She's So Over Him...

I'm absolutely thrilled to introduce new Riva author, Joss Wood. Her fabulous debut book, She's So Over Him, is part of the relaunch package for the series and has been attracting a lot of attention. Joss herself, is from South Africa, adding to the international chutpah of a series that has authors from four of the five continents.

Welcome, Joss!


For a newbie author such as myself, it’s such an honour to be on your blog, Liz. Thank you so much for inviting me

My name is Joss Wood and writing has always been an escape, a compulsion, something I’ve dallied with all my life. It’s essentially to my mental well being so I’m absolutely thrilled to be contracted to write books for the Mill’s and Boon’s Riva line. My debut book, She’s So Over Him, was released in September this year and my second book, Wild About the Man, will be released in January 2013

I was a finalist in the Voice of Africa/Essentials magazine Short Story writing competition in 2010 and was placed third in 2011. It was through this competition that my first book was brought to the notice of the Mills and Boon Editors.

About Me…

I live in a rural town in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa in an area surrounded by wild game farms and stunning mountains. Totally spoilt, it’s not unusual for me to see rhinoceros and giraffe, antelope and zebra while driving to visit my family in a neighbouring town.

I run on coffee and drink far too much of it! When I’m not writing or being a hands-on Mom to two very busy kids, I work for a non-profit organization to promote the local economic development and the collective business interests of our town and area, where my background in business, local government and marketing comes in handy. My hobbies include coaching my daughter’s field hockey team, meeting my friends for a before-work cappuccino or an after-work cup of tea and reading, reading, reading. I read everything; from romance to romantic suspense to real life crime to sci-fi…

Travel is hugely important to both my husband and I and I’m happiest with a rucksack on my back and an airplane ticket in my hand and have been so fortunate to indulge my passion for travel by visiting many countries within Southern Africa, Europe and America.  

About writing…

While I’m working on a manuscript, I always have ideas bubbling away in the background. As an idea comes to me for a new book− or a heroine/hero with a problem−  I jot them down and carry on writing. When I’m waiting for revisions to come back from my editor, I go through those ideas again to see if any of the premises/ ideas jump up and shout ‘write me, write me!’ If they do, I start fleshing the story out, if not I pace the floor, eat cookies and worry whether I’ll ever write another book again.  

About She’s So Over Him….

Cale and Maddie. Complicated. Stubborn. So completely right for each other but so determined to keep each other at an emotional distance while ripping each other’s clothes off…

I absolutely adore them and loved writing every moment of this, my debut novel for Mills and Boon Riva. She’s So Over Him is set in beautiful Cape Town and tells the story of Maddie, a very successful event co-ordinator and Cale, a sports psychologist and triathlon maniac.

So as Maddie helps Cale organise a charity triathlon race in memory of his twin Oliver, Maddie and Cale jump into a physical relationship that they both want but neither realise lead to them inviting these pesky little feelings like tenderness and friendship and protectiveness into their lives. They’re both smart, successful individuals but neither of them knows how to deal with love… She’s So Over Him is available at: Amazon UK and Mills and Boon

With a big thanks to Liz and my very best wishes!

Joss

xxx

PS: I love to connect with readers on Twitter @josswoodbooks; on Facebook – Joss Wood9 and at my blog so pop along and say hello.

Christina Hollis introduces her Lady Rascal!

It gives me great pleasure to welcome Christina Hollis, both colleague and friend, to my blog today.

Christina has just launched an eBook edition of, Lady Rascal - an opportunity for new fans to catch up with one of her earlier historical romances from the fabulous Masquerade series.

Over to you, Christina!

Thanks, Liz, for inviting me here today.

When it’s cold and grey outside, it’s lovely to escape to the land of books and blogs where the sun is always shining somewhere, for someone!

Early in my writing career my husband and I abandoned city life in Bristol and “emigrated” across the Severn Bridge. We now live in the middle of a bluebell wood on the Welsh border. Our move was made in a quieter, much more leisurely period when milk was delivered to the house, computers were a novelty and breaking news stories unfolded over days, not minutes.

While I was immersed in this pre-Internet nirvana, I wrote a series of historical romances for the Harlequin Masquerade line. With so many advances in technology I’ve now brought out one of these, Lady Rascal, as an ebook. It’s available from all the platforms including Amazon and iTunes.

It has a very different flavour from my latest Harlequin Mills and Boon Modern Romance, The Count’s Prize, so I’m including an extract here as a little taster.

