Firebringers

Last night I finally finished Max Adams' biography of the Martin brothers and the world they inhabited The Firebringers. To call it a biography is wrong. It is provides illumination on the early 19th century, through a variety of anecdotes and facts.

Because John Martin was born in Haydon Bridge, I was initially interested in learning more about him. What I had not realised was how bound up he was in London Society and invention as well his famous paintings. It was great to learn more about Prince Leopold, the unlucky consort of the Princess of Wales or Marc Brunel's troubles with the Thames tunnel or JMW Turner's double life.

I also learnt that in 1832, 32,000 people in England died from cholera. It rather puts the current swine flu panic in perspective. It is an enjoyable read and illuminates the time period nicely.

I now have Richard Holmes' The Age of Wonder to read. It covers the same period and deals with the growth of science before Darwin.

Donna Alward is doing something on conflict (her book The Soldier's Homecoming has just finalled in the Golden Quill -- go Donna!) and Kate Walker is finishing up her alpha posts.

The mole has once again been working overtime in my garden. SIGH. Why me?

Venice redux

I am blogging about the allure of Venice today at the Pink Heart Society. Even after being back in the UK for nearly two months, I only have to close my eyes and I can be transported again. It is such a wonderful city to visit.

As part of its spotlight on Harlequin Historical, Eharlequin is doing a Carnival of Venice cyber masquerade ball. It should be outrageous and fun.

As Natasha Oakley asked when she was here, the mole is still digging in the back lawn. It has taken to filling in my traps. To add insult to injury, my youngest thought he was being helpful, refilling a hole but he managed to bury a trap. I note there is a new hill this morning...away from the traps and back where I put the original traps. Are moles intelligent?

Things to help bees

Yesterday, a neighbour phoned, concerned that he had not seen any honey bees in his garden. I had to explain about my earlier bee murdering disaster and my hopes of getting a new colony. Somehow I don't think he was mollified. Apparently he is worried about his damson crop...

So what can people do to help the honey bee? The British Bee Keeping Association has a list of 10 things the general public can do.

1. Write to your MP or MEP to lobby for more funds for bee research. We really do not understand enough about bees and what makes them ill.

2. Plant bee friendly plants. This is important. Grass and evergreens are not bee friendly. Certain repeat flowering plants are not bee friendly. The BBKA does have a list on its website but flowers like foxgloves, herbs including mint and thyme, fuchsia, asters, sunflowers, daisies, hollyhocks and delphiniums are all loved by bees. In many ways with the problems of agricultural pesticides, gardens area haven for bees.

3. Join your local beekeeping association. They do run courses for beginners. They are friendly and welcome new people.

4. Find space for beehives. Even if you do not want to look after bees yourself, you might be able to have space for a hive. Some beekeepers need sites. The benefit for you is well pollinated crops and perhaps several jars of honey. Sited right, a beehive does not bother its neighbours. Contact your local beekeeping association.

5. Buy local honey. Local honey has lots of good properties including not being ultra heat treated so it is helpful for colds and allergies. If you are not sure where you can buy local honey, contact your local beekeeping association. Local honey tastes far richer than the mass produced stuff you buy at the supermarket.

6. Do not keep unwashed honey jars outside the backdoor. First of all it attracts wasps but more importantly, foreign honey can contain bacteria and spores that may be harmful to your local bees. The bees as well as the wasps will try to eat the remaining honey.

7. When encountering bees, be bee friendly. Do not flap your hands or run. Stay calm. Walk slowly away and go into the shade of a tree or shed. They sting because they are frightened for the hive.

8. Protect swarms. Call your local council to get the number of someone to deal with them. swarms are important. Generally they are not aggressive as they have fed on lots of honey. But if you disturb -- say spray them with water they get irritated. So leave them alone and call an expert.

9. Encourage your local authority to plant bee friendly plants. Parks, verges and other public areas can be a real haven for bees. Wildflowers such as rosebay willowherb can provide lots of honey. Evergreen plants and grass can't.

10. Learn more about bees. Contact your local beekeeping association. There are beekeepers ready and willing to talk to all ages and manner of groups. Generally they have an observation hive for schoolchildren.

The loss of bees is a very real problem but little things can help to make a difference.

Hexham Book Festival

The Hexham Book Festival went well. There was a definite buzz about the town. The panel was informative and hopefully everyone who attended could see how passionate we all were about writing and reading romance.

Natasha Oakley pointed out a very importnat fact. Mills & Boon outsells all the other publishers of women's fiction. It is the largest publisher of women's fiction in the world. But for some reason, this fact often escapes people.

Sheila Hodgson who is truly awesome did say at the end that they are looking for new authors across ALL the series. The editors really want to find new stars and unlike many other publishers, they do really all submissions. All three authors came from the slush pile orginally. None had submitted through the RNA or an agent.

BTW I did my level best to ruin the photo. Natasha, Sharon and Sheila Hodgson -- all look lovely. I did my forced smile. My daughter took the photo.

Here, there and everywhere

Today, the fantastic Kate Walker continues her masterclass on what makes a M&B alpha male hero with my thoughts. Kate and I are at one with this. Alpha male heroes rock.

There is also a post about Following your dream and what makes people decide to follow that dream on the Pink Heart Society. So please leave your thoughts. I love discovering why people decide to follow their dreams.

And finally, I get to play at being a glamorous author today as I am going to the launch of the Hexham Book Festival this evening. I believe tickets are still available for most events, including the M&B panel discussion on Saturday afternoon. Sheila Hodgson, a senior editor from M&B is chairing the event and she has sent a number of interesting topics through which we will be discussing. Things like the ALPHA MALE HERO and he changes! As well as the universal emotional truths in romance, particularly in a post feminist environment.

I am planning on taking pictures so hopefully people can live vicariously!

Stories and codes

Julie Cohen put a comment in my post about Narnia and codes. Actually I knew Julie would feel this way as she was at one point a highly dedicated and passionate teacher of English literature. We differ on the subject in some respects.
While I have no objection to individuals getting more out of a story than the writer intended, I do object to the searching for codes and hidden symbolism as the primary purpose for literary theory. The first purpose of literary theory should be to look at the structure and how the story develops. Without a solid understanding of story theory, it is impossible to say if certain symbolism or meanings are possible or if the reader is merely projecting. In other words, people need to understand and to appreciate the construction as much as they like to love for the puzzles and hidden meanings.
Without STORY, the whole point of reading fiction vanishes.
In some ways, the concepts of plot, pacing, proactive characters and the reasons why they work in one story and not in another are hard to grasp. Why do particular stories resonate with readers at particular times?
So for me as a die hard -- the Story must come first person -- the first test for anything hidden is it possible within the bounds of storytelling craft? Is it possible within world building? Or is it stretching the bounds of credulity? When does literary theory with an emphasis on hidden text and meaning start becoming a discussion of how many angels can dance on a pin head?
Also do stories have to laden with obvious hidden meaning for them to be worthy of study? And can that meaning change depending on the socio-economic context of the reader? Or is it fixed within the social understanding of the author? And if you get a different meaning from the story than the accepted one or the one the author intended, is it necessarily wrong?
Equally, to a certain extent, you need to know when and why certain things were written. For example, in A Question of Impropriety, Diana wears a rose pink gown to the ball. It is highly doubtful that in a historical context, she would have done. I knew that when I put it in there. Why did I do it? To symbolise her movement from the virginal pure state? Actually, it is there because my then editor said in a call about the revisions that she had found a lovely cover with a rose pink gown and the model looked a bit like her, could I make the colour of the gown rose pink. It wasn't important to the story what the colour of the gown was, so I readily agreed.
Anyway, for me, it is always Story, story, story and really it is what commercial ficiton is all about -- in whatever age it is written. Story is what helps literature stand the test of time. That new generations find elements that speak to them is great but it is Story that underpins, not the codes or hidden meaning.

