THERE GO THE GROOMS!

Hi, I’m Max Valentine (is that better Kate?)

Apparently she thought I came across as a little, how can I put it, direct yesterday, but I was mad, okay? Louise is supposed to organising our wedding, not organising a Here Come the Brides contest. But anything she, Sadie and Martha can do, Theo, Domenico (not “Dom” apparently) and I have decided that we can do better.

So while we’re occupied with hunting for our brides, we’ve decided to offer you a little incentive to join in with a hunt of your own. Make that a BIG incentive. We’ve sweet-talked each of our authors into offering not just one book (although obviously that’s the important one!) but three books from their back list for our Groom’s Contest.

Since they’ve ganged up and refused to hand over the keys to their websites, this is strictly blog-based, but other than that the rules are the same as the brides’ contest.

You get three chances to win -- one on each of the blogs: mine (okay, Liz’s), Theo’s (Anne’s), and Domenico's (Kate's).

There are nine questions – three on each blog. That’s just one for each book you can win, which seems reasonable to me. Some of them have two parts, so make sure you’ve got all the answers before you send them in. For nine books you’re going to have to work harder! The answers can all be found on the blogs– or by using the sidebar links.

According to Liz you’re the smartest people she knows and she’s confident you can do it.

When you’ve got all the answers, send them to each of our authors. You can contact them through their websites (there’s a sidebar link on the blog) or, in the case of Anne's you can just click on the "Contact Anne" tab and then send the email from there. Don’t forget to put GROOMS CONTEST in the subject.

So, go for it. You have three chances to WIN a pile of great books. Not as great as ours, of course but pretty damn good. Heck, Liz, Kate and Anne are all award winning authors.

What? You want to know which books you’ll win?

Right, well, Liz has hunted out a collection of “Groom” books: A Suitable Groom (it wasn’t issued retail in the States apparently and these are her last copies so you’ll want this one); Her Wish-List Bridegroom (which ws shortlisted for an RT Reviewers Choice award -- whatever that is) and, Her Corporate Bridegroom.

Anne has chipped in with a three-in-one book containing three complete novels: The Cowboy's Code, containing Cowboys Don't Quit, Cowboys Don't Stay and The Cowboy and the Kid (Romantic Times's Best Series Novel of the Year) PLUS a copy of Theo Savakis's book by the author whose name you have to figure out.

From Kate each winner will get her best-selling Alcolar Family trilogy: The Twelve-Month Mistress, The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife and Bound by Blackmail.

The contest starts now and ends February 10th, 2007 so we can send off prizes before the weddings (and so Anne and Kate can go to Ireland "to research") And let’s face it, after that we’re going to have our hands full!

Okay. That’s it. Apart from the questions. Go to it!


THEO'S QUESTIONS:


1) Which book, also being published in February has a hero called Theo Savakis (who is NOT ME because he is going to marry Miranda Weston and I am going to marry MARTHA!) and who is the author of that book?

2) My (Theo's) sister was the heroine of an earlier McAllister book. What's the name of the book -- and the full name of my sister?

3) McAllister says there is "another hero" in The Santorini Bride (which isn't true, by the way). What breed of dog is Ted?


DOM’S QUESTIONS:

1 Where did Kate celebrate a book launch party this month and which famous novelist did she meet there?

2. What award did Kate's February release - The Italian's Forced Bride win?

3. If the winner of The Brides Contest has already read The Italian's Forced Bride, Kate will give away a copy of her March M&B Modern release which also had Bride in the title. What is the name of this book – and what is the name of it’s hero?


AND MY QUESTIONS:


1) St Valentine’s Day is a worldwide phenomenon, but Liz (my author) lives in Wales and they have their own special day for lovers in January. What’s the date? And what is the name of the saint involved?

2) The Valentine Bride (the book that Louise and I share), is the last one in a mini series. What was the series called? Name another author who wrote a book in that series.

3) Liz wrote a special online story The Cinderella Valentine to set up this series. What are the full names of the two characters who met and fell in love in my Chelsea restaurant?

That's it. Go to it!

Okay, I’m Max Valentine and this blog is MINE!

I’ve been talking to Theo Savas. You don’t know Theo? If I tell you that this is the guy who doorstepped the seriously tough Anne McAllister and, when she refused to reveal the whereabouts of his (and my!) bride (although from all that stuff about Dublin on Kate Walker’s blog we have a fair idea of where they’re whooping it up) refused to leave until she’d handed over the password to her blog.

What can I say? The man races ocean-going yachts for a living; she didn’t stand a snowball’s chance of holding out against him.

Anyway, fired up by his example I made my own author an offer she couldn’t refuse; I run some of the finest restaurants in the world and Liz, it's no secret, loves to eat.

Diet? She’s on a diet? She didn't say...

Anyway, Liz was a total pussycat. Or maybe not. She waited until she’d eaten a dinner to delight the gods before informing me that she’s so deep in something involving a sheikh at the moment (these authors live very strange lives) that she’s glad to have me take over for a while.

I’d feel suckered, except, honestly, I think even Theo would have fallen for it. Really. Butter wouldn't melt in that woman's mouth.

Anyway, here’s the plan. Theo and I are doing our best to round up a guy called Dom something (his author has been mixing with the likes of Maeve Binchy in Dublin so nothing much is getting through right now). Apparently his bride-to-be is holed up with our women and the minute we’ve got our heads together we’ll be back. You've had the brides. Now you're going to get the groom!

REVIEW TIME

Following Romantic Times 4 1/2 star review, for The Valentine Bride, Once Upon a Time Romance have just posted this 4.75 review.

They’ve been strongly attracted to each other since they were teens. But being cousins, Louise and Max couldn’t act on the forbidden. At least not until Louise was told the truth. That she’s adopted.
Feeling betrayed by not being told the truth, Louise cuts herself off from the "family". Yet Max, for some reason, won’t let her. He needs her to bring the family business, Bella Lucia restaurants, into the limelight and expand with her PR expertise. But it’s more than that. He finds he needs her. To what extent though?

