Mollie Mathews's Blog, page 19

The coolest book cover ever…

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Planning the cover is one of my favourite parts of writing a book, and it’s especially exciting when I get to work with a great designer who can turn my words into visual magic.

If you’ve read my other books – The Italian Billionaire’s Scandalous Marriage or  The Italian Billionaire’s Christmas Bride you’ll have read the excerpts to Flight of Passion.   You’ll know it’s a rapturous tale of beauty, obsession and the transformational power of unconditional love. (If you haven’t read the excerpt I’be included a sneak peek below)

One of my good friends, Anna Campbell—a queen of Regency romance recommended a US based designer Hang Le. I haven’t worked with her before, but have always loved Anna’s sumptuous covers.

I sent Hang Le a link to the Facebook page I created – I often create a page for each book to collate my thoughts and inspire me  – and to also share my research. If you’d like to take a look,  click here. Sign up/subscribe to my Flight of Passion Book page to follow the journey to completion. Cheerleading is always welcome:)

So here are the two (draft) covers Hang Le has designed. I asked my loyal feeders which one they’d choose.

 

After a lot of feedback from readers, I did a wee tweak and chose this version

 

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P.S. If you’d love to be an advance reader please contact me and let me know.

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EXCERPT: Flight of Passion

Past love and the obsessions that bind them.

Devastatingly handsome Oliver Hart is used to getting what he wants. Single, thirty-five and a committed bachelor, he plays by his own rules. On a personal quest to catch a rare, elusive and very valuable butterfly, he’s unwittingly distracted by former flame, Ruby Lilly—a woman who callously abandoned him eight years earlier.

Deciding he wants to reclaim the beauty as his own, in his mind it’s as good as done.

But Ruby is not his for the taking. Promised to the son of a wealthy landowner, she refuses to succumb to his charms. On a quest to save her family’s land, Ruby knows she must put duty first, and silence the passionate stirrings of her heart. But Oliver doesn’t make things easy for her. He’s not taking no for an answer.

Risking everything to help the woman he loves gain her freedom, Oliver entangles himself in an emotional net that alters his life forever. Sacrificing his own selfish pursuit to help Ruby, he realizes that you may be able to own something, but you can never own someone—especially the women you love.

Have you ever wanted to be with someone who sent your heart soaring but threatens your sense of security? Someone who lifts you clear out of the water, but you’re not sure will be around to catch you when you fall head over heels in love? Flight of Passion is a rapturous tale of beauty, obsession and the transformational power of unconditional love.

CHAPTER ONE

Would selling Butterfly Lovers really free him of painful memories he’d rather forget?

Common sense told Oliver Hart that Butterfly Lovers was just a painting. An inanimate object, incapable of controlling him. But that was the trouble. It did control him. Seducing him with its beauty, twisting his heart with bittersweet memories.

He rubbed his chiseled jaw as he surveyed the crowd gathered for the charity art auction at Hillcrest, his newly acquired mansion, and New Jersey’s most expensive country estate. His gaze swept over the minimalist, exquisitely designed interior, lingering over the priceless abstract by Rothko adorning a charcoal-black wall.

Tonight, though, it was Butterfly Lovers which held in its grip, the women dripping with diamonds, and men clad in Armani. Locked in shared awe, they clustered around the painting, studying every line, every pulsating color. Oliver wondered if their eyes ached as his did with a heady mix of pleasure and pain just to stand in its spellbinding presence. Or were they trying to decode the paintings hidden secrets?

Like a moth to a seductive flame, his eyes drifted to the bottom of the painting. Nobody, but one other, would ever be able to decipher the graffiti-styled line of poetry scrawled in throbbing orange along the bottom of the painting. Painful memories bled into his consciousness. Why the hell couldn’t he shake her?

The painting was aptly named, he mused forcing his mind from the woman who had inspired the purchase. The dancing kaleidoscope of color reminded Oliver of his collection of exotic butterflies-his hobbyhorse and quiet obsession. The painting’s colors-dazzling sapphire blues, glistening watermelon pinks, pulsating canary yellows with shimmering oranges-flew from the canvas, and ricocheted off the marble floor which had been polished to a mirror-like gleam.

He had commissioned the painting in a move of uncharacteristic impulsiveness eight years earlier when he was 22 and madly in lust with Ruby Lilly. A 20-year old exotic beauty, she’d fluttered into his life, bringing with her eternal sunshine, and air so fresh it seeped through the iron fortress he’d built around his heart.

The painting encapsulated the vitality, optimism and positivity she exuded. It was a rare piece which the serious art connoisseurs who gathered here this evening would die to possess. Oliver’s brow furrowed, aware many were drawn here not by the desire to possess the contemporary art world’s finest paintings, but insatiable voyeurs hungry to glimpse the private world of one of America’s wealthiest and most elusive bachelors.

Immensely private, he’d never opened any of his palatial homes—not homes, houses—he corrected, to the public before. As he glanced around the clinical, museum-like surroundings, with its dark walls and sophisticated lighting, spotlighting priceless works of art, he congratulated himself for creating such a sophisticated, yet austere, facade.

If a building was truly a reflection of its owner, as many designers believed, the interior aptly reinforced the stereotypes perpetuated in the media. Moody, dark, mysterious and strictly hands-off. There was some truth to that, but it was not the whole truth. Oliver’s eyes drifted to the spiraling staircase and the heavy gold braided rope barricading the entrance to the upper level. He never let anyone get beyond the ground floor of his psyche. Some tried, but few persevered. No one had ever penetrated his fortified armor.

