This is our farm taken from the air a week ago, when a friend flew past on a dirty, dusty day. Hopefully after this week's lovely, slow, gentle rain we may be green in another week.
Three disparate subjects it would seem, but they do share a common link. Competition. I'm not sure how or why competition fits into pursuits such as writing and singing. I know there's no definitive: this book is better than that book, or this singer is better than that. It all depends on who is reading or listening and in the case of competition, who is judging.
My mixed feelings don't stop me hanging out for the announcement of RITA finalists each year. These are the books which gained the highest scores from the fellow RWA members who read them in first-round judging. That's five readers, five opinions, five scores. But because it's a peer-judged contest, we authors do love RITA.
I entered books from 2002-2006, got some truly horrendous scores and then in 2006 I was the world's luckiest writer and a triple finalist. I decided it could never get any better and so I haven't entered since. Yet yesterday, when the calls to finalists went out, I had the jitters something fierce. Probably on behalf of all my mates who'd entered. Congratulations to all the finalists, with a special Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi-oi-oi shout-out to Kelly Hunter, Anne Gracie and Anna Campbell, and to Golden Heart finalists Tracey O'Hara and Helene Young.
Have you checked the finalists? Any books you read there that you read and loved last year?
This week I've been glued to the nightly coverage of the Australian swim championships, also our Olympic trials. We have top swimmers, no question, but they've been swimming Very Fast Indeed this week in their high-tech swimsuits. Apparently they were partially designed by NASA. Apparently they cost $600 each. Apparently in the past 39 days, 13 world records have been broken, 12 by swimmers wearing them. My husband says they should be banned. I say they should be made available to all swimmers, not just the countries that can afford them, so in Beijing everyone is on the same playing field...or pool.
Between RITA and the swimming, I almost forgot about Idol last night. I missed Ramiele but caught the rest. Loved Michael's Queen tribute but then loved David Cook's interpretation of Billie Jean even more. He's not my favourite personality but props to him for crafting the old classics into contemporary versions.
I'm worried that Carly might go. Really did not like her last night, horrid song at the best of times and she looked soooo tense that I couldn't watch her. Worryworryworried about her surviving. Do I look as tense as she did?
Not only because it's all pretty and pink, or because the headline book is Helen Bianchin's current #1 Waldenbooks bestseller The Martinez Marriage Revenge, but because every purchase is an entry to win a cleaner for a year!!! Is that a cool promotion or what? Haven't read the small print and really hope that HM&B authors are not excluded. Um, it is a Harlequin Australia promotion so the cleaner prize is probably restricted to ANZ readers. :-/
But since I'm reaching for my credit card to order myself a copy and it does look like a cool collection of stories and a perfect Mothers Day gift, how about I buy two? The second I will give away as my Mothers Day gift to one lucky reader who visits and comments on any of my blog posts between now and April 15.
To give you something to comment about: a cleaner for a year sounds like THE perfect Mother's Day gift to me, but perhaps you disagree. What would you like a year of -- a massage a day, a personal trainer, flowers delivered daily to your door, your own personal chef, laundry service, gardener, chocolate delivery service? What would put a smile on your face every day this year?
I love cool, new stuff. I can't always work out how to use cool, new stuff. I don't always have the time or patience to work out how to use cool, new stuff but that never dampens my initial enthusiasm.
On that note and with appropriate fanfare, let me introduce you to eHarlequin's Browse the Book widgets, available for all April releases including my Tycoon's One-Night Revenge. As well as reading the first chapter, you can view the cover blurb, other books' by page, the dedication, dear reader letter (author note) and bio.
There is also a search facility, although I'm not sure how that might be useful to readers. Perhaps if it's a series and you want to see if characters from previous books make an appearance, you could search their name? (Example: in Tycoon, you can search for Alex and Zara from The Ruthless Groom.) Any other thoughts on that?
Is this something you'd use to check out more details on upcoming books?
Big shout out to my friend, Trish Morey, the koala counter, who sent me this gorgeous Easter joke. My favourite. And tres appropriate as my favourite Easter chocolate is the Lindt bunny. What is yours?
Last weekend I posted at Diamonds Down Under about Australia's quintessential romantic settings, applicable to real life but also as used in romance novels. That got me thinking about how much the setting can add to a romance. In some case it defines the romance...or perhaps the characters and the tone of the romance demand a specific setting. Perhaps it's not a core ingredient like character and conflict and a resolution that leads to a happy ending, but an essential one, IMHO.
I say this despite an interesting exercise conducted on our recent writing retreat. We were asked by our discussion leader to list ten essentials we look for when reading. Setting did not appear on many lists, although items such as colour, layering, depth, atmosphere did, and in my mind these are the things created through setting.
