Revisions

I've taken a break from unpacking boxes to immerse myself in the revisions which arrived in my inbox on Friday. As suspected, they're numerous and mainly focus on that tricky little sucker: strong emotional conflict.

At the moment there isn't much development of the stuff, and I haven't made the most of the themes that I've introduced. I'm relying too much on external pressures, and my characters are bickering when they should be getting to know each other. Annoyingly enough, some of the scenes I altered as being too coincidental might turn out not to have been, and my original beginning probably is the right place to start. If I'd gone with my gut instinct instead of overthinking things and endlessly fiddling around, I suspect I could have saved myself a whole lot of trouble.

I think/hope that some of this can be solved by restructuring. The rest needs to be rewritten. Ugh. Still, daunting though the amount of work I have to do is, it's kind of exciting as I know the story will be much better for it. Let's just hope the baby (due in ten days) stays where it is for a while!

Moving

The young hot royal went in on Tuesday, woohoo!! I suspect Matt and Laura's story will soon be winging its way back with reams of revisions, but at least it's in. To celebrate, I played hookey and spent Wednesday at the beach, coming home with what I like to call a healthy glow, but what others might call a touch of sunburn.

Now, ideas for the next book are hammering away - I'm thinking a world famous jewellry collection, a gemmologist, an ice-cool aristocrat and a batty old aunt with an online poker habit - but first I have to move house. Ugh.

Hope you all have a more glam weekend ahead!

Happy Easter

It's Semana Santa in my part of the world, which means pointy hats and pasos once again.

Of course I can't go and watch any of it as I'm head down at my desk tackling my young hot royal, so to speak, who now doesn't have to be in until Wednesday.

Happy Easter!

Secret passions?

Apparently e-readers and the like are doing wonders for sales of Mills & Boons to thirty-somethings. Woohoo!

RITA nominations

Big, big congratulations to fellow Modern Heat author, Kelly Hunter, who's a finalist in the Romance Writers of America RITA and Golden Heart awards for 2010 with Revealed: a Prince and a Pregnancy.

The winners will be announced at the RWA conference in July and am keeping all fingers and toes crossed (which does make typing tricky, but all for a good cause, I say).

Go Kelly!!

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Bye bye, plot device

Hooray! I think I've found a way around my rather coincidental beginning. Not only does the new opening scene provide a better reason for my main characters to meet, it has the added bonus of my hero putting in an appearance on page 1 instead of waiting until Chapter 2.

Even though I'm under no illusion that it's perfect - or won't change - after the traumas of the last couple of days (on Monday the 1000 words I'd written on Sunday mysteriously disappeared and yesterday my laptop with a morning's work on it suddenly died) this is a relief indeed!

Panicking? Who me?

Just popping up from a writing frenzy (during which I have to produce 15,000 more words and revise the lot before my April 1 deadline, gulp) to say a quick hello. Am rather worried the whole of Bk 3's story might hinge on a rather unlikely coincidence and that the hero doesn't have much of a conflict, but after the trauma of Bk 2 have decided to go with the flow and to try not to stress too much.

In the meantime, said Bk 2, Propositioned by the Billionaire, which is out in July and is up on Amazon, now has a cover! And here it is...


Much as I love Phoebe, I wish she'd get out of the way so we could all get a better look at that chest...