He was complicated.

No doubt someone here tonight would go home and tweet that he was something of a social outcast, and arrogant to boot, Oliver thought as he hovered in the background. The fact was that he preferred his own company to engaging with his guests—predominately wealthy financiers and bankers.

He knew his contempt was hypocritical, given he didn’t care who reached into their pockets. But there was something decidedly unpalatable about bankers and the merciless way they preyed on the vulnerable. Tonight, he would gladly encourage them to part with their millions.

As he glanced at his reflection in the floor length window it struck him how far he had come from the days when just finding money to support him and his younger sister had been a struggle. Resplendent in an immaculately tailored Dolce&Gabbana tuxedo cut from the finest Italian wool, he looked like he belonged.

Oliver rubbed his hand over his pecs, powerfully aware of the Maori inspired tattoo coiled over his shoulder, the crisp white linen of his shirt concealed. His hands pulsed with renewed conviction. It was his touchstone—a symbolic reminder that he was fierce and untouchable; a warrior businessman and an impenetrable lover.

On a good day, he even fooled himself.

But no matter how easily it was to make millions, no matter how many things he acquired, he’d never found a sense of contentment.

Oliver bit down on his teeth, grinding them together in a futile attempt to crush memories he was determined not to revisit.

He glanced at his Rolex. 7:03:02. Irritability coursed through his veins. What the hell was the auctioneer waiting for? He fixed him with a piercing look, shooting his unspoken annoyance through the crowd. Tardiness was something he abhorred, and doubly-so tonight, he thought as he locked on the important call he had to make. In one hour it would be 8am in New Zealand and his sister, as punctual as he was, would be anxiously waiting.

As though feeling the pointed tip of Oliver’s anger the auctioneer looked up. His relaxed smile quickly shattered as he was forced to confront the aggressive glint in Oliver’s eyes, the rigid set of his shoulders, the brutally hard line of his jaw.

The auctioneer banged his hardwood gavel on the sounding block with short urgent thuds, his florid face ballooning as the chatter continued.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention?’ More insistent hammering. ‘Attention! Attention!’

The chatter fell to an orderly whisper, extinguished finally by the auctioneer’s solemn voice.

‘As you know, tonight is a unique opportunity to savor the extraordinary passions of Oliver Hart. Renowned as an astute business man, Oliver Hart is also an obsessive collector,’ he said. ‘He has one of the most significant collections of contemporary art in the world. Not only a man of significant wealth, Oliver Hart, founder of Hart Luxury Hotel Consortium, is a man of outstanding generosity. All the funds raised by tonight’s art auction will provide relief for those affected by last month’s devastating earthquake in New Zealand, where he spent much of his childhood.’

Oliver studied his feet as a thunder of applause quaked through the room, amplifying as it echoed off the walls.

Childhood.

The word was like a vicious punch to his stomach. Oppressive memories pounded his brain, and this time there was no silencing them.

Suddenly he was four years old again. Four years old and frightened. Lonely. Abandoned. Trapped in a jungle of strangers. Abandoned by bickering parents into a boarding school, neither one willing to let the other have custody. Selfishly caring more about winning against each other than the needs of  their own child.

His jaw locked as he bit down hard, swallowing a toxic cocktail of grief and anger. Freezing sweat clung to his body in a vice-like grip. He paced across to the open window, inhaling deeply as he struggled to rip himself free from the shards of the past.

To some, it might seem ironic that he should be so generous to a country where he spent such an unhappy childhood, but Oliver didn’t like to think of others suffering.

He forced his mind back to the present.

‘Tonight’s opening painting, Butterfly Lovers, is a significant artwork,’ the auctioneer continued, glancing down at his notes.

Oliver didn’t have to read his words to know that what he would reveal was a shallow rendition of the truth. Only two people in the world truly knew just what Butterfly Lovers meant. He glanced around the room thinking she might have come, hoping with all his willpower she hadn’t.

He forced himself not to betray the turmoil of emotions which jack-knifed through his body as the massive painting was carried to the makeshift podium.

The butterfly theme had held so much promise. He’d never really brought into Ruby’s tales about the transformative power of art to heal. But privately he’d hoped her optimism might rub off. With her by his side, and by owning the painting, perhaps he could shed a skin, free himself of his deformed past, re-emerge in a new skin. Undamaged. Someone nearing perfection. A better man. The sort of man Ruby deserved.

He’d been a fool.

Oliver’s spine stiffened. He’d intended to keep it…her…forever. But even good intentions couldn’t make up for a lifetime’s inability to commit. He moved towards the terrace, widening the distance between him and the painting. He would no longer succumb to the painting’s potent power to remind him of his failings.

‘Created specifically for Oliver over seven years ago by struggling contemporary artist CG Tombly—only Oliver could have foreseen its financial potential.’

Oliver’s brow furrowed. The suggestion he had acquired the painting for commercial gain, rankled him. If he wasn’t such a private man he might have told the crowd the truth. He’d made the mistake of talking candidly once before—a mistake he wouldn’t be making again.

In its place he’d created a new habit—a habit of keeping his emotional life to himself, one he wasn’t about to break. Soon the painting, and the painful memories of the only woman capable of making him feel, would be shed and he could devote himself to less painful obsessions.

