Japan travels continued...

Before I start sounding like a tourist guide , take a look at this (below). It's a rooftop wedding chapel, and we took this shot from our hotel window. There are angels with trumpets, pink flamingos and all manner of fancy lights. Don't you love it?

Japan is a true mixture of the old and the new... and this was no more apparent than when we went into Tokyo and saw the Imperial Palace.

But unlike Buckingham Palace, you can’t see all the buildings, because they're cut off by a moat and a high stone wall.

The best view of the palace is from the Nijubashi bridge. The palace was almost completely destroyed in 1945 and was rebuilt in the 1960s.

The palace gate (below) has quite a romantic name that I've forgotten, but I know someone famous was murdered there by samurai in 1860. (Isn't that helpful? No wonder I don't write historical fiction.)

Here you can see modern Tokyo, just beyond the Imperial parkland. Everywhere in Japan, trees are carefully groomed and manicured and encouraged into artistic shapes. It took a little getting used to, but after I was there a few days, I began to appreciate the Japanese mindset and these "neatened" trees began to feel fitting and right.

After we'd visited this district, we hopped on a subway for the Ginza district, which is very uptown shopping. Actually, when I stepped out of the subway, it was like arriving on Fifth Avenue in New York.

The Japanese women are incredibly inventive dressers. Because they're so tiny, they are great with layers -- lots of frills where you don't expect them, dresses over jeans, lots of fancy leg wear and gorgeous boots, all sorts of clever scarves.

Now, let me to tell you about the toilets!! They are the most fantastic toilets in the world, I swear. To start with, the seats are warmed and extra comfortable. If you're in a public place, they will most likely have a button at the side with musical notes. You should press this, because it produces a pseudo flushing sound which camouflages more natural but embarrassing bodily functions. And then, when you are done, you can press a button to wash your bottom. Amazingly, it can hit exactly the right spot every time. Or there's yet another button if you'd prefer a bidet function.

Of course, you can be unlucky and occasionally encounter an equally clean toilet that is set in the floor for squatting over. I was really worried that once I was down, I would never get up again, but if you look carefully, there's usually a "western" toilet close by. No photos of these. :)

More tomorrow...

I'm ba-a-a-ck!!!!

Had a fab time in Japan, but my mind is whizzing with all the things that have happened while I was away. Ally Blake has had her darling baby, Bridget Ava. (Don’t you love those names?) Sizzle, Seduce & Simmer has been launched with great excitement and aplomb in Dymocks in Melbourne. And the news filtered through that Anne Weale, who first started writing for M&B in 1955 and who was one of the most fascinating authors I have ever met, has died. Anne was such a strong and intelligent women, it's hard to believe and terribly sad that she's passed away.

My little journey seems quite insignificant by comparison with these important events, but I’ll record it here anyway, because I’d like to get it down before the memories fade.

We flew out from Cairns, which is always a spectacular way to leave Australia (in my unbiased FNQ opinion). The cays on the Great Barrier Reef looked like pieces of jewellery – olive green, fringed by iridescent aqua and set in the deeper blue of the sea. It was just after the full moon in October, which is when the coral spawns each year and I also could see strings and clouds of this white coral spawn in the deeper blue water.

Our flight took us over Port Moresby and we also saw Lae on the coast as well as some of the amazing peninsulas of PNG, long stretches of beach and pretty offshore islands. It would be perfect sailing country if it weren’t for pirates.

On the flight I read Susan Wiggs’s “Dockside,” Book Three in her Lakeshore Chronicles. I’m loving that series and now have to wait till next March for Book 4 which will be Sophie Bellamy’s story.

It was wonderful to see my son, Andrew, at the airport, looking spiffy in a new black velvet jacket. (The Japanese are v fashion conscious.)

And health conscious. One of the first things I noticed about Japan is how very clean it is. Considering its huge population in such a small space, I think this is quite remarkable. The trains, the airport, the stations and streets are all litter and dust free. On the first morning, I looked out my hotel window and the first thing I saw was a neat little tiled courtyard across the road, complete with a topiary garden and a little man in a uniform and cap sweeping the yard and the seats. Later, all the shopkeepers swept the footpaths in front of their shops.

