Fiona Lowe's Blog, page 19

And covers continue…

Sorry the blog is late…sick kid!  I hope everyone had the Mother’s Day they wanted over the weekend. I am a big believer in  stage-managing the day so there is no risk of frustration or disappointment  The last two years however, my Mother’s Day has been taken out of my control due to my eldest son having to play jazz at a concert. But what’s not to like? I get to sit down, enjoy a lovely lunch, chat to people and listen to lovely music. Win-win, really.

The cover for my next medical romance, Letting Go With Dr. Rodriguez has been released. It’s up for pre-order for the super keen readers. I promise you lots of ‘behind the scenes’ information and photos on June 1st over at my website. Meanwhile, just know that Marco is a totally gorgeous, Argentine, polo-playing doctor and enjoy the UK cover.

Australian Cover for Boomerang Bride

Harlequin Australia is publishing Boomerang Bride in trade paper back and it hits the shelf on July 1st. SQUEE!

Here’s the cover. I think it captures the opening scene of the book perfectly….except for the cake! 

The Australian Romantic Book of the Year

Yesterday morning I received an email telling me that I was a double nominee in the Australian Romantic Book of the Year award, affectionately known as the RuBY! It’s the Romance Writers of Australia’s award for published authors and the last time I was nominated was back in 2007 so you can imagine my reaction. No? Okay, I’ll tell you    Stunned. Thrilled. Happy.

This is Boomerang Bride‘s fourth nomination for 2012 and it joins and joins the ARRA, RT Reviewers Choice Award and RITA nomination. I am so thrilled that readers are loving this story so much they feel it’s worthy of a nomination. At this point I am pinching myself.

My medical romance, Single Dad’s Triple Trouble has also been nominated. Set on the glorious island of Tasmania, it is a reunion story and I think goes to the heart of a modern day dilemma that many women are facing. They’re in their 30′s, they want a child but their partner does not. What choices do they have?

Congratulations to my fellow nominees- these are all awesome books from  very talented authors. Looking forward to partying at the conference in August!

Short &  Sweet Category

Molly Cooper’s Dream Date -  Barbara Hannay

How To Save a Marriage In a Million – Leonie Knight

Abby and The Bachelor Cop – Marion Lennox

Single Dad’s Triple Trouble – Fiona Lowe

 Short & Sexy

The Fearless Maverick – Robyn Grady

The Man She Loves to Hate – Kelly Hunter

The Wedding Charade – Melanie Milburne

Her Not-So-Secret-Diary – Anne Oliver

 Long Romance

Midnight’s Wild Passion – Anna Campbell

Boomerang Bride – Fiona Lowe

The Best Laid Plans – Sarah Mayberry

The Voyagers – Mardi McConnochie

 Romantic Elements

The Trader’s Wife – Anna Jacobs

The Shelly Beach Writers’ Group – June Loves

Busted In Bollywood – Nicola Marsh

Shattered Sky – Helene Young

Autumn Gardens

At this time of year as my US counterparts are busy popping up pictures of  crocuses, tulips, talking about planting vegetables, I get a bit nostalgic for colour in the garden. Right now, with May looming, my garden is definitely starting to go to sleep and I’ve been helping it go to bed.

We’ve been spreading compost, raking leaves,and dead-heading roses, but we’ve also done some planting, popping in some new plants to fill the spots where things have died.I’ve learned that with our summer heat, it’s best to plant in autumn rather than spring as it gives the plants time to ‘find their feet’ before the tough weather hits.

Yesterday we put in some gardenias and azaleas as well as six Photinia Robustas which I hope will make a wonderful hedge. I have totally given up on Luma hedge…it just is far too fussy to grow in the heat.

The garden isn’t totally devoid of colour in autumn. The camellias are about to burst forth…here is an early flower, some of the roses are still flowering albeit with smaller heads, the ornamental grape is glowing red and the cumquats are ripe and a vivid orange.  I’m focussing on all that rather than the rest of the drabness which tells me winter is nipping at my heels.

