One a penny, two a penny... hot cross buns

This year, I forgot – for the first year ever – to buy hot cross buns for Good Friday, probably because none of my children is here to eat them. But I’m not comfortable with broken traditions, so I decided I had no choice this year. I had to bake my own buns.
Slight problem – actually, a few slight problems…
a) I have very little experience in baking buns
b) I didn’t have scales for measuring ingredients properly
c) No currants – so had to use sultanas
d) No mixed spice – so I mixed ground cinnamon with ginger and freshly grated nutmeg

Nevertheless, I started off bravely, but… it’s just as well my deadline is behind me, because baking buns is rather more time consuming than I’d realised. The dough had to be kneaded for ten minutes to start with – and then set aside for 1 to 1 ½ hours.
I re-potted some plants while the dough was rising – and the poor things were rather grateful, as they’ve been desperate for bigger pots for years now. Some of the plants we’d brought from our suburban garden when we moved to the apartment, and they’ve been struggling on our balcony in Townsville. They’re looking happier already in their new pots.

OK, hands scrubbed, gardening clothes off. Back in the kitchen, the buns had to rise a second time – and then there was the whole fun of making the crosses (using a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off), and glazing – I didn’t have a brush so I improvised with makeup remover pads. That sounds dreadful, but they work quite well, and they were hygienic, I assure you.

And after all that, the buns weren't quite the same as the ones you buy in the shops, but quite edible… too edible, to be honest.

Parrot botherers R Us

We have a wonderful variety of birdlife here. Earlier this week, we had currawongs and magpies making quite a (musical) racket and as they chased each other and found insects in the newly mown grass.

At other times, white cockatoos have invaded our citrus trees. At night an owl calls softly in the valley below.

But today a flock of white headed rainforest pigeons spent an entire morning in one of our satin ash trees, quietly tucking their heads under wings and trying to keep out of the rain. Gorgeous, aren't they?

Best Bosses

With my book delivered, I had visions of a full week's gardening before I got my revision suggestions, but it's raining...

I've already changed clothes twice today, because I hate gardening in a raincoat, and now I've given up.

At least I can take the time to tell you that Blind Date with the Boss is available in ebook fromat in a Best of the Bosses 2008 pack at eHarlequin.

If you like ebooks and bosses, this would be a good great opportunity, as there are terrific books by Kate Hardy and Cathy Williams as well!

Meanwhile, I'm hunting for nice recipes with rhubarb. We hardly ever have rhubarb in Townsville, but last week in Sydney, I ate it every chance I could -- and then I found it in Malanda yesterday.

Poor Elliot... we've had rhubarb for dessert last night and for breakfast this morning and now I rather like the sound of these rhubarb muffins , recipe courtesy of the New Zealand foodlovers website.

Ingredients
2 cups flour4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar100g butter

1 cup milk

1 egg1

1/2 cups finely chopped rhubarb

1 tablespoon raw sugar1 tablespoon cinnamon

Method
Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a bowl. Melt butter and mix with milk and egg. Stir rhubarb through dry ingredients and make a well in the centre. Pour in milk mixture and mix lightly to combine. Spoon into muffin tins to 3/4 full and sprinkle with mixed raw sugar and cinnamon. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden and springy to the touch.

a week away...

I really did mean to warn you that I was about to disappear for a week, but I was extra, extra busy with my deadline right up to the moment I jumped on the plane.

Story is, this past week I’ve been retreating with several of my wonderful author mates in beautiful Coogee Bay, which is – believe it or not – a suburb of Sydney (only a short bus ride from the city centre.)

I admit I’m biased (I was born in Sydney and lived there for the first five years of my life) but Sydney has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Where else can you find that gorgeous harbour – and then, close by, such amazing surfing beaches as Bondi or Coogee?

Then there are the amazing restaurants… the walks along the cliffs…

But I have to tell you, this was a working retreat.