On our first day, after a breakfast that was a mixture of Japanese and western for me ( gorgeous steamed dumplings, a slice of omelette, smoked fish and kale, then fruit and yoghurt), we set off with Andrew for Nikko. (this was a complicated journey involving 5 train changes. Thank heavens Andy is now fluent in Japanese!)

Nikko is a beautiful village to the north of Tokyo, set in the foothills of majestic mountains, some of which had snow on the top. When you get out of the train, you are virtually at the bottom of the village and there is a long street lined with all kinds of dark, interesting cafes and fascinating old shops selling weird dried fish and vegetables (pictured top left). This road winds its way up the hillside till you reach a classic, old red arched wooden bridge crossing the Daiku River.

This is the beginning of the truly scenic and important part of Nikko – the State forest with shrines and temples.

The hillsides here are covered in gorgeous trees – enormous, ancient pines – and liquid ambers, which should now, in the middle of autumn, be covered in red and gold. But thanks to global warming, autumn is late this year. Only a few threes had begun to turn, but these were enough to show us how spectacular these hillsides will look in another few weeks.

The really important feature here is the shrine of the Tokugawa Ieyasu , the warlord shogun who conquered Japan. He had never been to Nikko, but he’d heard so much about its beauty that he chose it as his burial place. A year after he died, he was made a god and now the shrines and temples surrounding his tomb are all v important. This isn't his shrine, but we photographed it because the tree was so pretty.

I was fascinated to see these pieces of paper tied to trees and to learn from Andrew that they are prayers people have left there. The Shinto priests gather them up and take them into the temple to include in their prayers.

I don't want to weigh you down with too many details. There were many more temples, shrines, sculptures and beautiful gardens at Nikko than I can show here.
Nikko is also the site of the carving of the famous three wise monkeys, which inspired the well known legend and saying -- Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

More tomorrow...

Sayonara

And that, plus Konnichiwa, is the sum total of my Japanese.

See you again in a couple of weeks. xxx

Sizzle, Seduce and Simmer...

You'll probably see this book cover popping up on a lot of Australian authors' blogs this week.
It's a fabulous new book that's being launched in Melbourne in Dymocks on November 1st. And it should be in shops everywhere next week. It's been compiled by the fabulous Marion Lennox and it started over a Melbourne Mob lunch. I think the idea was: "Let's have a book with short stories and recipes from all of us!"

Later, more of us, who are further afield than Melbourne (much further in my case) got in on the act and now there's a whopping 320 page book of short stories and recipes -- a real friendship collection. And a great Christmas present!!!!

Some of the stories have fab fun titles like Ally Blake's Tall, Dark and Fettuccine, Kelly Hunter's Sunday Morning Sushi or Bron Jameson's Breakfast at Timothy's. And the reicpes sound like so much fun. Coming into summer, I really want to make Fiona McArthur's cut glass jelly.

My story, Call Me Angel, is one I wrote some time ago and has a slightly paranormal touch -- just to be different!

Check out Sizzle, Seduce & Simmer next week. I'm sure you'll want it.

Mum's the word

It's ridiculous. I was walking through the markets in Townsville's Flinders Mall yesterday morning and I heard a young man call, "Mum!"
I knew that one of my sons was in Western Australia and the other was in Japan, but I turned around instinctively. Part of my brain was convinced, momentarily, that the call was for me. Funny how a mother's brain is wired, isn't it?
Actually, we're heading off to Japan next Sunday to visit our son who's been working there on a six months exchange. Can't wait to see him and to hear him talking in Japanese. Apparently he's very fluent now. He has our itinerary all worked out and we'll also be visiting the Harlequin offices in Tokyo. Hope to show you lots of pics.
I want to finish Sally and Logan's story first, except that it would be good to get the chance to reread it after our break in Japan. May yet talk to my ed about that, because the chances are, that the print out for Nell and Jacob will land on my doorstep this week. Proofreading would certainly put a dent in my plans for a dash across the deadline.
Am feeling just a little stretched.

Childhood backyards...

