Very excited about the Romancing the West Seminar tomorrow! Will be so much fun to catch up with everyone and meet a lovely friend of mine, Fiona Lowe - fab HM&B Medical author.
There are some great workshops on offer, including Conflict and finding the Zen of your Backstory (one of Fiona's - can't wait!), Branding - Why You Need it Before You Sell from Nikki Logan. I'm definitely going to this one because I'm a bit lost about the branding thing.
And in the afternoon Juliet Marillier is talking about History, guesswork and wild imagination: Creating believable historical settings in your fiction. And I definitely want to attend that one!
There are also other fantastic workshops from Australian author Fiona Palmer. Not to mention morning and afternoon tea and lunch (not that I think of my stomach *all* the time...)
In other writing news, I heard back late on Wednesday night that my editor approved my changes and the book has been passed onto the next stage. Yay! I was so excited I could hardly sleep!!
And the edits have gone! Seriously, in the end I just had to hit Send and be done with it, otherwise I would have opened up the document again - and read the entire book again and you know what that means... more tweaking. It's like a compulsion!! All I can say is thank goodness New York is 12 hours behind WA since that gave me the extra half day to fine-tune!!!
Having a deadline also meant I couldn't hang around staring at the Send button for hours as per usual. I must be getting better as it only took me ten minutes to pluck up the necessary courage!
And as for Facebook... why didn't I know that on the Like/Fan page you have to click on different links to actually see if anybody has sent you a message? I stumbled over that entirely by accident while visiting the lovely Janet Woods page!
Well, I'm still not sure what I'm doing over at FB with two separate pages... how can that be easier than just having one?! Beats me! I'll apologise here in advance for the double lots of postings that I'll be doing!!
I heard back from my agent today on the couple of questions I had re my edits. As always she had awesome feedback which cleared the fog and now I can actually see what I was supposed to be doing in the first place. A case of being too close to the book to see the wood for the trees (argh! cliche alert!! but it fits!)
Finally, Sara Hantz passed this link on. It's a blog post by romantic suspense author Allison Brennan on her writing process, and it's fascinating. I identified with a lot of things she said, espeically about quite often having the solution to a problem already written into the ms without actually realising it! Kind of like magic really!
I've set up a new Facebook page - it used to be the Fan page but now it's the Like page :-) So if you would like to join me on Facebook please follow this link and if you're already a friend on Facebook then please also click on the link to find the new page. It's got something to do with how many friends you can have, so I thought I'd make the change sooner (a LOT sooner!!!) rather than later!!!
I fell off the radar this week while doing the line edits, sorry about that! But I finished them yesterday and my agent had a quick peek. I'll read the book through one more time on Monday (just in case I missed something!!!) before sending it off to my editor.
I also wrote the acknowledgments and that was huge fun!
So today, after a week away from it, I opened up my wip. I'd last left it in the middle of editing stuff my CPs had pointed out, and then I realised the last page of my second chapter was all wrong (basically I'd completely misunderstood my hero's motivation there towards the heroine - no wonder I wrote myself into a hole last week. Once I realised the problem and turned it on its head we were good to go again!) I managed five pages this afternoon which I'm happy with, as it's got me back into the world and not only that, it's got me very excited about the story again!
Wow! I've read a lot of debut authors over the last few months! Today I'd like to showcase another two books I recently finished and loved. First up is Helene Young's Border Watch a contemporary suspense novel set in North Queensland.
Helene is a Captain in a major regional airline company, so really knows her stuff when it comes to flying! Border Watch gripped me from the start, and is an adrenaline fueled race against the clock.
High above the crystal-blue waters of North Queensland, Captain Morgan Pentland patrols the vast Australian coastline. When Customs Agent Rafe Daniels joins her crew, she is immediately suspicious. Why is he boarding her plane when she isn’t there? And why is he asking so many questions?
What Morgan doesn’t know is that Rafe has her under surveillance. Critical information about their Border Watch operations is being leaked and she is the main suspect.
Morgan’s ex, elite police officer Carl Wiseman, is back on the scene after she finally found the courage to throw him out. Is he trying to regain Morgan’s affections of are his intentions more sinister?
When Morgan and Rafe are shot down in a tragic midair attack, they realise they have to start working together – and quickly. One of Australia’s most loved icons is the next target and they have only nine days to stop it.
Will they uncover details of the plot in time, or will the tension that is growing between them jeopardise everything?
And Nikki Logan's first book from Harlequin Mills & Boon is a gorgeous reunion/friends-to-lovers Romance that I couldn't put down! Her next book is out in June and I can't wait!