Interesting, some of the writers/readers said things like "I don't care where it's set as long as I'm drawn to characters". Or the situation, the plot, the storyline. Or perhaps they love any story where the dialogue is funny and smart and snappy. I argue that this reader's enjoyment will also be enhanced if setting is well applied. Not with a heavy hand, but as a light veneer to compliment the rollicking adventure or the intense passion or the quirky wit of the characters.
Would Stephanie Plum be Stephanie Plum without Trenton, NJ?
Have you seen or read No Country For Old Men? Could that story have been set anywhere else?
In these and many instances the setting chooses itself, it is part of the characters or essential to the plotline or defined by the situation. My examples: Tycoon's One-Night Revenge required a remote wilderness location to allow the stranded/isolated storyline to work. Tomas Carlisle in The Rugged Loner is an outback cattleman as harsh and unforgiving as his outback home.
In category romance it can even be part of the series guidelines. Quoting from the guidelines posted on eHarlequin.com, Presents are all "set in sophisticated, glamorous, international locations" and all Harlequin Americans are set, where else, but in America. "They're set in small towns and big cities, on ranches and in the wilderness, from Texas to Alaska--everywhere people live and love."
That's the overall story setting. Equally important is the setting within scenes, which grounds the reader by showing where the action is taking place or--better still--draws her into the storyworld so she experiences the action along with the heroine. Setting creates atmosphere and can be used to add texture, depth and sensual detail. Definitely something I look for in my reading and when I examine the authors who I've loved through the ages--from Lucy Walker's outback to Ruth Wind/Barbara Samuel's south-west--I realise just how essential.
PS: I'm giving away two of my books which I feel best exemplify my own use of setting to enhance story, The Rugged Loner and Tycoon's One-Night Revenge, to one commenter on the DDD Blog. Drawn 22 March.
And if you don't win the free copy at DDU, you can buy Tycoon's One-Night Revenge in eHarlequin's Hot Men for Hot Prices promotion for just $2.66.
I haven't watched American Idol for several seasons, probably since it was last shown free to air. This year it's showing on sub TV and I'm watching and I'm enjoying. Not always the performances, but Simon.
Here's the deal: I'm going to blog a few random thoughts on the show, but I reckon we're watching AFTER you guys in America so no spoilers, okay? (Not that I always watch the results show because it's like ten minutes worth watching stretched and dragged out.)
The 11 Show: Beatles two weeks in a row--what were they thinking? Not that I don't love the fab four, but are they still relevant to kids in their teens and twenties??? My teens and twenties don't think so, and while last week's shows featured some pretty cool interpretations this week was always going to be about 2nd choices. No surprise that the 2 best performances were from artists who disappointed last week (David A and Syesha) and had to do better this time.
Simon, you were right: Jason really is all about the goofy charm, isn't he? I find myself smiling along with him. He has that kinda face.
Simon, you were wrong: Carly, Blackbird. I loved her simple, subtle, restrained delivery...but then I've never been a fan of the big, belted-out ballad.
Looking good: loved Syesha's dress, but what was Ramiele wearing? ==>>
I'm loving: Brooke and Michael.
I'm over: Amanda but I reckon it might be Kristy who goes home. A pity because she seems a real sweetie. I like her voice but she doesn't have the hey-look-at-me stage presence of some of the others.
This is from the press release issued by eHarlequin regarding their reading challenge for 2008. Is anyone here participating? I'd love to see that total reached (and exceeded) so must stop procrastinating, commit myself, and start blogging some books.
In case you haven't read about it yet, here's the deal:
eHarlequin.com is challenging its community members to read an astounding 100,000 books in one year in the 2008 eHarlequin.com 100,000 Book Challenge. When the reading challenge ends on December 31, 2008, Harlequin will make an unprecedented donation of an equivalent number of books to the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL). The estimated retail value of a 100,000 book donation to the NCFL by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. is $700,000 U.S.
The stated mission of NCFL is to create a literate nation by leveraging the power of the family. Family literacy helps parents and children form a learning partnership that ends the cycle of poverty and low literacy. NCFL works to find solutions to the literacy crises that build on the family by creating a new cycle of ongoing learning and mutual support. Since its inception in 1989, NCFL has provided leadership to solve the national literacy problem. Through groundbreaking initiatives, NCFL fuels life improvement for the nation's most disadvantaged children and parents. More than one million families throughout the country have made positive educational and economic gains as a result of NCFL's work, which includes training more than 150,000 teachers and thousands of volunteers.
"Recent studies show that people are reading literature less and less," said Sharon Darling, president and founder of NCFL. "This reading challenge not only will provide an important incentive for everyone to read more, it also will greatly benefit the millions of adults who have low literacy--34 million in the United States alone and 771 million globally."
