My Week In Dallas: Day Six - Saturday

I knew straight away on Saturday morning that I was in trouble. No, not a hangover! That thing in my side that went ‘pop’ when I was dancing at the Harlequin party had stiffened up in the night and I discovered I couldn’t even roll over in bed. Ouch. I limped my way through the day. Thankfully, it got a bit better towards the evening.

Today I did some workshops. First was Jane Porter’s “Ultimate Characterisation: the Alpha Hero and the Unforgettable Heroine”. Absolutely fab. I tend to write my heroes a little too nice sometimes and I got some really good insight into how to toughen my men up a little. I grew up with sisters and went to an all girls’ school, then studied dance (mainly girls at collage, again!). It was great to get a woman’s perspective on the male brain.

I hobbled into the awards luncheon and couldn’t find anyone I knew. I was starting to get tired of being on my best behaviour and introducing myself constantly. I also couldn’t even look at half the food, lovely though it was. My stomach was still full up from the last few days.

The afternoon brought the Mills & Boon Authors’ get together, which I ducked in and out of to attend the rehearsal ceremony for the awards ceremony that evening (gulp!). The pain in my side meant I found it really difficult to get up the steps onto the stage to say my name into the microphone for the sound check, and it was extremely odd seeing a four-foot high version of my face and my book cover projected onto the screen at the back of the stage. People kept asking me whether I was getting nervous and I truly was, although I was doing my best to stay in a state of denial.

I’d got to the point where I just couldn’t concentrate and only managed ten minutes of my final workshop before I gave up. Thank goodness for the CDs! I’m eagerly looking forward to their arrival. My husband was so sweet. He was at a party with the girls and kept sending me text messages from different friends all cheering me on and passing good luck messages on from friends and family. I was ready to cry at least three times.

After chatting with Jenna and Trish I went back to my room to get ready for the evening. Now the jitters really were hitting me with full force. And to make it worse I was late meeting my editor in the lobby because I couldn’t get a lift. They were all full of people making their way downstairs to the ballroom.

The rest of the evening was a bit surreal. Sometimes, when I’ve been waiting for an event for a long time, when the moment comes, something in my brain refuses to believe it’s actually happening. It happened on my wedding day. I was the calmest bride in the universe ever. Inside, I was thinking, ‘I can’t really be getting married today, can I?’ Much the same happened during the RITA and Golden Heart ceremony. The adrenaline disappeared and I just kind of sat there. And when my categories came up, I held my breath, then let it out again. I was in a strange kind of limbo. Actually, I think an adrenaline surge would have been better.

Afterwards I just felt really tired and, all of a sudden, really homesick for my husband and my kids. There was a last chance to catch up with people before we all made our way home the next day. Everyone looked so fabulous and I was really pleased for my edior Kimberley Young. I might not have come up trumps for her, but Barbara Hannay did, so she got a little plaque and got to go up and collect Barb’s statue. I didn’t mind losing out to her book one little bit – it was fabulous. And Tracey Ann Warren won Best First Book for ‘The Husband Trap’, which was also a great read. And I’m very pleased that Tamera Alexander won Best Inspiational for ‘Rekindled’, because that was a stonker of a book too. Only sad Gemma Haliday didn’t get anything because I loved her sassy ‘Spying in High Heels’.

So that’s it. My week in Dallas. Didn’t come home with a statue, but I came home with a bunch full of great memories and some lovely new friends. Jenna and I decided we were ‘transatlantic twins’ as we look freakily similar and even laugh the same. Trish will always have a special place in my heart for being bold and sassy and unbearable funny. And then there were all the lovely people I met: Marion Lennox, Melissa McClone, Teresa Southwick, Sandra Marton, Olivia Gates, Jennie Lucas, Carol Grace all the people from eHarlequin – especially fortworthmom, she’s a one-woman dynamo! I know I’ve forgotten loads of people, but I’ve always said I’m awful with names.

As for the elusive little gold lady…I’m just gonna have to roll up my sleeves and write some better stories!

My Week In Dallas: Day Five - Friday part 2

Revisions are in and I’m a free woman. Well, apart from the five foot high pile of ironing, two children who are starting to wonder who that strange woman is and a house that looks like a mini-tornado whipped through it.

Back to my adventures on the other side of the Atlantic…

After lunch on Friday I checked with the concierge to see if any progress had been made with my dress. She’d had it sent out to a dry-cleaners and said it would be back by six. Fingers crossed.

