Back to my holiday report

We spent another day here, at Bala lake, although I have to say it was windier than this the day we were there. The town of Bala is lovely with nice cafes and shops. We took a picnic and ate it by the water while we watched people taking part in the various water sports.
After lunch we drove through the Snowdonia national park and walked in the mountains before heading back to Chirk.

(Thank you to everyone who stopped by to send me good luck vibes. I'm writing every spare minute to try and get this book finished a little more speedily.)

We interupt this broadcast...

I promise I'll blog more about my holiday tomorrow. When I got home from Chirk and ploughed through the emails in my inbox I found two from Cat Cobain, the editor at Little Black Dress. I think I mentioned I'd sent her the partial of Blue Remembered Heels a few weeks ago - well, guess what! She wanted to see some more. As you know and, so does she, it isn't finished. I asked her if she wanted to see what I had already and warned her it was only a rough draft or if she'd prefer to wait until the end of September beginning of Oct when I anticipated it being completed.
Well, I just pressed send as she asked to see what I had now - meep.
So, I'm head down and writing.

Erddig

We spent our first day here, at Erdigg house. The gardens were really beautiful and hopefully I'll be able to put some pictures up when we finally upload them. The girls had a great time exploring the grounds. The house itself was disappointing. The National Trust do a wonderful job looking after the countryside and gardens but are dreadful when it comes to interiors. They are so child unfriendly compared to English Heritage. They have elderly people placed in each room, some are nice and others aren't who glare at every visitor as if suspecting them of vandolous intentions. It would be so much better if they followed English Heritages example and either let people go around in groups with a guide or had more room in each rom for people to stand and more information for you to look at or read, especially for younger visitors.

Friday Fun 6 (late)

I'm home and here's Friday's post - a bit late. I'll blog about the holiday in the week once we've uploaded some pictures for you all to see. In the meantime I thought I'd talk about the food in the Black Country.
The picture above is faggots and peas. Not the nasty meatballs that the manufacturors make but real faggots made with onions, bread, liver, kidneys and bound together with kell. The peas have to be mushy.
Other well known dishes are gray -paes and bacon. (grey peas and ham)and chawl (potted pigs head)I've helped my grandmother make faggots and chawl many times. Other famous dishes are grorty pudding and bread pudding. I make a mean bread pudding even though I say so myself.
So here are some food words for you
Paes - peas
Taeters - Potatoes
Hummock - a slice as in a hummock of bread.
currans - currants
Mate - meat
suck - sweets

We're off again.

To the borders this time. We're going to be staying at one of my favourite places, Chirk. The site is next to Chirk Castle and it's a beautiful part of the world. I'm not sure if I'll be able to access the net while I'm away so the Friday Fun post might be a bit late going up this week.
I'm glad so many people seem to be enjoying reading snippets about my area. I've had some really lovely emails from all over the place with people telling me about their memories and stays in the Black Country.
I had a lovely surprise this morning too with another fantastic review for A Taste of Summer. This time from Fallen Angel Reviews.
HERE
Five angels!

The reviewer said - Making Waves by Nell Dixon is a most wonderful read. The emotions of the characters really stand out pulling the reader into the storyline. Josh and Cassidy are compassionate and warm who have had bad relationships in the past. The reader shares their sorrows and the way they wish to break any barriers that keep them from finding real love. Ms. Dixon creates a beautifully told read that spins the heart with love in a terrific summer romance that is sweet, romantic and awe-inspiring, don’t miss this one.

And about both stories she said - A Taste of Summer is a pleasant read by two gifted authors that know how to weave a believable story with genuine characters that are hard to forget.

A Taste of Summer is releasing on Fictionwise tomorrow along with the other two books in the set. A Hint of Summer and A Slice of Summer. All three books have wonderful reviews from different sites, so if you want a light, fun read for the beach or by the pool then pick up a copy. I promise you won't be disappointed.

I also had the pleasure on Thursday night of meeting Margaret Calloghan who is the author of the upcoming September release for Moonlit Romance. Marg discovered she wasn't living too far from me so she popped round for a glass of wine and a natter. Her website is under construction but look out for her book in September.

Friday Fun 5

My village of Gornal is famous for two main things. The villages are Upper Gornal, Lower Gornal and Gornal Wood. Gornal men used to be highly sought after by architects as they were skilled bricklayers and the area locally is the home to several brickmakers. The ground around here is very rich in clay and evidence of quarrying can still be readily seen today.
For todays class I thought I'd teach you all a saying or two.

E gid him a right cog-haiver - He hit him with a good punch.
Yow'm like a bibble in a can. - You never shut up.
That wo get the babby a new bonnet - You're not earning enough.

PS The first person to post in the comments the second thing that Gornal is famous for gets a prize!

Oh so quiet...

The belles finally left for Wales with their grandparents, so it's just me and Mr Nell at home. No Disney channel, no phone calls that aren't for us, food remains in the fridge and there are still biscuits in the tin. It's awful and I hate it.
To celebrate the wild excitement of being childfree Mr Nell and I went out for tea. Then he went to work - he works nights - and I was all alone.
And what did I do to celebrate this unique opportunity of me time? Did I play my music, take a long bath, write? Did I heck.
I washed my cutglass vases and paired socks.
When I did I get so boring?

Still, when I woke up this morning after Mr Nell had come home I found a lovely bunch of flowers in the kitchen sink for me to put in one of my newly washed vases.

Moonlit Romance beach party!

Jessica and I got another great review for A Taste of Summer!

Romance Reviewed

Come to the party!

We’re at the beach. It’s summer, the sun is shining, we have cool drinks and hot surfers. Best of all it’s in cyber space so no sand to make your picnic gritty.
Where’s it at?
http://www.moonlitromance.com and join the readers loop by following the link.

When is it on?
8am til 8pm central on MONDAY JULY 23rd

What can you win?
Great books and one very lucky winner will get the most gorgeous half moon quartz pendant.

Come and hang out with us and get A Taste of Summer, A Hint of Summer and A Slice of Summer with the gang at Moonlit Romance.

Friday Fun 4

Dudley Castle was founded in 1071 and overlooks the town known as the capital of the Black Country. It's haunted by the ghost of the Grey Lady and there are rumours of a secret tunnel leading from the castle to the ruins of the Priory which stands below the hill.
The castle and the towns Station Hotel were investigated by The Most Haunted team.
Today, as the castle is set within the grounds of the zoo, and as Kate Hardy talked in the previous post about some of her local dialects insect names, guess what the topic is?

A black bat is not the flying kind. Here, a black bat is a big beetle.
A doorbug is a woodlouse, possibly because of their habit of creeping under doors.
A Bobhowler is a moth.
Chookie is a chicken - like the Australian chooks.
Flen - is a flea
Oss or Hoss is a horse
A tunky is a fat pig. You might hear - Er's a big as a tunky pig.

Marrying Max got a great review!

Here

Marrying Max got a five heart review from The Romance Studio! It's always great when a reviewer really gets your book and this was one of those reviews!

Making Time

Boo is packed and away now till Thursday. Then on Saturday all three belles are away with their grandparents for a whole week. Ah, the hedonistic pleasures I have planned for that week. Finally doing my tax return, cleaning the house while they aren't here to see me removing outgrown favourites. Defrosting the freezer - sigh.
I finished my med chapter so I clogged up Jessica's inbox with it. Almost done my next chapter now on Blue Remembered Heels, so I'm halfway through - yay!
Eleven weeks now on the revisions and I'm thnking it'll probably be a few more before I hear.
Now to get my post office parcels ready. One critique, one letter to the bank (I hate my bank - I can't use a cashpoint, can't internet bank, can't get cash anymore from a till, can't get to talk to them on the phone so I have to visit the branh if I want money. All the other activities involve pin numbers and I don't have one and can't have one.)
Post my husbands forms which he's had for three months and I've had to remind him constantly about.
I think I'll try and pop in there mid morning after the ebayers have finished unloading their parcels.

Packing

The middle belle is heading off on Monday for a school residential trip. You would think she was leaving for the moon.
Boo - Why can't I take vest tops? How am I going to survive the week without vest tops?
Me - because it says tee shirts, no vest tops.
Boo - Can I take my cream tracksuit?
Me - Cream might not be the best colour for outdoor activities.
Boo - Oh. I don't want to go canoeing. You did tell them I don't do canoes?
Me - I told them you weren't a good swimmer.
Boo - Does it say no glittery things? Can I take lipgloss?
Argh! Can you tell she's my fashion diva?
I'm sure she'll have a great time, she's an experienced camper with brownies but she does love her girly stuff!