Louise gives Max until Valentine’s Day. She’ll get the PR job done as well as rid her system of the hurt, of needing Max. It can’t be anything more than that as their relationship has always been on the volatile side. They always seem to bring the worst out in each other.

Something’s got to give one way or another as the sparks fly and they become closer. Will the sparks burn out, though?

I was impressed with the fact that Max and Louise not only came to some pertinent realizations about themselves, but their eyes were opened to the other, causing them to gradually see each other in a different light, more clearly, with greater understanding.
Ms. Fielding writes the "sex" scenes with great subtlety but which have a very sensuous feel to them. Just the way I like them.

I was absorbed with The Valentine Bride and enjoyed every moment of reading, and not so much because of the plot or story, but because of the writing. It’s sensual, welcoming, sweet, inviting, and peppered with layers all rolled together.

Am I dancing? You betcha! And don't forget, if you want three chances to win a copy, visit my website and enter the competition!

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE!


Which Harlequin or Mills & Boon books did you read in 2006 that really grabbed you?

Did you find a great new author? A cover hero to drool over? A heroine to stand up and cheer for? Now is the moment when you can show your appreciation by voting at eHarlequin for the one you loved best. By clicking on Readers Choice and voting you can pass on the good news.

HERE COME THE BRIDES!

Have you entered the Here Come the Brides competition yet? There are three books up for grabs -- times three. Enter from my website, Kate Walker's website and Anne McAllister's website and you have three chances to win our three February books.

And to whet your appetite a little, here's a taster from Kate Walker's hot and steamy Harlequin Presents, The Italian's Forced Bride.

The Italian's Forced Bride by Kate Walker

Her heart had started to thud again, but this time it was with a very different sort of pulse, one that unwillingly she had to acknowledge that she recognised only too well. This was the heavy, heated beat of awareness that had always assailed her in the past. The way that she had felt from the first moment she had seen him and had never really recovered from since.

It was the sheer concentrated physical impact that he had on her. And the pulse that throbbed through her veins was one of deep, sensual arousal. It was as if everything that was male in him was calling to her own essential femininity on the deepest, most primitive level, in a way that made her head spin.

'I told you why I left.'

'Yeah, you stopped having fun . . .'

There was something in his voice that caught and held her. Some soft undertone that seemed to reach out and enclose her, like the delicate, but constricting lines of a spider's web. She felt it coil round her, lightly seductive but dangerously transfixing.

'Why was that, cara, hmm?'

'I . . . '

Her voice had failed her, no matter how hard she tried to make it work. Her mouth opened and closed but no sound came out. She felt she must look like some stupid, gaping fish, but something about her expression made Domenico smile.

'When did the fun go out of things? Because it never did for me.'

'Never?'

Was that stupid, squeaky little voice really hers?

'Never.' Domenico's echoing of the word was much lower, deeper, rich with a sensuality that tugged at something deep inside her.

'A drink . . .' she tried for commons sense, for practicality.

Domenico shook his dark head slowly, that smile growing wickedly.

'I think not,' he murmured.

No? Once again Alice tried to form the word but failed, her throat drying painfully. Nervously she slicked her tongue over painfully dry lips, determined to try again, only to have the determination evaporate like mist before the sun as she saw the way his golden eye dropped to follow the betraying movement, the intensity with which it fixed on her mouth.

'What?' she managed to croak, rough and uneven.

'I have something I would like so much more.'

And before she could snatch in another breath his mouth came down on hers, taking it in a slow seductive kiss.

What do you have to do?

Not too much! Just check out each author’s web site for the full name – first name and surname -- of the bride in the named book. When you have all 3, send them via the email link on each of the authors’ web sites.

Each author will be collecting their own entries to this contest so if you enter on each web site, this means you have three chances to win.

How to enter:

From Liz Fielding’s website, just put your answers in an email with HERE COME THE BRIDES in the subject line and hit send.

Closing date: February 1st 2007

And keep your eye on my blog -- and Anne’s and Kate’s -- throughout January for further updates and news. You never know what might happen . . .

Have you entered our

HERE COME THE BRIDES CONTEST

yet?

Here’s a note from Anne McAllister, filling you in on some the background to her book – and the Antonides and Savas families -- with teasing glimpses of books yet to come.

Anne’s books are always a treat, with heroes to totally die for and The Santorini Bride is no exception.

From Anne:

THE SANTORINI BRIDE is the middle book of three (so far), beginning with THE ANTONIDES MARRIAGE DEAL (which it is not necessary to have read, but if you did read it, this will explain where Martha was when no one could find her!). That she met her match in Theo Savas was as big a surprise to her as it was to Theo. He has a heck of a time convincing her, though!

While I'd intended to go back to the Antonides and Savas families for my next book, another character from THE SANTORINI BRIDE piqued my interest when he offered Martha a shoulder to cry on. Actually he did more than pique my interest, he grabbed the book and tried to run away with it! His name was Spencer Tyack and the minute he appeared, he seemed determined to take over. He muttered about stupid Greeks who didn't know a good woman when they saw one (that would have been Theo) and said he'd do a far better job of things -- which just goes to show how blind some men can be, as Spence's own soul mate was right under his nose! He didn't believe me.

But he wouldn't let me alone until I proved it to him. So he and Sadie Morrissey (the girl under his nose!) have their own story coming in October from Harlequin Presents and HM&B Modern called THE BOSS'S WIFE FOR A WEEK. It's all about what happens to Spence when he's making other plans.

I fully expect to come back to the Antonides and Savas families in the future. But I wanted to tie up another loose end first.

That's the book I'm working on now. It is a spin-off of THE GREAT MONTANA COWBOY AUCTION and the rest of the Code of the West books I've done for Silhouette. Only this one is going to be a Harlequin Presents! It's the story of Flynn Murray, consummate charmer and Irish journalist who, to his dismay, has finally had to take over the draughty Irish castle -- and the earldom -- he has tried to forget for years. That also means settling down and begetting little heirs to the earldom.

But just when Flynn is prepared to do his duty, coincidence -- or fate -- brings Sara McMaster back into his life. She awakens memories he'd long buried and desires he believed he'd forgotten. Six years ago life pulled them apart. Now it has thrust them together again, if only for a moment.