Next stop was the Rita and Golden Heart reception. I had no idea what was going to happen, but it turned out that all the finalists received certificates for their nominations. I found Marion Lennox and we were very glad to see someone we knew. It became clear as the names were read out that some people were well known in the RWA and others not so much as a few people got humongous cheers. Marion and I set up our own cheering section (for each other) at the back to compensate for the fact that we didn’t know anybody and nobody knew us. One of the things I love about the romance writing community is how supportive we are of each other.

Marion and I with our certificates

After that I tried to sneak into a Michael Hague workshop but realised that having missed the first hour, I hadn’t a clue what he was talking about and decided to listen to the CDs when I got home to get the full benefit.

I had a quick drink and meeting with my editor before she had to rush off to a dinner for the Presents/Modern Romance authors. She asked the dreaded, “how’s the book going” question. I promised her it would be in on time, despite the fact I knew I was going to have to work my butt off to get it done. (I did it though!)

Now, back to the dress. It did indeed arrive back at my room just after six with a new zip in place, but...in the process of installing the new zip, they’d had to take in by a centimetre or two. Since I’d been dieting madly to fit my substantial…erm,…assets, into the dress, let’s just say that I could get it on and do the zip up, but breathing was optional. Sniff. I will just have to hope I gat another chance to wear it.

Then it was off to the Harlequin Party at the Fairmont Hotel. The ballroom was lovely and there were great towering stands filled with canapés and desserts. How I managed to completely miss the chocolate fountain I will never know! Now, I’ve only been to one and other party hosted by my publisher and it was a completely different sort of animal. Lovely, but different. The London, Mills & Boon drinks party last year was held in an exclusive gentleman’s club and the champagne flowed as we stood around and chatted.

The Harlequin party had dancing! Now, I don’t know what it’s like the world over, but in England, at social occasions with a bar and a dancefloor, lots of visits to the former tend to lead to funky moves on the other. You know what it’s like: you go to a wedding or a party and when the music starts the only people to inhabit the dance floor for the first hour are a couple of ten-year-old girls, seriously intent on showing off their best moves, and somebody’s uncle who had a head start the beer. People need time to warm up, to let go of their inhibitions.

Not so at a Harlequin party. The minute the first song started I was practically dragged onto the dance floor by fellow Romance author Melissa McClone. Don’t get me wrong, I was overjoyed. I love dancing and it was fantastic to see a whole room full of people ‘get on down’, not because they’d had too many shandys, but because they just wanted to enjoy themselves.

I had a ball! In fact, a little too much good fun. I even joined in a conga that had to have had about a hundred people in it (to the Miami Sound Machine track, not the Black Lace one, thank goodness). And there was I, wiggling to those catchy Latin rhythms when something in my side went ‘pop’. I kid you not. I still managed to dance the night away. In fact, Trish and I had to be almost dragged off the dance floor and pushed into the stretch limo that took us home. It seriously was the best party I’d been to in years. Wanna go next year!

Back soon - promise!

Book due in Wednesday - revisions back by Wednesday afternoon. Nuff said.

To console yourselves you can all find a copy of Break Up to Make Up in the shops and online right now!

And check out Donna Alward's blog today - I'm guest blogging! And also on the Pink Heart Society on Tuesday. So wander on over...

Wooo-hoooo

I'm interrupting my own boradcast to announce that I've finished Fern and Josh's story! You have no idea how relieved I am. I returned from Dallas with only 28k written and, after I'd slept for two days solid, I had two weeks until the deadline.

And, as usual, it has shot right over the word count. 57,000 plus! That's almost 30,000 words in 12 days. I feel faint just thinking about it. Now I just need to polish it up and get it nice and shiny for my editor.

I've also discovered that crying while I dictate messes with the voice recogniton software's head.

Back to our normal programming shortly...

My Week In Dallas: Day Five - Friday part 1

While I'm letting the next scene of the work-in-progress brew I'm going to carry on with my adventures in Dallas.

I think I was finally starting to get over the jetlag on Thursday and so woke up after a good six hours sleep, very refreshed. The sun was shining, the day was going to be fun and exciting and I had to go and ruin it with a ‘Bridget Jones’ moment.

Because I was up early, I decided to try on the two dresses that were in he running for the Harlequin party that night. Dress one: strapless, formal, but very pretty. Dress two: less formal, more comfortable. I had been dieting hard to fit into ‘dress one’, but I was worried it was going to be a little bit too posh for the Harlequin party. It was a gorgeous Monsoon dress I bought on eBay that had black silk chiffon over the top of an emerald green underskirt. (See picture: pretty, right? I cut my head off because I had that lovely 6 a.m. look.)

