M&B and Virgin Trains -- Kiss and Make up

And today , I found this in my inbox. Hooray for common sense! Hooray that Virgin trains understand that a kiss after a spat is a great way to be reconciled!! And for Annie Burrows who is a fellow historical romance author!

Following Mills & Boon’s passionate opposition to Virgin Train’s kissing ban at Warrington train station, Virgin have been seduced by the world’s leading publisher of romantic fiction.

This Friday, Virgin and Mills & Boon will officially kiss and make up.

In support of Comic Relief on Friday 13th March, Mills & Boon and Virgin Trains will be indulging in a day-long romantic reconciliation at mainline rail stations including Euston, Warrington Bank Quay and Glasgow.

Warrington-based Mills & Boon author Annie Burrows and Virgin Trains’ Director of Communications Arthur Leathley will be launching the initiative at Warrington Bank Quay station at 9.45am.


Kissing-friendly platform events taking place throughout the day include:

· Mills & Boon book jacket photo-opportunities
· Brad Pitt look-a-likes and Virgin staff selling kisses for Red Nose Day
· Free ‘kissing mints’
· Love-seats designed by Mills & Boon and Virgin
· Live readings by costumed Mills & Boon ‘Romantic Heroes’
· Mills & Boon book giveaways
Mills & Boon in numbers:

In 2008, Mills & Boon celebrated 100 years of romance publishing - A Mills & Boon book is sold every 5 seconds in the UK alone - 130 million Mills & Boon books are sold worldwide every year - In the past 50 years, Mills & Boon characters have shared 10,325 weddings, 29,500 kisses and 35,250 embraces.

Back

Venice was fabulous. Truly magical. The hotel , Luna Baglioni was what a luxury hotel should be. Wonderful service, with all sorts of little touches. It is a few mtres from St Mark's Square, just behind Harry's Bar. I truly can not say enough about the warm welcome they gave and very high level of service. I felt like an honoured guest rather than a number. Nothing was too much trouble. I would certainly stay in a Baglioni hotel again, and would actively seek them out.

I have 172 emails and am trying to sort things out.

There will be lots more on Venice over the next few days.

Away

I leave early tomorrow morning for Venice and will be back with photos for next Friday.

It is terribly exciting and I am really looking forward to it.

Done and off to my editor

My revisions are done. The manuscript is stronger. But I really believe in this story, so if my editor sees any more problems, I will fix them.



I now have a week to relax and think up new ideas before seeing my editor and sr editor for lunch on the 16th.



Some moments are made to be savoured.

You do not want to know what my house looks like...

Revising

I am still revising and am completely convinced that my editor was far too kind about the ms that I turned in. It, however, does drip with potential and hopefully now I have managed to make it far stronger.
In some ways, it is a harder set of revisions as I have been going through and changing lots of little bits, adding and taking away.

But it will get there and it will be excellent.

Some day, all you can do is believe.

Return of the mole

My husband was warned, and so it has proved. The mole was not gone. It simply had gone to a lower level. In the summer particularly, they dig about 18 inches lower and so no molehills appear.
This morning saw two fresh molehills.
So it is mole traps at the ready. Some day.

The revisions continue.

An Impulsive Debutante in Australia

One of the great joys of the new month is to look at the various different Harlequin websites around the world and discover which of my books are out. This month, An Impulsive Debutante is out in Australia. This is great because A Christmas Wedding Wager was out there in December and An Impulsive Debutante is the linked book that tells Lottie Charlton's story. Lottie became one of my favourite heroines so I am very pleased she is going places. And it is amusing that both the UK and Australia marketed AID as Regency as it is early Victorian.

I still have no idea when AID will be out in the US though.

My current wip is getting better, but I keep changing my mind about the ending. Proactive not passive. Anyway, I think I have finally discovered the right way. Sometimes, you have to try and get it wrong, before you can get it right.

Impoverished Miss Convenient Wife on M&B site

It is the first of March so Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife is available to purchase on the M&B site. Also you can now read the whole first chapter! Simply click on browse this book.

And yes , I do love revisions. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about my revisions and why the last chapter is going to be so much better.

Working through problems.

There has been a phrase on the first page of my current ms, that has been bothering me. Yesterday, I think I finally figured out why and how to change it. Progress of a sort. I think it will work better. Three little words but it is a first page and so you have to be picky.
I have been taking my time with these revisions but now I am into the rewriting of a couple scenes stage.
The problem with this particular scene as that it has been rewritten from scratch at least three times before. It is a pivotal scene, but it has to be right. The big reason for the change is that I brought someone back from the dead, and my editor decided that it would be much better if he were truly dead and heroic,, rather than alive and brainwashed. So I have had to figure out how to do things, but I think I have it.

Repeat after me -- I do like revisions. In fact I love revisions. Revisions make a story stronger.

Sudden inspiration

Sometimes, characters are just difficult. My heroine had been holding out on me. On the umpteenth time of reading my revision letter, I suddenly realised the problem and how she had to grow at the end, and why therefore as it currently stood, the ending felt flat.

Why do I hate opening my veins and bleeding on the page when I know it is what the story requires. The average reader will only get 10% of the emotion I feel. So I may be in floods of tears, bereft, wrung out and the average reader will go meh, okay. But knowing that does not necessarily mean I readily open my veins. It just means that I know I need to. And now I know why. Emotional stakes must be sky high. The heroine can not feel that she can just take up her old life. And she must be prepared to sacrifice something.

In other news:
Has an owl eaten the mole? My youngest heard the tawny owl in the back garden a few night ago. Tawny owls' favourite food is moles. Or he may have packed his bags and moved to greener pastures. In any case, no new molehills. The traps were undisturbed and so I have removed them. But they are in the greenhouse, ready for the next invasion.

Positive/negative

Every scene needs to turn. If the characters feel the same way at the start as at the end, particularly the POV character, what is the point of the scene?
A simple enough concept. You would think I had learnt that by now. Or about dissipating tension in a scene by having it go on too long. Guilty as charged. But can I figure out how to change? Where is going to make the most impact when you know in your heart a scene needs to be there.
Then there is muddled backstory. Simply, simplify.
Ah my old friends, the Crows of Doubt have to call. Always good to have them drop in at this point in the revision process.

Spring cleaning bees and bats

Yesterday, my husband deemed the time was right to change the floors in the beehives. Because we use varroa floors (basically wire mesh) to help control the varroa mite, they do have to be cleaned as the bees can not do it.
Normally I try to get my husband to do the job... Grumpy bees and all that. However, I also wanted to discover about the possibility of mice. Far better for me to do it as it would have been my fault....

The bees were sluggish until I moved the hive and then they began to get active. Why, oh why when you are just about to do something difficult does the smoker go out? With the weather starting to cloud over and become cold, there was no hope of abandoning and waiting for the smoker to start. I just had to keep going on with the operation. Success was measured in two clean hive floors, no mice and most importantly no stings... Of course, the smoker started belching out smoke and the sun beat down, the instant I got back to the garden room.

My husband decided to make the bat box more secure and so we had a bat flying about the garden in bright sunlight. It swooped low over the garden for awhile and then we think went back to the box. My husband and youngest son both commented that they did not think there was a bat in the bat box and it could have been just the first flight of Spring. I begged to differ.

Sun is shining

The sun is shining, the bees are flying and there are no new mole hills...in my lawn. Of course the field on the other side of the road is full of fresh molehills. Is it too much to hope for? Has the mole gone to pastures new?

The lawn will recover in time, but for now, I swear I could see the molehills on google earth...
However my youngest son begs to differ.