In addition to promoting literacy, the 2008 eHarlequin.com 100,000 Book Challenge encourages readers to discuss the titles they have read on the eHarlequin.com website in their own blogs. Those participating in the challenge share their thoughts, reviews, opinions, recommendations and progress. Another remarkable and unforeseen aspect to the challenge is that many people who were not bloggers--or who even knew what a blog was--are now passionate blog hosts and are spearheading online discussions in the forums.
"Our readers are very passionate," says Jayne Hoogenberk, community manager for eHarlequin.com. They read, talk, think and dream about books 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. The median number of paperbacks read in one year by Americans is 12. The median for Harlequin readers is 30. Since we're always looking for ways to inspire and challenge our community members, we wondered if, as a group, they would be able to read 100,000 books in a single calendar year and through our donation of 100,000 books, share that love of reading with others who don't have such easy access to entertaining and engaging literature for women."
The original book challenge was laid down on eHarlequin.com in January 2006 and challenged community members to each read 100 books. Seventy-five community members took up the gauntlet. By the end of the year, 55 of those people had read or exceeded the goal. In 2007 eHarlequin.com challenged its members to read 10,000 books collectively. By year end they had read an astounding 24,440 books. To date 350+ participants have accepted the 2008 challenge. In one week they have already read some 1,000+ books.
"The response of the past two years was so overwhelmingly positive that we had to keep going," states Hoogenberk. "We also knew that we had to up the ante. And so the 2008 eHarlequin.com 100,000 Book Challenge for literacy was born. Last year we capped the number of participants and still easily surpassed our target. Since the event has generated such positive feedback, and in order to reach our goal of 100,000 books read, we've decided to leave registration open-ended this year."
There are no hard and fast rules other than participants being asked to have at least half of their list be novels published by Harlequin. This allows readers to discover the outstanding breadth of editorial Harlequin has to offer. The other books can be any genre by any publisher. Likewise, all formats--print, eBooks, audiobooks--are acceptable, and readers are encouraged to seek them out and give them a try.
The range and diversity of Harlequin readers is not confined solely to the type of books they read or the medium in which they enjoy them. The online nature of the eHarlequin.com community illustrates the significant power of books to unite readers in a global way. Geographic boundaries have become meaningless in this venture as the challenge brings together readers from countries as varied as Germany, France and the Philippines, as well as Harlequin editors in Toronto, New York and London and Harlequin authors from around the world.
The 2008 eHarlequin.com 100,000 Book Challenge is taking place right now. More details on how to register and post your first book reviews are here. eHarlequin.com.
I was tagged by Rachaelweeks ago when I was madcrazybusy. I did make a note and today I found the note while cleaning my desk and in the spirit of blog-tag decided to do my homework even though it's late.
1. If procrastination were an Olympic sport, I would be going to Beijing. And a good chance of a medal. 2. I am a word pedant. (Add points 1 and 2 together and you can see me dithering over this list, deleting points because they're not really UNimportant to me...and then adding them again because they're probably unimportant to YOU.) 3. Hypnotic sleep tapes for insomnia do not work on me. 4. I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue. 5. I've never broken an arm or leg or rib or collarbone, only my little toes. 6. I once worked weekends at a 33-flavour Ice Cream Parlour and even that exposure (and sampling) didn't turn me off my favourite food.
My guest series continues this week with fellow down-under Desirabelle, Maxine Sullivan, the second Australian contracted to write for Desire and already a three-time Waldenbooks bestseller. Maxine's 2007 trilogy Australian Millionaires was an outstanding success and she is set to please her multitude of fans with her fourth release, Mistress & A Million Dollars.
Welcome, Maxine. It is such a pleasure to have you here to talk about your latest book, which is the third installment in the Diamonds Down Under series and a March release in America and India, and April in Australia/New Zealand. I must say I love that cover!
Maxine: Bron, thanks so much for asking me here. I love talking about the Desire line and especially about the Diamonds Down Under series. As for my cover, yes, it's gorgeous! I love that the art department not only captured the glitz and glamour of our characters but of our series as well.
Did you have any visual image in mind when writing your gorgeous Jarrod and Briana?
Maxine: In my mind my heroes are always tall, dark and handsome, and my heroines are usually blonde and stunningly beautiful. What can I say? I'm a sucker for classic characters.
But I guess you want more than that, huh? :) I didn't use pictures until I sold my first book and it was recommended I send pictures to help the art department get it right for the covers. For this diamond book, I searched high and low and eventually found one of how I imagined Jarrod to be. And Bron, you were the one who found a fabulous picture of Briana. Both those pictures are on our Diamonds Down Under blog this week under 6 Things About Mistress & A Million Dollars.
