Choir of Hard knocks

Who's been watching this fabulous documentary on the ABC on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m.? I'm not sure that I've enjoyed any television show more. I've been ringing my daughters (one's a music teacher and the other an Occupational Therapy student) and urging them to watch it too.
Talk about inspiring!
The Choir of Hard Knocks is conducted by Jonathan Welch, a former tenor with Opera Australia, and its members are the homeless and the disadvantaged in Melbourne. Singing in the choir gives them a focus, a way to feel good about themselves and to kick their dependencies. The progression of their singing is impressive, the songs they sing are very appealing and you haven't missed out completely, because there are still two episodes to be shown.
If you are Australian, do yourself a favour, watch this and I swear you will feel all warm and fuzzy.
It's not soppy or sentimental. It's REAL and honest and just wonderful.
I understand that Jonathan had already launched a similar Street Choir in Sydney.
I would have loved this show anyhow, but one particular (and possibly bizarre) reason I'm interested (apart from the fact that I LOVE choirs) is that my heroine, Simone, from my next book NEEDED: HER MR. RIGHT goes the extra mile to help street kids. She raises money by cycling through the Himalayas and she teaches swimming every week to three Sydney street kids.
OK, I know Simone is a figment of my imagination.
Did I say that?
Ouch, I'm sorry, Simone.
I think I'll quit this blog tonight while I'm ahead.

In the name of research

Last night we had a totally new experience. Elliot and I hosted the city council’s corporate box at the professional bull riding championships.

Yeehaw!

This was the Troy Dunn International competition with $35,000 in prize money and there were champion bull riders from all over Australia as well as from the USA (Missouri, Montana, Texas) and Mexico.

Now, I know I write a lot of books about Outback cattle guys and I’ve been on cattle stations and even ‘helped’ (well, I’ve worked the gates) during branding and vaccinating newly bought weaners. And I have to say I LOVE getting involved with this life. I love the earthiness of the cattle yards and yes, I don’t mind the smell. I love the physicality of the work, the slight brush with danger. But I wasn’t exactly wrapt in the bull riding.

I did love seeing so many fit young guys swaggering about in big hats and nice fitting jeans, but I didn’t like to see them being thrown from the back of a 1,100 kg bull.

There were a lot of injuries – many more than in a football game and that’s saying something. (I did spy two of our NQ Cowboys football heroes in the crowd.)

Guys have this incredible hunger for rough and tumble danger, don’t they?

But I can only shake my head as I see them stagger from the arena holding an injured arm, limping or hopping, dazed and having to be helped out. (Yes, Gladiator did come to mind)

The best bit for me was when we were taken back stage. Not only was I a lot closer to these athletic young men, but I got to see the bulls. The maze of metal chutes and runs set up back stage is quite a feat of engineering and there were cattlemen everywhere sending the bulls down to their respective stalls, as well as shepherding the ones that returned from the arena. I was telling my daughter about this today and she asked me if the bulls seemed nervous. I can’t honestly say. But I ‘felt’ that the bulls weren’t nearly as nervous as their riders and given the difference in their sizes that’s not at all surprising.

One hilarious (in retrospect) but super scary moment was when one bull picked up a barrel holding the rodeo clown in its horns and tossed it up in the air. Amazingly, the clown emerged unscathed and turned the moment into a joke by leaping the barricade and scurrying into a little old lady’s lap.

I’m sure something of the atmosphere has seeped into my memory bank and who knows where it will surface in a book one day?

Oh, and who won the belt buckle and the $35,000? A really cute guy called Hugo from Mexico.

I've been at sea...

I’ve been away on holidays and came back to a stomach bug. Hence my silence – that and the fact that once I was recovering, I had to get my head down on my next book.

Writing came to a hiccuping halt yesterday afternoon, but I had a big discussion with my first-reader/husband and, bless him, I think I’ve seen the way forward.

