10th Anniversary Celebration! Annie West

 
This month marks a special anniversary for me. Not today but very, very soon, I'll be celebrating ten years since the day I sold my first book to Harlequin for its Presents line. Yay! I still remember that day vividly. I woke early and thought I'd check the inbox for the inevitable rejection. You see, I'd received rejections before, even 'good' rejections and learned to expect them. Even if this time I'd been asked to make revisions to the manuscript. I couldn't believe it possible I'd actually sell a story to my favourite series line. The silly thing was that when I found a message from the London office (where Presents stories are edited) I skimmed it several times looking for the 'but unfortunately it doesn't meet our requirements'. It took me a while to notice the message was headed 'Acceptance'. Even then I had to grab my husband and make him read the message in case I'd got it wrong. It was such a long-held dream of mine I couldn't believe it.

The ten year anniversary has crept up on me suddenly. At first it seemed a very, very slow process, with the long lag time between acceptance and proof reading the edited version of that first story, then waiting and waiting till it appeared in the shops - almost a year after that email! For those of you wondering, here's my first book for Harlequin.

 

 

A Mistress for the Taking was originally drafted as The Mistress Makeover. About a woman who, because of her past, had bad body image problems. It took a very special man, a real alpha, honourable hero, to help her change her life, even as she changed his. I loved that book and still do. One of the nice things about the rise of digital publishing is that it's still readily available!

 

Over the ten years since that first sale I've had 25 books published with Harlequin plus another two accepted for publication next year. In addition I've done a little self publishing and plan to do some more. Here's the first of my HOT ITALIAN NIGHTS novellas, 'Back in the Italian's Bed'.

 

 

I discovered writing novella length stories was a real treat. So far I've published two in this series and am planning more. It was enormous fun too, having the final say on the covers and titles for these - something I don't with my longer stories.

 

In these ten years I've been lucky to have books translated into many, many languages, and be contacted by readers from all around the world. I LOVE hearing from readers. Hearing their reactions to the stories that started in my head makes them even more real to me. One of the special treats too, has been getting manga or comic book editions of my books. Here's one that's already been in print and is coming out as an English language illustrated book. Seeing someone else's interpretation of my characters and story is absolutely fascinating!

 

 

And here's my latest story, 'Seducing His Enemy's Daughter'. It only struck me today as I wrote this, that this book, like my first Harlequin Presents, is also set in Sydney, on the Harbour - a location I don't use often in my stories. I wonder if subconsciously I was returning to familiar territory for my 25th story?

 To celebrate my tenth anniversary I'm have a very, very special book giveaway. Next week, on the date of that anniversary I'll be drawing lots of prizes, including books and gift vouchers. If you want to be part of the giveaway, you'll need to make sure you're on the subscriber list for my occasional newsletters. To sign up, just visit my website and follow the link at the bottom of the page, or visit my Facebook page and click the button to sign up for my newsletter.

What are you looking forward to celebrating? Have you any suggestions on good ways to mark a special occasion? It would be nice to come up with a different, new way to mark the occasion, apart from my mega giveaway.

Out and About in the Hunter Valley!

by Anna Campbell

The start of this year has been full-on writing for me. All that computer interaction has made Anna a very dull girl indeed. So I was really looking forward to a couple of days down south with my very dear friend and critique partner, Annie West, at the beginning of April. 

Annie lives in a very beautiful part of the world, Lake Macquarie in New South Wales. That's the lake behind me in the photo to the left of this paragraph. As you can see, we had lovely weather for my visit!

Her house is set amongst towering gum trees and I love watching the birds that visit - lorikeets and cockatoos and rosellas and other assorted natives.

So I thought I'd share a few photos and a few memories of my writerly visit. Annie herself blogged about my visit in April here at Tote Bags if you'd like to see some more pics: http://www.authorsoundrelations.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/joys-of-sunday-drive-annie-west.html 

Most of these photos were taken on the Friday of my visit. When Annie and I were unpublished, we both promised that once we sold, we'd take the other one out to lunch every time we had a book accepted. This lunch was to celebrate the acceptance of Annie's wonderful GIRL IN THE BEDOUIN TENT so she picked up the tab, bless her. We're at Milano's Restaurant, right on the edge of the lake. Gorgeous setting and lovely food and wonderful service.

I took pictures of the desserts. Aren't they spectacular? Annie's was the delicious chocolate looking thing and I had a very rich banana pudding concoction.

Are you feeling hungry? I've just had breakfast and I'm salivating!

Another lovely thing about being on the lake is that you get to watch the fishermen and the walkers and the prolific bird life. We saw black swans and gulls and cormorants who perched on the boat rails to dry their wings. I love it when they stand there like silhouettes!

