Wild Card Weekend: What Do You Do When You're Not Writing?

This weekend Liz Fielding joins us to talk about her latest project as a new Grandma - and it's not "what's for dinner?"...

So, Liz - what do you do when you're not writing?

The truth is, usually, not a lot. Writing three books a year takes a lot of time, then there’s the garden to keep under control and once in a while I have to get under the bed and battle with the dust bunnies.

Usually, at the end of the day, all I want to do is put out my hand for a glass of wine while I tackle the food problem – and honestly, I don’t know how my marriage has lasted for thirty-eight years when the first thing the dh says after breakfast, is “What’s for lunch?” Could any three words in the English language be more annoying? Other than “What’s for dinner?”

Food. Enough already.

I used to sew a bit. Do a bit of embroidery. I have tablecloths to prove this. Very worn, very old tablecloths.

But last week I was walking through the arcade in Ammanford with nothing on my mind but dry cleaning, the library, the bank, when I glanced to my left and saw an enticing little display of yarn in a shop window. Soft little balls of wool. Knitting needles.

Reader, I hesitated. I stopped. I went inside. And now, when I’m not writing (getting the best beloved’s breakfast, lunch, dinner!) I’m knitting this sweet little bolero for my six month old grand-daughter.

All has not been plain sailing. It’s years since I knitted – the last project being at Dr Who scarf for the first born. Huge, but not exactly taxing. But it’s like riding a bicycle. You never forget.

Er… I was fine at casting on, making stitches, had no problem with psso, but then came the instruction, “Cast off three stitches at the beg. of next 2 rows.” I sat there, knitting in hand, my mind a total blank. No, I thought. This is silly. I can do this. I put a needle into the first stitch. Nothing.

The best beloved looked across. “What’s the matter?’

“Nothing,” I said. Thinking, stick to food… And then I tiptoed into the next room where my laptop lives and, feeling totally stupid, typed “casting off” into Google. And there, bless her, was a lovely lady demonstrating how to do it.

The back is done, the left side. Confidence is high and now when anyone asks me what I do when I’m not writing, the answer is knitting. I may put it in a book.

 
 
 
Liz's latest book is SOS: Convenient Husband Required.  You can catch up with Liz at her blog at www.lizfielding.blogspot.com or at her website, www.lizfielding.com.

Must Watch Friday - Wall-E

Pink Heart society co-founder Ally Blake has two kids two and under. Pixar moves get a good work out in her home. Lucky her they have a lot of heart, and even a good lashing of romance. Take Wall-E, a tale of a wide-eyed hero and a tough cookie of a heroine. Heaven!

When I first saw the ad for Wall-E I was pregnant with my first bub. The ad lasted 30 seconds in a darkened cinema. It showed a big eyed robot names Wall-E, standing on top of a heap of garbage late at night. All of a sudden the clouds above cleared. Wall-E looked up. He stared into the stars. And became a robot with a dream. I bawled! And I knew I had to see it the minute it came out.



From the moment this movie begins, piles of garbage the size of skyscrapers littering a deserted city scape, and a soundtrack of eerie music you just know you're going to be in for a completely unique ride.

Moments later enter Wall-E. Our hero. The sole surviving garbage clean-up robot left "alive" on earth several hundred years after humans fled. In that time he's gone from automatom to self-determining. That in itself is pretty heroic! His only companion is an indestructible cockroach.

Soon we learn that out hero is not only self-sufficient, he's also a romantic. In the several hundred years he's been on the job he has created a home for himself, collecting "garbage" that he finds intriguing. Lighters, plastic forks, Rubiks cubes. His greatest treasure is a video copy of Hello Dolly. He watches it by himself alone at night after the cockroach has gone to sleep in his daily Twinkie. Eyes glazing over moonily at the singing, the dancing, the love affair.

Our hero appears happy go lucky, but he knows he's alone. Would he ever find someone out there in the universe who would hold his hand?

By now I'm feeling all mushy and gooey and this is about a pile of animated nuts and bolts! Nobody does this better than Pixar. Truly.