Lights, Camera…Kiss the Boss is set in the TV industry. Ava Lange, my heroine, is a landscape designer and loves to turn derelict urban spaces into green spaces. She’s been working as a designer behind-the-scenes for a Sydney lifestyle program, Urban Nature, when the network decides she’d make the perfect on-screen host. Ava is mortified, thinking this will ruin her professional credibility, but nowhere near as mortified as when she finds out that she’ll be working closely with her childhood crush, Daniel Arnot.
Dan’s worked like a dog to make Producer and he’s this close to the biggest promotion of his career. Bending the arm of a childhood friend to help make his latest show a success is minor compared to some of the concessions he’s made in order to get revenge on the father who made his childhood a misery. But when the network starts playing games with Ava’s reputation, Dan finds himself torn between the goal that has driven him his whole life and the gentle woman who just wants to be left alone to design beautiful gardens.
Working so closely together makes it impossible to keep their childhood memories at bay and Ava struggles to keep a lid on her feelings. Despite everything, when it all goes pear-shaped, Dan's the last one she expects to be behind it.
I opened my email today to a nice surprise - my copy edits for Forbidden had arrived! So guess what I'm doing this weekend :-)
Thankfully, so far they've been quite straightforward and I'm enjoying reading Maximus and Carys's story again. It's also been fun meeting up with Morwyn again in her supporting role - I'd got used to her as my heroine in Captive!
This is my final opportunity to change anything in the ms, and ensure I'm happy with the way the book looks. The next step will be proof reading the galleys, and then... it will practically be September!!!
I'm slowly sorting myself out for the upcoming Aussie conference in August. Today I booked the flights - very exciting! Is anyone else landing at Sydney round about 2pm on Thursday 12th? We could share taxi fares!!!
And almost as exciting is the other day I bought myself a pair of adorable black ankle boots in readiness for the conference. I can hardly walk in them, but they do look lovely and that's what counts! I've also been told we're going to a PJ party on the Friday night so of course this means I need new PJs!!! Do you think they could be tax deductible (we will be talking writing all night... of course...)
My CPs returned the first two chapters of my new book, and much to my relief they think it's definitely working. They also highlighted the same short scene, commenting on different aspects but basically pinpointing an identical concern. It's kind of freaky how often they do that! Unfortunately none of us have quite come up with a suitable title (we did think of one but since the word "Forbidden" was in the middle of it I don't think that's going to fly somehow!!!)
My lovely friend, Kaye Manro, has her cover for her upcoming debut, Forbidden Love (gotta love that title!) from Red Rose Publishing. Congratulations, Kaye! Kaye will be popping over on 21st May to celebrate her release and answer my hard-hitting interview questions!!!
And here's the blurb to whet your appetite!
Illicit Sultry Passion...Galaxies apart so different yet so much alike…
While Dr. Maya Belle is researching wildlife habitats in the far desert region of her world, a sudden burst of sand engulfs her. She goes to investigate and cannot believe what stumbles out of a massive dune. She soon finds out she is in the company of a sexy alien from another galaxy…
T’Kon from the planet Asconage is on a peaceful survey mission studying a distant world known as Terrain. When his spacecraft malfunctions, he crashes into its desert. A female named Maya gives him aid, and a steamy lust grows between them. A sultry interspecies passion neither can resist.
To avoid detection by the warring factions governing her world, he must repair his damaged craft and leave. Can she convince him to take her with him, or will he set forth without her and forsake their forbidden love?
Yay. First chapter done! Whether it's any good or not I'll leave to my CPs!! But the main thing is it's down and the pesky couple of paragraphs of description (that took me almost an entire week to nail - I know, unbelievable isn't it!!) have been wrenched from my imagination onto the page. I much prefer to get onto the nitty-gritty of the interaction between my hero and heroine but I have to set the world first. And I can't leave a blank and go back to it - I'm strictly linear!
In other news, I'm getting very excited about the upcoming Romancing the West one day conference in Perth on 1st May. I've ordered some postcards of my pretty cover for the goody-bags from VistaPrint (and VistaPrint rocks! I'm awesomely impressed by their customer service) and it will be fantastic to meet up with everyone.
I've also discovered it's a Very Bad Idea to look at airfare prices late at night on an iPhone. With the upcoming RWA conference in August, I was almost beside myself last night when I discovered Virgin Blue charged $209 for a return to Sydney so immediately raced to the computer to grab this bargain with both hands. Only to discover, of course, that was a one-way ticket! I hadn't scrolled down far enough on the iPhone. Oops!
