The march of time ... a return to Strathlochan and to Cornwall

I cannot believe how quickly this year has flown by and that we are in the second half of September already. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect someone of taking a couple of months out of the calendar! I also find it impossible to believe that I am currently in the process of writing my thirteenth Medical Romance when it seems only yesterday that I was bouncing with excitement on hearing the news that my first had been accepted! That excitement has never gone away and I feel so blessed to have been able to continue to grow and expand my loosely-linked books set in and around my fictional town of Strathlochan in rural Scotland.


My ninth Strathlochan story is out now in the new duo format and sharing space with a story from the excellent Emily Forbes. Italian Doctor, Dream Proposal brings Rico & Ruth to the fore. Both have been secondary characters in past stories and now it is their turn to shine. As the second of a trio of friends, Ruth was always destined to have her own book. Staff nurse Gina McNaught came first in An Italian Affair, meeting her scrumptiously sexy doctor, Seb Adriani, on the magical island of Elba off Italy's Tuscan coastline. Specialist immunologist and allergist, Rico Linardi, also featured in An Italian Affair because he is Seb's cousin and close confidant. I'd never intended Rico to be more, but it soon became obvious that not only did he need his own story but that he was the perfect hero for over-achieving and emotionally repressed GP Ruth Baxter.




Both Rico & Ruth are bright, intelligent and professionally successful. Not to mention gorgeous! Both are focused on their careers and have not allowed anything to distract them from achieving their goals. So both are shocked at the intense connection when they first set eyes on each other ... a meeting that changes both their lives forever. Neither has any idea at the beginning of the wider links between them through their relationships with Seb & Gina. The reality of that unexpected coincidence comes later! After Ruth, overwhelmed by the instant blaze of passion between them, scared at being so out of control, and fearing Rico has nothing more to offer her than a temporary fling, has run away. Rico has reluctantly granted her time to think. But he is not going to let her go. The men in his family fall once and fall hard when they meet their soul mate. It happened to his father over thirty years ago. It happened to Seb when he met Gina the previous year. Now it has happened to Rico, and he is determined to win Ruth's trust and her heart ... and make her his wife.



All characters are different and some are easier to write than others. I love Rico & Ruth to bits, but they were very independent, and determined all along to do things their own way, so I ended up with a very different book to the one I had envisaged when I started! Not that I'm a plotter. Far from it. I fly by the seat of my pants when I write and I invest totally in my characters, so there are often surprises along the way, but I usually have at least some idea where I want get to by the end, even if quite how I'm going to get there is often somewhat fuzzy!




For those who fell in love with the wonderful Medical Romance series, The Brides Of Penhally Bay which ran one a month throughout Mills & Boon's centenary year in 2008, I'm delighted to say that the first of the 4 new books that continue the story threads on from those first 12 books, is also out now. The Rebel Of Penhally Bay, by Caroline Anderson, is a terrific read and gets the continuing mini series off to a great start. In November comes Anne Fraser's Spanish Doctor, Pregnant Midwife while in December we have Falling For The Playboy Millionaire by the wonderful Kate Hardy. The latest mini series comes to a close in January 2010 with my own book, A Mother For The Italian's Twins, (by Margaret McDonagh). All 16 stories from Penhally Bay are now available as e-books to download from the Mills & Boon website.


Thank you for sharing some time with me. I hope you will enjoy the new Penhally Bay books and also a return to Strathlochan with Rico & Ruth's story.


Best wishes,
Margaret

www.margaretmcdonagh.com

Sometimes going back is the right thing to do ...

A freak accident leads to a chance encounter and sparks off a chain of events that will change two people's lives forever ...

There's an old saying that warns "never go back". At various times in our lives, however, we find ourselves revisiting a place, an event - or even a person - from our past. We can be taken back for innumerable reasons ... a birth, a christening, a wedding, illness or death, because of work, or finally accepting the invitation to an old school reunion, or maybe it's the sudden grip of nostalgia, the yearning pull of old memories. All too often, though, going back brings nothing but disappointment. Things have changed, our memories prove to be rose-tinted and what once was is no longer what it seemed, leaving us feeling let down, even cheated, and wishing we had made a different choice and had left the past where it was.

Luke Devlin, the hero in The Rebel Surgeon's Proposal, is faced with just such a choice. An unexpected phone call draws him back to the hometown he escaped at eighteen, vowing never to return. Growing up, he lived under the shadow of the Devlin name, cursed and ostracised because of the reputations of his father and older brothers. Determined not to be like them, he followed his own path, one that took him to London and to medical school, finally earning him a coveted place on the team of Professor James Fielding-Smythe, a renowed orthopaedic surgeon. Luke's career is about to take off ... one of many reasons to ignore the call from home and never to set foot in Strathlochan again.