Holding my breath

I checked the mole traps -- they were all fine. No moles, no collapsed tunnels. Nothing. There are no new mole hills either. This has been the case for a couple of days. Hopefully the mole has packed his bags and decided to visit a water vole or something.

The revisions are coming on. I am trying to make sure that the conversations are not over long and actually do have a point...the relationship does need to move.

The right to kiss at railway stations

Mills & Boon is leading the charge to get Warrington railway station to rescind its kissing ban.

There is a facebook group you can join.

What a silly fatuous way to spend money -- putting up no kissing signs in a railway station. The Telegraph was quite right to highlight it in an article. It is not lighthearted but an attempt to erode liberty. A Dolores Umbridge (the nasty bureaucrat from Harry Potter) moment for Warrington and Virgin Trains.

Think about it -- how many times have you picked your husband/partner up and given them a kiss? The open arms? The joyous expression of welcome?

Or at the other end of the spectrum, when you are saying goodbye and you do not know when you will next see them?

Long live kissing at railway stations, airports and ferries!

PHS, guilty secrets and gardening

First of all, my post about Josh Groban is up at the Pink Heart Society. It is also the first time I have attempted to use youtube embedded. So I took on faith Donna Alward's instructions and they worked. An other reason to love my critique partner. Just to prove I can do it. This Josh Groban song Anthem from Chess really helped me get through the revisions of the Viking.


I have also discover that there is a survey about guilty reading secrets being conducted for world book day. I was honest and did admit that I do sometimes read the ending before finishing the book... But I have never claimed to read a book that I haven't and I have never written in library book, not even when I was little. They also ask which author/books are most enjoyable. No prizes for guessing that one of my choices was Mills & Boon. You can take the survey here.

Yesterday, it was a call to arms. Some people like Kate Hardy take their children to London for the day. We, on the other hand, used our children as unpaid slave labour and started to clean the garden. A good time was had by all, once they actually stopped complaining and started cutting down ivy and moving branches. There is something very therapeutic about moving lots of junk and trimming hedges. The children though beg to differ, particularly when sitting on their bottoms watching television.

Both beehives survived and bees were seen taking in pollen. The hazel is currently in flower as are the winter aconites, snowdrops and some crocus.

We also now possess an uber bird feeder with a cage around the peanuts. My husband and youngest are hoping this will prevent the jackdaws from nicking them all. At the moment, we do not suffer from grey squirrels. The reds did unfortunately leave the area a few years ago...

A four contract

Late yesterday afternoon, I had a lovely email from my editor offering a four book contract for four full length novels. We have agreed terms and delivery dates, so I am under deadlines again -- which feels good.

One of the nicest bits was in the memo offering the contract the words -- to demonstrate our commitment to and support of you. It is so nice to know you are wanted!

But the celebrations are over, and it is time to roll up my sleeves and get into this manuscript.

I am about halfway through Eclipse but am putting it to one side. When I am doing revisions, I find my own story consumes me and it is difficult to read fiction. My daughter will be pleased to get the book back. Yesterday after denying she was a fanatic, I casually asked her if she was reading Breaking Dawn for the second time. No, came the answer the fourth. I rest my case.

No new mole hills. The traps will need to checked but I worry that the mole has gone deeper and started breeding...

Viking accepted

I just found today that Ivar's story has been officially accepted! Into every writer's career comes at least one story that is difficult to get right. Hopefully, people will enjoy it. No word yet on title or release dates. It is enough to know that they want it.

I also received my revisions for the Governess story. They are far lighter. I can see what my editor means. As I had experimented with a story board, it might have made the difference. The big problem with this story is that I over complicated the back story and it over shadows the romance. The romance is the KEY to what I write. I am not writing the back story, just the current romance.

Twilight and my daughter

Right I am currently about a third of the way through Eclipse. I can totally see why India Grey's 14 year old daughter loves Edward. Knowing India's heroes, I can suspect her daughter has a tendency towards the same type of men as India. I also totally agree with her daughter that seeing the film with Robert Pattinson would be ridiculous and would ruin the books for me. Edward looks somewhat different in my mind's eye. Equally the girl playing Bella.
Edward is definitely a nurturing alpha hero, defintely in the presents mould, despite being a vampire. I feel sorry for him though as sometimes Bella does seem a bit too stupid to live, particularly as she grew up looking after her mother and spends time looking after her father who can't cook. I am grateful that she does live and am looking forward to getting some plot points solved.
I keep having this half of me which really enjoys the books and the other half muttering about pace, lack internal conflict and growth. My daughter currently refuses to speak to me about the books as she interprets it as I do not like the books. The fact that I am reading them shows I like the books. If I was 14/15/16, I would be in love with Edward. Edward is the main reason for reading the books.
My daughter is currently a fanatic and thus has no sense of proportion. She disliked that I pointed out that saying Wuthering Heights happened at the turn of the century England would mean readers might consider it to have happened at the turn of the 20th century, rather than during the Regency period. Wuthering Heights was published in 1847 but starts in 1801. It was minor point and pulled me out of the story. I blame the copy editor, rather than the author for not having it clearer as Myers does know the story.
My daughter however is continuing to work on her French and despite the odd outburst at me not to discuss the books... is very pleasant.

I am also redoing my website and hope to have the changes done before 1 March. However, I suspect that my critque partners will be cracking their whips if I do not get writing.

Harlequin's 2009 Romance Report

The Harlequin Romance Report is online. The theme for this year is where fantasy meets reality in romance.

The report features the annual North American and International surveys on romance plus a list of Must See Travel destinations and a host of other articles which are designed to let the media help celebrate Romance.

moles again

The ground finally defrosted and this meant that I was able to dig up my mole traps. The mole had carefully filled each hole. SIGH.
I have reset the traps. This time trying the traps the way they appeared to go in the news clip I saw on catching moles.

However, I see there are several fresh mole hills this morning...in a part of the garden that is far away from the traps. Moles are tricky.

I also finished New Moon which is the second in the Twilight series. Some parts of it are slow. It is always difficult to write characters who are numb from grief. The last third got much better but Bella at times does border on too stupid to live. Edward however rocks. I totally agree with India Grey's daughter -- I don't want to see the movie as my picture of Edward is not like the man who played Cedric Diggory.
I shall be reading the next book, but my cold is getting better and so I actually have to work. But it is important to remember that sensual tension is built up in little details. It is not the full frontal that is important but the tiny bits. What is noticed and the little touches. It is possible to stay in the first 9 stages of the courtship ritual (as Myers does) and still create a sensual book -- full of longing and desire. Sometimes because authors go from 0 to stage 10 within a few pages, this message gets forgotten.

Twilight read

The box of books arrived yesterday. My husband raised his eyebrows. My daughter joyfully disappeared upstairs with the last two. As I have come down with a dreadful cold, I read Twilight yesterday evening.

It was fine and not vampire horror at all. A page turning read. It was more teen aged Presents with fangs, than blooding dripping horror vampire. If I was a teen aged girl, I would be in love with Edward. I found him far easier to fancy than the lead love interest in Wicked Lovely. But it did not have the in depth world of say Northern Lights. For some reason, Stephanie Meyers reminded me of Virginia Andrews who wrote Gothic horror/romance stories in the 1980s. It is the same sort of market. (And I did have a Virginia Andrews stage at one point -- I think my mother would have fainted in horror if she had realised at the time, but there again she did think a lot of what I read was trash...).

I had lots of questions -- questions my daughter assures me are answered in the next few books. For example where does Bella's mother fit into the whole thing. And why is the music important? And what is there about Bella that means her thoughts are hidden and why is she personally so attractive to vampires? Where do the werewolves fit in? And how does Edward being with Bella break the truce?

