Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, where I share snippets from new and past releases and works-in-progress, and occasionally twist the arms of author buddies to do the same.

First up, news from the Hein house.

Sooooo tired!

Last weekend was full on, with two events over the two days. It was also brilliant. Trish Morey, Fiona McArthur, Jaye Ford and I had a wonderful turnout for our Coffee, Cake and Contemporary Women’s Stories events down at Lake Macquarie. So many lovely people! And as you’d expect with a panel of these ladies, there were lots of laughs to be had.

Here’s a piccie.

Attendee Jodie (L) with Trish Morey, Fiona McArthur, me and Jaye Ford

Special thanks to Julie from Lake Macquarie Libraries for organising the event and to Lakeview Cafe at Speers Point for the venue and delicious treats.

Then on the Sunday it was off up the Hunter Valley for the inaugural Maitland Indie Festival with Jodi Perry and Michelle Douglas, where we spoke about publishing independently – the pros and cons and mostly how important is to be professional about it.

We were also hit by a nasty storm last Wednesday. It smacked right when I was powering along with Serenity’s Song (working title), and yes, I should have shut the computer down, but I was in THE ZONE and didn’t want to stop.

Yeah, you can guess what happened. The storm took out the power, with the damage particularly bad in my street, and stayed out for around thirty hours after something else went kaboom at 2am during repair work.

That was thirty hours of not knowing how much of my day’s work had survived. I was pretty confident it would be okay (I’m very particular about backing up my files), but it was still a nervous wait. Not helped by sponge baths, navigating the house by candlelight and trying to sleep with no aircon and the windows open, letting in all the repairmen’s noise. Although it did give us an excuse to trot over to our favourite pub for dinner.

In the end, Serenity’s Song was fine. The contents of our freezer, however, were not. Everything was partially defrosted. Rather than let all that food go to waste, Jim and I spent Friday and Saturday morning cooking up casseroles and making this delicious mango cake from defrosted mango pieces (highly recommended, this cake). And eating toast and bacon. NOT good for one’s waistline.

So I think it’s only fitting for this Teaser Tuesday that I share a snippet from the saved Serenity’s Song. Those of you who are part of the cool gang newsletter team will have already read these few lines, but I think you won’t mind if I share them here too.

It is only a few lines. Must keep that anticipation coming!

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I will worry,’ she said softly. ‘You know I will.’

She made it sound like she’d worried before. He shook off the idea. Serenity loathed him. And she’d loathe him even more once they got out of this shithole and realised whose fault this disaster had been.

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Serenity’s Song is a follow-on story to my Outback Brides novel, Elsa’s Stand. You can find out more about Elsa’s Stand here.

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