Rachael Johns's Blog, page 7

My Secret Life with Maggie Gilbert

Today I’m BEYOND excited to welcome debut author Maggie Gilbert to my blog. Maggie has written what I have been thinking about writing for a while but she’s actually done it! Well, I haven’t actually been thinking about writing Maggie’s particular book but rather the genre. Her debut novel RIDING ON AIR is a Young Adult Rural Romance from Escape publisher. For a while I have thought about how great it would be if someone combined the hugely popular rural romance with the hugely popular YA! 

I for one can’t wait to read RIDING ON AIR and I’d like to offer a HUGE welcome to Maggie today, sharing with us what she does when she’s not writing:

I’d love to be able to say that my life when I’m not writing is something exotic or amazing. Neuroscientist. Drummer in a rock band. Olympic ice skater.

But it isn’t any of those things. It’s just a life, totally ordinary – at least until my childhood dream of being a published author came true.  Now it’s a bit more exciting!

My not-writing life is largely taken up with my full time job – I’m an administration officer for an Agricultural Society, where I administer the horse events for a Royal Agricultural Show. The Society also runs a bunch of other events so essentially I’m in event management with an agricultural focus. The job has a lot of variety so it’s always interesting and one of my little secrets is that I actually like admin work. Shh, don’t tell anyone – it’s way too geeky to admit to that!

It is awesome though that the horse-mad obsession I was pretty much born with has paid off with a job that is so satisfying. I got my first pony when I was 10 and I had horses for many years, doing a bit of riding club, a bit of showing and jumping and eventing. I’d come in from putting my horse away and then stay up late reading or writing stories of my own. And of course horses feature in my debut book!

Now here’s a secret – horses are actually only my third-favourite animal. I like dogs the best. Here are our two dogs, Aeryn and Hannah. Aren’t they cute?

The number two animal: giraffes. I collect giraffes, but I haven’t managed to get a real one. Yet.

I also like to read whenever I can, although carving the time out can be tricky; my ‘to be read’ pile is enormous and growing. Being able to download eBooks has made it even worse; I just got a Galaxy Note II, which is awesome to read on. I have a bit of a library addiction, too – I brought 8 books home with me yesterday when I was meant to be collecting 3! Until a few years ago I never had books in the house waiting to be read, I would buy or borrow something, and read it immediately. It’s a nice feeling though, to have all those books squirrelled away, waiting for a rainy day – or a week’s holiday.

Another thing I like to do is garden but I am a sporadic and therefore terrible gardener. Here’s a picture of my Wild Iris, which has finally flowered after 7 years of neglect.

I like to run, too. I did cross country at school but I’m older now and (ahem) less fit. I’m just about to start some pre-running fitness training, so I can ease back into running and hopefully avoid the calf muscle issues that keep interrupting my running program. My calves are full of scar tissue, so they are like blocks of concrete with steel bars running through them. Healthy calf muscle is meant to be kind of squishy – who knew?

So there you have it, the life of Maggie Gilbert when not-writing – a day job, cute dogs, neglected gardens, a bad library habit, cranky calf muscles and a sneaky plan to acquire a giraffe.

Hmm – the bit about the giraffe? That should probably stay a secret.

 NO Maggie – I LOVE that you love giraffes! I am imagining all kinds of them all over your house. Maybe one day you’ll be rich enough to buy a zoo and fulfil the dream of owning a giraffe! 

Maggies book RIDING ON AIR officially releases April 1st but it’s already available on pre-order all over the place – Amazon and iBooks to name but a few. You can also order from Escape Publishing direct. 

Here’s the fabulous blurb:

What can you do when your own hands are the enemy? Hold on tight, for as long as it takes.

Melissa has secrets. Sure it’s pretty obvious she has Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, but no one knows how bad it is or how many pills she takes for the pain. She’s determined to make her horse Jinx into a champion and she dreams that her childhood friend William will one day see her, rather than her condition. 

So when William asks her out and Jinx is shortlisted for selection in an elite training program, it seems Melissa’s dreams have come true. But when her secrets are exposed, all those dreams come crashing down around her. Can William ever forgive her? And can she learn about letting go in time to truly ride on air when it matters most?

Maggie can be found on the web at her website, Twitter and Facebook! Go on over and make friends

 QUESTION for blog visitors – If you’re a reader what genre to you think has yet to be written

Knee deep in…

Edits! And writing a new book! And washing (but that’s always a given)!!

So, please accept my apologies for the silence on this blog. I promise I have some fabulous guests lined up over the next few weeks talking about their Secret Lives – or rather the things they do when they’re not writing!

But a quick update from me:

Outback Dreams (due to be released October 1st) is in the final stages of edits. I’m at the nitpicky stage were each sentence is analysed, deconstructed, pulled about and put back together to make it flow and read easier. At this stage I’m sure my poor editor must seriously start to get sick of the book
Outback Blaze is well and truly started. I have written almost 20k words of the second book in my Bunyip Bay books. These books will be able to be read on their own but there is one small thread that carries through the three books and many of the characters feature in all three. This book is my first book where I’ve included an element of suspense and while I’m enjoying this IMMENSELY, it’s also a little terrifying. There’s a lot of police and fire protocol, which I’m hoping against hope I get right!

