Party Post 2: Annie West

Annie grew up loving books and travel. Her childhood dream was to become an archaeologist ... or a national parks ranger ... or a bookseller, so of course she became a public servant. In the meantime she travelled and read books and met the man of her dreams. They live with their family on Australia’s eastern seaboard.

After years of writing, in late 2005 her work was accepted by Harlequin Presents. Now she enjoys fantasising about wonderful men and their love lives. It’s hard work but she has no regrets!

Nalini, this is definitely the blog party for me. Christmas is my favourite time of year! Thanks so much for inviting me along. It’s a real thrill to be here.

When I read the theme for the blog party I panicked – I looked at the calendar and realised I’m not organised for the holiday season. Perhaps I’ll just relax and hope someone else organises everything for me to enjoy (hey, I’m an optimist!).

Maybe the reason I’m feeling so laid back about the festivities is that Christmas really has come early for me – two years running. I count myself to be one very, very lucky woman. (Santa was obviously making up for past years where I slaved over a hot Christmas turkey in sweltering Aussie heat to keep the family content).

Last year, in early December, my dream came true. After nine years writing fiction, I woke to find an email from an editor in Richmond (London). I’d had several full manuscripts rejected by editors of other lines. I’d had people tell me they loved my writing but it just wasn’t what they were after. The luck seemed always against me. I’d submitted revisions on this manuscript and, frankly, I was waiting for the rejection. I skimmed the email looking for the inevitable ‘thanks but no thanks’ and couldn’t find it. I read it twice before I realised the editor really wanted to buy my book. I’d been too nervous to notice the title of the attachment: ‘Mistress for the Taking acceptance doc’. Duh. I printed the email and kept reading it through the day just in case I was hallucinating and it was really a rejection. (You think I’m joking, don’t you?).

That book, my first for Harlequin Presents, is rolling out to the bookstores now and in just a few days I’ll be able to pick it up off the shelves! What more could I want for Christmas?

Well...as I said, I’ve been doubly lucky. I’ve recently sold my fourth book to Harlequin. Believe me, the festive season has started early here!

What about you? Has Christmas ever arrived early? I’d love to hear your story if it has. Or maybe you’ve got ideas on what would make this Christmas extra special for you and yours. Join the party and send in your thoughts. Now, there’s an easy way for you to win an early Christmas present. I’ll send one contributor a signed copy of my lucky first book ‘A Mistress for the Taking.’

Merry Christmas to you all!

Annie

‘A Mistress for the Taking’ is out in the UK now, in Aus/NZ Dec06, and in North America Jan07. To find out more, or for a second chance to win one of Annie’s books, visit her at http://www.annie-west.com

Party Post 1: Let's Get This Party Started!

It's party time!! Before we start passing out the cocktails, I thought I'd lay out how the party will run.

First, it's going on all week.

Second, there are going to be at least two posts per day, though a couple of days have three. Each post will be by a different guest author and all of them have giveaways...which is why the theme is Xmas Come Early! Each giveaway will run for at least 24 hours, so even if you miss seeing a post go up, make sure to scroll down past the most recent post and enter. To make it easier for you to party-hop from post to post and keep track, I'm going to be numbering them.

I've got new and established category authors from Sweet to Medical, debut authors (yay!), erotica authors (ooh la la), historical authors and of course, paranormal. And that's not all! Some are friends and some are new to me. But one thing's for sure - they are all ready to party! :)

Okay, let's kick off this party in style. Would you like to win an advanced look at Visions of Heat? I'll print out, sign the manuscript and send it to you. Or if you haven't read Slave to Sensation, I'll send you a copy of StS instead.

All you have to do to enter is tell me which fictional character you'd bring to life if you had superhero powers?! (I'll pick a random winner sometime tomorrow). Hmm, I find myself torn between Mr. Darcy and the dragon Temeraire - how cool would it be to talk to a dragon?! Ok, your turn!

I love Saturdays

Today's post is late courtesy of it being Saturday morning (and me sleeping in). *grin* Hope you're all ready for the party that kicks off Monday morning. I've got all the posts and giveaway details from the participating authors, except for two naughty people who haven't sent them in (hmm, how shall we punish them?).

So this week while I was not surfing the internet, I came across this post by Alison Kent on blog plans. The idea of a plan makes a huge amount of sense and I'm wondering if I should sit down and do one for this blog. Instead of random thoughts, you'd get something structured per day of the week. But then I'd have to follow the plan!

What are your thoughts on this? Do you like going to blogs that have a set format, knowing what you'll get according to the day/time? Or are you more interested in organized chaos?

Icebergs

If you've caught some international news over the past weeks, you'll know that we've been getting icebergs off the coast of New Zealand. We are near the bottom of the world but this is very rare. A few enterprizing souls have turned into tourist operators, flying people out see the icebergs.

But the award for the most cheeky iceberg related event goes to the guy who put the iceberg up for auction on Trade Me (like ebay). The original auction's no longer up there, but you can see a partial record of it here - scroll down to read the question and answers.

Drive By

Sorry about all the short posts this week folks - mad, mad week. I have galleys of Visions of Heat (exciting!) to get away as well as a few other things. But I'll make it up to you with the party next week!

For today, here's a smile for you from one of my favorite sites.

My oh my!

You all know I'm as innocent as a spring chicken, so I have absolutely no idea whatsoever as to how I found my way to this particular link: Naked Rugby League. Oh yeah, don't open this at work (unless you work in an office full of women) *g*

Between The Covers

I'm over at Between The Covers today, talking about the heroes we love and why we come love them. Come on over!

