Natasha Oakley - British Romance Author

Tickling my muse ....

2009-02-21T22:13:00.003Z

I'm off to Rome! I can't quite believe it but childcare is all sorted, there are copious lists left on the kitchen worktop and the school uniforms are washed if-not-quite-ironed-yet. Just the packing to go then.

First stop is Belfast where I pick up Trish Wylie. We must try hard not to talk too late into the night because our flight to Rome is disgustingly early. Not quite sure why we thought that was a good idea now ....

Then it's serious research. Oh but I love this job!!!! Have laptop will travel.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T14:52:00.008Z

There are times when I amaze myself. Normally I'm firmly grunting until I've got my drugs-of-choice (cup of tea, quickly followed by an enormous mug of caffinated coffee) whooshing through my system, but six o'clock this morning I was making Hollandaise Sauce.

'Heart-shaped Toast with Eggs, Asparagus and Truffle Hollandaise Sauce' is a fiddly little dish, but I won through. It was only later it occurred to me I should have held out for breakfast in bed myself ... Duh!

Happy Valentine's Day all!

Who's the sexiest male of 2009?

2009-02-09T17:24:00.006Z

Here's something to brighten a cold day. The result of the Romantic Novelists' Association's annual poll on 'who is the sexiest male?' has been announced. Always an eagerly awaited thing in romance author circles. This being a subject we take very much to heart, you understand.

"British actor Richard Armitage has leapt from last year's 4th place to this year topping the ratings in the Romantic Novelists' Association 2009 Valentine's poll, to take the title of Sexiest Thing on Two Legs, beating top Hollywood stars to the number one spot.

Johnny Depp, who topped last year's poll, was pushed firmly into second place, with Hugh Jackman and George Clooney mere also-rans. "Richard Armitage took 20% of the vote, more than double the count of any other male on the list," said the RNA pollster. "He was a clear winner from the off."

The RNA is not alone in admiration of the actor, as numerous online Richard Armitage fan sites will testify. The ardency began with North and South, grew by leaps and bounds with his appearance as the leather-clad baddie in Robin Hood, and shows no sign of diminishing as Spooks takes to the airwaves.

According to romantic novelists, the sexiest male celebrities of 2009 are:

1. Richard Armitage
2. Johnny Depp
3. Hugh Jackman
4. George Clooney
5. Daniel Craig
6. Sean Bean
7. Alan Rickman
8. David Tennant
9. Pierce Brosnan
10. Gerard Butler"

Can't argue with that, can you? Slightly preoccupied as I was, I didn't even vote! Nice to see Johnny Depp in second place, too. Johnny, you may remember, will never be quite happy without me in his life. I'd long suspected that fact but it was nice to have it confirmed.

It's all to do with biorhythms, apparently. The theory goes that there are three fixed cycles which start at your moment of birth - a 23-day physical cycle, a 28-day emotional cycle and a 33-day mental cycle. By knowing someone's birthday you can work out the highs and lows of their life. And, by clicking here you can find your perfect match.

Isn't that useful?

And since I know you want to ..... click here to find how you match with our Richard.

You've got 80% to beat ......

Snow

2009-02-03T12:25:00.004Z

Not that we actually have very much where we are at the moment - it's still significantly impacting my life.

Yesterday there was enough snow for a snowball fight and my children's schools were open as usual. Something they found very annoying. And I, in turn, found them very annoying. Was it my fault?? Did I instruct all their schools to stay open when others were closed???

Today ....... it's at that messy slush stage when everywhere looks very grubby and, for some reason which misses me entirely, the school my younger three go to has a 'snow day' whilst the school my eldest two go to (fourteen miles away) is open. It's a mystery! Elder two not happy. Still more snow forecast ...

Ooops!

2009-01-29T05:41:00.002Z

I've just been told off for playing my music too loud! Surely that's a role reversal????

My youngest was off school yesterday with a temperature, and will be again today, so I'm 'stealing a march on the day' and starting early. I think 5.00am is a perfectly reasonable time to have something to hum along to, don't you? Apparently not. Hey ho!

Back at the keyboard

2009-01-27T21:28:00.005Z

I've had a good working day. Lots of words streaming from my fingertips. Really does make a change to be blogging that! In fact, makes a bit of a change to have the time to blog at all.

I hestitate to say it, but I do believe my life has returned to 'normal'. Well, as normal as it can ever be with five children and a floor that's still drying out ... Plus my husband has an oncology appointment coming up and they do rather loom. But he's looking good so I'm refusing to be too anxious.

And I have a book out on the shelves in the UK and North America right now. I will eventually get around to updating my website but I'm loathed to interrupt the flow of my current WIP. It's the hero. He's really rather demanding ...

So, in the meantime, here's Romantic Times Magazine'sreview of 'Cinderella and the Sheikh':
CINDERELLA AND THE SHEIKH (4.5) by Natasha Oakley Getting a documentary about her great-great-grandmother's life made is almost as important to Polly Anderson as hanging on to her stepfather's ancestral home, and Sheikh Rashid Al Baha knows it. A breeder of fine horses, Rashid allows Polly and her crew into his country to ascertain her culpability in a bad deal he made with her stepbrother. He never expects to discover she's innocent -- or to fall in love. Polly's sweet and vulnerable, and Rashid dreads telling her the truth -- he's sure it will mean the end of their affair. Oakley begins her Brides of Amrah Kingdom duet with a well-told story. The exotic setting -- and Rashid -- add a dash of mystery and glamour.

—Catherine Witmer

And now there is nothing for it but to try and fill out my tax return. Anyone else in the UK really irritated by the 'tax doesn't have to be taxing' advert????? I don't know what form they're looking at.

