HOORAY!

That cheer is a slightly manic response to the fact that I have, finally, delivered the pineapple/porcupine book to my editor. I anticipate a fairly swift boomerang response in the form of revisions, since it's long overdue and has only days before it's due in copyediting. I had a working title of THE BACHELOR'S BABY PROPOSAL, but the powers that be have given it the title SECRET BABY, SURPRISE PARENTS.

It's really complicated...

But onwards and upwards. The celebrations have been in hiatus while I wrote until I fell asleep with my face in the keyboard, but this week the lovely Melissa McClone is my guest. She started her writing life with Silhouette but migrated to Harlequin Romance when the lines integrated at the beginning of last year. When she's not writing, or being a mom, she loves to curl up on the couch with a cup of tea, her cats and a good book. Something of a soul mate, then. I really, really miss having a cat.

Welcome, Melissa. Tell us about yourself and the exciting WEDDING PLANNERS series.

Wow! Fifty books, Liz. What an awesome accomplishment. I'm currently writing number fifteen. And I'm counting the days until it's out of here. Fifty seems a lifetime away at the moment! Congrats on winning the RT Achievement Award for Love & Laughter, too. Quite the year you're having! Thanks for letting me apart of it.

Being a writer is often a lonely endeavor. We work in solitude (well, as much kids, pets and husbands allow!) as we create our fictional worlds and characters. Making friends, especially authors who write for the same line, is often hard to do in person since Mills & Boon authors live all over the globe, but the Internet has provided a way, and a lifeline, to connect with other writers.

I'm one of six former Silhouette Romance authors who met through a Yahoo group created after we were told our line was going to cease publication. We all had been invited to submit to the new Harlequin Romance line based out of the Mills & Boon office in England and were a bit nervous about what was happening. Let's face it, change is never easy especially when something is totally unknown. The email loop provided us a way to ask questions, get advice and support each other as we made the transition to the new line and editorial staff. A friendship developed even though all but a couple of us had never met in person. Soon we were not only talking about our writing, but our personal lives.

One day, Shirley Jump suggested we write a continuity series together. The idea was friends writing about friends. She even had a first scene drafted and posted it to the loop. We all loved the idea and pretty much ran with it.

The emails were literally flying. It was hard to keep up with all the various time zones and continents involved in the brainstorming. Ideas, characters, plots. Before we knew it, we had a six book series plotted about friends who are Boston wedding planners. We thought our concept was, well, perfect, but our opinion didn't matter. We had to wait to see what the editors at Mills & Boon thought first.

Fortunately, the editors agreed and The Wedding Planners series was born. The first book, Sweetheart Lost and Found by Shirley Jump was an April release. The Heir's Convenient Wife by Myrna Mackenzie was out in May. My SOS Marry Me! is a June release. Winning the Single Mom's Heart by Linda Goodnight will be out in July. Millionaire Dad, Nanny Needed by Susan Meier follows in August. And The Bridegroom's Secret by Melissa James finishes up the series in September.

Once all the books were turned in, we created a blog. In addition to posts by the six of us, you'll find guest blogging by romance authors (Liz is one!), wedding experts and characters from the six books. We run a monthly contest, too.

To give you a taste of The Wedding Planners, here's an excerpt from a scene in Chapter One of my book SOS MARRY ME!

Serena had a checklist for her Mr. Right: polite, attentive, articulate, smartly tailored. All qualities her parents had taught her to value. All qualities Rupert had possessed in spades.

All qualities Kane Wiley lacked.

She unfastened her seatbelt and moved back to where he'd secured the gowns.

What had Belle gotten her into?

Serena checked each of the dress bags. She repositioned three of them. Not much, but she felt better taking control. That is, taking care of her dresses. That was her job even if Kane didn't seem to realize that.

The man was arrogant and rude, the polar opposite of his kind and generous father, who epitomized a true gentleman. If not for the price of the flight--free, thanks to Charlie--and the ability to personally oversee the transport of the gowns, Serena would have found another way to Seattle. But any extra money the Wedding Belles had was going into a fund to pay for their cherished assistant's wedding next June. They couldn't afford to be too choosy after losing money on the Vandiver cancellation and the negative publicity that followed.

She thought about how much Julie and Matt were in love. Her other friends, too. Serena would find the same kind of love, the same kind of forever love, they had found. All she needed was her Mr. Right. One who just didn't look good on paper, but who she could love, too.

