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?

A FISH CALLED.....

Here I am by Table Mountain.....

Well, actually - it was clever design at the Chelsea Flower Show where I spent yesterday afternoon basking in the sunshine, while inhaling the heady fragrance of sweet peas, roses and hyacinth.

This was the Garden Of Contemplation.....which was beautifully calm and peaceful (can you see the Buddha?)

And here's a bronze statue which seemed to defy gravity in the way that only very few talented humans are able to.


And finally, The Fish - which was only a very small part of a very elaborate display of flowering temples and elephants. It's amazing - the artistry and flair which exists among dedicated gardeners and which gave me plenty of inspiration for the book I'm currently writing.

A book which features a devastatingly arrogant and irresistible Sheikh - and a woman called Ella who has sworn off men like him.....

Oh, and I've called the fish Wanda - just so you didn't have to!

HEE-HAW!

Every so often, you see a photo which just makes you smile - and this is one such photo. It's of aspiring romance writer and dairy-farmer Rachael Thomas, taken in Italy on my recent writing course at Posara.

We go for an inspirational lunch (local fish cooked in chestnut leaves, followed by lemon sorbet in Prosecco) to a place of outstanding natural beauty - with blue-green mountains, emerald grass and rainbow flowers dotted around the meadows.

And this donkey.

We love him! (And Rachael was feeding him handfuls of sweet grass).

I realise that we don't know what he's called and perhaps I should have asked his name - unless anyone would like to suggest one?

THOSE ACACIA BLOSSOMS.....

This photo is especially for Dan, who wanted to see them.

I think you'll agree that trees dripping with creamy-pale blossom in the warm Tuscan sun makes for a pretty seductive image.

This photo also helps explain why the local Acacia honey is so delicious.

And why I always leave a little bit of my heart behind.....

So, to distract me from Italia - why don't you tempt me with descriptions of places where you leave a little bit of your heart.