BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD

Today is the day of the big cover reveal for BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD a fabulous new book by my colleague, USA Today bestselling author, Nicola Marsh

Shari Jones needs to get a life. Preferably someone else’s.

Single, homeless and jobless, Indo-American Shari agrees to her best friend’s whacky scheme: travel to Mumbai, pose as Amrita, and ditch the fiancé her traditional Indian parents have chosen. Simple. Until she’s mistaken for a famous Bollywood actress, stalked by a Lone Ranger wannabe, courted by an English lord, and busted by the blackmailing fiancé.

Life is less complicated in New York.

Or so she thinks, until the entourage of crazies follows her to the Big Apple and that’s when the fun really begins. Shari deals with a blossoming romance, an addiction to Indian food and her first movie role, while secretly craving another trip to the mystical land responsible for sparking her new lease on life. Returning to her Indian birthplace, she has an epiphany. Maybe the happily-ever-after of her dreams isn’t so far away?

RELEASE DATE - 6TH DECEMBER 2011!

NEW VOICES IS LIVE!

NEW VOICES went live today - you can register here and upload your entry. Or read what the early birds have posted and leave comments, too. And here's the lovely Flo Nicholl introducing four of the NV mentors.

It's been agony keeping the secret that I'll be working with one of the twenty writers who get through the first round, but the list went up today. I'm so thrilled and excited!


 

NEW VOICES UPDATE

Many thanks to Bethan for supplying this photograph of my New Voices workshop at Pontardawe Library this week.  It was a lovely afternoon and over-subscribed sadly, so some people missed out.  If you'd like a copy of the handouts I prepared, please do email me at liz at lizfielding dot com - it doesn't matter where in the world you are!

New Voices is getting closer! Have you registered here yet?

I hope you’ve started writing, but it’s not too late. You have until the 10 October to post your chapter, although the earlier you get it online the more reader feedback you’ll have, which can be hugely useful. It isn’t votes from readers that count, however; the editors will choose the best twenty first chapters to move onto the next round.

Getting the first chapter right is vital.

• The opening tells the reader who the story is about. Who. Not where, or why or what the weather is doing. Romance is character led.

Have you got all the ingredients in place? Here are some questions to help get you started:

• Who are your characters?
• What do they want?
• Why do they want it?

A great opening to a romance raises questions in the reader’s mind; questions that what make her read on. To achieve this you must:

• Start with something happening
• Get the hero and the heroine on the page
• Grab the readers attention

Stories begin with an inciting incident.

• Cinderella meets the disguised prince in the woods.
• A rich bachelor moves into the neighbourhood.
• Bassanio asks his best mate, Antonio, for a loan.

A Lee Childs I read recently started with a drunk picked a fight with Jack Reacher for no reason other than he was feeling belligerent. He gets a broken finger (he poked Jack – how dumb can you get?) and nose for his trouble. Unfortunately he’s the local cop and when he sobers up he comes after him with handcuffs. Reacher knows the best result is going to a beating in police cell and he hitches a lift out of town.

In Tempted By Trouble, Elle answers a ring at the doorbell prepared to fend off a nosy neighbour and instead finds herself fending off not just the bone-meltingly gorgeous Sean McElroy, but the ice cream van he insists is hers.

Everything that happens in these stories stems from that moment.

In all instances the stories begin with action, movement, dialogue.

That first meeting isn’t the end of chapter one, however. In the space of four thousand words the reader will find out a great deal about them.

They will have an idea what they look like – have seen them through the eyes of the other character. Not a descriptive shopping list, please. Leave room for the reader to fill in her own fantasy. Just small details. The shape of a nose. A tiny scar spotted when the characters moves and it’s emphasized by shadow.

They will, from their reaction to this meeting, know a little of their hopes, their fears and the reason why they won’t simply enjoy this unexpected meeting and move off into the happy ever after that is waiting for them.

These characters have to earn their HEA. Discover things about themselves, grow, become stronger – strong enough to deal with whatever is keeping them apart. At the end of a book should – heaven forbid – the romance fade into no more than a sweet memory, your hero and heroine should have taken control of their lives, faced their demons, be looking forward rather than back. They should be winners. That they have a partner to match them in every way is the icing and the cherry on top of that cake.

But first they have to meet. And bless Amazon for allowing you to download the first chapter of eBooks to your reading device – your PC if you don’t have anything else. You can study first chapters by your favourite authors, by authors you’ve heard of but never read, without spending a penny. (I cannot be held responsible if you feel you have to buy the book to read on, but if you do, ask yourself why.)