There’s a series of stories in this Weekend Australian Magazine about the childhood backyards of various well known Australians and it set me thinking about the backyard of my childhood in suburban Brisbane. My parents were keen gardeners and my Dad was an engineer, so he changed our sloping hillside backyard into two terraces with a brick wall complete with steps. This was terrific because the rotary clothesline was on the top terrace, but hung out over the bottom terrace, so I could play netball down below and use the rungs of the clothesline as my goal.

The photo is of me on my first day as a Brownie. The first badge I earned was the writer's badge with a story about a girl who had to leave the city for the outback. Obviously that's my core story:)

I spent hours playing with balls in the backyard. If it wasn’t netball, I was playing golf with a softball bat that Dad made for me from a silky oak branch. I’d hit a tennis ball into the drain (harder than it sounds). Or I played “sevens” with a tennis ball up against the garage door, or my sister Liz and I threw softballs at each other. If we didn’t have a softball we’d substitute a lemon, which makes a terrific thwack when it hits a softball glove.

Yeah, I was a sports freak, which is a little unusual for a writer. But I loved books and writing, too. We had no television, so there was plenty of time for reading.

When I was quite small I used to play with frangipani that fell on the drive at the side of the house. Turn a frangipani flower upside down and you have a lady in a beautiful white ball gown. Mine were the ladies in waiting at the Queen’s coronation. I had a book about the coronation and I was obsessed.

There was also a large garage that was old and made from timber and people had lived in it before our house was built. At various times my sisters and I transformed it into a hospital, a school, a restaurant, an artists’ studio and a cat nursery.

A favourite memory is our barbecue – no, not a flash brick one but a small round, portable one with a grill set over coals. I can still remember the prefect taste of a grilled lamb chop eaten for lunch on a sunny Sunday in winter.

Mostly our garden was very pretty with a mixture of native trees and exotic shrubs, but one untidy section developed where I used to blow the husks off the budgie’s seed and the seed grew. I tried to harvest the seeds and make my own budgie food, but I don’t remember being very successful.

At one stage Mum and Dad grew a few vegies and herbs and I remember the tangy scent of tomato leaves and grazing on fresh parsley and shallots. Oh, yes, and then I would sip the honey out of the bottom of russelia flowers and put nasturtium leaves with Vegemite on sandwiches.

About twenty years after I had left home and after my parents had sold up and moved away, I bought a Courier Mail on a Saturday morning. I swear I hadn’t bought one in all those years, but I’d been thinking about my old home and I felt the urge. And when I opened the paper, there was our house in Alexandra Street for sale.

I resisted the desperate impulse to throw up everything and run back to my roots. Well, my husband flatly refused to consider it. But it was the strangest coincidence.

I'd love to hear about your backyard memories.

Right or left brain

I saw this on Kate Hardy's blog and had to put it here as well. It's apparently a test of whether you are predominantly a right brain or a left brain thinker.
I am, according to this test, most decidedly a right brainer. Not surprising, actually. The description certainly fitted how I feel about myself, except that the left brain deals with words and language, so I'm not sure where that leaves my writing.
I suppose I should do a little more research and find out.

Elliot is away on a fishing trip tonight, which means he's going to miss the programme about Errol Flynn on ABC TV, which is a pity because he wrote a series of newspaper stories about Errol's times in North Queensland. Then again, knowing Elliot, he'd get all agitated about the bits they get wrong or leave out. So perhaps he's better off out in the bush, camping under the stars at Cattle Creek. (Sounds like something out of one of my books.)

Am currently reading Kelly Hunter's "Priceless" and am loving it. LOVING it.

An about to be famous author

A month or so ago I posted about the launch of Café du Jour by Lilian Darcy, but I hadn't actually read it at the time. Now I've finally read her book and I don’t say finally lightly. Over the past few months I’ve found reading a challenge and I’m not sure why. It’s just taken me three weeks to get through a little Dick Francis novel. But I read Cafe du Jour in two days (while still completing my word count).

And I loved it. Loved? I was overawed, inspired, completely blown away. In case you can’t guess I thought it was fabulous and I think it’s a terrible shame that it won’t be published overseas.

There were so many things I liked about it – the wonderful tension of Susie’s relationship with Jody. The workshops – Lilian's imagination is incredible. The hospital scenes with Karen - especially the session with the occupational therapist. So enlightening. There were great plot turns, and there was nice Dr. Ewan and a host of other interesting characters.

