SO WHAT AM I READING?

I have a pile of books on my bedside table. A Medical Romance, THE ITALIAN DOCTOR’S BRIDE, from brand new author Margaret McDonagh, a luscious sheikh, AT THE SHEIKH’S COMMAND, from Kate Walker, THEIR CHRISTMAS DREAM COME TRUE by the lovely Kate Hardy. The November Bella Brides story (a Romantic Times TOP PICK), MARRIED UNDER THE MISTLETOE, by Linda Goodnight (just the thing to get me in the mood to start planning for the holiday) and How I Write, by Janet Evanovitch.

The last is irritating me. I’d anticipated an exuberant book that shared the experience of writing the Stephanie Plum stories; too late, I’ve discovered that this is no more than a rehash of answers to questions from readers and writers on her website and that I could have read it all for free. Entertaining, and I’m sure it will be hugely useful to new writers; it just wasn’t what I expected.

What I did read yesterday – I’d finished the revisions on The Journey Home and I owed myself a treat – was ACCEPTING THE BOSS’S PROPOSAL by Natasha Oakley. And treat is the word.

The cover, I have to say, doesn’t do this book justice. Those skyscrapers, that “city slicker” look suggest something chick-litty that, to be honest, put me off buying it. I should have known better – I’ve had some clunkers of covers of my own -- and when, on another blog I read this snippet from the moment when Miles, the hero, wished the ground would open and swallow him whole ...

“It was up there in number one slot along with the time his mother had given a television interview explaining that he’d been conceived in a moment of ‘peace and meditation’...”

... I knew he was a hero I had to know and clicked the “Romance”link at Mills & Boon link and pressed the “buy now” button.

I am so glad I did.

This book is engaging, warm-hearted, in turns funny and touching as it shares the journey of two brittle people discovering that, despite all evidence to the contrary, till-death-us-do-part love is a possibility. This isn’t a book that turns on a sixpence. Incredulity was not stretched. There’s real growth here. A real “Romance”. Definitely a keeper.

I’m sorry I judged your book by its cover, Natasha. Next time I’ll just look at the name and know I’m in for a good time.

LONDON, FOOD, RITA

London, I have to say, was fun.

Despite having taking a tumble over a step a couple of days before I was due to put on my highest heels, leaving me with only one pair of (very flat) shoes that I could actually get over my poor swollen foot, I had the best time.

My first engagement was lunch with Karin Stoecker, Editorial Director of HMB, and editors Kimberley Young , Bryony Green and Jo Carr, seen in the picture below on the steps of Locanda Locatelli, the hottest place to eat in London right now. (Yes, there is one of me, but I’m squinting, and besides, you all know what I look like.)



One editor, I shall not embarrass her by naming names, totally lost it and winked at one of the luscious Italian waiters and everyone went home drooling after the seriously alpha Giorgio Locatelli passed within touching distance; you can trust me when I say that the cover headline on the Observer food magazine this week “Local Boy Makes God”, did not exaggerate. *g* And that was before the food about which I shall say only this -- “White Chocolate Soup with Pistachio Ice Cream”...

(I know I promised pictures of good looking men, but I haven’t yet found one that does Giorgio justice, but be assured that I have found my Italian hero!)

The following day I met up with thirty or so fellow authors, including Harlequin Romance Authors Jessica Hart, Natasha Oakley, Trish Wiley, Lucy Gordon, Sophie Weston, Fiona Harper and Caroline Anderson, as well as all the usual suspects, for our annual lunch at the RAF club, followed later by a champagne reception at Brookes’ in St James’s Street (where I met Biddy on the doorstep as she dropped her keys off for Julie Cohen, who is blooming, beautifully, btw.

This was the moment that I took possession of Rita II. Sorry, no photo -- my grin is too wide to get on the blog!

COULD YOU BE THE NEXT BIG NAME IN ROMANTIC FICTION?

In the UK this week, Woman's Weekly and Mills & Boon have teamed up to launch a short story competition.

How to Enter

Write a short romance story of 1,500 words, suitable for the new Mills & Boon "Romance" series and Woman's Weekly and send it with the coupon in the magazine by 30 November 2006.

First Prize

* Dell laptop
* Winning story published in Woman's Weekly and on-line on the Mills & Boon website
* 12 months subscription to the Romance series
* Consultation with a Mills & Boon editor (and travel allowance up to £50)

Three runners-up will receive

* 12 months subcriptions to Romance series
* Your story online at Mills & Boon website
* Consultation with a Mills & Boon editor (including travel allowance up to £50)

There's also a special 5 M&B "Romance" books for the price of 4 at W H Smith (including The Sheikh's Guarded Heart!).

Go to it!

MORE ITALY...

Okay, you've had the pretty pictures, now it's time for the food! You can't go to Italy and not eat pizza, right? This was a Quatre Staggione... and I'm (almost) ashamed to say that I ate most of it.



And here are the little "mignon", made by yet another Anna. I had a fruit tart, a rum baba and one of those little almond triangles...



And here we are in Sora market buying cheese, proscuitto and sausage. Yes, that is my hand taking the sample!



Now back to the diet!

ITALY IS BELLISSIMA...

First I have to say that this trip was all work. Honestly. Every bit of my stay involved research for my next book. Serious note taking was involved. Hundreds of photographs were taken. An enormous amount of wandering through markets, haggling for bargains (a heroine needs to do stuff like that), trying on shoes, checking out handbags. Serious shopping. This was important, serious Work.

