Author Spotlight - Romy Sommer

For the first time ever I get to appear in a Minxy Spotlight. After hosting so many other authors, I'm thrilled to be the one here talking up my own book!

Rather than answering the usual interview questions though, I'm going to take the liberty of doing something a little different. (I'm a Minx - I'm allowed!)
I'm going to give you a little eye candy instead....

The Trouble with Mojitos is set on the tropical Caribbean island of Los Pajaros, all lush vegetation, azure sea and sky, and balmy weather. (Not a hurricane or tradewind in sight to mar this idyll.) But as far as heroine Kenzie is concerned, Los Pajaros' greatest asset is...a pirate.

Rik is dark, dangerous and tattooed. Back in the days before his banishment from Westerwald, when he was still a serious and respectable prince, Rik's one and only form of rebellion was the tattoo hidden beneath his clothes. But what good is keeping it hidden? We want to see it, don't we?

A colleague of mine recently complained she was bored, so I set her the task of finding the perfect tattooed torso for this blog post. (Thanks Sarah. Yeah, I'm sure you hate me for it.) This is what Sarah found. What do you think - should she be allowed to choose eye candy again?

From www.PicsToPin.com

I'm celebrating the release of The Trouble with Mojitos with an All Day Happy Hour party over on Facebook today. Come on over and join the fun. There are virtual cocktails, games, give-aways - and loads more eye candy!

The Trouble with Mojitos

Turquoise blue waters. Sandy white beaches. Mojitos…

Film location scout Kenzie Cole has found herself in paradise. And working in the Caribbean for a week is just what she needs to escape the long line of exes in her closet.

Though the last thing she expects is to be picked up at the resort bar by a disgraced former Prince!

Luckily for Kenzie, exile is suiting the man formerly known as Prince Fredrik very well. And it’s not long before his rugged, pirate charm is proving hard to resist.

But Rik’s been spending his time in paradise exorcising demons of his own and he has danger written all over him. If Kenzie was sensible she’d run a mile instead of lose herself to her lust – although, they do say that sometimes you have to get lost before you can be found….

For a glimpse at the opening scene, visit I Heart... Chick Lit.

The Trouble with Mojitos is published by Harper Impulse, a division of Harper Collins, and is available from the following online retailers: Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iTunes and All Romance eBooks.

You can chat with Romy in all the usual places: Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and on her blog.

2nd Book Syndrome

I'd heard of this syndrome before, and I've even had friends who suffered from it, but I never appreciated just how debilitating writing a second book could be.

I've already written a second book, in fact I've published four under my Rae Summers name, but even though there was a big life-induced gap between Rae books 1 and 2, the next book wasn't hard to write.

So why then has my work-in-progress, currently titled The Back-up Plan, been worse than drawing teeth (not that I've ever had teeth pulled, but I can imagine the pain would be about the same)?

The reason is obvious - all four Rae novellas were written in my own time and to my own internal deadlines. When they were finished, I submitted them. Easy.

The Back-up Plan is being written to a deadline set in contractual stone - very fair, very do-able contractual stone admittedly. I'm desperate to honour this first ever deadline, and I'm equally desperate to make sure that this book is just as good if not better than Waking up in Vegas.

And there lies the rub, as Shakespeare would say. I loved writing Vegas. It was fun, the words flowed, and I felt like I was creating magic. The Backup Plan feels more like pig swill. The kind that feeds the circling crows of doubt.

If you've ever suffered from 2nd Book Syndrome, please tell me this story isn't completely pants and I won't need to change my name and emigrate somewhere only penguins live. Please tell me there is light at the end of the tunnel and it's not an oncoming freight train. Tell me your story...

In happier news, Waking up in Vegas, is part of a special summer promotion on Amazon UK at the moment. For the bargain basement price of only 1.99, this piece of fun can be yours.

So if you're in the UK and haven't yet bought a copy, please think of me and buy one. Every sale helps me resist my growing dependence on chocolate as I wrestle with The Back-up Plan.

Waking up in Vegas is available from Amazon as well as Amazon UK, and in all the other major eBook retailers.

Waking up in Vegas - meet Phoenix

Last week you got to meet Max, the hero of Waking up in Vegas, over on Aimee Duffy's blog. Today it's Phoenix's turn.

