Halloween and the winner!

First I just wanted to say thank you to Christa for emailing this Halloween version of Hangman to me. Great time waster!

 Here in New Zealand we never observed Halloween as I was growing up and it’s really only in recent years that trick or treating has become more common here. I have issues with it because all your childhood you’re told never to accept sweets from strangers and then suddenly for one night of the year it’s okay to send your kids out door to door asking for treats? Boggles the mind, really it does. That said, I always have a bowl full of factory wrapped chocolate treats for any trick or treaters that come to our door–some years we end up with far too many left overs (as my waistline and blood sugar will attest) and others we’ve just about been picked clean. Theoretically, in the Southern Hemisphere, I suppose we should celebrate Halloween as we’re heading into autumn rather than in the middle of our spring but hey, what would the marketing gurus have to think up then? 

Okay, now to the serious stuff. Drum roll please…

And the winner of the copy of SLEEPING PARTNER by Kelly Hunter is…

NATHALIE!

Congratulations, Nathalie, if you’d like to email me with your postal address I’ll get the book in the post to you later this week.

Left Brain, or Right Brain? And does it really matter?

On one of my writing loops I was directed to this site. Now, the first few times I watched this I have to say that no matter what I did the figure kept twirling clockwise, over and over and over… well, you get the idea. Then I read other’s comments about reading the left brain list of traits and that suddenly, hey presto, the silhouette would twirl anti-clockwise. Well, I read the list and nope, clockwise we remained, until I stared at a point somewhere in between the animation and the words and then, and only then, did my eye see an anti-clockwise twirl. Not that it matters really, but I was getting a bit frustrated with only seeing things one way, especially since I’m an inveterate fence sitter and always like to see things from all perspectives.

Anyway, here’s the animation and the list of left and right brain traits. So what do you see?

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling
“big picture” oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can “get it” (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

Great reading!

 

I picked up “SLEEPING PARTNER” recently and started to read it the other day. You know, it’s always a huge delight, as an author, to get totally and happily lost in another author’s story and this duo, available through eHarlequin Australia, is such a delight.

Here’s a brief blurb:

Mia Fletcher has just inherited a dilapidated colonial hotel in the heart of Penang from the mother she never knew. She’s tempted to stay and restore it. Even more tempted to find out what she can about her mysterious mother… And enigmatic hotelier Ethan Hamilton can help her do both. There’s just one catch.

He’s the son of the man her mother ran off with.

And she’s hopelessly, outrageously attracted to him… 

I really enjoyed Kelly Hunter’s first release so was very keen to read her ‘Penang’ book. I was not disappointed. Kelly has penned a romance that still sits there in my heart and my mind as I’m writing this. Her characters, from the hero and heroine right through to the delightfully eccentric interior decorator, are painted so vividly that I really felt as though I was voyeuristically living and seeing their lives. I’ve never been to Penang but I feel I gained a sense of it’s beauty through the eyes of someone who truly love/s/d being there.  Kelly’s done a fantastic job of this story with how she’s set up the situation between the heroine and hero and how she’s built and then resolved the conflict. I genuinely look forward to her next release. She’s become an auto buy for me now.

So, Kelly’s great story aside, I wondered what the bonus novel was included with “SLEEPING PARTNER”. I was thrilled to discover it was Julie Cohen’s “ALL WORK AND NO PLAY…”

Here’s a brief blurb:

Jane is hopeless at seduction. So when she meets a gorgeous male model she asks her online friend, geeky computer nerd Jonny, for advice on how to turn on a man.

Too bad she doesn’t know that the gorgeous male model is actually Jonny…

Like Julie, I have a real weakness for a mistaken identity story, especially one that’s extremely well done and this one definitely is. Julie has a great writing style that’s light and humorous without detracting from the intensity of the needs and wants of her central characters.

I highly recommend getting a hold of both these books (in the duo if you can! Great value!) if you like sexy, sassy, fun romance that still hits you in the heart and leaves you feeling well satisfied as a reader. And, if you’re interested in a copy, I have one to giveaway. All you need to do to be in the draw to win a copy is to tell me which great books you’ve read lately and why you liked them!

