PLAY TIME!

Well, the book - SCOOP! - the one with the ice cream van and set amongst the villages of Upper Haughton, Lower Haughton and Longbourne, is now with my editor which means I have a day or two to catch up with the knitting, read without guilt, and play. 

I'd better make the most of it because another deadline looms and I've no doubt the lovely ed will have a few ideas of her own about what more it needs.

So what have I been doing?

Well, on the understanding that all work makes Jill a dull writer I've been in London for the annual Mills and Boon author lunch.   Lots of opportunity to catch up with friends I hadn't seen for a year.

I had coffee with the lovely Kate Hardy before lunch - and she let me play with her iPad.  Lovely piece of kit but I'm still not tempted.

Pre lunch drinks was a noisy affair.  Fifty plus authors have a lot to talk about after a year!

I had lovely company on my table.  Here's the delightful Jennie Lucas who I first met in New York several years ago, and Mandy Ferguson, Mills and Boon's Managing Director. 

On the right is the  yummy Kate Walker who I was fortunate enough to be sitting next to, with Michelle Reid and Jackie Baird behind, and on the left, the lady who can do fabulous things with hot Italians, Lucy Gordon

I also took time out with the dh to explore the Museum of London, and rediscover the City where I once worked, many years ago.  Driving down Fleet Street, up through Fetter Lane and High Holborn.  Familiar names, but very little looked the same.

One of the other joys was that, since I was staying at the Charing Cross Hotel - where we had lunch - I had a bird's eye view of the Eleanor Cross (Cher Reign Cross...) newly restored and gleaming like a wedding cake, as well as Nelson's Column.  Brilliant location.  Will definitely stay there again.

After the hectic London bit, the best beloved and I went on to Surrey for the Christening of Cora Rose, our grand-daughter, now nearly eight months old.  Definitely sitting up and taking notice. 

She was Christened the lovely church of St Andrew's in Croydon, built for the servants of the toffs who workshipped at the parish church. 

It's quite small, but very beautiful, with this stunning font which was painted by Cecily Mary Barker, creator of the Flower Fairies, who also worshipped in the church.

It was a joyful occasion, part of the morning service - all the dd's yummy mummy mates brought their babies and they all behaved beautifully - with the entire congregation taking part and welcoming Cora Rose into their community.

Here are the three generations, together.  I just hope that Cora Rose (in a hundred year old family Christening gown from her Daddy's family) has inherited her mother's height genes!

MORE ABOUT MILLS AND BOON AUDIO BOOKS -

This is from the Whole Story Audio website - thanks to Kate Hardy (who has one out later in the year) for pointing me in this direction. This site is collaborating the Mills & Boon and bringing you unabridged audio books (all available from your library, btw,) at a rather more affordable price. The contemporaries are £17.99 and the historicals, which are longer, are £19.99.

Here's what they say: -

"For the very first time, titles from Mills and Boon - the undisputed market leader in romantic fiction - are to be published as audiobooks. And, as this unique and exclusive arrangement has been made with Whole Story Audio Books, they will all be unabridged.

"In July, through our exclusive collaboration, Whole Story Audio Books will publish an initial selection of 10 Mills & Boon titles from their most popular and passionate ranges, with a minimum of three new titles added to the collection each month.

"Keep the romance alive in your life with Mills & Boon unabridged audiobooks, exclusive to Whole Story Audio Books."

Available now are -

The Australian's Society Bride
by Margaret Way
narrated by Federay Holmes

Bought for the Sicilian Billionaire's Bed
by Sharon Kendrick
narrated by Simone Philips

Cinderella's Wedding Wish
by Jessica Hart
narrated by Harriet Carmichael

The Disgraceful Mr Ravenhurst
by Louise Allen
narrated by Maggie Ollerenshaw

The Duke's Cinderella Bride
by Carole Mortimer
narrated by Steven Crossley

The Earl and the Hoyden
by Mary Nichols
narrated by Denica Fairman

The Greek's Forced Bride
by Michelle Reid
narrated by Jenny Sterlin

Marrying the Mistress
by Juliet Landon
narrated by Jenny Sterlin

The Prince's Waitress Wife
by Sarah Morgan
narrated by Jenny Sterlin

The Rake's Defiant Mistress
by Mary Brendan
narrated by Jane Collingwood

The Santangeli Marriage
by Sara Craven
narrated by Simone Philips

Secret Baby, Surprise Parents
by Liz Fielding
narrated by Maggie Ollerenshaw

Seduction Westmoreland Style
by Brenda Jackson
narrated by Jack Garrett

Shattered by the Ceo
by Emilie Rose
narrated by Jack Garrett

Virgin Mistress, Scandalous Love-child
by Jennie Lucas
narrated by Laurence Bouvard

Here's is a link to the website. Look out for new titles each month!