It’s funny how this happens in nearly every book and I guess it’s part of the problem of being a writer who doesn’t plot ahead.

I start out with a very clear vision for the ‘situation’ my characters find themselves in, but that’s about all. I don’t want to know how they’re going to deal with this problem I’ve given them, because that will spoil the fun.

It’s like setting out from shore and sailing towards a dot on the horizon and planning to navigate by the sun and the stars. Suddenly mist comes in, obscuring the way. How does one navigate now?

For me, it’s a matter of blindly pushing on, feeling my way more cautiously and bumping into a few decoys. This week, one of the decoys came in the form of a secondary character. The hero’s uncle.

An uncle?

Now what is an uncle doing in a category romance, when we all know the story should be very tight and focused on the central couple? No wonder my writing felt wrong, totally unromantic. Said uncle has been replaced by the heroine’s ex-husband and the story feels completely different.

So now that’s nutted out, I hope to be sailing happily forward again.

During the week, the hardcover of my next book NEEDED: HER MR. RIGHT arrived. I wanted to scan it to show you, but the only image I could get is grainy and doesn’t do this beautiful cover justice. This is Book 2 in the Secrets We Keep trilogy and will be out in the UK and North America in September. If you remember last year, I said the ending involved a wedding at the beach and that’s what my cover depicts. Simone and Ryan look gorgeous.

Count me as one happy cookie!

Move over Bollywood...

We've had a wonderful break at Noosa that included visiting family and friends down south. A wonderful big family get-together for Mother's Day was gorgeous!!

Listened to an audio tape of the book ‘The Shifting Fog’ by Kate Morton on the drive home and thoroughly enjoyed it. Kate, a young Brisbane woman, earned over $1 million advance on this, her debut novel, and I can understand why it was so well received. It goes on sale in the UK as ‘The House at Riverton’ in July 2007. I hope it does really well. I’m sure many British readers will never guess that the author is a Queenslander.

On the last leg of our journey home we called in at Bowen, because I was very keen to see if we could catch a glimpse of the set of the movie ‘Australia’ that Baz Luhrmann is making there.

Over the past six weeks, the seaside end of Bowen’s main street has been transformed to depict Darwin in 1938. They’ve created an entire township – including a picture theatre, jail, pub...

Recreated 1938 hotel -- The Northern Territory Hotel

There's also a police station, a brothel, Chinatown and stockyards. 750 head of cattle have been penned there as well!

More of the set. There were calls in local newspapers for authentic 1930s cars.

I wasn’t sure what we’d be allowed to see, but we were quite pleased (Ok – make that incredibly excited) that we were allowed to get reasonably close to the set. A local told me a brief outline of the story, which runs on the delicious theme of The Lady and the Larrikin).

In 1938, Lady Sarah, (Nicole Kidman) comes out from England to Darwin on a flying boat to join her husband on his newly acquired Outback cattle property. A ringer from the station (Hugh Jackman – sigh!!) is supposed to greet her, but he’s in the pub brawling and they meet when he arrives through the pub window in a shower of broken glass.

Not impressed, Lady Sarah makes her own way to the property, only to discover that her husband is dead, which she apparently doesn’t mind, because he was quite a womaniser. Then cattle barons threaten to take over her property and she decides to take the cattle 1,500 kilometres to Darwin, to sell them at the sale yards. Of course, Hugh Jackman accompanies her on this hazardous journey and during that time the fall in love!

As you can guess, this is exactly my kind of story!!! In fact, I wish I had written it!

A local building is covered in signage in keeping with the movie

The story continues into WW2, and the 1942 bombing of Darwin takes place as well. Actually, all the sets you see here, including the pub, will be bombed! That’s happening in about 4 weeks and I’d love to be around when that happens!!

We weren’t lucky enough to see Nicole and Hugh while we were there, but apparently they regularly stroll through the town and speak to locals.

This elevated metal sheet provides shade for the actors

Actors (extras??) getting ready for their scene.

