Contest

Fall in love with all things English. To celebrate our wonderful English set anthology, Nell Dixon and Jessica Raymond are holding a contest. You could win a hamper of goodies, including a signed print copy of The Fall in Love anthology, chocolate, English tea and a host of surprises. Visit http://www.nelldixon.com and http://www.jessica-raymond.com and answer our questions to be in with a chance to win.
Contest ends on the 20th of October.

Have fun and good luck!

Knickers

Those of you who know me well will remember that when I'm stressed or depressed I resort to the comfort buying of consumer goods. For some women this is shoes, or bags, or perfume, or lipstick, or chocolate.
I buy lingerie. The last time my husband complained about me comandeering all the bedroom drawers for my stash I checked out my addiction and discovered I had 140 pairs of knickers. This didn't include the new, still tagged stuff in my other cupboard.
What can I say? I suppose a psychiatrist would have a field day, but then again they probably would have that with me anyway. Still, it tells you something about my stress levels when I tell you I went shopping again yesterday and guess what I bought?
I'm claiming this as research - the first scene for my new planned beach read book involves the hero and lots of ladies underwear!
In some good news I got a letter from the taxman - I get some money back!

Guestblogging across the universe

Well at the Pink Heart Society blog. Jessica, Rebecca and I are talking about winning the Fall in Love contest and we have some tips and hints for anyone thinking of entering a writing contest. Come over and join us! http://www.pinkheartsociety.blogspot.com

More polish

Congratulations to Jessica Raymond, my wonderful cp on her sale and imminent release of her brilliant book Haunted Hearts. Moonlit Romance will be releasing it on October 6th. For details of her call story visit her blog.
I'm still polishing Charlie Darling. I think it's already reading much more fluidly. I haven't heard anything yet but to quote my grandmother:
Patience is a virtue,
posess it if you can,
it's often found in women
and seldom in a man.

Author Day

I have an author day today 1-5 est, 6-11 gmt at http://www.lovesromancescafe this is a yahoo group. If anyone is heading that way I'd love to see you.
BTW a certain author has big news breaking on her blog later today http://jessicaraymond.blogspot.com
Have a great Sunday! Next week is a busy week for me as my colleague of the last 11 years leaves on Friday.

Coffee and writing

As most of you know I am a coffee addict. I don't have blood in my veins, just neat caffeine instead. So today I got to combine my coffee addiction with meeting up with Allison Littlehales for one of our irregular get togethers. It's always wonderful to talk about writing with another writer and we spent a happy few hours eating, drinking and talking.
Last night I got to talk to my lovely Moonlit editor, Laura, on i.m and somehow I seem to have sold her an idea for a project that Jessica Raymond and I had been planning together. So then I had to call Jessica and break the news that I'd roped her in for writing a duet with me for a summer beach read book.
I think once she'd recovered from the shock that she took it quite well.
Fall in Love is now available in print!!! Yay! http://www.moonlitromance.com

My first release from By Grace will be out in October. Called From Darkness, it's a duet with Sheila Holloway and features a welsh castle, a ghost and lots of bumps in the night.

Polish

I did my first read through tonight of Charlie Darling. I've let it sit for over a week so I could look at it objectively. I added 300 words tonight just on my first pass through, expanding a few things, removing some minor anomalies and smoothing a couple of lumpy transitions. I love the story, Juliet and Neil are a great couple and I'm happy with the basics, whether it's medical enough, I'm not sure. It reflects real life at a surgery. I know that, I'm a health visitor, I see it and live it every day but I don't know, because I'm not a good judge of my own work, if it's what the line would feel works for them. It's real and authentic but.....
I know, Michelle and Anna's crows of doubt are busy pecking on my front lawn.

More polishing and depth coming up.

Fall in Love is out! E book version is up at $3 per download. Paperback details will be through soon.
Here's the blurb!
Fall in LoveSeptember Song by Nell Dixon
Erin came to New Bay on her year out from college, keen to experience the lifestyle of a vibrant seaside town famous for its surf and its surfers. Attractive and fun-loving, Erin doesn’t expect to be left with a very expensive spare ticket to the hottest concert in town.
Her boss Kelly’s solution is to recruit Dan to take the ticket off Erin’s hands and to escort her to the concert. Ex-champion surfer Dan soon accepts the offer. But why would Erin want to go on an enforced date with the geekiest looking guy in New Bay? And why doesn’t Dan surf?
Autumn Splendor by Rebecca Ruger
What happens when an artless little country miss meets an infamous rake from London? Folklore tells Isabelle Covington that the circumstance of their meeting means this man will be her mate. Christian Noble, the Earl of Somersby, presumes nothing more than a dalliance while visiting in the country.
But something funny happened in the little hamlet of Sudbury and the earl finds himself beginning to believe what Isabelle and her legends are telling him... that this must be love.
The Little Shop of Dreams by Jessica Raymond
Tess Worthington has finally achieved her dream of opening a gift shop in an Oxford shopping centre despite emotional struggles and debts, so when the handsome stranger she’s noticed around the mall asks her out, her happiness seems complete. Property consultant Mack Brady falls hard for Tess the more time they spend together, and after a magical Halloween celebration, he just knows she’s The One.
But when the property deal Mack is brokering at the mall turns sour, Tess fears that not only has the man she’s just fallen in love with broken her heart, but he might also have taken her dreams—Little Shop and all.
avaolable from http://www.moonlitromance.com