But then again, working in Italy is not like working at home. The warmth, the colour, the elegance, the relaxed attitude to life, the sheer joy of the dolce vita. The fact that given the slightest excuse Italians will let off the kind of firework display that makes November 5th look very sad. While I was there they had a firework competition. Imagine firework display teams trying to outdo each other in the brilliance of their shows. Italian firework display teams. And no rain!

Well, actually we did have some rain. Not the grey, dreary stuff that goes on for days, but exciting, macho rain accompanied by thunder and lightning, with, of course, a rainbow when the sun broke through.

We stayed with friends in Isola del Liri in the Comino Valley -- north of Naples, south of Rome – and here’s the view that was all mine for ten days.

The mountains are spectacular, the hill top towns ancient.


This -- and the narrow lane above -- is in Arpino, where Cicero and Agrippa were born and in the piazza (perfect for people watching over an expresso), a Roman pavement -- along which they undoubted walked -- is being excavated. Of course, when I saw a Ducati (serious hero transport) parked by the side of the road, I couldn’t resist taking a picture of that, too.

We spent a day visiting Monte Cassino, reduced to rubble in WWII, but now completely rebuilt and stunningly beautiful.

And at the monastery of Casa Mari, where the church windows are made of golden alabaster. We were lucky enough to witness the arrival of a bride, joining in the applause as she walked up the steps of the church to meet her groom.

Afterwards we drove to a nearby lake and I want you to imagine me sitting here, a glass of wine in one hand, nibbling an olive while the cicadas serenaded me and the sun beat down. All in the name of research, naturally.


Since at least part of my book will be set in Bella Maria, I had to get fully into the spirit of the thing with the food. There was the fabulous pasta made by Anna di Vito (cousin of the more famous Danny) who, incidentally, is a huge Liz Fielding fan. And I wanted to show you a picture of the “mignon”, the most elegant end to a wonderful Sunday lunch; miniature versions of the full size cakes, each one a mouthful of heaven. And unlike the big versions, you can try, um, quite a lot! Blogger, however, is being unco-operative! This has rescued you from seeing me shell-shocked by both pizza and ice cream!

Shopping in Sora market was fun. This is Marco, whose Papa sold the most beautiful tablecloths.

I could go on indefinitely about what a wonderful time I had, but now I have to go and put all that exhaustive research into a book. I just hope I did enough ... it would be tragic if I had to go back and check out some detail I’d missed, wouldn’t it?

Chat among yourselves for a while, or better yet, pop over to the pink heart blog to meet up with like minded poeple.

I'll be back with a notebook full of ideas very soon.

Ciao!

NOW THIS IS A REVIEW!

I've just received this review from Cataromance of my September Harlequin "Romance" and Mills & Boon "Romance", THE SHEIKH'S GUARDED HEART.

To say I'm thrilled might just be British understatement at it's most understated!

"In her latest romance, multi award-winning author Liz Fielding sweeps her readers off to the desert of Ramal Hamrah where Lucy Forrester is trying to find the man who has cheated her out of her money and broken her heart in the process. Lucy, unused to the desert roads, is driving a 4X4 vehicle when she suddenly has an accident and is saved by Sheikh Hanif, who takes Lucy into his home to recover from her accident.

"Having been abandoned by her mother and raised by her grandmother who has done nothing but instill fear in her, Lucy is unused to the tender care which Hanif lavishes onto her and for the first time in her life she feels wanted and welcome. Before she knows it, Lucy finds herself falling in love with the gorgeous Sheikh, but Hanif is a tortured soul whose past demons prevent him from moving forward.

"Is Lucy the woman who can show Hanif the way forward and heal his wounds? And will she let her past fears get in the way of her future?

"In THE SHEIKH'S GUARDED HEART, Liz Fielding will captivate her readers with a spellbinding romance which will tug at their heartstrings, move them to tears, make them smile and make them fall in love all over again! Engrossing, poignant and impossible to put down, in The Sheikh’s Guarded Heart Liz Fielding takes her readers on an emotional rollercoaster ride where they shall see her two characters grow from being two vulnerable people into stronger human beings.

"The Sheikh’s Guarded Heart’s irresistible blend of master storytelling, emotional drama, tender passion and moving romance makes this another winner for the supremely talented Liz Fielding!"

It's sold out at the Mills & Boon website, so if you live in the UK, click here if you want to buy the book.

If you're in Australia, click here

I'm under the grill -- um, spotlight -- today at The Pink Heart Society Blog. If you want to come over and baste me, click the link.

And we have the new Harlequin Romance covers for October online at the Harlequin Romance Authors Blog now. We think they're gorgeous!

COMPETITION RESULT!

I had a lot of fun making little pieces of paper with the names of all the draw entries and putting them in the dh's Panama hat for him to draw out the lucky winner.

Serena, my darling, your name was on the paper so if you'll email me, I'll organise your prize. Unless you do it this weekend, you'll have to wait until I return from my research trip.

IT'S A PARTY!

Tomorrow, 1st September, is launch day at the Pink Heart Society. Trish and co are at this moment stringing bunting, blowing up balloons, icing little cakes with pink hearts so this is a place where romance readers should drop by. Lining up the Bellinis and Pink Champagne to toast a lot of fabulous authors and a lot of wonderful readers.

See you there!

IT'S A REVIEW...

Sort of.

Romantic Times have got in a bit of muddle with their "Romance" reviews and they've put the August reviews in their September magazine. Those with October books are going to have to wait another month. :(

Catherine Witner, lovely lady, did send me this quote for THE SHEIKH'S GUARDED HEART.

"Liz Fielding's The Sheikh's GuardedHeart (4) is a skillful blending of modern and traditional elements, highlighted by multi-layered characters and sensual tension."

It doesn't actually tell you much, but it's always lovely to have a 4!

ROMANCE

From September, Harlequin Romance will become just plain ROMANCE with new covers and some fabulous new names joining the list of favourite authors. Not just new authors but writers familiar from lines such as Silhouette Romance, Special Edition, Steeple Hill.

I imagine one of the most pressing questions that readers will have is whether the books have changed in any way. The answer is both yes, and then again, no.

This line is the foundation on which the series romance publishing business was founded. While, in a difficult publishing world, other lines have come and gone, Harlequin Romance has always been a best-seller worldwide.

It started a long time ago. Early books explored the plight of women trapped in loveless marriages, raising awareness of the need for divorce law reform. They told stories about women who cared for the damaged men returning from war. Authors acknowledged the changes the sexual revolution of the sixties brought to women’s lives. Within its pages, the single mother evolved from a girl that “good” women shunned, to a liberated, self-supporting, responsible young woman. The feisty heroine became a woman who could stand toe-to-toe with her hero in business as well as the bedroom. His equal, partner in all things. Jay Dixon has written a fascinating account of the history of the genre in her book The Romance Fiction of Mills & Boon 1909 to 1990s, something of an eye-opener for me as I suspect it will be for many people.

More recently, the authors have taken on Bridget Jones and offered the reader first-person, chick-lit heroines – ones who didn’t whine anywhere near as much as their mainstream rivals.

So here’s what I’m saying. The series is not static. It’s not, never was, set in 1950s aspic. It has constantly evolved, moving with the times to meet the new expectations and lives of the women who read romance. Our heroines are modern women, the kind of women you know, the kind of women you are and they have a place on your keeper shelf alongside the heroines of such Jennifer Crusie greats as Anyone But You, Alison Kent’s Temptations and Blazes, the fabulous Presents titles of Sara Craven, Robyn Donald, Kate Walker, Sandra Marton. The friendship books of Debbie Macomber. (You wouldn’t only eat one kind of ice cream or pizza or chicken dish, would you? Some days you want sexy, some days you want to laugh, some days you want a warm, emotionally satisfying read that leaves you with a warm glow.)

So, to return to the question. Is ROMANCE, different to Harlequin Romance? Has it changed?

Referring to the answer I gave earlier, yes and yes and yes. It remains a publishing success because it has never stopped changing. And then again, no. It will still deliver the kind of story that those of you who never left us, but pick and mix their favourite authors from across the lines to meet their mood, have come to expect, demand, cherish.

And maybe that’s the secret. Story.

As one of my colleagues – the amazing, award-winning Marion Lennox -- put it, we don’t do as much sex as other Harlequin series, so our characters have to talk more. To sustain conversation, great conversation, requires real depth of conflict and emotion, great characters.

Story, emotion, characters who live and breath, are the ingredients that bring readers back again and again to Harlequin Romance, but while we hope to move you to tears, we want to make you laugh, too. All the ingredients you know and love are there; witty urban stories, Outback heroes, women and men struggling through to find not some clichéd happy ever after, a story that ends when you close the book, but a life that continues into the future, a partner to share the burdens and the joys.

In relaunching this series, the editors have squeezed us all until the pips squeaked to write the best books we know how, to give the reader deeply-felt emotion, heroines who sparkle, heroes who can make the knees go weak with a smile and above all, sexual tension to make the air crackle. Stories, in other words, that will grip from beginning to end and make this a must-read series for anyone who loves the charge of romance as women find it in the twenty-first century.

Alongside my own book, The Sheikh’s Guarded Heart, the September line up includes,
Raye Morgan, with the third book in The Brides of Bella Lucia series – the first two books by Rebecca Winters and Linda Goodnight are available now – and titles from Lucy Gordon and Natasha Oakley.

You can check out brief excerpts at the Harlequin Authors Blog where you’re welcome to ask questions, leave comments and chat amongst yourselves!

Finally, for budding authors, to help launch the series in the UK, look out for a Mill and Boon short story competition being run in conjunction with WOMAN'S WEEKLY magazine during the first two weeks in September. If you haven’t already checked it out, this might be a good time to read my own short story, THE CINDERELLA VALENTINE, which is online at eHarlequin.

CONGRATULATIONS TO SOME OF MY BEST MATES...

A bunch of my favourite authors were lauded last night by Cataromance, a site dedicated to romantic fiction.

Take a bow Kate Walker, Kate Hardy, Lucy Gordon, Lucy Monroe, Michelle Styles and Julie Cohen. You'll find a full list of winners here.

I was pretty chuffed to take a walk along the cyber carpet to pick up my own award for THE FIVE YEAR BABY SECRET.



The book is still available at eHarlequin so if you missed it in April just click here.

And don't forget, the competition on my previous post is running until the end of the month so leave a comment there for a chance to win an Amazon voucher!

THE SHEIKH’S GUARDED HEART

September is going to be a very special month. Both Harlequin “Romance” and Mills & Boon “Romance” have a new look and I’m thrilled to have a book in the launch month.

I’ll blog about the new line next week. Right now, because as regulars will know September books are available online in the US and UK at the eHarlequin and Mills & Boon websites a month in advance (that’s NOW! -- there are links on the sidebar), I want to tell you about THE SHEIKH'S GUARDED HEART. (Read, mark and inwardly digest. I will be asking questions!)