‘As always, Oliver’s timing is impeccable. The painting’s value has rocketed in the same soaring capacity as the palatial hotel Oliver’s company has recently constructed in Dubai–so tall it almost touches the Gods.’ The auctioneer flung his hands into the air to accentuate his point. ‘Oliver Hart,’ he said, nodding in his direction and pointing to his towering 6-foot, 2-inch frame, ‘never does anything small.’

Oliver thrust his hands in his pockets and glanced out the window refusing to look at the painting as the bidding began.

In a few knuckle-clenching minutes it would all be over and he could get on with his life.

His gaze drifted to the sculpture garden, lying beyond the pool, alighting on a solitary bronze sculpture by Brancusi. The modernist interpretation of Hercules holding the world on his shoulders, with its roughly hewn egg shaped sphere symbolizing earth had always appealed to him.

Balanced precariously on a towering sculpted wood base, the odd shape and the large crater severing the middle of the sphere challenged conventional notions of perfection and reminded him of humanity’s rawness.

As his gaze lingered over the sculpture it occurred to him that repairing his scars, so deep that no relationship he started ever endured, required a Herculean effort. No wonder the painting had failed. But he still believed, as the ancient Greeks had, that art had a powerful ability to transform lives. He only hoped selling the painting finally fulfilled this purpose. Perhaps then the painful memories that still haunted him could be turned to good.

He turned and fixed his gaze upon the audience. Who would be its new owner he wondered as the opening bid of one million was made. Would it go to Don Hermes, the impotent pharmaceutical giant, standing just ahead of him, or some other equally innocuous purchaser?

‘12 million? Do I have 12 million?’ The bags under the auctioneer’s eyes shifted as he tilted his head forward, and peered under his glasses. ‘A small price to pay,’ he continued, his gaze briefly flickering to Oliver, ‘for a painting personally commissioned by a man who defies every category and transcends every cliché: a man with tremendous gusto and creative generosity.’ The auctioneer’s eyes flew to a scantily dressed blonde hovering hopefully next to Oliver. ‘A man who has yet to be pinned down.’

Oliver caste her a dismissive look and moved further toward the back of the room.

‘$12 million we have,’ cried the auctioneer’s assistant, nodding vigorously as he pressed his iPhone firmly to his ear.

Oliver’s heart lurched as the bidding began.

‘$13 million.’ The assistant shouted, raising his hand.

‘13.2 million.’ The auctioneer’s eyes darted between the phone bidder and two men determined to claim the painting as their own.

Explosive tension hovered as one of the two remaining bidders turned their attention away.

‘13.5 million! At 13.5 million the painting will be sold,’ the auctioneer warned. He suspended the hammer in the air, pausing as he scanned the room.

‘$17.4 million,’ came a guttural, low growl from the front of the crowd.

A record price! The room fell silent under the weight of the bid, then buzzed with irritatingly discordant voices, their murmurs of awe and envy a rising tide of white noise. Oliver’s eyes darted to the front row.

Over $14 million? The price was ridiculous. Someone must want it desperately. But why?

He was acquainted with the deep pockets of unbridled obsession. He understood intimately the seductive power of the painting.

But this was crazy bidding.

There had to be a compelling reason surpassing the usual appreciation of an art-lover. At that price it could hardly be an investment buy.

So that left…what?

Oliver paced the back of the room in agitation unable to see the face of the man who had placed this latest bid. He caught a glimpse of the woman next to the anonymous bidder as she shook a sexy spill of sun-kissed curls down her back. The familiar gesture sent shockwaves to his heart.

It couldn’t be.

Her head turned slightly.

Oliver stood still, as if immobile, as if turned to stone.

Ruby Diaz.

His Ruby.

A symphony of emotions crashed through his veins as he saw a possessive arm snake around her waist and realized with horror the serpent she was with. Oliver threw back his shoulders, his muscular jaw tilted forward in defiance as he looked at the nauseatingly familiar figure. Carlos Torres, the New York based, Mexican banking magnate and the-soon-to-be owner of Butterfly Lovers.

He could not let his painting–their painting–fall into her lover’s clutches–a man as unscrupulous as he was deceptively charming.

Oliver’s overactive mind raced with scenarios. He would draw from his own funds the money for the earthquake fund, adding to the millions he had already donated. But he knew with chilling certainty he was powerless to flout protocol, to bend the rules, to manipulate the outcome to suit his own desires. He knew only too well that once the auction had started, Butterfly Lovers could not be withdrawn.

‘At this price, we’ll sell,’ The auctioneer’s eyes swept the room for any last bids.

The muscles in Oliver’s chest tightened as he saw the auctioneer’s gavel sashay into the air.

He watched helplessly as Carlos pulled Ruby toward him and folded her into his arms. The bitter taste of jealously flooded his mouth.

The gavel sank toward the sounding block with freeze-frame inevitability. A splintering crack as wood met wood confirmed it was over with chilling clarity.

Oliver’s hand tightened into a closed fist, crumpling the Butterfly Lovers catalogue into obscurity.

His heart rate pulsated making his chest feel as though it was about to implode, as Ruby turned and he watched with shock the way she wilted under Carlos’s dominant presence, the light of passion missing from her eyes. She seemed sad and vulnerable—and the Ruby he knew was neither.

Something was wrong.

His rational mind thundered a warning. Don’t get involved.