If I was reading from an adult writer perspective, I would mention the lack of internal conflict. Or rather the lack of sustainable conflict as Bella makes her irrevocable decision to be with Edward early on. The I love you bit comes too early as the saying it does not make matters worse. Stakes should have really been upped for both Edward and Bella at that point. It needs to make matters worse. Equally, there is no real sense of sacrifice in the end. What does Edward give up? What does Bella? In part because we never are Edward's POV, you never get this real sense that he is being pushed to the edge. Also, Bella does not really seem to understand what the stakes are for her, should she give up being human. The ending thus relies more on external conflict and feels slightly flat. You need more than yearning to hold a romance up. Also it would have been helpful to have some of the bad vampire bits foreshadowed earlier (for example had Edward ever hunted with the tracker/did he know him his past?), so there was this sense of menace building. It seems to come from left field as it were.

BUT if I put my adult concerns to one side (and I do try to do that) and read like a reader, it is a fun read and hearkens back to the days when I was a teenager. So it really depends on if you want to pick fault or if you are just going to enjoy. It is very good entertainment for teen aged girls. I suspect boys will be less enthralled.

I will read the next three, probably in the next week or so.

My daughter read the third and most of the fourth yesterday. She has promised to study and did spend an hour on her French yesterday. Bribery and corruption is all.

So read it to see what the fuss about...and if it gets teen aged girls into reading romance so much the better. Read it like a reader, rather than like a writer and you will enjoy it much better.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is the remenant of a popular Roman festival of fertility aka Lupercalia. Basically, youths ran naked through the streets of Rome, hitting people with shaggy bits of fur. Women would try to get hit as it was supposed to increase fertility. The festival was in honour of the She wolf who had suckled Romulus and Remus. The statue of the wolf is far older than the statue of Romulus and Remus beneath it. It may point some worship of wolves by the early Romans which was remembered in the myth.

Several years ago, they thought they had found the Lupercal or cave at the base of the Palatine where the rites took place. However, it is disputed and the cave decoration may merely date from Nero.

The festival was so popular that when the time came, an alternative had to be invented. St Valentine was martyred on this date and thus his feast day was used to mask the rites.

Now of course, Valentine's Day is more about hearts, flowers and chocolates. But I thought it appropriate that my Labrador has his birthday today. He is 12.

So whether you celebrate Lupercalia or Valentine's, I hope you had a good one.

Update

I broke down. I ordered the books.
All I can say is that my daughter had best study over the half term.
Sometimes, I am an indulgent parent.

Twilight

My daughter has discovered Twilight. A friend of hers has lent her the first two books. She adores them. Apparently Edward is wet but there is a friend of his who rocks.
I was intrigued and asked to read them over half term. But no, she is returning the first two and getting the third one. Another friend of theirs had read them in 24 hours and my daughter is determined to repeat the feat.
I suspect that there will be a request for all four and this is a ploy...However, the books obviously speak to her.
Vampires in general are not my cup of tea. I can remember being physically sick after seeing Andy Warhol's Dracula. It probably had something to do with the train I had been travelling on that day hitting a suicidal man. But I suspect that I ought to at least try to read the books.
Does anyone know how long this obsession lasts? Should I get the books or not?

But it is the sharing of books that leads me to believe that ebooks will generally occupy a niche market as they can not be traded or transferred. When you find a great author, you want to share and many times, you want to put the book into the person's hand and say -- Read. I don't care what you say about not liking xy or z. Just read. It is a bit harder to do with an e-book.

Duck rescue

Last night, my youngest came rushing in, calling for my help. A duck had got his foot stuck between two rocks.
Grumbling , I grabbed a torch. Ducks are late night party animals and will not go to bed until it is nearly dark. Hens are far more sensible. I did think my youngest was over reacting as how can a duck get stuck?
One of the Drones club had manged to get his foot stuck in a gap in the retaining wall near the duck houses. I do not know how he did it. He was standing on the path quacking and looking forlorn, doing yoga. The rocks in the wall refused to budge. The foot would not move either. If left there, the duck would freeze or become fox bait.
I had to gently ease the foot out, while all the while the drake is flapping its wings. Thankfully, it did not lose the foot. There was some bleeding but it appeared superficial. The duck gave a mournful quack as I put him in the least populated duck house.
This morning the duck limps but lives.
Hopefully it will not try yoga again.

Unusual Historical

I am blogging today at Unusual Historical about the Thingvellir. It is for the Humans in Nature month.

Hooray for India Grey who won the RNA Romance Prize yesterday for her lovely book Mistress: Hired for the Billionaire's Pleasure. It made me cry when I read it. It is a bit hard to direct the putting in of a bookcase when you have tears streaming down your face and all you want to do is to get back to the book. Luckily for people in the US, the book is currently out there. Read it with tissues handy.

My youngest has stayed well. Obviously know that he does not have a temperature has done much for his ability to stay at school.

Have pointed out to the youngest that it has been so long since he last rode his bike that the hens have started using it as a windbreak for a nest. He remains unconvinced by this. He did go down and retrieve the eggs though.

Mind over matter

My youngest decided he was ill. He came downstairs looking terrible and every so often would pathetically cough. I made him honey and lemon. No joy as he sips it. He claims he is becoming worse by the breath.
Finally, I took his temperature. Normal. I inform him of this fact. No temp, no vomiting equals school with an option of coming home if they can not hack it. He finishes his honey and lemon, jumps up and gets ready for school. Suddenly, he is well and racing around.
Tonight he gets an earlier bedtime...it does not matter that he is a teenager. He needs his sleep.

Does anyone know at what age man flu starts?

Also my eldest son has decided to grow a beard. It has been six weeks. He has trimmed it and neatened it. At the moment, he looks like a submarine captain. His moustache is very fair and very slow to grow. I live in hope that this phase will pass. But there is nothing I can do about it.

Ferreting and me

I grew up in suburbia. The only thing I knew about ferrets was that they were used in Mary Norton's The Borrowers. And there is remained for many years.

My youngest son now has a friend who goes ferreting. My youngest has been out several times. They catch rabbits. Thankfully, the rabbits have been given off to other people to eat because I am not very good at gutting. My youngest being 13, enjoys the possibility of gore. I have asked if ferrets kill moles but his friend has not been forthcoming about this. He believes the breed is too big. Another friend of my son has a smaller breed of ferret that goes after rats. A distinct possibility.
My son returned home yesterday from ferreting. When asked about the heavy odour, he blithely informed me that the ferrets are going into mating season.
He had to wash his clothes and gloves before going further.
Have decided on point of principle -- do not want ferrets and will stick to attempted trapping of moles.

The Six Degrees Game

I am blogging today at Tote Bags about the Six Degrees of Charlotte Bronte. I blame Nicola Cornick for the procrastination. Anyway, there is a chance to win a copy of Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife.

I discovered yesterday that bees do not see red. Their primary colours are ultraviolet, blue and yellow. They see red as black. Green tends to be more grey, but the ultraviolet really stands out. Of course, humans cannot see the ultraviolet. So the world must really look different.
Research has into bee sight has been done as scientists want to know why bees go for certain types of flowers.
Also some flowers such as tomato flowers, and honeysuckle are buzz flowers -- in other words they do not easily give up their pollen to the honey bee. Bumblebees with the way they collect nectar are the type of bee that these flowers need. It is one of the reasons why it is important to encourage all types of bees and hover flies in one's garden.

In the absence of checking my hives, I have been reading the British Beekeeping Association newsletter.

