Archived 2008 News Pieces
December 2008
Hello everyone, I can't believe it's mere weeks and days away from christmas, eek! The weather certainly feels cold enough here in Dublin for snow so you never know, 
we might get a white christmas. I'm wishing you all well wherever you are and wherever you end up spending christmas. In the spirit of the festive season I'm going to give away two brand new hardback copies of my April 2009 release 'The French Tycoon's Pregnant Mistress'. The first two people who contact me by email when they see this update will get copies of the book which won't be available in the shops until the end of next March so it's literally hot off the press. Or it will be when I get the author copies any day now :-) .
For the first few runners up I'll have some lovely picturesque 2009 calendars of Ireland and little knick-knacks to help see in the new year. I'll leave you with some pictures of Dublin all-a-glow with christmas lights.
In the meantime, good luck with the christmas shopping and drink copious amounts of mulled wine to see you through the festivities (and/or the shopping!).
Christmas Lights in Dublin
Have a great holiday and may 2009 bring us all abundance in health, prosperity, happiness and love (not too tall an order is it?!) ...
November 2008
I can't believe it's November, and here in Ireland we've had a really cold snap already. Brrr! As I write this and as you read this, America will have chosen their new president, so it's exciting times.
I recently sold book number eight, it's been titled 'Ruthlessly Bedded, Forcibly Wedded' and it'll be out in the UK in July '09. It features an arrogant Sardinian called Vicenzo Valentini who believes that Cara Brosnan played an integral part in the tragic death of his sister and is determined to make her atone. He whisks her off to his home in Sardinia, and there he finds out that all is not as he has assumed it to be.
These arrogant heroes really do create a lot of drama don't they?! But that's why we love them of course…
Right now, I'm hard at work on book number nine. It's a story that features two secondary characters from a previous book, 'Bought for the Frenchman's Pleasure'. It's Sorcha's brother Tiarnan Quinn's story, and also her best friend Kate. I had a few queries from readers wondering if Tiarnan would get his own story, so this is it, and hopefully, all going well (if my editor likes it), it should be hitting shelves late next year.
These are the models I'm using as my inspiration for Tiarnan and Kate:
And as I'm setting some of the book in Martinique, it's lovely to escape the rain and grey skies and immerse myself in a tropical paradise for a few hours every day.
Annie West pulled out a winner for her competition, and the lucky lady received a signed copy of Annie's brilliant, 'The Desert King's Pregnant Bride,' - if you haven't already read it, go out and buy it now, it's a guaranteed fantasy read that'll take you far away from all the economic doom and gloom at the moment…
Another great escapist read is the inimitable India Grey's next release 'Taken for Revenge, Bedded for Pleasure,' - it's not due out in the shops until January, but should be available in libraries in the UK and Ireland now so you can get a sneak preview! Otherwise, it's just the thing to buy and stay indoors on those cold January days…
My own next release is out in the US in December, 'The Mediterranean Billionaire's Blackmail Bargain.' It's just the right size for a stocking filler for christmas…;-) And it should be available from the end of this month.
I'll be back before christmas to wish you all the best and in the meantime, happy reading and writing. And if anyone is as obsessed with Strictly Come Dancing as I am, here's hoping John Sargent survives for another few weeks!
September Newsflash!
Annie West is running a competition on her website and you can win a copy of her brilliant October UK release, 'The Desert King's Pregnant Bride' and also a copy of my October UK release, 'The Spaniard's Marriage Bargain', so why not check it out?
Here's the link: http://www.annie-west.com/contest.html
Good luck! And I hope getting kids back to school and getting into the swing of September is going well for everyone...
Back soon,
News for August 2008
Hi there, I’m back from San Francisco and just about over the jet lag. I’ve left Trish Wylie on the loose in the US, and she’s currently causing mayhem in Los Angeles. God help those Angeleno men…
My first RWA conference was a brilliant experience. I got to meet so many authors I hadn’t met like Jane Porter (as stunningly beautiful and nice as her pictures); Daphne Clair who I slightly idolise; Jennie Lucas who looks more Irish than me; and Trish Morey all the way from Australia and exactly how I imagined her - warm and funny. Not to mention catching up with Kate Walker, Jacqui Baird, Carole Mortimer, Susan Stephens, Sharon Kendrick and Sandra Marton – who was awarded her 75th pin on the friday night at the impossibly glitzy Harlequin party. And so many others…
We were taken out for tea by the lovely editors from Mills and Boon and here are some of the authors who went.
Suzy Clarke, Kate Walker, Heidi Rice (Left) — Jacqueline Baird and Carole Mortimer (Right)
Jennie Lucas, Trish Wylie, Sandra Marton, Sharon Kendrick
On the first day of the conference we had probably one of the most exciting things for me, the literacy signing. This is where you go into a huge room, find your name on a table (it’s all laid out in alphabetical order) and as if by magic, there is a box of your books waiting for you. The doors open at a certain time and suddenly hundreds of people are pouring into the room. Ok, admittedly they’re all heading to see Nora Roberts, or Sherrilyn Kenyon, or Kate Walker, or Jane Porter. You get my drift. Here’s me and my lovely neighbour Crystal Green who writes for Blaze.
