THE SHEIKH AS HERO

Today is the day when I have to do all the things I've been putting off. My accounts are top of the list -- oh, joy.

Think of me when you're all out having fun!

I also have to order flowers for two lots of birthdays. (June is the busiest month in our family -- we have four big birthdays!) I've been online to do this at least three times and it's still not done.

Today.

No excuses.

Then I have to get to grips with the sheikh novella I have to deliver by the end of August -- except I haven't got that long because the book after that is due at the end of October.

The good news is that the plot fairy visited yesterday in the unexpected guise of the dh. He doesn't usually take much interest, but he's always more interested in the sheikhs since he's trodden the ground, so to speak, and at one time spoke Arabic very well. It's been a long time since he's had any practice but he came up with a terrific idea for a plot -- once I'd managed to get him off the crashed helicopter scenario. And his "crashed car" opening was so similar to the one I used in THE SHEIKH'S GUARDED HEART, that I could almost believe he'd been reading it. But how likely is that?

Once we'd got the transport out of the way and he began seriously putting his mind to the task he came up with something really excellent. Now I just have to get it out of the realms of Tomb Raider and into the guise of a "Romance". And find suitable names for both sheikh and heroine -- which can take days. It's so much easier when you a character from a previous book, which is what happened with THE SHEIKH'S UNSUITABLE BRIDE -- out in January.

In the meantime, I've posted my article, THE SHEIKH AS HERO, that I wrote for a German magazine, here.

Hi everyone

Yes, it me again – Ellie – since Liz is still head down, battling with the final scenes of her latest book. Something unexpected came up that changed everything, as it does in books – believe me, this is something I know about first hand – which has meant going back and sorting out some stuff. She’s also blogging over at eHarlequin this month – she thought it was going to be for a week! – and so she’s asked me to tell you her news. Okay, here goes...

Remember this?

“...he caught her at the waist, lifting her, holding her to him as if she were the last woman on earth, while his mouth, hard, almost desperate, obliterated everything but the sensory seduction of his body; the silky sweep of his hair against her cheek, the touch of his fingers at her nape, the salty, dusty taste of his skin.

“And, finally, she understood the force that drove men and women to cross continents, conquer nations, give up their lives.”

It’s from THE SHEIKH’S GUARDED HEART and the really good news is that it’s on sale in Germany at the moment. There’s also a review and, possibly, an article Liz wrote on “The Sheikh” as hero for the German Loveletter Magazin. She’ll post it on her website at the end May when it’s updated, so that those of us who are a little rusty in German, can read it for ourselves.

The bad news -- and I’m in total agreement with Liz on this -- is the cover.

Gentle, reserved Lucy would never be seen dead in a dress like that. Liz was visiting with her recently when Han’s cousin Zahir was getting himself into a bit of bother – she’s going to be a real friend to Diana (THE SHEIKH’S UNSUITABLE BRIDE) – and believe me, she was not amused! Of course Han didn’t appear in a tux, either. But a tux is such a universally gorgeous item of clothing that it doesn’t matter. That dress, however, is something else...