Following the characters

Over on Kate Walker's blog I think I have a post on Thursday. Kate is celebrating Presents this month and has asked a few of us to write about some aspect of Presents for her while she's living it up in Washington DC at RWA.

This is very Tom Sawyerish of her. But even so I was happy to oblige.

There's a lot to enjoy in writing for Presents. Our books go all over the world. We get to research amazing places -- and we get to imagine whole worlds of fascinating people. As a day job, it's hard to beat.

I would happily have written all my books for Presents but that's not the way my mind works. I follow the characters wherever they go. They dictate the story -- and sadly, marketing and editorial don't think in broad enough terms for them all to be Presents.

That's okay. I probably couldn't write at all if I tried to specifically aim my books for external guidelines. I'm just glad 28 of them have fit there so far.

This is the weekend that PJ and Ally's book, Antonides' Forbidden Wife, is up for the RITA award in the short contemporary category. If ever a book didn't seem to 'fit' the notion of a Presents, their book might be it.

PJ hadn't even been on my radar as a Presents hero. I'd always known him as a surfer. Of course I also knew he was more than that. But surfing really formed a lot of who PJ was as a young man, and it is still a core element in the man he became.

He was a free spirit, a lone wolf, a man who didn't march to his family's drummer. As such he was very much a role model for the young Ally. At least he was a great support for her in those days. He gave her the means to do what she wanted to do with her life simply by marrying her.

When I followed them into and out of their back story I was fascinated by the people they were and the adults they became. I had no idea that they even had a story when Karin Stoecker, the editorial director at Harlequin Mills & Boon said she'd like to read Peter's story after he'd been in his brother, Elias's book.

"What about Peter?" she said expectantly.

I didn't know anything about Peter when she asked. The first thing he told me was that as soon as he left New York, he began to go by his initials, PJ. He re-invented himself. He was very happy to tell me all about his life up til then.

But in order to write Antonides' Forbidden Wife, I had to follow him and Ally for several months. I had to learn about them as they seemed to learn about themselves. I'm very happy they ended up being in Presents.

I wish them the best of luck on Saturday night. I'm going to be packing to head out for the grandchildren's the next day.

But no matter what they do or don't do on RITA night, I'll always love having spent time with them, following them around, and helping them get to their happily ever after.

It's a Presents with an M&B cover in the RITA version. The only version I had at the time of the contest.

The Trouble With Charley

My editor is going to love Charley -- if I don't kill him first.

Why? Because she's always telling me I should write faster, get books out more often, etc etc etc.

But that means, what? Spending more time at the computer. Working my fingers to the nub. Not to mention my brain.

I have resisted. The well of inspiration is not a gusher around here. It's generally more of a slow steady trickle -- with occasional plugs.

That was all pre-Charley.

Charley, I suspect, has ADD or ADHD or one of those acronymns that I can never get right but that means he has the attention span of, say, a chicken.

Rooster, Charley says. Attention span of a rooster.

Yes, well, whatever you want to call it, Charley needs to be kept busy. Left to his own devices, he does not stay on task.

He is easily distractable -- especially by anything with a keyboard wearing pink, red or purple.

While I'm pausing for thought, trying to figure out which Greek saint's feast day we're going to be celebrating in chapter seven and trying to use the internet to find it out, Charley won't wait.

He is busy making notes in his little black book about which girly laptop he wants to ring next.

I didn't even know he had a little black book.

Everyone has a little black book, he told me. Only now they call it an address file. Liz Fielding's sexy "Liz Machine" is in it now, and Kate Walker's new RED Dell Mini may be next.

More trouble is brewing on the horizon, too, because Kate Hardy is expecting a new laptop whom she intends to call Seb. He has already asked Charley if he wants to go out trolling for chicks!

I hope Kate gives Seb a few rules before she unleashes him on his peer group. I'm thinking Charley may need a curfew and it won't help if Seb can come in any time he wants.

I'm not sure Kate mentioned if Seb was another of those sleek black laptops like Charley. I'm just hoping he's not that Lamborghini yellow one Charley spotted this morning. I don't need him having a case of laptop cover envy.

The only way I've found of handling these energy bursts of Charley's is to make him work. He finished chapter six this morning and is working his way through chapter seven.

I tried to stop there and think a bit about the next scene, but Charley didn't want to quit.

Once he's on a roll, he won't settle down. He just wants to keep writing and writing and writing (which is why my editor will love him).