Then one day, for the first time in several hundred years, a spaceship returns to earth. And with it comes Eve.

While Wall-E is beaten and battered and lonely and terribly sweet, our Eve is slick, serious, and one kick-ass heroine! She comes fully-armed, multi-lingual, and on a classified mission. She even tries to incinerate our boy at first meeting!

Despite, or perhaps because of all that, Wall-E is in love. He's mesmerised by her va va voom, her smarts, her way with a weapon. And while she brushes him off again and again, he never gives in. Eventually she has no choice but to notice him. And more when through his eyes she begins to see the beauty he's uncovered within the drab, brown world around them. And our ice cool heroine begins to thaw.

Remember now, these are two robots. Neither of whom ever say much bar their own names. It's all in the glances. The actions. The music. The brilliance of Pixar to give you something real with nothing but pixels.

I'm not about to give anything else away but to say the story only ramps up from there. Hold onto your seats, 'cuase you'll be in for a ripper of a ride! As well as one of the most unusual, moving, delightful, hard-won, heart-warming romances you'll ever see on film.

Rent it. Better yet, buy it today. Fall in love with Wall-E, as he falls in love with Eva and mankind falls in love with him!

Warm and fuzzy rating: 10 out of 10!

Ally's last three books, DATING THE REBEL TYCOON, GETTING RED-HOT WITH THE ROGUE & MILLIONAIRE DAD'S SOS - linked stories about three members of the Kelly family banking dynasty - are still available from the Book Depository. Get free delivery worldwide!

Or grab her backlist on eBook from eHarlequin today.

Thursday Reading - The Guernsey, Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Columnist Annie West talks about one of her favourite, unexpectedly enjoyable recent reads: "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society".

Sometimes I think I wander around my my head in the clouds. I hear the vital news but miss out on a lot of other interesting discussion. I blame it on books - writing them that is. When I'm deep in the writing process I switch off from a lot of the wider discussions going on around me. Like what's on the bestseller list and why, especially if the book isn't labelled 'romance'.

When I arrived recently at an airport I found the flight I was meeting was still half an hour away. So of course I went to the bookshop for a good browse. On the way in I noticed a book with an intriguing name: "The Guernsey, Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society". Dimly I recognised the name. I realise now a friend told me she was reading it. Maybe too I picked up by osmosis the fact that this was a runaway bestseller. But at the time I just found myself faintly intrigued. It looked and sounded just the thing, especially given the variety of hard drama/action/thriller/blood and guts/supernatural bloodletting options getting prominent display further inside the store. I just wanted a pleasant book to read. I'd handed in my own ms and was thrilled at the prospect of reading for fun.

Imagine my delight when I discovered this book did live up to its promise. The cover quote: "When was the last time you read a book that made you feel really good?" was spot on. I devoured it. By the time the plane landed, carrying one of my dear family members, I was wishing it had taken a little longer to taxi down the runway. I'd dipped in and within minutes was totally, gloriously absorbed in a whole new world. Not by startling, in your face thrills and spills, but with a simple, slyly witty, endearing and generous view of post war Britain and in particular the friends and acquaintances of Juliet Ashton, writer and resident of London.

This is a winding and thoroughly engaging tale about Juliet's friends old and new, and how she comes to visit Guernsey after receiving an intriguing letter from a book lover there. It's a long time since I read an epistolary book, but the letter format, and the way it allows the authors (Mary Ann Shaffer wrote the book but her niece Annie Barrows finished the editing ) to show us with a minimum of fuss a whole range of perspectives. Such fun!

The book's name comes from the title of a goup formed of necessity by local farmers and others who are caught out after curfew by German soldiers, after indulging themselves on an illegal feast of contraband pork. Drunk, the excuse is given that they've been to the local literary society meeting. The next day they have to race out and collect some books to read, in case their cover is questioned. Not easy when books are a valued source of fuel on the blockaded island.

Juliet finds herself drawn more and more to the individuals in the group with enormous consequences for herself. I won't attempt to relate the story. It's rich and fun and is best enjoyed as you turn the pages for yourself. There are some dark sections, as the book doesn't shy away from some of the more distressing details of World War II but it's all about context and understanding the actions of the characters.