The Return of the Mole

The mole is back and digging tunnels around the traps.
It really adds insult to injury to see this happening. We have just reseeded the lawn...

No bees yet. Several beekeepers in the area have promised if they get swarms/have to divide colonies, they will let me know. All the beekeepers that I have spoken to are anxious not to bring in bees from the South. We have fewer problems up here with viruses etc. But losses are still great. Having seen the BBC programme on Who is Killing the Honey Bee, I think the theory about pesticides weakening the bee has some merit as does the whole transportation of bees and mono agriculture theories. It is probably a combination rather than one cause. But what is really needed is more research. The little honey bee is so very important to sustaining life on this planet. It is not a machine but a living creature. I am hoping to get some more bees soon. The hives are out in case any wandering swarm happens by, but I am not optimistic.
On 10 May, I am going to another Hexham beekeeping meeting which is at an apiary so at least I can my fix that way... But I want more bees in my garden, buzzing about and visiting the flowers that we planted.

No new kittens. I saw a advert for kittens, wrote down the number and then thought -- no I am not ready. I can however look at cats and kittens without a pang in my heart so this is good. It will be when the time is right. In the meantime, the dogs are enjoying the extra treats...

The Age of Unbelieving

As Jane H left a comment on the more about Narnia codes post, I thought I'd write about the Susan problem as I see it.
One of the Big Betrayals in many female eyes is the transformation of Susan. In The Lion,The Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, many female readers (including my daughter) identify with Susan, but by the time The Last Battle rolls around, Susan has forgotten about her time in Narnia and wants to be a grown up. She prefers discussing nylons and lipstick to talking about past adventures. She is also not involved in the train crash. And the whole episode leaves a bad taste. So much so that many of the Susanites refuse to re-read the books.

Some people go through this stage where they openly mock childhood pleasures. I can remember my brother doing the same thing as a teenager. We used to play various long and complicated imaginary games but then one day he grew up and then mocked. It hurt at the time. When he was suffering from his final illness in his late twenties, my brother had the grace to say that those long ago childhood days were some of his happiest and he took great pleasure from the memories of those games.
It is the Age of Unbelieiving where it is cool to pretend that you were never interested in xyz. You actually open mock and deride the thing. You want to be a grown up and to be thought to be grown. Therefore, childhood pleasures are not what is required. How long it lasts depends on the individual. It can be argued that it is a necessary part of growing up. But it also is terribly sad. To be so desperate to be thought of as big that you have to deny the pleasures of your childhood self. With maturity comes the realisation that you can take pleasure, even if you can't revisit.

To be fair to Lewis, he never says that Susan will not reach Narnia again. Aslan simply refuses to tell her story. In The Horse and His Boy, Aslan says he only speaks of an individual's story to that individual. And what ever happens, happens out the scope of the book.

So does Susan get out of her own age of unbelieving? How does she cope with losing her two brothers and her sister? Does she have children of her own and then tell them stories about Narnia? Lewis never reveals this. Given her age at the start of the books, it is possible that Susan could still be alive and telling her grandchildren or great grandchildren the stories. There again, she could have become bitter and twisted. But I like to think the former. And after a long fulfilling life, Susan is reunited with her past. once a queen in Narnia, always queen. It is just the pathway back was somewhat longer. (Or at least this is what I tried to explain to my daughter)
There again I write romance and like happy endings.

The Regency dress

Today is my children's high school's Charity Day. The money raised goes to a worthy charity -- this year is going to support a charity chosen by the family of a sixth former from the school who died of cancer eariler this year.

The theme is historical figures. My eldest is going as a raisin (an easy costume and as he says something that has been around since time immemorial). He would not let me take a photo as he said that I was laughing too hard. The costume consists of two bins bags.

My youngest wore the Confederal General's jacket that I made for a long ago Halloween for my husband and his school trousers. He refused to do up the jacket and also refused to have his picture taken.

My daughter wore the Regency dress. I am proud of it. I dragged my sewing machine out yesterday and completed it -- including ribbon placements on the sleeves and hem line in one day. A lot of cursing did accompany it though when I discovered that I had no choice but to rip a few seams. Still it is the finished product that counts... She had no choice but to pose. This is her Haloween etc costume for many years to come. She is NOT getting the mid Victorian day dress that she has her eyes on....

She is also wearing a scent box necklace (I should find out the correct name). They were poular in the 19th century. You put a dab of scent on some cotton and put it in the box/medallion and then as the warmth of your skin heats the metal, the scent is released. My aunt gave it to me years ago. The reticule belonged to my great great grandmother.

More on Narian codes

The author of the Planet Narnia book left a message in the comments of my earlier blog. He felt that perhaps the BBC programme did not show his theory off to its best advantage.
Having dealt with television and knowing that 3 minutes tv time came mean three hours real time, I had a look at his website. I also only watched until the discussion about the planets ruling the days -- which is something I had come across before in my research for the Romans.
The website did confirm what I thought -- namely Mr Ward has never written fiction for publication and that he has never had to construct a world which exists over a series of books. Equally he has not had to deal with the editor/author relationship when you are speaking about commercial fiction. Sometimes, it can be difficult to say when various themes are decided. The entire revision process throws new connections up and thus it would be improbable that he could do a code to that extent over 7 books and not have his editor know that he was up to something. Also Ward does not mention (it could be in the book) Lewis fighting to keep some imagery in that has no relationship to the story and that he would have only fought for IF he was doing this code. It would be in the editor/author relationship that you would see this happening rather than in his relationship with his reading group. Editors are very powerful beings in the commercial world, particularly in the 1950s.
In the FAQ, I learnt that Lewis held critics who searched for hidden meanings in contempt. Thus, I would doubt that if he had put a puzzle or riddle into each of his books, that he would have done so to the degree that Ward suggests. Also he would have been targeting a single person/specific group of people particularly with the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It could be that the correspondance has not survived.
In addition to Father Christmas, this book is the book where the world most reflects English values -- umbrellas, books in a library, sewing machines are all mentioned in this book but not again. It was also geared towards the Christmas book market and someone may have felt that including Father Christmas would help increase either the chances of publication or sales.
You can tell there was some discussion with his editors about order etc and that Lewis lost the argument. This is because he turned in books in a different order to the publication (Horse and His Boy was sent in fourth and published fifth), and indeed apparently began the books in a different order. Although knowing what I know about world building etc and discussions with editors, the later point is not necessarily significant but the sending in of the manuscripts is.
Editors have a habit of saying -- well we would like you to... or can you possibly think about writing this one first. Then they may change their mind.
I know there is a question about the order in which to read the books. I started with Prince Caspian as that was the book my mother bought for my brother. I then borrowed the rest from a neighbour. So because they are stand alone, in one sense the order does not matter. In another, they were edited (and therefore revised by Lewis) in a specific order. Going by order of publication, this puts Voyage of the Dawn Treader third which if you believe Ward's theory is dedicated to the Sun. Sunday is also the Lord's day and this is the first book where Aslan specifically goes on at the end about being Christ. The Christian allegory is a bit clunky at times imho. and as a child, I skipped over it in my rereadings. But because of the trinity and the importance of three, plus the use of sun imagery, you could say that it helps prove the publication with The Lon, The Witch and The Wardrobe being first.

