Ally Blake's Blog, page 27

i heart apps

I like being able to figure things out instantly - read I have no patience! So when I got a beautiful fancy shiny new smart phone from my hubby for my birthday imagine my excitement! And frustration ;). I could have thrown the thing at the wall, and now... I can blog from the thing

I'm fast learning the fabulousness of apps. Do you have any faves I must have?

ibooks down under!

Did you know the Australian iTunes store now stocks iBook s? Well it does!!! And my latest books are there. Yippee!

For some reason they've made it super tricky to track books and authors down on that site, so I've made it easy for ya! Click here and you'll find my latest handful of Aussie releases including a couple of great collections. (Or for my American releases, head on over to the American iTunes site here.)

As a helpful hint, to find your other fave authors, Google "author name itunes" and you should have some luck.

Happy reading!
xXx

fun stuff about "millionaire dad's sos"

Here are some fun facts about my current North America release, MILLIONAIRE DAD'S SOS.

Hero inspiration: Reynaldo Gianecchini. Okay, so I found another excuse to post this guy's pic. but come on, did I really need one?

Working Title: RUSH

Song: "SUDDENLY I SEE" by KC Tunstall

The story that almost never was: I'd originally tried to give Meg a Harlequin Presents story in which she hooked up with her brother's friend Hamish, an architect who appears briefly in DATING THE REBEL TYCOON. I rewrote the opening chapter so many times I eventually gave up and wrote Dylan and Wynnie's story in GETTING RED-HOT WITH THE ROGUE for Harlequin Presents instead and it was a muuuuch better fit! Meg just had to wait a little longer for her guy, and I reckon he was worth it.

Dedication: This was for my second daughter who grew in my tummy as I wrote the book!

MILLIONAIRE DAD'S SOS
Paperback
eBook (UK)

"millionaire dad's SOS" ~ the guy

Reynaldo Gianec chini as my Zach Jones. Need I say more? I'll let my heroine Meg say more instead ;). 'Hot guy at six o'clock. He's been staring at you for the past five minutes.'

'Not news, hon,' Rylie said, touching the ground with her palms and causally glancing between her legs before letting out a long slow, 'I take that back. This one is big news.'

Meg rolled her eyes. 'I'm not falling for that again.'

'Your loss,' Rylie said.

A husky note in her best friend's voice caught Meg's attention. 'Fine. Where?'

'Over your right shoulder,' Tabitha said. 'Faded t-shirt, knee-length cargo shorts, sneakers that have pounded some miles, cap he ought to have thrown away a looong time ago...'

Rylie laughed, then gave Meg's leg a tug so her knee collapsed turning her whether she wanted to or not.

Meg didn't even get the chance to ask Rylie what was so funny. She didn't need to. There was no way any woman under the age of a hundred and twenty was going to miss the man leaning against the trunk of one of the massive ghost gums lining the resort's elegant driveway.

He was tall. Impressively so. Broad as any man she'd ever met. His chin was unshaven, the dark curls beneath his cap overlong. With the colour of a man who'd spent half a lifetime in the sun and the muscles of a man who hadn't done so standing still, he looked like he'd stepped out of a Nautica ad.

She tucked a curl behind her ear and casually bent down to tug at her ankle socks, not needing to look at the guy to remember exactly what she'd seen. Her hands shook ever so slightly.

He was the very dictionary definition of rugged sex-appeal. For a girl from the right side of the tracks, a girl who was a magnet for stiff, sharp, striving suits, a girl whose planner had become so full of late she had to diarise time to wash her hair much less anything more intimately enjoyable, he was a revelation.

MILLIONAIRE DAD'S SOSPaperbackeBook (UK)

gorgeous review!

Just found this fabulous review for my THE WEDDING DATE. (Out in North America as THE ROGUE WEDDING GUEST).

Here's a snippet of the gorgeousness:

"The story and characters are modern and written with wit and sass, sparkling dialogue and great chemistry. This is a great book that had me laughing out loud and left with that all important warm fuzzy feeling!"

Isn't that just heaven??? Read the full review here.

Read more
Buy the book
Buy the eBook

"millionaire dad's SOS" ~ the girls

Here's a picture I used for heroine inspiration Meg Kelly, the heroine from MILLIONAIRE DAD'S SOS. Love the expression, love the dress, love the girl! Mila Kunis has an earthy sexiness and a vulnerability that suited Meg to the ground.

