Christmas Stocking Books and Authors - 2

Margaret McDonagh is a brand new HMB Medical author with her first book out in the shops in October this year. But although she’d brand new to Mills & Boon Medicals, shes been writing for years - twenty years to be precise - doing short stories, serials and story library novellas. Now, as Margaret says: “I still cannot believe the dream has come true and I have a "proper book"! The last eleven months since my first Medical romance was accepted by Harlequin Mills & Boon has flown by and I still think I am dreaming, that all this really is not happening to me! It is the most amazing feeling. I will never forget the moment when my brilliant and supportive editor phoned to tell me that they were going to publish my book! Having an actual copy of that first book in my hands still hardly makes it seem any more real.”

The book Margaret has donated to the Christmas Stocking Contest is her special very first title - The Italian Doctor’s Bride. This book is set in beautiful south-west Scotland, and tells the story of workaholic rural GP Hannah Frost, a woman with a painful past, and new Italian locum, the delicious Nic di Angelis, who also has memories to overcome. The last thing Hannah thinks she needs is a man in her life, but can Nic, caring and dedicated, help Hannah to heal?

This book has already received some great reviews - here's just one

The Italian Doctor’s Bride is absolutely wonderful! Margaret McDonagh writes
with plenty of warmth, charm and sensitivity and she sucks you into her story
from the very first page. Set in a lovely rural village which Margaret McDonagh
describes so vividly that you’ll be wishing it was a real place, The Italian
Doctor’s Bride is a spellbinding romance featuring believable characters you’ll
grow fond of, vivid medical scenarios, heartfelt emotion and poignant
romance.

CataRomance Reviews


So what’s coming up in the future for Margaret? Well, having taken 2o years to get that first ‘proper book’ published, she hasn’t had to wait anything like as long for the second – or the third . . . This is what she’s told me:

“I have chosen to stay with the rural Scottish feel for my novels and I hope this is something readers will enjoy. Although they stand alone, all the books are loosely linked and various characters will pop up again from time to time. I love that feeling of continuity and the rural Scottish locations also allow that feeling of community and of medical professionals who really know and care about their patients.

My second Medical is called A Doctor Worth Waiting For and is out in the UK in March 2007 and April 2007 in the US. I have seen the hardback (released in the UK in January 2007) and the cover is gorgeous - very atmospheric with the hills and rugged landscape.

The scrumptious, naughty and laid back hero, GP Conor Anderson is one of the county's most eligible bachelors. He is looking for that one special woman who will capture his heart - and he thinks he has found her in new doctor, Kate Fisher. But Kate is hiding many secrets and Conor must first unravel her mysteries and gain her trust if he ever hopes to also win her heart and make Kate his partner in life and well as in the practice.

Next will be His Very Special Nurse in June 2007 (UK paperback) with troubled doctor Kyle Sinclair and Alexandra Patterson, the dedicated, caring nurse who might teach him to live and love again. This will be followed in August 2007 (UK paperback) by One Special Night, a tale of passion and conflict, of the impossible choice doctors Cameron Kincaid and Ginger O'Neill must make between their duty and responsibility for their work versus their desire and need for each other.”
I owe Margaret McDonagh a great big Thank you for introducing me to a new source of inspiration in the form of Iker Casillas, the Spanish soccer goalkeeper. He’s an adaptable sort of inspiration. As the inspiration for my hero Guido Corsentino, I imagine him looking like this picture on the left.

As the image of Margaret’s Italian Doctor, he looks like this. And I have no doubt he’ll appear somewhere else with another nationality – maybe even as a Spaniard!
I don't know who the inspiration is for Conor in A Doctor Worth Waiting For but I have to say that the cover is very inspirational - that's one that would make me want to take the book of the shelf when I saw it.

You can find Margaret's web site here if you want to read more about her and her upcoming titles.
Good luck with your career as a Medical author, Mags, I hope this is just the start of a wonderfully successful time for you - and a special hug for listing my 12 Point Guide alongside Donald Maass in your Top Recommendations For Books On Writing