A short break

We're heading to Tarzali for a couple of days. Hope to be back before the Easter rush. Think of us intrepidly crossing flooded rivers ( it's hardly stopped raining in North Queensland since December), or noting the growth of trees we've planted, bemoaning the weeds, starting up the brush-cutter...

Oh, and I'll still be trying to maintain my daily word count. I'm writing a mother's day novella at the moment, while my editor reads my latest submission. Two very different settings -- variety keeps me inspired -- although I understand that readers love a writer who gives them the same kind of story over and over.

But I can't resist setting this new story on a tropical island. Here I am, surrounded by islands other people can only dream about. It's only fair I put one or two into books, isn't it?

What we can learn from the movies...

One of the things I love about living in the city is the access to movies, concerts and theatre. I've mentioned before that I belong to a cinema group. This week, we watched the powerful Australian movie September. A very restrained and moving account of a friendship between a white boy and an Aboriginal boy in Western Australia in 1968.

The theatre was packed an this was the main attraction. A lot of people didn't stay for the second movie, but boy, they missed a treat. This time we watched The Lives of Others, a German film that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film last year.
It is set in East Germany in 1984 (the likeness of Orwell's novel 1984 is quite scary) and it's about a Stasi agent, Wiesler, who must to spy on a playwright (Dreyman) and his actress girlfriend, because the playwright is suspected of seditious intent.

I have to say, I've found a new actor to swoon over in Sebastian Koch, who played Dreyman. I've since watched him in the Dutch movie Black Book and he was dreamy in that, too.

But what I found totally compelling about The Lives of Others was the change that occurred Wiesler as he listens in to every aspect of the playwright's life.

As Anthony Lane says in his article in The New Yorker...

'See him crouched in a loft above Dreyman’s home with a typewriter, a tape deck, and headphones clamped to his skull. Watch the nothingness on his face as he taps out his report on the couple’s actions: “Presumably have intercourse.” '

Slowly, the tables turn. Wiesler listens to a conversation between Dreymann and a director he reveres. He is privy to Dreyman's grief when this director commits suicide. He listens to Dreyman play the piano -- A Sonata for A Good Man and tears stream down his face. Eventually, he steals Dreyman’s copy of Brecht and takes it home to read; he starts to omit details in his official account; and, for some fathomless reason—guilt, curiosity, longing—he lets the lives of others run their course.

It's the step by step transformation of his personality that fascinated me. Wiesler changes from a machine, faithful to the party, to a human with a conscience, facing new moral dilemmas he wouldn't have formerly considered.

I know I write 50,000 romance novels that must steer a fairly tight course, but I found so much to learn about character growth in this movie. I hope some of it translates into my books somewhere.... sometime...

Walking

I have dreadful feet. Actually I have all kinds on inherited problems from the knees down. But at least my feet and legs still work… for which I’m extremely grateful… because I think walking is one of life’s greatest pleasures.

When my first child was a baby, I used to go for long walks every afternoon, pushing her in the pram. At the time, I did it because I’d read in baby books that it’s very stimulating for babies to be out and about, exposed to new sights and sounds and smells. I was so into being a great mum I didn’t think about the benefits for me. Back then, young mothers weren’t jogging with prams to keep fit the way they do now. I’m sure if exercise had been trendier then, I would have been into that, too – pushing the pram up Castle Hill, no doubt.

These days, I do go for walks for exercise. Writing is such a sedentary job, I need to make an extra effort to get moving each day. But although I groan as I roll out of bed each morning, once I get going, I know that walking is about so much more than boring exercise.

I can listen to audio books – my new favourite indulgence, or I can people watch along The Strand. I can dream about my work in progress and I can drink in the beauty of Cleveland Bay and Magnetic Island just off shore.

Best of all, I can just let my mind wander… it’s amazing the thoughts that pop in when I’m least expecting it. Countless story ideas have evolved from these walks.

So no more complaining from me that there are only two pairs of shoes in the whole of Townsville that fit me.

As my dad used to say: “I had no shoes and I complained until I met a man who had no feet.”

Juno

Let me tell you quickly about Juno. I say quickly because I have a young Japanese fellow staying here at the moment and sleeping in my study and I think he’ll be back from a trip to Magnetic Island very soon.

I saw Juno 2 nights ago. I had already heard my friends raving about it and I watched the young script writer, Diablo Cody (pictured) get her Oscar on Monday night and I decided I just had to see this film. You’ve probably all seen it already, haven’t you?

No? Do yourself a favour. It’s a movie any romance fan will love. And I’ll tell you why – because it does exactly what we all try to do and does it so well. It takes a familiar theme – unplanned pregnancy – and deals with it in a totally fresh and innovative way. Isn’t that what editors are always asking for – the same only different?

In this the pregnant mother is sixteen. The prospective father is a high school basketball/running track, guitar playing, slightly dorky but sweet guy.

The dialogue is hip and contemporary and sparkly. The plot turns unpredictable. The ending awww….