But Mr Ward and I do agree one important point -- Lewis created a magical world that stands the test of time. And he had the right to create the world however he wanted, and not to the dictates of Tolkien.

I am a writer and not a literary critic. I create worlds for my books. But ultimately the most important thing is the story and the story dictates all.

Revisions in

I have turned in my latest set of revisions. They weren't hard and once upon a time, I would have done them in 48 hours. I took 2 weeks. Why? Because I wanted to take the time to go through the manuscript and increase the intensity. I wanted to examine what I'd written and to see if I could make it tighter. I finished putting the revisions on the manuscript yesterday and today, I read it out loud. Again hoping to find mistakes and hoping to make it better. For it is not about what you did on the last book but what you do on this one.

I learnt a few things. Save conversation. Keep the tension. Save the Cat! Some of which go to make the next book even better.

But now I have to sew my daughter's dress as that deadline approaches...tomorrow and it is all in pieces!
Oh and the mole is back. I put the traps down and the mole dug around one -- covering it with a molehill as he created a diversion in his tunnel. New traps have been laid. We just reseeded the lawn as well!

codes and Narnia

First of all, Ashes to Ashes was really fun last night. They have given Alex Drake hope that she might be saved. And they have made things more complicated. It looks good.



On Sunday night, I finally started to watch The Narnia Code. I adored the Narnia books when I was growing up and was interested. About half way through, I turned it off. The theological Phd student Micheal Ward who *discovered* this code obviously has never written a fictional novel, particularly not one for children. Neither did he bother to read CS Lewis's letter to his stepson -- the one which says that he never set out to write seven books. He started with one and they grew. It is difficult to have an overarching code where each book is devoted to a planet if you didn't intend to write Narnia as a set of seven. It would meaning starting out, then writing a sequel (Prince Caspian) and then the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. And then seeing that ah, I have done this, so I will continue. That is very difficult on a subconscious level. If it is on an overtly conscience level, why was the Planet code not discovered in his notes and papers?

Also, because in these books, the story is paramount, it would be very difficult to weave in that amount of symbolism where each book is devoted to a different planet (planet as defined by medieval cosmology). The stories, particularly the later stories would have felt forced, particularly the imagery. The Horse and His Boy which is one of the last ones that was published is at its core an adventure story. You get more overtly Christian symbolism with the final two books.

Equally, if he had done that, Lewis would have had a precise ordering to the books. There are two different orderings. Lewis himself is on record as saying that it does not matter in which order the books are read. Given Lewis's deeply held Christian beliefs, if he did have a code, then he would have made sure that the one devoted to the Sun was the first book in one of the orderings. This is because the seven planets are also related to the seven days in medieval cosmology. In the Christian calendar, Sunday is the first day of the week. It is also called Dimanche (or the Lord's day) in French. It is easier to see the correlation between the days and the planets if you use a Latin based language rather than English.
And why choose to start this code with Jupiter and Mars? Because if you believe Lewis, he had only started off to write two books.

As an aside, apparently one of the clues that Ward to his conclusions was in the picture of Mr Tumnus carrying Christmas parcels when he first meets Lucy. This shows a deplorable lack of knowledge about British shopping habits in the early 20th century. As a visit to the Co-op at Beamish Museum shows, ordinary shopping was wrapped up in brown paper and tied with string. They did not use paper bags...Equally I am not certain how much control Lewis had over the pictures. Authors often have far less control over such things than readers imagine.

And then Ward mentioned the trees moving and the fact that the moving trees only appear in Prince Caspian. Actually, they also appear in The Lion,The Witch and the Wardrobe. Going from memory, Mr Tumnus says to Lucy that some of the trees are on the Witch's side. The Magician Nephew also has something about the trees, and the tree that Digory planted moving along with some of the trees in Narnia. It is out of this tree that the wardrobe is created. Personally I always figured that Tolkien and Lewis both were drinking from the same well with the trees.



Anyway, interesting theory but I doubt it. it is looking at stories from the outside in rather than inside out As McKee makes clear in his book, Story, this sort of analysis does not really start until the early 1970s/late 1960s. Lewis worked on the books in the late 1940s/1950s when the literary theory about structure was paramount. So he would have been thinking about plot, structure, conflict rather than the language.

And people should just enjoy the books rather than searching for third meanings.

Literary theory should look at how storytellers write stories before pronouncing on codes. Attempting to give order to randomness can lead to false assumptions.
Browning's statement about once Browning and God knew the meaning of the poem but now only God knows always has struck me as an accurate representation on how writers work.

Ashes to Ashes the second series starts

Ashes to Ashes the second series starts tonight at 9 pm. In honour of this, I have done a post about Philip Glenister for the Pink Heart Society's Male on Monday. Why does he appeal to women?

Now the papers have been concentrating on Keeley Hawes, the woman who plays Alex Drake. Apparently she had some terrible criticism for the last series. Actually, I thought she was fine. It was more the writing and the problems with a Buddy Love (professional love) scenario and introducing a new half to an already working partnership.

Buddy love is the term Blake Snyder uses to decribe the genre -- it is the Buddy Cop. And no matter what the sexes, you do have to build that relationship. It is also the genre that emcompass romance so I know it well. Incomplete protagonist, a coutnerpart and a complication.

In Life on Mars, in some ways, it was a two hander -- both the John Simms and Philip Glenister characters grew and changed. Gene Hunt grew to respect John Simms within the first series. With Ashes to Ashes series one, you had less of that. So Alex Drake was not changing Gene Hunt's perception as explicitly as she could have. Hopefully, the writers will have worked on the relationship and will have ensured that underlying chemistry that is so necessary for a Buddy cop series is there. But I will point out that it was always going to be difficult, simply because of the success of Life on Mars.