Public Humiliation!

2007-01-27T14:53:00.000Z

Over at the Pink Heart Society blog it's Hamper Day. Not only that Ally has decreed we must share the name of our first love. There's nothing quite like humiliating oneself in public, is there!

Just consider, since the launch of our group blog in September, I've found myself on a diet I hadn't planned to go on and am spending far too much time googling pictures of Richard Armitage and Rufus Sewell. Now I've had to tell you about my adolescent fantasy. Any aspiring writers out there ought to seriously consider the personal cost of selling to Harlequin!!!

After a bit of thought - for I was a fickle girl - I plumped for Michael Praed as 'Robin of Sherwood'. There was something about all that chest hair which delighted my girlish heart.

Naturally I saw myself as a latent redhead. Judi Trott's hair really is worthy of any Mills & Boon heroine. I can feel the envy washing over me as I type.

Incidentally, 'Robin of Sherwood' is available on DVD in the UK and will be soon (13th March) in the USA and Canada. I've just put it on my amazon rental list. I feel it's time for me to experience a 'blast from the past'.

You'll have to come back tomorrow to hear how much damage the Tipsy Laird Trifle did to my diet. Since it was delicious, I suspect lots.

Now I must write. Daniel, my hero of the moment, has a teenage daughter who's causing me quite as much trouble as she is him. When Cordelia's grown up a little more I shall probably give her a story of her own because she keeps trying to take over this one.

I'm beginning to think this book wants to be something quite different.

Breaking News!!!!

2007-01-28T15:41:00.000Z

Here's a piece of news it's been hard not to share - 'Accepting The Boss's Proposal' has been shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists' Association's 'Romance' Prize.

Click here to see my competition. :)

I'm really thrilled and very flattered at the company I find myself in. Exciting, isn't it!

Now if ever a girl had a good reason to stick to eating vegetables this has to be it. What shall I wear to lunch at the Savoy in London?

Blogging on eHarlequin.com

2007-02-01T18:49:00.000Z

Today is offspring 2's birthday - and, can you believe it, we didn't even have a cake! She opened her presents a little after six in the morning and then we dashed about the day as normal having decided to move the main family celebrations to the weekend.

Tonight was offspring 3's violin lesson, offsprings 1 and 2 had ATC (Air Training Corps) but offspring 1 couldn't go because he had 'options evening' at school. So, I've spent the evening trying to make head and tail of the current UK exam system.

In my day, it was all exam based and even the very brightest didn't do more than 8 'O' levels. Now you've got to try and work out whether you'd get better results from a subject that has a higher coursework content ...

The one thing I'm certain of is that if Offspring 1 goes ahead and picks French and German he can expect absolutely no help from me!

On top of all that I'm blogging on eharlequin this month. Somehow I agreed to that in a rash moment. I suppose it seemed like a good idea because February was then a long way off and was going to see the final merge between Harlequin Romance and Silhouette Romance.

Of course, it's still the final merge month. It's just it's no longer a long way off!

I'm hoping it's going to be a two-way type of conversation. So if there's anything you want to know about me, about what it's like to be an author and how I approach my writing, do come and play by clicking here.

It's looking like tomorrow I'll be talking about how having been an actress has affected the way I write.

Yipidee Do Dah!

2007-04-07T06:30:00.000Z

It's been a long time since I did this. I'm nearly back. Promise. Just the small matter of a book to finish before I'm allowed to! (Editors are sooo demanding.)

Meanwhile, I've had some good news.

I came home yesterday to find a message on my answerphone saying that 'Accepting The Boss's Proposal' is a finalist for the Holt Medallion Award.

Such a nice message to come home to!! And I've not deleted it yet so can play it over and over. I know the English accent does all kinds of funny things to American ears but it's entirely mutual. How *do* you make 'category' take that long to say????

'Accepting The Boss's Proposal' is turning out to be a very 'lucky' book as it's also finalled in the Romantic Novelists' Association Romance Prize. On the whole I'd say my first year of competition entering is going quite well!

Writing buddy Trish Wylie has also finalled in the HOLT with her wonderful 'Project: Parenthood'. BTW do pop over to her revamped and beautifully shiny website. She's between books and has been very ... er ... helpfully putting together a hero database. Not that I'm looking, of course, I've got a book to finish ....

Oh and do go read all about the preparations for the Romantic Novelists' Association Award Lunch at the Savoy over at eHarlequin. I'm blogging there soon but have really got to keep my nose to the grindstone and catch up on my writing proper.

I'll be back as soon as I've written this hero of mine into shape!

And ...

2007-04-10T11:39:00.000Z

Ally Blake has just returned from a short break away to discover she's also finalled in the HOLT with her lovely 'Meant-To-Be Mother'.

A nice showing for the Pink Heart Society girls!

Here's the complete list of finalists in the Traditional category:

Meant-To-Be Mother by Ally Blake
Here With Me by Holly Jacobs
Rescued by Mr. Right by Shirley Jump
Accepting the Boss's Proposal by Natasha Oakley
Project: Parenthood by Trish Wylie

Now back to work. I've got steam coming out of my ears ....

Niroli

2007-05-18T14:53:00.000Z

You might have noticed I've not been blogging for awhile. My mum's illness and recent death meant that I got terribly behind with my writing - and I'm still busy catching up.

But ...

I couldn't resist taking time out from my current WIP to show you this.

It seems such a long time ago I was writing my contribution to the Niroli series. The first book, Penny Jordan's 'The Future King's Pregnant Mistress', is released in NA and the UK in July 2007. My book, 'The Tycoon's Princess Bride', is the fourth in the series and will appear in October 2007 unless ........