I loved the little coffee metaphors at the end of each chapter. A type of coffee was described to represent each day in the story.

e.g. p. 36

A big, thick stoneware mug of basic morning caffeine -and-milk, which sometimes tastes bitter if I sip it too slowly. So I gulp it instead.

The character insights were also v clever. But most of all, I loved Lilian's writing. Wow! I probably thought wow almost every second sentence.

I feel so proud to have a friend who's written a such a wonderful 'real' book! I know, shoot me for saying that, but it's how I feel. Lilian has written 75 category romances, which is a fantastic feat, but I believe she has a great talent for literary fiction. So let's hope this book is the start of a brilliant literary career as well.

And it's not too late to buy your own copy of Cafe du Jour. I saw them in Target yesterday!

two deadlines...

As well as the end of the month deadline for my Romance, which I have to finish early because I'm going to Japan to visit my son, who's been working there for six months, I have a new commitment.
Last week, I was talking on the phone to my granddaughter Lucy ( who lives in Brisbane) and I asked her what she'd like for her birthday on the 20th.
'I'd like you to finish our book,' she said.
And then I remembered.
And felt guilty.
Lucy and I started writing a story together when we were on holidays at Noosa. It's called: "The Fairy Princess is looking for a lock." And it's about a girl called Lucy (of course) whose cat finds a fairy at the bottom of her garden. Lucy has to rescue the fairy from the cat's claws and then the adventure begins.
So you can see, this is also a very important deadline. It will probably require illustrations as well. So my nights are about to become as creatively frantic as my days. Wish me luck.

A sneak preview

Thanks to the lovely readers who've sent emails about Needed: Her Mr. Right. It was huge fun to work with Liz and Jackie on that trilogy.

The hardbacks for my next book The Bridesmaid's Best Man arrived last week and I dutifully posted them off to my mum and my daughters.

This book, my 25th!, will be out in the UK and USA in January and in ANZ in February (I think). If out in Feb, I think the cover has a definite Valentine feel.
It's very pretty, isn't it -- rather like what I was hoping for, although my hero, Mark, looks a little too narrow shouldered and thin chested for an Outback cattleman. And my heroine, Sophie, is supposed to have milk white English skin and glossy curling hair.

Here's what the back cover tells you...

Sundown in the Outback

As the shadows grow long and the sun melts behind the hills it's just another day for cattleman Mark Winchester. But nothing has been the same since he was best man at a wedding in London six weeks ago and met bridesmaid Sophie Felsham...

A rainy morning in London

On the other side of the world, city girl Sophie is about to make the most difficult phone call of her life. The one beautiful night she shared with rugged Mark has resulted in pregnancy -- and now it's time to tell Mark that he's going to be the father of her child...

Incidentally...

Am chugging along with WIP -- about half way through and really enjoying writing something a little lighter.
Yesterday, I snuck out of my writing cave for half and hour and bought a cupboard from a local antique shop to use for storing towels in the bathroom at Tarzali. It's a very fresh pale green and cream (favourite colours of mine), and the shelves and inside walls are lined with pretty green and cream floral paper and I love it.
There don't seem to be nearly as many antique shops around as there used to be. I've always loved old furniture. Elliot and I bought our first piece -- an English oak dressing table, before we were married. I still remember the price -- $28.
But perhaps antiques are a baby boomer thing. I know my mother never liked old furniture and the young generation aren't really into them either.
It's getting very hot here -- very enervating. Everyone I know is tired. It happens every spring in the tropics. With the first hot days we feel really flattened and then somehow, our bodies must adjust, as we manage to soldier on through the summer.

away in the country...

I know I've been rather slack here, but the truth is, I've been more or less in retreat mode, tucked away in the country and writing hard. When I haven't been writing I've been weeding (we have endless weeds here) or planning future extensions (because we really do want to come and live here, we've decided).
This planning is great fun and involves lying down on the grass, where we think out future bed might be and checking out the view/ line of sight etc.
While we were here we also had ground excavated for a shed -- a two door garage, which will really help with storage!!
I'm having great fun with my current story, but put all that aside this weekend for a VIP visitor -- Lilly!!
This was her first visit to Tarzali and she had great fun.