Looking out a window, she caught a glimpse of Kane as he performed his preflight walk-around. Light glinted off his sun-streaked light brown hair that fell past the collar of his dark leather jacket. A jacket that emphasized his broad shoulders.

Talk about Mr. Wrong.

Some women might find him good-looking. If they liked tall, classically handsome guys with chiseled jaw lines, square chins, sharpened noses and intense brown eyes.

Serena didn't object to any of those things, exactly. She just preferred them packaged in a suit and tie, and paired with a short, styled haircut and clean-shaven face. She didn't want a man who looked as if he'd rolled out of bed, bypassed the razor and brushed his fingers through his hair as an afterthought.

He glanced up at the plane, at the window she stared out of to be exact. His gaze met her. His eyes, the same color of her favorite dark chocolate, made her heart bump.

Uh-oh.

She hurried back to her seat, sunk into the comfortable leather club chair and fastened her seatbelt. The temperature in the cabin seemed to rise even though the door was still opened. She removed her coat, picked up her sketchpad and fanned herself.

What was the matter with her? Of course, she hadn't been sleeping well lately. Or eating, either. One good meal, and she'd feel better.

She'd like to take a bite out of Kane.

"Hot?"

Her sketchpad fell onto her lap. She looked up.

Kane stood at the entrance to the plane. The interior suddenly seemed smaller. He appeared larger. She gulped.

"Excuse me?" Serena asked.

"Are you hot?"

"I-I..." Something about him made her flustered and tongue-tied and heated. She didn't like the feelings, either. "I'm a little warm."


Serena has a checklist for her Mr. Right. What would be (or was if you've already found him!) on your checklist for your Mr. Right? A winner will be chosen from those who answer in the comment section.

The prize is an autographed copy of my June release SOS Marry Me! on sale June 10th.

SORRY...

I'm being a neglectful blogger just at the moment. Major problems with the wip are the main reason, but it does seem, finally, to be making sense.

First up, a big thank you to Michelle Douglas for being such a star last week. The winner of her book is Dina -- so fire in an email with your snail mail addy to liz @lizfielding.com, Dina and I'll pass it along. And thanks to everybody for joining in the fun.

I have my own bit of news -- a totally thrilling review for The Bride's Baby (which is one of the reasons we're having this celebration. remember!).

"Liz Fielding’s heartwarming and enthralling romances are in a class of their own! In The Bride’s Baby, she has written a wonderfully moving story of hope, loss, pain and second chances that just left me breathless! Peopled with richly believable characters and sprinkled with plenty of warmth, charm and heart, The Bride’s Baby is another spellbinding romance by a writer readers the world over adore... "

For more go to Cataromance

And while I'm talking about The Bride's Baby, I'm blogging over at The Wedding Planner's blog and also helping the lovely Jessica Hart celebrate her own anniversary this week. There are books to win!

Okay, that's all about me for this week. Time to introduce this week's guest, the totally amazing and all round lovely person, Kate Hardy.

What can I tell you about Kate? That she's known as Scary Kate because she writes at the speed of light? That she has a chocolate addiction that would rival any of my heroines? That she is the most wonderful friend, fabulous author and winner of this year's Romance Prize for the emotionally rivetting Breakfast at Giovanni's aka In Bed with Her Italian Boss (see below). Pardon me, while sigh over Giovanni.

Oh, yes, and she has a cover fairy...

Jealous of The Doctor's Royal Love-Child? Moi?

Enough -- here's Kate...


I’m so pleased to be here, celebrating the publication of Liz Fielding’s 50th romance for Mills and Boon – and I’m thrilled to be shelfmates with her in such a special month.

I’ve loved Liz’s books for many years – and for many reasons. The snappy dialogue, the one-liners that as a writer you just wish you’d thought of first, the gorgeous heroes it’s so easy to fall in love with, the heroines you want to be best friends with, the clever twists, the heartwarming secondaries you’d rather like to be part of your own social network...

Liz’s books are, quite simply, fabulous reads. I’d say she’s written four out of five of my all-time favourite romances. And whenever things turn rocky in real life, it’s one of Liz’s books I always choose to give me a respite – she might make me cry, but at the end I’ll have a smile on my face and be able to go on with the show, because the sheer warmth of the worlds Liz creates is like having a hug from a really good friend. (Actually, I have this theory that authors are like their books. Liz is just as warm and lovely in person as her books are.)

