Next week's mystery guest

Okay, by taking one look at this stunning cover, it's no mystery as to who my guest is next week.

It's Margaret Mayo, a fabulously talented author who has written...wait for it...over 70 books for Mills and Boon over 30 years!!! How incredible is that?

I love hearing from readers, it's such a thrill, so imagine my smile when Margaret took the time to contact me a few weeks ago saying she'd read and enjoyed TWO-WEEK MISTRESS, my 2nd Modern Extra.

It's slightly scary writing a book and having it 'out there' for everyone to read, let alone fellow authors, hence the big smile :)

So to get the low-down on what it's like writing for Modern/Presents, what romance means, Margaret's favourite book and what she's currently working on, make sure to pop back early next week.

A fab book!

I adore reading.
And I read a lot. About 100 books a year, 80% of those mainstream fiction so I come across a lot of authors.
I love trying new authors so picked up an Adele Parks book a few years ago and have been well and truly hooked ever since.

Now, as soon as her latest hits the shelves I'm there, so picked up my copy of Young Wives' Tales from Borders a few weeks back and devoured it in 3 days this week.

Adele is one of those gifted authors that can bring her characters to life and make them leap off the page and into your life. You feel like you know her characters intimately and are super frustrated that you have to leave their lives when you finish the book.
This one is truly fabulous and her insights into motherhood are so spot on I guarantee they'll bring a tear to your eye.

This book is a sequel to Playing Away, though you don't need to read it to appreciate this one. Though to find out about Connie and John's affair before this book, go for it!

The collage version of 'plotter vs. pantser'

This is a great question posed by Rachael in the comments to my last post so let's chat about it:

I know others have blogged about this and written articles on the like, but how do you collage. Do you start with a general idea about characters and settings and go hunt for them or do you just pick up a mag and go hell for leather? Just wondering, as I'm hoping to finish my wip soon and I've got three ideas to choose from for the next one and I thought doing some collages may help me clarify, which idea I have the most to give to at the moment. Am I making sense??

You're making perfect sense, Rachael, and in fact, you really made me think about how I go through the whole process.

I'm a plotter, so before I start a book I usually have an idea and work from there. Once I have a vague vision of what type of people my hero and heroine will be like (eg. suave, rugged, conservative, sassy, whatever) I flip through my hero/heroine file or a magazine to find an image to go with my idea.

Similarly, I always know where my book will be set so search for pics to symbolise that place or to give an ambience.

That said, once I get the main pics for hero/heroine sorted, I let my imagination run wild and flick through a magazine, cutting out anything which might suit the story. This is a great way to get the creative juices flowing, as I usually incorporate these strange/quirky/unexpected pics into the story somehow and it leads me in all sorts of new directions.

In the collage above (for PICTURE PERFECT, my 4th Modern Extra) I had a very clear idea of setting so most of the pics show it. That said, I didn't use any 'quirky' pics in this one, and I found I didn't use the collage as much when writing.

With my desert prince collage, pics like the opal, glass tea set and feet washed have all been incorporated into the story as I found myself much more immersed in the collage and thus the story.

So hope this helps, Rachael. My advice to you would be try both methods (hunting for pics to suit the story VS. going hell for leather!) and see which works best for you.

And for more 'how-to' advice, check out my interview on collaging with Barbara Hannay here.

Have fun!!

So who's a yummy mummy?

Okay, so I'm a day behind.

Isn't that normal for frazzled mums?

I blogged about being a 'yummy mummy' over at the Pink Heart Society yesterday, a post I scrambled together this week one night after changing a nappy and before indulging in a bowl of delicious 'cookies'n'cream' icecream.

It really got me thinking...what makes a yummy mummy? (read my post to find out !)

Yesterday, I took my 2 boys out for lunch at a local cafe and as I sat there with the sounds of smooth jazz playing in the background, my 3 year old happily colouring and my new baby lying fast asleep in his pram, I was overcome by one of those intensely happy feelings which pop up at the oddest of moments.

Yes, I'm tired and run off my feet and never have a spare second to myself but having these two little boys makes me the luckiest woman in the world :)

A tale of two princes

So you've met Dante Andretti, the prince of Calida in my current release PRINCESS AUSTRALIA.

No, this isn't him. This is my other prince I'm currently revising, Prince Samman al Wali, desert prince and ruler of Adhara. More about him next week...(until then, try not to drool over yet another sexy pic of Rodrigo Santoro!)

