A Winner at Last

My apologies for being missing for going missing for a while - life can do that to you sometimes.

Writers' Holiday at Fishguard, preparing for some more courses coming up - details to follow -  revisions - all take up time when I was already too bust dealing with stuff to breathe . ..

So I'm late coming to announce the winner of the copy of Julie Cohen's lovely  book Dear Thing.

But to remedy that now -  Charlie the Maine Coon has forgiven me for  going away - twice!  - and has now condescended to pick a winner and his choice is:

Nova!

So Nova, please  would  you contact me and let me know your mailing address and I'll get the book into the mail to you.

Thank you to everyone else who commented  - and a special thank you to Julie herself for answering all my questions so fully and interestingly.

Talking to Julie Cohen Part 2

Welcome back to Part Two of my special interview with Julie Cohen

What types of characters do you like creating best?

I like outsiders the best. I often have a main character who just doesn't fit in, even though they might want to. Romily in Dear Thing is like that, and so is Felicity, the heroine of my next book Where Love Lies. They're not particularly similar to each other—one is a single mother with a PhD in entomology, and one is a children's book artist who doesn't want children and who has a very unconventional background—but neither one of them is quite normal.

What themes intrigue you most – and make you want to write them?

I am a big proponent of identifying the theme of the novel you are writing, because I think it helps to clarify everything about the book—the characters, the plot, the setting, the imagery, the title. I have themes I tend to turn to again and again, and I work them out in a variety of ways through my stories. One is 'identity'. Lately, I've been drawn to the question 'What is love?' I suppose they're the same question down deep, actually.

What is your writing process? 

The more I write, the more I realise that I don't have a writing process that's set in stone. Every book is different. That said, I tend to have a progression, that goes something like this:

• I spend some time thinking about my characters and my story. I do some pre-writing and possibly a little bit of research. I don't really plan out the story, but I have a general idea of where it might end and a few things that might happen on the way.
• I write a dirty first draft, whenever possible not stopping to edit. I'll probably do some more research as I go, once I've worked out what I need.
• About halfway through, I'll hit the suckage point, where I am certain this book is the worst thing ever written and that I really suck.
• I take a lot of showers, drink a lot of tea, and go for a lot of walks or jogs.
• Near the end, I speed up a lot, and by the time I've typed the last page, I finally know how to fix all those things that I got wrong at the beginning.
• I revise the book, often with the help of Post-Its, doing my final bits of research, changing everything so it makes sense, and polishing up the prose.

How much research do you do for your books.  I know you had to research Regency dancing for  The Summer of Living Dangerously – have there been other interesting things you’ve discovered as a result of working on a book.

It depends on the book, but I do like to get things as accurate as possible, and I also do like to do weird research. I loved learning Regency dancing for The Summer of Living Dangerously—I also had to try on a Regency corset for that book. For Dear Thing I had to research surrogacy laws in the UK, and the experience of surrogacy, and the processes of IVF, but I also visited entomological collections and spent some days on Dorset beaches, which was fun. For various books, I've had to learn about bat handling, comic book production, aromatherapy, speaking Klingon, roller coaster design, being a stunt woman, and being a fake psychic. Being a novelist is a marvellous excuse for being really nosy. One fun story is that I consulted with Purbeck Ice Cream for Getting Away With It, where the heroine's family runs an ice cream factory. I had to make up a new ice cream flavour for the book, and I chose the weirdest thing I could—beetroot and horseradish. And Purbeck Ice Cream actually made the flavour specially because of my book, and sold it!

Your new title  Where Love Lies is out soon – can you tell us a bit about this book and how you came to write it?

It's out in hardback on the 31st July and I am incredibly excited about it. Dear Thing has done really well for me, but Where Love Lies is one of those books that feels really very close to my heart. I can't actually tell you very much about it, other than that it's about a woman who believes that she's happily married, until out of the blue, she starts experiencing overwhelming memories of her first love, ten years ago—memories that are accompanied by the scent of frangipani. And this scent and these memories leads to a whole sequence of events that change the lives of everyone involved.

I felt so deeply when I was writing this book, and I hope it really affects readers as much as it has affected me. The early reviews have been amazing and I'm over the moon about that, so I hope people like it.

What are you working on now?