And of course, in North Queensland, Bowen has been re-christened Bowenwood!

Heading south...

I'm off to Noosa for a week (lots of long walks along the beautiful beach and through the National Park on the headland) and then I'm heading on to Brisbane for Mothers' Day to catch up with my daughters, my sisters, my Mum, my other grandchildren and other extended family.

Unfortunately, I will be writing while I'm on holiday. Well, actually, it's not unfortunate because I happen to love writing and get twitchy when I'm not writing anyway. And when I'm not writing, I'll be reading or watching a movie or eating and thinking about writing.



To keep you amused, I'm sending you off here to check out photos from my sister's cycling trip to the Himalayas. This trip inspired the background for the Secrets We Keep trilogy, coming later this year. I'll be back after this break, to tell you more.:)

The writing process among other things...

You know... I hear a lot about different writer's approaches to their craft. And I'm often keen to experiment with different ideas, but one thing that has never worked for me is The Character Sheet.
I've heard of many writers who fill these in before they start, so they know their characters in depth and I'm so in awe of this. It sounds utterly organised and professional, but it just doesn't work for me. Oh, I've filled in the charts, but for me it's like forcing toothpaste from an empty tube. Until I start writing, those lists of characteristics in the charts just never feel REAL. Once I start writing, the REAL details of my characters come to me. It's as if they exist in another dimension and the process of writing uncovers or awakens them.
For example, right now I'm half way through a book and I don't know who my hero's father is. I know he plays an important role in my hero's story. Fatherhood is a significant theme... again, you might well be saying:)
OK, I could sit down and force this father into life, or I can keep writing until he arrives on the page. And I know he will, when I really need him. Sounds like magic? It is, but it's why I love writing the way I do.

Oh and here's a bit of name dropping..
Today, my good friend Lindy Nelson Carr, Queensland Minister for the Environment, got me to pose in a photo with her to launch the Premier's Literary Awards.

Tee, hee. The Literary Board would have conniptions if they knew a M&B author was helping to launch their lofty award for proper literatishoore.

Anzac Day

Today, 25th April, is Anzac Day in Australia. We commemorate all the men and women who have given their lives to defend our nation, and we remember this day especially because it marks our first huge defeat at Gallipoli on April 25th, 1915.

Much has been written about Anzac Day, about whether we should celebrate war and why Australia commemorates a massive defeat. I don't plan to add to the debate today. I can't imagine being an Australian without recognising Anzac Day in some form. I can remember at primary school in those dreadful years when I was prone to giggling, but had to take part in a minute's silence. I would imagine fine young men, landing at Gallipoli, being shot before they reached the sand. It would stop the giggles, quick smart. And those imaginings have lingered ever since.

The poem below sums up rather well, what Anzac Day is all about.

Sir

Sir - would it help if I shed a tear
I swear it’s the first time since this time last year
My spine is a tingle - my throat is all dry
As I stand to attention for all those who died

I watch the flag dancing half way down the pole
That damn bugle player sends chills to my soul
I feel the pride and the sorrow - there’s nothing the same
As standing to attention on ANZAC Day

So Sir - on behalf of the young and the free
Will you take a message when you finally do leave
To your mates that are lying from Tobruk to the Somme
The legend of your bravery will always live on

I’ve welcomed Olympians back to our shore
I’ve cheered baggy green caps and watched Wallabies score
But when I watch you marching (Sir) in that parade
I know these are the memories that never will fade

So Sir - on behalf of the young and the free
Will you take a message when you finally do leave
It’s the least we can do (Sir) to repay the debt
We’ll always remember you - Lest We Forget

Damian (Dib) Morgan 1998

To the right is a modern picture of Anzac Cove, where it all began...

Traditionally, we eat Anzac biscuits on this day. They're made from oats, coconut, butter, flour and golden syrup and are quite yummy and similar to the biscuits sent to the soldiers at the front.