If you’re interested, you can check out my PINTEREST boards for both books here.

Reading – my goal of reading two books a week is failing dismally, or rather I am failing it. With so much editing and writing to do, I’m barely managing one book a week But I recently finished Jenn J McLeod’s gorgeous House For All Seasons and I’m thoroughly enjoying Fiona Palmer’s The Sunburnt Country! Of course the TBR pile continues to grow because I cannot resist buying more and more.
Non-writing life – One of my best friends from school married an English boy and the rest of my friends from school (whom I’m still really close too) hadn’t seen her in five years, but she’s currently visiting Perth, so I’m making the most of that. Friday night the six of us (friends from school) had a high-school style slumber party, the first in almost fifteen years. We didn’t go to sleep till 4am and needless to say I’m STILL paying for it.

Anyway just wanted to say Hi and explain why my posts have been few and far between. Once OUTBACK DREAMS is officially off my hands, I’ll endeavour to pop in here more

My Secret Life with… Jenn J McLeod

Today I’m super excited to have talented debut author and all round nice person visiting! Say a big hello to Jenn J McLeod – her first novel HOUSE FOR ALL SEASONS debuted this month and I was lucky enough to score an early copy. It’s a gorgeous story about four old school friends finding their way (and the truth) after tragedy. I thoroughly enjoyed Jenn’s quirky characters and LOL moments amongst real emotion!! And I reckon you’ll love it too. But today, we’re here to hear from Jenn about what she does when she’s NOT writing!

Welcome Jenn…

My secret life is not so secret if you go to www.wagtailcottage.com. Wagtail Cottage is my very special B&B, purpose-built to provide the dog-loving traveller with a clean, comfy, secure spot to stop so the whole family can relax.

And I make no secret of the fact: I LOVE DOGS!

Just like a house is not a home without a dog, a novel is not a story without a dog (or two, or three!) Dogs not only feature in my novel, House for all Seasons, they star. (Well, I think so!)

Just as an author creates human characters with a bits of one person and bits of another, my dog characters are a mix of furry fabulousness! I have added an excerpt from House for all Seasons below but let me introduce you to a couple of characters from the book right now.

Meet Karma (see down below), the inspiration behind Dr Caitlin Wynter’s beloved mutt (written into the very first draft) and Bob the smiling dog. (Karma belongs to writing buddy, Shayne Sands, and Bob belongs to Annie Seaton.

BOB:

In House for all Seasons, Karma shares the doggy spotlight with Shrapnel (described by his Vietnam vet owner as “a bloody pain in the arse you can’t get rid of.”.) My doggy characters in book two – Simmering Season (out this time next year) – were inspired by four-legged guests to my B&B.

So how did my secret dog-loving life evolve?

In 2004 I gave up my corporate communications/PR role, swapping Sydney’s corporate chaos for a little café culture and buying a small eatery, in a small coastal town, but with big plans to focus on my writing and a new life in the country.

It was like coming home.

You see, I’d travelled this big brown land in my twenties; two women working their way across the heart of Australia, living out of a converted Ford F100 van. For three years I worked anywhere I could, doing anything I could; an approach that kick-started a diverse range of work experiences once back in Sydney, including a stint in a five-star hotel providing security for international celebrities and dignitaries (and collecting stories I can never tell!)

I lasted four years in the café (it nearly killed me. And I developed a great respect for hospitality and service workers). The B&B was something I’d always wanted to do (kind of like having a book on a bookshelf one day.) I feel rather blessed to be living both dreams now, although none of it has happened without a lot of trying, tears and tantrums (and that’s just learning the café business!)

Making the decision to leave the city in pursuit of a simpler lifestyle was THE best thing I could have done. Now, I admit a tree change isn’t on everyone’s list and it is a huge decision. My advice to anyone contemplating a move is to research your options and be as well informed as humanly possible. Then just do it. That ‘oh my goodness, we are actually going to do this” decision moment is the hardest part. Once you master that, and train yourself to not let the detail bog you down, you’ll be less likely to chicken out when the “it’s all too scary, too hard, too risky” moment hits you. Be focused, determined and positive and keep moving forward—never back. You may be surprised, as I was, how things fall into place.

