The RNA award lunch

Last Friday was the glamour event of the British romance publishing -- the annual presentation of the Romantic Novel of the Year and the Romance Prize at the Savoy.

If you have ever seen the film Notting Hill, you will know how splendid the Savoy is. Among other things, it is the only place in Britain where they drive on wrong side of the road.

Mod X and Little Black Dress author, Julie Cohen and I arrived in a cab. Julie as befits her website was wearing a black top and orange skirt. I was in a teal blue Monsoon outfit.

The lunch begins with a champagne reception. As it is very much an industry function, editors and agents are there. Mills and Boon editor Joanne Carr lived up to reputation and wore a splendid pair of shoes. My daughter whispered to me that she looked just like a model. Anne Herries and Catherine George, two of the finalists were there -- both with huge smiles on their faces.

We were then summoned to lunch. On the tables, were programmes of the day's events. The cover was a cartoon by Bestie, highlighting the joys of reading romance on public transportation. The top table came in last.

The food was delicious -- goat cheese and onion tart for starters, chicken with vagatables (my daughter was not overly fond of the potatoes and almond combo), and a treacle tart with raspberries and vanilla ice cream for pudding. The vanilla ice cream was made with a vanilla pod and tasted fantastic.

Then came the awards -- Rosie Thomas won the Romantic Novel of the year for Iris & Ruby. And Nell Dixon won The Romance Prize for Marrying Max. Nell was flabbergasted, and I had to pull her up from her chair and gently shove her towards the podium. As I had insisted that Nell enter the book, I felt like a very proud fairy godmother.

Modern/Presents Author Sharon Kenderick managed colour coordinate her cast with her purple outfit. New presents author India Grey was there looking stunning in black. She is a warm and lovely person. Kate Walker also looked great in her white top and dark skirt combo. And the shoes these women wear were -- well stunning.

It was a wonderful event, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Michelle Styles

Sandra Marton Says, Rain, Rain Go Away...

Here in New England, nor'easters are a part of life. A nor'easter, for those lucky enough never to have experienced one, is a major storm that blows up the east coast of the United States with horrendous winds and lots of snow.

Except, this is April. The weatherman doesn't seem to have noticed because the temps here are miserably cold and if there's a sun up there behind those clouds, we haven't seen it in a while. And April is definitely not nor'easter time.

Nevertheless, a nor'easter blew in late Saturday night and spent the weekend and part of today with us. In deference to the fact that it's April, the storm brought rain rather than snow. And I do mean RAIN!!! There's a river a couple of miles from us that's usually shallow and placid. Today, it's running as if the hounds of hell were after it.

Along with the rain came wind. I could hear stuff hitting our house all last night. In fact, I figured looking outside this morning would be, for lack of a better word, interesting. We have lots and lots (and lots) of trees. Well, we lost a number of branches but, thank goodness, no trees. And the bulbs our son planted on the slope in front of our house last fall came through just fine. (The dozens of bulbs, tulips and daffs and gorgeous blue things with a name I can't recall, plus the hard work of planting them, were an anniversary gift from our son and daughter-in-law last June. It was, without question, one of the most loving, most thoughtful gifts we've ever received.)

Back to our nor'easter. It's Monday evening and the rain has tapered off. The wind has pretty much stopped. The sky is the color of tarnished pewter but I do know that it's Spring, thanks to the bulbs poking through the soil. And I just heard the pair of Barred Owls who live in our woods calling to each other as they set out on their nightly hunt. Those calls are a sure sign Spring is really here, no matter how gloomy it looks in our part of New England.

Writing Linked Books by Kate Walker

Some readers love linked books, others are not so keen on them, so for me the important thing about writing books in my own self-contained mini-series, the important thing is to make sure that each book stands on its own and tells one separate story. Then any reader who picks up one story doesn’t have to buy and read all the other books in the series to make sense of the whole story.


I was reminded of this only this week when a reader wrote to me, asking about the books in The Alcolar Family trilogy. Well, it’s a trilogy of books and an on line short story that appeared on eHarlequin and the Mills & Boon site. This reader had found the middle book of the Trilogy - The Spaniard’s Inconvenient Wife and wanted to know the titles of the other two books so that she could read them all. That was tricky, coming to it so long after the original trilogy has been published (The Alcolars came out in 2005) but at least I could help her find the short story – Wife For Real – that started it all off. That’s now published as an ebook and is also to be found on the Mills & Boon web site to read on line.