When I say I need a break or to go to the grocery store or think about where the story goes next, he starts prowling the internet looking for new girlfriends.

I suggested yanking out his wireless card. It's what I used to have to do with Old Wonky when he either spun his hourglass forever or got seriously overheated. But it won't work with Charley. His wireless card is built-in.

I'm thinking he needs some games to play. Got any suggestions? I'm not sure he's a spider solitaire kind of guy. He might need something a bit more, er, action oriented than that.

Something with guns and spies and going undercover, Charley says. And girls with keyboards (goes without saying). Ideas welcome.

In the meantime, I know what I'm going to do with him tonight. I'm going to send him downstairs at 8:00 to watch the premiere of the third season of Burn Notice.

Only problem there is that I won't be upstairs thinking. I'll be downstairs, too, watching it with him.

From Sid the Cat

Salutations and Felicitations on your birthday, dear Kate!

The Lady Across the Pond (TLATP to those who know her well -- aka Ms McAllister) has invited me to be a regular, albeit sporadic, contributor to her blog.

She has even, you will note, given me sidebar billing.

This is so I can send personal good wishes and head butts and purrs to my dear Lady of the House, Kate Walker, on her birthday!

If you have not gone to my dear Lady's blog and wished her the best of the day, please do so. Or, if you are lazy, Anne says you can leave them here in the comments and I am to see that Kate reads them. But I feel sure you will make the extra effort to click on her name and allow her to simply read them on her own space whilst eating bonbons and sipping tea or that light-coloured stuff she thinks of as tea, which is what you get when you wave a tea bag in the direction of the cup.

But I digress.

I could extol her virtues endlessly, but it would be teatime before I got finished and I really can't miss meals. And if I kept on, that cat Dylan would show up withh a 'pome' he had writ, and he'd want to recite it, and we can't be having that.

Suffice to say, dear Lady of the House, that I wish you the very best today and all the coming year (as does TLATP), and I hope that you have a salmon, er, present filled day and that you will share it all with those of us who are on your side of the pond and wish you well (even that floozie, Flora, if she behaves herself).

Your official blog contributor and handsome esteemed noble self-effacing feline of distinction,

SIR SIDNEY ST JOHN WILLOUGHBY PORTLY-LUMMOX, DLitt Oxon, Earl of Blubberhouses, Thane of Spital-in-the-Street, etc etc etc, ACOSB (a cat of superior breeding).

What's in a Name?

A few days ago Kate Hardy said she was stuck in her current manuscript because she hadn't got her hero's name right and thus he wasn't cooperating.

People who don't write probably think that's daft.

It's not. Trust me.

I have had heroes who flat out refused to say a word because I didn't know their names. They just stood there, defying me to guess who they were. And finally, when I got it right, they opened up and eventually I got a book out of them.

Jared Flynn from my novella, Marry Go Round in With This Ring, was a case in point. He absolutely refused to do a thing until I figured out his name.

Lots of us have been tossing names at Kate for her quintessential English banker hero. Got any ideas? Go see Kate on her blog and tell her.

I'll be curious to see who he turns out to be.

In the meantime, I have something of the opposite problem.

Not Demetrios. I know his name. I know what he does for a living. I know a lot of his backstory and he's cooperating nicely. He even got off the street corner last night when I found him a good reason to leave and a means of doing so.

But he has a brother, George. George is a physicist. A reclusive brainy physicist.

George, against all odds, is destined to be my next hero. At least that's what my editor and I have agreed on. This was not, let me assure you, my idea. But apparently some people, editors included, think George can be a hero.

Probably he can be.

But he's got his work cut out for him. And so do I.

So I'm trying to get inside his head right now -- even as I work on Demetrios's book -- because I know I'm going to have to do some heavy-duty thinking about this man (and probably replay Kate Walker's master class in Alpha Heroes) before I get to grips with what situation is going to bring out the hero in George.

You're going to meet George's ex-wife, Sophy, in Christo's book, One-Night Mistress, Convenient Wife. I figure she has something to do with George being heroic, but I don't know what. If I don't start thinking about it now or I'm going to be in trouble when I need to start on his book.

So what do you think a physicist named George with an ex-wife named Sophy is likely to be confronted with that will make him pull up his socks, get out of the lab and act like a McAllister hero?

All suggestions seriously considered, believe me.

Just don't tell me to change his name. One of the problems of linked books is that names stick -- and authors are stuck with them -- and the most unlikely people become heroes and heroines because of it.