Releasing Lady Rascal like this is by way of an experiment to see what you, the reader, thinks of the way Madeleine and Philip’s story unfolds. I’d love to hear your thoughts on its different style, and there are a couple of signed books from my backlist on offer for comments picked at random, by Liz. Happy reading!

It is high summer in the England of 1789. Madeleine has been rescued from the riots of Paris by Philip Adamson, an English gentleman. He has brought her back to the safety of his beautiful English country estate. She has witnessed his close friendship with his neighbour Leonora Wright, and watched him laughing with noisy socialite Kitty Pettigrew - but it is Madeleine he has invited into the garden to listen to birdsong...

Madeleine thought back to the hustling, bustling streets of Paris. They were never quiet, no matter what the hour of day or night. This was so very restful.

‘I fancy it grows chillier by the minute,’ Madeleine said when they had sat together quietly for some time. There was still neither sight nor sound of any nightingale.

‘Do you wish to return to the house, mademoiselle?’ Adamson said quietly.

‘The bird does seem to have deserted us, sir. And you have to think of what Miss Leonora would say if she knew we were out here alone together, with no good reason!’ 

‘She wouldn’t mind. In fact, she said that you and I ought to talk together more often.’ 

Madeleine half turned to him and smiled, but he was studying the grass at his feet. ‘I think Miss Wright has a kind heart,’ she said with a soft laugh, ‘but is misguided. She is very young— why, even if you can be trusted in the company of a lady, how do you know that you’re safe with me?’ 

‘After what happened when you came to my room in Paris, you can’t find me attractive.’ 

There was the slightest trace of curiosity in his manner, as though he was waiting for Madeleine to deny it. She thought of Leonora, and felt guilty. Then she thought of the way Kitty Pettigrew had kissed him, quite openly, and felt curious. 

‘I think you’re really far too attractive to be alone with me in a beautiful garden,’ she said slowly. 

‘Young ladies should not say things they do not mean. That is the trouble with—the young these days.’ 

Madeleine’s curiosity knew no bounds now. Did he mean Leonora? Even the divine Kitty herself? Perhaps his heart was broken by having to leave her in Paris. Leonora might be just a diversion to cheer him up. There was always that hope. Leonora was at least human, and stood a good chance of having as many faults as Madeleine.

Kitty was too depressingly good to be true.

Conflict of Hearts

Occasionally, one of my early books is reissued in a Large Print library edition. This time, it's Conflict of Hearts, one of those ingenue/sophisticated hero books so much loved when I first started writing.

Noah Jordan was the most sophisticated hero I'd ever written and, since the story centred around a marriage of convenience, I was hoping for a "wedding cover". I had written the prettiest outfit for Lizzie French, my heroine, but when my author copies arrived I was horrified to see that my bride looked as if she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards, and my hero looked as if he hadn't bothered to shave, despite having laid on a lavish reception, determined that the world should think this was the real deal.

Clearly, the artist was trying to get over the fact that this was not a "happy" wedding and decided that scruffy was the way to go and the whoever chose the cover art for the Linford cover seems to have chosen the same route.

Here's the way I saw it:

Lizzie didn't see Noah again before the wedding.  Olivia bore her away to her apartment, fussed over her, took her shopping to all her favourite boutiques and clutching James French's credit cards swept aside Lizzie's desperate protestation that she really didn't need a dream outfit for a quiet wedding with just a few witnesses present.
    'The wedding dress isn't for the guests, my sweet, it's for Noah.  It should be special.  He deserves it.'
    And what on earth could she say to that?  So she submitted to gentle bullying and even she had to admit that the pencil slim skirt and tiny jacket of the suit that Olivia finally declared 'exquisite', was just that, the old ivory of the silk perfect against her peachy complexion.  The matching hat, a delicate confection of silk leaves, completed the outfit to Olivia's total satisfaction.

I am, however, feeling rather more sympathetic on the subject of cover art these days. Having spent days looking at images for the new covers for three books I'm in the process of re-issuing as eBooks, I begin to understand the desperation of those who have to provide 50+ covers every month. It's a bit like an assembly line car - you don't want to be the last book of the day.

It really is incredibly hard to find an image that pleases me, will - hopefully - engage the reader, and deliver what is between the covers. It's a work in progress.

Meanwhile, the LP edition is in a library near you. All you have to do is ask and your librarian will reserve it for you. Or, if you're in the US, you can download Conflict of Hearts to your Kindle, or other reading device.

