Here Come the Grooms - the result

I really should never go away. I enjoy the trip - I had a wonderful time in Dublin, and spending time with Abby Green is always fun - but by the time I get home and unpacked and the washing done and caught up with emails and phone calls, it seems as if I've been away for ages instead of just a few days.

Anyway, as I said, Dublin was fabulous. Freezing cold but sunny and we even managed a trip to the sea to walk along the shore at Bray. The Babe Magnet researched ghosts, we spotted copies of Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Dublin in the bookshops, and we relaxed over wonderful meals and bottles of wine and talked books and writing and life with Abby who is now in London helping to launch the new continuity that links romance and rugby.

The important thing I must do is announce the winners of the Here Come the Grooms Contest - I finally got Sid to stop sulking because I abandoned him and choose the winner for me.

So the result is:

Anne McAllister's winner (ie PJ's winner) is Karen from North Carolina

Liz Fielding's (Jago's) winner is Rachel from New Zealand

and my winner (Santos's winner) is Lynn from Florida

These three lucky readers each get a copy of the three books:

Antonides' Forbidden Wife by Anne McAllister

Wedded in a Whirlwind by Liz Fielding

and Cordero's Forced Bride by Kate Walker

I also ran a special Newsletter additional contest to mark the publication of Cordero's Forced Bride and the winners of that prize draw are:

Dina from Wisconsin

Ronda from Texas

Carol from New Jersey

Thank you to everyone who entered. I've been chatting with Anne and Liz and we are already planning the next Grooms' Contest - probably around this time next year. After all, you have to keep up a great tradition.

Oh - and many, many thanks to everyone who has already been out and bought a copy of the Presents edition of Cordero's Forced Bride. I've had an amazing week with it being on the eHarlequin Top Ten, the Top Ten ebooks and now on the Waldenbooks Top 10 too. Wonderful

Which reminds me - if you like to buy your Presents novels in ebook form, then Cordero's Forced Bride is still available at a special sale price of 25% off on eHarlequin now and Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife is offered with a 10% discount too in the Best of the Best ebook offer. And in the Winter Sale on the Mills & Boon Site, The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife is still on sale at just £0.99p. Don't miss out on these bargains while they are still available.

'I have a dream. . . '

I'll admit that I'm pretty cynical about politics and politicians but yesterday I spent a lot of my afternoon glued to the television and the sights and sounds of the inauguration of President Barack Obama. (And in some ways I still can't quite believe I'm writing that.)

No matter where things go from here, yesterday was an important and an exciting day and one that I personally have hoped to see for many years. As someone who's old enough to have been around when the words were first spoken, I kept thinking of the words of Martin Luther King and they were ringing in my head as I watched yesterday's ceremony.

I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but
by the content of their character.

It was wonderful to be able to see the pinnacle of that dream finally coming true.


Today is the final day for entries to the Here Come The Grooms Contest. It will close when January 21st ends wherever the last time zone is. I may be a little late in getting Sid to pick my winner as early tomorrow I'm heading for the airport and a trip to Dublin so that the Babe Magnet can research ghosts and crime and I can meet up with Abby Green and talk books.

I'll be back on Sunday and either then or Monday morning I will post the names of my winner and those whose entries on Anne's and Liz's sites have won the copies of the three books:

Wedded in A Whirlwind by Liz Fielding
Antonides' Forbidded Wife by Anne McAllister
Cordero's Forced Bride by Kate Walker

You still have time to get your last minute entries in - so what are you waiting for?

If you've missed the details or have onl;y just discovered this contest - here's what you need to know:

Here Come The Grooms

Groom #1 is Anne McAllister's hero, P J Antonides in her book Antonides' Forbidden Wife.

No one knew PJ Antonides had a wife! Sometimes PJ barely remembered it himself. He'd married Ally Maruyama in another lifetime on the other side of the world. He'd been doing her a favor then. They'd both moved on.Now Ally is back! And she says she wants a divorce. Suddenly PJ wants anything but . . .Ally isn't sure she trusts PJ or these new ideas of his. And heaven help her if she falls in love with him all over again!

