Current work: working on M&B #59 (Rom – Mediterranean prince) and two or three other projects
Listening to: 30 Seconds to Mars, This is War (fabulous!)
Reading: next on TBR
Gym: cardio (increased intervals to 90s run, 60s walk)
Just about recovered from London, in time for visit #2 this Friday :o)
I’m still thrilled about hitting the top of the charts last week – and I’m talking about Bound by a Baby, the book in question, over at the Choc Box today - http://www.chocolateboxwriters.com/babies-and-paris-oh-my/
Other than that, I’ve booked tickets for birthday treats later in the year – 30 Seconds to Mars at the O2 in November (my daughter’s birthday); Punt and Dennis at the Theatre Royal in Norwich in February (my birthday weekend), and Propeller’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in March (also counts as mine, as it’s the nearest Shakespeare production to my birthday).
I also have proof that – although I can’t see it myself in pictures – I am definitely thinner. I was going to wear last year’s outfit to the M&B lunch on Friday. Except… it doesn’t fit any more. It’s a little too baggy and it doesn't look right (and I swear it fitted me last month). So I had a wardrobe panic and tried on a couple of things I thought might fit now (given that I’m about the same weight as I was when I bought them). Um. No. The gym has clearly changed my shape, because they were, um, too big. Somehow I overshot the window of ‘when I’m thin enough for this to fit’. My wardrobe consultant (aka daughter) got me to try everything on, with the result that half my wardrobe is now in a bag ready to go to the charity shop. I’m kind of pleased that my hard work is paying off, and it’s nice having space in my wardrobe. I’m not ready for a big splurge on new clothes yet – that’ll be in about a year’s time, going by the current rate of loss – but my best friend and my daughter are primed to join me. And when I get there, to celebrate I plan to buy a little black dress from (whispers) here… and a pair of shiny red high-heeled court shoes. (Apologies for the adjective overload. I don't do that in my books!)
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Thursday, September 05, 2013
Top of the charts - whoo!
I can't quite let this one pass. I know it's not British to shout about things like this, but I spotted this yesterday on the Amazon US charts for large print romance, and... hey... how often do you hit this position in the charts AND in this sort of company? Thank you, dear readers, for putting me there.
And what makes it even sweeter is that today I had an email from my publisher with the milestones in it, and that very same book makes an appearance... :o)
Colour me happy :)
Colour me happy :)
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
London - September visit #1
Current work: working on M&B #59 (Rom – Mediterranean prince) and two or three other projects
Listening to: Passenger, All the Little Lights
Reading: Susanna Kearsley, The Firebird (fantastic – might actually be my fave of hers) and Stef Penney, The Invisible Ones (enjoyed this – cleverly put together)
Gym: day off today (v tired post-London) but 121 due tomorrow
This month, I'm very greedy and have three trips to London. This was the first.
And London was fabulous. Met my best friend from work, had dinner out, and then talked a lot. (And I mean a lot.) Tuesday, up bright and early to go to the US embassy to sort out my ITIN (basically will save me from paying two lots of tax). This meant having no electronic stuff with me, so I had to leave my phone, camera, iPod, Kindle and car keys with my best friend. Thus there are no pics of the embassy building, the lovely buildings around it, the very scary armed police, the Aston Martin showroom by Marble Arch, Marble Arch itself… Anyway, apart from my shoes setting off the scanner alert (which often happens in airports, but the embassy reaction was a bit scarier) it was fine. Quick stop at Fortnum’s as I’d had a request from the teens for violet biscuits (which they have to share with me) (and isn’t that the best excuse ever?). Then I collected my stuff from my best friend and headed to Covent Garden to meet up with the Romance crew.
Covent Garden was the quietest I’d ever seen it! But there was an opera singer in the basement. She had a lovely voice, but as she was singing the song that my stepmum chose for Dad’s funeral, I wasn’t minded to linger.
Coffee at Tutton’s (why did I not get my camera out? Oh, yes, I was talking too much) and then we headed up to Blanc’s Brasserie.
