Cats and Birthdays

Yesterday was of course the Floozie's birthday. Today I'm posting photos of another cat to help a friend celebrate her birthday. It also makes for a quick post as I'm deep in the word mines and looking at a dreadline coming way too close.

Dylan doesn't get into the limelight as often as Sir Sidney or The Floozie. He is, it must be acknowledged, a small cat. But a small cat with a big character. He's a cat of little drama and not prone to pushing his way into people's lives. He waits quietly for you to notice him - which people always do.

Especially Biddy. Dylan with his one working eye and his rusty purr and his swaggering 'shoulder power' walk is Biddy's favourite of all the cats. And always has been.

And today is Biddy's Birthday. She's over on the Pink Heart Society celebrating with the delights of Male on Monday. So I'm helping her celebrate with these new photos of her other favourite male taken the other weekend when the sun shone and he was out in the garden lapping it up.

Happy Birthday Biddy!

And special thanks go to my dear friend Mama Duck who took these photos - with fabulous memories of a long warm late summer afternoon just talking. Now she's back in Spain and I miss her . Hugs, Duck!

At last - the RNA!

I'm not at all sure what happened to the last week. There was the journey back from Chichester in some appalling road conditions, there was the interview with Jen, there was catching up to do . . .lots of catching up. There were proofs to correct . . .

And then there was in internet lock out. I just could not get into my email or my web browser - so frustrating!

So now I'm back at last and it's a week since I was in Chichester and lots of other people have posted blog reports on the RNA Conference - check out Kate Hardy and Liz Fenwick for some great reports - and I'm running fast to go nowhere - so I'm just going to post a sort of mini photo-diary of the event so you can see people and get some flavour of it all from the pictures >

So here goes . . .


Starting with the wonderful, unflappable, lovely Jan Jones who organised the whole thing and always does such a brilliant job. Here she is starting off the conference with the notices and the 'Celebrations' announcements.

Next the conference proper started with the panel discussing 'What is Romantic Ficiton anyway?' In this picture are, from the left in white is Nicola Cornick, next to her is Kate Harrison, the Sara Craven, Kate Hardy and Anna Jacobs.

Later that evening, in the bar. Here I am with my friend Kate Hardy. Thanks to Mary who tok the picture and actually managed to get one of me with my eyes open - I always seem to have them shut in photos.

Firsts talk Saturday morning - the interesting and wonderfully helpful Shelf Secrets or how to get your books onto the bookshop shelves by thinking like a bookshop owner by Mark Thornton who also ran a fabulous bookstall through the conference with titles by every author there - including the 12 Point Guide 2 which sold out early on.

Mark's bookshop, Mostly Books in Abingdon won the New Bookshop of the Year 2008 award and you can find out more about that - including his blog on the conference here.

Fabulous Katie Fforde introduces An

Audience with the equally lovely and witty Jill Mansell -->

The bar where most of the - um - networking took plpace. In the centre Katie Ff is chatting with the Sunday morning speaker, Jane Wenham-Jones.

The Chapel where most of the talks were held with the beautiful huge windows.

Brand new M&B author Sabrina Philips whose first book Valenti's One-Month Mistress will be out in February 09. Sabrina has also just got married and brought some of her beautiful wedding photos with her. Congratulations on both counts Sabrina!

The Saturday night dinner and Imogen Howson received the Elizabeth Goudge trophy as the author of the best first chapter of
less than 2,000 words - on the theme 'To Have and To Hold'.

Imogen's own blog can be found here.

Anna Louise Lucia looking glamourous at her first conference as a published author. Her first book Run Among Thorns (which I have read and thoroughly enjoyed) was on sale at the conference - and I also managed to persuade her to sign a couple of copies for the Tote Bag of Books contest which is coming up soon. (I also managed to grab copies of Jan Jones' Stage by Stage for that too- and a couplpe of other books from other authors - more soon)




Nell Dixon (in white) and beyond her Fiona Harper who writes for Mills & Boon Romance. Nell's new book for Little Black Dress Blue Remembered Heels was on sale at the conference too and was the first book to sell out. I took this photograph while she was deep in conversation with the babe Magnet - so you can see why he has this nickname at the RNA!

The dining hall for the Saturday evening Conference dinner - you can practically hear the buzz of conversations!

Julie Cohen at the Saturday dinner looking bright and beautiful - the next morning the image was slightly less so after a glass or two of champagne too many as she celebrated the publication of Anna Louise Lucia's first book.