Friday Fun 3

Now most of you know about my passion for old buildings. This one is a tithe barn with roosts. It is just across the road from me and is part of a farm that's a listed building. The site on which the farm stands is an ancient heritage site as there has been a manor there since the Norman times. You can still see the medieval field layouts in the ground markings. We suspect our evening pipistrelle bats roost in or near the barn.
So, on todays lesson lol
This involves the words bist and bay. You can clearly see the link with old german. Bist is usually used as meaning are you as in Bist thee gooin ter town? ie are you going to town? How bist thee ma mon? How are you my good man?
Bay is nothing to do with horses. It usually means aren't you or isn't it. eg Yow bay gooin theer am yow? You aren't going there are you?
A classic Black Country statement using this is shown below
That bay a bay bin it?
That's not a bay window is it?
Now you have bin, bay and bist you can start to practice. I'll leave you with another word or werd - bostin' A term of high praise!
More next Friday.

Deep breath...

I sent off my partial via email as instructed last night. Next up is the critiquing I owe various people. I've got that well in hand though so I should have that finished in the next couple of days. I got a fab idea for another book, so I stashed that in my ideas file.
So, after that comes the writing!
Which would be fine except every night this week I have something on at the Belle's schools. Last night was Boo and La's parents evening. Tonight was a meeting for Boo's residential trip and tomorrow is the leavers service. Next week I've Shaggy's prize giving service as she has an award for art this year. There is also the leavers barbeque and Elvis night. (Don't ask!)

Aditing

I'm busy aditing my partial to send to Little Black Dress. I say adit because I'm aware of my tendency to write in a very sparing style. Consequently when I go back over to edit I invariably add things in. I'm almost done, just the end of C3 to tweak and my synopsis to check over and I'll send it on it's way.
Next up is some critiquing for various people and then back to the writing. I've almost got another couple of chapters done on the new med and on Blue Remembered Heels, so I need to get back on my schedule with both of them.
I also need to do my taxes - sigh.

Home from Leicester

I'm back from the conference!
I came home to lots of news, Marrying Max is on Fictionwise!!! Whoo hoo!! So if you've been holding off for a copy run and grab it while it's at the opening discount.
Jessica Raymond and I got another fabulous review for A Taste of Summer. This time from the lovely Robyn at Once upon a romance. You can check out what she said here
Once Upon A Romance
Conference was quieter this year as many of my friends were missing and we had some sad news while we were there. The workshops were great however as usual and as always I learned a lot. I met up with lots of people, some I'd previously only spoken with on line and others were people I hadn't seen for quite a while.
I had the great pleasure of meeting Cat Cobain from Little Black Dress and chatting with her about books generally and of course about Blue Remembered Heels. She remembered me from the Savoy. I think she was being polite when she assured me this was a good thing. lol.
She kindly asked to see Blue Remembered Heels so I'll do another polish and tidy and send it her way this week.

Friday Fun 2

I'm off to the conference later but I thought I'd leave you with some more lessons in 'spaking Black Country' while I was gone. The picture is of the famous Crooked House pub which is five minutes walk from my house. The pub defies the laws of gravity in that you can seemingly watch a penny roll uphill along the bar.

I thought you might like some descriptive phrases.

He's a right lummock - He's a big blundering man.
Stop yer mitherin - Stop worrying.
Goo an wash yer donny's - Go and wash your hands.
He's as jed as a nit - He's as dead as a headlouse.
Put t'wud in the hole - shut the door.
Her culdn't stop a pig in an entry - That woman has bow legs.

There'll be some more next Friday!

Conference preparations

Not Dallas but Leicester. Charlotte has done my nails, (she fitted me in between the end of my day clinics and before my evening one). I have the suitcase with the wonky wheel from out of the loft. Ocado delivered my groceries so I know Mr Nell and the belles won't starve while I'm gone.
I've almost figured out how to explain the plot of Blue Remembered Heels without people thinking I'm a nutcase. I have a box of books to take for Sunday just in case anyone wants to buy one or see what the Moonlit and Samhain print quality is like. (Fantastic - if you haven't seen them before!)
My choice of footwear, which was never vast, is still somewhat curtailed by my broken toe but given the weather I'm tempted to just take wellies.
So if you're going to the RNA conference tomorrow look out for the woman with the wilful suitcase, multitutude of books, dodgy shoes and harrassed expression.
See you there!

Guest blogging

Today at Kate Hardy's party!
http://katehardy.blogspot.com
Come over and help Kate celebrate her 25th M&B book! There's a prize.

First Review for A Taste of Summer

Check it out here! Four coffee cups!
http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/Atasteofsummer.html

tagged

Tagged by Lis

Here are the rules:
A. Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.
B. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. I have premonition dreams. Unfortunately the lottery numbers never seem to feature.

2. I'm a registered nurse, midwife, health visitor and nurse prescriber.

3. I'm a qualified shoe fitter for Start-rite shoes.

4. I'm allergic to glue, wool, tinsel, penicillin, nuts, apples, silver birch and cherry blossom.

5. I still love the Bay City Rollers.

6. I collect Pendelphin rabbits and antique pottery jelly moulds.

7. I'm scared of Doctor Who.

8. I haven't got a middle name and I always wanted one so I called myself Helen Louise for years.

I don't want to tag 8 people because all the people I'd normally tag are currently very busy with things like babies and moving and parties so if you read this and have time then 'tag' your it!

Friday Fun

Okay, since a few of you wanted to know what yampy meant I think the next few Fridays will be devoted to teaching you all Black Country.
The Black Country dialect is one of the oldest in Europe, it is very similar to old german and the english that was spoken in the middle ages. Many scholars have said that if Chaucer were alive today he would have no trouble communicating in the Black Country. The dialect varies a little from village to village with Darby End and my village of Gornal having the strongest dialects.
Many words still end in -en as in gooen meaning going. The A sound is often pronounced as an O. Man becomes Mon for example. So here are some words and phrases to start you off.
Bin - this is not a receptacle for rubbish but instead means been. So you may be asked 'Where have yow bin?' which means 'Where have you been?'
An answer might be 'Ah've bin ter Brummagem' This means 'I've been to Birmingham.'
A good example of old english words that are still used would be the words Midden or miskin. In anglo saxon it meant a dung heap but was often used to mean rubbish heap. Today it means the outside bin or rubbish as in 'Ah threw it on the midden,'
Next Friday I'll post some more about the Black Country and our dialect with some pictures.

Row, row, row your boat...

It's still raining here. The brooks and pools are full to bursting and many of the lanes are flooded. It makes reaching many of my clients interesting to say the least. We're avoiding the fords at the moment.
My good friend Kate Hardy is holding a party on her blog to celebrate her 25th book for Mills and Boon. Kate writes medicals and Modern extras. Call over if you have chance in the next couple of days and help her celebrate. There are prizes!
http://katehardy.bravejournal.com
Eight weeks now on Charlie and the RNA conference is looming nearer. It would be good to hear one way or the other before then as I know Maddie is going to the RWA conference in America just after that.

The infinite nature of time

It never fails to amaze me how elastic time can be. Waiting for an answer on Charlie time seems slow, dragging. I look at my word count for Blue Remembered Heels and all the work I've done in that same period, 21k written, major edits, galley proofs, three books to promote and time has hurtled past me at a scary speed.
Only four weeks until school breaks up for the summer and then once the holidays are over Christmas planning will begin with hardly time to draw breath in between.
Sometimes I wish I could stop the clock, hold the hour for just that beat longer. My children are growing up so quickly. In September my eldest begins her options year, my middle daughter enters her final year at primary school and my baby will be year five.
Where did that time go?

I've been clever - maybe

Downs and ups

I learned today that I'd clearly made it as a romance writer - yes, it's finally happened, I was reviewed by Mrs Giggles. As I don't write the kind of stories she enjoys I was surprised she'd bought a copy of Marrying Max and much less surprised that she didn't enjoy it.
Oh well, such is life. Now if I find my books on an e book pirate site that will be the topmost accolade.
On the up side I visited Romance Junkie's readers for my daily visit and found my cover of Marrying Max up on their front page. Whoo hoo! I was so surprised and excited.
It's still very, very wet here and many of the country lanes I have to travel as part of my work would be impassible if I didn't have Baby. The garden is very green and jungley at the moment with water dripping off my Magnolia and the wisteria. It gives quite a tropical effect.