And all that reminded me that I had meant to come on here and talk about my latest pair of linked books – the ones I’ve called the Sicilian Brothers duo – the first of which Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride is out now in Presents. The second The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge will be published in June (UK) and July (USA and Australia). And I wanted to make sure that everyone knew they are linked – there’s nothing worse than reading a book and then wishing you’d got your hands on the first one.


The Sicilian Brothers duo came to me when a lovely reader and a friend I met at the RWA Conference a couple of years ago told me her brothers’ names and I said that Guido and Vito Corsentino were just perfect names for Presents heroes. Lori told me that I could ‘borrow her brothers’ names – they didn’t mind either! – and I’ve written these two books with each brother as the hero in one. The stories, as I said, are totally separate, but each book has connecting points – the first one (Guido’s story) takes place in the middle of the second one (Vito’s story). That meant that I had to know what had already happened to Vito before I even started writing Guido’s story. If you read the book then in the opening scene you’ll find that there is already a clue to what has happened – when even Guido doesn’t know what has been going on in his brother’s life.

Writing a new hero is always a fascinating process – I’ve just finished a book with a sexy Spanish hero and getting to know him took some time – even then he had one last little secret that I didn’t know until the very last scene. So working with two devastating Sicilians was even more fun. I had to make sure that they were each heroes in their own right – tall dark, handsome and stunning – and yet make them separate and totally individual. I think I succeeded. I hope you do too.And don’t forget that as the first of these books is out now, the contest Lee is running to celebrate that is still open over on the Contests page. Of course The Sicilian’s Red-Hot Revenge will be appearing soon and as that will be a very special book for me – my 50th published title - then look out for some very special celebrations too. I’ll be working with Lee on those and we’ll have lots of prizes to give away – so watch this space.


What about you? Do you love books that link to each other and perhaps bring back characters you've met before? Or do you prefer stand-alone stories?

Character Discoveries - Susan Stephens

One of the most exciting things for me about writing is the discoveries I make as characters come alive on the page.

The only downside to that is the amount of re-writing involved as back-story, or a sudden unexpected turn of events feeds into the future thinking and actions of a character. Rewriting four or five times can quickly turn 50,000 words into 200,000 or more.

In The Venetian's Bed, my May release for Harlequin Presents, proved quite different because the opening chapters were based on a real-life experience.

As I started writing the story I knew how Nell felt when her young daughter Molly was taken ill with an asthma attack during a gondola ride along the narrow canals in Venice, because I had been in Nell's place years ago. I was that disorientated, terrified, disempowered mother, and it is only now, with my daughter's blessing that I can turn those horrendous few hours into the opening of a romance.

I have an on-line Daily running at the moment on e-harlequin entitled The Venetian's Defiant Woman http://www.eharlequin.com/article.html?articleId=1266 and this story reflects the magic and allure of Venice, but also harks back in parts to that fear of the unknown which I felt on my earlier visit to this beautiful city.

Magic is stripped away when someone you love is at risk, as happens in the opening chapters of In The Venetian's Bed. Fortunately for Nell and her little girl, Molly there is a happy outcome to the story as thankfully, there was for me and my daughter all those years ago.

As Nell and Luca Barbaro’s story progresses, and fantasy takes over from reality, the magic of Venice comes to the fore. Nell and Luca enter the erotic world of Carnival where anything can and does happen...

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Pup-Dog News

Those of you who read my Susan Stephens' Blog will know that I have recently lost a beloved fifteen year old dog and adopted two wonderful and challenging rescue pup-dogs, Betty and Molly.

Do come and join us on my Writing Diary at http://www.susanstephens.net/ where you can keep up with their progress and see photographs of them. Or simply pop along to share the fun and take part in the contests. Don’t forget to sign up for the Birthday Babies club while you’re there to ensure you receive a birthday card and a little something on your special day.

Happy reading everyone!

Susan Stephens

I'm a quiz addict, how about you?

We’ve all been there - flicking through the glossy pages of women’s magazines at the supermarket check-out, in the doctor’s waiting room, or hiding under the bedclothes with a pen and a flashlight, reading the ubiquitous sex quiz pages with headers like The Top Ten Ways to Keep Your Man.