We’ve been doing this now for three years and the pattern is always the same. We retire to our rooms to write every day, sometimes starting before breakfast. The only times we get together are for meals/ talks after meals – oh, and pre-dinner drinks – and well, after dinner chats (on that gorgeous balcony) that might go long into the night. At the beginning of the week we draw up a list of topics we’d like to discuss – all related to our work – and we approach the whole thing very professionally. you'd be proud of us. Truly.

Writing ( as has often been said) is a very lonely job and for us this retreat also serves as the staffroom, the water cooler, coffee club – it represents all those places where colleagues usually congregate to exchange information, or ideas and give each other support. This is especially fabulous for me because I live in such a remote part of the world. The nearest published author to me is as far away as the distance between London and Moscow.

But the biggest bonus of all is that we’ve become very good friends along the way…

earth hour

What better excuse for romantic candlelight, than earth hour's request to turn off our lights for an hour on Saturday night?

From Yahoo news:

More than 80 countries will this year participate in the Earth Hour climate change campaign, that began in Australia in 2007 with just over two million people taking part.
More than 2,800 cities and towns across the globe have signed on to switch off - edging organisers even closer to their ambitious target of one billion participants.
Two years ago, the campaign began at Sydney's Opera House.
This year Egypt's Great Pyramids at Giza will be plunged into darkness alongside another 828 global landmarks, including New York's Empire State Building, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the famed Coca-Cola sign in London's Piccadilly Circus.
Earth Hour organisers say that by turning off the lights for one hour from 8.30pm local time on Saturday, people can send a powerful collective message on the importance of action on climate change.
World leaders are due to meet in the Danish capital of Copenhagen in December to design a new global strategy to fight global warming.
Scientists say a strong agreement must come out of that meeting if the world is to avoid the worst effects of global warming.
The Earth Hour gesture also serves as a reminder to people to think about the way they consume energy and to modify their daily habits to cut down on power consumption.
More than 70 public events have registered to be part of the campaign in Australia this year.
As well as sending a message on climate change, Swinburne University astronomer Michael Murphy said the event would return the full beauty of the night sky to Australians, at least for an hour.
"The night sky is one of the last great nature reserves, but most people in Australia can't see it because of the city lights," he said.
The event's also a good excuse to indulge in some good old-fashioned romance.
Candle-lit speed dating will be held in most capital cities, while a 700 candle message of "lights off" will be laid out on Sydney's Coogee Beach.
A list of Earth Hour activities in Australia can be found on the website of the conservation group WWF, which founded the event.

Stunned in Tarzali

Yesterday, I checked my phone messages back in Townsville, and discovered the lovely news that Adopted: Outback Baby has been nominated by Romance Writers of America for a RITA in the short contemporary category.
How exciting!!!!!
This is my "grandparent" book -- about Nell and Jacob who were forced to separate and give up their baby, but found themselves coming together years later to care for their little grandson.
After gadding off to San Francisco last year, I'm afraid I won't be going to Washington DC for the awards ceremony, but I'm thrilled that three of my "writing mates" are also nominated.

Jessica Hart, who went to Yosemite with me last year, has a nomination for her 50th book Last Minute Proposal. Lillian Darcy's medical The Children's Doctor and the Single Mum is also up for a gong, as is Anne McAllister's Modern, Antonide's Forbidden Wife.

Yay to all of us!!!!!!!!

You can check all the RITA nominations here.

I’m a tortoise. What are you?

I suspect that we writers have to accept our writing processes in the same way we accept our height, or our noses…

My process is slow… and I don’t seem to be able to do anything about it. On days when I write fast (which are few and far between) I nearly always end up pulling a third of it out again next day, because I’ve gone down a wrong track, or set the scene in the wrong place, or from the wrong point of view.

I know other writers can fly through a first draft, writing thousands of words a day and then spend time picking it apart and rebuilding, rewriting. Sounds fabulous. I’ve tried it and it just doesn’t work for me.

I have to move forward in slow, careful, steps. Each morning I reread what I wrote the day before and I add extra details, layers and refinements … and then I push forward.

The thing I’ve learned to accept is… it doesn’t matter. We each have our own rhythm and pace.