The new pad awaiting extensions provided a great place to try out her walker, but there's nothing quite like the simple fun of playing in a "bath" outdoors. And of course Lilly got to meet Belle, our neighbour's beefalo calf, whose birth last December was recorded on this blog. Oh, and she met other cows and a pig, the farmer's dogs and chooks and young Brian (pictured). Now she knows what a real "moo" sounds like!

Townsville's Strand

One of my city's biggest attractions is our beautiful Strand and at the moment, for twelve days, ephemeral 'sculptures' are on display for us to enjoy. I thought I'd share some with you. Above is a "postcard" complete with chalk and duster, so that we can write our own message. That's Magnetic Island in the background.


This is one of the sculptures -- a woven boat and in the background, you can see the fishing pier.


I love this chair made from soft coral. Makes me think of Sue Monk Kidd's The Mermaid's Chair.


These are massive lamingtons made by my friend, Townsville artist, Sylvia Ditchburn. For those of you who don't know what lamingtons are, they are an Aussie favourite at any picnic and often sold for fund raisers -- squares of sponge dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut.




How gorgeous is this driftwood crocodile?



This was Elliot's favourite. Hmmm.... But it is clever, isn't it?


In this photo, you can see the permanent "sculptures" of silver coconuts on the ground -- some of them quite suitable for sitting on. And, in the background, ephemeral box jelly fish. Of course, there are many more sculptures -- about thirty in total, but these were among my favourites.

No Aussie beach is complete without a life guards' lookout -- even if there's no surf because our shores are protected by the Great Barrier Reef.


To put the Strand in perspective, if you turn from your view of Magnetic Island and look behind you, you see Castle Hill, a huge shoulder of pink granite. This photo's perspective hides the suburb of North Ward which sits between the hill and the sea.

Another day...

Am making steady progress on my book. Went to the library to get a few books to follow up on some threads I’m developing in this story. Got a biography of Brahms, mainly because I’m interested in him, but you never know, it might turn up in the WIP...

Brahms’s violin concerto is among my all time favourite pieces of classical music. There’s a section in the first movement when the music slows down that’s so beautiful I have to stop everything just to listen. Every time.

I’ve voted for it on the favourite concerto competition the ABC is currently running. As has writer mate, Anna Campbell.

Lilly and her Mum visited yesterday afternoon and had a swim. We have a lovely pool on the roof of our apartment block.

Last night we went to cinema club and saw Last Train to Freo (Fremantle). It’s a Western Australian thriller set on a train and it is majorly scary, but brilliantly acted. Fantastic characterisation.

The second movie was supposed to be 49 up, the next movie in the 7 up series, which I love and have been following since it started. However, there had to be last minute change because it was only available in digital and so we saw Romulus, My Father instead. Fabulous! Brilliant. Terribly sad, but so powerful. The young Raimond’s acting is sensational, but the whole cast is very, very good. Marvellous men. Gorgeous, brilliant Eric Bana. Inspiring art. I hope it does well overseas.

Thank you

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. The official word has been handed down and the book will be called Adopted:Outback Baby.

I must admit that it's an economical title. Every word helps to tell exactly what the story is about. The fact that Nell and Jacob don't actually adopt Sam (it's almost impossible for grandparents to adopt, although they can become legal guardians) is splitting hairs, I guess.

On another matter, I'm pleased to report that I've taken a deep breath and dived into my next book. Just as well, considering the looming deadline. The first chapter has been polished and re-worked to within an inch of its life and I'm moving on to Chapter Two. I'm not one of these authors who can write a dirty draft.

You can follow the whole process of a book being constructed on Nicola Marsh's blog.

I must admit that while the actual flow of my story can be different from book to book, I always start the same way -- not with characters alone, but with a story idea -- a situation that intrigues me. In Claiming His Family, for example, I wanted to write a story that started where my other stories usually finish -- with a woman from the city (Manhattan - why not think big?) and an Outback cattleman, who have already fallen in love and married, but their marriage failed and they are now divorced.

Sometimes I might even start with nothing more than a story-rich title like Having the Boss's Babies.