My heroine was modelled on bar owner Lil in the movie Coyote Ugly, played by Maria Bello. A strong, take-no-prisoners kind of woman, Phoenix is tough as nails, completely unsentimental, but hides a wounded heart beneath all the attitude.

Raised by a musician dad, she's never lived in one place very long, and she's seen and done some interesting things along the way. Suburbia, with the white picket fence, SUV and 2.4 children, is her idea of hell on earth - so finding herself married to a man who believes in Happy Ever Afters has to be up there at #1 on her Not To Do List.

If Max hadn't come into her life, I imagine Phoenix would have ended up exactly like Lil - running her own bar and kicking ass.

Writing Phoenix was huge fun. She's nothing at all like me, but there's definitely a part of me that admires her and wants to be like her.

I'm going to leave you with one piece of trivia about Phoenix that didn't make the final draft of Waking up in Vegas: she has a tattoo of a phoenix on her lower back.

Waking up in Vegas is available now from Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and All Romance eBooks.

* * *

What happens in Vegas…
Waking up to the bright lights of Vegas in an unfamiliar penthouse suite, cocktail waitress Phoenix Montgomery finds she’s covered from head to foot in gold glitter and not alone – aside from the empty bottle of champagne, there’s a mystery man in the shower and a huge sparkly ring on her finger!

Stays in Vegas?
There’s no denying Max Waldburg’s demi-god sex appeal but commitment-phobic Phoenix doesn’t do relationships. Only it seems her new husband (agh!) has other ideas…he’s trying to keep that ring on her finger and his wife firmly back in his bed. The only question on her lips is – why? Or maybe, why not?

Author Spotlight - Elizabeth Bailey

The minxes are delighted to have Liz Bailey here with us today, answering the minxy questions. She'll be telling us too about her new release, A Georgian Romance called Mademoiselle at Arms.

What is your writing process?
I tend to work to a general outline, with some data culled from research. I need character names, though not necessarily much info about the characters. I don’t plan too much because I find once I get going that new ideas are generated by what I write. I don’t really know what a scene will end up doing, so I just start the scene and see where the characters take me. I like to finish the first draft - unless it goes badly wrong! - and then work it over until I’m happy.

Everyone who writes knows it's not easy - what methods do you use to keep at it on days when it would be so much easier to go shoe shopping?
With experience I think it’s easier to knuckle down. I try to write a first draft on my Alphasmart (really simple little computer with four lines of text and no distractions) so that I can’t do anything else. Then there are the endless cups of tea. However, if it’s really not working, I leave it and do something else that day.

Keeping fit: Do you have an exercise regime to counterbalance all those hours sitting at a computer?
I don’t, but I walk into town several times a week, and I do a Lotte Berk class once a fortnight usually (though it should really be once a week) to keep my back in good shape. But I take breaks and move which helps a bit.

Do you believe in writer's block?
I believe in treacle! Most writer’s block, in my experience, is caused by going wrong somewhere in the story. You have to trace back and find it. You can also be stopped in your tracks by negative comments, especially about a work in progress. So I don’t let anyone read it until I’m happy with it. But treacle books are hell on earth. They just don’t flow and that can go on indefinitely. You just have to write through it.

Have you ever used an incident from real life in a book?
I’ve been using incidents from real life to create a spy thriller for a client, and I have used something from my past. If so, did it get you into trouble? Well, I’ve handed the spy book to another writer now, so if there’s trouble, it won’t be me!

In what way is being a published writer different to how you thought it would be?
The problems don’t stop. They multiply. You think once you’re published, everything will be roses, but it isn’t. There’s no guarantees in this business and you can be dropped as easily as you were picked up by a publisher. You still have to meet editor’s requirements, and you still have to wait for acceptance. The good thing is that you have track and agents and editors will take you seriously.

Promotion is no longer a dirty word. In what ways do you strive to reach more readers?
I’m learning this game. I do social networking - twitter, Facebook and Goodreads - and blog tours are good. I’m so astonished at how generous bloggers are in doing reviews and helping with promotion.

What is your top promo tip for other authors?
Don’t be afraid to ask! If you don’t ask, you won’t get. Just try it.

What did you learn while writing this book?
I originally wrote this book a long time ago, and I think I learned a great deal while editing it up to current standard. For one thing, I realised just how much craft I’ve learned in the intervening years. There’s so much to writing and you get better all the time, but it’s only when you go back to something you did years ago that find out just how much better you are now.