And there may be a reason why the mole has been winning. I think I put the mole traps in upside down...From seeing a clip on the news about the Devon molecatcher, it would appear the trap needs to go as the roof of the tunnel rather than as the base. However, I was comforted by the fact that he said moles were tricky and he did use the same sort of trap. When ground defrosts, I shall try...My husband and children found this most amusing...

Do I have bees?

The whole question of whether or not the bees have made it through the winter is currently vexing me. My husband even casually mentioned that perhaps I should consider reading the latest missive from British Beekeepers Association about what to do in the early spring. He suggested going to look at the hives. I looked. However, there is snow on the ground. Unlike moles, when the weather is cold, bees clump together and hibernate.
But I do worry. Part of this worry is because I did not put mouse guards on before I left for Sorrento in the autumn and by the time I had returned, the weather had gone cold and the mice would be hibernating. I did not dare check to see as the weather was too cold...and so on. Mice like to eat honey and hives make perfect hibernating places. This is the first time that I have not put mouse guards on. SIGH.
The winter aconite is in flower as is the hazel tree. There should be plenty of pollen and such like for them. The one good thing about the garden is that we do have year round flowers.
My husband said that he saw the starling looking interested in the hole in the wall where it had chicks last year. Spring will be here before I know it, and I will have my answer about the bees.

Lavender snow

Today the snow melts, but last night my husband and I went for a walk at dusk. The sun was setting and turned the snow a mixture of rose and violet. I was reminded of the old painting adage that white is never truly white. Hopefully the photo shows some of the quality of light.

Mt Molehill

We have snow -- about a foot. I had assumed the mole would be quiet. But no, Mt Molehill had just broken through the snow...The children think this is funny.

The children are also pleased -- no school and they will be going sledding. One of the Christmas presents was a sled, with brakes.

It will take a lot more snow though to equal the winters here in the 60s. Apparently people were cut off for weeks on end. Currently the traffic is flowing. But blizzard conditions have returned and I am pleased not to have to go out.

The traps will have to wait until the snow clears. However, based on the Mt Molehill evidence, I suspect the mole has not been caught.

Mole 13 Me 0

The title says it all. My daughter has pointed out to me that I am being outsmarted by a rodent who does not have a university degree.
A resetting of traps and this time, I have tried to make sure the traps can be easily sprung. My final trap is at a conjunction three tunnels. I live in hope.

Thus far the poltergeist appears to have given up electrics tricks. I have hidden the remote controls for the cd player in the kitchen as a few years ago the cats had taken to turning it on in the middle of the night. I am still attempting to figure out how they did it. They liked a certain jazz station (neither my husband or I could ever quite figure out how they got it to this one station)...But if we do have a poltergeist, I am do not want to give it the opportunity.

I also made a cherry almond cake as we are drowning in eggs. 15 duck eggs this morning...the only problem is that once I get accustom to the eggs -- the ducks will either start laying in strange places in the garden, build nests and have duckings or stop laying altogether. But I will enjoy the surfeit while I can.

Poltergiests

None of my family is buying my explanation of a poltergeist/ghost with regards to the ongoing electric problem. My husband is convinced that the electrician was simply lazy. The children roll their eyes where once they would have believed without question.
According to the electrician who showed up yesterday afternoon, the cable was too long and that was why the earthing wire touched the live wire. Surely that would have been obvious when he put up the lamp not two weeks ago? It is most perplexing (and frightening). Before this problem started in early December, the lights had been up for 8 years without incident. The electrician has no explanation as to why the wires should have suddenly burnt through... At the moment, we seem to be calling them out to deal with the problem on a nearly weekly basis. The firm is highly reputable. Fingers crossed. But the whole thing is odd.
The children have also been told to stop being rogue elephants when they walk up and down the upstair corridor...

Harlequin is 60

Yesterday the venture that the Bonnycastles started to keep the presses rolling turned 60!


To celebrate Harlequin released 16 books from its backlist as FREE downloads. One book from each line currently published in the North American market. I found it impossible to get on yesterday and thought that people from outside North America could not download the books, but this morning, it was not a problem. The list showcases books that the editors feel represent the Best in the Line from recent years. So for historical, there is Elizabeth Rolls His Lady Mistress. For Superromance there is Janice Kay Johnson's Snowbound which won the Rita last year. For Kimani, there is a Brenda Jackson. I am looking forward to them and to trying a few of the lines that I have not tried. You can get the downloads here.


All sorts of other events are planned, including the draw for a Diamond necklace to celebrate the Harlequin Romance Diamond Brides series.

In other news:

I fond a hen's nest yesterday. A dozen eggs. I tested them -- dunk in cold water, see if they float. All stayed firmly at the bottom so all are good. It is a matter of a surfeit of eggs again. Baking appears to be the order of the day. The children have not had egg salad sandwiches recently so this might do as well. I forget if they like egg salad sandwiches. They did once but may have rebeled. The problem with a surfeit of eggs is that you know the hens and ducks will keep laying given the time of year...

The mole continues to elude me. The mole hills are less frequent. Sincerely hope that this does not mean the mole is preparing to give birth...apparently they go deeper then...Much easier to think of the Mole as a he than a pregnant she.

Discovering new music

For a birthday treat, my lovely friend Kate Hardy sent me a cd of John Garth -- Six Concertos for the Violoncello, soloist Richard Tunnicliffe, played by the Avison Ensemble. She enjoys surprising people. As luck would have it, the day it arrived, the Lit and Phil notes arrived also. A new biography of Avison is about to be published and the Avison Ensemble are playing at the Lit and Phil. So I was like-- who is this Avison? And more importantly is the music any good?

Anyway, John Garth is an 18th century composer who worked primarily in Durham. Durham with its Prince bishop was the centre for political power in the north east until 1839. Empowered by the monarch, the Prince Bishop was able to enforce legislation, mint his own coins and control the courts. Around Durham, there are several fine country houses dating from the period. It was also a centre for music. Well, religion does lend itself to that. Garth at one point served as the organist for the Bishop of Durham. These works were first published around 1760 and make for fantastic listening. Garth was forgotten entirely until someone was working on his Phd at Durham University and rediscovered him. The Lit and Phil holds several important scores.

I was so impressed that I ordered two cds of Charles Avison who worked in Newcastle around the same period. Avison was incredibly successful during his lifetime and has been called the finest English concerto composer.

Again, played on period pieces with a warm earthy tone, the music is easy to listen and inspiring if one happens to be writing a Regency.

All kudos to both the Avison Ensemble who are playing the music of these forgotten English composers and to the composers. Hopefully others will discover them and discover what centres of culture both Durham and Newcastle were in the late 18th/early 19th century. I am also looking forward to reading the biography of Charles Avison.

Sometimes a small gift can open windows into worlds that you never dreamt of.

The Mole and I

I am now in the midst of trying to catch the mole, a beginning mole catcher facing a cunning foe as it were. The mole is fairly intelligent or perhaps I am not a good catcher. It has managed to back fill the holes where the traps are and go around. The back lawn bears a certain resemblance to trench warfare. You need cunning to catch a mole and you also have to move away from the mole hill and pick a run between two hills. Moles are good diggers and the holes they make are well constructed. Traps need to be checked daily and kept free from clogging dirt. The mole (or something) has sprung one or two traps, but have I caught it? I live in hope. Some day. Its days in the back lawn are numbered...

Kim S who does the Harlequin Historical My Space is doing a contest until 31 Jan where one of the possible prize is a copy of Viking Warrior Unwilling Wife. She also writes about her own inspiring life and her struggles after a car crash. You can read about it here.