Some authors specialize in “sheikh” books, my friends Alexandra Sellers and Penny Jordan among them. Despite the fact that I spent more than five years living in the deserts of Arabia, this is only my second. But what a story! Danger, betrayal, tragedy with, as always, a touch of laughter to leaven the mix.

There’s the traditional horseback snatch of the heroine. A palace surrounded by a hidden garden. There’s a grieving man, a lonely child, a betrayed woman who has never felt the tenderness of a loving heart. Stock up on the tissues. You are going to cry.

This is what my editor put on the back on the book:


Saved from certain death in the unforgiving desert of Ramal Hamrah, Lucy Forrester is transported to a world of luxury by her rescuer, Sheikh Hanif. The tender care he offers her is more than Lucy has ever experienced in her loveless life, and she finds herself drawn to the proud Arabian Prince, despite his tortured soul. And, as he helps Lucy recover from her injuries, she wonders if she can help heal his own wounds, break down the barriers that guard his heart...”

Mmmm… Cover blurbs never truly satisfy the author, but here’s a taste of the real thing.


Ignoring Lucy’s protestations Hanif laid her on the sofa, propping her up with pillows at her back before kneeling beside her to unfasten and discard the ankle splint and its soggy lining. Then, having eased off her ruined sandals, he unwound his keffiyeh and carefully wiped the worst of the mud from her feet, her ankles, before tossing that, too, aside.

Only then did he sit back on his haunches, look at her and on the point of scolding him for ruining the cushions, she held her tongue. Without the sun at his back, she could see how gaunt and hollow-eyed he looked, as if he hadn’t slept or eaten in days.

Her fault, she knew and, without thinking, she reached out, wanting to comfort him, tell him how sorry she was, as he would have comforted her. For everything.

He caught her wrist before she could touch his face, held it in a grip of steel.

“For what seemed like a year he held her there, an inch away from him. It was not enough. Heat fried the air between them, sucked Lucy’s breath from her body, licked along her limbs, reducing to ash all the hellfire lectures she’d been read about what happened to girls who succumbed to their wanton desires.

There was no defence against the power of such feelings, no barrier made that was strong enough to withstand this yearning to be held, kissed, possessed.
She felt her mouth soften, her lips part as his hand loosened its grip on her wrist, slid down the length of her arm until his fingers reached her hair, pulled loose the pin that held it back from her face, slid his hand beneath her neck to hold her, his willing prisoner.

The moment stretched endlessly as he lowered his mouth to hers then, as he brushed his lips against hers, she felt something deep inside her dissolve, melt.

All pain was forgotten as he leaned into the kiss, deepening it as a thirsty man might drink at a well and Lucy, blown away, matched his need with a passion that was a revelation to her, a desperate need beyond her wildest imaginings and she rose to meet him, wanting to feel the heat, the strength of his body against hers.

As if he knew, felt it too, 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.

So here’s the competition.


I’m not offering signed books, because I want you to rush out and buy a copy (in the UK they’re at a special offer price of £1.99) and make me look good with my publishers! What I’m going to do is put the name of everyone who leaves a comment on this post in a draw – you have until the end of August -- and the winner will have an Amazon token ($US25 or equivalent) to spend just as she likes. (What? Oh, you expected a question? Gotcha!

RWA, EDITORS AND MY RITA

This is where I should have been a week ago. Standing next to Diane Gaston (with her Rita) holding the Rita on the right. But my editor, Jo Carr, is prettier -- and heck of a lot taller -- and she's doing a very fine job. And she was the one who had to put on the pantyhose and make the speech while I was tucked up having my eight hours! Good result.


Sheila Hodgson, Karin Stoecker, Jenny Hutton, Diane Gaston, and Jo Carr.

THE BRIDES OF BELLA LUCIA

I’ve been talking about this series for a long time. Writing about the writing. Writing about working with other authors spread across the world. Talking about the first books last month because they were, for those in a hurry, available on the eHarlequin (and since Rebecca Winters’ book is now sold out there, a lot of you obviously were!) and Mills & Boon websites.

Now the first books are on the street in the UK and US.

The series tells the story of a fractured family who are spread across the world. The fabulous Bella Lucia restaurants are in London, Knightsbridge, Mayfair and Chelsea, but the Valentine family will take you all over the world. To the US, Australia, Europe. To beautiful Meridia for the coronation of Prince Sebastian, and to the desert kingdom of Q’Arim before bringing you back to London for the final drama. Each book stands alone as a wonderful story, but I know you’re going to want to read them all.

Eight fabulous stories, eight wonderful authors.



This is the logo to look out for on the covers – two books, this month (Rebecca and Rachel are twins!); one a month after that until next February. We’ve put together a special blog/website where you can read what inspired the authors, see the faces behind the characters, read excerpts, view the covers and tell us what you think.

Here are the titles and the authors (don’t forget that they will be available a month in advance of publication on the eHarlequin and Mills & Boon websites):

August: Having the Frenchman’s Baby by Rebecca Winters
Home to the Cowboy by Patricia Thayer
September: The Rebel Prince, Raye Morgan
October: Wanted: Outback Wife, Ally Blake
November: Married Under the Mistletoe, Linda Goodnight
December: Crazy About the Boss, Teresa Southwick
January: The Nanny and the Sheikh, Barbara McMahon
February: The Valentine Bride, Liz Fielding

And to launch the series, my own short story, set in the Chelsea Bella Lucia restaurant, I've written a short story, THE CINDERELLA VALENTINE, which you can read online at eHarlequin. There's a link in sidebar to take you straight to it.