Just a note

To say I'm blogging at Kate Walker's blog today. Go and help Kate celebrate her 50th book for HMB. I'll be drawing a winner from the comment trail over there on Friday to win a signed print copy of Things To Do.
http://www.kate-walker.blogspot.com
Hope over and tell me which book you've read this year that you'd give an award to.

Rain, rain go away

We still seem to be having crazy weather. Mr Nell had planned to take the caravan and a couple of the belles away this weekend but has had to change his plans due to the rain. This means that my planned weekend of just me and my middle belle, Boo, have had to be altered. We had an exciting weekend of cleaning and girly shopping in mind.
My toe is a very unlovely shade of yellow and black. At least the swelling has diminished but I'm still hopping around.
Blue Remembered Heels is still going well, the more I can get done the better before my pitch at the conference. No news from M&B.

Marrying Max is out today!

Available from http://www.samhainpublishing.com

Winner of the Romance Prize 2007

Mr Right Now meets Ms Forever. Some matches need a lot of work.

Toeing the line

Congratulations to my fabulous cp, Jessica Raymond on the safe arrival of her beautiful baby boy, Charlie, on Saturday!

In other news I think I may have broken my toe. I fell over an empty laundry basket and my fourth toe is now an interesting shade of purple and black. It's also very ouchie when I walk or drive. I'd have gone to A&E but it seemed silly when all they would do is strap it and I'm allergic to tape plus it helps if the toe they strap it to is straight and my toes aren't. I hate my feet!

Marrying Max releases tomorrow from Samhain!!!!!

Happy Father's Day

To all the Dads. Especially to my own dh, Mr Nell. He puts up with life with four females in the house. Permanent bathroom occupancy, jewellery and make-up and shoes all over the place. He waits outside Claire's accessories and Monsoon while the girls disappear on shopping missions and helps ferry them to parties, school and after school activities.
So, Happy Father's Day!!!

Talk to the hand!

It's been that kind of week. I won't bore you with my work woes but just when it seems there's a chink of light in one direction there's a dark pit in the other. I feel as if I'm swimming against a tide. It would be lovely to just tread water for a while but I know if I stop fighting I'll drown.

The weather has been fun here too talking of drowning. Did anyone see the pics of the tornado on the news? That was five miles away from me. Luckily I'd left my temp base and gone back to my other clinic before the storm broke or I might not have made it home. As it was the journey was horrific, lights out, phones dead and two feet of water in places. Thankfully my trusty car, Baby, is a 4X4.

I'm looking forward to the RNA conference in a few weeks time. It will be so lovely to meet up with old friends, make new ones and take part in some great workshops. I have a pitch session booked too with the editor for Little Black Dress - eek! Better write some more of Blue Remembered Heels!

Oh, baby, baby.

Congratulations to Judy Jarvie and her family on the birth of their lovely new baby girl! Esme Kate - gorgeous name - has made her appearance. So, one of the things I was waiting on has arrived! (big grin)
Tonight is weightwatchers again - it'll be interesting to see if I've lost any weight this week. I hope so, I've been very good.
Work is still manic but the end is nigh for my covering the extra work that I've been doing for the past nine months. Yay!!!!!! Just a few more weeks and hopefully I can hand it over.

Tum ti tum ti tum

I'm guest-blogging today on the Samhain blog, looking at Sleepers - those books that take a while to hook you in and Keepers, how many of these turn out to be books you can't bear to part with. For some reason it posted twice on there - argh - I find their blog really hard to use for some reason. I don't think it is really, it's just that I'm crap with anything vaguely technical.
Still waiting on baby news from Judy and medical news from M&B.
This week is really testing my patience gene for some reason - I don't know why. I know that the editors are really busy and it's always a bit crazy at this time of year. I've been trying to keep busy writing Blue Remembered Heels. I can't do any more on my med partials until I know something one way or another. One, I might be repeating an error if they don't buy Charlie and two, my writing time is so limited I can't afford to spend it on a speculative sale when I've other publishers and agents interested in new material. That's why I thought the more I get done on BRH, then if M&B do want Charlie my time will be free then to carry on the meds I have outined and part written depending which story they'd most like to see first.
So I'll carry on trying to distract myself and perfect this patience business.

Nineteen!!!!

Yay! Be My Hero is at 19! My lovely editor i.m'd me last night while I was brainstorming with Lis to tell me. She also said The Cinderella Substitute had re-entered at 103 - wow! Cinderella got to 13 first time around so that's amazing.
Lots of meetings and audits this week - sigh. Hoping to get more writing done. I'm 21k into Blue Remembered Heels now so thats good. No other news to report on Charlie. Marrying Max is out next week as an e book - very excited about that. Remember you have till the 18th if you haven't entered Mine and Jessica Raymond's contest for A Taste of Summer yet. Drop by our websites and enter.
With Jessica and Judy's babies imminent I'm waiting on baby news as well as book news!

I 'heart' fictionwise

The last couple of days have been really busy. I've been on my own at work again and it's tiring covering someone elses work as well as your own. Then I heard that my December release had been put back til January. I know it's only a month but it was a bit disappointing.
No news on Charlie - almost 6 weeks now and my nerves are in shreds.
But then I looked at Fictionwise to see how Be My Hero was faring and it's at 21!!! Yay, holding it's own against some very big names.
Plus, the nicest part, was all the votes from readers were great and good!!!
Now my day seems much brighter.

Be My Hero

Be My Hero is out on Fictionwise! Currently it's at number 35 in the romance chart and yesterday I got a fabulous four cup review from Maura at Coffeetime Romance. You can read the full review here: http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/Bemyhero.html

She said 'I really enjoyed this story of love lost and found. Tali, especially, is a great character. She survived her heartbreak of years before, and tried to get on with her life. Evan is a less likable character at first, but makes every effort to overcome Tali’s fears. He left without a word six years before damaging Tali’s confidence and really in effect ruining any chance she had of having a child. Her medical condition has progresses to a point where she is going to have a hysterectomy and it cannot be easy to see Evan and his six-year-old daughter, the daughter that they should have had together. The other characters of the story are well written and Polly is especially likeable with her princess fixation. I really enjoyed reading about how this couple overcomes their past to find a happier future.'

This is a story that meant so much to me, I cried as I wrote it and it's dedicated to the very special people at Birmingham Women's Hospital and my consultant Mr Afnan.

Be My Hero is available at fictionwise or at http://www.moonlitromance.com

P.S A special hello and welcome to all the Colin Firth fans who've been stopping by.

In search of Mr. Darcy - part two

Monday's weather was still mixed so we decided to leave Tenby for another day and went to Pembroke instead. Pembroke castle had the knights of Longshanks there wearing armour and staging fights. The sun came out and we had a lovely day.

Then our quest resumed - were the rumours true? We headed to Tenby in the beautiful sunshine to find out.

(Photo's from The Western Telegraph) The house seen above was apparantly used for some interior shots for the film and the other pic is of Cillian Murphy on set. We roamed around Tenby on our search but couldn't find the filming or any proof re: The Colin Firth rumour. There were people who'd seen Sienna Miller and Keira Knightly though.

The males in our party were not very fussed about looking for either of those two ladies and when we couldn't find Colin the females kind of lost interest too, and we abandoned the quest. So, is Colin Firth in the film? I really don't know but it was fun looking for him.

