News Flash!

Yes, I finally got THE CALL!!! Read all about it on the Minxes blog :-)

Also I now have a brand new website and a new author page on Facebook - Please visit the website for news in future as I've decided to use the Facebook and Twitter feeds on my website in place of a blog.

And if you're feeling friendly pop by and say Hi and click 'like' so I don't feel too lonely!

Book Heaven

 Yesterday I went to the Book Barn - a wonderful discovery not too far away, crammed full of hundreds of thousands books from every category you can think of. 

There are hundreds of vintage Mills and Boons and romance novels there. I picked up a lovely first edition of an old Barbara Cartland, thought the cover was fantastic (see below)

Best of all each book costs only a pound. My husband had to lure me away by laying a trail of books to the exit with promises we could return ;-)

It seemed a fitting treat given I have now finished The Art of Seduction (you can see the storyboard I made on Pinterest for it here) and it has been sent off to the Editor to keep my Chalet Girl story company :-) 

It feels great to have two submissions in and a new story already on the go. Although i'm not enjoying having joined the ranks of the inbox watchers! 

Easter Giveaway

Check out Aimee Duffy's blog for the chance to win lots of lovely prizes, plus get to read excerpts of some pretty hot books, Blaze included :-)

Can't Wait

To bring my dog Poppy home from the specialist hospital where she's been all week. Thankfully the surgery to remove a tumour from her adrenal glands was successful but it was risky and I've spent the week either strung out or making the two hour round trip to the hospital.
So the word count has been low but with only 5K to go to finish The Art of Seduction I'm hoping to get the ms polished and subbed by the end of March :-)

Shock News from the British Press

Okay, so recently we had a favourable article which said romance novelists were nice (who knew? ;-)
http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/richard-and-judy/381301/Love-is-all-around-at-the-Romantic-Novelist-Of-The-Year-Awards
And now there's another article in The Express (http://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/383201/Why-a-hint-of-sex-is-tempting-more-to-read-Mills-Swoon) which says romance novelists may even have a role to play in our society. Okay, so it's the belated realisation that there are sexy reads to be had that has nudged the latest conclusion but frankly who cares? It's been so long since I read a favourable article about romance novelists in a British newspaper I am definitely in shock!

Taking Romance to the Developing World

Interesting news in the Romance Publishing world - Harlequin UK has partnered with biNu, the social enterprise with a mission to stimulate reading in growth markets, to make its e-books available for mobile phone users in India and Africa.

biNu is optimised for fphones widely used in Asian, African and South American territories, and it has over five million users. They could access nearly 9,000 Harlequin titles through a Mills & Boon branded shop.
Tim Cooper, commercial director for Harlequin UK, says "We've already established our Mills & Boon imprint in India, but it is out aim to make our content available to women across the world. Working with biNu has created a real opportunity for us to reach women in developing markets, and as these countries come online with tablet technology, we will be at the heart of their reading experience."

It's not brain science, well actually it is...

Today I'm blogging about Writing Right (using the right side of the brain) over on the Minxes of Romance blog - all about the advantages of writing with my brain injury (yes, you read that right - advantages :-)

Valentine Freebie

Not got your paws on Blaze yet?

As a special Valentine's gift to you it will be available to download for FREE from 14th-16th February.

Already got it? Pass it on to someone whose day you'd like to brighten with a hot fireman :-)

Amazon.co.uk link

Amazon.com link

ENJOY!

New hero inspiration :-)

Dr Jago Cooper

Move over MAWs! Give me hero inspiration with a brain, not to mention brawn too - my new inspiration has come from Dr Jago Cooper (an archaeologist with the British museum) pictured scaling sheer cliffs and hacking through Amazonian jungle in search of lost civilisations in South America.

It's not normally the kind of programme I watch but I often go in search of distraction on BBC i player in the mornings while my meds kick in and Dr Jago ably provided the necessary ;-)

I feel an archaeological hero coming on for my next story. Of course it might entail a lot of research, I think I can handle that bit!
For anyone in the UK here's the link so you can see him in action: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p013f3yp

Happy Christmas (and some entertainment!)

I hope you all have a very lovely Christmas and everything you're hoping for in the new year.

As a little Christmas entertainment I've added a funny video with an unexpected ending (I promise no dogs were harmed in the making of this video!)

FREE GIFT

Blaze is going to be FREE to download this weekend, so if you haven't snapped it up yet this is your chance.
Pass the message on, we like to be generous with our firemen, we're quite happy to share ;-)
So if you fancy some free holiday reading head over to Amazon and Amazon UK and enjoy x

Exciting news

Today feels like Christmas morning. Seeing my name on the Minx anthology cover has me all hyped up and trying to resist the urge to tell random strangers to look at my book cover on Amazon!