I'm working on my next book, which should be out next year. It's a challenge for me, because it's got three heroines, each with a distinct story and point of view. I hope I can make it work

Don't forget that to be in with a chance to win a copy of Julie's book Dear Thing - you need to have left a post in the comments so that Julie can get to know you better  and then your name will be entered into the draw to win this great book.

Talking to Julie Cohen Part 1

Regular readers of this blog will already know about my dear friend and today's special guest -  Julie Cohen

It's just over 12 years (how the heck did it get to be that long ago?!)   since  I first met Julie  - in person that is - I'd already met her on line on various forums. Then we met up at the RNA Conference  which was in Durham that year - and since then I've been lucky enough to have her in my personal and my professional life.   When I first met her she didn't have a single book published -  now she's a real shooting star with a wonderfully sparkly success that I'm thrilled to see.  This summer the fantastic news was that her latest  novel Dear Thing had been chosen as one of the  Summer Reads in the Richard and Judy Bookclub..  It's her special focus week this week - so look out for the book in WH Smith if you're in the UK.

And if you're not . . . well, I'm offering you a chance to win a paperback copy  (see part 2 of this special interview for  more details about this book). I was lucky enough to be given a personal copy by Julie herself but as I want to share this book with you I've bought an extra copy that will be in a prize draw after  the weekend.- All  you have to do to have your name in the draw is to come along and chat with Julie - leave a comment and  you'll be in with a chance of winning this great read.

So now it's time to hand you over to Julie -

Welcome Julie!

Please tell us  a little bit about   yourself.

I'm American, I have crooked little fingers, and I'm obsessed with Sherlock Holmes and, at the moment, Hugh Dancy. Back when I was a fledgling writer, I was taken under the wing of a lovely and talented writer named Kate Walker, who gave me faith that I could achieve my dreams.

Your current book (Dear Thing) has been chosen to be a Richard and Judy Summer Read. This must have been hugely exciting as well as incredibly frustrating when you couldn’t tell anyone.  How did this all happen – and how did you hear the exciting news.

I heard the news that my book had been chosen for the Richard and Judy summer book club, in February. I was alone in the house when my agent rang, and I screamed and did a little dance. It's incredible exposure for your book to be chosen. But my agent told me that I must tell no one at all until the list was announced in May. She eventually capitulated: I could tell my husband, and my mother.

My husband was on his way to Japan but I caught him before he got on his flight. My mother, I told a couple of weeks later when I went home to the US to visit. Otherwise I had to keep my mouth shut. It was very, very hard at times—but at other times it was like waiting for Christmas, knowing that there's this marvellous thing coming up, and just knowing makes you happy.

I met with Richard and Judy in April, and because I couldn't tell anyone about it, I had to invent a cover story for why I was buying a new dress, getting my hair done, and wearing full make-up to drop off my kid at school. Fortunately I was filming at Penguin in the morning so I just told everyone that.

And the day that the news broke, I spent the entire day on Twitter and Facebook answering lovely, lovely messages from gorgeous friends. It was like a birthday, but even better. I don't think I've had quite such an

exciting day since I had my first book accepted for publication.

How did you come to write Dear Thing ?

Several of my dear friends have suffered from infertility; I myself had three miscarriages when my husband and I were trying for a baby. I know how devastating it can be. I also know how tough and rewarding motherhood can be. And that's why I wanted to write Dear Thing, which is about an infertile couple and the single mother who offers to be their surrogate—I wanted to explore these emotions, and look at the same situation from two very different women's points of view.

You’ve written books for several different publishers, starting with Mills and  Boon and then going on to Little Black Dress etc. Do you you think your writing has changed  strongly from publisher to publisher?

In the ten years since I sold my first book, the sort of story I've written has changed a lot. I've gone from writing series romance, to line-specific rom-com, to mainstream light women's fiction, to more book-club serious women's fiction. I think my books have become more complex, both in structure and in content and topic. I've been extremely lucky to have editors, right from the beginning, who have believed in me and who have challenged me to up my game with every book I write. 

Post Fishguard and Post-it Notes!

It doesn't seem possible that it's  now  nearly 3 weeks since I got back from Fishguard. This time on the 28th, I was just meeting up with my  group of students, ready for the weekend's intensive Advanced Romance Writing Course as organised by Writers' Holiday at the Fishguard Bay Hotel in Pembrokeshire.  And then it seemed that I blinked and the weekend was over, we were saying our goodbyes,  and heading home.