Unless you would like to buy the whole set right now! Over on the Mills and Boon site it's possible to do just that - click here!

Anniversaries and new beginnings ...

2007-09-01T21:32:00.000Z

Missed me???

I'm just about holding my head up out of the water now. My husband is now halfway through his chemo and coping well. Hopefully it's working well. We'll find that out at the next scan which is looming close. Meanwhile I'm getting used to having him about the house. Love him as I do it's still an adjustment. He's sooooooo noisy. It seems wherever he's been he leaves a radio on, the TV, something! Has anyone else got one like that???

So things are settling into some kind of a pattern. Not great but ... doable. I reckon that's the best word to describe what's going on with us. And the children are fantastic. Messy but fantastic. (I actually found a used yoghurt pot beside the sofa this morning. Mothers everywhere please join me in a corporate howl of outrage!)

I've decided this is the day to re-start my blog. The 1st of September seemed an auspicous choice because this was the day we launched The Pink Heart Society - a blog in praise of category fiction. We being Trish Wylie, Ally Blake and Nicola Marsh. It's been such fun and hugely successful. So much so, in fact, we had to find ourselves another editor to share the workload. We four became five with the addition of Jenna Bayley-Burke.

Can you believe The Pink Heart Society has been going a whole year?

We begin our second year with the addition of some columnists. We've been so snowed under of late. So Annie West, Anne McAllister, Kate Walker, Samantha Hunter and Fiona Harper have come to help. Should be fun shouldn't it!

The whole of September is given over to celebrations and you should just see the hamper we're putting together. It's droolworthy.

Come and play.

Right now I've got copy edits I should be doing for 'Wanted: White Wedding', a Sheikh story to finish but I'm not doing either. Instead I'm about to hunt around for the perfect Hugh Jackman picture. There's a reason for that but you'll have to come back on Monday to find out what it was.

It's nice to be back!

PHS Hugh Jackman Tour 2007

2007-09-03T22:35:00.000Z

Fortunately it's effortless to find pictures of this man on the web. I've used up a fair few on my PHS blog this morning but I've still got one or two more! If you've absolutely no idea what I'm talking about you need to pop over to the Pink Heart Society and read all about the annual Hugh Jackman Tour!!

I've narrowed my personal selection down to two.

Hugh Jackman - the family man.

I'm still not sure about his beard but this is a lovely, natural photo of Hugh with his wife Deborra-Lee and their daughter Ava Eliot Jackman.

Only then I came across this one of Hugh Jackman in front of BOOKS. That has to be about perfect! You choose.

And here, as promised on my PHS blog today, is Sandra Garcia-Myers review of my Niroli book, 'The Tycoon's Princess Bride', for the Romantic Times Magazine.

Princess Isabella Fierezza wants reclusive Domenic Vincini to build a resort she hopes will increase tourism to Niroli. A scarred burn victim who tried, but ultimately failed, to rescue his family from a fire, Domenic senses something in his soul awaken when he meets Isabella. But he's afraid of caring too deeply for someone, so he rejects her. But Isabella doesn't give up that easily. Will he realize, before it's too late, how lucky he would be to have a second chance at love? Natasha Oakley's beautifully crafted story shimmers with emotion. The Tycoon's Princess Bride (4.5), the newest addition to the Royal House of Niroli series, is a terrifically poignant tale about looking beneath the surface to the soul and recognizing your soul mate.

Reviews honestly don't come lovelier than that! And it was a TOP PICK which is just pure icing on the cake.

And the Winner .......

2007-09-04T12:18:00.001Z

The Pink Heart Society annual Hugh Jackman tour was great fun. If you missed the main event pop over here and find all the links posted for some wonderful pictures. Much though it pains me to say it I think this is my favourite:

I reckon the honours for that have to be shared between Michelle Styles, who found it, and Julie Cohen, who posted it. I suppose some credit also ought to go to the photographer ... and maybe a bit to Hugh's parents. :)

Today at the Pink Heart Society we're beginning the massive Birthday Treasure Hunt. The hamper prize is utterly droolworthy. Time to go play!

Well, for you. I'm not allowed to win it and I must make myself sit down to my copy-edits. So far I've discovered my delinquent teenager is no longer allowed to say 'It's pissing down out here'. Gone with a flick of the editorial pen and replaced by 'pouring'. Accurate but not particularly mouthy is it? Is 'pissing' particularly offensive????

Anyway, 'tis gone. Ever onwards ...

PS - For Trish who appears to have entered into a war of the Jackman YouTubes. I see yours and I up you with this!

Chemo Day and writing anyway

2007-09-12T13:00:00.001Z

Today is my husband's fifth chemo session. They happen every three weeks and they take the entire day. Five or six hours of slow dripping. I've nipped back home ready to do the school run and then I'll return to the hospital, pick him up and bring him back to sleep.

This really has been THE most grotty year. But we've had some good news so despite it all I have to say I'm feeling bouyant. The latest scans show it's working better than expected. Just another three sessions to go after this one.

Meanwhile I've still got to finish my copy edits on 'Wanted: White Wedding'. I'm finding them so irritating to do because my head is busy with another story and I'd like to be able to get on with it.

This is just one of many images I've found of my fictional Amrah. If I tell you it's even more beautiful in my head you'll understand why I'd prefer to be there than conscientiously going through copy edits.

I'm so pleased to want to write again. For such a long time it's felt like a huge effort. Over on eHarlequin there's a wonderful blog on what keeps authors writing. I've loved reading it. You'll find it here.

