk at 8.30-9pm. Here it's pretty much completely dark by 5.30. Should have thought about that.

Why am I here? Well there are lots of reasons, but part of it is to get a change of scenery and reinvigorate my writer's brain. So far, it's working. I wouldn't say I've been exceptionally prolific, but I have been writing every day and that's a change from how things were in the final part of last year. I've also had a few writerly things to get done, like the AAs for Just For Today, as well as going back and having a look over Spellbound, my newly contracted erotica story for Destiny Romance. (Still doing jumpy claps about that one!)

A photo of a mural I spotted on my walkabout this afternoon.

I've only just arrived, really, but I'm heading off shortly for an adventure with a friend in Texas. I'm going to Dallas and Austin, and I've never been to either place, so I'm very excited. I've heard great things about Austin in particular, so I'm going to take lots of photos and come back and give you all an update about that!

In the meantime, happy writing to all of you -- hope 2013 is off to a great start with words flowing!

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone! I hope your lead-in to 2013 was fantabulous. Mine was a quiet affair, but fun anyway. I drank a few disappointing cocktails -- they were stupidly expensive and I could have done a better job of making them myself -- played a little pool, and watched some fireworks. We were right next to where the fireworks were being set off, so I leaned back against the car and watched the sky above me. Quite, quite wonderful.

Check out how good I am at pool! Cleanest break ever in the history of the game... 

I love it when you can feel the vibrations of fireworks in your belly.

I'm not much of a resolution maker. And besides, 2012 was pretty freakin' fantastic, so to try to set goals to beat it is going to be tough. But I know what I want the year to bring me. More writing. More books on shelves (whether real shelves or e-shelves). More fun times with friends and family. New places in the world to visit. Delicious food and an occasional scrummy chardonnay. A couple of adventures. Lots of acts of kindness. That'll do, I think.