The right track

I'm beginning a new wip and am at that dangerous stage of being perfectly capable of charging off in completely the wrong direction. It's happened before and I'm not naive enough to think that it won't ever happen again. But by knowing my characters inside out, by knowing what motivates them and how they'll respond to things I hope I can at least minimise the risk of getting it all horribly wrong. So that's what I'm up to this wet and rainy afternoon - fleshing out my characters with the kind of detail that will never make it into the book (that I'm imaginatively calling Dan and Zoe) but will keep me on the right track. I hope...

Happy Birthday to me!

It's my birthday today (a Significant One, ouch) and I'm celebrating by spending time with family, admiring my gorgeous presents, eating cake and going into denial. What plans do you have for the weekend?

One More Sleepless Night

Book 6 has sold! It's out in May 2013 and is called 'One More Sleepless Night'. Rather apt for my insomniac and nightmare-ridden heroine, don't you think?! (Rather apt for me too, although my sleepless nights are currently due to my six-month old, who's discovered how to roll on to her tummy and then gets stuck. Usually at 4am.)

Hello Riva!

So many exciting things are happening today, I barely know where to start.

Firstly, there's the fact that The Couple Behind the Headlines is now available a) on the UK shelves and b) for download.

Secondly, Riva is back! There's a seriously cool Facebook app here with info about the fab books and the awesome author,s and there's even a competition.

And thirdly I'm off on holiday! (Apparently endless rain and no internet, but who cares, because with any luck I'll be able to see my book on the shelf for the first time evah!)

And as there are already way too many exclamation marks for one post, I'm off!!

What next?

The revisions are in for my latest book - hooray! Of course, the minute I hit send I figured it might well need an epilogue, but we'll see what my ed says. So now I'm thinking about what to write next. I have a few ideas for an M&B but also have something else brewing in the dim recesses of my mind.

A while back there was a first line thingy on Facebook. My entry went something like this:

'Of all the things Lady Miranda Turner was expecting to see on striding into the catering tent, the chef upside down in the vat of bouillabaisse was not one of them.'

I'm kind of intrigued to see where this could go and really really want to be able to write 'Hmm, things were looking a bit fishy.'

Goodreads Giveaway!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Couple Behind the Headlines

by Lucy King

Giveaway ends August 30, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

New Look Riva

After a bit of an absence, RIVA is back! And with a whole new look. You can check out the covers on the M&B Facebook page. Personally I love the funky new designs but what I really would like to know, is what do YOU think?

The Couple Behind the Headlines

Hmm, how did it get to be August so soon? Anyway, it is, and that means my latest M&B Modern, The Couple Behind the Headlines, is on sale on the M&B website, a whole month ahead of appearing on UK shelves. Woohoo!! Here's the blurb...

It-girl Imogen Christie has been getting up-close-and-personal with financial hotshot Jack Taylor. Think that’s wise, Miss Christie? We all know what happened to your last hook-up…he’s now engaged to your best friend!

Considering Jack’s history, it would be shocking if they lasted more than one night! But with the paparazzi spotting them all over London, the night before and the morning after, maybe Jack will have to add a new word to his vocabulary—'relationship'. Unless Imogen’s heart is in much more danger than she thinks...?

This one was such fun to write, not only because I adore the hero, Jack, but also because I got to catch up with Luke and Emily from my first book, Bought: Damsel in Distress. Brilliant!

New cover

I've just seen the cover for my September M&B Modern, The Couple Behind the Headlines, and am liking! It captures the feel of my socialite heroine and playboy hero perfectly. What do you think?

 

Why I haven't been blogging lately...

Is it because I've been...

a) moving house?
b) looking after a sick small person?
c) working on revisions?
d) busy with EFL examining and exam marking
e) without internet access - see a)
f) all of the above?

And the answer is ... f)

Am much looking forward to a calmer time of things next week!

Getting gingerly back in the saddle

OK, so it's been *ahem* a little while since I took a look at my wip, but now that things are beginning to settle down a bit here and I seem to be getting a 3ish hr chunk of free time in the mornings, there's really no excuse not to get back to work. Which I really need to do because these revisions are not going to write themselves. Who knows, a few weeks away from the story might even give me fresh perspective. Here's hoping!

Catching up

Goodness time flies when you're up to your neck in washing and nappies. So much so that it's sort of slipped me by that a) Say It with Diamonds is out in the US this month and b) an autographed bundle of all 4 of my books is available over at Brenda Novak's awesome annual online auction for diabetes research.

What will I forget next...?

The best laid plans...

My plans for last week, which involved doing lots and achieving heaps before my due date, didn't work out because look who turned up (8 days early) on Tuesday ...