What was the most fun part of writing this book?
Having a heroine who is fearless and incredibly accomplished with weapons, as most young ladies of her era had little or no knowledge of firearms or swords.

And just for fun: what would your hero’s honeymoon destination of choice be?
I think Gerald would take his bride to a very English seaside resort where she’d probably start chasing smugglers!

Mademoiselle at Arms

Threatened with a pistol by the young lady discovered in a deserted mansion, Major Gerald Alderley is instantly intrigued. Who is the beautiful intruder? And why does she disguise herself as a nun? What circumstance has thrust her into an enterprise both foolhardy and dangerous? The girl’s French accent places her with the émigrés from across the channel, except that Mademoiselle insists she is English.
Set on unravelling her secrets, Gerald begins a relentless pursuit, hunting down every possible clue - much to the indignation of Mademoiselle. When her life proves to be in danger from the villainous émigré Valade, Gerald has his work cut out. For Mademoiselle Melusine, engaged in a desperate battle to prove her true identity, believes she is well able to take care of herself and is determined not to be rescued.

Mademoiselle at Arms is available here for Amazon.uk, and here for Amazon. com

Thank you so much for being our guest today, Liz!

Feeling the magic

Living in South Africa is an amazing privilege. I get to enjoy wide blue skies and year round sunshine. I love the people and I love the lifestyle. But at heart I’m an Anglophile. My mother is an English teacher with a passion for Shakespeare and English history, and she passed on to me the the idea that the British Isles was a mystical, magical place.

At the tender age of 23 I travelled to England for the first time. 20th century London didn’t disappoint. When you come from a city where the oldest building is 100 years old, London with its thousand years of tangible history is truly spell-binding. The architecture, the theatre shows, the diversity of people, and above all the stories that abound behind every door. Long before I ever thought of becoming a writer, those stories bewitched me.

Over the years, I’ve re-visited the UK many times, and every time I feel that magic.

So on Saturday, when my flight touched down at Heathrow, I didn’t expect it to feel like just another day. I was almost saddened that sitting on the tube, then on a train out into Essex, I didn’t feel the usual magic.

It was only on Sunday night, while sitting in my friends’ living room watching the telly, that the magic rekindled. And all it took to light the spark was a simple TV advert. An ad for a book.

TV advertising is expensive. In South Africa I think I can safely say we’ve never had a TV ad for a book. Then this morning, the local breakfast TV show featured an interview with an author.
TV ads for books, authors interviewed on TV ... this is Utopia!

It is so easy to be sucked into the doom and gloom. Book sales are down! The eBook market is flooded! Book stores are closing! Libraries are closing! It’s the end of the world!

I’m here to tell you now that this is the best time to be a writer, and the future is GOLDEN. Books are alive, and people are reading.

Let’s feel the magic.

Dear Julia Launch Wave - Stop One

Welcome to the launch of Dear Julia, my latest release published under the name Rae Summers as part of the Love Letters series by The Wild Rose Press.

Following Sally Minx’s novel launch idea, Dear Julia launches with a ‘Mexican wave’ starting right here. By clicking on the links below each excerpt, you’ll be able to follow the wave across 8 blogs to read the entire first chapter - or you can click on the buy links at the bottom of this post to get your own copy!

You can also follow the wave’s progress on Twitter, using the hashtag #DearJulia. If you enjoy the story, feel free to tweet your comments and chat to other wave surfers.

I’m also running a contest on my Rae Summers blog. Answer one simple question about this story, and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Dear Julia. Entries close Sunday night, and the winner will be announced on Monday.

Have fun!

* * *

The Blurb

The discovery of a long-lost love letter in a house she’s redecorating sends Rosalie Stanton on a quest to find its rightful owner.

Since his return from the Great War, William Cavendish has lived as a recluse. His peaceful existence is shattered by the return of the letter that once held all his hopes — and by its bearer, the irrepressible Rosalie, who bears an uncanny resemblance to his lost love.

As Rosalie sets out to lure William back into society, she realises that in him she might just have met her match.


