December/January News
Here in the UK it is the season of frosts and low temperatures but in my nice centrally heated office I can enjoy writing about warmer climes. My current book has a Spanish hero and heroine - Vidal and Elena - though she now lives and works in the US. The book starts with Elena back in Spain with her parents for a few days because of a family crisis and she is on the verge of falling in love with Vidal - though if you asked her she would strongly deny it. And even I do not know whether she will end up living in her homeland - or in America where she runs her own business. Will she want to give it up? I think not.
Not knowing what is going to happen is one of the joys of writing. I never plot a book out from beginning to end - I prefer to go with the flow, so to speak.
And just to let you know, my upcoming releases are:
- The Billionaire’s Blackmail Bargain — September 2008 (UK) | April 2009 (US)
- The Italian’s Ruthless Baby Bargain — February 2009 (UK)
- The Santorini Marriage Bargain — July 2009 (UK)
Till next time…
September/October News
Another book has been sold. Which is always good news and it's been given the title THE SANTORINI MARRIAGE BARGAIN and will be published here in the UK in July 2009. I'm now looking ahead to writing my next book.
Autumn is fast approaching, the leaves are already beginning to turn. I love autumn, but I think I enjoy winter even more. I love the shapes of bare trees, I love the fact that you can see through them to the landscape beyond. We’re going on a winter holiday this year – in England – and I’m really looking forward to it. We shall wrap up warm, put on our walking boots and head for the hills – and the beaches – and anywhere else that takes our fancy. And who knows, I might meet a gorgeous billionaire who can feature in my next book!!
And just to let you know, my upcoming releases are:
- The Billionaire’s Blackmail Bargain — September 2008 (UK) | April 2009 (US)
- The Italian’s Ruthless Baby Bargain — February 2009 (UK)
- The Santorini Marriage Bargain — July 2009 (UK)
Till next time…
July/August News
June here in England has been a washout. We’ve had cold days, hot days, wet days, windy days. Nothing at all like flaming June. The gardens have enjoyed the rain, but it’s been impossible to plan any outdoor activities.
So what have I been doing? For a start I’ve played the waiting game with my editor. I know editors are busy people and they have lots of things to do other than read manuscripts, but when you’re sitting this side of the fence and waiting for a response then the days drag and you wonder why she hasn’t read your work and what is taking her so long.
But then the eagerly awaited email arrives and I discover that she loves my new plot, has thoroughly enjoyed the first three chapters, and it’s all systems go. I forgive her for keeping me waiting so long. And now it’s woe betide anyone who tries to interrupt my writing.
Of course I don’t mean that. I try to never neglect my long-suffering husband for instance, who is essentially a people person. He hates being on his own and I feel guilty when I shut myself away. It was OK before he retired and I could write for eight hours a day and not worry. Now I do it in two or three hour spurts. He does have other interests but nevertheless my conscience doesn’t let me stay away from him for too long.
And then there is the new baby in our life. When my daughter visits, sometimes unexpectedly, everything is dropped to cuddle my tiny grandson. He was born at the beginning of April and he’s beautiful. Isn’t a grandmother allowed to say that? But he is! And now he’s smiling and cooing and he gives you a wonderfully warm fuzzy feeling. I’d forgotten what it was like when my children were babies. He is so fascinating and interesting that I could sit and look at him for hours.
So what else is happening besides husbands and babies?
THE RICH MAN’S RELUCTANT MISTRESS (the story of Lucinda and Zane) is being released as a Presents this month (July) in the US.
I have a new Modern book coming out in September here in the UK called THE BILLIONAIRE’S BLACKMAIL BARGAIN which is set in wonderfully warm and sunny Australia—in the Great Barrier Reef area. I’ve holidayed four times in Australia and I just love that big country. We were going to emigrate there once but it never happened. I started a family instead!!
And in February next year THE ITALIAN’S RUTHLESS BABY BARGAIN is being published in the UK. More about that at a later date.
For more up-to-date news, visit my blog.
May 2008
We have a garden at home that we call The Secret Garden because it’s fenced off and we don’t see it unless we go through a gate. I was working in there the other day, planting up some tubs and it struck me how beautiful it is at this time of year. We rarely do anything to it apart from mowing the lawn but the azaleas and rhododendrons are out, two berberis bushes are full of yellow blossom, there’s a whole drift of bluebells and a long row of aquilegia (all self set) waiting to bloom. We spend hours tending the rest of the garden and yet this long narrow plot looks after itself.
It reminds me of the hours I spend writing my books, the hours of thinking, and then suddenly I get a chapter that writes itself, that I don’t even have to think about. The characters take over and all I have to do is leave them to it. This is the magical part of writing – when the characters grow into real people whose lives I’m allowed to share. And that’s all I’m doing, sharing their life for a very brief period. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to revisit them when they’re older, when they have children, when their children grow up. Can you see what I mean? They’re very real people to me and it seems such a shame to forget about them and start new relationships with two very different characters.
Which is what I’m doing at the moment – meeting a new hero and heroine. Zarek is Greek and gorgeous and my heroine is English with auburn hair and a temper. I’m looking forward to getting to know them. And I’m sure they’re going to have fun getting to know each other as well.