In search of Mr. Darcy - part one

We arrived in Wales to the news that Keira Knightly and Colin Firth were filming a new movie about Dylan Thomas just down the road from where we were staying. Naturally in a party made up of eight females and only two males the vote was quickly decided that we should investigate. The latest rumour had the film crew at Newgale beach - unfortunately the weather on Sunday was atrocious but when the rain lifted for an hour on the evening guess where we headed. Not that we expected to see them but just to see if there was any sign of a film crew around there. We trudged along the sands in the most incredible evening light, shafts of sun radiating through the clouds onto the cliffs and sand. No sign of Mr. Darcy. When it began to sleet we went to the Mariners arms and consoled ourselves with hot chocolate.
Rumours persisted however that the filming was still going on and there were some mentions of Tenby - so guess where we went next?
To be continued

Awards

I just got home from Wales to the news that my good friend, Phillipa Ashley has won the Joan Hessayon New Writers award for her wonderful debut book, Decent Exposure. Jessica Raymond and I had the great pleasure of attending the launch party for Phillipa's book and she, along with Allison Littlehales is one of my coffee and cake writer buddies. There were eleven books up for the award including Jessica's Haunted Hearts, Judy Jarvie's Taking the Leap (A great showing there by Moonlit Romance!) and my other writing friend Anna Lucia's debut book from Medallion press.
I'll blog about my hols tomorrow and my quest for Mr Darcy in Tenby but I couldn't wait to congratulate all the nominees and especially Phillipa!

And we're off!

Wales is beckoning. I always get so excited when I'm going there. I think it must be my Welsh heritage but I always feel as if I'm going home. The Belles are really pleased too as they get to spend time with our friend's daughters. In all the holidays we've taken together there has never been a falling out for more than thirty seconds between any of them. No mean feat for seven girls all different ages.

I gained half a pound btw at weightwatchers but my fingers were so puffy I think it was probably fluid. Sigh - so I still haven't got my stone. The caravan is stocked up with weightwatchers wine and goodies so with three of us following the diet this holiday hopefully we won't gain weight while we're gone.

I just heard back from one of the agents, a very nice letter but she didn't like Blue Remembered Heels. She didn't like the premise that the heroine was a con artist or the lightning strike and felt it was bit too light for the mainstream market. But she likes my work and my writing style and has left the door open for anything else I might have in the future. So, not bad! Onwards and upwards with the Welsh mountains calling me.

Weighty stuff

Yep, tonight is weightwatchers. I'm hoping I'll have lost half a pound so I can mark my stone but somehow I don't feel confident. I've been virtuous so I should have lost but I don't feel as if I have.
My final line edits are done for the e book version of Marrying Max and are back with my editor. I still have yellow highlighting and comma splices dancing around in front of my eyes but I can't wait for June 19th when it'll be out.
Don't forget the contest Jess and I are running for A Taste of Summer - pop by our websites and enter.
Over on My Space I have a new author spotlight posted - go meet Connie Keenan.
Tomorrow is supposed to be my day off so I can pack for the holiday but as I'm still covering the extra caseload I have to go in for a meeting.

Blind as a bat

Yep, that's me. I had my annual eyetest yesterday and I knew my eyes had deteriorated but even my orthoptist was surprised by how much. So, I now need new reading glasses and some for distance/driving. The lady in Boots seemed to have trouble understanding that adult glasses just don't fit me. She was so worried that I should take advantage of the two for one offer she didn't notice that the arms of the glasses were sticking out the back of my head like TV ariels or that the glasses kept sliding off my face where they were too wide.
I finally got to try on the kids glasses and as usual they were a perfect fit. The nice lady was mollified when she realised that the price of two pairs of kid frames and the lenses was about the same as I would have paid for the two for one offer on the designer frames.
A few weeks ago I won the arc of my good friend Amanda's new book - You Had Me At Halo
I've been wanting to read it for ages and this weekend I finally did. The book is just so Amanda and so great! I think it's out in September and you all have to rush and get your copy as soon as it's out. Trust me - it's a really good read.

Lazy Sunday

I wish - today is La's birthday. Miss, now 9 years old, had us all up early to open her presents. She then dragged her Dad off to Merry Hell to spend her money on a DS Lite. We go on holiday Friday with friends so this weekend has been a whirl of cleaning, sorting out stuff, birthday and paperwork.
Blue Remembered Heels is still going really well but I need to do a little research before I can finish my current chapter. The agent emailed me Friday to say she had my package - so more nail-biting. I know it's going to kill me if I don't hear from M&B this week as once we're away my email access will be very limited and I'm one of those few people who doesn't use a mobile phone. I do have one but it's never turned on and only about five people have the number. Oh well, I suppose news keeps - good or bad.
I'm looking forward to my holiday, we're off to Wales to Keeston, which is a small village between Haverfordwest and St Davids. The Belles are really excited as our friends daughters are going too. Yes, this is the girlfest holiday. So beach, shopping, barbecues and castles here we come. Can't wait!

A Taste of Summer...

is due for release today!
This is a beach read duet - two summery seaside stories ideal for vacation reading or for that lazy afternoon in the shade with a cool drink. It's extra special that my duet partner is Jessica Raymond, my cp. It's a real buzz to see a cover with both our names on the front and to celebrate we're holding a contest!
Drop by our websites http://www.jessica-raymond.com and http://www.nelldixon.com and enter. The prize is great - a summer themed goodie basket with a signed (by me) copy of Fall in Love and a signed by both of us copy of A Taste of Summer. Suncream, beach ball, fudge, a frisbee and a ton of other goodies.
A Taste of Summer will be available from http://www.moonlitromance.com later today.
Here's the blurb:

MAKING WAVES by Nell Dixon
Cassidy Jones needs a holiday and her friend, Tammy’s cottage in New Bay sounds perfect. The beach could heal the bruises from losing her job and her fiancé.
Josh Parker is also looking forward to a much needed break after eighteen months of non-stop work. His friend Tammy’s cottage would be just right for some time alone. Or would it...

ONE SHORE THING by Jessica Raymond
Desperate to escape London, Carrie Vaughan heads for the Cornish coastal town of New Bay.Noah Trevanion needs an assistant in his deli shop. He is delighted when Carrie walks through the door.Soon, their relationship becomes something special. But even in New Bay, where the sun shines and the sea whispers, could Carrie's past catch up with her?

Write on

I'm cracking on with Blue Remembered Heels. Still no news from M&B but I know Maddie is really, really busy so I just try not to think about it. Today I'm mailing a copy of Marrying Max, Things To Do and the partial of Blue Remembered Heels to an agent who requested them by phone last week.
Galleys are proofed for A Taste of Summer which releases on Friday!!!!! Yay!
Galleys are due from Samhain soon for Marrying Max e book version. Then I'm clear of edits till November as Dangerous to Know is a December release.
I've left my medical partials until I hear about Charlie Darling. I've loads of ideas for medicals but it's such a limited market if Charlie doesn't get taken up by M&B, and there are no guarentees, I can't afford to invest time in them. Of course if Charlie does sell then I'll be sooo happy to get going again.

Wet, wet, wet

No, not the group - the weather. We all got pretty soaked today hitching up the caravan to come home from our weekend at the seaside. Luckily the motorway was quiet as there was a lot of surface water and the rain was torrential.
We had a near miss when we were almost home when some moron in an orange car decided to cut us up on the island. Mr Nell thought he'd hit us as the orange car appeared to sport a large dent but Baby appeared undamaged - not that Mr Orangecar moron stopped to see. He pretended he was going to pull over then sped off. The belles were shaken up but are okay now. We stopped off at the policestation and reported him.
We went to Burnham for the weekend as a prebirthday treat for La as she'll be 9 next weekend. We had dinner at La Vela, our favourite restaurant on the Friday night then spent Saturday shopping at Street. I spent some of my romance prize money on a new bag for my laptop. Not just any bag though and I know Kate Hardy will like this - a Radley laptop bag. There's a Tula outlet shop and I have the most gorgeous laptop bag for a bargain price.
La bought a new top, converser shoes in blue polka dots and more Sylvanian family stuff so she was very happy.We had lunch at a nice pub then hit the heady arcades of Burnham to win stuff on the 2p fall machines followed by a barbecue and eurovision party.
How did Serbia win?! The Ukraine was robbed!
The perfect birthday treat weekend as far as La was concerned.

N.B to Ocado

Dear Ocado,
Please can you ensure that we have the cute young driver to deliver our groceries next time? I know this is a strange request but my eldest daughter is wasting valuable lipgloss and hair products only to be disappointed when someone else delivers.
It also means that her enthusiasm to help me put away the groceries diminishes considerably when the driver is not the 'hot' guy.
Yours sincerely, Harrassed mother of three.

Eeeny-meeny-miny-Tag!

I wanted to gloat about the concert but I've been tagged by Meg and Amelia to do this 8 things meme. So, guess what my eight things are gong to be about? hehehehe. Plus I want an excuse to post another pic of Bryan on my blog.

