Monday, July 29, 2013

Work, rest and play...

I haven't been doing much in the last week except writing. Wrote 1000 words today doesn't  make for exciting reading so I'm posting a picture of what I'm writing about.  This Hadley Chase,  the house at the centre of the book. 


When I haven't been writing, I've been playing in the garden with the grandbabies.








Thursday, July 25, 2013

A Winner!


Olivia Logan has chosen the winner of a copy of her first book URGENT One Nanny Required.

LeAnne, can you email me at liz @ lizfielding dot com and Olivia will sort out your book download.
 
Amazon (whereever you are)
KOBO
Apple
 
Follow Olivia on Twitter @olivia_logan_
and on Goodreads



Thursday, July 18, 2013

Free Holiday Read

It's the holidays and, because I know you'll be  loading up your Kindles to catch up with your reading, this two-in-one anthology of a couple of my earlier romances that were published by Mills & Boon in the UK (and released in the US by Harlequin Romance) is available FREE  this weekend.

Here's the first page of OLD DESIRES -


‘MISS Carpenter?’

The enquiry was simply a formality. Holly had no doubt that the man on her doorstep, filling the entrance with his powerful presence, knew exactly who she was. In that, he had her at a disadvantage and she didn’t much care for it, or for the quite unmistakeable chill in his manner.

She had the feeling that, whatever the reason for his call, he would prefer not to be making it and she already wished she had kept to her usual habit of ignoring the doorbell when she was working. Except that this afternoon nothing was going right and she had almost welcomed the interruption.

Besides, one look had been enough to warn her that this man would not have simply given up and gone away. Determination was written in every austere, finely chiselled line of his face; an intensity of purpose that hardened the sensual curve of his full lower lip.

‘I’m Holly Carpenter,’ she affirmed with an unconscious lift of her chin, wondering what this arrogant and very expensively-groomed man could possibly want with her. The well-cut navy pin-striped suit gracing his square shoulders and lean, hard figure, and the telling pale blue stripe of his tie, betrayed that he was a long way from his City office. His method of transport, if the gleaming silver Rolls at the kerb could be described in so plebeian a manner, was already attracting curtain-twitching attention from a window opposite.

And here's the first page of A STRANGER'S KISS


‘I DON’T believe it! Where on earth did he spring from?’ Tara Lambert moved quickly to the door but the tail lights of her partner’s car were already disappearing into the blackness of the evening, taking with them any possibility of help from that direction.

       She glanced back to where the man was waiting across the street. He too was staring after Beth’s car, obviously wondering if Tara had gone home with her partner. Well it was too late to regret refusing the proffered lift, but if she moved quickly it might not be too late to escape.

       Shrugging her raincoat collar up high around her ears she snapped open her umbrella, stepped out into the wet evening and took off swiftly down the street.

       She had gone only a couple of hundred yards when she heard her name being called from the other side of the street. Her escape bid had not, after all, gone unnoticed. With a sinking heart she glanced around her; the shops were already closed and there was nowhere to seek refuge in the shuttered street. Even the taxi rank was deserted, although no cabbie would have thanked her for wasting his time on the short ride to her flat.

       She hurried on, urging the traffic lights to stay green and keep the traffic moving, but even as the thought entered her head they flicked to amber.

       She stopped, cursing herself for every kind of an idiot. She could have stayed in the office and phoned for a taxi. Maybe it was not too late to beat a strategic retreat.

       ‘Tara!’ Her name, much closer, startled her and she glanced back before she could stop herself. He was weaving through the slowing cars and cutting off all possibility of escape in that direction. 
Here are the links!


Amazon, Canada
Amazon, France
Amazon, Germany

 Happy holidays! 

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Smashwords Romance Authors Promoted at RWA Atlanta

It's been a while since I was at the Romance Writers of America conference in New York when two of my books (City Girl in Training and The Tycoon's Takeover) were nominated for a Rita.

I won't be there this year, sadly, but if you're lucky enough to be going to RWA13 in Atlanta this week you'll find this stick drive in your goodie bag.