A moment is all Sara can stand. She doesn't want to fall in love with Flynn again. She's been there, done that, and she's finally recovered from it. She has made a life for herself, picked up stakes, moved on. If Flynn had wanted her back then, she would have followed him to the ends of the earth. Not now. And she doesn't want him disrupting her equilibrium again -- or their son's! Flynn doesn't know about Liam, which is no fault of Sara's. She'd tried to tell him. He'd moved on. That's what he does -- move on. Well, he might have done it to her, but she won't let him do that to Liam.

I'm just beginning work on the book now and it's already going in directions I didn't expect. Flynn is as big a charmer as ever. Sara is not quite the idealist with the practical bent that she used to be. She's a mom now. She's had to adjust. Flynn's an earl now -- he's made some adjustments himself. And Liam -- well, he's five and he's got an agenda of his own.

I'm hoping to go to Ireland in February to do some on-site research for their story which begins in New York City. I don't know if we'll get back to Elmer, Montana or not. But it doesn't matter. Sara and Flynn will always carry memories of it in their hearts.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait! In the meantime, while we all envy Anne her trip to Ireland, here’s a reminder of what you have to do to win: --

HERE COME THE BRIDES!

Good news! This month you get the chance to win not one, not two, but three brand new romances. Anne McAllister, Kate Walker and I have got together to celebrate the publication of our three February titles, all of which have ‘Bride’ in the title.

3 winners will each receive a signed copy of all 3 brand new titles from these 3 great authors.

What do you have to do?

Not too much! Just check out each author’s web site for the full name – first name and surname -- of the bride in the named book. When you have all 3, send them via the email link on each of the authors’ web sites.

Each author will be collecting their own entries to this contest so if you enter on each web site, this means you have three chances to win.

How to enter:

From Liz Fielding’s website, just put your answers in an email with HERE COME THE BRIDES in the subject line and hit send.

Closing date: February 1st 2007

And keep your eye on my blog -- and Anne’s and Kate’s -- throughout January for further updates and news. You never know what might happen . . .

THIS WAS THE YEAR THAT WE WROTE

For those of you who don’t read the Daily Telegraph and haven’t been following Louise Doughty’s “Novel in a Year” column, I’m posting details of a competition she’s running this month.

Write & Win

To enter The Daily Telegraph “Novel in a Year” competition, send the first 1,000 words of your novel plus a single page synopsis either by email as attachments to novelcompetition@telegraph.co.uk or by post to 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W ODT.

The closing date for applications is February 1, 2007. The names of the 50 shorrtlisted authors will be announced in the paper on May 5, 2007. They will receive a personalised copy of Louise Doughty’s book of the column, A Novel in A year. The names of the five winners will be announced on May 26, 2007.

The prize is lunch at The Daily Telegraph with Louise Doughty and the other judges, Sam Leith, the literary editor of The Daily Telegraph, Louise Doughty’s literary agent, Antony Harwood and Rochelle Venables, commissioning editor at Simon & Schuster.

There are, as far as I can see, no rules about not being previously published.

WAIT!!!!

Before you to rush off to send in your entry, check out the

HERE COME THE BRIDES!

competition below!

HERE COME THE BRIDES!

Good news! This month you get the chance to win not one, not two, but three brand new romances. Anne McAllister, Kate Walker and I have got together to celebrate the publication of our three February titles, all of which have ‘Bride’ in the title.

The books:

THE SANTORINI BRIDE by ANNE MCALLISTER

Theo Savas didn't need marriage. He'd been there, done that. And he wasn't about to do it again – not that it stopped nearly every single woman on the planet trying. Hitting the "world's sexiest" list didn't help either.

Theo wanted space. Maybe even a bit of celibacy. So he was furious when his Greek island hideaway was invaded by a sexy, enticing woman – especially one who claimed his home was hers!

At first Martha thought Theo was just what she needed.

Sizzling passion would surely make her forget what had brought her home. She never counted on falling for him – or conceiving his child. But when she did, Martha knew she couldn't turn to Theo. He was strictly a no-strings man.

THE ITALIAN'S FORCED BRIDE by KATE WALKER

"As long as I want you, you stay — and you only leave when I give you permission to go"

Alice spent six passionate months as Domenico's mistress. But she knew he would never love her back and would soon discard her — so she left him.But now Domenico wants her back in his bed, and his terms of possession are the same as before — until he makes a discovery that changes everything: Alice is carrying his child.

For UK readers, who've already had the scrumptious Domenico, Kate has an alternative prize -- a copy of her latest book, Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride! Lucky things! Check out her blog for full details.

THE VALENTINE BRIDE by LIZ FIELDING

“Dammit, Louise,” he said, “you haven’t changed one bit –”

“Dammit, Max, neither have you!” She was on her feet, in his face. “You’re still the same arrogant, over-bearing, despotic, pig-headed idiot you always were!”

Working with Max was never going to be easy. There’s always been something between them – something they’ve done their best to ignore. Family loyalty wins, but Louise extorts a very personal price from Max for her co-operation and sparks fly from the start.



The prize:

3 winners will each receive a signed copy of all 3 brand new titles from these 3 great authors.

What do you have to do?

Not too much! Just check out each author’s web site for the full name – first name and surname -- of the bride in the named book. When you have all 3, send them via the email link on each of the authors’ web sites.

Each author will be collecting their own entries to this contest so if you enter on each web site, this means you have three chances to win.

How to enter:

From Liz Fielding’s website, just put your answers in an email with HERE COME THE BRIDES in the subject line and hit send.

Closing date: February 1st 2007

And keep your eye on my blog -- and Anne’s and Kate’s -- throughout January for further updates and news. You never know what might happen . . .

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The last year has flown by in such a rush and I can hardly believe it's over. I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone of you for your support, your kind words, the pleasure of your company. I wish you and your families health, happiness and peace in the coming year. May your wildest dreams come true.

Coming very soon...