There have definitely been weeks where I wondered whether I'd ever flick my laptop open again. The time I spent at the keyboard was time wasted, to be honest. And then suddenly I'm back. It's a europhic feeling.

I suppose all artists, whatever their sphere, have to accept that creating anything is not the work of an automaton. It's all about personal investment. I think I'm really lucky to have had an editor who believed in me and kept me going. Painfully slowly but still at the 'typeface'.

And, of course, my fellow Pink Heart Society editors - particularly Trish who nagged shamefully. Don't forget to keep looking at the PHS blog this month. You need to follow the Treasure Hunt to be in with a chance of winning this months fantastic hamper.

Time to Vote

2007-09-16T18:27:00.000Z

Having just found this on Liz Fielding's blog I make absoslutely no apologies for copying it over here. I'm fairly certain she won't sue me! :)

It's time to vote for your favourite book from the following list at the North-West Libraries TIME TO READ -- PURE PASSION website. This is a wonderful initiative from a very supportive library region with romances from every genre and for every taste on the list. Just click on the link at the bottom of the list, then on the VOTE HERE button at the top right hand corner.

A Step In The Dark by Judith Lennox

Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

Brown Owl’s Guide To Life by Kate Harrison

Deceived by Nicola Cornick

Decent Exposure by Phillipa Ashley

Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard

Gardens of Delight by Erica James

Going Dutch by Katie Fforde

His ’n’ Hers by Mike Gayle

Home Truths by Freya North

Love Potions by Christina Jones

Mounting Desire by Nina Killham

PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

Rainbow’s End by Eileen Ramsay

Reunited:Marriage in a Million by Liz Fielding

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Tall, Dark and Handsome by Nisha Minhas

The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Undead and Unwed by Mary Janice Davidson

Okay, that's the list. Now click here and VOTE

If you're not in the UK I'm afraid you'll have to cheer from the sidelines because they do seem to be asking for a UK postcode.

I know many of these authors from the Romantic Novelists' Association and have loved their books but Liz writes for Harlequin Romance, as do I, and that swings my vote.

It's between you and the ballot box!!

The Glamorous Life of an Author

2007-09-22T17:10:00.000Z

No, really! Sometimes, not so often I admit, but sometimes it really is glamorous. Wednesday saw me don my best clothes and take the train to beautiful Richmond where the Harlequin M&B editorial team are based. It's always a little dangerous because you emerge from Richmond Station and are immediately plunged into shopping paradise. I suspect it's a cunning plan by the editors to keep up all so in debt that we're truly motivated to write another book!

This year my editor and I took a short stroll to the newly opened Fishworks.

Over the most incredible seafood I think I've ever eaten we discussed my career to date and what's planned for next year. I've come home very fired up with ideas swirling about in my head.

Yesterday it was back to London again. This year Mills & Boon held their 'Celebratory Toast' at The Oriental Club in Stratford Place. I love seeing inside all these amazing places. The Oriental Club is tucked behind Oxford Circus. How amazing is that!

Apart from it being nice to catch up with author friends it wt was wonderful to hear how well Niroli is selling. Everyone seems to be very excited about it. The box sets have been the biggest seller on the M&B site EVER. My 'The Tycoon's Princess Bride' will hit the selves at the beginning of October.

Trish Wylie has to fly back to Ireland today so that's all the blogging I intend to do. We are going to make the most of the last of the summer sunshine, sit in a quiet cafe and put the world to rights.

But before I sign off I have to give my gift to the little jumping man.

The Pink Heart Society is celebrating the first anniversary of its launch this month and to mark the occasion we're giving away the largest bundle of goodies ever. Writer of fiction I might be but there isn't a word of exaggeration when I tell you the prize is absolutely fantastic. To be in with a chance of winning you have to follow the Treasure Hunt and make a note of all the presents given to our birthday boy.

So here's mine:

He's been a bit over-excited with all the attention so I'm going to settle him down with something soothing.

A Hot Pink Cocktail

1 1/2 oz Tequila Rose
Hot Chocolate
Whipped Cream

Fill with hot chocolate and top with whipped cream. Serve in coffee cup.

And don't worry about the alcohol content because pink hearts age differently from the rest of us!

Selling well, writing slowly!

2007-10-14T22:02:00.000Z

Now you see this is bad!

I allowed myself to pop into the 'cupboard I fondly call my study' for the time it took to drink a mug of coffee in order to delete the 567 spam emails I've collected over the weekend and I'm still here twenty minutes later - and my coffee is cold.

By the by, why do people bother to send SPAM? Surely to goodness it can't work. And it's certainly not very specific, is it? A goodly proportion of mine are offering to enlarge a body part I simply don't possess.

It's not as though I've actually spent much time looking at the emails either. I thought I'd quickly 'google' Oman - as you do when you're writing a sheikh book and want to get your dishdashas straight - and have been very badly sidetracked. As I far too often am.

Memo to Self: THIS IS WHY I'M WRITING THIS BOOK ON MY LAPTOP WHICH HAS NO ACCESS TO THE INTERNET.

And then, of course, I couldn't resist MSNing Trish to check she's not making too much progress on her WIP.

Actually this was a good move. First off, contrary to her own blog, she has not got her fingers on her keyboard all the time. Right at this moment she is watching 'Smallville' which makes me feel much better.

Secondly, she knows how to check the Waldenbooks Bestseller List and I'm on it. 'The Tycoon's Princess Bride' came in at number 10 for the week ending 6th October.

Now send me back to work ..........

It's all Trish's fault

2007-11-08T17:14:00.000Z

Again. There was I happily writing up a storm. Hero behaving himself reasonably well when that orange light starts blinking at the bottom of my screen to say that Trish wishes to talk - despite the fact I'm still showing as 'away'. That woman knows me too well!