What business was it of his if she wanted to make her life with that snake? None. Not ordinarily. But Ruby wasn’t ordinary. Accepting and accommodating maybe, but something told him there was more to their union then met the eye.

He clenched his fists and cursed softly fighting against the impulse to save her from a big mistake. Playing rescuer would invite complications he didn’t need. Especially now. What he did need was uncomplicated sex. Not a girl like Ruby who’d already proven herself capable of breaking his heart, as women did so mercilessly.

Not so with painting and sculpture and his beloved butterflies, he mused, forcing his thoughts back to his collections. Once possessed they would never leave without his consent. And he could never make them cry. His jaw clenched as bitter memories of his parents’ feuding pounded in his ears. His mother’s heart-wrenching cries once heard, never forgotten.

He must not be distracted. He must not allow Ruby to get close. Obviously she had engineered Carlos to buy the painting, knowing full well how it would torture Oliver. She tortured him all those years ago and it was clear she intended to continue the onslaught. She could have that dammed painting, he mused as unwelcome, undesired, uncontrollable passions, long forgotten but now unbridled, threatened to escape.

He rested one shoulder against the floor length window, his attention locked on Ruby as she freed herself from Carlos’s clutches and fluttered through the swelling crowd toward the patio. She possessed an innate and natural elegance that caused his glands to salivate, wetting his appetite in open defiance of his will. Her legs screamed danger–their long, slender length accented in scorchingly sharp stilettos that threatened to kill. Kill his resolve. Kill his self-control. Kill him all over again.

Reaching for a glass of whiskey from a passing waitress. He rocked the glass from side to side and studied the rough ice-chunks crashing through the amber liquid, then knocked the drink back, drowning his conflicting emotions.

Like a moth drawn to light he savored the way her floor length, silk dress clung to her lithe figure, her hibiscus red dress shimmering under the halogen lights like the wings of a newly emerged butterfly. The way the vibrant color of her dress contrasted so deliciously with the flock of black cocktail dresses and designer dark suits brought a smile to his lips. Ruby had always stood out from the crowd.

Walk away, stay away, a small voice warned him, as he fought an instinctive need to free her from a bad mistake.

The irregularly cut crystal pressed into his fingers as he gripped the glass more firmly. His life had rapidly become complicated.

He craned his neck as he momentarily lost sight of her, searching over the sea of heads and glittering diamonds.

Like the shards of ice in his glass, his hardened intention to stay detached was fracturing.

Troweling on a face of extreme nonchalance, he pushed determinedly towards her through the crowd  as she stepped onto the patio and gazed forlornly up at the stars.

Why the hell was she with a dickhead like Carlos. Glancing at his watch, Oliver wondered if he could he find out what he needed to know in less than 20 minutes?

Did you enjoy reading this excerpt? Signup for my new releases email to find out about this book as soon as I release it—http://eepurl.com/cigEsH

Available 2017

Searching for the unicorn

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I came across this blog written by Barrett Pall, the other day, after one of my friends replied to my question,”What do you want to be when you grow up?” Her reply?

“A unicorn.”

 

Here’s Barrett’s post in full:

“Everything may look perfect from the outside, or maybe it doesn’t. I don’t know what my life looks like to other people, but I can tell you that it probably isn’t what you think. I know it’s hard for everyone, and everyone has their own problems, insecurities, and issues to work through, but I just don’t think people always understand mine.

 

I’m not searching for sympathy, pity, or attention. I am simply in search of the unicorn.

In a city where there are millions of people who can cross your path at any moment, I can’t help but feel extremely lonely sometimes. To feel alone would be one thing, but to feel lonely holds a much different set of emotions.

 

I yearn for the companionship of someone who likes me, and maybe even loves me. Someone who just sits on the couch with me, who is my definite date, who is my without-a-question buddy to explore everything with.

 

Sure, we all have friends, but there is something very different about a love. A true love. Someone who looks into your eyes and says everything without saying anything.

I thought I had it, and maybe I did, but it wasn’t the be-all and end-all.

I am constantly torn between wanting that big love and not thinking I am ready. However, truth be told, in the deepest reaches of my heart, I know I am ready. I am so fucking ready to be in love and have someone love me back.

 

There have definitely been possibilities here and there. However, I just didn’t see myself with any of those possibilities. Timing was off, I was off, or, more often than not, they were really off. I know suitors are waiting, and I have passed on some amazing guys, but I am looking for the unicorn.

 

I am looking for it because I know it exists somewhere out there. I have heard about it from other couples. I have seen it walking on the street. I have brushed close to it in moments throughout time.

 

I have learned what I like, want and need, and I am not going to settle for anything less. I know I am going to have to compromise on some things, but I refuse to settle when it comes to the big things.

 

I think we should all look at ourselves as prizes that aren’t easily obtainable and need to be wooed, but the problem is we cheapen ourselves and make it overtly easy to have a false sense of connection.

 

I know Mr. Right is out there. Maybe he isn’t here right now, but I know in my hopeless-romantic heart that I will find the one who makes it all amazing. Who ends the search. Who allows me to tell others the tale of the unicorn.

 

I want it all, and I will have it all. However, for now I have lessened the amount of energy that goes into the search, but I’ve left my possibilities open, along with my heart, so all we can do is wait, watch, and see what comes to fruition.

 

If you’ve seen the unicorn, please let me know. I always love to hear of its tale, and the magic that surrounds it.

 

Follow Barrett Pall on Twitter: www.twitter.com/barrettpall

In short—keep looking for the magic and don’t settle.