It went on all right, but getting it off again it was another matter – the zip broke! So, and there was I, six-thirty in the morning and stuck in an evening gown. I was going to look pretty daft wandering around in it all day...

Eventually, I managed to wiggle out of it and I tried to get to the zip to behave. The problem: one of those little plastic loops hadn't joined up where it was supposed to and it just wouldn't come down again. In the process of trying to get it to budge, I broke it completely. Guess my decision was made for me... or maybe not.

After refuelling, namely, breakfast—yummy coffee, yummy muffins, yummy fresh fruit—I asked the concierge if there was anyone who could look at my dress and see if they could fix the zip. She said she would see what she could do.

At 8:30 a.m. I was bright and sparkly in sitting in the front row of "Creating Your Stories Backbone: Unleashing the Unexpected Power of Turning Points in Plots and Subplots" with Robin Perini. I fell in love with this woman. My love of charts and diagrams may be huge, but with her, it is practically an obsession. I think a couple of "pantsers’ (as in, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writers) were tempted to run from the room screaming until they realised this approach could work for them too (they just had to ignore the charts; it made them itchy). Little nuggets of wisdom I obtained from this workshop were:

• Turning Points in the plot should be a surprise for the main character as well as the reader.


• The quick and dirty way to figure out your theme: the epiphany of your protagonist is the theme of your book. What do they need to learn?


• Discover your protagonist's flaw, a need, belief of fear that is keeping them from being the best they can be, and make sure that you're turning points test of this character flaw. For example, if your character has a need to keep the people she loves safe, let to those same people get into danger. Even better, let your character's actions put the people she loves in danger, let her failed to protect them. That's going to move her out of her comfort zone pretty quick!

After this workshop I nipped into the Harlequin Spotlight to get an idea of what's new and happening in the huge variety of lines that Harlequin publish.

And then it was time for, you guessed it, yet more food! The lovely hosts of the eHarlequin had invited some of the authors that regularly post and participate out to lunch at the Antares Restaurant at the top of the reunion tower (that's right, a restaurant in the ball on top of the stick in the picture!). The restaurant slowly revolves as you eat your lunch. Great for getting a good view of the city, not so great if you go to the ladies and then discover when you come down the stairs again that your table is definitely not where you left it. I'd just got over another inner ear infection, which often gave me the sense I was moving when I wasn't, and I kept having little relapses during the conference week. At least in the restaurant here, when I thought I was moving I actually was! It was quite a relief.

eHarlequin hosts, Jayne, Lorie, Wayne and Rae with Harlquin authors, Wayne Jordan (he does both!), Kira Sinclair, Olivia Gates, Fiona Harper, Trish Wylie and Michelle Willingham.

My Week In Dallas - Day 4: Thursday part 3

Oh, and I almost forgot - I got back to my hotel room just after the pyjama party and was just settling down to jot a few things down in my notebook when I heard a noise like a police car siren - going off inside my room! Then a big booming voice informed me that there was an emergency in the hotel and would I please evacuate using the exit staircase. Oh my goodness, did my adrenaline go into overdrive!

I grabbed my handbag (I know you are supposed to leave stuff like that behind, but it was right near the bed and I didn't want to be stranded with a frazzled passport) and went out into the hallway where there was a strong smell of burning - like an electrical, burnt-plastic kind of smell. A security guard appeared and informed the bemused guests that it was all under control, it was only a short-circuited wire in the exit stairwell, and we could go back to our rooms.

I did so, but the alarm continued to sound for at least another five minutes. I started to get worried again and poked my head into the corridor, where I found a few more people with furrowed brows, cleary wondering (as I was) whether they should just find the nearest emergency exit anyway. As we discussed our options we decided that, as writers, the continuing alarm was bad news. Our what if engines whirred into life - What if the problem had spread? What if there was another fire somwhere else and the alarm had nothing to do with the tiny smouldering wire in the stairwell? You get the picture...

My imaginiation doesn't need much encouragement to run away with itself. Most of the time it's halfway there and straining at the brakes anyway. Eventually, the large, gruff-voiced security man (think Men In Black) reappeared and told us it was fine to go back into our rooms. The alarm would stop as soon as the smoke had cleared in the stairwell. I went back to my room, but kept my handbag right next to the bed, just in case. A few minutes later the arm stopped. Phew. Then I just had to wait for the adrenaline to wear off so I could go to sleep.