Extract One

Dust swirled out in a thick, choking cloud as plaster and debris crashed to the floor. The cloud cleared, and Rosalie lowered her handkerchief from her face and coughed. In the yawning hole where the monstrous Victorian mantelpiece had been, a pile of broken bricks now lay in their own ashes. Something pale caught her eye amongst the rubble.
“What is that?”
One of the workmen bent to pick it up. “It’s a letter, miss.”
He handed her the envelope, and she wiped her handkerchief across its grimy face to reveal paper yellowed with age and a name printed in a neat, square script, a man’s handwriting: Julia.
Not just a letter. In one corner she felt the distinctive weight of something else. Curiosity growing, she turned the envelope over. No name or return address. She frowned. “It must have fallen behind the mantelpiece.”
The man shrugged, disinterested, and she forced her attention back to the room. “Clear the bricks, and tomorrow you can install the new mantel.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
They began the clean-up, and Rosalie moved to the window, holding the letter up to the light.
Against the sharp autumn sunlight she could see a shape silhouetted within the envelope. A ring. Even through the paper she could tell it was very old, delicate and ornately filigreed. And undoubtedly valuable.
That settled it. Whoever the letter had been intended for, it had to be delivered.

Anna sat at the kitchen table, shelling peas. She shook her head as Rosalie entered. “I hope you haven’t ruined that pretty dress.”
Rosalie looked down at herself. She was covered head to toe in a film of grey dust. She shrugged. “It’s just a dress. Look what we found.”
She held out the envelope to Anna. “Do you have any idea who Julia is?”
Anna shook her head and took the letter. “No idea. But Mrs. Wallace in the post office is sure to know. She knows everything about everyone around here.”
“Excellent idea. It’s the perfect afternoon for a walk into town.”
“Not in that dress, you won’t.”
Rosalie grinned. “I guess not. And I’ll have to wash my hair, too, before I go.”
“I’ll put some water to warm by the fire. Why your father couldn’t have got the plumbers in before we moved in, I’ll never know.”
It was a familiar grumble, and Rosalie laughed. “We’ve lived in worse places. And I’ll have this place
shipshape in no time.”
Anna rolled her eyes. “I have no doubt of that, Miss Rosalie. And the rest of the village too, I’m sure. Heaven help them.”

* * *

For the next instalment, click here to go to fellow Minx Sally Clements’ blog. Don’t forget to tweet your feedback using the hashtag #DearJulia.

Here is the full list of participating blogs:

Stop 1 – you are here!
Stop 2 - Sally Clements
Stop 3 - Rachel Bailey
Stop 4 - Scarlet Wilson
Stop 5 - Olivia Miles
Stop 6 - Jennifer Shirk
Stop 7 - Suzanne Jones
Stop 8 – the last stop, at my blog.

Thank you to all these lovely ladies for hosting me today!

Dear Julia is on sale through Amazon, Amazon UK, AllRomance eBooks and The Wild Rose Press. You can find out more about this novella here.

My New Guru

If you don't already follow Kristen Lamb's amazing blog, you should. I've read her blog posts sporadically the last couple of years, but at the start of this fresh, sparkly new year I read her book "Are you there Blog?" and it quite literally revolutionised my writing life.

Kristen's blog often covers the same stuff as her books, but in bite size chunks. Though with her witty, and sometimes irreverent take on things, the books make for quick, fun reading too.

As a guru of social media, Kristen obviously has a great deal of good advice on promotion for authors, but she also has great writing, business and even personal advice for us. Perhaps the most important thing I took from "Are you there Blog? It's me Writer" and its prequel, "We Are Not Alone: The Writer's Guide to Social Media" is that we need to treat our writing careers professionally from the very get go, even if we still have day jobs and can only spare an hour a day to this fledgling new career.

Are we serious about being authors?
Then we can't afford to make excuses. We must be prepared to make sacrifices. We need to take ourselves and our writing craft seriously, and we need to make time for this new career.

Kristen says it like it is, gives real advice and practical tips, and we're all better off for listening.
Don't believe me? Start with these hard-hitting posts:
Don't Eat The Butt: Lies that can poison our writing career
The Why Behind the Buy

So now that you're in no doubt who my new guru is, do you have any gurus in your writing or personal lives? Anyone whose words have changed your life? If so, please share them here. I'm always looking for new inspiration.

* * *

And a marvellous post script to today's post: Congratulations Suzanne Minx on a request. Your patience has certainly been rewarded!