It's always such an affirmation of the paths we've taken when we get together for one of our author lunches. The next one is  at the Gold Coast during the Romance Writers of Australia conference. My turn to pick up the tab for MIDNIGHT'S WILD PASSION!

Because I hadn't seen Annie for ages, we both had presents to deliver. Below, you'll see a shot of me clutching some goodies - I think I went home with a heavier suitcase than the one I arrived with! It was like Christmas all over again.

Don't mistake that we just played ladies of leisure on my visit. In between all the highjinks, we did a stack of serious critiquing work. We speak often on the phone and email like fiends, but there's something special about face-to-face sessions. So inspiring. I always come home with a million new ideas.

We brainstorm new stories, talk about writing problems, discuss issues with works in progress, dissect the wider writing industry and how any changes (lately there's been lots of changes!) affect us.

It's always wonderful for me to have such an in-depth session on my career and work. I hope Annie feels the same! I know I always feel very lucky that we hooked up together at my very first Romance Writers of Australia conference.

If any of you are aspiring writers and wondering whether attending a writing conference is worth the expense, take the chance. You never know who you might meet!

We also celebrate good news. Writing tends to be a fairly solitary occupation - after all, you're sitting on your own at a computer getting those words down. There are days when the only 'people' I talk to are the characters in my head. And while naturally those characters are excellent company, it's nice to raise a glass with someone flesh and blood. I dread to tell you quite how many bottles we empty when we get together. I think our livers are grateful that there's a recovery gap between each visit! Annie had recently won a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for her sublime PROTECTED BY THE PRINCE so we raised a glass to Alaric and Tamsin. Hic!

Speaking of livers, for ages, we've been talking about visiting the vineyards up in the Hunter Valley, one of Australia's premier wine-producing areas. We had a lovely drive over the weekend up the valley and in the process, visited a couple of vineyards and some historic small towns.

The photo on the left shows the goodies we picked up at Tyrrells Winery, one of the oldest in the area. The views from the vineyard were beautiful - check out Annie's blog to see them! And yet again, the weather blessed us. It's been a wet year in Australia; I've learned not to take the sunshine for granted.

It was also great fun when I was down to catch up with super-talented Harlequin Mills and Boon Romance author Michelle Douglas. We had an uproarious get-together at a coffee shop down near the lake.

I love this fun photo of the girls. They look so happy holding up Michelle's latest book THE MAN WHO SAW HER BEAUTY.  Michelle made that very groovy tote bag Annie is holding up. Isn't she clever? I can't even cut wrapping paper straight so I'm in awe of anyone who does crafty stuff.

So have you been out and about lately? Tell me somewhere nice you've been!

Sweet Sixteen - Annie West

Ha! You all thought I was older than that, didn't you? Well...I have to confess I am. But I'm still celebrating being sweet sixteen, and believe me it's even more delicious this time around.

Not sixteen birthdays but sixteen books with Harlequin Mills and Boon. Yes!! My editor has just recently accepted my 16th book and it will be out this year. The title is to be DEFYING HER DESERT DUTY and I'm absolutely chuffed.

It probably sounds strange as I've been working away at my books, devoting so much time and energy to get them written, polished and ready for publication, that I almost didn't notice the significance of this event. Sixteen seems a perfect number for a romance writer to celebrate. It makes me think of first love, heady summer days and sultry nights dreaming of romance and swooning over some gorgeous boy.

It also means I'm an adult, in terms of my writing. Well, a young adult at least. Maybe that means I'll have to be very, very serious from now on. Or maybe I'll just do what I've been doing and work hard at something I love to do.

Because this is a special occasion I thought I'd celebrate by giving away a signed copy of my March Presents Extra release: GIRL IN THE BEDOUIN TENT. Here's a taste of what it's about:

Not your average damsel in distress!
Sheikh Prince Amir has vowed to redeem his scandalous family name. So the last thing he needs on a tour of his desert kingdom is to have a sensuous blonde - with more spirit than clothes - presented for his harem!

Fiery Cassie might have been kidnapped by bandits and dolled up as the Sheikh's love-slave, but she refuses to be any man's plaything. Yet spending a week in Amir's desert tent pretending to be his mistress would get under any girl's skin. Especially when she is under his sheets.

To be in the draw to win my signed book, simply leave a comment on this post. I'd love to know what memories 'Sweet Sixteen' conjures for you. Or if sixteen wasn't a stellar year, perhaps you could share with us which one has been the best so far.

To read more about any of Annie's books or enter her latest website contest, visit her at http://www.annie-west.com If you're eager to grab a copy of GIRL IN THE BEDOUIN TENT here are links to it at Harlequin, Amazon and The Book Depository (free postage).