Jessica and I were talking about hero inspiration so here's my favorite pic of Bryan 

Sale stories

The only thing that feels as good as selling a book yourself is when someone you know sells theirs. Huge congratulations to Michelle Willingham who sold her hunky irish warrior book to Mills and Boon historicals yesterday. I've followed Michelle's epic struggle towards publication through subcare at eharlequin and vicariously through my other hopefully, soon to be published historical writer friend Allison Littlehales.
Michelle's story is a testimony to hard work and courage. She's holding a celebration over at her blog, go over and congratulate her. http://www.michellewillingham.com/blog

Blimey!

Things to Do got another review - this time from Ecataromance.com Wow! I am just stunned.
I got five stars! and the reviewer said:

you think that all stories are alike? That nothing new can impress you? Well, you HAVE to read Things To Do!

Ms. Dixon has written a story that can be compared to Bridget Jones and Devil wears Prada without fears. I absolutely loved the strong characters of her story, loved their flaws and their qualities! Wait until you meet Rob or Gilly and Robbie, Mr. G, her boss and Fiona, her sister! Each character has is own life and Ms. Dixon penned their story in a unique way. The story can be read in one evening but you will want more!

I'm gobsmacked!

Blog links.

I'm working on updating my links as you may have noticed. So if you visit me regularly and have a blog, give me your link and I'll add you if I've missed you off. I'm also going to be adding some more website links on my website. If you want your website on there and it isn't there already then email me at helen@nelldixon.com
Much as I love my friends that write the really hot stuff, I can't add you to my website but if you blog and visit me then I can add you to the blog links. (My daughters visit my website and I know my eldest belle has showed my site to her R.E teacher)
I'm back working on Dangerous to Know. Hopefully I'll complete the partial by the start of next week. Then I intend to reread and polish Charlie Darling.
BTW Did I mention Fall in Love is out soon from http://www.moonlitromance.com ?

A review for Things To Do

Appearing on Sept 25th in Romance Reviews today:

THINGS TO DO - Nell DixonSamhain Publishing - www.samhainpublishing.comISBN: 1-59998-136-XSeptember 2006Romantic Comedy/ SuspenseLondon, England - Present DayMarry in haste, repent at leisure. It's an old saying, but boy does it resonate with Emma Morgan, who impulsively and secretly married Marco, a bartender she met while working abroad in Antigua. Quickly coming to her senses, helped along by finding Marco in bed with another woman not too long after the wedding, Emma leaves him and returns to London.In high school, Emma's career desire, dismissed by her counselor, was to be an international spy. Working in a travel agency doesn't quite live up to the goal, but after returning from Antigua, Emma still hasn't quite figured out what she wants to do with her future. But life has a way of throwing curves when you least expect it, and Emma soon finds herself awash in complications as her sister is jilted, her boss starts dating her mother, and a pampered pooch gets dog-napped.
Emma's Things To Do: Wax legs Lose weight Oh, yeah, tell family about Marco
Bridget Jones meets Dangermouse in Nell Dixon's THINGS TO DO. From the night her estranged husband reappears in her life, Emma Morgan is on a roller coaster ride she can't seem to get off. British humor abounds in this entertaining tale of a young woman dealing with life's ups and downs. While Emma is the core around which the plot is centered, it is her wacky family and friends, and the situations they embroil Emma in, that give the story depth. From her sister's charity event where Emma agrees to squeeze into a small fairy costume to following her husband to see what he's up to, Emma is up to some interesting hi-jinks, whilst always improperly shod.Check out THINGS TO DO for a very Bridget Jones-like romance.
Kathy Samuels
Romance Reviews Today

Lots of people mention Bridget Jones but the funny thing is I've never read the book and only seen about half of the film -(It has Hugh Grant in and I don't like him)

Highs and Lows

Charlie Darling is finished! Yay, I just typed The End and sent the last chapter to Jessica. I'm about 1k under the word count but when I edit and polish and layer in some more emotion and description in a few places that'll soon work itself out. I'm just so happy it's done. If M&B do want it I can have it ready quite quickly and if they don't it'll be winging it's way to other places.
The low part of this means I can't put off the dreaded tax returns any longer. Be prepared for much moaning and gnashing of teeth as I try to navigate the forms once again. Hopefully I'll be able to afford an accountant by next year. I'd hoped it would be this year but it wasn't to be so the inland revenue will have to try to make sense of my wonderful math skills once more.