An addict to filling out forms of any kind, I have filled out sooooo many of these quizzes over my lifetime without ever really wondering who wrote them, or what kind of education and background the creator must have had before dolling out such essential relationship advice. They could be psychologists, franticly overworked editors, or sixteen year old interns for all we know.

Or they could be like Abbey Parrish, the heroine in my latest novel, and my very first Modern Extra Sensual, GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS. Abbey doesn’t have one single clue how to get a man much less what to do with him when she ultimately does get him!

Yet somehow her advice resonates. Perhaps it's all about collective experience. Or the way we can all see in our daily stars how that kernel of advice might actually relate to our lives. A need for solidarity, to know we're not alone in feeling out of place, out of time, and on the verge of never being able to find someone to love.

Next time I head down to the supermarket, and flick through a magazine I wonder which question will speak to me, and head me off on a tangent I was simply waiting for the right prod to head along any old how.

How about you? Have you ever read something in your stars or an advice column that was like a lightbulb moment? Do you think such random things can really change a person's course in life?

Seeds of ideas

A question many authors are asked is where do you get your ideas from?

The answer is really it depends. However for my April Mills and Boon Historical release, I have a ready answer -- Kate Walker.

What happened was this. Kate gave a very lovely workshop in October 2005 for the Romantic Novelists Association. I happened to catch a lift with her and she began to explain about her latest revisions. She got about as far as the heroine has to marry to save her father from gaol and I will admit to stopping listening. the wheels in my brain were churning and the light bulbs popping. I believe I nodded my head and looked interested. I could not shake the idea from my brain and with Kate's blessing, I decided to write my story.

Anyway, several months later, Kate very kindly sent me a copy of The Antonakos Marriage. I realised when I read it that I totally misheard her and the manuscript I was working on bore very little resemblance to her story -- except for one important fact -- the Beauty and the Beast theme -- a heroine sacrificing herself to save her father.

I am very partial to Antonakos Marriage for another reason. I read the book while I was waiting for my first cataract operation. I suffered from early onset cataracts. Anyway, I hadn't finished the book. The next morning, when I went back to it -- suddenly I could see the cityscape where it had all been a blur before. The book has remained a firm favourite ever since.

BTW my editor knows the story of my seed. She swears that it is coincidence that my cover (that has very little to do with the book) and the North America cover of the Antonakos Marriage bear a certain similarity. My editor also has a wicked sense of humour.

In celebration of Sold and Seduced's publication, I am running a contest. The prize is signed copies of both Sold and Seduced and The Antonakos Marriage (the UK edition). I have three sets to giveaway.

You need to email me with the answer to the question what is playing on my myspace page?

My myspace page can be found at: http://www.myspace.com/michellestylesauthor.

I will be drawing the winners on 14 April. If you enter, I will send you an invite to join my newsletter but that is all.

All About Eve - Vicki Lewis Thompson

Anyone who’s been to my website at vickilewisthompson.com knows about Eve, the black cat I adopted from the Humane Society two years ago. In fact, if you have any cute pet pictures lying around, I’d love for you to enter them in Eve’s Second Annual Pet Photo Contest. For every entry I’m donating a dollar to animal rescue. But hurry, because the contest ends March 31st!

If you have animals, then you know life is never dull where they’re concerned, and sometimes it’s downright scary. Eve put me through it several weeks ago when she developed an abscess on her cheek. Yes, that’s about as icky as it sounds.

Of course I felt all guilty, thinking I’d allowed her to get into something that caused the abscess. This is the cat who goes outside on a leash because if I let her run loose, the roaming coyotes will eat her. Yes, they parade right through the front yard in broad daylight. And they’re beautiful – wild and sleek and ready to gobble up any cats and small dogs left to their own devices.

So out I go every morning with Eve sporting her red harness and leash, and it’s true that I let her roll in the dirt. I mean, c’mon. Cats love that, and she’s such a good sport about the harness and leash that I can’t deny her a little dirt bath. However, I think that might have been where she rubbed something into her cheek that caused the abscess. Or not. Abscesses are mysterious things and could be caused by lots of things that are Not My Fault. I hope. I’m a kitty mom and guilt seems to go with the territory.

Dealing with the abscess was not fun. She had to have a drain tube installed. Has anybody else had that particular pleasure? And then came the funnel-shaped collar. I tried to convince Eve she looked like Queen Elizabeth wearing a starched ruff, but she wasn’t buying it. Hated the collar.