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This is exactly what art therapist Issy Riley needs to learn in order to find her happily ever after. Learn more about how she finds a love that lasts a lifetime in The Italian Billionaire’s Christmas Bride, available in print and paper back  from Amazon here – getBook.at/ChristmasBride

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Why I write romance

[image error]Albert Einstein once said, ‘If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or objects.’  I took his advice to heart last year – big time! Mostly I set aside more time to do what I loved.

I fell back in love with fiction. After spending much of my adult life in business roles and writing about careers—how to survive them, change them and thrive in them—I’ve become a ravenous reader of all things escapism. I love immersing myself in new worlds…especially if there is an element of opulence, sensuality, history and the books are art-related in some way, like one of the books I read in 2016 – Jessie Burton’s, The Muse.

Inspired by my love of love, passion, exotic settings and escapism last year I finished two art-related romance novels under my pen name Mollie Mathews (www.molliemathews.com) and indie published them in my printing press, Blue Orchid Publishing. It has been heartening to receive wonderful feedback from readers, like one Amazon reviewer who posted a five-star review and said, “Beautiful. Resonated in my soul, gives me hope that I will meet my Prince one day and he will love me for who I am.”

The two books I wrote last year:

The Italian Billionaire’s Christmas Bride and The Italian Billionaire’s Scandalous Marriage.

The awesome feedback I’ve received is particularly encouraging as, like many successful authors, I had to ensure rejection – and worse the silent treatment from a New York agent who asked me to send her my books and then never got back to me.

But I did receive some lovely feedback in a ‘rejection’ letter from Harlequin and I’m heartened by all the successful authors ahead of my who have been rejected many, many times. “Mollie Mathews has created an instantly gripping dynamic between Issy and Massimilliano that beautifully blends their animosity and their undeniable attraction, making the tension soar.”

And I have received lovely feedback from readers who have purchased and loved my books.

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On the upside this experience lead me to create a new business and new brand – something I’ve been wanting to do ever since I read a book about New Zealand romance writers over ten years ago, The Passionate Pen.

2016 wasn’t the year I began writing romance.  I’ve been reading and writing romance novels for over 10 years—it’s just taken me this long to finally believe enough in my stories to finish them!

This year I’m looking forward to finishing a true book of my heart, “Flight of Passion.”

I love writing fun, sexy, passion filled contemporary romance. I discovered my first love story on a trip to Paris when I was thirteen, and I’ve continued to read them ever since. I love the positivity, and the ways romantic heroines are strong and every bit as powerful as the men who love them.

As a child I always had a pen in my hand and dreamed of being a writer. I wrote my first story at the age of six. It was published in the children’s section of the Sunday paper. Seeing my story in print became addictive and I continued writing short stories and poems while getting a ‘real’ job.

After trying out a few fascinating careers I am so thankful that I now live my dream job as a writer, combining business with wild pleasure.

I passionately believe in the power of romance to transform people’s lives. My stories are unashamedly positive, optimistic, full of fun and sizzling passion.

I once read a quote by Mother Theresa about how we are all pens in the hands of a writing god.  That resonnated strongly with me, I’ve  always believed authors are pens in the hand of writing goddesses sending love letters to the world. I feel validated when readers write to me saying that my books gave them hope and courage during tough times.

Besides writing and reading, I enjoys anything creative. I’m an award-winning artist, and I love photography, sculpture and gardening. After living in Wellington, New Zealand for half my life, I now live in the gorgeous Bay of Islands with my vher very own romantic hero, Lorenzo—tall, dark, terribly handsome and fluent in Spanish!

Why I write romance

Romance novels are one of the bestselling genres in fiction, loved by millions of women (and men), around the world. Yet, surprisingly, they are dismissed as insignificant. This is very sad. Romance, intimacy, and love are vital aspects of our lives. By its very nature, romance tends to bring out our awkwardness, insecurities, hopes, dreams, desires—all aspects of what is to be human. A good romance is at the heart of many of my favorite stories and movies. Who doesn’t love a good love story.

in 2017 I was excited to meet MICHAEL HAUGE. Michael is a top Hollywood story expert, author and lecturer who consults with writers, filmmakers, marketers, attorneys and public speakers throughout the world. He is the best-selling author of Writing Screenplays That Sell and Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read.

Michael lives in Los Angeles with his wife and has worked in the film and television industries for more than 35 years. He loves movies! And he loves figuring out what makes them work. And he loves helping people tell their best stories too – people like actors Will Smith and Morgan Freeman, or Devon Franklin, Vice President of Production, Columbia Pictures (to name-drop just a few)

We’ve become great friends after I had the great fortune to attend his seminars when he was in Auckland speaking at The Romance Writers of New Zealand conference in August 2016.

One of the many sage things that Michael said to me at the conference was, “ As romance writers, you explore desire and passion and falling in love, and that’s all fine. But on a deeper level, you’re writing about CONNECTION. The biggest problem facing humanity today is loneliness. Your gift is to touch your readers and give them experience of connection, and the courage to transfer that experience into their own lives.”

This really resonated with me, personally and professionally.  I know it takes courage to love,  especially when you’ve been hurt.  I takes courage to trust,  especially when you’ve been betrayed.  I know and  how wonderful it is, and challenging at times,  to fall in love again and find the person  who finally gets you and loves you for you—quirks, flaws, and all!