But it can't be put off any longer. My new hero and heroine are clamouring inside my head, demanding I get their story down. The only problem is... actually starting it! It seems to get harder, not easier, the more books I write. Is that normal?
Anyway, I finally throttled the fear sufficiently to put fingers to keyboard. I'd nutted out the first scene in my head. Hero conversing with his king. So instead my hero's ex-mistress drifts into the room...
This happened with CAPTIVE as well. I knew exactly how the book should begin - with my hero. So of course as soon as I started typing it was my heroine who took over. I sometimes wonder just who's in charge of the writing department!
I'm a bit late with this, but that's because the last two weeks have somehow bypassed me completely! Anyway, I am beyond thrilled and proud to announce my fabulous CP, Amanda Ashby, has made the New York Public Library's Stuff for the Teen Age 2010 with her brilliant YA, Zombie Queen of Newbury High! This honour was also awarded to my other CP, Sara Hantz, for her amazing debut, The Second Virginity of Suzy Green a couple of years ago. I have a lot to live up to!!!
In other fantastic news, talented Aussie Kylie Griffin has been having a truly breathtaking week! First of all she finalled in the paranormal section of RWA Golden Heart contest, and then today found out her entry in the Emily had been judged Best of the Best of the entire contest! Woot! Way to go, Kylie!
It's been a while since I posted pics of hot guys and seriously, they don't come much hotter than Clive Owen and Gerard Butler, do they? Lovely black hair, massive weapons and cool protection. What more could a girl want from her ancient historical hero?
(OK I'll answer that - a bare-chested pic of Clive Owen!!!)
The very lovely Suzanne Brandyn has tagged me - I haven't been tagged in ages!!! I have to answer five questions with five answers and then tag five others. The only thing is there are only four questions!!! I think this is a trick question!
Here we go:
Where were you five years ago:
In Australia.
Realising that chick lit had died a horrible death and I really should change genres!
Reminiscing on the previous year when I'd met my CPs for the very first time at the UK's RNA conference
errr....
moving on....
What is (was) on your to-do list today?
Starting my agent's revisions.
Researching next book.
Shopping.
Tidying up.
I managed to start #1. Next on my list is to make dinner but... do I really have to...
What five snacks do you enjoy?
I love plain crisps, and no matter how long I live in Australia I refuse to call them chips!!!
I also love salted peanuts. This is weird because I really hate any other kind of nut even if it's in chocolate!
Chocolate. Well, duh!
Fudge. But it has to be nice fudge and preferably with a yummy alcoholic side-kick!
Freshly baked bread
What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
Make my husband a kept man. He would enjoy that. A LOT!
Build our own house.
Have all the rellies from the UK out for Christmas
Cruise to Antarctica
Have lots of fun!!!
If you haven't been tagged then consider yourself... tagged!
Had a lovely weekend down south in Margaret River celebrating my hubby's birthday. The house was fabulous, the weather was gorgeous and he absolutely did not expect the white limo to pick us up for the wine tour on the Saturday!! I'll sort out some pics of the beautiful countryside and wildlife and post them up later in the week.
Also heard back from my wonderful agent over the weekend on Captive. She had a few small notes for me but thankfully nothing too major so I'll be working on them for the rest of the week.
And finally, I just hopped over to Amazon andForbidden is on a special offer!!! Even though the book isn't released until 7th September, the trade paperback is up for pre-order on a sale price of $10.20 (as opposed to the usual trade price of $15) How cool is that!
It's been a while since I've done a Delicious! So here are another couple of debut books I read earlier this year and thoroughly enjoyed.
First up is Erica Hayes's Shadowfae, the first book in her Shadowfae Chronicles.
Imagine a secret world veiled in fairy glamour and brimming with unearthly delights. A city swarming with half-mad fairies, where thieving spriggans rob you blind, beautiful banshees mesmerize you with their song, and big green trolls bust heads at nightclubs. And once you’re in, there’s no escape…
Enslaved by a demon lord, Jade is forced to spend her nights seducing vampire gangsters and shapeshifting thugs. After two hundred years as a succubus, she burns for freedom and longs to escape her brutal life as a trophy girl for hell’s minions. Then she meets Rajah, an incubus who touches her heart and intoxicates her senses. Rajah shares the same bleak fate as she, and yearns just as desperately for freedom. But the only way for Jade to break her bonds is to betray Rajah—and doom the only man she’s ever loved to a lifetime in hell.
This book is blazing h-o-t! With fairies as you've never seen them before (roll over Tinkerbell!) and a heroine who has no choice but to have sex with whoever her demon lord demands (yes Kane, I'm looking at you!) I was hooked. And cheering Jade on to reach her very own HEA... and you'll have to read the book to discover how she achieves that!!!
