The Next Big Thing

I've been tagged by the gorgeous Heidi Rice has tagged me to join in with THE NEXT BIG THING, a series of questions on my next book. So here's the skinny:

What is the title of your book?
Kiss Me Under The Mistletoe

How did you come by the idea?
I was fascinated by the idea of a WAG (short for Wives And Girlfriends, normally applied to partners of famous men). In this age of unprecedented opportunity for women, why would she decide to define herself by her husband. And what would she do if she wasn’t married to him any more and lost that key piece to her identity?

What genre does your book fall under?
Romance/Women’s Fiction

Which actors would you choose to play your characters if it were a movie?
Ooh, interesting! Maybe Jennifer Connelly as Louise and Hugh Jackman as Ben.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A WAG leaves her celebrity life – and her cheating husband – behind and seeks to build a new life for herself in a crumbling deserted mansion in the country.

Will your book be self-published or traditional?
Traditionally published.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Hmm. Not sure. This was an ‘elongation’ of an earlier book (think, the 12” compared to the 7”). I think the earlier version (60k words) probably took about 4 months, but I added another 30k words in four weeks!

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Liz Fenwick’s The Cornish House took a similar theme – woman on her own moving to a new place, and a very special old house, rebuilding her life and finding love again – but our styles are quite different.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
The idea of my WAG character, Louise, but also the location. When I was a teenager my father owned a boat that he moored near Dittisham, up the River Dart, in Devon. If we ever took the boat out to sea, or went down river, just for a few seconds we’d catch a glimpse of a marvellous old white mansion on the hill, half hidden by trees. I used to wonder who lived there and what it was like inside.
Years later I was very excited to discover the name of the house was Greenway and had once been owned by the famous crime writer Agatha Christie. And there, the idea for the story of a haunting old house on the riverside, once lived in by a famous woman, was born – although in my version, the former owner was a movie star and not a writer.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
My heroine carries the scars of being a child carer for her ailing father, and the guilt she feels after his death has brought her to where she is now. Even with the seemingly ‘perfect’ husband and the life everyone dreams of, she hasn’t been able to be happy.

And I tag the following people to take up the baton and talk about The Next Big Thing:

Liz Fenwick
Jessica Hart
Nina Harrington
and brand-new author Jennifer Faye, who'll be giving her answers HERE next week!

RNA Awards Lunch 2009

Yesterday was the RNA’s annual awards luncheon, where the organisation presents trophies for the Romantic Novel of the Year, the Romance Prize (for shorter romantic fiction) and this year, for the first time, a Lifetime Achievement Award. Did I mention I was on the shortlist for the Romance Prize for the second year running? I may just have mentioned it in passing…not that I was at all excited about it, you understand.

All the shortlisted authors were asked to be at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington early for PR and photographs, which was great, because I got to meet up and chat with some of my old friends, such as Kate Hardy (right, with yours truly), who took the Romance Prize home last year, Jessica Hart and India Grey. I also got to meet fellow finalist, Beth Elliot, but unfortunately Lucy Broadbent, the last contender on the list, was unable to make the ceremony.

I was also excited to be sharing a ‘green room’ (how showbizzy is that?) with some of the committee members and authors shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year —which, by the way, I think we ought to call the Ronnie (RNY?). Cecilia Ahern looks so fresh-faced and young, she must have been a toddler when she got her first publishing contact. Here are some of the shortlisted authors for the Ronnie (See? It’s catching on…) signing their books.

Lunch itself was lovely and the service was fantastic. An army of waiters seemed to arrive and place the plates on the table simultaneously. I know it seems weird taking pictures of your dinner, but people really want to know! And who am I to deprive them?

The starter was Scottish Salmon Parfait with Tuna Tartar and Crème Fraiche Caviar. I took a picture, but I was so intent on eating it, I forgot to take one before I dived in. Here is a picture of someone else’s plate who was slightly less piggy than I was (but for pristine picture of the food, you'll have to visit Kate Hardy's blog - she obviously has mose self-control than I have).

The main course (can you tell I like my food?) was Chicken filled with a Paris Mushroom Mousse, Marsala Cream Sauce, Marquis Potatoes and Sugar Snap Peas. This too was gorgeous. I loved the sauce. And just enough to fill me up without making me too stuffed, which was just as well, because pudding was just around the corner…

I don’t need to say much about dessert, apart from telling you that it was Bitter Lemon Tart with Raspberry Jelly and Crème Fraiche Ice Cream. A picture may say a thousand words. I’ve two to demonstrate how much I enjoyed it:

Anyway, enough of the frivolous stuff and on to the awardsy bit. Unfortunately, our speaker, the debonair and charming Peter Bowles was unable to attend because he was unwell (get well soon, Peter!). Fist up was the Romance Prize and my little heart starting pattering hard as one of the judges, Margaret James, got up on stage and a short video display of all the shortlisted books appeared on screens all round the room. Margaret then gave a short description of each of the books, outlining what the judges liked most about them. I think she may have said Saying Yes To The Millionaire had “charm in abundance”, but I knew as I heard the judges opinion of one of the other books that it had stolen their hearts. And that book was…

Hired: Mistress For the Billionaire’s Pleasure by India Grey.

I’m very glad I didn’t read it before the ceremony because it sounds fabulous and I would have been too scared to turn up! India, lovely as always, was completely shocked by her win and even though she said she hadn’t prepared a speech, she was warm, funny and completely disarming as she accepted both the Betty Neels rose bowl, which she gets to keep for a year, and a little star-shaped glass trophy, which she gets to keep for ever.

And while India was still reeling with surprise, it was on the next event, a Lifetime Achievment Award to Judy Piatkus, founder of Piatkus Books.

Then, it was time to present the Romantic Novel of the Year (okay, maybe The Ronnie wasn’t really a good nickname…), which went to Julia Gregson for her novel East of the Sun. All the books on the shortlist sounded fabulous. Uh-oh, I can hear my credit card groaning at the thought of another book shopping-spree...

Here's Julia with her trophy:

Finally, now all the nail-biting was over, it was time to breathe out and socialise. Here’s me with new M&B Romance author Nina Harrington:

And here’s a little montage, including India with her trophy:

Now, the questions now is: who can I bribe to get myself on the shortlist again next year? Any ideas, anyone? ;-)