Now for that doggy House for all Seasons excerpt I promised starring Karma:

~~~~~~~~~~

Not even Karma seemed keen to get out of the car. They both stayed put, a sense of coming home warming Cait against the night air. Her body relaxed. Even her toes uncurled after being clawed and tense from the drive.

She was sure it wasn’t normal to love a dog so much, but the thought didn’t stop her. Karma had no expectations and made no demands.

‘Faithful to the end, aren’t you?’ she whispered, stroking the dog and feeling the heat radiating from under the short, spotted brown on white coat. The vet at the shelter had suggested the white coat was the Dalmatian bit, but it had been the way the dog smiled—a curious combination of bared teeth and gums and a wagging tail—that won her heart.

‘Don’t look at me like that.’ Caitlin stifled a yawn. ‘I told you not to drink so much water.’

At six o’clock she’d driven out of her Blue Mountains hideaway, mindful of the dangerous coating of black ice on the road. Sydney was in for a cold winter. Did that mean Calingarry Crossing would be colder? Anything above zero would be fine; Cait quite enjoyed the crispness of the cooler seasons. Sydney’s Blue Mountains was no place for people who didn’t enjoy extreme temperatures. Extreme was good, usually. Extreme anything made for a welcome blip in Doctor Caitlin Wynter’s flat-lining life.

After crawling through several traffic snarls on the F3 freeway, including the clean up of an earlier southbound fatality, she had finally hit open road. At last a chance to enjoy her new car, one she’d prefer not to christen with pee.

She glared at her passenger. ‘You’ve got more than enough legs to cross, so I suggest you cross them. Not long now.’

Had it been just her, Cait would have kept driving, but there was no ignoring the big brown eyes and the hangdog look from the passenger seat. She eased off the accelerator to slow the Volkswagen Beetle cabriolet, still new enough to have that showroom smell, an aroma so desirable that the salesman had presented her with a spray bottle of the stuff. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that ingesting potentially life-shortening spray scents was not on her list of necessities. She much preferred nature’s perfume. Even dusty country roads invoked fond memories for Caitlin.

Despite her initial reluctance to subject her shiny new baby to Calingarry Crossing’s local roads, Cait was now glad. Nothing like a new car to make a long trip more fun. Being able to put the top down and turn up the music added to her enjoyment. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons was the best driving music, although she doubted the composer had intended it to be so. With the car gliding over a country road soaked in sun, an invigorating winter wind whipping her hair out from under the retro headscarf, the car’s heater on full throttle to warm her legs, Cait let loose with her very best Meg Ryan, knowing only the cows and galahs would hear her.

‘Yes! Yes! Oh, yes!’

Pulling as far to the side of the narrow strip of bitumen as the unsealed shoulder allowed, she stopped in the shade of some roadside gums. The cluster of trees stretched straight and tall, creating dappled sunlight across the road and adjacent paddocks.

She’d made repeated stops to stretch all six of their legs and to drink coffee, or in Karma’s case, water; hence the dog’s need to pee—again.

The stop was timely, allowing Caitlin to secure the roof back in place, the cool, late afternoon air reminding her that winter in Calingarry Crossing meant cold nights and frosty mornings.

‘Time to grab something warmer to wear first,’ she said to the big but obedient fur-person in the brown spotted coat.

Karma was Caitlin’s best friend, constant companion and even confidante. They’d spent so many nights ‘talking’ together, lamenting the lack of romance in their lives. Caitlin would laugh, ruffle Karma’s ears and say, ‘I know what those eyes of yours are telling me: that there’s hope for those of us who haven’t, you know, been fixed.’

‘Sorry about that, girl. Now, are you going to pee or not?’

Karma raced off, losing herself in the paddock of tall grass, nose down, tail up and wagging like billy-o.

‘And don’t you dare roll in anything out there,’ Cait called out, her gaze flitting between her watch and the setting sun. ‘Hurry up, girl, time we got moving.’

She buried her head in the car boot, struggling to budge the medical bag her mother had presented to Caitlin in the days following Joseph Wynter’s funeral, with the words, ‘More befitting your station as a country doctor, my dear.’ While touched that her mother had chosen her as the recipient, the chunky, third-generation bag unfortunately now occupied a third of the Beetle’s boot, making it impossible to access the suitcase properly. She grabbed the first thing she put her hand on—warm, woollen and white—and slipped her arms through the sleeves, wrapping both front panels of the cashmere cardigan tight, tucking them snugly around her body.

‘Good Karma. Come on girl.’

Caitlin whistled. She loved the sight of her best friend bounding towards her through the fields of green; sure beat the overcrowded dog park down the road from the Penrith Medical Centre.

At the far end of the paddock, distant but drawing nearer, a billowing dust cloud spiralled into the air. A willy-willy traversing the unsealed crossroad she’d passed a few hundred metres back was Cait’s first thought, until she heard the bassy doof-doof of speakers and the roar of a straining engine growing nearer. Dread stopped her mid-whistle, her head toing and froing between the fast-moving dust cloud and her best mate bounding towards her obediently.

‘No, Karma, no.’ She held out both hands as if they possessed magical stopping powers, but her faithful friend kept running. ‘No!’

~~~~~

Thanks SO much for coming on my blog today Jenn and sharing your passion for dogs.  You can connect with Jenn through her website, Twitter and Facebook and House for all Seasons is available in bookstores and online from Amazon, Kobo, iTunes and Booktopia.

In the meantime readers, I’m curious… are you more a cat person or a dog person!?