All-clear!

My mom got good news today - her cancer is in remission. Many thanks to all of you who have been supporting me through this, I can't tell you what it's meant to me knowing you guys were out there.

Thanks to Jessica for sharing the news that the BBC are to start showing the original Dangermouse cartoons again. As you know Things to Do features Dangermouse. Here is a picture of Silas Greenback aka in Things to Do as Emma's boss, Ian Grebe. 

Something's coming

Today has a very strange feel to it. The feeling you get before a storm, I don't know what it is but it's very unsettling. I woke, like everyone did this morning to the news of Steve Irwin - The Crocodile Hunter's death. I feel so terribly sad for two children who will grow up without their father . Also for Terry, his wife. The world will be a greyer, duller place without him.
My Mom is due to go back to Liverpool this Thursday to see the professor treating her retinal cancer. Please keep her in your thoughts that we get good news.
The Belles go back to school tomorrow, this is a mixed blessing as it means dance classes start up again, eating into my precious weekends, Brownies and Guides are back too, so Mom's taxi will be shuttling about the place once again.

Aftermath

The belles arrived home a little while ago so I got them to draw the comment trail door prize winners from yesterday.
Barbara - aka Hotbat and Guanna! You both won. Let me know your snail mail addys and I'll send you your prizes. If you'd prefer a gift cert for Samhain let me know.
Today I've finished my first round edits for Cue Me In, this is a fun spooky story for By Grace publishing. It'll be out in October in the From Darkness anthology. It has a Welsh castle, a howling hound and a ghostly green lady.
Next stop is to finish Charlie Darling, I'm halfway through the last chapter and I know where I need to go back and what needs to go in to complete the story. I had one of those writerly revelations this morning while I was buying veg at the farm for Sunday lunch.
My fingers and toes are crossed that I'll get good news on the partial from M&B, especially as I had a great idea for another book. Oh, and a fabulous title for a story. Now, if someone would just invent a 36 hour day....

coffee, orange kitkats and a winner

Thank you to everyone who's taken the trouble to drop by and post today, it's been fantastic! I loved the comments, and thank you to everyone who entered the contest for the Samhain gift certificate - the winner is.....
Julie aka Tilly - drop me a line with your email addy and I'll sort that out for you.
I'll draw the comment trail door prizes tomorrow so anyone coming late gets a chance to win something. I have some really nice door prizes!
Thank you for a day to remember! xxxxx

Party Contest, anyone?

This dreadful photo was taken a few weeks ago on a boat, not as glamerous as the one in Things to Do. So, how about a contest? Prize will be a gift certificate for Samhain, naturally, it would be lovely if the winner spent it on Things to Do, but, choice will be theirs!
I'll keep it simple, what cartoon character is mentioned in the blurb for Things to Do? email me at helen@nelldixon.com I'll draw a winner at 9 pm tonight GMT which is I think about 4pm EST
And I'll post another excerpt. 

Time to mingle and an excerpt

I'll let my belles, La, Boo and Shaggy show you all around. Here's a small taster from Things to Do. This bit really gives a big clue to Emma, the heroines, personality. 

Let's get the party started!

H and welcome to my blog open house party to celebrate the release of Things to Do. http://www.samhainpublishing.com I'm Nell and the little chap on the book cover is Robbie the dog. The party will be rolling all day and if you've not been to one of these before here's how it works - I'll be putting up excerpts, information about the book throughout the day. Drop by, leave comments, and at the end of the day I'll be picking random numbers from the comment trails for door prizes and I may have a quickie contest question for a Samhain gift certificate too!
Who knows you may even want to buy the book!!! ggg
For now though introduce yourself, tell me if you're a reader, writer, both and your favourite ever book and I'll be back with the drinks and food. 

Party!

Today is a party at http://www.pinkheartsociety.blogspot.com Spot prizes, excerpts, the chance to become a reviewer. If you love category romance then come by and join in the fun! Never tried it? Then you're missing out, there's something for everyone.

Tomorrow you're all invited to another party - here on my blog. To celebrate the release of Things to Do there'll be excerpts, prizes, and fun all day, so drop by tomorrow!