So stick to what works for you, won’t you?

endings...

On Saturday we decided that the best way to say goodbye to Townsville was by having a picnic lunch on the Strand. That's Magnetic Island in the background. Gorgeous, isn't it?

So now we're tucked away in the mountains in an equally beautiful part of Oz. Elliot's madly cutting grass and I'm .... you guessed it... writing.

I'm in the last downhill run of this book, but I'm paying careful attention to getting the ending just right. If I've had criticism from readers, it's been for my endings. Sometimes they feel rushed, apparently, so I'm working hard at getting rid of that feeling, without dragging everything out too much and driving my poor readers mad with frustration. It's a fine balance this writing game.

I think my own personal favourite ending in books I've written is The Cattleman's English Rose.

This was the first book in my Southern Cross Ranch series -- although the endings readers seemed to like most was the epilogue at the end of this series -- in The Mirrabrook Marriage.

Still... life's interesting when there's always something to learn and ponder...

we're off like a rotten egg... (as the pilot once said)

Today we're packing up and heading back to Tarzali -- reattempting to live there. Although our Townsville life keeps beckoning to us, we really love it up there in the mountains and we want to grow vegies this winter and really work on our vision for the house and garden.

I'll keep you posted...

How cool is this?????

Among the prestigious industry awards given out by Romance Writers of America each year, the Bookseller's award is a biggie. And this year, the • RWA Steffie Walker Bookseller of the Year Award – is going to Rosemary Potter, of Rosemary’s Romances, Brisbane, Australia!!!!!!!!!!!

What an honour! This year's Australian Romance Writers' Conference will be in Brisbane. I can imagine Rosemary's shop will be overrun by avid romance junkies in August.

the twins are growing fast...

Milla (left) Sohpie (right)

Pisces are self indulgent...

Have spent my birthday money on the following:-

* 'The Joy of Writing Sex' by Elizabeth Benedict -- my writing friends tell me this book makes all writing joyful.

* 'His Captive Lady' by Anne Gracie -- my complimentary copy from Anne went missing in the post (sob) and I can't miss an Anne Gracie book.

* 'Writing Fiction' by Janet Burroway -- because Susan Wiggs recommended it.

These have all been purchased on line, but of course, while I was in Brisbane, I couldn't resist bookstores and I came home with:-

Classic Ecco -- a cookbook by Philip Johnson an amazing Brisbane chef -- for Elliot -- and he's in heaven.

Book Ends By Jane Green -- because she's such an accessible writer and she fires up my muse like no other.

How to have a Beautiful Mind -- by Edward de Bono -- because a girl can wish, can't she?

What books are on your wish list?

a weekend to remember...

I've just had the most wonderful weekend away. Last week was my birthday and my lovely son took me to Brisbane, to shout me to a birthday lunch beside the Brisbane River and to go to the opening match of the football season between our team the North Queensland Cowboys and the Brisbane Broncos.

The Broncos won by one point, but it was all very exciting, although vexing that a streaker disrupted the game at a vital moment for our team.

We enjoyed a scrumptious breakfast in Paddington with Vicki and her man and Richard flew home to his little family, while I stayed on to visit with my daughters and sister and my mum. I was able to give Mum her copy of The Billionaire's Baby Surprise, complete with a dedication to her.

Vicki and I visited the Gallery of Modern art. I had lunch on the Southbank with my sister and we were able to talk and talk.

I also visited daughter Emma and granddaughter Lucy is doing a report on me for school. Her teacher said I counted as a famous person if my name was on the front of a book, so I am sending Lucy the collage for Her Cattleman Boss that we made together when she was staying with me last year.

I was even able to go to a fabulous concert in the rainforest at Montville where my son in law played with stunning beauty on a Steinway piano -- Brahms Intermezzi, Schubert's trout quintet and Mendelssohn's piano trio among others.

I feel so blessed to have enjoyed such a fabulous, enriching weekend with my wonderful family, but now, of course, I have to work even harder to make my deadline.

reading leads to writing...