I’m happy to report she’s fine now. The drain’s gone, the collar’s gone, and her fur is growing back. She’s primping a lot because I told her she has a prominent role in my next book called OVERHEXED. It comes out in October just in time for Halloween, and yep, it’s a paranormal. The black cat in the book is called Sabrina instead of Eve. I thought that might save Eve from being mobbed by the paparazzi. But it’s her, right down to her whiskers.

She gives me lots of material, but maybe you have some cat stories you’d like to share. Or dog stories. I’m adding an Irish Wolfhound to the second book in the series. So let’s talk!

Cruisin' Down the River with Sandra

OK, we didn't cruise down the river. We cruised down the Caribbean. In February, my husband and I took our son, daughter-in-law and our two little grandchildren on a cruise from New York harbor to several wonderful islands in the Caribbean.

How exciting it was to sail by the Statue of Liberty! I've been to the Statue, even climbed all the way to her crown in the days when that was possible, but seeing her from the deck of a huge ship as we sailed out to sea was amazing.

And our trip was wonderful! We all had a great time, sightseeing, relaxing, playing, eating (and eating and eating and eating...)

I've posted a couple of videos at my website. Some photos, too, there and at my blog. I'll be adding more photos and videos but I though it would be fun to share some here right now, with you.

MOTHER'S DAY

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Primroses and violets were the traditional gift, along with a simnel cake, from girls in "service" who were allowed home to visit their mother's on the fourth Sunday in Lent -- known as Mothering Sunday; the day in the UK that we still celebrate as Mother's Day.
These primroses are flowering now in my garden and I'm posting them here with my love.

Have a lovely day!

Liz

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!

I'm traveling

I'll confess, I long for the day my dh and I can travel. Well, we do take annual trips to Disney World for the kids, and he maintains that walking through the countries in Epcot counts, but I disagree. I want to really go see the world. And in a few years, when our youngest heads off to college, that's just what we're going to do. But for now, I have two ways of exploring the world, Epcot, and with the fact my books go overseas. In April, last summer's Here With Me, will be released in Italy. I can imagine a reader, sitting in a cafe, with a glass of red wine and some chees, reading about...Erie, PA.

Yes, that's the other part I love about my books going overseas...the idea that I'm introducing Erie (well, at least most of my books are set in Erie) to other countries. I love my city...I'm pretty sure most readers have realized that already! LOL We've got Lake Erie on our doorstep, and the beautiful Presque Isle peninsula, jetting out into it, giving us a bay on one side for recreation, and wonderful beaches (with great sunsets...perfect for reading your favorite book) on the other. We have historic landmarks (I've dined at the Waterford Hotel...just like George Washington), and toured a house used in the underground railroad. I feel very fortunate I can introduce readers all over the world to my hometown.

What about you? What makes your hometown special? Something you'd like to share with readers?

Holly

www.HollyJacobs.com

Jane Porter's new home on the WWW!

Just wanted to draw your attention to a brand new fun place to visit on the web! Bestselling Harlequin and Warner 5 Spot author, Jane Porter has just recently launched a bulletin board on her website and would love to have you drop by to say hello when you have time. http://www.janeporter.com/board

Jane's got a special contest running to celebrate the launch and she'll be picking a winner every day until the 18th of March! Lots of cool goodies to win!

I know many of you are her friends so if you haven't already had a chance to check it out, please stop by Jane's website and say hello!

Lee

When things go Good -- and Bad

Happy 1st week of Daylight Savings everyone!

Not sure how you feel about the early changeover, but I’m ambivalent. I like it and I hate it. I like having all those extra hours of sunlight, but I just hate getting up in the dark. It takes me weeks to get my body clock adjusted.

I’m sort of in the same boat with my newest Night Guardian series release from Silhouette Romantic Suspense…

SHADOW SURRENDER by Linda Conrad
March 2007
ISBN 978-0-373-27527-4

The Night Guardians are a Navajo Brotherhood. They keep watch in the night against the evil Skinwalkers!

