Join us for a visit with some of our favorite authors whose books we love to read and share with everyone. You'll get to hear from authors who've become friends over the years, authors we're just discovering, and lots of prizes and books to win!
What a wonderful month is May. The countryside here on the Yorkshire moors
is in its finest survival mode, by which I mean that no sooner have the Spring
shoots shown their heads in a burst of sunshine, than icy winds come blasting
down from the Arctic to knock them off!
Thank goodness the Bluebells survive...
Aren’t they beautiful? You can just see my
faithful companion, Betty, in the background of this shot.
May is an exciting book month for me too, with my new red-hot polo series, Blood and
Thunder focusing on ruthless billionaires and the type of stand-up heroines
they need.
One reader commented aptly, “Cinch up your saddles, these books are HOT!”
Yep. I think that more or less sums it up.
I would just add: with the addition of romance, ROMANCE, ROMANCE!!!
For Harlequin, I have 2 book releases. The
Sicilian’s Defiant Virgin available right now, and The Secret Kept from the
Greek, which is a July release.
Later in May, I have the wedding of my
youngest child in Italy. I can’t wait to share it with you in June, but for
now, here is my current favourite naughtiness, AKA The Dress and Shoes. I don’t
know about you, but weddings are all excuse I need to go shoe shopping. Come to
think about it, I don’t need an excuse to go shoe shopping! I hope you approve my
choice. I just love them- and the dress, of course.
Wishing all of you the most wonderful month
of May filled with love, friendship and romance.
On the 16th of May, June, and July, look for interviews with the authors of each book in this fun trilogy about tycoons who go undercover to win a bet and lose their hearts along the way...
How does your hero go under
cover?
Antonio
Di Marcello returns to his home city, Milan and is told by Sebastien, the
organiser of this particular challenge, that he is to become Toni Adessi, a
motor mechanic for the duration of the two week challenge.
What
does he think when he finds out exactly what the bet entails? (Share a couple
of lines if you like)
During
his first morning working as Toni, Antonio discovers that Sadie Parker, the
woman he’d enjoyed a passionate weekend affair with four years ago, also works
there. He is convinced that mending bridges with his estranged parents and
seeing the one woman he could have loved if circumstances had been different is
his challenge. But then he has a shock. Sadie has a son.
Guilt raced through him. He didn’t need a
paternity test to confirm this was his child. Just one look into the little
boy’s eyes told him all he needed to know. Leo was most definitely a Di
Marcello.
Who is
your heroine? What does she think of Antonio when she first meets him?
When
Sadie first meets the new mechanic Toni Adessi, she is shocked that his
dishevelled and bearded appearance reminds her of her son’s father, a man she
hasn’t seen since he ended their brief affair so callously. She wonders if this
is the reason she is drawn to him despite her resolve not to date.
What
situations or challenges does Antonio face that risk exposing him?
When
Antonio meets his son, he knows the real challenge is to be the one thing he’d
never wanted to be – a father. He has to continue with the challenge until the
two weeks are up, having found out about and met his son and heir when all he
wants to do is take him back to his home in Rome and make up for the three
years he has missed out on.
What
does Sadie think when she realizes who he really is?
Sadie’s worst nightmare
comes true when Antonio Di Marcello arrives at her apartment. She knows
instinctively he wants his son and is convinced that Toni has been his spy,
hardly able to comprehend he is the same man.
Share a
few lines of her reaction?
‘We didn’t have anything to say four years ago,
Antonio, and we certainly don’t now.’ She didn’t move—couldn’t move. The
hallway suddenly seemed dark and narrow as he moved towards her, into her home,
into her new life. The one she’d built without him for herself and Leo—his son.
Di Marcello's Secret Son is on shelves now or you can buy it at your favourite online retailer.
Rachael Thomas lives in West Wales, where she and her husband run a farm.
Writing romance has
been a long held dream and she can’t believe how lucky she is to be able to
escape into the glamorous world of her heroes and heroines as part of her job.
When she isn’t writing or working on the farm she enjoys photography and
visiting historic castles and grand houses. Visit her at www.rachaelthomas.co.uk
The late Phyllis Whitney famously never went on vacation but
always went on book-hunting expeditions. It is simply a matter of tailoring
where you go to coincide with what you want to write. Sometimes this is easier
than others as I do have to take other members of the party into account.
Thus it was last weekend when my daughter and I departed for
an expedition up to the wilds of the Scottish highlands. Because Vikings were
not really up there in that area, I could not research them. I could however
look at the Victorians, how they had changed things and what was going on.
