Nicola Marsh's Blog, page 70

How to Craft Compelling Characters

There's a fabulous article on HOW TO CRAFT COMPELLING CHARACTERS by David Corbett over at Writer's Digest today. He elaborates on: CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPELLING CHARACTERS: A driving need, desire, goal, ambition, A secret, A contradiction, Vulnerability METHODS FOR DEEPENING CHARACTERISATION Real-life characters, Emotional triggers

Borders Trueromance

One of my good Twitter buddies, Joan Swan, is celebrating the release of her debut novel, Fever, with a giveaway of Borders Gift Cards over at the Borders True Romance blog. If you enjoy crosswords, you'll love this!

Weekend Book Club: Harlequin Romance

It's no secret how much I love the Harlequin Romance series. Yes, I'm biased, as they are the first series that bought me but my love affair with the series has developed over time. I love the varied voices in the series. I love the locations. Most of all I love the varied plots. There's a lot of scope within Harlequin Romance and that's one of the greatest pleasures, picking up a book guaranteed to surprise. The fabulous Wendy Crutcher , RWA's Librarian of the Year, has posted a great blog today at HEROES & HEARTBREAKERS . She outlines why she loves Harlequin Romance and gives some recommendations, including this.

I've read some cracker Harlequin Romances over the years, too many to mention (though Liz Fielding's THE MARRIAGE MIRACLE, her RITA winner featuring a wheelchair bound heroine, is a standout.)

What have been your favourite Harlequin Romances over the years? Recommendations?

Romantic Times winners

I've been lucky enough to be nominated 2 years in a row for a Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award. With the RT convention currently running in LA, the winners of each section have now been announced and the full list is here. Congrats to the winners!

From assistant to agent

Here's the story how my fab agent, Suzie Townsend, went from assistant at FinePrint Literary Management to full time agent. I still don't know how she manages to do all her work and sleep...

By request

More cover love. This will be my 4th book to hit shelves in May, a reprint of THE BOSS'S BEDROOM AGENDA in a By Request anthology. That's some boss!

Girl in a Vintage Dress cover alert

The first time I see a new cover, I'm always a little nervy. Will it stand out on shelves? Will it capture the essence of the story? Will it intrigue busy, discerning readers long enough to pick up and scan the back blurb? Here's the brand-spanking new cover for my Harlequin Riva release in July, GIRL IN A VINTAGE DRESS. What do you think?

Launched into the world

Can't wait until SEX, GOSSIP & ROCK & ROLL hits the shelves in May in the UK?

Well, you can grab it online right now!

I'm often asked which is the favourite book I've ever written and while I have a few that stand out from a personal point of view, I think this one edges ahead of the field.

You'll have to read it to find out why :)

Weekend Book Club: Category romance

Though I write category romance, I'm ashamed to say I don't read a lot of it these days. When I do, I'm highly selective. These last few weeks, I've been lucky to read 3 crackers. Most recently, Barbara Hannay's 'MOLLY COOPER'S DREAM DATE', which blew me away because almost the entire book is written in diary and email format! Remember the old rule 'hero and heroine must get together on the page ASAP'? Nix that! Barbara has written a lovely romance in a refreshing format. Next up is Ally Blake's THE WEDDING DATE. Ally's books are auto-buys for me, because of her fun, flirty voice and characters that are delightfully real. And I love the heat between her Bradley and Hannah in this book! Very, very sexy!
Fiona Lowe's 'THE MOST MAGICAL GIFT OF ALL' was the first category romance I'd read in a while and it didn't disappoint. I love Fiona's small outback towns. If you want a taste of Australiana, grab her books. I don't read a lot of Meds and I like how this one focussed more on the relationship between Jack and Sophie rather than the medical stuff.
And Jack is a fabulous bad-boy doc!

So there you have it, 3 great category reads.

What are you reading this week?

The high life

A brand spanking new page is up for THE HIGH LIFE on my website, where you can read all the 'Under the Covers' action behind this book, and an excerpt from the first chapter. And a pic of George in a pool. Just in case you needed the incentive.