Wednesday 21 December 2005

A man, a woman and a rather large puddle...

That phrase kind of sums up the opening chapter of my first book “Blind-Date Marriage” rather nicely. Who knew a puddle could be romantic?

Actually, the puddle only makes a guest appearance in the first part of the chapter and then is never heard from again. I believe it stomped to its trailer in a huff when it found out it only had a bit part. “A cameo,” I told it. “Not a bit part, a cameo.” That seemed to smooth things over somewhat.

And what of the man and the woman? Well…

Serendipity Dove is searching for a normal life – whatever that means. And top on her wish list is the perfect husband to provide her with two point four children and a cottage with roses round the door. Then she meets Jake, an intelligent, attractive accountant, and he ticks all the right boxes. Well almost all of them. She’s too busy falling in love to notice that, down in the small print, the ready-for-commitment box is glaringly empty.

The puddle insists on taking full credit—or should it be blame—for getting them together. You’ll have to read the book to find out how good a matchmaker it was…

6 comments:

Donna Alward said...

Ooooh I'm first! Yay!

Word of advice....even if your comments section is empty, people ARE reading. LOL

I'm so happy for you....AGAIN. LOL Many continued successes.

Anonymous said...

Fioan

Your 'blurb' about the new book is FABULOSO!

Can I ask - how long had you been writing fiction before you submitted your nook to the RNA and had you ever worked as a writer before?

Congrats again and well done for bigging up accounatants. LOL

Fiona Harper said...

Oooh! Visitors!

Thanks, you two!

Vicky, I had been writing for about 18 months and I have no prior expereince apart from being good at English at school and being an avid diarist.

Anonymous said...

Fiona,
I love your blurb too. Can't wait to read an excerpt when you get your website up.
How do you learn so much about writing so quickly? How-to-books and e-harlequin--or reading/analysing lots and lots of Tender romances?
Alice

Fiona Harper said...

In answer to your question, Alice, I read a lot of "How to" books and subscribed to the Reader Service for the line I was targeting. I read over a hundred Tender Romances in eighteen months and looked at different elements as I learned about them: conflict, plot structure, characterisation etc. I also scoured eHarlequin and read Q&As, read back all the posts in the Tender Romance thread and M&B editors thread to work out all the do's and don't's.

If it's any help. I had no idea my book would be snapped up by HM&B. I thought I had a few more years apprenticeship before I got close. But somewhere along the way, all the homework must have helped.

The best books I read were:
How to Write a Damn Good Novel - James Frey
Making a Good Script Great - Linda Seger
Crafting Scenes - Raymond Obstfeld
12 Point Guide to Writing Romance - Kate Walker

Good luck with your own writing!

Ally Blake said...

I have my money on the puddle...

Can't wait to read the rest Fiona!

Ally
http://www.allyblake.com