Less than a week to go - and a lovely review from Novelicious

Well I haven't go as far as packing my bag yet, but I have my party dress ready and my blue and gold kitten heels out.... Next Wednesday is Catch Me A Catch's spotlight at the RNA Summer Party, and I'm getting excited!

To cap it all, I have a lovely review over at Novelicious today. Thanks, Debs!

The review says, among other things:

This book starts with Jack battling through a storm in his boat and continues to keep the attention right though to the satisfying ending.

Do pop over and check it out!

Pink Fizzy time...

I've just sold another book to Wild Rose, this time a story set on a Tuscan island, Isola dei Fiori.
Marrying Cade has been mentioned here before, (with pics of hero and heroine inspiration), and I'm delighted that it's found a home. It looks as though I'm in for a busy time - I'm just about to start edits on the book I sold a different editor in WR a month ago, and now here's a new one that I'll be working on with my first editor, Cindy Davis.
Woo-hoo!

A new blog award!

I received a new blog award, from a brand, squeaky new blog friend a couple of posts back.
The award was the Versatile Blogger award, here are the rules:

The rules for this award are:


Thank and link to the person who nominated me.
Share seven random facts about myself.
Pass the award along to 10 new-found blogging buddies.
Contact those buddies to congratulate them.

Okay, so here goes! First up, thank you Diane! Here's a link to Diane's blog.

7 random facts about myself? Gosh it'll be difficult to think of ones I haven't revealed already...
1. I used to have 2 pairs of glasses, one to wear, and one to go around neck for reading. But I kept getting the neck ones squashed when getting hugged, so upgraded to varifocals. They're fab!
2. I absolutely hate the word 'moist'. (Please don't abuse this knowledge!)
3. I'm 5'2" and many of my heroines are similarly 'vertically challenged.'
4. I love pink champagne.
5. I'm suffering from a strange crush on McSteamy at the moment. Yes, I know it's wrong.
6. I find sleeping very useful for moving the plot of my story along, and always want to write when I wake up.
7. Last year I did a chilling voice-over in a radio play. Mwaaahaaa!

Next, 10 new found, blogging buddies.... hmm .... I've decided to link to resources rather than bloggers, so I haven't contact them. And I couldn't find ten, so I'm doing 5. Sorry!
1. WriteExpress - for help with rhyming, its addictive!
2. Cliche Finder - because you need to find them, to get rid of them!
3. ConfusingWords - because confusing trips me up sometimes.
4. National Punctuation Day - Why not?
5. BrainyQuote - Because it tells you stuff like: A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.(Thomas Carlyle).

So, because I haven't passed the Versatile Blogger on, if you're new to my blog, and follow, consider yourself 'gifted' and do pass it on! Or, heck, if you're a regular follower, and you want to be versatile, help yourself!

Out and about...

I'm off visiting a lovely site today, Bookingly Yours.  

Thanks for having me, Jenai!

Here's a picture of my bright pink peony, which has just come out.

In other important news, May is Birthday Month for the Minxes Blog! Yes, we've been bloggin for a whole year, doesn't time fly? To celebrate, we're offering a month full of prizes and fun over on the Minxes of Romance Blog. This week's Monday Prize is a minxy meerkat (its unbearably cute, pop in to see the pic!)

On Wednesdays we'll be offering book giveaways too, so do pop in, and hopefully bag yourself something nice!

They did it - and a new review...

Well, I've watched the whole thing, and now I'm 'romanced out'. The royal wedding was fab, full of colour and emotion, and Kate's dress was dreamy. Congrats to the happy couple!

And, in other news, I've just had a lovely A rated review from Elsie Loves Fiction, click here to see the whole review on Elsie's site...

She said, among other things...

Oh la-la. What a steamy, dreamy, thrill ride. A romance, rated on the 'softer' side (meaning the details of the encounters between the main characters are juicy but not overly detailed ie erotica. Yes, I need to clarify--not everyone reads according to how many roses or hot peppers or whatever ratings the publisher uses). Well, it sure got my juices flowing. It. Was. Hot.

Thanks for the review, Elsie! As always, the review is posted in full as well on my reviews page using the link at the top.

And a quick 'ego-surf' reveals another review I wasn't aware of, this time from A Cozy Reader's Corner Reviews, who gave Bound to Love 3.5 out of 5. I have posted the full review on my review page from the top tag, or you can click on the link here to go and read it.

Party, giveaways, freebies, virtual cake!

The Wild Rose Press is 5 years old today!

To celebrate, they're having a party with $500 worth of giveaways.

The party will be going on for 5 days, so do click on the banner to go to the yahoo group where you can chat to authors, win goodies, and read excerpts. I'll be popping in to the loop in the mornings (for those in NY timezone) and after lunch for UK and Europe timezoners...

Do you care?

When I’m watching a movie, or reading a book there’s one thing that totally turns me right off. It’s not outlandish plots, or even unlikely premises – after all, who thought that a film where the characters transfer their consciousness into large blue people to live in an alternate world (Avatar) or live in different timelines (The Lake House) would be big hits at the box office?

I can believe anything. If the writing is good enough. And, most crucially, if I care about the characters.

Avatar deals with the concepts of greed and spirituality, and the watcher really cares about what happens to the blue people, and the team of scientists who care about them. It is, essentially, Pocahontas, altered and updated for a 21st century audience. Of course, the fact that it is a James Cameron production ensures that from the moment the character’s enter their blue bodies, we are drawn in, and the strangeness of the world portrayed vanishes as the story takes over.
The Lake House is another film that makes the watcher care, as it follows two people separated by time, but united by one place, an atmospheric lake house. Like Avatar, there are special effects, but the star of the film is the connection through time between the characters.
So, when writing, I always ask myself – do I care? Do I care about the characters and their struggle, are they sympathetic? Because if I don’t, my readers won’t either. And no matter how gripping the plot, or steamy the sex scenes, if there isn’t a strong, true connection between my characters and their readers, it ain’t worth the paper it’s written on.
Have you a favourite film or book where you care hugely about the characters? Or how about one where you couldn’t care less?