the stuff of fantasies

Current work: Modern Heat duo book 1
Listening to: Coldplay, Viva la Vida (is growing on me – the last track is fantastic, the rest I’m getting used to. DH hates it)
Reading: not – am VERY busy writing :o)

One of the things I love about writing is the setting. Most of my Modern Heats are set at least partially in London (actually, I have a feeling all of them are bar the last one), and this one is no exception.

But I have fallen in love with my hero’s flat.

Given that my dream home is a 16th-century house in Norfolk (which is the basis for the house in Sold to the Highest Bidder - sadly, last time it was on the market, it was £1m more than my house is worth, so the chances of me living there are pretty much zero), you’d think I’d run a mile from the idea of an ultra-modern place. But… I do have a thing about glass and light. I really like the Forum in Norwich (see here, top left) because it’s so light and airy, and I love the Millennium Court at the British Museum (pic taken Sept last year)

for the same reason. (Don't get me started on churches and stained/painted glass. This is my current nerd obsession. The chances of me being able to have a wall painting restorer as my next MH hero? ... ha!)

My current hero happens to live in a fantasy flat that’s all about glass and light. Floor to ceiling windows. The best room? His shower room. It’s a wet room. And I’ve had immense fun this weekend furnishing that room… (yeah, of course there’s a love scene in it). I’d dearly love a room like that, but as the shower and fittings alone (excluding the actual plumbers’ fees for putting it in) are the best part of £5,000 - and we’d need a new floor and it wouldn’t work anyway because our en-suite happens to be next door to the airing cupboard - it’s a no-no. (I did sort of mention it to DH, who loved the idea until I mentioned how much That Shower cost...)

But I can fantasise.

I think this is the bit where my ed is going to fall for the hero in a big way. (Well… if I can get my lovely nerdy science stuff through, but I’ve bound it up with his emotions so hopefully it will stay put.)

He’s a sheik. How can he be a scientist? Easy. He’s a Kate Hardy hero. Or, as my lovely former ed Tessa Shapcott put it, 'A clever man with a heart.' I'm supposed to be blogging elsewhere about the squishy side of heroes... Later. I have words to write first.

Oh yes - nearly forgot. Am at #2 in the local best-seller charts again this week with Heroes, Villains and Victims of Norwich. And Waterstone's had a really lovely display of my new book IN THEIR WINDOW yesterday. (Didn't have camera with me. Smack on head to self.)