Spring is sprung

Spring's here, I know this not only because it's the 1st of September (or is it the 2nd already) but because there are daffodils and lambs and blossoms on my crabapple trees. Clearly it's too late to do those gardening tasks I thought I was going to do in autumn and winter. Still only 6 months till next autumn. I'll do them then.

Having The Billionaire's Baby sold really well, reaching number 2 on the Borders/Waldenbooks list and getting some great reviews. And I've had some lovely emails from readers - that's been the best bit of all.

Book number two will be out in January and I've just sold book number three so I'm guessing that will be out sometime around the middle of next year. Feels like I have the beginnings of a career underway.

It's Here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can now hold my very own book in my hot little hands. What an amazing feeling - to have those weeks and months and years of work result in this.

sold

And I've now sold my second book. Yay. Yay. Yay. Have enjoyed this sale even more than the first because I actually believe this one whereas the first was just too surreal.

Book out soon

My first book with Silhouette Desire, Having The Billionaire's Baby, is now going to be out July 14 in Nth America, and in August in Australia and New Zealand. As much as I'm excited, I also have to admit that it's kind of scary, too. Real live people, people who know me even, will be able to read what I write. After years of only having my work read by critique partners, contest judges and a few editors here and there, this feels like the biggest test of them all.

RITA Judging

Strictly speaking I don't know if I'm allowed to blog about RITA judging. The RITA's being romance writing's equivalent of the Oscars. But all I wanted to say was that it's great fun seeing what's being written about out there and how it's being handled and discovering new authors in the process. Although discovering new authors is probably a bad thing considering the state of my TBR pile.

Be happy when you can.

Emailed my revisions to my editor last night - a great feeling. That is, if I can ignore the niggly voice in my head saying will she like them? did I do it right? not too much? not enough? yada, yada, yada. Sometimes it's so hard to unreservedly celebrate the steps along the way. So today, I'm telling the voices "I did a great job" and if my editor wants any further changes, she'll let me know. Be happy. Life is too short to be second guessing everyone including yourself. Live in the moment.

Dancing on the ceiling

I'm finally coming back down to earth after a trip to San Francisco for the RWA National conference. It was a fabulous conference with a terrific line up of speakers and workshops. It's always wonderful to spend time with people who are passionate about romance and to catch up with friends old and new. But without a doubt the highlight was SELLING one of my books.

My Call was totally unexpected. I'd recently won a critique by Melissa Jeglinski the then head of Desire and duly sent my manuscript off. I hadn't thought the manuscript was what they were looking for but I really wanted that critique. A mere 4 weeks later (a very short time in this business), while in my hotel bathroom after taking a shower, my roommate the wonderful Tessa Radley, starts pounding on the door. She'd been talking to Diana Ventimiglia at Desire who told her she wanted to call me. And several hyperventillation-filled minutes later (and after some very quick dressing) she did indeed call. And wonder or wonders she said she wanted to buy my book.

It was amazing to recieve the call at conference and to have so many people on hand to share the news with.

Now, a month or so later, I'm working away and smiling to myself in the knowlege that real people out there in the real world can one day read (and hopefully like) what I'm writing, and what's more I'm going to get paid!