This is us with a glass of prosecco, celebrating the fact that one of us was over from Aus, one of us had JUST had her first book published, and there were a couple of nearby birthdays in there as well… (We know how to celebrate.) Clockwise from front left: Sophie Pembroke, Michelle Douglas, Fiona Harper, Liz Fielding, Pamela Hartshorne, Caroline Anderson, Nina Harrington and me.
For lunch, I had crayfish and mango salad…
…followed by raspberry fool, and then a coffee.
After much talking, it was time to get the train, aka talking plots with Caroline (well, halfway home for me).
I had a great time away, but it’s lovely to be home.
Oh, and one little treat from Fortnum's - in their chocolate department (and I confess I spent a little time there choosing things), they do these miniature teacups, roughly the size of my thumbnail, filled with different tea-flavoured fillings (or, in this case, a soft coffee centre). The pic doesn't do it justice, but basically it looks as if it's been sprayed with gold leaf. And it was totally scrumptious.
Listening to: Passenger, All the Little Lights
Reading: Susanna Kearsley, The Firebird (fantastic – might actually be my fave of hers) and Stef Penney, The Invisible Ones (enjoyed this – cleverly put together)
Gym: day off today (v tired post-London) but 121 due tomorrow
This month, I'm very greedy and have three trips to London. This was the first.
And London was fabulous. Met my best friend from work, had dinner out, and then talked a lot. (And I mean a lot.) Tuesday, up bright and early to go to the US embassy to sort out my ITIN (basically will save me from paying two lots of tax). This meant having no electronic stuff with me, so I had to leave my phone, camera, iPod, Kindle and car keys with my best friend. Thus there are no pics of the embassy building, the lovely buildings around it, the very scary armed police, the Aston Martin showroom by Marble Arch, Marble Arch itself… Anyway, apart from my shoes setting off the scanner alert (which often happens in airports, but the embassy reaction was a bit scarier) it was fine. Quick stop at Fortnum’s as I’d had a request from the teens for violet biscuits (which they have to share with me) (and isn’t that the best excuse ever?). Then I collected my stuff from my best friend and headed to Covent Garden to meet up with the Romance crew.
Covent Garden was the quietest I’d ever seen it! But there was an opera singer in the basement. She had a lovely voice, but as she was singing the song that my stepmum chose for Dad’s funeral, I wasn’t minded to linger.
Coffee at Tutton’s (why did I not get my camera out? Oh, yes, I was talking too much) and then we headed up to Blanc’s Brasserie.
This is us with a glass of prosecco, celebrating the fact that one of us was over from Aus, one of us had JUST had her first book published, and there were a couple of nearby birthdays in there as well… (We know how to celebrate.) Clockwise from front left: Sophie Pembroke, Michelle Douglas, Fiona Harper, Liz Fielding, Pamela Hartshorne, Caroline Anderson, Nina Harrington and me.
For lunch, I had crayfish and mango salad…
…followed by raspberry fool, and then a coffee.
I had a great time away, but it’s lovely to be home.
Oh, and one little treat from Fortnum's - in their chocolate department (and I confess I spent a little time there choosing things), they do these miniature teacups, roughly the size of my thumbnail, filled with different tea-flavoured fillings (or, in this case, a soft coffee centre). The pic doesn't do it justice, but basically it looks as if it's been sprayed with gold leaf. And it was totally scrumptious.
Monday, September 02, 2013
churchcrawling
Current work: working on M&B #59 (Rom – Mediterranean prince) and two or three other projects (focus, Kate Hardy, focus…)
Listening to: Beethoven
Reading: next on TBR
Gym: 121 today (and a day off tomorrow as I’m still in London, though I should be back in time for ballroom dance class... trains permitting)
On the flimsiest of excuses (i.e. the current book involves restoration of stained glass, so I wanted to go and see some), we went churchcrawling at the weekend.
So what did we see? (Prepare yourself for utter nerdiness because I love this stuff.)
We started at Reepham, which is unusual because three churches share the churchyard (one is a ruin). (Why? In Reepham’s case, because the churches were each at the far edge of the parish boundary. Hackford church burned down in 1543, and the other two churches remained separate until 1970. Nowadays St Michael’s – which was the parish church of Whitwell – is used as the parish rooms/church hall. And St Mary’s continues as the parish church of Reepham.)
