Bad dreams....

For the past two nights I've had very similar dreams, that have disturbed me and caused feelings unease to linger with me for quite a while after I've actually woken up. In each case, I'm getting ready to go somewhere or do something [not exactly a specified thing] and in each case my preparations are hampered in every possible way. Every stage of getting ready 'goes wrong' and I get more and more desperate and panicky, and the more desperate and panicky I get, the more the things go wrong... and in the meantime, someone's waiting and getting more impatient or something that's important to me is slipping away. I woke up with a nasty, very unsettled feeling that somehow hasn't really quite gone away yet...

Thanks to those who commented in the pretty white corset I found yesterday for the final scene in IN TOO DEEP. Madelynne suggested a site which might have pix of lingerie for curvier ladies, and the image below is more my heroine Gwendolynne's build. She's not really what I'd class as out and out fat, but in her own words, she's 'plentiful'... and of course, Professor Hottie can't get enough of her sexy, curvaceous body!


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Telly: Top Gear
Choc/Yummy: fruit :(
Mood: troubled
Writing: not yet
Reading: Wild Nights
RSI/FMS: bit sore generally


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

Whut?????

In the latter stages of IN TOO DEEP now, and suddenly I find myself writing about a white satin basque! Don't know where this idea came from... but it just suddenly seemed the right thing to dress Gwendolynne in for this particular scene. Obviously, as a lushly curvy girl, she doesn't look quite like the above illustration, but it's the sort of thing I'm thinking of...

I usually think of black, or crimson, or some other deep, vibrant colour for this sort of lingerie in my books, but choosing white takes me in a direction that just seems so right for an erotic *romance*... :)

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Telly: documentary about gravity
Choc/Yummy: banana... it's just not the same... :(
Mood: better
Writing: In Too Deep
Reading: Wild Nights, Jaci Burton
RSI/FMS: not too bad


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bad blogger... and good film!

I'm getting to be a bad blogger... I miss lots of days, and I don't post much of interest. I have good ideas for what I want to say, but somehow, when faced with creating a post, I just run out of momentum... even when I've got plenty to post about, like now. I've got a couple of fabulous reviews to post, from Lucy Felthouse and from Two Lips reviews, and I should really showcase them here, 'cos they make me sound so good! Just gotta get round to that in the next couple of days... not to mention those me-mes I need to be attending to...

But today, I don't want to do anything but watch the rest of the Die Hard 4.0 DVD I've got out from Amazon rental! This is a corking film, all action and really outrageously improbable, but with great characterisation from the splendid Bruce Willis and also his computer geek sidekick lad, whose name escapes me. I'm just loving all the crashing and the flames and the shooting and good old John McClane surviving impacts that would have anybody else in traction yet managing to get up and keep on kicking ass. I don't care if the whole thing's totally mad... it's raw entertainment and I love it, love it, love it!

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Telly: see above
Choc/Yummy: bananas :(
Mood: in the mood for movies
Writing: nothing, but did some yesterday
Reading: Exclusive
RSI/FMS: bit sore in the wrist area and shoulder


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

Wahey, a new sale!

Time to crack open the Asti! I've got a new sale to announce...

CHANCE OF A LIFETIME - my naughty short novella about an eccentric but delicious 20th Century marquis who lives in a crumbling stately home and who loves to spank young ladies - has been accepted by Harlequin Spice Briefs!

No more details yet, but I'm particularly thrilled about this one because Harlequin is synonymous with romance writing, and it's a kind of fulfilment of a writing lifetime dream for me. For years, I craved and craved to be published by Mills and Boon. It was my dearest wish. And now, even though it's not a M&B sale as such, it's publication by Harlequin, which is M&B's parent company! Yay for me, eh? :)

ps. and what makes this even nicer is that my writing buddy and RWA travelling companion Saskia Walker got accepted by Spice Briefs at the same time!!!

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Telly: documentary about gravity
Choc/Yummy: banana
Mood: v. good
Writing: to excited
Reading: Exclusive
RSI/FMS: so so


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

It's like a hurricane out there...