March 2008
It’s just occurred to me that I’m sharing my fifty years of married life with Mills & Boon’s one hundred years of publishing – and also my thirty two years of writing. All big milestones! And thinking about their 100 years in the business and all the changes that have happened since, I began to wonder how my books had changed. I had a surprise. Below are the titles and blurbs of some of the ones I’ve written over the last four decades.
1976. DESTINY PARADISE (my very first book)
The only thing Lorna new about Ashley Ward was that he had jilted her sister, Margo, and hurt her dreadfully. Fortunately Margo had now recovered and was engaged to another man, and Lorna was on her way out to the Seychelles Islands to attend their wedding. She was horrified to meet none other than Ashley Ward on board the liner that was taking her there – and even more horrified when she realised that she had fallen in love with him. In all this situation only two things were certain – that Lorna was wasting her time, and that Ashley was still involved with Avril Vickers, the girl for whom he had walked out on Margo!
1986. IMPULSIVE CHALLENGE
Handsome, arrogant, successful womanising Nathaniel Oakley, the dynamic boss of Thorne & Forest Advertising, was just the kind of man Gisele detested. ‘Men like him need taking down a peg or two,’ she told her friend, ‘not have their disgusting male egos boosted further by every girl they meet drooling over them.’ Nevertheless she very soon found herself working for Nathaniel and, although his arrogance drove her mad, his attraction was undeniable. And then there was Catherine, his injured sister – how could Gisele refuse to help her? But Gisele was in no danger of succumbing to Nathaniel’s charms. After all, since her unhappy experience with Adrian, she was immune to men … wasn’t she?
1996. POWERFUL PERSUASION
‘Will you take the job, Celena?’
That was how it all started – when Luciano Segurini persuaded Celena to work for him for triple her current salary. But before she knew it he had persuaded her to pose as his fiancée – and eventually to become his wife. Yet their marriage was bitter sweet – full of passion by night and misunderstandings by day. Not an easy marriage by any means – and then, of course, there was Simone!
2006. AT THE SPANIARD’S CONVENIENCE
When Lucio Masterton discovers that he has a child he knew nothing about, the Spaniard takes immediate action. And what better place to start than with Kirstie Rivers, the girl’s mother, whom Lucio believes has deceived him? But Kirstie believes that Lucio loves only one thing – money! She’s been terribly hurt by the billionaire and is determined that her daughter won’t suffer the same fate.
However, under the Spanish sun, Kirstie finds it hard to resist Lucio’s relentless pursuit…she remembers the pleasure he promises!
I discovered that the story lines have actually changed very little. They’re racier, yes, and the settings more glamorous (in the Modern/Presents line that I write for seduction and passion is guaranteed. But it is the characters who have changed the most. The heroes – who were always fairly well off – are now billionaires with all the trappings that go with great wealth. And the heroines are no longer meek and mild but highly spirited and often independent in their own right. The combination is both lethal and electric.
I just love writing their stories. THE BILLIONAIRE’S BLACKMAIL BARGAIN – telling Simone and Cade’s story is being published in September in the UK. Penny & Santo’s story – which is yet untitled will be following. And I’m currently working on a new plot. More news on that next month.
February 2008
Everything's quiet on the writing front at the moment, following the glamour and excitement of the Mills & Boon Centenary Cocktail Party. But there is something thrilling happening in my personal life - and it's definitely ROMANTIC!
My husband and are I celebrating our 50th Wedding Anniversary in March! I ask myself how can it be fifty years? The time has flown so quickly. Where has it all gone? I can say with my hand on my heart that we're as much in love now as we were when we got married. We've had our ups and downs naturally, as all families do, but my DH is a most devoted man who will do anything for me. He is my love and my inspiration.
On our wedding day it snowed as we came out of church but there was warmth in our hearts that has never gone away. Our photographs were taken by the husband of a friend - in black and white! No flashy wedding albums in those days. I made my bridesmaids' dresses and my page boy's outfit - and how lovely they looked. But I did buy my own dress which cost the princely sum of £9. A lot of money in those days when my wages were only about £3 per week.
We held our reception in an upstairs room at a local public house - it was all we could afford, and we toured Cornwall for our honeymoon. So different from the elaborate weddings of today, but no less happier. There was less stress for one thing. Nothing fazed me, everything went smoothly.
Cornwall is a most beautiful corner of England and we still holiday there frequently. When our children were small we went there year after year in a caravanette. Those were the days when you could park in a lay-by overnight without worrying about anything. We've parked in the most romantic of places. I remember one spot especially where we were overlooking the sea. And in the most unromantic. It was dark and foggy and we parked on the moors and in the morning we were surrounded by cows! We've also driven down to Looe first thing in the morning (no overnight parking there) so that the children could sit on the harbour wall and drop their lines to catch crabs. Such happy memories.
In contrast to the simple life we're throwing a huge party to celebrate our golden wedding, with friends and family filling to bursting point a beautiful room in an 18th century country house. We're having a ceilidh band and the drinks will be flowing and I know I'll be exhausted at the end of it all - but it will be well worth it. A fitting celebration to our fifty years of happily married life.
And afterwards… Well, that would be telling.
For more up-to-date news, visit my blog.
