Reading good stuff

Well that would explain it then . . .

I should have realised that there was a reason for my lack of words - or perhaps I should say, the lack of brain power to provide any extra words once I'd done the critiques for the New Writers' Scheme and the web site updates etc.

So when yesterday I woke with a pounding head, sore throat and tight chest I wasn't totally surprised. Just fed up .

But then I realised the good side of things - because there was one. Last time I felt like this I was on a dreadline and couldn't afford to cosset myself because I had to find the words, no matter what. This time, while waiting for the Editor's verdict on the Black Angel, I am not on a dreadline and so can cosset myself a bit - and in my book, cosseting means reading.

Unfortunately I still haven't found my copy of The Boss's Wife for a Week (and will you all please stop telling me how much you enjoyed it - you're only making matters worse!) Lovely Anne McAllister is shipping out an emergency replacement to me as I write this so I'm hoping to enjoy it very soon!). But I do have plenty to keep me occupied while I'm waiting for it to arrive.

At the beginning of the month, in my role as a Pink Heart Society columnist, I wrote a post on why I love working with and helping new writers. Two things I mentioned there are things I want to repeat here -

A. I said - And every author I’ve helped to publication sends me a signed copy of their brand-new book and very often the one after that and the one after that . . . I have a TBR pile the size of Mount Everest – all written by very special friends – what’s not to like?

and

B. I talked about Elderly Author and Author's Husband who both wanted to know why I was 'training the opposition' in helping and advising those they call 'wannabes' in the writing world. People who didn;t deserve to have books published. An opinion I totally disagreed with.

Well, over the last 24 hours I've had proof - if I needed it - that both A & B were just what I should have said. Because while feeling thoroughly miserable and unable to concentrate on any of my own writing, I turned to my teetering TBR pile, selected a couple of books - and settled down to enjoy myself.

And I did - I had a wonderful time. I read two fabulous books by two special friends that made me forget about my aching head, my sore throat. Books that absorbed me and took me into worlds I totally believed in, peopled by characters I could care about and wanted to be together in a Happy Ever After Ending.

The first one I read a bit late - a book that I got my hands on when it first came out, but haven't had time to read till now. Hired by The Cowboy is Donna Alward's first published book for Harlequin Romance and it's a winner. She starts with that tricky premise the Marriage of Convenience story - but there is so much more to it than that. Both Alexis and Connor, her heroine and hero, have strong, believeable reasons for going into a marriage that isn't, initially based on love. But through the story the reader can watch that love grow as slowly and surely as the characters themselves feel it. I believed in that growing love and I was rooting for Connor and Alexis, wanting them to be together and at the same time believing in their reasons for holding back, their hesitation in commiting themselves. As a first book, it's a great start to Donna's writing career. Donna had her next book - Marriage at Circle M out in September and I'm so looking forward to reading that one too.

The second book that absorbed me was Natasha Oakley's The Tycoon's Princess Bride - one of the books in the Presents Royal House of Niroli series. When I talked to Natasha about this book in June, I know she was apprehensive because it was appearing in a Presents mini-series and she is a Romance writer. But she needn't have worried. This is a book that will stand up for itself wherever it appears. It has a wonderfully sympathetic heroine and a very special wounded hero. It's a book that it would be so easy to turn into sentiment - but Natasha avoids that trap brilliantly and instead creates a powerfully emotional story that grabs the reader and holds tight from the beginning to the end. And it's a book that makes me so proud of the fact that back in 2001 when Natasha first submitted her work to the RNA's New Writers' Scheme, I picked her out as someone who was likely to succeed.

I know that Natasha has had some really tough times in her personal life recently but she's a strong lady, who's continuing to write through all that life throws at her. And when she writes lovely books like The Tycoon's Princess Bride, I know that I'm goping to be right there, first in the queue for the next one she brings out.

And talking about writing through the tough times - if you get a minute, then go over to the Pink Heart Society's blog today and read the inspiring, uplifting post by Day Leclaire - then make sure you click on the Breast Cancer site icon in the sidebar (or you can use the one in my sidebar instead.) Regular readers of this blog will know that I'm already a great fan of Day's books - and this post will show just why I admire her as a woman too. And I will have Day's The Billionaire's Baby Negotiation on my TBR pile just as soon as the postie gets it to me.

There are some really great books out right now - I just wish I had more time to read them!

Great Big Blog Party #44 Winner

Hi from Malvern!

I'm halfway to Wales and as usual have stopped here for the day. We passed the signs of the floods on the way here - flooded fields all around Tewksbury. It looked dreadful. Everywhere was sodden and great pools of water stretched as fer as we could see. My heart went out to the poor people still stuck there and haing to cope with it all.

I'm writing this on my wireless laptop and it's all abit new to me so I'm hoping all will be well as I have a winners' announcement to make.

Yes - winners!

The lovely Day Leclaire has announced her winners and she is giving away three fabulous prizes.