My editor loves the setting in this one. Here's a tiny taste:

Bria’s breath caught at her first glimpse of the royal residence. Nothing could’ve prepared her for the splendour of white-washed domes and spires silhouetted against the golden desert sands stretching to the horizon where the sun, a fiery purple and magenta ball, dipped and slid slowly from view.

More Than Magic

I've just received news that INHERITED: BABY was placed 2nd for Best Traditional Romance 2007 in the 'More Than Magic' contest.

Place getters were:

1st Falling for Dallas by Carolynn Carey
2nd Inherited: Baby by Nicola Marsh
3rd Rescued by Mr. Right by Shirley Jump

I've had a lot of feedback about this book from readers and it's great to find the judges liked the book too!

To celebrate my three Harlequin Romance releases finalling in competitions, I'm giving away all three books in my June Newsletter contest.

This giveaway is exclusive to my newsletter subscribers so if you'd like a chance to win all 3 books (plus a few other goodies!) make sure you sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.

(The contest only runs for a fortnight so get your entry in now!!)

The trifecta!!!!!

Have woken this morning and stumbled to the computer bleary-eyed (can one baby really feed so much?) to discover some wonderful news.

I've finalled in the BOOKSELLERS' BEST AWARD 2007 in the Best Traditional category with WIFE AND MOTHER WANTED!

This is my 3rd contest final this year, with the 3 different releases I had in 2006. And considering I had so many doubts about those 'darker, more emotional' books last year, I couldn't be happier!

I finalled in this award last year too, and it went to the fabulous Lucy Gordon. This year, I'm up against Lucy again, along with Linda Goodnight and Holly Jacobs. It still comes as a huge shock to me to see my books up alongside big names. Is this real?

The Bookseller's Best is a particularly great award to final in, as the books are judges by the people who get our books onto shelves and who recommend our books to readers and I really am thrilled beyond belief to final.

Can't stop grinning :)

Meet the bad-boy prince

Meet Dante Andretti, the Prince of Calida in my current Harlequin Romance release PRINCESS AUSTRALIA.

The idea for this story sprung from one picture, that of a scruffy, unshaven Adrian Grenier (of Entourage fame). I hadn't heard of him nor watched the show but the minute I saw that picture I thought it screamed 'bad-boy'.

Now, bad boys are more suited to the Modern Extra romances I write but I really wanted to use this inspiration to write a Romance so what did I do? I thought of what would be the opposite of a bad-boy...and came up with an uptight prince bound by responsibilities!

Once the idea for my prince gelled, the rest of his profile followed.

Dante is a guy about to be crowned prince of his tiny country off the coast of Italy (my fictitious Calida) His bossy mother, the queen, is pushing for him to take a bride and solidify his position in the monarchy but Dante needs a break and travels to Melbourne, supposedly on business, but in reality wants to visit his sister Gina and 2 year old nephew Paolo.

Dante plans a week of blessed anonymity and to do this, he enlists the help of the concierge at Telford Towers, the hotel where he is staying. (More on the concierge and the Towers later this week!)

For me, Dante is ruffled, sexy and charismatic (and yes, definitely inspired by the pic above!) Romantic Times describes him as a 'dashing hero' and I have to agree :)

Doh!

I must be more sleep deprived than I realised.

As Mary kindly pointed out in the comments following my last post, she can't find PRINCESS AUSTRALIA on the shelves in the US yet. And she went to 2 bookstores!!

Of course, silly me forgot that following the merging of the Harlequin Romance and Silhouette Romance lines, the new Romance series only hit the shelves in the US mid-month! (Sorry Mary!)

So if you want to read about the concierge and the bad-boy prince, you'll have to wait till mid-June. Or you can always get it now at eharlequin or on Amazon.

I'll start posting tit-bits from this book over the next few weeks leading up to the release, just to whet your appetites... :)

Are you addicted to your library?

I visited my local library yesterday.
Bad move.
Before bub was born, I'd been raiding their shelves for the past 2 months, so I could stock up the books I'd bought on my 'to be read' pile for after baby arrived.
Well, that pile has diminished and as I was walking past the library yesterday, I ducked in and came out with 5 great books.

Why is this bad?
Last night, instead of writing or sleeping, I read. And read. And read.
I'm hopeless. Give me a good book and I can't put it down. Almost finished the first one, 4 to go. Then of course I have to return them, which involves going back into the library and past all those wonderfully crammed shelves again...oh, how I love books!!! And my own TBR pile is growing again too!