What's that they say about time flying when you're having fun?

Yes, I know it was supposed to be a writing course - and it was - but there's nothing to stop us having fun and learning at the same time.  Over the years, this course  - and the students - has evolved into something rather special., There's a lot of fun, laughter - discussions. . .   Chocolate is often evolved , some wine and more discussions - more laughter. And yes, we learn a lot (because as well as being the tutor I often learn a lot and get inspired to write as a result of those discussions)

Of course we also had cause for celebrations because Rachael Thomas who had been there last year as a student was this year celebrating the acceptance of her very first book - as a result of the So You Think You Can Write contest.

This year's group from Fishguard '14

And this year there were the post-it notes.

When I was planning out ways of making things clearer, driving home certain points, I wanted a system  that was not just words on a page - and the post-it /emotions lesson was the result.  It seemed to work well - if you want  to know more about that then Johganna Grassick did a great write-up over on Novelistas Ink  - with a picture of post-it notes!

But things didn't stop there - since I got back, I've had a  couple of emails from another member of the group - another Jo  - and she has taken the post-it note philosophy to heart. She wrote to tell me how she'd been working hard on what she now calls ' The Fishguard Aftermath, aka A Date With Post-it Notes'.  She even sent me a couple of photographs to illustrate how the post-it system can work - how it's worked for her to sort out the core emotions, the way those work their way through the story -  the things that change dramatically when love(see those heart shaped notes?)  or sex intervene and make things even more complicated.

It's a visual - and fun way  of making things clearer and helping you focus on what matters.

I'm not the only one to use sticky notes in this way -   Julie Cohen has a special blog on Post-It Plotting over on her web site - even  more colour, even more scheming  - and a great way to keep track of everyone/everything in the story.

As a result there has been rather a rush on post-it notes all over the country (and excuse - writers love a chance to buy more stationery). I know that the place I bought the notes for this year's Fishguard is currently out of stock! They must be wondering what hit them.

Anyway - what I want to say is a great big thank you to the fabulous group I had at Fishguard this year. I had so much fun and the discussions were great, the laughter  ditto - the critique session was fantastic (and the glass - or two - of wine went well too.)  I'm almost ashamed to say I'm not a great chocolate lover  - but the Babe Magnet was very happy to eat my share after the class.

I also want to send very special thanks to Anne and Gerry Hobbs who  - as always - organised this weekend with their usual warm, welcoming  efficiency, in spite of this February not being  the easiest of circumstances in which to cope.  I had a wonderful time and I'm so looking forward to the Writers' Holiday at Fishguard coming up in the summer.  The sea, the sun (hopefully), great company, more laughter - and maybe more post-it notes.

At the moment the  summer Writers' Holiday is fully booked up  and has been for some time. But if you're interested in my Advanced Romance Writing Course  for next February 2015  then (I can't believe I'm saying this but it's true) the time to get your booking in is now - before it fills up again.

One point - the Advanced course is just that - advanced - so if you're more interested in a basic course  - or would like to learn the basics and then book the advanced (I know someone who has booked for both only this week) or you just can't wait till February 2015 then I have other courses  coming up.  The details  should be appearing on my web site - on the Events Page  just as soon as my lovely web mistress can get them up there - but I'm also going to run a couple of blogs to let you know what's coming up so watch this space.

The first of these will be a weekend  course in May  with Relax and Write  creative writing weekends. That has basically been filled but I'm adding extra places  to fit people in if I can.  Details on the Events Page - or in my next blog.

I'll hope to see some of you somewhere soon at one of these courses -  and  I think I'd better go and buy some more post-it notes!

40 for 40 Julie Cohen

For me, one of the highlights of the Romantic Novelists' Association Conference this year was the talk on Theme   in your novel given by Julie Cohen.  I found it fascinating and enlightening. It's not the way I work, but it  is a great approach and helps to add so much depth to a story. Julie and I work in very different ways, but I love the books she creates almost as much as I love her as a very special friend.

It was the RNA  Conference  in 2002 that brought us together in person - as Julie tells you  - after getting to know each other through the message boards and forums on eHarlequin. That was when Julie  was known for her use of the phrase Feckless ne'er do well.   Then she was one of my four original 'virgins' and now she's  my surrogate  daughter -  I love having her and her books in my life. Not to mention the surrogate grandson the Fecklet (see below.)  So this celebration wouldn't be complete without her - even if she does describe us as 'my favourite mad couple'!