Oh, and by the way, have you noticed how fast my word counter thingy is going up at the moment? This story is so rollercoasting towards the end. Just hope I haven't jinxed it by saying that...Well, I haven't, because I don't believe in jinxes. Back to the work in progress...

My Week In Dallas - Day 4: Thursday part 2

The next event was the Welcome Reception. Basically, a chance to eat (again!) and chat. I'd lost track of where Trish and Jenna were earlier that afternoon and didn't spot them amidst the couple of thousand people (!!!) who arrived for the reception. I ended up talking to Beth, a lovely lady I had met on the eHarlequin. She couldn't believe that I've never heard of, let alone tasted, queso (a runny cheese flavoured, in this case, with chillis). I very much enjoyed sampling it on top of my tostada with pulled beef, guacamole and salsa. I looooove Mexican food!

Eventaully, Trish and Jenna found me. Apparantly darling Trish had been worried that I was on my own, but found me gassing away. I saw Jenna first and did a big wave and shouted “Jenna!” At which point she took a photograh. I chased her (I mean really chased her) but she wouldn’t let me have a look, and the next day I found myself guest-starring on the PHS blog as a caption competition. Thanks for that! My personal favourite from the suggestions was, “Waiter, ten more G&Ts over here, please!” Has someone been spying on me? How did they know?

Trish and Jenna were off to the Romance Divas dinner. I can't exactly remember what I did while they were out, but I think I took a shower and got on with the current book before getting in my jammies and heading off for the eHarlequin pyjama party – a load of grown women standing around in various states of undress and scoffing popcorn, herchey’s kisses and soda. There was a bar in the corner and the poor barman was looking a little bored so Trish, Jenna and I ordered a cocktail each – you guessed it – margaritas! (Still only the one, mind, I made it last all evening!). Is it just me, or is Trish's Sean the leprachaun looking a little too pleased with himself in this picture?

At first we all felt a bit daft standing there in our PJs, but pretty soon we were saying “hi” to people we’d cyber-bumped into on eHarlequin. It was a fun night. A lady turned up in leopard-print carrying her own personal, inflatable Tarzan! Seeing as there aren’t too many Y chromosomes at an RWA conference, the poor guy almost got popped. Talking of men at the conference, I did see one quite good-looking one at breakfast that morning being trailed around by his other half. She had him firmly by the hand and a look on her face saying, “Back off, sugar! This one’s mine!” It made me smile.

The huge advantage of attending a pyjama party is that, when midnight rolls around, all you have to do is…no, I do not mean “turn into a pumpkin”…I mean, you can flop into bed without having to get changed. Cool!

One of the lovely things about the RWA conference is that it's fun! Good clean fun. I didn't once see someone falling-down drunk or being rude and obnoxious. There was a real sense of camaraderie. let's face it, us writers spend most of our time on our lonesome talking to the cat when the plot gets problematic or when the characters are as flat as cardboard, so it's great to get together with other people who love to do what we love to do. And since all our writerly socialising each year is condensed into such a short space of time it does seem to be rather intense.

Oh yes, and don't be fooled by that innocent look on Ms Wylie's face, okay?

My Week In Dallas - Day 4: Thursday part1

On Thursday the conference got properly underway. I had managed to secure a room at the conference hotel for the rest of the week and so by eight o'clock I had checked out of the Adams Mark and was heading towards the Hyatt in taxi.

Trish and Jenna let me store my case in their room until I could check in. Then I ran downstairs and attended my first workshop: "Yes, You Can Quit Your Day Job." Now, I quite like my day job, but I am definitely struggling to keep all the different pieces of my life afloat at the moment – work, writing, family, housework (yuck). I've been getting so stressed and I think something, somewhere has got to give. I haven't made any decisions yet. I just know I want to stop feeling like a little hamster on a wheel 24 hours a day. This workshop was food for thought.

At the literary signing I had bought the remainder of the books not sold and I put them in the goody room on the way to the workshop. I returned not long afterwards to discover that almost all of them had gone. Hooray! And my pens were going down too. I hurriedly pulled another 50 pens from my bag and put them on the table. I was determined not to take any of the 250 pens I had brought with me home.

For the next two hours I joined in a focus group for Mills and Booth and authors, chatting about various subjects from non-fiction to marketing. And once again, food was on offer. I'd had a huge breakfast at the Adams Mark (including some of that lovely Applewood smoked bacon – mmmm) but I couldn't resist having a muffin and some coffee.

