Galleys, cover art, plus new releases

It's official. Bronwyn Storm's short story I Love You a Latte, a Last Rose Of Summer Miniature, will soon be available from Wild Rose Press. Rumour has it that the galleys are sitting with the author. Check out the cover art below.

Here is a teaser:

If love was coffee, then for Annie Langdon, it would be thick, black, leave a bitter taste in her mouth, and acid in her stomach. For the past year, though, Devon McMaster has used a smile that packs more punch than a triple-shot espresso, and a personality tastier than coffee-cream chocolate to persuade Annie's heart to percolate for him. This Christmas, Annie will learn men, like coffee, can come in decadent varieties.

Watch for I Love You a Latte coming in December.

Currently available are two other books you absolutely must have on your bedside tables (if they aren't there already):

1. India Grey's The Italian's Defiant Mistress, currently available in the UK (those of us in North America must wait a few more agonizing months).

Be sure to visit India's website, as she's running a competition from now until September 1.




2. Amanda Ashby's You Had Me at Halo, released just yesterday here in Canada as well as in the US. It's a novel about a woman who dies with unresolved issues and comes back in the body of her geeky co-worker in order to sort them out.

Watch for a review just as soon as I get my grubby little hands on a copy.

Oooh, the loveliness.

Ooops, I forgot it was my turn to post. Sorry! And the bad news is that an overdose of joy and excitement at the weekend has left me far too excited to frame a coherent sentence. Here is a brief summary of the headlines.

• I have a title for book 2. The story of Angelo and Anna is going to be released in January 2008 and will be called 'The Italian's Captive Virgin'. Oh yes. I have ten months to get used to saying the word 'virgin' to elderly relatives and teachers at school without blushing.
• I have a book. A real book, with a hard, shiny cover (I think these are library copies) with a verrrrry glamorous couple welded together on the front and MY NAME right there beneath the bit where it says 'The Italian's Defiant Mistress'. Apparently this means that people other than Eva and my lovely editor in Richmond are soon going to be able to read the stuff I've written. This is very exciting, but it also makes me feel a bit like I've swallowed a porcupine.
• As if that wasn't enough, I spent a fabulous Sunday afternoon at the very beautiful home of Susan Stephens (Presents author, Modern-xtra author, extreme glamour goddess, top hostess and all round exceptionally Nice Person) as she gave a party to say goodbye to Amanda Ashby (writing guru, soon-to-be-published literary genius, like-minded domestic slattern and total gem). The saying goodbye bit was all a bit too sad to dwell on, so for the most part we didn't and we got on with what writers do best; we talked about writing (At least, I think that's what I do best. I always find writing so easy to talk about and yet so oddly difficult to do.) Annie was supposed to be there too, but was struck down en route with The Head and couldn't make it, so it fell to me to eat, drink and talk enough for two scribes. This wasn't too onerous a task as the party included Amanda Grange-- the beauty and the brains behind Darcy's Diary and Mr Knightley's Diary, and Pat one of Amanda's famed 'witches' who was every bit as lovely and entertaining as I'd expected from reading Amanda's blog! But as a novice in the Presents stable it was particularly thrilling for me to meet another longstanding Presents heroine of mine-- Kate Walker. Eeeeek!!!!! Thanks to the fact that she is as generous as she is warm, wise and wonderful I was spared the humiliation of asking for her autograph on the back of a Sainsbury's receipt or something when she gave me one of her books and signed it too. Double Eeeeekkk!!!
• So, not only am I currently reading and nearly finished Susan Stephens 'One Night Baby' (gorgeous cover, contents even more gorgeous, plot twist that made me gasp), I now also have on my tbr pile a Kate Walker 'At the Sheikh's Command' (signed-- with my pen!) and hot off the press, Sue's new Modern Xtra 'Dirty Weekend'. And herein lies the cloud behind the lovely, shimmery silver lining of my weekend-- what should I pick first? I'm thinking I might have to employ a similar technique to the one I used on Sunday when faced with the pavlova and the chocolate pudding. Both at once...

Those of you who visit Amanda Ashby's blog will have noticed her recent excited allusions to the RNA's annual conference, which is being held on 7th-9th July at Penrith. As a member of the RNA's NWS (New Writers' Scheme) and a resident of the north-west of England, I will be attending this star-studded event myself for the first time this year and, like Amanda, I'm getting quite excited. Not least because amongst the line up of stars that I shall be mingling with will be published authors such as Katie Fforde and Penny Jordan, as well as editors and agents.

Having received my 'conference pack' a couple of weeks ago, I had to decide which of the 20 workshops I wished to attend. These range from Ann Lingard's 'Is Science Sexy' to Sue Johnson's 'Banish the Curse of Writer's Block'. Of the six I am attending, I shall learn how to arrest the editor's attention, find out what literary agents are looking for, build a synopsis and create a sense of place through characters. I shall also be finding out what life in the Hollywood Story Department is like, as well as entering the world of the People's Friend magazine - you can't get much more diverse than that!

And if I can't make it after all that, then I'll eat all the leftovers when the conference ends!

If you're a romance writer and haven't yet joined the RNA, either as a published or unpublished writer - get to it. I cannot recommend their friendly support and organised opportunities to meet, mingle and learn from other writers, highly enough. As I said to my husband after a writery party at a particularly well-known writer's home last summer - if I never get published, I will certainly have had a lot of fun trying!