So Keeley Hawes had her work cut out and the script writers were less comfortable with a woman as one half of the buddy cop scenario. Hopefully this time the series writers figured out the problem and have actually turned this more into a two hander. Alex Drake needs a reason to stay in the 1980s, but also the audience has to feel that she might be able to get back to her time.

Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing the series. It is one of the best things on television at the moment.

Reviews and the Hexham Book Festival

I opened my email today to find a lovely note from Julie Bonello of Cataromance as well as the Pink Heart Society review. Now that the problems with her computer are fixed, Julie has been able to do a review of Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife. And it was well-worth the wait. Regular readers of this blog will know that Julie has reviewed every one of my M&B historicals and that I wait to see what she thinks.

With cataromance she gave Impoverished Miss 5 stars and said:

Michelle Styles is a must-read for readers who are bored to tears of reading hackneyed, clichéd and highly unoriginal wallpaper historical romances. In Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife, her writing is crisp and effortless, her evocation of Regency England superb, her characters believable and authentic, and her ability to tell an emotionally satisfying love story absolutely breathtaking.
Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife is not your typical run-off-the-mill Regency, but a beautifully rendered tale of hope, sacrifice, tragedy and the everlasting power of love.

You can read the full review here.

The Pink Heart Society review said -- Michelle Styles' latest is a beautifully-told, wonderfully written and utterly absorbing historical Regency that I defy anyone to put down once they've read the first page. Imbued with so much style, emotion, humour, charm and intense romance, Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife is outstanding historical romantic fiction at its best!

You can read the rest of the review here.

Both reviews will be printed out and used to combat Crow Attacks. Like most other authors I do suffer from Attacks of the Crows of Doubt. Keeping a scrapbook of good reviews and readers' letters does help.

I know how much time and effort Julie puts into her reviews and thre are reasons why her reviews are so well respected in the romance community.

A reader emailed to say that she could not find me listed on the Hexham Book Festival Programme. Part of the problem is the way the programme is listed and that you have to click on the different times, rather than it being by date. Anyway, here is the blurb and I understand that tickets do remain available. Contact the Queen's Hall box office for more details.

Saturday 2nd May
2.30 - 3.30pm – Mills and Boon panel
Theatre
What could be more universal to the human experience than the thrill of falling in love? There are reasons why the romance genre has consistently proven to be commercially successful. But timelessness does not mean unchanging. As Mills & Boon enters its second century of publishing, three authors, Michelle Styles, Sharon Kendrick, and Natasha Oakley discuss the challenges and pleasures of writing romance in the 21st century with editor Sheila Hodgson

Cost £5.

You can see the full programme on the Hexham Book Festival site.

Contest winners and more articles

My daughter has been drawing contest winners.
From my newsletter contest -- It was Penny W and Pat (Shreky Shrek) Emails have been sent.

With Totebags -- It was Lori Patterson and again an email has been sent.

My sister sent me an article from National Public Radio about Harlequin and romance. I was pleased to see my friend Sarah Mallory's book -- The Wicked Baron getting a mention. US News and World Report lists bodice rippers as its number 3 recession beater. Top was home gardening and Hollywood. I know for some the term Bodice ripper grates like finger nails on a chalk board, but at least it conveys fun escapist reading. And I suspect they wanted to make sure that people did not think it was romance in general but the romance genre in publishing.
Hopefully though people in the media will start taking the genre seriously rather than simply dismissing it.

Personally I never mind bodice ripping as it conveys something that is fun and light. Far too many people treat historical fiction as heavy weighty tomes and are frightened to pick one up. Bodice ripping means that it is accessible. The fact that the history in my books is reasonably accurate and that I hope my books will make non historians interested in history is beside the point. First and foremost, I write good page turning stories. And if the only way to get that across is for some to call them Bodice rippers, then so be it. I suppose Escapist Women's Fiction doesn't have the same ring.

The big question they ask is why, and the answer is obvious. Page turning reads which fulfill the Harlequin promise to its readers. People read these books again and again because they feel emotionally satisfied at the end. There is nothing wrong with escaping for a few hours and at the end feeling like the world is a brighter place.

Still doing my revisions and trying to increase the intensity of characterisation, plus refereeing between stressed out children who are revising for exams...

Nightline on Romance

My aunt emailed me about the piece and then the very lovely Margaret Moore had a link to the video. ABC's Nightline (the US equivalent of the BBC's Newsnight) did a piece on Harlequin.

The CEO, Donna Hayes, was brilliant but then having met her, I wouldn't expect anything less. If you want a role model for a highly successful woman, look no further.

Harlequin is doing very well out of the recession and the US media is just starting to realise (the deadpan readings of the various book not withstanding)

I think the presenter was surprised when Ms Hayes dismissed the need for men as a target audience. Harlequin Enterprise is focussed on women's fiction. It sees no need to change.

I was pleased to see historical mentioned.

Go Harlequin! Escapist Reading is great fun!

Bank holiday Monday

Why are Bank Holiday Mondays always overcast? You would think there would be a law, but no. Almost evey single Bank Holiday I can remember has grey skies and horrid weather. Or maybe, I am so busy enjoying myself on the other Bank Holidays.. Actually the weather was glorious on Saturday and Easter Sunday so I have nothing to complain about...

I am in the midst of revisions so it is physical emotional reactions at times of intensity. In other words, bleed on the page. I do know what is there. The other bit is more repetition. You would have thought that I could have picked up on some of this...I mean it needs to be on the page and not just in my head. SIGH.

And it is Julie Cohen's birthday today. She has a lovely pictore of David Tennant with a kitten. Julie still has a David Tennant fetish. Personally I noticed the kitten more, but that just means I need to get more cats...

Revisions, positive articles and hot cross buns

My very lovely editor sent the latest revisions for the Governess yesterday. She was apologetic as it is Easter weekend. I was very happy. It was then it struck me -- writing for most authors is a vocation. We do it not only because it pays the bills but because we love it and we believe in our characters. If someone gives me the chance to make my story stronger and better, I look on this as a gift and not a chore. And with her thoughts, I am certain that the book is going have more intensity of characterisation etc plus I can trail the now agreed sequel. Hooray for revisions!

Courtesy of the lovely Carrie Lofty, I discovered a very positive article about Romance in the New York Times. As with an severe economic turmoil, the romance genre is proving resilient. It remains to be seen though if the other maxim holds true, and society morals start becoming more conservative... The Blake Snyder blog from a few weeks ago still intrigues me. How the full frontal nudity of the 1920s films went to separate twin beds for married couples in the 1930s films.

And because it is Good Friday, I have been making the Elizabeth David recipe for hot cross buns. It is all well and good to buy the loss leading hot cross buns at the super markets (Tesco has 6 for 30p) BUT there is a certain satisfaction about using fresh spice, yeast and making your own. This means I can put in nutmeg and freshly ground cloves, raisins and mixed peel instead of currents And I get to have fun rolling the dough into snakes to make the crosses. Both my daughter and my youngest have already asked to help with the making of the crosses.