Overall this was a joy to read. Uplifting, gently humorous and a lovely portrait of not one or two but a variety of characters. And yes, there is a romance in there too. This is one I can heartily recommend. I'll be reading it again as soon as I've finished my current project.

Annie's next book, PASSION, PURITY AND THE PRINCE is out soon in the UK. It's a September release but if you're in Britain you'll see it on shelves late in August. Or if you're elsewhere and you'd like to order it, visit Amazon or Mills and Boon to order a copy. You can find an excerpt of this sexy Cinderella story on Annie's website. And if you're visiting, stop by her contest page for a chance to win free books.

WRITER'S WEDNESDAY - What I learned at Conferences

Kate Walker looks back at the Conferences she's attended and reflects on what she's learned from attending them.

So in the UK the Romantic Novelists' Association's 50th anniversary has been celebrated, in America, the RITAs have been announced and awarded at the end of a hugely attended RWA national event. The journeys home have been completed, the bags unpacked, the laundry done, and the lingering images of conference days are just memories. The Australian and New Zealand Conferences are still to come but, sadly, I won't get to those this time. I didn't get to RWA either but I did spend what seems like most of July at the RNA conference and then at Caerleon Writers' Holiday which, for all its name is very much a conference, where like minded people get together and talk about those important things - writing and books.

Over the years I've been to so many of the national conferences - UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, and I've come home with a buzz of memories - the conference 'buzz' is both a sound and a feeling. The 'buzz' sound of hundreds of (mostly) women all in the same room and all talking, talking books and the writing of them has to be heard to be believe. And the 'buzz' of enthusiasm, inspiration and renewal that fizzes through one's nerves for days, weeks afterwards is an experience that makes all the upheaval, travelling and expense so worthwhile.

Each year I've attended a different combination of conferences but the result is always the same. So for those of you who didn't get away this time, here's what I brought home with me from my conference experiences.

1. The yearning to write is a wide-ranging and deep felt need in so many of us. The numbers of people at the conferences as small compared to the numbers of people actually sitting at home and trying to write. They are just the tip of the iceberg really, the few who could get away this time while the 'many' stayed at home. This means that the competition is fierce - more than fierce, it's almost savage. So much so that you'd think that it seems crazy even to try. Why even attempt to write for publication in the face of so much opposition? But does this mean that I advocate that you give up?

NO because

2. Every year there are more people who are at conferences because they didn't give up and because they achieved their dream. Whether they are wearing that coveted 'First Sale' ribbon at RWA or hearing their name announced in the Celebrations at RNA or the other conferences, these are the ones who rolled with the punches, took the rejections, picked themselves up and dusted themselves off and started all over again. They did the revisions and the second revisions .. . and in the end they succeeded.

At RWA Harlequin announced that they have bought 46 new authors in the past year. 46! That's almost 50 people whose dreams have come true. Who have a book with their name on it out there on the bookshop shelves. It can happen. Yes, the odds are pretty much stacked against it but if you don't try you have no chance at all.

(And with reference to that, if you haven't already heard about Harlequin Mills and Boon's New Voices Contest, where have you been sleeping?) Get yourself over to http://www.romanceisnotdead.com/ and learn all about the X Factor for romance writers. Or if you're interested in writing for the Medical line, how about the August Midsummer Madness when the eds are fast-tracking submissions to this line. Send a ms in now and get a response this month. Details can be found in the I Heart Presents blog.)

3. It wasn't all good news. I heard from agents that things have never been so tough. From writers whose contracts had been dropped or not renewed. I heard of publishers that had closed - but at the same time I heard of brave new publishers like Choc Lit or the brand new digital romance imprint of Salt Publishing with Jane Holland, the daughter of the late, great Charlotte Lamb in the editorial chair.