On her blog today - click here - you will see she's replied to my Dear Trish letter. It's very funny. But I do feel she doesn't fully appreciate my Richard Armitage addiction. So rather than clog up her comments box anymore I'm going to post some 'hero inspiration' here.

Now, that's quite enough of that. Coffee break is over and I have a book to write.

Oh, and tomorrow I'm blogging over at the Pink Heart Society. Come play.

Thinking Positively!

2007-11-13T19:00:00.000Z

I had one of those epiphanic moments last night. You know the kind that stops you in your tracks and makes you look at something again with fresh eyes.

Last night I met up with some writer friends - a nice mix of published and unpublished, fiction and non-fiction. I suppose we manage to catch-up every two or three months to swap writerly news and life stuff. Always nice to have a reason to get dressed! :)

So, we began ...

It's now just over a year since my lovely mum was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I spent the beginning of 2007 trying to make it possible for her to die at home. And I failed. Although I know she was happy to go to the hospice in the end, I still wish it had been possible.

Then, just in case things weren't bleak enough, the decision to pull funding on the place where my husband worked coincided with the reappearance of his cancer. Redundancy and illness is never a great combination, is it! Consequently he's spent the last six months redundant AND on chemo.

Anyway, I gave my update on all that - and my friends ask how my writing is going. The answer to that is 'slowly'. Still slowly. Under normal circumstances I write a fairly comfortable 2000 words a day. 50,000 publishable words in a couple of months. That's just not been happening this year.

For a start I've been incredibly tired. Bone tired. And, with five dependant children, I'm juggling lots of things. On the whole I think I've done well. The children are doing fantastically well. I'm so proud of them. But, of course, sometimes they've needed to talk - sometimes my husband has needed to - and by the time they've finished with me I feel like a wrung out wet towel. None of that is conducive to a productive writing life.

And that means I've committed the unforgiveable sin for an author under contract - I've missed my deadlines. I'm so cross about it, feel incredibly guilty, but I've reached the point of acceptance and my editor at Harlequin has been absolutely wonderful and very very supportive of me.

Sue, a published author sitting next to me, remarked 'your sales must be good!'. And I kind of shrugged and said I thought they were okay and that the last three books had made the Waldenbook Bestseller lists and the Romantic Times' Magazine had chosen 'The Tycoon's Princess Bride' as a Top Pick.

And that was that. We talked about other things and laughed a lot. I stuffed the diet and plumped for sausages and mash with an onion and balsamic vinegar gravy ...

Much later on someone said something and I replied that I thought thought the whole millenium had been fairly grotty. Then Sue provided my epiphanic moment. She said that, considering what I'd just been telling her about being on the bestseller lists and a Top Pick, she didn't think I knew how to celebrate the good things when they happened.

And, you know, she's right! This last year I've had some lovely things happen to me, all mixed in with the bad. There wasn't one person at that table who wouldn't like to be on a best seller list. Some who are still hoping to sell a book. How selfish am I!

I feel like I've been in a dark tunnel for the longest time. I don't 'do' depression. I have friends that do and I've seen how wretched that is. I've always been a glass half-full kind of a girl, but I think I've been as close to it as I'm ever going to get. I've been really busy getting through the day-to-day, making sure everyone else is okay, and I've not really paid any attention to me.

Now, tomorrow is my husband's final chemo day. Which is great, isn't it! Only he, of course, doesn't feel so great about it because he's going to be sick for the next week and continue to feel tired and ache for a few weeks after that. And then he has to find a job. Oh and then there's the scan in January and the prospect of a stem cell transplant looming after that.

And that's what I'd gone to dinner thinking. You know, I hadn't realised how negative I've allowed myself to become.

So, let's do better. Tomorrow IS the last planned dose of chemo. And my last three books HAVE been on the Waldenbooks Bestseller Lists, my contribution to the Niroli series IS a Romantic Times Magazine Top Pick and my editor is really wanting my next book whenever I can get it to her. I think I need to look up and see the light at the end of this particular tunnel, don't you?

Time for some positive thinking!

Behaving badly!

2007-11-24T19:21:00.000Z

I had a lovely chat with my editor in which we adjusted all my deadlines and, in fact, titled the next two books. I'm still chuckling over that. Well, that and the fact I've somehow got to get a white wedding into a sheikh book. A little tricky! Still, I love a challenge ...

And I've been writing. Only I'm a tiny bit stuck .... and I'm sitting at the 'big' computer - which is always dangerous. I've indulged my amazon.co.uk habit under the guise of 'Christmas shopping', I've had a quick look at 'You Tube' and then a new thought occured to me. THEATRE. Quickly followed by 'I wonder what's on ....?'

I've now booked to go and see 'The Country Wife' at the Theatre Royal in London.

"One of the greatest and funniest comedies of the Restoration, The Country Wife tells the story of Horner, a notorious and lascivious man - about - town and his ingenious scheme for the rampant and mass seduction of the women of London society. By spreading the false rumour of his own impotence, he gains the sympathy of the husbands of the town and, more importantly, free access to their wives.

Meanwhile the newly-married Pinchwife desperately attempts to keep his naïve country bride from the clutches of predatory London bachelors. When she and Horner meet, events spiral out of his control…

Award-winning actors David Haig, Patricia Hodge and Toby Stephens lead the company in Wycherley’s dazzling comedy. Joining them is exciting young actress Fiona Glascott in the title role."

Now, I reckon this is acceptable because Toby Stephens is playing Horner and I reckon that could be construed as 'hero research', don't you?

