Ally Blake's Blog, page 25

come on in, the water's fine!

Have I mentioned the weather in sunny Brisbane right now?  I must have.  Surely.  Because IT IS AWESOME!

Queensland is famously known as "beautiful one day, perfect the next" and it's living up to that moniker right now for sure.

This is the view of our pool this arvo mere minutes before splashdown.  And while a pool can be such a time suck, a money pit and a general pain to keep clean, especially amidst a lush suburban jungle like ours is, that moment when you slide in to find the temperature absolutely perfect and the water lifts you, floats you, takes the edge off the day it's heavenly.  Better yet the joy on the kids faces when they have that moment too - now that makes it all worth it.

So, the forecast continues to be blue skies and sunshine.  How many of you should I expect???

ah spring!

One of the more lovely things about moving home to sunny Brisbane is the weather.  Don't get me wrong, I adore Melbourne truly seasonal weather, even if you can, and do, famously experience "four seasons in one day" at times.  But here the winters are mild and sunny, the summers hot and bright, and the springs, well they are just glorious.   Our garden has exploded practically overnight, with a gorgeous array of the most vivid flowers as far as the eye can see.  And the scents...oh my!  Open our back door and we are flooded with the most delicious floral aromas.  They're practically edible.
And we are not gardeny people.  All of this comes down to the cleverness of those who came before us, and nature.  Hence the fact that I have no idea what flowers they are!  I *think* the top left ones are Jasmine.  As for the others?  Not a clue!
So if any of you recognise the flowers hereupon let me know!  I'd appreciate it to bits.

the 7 horse by a nose

[image error] Today is Australia's biggest horse race, the Melbourne Cup.  
It's dead right that they call it the race that stops a nation as every TV & radio around the country will be tuned in at 3pm to watch as 24 horses thunder around the long 3200m of track to see who takes this year's purse.
My pick?  The 7 horse, Unusual Suspect.  Why?  I like the rider's silks ;).  Black, grey and white, they are, with a great silver star in the centre.  In 25 odd years of betting on the big race, that kind of thinking has helped me pick the winner once.  Yet here I go again. I'm consistent if nothing else!
As luck would have it its the only rider in the entire field whose rider is listed as "none".  But hey, here's for the underdog right?!?!?!
To see lots of green grass, racing odds, and pretty dresses, check out the Melbourne Cup official page here.

national novel writing month

[image error] Or NaNoWriMo as it will forever more be known starts tomorrow!
Always had an urge to write a book but just never found the time, incentive, kick up the pants you needed?  This may be your chance!
Every November is National Novel Writing Month when hundreds of thousands around the world promise to write 50,000 words come hail rain or shine.  Harlequin romances are ~ 50k, as was The Notebook, Bridges of Madison County, The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in The Rye.  Awesome company huh?
So if you need cheerleaders, or a whip, to get you to make that scary first step of putting pen to paper, this may be your big chance!
I've tried it before and never made it.  Yes me, a gal who's written more than twenty 50,000 word books!  But that's only because I'm contrary and if someone pressures me to write, I'm like, "Na-ah, I'm gonna eat cake instead, so there."
But for you, who knows???   
Sign up here .

Wanring: This Post may Be Addictive!

The crazy early Christmas decorations spilling out of department store right now has sent me gleefully scurrying to JibJab .  And no that's not a typo, and I haven't drunk too much wine, it's not even midday here, for Pete's sake!

manga mania

It's always exciting to find out when a book has been translated and released to an overseas market, when those books arrive on the doorstep with such fancy and fabulous new covers and it takes some investigating to figure out which country the book is from!
But there are two times when its extra special.
1.  When it's my first book, The Wedding Wish , which was first released in 2003.
2. When its a Manga.  When my story has been adapted into glorious romantic anime by a brilliant artist and I can see the story evolve on the page even when I can't read the words.
So when the wonderful Daphne Clair sent me a copy of The Wedding Wish in Manga form (my author copy had gone to her place in New Zealand by mistake!) you can imagine my glee!

A big smoochy thanks to Daphne, bowing and scraping to the artist, and here's a link to a site that lists Mangas if you'd like to see if your favourite has been made so!

I'm reading...little earthquakes

I've been on a bit of a Jennifer Weiner glom of late.  (She wrote Good in Bed and In Her Shoes which is just one of my fave movies ever.)  First up I read Little Earthquakes which is the story of four mums and the struggles and bliss that come with the first 9 months of their bub's lives and their friendship.
My littlest has just turned 9 months so it was so accidentally timely, but that's not why I loved it.  This book was rich and delicate and feisty and real.  Enjoyed it so much I dived into Certain Girls -  the follow up to Good in Bed - which I'm having a great time with too.

In Jen's fabulous 'For Writers' page on her website, she also suggests - among other things - that if you want to get published you ought to read Harlequin novels.  How can I not love her?!


Grab Little Earthquakes and Certain Girls from the Book Depository for free delivery worldwide!Follow me on Good Reads.

I'm reading...getting away with it

Julie Cohen used to write for the same line I do, and she's just so lovely we gals have all kept in close touch with her and watched on in delight as she has gone onto write a slew of fab single title stories.
The latest I read is GETTING AWAY WITH IT and I just LOVED IT!  In fact, last weekend I came down with a 24 hour bug that laid me flat.  Felt like crud.  Had to lie in bed all day.  Which would have been frustrating as all get out if I didn't get to rip through the last half of Julie's book ;).

To let you in on a little about the book Julie "toured an ice cream factory, talked to stunt women, interviewed twins and trespassed in a crop circle."  And that's only half the fun.

Check out Julie's website for more about the book!

Grab t he book here from the Book Depository for free delivery worldwide!
Follow me on Good Reads.

Off off and away!

I just hit send and pushed my revisions for Addicted to Love off to my editor!
It's always such a wonderful free feeling...for about fifteen minutes before panic sets in and I start wondering what I missed, if my editor got the email, if I did enough to ramp up tension, heat up the romance, make sure the reader finds the characters as lovable as I do.
Will miss them both terribly.  Caitlyn was the most fun heroine to write.  While Dax...Dax was  smooth, and dry, and rich, and delectable and...  Okay, now I'm just getting the worst craving for dark chocolate ;).


No which of the stories I've been dabbling with to write next?  The one about the wedding dress? Or the one about the dancing?  What the heck, they can wait til tomorrow!

revisions = bliss!

I'm one of those strange writers who stalk my inbox in the hopes of getting revisions.  I just love 'em.  I'm nearly done with the revisions on my latest RIVA/Harlequin Presents and I've been having a ball. (Helps that I get to revisit this guy a plenty :))
I love the second opinion.  (I know I can't see the forest for the trees.)  I love when themes and through lines I hadn't even noticed I'd put in a book are pointed out to me.  (I'm just that clever, only I don't realise it.)  I always write long and I relish the chance to tighten the book with the good riddance to even the smallest extraneous words.  And I love that final chance to have at the story with a red pen, sweeping away repetition, and great swathes of prose I slaved over cause in the end it just ain't necessary. One thing I do struggle with wiping away are the flirty bits that are flirty just for the fun of being flirty.  Those bits when the hero and heroine spark like crazy, but don't really talk about anything of much importance.  Between you and me, if I can get my word count back down to a sensible level, I might even keep one or two of them.  Maybe the bit about the Volvo.  Or the joke about the Prime Minister.  Or maybe...

Okay, so I have to cut 5000 words this week.  Then we'll see ;).