My AMAZING weekend at ARRC!!!

Apologies in advance, this post might get rather long because I just had the BEST weekend ever at the Australian Romance Readers Convention in Brisbane. I have been to a number of romance WRITING conferences but never before have I been to a reading convention and this most definitely WON’T be my last. While I felt the buzz was similar to that at RWAus confs and many of the faces the same too it was really good to have the focus on reading and sharing the love for romance rather than on actual craft!!

The con kicked off with the Lady Jane’s Salon all the way from New York and run by Hope Tarr. We laughed our heads off to readings by Cathy Maxwell, Amy Andrews, Anna Campbell and Keri Arthur and I hope this becomes a regular ARRC thing! Then it was the cocktail party where I accosted Kristan Higgins and had a fan girl moment! Here’s a pic of her holding my cocktail named after her.

If you haven’t read Kristan’s books, what are you waiting for? They are gorgeous small town romances – I started reading her latest THE BEST MAN on the plane home. I’ll upload more cocktail party photos on my Facebook page!

The next day things really kicked off with a keynote speech by Rachel Vincent. Having not read much paranormal I admit to never having read her before but I will be after this weekend. Rachel’s bio says she’s ‘Older than she looks and younger than she feels’ – I can SO relate to that!

There were two book launches over the weekend – Kristan’s THE BEST MAN and Nikki Logan’s M&B Sexy duo, which I’m desperate to get my hands on – both books – HOW TO GET OVER YOUR EX and MR RIGHT AT THE WRONG TIME sound brilliant!

I participated in one panel on Saturday and went to another. Ours was Location, Location, Location where Cathryn Hein and I pitched up our rural heroes against Paula Roe and Amy Andrew’s city ones. Guess who won!? I also went along to a session where eight authors talked about their reading habits and what they read. This was one of my favourite sessions and I came away with a zillion more books I MUST READ NOW!!!!

Saturday arvo was the book signing. So many readers came to the event and I got to meet a particularly special one – Annie Seaton’s aunt who loved JILTED and MAN DROUGHT so much that she wrote me a sweet note of thanks. I SO wish I’d gotten a photo with her!

Then Saturday night was the ARRA Awards. JILTED was up for this award against seven other simply fabulous books, so although I obviously hoped we’d win, I never truly imagined that we would. When Hope Tarr (who announced the award) read out my name, I could have died!! I have never felt such shocked happiness in my life! I think the acceptance speech I made – totally unprepared because I didn’t expect to win – showed this. I want to take this opportunity to again thank all the wonderful ARRA members who voted for JILTED. I hope I can keep writing books that you all love!!

And, I think I’ll save Sunday and a few more observations for another blog. Come back in a few days to read more… that’s if you want to!!

xo

Rach!

My Secret Life With… Cari Kamm

I think I “met” the lovely ‘Cari Kamm‘ through the gorgeous Jen Tucker or was it the fabulous ladies over at Chick Lit Central? Either way, I’m pleased to have the very talented Cari visit my blog today. I asked her the question, I’ve been asking lots of guests on the blog lately – What does Cari do with her time when she’s not writing? And she came up with a very MOUTH-WATERING answer!!! 

Welcome Cari:

When I’m not writing . . .  I’m eating. Well, I’m thinking of eating or where I want to be eating.

I’m a self-proclaimed foodie and seriously enjoy every bite. My rule is “don’t pick before pics.”  I love to look at food. Take pictures of food. Dissect food. And of course eat food. A chef is an artist and unlike admiring a painting or absorbing words, you get to literally bite into their work and digest it.

Growing up in a small town, I wasn’t exposed to a wide range of delectable bites or cuisines. When I moved to New York City, in my early twenties, the foodie within me was unleashed. Honestly, I never knew it existed.

Whether it’s booking a reservation in the latest hot spot or participating in a food walking tour in an afternoon, I enjoy every part of the experience. The recipes. The architecture of the food presented on the plate. The quality of ingredients. I adore the entire process and how it transforms me in that moment.

So… when I met my boyfriend several years ago and realized he was a foodie too . . . It was magical! From our very first date, over juicy, medium-rare beef on buttery toasted buns, (minus the onions as who knew where the night would lead) gave birth to our fairy tale. The restaurant was a burger joint in New York City that had survived the Depression, Prohibition, two World Wars, and an ambush of high-rises and office buildings. Now, several years after, we often return to our designated spot at the bar and reminisce over dripping beef. Looking back, the strength of our relationship resembles the very history of the restaurant where we shared our first meal together.

Our experiences range from $ to $$$$ spots, big cities to small towns, the U.S. and beyond. Any place where we can create a new experience, try a new chef and avoid cooking at all costs. With this, we launched he8she8.com.

Fast-forward four years later and the symbolism and history of the food and restaurants we share are still writing our story.