If winning books is on the "dreams" list, you might want to drop by next week for the chance to win not one, but three brand new titles from Anne McAllister, Kate Walker and myself. The "Brides" are coming...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I've given up on mass Christmas card sending -- this year the money is going to support women in the third world wanting to set up their businesses. This is my cyber alternative, available to everyone who visits my website and blog.

I wish you all the most merry of Christmas times and a New Year filled with love, success and happiness in equal measure.

With love

Liz

ON SALE IN FRANCE

A quick glance at Amazon.fr has revealed that the 3-in-1 romance STRICTLY BUSINESS, three novellas written by Penny Jordan, Hannah Barnard and myself, is now on sale in France. It's called COUP DE FOUDRE AU BUREAU.

My contribution was a bit a romp featuring Jude somebody, and Talie somebody -- it's been a while since I wrote it and Christmas is sapping my brain cells -- and takes place largely in New York. Well I had to justify all that sightseeing to the taxman somehow!

I know what a coup de foudre is and I know what a bureau is. Lighting Strikes in the Office? I like it!

Francophiles click here for more.

A Writers Life

Accordng to a column in The Independent, traditionally, there have been two models for being a writer.

To find out more click here.

BETA?

I'm beginning to understand the sudden lack of messages on the blog. Beta is driving me crazy. It's fine for posting, managing the blog, all that stuff. But visit someone else's blog and try to leave a message and you have to sign in with your Google account. Fine if you've got one... Maybe. I was just at Barbara Hannay's blog and Google refused to recognise me and after three attempts I gave up. I was concerned that it wouldn't let me into my own blog, but here I am, no problem.

I suppose it will stop spam posting, which is great, but if it stops everyone else, that seems like one step forward, two back to me.

UPDATED...

I've been updated to the new "Beta" Blogger. It looks just the same on the outside, but it's supposed to be "better" on the inside. We'll see.

... AND CUT OFF

Everyone seems to have been having excess of weather. Too much rain, too much wind. We've lost the cladding that covers the shed roof -- well, not so much lost it as got it spread all over a lawn too soggy to venture onto. And the power went out, too. Not a general cut, with the entire hillside in darkness. Just us.

It felt very personal.

Picture me, at four o'clock on a very dark morning, a cell phone with a dodgy signal clamped to my ear, standing in the pouring rain in the middle of the road in my nightie and raincoat. Enough to frighten the cows.

Some jolly nice men, heroes all, who are out in terrible weather, turned up two hours later to fix us and no sooner than they'd knocked the door than were immediately called away to an "emergency".

We dug out the camping stove, made coffee and waited.

By nine-thirty, bless them, they had returned and fixed us. The branch of a tree had rubbed a power line down the road.

Now we just need the weather to stop doing "stuff" long enough to fix the shed roof.

A very small drama compared with the stuff that happened in London last week, but I really could do without all this excitement. I have a book to write...


AND IF YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL

Apparently the Guardian blog is the place to find out, with help from the likes of Michael Crighton. Good luck!

HARDBACK ROMANCE

I can't think why anyone but a library would want to buy a hardback edition of any of my books -- they aren't cheap -- but for some reason Amazon are running a special on THE SECRET LIFE OF LADY GABRIELLA. For the incredibly low price of £8.08, you can reserve a copy of this scintillating romance and read it two months before the paperback crowd.

Mmm...

I suppose if you had an Amazon voucher for Christmas and just didn't know what to do with it, it might make sense. :)

No, I thought not, but there's an excerpt on my website if you want to check it out just for fun.

Oh, and if you're ordering at Amazon.co.uk, you might prefer to go for the US version which, at the moment, is cheaper than the UK edition.

ROMANCE IN ITALY


I've noticed on my Blogger map, that I get visits from Italy. Ciao! Here is something just for you!

This month, THE FIVE YEAR BABY SECRET is having an outing in Italy. For those who speak Italian (it's top of my New Year resolution list to learn) there are more details here.

And for everyone, look out for a brand new contest: --

HERE COME THE BRIDES!

February is going to be "Brides" month with books by

Anne McAllister, Kate Walker and Liz Fielding.

We'll be running a competition with all three books as prizes in January, so for a chance to get a steal on the market, stay tuned.

SHEIKHING ALL OVER


I've just ordered the last but one of the Bella Brides books online at Mills & Boon and can't wait to read more about what Max got up to before I started work on him! The covers have been universally gorgeous and "sheikhs" are always hot, so I'm really looking forward to this one. For an excerpt and background, click here

I'm working on a sheikh of my own at the moment. Zahir made his bow in The Sheikh's Guarded Heart and I rather took to a young man who'd been ordered, by family, to keep an eye on his grieving cousin, and did his duty without complaint even when he'd have far rather been out there doing his "own thing". There's another "duty" looming. His father wants a grandson. Suitable brides are being lined up. He knows it makes sense...

Okay, I admit it, any excuse to post a picture of a man with a lot on his mind -- especially if he's in the bath --

BAD SEX AWARD

This year's Bad Sex Award was won by Iain Hollingshead for his book Twentysomething
(Duckworth) -- apparently is was the "bulging trousers" that swung it for him!

"She's wearing a short, floaty skirt that's more suited to July than February. She leans forward to peck me on the cheek, which feels weird, as she's never kissed me on the cheek before. We'd kissed properly the first time we met. And that was over three years ago.

"But the peck on the cheek turns into a quick peck on the lips. She hugs me tight. I can feel her breasts against her chest. I cup my hands round her face and start to kiss her properly, She slides one of her slender legs in between mine. Oh Jack, she was moaning now, her curves pushed up against me, her crotch taut against my bulging trousers, her hands gripping fistfuls of my hair. She reaches for my belt. I groan too, in expectation. And then I'm inside her, and everything is pure white as we're lost in a commotion of grunts and squeaks, flashing unconnected images and explosions of a million little particles."


More here


SUNRISE IN WALES

On higher plane, this was sunrise this morning from the "Snap & Scribble".

THE LEARNING CURVE

The first “adult” writing for which I was paid, was a piece that involved both Thanksgiving and Christmas and was published in Woman’s Weekly on 22 December 1979. I can scarcely believe that it was 27 years ago.