I am working on my single title historical romance. It is fun to write but this paranormal keeps calling. It is a matter of taking notes. I am over page 100 with the single title and I hate not completing stories when I get to that point. And yes, I know both my critique partners' whips are out.

The Boss and me

I have been a Bruce Springsteen fan since 1980 when my brother brought a copy of The River home from university. So it was no surprise that my lovely husband went out yesterday and bought the newly released Burce Springsteen -- Working on a Dream for my birthday. Neither should it be a surprise that I put it on. But for a number of reasons, I did not get to the end and had to keep stopping the cd. Neither had I looked at the words as I wanted to hear the music all the way to the end before concentrating on the lyrics. The cd was sealed and as far as I know my husband had not looked at the lyrics either or had listen until the end. Finally my husband sat me down and said 'Listen to it, you know you want to. It is your birthday. Indulge.'

He went off to get me a glass of wine and I started from where I had left off. My husband handed me a glass of wine just as the song Surprise, Surprise started its first verse. The words go: Today is your birthday, we have travelled so far we two. So let's blow out the candles on your cake and we'll raise a glass or two. I am afraid I nearly spilt my wine -- surprised doesn't even come into it. Totally shocked.

My husband was absolutely thrilled as he could not have planned it better. He swears that he had no idea. And the look of disbelief on his face was priceless. He grabbed the pamphlet out of my hands just to double check we had not misheard the words.

But it was a wonderful gift and the timing was fabulous.

The rest of the album is good, but for obvious reasons, Surprise, Surprise is my current favourite.

Birthdays, revisions and reviews

Today is my birthday. I am halfway to 90 and very happy with my age. It has been a quiet birthday. My husband insisted on celebrating over the weekend so I had a gift each day -- books in the main.We have also had several nice meals. I had a lovely cake this morning, followed by cards and a few more presents. It is good to be remembered. As the card that my sister sent said: birthdays are the icing on the cake of life.

I sent my Viking in again today, hopefully for the final time. It is a far better book and I do agree with the tweaks that I was asked to make. In the end, if the story flows, that is the main thing and I park my ego at the door...It is Ivar's story in case anyone was still wondering. And I was bound to hit a book like this. Tomorrow, it is back to the word mines and writing the mainstream single title.

My ego took a boost over the weekend. Jayne from Dear Author posted a B review of Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife. As I remembered from her review of Taken by the Viking that the Viking period is not one of her favourites, I was pleased that she liked it. You can read the full review here.
I have thought and thought about why the cover for Viking Warrior Unwilling Wife is not my favourite. I love the background. The woman is quite pretty. But the man neither engages the reader with his glance, nor does he engage the woman. Instead he appears to be lost in his own world and is not inviting the reader in. The picture on the inside front cover is much nicer and shows a tender moment where the coupl are actively engaged with each other. However, there is nothing to be done about it and I am allowed to have favourites.

The Pleasure that is E. M.Delafield

Yesterday, India Grey reminded me about The Diary of A Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield.
It is a wonderfully dry and witty book about the trials and tribulations of a lady during the 1920s/30s. I read at in my final year of university and adored it. Luckily EM Delafield wrote several sequels including The Provincial Lady in London which was given to me as a graduation gift and I can dip in and out of that one. Both India and I agree that when we go to London for a Literary do, is impossible not to feel like PL.
If you have read Delafield, you can tell where Helen Fielding got some of her inspiration. If you enjoy PG Wodehouse, you should like EM Delafield. If you are a Mother with Children, it rings true. However, unfortunately, she has fallen out of fashion. She should be rediscovered.
Recently, Jilly Cooper did a marvellous article on EM Delafield in the Guardian. It is worth a read if you want to know more. Suffice it to say that Jilly Cooper is a fan of the books. Better yet, try to find a copy and read EM Delafield's words. They resound through the ages.

Still working on my revisions and they are going well. And I shall be Good and not reread PL until I have finished them and my rita books...

Duck nests

I went out and discovered the duck nest under the thorn bush in the sunken garden. 3o eggs. Intellectually I know the duck could not hatch that many and that it is way too early.. but the thought of 30 ducklings made my blood run cold. The eggs have been disposed of. The duck protested loudly but has accepted the loss of its nest. It decided to be a good duck and go to bed with the others.

The mole does not have a nickname. Any creature that I might have to dispatch does not get a nickname. It makes it harder. One more day of curing in the compost heap and the mole will be engaged in battle.

The revisions are coming on. It is now a matter of going through and making sure everything is how I want it. There were some parts that my editor did not mention directly but it was obvious the emotional intensity needed to be upped and the stakes needed to be raised. And there were a few sentences that once God and I knew what they meant, but now only God knows. It will be a better book...

Mole update

Or why the back lawn is looking like a model of the Somme. I did try to phone the mole catcher. He did not return my phone calls. I have now turned to mole traps after doing research online.
My traps are currently curing in the compost heap so that they can have the proper earthy smell. They need to smell like the earth. Moles are known to dig around traps...
On Saturday, I will find the mole run, put the set trap in, and carefully cover over the trap. Then I wait, having marked the trap with a stick. You apparently can lose traps. Also it takes practice. I am hoping to catch the mole alive and be able to give him a happy home, somewhere a long ways away from the back lawn. If the mole dies, then unfortunately it has happened.

After doing the research, I discovered that vibration does not work, nor does pouring Jeyes fluid down the holes or a host of other methods. The best answer is to trap them. Then you know. You want more than one trap. Persistence.

And I need to discover a duck's nest as the white duck was out again last night. No quacking until about 7, but it was still out of the duck house in the morning.

Revisions are coming on. It is little tweaks to increase emotional intensity.

The third time

Yesterday, my Viking came back. The editors still had a few loose ends they want tied up. Although, it would have been fantastic if I had had everything right on the first time I appreciate the chance to put right the problems they see. There is a problem with foreshadowing. And they were worried that some things might not be clear.
Now I could curl up in a ball, but I really want this story to be strong. I sometimes find the third story to be the weakest. Some of the problems are of my own making as I threw out 90% of the story after the first revision letter. This was mainly because I wanted to and thought it would work better. It has in one way but other problems remain. Sometimes, you just get a book like that and hopefully the pain and suffering on my part will make for a better read. Ultimately it is about getting the best read possible for the readers. It is my name on the front cover and if the read is substandard, then can I ask readers to trust me with the next one? Better to make the changes now.
It is minor tweaks but then I do get to use Iolite as well. Kate Hardy told me about Iolite in December and I vowed if I got a chance, I would add it. It was used as the Viking's Compass -- the world's first polarising filter and used to determine the position of the sun. Determining the position of the sun becomes important when you realise that during the summer solstice, the sun never sets and you cannot rely on stars. Lief Erickson used one to find the New World.
So third time lucky.

In other news:
It was late night fun and games as one duck had not gone to bed. At about 1 am, it began quacking down in the lower pond. So after being nudged by my dh, I rose, pulled my hiking boots and a coat on over my nightdress, grabbed a torch and went out to find the duck. My dh is useless when it comes to putting the ducks away. Luckily the torch helped the white duck to decide that it did eventually want to go to bed with the other ducks and not stay hidden under various bushes or be quacking in the stream. The dogs aided just at the end, but I worried Joss the border collie would start barking and really wake the neighbours. The children slept through. I suspect the duck has a nest and I will have to find it. But climbing down the muddy slopes of the dene in the dark without a very solid reason is not on.

Getting things out of my head

Certain people sometimes think this blog is a code. Unfortunately I am far too tactless for that. Yesterday's post was an attempt to get something out of my head after reading a book. I could have written a post on addiction and the hero but need to think about how to approach it as I do not agree that an addict makes a good hero. No subtext here -- just that Nicola Cornick's blog made me think about things and the ever present why.
Sometimes things just strike me between the eyes. One thing is that the necessity of tying up subplots, particularly when certain things have been foreshadowed. Readers do wonder.