January Man of the Month Poll: Disney Heroes

Yes, you read that right. I really am going to do a Hotties poll on animated characters.

But first, Our Man of the Year for 2011 was Jonathan Rhys-Myers, with an overwhelming 80% of the vote - thanks to a little help from the JRM Fan Club, it seems.

Since the voting may have been skewed [rose pruning flashback!] it’s worth mentioning that NCIS LA's Chris O'Donnell came in a more honest second.

Now back to our January poll. For something a little different to kick off the new year, I’ve chosen the theme of Disney heroes. After all, these are the most classic of all romances.

Before you all roll your eyes, you haven’t yet seen the work of artist David Kawena. He has a completely different take on the Disney heroes.

So without further ado, here are today’s contenders in chronological order.

Skipping over Prince Frederick from the 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarves - and yes, he really did have a name - I’m starting with Prince Charming of Cinderella (1950). This is the one contender David Kawena hasn’t drawn, but I’ve chosen to include him for the benefit of any blog readers who are suckers for a man in uniform.

Next up is Prince Philip of Sleeping Beauty (1959), the man who braves a dragon to save the Princess Aurora. Now tell me that’s not alpha hero material.
















Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid (1989) is our third choice. I’m not too taken with a man so easily duped by a sea witch, but luckily for him Ariel has balls enough for the both of them.













 

  The Beast from Beauty & the Beast (1991) isn’t given a name in the movie itself, but reliable sources inform me he’s credited as Prince Adam. Robbie Benson’s voice is just melt-worthy in this role.  

 

You have to admit that any man who can take his girl on a magic carpet ride and introduce her to wonders she’s never seen before, is worth a vote. Just in case you’re not as familiar with the Disney movies as those of us with kids, that’s Aladdin (1992).

If you can get your head around the idea of Mel Gibson as a romantic hero, then John Smith of Pocahontas (1995) fame makes a pretty swoon-worthy hero.


















Next up is Li Shang from Mulan (1998), another man strong enough to handle a strong heroine.

 

More recently, after a decade hiatus, Disney finally gave us a hero and heroine worth watching. Prince Naveen of The Princess and the Frog (2009) becomes a better person because of his love for Tiana. And of course I just love the 20s flavour of this movie.

Flynn Rider is Disney’s newest addition. As the bandit who inadvertently comes to Rapunzel’s aid in Tangled (2010) he rivals Prince Philip for his Rescuing a Damsel in Distress abilities. What’s not to love about a bad boy made good? 

Well, there you have it: nine dashing heroes to choose from. Though I think the winner this month should be David Kawena. Don’t you agree?

Exceeding Expectations

Since it's still Friday in most parts of the world, this blog post isn't technically late. Much.

I would have posted something earlier, but I got caught up watching a Christmas movie. You know, one of those made-for-TV movies that appear at this time of year, with not a single familiar face in the cast and a predictable story line? As you might have guessed, I'm not a big fan of these kinds of movies. [Give me The Proposal any day!] But this one really hooked me.

It was called A Christmas Kiss. Romance readers will recognise the story line as a tried and tested theme: girl kisses hot guy, then finds out he's her bosses' boyfriend. Okay, so the usual trope would be he turns out to be the boss, so the movie makers at least managed to put a fresh spin on this one.

What I enjoyed about this movie was that it has a fresh, young, contemporary feel, and wasn't too schmaltzy. Whether you adore every holiday themed movie out there, or whether you're more picky like me, watch this film. It's guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

There was only one thing I didn't quite like about this film, and it was only as the end credits rolled that I finally worked out what it was. The hero.

As a romance writer, I've diligently studied what makes a good romantic hero, and I've developed my own ideas of how a hero (especially an alpha hero) should behave. And it's spoiled me. I can no longer sit back and enjoy a book or movie without constantly measuring up the hero against my own very high expectations.

A hero who manages to get through an hour and a half of TV time not realising that his girlfriend is a witch spelled with a B, and in all that time doesn't realise that the girl he kissed right at the start of the movie is the heroine, just doesn't measure up for me.

So I'm going to dig out my battered copy of The Proposal and remind myself how a true alpha hero behaves. Because Ryan Reynolds always exceeds my expectations - especially when he's shirtless.

Mixing day jobs and writing

As I'm in a film studio today shooting a TV commercial (and battling with no signal and pathetic emails) it's got me thinking about how our day jobs diverge from or affect our writing.