This is my screen saver.

Eight Things about Bryan Adams.

1. Whenever you see him in concert he always gives the impression that he really loves what he does. I've been to a lot of gigs and some just give the impression that they really don't want to be there. Bryan really goes out of his way to make every part of the audience feel as if they are involved in the show.

2. He is a very sexy guy. No, he's not conventionally good looking but the sexiest men often aren't. He's very confident about his music and that in itself is sexy.

3. His music is excellent, he can rock and do the big power soft rock ballards. He writes songs and plays guitar and he's never been afraid to try new styles of music.

4. His voice is just incredible. I don't think there would be a woman at that show who didn't feel that when he sang 'Have you ever really loved a woman' or 'lets make love' that he was singing that just for her and her alone.

5. There aren't any gimmicks. What you see is what you get. One guy in jeans and a plain tee shirt with a few other guys, making music. No flashy lights, costume changes, smoke effects, nothing. Just Bryan for two hours. He used two stages and often strolls out among the audience.

6. He does a lot of work for various groups, Born Free, Friends of the Earth etc. Born Free were there last night collecting and signing people up. He actively campaigns for the causes he believes in and isn't just a 'face' the way some celebrities are.

7. He's a talented photographer. He shot some pics recently for M&S of Bryan Ferry which were used in their ad campaign.

8. He's incredibly honest and straightforward. he was on Chris Evans radio show a while ago doing some stupid quiz thing where the celebs played to win seconds to promote themselves. Chris Eans offered him the chance to cheat when he didn't do too well and he refused saying a few seconds was fine. When he got his few seconds he just said he was playing a gig at wherever it was if anyone fancied coming along. It drove Chris Evans nuts, he couldn't understand why Bryan wasn't plugging an album or the tour or why he simply wouldn't cheat to have more time.

I think I'm supposed to tag someone but I can't remember who I tagged for this before so if you read it and want to play consider yourself tagged!

Guess where I'm going tomorrow?

Oh yes! I'm going to see Bryan in concert. (wipes drool from keyboard) My eldest daughter and Mr Nell are going too. I'm so excited. It's a standing joke that I would leave my dh for Bryan if he came calling. In fairness Mr Nell says he would leave me should Linda Lusadi ever make him a similar offer.

My eldest dd feels we are both deeply embarressing.

Hearts and Flowers

Over the weekend I recieved a huge and very beautiful bouquet. It arrived while we were at Boscobel House so my neighbour took it in for me. I got back to find a card through the door saying it was at Tracey's, who of course had gone out. So I spent the evening wondering who would have sent me flowers - it was mine and Mr Nell's 22nd wedding anniversary on the Friday so I didn't know if it was anything to do with that.
Eventually the mystery was solved - The flowers were from the lovely people at The People's Friend!
They completely fill one of my large crystal vases and are absolutely gorgeous and such a wonderful, wonderful surprise!
Yesterday I saw the sample of the cover for mine and Jessica's upcoming release - A Taste Of Summer and it's gorgeous! I can't wait to share it with you, it looks so lovely and beachy.
I finished my second round edits for Samhain, so now just final edits/proof to go and second/proof edits for Moonlit. I'm hoping to finish another chapter of Blue Remembered Heels today so I can send that to Jessica, then I need to read my devotional chapter entries and get that finished too.

What I did today

Today we visited Boscobel House.

This was the place where Charles II fled to escape Cromwell's troops. It has a descendant of the legendary oak tree where Charles hid while the soldiers searched for him. We had a tour of the house and saw the priest holes where he hid. The gardens and tea rooms are quite lovely and we had a wonderful time.

Catching my breath

Maddie emailed me on Monday to say she has my revisions and will get to them asap. The photographer just left for the Dudley News. They are putting an article in the paper next week. She took the photo in the garden so my wisteria should look very pretty in the background. The rosebowl is still in London at the moment while they sort out the tiny little dink the engraver put in it. I swear it wasn't me!
I'm working on figuring out a schedule for what I need to be writing. I have two med partials started and my single title to work on. I also should have two lots of second round edits due - one from Moonlit and one from Samhain.
A Taste of Summer - the beach read duet will be out later this month - I can't wait to see the cover. Moonlit and By Grace do the most gorgeous covers.
Today is polling day here in the UK for the local council elections - GO VOTE!!

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who's stopped by, left messages, emailed me or called. I'm overwhelmed. I've sent off my revisions to Maddie at M&B so Michelle can put down her whip.

For everyone who has asked about getting hold of Marrying Max. It's available from Amazon in large print. You may be able to order a copy from People's Friend, it's issue 555. Also it's coming out as an e book from Samhain on June 19th.

Here's a pic

Many thanks to Fiona Harper and Allison Littlehales for the pictures.

Wow!

Marrying Max has won the Romance Prize 2007. Typing it still doesn't seem to make it any more real. Yesterday was one of the most amazing and surreal experiences of my life.
Allison and I met as planned at the station and had a nice journey into London, talking about our books and who we hoped to see at the lunch. We took a taxi to the Savoy and got there just a little early. This turned out to be a good thing as it's a very large place and it took us a while to find our bearings. Fortunately we were spotted by Roger (med author Gill Sanderson) and Jan Jones who rescued us and pointed us in the direction of the cloakroom and the bar.
I was too nervous to risk alcohol and I'm not much of a drinker anyway, so Allison and I stood with our glasses of water in this very large and impressive room trying not to be overwhelmed by the whole thing.
I had a lovely chat with Maddie Rowe about the revisions she'd asked for on Charlie and fortunately we seem to be in complete accord about the improvements. Then we were called through to the luncheon by the toastmist
ress.
The River room is beautiful, all cream and gold ornate plasterwork and the tables looked gorgeous with silver candleabra on mirrored plates. Allison and I didn't really know anyone very well on or table but we were fortunate to be seated with some very lovely people and we soon broke the ice.
The lunch was delicious, I mean really wonderful. Then it was time for the awards. The main award - The Romantic Novel of the year was first. This was won by Rosie Thomas for her book Iris and Ruby. She gave a superb speech.
Dame Tani Grey-Thomson presented the award and she was also a very moving speaker and her love of books really shone through.
Then it was the Romance Prize. The books short-listed were all so good as the chair of the judges talked about each one I just thought wow - that one will win. Then she said they had shortlisted them to three and Marrying Max was mentioned.
The lady next to me was smiling at me and I thought, no way do I stand a chance. Then I vaguely remember hearing my name and lots of excitement in the room.
I couldn't move. Allison was urging me to stand up and Michelle Styles came over and pushed me out of my seat to go up to collect the Betty Neels rosebowl.
I don't know how I walked across that room and onto that stage.
Then, horror, I was expected to make a speech -
I have no clue what I said.
I know it was short.
I hope I remembered to thank everyone.
After that it all went a bit crazy. I had the rosebowl on the table and I said to Allison -'how are we going to get this home on the train?'
She was grinning like a cheshire cat and said 'I've got a rucksack.'
The agent, Darley Anderson, came over to give me his card and asked me to send him something.
All my friends at Mills and Boon came over to the table and it was just crazy!
The next few hours just flew by. I had to call my husband and my mother and Jessica, my cp.
It felt so unreal - heaven knows what the photos people took of me will be like as I was still in shock.
It wasn't till Allison and I got out of the taxi back at Euston that it started to sink in and I remember saying to Allison - 'I won, didn't I?'
She just gave me a hug and steered me towards the train.I really do need a keeper when I'm out.

All set...

My hair is tamed and hi-lighted, Charlotte at Cheryl's Tan 'n' Talons has worked minor miracles on my nails. I've lost another half a pound at weightwatchers, my bag is packed with the tickets, my phone is on charge and a small present for the Fecklet has found it's way into my bag. (I love buying for babies), so I'm all set.
I've re-read Charlie through and made myself some notes ready to tackle the revisions. It'll be nice to say hello to Maddie tomorrow. Cross your fingers that Virgin trains will run to time, I can stay upright on my shoes, not drop my lunch down my suit or otherwise show myself up.
I'll be back with a full report after the event!

Cue the spooky music again...