The Alpha Hero -- all you ever wanted to know

All you ever wanted to know about the Alpha hero -- and his Beta and Gamma brothers -- is the topic of conversation on Kate Walker's blog this week.

Kate has taken herself off to bask in the rain of Ireland and, Tom Sawyer like, has deputized several of us to discuss our takes on the Alpha Hero.

Mine is up today at Kate's website. Sandra Marton was there yesterday, but before she left Kate put up a couple of really insightful posts about heroes. Start at the beginning (mine is the fifth in the series) and you'll find some interesting info. I know she's got some very interesting takes on the subject from various authors all week. So check it out.

I think the line-up should be fascinating all week long.

Kate herself has done a particularly good job of describing the way heroes can have all facets of the alphabet in their make-up -- it just depends on what's called for.

Amen to that. In fact, it's when they are solely one-dimensional, that they lose their humanity.

Drop by Kate's blog and comment. Comment here, too, about your own take on heroes. As someone who is usually cited as 'not fitting in' with what Harlequin Presents are ordinarily noted for, I have a stake in wanting to know your views of heroes.

Seb (an Alpha by his own contention, but with definite facets of other letters of the Greek alphabet) will pick the comment he likes the best to win a copy of Savas' Defiant Mistress -- or a backlist title provided he can find it in the attic, if you prefer.

He'll announce the winner here on Saturday. So check back.

New contest also beginning on my website, ending Mother's Day. Guess why!

Grooms Contest -- Last Day

Well, Anne has dropped the ball and can't tell you about Santos (that's him over there on the left) personally because she can't find his book.

This will give you some idea of the state of her office (CHAOS!), and she sends apologies to The Man Himself because she remembers hearing about his story as Kate was writing it (and drooling over him, she says, which I find disgusting, but what can I say?)

Anyway, she will find it, she assures me, and write about it while it is still on the shelves (which it will be until late February). So if you don't win a copy, don't despair. You can go buy one -- and Kate will be pleased.

So will Santos, provided he can be distracted from the right sister who is now his bride!

Today, in case you haven't noticed -- is January 21st. The last day to enter the 3rd annual Here Come The Grooms Contest.

This means that Anne will probably snatch the blog back and send me on my way (not a hardship, though I've enjoyed being here, but I'll have more time to spend with Ally when I'm not writing blogs) -- and we're going to celebrate the news of a prospective little Antonides coming along in a few months (Yiayia will be over the moon -- she likes the notion of great-grandchildren, and the more the better. But mine will be the best looking, she tells me!).

So, details below for entering if you haven't already done so.

There are three questions and to win you have to answer all the questions and email your answers to Anne, to Kate and to Liz. Each of them will pick a winner and that winner will get a copy of each of the these books.

Here are the questions:

1. PJ left New York after he graduated from high school. Where did he go?
2. Who was Santos supposed to be marrying?
3. What scent did Jago recognise?

You'll find the answers in excerpt on Anne's, Kate's and Liz's websites and you've got until January 21 to send in your answers.

Got it? You'll find "contact me" links on Kate's, Liz's and Anne's websites, too. Use those to email them-- all three of them with all three answers, don't forget. Good luck!

I get to come back and announce the winners, so you haven't totally got rid of me. Ally might come, too. Go for it.

Anne . . . flattened

Hey. PJ here.

Anne says to tell you she's been flattened by a bus. Or it feels that way.

She was up all night with Christo and Natalie and she's gone to bed with Burn Notice and isn't coming out until either Christo and Natalie come back for more revisions or she's seen all of Burn Notice or I run out of things to say.

She's hoping for the second alternative, praying like mad that Christo and Natalie stay gone (though by 7 a.m. this morning she could be heard muttering, I think it tracks. I think it tracks. I think it tracks. But how would I know?) .

Christo says it tracks and he got to spend a lot of time in the bedroom, so he's happy. Natalie says it tracks and they got a happily ever after so she's happy. And she just poked Christo and he said he's happy about that, too. And from the look of him -- a little tattered around the edges, but definitely grinning -- he's telling the truth.

Anne figures Burn Notice will be a nice distraction. And she's sure I have plenty to say -- especially since I've seen that Nick "prop me up on an altar and give me a bottle of booze" Jago is making crap out of me and Santos on Liz's website.

I would defend my honor -- and the marriage I've had to put out of my head -- but Jago is so far off the mark that I can't even dignify his comments.

As Santos is on the same island at least, I'm going to let him take care of things for both of us!