It’s far from polished and I’ve had to fight hard to stop myself from rewriting it completely, giving it a little Liz Fielding sparkle, before publishing it here. But the whole point of reproducing it is to demonstrate that no one springs, fully formed as a novelist; that it takes baby steps to build the skill, the voice. This was my first step.



A reader shares a charming idea with us and tells us the background story, too.

Some years ago I arrived in Bahrain in the middle of summer, with temperatures regularly up to 104?F. I had with me my ten-week-old baby, William, and I was joining my engineer husband, John.

John worked long hours, leaving home at 5.45 am and not returning until 8pm quite often.

Alone all day with a new baby, and without the support of a loving family, I was often depressed and near to tears.

Then one day, as the weather cooled and people actually went out into their gardens, a neighbour noticed William and came over to chat. Her name was Becky and she helped me back to a more balanced view of life, and restored my sense of humour.

She had two children, Eddie and Amy, and her husband was in the US Navy and away for long periods of time. She filled her days sewing, baking and having “socials” and she included me in all these activities.

Becky decorated her house for all occasions. Hearts and flowers for Valentine’s Day; shamrocks and green ribbons for St Patrick’s; bunnies and chicks at Easter. But it wasn’t until Thanksgiving Day that I discovered how far my talented friend could go when it came to making her own decorations, for on this day Becky raised her Christmas tree, and I have never seen one to match it.

It stood from floor to ceiling and only the glass balls had not been made by Becky.

Think of any cartoon character from Snoopy to Mickey Mouse, think of any toy, from a rag doll to a drum, think of any fairytale character and it was there. All were made from felt pieces and it took my breath away.

All though the long evenings when her husband was at sea, she had stitched her love into her decorations.

Every year she made a decoration for each of the children so that when they left home they would have the start of their own collection.

I knew that I had to have a tree like Becky’s. Every year I add some new characters to my tree. Ours is a more English selection than Becky’s, of course. Paddington Bear, Rupert, the Magic Roundabout characters. Noddy and Big Ears hang alongside Charley Brown and his dog.

This year we returned to England and William has discovered the Mr Men and they will adapt perfectly to felt. Our own special addition is a felt portrait of our little girl who will be nearly two this Christmas.

We don’t hear much from Becky, her talent was human contact, not letter writing and the last we heard, she and her family were posted to Hawaii. But we’ll never forget her, because her tree brings us close each Christmas and because we named our daughter Amy, after her little girl.

FILLING THE STOCKINGS

Christmas is almost upon us and with it the “what on earth can I get him/her” question. This year the big stuff is already taken care of. Well, mostly.

Which just leaves the stockings.

I don't know about you, but I love Christmas stockings! Finding special little gifts to tuck amongst the nuts and oranges is, I think, just about my favourite part of the season. An excuse to potter about in shops I’d never normally visit. Spend giggle money.

Last year, the pink “girl” toolkit – screwdriver, tape and pliers -- was voted “the coolest thing ever” by my handy dd. Topping that this year was always going to be tricky, but I think I might just have managed it.

Hands up all the pre-Cindy baby-boomer generation of girls who played with paper dressing dolls? Spending hours dressing them in all their outfits. Every day clothes. Coats. The riding outfit. The nurse uniform. The party dress. All those little hats and shoes and boots. Hours of bliss.

Well this year I’ve found a grown up version produced by Celia Birtwell, although this doll isn’t card and her clothes aren’t paper. And there are none of those little fold-over tabs to get torn off.

This dressing doll is a fridge magnet and so are all her clothes and accessories and I’m seriously tempted to buy another set for the white board in my office – playtime for those moments when the muse has gone out for a long lunch. (I was going to put a picture here but can’t grab one off the website – but you can see the doll being dressed in all her outfits if you go there yourself.).

Oh, and just in case I’ve stirred a hankering for the real thing -- for some “little” girl you know, or even your own inner child -- a quick Google revealed that there are dozens of sites on the internet that sell them. Brilliant.

DANUTA KEAN

"Romance gets such a dirty reputation among the literati. Only science fiction gets the same treatment. It is something I have commented upon before, but I mention it now because the subject came up last night at the Romantic Novelists Association’s annual winter party. Personally I don’t care what people read, as long as they read. Each book is not just a portal to the world created by the author but to a whole universe of literature, which will hopefully lead on to a lifetime of reading - and may even develop reading habits of which literary snobs approve."

Danuta is one of the few journalists who seems to "get" romance and is never afraid to stand up and say so -- bless her.

Read on for more excellent sense on "Romance" at
Danuta Kean's blog

FOREIGN EDITIONS

It's always fun to receive a package of books in the post, especially foreign editions. Unlike the first editions of the books, they come out of the blue. Little treats to light the day. It's been a particularly whizzy week in that respect with Japanese and Afrikaans editions of The Marriage Miracle.

I also received that a double delight with Spanish reprints of His Runaway Bride and Baby on Loan in this rather swish two-book edition.

I've got a spare of each, so if anyone would like a copy, just email me (my email link is on my website) with your snail mail addy and the first one out of the hat will grab the prize.

For Swedish fans, Harlequin are also publishing A Family of His Own this month. This will provide an especially heavy package for the postman since they come in at least five different languages!

KATIE FFORDE & ANITA BURGH -- LIVE!

For those of you out there who adore Katie Fforde and Anita Burgh, I'm posting news of their double act in Cirencester Parish Centre on 22nd November on behalf of Breast Cancer research.

"Cotswold Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity are running a talk by two well known Gloucestershire authors, Katie Fforde & Anita Burgh who talk about their books, how they began writing and what keeps them going, on November 22nd 2006 in Cirencester Parish Centre at 7.30pm. They have many books for raffle prizes which have kindly been donated by members of the Romantic Novelists' Association.

"Tickets £10 including glass of wine/juice.

"For advance booking contact Amanda Homan-Green by email at Amanda @ cotswoldbreakthrough.org.uk " (without the gaps!)

