This is me...

... attempting to get past the barrier of 'where I'd got to' in Gothic Heat! And the good news is that I've finally moved on... Glory Halleluia!!!!

I've been at a point where unconventional and slightly dubious hypnotherapist Rafe is about to put Paula 'under' for about a fortnight now, and I must have been back over the text I've got so far about three or four times. Mainly because I didn't think Paula's voice was right. I don't think it's perfect, yet, by any means, but she's starting to sound more like a real person. I think I've been resisting moving on, because I have to do some important plot bits soon, and as I haven't really much of an earthly of what's actually happening in this dire saga, I've been a bit scared of that... But I've really got to push on, 'cos I can't keep mucking about much longer!

--
Telly: Japanorama
Choc/Yummy: Turkish Delight
Mood: okay
Writing: a few hundred of Gothic Heat
Reading: Gothic Blue
RSI/FMS: fairly sore


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

Today I have been mainly...

... watching Japanorama! Although have also:

• done some web design
• done some editing of Gothic Heat
• hung out in the Romance Galleria
• commented at Romance By the Blog
• been far too hot... but not in a saucy way
  

Apart from those, not much...

it's been a funny week...

It didn't start so well, what with me being lurgi bound, but it's improved quite a lot as the days sped past. I feel almost back to normal now... well, as normal as I ever am, and I'm now trying to catch up with all the jobs I lost touch with while I was 'out of order'.

Friday was a hoot at Romance by the Blog!


The other Bellas and I had a very jolly chat about heroes and who we pictured when we were reading and writing... The talk was pretty far ranging and resulted in some saucy speculations on sexy menages that we'd like to engage in with groups of two or more hot male celebs... LOL... A fourway with the Divine Vincenzo, Mr Depp and sexy Spike, anybody?

Anyway, if you want to see what the fun was all about, why not check out the comments here and maybe add your own thoughts? Also, somewhere amongst the commentary, I dropped in a couple of links to some very hot previously unseen on the internet excerpts from my 1996 title The Devil Inside.

And as if Friday's fun away day wasn't enough, I then got the fabboo news about Glint! Gosh, I am so pleased about that! I'm in that anthology with a whole slew of great writers... I'm about to go off and gather a few names, so I can post them here.

And what am I about now? Well, I'm going to get stuck into Gothic Heat again... I really need to buck my ideas up if I'm to get my 20K added this month! I'm still not quite sure of some plot bits and motivations, but I'm hoping that reading Gothic Blue again will help... much as I hate reading my own work. Bleck!


--
Telly: MotoGP Catalunya
Choc/Yummy: Turkish Delight
Mood: OK
Writing: Gothic Heat
Reading: Gothic Blue
RSI/FMS: various twinges


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

Great Short Story News!

My short story GLINT is going to be in this prestigious anthology... out in September! It's a collection of shorts about watching and being watched... and mine is about frisky frolics on the beach. ;)

ps. am feeling 100% better than I did *last* Saturday!!!

---

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

My Red Hot Love Affairs

I'm guest blogging at ROMANCE BY THE BLOG today... on the topic of my red hot love affairs with guys like this...

Why not nip on over and join the fun!

There's a prize for commenters and the chat is already getting v. naughty... :)

ADDENDUM FOR THE BELLAS

Welcome to the world, Valentino!

Well, it S17 day here in the UK, and I had breakfast in bed surrounded by roses, messages of congratulation, champagne and the media, anxious to record the auspicious release of my great work...

Yeah, right...

It's just a day like any other day. No big fanfares on my lowly layer of the publishing cake... no thousands of fans camping out outside Waterstones and Borders, waiting to rush in on the stroke of midnight and purchase my oeuvre... I haven't even mentioned it to himself, although I might when he comes home from work.

Anyway, here's hoping that plenty of people do soon discover the book and enjoy it. It's one of those that had a very up and down creation process. One minute I loved it, the next I hated it, but I ended up loving it, so that's what matters. But I also want other people to love my hero Valentino as much as I do... and in that, I'm slightly nervous, because he does have more than his share of quirks and foibles and dodginess in his past... and present. Let's say that he's not a standard erotic romance Alpha hero...

So, those of you who are into idiosycratic and deliberately perverse heroes, and especially if you like long black hair and a twisted version of Italian romantic machismo, do, please, slide on over to Amazon.co.uk or any other fine literature emporium and avail yourself of this quality volume! LOL

In other news: I'm feeling quite a bit better!

--

Telly: Japanorama
Choc/Yummy: Arrowroot biscuits
Mood: slightly more focused
Writing: promo
Reading: web surfing
RSI/FMS: bit sore


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

plucky British grit and all that...

Yes, I have been working... I managed to do some stuff, even though I didn't actually get dressed today... shock horror! I working the bedroom anyway, but usually I get up and bathe and do my exercise and occasionally go out in the garden or take a walk and all that... Today however, I just lay around a bit, then sat up and started to work. You'll be pleased to know that I'm bathed and in clean clothes now... but it's taken me until tea time to get that way!