Emma

Lucky 7 meme

I've been tagged in the Lucky 7 meme by the fabulous Michelle Conder, whose debut M&B Modern, Girl Behind The Scandalous Reputation, is out now and is currently M&B's Book of the Month. Apparently I have to go to page 77 of my current wip, then go to line 7 and quote the next 7 lines/sentences/paragraphs of the book, then tag another lucky 7 peeps. So here's my contribution (all 7 paragraphs!), from Some Like It Hot, the wip I'm in the middle of revising...

‘Oh my God,’ breathed Nicky, touching her mouth and staring wide-eyed as Rafael dived into the pool, leaving her to stand there and try and make sense of the extraordinary turn of events the afternoon had taken.

What on earth had that been all about? One minute, faintly concerned by the rough strangled groan he’d let out when he’d been rubbing cream into her shoulders, she’d been politely enquiring after his health, the next she’d been dragged into his arms and had had the life kissed out of her.

And why would he do that? she wondered dazedly for a moment before her head cleared of the shock and the dizziness, and the only feasible – however unlikely – answer came to her. He couldn’t fancy her, could he?

No. It was impossible. He’d shown no indication whatsoever that he did. In fact, what with the whole braining him business, and the way he’d kept himself so busy over the last twenty-four hours and very definitely out of her way, she’d got the impression that she was more of a nuisance than an attraction. Which she could well understand because she hadn’t exactly been the ideal house guest so far.

Yet there was no denying the intensity and the passion behind that kiss. She could still feel heat of Rafael’s mouth moving over hers, the pressure of his hands on her body and the tension that had been vibrating through him. She could still feel his tongue sliding through her lips and tangling with hers with the kind of skill and focus that her former self would have revelled in.

And she could most certainly still feel the hard length of the arousal that had been throbbing so insistently against her abdomen.

Good heavens, she thought, blinking in surprise as it became pretty obvious that he did, in fact, want her. Who’d have imagined...?

My 7 tagees are in fact only 3, as I'm rather late to the party:

Trish Wylie
Electra Shepherd
India Grey

Say It with Diamonds on sale at harlequin.com!

My May Harlequin Presents Extra, Say It with Diamonds, is available now at the Harlequin website - a whole month before hitting the shelves. Check it out and buy it here. You can also browse the book and read the first chapter here!

A diamond review

RT Book Reviews gives Say It with Diamonds 4.5 stars!! Here's what else they have to say about it...

With the age of 35 looming on the horizon and a series of dating disasters in her past, jeweler Bella Scott is on the verge of giving up on love. Then a gorgeous client, William Cameron, walks into her store, requesting a valuation of a mouth-watering collection of jewelry. Attraction smolders between them, but Cameron likes his affairs hot and short, whereas Bella hasn’t given up hope on commitment and a family. Cameron has a plan to seduce Bella into having an affair with him. But what happens when his plan backfires on him? Red-hot passion, humor and relatable characters make this story a winning keeper.

Just the boost I need to crack on with these revisions. Thank you, RT Book Reviews!

Revisions

Well, the revisions are in, and are pretty much what I was expecting. While my heroine is conflict-central, my hero is conflict-lite, which doesn't make for a hugely balanced read. A lot of his issues are there - I just haven't delved into them enough. So that's what I'll be doing in the next few days - balancing my laptop on my bump and my characters' conflicts. I have a feeling I could be in for a rollercoaster of a ride!

Giveaway ends soon

For a chance to win a copy of my May Harlequin Presents Exta, Say It with Diamonds head over to goodreads.com. Only a day or so left to enter, so hurry!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Say It with Diamonds

by Lucy King

Giveaway ends March 18, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Middle of March already???

Heavens, doesn't time fly?! After not much sleep and a LOT of eye-wateringly early mornings I got the book done, and sent it in a fortnight ago - only a couple of days late, hooray!

While I wouldn't like to do it on a regular basis, there's definitely something to be said for having a tight deadline to motivate one's muse. With no time to faff around (and I can spend DAYS faffing) I had no option but to immerse myself in the story and just write it.

No doubt there'll be revisions aplenty - not least because the ending was, as usual, rather rushed. I just hope they arrive before the babe does! (And that I don't have to do a total rewrite *shudder*...)

The RoNAs

Today sees the celebration of the RNA's newly-restructured and rebranded romantic novel awards, the RoNAs, in London. So wish I could be there, but being the size of a house at the moment and about as mobile, that's sadly just not possible.

Best of luck to everyone nominated, especially my RIVA stable-mate, Kate Hardy, for her medical romance, A Christmas Knight, which has been nominated for the RoNA Rose Award. Go Kate!

Goodreads giveaway

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Say It with Diamonds

by Lucy King

Being released May 01 2012

Giveaway ends in 15 days (March 18, 2012)

3 copies available, 2 people requesting

giveaway details »

Enter to win

Say It with Diamonds review

A lovely review for Say It with Diamonds is just what I need to push me to the finishing post of the wip.

