Heidi Rice's Blog, page 20

Win a Copy of Cupcakes and Killer Heels!

Okey, dokey, so the nice postman delivered a huge box of brand new books yesterday. Yippee! Cupcakes and Killer Heels has finally arrived. As you know I love the cover and the title, so am mighty proud of this book.

Anyway I've got a couple of autographed copies to give away. All you have to do is take a gander at the fiendishly clever question below (you'll  probably have to check out the sneak peek on my website here for the answer, unless of course you're clairvoyant) and then send your answer to heidi@heidi-rice.com by Monday 21st March (that's next Monday for anyone without a calendar) to be included in the prize draw.

Question: What is the name of Ruby Delisantro's cupcake-making business in Cupcakes and Killer Heels which she has printed on the side of her VW Beetle in glittering pink lettering?

 

PHS... Teen Movie Madness

Hopefully still soaking up the rays in Barca, but due to the wonders of technology can post a quick note that I'm at the Pink Heart Society today (virtually speaking!) blogging about the wonderfully witty and self-aware teen movie Easy A... A high-school pastiche of The Scarlet Letter! Without Demi Moore in it, you'll be glad to know.

So come check it out.

Party Time! Barcelona-stylee!

So bought myself a new frock and some killer heels (rather appropriately)  and had a high old time in the exceedingly posh surroundings of One Whitehall Place on Monday for the RNA's Pure Passion Awards. Great to see the legendary Penny Jordan picking up a special award (she's written 180 books, how is that even possible when she looks so young!!) and while I will confess to rooting ever so slightly for my Presents pal Abby Green in the Love Story of the Year stakes (absolutely adored Bride in a Gilded Cage), I was chuffed to see Louise Allen pick up the award. I have it on very good authority that her book The Piratical Miss Ravenshurst is terrific so will be adding it to my TBR list. Also much enjoyed Jojo Moyes pointed speech when she picked up The Romantic Novel of the Year trophy for her book The Last Letter from Your Lover. She noted the way commercial fiction was patronised by the BBC's World Book Night panel (and yeah Jojo, I was screaming at the telly too) and pointed out that 'just because a book is commercial doesn't mean it isn't good'. Too right!

Anyway, after much yaking with fellow authors Fiona Harper (who very kindly let me pinch the photos from her blog), Ms Abby, Natalie Rivers, Julie Cohen and Philipa Ashley (I think we defo had the best table!), some fine canapes and rather too much champagne (not even going to mention the Flaming Meringues, folks, but needless to say they deserved their upper case status), Tuesday was a little bit of an anti-climax. Always tough to return to a manuscript you think you've finished, even if the revisions this time were surprisingly minor. Still, my editor, who I had a chat with at the Pure Passion do had spotted a few problems and as always once I got stuck in (and had a couple of paracetamol), I found it surprisingly satisfying to come up with solutions...


Have now sent the ms off again, with that fiendishly clever lose-end-typing-up epilogue attached (I  love writing epilogues -especially if my couple have finally co-operated and actually deserve their happy ever after). So am off to Barcelona for a couple of days to celebrate tomorrow with my very best mate where we plan to do lots of drinking, partying, swimming in our hotel's roof-top pool (assuming it's not snowing) and doing some late-night tapas while admiring the local talent (from checking out the Barcelona football team, I'm expecting the men to be very easy on the eye).

I will of course also be researching the city for a future book... because I'm a consummate professional, me.

Merry Christmas in March!

Yippee, heard from my editor about Jace and Cassie's story... AKA my Christmas/Selfridges book.. And she loved it. With only one page of revisions (which is actually a record for me!) I'm feeling all warm and glowy and Christmassy inside, and even a little smug. Good to know that re-writing that first chapter 20 times was worth all the blood, sweat, tears and torn out hair I put into it.



Of course, on reflection I have also realised that the reason these books seem to get harder and harder to write - but on the upside the revisions get slightly less humungous - might be because my crap-o-meter is now so well developed I suffer the torments of hell before handing the book to my editor, instead of afterwards. Which is great for her, but maybe not so great for me - when I consider how many sleepless nights, how much shouting-at-kids and how many panic attacks I had over this story. But hey, that's a writer's life, right? It's exactly like being a teenager again, the extreme highs are all the more euphoric when compared to those extreme lows - those nights when you lay awake and think 'I hate these bloody characters', 'how did I ever do this before?', 'this book is total shite and it's never going to get any better'.

Or then again, maybe I'm just slightly nuts and it has nothing to do with being a writer...

Okay, enough with the reflection (and the discovery that I may have mental health issues!)... Now all I've got to do is write a one-thousand word epilogue that manages to tie up the many lose ends I left dangling during the story that I stupidly figured I'd handle in the epilogue. Way to go, Sherlock!

