If Money Were No Object by Paula Roe

There’s many things I love about being a writer – working from home, writing for a living, meeting wonderful readers and fellow writers. And one of the techiques that kick start me into a new story is asking ‘what if’. Some would call it day dreaming :-) but one of the frequent ‘what ifs’ when I was growing up (besides “what if I got a pony for Christmas?”) was “what would you buy if you won the lottery?”

Okay, so I’ve moved on from “building a chocolate volcano”, “new rollerskates” and “paying Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran to marry me” (although the chocolate volcano thing still holds great appeal...) But this question recently came up during a conversation I had with my 10 year old son. Of course, his answers were along the lines of “buy every single Lego set made”, “adopt a bunch of cats and rabbits” and “take a trip to Hawaii”. Mine? After I ruled out the obvious charity donations, I came up with these:

• holidaying in style. It’d be business class all the way, absorbing the wonders of Europe without worrying if the communal toilet would still be working when I returned to the cruddy, broken-down hotel that looked way better in the brochure.

• a nice car. Nothing over the top, just something cute and sporty, with a soft top. And a hybrid, of course!

• sparkles. I love jewelry, so I’d buy me a gorgeous pink diamond ring to mark the momentous occasion

• a personal trainer. Because given the chance, I like to laze around in bed, or relax in front of the TV or sit in front of the computer. Writers’ lives can be so sedentary and some cute muscley guy helping me work up a sweat would be a great motivator :-)

• a summer house. Somewhere along the Gold Coast of Australia, or maybe on one of the Whitsunday Islands. Or, heck, maybe I’ll just do a Richard Branson and buy the whole island instead and rent it out to the rich and famous when I’m not in residence!

So, what would your lottery win bring you? A Caribbean cruise? A house on Sydney Harbor? Share your fantasy – money no object! - and you could win a book from one of my backlist.

Paula’s next book, Bed of Lies (Harlequin Desire) is a February 2012 release. You can visit her at her website http://www.paularoe.com, Twitter www.twitter.com/paulawrites or Facebook http://www.facebook.com/paularoefanpage

This Show Is Great! - Paula Roe

Hey... This Show is Great! Why Wasn't I Watching It Before? (or The Burn Notice Effect)

With all the hype and promo surrounding so many TV series, it all becomes a bit 'meh' for me. Sometimes I avoid shows *because* of the hype (Prison Break, 24 and Lost, anyone?) So now it's mid-season, your favorite shows have been shunted off in favor of another mindless sport telecast or Two and a Half Men, and instead of shutting off the box and doing something constructive, you end up tuning into a series you've never watched before. But wait... hang on... this is actually pretty good! So you watch the following week. Then the next. The next thing you know, you're hooked and dumping your usual fare for this newly discovered show.

This is what I call the "Burn Notice Effect" - shows you start watching a season or more in, discover they're pretty darn good, watch every week and then (most often) glom the other episodes/seasons you missed. Yes, I was bored one night and ended up watching Burn Notice. The yummy, droll Jeffrey Donovan (who looks so totally cool and stylish how on earth could he possibly blend into a crowd?) was the main draw card, but I stayed for the fun storylines, the action and the character chemistry - even though I feel the urge to force-feed Gabrielle Anwar a cheeseburger every time she wears a bikini...

Joss Whedon's Firefly was another BNE – after watching Serenity on DVD, I picked up the canned-after-one-season Firefly for $30. Loved the movie, ADORE the series (and of course, now we need a pikky of gorgeous Nathan Fillion to emphasis my point ).

Other shows with the Burn Notice Effect include Brothers & Sisters, CSI (yeah, I was late on this one!), Law & Order, The Unit, How I Met Your Mother, Life on Mars (the awesome UK version). And I've just finished True Blood, Lie to Me and am currently making my way through Farscape.

So my question for everyone out there - does the Burn Notice Effect apply to you? Which shows? Let me know (and why you keep watching!) and you could win a copy of an Aussie exclusive - Harlequin's Best Love Stories of 2009.

Paula

www.paularoe.com

One Reason I LOVE Writing! Annie West

There are so many great aspects to being a writer. Reading for a start. I couldn’t be a writer if I wasn’t an avid reader and I have to admit that settling down with a good book is one of my great joys in life. What else? Creating your own stories and then seeing them in print. Hearing from readers that they enjoyed your book. That’s fabulous, guaranteed to put a huge grin on my face. Being able to work in sloppy old clothes or even PJs. That’s a definite plus. In fact, waking on a cold rainy day to the sound of a downpour and the knowledge that you have a great scene to write and don’t have to stir out of the house is an absolute luxury. Reading about spectacular heroes and knowing that it’s vital market research (he, he) I love it! Going to writers’ conferences and talking books for a whole weekend is wonderful.

For me, one of the best things about being a writer, and specifically a romance writer, is getting to know so many other fabulous women who write romance. Some of my best friends are people I’ve met through writing and that’s very precious.

And of course, when you have friends who write you also have reason to CELEBRATE from time to time. Another one of my favourite activities. Writing has its ups and downs. For all the fun side of things there are also the rejections, the writer’s block, the major revisions and the pressure of deadlines. So when the news is good it’s natural to want to celebrate.

This month is a perfect one for celebrating. Three (count them!) of my writing friends from Australia have their debut books released this month. How’s that for amazing? They’re excited and so am I. There’s something so thrilling about that first book actually on the shelves that’s breathtaking.

The books and authors in question are:

'Scandal's Daughter' by Christine Wells (Berkley Sensation DEBUT novel),
'Forgotten Marriage' by Paula Roe (Silhouette Desire DEBUT novel),
'Dream Job, Hot Boss!' by Robyn Grady (Harlequin Modern Extra DEBUT Novel)

So raise your glasses please, or your boxes of fine chocolate, or your best festive food and join the cyber celebrations. As you can imagine, there was some rather noisy partying Down Under recently in honor of these successes.

To mark the occasion, Robyn, Christine, Paula and I have got together to devise a contest in which signed copies of these three debut novels and my current release 'For the Sheikh's Pleasure' can be won. If you’re interested, pop over to my website http://www.annie-west.com/ and check out the contest page. You have until 31 October to enter.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear what things you like to celebrate. Birthdays or name days? Special holidays or personal achievements? What do you and your friends enjoy celebrating most?

Annie