Then I wandered over to the RSC site and found that I've accidentally bought tickets to see 'Loves Labours Lost' NEXT YEAR. Grief! I can't even manage to plan next week so what did I think I was doing ...?

Anyway I reckon that can be justified as an 'educational experience' since I'm taking all my children to that one. What do you think???? And, maybe 'hero research' again as David Tennant is playing Berowne. You'd better get a move on if you want to book any yourself because to get seven seats together I'm a fair way from the action.

Oh and he's doing 'Hamlet', too. Sacrilege maybe, but I find that play depressing.

As is 'Romeo and Juliet'. I took my daughter and my eldest son to see a student production of that last night. I've now seen it ... umpteen times and I've come to the conclusion I just don't get it. Firstly, why didn't Juliet just run away with Romeo as soon as he was banished? I mean, it wasn't as though she didn't know marriage to poor old Paris was on the cards. And, am I the only person who thinks everyone being 'sorry' isn't a very upbeat ending - however nice the statue???

Now, enough is enough. If you haven't seen 'Romeo and Juliet' recently you won't know what I'm talking about and my credit card has been flexed enough. Send me back to work.

Clearing my desk

2007-11-29T08:05:00.001Z

I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.
Peter De Vries

This is not a picture of my desk - mine is much worse! Or it was, until I started sorting it at about 6.00am.

It all began when offspring 4 mentioned school cooking. Let's not discuss the fact I find myself experiencing constant low level anger at his having to take in every single blasted item he needs, or that I have to make the same - usually revolting recipe - in order to bulk everything up to feed a family of seven ... School cooking day means you have to have the orange cookbook. Well, who knows where that is ...???

I bite down on the suggestion it might have been better to have got everything sorted last night. After all, what's the point at this stage???

In vain did I argue that, his being the fourth child, I remembered perfectly well what he needed and could type out the 'method' in about five minutes.

Add in to that the usual disasters - missing gum sheild, mango chutney added erroneously the someone's chicken sandwich when his brother KNEW he didn't like mango chutney, a lost homework sheet, 'impossible' geography homework which is due in today (anyone ready to draw a flow diagram on the life of an orange recycling sack??) and you have an accurate picture of my morning so far.

I have this recurring pleasant dream that one day I'll go to the 'cupboard-I-fondly-call-my-study' and find everything is exactly where I left it. The reality is sooooooo different. Anyone and everyone 'just' pops in to do some thing or other and 'just' pushes my things to one side 'for a moment'.

So, at the time I would naturally still be sleeping, I'm bleary eyed and trying to work out which bits of paper are actually connected to my WIP, which bits seem to hold lists of Christmas wants (presumably so I will notice them), which bits are school letters ...

Anyway you get the picture. Rather sadly I've discovered the letter inviting me to go have a smear test. REALLY don't like those.

Also discovered my half filled out tax return. We're at that time of the year again when there's an irritating man announcing 'tax doesn't have to be taxing' every time I turn on the radio. I don't know what form he is looking at!

(I can't let Trish have all the cat pictures, now can I!!)

And then I've been reminded it's competition time again. I'm really not sure about all that, but having started last year it's hard to not to play again. However, I may have to rethink. I've just tried to enter one online and can I get it to go through???????????????? Don't answer that!

I need a coffee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then book. I'm not even going to think about how many words I need to write today .....

Finding the hero

2007-12-01T23:46:00.000Z

I'm having a wine break. I would just like to point out it's nearly midnight and I haven't done my word count for the day so my bottom is still firmly in the chair. The next person who even suggests writing series fiction is 'easy' is liable to be smacked in the face. And, I promise, I'm not usually a violent person.

But, I digress.

I had an email today from an unpublished writer who wanted my take on 'casting' characters. Do I really use actors as the basis of my characters? Do I fill out character charts? Do I ever get muddled and forget the colour of their eyes?

So, the answers are: sometimes/sort of, never and fairly often if my writing time is broken up.

I've said in in a number of places that I 'used' British actor Richard Armitage as the 'hero inspiration' for my character Domenic in 'The Tycoon's Princess Bride'. And, I suspect that's what prompted the question.

Anyone who has read 'The Tycoon's Princess Bride' will know that Domenic isn't Richard Armitage. Domenic is from an island called Mont Avellana. Richard's English. Domenic has brown eyes and Richard blue/grey.

But he helped - and it was all to do with the expression in his eyes. Finding Domenic was tricky. For a start he wasn't my creation. Not in the beginning. He was part of an editor-led continuity series which means I had certain 'facts' I needed to work around.

'The Tycoon's Princess Bride' is the fourth book in the Niroli series and I was asked to write it because the editors felt my 'voice' would suit the story they had in mind. Once the contracts were signed I was given 'The Bible'.

So, what did I know? Domenic was a hotel owner with light, slightly curly brown hair. He had brown eyes, was 6ft 2" tall, a lean and toned physique (so someone explain the muppet I've got on the front cover) and aged 34. It's not a lot to go on, is it? And I couldn't deviate because if any of the other six authors mentioned him we'd be contradicting each other.

I knew, too, that he was 'scarred, both emotionally and physically, from the tragic fire in which his wife and child died'. I had the same amount of infomation on Isabella Fierezza and some 'Key Themes' (scarred hero, traumatic pasts, forbidden love, working together). And that was me.

Now find the story.

Find the hero.

Make it 'real'.

Every book is different. It's inception is different. At least for me. If you really want to get to grips with what fellow author Trish Wylie calls 'backward casting' you need to check out her website here. I don't work the same. At least not always.