What more could you ask for?

A story about translations and serendipity …

Last week I spoke at the handover dinner of a women’s service club and at the end there was the usual question time. During that discussion, I told the audience about my cupboards full of translations of my books. ‘If you know anyone who reads a different language and who might be interested, let me know,’ I told them. ‘I’d be very happy to give them away.’

A woman held up her hand. 'Do you have any in Indonesian?’

Now, Indonesian is my most recently acquired “new language”, bringing the total number of languages my books are sold in to 23. I had copies of A Wedding at Windaroo – not only that, but the Indonesian copies came with lovely bookmarks to match the books’ covers.

And so… my books are now in a classroom at the Townsville Grammar School… but here’s the emotional punch to this story. The school’s young Indonesian teacher died this year, the day before school resumed after the summer break. Her Grade 12 class, who have had her as their teacher since Gr 8, are in shock. They’re, naturally, terribly upset, worried about their final year at school without her – and ambivalent about the subject. And, the unit they’re studying this term is all about romance and relationships.

So here’s hoping the Indonesian version of Piper and Gabe’s story fills a useful, perhaps even a healing role for these students this year.

Random thoughts for unpublished writers…

I have often wondered why some aspiring writers give up very early – often after the first setback, while others plug on for years and years and finally are published. One of my friends, a very successful author now, was unpublished for something like twenty years, another tried for eleven years before she got The Call, another for twelve.

And yet, I also know a very talented woman who gave up after her first rejection. And lots of others who've never actually submitted a manuscript.

Thomas Edison said: "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." ~

What is the secret? What determines success versus failure? I think, primarily, it’s a matter of self belief. If deep down you can believe you are a writer, you will plug on no matter how many rejections come your way.

Perhaps the writers who gave up had memories of past failures that held them back. Most people operate out of personal history, but when you’re aiming for an important goal like publication, you have to operate out of imagination rather than memory.

I remember being astonished that I actually knew deep down that I could write these books. I’d never had that kind of self-confidence about anything else. I had no idea where this certainty came from, but I could imagine becoming an author and seeing my stories on the shelves in shops. That belief, that vision was, without a doubt, the one thing that kept me going when I got rejections (and yes, I had four rejections) or bad feedback from competitions I’d entered. (I had my share of bad scores, too) I had my husband’s support, which was wonderful, but if I hadn’t also believed in myself, I wouldn’t have kept going.

Henry Ford said: Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right.

On this subject of self belief, let me give you an example from the Olympic Games.

Until 1954, it was believed that humans couldn’t run a mile in under four minutes. Doctors, athletes, coaches… everyone… believed it was physically impossible. And then on May 6th in 1954, an English athlete called Roger Bannister ran the mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.

Since then, 20,000 people have run the mile in under four minutes – even schoolboys. What has changed? People’s thinking has changed. Not their bodies. Their thinking. They now believed it was possible.

OK… back to those aspiring authors who gave up. Another possible problem for these writers is that they have spent too much time comparing their progress with the progress of others. It must be very discouraging to see other people being published when you’re still getting rejections. It can be discouraging for published authors to see their friends winning awards or making bestseller lists.

But the thing is, the going isn’t quite so tough, if you keep your focus on your personal goal. You have to accept that each of us has a different path and keep your focus on your stories, your characters and your love of writing.

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals.

OK, that’s my sermon for today. I’m actually on deadline, so I’d better slink back into my cave.

Just remember, you've got to believe in yourself and that means not paying too much attention to what's happening to everyone else. Now go for it!!!

I have a thing about birds...

I didn't realise how much I love birds until I looked around at all the art work in my house and saw how much of it was.... birds... in all shapes and sizes, colours, textures. And then I saw this photo this morning and I had to share. Isn't it just gorgeous? I loved it more than the cuddly polar bears etc.
Maybe that's why I married a guy who looks a bit like Big Bird?
OK... I'm ducking:-)
Back to my deadline.

Tickled my funny bone...

I was researching for a talk I have to give to a local Soroptimists club. The topic is Go for Gold and it needs to be motivational, so I was looking at various quotes to do with gold and stumbled on this.

I know humour is very personal. I tried to tell it to Elliot and he didn’t think it was funny, but I’m no stand-up comedian. Here it is anyway…

“The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death! What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating...




...and you finish off as an orgasm.”

George Carlin, American stand-up comedian

New Mills and Boon Collection

Erin and Luke, who starred in my RITA winning book Claiming His Family, are in the spotlight again. This time their story has been renamed Their Outback Marriage and it is the launch book for a brand new series -- a special Mills and Boon Collection being produced in conjunction with Eaglemoss publications.

Don't you just love that cover? That scene of Erin and Luke in the rain is my favourite scene in the book.

Each edition in the series brings readers a hardcover book (sequentially from the Romantic, Sexy, Medical, Intriguing and Historical lines) as well as a magazine with a short story (My story Chance Encounter is in there), as well as interviews, discussion of the main scenes in the book, and other stories of interest to romance readers, as well as a small gift. Floating rose scented candles come with the first edition.

