Get a free download of Melting Mr Frosty's Heart

Those of you who've been with me for a while will know I have a bit of a thing for ice cream. Three books - Tempted By Trouble, Anything But Vanilla and Vettori's Damsel in Distress - have charted the romances of the three Amery sisters who founded the ice cream events business "Scoop!".

Often one book will lead to a spin-off - great characters cannot be left dangling while the main event sweeps on to its inevitable conclusion.

Two such characters were that magician with ice cream, Ria (Knickerbocker Gloria, herself) and uptight millionaire with a passion for opera, Graeme Laing.

Sorrel Amery's parting gift to him was to tell him that Ria loved the opera. Great Uncle Basil's response was that she would "shake the creases out of his pants".

Melting Mr Frosty's Heart is a short story that catches up with the moment when Graeme, much against his better judgement, decides to ask her to join him in his box at Covent Garden.

Will she say yes? Do opposites ever attract? And what happens to his pants?

This short story will be on sale at the beginning of August for just .99c. (I know - Amazon converts that to 99p in the UK which is just wrong but if you download from Smashwords you'll get the US price wherever you are in the world).

Or you could sign up for my newsletter and get it free a whole week before it goes on sale. That's right, My newsletter subscribers will be getting a secret link to my website where they can read it free.

It's a gift to my wonderful readers, some of whom have been reading my newsletter from the first issue. Total treasures. If you want to join them - sign up here.

Oh, and in case you're not already thoroughly tempted, here is the cover.

More Ice Cream

While I'm awaiting my editor's thoughts on the manuscript I've just submitted, I'm writing a short story spin off from my "ice cream" trilogy (Tempted By Trouble, Anything But Vanilla and Vettori's Damsel in Distress).

There are always minor characters who beg for a story of their own. Some become books but some are smaller than that. Ria (Knickerbocker Gloria) and Graeme Laing, who appeared in Anything But Vasnilla fall into that category.

The scatty ice cream genius Ria is enormous fun and I've been having a great time on Pinterest finding the kind of clothes and jewellery she would wear.

And who would be the stiff, formal, beautifully dressed millionaire who needs the "creases shaking out of his trousers" - her complete opposite - Graeme Laing?

That was surprisingly easy. :)

All that's left is stand back and watch the fireworks as these two overcome their prejudices and discover that they are made for each other!

There's something about September...

I don't know what it is about September - it's not as if I've children at home and I've got that whole back to school rush going on. You know how it goes, new shoes, new uniform, new everything...

I've just watched my daughter handle that with her oldest (5), while settling the middle one (3) into pre-school and coping with the littlest who's just discovered that he get where ever he wants to be the minute her back is turned.

September should be a time when I can ease off a little in the garden as the grass slows down, enjoy those last warm days that always seem to arrive the minute the children are back in school. It is absolutely lovely here in Wiltshire at the moment.

But...

Two more appointments have just gone into my September diary. The eye clinic (an appointment 40 odd miles away at 9 am is really not fun). There are two meetings at the U3A (University of Third Age) this month and I'm on flower duty at the WI. I've just booked in to have a manicure and pedicure before heading off to London for the annual Mills and Boon Author Lunch. And of course there's the hairdresser for a trim, ditto. I'm starting an Italian class and I'm hoping to get a place in the pilates class, too and there's an evening of fun in Southwick Village Hall with another group.

Most of it - apart from the eye clinic - is fun. But there's this other thing going on. The book deadline is looming. I told my editor that I was going to have it on her desk by the end of September

I'm stocking up on the chocolate...

Liz Fielding's latest book - the last of her Ice Cream Trilogy charting the lives and loves of Elle, Sorrel and Gel Amery - Vettori's Damsel in Distress is a Romantic Times TOP PICK.

"...as sparkling as the finest of champagnes and 
delicious as ice cream on a sunny day..."

Rosie's Little Tote Bag

Well, golly, this seems appropriate!

To launch Vettori's Damsel in Distress, the third of my books about the Amery sisters and their adventures with ice cream (available for pre-order now!), I've created two special treats for my fans.

The first treat - for one lucky subscriber to my newsletter - is this fabulous "Rosie" tote bag. It's a one off and it's really good quality, printed on both sides with straps long enough to carry it on your shoulder.

Perfect for trips to the library, roomy enough for a visit to the beach. Or just a little shopping.

I'll be drawing the winners name from the dh's panama hat on publication day - 7th July so make sure you're signed up now - there's a form on the sidebar here.

And if you're not sure who Rosie is, everyone can download my second little treat for free.

Rosie's Little Book of Ice Cream contains all the wit and wisdom collected by Rosie (the vintage ice cream that started it all), a little history, some recipes from the books and the first chapters of Tempted By Trouble, Anything But Vanilla and Vettori's Damsel in Distress.

This is the Smashwords link which will work for everyone but it's also available at Amazon, iBooks, Nook and Kobo.

Research - the fun part of writing!

Having finally delivered my latest KISS romance to my editor (For His Eyes Only, March 2014), I’ve embarked on the last book in my “ice cream” trilogy. This will be Geli’s story, the youngest of the Amery sisters, the one who went to art college, designed the website, but apart from helping out at gigs when needed, doesn't get hands-on involved with the business..