Blogging today at Totebags

I am blogging today at Totebags and to celebrate Impoverished Miss being published in the UK and An Impulsive Debutante being published in Australia, I am giving away one of my books.

I am also talking about the problems of living in two worlds -- the every day world and the world of my imagination. And how sometimes, when I am trying to make the switch, unintended things happen.

Sometimes you just need to knit

Over the past week, the desire has been growing -- I want to knit. The last time, I knitted was when I finished my sister's cardigan back in 2005. But with the cats going, I wanted to do something with my hands as there was no longer a cat to stroke.



Yesterday, I gave in; purchased more wool and new needles; casted on and began a cardigan for my husband. It is amazing what the fingers remember. There is something satisfying about knitting. And right now it fills a need.







My eldest is back from Russia. He prefers St Petersburg to Moscow. Despite the lovely towers, St Basil's was stripped bare inside by the communists. He came back with among other things -- War & Peace in Russian. Interestingly, Tolstoy wrote bits in French. The Russians can read more than one language. I have pointed out to my son that perhaps he ought to learn French as well as Russian!

The clock in the picture was stopped when the October Revolution happened. It has never been restarted. My son found the Hermitage museum to be absolutely fascinating. He enjoyed seeing the various paintings etc. He also found the various memorials interesting. The memorial to the victory over Napoleon is modelled on Trafalgar Square. The guide in St Petersburg had been one of Putin's translator and was very good. The guide in Moscow was very Russian and things had to be done to a time table. While in Moscow, the group went to see the ballet of Sleeping Beauty at the Kremlin. My eldest decided that it was not one of his favourites as there was a lot of pointless dancing at the beginning when the various delegations arrive. He prefers his ballets to have more of a story.
Anyway, he is hoping to return to Russia someday.

Mills & Boon Community live

Over the past month and a half, it has been my pleasure to help be a beta tester for the new Mills & Boon community, a place for UK readers of M&B to come together and discuss all manner of topics. It is run pretty much along the lines of eharlequin. Everyone is welcome, so if you love M&B and want to interact with like minded readers and authors why don't you come along? You can find the Community here.

The Viking's Captive Princess

Ivar's story has finally been titled -- THE VIKING'S CAPTIVE PRINCESS. The title really works for the story so I am pleased. I can't wait to see the blurb my editor works up either. And eventually the cover... It will be published in the North American market in December 09. There is no word on when it will be published in the UK but I am sure my editors will let me know.

My editor has also said that the Governess needs a few more tweaks. As I really want the intensity of characterisation to be there and also because we agreed a linked book AFTER I turned in the revisions, I am pleased to have another go and will take the opportunity to make it really sing. They are supposed to arrive before Easter. So I am keeping myself busy with the paranormal which refused to go away. But my deadlines do whisper to me...

The last parent teacher conference

I attended my last parent teacher conference for my eldest son (despite his being in Russia). The deputy head had sent a note to all the parents saying how important the conference was. It was all about making sure he revises for his A levels and various different strategies, plus reminders about revision sessions. I heard lots of good things but bottom line he needs to study more as nothing is in the bag until you get the final results back.
It is a strange moment when you see all these parents who you can remember as young parents with toddlers doing the rounds for one last time, earnestly discussing their children who now tower above them. The chairs are uncomfortable as ever, the hall just as loud but there is a certain air of poignancy about it.
My youngest reminded me when I got home that I have four more years with him, so I can go back to complaining.
The house still fills quiet. I keep going to pet the cats and end up stroking the breadbin. My daughter and my youngest are resolved to get new kittens sooner rather than later.

Oh and Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife is officially published today so that means I should go and see it at Tescos. There is a certain something about seeing your book on the shelf. It is even better IF you know a couple of copies have been sold...

It's all Greek

Donna Alward let me know that Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife was in Greece last month. I was very pleased to see that the Greeks used the inside cover from the North American version of VWUW as the front cover. I happen to really like that picture.

Because there is now a functioning Greek Harlequin site, I can offer up the Greek version of the blurb.

Η Επιστροφή του Πολεμιστή
Νορβηγία, 794 μ.Χ.Ο ήχος από τα τύμπανα του πολέμου πλημμύριζε τον αέρα και το σκληρό βόρειο φως στραφτοκοπούσε πάνω στα ακονισμένα σπαθιά καθώς η Σίλα στεκόταν στην ακτή και κοίταζε με δέος τα πλοία που ανέβαιναν στο φιόρδ. Ήταν γεμάτα πολεμιστές, άγριους άντρες που αδημονούσαν να ριχτούν στη μάχη και να δοξαστούν.Όμως δεν ήταν η απειλή της κατάκτησης από τον εχθρό που την έκανε να τρέμει σύγκορμη. Ήταν ο τρόπος που σκιρτούσε η καρδιά της στη σκέψη ότι σύντομα θα αντίκριζε το περήφανο πρόσωπο και το καλοσμιλεμένο κορμί του γιάαρλ Βίκαρ Χρούτσον, του αρχηγού των εισβολέων. Του άντρα, που πριν από λίγα χρόνια ήταν σύζυγός της…

I can get a few words like *the*, *and* and *Norway* but the remanents of anceint Greek is woefully inadequate. It is still thrilling though!

Better today

Thank you all so much for the lovely comments and private emails. I do appreciate them. The one great thing about the ROmance community is how many people are pet lovers. And if you have had pets, you do understand about grieving when you lose them.

It is quieter. But things are settling. ANd eventually in time, I will save another few cats. Out there, some where there will a cat or two who needs me and my family.

Right now, I am getting back to writing etc. as that is what I do. Although yesterday for the first time in absolutely ages, I wanted to knit.

Penny

Penny had mouth cancer. The vet said we could try antibiotic for 48 hours but really we were talking weeks and she was fairly certain it was mouth cancer. There was no real decision. I held Penny in my arms as she was given the sedative. Afterwards, the vet was able to pull her lip back and checked -- the cancer had gone into the bone. Because she was on metacam, she did not feel the pain in the way she would have.

Personally I figure the metacam bought us an extra year with her.

Penny was far more my cat. She left me alone to write but if I was watching tv, or talking to anyone or just generally sitting anywhere but my study, she was on my knee. If anyone was ill, it was her business to go and snuggle up to them. She was a very people sort of cat.

She was buried next to her sister in the warmest part of the garden. The good part is that I don't think she knew Tuppence was gone.

We will get more cats, but not just yet.

Tuppence

Tuppence has a series of strokes yesterday and I had to take her to the vet. When the time came for the appointment, she was breathing but gone. The vet gently put her to sleep. I stayed with her until the end and then brought her body home.

