Pitch the Book of your Heart!

It's that time of year again, when the hearts and flowers are out in force.
Yep, Valentine's Day is almost upon us and this year, I'm doing something different to celebrate.

I'm giving you the warm and fuzzies by running another pitch contest!

I have 5 fabulous editors from Entangled Publishing offering requests for full manuscripts, partials and critiques.

Last time I ran this contest a few months ago, one of the winners sold her manuscript and is now published!

So what are you waiting for?
Go polish those pitches now!

I'll be introducing you to each editor over the next 5 days so you can get a feel for their wish-lists.
The VALENTINE'S DAY PITCH THE BOOK OF YOUR HEART contest will start Feb 7th, run until Feb 10th, with the winners announced on Valentine's Day!

Here's what you'll need:

-a completed manuscript
-a one to three sentence pitch that wows
-title, genre, wordcount, email address

The last contest was only open to unpublished writers but I've had several emails from published writers wanting to participate, so this time the contest is open to both!

For more information about what Entangled Publishing acquires, go here.

Stay tuned to meet the editors and get your pitch ready for the 7th!

And please spread the word: on your blog, Facebook, Twitter.

Thanks!

Hero wars

The fabulous folk at Entangled Publishing have come up with an innovative way for readers to meet the heroes from their books.

Hero Wars!

Starting today, follow the #herowars hashtag on Twitter for some fun!

There'll be quotes and ribbing and a general feelgood free-for-all!

And check out the Entangled blog for hero stats.

If you'd like to join in the fun, please retweet, respond and post #TeamDrew everywhere!

Shari Jones, my heroine in BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD, envisions Drew Lansford as Hugh Grant (she has a real thing for the English actor!)

Personally, I see Drew as Daniel Craig: touch of arrogance, aristocratic, hot!

Let the battle begin and may the best man win!

SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY: Tag Team

It has been too long since I participated in the SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY fun!

Here's a snippet from my romantic suspense short TAG TEAM, available FREE everywhere!

Fox is a Victoria Police Special Ops leader, Lee is in the Australian Defence Force Tactical Assault Group (TAG) and specialises in biological warfare.
A major threat to Melbourne had just come through and two people with a past are forced to work together.

Was there anything the ball-breaking wonder woman couldn’t do?



A brief pounding on the door had his eyes snapping open in time to see her stride into his office, her expression a study in polite professionalism, her eyes eerily blank, as if she didn’t know him.


Intimately.


“You cut your hair,” he said, throwing his pen on the stack of monotonous paperwork in front of him, pissed at her intrusion yet glad for the distraction.


Coralee Keaton might be a pain in the ass to work with but her taut body, long legs and impressive D cup more than compensated for the grief.


“You cut your surveillance on the Ebola job.”

For more fab book snippets, check out SIX SUNDAY.

READER REVIEW: Busted in Bollywood

I'm loving the wonderful reviews coming in for BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD.
I've been pretty lax during school holidays not being online much, so haven't really posted many. Am hoping to remedy that!

Here's the latest:

Busted in Bollywood is a wonderfully magical story with charming characters, rich imagery, and a romance that will leave you breathless!



•I loved the friendship between Shari and her best friend Amrita. Their witty banter was hilarious to read about and the way they supported and cared for each other was heart-warming!


•Another character that was awesome is Amirta's auntie Anjali. Her obsession with food meant mouth watering descriptions of delicious Indian cuisines (warning: do not read on an empty stomach!) and her love for popular TV shows made her a fun and quirky character.


•As with all romantic comedies there is a swoon worthy guy that even now after finishing the book I cannot stop thinking about! The chemistry between Shari and Drew was insane, their constant banter and flirting had me smiling throughout!


•The colourful descriptions of India had me both fascinated and intrigued. I felt as if I was there with Shari on her journey of self-discovery. The plot was face-paced and unique, and as Shari begins to learn more about her Indian roots we’re swept into a vivid atmosphere with Indian traditions, mad traffic, and the smell of diesel fuel!


Busted in Bollywood is a fabulous read from USA best selling author Nicola Marsh!

Huge thanks to THE PAGE TURNER for taking the time to read and review.

Tag Team #1 on Amazon bestsellers list!

TAG TEAM has just hit #1 on Amazon's short stories bestsellers list, woo hoo!

It's currently #30 on the contemporary romance bestsellers so go download and help propel it into the Top 10 please.

Best of all, it's FREE!

Digital Book World Conference

The Digital Book World conference is happening right now in NYC and the information coming from it is fantastic!

If you're on Twitter, follow #dbw and #dbw12

And BOB MAYER is providing great wrap-ups and excellent insights as always on his blog.

Legless

Secondary characters can be scene stealers.
Especially cute, furry ones.