I work in what may seem a glamorous or fascinating industry (after film school I worked in feature films and TV dramas before moving into advertising), so I should be ideally placed to write stories set in that world, right?

Wrong! When I sit down to write, I want to escape my day job, not focus my thoughts back on it.

Do you take your day job home with you when you write, or do you escape to other careers and other worlds through your writing? Do you have a day job that involves writing, or are you a full time writer?

We Minxes would love to know! (Cos we're nosy that way). And if you're lucky, we'll even share a little more about ourselves.

[Please note, these pictures are from a previous shoot, not today's studio shoot, which isn't half as interesting!]

In Remembrance

Here in South Africa we're approaching 11am, on the 11th of November 2011. 11-11-11-11.

As a child I still remember wearing a poppy on Remembrance Day. That tradition has long since fallen out of  fashion, and slowly out of memory too. I find this sad, as I think we need more days where we're urged to think of peace in our world, rather than less.

Why this day?

On 11th November 1918, at 11am, the armistice agreement was signed, ending the first (and what many hoped was the last) world war. Sadly, we now know better. War is still all around us, perhaps even more than ever, and certainly we're more aware of it thanks to media and the diminishing size of our world.

Why the poppy?

In the surprisingly evocative words of Wikipedia: "These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war." As far back as the Egyptians, the poppy signified life and fertility, and for its sedative medicinal qualities it's also the flower of sleep. Life and death all rolled into one simple flower.

So today, I'd like to ask our blog readers to consider the significance of this day and to suggest ways in which we might each be able to bring a little more peace and a little less war into our world.

My suggestion, to get the ball rolling: teach the next generation to revere life.

Give me the same thing ... only different

The Minxes would like to congratulate Natalie Charles, winner of New Voices 2011. Even if you don’t normally read romantic suspense, read this one. The story will grab you.

If you’ve followed the New Voices contest (as I have - devotedly!) you’ll have heard the editors’ advice to avoid cliché. This is just a re-statement of what the editors have been saying at conferences for the last few years. 2010’s buzz words were ‘innovate, don’t imitate’ and this year it was ‘unpredictability’. But really these are all just different ways of saying the same thing: avoid cliché.

In the immortal words of Blake Snyder in Save the Cat: “You can be near the cliché, you can dance around it, you can run right up to it, and almost embrace it. But at the last second you must turn away.”

I was extremely fortunate to get feedback on my NV entry (see here) and one of the comments the editors made was that my set-up has been used often before and I need to be careful that it doesn’t slip into cliché.
Clearly the use of cliché isn’t an issue for them, since they praised my very clichéd opening (Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there lived a princess.) but it’s what you do with the cliché that’s important. My next lines show that I’m going to turn the cliché on its head: She wasn’t like any of the princesses in other stories. She didn’t sweep floors, or wash dishes, or sing with the birds.

The day after the editors posted the feedback, I re-read Blake Snyder’s chapter of Save the Cat, entitled ‘Give me the same thing ... only different’, an entire chapter devoted to avoiding cliché, and he sums it up with these words:
“In every aspect of creation - from the idea, to the way characters speak, to the scenes themselves - putting a fresh spin on it (whatever “it” is) is what we do every day. But to know how to avoid the cliché, to know what tradition you are pushing forward, begins with knowing what that tradition is.”

Yes, it really is that easy. Once you’ve studied your genre, when you’ve read enough books that are similar to what you want to write, when you’ve examined the movies in that genre, you’ll start to spot the clichés: secret babies, marriages of convenience, certain type of hero or heroine, certain turns of phrase. That doesn’t mean you can’t use these elements, just that you need to tread carefully when you use them.

“When it feels like a cliché - give it a twist. When you think it’s familiar - it probably is, so you’ve got to find a new way. But at least understand why you’re tempted to use the cliché and the familiar story. .... True originality can’t begin until you know what you’re breaking away from.” - Blake Snyder

Oops! and congratulations

Oops! You may have noticed that due to a technical error (yeah, right!) we skipped a post on Friday. Actually, this is for very happy reasons: the Minxes are all really busy right now.

