It's His Kiss...

Two lovely bits of news this weekend!

My new Mills and Boon Cherish/Harlequin Romance, Vettori's Damsel in Distress - out later this year, has reached the semi-final of the Affaire de Coeur "It's His Kiss" competition!

If you'd like to read my entry and maybe vote, you can click here

The  voting panel is at the bottom of the page - it's just one click and then another to submit your entry.

Dante Vettori - this is him - will love you if you do!

And the second great piece of news is that For His Eyes Only, my last KISS, won the Cataromance Reviewers' Choice Award.

Doing the Snoopy dance here!

My year....

Some highlights of my year....

For His Eyes Only was published.

Anything But Vanilla shortlisted for the RoNA Rose!

 The Bride, the Baby and the Best Man re-issued as eBook

A new grandbaby - Etienne John - arrived on 16 October

Twenty-second anniveresary of first book celebrated sith a reissue in a lovely new cover!

End of year perfection with a two-in-one duet with the wonderful Donna Alward!

Spring into Writing with the 3 Big Cs

Spring is the time of year when the sap rises, the birds and bees get busy and maybe, just maybe, with the lengthening days, that neglected New Year resolution about writing a book — starting is just so hard — could be shaken out and given an airing.

So where do you begin a story? With the three big Cs.

You have an idea, but an idea isn’t a plot. A plot requires conflict, a conflict big enough to carry a book anywhere between 50,000 and 100,000 words. That’s not going to be something that could be cleared up if the two people involved sat down and actually talked things through. (Obviously, you can never let them have that conversation, but even so…) Imagine your heroine has a life or death goal and the hero is an immovable object blocking the way.

Which segues very neatly to the next big C - character. To have any kind of conflict you need protagonist and an antagonist. A heroine and a hero if you’re writing a traditional romance. Two people with opposing goals. (Or maybe, as in Ally Blake’s brilliant The Secret Wedding Dress, two people with exactly the same goal – except that, as their relationship grows, the goal posts shift).

Finally, once you have a conflict and the characters to battle it out, you need a crucible – a container that can withstand temperatures high enough to melt or otherwise alter its contents. A device, such as a journey, or house, or a problem they are both involved with, which will hold your characters together and change them forever.

Liz has written more than 60 romances. To find out how she does it, download her Little Book of Writing Romance from any eBook retailer. For more information and to check out her latest releases surf to Liz's website

 

Easter – a food feast by Liz Fielding

Think Easter treats and the first thing that will come to mind is the chocolate egg. My mother always said that the chocolate in Easter eggs was better than any other and I imagine it’s because it has to be very smooth to get that thin, crisp shell. They are still, even with all the amazing chocolate on sale, a very special treat.

But Easter isn’t just about eggs.

It starts on Shrove Tuesday with the pancakes. We have ours exactly the way my mother made them. Thin pancakes, sprinkled with sugar and lemon juice and folded into quarters.

Then comes the Simnel cake, traditionally baked for Mothering Sunday. In the UK we have our very traditional Mother’s Day on the fourth Sunday in Lent, a day when girls in “service” were given time off to visit their mothers. They took home a cake and the wild flowers they picked as they walked home as gifts.

Then on Good Friday we have Hot Cross Buns. Fresh, soft, full of fruit and spices and buttered. I have to confess that these go on sale not long after Christmas and this last weekend my daughter brought us some particularly luscious ones with chocolate, orange and caramel. Yum.

And finally, Easter Day – the time for chocolate eggs and something very special for lunch. A turkey, maybe, if there’s to be a big family gathering, or a piece of pork roasted until the crackling is golden.

What special treats do you look forward to at this time of year? What are your special traditions?

Liz's latest romance, For His Eyes Only, published by Harlequin KISS is available now. You can find her at her website








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Spring Fling by Liz Fielding

Spring has inspired poets throughout the ages. I came across this poem recently and enjoyed it so much I thought I'd share.

After months of waiting, spring has come at last,
enjoy it while you can it all goes oh so fast.
Spring is here. Spring has finally come...
It's the time for cheer, blossoming flowers, and happy dance.
The warm weather and sweet romance.
Spring is here. Spring has finally come...
Just a small town waitress who barely made enough to live off of,
She didn't believe in love.
A city bad boy, the new outcast,
running from a real hard past.
 

Spring is here. Spring has finally come...
Love is in the air, first crushes and harmless flirting,
the beginnings of a spring fling.
Bittersweet kisses and endless bliss.
Enjoy it while you can it'll all go oh so fast.
Spring is here. Spring has finally come...
As time flies by, spring quickly comes to an end.
He says goodbye, leaving her with nothing but a broken heart to mend.
Spring is gone. It all went by oh too fast.
As she cries, she begins to ask god why?
It takes a moment, but she soon realizes...
It was just a spring fling,
it never meant a thing.

Ivory Strife

What is your favourite spring poem?

Liz's latest romance, For His Eyes Only, published by Harlequin KISS is available now. You can find her at her website

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Chocolate Box Spring Blog Hop

Welcome to the Chocolate Box Spring Blog Hop. There'll be a load of posts during April and May from all the member of the Chocolate Box Blog - and a load of prizes including t-shirts, books from fabulous writers such as Donna Alward, Shirley Jump, Susan Meier, Kate Hardy, Jackie Braun, Ami Weaver, Samantha Hunter, Barbara Wallace and Michelle Douglas and - obviously - chocolate! There should be a rafflecopter at the end of this post - if I can ever get it to work - and the more things you click, the more chances to win. :)

My first post is on the colours of spring...

For me the great joy of spring is waking up from the black/grey/white palette of winter to a burst of yellows, purples, pinks as the spring flowers put on a look-at-me show.

Snowdrops are brilliant, but there is nothing like the zingy yellow of the daffodils and this year they have been a joy both in the garden and the little tete-a-tetes mixed with grape hyacinths in “welcome” pots by the front door.

After a particularly nasty winter – not particularly cold here, just endless rain – it seems that the flowers can’t wait to put on a show.

White and pink blossom is breaking out everywhere. The violets planted last autumn are in full flower. The stunning blue of the pulmonarias is lighting up a dark corner and golden wallflowers are filling the air with luscious scent. And across the road we look out on the gorgeous deep pink magnolia in a neighbour’s garden.

Even the tulips, that end-of-spring favourite, are sticking up fat green buds, in a hurry to join the show.

What flower says to you that winter is over, puts a bounce in your step, makes you smile?

Liz's latest romance, For His Eyes Only, published by Harlequin KISS is available now. You can find her at her website

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