Sarah Morgan: A Tale of Three Cities

I find it hard to decide whether I’m a country girl or a city girl. I love to spend time in the mountains or at the beach, but I also love the buzz, excitement and opportunities of a city.

I live near London and have worked in the city at various points of my life so I know it well.  London is rich in history and culture. We have some of the best museums in the world and I have spent hours at the Natural History Museum with my two sons admiring the dinosaurs, gazed at the Egyptian mummies and the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum and marveled at the Apollo 10 Command Module in the Science Museum. I love to stroll along the river, particularly the South Bank which is always vibrant. On a sunny day it’s a glorious walk, and you can enjoy the sparkle of the water while taking in many famous sights including The Globe Theatre and St Paul’s Cathedral. For a stroll mixed with some shopping, I love the cobbled streets of Covent Garden which has great cafes, talented street entertainers and of course the famous Royal Opera House.  On a sunny day, I think London might be my favorite city, and then I remember Paris……

Paris is famous for its iconic architecture, stylish shopping and of course food. It’s a mere two hours train ride from London, which makes it perfect for a romantic weekend. Stroll along the banks of the Seine and you’ll pass palaces, lush gardens and flower markets.  If you don’t feel like walking then join a boat tour and glide under the bridges while admiring some of Paris’s most famous landmarks, from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame.  If you make it as far as Notre Dame then drop in to the famous bookstore, Shakespeare and Co. Take the stairs up to the top floor and curl up with a book.  The place has a magical atmosphere. When I’m walking through the leafy Tuileries Gardens that stretch between the famous Louvre Museum and the Place de la Concorde, I think Paris might be my favorite city, and then I remember New York……

New York has an energy and vibrancy all of its own, which is why I decided to set my new series there. Arriving in New York for the first time (and the second time and possibly the third!) is like stepping onto a movie set. Whether you choose to explore the expanse of Central Park or admire the iconic view from the top of the Rockefeller Center, there is something for everyone in this city. If you’re in a romantic mood you can sip champagne on the roof garden of the Metropolitan Museum while admiring the skyline and the views over Central Park, or head to Brooklyn and walk back across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan at sunset.

If you feel like a dose of city excitement without leaving the comfort of your sofa, then take a look at my brand new series, From Manhattan with Love.  The first book, Sleepless in Manhattan, is out now.

It's Summer - Let the Summer Reading Commence!

  Now that Memorial Day has passed, it's 'officially' summer! Well, not astrologically, but for all practical reasons, our thoughts are on vacation, warm weather and, around here, the beach!




 April and May were my crazy travel months - I was away almost 4 weeks over that time! I attended my very first LoveLetters Convention in Berlin, Germany. It was soooo lovely! 









I was dined and wined by the wonderful team at HarperCollins/Cora and met hundreds and hundreds of avid romance readers amd signed at a huge bookfair. My Harlequins are released there in German, but the readers enjoy the English versions, too. 

Schools will be out soon -- Brisbin boy #3 will be graduating from college next week so this is my last 'final day of school' experience! Many other kids will be facing the dreaded 'required summer reading' lists. I was probably the only kid in my classes in school who looked forward to those. For me, it was a way to legitimize the hours and days I spent in my little town's library. It was the best excuse - 'sorry, I have three books I have to read....'  Of course, now, I don't bother with the excuses, I simply read.
 
Now, before I head into a deadline binge of writing, I'm looking forward to a pre-deadline-binge of summer READING and I've been stockpiling books in anticipation!  Some of them are: 
 

 I've been waiting for this book for a long time. It's the end of Monica's series set against the Scottish Wars for Independence and they are simply wonderful!


And Madeline's end-of-trilogy book THE WICKED DUKE - another can't wait to read!

 I simply loved Joanna Shupe's first Regency series and this new one - set in the Gilded Age in NYC has been getting rave reviews!
    
The Emma Wildes' book is not new but a friend gave it a raving review so it's in my TBR pile for the summer. Have you read it?

Something different for me is Sarah Morgan's book -- she did a reading from it at LoveLetters and I ordered it on the spot! It's not her newest but I'm looking forward to it! 

And finally, a treasure just arrived from the Clan Cameron Museum in Achnacarry Scotland (a place I will visit in September!) -- it's the newly-revised history of the Camerons. I admit - I began skimming it as soon as it arrived. My Harlequin series - A Highland Feuding - focuses on the Mackintosh and Cameron clans so this will be very helpful in the next books!