At this moment in time, we have five Minxes beavering away (at least, you'd better be beavering, ladies!) on requested manuscripts, one Minx moving house, one Minx just finished moving house, and another Minx has gone back to work after a break. And two are doing everything they can to distract themselves from NTAI.
To all of you - here's wishing you lots of strength, patience, and a truckload of Minxy dust for your submissions.

Rachel Bailey has selected BrooklynShoeBabe as the winner of a copy of Million-Dollar Amnesia Scandal. Well done, Rakisha. You can contact Rachel through the contact form on her website: www.rachelbailey.com/

Finally, today's your last chance to vote for your favourite Rugby hotties. There'll be a new set of dishy heroes here on the blog on Friday.

New Voices and moving forward

First up, congratulations to the 21 finalists in the New Voices contest. How amazing that the editors have given a chance to an extra writer because there were so many they loved?!

Also, I'd like to congratulate every single person who entered. You not only sat down and wrote something, but you were brave enough to submit your work to public view. That deserves applause.

I'd also just like to remind everyone who entered (and who didn't!) that contests are not the be-all and end-all. Not everyone who finals in a contest goes on to publich that manuscript. Not everyone who gets published gets there via a contest. In fact, your odds are probably even better through the slush pile than through a contest, where there can be only one winner.

So keep writing, and keep submitting.

Now if you're not completed contested-out, here's another you might want to look at:

Author Nicola Marsh is running a pitch contest on her blog until Sunday, with critiques from both herself and the senior editor of Entangled Publishing as a prize.

Talking about Entangled, keep an eye on their blog for updated submission calls each month. This month they're looking for contemporary novellas.

And more submission calls ....

Carina Press is looking for winter-themed sci fi novellas, and Avon Romance is looking for soldier homecoming short stories.

Movie Review: Red Riding Hood

For weeks I drove passed an eye-catching billboard and thought "I have to see that movie!" Luckily it came out on DVD fairly quickly, and this weekend I got to enjoy director Catherine Hardwicke's take on this classic fairy tale.

For those who don't follow these things, Catherine Hardwicke directed Twilight (the first movie in the series). Since she worked as a production designer before becoming a director, it's no surprise that this latest movie is a visual feast. Red Riding Hood is sumptuously designed with stunning costumes and sets.

Don't expect historical accuracy. Do expect a fairy tale quality with more than a dash of sinister thrown in.

The film stars Amanda Seyfried of Mamma Mia and Letters to Juliet fame, and the back up cast is phenomenal: Gary Oldman, Billy Burke (also the dad in Twilight), Lukas Haas and Julie Christie. And for those who enjoy their eye candy (like me!), there are two rather attractive young men to ogle: Shiloh Fernandez and Max Irons (son of Jeremy).

Interestingly, Shiloh Fernandez made the shortlist for the role of Edward Cullen in Twilight. He has a remarkable resemblance to Robert Pattinson, though without the squashed nose. I would have loved to see him in the role, but since that's never going to happen, I'll take whatever I can get of him!

As for the movie itself ... I loved it. Just the right balance of drama, action and romance for my tastes - and it's beautiful to look at! Go take a look for yourself.

Remember Me

We usually preserve movie reviews for Fridays here on Minxes, but in honour of remembering New York on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I'm breaking the tradition and featuring the film Remember Me.

Set in New York, this is a ponderous, atmospheric film starring Robert Pattinson and Pierce Brosnan, which centres around a family dealing with loss, each character handling the loss of a son and brother in a different way.

I found the film a little too slow moving, and spent most of the movie wondering just what the point was. The point is made clear in the closing two minutes of the film. Two minutes which pull all the film's strands together, give the entire movie a new twist, and leave viewers with an image so graphic and moving that you'll remember it long afterwards.

That final image is still clear in my head months after watching the film, and still brings a lump to my throat.

Our condolences to anyone who has ever lost a loved one, and to those who are gone: you will be remembered.

Revenge is sweet

Following on from Suzanne Minx's post last week on Writing vs Real Life, I'd like to add my own reason why I love to write: Revenge is sweet, but being happy is the sweetest revenge of all.

I'm pretty sure this happens for every writer and I'm not unique, but I love when I've had a hard day at the day job, and I'm feeling stressed out about some issue, then I sit at the laptop and start to write ... and next thing I know, I'm sucked into the story.

When I'm writing I forget all the bad stuff that happens outside my novel, and get so into the head space of my characters that nothing else matters. After a while, I even find I'm smiling (unless it's a tear jerker scene, in which case I'm smiling through tears).