Biddy Coady who won 3rd prize in the Elizabeth Goudge contest - with only a point or so between the top three. Yes Biddy - you can write - now finish that submission for M&B!

Sunday morning - RNA CHairman Catherine Jones (who writes as Kate Lace for Little Black Dress) leads the session on publicity and plans for the RNAs 50th birthday coming up in 2010.

Jane Wenham-Jones entertains the conference on Sunday morning. Regular readers of this blog will remember that Jane is a friend and regular tutor at the wonderful Caerleon Writers' Holiday which I shall have to miss this year (sob!) because I will be in San Francisco.

Julie Cohen showing the chart of themes and events that she used to plot out her lastest Little Black Dress Girl From Mars during her workshop on Pacing. I found this fascinating as Julie's approach was so very different from the way I work - hers is far more analytical in contrast to my more instinctive approach. Which just goes to prove that there is no one 'right' way of working - and we can all learn from looking at different ways of doing things.

The last night of the weekend - most of the delegates had already gone home but some of us stayed over in order to have an early start in the morning. We all crammed into Jan Jones' flat for a drink (or two) before dinner. And I really meant to join them back there after wards too for the quiz but I made the mistake of going to my room for a moment, sat down on the bed - and fell fast asleep. Conferences are like that! Talking and learning and talking some more . . . and som e more . . . and some more - wears you out! In this photo, I'm afraid I don;t know who the lady on the left is but next to her, with the grey hair is Liz Bailey, then Joanna Maitland, Sara Craven and Amanda Grange.

London

I'm back.

I've been back for a day really but I had so much catching up to do - plus unpacking, washing . . . and I needed to catch up on some sleep as I didn't do much of that while I was away

There are other reports on other blogs - Michelle Styles, Kate Hardy, and I'm sure Trish Wylie and Donna Alward will report back as soon as they catch up too. I'll just be able to touch on some personal highlights.

Thursday night was the Presents Authors dinner which Michelle Reid and I hosted the night before the AMBA lunch. There was a mixture of the older authors - myself, Michelle, Jacqueline Baird - and some of the newest signings - Abby Green, Christina Hollis, India Grey and Natalie Rivers. And as always once a bunch of authors get together then the conversation flows - and the wine does just a little bit. (So yes, lara a 'round' of romance novelists might well be a good title for a group of us.)

But Friday was the big day when the Association of Mills & Boon Authors met at the RAF Club Piccadily for lunch. The lunch is always well attended so I was looking forward to meeting so many friends. The first half an hour is always a flurry of hugs and welcomes and greetings meeting - in no particular order - Michelle Styles (who organised the whole thing superbly with Jessica Hart and who was wearing a stunning red and black vintage jacket that had belonged to her Grandmother), Fiona Harper, Nicola Cornick, Roger (Gill) Sanderson, special friends Kate Hardy and Trish Wylie, Christina, Jacqui, Abby, India and Natalie again, Jenny Haddon (in her Sophie Weston personna), Joanna Maitland, Catherine George, Carole Mortimer, Heidi Rice, Sharon Kendrick . . . I will just leave that as a selection as there were so many authors there and I'm bound to forget someone.

Michelle Styles making announcements at the AMBA lunch

I was thrilled to see everyone and specially snatch a few moments to chat with PHS creator and wonderwoman Trish Wylie - to congratulate her on finally getting the dreaded Gabe revised and bought - and to hear news of her plans for the PHS - some of which involve me personally - believe me, there are some good things coming up.

But this year I was looking for a special guest who had flown over from Canada for her very first AMBA lunch - Romance author Donna Alward.

With Scary Kate (Hardy) and Fiona Harper

You'll remember Donna from her appearance at my Great Big Blog Party back in June. I had 'met' Donna on the eHarlequin message boards but this was to be my firts opportunity to meet her in persona and as soon as I saw a beautiful, glamorous lady standing in the middle of the room I knew this had to be her. One of the great things about making friends on the internet is that you get to know them in a relaxed and open way and people I have really enjoyed chatting to that way have rarely been a disappointment in real life. Donna was no exception - she is warm, open and totally delightful. Meeting her made so so glad that there is the internet to keep us in contact - but so sad that wonderful friends like her actually live so very far away. Safe journey home tomorrow Donna and I hope that it won't be too long before we meet again.

