Tips from the Energizer bunny needed.

See these energetic little guys bouncing all over the place?
(They're supposed to be bouncing but blogger isn't playing fair and I don't have the patience to fiddle!)

Well, that is SOOO not me at the moment.

I've been laying low, feeling really off-colour so no writing, no exciting blogs, not much of anything really. Barely have energy to check my emails in the morning before logging off till the next day.

My sheikh and his prospective wife Bria keep saying 'hey, what about us?'
And I keep responding 'what about you?'
I'm so excited about writing this book but right now, can't summon the energy to do much of anything.
On the upside, I'm getting to do a bit of reading in the afternoons. Thank goodness for a toddler who still naps!!

All that bouncing around? Frankly, I don't know how the Energizer bunny does it!

Academic blogging

I had a lovely email from Dr. Laura Vivanco last night, saying she'd blogged about one of my books.

I was immediately intrigued and rushed over here to take a look.

Her observations about CONTRACT TO MARRY were very interesting and she picked up exactly how I'd used the heroine Fleur's best friend Liv (who reads romance novels) as a perfect foil for Fleur's cynicism.

CONTRACT TO MARRY features an older hero, Darcy (38) and a much younger, much more cynical heroine Fleur who doesn't believe in marriage and all that rot! Of course, Darcy changes her mind eventually...This is a romance after all!

I'd love to hear what you think about Dr. Vivanco's blog.

Cracking good read

I adore reading.
If I didn't write, I could quite happily spend all my time lolling about and reading (of course, there is the slight matter of raising a child, being part of a family, cooking meals, doing loads of washing, grocery shopping and all the rest!) but in a dream world, I would be reclining on a comfy sofa with a pile of books on my right with a stack of chocolate on my left. Bliss...

Speaking of reading, I just finished a really good book, Allison Rushby's FRIDAY NIGHT COCKTAILS. I've read all of Allison's books to date (chick-lit for Red Dress Ink) but have to say this is my favourite. It was actually her first book, published in Australia as allmenarebastards.com before Kensington re-released it as Friday Night Cocktails.
The whole concept of having a public website where women can post bits and pieces about the creeps in their lives and why is a classic!

There are some great laugh-out-loud moments in this book and it kept me smiling till the last page. Definitely worth a read.

The Alpha Hero

It has been a while since I wrote an alpha hero.

My second book, THE WEDDING CONTRACT, featured a successful, ruthless lawyer who played a 'baddie' in my first book, THE TYCOON'S DATING DEAL. Steve Rockwell needed to be redeemed so he met his match and got the happily-ever-after he didn't expect.

The interesting thing is that while I wrote that book, I wasn't sure if readers would like Steve, especially after his rude behaviour in book 1. In fact, a teensy-weensy part of me didn't like him!
The good news is that this book monitored highly in the UK, so some readers did indeed love him but since then I haven't written an alpha hero. I prefer the beta guys, who are successful and a tad aloof but with marshmallow hearts.

For me, alpha heroes conjure up images of mega-wealthy guys with a touch of arrogance, shades of superiority and who like to be in control. Yes, they have their good points and can be downright sexy, and many authors write alphas to die for but for me I just can't write them with ease.

Which brings me to Sam, my sheikh and the alpha hero who has crept up on me. I've written 2000 words the last 2 nights (that's going to be my daily target for this book, no overdoing it) and Sam is very much an alpha hero. He's a sheikh and demands to be written that way. A small part of me says 'can I do this?' while his imposing presence stamps itself all over the story.
Only time will tell how the story progresses but for now, alpha Sam is wowing both Bria the heroine and me!

What do you think of alpha heroes?

9/11

This date will be etched in our memory banks forever.
A terribly sad day where so many innocent lives were lost and the world realised the extent of what terrorism truly means.

For me, I was due to fly out to LA a week after this event and the uncertainty of whether or not the flights would reopen in time, what would happen at LAX and would flying ever be the same again was a constant niggle. As it turned out, I was on one of the first flights allowed out of Australia to the US and apart from lengthy delays at Melbourne Airport where every hangbag and handluggage was emptied and searched thoroughly, my trip went off without a hitch.

I think what struck me the most was the way people were getting on with their lives, not letting fear take a hold and I admired the way airport security at Melbourne, LAX and Vancouver went about their tough jobs with professionalism.

For those who lost loved ones on this day, my heartfelt sympathies to you all.

Light on the horizon...

Yesterday was an absolute s**t of a day!
Everything that could've gone wrong did, the worst being my darling toddler pitching headfirst into a picture we hadn't hung yet and smashing the glass.
I didn't care one iota about the picture but my heart stopped when I turned around and saw him sitting surrounded by major shards of glass, that awful shocked kiddie look on his face.
Amazingly, he didn't have a scratch on him, while the top of my office chair(where he'd been climbing) got shredded. Unbelievable.

Suddenly, I realised something. No matter how crummy things are, the most important things in life have a way of giving you a real wake-up call.
I've also realised something else. Maybe I'm so grumpy because I'm not writing? This has been my longest stint ever at not writing a thing and it's not helping.
Time to change all that.
Watch for a new worm thingy coming to a sidebar near you!!

Excitement of 'the call'!

Whenever I hear an author has sold a book, I get a little familiar tingle down my spine as I recall the exact day and time I got 'the call' from Harlequin saying they loved my book and wanted to buy it.
I'll never, ever forget the sheer thrill, the mind-blowing excitement and the repetitious 'great', 'great', and 'great' I responded to everything my editor said that fateful night at 6.30pm on 12th May 2003. It really was a turning point in my life.

Last night, I logged onto the Net and heard the fantastic news that Paula Roe had sold to Silhouette Desire. Not only does Paula write, she's a fabulously talented website designer and did mine a few months ago. Hearing her call story gave me goosebumps and it's so great another Aussie has joined the Harlequin team.

As for me writing? Nada. Still waiting to hear from my ed on the last 2 books, so rather than start another last night I edited a single title I'd completed a while back. I will, will, WILL start the sheikh book next week.
A new week, a new start. Right?