But there is one reason why he cannot keep away. Francesca Scott. He had thought her lost to him forever. Now she is back. And whatever demons he has to face returning to Strathlochan, he is determined to right the wrongs of the past and to claim Francesca at last.

The Rebel Surgeon's Proposal is the second of my spring/summer duo and the latest stories from my fictional community in Srathlochan. The first of the duo, The Emergency Doctor Claims His Wife, tells Nathan & Annie's story, and is out in the UK in May, Australia in June and the US (via eHarlequin) in August. In a very different way, there is also an element of "going back" involved, only this time to a person and not to a place, as Nathan refinds Annie.

Luke & Francesca's story is out in the UK in June, Australia in July and will be on sale through the eHarlequin website in the US in September. I hope you will enjoy them - and discover if going back was the right thing for Nathan and Luke to do!

How about you? Have you any stories, good or bad, about occasions when you have gone back and faced your past?

Love,
Margaret

www.margaretmcdonagh.com

Time Flies - a brief sojourn out of the writer's cave

How can it possibly be August already? I much regret how time has flown. It is far too long since I have been here to post - although you might all be very glad of that! Truth is I have been stuck in the deep, dark deadline cave finishing two urgent manuscripts, both of which will feature in 2008 amongst various exciting new projects to mark Mills & Boon's centenary year.

I am now blinking against the light through bloodshot eyes, dragging the decrepit body around a long-neglected house buried under layers of dust and ever-growing TBR piles of books, trying to get as many things done as possible before I shut myself back in the cave to embark on the next book. I'm also giving myself a few treats and making a raid on the TBR piles as a reward for getting both books finished on time.

I love to lose myself in my characters but I always find starting a new book a scary experience. I am not a plotter. I have a vague idea where I am going, but it is my characters who take me there, often by a scenic or unexpected route! I know them and their back stories, I fling them together, and then they lead the way, often taking hold of the reins and ignoring all my attempts to control them and get them back on track again. Some are more sure of themselves than others, some more willing to discuss things, and some determined to go their own way and stuff their author's ideas, thank you very much!

The saddest part is saying goodbye - even if it is only temporarily because I might meet them again in linked books. I get so involved with them and their lives, and it takes a while to get them out of my head and ease the next cast in. Now I am at that turnaround point, sadly trying to let Seb & Gina venture out into the world without me, knowing I will catch up with them again in future Strathlochan stories, but sad to cut the apron strings. On the plus side, I get to welcome back Lauren, best friend to Chloe whose story I have already told and whose romance with the delectable Oliver will be out in the summer of 2008. Lauren's turn has come. She has a bumpy ride ahead but a scrumptious French hero called Gabriel is waiting in the wings to smooth out the choppy waters for her - if she'll let him.

Gabe & Lauren will soon be pulling me back into that cave and I will be able to lose myself in their story, hanging on to their coat-tails as they lead me on their journey through trials and tribulations, learning to love and trust, seeking their happy ending. And all the while the layers of dust and piles of books I'm yearning to read will begin to grow again.

Time flies when you are having fun - and despite the self-doubt, the times when things won't flow and the fright of staring at the blank first page, fingers poised over the keyboard, there is nothing quite like the feeling of launching out into a new ficticious world with a new cast of characters.

My current book, One Special Night, is out now in the UK and in Australia/New Zealand, available in bookshops, via Amazon or via Harlequin Mills & Boon's websites in those countries.

His Very Speical Nurse is now available via Harlequin's North American website.

Happy reading,

Love,

Mags

www.margaretmcdonagh.com

Happy St Patrick's Day

Hello. I just had to stop by to wish everyone near and far a very Happy St Patrick's Day. And I thought I would share with you a couple of my favourite Irish Blessings ...

May the road rise up to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

The rains fall soft upon your fields,

And, until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

And another that was one of my mother's favourites ...

May there always be work for your hands to do,

May your purse always hold a coin or two,

May the sun always shine on your window pane,

May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain,

May the hand of a friend always be near you,

May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

I have Irish ancestry on both my mother's and father's sides of the family and have enjoyed many happy visits to various parts of Ireland in year's past. The welcome is always warm, the people amazing, the scenery spectacular, and on each visit I have left a little more of my heart there.

May all the blessings be with you all, wherever you may be, and whether you have a drop of the Irish in you or not!

