Liz Fielding's Blog, page 40
June 1, 2012
JUBILEE!
Those of us of a certain age will always remember where we were on this day in 1953. Sitting around a newly purchased television (or someone else's) watching the Coronation in grainy black and white.
No adverts, only the calm voice of Richard Dimbleby quietly, reverently commentating on the event - explaining who all those people were, what was happening.
It was an unforgettable experience.
No adverts, only the calm voice of Richard Dimbleby quietly, reverently commentating on the event - explaining who all those people were, what was happening.
It was an unforgettable experience.
May 31, 2012
Translation, translation, translation...
It's always fun to see a new translation of one of my books.
In this case it's two - Tempted By Trouble and Flirting With Italian have now been released in Dutch This is always a special treat because I love, love, love their covers.
In this case it's two - Tempted By Trouble and Flirting With Italian have now been released in Dutch This is always a special treat because I love, love, love their covers.
May 29, 2012
ASK THE AUTHOR - Dialogue
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May 27, 2012
I Heart Mash Ups
It's been a while since I did a mash-up but here are a few blogs I've visited lately that deserve sharing.
First up, the fabulous Sarah Duncan, whose blogs on writing craft and the writing life are always full of wisdom. This one, on Networking is a class piece.
Northern Mum can make you laugh, or make you cry, sometimes cry with laughing. This will be familiar to any panicking working Mum
First up, the fabulous Sarah Duncan, whose blogs on writing craft and the writing life are always full of wisdom. This one, on Networking is a class piece.
Northern Mum can make you laugh, or make you cry, sometimes cry with laughing. This will be familiar to any panicking working Mum
May 5, 2012
Eloping With Emmy
Long ago and far away, hot on the heels of the Beaumont Brides trilogy, I wrote my first book for Mills and Boon with dual viewpoint.
I didn't talk to my editor about it first, I just found myself starting the book with Tom Brodie, my hero, sitting across the desk from a man he disliked, wishing he was having dinner with the silver-blonde barrister with whom he'd been playing kiss-chase with for weeks.
Upstairs, Emerald Carlisle, the man's wayward daughter, was having an equally bad day, but she wasn't taking it lying down.
It's the beginning of a roller-coaster romcom road book inspired by "It Happened One Night", but more akin to a Cary Grant/Katherine Hepburn comedy. Smart girl doing whatever it takes to keep one step ahead of equally smart guy.
I had the best fun writing it. I hope you'll have fun reading it.
Here's a clip of ELOPING WITH EMMY:
‘I’ll expect to hear from you within twenty-four hours that this matter has been settled, Brodie,’ Carlisle said, as he walked with him down the steps. ‘I want no delay.’
Brodie considered whether to mention the possibility that the lovebirds might already have flown, probably to one of those romantic destinations where weddings could be arranged in a matter of days, in which case it was already too late. But as they reached the bottom of the steps he decided against it.
What clinched it was the sight of Emerald Carlisle, her dress hitched up about her waist, clinging just above head height to an ornate lead drainpipe about twenty feet behind Gerald Carlisle’s back.
Brodie knew that he should draw his client’s attention to what was happening behind him. Something stopped him. It might have been a pair of large pleading eyes. Or the deliciously long legs wrapped about the drainpipe. Or even, heaven forbid, the glimpse of something white and lacy peeping from beneath her tucked up dress.
Or maybe it was just simple distaste that any father could conceive of locking up a fully grown woman simply because her idea of what made a good husband did not coincide with his own.
Whatever it was he decided to take Carlisle at his word. Emerald Carlisle, he had been told, was no concern of his. And when the girl let go of the pipe with one hand and urged him, with an unmistakable gesture that left her swinging in the most perilous fashion above a well-tended rose border, to get her father inside the house, he didn’t hesitate.
Patting at his jacket pocket he turned and headed back up the steps. ‘I think I left my car keys on your desk, sir.’ The “sir” almost choked him.
Eloping With Emmy has now been released as an eBook on Kindle and at Smashwords and you can download it now at the brief introductory price of 99c.
It'll take a few days for it to work it's way onto the Nook/Sony/iTunes platforms, but it will be there soon.
I didn't talk to my editor about it first, I just found myself starting the book with Tom Brodie, my hero, sitting across the desk from a man he disliked, wishing he was having dinner with the silver-blonde barrister with whom he'd been playing kiss-chase with for weeks.