So, wow! This is all a tad exciting. I think I'd love this collection for myself. I remember when I was v young, I used to subscribe to Princess magazine, which came all the way from England. I would go each month (week? fortnight?) to the newsagency to collect my new copy. It was full of comic book stories -- Sally the Circus Ballerina and The Diary of Sue Day are the two I remember. And there'd be gifts -- like a plastic headband with daisies, or a pop-together necklace.
Looking back, I'm sure this was the primary school equivalent of being an M&B fan. :)

This month the new M&B collection is being trialled in five locations in Britain and hopefully that will be successful and it will be launched nationally in the northern hemisphere's autumn. I believe the plan is to also bring the series overseas in the future. So fingers crossed ...

You wouldn't believe the rain we're having here in NQ. My editor rang from London last night and I was busy being professional, but when I told her about the rain, I don't think she really "got" it. Later, I wished I'd opened the door and held the phone outside so she hear the racket of the rain thundering down.
Anyway... it's actually much more serious than the photo up the top suggests. People all over the state are being forced to evacuate. It's reminding me of the 1974 floods. That was the summer of Cyclone Tracy in Darwin and the Brisbane floods. I remember lending all my baby equipment to a mother and baby evacuated from Darwin to Townsville. And my mum in Brisbane took in masses of washing for flood victims.
And to think, a few months ago, we were in the grip of drought. Dorothea McKellar certainly got it right...

I love a sunburnt country
A land of sweeping plains
Of rugged mountain ranges
Of drought and flooding rains

OK, enough about the weather. Here are the answers to yesterday's quiz. How did you go?

1. Henry James
2. Ernest Hemingway
3. Tracy Sinclair
4. D.H. Lawrence
5. Lorna Read
6. Anne Mather
7. John Folwes
8. Anne Weal

Classics versus romance

I thought I'd share with you a quiz that I took along to the library talk the other day. It was originally passed on by Presents author, Kate Walker.

I know passages of Mills and Boons are often read out of context. One of my friends has confessed that she used to go to dinner parties where part of the evening's entertainment was to read some of the more passionate passages from an M&B to accompaniment of hilarious laughter.

I've had excerpts printed in the paper that were a tad embarrassing.

However, I think this quiz illustrates rather well how any passage of writing taken out of context can be misleading. It also shows that romantic passages in all kinds of literature are a challenge to write. And, well, I'd be interested to hear what else you think it shows...

Here's the quiz. You're welcome to have a go at guessing the answers.

CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE?

1. He glared at her a moment through the dusk, and the next instant she felt his arms about her and his lips on her own lips. His kiss was like white lightning, a flash that spread and spread again, and stayed.

2. He felt her trembling as he kissed her and he held the length of her body tight to him and felt her breasts against his chest through the two khaki shirts, he felt them small and firm and he reached and undid the buttons on her shirt and bent and kissed her and she stood shivering, holding her head back, his arm behind her.

3. K's mouth sought A's this time, with passion and urgency. To her amazement, her inhibitions had been burned away in the hot flame of desire. Her fingers dug into the bunched muscles of his back, raked through his hair. She fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, frantic with the need to touch him, to feel his body against hers without any barrier.

4. And as she melted small and wonderful in his arms, she became infinitely desirable to him, all his blood-vessels seemed to scald with intense yet tender desire for her, for her softness, for the penetrating beauty of her in his arms, passing into his blood. Softly, with that marvellous swoon-like caress of his hand in pure soft desire, softly he stroked the silky slope of her loins, down between her soft warm buttocks, coming nearer and nearer to the very quick of her. And she felt him like the flame of desire, yet tender, and she felt herself melting in the flame.

5. He was pure energy, fire to her water. His love consumed her, seared her, cauterised all her past wounds and set her free. She was a bird now, rising to some dizzying peak, and she could feel but not see.

6. His chest crushed her breasts, his flanks tangled with hers in the rough bed of straw. She could feel the heat of his skin penetrating his clothes and hers, and the strong masculine scent of him in her nose and her mouth, male and intoxicating. She thought afterwards that he had intended to pull away from her. There was a world of difference between a kiss, given and received between two totally upright adults, and this totally intimate embrace.

7. How long they looked into each other's eyes, he did not know. It seemed an eternity, though in reality it was no more that three or four seconds. Their hands acted first. By some mysterious communion the fingers interlaced. Then C fell upon one knee and strained her passionately to him. Their mouths met with a violence that shocked them both; made her avert her lips. He covered her cheeks, her eyes, with kisses. His hand at last touched her hair, caressed it, felt the small head through its softness, as the thin-clad body was felt against his arms and breast. Suddenly he buried his face in her neck. We must not . . .we must not . . .this is madness.