My granddaughter is reading Twilight. Apparently it’s all the rage in Yr 4.

I was a little stunned when I heard this until I remembered that the romance in Twilight is very “sweet”…

and I remembered also that Yr 4 was the year I totally “tuned in” to books.

It was the year I read the ever memorable Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner. This book was written in 1894 (No I'm not really terribly old; my aunts gave me these books) when its author was just 24! So she was young and talented just like Stephenie Meyers of Twilight fame.

How I LOVED Seven Little Australians. Apart from the scene, which is forever seared on my brain, when the tree falls on Judy, there were romantic scenes too.
Meg, the oldest of the seven, falls in love with Alan, after certain mishaps.
She’s led astray by a flirtatious school friend, you see, and there’s a fabulous scene when she leaves the house at night and goes down to the river for a romantic tryst with Andrew Courtney – she’d sent a note to A Courtney – but his older brother Alan turns up instead.

Let me give you an extract…

There was a smell of cigar, and, looking closely, she saw to her horror that it was Alan.
Her heart gave one frightened, shamed bound, and then seemed to stop beating altogether.
She looked up at him, as if entreating him not to have too bad an opinion of her; but his face wore a contemptuous look she had grown to dread, and his lips were finely curled.
‘I – I only came out for a little walk; it is such a beautiful evening,’ she said, with miserable lameness; and then with a tone of justification she added, ‘it’s my father’s paddock, too,’
He leaned back against the fence and looked down at her.
‘Flossie gave me your note, and as it seemed addressed to me, and I was told it was for me, I opened it.’
‘You knew it was for Andrew,’ she said, not looking at him, however.
‘So I presumed when I read it,’ he returned slowly. ‘But Andrew has not come back tonight yet, so I came instead; it’s all the same, as long as it’s a boy, isn’t it?’
The girl made no reply, only put her hand up and drew the cloud more closely round her head.
His lips curled a little more.
‘And I know how to kiss, too, I assure you. I am quite a good hand at it, though you may not think so. Oh, yes, I know you said you didn’t want to be kissed, but then, girls always say that, don’t they? – even when they expect it most?’
Still Meg didn’t speak and the calm, merciless voice went on:
‘I’m afraid it’s hardly dark enough for you, is it? The moon is very much in the way, do you not think so? Still, perhaps we can find a darker place farther on, and then I can kiss you without danger. What is the matter? – are you always as quiet as this with Andrew?’
‘Oh, don’t!’ said Meg in a choking voice.
The mocking tone died instantly out of his voice.
‘Miss Meg, you used to be such a nice little girl…’

Of course, Alan doesn’t kiss Meg, who is sixteen. He gives her a stern lecture and humiliates her thoroughly… but marries her at the end of the next book… sigh…

Looking back, I know all the girls’ classic books have influenced me. In fact, this Seven Little Australians story takes place in both Sydney and an outback sheep station – so quite possibly it resonates deeply in me in many more ways than I’ve realised.

I went on then to read the rest of Ethel Turner, as well as the Anne books, (in Yr 5 I asked a girl to be my "bosom companion' and she looked askance and fled. She wasn't a reader and we didn't stay friends:) There were The Little Women series, the Katy books etc.. all romances really...
This last illustration is of one of the seven "naughty" children washing kittens.

Do you have a stand out book from the past that has stayed with you in vivid detail forever?

Outback Romance

I've written a post for the Harlequin Romance authors' We Aim For the Heart blog ... It's all about why I love to write Outback Romance.

You can check it out here.

International Women's Day

Have just been to an International Women's Day breakfast where the guest speaker was a young woman from Bangladesh who was the victim of an acid attack, because she refused to marry the guy down the street.

Apparently it's still an accepted practice for jilted men to throw acid on the hapless women who reject them. No other guy will marry her if she's disfigured.

I feel so angry and helpless when I hear these things. But I guess awareness is always the first step.

Maybe these guys should have romance novels read to them every day for a year?

a mild distraction...

