Fun and fantasy...

I am so fortunate that Toni Sands, a member of the Carmarthen Chapter of the Romantic Novelists Association lives very near near me. We meet for coffee as often as we can - not often enough, we're both very busy - to chat about writing, about plots, ideas and fun.

We went to the RNA Conference together last year at Caerleon and had a ball. (This is us with Jennifer Taylor, Mills and Boon Medical Author, having a good time at the gala dinner!)

Sandra is much published in the short story and novella market (see Traded Innocence below) but has recently had her first full length novel, ORCHID PINK, published. It's a little bit naughty (actually very naughty) - you have been warned.

Today Sandra is my guest and she sharing some thoughts on writing romantic fiction…

How thoughtful to place a mural on the ceiling. Peter Rabbit nibbled on a bright green lettuce leaf and Eva Peron waved from her wrought-iron balcony above the black leather bunk where I lay.


The mind scanner, trim in pristine white coat, moved the ultra-sound probe across my forehead. ‘It’s a bit hot in here,’ she said. ‘Erm, do you by any chance write erotica?’


I dragged myself back from the brink of Alice’s rabbit hole. ‘I do,’ I said. ‘Is there a problem?’


‘Not at all. In fact there’s a queue of characters waiting. Actually,’ she lowered her voice,’ I’d rather like some of what they’re having. Oh, wow. There’s someone here I wouldn’t mind meeting.’


I wondered whether sexy smuggler Jac still hung around, hoping for another outing. Maybe Adelaide was there too – longing to travel to France with her lover. But the mind scanner moved on.


‘Here’s a shape shifter literally panting for release,’ she said. ‘Can’t you do something about that? He or it could probably take you to the Human Rights’ Court for not allowing him his own story.’


Did she mean Keir? He’s the hero in my new contemporary romance and I’d even pictured him as a snow leopard with hypnotic eyes and a Clint Eastwood prowl.


‘Around the area of your heart,’ she continued, 'there’s a distinct pink tinge. You have a whole cast of characters longing to escape. Love affairs between dolly birds and dishy chaps in sports cars ... so what’s this village back in the seventies? You couldn’t make this stuff up. And now there’s a pilot called Stan!’

He of the whispering fingers, I thought. What’s he doing back? Guiltily I remembered that website dealing in stories that don’t fit the women’s magazine market. Thanks, Stan. I’ll certainly give that a whirl. It’s time you landed happily.


The therapist was off again. ‘Definitely you have a battle going on between the fluffy pink clouds and the black satin sheets.’ She paused. ‘Mills and Boon has formed quite a colony here, just below your heart. You might try a good herbal remedy to wash your system out but - oh, I don’t know. You’ve become quite attached to this Dr Keir Harrison, haven’t you?’


I didn’t answer.


‘Goodness!’ The probe paused.


‘What seems to be the problem?’ I asked. Usually it’s the therapist who says that to the patient.


‘Laughter. Often you try to repress it but it bubbles up. I can’t do anything for that, I’m afraid. Did you by any chance get the giggles in church as a child?’

Yes, as well as in the Chemistry lab, in the Geography Room and on the netball court. I think it was all those bottoms clad in navy blue knickers. It happened a lot at college and when I worked in aviation, laughter hung around the flight deck and the cabin. It’s always there – sometimes hard to reach in times of darkness but never far from the surface. I don’t think it’s going to go away. In fact I hope it never does.

(Note from Liz: You only have to look at that wicked grin to know that Toni got up to all sorts in the Chemistry Lab!)

Thank you, Liz, for inviting me. I’m honoured to be here and I hope your readers enjoy my tongue-in-cheek therapy session. If anyone wishes to learn more about my novel, Orchid Pink or forthcoming novella, Traded Innocence, please visit my website I can be contacted there or, please follow me on Twitter @tonisands

A NEW AUTHOR...

I'm part of the Carmarthen Chapter of the Romantic Novelists' Association here in the UK. I occasionally meet with other members for coffee and once in a while we all get together and have lunch to talk books, writing and quality puddings.

It's also a treat to celebrate a new publication by a friend and I'm delighted to present the first full length book, SUDDENLY YOU KNOW, by one of our members, Toni Sands.

Ambitious and independent thirtysomething Tanith has turned down not one, but two eligible men. As she starts work in a UK health store after a sizzling summer job in Majorca, she's determined to remain immune to both the icy charms of exec Adam and sexy, spiky-haired musician Rupe.

But avoiding romantic mayhem without resorting to comfort eating is a challenge, especially when confronted with Parents Behaving Badly, a flat-mate who falls for a love rat and a scheming colleague. With the odds against her, can Tanith find the strength to unravel the chaos, overcome her hang-ups and discover that love and passion are indeed within her reach?

Here's an extract, to whet your appetite...

Palma Airport concourse buzzed. Hellos and goodbyes, laughter and the whimper of a twitchy toddler hung in the recycled air while scents from the duty-free flirted with the coffee whiff. But flickering monitors and bilingual announcements faded as Tanith Russell felt Carlos’ arms envelope her like a smooth chocolate couverture.

“Adios, mi amor. I shall miss you so much.”

Crushed against his muscular chest, she asked herself for the millionth time if she were totally sane. Abandoning a Majorcan lover who roused her nerve endings to red alert with one touch of his lips had to be madness, didn’t it? Especially as he’d begun referring to her as his ‘significant other.’ And leaving the lush surroundings of the tennis resort where she’d worked a six month coaching contract was worse than the prospect of a wet Wimbledon fortnight.

This the woman who hated the business of flying; always putting her passport in the wrong pocket, always forgetting to fasten her seatbelt and always desperately needing a wee just as the cabin crew were performing synchronised safety procedures. So, why was she about to shut herself inside an airborne sardine tin for the second time this year?

For heaven’s sake - my decision’s made and I know it’s for the best. It’s time I stopped playing at life and went home to get on with it. My parents and my best friend need me much more than Carlos does.

“Adios, Carlos. Mmm.” Tanith hated goodbyes. “Thanks again for collecting George Clooney.”

“No problem. I hope he bring your friend happiness.” He pronounced the last word as ‘a penis,’ triggering Tanith’s gleeful snort; hastily disguised as a cough. The full-size cardboard publicity figure of the A-list heart-throb would no doubt ramp up her best friend’s pulse, but Tanith was beginning to regret her prank; especially when she contemplated toting Gorgeous George from the Heathrow baggage carousel to the Reading coach stop.

With a display of reluctance that would have won him a place at RADA, Carlos surrendered Tanith to the queue for Security, stretching out his arms in a Brief Encounter moment. She could almost hear plaintive piano chords as the human crocodile inched her towards the barrier. But, one last glance over her shoulder revealed Carlos running his fingers through his lustrous locks with one hand while the other punched a number into his phone. Clearly he was sizing up the straggle of pasty-limbed tourists filtering from the arrivals hall, seeking fun and romance in the October sunshine before succumbing to the dank embrace of the UK autumn.

Tanith applied for the coaching job at the Steve Dennis Tennis Resort purely on a whim after she disengaged herself from fiancé Will. They’d dated for two years before he asked her to move permanently into his king size bed, clinching the deal with lunch in a restaurant adjoining a chic jewellery store.

“What took you so long?” This comment from best friend Becky after Tanith de-activated the ticking time bomb of wedding plans.

“Was it so obvious?”

“Only to me,” said Becky. “But even I never suspected you possessed such self-flagellating tendencies.”

Disenchanted with her teaching job and conscious of colleagues eyeing her bare ring finger, Tanith worked the rest of the term. Temporarily back at her parents’ and sharing her bed with Douglas, her single male teddy-bear, she’d begun researching coaching jobs abroad.

**

For more information on Suddenly You Know, check out Toni's website here or you can find it online here --



Also from Waterstones and W H Smith