Anzac Day

It’s April 25th today and in Australia and New Zealand that means Anzac Day. For those of you reading this who are  not from either of these countries, it is a day when we remember the men and women who have served in the defense of our countries. A bit like Memorial Day in the US, although Anzac Day came into being because of a specific battle in Turkey on April 25th 1915. The day Australia lost it’s innocence and came of age. 8,700 Australians and 2,700 New Zealanders died during the Gallipoli campaign along with many British, French and Indian and Turkish soldiers. With a small population, the deaths of young man during WW1 changed the lives of an entire generation.

Of course in later years Australian troops fought in WW2, the Korean War and Vietnam. During the Vietnam war years, Anzac Day became a focus for anti- war sentiment. Then during the 70s and 80s it became for many a public holiday and the chance for a sleep in and a picnic.

Life changes and in the decade there has been a definite shift. Perhaps having forces serving in Afghanistan and Iraq effected us.  Perhaps it is to do with more Australian history taught in schools or the fact that more Australians travel and are visiting the Turkish peninsula, but Anzac Day is once again a day where many people take time to reflect and give thanks.

Lest We Forget.

Recipe for ANZAC Biscuits…these are ‘cookies’ that were sent to the soldiers. They had no eggs so could keep for a long time and they are YUMMY! We make them a lot and they’re an Australian cultural icon.

1 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons golden syrup or treacle
150g unsalted butter, chopped
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda

Preheat oven to 170°C. Place the flour, oats, sugar and coconut in a large bowl and stir to combine. In a small saucepan place the golden syrup and butter and stir over low heat until the butter has fully melted. Mix the bicarb soda with 1 1/2 tablespoons water and add to the golden syrup mixture. It will bubble whilst you are stirring together so remove from the heat. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix together until fully combined. Roll tablespoonfuls of mixture into balls and place on baking trays lined with non stick baking paper, pressing down on the tops to flatten slightly. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Who Inspired Tom Jordan?

Sydney Harbour Hospital: Tom’s Redemption is a stand-alone book as well as being the fourth book in the exciting Sydney Harbour Hospital Series. As it’s part of a series, the character bios are given to the authors and we are to brand and make those characters our own. Imagine my stunned surprise when I opened up Tom Jordan’s bio and read, ‘blind neurosurgeon’!

I read it twice, did a mental scream and then gave myself the same advice I give my kids when they are faced with something they have to do but are not keen to do it….’suck it up and get on with it.’

At first, a blind hero struck me as very hard to make sexy. I also realized in my writing I often use long glances and descriptions of eyes and that was lost to me. To overcome all this, I had to really think outside the box to come up with images to model Tom on and I came up with two very sexy men!

How was a man who was at the top of his field professionally and in what is considered the top field of medicine – neurosurgery— going to feel when he lost his sight and by default, everything that defined him? Angry? Lost? Lashing out at those around him? James Dean in his black leathers immediately came to mind. Another reason why James Dean worked for Tom was because he’d clawed his way to the top not just in his field of medicine but in life. Tom had grown up on the wrong side of the tracks and at fourteen was the boy most likely to end up in a youth training centre.

The first time Hayley, the heroine meets Tom he is dressed in black from top to toe….

With his black clothes, black hair, bladed cheek bones, a slightly crooked nose and a delicious cleft in his stubble-covered chin, he cut a striking image against the white of the walls. Striking and slightly unnerving. He wasn’t a fatherly figure like Gerry the maintenance man in his overalls nor did he have the easy-going manner of Theo. Neither of those men ever put her on edge. Even so, despite her thread of anxiety, she would have had to be blind not to recognise he was handsome in a rugged, rough-edged kind of a way, and that was part of her unease. She had the feeling that his clothes were just a veneer of gentrification. Remove them and a raw energy would be unleashed that would sweep up everything in its path. An unbidden image of him naked exploded in her mind, stirring a prickle of sensation deep down inside her. It wasn’t fear and that scared her even more.

