CONGRATULATIONS TO MY BLOG COMPETITION WINNERS

First up, is the winner of an autographed copy of Defiant Mistress, Ruthless Millionaire and that winner was Minna! Congratulations, Minna.

And, drawn from the entries emailed to me with the correct pairing of titles and first lines, the grand winner of the autographed copy of Defiant Mistress, Ruthless Millionaire, together with the diary and chocolate is Brigitte.

 

CONGRATULATIONS to you both. I will mail your prizes out in the next week or so, once I have confirmed postal details with you via email.

 

Thanks to all who entered.

 

I’m going to take a bit of a break from blogging over the Christmas period and in the New Year as in my infinite wisdom, NOT, I scheduled a deadline for a book in February and I really need to get started on that book in between Christmas festivities and a family all home on holidays. Of course, it’s also summer here, and humid and hot, so I’m also looking into buying an air con system for my home office so I can actually work without collapsing with heat exhaustion.

 

So, I would like to wish all of my blog visitors a wonderful, safe and happy Christmas and a spectacular New Year! Take care, happy reading and have a truly special end of 2009!

 

 

What’s your favourite Christmas thing?

Okay, with Christmas looming it must be time for a contest, yes? Okay, so here it goes:

To enter into the draw to win an autographed copy of my 11th book and December release, DEFIANT MISTRESS, RUTHLESS MILLIONAIRE, all you need to do is comment on the blog with “what’s your favourite Christmas thing.”

Because this is a two-tiered competition, and because some of you like a bit more of a challenge, if you can marry up the ‘first lines,’ below, with which of my previous ten book titles it belongs, also below, and email them to me in the right order (via yvonne at yvonnelindsay dot com) I’ll enter you into a draw to win an autographed copy of DEFIANT MISTRESS, RUTHLESS MILLIONAIRE, together with a bar of Bloomsberry & Co. chocolate, and a handbag-size week-to-a-view personal diary with a very pretty paua shell border (sorry, my photo doesn’t do it justice.)

The competition starts now and finishes at midday on 18 December 2009, NZ Time (which co-incidentally is another deadline of mine.)

So, here goes:

10 FIRST LINES

1. An icy blade streaked through every cell in Lily Fontaine’s body.
2. “Six weeks until the tender closes, mate.”
3. He was alone.
4. “You were comfort sex. Nothing more.”
5. He despised and loathed her with every breath in his body.
6. Black, ice-cold water swirled around her, sapping the last of the heat from her body, the last of her will to survive.
7. Adam Palmer stood back from the milling players spread out before him like a pack of  colourful cards–oblivious, as usual, to the assessing glances sent his way by women of all ages and marital persuasions.
8. His wife?
9. Bile rose in his throat. Hot, bitter, acrid bile.
10. “Marry me. I’ll make it worth your while.”

YVONNE’S FIRST 10 BOOKS

1. The Boss’s Christmas Seduction
2. The CEO’s Contract Bride
3. The Tycoon’s Hidden Heir
4. Rossellini’s Revenge Affair
5. Tycoon’s Valentine Vendetta
6. Jealousy & a Jewelled Proposition
7. Claiming His Runaway Bride
8. Convenient Marriage, Inconvenient Husband
9. Secret Baby, Public Affair
10. Pretend Mistress, Bona-Fide Boss

Have fun!

For fun! The Muppets doing Bohemian Rhapsody

Saw this yesterday and even in my demented deadline rapidly approaching state it gave me a chuckle. Since chuckles are better shared than hoarded, here it is!

 

I’m blogging on Novel Thoughts today

I’m blogging on Novel Thoughts today, about where ideas come from and more particularly, where the idea for my December release, DEFIANT MISTRESS, RUTHLESS MILLIONAIRE, came from.

 

Join in the discussion and go in the draw to win a copy of the book!

I’m blogging on eHarlequin this week

I’m blogging on eHarlequin’s Silhouette Desire Authors blog, about “What have you always wanted to do or be?”

 

Join the discussion and be in to win a copy of one of my books and a New Zealand Wall Calendar for 2010!

Queenstown is totally the place to go!

As my next book (after the one I’m currently labouring on) is set in Queenstown, NZ, and as I’ve never been there before, I decided it was time for a research trip and I have to tell you it was one of the very best things I’ve ever done.

I’m one of those naughty NZers who haven’t seen a huge amount of my own country. I’m not proud of that fact but I’m working to remedy it, and to include as many wonderful NZ destinations in my books as I possibly can.

A Friday afternoon arrival in Queenstown was perfect, and so was the weather. Blue sky, sunshine, warm temperatures a view of Mt Egmont (Mt Taranaki) on the flight down, and the most wonderful service from the Avis rental car staff at the airport, through to the hotel reception staff at the Copthorne, through to the restaurant (Prime Restaurant & Bar) for dinner that I’ve ever experienced anywhere in the world. Here’s a glimpse of the view behind me from the room at the hotel. I have to say, every morning and every evening I spent a fair amount of time on that balcony just totally awe inspired by the outlook. Truly, truly, beautiful.

Dinner on Friday night was, after much deliberation and checking of doorfront menus, at Prime. I do not normally hugely enjoy chicken breast because it often presents so very dry, but the chicken breast and vege rosti was delicious, especially with the Akarua Chardonnay. 