So how about you? Do you have your summer reading planned yet? Anything to suggest or to rave about if you've already begun? I tend to go heavy on historicals but I'm open to a good paranormal or contemporary! Any recommendations?


Terri's next "A Highland Feuding" comes out in October - Kidnapped by the Highland Rogue is the third in the series. Visit her website for lots more info about her and her books and connect with her on Facebook.

Liz Fielding: What I'm reading this month...

It's December, definitely time to read all those brilliant Christmas romances on the shelves and I confess I'm a bit ahead of myself here so I'm sharing my best so far.

First up is the last of Sarah Morgan's Puffin Island trilogy - Christmas Ever After. It's time for Skylar to dump the horrible bloke she'd been stuck with in the last two books and find True Love. It has to be said that Alex would not have been her first choice. He wouldn't even have been on the list, but if you've been reading this fabulous trilogy you'll know that they've been sniping at one another for months and that's only ever going to end in one place. Totally delicious!

Another fabulous read is Jane Porter's Christmas at Copper Moiuntain, one of the Montana Born Christmas boxset stories. A grouchy widower, a woman whose heart is in bits and two kids who need a cuddle really badly. I took my Kindle to bed for an early night and read this from beginning to end. And when I'd finished I had to turn my pillow over because is was soaking wet with tears. Just the loveliest Christmas story. And I still have all those others to go!

And still waiting on my Kindle I have Donna Alward's Christmas at Evergreen Inn - the last in her Jewell Cove series. Can't wait to get into that.

And The Runaway Christmas Bride by Scarlet Wilson

Finally, I've just downloaded Hot Christmas Nights - a Lovecats Down Under box set including books by Michelle Douglas, Louisa George and Kandy Shepherd (who I had the joy of sitting next to at an author lunch back in September).

Last and very much not least, since this is my post of the year I want to wish you all (in no particular order) readers, writers, bloggers, reviewers, the very happiest Christmas you can imagine and a New Year filled with peace and joy.

A Holiday Reading Feast!

by Anna Campbell

Oh, the bliss of the summer holidays here in Australia. As I write this, just before Christmas, I'm really looking forward to a couple of days of complete sloth over the Festive season. Of lying by the pool. Of snoozing. Of knocking a few books off the TBR pile.

Every year, if I possibly can, I take the time off between Christmas and New Year. Here in Australia, basically the whole country shuts down and I don't see why I should be any different.

I stockpile special books for these days as I love to curl up with a couple of really luscious reads and enjoy my leisure time.

This year is no different (I hope. Touch wood. Salt over my shoulder). So I thought I'd share some of the books I'm really looking forward to. There are others on the pile but these are the five that caught my attention first.

First is a book I read ages ago in manuscript and absolutely adored. It's the perfect Beauty and the Beast story - and as a lot of you know, that's far and away my fave fairytale. It's the second in Christina Brooke's Ministry of Marriage Series, MAD ABOUT THE EARL. Beastly Griffin (except he's mega yummy under the beastliness) and beautiful Rosamunde have such a rocky road to love when they embark upon their arranged marriage that you won't be able to put this book down. I'm looking forward to revisiting this delicious love affair and losing myself in Griffin's arms...uh, story!

Another luscious historical on the TBR pile (and another one with a beautiful blue cover!) is DESIRED by one of my long-time fave authors Nicola Cornick. This sounds like such a sexy, tug of war between duty and desire. And I already know which one is going to win. I always close Nicola's romances with a big happy sigh. Look forward to the same reaction with this one.

Tawny Weber writes wonderful sexy, saucy, smart contemporary romance. SEX, LIES AND MISTLETOE is the start of a new three-parter for her and it sounds wonderful. Intrigue, forbidden attraction, lots of flirty fun. I can hardly wait.

While I'm on a category kick, I'm really looking forward to the latest Sarah Morgan. Have you read her? I think she writes the most brilliant classic Harlequin Presents (marketed here in Australia as Sexy and believe me, these books just bristle with sexual tension!). The latest is ONCE A FERRARA WIFE... (love the elipsis!) which sounds like a passionate reunion story. I devour Sarah's books in one gulp like chocolate - can't imagine this one will be any different!

At the moment, I'm reading a lot of crime to go with my romance and a series I've really got hooked on is Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon Mysteries.