As I have two releases this month, I’m going to offer two books up for grabs: a copy of In Bed With Her Italian Boss (the US release of Breakfast at Giovanni’s) and The Doctor’s Royal Love-Child (the Medical Romance that’s on the shelves in the UK this month along with Liz’s The Bride’s Baby).

To be in with a chance to win, simply tell me what puts a smile on your face, and I’ll draw a name out of the hat.

Oh, yes. Excerpt. I nearly forgot. Hmm, which book? Which hero? I’m almost tempted to give you the scene with Giovanni that’s all Natasha Oakley’s fault (she told me a fact about one of my favourite actors that set a major lightbulb pinging). But I guess we should begin at the beginning… and as I’ve banged on a bit about Gio on my own blog (it was my 25th book and did something very special for me in M&B’s centenary year), then I’ll give you the opening of The Doctor’s Royal Love-Child.

Dragan Lovak is the Croatian doctor with a haunting past, and Melinda Fortesque is the village vet… or is she? (Note that this time it’s NOT the hero who’s Italian… and yeah, there’s food involved. It’s a Kate Hardy book. Of course there’s food involved…)

***

‘Fancy seeing you here, Dr Lovak,’ Melinda said with a grin as Dragan wound down the window of his car. ‘Anyone would think I had matched my call lists to yours.’

Knowing that she’d done exactly that when she’d called him after her morning’s surgery – except his first call had taken a little longer than he’d expected, which was why he was arriving at the boarding kennels just as she was leaving – Dragan smiled back. ‘Tut, tut, Ms Fortesque. Suggest things like that and people might start to talk.’

‘If they do, I’ll just tell them I wanted to check on my favourite patient and see how her leg’s doing. Isn’t that right, Bramble?’ Melinda looked over Dragan’s shoulder at the flatcoat retriever they’d rescued a little over three months before, who was lying on a blanket in the back of his car.

The dog’s tail thumped loudly, and she gave a soft answering woof.

‘Hear that? Bramble says she’ll be my alibi. Bella ragazza.’ Melinda leaned in through the open window and stole a kiss from Dragan. ‘Though I think people might have already started to guess, amore mio. Do you know how many people this last month have told me what a wonderful doctor you are?’

‘Funny, that. People have been singing your praises to me, too.’ He stole a kiss right back. ‘But that’s the thing about living in a place like Penhally. Everybody knows everything about everyone.’ Or nearly everything. So, despite the fact that they’d kept their relationship low-key, he was pretty sure that everybody in Penhally knew that the vet and the doctor were an item.

For a moment, he could’ve sworn that worry flashed into Melinda’s gorgeous blue eyes. But then the expression was gone again. No, he must be imagining things. And what did Melinda have to hide, anyway? She’d come to England on holiday years ago, fallen in love with the country, and decided to settle here and train to be a vet.

Not so very different from himself. Although holidays had been the last thing on his mind when he’d walked off that boat, seventeen years ago, he too had fallen in love with England. And he was as settled here in Cornwall as he’d ever be anywhere. The wild Atlantic wasn’t quite the same as the Adriatic, but at least the sound of the sea could still lull him to sleep at night.

‘Do you have time for lunch?’ she asked.

He shook his head. ‘Sorry. I’m already behind schedule. And I really can’t keep my patients waiting.’

‘Of course you can’t.’ She stroked his cheek. ‘I’ll cook for us tonight, then. Your place.’

He turned his head to press a kiss into her palm. ‘That would be lovely. Though you don’t have to cook for me, Melinda. I’m perfectly capable of doing it.’

She scoffed and put her hands on her hips, shaking her head at him as he got out of the car. ‘Dragan Lovak, you know as well as I do that you never cook. That if I let you, you’d live on bread and cheese and cold meats and salad – even in the middle of winter.’

He flapped a dismissive hand. ‘Well. Food doesn’t have to be hot. It’s fuel.’

‘It’s much more than that,’ she told him. ‘You don’t just shovel down calories like a Ferrari taking on petrol at a pit stop. Food is a pleasure. Something to be enjoyed.’

***

Congratulations on your 50th book, Liz. And here’s to many, many more.


***

Thanks, Kate!

You'll find more about In Bed With Her Italian Boss here And on The Doctor's Royal Love-Child here

And because obviously writing a gazillion books a year is not enough for Scary Kate, you'll find her endlessly entertaining blog here