In WHO WANTS TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE? I have legless cute secondary characters.

Come check out who they are (+ excerpt.)

This book is available in North America now, UK and Australia/NZ Feb.

Bargain bundle

An absolute bargain bundle, featuring 12 full length novels from Harlequin authors such as Michelle Reid, Kate Walker, Sarah Morgan, Carol Marinelli, Kate Hardy, Olivia Gates, Debra Webb, Carla Cassidy, Dana Marton, Kim Lawrence, Ally Blake, and me! (my Hot Nights with a Playboy, a favourite book that didn't get USA release.)

That's 12 novels for just over 5 pounds!

Check out this amazing value e-bundle here 

WEEKEND BOOK CLUB: Liz Fielding's Little Book of Romance Writing

Welcome Liz Fielding to give us a brief insight into her brand new writing reference book, LIZ FIELDING'S LITTLE BOOK OF WRITING ROMANCE.

Begin your story at a moment of crisis, a point in time when your character’s life is about to change for ever.



— Mollie Blake’s Writing Workshop Notes from Secret Wedding by Liz Fielding

Mollie Blake is a woman who knows what’s she’s talking about. Well, obviously, I created her back in 2000 for my novella, The Secret Wedding.

How I wish I’d had someone like her around when I was starting out on my writing career. Someone to take me by the hand and ease me through the process of getting the story in my head onto paper. Explain about conflict, the importance of emotion, creating characters that the reader will care about. Alas, twenty years ago there were few “how-to” books to turn to in the UK, the internet had not been invented and I’d never heard the words “critique partner”. I didn’t actually know anyone else who was writing. I was on my own.

I learned by doing, by writing, being rejected, reading the writers I wanted to emulate. It was a long, slow and very steep learning curve but the one thing you need if you want to be a writer is single-minded determination. My fourth submission, An Image of You, was published in 1992 and, since then, I’ve had a wonderful career with more than sixty books in print.

My Little Book of Writing Romance is a straightforward writing romance primer. It’s the book I wish I’d had when I was fumbling through my first attempts at writing fiction and I launched into the world this week as a hand in the dark to new writers struggling with the stuff it took me years to learn. And when you make it into print, email me to share the joy.


Liz Fielding’s Little Book of Writing Romance is available from


PS – Molly Blake’s story, The Secret Wedding, is available as a free online read or you can download it for .99c from Amazon.

This is the kind of book I wish had been around when I first started writing ten years ago and was totally clueless!

As I turned the pages I found myself nodding often, as Liz provides excellent tips and examples for:
-dialogue
-deep emotion
-POV
-conflict
-grabbing the reader on the first page
-creating a four-dimensional world
-a satisfying ending.

This is a great writing resource, highly recommend.

Buy at Amazon US & Amazon UK

I have Liz's latest FLIRTING WITH ITALIAN lined up to read next on my TBR pile.
What are you reading this week?

Free book!

Everyone likes a freebie so I'm giving away a free book!

My Special Ops short story TAG TEAM is now free on Amazon.

Go grab it and tell your friends!

It's a story I'd love to develop into a series one day, the characters spoke to me that much. And the heat...phew!

Let me know what you think.

AWW Challenge Review: Shift by Em Bailey

This is my first review as part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012.

It has been a long time since I sat down and read a book cover to cover in one sitting, but that's exactly what I did with Shift.
Once I started I couldn't put it down.

Didn't see the major twist coming AT ALL and I always see the twist!


Riveting and creepy and goosebump-inducing, this stayed with me long after I went to bed in the wee small hours.


Quick summary: Olive is a teenager with mental health issues following the break up of her parents' marriage. She's instantly appealing and likable.


Then there's Miranda...the new girl at school who is beyond scary.


This psychological thriller warns of the dangers of letting anyone, even your friends, get too close. Spine-chilling!


Yeah, Olive does some stupid stuff sometimes by deliberately walking into dangerous situations but it didn't matter because I was totally hooked by the plot and couldn't turn pages fast enough to discover more.


Highly recommend.

WRITING TIPS: Question to ask before 'what if?'

Another great blog post today from Larry Brooks over at STORYFIX.

'The Question you should ask before 'what if?'

Thought-provoking.

WEEKEND BOOK CLUB: Walk on the Wild Side

I'm involved in several reading challenges this year (not that I need to be challenged to read!) and I've started 2012 off with a bang, buying Natalie Anderson's WALK ON THE WILD SIDE on my kindle (love the instant gratificuation!)

Here's the blurb:

A fling with sinfully hot champion snowboarder Jack Greene isn't Kelsi Reid's normal behavior…but one glimpse of his wicked eyes has Kelsi throwing caution to the deep blue sea (along with her clothes!). After all, who better to go crazy with than a man who deserves a gold medal for his prowess on the slopes and in the bedroom…?



