Mango Kisses

Here is the gorgeous cover for my November release with Escape. I love it! The first kiss scene.

                              Mango Kisses is available now for preorder on Amazon  Click here

Another interview but with Giveaway

Yet another interview with me!  This one is an Author Spotlight on the Romance Writers of Australia blog. I'm talking about my recent release E For England and there's a short extract in which the heroine Annie crawls about in the shrubbery. Leave a comment and you could win a signed hardcover copy of my award winning book, Instant Family. 

Click here

Tea with Alison Stuart

I'm invited to tea on historical author Alison Stuart's blog today. Please join us.
Tea with Alison and me

Interview

I'm being interviewed on fellow Escape author S E Gilchrists blog today. Pop over and leave a comment to be in the running for a paperback copy of Eve's Passion.

http://www.segilchrist.com/blog/

Weddings and celebrants and inspiration

Next week I'm presenting a workshop session at the Australian National Civil Celebrants conference here in Canberra. I'm actually taking part twice because my wind trio is playing at the opening night cocktail party.

In my capacity as a musician I've played at hundreds of weddings--some, absolutely beautiful with perfect weather, lovely couple, ideal setting--others, not so good. NB Choosing an outdoor wedding venue in the months before Christmas in Canberra is not a good idea. Musicians and guests have often shivered and on more than one occasion sprinted for shelter in a park as wind and rain descended on the not so cheerful assembly.

All that aside I love playing at weddings and am looking forward to the conference presentation. My session is called The Language of Love. We'll be exploring ways of using language and different words  and phrases to help celebrants and their clients write services and vows in more expressive ways.

My book The Wedding Party was inspired by the brilliant civil celebrant who presided over the wedding of my niece, in beautiful Narooma on the NSW south coast. She did such a good job I was positive she must be a friend of the bride or groom but no, she wasn't. They were regular clients and she did all her weddings in the same personal way.

This expert woman was the basis for my heroine Phoebe, the girl who adores weddings and wants one of her own. Cue Brady, one of the two Best Men, who detests weddings and the whole concept of giving up his freedom to get married.  A character also inspired by that wonderful wedding.

 

The Wedding Party is available in e and paperback from Amazon

 

 

  

New Cover

Opening the email containing the cover for my latest book is always the same--excitement and anticipation mixed with a little bit of dread that it will be a total dud.
I'm happy to say I think the artist has done a great job this time. The long dark hair and the sweet friendly face suit my heroine Annie perfectly. That wistful look sums up exactly how she feels about Hugh -- E For England Hugh -- her fantasy man living downstairs.

 

E For England will be available from Escape Publishing from August 1, 2013.

Musical Connections

I invented a symphony orchestra --The City Symphony -- when I wrote The Right Chord, my first published book. It meant I had a vast supply of characters just waiting to fall in love.

The Right Chord: Grace, the heroine, plays in the first violin section.

The Tangled Web: Tess is the Principal Viola and her hero David is the Concert Master. Cameo appearance by Grace.

Love On the North Shore Line: Dimity is the second bassoon player.

Trouble In Nirvana: Primrose, the heroine, appeared as a subsitute second flute player in Love On the North Shore Line.

Minor characters make appearances in several of the orchestral scenes--Rob the trumpet player, Eric the trombonist and Ian, the orchestra's unflappable manager.

The story of principal clarinetist,Valentin, is waiting in the wings to be sent out in search of a publishing home and my first ever story, The Food Of Love, featuring the ultra passionate and talented conductor Viktor--a French trained Russian maestro who falls for Marnie, one of the cellists -- is lying in a bottom drawer gathering dust. One day they may rise again.

Trouble now Available

Trouble in Nirvana is available right now through Amazon's Kindle store as a pre release exclusive which is great news. The official release by The Wild Rose Press is in June.

Just go to Amazon and type in the title.

New release in June

I'm thrilled with my cover for Trouble In Nirvana which will come out in June with The Wild Rose Press. This one is rated spicy because it has one sex scene but also gained this mini review from a preliminary reader:

"This is a delightfully crazy lovely story. The chemistry between Tom and Primrose is spectacular. It's commune is priceless. I was laughing out loud at all of Primrose's adventures, especially the snake. Of course my husband wasn't too happy because, I couldn't put the book down and at 2:00 in the morning is when I came across the snake scene."

Thank you Deborah.

The inspiration for this story came partly from that British classic Cold Comfort Farm and partly from the anecdotes and experiences of my Dad, a farmer. Years ago an inept bunch of people attempted to run a communal farm in his neighbourhood, so with the addition of some New Age types my commune Nirvana was born.

To read more about the book go to my website My website

Escape Artist

I am now officially an Escape Artist! I'm thrilled to have signed a contract with Escape Publishing -- HM&B Australia's new digital only imprint which focusses on Australian authors.

The Ripple Effect will hit the cyber shelves in April.

Escape Publishing

  http://www.theromancereviews.com/romancehop.php
Romance Reviews are doing another giveaway contest. Check out the link. All sorts of prizes to be won. I have a Q&A in there somewhere with a very easy question.