New look! You like?

You may have noticed my new look blog and the lovely pink gerbera heading?!

It's all changed because my darling mum and web designer extrodinaire is currently creating a website for me. I requested a pink gerbera theme and she came up with this header!!

It seems appropriate then that my good writing buddy Cathryn Brunet sent me this link about the importance of having a website in the pre-published years. There's some good and interesting advice here and its well worth the read!

Watch this space for the official site launch of my new site :)

NTAI Shoes...

Okay... they're not expensive, they're not boots, but I bought them because I've just pressed SEND on my current partial.

That's right, TMMCF first three chaps and synopsis have winged their way through cyber space and hopefully landed on a desk at Richmond!!

Ridiculous... but practically the MOMENT I pushed SEND, I started compulsively checking my email. Obviously I needed something to distract myself :) So... in the style of Jackie Ashenden I went online (hey, I live in the country and can only buy Rossi Boots near by) and bought myself a pair of nice, dressy black sandals.

Now... it's onward and upward with chapter four!!!

Themes in category romance!

I'm a proud member of Romance Writers of Australia and recently on our eloop, the very talented Fiona Lowe commented on the importance of writing to your particular line's themes but putting an emotional twist on those much-loved themes.

For example, she noted that some themes in Medical Romance are Secret Babies, Bachelor Dads, Playboy surgeons (to name but a few).

This sparked me to think about what particular themes are recurrent in Modern Heat novels.

I came up with this list, but I'm sure there are many more. Feel free to add!!

*Sex with the ex
* One Night Stands
*Hot Office Romance/Sex with the boss
*Unplanned pregnancies
*Playboys
*Millionaire's Mistress

In my current romance the themes are One Night Stand and Sex with the boss, but I've come upon a dilemma. A fabulous writer friend of mine was recently rejected and one of the reasons was there was too much focus on sex up front and not on the emotional conflicts between the characters.

My dilemma... how do we get past that in MH where the story begins with a ONS. In the nature of ONS's the partakers do not really get to know each other, it's all about the physical rush...

If you're an avid reader or writer of Modern Heat, I'd love to hear your take on the ONS hook and how to make sure it also ticks the emotional conflict boxes in the first few chaps!!!

Can Alpha males play Barbies!?

Good news is I've FINALLY finished the partial of the mss aimed at Modern Heat, which I hope to submit to Richmond very soon!

I've been really lucky to have the delightful Rachel Bailey and the lovely Anna Cleary look over my chapter. Rachel founds some holes in conflict, which I've hopefully now fixed and Anna thought my lovely hero could be more MENACING!!!

I agree! And I've so I've been asking my crit partners, when they read my partial, to look out for parts where my hero is not Alpha enough and parts where I could really make him more so.

Much of chapter two is spent at my hero's family's Christmas party - he DOES NOT want to be there - and in it, he grudgingly enjoys pretend tea with his nieces using the toy tea set he gave them for Christmas. So... my question is, can an Alpha Male, who doesn't want to have kids or really spend much time with his family, swallow his discomfort and play Barbies or drink tea with his nieces? Or does that make him just too adorable!?

Would love to hear your thoughts!!!

:)

Busy, busy, busy...

I've been quiet lately (still surfing the blogs) but trying not to distract myself too much as my writing time is limited and I'm trying to make the most of what time I do have.

Following my R from MH with the offer to sub a new partial, I've been contemplating conflict and brainstorming what are hopefully stronger internal conflicts for my new characters.

I think the conflict I've chosen is emotional. They both think they want hugely different things in life but a spanner will be thrown in the works, when life chooses an alternate direction for both of them.

Brainstorming this book has made me realise even more so how generous and lovely the romance community is. My beautiful CPs are being so giving with their wisdom, the Bootcamp group I'm a part of has also offered their thoughts and some published author friends have gone beyond the call of duty!

So... I've penned the first chap and am almost finished chapter two. If I'm a little quiet it's because I'm writing and rewriting like crazy in an aim to get my new partial off to M&B by the beginning of November.

It's a deadline... and I'm sticking to it!!