One of those wonderful, rare books... by Natalie Anderson

One of my stories is getting another outing this month and I'm so thrilled that it is this particular one.

For me writing a novel is usually a long rollercoaster ride. Sometimes it feels like the words won't ever come, some days it flows. And then, very occasionally, there's a book that just pours out.

Lorenzo and Sophy's story was the fourth (and final) book in my contract for that year - so the story idea had been percolating in the back of my mind for several months. But then I had a deadline crunch - a BIG crunch. I had half the story down, but needed to get the rest written asap. Fortunately, my husband swung into action and took a couple of days off work to mind the kids and give me an extra long weekend to try to get it down.

I spent all four of those days locked in our bedroom at the far end of the house - sitting up in bed with my laptop, drinking far too many caffeine laced energy drinks and generally going feral. Hubby and the kids would throw food in every now and then, sometimes come in for a hug but for the most part knew to stay far, far away. But by some miracle, I just wrote and wrote and wrote - finishing the story in that long weekend. And loving it. It was all just there - and all I had to do was write it down.

To make things even more miraculous, that's the only book I've had go through without any revisions/edits whatsoever :)

In the UK, Australia and New Zealand Lorenzo and Sophy's story was sold as UNBUTTONED BY HER MAVERICK BOSS while in North America it was sold as REBEL WITH A CAUSE. And in July it is available again in Australia and New Zealand as part of the Bestselling Authors Collection - that also features stories by Trish Morey, Day LeClaire, Brenda Jackson and Ann Voss Peterson. So if you missed out first time, you can get the whole collection! You can get it from Amazon too (I'm not sure if UK and North American readers can buy it online - but fingers crossed!).

I hope you enjoy reading this one as much as I loved writing it.

Best wishes,
Natalie

Golden Globes and Redeemed Heroes... by Natalie Anderson

So did you watch the Golden Globes?! I must admit I'm a sucker for award shows - I love to see all the frocks and suits, the hair, the shoes, the bling... I'm sappy enough to get a tear in my eye over acceptance speeches (especially when they're from the winners I wanted). It's fun to celebrate things - and creative achievement is worthy of celebration I think.
Of course, there's a problem in that I don't actually have a telly that's plugged into a network - we only use ours to watch DVDs - but we do have a number of computers. So, social media addict that I am, I watched the Twitter feed on and off (it was HILARIOUS - some people are very, very funny on Twitter) - and then I hopped onto YouTube and watched the particular bits that sounded good. And I looked at the stills of the fab frocks on the newspaper websites... so, personal highlights for me?
Actually involved three guys - Colin Firth (Mr Gorgeous, love his accent and the beautiful way he talks), Michael Douglas (nice line when he got the standing ovation) and of course, the wonderful redeemed reprobate, total bad boy himself, Robert Downey Junior.

I thought RDJ was fantastic - suave, charming, a little risque and also got his point across re Ricky's intro. There's an admirable strength about someone who's gone through hell and hauled himself out the other side. You want someone like that to succeed - not to be cast back all the time. And I loved him in Iron Man...

While the hero in my latest Presents Extra, Lorenzo Hall, has gone through a very different kind of trouble to RDJ, he has certain similarities in that he'd also gorgeous and has that slightly wicked, untamed humour and smouldering sensual confidence. Lorenzo is also working very hard to keep himself in the position in which he's fought hard to get to - safe. Of course, the pleasure for me then was to throw a heroine into his path who challenges that status. Emotional risk is the one kind of risk Lorenzo just can't handle... can he find the strength to be the hero my Sophy needs???

Well, you might have to look for REBEL WITH A CAUSE out next month in the US as a Presents Extra... meanwhile, which frock did you like the best at the awards? Maybe I'm having an Anglophile moment with my crushing on Colin still, but really, I just adore the individuality of Helena Bonham Carter -  with her odd coloured shoes? Just wonderful!!! What did you think???