Saturday was drive around the countryside day. First, a trip to Arrowtown, which is filled with history. On the way there a glimpse of the Shotover River Jetboats (which engendered an instant booking for the next day) and on the way out, watching some intrepid jumpers take a leap off a bridge, secured by bungee. You couldn’t ever pay me enough money to do that–EVER! LOL. In Arrowtown, a couple of hours spent wandering the museum is time well spent. I can’t believe I didn’t take a single picture inside there. There was so much history about the place but one of the things that really struck me was how personal everything seemed. All the histories were about people whose names you came across everywhere you went, all over the general district. Totally fascinating stuff.

After Arrowtown came a journey through the Kawerau Gorge and a brief glimpse of the Goldfields museum and Jet. Then past several wineries (loved the sculpture at the entrance to one particular vineyard, whose name escapes me now, darnit!) until Cromwell. After Cromwell was a trip back to Queenstown and Kelvin Heights. I could very seriously see myself living there. The views, the tranquility…what else does a person need?

After this was a trip through to Glenorchy. Every corner on the road delivered yet another beautiful vista. I can well understand why this area was chosen for filming the Lord of the Rings trilogy. There’s a raw stark beauty about the area that stays with you long after you’ve passed through. This is one of my favourite photos. At the end of the road were a few businesses, including the Glenorchy hotel which was a beautiful spot to stop and soak up the atmosphere of the surroundings.

Sunday morning was pretty relaxed. A bit of a wander around the retail offerings (many) that line Queenstown central’s streets and watching the coal truck deliver its 6 tonne load to the TSS Earnslaw, at the wharf. But then after that, the excitement began. After a short wait, ever so patiently, at The Station for our bus driver to collect the group heading to the Shotover River, we did exactly that. On arrival it was time to don splash coats and life vests and meet the driver of the jet boat that gave me what was probably the most fun and exhilarating ride I’ve ever enjoyed in my life! I’m a bit of a wimp with most things but this was supreme! I swear we passed within centimetres of rocks and cliff faces, but there wasn’t a single moment, even during the amazing 360 degree turns (and despite the screaming Aussie to my left, ) where I felt frightened. I got off the boat wanting to let my inner child demand, “Again! Again!” After that, a small group of us were taken by bus half way up Coronet Peak where I experienced my first ever helicopter ride. Again, exhilarating and, again, something else I really want to repeat. So often my characters use helis as their preferred mode of transport. Now I really know why! The heli ride finished at the top of the Skyline Gondola complex where intrepid thrillseekers rode the luge (and the scary looking chairlift that takes them to the top of the luge.) The views from up there were spectacular and the ride down in the gondola (about 300m of near vertical drop, I believe) was a brilliant finish to a terrific afternoon. Well, almost a brilliant finish. A couple of glasses of wine on a sunbaked terrace at the Pig & Whistle, followed by a delicious Sunday roast meal, really polished the day off in perfect style.

Monday was, sadly, the day to return home to deadlines but in the morning there was time for a trip on the TSS Earnslaw. Learning about the vessel during a brief and informative tour given by one of the crew was delightful and by the time we pulled up outside Walter Peak Farm I knew that this was yet another trip I wanted to do again. The farm offers heritage tours, lunches, dinners, horse treks, sheep shearing displays and all sorts of entertainment. I think next time around a full day to explore is definitely in order.

It might have only been a three day trip but I felt as if it was much longer–but in a really good way. I’ve come home totally energised about starting the next book, although there’s the small matter of finishing the current one first. Best of all, I have a real sense of place and people for the area, which I know will translate into the story beautifully.

And, if you ever get the opportunity to visit Queenstown, please, do it! You won’t regret a minute of it, I’m sure.

Read an excerpt from Defiant Mistress, Ruthless Millionaire!

I’ll be posting a competition soon for you to win a copy of Defiant Mistress, Ruthless Millionaire, but in the meantime, I thought you might like to read an excerpt. Here’s a link to Browse the Book:

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

 

 

Where do ideas come from?

People often ask me where I get my ideas from. To be honest, sometimes I just don’t know. Other times, yeah, I can pinpoint a picture of a house, or a line in a song, or a news article that led my mind on that wonderful twisted path that authors follow to create a story and characters. Like the series I’m working on at the moment, which has a working title of The Heart’s Truth trilogy. I originally pitched a royal trilogy, something with a real fairy tale edge to it, something not quite of our modern world, something with a three hundred year old legend and a curse against a family of privilege by a woman who’d been horribly wronged. For Silhouette Desire, yes, I know that probably was a bit of a reach, but with some suggestions from our line’s Senior Editor and my then Editor, the trilogy outline transmogrified into something else. Something we could all happily work with.

I am a home body at heart and for me the home is the heart of everything to do with a family, so for my fictional family on my fictional Mediterranean island, I needed a home. Searching on the web for homes and interiors is a part of my work that I truly love and you can imagine how my imagination soared when I found this castillo, and thus, with the benefit of my ever active imagination, the heart/home of my fictional del Castillo family was born.

I understand the books are tentatively scheduled for July, August and September next year. I’m currently working on Book 2, which is part of the reason why I’m a little scarce here these days.

 

So, if you’re a writer, would you like to share where you get your ideas from?

Blogging on eHarlequin about movies that stand the test of time

Hi! I’m blogging on the Silhouette Desire Authors’ Blog on movies that stand the test of time. There are some great suggestions from the comments on movies to watch and enjoy.

 

Come and visit and comment to be in to win a copy of one of my books, together with a cute little kiwi keyring!

 

Click this LINK to join to the discussion.

Safer Communities Together with the NZ Police

This screened a few years ago on NZ’s Police Ten-7, and has recently become a huge hit on YouTube. I’m a great lover of dry humour and think it’s hilarious: