Nicola Marsh's Blog, page 87
September 19, 2010
Keeping me occupied
This man will be keeping me occupied over the next week, the inspiration behind the hero Chase Etheridge in my current WIP.I'm about one fifth into writing this book with plans to power along this week and reach the half way mark if I can.
There's such a lovely contrast with my characters in this one: uptight, career driven Chase versus laid-back, vintage Lola.
Let's see what mischief they can get up to this week.
September 17, 2010
Weekend Book Club: Nineteen Minutes
I've only ever read one other Jodi Picoult novel, Change of Heart, which I bought after feeling very remiss at not reading her when the rest of the world was.NINETEEN MINUTES intrigued me because I found it in the YA section.
Here's the synopsis:
In Sterling, New Hampshire, 17-year-old high school student Peter Houghton has endured years of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of classmates. His best friend, Josie Cormier, succumbed to peer pressure and now hangs out with the popular crowd...
September 16, 2010
25th book sold!
Several weeks ago, Harlequin sent me a lovely letter of congratulations and a silver pin with a twinkling ruby in celebration of my 25th book.
The book I just SOLD!
That's right, folks, SEX, GOSSIP & ROCK AND ROLL (how utterly fabulous is that title?) will be out in May 2011 as part of the new Harlequin RIVA series, launching in January.
(For those wondering, Harlequin RIVA will consist 2 Modern Heat titles a month, plus 2 from the Harlequin Romance series, authors with fun, flirty, contemporary...
The book I just SOLD!
That's right, folks, SEX, GOSSIP & ROCK AND ROLL (how utterly fabulous is that title?) will be out in May 2011 as part of the new Harlequin RIVA series, launching in January.
(For those wondering, Harlequin RIVA will consist 2 Modern Heat titles a month, plus 2 from the Harlequin Romance series, authors with fun, flirty, contemporary...
September 15, 2010
Netiquette
Here's a great post on social networking by my fabulous agent Suzie Townsend.
We spend so much of our lives on Twitter, Facebook and the like these days, it's important to get the etiquette right.
We spend so much of our lives on Twitter, Facebook and the like these days, it's important to get the etiquette right.
September 14, 2010
Offspring
While I'm slinking around feeling blah, again (I know, I know, I can't believe it either) I'll leave you with the reason why I'm watching the quirky new Aussie series Offspring.
September 13, 2010
The magpies
Apologies in advance to my overseas readers because this is very much a Melbournian joke.
Though I guess all codes of football around the world have a team everyone loves to hate?
In Melbourne, it's the Collingwood Magpies.
(Not me personally, as most of my family are Magpies and I attended many Pies finals games when I was younger so have a definite soft spot for them.)
But the rest of Melbourne? Ask AFL supporters which team they despise and 9 times out of 10 you'll hear 'the Pies.'
That's why...
Though I guess all codes of football around the world have a team everyone loves to hate?
In Melbourne, it's the Collingwood Magpies.
(Not me personally, as most of my family are Magpies and I attended many Pies finals games when I was younger so have a definite soft spot for them.)
But the rest of Melbourne? Ask AFL supporters which team they despise and 9 times out of 10 you'll hear 'the Pies.'
That's why...
September 12, 2010
THE WRITE WHISPER: Creating hot heroes
In the reader questions recently, someone asked about heroes so I'm cheating and reproducing an article from my website here:Great characters draw me into a story and keep me there, making me flick pages at a rate of knots and nothing signals 'page turner' more than a hot hero!
We all know the type of guy: strong yet gentle, commanding yet compassionate, in control but willing to bend to the heroine's will. Throw in gorgeous with a sense of humour and you've got me well and truly hooked!
So h...
September 10, 2010
Weekend Book Club: Perfect Chemistry
PERFECT CHEMISTRY won the RITA this year for Best YA Romance novel and after reading it, I'm not surprised.The book is fabulous!
Here's the blurb:
Get ready for a whole new take on star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, bad boy meets good girl...
At Fairfield High, everyone knows that south siders and north siders aren't exactly compatible elements. So when cheerleader Brittany Ellis and gang member Alex Fuentes are forced to be lab partners, the results are bound to be...
Guest blog
Today I'm guest blogging over at the lovely
Tawny Weber's
, doing a Quick Six.
Oh, and I'm giving away a signed copy of DESERTED ISLAND, DREAMY EX!
Oh, and I'm giving away a signed copy of DESERTED ISLAND, DREAMY EX!
September 9, 2010
THE WRITE WHISPER: The first 5 pages
Editors and agents read thousands of manuscripts a year and if you ask many of them, unless the first page doesn't hook them, let alone the first five, they won't read on. So how do you make your first 5 pages memorable? A KILLER FIRST LINE I'm a sucker for a great first line. It's a great hook to launch the reader into the rest of the story.So how do you do it?-raise a question-introduce something unique/different-reveal something unanticipated-show something is about to change Here are a f...
