Fiona Lowe's Blog, page 21

Valentine's Day Competition!

When I was last in Sydney I saw this totally cool, pink heart-shaped, silicone ice-block tray and I thought, "What a great Valentine's day competition prize!"  So I'm running a competition for you to win a the ice block tray AND a copy of Boomerang Bride or if you have that, a copy of one of my medical romances.

The competition is open to  everyone (friends, family, readers, people just passing by) and it doesn't  matter where you live* Just leave a comment on my blog about Valentine's Day. It can be a funny story, a whinge/moan about the date,  whether you ignore or embrace the day…anything you like.

Please leave your email address and also let me know if you're happy to go on my newsletter list. I only send out a newsletter when I have a book so about three a year. If you don't want to go on the newsletter list, that is totally fine, you can still enter the competition and just mention 'no newsletter' at the bottom of your comment.

I'll draw the prize on Valentine's Day! Please tell your reader friends and spread the word. Ta!

*Non Australian entrants will be mailed  the ice-tray and receive an eBook edition of Boomerang Bride.

Boomerang Bride is in Print for US Harlequin Subscription Readers!

I got a box of books delivered today.  As an author this happens quite a bit but the exciting thing about this box of books is that I never expected this particular book to be in print format.  When I sold Boomerang Bride to Carina Press, an ePublisher, I knew the chances of it ever being print-published were pretty slim. Imagine how thrilled I was when Angela James emailed me and told me they were printing it for the US Harlequin Reader Service. So here it is as a physical book

Oh, and  here is Pekoe being very impressed by my books Actually, she was trying to leap for the cord on the camera!

 

When I was on holidays I was also notified that Boomerang Bride was an ARRA finalist. ARRAstands for 'Australian Romance Readers Association', so I am thrilled that Australian readers have enjoyed this US-set book with all its cross-cultural fun.  It's  also an RT Reviewers Choice Award finalist so I'm pretty pumped by the reception it's getting.  The RT awards are in Chicago in April and sadly, that is a tad too far away, but the ARRA dinner is in Sydney so I'm going to shoot up there on the 11th of February. The best thing about the dinner? Catching up with so many writing mates and readers.

Meanwhile, before I can think about all that fun, I need to finish a book!

 

Twelve Loads of Dirty Laundry

The holiday is over and we're home after two weeks of camping at the beach where the biggest decision we faced was to eat (the baker came in his van every morning) or sleep or sail or surf or cycle or canoe or read. I did all of those things and as hoped,  I read a lot of books. Joanna Trollope's Daughters In-Laws, Geraldine Brooks's Nine Parts of Desire (still going with that) Victoria Dahl's Bad Boys Do, Shannon Stacey's Undeniably Yours, At Home with the Templetons by Monica McInernay, Nicole Marsh's Busted in Bollywood and for a change fr0m the contemporary jag, the new historical romance by Cecilia Grant, A Lady Awakened. It was wonderful to be able to do all that reading because during term time it just doesn't happen.

The Lad now has a yacht and after a few hiccoughs we worked out all the rigging and that's him out on his Laser. It's a lot faster than the tub he sails in at school so he even got to do a dry roll.

We had a 20km bike ride to a book shop followed by a delicious afternoon tea where I felt I deserved a slice of white chocolate sponge.  DH did a lot of bike riding, heading out on his road bike each morning along with many other lycra-clad middle aged men who are keeping fit and pretending they're Cadel Evans

We cheated one super hot day and went to the movies and enjoyed air-conditioning and 'The  Muppet Movie.'  DH and Boy Wonder even did the long schlep into Melbourne because the Australian Open was on and they love the tennis.

Boy Wonder loved his new wet suit and spent a lot of time surfing. Me? I swear I will never get back the 100 minutes spread over ten days that I lost trying to get OUT of my wet-suit. Man, they grip you like a straitjacket but without one I would never get into the southern ocean even in the heat of January.

The river was full of bird life after a wet year and we canoed out to get up close and personal with pelicans, ibis, egrets, ducks, cormorants and black swans… not so close to the swans as they're not so friendly.  The boys even got patriotic on Australia Day and did some sand art.

