I Heart Presents... On how Heidi found her mean streak!

Am blogging over at I Heart Presents later today on how much fun it can be to be really mean to your characters.... Especially if you know what's good for them and they don't!! And how I discovered this, and a mean streak I didn't even know I had, while writing my latest Presents release Public Affair, Secretly Expecting.

There's also a little bit in there about where my ideas come from... But don't expect a straight answer on that one cos I'm not even sure myself.

Hope a few of you find time to pop over and post a comment - so I look extremely popular.

Okay, shameless pleading over. Am currently closing in on finishing the rough draft of my latest WIP. I know I thought I'd finished it already but there was still more conflicts to resolve. With only a week to go before deadline I am getting a little concerned about how long it now is. And it just keeps getting longer.

Actually, I think I may be writing War and Peace (with sexy bits)!!

PHS... Let's talk about Valentine's Day (the Movie that is)

Race on over to the Pink Heart Society today where I've pulled a fast on my fellow Pink Hearters and done a post on the wonderfully romantic (and hot guy-laden) recent box-office bonanza Valentine's Day....Before anyone else could do it!

Definitely worth a peak, and a natter. And to whet your appetite I have the very gorgeous Eric 'McSteamy' Dane to illustrate this post. Yum! Who says I never give you nothin'?

Am currently putting the finishing touches on Rye and Maddy's story, but just did a word count and discovered it's almost 60K long... Oops, some serious carnage is going to occur over the weekend.

The Media Floozy Goes Large

So I had a high old time yesterday morning with my latest media stint... An appearance on Britain's premiere breakfast TV show, BBC Breakfast, to promote the wonders of Valentine's Day.

The first thrill was getting picked up by a chauffeur-driven car, and driven across London in the early hours to BBC TV Centre. After being whisked into the studios I spent half an hour in hair and make-up!! The lady there was a real pro (complete with the spotlight mirror!) and made me look better than I ever have in my entire life! 

As I sat in the tiny little green room waiting for my slot, I chatted with the PR lady from Mills and Boon and a number of other guests who were also appearing, including an ex Rugby player, a former RAF officer and a lady economist who was busy doing her crossword (I got the clue about lamb curry!!). 

Unfortunately, my original slot at 8.50am got bumped, by a children's TV presenter who's busy canoeing down
the Amazon... Have to say, I was a bit miffed at first, thinking blimey, all she's done is canoe down the Amazon (LOL), and then I started to panic. What if I'd got all dolled up with nowhere to go. I had to desperately text round all my friends and family who I'd gotten up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday on what now looked like false pretenses!

Thank goodness, the slot went ahead at 9.50 in the end and my wonderful new bouffant was not in vain. I was on with an ex-priest who's written a book about friendship and a very media savvy lady who had been on
2000 dates and now has her own dating website. 

Have to say I had a real laugh... Especially when the male presenter asked me the
title of my latest book, then watched his jaw drop as I told him.... Bless.

Spent the whole of the ride back in 'my car' chatting with friends and family about my exciting moment in the spotlight! As soon as I got home though I was brought crashing down to earth, when my youngest ran up, gave me a hug, said yeah I was great... And then asked why there wasn't any milk for his breakfast cereal? Cheeky little....!

So Happy Valentine's Day everyone. Enjoy!!

Heidi Rice, Media Floozy

Had great fun today trotting down to BBC Broadcasting House to do some Valentine's Day promo for M&B. Managed to do a staggering 17 local radio interviews chatting to DJs from areas as far afield as Cumbria and Sussex. Some of the same questions came up a lot (remarkable how many people wanted to know if I'm romantic myself... Um yes, just a tad!). Best of all was doing a ten-minute film round-up slot on the BBC London show. Love it when I can put my film buff and romance junkie hats on at the same time.

Anyway here's the link to the show. You have to set the dial to 2.33.00 to get my bit... Think I just about pulled if off and don't sound too insane. Always good on national radio. Plus I got to plug one of my favourite movies. The Apartment.

Tomorrow my media career continues with a trip to Television Centre and a ten-minute slot on the BBC Breakfast Show... Honestly, I'm starting to feel like a bit of a G-list celeb here folks.

Book Giveaway on Nic Marsh's Blog

Am waxing lyrical about my hero inspiration for Hollywood bad boy Mac Brody in Public Affair, Secretly Expecting on Nic Marsh's blog today and giving away copies of both the Brody Brothers books to one lucky commentator. So go check it out.

BTW, my library talk went fabulously yesterday. 24 people scheduled and an incredible 42 turned up, including one man in his 70s who was a regular M&B reader and wanted to know if Rhett Butler qualified as an alpha hero! I love this job...

And here's a little hint about who we are discussing at length on Nic's blog, to get your hormones doing the happy dance.

Mills & Boon Workshop at Kensington Central Library

Am taking a break from my WIP today to head down to the swanky enclaves of West London and the majestic Kensington Central Library, where I will be helping to run a workshop called How to Write a Mills and Boon with editor Lucy Gilmore at 2pm.

A particularly proud moment for me as I was born just down the road from Ken Library and spent many an afternoon as a child hanging out there with my brother and sisters while my mum went shopping in Ken High St. Yes, those were the days when parents didn't stress quite so much about leaving their children unattended in public places!!

Still it was a beautiful library then, and I'm sure it is now, and I'm really thrilled to be hosting a workshop there, one of those little perks about being a pubbed author that is really cool. Now all I've got to do is look as if I know what the heck I'm talking about!

The Ladies of the PHS hit the Borders Blog

Coming out of the cave to give you a heads up on a very interesting discussion over at the Borders blog featuring the ladies from The Pink Heart Society. That would be Donna Alward, Michelle Styles and Jenna Bayley-Burke.  Definitely worth a look and a natter.

One of my favourite authors Susan Mallery just left a comment so I'm feeling all starry eyed.

On the WIP front I've just hit 40K and feeling very proud of myself. The words are flowing beautifully, my characters are talking to me, all is right with the world. Except that the last time this happened, my characters had actually sold me a dummy and it all went totally pear-shaped. Still as Queen Nora says 'easier to edit crap than a blank page' or something like that!

My main worry at the moment is that my H & h are still cozying up in her little cottage on a Cornish clifftop and have yet to make it to London high society. Am thinking this may not be glamourous enough for Presents. But what can I do, they won't budge... And I think you can all guess why!