8. She saw his head bend to hers, knew he was going to kiss her, and found herself powerless to stop him . . .unwilling to stop him. Even before his lips pressed gently on hers, she had closed her eyes in mute submission. His first kiss was like the match flame that ignites the swift conflagration of a bonfire sprinkled with petrol. For a few seconds only his mouth moved lightly on hers letting her keep her lips closed, but making them quiver with the shock of an almost forgotten sensation. Then, abruptly, the arm around her tightened, and she felt the fierce heat of desire blaze up, not only in him but also in her.
She tore her mouth free. 'No. . .no. . .'

Your choices are:

John Fowles - French Lieutenant's Woman

D.H. Lawrence - Lady Chatterly's Lover

Tracy Sinclair - Proof Positive (Silhouette 1989)

Ernest Hemingway - For Whom the Bell Tolls

Anne Mather - Duelling Fire (M&B 1981)

Anne Weale - Passage to Paxos (M&B 1981)

Henry James - Portrait of a Lady

Lorna Read - Love's Pursuit (Sapphire 1982)

I'll post the answers later.

Valentine's Eve...

As I mentioned earlier, Nicola Marsh has been running a fabulous Valentine’s promo on her blog with different author guests every day. It’s my turn to be there today, answering questions and giving away a book, along with RNA prize winner, Kate Hardy.

This month there’s also plenty happening at the Harlequin Romance author’s blog – an interview with Nicola, a special Valentine’s Day post from Irish author Trish Wylie and an in depth report on the special Mills and Boon Centenary party in London by Fiona Harper. I’ve already seen some of the photos of this party – fab to see all the authors in their bling. As for semi clad waiters… definitely something to check out.

I’m doing my own Valentine’s Day stint today at my local library today. I’ll be talking about romance writing, giving away books and generally having fun chatting with readers.

And in Australia it’s Sorry Day. Our Prime Minister will be formally saying sorry to the Aborigines for the way they have been treated by white people – most specifically for the stolen generation. Young Aboriginal children, mostly half-castes, were taken from their parents “for their own good” and brought up in white families or in institutions.

I'm very glad that our PM is finally saying sorry, even though it's 41 years too late.

The joy of distractions...

With our daughter still home on university vacation we were put under great pressure last night and gave in. We watched Grey’s Anatomy. Actually, I’d been intending to watch it for ages. After all, it’s the most watched television show and as a creator of popular fiction I should keep abreast of trends etc.

Then again, there are often really great shows on the ABC on Sunday night and I have to say that after only one viewing, the jury on Grey's A is still out in this household. Sure Dr. McDreamy is very dreamy. And I love the Japanese doctor. I know it only takes three consecutive viewings of a soapie to get hooked, so I may succumb yet. Will see.

Meanwhile, the fourth book in Susan Wiggs’s Lakeshore Chronicles arrived today and I can’t wait to read Snowfall at Willow Lake. Susan W writes the most wonderfully warm and real, funny and moving single title books -- very close in tone to the Romance line, but with the greater character detail and plot complications that you would expect from a much bigger book. I learn so much from reading her work and like most writers, I crave inspiration.

Problem is, I can't really start reading now as I have a very scary deadline looming fast and I’ve been terribly distracted over the summer.

So it’s head down now and Sophie and Noah’s story may have to wait. Sigh…

Urban drama...

OK… I’ve said that this blog is about a writer’s life in the city and the country, but I haven’t actually recorded much detail of my time in the city. I guess that’s because I spend most of my time chained to my desk or hanging out with family.

But yesterday I experienced some urban drama…

I live in the heart of Townsville, which is a growing city, getting busier and more beautiful every day. I have a coffee shop (great takeaway cappuccinos) across the road and a supermarket three hundred metres up the street. In the style of many inner city dwellers, I shop almost every day, just taking one bag and getting what I need in small batches. Apart from my early morning walk, it’s about the only exercise I get – a pleasant enough diversion.

Yesterday afternoon, we were planning for a family barbecue on the rooftop of our apartment block. Elliot had been out to buy beautiful fish and seafood to barbecue and it was my job to get the salad ingredients, plus grapes and chocolate for dessert.

Mission accomplished, I was walking back down the street, my mind in another country (thinking about my WIP). I was aware of a shadow behind me and I assumed the person would pass me, but no…

Without warning, my purse was snatched from my hand.

I confess, I screamed. Passers-by in the peak hour traffic saw what happened. I knew I didn’t have a hope of catching the tall, young male who was racing away in the opposite direction with my purse. And, of course, I thought immediately of all those cards I would have to replace – license, Visa Card, Medicare etc. Not the $50, which was what he wanted.

But those thoughts came and went in a flash. Two young men from Coles were already racing after the robber. A man told me that his wife’s handbag had been stolen by the same fellow an hour earlier. People jumped out of cars to offer witness statements. And two young police officers arrived (one male and one female.)

Long story short, I was very lucky. The guy was caught, I got my purse back. I thanked the young men from Coles who chased him. I gave the police the information they wanted and thanked them. The young man was arrested and driven away in a paddy wagon.

