Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Green is not your colour, Jennifer Crusie
…that people think they can act like two year olds?
Somehow the rules we live by day by day, the etiquette we use in our every day dealings with other people, the manners that ensure dealing with even strangers does not have to be an unpleasant, brash encounter, seem to be quite gleefully tossed asunder under the cloak of the internet.
On the internet, you can vent your spleen, splash your greenest colours, vomit vitriol from every aperture, and all from behind the safety of an alias.
No, it’s not sweet Jane Doe posting these remarks about how unfair is life, the universe and everything, it’s Ms Dejected and Despondent, or such similar disguise.
It must be wonderful when you know everyone else is wrong and you’re right and you have to tell the world. It must be wonderful to attack people, tell them they’re cheats and don’t deserve to be where the are, from your towers of moral superiority. It must be fabulous to have that level of self assurance. Mind you, not enough self assurance to sign your name to your posts…
So this weekend, I’m seriously disheartened by sad and angry people who post vicious things about others on the internet. I’m saddened. Disappointed in my fellow man. Or at least the ugly ones. And yes, I’m talking about the weekend brouhaha that erupted over the weekend at iheartpresents. The post was to celebrate the winners of the latest Presents writing contest. Unfortunately the celebration soon deteriorated. A published author winning a contest? How dare they?
I once read a fabulous article by Jenny Crusie in the Romance Writers Report (the RWAmerica journal) about professional jealousy. It stuck with me because of it’s brash honesty and its powerful message and it’s very appropriate now. It’s called “Green Is Not Your Color: Professional Jealousy and the Professional Writer” and you can find it here.
Here’s just a taste of what to expect…
“You wanted something, somebody else got it, and that’s not a good feeling. It’s normal to feel disappointed.
Then wallow in it. Quietly, to yourself, the bathroom is always good for this, but just let it rip. For five minutes. That’s all you get, five minutes to be seethingly, teeth-achingly bitter. It’s your five minutes, so make the most of it.”
It’s sad to see that some people prefer to use the internet as their bathroom.
Filed under: Just for fun, Travel, Writing life, family | Tags: Noosa, Sunshine Coast
I’m still waiting to hear on revisions for Prisoner in Paradise, and the longer the wait, the more you start to worry. Strange, how that sending off euphoria lasts only a wee short while before turning to paranoia…
Luckily I had four glorious days away to take my mind completely off life, the book and everything, and I spent them with some fabulous girlfriends up at Noosa, on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland.
Here are some shots from that weekend…
This is the shoreline around the National Park walkway. Fabulous to be where the forest literally meets the sea.
Aren’t they gorgeous? No wonder they inspired characters in early Aussie children’s books. They look like a gang of hairy no-gooders.
The walk along the beach turned inland and along a sandy path that joggers ran along while we all suffered in our thongs (the foot kind of thongs – not the other:-))
But then the path diverted through rain forest and we were in paradise. We saw brush turkeys (the pics too blurred to show) black cockatoos and trees that devoured others.
What a wondrous place. My last foray up to the Sunshine Coast ended up being immortalized in my novella, Back in The Spaniard’s Bed. This time too, there will be a book. The Noosa book, and already it’s simmering away in there.
Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with a message I read on a stony beach in Noosa. It was a long way down, must have taken an age to make, but the message was one that we could all do to remember…
Filed under: Blog, Uncategorized | Tags: Andrea Zanchini, Prisoner in Paradise
It’s been two weeks since I posted and I’m horrified I’ve neglected the blog that long. My apologies! In my defence I sent off my completed ms a week ago and it’s taken a wee while to scrape my brain up off the floor and reassemble it. (Believe me, it feels like that:-)) In the end, after going through a thousand iterations of “The Italian’s Tropical Island Temptress” and “The Italian’s Mistress of Desire”, I simply called it “Prisoner in Paradise” so the wait is on to see if a) it makes the grade, and b) what the title ends up being if it does! Never a dull moment here.