Why do I suddenly see several more sleepless night in my future?

First Class Twit of the Year!

On Friday, my DH informed me that I had to join Twitter because it was easy to figure out and I'd be able to 'connect' better with readers... Now, I have to admit I've been avoiding it like the plague up to this point because it has 'enormous time-suck' written all over it, and what with two catering-challenged teenage boys who never stop eating, a major email addiction and a slight problem with prevarication to deal with already it's not like I need another one of those in my orbit. But I have to admit the words 'easy' and 'connect' seduced me big time. And I should add that while doing the Selfridges workshop I was asked by several of the attendees why I wasn't on Twitter, which made me feel a bit like the moment when my oldest son informed me I was the last person in the universe who didn't know how to use predictive texting.

So I decided to dive in.

Here are a few of the valueable lessons I have learned from the process:

1) If a man ever tells you something is easy DO NOT believe him (really I should have learnt that one after he suggested we have kids, but I'm a slow learner).

2) Twitter is not easy, especially if you're like me and tend to lapse into a coma if anything even remotely resembling instructions have to be read beforehand (which probably explains why I have so many pieces of IKEA furniture which don't stand up properly).

3). Despite appearances to the contrary, if you simply hit reply when a tweet appears on your mobile, you are not replying to that person, but all your followers (thanks for the tip Trish Wylie!). So if anyone was wondering why a series of disconnected Tweets appeared on my account saying things like 'Huh?' that's why.

4). I am now following 47 people, and I'm not sure I even know 47 people... It's exciting, exhilarating and totally terrifying...

5). I have 30 something followers who are going to get extremely bored following me if I don't think up something interesting to say. Which is exciting, exhilarating, totally terrifying and just as suspected, a complete time-suck.

6). Be careful about what picture you put on your profile. As your DH may tell you a perfectly innocent shot of your knees looks like something else entirely and you'll have to change it in a hurry so as not to unintentionally flash your followers.

7). If you find it hard to edit your blog posts to less than 5,000 words, writing something smart and witty and informative in 48 characters (or whatever the heck it is) is like trying to squeeze yourself into a size 8 dress again after two kids, several thousand bars of Green and Blacks and without the benefit of armour plated magic knickers. ie: Not gonna happen.

So there you have it.. Why I'm on Twitter. And why I'm crap to follow but I hope you'll follow me anyway on @HeidiRomRice

PS: If anyone knows how to link their Facebook status and their blog posts to their Twitter account, please let me know before I have to throttle my husband.

Heidi breaks the Four Star barrier at RT!

Amazed to discover that my April release in the US of Surf, Sea and a Sexy Stranger has got a Four and a Half star review from the venerable Sandra Madan at RT Book Reviews! Cheers Sandra, never thought I'd manage it.

Here's the review:

SURF, SEA AND A SEXY STRANGER (4.5) by Heidi Rice: Lifeguard Maddy Westmore has had enough with fixing everyone else's problems, though she can't help but check on the "bad surfer" she rescued earlier in the day. For said surfer, entrepreneur Ryan King, his injured leg is the least of his concerns, as a previous accident has left him psychologically impotent. So when a solution to his most worrisome problem turns up in the form of storm-ravaged Maddy, he can't resist. But when Maddy finds out Rye is actually her boss, he'll have his work cut out for him if he wants their affair to continue. A steamy romance and interesting characters will leave readers smiling.
In other news, I'll be taking part in Brenda Novak's Diabetes Auction again this year and offering a critique of a first chapter and synopsis aimed at Harlequin Presents (or M&B Riva) with the promise of a follow-up breakfast meeting at the RWA Conference in NYC. Obviously, if you win it, and you're not going to RWA we can always have an email chat! Anyway, bidding is from 1st-31st May and there's tons of great lots on offer for readers and aspiring authors alike (Presents author Kate Hewitt is offering a critique of an entire manuscript), so definitely worth checking it out.

Just wanted to also add a quick word for the people of Christchurch, New Zealand. One of our lovely Riva authors Natalie Anderson lives in the city and as I'm sure you all know the earthquake there has been absolutely devastating. My thoughts are with them.

The manuscript has left the building... And a special thanks to Ms Katy Perry!

Muchas celebrations here in North London after I pinged off my latest manuscript to my wonderful editor (notice the sucking up, for added good karma) on Saturday... Only a day late! Yippee! Of course it may soon come winging back to me with a 20 page revision letter attached, but I'm not letting the prospect dampen my spirit, or my wine intake tonight!

As the ms is out the way (for now) I have spent some quality time updating my website with a brand new Books page, which lists all my books in order of publication (for all those readers who are as anal as me and like to know this sort of thing!). I've also added a sneak peek of Cupcakes and Killer Heels which is due out in the UK and Ireland in May. Check it out and let me know what you think? Wanna read more? I certainly hope so.