So bad boy, James Dean worked perfectly for Tom at the start of the book but he wasn’t going to work from the halfway point. My subconscious must have been digging deep because suddenly I remembered a very young Hugo Weaving in the movie, Proof. He played a blind man and he was gorgeous. Slightly tousled and tie askew, he was the perfect representation of the surgeon turned lecturer.If you’ve not seen Proof, it’s worth getting it out because as well as a sexy, young Hugo Weaving, there is a very young Russell Crowe! You can catch a trailer on You Tube Tube iframe>

Best line of the film…he is being examined after being in a car accident and the doctor examines him and says, ‘You’re blind so why were you driving?’ to which he replies, ‘I forgot.’

Writing this book took me out of my comfort zone and I worried Tom wasn’t going to be the sexy hero that readers demand but drawing from James Dean and Hugo Weaving, I am thrilled to say that reader mail is telling me that Tom is divine. The best compliment I got was from the Mills & Boon website where a reader wrote, “I’m not normally a fan of a disabled hero but the compelling and fascinating Tom is the exception.”  You can imagine how pumped I was about that!

Can anyone tell me about a disabled hero they’ve loved? I’ll kick off with Christian in Laura Kinsale’s Flowers From The Storm. He’s a man who’s had a stroke but he is the most divine hero. I inhaled that book!

Go North West Young Man!

We went to South Australia for Easter…the state next door:-)  It was a four pronged visit…spend time with the cousins, give

Anything else you want to take?

the  'The Lad' some much needed country road driving and knock off some of his required 120 hours of driving,  check out Adelaide University, and take some photos for my new website.  Excitingly, we ticked all the boxes and had a great time doing it.

Adelaide has some absolutely gorgeous buildings and I drooled at all the sandstone.  So many of  South Australia's buildings are ochre red bricks and sandstone because bricks are termite resistant. Good Friday was cold and blowing a gale so we got to run through huge piles of autumn leaves which had fallen off the plain trees. We crossed the Torrens river and went and checked out a few of the residential colleges. By that time we were starving but sadly, the Pie Floater cart only works at night. A 'Pie Floater' is an Adelaide, heritage-listed meal! It has to be eaten to be believed…picture this bright green pea-green soup with a meat pie floating in it, it's flaky yellow pastry crisp and covered in tomato sauce.  Yup, heritage listed….

On Easter Saturday we left Adelaide and drove to Mannum on the mighty Murray river.One branch of the family was camping there with their speed boat and we spent the day talking, ski-ing, tubing and wake boarding. Too much fun! The boys thought it was fantastic. I didn't mind that it was overcast and cool because there wasn't a lot of shade and any hotter we would have burned to a crisp. DH and I didn't ski but we did tube and I used the opportunity to let rip a few cathartic screams.

 

Easter Sunday was spent in Victor Harbour and Goolwa, visiting two other branches of the family. I love both these towns. Victor Harbour reminds me of Queenscliff and Sorrento in Victoria and Coogee in NSW with its Norfolk Pine lined esplanade.  Goolwa was once a sleepy fishing village at the mouth of the might Murray river but now hops in tourist season. I think it is still pretty sleepy in the off season. We went for a bracing walk on Hindmarsh Island, dodged a few rain squals, heard the toot of the paddle steamer, ate too much food and headed back to Adelaide. We drove home on Easter Monday and took a few photos of small towns along the way.

I hope your Easter break was as enjoyable!

Road Trip coming up

[image error]It's been a heck of a week here.  Tuesday was totally amazing finding out the Boomerang Bride was a Rita Finalist. That night I heard  Tal Ben Shahar from Harvard speak about positive psychology. What a fabulous speaker and although I was feeling like I was coming down with a cold, I was riveted to his message. If you want to hear him you can track him down here or Google him.

Wednesday  I woke up sick, skipped the gym and tried to work.  My gorgeous new hero, Luke, is not being helpful at all and with a cotton-wool head, I gave up. My parents arrived on Thursday, the boys finished school for a two week break and by Friday I was on the couch.  Being sick gave me time to check out flights to the US though and make contact with friends to see if I could actually make a trip to the conference happen and catch up with some Wisconsin mates at the same time.  Thrilled to say, it is going to happen! The easy bit will be going, the tough bit will be organising care of the boys over that time.