UNACCUSTOMED AS I AM...

Blowing one's own trumpet is not something the British are comfortable with. I'm just posting this as a news item, okay? :)

THE MARRIAGE MIRACLE won a RITA!

THE BEST OF GIRL

Publishing News is getting geared up to the Christmas market and today the following appeared --

“For girls growing up in 1950s Britain, Girl was essential reading. Each week there’d be another gripping instalment of “Susan of St Bride’s: Nurse of the Year”; advice column “Mother Tells You How” would provide wise words on how to care for goldfish. The Best of Girl is a fascinating window on this hilariously wholesome bygone age.”

Okay, hands up all those “Medical” authors who were St Bride’s fans! My personal favourite was Belle of the Ballet – it was the unfulfilled ballet dancer in me, I imagine.

I wanted to stand on my "pointes". I wanted a pair of those bright red tap shoes (there’s a secret part of me that still does!), but while I was denied few things, dancing lessons was one of them. It could have been because I was the clumsiest thing on two legs in the entire world. Or maybe my mother was frightened, at a young age, by a man in tights...:)

I can’t quite understand why being “wholesome” should be considered hilarious. I do know that women of “a certain age”, myself among them, will want this wonderfully nostalgic volume in their Christmas stocking. Intelligent husbands will take note!

CATCHING UP...

I’ve been absent from the blog for a day or two, although you’ll see I have been doing a bit of housework behind the scenes. The talented Ally Blake is doing her best to explain to me how to change the colours. Somehow my brain just won’t co-operate.

I have, finally, succumbed to a zokutou worm and I am finding it an incentive to make the daily word count, one, so that I don’t look idle and two, for the fun of moving it along and seeing the percentage of the book written grow. Unfortunately, since the hero seems to have disappeared from the scene, I fear the sudden increase in input is probably going to find itself it in the cyber trash can very shortly.

I’ve also been out partying and guest blogging at Lucy Monroe’s party for those of us who haven’t made it to the RWA conference this year. Do drop over and visit. There are some fabulous prizes to win.

I did get distracted, too, today, by the arrival of the new look RNA Magazine, ROMANCE MATTERS. It’s now A4 format in full colour and there were loads of pictures from the Summer Party.

I’ve also heard rumours that M&B are going to advertise the new "Romance" line in national magazines this September, including one which will be running a short story competition alongside the promotion. Something to look out for if you’re a budding author. I''ll post more details when I have them.

Finally, my short story, The Cinderella Valentine will be online from August at eHarlequin – a free read to celebrate the launch of the Brides of Bella Lucia mini series.


I’ll post a url as soon as I have one, but if you go to the website on Monday, I’m sure you’re all more than capable of finding it for yourself!

CHAPTER THREE...

If writing a book can be described in terms of giving birth, Chapter Three is morning sickness.

I’ve done all the fun stuff (no sniggering at the back!), the research, the world building. I’ve written the back story, dug deep for the angst that will fuel the internal conflict, trolled through Google to find images that fit my characters.

I’ve had the excitement of writing the beginning. Getting the hero and heroine on paper. That first connection. The story starting to unfold.

Then comes Chapter Three.

I don’t know why the awfulness of it always takes me by surprise. It happens every time and in a way it’s inevitable. So much has happened in those first 50-odd pages, but now that first rush of excitement has evaporated. Doubt sets in. Is this rubbish? I send what I’ve written to my birthing partner (otherwise known as my editor), because this is a big project and I want it to be right – but she’s moving house; she’ll get back to me, but not soon enough to talk me through the pain.

Writing the crime novel that I started seven years ago suddenly looks like a much more rewarding prospect (but then I never did get to chapter three). Actually, forget writing anything. What I need is displacement activity. I print a photograph of Hugh Jackman. I make an appointment to have my hair cut. I discover a sociability that utterly deserts me when the writing it going well. Even cutting the lawn becomes a deeply appealing occupation. I write a post for my blog. (I deleted all games from my work computer the day I brought it home – I learned that one the hard way!)

When I’ve wasted an entire week, I try reminding myself how it was when I wrote The Marriage Miracle. That I started in the wrong place. Had at least three attempts at getting Matty and Sebastian on the page together before it fell into place. (I always try something complicated first and have to hone it down to perfect simplicity.) As a tactic it’s useless. It’s the childbirth thing, again. The minute my editor calls to say the book has been scheduled, I forget the pain.

I even know – in theory – what the problem is. It’s the end of the beginning. My character has made life changing decisions. Taken the first steps. Now it’s time to move forward. But, like Belle Davenport, I’m not finding it as easy as I’d hoped.

ITALY, HUGH JACKMAN & THE WIP...

I started writing at the crack of dawn this morning to avoid the heat. Apparently it’s going to be in the mid-thirties this week. Just the thought of that makes me want to lie down in a darkened room and not move until it rains.

Ungrateful? Probably. We don’t get this kind of undiluted sunshine often, but I have an end of August deadline and I’m still only on chapter three. Lazy afternoons in the shade with a book (not my own) are not an option. Not if I’m going to get to Italy (purely for research purposes, you’ll understand) in September. And, talking of Italy, for those of you lucky enough to live there, I have a book on sale there this month! I haven’t got my author copies yet, but, as with the Greek, if you are Italian, want to improve your Italian, or know someone Italian who would like a copy, speak up and I’ll reserve a copy for you,

But back to the wip. I have, thanks to Ally Blake pointing me in the right direction on the net, now found some photographs that are about as close as I’m going to get to my hero, the distant and ice-cold Ivo Grenville. His eyes are the wrong colour, but that’s okay. I can live with this picture of Hugh Jackman on my board for the next couple of months (sigh); I’ll imagine him with eyes the colour of the sea.