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT GRAMMAR

Everybody hates this stuff, don't they?

We all buy great books about "how to" write - I have a huge collection - but we're not interested in the nuts and bolts of the craft, the stuff that makes what we do intelligible to the reader. We all rush to the chapters that show us how to create a plot, a to-die-for hero, a heroine with the strengths, empathy, spirit that we all yearn to possess.

It's inevitable. It's the exciting stuff. Who wants to read the boring stuff about apostrophes, or where to use a comma, and when to use a full stop? Dull, dull, dull.

But grammar is the basic tool in the writer's craft box and I'm bringing this up now because I've been reading entries to Mills & Boon's New Voices competition. I can't comment because it won't let me for some reason - but I'm not here to talk about computer glitches.

I read a lot of really great stuff, but all the time I was being thrown out of the story by bad grammar. Apostrophes in the wrong place. Sentences that were miles too long. Writers who seemed unfamiliar with the purpose of the comma or the full stop.

I'll tell you right now that I'm not a great grammarian. I use language in ways that serve my story. If I want single word sentences, I'll use them. If I want a sentence without a verb, I'll do that, too - but not too often.

I don't know about your computer, but mine is always throwing up wiggly lines and sometimes I'm not sure why, so I click on the mouse and find out. Mostly it's "fragments"; the sentence without the verb. I think about it, and decide if maybe I'm overdoing it and occasionally I'll combine two sentences. Sometimes I'm surprised to discover that I can't spell a word when I thought I could and I'm grateful for the help. Sometimes it's just querying my use of an apostrophe. (It's asking me to think about it, not telling me I've got it wrong - it just sees an apostrophe and thinks uh-oh...)

Do you know the difference between "its" and "it's"?

The thing is it matters. And in a world where editors and agents struggle for every minute in their day, they no longer have the time to cope with someone who hasn't taken the trouble to master the basic skills of writing a sentence. Read your work out loud and you'll soon realise how important this is.

The good news is that anyone can learn this stuff. I did. Point proved. Not the strange words - gerunds and past participles - but the reason for using an apostrophe and how commas help make sense of a sentence.

For those of you who are a little hazy on the basics, I can heartly recommend GETTING THE POINT by Elizabeth Hawksley and Jenny Haddon (former chairwoman of the Romantic Novelists' Association). It's a light-hearted and simple guide to grammar.

I'd also recommend noticing this stuff while reading. I know, we all race through a rattling good yarn without noticing the punctuation - that's the point. It enables the reader to instantly make sense of the words on the paper. But once you've enjoyed the book, you might usefully go back and read it again to look at sentence structure. The simple grammar. The skeleton that supported the story while you were concentrating on what was happening to the hero and heroine.

And good luck if you've entered NEW VOICES.

HER WISH-LIST BRIDEGROOM

I'm just delighted to see this lovely BY REQUEST from Mills & Boon in the UK this month. Apart from the joy of being teamed up with two of my favourite authors - Jackie Braun and Natasha Oakley, Her Wish List Bridegroom was nominated as Best Harlequin Romance by Romantic Times in 2005.

I'd written on book in the What Women Want mini series, The Bridesmaid's Reward, and this was driven by the same idea. What did Juliet really, really want. Well, that was easy. As a teenager she'd made a life plan. Did that thing we're all advised to do, made lists. Small dreams, big dreams.

The big ones were academic success, a great career and Gregor McLeod. Two out of three wasn’t bad. But then the rug was pulled from beneath her feet and she was back where she started. Well, she still had the academic paperwork, but the career she'd spent years building was in ruins and she was back home, in her childhood room, with her mother nagging her. But then, just when she needed a hero, Greg was at her door offering to kiss it better.

There were several problems with that.

She had sworn off men for life.
And he had quite a few secrets of his own.

-

‘Tell me what you want, Juliet.’

Greg knew he was crazy. She was saying “please” in a way that no man could possible misinterpret. He could feel her body yielding to him, feel it softening, opening, the soft little sounds she was making in the back of her throat.
All he had to do was kiss her and she’d dissolve, crumple up right here on the floor if that’s what he wanted.

And still he held back, offering her a way out, giving her a chance to think again.

Why?

