Thursday, December 18, 2008

A mother moment... mind the brag.

Those of you who have read Blind Date with the Boss may have noticed the dedication at the start.

Special thanks to my daughter Victoria, who knows how to dance.

For quite a few years, my younger daughter (known to most as Vicki, except her older brother who calls her Vixen, natch) used to be a professional dancer with Dance North, and so when I wanted a scene in this book where the heroine Sally, teaches Logan, her boss, how to dance, I immediately turned to Vicki for help.


By this time, Vicki had given up dancing and was busy in the middle of assignments at univeristy, but she downed tools to help me -- even wrote a possible scene, much of which I've used. That cheeky question that Sally asks, "Do you know how to count, Logan?' was Vicki's. So are the descriptions of what it feels like to waltz.
So again, a huge thank you, Vick!!!





She's a creative type, makes gorgeous cards and mobiles. This is a fire hydrant in Brisbane that she and her boyfriend painted. (The one on the right)

But last week, Vicki gave us an extra reason to be very proud of her. She graduated from the Univeristy of Queensland's Occupational Therapy course with first class honours and a prize for jointly scoring the highest grade point average over the four years of the course. Better still, she's going to work for Autism Queensland, as part of their Outreach Team, helping teachers and autistic kids all over the state.
My kind of heroine.

5 comments:

Ally Blake said...

What a star Barb! What a wonderful life she has led. And so beautiful too. She really is perfect fodder for a romance heroine.

Brag away!!!

Ally

Eleni Konstantine said...

Of course you should brag, Barb! Congratulations to Victoria for her achievements. I'm sure your wonderful support had something to do with it. :) I wish Victoria the best of luck and I admire her work to help autistic children.

And Ally's right, your daughter would make a great heroine.

Liz Fielding said...

What lovely news, Barb. Gorgeous, clever, talented -- you've every right to be proud. Well done you and Mr Barb!

JoyfullyHis said...

Mrs. Hannay, I hope you don't mind, but I've wandered onto your blog from your website. I wrote you an email, but it failed to go through. This is what I wrote: (spoiler alert)
Hello there,
I'm a fan from the US! I live in a tiny town in Oklahoma, and there are more cows that people. I have to tell you how much I enjoy reading your stories. I get a good chuckle from your writing and I have a hard time doing anything else until I finish your books. There are so many parts to Blind Date With The Boss that I absolutely loved. The part where the baby invades the office was SO funny. I can perfectly see how Logan must have looked and my laughs brought my kids into the room to see what was so funny. My other favorite part was when Sally took off the ballgown and handed it back. We all wish we could think of such grand gestures to get our point across to hardheaded men! Who would have thought there was so much sizzle in a waltz! And I love the fact that Logan made Sally soup when she was so sick. The ending was perfect. It's just the kind of happily-ever-after closure that absolutely convinces me that Sally and Logan were meant for each other. I am extremely greatful to the powers-that-be for those wonderful books by Australian writers that make it way over here to our little town. It's a breath of fresh air to see a new perspective and a new land. I can't get enough.
And I envy your spring! It is 27 degrees here, gray and miserable.
Thank you so much for a delightful read.
Fondly,
Mandi
Stay-at-home mom to Ian (4) and Erin (1) and wife of a police officer.

Barbara Hannay said...

Ally, Eleni, Liz, thank you so much for your lovely comments and wishes.
Mandi, THANK YOU for dropping by my blog with your lovely comments about “Blind Date with the Boss”. I’m sorry the email link from my website didn’t work. I must check it out.
You’ve no idea what a buzz we get hearing from readers. I was especially thrilled that the things you liked were all the bits I really liked and hoped readers would “get”. So thank you very, very much.
I can so imagine a tiny town in Oklahoma where there are more cows than people. It sounds very like the setting of my next book – “Her Cattleman Boss”.
And you know, I have a reference book on my shelf called “When You’re the Only Cop in Town”. There’s a story there, I’ve always wanted to write. So maybe one day… 
Thanks again,
Barbara