A bit of a muddle...

Please excuse me while I fiddle with my blogger layout. There should be pictures but as you can see, there aren't.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Riva is back!

Riva - dressed all over in sassy new covers - is back! They are now available in larger branches of WHSmith - not in the small one in Trowbridge, sadly - and you can also download them to your eReader.

Do take a look at the display if you get an opportunity - this photograph is courtesy of Nina Harrington and I think you have to admit that they look pretty amazing!

And for those of you who haven't already read Flirting With Italian - this is a second chance to buy it.

A cracking day out...

This blog is mostly pictures, because that's all you really need. On Saturday, our local chapter of the Romantic Novelists' Association went to Ashdown House.

It was a stunningly beautiful day. Clear blue sky, warm with a light breeze. We had one of our own, historical author, Nicola Cornick, as a guide and she gave us all the gossip, all the romance, all the history. (This house was built for love of a queen - sadly she died before it was completed.)

We climbed the fabulous staircase to the roof as had the ladies in the 17th century (they went to watch Rupert of the Rhine and Charles II hunting across the amazing landscape - we enjoyed the view, and a glimpse of a deer).

Then Nicola took us home to tea in on of those English villages you see on chocolate box lids. Thatched cottages, roses around the door. We sat in the garden, ate fabulous cake (made by her lovely husband) and were made a fuss of by Rochester, the puppy she is walking for the Guide Dog Association.

A cracking day out.

So You Think You Can Write

How is it going with  So You Think You Can Write?

I hope you're all taking advantage of the great advice being handed out by editors and authors online - if you haven't caught up, then use twitter hashtag #SYTYCW2012 to keep up with the mass of help being offered to new writers.

My editor, Bryony Green, senior editor for Harlequin Romance/Riva/Modern Heat is one of those lined to help and inspire.

She says the best part of her job is working with such talented authors, and finds the best thrill is finding a new voice for one of the series.

Last year's runner-up in the New Voices Competition - and who I had the enormous pleasure of mentoring through the final stages - Charlotte Phillips, has just had her second book scheduled, btw :)

Entries are now being loaded onto the competition site for you to read and vote on.

Meanwhile, for those of you still in a shall I/shan't I dither, or putting the finishing polish on your entries, here are my writing tips of the week: -

• Begin your story at the moment of crisis, the point in time when your character's life is about to change forever.

• Give the reader characters she will care about, someone she would want as a best friend. Not perfect - imagine have the "perfect" best friend. :( Think Bridget Jones - chaotic, overweight and with an inclination to put her foot in her mouth right up to the ankle.

• Make sure your conflict is big enough to carry the entire story. It doesn't have to be complicated, but it does have to be deep.

• Develop the romance. The reader wants to see your characters falling in love. They may bicker through the entire story but 48,000 words of endless sniping and "I hate you!"s, followed by a sudden  about face in the final chapter, does not convince.

• Dig deep for emotion. Mine your own experiences for the feelings your character is going through. We've all felt anguish, embarrassment, guilt, grief. If you find yourself writing "she'd never felt anything like it before", put your pen down and ask yourself what, exactly, she is feeling and tell the reader.

Finally, to help the party go with a swing, I'm offering Liz Fielding's Little Book of Writing Romance at a special price for a limited time. You can download it at Smashwords for $2.99, just use the following code at checkout QR86P here  You can download it wherever you are in the world, btw!

Lost bunny...

This is the story of a toy bunny. It was made for Cora Rose, my oldest granddaughter (she's two) by her very lovely cousin, Lucinda Ganderton. 

Lucinda, a designer and creator of wonderful things (you can buy her books and make them yourself), upcycles stuff and Babbit was made from a cashmere cardigan that had a bad wash day and other odds and ends.

You'll notice that Babbit has no ears. They were "loved" off, but are safe in a drawer for the day when Cora's mummy has Babbit, needle and thread and time all in the same place. Or at least that was the plan. Grab hold of your Kleenex... 

On an outing to Tesco in Purley, Babbit was lost.

Many phone calls to Tesco and the bus company ensued. Cora was distraught. She cried for hours. Mummy told her that Babbit had gone on holiday. Family members all over the world sent postcards from Babbit, telling her that he was having a lovely time. She still cried. Babbit might be having a good time but she wanted a cuddle!

The lovely Lucinda rushed to the rescue. She couldn't make an identical Babbit - when you upcycle, your materials are what you have to hand and let's face it, you don't want too many cashmere cardigan disasters. But she found this Babbit in her workroom. She's  grown a little (just like Cora) and has a lovely tan from her holiday.

