Accolades

The RITAs (awarded by the Romance Writers of America) are the authors' equivalent of the Oscars and the finalists were announced yesterday.

In the Best Traditional category we have talented and lovely Aussies like Barbara Hannay and Marion Lennox, alongside a newbie Fiona Harper, and Jackie Braun. Great to know the Romance series is alive and well. Good luck, ladies. Wish you could all win.

In writing news, I finished the final read-through of PICTURE PERFECT last night, so will send it off to my editor at the end of this week. Still waiting for revisions on my last Romance, so hoping to tackle those asap. Aiming to update my website this week too. Busy, busy, busy.

And for those interested in seeing how I revamped an old manuscript and turned it into my latest sale, PURCHASED FOR PLEASURE, visit the Pink Heart Society today where I've blogged about the process.

The final edit

Last night I started doing the final read-through of my next Modern Extra, PICTURE PERFECT, which is due next week.

Interestingly, I already thought I'd done the final edits but it's amazing how much you pick up after letting the manuscript sit for longer. Usually, I don't have that luxury with deadlines to meet and a host of other stuff to do but this one flew pretty quickly so has been sitting for a few weeks.

Mind you, nothing major but I tightened up words and phrases in the first 4 chapters, so I'll be interested to see what else I pick up for the rest of the manuscript.

This is the story where I didn't use my collage as much, though the more I read of this book the more I pick up on subtle nuances that were in the collage. Maybe I picked up a lot more from it than I thought?

Review and another sale!

TWO-WEEK MISTRESS has received 4 1/2 stars from Cataromance!

Here's a brief excerpt from the review:

Funny, witty and sensually enticing Two-Week Mistress by Nicola Marsh left me laughing at the antics of her characters while enjoying the sensuality of this novel. Ms Marsh’s characters are all diverse and this book is one such example. This is a book definitely well worth buying, not only for its’ refreshing new look at a budding romantic relationship but also for its’ entertaining qualities.

For the full review, head here.

In other news, I now have a release date for my next Harlequin Romance, Feb 08. This is my 13th novel sold and is Kristen's story (the 3rd Lewis sister. Carissa's story: WIFE AND MOTHER WANTED, Tahnee's story: TWO-WEEK MISTRESS)

More news about this book as it comes to hand!

And the winner is...

I've woken to some good news this morning.

FOUND: HIS FAMILY has won the Cataromance Reviewers' Choice Award 2006(July-Dec) for Best Mills and Boon Tender Romance.

This book was also nominated in the Best Silhouette Romance category, which was taken out by Sophie Weston.

Several of my buddies picked up awards too (yay!): Trish Wylie for Best Mod Ex, Ally Blake for Best MandB Romance and Fiona Lowe for Best Med Romance. Go girls!

I had great doubts when writing FOUND: HIS FAMILY. It was a highly emotional book for me, with Toby suffering leukemia and needing a bone marrow transplant, and I'd never done a book like this before. It's also a departure from my usual fun, flirty style so I wondered what readers would think.

Thankfully, so far I've had nothing but positive feedback and this award means a lot.

I've been nominated for a few Cataromance awards but this is my first win since I won Best Harlequin Romance with my first book, THE TYCOON'S DATING DEAL back in 2004, so I'm thrilled :)