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Groom # 2 is Kate Walker's Santos Cordero in Cordero's Forced Bride.

Alexa Montague is mortified. She's had to call off her sister's wedding, and now the ruthless, arrogant groom, Santos Cordero, is demanding that shy, ugly duckling Alexa, takes her sister's place!

The Montagues have stolen his money and his convenient bride, so Santos will enjoy taking Alexa instead. For Santos does not - cannot - love. But his body burns for Alexa as it has for no other woman before. He'll keep her captive in his bed until she's begging to be his.

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And finally Groom # 3 Nick Jago in Wedded in a Whirlwind.

Trapped in the dark, certain she's about to die, Miranda Grenville believes things can't get worse. She's wrong. She's trapped with Nick Jago...

Miranda is a survivor. Her rare beauty masks the scars of an emotionally deprived childhood and self-destructive youth; the protective barriers she’s built against hurt.


Desperate to escape a surfeit of “happy ever after” family events, be alone for a while, she grabs a flight to the remote island paradise of Cordillera where “alone” takes on a terrifying new meaning when an earthquake hits. Trapped deep underground in the total darkness of an ancient temple, her first encounter with an embittered Nick Jago is not promising but to escape they must co-operate and as they embark on a life-changing journey towards the light their protective layers are peeled away, every truth revealed. But once free will they go their separate ways or will that very special bond of trust lead to something more lasting?

Okay, you've had a taste of what's in store for three lucky winners of these three books. Now here's what you have to do.There are three questions and to win you have to answer all the questions and email your answers to Anne, to Liz and to me.

Each of us will pick a winner and that winner will get a copy of each of these three books.

Here are the questions:

1. PJ left New York after he graduated from high school. Where did he go?

2. Who was Santos supposed to be marrying?

3. What scent did Jago recognise?

You'll find the answers on our websites and you've got until January 21 to send in your answers.

Got it? You'll find "contact me" links on all our websites. Use those to email us -- all three of us with all three answers, don't forget.

And good luck!

Here Come the Grooms - Anne McAllister's Groom

This is turning into one of those days - not it a bad way, just a hectic sort of - 'I thought I knew exactly what I was doing today but things keep cropping up and I'm losing my grip on the reins' type of day.

So, I meant to have written this hours ago and got it posted all ready for you to read. . . and things started to intervene. Not that I'm complaining. There have been some interesting and rather exciting developments happening behind the scenes, one in particular that I'm really delighted about -. But nothing's finalised so I can't say anything yet. I will when I can - but for now I'll continue with what I had planned.

And what I had planned was to write about the book I've just been reading - and enjoying. And that's Anne McAllister's contribution to the Here Come The Grooms Contest, Antonides' Forbidden Wife.

Lovely book. I really enjoyed this one - an Anne McAllister classic. I'd say it was a keeper but then all of Anne's books are keepers for me. In much the same way that she's a keeper as a friend. But the best thing about this book is the important lessons that it has for would be writers.

Let me go back a couple of steps. I recently had an interesting conversation on a separate loop with some not yet published authors who were discussing the way of writing for Presents. And some of these writers had, as many of the would-be Modern/Presents writers I talk to have - strong opinions on what a Presents novel 'should be'. As many of you know, I read for the Romantic Novelists' Association's New Writers' Scheme (have I got all those apostrophes in the right place? I hope so). Anyway, many of those writers too have the very definite opinions on what a Modern Romance writer should write. They tend to be fixated on the wham bang impact of the novels - and I do NOT just mean sex here - they look at title buzzwords like revenge and forced and blackmail and unwilling and focus on the flash and anger and explosions of some of the stories. And the sex.

