Carols and a sale

My attempts are rewriting a Christmas carol (or three) in the Presents style are up here. Spot the revisions displacement activity anyone??? Anyway, I got the revisions done and the book was accepted yesterday! This one has been tough, what with a certain little person arriving just before a total rewrite, so to say I'm relieved is a bit of an understatement. It'll be out in the UK in August 2011.

A Presents Christmas carol

Over at iheartspresents some of the Harlequin Presents authors have rewritten favourite Christmas carols along Presents lines. I got just the teensiest bit carried away, and had a stab at three. All this week you can see our efforts, so head here to take a look.

I was one of the lucky few whose Christmas travel plans weren't scuppered by the snow, and flew to the UK on Saturday. Goodness, it's cold!

It must be true, I read it in The Economist

Hmm. Well, after a nano-second of a break, I received further revisions, which is what I've been working on for the past couple of weeks. At the expense of:
1) Christmas present buying (current tally - 0)
2) Getting fresh air
3) Writing the next book (which was going rather well)
4) Blogging

So in the absence of anything interesting to report, I leave you with an article in The Economist on understanding why women find some men handsome and others hideous. There's a scientific study and everything, although personally I'd have thought it was kind of obvious.

The early bird...ends up exhausted

Lately my day has gone something like this:

5am. Wake up. Write.
7am. Feed baby.
7.30am. Put baby back to bed and write.
8.30am Give baby breakfast, get ready and go to library.
9.30am-2pm. Write until library closes for lunch.
2-4pm. Have lunch. Play with baby. Wait for library to reopen.
3-8pm. Head back to library and write until it closes.
9pm. Have supper, fall into bed and sleep like the dead until 5am when it all starts again.

But now the book is in. So tomorrow my day is going to look like this:

7am. Wake up and feed baby.
7.30am. Put baby and myself back to bed.
8.30am. Give baby breakfast, get ready and... hmm. Shop? Sleep? Read? Or make a start on the next book...?

Awesome oarsmen

Ah, I've been a bad blogger lately. Sorry about that. Babies, deadlines, travelling, writing and working have kind of got in the way. However I couldn't resist sharing this...



As my husband, brother and cousin were rowers I've spent a lot of my time on various towpaths. Which, naturally, was a hardship, but I do feel it's important to be supportive, don't you???

Grovelling Presents style

Ah, the grovel. The moment when the hero (and it's usually the hero, isn't it?) realises he's been a prat and has to beg the heroine's forgiveness. What's not to love about that?! I'm over at iheartpresents today with my ingredients for a good grovel - pop over and tell me yours!

The agony and the ecstasy

Being a published writer, for me at least, is a bit like being on a hyperactive seesaw. One minute I'm plumbing the depths of despair, with a deadline racing towards me, convinced that I can't write and my work is rubbish, the next I'm packing a dress and snazzy shoes and heading to London to the hang out at the glam Association of Mills & Boon Authors lunch and an HMB drinks party on Friday. I know which end I prefer!!

The stork cometh

No, no. Not me again. That really would be a medical miracle. Last night I became an auntie! Many congratulations to my brother (who I know reads this blog, although may not now have the time!), my sister-in-law and their brand new baby girl.

Going global

Naturally having been away for 3 weeks there was quite a lot of undeliverable mail waiting for me at the post office. Including 3 boxes from Harlequin. Much excitement ensued because look what was inside!

Distractions

The Mills & Boon New Voices competition lauches... today! So exciting. Needless to say I'm a huge fan of these contests, which are such golden opportunities for aspiring authors. Unfortunately this particular one means huge distractions for moi. I mean, how tempting is it to keep sidling over and checking out the entries? I misplaced my will of steel years ago, so if anyone has a spare one, please wing it over, because I really need to focus on my revisions.

If you're entering, best of luck!