Just let me say that he's darned lucky to find a woman like Manda who will put up with him. And since he's saying things like "cancel the honeymoon" -- though God knows what he means -- I want Manda to know I've got a kid brother, Lukas, who might be just the man she's looking for. Truly.

If you get fed up with Jago, Manda, give me a shout. I'll muster up Lukas and introduce you.

Aside to Liz: how did you put up with him?

Don't forget, people, if you want copies of Santos's book and mine -- and the one where Jago is an idiot -- answer the questions in the Here Come the Grooms contest piece. Send your answers to Anne and Liz and Kate by January 21.

You'll be glad you did.

Here Come The Grooms . . . Again!

It's back!

The 3rd Annual Here Come The Grooms! Contest starts January 7, 2009 and runs through January 21, 2009.

What does this mean to you?

Depends on if you want three chances to win three new books.

For the last three years Kate Walker, Liz Fielding and I have had Grooms come and take over our blogs -- not to mention our lives -- in January. It all began when we all had books out in February 2007, and they all had the word "Bride" in the title.

We thought our brides would like to host a "Here Come The Brides" contest on our sites. And they did.

But they had so much fun that the grooms decided they'd get into the act, too. So they pretty much hijacked the month. They ran their own contest -- and their successors, the 2008 grooms, came back and did it again last year.

Not to be outdone, PJ Antonides (my guy) from Antonides' Forbidden Wife, Santos Cordero (Kate's guy) from Cordero's Forced Bride, and Nick Jago (Liz's guy) from Bedded in a Whirlwind, have been lurking around waiting for their turn.

It's here.

We'll be introducing you to each of them in the next few days.

And they'll be along to blog. At least I'm sure PJ will.

I suppose Jago and Santos will be, too. In the meantime, PJ says that he has his question ready and you can find it and the answer to it (if you're in a hurry) on the contest page of my website. The other grooms' questions are there, too.

Just click on the tab there and answer the questions (look in the excerpts or on our blogs for the answers) and you will be entered in PJ's drawing which will be after the contest ends January 21. Do the same thing on Liz's and Kate's websites and you have THREE chances to win.

PJ says that if you have already bought his book (which he hopes you have), and you win, he will either send you a backlist title of your choice (providing he can find it in my attic) or a copy of my upcoming Savas' Defiant Mistress when the first author copies finally arrive.

That's if you're into delayed gratification, he says. As he has had to wait ten years for his wife to turn back up in his life, PJ understands all about delayed gratification.

He'll be back later this week to blog.

Send in your entries now!

Temptations

It's blog time for me again over at the Pink Heart Society where I get to talk about temptations. At the moment, neck-deep in revisions, my biggest temptation is to be anywhere but at my desk.

And the greatest temptation drawing me away from my desk are several boxed sets of DVDs that I -- or lucky family members -- found under the Christmas tree.

For years we didn't have a television at all. We never had one before we got married and after the kids were born we deliberately didn't get one because it seemed like more trouble than it was worth. Certainly I know it saved a lot of arguments over the years about who wanted to watch what and how much time could they spend watching it.

I was always a low-maintenance kind of mother -- if confrontations could be avoided, I was all for that -- as long as they toed the line when it mattered. They did. And the tv wasn't around to be a temptation at all.

It wasn't until the youngest headed off to Wyoming at age 18 for school that we (no, I) succumbed. I bought a television. But I tend to forget to watch it. It doesn't tempt me because I have to rearrange my schedule to fit its schedule (we don't have Tivo).

But I love boxed sets. I can watch them when I want, however many I want, and I don't miss anything that way. For years I've been hoping that they would put Laramie, my favorite western from when I was a kid, on DVD and in a boxed set. For years no one did.

And now, my dear friend Jessica Douglass tells me, they are doing season 3. Season 3 happened about 1961, which was about the time I stopped watching because I got a life. So chances are I never saw any of those episodes. Umpteen hours of Robert Fuller just waiting for me . . . talk about temptation.

I don't know when they are expected to come out yet. Jessica didn't say. But I've put my name down to be notified. And I'm going to go get busy on revisions so I can watch the Foyle's War DVDs I already have so my TBV (to-be-viewed) pile is empty for when Laramie arrives.

Do you like boxed sets? Which ones? Has anyone seen Burn Notice?

I bought it for Kate Walker for Christmas on the basis of reviews. It's on my Netflix list, but I need to get the revisions done first. What do you think?