Once I have an idea that excites me and which I know has the right ingredients and hooks for the Romance line, then I ask myself: who will this happen to? Why? How? Where? When? etc, etc. But this process is never orderly or predictable. Sometimes the characters arrive almost at the same time as the starting idea. Sometimes I'm halfway through the book, before I really get a grip on them. Sometimes, I outline the plot before I start. I can't say for sure that any of these methods is more successful than another.

This time I've planned as much of my story as I can before I start. I think it was the careful planning, wanting to have everything perfect in my head, that held me back from diving in. But there's a point when you hear that starter's gun and you just have to start dog-paddling and hope like crazy that you get to the other side. That's where I am now.

A straw poll

Now's your chance to have a say!

Possible contenders for the title of my next book are...

Adopted: Outback Baby

Outback Baby Surprise

A Baby at Koomalong

Finally, A Family

I would welcome comments from Romance readers on whether any of these titles appeal. Or you are also welcome to make other suggestions for a story about a couple whose baby was given up for adoption when they were 19 and who find themselves brought together by a twist of fate to care for their tiny grandson.

Something new and something blue...

I discovered this amazing Romance Television channel yesterday. You can see interviews with all your favourite American authors like Nora Roberts, Suzanne Brockmann and Rachel Gibson, to name just a few. And there are reviews -- even an Oscar night style coverage of the RITA awards, with all the glamour and excitement. Crikey, if I'd gone, I really would have had to think hard about my "frock" -- oh, and a diet and a trip to the hairdresser and the nail bar. Much less stressful to stay home and garden.
It may be that I'm the last person on the planet to have discovered this channel, but I'm posting about it in case there are one or two others.
And how did I discover it? Can you tell I'm procrastinating before I dive into my next book? I've made lots of notes on little cards, in a notebook and on the computer and I have been doing masses of thinking, but there's been lots of "medical stuff" happening in our house lately. We're OK, but not great and I think I need to feel all the planets lined up to give me the go ahead and to recapture the thrill of diving into a new book. It will happen soon and it will be fun, I know, but first this morning, there's the dentist.

Our wonderful Sydney office

When I was in Sydney for the conference I met the dynamic Jackie Johnson from Harlequin Mills and Boon's Sydney office and she told me then that she'd organized a lovely gold foil Award winning author flash for my next Australian release.

Then she sent me a cover flat. Isn't it gorgeous? We really are lucky to have fabulous support from our office here in Oz.








On that note, I also want to tell you about another venture the Sydney office have launched and that is the publication of the super talented and much loved Australian author Lilian Darcy's single title book Cafe Du Jour under their Mira imprint. Check out Lilian's website to find out more about this wonderful book, which she says is a mix of popular and literary fiction.

Yay, Lilian!!!

I was lucky enough to be at Lilian's launch of this exciting book at the Sydney conference and I'm very much looking forward to reading it.


Both Needed: Her Mr. Right and Cafe du Jour are available at eHarlequin.au

Puppies, plants and a veranda and oh, yes, a new book...

Home from Tarzali and about to get head down on my new book. There's nothing more exciting than a new book idea -- before I start writing.
It's all shining and wonderful and full of promise and I can "see" all sorts of gorgeous scenes. But, oh, this is also when the nervous flutters start. Will I ruin these lovely, bright and shimmering ideas when I try to get them down in words?

Anyhow, that's my worry, not yours. Thought I'd show you a few pics taken at Tarzali on the weekend.



This is me on a cool and misty morning, admiring the concrete slab which will be our new veranda.


Here is a gorgeous blossom on a native shrub we bought last year from Yeruga nursery.


It's a brilliant nursery at Tolga where, if you tell them which part of the Tablelands you live, will supply you with a catalogue of native plants suited to your area. Our plants are all thriving. Isn't this just gorgeous? Sorry, I can't tell you its name. I'm not that sort of gardener, although I'm getting better.

We were disappointed to have to leave the plant behind to flower madly and brightly while we weren't there to tell it how lovely it is.

And here is a new litter of puppies at our neighbours' place. I often write about blue heeler cattle dogs in my Outback books.



These puppies are a mixture of Smithfield Blue and Border Collie with an Australian red heeler mother.



My next book is set in the city and I don't know if I'm going to be able to have a dog in it. Oh, heck, why not? Yes, I think my hero must have a dog, mustn't he? But only if he looks after it well.