Ritual Passion is an erotic fantasy romance containing jungle-hardened warriors, a capricious goddess, corrupt priests and some seriously hot sex.
RITUAL PASSION
A passion to appease the gods…or call down their vengeance.
The jungle-wrapped city of Challas is dying, crumbling under the weight of its corrupt priesthood and degenerate new gods. But an even greater threat looms on the horizon. Outside the city walls, a pestilence breeds. Unless stopped, it will crawl through the city’s decaying streets and destroy everyone.
Phalandria wants to see her magnificent city reborn and freed from the perversion of the priests who murdered her father. And she wants Massilis, the man who has stood by her side since childhood. The man who’s developed into a magnificent, jungle-hardened warrior…and ignites her unquenchable desire. Although Massilis has always protected her, only once has he allowed his hunger for her to show.
Now the water oracle has called for Phalandria and Massilis to perform the Concubitia, a sexual rite to propitiate the gods. But the priests suspect a conspiracy and will do anything to protect themselves. And Phalandria realizes that the priests are not the only ones sabotaging the ritual.
The man she loves has an agenda of his own.
This is another scorching read! The steamy heat of the jungle is the perfect backdrop to this sensually charged story. I love how Cathryn entwines the past and the present until the final erotic showdown when, quite literally, I needed to put the air conditioning on to cool down!!
I just heard from Amanda Ashby that Forbidden is up on Amazon for pre-order! Much squealing ensued!! And the release date, according to Amazon, is 7th September ~ less than six months away!!
Here's the official back cover copy:
Between a warrior and a princess comes an erotic passion as all-consuming as the hatred between their warring worlds…
Carys knew from the moment she first spied on Maximus in his naked barbarian glory that he was a dangerous Roman centurion—his taut, battle-scarred flesh marking him as a fearless warrior. But her desire for him was as undeniable as it was illicit.
Charged by his emperor to eliminate a clan of powerful Druids in Britain, Maximus never expects his mission to be thwarted by the clan’s ethereal princess, Carys, his daring voyeur. Falling under her spell, he doesn’t realize her true heritage--until he captures her heart as well as her body.
As Carys’s loyalties are twisted, and freedom is no longer her single-minded obsession, an avenging former lover threatens to crush Maximus’ people into oblivion. Now Carys and Maximus must overcome the devastation of war and face the ultimate sacrifice if their forbidden love is to survive.
At last I can show off the gorgeous cover for FORBIDDEN! It absolutely captures the essence of the book and I'm madly in love with it! The fabulous art department at Berkley incorporated all the suggestions my agent and I made - and although it's difficult to see with the smaller version even the heroine's eyes are the exact colours I requested.
Today we're doing something a little bit different! Mel Teshco's first Nocturne Bites, Her Dark Lord, is released this month and Anna Hackett's Hunter's Surrender is releasing in April. So please welcome both Mel and Anna as they chat about some of their favourite heroes - vampires!
As Anna's Nocturne Bite isn't out until next month, I've linked to her latest Bites release, Taken by the South Wind
Mel and Anna, thanks for stopping by! And... it's over to you!
Mel:When Anna Hackett and I decided to join forces to promote our March/April Nocturne Bites, we wanted to showcase our love for our vampire characters. Oddly enough, my first published book with Ellora’s Cave, STONE-COLD LOVER had a gargoyle hero. Anna’s first published works for Nocturne Bites, SAVAGE DRAGON featured a dragon hero.
So why a Bites story featuring vampires? Apart from the fact they are one of Nocturne’s most popular characters, I think most of us would agree there is something primal, dark and mysterious (and yes, dangerous!) about a vampire hero – or heroine – that attracts us. And there’d be few who wouldn’t love, just a little, the bad-boy alpha male.
Anna:Mel, you hit on it when you said dangerous…I think that’s why I love reading and writing paranormal stories.That edge of danger enhances everything for me—the action and the romance!And a bad-boy alpha makes me happy any time.
However, the hero in my vampire Bites, HUNTER’S SURRENDER isn’t a vampire.He’s a battle-scarred vampire hunter.It’s my heroine who’s the vampire.For me, I love stepping into my heroine’s shoes and imagining what it’s like to be unearthly beautiful, super strong, able to command others with my voice and addictively attractive to the hero.
Kia Montana hid a smile as she rolled up her sheer stockings and clipped them to her lace suspenders. Pushing her feet into the heeled shoes she’d tossed aside so carelessly the night before, she glanced over at the gorgeous man sprawled out on her hotel bed.