It contains eBooks by Smashwords top selling romance authors and I'm absolutely thrilled to be able to tell you now that it contains the first book in my Beaumont Brides trilogy, Wild Justice.

But - and here's the truly fabulous thing - you don't have to be in Atlanta to get a copy.

You can find out why more than a quarter of a million readers have downloaded this book because Wild Justice is available for everyone to download free at Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Amazon and Kobo, right now, so grab your own goodie and download it now!

And here's what Smashwords are saying about the conference -


"Attendees of the Romance Writers of America national convention in Atlanta this week will discover a special treat in their registration goodie bags.

"Inside each bag will be a four gigabyte Smashwords USB thumb drive containing 118 free romance ebooks, including titles from many of the world's most popular romance authors.  They're all Smashwords authors.  The books are provided in both .epub and Kindle formats.
"Also on the drive are digital handouts for nearly 50 RWA workshops and sessions, as well as an Smashwords ebook publishing kit containing copies of  The Smashwords Style Guide, The Smashwords Book Marketing Guide, and The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success..."...  Read on...

Monday, July 15, 2013

Smashwords Summer Sale

Just a very quick blog to let you all know that Smashwords are having a Summer Sale until July 21, and the following books are half price -

The Beaumont Brides Collection
Wild Lady
Wild Fire
Dangerous Flirtation
Old Desires
Liz Fielding's Little Book of Writingf Romance

This link will take you to the page - you'll find a code on the side bar to use at the checkout.

Liz Fielding at Smashwords

And from July 18 - 22 this 2-in-1 anthology containing Old Desires and A Stranger's Kiss will be free at Amazon.

Go grab a bargain!

Friday, July 12, 2013

Nanny knows best!


Please welcome my guest today, debut author
Olivia Logan whose first book URGENT One Nanny Required has just been released by Crimson Romance.


Tell us about your journey to publication, Olivia. How long have you been writing? What was the break-through moment. Tell us about “the call”.

I have always loved reading and used to love making up stories as a kid, especially my own version of Greek and Roman myths.
After reading my first romance as a teen I decided then and there that my life’s goal was to write a romance. Through writing ‘short’ romances ie a few A4 sides of papers as a teen, to writing book and film reviews at University, I decided that one day I would write something longer.

After receiving some knock backs with comments I refused to give up- after all perseverance is the stuff of life so I kept entering competitions and one day I got ‘The Call’!

I received ‘The Call’  in the evening and I remember staring at the email in shock. The first thing I did was call my husband who was also really stunned then letting my CPs know as they had been
with me on this crazy ride to getting published as well!

My life has changed in the sense that now people ask for my advice on writing as I’m published which I find very humbling and weird at the same time!

What are your writing habits? Are you an early bird or a night owl, or do you have to cram the writing in the spaces left by a day job?

I work full time so writing fits around me. I’m a morning person so prefer waking up earlier to type then edit later as opposed to the other way around.

 Share your best writing tip – your own or from someone else. 

“Get the hero and heroine on the page- first page is good... first paragraph better...the first line if possible.” (Your  Book  :) ‘Little Book Of Writing Romance’)

Are you a member of any writing organizations or group? (If so, tell us about them.)

I am a member of the RNA - Romantic Novelist's Association that I recently joined this year and this is the association that nearly all published romance writers in the UK are members of. They also have a New Writers Scheme (NWS) that you can join as an unpublished writer and you will receive a critique of your manuscript by their experts. I am looking forward to attending their ‘Winter Party’in November. At least I’ve got plenty of time to pick out a fab pair of shoes!

Where did you get the idea for ‘Urgent: One Nanny Requried’?

I am very curious by nature and love to people watch and got the idea for my story just by passing an old fashioned sweet shop in London and found myself wondering about the lives of the people who worked there. That kind of started my idea for my heroine in ‘Urgent:One Nanny Required’.
The idea of a single dad was actually inspired by one of my favourite story books written by Roald Dahl ‘Danny, The Champion Of The World’. In this book Danny, our young hero lives with his dad who is loving and kind and dotes on him completely. Not exactly the same as the father in ‘Urgent’. But before I digress onto telling you the plot of that story which ends happily, as a romantic I was always left wondering about the father. Did he ever remarry? Would he ever be persuaded to remarry? Hence the idea of our hero being a single parent. 