She wasn’t some nervous virgin who didn’t know whether she wanted this or not. He’d never been interested in those. He’d liked women who knew what they wanted and weren’t afraid to show him. Juliet was a grown woman and they’d both known where this would end the minute they’d started baiting one another with verbal foreplay.

He had his hands full of hot, sexy womanhood. She knew exactly how he was feeling right now and she wasn’t exactly pushing him away. This should have been so damned simple.

But it wasn’t.

And he didn’t know why.

Except, except...

‘I need to know that this is what you want.’

Her response was to lift a hand, lay it along his cheek. She was trembling, he realised. Not with fear, because if she’d been afraid she would have been rigid in his arms, would not have been openly encouraging his mouth on her breasts. She was trembling with desire and knowing that made him feel ten times, a hundred times stronger, more powerful than he’d ever felt in his life. And still he waited, doing nothing to encourage her, nothing to discourage her.

He wanted her to know that despite his sudden lapse into the kind of machismo behaviour that he despised, that was an invitation to any self-respecting woman to show him the door, he was not so lost to his own needs that he wouldn’t step back if that’s what she wanted.
As if rewarding him for his patience, she lifted her other hand so that she was cradling his face. And then she lifted her mouth to his and kissed him, very gently.

It was the sweetest kiss.

The kind that an innocent teenage girl might bestow on her first boyfriend. All soft, trembling lips. Uncertain longings. The kind that was wasted on a hot, horny youth who had only one thing in mind. The kind that could steal a man’s heart. She couldn’t begin to imagine how much it cost him to hold back, allow her to take the lead, set the pace. Had no way of understanding that her tenderness was burning him up in a way that not even the hottest of kisses had ever achieved.

Then he realised that her face was wet, that tears were pouring down her cheeks and mingling with their lips.

-

It's available from the Mills & Boon website. And also from The Book Depository who will send it anywhere in the world for a discounted £4.49 without charging postage.

HER WISH-LIST BRIDEGROOM has also been released as an eBook.


From the book: Her Wish-List Bridegroom
By: Liz Fielding
Mills & Boon “Tender” Series & Harlequin “Romance” Series
Publication Date: February, 2005 (UK), July 2005 (US)
Copyright: Liz Fielding 2004

CUTTING THE GRASS...

I have large swathes of grass that I both love and loathe. It looks fabulous when I've just cut it and it is the only exercise I take so is Good for me. But I always view the coming of winter with a sense of relief that I can put away the mower for six months and forget about it. But once in a while life on the lawn can get exciting. The dh looked out of the bedroom window the other day and said the dread words. The cows have got in.

We live in farming country and our land backs onto a field and we have cattle for neighbours. Sometimes cows with their calves, which I always love to see. But the calves grow up to be frisky young bullocks and they are a pest, always desperate to break through the fence and get at the lush stuff - because as we know, the grass is always greener on the other side. A quick phone call to the farm - there have been occasions in the past where they've leapt the front wall and gone galloping off down the road.

This time, they returned to the field without too uch fuss, but not before they ate the top of a rowan tree I've been nurturing for three years - it will survive but it's not going to be an elegant tree.

And my lawn - not of the bowling green variety, admittedly, but on which much sweat is expended every week in the summer - is now full of holes.

eBOOK BACKLIST PART II

It's been a bit of a struggle to find these at eHarlequin but the lovely Penn, from the message board, has kindly explained how to do it.

Go to the ebookstore - select Harlequin RomanceM then click on "All Available". Scroll down to any of my books, click on the Liz Fielding link and lo, all 32 of my eBooks should appear. Just putting my name in the "search" box doesn't bring them all up, and I can't give you a link because it just breaks.

It's all deeply frustrating but at least this way does work.

Believe me, I just hate it when websites make you go through hoops to buy something.

Yesterday I bought a new pair of shoes - actually the identical pair to the yellow ones I've been wearing all summer and can't face having to give up for the winter; the new ones are deep blue.

I did it with three clicks.

Total bliss.

eBOOK BACKLIST

I've finally run down a link my eBook backlist on eHarlequin. Lots and lots of older books that haven't been in print for a while, including Upper Haughton favourites like THE BACHELOR'S BABY, the appearance of Hector, the Trojan Hamster, in THE BILLIONAIRE TAKES A BRIDE and the chocolate addicted Dodie, in THE BRIDESMAID'S REWARD.

Here's a link I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it works - it's being temperamental. If it doesn't work, go to the eBook store, type Liz Fielding in the search box and that should do it. Fingers crossed.

The link for Mobi and hand held computer versions is here

And for Sony here

AUDIO BOOK!