Interesting Book

I read Death of a Thousand Cuts by Barbara D'Amato last week and really enjoyed it - not just in terms of the suspense aspects, but in its setting and characters.

What made this book stand out for me is that the murder takes place during a reunion at Hawthorne House, which 15 years ago, was renowned for its work with autistic children. Now, the founder is dead and the suspects are the teachers and more interestingly, the students, who came to the reunion.

I knew a bit about autism before reading this book, but I know a lot more now. But at no stage did it feel like I was being inundated with information. The author weaves the ex-students' lives and realities seamlessly into this whodunnit. And the fact that it's set mostly in the rambling Hawthorne House just provides an extra layer of spookiness. A big thumbs-up from me if you're looking for a suspense read with a difference.

So, what've you been reading lately?

Party Update

OMG, it's November! Where did the year go?! Is it only me or does time seem to be moving faster these days?

As you know, there's going to be a blog party on this blog the week of Nov 27th (put it in your diaries!). That's Nov 27th NZ time so it'll be the 26th for those of you on the other side of the world. I've got lots of authors coming in -from historical to category to erotic romance - and lots of giveaways, so don't forget to come party. The theme incidentally is Xmas Come Early (as it will for the winners!)

Talking about Xmas, what's your favorite part of that time of the year? For me, it's the chance to be with family and eat lots of guilt-free cake. *g*

First Dates & Star Signs

'Where should we go on a first date?' is probably the most common question single people ask themselves.

And hey, it's hard to know where the object of your affections would like to rendezvous, especially if you don't know each other too well. But if you want to make some sort of an informed guess, consider turning to astrology for the answer.

That's right - each astrological sign has its own favourite first-date locales. So do some sleuth work to find out your date's birthday; then head out to one of the appropriate places below.

Best First Date For Your Star Sign

Hmm, really? Check the tip for you star sign and tell me if it would work.

Between The Covers

Today's post is over at Between The Covers. We're having a round table discussion on a 'typical' writing day. Drop by and visit.

Backcover Blurb: Bound By Marriage

As requested, here's the backcover copy for Bound By Marriage (Sil Desire, Feb 07).

A Deal With The Devil...

How else to describe the pact Jessica Randall had made with wealthy New Zealand rancher Gabe Dumont? In exchange for marriage and an heir, he would save her family property. The agreement was calculating, completely devoid of any tenderness, just like the man himself.

Their relationship was supposed to be a simple arrangement. Instead, it was fraught with secrets and mistrust, jealousy and ultimatums - emotions that wouldn't allow her to maintain the distance she needed. Worse, the sizzling attraction between them made this marriage of convenience decidedly inconvenient.

Cover: Bound By Marriage

This is a scene out of the book! I love it! Releases February (available for preorder *g*).

Five Things You Might Not Know About Me

I've been tagged by good friend and fellow Sil Desire author Bronwyn Jameson to list "Five things you might not know about me". Here goes:

1. Despite my otherwise bookwormy nature, I played field hockey for almost fourteen years.

2. I've traveled from San Francisco to New York by train. (Which train broke down in the middle of the desert).

3. I once got told off in high-school English class (my absolute favorite subject) for reading a romance novel (it was a purple one - Special Edition - and I think the author was Christine Rimmer).

4. I'm scared of eyelash curlers. No joke. Those things are dangerous!

5. I can meow well enough to fool cats. I once had a conversation with cat who must've thought I was the funniest looking feline ever.

There you go. Surprised? Horrified? ;) Okay, I'm tagging everyone who reads this blog. If you do it on your blog, send me the link and I'll add it to the bottom of this post so we can all learn stuff about each other. If you don't blog, use the comments to tell us your five. I'm off to practice my meowing.

Check out:
NeyJour's (Christina's) Five
Racy Li's Five
Cynthia Bagley's Five

Cover: Visions of Heat

Here's the cover for Visions of Heat. There are going to be a couple of changes but nothing major (and the color are brighter on the actual cover). I love the markings on his back! So, what do you all think :)

My News

I'm going to be doing a Christmas novella collection next year with Maggie Shayne among others! Woohoo! :)

My novella's going to tell the backstory of Nate and Tamsyn from Slave To Sensation. Are you guys excited? 'Cause I'm on cloud 9. I love reading Xmas novellas and now I get to write one and in such great company! :)

Secrets

I have a bit of cool news but I can't share it yet. Drats! I'm not very good at keeping my own secrets - anyone else's and I'm a lockbox, but my own - furgeddiaboutit, so this is testing my patience. I mean, I can't even keep surprise presents a surprise!

Talking about presents - if you've won something from me at any stage, it's on it's way. I posted out everything last week. For those of you who want to know what the "stuff" prize from NZ ended up being, here it is...oh wait, maybe I should let the winner find out for herself? You think I should tell? (Ask me in the comments and all will be revealed *g*)

How about you? How good are you at keeping secrets?

Thoughts For The Day

Exercise is good. It gets your blood pumping and all that stuff.
Exercise is evil. (The whole getting-up-just-to-torture-yourself thing).

Post-Weekend Catchup

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was pretty good - a bit lazy I must admit. :)

If you're on my mailing list, you should've got a newsletter over the weekend with another excerpt from Visions of Heat. If Yahoo is holding your mail hostage, the newsletter is available on the group site so just log in and read.

In the newsletter, I also asked for interview questions for the characters from Slave to Sensation. Something you'd like to ask one of them? Email me! I'm hoping to eventually get some character interviews up on the site. And if you have a burning question for one of the characters from my other books, feel free to throw them my way too.

How was your weekend?

Between The Covers

I'm also over here today, discussing Guy Fawkes!