So then afterwards... I was left with a few things to think about. First, it was pointed out very gently by well meaning bystanders that I was partly to blame because I'd been holding my purse so casually in my hand, rather than tucking it away in my shopping bag. So yeah, a measure of guilt set in. And from there, it wasn’t such a great leap of the imagination to understand how other victims can be made to feel guilty, almost as if they invited the crime committed against them – especially women who are raped.

But I felt a degree of compassion for the perpetrator, too. I wondered about the young man. What had driven him to such a desperate act in broad daylight and in peak hour traffic? Two hundred years ago, our ancestors were sent to this country for something as trifling as stealing a loaf of bread.

I know what he did was wrong. Very wrong. And he might be a hardened criminal. And I know justice must be seen to be done…

But I felt sick watching that paddy wagon drive away.

Another Celebration!

Congratulations to Kate Hardy who has won the U.K. Romance Novelists Association's annual Romance Prize. Kate, who also writes wonderful Medical Romances, won this prize for her Modern Heat novel, Breakfast at Giovanni's. Isn't that a cool title?
If I understand correctly, Kate received the award at a slap up lunch in London yesterday and she will now be able to proudly display the Betty Neels Rosebowl on her mantlepiece for a year.
And how lovely for Kate to be winning this highly prized award during Mills and Boon's centenary year. There's another fancy cocktail party in London this month to celebrate the centenary. And of course Mills and Boon books are garnering more than usual attention from the British Press -- some good, some not so great -- and much of it filtering through to the Australian press.
As you can guess some of the email loops are also jumping and buzzing as people express their reactions to some of the less complimentary remarks directed at M&B.

I have always suspected that the reason M&B has earned its questionable reputation is because it's rather like Hollywood -- commercially successful and so very well known.
Ergo... everyone feels entitled to leap to assumptions.
I've been guilty of remarking at times that a film was "too Hollywood" (meaning too formulaic), or had a "typically Hollywood ending" (too over the top warm and fuzzy).
I love all kinds of movies from Art House foreign films to B grade movies
made in Hollywood. And I must confess that I make such generalised comments
even though I know that many Hollywood movies are unique and restrained and
groundbreaking and beautiful.
When an art form is deliberately commercial (everyone knows the pressure of
the box office) and the products are deliberately packaged as being all the
same (who can tell one M&B from another by the cover?) and the product is
portrayed as being mostly about sex, the general public (and the press) are bound to make
assumptions.
I think we just have to live with this. I'd love to see different titles and
different covers on our books, but I wouldn't like it if the sales dropped
off and I can only presume that the marketing people know what they're doing
when they package M&B the way they do.
What do you think?

My 25th Book!!!

I guess it's a measure of how distracted by life and family I've been that I haven't mentioned my cause for celebration. The Bridesmaid's Best Man, which was on sale on the UK and North America last month and is on sale in Australia and New Zealand this month, is my 25th book!!!!

Last year when I was in Sydney, London editor Sheila Hodgson presented me with a lovely pin to acknowledge this and now, belatedly, I'm planning a competition to celebrate.

You can either post here that you'd like to enter, or if that's a bit daunting, you can send me an email to barb n elliot @ bigpond.com (no spaces). Put BRIDESMAID in the subject and you can be in the draw to win a signed copy of this latest release or another book from my backlist (Because you've already rushed out and bought Bridesmaid, haven't you?)

I've had some nice feedback about Sophie and Mark's story. I hope you enjoy it, too.



P.S. I hope placing this address like that won't bring me endless spam. If I notice a problem, I'm afraid I'll have to think of something else. I'm totally inundated with spam from my website's email address and I'm sure I've missed some mail from readers. Sorry if you were one of them.

Another chance...

A lot of people of my gift list got copies of Sizzle, Seduce and Simmer for Christmas, but I'm pleased to report they've all been enjoying the stories and recipes.
Now, my daughter has just pointed out some rather nice publicity for the book on page 28 of February's Notebook magazine. They're also running a competition with five copies to give away, so if you missed out, or you'd like the chance to score another copy, check out this great competition.

And on that note, Nicola Marsh is having a wonderful month of book giveaways on her blog. It's continuing for the whole of February with guest bloggers and lots of great romance books. I'm going to be a guest later in the month. Will keep you posted.

I warned you before Christmas that I was going to busy with my family. I didn’t realize that would equate to no blogs at all, but as you can guess I have been busy indeed. For the whole time Lucy and Tom were with us it rained – both at Noosa and in Townsville. They had two fine days out of almost four weeks. Added to that we had floods and blackouts in Townsville and the lift went out of action so we were climbing fifteen flights of stairs.

Despite all that, we had a great time and the children swam almost every day – they love swimming in the rain – and went home to their parents with tales of a great holiday, so that’s the main thing.

On the writing front, I got my revisions approved and BLIND DATE WITH THE BOSS (a working title that I was allowed to keep) will become my third Romance release for 2008. Look out for it in November – it’s a book I thoroughly enjoyed writing and I’m especially fond of the characters. To me, it feels like a throw back to books like A Wedding at Windaroo, Her Playboy Challenge and The Blind Date Surprise.