Passion emanated from him, scorching and hot. She gave him a cool smile, resisting an impulse to sashay over, lean forward and trace her tongue along the salty warmth of his collarbone, and down over the hardened buds of his dusky nipples.
Even harder to withstand was the urge to sink her fangs into his delectable throat, taste the pulsating warmth of his essence while he brought her to climax just once more.
She breathed slow and deep, and his glittering, gun-metal eyes held her gaze when she said, “Sorry, I don’t do relationships.”
“Don’t apologize,” he drawled. And as she slipped into her crimson lace bra, a savage light sparked deep in his stare. “I know just how to change your mind.”
Her breasts, still tingling from his mouth, his clever hands, hardened under his scrutiny as she clipped the bra into place. Her pulses jumped, but it was his declaration that kick-started her heart into high speed.
She inhaled slowly, gaining control. “Oh?” she queried with an Oscar winning note of boredom.
“You want access to all of Sydney’s underworldplaces. As your escort, I can offer you that.” He smiled at her silence. “A ticket to where only an exclusive few have been.”
Her heartbeat surged into a frantic gallop as excitement writhed deep inside. When she’d seen him at last night’s shindig, moving through the crème de le crème of the Sydney crowd like he owned each and every party-goer there, her instincts had clamored.
He held the key.
Anna:A snippet from HUNTER’S SURRENDER when the hero, Rand first meets the heroine, Dominique.She rescues him from some cops intent on arresting him:
The female voice floated through the night like an angel’s song.It stroked over Rand ’s nerve endings like caressing fingers, setting his body aflame.
She came out of the darkness like an underworld goddess.Tall, slender, pale skin glowing in the dark.She wore a white leather catsuit, which should have looked ridiculous, but only accented slim curves and feminine limbs.A fall of raven hair reached her waist.
Light in the darkness.Rand blinked, unable to look away.
She stopped, pressed a hand to her hip and looked at the cops.“I believe you were leaving.You saw nothing here that concerns you.”Strains of France were threaded through her modulated tones.
The older cop nodded.“Yes, ma’am.You’re right.Let’s go, Johnson.”
The younger man stared at her with glazed eyes.“We were leaving.Nothing here that concerns us.”
Rand fought his body’s instinctive urge to follow the men.
The woman sauntered forward, moving with a liquid grace that mesmerized.She patted Johnson’s cheek, then watched them get in their car and drive away.
Then she turned to Rand .
A searing pain hit him between the eyes.Her unearthly beauty struck him like a blow to the head and his body hardened.Her features were perfect—slim nose, sharp cheekbones, sensual lips and eyes the color of amethysts.
Eyes that held an impossible blend of experience and innocence.
To celebrate the release of HER DARK LORD and HUNTER’S SURRENDER, we’re having a Vampire Bites Giveaway—we’re giving away a different vampire Bites each week for the whole of March and April!Check out our blogs for a chance to win!
Anna Hackett has always been a reader and her favorite books are romance, action-adventure or both. When the urge to write got too strong to ignore, it was no surprise she combined romance, action and her love of ancient history in her stories.
Australian Anna and her English-American husband currently live in an isolated mining town in northern Australia. When she’s not wearing her boots and hard hat, she’s at her computer dreaming up deliciously dark heroes, strong heroines and action-packed, emotionally-charged paranormal romance.
Mel Teshco grew up in Australia, where her seemingly gypsy dad and ever patient mother saw her living in many areas of the East Coast, along with her sister and two brothers.
Each new home stimulated an already over-active imagination, where she spent as much time dreaming about fantasy worlds as the real world - the fantasy sometimes being much better.
Now living on a small rural property with three horses and a handful or two of cats, she is happily married with three children of wide-spread ages and a stepson.
Not only does she adore writing darker-style paranormals, she also enjoys writing paranormal erotica and has some published works with Ellora's Cave.
There are so many fabulous book trailers around, and I do love watching them. But how many of them are really standout "different"?
Well I watched one yesterday that was doing the rounds on the Twitterverse and OMG! It's beyond awesome. Now I realise that might be because I'm incurably nosy and find the entire process of developing a book cover from scratch fascinating, but I showed it to my husband and he thought it pretty cool too. So here is the YouTube for The Making of a Book Cover - Blameless by Gail Carriger:
I'm not a night owl, but last night I pulled a late one because I was determined to finish the polishing on Captive and send it to my agent. This is because I know myself too well, and if I hadn't done that, then I would have spent most of today reading through the entire manuscript - again! It's like a weird superstition, I can't hit Send unless I've just read through the attachment. I'm trying to overcome it because it's a bit annoying especially when I'm strapped for time, but so far no luck!