Speaking of which, my one and only Romance release for the year is coming up. PRINCESS AUSTRALIA hits the shelves in June so watch this space for all the 'behind the scenes' goss on this book.
Romantic Times gave it 4 stars: "...dashing hero...sparkling dialogue..."
And here's a snippet of the 4 star review it received at Cataromance:

"Princess Australia is a charming story of strength and conviction, with a hero and heroine that must trust each other before they can really appreciate their unique relationship. I loved Dante and Natasha, their stumbling around trying to trust each other without either knowing it and then having someone try to destroy their budding romance without a care in the world, it made me want to knock the offending party out. I enjoyed reading about this relationship, even when they were both pigheaded and the ending was a tender way to cement their romance. Ms. Marsh is a skilled author and leaves me staggered with her writing because Princess Australia is a feel good, happily ever after story that I want too."

Falling in love with Alphie all over again

This story is going to be one of those lovely books that flows from beginning to end. (Oops, let's hope I didn't just jinx myself!)

I managed 2 20 minute blocks with Alphie over Saturday and Sunday, resulting in 2000 words and the end of chapter one. In the comments from my previous post, Rach said she'd put an Alphasmart on her Christmas wish list and once again I recommend every writer out there do the same. I can't stress enough how fabulous it is to have something so portable you can turn on in a second and start writing straight away.
I know for a fact I'm too tired at the moment to spend more than a scant half hour at the PC checking emails and updating this blog, and there's no way I'd have the energy to sit here and write yet with Alphie on my lap I can belt out as few or as many words as I like in a short space of time. It's great!

So where are we in the story? Beth has strutted into the museum, her first day on the job, like she owns the place and given Aidan a good shake up in the process. She's nothing like he imagined a conservative curator to be (apart from the ugly glasses and hair in a bun, which he hates)...and he has decided to do a bit of checking up. Oops! I can see trouble on the horizon...

As for those sexy shoes, they definitely have a starring role in the story!!

When creative juices bubble away...

Here we go, proof that my mind hasn't turned to total baby mush at the moment :)

This is my latest collage for my new book, THE STAND-IN, a Modern Extra. It's a real 'opposites attract' story and the idea has been scooting around my brain since before bub was born. Since then, I've jotted down a bit about character conflict, what happens in the first 3 chapters and a few key scenes. And I'm itching to start writing!

I need to flesh out a bit more about Beth Walker and Aidan Voss (inspired by Tara Reid and Pierce Brosnan) before starting, though these two have distinct personalities in my head already and I can see they're in for a fun time!

For an author who isn't visual (ie. I don't often look at pictures to stimulate my imagination) I looked for specific pics for this collage to facilitate the whole writing process. I'm more of a dialogue junkie, where the characters' voices are clear in my head more than what they look like. Interesting, huh? For a different take, check out Trish Wylie's recent blog post about storyboarding and the like. Fascinating stuff, how we all work in different ways.

Once a writer, always a writer

Despite the sleep deprivation and the cogs of my mind spinning at a millions miles a minute with medical appointments, documentation to be done, time of last feed, etc... etc...I can't stop thinking about my next book!

It's impossible to turn off the ideas, which I guess is a good thing and I've taken to jotting down stuff before falling into bed at night. And last night, I even organised pics for my collage! It's wonderful to get the creative juices going, to realise that my brain hasn't entirely turned to mush (or as dear hubby says, I left my brain at the hospital in exchange for the baby!!)

Then proof edits arrive for EXECUTIVE MOTHER-TO-BE and I've read the whole book while feeding. At the time I wrote this book, I thought it was some of my best work and that hasn't changed on re-reading. I'm not a crier when I read books yet for the first time ever, one of the scenes brought a lump to my throat. Mind you, it was the aftermath of the birth scene and it's probably a little close to home at the moment but nevertheless, I love this book and I can't wait for people to read it.

George Eads was the inspiration behind the dark and brooding hero Nathan Boyd. Don't you love the expression on his face in this pic? It really does paint a thousand words.

So, with a plot for my next ModEx brewing and proof edits done, I still feel like a writer :) Even with my mummy hat firmly in place for a good while longer!

Another Sexy Sensation

Managed to scan my Sexy Sensation cover for TWO-WEEK MISTRESS (a July release in Australia/NZ) between feeds and nappy changes, so here it is!

This is the book featuring Tahnee Lewis, illustrator, and reclusive kids' author Bo Bradford.

So, what do you think? I love the Aussie covers for this new series.

Speaking of Sexy Sensation, my first has currently just hit the shelves!

BIG-SHOT BACHELOR, featuring my infamous 'naked man', is available now so check it out. Perhaps a bit of weekend reading? :)

Manga!