Here's Julie:

I first met Kate and the Steve in person at the Romantic Novelists' Association conference in Durham in 2002. They were a power couple indeed. Here was this wonderful, generous, passionate, outgoing woman who knew everything there was to know about writing romance; and with her was a thoughtful, warm, cheerful, charming gentleman who knew, it seemed, everything about a vast number of subjects—including ghosts, aeroplanes, and writing poetry with prisoners. And the two of them, together, were extraordinary. They were partners, friends, colleagues, co-conspirators…they both knew a huge amount about writing and reading and everything else I cared about, and they

could both drink vast amounts of wine. I took them  to my heart immediately.

My family all live far away in the USA, so I've adopted Kate and Steve as surrogate family. They have had no choice about this. They also have had no choice about becoming surrogate grandparents

to my son, who fell in love with their cats and who has found a particular soul mate with Steve. The two of them can play elaborate games of pretend for hours, and have Kate and me in fits of laughter .

 

Kate and Steve, you have a true gift for giving love, to each other and to the lucky people who know you. A very happy anniversary to you, and I look forward to toasting your 50th.

Julie's latest book is DEAR THING,  a bittersweet novel about two mothers, and one baby who belongs to both of them, and which only one of them can keep.
  Her website is http://www.julie-cohen.com
 and she's on Twitter as @julie_cohen.
You can buy DEAR THING here. 

For a chance to win a signed trade paperback copy of DEAR THING, leave a comment telling me someone whom you feel lucky to know.

Books and Friends

One of the really great things about being a writer is that I get to meet some really great peple who are also writers.  In fact I get to meet so great people who are also great writers.

And those great people prove how great they are by giving me copies of their books.

So this is what arrived in the mail this week.

I've known Julie Cohen since  - well, I can't quite recall exactly when but I know we met at the RNA Conference before she was ever published. I  was thrilled to share the celebrations of her first ever Mills & Boon Modern Extra, Featured Attraction and the other books she had published with them and then Little Black Dress. I've watched her career grow as she moved on the bigger books -  Getting Away with It and The Summer of Living Dangerously.  I've even taught  a weekend course with  her in Leicester - and had a great time doing so.

And I've been waiting to read this new book ever since Julie told me all about it. Well, not all  - she didn't tell me how it all works out and I didn't want her to. That's part of the pleasure of reading it for myself. 

Claire and Ben are the perfect couple. But behind the glossy façade, they’ve been desperately trying – and failing – to have a baby for years. Now, the stress and feelings of loss are taking their toll on their marriage. Claire’s ready to give up hope and get on with her life, but Ben is not. And then Ben’s best friend, Romily, offers to conceive via artificial insemination and carry the baby for them.
Romily acts in good faith, believing it will be easy to be a surrogate. She’s already a single mother, and has no desire for any more children. Except that being pregnant with Ben’s child stirs up all sorts of emotions in her, including one she’s kept hidden for a very long time: Ben’s the only man she’s ever loved.
Two mothers—and one baby who belongs to both of them, and which only one of them can keep.

So the other books on my TBR pile are going to have to be put aside for a while - sorry Robert Goddard, Diane Chamberlain . . . The Edna O'Brian and Billy Joel biographies are going to have to wait - even the book on Perkin Warbeck that I'm half way through. All I can say is that I'm glad I'd finished Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) and The Good Father (Noah Hawley) before this arrived. Otherwise I'd have had a real problem.

So if I'm missing for a few days - you'll know the reason why.

Thanks Julie!

Caerleon

I'm back in one of my favourite places, Caerleon, Newport Wales, where I'm teaching Contemporary Romance at the wonderful Writers' Holiday here. My course doesn't start until tomorrow so I'm relaxing and talking to old friends, meeting new ones  and enjoying the sunshine.

We've already had some great main talks - one by comedy writer Raymond Allen (who wrote Some  Mothers do 'Ave 'Em) ande Yesterday Julie Cohen gave a great talk on My Writing Life. I've known Julie and her writing for years but her talks alwaysw give me new food for thought and her description of what she had learned about writing  - and herself - as her books grew from her original Mills & Boon romance to her current 120,000+ Getting Away With It was fascinating and stimulating.