Unfortunately I've been told the release of Cupcakes in the US (which is a linked book to Surf, Sea and a Sexy Stranger - as it's Maddy's brother Cal's story) will be delayed until 2012 as my next book in the US will have to be the one I've just sent in. See, the new ms is all about a scorchingly hot winter fling in London at the height of the festive season (complete with shopping at Selfridges, where else!) so needs to go out in the Christmas period in both the US and the UK... Now why didn't I think of this before I started writing it!! Doh!

Amazingly, I already have a new idea cued up and raring to go as it's a linked story to Cupcakes (and Sexy Stranger)... While writing Cupcakes I discovered that my heroine Ruby Delisantro had a very interesting brother. Nick Delisantro is a North London bad boy turned Hollywood scriptwriter living in San Francisco. He and his sister Ruby have been estranged since he ran away from home at age 16. As it turns out he's had a very dark and tortuous journey to Hollywood success which means he's of particular interest to a bookish ancestral geneologist called Eva Cooper - a woman who knows everything there is to know about long-dead people but very little about living men. Eva specialises in tracing the long-lost heirs to European estates and is about to uncover the secrets of Nick's past... What she doesn't know is that she has some pretty hot revelations of a more personal kind in her own future when she makes the mistake of tangling with Nick - who's sexy, surly, has a killer instinct for seduction and doesn't take too kindly to women who want to know more about him than he's willing to reveal.



Nick btw has been inspired by the rather tempting guy from Katy Perry's Teenage Dreams video. Don't have a clue who he is, but he's got just the right quality of sex, smoulder, surliness and shock value! And Katy certainly looked like she was enjoying herself!

Can't wait to get writing this one, and after the tortures I had with kick-starting my last story I'm hopeful it won't be as hard... ie no re-writing the first three chapters twenty times. But don't quote me on that!

Tired, Tangled and Bewildered!

So had a fabulous day talking up a storm with some very interesting women interested in writing for M&B... And as writing and my books are my two favourite subjects I waffled non-stop for three solid hours altogether and hopefully at some point did actually impart a few pieces of useful information. Even managed to get a write-up on the Grazia website (muchos gracias Minx Lorraine for the link) as one of the attendees was a reporter.. Her M&B send-up is actually very funny and has some serious potential (LOL!) particularly like the setting in Dalston market (tres glamourous that) although was a bit bewildered by her take on internal and external conflict (crikey, did I say that??). Should also say a special thanks to my fellow Riva author Fiona Harper who popped in half-way through and managed to answer some questions that I couldn't!


Wanted to add that I'm talking about the fabulous new Disney cartoon Tangled on the Pink Heart Society for Must Watch Friday, so pop over there if you want to discuss it. Loved that movie.



Also (drum roll please) wanted to say a huge congrats to my mate, Modern author Abby Green whose fabulous book Bride in a Gilded Cage (that's her sultry sexy Argentine tango book!) has been short-listed for the Love Story of the Year prize....! Go Abby!

Cupcakes cover! Woohoo!

Off to Selfridges today to impart much wisdom about how to write a Mills and Boon (or at least try to fake it convincingly)! As you can probably tell current pineapple is still causing a few problems. Have several gem moments in there but as I finish the rough draft I know I'm going to be having a lost weekend trying to winkle them out of all the dross..

But to perk me up I got a sneak peak of my first bona fide Riva cover from my good mate Kelly Hunter (thanks Kelly!). As you know (if you read this blog) Cupcakes and Killer Heels is a linked book to Surf, Sea and a Sexy Stranger and features Maddy's charismatic, wildly gorgeous and completely closed off brother, barrister Callum Westmore, and his flashfire one night stand with lush, sexy and fabulously reckless cupcake entrepeneur Ruby Delisantro... A one night stand that turns into a lost weekend of epic porportions (complete with cupcakes!). Loved the title and now love the cover. Will be posting a sneak peak on my website very shortly... Once pineapple has been birthed!




This for me is one of the best bits of writing... The chance to enjoy the fruits of your labour when all the hard work has been done. It's also a good way to persuade yourself that the bald patch you created while tearing your hair out over your characters and their conflict was worth it (and then you can go out and buy a nice hat with the proceeds!).

More Free Book News!

Okay, this is getting a bit silly now... Apparently a little bird has told me that if you are a UK resident and you pop on over to www.datemillsandboon.com M&B will post you a Riva copy of Surf, Sea and a Sexy Stranger for free! All you have to do is give them your name and address and it'll be on your doorstep. And you can also download a free ebook copy of The Walk of Fame....
And if you then go back to the site and rate your date with Riva you could win £500! And there's also £500 cash and a luxury spa day at Champneys up for grabs if you introduce a friend... Pretty cool.