I'm not sure anyone can remember who first suggested the idea but late night Minxy skype chats evolved, quite naturally, into er, chatting about firemen and that evolved into...Blaze

Links:

Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Blaze-Minxes-Romance-anthology-ebook/dp/B00AFCYR4S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1354261190&sr=1-1

And Amazon.co.uk:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blaze-Minxes-Romance-anthology-ebook/dp/B00AFCYR4S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354262460&sr=8-1

Minx report

I'm blogging over at the Minxes of Romance site today, reporting my feedback from the RNA Penrith Conference 2012 and posting a few photos (all flattering I promise :-) including one of the Minx bag I made specially for Minx attendees.

Easter treat

If you fancy a free read over Easter (and what have you got to lose, it's FREE :-) download Sally Clements' "Bound to Love". Be quick though, it's only only free Good Friday and Easter Saturday so click on the link asap -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005GMJ1SE/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d1_g351_i2?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0W02TSBD3C8F2JZNND1M&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294

Blogging today...

over at the Minxes of Romance site - When words become enemies.

Famous!

It seems I'm famous for the wrong reasons though. I had an online supermarket delivery this week and a woman who normally works in the office was the driver. She said "Oh, didn't you used to live in..." and cited my last address. Warily I said I did and it turns out I am well known in supermarket circles for being, amongst other mishaps, the woman who ordered 77 bananas and recently 146 packets of crisps. Both by mistakes I hasten to add.
"You must have thought I had a crisp fetish." Was all I could think to say.
"Yes, we did." Was the alarming reply.

Oh well, at least I'm keeping them all in gossip.

Two good writing friends on the other hand I'm hoping will become famous for entirely different reasons - huge congrats to Joanne Pibworth and Jackie Ashenden on their recent Entangled pitch successes :-)

Getting in the mood...

For some reason Christmas seems to have taken me by surprise this year - no Christmas cards written yet, presents not organised...But on Saturday I had a trip to London and the combination of the lights in Sloane Square, a couple of hundred Skating Santas (yes, you DID read that right) and an early Christmas present of the loveliest boots I've ever owned has got me in the mood.

If anyone is looking for a Christmas read I've been listening to The Jewels of Manhattan and can thoroughly recommend it. It's the kind of book that makes you itch to write and I'm hoping the fact I'm going away for a week somewhere I'll be looked after means I'll be writing again soon.

All I want for Christmas is to finish my book... Although I have to say the boots were rather nice too ;-)

Down a rabbit hole and being Kwirky

I've been a little quiet lately because the house moves wiped me out. Well that and a few unfortunate accidents involving a lamp plug that left a hole in my best jeans and, ahem, in my nether regions, several packing boxes lurking and deliberately tripping me up and a fall down a rabbit hole that has left me needing to use a walking stick. Really, those damn rabbits should remember to close their front doors ;-)
I've also been busy getting my craft stuff ready to sell at some upcoming Christmas markets but once that's all done intend to get down to some serious writing again.
These are some of the things I'm taking to the events. For news of events see my other blog - Kwirky Design
Also you can get a sneak preview of my Facebook store - Kwirky Kaleidescopes

Glamlit v. Chiclit

A while ago now I mentioned the rise of the glambuster. Several months later and the National Press are onto my trend (Okay, maybe they already knew but I like to think I was the first to recognise the migration over to glam ;-)

Glam is selling but Chic isn't so well. Personally I understand it - Tasmina Perry, Jo Rees and Tilly Bagshawe have captured my loyalty and my imagination. Reading about a world outside of my own is so much more mind-expanding!

You know that old saying about monkeys writing Shakespeare? Well take a look at this, personally I think it's hilarious :-)

Good luck to all NV entrants. Thankfully I am distracted this year by trying to arrange a house move and empty my house in Scotland as well. I should resurface from the Highlands in the middle of next week but I'm crossing my fingers I'll see names I know in the finalists' list!

Guilty!

My New Voices entry this year, 'Confessions of a Chalet Girl', is about feeling guilty. It's personal to me because I've had to delve into the complexity of guilt and the irrational human emotions surrounding it over the past few years. My brain injury was an accident but it was caused by my husband. I know it was an accident, he knows it was an accident but that hasn't prevented a few dark moments for both of us.

So my story is exploring the issue and set in a place I love - Switzerland (well I had to justify those drives over to Verbier for 'research purposes'. Really I have to get published just to justify the travel ;-)

If you have time to read it I would value your comments. If the link comes up before I leave to fly to Corfu I'll add it in, if not then please bear with me!