I'm also getting ready to post my registration for the RWAus conference in August. Of course this involves another of my strange quirks which is known as The Envelope Phobia!!! Back in the day it could take me weeks between printing out a partial for Mills and Boon and actually getting the thing in the post. So much easier with email!
I've hardly poked my head above the parapet this week as I've been madly trying to finish CAPTIVE. And late last night I finally sent it off to my CPs for their verdict. What a relief it was to type THE END, although as always it's a kind of bittersweet relief - am quite choked to say goodbye to Bren and Morwyn!
Anyway, I'm not even going to think about it now until I get the crits back, so this morning I informed my daughter I was going to clear up the house as I'd finished my book. She obviously saw the manic gleam in my eye as she told me to go and start the next one instead. Huh?
To celebrate the release of her first Nocturne Bite, Her Dark Lord, my lovely writing friend Mel Teshco is holding a rather fabulous contest. She and Anna Hackett, whose Noctune Bite, Hunter's Surrender is also released this month, are giving away a different vampire Bite every week during March and April.
For a chance to win, hop over to Mel and Anna's blogs and answer an easy-peasy question (hint: it has something to do with sexy heroes!!!)
Come and hear some of Australia's leading romance authors talk about the craft of writing and the industry they work in. With interactive tutorials and an author panel, it's a day no aspiring author should miss.
After a day full of information, relax and catch up with your new friends at our post conference dinner.
Saturday 1st May 2010
Metro Hotel 61 Canning Hwy Perth
Cost:
Pay before 1st April 2010 After 1st April
RWA Members $100 $110
Non-Members $110 $120
Set 2 Course Dinner - $35.00 per head (Drinks not included)
And another week vanishes. I swear, I don't know where this year's gone. Is it really the end of February already? How did that even happen?
It is SO hot here. Summer is going out in a furnace. Our front lawn is straw and our bushes are drooping and I keep having to leave my office and go stand in front of the air con in the family room.
I have, however, been very good with my writing this week and am on target to hit 90k by the weekend. On the down side, that doesn't mean the book will be finished!! But at least I've pushed through a lot of the fog and problems resolved themselves in ways that happily satisfied me. Now all I have to do is find some way to actually get Bren and Morwyn together for their HEA!!
I'm always fascinated to read about other sides of the publishing business (possibly because I'm just plain nosy!!) While blog hopping earlier today I came across a very interesting interview with the fabulous Kate Seaver, Senior Editor at Berkley (who truly is fabulous and I love the fact she's my editor!!!) over at the Witchy Chicks.
Kate chats about the most common mistakes she sees from those pitching their work to her at conferences and offers tips to aspiring writers. She also gives insights into her typical (and dream!) working day.
And a quick update on my wip, CAPTIVE. Just hit 80k. From now on I'm counting down... so I have 10k to go. I'm hoping to wrap it up next weekend!!
Well I've clearly been living under a rock lately, as I had NO idea the BBC had made a remake of the old 70s series, Survivors. I only found out by accident the other day when blog hopping and saw it was now being shown in the US.
The original series totally hooked me. Even after all these years I can recall the sense of horror as everyone dropped dead! (I was very young at the time, I might add!!) I'd like to watch this new series as a form of nostalgia - anyone seen it? And if you remember the original series how does it compare?
On another note, are Avon books sold in the UK and if so are they easily available? Inquiring minds want to know...
The other week I mentioned how a Roman Circus had recently been unearthed in Colchester, England. Probably the most well-known movie example of "a day at the races" is the chariot scene in Ben Hur. The Colchester site has been likened to the Wembley Stadium of its day - how awesome is that! And here is that famous chariot race
I don't know how many times I've watched this movie as I was growing up but I've yet to see the infamous red car in the background! Has anyone else seen it, or is it an urban legend?
I fully intended to write a couple of ks on CAPTIVE (book 2) over the weekend, but was completely distracted by my editor sending me the cover for FORBIDDEN.
OMG. I've been gazing at it virtually all weekend and am still almost speechless. It is completely perfect!!! Maximus has biceps to-die-for and Carys is exactly how my agent and I imagined her! Fingers crossed I'll be able to post the cover up very soon (or I might just burst from excitement!)
The rest of the weekend was taken up with research, to send my editor ideas for my second cover. I also thought I should really get to grips with Facebook so spent ages trying to figure out all the different pages. I've now got it installed on my iPhone in hopes that will help me keep up with what's going on (seems to be working so far) If you're on Facebook please come and friend me!