Anna, the principal character, is a middle-aged widow who works as a ranger in a series of national parks across America. The descriptions of landscape and environment are extraordinary, so vivid that you actually feel like you're there. FLASHBACK is the next one I'm due to read. It's number 11 in the series and what's a nice benefit of these later books is that Anna has mended her broken heart to the point where she's have a very nice romance with a sheriff at her latest national park. I love a bit of romance to go with my murder ;-)

So do you get to catch up with your reading over the Christmas/New Year break? What did you read that really made you sit up and pay attention?

My Favorite Christmas Movies - Sarah Morgan

My first seasonal story for Harlequin Presents, The Twelve Nights of Christmas, is in stores now so to celebrate all things Christmassy I’m talking about festive movies that make me smile.

Here, in no particular order, are my favourites.

While You Were Sleeping – I know I’m not alone in loving this film. Sandra Bullock plays Lucy, a lonely ticket collector who rescues a man when he’s pushed onto the train tracks on Christmas Eve and ends up pretending to be his fiancée. It has humour, warmth, gorgeous family scenes, tears and best of all Bill Pullman as sexy Jack. And lots of snow.

It’s a Wonderful Life – an angel shows a despairing businessman what a difference he has made to other people’s lives. No Christmas would be complete without at least one showing of Frank Capra’s classic, which was nominated by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 top American films ever made.

Love Actually – eight stories in one film, some of which work for me and some that don’t (I cannot believe that Laura Linney would let the divine Rodrigo Santoro slip through her fingers), but it always puts me in a Christmas mood. I love the scene where Colin Firth stumbles his way through a Portuguese lesson so that he can tell the girl her he loves her.

Home Alone 3 – I can hear everyone shrieking ‘what? She cannot be serious’ but yes, I am serious. I love this film. It might be because I first watched it when my youngest son and I were ill at the same time one Christmas. We curled up together feeling sorry for ourselves and had a surprisingly happy time. I love the little boy (Alex D Linz, same actor who played the little boy in One Fine Day with George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer) and the film as painful as every Home Alone film is supposed to be. And there’s snow.

Die Hard – yes, I know it’s a weird choice but it is a Christmas movie. Sort of. It has snow and Christmas carols and the incredible, inestimable Alan Rickman.

A Christmas Carol – I love the Dickens story in almost any version.

The Family Man – Nicholas Cage as a driven, workaholic investment banker who gets to see what his life might have been had he taken a different path. He goes to bed on Christmas Eve and wakes up in the life he would have had if he’d chosen to marry his girlfriend instead of putting his career first. Tea Leonie is gorgeous as his ‘wife’, the kids and the slobbering dog are sweet and yes – there’s snow.

What’s your favourite Christmas movie?

Sarah
http://www.sarahmorgan.com/

What's On My Desk? - Sarah Morgan

In theory I should be able to write anywhere as long as I have a pen and a pad. Certainly there are occasions when I scribble on notebooks or scraps of paper – while I’m waiting to pick the children up from school; in the dark in the cinema when an idea suddenly comes to me (boy was that difficult to decipher!) but generally I write better when I’m at my desk.

So what do I need for my perfect working day?

My laptop - which is not connected to the internet. I would like to say that if I worked in a chocolate factory I would never sample the products, but I know I would. If I work on a computer connected to the internet, I use the internet. I can’t resist the temptation to check my emails – just in case Hugh Jackman is trying to contact me urgently or JK Rowling’s publisher has decided I’m the Next Big Thing (I will be the Next Big Thing if I don’t take the chocolate biscuits off my desk :) )

My iPod – I don’t always write to music, but sometimes I do. I use music to create atmosphere. At the moment I’m trying to finish a Christmas story and the only way I can feel Christmassy in March is to play Christmas music. If I fill the room with Christmas music, my family will probably leave home in protest so my iPod is the ideal solution.

Dictionary and thesaurus – of course these days there are brilliant computer programmes available (something else to offer distraction) but I still love the ancient, well-thumbed thesaurus I was given at the start of my writing career.

My favourite mug – usually I drink from a giant, brightly coloured mug. It makes me feel happy. But at the moment I’m writing a Christmas book, so I’ve swapped it for a mug covered in penguins and lots of snow.

