12 Point Guide Launch - Winners!

I'm back! I had a great, hectic time and I'm still trying to catch up. I have lots to report, there are still some more guests for the launch party - and I have revisions to do for Santos - ain't life fun? Well, it's never boring, that's for sure.

But first of all, I have some winners to announce so here they are:

Yvonne Lindsay's winner is Sue Child - which just goes to show you don't have to make a long comment to be in with a chance to win - just a comment!

Kate Hardy's prize goes to Michelle Douglas because she says she recognises the reverse psychology her dad used!

and fianlly, Julie Cohen's prize goes to Dina, because Julie loved this post:

To answer Julie Cohen's question on advice: I was told by my daughter to always "SMILE at least once a day", no matter what kind of day you're having.

So, Sue, Michelle and Dina please email me with your postal addresses and I'll get them to your generous authors so that they can send on the prize to you.

And a special thank you to the wonderful authors.

I'll be back with the last few party guests . . .

12 Point Guide Launch Party - Winners!

I have winners ! (I also have a streaming cold thanks to the Babe Magnet's generosity - this is going to make me look SO good at the official 12PGTWR2 tomorrow !)

Anyway - the bit I like - announcing winners:


Anne McAllister says:

The winner of The Boss's Wife For A Week is acdaisy95.
Congrats to acdaisy and to you, Kate, on the 2nd edition of your book!

Michelle Styles sent me an email yesterday to say:

I pulled a winner from the hat this morning and it was:
Jane Cheung
I have sent an email to her and hopefully the books will be winging their way to her shortly.

Jane's on a lucky streak - that's her second prize!


And finally there's one from Annie West
Popped over to your blog and randomly selected a winner. It's Peggy.

So winners - here's what you do - email me with your postal address and I'll send your details to the lovely author who donated your prize. Jane of course has already been contacteed - so acdaisy95, and Peggy need to email me.

And I'll hope to post more winners soon - Kate Hardy, Julie Cohen and Yvonne Lindsay will choose their winners at the end of today - so you have plenty of time to post and maybe win.

Back soon - Aaaaachooooo!

12 Point Guide Launch party 3

My party post got delayed yesterday - I was too busy having fun!

The Babe Magnet had a signing in Borders for several of his Grim and Gruesome books (Yorkshire Murderous Women/Yorkshire Hangmen/ Hauntings in Yorkshire - do you see why we had to go to - well, Yorkshire for this?). So I went along and because a special friend - the lovely Susan Stephens who also writes for Modern/Presents - lives close by, we arranged to meet up. The Magnet and I went back to Susan's gorgeous home and had lunch with her and her totally charming Alpha Male husband, her beautiful younger daughter and the sweetnatured hound Her Royal Bettyship.



Thank you Susan! We had a fantastic time. So much so that we all forgot to take photos. Susan herself will be dropping into this party later on.



We were having so much fun and eating wonderful food that I forgot all about the time and about blogs and such like - so when I got home I had no energy left to post the next party post, never mind answer the Q&A - but I'll make up for that today because we have four more very special guests who have come to help me celebrate the launch of 12PGTWR2.


Today I have a real selection of guests who help to show just how much range there is in the romance writing worls. Each one of them is successful in their own line - some in more than one.
And each opf them has offered their own personal advice and tips on writing in 12PGTWR2

First up is Kate Hardy - aka Scary Kate.

Kate says:

Congratulations, Kate, on the second edition of a book which was already superb the first time round. It's one of the very few 'how to write' books I will recommend, because it's practical and down-to-earth and most definitely not scary!

Scary Kate of course has lots of books coming up - in Medicals there's The Doctor's Royal Love Child (UK April release) and in Presents Extra there's In Bed With Her Italian Boss (US April release - aka Breakfast at Giovanni's, which won the RNA Romance Prize 2008).

You can read more about these books on Scary's website

Kate's Prize:
Kate's offering a signed copy of The Doctor's Royal Love Child and she will pick her winner at random from posters of comments - so you know what to do!