For me, ideas come from everywhere. Sometimes I begin a book with the 'hook'. As in now when my editor has 'suggested' I might like to try a sheikh story. It could just as easily been an 'office' one or 'royalty'. These are 'hooks' which we know readers like and since we're in the business of entertainment ...

Sometimes I begin with a place. For example I wrote 'A Family To Belong To' because I happened to be on the Isle of Wight when I started writing it.

Some books start with the hero or heroine. It can be a line in a movie which starts you off. Sometimes a picture. It's not 'them', it's the way they make you feel when you look at them.

For 'The Tycoon's Princess Bride' I needed to find the characters which would make the 'facts' possible. So, why would Isabella go to Mont Avellana? Because she had to. What kind of man would be fascinated by her?

I decided he needed to be quite intense. Brooding. Passionate.

And that's what I meant about Richard Armitage being my hero inspiration for Domenic. My character's physical characteristics were set by the demands of being part of a continuity. Domenic is a burns survivor. He doesn't look like this.

BUT ...

When you look at this photo what do you 'feel'? I think there's an intensity in the eyes. A sense that he's really looking at the person out of sight. And, that's what I needed for Domenic. When he looks at Isabella he really looks. He really sees the woman she is.

And I suppose that's the fantasy. What woman doesn't want to be really seen???

Now wine over I need to go back to my WIP. With a Sheikh who doesn't really have a picture. Well, he does. Sort of. But, I'll tell you about that another day.

Here we go again ....

2007-12-05T12:58:00.000Z

As I've said here before, with Mills & Boon's centenary year just around the corner I'm braced for criticism as the media spotlight shines on us. What's so particularly annoying is that the negative swipes usually comes from people who haven't read a M&B for years, if ever. To date not one crass remark about my career choice has come from anyone who has read anything I've written.

Anyway ...

The Guardian newspaper here in the UK is today carrying the article below. Actually, I quite like it because Abby Green, as her real-life alter-ego Daisy Cummins, does a fine job in defending what really shouldn't need to be defended.

Get a coffee and settle down!

Mills & Boon: 100 years of heaven or hell?

Mills & Boon enjoys a huge readership, but has attracted furious critics during its 10 decades in business. Daisy Cummins explains why she is proud to write for the company, while Julie Bindel just wishes the books would go away.

Daisy Cummins and Julie Bindel
Wednesday December 5, 2007
The Guardian

A fine romance

Mills & Boon books have long been an easy flogging horse. Many assume they are only read by the hopelessly unfashionable and out of touch, desperate for tales of helpless heroines swept off their feet by dashing, mildly brutish heroes.

In fact, though, the person reading an M&B is far more likely to be a successful, highly intelligent woman in her 20s or 30s. And neither these women nor the heroines they love are waiting for a man to come and rescue them. M&B has moved on and sexed up.

Next year sees the firm celebrate its centenary and high sales figures continue to speak for its success. Two hundred million books sold worldwide per annum; 13m shifted each year in the UK.

As the daughter of a single-parent feminist, I was hard-wired from an early age to balk at the merest whiff of sexism. Yet, after finding a M&B in my Irish Catholic grandmother's room one summer, I was hooked. I had discovered an exciting world of feisty heroines and hard-muscled heroes. Sexual tension simmered and exploded. And there was always a happy ending. The hero and heroine were equal partners and every conflict was happily resolved, not necessarily in a marriage but with a firm commitment for the future. For me, the child of a revolutionary and somewhat bohemian background, it was a welcome - albeit, at first, slightly guilt-inducing - contrast to the anger at men I had witnessed growing up.

My mother knew I read them and said nothing, giving her tacit permission. She understood the need to balance things out. I now write for M&B myself, and am supremely proud to do so. My last book, The Kouros Marriage Revenge, was about a devastatingly gorgeous Greek. I write under the name Abby Green purely for the thrill of having a pseudonym.

Let's start with the first old chestnut that's used against these books: that they are pulp fiction written in purple prose. Well, they have never been presented as contenders for literary prizes and therefore need not offend anyone who would denigrate them on this basis. These books started out as serials, novellas written to appeal to women who would pick them up for an exotic, escapist treat. And, as with any successful business venture, the original formula has stayed largely the same. Man meets woman, they fall in love, there is a conflict and, ultimately, a happy ending. It is the paradigm behind every great literary romantic work.

Detractors believe that these books perpetuate the stereotype of the doormat woman, taken by a boorish hero, crushed in his arms and transformed into a newer, different type of doormat. They suggest that this fiction encourages women to subscribe to a mythical fairytale, in which men are always the saviour. What drivel. The women who populate these books come from as disparate and wide-ranging economic situations as the women who read them. To say they are all mindless romantic illiterates yearning to be saved is lazy ignorance.

I consider myself a feminist. Not perhaps in the sense that my mother would have called herself a feminist. That fight was fought, and necessarily. For me, feminism means being economically independent; able to pursue the career of my choice without being thwarted; free to make decisions concerning my body, or my vote. I have never struggled with sexual discrimination.

Lovers of romantic fiction, of M&B, know our own minds, we know our own expectations of love and romance. We can separate fantasy and reality. We are not stupid. So go forth in public, ladies - and gents, if you like - take your copy of Bought for the Frenchman's Pleasure or The Italian's Captive Virgin and read it with a smile on your face, cover held high, proud in the knowledge that you are sticking two fingers up to the begrudgers of romance.
Daisy Cummins

To find more about Abby Green and her books visit her website here.

In the opposite corner is freelance journalist, Julie Bindel.

