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?