Still on Island Time

I'm late! So sorry about that. I'm blaming it on island time. I've spent a week in Fiji and time there is very flexible and relaxed and I didn't have to know the date or the time....just the directions to the hammock.

Spending a week out of the normal routine is so important in our busy lives. We shut out the real world- no news, no phone, no internet. It was fabulous, however re-entry to the world isn't without stress.

I was so relaxed my brain emptied. Passwords? Um, I forgot. Appointments? I forgot. As for what my characters were doing when I left them in my manuscript, well, I have totally forgotten. I'm having to re-read what I've written to get back into the story.

But time waits for no man once you've left Fiji. I have a big ten days coming up. My eldest son is turning 18...a big deal in Australia as that is the age one can legally drive, drink and vote. I am also packing for my trip to the USA. YAY!


 I'm so excited to be a RITA nominee with my contemporary romance, Boomerang Bride and to be  attending the Romance Writers of America's conference in Anaheim. I will be signing at the Literacy Book Signing on Wednesday July 25th at table 200.


If you're coming, 
please do call 
by. I will have Tim Tams (world's best chocolate biscuits) and some cute Australian give-aways (Bribe, Bribe) ;-)

I'll be signing Boomerang Bride and my recent Harlequin Medical Romance, Letting Go with Dr Rodriguez. If you love a sexy polo player than Marco is for you ;-)


While I was in Fji, I was fortunate to be able to visit the Nadi Library and talk with the staff and teachers from local schools. I did a book signing and they made me this most amazing Lei. How lucky was I?

Where have you been on vacation where you had a total relax?

Fiona Lowe is an award-winning, multi-published author with Harlequin and Carina Press. Whether her books are set in outback Australia or in the mid-west of the USA, they feature small towns with big hearts, and warm, likeable characters that make you fall in love. When she's not writing stories, she's a weekend wife, mother of two 'ginger' teenage boys, guardian of 80 rose bushes and often found collapsed on the couch with wine. A current RITA & RuBY nominee, you can find her at her website, facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

Soup For All Seasons by Fiona Lowe

Down here in southern Australia, we've just had record breaking rain and flooding, and the weather has been cold and dismal. It's soup weather!  


Now I realise many of you who are reading this blog are heading into summer and the thought of hot soup is more than you can bear, so to cover all bases, I'm sharing two of my favourite recipes, one for each hemisphere!  But before I do that I want to let you into my secret of great soup when you don't have time to cook.

You take either a can of pumpkin soup or tomato soup, add a can of milk, fresh black pepper and a teaspoon of curry powder. Mix together, microwave, throw some freshly chopped herbs on top and Voila! You have soup that tastes home-made. I have had people ask me for the recipe!

Talking recipes, I'll kick off with A Summer soup.  Cold Plum Soup! This is sensational to have as an appetizer for a summer lunch. Down here, I often serve it as party of Christmas lunch...the color is perfect!  I always use fresh plums but I believe my NA friends can buy plums in a can so you're all set if you or your neighbours don't have fruit trees.

1      can    purple plums -- 1-lb. 13-oz.

1     cup        water

 2/3  cup           sugar

1                    cinnamon stick

 1/4  teaspoon      white pepper

1      pinch         salt

1      cup           sour cream

 1/2  cup           heavy cream

1/2  cup           dry red wine

1      tablespoon    cornstarch

 2      tablespoons   lemon juice

1      teaspoon      grated lemon rind

3      tablespoons   brandy

 Pit and chop plums, combine with syrup in a saucepan.  Add water, sugar,

 cinnamon, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer 5 minutes

 stirring occasionally.  Mix wine and heavy cream with cornstarch, add to

 mixture and cook until thickened.  Stir in lemon juice, rind and wine, remove

 from heat.  Place 1/2 cup soup in small bowl, whisk in sour cream.  Add

 brandy and stir mix back into the soup pan until smooth.  Chill at least 4

 hours.  Serve in cups, garnish with dollops of sour cream and sprinkle with

 cinnamon. 