4. The one thing I always take away from any conference is the clear evidence of the fact that there are no rules. That there is no one way to write, no one system, or 'formula' that is the only way to do things. As a confirmed 'pantser' - unless I'm really really pushed to it - I sat in on a talk by skilled and efficient planner Kate Hardy and while admiring her system, just knew it wasn't for me. It works for her though - her productivity is amazing and we could all learn something from her time management and organisational skills.

5. Nothing stays the same for long in publishing. And that goes for covers and titles. I can almost date my confrerence-bought books just by looking at the covers and the titles, the way those titles are displayed on the covers - pastel pink or 'headless' heroines. glitz and glamour and gold lettering . . . And this time HMB revealed a sneak peek at their brand new cover designs. All the lines are getting a makeover and this month the new Historical covers are up on the M&B site. There's more to come - with more new covers, some line reshuffling, some new names for lines - and for the Modern line some new and none-Greek-Billionaire's-Innocent-Virgin style titles. (Can you hear the cheering from over here?)

Watch this space . . .

6. Above all else, the one thing the conferences show loud and clear is that romantic novelists/romance writers - whatever name you want to give us - are a busy, productive, proactive, professional group of people. Forget that appalling 'pink and fluffy' title that dogs us. Anyone who ever goes to a conference even for a day will see just how professional writers are. And you can also forget that tired old Crime Novelists' Association joke that while crime novelists are wonderful warm people, the Romantic Novelists are the ones who will stab you in the back. The wonderful greetings and hugs from old friends (one of the best parts of any conference) welcome given to first-timers at every event shows this to be totally untrue.

What else have I learned from the conferences I've attended?
That no matter where in the world the conference is held, some things will always hold true -

That you will connect with old friends from all over the globe, meet and make new ones some of whom will become friends for life.

That writers love a chance to dress up, for the Awards nights, the celebration dinners etc

That writers (specially the RNA writers) love shoes and see the conference as an excuse to bring out their best and most glamourous footwear

That no matter how many books you already have on the TBR mountain at home, the sight of the bookstall at any conference, with all those wonderful books, with appealing titles and covers laid out in front of you, will be to much temptation and you just have to bring some (a lot) home with you

That writers spend such an amount of time on their own in their offices with just themselves, their computers and their characters that when 'released' into the real world they talk and talk and talk and talk . . . .

That no matter how many times you explain it (as I did at my RNA workshop) there will always still be someone who gets confuzzled over Internal and External Conflict and has to have it explained all over again (If that person is you, then the Conflict Workshop over on my blog right now wmight just help.)

Conferences are expensive, they can be wearing, nerve-wracking, exhausting even, but if you want a real flavour of what the professional writing world is all about then they are invaluable - and no matter what else, they are an experience. I hope everyone who went to RNA or RWA this year had a wonderful time - and all you writers in Australia and New Zealand, I am so envious of the fact that you still have your conferences to come. I wish I could join you but I've used up ll my 'conference time' for this year (I'm teaching at another one - the National Association of Writers' Groups conference in Durham at the beginning of September). I'll be there with you all in spirit - and I have no doubt I'll hear your 'conference buzz' from right over here.

And finally - I just want nto quote what I thought was the best piece of advice I heard at the conference this year. It was aimed at those of you who want to enter the New Voics contest, but for my money it applies to every line and style of romance that you are trying to break into, no matter which genre or publisher. It was said by the Mills & Boon editors in their workshop and it is -

Don't imitate - innovate !

Kate Walker's latest release for Harlequin Mills and Boon is a little unusual. The Good Greek Wife? is part of a four book mini-series that retells classic Greek Myths, updating and 'Modernising' them in romance form. The mini-series is labelled The Greek Tycoons - Legends are Made of Men Like These.

The Good Greek Wife? will not be released in America until October when it is out in Presents Extra but Kate's most recent Presents title The Konstantos Marriage Demand with another sexy Greek hero is still available on eHarlequin and Amazon.

You can read how Kate approached writing The Good Greek Wife? on her website and all her most up to date news (including that Conflict workshop which might help you with your New Voices Contest entry) can be found on her blog.

