The last couple of days have been consumed by AI's server outage. There wasn't anything we could do about it from this end, but we got a backup of the static parts of AI set up at www.austeninterlude.pemberleyvariations.com.

Follow up:

It also gave me time to put finishing touches on the new background for AI and adjustments that came along with it. I'm happy with how it turned out. I actually like it better than the old damask one. It's reminded me that I need to do a site clean-out, though. Uploading the backup site showed me that we still have files going back to 2002 that aren't being used. I'd much rather clean up a website than my house!

I've also pushed my way through a block on Morning Light, the sequel to Pemberley by the Sea. It's pretty much finished, but there was one section that needed major changes - a fight between the hero and heroine that didn't seem realistic to the beta readers. Sometimes it's tricky finding realistic ways to keep the main characters from resolving their problems too early in a story. If they just talk it out from day one, there isn't much of a story at all. I'm hoping the new version is more realistic. Now I have to rewrite one scene with Cassie and Calder, and then it's just clean-up -- at least until I get the first set of edits back from my agent! Then it starts all over again.

Then there's my really exciting news - Impulse & Initiative and Pemberley by the Sea were reviewed in the 1/9/09 edition of Library Journal, and I&I got a starred review! This will help me in various ways, and, for some reason, it makes me feel much more like a Real Writer. It was quite a thrill. I wanted to post here about it right away, but with the site down, the best I could do was to post it on Facebook, which isn't quite the same. Congrats to Marsha Altman (DJ Clawson) on her review there as well.

Thanks for your patience while the site was down! I'm glad to be back.