Yes, I know I should have asked before I bought it, but I couldn't because she reads this blog. Her cat Sidney reads this blog. There is no privacy in blogworld. That said however, if you have other recommendations for future gifts (like birthdays) send them along. I'd be grateful.

Housekeeping

I know I should have done all the housekeeping stuff before the holidays. But when you're going to be spending it with several little and not-so-little-anymore boys -- and their dog -- there really isn't much point.

It was lovely. We had a very good time. Now I am cleaning up.

And while I'm doing that, I am cleaning up loose ends on my desk as well. Some of them have to do with winners of books which will be sent out, weather permitting, tomorrow. Avi and Gina, your books will be on their way first thing. And Mallory, who won 3 Antonides books at the eharlequin open house, yours will be out the door, too.

My apologies for not getting them sent earlier, but the ice, snow and lines at the post office didn't cooperate. The lines are gone now. And, barring major ice, I'll be at the p.o. tomorrow.

Speaking of winning books, it's almost time for the 3rd annual Here Come The Grooms contest which I've been doing with Kate Walker and Liz Fielding. We're getting ready to do it again. So check back for details.

PJ has already agreed to come and blog, which is a very good thing, as I'll be deep in Demetrios's story by then.

Stay tuned.

Clean Knickers and a cup of tea

Or why I may never leave Kate Walker's house . . .

Greetings to all from the other side of the pond where the sun is shining and all is well. While I was taking a shower this morning, Kate brought up my clean laundry and a cup of tea, so I came back to my room (shared with Sid the cat) to lovely clean clothes and a sustaining brew.

I could get used to service like that!

Seriously, we have had a great time.Sid has made me most welcome (he's crazy about his Greenies). Flora the floozie has been swanning around showing off her birthday presents. And Dylan, also a greenies fan, has deigned to come have ear rubs every evening.

We had a wonderful time with Michelle Reid and her husband, prowled an old churchyard at a priory near to them, and then drove back to Kates across the Yorkshire Dales. It's very tempting to set a book in England.Who needs these 'exotic' Mediterranean locales?

I'm off today for Sophie Weston's where I will meet the pyrate in her life, her Maine Coon, Tom Kydd. And then we are off to France.

I hope to download some pics when at her house (or in France) so stand by!

Home again! Home again!

We got home at 11 pm last night -- having made our very tight connection, which I'm delighted about as I hadn't really been looking forward to spending the night on the floor at O'Hare (been there, done that more often than I want to recall).

We had a fabulous time. I'll fill you in over the next few days. Suffice to say we had a great visit in San Francisco with Kate Walker and her husband, The Magnet from England, Abby Green (who brought me an Eamon tote bag) from Ireland, and Daphne Clair and her husband who came from New Zealand, a whole contingent of terrific Oz and NZ writers (more later), and too many more to name right now.

Kate has let the cat out of the bag on her blog today -- telling the world that it's my birthday. Yes, it is. And I'm spending it unpacking suitcases, doing laundry, changing sheets, and cuddling dogs who have missed me. A very mundane but perfectly nice way to spend the day.

I'll be downloading photos from my camera later. Then I can bore you with lots of pix of my trip. It was so much fun I don't even know where to start. But right now the laundry is calling, so I'll come back tomorrow with something more substantial.

Hope you had fun with Hugh-in-a-towel while I was gone.

Flynn's Back!

It isn't that Flynn doesn't want to share the limelight.

Well, maybe it is, because I'm pretty sure Flynn thinks PJ will have lots of opportunity to promote his own book in the next few months.

So when I got an email today from Maggie at DailyLit.com telling me that One-Night Love Child was going to be part of their series of books available by email, I told Flynn and he immediately said in his Earl's Voice, "And you've put it on your blog, of course."

He's really getting into his role as the earl, our Flynn.

Well, I was heading off to the dentist right then, and so I couldn't.

But as soon as I got back and found him tapping his toe and looking expectantly at me (I was going to say, Looking expectant, but he doesn't. That's Sara.). So I hurried right in here to post the good news.

DailyLit, in case you aren't familiar with it, sends out daily emails of the books it makes available through the site. It's like getting your own serialized version of a book daily to have with your morning coffee or on your lunch break or whenever you have a few minutes and want to dip into the daily read.

Those of you who read Kate Walker's blog know that her Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife was chosen to be given away as a free promotional title. It came out in June 2008 and is available through the summer.