About five or six posts back you might remember I said I'd had one of my premonition dreams. I dreamt I saw a revision letter from M&B for Charlie Darling. It asked for four points, two minor and two more major. I also saw email which I interpreted as needing to email them back.
Today I got an email from Maddie Rowe, the editor at M&B who has Charlie. Attached was the letter for revisions, set out as I 'saw' it with four revision points. Two minor and two involving more work.
Sometimes I scare myself.

Confuse and look

The marvels of the NHS under labour. The Choose and book system, except there is no choice and they cancel the booking and just send you an appointment anyway. Today Boo should have seen a paediatrician for one of her ongoing medical issues (the joys of being prem) Except her appointment, the one it took four phonecalls and twenty minutes on line to book, was cancelled at the last minute. It took thirty minutes on hold to various departments to try and rearrange it - they failed. They then had to make two calls back to me in order to rebook it.
I finished my first round of edits for Samhain, so now I have to wait for second round edits. Edits are also due anytime from Moonlit. I caught up on some of my other admin stuff for my publishers, now just the new author spotlight to post on my blog and a new contest to sort out.
I'm writing my new med partial and Blue Remembered Heels.
Still panicking over the Savoy. At least all this is helping to distract me.

Life and Lemon Meringue

I met Allison Littlehales and Phillipa Ashley for lunch today at the tea rooms. It's always a pleasure to meet up and we really should try and do it more often. As usual we talked non stop about writing, books, and our current projects. I have a lovely good luck card from Phillipa with a picture of Jane Austen's house on it and she and Allison have managed to calm my nerves a little about Friday.
I still don't know if Dave will be able to come with me to the Savoy. He's just started a new job (today) and his manager won't be in till Monday. They've had all the dates for our holidays and things but until he sees them he doesn't know if he can get the time off. This is not helping so the lemon meringue assisted beautifully today in calming my angst. I'm trying not to think how many points it is on the weightwatcher thing. I lost three pounds on Thursday and I'd love to lose another two by the Savoy date as this would mean I'd lost a stone.

It's getting closer...

The Savoy date is looming closer. Today I'm guestblogging with Jessica Hart at http://pinkheartsociety.blogspot.com If you visit here regularly you'll know that when I grow up I want to be Jessica Hart or Jenny Crusie so you can guess how excited I am.We're talking about contemporary heroes and we'd love some thoughts over there.
Yesterday I had another post over at the eharlequin, look who's blogging RNA thread about the preparations for the big day.
Tonight is weightwatchers - I'm hoping for a weightloss, preferably more than the pound I acquired during my holidays, then later I'm practising walking in my Savoy shoes. This is harder than it sounds. I haven't worn heels since I had my eldest daughter so I've lost the knack from my pre-baby catwalk days. I don't have much luck with shoes, in fact, if I could have plastic surgery anywhere on my body it would be my feet. Unlike the rest of me they are long and skinny. They are also pointy-shaped. Now you can get long shoes, you can get wide shoes, you can get long wide shoes. You can't get long skinny shoes with pointy toes.
My Savoy shoes need an insole to take up some width but they are very cute turquoise suede with a button over strap and skinny heels. Very lovely - but I look like an elephant on eggshells at the moment - more practise is dafinitely called for.

Marrying Max - The new cover!!!!

I love this cover - Vanessa Hawthorne at Samhain has done a fabulous job. The release date is now set for June 19th - so for all my overseas readers who couldn't get Max when it came out in the UK, here it is in e book. Every lovely award nominated bit of it!

I know, I'm boasting - well if I can't, who can? lol

Time flies..

I'm still home feeling crappy. My voice is returning much to my daughters' dismay and I'm still dosed up on meds. While I was away I got the plot in my head for a new medical so I've had to jot down the scenes in my head. I'm also ready to get on with chapter three of my new single title. The devotional chapter is done and just needs polishing and Samhain and Moonlit are getting ready to send me edits. Samhain for Marrying Max and Moonlit for Making Waves for the A Taste of Summer duet.
The Savoy date is drawing closer and my nerves are getting worse. Luckily Phillipa and Allison are meeting me for coffee on Saturday at the tearooms so that will help enormously.

Holiday postcards continued...

We also visited Branscombe, the pretty picture postcard village that was on the UK news a few weeks ago due to the sinking of the Napoli. The Napoli can be viewed from the beach and still seems to have some containers on board. Branscombe beach has only recently re-opened to the public after the village was swamped by salvagers looting from the containers that had washed up on shore. In the news this week the Isle of Wight had also started getting goods from the Napoli washing up there now too. It must have been horrendous for the villagers as the roads down to the bay are tiny and not at all suitable for the volume of traffic the wreck generated. The beach is pretty well clear again now and we walked for about a mile on a cool and bracing day.

Spring fever

Or in my case, tree pollen. I'm dosed to the eyeballs with antihisitimines and have lost my voice. The girls think this is hilarious as it means I can't nag at them. Michelle emailed methis morning to say my blog post was up at eharlequin, look whose blogging RNA thread. It served to remind me that the Savoy is less than two weeks away now - eek!
I'd put a pound on when I went to weight watchers this week after the holiday but I swear it's all the crap in my nostrils from the trees.
I spent yesterday at work cleaning out cupboards. It was a bit like cleaning out the attic of an eccentric great aunt. Dusty, spidery and full of mysterious objects that no-one knew who they belonged to, how they'd got there or what they were for.
The officeswap is virtually complete, and to be honest, I really don't see that it was worth it for anyone. The other team are still cramped. We have to keep going to another room to get our equipment all the time, the nurses are disgruntled because we booted out their stuff to make room for ours and the cleaners seem to have cornered the market in yellow bags. The main hall is full now of rubbish that needs to be tipped and the gents loo is full of stuff to be sent to store or redistributed.
I have no nails as I broke them cleaning so combined with my red eyes, stuffy nose, croaky voice and general fluffiness I'm going to be the pictre of glamour at the Savoy.

Powderham Castle

We spent Easter Sunday here.

This is Powderham Castle, home of the Earl of Devon. We toured the house which was great fun. The last time I came here I was on honeymoon so it had been a few years!

The girls enjoyed decorating eggs and rolling eggs. We did two treasure hunts and toured the secret garden. The picture of the kitchen is especially for Michelle. It's a genuine victorian kitchen with a lead sink so when a plate was dropped whilst being washed hopefully the china wouldn't break.

Back!!!

Well, I'm back from my holiday. Lovely weather and beautiful scenary. The hottest day was good Friday, which we spent at the beach at Charmouth. La and Boo spent most of the day in the sea.
I had one of my premonition dreams while I was away. I 'saw' a letter from M&B asking for revisions on Charlie. 2 minor ones and 2 more major ones and a request to email the changes back asap. Nothing in the post yet though.
I did get an email from the cover art dept at Samhain though and I've seen a preview of the cover for Marrying Max (the e book) It looks gorgeous. While I was away we went to Dawlish yesterday afternoon. On the green there were a number of stalls selling things to raise money for charity. One of them had a copy of Marrying Max (the People's Friend version) Somehow I ended up signing the copy and leaving them with some of my bookmark cards. I hope they'll raise lots of extra money with it. We certainly drew more people to the stall.
I'll post more about the trip and try and get some photo's on here for the next few days.

I'm off on holiday tomorrow until April 10th. I'm not sure how much net access I'll have while I'm away. I may manage to post but it depends on where we are. We're heading to Devon, near Sidmouth, and I must admit I can't wait. I am so tired at the moment the break will be fantastic. C2 of Blue Remembered Heels is done and with Jess, I'm hoping to do some more while I'm away. I also want to do my devotional chapter while I'm gone for By Grace.

Best of all though, I have new books calling my name - Adopting Alyssia by Denise Patrick has been on my list for ages. I also have Her L.A. Knight by Lynne Marshall and Margaret McDonagh's A Doctor Worth Waiting For sitting on my pile.

Pearly whites

Took the girls to the dentist yesterday. Yes, this is the hunky dentist who looks like Vin Diesel -happy sigh. La was praised for her great teeth cleaning. He tugged out a longtime wobbly tooth for Boo. She never batted an eyelash and says it didn't hurt at all. Now she's waiting for the tooth fairy. Eldest dd was asked if she'd consider having braces fit. To do this they would need to refer her to have some teeth out and she'd need to wear it for about two years. Of course she promptly burst into tears. I'm sure the moment wasn't helped by Boo skipping around with a cotton wool plug in her mouth singing 'it didn't hurt a bit, you're just a baby.'
Sisterly love is a wonderful thing.
Tonight is Boo and La's report night so I get to go and see their teachers. It's always interesting, especially La's report,my budding criminal genius.
Almost finished c2 of Blue Remembered Heels, just 500 words or so to go. Not sure this version will stay when I've written more, it may need juggling but we'll see. It's great fun to write.