We stayed at the Grant Arms Hotel in Grantown-on-Spey. Queen
Victoria and Prince Albert famously stayed the night here (incognito) back in
1860. Victoria wrote about in her journal. There is an exhibition about her
stay in the vestibule outside the dining room. The Queen and Prince Philip also
have stayed (1961) but far more openly. The hotel is a great base for exploring
the area and boasts a wildlife club. If you happen to be in the area, you could
do far worse as the rooms are comfortable, the food plentiful and tasty and the
welcome warm.
Carriages at Balmoral
One of the days we traveled to Balmoral which is open April
– September of each year. It remains very much a private residence for the
royal family. However, the public can go into the ballroom (far smaller than I
had thought it would be) and wander around the grounds. One of the big
highlights for me (besides seeing the three tea sets the Queen uses to take tea
– the gold and white is used for the morning and she alternates between the
plaid rimmed and the strawberry one for afternoon tea) was the carriages. There
was a splendid sleigh as well as a dogcart and a governess cart. I later learnt
that Prince Philip used the Balmoral dogcart in his carriage racing and
regularly smashed it up. He was the man to invent disc brakes for carriages. It
rather begs the question as to what they were using before that!
The Balmoral Dogcart
I was also able to peer into the Garden cottage where the
bedrooms are done up how they would have been during Queen Victoria’s time. The
grounds were good but it was very clear that they managed so that they come
into their splendour when the Queen is in residence during August.
Flowers in the greenhouse at Balmoral
The tea rooms are good. The Palace has just released a book
of recipes, including the Queen’s dropped scone recipe that she gave President
Eisenhower called Royal Teas. In the book, they mention that most of the
recipes are about a 100 years old and that many were preserved by one of the
housemaids writing things down.
Another focus of the trip became whisky tasting. Although
whisky has been around for a long time, it did not become a legal drink until
1823. The first license to produce whisky is not granted until 1824 and that
was to George Smith who produced the Glenlivet. Some distilleries claim to be
older than that but they were operating beyond the law and whisky was not
really drunk outside of Scotland.
In 1822, George IV travels to Edinburgh at Sir Walter Scott’s
behest and tries the drink (as it happens it was George Smith’s whisky). He likes it and of course the king cannot
drink something which is illegal so Parliament legalises it in 1823. This is
also the visit which sees the tartan becoming popular after Sir Walter Scott
organises a grand ball and all the men have to go kilted. George’s bill for his
tartan (the Royal Stuart) was over £110,000 in today’s money! The man who won
the catering contract for the ball was one Ebenezer Scroggie whom a certain
Charles Dickens apparently used as inspiration for a character…. But it is this
visit that sets the Scotland craze going.
Most of the whisky you drink today tastes nothing like the
whisky that would have been drunk pre end of Prohibition in the US. After the
Prohibition ends, the whisky distillers begin to use American bourbon casks to
mature their product but before that they used sherry casks, in particular
oloroso casks. Some distilleries such as Glenlivet and Aberlour have started
make whiskies which go back to the original which are only matured in sherry
casks, Glenlivet Nadurra and Aberlour A’Bundah. During the Glenlivet tour we
tasted some whisky straight from a cask which tastes different again – far rougher.
I also learnt about flour flash fires and how they had to be very careful in
the warehouses because whisky can go up in flames very easily.
There was plenty to digest from my book hunting expedition
and I do foresee writing a Scottish Victorian in the near future (or possibly
set slightly before Victoria). And I remain firmly of the opinion that book
hunting expeditions are the only way to travel.
Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical
romances for Harlequin Historical. Her latest Sold to the Viking Warrior is set
on Islay was a result of another book hunting expedition. To learn more about
Michelle and her books visit www.michellestyles.co.uk
I’m a keen member of the local branch of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. The Marcher Chapter takes its name from the border country of the Welsh Marches, where England meets Wales. We have meetings every six weeks or so between March and November at The Courtyard, Hereford’s centre for the arts. Our members are scattered far and wide over the West Midlands and East Wales, and Hereford is easily reached by train and road. The possibility of rail delays and the state of the roads puts us off travelling in the short, cold and dark days of winter. That’s when we stay at home and write.
Each Spring and Autumn, the Marcher Group holds writing workshops. Members taking part submit a piece of their work to our Chairman-Co-ordinator, Ann. She makes sure the writer’s name doesn’t appear, then allocates a number to each piece and distributes them via email to the rest of the workshop participants. We then read and critique all the pieces, ready to spend the day of the workshop discussing each of the entries in turn. You can see RNA authors Fay Wentworth, Georgia Hill, Christina Courtenay, Joanna Maitland and Ann Ankers hard at work in the picture above.