Lost in translation...

Just for fun, I pressed the "translate this page" button for one of my books on sale in Japan. Below is the result, but oh, dear. I THINK this must be Christmas Gift: A Family. But poor Hugh and Jo's story is barely recognisable.
I know the translation of the book is more accurate. Well... fingers crossed:)

Contents (from “BOOK” database)
The jaw of the accountant at the miscellaneous goods store which is small town of Australia every year had done the usual store clerk in Christmas Eve. There one car stopped with the emergency brake, the extreme handsome man got off. Becoming tense, the jaw dividing sewing involving from midst of the gift to the family, lifted in him who chooses the present. Oh with while and saying it runs, it waives that car which you go away, in addition it is start of every day. Be disheartened doing, when it returns to the house, while the mother rubbing the air, you informed the guest. He of the expectation which it starts waited at the kitchen! Snapping entering, you say that there is request in the jaw, but is.

Oh, and if you've read this far, here's another bit of news. A bullock escaped from the railway yards today and ended up in the Mall. Yes, there were traffic wardens on motorbikes trying to round up this beast In Townsville City Mall.
Apparently the poor fellow didn't want to be exported to India.

I should have known better...

I’ve had rather a mixed week. There have been a couple of lovely social occasions, including a gorgeous lunch to farewell one of my friends who is (sadly, for us) leaving town. Another friend’s husband did the cooking and everything was superb, especially a dish they call bugamundi. This is a combination of Moreton Bay bug (a small crayfish) and barramundi (a delicious fish, famous in North Queensland). These were stir-fried together with chilli and (many more things no doubt). Yummo!!

At the lunch, my friends, all teachers, shamed me into upping my exercise routine. My walks along the Strand are not enough. I should be “doing the hill”. The hill is Townsville’s famous Castle Hill and I used to walk up there with them but have slackened off in recent years.

“Let me practise on my own first,” I said, worried that I would be embarrassingly out of nick.

So on Wednesday morning I did the hill. I walked by road all the way from where I live (most people drive to the foothills), and I went to almost the top and was pleased that I managed this without any horrific gasping and panting. Then, as I neared the top and saw the place where the “goat track” joins the road, I was inspired to go down the goat track.

Big mistake.

I was about a quarter of the way down when I remembered that the last time I did this, I ended up in agony, but it was already too late to turn back. No way could I climb UP all those stairs. The goat track has hundreds of rough rock stairs and it's perched precariously on the edge of the hill. My thighs, by this time, were feeling distinctly shaky. My graduated lenses made it hard to judge these uneven steps and I tripped and nearly fell off the mountain on at least three occasions. I was terrified and exhausted.

Eventually, I made it home. But the round trip took two hours. And I soaked in a Radox bath instead of stretching… so you can guess the result.

Yes, screaming tight thigh and calf muscles for the rest of the week.

Of course, the view from the top is almost worth the pain. But I'm sure Phillipa Ashley would tell me that I should have known better than to do the goat track alone. (Read her book Decent Exposure to find out why:)

There have been other nice social events this week. My writing is chugging along – too slowly – but it is chugging. And I read The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley. Loved it so much I’ve ordered another of hers – Not That Kind of Girl.

Have started reading Summer at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs. I really enjoy Susan Wiggs and this book is a finalist in this year’s RITA.

Will restart my exercise routine again… tomorrow.

Competition news

The winner of my March comp was Carol Thompson of South Africa.

A copy of Seduced by the Playboy, including my award winning book, Her Playboy Challenge, will be posted to Carol as soon as the Easter Holiday is over. (In Australia we have holidays for Good Friday and Easter Monday.)


And now for a new competition. In honour of my RITA nomination for Claiming His Family, I am giving away a signed copy of that book. You can enter the comp by sending me an email with Family comp as the subject. Good luck!

Oh and in other news, my book, In The Heart Of The Outback goes on sale tomorrow! I've put a new exceprt on my website, if you'd like to check it out.