So you can see what it's like by reading Kate's wonderful book. Or you can choose One-Night Love Child or any one of hundreds of books -- not only romance -- and for a modest sum have it delivered to your email box daily.

Flynn wishes they'd send his articles and books out that way. Mostly he hopes you will go check out his book there if you haven't already read it in book or e-book format.

And he was delighted to hear that when I told the DailyLit people his story began in The Great Montana Cowboy Auction, they said they'd look into including it among their offerings. I hope they do. It would be terrific to have Sloan and Polly's story available again.

What the Heck???

Kate Walker sent me an email yesterday with photos in it documenting the first encounter between her Maine Coon kitten (now a gorgeous teenager) Flora (aka Princess Flora Flooziebelle) meeting her first hedgehog. She's also just written the account up on her blog.

You may remember the hedgehog family who lives at the bottom of Kate's garden.

I christened them The Hecks after a series of Yorkshire villages we'd passed through the afternoon I arrived for my last visit in Sept 2006. The villages were called Great Heck and Little Heck and there may have been a Lesser Heck and even a Really Big Heck. One wonders what Heck meant in the days when villages got their names.

Anyway, the description seemed to fit the hedgehog family, who turned out for cat crunchies after dark that evening and allowed themselves to be photographed. They looked like a series of nestling Russian dolls -- albeit prickly ones.

As Sir Sidney, Flora's big brother, tends to give hedgehogs a wide berth, and Dylan (aka Dyl the Vil) has nothing good to say about them (not surprising as Dyl rarely has much good to say about most folks, except electricians with big hands -- and Bridget Coady who is His Favorite Person In The World), it was a surprise to see Flora and her new friend.

Apparently she wasn't quite sure what this new amazing creature was -- especially because it was Eating Her Food!

So she got closer, tentatively touched it with a paw, edged a bit closer with her nose (ouch!) and finally just decided it wasn't worth bothering with.

Rolling around on the ground and basking in the sun was far preferable.

It's an amazing world, as Flora is discovering. Glad to see you and Littlest Heck are becoming pals, Flora.

Enjoy your new friend!

Weekend Wind-down Winner!

A little alliteration never hurt anyone, right?

So, the winner of last weekend's wind-down on the Pink Heart blog is Debora. Congratulations, Debora. Gunnar picked your name from the treat-covered slips of paper to win a copy of The Boss's Wife For A Week.

If you will email me from the contact Anne tab on my blog with your snail address, I'll send you a copy this coming week.

Thanks so much to everyone who gave me their choices. You had some great ideas. I'll be considering them and will let you know what I come up with. In the meantime it sounds as if some of you have good ideas for books of your own based on that list.

I have finally downloaded the granddaughter photos and will be posting the high points of my R&R this week. The last three days I spent cleaning my house for an impending visit from a cousin. He is here now -- and very impressed (so he says) with the spotlessly clean guest room he's inhabiting (never mind the upside down lowboy in the corner. It's decorative -- and it has a bum leg and until we can get it fixed, there it stays).

Of course my office is in worse shape than ever as the overflow from the guest room moved -- guess where? Why are there never enough book shelves in my house?

I'll have to show you my beautiful roses, too. Daughter and family sent lovely roses for mother's day. Actually son-in-law is responsible. (I am very fond of him). Tomorrow I will show you. Tonight I'm going to crash.

If you haven't been to Michelle Reid's newly revamped website, give it a look. I will try to post the link tomorrow (having trouble doing it tonight), but if you go to Kate Walker's blog (link in sidebar) you can get to Michelle's website from there.

Birthdays!

Back!

Wonderful trip. Hope you all had a great time without me. Sorry I only missed you a little, but the granddaughter more than made up for all the great people here. When I get the pics downloaded, I will bore you with a few.

In the meantime, it's birthday celebration time! While I was gone, I missed Michelle Reid's. So, very sorry, Michelle, but you were thought of. And I'm glad you got your revisions finished and are taking a deep breath and -- I hope - resting between books.

And happy birthday to Mitch who was FIVE yesterday (and no, not months, though sometimes he acts like it!). We'll celebrate today, Mitch!

Also, happy birthday today to my wonderful daughter-in-law Marie who made me so welcome these last few days. She and son and granddaughter gave me a memorable vacation with them. I wish I'd been there to babysit tonight so the adults could go out to dinner and the granddaughter and I could hang out (except she goes to be with the chickens, so I wouldn't get to play with her much in the evening -- unless I was corrupting her! -- and I wouldn't want to do that because she's a very good sleeper and her parents have worked hard at it.