The Babe Magnet looked after Julie's little boy while she was speaking, showing him the Roman exhibits in the museum, and enjoying ice cream in the sun.  Julie and I joined them later and we wandered round The Forum, looking at the amazing carvings and relaxing.

After talks on self-publishing and publicising your work, tonight's  Main speaker is comedy writer Brad Ashton who is celebrating 50 years of writing for many greats like Tommy Cooper, Les Dawons and even Groucho Marx. I've hear him speak before so I'm looking forward to that.

Tomorrow, the choice of courses changes and the Babe Magnet is teaching Writing Poetry while I'm  busy with the Writing Contemporary Romance - and in the afternoon, those who want can go on the excursions and see more of Wales.

Now I'm off to an 'after tea' session entitled Death in The Afternoon with crime writers Susan Moody and Janet Laurence.

Advent Calendar Giveaway Day 11

Oh dear, I really should think before I ask questions about books . . . All these wonderful titles you've listed - they are so tempting! And I had a long list already for myself . . .
Want to know what's on it?

Getting Away With It by Julie Cohen
The Drowning Girl - Margaret Leroy
The House at Midnight by Lucie Whitehouse
A Place of Secrets by Rachel Hore

Every Secret Thing by Susanna Kearsley

House Rules - Jodi Picoult

And of course the new M&B Modern romances

OK - the winner of a copy of Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride from yesterday is Anita B.

One book choice of yours particularly interested me Anita - you mentioned Dancing on Thorns by Rebecca Horsfall. I met Rebecca some years ago, when I chaired a panel she was on at the Lincoln Book Festival. Her book was just out then.

Anyway, Anita - and all other prize winners, you know the drill by now - send your name and address to me kate @ kate-walker.com - just close up the spaces.

Today's giveaway is a bit different -its sort of an antique! I found a copy of a long-ago Kate Walker novel - The Golden Thief goes right back to 1997 - and actually sold as a Harlequin Romance!

His cynicism appalled Jassy

And she had given the famous actor Leigh Benedict a piece of her mind.

"The acting world is a jungle," he'd said. "And the ones who start out with stars in their eyes sell their souls soon enough." But Jassy vowed she'd never resort to the type of tactics he seemed to expect.
Now, three years later, Jassy needed a job and Leigh needed a temporary secretary. Would they be able to put aside their personal feelings, Jassy wondered, or would the sparks fly once again . . .

Here's another book where the cover isn't exactly what I'd imagined. The hero, Leigh Benedict, is meant to be a Robert Redford lookalike . . .well that was the idea then! The hero on the cover is not really Redford, is he?

Film stars and actors aren't quite so popular any more either. But if you want to get your hands on a very early Kate Walker - now's your chance.

And today's question? The hero of The Golden Thief is a film star - so what films are you looking forward to seeing over the holiday period? In the cinema, on TV or perhaps a aDVD or two under the tree? Let me know - answers in the comments again, and I'll get Sid to pick a name tomorrow.

CONFLICT - Julie Cohen

I'm going to pause for a moment from my personal opinions on Conflict because as I've always said there are no rules.

And equally there isn't only one opinion on any subject for writing.

So when I was planning my talk on Conflict for the RNA, I asked some friends to give me quotes on conflict. I put these on handout for the people at the workshop, and with the permission of the authors I've quoted, I'm posting them here as well for you to see and get the benefit of their expertise.

First, is Julie Cohen:

The heroine's main inner conflict will affect her career, her family, her friendships, her behaviour, her way of dressing, her speech patterns, her reputation, her favourite cuddly toy—in short, everything about this character will be determined, in some way, by her inner conflict, even if this particular aspect might seem contradictory.

Inner conflict doesn't grow out of plot. It's the other way round—plot grows out of the main characters' inner conflict. You can have your chase scenes and your kidnappings and your great one-liners and your brilliant wonderful sex, but if they don't speak directly to your main character's inner feelings, there's no point to them.

Conflict grows and changes as your character grows and changes. Although the seeds of the problem should be right there on page 1, by the end of the book, the heroine shouldn't be solving exactly the same problem as she faced on page 1. It should be related to her initial problem, but it should be deeper, more complex, developed by the events of the middle.