Upstairs, Emerald Carlisle, the man's wayward daughter, was having an equally bad day, but she wasn't taking it lying down.
It's the beginning of a roller-coaster romcom road book inspired by "It Happened One Night", but more akin to a Cary Grant/Katherine Hepburn comedy. Smart girl doing whatever it takes to keep one step ahead of equally smart guy.
I had the best fun writing it. I hope you'll have fun reading it.
Here's a clip of ELOPING WITH EMMY:
‘I’ll expect to hear from you within twenty-four hours that this matter has been settled, Brodie,’ Carlisle said, as he walked with him down the steps. ‘I want no delay.’
Brodie considered whether to mention the possibility that the lovebirds might already have flown, probably to one of those romantic destinations where weddings could be arranged in a matter of days, in which case it was already too late. But as they reached the bottom of the steps he decided against it.
What clinched it was the sight of Emerald Carlisle, her dress hitched up about her waist, clinging just above head height to an ornate lead drainpipe about twenty feet behind Gerald Carlisle’s back.
Brodie knew that he should draw his client’s attention to what was happening behind him. Something stopped him. It might have been a pair of large pleading eyes. Or the deliciously long legs wrapped about the drainpipe. Or even, heaven forbid, the glimpse of something white and lacy peeping from beneath her tucked up dress.
Or maybe it was just simple distaste that any father could conceive of locking up a fully grown woman simply because her idea of what made a good husband did not coincide with his own.
Whatever it was he decided to take Carlisle at his word. Emerald Carlisle, he had been told, was no concern of his. And when the girl let go of the pipe with one hand and urged him, with an unmistakable gesture that left her swinging in the most perilous fashion above a well-tended rose border, to get her father inside the house, he didn’t hesitate.
Patting at his jacket pocket he turned and headed back up the steps. ‘I think I left my car keys on your desk, sir.’ The “sir” almost choked him.
Eloping With Emmy has now been released as an eBook on Kindle and at Smashwords and you can download it now at the brief introductory price of 99c.
It'll take a few days for it to work it's way onto the Nook/Sony/iTunes platforms, but it will be there soon.
April 21, 2012
We're On the Move...
WE'RE ON THE MOVE...
This post by Sophia Nash on the Huffington Post is about writing through the bad stuff and I so want to read the book about the woman left hanging on the cliff edge!
Actually, I'm the one clinging on - if she could do that through three years of divorce, then I can do it through moving house. Right?
This is a brilliant thing. This is what I want, but my
deadline is approaching at the speed of an express train and I can't even think about writing.
This should not have happened, but I had a fabulous (I thought) idea for a book and I convinced my editor to go along with me. It's still a fabulous idea but I discovered, after a couple of months trying to write the first paragraph, that this is not its moment. I suspect that like The Marriage Miracle, I need a character who I know - who's already made an appearance and who is going to keep nagging me until I give him a story. It took Matty a couple of years to get me to the point where I was ready to go.
Anyway, I put that to one side and started again and I was finally getting up a head of steam and a fabulous working title - Hot Fudge Sundae - thanks to Anne (see last week's post) when we had an offer for our house. From someone who had sold theirs and was ready to go and could we move quickly. Please.
Gulp.
There followed a week of furious house hunting on the web (we're moving 120 miles away) and then a week of actually looking at houses.
I know some people do this for fun, but frankly I think it's the most embarrassing and difficult thing ever. Especially when you don't like the house. But, hey, and halleluja - we found a house we both love. And now I'm not sleeping, because my brain won't quit trying to figure out how this move is going to work (along with selling the furniture that won't fit in the new house, fitting in visits to the dentist, the eye clinic, the hair dresser and a week in Italy).
And my editor comes back from holiday on Monday and is going to want to know why there isn't a book on her desk.
This post by Sophia Nash on the Huffington Post is about writing through the bad stuff and I so want to read the book about the woman left hanging on the cliff edge!
Actually, I'm the one clinging on - if she could do that through three years of divorce, then I can do it through moving house. Right?
This is a brilliant thing. This is what I want, but my
deadline is approaching at the speed of an express train and I can't even think about writing.
This should not have happened, but I had a fabulous (I thought) idea for a book and I convinced my editor to go along with me. It's still a fabulous idea but I discovered, after a couple of months trying to write the first paragraph, that this is not its moment. I suspect that like The Marriage Miracle, I need a character who I know - who's already made an appearance and who is going to keep nagging me until I give him a story. It took Matty a couple of years to get me to the point where I was ready to go.