There’s something else unusual here, though, and that’s the fourteenth-century tomb of Sir Roger de Kerdiston (d. 1337). He lies on a bed of cobbles; the only other one I know of in Norfolk with this kind of arrangement is Sir Oliver de Ingham at Ingham. Why cobbles? Mortlock (who wrote THE book on Norfolk churches) says it’s allegorical, so I guess that would be something to do with the hard, uncomfortable life of a campaigner.
It’s an amazing tomb, though. (Eight weepers at the base - and they survived the Reformation. Amazing. And there are traces of the original paint, too.) If you’ve ever read Edith Nesbit’s ‘Mansize in Marble’ you’d think that this could be one of the knights. (Actually, there’s a legend very similar to the story attached to Sir Oliver de Ingham’s tomb, but not to Kerdiston’s.)
Oh, and I love the lion at his feet.
And the carvings on the bench ends – this is a wyvern (a legendary winged creature with a dragon’s head).
We also visited Salle, which is a lovely big old barn of a church.
The tower is 111 feet tall.
And it has a shroud brass. Most shroud brasses depict skeletons, or the flesh is fully shrouded, but this one is nicely gory! John Briggs was one of the founders of the church, and died in 1454.
I think I like the wording even more than the illustration.
Here lyeth Iohn Brigge under this marbil ston
Whose sowle our Lord Jesu have mercy upon
For in this world worthily he lived many a day
And here his body is beried and cowched under clay
Lo frendis see whatever ye be pray for me I you pray
As ye me see in soche degree so shal ye be a nothir day
There are other lovely brasses here. (Y’know Anne Boleyn? Her great-grandparents have brasses here.)
We also visited the churches at Wood Dalling and Thurning (the latter had box pews, and even in the 1920s they preserved the custom thay men and boys sat on the right side of the church and women and girls on the left – plus they have the hat pegs on the men’s side, and outside there’s still a stable for the ponies who took people to church). And finally we went to Briston, which has an iron cello made around 1700 by the blacksmith, Mr Clitheroe – he apparently played it there for years. (And they did of course use stringed instruments in churches as late as Victorian times – see Thomas Hardy’s novels for example, and did you know that Hardy’s grandfather played the cello in their parish church?)
So it was a very nerdy, very nice afternoon out.
Other than that - last week, I bought a new amp and then dragged the kids off to see the gorillas in the city centre (full story of that over at the Chocolate Box - http://www.chocolateboxwriters.com/gorillas-by-kate-hardy/). And there was the delight (not) of school uniform shopping...
This week, I’m off to London – firstly to sort out my ITIN (which means an early start at the US Embassy, so it made sense to stay overnight on the Monday, aka excuse to see my best friend), and secondly to meet up with my fellow Cherish authors for lunch - can't wait, especially as Michelle Douglas is over all the way from Australia. (There will be pics!) Later in the week, the children go back to school and the dog will then spend the next week or so being all sorrowful because his playmates have gone. Oh, and I have a book or two to write…
Listening to: Beethoven
Reading: next on TBR
Gym: 121 today (and a day off tomorrow as I’m still in London, though I should be back in time for ballroom dance class... trains permitting)
On the flimsiest of excuses (i.e. the current book involves restoration of stained glass, so I wanted to go and see some), we went churchcrawling at the weekend.
So what did we see? (Prepare yourself for utter nerdiness because I love this stuff.)
We started at Reepham, which is unusual because three churches share the churchyard (one is a ruin). (Why? In Reepham’s case, because the churches were each at the far edge of the parish boundary. Hackford church burned down in 1543, and the other two churches remained separate until 1970. Nowadays St Michael’s – which was the parish church of Whitwell – is used as the parish rooms/church hall. And St Mary’s continues as the parish church of Reepham.)
There’s something else unusual here, though, and that’s the fourteenth-century tomb of Sir Roger de Kerdiston (d. 1337). He lies on a bed of cobbles; the only other one I know of in Norfolk with this kind of arrangement is Sir Oliver de Ingham at Ingham. Why cobbles? Mortlock (who wrote THE book on Norfolk churches) says it’s allegorical, so I guess that would be something to do with the hard, uncomfortable life of a campaigner.
