Missing Christmas

We're heading off to Egypt via one night in Bangkok ( :) ) next week. My husband has always wanted to see the Pyramids and do a Nile cruise so we're finally fulfilling that dream. Alexandria and Istanbul have been on my list for a long time too so they're in there as well. Can't go all that way and be so close and not do Petra and float in the Dead Sea, of course. It's all very exciting.

BUT for the first time since 1975 and 1976 we're missing Christmas with the family.

At first it seemed like a good plan and we didn't mind because our families are close and we see everyone throughout the year on a regular basis, plus we promised exotic gifts from foreign climes when we return. First a friend issued invitations to his 50th birthday for the week after Christmas Then even worse a nephew announced he and his partner were getting married on Christmas Day to take advantage of the fact the family will be together and her mother and sister will be visiting from Europe. Waaahhh. Then last week a young friend invited us to his wedding in Melbourne just after the New Year.

So we're missing 2 weddings and a 50th birthday. Our only consolation is we'll be drifting down the Nile.

Seasons greetings to all

New site for book lovers

I've just signed up to this site along with many of your favourite authors. It looks pretty good if a little overwhelming at first. I spent half the morning entering my books into their database.
Check it out. They have author pages, a chat lounge, giveaways, reviews and probably more stuff which I haven't found yet. The link is on the right

New Reviews

Review time can be almost as nervewracking for an author as sending the new baby off to the editor for approval so it was a relief to read some lovely words about my latest book Instant Family from Coffee Time Romance. 4 Cups!

http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/instantfamilybyelisabethrose.html

Fun in Coogee

Check out my website for photos from the RWAustralia conference in beautiful Coogee, Sydney.
http://www.elisabethrose.com.au

Dogs in my books

Just back from a fantastic long weekend in Coogee at the RWA conference. So much inspiration and so many enthusiastic writers--Wonderful.

I heard someone say there that she'd read anything with dogs in it and it made me think about my own books. Dogs make major appearances in two of them and a minor appearance in one. Cats are in two.

Woof, a malamute, features in The Right Chord. In fact the dog next door inspired the story by howling when he heard sirens. It wasn't a big leap to have a fictitious dog who howls when the heroine plays her violin. Of course he lives next door to her and belongs to the hero.

In my latest release The Tangled Web, the heroine has two dogs. One is a bouncy, friendly terrier called Fidelio ( Fid ) and the other an elderly black Labrador called Hannibal who leaves nasty smells about the house. The hero doesn't like dogs at first but becomes very fond of Fid.

The hero in Stuck takes his young daughters along to the Animal Shelter to choose a kitten. The heroine has a disdainful fluffy white Persian called Aladdin but she calls him Big Al.

In my next release Instant Family, the children are upset because the cat has disappeared, but, as cats sometimes do, it does turn up, much to the youngest girl's delight.

I write pets into my stories quite naturally. We always had cats and a dog when I was a child and my family has had a cat until recently. I hadn't thought much about it until I heard the comment at the conference and realised pets have wiggled their way into all my books except one. Although--there is a cat in Coming Home, he just doesn't belong to either main character!

ARRA Booksigning at the RWAustralia conference

The RWAustralia conference in Coogee is fast approaching. The Australian Romance Readers Association is having a booksigning. I'll be there and so should you be!

Friday August 13th from 4-30

Latest sale

I'm thrilled to say Avalon have purchased my seventh (!!!) book, The Wedding Party. No release date as yet but probably late 2011. Yippeee.

New Cover

This is the cover for my October release with Avalon. The artists at Avalon really do a great job. I haven't a seen dud cover yet and mine have all been fantastic.

Avalon's new editor

Pop over to the Avalon Author's Blog and get to know our new editor Lia Brown, in an interview by Avalon author Laurie Alice Eakes.

Berlin Philharmonic

How exciting! My tickets to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra concert in November arrived yesterday. Can't wait.

Interviewed by the WINK girls

On Sunday I'll be interviewed by Writers Ink , a romance writing group from Western Australia. Drop in and you may win a copy of Outback Hero, my latest release.

http://winkgirls.blogspot.com/

Large Print

I've just discovered that the Large Print edition of Outback Hero is up on Amazon. Nice surprise. No cover photo yet but it's out in May.

I used to chuckle at the size of the print in those editions --about 4 words per page--but now I need reading glasses they're not looking so funny after all! LOL

New Cover

So here's the latest cover. Another beautiful piece of art work from Avalon's artists. This is the most romantic one yet and I couldn't be happier.

The Tangled Web comes out in June. Readers of The Right Chord will recognise some of the characters and I've used The City Symphony Orchestra again which I invented for that book's heroine Grace to play in. The Tangled Web was lots of fun to write and I think Tess is my favourite heroine so far.

Here's what it's about:

Tess Fuller’s plan was simple—take out a loan to buy the Mercedes convertible and find a boarder to cover the repayments. Tess’s problem is, no boarder. That is, until handsome David Montgomery arrives to take up his position as Concert Master of the City Symphony, of which Tess is a member. If she can convince David to rent the spare room in the house she inherited from her millionaire father, her problem is solved.

The trouble is, serious minded David hates sharing, doesn’t like dogs-- of which Tess has two-- and remembers her as an attractive but wild party girl from their Music School days. Tess remembers David as the frustratingly unsociable heartthrob she adored from afar.

When Tess tries to prove to David she has changed, her efforts create even more problems.