Anyway, I put that to one side and started again and I was finally getting up a head of steam and a fabulous working title - Hot Fudge Sundae - thanks to Anne (see last week's post) when we had an offer for our house. From someone who had sold theirs and was ready to go and could we move quickly. Please.
Gulp.
There followed a week of furious house hunting on the web (we're moving 120 miles away) and then a week of actually looking at houses.
I know some people do this for fun, but frankly I think it's the most embarrassing and difficult thing ever. Especially when you don't like the house. But, hey, and halleluja - we found a house we both love. And now I'm not sleeping, because my brain won't quit trying to figure out how this move is going to work (along with selling the furniture that won't fit in the new house, fitting in visits to the dentist, the eye clinic, the hair dresser and a week in Italy).
And my editor comes back from holiday on Monday and is going to want to know why there isn't a book on her desk.
March 24, 2012
Building a Heroine
I'm guesting over at Tote Bags and Blogs today - talking about building a heroine. There's a fun comment comp with a chance to win a book from my backlist.
See you there!
See you there!
March 10, 2012
SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY GOES WILD!
I think of the three Beaumont Brides cover, WILD LADY is my favourite in both the old paper edition and the new eBook.(Since I haven't been able to figure out how to add that to Goodreads you'll have to go to my blog to see the new cover. I just love how Gabriel is smiling, how happy he is to be with Claudia.
Here's a six sentence Sunday snippet so that you can get to know them better, too:-
Offering up a silent prayer that it wouldn't shake, he raised his hand, holding it out in a wordless demand that she bring her dress to him. Surrender completely.
For one long moment she made him wait, made him endure the torture that he had inflicted upon himself, before bending gracefully to pick up her discarded dress, carrying it towards him in two outstretched hands like a precious votive offering from some heathen priestess. But if her stance was that of a supplicant, her eyes were not downcast, they were bright and knowing and her lips were set in a provocative curve. For a moment his resolve wavered as he realised that she had not surrendered. The game had simply moved onto another level.
I've dropped the price on WILD LADY for this weekend's six sentence on Kindle and at Smashwords, to introduce a newly edited version (although the spelling is still English/English!), so if you like it, fill your boots and tell your friends!
And do go and visit the other Six Sentence Sunday writers - it's a great way of finding out whether an author's voice grabs you.
Here's a six sentence Sunday snippet so that you can get to know them better, too:-
Offering up a silent prayer that it wouldn't shake, he raised his hand, holding it out in a wordless demand that she bring her dress to him. Surrender completely.
For one long moment she made him wait, made him endure the torture that he had inflicted upon himself, before bending gracefully to pick up her discarded dress, carrying it towards him in two outstretched hands like a precious votive offering from some heathen priestess. But if her stance was that of a supplicant, her eyes were not downcast, they were bright and knowing and her lips were set in a provocative curve. For a moment his resolve wavered as he realised that she had not surrendered. The game had simply moved onto another level.
I've dropped the price on WILD LADY for this weekend's six sentence on Kindle and at Smashwords, to introduce a newly edited version (although the spelling is still English/English!), so if you like it, fill your boots and tell your friends!
And do go and visit the other Six Sentence Sunday writers - it's a great way of finding out whether an author's voice grabs you.
February 16, 2012
Here Come the Grooms!
It's time for the annual HERE COME THE GROOMS! contest run by myself, Anne McAllister and Kate Walker. There are three prizes; three copies of the three featured books for three lucky winners!
First up, Yiannis Savas from Anne McAllister 's Savas's Wildcat!
Yiannis Savas, the irresistible playboy of the Savas dynasty, was every girl's dream. But he quickly turned into Cat's nightmare when his idea of a relationship was no more than a fiery affair.
Now Cat MacLean has grown up and out of her girlish fantasies. Determined not to fall prey to smooth talk and fast charm again, she's engaged to someone sensible.
Then she's forced to spend a week with the one man she's never been able to forget...
Yiannis' question is - "Who's Harry?"
Next it's Carlos Diablo Ortega from Kate Walker's The Devil and Miss Jones
Martha Jones has never taken a risk in her whole life. Until the day she runs out on her wedding and succumbs to the magnetism of a man she has only just met! A man she knows only as Diablo.