The Hollywood idea actually came from a friend of mine who works in film who always complained that none of the heroes in romances ever have ‘real’ jobs! Like a Hollywood director is a real job! But after much ear bending I decided to listen to their views and make my hero have a ‘real’ job in Hollywood and by that I mean a ‘behind the scenes’ guy as opposed to a film star. 

And voila, from all these ingredients ‘Urgent: One Nanny Required’ was born!

Tell us about your heroine. What is her best quality?

Rania George grew up as an only child whose mother was too busy chasing her own dream of becoming a Hollywood Starlet to notice or even care about her only daughter. Because of this Rania doesn’t look to favourably on the Hollywood scene unlike the way some people would. On top of which she is what she calls a ‘casting couch baby’ as her father, whom she has never met was a Hollywood director who abandoned her and her mother before she was born. 

I loved writing Rania as she is feisty with a can-do attitude despite receiving knock backs as a child.


And your hero. Why would we love him? Why would we want to slap him!

Nicholas Trenton (Nick) is the offspring of Hollywood- the son of a film make-up artist and stunt man to the stars. As a young man Nick thought he had the world at his feet and knew he was always destined to be in Hollywood, marrying the daughter of Hollywood royalty only to find the image was more a mirage then anything else even before she died and left him as a single parent to their young son. Trying to make the best of things, Nick knows he should spend more time with Theo than he does but what he doesn’t expect is his son to keep running away from the nannies he leaves him with.

Nick is the perfect foil for Rania as not only is he in the job she detests the most but he’s actually a down to earth dad which seems to annoy her as she wishes he could be the worst of Hollywood. I love him because he is so down to earth despite the trappings he grew up in but I would slap him because sometimes he can’t see past the end of his nose when it comes to realising his feelings for Rania.

Give us a little taster of your book. A kiss, or a turning point. Let’s see those two in action!

     “Ms. Belle……” the smooth voice began, goose bumps already beginning to shimmer
their way up and down her arms.
     Shaking herself out of her revere, she held a hand up, “It’s not Ms...”
     “My mistake. Mrs. Belle, then.”
     She narrowed her eyes at the cool correction and straightened up to her full height.
     Not that made much difference as her gaze collided with the patterns of his tie lying
crumpled against his chest. He might be Adonis material but he was still just a man.
     “Actually, Mr. Theo’s dad, it’s neither Mrs. nor Belle. It’s Miss. Miss Rania George,”
she said, her voice sharp, and her chin raised in defiance.
     She was not prepared for the snort of derisive laughter that followed nor the way she
was thrown off balance by said snort.
     Damn the man. Stay focused. This was how it always started, and reminding herself of
how many times she had seen the result of acting on such feelings from her mother, she
was determined to stop them.
     “Apologies, Miss George. No insult meant. I just wanted to thank you for looking after
my son during his hiatus from his nanny,” he said gravely. “Unfortunately, the nature of
my work keeps me...”
     “From being an observant parent?”
     “I beg your pardon?” The softly whispered question belied the dangerous narrowing of
his eyes.

Finally – when the words don’t come, where do you go for distraction? Twitter, facebook, solitaire?

Because I have a full time job, if I’m not writing then I’m working so find that it’s actually the reverse. I have the all the words just no time to write them down!

....

I loved Danny, Champion of the World, too, Olivia! Thanks for sharing your journey with us. 

Olivia has a copy of URGENT: One Nanny Required to give away so, for a chance to win this great new debut book, tell her what story you read as a child that made you want to write a sequel? 

And if you can't wait, here are some buy links!

Amazon (whereever you are)
KOBO
Apple
 
Follow Olivia on Twitter @olivia_logan_
and on Goodreads