All best wishes,

Margaret

A Doctor Worth Waiting For

HMB Medical Romance

OUT NOW!

A Frustrated Hero

Having seen how Domenico, Theo and Max managed to avail themselves of their authors' blogs recently, (Kate Walker, Anne McAllister and Liz Fielding, wonderful ladies all), I thought I would take advantage of my own author's distracted state and have a few words of my own here. Boy, do I need them. I am one frustrated hero! Not that I think I am heroic, you understand, but Margaret McDonagh, my author, says I'm the hero of the book I am in. Anyway, I am very miffed at being temporarily sidelined from my quest to win back my heroine, Annie. Having been ruthlessly put "on the back burner", I have some unexpected time on my hands between shifts, so let me explain ...

Hi, my name is Nathan Shepherd, and I'm a doctor working in accident and emergency medicine. I have just moved to Scotland to take up a post in the casualty department at Strathlochan hospital, and I am determined to put my plan into action to win back my Annie. She's a feisty woman, and while she sometimes drove me mad, I loved her to distraction. Until she walked out on me five years ago and broke my heart. She has this stupid idea in her head that the split was my fault ... but it wasn't. I never wanted her to leave. We had an argument over her latest hairbrained scheme, she threw a tantrum and stormed out. Not too unusual with Annie as she was then, and I thought it would blow over in a day or two. But it didn't. She left, and hard as I tried, I couldn't find her or get her to answer my letters or take my phone calls. Five years on things have settled in my own life allowing me to focus on my own needs for once, and after searching again, I managed to track Annie down to Strathlochan.

And here I am. I need to know if there's still a chance for us or if seeing her again means nothing. At least then I will be free to move on, one way or another. So, I arrive in Strathlochan, have my first glimpse of Annie, and find I am still in love with her. It's a shock. Both good and bad. Yes, she's matured, grown up, made a real success of her career. She's just made Registrar! I'm dead proud of her. But what hasn't changed is her belief that our break up was my fault. I'm going to have my work cut out for me making her face up to the past and what happened between us, not to mention acknowledging that what we have is special - far too special to throw away. We've lost five years and I don't intend to lose any more. Then, without warning, my author pulls the rug out from under my feet. Within hours of me seeing my Annie again, she's kicked us to the kerb because she's been asked by her lovely editor - (I know she is lovely because she likes me, even though she is conspiring to torture me) - to work on some exciting new projects.

How frustrating is that? I had a few strong words, I can tell you. How could she do this to me? She knows what I have been through, knows how desperate I am to have Annie back in my life, that I still love the infuriating woman, despite everything. And she tells me to take a break, amuse myself elsewhere for a while, leaves me hanging on the edge of a precipice. It's not fair!

In the meantime, my author is off fraternising with some playboy doctor called Oliver who has more charm and looks than is good for him and who loves surfing and jet skiing and motorbikes. I think he's turned my author's head. Oliver is taking all her attention in his quest to seduce the innocent, unsuspecting Chloe. Which sounds a bit dodgy to me.

Then some Italian surgeon called Sebastiano has pushed his way in, luring my author away with his sultry good looks, sexy accent and promises of the magical island of Elba. Seb is appealing to my author's soft heart and romantic nature with some sob story about the shattering event in his life and his confusion over meeting the luscious Gina - who, incidentally, has connections with Strathlochan, too. She was born in Scotland but has Italian ancestry, hence her trip over there, but I won't spoil her story by giving too much away.

Finally, some equally suave French guy called Gabe is heading over on a year-long exchange as a GP. It seems he is also going to jump the queue and sneak in to capture Lauren's heart before I can focus my author's mind back on the most important people in all this ... me and Annie.

Not only I am on the sidelines kicking my heels waiting for Margaret to get back to me and finally reunite me and Annie, but my new colleague here at Strathlochan, Luke Devlin, who is a young orthopaedic surgeon with a history all his own, is waiting for me and Annie to get our act together so that he can tell his story. He's even madder than me at this delay! He has a longer wait, after all. And Luke really isn't a man to mess with. I hope my author knows that. There's something just a bit on the edge about Luke that makes you think there is more of the Devlin genes in his blood than he would like to think.

Luke's heroine, Francesca, is a radiographer here at Strathlochan. Some people call her the ice maiden, but that's because they don't know her very well and don't understand what her life has been like. Luke knows and it is time for him to stake his claim. Francesca is good friends with my Annie - and with Cameron's Ginger and Frazer's Callie who you'll meet in earlier books out this year. Cameron & Ginger's story, One Special Night is out in August 2007, while Frazer & Callie's story is called Their Christmas Vows and will be in the Christmas Weddings anthology. So watch out for those. You'll meet my Annie in both of them. And Luke's Francesca.

