A Debut Novel!

My good friend and fellow Harlequin Mills and Boon Author, Annie West sees her debut novel hit the Australian shelves today! Congratulations, Annie! It is SUCH an exciting time and there is nothing more wonderful than seeing%our book on the shelf in a shop. It makes it all seem real.

I am halfway through A MISTRESS FOR THE TAKING and based on the first half I am telling you all it is a MUST READ story. Mark Annie West down in your file of ‘authors to chase’. Cata Romance agrees with me and I quote…

Talented Annie West sweeps us away to the world of high finance, obsession and romance. Her characters are strong with passionate zeal for life and devotion to family and each other. A MISTRESS FOR THE TAKING captured and ensnared me in its fresh entertaining storyline, leaving me thoroughly entertained and satisfied. I whole heartedly recommend Ms West’s debut novel, A MISTRESS FOR THE TAKING.

Annie and I met in August 2005 at the%2in August 2005 at the RWA Australia conference. Both of us were feeling down and dejected over our writing. We were getting positive rejections but we couldn’t seem to nail a sale. We bonded over similar experiences. A month later I sold and Annie sold her first novel three months after me in December of 2005. We have been ‘newbies’ together. It is really special to have someone to squeal with, to be confused with, as we both negoiate the long list of ‘firsts’ that come in the 12 months after the sale. And come mid December we will be shelf buddies for a couple of weeks when Her Miracle Baby hits the shelf. Here is a snap of our two books snuggled up together. I get a buzz out of seeing that.

So here’s to Annie! Cheers and Congratulations!

(This post is exempt from the exclamation point police as all debut book posts should be!!!!!!!:-)))))))

Horse Riding in the High Country

Today, I’m blogging over at Nalini Singh’s Blog Party. It’s the first time I have been involved in a blog party. Thanks, Nalini! Thanks also for putting up with all my dumb questions!!
The theme is Christmas Come Early. My “Christmas Come Early” this year was a horse ride in the high country which I have blogged about at Nalini’s place. So I thought I would post the photos here so you can see what I was describing.

Ever seen the Man From Snowy River when Jim and Jessica love gallop across the top of a ridge surrounded by rippling, blue mountains? Well, I did that. Not actually gallop but I trotted

So why did I want to do a horse ride in the high country? Because this time last year I was researching for my December release,

HER MIRACLE BABY. Set in the high country, Will and Meg take a horse ride in winter in the snow. By the time I had talked to the horsemen of the high country and written Will and Meg’s ride, I desperately wanted to go myself!

I think these photos show you why! We didn’t have snow BUT there was some snow on the highpeaks. It was a sensational day shared with my boys big and small and with a good friend and her daughter. I’d recommend it! Oh, and the saddles were FANTASTIC so I could walk the next day:-)

We Won!

I’m so excited!

Today my tennis team won our section’s grand final! We’re women of a certain age who play tennis to keep fit and we enjoy the camaraderie that comes with that weekly match. We never play summer competition because it’s too hot and by the end of November we’ve always had enough of the season.

So, as you can guess, we really don’t have the killer instinct.

We’ve got to the grand final before and completely folded. Today, we didn’t have high hopes. In fact, all we were doing was being grateful that by getting this far we didn’t have to umpire

It was a struggle. At 2/3 time we were leading by one game so it was anyone’s match really. We ended up winning by 8 games. So to the wonderful women in my team, congratulations! Thanks for the laughs and the fun times, the conversation and the tennis.

I’m looking forward to winter comp 2007.

Loving the Review

Reviews are funny things. They either make you feel totally sensational or completely miserable.

I’m excited to say to say that my review of HER MIRACLE BABY on the Pink Heart Society’s new “review” blog is a five star review.

And I quote

“Her Miracle Baby is a wonderful Medical Romance which will tug at your heartstrings and keep you turning the pages late into the night. Wonderfully romantic, highly moving and impossible to put down, Fiona Lowe has written another fantastic novel which will fly straight onto your keeper shelf! “
Head over to PHS to read more!

If this review inspires you then this book is available on shelf in the UK, on line in the UK, on line in Australia and come December first it will be available in the US!!

And if you’ve already read it I’d love to know what you thought.

The Panic

I’ve been nose down with writing and my other life….will tell you about that next when I join in a blog party:-) …so I can’t believe a week has gone by and I haven’t posted.

The Vietnam book is coming along and I was happy with the way the story was progressing. Bec is a mixture of vulnerability and ‘against the odds’ determination and Tom is…well, Tom is just gorgeous. I want to meet him!