I thought that I’d probably wrung the most out of the Maybridge ice cream event scene and have decided on a new location for Geli. In the serendipitous way that these things happen, I picked up a copy of Italia at the supermarket – mostly for the recipes – and read a fascinating article about the Isola area of Milan. Artists, designers, fashion but with a gritty working class background. So often, when you’re planning a new book, things seem to come up and hit you in the face.

Art, clothes, food… And we all know that Italian ice cream is out of this world. J Perfect.

I’m deep into research mode now. I’m watching vids on YouTube, reading travel guides, blogs, finding fabulous pictures on Pinterest – check out my page for Geli’s story here - and yes, planning a long weekend in Milan. I want to walk the ground, get the feel, the smell of the place and of course, I’ll be taking wander along the fabulous Belle Epoque shopping mall - the stunning Galleria Victorio Emanuele II – nicknamed Milan’s “drawing room”, with its designer boutiques, cafes and bookshops.

Writing is hard work. It makes my brain ache. But research is just so much fun!

The ice cream trilogy –

Tempted By Trouble (Elle’s story)

Anything But Vanilla (Sorrel’s story)

Do you dream?

I don't dream much, or if I do, it doesn't "stick". Once, blissfully, I woke with the opening of a book clear as day in my head and rushed straight to my computer and put it down in first person, stream of consciousness mode. It was a couple of years before I actually wrote the book, but I knew the girl in my head, saw her clearly and can still remember that moment when her story started pouring out of the ends of my fingers.

Last night my dream was different. Vivid, one of those that's so real that it's hard to wake up from. It was about a well known author standing for Parliament in the constituency where I grew up. She's American, so this was weird, but the promo was fabulous - glamorous, glossy and gorgeous - like the woman (and her books) and I was telling everyone how great she was even though I hadn't a clue what party she was standing for because I knew she was someone I'd want in my corner. And the public library had posters and flyers everywhere.

I sort of woke once, but the dream wouldn't let me go and the second dip was deeper and darker. I'd left the library and was trying to get some last minute Christmas shopping done - late, in a hurry, getting anxious. And then the spiders came. Dozens of them. Huge and hairy, running about the High Street where I grew up, wanting a chunk of me. I escaped and then someone stopped me to "get my back" and was wrestling with a spider that had its claws into my clothes and would not quit.

She was still struggling when I finally managed to wake up, not sure where I was and still with the spiders very real in my mind. Ugh. Horrible. I'm still a bit shaky, to be honest, but here I am, putting it all down again, although I don't someone think I'll be writing a gothic romance mash-up with a glamorous author politician saving the world from the zombie spiders! That is not an memory I want to live with for three months! However, the imagination is still in full working order and getting on with it even while I sleep and bits of that dream - the panic, the fear, the anxiety will stay with me and power my writing.

Meamwhile I was very glad to see daylight!

More Ice Cream

I’m so excited to be able to finally talk about my latest book, Anything But Vanilla, which is being released in Harlequin’s exciting new KISS series in May (although like all HQ titles, it will be available on their website in April).

Kiss has been the most enormous success since its launch in February, regularly topping the bestseller chart at Harlequin. It has a really starry line-up with books across the range of “heat” but all with that flirty, sexy, modern feel to them. They are about modern young women, living real lives and having their HEA come up and smack them in the eye rather than hunting it down.

Anything But Vanilla is the second of my ice cream stories  - Tempted By Trouble was the first. It’s Sorrel’s story. She’s the Amery sister who plans to be a millionaire by the time she’s twenty-five. She’s expanded “Scoop!” to include high end events and things are looking up until the woman who makes her specialist ice creams disappears a day before a make-or-break reception.

Worse. There’s some man in her place with only one thing on his mind. Shutting the place down. Well, two… He’s taking a lot of interest in her legs.

I have twenty advanced reading downloads of Anything But Vanilla for those of you who enjoy fun, flirty romance and are prepared to post a review on Goodreads or Amazon, or on your blog or all of them. If that’s you, email me at liz at liz fielding dot com (no gaps) with ARC in the subject line and I’ll draw the names out of a hat next Friday.

Have a great weekend!

New house, new garden, new book...

We moved house last year. The summer was a confusion of excitement, fear and exhaustion and then, once we’d shifted twenty years of accumulated “stuff”, rehoused a ton of books and offloaded quite a bit of furniture, we settled into our new home. Which is great.

Then came the garden. It was small – downsizing the garden was a major reason for the move – but it was, there is no other word for it, a mess. Neglected. Unloved. I have never seen so many dandelions in one small patch of grass. We had a contractor in to do the really heavy stuff – digging up the dandelions and laying a new lawn, putting down new paving, building a little wall. But then we started planning. And planting. Bulbs, roses, fruit trees, a lavender hedge…

There’s a lot still to do. There are perennials to plant out as soon as the ground dries out a little. The garage is loaded up with trellis to take the clematis which will arrive soon, bags of compost for the dahlias and lilies, ditto. And I’ve my eye on a couple of those tall thing pyramid thingies for sweet peas. I love sweet peas.

It’s all been bare earth and waiting so far, but this week, despite freezing cold winds, it’s very obvious that the plants are gearing up to do something magical. The bare branches of the roses and fruit trees are budding. And we had our first flower. This tiny iris took on the icy and wind and said, “Your time is up, buddy. I’m declaring winter is done!

Liz Fielding's latest release in the sparkling new KISS series, ANYTHING BUT VANILLA, is available to preorder from Amazon US