Hey all, well I'm taking a break from waiting for news from my ed on my latest ms to do a quick competition for a brand new, signed copy of
Unfinished Business with the Duke.
Anyone wanting to enter should send the answer to the following question to my email addy: heidi@heidi-rice.com. I'll be announcing the winner on Monday 25th April (if I remember!!).
Question: In which Italian city does the hero of Unfinished Business with the Duke live?
[hint: scrolling through my previous blog posts will help find the answer!!]
Currently brewing ideas for my next story which I think is going to involve a London barrister called Callum Westmore, who just happens to be the devastatingly handsome brother of the heroine in my latest ms. He popped up while I was writing the epilogue to this book. As he dances with his sister on her wedding day he asks her if she's really happy. And here are the two sentences in Maddy's internal thought that snagged my attention and suddenly made me think, hang on a mo, I've got to write this guy's story:
‘Yes, I really am happy, Cal,' Maddy replied.
I wish you could be too, she thought wistfully, but didn’t say it, knowing Cal would be amused by her sympathy, and appalled by the sentiment. She would give anything for her handsome, commanding and deeply cynical brother to be able to find love — or at least open himself to the possibility. But Cal had built a fortress around himself that she suspected no-one would ever be able to penetrate.
Intriguing isn't he? But now the problem is finding that one woman who can storm the fortress. At first I was thinking. Maybe a hopeless romantic, the antithesis of Cal. But then I thought, nah too obvious.
So then I took a closer look at Cal. Okay, he's a rampant womaniser, but he's also rigidly controlled and doesn't trust anyone. So then I couldn't help thinking what would be really fun would be to stick him with a heroine who's smart and sassy and unashamedly sexy but also a total free spirit. Reckless, unpredictable and defiantly independent. Open to the possibilty of love, but definitely not looking to settle down yet. And then I'm thinking at the beginning he's planning to seduce her (for reasons I haven't quite figured out yet), but she ends up seducing him!!
So who is my heroine. Well, I know Suki Delisantro refuses to be controlled or tied down in any way (and there's got to be a reason for that too, but I haven't figured that out either yet) and she's not the least bit impressed by Cal's attempts to do just that. Which is going to frustrate the heck out of him. He's used to having the upper hand in relationships... He thinks he knows women, knows what they want and how to manipulate them. But Suki defies all the stereotypes he's relied on in the past. And what frustrates him even more is that the more she resists being controlled, the more she fascinates him and the more he wants her... And Suki of course finds herself drawn to Cal too, his closed off, intense personality a challenge that she can't resist, even though he's the absolute antithesis of the sort of guy she's dated in the past — who are as open and relaxed as she is — and frankly getting to know him is bloody hard work. But every time they give in to the irresistible attraction between them, the harder it is for them to keep their emotions out of the mix.
Oh I can see a battle royal here with lots of sparks. And several devastating secrets too.
Now all I've got to do is come up with a coherent plot, an opening hook, a more in-depth characterisation of these two...Oh and a proper conflict. Wish me luck!!