Author spotlight

There is a great interview over on my Myspace blog with M&B historical author Michelle Styles. Michelle is a good friend of mine and a very talented writer. Her book, Gladiators Honour is also shortlisted for The Romance Prize 2007
http://blog.myspace.com/nelldixon

Be still my beating heart

I had a card through the door on Wednesday saying the postman had tried to deliver a package but it was too big for the letter box so I needed to take a trip to collect it. I didn't think anything of it as I was expecting my eldest dd's cd that I'd ordered for her. My post is very vague sometimes so it wouldn't be the first time something as small as a cd had been left at the depot.
I planned to go this morning as they are only open for a few hours a day, then the post this morning delivered the cd. Mmm...
I ran through the other possibilities, a ms to critique for the NWS, some tee shirts I'd ordered for my holidays, Charlie Darling rejected from M&B.
You can guess which one my mind immediately fixated on - so then I couldn't rest till I got up there and collected it. All the way there I was trying to remember if I'd asked them to shred Charlie if they didn't like it.
I dashed in clutching my drivers license and the card, the postlady disappeared and I heard rustling. By this time I was convinced it was Charlie and I was ready to cry all over the poor woman.
But no, it turned out to be the tee shirts after all.
My legs were like jelly when I got back to the car, I don't think I've recovered yet. lol

welcome

to all the folks that dropped by. I hope some of you will stick around and drop back.
In other news, getting priorities straight, I lost another three pounds at weight watchers last night. This makes nine and a half in four weeks - I think I'll need to retry my Savoy outfit on again soon to see if the trousers need adjusting.
Today is my in-laws golden wedding anniversary. 50 years - we have a special present arranged for them and tonight they are taking us out for a meal to celebrate. Everything is a bit hectic this upcoming week, dental appts for the girls, the car servicing, packing for the holiday, sorting out work.
Work is still as bad as ever. The date is set for the office swaps - Friday 13th April. Yeah, I know, isn't that appropriate? We have no manager at the moment either, in the grand scheme of re appointing all the bosses to different jobs paying more money they appear to be ignoring our bit of the county.

Blue Remembered Heels - heroine

This is an actress called Yancy, I think she's pretty perfect as Abigail (Abbey) the heroine in Blue Remembered Heels. I'm almost halfway through c2. Jessica has looked at the synopsis and Lis has read chapter one so it all looks good for entering the contest.

Did you see what I did?

Well, did you spot it? Yes, I finally managed to put a photo on here! Yay, me. In my mission to improve my terrible skills I've been practising html stuff over the weekend. I'm still rubbish at it but I did manage to do a few more things.
I also did my one page synopsis for Blue Remembered Heels and sent it to Jessica. I did a chat at The Story Board and Lis has kindly agreed to read the first chapter of Blue Remembered Heels for me to give me some reader feedback.
I made some pages at the Author's Den and I worked on my Myspace.
Wow!
After all the playtime, I need to get writing again - time to refocus on my projects.

Mothering Sunday

It's mother's day here in the UK for the benefit of my US and Canadian visitors who might think I've gone a little crazy. Well, crazier than usual at any rate. My youngest daughter has presented me with a lovely brooch which I suspect she has fleeced from someone. I expect I'll hear the full story later. My middle daughter has made a lovely card. Boo and Shaggy, my eldest dd,have also given me a huge wicker sarcophagus full of plants. They love it and if you like plants I'm sure it's really beautiful.
This was a lovely thought but I hate houseplants. I'm not good with them, they seem to sense my animosity at having something else to care for and promptly shrivel up and die. This thing is huge- there must be at least twelve plants in it, one of which is a kind of dark purple leaved thing that reminds me of dead butterflies and gives me the creeps. I know I'm an ungrateful recipient but my punishment is that I have to care for this thing and look at it forever as it occupies my favourite table top and I worry about water stains on the mahoghany.
I appreciate the sentiment behind the gift but if any of you ever, at any point, and for whatever reason become possessed of a desire to buy me a houseplant - pease don't. The deaths of a hundred African violets are already on my concience.
I love cut flowers, especially daffodils which are my favourites. Fresh flowers are so cheerful and always lift the spirits. Guess I'll have to go buy my own.

Weekend whirl

I lost another half a pound at weightwatchers on Thursday. Not bad considering I'd been ill. Yesterday was comic relief aka rednose day here in the UK. I personally hate this event. I know lots of people love it but I find it unfunny, patronising and pointless. There are much better more effective ways of giving to people who need money than comic relief.
Today apparantly is St Patrick's day. Another day that for some reason is starting to become very irritating. If you're Irish then fabulous, have a great time but if you're not then why pretend to be just so you can go and have too much to drink. I'm not irish, not even a bit irish I have no desire to be irish even though I know some lovely irish folks so I don't want to fake being irish - aaagggghhhhhh. (Sorry)
Tomorrow is Mothering Sunday - so I'm about to whizz off to collect flowers for my Mom and MIL and find a card and present for my friends birthday on Monday - Happy Birthday Susanne if you're reading this. It's also supposed to snow tomorrow - really snow - so that'll be interesting.
Writing wise I haven't done much for two days. Well, that's not strictly true. I've been thinking a lot and juggling stuff in my head about plots and storylines, so hopefully I'll be back on form in the next few days again.

Techno - know how

Most of you have figured out by now that me and computers aren't exactly a match made in heaven. But I'm starting to find that my lack of computer saviness is hindering me in ways I hadn't anticipated. One of my goals this year was to figure out my promotions and marketing so I've been trying to learn the ropes from some experts in the field.
One of whom is the wonderful Dorothy Thompson from http://pumpupyouronlinebookpromotion.blogspot.com

I asked her some questions about Technorati and how it worked and she has a great step-by-step instruction post on there, so I'm going to give this a try.
I've also been trying to get my Myspace more user friendly - now that's a challenge on it's own.


Technorati Profile

Quarterly News

My quarterly newsletter was mailed out yesterday to all my subscribers. To register just go to my website and follow the instructions. http://www.nelldixon.com There is always an exclusive contest just for members so if you join now, let me know and I'll make sure you get this quarters news. (Contest runs till April 2nd)
I'm feeling a bit better today, the bruised feeling seems to have gone from my lower back so I'm hoping this is the end of it. I'm not good at being ill, I'm the worlds worst patient so I'll be so glad to feel normal again.
I must do some tidying up on here too. If you visit me reguarly and you aren't listed in my sidebar leave me your link so I can add you. I also have a Myspace page so if any of you want to drop by there or friend me go to http://www.myspace.com/nelldixon
Jessica has sent me the crit for Blue Remembered Heels so the first chapter is all tidied up now and I'm working on a short synopsis. Once that's out of the way I can enter it in the contest and get back to Places To Go while I wait for the verdict on Charlie Darling.

What a surprise!

I hauled myself off the sofa and pulled on my tracksuit last night to go to weightwatchers. Guess how much I lost? Four pounds, four whole pounds. That's six pounds in a fortnight. Yay!!! Still feeling crappy today but I think the antibiotics are kicking in now.
Blue Remembered Heels is going like a train at the moment. I've almost finished the first chapter thanks to the writing challenges at Romance Diva's. The plot is almost there in my head so I can tackle the synopsis soon. I don't know what kind of reaction this is going to get though. If I try to explain it as it stands at the moment it'll sound a bit off the wall - which it is, but hopefuly in a good way. This story really excites me so I'm hoping for good things with it. I've done a bit more on Places To Go but I think I'll get Blue Remembered Heels ready and entered in the Waterstones Chick lit contest then focus on Places To Go - barring anything exciting happening from M&B of course.
La, my eight year old informed me this morning that she could see I'd lost weight. "Because before your tummy was all round and out there and now it isn't." She said as she helpfully patted my tee shirt down. I think it was a compliment.

Holding out for a hero.

I had my crit of chapter three of my medical back from Jess so that's all polished up now just in case M&B are interested. Still no news on Charlie, this is the point where I get really antsy so I'm in full distraction mode.