Please welcome my special guest this week, debut Harlequin Mills and Boon author Nikki Logan! I'm especially excited to interview Nikki since she is a fellow Western Australian and we first met before either of us sold. Go the Sandgropers!! (I'm an honorary one, not having been born here!!!)
Nikki Logan lives amongst a string of wetlands in Western Australia with her partner and a menagerie of animals. For many years she worked in advertising and film distribution before finally settling down in the wildlife industry. It wasn't until Nikki had six months off work that she applied herself to writing her first novel. Well and truly bitten by the writing-bug, she wrote two more novels after her return to work. Nikki was contracted to the Harlequin Romance line in December 2008 and her novel, "Lights, Camera...Kiss the Boss", debut in February 2010. She also has a June release called ‘Their Newborn Gift’ as part of the ‘Outback Baby’ continuity with Michelle Douglas and Melissa James.
As the name would suggest, Lights, Camera…Kiss the Boss is set in the TV industry. Ava Lange, my heroine, is a landscape designer and loves to turn derelict urban spaces into green spaces. She’s been working as a designer behind-the-scenes for a Sydney lifestyle program, Urban Nature, when the network decides she’d make the perfect on-screen host. Ava is mortified, thinking this will ruin her professional credibility, but nowhere near as mortified as when she finds out that she’ll be working closely with her childhood crush, Daniel Arnot.
Dan’s worked like a dog to make Producer and he’s this close to the biggest promotion of his career. Bending the arm of a childhood friend to help make his latest show a success is minor compared to some of the concessions he’s made in order to get revenge on the father who made his childhood a misery. But when the network starts playing games with Ava’s reputation, Dan finds himself torn between the goal that has driven him his whole life and the gentle woman who just wants to be left alone to design beautiful gardens.
Working so closely together makes it impossible to keep their childhood memories at bay and Ava struggles to keep a lid on her feelings. Despite everything, when it all goes pear-shaped, Dan's the last one she expects to be behind it.
Yum, I love your inspiration for Dan! How did the idea for the plot come about?
I wrote this story from beginning to end as part of 50K-in-30-days, my first ever month-long challenge. Initially I was targeting Modern Heat (Sexy Sensation) so I needed a glitzy, urban setting while still having a nature-based theme. I brainstormed some urban-nature type settings with my crit group, the Bootcamp 101ers, and the idea of an urban designer came up and then the idea of a lifestyle TV program right behind it. I studied film and television and worked in the TV industry for several years so that all came very naturally to me.
I think—deep down—I really wanted to tell the story of a young girl who was badly burned by love with a to-die-for older boy and then went on to win him over later in life when a few years age difference don’t mean so much. How many of us have been in that position when we were teens—a forbidden crush on an older boy.
I love sale stories (ok I am just nosy!!) so can you tell us about your road to publication - and your call story?
Most of my professional history revolves around writing in some capacity—advertising, film promotion, PR/publications, but it wasn’t until 2007 when I had six months paid long service leave that I sat down to have a crack at writing a book. I knew I’d go spare without a project. That was a fantastic six months and I wrote a single title set in Zambia in the first four. It wasn’t until after I’d typed ‘the end’ that I lifted my head and wondered what support or networks might be out there. It took me about 20 seconds to find Romance Writers of Australia. The education, camaraderie and support I’ve found there has been amazing. It enabled me to hone my writing into a structured, targeted tool.
It was not my intention to write category—although I was a lover of category romance as a reader—but I see myself writing both category and single title into the future. Senior Editor of Harlequin Mills & Boon, Kimberley Young, requested a full of my first category effort out of a RWNZ competition and the rest is history!
THE CALL
Kim Young emailed me after reading my full to discuss some revision suggestions on the comp story. Eeek…revisions! Eeek…a phone-call! Maddeningly, our schedules weren’t compatible and in the days it took to get our planetary diaries aligned (and while I suffered death by a thousand impatient cuts) Kim also requested anything else I had. I didn’t have much else to suit category but I’d written something for 50K-in-30-days so I pulled that out to send.
(Cue mad polishing act over long weekend!)
When the revisions came, my comp-win manuscript was out and my newer story was resoundingly in. Kim had asked me how soon I could get them to her and I panicked. Four weeks might be too long and two weeks might have her chuckling to herself and thinking ‘how sweet, she thinks she can do it in two’. I suggested three.
(Cue three weeks of desperate revising)
A few days after submitting the revisions, Kim emailed to ask if she could call with some follow-up questions. I interpreted that as editor-speak for ‘Gosh, I’ve made a terrible mistake and need to let you down gently.’ All day went by with me angsting over how embarrassing to be gently let down and how many people I’d have to un-tell my exciting news to until the phone finally rang early in the evening.