On January 27, 2013, my boyfriend and I walked to a special area in Central Park called Literary Walk. It’s the only straight line in the park, lined with American elm trees and decorated with statues of prominent writers such as Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott. I had no idea I would be a writer one day and that this landmark would mean more to me today than it did twelve years ago when I moved to NYC. There, proudly with my new novel in hand, ‘For Internal Use Only,’ and my boyfriend to take a picture with my book. I walked into the park as a proud author and walked out as his fiancé. It was a sparkling moment with all things love.

With a celebration in order, an intimate dining experience was next on the list! A restaurant called Dovetail was just steps away from the park. Dovetail is defined as, “To connect or combine precisely or harmoniously.” We did just that.

When I’m not writing, I’m a focused foodie with my partner in crime. Well, I should say my fiance.

 Congrats on your upcoming nuptials Cari! We’re all about romance here, so weddings are VERY exciting.

You can grab a copy of Cari’s new book FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. But in the mean time, check out the fabulous excerpt below  

My love for photography had led me down an unimaginable career path. Most currently, it led me to anxiously sitting on a stoop outside the New York City mid-rise building that contained my overpriced one-room apartment. I closed my eyes, allowing the morning light to calm me while I took in the delightful bird chirps and excruciating taxi beeps of the East Village, ignoring the slight smell of urine that accosted my senses.

I started my afternoon again with stalking. I eagerly awaited the mailman’s arrival between 1:06 and 1:13 p.m., while he transported paper fate, sporting his pale blue polyester trousers, tucked in long-sleeve shirt pressed, and Converse sneakers.

We lived and loved through technology, so I was frustrated that my fate was arriving via snail mail and the timing matched every part of the description. Technology was the trusted source of banking transactions, meeting your husband, ordering your groceries, making restaurant reservations and even spying on your pets through a kennel cam while sunburning on a beach. But today, this life-altering letter crawled its way to me by a government official, a man I rarely saw, and never exchanged words with. I was waiting to hear if my dream would come true, and dreading it would never be.

“Good afternoon,” I said, with a smile, merely able to stare at the navy stripe that lined his pant leg. The clock showed that it was 1:11 p.m. I made a wish.

“What a surprise,” he muttered, while he manhandled the heavy stack wrapped with a thick, green rubber band and passed by me. I studied him meticulously stocking the empty boxes, one by one, approaching my slot.

“Do you mind if I just grab the mail for three-C, please?” I interrupted.

“If that’s what it’ll take,” he moaned.

Between my J. Crew catalogue and my electric bill was a fancy rectangle of heavy stock ivory paper with gold trim. I squeezed the four-by-six response card. Contained in this saliva-sealed envelope were the words that would inevitably change my life. The weight of those words was heavy in my fingers and I was hesitant to open it. Without the answer the card contained, I still was able to hold onto hope.

My destiny was in my lap with the warmth of the sun counteracting the fresh chill October presented while I flipped from sweating to freezing like an on/off switch. I reassured myself it was only rejection. I had my health and photography. Whether it was amateur or professional, it was still my first love. Even if it was a two-letter response, I would remember my love for art, and how every time I shot I searched for the immense beauty that existed within the balance, tone, and temperature of my tiny frame. Having an image worth a thousand words was never my intention. I wanted to capture one word to describe each photograph. One word can define everything, love being a true example. There is something compelling about visualizing a picture and capturing it. There is nothing compelling about the words, We regret to inform you.

My fingers trembled and taking a couple photographs would be soothing. Photography to me was the perfect cocktail: one part heart, one part head, a dose of imagination, with a splash of patience.

The tearing of the envelope felt like scratches on my heart. I proceeded with caution, hoping this document wouldn’t be only a keepsake to remind me what if.

Inch by inch, I slid out the card to reveal the twelve-point Apple Chancery font and held it to the light, observing the maker’s name in the watermark. Rubbing my index finger over the engraved symbol, I was impressed. The brand, Smythson of Bond Street stationery, supplied paper to the British royal family. I was holding the same stationery as the Queen.

________________________

Dear Miss Kassidy,

We write to inform you of your acceptance into the exclusive Bruce Smith Gallery as part of our exhibit for emerging artists, hosted by curator Grayson Gates. You will be receiving your review and luncheon date via e-mail. Please be prepared to present your theme for the Love Through Light exhibit within the deadline. You will be required to exhibit three pieces.

Opening Night & Reception

Friday, February 7, 8:00 p.m.

Bruce Smith Gallery

504 West 22nd Street

 

How To Bake The Perfect Cover

I’m actually making a cake tonight for a school function tomorrow, so the baking analogy sounded right, but the truth is, until recently I’ve never had much to do with ”baking” my Harlequin Australia covers.

The first time I saw the covers of MAN DROUGHT and JILTED, they were final! And you know what? That was absolutely fine with me.  I fell in love the moment I clicked open the emails, however I know that some authors haven’t been so pleased about their covers, so I consider myself lucky! The team at Harlequin Australia do fabulous covers if you ask me and I’m sure they’re are a zillion times better than anything I’d ever come up with.

For JILTED I’d imagined a woman in a wedding dress (Ellie) and a suitcase at her feet, with a country setting/farm house in the background.