Like Arabs in the night, we folded our tents and took offf...

I'm pleased to report that Elliot's health is much improved, I've handed in my revised book and we've snuck away to Tarzali for a few days.
Had almost forgotten how much we love it here. It so quiet and peaceful and just beautiful. It's cool and there's misty rain. Everything we've planted has been growing while we were away.
Most exciting is that our extensions have begun at last. We have two big green water tanks now and a slab of concrete out the front which will be our new veranda as well as a smaller one which will be our laundry.
Real progress should be made in the next few weeks. And then all the windows and doors Elliot has so lovingly restored will find a home.
I have blogs to write for other sites which I will tell you about soon and I'm currently researching personality types for my next book. Lots of fun.

Secrets We Keep...

A big reminder that the trilogy Secrets We Keep goes on sale in Australia this week on September 1st. Actually, it's already on sale at e.Harlequin.au.

Secrets We Keep starts with the amazing Liz Fielding (winner of 2 RITA awards and the UK's Romantic Novelist's annual award.)

Liz's book, Reunited: Marriage in a Million has been nominated by Romantic Times as one of the author's best and awarded 4 and a half stars! And Liz reports that she's had more reader feedback about this book than about any she's ever written.

I have to say that I was wowed by the depth of characterization Liz achieved and her very deft handling of quite a large cast, as well as the wonderful originality of the story line, the emotion... the writing... yeah, you get the picture.


So... how great a start for the series can you ask for?


SECRETS WE KEEP

To the outside world, Belle Davenport has everything. A fabulous career. The heart of a nation. A millionaire husband who adores her.

But her career no longer fulfils her, her marriage is a hollow sham and she has a dark secret; a past she's kept hidden, even from the man she loves.

Then, on a charity bike ride in the Himalayas, she meets Claire and Simone and, for the three of them, nothing will ever be the same again.



If ever there was a brilliant example of "show don't tell", check out Liz's hero Ivo's reaction when his wife tells him she's leaving him.

And just a reminder that coming in the months to follow will be --

My book Needed: Her Mr. Right in October (available in the UK, North America and at eHarlequin.au in September)

and Found: Her Long Lost Husband by Jackie Braun in November (October, everywhere else)

Also, while I'm here... This series was inspired by (real) sister Liz's charity bike ride through the Himalayas. You can check out photos of this amazing trip here.

Second rounditis...

I’ve been quiet because our household is dealing with double takes.

E’s much worse off than I am. He’s dealing with a second round of pleurisy, as an aftermath of the dreaded flu.

I have a second round of revisions for my too complicated, too intense, too everything story.

Guess who’s writing something light and fun, next time?

Another handy snippet from the conference…

I've just realised I've been blogging for a year! Happy Birthday, blog!!!

Now for my handy snippet from the conference....

Did you know that reading is a valid form of exercise?

I have it on good authority from Michelle LaForest, manager of Harlequin Mills & Boon in Sydney. Reading an exciting book stimulates adrenalin which becomes energy, which in turn eats up calories.

So several hours curled in your favourite armchair with a great book is GOOD for more than stimulating your mind and emotions! Your body gets a workout, too!

And my mother always thought I was lazy when I lay around reading…

Quote for the day...

"I like the word indolence. It makes my laziness seem classy. " -- Bern Williams

A writing tip for free...

I was planning to transcribe all my notes from the conference, but if I do that it will take time that I don’t have right now, so I thought I’d add the occasional titbit of advice that I gleaned – those writing tips that made the penny drop for me.

One from Jenny Crusie was this:-

Consider starting your scenes a beat later and finishing them a beat earlier.

Now, I thought I already knew about jump cutting from one scene to the next without too much musing or introspection or dillydallying, but this morning I was reading through the beginning of the book I started yesterday and thought nah, don't like this. Then I realised that Jenny’s advice would improve it enormously.

I’d started a beat too soon.

I’m not going to expand on this now.

But believe me, it’s good advice.

Home from Sydney

Okay, I'm back and no apologies, the first thing I'm going to show off are the RITA pics (courtesy of dear freind Trish Morey).