But the whole point about a romance is that it is about the emotional journey. It's the story of two people finding each other - and finding themselves along the way. And the word in EMOTION. Not revenge. Not anger. Not sex. Not even passion - unless as a passion. One of many passions. The range of Modern Romance - of all romance - is (and in the cases where it's not, it definitely should be) bigger and wider than the 'angry' emotions and the melodramatic moments that sometimes seem to dominate the stories - they certainly seem to dominate the stories that I get to read and critique.

Melodrama isn't emotion. Passion - sexual passion - isn;t an emotion. It's what that creates that is the emotion. The things, the responses it triggers off inside the mind of the hero or heroine. An alpha hero - we've been here before - isn't a bad, cruel, hard wicked man who has to be 'redeemed' by the discovery of love. He is a strong, powerful, hard, man who is sometimes driven by circumstances, by mistakes, by events, to make the wrong judgements and maybe even be cruel as a result. But he is above all a man of honour. A man who is capable of love (even if, like Santos in Cordero's Forced Bride, he doesn't actually believe it himself). He just needs to learn the way to get past the obstacles that keep him from recognising/believing in/expressing the love that is already there in him.

On Michelle Styles' blog today, she makes an interesting point about putting emotion into a novel:

It is the old 10 percent rule -- the vast majority of readers will only get 10 % of the emotion you put in the book.

It's my experience that the emotions most readers do get are of the flashing lighting and banging thunder sort. Sometimes these drown out the softer, deeper, gentler - but infinitely powerful emotions that are what really make a romance what it should be - a love story and a relationship story. An EMOTIONAL story.

Which is where, to come back to the point of this posting, I would want to say to would-be writers - read Anne McAllister. Because it's in those emotions that Anne's writing excels. She creates wonderful strong, powerful, loving human beings in her heroes in particular. She doesn't write much - if at all - about revenge or blackmail or anger - but the emotions her heroes feel are strong and deep and very very masculine, very alpha, all the same. She creates honourable, strong (that word again) emoitonal men who are in conflict with themselves often as much as with their heropines. And the emoitonal reasons why they can't come right out and declare their love are as deep and important and powerful as any other more dramatic events.

Because very often the thing that keeps them quiet and hold them back is love itself.

Antonides' Forbidden Wife is a perfect example of this. You might start of wondering why on earth PJ ever let the past happen - but as the story goes on you begin to see exactly why he did. Exactly what his motives were. And you see that, just as conflict or strength sometimes shows itself in the quiet, deeper things rather than the storming thunder and lightning, so too love can show itself in a deep moment of silence, of giving that is stronger than passion.

I wish more of the would-be writers of Presents would study Anne McAllister's books and see the reasons why she's published in Presents and what her characters and stories add to the lione. A little more of that and little less clash and anger would add a great deal more emotion - and as the editor once said -

There are three things that sell - emotion, emotion, emotion.

Thanks for a great read Anne.

Here Come the Grooms

Hola

Santos here. That's Santos Cordero from Kate's book Cordero's Forced Bride.

Forced, hmm? Well, I might have to have words with Kate's editor about that. I didn't exactly have to use force. A certain determined persuasion perhaps - but not force. I've never forced a woman in my life. And I certainly didn't plan to start with mi belleza Alexa.

I have finally managed to get to this blog while Kate is immersed in another book about another groom - this time the one about PJ Antonides - Antonides' Forbidden Wife by Anne McAllister. It's certainly holding her gripped so I have a chance to talk to you.

And no matter what one Nick Jago will tell you, it was no mistake on my part that my chosen bride 'did a runner' on our wedding day. If the truth be told that was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I took one look at her sister and knew she was the woman for me. Which is more than Senor Jago can claim to have done because he spent his first night with his Miranda without ever seeing her face.

Though I believe that she really can claim that - as they say 'the earth moved' that night.

Ah well, it seems that poor Nick has got his just deserts. Checking his child's head for nits, indeed! Something of a comedown for an Indiana Jones type like him. The things we'll do for love.