AWOL

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted. There really is no excuse, other than I've been having far too much fun on holiday in the UK. But we're back to Spain tomorrow - where hopefully the heat has eased off - and from then I seriously have to glue myself to my computer. Otherwise I have ABSOLUTELY NO HOPE of meeting my 16th Sept deadline. As I have two weeks to rewrite 25,000 words, am a little concerned about this...

Q&A

I'm over at the Writing Romance Question Forum today sharing everything I know about writing romance (hmm, it could be a short session...). Anyway, if you fancy checking out my pearls of wisdom, come on over and join the party!

Out now on eharlequin

Propositioned by the Billionaire is now available on the eharlequin site - a whole month ahead of its release date!

Romantic Times says:

PROPOSITIONED BY THE BILLIONAIRE (4) by Lucy King: Phoebe Jackson is determined to make her PR business a success, even if it means accepting a proposition from her client’s overbearing brother just to prove she’s capable of the job. Since an unthinkable betrayal in his past, trust and long-term relationships don’t come easy to Alex Gilbert, but he can’t resist ruffling Phoebe’s unflappable exterior, especially by making her lose control between the sheets. The character growth is believable in this satisfying, emotion-filled novel.

New Voices

On September 6th Mills & Boon are launching another contest! This is what they say:

In September 2010 we launch a global search for fresh writing talent to join Mills & Boon’s galaxy of romantic fiction stars.

A celebration of romance, New Voices will put entrants through their romantic fiction paces – and we want you to have your say every step of the way!

The winner of the competition will win some fantastic prizes, including publication of the winning entry by Mills & Boon and a Mills & Boon editor for a year!

Naturally I highly recommend entering these contests, although I'm quite glad all I had to do was send in Chapter 1 and a synopsis. Check out the details at www.romanceisnotdead.com. (Too right it isn't!)

Spreading the love

Ooo, I'm spreading the love to Marilyn at Marilyn's Romance Reviews, who's reviewed Propositioned by the Billionaire, here.

At one point she says:
"Propositioned by the Billionaire by Lucy King was absolutely a magnificent love story and a very sensual and intense journey for Phoebe and Alex within weeks of meeting each other. It was one of those beautiful love stories once you began you had to finish it leaving you smiling one moment and crying the next."

It had me crying too, but probably not for the same reasons...

She adds:
"Propositioned by the Billionaire was such a sweet and wonderful love story ….simply amazing!"

What a star.

Destined for greatness???

I think I love Julie Bonello at Cataromance. She's just reviewed Propositioned by the Billionaire and given it 4.5 stars. The full review is here, but in the meantime here's a taster of what she thought:

Propositioned by the Billionaire is another first-rate contemporary romance from Lucy King! Sparkling with a bucket load of sassiness, freshness and feel-good charm, Lucy King’s second novel has a fabulous heroine, a delectable hero, wonderful dialogue, sizzling chemistry, red-hot love scenes and a believable and plausible conflict.

Fast-paced, sexy, poignant and deliciously enjoyable, Propositioned by the Billionaire will go down a treat with fans of Modern Heat the world over – and readers would do well to remember Lucy King’s name because she is a writer destined for greatness!

Oh my. While I think she might be a tad optimistic about my future, I need to go and have a lie down...

7½ weeks

William, aged 7½ wks

Minx interview

I'm the lucky author in the spotlight over at the fabulous Minxes of Romance blog today (met two of them at the RNA conference and they're lovely). You can check out the interview here.

RNA Conference

Have just about recovered from my dash to the RNA Conference in London. Despite my flight being delayed, I arrived just in the nick of time to pick up my trophy and to hear the fascinating discussion about the changes in romance over the 50 year lifetime of the RNA.

Then it was back to the accommodation for a speedy change before heading over for the Gala dinner for a fab night of catching up with friends, meeting new ones and chatting to my editor, before collapsing into bed for a few hours of sleep and then setting off for the airport again. Naturally I forgot to take my camera, but Kate Hardy and Lorraine Wilson took some fun pics.