EMAILS

In the last week I've had a number of emails from people either astounded that the message they sent me months ago has only just arrived, or worse, from people anxious for a reply and sending a "last post", hoping for a reply to a question, or an invitation to speak.

I haven't changed my address, or gone over to broadband -- I wish! -- or done anything to complicate matters. The stuff just isn't getting through to me.

If you've emailed me and I haven't replied, it's not because I'm rude, or ignoring you (unless you're inviting me to expand on body parts I don't possess) or more than averagely forgetful, it's because what you sent didn't arrive.

I don't know what the answer is, just don't give up on me, okay?

SATURDAY STUFF

It's frosty here in Wales. We've had a weeks of cold, clear nights full of stars and sparkling pale pink dawns. Glorious.

Fiona Harper tagged me to tell the world five things no one knows about me.

Here goes --

I love licorice almost more than I love chocolate
I hate shopping (yes, even for clothes)
I had drama lessons with Francis de la Tour
I have held a genuine "Oscar" -- they're smaller than a Rita
I yearn to take a trip in a hot air balloon (but not now...)

And I tag Kate Walker and Ally Blake.

Finally, there is absolutely nothing like a fabulous review to make the pulse race. This is for THE SHEIKH'S GUARDED HEART, and it's posted at The Tote Bag

"There's no way you can read this book and not fall in love with the characters!

Poignant and heart-wrenching at times with strong emotional drama, this beautiful romance will captivate and enthrall from beginning to end. Fielding seamlessly blends skillful storytelling with heartwarming drama that is both captivating and sweet and delivers another winner that is sure to satisfy all lovers of Sheikh romances.

Beyond that, all I can say is... "We want more, Ms. Fielding!"

There are a lot of other good things on this site. Do drop by and take a look when you have a moment.

COULD YOU BE THE NEXT BIG THING IN "ROMANCE"?

I posted last month about the short story competition that Mills & Boon are running in conjunction with Woman's Weekly magazine. If you missed it then, all the details about how to enter are now online at M&B's website.

THE OPENING PARAGRAPH

On her blog last week, Julie Cohen addressed the importance of the opening paragraph, forensically dissecting one of her own and inviting authors and those hoping to be published to join in.

I wrote a fairly long piece on this subject a few years ago and talked about it at the Romantic Novelists’ Association Conference in Leicester. You can read the article on my website, but the books quoted are old and – with thirty more books under my belt since I wrote this piece – my writing style has evolved a little since then.

But like it says in the song, the fundamentals “still apply” so here’s the opening page of A FAMILY OF HIS OWN, which won the RNA Romance Prize last year.

I may not always use the “feet first” approach these days, confrontation on the first line to grab the reader by the throat and drag her into my book, but I do have to engage her, enchant her, make her want to read on. And for that I need a character who she can empathise with, who she’ll want to spend time with. So it’s still down to that first paragraph, whether it’s face-to-face fireworks with the hero, or something slightly less dramatic. Whatever I write, I won’t be indulging myself in a couple of hundred words of lyrical prose – not without burying tantalising chunks of information about the heroine at its heart.

It was hot for the end of September. A cloudless, still day with only the glistening fruit of the huge blackberries to warn that summer was almost over.
Huge blackberries that were infuriatingly out of reach.

I’d like to tell you that I used those blackberries as a metaphor for the unattainable. I wish I was that deep. I write what I see, what I’ve done myself, presenting a reality that I hope my reader will recognise. Been there. Done that. “...out of reach.” of whom?

Kay rubbed the sweat from her forehead, fanned herself with her tattered straw gardening hat and walked slowly back along the hedge, seeking out any fruit that she’d missed, trying to ignore the long brambles lolling over the high wall that skirted the far side of the lane. Brambles weighed down by berries, but which still just evaded the reach of her walking stick.

Kay. Instant answer. Enough with the “cloudless” stuff. Get the character on the page. No description, but that gardening hat tells you a lot about her. It’s “tattered”. It’s had a lot of hard use. This heroine isn’t a lady of leisure, she’s out there getting her hands dirty. And she’s blackberrying, which suggests she lives in the country.

‘Come on, Polly, this will have to do,’ she said, after scanning the hedge one last time.
‘Have you got enough?’ her daughter asked, looking doubtfully at the pitiful quantity they’d gathered.

And she has a little girl.

‘There aren’t any more. I’m afraid the harvest supper pies will have to be more apple than blackberry this year.’

And she’s putting herself through this, not for her own pleasure, but for the community.

Polly’s little face wrinkled up in a frown. ‘But there are loads up there,’ she said, pointing at the top of the wall.
‘I know, poppet, but I can’t reach them.’
‘You could get them down from the other side. Why don’t you go through the gate? No one lives there. Someone’s put up a For Sale sign,’ she added, as if that settled the matter.
How simple life was when you were six years old! But Polly was right about one thing. Linden Lodge had been empty for as long as she’d lived in Upper Haughton.

Okay, now we know her daughter’s six years old. And that there’s mystery surrounding Linden Lodge. And Kay is tempted.

From her bedroom window she had tantalising glimpses of the wilderness hidden behind the high walls. The roof of an ornamental summer house collapsing beneath the unrestrained vigour of a clematis montana. Roses running wild. Blossom on trees where, year after year, the ripened fruit was left to fall and rot in the grass. It was like a secret garden from a fairy tale, locked away, hidden, sleeping. Just waiting for the right person to venture inside, bring it back to life.
It would take more than a kiss, she thought.

And now the reader now knows what kind of story she’s bought into. Sleeping Beauty. But who is “Beauty”?

When she didn’t answer, Polly, with all the persistence of a six-year-old on a mission, said, ‘They’re for the harvest supper.’
‘What?’

Kay is distracted by the garden. She longs to open the gate, go inside.

Polly gave huge sigh. ‘The blackberries of course. Everyone in the village is supposed to give something.’
‘Oh, yes.’ That was the plan. Everyone contributed to the harvest supper that brought the whole village together in a celebration of the year; a tradition linking them back to the agricultural past of the village.
Her reluctance to try to the gate, a certainty that it would yield to pressure, was ridiculous, she knew. If she didn’t pick it the fruit would just shrivel up. Which would be a wicked waste.
‘You could put a note through the door to say thank you,’ Polly said.