NEW VOICES WORKSHOP

Just a reminder that I'll be holding a New Voices Workshop this week.

Here are the deets -

Pontardawe Library
Holly Street
PONTARDAWE

Wednesday 31 August
2 - 3.30 pm
Tel: 01792 862261 to book a place

And I was on the radio this morning - Jamie and Louise on BBC Radio Wales - here's a link to the  - listen again

I was on just after the 11 o'clock news, which is about two hours into the programme.

An Ordinary Girl and a Sheikh

It's always a pleasure to see a book getting a second outing, especially when it's in such good company - a treble treat with Barbara McMahon and Nicola Marsh

THE SHEIKH'S UNSUITABLE BRIDE was my 50th Mills and Boon romance and we had an enormous amount of fun when it was published. I left its heroine, Diana, in charge of the year-long party and to introduce the guests who dropped by to make it so special. She was convinced that the only reason most of them came was to ogle the photograph of Zahir, her sheikh and I've had to prise it out of her "treasure" box for this blog because, this September it's being reissued as a 3-in-1 By Request (there will be a eBook version, too).

Here's a taster.

A precious Venetian snow globe has been smashed and Diana takes the sheikh shopping for a replacement. He anticipated Harrods but time is short and she opts for ToysRUs:

‘The Princess and the Frog, Metcalfe?’ he asked, holding out the globe for an explanation.


He had beautiful hands. Not pampered or soft. There was an old scar running across his knuckles and although his fingers were long, thin even, it was the slenderness of tensile steel.


‘I am not familiar with this fairytale,’ he said.


‘I’m surprised you know any of them,’ she said, forcing herself to focus on the globe. It contained a scene in which a girl, wearing a small crown, and a frog were sitting on the edge of a well.


‘Disney has reached Ramal Hamrah.’


‘Has it?’ Of course it had. ‘Oh, right. Well, I suppose this must be one he decided to give a miss.’ She thought about it. ‘Actually, he was probably right. I’d stick with one of the others,’ she advised.


‘But this girl is a princess. Ameerah will like that.’


Just like the assistant, who’d faded away with no more than an envious glance in her direction, Diana recognised the imperative. He didn’t need words to issue an order. He could do it with a look from those dark eyes.


‘It’s not good,’ she warned him. ‘Cinderella is, admittedly, a bit wet, but at least she’s kind. And while Snow White is not exactly a female role model...’


‘I don’t have all day,’ he warned.


‘No, sir.’ She took the globe, gave it a little shake to start the snow storm. ‘Okay, this is how it goes. Spoilt princess drops her precious golden ball in the well. The frog offers her a deal. If she takes him home with her, lets him eat from her plate, sleep on her pillow, kisses him goodnight...’ She hesitated as, distracted by the sensuous curve of his lower lip, she lost the thread of the story.


‘He’s a talking frog?’


She shrugged. ‘It’s a fairy tale. If you want reality you’re in the wrong place.’


He acknowledged the point with the slightest movement of his head. Then, ‘Kisses him goodnight,’ he prompted,



‘Mmmm. If she promises all that,’ she said, ‘he’ll fetch her golden ball from the bottom of the well.’


‘A gentleman frog would have done it without strings attached.’


‘A girl with any gumption would have got it herself.’


‘You would have climbed down the well, Metcalfe?’


‘I wouldn’t have kissed the damn frog!’


'You disapprove?’


‘There’s no such thing as a free golden ball,’ she said.


‘No, indeed.’ He did something with his eyes and without warning, beneath the dark red uniform Diana suddenly felt very warm.


‘Anyway,’ she said, quickly, running a finger under her collar to let in some cool air. ‘She, um, agrees. Actually, she’d have promised him the moon -- she loved that ball – and the ungentlemanly frog dives into the well, gets the ball and hands it over at which point the princess shows her gratitude by legging it.’


‘Legging it?’


‘Has it away on her toes. Scarpers. Runs back to the palace without him.’


He laid one of those beautiful hands against his heart. ‘I’m shocked.’


She’d been quite wrong about the irony. He “got” it, all right. He might not be laughing on the outside, but his eyes gleamed with amusement.


‘I imagine the frog doesn’t take that lying down?’


‘As you said. The frog is no gentleman. He hops all the way to the palace, rats on the princess to the King who tells her that a princess must always keep her word.’