And for his heroine Belle, well, I have a tear-sheet from a magazine to thank for her; as you can see, she’s a bit of a bombshell babe.

In my head, I’m calling this book The Journey Home. The journey is, in fact, internal and I’ve teamed up with Barbara Hannay in Australia and Jackie Braun in America to write linked stories of three women who are making that journey back in time to a point where each of them made a decision – one that they now regret -- that had a major impact on their lives. Confronting the past will take courage, deeply affecting the lives they have now, the future beyond imagining.

At least, that’s the plan. If the heat doesn’t fry my brain first.

NEW COVERS

Do you want to see the new covers? Harlequin "Romance" and Mills & Boon "Romance? Here's a look at the covers for THE SHEIKH'S GUARDED HEART, available from next month onlne at the publishers, or retail in September. Despite my initial reservations about the hero not looking quite "sheikhy" enough, I have to admit I do rather like them!

IT'S GREEK TO ME...

Does anyone here speak Greek?

Know someone who speaks Greek?

Have a Greek friend, relative, neighbour?

Is anyone here learning Greek?

The first person to speak up can have a copy of Her Wish List Bridegroom -- in Greek.

LIFE IMITATING ART...

I’m going to have to be extremely careful what kind of animals I introduce into my books in future.

Following Hector, the Trojan Hamster, my dd bought herself the cuddly and very beautiful Rex – okay, she’s a Janet Evanovitch fan, too!

Now, following my latest book -- THE SECRET LIFE OF LADY GABRIELLA, May ‘07 – in which a baby rabbit provides a major plot turning point, she has sent me a picture of Pudding, the latest member of the family. He’s coming to visit later in the month, along with Nigel.

I'll keep you posted!

I started this as a “comment”, a response to some of the comments on my previous blog, but it got too long, so help yourself to a slice of toast and make your comfortable.

Ally Blake said:

"Even before I ever started writing for publication I used to collect things like this, as I always found they took me somewhere else, to an emotional place or back to the time when I first found them."

My ideas files are full of memories, too, Ally. Some of the clippings are very old. “BP” (Before Published) old. Flipping through them never fails to brings back that vivid enthusiasm, eagerness, the thrill of embarking on the new. Then, back in the 80s and early 90s when I had decided that writing for Mills & Boon was the next step on my writing career ladder, everything I read, everywhere I looked, there were possibilities for a story and I thought that I could re-invent the wheel. If I hadn’t had that belief, that innocence, I would never have written AN IMAGE OF YOU.

Humour?

A lippy heroine who hung out with the homeless, took part in “demonstrations”, handled a night in jail without shouting for Daddy’s lawyer to bail her out? Today she’d seemed like a fairly run-of-mill heroine. Back then she was anything but.

In the early 90s, romantic fiction didn’t go in for humour. Romance was angst-ridden, sexy, soul-torturing stuff. When the hero made his move on the heroine and the “earth moved” it wasn’t because the tent had collapsed.

Back then, there was no ‘net, there were no online boards where a new writer could run ideas past experienced authors, editors, be warned that some themes were less likely to sell than others. Back then I just wrote what appealed to me, which is probably why, before that first acceptance I’d had books turned down because of under-aged sex (legal implications), because of sexual abuse (our readers wouldn’t like it), attempted murder and amnesia -- and those last three were all in the same book! My first attempt was turned down because it just plain “wooden”. I didn’t have to look up the letter -- yes, I still have it. That one criticised my writing rather than my plots and we never forget the words that really hurt.

I made it with my fourth book because it landed on the right editor’s desk at the right moment. Timing and luck are as much a part of this business as talent; I was about three years too soon to be writing about sexual abuse. With IMAGE, I was still out on a plot and character limb, but this time it was the very difference, the freshness, that caught the editorial attention and made it attractive.

I’ve probably pushed the envelope as hard as most in my career. I’ve never been afraid to take a risk, do something different. An editor recently commented on the proposal for my latest wip that I “...never make it easy...” for myself. Well, no. What would be the point? If I’m not challenging myself, taking myself somewhere new, how can I expect to captivate the reader?

But the pay-off for experience is, if not caution, perhaps a certain loss of innocence. I know what will make the editorial lip quiver in panic and I no longer have time to make mistakes. That is why new writers will always be needed to carry the genre forward to the next generation, keeping it alive, taking it in new directions. Writers who haven’t learned that there are things you can’t do. Exciting new voices like Julie Cohen and Historical author Michelle Styles, whose Gladiator heroes are so far out of the “box” that they can’t even see it, but who serendipitously coincided with the screening of “Rome” on British television (see earlier comment about timing!)

Writers who are, even now, pouring their hearts out onto paper, hoping that this will be the one that makes it.

Keep the manuscripts coming. We need you.

CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF A STORY

Last week, because anything is easier than writing a book, I updated my “ideas” folders.

The green one contains newspaper clippings, (I particularly like the one with the headline “Godiva Was Too Bare for the Fair” – ModX possibilities there?), magazine articles about interesting people, interesting ways of making a living, It also has snatches of story ideas, some of them really old. There’s one that I’ve never been able to let go of that begins: “The first bone was so small that it might have been that of a cat...” I have two pages. One day I’ll write the book.

