Meredith Shayne

Coming soon: Rust Red: Galvanized

This time next week, I will be in America. This time in 3 weeks, I will still be in America and yet the world will be filled with sunshine and puppies and rainbows, because my Torquere Press Color Box will be out. Woo hoo! As my subject line implies, it’s called Rust Red: Galvanized, and you have no idea how difficult it is for me not to type “my Torquere Colour Box, Rust Red: Galvanised” every time I talk about it.

Seriously, America, you kill me with your Zs all over the place and your lack of Us where Us should be, you really do. As if me facing another 6 weeks of driving on the wrong side of the road wasn’t bad enough, you also have to curb my natural inclination to spell properly.

Joking, Americans! I love your country. You have Junior Mints.

Anyway. The new book is a novella of about 17,000 words, give or take, that continues the story of Adam and Chris, who we met in Eyes Wide Shut. The cover art and an unedited blurb are below the cut.

When you’re used to the adrenaline-filled life of a Royal Flying Doctors Service physician, being chained to a desk with a broken leg would try the patience of a saint. But coming out in the testosterone-driven environment of a Western Australian nickel mine is no walk in the park either. Six months after the mine cave in that almost killed RFDS doctor Adam Taylor, he and his mining engineer boyfriend Chris Barker need a break. A trip to Surfers Paradise to visit Adam’s family seems like just the thing, until a chance meeting with an old adversary on the tourist strip makes Chris’ private life very, very public. With the nickel mine seething with prejudice and aggression, and Chris stubbornly refusing to admit that his safety is in question, it’s up to Adam to persuade Chris that the love they share is more important than Adam’s love for his job and the rust-red landscape that surrounds them.

So, there we go. Its publication date is September 28th, and I am looking forward to it.

I must say, I adore the cover. It is beautiful, and just what I wanted. My favourite part is the kangaroo road sign, because even though when I’m in Australia and I see a sign like that all I can think is “*$@(#*$@# kangaroos!!!” (because hit a big red kangaroo and you and your car will regret it), right now when I’m sitting in kangaroo-free New Zealand all I think is “Awww, kangaroos! BLESS.”