Unfortunately, I missed the luncheon that day because I had been invited to a Harlequin Romance authors' tea party. I was really looking forward to putting faces to the names I'd read on so many (hundreds) of Harlequin Romances/Tender Romances in the run-up to getting published and I wasn't disappointed. I met: Melissa McClone, Marion Lennox, Teresa Southwick, Susan Meier, Shirley Jump, Linda Goodnight, Judy Christenbury and probably a few more that are evading my memory (sorry, ladies!). above left - editor Maddie Rowe with Linda Goodnight and Judy Christenbury. right - Shirley Jump and senior editor Tessa Shapcott.

Finally, around four o'clock, I managed to check into the Hyatt. My room was lovely with the biggest bed I have ever seen in it. It was high enough to reach my hips and wide enough for me to lie down on sideways and not overshoot the ends.

My Week In Dallas - Day 3: Wednesday

I’m such a good girl. I should get plenty gold stars for getting up and doing some work on the wip before I set off for the Hyatt to meet Trish and Jenna. Trish was in a blogging frenzy for the PHS so we decided to sit in the bar and blog, chat and generally have a giggle before the day went mad busy. (picture: Trish PHS blogging in the atrium of the Hyatt)

After lunch I went back to my hotel (getting very used to riding the DART train at this point) and got spruced up for the the rest of the jam-packed day. I knew I wasn’t going to get a chance to get back to the hotel until late.

Booksellers’ Tea
The Booksellers’ Tea was a chance for authors to meet booksellers and chat to them about their books. I took some of my newly-made ‘Fiona Harper’ pens along as a giveaway. I managed to chat to a couple of booksellers but they were vastly outnumbered by eager authors, so I ended up chatting to some authors as well, including the gorgeous and vastly talented Jane Porter who writes for Harlequin Presents/Modern Romance and Five Spot. I have vowed to love her forever because she liked ‘Blind-Date Marriage’. I think knowing that other writers, especially those you admire, have read your work and like it is one of the best confidence boosts a new author can have. I left the Booksellers’ Tea with a huge grin on my face.

Book signing virgin ahead!

Next up was the Authors for Life Literacy signing. I blogged about this for the PHS and here is my post:

The 'Readers for Life' Literacy Signing was my first book signing ever. Up until now the only signing I've done is when my family embarrass me by shoving a book and pen under my nose and make me scrawl on their copies. What a way to start! Four hundred plus authors and a scarily long queue of eager readers. I got butterflies as I raced past them all (late - blame the lifts) into the ballroom.

My one and only fear was that no one would come to my little table and ask me to sign a book. I arranged my books and my little pot of clotted cream fudge to entice the readers and sat down to wait...and wait...and wait.

Forty minutes later I was definitely in a gonna-go-and-and-eat-worms frame of mind. Especially as I was sitting next to Kim Harrison, New York Times bestselling paranormal romance author, who had a steady stream of visitors ever since the crowds has stampeded through the doors.

But, eventually, as the people made their way to the middle of the alphabet, I got some visitors and the rest of the afternoon went really quickly as I chatted to people I'd met online, people I'd met at the conference and complete strangers (bless 'em for helping me not to feel like Billy no-mates!). I had a really great time. The Readers for Life signing was in keeping with its Texan setting - larger than life and on a scale that had to be seen to be believed!

Let me explain the pictures from that post: the first one is me doing my ‘serious author’ face, the second is me cracking up at my own attempts to be serious and the third is me calmed down (or at least as good as it was going to get).

Pizza Party!
From left to right: me, Melissa McClone (Romance), Trish Wylie (Romance & Modern Extra), Olivia Gates (Medicals), Jennie Lucas (Modern/Presents) and Sandra Marton (Modern/Presents). I think Jenna Bayley-Burke must have been hiding behind the camera! Also present but not pictured were Marion Lennox and Carol Grace.

Next it was time to have a Mills& Boon Authors’ get together. We had planned to go to the Italian restaurant in the hotel, but found out it was a) rather small and b)rather busy. Plan B was pizza and vino in Sandra Marton’s room. Plan B was definitely the way to go! We could actually have a decent conversation and, as we munched on delicious pizza that we got delivered to the hotel, we had great fun. Medical author Olivia Gates produced a whole plate of baklava (yum) all the way from Egypt for dessert. Marion Lennox donated a whole box of Tim Tams (which somehow ended up in Trish and Jenna’s room afterwards). I had heard a lot about these legendary Australian chocolate biscuits from my best friend and was delighted to actually sample them for myself. Odd that I finally had them in Texas…

My Week In Dallas - Day 2: Tuesday

I'm cooking the kids tea at the moment, so I'm taking the opportunity to blog. A greater proportion of my time today has been spent sleeping. I dicated quite of a lot of the wip onto my laptop but eventually had to abandon the udea as my eyelids just wouldn't stay up. I'm going to get a shock when I read it back, I should think...

