Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Interview at Writers, Authors, Books & More

I was interviewed recently by Susan Palmquist for her blog

Writers, Authors, Books & More

Looks like an interesting site, with plenty of good interviews, doing basically what the name suggests. Hope you can pop over there sometime and hear me answer fascinating questions like:

What type of romances are you looking for? What's the word length?

and

How will the Embrace line differ from Mills & Boon?

and many more!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Inspiring Inspiration

I was looking for inspiration for a post and the lovely Rachel Lyndhurst pulled out her equally lovely dictionary so I’m going to do copy cat.

What more inspiration did I need than the word INSPIRATION?

Most of the time my main inspiration is music. Usually at key scenes I need to crank things up and the tunes come out (in MP3 and You Tube form). I probably end up with a trio of artists that help me along per book. I tried the photoboard montage thing (but frankly my craft skills are worse than my pre-schooler’s so that was the end of that). 

For Nanny Behaving Badly my inspirations were heaps of Scottish band Del Amitri, The Killers and some Nelly Furtado thrown in. In a nutshell the book idea came from a yearning to write about the city of Edinburgh in Winter (when I happen to think it’s at its best) with hot characters to ward off the December chill.

My inspirations were a newly launched coffee bar, Edinburgh in pre-Xmas sparkly mode with its festive Christmas market. An uptight Scots alpha entrepreneur hero, who needs urgent childcare as well as a good lesson in chilling out. And an in your face bouncy, gutsy new American barista who stirs things up with firecrackers to bring true dazzle to the season.

I had a blast writing it. I can only hope it’ll work for readers too (gulp!)

So in summary sometimes inspiration is a mosaic of elements inside you and you need to pull it all out and make it pretty (of course pretty is pretty darn hard to achieve and like the legend that is Fame it takes lots of sweat and effort as payment).

So without further ado here’s some INSPIRING POHM (pictures of hot men) as reward in lieu of reading this post.

There’s Alexis Papas...a long time favourite. Who wouldn’t drown in those eyes? Then Marios Lekkas. Sexy new boy on the block. And finally there’s Noah Wylie – Dr John Carter from ER who is the real inspiration picture behind Lyle Sutherland the terse and sometimes grumpy hot Coffee King in Nanny Behaving Badly.

Who would you pick to kick off wintertime sparks with? Which is your pick for sharing a latte, iced gingerbread...and maybe more?
 
Judy Jarvie is a new Embrace Books author. Her contemporary romance 'Nanny Behaving Badly' launches in early 2011. 

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Obsessed? Join the Club.

I am a writer - and I still can't get over how much I love saying that! - so I love words.  Big words, small words, words that coat your tongue like heather honey, words that snap like icicles or crackle like burning logs.

Scrumptious.

Can't get enough of them and that's not a problem when you've got one of these to dip into on a daily basis:

Well-thumbed beauty, isn't she? Bigger than the bible by my reckoning, so for today's lesson let's dip in and pick a word shall we? My turn first:

OBSESSION.
'An idea or thought that continuously preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind.'

Ah, I do like this one.

Any decent alpha male hero needs a touch of this to drive him on, to focus, achieve and become the successful man he is. Similarly, your heroine will need a good dollop to adhere to her principles and fight for what she believes in, in spite of the impossible temptation and choices she is facing.

They both suffer from the bittersweet hold of obsession when they are unable to resist each other and can't shake the need for their perfect mate. They become consumed, obsessed with wanting each other, with fighting that need until it brings them to their knees and speeds them on to their happy ever after ending.

And what about the author?  The person who writes their story?  Does he or she need to be obsessed to create this storm of emotion? To force them together, tear them apart, crush them and finally reconcile them in a satisfying way?

There's no doubt about it in my mind.  If I wasn't so obsessed with writing I'd never have finished writing a book in the first place. Or the next one and a couple more after that. I would never have submitted either.

So, do you agree?  Do you have to have a bit of an obsession to be a writer?  Or is there another way?  My family might want to know at some stage.

Well, here endeth the lesson.  Drop us a line if you'd like us to feature a particular word in the future, otherwise I get to choose again (yessss!). But you've been very patient, so as a treat I'm going to share my current hero obsession:

 David ...

Sigh.  He's been top of the list for a couple of years now, I really think I need a cure.


He's become a bit of an addiction actually.  Now there's a good word.


Rachel Lyndhurst is one of our new Embrace Books authors, and will be launching her contemporary romance 'Storm's Heart' in early 2011.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

The Reluctant Marquess by Maggi Andersen

“Strong Attraction … Fear of Intimacy”
Embrace Books is delighted to announce the acquisition of a thrilling Georgian romance novella by accomplished Australian novelist, Maggi Andersen.

This historical romance, The Reluctant Marquess, will join the brand-new Embrace Regency list.

Maggi and her lawyer husband are empty nesters, living in the countryside outside Sydney with the cat that rules them, and the demanding wildlife they feed. An entertaining offshoot of this lifestyle: animals often feature in her books!

Maggi began writing adventure stories when she was about eight years old. Three children, a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts in Creative Writing degree later, her novels are still filled with adventure and suspense, but are now also passionate romances. Georgette Heyer – among others – brought inspiration to her seductive Regencies and she also writes contemporary romantic suspense, young adult novels and darker, Victorian mysteries.

Maggi Andersen’s first historical romance was a Regency novella, Stirring Passions, and she has since written several more, which received great reviews. She chose to set her novella for Embrace in the 18th Century because it allowed more freedom for her independently-minded heroine, Charity Barlow, than the stricter Regency era. Plus, Maggi loves the fashions, architecture and decorative interiors of this period.
The Reluctant Marquess
A country-bred girl, Charity Barlow never expected to become a Marchioness. Nonetheless, she is determined to make her marriage of convenience into the ton work. Yet despite the strong attraction between them, and Charity’s bold attempts at intimacy, the rakish Lord Robert does not believe a husband should be in love with his wife. Can she ever make him love her?
You can find out more about Maggi Anderson in the following places:

Maggi’s website: www.maggiandersenauthor.com
Maggi’s blog: http://www.maggiandersen.blogspot.com