So Scarlet - you have won a copy of The Royals Trilogy - lucky you! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did

And Day has two other prizes on off - a copy of either Old Flames New Sparks (NASCAR) or The Billionaire's Baby Negotiation.

And the two winners here are:

Bamabelle

and

Christina H

So ladies, please let Day know your snail mail details - send your address to Day@DayLeclaires.com - please cc your message to me so that I'll know you've claimed you prize even though I'm on the road!

Congratulations

Great Big Blog Party 44 - Day Leclaire

So who can follow Hunkthighs and Shoulderman into the Great Big Blog Party?

It's not an easy task but I have a brilliant writer who I think can live up to the challenge. Her name is Day Leclaire.

Those of you who've been reading for a while will remember that back in February I wrote about a Great Day For Romance - and I really can't do much better for my introduction here to copy from that post.

Here's what I said:

Ten years ago if you’d asked me to name my favourite category romance writers, one name would have been right there on the list without a moment’s hesitation. The name of an author who wrote truly magical romances with gorgeous, sexy heroes and bright, appealing and totally individual heroines. An author who’s ‘tag line’ is Books that leave you laughing through the tears! – and she certainly accomplished that. Her books always had that – well I’m going to use that word again – that magical quality that turned them into modern day fairytales – not fairy stories note - and yet still had such believable, vibrant real life elements that you totally believed they could exist in the modern world – and at the same time made you wish that the real world could be as magical as these books made them out to be.

Day wrote over 30 books the came out in Harlequin Romance , Special Releases, a Single Title and the Forrester Square continuity. She was nominated for a RITA award no less than 10 times and won numerous other awards for her writing. I loved her books, looked for each new one eagerly, snatched it off the shelf, devoured it in delight

But then real life intruded into Day’s writing. She became ill, diagnosed with breast cancer almost six and a half years ago. Anyone who was lucky enough to know her then knows that she faced the disease with a grace, courage and humour that for me at least was truly inspirational and frequently brought tears to my eyes. At the time the BM and I were going through some tough times but knowing that Day was going through worse, and still picking herself up and carrying on, helped me such a lot. She came through the illness, and although the treatment was successful, as she says in her blog, afterwards “ I found that my creativity had gone to sleep.” The writing dried up. The books stopped appearing and fans like me could only go back to their collection of ‘keepers’ and remember.


But then the great news was that Day was back – and back with a vengeance. I read her Royals Trilogy - OK – the word here is devoured. I devoured her Royals Trilogy with every bit of the enjoyment I remembered in reading a Day Leclaire story and I am so looking forward to her August and September releases. I know she’s been busy on revisions and other things so I’m specially happy that she’s find the time to come and join us at the Great Big Blog Party today.

So - welcome – Day Leclaire –


I think women, in particular, are outstanding at celebrating special moments. We women excel at recognizing not only our own achievements, but more often the achievements of those around us. And there's a reason for that. I believe women have an innate understanding of the importance of these fleeting peaks in our existence, and how they mark our progress through the transient joys of life. In real life, versus in the fictional worlds we writers create, those joys can sometimes be all too brief, all too infrequent, and often cut short. That makes them all the more important to celebrate...and celebrate well! So what a wonderful reason Kate Walker has offered us, so that we can all stand up and cheer her success!

Kate has created some of Harlequin Presents' most cherished stories, full of warmth and passion and intense conflict. Can anyone say, A Sicilian Husband? She's created a wonderful legacy...a body of work that is a treasure-trove of emotional journeys, overcoming adversity, and validating the existence of "true" love. That's quite an achievement. I can only hope that a few years down the road I'll be celebrating her 100th release with as much delight as I celebrate her 50th. Congratulations, Kate! Keep 'em coming!

Love, Day

Bio:

USA Today bestselling romance author, Day Leclaire, has published more than 40 books and has been nominated for Romance Writers of America's most prestigious award, the RITA, an impressive 10 times. She's described by Harlequin as "...one of our most popular authors ever!"

Old Flame, New Sparks, August 2007 Release, Harlequin/NASCAR books
The Billionaire's Baby Negotiation, September 2007 Release, Silhouette Desire

Web Address/Email:

http://www.dayleclaire.com/
Day@DayLeclaire.com

GIVEAWAY:

( From Kate: Day has been amazingly generous with her prize giveaway - I'm not sure whether this is all for one winner of if she's going to spread the prizes over a couple of you - but I can tell you one thing - you'll have to get in line behind me for The Billionaire's Baby Negotiation - I've already met Joc in the Royals Trilogy - and I want to read more!)

An autographed copy of Old Flame, New Sparks
An autographed copy of The Billionaire's Baby Negotiation (when released)
Autographed set of The Royals trilogy for one lucky winner.

GIVEAWAY QUESTION:

I suppose I liked books from an early age, but there was one, in particular, that cemented my love for the written word. We had a teacher who read books aloud to us and one of the books she chose to read was Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. I was utterly captivated, and more than anything I wanted to be able to read that book by myself. As soon as the teacher finished it, I went to the library and checked it out. I devoured every word. That was the true beginning of my love for books and reading. I returned to the library the next week and checked out a half dozen more books. After that, my nose was permanently glued to the pages. So here's my question...