Now a party wouldn't be much success without some handsome men around so here's Gill Sanderson (and it you didn't already know this - Gill is a distinguished gentleman with a moustache) who writes for Medical Romance,



Gill says:


I'm glad there's another copy of Kate Walker's Guide to Writing Romance coming out - I might have written 45 books for HMB, but I still find the Guide useful and interesting. It's also one of the most borrowed of my books. My present, much-thumbed, copy is now decidedly tatty. I need a new one!

(There's a new copy on its way to you, Gill - just as oon as I get my hands on them!)


Gill's next Medical title is Nurse Bride, Bayside Wedding coming out in May. It's one of the Penhally Bay series.

Now here's a very special friend who has her own reason for celebrating today. It's Julie Cohen's birthday (so go and wish her a happy birthday when you leave here!)

Happy Birthday from me, Julie love!
Julie says:

Before I was published, I was lucky enough to attend Kate's seminars and to get her advice on a book I was writing. She gave me two pieces of advice I will never forget, and which took my writing to another level. That book she helped me with went on to become my first published novel with Harlequin Mills & Boon. Since then, I've taught a course alongside Kate, and that was just as much a learning experience as a teaching one. Kate's a natural teacher and when she talks about writing you can see her listeners' eyes light up with sudden insight.


I've got a well-thumbed copy of the 12-Point Guide on my bookcase, with all my precious writing books, and I refer to it often. I still use Kate's character questionnaire every time I start a story. And I recommend her book to aspiring and experienced romance writers alike. It's easily one of the top titles out there about writing romance, and about writing category romance in particular. Im glad there's another edition so that I'll be able to recommend it more easily!

New books Julie has coming up:

For US readers, I've got a Harlequin Presents Extra out this month, Mistress in Private. It's about...well, let's cut to the chase, shall we? It's about hot sex with a male model. Yeee-haw!

For UK readers, my Little Black Dress book One Night Stand is on the shelves. It's the story of Eleanor Connor, an erotic comedy writer who gets pregnant by mistake after a one night stand with a stranger, and enlists her best friend and neighbour, serial-shagger and pastry chef Hugh, to search for the father.

You can find out more about both these books over on Julie's web site

Julie's Prize

I've got a copy of ONE NIGHT STAND to send to the most inspirational or amusing answer to the following question:

Julie's Question
What was the best (or worst) piece of advice you've ever received? I'll choose a winner from the comments.

Oh, and those two pieces of advice Kate gave me, which I'll never forget--one about emotional punch, and one about character motivation? They're both in the book, so you'll have to read it, if you haven't already, and see.

Finally we have New Zealand author Yvonne Lindsay who followed my advice to be brave - and now her courage has made her a very succesful author for the Desire line.

Here's Yvonne:

I keep my much-highlighted, well-thumbed, post-it-noted copy of Kate’s first edition of the 12-Point Guide nearby at all times. As well as being packed full of sound and logical advice, it’s a great reference to trigger off a new tangent in your work or even just to give you a judicious kick in the rear when your writing isn’t going quite as well as you want it to. Congratulations, Kate, on launching a second edition of this most excellent writing aid. Really, it’s like having you at my side while I work, and who couldn’t benefit from that?

Yvonne Lindsay’s next release is due out in the NA market in June 2008. Jealousy and a Jewelled Proposition is book 6 in the fabulous Diamonds Down Under Continuity and is available for pre-order now through Amazon.

You can find out more about this book on Yvonne's web site.

Yvonne's prize:

She's giving away a copy of my February 2008 release, TYCOON’S VALENTINE VENDETTA.

And Yvonne will pick her winner from everyone who posts.
Oh - and if you choose to answer Julie's question, then all those posts will be included in the draw for the other prizes as well as Julie's - so get posting!

And I haven't forgotten about the Writers' Q&A - I've just had no time. But I promise there will be more answers just as soon as I can manage them!

Great Big Blog Party 20 - Winner

Yvonne Lindsay has been drawing names out of a hat for her winner She's come up with three because her first winner had already won a prize recently - and now I'm happy because . . . well here's what Yvonne says -

My book prize winner is Nancy.

Ooh, just noticed that Nancy has recently won a prize. I’d still like to nominate her for a book prize but I did an extra two draws and guess what, Kate Walker and India came up So, that’s you, India and Nancy. How’s that?