It’s an amazing tomb, though. (Eight weepers at the base - and they survived the Reformation. Amazing. And there are traces of the original paint, too.) If you’ve ever read Edith Nesbit’s ‘Mansize in Marble’ you’d think that this could be one of the knights. (Actually, there’s a legend very similar to the story attached to Sir Oliver de Ingham’s tomb, but not to Kerdiston’s.)
Oh, and I love the lion at his feet.
And the carvings on the bench ends – this is a wyvern (a legendary winged creature with a dragon’s head).
We also visited Salle, which is a lovely big old barn of a church.
The tower is 111 feet tall.
And it has a shroud brass. Most shroud brasses depict skeletons, or the flesh is fully shrouded, but this one is nicely gory! John Briggs was one of the founders of the church, and died in 1454.
I think I like the wording even more than the illustration.
Here lyeth Iohn Brigge under this marbil ston
Whose sowle our Lord Jesu have mercy upon
For in this world worthily he lived many a day
And here his body is beried and cowched under clay
Lo frendis see whatever ye be pray for me I you pray
As ye me see in soche degree so shal ye be a nothir day
There are other lovely brasses here. (Y’know Anne Boleyn? Her great-grandparents have brasses here.)
We also visited the churches at Wood Dalling and Thurning (the latter had box pews, and even in the 1920s they preserved the custom thay men and boys sat on the right side of the church and women and girls on the left – plus they have the hat pegs on the men’s side, and outside there’s still a stable for the ponies who took people to church). And finally we went to Briston, which has an iron cello made around 1700 by the blacksmith, Mr Clitheroe – he apparently played it there for years. (And they did of course use stringed instruments in churches as late as Victorian times – see Thomas Hardy’s novels for example, and did you know that Hardy’s grandfather played the cello in their parish church?)
So it was a very nerdy, very nice afternoon out.
Other than that - last week, I bought a new amp and then dragged the kids off to see the gorillas in the city centre (full story of that over at the Chocolate Box - http://www.chocolateboxwriters.com/gorillas-by-kate-hardy/). And there was the delight (not) of school uniform shopping...
This week, I’m off to London – firstly to sort out my ITIN (which means an early start at the US Embassy, so it made sense to stay overnight on the Monday, aka excuse to see my best friend), and secondly to meet up with my fellow Cherish authors for lunch - can't wait, especially as Michelle Douglas is over all the way from Australia. (There will be pics!) Later in the week, the children go back to school and the dog will then spend the next week or so being all sorrowful because his playmates have gone. Oh, and I have a book or two to write…
Thursday, August 22, 2013
A milestone day
Current work: working on M&B #59 (Rom – Mediterranean prince) and two or three other projects (focus, Kate Hardy, focus…)
Listening to: Passenger, All the Little Lights
Reading: next on TBR
Gym: cardio today (aka much sweating); 121 with weights/circuits tomorrow
Today has been a milestone day. I can honestly say that waiting for your child’s exam results is far, far, FAR worse than waiting for your own :o)
But I’m thrilled to say that my eldest has passed all his exams and will be going to sixth form in September to study maths, physics, chemistry and history. He’s busy tonight and DH is busy tomorrow night, so we’re going out to celebrate properly on Saturday. But we also went out to lunch today for a kind of mini-celebration. (I’m one for celebrating life as much as possible. I think it’s important to celebrate the good times.)
On the work front, I need to get some tension simmering between the hero and heroine in book 59, work out the rest of the outline for book 60, and write a little more on the other projects. But I like the way they’re shaping up.
Other than that, we have a wasp’s nest being removed tomorrow, and I’m researching guitar amplifiers (for my lovely blue electric – at the moment I’m torn between a Roland Cube and an Orange Crush, but I need to hear them both in action before I can make a proper decision).
Oh, and I have a title for Baloo – ‘Behind the Film Star’s Smile’. Out April 2014 in the US, and I’m not sure when elsewhere.