Photo magic

We've been playing with our wedding anniversary camera and I thought I'd show you some of the results. I hope they don't take you too long to download. Please let me know if they do.

The photo above of the moon was taken last week at Tarzali. I love the fact that we can actually see the man in the moon.



And how's this for heavenly splendour?



We're growing Euodia trees because they're host to the beautiful lapis blue Dunk Island butterfly (sometimes known as Ulysses and pictured below, but not by our camera.)


And we were excited to find a caterpillar on one of the trees. Below, you can see he was eating leaves voraciously, but for once we don't mind.






Now how's this for a phallic fungus? (See below) This was growing in our garden at Tarzali. Who's got a good name for it? Fairies' Delight?



And finally, a family moment. Uncle A and Lilly. Awww....

How one author celebrated her RITA nomination

I’ve been away at Tarzali for a few days and while I was there, I received the fabulous news that Claiming His Family has finalled in the Traditional section of Romance Writers of America’s RITA competition.

In the world of romance writers, this is the equivalent of being nominated for an Oscar, so I was a tad excited. Elliot was determined that we must go out to celebrate. That guy will grab every possible chance to celebrate!

“But it’s Monday night,” I tell him. “Nothing will be open up here.”

“We’ll find somewhere,” replies my confident husband.

And so we set off.

Now the Tablelands, for those who aren’t familiar, have villages (for want of a better description) all about twenty minutes (driving) apart. We headed off from Tarzali (home of The Round Bar) and went through Malanda (which has quite a good a pub and a motel with a restaurant) intent on finding one of the cute, little, yuppie dining places at Yungaburra – the Burra Inn, Eden House, Nick’s Place, Flynn’s etc.

On the way, we barely missed running over an echidna but arrived safely and, as I predicted... every eatery was in darkness.

“Oh, well, we’ll have to go to the Chinese place at Atherton,” says Elliot, trying to sound disappointed, when I know that secretly this was where he was hoping to end up.

But, what do you think, dear reader?

Exactly.

The Chinese place at Atherton was closed too.

“See!” I exclaim in my best I-told-you-so smug voice.

We drove on in a more subdued mood to find the only places open in Atherton were a pizza shop or KFC. KFC won. Don’t ask. OK?

We drove home through the night, munching hot, salty, potato chips and finally, quite late and wrapped in a pashmina, I sat on our veranda and ate the chicken and drank some champagne and together we watched the beautiful starry sky.

And it wasn’t such a bad way to celebrate the RITA nomination after all.

A good day

Yesterday my family had a very exciting day. We were able to give Elliot his extra birthday present, a painting we'd commissioned Peter Lawson, a north Queensland artist, to create. (Yes, Peter is related to Australia's famous writer, Henry Lawson.)

The painting was my son Richard's idea and we sent Peter lots of photographs of Elliot and his beloved haunt, the Burdekin River, where he loves to canoe and fish and where we all spent many very happy camping holidays when the children were young.

In fact, my first book, Outback Wife and Mother, was set on a cattle property on the banks of the Burdekin.





We didn't want a portrait as such -- just a scene with Elliot in it. And we're just thrilled with the result. I confess, I cried when I saw it, just knowing how much he would love it, which he does.

Townsville in World War 2

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about Townsville during the wartime and I’ve found it absolutely fascinating. The 1940s seem so long ago (and no, I was not born then!) but we’ve been in Townsville since 1972 and have seen so many changes that I’m sure I can feel how it must have been here during the war.

I walk along the Strand, which is so beautiful and landscaped now, with wide walkways and bike paths and gardens and tree plantings, and I can imagine how it was in 1942 – a simple beach with a narrow bitumen road running beside it, the sand littered with barbed wire barricades, as were the streets of North Ward. There were up to sixty military vessels moored in the bay. Huge guns manned Kissing Point. Schools were closed, families evacuated south. Americans arrived in their thousands and outnumbered Australians three to one.