Now we are spending a week at Tarzali with one of my daughters and her partner. It’s sweltering hot in FNQ after all the rain, but at least on the Tablelands, we get a good breeze to relieve us.

V and I have had fun concocting tempting salads and salsas and I thought I’d share one luncheon menu with you. These are our own inventions, which we made using fresh local produce and some of the yummy items we bought at the Italian deli in Mareeba. It was delicious.

Proscuito and walnut salad

Toss together:-

baby spinach leaves

baby rocket leaves

torn basil leaves

sliced cucumber

chopped proscuito

chopped avocado

freshly shelled walnuts (Well, they don’t have to be freshly shelled, but Matt gave us a you-beaut nutcracker for Christmas and these nuts were divine.)

Drizzle with a dressing made from soft ricotta cheese, a good olive oil and lemon juice

Watermelon and mint salsa

Chopped watermelon

chopped shallots

mint

and a dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Serve with ciabatta bread and iced tea.

Happy Christmas

I'm at Noosa to spend Christmas with my daughters and their assorted loved ones. In a couple of hours my grandchildren Thomas and Lucy will be here and the the fun really starts.

My daughter Victoria made our Christmas tree. If you remember last year I spoke about my collection of Christmas angels from around the world. Below is an angel I bought in Japan!

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a New Year that brings you good health, happiness, good friends, loving family... and lots of wonderful books to read.





On the subject of books, I've just remembered that it was fifty Christmasses ago (Yikes, did I really admit that?) when I received the most significant present ever -- "Seven Little Australians" by Ethel Turner.

With that, my lifelong love affair with books began. The character Judy and her fate taught me right from the start about emotional punch! Soon after reading SLA, I began writing my first stories and poems and fortunate gal that I am, that's still happening.

Another quiet week in blogland

I know I've been letting the side down lately. But I have written another chapter and I HAVE written my Christmas cards and we've made another quick dash to Tarzali, because we now have a shed -- and once you have a shed, you really have to store stuff in it straight away, don't you?
And of course there are all those social occasions at this time of the year. I have another one this afternoon -- one of those parties where you need to take a plate. I’m also in the midst of revisions and I just don't have time to measure and mix, so I'm taking caramel tarts. And as I'm now officially in a cook book (SIZZLE, SEDUCE & SIMMER) I thought I'd share this really quick, busy- writer-friendly recipe with you...

Really, really easy (aka cheating) caramel tarts.

Place ginger-nut biscuits in cupcake tins and bake in a mod oven for ten minutes, or until they start to soften. ( I guess you could also use the microwave to soften them.)

Push the biscuits (cookies) down into each cupcake base (I used a small, round dessert spoon) to make little tart shells. Once they’ve cooled, fill these dear little shells with caramel (from a tin – once upon a time you used to have to boil condensed milk, but now it’s all done for you.)

Top with whipped cream. Voila. A delicious and tiny sweet treat.

Oh, and I always leave some without cream so there’s a choice.

One of those weeks...

I haven't had much to tell you this week. Apart from the Elton excitement, it's been one of those plod, plod weeks where I'm still waiting to hear about the manuscript I submitted and my new story is slowly, slowly starting to take shape. The characters are coming to me through the mist, gathering shape and colour and substance. I written almost forty pages. With lots and lots of rewriting!!!

And, of course, whenever I discover something new about my characters, I have to go back and feed that layer in to the relevant part of the story, so there's a lot of to-ing and fro-ing. But I love that!

I'm trying to get as much of this story as possible down before Christmas, because from Christmas till mid Feb it will be family, family, family all the way. (Lovely!) But some stories take their own sweet time to grow. I have good vibes about this story, however. One thing's certain. It will have masses of sensual tension.

For now I need patience to let these characters and their setting and their mood continue to evolve and come fully alive in my head. Problem is, I think patience is the hardest thing to learn -- but possibly the most important. After all, impatience is really all about wishing our lives away. How crazy is that?

Meantime, I'd like to show you a few shots of Tarzali from last week.

Each time we go to Tarzali there are surprises -- always something new. Trees may have changed colour or come into flower. Birds or animals come and go. This time the Papuan frogmouth owl was back, calling his soft whoo, whoo, whoo from the cutting in the evenings.

And when we arrived, this carpet python was lying across the track at the front gate to greet us. I promise he's harmless. He was quite sleepy in the sun and didn't want to move.



These orchids were in flower for the first time! They are grown from pieces of one my mum's orchids and I was thrilled to have flowers at last. Other orchids (natives growing on tree trunks) were flowering too.



This photo shows why this area is called the Misty Mountains. It was taken in the late afternoon.



And how's this for an omen ? ... a rainbow over our extensions (in progress).

