Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Special days for special friends

Today is an important day for two of the very special friends that my job as a writer has brought me. When I started out, with my first ever book published in 1984, I never thought beyond seeing that book on a shelf in a shop. Since then I've learned that the romance writng community, although far-flung and international, can be very close knit, warm and immensely friendly. Thanks to author meetings and the internet, I have met some of my favourite people in all the world - people I would never even have known existed if they didn't write for - or, in some cases, aim to write for, or work for the same publisher as I do.

As I said, today is an important day for two of these dear friends.

Firstly, Michelle Reid, who is celebrating her birthday today. Apart from being one of my special friends, Michelle is also a writer whose books I truly love and admire. If you haven't tried any of her novels, then I suggest you go out and find some soon! She does have a new book in September so you can spend the time in between then and now catching up on her backlist. (Oh I wish I hadn't said that! Now I want to go and do just that myself!)

Unfortunately, Michelle doesn't have a blog herself but you can always wish her Happy Birthday here, and I'll pass the messages along.


Also today my dear friend Anne McAllister has her second cataract surgery. At first, she didn't believe me when I told her the effect it would have just having one eye done. But now she does - and she's been enjoying seeing things properly after far too long.

So tomorrow, hopefully, when the blurring eases, she will see even more clearly.

And so, for her special delight - seeing as , in her comments on this blog, she has referred to the Fraudulant Feline - the one that pretends to be Sid but appears in guises and postures so undignified that Sid would never deign to be seen in - just so that she can see him in all his glory - here is

THE MAN (sorry - THE CAT ) HIMSELF

FRAUDULENT FELINE

And while I'm talking about Anne - sorry I'm a little late with this because a certain Sicilian got in the way - I should have mentioned that her book The Antonides Marriage Deal. Like Michelle, Anne is one of my favourite Modern/Presents auhtors. Her books are very diffferent from Michelle's - which is what I love about the scope of the Modern Romance line at it's best. With Sicilian 1 tweaked within an inch of his life and sent back to my editor who I hope will love him, I spent part of the Bank Holiday weekend curled up with Elias Antonides. No, I wasn't being unfaithful to the BM, just enjoying spending time with the hero of Anne's book. This guy is seriously addictive - once I started, I couldn't put him - sorry - the book - down. I'd lived with Elias, so to speak, from the moment he was a twinkle, or, rather the light of inspiration, in his author's eye, until the moment he too was 'tweaked' into shape and slipped into the publishing schedule. But although I knew quite a bit about him, I loved reading his story as a whole, meeting his sparky heroine Tallie and seeing them fight against their attraction, give into it, and finally head for their happy ever after.

A perceptive reviewer on Amazon.com said that reading The Antonides Marriage Deal

Reminded me of a Kathryn Hepburn and Spencer Tracy movie, the bantering, power
struggle, and sexual tensions

I'd agree with that.

Finally, I have another friend for whom this day is special too, but this year it has a poignancy that will make it difficult for her to get through. Marilyn, I'm thinking of you, and remembering Ron too.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thoughts and best wishes to Anne for her eye surgery - hope you make a swift recovery and enjoy all the benefits of enjoying the world in full colour again.

Happy birthday to Michelle.

Glad all the tweaks are finished, Kate. Me too! Now the horrible wait to see if my ed accepts them!

Hope you have fun when you set out on Sicilian 2's adventure.

Best wishes,
Mags

Anne McAllister said...

Kate -- and friends (including the FF)

Thank you for the good wishes for the cataract op. If it is anywhere near as wonderful as the last one, I will be seeing the world with new appreciation to detail sometime in the next few days.

If it's anything like the last one, tomorrow will not be a good test -- as the day after before I saw very vividly colored blurs. But by afternoon when things began to clear, oh my!

So . . . I am looking forward to it.

And, of course, happy birthday to Michelle!

I look forward to Sid and his alter ego the FF in all their glory once I get both eyes working.

And, thank you, Kate, for the kind words on Elias. I'm so glad you've enjoyed him.

love, Anne

Anonymous said...

Happy belated birthday to Michelle.

And wishing Anne a very fast recovery.

Something you haven't mentioned: there is another special day this week, is there not?

Anonymous said...

How lovely of you to mention your friends' special days here.

Happy Birthday Michelle. May you have many more of them, each one more wonderful and more special than the last.

And what a wonderful time of the year for Anne to improve her vision :-)

Susan Rix said...

Very happy belated birthday Michelle :-)

I hope the surgery went well and Anne's enjoying the results :-)

Now, I have to whisper this next bit. I adore Sid (sshh I am one of those 'doggie' people). Every time I see a photo of Sid my hero also nudges me to remind me that he has a cat too.

Mags: Fantastic news that you've finished tweaking. I knew you could do it :-)

Ps, *very* intrigued about the other special day this week that you haven't mentioned. Hmmm... (It's a writer's job to be nosey) ;-)

Danica Favorite said...

Michelle, happy birthday!

Anne, good luck with the surgery.

Kate, thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday Michelle!

Nice to see the Fraudulent Sid. ;-)

 

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