UPDATE: I’ll keep this competition open until Wednesday 31 October and announce the winner then.

The Perfect Woman!

I read this in our national newspaper today and have to admit that skinning a rabbit might have me beat, but opening a beer with a stiletto heel… now that’s innovative!

Are you a Cat person, or a Dog person?

I’m a cat person. Always have been. Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs, but I’ve never owned one. I have, however, shared life and lodgings with cats (one at a time.)

It’s like the saying goes, “Dogs have owners, Cats have staff”. I mean, I was browsing blogs today and visited Nalini Singh’s Blog and found this link to cat pics on LOLcats.

So which are you? Cat person, or Dog person?

Sizzle Seduce & Simmer!!!

 It’s here! Sizzle Seduce & Simmer is here! I have a copy (courtesy of the lovely Nathalie at Gordon & Gotch here in New Zealand) and it’s just gorgeous!

I love the backcover blurb:

Ingredients

1 woman

1 man

1 sizzling romance

1 happy ending

1 tempting recipe from your favourite author

Method

1. Combine all ingredients together.

2. Season with a dash of seduction.

3. Add a sprinkling of passion.

4. Print carefully.

5. Read with relish.

Sizzle Seduce & Simmer is an anthology of short stories and favourite recipes by a wide group of romance writing friends and collated by the ever wonderful Marion Lennox. Basically it’s an anthology of friends.

It’ll be available in bookstores in Australia and at KMart and the Warehouse here in New Zealand, or you can order online now through eHarlequin in Australia.

So why don’t you buy a copy and do some Sizzle Seduce & Simmer of your own!

Eeeeeuw!

Okay, I’ve heard about life imitating art before but this is gross!

So glad I write romance!

Tote Bags & Blogs

Tomorrow I’ll be blogging over at Tote Bags & Blogs, so come on over and join me! I hope to make my visits there a regular thing on the second Friday of each month.

In my blog I’m featuring friends and books and what happens when you link the two together.  Here’s a clue!

Oh, and I received my three author copies of my UK November release (featured in an earlier) blog, The Boss’s Christmas Seduction which is included in the Seduced by Christmas Omnibus. And someone (okay, a friend!) in the Orkney Islands has already bought a copy, so if you’re UK based, keep an eye out for two great stories!

Struggling authors writing in their garrets..?

According to published results of  a recent survey by the New Zealand Society of Authors our writers are, on average, earning around $8,000 less than the minimum wage in this country. Which begs the question “Why do we write?”

Realistically, I’m not so certain that those polled are, in fact, full time authors, and that some of the figures gleaned via the survey have come from one off sales of works, i.e. book-length manuscripts, articles, short stories, children’s books and stories, etc., which to my way of thinking are probably not an accurate reflection of results. But still, without the carrot of livable income what drives writers?

Is it ego? The belief that we have a better story to tell than anyone else out there?

Is it drive? The fact that no matter what else we do we are constantly driven to give ‘voice’ to the stories/characters etc in our head?

Is it hope? That one day we will be famous and revered for our ability to tell a story?

Or do we write just because we want to. Because we like to.

And if we get to earn a living, either meagre or affluent, then is that just a bonus or is it a result of good planning?

One of the things that constantly surprises me is how, when people hear you’re an author, the first thing they want to know is how much you earn. Personally, I would never ask someone I’ve just met such a personal question. I am unashamedly old-fashioned in that I believe matters financial are the very personal and private property of the individual concerned. But what makes people think that because your writing is in the public domain, that your income should also be open to their scrutiny? Maybe I should direct a few people to the article link above . The only thing is, maybe it might make people view the quality of your writing as being less than if they thought you earned mega bucks. There are many authors who do earn mega bucks, just as there are CEOs who do the same, but is their work valued more by readers because of what they earn?

What do you think? Does a good story have a price? Does a good author?

What will they ban next?

Caught an interesting post today (3 October) on The Writing Playground and have to admit that my mind is totally boggled at the thought of state legislature banning something like the sale of sex toys. Seems a bit OTT to me, but what do you think?