‘A princess shouldn’t have to be told.’


‘It might surprise you to know that holds good for common folk, too.’ Then, ‘She isn’t happy about it, but she doesn’t have much choice, so she lets him eat off her plate, but then she flounces off to bed without him.’


‘She learns her lesson hard, this princess. Does the frog quit?’


‘What do you think?’


‘I think she’s going to be sharing her pillow with the frog.’


‘Right. It takes him hours to hop all the way up the stairs, find her room, but he gets there in the end and once more reminds her of her promise. Finally, accepting that she’s beaten, the princess puts him on her pillow and even forces herself to kiss him goodnight.’


‘I can relate to this frog, but can this story have a happy ending?’


‘That rather depends on your point of view. When the princess wakes up next morning the frog has turned into a handsome prince.’


His brows rose a fraction. ‘That might take a bit of explaining.’

Diana, whose view of the scene had been fixed in childhood by a picture book image of said handsome prince, fully clothed in princely trappings, standing beside the princess’s bed as she woke, suddenly saw a very different reality and, quite stupidly, blushed.


‘Yes, well,’ she said, quickly, ‘it’s that whole wicked-witch-cursing-the-handsome-prince thing. The princess had to have her arm twisted to breaking point, but she did what was needed to break the spell. Da-da-de-da,’ she sang to the wedding march. ‘And they all lived happily ever after.’


‘You mean that now he’s not a warty frog, but her equal, she marries him?’


‘I did warn you. The girl is as shallow as an August puddle. It’s why the prince married her that beats me.’


‘Maybe the King didn’t buy the “spell” story and produced a shot-gun?’ he offered.


‘It’s a nice theory, but the fact is that in fairy stories the girl always gets the prince. It’s that love-at-first-sight, happy-ever-after thing.’

Here's what a few people said about it when it was first published.

...oodles of sizzle...Pure magic from beginning to end." 4.5 stars from Romantic Times


"Sublimely entertaining." Romance Readers at Heart


"Fielding writes characters that matter." Coffee Time Romance


"Sparkling, enchanting, feel-good and wonderfully romantic, The Sheikh's Unsuitable Bride is sheer perfection!" at Cataromance

Oh, and on the subject of eBooks - did you know that you can have your Kindle editions signed? It's taking me a while to get all my books on Kindlegraph - for some reason it won't let me do the American editions - but there are a few titles I can sign for you. Just click on Kindlegraph

And if you're in the UK, I'll be BBC Radio Wales on Monday morning - Jamie and Louise - at about 11 o'clock, talking about NEW VOICES.

cafe du jour

Today I'm celebrating the Kindle publication of CAFE DU JOUR, a book that I featured on my blog a couple of years ago. It was originally published by Mira's Australian office and the paper version didn't make it to the US or UK, which considering Lillian hasn't written more than 100 books and has a world-wide fan base, seems a little short-sighted. (I had my copy sent from Australia!)

Now, however, thanks to the wonders of the digital age, Cafe Du Jour is an eBook and you can read wherever you are.

The is from my original blog...




I can't actually remember the first time I met Lilian Darcy.

It was certainly in America. Washington or Denver, at one of those terrific Mills & Boon pizza parties that have become a legendary part of the Wednesday night of the RWA conferences when, after the literacy book signing, colleagues from all over the world gather, usually in Sandra Marton's room, for pizza and gossip.

I do remember her in Denver, though. Harlequin threw a rock n' party with an "Elvis" singer and Lilian grabbed me and said "let's dance" and golly, did we dance!

Today, in Australia, Lilian is launching her "book of the heart", a single title called CAFE DU JOUR, published by MIRA, and I wish, more than anything, that I could be there with her to celebrate its publication, but since that isn't possible, I'm doing the next best thing and having my own personal launch here on my blog.

Here's Lilian herself to tell you about her book: -

There's a lot of good writing in popular women's fiction, actually, which is why it frustrates me that we get so little positive attention in the media. If you're just a regular reader who reads whatever she wants to and browses a whole variety of racks in the bookstore you may not realise this, but there's a huge gulf between literary fiction writers and popular fiction writers, and I really wish it wasn't there. I think there's a fertile middle ground where the two groups could connect and learn from each other and in the process produce books that give the warm, powerful and pacy stories that romance readers love as well as the richness of some deeper themes and observations that we sometimes don't have space for in romance.

