Happy Valentine's Day

I hope you are all having a lovely day, with or without romantic cards, red roses, or chocolate.

So how does a romance writer celebrate Valentine's Day - well, actually, with none of the above!

No - you don't need to be shocked because, as I've said - quite often I believe - I'm not a fan of the commercialised 'romance' that comes into the shops on Valentine's Day. I don't actually like red roses - much prefer the golden ones I had in my wedding bouquet. And, besides, we're heading for Wales next week so any expensive flowers would be wasted as I wouldn't be here to see them.I'm not a huge fan of chocolate either and as I struggle with my weight it's the last thing I need.

But I do have a beautiful pair of rose quartz heart-shaped earrings. And,as I said, when we head for Wales and the Fishguard Writing Weekend, the Babe Magnet will do all of the driving so that I can arrive there rested and ready to teach (and talk . . .and drink a little wine . . .Did I mention that we rarely sleep on these weekends?) And the one thing I do believe is that true romance means thinking about the person and finding what they would like. Not just handing over cash for some mass-produced gift like the ones I saw piled up in the shops yesterday.

Some news for Valentine's Day - I'm taking part in the special Romance Junkies' Valentine's Contest. This is a big contest that RJs run every year with lots of authors involved and lots of prizes to win. So why not take a look. You can find my contest in the main street (just run your cursor over the picture to find where to click). I'm giving away a copy of my March release The Konstantos Marriage Demand (Presents EXTRA)

Finally -about the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance - I said a while back that while Amazon.com advertised this book at the import price when in fact there is a USA edtion available much cheaper, I wasn't going to tell anyone it could be bought on their site.

Well, I've now discovered that they are actually - at last - advertising it at the USA price- in fact less. It's on offer at $ 17.95 so I'm happy to let you know that the book is available on Amazon.com

Come back soon for news of the next contest I'm running. It's the now-traditional one that I share with my dear friends and fabulous writers Anne McAllister and Liz Fielding every February .

So you know the one . . . Here Come the Grooms!