Nicola Marsh's Blog, page 85

Because I can

I'm really into the meaty part of my current WIP and time is of the essence, so while I'm sorting out Chase and Lola's problems in RETRO A-GO-GO, I'll leave you with this, just because I can.



Wonder where I can find me a pool like that...

Being a bridesmaid in Spain

Isn't this cover so romantic? Looks like Spain has new covers too. Lovely.Here's my THREE TIMES A BRIDESMAID out now.

Missing in action

Missed Offspring last night (off air during the Commonwealth Games) and missed this guy.


Sunday night just wasn't the same...

Weekend Book Club: Heist Society

I've been interested in reading this book since I heard it had been optioned for a movie by Warner Bros...before the book had even been released!

Ally Carter is well known for her YA series, the Gallagher Girls, about a teenage girl at spy school.

So what's Heist Society about?

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving "the life" for a normal life proves harder than she'd expected.

Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring Kat back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat's dad needs her help.

For Kat, there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family's history--and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

This is an enjoyable, light-hearted romp around the world as Kat and her friends try to pull off a major heist.

A fun read.

What are you reading this week?

Zumba

This week, I commenced the huge task of regaining charge of my body.

Gone is my beloved chocolate and ice cream.

Hello zumba.

I've heard so much about zumba and have been dying to try it for a while but have been too sick.
On Monday night, I finally did it.
And it's great! Fun, exhilirating, exhausting!
Zumba is dance exercise, a combination of latin American (salsa, merengue, samba), Bollywood, African, whatever!
I'm so unfit but surprisingly wasn't sore the next day.

I'm lamenting the 'only one class a week' thing at the moment and trying to find some more.
Who knew exercise could be fun?

Sex, Gossip & Rock & Roll

This pic inspired an entire book and now you can go see a sneak peek excerpt of SEX, GOSSIP AND ROCK AND ROLL on my website.

While I go do the proof edits for this very book that have just landed in my inbox.

One Lovely Blog

Thanks to the lovely Elissa Graham for the 'One Lovely Blog Award'. Here's what Elissa had to say about my blog: Nicola blogs almost every day and for blog junkies like myself that makes her a dream come true. But along with all her insightful tips and inspirational stories, Nic also gives a lot of herself: what's happening with her family, her health and her football team. All of which goes to make her a very special, talented lady with a great deal to offer. It's really nice to hear people enjoy my daily ramblings as much as I like posting them here. :)

The Good, the Bad & the Unread

Thanks to the power that is Google Alert, I've stumbled across a fabulous review today from the good folk at THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UNREAD.

I need to become addicted to another Harlequin series line like I need a hole in the head, but I think it's now safe to declare that I'm hooked on Harlequin Romance. I think it was in a comment thread here at TGTBTU that someone dropped a Nicola Marsh suggestion in my ear, and if it was you: thank you mysterious commenter! What a delightful read this was!

The conflict that keeps this story chugging along is their past together, and their own personal baggage. There were moments when I just wanted them to sit down and really talk to each other, and they do get around to that eventually. When it does come spilling out into the open, it's hard to not root for these two crazy kids, and be charmed by them. Lord knows I was.

Thanks to Wendy the Super Librarian!
Here's the full review.

And word of mouth truly is a great way to gain new readers. I recommend books I truly love to others.

What has been your recent book recommendations?

2010 Premiers

Congrats to Collingwood for winning the 2010 AFL Premiership.

For some reason, they're the team everyone loves to hate but with my parents and my brother ecstatic Magpie fans, no surprises I was barracking for them too.

I'm already looking forward to the 2011 season, hoping my team, the North Melbourne Kangaroos, can make finals!

Weekend Book Club: Uglies

I picked up this Scott Westerfeld book after he sent me a humorous tweet on Twitter.

Knowing nothing about the book, I flipped it over, read the blurb and was hooked.

Here are the basics:

Uglies is set in a world in which everyone has an operation when they turn sixteen, making them supermodel beautiful. Big eyes, full lips, no one fat or skinny. You might think this is a good thing, but it's not. Especially if you're one of the Smokies, a bunch of radical teens who've decided they want to keep their own faces. (How anti-social of them.)

The premise intrigued me and once I started this YA novel the pages turned themselves.
Loved Tally's braveness, her strength, her convictions.
Loved her developing relationship with David.
And the ending had me picking up the next installment, Pretties, immediately.

There's nothing like discovering new authors you know you'll revisit time and time again.
I'm really interested in reading Scott Westerfield's adult novels now.

What are you reading this week?