DON'T LOOK NOW

Some things are intrinsically creepy:

• The red-coated figure in the film DON'T LOOK NOW.
• The thought that an escaped snake might suddenly appear in the loo
• The haunting and scary lyrics of this Pink Floyd song

And this.  A statue by the river at Hamm Court in Weybridge (which actually reminded me of the red-coated figure).  

Don't look now...

MARMALADE SKIES

Not quite a marmalade sky - more an apricot and Grendadine one.  This is the sun setting over the Lago Trasimeno and it's a summer cocktail of a sky.  It's also one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited.
My hero and heroine just happen to be in this very location.  In fact, my Sultan hero was overlooking this very view earlier today!
Isn't writing wonderful?  It takes you wherever you want to go...

And here's a reminder of the original marmalade sky...

STRUGGLING WITH A SULTAN

I love this song.  Sexy, tortured and struttingly outrageous.  That twanging gee-tar! That soaring voice!

It's been incredibly helpful while I've been STRUGGLING WITH MY SULTAN'S MOTIVATION.

So which song would you play if you were struggling with a Sultan?

SULTANS, SHEIKHS AND NEW BOOKS

People always ask writers where they get their inspiration from and the flip answer is: "look around".  Seriously, there is always something to stir the imagination no matter where you are or what you're doing.  A puddle on a dirty railway station can reflect the beautiful sky above -and every single person you talk to will have an interesting story to tell, if you ask the right questions.

I am still struggling with Murat the Magnificent, the very sexy and dominant Sultan of Qurhah and the man who has made a shadowy appearance in the first two books of my desert trilogy.  I've recently discovered that his story is going to be called SEDUCED BY THE SULTAN which is my title, and which I love.

And here's a photo taken of me at a book-signing in Atlanta last month, just to remind me that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that books you sometimes struggle with DO get published!

A WHISPER OF DISGRACE (featuring red-hot Sheikh Kulal and the feisty Rosa Corretti) is out in the US today.

CONTRAST & COMPARE

Next week I have a book out.  It's being published on August 20th in North America and it's called A WHISPER OF DISGRACE.

It features one extremely hot Sheikh, a feisty Sicilian beauty and the kind of bitter secret which tears families apart.  It's been receiving the kind of reviews which make me purr with pleasure and I happen to love it.

This is the NA cover:

And this is the UK cover:

You know what I'm going to ask, don't you?
Which one do you like best?

FRACKING AWFUL

So.  If ever I start moaning or grouching or worrying about fracking - I'm just going to look at this picture and take myself back there.  

Bliss.