Well, here's a thing! An entirely new way of getting a Liz Fielding fix!

SECRET BABY, SURPRISE PARENTS has been turned into an audio book by those lovely "Clipper" books people you see in the libraries.
Every single word of it - six discs.

It's hideously expensive, so obviously you'll want to put in a request at your local library, but meanwhile you can log onto the publisher's website and listen the a short extract here.


And if you can't place the lovely Maggie Ollerenshaw, who is reading my book, you might remember her best as the dithery Mavis from OPEN ALL HOURS.



And I've finally found out which of my books is being reprinted in GORGEOUS GROOMS.

It's HER WISH-LIST BRIDEGROOM.

Having sworn off men for good, Juliet has gone home - only to come face to face with Gregor McLeod. Greg has been number one of her wish-list since she was a teen. She's old enough for him to direct all that gorgeous, flirtatious sex-appeal in her direction these days but there are two problems with that -

1. She's sworn of men.
2. He's got a few secrets of his own.

The other two books in the anthology are Jackie Braun's HER STAND-IN GROOM and Natasha Oakley's ORDINARY GIRL, SOCIETY GROOM. A reading treat for me.

ONE OF THE JOYS...

...of a writer's day, week, year is the arrival of foreign translations. Exotic covers. Different artwork. This week I've had SECRET BABY, SURPRISE PARENTS in Dutch, A WEDDING AT LEOPARD TREE LODGE in Italian and my absolute favourite of all foreign editions, a Japanese Manga edition of my 2005 Rita winning book, THE MARRIAGE MIRACLE.

My story, envisaged in manga-style artwork so that I can actually follow it.

Here's the Harlequin Comics website so you see just how gorgeous they all are.

THE MARRIAGE MIRACLE is now available as a Kindle Edition
in the UK and the US along with a range of backlist books that have been unavailable for some time. I hope they will be available in other formats - when I have a link I'll post it here.

MILLS & BOON STUFF

I love Mills & Boon stuff.

I have a sweet little wallet made from the cover of The Temp & the Tycoon by Bookity which I carry everywhere. This is one for sale on her website.

I even have a jigsaw (awaiting a dull winter day to complete) and really wish Mills & Boon would produce a good quality mug for the inspiring cups of tea. Fine white china with the new logo - one of each series, maybe.

Maybe they should take a leaf out of the music business book and sell merchandise!

Clearly there is a taste for it.

Checking my Google Alerts this morning I found this sewing table that someone has made using old Mills & Boon covers.

If I had some room I would so love this!

The centre lifts off to store sewing materials - or in my case it would be writing stuff.

A secret place to tuck away drafts, research books, notebooks and all those pictures of gorgeous hunks. :)

For more pictures click here

And don't forget to check out the New Voices competition that Mills & Boon are running this autumn.

I'll be doing my bit with a chat and mini workshop at Carmarthen Library tomorrow (Monday 9th August 11 - 12.30). You'll find other workshop dates all over the country with M&B authors on the Romance Is Not Dead website

OH BOY!

As if I didn't have enough to do, I've got hooked on knitting again. I haven't done this in years. Not the kind of knitting with complicated instructions. In fact the last thing I knitted was a yards long Dr Who scarf for the first born. But then, this week, I passed a little shop that had wool in the window. And it called to me.

Maybe it's all part of being a grandmother. Here's the little sweetheart I'm knitting for -



And here's the pattern. A little bolero in a pale sagey green (babies wear such sophisticated colours these days!).



The back is done and one side.

Readers, I rhink I might be hooked.

OOPS...

Almost forgot. I'm giving a writing workshop on Monday 9th August, 11 am at Carmarthen Library. In case you're thinking of entering the New Voices competition and want to pick my brains.

Mills & Boon New Voices

Is there anyone who hasn't heard about the amazing new writing competition that Mills & Boon announced yesterday that will be going through to the autumn, with the winner announced on 1st November?

There is?

Well, here's the skinny -

Mills & Boon New Voices
A global search for fresh writing talent to join
the Mills & Boon galaxy of romantic fiction stars

How the competition will work…

The competition has its very own website - where the entries will be posted and readers can leave their feedback.

The competition will be divided up into four stages and will run from Monday 6th September.

The winner will be announced on Monday 1st November.


1. Stage 1: The Free for All

• All submitted entries will be read and judged by the Mills & Boon judging panel

2. Stage 2: The Shortlist

• A shortlist of 8-10 authors will be announced, and their first chapters posted on the website.