Readers do want the emotional payoff. They also want to believe that people are capable of being redeemed.

I know that I avoid bleeding on the page because it hurts. It is the old 10 percent rule -- the vast majority of readers will only get 10 % of the emotion you put in the book. In order to make sure that emotions are fully engaged, the writer needs to bleed. If you do not care passionately about characters, how can anyone else? It is something I do struggle with and when it is brought home to me, I go -- oh. it makes perfect sense now. Whether I can actually execute on that is another question. And each time I write, I do wonder if I will give enough blood.

Last evening I watched a programme we had taped about Sir John Mortimer. Like many driven people, he worked hard. When he was a barrister, and indeed I think for most of his life, he rose at 5:30 am and wrote. He also wrote before court. In other words he worked hard. His success was far from effortless, although he did like to pretend.

As some may know, he had a secret child. An affair with the actress Wendy Craig resulted in a baby boy who grew into a man before John Mortimer ever met him or indeed knew of his existence. He only learnt when a biographer interviewed Wendy Craig and she felt the need to confess. His son was grown and it turns out they get along very well. My dh turned me and said that he thought such things only happened in romance novels... I remarked that he had forgotten Peter and Dan Snow. Secret babies do happen. It annoys me when people say they are unrealistic... It is the motivation that is interesting.

Happening on stage

Sometimes as a reader, you need to see things happen on stage. Important bits of info, even though it might not be the main action need to be there or the reader feels cheated. I was reading a book at the weekend and this fact really struck home. There was an important heart wringing subplot that was tied up offstage as it were and it had been something that I was interested as a reader to see. Cue disappointment and the reinforcement of an important lesson. Readers do ask questions and wonder, particularly when things have been set up...
I do need to remember that opportunities for good narrative action should not go to waste. Subplots should also always feed into the main plot. Climaxes in important subplots need to affect turning points in a profound way.
Also -- motivations should grow and change as the plot progress. This helps to show character growth. Turning points should change characters and their relationships.

Writing can be such fun at times. And I know with my own writing -- I may know the concept and good practice, but then why don't I apply them? Why do I like being nice to be my characters? Sometimes there is a temptation to not want to bleed.
This week I need to write. Last week my progress was not good.

John Mortimer: An Appreciation

Sir John Mortimer died yesterday at the age of 85. He had been fading for awhile I believe, but he was a National Treasure. His most famous creation --Rumpole is truly one of the great characters in English literature. The books are best savoured like fine wine. They bear rereading and I believe are destined to become classics. It is the gentle humour, combined with the acute observation of human nature that makes the stories. And John Mortimer has long been one of my favourite authors. Thankfully I have a few signed copies of his books. I also have an apron with She Who Must Be Obey emblazoned on the front and a tattered cookbook from the Rumpole Society that has recipes for Dodo MacKintosh's cheesy bits...
I loved the way he could turn a phrase, or describe a character with a few well chosen words. He also had a wonderful work ethic -- rising at 5 am to write and did say in an interview that he hoped to be writing until he died. I hope he was.
Back in 1986, my husband (then boyfriend) sent me a copy of Paradise Postponed for my birthday. I have clear memories reading it on a snowy Minnesota day. It provided an insight into popular British culture that proved invaluable when a few years later when I moved permanently to the UK. Yes, it is satire but wonderful satire it is. It is the little things that are hard when you first move to a country. And when my children were little, I went and found Biggles books...as they were supposed to be good...
But it was the Rumpole stores where his genius took full flight. In many ways, he described a vanishing world where eccentricity and independence come to the fore. Rumpole was a great advocate for the independant Bar and the indivdual. I, for one am pleased that Sir John decided to write as well as practice law.
And if you have not read the Rumpole books -- read them and enjoy. Sir John Mortimer's words are his greatest legacy.

Changes

Yesterday was a day of small milestones. My eldest finally got a cheque book and learnt how to write cheques. He is going off to Moscow and St Petersburg at the end of March with his school and given that he has his own banking account, we felt the time was right for him to take responsibility for paying. He is looking forward to the trip and the parents' meeting was last night.

Mostly I sat there and let him get on with it. He is over 18. He will be the one doing everything but it did feel odd. Last time he went on a school trip, I was the one who filled out the cheque and handed over the passport etc. But it is all about letting go and that can be hard. It was not so many years ago that he was small.

It is also a reminder that 2009 will bring a lot of changes as he will be going off to university. But as I was saying last night to some parents I have known since our children were in toddlers, I have no desire to go back to that age. I am busy enjoying my children at the age they are...

The other thing that is happening is that they are FINALLY changing the railway gates at the level crossing. The old wooden gates were some of the oldest operating gates in the world. The line was completed in 1837 and I am not sure if they were ever changed -- just repaired. I believe they have been bought by some collector. They were terribly picturesque BUT they were also a pain. Being stuck for 20 minutes before a train arrives is no fun, particularly when you are late for an appointment. And sometimes in the wind, they would swing back slightly...after being closed. I think they caused a bit of a headache for the maintenance people. Every so often, the crossing would be closed on a Saturday night/Sunday while they tried to repair the gates. Necessary BUT it also meant that living up the Bank, we were cut off and had to find different routes. Not so bad when you are going, but when you forgot and were trying to come home... I understand that the signal box is staying...

And yes, before Donna says anything -- I do need to write. One thing that has not changed is the desire to tell good stories.

The terrible urges of the daemon

Yesterday my box of Rita books arrived. It is one of the great perks of being a member of the RWA. Lovely new authors to read, and books that I might not have picked up on my own. I always reacquaint myself with the judging standards as well.
The only trouble is that my daemon sees the pile of books and goes -- oh good, a chance to play. Michelle won't want to write. Or whispers of stories will start to come in my brain.
Luckily currently BOTH of my critique partners are sitting with big whips. They do not take many prisoners either and have explained where they think I have gone wrong. It is now up to me to FINISH THE STORY.

Focus is such an important quality for a writer. You have to be able to cut out distractions. You have to be able to concentrate on one story at a time. I tend to be a monogamous writer. Some writers are polygamous but then my daemon goes skittering off. I do believe there is ALWAYS one story I want to tell more than the others. Sometimes the pure physical work of writing down an idea helps. In this case though, it is an idea that I have been toying with on and off for the last nine months. I know a bot more of how it would be done, but what I don't know far outweighs what I do know. The mythology may be in place but is the story?
I need to finish the current story. And probably write another story and then maybe I will have time.
Focus means that I get my word count done and that I actually work on furthering my knowledge of craft and the business. But without more stories for the shopfront, there is little I can do. Story is king and being distracted from my current wip is not good.
So it is a small matter of upping the stakes and making sure the tension really sings.
It is also giving myself permission to write crap and really meaning it. In other words not letting my words harden to the consistency of cement but being open to taking taking flight. So it is a small matter of resisting the terrible urges of the daemon.

In other news:
My dd's mocks came back as expected. She will be working harder on her French. She knows what she needs to do. They are pointers only. And a bit like her mother, she spends far too much time reading romance rather than acutally studying and making sure things are perfect. My eldest is taking his next exam today (not a resit) but thinks he knows the math. he has learnt the value of studying the hard way. It is terrible to look at a math paper and think -- I knew this 25 years ago but now it might as well be Sanskirt.
The electrician has taken away the hall lights and is rewiring them as it appears to be a fault with the wiring. Nothing to do with the leaking shower then.