PJ now, he's a very different sort of guy - or so Kate tells me. A man who has turned his life around, moved from beach bum to head of Antonides Marine. But then that life is turned upside down - in a different sort of way from Nick's, but with much the same sort of whirlwind effect - by the unexpected arrival of the wife he hasn't seen in five years. Yes, that would throw you - I can see that.

I'm not sure how I'd handle something like that - so I'm waiting for Kate to tell me how PJ does it. I really do not know how you put a woman like Ally Maruyama out of your mind, even if he did marry her in another part of the world from where he is now. And I'd find it even harder to deal with the reasons why she's turned up in his life all over again.

Of course if you want to find out what happened to both these other grooms then you're going to have to buy - and read - the books so you can find out the full stories. Or of course you can enter the contest and hope to win one of three signed copies of each book that are on offer.

To do that you have to answer all the three questions and email your answers to Anne, to Kate and Liz. All three of them if you want three chances to win.

Each of them will pick a winner and that winner will get a copy of Cordero's Forced Bride, Antonides' Forbidden Wife and Wedded in a Whirlwind.

Here are the questions:

1. PJ left New York after he graduated from high school. Where did he go? (That's the other side of the world bit - where he found his 'forbidden wife')

2. Who was I (Santos) supposed to be marrying?

3. What scent did Nick (I can make the earth move for you) Jago recognise?

You'll find the answers in excerpt on their websites -- you'll find "contact" links there -- and you've got until January 21 to send in your answers.

Buena serte!

Oh - and if you read my book you'll find that it's dedicated to Helen. That's the lovely lady in Kate's Offspring's life. Apparently when she read it she wept over one bit. She has a soft heart. Perdon Helen - didn't mean to make you cry.

Belated Happy Birthday

. . . . to Jean Macleod.

This year I'm celebrating 25 years as a published author. But that - as they say - is 'small potatoes' when compared with this wonderful lady

Jean Macleod is setting out on her 71st year of being published by Mills & Boon. And no that is not a typo. This lady had her very first book published in 1938 and now - at the age of 101 years young - she is looking at writing her 130th book.

Now there's something to aim for. If you want to read the whole article then you'll find it in the online version of the Daily Mail here

All I can say is Happy belated Birthday for Tuesday, Jean Macleod.

And here's to many many more.

Reading a Whirlwind

Santos was supposed to be here today.

That's Santos Cordero the hero of Cordero's Forced Bride. He was supposed to be playing his part in the Here Come the Grooms Contest as the Groom in question in that book (the groom twice over in fact as the book starts with what is supposed to be his marriage to someone else). So he was supposed to be here telling you all about what happened and how he ended up not marrying that bride and being someone else's groom instead. He was looking forward to it too - but then he's been feeling pretty smug for the last week or so. Ever since he discovered that the ebook version of his story has been at #1 on the eHarlequin ebook bestseller list and the print book is in the Top 10 Bestsellers on ths site and as I write this they both still are.

So Santos was quite happy to come and tell you a bit about himself. He was even going to sort out Nick Jago - the Groom from Liz Fielding's book who has been taking the mick out of him and PJ (Anne McAllister's groom) over on Liz's blog.

But things change. And Santos is going to have to wait his turn. I thought he might be peeved by this, seeing as it's that Nick Jago I want to talk about. But that #1 slot has made him pretty happy - and being married to 'the right Montague daughter' has made him even happier. So he's let me have the blog today.

Things have changed because life happened last night - well, in the early hours of this morning. Yesterday I must have eaten something that - er - disagreed with me and, let's just say that the early hours of the morning were not pleasant and . . .well, I don't need to go into details. Suffice it to say that when the Magnet got up to leave for work, doing the same was the last thing I felt like and so I took a therapeutic rest - and stayed where I was with a book for company.

Now I have a confession to make. Liz Fielding sent me a copy of her Wedded in A Whirlwind back in November when the book actually came out. I wanted to read it then but life, book revisions, Christmas etc all got in the way. Then yesterday Anne McAllister were talking about the Here Come the Grooms Contest and I thought that I had better read Liz's (and N Jago's ) book so that I knew what I was talking about. So Liz's book was the one I picked up this morning.