She was a very good cat and a part of the family for 17 years. Even my eldest who is 18 1/2 cannot remember life without her. Luckily he had not left for Russia and so was able to be here for the burial.

Her sister, Penny has mouth ulcers which probably means chronic kidney failure. ( I made the mistake of looking the symptoms up in a cat book and she is on Metacam for her arthritis which is hard on the kidneys) I shall be taking her to the vet today. Hopefully, the vet will decide that she can do something. But I do know it would be a matter of weeks or months. Days and it will be ever so hard.

There remains the question of how she will cope without her sister. After she goes, then we will get two new cats as I would hate to be without cats.

They were from the RSPCA and had been found in a plastic sack. They were in and out of the vets as kittens. Tuppence, for example, because she was starving ate too much and her stomach could not cope. But they rapidly grew healthy and survived. Tuppence could tell time, and if her dinner was late by even five minutes, she meowed -- very long and very loudly. She used to sleep on the sofa in my study. At one point, we moved the sofa to go under the window and she decided this was not to her liking so stopped coming in. When we moved the sofa back to the original place, she immediately came in, patted the wall, curled up and went to sleep. Everything was right in her world again.

Losing a pet is awful. There is no easy way to put it. Pets age quicker but they give so much love and affection.

Timers

Having taken another look at my agreed deadlines and everything else I want to do this year, I have realised that I need to use a timer and write. The word count per day is high but it can be done. Actually, I think my books are better when written under pressure. Too much fiddling and I get a lot of repetition.

I did try Dr Wicked but have realised that I write best on the computer with a timer and being allowed to go back and edit if I wish. Kitchen timers are us. Excuses do not wash.

It is a matter of concentrating and writing, rather than playing. You would think I would know this by now.

My eldest leaves for a week in Russia tonight. One thing that I am sad about is that the high school (due to lack of qualified teachers) is stopping offering Russian. My youngest is taking Spanish instead. Nothing against Spanish, but Russian has proved popular. I was surprised how many students are taking it at A level. This is going to be the last Russian trip.

newsletters, website and contest

My March/April newsletter has gone out. It has its usual reader contest where the prizes are copies of my books. If you have not signed up yet, the sign up is on the side bar. I only ever send out the newsletter when my books are out. There is always some writing tips, a recipe and some historical facts. This time the recipe is the rich poppy seed cake featured in both A Question of Impropriety and Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife. After all it is no good writing about something if you haven't tasted it! The big thing is that it is an old fashioned cake and so there is no leavening. The egg whites provide the lightness so it takes a careful hand.

I have FINALLY updated my website. The big problem has been getting the stupid thing to load. And as I lost the site when my other computer went down, I decided to totally redo the thing. This morning I broke down and telephone the 1&1 help line and the woman on the other end of the phone was very helpful. Within a few minutes, it was done. It is as usual a work in progress, but at least things are up to date with a slightly different look. My books are better arranged now. The problem with these things is you start with one time period or one book and then things just grow...

Tomorrow, I shall be at Unusual Historical and a copy of Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife is up for grabs to one lucky poster.

Haydon Bridge bypass

The Haydon Bridge bypass opened on Wednesday and I used the new junction for the first time yesterday. It has been a long time coming. The first plans for the route were scuppered by Hitler invading Poland. Then in the late 70s, things were once again put on hold. It was only through a strong effort by the members of the Haydon Bridge Needs a Heart group that they were able to finally get the okay. I can remember the counting, the protests in favour (uniquely there was no protest or formal complaint against the bypass), the writing to MPs and to John Prescott when he was transportation minister. Then suddenly, we were going to have a bypass. I can remember thinking how long away 2009 was... For the two years, we have suffered delays, beeping trucks and more delays. But finally, the first cars have gone down the bypass and the silence is wonderful.
There are still questions about the junction. The fire brigade have written to every household in the area to remind them that the A69 is busy and there will be no speed restrictions.
But for now, it is a wonderful achievement.

Tuppence has taken to snuggling next to the teapot in the morning. Is this a hint to turn up the thermostat?

And I think I finally have handle on my characters and what needs to happen. My daughter was very useful.

Rita/GH and difficult heroines

First of all, the RITA/Golden Heart finalists were announced yesterday. It was truly a stunning list. I was so pleased that both Anne McAllister and Jessica Hart made the finals of the contemporary series. My daughter was over the moon that several her favourite historical authors -- Eloisa James, Lisa Kleypass, Julia Quinn and Elizabeth Hoyt had finalled. You can read the full list here.

Some year, if I up my game, maybe I will make the finals...One has to hope.

Right now I am wrestling with a difficult heroine and hero. I changed things around and rapidly realised that I would be retreading Impoverished Miss to a certain extent. The themes would have been far too close. So it is back to my original idea and figuring out how to make it work. It should be really good if I can. At the moment though, I keep coming up with dumb reasons.

Lady Day

Today is 25 March and the traditional start of the new year for employment contracts, rents etc or at least it was until they changed the calendar and got rid of 11 days. Canny landlords etc objected and the tax year was moved to start on 5 April. Something that confused me no end when I first moved over here.

The reason for it being called Lady Day as it was exactly nine months from Christmas. This goes to show that various people listened to tradition, rather than researching facts. The celebration of the birth of Jesus was a reaction to Saturnalia. The Coptic Christians celebrate the birth of Christ in May (or so I understand) May makes more sense because of the way the Romans did their census, but it sort of puts paid to carols like in The Bleak Mid-winter... It is interesting to see how the myths and traditions develop.

It is also my husband's birthday. And birthdays are made to be celebrated. We had carrot cake and coffee for breakfast, plus cards.

Some days the deamon likes to play tricks

I thought I knew what this wip was going to be about, but then I began to write. I discovered that my heroine wanted to change etc, etc and in fact discovered what I wanted to write about was probably going to lead me down the garden path of not having enough romance. However when threatened with firing, my characters have decided to act properly. I have twisted a few things.
The wip (as Caroline asked) is a linked book to the Governess book that I just turned in. I know the backstory. I suspect some characters from the previous book will reoccur. I just have to figure out how. And I think the new way will work better. But it is another governess.

Blake Snyder had an interesting post on his blog about sexy movies suddenly not doing so well at the movies. There is a theory that in times of economic haardship, morals become far tighter. Excess goes out and wholesomeness comes in. Or maybe, it is that because mainstream wholesomeness has been so out that the stories have had to become tighter whereas in the hot sector, it has been -- oh just give them more and storywriting has gone. The important thing is to give a great story that really holds the audience.

But it is one of those things in publishing or the film industry, everyone wants a crystal ball. The only thing you can control is your writing. You have to tell the stories that you want to tell and to trust that they will find a market. But it is also about not being complacent and always trying to get better.

Hugs and kisses

Yesterday was Mothering Sunday in the UK, the UK's version of Mother's Day. My eldest said to me that I needed hugs and proceeded to hand me a bag of Hershey's hugs. He had gone to Fenwicks to see what the US candy supply was like.