 So many people I admire read romances. Not all of them admit to it, but many do. Leonardo da Vinci, Coco Chanel, and other incredibly successfully people read romances.

James Patterson, currently the bestselling author in the world, is best known for this thrillers, but he also write romance novels. And is proud to do so. First Love, Sunday at Tiffanies, and The Christmas Wedding, are just a few of his popular romances.

I love the way he shared his personal story in a class I took with him. His father never met his dad and was raised in a poor house. He was competitive with James (which ‘was less than ideal”) and only hugged him on his deathbed) “I brought that across to my son. I give my son a hug and a kiss every night he’s home.”

The truth is that we all have wounds that can prevent us from loving others. Romance novels reveal the inside story and share with us the power of transformational change, when the right person has keys that fit our locks, and locks that fit our keys – to paraphrase Richard Bach in his wonderful book, The Bridge Across For Ever.

Coco Chanel, whose story I also share in my non-fiction book, “The Art of Success,” had many wounds. She had to overcome obstacles to love just like you and I. She suffered extreme poverty, self-doubt, low self-esteem and craved ever-lasting love.

In the movie, ‘The Pursuit Of Happiness,’ Will Smith, who plays the role of a homeless man, says to his son, “You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can’t do it. You want something? Go get it.

Period.”

As a child Coco dreamed big. The flames of her desires were in part fueled by reading romance novels full of dashing heroes and heroines living absurdly, audaciously opulent and liberated lives.

“A simple life, with a husband and children—a life with people you love—that is the real life,” Coco Chanel once said.

Isn’t that what many of us dream of?

NOTES:

The Italian Billionaire’s Christmas Bride

getBook.at/ChristmasBride

“The Italian Billionaire’s Scandalous Marriage”

getBook.at/ScandalousMarriage

You can learn more about Michael here: www.StoryMastery.com

 

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P.S. Here’s a sneak peek into, Flight of Passion

Past love and the obsessions that bind them.

Devastatingly handsome Oliver Hart is used to getting what he wants. Single, thirty-five and a committed bachelor, he plays by his own rules. On a personal quest to catch a rare, elusive and very valuable butterfly, he’s unwittingly distracted by former flame, Ruby Lilly—a woman who callously abandoned him eight years earlier.

Deciding he wants to reclaim the beauty as his own, in his mind it’s as good as done.

But Ruby is not his for the taking. Promised to the son of a wealthy landowner, she refuses to succumb to his charms. On a quest to save her family’s land, Ruby knows she must put duty first, and silence the passionate stirrings of her heart. But Oliver doesn’t make things easy for her. He’s not taking no for an answer.

Risking everything to help the woman he loves gain her freedom, Oliver entangles himself in an emotional net that alters his life forever. Sacrificing his own selfish pursuit to help Ruby, he realizes that you may be able to own something, but you can never own someone—especially the women you love.

Have you ever wanted to be with someone who sent your heart soaring but threatens your sense of security? Someone who lifts you clear out of the water, but you’re not sure will be around to catch you when you fall head over heels in love? Flight of Passion is a rapturous tale of beauty, obsession and the transformational power of unconditional love.

Available 2017

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My New Year Solution 2017—some notes

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As the new year kicks off it’s a good time to take stock of the memories deeply engrained within your heart and memory. It’s so affirming to look back over the last 12 months and take an inventory of all the things that happened—the good and the not so good—and reflect on successes and lessons learned.

New Year’s resolutions often involve taking something away from your life. This year, I’m encouraging you to add something new instead. As well intentioned as they may be, fortunately New Year’s resolutions often end in disappointment. The trouble is, they’re often short-term, rely on willpower and lack a inspired solution focus.

Which is why I’m sharing my new year solutions (not resolutions) with you on my blog. I hope they spark an inspired change and encourage you to dream big.

Last year the new year (2016) passed in a dizzy drunken blur of bad music and false friends. This year I was with my lover (and best friend) sober in Fiji. It was magic.  Dinner barefoot on a sandy beach beneath a kaleidoscope of fireworks. 2017 is my year of living magically – and beautifully.

If you’ve read, The Italian Billionaire’s Christmas Bride you’ll know Fiji intimately. I began this book when I will holidaying there three Christmas’s ago. It was so blissful to return there. Fiji is my happy place. Have you been?

Albert Einstein once said, “‘If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or objects.’  I took his advice to heart last year – big time! Mostly I set aside more time to do what I loved.

I fell back in love with fiction. After spending much of my adult life in business roles and writing about careers—how to survive them, change them and thrive in them—I’ve become a ravenous reader of all things escapism. I love immersing myself in new worlds…especially if there is an element of history and/or the books are art-related in some way, like one of the books I read in 2016 – Jessie Burton’s, The Muse.

Inspired by my love of escapism I wrote two art-related romance novels in 2016, and indie published them under one of my new business lines, Blue Orchid Publishing. It has been heartening to receive wonderful feedback from readers, like one Amazon reviewer who posted a five-star review and said, “Beautiful. Resonated in my soul, gives me hope that I will meet my Prince one day and he will love me for who I am.”  The two books I wrote are:

The Italian Billionaire’s Christmas Bride and The Italian Billionaire’s Scandalous Marriage.

The awesome feedback I’ve received is particularly encouraging as, like many successful authors, I had to ensure rejection – and worse the silent treatment from a New York agent who asked me to send her my books and then never got back to me. On the upside this experience lead me to create a new business and new brand – something I’ve been wanting to do ever since I read a book about New Zealand romance writers over ten years ago, The Passionate Pen.