A slightly crazy twenty-four hours, but well worth the effort. It was great to be surrounded by fellow writers and I wish I could have stayed longer. Not even my tortuous journey home - which featured a five-hour delay at Gatwick and an impromptu evacuation of the terminal - could eclipse the feeling of exhilaration!

Fammi Volare

Thanks to the eagle-eyed Heidi Rice, I've just found out that Bought: Damsel in Distress is out in Italian, along with Heidi's Public Affair Secretly Expecting. My first ever foreign release. It's most exciting.

According to Google, the title 'Fammi Volare' translates as 'Fly Me' and the blurb goes like this:

'The strike by flight is perfect for preventing Emily Marchmont to attend the wedding of his ex, France. Fortunately! It was not a good idea. But Emily does not know that his sister Anna had already thought of a way to remedy the inconvenience. Luke Harrison will, thus, to accompany her overseas on his private jet. After all, the trip could be interesting.'

Ho-ho. But forget the fact that my heroine may or may not be a he and check out the gorgeous cover. Heidi's laid claim to the hunk, but she might have a fight on her hands...

On the shelf

I've kind of lost track of time, what with being ensconced in babyland, but I think today's the day Propositioned by the Billionaire hits the shelves in the UK. It's also available on Amazon. Thrilling stuff.

Other non-baby-related recent excitements include my husband agreeing to hold the fort so I can go and pick up the Joan Hessayon trophy at the RNA conference in London. Hooray!! Anyone else going to be there?

In the meantime I really must get on with rewriting book 3...

Arrivals

I've been absent for a bit because... little William finally arrived last Tuesday, weighing in at 3.4kg and 51cm. I think he's gorgeous but then I might be the teensiest bit biased.

And on top of that, my July release, Propositioned by the Billionaire, is now available on the Mills and Boon website. Hooray!

Blurb

Look what I've found. It's the blurb to Propositioned by the Billionaire.

Mixing business with pleasure has never been more fun!

When a drop-dead gorgeous mystery man comes to PR exec Phoebe Jackson's rescue at a party she's hosting, she can't help but be tempted by the sparks of desire igniting between them...and soon both their attraction and the party go up in flames...

But her rescuer is Alex Gilbert - and he has her career in his hands! Now Alex has a daring proposition for her: she must prove her worth by staging a prestigious charity event on an island paradise or she'll be fired! It would normally be a walk in the park for Phoebe - but with the oh-so-sexy Alex by her side 24/7 can she keep her mind on the job...?

Oh my!!

Doing a very happy dance

Oh my goodness!!! Bought: Damsel in Distress won the Joan Hessayon award!!! I can hardly believe it. I was sitting on the sofa yesterday evening channelling my inner calm (oh, alright, nibbling at my nails and wondering what was going on in London), when I got a lovely phone call while the party was in full swing, from none other than the RNA chair, the awesome Katie Fforde.

All a bit of a blur (the announcement on the RNA website makes far more sense than I suspect I did), but the cheering down the other end of the phone was wonderful. Am totally thrilled and honoured and delighted!

US cover

In honour of the fabulous cover for the US version of Propositioned by the Billionaire - which comes out in the UK in July and as a Presents Extra in September - I've stuck a sneak peak up on my website.

Joan Hessayon Award 2010

Bought: Damsel in Distress is up for the RNA's Joan Hessayon New Writers' Scheme Award!!

Here's what the website says... "The New Writers’ Scheme aims to encourage fresh talent in the writing of broadly romantic novels that reflect all aspects of love and life, contemporary or historical ... The award is generously sponsored by Dr David Hessayon, in honour of his late wife Joan, who was a longstanding member of the RNA and a great supporter of the New Writers’ Scheme."

I've been a member of the RNA since 2006 and submitted two full and one partial to the NWS. I can't recommend it highly enough. The depth and scope of the feedback is awesome, and absolutely priceless.