In SHADOW SURRENDER, he’d dreamed about her…
Navajo medicine man Lucas Tso had a special gift—psychic powers, coupled with vivid dreams about a mysterious woman. But when he came face-to-face with her, he wasn’t prepared for the feelings that stirred within him. FBI agent Teal Benaly was investigating a murder on the reservation, and Lucas wanted to protect her from the evil shapeshifters that had declared war on the Navajo people. Dark forces tempted him to their side, and he’d need Teal’s help—and her love—to keep him alive.

You can read an excerpt here: http://www.lindaconrad.com/bookshelf/shadowsurrender.html
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Now on the one hand, I love this book. The hero, Lucas Tso, is my first real Beta hero and I matched him up with a strong but vulnerable FBI agent heroine. And this story is the most paranormal of all the Night Guardians to date. That makes the book unique for me and I feel protective about it. I even wrote in my first childhood pet, a black cat named Snow. And…I don’t absolutely hate the cover this time. Okay, it really doesn’t say it all and it’s a funny shade of gray, but it’s not the worst I’ve had.

On the other hand, there’s the bad (you knew it was coming, right?) Somehow two printers’ errors found their way into the book. Not just little errors, mind you. But in two chapters the last few lines have been totally left out! How embarrassing!

You can read the missing lines on my website: http://www.lindaconrad.com/bookshelf/shadowsurrender.html#missing

I suppose I will learn to live with the printers errors. Just like I’ll soon adjust to Daylight Savings Time. Maybe Shadow Surrender will even turn out to be special all because of the errors. Who knows, years from now your copy may be worth thousands! (Don’t we wish)

Meanwhile, I’ve got a brand new graphics on my website and a brand new crossword puzzle for those of you who love them. I’m also running a contest for a chance to win autographed copies of the first five books in the Night Guardian series, along with a Barnes and Noble gift certificate in order to buy more books! Check it out here: http://www.lindaconrad.com/

GREAT BOOK!

Hi, I'm Liz Fielding and for those of you who don't know me, I write Harlequin Romance. But I'm not here to talk about my books, I’m here to ask if you’ve all read Anne McAllister’s THE SANTORINI BRIDE.

I’ve just signed off on The Sheikh’s Unsuitable Bride, which was the toughest book I’ve written in a long time (it was just hard work, who knows why?) and as a treat, and to make the pain to away, I settled down with Anne’s book.

It was just perfect.

Martha and Theo are two incredibly stubborn characters. They’re independent. Strong-willed. She’s gorgeous in a domestic goddess kind of way. He’s trying to escape the fall-out from being named “the world’s sexiest sailor”. She won’t settle for less than love. He doesn’t believe in it. Oh, and there’s Ted, a scene-stealing French bulldog!

Gorgeous characters, fabulous story, wonderful book. But then it was written by Anne McAllister. I can’t wait for Spence and Sadie’s story...

What else? Oh, yes. I’ve got a competition on my webpage, so if you want the chance to win a copy of The Secret Life of Lady Gabriella (and I’m throwing in her duster as an extra!) a full month before you can buy it retail, check it out here

Hello from Helen Bianchin

Here it is February already, and although a little late, I'd like to wish everyone a wonderful year ahead. Good health, happiness and success.

I'm currently tussling with a Spaniard who came to life in November, only to take a sabbatical until mid-February while I share-cared my daughter-in-law, Melissa, and their 9 month-old babe, Calvin, following Mel's spinal surgery. Mel is lovely and the babe the light of my life, so it was a pleasure to be with them. Life happens, and family has first priority.

The Spaniard? Marcello Martinez resides in Madrid, and is about to discover his estranged wife, Shannay, gave birth to a daughter seven months after she fled the marriage and returned to Perth, Australia. Naturally, he's going to file for joint custody and create havoc in Shannay's life. Initially applying to take his daughter for a month's visit to Madrid to meet her paternal grandmother and various relatives. Something which Shannay fights against, fails to prevent due to legal pressure, and chooses not to let her daughter out of her sight. The sparks really begin to fly when Marcello conspires to have his family believe a reconciliation has taken place ...

The story has a May submission deadline.

Meantime The Marriage Possession is a Presents release in April 2007, followed by The Greek Tycoon's Virgin Wife in October 2007.

Helen

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

A fine soft day

It's raining. That shouldn't surprise me, after all, in England February is traditionally known as 'February Fill-Dyke' meaning that it usually brings enough rain to fill all the dykes and ditches to bursting point. So I should expect to wake up and hear the rain spattering the window panes.