Lone wolf Carlos Ortega won't promise Miss Jones more than one searing-hot night. Yet Carlos is shocked by Martha's sweet innocence. This runaway bride is a virgin, and it seems the repercussions of their sizzling encounter could last forever . . .
Carlos' question is - What is Martha wearing – and holding when he first sees her?
Finally it's Matteo di Serrone from my own, Flirting With Italian
Sarah Gratton is a history teacher, picking up her life after her fiance falls for someone new. She has taken a job in an international school in Rome and has her heart set on finding out what happened to the woman who saved her great-grandfather's life in 1944. Instead she finds Matteo.
Matteo's question is,- I asked Sarah if she'd found someone. Who was it?
Here's the competition - email Anne, Kate and myself (all three of us!) - subject line Here Come the Grooms - with the answers to all three of the questions posed by our grooms. You'll find the answers in the excerpts on our web pages. Three lucky winners will each win a copy of all three books.
We'll be drawing the prize winners on Sadie Hawkins Days, which, if you've been paying attention you'll know is 29 February.
Good luck!
For more information check out our blogs!
First up, Yiannis Savas from Anne McAllister 's Savas's Wildcat!
Yiannis Savas, the irresistible playboy of the Savas dynasty, was every girl's dream. But he quickly turned into Cat's nightmare when his idea of a relationship was no more than a fiery affair.
Now Cat MacLean has grown up and out of her girlish fantasies. Determined not to fall prey to smooth talk and fast charm again, she's engaged to someone sensible.
Then she's forced to spend a week with the one man she's never been able to forget...
Yiannis' question is - "Who's Harry?"
Next it's Carlos Diablo Ortega from Kate Walker's The Devil and Miss Jones
Martha Jones has never taken a risk in her whole life. Until the day she runs out on her wedding and succumbs to the magnetism of a man she has only just met! A man she knows only as Diablo.
Lone wolf Carlos Ortega won't promise Miss Jones more than one searing-hot night. Yet Carlos is shocked by Martha's sweet innocence. This runaway bride is a virgin, and it seems the repercussions of their sizzling encounter could last forever . . .
Carlos' question is - What is Martha wearing – and holding when he first sees her?
Finally it's Matteo di Serrone from my own, Flirting With Italian
Sarah Gratton is a history teacher, picking up her life after her fiance falls for someone new. She has taken a job in an international school in Rome and has her heart set on finding out what happened to the woman who saved her great-grandfather's life in 1944. Instead she finds Matteo.
Matteo's question is,- I asked Sarah if she'd found someone. Who was it?
Here's the competition - email Anne, Kate and myself (all three of us!) - subject line Here Come the Grooms - with the answers to all three of the questions posed by our grooms. You'll find the answers in the excerpts on our web pages. Three lucky winners will each win a copy of all three books.
We'll be drawing the prize winners on Sadie Hawkins Days, which, if you've been paying attention you'll know is 29 February.
Good luck!
For more information check out our blogs!
February 11, 2012
THE RoNA ROSE AWARD
I’ve been sitting on some big news for weeks but today I can announce that Flirting With Italian has been short-listed by the Romantic Novelists’ Association for the RoNA “Rose”, their annual award for short romantic fiction.
Some of my favourite writing colleagues have also been nominated, so whichever name is in the envelope on the big day – 5th March – it will be a celebration. On the day I’ll be travelling to London to lunch with Romance HQ, then onto the awards reception, and finally having dinner with more writing friends. Definitely what used to be known as a Red Letter Day!
Here are the rest of the finalists –
Kate Hardy - A Christmas Knight
Jessica Hart - Ordinary Girl in a Tiara
Jan Jones - The Kydd Inheritance
Sarah Mallory - The Dangerous Lord Darrington
Mary Nichols - Winning the War Hero’s Heart
Some of my favourite writing colleagues have also been nominated, so whichever name is in the envelope on the big day – 5th March – it will be a celebration. On the day I’ll be travelling to London to lunch with Romance HQ, then onto the awards reception, and finally having dinner with more writing friends. Definitely what used to be known as a Red Letter Day!
Here are the rest of the finalists –
Kate Hardy - A Christmas Knight
Jessica Hart - Ordinary Girl in a Tiara
Jan Jones - The Kydd Inheritance
Sarah Mallory - The Dangerous Lord Darrington
Mary Nichols - Winning the War Hero’s Heart