What a nicely brought up little girl!

Kay found herself smiling. ‘A thank you note? Who to?’

And there you have it. Whose house? Whose garden? And is she going to open the gate and find out? What do you think?

TITLES

The Husband She Left Behind has picked up the most votes as a likely title for my latest book.

Thanks to everyone who took part and congratulations to Sierra who wins a signed copy of The Valentine Bride; it'll be in the post as soon as my copies arrive.

I guess you'd all like to know what the title is actually going to be?

REUNITED: MARRIAGE IN A MILLION -- August 2007

and the other two books in the trilogy are to be called

NEEDED: HER MR RIGHT by Barbara Hannay, September 2007
FOUND: HER LONG-LOST HUSBAND by Jackie Braun, October 2007

We still don't have the linking name for the trilogy, but editorial and marketing are burning the midnight oil and I'll keep you posted!

Meanwhile, there's more about The Secret Life of Lady Gabriella on my sparkling new website!

VOTE NOW!

If you haven't read the excerpt from my trilogy book, until now known as The Journey Home, check it out -- two blogs ago -- and vote on the titles that have been suggested.

I apologise for the lack of apostrophes -- apparently polls don't do them. And for any other weird things that appear. This is my first attempt at a poll and I may have bungled it!

Inline Frame Enabled HTML Code (Alternative Option)


<a href="http://micropoll.questionpro.com/akira/MicroPoll?mode=html&amp;id=18345">View MicroPoll</a><a href="http://www.questionpro.com/">Web Survey</a>

BLOCKED?


What exactly is writer’s block? There’s a quote in my Pocket Muse by Monica Wood from someone called Ray Blount, Jr in which he says that “...writer’s block is simply the dread that you are going to write something horrible.”

Mmmm... Not horrible, exactly, but just not good enough. It’s the fear that I’m going to fail the reader, especially after a book that has magically gone the extra mile (crazy when I’ve written six books since the “special” one that raised expectations ridiculously high). Whatever the problem, I can’t disguise the fact that since I delivered the ms for my latest book – another of those tough ones with a heroine who was all wrong, but just wouldn’t quit -- I’ve been grabbing any excuse to avoid getting down to writing that opening scene, committing myself to one of three story ideas I’ve fleshed out.

The days slip by and the excuses not to write the opening scenes begin to sound like, well, excuses. I really have to post something on my blog. I need to make purse calendars for some events. Then there’s the new website that needs a heap of stuff. And when I’ve done all that, there’s still the sack of bulbs that need planting.

Not one of these things is as important as starting the book – now, if I’m to finish before everything shuts down for the holidays: already I find myself thinking that maybe mid-January would be more realistic.


I’ve got three ideas, each one (well two of them, anyway) ready to take flight. Some interesting characters. That’s too many. If I had only one idea, two characters, I’d be pushing myself to make it work. Instead I’m cleaning my office, ordering stationery, making calendars, thinking about Christmas (actually you can blame that on the Oxfam Unwrapped catalogue which has just arrived in the post). Putting off the decision, afraid that I’ll get three chapters into the book and realise I’ve chosen the wrong one.

Here’s another quote from the Muse (dipping into this is just another way of avoiding the book)...

A college student asked visiting writer, Ron Carlson how one knows if one is really a writer. “... Carlson delivered an entertaining riff about the distractions that writers put in their own way, all the day, all the time: leaving the room to get coffee, check the mail, get coffee, walk the dogs, go to the bathroom, get coffee, look something up, get coffee. Then, dead serious, he summed up the whole enterprise in one line: ‘The writer is the one who stays in the room.’”

Actually, no. The writer is the one who stays in the room and refuses to get distracted by the Muse, the stationery catalogue, PR stuff and whether to buy an Alpaca kit (that’s for taking care of the alpaca, not an assemble yourself job) or a practical Condom Kit as a gift to the world for her best-beloved.




So will it be Princess Katerina, Sheikh Zahir or Count Giorgio whose story I tell? I already know whichever story I decide to write, three chapters in I’ll wish I was writing something else, I always do, and that’s paralysing, too.

I guess there’s nothing for it but to toss a coin, write, “Once upon a time...” And stay in the room until I get to “... and they lived happily ever after.”

THE JOURNEY HOME

I’m still referring to my newly finished, revised and tweaked manuscript by that name. It’s the first book of a trilogy -- stories of three women who are each making the mental journey back to a place where she made the wrong choice, took the wrong fork in life’s road – and I’m hoping that I’ve sold editorial on the idea of using it as the linking cover flash for the three books. (But I may be fooling myself...)

It would make a good title for a mainstream book, but it isn’t really hooky enough to be the title of a “Romance” – one that will sell the book to a harassed woman doing the weekly shop, kids in tow, with all of thirty seconds to make her choice. Hence all the “buy me” bride, baby, bachelor titles that give an instant plot summary. The Journey Home doesn’t give you any real clues as to what the book is about.

Understanding what makes a title a winner (The Best Man & the Bridesmaid was perfect!), doesn’t make it any easier to find the right one for this book. In my experience they either leap in to the mind unbidden (see TBM&TBM above – it does what it says in the title), or they don’t and the more emotional the book, it seems, the tougher it is to find a title that works.

One of my personal favourites is “Sophie’s Bakery for the Broken Hearted”. It was the title that sold me the book. In the US it was called “Good Grief”, which one colleague preferred, but which I loathed and would never have bought. (Broken-Hearted works so much better than Grief, for me.) So titles are really important.

I imagine “Marketing” are already working on it. They have been doing a fantastic job with artwork and advertising lately, so I know they’ll do their best to get it right.

Barb had the working title FOR HER EYES ONLY, which I think is absolutely brilliant, for her book. Short, memorable, it ties in with her story so well and says so much about the truly, madly, deeply love that we write about. Jackie is, I suspect, struggling, as I am, to find the perfect title that can sum up a story in six words or fewer.

