Saturday, April 30, 2011

BRENDA NOVAK AUCTION

It's time for the fabulous annual event that is the Brenda Novak Charity Auction.

Over the last few years, best-selling author, Brenda Novak has raised over a $1,000,000 for research into Diabetes with a lot of help from her friends in the "romance" industry.  There will be fabulous lots, some of them going for many thousands of dollars.  Exciting "quick" auctions throughout the month.

There are also a lot more modest items on offer.  Lots of authors offering advice to unpublished writers, hundreds of signed books to be snapped up for a small sum.  As a member of the PINK HEART SOCIETY, my individual lot is listed on their special page, where you'll find signed books from other Harlequin authors and some very pretty jewellery. 


The truly exciting lot on the page, though, is a Kindle donated by HARLEQUIN ROMANCE authors, fully loaded with more than a dozen books - worth around $60 by themselves.

We've put this together as a treat for one lucky fan - so if you're thinking about buying a Kindle anyway, this will give you the added joy of ensuring that the money you pay will go to a very worthwhile cause.

Click PINK HEART SOCIETY and start bidding!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

ROYAL WEDDING

I've just order my Royal Wedding mug from Mills & Boon.  It's elegant, simple and I need a new mug, but like everyone, as the day draw nearer I find myself more and more caught up in the excitement. I've been going back through pictures of royal brides, married within my own lifetime (just) - and here are some of them:


The Queen and Prince Phillip  


Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong Jones











Princess Alexandra to Angus Ogilvey










Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer
















Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson











Prince Edward to Sophie

















In the early hours of this morning there was a major rehearsal for the wedding - the soldiers, airmen, cars and carriages taking the route that Catherine and William will take on Friday.  Making sure that everything will go without a hitch.

Let us hope that their marriage will proceed as smoothly, riding over the bumps of everyday life to come smiling through. 

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Calling all eBook lovers..

I've finally got The Beaumont Brides loaded onto Smashwords and to celebrate I'm giving my fans a chance to download WILD JUSTICE for free using the following code - WX82P - which you simply apply at the checkout.

It's only available for a short time, so grab it while it's going!

Monday, April 18, 2011

A LAZY WEEKEND

So, here I am, ordered to keep my foot "up".  This is strange territory for me.  I'm not given to lying on the sofa (give or take the odd "nana" nap at the end of the day).

I watched the Grand Prix - great result! - and I read.  A lot.

First up, I finished Michael Dibden's Aurelio Zen - And Then You Die.  The books are nothing like the television series, but I love them.

Then I read Marrying a Prince by Sophie Page.  Lovely, lovely romance with a deliciously gruesome New Year's party involving Scottish country dancing.  It's years since I've danced an eightsome reel, which is the best fun, but then I didn't knock off the Queen's tiara.  Blissful.  Hated when it ended.

After that, I caught up on Sue Grafton's alphabet murders, with U is for Undertow.  Not quite as scary as some of her earlier books, but it was high standard.  Hope for a new one soon.

Then I read the latest Kate Hardy medical, The Fireman and Nurse Loveday.  A delightfully warm and emotional romance with a scrumptious hero, exactly what you'd expect from Kate - and with the lovely St Piran, Cornish setting.

Then I downloaded an excerpt from Major Pettigrew's Last Stand.  I love that about Kindle.  You can try a chunk before you buy.   And of course I bought.  (You can download a big excerpt of my Beaumont Brides books and give them a go, too.  They'll be available on Smashwords for all eBook platforms soon.  I'll tell you when.)

I just wish I hadn't had to stick a garden fork in my foot to get all that wonderful reading time!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

AN INTERESTING START TO THE WEEK

I’m not sure what I was going to write about in my blog when I got up this morning. I’m sure there was something, but first I had to put the kettle on, get the rubbish out and oh, yes, there was cardboard in the garage that had to go out to be recycled.

Having flattened the cardboard and feeling pretty good about my green start to the day, I forgot to look where I was going. The searing pain in my foot as I speared myself on a garden fork that had fallen – and I have no one to blame but myself for this – near the door, dealt with that quick smart.

Beneath the cardboard I couldn’t see my foot and I thought I’d just knocked it. I winced and carried on as you do. Except that after two steps it was obvious that my foot was sloshing about inside my shoe. I tend not to make a fuss and since it was seven in the morning there was no one about to rush to my aid even if I had. But the cardboard was abandoned while I squelched my way into the kitchen, grabbed a tea towel to catch the blood and applied pressure.

Have you ever tried to apply pressure to the top of your foot? At full stretch. Bearing in mind I am not built like a ballerina. At all.

I grabbed a box of plasters and here’s a thing. Whenever I cut my finger I can only find plasters the size of my hand. Today, when I wanted something big, I could only find the kind you stick on fingers. But there’s something in the plaster pad that helps stop bleeding so I stuck away, replacing rapidly as necessary, then propped my foot up. I think it was the propping up that did it, to be honest.

I now have a garden fork tine shaped hole in my right foot, a small bruise and some swelling. Not much to show for the drama - or the pain..

The foot is sore and I have the joy of a tetanus booster to look forward to tomorrow - and I am reminded of an incident in the best beloved's distance past when he was hit on the chin with a shovel by an irate labourer on site he was managing.  The doc insisted on giving him a tetanus jab.  The bb resisted, explaining that it was a very clean shovel.  The doctor, without batting an eyelid, merely inquired whether it had been sterilised.

So I'm writing this with my foot up on a dining chair, feeling a bit limp, but honestly I look around at what else is happening in the world and, on the scale of 1 – 10, I reckon my little accident doesn’t even register.

And the good news is that I’m excused gardening for the rest of the week.

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

GETTING TO GRIPS WITH KINDLE

I have been thinking about publishing my Beaumont Brides trilogy on Kindle ever since I realized it was possible.

The books were published in the UK and had a limited retail presence in the US and Australia.  They were, I think, translated into Russian and one or two other languages, but have been out of print for a fair while.

I did publish them as a free reads serial on The Beaumont Brides blog a couple of years ago.  

Finally, when I finished the first draft of my Italian book, I took the bull by the horns, so to speak, re-edited (I was working off my finished mss rather than what eventually made it to print) and was ready to go.

No.  Not ready to go.  I needed cover art.

Actually, that was the fun bit - finding the artwork.  The best beloved then did his magic adding titles and author name, at which point I hit a brick wall. 

The instructions for uploading the mss to Amazon suggested it was simple but my version looked a mess. 

Enter the lovely Jenni, who did the technical stuff for me and voila - a week later all three books are now available to download via Kindle (or your PC if you don't have an eReader).

When I have recovered from the trauma, I will attack the other eBook platforms.  Meanwhile, if you like to try before you buy, the first chapters of all three books are available here

Friday, April 01, 2011

COLORADO AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

I had a bit of news last night, just before I went to bed.  The kind that good dreams are made from.

SOS: Convenient Husband Required has been shortlisted in the Short Contemporary Category for the Colorado Award of Excellence

Also listed is my good friend, Harlequin Romance author Donna Alward for her book HER LONE COWBOY - which I have read and loved.

And if you want to check out more recent good news for Harlequin Romance authors, then click here