And the really magic thing about Babbit mark II is that she's in a book because Lucinda made her as the prototype for "Boo" in tbe Belle & Boo books by Mandy Sutcliffe (Cora and her mummy went to Waterstones and bought one). And here's the thing - Boo's friend Belle, looks very like Cora.

And the moral of this story? Never take your best loved toys to the supermarket. They may decide to take a holiday, and they don't all come home.

BREAKING NEWS!

Since I wrote this I've received this picture of one very happy little girl:  Babbit I has made it home.  Now how to explain Babbit II ... a lovely cousin, perhaps?

Mills and Boon Author lunch...

Every autumn, Mills and Boon authors gather en masse in London for lunch. We talk - a lot. We have a glass of something uplifting. We eat wonderful food and get updates on what's happening from the publishing team at Harlequin and Mills and Boon.

We get to hear about new series, see advance artwork for new book cover designs and meet old friends and new. This year I was able to meet Charlotte Phillips. Last year, you may remember, I mentored her through the final stages of the New Voices competition. This was her first lunch as a contracted Mills and Boon author. A very special moment for both of us which, since I forgot to take a camera with me, is sadly unrecorded. I'll just say that she's young and pretty and her debut book, Secrets of the Rich & Famous will be published in December.  You'll be hearing lots more about her.

Instead I'm posting a photograph of the surprise goody bags that were waiting for us this year as a treat from Mills and Boon.

It contained a small bottle of champagne, a gorgeous pink notebook and pen, and chocolates. And oh, what chocolates! They were Kir Royale truffles from my own supplier of choice, Hotel Chocolate and this is what they looked like.

I resisted the temptation to scoff them all on the train home, and shared them with the best-beloved, who is and always has been my supporter. They were fabulous!

Off with the high heels now, and the posh two-piece and back to joggers and a t-shirt while I sweat out the last chapter of the book I've been working on for what seems like forever. (Moving house and writing and book are mutually exclusive activites, I've discovered!)

Writing Workshops

Here are the Mills & Boon Events planned to coincide with SYTYCW, which begins on 17th September.

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Tuesday 18th September, 7pm

Event Leader: Liz Fielding

MELKSHAM LIBRARY, Lowbourne, Melksham, Trowbridge, SN12 7DZ

Please call 01225 702039 to book your place.

Read Liz Fielding's titles before the workshop!

LIZ FIELDING'S LITTLE BOOK OF WRITING ROMANCE
 
FLIRTING WITH ITALIAN

BOMBSHELL FOR THE BOSS 

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Wednesday 19th September, 6pm   

Event Leader: Heidi Rice

ISLINGTON LIBRARY, Central Library, 2 Fieldway Crescent, London, N5 1PF

For more information please call 020 7527 6953 or email Shari.Green@islington.gov.uk.

Read Heidi Rice's titles before the workshop!

CUPCAKES AND KILLER HEELS

PS I'M PREGNANT!

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Friday 21st September, 5.30pm-7pm   

Event Leader: Sharon Kendrick

VICTORIA LIBRARY, 160 Buckingham Palace Road, City of Westminster, London, SW1W 9UD

Please call 020 7641 1300 to book your place or email afarrell@westminster.gov.uk

Read Sharon Kendrick's titles before the workshop!

PRICELESS

A TAINTED BEAUTY

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Friday 21st September, 6.30pm for a 7pm start

Event Leader: Heidi Rice

KENTISH TOWN LIBRARY, 262-266 Kentish Town Road, London, NW5 2AA          

Please call 020 7974 8515 to book your place or email Peter.Baxter@camden.gov.uk.

Read Heidi Rice's titles before the workshop!

CUPCAKES AND KILLER HEELS

PS I'M PREGNANT!

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Saturday 22nd September 2pm

Event Leader: Fiona Harper

BROMLEY CENTRAL LIBRARY, Bromley, Kent, BR1 1EX    

Please email Janet.Pullan@bexley.gov.uk to book your place.

Read Fiona Harper's titles before the workshop!

THREE BLIND-DATE BRIDES

AT HIS SERVICE: CINDERELLA'S HOUSEKEEPER

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Tuesday 25th September 6.30-8pm

Event Leader: Sharon Kendrick

MAYFAIR LIBRARY, 25 South Audley Street,  Mayfair, London W1K 2PB

Please email kblench@westminster.gov.uk to book your place.