Kim must have heard the high-pitched whine from my finely tuned nerves because she got straight down to business and said she was delighted with the revisions and wanted to offer me a two-book deal. Then there was the oddest squealing noise on the line (oh, how embarrassing, it was me!) and we talked about things that I have very little recollection of and I tried desperately to sound intelligent whilst my brain collapsed in on itself.
That was such a nail-biting time! But very exciting!! So do you write every day? Do you give yourself daily/weekly goals?
I work full time and so my writing-time is majority on the weekend, but I do try and write on any available evening I have. I haven’t watched more than two hours television a week in two years now. I have a couple of weekly evening obligations but around that I try to sit at my computer any other free moment.
Sometimes I’ll do a week-long or month-long sprint with my crit group and work to a goal but, on the whole, I’m pretty disciplined. I find that writing stimulates the same part of my brain as watching a movie or reading a book, so I actually feel quite relaxed and refreshed when doing it even if it’s on the back of a full working day.
Editing on the other hand….*shudder* That I have to plan time for and make myself do. So the faster I write, the more time I’ll have for editing.
I consider that I write for free, but I’m paid for the editing ;)
Panster or plotter?
Hybrid. I like to have a loose structure to keep me roughly going in the right direction, but I’m happiest in the mist, letting the words just come. This means my submitted stories often vary from my proposals but London keep me on track if I wander too far from the essential plot and purpose of a romance! What keeps you motivated when the writing gets tough?
Contracts keep me motivated. LOL. There’s nothing like knowing the legal department of one of the biggest publishers in the world is watching your progress to keep you moving forward.
I did a really tough couple of months on a novella back in October that had two false starts after the ideas didn’t gel with London. This was for a ‘showcase’ of new authors and so they wanted something really standout. I had to force myself into the seat to write and edit that one which felt very odd to the woman who just sits and lets it fly. You know you’re in trouble when you catch yourself cleaning out your wardrobe rather than writing.
But generally the story keeps me motivated. I’m as eager to find out what happens at the end when I’m writing a book as when I’m reading it.
Is there any advice or light bulb moment you'd like to share about getting/being published?
Not about getting published, no. As far as I’m concerned I just jagged the right editor and the right time. Kimberley liked my voice and my nature-based theme. Umpteen other editors probably wouldn’t have. The light bulb is to understand and accept that being selected for publication is about a dozen factors outside of your control.
Is the market saturated with your type of voice? Do you have a marketable ‘brand’? Are people interested in the stories you have to tell? What does the editor like?
The only thing you can control is the quality and tone of your writing and there’s a heck of a lot of very good writers out there not getting published. Chances are it’s one of the elements totally outside of their control holding up their success.
Do you have critique partners (CPs)? If so can you tell us how you met up and your process?
Since becoming published, and given the volume I now need to produce in a very short time (because I also work full time) it means my critting needs have changed from a chapter-by-chapter method to full-first-draft ‘cold read’ type process. It also means I have almost no time left over to give back to a chapter-by-chapter process, which makes me a poor crit reciprocator.
My official crit partner was assigned via RWAus ‘Crit Partner Register’ I also rely on my writers group, the Bootcamp 101 girls, for those broader, cold read type crits and one in particular is gifted in spotting POV and structural flaws so she gets particularly hammered ;)
I want to give a big shout out to my lovely friend, Suzanne Brandyn, who has recently sold her contemporary romance, Heat in the Outback to Eternal Press! Congratulations, Suz!
And now for Twitter! I do enjoy my Tweets, lovely little bite size snippets of info and gossip. The other day I followed a link and discovered this brilliant blog post over at Jessica Scott's about Social Networking Pt 2 - for Twitter. I found it really interesting and helpful. One thing about Twitter is it can be very time-consuming, and this is just another reason why I love, love love my iPhone I got for Christmas! I can read my tweets while in the kitchen or wandering about the house rather than having to sit at the computer.
And finally, Laura Anne Gilman gives a paragraph by paragraph breakdown of Amazon's response to MacMilian - well worth reading I reckon and guess what -I found the link on Twitter!!!
I can always rely on my great mate Eleni Konstantine to find fabulous YouTubes! The latest one involves Battlestar Galactica which is good enough for me on its own, but! There's more. It's set to the tune of the classic Queen hit, Bohemian Rhapsody but the lyrics - OMG. The lyrics slay me. You can find them here. I've been driving my family nuts by singing them for the last two days (my son and husband thank you for that, Eleni!!!!)