In celebration of this middle ground, and of bridging the gap between literary and popular fiction, I'm thrilled that my upcoming novel "Café du Jour" is going to be launched by one of Australia's best-known literary fiction writers, Roger McDonald. He won the Miles Franklin Award in 2006 for his novel "The Ballad of Desmond Kale" which is full of his usual rich, tumbling language and cavalcade of characters that somehow manage to be exotic yet quintessenetially Australian at the same time. (Hm. I suppose Australian *is* exotic to many people!)

"Café du Jour" itself falls into the middle ground between popular and literary fiction, I think, with its mix of sadness and quirkiness, happy endings and unfinished journeys. It was originally slated for publication by another publisher and was given to Roger for editing. His valuable insights provided the basis for the next draft, but then the publisher closed up the imprint and the book went homeless for years. Several more major drafts later, it is finally coming out, and because of its long incubation it is a book that remains particularly close to my heart, and is different in many ways from anything I've published before.

On that note - being different - I'd like to challenge all of Liz's blog readers to try something different in your reading this month. Yes, we all love to turn to our favourite authors for time out or stress relief or guilty pleasure or inspiration, but there are so many writers out there whom we don't take the time to discover. If you're up for a reading adventure, go into a bookstore and try something new. Choose a book on the strength of a cover that grabs you by the collar as soon as you look at it, or on the strength of the author's unusual name. Choose a book because you've never bought one from that rack before, or pick a random colour and buy the first book of that colour that you see. Close your eyes and just reach out to the shelf. Okay, I'll let you have a few trial runs at this. You're allowed to read the back cover blurb or the first page and put it back if it sounds really awful!

Yes, there are some really awful books out there. They're scattered all over the bookstore, masquerading behind great covers, famous names, rave reviews. And the books that I might think are awful, you might think are great. Ultimately, the thing I most want to celebrate is that, whether we're writers or readers, there is room for all of us.

...

Amen to that, Lillian!

Ooops...

I can't believe it's been a whole week since my last post.  That's mainly because my book is gathering pace and I'm also spending a lot of my spare time on the Mills and Boon New Voices Facebook page.  If you haven't checked this out, it's a terrific place to ask any questions you might have about the competition. (I hope you're all working on that first chapter!)

Not only are there posts from editors, lots of help from authors, but also writers who took part last year.

I'm getting really excited about my workshop at Pontardawe Library on the 31st August, but added to that I'll be talking to Jamie and Louise on Radio Wales on Monday, 29th August at 11 am.  If you can't tune in (because of time or you're not in Wales!) you can catch up on iPlayer later.  I'll try and post a link.

But it's not all been writing this week.

My vacuum, a much loved original Dyson had reached a point where I was having to clean up after it and so I retired it this week and bought a fabulous new one with ball and a whizzy bit at the front and heavens, it is brilliant!

The carpets are all sitting up and looking really chirpy.  I don't often enthuse about housework but just occasionally I "get" it. :)

Reading?

I read the wonderful Eva Ibbotson's Magic Flutes this week.  A perfect fairy tale. Loved it. 5 stars. Ten out of ten. I got to the end and instantly downloaded another for my Kindle (in bed - isn't that fabulous!) and have it waiting as one of those special treat reads, to be saved up for when you need one.

If you haven't read Eva, do try one of her books - Madensky Square, set in Vienna before the first world war, or The Morning Gift just before the second war.

And if you need a free read and haven't yet downloaded WILD JUSTICE, it's still free on Kindle UK (US are really annoying me!) and at Smashwords, Nook, iTunes.

Wild Lady and Wild Fire haven't made it from Smashwords onto other platforms yet, but they are available at Smashwords and Kindle everywhere for $2.99 which is jolly cheap for a 400 page book.

ROYAL WEDDING

There is nothing like a wedding to add a little sparkle to the day.  Yesterday Zara Phillips, world champion three-day eventer, granddaughter of the HM Queen and daughter of the Princess Royal, married England rugby star Mike Tindall in a private ceremony in Scotland.  Here are some photographs of a lovely day.

BLOG PARTY - THE RECOVERY!

Good morning!  How are you all feeling!

I don't know about you but I need a long glass of orange juice to pick me up after a week of partying.

There's still some fun to be had - and the butlers are all still on hand to cater to your every whim, so do keep them busy!

Meanwhile, I'll say a huge thank to all the friends who dropped by to help me celebrate this week.  You have all been stars.