And I don't think I could have picked up a better read to distract me from the miserable way I was feeling. I've read quite a few books recently - many of them romances - and I'll admit that some of them have been a disappointment to me. Not that they are bad books - just not books that didn't work for me at all. It's a problem with the job. Sometimes hard to lose yourself in a romance and not start editing it or critiquing it as you read.

No such problem with Liz's book. As soon as I read the first few pages, I was hooked and once 'Nick Jago slid onto a stool . . .' I didn't want to put the book down until I'd finished it. I read on and on . . .

If the Liz Fielding books you know (and probaly love) are her light and lovely, witty romances then this book will surprise you. But then if you've read The Bride's Baby or The Marriage Miracle you'll be aware of the wonderful talent she has for taking your heart in her words and twisting it till you hurt - but you wouldn't want it any other way. So don't let the lovely - but way too light-hearted and pretty image on the cover decive you. This is no soft-centre romance but a book that takes its hero and heroine on a heartfelt emotional journey that changes them for ever.

Trapped in the dark, certain she's about to die, Miranda Grenville believes things can't get worse. She's wrong. She's trapped with Nick Jago...

Miranda is a survivor. Her rare beauty masks the scars of an emotionally deprived childhood and self-destructive youth; the protective barriers she’s built against hurt.

Desperate to escape a surfeit of “happy ever after” family events, be alone for a while, she grabs a flight to the remote island paradise of Cordillera where “alone” takes on a terrifying new meaning when an earthquake hits.

Trapped deep underground in the total darkness of an ancient temple, her first encounter with an embittered Nick Jago is not promising but to escape they must co-operate and as they embark on a life-changing journey towards the light their protective layers are peeled away, every truth revealed. But once free will they go their separate ways or will that very special bond of trust lead to something more lasting?

I'll admit that when I knew that WIAW had Miranda Grenville as its heroine I was a bit concerned. Remembering her from Reunited: Marriage in A Million, I wondered just how Liz would take this spiky, at times difficult to like woman and turn her into a sympathetic, appealing heroine. I needn't have worried. Manda reveals her true vulnerable and lovable self to the reader just as she does to the wonderfully sexy archaeologist Nick Jago - Indiana Jones with deep wells of strength, understanding and vulnerability himself. And yet at the same time she keeps the very real parts of herself that make her essentially the woman we read about in the first book, but now understand why they are there.

One of my favourite romances was a book by Day Leclaire - unfortunately I can't recall the name of it now - that begins with the hero and heroine trapped in a lift when the elecrticity has failed and they can't even see each other. I was impressed by the way that the attraction, the start of the relationship developed so well in spipte of/because of the fact that they couldn't see each other. In Day's book this lasts for almost three chapters. Liz manages this feat for very nearly ten chapters. In many ways, the 'action' is almost non-existent - trapped underground, Manda and Nick try to find a way out of their captivity. But the emotional 'action' is huge, deeply involving and absorbing. As a reader I was hooked, caring about these two wounded characters, wanting to see them edge closer, learn more about each other, open up to each other, The mere hours covered by the first ten chapters or so cover the growth of an emotional lifetime. And as a writer I was full of admiration for the ability that made those hours pass in such a 'whirlwind' of emotion.

I have always been a fan of the way that Liz Fielding writes, but this book added a new depth to my admiration of her as a writer. I'm really proud to have my book offered as a prize in a joint contest with such a wonderful story as Wedded in A Whirlwind. I'm only sorry that I got to reading it so late instead of in November when it first came out so that I could encourage you all to go and buy it, read it - and enjoy it.

You still can of course. It's still available on Amazon.co.uk. or .com. On the Mills & Boon site or eharlequin as a print or an ebook. If you're one of the three lucky winners of the Here Come the Grooms Contest then you'll get your own signed copy of this great book. And if you don't, then put Wedded in A Whirlwind on your list for the next time you go book shoppping.

