Lots of Cool News to Report!!

So the excitement of RITA announcements has finally worn off and while I didn't get a nomination myself this year (boohoo!!) I'm thrilled to bits that my mates Abby Green, Sarah Morgan and Kelly Hunter are all up for an award in the Series Contemporary Category. You go, girls!! And as Abby's my roomie at the conference in NYC I shall be basking in her reflected glory big time! I've read her nominated story Breaking the Sheikh's Rules and thought it was fabulous. Plus my little sis Nemone has a dedication as she has an uber-glam job in horse-racing and helped with the horsey details. So I feel super-connected to this book! Can't wait for the awards ceremony (where I have invited myself as Abby's Date) and now have a perfect excuse to buy a new posh frock. (I have included pictorial evidence that I do know Abby and am not just your ordinary stalker!)

In other news, I've also agreed some M&B workshop dates which I'll be doing in three London libraries in April to coincide with M&B's Big Fat Royal Wedding Hoopla: So if you want to come join me for some pearls of wisdom about writing for M&B and lots of chat about hunky guys (not necessarily princes, as I shall probably go a bit off-piste there, having never written a royal romance!!) then here are the times and places:

April 12th, 7.30pm-9.30pm, Uxbridge Central Library

April 14th, 6pm-7.30pm, Stoke Newington Library

April 26th, 6pm-7.30pm, Shoreditch Library

You'll need to contact the libraries themselves to sign up for the event, and I'll post contact details nearer the time, but it is free of charge.

And last but not least, I have a title for my Selfridges/Christmas book... Drum roll please..

"On the First Night of Christmas" 

Love it! Classy and evocative and maybe a little less cheeky than my suggestion which was 'Tis the Season to Be Naughty'. Think the book's out in the UK in December this year (but don't quote me on that as it hasn't been confirmed yet!!). Can't wait to see the cover, but am thinking a sexy guy and some tinsel would do the business.

RWA a go-go!

Very excited this morning as I have just signed up for the RWA conference in New York and booked my hotel room on Times Square. Had an absolute blast at my last conference in 2008 in Frisco when I was RITA nominated. Course I didn't get the prize, which was probably a good thing as I had purchased these ridiculous diamante-studded sling back high heels to go with my crimson Marilyn Monroe dress and I couldn't actually walk in them... Hobbling up onto the podium or worse doing a face plant on the stairs would not have been a good look! I shall be purchasing much more sensible RITA awards ceremony shoes this year, just in case I get another nomination (there, now I've comprehensively jinxed that possibility and will have an excellent excuse when I don't get one!!).

So my big question is, anyone else planning a trip to NYC in June this year? Gotta be the most accessible conference in years so am hoping they'll be lots of new faces to see. I will of course be at the book-signing (books willing) so I'm also hoping some more people than last time purchase a book. I only managed to flog about six in SF, which I have to admit was a little disheartening after sitting there for two hours with my little RITA nom flag  (sorry, have I mentioned that already!!). And just to add to the trauma, being a Rice I was depressing close to Queen Nora and her three-mile queue!

All right, back to my current pineapple... Need to get this darn book written so I actually have a career to plug when I get to NYC.

Hallelujah!

Cracking open the champers here in North London as I have finally emailed off my latest ms to my lovely editor.

Of course, I'm not out of the woods yet as revisions will no doubt follow, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she's going to like it and there won't be anything too major (famous last words??). 

After much agonising and rewriting and tweaking and the rest I think I finally nailed my characters and understood their journey. And that's the main thing.

Now onto RITA celebrations and the news that fellow Presents author Anne McAllister has got a nom in the Best Contemporary Series Romance category. No noms for me this year (boo-hoo), but I'm pleased as punch for Anne and if she has anything like the fun I had last year in San Francisco (if she goes to Washington) she's going to have a ball!

Confessions of a Conference Virgin. Part Two

Part Two: Or How I Was Having Far Too Good a Time to Bother Blogging

Sorry, have been terribly remiss again. I've been back from Frisco for almost a week and spurred on by my experiences to get stuck into my latest story (a workshop with Susan Elizabeth Phillips will do that to you, you know) haven't even bothered to download the few photos I actually managed to take.

First up, here's me looking totally petrified before the literacy autographing. Please note my RITA finalists flag which I took home with me and it now has pride of place on my desktop (well, a girl can dream right, you never know I might get nominated again one day).


