Happy Birthday PHS

Pop on over to the Pink Heart Society today where they're celebrating their 3rd Birthday, and don't forget to post a comment.

There's a fantastic bag of books for the winner including ones by Nic Marsh, Kate Walker, Fiona Harper and even little ole me.

Although I still haven't got my author copies of Public Affair, Secretly Expecting yet, so you may be waiting awhile for my prize. Still that gives you lots of time to read all the others right!

It's all good.

Must-Watch Friday - Gone with the Wind

I am waxing lyrical about Gone with the Wind today over at the Pink Heart Society, so do pop over there and let me know what you think of David O Selznick's gargantuan romance. It's the film that introduced me to alpha males and feisty females and great, big, gushing romantic fantasies at an early age, so it has a place close to my heart...

Despite the fact that in the years since I first fell in love with it I have become aware of its shortcomings. A movie of its time definitely, but one we're never likely to see the likes of again. And Clark Gable! Can I just say, Yum! (even with the tache)

The Waiting Game....

So I finally emailed Issy and Leo's story (some of which is set in the lovely city of Florence, hence the photo) off to my editor on Sunday night. Several weeks late (oops, I blame the school holidays and those pesky kids) and after a couple of afternoons spent frantically typing on my laptop in the park while my youngest played football.

And now all I have to do is wait... To see if my ed likes it as much as I do. Have to say after the trauma that was Mac and Juno's story, this one has gone surprisingly smoothly... Probably because for once I actually wrote an outline that I pretty much stuck to. But now I've sent it off, I'm not sure that's a good thing. Was the trauma the thing that added power and passion and complexity to Mac and Juno's tale? You see, this is the problem: the more time you have to wait the more time you have to panic. How comes this doesn't get any easier?

Luckily I'm freelancing this week in my other job as a film journalist, or my poor snowed-under ed would be getting endless little emails saying the author equivalent of 'are we there yet?'

Schmoozing at AMBA

Had a fab time at the AMBA lunch on Thursday at a bijou location in London's Covent Garden. As usual I forgot to bring my camera (actually I don't even have a camera!!) so the wonderful Kate Hardy was sweet enough to take a few snaps for me. From left to right there's me with Fiona Harper, the Modern Heat posse of Kate and new author Lucy King and the inimitable Sharon Kendrick. What a laugh, a great time was had by all. The great women who write for Mills and Boon is one of the big benefits of writing for them IMHO.
Okay, enough schmoozing... Also yesterday, the article about my book club experience came out in The Telegraph and it was really good. Casilda Grigg, the journalist who wrote the piece had some excellent things to say about the event and made some interesting observations about how it's not actually possible to just knock off a Mills and Boon in your lunchbreak. Anyone who reads this blog of course will know what a flipping struggle it is to write these books (or anyone who's ever tried to write one) but it's nice to have that little myth popped in a major British newspaper.

Casilda also managed to mention that Pierce Brosnan is my muse (probably because I mentioned it about 100 times) so I'll be expecting a call from him shortly. And even better in the article's main photo of me I only have one chin! I'm so proud...

Free ebook Giveaway of Pleasure, Pregnancy and a Proposition

Yippeee! Mills and Boon's ebook giveaway has arrived. So pop on down to this address and you can get an ebook copy of Pleasure, Pregnancy and a Proposition for FREE. That's right absolutely no spondoolicks, nada dinero, niet bucks... All right I've run out of silly money sayings...

Also up for grabs is India Grey's award-winning (and rightly so) Modern, Mistress: Hired for the Billionaire's Pleasure, which is fab, cos I've read it... And there's a very tempting title from Rhonda Nelson in the Blaze series called The Player (check out that guy's nicely-oiled abs!)

It's a little pressie to celebrate their centenary. Happy Birthday M&B!

NB: If you have any probs with the downloads you might want to check out the discussion here on I Heart Presents.

Fancy a cuppa??

Had a lovely time at the inaugural meeting of the Mills and Boon book club on Tuesday evening. Gorgeous little teashop in London's soho called Yumchaa (clever eh). Had a lovely Raspberry and Vanilla Iced Tea and then got quizzed about my favourite subject... Me!

No just kidding. Actually it was the wonderful world of being a Mills and Boon author. Met some very nice people, including an aspiring author from Australia and an eighty year old lady who had previously worked in sexual health medicine (I think). Even got interviewed by a reporter from The Telegraph and had my picture taken (good thing I put my posh frock on).

Questions included 'Do you base any of your scenes on real life?' Answer: Actually no, but as soon as a movie star snogs me in Heathrow airport I will have!!

And that old favourite: 'Do you find it hard to write sex scenes?' Answer: No, not at all, because I think of them as action scenes (which got the very dishy guy in the front row raising his eyebrows... bless) and I'm a tart!!

Will be doing a blog on my book club debut on I Heart Presents which I haven't quite written yet, but will be up there on 14th September hopefully. In between finishing this darn book. Not long now, scenes are flowing off the keyboard, but I've still got only ten days to do about four chapters. Arghhh.

BTW, cheers Biddy Coady for rescuing me when I nattered myself into a corner and then couldn't get out again!

Testing... Amazon Author Central

Okay, so I'm officially in avoidance mode because after four days away in Cornwall (in the lovely little town of Rock), I'm busy messing about with my Author Page on Amazon which I just discovered and have now updated. I hope. There's supposed to be a link to this blog (something to do with RSS Feeds and URLs and Atoms!! At which point I switched off and hoped for the best). So now I'm testing it to see if this blog post pops up.

And just so you don't think you've come into this blog by mistake and ended up on some new technology bender that has nothing to do with romance writing. I have to tell you about a great new idea I had for my next book while watching the very hunky lifeguards at Watergate Bay.

 Yeah, I know, you're all thinking, of course she's going to make her next hero a lifeguard. But would I be that predictable. Actually I'm thinking the heroine might be the lifeguard. And the hero's the one who needs saving... Now all I have to do is finish Leo and Issy's story... The good news on that? I've finally got them to the beautiful city of Florence. the bad news? Well, not a lot actually, Florence is lovely this time of year. And it's really sunny, and, as gorgeous as Cornwall is, I've been a bit sun-deprived this summer... So now I'm feeling thoroughly inspired.

Also, just checked out the Waldies and both me and Nicola Marsh made the cut with our Sept Presents releases two weeks in a row. Woohoo!