Then Kelsi crashes down with a terrifying bump—of the baby kind. They couldn't be worse matched—Jack is Mr. Right-Now, while Kelsi craves stability. But it's hard to keep your feet on the ground once you've met the man who turns your world upside down...
 
Dating and Other Dangers set the bar for me with Natalie Anderson's novels (I gave it an unabashed 5 stars, it was fabulous!) so I can't help but compare all her novels to that one.


I loved Walk on the Wild Side (4 1/2 stars).

Sizzling sex scenes, great tension and realistic characters made this a page turner.
Loved the heroine's quirkiness and the hero's take charge attitude with an underlying soft core.
Jack is hot!

Thoroughly enjoyed.
 
What are you reading this weekend?

A good cause

Shirley Jump, a fellow Harlequin Romance author, is raising funds for her brother, who has Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy (IDC).

His treatment is extremely expensive so please check out the Harlequin Romance authors website to see how you can help.

Thanks.

Entangled Publishing's BIG news!

I've been sitting on this news for months, so hard to keep lips zipped, but I can finally yell from the rooftops...

ENTANGLED PUBLISHING has signed with the biggest distributor in the USA, which means BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD will get a mass market print run and be in bookstores this summer, woo hoo!

Read the full article in Publishers Weekly.

Ask an Author, Win a Book on Goodreads

I'm a member of the Romance Readers Reading Challenge group on Goodreads and for the next few days (Jan 10th-12th) I'm participating in their ASK AN AUTHOR, WIN A BOOK.

So please drop by here and ask me anything!

One person who asks a question will win a print or e-book (winner's choice) of BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD.

Hooks, loglines and pitches

I love picking up writing gems and ANNE R. ALLEN'S blog is a virtual goldmine.

Check out her fabulous post today on Hooks, Loglines and Pitches, great stuff for writers!

Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012

I just discovered the Australian Women Writers 2012 National Year of Reading Challenge.


Keen on romance, fantasy, crime, YA, literary, mainstream women’s fiction? Contemporary or historical? Memoir, other nonfiction or poetry?

Whatever your preference, whether you’re a fan of one genre or a devoted eclectic, the 2012 Australian Women Writers Book Reading & Reviewing Challenge invites you to celebrate a year encountering the best of Australian women’s writing.

Objective: This challenge hopes to help counteract the gender bias in reviewing and social media newsfeeds that has continued throughout 2011 by actively promoting the reading and reviewing of a wide range of contemporary Australian women’s writing.

Readers should approach this challenge with a spirit of willingness. There are no failures, just personal goals. Reviews can be long or short, favourable or “this book is not for me”. Hopefully, along the way, we’ll all discover some future classics and perhaps a few surprises among genres we’re not familiar with. The main aim is to have fun.

Challenge period: 1 January 2012 - 31 December 2012

Goal: Read and review books written by Australian women writers – hard copies, ebooks and audiobooks, new, borrowed or stumbled upon by book-crossing.

Genre challenges:


Purist: one genre only
Dabbler: more than one genre
Devoted eclectic: as many genres as you can find

Challenge levels: Some readers have complained that the original challenge levels were too easy, so "casual" and "dedicated" levels have been added here.

Casual:
Stella (read 3 and review at least 2 books)
Miles (read 6 and review at least 3)*
Franklin-fantastic (read 10 and review at least 4 books)*

* The higher levels should include at least one substantial length review

I'm aiming to be a Franklin-fantastic Dabbler!
For more information and to sign up, visit here

WEEKEND BOOK CLUB: Anticipated reads for 2012

Every year books are released that I can't wait to get my hands on.

Here are 2 I'm dying to read!

I read Clockwork Angel this time last year and loved it! Next time I'm at the shops, I'm grabbing Clockwork Prince off the shelves.

I have Barbara O'Neal's books firmly on my keeper shelf so am eagerly anticipating the arrival of April when The Garden of Happy Endings is released.

She's an author I automatically pre-order, her books are THAT good!

Which books are you looking forward to reading in 2012?

Book of the Month in OZ

INTERVIEW WITH THE DAREDEVIL is Book of the Month at Mills & Boon Australia for January.

On shelves now!

It's a 2-in1 Harlequin Sexy with the fabulous Aimee Carson, double treat!

Tote Bags'n'Blogs

Later on today I'll be chatting Bollywood at TOTE BAGS'N'BLOGS.

And if you missed out on winning a copy of BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD during my blog tour, here's your chance to win again!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
May 2012 bring us all good health, good fortune and good books!

I don't make resolutions, easier to go with the flow rather than fall short.

Do you?