The other two (fabulous) shortlisted books are:

Pursued by Love by Georgia Hill (E-Scape)
Divorce Etiquette by Monique deVere (Wild Rose Press)

The winner will be announced at the Summer Party in London next Thursday. Agh. My nails are rapidly disappearing. Wish me luck!!

Sevillanas and rebujitos

The bump and I are bunking off revisions this afternoon and heading to Feria - a week-long festival where everyone dances sevillanas and drinks rebujitos (a potent mix of sherry and 7-up) from lunchtime til dawn.

Obviously I'll be steering clear of the rebujitos, and as I was recently told that sticking both hands in the air at the same time induces labour, I think I'd better refrain from the dancing too...

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...

A review

Bought: Damsel in Distress has had a lovely review and gets an A grade over at The Good, The Bad and The Unread. Am basking in a warm glow while trying to convince myself Bk 3 isn't as awful as I think it might be...

Treading water

Goodness, has it really been nearly two weeks since my last post?

Real Life has recently got in the way of writing, in the shape of being given notice on the flat we've rented for the past four years. The hassle of finding somewhere new, packing up and moving (with an ever-increasing pregnancy bump) is not altogether conducive to wordflow. Agh.

But I shall perservere. With a deadline in a month, I don't have much choice!

Valentine's Day

Love's Philosophy
by Shelley

The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the ocean
The winds of heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single,
All things by a law divine
In one another's being mingle­
Why not I with thine?

See the mountains kiss high heaven
And the waves clasp one another
No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdain'd its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea­
What are all these kisses worth
If thou kiss not me?

Ahhhhhh. Talking of smooching, there's an article in today's Times on what's happened to the cinema kiss over the last century. The classic screen kiss, it seems, is dead. Oh no! What do you think? Has the kiss "become the bland punctuation mark of bland romcoms"? And when did you last see a really great kiss in a film?

Right, having failed dismally to get any words added to my wip so far this weekend, I'm off to a flamenco fashion show. Happy Valentine's Day!

An award!!!

Two posts in one day? What on earth is going on, you may wonder.

Well, I've just found out that Bought: Damsel in Distress has won a Cataromance Reviewers' Choice Award for best M&B Modern Heat. Oh my. Am so excited and thrilled (and, to be honest, stunned) I can barely sit still. Thank you thank you thank you to Donna, Ally and Julie.


Check out all the other fabulous winners here.

Hot heroes

[image deleted]

Woohoo, it's Friday, and that means I'm over at Nicola Marsh's blog, with a pic of my favourite hero inspiration. I don't tend to cast a celeb when writing my characters - in fact beyond the basics (hair/eye colour, height etc) I don't really know what they look like. But if I did, Luke Harrison, the hero in my latest Harlequin Presents release Bought: Damsel in Distress, would look something like the gorgeous James Purefoy. There's also the chance to win a free copy of the book, so head over and take a look.

I'm now up to 25,000 words in Bk 3 (most of which are probably rubbish) which may account for my recent absence from blogland. Would like to add another 5000 this weekend but what with the start of the Winter Olympics and the Six Nations rugby I have my doubts...

What's everyone else up to this weekend?

An interview and Book 3

Today I'm being interviewed by the lovely Marilyn Shoemaker, romance reader and reviewer extraordinare. If you want to know what I'm reading at the moment or what I like/dislike most about writing then pop on over.

Book 3 - imaginatively titled YHR as it's part of the 'Young Hot and Royal' miniseries - is moving along steadily (hah - where have you heard that before!!). I had some feedback from my editor yesterday about the very sketchy outline I sent in a while back: I need to pinpoint the emotional conflict and think about the characters' journeys, especially the hero's.

Since sending in the outline my ideas have changed a little. The conflict and showing it right from the start is something I've been working on, and hopefully this now comes through in the first chapter.