Unreliable blogger

I'm sorry I haven't posted for over a week. We took a lot of photos at Tarzali and I wanted to share them with you, but we forgot to take the little gadget that transfers the photos to the computer.
Had a lovely time up there, planted lots more trees and it rained to give them a really good start. We have peaches coming on and plums. V exciting to be able to grow stone fruit in the tropics.
And we have a roof on our extension!
Did I get much writing done? I hear you ask.
Some. I finally have a start and I know where I'm heading with my characters and I like them.
Came back for the Elton John concert in Townsville.
And...
I am now so inspired.

I haven't been an especially keen Elton fan. He started during the seventies when I was busy having babies, so I just didn't have time to be a fan. But when I heard that such a huge star was coming up here for the first time, I wanted to see him -- to see what a truly great performer is like on stage. And I have to say he was magnificent. He kept 21,000 people (the biggest audience he's had in Australia) riveted for two and a half hours with just his voice and his piano and his passion and his talent. Amazing.

I feel as if I learned something about pleasing an audience -- giving people what they want in spades with a surprise thrown in here and there. Not that I'm suggesting I can do that.

But he was definitely inspiring. And I really want to write today.

A tricky start

Would you believe I'm still muddling with the start of this book?
I've written and re-written the first six pages countless times, have spent days at it and I'm still not happy. Unfortunately, I'm one of those painful writers who have to get it right before I can move on. It would be so nice to just fly ahead with a rough draft and come back to these pages later. But I can't.
I've wondered whether I'm starting in the wrong place, have tried other possibilities, but no this is where I need to be.
It's getting better -- like a lump of clay, slowly taking shape. One big thing that's helped is a change of name for my hero. Amazing how that tiny element can have so much resonance and impact.
The interesting thing for me, that I've noted many times now, is that writing a book is like labour -- the giving birth kind. I've had four children and each labour was different -- different speed, different rhythms, different levels of intervention, but fortunately each time there was a wonderful result.
The books are the same. Each one presents unique problems and develops in its own sweet way. I know that. I don't know why I'm so impatient this time.
We're off to Tarzali tomorrow...
It will be interesting to see if that makes a difference.

Back to work…

I’ve actually been back at work ever since I got back from Japan, but there have been other more interesting things to post about. I had the printout of Adopted: Outback Baby waiting for me to proofread when I got back and I had to re-read and polish my latest manuscript and send it off.

And then I had a new book to start. That’s the really hard work.

Editing, revising, polishing, dreaming new stories, conflicts, characters and plots are all fun for me. Those tasks don’t feel like work at all.

The hard part is getting that story down on the page. Filling that blank screen – making what’s in my head come to life. Finding the words and finding the best place to start the story. I sit at my computer and write rubbish and scrap it. I try again. And scrap it. I go for a walk, get a better idea, come back full of enthusiasm and try to write it down. Realise it wasn’t such a great idea after all. And so the painful process continues until finally, finally, I keep little pieces of the rubbish and then I stitch them together and I see that my story is at last emerging.

That’s where I am today. It’s always a relief to get my muse's green light.

Byrne & Fiona in Estonia

My book In the Heart of the Outback has been translated into Estonian!

I found it accidentally while cruising the web. How exciting. My book is No. #001, so maybe it's a first for the line! This brings the total number of languages my books have been translated into to 23! At least that's the number I've counted, so far.

I still get a buzz from thinking of anyone else reading my stories. I suppose it's an ego thing, but it's built into the reason we write -- to bring pleasure to others. And it's fantastic to know that those others are living in so many different countries in all kinds of flung flung parts with different languages and cultures and possibly no real idea of Australia.




I must confess, I had to do a Google search to find out exactly where Estonia is and there it is, just across the gulf from Finland and tucked in between Russia and Latvia. Even if I sell four and a half copies, it's fun to think about.

They have rather a flash website for books here.

Last glimpse of Japan...

Our last, but possibly most fascinating trip into Tokyo began at Omatesando. This is a major fashion shopping avenue lined with huge cherry trees and filled with mega trendy shoppers and, because it combines Prada and Gucci with an avenue, it has a very Parisian feel.


We had lunch in a side street in a Spanish restaurant, of all things. The food was fabulous. I haven't said a lot about the food in Japan but we had some amazing eating experiences, including a Korean inspired meal where you cook your own meat and fish over a small grill set in the middle of the table. There are, of course, all sorts of accompanying side dishes and dipping sauces. It reminded me a bit of the fondue parties we used to have back in the 70s.
This (above) was part of one of those meals. I'm afraid I couldn't manage the partly coddled quail's egg in a nest of raw meat -- but only because I'd already eaten so much -- of course!!

From Omatesando, we walked on to Harajuku, which is a big intersection just outside the park that houses an important Meiji temple. And here, on Sunday afternoons, lots of 'alternative' (??) young people hang out, dressed in all kinds of costumes -- mostly Gothic. But dressing as a blood splattered accident victim or paramedic is also popular.
Interesting psychology...

From here, we went through huge shrine gates, similar to those at Nikko, into the Meiji park -- a beautiful, quiet forested area that eventually leads to the temple.