The purple one is more formal. It has proper dividers labelled “Ellie”, “Trilogy”, “Desert”, these are ideas whose time has come and are books in the process of production. But at the back is a section labelled “Later”.

This is where I file away the first braining-storming attempts at stories. The bits that aren’t right for the book I’m working on, but could be developed into a different story. And a growing portfolio of minor characters who really should have their own story, some of whom have been waiting too long.

There’s a trio of difficult teenagers who are all grown up by now --

• Carenza, from Baby on Loan. The one who, to raise money to go backpacking in Europe, let her uncle’s house while he was away.

• Sadie, from The Baby Plan, who jealously sabotaged her Dad’s plans for a happy ever after.

• Princess Katerina – escape artist extraordinaire – from The Ordinary Princess

Then there’s the more mature Blanche from The Marriage Miracle, perhaps not a lead character, but definitely in line for a little TLC as a sub plot. A new “Old Cottage” book there, I think.

And not to forget the potential heroes just hanging around waiting for a suitable heroine to get them into trouble, there were two of them in His Desert Rose –

• Simon Partridge, the injured warrior and aide to His Highness Prince Hassan al Rashid, Emir of Ras al Hajar, and
• Tim Fenton, Chief Veterinary Officer of Ras al Hajar and brother of the lovely Rose, now the Emir’s wife.

Then there’s Zahir al-Khatib from The Sheikh’s Guarded Heart; he’s been on a tight leash for a couple of years and he’s ready to make hay.

And now I’ve added Stacey, sister of the heroine from my latest Romance (still untitled); what secret is Ellie keeping for her?

Why haven’t I written their stories before? It’s hard to put a finger on any specific reason. Shortage of time, mostly. Other projects have been louder in demanding my attention. Sometimes, too, the passage of time has dimmed the enthusiasm, the connection has gone. But these are all great characters and I think I might take them along with me to Italy later this year, sit them all on a warm stone terrace when the sun has set and see who comes along, whose pulse rate lifts...

In the meantime, I’d better get on with Belle and Ivo Grenville’s book or I won’t be able to go to Italy in September.



WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

I’ve installed a little gizmo on my blog – on the sidebar at the right; scroll down a bit and you’ll see a teeny map of the world. This will show where in the world visitors are from, which – I hope – will help me convince M&B how vitally important it is that I know (in advance) where my books are being published. If it disappears in a day or two, you’ll know that they all came from the same place and I’m here alone...

HOORAY!

The book I delivered before I went to Holland has gone through without a single revision. To say I'm stunned is to put it mildly, but to celebrate I'm posting a little taster here. Not the opening, which has a surreal comedy all its own, but the "meet"; that moment when Ellie's world collides with Ben's...

I was also going to post a picture of the totally gorgeous Ben, but Blogger is playing silly beggars again, so that will have to keep.


‘Good book?’

A deep, velvety voice penetrated the cold, swirling mists of the Yorkshire moors, jerking Ellie back into the twenty-first century.

Not an entirely bad thing.


She’d started the afternoon with the intention of giving the study a thorough bottoming. Keeping on top of the dust in the rambling old house she was “sitting” while its owner was away was not onerous, but it did require a schedule or she lost track; today it was the study’s turn. Unfortunately, her attention had been grabbed by the unexpected discovery of a top-shelf cache of gothic romances and she’d forgotten all about the dust.

But then again, it was not entirely good, either.

Being startled while perched on top of a ladder was always going be risky. On a library ladder with an inclination to take off on its tracks at the slightest provocation, it was just asking for trouble. And trouble was what Ellie got.

Twice.

Losing her balance six feet above ground was bad enough, but her attempt to recover it proved disastrous as the ladder shifted sideways, taking her feet with it.

Too busy attempting to defy the laws of gravity to yell at the fool who’d caused the problem, she dropped her duster and made a desperate grab for the bookshelf with one hand -- while clinging tightly to the precious leather-bound volume she’d been reading in the other.

For a moment, as her fingertips made contact with the shelf, she thought it was going to be all right.

She quickly discovered that she’d been over-optimistic and that in lunging for the shelf – the laws of physics being what they were -- she’d only made things worse.

Her body went one way, her feet went the other.

Fingers and shelf parted company.

Happily -- or not, depending upon your point of view - the author of her misfortune took the full force of her fall.

If she’d been the wraithlike heroine of one of those top shelf romances – or indeed of her own growing pile of unpublished manuscripts -- Ellie would, at this point, have dropped tidily into his arms and the fool, having taken one look, would have fallen instantly and madly in love with her. Of course there would have to be several hundred pages of misunderstandings and confusion before he finally admitted it either to himself, or to her, men being a bit dense when it came to romance.

Since this was reality, and she was built on rather more substantial lines than the average heroine of a romance - who wasn’t? - she fell on him like the proverbial ton of bricks and they went down in a heap of tangled limbs. And Emily Bronte gave him a cuff round the ear with her leather binding for good measure.

NAMES...

I’ve just started work on a new book. It’s going to be part of a trilogy written with two of my favourites authors, one in America, one in Australia and I’m really, really excited about it. The opening scene is written, I’ve outlined to somewhere around Chapter 5 and things generally were going rather well. Then I decided I hated the name I’d given my hero. And the one I’ve given the heroine’s sister doesn’t fit. And then, although I keep a record of main characters names and check to make sure I haven’t repeated any – it doesn’t always work – I suddenly realised why Grafton sounded so familiar. Sebastian Wolseley, hero of The Marriage Miracle, was Viscount Grafton. Back to the drawing board...