Read Sharon Kendrick's titles before the workshop!

PRICELESS

A TAINTED BEAUTY

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Thursday 27th September 6pm-7.45pm

Event Leader: Anne Fraser

HILLHEAD LIBRARY, 348 Byres Road, Glasgow G12 8AP

To book your place on the writing workshop, please call 0141 276 1617 or email Carol.Maclaren@glasgowlife.org.uk.

Read Anne Fraser's titles before the workshop!

AT HIS SERVICE: HER BOSS THE HERO

HER MOTHERHOOD WISH

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Saturday 29th September 10am-12.30pm

Event Leader: Joanna Fulford

CHESTERFIELD LIBRARY, New Beetwell Street, Chesterfield, S40 1QN

To book your place on the writing workshop, please call 01629 533 400 or email Wendy.Kurcewicz@derbyshire.gov.uk.

Read Joanna Fulford's titles before the workshop!

THE VIKING'S TOUCH

HIS COUNTERFEIT CONDESSA

Writing tips from the great...

Some of you, I know will be embarking on the So You Think You Can Write adventure this month.


Obviously, my advice to you would be to read Liz Fielding's Little Book of Writing Romance, but here are a few words on the subject of writing from great writers and teachers to fire you up.

"Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia."  - Kurt Vonnegut

 "Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing." - Henry Miller Henry Miller on Writing

 "If you are using dialogue—say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech." -
 John Steinbeck The Paris Review

"Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s." - Stephen King On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

"The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof shit detector. This is the writer’s radar and all great writers have had it." - Ernest Hemingway Ernest Hemingway on Writing,

"You begin to string words together like beads to tell a story. You are desperate to communicate, to edify or entertain, to preserve moments of grace or joy or transcendence, to make real or imagined events come alive. But you cannot will this to happen. It is a matter of persistence and faith and hard work. So you might as well just go ahead and get started." - Ann Lamott Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Riva has a new App!

Riva launched today on Facebook with this brilliant new App giving details of books - including a competition to win a bundle of the new Riva titles - and introducing the authors.

There is also link to YouTube "Bites" with one the editorial team introducing each of the books.

They will be available from Mills and Boon Riva from today, and from all ebook stores from 1st October.

Riva paperbacks will also be available in WHSmith from 5th October. It's going to be a stunning display so do look out for them!

You can also pre-order at Amazon UK

Sunday Six...

It's been a while since I've joined in with Six Sentence Sunday fun, but it's a holiday this weekend in the UK and apparently it's going to rain and blow - no change there, there - so I thought we'd probably all be indoors putting out feet up with a book.

This is from WILD LADY the second book in the Beaumont Brides trilogy. The first, WILD JUSTICE can be downloaded free (there are links on the sidebar). Or the entire trilogy is available in one collection

Startled by the sudden switch she froze. But as his body moulded itself to her, his arms about her waist lifting her from the floor, taking her weight, all the anger at being set up like this seeped away from her and she bunched his sweater beneath her fingers, clinging to him.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she could hear the audience clapping, counting out the seconds as the kiss went on and on. But this final humiliation didn't seem to matter. Nothing seemed to matter, except the heat of Gabriel MacIntyre's mouth and the slow, deliberate way in which he was taking possession of her.

Then, suddenly it was over and as she leaned back against his arm, her hair falling back from her face, his eyes were shuttered, giving her no clue to the way he was feeling. 

Don't forget to check out other Six Sentence Sunday blogs and hether you have a holiday this weekend or not, I hope it's a good one.

Hitting the bestseller list...

There's been a certain amount of excitement in the Liz Fielding/Jackie Braun/Nicola Marsh camp this week as our three-in-one anthology, Bombshell for the Boss, is creeping up the Amazon UK Contemporary Romance list.

Boardroom bundle of joy! As Events Manager it’s up to Sylvie Smith to settle up for a wedding that never happened! Since the ex-groom hired her they’ve shared undeniable chemistry – and avoided each other at all costs! Now, a steamy encounter results in an unexpected surprise

Kristen Lewis’s decision to have one perfect night with sexy entrepreneur Nathan Boyd was totally out of character! She puts it behind her…until she’s faced with two shocks. She’s pregnant and Nate is her new boss!

When tycoon Bryan Caliborn first meets pregnant Morgan Stevens, she goes into labour. Mother of his late brother’s child, Morgan appreciates the support offered by this once-burned bachelor – but surely he’s just doing it out of duty? 