And here is a round up of all books winners - including the last two days, so if you haven't got in touch with addresses and so forth, well, call up one of the butlers and get them to send an email now.  (They all take dictation very well!)

Here's the list -

Nicola Marsh - Morton
Jessica Hart - Roz and Sheree
Anna Campbell - Nell, Jenny Swartz and Jane O'Reilly
Kate Walker - Tammy and Raven
Lesley Cookman - Tammy and Nas
Ally Blake - Helen
Sophie Page - Alexandra
Christine Stovell - Teresa Morgan
Nell Dixon - ChrisCross
Donna Alward - Stevie
Jan Jones - Michele L
Phillipa - Wendy McD
Kate Hardy - Stevie
Soraya Lane - Helen

You can send your details to me at liz at lizfielding dot com and I'll pass them on to the lovely authors who donated these door prizes.

Now, a party to celebrate my career wouldn't be a party without a prize from the host.  So, what will it be?

One of my books, I think for everyone who visited me this week, including the authors.  (Tough on Kate Hardy, who has read them all, but I will think of something...)

leave a note in the comment column saying which one you'd like (and whether paper or eBook) and I'll try and sort you out a copy  I don't have spares of some of the early books, although quite a few are available now as eBooks - with more on the way very shortly.

In the meantime, while you tuck into breakfast, I'll introduce the hero of my 60th book, FLIRTING WITH ITALIAN - Matteo di Serrone, who is discovering that a cool English rose can be more of a handful than he bargained for.

Here's a little taster...

‘Out.  Now,’ he said.

     Sarah looked back helplessly at the mess, but he headed for the door and she barely had time to scoop up her bag and cardigan before they were through it and heading down the stairs.    

     ‘Where are we going?’ she gasped, as they burst into the warm evening and, as if coming to his senses, he finally let her go.  Pushed his hands deep into his pockets.

     ‘Anywhere.  Nowhere.  Just out.’  He glanced at her as they headed down the cobbled hill.  ‘Did I hurt you?’

     ‘No.’

     He stopped, looked at her.

     ‘No,’ she repeated, with a gesture that was pure Roman.  ‘I’m not being “nice”, Matteo,’ she said, walking on, leaving him to follow.                                

    ‘I believe you,’ he said, falling in beside her.  ‘Nice girls don’t kiss like that.’  He rubbed at his lower lip.  Smiled a touch ruefully.  ‘You bit me.’

     She’d bitten him?

    He was right.  She didn’t kiss like that.  At least she hadn’t until now.  But then she’d never felt like that.  Been so completely out of control.  

     ‘Do you expect me to apologise?’ she asked.

     ‘I wasn’t complaining.’  He glanced at her.  ‘Do you want me to?’

     ‘Complain?’ she said, choosing to misunderstand. 

     ‘Apologise.’

     Her turn to stop.  ‘No, Matteo.’  She was free, unencumbered by any responsibilities except to herself.  ‘I don’t want anything from you that you can’t give me naked.’

     ‘Let’s go back…’

     ‘I want a lover,’ she said.  ‘A man who will make memories to keep me warm when I’m old.  Memories that will shock my grandchildren.  Make me smile when I’m dying.’

     ‘We should definitely go back…’

     She was trying to be cool, but he had this way of getting beneath her skin and she was fighting a losing battle against a smile.  Who wouldn’t want a man who couldn’t trust himself alone in a room with her? 

     Any woman would smile.

     ‘No, you’re fine,’ she said.  ‘You’ve already passed the physical-’

     He practically choked.                                   

     ‘You are outrageous.’

     ‘Am I?’  He was right, she was.  Tom would not have recognised her.  She scarcely recognised herself.  ‘It’s your bad influence.  You are turning me into a diva.’

     ‘I admit only to liberating the diva within.  A role you appear to have taken to with genuine enthusiasm.’

     She looked at him sideways from beneath her lashes.  ‘If I’m shocking you, you can withdraw at any time.’ 

     ‘That, amore mio, is an offer you may live to regret,’ he said, not bothering to hide his amusement as she blushed.

     A woman, a diva, interviewing a potential lover did not blush.

Does November seem a long way off?  It'll be here before we know it and I have book # 61 to write before then.  

In the meantime, if you haven't yet downloaded a copy of WILD JUSTICE, it's free, for a very short while, at Amazon.  There's a link on the sidebar.

Thanks, all of you for being such fun this week.  It's been a blast.  And before you go - don't forget to tell me what book you'd like!