And a special and wonderful happy birthday to my dear friend Kate Walker who shares Marie's birthday and thus proves that May 7th must be a stupendous day to be born. Kate, too, just survived the revisions process and is recuperating. So enjoy your book-free days, my dear. Though I know you are still very very very busy!

Anyone who wants to leave birthday greetings for them here, I'll be sure to pass them along -- and they may get here to see them themselves. Certainly Mitch will!

Smile!

Over on Tote Bags 'n' Blogs yesterday I had a post about sitting down and getting things done, not just thinking about it.

In the blog I quoted a couple of bits of great advice: If you build it, they will come, from the movie, Field of Dreams (which I was actually IN) and "Just take it bird by bird, buddy," from Anne LaMott's terrific book Bird By Bird.

And then I asked for other bits of great advice -- and I certainly got some. It's a set of comments well worth printing out. In fact that's exactly what I'm going to do.

I said I would choose a winner from among the commenters, and she would get a copy of Flynn's book.

It was difficult to choose -- and I couldn't leave it up to Gunnar because he's working on tomorrow's winner here of the great pile of give-away books, and I didn't want to overload him with treats. Plus, I really wanted to choose the best.

Well, you can't really choose "the best," can you, from so many bits of good advice? So I had to choose the one that I though spoke the most to me. And that was from Dina, who said she was always reminded to "smile at least once a day."

Well, yes.

And as one who sometimes looks less than thrilled even when I'm feeling perfectly happy, I find that Dina's advice resonates with me not because I do it, but because I NEED to do it.

So, thank you, Dina, for the reminder!

Go to my website and click on the "contact Anne" link on the left hand sidebar. There you can send me an email giving me your address and I'll post a copy of One-Night Love Child to you on Monday.

Many thanks to everyone who entered their best bits of advice. I loved reading it. You are all winners in my book.

If you want another chance to win One-Night Love Child (is anyone going to have to buy this book?), go to Kate Walker's Launch Party and make a comment there.

Mitch and Micah are going to pick the winner from that bunch on Sunday.

Tomorrow Gunnar is picking the winner of the 2nd week's Great Book Give-Away. The last book in this week's give-away is by no means least. It's a spectacular historical romance by Julia Ross called Clandestine.

Guy Devoran is Sarah Calloway's only hope for finding her missing cousin. So she goes after him, becomes a part of his life and, heaven help him, he falls in love with her.

The last person Guy wants to fall in love with is Sarah. There are things in his past he's not proud of. One thing in particular, he is sure, will destroy Sarah's love for him if she ever finds out.

But not telling her is as bad as telling her, for if he doesn't, she will never understand why they cannot be together.

The moral dilemmas in Clandestine abound. It's a book of secrets and passion and, above all, it's a book about honor. I loved it. I hope the lucky winner will, too.

So there you have it. This week's give away books are:

• A Wife On Paper by Liz Fielding
• Beau Crusoe by Carla Kelly
• Miranda's Big Mistake by Jill Mansell
• Hot by Julia Harper
• Clandestine by Julia Ross

and last week's Tempting by Susan Mallery because last week's winner had already read it.

Six super books. And tomorrow morning Gunnar is picking a winner from the blog commenters, so check back to see if you've won!

By the way, Neely's favorite advice from the Tote Bags blog was "Look for the silver linings."

As she is presently painting the houseboat a lovely soft gray called "Silver Linings" she totally agrees with that sentiment. It is the core of her character. Thanks to Michelle Douglas for reminding me of that!

The 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance

Kate Walker wrote a book a few years back called The 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance. As she has been published by Harlequin Mills & Boon as long as I have, she's been around the block a few times and she knows what she's talking about.

Lots of people besides me think so. Kate's book was an enormous success. It sold out pretty much everywhere it was on sale. And recently her publisher came to her and wanted to reprint.

Kate had a better idea. She knew that some writing advice is timeless, but some depends on publishers and the market. In order to give fledgling writers the best chance possible, she was determined to make the book as timely as possible. So she rewrote and updated the book.

The new revised second edition of The 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance is launching this month. In fact it's making its official debut at the London Book Fair, which is pretty impressive.

Kate is off to London to hobnob with the bigwigs next week and promote her book. I haven't seen it yet, though I offered some "timely" advice for it. I have no doubt, though, that it's every bit as good as the first edition. Probably it's even better.

