Ally Blake's Blog, page 32

hellllooooo....

A big yoohoo to those who've braved the lonely trek to my blog today! Dust off a beanbag and settle in. I always have a great supply of M&Ms and coffee on offer.

Apologies for my absences. I've been sooo busy of late I've barely had time to think much less blog what with trying to wrangle my bub into a human-type sleeping rhythm, and catching up with my two beautiful BFFs who came all the way from Melbourne to visit. Love you girls, miss you terribly already!

Tomorrow hubby has the day off and is taking my two girls to his mum's so I can write. Woohoo! Though in past weeks I've had the power go off for the whole day, or a non- sleeping bub, or a bung back, or floods. Laptop's charging as we speak, so tomorrow, come hell or high water - literally! - I will write!

Wish me luck!

awwww ta!

Just found a suuuuper lovely review by a super lovely reader on the Mills and Boon website for my current book THE WEDDING DATE .

Carolyn gave it a Five Rose review and said, "Ally has once again hit a home run with this book. Bradley and Hannah sizzle and melt as they fall into one another's orbit. These characters were real, flawed, and so lovable. And I thought that she couldn't top Damien and Chelsea from "Magnate's Indecent Proposal". Wow, was I wrong!!! I don't know which I love more?! Still melting and sighing..."

Thanks Carolyn!

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />Read more ~ Buy the book UK ~ Free Devliery Worldwide

your wedding date

I'm so excited that THE WEDDING DATE , my very first RIVA, is out on bookshelves across the UK next month, and just as excited that you can buy a copy from Mills and Boon already. Paperback and eBook are both available here right now!


If you live outside of the UK, then do as I do and grab your copy from The Book Depository. They have free delivery worldwide! And since the book is officially not released yet, they are offering 24% off the cover price. How fabulous are they?!! Check out The Book Depository here .


For some fun behind the scenes stuff about the book, including an excerpt and who I "cast" while writing it, check out my THE WEDDING DATE book page.

THE WEDDING DATE will be available across North America in May as a Presents Extra entitled THE ROGUE WEDDING GUEST with other countries to follow.

crush...continues

Lovely hubby took my girls to his Mum's place today so the little man and I could chill out, and I could write.

The boy's asleep, so I am getting to know my brand spanking new Christmas present/computer, my backside's reaquainting itself with my office chair, and my brain is revving back into writing mode after some self-imposed maternity leave.

Here are a few things I'm using to whet my the appetite to write as I get to know kmy WIP "CRUSH" again - sexy 50s inspired lingerie, gorgeous Australian beaches, Mattthew McConaughey all wet...

Need I say more?

the flood

We're finally free after being cut off by flood water with no power, no food bar what we had in the cupboard that didn't need to be cooked, and no way out of our suburb for the past 4 days! This picture is of the main road out. Yesterday.

Our street was cut off by flood water at both ends and we ended up a small island of about 20 houses, a mini-community of families all looking out for each other as the waters rose around us. Scary stuff. Our house was thankfully spared but our little hamlet of Bellbowrie was devastated, including the entire street below ours which was under water when we woke up Wednesday morning, and our only local shops which were roof deep in water and are already being razed to the ground. All this in the middle of suburbia.

We had to deal with the very real fear of the bottom floor of house going under as muddy flood water inched up our street. With rationing food with three little kids (my husband and I ate not much but bread crusts cut from the kids' sandwiches for the past few days!). With no air-con on some pretty hot and humid days. With only a battery operated radio to give us any information. With ever decreasing bars on our mobile phones. This picture is of the water creeping around the end of our street. Taken from the bottom of my driveway. It has already submerged about 30 homes before reaching this point.

But that's pittance compared with so many of those around us who have lost so much. Their homes, their possessions, their pets, their family members…

This picture is from a house about five down from mine. I took a walk past yesterday, and soon became choked up over the kind of debris these poor people were tossing from their homes – furniture, kitchen cupboards, wall plaster. In this one pile was a brand new teddy bear and a ruined Christmas tree. I've managed to keep tears at bay through most of this but that just broke my heart. In comparison we went through nothing at all.