Here it is, the Manga copy of THE WEDDING CONTRACT.

Had a look through it last night and it's really great how key scenes in the book are played out in pictures.

This was the book featuring lawyer Steve Rockwell and Amber Lawrence, the feisty, alternative heroine who fancied body piercings, lived in a dolphin-mural caravan and ran a theme park on the Gold Coast.

The cool thing is, you can follow the book through the pictures, including scenes at the theme park, the boat ride on the canal, their wedding, the 'other' woman, his dying grandmother, the works! Love it!!

I got flowers!

I know for a fact my hubby doesn't read my blog. He's a great handyman but can't turn on a computer so after my 'he doesn't bring me flowers anymore' post, imagine my surprise when I got the most gorgeous bunch of flowers ever on Mother's Day morning, accompanied by a box of Lindt choccies, a massive block of Toblerone and a year's subscription to Madison magazine.
Me, spoiled?
But boy, do I deserve it :)
Had a lovely day with the men in my life and my own lovely mum, who is, quite simply, an amazing woman.

The flowers are really unusual and I'm dying to know what they are. Must take a pic and post here so someone can help me out. They're blood red, look like a sea anemone, with stalks like rhubarb. Does anyone know from that description? I've never seen them before and considering he bought them late on Sat night on the way home from the football (after his team lost!) he forgot what they were too.

In writing news, I received copies of my first Manga comic today. It's so exciting! My second book, THE WEDDING CONTRACT, in Japanese cartoon format. Wish I could read it, it looks so cool!!
And I have the cover for my July Sexy Sensation, which I must scan and show you. It's gorgeous! But for now, I hear that familiar baby cry...back when I can...

A special Mother's Day

Remember that old song "You don't bring me flowers?" crooned by Neil Diamond?

I made the mistake once of telling my hubby that I prefer he brought me books than flowers (even though I love flowers) so he took me at my word. The flowers stopped, I get the occasional book but not as often as the flowers!

So...it has been lovely to have gorgeous bunches of flowers around the house this week in celebration of bub's birth. The great team at Harlequin Australia sent me the beautiful white daisies and irises on the left, while my SIL brought the bouquet on the right.

Mind you, I think I like pressies even more :) Have had a ball opening all the lovely gifts too.

I'd like to thank everyone for their good wishes following Jude's birth. It has been wonderful hearing from all of you.

On that note, I'd like to wish all the mums out there a very special Mother's Day tomorrow. I know I'll be counting my blessings as I cuddle the little men in my life.

New arrival!

Announcing the arrival of my gorgeous little man, Jude! He arrived around 2 weeks early and took us all by surprise, though at a whopping 9 lb 1 0z, mum's rather glad he didn't have another few weeks to grow!!!

These pics, cute as they may be, are deceptive, as sleep isn't high on his list of priorities, especially at night!

So please excuse my absence here for a bit, while I pry my eyelids open with match sticks most days...

Will try to keep you all updated as often as I can :)

While I was in hospital, life went on for other people, especially my buddy Fiona Lowe who has finalled in the RBY (Romantic Book of the Year).

Congrats Fiona! I loved 'Her Miracle Baby', a truly gorgeous book.

Can you tell I've got babies on the brain at the moment?

A finalist again!!!

I've awoken to great news again today.

FOUND: HIS FAMILY has finalled in the 2007 Best Traditional Romance category of the Golden Quill award!!

I'm really thrilled as I was plagued by doubts when writing this book, considering it featured a child with leukemia and was a lot 'darker' than the type of book I usually wrote. Thankfully, readers seem to have taken to it (the book also won a Cataromance Reviewer's Choice Award) and discovering it has finalled in this comp is fabulous.

The Golden Quill is an authors contest for excellence in romance fiction and for a list of past winners, head on over to the website.

So, picture me jumping for joy. (Okay, make that waddling for joy considering I'm getting an awful lot of painful back contractions over the last day!)

Join in the fun

I can't believe it's the first of May already. Where does the time go?

As you all know, I'm steadily counting down the days till this baby pops out so if I vanish for a week, you know where I'll be!!!

May also sees the release of my first Sexy Sensation, BIG-SHOT BACHELOR in Australia and New Zealand mid-month, so please rush out and grab a copy. Writing for this series has been fabulous, a great opportunity to explore a more fun, flirty voice. I'd love to hear what you think!

I'm also taking part in the Romance Junkies Scavenger Hunt this month, so make sure you join in the fun.
There are loads of great books to win!!!