Nicola Marsh's Blog, page 98

6 years after The Call

It has been 6 years since I first got The Call.

How can that be, when it feels like I only just sold my first book?

So what have I learned in that time?

The publishing industry is fluent and ever-changing. Learn to roll with it.

You're only as good as your last book.

Revisions are a good thing. A great thing, in fact.

You can create a great plot, you can't create a great voice. Use yours wisely. Hone it.

Reviews are the subjective viewpoint of one reader. Focus on the positive, ignore the...

Pineapple book

All you writers out there, ever had a pineapple book?

Trish Wylie coined the phrase a few years back when she likened writing a difficult book to giving birth to a pineapple-excrutiating!

While my current Harlequin Romance isn't quite that bad, it's nudging into pineapple territory.

Because I write a clean first draft in one continuous go, leaving COMING HOME after starting it last year (for a variety of reasons) and returning to writing it now is causing problems.

The characters aren't as fun an...

My not-so-secret love affair

Regular followers here and on Facebook know of my not-so-secret love affair with Max Brenner.

His Italian thick milk hot chocolate is enough to send me into a swoon.

So I'm chatting about this ultimate temptation at the PINK HEART SOCIETY today.

I'm also guest blogging over at NOVEL THOUGHTS , discussing another decadent treat: heroes!

OZ cover revamp

Some of the Harlequin series have had cover revamps in Australia lately, with Sweet being one of them.
With more of a mainstream feel, I love them.

Here's my first in the new covers.

THREE TIMES A BRIDESMAID...hits OZ shelves in June, but can be bought right now online!

Speaking of online, OVERTIME IN THE BOSS'S BED hit the eHarlequin Top 10 Bestsellers last week, and did the same over the weekend for ebooks. Yay!

Weekend Book Club: The Secret of Everything

If there is one book you read this year, Barbara O'Neal's THE SECRET OF EVERYTHING is it.

Devoured in a day and a half (no mean feat for a busy mum and writer!) I fell into the richness of the story-the food, the scenery, Barbara's evocative way with words and the lush characters.

And they are lush. Lush with reality and life experience and heart-ache, so poignant in parts I cried (and I rarely cry when reading.)

While Tessa is troubled, I wanted to be her, for the simple fact she got to be wi...

Pass the thermometer

Yep, this is our entire household at the moment. Sick with a lurgy complete with sore throats, coughs and fevers. Lovely, not!

Bright spot? Curling up in bed reading more than usual because don't have the energy to do anything else.

And back into writing Harlequin Rom 'Coming Home'. Rather startling, as characters much more angsty than my recent books. And there's a kid in the mix too! Haven't had a kid in my books for the last 15 books at least...maybe that's adding to the characters' a...

Lovely postman

I love it when the postman delivers fun stuff like books (the bills I could do without!)

So imagine my delight when the other day, author copies of both these books arrive at the same time!

My action-packed story TAG TEAM is in THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF SPECIAL OPS ROMANCE, something I'm really looking forward to reading considering the other authors in the book.

And the same applies to DESTINATION: SUMMER WEDDINGS. I'm itching to read Lucy Gordon's and Jessica Hart's fab stories.

But first, I'm wallo...

More travels

This month, TWO WEEKS IN THE MAGNATE'S BED is out in Italy.

And A TRIP WITH THE TYCOON is out in Germany. Don't you love the foreign covers?

Armchair travels

This month in the UK, I'm thrilled to be partnered with Liz Fielding in our Harlequin Romance duo. Liz's story, A WEDDING AT LEOPARD TREE LODGE, is fabulous!Part of the HR 'Escape Around the World' miniseries, Gideon and Josie meet in Botswana, while Josie is overseeing the celebrity wedding of the year. The sparks flying between these two delightful characters kept me rapidly turning pages, and left me wanting to know more about them at the end (a sure sign of a great book!) As for...

Critique up for auction.

Brenda Novak's auction to raise funds for kids' diabetes has started.
It runs all month so please check it out and bid!

I'm donating a critique so for all you writers targetting Harlequin Romance or Harlequin Modern Heat/Presents Extra, snaffle it!

It's a worthy cause so please give generously.