Meg's BFFs Rylie and Tabitha played a massive part in the story as well. Tabitha plays a role in DATING THE REBEL TYCOON and Rylie in GETTING RED-HOT WITH THE ROGUE.

I have a story in mind for Rylie I hope I get the chance to write one day, while I get the feeling that Tabitha - sweet soul that she is might have to live her ultimate romance outside the pages of a book ;).

Do you like reading about characters who've appeared in your favourite author's other books?

MILLIONAIRE DAD'S SOS
Paperback
eBook (UK)

pillow talk ~ collaging

Danielle asked: What about collaging? So here's what I've found:

Collaging for writers is pretty much just what it sounds like - get a bunch of magazines, a pair of scissors and some paste and pretend you're back in kindergarten! Only rather than sticking random stuff anywhere, find pictures that speak to you, that give you the same "feeling" the story you're writing gives you.

To me that's the most important thing. That a glance at the collage puts you in the exact right mood for that story. Which is why the right collage can help you no end and the wrong collage can be a disaster!

I spent a long time writing a book about Damien and Monica before I realised it just wasn't working. The book fit the collage to perfection - all dark, and red, and moody and sexy. I loved the collage, and hated the book. It just wasn't me. I made a radical decision to rewrite using a completely different heroine - Chelsea - and it fell together like nothing else I've ever written. Not so much dark, red, and moody but bright, yellow and real. From that near disaster my most popular book THE MAGNATE'S INDECENT PROPOSAL was born. (You can buy the eBook here.)

Collages are also great for giving you nuggets of inspiration. This was my collage for MILLIONAIRE TO THE RESCUE. The heroine Brooke is a yummy mummy and her casual loveliness came from the relaxed images I stuck here. Danny's refined elegance came from the picture to the left. As did his dog ;). From these random pictures that spoke to me I also got Danny's preferred nightcap and much of his character growth in the book from the "No more Mr Nice Guy!" quip. This collage worked great for this book.

I guess the most important thing is to take your inspiration wherever you can find it. If it doesn't work for you then get the thing out of your sight!

Anything else you'd like to know, ask away. Though if its the answer to life, the universe and everything I'm afraid Douglas Adams got there first!

my heroine

Meet Caitlyn. She's the heroine in the book I'm writing right now.

This picture of Isla Fisher sums her up perfectly. Gorgeous, groomed, sassy and super flirty. Aussie Isla has just the right mix of chutzpah and vulnerability to remind me of Caitlyn.

As a visual writer when I can find just the right two pictures to remind me of my hero and heroine it makes my job so much easier. One look at these two together on the screen and I get goosebumps. (Check out my last post to see the gorgeous guy she gets to fall in love with!)

Loving this book to bits!

my hero

I give you Karl Urban.

Okay, so really I'm just lending you to him for a small moment as he's MINE!

I've seen him in a few movies, most memorably as Bones in the latest Star Trek movie. But it was as the bad guy CIA operative hunting down Bruce Willis in RED that he blew me away. All dark, and slick, and talented, and focused in his dark suits. Humona humona.

So he is my inspiration for my current hero in ADDICTED TO LOVE. The way he looks out at me from under his brows with that slight smile on his face. Perfection, right?

I'm reading... SOMETHING BORROWED

I'm a sucker for a movie tie in and always like to read the book first. I've picked up some great books that way. In Her Shoes being one. Great book. Awesome film. I even took an American Literature class at uni simply because I wanted to read Age of Innocence before I saw the film! I was y[image error]oung ;).

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin is my latest.

It took me a while to get into this one as its very narrative/back story heavy at the beginning and I was itching for some real live human interaction between the characters.

But now the story has kicked into gear I'm enjoying it thoroughly. The heroine's an uptight good girl who's done a very bad thing with her best friend's fiancé, but even with those two strikes against her, I want her to come out okay in the end! And I'm intrigued as to whether the guy whose predominant in her life (her best friend's fiancé who's actually quite likeable even while being so bad!) will be the hero in the end or if someone in the wings will stand up and be counted. But to me the most important part is the issue of a toxic friendship. How many of us have been there?

If a book has me thinking about when I can next find time to read it and I count that as a ripper read. Hope it continues to be just as gripping!

Buy the book ~ Emily Giffin's website