Destination Life: The RWA Conference

Destination Life: The RWA National Conference
There are reasons why a sort of hush falls when romance writers start discussing the National Conference. Sure there are local conferences, but nothing really matches the feeling of being at National.
When I first heard this, I rolled my eyes. A conference? With thousands of people? How could that be a highlight of a writer's year? Then I started to read the blogs and see what fun people were having. Was I missing out?
Donna Alward went last year and had a fantastic time. This made me determined to experience this year's nationals.
Despite the difficulties of changing my ticket after the disaster in Nashville, I was very excited. Would it live up to expectations or would I feel that conference was a very lonely place?

Conference can be lonely if you need to have a tight knit group of friends around you. It can be a totally exciting place if you put yourself on the line and try to meet people. I set myself several goals. First, I wanted to give out as many business cards as I could. In order to give out a business card, I had to speak to someone and each person was a potential friend. I also wanted to get business cards in return. These cards are going to make a centrepiece in a scrapbook of my experiences. It seems a much better way to remember a fabulous time.

I came determined to do lots and largely succeeded. Some of the highlights were the Librarian's lunch where I sat next to the utterly fabulous Gail Link, this year's bookseller of the year and a thoroughly nice person and on the other side, the super Jacque D'Allessandro. That lunch with all of its friendliness and good will really set up the conference for me. Later at the bookseller's meet and greet, I was able to meet and chat with booksellers from Australia, Taiwan (May helpfully told me that they had a hard time keeping my books on the shelves!) as well Kris Alice Hohls who runs LoveLetter Magazin. Kris had been the person to let me know that Gladiator's Honour was going in German. And she is a really super person who works tirelessly to promote romance in the German market.
Other highlights included finally meeting some of my favourite bloggers from Barbara Vey greeting me in the registration line (helpfully a reader had sent me a beautiful tote bag with the Viking's Captive Princess on it and it seemed like the perfect place to use!), Sarah Wendell from Smart Bitches who I have tons of time for and Kristie J who shares my obsession for North & South. I was also able to meet Amy Strnad, Jamie Webb and Celtic Lass from eharlequin. Even on the way home, I connected with Superromance Jeannie Watt. This is off the top of my head and it was so great to meet people that I have shared online thoughts with. It meant so much.

Then there was meeting the other fabulous Hussies. They are tremendously supportive of any Harlequin Mills & Boon Historical writer and it was even better to see them in person. I also was able to meet the Presents authors.

Presents authors just have an aurora of elan about them, inherent style. Carole Mortimer straddles both groups and I was so proud when she received her plaque for writing over 100 books.
The Harlequin Party was even more fab than I thought it would be. From the time I passed through the stringent name check I entered another world. Toasts to Authors never had butlers with Harlequin Heartbreakers greeting you. The desserts were fantastic from chocolate logs to sorbet to ice cream lollies. Then there was the music. Harlequin parties traditionally start with We Are Family and it is a sisterhood (okay with the occasional honorary sister like KN Casper or Wayne Jordan or Roger Sanderson). There was a real sense of celebration. it was the camaraderie of the people. The authors were there because they earnt it. It was their party. I know some people go as *dates* but really it is the actual earning of an invite that is important. And the being there.
I know lots of people love the Rita and Golden Heart ceremony and it was great, but it was all about the people. The memory of Blythe Gifford standing up in her turquoise circling her napkin above her head as one of her chapter mates won a Golden Heart will live with me for a long time.

The location doesn't matter for the National conference. It is the people.

PHS editor Michelle Styles (on the right) with the wonderful Elizabeth Rolls on the left at the Harlequin party had a marvellous time!

Male on Monday: Spike

Kimberly Lang floats over to The Pink Heart Society to take a turn spinning the Male on Monday wheel...

If there’s a rule that the males on Mondays have to be real people, I was not told about it. And don’t make one now because I’m revisiting my crush on Spike today.

I’m not a huge fan of vampires in general (and that’s another blog entirely), but I’ve been a Spike fan since the moment he crashed into the Sunnydale sign.

Rowr.

Angel was rather annoying with the constant brooding, but Spike… yowza. He might be a bad, bad dude, but those cheekbones are enough to make a girl weigh the odds.