Part of my distraction is my plotting for Blue Remembered Heels. I've been giving some thought to my hero for this and by chance I spotted a face on TV that fit the bill. I know - that's really unusual for me as I haven't a clue usually about actors or films. However they helpfully printed his name on screen so I could look him up. So here's Alec Baldwin.

Yay

Be My Hero is now available in print. http://www.moonlitromance.com

I also recieved a signed copy of Jessica Hart's Barefoot Bride. Guess what I'll be reading as a reward once I finally finish this medical partial? I just have a couple of hundred words to add and it'll be on it's way to Jessica for her opinion.

Tonight is weigh in night at weightwatchers - place your bets as to how much I've lost.

Counting points

My friend dropped by yesterday and double-checked my point counting. I am being very virtuous but don't see anything happening in the fluffiness department yet. I can't believe one small fillet of smoked mackerel is 10 points - who knew?
I've rejigged my new medical synopsis again and feel a little better about it now. Almost completed the partial just over 1k to go and it's really starting to come together more now I think. Once I've done that I plan to dive back into Places To Go and get another 10k or so done on that. I'm also tinkering with another project that I might enter in a contest if I can get the first chapter finished in time for the deadline. It's another single title that I've been mulling over for a while. Unlike the medical it has a proper title - Blue Remembered Heels. I must get myself a title for the new med, I seem to have been calling it that forever.

Bounty bars and other happy coincidences

Bounty bars are the perfect shape and size to eat in two bites. Hence ideal for the car when I'm sprinting between visits. Sadly, Bounty bars are not good for the fluffiness issue so I only ever have one when I'm a) buying diesel, b)stressed, c)haven't had any lunch. Today I was all of those so my Bounty Bar really was a taste of paradise.
I had a nice message left for me today at Myspace, a lovely lady told me she'd gone to Barnes and Noble to buy Things To Do but the staff told her it had sold out so she ordered it. I had a little buzz of excitement when I read that - it would be so lovely to see it on a bookshelf in a shop. A few people have told me they've asked their local library to order it for them which is fantastic.
This week is hard as I'm on my own at work, lots of new babies which is nice, oh, and a clients dog has eaten the cable to my neonatal hearing screening equipment. I needed that Bounty lol
Tomorrow I get to go to weightwatchers with my friend, Susanne. Since I was banned from Rosemary Conley a few years ago I haven't really done the group thing so this should be interesting.

Shopping

I spent yesterday morning at Merry Hell, aka Merry Hill. I don't like shopping for me, it's no fun when you're fluffy, but, the new spring stuff is in and I needed to find something for the Savoy. It's no good me leaving it till nearer the time as I haven't anytime to shop as the belles have a dance show coming up and we have a holiday before then too.
I managed to melt a serious amount of plastic on a new suit, top, shoes, bag, scarf, make-up and a nice John Rocha tunic top that was in the sale at Debenhams. My friend is dragging me to Weight Watchers with her on Thursday. That'll be fun - she's promised to help me with the math. So will I become less fluffy? will pigs fly? watch this space!

Stunned!!!

Things To Do has been nominated for the Ecataromance Reviewers' Choice Award. Wow!

Love at the library part 2

Well, I'm back. It was an interesting morning and I chatted with some really nice people. I'm holding the draw later for people who took a free ticket to win a prize parcel of some goodies and a copy of Things To Do.
It was very heartening to see how popular romances are with book borrowers. I always knew they were but it was still good to see the proof with my own eyes. Lots of RNA members books being taken out.
I finished c2 of the medical partial and sent it to Jess, I've started in on c3. I also put down a little bit of a new project as I saw this great competition mentioned that I thought might suit this idea I've had buzzing around in my brain for a while now. Now if someone would just invent a few extra hours in my day I'll be just fine!

Love at the library

Tomorrow is the meet the author, love at the library event. Since it's half term and as usual the local press are too busy taking photo's of primary school children picking up litter, if I see anyone other than a couple of retired folks, some kids who are out for a giggle and a dog I'll be happy.
I get very nervous about meeting people and talking about my writing. I wish I had someone else to hide behind. As it is I've dragooned eldest dd into coming as my assistant to persuade people to take raffle tickets for the free draw to win a copy of Things To Do and I've a supply of pens and postcards.
My wonderful friends at Wombourne writers have promised to drop by and so have some of my walk for health group (they are also supporting me in my quest to become less fluffy) So, if you happen to be in the vicinity of Wombourne Library tomorrow between 10 and 12 don't be shy - come and say hello - there's a free pen in it for you ;)

The Savoy and being 'fluffy'

Fluffy is a batcave term for carrying a few extra pounds. Or in my case, quite a few extra pounds. As the Savoy tickets arrived yesterday and I just booked our train I decided I needed to tackle my added fluffiness a little more severely. I don't over eat so a diet is tricky. I've cut down where I can and the fluffiness remains. (This is where Polycystic ovaries don't help in the fluffiness battle.)
I know that my problem is lack of exercise. Eldest dd and I went to a local health club today to try out the facilities and to see if I could justify the expense of joining. She, of course, loved it. My eldest is very keen on sport of any kind so it was her idea of heaven. I liked the pool, it was warm, had swim lanes and the hairdyers worked in the changing rooms. I can't see myself becoming a gym bunny however, to be honest, the gym scared me. It was so noisy with music playing and televisions everywhere, the machines all had to be set with numbers to program them - my idea of hell.
My GP has forbidden any kind of aerobic activity as my hip is not good so my other choices were limited. I'm too old, unco-ordinated and fluffy to trampoline so apart from the pool I'm thinking I probably wouldn't use the other facilities much.
Sigh - Eldest child and I discussed it at length and we decided to get the local leisure centre programme instead. If we can make at least two sessions a week there for six weeks I'll look at the posh club again.
In the meantime it's back to my trusty pedometer.

Snow and birthdays

Today is my birthday and the schools are closed because of the snow, which means my birthday meal out is looking a bit shaky. I should have gone out on Tuesday with my friend but she had to bail because she's buried under work, so I don't think socialising is in the stars for me this week. The kids are outside making a snowman. I give La about fifteen minutes before she comes back in wet through and dithering telling me she doesn't like snow.
My presents were interesting from the girls. My dh had coerced them into buying me a bottle of Happy, my favourite perfume but the two little ones decided to present me with a gift of their own choosing too. La gave me a tiny snowglobe which she informed me she'd meant to give me last year but forgot. Boo gave me a small teapot. I don't drink tea. She then went on to say she'd won it at the school summer fair and not to worry about the damaged box lid as that was where she'd torn the raffle ticket off.
I love birthdays!

I hate cleaning...

I'm not a natural Mrs housewife type person. I love the house to look clean and tidy but with a husband who thinks the floor is a suitable place to store his stuff and three very messy daughters, I'm on a hiding to nothing. I spent most of this weekend digging out my middle daughters room and I'm nowhere near done. I think she has the market cornered in odd socks, handbags and Bratz doll bits.
I treated myself to Liz Fielding's latest book, The Valentine Bride yesterday whilst I was at Asda. I'd like to get Natasha Oakleys latest too but I bought the dvd of Muriel's Wedding and The Runaway Bride to watch with my eldest dd instead. I'll have to check my bank balance for next weekend and see if I can manage it then instead.

5 Things

Robin tagged me to blog five things people don't know about me. Since I've already done this twice I thought I'd make this five secret or not so secret things about my books.

1. One scene in The Cinderella Substitute was sparked by a phrase one of my Asda collegue's used in a story she was telling me one day during her break. The scene was the one where Jenni's mum is wandering the street.

2. Marrying Max was inspired by Jessica Hart's wonderful fake engagement stories. I longed to write one to see if I could create a believable situation.

3. Cue Me In was my first attempt at a spooky story, it's very much tongue in cheek and the castle in the story is loosely based on Corfe castle.

4. Fall in Love features Cornwall and surfers. We spend a lot of time in Cornwall and Devon. New Bay is fictional but has elements of lots of the seaside towns we stayed at. Check out our upcoming beach duet, coming out in May. Jessica Raymond and I have two new stories set in New Bay. You may recognise some of the characters.

5. The yacht in Things To Do meant I interviewed a yacht broker and had a personal tour of a million pound yacht.

If you want to do this, consider yourself tagged!