If this book doesn't end up on some award shortlists in 2009 then I'll be very very suprised.

So to have a chance to win enter the Here Come the Grooms contest now - details are on the Contest page of my web site.
Closing date is January 21st

Next I'm going to read Antonides' Forbidden Bride . . . Poor Santos may have to wait even longer for his chance to post!

Princess Flora

I had meant to come back before now and introduce you to some of the Grooms for the contest but family commitments and a set of proofs that have to be done hadve taken up my time and energies - so instead of a hero, for now, I'll just give you a heroine.

Most of the time Flora lives up to her nickname of The Floozie. Most of her days are spent jumping on Sid and Dylan, climbing trees, chewing ears, fingers and toes (mine or the Magnet's) knocking things off the table - if she would just return the ring she chased off the coffee table and into oblivion then I would be really happy.

But just occasionally she decides to live up to her pages long pedigree, remembers she is the daughter of Kassaro Barneymagrew and Rockingstones Louysyana. And that although she may only be a Princess Flooziebelle at the moment but she is destined to grow into a beautiful and mature Queen.

And then - just occasionally - she looks like this:

Here Come The Grooms again

It's back!

The 3rd Annual Here Come The Grooms! Contest starts today January 7, 2009 and runs through till January 21, 2009.

What does this mean to you? Well - do you want three chances to win three great new books?

For the last three years Anne McAllister, Liz Fielding and I have had Grooms from our books come and take over our blogs -- not to mention our lives -- in January. It all began when we all had books out in February 2007, and they all had the word "Bride" in the title.We thought our brides would like to host a "Here Come The Brides" contest on our sites. And they did.

But they had so much fun that the grooms decided they'd get into the act, too. So they pretty much hijacked the month. They ran their own contest -- and their successors, the 2008 grooms, came back and did it again last year. Not to be outdone, this year's heroes - PJ Antonides (Anne's guy ) from Antonides' Forbidden Wife, Nick Jago (Liz's guy) from Bedded in a Whirlwind, and Santos Cordero the hero from from my Cordero's Forced Bride, have been lurking around waiting for their turn.

Their turn has come.

We'll be introducing you to each of them in the next few days. And I expect that if they're really folowing in the tradition that those original grooms started, they'll be along to blog once or twice too. In the meantime, you can find out how to enter and the questions you need to answer on the Contest page of my website. The other grooms' questions are there, too.

Just click on the tab there and answer the questions (look in the excerpts or on our blogs or web sites for the answers) and you will be entered in Santos' drawing which will be after the contest ends January 21.

Do the same thing on Liz's and Anne's websites and you have THREE chances to win.

And the prize? 3 signed copies of each of these great books are up for grabs. So three lucky readers will each win:

Antonides' Forbidden Wife by Anne McAllister

Wedded in a Whirlwind by Liz Fielding

Cordero's Forced Bride by Kate Walker

Or if you've already bought yourself a copy of one of these - because you're all readers of great taste so you might well have done - then the winner can take a pick from a selection of backlist books instead.

Send in your entries now! Good luck!

For Jan Jones

By special request because my friend Jan Jones wanted to see the lunacy that resulted when Flora had her first encounter with catnip over Christmas - here are some photos of the event.

Unfortunately I can't show a video of this otherwise you would see both cats (yes- Sid included ) totally losing all sense of dignity or decorum. They sniffed, ate, rolled in the stuff with total abandon and occasionally Cat Wars broke out when one snaffled a little bit too much of the other's stash.

A video would show this so much better - but these still photos are close enough - and daft enough.

Jan - enjoy.

RNA Romance Prize

Romance Prize celebrates shorter fiction alongside the Romantic Novel Of The Year

The Romantic Novelists’ Association, who will announce the shortlist for the Romantic Novel of the Year award on 13th January, is also honouring writers of shorter romances such as those published by Harlequin Mills and Boon.