The people of Townsville waited in trenches dug in their back yards during three Japanese air raids. Actually, the air raids were a bit of a fizzer and by the third raid, most people stayed in their beds or went to some vantage spot to watch the dog fight with American Airocobras.

Now we are fighting in a completely different arena. John Howard is signing treaties with Japan and the US and my son is going to Japan to work for six months.

I will never understand war.

But I love this photo below of Townsvilleans celebrating outside the station at the end of the war in 1945. See the big VICTORY sign on the front of the building? It was decorated with red, white and blue lights, and recreated during VP50. Fab!

It's time...

I think it's time I tidied my office. I mean, how long can I hide behind the excuse that I'm too busy?

I've finished the book. I've been away for a break. I'm in the early stages of another book. Any minute now, I'll be so involved in that book I'll think I'm too busy to tidy.

And my office is so bad that I'm not even game to show you how it looks. No, that is not mine pictured above.

My printer is still covered in the manuscript from my last book. My cork board fell down from the wall about a month ago and it's still propped on the sofa along with the collage from the last book, as well as my Alpha Smart and about twenty books. There's a scattering of photographic equipment and foreign editions and books, books books everywhere. One thing's certain, I really need to buy another bookcase. Oh, and a bigger office. Maybe like the one above - but with bookcases?


Funny though -- how quickly we get used to having such things as an office. Until my children left home, I never had more than a corner of the bedroom, or a small desk in the foyer right next to the front door. And I was very productive and much tidier then.

I might show you a photo when this office is tidy. Now that's incentive. And if the feng shui theory is correct, my work will be much more effective in a tidy office, too. Here's hoping!

Back again and ebooks

I've been away for a week. Had the BEST time retreating, brainstorming, writing, talking, eating, laughing, drinking and going for long walks with romance author friends.
Wow!
It was exactly the kind of restorative time I needed. I'm bursting to get on with my next book and the one after that and...
You get the picture!


Have just discovered that In the Heart of the Outback is available as an ebook.


Check out this link.


I guess ebooks are the hot new things. One of my friends has an ebook reader and has decided that this way she can buy as many books as she likes without her husband knowing.


It would certainly solve the problem of my TBR pile which is vying for height with Mt. Everest.

City life...

There really are some wonderful things about living in the heart of the city. I've seen several movies in the last few weeks and I just walk two blocks to the cinema. Also our Townsville Cinema group has started up again for this year. I actually have to drive to that theatre (gasp!), but they serve the yummiest choc top ice creams and the movie was superb. "Live and become" about an Ethiopian boy whose mother sends him with Jewish refugees to Israel. He is adopted there by an Israeli family and it's the story of his life and adjustment. It doesn't sound too exciting, I know, but believe me it was riveting and so poignant, I cried.

Early tomorrow morning, I'm doing one of my very favourite things -- jumping on a plane and heading south. And today was frantic, with so many last minute purchases to be made before packing. But how cool is it to be able to walk to the end of my block and find an ATM, a newsagency, a chemist, a bottle shop and bakery, a hairdresser and a supermarket?

Yes, I do love the convenience of city life when I'm here, but then in the country I love that, too. I'm a typical Pisces -- 2 fish with their tails tied together, swimming in opposite directions.

And the city's not all good. We are currently collecting samples of soot on our balcony to be tested, as Elliot's concerned about pollution from the port.

On the plane I'll be reading "The Memory Keeper's Daughter". I sneaked a look at the first few pages and I can't wait to read the lot. I'm sure it's my kind of book.

Will be back in five days, but may post before then.

Seduced by the Playboy

For those readers who may have missed my novel Her Playboy Challenge, this book is being reissued in the UK in a By Request 3 in 1 called Seduced by the Playboy.

Her Playboy Challenge was a RITA finalist in 2004 and the winner of the R*BY (Romantic Book of the Year Award) in 2005.