I spent the first three nights of my week in the Adams Mark hotel in Dallas as the conference hotel was booked soild. This was the view out of my window:

After my embarrassing incident with the pancakes (see here for the full story) I decided to go out and explore Dallas. Being a Londoner, I decided to take a stroll and got some very odd looks. That was a big difference between central London and downtown Dallas - where were all the people? Probably sensibly hidden away somewhere with lots of air conditioning. London is busy, busy, busy in comparison to the bits of Dallas I saw.

It was cool for Dallas - around 85 degrees - but it was humid. I kept forgetting to prepare myself for the change when I ventured outside. It was like being wrapped up in an invisible, warm, foggy blanket the second I walked out of the door of my lovely cool hotel. I walked down to the JFK memorial near the grassy knoll and wanted to visit the 6th floor museum, which commemorates his life and death, but it wasn't open until noon so I got the DART train (a bit like a tram) back to my hotel, picked up my notebook and decided to find somewhere to eat and write nearby. I ended up in a shopping centre with an ice rink in the middle and ate salad and watched people practising their spins and jumps as I forced a thousand or so unco-operative words out of my pen.

After a couple of hours I decided to wander over the Hyatt Regency, where the conference was being held, and register. I got my name badge with a couple of ribbons to attach - a green one for being a RITA finalist and an orange one for being a first timer (nice colour combination!). I realised after I'd seen a few other conference attendees that I was supposed to put the silver RITA-shaped pins on my name badge. Other people were bedecked with lots of badge "bling" - pins from former conferences, RWA chapters and RITA and Golden Heart wins and nominations. Harelquin Romance/M&B medicals author Matrion Lennox had so many of the RITA pins on hers (of both colours) that she had to start putting them up the string round her neck! I'm surprised she wasn't dragging it round!

I was supposed to meeting Trish Wylie for dinner, so I checked to see if she had arrived yet - she hadn't (as the week wore on I started to realised that Trish operates in her own personal time zone. I can say that now I'm home because I am no longer within slapping distance).

I couldn't be bothered to do another round trip to the Adams Mark, so I decided to explore the Reunion Tower, which is adjacent to the hotel. It is fifty five stories high and, while not the tallest building in Dallas, it has an observation deck.

The lift ride (translation = elevator), which only takes 68 seconds, was in a glass lift that shot up the outside of the tower. I'm not bad with heights, but my knees got all tingly and I had to take a step back as we neared the top. I got some great pictures from up there.

At six o'clock, when I still couldn't find Trish or her room mate Jenna Bayley-Burke I decided to admit defeat and tramp back to my hotel. However, only a short hour later I was on the train again to meet them for drinks and dinner at the Hyatt. Jenna intorduced me to the joys of margharitas, bless her little cotton socks. Yummy. Just the one mind, I don't want to all to think I was pickled when I got back to my hotel room.

I'd only met Trish in the flesh once before and Jenna never, but we had chatted online and it was great to discover we all got on like a house on fire and laughed our way all through dinner at the cafe inside the Hyatt and afterwards back in their room, where Trish made me blog for the PHS. I returned to my hotel ready to sleep and get stuck into the start of the activites the next day.

I'm back!

Well, my body is back. Not sure where my brain is. And who knows which time zone my stomach is in. Didn't sleep on the plane (which was an overnight flight) because just as I settled down to snooze we hit turbulance - not drastic, just enough to jolt me awake every time I started to doze. Grrrr.

I'm hurtling towards a deadline and that is my priority, but I'd like to blog about my experiences in Dallas when either my brain is too fried to write or while the next scene is percolating in my head. I managed to get 6-7k written this week and I need to dicatate it into my laptop. Once I've done that I'm going to update my word counter thingy - which is seriously out of date.

Many thanks to all of you who commented and emailed me to wish me well! The conference was a blast and I had a great time. I wasn't that disappointed at not taking home a golden statue (I mean, I'd be bonkers if I said I wasn't disappointed at all, wouldn't I? There's always part of you that thinks, "Ah, but it would have been lovely...") because the books that won in both my categories were great! Especially, the lovely Barbara Hannay's.