Julie at Cataromance says (among other things):

Lucy King has become one of my go-to authors for red-hot romance sprinkled with class and sass! Emotionally satisfying, fast-paced, wonderfully written and absolutely impossible to put down, Say It with Diamonds is a spellbinding sizzler packed with heart, delicious humour and first class romance. Bella is a fantastic heroine who gives Carrie Bradshaw and Becky Bloomwood a run for their money with her quick wit, intelligence and candidness and Will was a gorgeous hero I simply adored.

Funny, emotional and riveting from beginning to end, Say It with Diamonds is another winner for Lucy King!

Check out the whole review here. All I can say is wow, and thank you, Julie!

Progress report

Well, so far I've written 30k (useful) words of the book that is due in a couple of weeks (and thousands more of not so useful ones). 30k in a month is pretty good for me, if very unusual, and am hoping the next 20k come nice and fast. I rather feel I haven't been out for days and probably won't for quite a few more, but hey, who needs daylight?

A poem to my valentine

My cheeks were red
My fingers were blue
Now they are not
And it's all thanks to you
(and the electric blanket you bought me yesterday x)

And a not-so-cold Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

Angst-lite

Oh dear. In my bid to lighten up the angst in my wip, I have the sneaky suspicion that I've simplified the hero's conflict so much that he now has none.

So far it's mainly revolved around him wanting to get the heroine into bed - something she's none too keen on. This has got me to 20k but is hardly going to sustain the story for the next 30k, especially since she's got over her resistance and has just succumbed to his irresistible charms.

Hmm. I think it's time to go back and see if there any conflict strands already there that I can deepen...
.

An (in)efficient process

Well, I sent the partial of my book due at the end of Feb (*gulp*) to my ed last week, and have been ploughing away at the rest.

I wish my process was more efficient. The idea of being able to write a complete first draft in, say, a matter of weeks and then going back and editing would be my idea of perfection. However, I can't get too far ahead without having to make sure what I've already written works - over and over again. By the time the thing is done, I must end up writing twice as much as the final wordcount. This is hardly efficient, but it seems to be my process so there's probably little I can do about it (Or is there? Any advice most welcome.)

What I've discovered is that this way the beginning takes an age, but the rest gets steadily quicker. Or at least that's the theory I'm counting on to get the whole thing done by my deadline. Wish me luck...

Title love

My next M&B (out in September) has a title - The Couple Behind the Headlines. As this story is the one about my socialite heroine and playboy hero who aren't quite as flaky and pointless as people think I think it captures the theme perfectly. Let's hope the cover is as great!

Keeping calm (sort of) and carrying on

The five months I gave myself to write this book has somehow dwindled to six weeks, and I now find myself in the scary position of having almost the entire story to complete before the end of Feb. Ok, so life has got in the way quite a bit recently, but really for weeks now working on this story has been like wading through treacle. I've written Chapter One more than a dozen times and every word has been excruciating.

So I'm starting again, which given how little there was to start with, isn't as painful as it could be (although it is wildly panic-inducing). My heroine's original conflict was seriously heavy going and depressing, and she kept wanting to make jokes and do things that she wouldn't have done if she'd been as tormented as I'd decided she was to be. My hero's baggage was so confused even he didn't know what it was. So I've had a rethink. I've simplified, decided to go easy on the angst and lightened things up. And what do you know, this morning I wrote 4,000 words and all three of us are enjoying ourselves a whole lot more.

Unfortunately I doubt this level of output will last, but at even half the rate I should make my Feb deadline. Any tips from all you speedsters out there would be much appreciated!

And the winner is...

Nas Dean!

Nas, email me your address and I'll pop your copy in the post.

Thanks to everyone commented and emailed!

On the shelves & a giveaway

Hooray, Say It with Diamonds hits the UK shelves today!

And look what I found when stalking browsing Amazon: the US cover. It's lucky that the scene depicted doesn't actually take place in a convertible otherwise they'd both be arrested for committing an extremely lewd act in public. The book's not out until May but you can pre-order it here.


I think they're both fab, but which do you prefer? For a copy of the UK version, leave your answer in a comment or send me an email (info at lucykingbooks dot com) and I'll select winner at random on Tuesday.

Penny Jordan

I was very sad to learn today of the death of Penny Jordan, who lost her battle with cancer two days ago. She introduced me to the world of M&B back in the 80s and her books had me hooked then and now. She was an incredible writer and an inspiration, and leaves a great hole in the romance world.

Happy New Year

Happy 2012 everyone!!

Some of the things I'm looking forward to this year are:
a new baby
a new house
a significant birthday (not sure 'looking forward to' is quite the right expression!)
the release of 2 books

What about you?