Crystal Green Abby at RWA
RWA Booksigning
But I was very chuffed to have a few people stop by to see me, especially Sally, so thanks Sally! I was even more chuffed when people knew the books already. I still think they go out there into a big void so it’s always a thrill to know that they do find their way into people’s hands.
I did get out of the hotel occasionally and had a lovely long walk with Sharon Kendrick one day all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf. We stopped by Grace Cathedral on the way and did the labyrinth inside the main entrance. And then Heidi Rice, myself and Sharon did a little tour of Haight-Ashbury too, stopping off in a very eccentric dippy hippy hotel to have tea and croissants. Well, I had the croissant.
I also got to go to a ballgame with an Irish friend who lives in San Francisco.
San Francisco Ballpark
I’ve now got a very tight dreadline looming so it’ll be no daylight for me for the next few weeks. At least with the rainy weather we’re having it’s not hard to stay indoors.
I hope you’re all enjoying the last few weeks of summer holidays! I’ll be back soon as soon as I have more news to report…
All the best
News Update for July
Hello everyone, I can’t quite believe that it’s July, where has the year gone?! Since my trip to Connemara in the west of Ireland I’ve been busy doing more day job work – which I still haven’t retired from, funny that! – and am only now sitting back down to write the next book. What a relief!
In the meantime I’ve since been back to Connemara – can’t seem to get away from that place – for another job. Here are a couple of pics I took, gorgeous isn’t it?
Connemara
Unfortunately the weather has since turned and we’re going through a rainy spell, surprise surprise.
But, lots of exciting things are coming up, namely the 2008 RWA conference at the end of this month which is being held in San Francisco, in this hotel.
I can’t wait to get there and see lots of friends, this writer’s life can be very isolating so it’s good to connect, and as I believe there are something like 3,000 delegates (gulp), there’ll be lots of connecting.
I had the honour of a visit to Dublin recently by the lovely India Grey who has her new book hitting the shelves in August.
Mistress: Hired for the Billionaire’s Pleasure is an absolute corker of a read. Set in England with a gorgeous hero, it’s about Orlando and Rachel and how they find love after a long painful journey of self discovery, for both of them. It’s the perfect passionate summer read. The last scene in particular is beautifully evocative of a really idyllic dreamy English location, so go and buy it!
I was also lucky enough to get a sneak peek at Annie West’s October UK release, The Desert King’s Pregnant Bride. Annie captures the extreme romance and passion of a devastatingly attractive Sheikh King and the woman he falls for, Maggie, who is just a simple horse woman. It’s set in a fantasy laden kingdom, and is hot and sensual, just gorgeous, an Annie West classic. And speaking of Annie, we had one of our periodic two hour phone calls recently, such a treat, but am thinking it might actually be cheaper to emigrate to Australia?!
For any aspiring writers out there, the mother hen and lovely Kate Walker has launched the 2nd edition of her by now famous, 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance. It’s a must have, it has loads of brilliant tips, insights, and exercises for writing that manuscript that no editor will be able to turn down.
As for me, well I have a book on the shelves at the moment, The Mediterranean Billionaire’s Blackmail Bargain. It’s the story of Dante and Alicia and a little case of mistaken identity. I keep going into my local bookshop and rearranging the shelves so that my book features, shall we say, a little more prominently. Sorry Easons!
Next out is the US release of The Kouros Marriage Revenge in September. I’m really excited about this as it was my third UK publication. Kallie and Alexandros have a tangled history and when Kallie bumps into him for the first time in eight years, the fireworks explode. Alexandros is dark and determined to avenge what he thought Kallie was responsible for, by forcing her into a marriage of convenience. But what happens when he finds out he’s been mistaken?
Then in October there is the UK release of The Spaniard’s Marriage Bargain. This book is very special to me because the premise I’ve started out with is an unusual one. It will certainly beg the indulgence of the reader to see what has motivated the heroine Rowan, to do what she did. Her husband Isandro certainly can’t forgive her, but will he be able to once he knows her reasons for having walked away from him and their baby son two years previously?
In celebration of it being summer I’ve got some copies of books to give away to whoever gets in touch via my email…I’ve got one hardback of The Spaniard’s Marriage Bargain and a handful of my current release The Mediterranean Billionaire’s Blackmail Bargain, so get in touch and I’ll post them out. The first person to get in touch will get The Spaniard’s Marriage Bargain.
In the meantime I wish you all well and have a lovely July, I’ll be back in August with news of the RWA conference in San Francisco…and if you’re going to be at the RWA conference too, come and find me and say hello!