Marion Lennox (who is just the sweetest lady I have ever met!) told me that she had to write 63 books before she got her first RITA (!!!). I'm just thrilled to have been a finalist. Maybe in another 60 books I'll stand a chance...maybe...with a following wind and fingers, toes and eyelashes crossed. But, since the Traditional category has been dropped from the RITAs, who knows? Having said that, with Harlequin Romances doing well in the Short Contemporary category in the last couple of years, I'm sure there will still be an opportunity for our biggest stars to shine.

RWA Update

If you want to know what I'm up to this week, come and visit the Pink Heart Society! Trish Wylie and Jenna Bayley-Burke have hi-jacked me and we are blogging over there all week from the RWA conference in Dallas.

We're having a blast blogging about everything. We're going to be doing first-timers' first impressions, interviews with authors, fashion at the awards ceremony and general silliness involving a small green Leprechaun called Sean. We're also taking photos as fast as our digital cameras can charge. Pop on over and have a squiz!

I made it to Dallas. Long flight, made much more bearable by the company of a lovely lady sat nect to who was a librarian. We chatted books, writing, London and Dallas.

Last night I went out to dinner with friends from eHarlequin and had a great time. I was really glad I'd decided not to wimp out and go to bed. And I had the tastiest burger I've ever eaten! I made all the others laugh when I told them they "grew good cows here".

This morning I had my first experience of an American breakfast. Bona fide american pancakes! Not healthy, I know, but it had to be done. I cook a Nigella Lawson version for my kids occasionally and I decided I needed the authentic experience - to see if I'm doing it right. When the plate arrived, all I could say was "Wow!".

First of all, I was definiately making them too small! The ones I make are maybe 5" across, but my plate this morning was stacked high with pancakes maybe twice that diameter, served with blueberries, raspberries and strawberries (mmm), warm maple syrup (definitely something I will do when I return home!) and a blob of what looked like ice cream.

ice cream for breakfast? Oh well, when in Dallas...
Erm, no. After I'd taken a bite I remembered that the menu had said it was served with "whipped butter", but I'd been so overawed with my plate of gorgeousness I'd forgotten all about it. Whoops!

I'm on my way on my mini-adventure! Currently I am sitting in Gatwick airport waiting to board my flight and I'm also bored to tears.

By the time I arrive at my hotel this evening, I will have been awake for 24 hours straight. let's hope I'm over the jetlag and making sense by Wednesday...

Leavin' on a jet plane...

Well, I'm off on a plane first thing tomorrow morning! Next stop: Dallas, Texas.

If you are going to be anywhere near there this week then drop by and say "Hi" to me at the 'Readers for Life' Literacy signing at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas on Wednesday between 5.30pm and 7.30pm. I will have clotted-cream fudge to give away...not that I'm trying to bribe you or anything...perish the thought!

Wrists and self-promotion

I'm feeling rather pleased with myself. I took a week off work to get some writing done and to rest my wrists. The good news is they are feeling a bit better, so there is definitely some mileage in leaving the mouse and number keypad alone.

Having the extra time meant I could get some long-overdue jobs done. Like getting some business cards printed to take to America with me. I'm pretty pleased with the design, which was based on my website banner. And I am now completely in love with Vistaprint. It cost a tenth of what I thought it would to get these done.

Time for a break

Before you all moan at me, I know that I've been terrible in keeping up with my blog lately, but there is a very good reason for this. The RSI has been getting steadily worse and I now have it in both my wrists. Obviously, I am not doing what I need to do to let my wrists rest. So I've decided, that for at least a month, I'm only going to use the computer when absolutely necessary. So this means no blogging for a little while. I may try and post once a week, but only if I promise myself not to touch the mouse or keyboard and learn how to use my voice recognition software in Internet Explorer.

Apparently, I may be blogging with Trish Wylie on the Pink Heart Society during the RWA conference, so come and pay us a visit.

Now, you must all promise to behave yourself while I'm away!

RNA Summer Party 2007

Back from my holiday, but more about that another time. I scooted up from Devon by train last week to attend the RNA’s Summer Party. I must say, I was very nervous about attending this year's party because, as last year's NWS award winner, I had to give a speech. Last year, I didn't think I had a hope of winning the award, so I just didn't get jittery at all. This year was a different kettle of fish, as they say.