A very wise author (called ahem—Kate Walker) told me once, "Don't be afraid to put conflict on the page." Make the conflict the centre of your story. Don't hold back.

(c)JULIE COHEN

Didn't I use to have time to blog?

So the Sicilian has left the building - I was glad to see him go and I hope my Editor is equally glad to see him in his newly tweaked glory.

I am out and about today - talking to the Airedale Writers' Circle in Keighley about writing romantic fiction so the Magnet and I are going via Harrogate as we haven't visited there for ages and it's one of our favourite places. It's also (special note for Anne McAllister, Anna Campbell, Anna Louise Lucia etc) the place after York that has the biggest Bettys Teashop in Yorkshire . . . I foresee afternoon tea and Fat Rascals coming up. (The Fat Rascals are the Bettys speciality rich scone type things and totally delicious - not talking about the Babe Magnet!)

So now I need to get on the road. But first I have to wish a special Happy Birthday to a special friend - Happy Milestone Birthday to Little Black Dress author Julie Cohen!

The weekend that wasn't

What can I say except that dreadlines and migraines don't mix. In fact migraines don't mix with anything. So the weekend didn't really exist very much.

Oh well - I'm going to cheer myself up with sticking to good news - let's see. . .

My workshop in Hull is now fully booked up (that's in just about two weeks) - so I'm looking forward to meeting everyone there next Monday

I've been receiving chapters and synopses from the students at my Fishguard writing weekend. I am so looking forward to that and to meeting up with friends I already know and making new friends from the students I've not yet met. (There are still some places on this workshop if anyone is interested - or for the one in Southampton in April. Details on my events page) And this time I'm getting there a day early so that I can actually see some more of Fishguard itself. (Note to self - get some sleep too, before then. I don't get much during the course itself!)

My March Presents EXTRA title -The Konstantos Marriage Demand is now on presale in both print and ebook form on eHarlequin.com

Some lovely reader has used the new ratings system on the Mills & Boon website to give The Knostantos Marriage Demand 5 stars. Thank you whoever you are! And in the couple of shops I visited today the UK edition had sold out. (And of course I'm still smiling a bout that 4.5 star Top Pick review)

The sun is shining. That's always a bonus.

I have had my hair done so I now look less like a haystack and a bit more human

At the weekend I will be meeting up with my dear friend and fabulous writer Julie Cohen and her small son and we will be going to see the dinosaurs in Oxford (in the museum of course - they won't be wandering around the city!)

There - that's made me feel a lot better . . . .

Now to see if I can get my Sicilian hero to co-operate. That will make the rest of today even nicer.

All About Alphas 9 - Julie Cohen

It's the weekend so let's have a bit of a change of pace. Because knowledge of how to create and write a great Alpha hero is not confined just to category romance authors. This hero is a great character to have in a single title too.

Today's blogger is Julie Cohen who - in a nice segue from the Modern Heat authors of the past couple of days - started out writing Modern Extra (as the Modern Heat line was then called ) and now she writes for Little Black Dress.

Here's Julie's response when I asked her what her thoughts were on the Alpha hero:

An alpha male, to me, is a take-charge kind of guy. He's
powerful—maybe it's because he's wealthy or physically strong, but more often in
my books it's because he's very talented, very intelligent, very competent.
He's a natural leader, the centre of everything, fiercely protective of
his world. He often finds it difficult to trust, because that implies
losing control in some way. I love alpha male heroes, but when I write, I
find myself being attracted to the idea of an alpha in trouble—he's lost his
power for whatever reason, and because alphas identify themselves by their
power, my hero's sense of himself and the world is shaken. (Like Dominick
Steele, the failed alcoholic rock star in HONEY TRAP.) Or I'll put an
alpha in a situation that's completely new to him, and his usual straightforward
"my way or the highway" of dealing with things just doesn't work. My alpha
heroes' journey is always to understand what true power is—the cooperative power
of trust, and the authentic power of self-understanding.


In GIRL FROM MARS, I've got two alpha males, of different types: one,
the strong, gorgeous guy, is actually quite laid-back and alpha because of his
charm, wealth, and talent. The other is fiercely protective, brave,
willing to fight for everything he believes in—and is also a Trekkie computer
geek. Both of them are totally honourable, and they both have to learn the
value of compromise and trust.