• All shortlisted entrants will be assigned a Mills & Boon author and editor as a ‘mentor’ as they polish their second chapters and for their remaining time in the competition.

• The public will vote for their favourite!

3. Stage 3: The Shorter-list

• The shortlist will be chopped down to 4 – the next stage to share a ‘pivotal moment’ from their book.

• The public will vote for their favourite!

4. Stage 4: Winner!

• Judged by a panel – names TBC!

• The winner is announced!!

The Romance Is Not Dead web site is now up and running and there loads more information on there, including the dates of workshops being run by M&B authors and editors all over the country.

I'm going to be giving a workshop in connection with this contest in Carmarthen Library - it's in the diary for 9th August, I'm just waiting for the co-ordinator in Carmarthen to get back from her holiday and firm it up. I hope to see a lot of you there. (Although maybe Snookie won't be able to manage to make it all the way from Hawaii!)

AND I'M NOT GOING TO BE AT ...

...the Romance Writers of America Conference, either.

I'm sad about that. I won't get the chance to meet up with friends I've made across the globe, not just writers but readers, too.

But I can't miss this opportunity to those authors who have been shortlisted for the RITA this year, especially dear friends, Anne McAlister, with her One Night Mistress... Convenient Wife. Jennie Lucas with The Christmas Love Child. Linda Goodnight nominated for The Snow Kissed Bride, Jane Porter for Duty, Desire and the Desert King all in the Short Contemporary Category.

There's Elizabeth Rolls, too, with her Regency Historical, Lord Braybrooke's Penniless Bride.

And a huge shout out in the category for mainstream women's books with a romance element - The Lost Recipe for Happiness by Barbara O'Neal, which was one of my favourite reads of last year.

Good luck to them and everyone who had a book shortlisted. They are the best of best published books last year and you can see the entire list of books and authors here

THIS WEEK I'M NOT...

at the Romantic Novelists' Association 50th Anniversary conference in Greenwich.

This has to be extremely bad planning, because while I sit here in my jammies at the crack of a Saturday dawn, all my writing mates are, right now, stirring, groaning and reaching for something to soothe the ravages of a night partying at the Gala celebration dinner.

Of course I am also missing out on the shocking heat in London and remain cucumber cool and headache free in a rather damp Wales.

Which would you choose?

Yes, I thought so.

Next year I'm going to have to plan my deadlines with rather more precision, since I've been roped in to give a talk or something. (I need plenty of notice of these things - a year should be about enough to come up with something interesting.)

Meanwhile my world is bounded by all things ice cream.

Elle, the heroine of my story (working title SCOOP!) has just gone for a ride in Rosie with a dishy bloke who's turned up at her door with a 1962 Commer Ice Cream van that is about to turn her world on its head.

(The dishy bloke might have a little to do with that, too!)



Oh, and just so that you know I really was working when I was pretending to be on holiday last week - here's my research photo.

This giant ice cream was spotted on the station at Paignton, where I boarded a steam train to Dartmouth. The sight of it moved me to go inside and buy one, although it wasn't a Whippy but some delicious west country dairy cream ice scooped onto a cone.

The jolly nice young man who served me wrapped it in a napkin (something Mr Whippy never did when I was a kid) and for which I was extremely grateful since it was a hot day.

Some books are just more fun to research than others.

I'M BACK!

I'm back from my holiday and first up I have to thank Christine Stovell for being my guest last week. I loved TURNING THE TIDE and hope the taster will send you all rushing out to buy it.

The winner of a signed copy is TracyE with her brilliant seasickness cure - sell the boat. Nice one, Tracy. :)

And thanks to May and Adam for standing in for me.

Having read a really excellent review someone posted about the book I feel I should post a competition to see who spotted the mistake that slipped past me, my editor and my copy editor in this book. (Answers in a plain brown envelope.) But honestly, I'm hoping you didn't notice and anyway it's illegal to have a competition where you actually have to buy something, so maybe not.

So what did we do on our hols? Not a lot to be honest. We sat about reading in the sunshine - a glass of something chilled conveniently close to hand. We went to Dartmouth on a steam train that runs along the coast and saw a wedding taking place at one of the old stations en route, which was fun.

We revisited Brixham for the first time in over 40 years. It seemed shabbier despite the fancy new aparts along the harbour, but we took the ferry to Torquay where we sat outside a lovely Italian restaurant and had great food.

Paignton Zoo was fun. Loved the meerkats and they have some huge giant tortoises. I'm not a huge fan of zoos but the setting was lovely and they some great conservation work, particularly in Botswana which, as you all know, is dear to my heart.

