Warragurra’s Reluctant Groom

Many authors adore starting a new book. Words fly from their fingers in excitement as a story pours forth. Is that how I start a new book? Oh, how I wish!

No, new stories for me start slowly as I try to get to know my characters. Right now, Emily and Linton are revealing themselves at a snail’s pace but I am pleased to say chapter one is written. Whew! This book will be a tough write not only because all books are tough but added into the mix between now and the deadline date is three weeks school holidays which includes a trip to Darwin ), my and the boy’s birthdays AND RWA Aust conference. So it must be a chapter a week and at the start of a book, that is tough for me.

I have slowly come around to the idea of collages and here are images to inspire me to write Warragurra’s Reluctant Groom.

A Wedding in Warragurra

 

My editor rang last night with a title and release date for my seventh book:-) As the story features a hero who is a single father, I felt certain the title would have Bachelor Dad in there somewhere. But how wrong can a girl be?

My working title for this book was ‘Wedding in Warragurra.’ and Guess what?? They tweaked it slightly and it is ‘A Wedding in Warragurra.’ I am pretty happy about that!

It will be out in the UK March 2008 and then released in Australia the following month. Now I have to just start the next book which is also set in Warragurra:-)

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Mother’s Day

I’ve had 12 Mother’s Days and I learned early on that you need to stage manage the day from a distance to avoid disappointment:-))  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but I have to say this one was the best ever!!

The lads got it all together and the divine weather assisted them. I had a sleep in, I had croissants and my fave hazelnut coffee…brekky in bed reading Ally Blake’s very clever Getting Down to Business. Track it down, it is SO worth a read!

Then we headed to a small town on the bay where we had a sauasage sizzle. The sky was blue, the autumn sunshine streamed down on us and the water was azure and so very still. No wind at all, a perfect afternoon for a bike ride. So that’s what we did. We cycled 21km around the glorious bay, taking in views of Melbourne and the You Yangs. The boys had an ice cream break and then we peddled home. To keep the 8 year old on track as his legs grew weary he and I revisited some of our holidays including trying to remember every ride we went on in Disneyland:-)

I was also given some presents including a poem from each son and the DVD, The Holiday. They know their mother well:-)) All in all it was a ‘top day.’I hope your day was what you hoped for.

Australian Romantic Book of the Year (R*BY)

I am so very excited to announce that Her Miracle Baby…my snow book, is a finalist in the short book section of the Australian Romantic Book of the Year award! (R*BY)

It was officially announced yesterday but three weeks ago all the finalists were asked for photos and to sit on the news until yesterday. It almost killed me!

There are six books nominated in the short book category and four of them happen to be Medicals which is super exciting!

The full list is SHORT ROMANCE
Marion Lennox The Doctor’s Proposal

Marion Lennox Rescue at Cradle Lake

Yvonne Lindsay The Boss’s Christmas Seduction

Fiona Lowe Her Miracle Baby

Carol Marinelli Needed: Full Time Father

Anne Oliver Behind Closed Doors

Long Romance

Karina Bliss Mr Imperfect

Fran Cusworth The Love Child

Anna Jacobs Bright Day Dawning

Anna Jacobs The Corrigan Legacy

Helen Kirkman A Fragile Trust

Margaret Way The Horseman

I have read a lot of these books and it is an honour to be recognised by readers and to be listed among them. Congratulations to all the finalists!

Out of the Cave

I’ve spent a lovely week out of the writing cave. It was supposed to be my week off writing but somehow a short story snuck in and just had to be written:-)I caught up with friends who probably thought I had moved interstate due to the lack of seeing me, I have almost tidied my desk, helped fellow Harlequin Author Carol Marinelli with some planning for the Pink Breakfast Breast cancer fund raiser that will be held in August, done my tax, booked a weekend away in May and supervised at the school’s cross country. AndI also had a massage but before you say ‘ooh lucky thing’, I think I hurt more now than I did before!

Hoping in another day I will be all loose and comfortable. Now I am off for a haircut

But work starts again on Monday….Linton and Emily’s story also set in Warragurra!