For MAN DROUGHT, I thought they might put the heroine in front of a country pub.

And both guesses, I was WAY off the mark! So, imagine my surprise when last week, I got sent a cover brief to fill in for OUTBACK DREAMS (September 2013). I actually  panicked for a few moments because I didn’t want my ideas (whatever they were and I wasn’t sure at the time) to hinder the creative genius of the team at Harlequin. However, I took a breath and then tried to imagine how I envisage the cover of OUTBACK DREAMS.

Nothing came to me as visually as it had when I’d thought of my previous covers, but I thought I’d share with you (below) what I sent back. I can’t wait to see what they make of my notes

Sub-genre/themes: Rural; Friends to Lovers.

Synopsis:

OUTBACK DREAMS is a friends to lovers story about Daniel Montgomery and Faith Forrester. Faith is at a crossroads in her life – single, twenty-nine and living on the family farm in a small rural Western Australian town. Wanting more from her life than to be her father and brother’s kitchen slave, she embarks on a mission to raise money for a charity close to her heart – Dogs for Autism.

Daniel ‘Monty’ Montgomery has been Faith’s best friend for as long as she can remember. When he was ten, his parents sold the family property (in Faith’s town) and moved to Perth to be closer to support services for his autistic brother Will. Ever since this day he has worked towards buying a property of his own (his dream) and returning to a life on the land.

Monty pursues this dream at the expense of all else, but when a drunken night with his best friend Faith, ends in them sleeping together, he’s suddenly faced with a whole load of other challenges.

Both Monty and Faith are ready to find a life partner and settle down but until now, have they both been looking in all the wrong places and missing what is right beneath their noses?

 Story setting:           Small rural town of 2,000 people; coastal Western Australia

Story locations:                   Merindah (fictional WA town), farms, small town,

Story time period:  3-4 months, present day

Featured holidays: none

Seasons:                    autumn to winter

Landmarks:              jetty, beach, farm houses

Character 1:             Daniel Montgomery

Age:               29

Occupation:             Farmer/handyman

Character theme:   Chasing dreams; realization family more important than possessions.

Character traits: hardworking, determined, sunny personality

Hair colour:              Dusty, dirty blonde. Slightly long and mussed up look.

Eye Colour:               Brown

Character 2:             Faith Forrester

Age:                           29

Occupation:             farm hand/ domestic duties

Character theme:   Finding true self and love; mending family rifts.

Character traits:     Tom boy, feels like a Plain Jane, sporty, feisty.

Hair colour:              Golden blonde

Eye Colour:               Blue

General cover direction/notes – do you envisage anything in particular?

I’d really like the same sort of fresh, young feel as was on the MAN DROUGHT cover. I think the rural readers like sexy farmer heros, so having the hero or at least a glimpse of the hero (like there was on MAN DROUGHT’s cover) would be awesome. Maybe an old but well looked after traditional homestead-type farmhouse in the back ground and the hero and heroine at the forefront. I’d love to show real spark, fiest between them, but deep underlying passion only just realized (if you know what I mean). Basically – do your stuff! Whoever, you are, you’re awesome at it!!

And then, because I’m nice like that, I included the below photo of how I envisage Monty (the hero):

I cannot WAIT to see what Harlequin Australia come up with for this one!!!

The week that was (and my reading round up)!

This week was one of those weeks where I really felt like an author – yes, probably even more so than when I sit in front of my computer and will witty and intelligent words to come. I went to four different libraries and talked about romance writing and my books, which was fitting considering this week held Valentines Day!

I cringed when my old teacher listened to me at Midland library, going on about how I didn’t really like English in high school and never read any of the books! I enjoyed meeting the gorgeous Natasha for the first time and the equally gorgeous Janine again at Bayswater library. And at Vic Park, I caught up with Brodee (gorgeous too, who happened to teach my oldest son a few years ago) and got the sweetest little gifts as thanks for attending. At Bayswater and Southern Cross I indulged in pink bubbly drinking, which I think is extremely fitting for a romance writer and in all the places, I spoke about my road to publication and how it was fifteen long years before I achieved my dream.

Everyone is always so happy and lovely at these events and I still marvel when people want ME to sing their copies of Man Drought and Jilted. I’ve had a few people say I must get sick of signing and can I just say I NEVER will!! Me and my pink pen will happily sign until my dying day! I’m so honoured to be doing a job that I absolutely love and that brings me to meet such fabulous readers along the way.

In Southern Cross I was met at the door with a bottle of ice-cold Diet Coke, so it seems my reputation proceeded me! And somewhere amongst all this travelling and book-talking, I managed to finish reading a couple of books.

This last week or so, I’ve read FAST FORWARD by Juliet Madison and THE ROSIE PROJECT by Graeme Stinson. Two totally different books but I enjoyed them both. They were both funny and clever in their own ways. While FAST FORWARD is about a model who is catapulted twenty-five years into the future (with hilarious predictions of what kind of things the future will hold), THE ROSIE PROJECT is about a geneticist with aspergers falling in love for the first time. My uncle is a geneticist and I swear some of the men in my family have aspergers traits, so I found this novel fascinating. I can’t recommend either of these books enough.