It’s been my absolute joy to have heard from so many people who have told me how much my stories resonated with them and who have posted feedback on Amazon. I love hearing from you.

Last year, as a result of my books going out into the world, I was contacted by many people in American, Europe, Australia and Asia and asked to share my experiences on podcasts, and in their books, including  (appropriately) Write Your Book at Fifty by Jeanette Martin. Yesterday I received an email with another request to share my story in a new book which will be released later this year, called Thrive: Finding Space to Live a Creative Life. As the author, says, “It’s about connecting with your creativity (or a neglected passion), creating the time/space/lifestyle to pursue your creativity, and building habits to live a more creative life. I wrote it because for so long, I was stuck on the hamster wheel of being a workaholic and completely ignoring my creative side. I hope to help others who may also be unhappy,” the author wrote to me.

Amazingly the theme of this book sums up last year (and my intention for those that follow) perfectly. To live and work with passion, creativity and joy you need to make space.

So anyhow’s onto my new year’s solutions:

I will focus and eliminate all distractions when I write. And I mean ALL – in 30 minute cycles, using timers to keep me honest. Right now my fav tool is focusatwill.com. The developers says this will work magic because it’s “Scientifically optimized music to help you focus.”I’m a big fan of this tool …I love the music and loving what it’s doing for my productivity. It is absolutely incredible how much you can achieve in 30 minute bursts when you are focused.
I will simply and declutter my life – this includes my work area and desk and laptop (eliminating the unnecessary) – this will help me better achieve the above. This is going to be tough as I tend to be a ‘collector’ but I’m going to try.
I will experiment with my commitment to be alcohol-free for the WHOLE year. And I mean the whole year. And I will share what I learned and what really works, in my new book, “Your Beautiful Mind: Control Alcohol, Discover Freedom, Find Happiness and Change Your Life.” Alcohol addiction remains a hidden and stigmatic problem marked by denial and fear. There are millions suffering alone, afraid to ask the question, am I drinking too much? Don’t let this be you. Take the ready to quit quiz https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5K8KSN7 
I will engage in three passion projects for the year – writing wise. As above for non-fiction, two art-related romance novels, and a historical novel set in Renaissance Italy. One of these is particularly significant as it is the book I never thought I could write. More about this in later newsletters! To achieve this I am committing to being more ‘anti-social.’ Not drinking will help this along as the majority of times I socialised last year involved alcohol.Related to this I’m rethinking my relationship to social media. I truly am cutting back here, including taking the app off my Iphone so i don’t do quick check ins. Being away on holiday  off the grid was a great digital detox one I am to keep in check.
Health is a priority. Alcohol is gone, coffee too, sugar – on the way out. In is green and clean and raw. Let’s see how I go. Meditation needs to be more regular for sure. I’ve been a meditator for over 20 years but sometimes I forget to prioritise it.
I will trust and listen to my higher self more—especially in matters related to writing.
I will love numbers more. Last year and in the six or so months before I’ve switched off from all things numerical – accounting and finance wise. It’s true, out of sight, really does mean out of mind. Not good escapism at all! This year I’m dedicated to earning more and spending less, and that means ensuring that every dollar I spend is an investment in fast-tracking my financial success as I continue to reinvent my career as a creative woman.
Learn from the experts. This year I’m defragging from email overload and tapping into experts only. One of the few things I’m doing is taking a fiction writing class with James Patterson. Exciting!! As of January 2016, James has sold over 350 million books worldwide and currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers. In addition to writing the thriller novels for which he is best known, he also writes children’s, middle-grade, and young-adult fiction and is also the first author to have #1 new titles simultaneously on the New York Times adult and children’s bestsellers lists. He’s a pro for sure! I’ve learned so much already.I’m also going to consult screenwriting guru Micheal Hague again—especially for my big (secret) project which has already been suggested by a top literary agent could become a movie! I know paying for these services will fast-track my success and feed my goal to be the best writer I can. I consulted with him when writing one of my romance novels (The Italian Billionaire’s Christmas Bride) and the feedback was invaluable.
I’m going to be incredible efficient with my time—minimising distractions and doing less to achieve more. A big change will be outlining before writing and using story-telling techniques when writing future blogs and newsletters to enhance my craft.
I’m going to be driven by passion and ensure I keep my passion alive—focusing and eliminating distractions and maintaining balance will be key. Passion will carry me through the tough times and affirm me during the good times. I know, I know—I’m the passion queen. But even the most passionate people can get distracted and burn out.
I’m going to get up earlier at 5am and ‘just do it!” This is going to be challenging, but I’m determined to make this a joyful ritual. My writing rituals will include five 9 hour days per week dedicated to fiction, one to non-fiction and marketing/business activities. Day seven will be a passion day – whatever I decide that will be. I love everything I do – so that will be easy. Included in this is balance – relationship, health and spiritually wise. Meditation, romance, chilling will all factor in—including a reward trip to Japan with my lover in September to defrag and retop up our inspiration well.

A few quotes that are inspiring me this year:

Do NOT sit there like ‘Oh I don’t feel like it today. I don’t feel like it tomorrow.’ Feel like it! Do it! Force yourself. —James Patterson

“Know what you want and try to go beyond your own explanations. Improve your dancing, practice a lot, and set a very high goal, one that will be difficult to achieve. Because that is an artist’s million: to go beyond one’s limits. An artist who desires very little and achieves it has failed in life.” ~ Paulo Coehlo, in his book “The Spy.”

