Sharon Kendrick's Blog, page 10

THE SUMMER SCHOOL AT SWANWICK

This is the beautiful lake at the Swanwick Summer Writing School, which happens to be the longest-running writing school IN THE WORLD!  It's been running for sixty-four years (which is why all you Twitter followers can find it under the hashtag #Swanwick64).  It's in glorious Derbyshire - a county I know well from childhood holidays, when I used to go and stay with my cousin in a place called Dronfield.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I agreed to be an evening speaker and to give two workshops  - and I certainly got a surprise when I walked into a packed hall of around 250 people.  Swanwick writers are very passionate about their craft!  Likewise, my workshops were also filled with interesting and interested participants.  We brain-stormed a romantic novel in two hours flat (and gave each other plenty of new ideas).
I ate delicious food, slept like a log and met some wonderful people.  If you're looking for a creative, encouraging and great-value environment in which to practice and learn - then you might think about giving Swanwick a try.
Meanwhile, here's the church from the nearby village (it was locked, of course) - which has rather a strange but rather beautiful spire.....

Have you seen anything beautiful but unusual recently?

SWANWICK WRITERS' SUMMER SCHOOL

is believed to be the oldest established writers' conference in the world....and I'm going to be there next week on August 14th, giving a talk entitled SEXY SHEIKHS AND THE WOMEN WHO LOVE THEM.
I'll also be giving two workshops the following day.
Hope to see you there!

SEXY GREEK NEEDS TAMING

Zak Constantinides is one of those men who gets women to fall in love with him without even  having to try. That is, until he meets Emma Geary - who is everything he most despises in the opposite sex.  Even worse - she has her scheming and predatory hooks into his beloved baby brother. 

Emma must be stopped in a way which also comes easily to Zak - by manipulation and control!  But for the first time in his life, the powerful billionaire discovers someone who won't just lie back and let him walk all over her.


PLAYING THE GREEK'S GAME is out in North America now - and you can find out what happens when Emma fights back.....

SEXY GREEK NEEDS TAMING!

Zak Constantinides is one of those men who gets women to fall in love with him without even  having to try. That is, until he meets Emma Geary - who is everything he most despises in the opposite sex.  Even worse - she has her scheming and predatory hooks into his beloved baby brother. 

Emma must be stopped in a way which also comes easily to Zak - by manipulation and control!  But for the first time in his life, the powerful billionaire discovers someone who won't just lie back and let him walk all over her.


PLAYING THE GREEK'S GAME is out in North America now - and you can find out what happens when Emma fights back.....

HOW I (nearly) MET DAVID GANDY!

Funny, isn't it - the way life sometimes throws you a curve-ball?
Picture the scene:  a friend was attending a posh, black-tie dinner and he asked me to go along.  I'd get to stay in a luxury hotel.  I'd have unlimited use of the spa the next morning.  There was to be a lunch the following day and we would be chauffeured  to and from this event in a Mercedes!  Oh, and there were to be various celebs at this feast, including a man called David Gandy.
"That's with a 'y'," my friend said.
"Are you sure?" I questioned.  "It's usually spelt with an 'i' - and it's probably a member of the Indian political dynasty."
'Whatever.  Do you want to come?'
'Tempting, but I'm tired.  I'm writing a book - so I'll say no.'


Reader, I honestly didn't twig!


The man was indeed David Gandy - the man much loved by fellow romantic novelists and readers alike.  The man who makes them salivate daily over provocative photos and who inspires many a steamy scene.


So I looked online and found this picture.


I must say, he has a BIZARRE taste in clothing!  Dunno about you - but that hat doesn't really do it for me....

PEWTER SKIES AND PEWTER EYES

I've been very lazy about keeping this blog and my only excuse is that I've been writing and....writing.  Lots of writing.  I've been creating enigmatic Sheikhs and ruthless Greeks, charismatic Tuscans and unforgiving Neapolitans.  And then I've had to come up with the women who have the tough job of melting the hearts of these powerful men.
But work aside, I've been dodging the rain which has beset England for the last however many months (it seems like forever) - and making the most of the entertainment on offer.