My writing this weekend has been interrupted by frequent visits to the website of the Queensland Bureau of Meteorology to keep an eye on Cyclone Hamish. Nice name Hamish, isn't it? Too nice for a cyclone. Anyway, he started somewhere way up in the Coral Sea around the middle of Cape York and he's been storming down the Queensland coast for several days now.
This is how he looked a few days ago -- when I was a tad worried that he might visit Townsville. We hurried out and bought water, batteries, tinned food etc.



This morning he was a Category 5 and had passed us and was threatening the beautiful Whitsunday Islands to the south of us. Now, he's continuing further south, travelling parallel to the coast. Let's hope he stays out there, but heaven knows where he might end up. I don't think the Met Bureau know!

The Billionaire's Baby Surprise is set on a tropical island during a cyclone. These things are fun to write about -- a very different thing to live through. If you live further south, in Hamish's path, stay safe!!!!!!!!!!!

an artist to love...

I'm being rather boring at the moment. Head down writing and all that. Have to have this book done by end of month. So I thought I'd give you some lovely images to look at.

These are by woodblock artist Cressida Campbell and I just love them. Isn't it amazing to think that she first carves these images from wood, then paints the wood block and makes a mirror image print from that? She only ever makes one copy! All my heroines love her work, too, and their homes are often versions of these interiors.

If you are lucky enough to live in or be visiting Brisbane, there is an exhibition of Cressida Campbell's work at the QUT museum and it will continue till April 16th.

A smile, a smile...

The twins have started smiling...

Someone caught this photo of Sophie smiling at Aunty Vicki when she was here as part of her new Outreach job last week.

And what about that little smile? As my friend Trish Morey described it: "sort of like a baby bird trying to fly. Concentrating really hard, all the bits not quite working for take off, but so almost there."

a new motto... ?

So many things come via email that don't necessarily click with me. This one did. It's a message I need to give to the heroine in my current work in progress, right about NOW.

In a store near you this month...

This month, Her Cattleman Boss goes on sale in the UK and in North America and online in Australia.

Before I started writing this book early last year, I knew I wanted to write another Outback story and I had been increasingly fascinated by the almost dying art of cattle droving. I'd heard stories that recently, because of the drought and the economic downturn, more and more cattlemen have turned to the "long paddock", as the droving stock routes are called.

In the summer of 07-08, while I was holidaying in the south, I quizzed a cousin who owns a cattle proprety near Roma, in south western Queensland . OK, yes, I cornered the poor guy and drove him mad with my questions about stock routes and droving, but I did ply him with food and drink in return.

And I talked to another writer friend who had reserached aspects of droving, who then sent me maps of actual stock routes so I could plan Kate and Noah's journey authentically. During this time, I was also looking after my granddaughter, who helped me make a collage for the book and who named Noah's daughter Olivia (after one of her schoolfriends). You can see that the maps played a big part in the collage.

A sense of place has always been very important to me in the books that I write and those I read. And I have to have the names right before I can settle into a story. So a huge thanks go to Malcolm Douglas, Gordon Smith and to Lucy... and Olivia.

I hope you enjoy Noah and Kate's adventure!

that tea cup...

I love drinking tea at any time of day, and the only thing that makes it better is drinking from a lovely tea cup.

My current favourite is the range by Robert Gordon of Australia. I have several pieces in his Alice range, including the teapot and milk jug. I love the nostalgic look of these pieces (although they actually feel quite substantial and modern) and I adore the pink inside, which makes me think of a sea shell.

creative mess...

A guest will be sleeping in my study tonight, so I have to clean it up. A-r-rgh! I’m mid-book. This is what my desk looks like.

Those bits of paper are all the notes I make to myself as I’m going. There’s always a tea cup somewhere – headphones for listening to music (mostly classical – no words). On difficult writing days, I put on a CD and don’t let myself get up until it’s finished. Usually, somewhere during the 60 mins or so, the writing starts flowing again.
The book under the headphones is British Poetry Since 1945. If I’m stuck or blocked I often find reading poetry helps my mind to un-knot itself.
I just pick a random stanza from any old page, like this:

But somehow his arms had become just bits of wood
Somehow his guts were an old watch-chain
Somehow his feet were two old postcards
Somehow his head was a broken window-pane
‘I give up,’ he said. He gave up.