I love Julie's comments about writing an alpha in trouble - there's that challenge again. The way that life jups up and bites this guy on the bose and forces him to find new ways of thinking, acting, new approaches that will deal with this situation because he finds that the old ones just won't do.

Julie's newest book out is Girl From Mars which is published in June.

I, Philomena Desdemona Brown, do solemnly swear to forsake all romantic relationships...

It's not like the vow, made by Fil and her three nerdy male best friends, seemed much of a big deal at the time. Frankly, Fil wouldn't know romance if it hit her in the face, and with her real love being her artist job at Girl from Mars, the comic whose heroine has never had a love interest, she doesn't exactly mind being relationship-free anyway.

Until her world is rocked to its core when one of her long-standing quartet and Girl from Mars herself both unexpectedly fall in love. Is it time to give in to temptation and finally fall in love?

Better late than never . . .

I could have sworn that when I last looked it was - well, my blog tells me that I last posted on Wednesday, but really I thought I'd only just come back from Guildford. And I'm not quite sure what I did since then . . . Accountants, bank manager, cats to the vet, washing, cleaning, shoppping. . . you know - the glamorous life of a writer!

I never really talked much about Guildford - though if you checked out my post on workshops on the Pink Heart Society blog you'll have an idea of what the workshop on Friday afternoon was like. I know I enjoyed the event and I hope everyone else in the group did. I've had lots of emails from people who were there so I think they did. Thank you to everyone who joined in and helped to make the afternoon the fun, productive event it was. I even had one member of the group who came to me at the half time break and said that she had to go home because her mind was so buzzing with ideas she couldn't wait to write them all down!

As you'll see from this photo, the age of the group ranged from mid twenties to 79! Which just goes to show that you never stop learning - and a wide range like that makes for a fantastic mix and lots of differnt points of view in the discussions.

Oh yes, and for anyone from the workshop group - or just anyone who is interested in the workshops/course on writing that I do - just a reminder that I'm not running any more workshops for a while but I will be teaching Writing the Novel at Fishguard in February or the five session course on the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance at the wonderful Writers' Holidays at Caerleon in July. Details can be found here. If I do get asked to run any more workshops in the future, I will of course announce them here or you can check out my Events page to see what's coming up.

Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to get any photos of the evening event in Guildford. But I had a lot of fun there too - and I think the audience enjoyed the first part of Girls' Night. But then, being on a panel with wonderful Katie Fforde (her web site describes her books as 'witty and generous romance' - they could be talking about Katie herself) and Matt Dunn (who is much more smiley and friendly than his picture makes him appear) can't really go wrong. And of course there was a great contribution from the other M&B author - Gill (aka Roger) Sanderson and a sparkling performance as compere by Jane Wenham-Jones. A combination that really couldn't fail. I came home with both Katie and Matt's latest books - just need a little free time to sit down and read them!

The Saturday in Guildford was spent in the delightful company of my dear friend Julie Cohen and her gorgeous not-quite-two-year-old son. (He and the Babe Magnet got on particularly well!) The October weather was unexpectedly kind to us - it was warmer than many days in August! - and we had a fabulous time wandering around the city, exploring the castle grounds and discovering the connectionsto Lewis Carroll in Guildford . Including the Alice Garden which is close to the Castle and which has this intriguing stature of Alice Through the Looking Glass on display there.

I could quite happily have spent more time finding out a lot more but time was something we didn't have. Maybe there will be a next time.

Since I came home I've had some more foreign editions arrive - a Japanese and an Afrikaans edition of The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife - and I've been thrilled to see Bedded By The Greek Billionaire featuring highly in the ebook sales charts on eHarlequin.

Oh - and if you're into ebooks, the Mills & Boon UK website now features sales of ebooks of many of the recent publications there.

I heard back from my editor about Ricardo. She likes the book - she really loves Ricardo himself - but as always there are tweaks she wants me to look at so guess what I'll be doing over the next couple of days.

But next week, Bedded By The Greek Billionaire will be published in Harlequin Presents and as I'm already thrilled by the reaction and the reviews this book has been getting - the thought of that RT Top Pick still makes me want to do the Snoopy Dance - I think I'll be running a small celebratory contest to mark the event. So watch out for that.

And don;t forget that the Presents Month blog focus is still going on over on We Write Romance. There have been lots of great blogs already, with more still to come this week.

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.