What book inspired you to be a true reader and why?

Ballyvolane 2 - Archie, Noodle and Wriggle

One of the loveliest things aboout Ballyvolane Houose - and as you'll have gathered, there was a lot about Ballyvolane that was wonderful - but one of the nicest things was just how friendly everyone was. There were Jenny and Justin, the owners and hosts, there was Justin's father who managed the garden, the chef who we only met on our arrival and I'm afraid never found out her name - but she was an excellent cook!


And there were the animals. Archie, Noodle and Wriggle who all seemed to have been specially trained or had decided to join in on welcoming guests to their home and making sure we were comfortable and happy.



Archie was described as the largest cat in County Cork. I live with a big cat - and Archie was bigger! He also had the most magnificent set of whiskers and a purr that could be heard all over the house. Archie was normally found in his very special spot in the front parlour (you can see him there on Anne McAllister's blog) but when he discovered that we had the log fire burning in the sitting room, and perhaps a smackeral or two of cheese, then Archie graciously condescended to join us - and to hoover up any bits of cheese that happened to drop his way. He also was very partial to my pashmina - perhaps because he could scent that Sid had been lying on it. Certainly he gave it a very good sniffing before settling down to sleep on it.


Then there was Noodle the terrier. Noodle was described by Justin as being a JLo of terriers - specially when she had just had a bath and her fur was beautifully clean and silky. The problem is that I never actually got a photo of Noodle that really shows her face - or perhaps it's because her long sillky fringe hid where her face should be and so most of the time all you saw of Noodle was a bundle of fur - and sometimes you couldn't quite be sure which way she was actually facing. Except for breakfast time - at breakfast, Noodle would join us and sit under the table and on those occasions you could always be sure which was she was facing - towards the food.


Finally there was the delightful Wriggle. Wriggle was part chocolate lab and part Springer spaniel. She had a Irish Setter look about her but was small and compact - and a real delight. One of Wriggle's duties was obviously to show everyone around - her guided tour of the house and grounds was so enjoyable that we wished there had been a little less rain so that we could do it all over again. You can see a detailed report of this tour on Anne's blog - with lots of pictures of Wriggle herself. The only thing that's missing is a photo of Anne with Wriggle - so I shall amend that.

Because Anne and Wriggle bonded. Wriggle would endear herself to anyone but Anne was missing her own dogs so Wriggle very graciously agreed to fill in for Gunnar, Mitch and Micah so that Anne would not feel at all homesick - and it worked. So much so that everyone settled in and felt right at home. And when the time came to leave, no one wanted to go. But Wriggle and Noodle were the perfect hostesses right to the end and they came to see us off with a wave of each tail and a 'come back soon' woof. Archie stayed right where he was - in his special snoozing spot, but it had started to rain again, and he sent a farewell purr after us to wish us well.


So that was Ireland - and it was wonderful. Now I need to get back to work and as I have a new book out in March (April in USA and Australia) I'll be blogging about that soon. And about the new Spanish hero who will be absorbing my days for the next few weeks. (Very few my editor hopes!)


Which reminds me that I should also mention what I read on my holidays. Well there was the RITA book I was judging, which I can't talk about, just as as I haven't been able to mention all the others I read for this contest recently. But remember this post - a Great Day for Romance? Well I was lucky enough to be given two hot from the press signed copies of the first books in Day Leclaire's brand new Royals Trilogy for Silhouette Desire. Thank you Day! Anne McAllister brought them to Ireland for me and so I was able to have an extra holiday treat by reading them when the rain was just too bad to leave the fireside. I loved them. The Forbidden Princess and The Prince's Mistress were everything I remember a Day Leclaire book to be - wonderful heroes. bright sparky heroines and that magical fairytale element that kept me hooked right from the start. The flight back to England passed in the blink of an eye as I became absorbed in the story of Lander and Juliana in the second book - so much so that I didn't even have to grab the BM's hand for take off - the part of the flight I usually like least.


And now I'm intrigued. Because The Royal Wedding Night, the third in this trilogy, features as its hero Brandt von Folke, a character who appears in The Forbidden Princess - in a somewhat less than heroic light. I can't wait to see just how Day turns this story round to make Brandt into the hero he's meant to be.


When did you say that the third book was out, Day? Do I really have to wait till April? And then there's Joc Arnaud, the fascinating character I met in The Prince's Mistress - his story is coming but not until September . . . . Can you tell that I'm addicted? Now I know why I missed Day's 'voice' so much.

Welcome back Day!




So now I have to get down to work - but I'll leave you with one more image of Ballyvolane House. This time it's the view from my bedroom window. Imagine waking up to this everyday? Nothing more to be said really except that, as Anne said in her comments on yesterday's post - I want to go back!