As soon as I get Annie back by my side - and back in my bed, Luke can launch his campaign to capture Francesca's heart. Seems Luke & I are both at loose ends now while these three interlopers lead our author astray. She'd better be careful. Keep us waiting too long without our women and we may just be forced to take matters into our own hands!

Happy reading - and I hope it won't be too long before we meet again.

Love,

Nathan

Inspiration

Inspired by friends and readers asking me about my heroes, and also by the wonderful Male on Monday slots on the Pink Heart Society's blog, (I can't wait to see who Anne McAllister has picked for her posting there tomorrow!) I thought I would share with you some pictures and thoughts relating to characters from my books. (http://pinkheartsociety.blogspot.com)

You have already seen a photo of Iker Cassilas, the Spanish soccer goalkeeper who was my model for Nic in The Italian Doctor's Bride - and I am very glad that he has also proved very versitile and has been an inspiration to the wonderful Kate Walker for her new hero, Guido. (Kate has kindly included a copy of my first book in her Chirstmas Stocking Contest. Do visit her blog at http://kate-walker.blogspot.com and take part.)

It has always fascinated me the ways in which different writers work. We are all individuals and there is no rigid right or wrong, only what works best for you. Some write a set number of words over a set amount of time each day. Others, like me, cannot "write to order", and may write nothing one day and then loads the next. If it is there and flowing, I sit until I am done. I can't stop at X number of words and hope it will be there again when I come back to the keyboard. Likewise, some writers are detailed plotters while others, myself included, fly by the seat of their pants! I am very character driven. I know what the story is about and where it is going, but it is my characters who lead me there, not a very detailed synopsis and plan. The more I get to know them as real people and live with them in my head, the easier I find it to write. It is as if they are speaking to me, dictating their stories or enacting things like a film in my head. Consequently, I am very visual ... I like to have pictures of my characters and settings and anything else relevant from which to work. I don't follow it slavishly but use the images as a reference guide from which to build my own fictional people and places.

With my second Medical Romance, A Doctor Worth Waiting For, I already knew a lot about my hero, Dr Conor Anderson. A caring GP in a rural practice in southern Scotland, (the setting for all my books), Conor is laid back, irreverent, an excellent doctor and loyal friend, a highly sought-after bachelor but one who is picky about the woman he is looking for. He is also deliciously wicked!

When I found this picture, I just knew it was Conor - it had exactly the look that I wanted.

Conor turned out to be a very special hero for me to write and he has stayed with me long afterwards. True, my characters usually do find a niche for themselves, one of the reasons I so love to write books that are loosely linked so that I can revisit them and have them pop in for little cameo roles from time to time. I don't like to say goodbye. I also enjoy building up that feeling of a wider community and, in the case of Medical Romances, the sense of interconnected colleagues working in different practices, hospitals or other specialties, whose lives intertwine.

One of my very best friends, Christina Jones, who writes spectacularly good novels which make me laugh and cry, (www.christinajones.co.uk) paid me a huge compliment when she had a sneak preview of A Doctor Worth Waiting For. She told me that my feelings for Conor had come through in the writing of the book. She also told me that she had fallen for him, too! Sorry, girls, you will have to form an orderly queue!

My next hero, in His Very Special Nurse, is Kyle Sinclair. Conor's best friend, Kyle is also a GP but at a different practice some miles away. Nic, Conor and Kyle meet up when they can to go hillwalking, climbing and cycling. My supremely wonderful editor and I have come to call Kyle my "tortured" or "troubled" hero. And he has become Sue (www.suehaasler.com) my splendid critique partner's favourite.

Kyle has had a particularly difficult time and, aside from work, he had closed himself off completely from life. He needed a very special woman to bring him out of the darkness and back into the light again, and Alexandra filled the bill perfectly. She saw inside him and past the pain, teaching him to love again and awakening all that smouldering sexuality. Lucky woman!

My fourth Medical Romance, One Special Night, sees the action move to the fictional town of Strathlochan. The hospital, and wider medical and rescue services, serve not only the town but also the surrounding villages and a large, scattered rural population over a big area - including the villages visited in the first three books. This fourth book is linked loosely to those first three stories but also sees the start of what will hopefully be a whole new series of Strathlochan books.

