The magic begins...

For every book there is a moment when the magic begins.

I'm working on a duet with the uber-talented Kate Hardy and much fun has been had putting our heads together, discussing ideas, locations, who our two heroines will be.

We've given them histories. They have an 18th century French smuggler, Henri Prideaux, as an  ancestor, which accounts for their French names - Agnés and Fleur Prideaux - and a castle with a leaking roof to live in. Priddy Csstle is in the south west corner of the UK - Dorset, Devon, Cornwall - and that's how the locals (way back in the 18th century) said Prideaux.

We've drawn up timelines, given them back stories, found them heroes, men with an agenda, men who will infuriate them, raise memories that will bring tears to their eyes, make them weak at the knees. Check them out on my Pinterest board.

We've given them dogs to love.  This is Dora, who belongs to Agnés. A grandmother they adore. A ton of responsibilities. And looming disaster.

That's all the stuff in notebooks, printouts pinned to my cork board, ideas swirling around in my head.

Now I have to stop playing with ideas, having fun on Pinterest, asking the questions that start the journey.

The fun is over. It's time to open up my document, type Chapter One and spin gold out of straw.


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Liz's latest book, Her Pregnancy Bombshell is available in paper and digital from

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon Australia
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Mills and Boon UK
Harlequin US

 

Summer at the Villa Rosa

When I’d delivered the finished ms for The Sheikh’s Convenient Princess — wonderful feeling! — my editor and I had a long discussion about what I might do next. She had a few suggestions but then asked if I’d like to write an author generated mini series with two or three other authors.

Oh, yes!

With Kate Hardy, Scarlet Wilson and Jessica Gilmore on board brainstorming ideas was a blast. These sessions started off quite sensibly with “themes”, graduated to outrageous with cyber space glowing red hot as our instincts to create mayhem for our characters took over and finally, once we’ve stopped giggling, stories began to emerge and we had the Marlowe sisters. Four young women whose lives were about to face a crisis.

Summer at the Villa Rosa was born.

But it’s not just about the stories. It’s about the place where they take place. For our mini series we created a beautiful Mediterranean island, not too far in the imagination from Ischia. So, you might well ask, why didn’t we just use Ischia?

Well, a real place confines you and unless you know it well you are going to make mistakes and, because we needed a royal family for the backstory, it had to be “independent”. Also, when you create your own world, you can play with the rules. If you want to get married in Italy, for instance, there are very sensible constraints. There’s a lot of paperwork and quite a bit of time involved. On a small, independent island that hasn’t become a “wedding destination”, things are much simpler. 😊

With our island and our heroines sorted, we created a crumbling pink villa overlooking the sea that had once been the love next of the island’s king. Pinterest is great for this stuff. You can see the images that inspired me here 

I lead off the miniseries with Her Pregnancy Bombshell. Pilot Miranda Marlowe, responds to her grieving boss's plea — "Help me, Andie..." and now she's expecting his baby. Afraid that the news will break him and, for the time being unable to do the job she loves, she goes to the Villa Rosa, needing time to think.

When Cleve follows her, offers to marry her for their baby's sake, there can be only one answer. Or will she have to save Cleve all over again? You can read the first chapter here

"If you have a garden..."

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero 

I have a library that overflows into every room in the house. Two bookshelves in the conservatory, one in the living room, two on the landing, piles of books in bedrooms and bathrooms, more shelves in the dh’s workroom and 50 feet of shelves in my study. Plus the stuff piled up underneath them. I did a little sifting and culling before I moved, but what I have mostly came with me from the old house.

The garden is something else. We moved last year, downsizing - there comes a time when you just don’t need an acre of grass to cut - but the garden we moved into had been neglected. The front was overgrown with weeds, the lawn a mess and since it fronted onto the road, was what everyone saw as they walked past, we sorted that out first.

Serious clearance work, a new lawn, a lavender hedge against the footpath and three standard roses went in first. The bones. This week the lavender (despite the attention of neighbourhood cats which killed off three of the plants) is in flower and looking pretty gorgeous. The roses have made an appearance, too and the scent is just stunning. And we’ve filled in with geraniums, dahlias and begonias. We should have hanging baskets but they have been delayed by the shockingly bad spring. Fingers crossed they should be here by the end of the month.

The back was also a mess. We had to hack through grass that had grown a foot high and fallen into a thick mat. Remove weeds and plants run wild and the paved part of the yard needed a makeover. After that came the fun part. Choosing the climbing roses (the first buds are just showing colour), the fruit trees – nothing this year, although the blueberries are full of fruit and a raised bed on the yard that has been a non-stop treat since early spring.