The boss, the deadlines, the stresses of the day, don't mean a thing beside that incredible feeling when the words are flowing, and you're in tune with your characters and your story. You know what I mean, don't you?

I'm a big fan of The Secret, and one of the principles taught by Rhonda Byrne in The Secret is that you need to get yourself into a happy state of being before you can change your life and get what you want. And just as I write this blog post, an email pops into my inbox:

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret and The Power 

When you find your purpose, it is like your heart has been set alight with passion. You know it absolutely, without any doubt.

So to everyone out there in my Real Life, this is my revenge: my heart has been "set alight with passion", and there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop it!

(Though it'd still be nice to get the ultimate in revenge by selling so many books that I can give up the day job stresses and enjoy the stresses of being fabulously successful instead.)

August Hotties Poll: the heroes of F1

While Jo C is the rugby fan among the Minxes, Maya and I share a passion for F1. Since I had to miss the last two races due to work, I'm going to make up for it by getting my fix here on the Minxes blog. All month long you'll have an excuse to view some of the eye candy currently lighting up the motor racing circuit, but please don't forget to stop drooling long enough to vote.

Since the hottest drivers (IMO) are also the front-runners in this year's championship, I'm featuring the top six here in their current championship ordes - with one back-runner thrown in for luck.

Leading the current season is Sebastian Vettel. The boy next door, though from where I'm standing, he's a tad on the young side.

Next up is more my style ... Mark Webber. And it's not just an age thing!

In third place is Brit Lewis Hamilton, sadly without a hope in hell of challenging the German for a championship win this year.

A few years ago Fernando Alonso was the pretty boy of F1. He's maturing rather nicely, don't you think?

Jenson Button burst onto the scene in his debut year, and I'm so pleased that he's still hanging in there and hasn't disappeared into obscurity like a certain Canadian who was the F1 pin-up at the time.

In sixth place is the second Ferrari driver, Felipe Massa.

And finally, since the Italians have contributed so much to F1, here's the Italian contender for hottie of the month: Jarno Trulli, now also a wine-maker in the Abruzzo region. Now tell me that isn't the stuff heroes are made of ...



PS: Winner of the July Jane Austen heroes poll was Daniel Gillies, from the Bollywood movie, Bride & Prejudice.

July Hotties Poll: Jane Austen Heroes

Winner of last month’s Policeman Hotties poll was Chris O’Donnell of NCIS: Los Angeles, narrowly beating out Eddie Cibrian (CSI: Miami) and Simon Baker (The Mentalist).

For something a little different, we have a literary theme for this month’s hotties: all of them have been in Jane Austen films.

When I started researching this post I’ll admit my first thought was “What was I thinking? There’s a shortage of good looking men in the Austen films”.
Boy was I wrong!

An image search proved there are a whole bunch of great looking men in the various adaptations, but since I figured ten hotties was about as much as one poll could take, I’ve left out a few, including the rather more obvious choices. If your favourite isn’t here, feel free to tell us about it in the comments section. And please still vote!

First up is the other Mr Darcy, Matthew MacFadyen (Pride and Prejudice, 2005).

Matthew MacFadyen

Next up is Jonny Lee Miller who has played not one, but two, Austen heroes: Edmund Bertram (Mansfield Park, 1999) and Mr Knightley (Emma, 2009)

Jonny Lee Miller

From the same version of Mansfield Park is Alessandro Nivola, the lone American in this poll.

Alessandro Nivola

And also from the 1999 Mansfield Park, James Purefoy, who played Tom Bertram.

James Purefoy

The role of Frank Churchill in Emma has been played by numerous actors. among them Rupert Evans (2009).

Rupert Evans

I know a few Minxes who’ll be voting for the next hottie: Rupert Penry-Jones, who played Captain Wentworth (Persuasion, 2007)

Rupert Penry-Jones

From Sense and Sensibility comes another selection: Greg Wise (1995), Dan Stevens (2008) and Dominic Cooper (2008).

Greg Wise

Dan Stevens

Dominic Cooper

And finally, from the must-see Bollywood version of Jane Austen, Bride and Prejudice, is Daniel Gillies, who played Wickham (now to be seen on TV screens everywhere as the villain in my favourite TV series).