HELLISH REVISIONS AND NOO YORK

Here's a sneak preview of a book which is out in the UK in September, entitled MONARCH OF THE SANDS. (Do you like the title?)

I've been working like crazy on my latest manuscript, trying to revise it before I go off to the RWA conference, which is being held in a city which seems to get an enthusiastic response whenever I mention it.

Yes, it's New York. I'll be staying on Times Square and collecting an award from Harlequin for having published 75 books. It all feels a bit unreal....

Sooo, I've only ever been to this vibrant town once before - and that was years ago. Do you know it - and do you have any secret or exciting places to share?

BEAUTIFUL, AND BEREFT.....

I'm featuring this rose because it's beautiful.

(And wondering what colour you'd call it?)

Not just "yellow" but maybe marzipan or saffron.....?

Have just delivered my manuscript - a lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone into the story of Sheikh Hassan Al Abbas and Ella Jackson and now all I have to do is wait (rather neurotically) for my editor to come back to me.

All kinds of worse-case scenarios will flit through my mind - but none can possibly be as bad as the time when I said (quite earnestly) that I thought my submission was pretty good.

And then she phoned back the next day to ask for extensive revisions (read: rewrite!). Ever since that day I've never offered an opinion on a book....

So now I'm in that strange space where there is no longer a pressing deadline making you feel guilty if you're not writing. No alarm ringing at 6am to send you stumbling sleepily towards the computer. No conversations in your head which will suddenly make you understand a man who is very complex. In short, I'm missing my characters!

Which is why I'm hoping you'll tell me what you're doing, wherever you are in the world....

BUSY - AND BOOKING!

I rushing to meet my deadline and trying (but failing!) to tame my latest hero. His name is Sheikh Hassan Al Abbas and he'll be appearing in a brand-new continuity series which will be coming soon.

I've also penned a short story for Woman's Own - which is an offshoot of my take on Jane Eyre, THE FORBIDDEN INNOCENT. It was great fun to take a minor character from a full-length novel and to give them their own story. I'll let you know when it's coming out.

Meanwhile, I'm counting down the days until I go to New York to the extravaganza of a conference which is thrown annually at the Romance Writers of America. I've just been invited by my publishers to a amazingly fancy party where the dress code is black or white. And the dress I'd been planning to wear is the colour of a smudged rainbow. Oh, the dilemma!

And to those of you who wanted to know when my next Tuscan writing course will be - it's been confirmed as 5th- 12th May, 2012 at the Watermill. So why not get booking?

Here's a picture of me with with some of the students from this year's course. In the background are the lush, verdant mountains you'll find in this picturesque region of the Massa Carrara which is where the Watermill is tucked away.

Tempted? You should be.....

So that's me and my life.

Will you please provide me with inspiration and tell me what's happening in yours?

THE ULTIMATE RUSSIAN ROMANCE...

Listening to this has made me want to rush out and see the film again (which gives a very interesting version of the eternal triangle).

Or to write another Russian hero......

So for Michela and all fans of this haunting melody, I give you:

SOMEWHERE MY LOVE.

Does the music "do" it for you - and is the film among your top five?

A SUBLIME PIECE OF MUSIC

awaits you over on ihearts, where I'm blogging about my version of Jane Eyre - THE FORBIDDEN WIFE, which has just been published in north America.


So why don't you stop by and make a comment?

And tell me what you think of the music....

SIZZLING AND SEXY SICILIAN!

Giovanni bit back his irritation, for why should this pale and unknown Englishwoman know anything about the deep, secret place which was his home? The place in love with its own silence, which shaped the impenetrable character of all Sicilians.

For me, the two sentences above perfectly encapsulate what makes Giovanni Calverri such a delicious and challenging hero. He's proud and he's arrogant - so arrogant that he makes Kate want to scream.....or to kiss him.

THE SICILIAN'S PASSION is out in north America right now. So if you want to be taken on the twisting and evocative journey which is Kate and Giovanni's - why not buy it?

There's a magic about Sicily which seems to snare people's hearts.

So where's your own particular heart-snaring place?