The dh created a fabulous gothic window for one shady corner and the honeysuckle and winter flowering clematis are now swarming over it. And he made a heart-shaped raised bed in the lawn which we’re still having a think about. I’m up for patio roses, all in one colour, but can’t decide what to under plant it with. Something for winter interest. Vinca, maybe, or violets.  

We planted antirrhinums this spring and they are now a mass of colour, the sweet peas are breaking out and there’s a whole lot of interesting stuff on the corner bed that will just get better as the years go by. Oh, and I bought a chocolate cosmos from a charity stall when I was in Lacock last week for an RNA chapter meeting and it already has buds.

This week we’ve been ordering climbers and shrubs for the mixed border on the other side of the garden — the last major work (and expense!) Hopefully, by the end of July we’ll be able to just sit and watch the bees, a glass of something cold in our hand, and relax.

If you want something to read in your garden, Harlequin Mills & Boon have released a three-in-one anthology – The Sheikh Who Loved Me – in the UK and Australia, where I’m cwched up with the lovely Susan Stephens and Kate Hardy.

This link will take you to Amazon where ever you are -  http://bookShow.me/B00D7DYB9S

The National Year of Reading

2008 is the National Year of Reading in the UK. It is about celebrating reading in all its forms and highlighting the importance of libraries. It is about encouraging parents to read to their children, and people in general just to read.
It is about challenging employers to turn their old smoking rooms into quiet reading rooms, and encouraging workers to read. Natasha Oakley’s whose Wanted: White Wedding is out this month explained “`Setting aside the fact I earn my living writing books, as a mum of five this is something I really want to be involved in. The hope is that the campaign will reach people who don't consider themselves 'readers'. The slogan is 'Reading - Anytime, Anything, Anywhere'. I'm all for taking the snobbishness out of books. It should be fun!'
Authors from literary authors to series romance authors are involved in a wide number of events. As part of the NYR nine Mills & Boon authors have been asked to be ‘Writers in Residence’ in nine of England’s library authorities. The timing and the match could not be more perfect, as Mills & Boon celebrates its 100th birthday, there is no one who knows a good book like a Mills & Boon author – or reader! It’s a fantastic accolade and tribute to the importance of Mills & Boon to libraries and all the hard work done by so many of our authors in them.
The Mills & Boon ‘Writers in Residence’ for the NYR are: Louise Allen – Peterborough, Susan Stephens – Kirklees, Kate Hardy – Norfolk, Nicola Cornick – Wiltshire, Sharon Kendrick – Hampshire, Caroline Anderson – Suffolk, Michelle Styles – Northumberland, India Grey – Cheshire, Natasha Oakley – Bedfordshire
Kate Hardy whose In Bed with Her Italian Boss recently won the RNA Romance Prize explained what being a Writer in Residence meant to her: "Reading is one of life's greatest pleasures, so I'm delighted to support the National Year of Reading by being a writer in residence at my local library. I've spent many happy hours choosing books from my local library and even more happy hours discovering new worlds through those books." Nicola Cornick added “"I am thrilled and honoured to be the Wiltshire Writer is Residence as part of the National Year of Reading. Helping to build a greater national passion for reading is a cause very close to my heart. For me it is all about entertainment, exploration and ideas a plenty!" Nicola’s 25th book, The Last Rake in London is published next month.
A spokesperson for Mills & Boon said : ‘Mills & Boon is extremely proud to support the National Year of Reading, a government-backed initiative which aims to get more readers reading more! It will be supported by a TV advertising campaign featuring Geri Halliwell, Lenny Henry, Bill Bailey, Jon Culshaw and Jo Brand amongst others. The NYR will see a nationwide campaign reminding reluctant readers, hesitant readers and even prolific readers of the joy of reading. It’s a wonderful opportunity for Mills & Boon to be part of this fantastic year celebrating reading!’

You can see the launch video here. It is one of my current favourite as I do love the mish mash of celebrities and in particular Bill Bailey reading from Susan Napier's Harlequin Presents. i think it captures the whole essense of the campaign.
But wherever you are, 2008 is a great year to read. One thing you can do to challenge yourself is to take part in the e-harlequin 100,000 book challenge. For every book review posted on eharlquin, they will donate a book to the National Literacy fund. It is a challenging target and they do need more readers.