Sticky note pads and a pen – yes, although I’m using the laptop, I still scribble all the time when I’m writing. I know that lots of writers use sticky notes. I find them invaluable. If I think of one line of dialogue that I’ll want to use later on, or even a plot twist, I’ll scribble it on the note and stick it on the wall. Then I know I’m not going to forget about it. When I first started writing I used pads, but there were so many occasions where I overlooked something I’d written down, I switched tactics. Sticky notes are there until you remove them (which I try and remember to do before guests arrive. My gorgeous, tolerant husband once asked me mildly if I thought it might be wise to take down the one that said ‘this marriage is a sham’ before we had family over :) )

My mobile phone – when I’m writing I often unplug my main phone during the day so that I’m not disturbed (I find it really hard to ignore the phone if it rings), but I want to be able to take calls from close family, so I keep my mobile switched on so I’m connected, but not too connected.....

That’s it. That’s what I need. What do you need to help you work?
Sarah
xx

Beginnings - Sarah Morgan

Thanks to Lee for inviting me over here today.

The more I read – and write – the more convinced I become of the importance of beginnings. First impressions count, even more so when there are now so many books vying for our attention. So how do you select a book from the hundreds of new ones that are released every month? What makes you put one back on the shelf but take another to the checkout, or ‘browse the book’ online but then click on something different? When I’m choosing a book I read the back cover copy and I always, always read the first page. Those first few lines are important to me. They tell me a lot about the style of the story and the voice of the author. Sometimes when I ask someone about a book they’ll say ‘I haven’t got into it yet’ or ‘it’s a bit slow’. What they’re really saying, of course, is that the book hasn’t gripped them. And for an author, that’s dangerous. Maybe that reader will stay with the story regardless, but what if they don’t? They might decide that life is too short to stick with a book they’re not excited about reading and put it aside in favour of another one that grabs them right from the beginning. And then you’ve lost them...

I keep all this in mind when I’m writing my own books and try to remember that the first few pages may be my only chance to hook a new reader. This is especially true when writing in a short format like Harlequin Presents. Every word has to count.

So what makes that first chapter special?

For me, it’s being plunged straight into the action. Whether it’s emotional, physical or both, something important needs to be happening, right from the first page. The reader needs to be sucked straight into the story. If it’s a Harlequin Presents then there’s going to be plenty of passion and I don’t necessarily mean the lip-locking variety (although maybe that too!) – I’m really talking about high emotion. The book needs to begin with a situation that is urgent and really matters right now to the hero and heroine – a point of change in their lives.

The books I’ve enjoyed reading most have been the ones that have me rooting for the main characters right from the beginning. What about you? What makes you buy a book?

Sarah
xx
http://www.sarahmorgan.com/

Christmas Presents with Anna Campbell

Sometimes a Harlequin Presents is all that will fit the bill when it comes to what I want to read!

I was hoping for a reading binge over the Christmas break. Didn't quite happen, sadly. Real life got in the way. But I did manage a few days ago to snatch a day and a half where I read nothing but Harlequin Presents! Ah, what bliss! Those crazy titles! Those high stakes plots! All that operatic emotion! Just what I felt like.

I started with an author whose work I hadn't read before. Sarah Morgan's The Brazilian Boss's Innocent Mistress (see what I mean about those crazy titles? Sheesh!). Really great story about a woman unjustly accused of embezzlement and the growling alpha male who decides to make her pay for her 'crimes'. Grooviest element? Probably the hero's glass mansion in the middle of the Brazilian rainforest. Seriously cool! Almost James Bondish. Will definitely read Sarah Morgan again. This was great.

Then a great Lynne Graham. I've long been a fan of this writer - her Prisoner of Passion is one of my all-time favorites. This one was called The Petrakos Bride. It had all those elements I look for in a Lynne Graham - an overbearing hero who finds himself flummoxed when he falls in love, a match of opposites who somehow find common ground, great sexual tension. A lovely Cinderella story just right for a post-Christmas romance binge.

Then a feast of two wonderful Jane Porters. I love Jane's work - she manages to pack more emotion into a 50,000 word book than most writers manage over a 10-volume series. These two were no exception. There was The Latin Lover's Secret Child and Hollywood Husband, Contract Wife. Both cut right to the heart and were beautifully written with such passion (and I don't just mean the passion in the bedroom, although there's certainly plenty of that!).

My binge ended with a debut book by Jennie Lucas called The Greek Billionaire's Baby Revenge. Another classic presents although with some unusual elements that added a piquant edge to my feast. Russian gangsters and Las Vegas entrepreneurs, how fantastic! And again lots of passion.

So thank you, Presents authors. You gave me just what I wanted in spades.

Do you ever find yourself in need of a fix of Harlequin Presents? Are there any authors you turn to at such times? What appeals to you about Harlequin Presents?