On the way home we stayed for a couple of nights in Frome. Lovely buzzy town with a terrific cultural and artistic life. Wish I could be there for the festival this month.

This is Cheap Street, which is very old and where a tiny stream still runs through a rill at the centre and contains temptation in the shape of a great book shop and a store that sells beautiful Radley bags.

The weather was amazingly kind to us - just one shower in the evening when we were safely back in the cottage.


But it's lovely to be home again.

A kindly neighbour kept my pots watered so everything was looking lovely. Let the taps run for a minute, then make that first cup of tea just the way you like it.

Perfect.

GUEST BLOGGER - CHRISTINE STOVELL

I'm delighted to introduce Christine Stovell, whose debut novel, TURNING THE TIDE, has just been published by ChocLit.

Since both Chris and I earned chocolate for our first writing endeavours, we have a lot in common! The book is a delight, but here is Chris to tell you about it - and give you a chance to win a copy for yourself...

It’s a huge honour to be invited by Liz, a fellow member of the Carmarthen Chapter of the Romantic Novelists’ Association to be a guest on her blog. As a debut novelist, I’m in awe of Liz’s achievements, but it’s lovely to hear from Liz that the thrill of publication stays the same whether you’re on your first or fiftieth novel.

I suppose the story of ‘Turning the Tide’ began when I met a keen sailor and thought how romantic the thought of sleeping under starry skies in a quiet anchorage sounded. We married and bought our vintage wooden boat that same month... and then I discovered how dreadfully prone to seasickness I was! Nevertheless, we did manage to sail half way round Britain, from the east coast of England to the west coast of Wales. The sleepy backwaters, picturesque harbours and fascinating characters we met along the way all worked their way into my imagination and into my writing, but one day I suddenly ‘saw’ an image of a troubled young woman sitting by the water’s edge and knew I had to tell her story...

Harry (Harriet) Watling has spent five years trying to keep her father’s boatyard afloat. Now all she wants to do is enjoy the peace and quiet of her sleepy backwater. Property developer, Matthew Corrigan, has other ideas; he wants to turn the boat yard into an upmarket housing complex for his exotic new restaurant. And the odds seem to be stacked in Matthew’s favour. He’s got the colourful locals on board, his hard-to-please girlfriend is warming to the idea and he has the means to force Harry’s hand. Meanwhile, Harry has to fight not just his plans but also her feelings for the man himself. When a family secret from the past creates heartbreak for Harry, and neither of them is prepared for what happens next...

Here’s what happens when Harry meets Matthew for the first time.

‘On a fresh May morning, Harry Watling headed out for her favourite spot a contented woman. She liked to come to this secluded coil in the creek because nobody else did.
Only today someone else was sitting in her place. Harry pulled up and considered the dark brown hair curled into the pale nape of his neck, the black tee shirt stretched across broad shoulders and the long, athletic back which was turned against the world.

‘I don’t mind you staring at me, sweetheart, but your mother might have something to say about your manners,’ he said, without even looking round.
Harry sucked in her breath and waited for the temperature round her face to cool before proceeding.

‘Well, are you going to join me or not?’

No way, thought Harry, arranging herself further along the bank and staring firmly ahead to discourage conversation. Whilst her land didn’t strictly stretch to this side of Campion’s Creek, he had another think coming if he thought that acting as if he owned the place would make her back off.

Mercilessly carved away by the wind and waves, the soft shore had slowly retreated to leave Little Spitmarsh isolated from its neighbours, divided by miles of salt marsh and hemmed in by the sea. There was a sense of loneliness about the landscape which made it an acquired taste for many people, but which Harry loved. In winter the raw north wind could cut you to the bone, but in summer the sky over the marshes shimmered with heat and was alive with wild cries and flickering wings.

‘Perfect,’ said the stranger.

Harry gave him a swift sideways glance. Maybe she’d been a bit quick to resent his presence, after all. ‘It’s a world apart here,’ she volunteered, surprising herself. ‘You wouldn’t even know there was a town nearby, it’s so peaceful,’ she said, nodding her head at another inlet where the single spire and assorted rooftops of the town centre could just be seen against the dim sky. ‘Mind you, it’s not for people who come here looking to escape – then moan there isn’t an M&S. They’re usually gone within a year.’

‘Sounds as if you know a bit about the place.’

‘I ought to. I was born over at the boat yard. My mother was supposed to have been booked in for a hospital delivery.’

‘But you had other ideas?’