The First emperor of the Meiji restoration led the modernization of Japan. He sent Japanese all over the world, wanting to learn as much as he could about the west, planning to adopt what was good from other countries and reject what wasn't acceptable. As an example to his subjects, he cut off his traditional pigtail. I think modern Japan is still a fascinating blend of the old and the very, very new! (You should see the neat MP3 player I bought at Akaharbara!)

At the Meiji temple, I was fascinated by all the little girls we saw in traditional dress and then Andrew suddenly remembered that there are certain days in the year when girls aged 3, 5 and 7 are brought to the temple for a special blessing because it was traditionally significant to reach these ages -- to survive infancy. And we'd happened to come on one of these days. So I begged Elliot to snap some of the families posing for shots. I find them fascinating. (P.S. The little boys get a National Holiday for their special day!)

Asakusa contd...

Blogger spat the dummy when I tried to add any more photos, but there were two more from Asakusa that I wanted to share. On the right is this crane girl, who was a part of the procession. We were so lucky that the girls stopped and opened their wings when they were directly in front of us.

And below is the temple Senso-ji. The number of stalls in front of it and the crowds were amazing. That's incense you can see burning!

Asakusa

We were incredibly lucky that our visit to Asakusa coincided (quite by accident) with the annual festival associated with Senso-ji their local temple, and so we saw the most fabulous procession.

I'm afraid I can't tell you many details. Andrew was translating announcements for us at the time, but most of it's flown from my aging brain.



People lined the streets for ages before the procession started, but we sneaked away for a lunch of tempura and soba noodles (made from buckwheat) and were back in time for the fun. I was fascinated by a patiently waiting group on the other side of the road in traditional dress. All the children I saw in Japan were very well behaved -- but I'm sure they're normal and have their "moments."

The procession was led by a golden dragon.


And there were several traditional "bands". I'm so used to brass and pipe bands for processions, but this Japanese music was very calm and restful, by comparison. Still stirring, however.


Of course the samurai were very stirring. Don't they look splendid?




















I loved these women (below), but I'm afraid I can't tell you who they are.

Japanese readers...

Japanese readers are voracious. I don't think I've ever seen so many people reading. Mind you, they spend A LOT of time on trains. Ex pat Australian, Belinda Hobbs, Managing Director of Harlequin's Tokyo office (with Elliot, left), said that some of her staff have a one and a half hour commute each way, each day, so they have plenty of reading time, I guess. But, until this trip, I don't think I'd ever seen so many people reading while standing in line on the platform.

(BTW, they are wonderful at standing in line -- for HOURS if necessary! You should have seen the lines waiting to try the simulator at the railway museum!!!!)

They also read standing up, with the book an inch from their nose in really tight peak hour crushes on the train.
Their books are produced in a sensibly small format that is easy to hold and they have these wonderful little plain covers to put over the book. Everyone uses them. Ostensibly, these covers are to keep the books clean, but it also hides the publisher's cover and people can read anything they like in public without any embarrassment. I think that's so clever!!!

Belinda and her enthusiastic team took us to a lovely lunch in a Thai restaurant. (Even though Japanese food is wonderful, they love foreign cuisines as well!) There, I met my very sweet Japanese editor, Miyoko Kobayashi ( and presumably the editor for all Image books, pictured right).
Miyoko told me that the Secrets We Keep trilogy will be released in Japan next May, June, July and my RITA book, Claiming His Family, will be out next August.

Miyoko and others commented that both Elliot and Belinda's husband treat their wives very nicely and they decided they would like Australian husbands!

At this lunch, I also learned that there are quite a lot of very popular Japanese romance authors. At least, they call themselves romance authors, but their stories often end unhappily. They are extremely popular, however, more popular than the Harlequin books. But our happy-ending stories are slowly making inroads. Our books are especially popular as downloads for cell phones -- selling amazingly well, apparently.


I gave Belinda at copy of Sizzle, Seduce & Simmer, with messages from Australian authors and she loved it (of course!). Is very interested in having it translated. I guess it needs to do well in ANZ first. Fingers crossed.
At this lunch I also learned the Japaneses romance readers love hard working heroines, but strong Alpha heroes. They don't seem to like particularly feisty heroines. No surprises to learn that Betty Neels is as popular here as everywhere else.

I also went back to the offices -- four floors of a skyscraper in inner Tokyo, where I met the rest of the team and signed books, which was fun. After we left, I was on my way back down the street and in the middle of a pedestrian crossing, when a sales manager came running after me, asking me to sign a cover flat for a reader who had lost her home in the earthquake in July, which I was, of course, very happy to do.

Yesterday, I was sent a translation of that reader's response, part of which said...

"Your company's kindness towards your reader just made me really happy. I imagine Harlequin staff are people full of love and joy, just as your books are.
It must be wonderful to have a job like yours that can make people happy. Your books have always made me happy, and I look forward to reading many more of your books in the future. "

That just about sums up my experience of the company, too.