Rosetta stone and GCSEs

Following on from yesterday's post, I should say that I have not been overwhelmed by the GCSE course in foreign languages in general. The teachers know the languages and are enthusiastic. However, the students are very much taught to the test and at times, because of the requirements of the exam board, it has been choose something from column a and then b and then c. The exam board is changing the exam next year and hopefully this will help.

I also truly believe that children should learn another language (and that does not include American) unless for some reason they have difficulties with their own language and need remedial help. Learning a foreign language opens so many more worlds and ways to look at the world.

However, particularly after my eldest's AS level results in Russian, I did not feel confident. I gave in my son's request to get a Russian Rosetta Stone. He paid for it with his savings, so I suppose that I did not have a choice. But I had resisted for years, thinking that the school would provide a solid enough grounding. My son however was determined to properly learn the language and to get an A at A level. He decided that he needed help and that at worst, it would complement. So it was duly ordered and he started from the beginning.

Rosetta Stone in case you have not seen the magazine adverts is a computer programme which is geared towards the immersion principle. When you are learning the language, there is no other language involved -- just pictures. The programme also analyses the student's voice so the accent can be improved. It is fun. I did try a lesson or two in Russian and was surprised how quickly I could pick things up.

Anyway, within a few short weeks, my eldest's confidence with the language improved and he finds Russian much easier. There were just bits that somehow he missed. And it is probably more of a reflection on him than the teaching. In order to secure a predicted A, he went to the department and resat the test he had completely messed up. This time, he passed with flying colours. The department has predicted him an A and recently his teacher commented that he seemed far more secure with the language.

I was so impressed that my daughter was given the French version as part of her Christmas presents. Again she started from the beginning. Rapidly it became not review but learning things -- somehow she had completely missed the whole formal you bit and now knows the tenses much better. Her accent is improving as well. It is not that she was bad at the language. It was more that I felt something was slightly missing. Perhaps it was an underlying confidence. Teachers often do not have the time to discern the precise problem and it can be difficult to say -- is this student reaching her full potential.

I can remember thinking this when she was learning to read and working with her with a phonics programme, even though she was reading far beyond her age. I had thought she was just a good guesser... Her then teacher was amazed at suddenly how much more solid she seemed. So perhaps it is just the re enforcement. The physical act of doing if you will.

I also learnt that private tutoring is expensive and if you look at the Rosetta stone in relation to the cost of a good private tutor, it works out to be a less expensive option. The key is getting the children to use it. Luckily it means going on the computer and so this is an incentive, plus the confidence grows. My daughter who before Christmas was about to give up on French and accept whatever grade she received is now determined to get an A. Little and often...

My youngest wants to take Spanish at GCSE. Unfortunately the high school is dropping the Russian option due to lack of qualified teaching staff as some of the teachers are retiring, so eventually we will get another Rosetta Stone. After my experience, I have become convert to the programme.

And in case Donna or Sue are wondering -- yes I am working on my wip.

And my son felt his first resits went well. We shall see...Certainly the effort he put in has been far greater.

Nerves

What is worse than going through resitting exams yourself? Watching one of your children do it.
My eldest more than likely did not study as well as he should have done for his AS levels last June and is now resitting some of the exams. He has spent hours studying and does admit that he knows it much better, but I still worry. The exams start today and go over the next week or so. Fingers majorly crossed.
High school over in the UK is very different than the US as you do have the GCSE and then the A levels. In the US, it is grade point average and SATS. Here it is how well you have done on the course. Luckily with AS, there is a chance to resit the exam but it does add an extra work load...
One other thing I discovered this week is that BEFORE choosing GCSE courses, parents and students should investigate the university degree courses and their requirements. Several of my eldest's friends were rejected from Edinburgh because they had not read the fine print and did not know that they needed to have a foreign language GCSE. Because I believe in the importance in being able to speak a foreign language (however badly), it was a given for my children, but there will be students (and parents) who did not realize the importance of continuing with a foreign language. Many of the Scottish university science courses have a year abroad programme in an EU country. It is all about keeping your options open.

reader feedback

I was very pleased to discover in my post yesterday morning an email from Coffeetime Romance about Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife. I have a lot of time for Coffeetime and their policy (along with several other review places) of sending the author the review is a good one. It makes it easier for me to send the review to my editors. The part that did my ego good was: Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife has all the greatness that surrounds an excellent read. The dynamic characters really light up the pages with their actions and emotions – reaching out and grabbing the reader, pulling them into the drama. Michelle Styles pens a terrific mesmerizing tale. Sela is a powerful character who grows more forceful as the story continues. With great pacing, a star-studded cast, and well-crafted plot, this story is awesome. There were times I could visualize the whole events as they came into play, especially the scenes with Sela and Vikar. Weaving in the ailing father, and the small child, really made this story dynamite. Action-packed, with intriguing romance, and energy charged moments, left this reader wanting more of this dazzling read..

I also recently had a review from Merri about Gladiator's Honour. Again it made my day and made me remember why I loved writing that book. Merri has recently started another review hub -- Book Illuminations. It is the bring together of several independent book reviewers so that they can review a wider range of books. I wish them all the best in their endeavor.

I love getting reader feedback. It is great to know that there are readers out there enjoying my books. I always try to pass on the reader feedback to my editors as well as they are always interested. With series books, a certain amount of sales are automatic, and they do like to know which stories hit home etc. It helps with future marketing. In fact, Harlequin Mills &Boon maintains special panels of readers in order to get feedback and so they can market the books better.
Sometimes after reading the letters, I worry about the next book -- will it be strong enough. Will it give the read that readers expect when they pick up the book? Will they be able to escape in the world I have created for a few hours? And the letters do spur me on to try. Other times, I just bask in the fact that the hard work has paid off. Also I am not so egotistical to think that my books will speak to everyone. So many factors can go into whether or not a book appeals. It is also interesting to see what people pick up on...
Anyway I do always to try answer emails or even personal letters.

IN OTHER NEWS:
The problem with the electric has come back and I will have to get the electrician out again. This time, the hall lights have not blown, but they do keep blowing the mains if switched on. Rather worrying that.

And I am starting to lose weight again. It takes a long time but indoor rowing does work, plus we have not been having as many treats. It is all about lifestyle changes rather than dieting. One of the things I have been doing with the intervals is one quick interval followed by a slower one. It does make legs become jelly but I think it works. Apparently it burns two different types of sugar. The other good thing about rowing is that afterwards, my core temperature stays up for awhile and as we are in the dark cold days of winter, this is a bonus.

Working away

In an effort to divert Donna's attention, I have done a contest on Tote Bags. And for Sue, I sent her three chapters. But they both carry mean whips so I am working away, writing this wip.
Actually I am having fun writing.

The Telegraph today (pages 10-11 Review) carries an article about the publishing industry, implying that it is not all doom and gloom. Generally speaking for most people, books are not luxuries but necessities. Yes, second hand booksellers are up but certain types of books are not down as far as one might suppose. The charts editor for The Bookseller apparently discovered his reasonable remarks about the non death of the celebrity memoirs, being edited out in favour of the high profile flops so that more doom and gloom could be spread.