I've seen some amazing theatre (Posh;  Love, Love, Love: A Long Days Journey Into Night) and some equally great films (The Five Year Engagement; My Sister's Sister - both starring the very talented Emily Blunt).  I've listened to some great music (Ravel's Bolero, which I'd never heard "live"before plus the magnificent opera Tosca, which was performed  in the Great Conservatory at Syon Park)


This month, I have a book out in the USA called PLAYING THE GREEK'S GAME.  
It's about a ve-ry sexy Greek and a woman with a past who is determined to play him at his own game.   Here's a peep at the cover picture of Zak and Emma in New York.






I'd love to know what has everyone else been doing this "summer" - but you may all have decided to desert this neglected page and I can see that in future I must try harder!


Oh, and if you're wondering about the "pewter eyes" in the title of this blog - they are the smouldering eyes of Zak.  The ones which seem to look into Emma's soul....

USA TODAY BESTSELLER LIST

Yay!  THE SHEIKH'S HEIR is at #95 on the USA Today Bestseller list!            

Am chuffed.


(And England didn't even get beaten at football yesterday at the Euro 2012 championships!)

SUMMER, GLITTER AND GLAMOUR

Last night I went to the RNA "summer" (light rain, icy wind, no change there) party in central London and as usual, I completely forgot to take any photos.  So you'll just have to take my word for it that there was bubbly and merriment and the awarding of prizes.  That sparkly pink balloons were glittering on the sidelines and teeny-weeny portions of fish n' chips were served and eaten in a couple of careless mouthfuls.  And that as well as an enthusiastic gathering of lovely Mills & Boon editors - I saw Heidi Rice, Abby Green and Fiona Harper.


Abby was staying in the most luscious hotel - The Haymarket - which Vanity Fair describes as "a whole new definition of glamour".  With its clashing yellow walls, funky furniture and lavish use of velvet - I'd second that.


And I'm still over on iheartspresents, talking about my latest book THE SHEIKH'S HEIR.
Do come by and make a comment....


Or maybe tell me about the most lavish hotel which you've ever stayed in.

GLORIOUS TUSCANY

Just back from Tuscany, where I was teaching romantic fiction at the incomparably beautiful Watermill, in Posara.  Strange to think that last week that was me, sitting on a sun-drenched wall.  While today I am wearing about four hundred layers of clothing, because outside there is a distinctly unseasonable hail-storm.  All hail! 

Italy was as gorgeous as ever - and for the first time, I visited the Cinque Terre - a place which would make any superlative sound like an understatement.  Had a year's worth of Italian lessons done me any good?  Well, a little - or should I say, un po'.  Not just a case of "must try harder" but "am going to try harder", which is why I'm taking my Italian teacher's advice to repeat the year!  


It's been so long since I blogged and now I return to the blog-sphere to discover that they've changed the format!  I loathe technological change - I still worry that my computer will blow up if I inadvertently press the wrong two keys.  Google keeps asking me for my phone number - what a cheek!  I don't hand out my phone number to any old person.


Anyway, in other news:
THE SHEIKH'S HEIR is out in the US next week.
The hero is Hassan Al Abbas and he is....well, he's the kind of man who is very naughty.  In a bad way.  Or maybe in a good way.  You know what I mean.

SPREADING A LITTLE SUNSHINE

I've just been tagged by one of my favourite authors, the lovely India Grey (currently writing a BIG BOOK which I'm very excited about!), who has asked me to reproduce this cutesy photograph of a delicious marmalade-coloured gerbera, set against an impossibly blue sky.
And then to tell you about all the things I like best. It's something called the Sunshine Award.... (What do you mean, "why?" It doesn't matter why!). I love foreign films (particularly dark, French ones) - the sense of being transported to another country and then the credits roll and you realise you're still in Soho. I like variety in most things but especially the weather (rain? hail? bring it on!). I like the feel of silk against my skin or the rousing sound of a live orchestra - especially if there's a choir involved. The nostalgic scent of woodsmoke always gets me (as does the sensual overload you get when you bury your nose in lilac, or lily-of-the-valley). I like the buzz of going somewhere new - and the kicking-off-your-shoes cosiness of arriving home again. I like anything to do with Narnia. Or live theatre. I like intelligence and newspapers and National Anthems. I love cake - both making it and eating it. Ditto, curry. And I love everyone in my life who makes me smile. You know who you are.
Now I'm going to tag the fabulous Heidi Rice and ask her to tell me a few of her favourite things. But first, I'm wondering what yours might be.....