“Although both awards celebrate novels with a high romantic content,” explains Catherine Jones, Chairman of the RNA, “the Romance Prize honours the most memorable stories set around a single theme that concentrates on the developing love affair.”

The Romance Prize will be presented at the RNA’s Awards Lunch on 10th February 2009 at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington.

The winner will be selected from the following books:

What's Love Got to Do With It? - Lucy Broadbent (Little Black Dress, Headline)

The Wild Card - Beth Elliott (Robert Hale)

Mistress: Hired for the Billionaire's Pleasure - India Grey (Harlequin Mills & Boon)

Sold to the Highest Bidder - Kate Hardy (Harlequin Mills & Boon)

Saying Yes to the Millionaire - Fiona Harper (Harlequin Mills & Boon)

Promoted to Wife and Mother - Jessica Hart (Harlequin Mills & Boon)

Fiona Harper has been short-listed before, and both Jessica Hart and Kate Hardy are past winners. Kate Hardy, who won in 2008 with Breakfast at Giovanni’s, had this to say: "Winning the Romance Prize has been the highlight of my career to date, and it's certainly opened up opportunities. I'm very proud to have won the award and to be part of the RNA - and have been delighted by messages of support over the year. I even had a personal letter of congratulations from the chancellor of the University of Leicester!"

The shortlist will be judged by Margaret James, creative writing teacher for the London School of Journalism and regular columnist with Writing Magazine; Paul Reizin, writer, producer and journalist; and Linda Leatherbarrow, prize-winning short story writer, reviewer and MA lecturer at Middlesex.

Many congratulations to all the authors shortlisted

Blogging around

As well as my personal blog here, I have two other regular blogging spots around the internet.

One is with Tote Bags 'n' Blogs organised by the lovely Lee Hyat of Author Sound Relations. I will be blogging there on the first Sunday of every month. So that's where you'll find me on those days.

And of course I still have my role as the columnist for the Pink Heart Society. My dates each month for this will vary, depending on the topics I've been asked to write about. But I'll let you know when I'm over there instead of here. Today I'm writing in the Male on Monday slot where I'm writing about the man who inspired my second ever book published. And that was a good few years ago!

Just a reminder to those of you who are aiming to write for publication. The Romantic Novelists' Association New Writers' Scheme opened again on January 1st and places are filling up fast. There are only 250 places available on this scheme and they are allocated on a strictly first come, first served basis - so if you want a chance to have your manuscript assessed by a professional, make sure you get your application in now! You can find more details here.

And just to add a great big thank you to everyone who has already bought a copy of my February book Cordero's Forced Bride from the eHarlequin site, keeping it at #2 on the ebooks bestseller list and on the overall site Bestsellers list all last week. Thank you!

Looking Forward - 2009

So it's a different year. It's 2009.

Yesterday was spent with calendars . Making sure that all the important upcoming dates are listed so that I don't forget anything. I love brand new stationery - pristine notebooks, fresh calendars, new diaries, so that was a real pleasure for me.

And there are already plenty of dates and events to note down for this new year even though it Ihas only just dawned. So today I'm looking forward at what's coming up with a whole new sense of anticipation.

I'm sure there will be more to add to the calendar later in the year but for now - here's what 2009 has planned for me . . .

So we'll start in January -

Coming up very soon is the now traditional (well, we've been running it for 3 years!) joint contest - Here Come The Grooms - that Anne McAllister, Liz Fielding and I run every year around this time. It's been in February before but Anne's book is out in January so we're starting early this year. More details very soon.



In February I am teaching a residential weekend course on the Writers' and Artists' Workshop Weekend at Fishguard in Wales. I am teaching The Novel - not specifically Romance writing but writing a novel in general. Obviously plenty of what I have to say will apply to Romance but this course, (like the 12 Point Guide actually) will be suitable for anyone who wants to write any sort of fiction.

And if anyone out there wants to write poetry - or knows someone who does, then the Babe Magnet will be running the Poetry course on the same weekend.

