I am still catching up with my reading, and noticed that in October, The Times Newspaper has a truly jaw dropping Photo Gallery of Mills and Boon Book Covers through the decades.

I usually consider myself blessed, but after ONE WHOLE YEAR of being a contracted author, I have to say that I still feel a total fangirl and utterly, utterly thrilled that I have actually MET IN PERSON and SPOKEN to some of these authors.

Oh my. Swoon.

In other news – and for blatant self promotion and publicity- any of my pals in North America who order real paper books from E-Harlequin can treat themselves to a Free Book tomorrow as part of the Freebie Friday offer.

This week it is a Romance Line Book from a ‘ sparkling New British Talent’ called Nina Harrington. [ blush]

Sorry gals in the UK - offer does not apply to E-Books.  But I am still delighted at this opportunity to promote my debut book to readers who would otherwise not pick up an unknown author. Hope they like it!

Must dash off now to write more. Happy writing.

 

Writer’s Girth.

Why did no one warn me?

How to do a Virtual Makeover?

I have been thinking about a new hair style recently.

So. Since I am now frantically working to my own deadline to finish this book, I leave you with this fun site where you upload your own photo and then lay on different hair styles/ make up and accessories.

It does take a few minutes to set your photo up – but then you are away. AND you can email it and scare your pals into thinking that you have turned blonde or brunette.

As for my current hair. Let’s just say that it a work in progress. Snarf.

  *Pic – A door to the Fantasy Land by Sakura Yuna

Some of you may have noticed that I enjoy music. A lot. YouTube is amazing. There are people who have gone to the trouble of loading video and music tracks onto the system so that the rest of the world can enjoy them for the price of broadband.

 When I am writing I need background instrumental sounds.

 Such as a recording of Glenn Gould playing Bach or the wonderful guitarist Andreas Oberg in a live jazz performance.

 Or mood music from movie soundtracks which can be combined into playlists for a particular book -or a particular length of time. 40 minute slots are perfect to allow eye and wrist breaks while typing.

 And then of course there are the wonderful combinations of stunning lyrics and clips from TV programs or movies.

 Richard Armitage features in one of my favourites but there are so many others like this which act as emotional triggers. LOL.

 Mood music. Have to have it. Don’t you?

 

If you are going out tonight to enjoy the fireworks display - I hope the weather is dry and you have brilliant fun.

In the meantime I came across this post on the excellent CataUniversity site on a great technique to identify and cut out all of those redundant words that are your favourites and sneak into paragraphs under the radar.

 Use the Find Function to pick out the little horrors, then – if you are using MicroSoft Word – you click the Highlight option so that you see where they beam out at you from the page like poppies in a corn field. Of course the word or expression could be perfect in that context, but….

I am going to save that for the editing stage. At the moment I still have a book to finish, set in lovely sunshine in an area I am lucky enough to have visited:

 

Vineyards and wild flamingoes – flamant rose – in the Carmague delta in the South of France.

So, Izzy whizzy, lets gets busy!

I have recently seen a documentary on the mountaineer,base jumper and SlackLiner Dean Potter who is a specialist in walking on lines strung across canyons and high level mountain peaks… without a pole and without a safety net.

Now I know that some authors might have a SLIGHT Problem with high level ‘ gaping void beneath their feet’ situations – not looking at any one in particular of course Debs – but the more I think about it, the more I think that there are parallels in what these guys – and some gals – do for the adrenaline rush.

For me, writing is sometimes like SlackLining between two mountain peaks where I am walking on a narrow ribbon of bouncing nylon in bare feet with nothing between me and certain death except:

* Craft and training

* Self-belief and self knowledge

* You know the fear, you feel the fear, and that fear is paralysing and terrifying and exhilarating - and you step onto that narrow line and you do it anyway.

Dean Potter is actually extremely shy and lives a reclusive life in the Yosemite mountains and he freely admits that when he is standing on the side of the rock and takes off the safety line, every cell in his body is telling him to get himself off this mountain and down to a safe place.

Here is how Dean describes his motivation:

“I just want them to understand that it’s absolutely not for adrenaline-junkie reasons that I do it. It brings me silence and peace, and I come closer to the pure me. What I call the ‘death consequence’ removes all the other forces, the lesser motivations, the ambitions and the competitive feelings. They fall away and then there’s just that primary motivation, which is staying alive. It’s so pure.”

“In The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran says something about perfection only being reached by stripping something to the point of nakedness,” …. “That’s the ultimate project—the naked climber doing the greatest climb.”

The naked climber doing the greatest climb.

Oh yes. I get that.

 

Diversion is required as reward for current writing binge before three plumbers invade my house for a few days and generally rip the place to bits in exchange for central heating, hot water and water softener etc etc.

So I treat myself by ogling at SHOES

My guilty secret.  Calorie free and you can even put them on your feet!

Especially on sites like this and this. Oh My.

Enjoy.

 

Many thanks to the lovely Phillipa Ashley for sending me to this excellent post from the ‘Deluded Nutter’ at the Strictly Writing Blogspot  on how to write the perfect Query Letter to a Literary Agent.

Classic. I now know where  I have been going wrong.

http://strictlywriting.blogspot.com/2009/10/dear-impressive-agent.html

Am on deadline now, so here is a little flash of Mr Butler on this cold wet autumn day in the south of England.

The new covers for Hired: Sassy Assistant are now on Amazon and I am stunned by how varied they are between the Mass Market Paperback and the 2 in 1 Duo I am sharing with the lovely Barbara McMahon – both are out in January.

Here is the Duo [ I don't blame the hero for being fascinated by the lady's cleavage, but.....]

and now the single title cover which seems to be the same in the US and UK-

 

 

I LOVE IT!

I thought I had been really lucky with the cover of my first book, but this is so fresh and appealing it hits the story idea and the witty banter right on the head without images of the two lovers.

I did receive author copies of the hardback Library edition this week  – and the covers are not on Amazon yet – and the couple on the cover are different again. Curious.

 And the best bit? The UK edition will be in the shops in January here, which means I can ogle copies on the shelves, then go in everyday and ogle more. Photographs will be taken of me grinning like a loon.

I do hope the other authors forgive me if some subtle shelf stacking realignment takes place LOL

Interesting article in the Telegraph on the reading habits of middle aged women:

“A poll of nearly 2,000 women aged between 45 and 60 found that romantic fiction was the most popular genre – chosen by 35 per cent of those surveyed.

Nearly two thirds said they liked raunchy scenes in novels, and more than half described sex in books as “titillating“.

And

“Dr Trisha Macnair, a spokeswoman for Astral, said: “This research shows that reading for pleasure is still an incredibly popular pastime for women.

“It’s great to see most people read at least a book a month, with some getting through two or three books a week. However, I am surprised to see just how many women liked sex scenes in books, with most telling us that there was a strong titillation factor.”

Surprised that women like sex scenes in Books? How very odd.

Anyone who looks at the Bestselling titles on e-Harlequin each week will see that the most popular titles tend to come from the more sensual and explicit lines such as Presents, Desire and Blaze.

I may not write books for these lines, but I often enjoy reading them and can well see the appeal.

Long may the titillation continue!