The first part of the evening was spent saying ‘hi’ to lots of people, including cyber friends from eHarlequin, Julie, Anna, Biddy and Carol and Phillipa Ashley (pictured right with you-know-who). Phillipa told me when I was chatting with her that she didn't think she had a chance of winning but had come to enjoy the party. "You never know," I said. "That's exactly what I thought last year."

And wasn't I on the money with that prediction, as she took home the Joan Hessayan New Writers’ Award! I'm keeping stum on the fact that she actually attempted to bribe Dr Hessayan with a curry shortly before the award was presented. Unfortunately, he was not part of the judging panel. I think he appreciated the offer, though.

Then it was time for my speech. Gulp. Funnily enough, I didn't feel as nervous by that point (maybe the champagne had helped) and it seemed to go down okay. Jessica, who was also shortlisted for the award, but was unable to attend, asked if I could post my speech. I'll do my best but, as I only had prompts on my cards, it's not going to be a word for word transcription, especially as I abandoned my first card and decided to wing it in my congratulations to Phillipa. (Me? Wing it? I hope you're as shocked as I am!)

I started off by congratulating Phillipa and recounting how she had told me she wasn't expecting to win (I left out the bit about Dr Hessayan and the curry– aren't I good?) and how I had warned her that she never knew, it could be her walking away with the award.

I filled everybody in on what I did with the prize money:
I was in desperate need of a new printer – especially one that printed straight!
I warbled on about my iPAQ and how great it was.
I also mentioned that I had splurged on an airfare to America to go to the RWA conference and attended the RITAs award ceremony.

Another reason receiving the award meant a lot to me was that my journey to publication was unexpectedly speedy – I found myself on a bit of a rollercoaster ride. I joined the RNA in 2005 and sent my first finished manuscript off to the New Writers’ Scheme looking for some constructive criticism. (I think I may have mentioned at this point that my exact words to my husband were: "I just want someone to say that my writing doesn't stink too badly".) Before I knew it, my manuscript had been sent on to Mills & Boon and within two months I had sold my first book.

It's the kind of first sale that every new writer dreams of but, once the euphoria had worn off, I started to panic. I had to do it all over again! I had to write a second book. People say that everyone has a book in them and it was at this point that my runaway imagination galloped off into the hills. What if one book was all I had? What if it had been a fluke? I was in the deep end of a new writing career and it was time to decide whether I was going to sink or swim.

Receiving the New Writers' Award was a bit like being thrown at lifebelt. It gave the something solid to hang onto and a huge confidence boost so that, when the writing was going badly, and I was really tempted to throw my laptop out of the window, I could look at the trophy sitting on my desk and say "I can do this". As time went on, I realised that these ups and downs – days when the words fly from the fingertips and days when, let's face it, they just don't – are normal, part of the rollercoaster life of a writer.

I then thanked the RNA for putting a smile on my face for an entire year and wished Phillipa good luck, hoping she had a great year on the rollercoaster. I warned her that if she was as neurotic as I am she may have times when she was clinging on for dear life with her eyes shut, but I hoped that, more often than not, she was going to let go, open her eyes and enjoy the ride.

Free time? What free time?

I'm off on holiday for a week, visiting Devon, the setting for Her Parenthood Assignment. With wonderful timing, the proofs for English Lord, Ordinary Lady have arrived on my doorstep this morning. I think I might have to take them with me. Grrr.

It's certainly going to be a working holiday. I'm taking my laptop so I can carry on with the current work in progress, and on Wednesday I'll be catching the train back up to London for the RNA's Summer Party. If you see me there, say hello, and please don't heckle my speech after the New Writers' Award is given out!

More about the journey

I've been thinking about my plot board in the last few days and wondering why I feel the obsessive need to mess around with cards and pins and a cork board. I do have a stationary fixation –I always had to have my felt tips in rainbow-coloured order at school – but it's more than that.

At the beginning of a book, when the ideas are flying round and I have no idea of which ones are going to work and which ones are going to get axed, I find it very handy to pin these "flying" thoughts down before they flutter off into the atmosphere, never to be seen again.

However, once I have passed the halfway point in the book, I hardly ever look at my plot board again. Maybe by then the choices have been narrowed down and that helps me keep the picture of where the book is going in my head. I also think that maybe my plot boarding is more to do but the process than the finished result.

Somehow, the journey of pinning those little cards on the board and organising my thoughts galvanises me to write and helps me make sense of the scraps of ideas that come to me in the middle of the night, while I'm walking to work and especially in the bath. Where do you get your best ideas?