And now I'm back from the gym, I checked - just in case it might still be there - and, oh, lookie... (This is a screen shot, btw, so the size isn't brilliant. But it's still exciting!)
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Amazon top ten, whoo-hoo!
Forgive me for being just a little bit excited. Lovely Amy Andrews emailed me last night from the other side of the world to say that our joint anthology with Heidi Rice and Aimee Carson had hit the Amazon top 10 list!
And now I'm back from the gym, I checked - just in case it might still be there - and, oh, lookie... (This is a screen shot, btw, so the size isn't brilliant. But it's still exciting!)
And now I'm back from the gym, I checked - just in case it might still be there - and, oh, lookie... (This is a screen shot, btw, so the size isn't brilliant. But it's still exciting!)
Monday, July 15, 2013
Publication day!
Current work: revising #57 (Baloo) and outline for #59 now on ed’s desk
Listening to: mainly Joe Bonamassa (and no, I am not touching my lovely new blue guitar today – see below)
Reading: next on TBR
Gym: 121 (new PB today on upright row – 25kg; and since last blog new PB on deadlift – 72.5kg) plus, as it’s Monday, zumba and jazz dance tonight
So today is publication day – my second book, this month. It’s a reprint of Surrender to the Playboy Sheikh, but I’m particularly pleased to be in an anthology with one of my favourite authors (Liz Fielding is also one of my favourite author friends, but that’s by the by – this is my fangirl moment). Available now in shops and on the M&B website/Amazon/the usual places :o)
What else have I been up to? We-e-ll. The thing about social media is that it can be a very bad influence. And several friends asked if I had bought myself a treat for working very, very hard over the last year and getting 30lbs of lard off. (Actually, they phrased it a bit more nicely than that – this is me being realistic, as it was actually 30lbs of lard. Probably more, if you take into account the fact that muscle is denser than fat and I’m a lot fitter than I was at this time last year.) Um, no. I hadn’t.
And, yes, I think they were right. 30lbs might not be a lot in weight loss terms if you’re a normal person, but if you’re insulin resistant that’s a very good result and equates to a LOT of hard work. So this is what I bought to celebrate.
A Les Paul that I’ve had my eye on for months at the local guitar shop but hadn’t worked out the right excuses to buy it for myself. (It’s second-hand, so it’s not quite as bad as it looks, cost-wise.) It’s pretty (this photo doesn't do it justice). It sounds nice. I can do barre chords on it, which I find harder to play on the classical. And it’s easier to play on days when I’ve overdone it at the gym and my forearms hurt so I can’t grip properly (that isn’t one of my spurious excuses, btw, because you do have to press a lot harder on the strings of a classical guitar than on an electric and you need a strong grip).
And, of course, it goes nicely with the cover of my newest release :o) (Best excuse EVAH!)
Dear ed. Please can I write another musician hero?
Listening to: mainly Joe Bonamassa (and no, I am not touching my lovely new blue guitar today – see below)
Reading: next on TBR
Gym: 121 (new PB today on upright row – 25kg; and since last blog new PB on deadlift – 72.5kg) plus, as it’s Monday, zumba and jazz dance tonight
So today is publication day – my second book, this month. It’s a reprint of Surrender to the Playboy Sheikh, but I’m particularly pleased to be in an anthology with one of my favourite authors (Liz Fielding is also one of my favourite author friends, but that’s by the by – this is my fangirl moment). Available now in shops and on the M&B website/Amazon/the usual places :o)
What else have I been up to? We-e-ll. The thing about social media is that it can be a very bad influence. And several friends asked if I had bought myself a treat for working very, very hard over the last year and getting 30lbs of lard off. (Actually, they phrased it a bit more nicely than that – this is me being realistic, as it was actually 30lbs of lard. Probably more, if you take into account the fact that muscle is denser than fat and I’m a lot fitter than I was at this time last year.) Um, no. I hadn’t.
And, yes, I think they were right. 30lbs might not be a lot in weight loss terms if you’re a normal person, but if you’re insulin resistant that’s a very good result and equates to a LOT of hard work. So this is what I bought to celebrate.
A Les Paul that I’ve had my eye on for months at the local guitar shop but hadn’t worked out the right excuses to buy it for myself. (It’s second-hand, so it’s not quite as bad as it looks, cost-wise.) It’s pretty (this photo doesn't do it justice). It sounds nice. I can do barre chords on it, which I find harder to play on the classical. And it’s easier to play on days when I’ve overdone it at the gym and my forearms hurt so I can’t grip properly (that isn’t one of my spurious excuses, btw, because you do have to press a lot harder on the strings of a classical guitar than on an electric and you need a strong grip).