But, suddenly as I head toward the final run down to the black moment I am panicking. I think the book is short! This is NOT a good place to realise this. Everything is set up for the black moment…all the pins are lined up to be knocked down flat. Total emotional chaos for Bec and Tom.

My writing has stalled as the fear that I’ve done something majorly wrong has gripped my brain. A million questions zoom around in my head. I re read the synopsis over and over. I was seen muttering in the aisle of the supermarket talking it all through as I had to deal with feeding the troops. Mentally paralyzed. It’s a horrible feeling.

So today is a new day and I am moving forward. I am going to write what I can see and feel about this story and then sit back. If it is short then I will deal with it then. But no one will be happy with a book that stops at chapter eight so I’m sucking down the fear and I’m going to type.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

Drought

Here in southern Victoria we are facing what the media is calling a ‘1000 year drought.’ Not sure if this is just hype but I do know that everywhere I go, the paddocks and nature strips look like they have endured a scorching summer and its still spring!! After the driest October on record we are on stage 3 water restrictions with stage four about to start and it’s not even summer!!

We’ve catching water in the shower, we’re bucketing out the bath to try and keep the garden alive. Even our drought resistant grass is struggling. As I look at my garden the roses are defying the lack of water and blooming beautifully while everything around them wilts. Can I save the other plants? I’m not sure but my heart goes out to the farmers and the people whose jobs involve water…gardeners, pool installers, car wash companies…. the list goes on.

Water is a precious resource. Please value it.

Five Things you might not Know about Me

My mate, Medical Romance Author, Kate Hardy has tagged me…”five things you might not know about me.” The instructions go something like this…..PLEASE LEAVE THE FOLLOWING IN ALL ‘PEOPLE COLLECTION’ POSTS: Remember that it isn’t always the sensational stuff that writers are looking for, it can just as easily be something that you take for granted like having raised twins or knowing how to grow beetroot. Mind you, if you know how to fly a helicopter or have worked as a film extra, do feel free to let the rest of us know about it!

My mind ALWAYS goes blank when I am asked stuff like this but here goes.

1. I adore theatre and used to be heavily involved in an amateur theatre company. My fave part was playing Gwendoline in The Importance of Being Ernest. What’s not to like? I got to swan around in gorgeous dresses and eat cucumber sandwiches. My favourite line was ‘ I always have my diary with me. One must have something interesting to read on the train. ‘

2. When I was a sleep deprived student nurse I managed to lock my keys in the car of my Volkswagen Beetle at 2am. Only problem was, the engine was actually running! Did it cut out? No. It took 2o minutes for my DH to come home from his party with a spare key! All the lights in the neighbour hood came on.

3 I make a wicked Christmas cake. One year I had soaked the fruit for the three days in the booze that the recipe required. Then I broke my arm. My mum finally made the cake after the fruit had soaked in whiskey, rum, brandy, vanilla and lemon essence for a month. Best cake ever! Now I soak it for four weeks every year.

4 I had seven years of infertility before I had the boys. A wilderness experience like that changes you.

5 I once stood by the entry turnstile in a supermarket which had a blocked fire exit. I had asked the manager to clear it before and he had refused so I said to every person who walked in over a half hour period , ‘do you realize you are shopping in a potential fire hazard?’ Within the hour, my voice had been joined by ten others. The manager moved the plant display. The fire exit stayed clear after that.

Who to tag? Bronwyn Jameson and Jenna Bayley-Burke
And anyone who calls by with a blog then join in!! Oh and let us know too

The Race that Stops a Nation

Tomorrow is the Melbourne Cup! Now, I don’t live in Melbourne but this horse race is known across the state, across the country and in racing circles around the world. The Melbourne Spring racing carnival is a week of spectacle. Stunning horses, elegant fashions, punters risking it all and then some, and the rich and famous mixing it with the general public amongst the magnificent roses of Flemington.

All across the country there will be a ’sweeps’. People put $2 in the pot and their name is matched up with a horse. I got Ice Chariot and at 200/1 I could be in with a chance!…of getting my $2 back for running last.

And people will lunch. There will be BBQs, lunches at restaurants, BYO chicken and champagne in the park…I’m having lunch with my tennis team…some last minute fun before we the finals.

It’s all great fun and at at 3.20ish tomorrow, everyone will stop what they’re doing, classes will pause at school and every one will tune into their radio, or peer at a TV, and watch the race.