“Art is the queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all generations of the world.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

There—I’ve declared my intent for this year. Writing it down and sharing it with you makes it feel more concrete and me more accountable. It remains to be seen whether I achieve any of these, but I’m going to give them my best shot. Meanwhile  I wish you a very Happy New Year. May it be beautiful, prosperous, interesting, productive and joyful

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p.s.

If you GENUINELY like my books then it would be a HUGE help if you told a friend and also left a rating & review. It might seem insignificant, but it helps more than you might think…especially for independent authors like me. The quickest way is to go to my author page on Amazon and select the books you’ve read. Thank you! Author.to/MollieMathews


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Praise for Book One in the Gemstone Billionaire’s series—The Italian Billionaire’s Christmas Bride

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It’s always lovely when people share my passion for a good love story. I’m really happy with the reviews I’ve received to date. Here’s just a few—and a little bit about what inspired book one in my Gemstone Billionaire’s story follows:

“Mollie Mathews has created an instantly gripping dynamic between Issy and Massimilliano that beautifully blends their animosity and their undeniable attraction, making the tension soar.” ~ Laura, Harlequin Mills and Boon

“I really enjoy Mollie’s  style of writing – it’s in the 21st century and relates to every woman who has been trashed by a bloke.  The abandonment issues experienced by Max are also so relevant to our current world, so many have been emotionally stunted or abandoned.  This is a story that resonates with me and I could not put it down.  Mollie is just such a good writer with enormous appeal in her story – an excellent read on a rainy day.” ~ Rae Waterhouse

“I couldn’t get away for a holiday this year but was lucky enough to stumble across Mollie Mathews book Married by Christmas. With inviting backdrops of Italy and Fiji to set the scene and passionate but angst ridden leading characters, it makes the perfect holiday reading.” ~ Laura Virgo

“A gorgeous escapist read. Loved the flirty spark between Max and Issy, and as for the location … sigh … I wanna be there. Will definitely be looking out for other books by this author. Recommended.” ~ Amazon Review

What ignited the idea for this story?

The idea for this story was sparked when I read about a very successful Italian fashion-tycoon who said, ‘My biggest regret is that I gave my life to my job.’ It struck me as very, very sad.

I wondered why he had chosen to live his life this way. Despite all his wealth, all his mansions around the world, and all the ‘fans’ who adored him for the identity he had carefully cultivated, he loved no one and no one loved him back for who he truly was.

Although he never said it outright, he’d thrown himself into his work following the death of his life partner. His work was pure escapism—protecting him from feeling the pain of loss again.

He’d originally trained as a medic but after experiencing the horrors of war, he sought refuge in a fantasy world.

As a child, he’d loved the glitz and glamour Hollywood offered. After a brief stint in the war where he witnessed the deaths of friends, he found an escape from the harshness of reality returning to the fantasy of Hollywood

I wondered what sort of woman would be able to touch this frozen man at the deepest level. Everything in his life was controlled measured, predictably precise. I wondered what if the darkness of the past, his unhealed wounds began to impact his work, stifling his creativity and threatening to destroy everything he had fought so hard to achieve.

I wondered what if, as part of his recovery, he was forced to spend time with a woman so opposite in every way to the order he imposed in his life. And what if this woman was a children’s art-therapist. A woman unimpressed by the fame and fortune he’d amassed, but who believed strongly in the power of play, fun, and spontaneity—things he considered reckless

What if this woman had the power to transform his life, and he hers—but they were both afraid. Hearts have been broken, love lost, trust betrayed. What if this woman had her own wounds? Don’t we all?

What would it take to make all the masks fall? To be vulnerable? To risk it all? What would it take, in spite of the fear, to believe you deserve, you want, you need to give love a second chance?

You’ll discover the answers in The Italian Billionaire’s Christmas Bride. I hope you love this story is much as I loved writing it.

 

 

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P.S. If you’d like to know more about these characters, inside peeks into the writing process, or be the first to know when a new book is released, subscribe to my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/cigEsH.

Please email me and I’ll be in touch personally—I promise…mollie@molliemathews.com.

Escape to the tropics and fall in love

Escape into Romance!

[image error]What if the person who is so, so, so wrong for you is really so, so, so right, but you’re too afraid to give love a chance?

Last Christmas, art therapist Issy Riley was jilted by her fiancé. This Christmas she’s running away. A week with a client on his private Fijian island promises to save her from cheating men and the London festive season. But when the client turns out to be a gorgeous and magnetic Italian billionaire, he threatens her resolve to never again trust her heart to the wrong man.

Milan fashion house leader and avowed bachelor Massimiliano Balforni has no intention of taking a vacation, despite his sister’s insistence that he subject himself to an art therapy retreat following a minor heart attack. With an important collection due, he intends to fire his therapist and work, instead. But the determined and striking Issy gives his heart palpitations of a far more dangerous kind.

The one thing Max and Issy agree on: they are as wrong for each other as wrong gets. He’s a workaholic playboy who believes emotion is a weakness. She’s a romantic who yearns for a happily ever after.

As the tropical heat soars, they discover that in this battle between work and play, resistance only fuels attraction—and sometimes two wrongs make a very passionate right.

 

Sample or buy the book now in ebook, and print 

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