Speaking of Mistress and a Million Dollars, I love the "indecent proposal" storyline... Is that something you've wanted to write for a while? What was your inspiration?
Maxine: I've wanted to write an indecent proposal storyline after being intrigued by the Indecent Proposal movie. Only, I wanted to write a story that was about two people whose desire for each other didn't hurt anyone else. In the movie, either the husband or the lover had to lose and that wasn't such a feel-good ending for me. It's great that I can write my own happy ending.
That's the best part about writing romance. This book is set in your home town of Melbourne, right?
Maxine: Sydney is actually my home town but it's been many years since I've lived there. And since Sydney has got the most glorious harbour in the world, I used that setting for a very special wedding in the opening of my book. (Sssh, I can't say who got married.) (Bron blinks innocently.)
Then I moved my characters to Melbourne, which is a wonderful place to live. Melbourne has a magnificent casino so I took the opportunity to use that as one of the settings. We also have the Moomba Festival and the Melbourne Grand Prix in March, so I definitely had to make use of those exciting events for Jarrod and Briana to get to know each other.
Melbourne has a reputation as the festival/events capital, and March definitely has its fair share. Great that you were able to share these snippets of your adopted city (I'd forgotten you're a transplanted Sydneyite!) with your readership around the world. I know they'll love the colour and the glamour.
Now, onto Diamonds Down Under... What did you enjoy most about working on the series?
Maxine: As you know, it was really hard work for all of us to put the series together because it was so involved, but I thoroughly enjoyed working with all the other Down Under authors. Getting to work with you, Tessa, Jan, Paula, and Yvonne and getting to know each of you has been a real blessing. I think it's created a strong bond between us that will always be there.
Absolutely. What can fans of the series look forward to in Mistress and a Million Dollars?
Maxine: This past month 'Mistress' was listed in eHarlequin's Top 10 Sexy Stories, so if you like a sexy read with lots of emotion, then hopefully you will enjoy my book. There's also the chance to revisit main characters from the first two books, not to mention intrigue as mystery continues to thread its way through the series.
A couple of fun one-liners to finish:
What I love most about writing romance is... taking two people who are meant for each other, putting them through the hoops, then banging their heads together until they realize they love each other.
I can't write without... peace and quiet. Give me a week alone on a desert island when I'm in the middle of a book and I'm happy.
In my next life, I want to come back as... one of my pets. I'd enjoy being treated like a princess.
My next release is... "The CEO Takes a Wife" and comes out in July 08.
Thanks, Maxine. It was a pleasure to have you as my guest blogger for this week.
Mistress and a Million Dollars is in stores now in America and available at your favourite on-line store (incl Amazon and eHarlequin) as a print or eBook. Tell us what you think of the pictures of Jarrod and Briana that Maxine sent to the art department and you're in the draw to win a book from Maxine's Australian Millionaire trilogy. (Prize drawn March 8.)
Yesterday was the most awful day down here in the land of Oz. Gale-force winds howling around my office windows, blowing dust through every hint of a crevice. I swear it got into my eyes while I was sleeping last night. My first job today (after washing my eyes) was dusting, not because I'm housework obsessed or anything, but because I hate the feel of grit beneath my fingers on the keyboard.
Apparently it was even worse further south. This picture is of Melbourne; if you look hard you can just make out the cityscape in the background through the dust.
Moving on from boring weather details to Idol. I was trying to think of a clever segue from dust to Dolly, but that would be just disrespectful and Dolly always seems so nice. And she's so tiny.
Anyway, a whole show of Dolly Parton songs? I thought this might prove a trainwreck but I liked their interpretations, mostly, with only Ramiele and Jason not so much. Who'd have thought the guys would shine on Dolly songs? Both Davids and Michael were terrific. Can't pick one from those three as my favourite performance.
I think the bottom 3 this week might be all girls. Ramiele, Syesha, Kristy Lee.
And being March 1, Tycoon's One-Night Revenge is now available in print and eBook from eHarlequin. Other stores, you will have to wait till April to see what devious deeds are on Donovan Keane's mind.
March is here and with it the end of summer down-under and winter on the other side of the world. Hopefully that means we are all in for some gorgeous mild tween-seasons weather. But I'm not really here to talk about the weather, but to announce a couple of giveaway winners with suitable fanfare (see pic.)
Firstly, the winner of the four-book pack by some of my favourite down-under authors is Virginia. Secondly, the winner of Carol Marinelli's Contracted: Wife is Jane. Congratulations, gals. Please email me with your address and I will pop your books in the mail.