Now I knew about Hershey's kisses but had not realised they did hugs as well. I suspect they have been in the US for awhile as it is always hit and miss with such things over here. Did some research and found they have been around since ack 1993! My only defence is that I have lived in the Uk for over 20 years.

Both boys kept saying later -- I need a hug. And my supply rapidly dwindled...My daughter was off riding...and some had to be kept for her.

And because of getting the candy, I have discovered that there is an online shop -- The Stateside Candy Co where I can get Hershey's kisses and hugs. Some of the other things are sort of -- oh no but bring back memories. For example, do I seriously miss poptarts or marshmallow fluff? It is good to know that these things exist but... On the other hand, the fact that they sell goldfish crackers...

Today marks the start of writing my next M&B Historical. I need to go for intensity of characterization so that there can be a buzz about the ms. My editor has not really explained what she means. All I can do is to control my writing and to try to make it even better. In the end all a writer can do is to control her writing.

cleaning up the bee garden

As a consequence of the demise of the bees, I have been cleaning up the bee garden. Normally because the bees don't like anyone within their beeline, I tend to clean quickly and get out once I start getting buzzed. However, it is now a chance to do a clean up after nearly a decade of beekeeping. All was going well until I took a backward step, heard crunch and squish and realised I had stepped into an undiscovered duck nest. Luckily it was full of fresh duck eggs. The pong from rotten eggs is truly stomach churning!

Our cat, Tuppence has a liver problem, I think. She has lost tons of weight, is very cold etc. She does not seem to be in any great pain, but it is a matter of weeks. I am hesitating taking her to the vet as I know what will happen. I would just like her to get through until April... It is selfish but if her quality of life totally went, I wouldn't hesitate. She still seems to be very hungry. Penny the other cat is doing fine on her metacam. They are both 17.

The high school is having a charity day at the end of April with historical figures being the theme. My daughter has convinced me that I need to make her a Regency dress. Butterick Pattern 6630 has duly arrived in the post. She had wanted a mid Victorian dress but I did point out that she would have to have the proper under pinnings. With Regency dress, the stays were not to cinch the wait but to lift up the bosom to a shelf life proportion. I do enjoy making costumes so it will be a challenge. The boys are busy working out their costumes. The plague doctor mask has been ruled out.

Film on Friday plus vampires

I am blogging today at the Pink Heart Society about The African Queen which happens to be one of my favourite adventure romances. It is a movie that stands the test of time. I had been going to blog about The Prince and Me but decided on balance to write about a movie that I loved. Emotionally satisfying endings are where it is at.

Yesterday, I finally succumbed and read Bram Stoker. It is a novel told through journals and letters with a high amount of the Gothic. At first it seems like a hard read but it flows very quickly once you get into it. Stoker was writing in the hey day of the Shocker after all.
The one thing I noticed was how well grounded it was in detail. Ian Fleming also used this technique. (He even claimed to have invented it but as with many things, it was probably tried and trusted before Fleming or Stoker even picked up a pen) Get the little things right and the reader is able to suspend disbelief on the large things. It is one of those books that I wish I had read years ago as it is not as gruesome as I thought it would be. But it is a story that really grabs you and won't let you go. A story with bite. ( I could think up more puns but won't)

Hexham Book Festival 2009

As I am appearing in the M&B panel at the Festival on 2 May at 2:30 pm, I thought people might be interested. Sharon Kendrick is also doing a workshop in the morning.

25th April to 3d May 2009


Our new programme is now available, we will be sending out copies to all of you whose addresses we have, check out our web site, www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk book on line at http://www.queenshall.co.uk/ or Box Office 01434 652477

The Hexham Book Festival is bucking the recession by expanding! But tickets are still affordable so defy the economic gloom and let words be your currency. From Saturday 25th April to Sunday 3rd May you can get romantic with Mills and Boon writers, talk the politics of peace with Paddy Ashdown write poetry by starlight at the remote Kielder Observatory and mingle with committed foodies at the Garden Station, Langley. So join us for lively discussion, heated argument, passionate readings and stimulating entertainment all without breaking the bank. Look out for events at our new venues Forum Cinema and Gibside, Tickets from £2.50.
Authors in our 2009 line up include;
Susie Boyt
Patrick Gale
Philip Hensher
Claire Harman
Irma Kurtz
Libby Purves
Janet Street Porter
Benjamin Zephania

New talent from Northern authors and poets;
Andy Croft, Bill Herbert & Paul Summers
Ross Raisin
Richard Milward

Writing workshops from
Debbie Taylor
Maurice Riordan
Sharon Kendrick

For Children
Andy Cope with Lara the Spy Dog
Wild and wicked story telling from the Kingdom of Northumberland
Musical workshop for 4 to 7 year olds
Writing for teenagers from Sally Nichols & Judy Walker

Outreach events include on Saturday 25th April at Gibside Chapel a talk by Wendy Moore about her new book 'Wedlock: the remarkable true story of the extraordinary marriage between Mary Eleanor Bowes, the Countess of Strathmore, and Andrew Robinson Stoney, a debt-ridden Irish fortune-hunter.
On Sunday 3rd May; Two River Cottage authors Pam Corbin and John Wright will introduce their latest books on preserves and mushrooms in the surrounds of Langley Garden Station

Please note if you would like to be sent a copy of our programme please provide us with your address
info@hexhambookfestival.co.uk

Hexham Book Festival would not have been possible this year without the support of our main funder Northern Rock Foundation
Thank you also to
Beaumont Hotel
Cogito Books
Community Foundation
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Forum Cinema
Fentimans
Gillian Dickinson Trust
Gibside New Writing North
Mslexia
New Writing North
Northumberland National Parks
Northern Film and Media
New Writing North
Queens Hall Arts
Slaley Hall
Tynedale Council

Risky Regencies

I am at Risky Regencies today talking about Venice. I knew I was doing the blog and so it was a great excuse to take pictures of costumes, 19th century gondolas and the like!

St Patrick A Northumbrian or a Cumbrian?

My youngest is getting ready to be confirmed and our priest gave him an article on St Patrick.
It would appear that a number of scholars believe St Patrick came from near Haltwhistle. In Charles Thomas's book Celtic Britain (Thames and Hudson 1986) quotes from St Patrick's own writing giving the words VICUS BANNA VENTA BERNIAE Banna is the Anglo Saxon place for Birdoswald and Professor Thomas speculates that Berniae is Greenhead pass.
You read more here. Apparently the landscape fits. Certainly, Birdoswald is evocative. One can imagine raiders crossing the Solway plain to capture him.
So was St Patrick from Northumberland/Cumberland? There is definitely signs of post Roman occupation at the sight and some have claimed that King Arthur was there as well.
Does it really matter as St Patrick did end up in Ireland?