Next on my agenda is HOUSE FOR ALL SEASONS – a debut by my friend the lovely Jenn J McLeod and THE SUNBURNT COUNTRY by the gorgeous Fiona Palmer, another good friend. I feel so blessed to have met so many wonderful people through my writing. I reckon about 75% of the books I read now are by people I know and love!

So what are you reading this week?!

Books I’ve read (lately)!

Well, when I wrote the first Books I’ve Read post almost a month ago, I planned on it being a weekly thing and I still do, but with the end of school holidays and a few other things going on, I fell behind. Therefore this post is a recap of the other books I read in January (well, the ones that aren’t top secret).

And there lies the reason this post is going to be short. For the first time ever I entered the Romance Writers of America RITA Award with my rural romance book JILTED. In order to enter this esteemed contest, you must agree to judge books that are in categories not your own. You must read these books, rate them and then send your scores back but are not allowed to tell ANYONE what books you got. Therefore I read six books in January that I cannot tell you about.

I will say that four of mine were category romances and I hadn’t read a Mills & Boon category romance for quite some time. I had a mostly great selection, which reminded me why I strove to write these books for so long. As a result, I’ve decided to make sure some category romance books make it into my reading list this year.

So… with six books unspeakable, I’m left with one!

And that book is LEAH ASHTON’S A Girl Less Ordinary. I loved everything from the title to the two quirky characters – reformed geeks, who I have to say as one of my favourite type of characters. The interesting thing about Leah’s book was it wasn’t the usual geek guy/girl has crush on popular kid in highschool, makes good and then meets again and the popular person falls for the new ‘them’. Hero and heroine in this story were both the school outcasts and therefore it’s also a bestfriends to lovers story (another one of my faves), in which they meet again and reconnect on so many levels. Another great book from New Voices winner Leah Ashton.

Currently reading – Queen of the Road by Tricia Stringer and Fast Forward by Juliet Madison. Will report back on them next week!

So, what are you reading right now!?

PS. Does anyone know how to save pics from a website on a Mac? Once I learn how to do this, these book posts will be prettier I promise

My Secret Life with Juliet Madison

Today it’s with absolute pleasure I welcome debut author Juliet Madison to my My Secret Life segment. Juliet’s first book FAST FORWARD came out only yesterday with Escape Publishing. I can’t quite recall when I first “met” Juliet – although I know the first time I met her in person was at an RWA conferences – but she can probably remember. Why? Cos she doesn’t drink Diet Coke and so her memory is probably a lot better than mine!

Anyway, I was lucky enough to read one of her manuscripts in a writing contest and then I “met” her and critiqued the synopsis of FAST FORWARD for her. I absolutely loved the concept and Juliet’s fun and humorous voice shone through even in the synopsis! I cannot wait to read the novel in full! 

But it’s not me you’re here to “listen to” so without further rambling, here is the new author extraordinaire herself:

Do You Have The Creative Curse?

The desire to be creative is something I can’t escape. Since childhood I’ve been fascinated by the concept of ‘making something out of nothing’; turning a blank page into art, or expressing myself through the written word. I love the inspired energy that comes with it, the creative process, and the rewarding outcome. When I’m being creative, I’m being ME.

I’ve always loved a good story so it’s no wonder I discovered a passion for writing fiction myself, even if it did take until my thirties to figure it out! But before then, my creative muse was fed by other means. I still wrote in some form or other throughout my life – poetry got me through the turbulent emotions of adolescence, and I’m pretty proud of my eight year old self’s illustrated short story ‘The Secret Coffin’, but my creative urges resulted mostly in drawings and artworks. You could never leave a blank piece of paper lying around near me, it would soon become a fairy sitting in a magical tree, or a catwalk-worthy fashion design of my own creation (well maybe not catwalk-worthy, but I probably thought so back then!).

Needless to say, art was my favourite subject at school. I went onto art studies after leaving school too, and continued experimenting with different artforms and mediums. One of my favourite things to do was draw portraits of my favourite celebrities. Here are a couple of them – a young-looking Johhny Depp:

And Janet Jackson (who also inspired my love of dance):

I don’t draw very often nowadays, but recently tried my hand at creating canvas wall art. The purpley-red swirling design is titled ‘The Vortex’. I hope to create more wall art when I get the chance, but time seems to be going faster these days and I find myself preferring the creative expression of writing.