Creation had failed again.
(From Fifth Bedtime Story by Ted Hughes)


Don’t ask me how it works to read something like that (brilliant, isn’t it?) and then sail on with my own writing, but it often works. Not always, mind you.

Sometimes a chat with E helps. Or my last resort is to head off somewhere with pen and paper to THINK.

Oh, and you can see my old computer behind my laptop, because I just haven’t been able to bring myself to throw it out. But now, it must all be tidied. And I haven’t shown you the floor or the sofa where my poor guest must sleep.

It’s all creative mess, I assure you…

The Oscars…

Coming in late here... but I stayed up late on Monday night to watch the Oscars. I do love them. Yes, I love the glamour and the gowns and the stars, but mainly I love them because I love cinema so very much – almost as much as I love books. And now that my children have flown the nest, I can go to the movies quite often – whenever I’m in the city, that is…
I find movies inspire my muse in subtle ways I could never quite identify. This year, I particularly enjoyed the tributes former Oscar winners made in person to the new nominees. I found their comments very interesting and insightful and inspiring and generous…

Over this past year I’ve been lucky enough to see many of the nominated movies:
Changeling
Revolutionary Road
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
Happy Go Lucky
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Iron Man
Revolutionary Road

Of course, I enjoyed movies that weren’t nominated too, (or if they were nominated, I missed seeing them in the abridged late night version we saw here) Movies like:
Gran Torino
Mamma Mia
Burn After Reading

Hunting and Gathering

Now, I really want to see:
The Wrestler
Doubt
Milk
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Harvey’s Last Chance

And what were my personal favourites this year? I’d have to say:
Slumdog Millionaire (If you haven't seen this, you must. I promise you, it's brilliant!!)
Happy Go Lucky (Feel good and deep and original)
Revolutionary Road (First class acting all round)

OH, and my current heroine looks rather like Kate Winslet, in my imagination. What were your favourites?

Sunday afternoon indulgence

It's another rainy Sunday afternoon here, and I think I just might give in and try this recipe I received the other day by email, courtesy of the wonderful Anne Gracie.

THE MOST DANGEROUS CAKE RECIPE
A RECIPE EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW

The most dangerous cake recipe 5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar (that sounds like a lot. I think you could halve it)

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

a small splash of vanilla extract

1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.EAT! (This can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

You are going to print this out straight away, aren't you????? Let me know how it goes.

the urge to write...

I guess I’ve always known that the urge to tell stories is something we’re born with. The first story I remember writing down was a story I wrote for the writer’s badge when I was a Brownie. No one in my Brownie company had asked to do this badge before and I caused my Brown Owl a headache, hunting down a tester. Anyway, the story was about a girl whose family was transferred to the Outback and she was really upset because she would miss Brownies, but then she learned about the Lone Brownies and all ended well.
Yes, I know, I’m still writing versions of that same story, aren't I?
I’ve heard it said that we all have a core story to tell. I guess this is my core story. And in a way I’m still playing it out in my life – yo-yoing back and forth between the city and the country.
But there is another kind of story I love and that’s fairytales. I’d say Blind Date with the Boss falls into that category. As a teen, I wrote lots of ugly duckling and rags to riches stories. And later, I wrote stories for my four children. This book – A Story About A Princess and Pink is one I wrote for my daughter Victoria and her friends Tanya and Ruth, when they were at kindergarten and used to fight over the pink dress in the dressing up box.
My children helped illustrate the book. I think Vicki was four when she drew this front cover pic. Richard drew the handsome Rainbow Prince at the end and I photocopied the pages at the library and sewed them together on my sewing machine. Never was a book produced with more excitement!

what's your guilty (reading) secret?

The organisers of World Book Day are running a “Guilty Secrets” campaign, where the public is invited to vote for the books they most enjoy reading (but don’t like telling people about!).

