This month something exciting happens. My story FOR THE SHEIKH'S PLEASURE is released again in an anthology edition with stories by Sue Swift and Meredith Weber. Yay! The collection is called CAPTIVATED BY THE SHEIKH (love that title).
For an author who spends most of her days alone with her imagination and whose books come out usually as stand alone books, being 'between the covers' with others is something out of the norm and rather exciting. It's happened a few times now and it's always fun to see my stories paired with writers I know and love, or when it's writers I'm not familiar with, to discover their work via our shared publication. 
For instance this time I know Meredith Webber and her work (she's an Aussie romance icon) but I've yet to discover Sue's writing.I've just learnt that next year one of my sheikh stories will be rereleased with one by Jane Porter (grinning from ear to ear at that news) in an edition called 'The Desert Sheikh's Defiant Queen'.
This got me thinking about pairing up. About what it is about certain stories that make them work in combination, and, since I'm a writer and I love to explore further, what makes other teams work so well.
There's a chemistry in great teams, don't you think? An indefinable something that makes you smile when you think of them together. So, being frivolous, I gathered a couple of pics of the teams that came to mind instantly.Bogart and Bacall - of course! Though I have to admit Bogart and Hepburn in 'The African Queen' came a close second. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. OK, they were as famous for when they weren't together as when they were, but in lots of minds they were a pair and there was no denying the simmering tension bubbling under the surface there.
Ginger Rodgers and Fred Astaire. I love the way they made the most impossible dances look easy and graceful and never lost their smiles. Even to people who've never seen their work they're synonymous with dance.Then of course there are the comedians. Laurel and Hardy were irresistable as a pair who have stuck in our minds for generations. It's difficult to think of one without the other, which was probably a bit of a nuisance to them, but so good for the box office. Abbot and Costello. Even
Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in the 'Road to...' movies. Can you tell I spent wet weekends as a child watching old movies?And of course it doesn't stop with people. How about peaches and cream or champagne and strawberries?
Do you have a favourite pair? A combination that makes you smile when you think of it? Or is there someone you'd love to be teamed with? (Now, that gets the mind working...).
By the way, if you're interested in finding out more about CAPTIVATED BY THE SHEIKH, go to my webpage to read an excerpt of FOR THE SHEIKH'S PLEASURE. Arik is a born seducer in that story and I think, very appealing, though so much better when teamed with Rosalie. You can also buy the book from Mills and Boon UK or Amazon UK or The Book Depository (no charge for postage anywhere in the world).