 

 

It was a great rest as it is every year and one of the reasons it's a rest is because I refuse to do any laundry. Why spend my holiday in a laundromat, right? So today I did 12 loads and thank goodness for a hot , sunny and windy day. I have the boys sorting it all now:-)

DH returns to work in the morning, the boys are back to school on Thursday and I've got a February deadline. Looks like the annual summer beach holiday is over. Pity. I miss going to sleep to the sound of the ocean. Only 350 days until we're back…

Summer and the Living is….

It's the summer school holidays/vacation down here. This year is a little unusual as I normally take off December and January and don't write but this year I have a book due in February so I am writing. The Lad is about to start year 12 and the second year of the International Baccalaureate so he has an extended essay of 4.5K, an English essay, a history essay and maths homework to do as well as watching some French films. So he and I are happy to work but that leaves Boy Wonder who doesn't have to do any thing at a bit of a loss. I've been dividing my days into work in the morning and 'doing stuff' in the afternoon.

We've seen Puss In Boots, the movie. Lots of fun and I think that Pekoe the kitten needs a cape! We've made a huge blue flag and I have learned all about sticky interfacing and reacquainted myself with the sewing machine.  We've shot off a rocket using vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, practiced a duet on the piano and been swimming. Tomorrow, DH is taking him to the Australian Road Cycling championships.

We're all loving seasons 3 & 4 of 30 Rock on DVD and the jigsaw puzzle is growing slowly. Friends have come for dinner and we've been to dinner with friends.

I usually read a lot during the summer but with working that has slowed and so far I have only read Glitter Baby by Susan Elizabeth Phillips which I had somehow missed because I thought I had read all of her books.

Our beach holiday is coming up and I am gathering my reading list. So far I have A Year with the Templetons by Monica McInerney, The Daughter In-law by Joanna Trollope, A LadyAwakened by Cecila Grant, followed by Busted In Bollywood by Nicola Marsh

If you have a book I MUST read, please let me know.

But before I can settle down to the reading fest, I have to co-ordinate a massive camp pack and finish chapter five. Guess I better go do it.

Fiona x

Happy New Year!

 

It's a stinking hot and windy New Year's Eve where I am and I think we'll be spending it in the swimming pool. We have a family tradition of swimming, watching a movie, playing board games, watching 'Arthur's New Year's Eve' and then dashing up the stairs to my office and watching the fire works from the waterfront  I keep expecting one of the boys to tell me they have another party to go to but we're all together again this year so I am taking it while I can get it.

New Year's Eve can be an odd experience. Sometimes we're looking back fondly and other times wanting to close the door on the year and look forward to a shiny new year with no mistakes in it. Other times we know that things that troubled us in the current year will accompany us into the new year.

Me? I have some very fond and happy memories of wonderful things that happened in 2011, I have some sad things that I wish to leave behind and I know that some things are going to come with me whether I like it or not.

Thanks for all your support this year, for buying my books, for writing (mostly) lovely reviews, for your online friendship and the wealth of information all my on-line friends give me.

Wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2012. Oh and party safe tonight.

Fiona xxx

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

It's lunch time on Christmas Eve here and we're in full swing preparing the house for our 11 guests tomorrow. I've been listening to the very entertaining Anne Fine story, The More The Merrier and I fell about laughing when the husband said he was a bit busy to clean the vegetables and his wife hit him with the litany of jobs she had done in the last three weeks prior to Christmas as well as her job and the usual domestic tasks. When she said, 'and I had to wash the Christmas china which someone, you, hadn't washed properly last year,' I realised I had forgotten to get out the Christmas china. DH went to the back shed and brought back the box and as I type this I am having a cup of tea out of my Christmas mug.

I have hosted Christmas for many years but what I have noticed this year compared with previous years when the children were little,  is that teenage boys are not so wound up with excitement that they cause chaos and they  can actually help. The Lad has vacuumed and Boy Wonder has reorganized the furniture, polished the silver and set the table.  DH has done a fab job in the garden and I got the front roses pruned but this year the back is wild and so be it. I have found my Christmas Zen. It's about friends and family gathering together, although I will be wiping down the bathroom tomorrow just before people arrive

This year our summer has been cool so the roses are gorgeous and for the first time ever I have a rose bowl on the table to add to my usual vases of Christmas lillies and Gladioli dotted around the house. I've made the brandy cream sauce and the dressing for the prawn salad and the turkey is gently defrosting. Once the kitchen is cleaned I can sit and have a mince pie.