Before I got into writing seriously, my other creative pursuit was dancing. I did a bit of ballet as a child but mostly taught myself to dance growing up; making up dance routines to Madonna in front of the bedroom mirror (hands up if you did that too – I can’t be the only one!). I did the odd dance class here and there, but got into it seriously when I was accepted into a dance show in Sydney when I was nineteen. After the thrill of performing I started going to classes in contemporary dance and ballet, and after I had my son I joined a new class especially for adults where I met other mums and was eventually asked to teach some of the classes. I taught, attended classes, choreographed, and performed in local concerts for about five years and that time holds many great memories for me. Dance was an emotional expression in physical form, and I loved how it created something that was visually appealing and interesting to watch. After leaving the dance world to focus on my health career for a few years, I then left my health career to homeschool my son and begin my amazing journey into the writing industry…

I love the power of words and the power of the imagination to create characters and weave a story together. Through writing I can experience everything I’ve wanted to experience. I can, in a way, dance through the written word, and create an enriching sensory and emotional experience both for myself and (hopefully) the reader.

Some of my characters have creative talents and hobbies too, I can’t help but bring my experience into their lives. I have a character who is a stay-at-home mother trying to find time for drawing and painting and make money from her passion, and I have another character who has a creative gift in playing and composing on the piano. Kelli, the main character in my debut novel FAST FORWARD (just released – yay!) has a creative gift in design that she’s been suppressing ever since a traumatic childhood experience. Through her journey in the story she’ll have to come to terms with her past in order to be the person she was meant to be.

Whether it’s through art, dance, poetry, or fiction writing, doing something creative is a NEED for me. Almost a curse in a sense, but a good curse to have

Do you have the creative curse? Tell me about the creative pursuits you enjoy or would like to enjoy, and you could win a $50 or $25 Amazon gift card. Plus, if you purchase my debut novel FAST FORWARD and forward me the receipt you’ll get an extra entry!

Here’s the blurb for FAST FORWARD:

Aspiring supermodel Kelli Crawford seems destined to marry her hotshot boyfriend, but on her 25th birthday she wakes in the future as a fifty-year-old suburban housewife married to the now middle-aged high school nerd.

Trapped in the opposite life of the one she wanted, Kelli is forced to re-evaluate her life and discover what is really important to her. Will she overcome the hilarious and heartbreaking challenges presented to her and get back to the body of her younger self? Or will she be stuck in the nightmare of hot flushes, demanding children, raunchy advances from her husband, and hideous support underwear forever?

Buy now from your preferred online ebook retailer, or through the publisher at: www.escapepublishing.com.au

To buy from:

Amazon, Escape Publishing, iTunes Bookstore or Kobo Books

And HERE’S A GIVEAWAy!!!

Prize: First prize of a $50 Amazon gift card, second prize of a $25 Amazon gift card.

How to enter: Leave a comment about the creative pursuits you enjoy or would like to enjoy. Get an extra entry in the draw by purchasing Fast Forward and forwarding* your receipt to fastforwardbook(at)gmail(dot)com

(*remove (at) and (dot) and replace with @ and . This email address is only for the competition and not for enquiries)

Terms: Open worldwide. Winners drawn at the conclusion of Juliet’s February blog tour and notified via email. Winners have one week to respond or new winners will be chosen. Good luck!

Thank you Rachael for having me on your blog today!

You are ABSOLUTELY welcome Juliet! Everyone be sure to enter Juliet’s contest AND buy Fast Forward because I KNOW it’s going to be an awesome read!!

WINNERS are GRINNERS!

Last week was a pretty AMAZING week for me, so before I announce the winner of my Australia Day Blog  Hop giveaway, I just wanted to share with anyone who missed out, Booktopia’s Australia’a Favourite Novelist Top Ten.

I’d been watching the countdown since the first heats and the competition was stiff. Not only was I up against some hugely popular big name Australian authors, there was also a fabulous showing of Aussie romance peeps – many of whom I know and love. So, imagine my surprise – read SERIOUSLY GOBSMACKING SURPRISE – when I clicked on the blog on Friday morning to find out I had ranked NUMBER 10!! I’d been so certain when I wasn’t in 41-50, that I must have been in the 51 – 75 they weren’t announcing. My hubby had patted me on the back and said, “Never mind wifey. You do only have a few books out.”

I want to take this quick moment to thank anyone who voted for me. And thanks also to my publisher Harlequin Australia for getting behind me and posting about the voting on Facebook. I’m sure that helped.

Still on a high, I really wish that I could give every single person who entered my Australia Day Blog Hop giveaway a book, unfortunately I’m not that well off Thankfully, Random.org is a fabulous site that takes the pressure off me choosing a winner. I had a whopping EIGHTY entries, which is just fabulous!

So without further ado, the winner is:

Drumroll please….

JESS  

Unfortunately Jess didn’t leave an email address, so Jess, if you’re reading this, please email me at Rachaeljohns077 @ gmail dot com and we’ll work out getting your prize pack to you! If I don’t hear from Jess by Thursday midnight, I’ll draw again.

Hope everyone else had a great Australia Day. I do run other contests from time to time, so feel free to like me on Facebook or register for my newsletter on my website to keep in the loop.

Thanks to Book’d Out and Confessions from Romaholics for organising the fantastic Australia Day Blog Hop. I hope we’ll do it all again next year