The Marcher Group has been running biannual workshops for several years now. It really helps to have several other sets of eyes concentrating on a piece you’ve toiled over until you’re too close to appreciate its worth-or see its flaws!
I feel my writing has improved a lot since I’ve been attending these sessions. The chance to network, and learn how to accept criticism as well as how to frame it tactfully are invaluable, too. I live deep in the countryside and can go for days without seeing anyone outside my immediate family, so the chance to escape from behind the keyboard once in a while is something I always enjoy. Face-to-face interaction with professionals who have read my work has improved my confidence and speaking skills, too.
I submitted the opening pages of the book which became His Majesty's Secret Passion for The Wild Rose Pressto one of the Marcher Group workshops. You can find out more about the book a workshop panel inspired at myBook.to/HisMajestysSecret.
Nearly all the works put through the scheme by other authors have been published. It's Beta reading to the max!
On the strength of the Marcher Groups comments on a piece of mine submitted to a more recent workshop, I worked the sample pages up into a full-length novel. Love Lies Bleeding will be published by Endeavour books later this year, and the encouragement I’ve had from the Marcher Group was invaluable.
To me, that really proves the worth of workshops.
When she isn't cooking, gardening or beekeeping, Christina Hollis writes contemporary fiction starring complex men and independent women. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and she’s sold nearly three million books worldwide. Catch up with her at http://www.christinahollis.blogspot.com, on Twitter, Facebook, and see a full list of her published books at christinahollis.com
Her current release, Heart Of A Hostage, is published by The Wild Rose Press and available at myBook.to/HeartOfAHostage worldwide.
I am a mother and I am the mother of three daughters (and one son!!). And I'll confess, I love writing mother-daughter relationships in books (I love writing sons too...I don't want him to feel bad). I love exploring their relationships and how the relationship impacts a heroine's romantic relationship.
One of the most Odd Couple combo's I've written was in Confessions of a Party Crasher. The mother and daughter loved each other, but frequently didn't understand each other. Annabelle is larger than life and lives her life out loud. My heroine, Morgan wants nothing more than a 'normal' life. She's got plans and goals. They love each other, but look at life from different perspectives.
As Morgan comes home, her mother offers her some good advice...
I loved writing this mother-daughter pair. They've always loved each other, but they begin to develop a better understanding of each other.
I sometimes feel like my daughters' Annabelle, but thankfully they still hang out with me on purpose! We just got back from a weekend in NYC a bit back. We saw Hamilton and my pick this year for the Tony's...Dear Evan Hansen. Have you seen it??
Yes, you're welcome! Ben Platt was amazing! The entire cast was! Speaking of amazing, that whole weekend was just that. There's something so amazing when you're sitting at brunch with your daughters and realize you've raised your own best friends!
Okay, back to Mother's Day...when you're done shopping for your mom (or if you're the mom in question), maybe you deserve a treat for yourself?? Check out Confessions of a Party Crasher!
"...a funny tale of falling in love when you least expect it, best friends, and off-beat mothers..." WWR Happy Mother's Day to all your Moms and to your Moms!
Holly
So I had one thing to do today – to write a post for the
Tote Bags blog and post it . . .
And then the rest of the day was clear – to write my latest
book. Great! Just what I needed. And
just what the book needed – it has been rather neglected of late because I was
away celebrating my birthday with a
wonderful group of friends in a cottage in Derbyshire.
So - I get up, make
coffee – let the cats in . . . Ruby the black and white cat runs in happily,
looking for food.
Oh – oh – Charlie the Maine Coon obviously has a problem. He comes in slowly and awkwardly, hobbling
and limping on his back leg. So today I
have to
Phone the vet
Take Charlie to the vet
Get his medication
Get his medication into him ( this requires two people, a
large towel, several treats and a nasty set of scratches to my hands)
I now need Elastoplast – no Elastoplast
A trip to the chemist to get Elastoplast . . . right, now I
can write the post for Tote Bags . . .
Switch on the computer. Plan to check
emails first . . .
The computer is not happy – error message – blue screen. The password for this account is
incorrect. No it isn’t! It is incorrect says the computer. Again and again and again . . .
Send for computer repair guy who luckily can come at short
notice. Wait while he sorts out computer/password/email mess-up. . .
Husband needs feeding. I need something for the headache that is now
pounding at my head.