And what have I been working on? Gothic Heat, you ask? Nope, haven't done anything on that mutha for a week now, although I do feel that I still actually 'like' it and will be happy to return to it. No, I've been polishing another project/WIP that I originally worked on many, many months ago. It's part of a joint project with another author, and as there's been a slight development on that front [nothing radical, don't get excited!] it was time to dig it out and review it. I was pretty pleased with it at the time, in my own doubtful way, but looking at it after all this time, it was easy to pick out areas for refinement and improvement. I think a gap like this is often very useful, as you can look at a piece with fresh eyes and a different perspective.



Anyway, the hero if this novella is called Red, and he has a beard! Actually he wears glasses too, but I couldn't find a piccie of the divine Vincenzo with both glasses and beard. If anyone happens to have one tucked away on their hard drive, or knows where there is one to be found, do, do, do let me know!!!

Lastly, an important public service announcement...

On Friday I will be a guest blogger at the fabulous ROMANCE: BY THE BLOG... and I'll be posting on the topic of MY LEADING MEN. You don't need a thousand guesses to work out that the above mentioned gentleman will be featuring on that roster, do you?

--
Telly: old films and stuff
Choc/Yummy: one cupcake
Mood: weary
Writing: editing Red's story
Reading: bits and bobs
RSI/FMS: generally poorly


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

this is me...

attempting to fight off the stinking lurgi that has waylaid me since Friday night!

My entire digestive tract has now joined the list of bits of me that are giving me stick, but the fact that the amount of 'stuff' I need to do keeps piling up and piling up means that I simply have to ignore the fact I feel like hell... and just try to soldier on.

All I can hope for is that should I slump sideways in a coma whilst at the keyboard, the laptop won't incur too much damage as it falls off the edge of the bed!

Yes, I am a drama queen... but in essence, the above is more or less true.

ps. Suite Seventeen isn't officially published until tomorrow, but my friend Ann says her copy has already been delivered! Yay!

out of commission

Still pretty much out of commission... Have managed to do a few bits and pieces, but my brain is temporarily broken and not processing stuff properly.

Very frustrating... grr....

ugh... ill...

Ack, I have been ill since late on Friday night... some kind of infection/lurgi thing. Aches and pains, shivers, sinus glue, headache... and while I was chatting in the Galleria, I actually felt all the lymph glands in my neck and the side of my face swelling up!!!!

Yuk! Yuk! Yuk!

Am feeling a little better now, so hope to start getting back into the swing of things... but slowly.

fancy a chat?

I should have posted this much earlier in the day, or even yesterday, but I've been so busy that I kept forgetting!!!

Basically, my writing buddy Madelynne Ellis and I have 'taken a residence' at The Romance Galleria! We have our own dinky little suite there and we're hoping to host chats there for our readers and other authors and online friends in general.

The Romance Galleria is a really fun place, it's like a mini virtual world for romance lovers. Authors have suites and alcoves, which showcase their work, and their able to chat in virtual reality with visitors, using avatars! It's very jolly... and I'm rapidly becoming addicted. Madelynne and I have been chatting about our WIPs and plots there, but we'd love to have other people visit us to natter about books and writing, whether it's our work or other people's.

To access the Galleria, you have to download its software. But don't worry!!!! It's easy peasy and it's perfectly safe and secure... and it's completely free, gratis and for nothing! I'm always v. cautious about downloads, but I've had absolutely no problems with this and it's a cinch to use. Once you've downloaded the Galleria, you can choose an avatar for yourself [mine's blond and wears black, of course] and then enter the 'world'. Navigating is easy, you just use your keyboard's arrow buttons to move forward and backwards and from side to side. There's a chat window, and you can choose to have private conversations, or just plunge into general ones with groups of people...

Do please try the Galleria and come along to our first informal chat, which we're holding tonight [1st June] at around 11pm GMT/6pm EST. You'll find our pad in the Section 2 of the Exhibit Hall. Just walk out of the foyer onto the landing, take the Exhibit Hall door to the left, then turn right and pass through the doors marked 'More Exhibits'... where you'll see us to your right! Doors open automatically as you 'run' at them, or you can click to open and then 'up' arrow you're way through them... it's a piece of cake!

If lots of people turn up tonight, we might make it into a real party... with prizes!

In addition to tonight, we drop into our suite at all sorts of odd times, but you can mostly expect to find us there on Friday nights at the above mentioned time... after Law & Order Criminal Intent on C5!!!

Do please come along... and remember, the Galleria isn't just about us! There are lots of other authors there to visit, and lots of regular scheduled events like author chats and book trailer screenings. Issa hoot! Give it a whirl!

--
Telly: The Holiday
Choc/Yummy: Turkish Delight
Mood: Good, but awash with things to do
Writing: not today... but I promise I'll do some tomorrow
Reading: Gothic Blue
RSI/FMS: slightly sore


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

I'm posting at Lust Bites today!!!

But somehow, Tilly the cat doesn't seem to be all that interested!

Not tonight, dear, I've got a headache...

What's that all about? Well, you'll have to pop over there, and find out, won't you? :)

There's also a prize draw for those who comment, so why not drop a line there with your thoughts on the post...

Hint... it's a hot but romantic excerpt from SUITE SEVENTEEN!

I'll also have some more news later in the day, so pop back here too... although my 'house mate' Madelynne Ellis already has the skinny on that posted at her blog...