The dates for this event are 20th February - 22nd February 2009 and the cost is an all-inclusive (accomodation, food, classes) £199. That's for six one hour sessions of talks, one to one assessments and assignments.

(If you want to join me there, then if you add my name after yours on the application form, that will save you an extra £10 on the cost of the weekend)

Talking of courses I'm teaching, I will be back in Wales in July when I am teaching the Writing Romance course at Writers' Holiday at Caerleon. This is a very special event as it is the 25th Summer Writers' Holiday. I had to miss last year's event as I was in San Francisco so I'm really looking forward to being back at Caerleon this year.

The dates for this are 26th July - 31st July 2009 And the cost (again all-inclusive) is £399. There are 14 courses in total to choose from and some wonderful main speakers lined up for this event.

Details for both the Fishguard Weekend and Caerleon can be found on the official website here where you can also book online and save money.

Summer of course will be the Conference season and I shall be rushing from one end of the country to another - and overseas, I hope - in July when there will be the RNA Conference in Penrith (10-12th July) and the 29th Annual National Conference in Washington, D.C.July 15 - 18, 2009. And then heading for Caerleon! I might just find time to breathe!

Of course I will also have some new books coming out and the first of these is Cordero's Forced Bride which officially published on February 1st as a Presents edition. And then it's out in March as a Mills & Boon Modern Romance. But I was thrilled to see that even before 2009 had dawned, the ebook version of this book was already on pre-order on eHarlequin and since then it has been riding high in their ebook charts - arriving at #2 today. (And as that's #2 to Lynne Graham's #1 I'm not complaining!) It's also now listed on eHarlequin's Top Ten Bestsellers right now. So it's off to a very good start.

My next romance out in 2009 will be Kept For Her Baby which has a M&B Modern publication date of September 2009. This is out in the same month as my friend Michelle Reid's next book too so I expect that we will be repeating our Super September Contest like the one we ran last year.

Oh, and before that book in September I have a reprint out in May. That's when At The Sheikh's Command appears in Sold to the Sheikh with books by Miranda Lee and Emma Darcy. I haven't yet found out if this is a UK release or an Australian release but I'll let you know just as soon as I can.




Finally, if you're in America and you missed out on getting an ebook copy of my June '08 release Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife - then that is on sale in a special BEST OF 2008 - Best of the Billionaires - sale over on eHarlequin here.

What else? Well, I'll be continuing my blogging as a Pink Heart Society Columnist - my first blog of 2009 is to pick next Monday's Male on Monday so watch out for that. (I've been doing some serious research forthis one!) I'll also be guestblogging on Tote Bags and Blogs on the first Sunday of every month and with We Write Romance whenever they need me! And of course I'll be blogging here too.

And finally, 2009 is a very important year for Harlequin and for me. For two different reasons.

This year Harlequin is celebrating it's Diamond Anniversary - that's 60 years of publishing the brilliant romances we all know and love. So there will be special celebrations all thgouth the year and a special Spotlight on each line in turn, staring with Desire. Presents will have its turn in July, just in time for the RWA Nationals.

My own anniversary will arrive in December 2009 when I will be celebrating 25 years as a published author! 25 years! I can't quite believe it myself. I'm not sure quite what I'll be doing to mark this occasion - but I will be doing something so watch out for that.

And with Bedded By The Greek Billionaire now officially shortlisted for that Best Presents from Romantic Times, it's shaping up to be an exciting year ahead. Now all I have to do is to write the next book and get my publications for the next new year ready and lining up.

Finally, I'm signed up to take part in the eHarlequin Book Challenge 2009 where for every book I read and review Harlequin will be donating a book to the National Center for Family Literacy to benefit their literacy programs - why don't you come and join in too. All you have to do is read and you were going to do that anyway - right?

I hope you'll enjoy the books I have coming up in the next year, come and visit my blog often in 2009 and maybe I'll meet up with some of you at one or other of the events or workshops there are planned for this year.