Check it out via Kate's blog. And if you are a writer, especially a romance writer, looking for a lot of good advice by someone who knows what she's talking about, pick up your own copy of The 12 Point Guide. It's like being walked through the process of writing by a cheerful, knowledgeable expert who understands what you need to know and tells you before you even think to ask.

There is a blog party launch celebration going on over at Kate's right now. So if you hie yourself over there, you might win a copy of it or of any number of terrific books.

If I had a copy, I'd give it away here.

I don't. So I'll just have to add another of my recent reads to the pile of Give-Aways for this week.

It's Julia Harper's novel Hot. I think it may be her first novel. It was a fun read. Turner Hastings, small town Wisconsin librarian turned criminal-on-the-run, and John MacKinnon, the FBI Special Agent who, the longer he chases Turner, loses sight of exactly what his priorities are officially supposed to be, are fun to spend time with.

A veteran of lots of upper midwest summers -- and the ticks, bugs, sweat, and heat that go with them -- I had no trouble putting myself right in Turner's shoes. That isn't the only thing that makes it hot, by the way.

Parenthetically, I'm blogging today over at Tote Bags 'n' Blogs about writing. Stop by and leave a comment there and you could win Flynn's book. And you can read my 'wisdom' too, of course! It's about writing (and if I didn't say it for Kate's book, I should have. It's good advice).

The Big Book Give-Away

Those of you who have been hanging around a while know that I'm in the midst of what might euphemistically be called "home improvements."

Basically this means, gutting our bedroom and starting over. Except for the dressers, that's pretty much the case. And in the process of doing so, I've gone through the bookcases (those were the dusting episodes).

Now then, I have accumulated a GIGANTIC bag of wonderful books that I want to find homes for. I'm going to give them away and several lucky souls are going to get them. I could, of course, lug them down to the local used bookstore (because the owner is a good friend of mine and she let me read about 400-500 of them when I was first starting out writing romance just because she's a good person). But taking her books -- especially not completely current books -- is a little like taking coals you-know-where.

So . . . I figure I will give them away here. If you comment, you get chance to be selected to receive a book or five. I'll post up one or two every day. They're good books. I wouldn't have kept them if they weren't. But there is only so much space in this house, and I want them to go to good homes.

If I post a book you particularly want, post a comment. If you've read it and you have a comment (particularly if you want to rave about it), post a comment. If you have too many books in your house, but you want to make a comment anyway, say so, and I promise I won't send you the books.

The idea is to find them happy homes and get some discussion going.

The first book on the Give-Away pile is, Dark Lover, the one that started J.R. Ward's series of books about the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Definitely a book to get your teeth into! Sorry, bad pun. Great book.

Want it? Comment.

I'll add a book a day and post this week's winner on Friday.

So, what do you want to talk about? Anyone know any good additives for what I should be using to wash down the walls before George comes to paint them?

Oh, and celebrate with Kate Walker who finished up Santos's book today. Congrats, Kate. I know it was a long slog. I hope I can celebrate Seb and Neely's ending a month from now.

Here Comes A Groom - Raul

The last -- but certainly not least -- of the three bridegrooms in Liz Fielding's and Kate Walker's and my Here Come The Grooms! contest this year is the hero of Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife -- Raul Somebody Or Other.

I say that because his name is wrong on the back cover of his book, and his question to you for the contest is quite simply, "What's my real name -- not the name on the cover -- and the name of my heroine?"

You can find out the answer on Kate's website.

So, besides his name, which will remain a mystery for you to discover, what can I tell you about Raul?

Not as much as Kate, who wrote his story. This is what she has to say:

Two years ago, Alannah turned down Raul's cold-blooded proposal of marriage and walked away without one word of regret. Now tragedy has thrown them together once more, and this time the proud Spanish aristocrat will see that she doesn't get away from him again.

He had always wanted Alannah from the first moment he saw her. Her unique combination of purity and passion intrigued, then intoxicated him. And Raul is a man used to getting everything he wants.

She got away from him once - This time, he intends to keep her.

Sounds as if Raul is a man who knows his own mind. And as if he's going to have a battle on his hands. I have a copy of Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife just waiting for me to find time to read it. Thank you, Kate, for sending Raul and Alannah to me. I can hardly wait.

There's still two weeks left for you to enter the contest. Remember, the drawings will be held right after the February 29th deadline.

So answer the three questions (check my contest page for all of them) and send your answers to me, to Kate and to Liz and you'll have three chances to win three brand-new books!

Good luck!