All the best
April/May 2008 Update
Hello everyone, I hope spring and the longer days and warmer weather is beginning to make winter seem like a distant memory, despite April showers. I’ve been busy working on my seventh book and am glad to say that it’s in its very final stages. I’ll have a bit of a break now while I go back to my day job for a few weeks. I’ll be working and living in Connemara, a stunning part of the country.
Connemara
It’s a lovely time of the year to be heading to the west of Ireland and I can’t wait to get out of the city.
After the job I’m going to be getting stuck into book number eight, and preparing for my trip to the RWA conference in San Francisco at the end of July. I’m due to be sharing a room with fellow Irish author Trish Wylie – say no more. I can’t wait to see the madness of it all…and with Trish being practically a veteran she’ll be a great guide to have. She has also agreed to step into the lovely Natasha Oakley’s shoes should Ms Oakley win the RITA award for best series romance for her book The Tycoon’s Princess Bride which was part of the Niroli series. I’ll be there to hold her train as she accepts the award on Natasha’s behalf.
This is just a quick note, I’ll be back with more news in a bit – take care for now! And happy reading and writing.
February 2008 Update
Welcome to the start of the end of winter and hopefully the start of Spring. Optimistic I know, especially here in blustery rainy Ireland. But still, there are more and more days with that hint of a certain smell in the air. And that's not just the cows, I promise.
One of the most important things I have to tell you about is that together with my fellow Irish author, the lovely Trish Wylie, we are going to be doing a workshop here in Dublin on Saturday March 8th, in Fitzpatrick's Castle Hotel, Killiney, Co Dublin on - you guessed it - Mills and Boon Romance.
We are doing it at the kind invitation of the Inkwell Writers Workshop,
and if you check out their website: www.inkwellwriters.ie, and click on workshops it'll give you all the details. And not only that, the lovely Jenny Hutton, an extremely experienced Editor from the Richmond offices of Mills and Boon will also be attending, so for any aspiring authors out there, it's an unmissable opportunity. Trish Wylie also has loads of information on her blog, so you can check that out too at: www.trishwylie.blogspot.com. And hopefully we will see you there?
Liz Fielding is celebrating her 50th book publication this year, a remarkable achievement, and she's having a blog party to celebrate at: www.lizfielding.blogspot.com, and I've been lucky enough to be asked to contribute a blog, so I'll be there the last week in March talking about my UK release that month of Bought for the Frenchman's Pleasure.
This book is my fourth for Harlequin Mills and Boon and a very proud personal achievement. When I sold the first book back in March 2006, I almost expected that was it! But of course it wasn't, and thankfully I'm still being asked to write and come up with new ideas which is one of the nicest parts of the job.
Bought for the Frenchman's Pleasure features an Irish heroine: Sorcha, and an arrogant and I hope deliciously gorgeous French hero, Romain. It's special to me because I've set parts of it here in Ireland, in Dublin and also in the far west, on Inis Mor, an island famous for its fort, Dun Aengus.
Sorcha & Romain
Inis Mor
It was lovely getting to mention the classy and famous Dublin Shelbourne Hotel in the book too, as it has been recently refurbished. Unfortunately I haven't yet had the pleasure of dining in the restaurant with its gorgeous banquette seats, but my characters did. Lucky them.
It's also extra special because I got to set part of it in India, one of my favourite countries. I backpacked in India many years ago with a friend, and we went to a place called Udaipur, a stunningly beautiful lake town in Rajasthan which incidentally was featured in the Bond film Octopussy. We used to look longingly across the lake (from our far less salubrious surroundings) to the Lake Palace Hotel and imagine that one day we wouldn't be penniless backpackers but able to afford to stay in the five star resort.
Lake Palace Hotel
Well I haven't made it back there yet but Romain and Sorcha did and I'm pleased to say they had a lovely lunch in the Lake Palace, so we can all live vicariously through them. I hope you enjoy the book which is out in the UK in March and in the US in April.
In early February in London there is a glitzy cocktail party to officially launch the Centenary year of Mills and Boon.
One hundred years of successful publication from 1908-2008. And still producing astounding statistics. Mills and Boon is also launching in India this year, www.millsandboonindia.com which will be fascinating to watch. I have no doubt they'll go down more than well in the land of Bollywood movies which are so gloriously romantic.
In July and August I'm heading off to San Francisco for the RWA conference which is being held in the JW Marriott hotel. And I'm so excited as it's my first big writer's conference to attend as a newly published author.
Other book releases in the UK this year are The Mediterranean Billionaire's Blackmail Bargain in July, about Italian Dante D'Aquanni and Alicia Parker who is convinced that he has fathered and cruelly deserted her sister's unborn child, or has he? And then in October comes The Spaniard's Marriage Bargain featuring the autocratic Isandro Vicario Salazar and Rowan Carmichael, she is the society trophy wife who did the unthinkable and unforgivable: deserted her husband and child, and for no apparent good reason. But then she comes back to claim her child, but will her reasons for leaving be enough for Isandro to understand why she did what she did?
Happy reading and writing!
Best for now