Here's the blurb: Jen Summers has been left in charge of a PR company for two weeks -- not a problem, she thinks, until a gorgeous stranger arrives in her office -- with her little niece in tow! Jen has no idea how she'll juggle being a temporary 'mum' and holding down a glamorous new job... Then her sexy stranger decides to give her a helping hand. Harry Ryder is used to helping women into bed -- not with small children. But Jen is caring, shy, and Harry just can't help himself. In fact, the more Jen insists they're not suited, the more Harry finds that he doesn't want to be a playboy any more... he wants a wife!

You can order the book online from Mills and Boon
or from amazon.co.uk

Music and Lyrics

I saw this movie on the weekend and enjoyed it very much. I thought Hugh Grant was at his most charming, that Drew Barrymore played her role very well and I thoroughly enjoyed the witty dialogue. Whenever I watch a romantic movie I can't help thinking how similar they are to our books and I can nearly always learn something from them. They're also useful for teaching others in workshops about the structure of romance.
So, yesterday, I did a quick analysis of the plot of M&L. I may have some scenes a little out of sequence and my method of analysis relies on a hotchpotch of different theories, but in case anyone finds it useful, here it is:

My Hotchpotch Analysis of Music and Lyrics (Hugh Grant plays Alex Fletcher and Drew Barrymore plays Sophie Fisher).

1. Hero has a problem

Alex Fletcher is an aging rock star from the group Pop! And he’s at a meeting with TV producers of a show called “80’s Has Beens,” when he discovers he won’t be asked to sing, but to box! Horror!

2. The mentor’s solution introduces a new problem and a time limit.

Horrified by the idea of boxing, Alex discusses alternatives with his agent, who tells him that the latest young megastar Cora, is a fan of his and wants him to write a song for her to sing with him. Only problem, the song has to by produced by Friday and Alex is no longer on working terms with his lyricist.

3. Mentor tries to help again

Alex’s agent produces a lyricist, but he and Alex can’t get on at all.

4. Arrival of the heroine

Sophie arrives to water the plants (replacement for regular), spikes her finger on a cactus, then disappears.

5. Call to adventure for the heroine

Sophie waters the plants again and Alex is still trying to come up with song lyrics with the lyricist. She overhears and sings a couple of lines, which Alex really likes. He discovers she has a talent for lyrics and wants her to stay.

6. Heroine refuses the call.

Sophie doesn’t want to get involved. Alex runs after her and begs her to help him and eventually persuades her. Her sister is a huge fan of Alex’s!!

7. They work together and begin to get to know each other.

This period takes at least thirty-six hours of working closely together. Sophie rearranges Alex’s furniture, reveals that she was a literature major and has a past in which a university lecturer/lover hurt her (didn’t tell her about his fiancée). He has since written a book about her, thinly disguised as Sally Michaels. At the very end of this period, Alex and Sophie make love.

8. They achieve their goal,.

Cora loves their song.

9. A celebration and a set back that brings a reversal of who helps who.

Alex and Sophie, the agent and his girlfriend have a celebratory dinner, but this is spoiled when Sophie sees Sloane Coates, the man she loved and who treated her so badly. She hides in the toilet. Alex wants to help her to confront this demon. He persuades his agent’s girlfriend to swap her glamorous red dress for Sophie’s jeans. He helps Sophie to rehearse what she must say to Sloane. But although this helps Sophie to face up to Sloane, she still can’t let out her anger and tell him what she really feels. Alex attempts to do this for her, but Sloane manages to put him down.

10. Another setback and an extension of their goal

They view Cora’s rehearsal of their song and Sophie is horrified by the way Cora wants to perform it. Sees it as a total travesty of their art. Alex is more philosophical and prepared to go with the flow to at least make some money. On several occasions, (including a huge, glamorous party) he has to restrain Sophie from confronting Cora. Cora also insists that they write another verse.