Just look at all this mad wind over the British Isles! It's crazy out there! I've just been up to little town for an essential prescription, and I nearly got wafted off my feet... and I'm no sylph, I can tell you. When I got back I felt as if I'd been put through an industrial mincer and an hour later I'm only just getting over the shock of it.

Am really close to the end of In Too Deep now. Just a couple of scenes left to write. Strangely though, I'm still not in 'race for the end' mode, the way I usually am at this stage. I'm almost reluctant to push on... not because I don't want to leave my characters, but because this has been quite a tough book to write and I'm scared of it somehow. And I know there will be tons of editing, changing and layering to do. I think the lesson to be learned is to stop pantsing as much, and do more planning and working out beforehand. Then I wouldn't be changing so much on the fly and having to go back and engineer what's already been written in order for it to be consistent. I freely admit that I dove into this book without a clear idea of what it was... and that's just stupid!!!

In other news, plans are steaming ahead for The Big Adventure! I'm thrilled to announce that our little Mad Brit Erotic Romance Posse has officially increased to three, as Madelynne has now registered for the conference and will definitely be joining Saskia and I on the expedition! I can't wait! I know we three are going to have the wildest time! Saskia is going to have her hands full with us two nervous nelly flyers though... I haven't been on a plane in nearly 30 years and Madelynne has never flown! It should be veeerrry interesting! :)

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Telly: nothing yet
Choc/Yummy: grapes .... :(
Mood: vaguely out of sorts but not too bad
Writing: not yet
Reading: some stuff for a buddy
RSI/FMS: not bad


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

I'm foofing about again....

I'm foofing around again. Wasting time. Fretting over issues and annoyances instead of thinking positive and getting on with IN TOO DEEP and finishing Professor Hottie's story. I'm so close to the end, within 5K of it... and yet somehow, I can't bring myself to round things off. It's because I'm brooding over stuff, sinking into powerlessness again... and it's very tough to shake this off when it gets a hold on me.

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Telly: nothing
Choc/Yummy: carrot cake
Mood: powerless
Writing: none
Reading: Sanctuary - Eden Bradley
RSI/FMS: so so


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

planning meeting....

Had a splendid and very jolly lunch with Saskia yesterday! It was part planning meeting for The Great Adventure and part our usual robust and occasionally a tad raucous discussion about writing and the erotic romance writing scene in particular. Have to say, we were both on splendid form and probably terrified a lot of the quiet living patrons of Cafe Revive in big town! LOL

Also tried on some trousers in BHS, with a view to building my wardrobe for the forthcoming trip, but was most displeased with the sight that greeted me in the harsh, unforgiving light of the changing room mirror. Was rather afraid that Captain Ahab would fling a harpoon over the top of the cubicle door, so vast were the tracts of blubber on show. I think it's time to start easing back on the quantities of chocolate that I consume, and to try and eat a bit more healthily. I don't want to be skinny or anything, because I'm not that uncomfortable with the way I look, and I dress crafty anyway.... but I don't want to be charged for excess @rse-baggage when I board the aeroplane in July!

And finally, is anyone interested in a Yahoochat with a bunch of fabulous Berkley Heat authors today? Including my fabulous buddy Saskia and many others?

Well, they'll be hanging out on the Joyfully Reviewed Chat Loop between 10am and 10pm EST. It should be fantastic... I'm looking forward to joining in the fun.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chatting_with_Joyfully_Reviewed/

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Telly: News24
Choc/Yummy: fruit :(
Mood: fat
Writing: not yet
Reading: Exclusive anthology
RSI/FMS: achy, due to being fat


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

me-me angst

Sorry, Lucy and Dakota... I will do those me-mes... but I'm just drowning in stuff to do at the moment!

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Telly: Numb3rs
Choc/Yummy: various christmas chox
Mood: drowning in stuff to do
Writing: 1.2K In Too Deep
Reading: not today
RSI/FMS: exhausted


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

An awfully big adventure...