With Donna outside the RAF Club

The lunch was fun and business with information about the company's pans for the Centenary Celebrations for 2008 - more on that later - and some new developments that are coming up for the Presents line in the near future too. More on that when it can be announced. And there was the great news that Mills & Boon are moving into India. Now I know that there are plenty of readers of romances in India - I have had many email messages from readers there and some of you have won my contests. But I know that actually getting hold of the books can be difficult. Hopefully this will now be easier. At the reception later on Friday I met the charming and enthusiastic man who will be in charge of this new venture and he is very keen to make it work. The launch of the first books will be, if I remember rightly, in November this year and there will be six Mills & Boon Modern novels in the first books released out there.

Between the lunch and the reception Michelle and I had been invited to afternoon tea but a nagging migraine meant that I needed a break if I was to enjoy the evening but at 5.30, together with Marion's husband and the Babe Magnet, we made our way to the Oriental Club off Oxford Street where all the editors from Richmond had gathered and there was champagne on offer and even more talking. The Reception was held in the beautiful library there, a fabulously ornately decorated room where of course the BM had to investigate all the wall to wall bookcases.

Being a Babe Magnet of course, he had also to live up to his reputation - which he did. He can be seen here with his - er - his Babes, all suitably magnetised!

The babes are Trish Wylie (with blonde hair) PHS Supremo and Romance and Modern Extra (now Modern Heat) author

India Grey new Presents/Modern Author

and the irrepressible Abby Green another new Presents author.

Other authors who are special friends joined us at the Oriental club including the lovely Julie Cohen and Natasha Oakley, and I managed to have time to snatch a chat with my editor (who looked even more glamorous than usual after a wonderful holiday and a promotion) and many of the other eds there including Executive Editor Tessa Shapcott who is here with Michelle Reid .

At the reception several awards were handed out by Editorial Director Karin Stoecker. Mary Nichols and my dear friend Scary Kate - aka Kate Hardy - both receieved their silver pins for their 25th novels (and I'm not even going to think of the short space of time in which Kate H has made this achievement). I was so delighted to be able to cheer and appplaud her as she received her pin.

And then it was my turn. I'll be honest and admit that really until this moment it hadn't actually really sunk in that I had had 50 titles published so when Karin announced it, I found that I was shaking and nervous. I barely registered the introduction - though I was stunned to hear myself called 'a force' on eHarlequin and now apparently on the I heart Presents blog. Apparently it has been spotted that a lot of the visitors to the blog come via this blog/website - so thank you all for going across and reading - it's been noticed!

Kate Hardy and her special award

Soon, like The Other Kate, I was clutching a turquoise box and a special letter from Donna Hayes, Harlequin's CEO. And then was amongst all my wonderful friends and fellow authors who wanted to congratulate me - and everyone wanted to see just what the 50th title pin looks like! What I wanted was to find the Babe Magnet and share it with him. He had promised he would take photos too and I could only hope that this time he had the camera the right way

round - last time he had to take important photos he ended up with a fabulous image of his own right eye!

But this time he managed to get things right as this picture of me with Karin Stoecker shows.

Soon the Reception was over - but not the evening. More friends arrived - Anna Louise Lucia who was looking very beautiful - as was Biddy Coady who is, I very much hope, is now getting very close to being yet another of my wonderfully 'deflowered' and about to be published ex-RNA-virgins. (Fingers tightly crossed Biddy).

Biddy had organised a dinner for many of us at Browns and so we all staggered there (staggered because of being unused to spending so long in elegant high heels, I assure you - not because we had had too much champagne!). It was a wonderful meal with lots of laughter and - guess what - lots of talking. During this part of the evening we finally decided what the group name for a bunch of romance Novelists must be - so, courtesy of Trish, Fiona, Donna et al - I can announce that the correct term is in fact -

A CLEAVAGE of romance novelists.

I do have a photograph to prove this perfectly but I am not displaying it here to protect the innocent - and no, the novelists in question were not - definitely not - the innocents - but I think I shall keep that photo to blackmail anyone I might need to have in my power later. The BM is still recovering from the sight of it!!

Anna Louise Lucia, Biddy Coady and Julie Cohen

Eventually, and very very reluctantly, I had to tear myself away and the BM and I headed back to our hotel. I have to send a very special thank you to Biddy for orgainsing a fabulous end to a wonderful day. It was a gorgeous way to celebrate once more that 50th title - what better way than to celebrate with friends and fellow writers who have come to mean so much to me as a result of this writing career of mine. I had a truly fantastic time.

And I think that's me caught up - except for one thing - I know that like everyone at the Reception, you'll all want to know what that special pin looks like - so here it is - and I have to add to this a special thank you to each and every one of my readers out there because without you reading my books and buying the next one - and the next - I would never have been able to keep writing, keep selling- and so reach ths special celebration and achievement. So here's the gold pin that I'm sharing with you all because you helped me to achieve it - Thank you so much

Great Big Blog Party #33 & #34 Winners

More winners to annouce:

The first one is Biddy's winner - she sent me an email saying:

I have chosen Pearl because of her inspiration coming from the mountains and me being a big mountain fan!