Now the water has receded and we are no longer trapped, our small area has been inundated with volunteers in gumboots and gloves and brooms wanting to help anyway they can. With professional clean-up crews going from home to home and pitching in for nothing. With pre-teen kids setting up free drink stalls on street corners. With local schools setting up barbeques as hundreds of people donated their defrosted meat and bread to give those without homes fabulous Aussie summer BBQs. With local doctors manning booths for nothing to look after anyone who needed them. We've had people stop us in the street and force boxes of nappies on us when they've found we had kids.

The past few days, while intense and at times really scary, have been amazing. Enlightening. Uplifting. I am so proud to be a part of the Bellbowrie community, to be a Queenslander, and so proud of all those in the media and in government and in basic services who've worked tirelessly in the hopes of making a national disaster survival. It's darned good to be Australian.

If any of you would like to make a donation to directly help those whose homes have been flooded, go to:

http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html

rain rain go away

Sending out blanket buckets of safety to all those affected by the Queensland (and beyond) floods.
Watching it unfold from the comfort of my own loungeroom has been horrid enough, now that we are ourselves land locked with no way out of our suburb since the roads and bridges are flooded over, the widespread devastation has hit home hard. It's scary stuff.
Water is lapping at our back door, then subsiding as the rain eases. Repeat hourly. Our local supermarket has been wiped clean. Literally. I reckon I could stand outside with a bottle of milk and go home with enough money to pay next month's mortgage payment. Crazy stuff for a state that as been in drought for a decade.
Hoping EVERYONE makes it through the next couple of days with their families at their sides.
AllyxXx

merry christmas!!!

Boy do we have a big day ahead of us.

This is our first Christmas since moving back home. After spending the morning at home we are stopping at both my parents' place and my husband's. All with two toddlers and a newborn in tow. Phew!

The day will be filled with cousins galore for our kids to play with, including three newbies who are all having their first Christmases - my Baby Boy being one of them. Though at two weeks old I'm not sure he'll appreciate Santa's stocking stuffers as much as I will ;).

I hope your holidays are filled with as much food as mine will no doubt be, the chance for as many afternoon naps as needs be, and bucketloads of laughter and fun and family and love.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!!

Love
Ally & Family
xXx

baby love

A big thanks to all of you who've sent such lovely eCards, and Tweets and messages on Facebook congratulating me on the arrival of my own little hero.

For those yet to hear the news, Dominic Lucas arrived on Friday the 10th - soft, warm and too sweet for words.

My funnest memories of the birth - yes I am a bit of a Pollyanna - are reading In Style in between contractions as it was beautifully distracting! And pulling the gas tube from my mouth to ask the midwife to turn off Dr Phil on the TV when I heard him yabbering on in between pushes ;).

Now home, I'm having an absolutely lovely time baby gazing, as are his two big sisters who are wondering just when he's going to be big enough to chase them around the house!

nothing as tempting as a new hero!

I'm sooo close to picking my heroione inspiration so a big smoochy thanks to all those who emailed and commented! Any one of them could have done the job, but as always happens, one gal's light just shines when it comes to the crunch. Watch this space to see who won!!!

So here's the hero who's about to line up against my fabulous tough as nails heroine. I tend to lean towards tall dark and handsome but this dark blonde honey is just peeeerfect for my new guy. The blue eyes, patrician nose, preppy polo shirt, neat hands that haven't seen a day's hard work in their life.

Plant him on a barstool in front of my heroine who's had to work her backside off just to survive and boy oh boy the sparks!!!

holding out for a heroine

Had two new ideas for new books the other day. Ones I love. Ones I can't wait to write! It's truly the worst kind of temptation when neck deep in trying to finish a book under deadline.

But wanting to lock down the ideas while they're fresh, I'm on the lookout for a heroine for one. A Harlequin Presents/RIVA.

She's tough, feisty, unforgiving, smart-mouthed and owns a rowdy bar in the middle of nowhere. Why she's in the middle of nowhere is a slight mystery to me, but I get the feeling she's run away from something bad. These are the girls I have in mind. Any of which I can see doing a great line in backchat, drying a beer schooner while wearing jeans and t-shirts with the kinds of slogans to make lesser men than our hero shrink.

They are Anne Hathaway, Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Biel and Drew Barrymore.

Any grab your fancy? Or can you suggest someone else great?

If you want to see the charmingly gorgeous hero they line up against, then you'll have to check back later in the week for some 'inspiration'!