Listening to: Passenger, All the Little Lights
Reading: next on TBR
Gym: cardio today (aka much sweating); 121 with weights/circuits tomorrow
Today has been a milestone day. I can honestly say that waiting for your child’s exam results is far, far, FAR worse than waiting for your own :o)
But I’m thrilled to say that my eldest has passed all his exams and will be going to sixth form in September to study maths, physics, chemistry and history. He’s busy tonight and DH is busy tomorrow night, so we’re going out to celebrate properly on Saturday. But we also went out to lunch today for a kind of mini-celebration. (I’m one for celebrating life as much as possible. I think it’s important to celebrate the good times.)
On the work front, I need to get some tension simmering between the hero and heroine in book 59, work out the rest of the outline for book 60, and write a little more on the other projects. But I like the way they’re shaping up.
Other than that, we have a wasp’s nest being removed tomorrow, and I’m researching guitar amplifiers (for my lovely blue electric – at the moment I’m torn between a Roland Cube and an Orange Crush, but I need to hear them both in action before I can make a proper decision).
Oh, and I have a title for Baloo – ‘Behind the Film Star’s Smile’. Out April 2014 in the US, and I’m not sure when elsewhere.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Blog tour - Nina Harrington
I'm thrilled to be hosting Nina Harrington today. I've known her for a very long while through the RNA, and I'm so proud of her because her first single title is out right now! But I'll let Nina do all the talking...
Confession time.
Kate Hardy and I share a not so very secret passion; The Love of all
Things Italian.
Kate has shared her travel diaries with us from her research trips to
wonderful locations such as Sorrento, Rome and of course Venice. These settings
have inspired many of her wonderful Harlequin books, including more than a few
Italian billionaires and playboys and I seem to recall an Italian GP!
But what is so very irresistible about Italy and all things Italian?
For me is it a remarkable combination of many factors, including the
beauty of the landscape, the colours of the ancient walled towns, stylish
design and high art culture and of course, the diversity of mouth-watering food
that each region of Italy is famous for.
Pasta, wine, cheeses, cured meats, coffee and gelato are the basis of
any Italian feast. But the food is much more than that. It is pleasure,
tradition, family, style and passion. Imagine multiple generations of a family
gathered around a long wooden table on a sun kissed terrace, laden with
wonderful food and you have some idea of the connection between the love of
food and the Italian culture and way of life.
Cooking is my hobby and my pleasure and many of my Mills and Boon titles
are foodie romances, but for the first time I have written a romantic mystery
set in an Italian delicatessen.
‘Recipe for
Disaster’ is a fun contemporary romance with a feisty Irish-Italian heroine and a
hot Italian bad boy lawyer. Not much in common – except their love of good
food. I do hope that you enjoy it – and the food! Buon Appetito!
London
chef Bunty Brannigan has no time to celebrate her 30th birthday. She is working
every hour to create a menu for an award ceremony and to keep customers coming
through the door of the small Italian deli she has inherited from her parents.
Bunty’s life was complicated enough when
all she had to deal with were her best friends from convent school, but when
she finds her celebrity chef cousin Luca Caruso lying unconscious in the fava
beans, hot lawyer, charmer and Italian stud Fabio Rossi enters her life, and
things begin to get really out of control.
What
will happen when all of the Caruso family secrets are out in the open?
Will
Bunty's Italian grandmother still try to stay in control from beyond the grave?
Can
Fabio persuade Bunty to change her mind about dating Italians?
Will the
convent girls be forced to finally confess to Sister Teresa the truth about the
visiting choirboys and the missing communion wine?
And how
much chocolate do you need to create a life size man part?
Let the
mayhem begin...before it becomes a recipe for disaster!
To discover even more about Nina
Harrington, and to keep up with her latest projects, you can visit her at:
Monday, August 12, 2013
catchup
Current work: working on M&B #59 (Rom – Mediterranean prince) and two other projects
Listening to: Beethoven
Reading: next on TBR (recently, have enjoyed Nicola Cornick’s ‘Forbidden’ – great read)
Gym: cardio – zumba and jazz dance tonight
So what’s been happening so far in the summer holidays? Lots of painting (mainly by DH and son). Curtain shopping (mainly by daughter and me). Leaning on wet paint (dog). Archery (son and DH).