And then there's the Hecks' choice - getting them all together to pick a winner wasn't easy. And then they all wanted to eat different cat crunchies so in the end I resorted to the tried and tested method of asking Sid.

I'd have loved to have given this prize to Biddy for the drunk on her doorstep - and the coterie of M&B authors who visit (I have personal experience of how wild they can be!) - but Sid has chosen

And Sid's choice is Ally Blake's Menagerie.

So Pearl and Ally please send me your smail mail adresses and I'll organise the prizes for you.

And I'll post today's guest blogger

Great Big Blog Party 32 Brigid Coady

So, we've caught up with some of the prizes - now it;s time to get back on to the Guest Blogs. in the comments section yesterday, Lidia said that she couldn't believe we were still partying in here - well, you better believe it! This party was set to be going on through June and July and it's going to run for another couple of weeks yet. If we're lucky we might even make in to 50 posts. So keep coming back - and tell all your friends to visit too! We still have some wonderful writers joining us - I'm hoping to make this the best blog party ever.

Today's Guest Blogger is another of those 'Ex RNA Virgins' who became a 'cyber daughter' - remember them? Julie Cohen. Anna Scamans and today's Guest Blogger - Biddy Coady.

The first time ever I met Biddy was at the RNA Conference at the University of Surrey in Guildford in 2003. (Is it really only 4 years, Biddy? I feel as if I've known you for ever). In those days, Biddy was an IT project Manager and working on writing a Regency romance. She also worked as a DJ in her spare time - that postion has been more of less reversed. These days she's more of a Country Music star DJ on CMR Nashville and she is one of the voices on Oneword. And she has the voice for it - on the radio her voice is sexy as can be. She's still working on her writing. The Regencies have been left behind and replaced by sensual and humourous short stories and - er - teddy bear detectives!

The other thing I associate with Biddy - along with her Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban obsessions - is her generous hand with champagne. That first time I met, her she was carrying a couple of carrier bags that clanked loudly- but she's always prepared to share, specially if you let her watch the Country Music awards late at night! In January we shared a trip to Dublin to celebrate the publication of Abby Green's first novel and shared a little wine - just a little! And then again just last month we shared a little more wine at the celebration dinner in Lincoln - hmm - every time I connect up with Biddy it seems to involve a little sip or two of wine . . .she's a bad, bad influence.

She's also wonderfully warm, great fun - and she scrubs up pretty well as you will see from this elegant portrait of her dressed to the nines (or perhaps even the tens) ready to go to Royal Ascot - and even into the royal enclosure. Great hat Biddy - and worn with great panache too. Oh yes - and Biddy is of course Dylan's greatest fan. Sid may be the cyber star, the Calendar pin up, but it is the little grey tabby with the powerful shoulders and only one eye who has won Biddy's heart - so, just for you Biddy, here's your boy . . .

And here's your post - Biddy Coady.

That Kate Walker has allowed me to sully her blog with inane country music fuelled drivel tells you what sort of a lady she is.

I met Kate through the RNA about four years ago and was one of her “virgins” at my first RNA conference. She took me under her wing and over the years I have been lucky enough to become one of her cyber-daughters. As a cyber-mum she doesn’t tell me I drink too much or that I don’t phone home often enough, in fact she is normally the one pouring the wine. She has also given me some fantastic support when I decided that maybe my writing would take a backseat whilst I launched my radio career.

Letting me take over her television set when staying at hers so we could watch the CMA Awards so I could be up to speed on who was on the up on the country music scene (OK there was also a bit of drooling going on… Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney always guaranteed to get a group of romance writers inspired).

When Kate invited me to both join this blog party and also to her big celebration in Lincoln I jumped at the chance. And I’m glad I have. The creative juices have started flowing again, as they always do after a shot of that Kate Walker magic, and I am planning my newest project… a book!

Giveaway Question: Some of the best stimuli for my creative juices are hanging out and visiting with the best people in the world, romance writers. What gets your creative juices flowing?

Giveaway Prize: Miranda Lambert’s latest CD “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (can’t promise to have it signed though!)

Bio: I live in central London and currently work as a radio presenter for http://www.oneword.co.uk/, a spoken word station part of channel 4 radio and http://www.cmrnashville.net/ , a country music internet station.