That's fine by me Yvonne - I really really want to read Rosellini's Revenge Affair - so I'm thrilled to have my name picked. It's my party and I'll grab a prize if I can!

Nancy and India - Congratulations and I've already sent your addresses to Yvonne.

Great Big Blog Party 20 - Yvonne Lindsay

Friday 13th August 2004 was not unlucky 13th for me. Quite the opposite At just after 7.30 that evening, I was standing at the Red Dress Ink Cocktail Party for Romance Writers of New zealand in the Waipuna Hotel in Auckland, wondering if anyone would talk to me - or if I could pluck up the nerve to talk to anyone when a tall lady approached me with a warmly welcoming smile.

'I'm Yvonne Lindsay,' she said.'From eHarlequin - you told me to come and say Hello.'

That's what I love about the internet links that connect the romance writing world. You can chat to someone in printed words over on the eHarlequin message board and get to know them and then - when you're lucky enough to meet them in person, there's no need for all that awkward fumbling for a topic of conversation or explaining who you are and what you do. I knew Yvonne, I'd chatted with her - and before I knew it, in Auckland, she and I - and the wonderful Trish Morey became the Three Twins (yes - I know - you can't have 3 twins, but whose counting?)

At that stage Yvonne was struggling with her writing. She wasn't sure where her voice fitted -Presents or Romance? - she'd been submitting, working with editors, not quite making it . . .I remember we talked about keeping going and writingfrom the heart - and I told her to be brave.


And she was. And less than a year later she - and I - were celebrating the fact that her first book The Boss's Christmas Seduction had been bought by Silhouette Desire and she had found the place where her voice fitted at last.


And how. Since then she's had four books out - with more - many more, I hope, in the future. And this was after 13 - thirteen - years of trying! And it couldn't happen to a nicer person. I loved her first book and I'm so looking forward to getting her current one onto my TBR pile. And you can have a chance to win a copy if you answer Yvonne's question.



So here's the Tallest Twin - Yvonne Lindsay


First of all, Kate, warmest congratulations on your golden celebrations! What an amazing milestone to reach in your career. You’re an inspiration—not only a great author but a great teacher and friend as well.


Second, thank you so much for inviting me to share the fun at your blog party and hopefully share a little celebration of my own. This year I’ve had the amazing honour of my first book, THE BOSS’S CHRISTMAS SEDUCTION, being nominated for the Romantic Book of the Year Award—a competition run by Romance Writers of Australia and judged by readers of romance. It’s been such a thrill and being a total gem-a-holic I absolutely love the associated acronym for the Award being R*BY (pronounced, ruby). I’ve been reading a lot lately about authors buying milestone gifts for themselves for each book published, or contracted, or specific occasions in their writing career and I think, for this one, I’m definitely going to treat myself to a permanent ruby-coloured reminder to keep this moment in the forefront of my mind.


It’s all too easy to lose sight of the special things that we achieve in our lives, step by step as we reach our goals and milestones, so I think we owe it to ourselves to acknowledge the greatness we’re all capable of. This doesn’t need to be solely for writing related events, it can be for anything in our lives. Let’s live, celebrate and enjoy, and share our joys.

GIVEAWAY QUESTION:
How many of you can think of something you’ve done—personally or professionally—that deserves a mini-party. Share your stories, I can’t wait to hear them!

GIVEAWAY:
One will win a copy of my July US release of ROSSELLINI’S REVENGE AFFAIR!

BIO:

After 13 years of submitting to London and New York, Yvonne Lindsay was ecstatic to sell to Silhouette Desire in April of 2005. At the time, working four days a week as a practice manager in a sole practice law firm, the dream of ‘giving up the day job’ was exactly that. A dream. Yvonne has since contracted seven books with Silhouette Desire and at the end of 2006 realised that dream. She now writes full time creating stories she hopes you’ll fall in love with.


WEBSITE:

http://www.yvonnelindsay.com/

My latest news! http://www.yvonnelindsay.com/

My blog! http://yvonnelindsay.wordpress.com/