There have also been trips to the seaside. (This is Mundesley, on the North Norfolk coast.)
And some scoffing of nice food (total serendipity – the queue at the new fish and chip shop in Cromer was quite long, so we decided to go to one of the nearby pubs instead, and guess what was on the specials board? Result: one happy Kate).
Other than that, I’m waiting on revisions for #58, working on the next one, and tinkering with a couple of other projects. (Course I can write three books at the same time. A change is as good as a rest, right?)
Oh, and new hair. Still cappuccino.
Listening to: Beethoven
Reading: next on TBR (recently, have enjoyed Nicola Cornick’s ‘Forbidden’ – great read)
Gym: cardio – zumba and jazz dance tonight
So what’s been happening so far in the summer holidays? Lots of painting (mainly by DH and son). Curtain shopping (mainly by daughter and me). Leaning on wet paint (dog). Archery (son and DH).
There have also been trips to the seaside. (This is Mundesley, on the North Norfolk coast.)
And some scoffing of nice food (total serendipity – the queue at the new fish and chip shop in Cromer was quite long, so we decided to go to one of the nearby pubs instead, and guess what was on the specials board? Result: one happy Kate).
Other than that, I’m waiting on revisions for #58, working on the next one, and tinkering with a couple of other projects. (Course I can write three books at the same time. A change is as good as a rest, right?)
Oh, and new hair. Still cappuccino.
Thursday, August 01, 2013
lots of exciting things!
Current work: just finished revising #58 (Med continuity), about to start #59 (Rom – Mediterranean prince) and working on a idea that refused to go away and isn’t a romance, but… hey, I’m rolling with it
Listening to: Muse
Reading: next on TBR (recently, have enjoyed Jojo Moyes’ ‘The Girl You Left Behind’ and several by Sarah Mayberry)
Gym: cardio (this week, new PB on squats – 40kg)
So today is my wedding anniversary – 21 years. Happy anniversary, honey.
I think I look a bit of a zombie in this pic, but then I had been awake since 5am and this was taken mid-afternoon. And my hair is dark because there’s a ton of hairspray on it to keep the curls in place :o)
What other exciting things are going on?
Baloo (#57) has been accepted. I’m still waiting to hear about the release date and title (though I am trying bribery and corruption and promising to make lots of cake for the office if they let me keep my working title). So I get to buy the Pandora bead for it today. I need something with a star.
We’re also partway through painting the house. Pretty much the same colour scheme, but just making everything look fresher. And the teenagers are helping, bless them :o) But that’s the next week and a half taken up…
Ballroom dancing is still going well – learned a couple of new steps in the cha cha cha (the Turkish Towel and the zig-zag shoulder-to-shoulder).
Gym – going nicely and am enjoying Zumba and Jazz.
Have a nice day! (I have pink champagne and cake planned - hope your day will be as good).
Listening to: Muse
Reading: next on TBR (recently, have enjoyed Jojo Moyes’ ‘The Girl You Left Behind’ and several by Sarah Mayberry)
Gym: cardio (this week, new PB on squats – 40kg)
So today is my wedding anniversary – 21 years. Happy anniversary, honey.
I think I look a bit of a zombie in this pic, but then I had been awake since 5am and this was taken mid-afternoon. And my hair is dark because there’s a ton of hairspray on it to keep the curls in place :o)
What other exciting things are going on?
Baloo (#57) has been accepted. I’m still waiting to hear about the release date and title (though I am trying bribery and corruption and promising to make lots of cake for the office if they let me keep my working title). So I get to buy the Pandora bead for it today. I need something with a star.
We’re also partway through painting the house. Pretty much the same colour scheme, but just making everything look fresher. And the teenagers are helping, bless them :o) But that’s the next week and a half taken up…
Ballroom dancing is still going well – learned a couple of new steps in the cha cha cha (the Turkish Towel and the zig-zag shoulder-to-shoulder).
Gym – going nicely and am enjoying Zumba and Jazz.
Have a nice day! (I have pink champagne and cake planned - hope your day will be as good).
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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