Belle and Ivo’s story is about the past, hidden lives, secrets. About the fear of telling someone stuff that places your entire life is in their hands. About keeping your distance so that you can’t be hurt. And discovering, too late, that there is no distance far enough. And it’s about loving someone so much that you’ll sacrifice anything for them. All suggestions welcome :)

Email me your ideas (link to my website on the sidebar) and I’ll put them on my blog and take a vote on the best – there’ll be a signed copy of The Valentine Bride for the best. Sadly I can’t guarantee that it’ll be used, that’s not my decision, but it’ll be fun to hear what you’d like to see on the cover.

Here’s a taster to give you a feel for the character, with a picture of Hugh Jackman (are we all fixated on HJ?), in the role of the uber cool and detached Ivo Grenville,


‘You’re usually home long before this,’ Ivo said.

‘Today wasn’t usual. I’ve been away and there was a lot to catch up with. And I had a couple of meetings that ran on.’

A bit of an understatement that, Belle thought wryly. Having done the hard one -- telling Ivo that she was leaving him – her calm announcement that she wouldn’t be renewing her contract to anchor the breakfast television show had been a piece of cake.

And yet here she was making excuses like some kid justifying herself for being late home from school. Not that she ever had been. School had been a dangerous luxury, something she’d had to steal…

It was time to remind Ivo, as well as herself, that she had to make excuses to no one.

‘And then I bought a car,’ she added, as casually as if she’d was telling him she’d bought a new pair of shoes.

Which was when her very cool and detached husband became distinctly heated.
‘You did what!’

Not so much a question, as a man displaying outrage that a woman – his wife, no less – had the audacity to believe herself capable of making that kind of decision for herself.

It had, actually, been quite a week for decisions:

Left her husband.
Had her hair cut.
Bought a car.

So far, it was the car that had got the biggest reaction so she stayed with that.
‘It’s a BMW convertible,’ she told him. ‘Silver. Only 22,000 miles on the clock. It’s being delivered tomorrow.’

‘It’s not new?’ First outrage, now concern. ‘Has it been checked? Please tell me it’s not a private sale.’

Extraordinary. If she’d realized it would get this kind of response she’d have bought a car before. Several of them. Maybe gone into the used car business…
‘Would that be bad?’

‘I’ll need the registration number so that I can run a check. It could be stolen. Or a couple of stitched together wrecks. And the mileage is undoubtedly fake. Have you any idea --’

‘Oh, no,’ she assured him. If he was going to treat her like a dumb blonde, well – new hair colour notwithstanding – she’d had plenty of practise playing the role. ‘I’m sure it’s fine. I bought it from the brother-in-law of a taxi driver I met yesterday.’

He didn’t actually groan, but he didn’t look impressed. He wasn’t meant to.

‘Give me his name and address.’

‘The taxi driver?’

‘His brother-in-law,’ Ivo said, not quite through gritted teeth, but she could see that it was a close call.

It served him right for acting as if she was too stupid to live, she thought. If he’d watched her show once in a while he would have known that they had, on more than one occasion, run features on all aspects of buying used cars.

‘Oh, Mike!’ she said, determined to rub it in. ‘Such a sweet man. Hold on, I’ve got his card somewhere.’ Her bag was lying on the hall table and she opened it, produced a business card, offered it to him.

Ivo took it, looked at it, then at her. ‘Mike Wade is the taxi driver’s brother-in-law?’

‘Yes.’ Then, ‘Is there something wrong?’ Beyond the fact that, too late, he’d caught on to the fact that she’d been winding him up since Mike Wade was a senior representative at one of London’s premier BMW dealerships rather than some dodgy character selling used cars off the street. ‘He asked to be remembered to you,’ she added. ‘Said you’d been in to talk about exchanging your car for one of the smaller models. Very green...’

Then, exhilarating as it should have been to discover that Ivo was not made of stone, that it was possible to wind him up, she found herself regretting it.

He was just looking out for her. Making sure that she was okay.

DOG DAYS...

I’ve been playing hooky this week.

Having dealt with the first round of revisions for Book 1 of The Journey Home trilogy (Books 2 and 3 are by Barbara Hannay and Jackie Braun), and waiting for feedback on ideas for my next book (editors are human, they have days off too!), I took advantage of some seriously gorgeous weather to spend a day at the coast with my family.

We’re not very far from the sea and we’re spoilt for choice for beauty spots so it was tough choosing between The Worm’s Head on the Gower, or the endless beaches at Pembrey, but finally we plumped for the pretty old walled town of Tenby on the Pembrokeshire coast(where not only is there a fantastic beach, but a different set of shops to explore *g*)

It’s October, but the day was warm, the still sea reflecting back the bright blue of the sky, the sand firm and perfect. Here’s a picture to prove it.

(pictures by N J Allsopp)

...AND ANOTHER CHEF

But just to prove I have been paying attention, I have noted that Julie Cohen has seen my Giorgio Locatelli and raised me with Jean-Christophe Novelli. Okay, Julie, I'm prepared to match you with Tom Aitkens who has been lurking in my pictures file just waiting for this moment.

MEET GIORGIO...

In line with my earlier promise to provide pictures of good looking men to keep you amused, I have spent hours scouring the internet for a photograph of Giorgio Locatelli, that I think does justice to the man.

It's not a pretty face. It's lived in, but full of humour, Italian warmth, that wonderful touch of the fallen angel that women just can't resist. This woman, anyway *g*!

AUTHORS ARE SUNRISE PEOPLE?

Drawn to test what kind of day person I am by Kate Hardy and Natasha Oakley, I discover that, like them, I am a sunrise person. I'm normally pretty sceptical about this kind of thing, but waking up to the sun -- something I learned in Africa -- is the perfect start to my day.

You Are Sunrise

You enjoy living a slow, fulfilling life. You enjoy living every moment, no matter how ordinary. You are a person of reflection and meditation. You start and end every day by looking inward. Caring and giving, you enjoy making people happy. You're often cooking for friends or buying them gifts. All in all, you know how to love life for what it is - not for how it should be.

What Time Of Day Are You?

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.