‘Not just me! Mum and Dad had always wanted a home birth, so they deliberately left it too late. They must have been mad,’ she joked.

‘Or so crazy about each other they couldn’t bear to be apart. Are they still the same?’ he asked. ‘No, don’t tell me. They live in a solid middle-class villa now, and take nice holidays abroad, right?’

Harry clasped her knees and looked at her feet. ‘Not quite...’

‘Turning the Tide’ is available to purchase at all WH Smith airport and station stores. Plus most online bookstores including Amazon and The Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery. You can also order at Waterstone’s and most major independent bookstores. The Ebook is coming soon in multi-formats from Smashwords and in pdf and prc here.



Now it’s competition time! As you’ve heard, I suffer badly from seasickness, so for your chance to win a copy of ‘Turning the Tide’, I’d love to hear your suggestion for a cure! Send your answers to me using the comment box on the contact page on my website and I’ll pick the suggestion that appeals to me the most!

A SMALL PROBLEM?

Small? I have to find a husband in less than a month, he wants me to take care of his baby niece and Adam Wavell thinks that's a "small" problem?

Sorry, I'm May Coleridge. Liz has taken off for a week and she asked me to keep an eye on her blog but I see that Adam got here first. But then I have a business to run, a baby to take care of and Adam moving in...

He's right about me always being in trouble, though.

As if I didn't have enough to worry about there was this stray kitten up a tree.

Adam, typically, didn't arrive in time to do anything useful. Like help. He just stood there enjoying the view while he made fun of me, just he the way he always did. Calling me that ridiculous nickname.

Danger Mouse!

Maybe I should have called him Penfold. He did wear glasses back then. I suppose he's had his eyes lasered, because they are history. Not that I could ever think that straight when he was close. Not then. Not now, to be honest.

But I certainly fixed him today. I didn't fall into his lap as he suggested, I flattened him.

Tubby!

Well, okay, I'm no lightweight but he dines with presidents these days and you'd have thought he might have learned some manners to go with the designer suits, the luxurious bachelor apartment on the Quays. The success.

Maybe I should tell him how he got his job, that would wipe the smug smile off his face. But he's right. I need him as much as he needs me. And it's only temporary. He needs a nanny, someone who won't ask awkward questions - like where is the baby's mother. And I need a husband. Needs must...

A TINY PROBLEM

Hi, I'm Adam Wavell.

Liz is up to her eyes in what she describes as "stuff" at the moment. Putting her house on the market, packing for a delayed holiday, writing a book. Oh, and she has a cold. You get the picture.

She's rushed off her feet so she's asked me to drop by and tell you my story. Well, not just mine - it's May's story, too. May Coleridge.

May and I met at High School. I was the geeky kid living on a sink estate on the rough side of town with the family from hell and nothing but brains to commend me. She was the short, tubby girl from the big house who talked with a plum in her mouth and wore the school uniform in regulation style - you can imagine how that went down with the cool girls. Two outsiders living a world apart. Except she was always getting into trouble and I always seemed to be the one yanking her out of it - and getting yelled at for my pains.

Even so, I sort of liked her. She was a gutsy kid, and in the stables where she kept her waifs and strays she had her own kettle, a jar of instant coffee and a cake tin with the kind of cake that you couldn't buy in a supermarket. She was prepared to share in return for a hand with the animals, so we hung out there. Nothing heavy. She wasn't the kind of girl even a geek like me wanted to be seen out with.

I know what you're thinking. It was going to end in tears and you're right. It did. These days she crosses the street if she sees me coming and the only time we'd spoken in years was at town functions. May's family are big in the town. Charity, that sort of stuff. Of course these days, so am I, so that happens more often than she'd like. Tough. Suck it up, Miss Coleridge...

But, when my sister threw me for a loop by leaving her baby in my office, May Coleridge was the first person I thought of. Waifs and strays were right up her street. And true to form, I found her up a tree, rescuing one.

And also true to form, she fell out of it, right into my lap, so to speak. In more ways than one. (You can read how here)

It was one of those days when everything seems to be going wrong and then suddenly the sun breaks through and you have a chance to wipe out a memory of pain and humiliation that has haunted you for years.

Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold. There was just one problem with that. I seem to have left the pilot light on.

SOS: CONVENIENT HUSBAND REQUIRED is on sale now in paper and eBook form at eHarlequin and will be available retail in July. UK readers will have to wait until August, Australia and New Zealand, September.

THE GARDEN

I've been working very hard in the garden during the last couple of week, a fact I've been bewailing on Twitter.   Thorns in my hands, a nettle sting on the lip and quantities of ibuprofen for the back.

