Happy Birthday Miss La!

My youngest belle is 15 today and has a chemistry GCSE exam on her birthday!

Be My Hero is award nominated!

I recieved an email from InD’Tale magazine which said 'We went to extensive labor to create and present the most credible and prestigious award in the industry today. Our three round system of elimination covers every facet - highly reviewed, loved by fans, and critiqued by qualified judges. No other award system today begins to compare, making the RONE award the very highest of honors bestowed on a book in the publishing industry.Because your book, Be My Hero, received the high review rating of a 4 star or better, it has continued to the second, public voting phase for the 2012, RONE Awards. In this phase the readers will be narrowing down the contestants to 4 - 6 finalists in each genre by choosing the books they love best.'

Eek!!!!!!

Pretty, pretty please take a few minutes and vote for me. I know I won't get through this round but it'll save me from feeling like Billy no mates. VOTE HERE

The finalists in this round will then be read and judged by a group of professionals in the industry to determine the very best in indie and small published books of 2012. They will then be awarded the prestigious RONE award, itself, at the formal ceremonies, August 9th, at the Golden Nugget Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It's so lovely when someone really gets your story and I knew this was a tough story. The heroine has a very real life dilemna so it wasn't your typical romance. I'm thrilled to bits that the reviewer loved it and it's up for this amazing award!

Write on...

I have a confession. I haven't been writing much this year. I want to write, the stories are in my head just bursting to get out but real life has taken over to such a huge extent that I simply haven't had the time or the desire to write.I will write again soon, I promise. I'm going to be doing more hours at my day job and that job has become immensely more stressful and difficult. My family life is also challenging right now. I have three teenage daughters who need me and they, and Mr Nell have to be my priority.

So I appologise for not being around much at the moment. Things are settling down into a new pattern and then I can hit the keyboard again.

Hurray for holidays

I'll be missing for a few days as Mr Nell and I are taking the belles away to the seaside in our tourer. Am hoping a freak heat wave will hit Dorset while we're there or we may be returning with less teenagers than when we started. In the meantime, you might like to pick up a copy of Radio Gaga for your reading pleasure!

Over the airwaves everyone can hear you scream!

Radio researcher and part-time presenter Chloe Lark is certain her big show biz break is just around the corner. Live it Up radio may not be the big time, but surely - one day soon - fame will come her way. And, if she could convince the hunky guy next door to give her a chance, her love life might improve too.

Ex-soldier Ben isn’t sure if his new ‘Z’ list celebrity neighbour is crazy or on medication. Either way he’s looking for a quiet life out of the spotlight. The last thing he needs is an accident prone media hungry blonde complete with mystery stalker. Problem is - Chloe doesn’t seem to have received that particular memo…

‘Great characters, exciting writing and a beautiful love story - a definite must have for your Kindle!’ 5*

Here’s an excerpt!

I knew it wasn’t burglars when I noticed the large empty space next to the bay window. No self-respecting burglar would break into someone’s home just to steal a life size cardboard cut-out of Darth Vader would they? No, it wasn’t burglars who’d nicked Darth or who’d cleared the shelf of the Queen CDs. It was Neil. He’d finally moved out, and taken Freddie Mercury and the Dark Lord with him as he went.

For a moment I stood trying to decide how I felt. Angry? Broken-hearted? In the time it took me to cross the room, enter the kitchen and dump my handbag on the worktop I decided my overwhelming feeling was relief.

Neil had raided the kitchen too: his state of the art coffee maker which I hadn’t been allowed to touch was gone, along with his juicer and his super fancy wok. Only a couple of spilled coffee beans on the countertop showed where they had been. I looked at the clippie magnet on the fridge to see if he’d left me a note. We’d always left messages for each other one there. A few months back they had been little love notes with kisses and pictures of hearts. Now the only thing on there was the ratty message I’d left for him yesterday asking him to pick up some milk on his way home. I walked back through the lounge to what had once been our bedroom. The wardrobe doors were open showing the empty hangers and his rack of immaculately arranged ties had gone. My mobile vibrated in my trouser pocket telling me I had a text as I sank down onto the edge of the bed. I knew what it would be before I even fished it out of my pocket.

‘Chloe, guess you know by now have moved out, thought would be better this way. U know it wasn’t working, sorry, N’ © Nell Dixon 2013

Available from http://www.amazon.com/Radio-Gaga-ebook/dp/B00BK7TY7C/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1_GS4P And http://www.amazon.co.uk/Radio-Gaga-ebook/dp/B00BK7TY7C/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_2_6E46

White Easter?