Those who visit this blog often enough will have gathered that I don't go anywhere very much. I'm a homebody, and I go to the supermarket, the fish and chip restaurant or the Toby Inn, and the pub. I sometimes walk up into little town to the shops, and if I'm feeling really ambitious or brave, I go to big town to meet my lovely writing buddy Saskia, or to Manchester to meet my other lovely writing buddy Madelynne and sometimes other writing friends too.

What I do not usually do is leave the country or get on aeroplanes...

But that's all going to change. Come the end of July, I'll be boarding a jet to San Francisco to attend the 2008 Romance Writers of America Conference! To say this is a big step for me is a massive understatement... the last time I flew, I swear the pilots were named Orville and Wilbur!

Luckily for me though, I'll be in the company of Saskia, who lives not too far from me, so we can travel together. And hopefully, if all goes well, Madelynne will be with us too! How cool is that? A mini posse of crazy British erotic romance authors... I can't say yet whether we'll take the conference by storm, but at least we'll be there, causing a little stir of some sort. Even if it's just all my American chums giggling at my broad Yorkshire accent!


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Telly: Numb3rs
Choc/Yummy: christmas chox
Mood: sort of excited but distracted
Writing: not yet today, but soon
Reading: A Kingdom of Dreams - Judith McNaught
RSI/FMS: so so


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

Bound Brits

Here's the dramatic cover for the Bound Brits anthology, which contains my BDSM novella THE RETREAT.

It's very striking, isn't it? Very hot... and I like it a lot. It's not awfully representative of the tone of my story though. The Retreat isn't about whips and chains and scene BDSM... it's more about intimate, intense, almost domestic discipline. Play that's very quiet and lacking in histrionics, a sweet little game between two people discovering their love.

Here's Ben... controlled, enigmatic, quietly powerful.


Bound Brits is out in February from Total-E-Bound

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Telly: Numb3rs
Choc/Yummy: cake/celebrations
Mood: good
Writing: 2.1K In Too Deep
Reading: not much today
RSI/FMS: achy hips


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

Parcel rage and greedy piggery...

Ack, I hate wrapping parcels, packing things up in padabags, labelling etc etc... It's an activity that induces a state of extreme rage in me. It's the securing that gets me, and the fact that modern sticky tape seems to be designed to only stick to things that it's *not* supposed to stick to! Try getting it to adhere to the surface of a padded bag, and you have to put *another* layer of sticky tape on to stick the first layer to the ****ing bag!!!! By the time I finished the three parcels I had to prepare this morning I was in a blind, towering fury, I'd nearly smashed up the contents of all three parcels and my throat was sore from screaming in frustration... at the b*ggering sticky tape!

Needless to say, none of the above is conducive to settling down and writing beautiful prose. Or even writing fairly horrible prose. Instead of getting on with what I was supposed to be getting on with, I settled in for an extended coffee break, half an episode of Numb3rs [with less Charlie than I needed] and more chocolate than I intended to eat. I had a nice piece of a Hotel Chocolate mini slab that I was going to eat half of... and guess what... I ate the whole piece without realising it. And now I feel like a fat, bloaty whale... bleck...

And even now, I'm not in the mood to write. I have a medical appointment this afternoon, and I won't be 'settled' until that's done with. It's only routine, nothing to really get het up about, but still I'm uneasy. And by the time I get back from that, it'll be nearly tea time and we've got fresh brussels sprouts for tonight, and they'll need peeling.

The one good thing in this is that it was persisting it down with rain up until a short while ago... and now it appears to be fine. Although there are some dark clouds on the horizon. And much as I hate and loathe them, I don't want those m***********g parcels to get wet when I go out with them!!!!

Updated to say:

It's absolutely peeing it down outside now! Will be drenched 30 seconds after stepping out of the door! My day just gets better and better...

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Telly: Numb3rs
Choc/Yummy: Hotel Chocolat
Mood: parcel psychosis
Writing: not a bleedin' thing
Reading: A Kingdom of Dreams - Judith McNaught
RSI/FMS: so so


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

The challenge is over, long live the challenge!

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Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!