This fellow, gorgeous though he is, is no longer part of the scenary.

Shame, really. I do love dandelions, especially the silvery clocks, but I doubt I'll be without them for long because the entire lane has been golden with them for the last week or so.

Dandelions and the luscious frothy cow parsley have taken over from the bluebells and red campion, crowding in on the road and making visibility difficult. I've noticed the local authority are out slicing through it on the main roads in the cause of road safety. Hopefully we'll have ours for a few more days.

Not all is weeds, though. I've taken Rosie, the new camera, out for a walk and captured this luscious orange pansy in a pot on the deck of the Snap & Scribble shaking off a shower.

I did take a load of pictures of stocks and clematis and snowballs, but unfortunately, every time I lined up a shot, a little breeze decided to come out to play. I'll try again when the weather is kinder.

RESEARCH

I think one of the best things about starting a new book is the research. The excuse to browse for books -- my latest acquisition is OF SUGAR & SNOW, the history of ice cream making by Jeri Quinzio. Okay, so Nero poured honey onto snow, but actually, no, that's not ice cream!

I've also been having chats with the charming Ian at Mr Whippy, who has been giving me the lowdown on the how the music jingle works. I'd assumed something boring like a button. Apparently not.  Back in 1962 (which is when my heroine's ice cream van was on the road) the driver wound it up each time - he even sent me a photograph of the mechanism. Such tidbits of information are gems that the author can take full advantage of.

And then, of course, I had to buy a book about making ice cream. And I've been looking at eBay to check on ice cream makers - although I'm manfully resisting actually buying one.

I will, very soon, actually have to get down to writing, but for now I'm just having fun.

ELIZABETH OLDFIELD

I first met Elizabeth Oldfield when a group of Mills & Boon authors were invited to tea at the historic Brown's Hotel in Albemarle Street for afternoon tea, by the fabulous Charlotte Lamb. A very memorable occasion for a very new author.

We met in the cloakroom; I was trying to get my shaking legs under control, while she was so cool, so authorly. But then Elizabeth Oldfield was the author I'd been advised to read when my first Mills & Boon was turned down. She was a star, held up as an example, an author I should study if I was ever to hope to be published.

Reader, I studied her.




A couple of years ago, after a break from writing forty Mills & Boon romances to go travelling with her husband, Elizabeth published a mainstream women's fiction book called VINTAGE BABES and it was a true privilege to welcome her as a guest here on my blog so that she could share her new venture with us.

This week, Elizabeth lost a long battle with cancer and our thoughts are with her family and friends.

She will be much missed by all those who knew her, and by her many fans in all corners of the world who loved her books.

TRADITIONS

Following the Brenda Novak Auction, I’ve had several people ask me about the wonderful romantic tradition we have in Wales, of carving and giving a Love Spoon. Although the exact origins are unclear, the spoons are shaped with great care and devotion by their carvers and each spoon is unique.

The choice of spoon began as a practical thing. Wooden spoons were used to eat what is still a great national dish in Wales, a vegetable and lamb broth called Cawl. Love spoons were elaborate versions of the basic spoon, carved through long winter months by a young man for the girl he loved. The earliest surviving example, displayed in the St Fagans Museum of Welsh Life near Cardiff, http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/ dates from around 1667, although the tradition is probably far older.

Some are beautifully carved but even the most elaborate love spoon is carved from one piece of wood to show the skill of the carver many of whom were shy and unwilling to show their emotions. They would attempt to convey their true feelings through the use of various symbols and those that appear frequently include hearts, diamonds, to signify wealth, wheels, to represent the wheel of life and keys to denote security.

If the girl kept this present, all was well, but if she sent it back, she did not want him.
Some spoons include wooden chains, swivels and rings, the purpose being to make an object from one piece of wood, which seemed initially to be made from several pieces. The decoration of love spoons takes many forms to allow for the artistic expression of the carver and to give personal meaning to the design. My own personal love spoon, which has pride of place on the wall of our home, has two balls carved within a cage to indicate a hope for two children.

In the 1800s, when the Victorians began sending greeting cards, the tradition of the Welsh love spoons broadened to be given to family and friends and to mark special occasions, such as a birth or anniversary, although the original idea of a courting gift is still as strong.

The one in the photograph is a modern version with the handle formed from two daffodils – the Welsh national flower.

I’m wondering if any of you have a similar tradition? Something hand-crafted, or significant, to be given as a token of love. Do share!