I know statistically the chances are higher of having a white Easter than a white Christmas but all this snow? In March? Really? My back garden is a winter wonderland with the poor birds looking confused and miserable as they battle for the food on the bird stand. Luckily my eldest belle made it home from university before the weather closed in.

Somehow though the weather makes me not want to do anything. I'm back in dormouse mode, stuffing my cheeks with hot cross buns and ignoring my wip which is languishing on the computer.

if it makes you feel the same then why not go and download a copy of Easter Holiday and escape to Cornwall for an hour. Easter Holiday you won't regret it!

Guest Blogger - Lisa Chalmers

I'm so excited to introduce Lisa to you. I've known Lisa on line now for years and we used to get together regularly to talk books, swap stories and generally talk about publishing. One day i hope we'll get to meet but since she's across the pond I'll have to save my pennies.

She has a fabulous new book out so I'm going to let her tell you all about it!

Josh Collins has the perfect life—a beautiful girlfriend and a baby on the way, until an accident takes his life and he’s suddenly forced to fight for everything and everyone he loves.

Alone and pregnant, Avery Rhodes is suddenly faced with a painful new reality. Life without the man she loves is turbulent. Nothing feels the same any more without him and she finds herself facing the unimaginable.

With his newfound guide Gabriel, Josh is forced to learn what happens IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES.

Hi everyone,

First a big thank you to Nell for hosting my first ever guest blog  So happy to be here. It took me awhile to figure out what to talk about, since I’m not quite feeling very ‘published’ and author-like yet.

IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES has had a very, very long journey, and it’s morphed a lot along the way. I originally wrote the first draft about thirteen years ago. It was less than half the size that the story is now. I’m not sure what the original spark of the idea was, although if I went back and read some emails to my writing friends at the time, I could find something to pinpoint it but I do remember listening to the Garth Brooks song of the same name a lot during writing. My original cast of the hero was Nick from the Backstreet Boys. (I do have a weakness for good looking blondes with blue eyes!) and Gabriel his sidekick/guide, well Gabriel really didn’t have a real world counterpart at that point. He was still a bit of a mystery to me as I wrote him. I knew he was around Josh’s height, soft spoken and had a calm to him that he always seemed to want to direct towards Josh. Josh on the other hand, had a bit of a temper, that fire burning inside of him that fuelled his reckless streak that shows up in the book and causes him some trouble.

When I decided two years ago that this could be the first book I’d indie publish, because I didn’t think it would need a lot of reworking (ha,ha), I took another look at Josh. He’d recast himself a little, he’d done a bit of growing up. He still had a bit of Nick in him, but he’d also picked up bits of Josh Duhamel (especially the hair  ) and Heath Ledger too. Gabriel now had an actual inspiration. If you watch the NKOTB video for summertime, the first time I saw Donnie in the white outfit on the sand, well my mind went ‘there’s Gabriel’.

So with that cast in mind, my muse went happily back to work. 

You can get Lisa's book IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES from Amazon.com and from Amazon Uk Smashwords and other etailers following shortly!

For a chance to win a free copy of IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES leave Lisa a comment telling her your teenage boy crush and I'll get her to pick a winner on Monday!

Talks, workshops etc

Today I'm talking to U3A at the Public in West Bromwich this afternoon. I'm also taking bookings for libraries, writing groups and schools. I love running workshops and talking to groups. You meet such interesting and lovely people and I always learn new things myself as well as being able to help other people.

A huge thank you to everyone who's bought Radio Gaga and told me how much they're enjoying it! To those I kept up past midnight - sorry!

I'm busy now working on my new wips 'At the Dolphin Hotel', which is a romantic suspense and 'Stormy Vintage' which is a follow up to Passionate Harvest - telling Jake's story. I really need to crack on with both of those so hopefully now Radio gaga is out in the big world I'll have chance ahead of the paperback launch of Radio gaga in the Autumn.

Yesterday was Mother's Day here in the UK. I got lots of lovely yellow flowers - daffodils are my very favourites, some socks with unicorns on - I suspect those will be borrowed by my youngest belle before too long, and a footmuff shaped like a friesan cow to keep my feet warm. The cow has been named Ermintrude and she has bells on so my feet will be toasty warm and jingly!