NEW VOICES SECOND CHAPTER

Hope you've been following the exciting writing competition being run by Mills & Boon.

There were LOADS of entries of an impressively high standard and Romance HQ had a tough time trying to decide who should go through to the next round.

Congratulatons to all you who were successful - and I include those of you who didn't make the short-list. To enter is to prove that you're serious about your writing - so DON'T GIVE UP. There is a long list of successful authors who had to try and try again before they got published.

The ten short-listed then had to produce a second chapter. These will face the public vote to be whittled down to a further four.

Below are the three books I am mentoring - and you can click on the links to read the fantastic writing on offer:

THE BOSS'S NAUGHTY ASSISTANT

by Cady Phelan

HELP WANTED : APPLY FOR LOVE

by Carrie Spencer

A RUSSIAN AFFAIR

by Lucy Snowe

I love, love, LOVE them!

Have you read them yet?

And more importantly: HAVE YOU VOTED?

HAMLET

The production I saw recently at the National Theatre was in modern dress (the Prince of Denmark was wearing a hoodie!) which I know isn't to everyone's taste....

And I know that director Nicholas Hytner changed some of the text....

But for me, as a first-timer at this play - it was an utterly captivating and moving performance. I loved it.

So I give you this enduring image of Sir Laurence Olivier with the skull of (poor) Yorick.

And leave you with the play's most famous soliloquy - which I now "get".

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.

And wonder which is your favourite speech or quote from Shakespeare....

SMILE!

An email and photo arrived from Rachel this morning which really made me smile - and with her permission, I've included it in today's blog.

It's Rachel having just purchased a copy of SHAMEFUL SECRET, SHOTGUN WEDDING and it really cheered me up on a morning where the rain is coming down in a relentless grey torrent and I'm trying to learn the plot of Hamlet before seeing the play tonight for the first time in my life! I know. How can I have lived this long without experiencing it?

Yesterday, I talked about coincidences and most of you will know that the opening scene of Hamlet is set at Elsinore - the Danish royal castle. Well, I grew up in a street called Elsinore! How's that for coincidcnce?

So....have you seen Hamlet - or are you doing something new this weekend?

(Oh, and if anybody else wants to send in a photo of one of my books in an interesting setting, I'll gladly feature it here).

BRAND NEW COVER!

My latest book is out in the UK.

It's called SHAMEFUL SECRET, SHOTGUN WEDDING and it's available in all good bookstores now.

(Er, actually that's not quite true - since Waterstone's doesn't stock it. You're missing a chance there Waterstone's, I must say....)

It's about a gorgeous international playboy called Giancarlo Vellutini and Cassie, a naive girl from Cornwall who takes a Christmas vacation job in a glittering London department store. Sparks really fly when this most unlikely of couples meet.

Thanks to the lovely Rick Stroud for inspiring the heroine's name - Rick and I were at the Cheltenham Literary Festival last year. And thanks also to Elizabeth Douglas, who has already read the book, which prompted her to write me a letter about growing up in Cornwall in the 1040's. My job has all kinds of wonderful perks - and letters like Elizabeth's are at the top of the list.

Apologies to the prize winners of my recent competition. Caroline, Michela and Rachel - if you've been wondering where your books are - I'll post them out next week.

Do you like the snazzy new cover?

BACK FROM CORNWALL

Cornwall is really one of the most beautiful places on earth.

I think of it in shades of blue and grey.

In one morning, the sea turned from pewter to sapphire with a zillion variations in betweeen.

But blue is best.....

See what I mean?

Here I am at Harlyn Bay - plotting out my new Chapter I.

Inspiration comes easy here. One gulp of that bracing, salty air and I'm away! Let's hope it stays with me.....

I have a book out next month called SHAMEFUL SECRET, SHOTGUN WEDDING - some of which is set in this part of Cornwall. Perhaps I should make it a trilogy...

Is there somewhere which always fills you with inspiration - and is it by the sea?

LUCKY AT CARDS?

There's an old proverb that says if you're lucky at cards, you'll be unlucky in love.

Needless to say, my up and coming hero (Sheikh Zahid Al Hakam) is absolutely BRILLIANT at cards!

For all those who entered my Name An Imaginary Sheikhdom competition - thank you. I liked Michela's MAKHARIAN but felt this was too similar to MARABAN, which was another of my fictional countries. I also liked Dan's JANNAT AL'ADN - but not sure if it's really a national name. (It may be used as the name of one of the Sheikh's palaces!).

However, since a huge consignment of books arrived this morning - I will happily send a copy to the first five people who email me with their (snailmail) address.

And in the meantime, what do you think I should call Zahid's falcon?

NEW VOICES

I'm blogging over at iheartspresents today - so please come over and add your thoughts.

Specifically, I'm talking about the exciting new competition which is being run by Mills & Boon, giving one lucky entrant the opportunity to have her/his book published.

So what are you waiting for, and are you going to enter?