For One Special Night, I needed a very special hero. I had the personality and characteristics in mind for Cameron Kincaid and needed to match him to the heroine, Ginger O'Neill. Hunting through my hero folder (it's a tough job but someone has to do it!) I found an advertisment for Seiko watches from about eight or ten years ago. Sadly, I have no idea who this man is (and if anyone knows I will be forever in your debt if you can name [and kidnap if possible!!] him for me) but he was Cameron. Again the brooding sensuality, the mesmerising eyes ... Having this picture sitting on my desk sent shivers down my spine!

He is simply stunning! Excuse me while I pause for reverie ... Where was I? Oh, yes, Cameron. Well, I had some inspiration, as you can see! The sparks really fly between him and Ginger, a red hot passion and searing need - one which refuses to be extinguished when they discover the conflict of interest which lies between them. Somehow they have to walk away from each other. But that is easier said than done. Can they resolve the conflict and find a way to balance their professional and personal lives? You'll have to wait and see!

So this is my own little Sexy Guys on Sunday slot to warm you all up for Anne McAllister's revelations tomorrow on the PHS! It's such a difficult job having to sit here all day and write romantic and sexy stories about guys like these, but long live the inspirations!

Best wishes,

Mags

http://margaretmcdonagh.bravehost.com

Margaret McDonagh - introducing myself and my books

I am so honoured to be asked to join the wonderful authors already part of this blog. Many thanks to Lee for including me. Having been writing for twenty years, doing short stories, serials and story library novellas, I still cannot believe the dream has come true and I have a "proper book"! The last eleven months since my first Medical romance was accepted by Harlequin Mills & Boon has flown by and I still think I am dreaming, that all this really is not happening to me! It is the most amazing feeling. I will never forget the moment when my brilliant and supportive editor phoned to tell me that they were going to publish my book! Having an actual copy of that first book in my hands still hardly makes it seem any more real.

My first Medical romance novel, The Italian Doctor's Bride, was out in the UK in October 2006. (Available via the Mills & Boon website until the end of this month and online at Amazon!!)

Set in beautiful south-west Scotland, it tells the story of workaholic rural GP Hannah Frost, a woman with a painful past, and new Italian locum, the delicious Nic di Angelis, who also has memories to overcome. The last thing Hannah thinks she needs is a man in her life, but can Nic, caring and dedicated, help Hannah to heal?

(Iker Casillas, Spanish soccer goalkeeper proved a more than adequate model of inspiration for Nic!) The Italian Doctor's Bride is out in Australia and New Zealand in December 2006 which is very exciting.


I have chosen to stay with the rural Scottish feel for my novels and I hope this is something readers will enjoy. Although they stand alone, all the books are loosely linked and various characters will pop up again from time to time. I love that feeling of continuity and the rural Scottish locations also allow that feeling of community and of medical professionals who really know and care about their patients.


My second Medical is called A Doctor Worth Waiting For and is out in the UK in March 2007 and April 2007 in the US. I have seen the hardback (released in the UK in January 2007) and the cover is gorgeous - very atmospheric with the hills and rugged landscape.

The scrumptious, naughty and laid back hero, GP Conor Anderson is one of the county's most elligible bachelors. He is looking for that one special woman who will capture his heart - and he thinks he has found her in new doctor, Kate Fisher. But Kate is hiding many secrets and Conor must first unravel her mysteries and gain her trust if he ever hopes to also win her heart and make Kate his partner in life and well as in the practice.


Next will be His Very Special Nurse in June 2007 (UK paperback) with troubled doctor Kyle Sinclair and Alexandra Patterson, the dedicated, caring nurse who might teach him to live and love again. This will be followed in August 2007 (UK paperback) by One Special Night, a tale of passion and conflict, of the impossible choice doctors Cameron Kincaid and Ginger O'Neill must make between their duty and responsibility for their work versus their desire and need for each other.


It has been the most amazing year and I am so very grateful for the warm welcome and generous advice offered by so many other writers. I cannot believe my books are on the shelves with those of authors I have admired for so long! They are an amazing bunch of people.


Lee has done a terrific job with her website and her goodie bags. This new blog in which various authors can share their thoughts and news on their books is wonderful and I really appreciate being able to take part.


For now I had best leave you in peace and return to my work in progress, the latest tale from southern Scotland relating the trials and tribulations of Frazer and Callie who work together as doctor and paramedic one hectic, snowy December on the air ambulance! Callie is putting up a bit of a fight at the moment - will Frazer prevail?!


Best wishes,
Margaret

http://margaretmcdonagh.bravehost.com