And, of course, it goes nicely with the cover of my newest release :o) (Best excuse EVAH!)
Dear ed. Please can I write another musician hero?
Tuesday, July 02, 2013
another catchup
Current work: thinking about M&B #59 (no, I didn’t mistype the number – really is 59. I wrote another book between finishing #57 after my last post and writing this one because… well, it’s how the deadline worked out, and anyway I write better when it's fast because it stops me overthinking things)
Listening to: Beethoven (how wonderful to drive to Zumba last night listening to ‘Ode to Joy’ on the radio – can’t wait for the live performance in September)
Reading: probably going to have a Sarah Mayberry-fest, because I love her books
Gym: weights (but new PB on treadmill intervals yesterday – 6.4mph, which isn’t bad for someone with verrrry short legs).
I’m so sorry I was such a bad blogger last month! Exams are now over, so things have settled down a little bit.
What happened in June?
Work - lots of words on the iPad (I had to ban myself from the Mac because otherwise I get distracted by the internet, and it’s so SLOW on the iPad that I behave myself and get on with the book).
Ballroom dancing – a couple of new steps in the quickstep and the jive
Gym – going nicely (just noticed that last post I was saying how pleased I was at doing 5.8pmh, so look at today’s bit above – whoo-hoo!), and I’ve added in Zumba and Jazz/Contemporary classes on Monday. (Yes, that does mean I have three sessions at the gym on Monday. I’d prefer to space the classes out, but it’s how the schedule rolls! But I’m very pleased with myself that I can cope with that.)
Music – guitar lessons eaten up by exams (including daughter’s guitar exams). And my nails need cutting. But I’m off deadline today, so I am planning to have a bit of quiet time with the Bach D minor :o) Also attended daughter’s first gig (she was fabulous) and took her guitar in for repair (yup – she dropped it 10 minutes before the gig. Luckily it was still playable on the night).
Other stuff – son finished his exams. Did a bit of church-crawling with DH.
Plan for this week - tidy desk, get all admin up to date and GO TO THE POST OFFICE. (Anyone expecting something from me - it will happen this week and there will be appropriate grovelling. And I'm *almost* back to being Scary Kate/the Energizer Bunny. Normal service soon to be resumed.)
Oh, yeah – and it’s publication day today for A Date with the Ice Princess. (I will update my website this week, I promise!!)
Have a lovely day! xxx
Listening to: Beethoven (how wonderful to drive to Zumba last night listening to ‘Ode to Joy’ on the radio – can’t wait for the live performance in September)
Reading: probably going to have a Sarah Mayberry-fest, because I love her books
Gym: weights (but new PB on treadmill intervals yesterday – 6.4mph, which isn’t bad for someone with verrrry short legs).
I’m so sorry I was such a bad blogger last month! Exams are now over, so things have settled down a little bit.
What happened in June?
Work - lots of words on the iPad (I had to ban myself from the Mac because otherwise I get distracted by the internet, and it’s so SLOW on the iPad that I behave myself and get on with the book).
Ballroom dancing – a couple of new steps in the quickstep and the jive
Gym – going nicely (just noticed that last post I was saying how pleased I was at doing 5.8pmh, so look at today’s bit above – whoo-hoo!), and I’ve added in Zumba and Jazz/Contemporary classes on Monday. (Yes, that does mean I have three sessions at the gym on Monday. I’d prefer to space the classes out, but it’s how the schedule rolls! But I’m very pleased with myself that I can cope with that.)
Music – guitar lessons eaten up by exams (including daughter’s guitar exams). And my nails need cutting. But I’m off deadline today, so I am planning to have a bit of quiet time with the Bach D minor :o) Also attended daughter’s first gig (she was fabulous) and took her guitar in for repair (yup – she dropped it 10 minutes before the gig. Luckily it was still playable on the night).
Other stuff – son finished his exams. Did a bit of church-crawling with DH.
Plan for this week - tidy desk, get all admin up to date and GO TO THE POST OFFICE. (Anyone expecting something from me - it will happen this week and there will be appropriate grovelling. And I'm *almost* back to being Scary Kate/the Energizer Bunny. Normal service soon to be resumed.)
Oh, yeah – and it’s publication day today for A Date with the Ice Princess. (I will update my website this week, I promise!!)
Have a lovely day! xxx
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