And here are a few more of my personal highlights: Sightseeing at Haight Ashbury with Abby Green and Sharon Kendricks, going to the Top of the Mark before dancing the night away at the Harlequin party at the Four Seasons (apparently right next to Nora Roberts, but noone bothered to point that out to me, thanks again Biddy Coady, grrrrr), Sandra Marton's lovely pizza party with a lot of the Presents authors and our own Trish Wylie, the RITA awards in my posh frock (which I forgot to take a picture of, I know, what was I thinking), high tea with the Presents editors and authors (and a chance to meet my new ed for the first time face to face) and a really wonderful dinner with Sharon and Sandra and Abby at the lovely Annabelle's restaurant.

And just in case you think I spent my whole time partying and didn't actually bother to do any workshops I did manage SEP's fab talk on how to write a Bestseller ('Follow your instincts, but don't get stupid!'), SEP and Jayne Ann Krentz's one about the Secrets of the Bestselling Sisterhood (are you beginning to see a theme here?), Linda Howard's showcase at the PAN retreat (I'm never keeping Llamas that's for sure) and a chat with Nora Roberts (who I'm glad to say had bickering sons, too!)

Now all I've got to do is keep my fingers crossed that I can go to next year's bash in Washington DC, which I guess means getting back to writing this darn book.

Confessions of a Conference Virgin

Part One: How to make Friends under the Influence of Jet Lag...

So it's the first day of the Conference, proper, after an 11 hour flight yesterday and I'm already getting into the swing of things - and I have conclusive proof. Here's me sitting next to Kate Walker and Susan Stephens after I muscled in on their little group at Starbucks and insisted on having my photo taken with them. They were kind enough not to say 'go away you mad woman' and posed accordingly. Have had some top tips from Trish Wylie on how to schmooze - and she is the queen of schmoozing so I feel like I'm learning from a pro. 

The Literacy Autographing starts in an hour and it will be my first ever book signing (I've already checked out the venue and it is, rather dauntingly, in a room the size of a football field!). My box of books looked awfully large, but I'll be waving my RITA flag like a pro (and poking a few eyes out with it if need be) to flog as many as I can. Right, now I'm off to try and decide what to wear. According to Kate it's supposed to be 'smart, professional attire' which I'm thinking means no Converse or jeans. Bummer.

AFter that I'm off to the Newcomer's Orientation and then the RWA online party where I won't know a soul by sight. But no need to panic, everyone here has their name, psuedonym and publishing history emblazoned across their chest and colour-coded. Useful, for a woman who's still tripping on jet lag and can never remember anyone's name. 

Right, time to go raid my wardrobe.

PS: Pop Over to the Pink Heart Society....

Just a quick word to say I'm blogging on the Pink Heart Society today about the wonderful chick-flick PS, I Love You. Which, frankly is all the excuse I need to post a piccie of Gerard Butler in all his glory. Okay he's a corpse through most of the movie, but do I let that stop me... No way. After all, nothing like a good flashback.

Can you tell I've had a great few days on my latest ms. The words are just flying off my keyboard. Wrote a whole chapter yesterday, where my hero blackmails my heroine into spending two weeks on a luxury trip to New York posing as his fiancée. Now as he's a wild, uber-sexy Irish hunk, I'm thinking she's going to get over her shock and indignation fairly fast. What d'you think? 

PS: Only four more days to go till I hit Frisco, and my Wonderbras arrived today from Figleaves.com (thanks for that tip Trish). So now I'm all set. Plane ticket? check. Hotel booked? check. Posh Frock packed? check. And cleavage sorted? check.

The Frock Has Landed...

Okay, I've finally cracked it. Dragged my poor teenage son to Covent Garden this Saturday (who says there's a recession on the way? the place was heaving) and finally found my posh frock in Hobbs on Long Acre. Narrowed it down to a sleek black silky cocktail dress and a lipstick red taffeta type confection with a swirly skirt and plunging cleavage — neither of them strapless of course as I totally chickened out on that one.

So my choice was, should I go to the RITAs as a buxom Audrey from Breakfast at Tiffany's or a slutty Marilyn from The Seven Year Itch. No contest really, had to be Marilyn the slut. Although I won't be attempting the skirt flying-up thing she did in that movie - I feel my magic knickers might ruin the magic there a tad....

