Nicola Marsh's Blog, page 40

Publishing news: Harlequin's new series KISS

The cat's out of the bag...so now I can blab the news about Harlequin's news series KISS.



Launching in the USA in Feb 2013, all the books I write for Harlequin (previously released as Harlequin Romance & Presents Extra) will be released under this new series.



So the same fun, flirty reads from some of your favourite authors including Liz Fielding, Jessica Hart, Heidi Rice, Natalie Anderson, Aimee Carson, Amy Andrews, Ally Blake et al. will be part of KISS.



These books will continue to be sold in the UK under the revamped RIVA series, cover reveals soon!



I've seen the covers and...they're not what you expect!

Can't wait to share with you all.

Warming up for Bollywood

If you're in the USA, BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD will be on shelves in bookstores very soon (next week!) and I'm so excited.



It has also been selected for Walmart's Summer Beach Reads promo which is great!



So to celebrate the lead-up to mass market release, here's a review just in:






Oh, how I loved this book!  Mojito loving Shari and Rita are the best of friends – and Shari is quite the friend to take the brunt of Rakesh’s family wrath if things go south.  I loved the interaction between the characters, the funny moments, the food, and the bollywood movie references.  You are drawn into a world that is vibrant and you don’t want to leave!




The one thing standing in Shari’s way is Drew – can he spoil things with Rakesh and out her to his family as a fake fiance?  Can he keep the secret long enough for her to go back to New York and get Rita to meet Rakesh?




Would I recommend this book?  YES!! This book was funny and I couldn’t put it down.  I had to know what happened with Shari, Rita, Rakesh and Drew.  Would Rita and Rakesh end up together?  Would Drew and Shari get their chance at happiness?  Will I read more by this author?  Hell yes!  I can’t wait to see what Nicola comes out with next.




It's always a thrill when readers connect with a book so a huge thanks to Aislynn at Stitch, Read, Cook for this review!

GUEST BLOGGER: Sue Moorcroft

A warm welcome to Sue Moorcroft today.









BESIDE THE SEASIDE

When
I decided to bring Honor Sontag from Connecticut to England, I could have
planted her anywhere. I thought about Middledip, the middle-England village
where some of my books are set; I thought about London, because a lot of
Americans seem to love it. But neither of these seemed quite right for Honor.




It
was Robina, a secondary character, who made me decide on Brighton, the small
seaside city on the south coast of England. Robina’s an aging hippy, and
Brighton has an eclectic and eccentric population where an aging hippy would
fit in nicely.




It
really wasn’t because my son was going to university in Brighton and I’d have a
lot of excuses to visit the area … No, it wasn’t! I knew Honor would love Brighton.
She’s an Anglophile and her dad used to take her to England almost every summer
vacation, when she was a child. Brighton, with its shingle beach and typically
British Palace Pier, would intrigue her. She’s a history major and as well as
the Palace Pavilion, where the Prince Regent used to hold outrageously good
parties in the early Nineteenth Century, there are castles and historic
buildings scattered around surrounding East and West Sussex. But the fact that
my son was going to university in Brighton was handy. Not just because I could
see more of him than I might otherwise, but because when I was working at home
(a three-hour car journey away), he would take photos I needed or check out
details.




My
editor, who knew the area, queried whether Honor would be able to see the
derelict West Pier from the entrance to the Palace Pier, and I was certain that
she could. But I sent him a text and he wandered down to the pier to
investigate. He rang me: ‘Is she nineteen feet tall? Then, no. There are kiosks
in her way.’ I grumbled a bit because I’d really wanted Honor to be able to see
the West Pier from the Palace Pier, but at least he stopped me from writing one
of those scenes that readers send you messages about, because you’ve got it all
wrong.




I did
a most of my research myself, of course. I didn’t actually find a tall, dark,
hot local guy on which to base Martyn Mayfair, he came out of my imagination.
But I spent a lot of time walking along the Undercliff Walk between Rottingdean
and Eastingdean (the latter only exists in the book) where Martyn and Honor run
together – arguing, mainly – and checking out the coffee shops, because Honor
goes to work in one. I chose her a nice little bungalow, overlooking the sea –
it belongs to Martyn’s sister – and made myself familiar with the landmarks
(the fish and chips are fabulous in the White Horse Hotel) and then …




… I
set the rest of the book in America. Where my brother lives.