Julie Bindel is a freelance journalist. She writes for the Guardian newspaper and Weekend magazine, and various other British and European newspapers and magazines. She is the co-editor of The Map of My Life: The Story of Emma Humphreys (Astraia Press, 2003) and several book chapters and research papers on sexual violence and the criminal justice system. A founder member of the feminist law reform campaign Justice for Women, Julie believes that doing paid work, however ethically and responsibly, is not enough, and remains a committed political activist. Julie has written investigative features on international prostitution, sex tourism in Jamaica, stalking and harassment, transsexualism, being a lesbian schoolgirl, the beauty industry and serial killers. For a bit of light relief she has written on the death of the hostess trolley, female orchestra conductors, fancying Camilla Parker Bowles and hating vegetarians.

Detestable trash

Fifteen years ago, I read 20 Mills & Boon novels as research for a dissertation on "romantic fiction and the rape myth". It was the easiest piece of research I have ever done. In every book, there was a scene where the heroine is "broken in", both emotionally and physically, by the hero. Having fallen for this tall, brooding figure of masculinity, the heroine becomes consumed with capturing him. The hero is behaving in a way that, in real life, causes many women to develop low self-esteem, depression and self-harming behaviour - blowing hot and cold, and treating her like dirt. But all comes right in the end. After the heroine displays extraordinary vulnerability during a crisis, Mr Macho saves the day and shows her he cares.

By this time (you know how uppity women can be), our heroine is so fed up that she does not comply when he grabs her inevitably small frame in his huge arms, and attempts to take her to bed. And so begins the "gender dance" - man chases woman, woman resists, and, finally, woman submits in a blaze of passion.

My loathing of M&B novels has nothing to do with snobbery. I could not care less if the books are trashy, formulaic or pulp fiction - Martina Cole novels, which I love, are also formulaic. But I do care about the type of propaganda perpetuated by M&B. I would go so far as to say it is misogynistic hate speech.

Why do I care so much about books that few take seriously? Are there not more important battles to fight? Challenging the low conviction rate for rape certainly seems more urgent than trashing novels that perpetuate gender stereotypes, but there is no doubt that such novels feed directly into some women's sense of themselves as lesser beings, as creatures desperate to be dominated.

One argument from M&B apologists is that the heroine has moved with the times. True, she is now more physically active and sexually imaginative. The modern-day character often dares to have sex before marriage, knows what she wants in terms of her career and personal life, and even has a sense of humour.

As a result of the changing heroine, the hero has been required to catch up. But rather than becoming a "new man", it seems he has become even more masculine and domineering in order to keep the heroine in line. This is how the rape fantasies so integral to the plot have been able to persist.

Take this description of a recent M&B novel, The Desert Sheikh's Captive Wife: "Tilda was regretting her short-lived romance with Rashad, the Crown Prince of Bakhar. Now, with her impoverished family indebted to him, Rashad was blackmailing her by insisting she pay up ... as his concubine! Soon Tilda was the arrogant Sheikh's captive, ready to be ravished in his far-away desert kingdom."

Or Bought: One Island, One Bride: "Self-made billionaire Alexander Kosta has come to the island of Lefkis for revenge ... He doesn't count on feisty pint-sized beauty Ellie Mendoras to be the thorn in his side! ... There's a dangerous smile on Alexander's lips ... As far as he's concerned Ellie's a little firecracker who needs to be tamed. He'll seduce her into compliance, then buy her body and soul!!"

Or Virgin Slave, Barbarian King: "Julia Livia Rufa is horrified when barbarians invade Rome and steal everything in sight. But she doesn't expect to be among the taken! As Wulfric's woman, she's ordered to keep house for the uncivilised marauders. Soon, though, Julia realises that she's more free as a slave than she ever was as a sheltered Roman virgin."

The first two were published this year, the third comes out in January.

In 1970, one of M&B's regular writers, Violet Winspear, claimed that her heroes had to be "capable of rape". Another, Hilary Wilde, said in 1966, "The odd thing is that if I met one of my heroes, I would probably bash him over the head with an empty whisky bottle. It is a type I loathe and detest. I imagine in all women, deep down inside us, is a primitive desire to be arrogantly bullied." These comments may have been made some time ago, but the tradition seems to continue in the many M&B novels that depict female submission to dominant heroes.

My horror at the genre is not directed towards either the women who write or, indeed, read them. I do not believe in blaming women for our own oppression. Women are the only oppressed group required not only to submit to our oppressors, but to love and sexually desire them at the same time. This is what heterosexual romantic fiction promotes - the sexual submission of women to men. M&B novels are full of patriarchal propaganda.

I can say it no better than the late, great Andrea Dworkin. This classic depiction of romance is simply "rape embellished with meaningful looks".
Julie Bindel

Here's the link if you want to see the article in situ.

What do you think?

The Guardian has a 'Response Column' if you'd like to write a reply. The editor is Jonathan Harker and his email is jonathan.harker@guardian.co.uk should you wish to give an opinion direct.

Personally, I don't know that I'd trust any of Julie Bindel's research on any subject if she relies on something she read fifteen years ago and can't trouble herself to read more than the back blurb of three current releases before writing an article for a national newspaper. Particularly when she must know not one of those authors will have written that blurb. Like the cover art and titling, it's a marketing decision.

I have a feeling that the more I think about Ms Bindel's article the more irritated I'll be. She quotes authors who were writing thirty odd years ago! It's just lazy.

Nor does she seem to have any awareness of the different lines which are now released under the M&B banner, concentrating entirely on the Modern/Presents line. Fair enough, perhaps, since it is hugely popular but ...

I feel the need to splutter inarticulately. Please feel free to add in your own swear word here!!!!

I'm going to get on with writing my book. I'm just too busy to spend any more time on such drivel.