Have to say the saleswoman was a total pro, not only did she flog me the dress she also persuaded me to buy a black silk wrap-jacket thingy and gorgeous winkle-picker black-suede sandals — I stood firm at the clutch purse though. Enough is enough, right? After all I've already spent more money on this little jaunt than I've earned on all my books put together so far... Still, it's an investment for the future. Who knows when they'll remake The Seven Year Itch and need a woman of a certain age with more cleavage than sense to star in it... 

A Rising Star? Moi!

Met up with my fellow Mod Hot author — and RITA nominee — Kelly Hunter at the Globe Theatre bar on London's South Bank as she's making a flying visit to London this week from her home in Oz.

Neither of us remembered to bring our cameras (I am so going to have to remember to take mine to Frisco!) so I've bunged in a piccie of the Globe to give you the general idea. Of course, it looks much nicer in this picture as it wasn't pissing with rain and freezing cold when they took it (what the heck happened to the British Summer anyway? Was last Tuesday it?). We enjoyed a few glasses of Pinot (at an exorbitant cost) and had a very lively chat about writing for Mod Hot, the direction of the line, Paris, London, small towns in Oz, Posh Frocks and the like (Kelly's already got hers sorted and it sounds fab so we didn't stay on that topic too long I can tell you — alright, I admit it, I'm starting to get a complex about this now). Really lovely to meet her and we're looking forward to seeing each other again in Frisco.

Got home to discover two new fabulous reviews for The Tycoon's Personal Assistant on The Pink Heart Society and Cataromance. Oooh, I love the good review days, makes all the angst and agony worthwhile. Here are a few snippets while I blush with pleasure in the background...

Cataromance gave it Four Stars and said:

'Sexy, flirty, feel-good and emotional, Heidi Rice has written another wonderful contemporary romance that is bound to delight her growing legion of fans. Fast-paced, moving and totally compelling, let Heidi Rice sweep you off to a world of passion, glamour and sizzling seduction with her latest Modern Heat, The Tycoon’s Very Personal Assistant!
If you like your romances hot, steamy, intense and absorbing, then pick up a copy of The Tycoon’s Personal Assistant – you certainly will not regret it!' Read the rest.

Mmm, I love that 'growing legion of fans' bit, does that mean it's not just my mum now and my best mate Catri??

And The Pink Heart Society gave it five hearts and said:

'The Tycoon’s Very Personal Assistant is a terrific Modern Heat from one of the imprint’s most-talented writers. Witty, sexy, funny and absolutely unputdownable, The Tycoon’s Very Personal Assistant is another fabulous read from a wonderful writer whose star is rising fast: Heidi Rice!' Read the rest of the review.

One of the imprints most-talented writers?? Rising Star?? Moi! I'm thoroughly chuffed, especially as I know how fantastic all my fellow writers are at Modern Heat.

Posh Frocks and Synopses

So, I'm still busy searching for that elusive posh frock for the RITAs. I thought I'd narrowed it down to the strapless brown number at Monsoon opposite but I'm still prevaricating about the whole chicken-wings scenario. My 15-year-old son and fashion consultant insists I should get out of my comfort zone, but I'm not so sure as the words 'mutton' and 'lamb' keep reverberating in my head everytime I think of the support underwear I'll need to wear it!!!

Anyhow, watch this space on that one.

So while I was busy panicking about my chuck wings I was also banging out an outline for my new ed on the new WIP. Now, this is something I've always avoided in the past, believing that I was a complete pantser and the writing of an outline would dry up my creative juices quicker that you could say writer's block. But after being hit over the head not once but twice with monster revisions on my last two books I've decided to bite the bullet and give it a go. Maybe getting all those glitches out at the planning stage wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. Well, I did the outline, had a long, brain-storming chat with Suzy and, by George, I think I've got it. A workable synopsis that hasn't killed my creativity but has actually given me loads more ideas, I have scenes and dialogue literally popping out into my head at the moment.

One slight problem, I'm working in an office for the next two weeks, not to mention organising my hubby's 50th birthday party and I've got no time to write any of it down. Arrrghhh. This really is sod's law. Either you don't know what the heck you're going to write or you do and you've got no time to write it.... Still I'd rather be in the second pickle than the first any day.