But the ms is done and while I’m waiting on the inevitable feedback, it’s been great to catch up on the mundane stuff like tax returns (seriously, it’s great to catch up on them when you’re so late!) bills and life in general. Even grocery shoppingand ironing looks interesting when you emerge out of deadline:-))
Meanwhile Mills & Boon Australia has some great news! They’ve just started out on Facebook, so maybe you might like to drop in and see what’s happening here! They have big plans for the page and would no doubt love to see you there.
This weekend I’m about to head north to the Sunshine Coast of Queensland for a wee bit of R’N'R with a few fabulous girlfriends, and look forward to a good dollop of research into the deal. Nothing like traveling to a gorgeous destination to get those creative juices flowing:-))
But meanwhile I’d like to leave you with another glorious shot of the inspiration for my latest hero – his name is Andrea Zanchini and he never quite made it into my ms wearing this gear although to my credit, I swear I tried (and actually he makes it wearing much less in some scenes:-)) but I thought he was so lovely I should share…
Enjoy!! In moderation, I should think… Can’t be healthy to overindulge, you reckon?
What do you mean, you don’t care?
It’s the first Tuesdsy in November. What’s so special about that?
Here’s a clue…
Of course! It’s Melbourne Cup day! Lovely to see my search engine of choice getting all gussied up for the race that stops a nation (so if you’re looking to invade, now’s your chance. Everyone in Oz will be either at the big race or glued to the telly:)
Received a lovely package at the post office yesterday – the first hardback copies of my next release, His Mistress for a Million, and my first peek at the cover! Here it is…
Yes, I should learn how to crop<g>, but too excited not to post as is. What do you think?
Filed under: Blog, Contest | Tags: Eleni Konstantine, Eleni-fest, Sizzle Seduce and Simmer
Great friend and SARomanceAuthor colleague Eleni Konstantine is running a great blog series through October – the Eleni-fest. I’ll be blogging over there on the 26th, and meanwhile Eleni has a copy of Sizzle Seduce and Simmer for a website giveaway.
You can check it out here!
We live in the gorgeous Adelaide Hills where we’re always being visited by wildlife. We’ve had koalas, echidnas and even the odd kangaroo thumping around the balcony (in the dead of night, that is so not a sound that comforts you!). Yesterday we found a new friend, an injured Boobook owl, very groggy and scrabbling unsuccessfully to get to his feet.
We rushed him off to the emergency vet service that treats injured native animals and birds and farms them out to specialised carers in the native animal network while they recuperate. The vet called last night to say they think he must have flown into a window and knocked himself cold, which apparently they have a tendency to do. Hopefully he’ll come good in the next couple of days and then the carer will bring him back here to release him.
We only have a photo of him lying doggo in a cat cage (that’s a pretty neat trick for an owl:-), but here’s a shot of how he should be looking, once he’s all patched up and ready to be returned to the wild…
Isn’t he a handsome bird?
Filed under: Covers, New releases, Uncategorized | Tags: A Virgin for the Taking, Virgin
While my next Presents isn’t out until February in the UK and March in US and ANZ - His Mistress for a Million – a story that transports you from cold and wintry London, to the magical Greek Island of Santorini and then home to the arid heat of the Australian outback – I do have more good news on the release front!
Harlequin Mills & Boon are reprinting my Broome book, A Virgin for the Taking, in a special release this coming December, VIRGIN: Wedded by a Billionaire, which features two other great titles as well – Anne Mather’s Seducing the Virgin and Carole Mortimer’s An Innocent Secret.
Here’s the gorgeous cover:-
March and April also see re-releases in the UK, but more about them later.
Meanwhile, my October Bestsellers Collection is on the shelves Downunder, featuring two of my favourite stories, The Mancini Marriage Bargain and For Revenge…Or Pleasure?, so don’t miss out on that one if you missed those releases the first time around.
Lucy Monroe and I are chatting over at Writerspace at 9pmEastern time (US) about The Latin Lover. That’s in about 2 hours from now.
Maybe we’ll see you there!