I had put the bottle of Moet on ice, planning to drink it on Saturday night when everyone was home but by Saturday I couldn't taste anything I was so snuffed up with cold and dizzy so my celebratory dinner has been postponed. Not to worry! It's something to look forward to.

Sunday, I rose from the couch and managed to attend a very funny show at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and yesterday I managed to function for half of the day. YAY!  Let's hope I can make most of the day as we're heading west to South Australia tomorrow to visit family, enjoy Easter and check out a university as part of The Lad's Were will I go uni next year?' investigations. Oh and get some driving hours down too.

Boy Wonder is working hard on a new website for me so we are going to be taking some lovely rural snaps while we drive through the western district of Victoria and into South Australia.

Wishing you all an early but safe and happy Easter!

Squee! I’m a Rita Nominee

When the alarm went off at 6am, I suddenly heard my iPad ping and I thought, ‘That must be my calendar reminder.’ I immediately wondered what I was supposed to be doing today because nothing was ringing any bells. A few moments later, the iPad went insane, pinging  like crazy.

I stumbled out into the kitchen and saw ‘Congratulations on your #Rita12 nomination’ and my heart almost stopped. For those of you who don’t know, the RITA award is the Romance Writers of America’s industry award…the Oscars of romance writing. A big deal in my world!

My fingers wouldn’t work and all I could think of was, ‘Shouldn’t I have got a phone call?’ I glanced at messages. No blue blinking light. I didn’t want to get too

excited before I saw the list but my fingers were not cooperating very well so I rang the US and spoke to  Angela James from Carina Press who told me what I had read was correct. Boomerang Bride was nominated in the single title contemporary romance section and I was the first Carina Press author to have a Rita nomination. SQUEE!!

I have been entering the Rita since 2007 and each March I sigh. In fact,  last year I didn’t even enter any of my medical romances lbut I thought with my single title novel, Boomerang Bride, I would give it a shot. And here I am, giddy with excitement!  This book has been through the mill in finding a home so it is totally awesome that my peers liked it enough to nominate it for this award.

Congratulations to my fellow nominees…the list is here and a special high-five to the Antipodean contingent of Trish Morey, Christina Brookes, Nalini Singh and Barbara Hannay. Special thanks to Carina Press for printing the book so it could be entered.

My inbox has overflowed, my Twitter mates and Facebook pals have been amazing and the whole day has been like one big party. I hope all the other nominees are having as much of a wonderful day as I am.

Squee! I'm a Rita Nominee

When the alarm went off at 6am, I suddenly heard my iPad ping and I thought, 'That must be my calendar reminder.' I immediately wondered what I was supposed to be doing today because nothing was ringing any bells. A few moments later, the iPad went insane, pinging  like crazy.

I stumbled out into the kitchen and saw 'Congratulations on your #Rita12 nomination' and my heart almost stopped. For those of you who don't know, the RITA award is the Romance Writers of America's industry award…the Oscars of romance writing. A big deal in my world!

My fingers wouldn't work and all I could think of was, 'Shouldn't I have got a phone call?' I glanced at messages. No blue blinking light. I didn't want to get too

excited before I saw the list but my fingers were not cooperating very well so I rang the US and spoke to  Angela James from Carina Press who told me what I had read was correct. Boomerang Bride was nominated in the single title contemporary romance section and I was the first Carina Press author to have a Rita nomination. SQUEE!!

I have been entering the Rita since 2007 and each March I sigh. In fact,  last year I didn't even enter any of my medical romances lbut I thought with my single title novel, Boomerang Bride, I would give it a shot. And here I am, giddy with excitement!  This book has been through the mill in finding a home so it is totally awesome that my peers liked it enough to nominate it for this award.

Congratulations to my fellow nominees…the list is here and a special high-five to the Antipodean contingent of Trish Morey, Christina Brookes, Nalini Singh and Barbara Hannay. Special thanks to Carina Press for printing the book so it could be entered.

My inbox has overflowed, my Twitter mates and Facebook pals have been amazing and the whole day has been like one big party. I hope all the other nominees are having as much of a wonderful day as I am.