11. Emotional connections.

Alex is tired of performing at third rate venues to aging housewives. Sophie reassures him that he is doing something meaningful, putting fun in the lives of ordinary people. His little songs have worth. He is grateful to her. She feels very emotionally connected to him. There is a moment where he might progress their relationship, but he holds back. This is where they might take the next step towards love or stay apart.

12. Heroine refuses another/ last “call to adventure”

Sophie is very upset about Cora’s mistreatment of their song and says she can’t help Alex. Alex desperately needs her help to write the last four lines, but she simply can’t.

13. A moment of reflection.

Time is pressing, nerves are frayed, emotions are involved. She is seen listening to his ‘big failure’ CD at home. He, at his flat, is reading the book Sloane wrote about her.

14. Black Moment

Alex is becoming increasingly more desperate, but Alex can’t think of any lyrics for the last verse. They fight. He tells her that Sloane Coates’s assessment of her in the Sally Michaels book was accurate and she’s devastated. Leaves.

15. Resolution in which Alex reveals that he’s been transformed

At final rehearsal, Alex discovers that Sophie faxed through the last verse to Cora.

Sophie comes to the concert against her will (persuaded by her sister). But when Alex is introduced and it’s announced that he wrote the lyrics to the next song, she is so incensed that her name has been left out, that she begins to walk out. However, Alex is singing a different song, a song he wrote just for her in which he apologises, admits he has a bad track record, but asks her to understand that he loves her.

And then, after a brief but passionate reconciliation, Alex and Cora sing the song Sophie wrote and they sing it the way Sophie wanted them to, because Alex convinced Cora that he needed her help to win Sophie and Cora is a romantic at heart.

So there you go. It sounds very basic when it's pared down like that, but as a romance writer, I find it interesting to look at the bare bones of a story. Mind you, I don't like to write in analytical way, but it can useful at the editing stage to look at one's own plot to see if it has sufficient development.

My 25th book!

Sophie and Mark now have a title and a release date. Their story will be called
THE BRIDESMAID'S BEST MAN and it will be released in January 2008.

This means they will be part of two milestones!!! The first month of Mills & Boon's 100th anniversary, which is the biggie!!! (Isn't it wonderful that M&B have been publishing since 1908?) And my personal milestone -- 25 books.

The funny thing is, I've been thinking about the need to "brand" myself as an author, thinking I need to write all my books set in the Outback with a certain kind of hero. (One of my author mates has suggested my brand is a modern Lucy Walker -- I wish.)

I'm not sure how readers feel about that and I would love to hear if they like to know exactly what kind of story they're going to get when they pick up an author's book. More or less like knowing if this author is a cherry ripe of a peanut brittle. For example, when I read Rosamunde Pilcher, I know her books are almost always going to be set in Cornwall or London or Scotland (with a dash of Spain or America thrown in), and I know I'm going to be reading about reasonably wealthy, upper class people with artistic sensibilities, who invariably love gardening or the countryside. I know I can expect warm, emotional stories with some delightful, witty insights, some wise older characters and some less wise young ones, etc, etc. And then there's RP's distinctive voice.

And I love knowing that I can trust her to write about these things. The expectation is part of the enjoyment, I guess. Dick Francis or James Herriot are similarly reliable (no, I didn't say predictable. (quick examples off the top of my head.)

I have no idea if I have a distinctive voice, but anyway, to get back to the point I began making a few paragraphs ago, Sophie and Mark's story is set right in the Outback on the Queensland/Northern Territory border and Sophie is an English girl, pregnant after a one night stand with Mark (when they were best man and bridesmaid). But the title doesn't have a whisper of the Outback in it. I guess it will be on the blurb, however and may be evident on the cover -- and does it matter? I haven't a clue.


Did you know that Rosamunde Pilcher used to write for Mills and Boon? That's why she's my hero. I dream of some day writing a longer book set in WW2, in the vein of the "The Shell Seekers".