All I can say is YUMMO!

Now for a Winter soup, Pea & Ham soup  which I have cooking in my slow cooker as I type!

A 500gm or 1lb bag of yellow split peas soaked over night or boiled for 40 minutes.

Rinse and dump into the crock pot. Throw in an onion, carrot, 2 bay leaves,  peppercorns, potato, and the Christmas Ham bone or ham hocks from the market. Cover in water. Put on low for 12-24 hours. Remove the bones which are now clean of meat and the bay leaves. Whiz until smooth.

Serve with crusty bread. It is the complete food for lunch after Saturday sport when everyone is cold and hungry!

I hope you enjoy these recipes!




Fiona Lowe is an award-winning, multi-published author with Harlequin and Carina Press. Whether her books are set in outback Australia or in the mid-west of the USA, they feature small towns with big hearts, and warm, likeable characters that make you fall in love. When she's not writing stories, she's a weekend wife, mother of two 'ginger' teenage boys, guardian of 80 rose bushes and often found collapsed on the couch with wine. 


A current RITA & RuBY nominee, you can find her at her website, facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

Boomerang Bride is available now from Carina Press, Amazon Kindle, Nook and all other online book stores. It will be on shelf in Australia on July 1^st 2012

Letting Go With Dr Rodriguez is available now from Mills and Boon UK and will be out at Harlequin.com on July 1^st. Tom’s Redemption is out in Australia. All her books can be purchased from  The Book Depository and iBooks, 

Telling It in Pictures by Fiona Lowe

My husband is a pretty good photographer. Let me qualify that. He is an awesome scenic photographer. Take him anywhere and he will capture the essence of the place he is standing with his camera. People photos? Not so much. I have an 'aim and shoot' for that and even so, we're lacking in family photos. I took us to a professional photographer a few years ago. Hmm, must be time to do that again. But I digress, back to the scenic photos.

We have a huge wall in our kitchen and on it we 'cycle' many of his photographs, six at a time. (sorry, I can't seem to take the photo without a shadow from the skylight)  The photo wall is a fabulous talking point when visitors come. We get them to guess where each of the six photos have been taken. I'm wondering if you can?

It might be a tad tricky but the top left is a picture of terraced rice paddies in Bali, the deck chairs are Blackpool Pier in the UK, the middle top is Maine in fall,  and underneath is the stunning Peyto Lake in the Canadian Rockies. The top right is one of my favourites and hard for you to see but its fall in Wisconsin...red barn, turning trees, harvested hay and a trip of still green corn. Gorgeous!  

So it was a logical progression with all these great photos to use them on my new website.  I'm thrilled with the way each book has its own banner, using a photo that represents where the book is set. For instance, Career Girl in the Country is set in Western Australia and here is Sturt Desert Pea taken on the side of the road in WA.

Boomerang Bride, my RT, RITA® and RuBY nominated book is set in Wisconsin so of course, I had to have a red barn!

My most recent Medical Romance, Sydney Harbour Hospital: Tom's Redemption is set in Sydney, Australia and we gave the banner a new twist. Here it is...we are standing next to one of the Opera House sails with the distinctive bridge in the distance.

I hope you enjoy the photos and that they enable you to get a feel for my stories. Meanwhile, I'll work on my dear husband to take a photo of me with my RITA® pin! Maybe if I dress up like a tree, it might help!


How do you display your photos?

Fiona Lowe is an award-winning, multi-published author with Harlequin and Carina Press. Whether her books are set in outback Australia or in the mid-west of the USA, they feature small towns with big hearts, and warm, likeable characters that make you fall in love. When she's not writing stories, she's a weekend wife, mother of two 'ginger' teenage boys, guardian of 80 rose bushes and often found collapsed on the couch. A current RITA nominee, you  can find her at her website, facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.