As of this moment it's at #11 - just below That Book. :) Check it out here

Riva is back...

This was all over Facebook this morning!

Here's a closer look at the new cover on Flirting With Italian.

 So? What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Don't be shy. Enquiring minds want to know.

And if you haven't already read it, this new look edition will be available on the Mills and Boon website from 1st September. I won't let you forget!

Oh, and before I forget - a save the day note: I'll be giving a mini workshop in Melksham Libraryat 7pm on 18 September as part of the SYTYCW writing challenge.

A Room of One's Own...

"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction. "
Virginia Woolf

I'm not sure that's true today. I'm not sure if it was ever true. Mrs Gaskell, I understand, wrote on the corner of the dining room table - something I've done myself on many occasions. My first "office" was a very moveable space that shifted in response to the needs of the family.

That all changed when we built a writing cottage the bottom of the garden in Wales. But I shared that, too, with the best beloved and his cameras and his computers.

In our new home in Wiltshire, the top floor has two lovely rooms. One for him and one for me. Mine is beginning to shape up into a proper writing space. I now have a big table for my computer, a small table for the dictionary I can't lift. The cupboard I brought with me, that holds my stationery. And now it has bookshelves.

The best beloved excelled himself yesterday, with drill and saw and screwdriver and I now have 48' of space on which to place all those copies of my books that had been living in boxes for weeks. All my research and reference books.

There's space for the iPod thingie that the BB gave me (and the iPod when we find it!) And my Ritas are no longer being used as doorstops but are sitting front and centre, looking very shiny after a polish.

The bottom shelf is for ringbinders. The boring ones, full of tax records, receipts, business stuff. And the exciting ones filled with possibilities. Photographs, newspaper and magazines articles, stories that are waiting for me to have time to give them their day. Files stuffed with ideas.  (I'd take pictures, but the camera is two flights down!)

A room of one's own may not be essential, but it is a delight.

NEW TALENT AWARD

NEW TALENT AWARD AIMS TO UNCOVER FUTURE STARS

The Festival of Romance is delighted to announce that the New Talent Award will run again this year. The industry judges are Georgina Hawtrey-Woore senior editor at Cornerstones, Random House and Diane Banks, literary agent at the Diane Banks Associates Literary Agency.

The Festival of Romance New Talent Award aims to cast a spotlight on the authors of tomorrow and is open to all writers who have not yet had a book commercially published. Writers may submit the opening chapter (up to 3,500 words) of a romantic novel of any type by 30^th September 2012. The winner and runners-up will be announced and presented with trophies at the gala Festival of Romance Awards on Friday 16^th November 2012. There is a small entry fee to cover the award administration. Entrants may also gain a critique of their entry written by a professional novelist.

“As part of the Festival of Romance we want to help new writers with talent get their break into the commercial fiction world,” says Kate Allan, chief romantic at the Festival of Romance. “At the Festival of Romance in November we are running writing workshops, an industry conference and chance to meet publishers face to face as well as the New Talent Award. I'm delighted that Georgina Hawtrey-Woore and Diane Banks have agreed to judge this year's entries.”

Winner of the 2011 New Talent Award Henriette Gyland subsequently garnered a book deal from publishers Choc Lit. Her debut novel Up Close will be published in December 2012.

For more details about how to enter the New Talent Award please see www.festivalofromance.co.uk

If you need help with your own writing, there are some tips on Elaine Pillay's blog today, along with a chance to win my Little Book of Writing Romance!  

Celebrating Kate Hardy's 50th book...

I'm over at Kate Hardy's blog today joining in the party to celebrate the release of her 50th book,  The Hidden Heart of Rico Rossi.

Do come and say hello to Kate and maybe win a copy of
Eloping With Emmy for your ereader.

In fact put her on your auto-visit blog because we're all lining up to cheer one of the most popular (and busy) authors in the Mills and Boon family. There will be books galore to win from authors all over the world.

Happy 50th Kate!

London Olympics...

I loved the opening ceremony which was all about us as a nation, and not thousands of children doing physical jerks. Haven't managed to get to anything, but have sat enraptured as brilliant people gave it their all.

My daughter, her husband and littlest had an absolutely wonderful time in the pool this week (only five rows back!). Veda Mae gave them celebrity status - everyone wanted to talk. She behaved like a perfect lady, entranced by the reflections of the water and sent to sleep by the noise (she wakes up when it's quiet!)