And his character arc was so well-written that I fell a little more in love with him each season. When Buffy finally gave in, I was ecstatic. Mainly because that gave the director many more reasons to show Spike shirtless.

I like my men lean. Muscle without bulk.

And, holy dog, Spike had the sexy smolder look down pat. Pure sex. If I could put that look into words or even begin to write the scene you know is playing in Spike’s head, I’d be topping every bestseller list in the world.

Spike was complicated: cool, irreverent, evil, honest, funny, sweet, cruel, passionate, vulnerable, selfish… sometimes all in the same scene.

And sexy as hell.

(And yes, James Marsters is a cutie. He’s a talented actor and musician, and from what I hear, a genuinely nice guy. But he’ll always be Spike. And if he’s not Spike, then I’m struggling for interest… He’s just better as a blond, evil, hottie.)

Feel free to weigh in on Spike vs. Angel. (But leave Edward out of it. Spike would kill him on principle…)

~Kimberly

The hero in Kimberly Lang’s August Modern Heat is neither blond nor evil. But he is a hottie…

RWA Conference Updates -- the final one

Pink Heart Society editor Michelle Styles reports on the final day.

First of all, the day after the Harlequin party is fraught with its own problems. The conference becomes a bit of an endurance test. However, it is still as fun.

The goody room is awash with bookmarks, and bits of paper. These do not go. Huge stacks of paperbacks do not necessarily go. Smaller quantities of books do go.

The workshops were informative. After breakfast I went to the one on creating Hot Heroes. I severely tempted to give Sheila Hodgson's (Mills & Boon Medicals editor) mantra -- if you write for Harlequin, you write alpha heroes even if the author thinks she doesn't but refrained. It was interesting to see the Blaze take on things. It was one of the recorded sessions.

I then went and did a pitch session with an agent. It is something that every author should experience at least once in her life. The aircraft hanger, the lining up in rows and then being marched down. Several people were late and refused entry. Their spaces were given to someone else. Someone also tried to muscle in on my pitch for just a minute but the steward moved her on her way. It is unfair to the person waiting to pitch to be that rude.

One of the best pieces of advice I have ever read was to do your homework first. If you are pitching to an agent or an editor who is interested in the type of book you are writing, they are likely to request a partial or if you are really lucky a full. The whole set up took me back to the days when I used to be an insurance agent...unfortunately I went blank halfway through but the agent requested the full of my paranormal romance single title. It has a HEA (Happily Ever After) and therefore is a paranormal romance.

So the stress situation had a good ending!

The workshops later in the day were all business for me. The BIG Takeaway from the conference is social media and trying to get to work for the author. However as there has obviously been a miss of a deadline by a St Martin Press author (mentioned in the surprisingly sparsely attended workshop which featured marketing and publicity people from SMP and a top agent) the important thing is the book! Do not skimp on writing your stories in order to blog or twitter. Know your skill set.

By the end of the Harlequin Author PAN session, I had hit a wall and had to recover before the Rita dinner and award ceremony. It was lovely to see the Golden Heart winners and then the Rita winners. Harlequin Historical authors Julia Justiss and Blythe Gifford were joys to sit next to! I was impressed with the number of conferences they have been to. Blythe is so knowledgeable about the business. And I shall always remember her standing up cheering in her turquoise suit, circling her napkin above her head!

Congrats to all the Golden Heart winners and to the Rita winners. And many thanks for all the hard work that the RWA staff put in to make this conference be so special.

I will be doing another post on Tuesday -- complete with a few pictures.

The Pink Heart Society Congratulates...

...the 2010 RITA winners ::


2010 RITA Winner for Best Contemporary Series Romance
A Not-So-Perfect Past
by Beth Andrews
Harlequin Enterprises, Harlequin Superromance
Victoria Curran, editor

2010 RITA Winner for Best Contemporary Series RomanceSuspense/Adventure
The Soldier's Secret Daughter
by Cindy Dees
Harlequin Enterprises, Silhouette Romantic Suspense
Patience Smith, editor