It was like this last week. I was in Ireland then. And over in Ireland they would call a wet day like this 'a fine, soft day.' That being so, we had almost a week of fine soft days - with a couple of lovely sunny ones thrown in too. I've just come back from a week spent touring the country where my mother and father were born, along with my husband and another Presents author Anne McAllister. Anne was there to do research - specific research. She wants to set a book in Ireland with an Irish hero and she was looking for the old house he would live in, the gardens that would surround it, the nearby towns he would have visited. And I was doing much the same - researching. But not in quite that specific way.

I absorbed the details of the countryside, the yellow-green fields, the sheep and the new born lambs. I noted the tiny single storey houses lining the village streets, the wonderful colours that some of them are painted - deep red, blue, yellow, green . . . And I walked round the same house, the same garden as Anne -and one day I will use many of those details in a book myself. But not at all in the same way that she will.

This time, as I walked around Ireland, I was working very hard in a way you couldn't see. I was thinking and planning and holding imaginary conversations with the new hero of my latest book - a Spanish aristocrat called Raul Marcín - and finding out more about him. There's something very stimulating about being away from the desk, away from the written page and just wandering about in a world that is so very different from the one I want to write about. It's as if the contrast between what I see and what I'm imagining works on my mind and stirs it to create. Anne went home knowing a lot more about her Irish hero and ready to write about him - and I came back with my head full of ideas of Raul and his story. A story that was thousands of miles away from the fine 'soft' days in Ireland.

That's the great thing about being a writer - if you don't like the world, the weather, the scenery outside your window, you can change it. And so I don't mind at all the fact that it's raining yet again - I can spend the day in the warm sunshine of Spain and live that experience instead of the grey dull one in reality.

But there are other reasons why being a writer can bring sunshine into your life. For me, usually Februrary is one of the greyest months of the year. Dark and gloomy and too far away from Christmas, with Spring still too deeply buried to be even hinting at appearing. But this month has been wonderful for me - not just because of the trip to Ireland but because when I came home it was to discover that my February book The Italian's Forced Bride had spent three weeks on the Waldenbooks' Top Ten listing - one of them at #1 - and now it's marked with a big red 'Sold Out' sign on eHarlequin.com. That's something to bring plenty of sunshine into my life. Thank you to all the readers who bought it - I hope the story brought the sunshine of enjoyment into your world.

And then there's the new book coming up - Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride is already on the best seller lists on Amazon.co.uk and it isn't even published yet.

So the skies may be grey and gloomy. The rain may be heavy and soaking, but inside I'm thinking of that Irish saying - it's a 'fine soft day' and there's the promise of more sunshine to come.

So I'm wishing happiness for all of you - what brings the sunshine into your life and drives all those dark clouds and greyness out of your life? Share some of your 'day-brighteners' with me and we'll chase the glooms away.

And if you'd like to read more about my trip to Ireland and see some of the photos I'm sharing, then visit my blog for more detailed reports.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

I hope it’s a lovely day that you get to share with someone special! My youngest has a basketball game tonight (weather permitting), so no romantic dinner here, but we went out last week for an early celebration.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a new Holly Jacobs’ romance....

LAUGH LINESby Holly Jacobs

ISBN 0-8034-9814-4

Avalon Books, 2/07

Welcome back to Erie, PA! In LAUGH LINES, the disc jockeys from WLVH radio station are MCing at a local comedy club, Chuckles. And they prove that WLVH, where love is more than just a song, still has the magic touch...it follows them into the club and...Dani Sinclair has moved home to Erie to be closer to her family and to tackle a new job as CEO at a Hamlin Texts. That first day, while trying to escape a killer-bug (running from a plain bug sounds stupid, but if you say killer-bug it makes sense) she literally bumps into Luke Miller, the owner of Chuckles, a comedy club. At Chuckles, Dani finds she’s got a talent for stand-up...and she’s standing a lot, except when she falls for Luke! Unfortunately their road to love is peppered with a few rotten tomatoes and prat falls, but like all true comics (and romantics) they keep trying until they get it right!

You can read an EXCERPT here.

This is an Avalon release, and the publisher’s main market is libraries. The books are hardback, library bound, so they’re pricey. If you ask your library to order it, you’re helping me out, Avalon out...and you get to read it! Win-win-win! LOL (Well, I hope you getting to read it is a win !)