I find this sooo hard. It’s not just finding the perfect name to match a character, his background, that I haven’t already used. It’s the unknowables that make it such a treacherous game; suppose I choose the same name as some buffoon or sleaze-ball character in a show I’ve never seen? Or pick one of those names that I guess every country has; the kind used as an adjective to describe a certain kind of person – not usually as a compliment. (No, I’m not stupid enough to give examples!)


Names are evocative. My mother, for instance, never met an Eric she didn’t like. She even married one. For her it was a name that could do no wrong. (Didn't she have great taste!)

And that’s the problem. Names produce a reaction in the reader, set up preconceived notions – national as well as personal. I can judge, fairly well, what kind of response name will receive from the British reader, but I’m writing for an international market. Translators can and do often change them – presumably because of this very issue -- but the English speaking market just get a different cover on the same book. So how will Benedict be received in the mid-West? As the son of intellectual parents, or will he just be viewed by the browsing book-buyer as some poncy Englishman and rejected out of hand without a second thought? Has Harry had his day? Is Kim perceived as masculine or feminine? Have flower names gone to seed?

I’ve recently read the lovely Susan Elizabeth Phillips MATCH ME IF YOU CAN, adored it, but the thing that sticks in my mind is that she gave the name Trevor to a baby.

Is this a “cute” name in the US? One whose time has come in the name fashion stakes? Like Harry, Jack and Arthur in the UK? Part of that struggle of parents to find a name that not every other kid on the block will be answering to? Or, because of her much-deserved popularity, will it be resurrected from cardigan-and-slipper wearing middle-age and become the next year’s favourite?

Okay, I'm putting off yet another trawl through the lists of baby names in search of something that will project exactly the right impression of this man who is about to occupy the next three months of my life. I will not hold my breath...

BOOKS ARE BEING GIVEN AWAY...

The very talented and extremely generous Kate Walker is, this month, is giving away not one of her own books, but a couple of bookbags filled with titles from those of authors she admires.

There's something for everyone. Modern, from Michelle Reid and Anne McAllister, Modern Extra from Julie Cohen, Historical from Michelle Styles and Medical Romance from Kate Hardy. Since I have the good fortune to be included in her must-read list, there's also Tender Romance from me.

OUCH!

I've been nobbled by a cabbage. No, honestly...

I've had a couple of freaky accidents this year. The first was when I caught my toe in the lead from my mobile phone -- which was on charge -- and nearly sliced my ear in half on a CD box as I hit the floor. (You feel so stooopid!)

Now I'm having to type with seven fingers instead of eight.

It shouldn't have been possible. All I did was open the fridge door and reach for a bottle of something crisp and white to go with the ham I'd cooked in the morning.

The something crisp and white I got was the cabbage. (You are not to laugh!)

It tumbled off the top shelf when I pulled out the wine. I tried to catch it -- one handed. Big mistake. Those suckers are heavy. And hard. And I was never good at ball games.

I now have a swollen finger, a blue fingernail and the certainty that this injury is only going to raise a howl of laughter. I might even use it in a book when the pain has faded. In the meantime, when I can use my hand properly, it's coleslaw...)

FINALLY...

Finally, blogger has loaded a picture, so here is a belated holiday pic of me gritting my teeth into a smile on a very windy day at a factory where they make ... well, you guess!

It was one of those whistle-stop tours when you check out the place they make cheese, visit a windmill and buy some painted clogs.

Well, it rained a lot!

TITLES -- THE NEVER ENDING STORY...

I know, we've been there, done that, but there is a painful point to this blog. Marcy – bless her – posted the following at eHarlequin on the 100 reads challenge:

THE MARRIAGE MIRACLE by Liz Fielding

"Sebastian Wolseley attended the reception for his college friend's marriage blessing ceremony. He'd only planned to make a showing since he'd come directly from a family funeral and wasn't in the best of moods. He hadn't expected to be drawn into a conversation with an intriguing woman sitting alone while everyone else was dancing.

"Matilda Lang has been in a wheelchair for the past three years since an accident cost her the use of her legs. She's sassy and witty, but she also uses humor to hide her vulnerability. She hasn't felt feminine in three years, but Sebastian makes her feel things she's afraid to feel.

"My post doesn't do this book justice. It was a wonderful, emotional story. Though I haven't read it yet, apparently Matilda was introduced in the book, A WIFE ON PAPER. It's the story of her cousin Fran, whose blessing ceremony reception starts this book."

In response, Fake Frenchie posted the following:

"This sounds good. But I'm wondering, is the miracle the obvious one that we might expect? Cuz if it is, that might be problematic for people in Matilda's situation. Just a passing idea."

She has a valid point.

The problem is right there, in the title. That word “miracle”. It suggests all kinds of things that aren’t in the book, which a wheelchair-bound reader wrote and assured me got it right for her. About as much praise as any author can take, let me tell you, without going pop with happiness.

The book was a tough one to write simply because it did have to be based in a world where miracles did not happen. This was not a "pick up your bed and walk" scenario and believe me, I hated that title. And when I saw the UK cover, with the heroine standing straight and tall at the altar, I cried. Next time, I swear, I'll stand up to marketing and threaten to pull the book unless they listen to me.

WRITING THE SHORT STORY...

I'm writing a Brides of Bella Lucia short story for eHarlequin. Five thousand words. So far I've written three thousand ... one thousand five hundred of my first effort ... one thousand five of my second attempt...

Already, I want them both to be whole books.

Maybe I'll do better tomorrow.