Unfortunately I could not discover the article on the Telegraph's website or I would have linked to it as it is interesting.In fiction, the general thinking is that depressing is out and escapism is in. During the 1970's genres such as romance and fantasy thrived. In the 1930s, Penguin pioneered the paperback and cosy detective fiction was popular. Helen Fraser of Penguin points out that unfortunately the price of paper is going up, but they are hoping to offset with the cost of typesetting going down. She does not see this as heralding the dawn of the e-book though.
I have done a lot of thinking about ebook readers and whether to get one or not. I dislike reading books on the computer. My major problem with them (besides the expense) is the lack of being able to share. My dd and I both read romance. I often have to go and fish the books I thought I was reading out of her room. She may have her nose in one, with another ready to read. With an ebook reader, you can only be reading one book at a time on the reader and you can not share the books between readers. With the mysteries, up to four people in the house may be reading them( My youngest is currently gone on polar exploration. ) So for me and my family, it does not make sense as we share books.
A friend who I was speaking to about this problem also commented that she liked to bump into books -- so she had a book on the go upstairs and one for downstairs. Carrying a reader around seemed somehow premeditated and she would lose that guilty pleasure...
Anyway, the best guess is that e-books will reach the size of the audible book market in about five years time. They are a niche market.

Right, Donna's whip is going to be looming and I have promised chapters, so I shall work.

Whip cracking

Both of my critique partners have cracked their whips, so this will be short.

I have discovered the Mira blog where they will be discussing books on Fridays. Five books, five Fridays. One of the things I did last year was to help set up a reading group at the local high school and Mills & Boon were very supportive. They very kindly sent out a few copies of Maria V Snyder's Poison Study. After reading it, I became a firm fan as has my daughter and a number of Year 9 boys. Anyway, the discussion about Poison Study on the Mira blog will be next Friday. It is one of those books that after reading, you just want to discuss. Snyder plays around with a number of themes. And my daughter keeps reminding me that Fire Study is published on the 16th and we are waiting to see how various things such as the carved stones play into the overarching story. Also the contrasting societies which explores the whole concept of freedom and totalitarianism. It reminds me of Persian Empire v the Greek democracies -- where were people more truly free?

Moles don't hibernate

I gave the mole a reprieve over Christmas as he sent a card via my dh. I even thought the cold weather would mean hibernation. No, he has continued to dig mole hills. I do have the number of the mole catcher. He will be phoned as the back lawn is now a series of excavated hills. I have bought my dh a stuffed mole as they do far less damage...

Melissa from the Romance Reader Connection did a lovely review of Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife which I got to see this morning. TRRC has just revamped its website and it looks great! Instead of having an author of the month, they have a new blog where authors will be appearing. Anyway, I do enjoy TRRC so I wish them all the best.

The part I liked best about Melissa's review was: The depth of characterization combine with the scope of the story and provide the reader with a profoundly rich historical romance experience not always found in the Harlequin Historical line. The author has quite a flair for strong females as well as noble and compelling heroes, each character right for their time and space.

It quite made my morning!

And as I haven't mentioned it -- Philip Glenister who did provide the inspiration for the hero of Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife has a new tv show out -- Demons. His accent is somewhere over the mid Atlantic, but he is supposed to be an American mentor to an English high school student who has a talent for fighting demons. Wonderful Saturday night fare for the entire family. Or at least my family enjoyed it.

It will be interesting to see how the characters grow and develop and the mythology used. Yes, I know that Buffy the Vampire Slayer etc has gone before, but hopefully they will be able to take this new directions. Actually as I do rate Philip Glenister as an actor, I think they will be able to. It is just going to take time for the relationship between the two main protagonists to grow. Part of the thing that carries a tv series like this is the relationship and conflicts between the characters. It is what brings people back.

Harlequin is 60

This year it is Harlequin's turn to celebrate!

Celebrations include the opportunity to download 16 free books. This opportunity may be limited to North American readers only. But it will include one book from each line. (None of mine though) The ones I have heard about are excellent choices.

There will be an exhibit of front covers at the end of May in New York.

There will also be reprints of the first series books by best selling authors. This should be a highly collectable series.

A variety of lines are planning special things as well.

IN other news, I would like to congratulate Kate Hardy, India Grey, Jessica Hart and Fiona Harper for making the shortlist of the RNA Romance.

And Mills & Boon's tie up with English Rugby made the front page of the Guardian newspaper. My dh came up after Newsnight, and woke me up with the news. It looks to be a wonderful continuity based around rugby and attempts to tap into the female rugby following. Having played rugby at university and indeed married a man that I met through the rugby scene, I do have a fondness for the game. Be sure to look out for India Grey's contribution.

Bee History

For Christmas, my sister gave me an absolutely fascinating book on the honeybee -- Sweetness and Light, the mysterious history of the honeybee by Hattie Ellis.

It was amusing as the book was inspired by a visit to the Chain Bridge Honey farm in North Northmberland and my sister found the book near her home in the US.

The book is a treasure trove of snippets about bees as Ellis blends natural history, history, religious symbolism, literature and biology. It was first published in 2004 and so does not touch on CCD (colony collapse disorder) but does deal with the problems of the varroa mite and some of the other difficulties that the modern bee keeper faces.

It needs to be remembered that modern bee keeping, with its movable frames and recognition of the bee space and bee line only dates from the mid 19th century. We really do not know if beekeeping on an industrial scale is truly possible over the very long term, or whether bees are better as a cottage industry. The one very good advance is that bee keepers no longer kill bees to get honey and that honey can be extracted by centrifugal force. The extraction of honey came about when an Austrian army officer noticed what happened when his son played with a bit of comb, and a pail on a string. Before this, the comb had to drip through a cloth and be squeezed.

Until reading the book, I had not realised that neither Australia, New Zealand nor North America had native honey bees who existed in hives. Australia had solitary bees. American Indians called honey bees -- the white man's fly.

I found it very interesting that John Harbison brought the honey bee to California, and basically created the California honey industry. He was also responsible for inventing a process so small squares of honeycomb could be harvested and sold. Growing up, I can remember my mother buying squares of honeycomb in the super market. In the UK, you do not tend to find honey comb on sale in that fashion.

What was also interesting was the changing perception of bees. From its very high status in religion to a symbol for industrialisation and disaffection, and finally once again to the idea that the bee is in fact natural and part of nature. And that honey, particularly local honey which has not been heat treated is useful in treating a number of ailments and diseases. The Greeks believed oil on the outside (remember there was no soap) and honey on the inside did much to promote health.

Anyway, it was a totally charming read where the subject matter is not presented in an overly technical matter.

Beeswax

One of the things I have been doing over the holidays is to make beeswax candles. I had not used up the beeswax from this year's harvest, and we were getting low on candles. There is a certain amount of satisfaction in making candles. Melting beeswax releases a wonderful perfumed scent and its fun to pour the wax into the mould and then the heart stopping moment when you know the candle is set but perhaps not quite ready to come out but you are going to try any way. Soft warm wax is very tactile.
I only managed to ruin one candle this year, and the wax was easily remelted.
It is a timeless process. Beeswax has been used since time immemorial, just as honey has. Cave pictures have included honey/beeswax hunting representations. However, it was not until the mid 19th century that modern beekeeping was born.
Until the invention of whale oil and then paraffin, beeswax was the clearest light. It does not smoke like tallow. Its light though is yellower than the white-blue of paraffin. And when it burns, beeswax releases the most wonderful scent.
I tend to make taper candles as they fit into the candle holders.
Beeswax is also used in a number of products from cosmetics to furniture polish. The cleanest wax from commercial beekeepers tends to cosmetics and the worst for furniture polish.
Because the bee uses the very efficient hexagonal shape, it does not produce much wax and pound for pound, beeswax is more expensive than honey.
Anyway, when I look at my candles and my store of honey, I am very pleased to keep bees. It is a worthwhile hobby and hopefully one which will grow in popularity. However, despite bees being one of the most studied creatures through history, we actually do not know that much about them and the dangers the modern world/chemicals/practices present.