What a wonderful chance to put in a word for romance novels. The list of authors comprise the usual suspects and Mills & Boon is listed as an option!
Wouldn't it be fantastic if M&B could pip JKR or Grisham to the post? So it would be terrific if you, (and all your friends and relations) log on and vote...
Take a look here.

May this story find you sometime, somewhere...

My next release (February 20th UK) is a short story. At least, my editor calls it a short story, but at 30,000 words, it didn't feel particularly short when I was writing it. :) Just the same, I loved -- really, really loved -- writing this novella, which is now called The Billionaire's Baby Surprise.

It's being released for the UK's Mother's Day in a collection called The Secret Baby Bargain and I was hoping to run a competition so that readers in other countries had a chance to read it.

However, the book is being used in a special promotion and, at this point, I don't have any spare copies.

Sorry. I really do want to share this story with my readers.

If you live in England, please do keep an eye out for this book and give it a little pat for me. If you don't live in the UK, it is, of course, available from amazon.co.uk.

To tempt you, let me tell you a little about it.

My heroine, Claire Eden becomes the gaurdian to her little nephew Harry after her sister Flora dies suddenly from post-delivery complications.

Claire gives up her life as a busy and successful events planner in Brisbane to live with little Harry on Sapphire Island in North Queensland and to bring Harry up in the relaxed, 'island life' she knows Flora wanted for him.

But a tropical cyclone, and the unexpected reappearance of Harry's father, adventurer billionaire Jack Dysart, interrupt Claire's plans...

Other stories in the book include Expecting His Child, by wonderful fellow Queenslander, medical author Meredith Webber, and Claiming the Ashbrooke Heir by historical author Mary Nichols.

You can read an extract of Claire and Jack's story here.

A recipe I'd like to share...

This Women's Weekly recipe is easy and nutrtitious and low fat, and better still it's been a big hit with family and friends, so I thought it was too good to keep to myself. These quantities are for two, but it's very easy to expand and I've made it without the chicken stock and with various vegetable combinations and it was still good.

Mind you, I'm aware that American readers might find it strange, because I don't think you eat much lamb, or pumpkin as a vegetable.

spiced lamb cutlets with coriander pumpkin
200 butternut pumpkin, peeled, cut into 1 cm pieces
125g chickpeas, rinsed, drained
1/2 cup (60g) frozen baby peas
2 tablespoons fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves
4 french trimmed lamb cutlets
2 teaspoons curry powder
cooking oil spray
1/3 cup light coconut milk
2 tablespoons chicken stock
1 clove garlic, crushed

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C/180 fan forced
2. Roast pumpkin in small, shallow baking dish, uncovered, 10 minutes. Add chickpeas and cook, uncovered, about 5 minutes or until pumpkin is tender. Remove from oven, sprinkle with coriander.
3. Meanwhile, sprinkle lamb with curry powder. (I coat mine fairly liberally). Spray lamb with cooking oil. Cook lamb in heated frying pan. Remove from pan.
4. Add coconut milk, stock and garlic to same pan, bring to boil, stirring in pan juices and spice; remove from heat.
5. Serve pumpkin mixture and lamb, drizzled with coconut sauce.

sunsets and a bushfire book appeal...

This was the start of a most spectacular sunset at Tarzali yesterday evening. It went on and on after this shot was taken, lasting for almost an hour as it spread over the whole sky, growing deeper and pinker.

During this past week we've all been shocked by the Victorian bushfires and the terror and death that Nature can bring. Yesterday evening, however, it was a joy and a privilege to drink in the peace of her quiet beauty.

But that doesn't mean we've forgotten the plight of victims in Victoria and I'm adding this message from Kelly Hunter, President of Romance Writers of Australia.

We've all seen the devastation the recent Victorian bushfires have wrought and have wondered how we can help. We know that for many affected families, books will not be high on their priorities list for some time to come. But...We also know how valuable books can be in providing time out when reality gets tough.