Here I am, looking just a tad excited as I wait to accept it from Marion Lennox.



Isn't Marion's trouser suit gorgeous? I must tell you my sartorial disaster. I'd bought a special jacket to wear to this ceremony. And would you believe, another conference delegate wore it to the conference all day? An evening jacket. I ask you, what was a girl to do?
Turn to her friends, of course.
I confided my dilemma to Fiona McArthur, who insisted I must wear something else -- but I had already worn my other glad rags to the authors' dinner and the cocktail party.
"Let's go shopping!" she said. "I'll take you to Paddy's market."
I'd been thinking of dashing up town to the Queen Victoria building or Town Hall square, but as I'd never been to Paddy's market in Chinatown, I happily went. And this was the result -- a jacket that was really fun to wear. Plus new jewellery. Thanks, Fiona!


Tomorrow I'll tell you more about conference sessions. Right now, I have to get started on another book.

The annual staffroom gathering

People often ask me if I miss teaching and you know, the terrible thing is, I mostly only miss it when they ask me and I stop to think. The rest of the time, I'm so busy enjoying writing that my teaching days hardly figure in my thoughts.

Times I do miss teaching are when I see high school kids in the mall, especially from the school where I used to work, or when I'm invited to go and speak at a school, or when I get together with my teacher friends and hear them talking about work.

That last is something I do miss -- chatting with other teachers. The daily staffroom sharing of ideas, the give and take of advice, the jokes, the gossip. As a writer It's just me and my computer. Oh, there's email for communicating with fellow writers -- and the telephone, and the wonderful retreat I had with writer mates earlier this year, but the other big time for a major get-together of the staff (so to speak) is the annual conference of Romance Writers of Australia.

This is primarily organised for aspiring writers, but I never got to one until I'd already sold my first couple of books and I'll never forget my first conference in Brisbane and Helen Bianchin's wonderful, open-arms welcome. 'You're one of us now.'

The (rather dark) photo of us on the right is from last year's conference, when we were dressed in fancy dress for the cocktail party. This year we'll be more sedate as the theme is Venetian Carnivale and we'll be wearing glamorous masks ( a bit of a problem for those who wear glasses.)




That first conference was an indication of how it's been ever since. The writing sisterhood ( with the occasional brother) is incredibly special. Only fellow writers can understand the emotional attachment we have to our work, the vulnerability and self doubt.
Apart from that we have FUN! Dinners, cocktails parties, and lots of fabulous workshops. The level of professional expertise that's shared at these workshops would make a lot of other writing organisations goggle with surprise.
This year, I'm especially looking forward to Jennifer Crusie's full day workshop. She'll also be offering a tutorial just for published authors on theme and motif. But I'm also looking forward to hearing Bronwyn Jameson and Anne Stuart and a host of other wonderful speakers as well.

This year's conference is in Sydney, which means I'll also be able to catch up with a very special aunt. This dear lady is responsible for my lifelong love of books, because it was she who bought me 'Seven Little Australians' by Ethel Turner when I was seven. And then in subsequent years for birthdays and Christmas, she sent my sisters and me the rest of E T's books, plus the Anne books and Louisa May Alcott's books and the Pollyanna and Katy (What Katy Did) books. Sad thing is, that now Auntie D has macular degeneration and is legally blind, but I'm very grateful to the Hear A Book Service in Tasmania, which has put almost all my books onto tape for her and for anyone else who is visually impaired. They're available through libraries.

So if I'm quiet for the next week, you know where I am. I promise to come back with pics and gossip.

Forgot to tell you...

I've had a rotten cold this week, have been snuffling and coughing my way through my revisions, which is my excuse for forgetting to tell you about the R*BY blog.
At eHarlequin, all the finalists for this year's Romantic Book of the Year Award are blogging about their finalling books.


Being a finalist is so exciting and this year there are veteran R*BY finalists like Marion Lennox and Carol Marinelli, as well as brand new Down-under authors like Yvonne Lindsay ( from New Zealand) and Anne Oh.
As a winner of the R*BY in 2005, I was asked to add a blog as well.


There's nothing quite like getting a pat on the back from the readers of your homeland!


Good luck to all this year's finalists and head over to eHarlequin to read all about them!!!