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Also, last summer’s HERE WITH ME, was reprinted in a hardback, large print version. Again, very pricey, so if you’re calling your library to request Laugh Lines, maybe you could request this one as well? Here’s the info:HERE WITH METhorndike (Hardback/large print reprint), 1/17/07 ISBN:0786292253 ************************************************************************

CONTESTThere’s still time to enter the new contest. I’m giving away a copy of last year’s NIGHT CALLS, an Avalon release. It had an Old English Mastiff in it, based on ours, who passed away last January.

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UPCOMING RELEASES:Once Upon a Princess is going to be available in the US and Canada in a Spanish translation...El Juego De La Princesa: (The Princess Game) Harlequin Jazmin (Spanish), 6/07

And my first Harlequin Everlasting is just around the bend in October. This one is so very special...find out why on my website.The House on Briar Hill RoadHarlequin Everlasting Love, 10/07ISBN #978-0-373-65419-2

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Wow, after a very mild December, winter found Erie, PA in January...and keeps right on finding us. We’ve got snow and it’s freezing cold! I’m so looking forward to spring. But for now, I’ve got a fire going, I’m sitting on my couch, with Ethel Merrman, our new dog, and working...life’s not so bad, despite the snow!As always, thanks for your continued support. You all helped make December’s Dashing Through the Mall, a great seller! I so appreciate it!(PS for everyone in Erie, check out today’s paper! If you’re not in Erie...there’s an article about me on the front page! You can check it out at newpaper if you’d like!)

Happy Valentine’s!

Holly

Workshop News from Sandra Marton

Here's some exciting news!

Tessa Shapcott, Executive Editor of Harlequin Presents; Kim Young, Senior Editor of Romance; and I will be giving a workshop at Romance Writers of America's annual conference in Dallas, Texas, July 11 through July 15.

RWA's annual conference is the place to meet agents, editors and writers. It's always exciting, always fun, always energizing... and if you love to read Presents and hope someday to write for it, you won't want to miss this workshop.

Tessa, Kim and I will talk about writing and selling to Harlquin Presents, the world's best-selling line of series romance. Come prepared to get some great hints... and to ask whatever questions you wish.

I'll post time and day details as soon as they're available, here as well as on my blog, Sandra Marton... On Writing Romance, and on my website, Sandra Marton .

We're looking forward to seeing you in Dallas!

Sandra
P.S. Be sure and visit my website. I've posted lots of new pictures!

Happy Valentine's Day! Annie West

Here in Australia we're a day ahead of almost everyone else, so I think it's appropriate for me to wish you all a very happy Valentine's Day. It'll be the 14th of February when I wake up. I wonder what Valentine's Day will have in store for me this year?

Valentine's Day came early here when, along with other Harlequin authors Downunder, I was invited to the annual Harlequin Australia Ball. Now, if there's an incentive for a would-be author, that's a good one. The night was fantastic. There was a lovely crowd including a bunch of garrulous authors who were clearly excited to escape from their computers and chat to colleagues. There were men in dinner jackets and bow ties (and sundry other items of clothing), there were women in satins and glitter, there was gourmet food and fine wine, snowy white linen tablecloths, each sprinkled with red rose petals and huge candelabra.

There was music and dancing (including a particularly vigorous rendition of 'It's Raining Men'!) and above all there was the fantastic setting. We took over part of the normally austere and venerable Australian Museum and spent the night discussing romance under a lofty ceiling from which was suspended the giant skeleton of a sperm whale!

They say a picture is a worth a thousand words, so if you check out the smiles on the faces of the authors who attended, you'll know we had a fantastic ball. See http://www.annie-west.com/latest.html for some of the Presents, Historical, Desire and Medical authors who attended.

The holiday theme has continued for me with the arrival today of a package of books (what could be nicer?). THE SHEIKH'S RANSOMED BRIDE won't be out till April in the UK and July in North America, but that didn't stop me celebrating its arrival.

And in honor of Valentine's Day, don't forget the contest for readers being run from my website. It's a chance to win one of 8 books by a swag of new Harlequin authors. The good news is that it's easy to enter and that it doesn't close until the end of the month. (Details at http://www.annie-west.com).

Whatever you're doing, whatever you're celebrating, and whoever you're with, I hope 14th February contains romance and some darned good reading!

Annie