So…With the aid of some wonderful volunteers, we've put together a Romance Writers of Australia Bushfire Book Appeal.

What we need? FICTION BOOKS! Romance books, children's books, genre books, whatever– either new or in sparkling condition.

Please send them to: RWA Bushfire Book Appeal c/- 89 Rennie St Thornbury Vic 3071

When to send them? Now! And any time over the next few months. The books will be boxed and delivered to the appropriate neighbourhood centres/communitycentres/libraries in batches as soon as practicable. Feel free to pop a note inside, or if you're an author, sign it.

With thanks, Kelly Hunter On behalf of Romance Writers of Australia Inc.

A nice surprise from my publishers...

These long stemmed roses, chocolates and a scented candle arrived in a glamorous long box from Harlequin Mills & Boon's Sydney office.

Another reason to love being a romance author.

I hope a nice surprise comes your way on Valentines's Day. On the other hand, why not just reach for a good romance novel?

how I met your mother...

Yesterday was E’s birthday. Again. Gosh, how the years flash by. For us, there is always an extra anniversary, because we met on his birthday and this year signalled a significant number of years ending in zero. (But a girl mustn’t reveal too many details.)
We met in my first year of teaching, when I’d recently left home and was flatting for the first time. In fact, my flatmate took me to his birthday party and introduced us. Now comes the really embarrassing confession. At the party, she announced I was his ‘birthday present’.
Now that could have been the end of everything. I was, after all, a budding feminist. But we managed to survive this shaky start. Actually, we went for a midnight swim and I emerged from the sea covered in phosphorescence and looking (apparently) like some kind of sea nymph.
And here we are all these years later. Our granddaughter (the new big sister) was thrilled that we were having a birthday party and of course she sang loudly and helped pappy blow out the candles.
And in (secret) honour of the phosphorescence, I gave her glow in the dark bracelets to wear. A big hit!

a country in mourning

There's not much I can say about the terrible bushfires. They're so horrendous and terrifying. We're all so stunned by this tragedy, and the danger's not over yet.

The best thing we can do is dig deep and donate money, which the people in Victoria need desperately, and this is the best place to do so.

A rose by any other name...

The book I'm currently reading for my book club is The Guernsey and Potato Peel Pie Society . I'm loving it, but the thing I find funny is that when I first saw this book in a bookshop window, I swore I would never read it.

I was walking home one evening from our favourite Thai place around the corner with E and my son and part of our ritual is to stop and look in the window of our favourite bookshop Mary Who?

A small mountain of the Guernsey book had pride of place and Andrew said very disparagingly, 'That looks like the sort book you'd read, Mum.'

'Never!' I protested hotly.

But when I discovered it was the next book for my reading group (made up of women I used to teach with and whose tastes closely match mine) I discovered just how fickle I am, because I was suddenly intrigued by the title and eager to read it. Of course, comments by others about "couldn't put it down" helped.

But it also confirmed a few points about titles and target readers.

Many people are surprised when I tell them that we have very little say in the titles of our books. This is because the titles are so important at hooking readers and we authors often don't have a clue.

Although I'm proud to say that two of my bestselling books had titles I chose. These were Outback with the Boss (reprinted this year in Her Outback Boss) and Having the Boss's Babies.

On the other hand, In the Heart of the Outback was a book I loved. My publisher chose the title and I was quite happy with it at the time, but it didn't sell as well because the title didn't have enough hooks.

So it's a tricky business the titling of books, especially in series romance where the books are only on the shelves for such a short time.

Water, water everywhere...

It's still raining. In fact, it's been raining in Townsville all year! That's right -- almost all of last month and again in February.

We're completely cut off to the north, west and south by flood waters and if there were roads to the east, they'd be cut, too. The supermarkets only have long life milk, because the trucks can't get through, and a consignment of groceries has been sent up to Cairns by barge.

Some areas of NQ have received over a metre of rain in the past seven days.

And what am I writing about at the moment? Funny you should ask. It's a story set in Cape York in the wet season. I am so totally soaking up the appropriate vibes.