So now it's time for me to wish  you a joyous festive season. I hope it is what you hope for whether that be time with family or friends or both. Travel safely and eat what you want because the New Year is for resolutions

Love Fiona x

Congratulations, Rachael Johns. It's launch day!

December 19th means seven days to Christmas and the  launch day of my writing mate, Rachael John's debut novel, One Perfect Night. It's perfect timing because, it's a Christmas story

I read this story before Carina Press purchased it and I know how hard Rachael worked on it and it shows.  So if you want to get into the Christmas spirit, this story will take you there. To get you started, here is an excerpt to tempt you

Excerpt from One Perfect Night

"Don't look now, but Mr. McSexy just entered the building."

"Blast." Peppa Grant spun round and did exactly what her best friend and colleague Izzy had ordered her not to. Her breathing faltered at the sight of six foot plus of unadulterated male who now towered at the entrance to the company's function room. An anxious hush fell over the previously buzzing room. As all eyes snapped to him, she tried not to quake in her costume's fairy shoes.

Until half an hour ago, Cameron McCormac had meant nothing more to Peppa than the new name at the very top of the office food chain. Now he was the man who owned the car she'd sideswiped in the car park tonight.

The dangerously handsome man who was making her pulse spike simply by standing in the doorway. "Oh, God."

As Peppa pushed her barely touched glass out of reach and let her head fall onto the table in front of her, Izzy giggled.

"It's. Not. Funny," Peppa declared when she finally looked up. Her eyes sought the company's new CEO again and she felt her heart collapse into her stomach.

"You're right," Izzy said, reaching out and stroking Peppa's hair like a mother over a sick child. "If I'd just put a prize-winning dent in the big boss's red, convertible pride and joy, I'd probably be at Sydney airport boarding a plane or planning to hitch a ride with Santa back to the North Pole."

"Hilarious." Peppa shot her friend a sarcastic smile. "Please tell me McSexy has just vanished up a chimney?"

Izzy took a sip of her chocolate mocktail, her sea-blue eyes sparking with laughter as she peered theatrically over Peppa's head. "No can do. Looks like he's doing the rounds, handing out candy canes or something to all the children. Molly must have put him up to it."

Molly, although old enough to be his mother, was Mr. McCormac's personal assistant. Rumor had it when he did anything remotely human, she'd put him up to it. She'd been with the company longer than anyone and was the brains behind this event, the annual Christmas party for children of Lyrique Recordings' employees. Peppa had a fleeting fantasy of leaving a message with Molly about her little misdemeanor in the car park but that wouldn't be right. And she hadn't been brought up to take the easy option.

"I'll do it now," she said, resting a hand on her queasy belly as she pushed herself off the stool and onto quaky feet. Although whether her shakiness was from trepidation or her gorgeous boss's sexy gait and air-of-confidence, she couldn't be sure. "Confess before I'm due on stage and then, if he has any sympathetic bones in his body, he'll let me entertain the kids before the crucifixion."

"You're such a drama queen," sighed Izzy. "The top job pays well. He has enough money to line his undies drawer in gold. You apologize. You give him the details of your insurance company. You get on with your life. Simple."

Simple. Right. But Izzy didn't know that Peppa had just switched to a budget insurance provider. As she had never needed to claim in seven years of driving, the switch had seemed a good decision at the time. The upside was low monthly rates. The downside? A mammoth deductible on claims.

Well, that faux-pas may not only have cost Peppa her car and her job, but paying back the damage to the boss's vintage Lamborghini would seriously endanger her ability to pay her mortgage. Not to mention she'd have to put her plans for an overseas holiday on hold—a holiday that had been all about helping her mind and emotions recover from the battering of the past few months.

"I think he's looking at you."

Izzy's words broke Peppa's reverie. And of course she looked up, across the room, only to find her gaze colliding with the Head Honcho himself. Her heart hitched a beat. Despite the distance she could see the roguish tilt of his lips, the slight frown of his distinguished black brows and that his devilish licorice eyes were trained on her. Dark-chocolate hair, speckled with naturally sun-kissed spikes, framed a face so chiseled it could have been carved from stone. A man so in-control of his world he had no reason to question it. Heat flooded her cheeks and, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention, Peppa forced herself to break her gaze.