I
love research!




Sue Moorcroft writes romantic novels of dauntless heroines and irresistible heroes
for  Choc
Lit . Love
& Freedom, won the Best Romantic Read Award 2011 at the Festival of
Romance.

She's a Katie Fforde Bursary Award winner, has written a ‘how to’
book,  Love Writing – How to Make Money From Writing Romantic
and Erotic Fiction  ( Accent Press ), short stories,
serials, articles and courses and is the head judge for  Writers’ Forum .


Check out her website www.suemoorcroft.com and her blog at
http://suemoorcroft.wordpress.com/ for news
and writing tips. You’re welcome to befriend Sue on Facebook or Follow Sue on Twitter.

Thanks for stopping by, Sue! 

Crimson Romance 25 book Kindle giveaway!

CRIMSON ROMANCE has revealed its website in the lead up to launching on June 4th!



And to celebrate, they're giving away a Kindle Fire with 25 launch books!



All you need to do is fill out a form, details here



(my release with Crimson Romance, FALLING FOR FLYNN, will be out in October this year. More details to come!)

Developing a thick skin

Authors, check out this brilliant blog post by Beth Revis on how to handle negative reviews.



Love it!

Young Writers Award competition

Got a way with words?
State Library of Queensland
Young Writers Award is now open!
If you’re 18 to 25 and live in Queensland,
enter your short story today for a chance to win $2000.

Entries close Friday 13 July.
Get all the details here

NEW RELEASE: Bombshell for the Boss

BOMBSHELL FOR THE BOSS is a special release anthology featuring 3 full length category romances. And you guessed it by the cover, all feature a pregnancy theme.



Liz Fielding's THE BRIDE'S BABY, Jackie Braun's BOARDROOM BABY SURPRISE and my EXECUTIVE MOTHER-TO-BE.



Kristen Lewis is the oldest heroine I've written (35) and married to her career. I loved seeing how she developed emotionally when handling a very unexpected pregnancy!



What was also fun about this book...it starts with a one night stand in Singapore. And yeah, it's a Harlequin Romance!

Was nice to push the boundaries a little.



If you're in the UK you can grab this book off shelves now or buy online for the bargain price of AU$10.69 with free postage worldwide (for 3 books!)

Nikki Logan's non-fic

Harlequin Romance author Nikki Logan has released her first non-fiction title.



Here's a bit about it:






Hi everyone,




Just a quick note to say that my writing how-to “The Chemistry of Reading” is now available on Kindle and in various formats via Smashwords. Anyone doing my workshop at GoldCoast will get this FREE (yay!), but everyone else… knock yourselves out.




The brain is like Google. It ranks things by referrals. The most engaging books trigger a response in multiple parts of the brain and thereby get ranked more highly by it. And books that get highly ranked become ‘must buys’. 'The Chemistry of Reading' explores (in plain, digestible English) how the body reacts during the reading experience and how writers can harness that to create an unforgettable story that arouses multiple parts of the reader's brain.




Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/160161

Kindle US   http://www.amazon.com/The-Chemistry-Reading-Arousing-ebook/dp/B0085923L2/ref=zg_bsnr_158266011_27

Kindle UK   http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Chemistry-Reading-Arousing-ebook/dp/B0085923L2




Nikki




Sounds interesting, huh?

Deadline done!

DRESSED TO THRILL is done!



22 days of speedy writing and book 32 for Harlequin is now with my editor.



I think having a hero inspired by Christian Bale helped.



And it was fun giving Sapphire (the sister of Ruby, heroine in MARRYING THE ENEMY out later this year) her own story.  I love writing linked books!



I'm hoping my editor likes couture fashion, jewellery, Melbourne, Paris and Christian Bale too!

A MUST READ post

I urge you all to head over to DEAR TEEN ME and read this post by author Lisa Burstein.



It's heartbreaking and real and highlights the difficulty in teenage girls saying no and the resultant fallout.



A brave, honest post.

Kudos to Lisa.