The feedback about character development isn't entirely surprising. When I start a story I tend to have the heroine and her emotional baggage mapped out in much more detail than the hero. Often the hero starts out being a shadowy figure whose sole purpose is to mess up the heroine's life. And then gradually as he interacts with her I get more of a picture of who he is and why, and can go back and weave his conflict into the story. This probably isn't the most efficient way of writing, but it seems to work for me.

What about you? Are you more heroine- or hero-centric?

Happy Australia Day!

To all those in Oz, Happy Australia Day!

I'm celebrating by watching Nadal v. Murray in Melbourne. As it's 10am here I feel rather decadent, but am justifying it by being a quarter Australian and having a grandfather who was from Melbourne. Therefore I reckon I can take a quarter of the day (or a three-ish hour tennis match) as a holiday. Genius, or what???

Kreativ Blogging

The fabulous Lorraine has nominated me for a Kreativ Blogger award, so here are 7 (possibly not very) interesting facts about me.

1. I hate mushrooms. Although I can just about bear the little white ones raw in salads, the mere smell of mushrooms cooking makes me gag.
2. I was once approached by MI6. Luckily (as I'm not too good at keeping secrets) they decided I wasn't right for the job.
   
3. I have a masters in Arabic (which may account for 2.) and Spanish.
4. My sense of direction is non-existent, although my map-reading skills aren't too bad.
5. I asked my husband out on our first date. He initially said no.
   
6. I was once shot at in the Yemeni desert by bedouin would-be kidnappers. I think they decided in the end that 5 shrieking British girls weren't worth the hassle.
   
7. I prefer cats to dogs.
   

The peeps I tag are:

Heidi Rice, Kate Hardy, Natalie Anderson, Trish Wylie, Mira Lyn Kelly, Julie Cohen and Phillipa Ashley.

(If the 7 points above have piqued your interest, there's even more stuff about me and my writing in my recent interview over at Cataromance.)

Rain, rain, go away

It's been raining here now for nearly a month. In a town that's famed for having 270 days of sunshine a year, it's getting a bit depressing. At least snow looks pretty.

Equally depressing is the realisation that I've started my new story in the wrong place. There's lots of chat and flirting but no conflict whatsoever and it's actually rather dull. Oops. Luckily I think I know how to fix it.

At the moment I have no idea where this story is going, but I'm trying not to worry too much about that just yet. With my last book I over-analysed everything, tried to second guess what my editor would think of what I'd written, obsessed about my overuse of the verb 'to be' and generally forgot to let my characters provide the plot. This time things are going to be different. Hopefully.

Does anyone else fall into these traps, or is it just me???

USA Today

Just popping up from the depths of exam marking to say that to celebrate her fabulous appearance on the USA Today bestseller list Modern Heat girl Natalie Anderson is giving away signed copies of her books on her blog. Congratulations to all the Presents authors who made it onto the list!

IHP

Bought: Damsel in Distress is currently on the shelves in the US. It's been on the Waldies bestseller list for two weeks in a row and Cataromance gave it 4.5 stars. And over on iheartpresents today I'm wittering on about it.

Great big thank yous to everyone who's read it.

Propositioned by the Billionaire

I wish! This is not - sadly - something that's happened to me today, but is in fact the title of Book 2, released in the UK in July. I've just sent back the proof edits so this one is finally done and dusted. Woohoo.

Now I'd better get cracking with Bk 3, of which I've written 25 words. Only 49,075 to go. Gulp.

Happy New Year!

And a belated Happy Christmas. I'd like to be able to blame my lack of blogging over the last couple of weeks on arctic conditions in the UK knocking out the internet, but actually it was just a case of me indulging in too much turkey and lazing on the sofa to open my laptop.

Looking back, 2009 was great. Writing-wise, I got The Call and a two-book contract. Life-wise we were finally granted very long-awaited planning permission, and I found out I was pregnant. And now it's 2010. Where do the years go? With two more books to write, a baby to produce and a house to build - all around the day job - I have a feeling this one's going to be busy.

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous 2010!