We don’t have something for a headache. I need to go to the
chemist for something for the headache.
While I am out the parcel I was waiting in for (supposedly while writing
my post for Tote Bags) has ‘attempted to
deliver’ - and taken back to the depot
as I was not in. I need this package today . Make a journey to the depot to collect
it. Come home to find another parcel
(from a different depot) has not been
delivered because it does not have
eno
ugh postage on it. I need this one too
. . .go to another depot and pay postage only to find it’s not the package I was expecting after all.
Return home. Charlie needs a second dose of medicine.
Another towel, more treats, more scratches.
Now I can write a post for Tote Bags. Sit down at the
computer to find that all memory of the post I was going to write has
disappeared from my brain and the headache tablets aren’t helping.
This time last week I was in this lovely cottage in the
countryside,
surrounded by bluebell woods, celebrating with those special
friends – I really wish I was back
there!
So, just to brighten my day with memories – I thought I’d share with you some photos of
last weekend and the really very special
cake that my friends made for me. I’m
going to cut myself a large slice of that cake, make a mug of tea and post this.
Not what I planned to write but at least I’ll have ticked off on thing
from my
To Do List’ – the one that didn’t include take the cat to the vets,
give the cat his medication, get the
computer repair man in, make several trips to different delivery depots . . .
And then I’ll hope to have some time to get back to work on
the latest book.
Have a great weekend –
I hope yours is as good as last week was for me.
I have always struggled with my weight.
Even as a kid, when I was active as anything, and as a teenager when I played
sports, I was really quite healthy and in good shape. But I was still “bigger”
than a lot of my classmates. Taller, and I really am big boned, so in first
year university, when I was quite “small” for me, I was still 5’8”, 155 lbs,
and wearing a size 12-14.
Over the years I’ve gone up and down. Up to
175 when I got married. Up to just over 200 when I had my first child. Down to
183 and in a size 12 when my second child was a toddler. Back up to over 200 in
2009. Dropped to 190 in 2011 and stayed there for a while. And then I crept up
again, and again, and right now I’m probably the heaviest I’ve ever been.
It’s tough. It’s a constant dialogue in my
head. And it’s not even so much the number on the scale, but how I feel about
myself. Each time I lost the weight, it was because I started eating better and
diligently exercising. I like sports. I like competition, even with myself. I
like feeling strong and capable. I KNOW that the benefits are amazeballs. I
stood taller – physically and mentally.
And yet here I am. And the dialogue in my
head doesn’t say I’m fat. It says that I need to make exercise a priority and I
don’t so therefore I must suck. I’m lazy. I’m unmotivated.
I know how I got here. It’s a blend of
work, stress, exhaustion…not physical exhaustion, but mental and emotional
which I think can be even worse. And at the end of the day it’s hard to get up
the energy to hit the gym. I could work out in the morning, but the morning’s
also my sharpest time mentally, and most productive, and I can’t afford to lose
any of those hours. Some people would call these excuses. For me, it’s just
trying to make it through. The last few years have been really rough, including
a pretty significant period of time where I was depressed on top of the regular
anxiety. Exercise probably would have helped a lot. And would have, if I’d been
able to get out of bed.
And at some point, and I think other
overweight people can relate to this, I got to a place where losing weight and
getting in shape were just overwhelming ideas. We’re not talking ten pounds and
improving our cardio function. We’re talking fifty pounds and OMG why does
everything have to jiggle in waves when I exercise. It just feels so BIG of an undertaking when
we’re already treading water.
The thing is, and this is hard to admit,
but there are times when I don’t go to functions or events because I’m so
self-conscious about how I look. About how I’m perceived. And I miss out on
things.
I need to stop that.
I’m making a significant addition to my
career plan in 2017, and to do so I need to stop hiding. I need to be more
comfortable in my own skin. And I do need to take care of myself better (and my
weekly yoga classes aren’t enough, clearly). I have to own the body I’m in, and
appreciate it. After all, if the last few years have been tough, my body’s
bearing the scars and it’s still tickin’. J
Self-acceptance – whether it’s weight, age,
flaws—it’s important. My heroine in Someone To Love, which was out in March,
has that nailed. Self-acceptance and forgiveness is what got her through some
pretty tough times. And I’m getting better at it, but I still have a long way
to go.
One of the toughest events for me each year
is RWA Nationals, because I almost always look at the pictures and feel like
they don’t represent the real me. This year, I’m aiming to go and smile in
every damn one and just own it… scars, rolls, and all. I might even share the
pictures.