But it is something to think about. Happy St Patrick's day

London

I went to lunch with my editors yesterday. The big news is that Ivar's story, title still to be decided will be published in North America in December 09. I am not sure when it will be published in the UK, but it is in the schedule for December. This will be my only NA publication this year as far as I can work out. Then next year, I believe they are planning to put some of the Roman titles into Direct and e-books as well as the Regency/Victorians.
Personally I am pleased that scheduling is not my job.
We have agreed the focus for my next few projects.

The company and the food was good, but the flight was horrid. Delayed by an hour to begin with, and then the flight was cancelled on the way home. I was put on a flight about 3 hours later and arrived back shattered.

Venice -- Navigating by churches

The only way to figure out Venice is to navigate by churches. You end up going across one bridge or investigating a little alley way and suddenly you are lost. However, once you reach a church, it is relatively easy to discover where you are.

On the second day, we did churches, starting with S. Giorgio Maggiore. It is a Palliadian church and so heavily influenced by Roman architecture. The big thing is to take the lift up the campanile for a fantastic view of St Mark's and indeed Venice. It costs about 3 euros v 7 euros to walk up St Marks campanile. It is really no contest and the views are super. Most of the tourists do St Marks...But if you take the 2 waterbus from S Zaccaria, it is about a 5 min. journey.

We then continued to the Rendentore on the Guidecca, and then took the 2 over to Dorsodoro and the Zattere where we saw two more churches. Then we took the 2 waterbus but it ended up not stopping where I thought it would, so we got off at the Rialto and walked up to Tintoretto's old house in Cannalregio. The statue of the moor outside the house has been there since before Tintoretto (1519 -1594) They think it might have to do with Leventine merchants who lived in the area. No one was about, and there was no one in his parish church Santa Maria della Orto.

We then walked back to the hotel and went for a drink in Harry's Bar. Harry's Bar lives on its name. The Bellini was perfect, but the olives were indifferent and the portion very samll for the price. It looks like a bar inside -- half wood and cream walls with small prints. Undoubtably Hemingway enjoyed it because it was a bar. Dinner at Corte Scunto more than made up for the deficienies at Harry Bar's. At Corte Scunto, it is all fresh fish -- the fish appetiser was three courses -- carrapacio of tuna and cuttle fish, and then spider crab butter, followed by clams in lemon, ginger and coriander (clamswith ginger is excellent), then a proper spider crab, crayfish, more cuttlefish (cooked), squid in its own ink, and whipped salt cod on polenta. I may be forgetting a dish. After that we had turbot for the main. I could not do dessert... All the fish was excellent and the maitre d looked like a younger taller version of Francesco da Mosto with an accent to match.

I am off to lunch with my editors today, so it is all go.

Beehive disaster

Both of my beehives are gone. Mice got in and ate the honey. The bees starved. It is all my fault.
There are reasons why you leave on mouseguards...
I think I can get a new colony in a few weeks, but doubt that I will be harvesting honey this year.

Venice -- acqua alta

On the first morning, I heard bells -- loud, warning type bells, but then I checked, it was about seven and of course there had been no rain the day before. My husband slept on. A bit later, more bells.
After breakfast, we went out and my husband remarked at how high the water level was -- practically lapping over the steps. We went into St Mark's Square and there were puddles. The duck boards were down. Taking an executive decision, my husband began to march to through a puddle. Then I wished he hadn't. We were at the tail end of an acqua alta and my shoes were more than a bit damp.
The doge's palace was perhaps, unsurprisingly, not crowded. We spent a lovely morning walking through room designed to impress and intimidate. One needs to remember that the Venetians were awfully good at liberating things -- St Mark's body, the lion and the four horses were all acquired in service of the state.
By the time we arrived at St Mark's, the lights were on, illuminating the mosaics. They are overpowering and I was pleased when the lights were turned off. The shifting natural light highlights different mosaics at different times of the days. The Pala d' Oro needs to be seen -- all gold, enamel and precious jewels. Some bits from the treasury were not there as they were loan to the British Museum for the Byzantine exhibit. St Marks, for a variety of reasons (see above) has a lot of Byzantine gold...
We then took the 2 waterbus from its San Zaccaria stop, down the Guidecca canal, past the industrial complex, and then down the entire length of the Grand Canal. By getting on at the start, we were able to snag a good seat at the back. It goes slow enough so you can appreciate the palazzos etc.
After our little trip, we walk around and discovered Santa Maria del Giglio, right near the Gritti Palace. Because Venetian law forbade the erecting of statues, the Barbaro family paid for the rebuilding of the church and the facade has portraits of them as well as maps of their battles. Santa Maria is part of the Chorus card churches -- you pay one fee and then can visit 16 different churches. The card is valid for up to a year and is a good deal. There is a very good painting of the Madonna and Child with the Young St John, attributed to Rubins, plus some Tintorettos.
We then went for a drink at the Gritti Palace before having supper at Al Covo. Al Covo is mentioned by Donna Leon's Death in a Strange Country -- Brunetti eats there. The food is certainly good -- they go to the market and then make whatever looks fresh. We had monkfish for the main and I had the gnocchi with calamari sauce for a starter. My husband enjoyed the pear cake dessert and I had a selection of cheese. Al Covo is hard to find btw (we got lost twice) but worth the time and effort.

Venice encountered

Nothing really prepares you for the sight of Venice dancing on the waters. You can think you know but then as the water taxi rounds a corner suddenly it is there. Then there are the narrow canals until the boat reaches St Mark's and the Doge's Palace. A little to the left of the square just beyond the Royal gardens is a small canal where the hotel (Luna Baglioni) has its private mooring. Several gondolas are moored and the gondeliers stand about in their black and white hooped shirts. Because there is a chill in the air, one wears a thick jacket.

The hotel staff are politeness itself. They sort out the bags, and show us to the room -- top floor with a view of St Mark's campinelle and the doge's palace. Later, after supper when we return to the room, they have left my husband a bottle of fizz in honour of his 50th. As 8 March was La Festa della Donna ( or International Woman's Day started to honour the Italian seamstresses who perished in the New York fire on 8 March 1908 and for men to appreciate all the work women do), the hotel gave out little boxes of chocolate truffles to its female guests.

During the afternoon, we strolled around, first stopping off at Florian's for hot chocolate and sandwiches. Florian's has lovely tiny rooms beautifully painted. The paintings date from the 1850s. Florian's itself opened its doors in 1720. The hot chocolate was lovely and bitter.

We walked around in the afternoon sunshine, seeing the gondolas massed in St Mark's basin and eventually ending up in the Campo SS Giovanni e Palo. A group of Italian children were playing a late afternoon game of football. They used the door to a 16th hospital as one of the goals and several had to move very swiftly to ensure the football did not end up in the canal!

At 18:30, the bells rang out, summoning the faithful to mass and resounding over the still water. It was then I noticed the stillness. There are no cars, no horns, no sirens, just the gentle lapping of water.

It is easy to get lost, but you can also navigate by churches. When we arrived back at St Mark's Square, the sun was just setting.

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.

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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.