If you've enjoyed this excerpt, you can read the first chapter of ONE PERFECT NIGHT at Rachael's website: http://www.rachaeljohns.com/pages/bookshelf.html

  Or, you can buy the book at Carina Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and where all eBooks are sold.

 Want to catch up with Rachael? She's  blogging today at the following places, giving away a copy of ONE PERFECT NIGHT at each spot:

Get Lost in a Story (http://getlostinastory.blogspot.com/_
Chick-lit Central (http://chicklitcentraltheblog.blogspot.com/)
Novel Thoughts (http://novelthoughts.wordpress.com/)

 

[image error]Rachael Johns is an English teacher by trade, a mum 24/7, a chronic arachnophobic, a supermarket owner by day and a writer by night. She rarely sleeps. Rachael received The Call from Angela James telling her Carina wanted to publish her book on April Fools Day and, when she told her friends, half of them wondered if it was a big joke. Luckily it wasn't. As an active member of Romance Writers of Australia, Rachael has finaled and placed in a number of romance writing contests. Each success is uplifting and publication is her dream but even if none of this happened, she'd still write. It's a much better option than ironing, which she refuses to partake in. Ever.

Not So Sunny Sydney

I'm up in Sydney for four days, doing some Christmas things including DH's work dinner. Usually I arrive and feel the heat and humidity compared to the cooler temperatures where I live, but not this time. Sydney is cloudy and dull although not raining at the moment , she types holding her breath…

Weather aside, I am having a lovely time and this morning I caught up with Kandy Shepherd, author of 'Home is Where the Bark Is' and 'Love Is  A Four-Legged Word' as well as her phenomenally successful self-published contemporary romance," Castaway Bride!"

We talked and talked as well as sharing the toffee-nut-choc waffle with ice cream  at Max Brenners. No need for lunch or even afternoon tea! This is the first time I have been to a Max Brenner Chocolate Bar and I kept thinking of Nicola Marsh who often tweets from one!  Sadly, I don't have a smart phone (Santa, are you listening?) so I couldn't tweet but I toasted Nicola and her new book, 'Busted in Bollywood' with Chai white chocolate tea! It was divine.

Now I am off to peek at the University of NSW, Kensington Campus as The Lad is at the point of visiting universities in planning for 2013. How did he get this grown up?

Christmas Giveaways!

This week I am doing three guest blog visits and giving away books for Christmas. To be in with a chance, join me at

The Romance Bandits with the lovely Anna Campbell where we're talking 'fish out of water' experiences.

The Love Cats Down Under with the talented Sharon Archer and my very naughty kitten. Caption the photo to win!

And on Thursday Dec 8th (afternoon Australian time) Tote bags n Blogs with the generous Lee Hyatt.

Hope to see you there!

It's officially December

It's seemed like December since Monday, when I hopped on the country train and headed up to the big smoke of Melbourne to have lunch with a fabulous group of authors, most of whom live in Melbourne although there are a few of us country gals who travel up.

The city was glorious with its lush decorations and even though my boys are growing up and I was alone, I still paused to view the Myer's windows which are animated each Christmas with a story. I 'borrowed' the delight of some little children who were agog at the sight of the magical wonder the windows  generate year after year.

I started my Christmas shopping and had a fun time in Fragrance Hall because after all, a girl needs to change her perfume now and then and I'm after a new scent. Then I walked through the magnificent Royal Arcade where you step back in time to 1880 and all the Victorian splendor and met

 Sharon Archer for a pot of tea. Together we crossed the Yarra River to The Langham

 hotel for lunch. I adore The Langham. They put a special combination of essential oils into their fountain and when you step in the foyer, peace and tranquility descend upon you. Not really. It does.  As usual, their tree was splendid.

Lunch was a feast, the conversation diverse as it always is with authors and it went too quickly . I headed back on the train, reading a book on my Kindle and was in good company as in the six seats around me, there was one iPad, two Kindles and a reading device of unknown origin

As it is December, there are updates on my website and here is the collage of the book I have just started; a Christmas story for 2012.

 And now back to perfume…any tips on a light fruity summer perfume?