Exceeding Expectations

Since it's still Friday in most parts of the world, this blog post isn't technically late. Much.

I would have posted something earlier, but I got caught up watching a Christmas movie. You know, one of those made-for-TV movies that appear at this time of year, with not a single familiar face in the cast and a predictable story line? As you might have guessed, I'm not a big fan of these kinds of movies. [Give me The Proposal any day!] But this one really hooked me.

It was called A Christmas Kiss. Romance readers will recognise the story line as a tried and tested theme: girl kisses hot guy, then finds out he's her bosses' boyfriend. Okay, so the usual trope would be he turns out to be the boss, so the movie makers at least managed to put a fresh spin on this one.

What I enjoyed about this movie was that it has a fresh, young, contemporary feel, and wasn't too schmaltzy. Whether you adore every holiday themed movie out there, or whether you're more picky like me, watch this film. It's guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

There was only one thing I didn't quite like about this film, and it was only as the end credits rolled that I finally worked out what it was. The hero.

As a romance writer, I've diligently studied what makes a good romantic hero, and I've developed my own ideas of how a hero (especially an alpha hero) should behave. And it's spoiled me. I can no longer sit back and enjoy a book or movie without constantly measuring up the hero against my own very high expectations.

A hero who manages to get through an hour and a half of TV time not realising that his girlfriend is a witch spelled with a B, and in all that time doesn't realise that the girl he kissed right at the start of the movie is the heroine, just doesn't measure up for me.

So I'm going to dig out my battered copy of The Proposal and remind myself how a true alpha hero behaves. Because Ryan Reynolds always exceeds my expectations - especially when he's shirtless.

Author Spotlight - Trish Wylie

We're delighted here at the minxes today, to welcome minx favourite, Trish Wylie, who's here to answer minxy questions and tell us all about her new book. Trish would like to give a signed copy of her latest Riva, The Inconvenient Laws of Attraction to one lucky (non-minx) commenter, so do leave a comment below!

Right - let the questions begin...

What is your writing process?
It usually starts with a snippet of something; a line of dialogue or something I have watched which I thought should have a different ending or left me asking questions. Next up I'll 'cast' my hero and heroine with pretty pictures and create character profiles, thinking about the conflict which keeps them apart. With a few scenes in mind I wing it from there, keeping an eye on the word-count for turning points.

Everyone who writes knows it's not easy - what methods do you use to keep at it on days when it would be so much easier to go shoe shopping?
I find the need to eat a great motivator but on the really bad days I'll simply keep plugging away at it-even if I'm writing complete twaddle-and set myself a word-count goal. Once I'm over the 'hump' and get going again, I'll delete a lot of what it took to get me there.

Keeping fit: Do you have an exercise regime to counterbalance all those hours sitting at a computer?
I've tried pretty much everything from exercising with a Swiss Ball to WII Fit and have discovered a total lack of self-motivation until about a fortnight before I have to meet people in the writing world. The only thing I do regularly is walk my dogs and look after my horses.

Do you believe in writer's block?
Yes, but I believe there's always an underlying cause for it. In my case it started with burn-out after a particularly busy writing year combined with my first ever run of publicity. When real life decided to add to my woes with family problems I found it even more difficult to write happily-ever-afters. What I have learned is to pace myself, prioritize and allow space for down-time in my schedule. The creative process is all in the mind so I strongly believe taking care of your mental health is every bit as important as your physical well-being.

What have the changes to the current Harlequin lines and branding meant to you? Have they affected your writing process?
Personally I've found it liberating. Over the years I had ideas for stories I didn't feel quite 'fit' in either of the lines I was writing for and often found I was 'reining myself in', despite encouragement from my editor to think outside the box. With Riva I'm pitching the kind of stories I love best and am having an incredible amount of fun writing them. My process hasn't changed any more than it already had for me to get out of my writing 'funk', but I don't feel like I'm holding back now.

What do you think makes a Riva book Riva?
When I think Riva, I think of films like The Proposal, 27 Dresses, Two Weeks Notice and Failure To Launch. They're an incredibly fun read with stories which frequently catch me off-guard. I love that about Riva.

Have you ever used an incident from real life in a book? If so, did it get you into trouble?
Yes, but since it was a long, long time ago and no-one has figured it out, I reckon I've got away with it.

In what way is being a published writer different to how you thought it would be?
The thing I really wasn't prepared for was how much I've ended up doing online. Like most people I couldn't afford to pay someone to set up and run a website for me, so I found myself on a pretty steep learning curve. I'm still learning but at least now I have a better idea of what works for me and what doesn't so I can prioritize accordingly. On the plus side I had no idea how many new friends I would make across the world. I can honestly say my life has been enriched by the people I've met. I'll be forever grateful for that and for the support they gave me when things were tough.

Promotion is no longer a dirty word. In what ways do you strive to reach more readers?
In the early days I did everything people told me to do; sent out books for reviews, entered contests, took out ads on websites, blogged daily, did interviews and talks, was active on numerous loops, had a presence on MySpace and Facebook and Bebo and, and, and... Some of those things I definitely think helped to get my name out there but eventually it started to eat into my writing time and something had to give. These days I'm a huge fan of Twitter and it's word-count restrictions, am attempting to blog weekly and intend to keep up with a handful of review sites and contests. Anything else will be totally dependent on my writing schedule since I strongly believe the most effective promotion is the books and telling the best stories I possibly can.

What is your top promo tip for other authors?
The latter part of the last answer. I'd then add there's no point doing promotion if you have nothing to promote, and say if a reader enjoys a book by a particular author, they will go looking for more by them.

What did you learn while writing this book?
I discovered it was necessary to mix things up to get back on track. I used to write to music, I wrote the majority of this one in silence. I used to write without stopping to edit, this time I had to have every scene tight before I moved on to the next. I used to type everything into a Word doc, now I write a lot of scenes in long hand and type up my work a the end of the day. I should also add this book taught me that I can still write. On my darkest days I sincerely doubted I could.

What was the most fun part of writing this book?
When the characters were fully formed and took hold of the story. I love when that happens and frequently discover things I didn't know; Liv's NYPD brothers doing background checks on every guy they see her with being one of them...

And just for fun: what would your hero's honeymoon destination of choice be?
He wouldn't be fussy about the 'where' part so long as they were locked indoors with no interruptions.

Thanks so much for the author spotlight, Trish. Trish will pick a winner a week after the post goes live, and pass on their name to the minxes, who will put out a call for contact details for one lucky winner!

Here's a little about The Inconvenient Laws of Attraction...
Laying Down The Law
Lawyer Olivia Brannigan has faced down some cool customers in her time. But latest client Blake Clayton takes emotional control to a whole new level. The man didn't even bat an eyelid when he discovered he'd inherited a fortune from his estranged father!
Blake doesn't want guilt money - the only thing piquing his interest is the tough-talking, sweet-looking lawyer that comes with his new property portfolio.
Dating on the job isn't in Olivia's 'Guide to Good Client-Lawyer Relationships' and it certainly doesn't sit easily with her 'no strings' attitude... But aren't rules always made to be broken?

The Inconvenient Laws of Attraction is available all over the place, but most especially here:

Mills & Boon Website:
Amazon.co.uk - Paperback (also available in Kindle edition, search around for it!)
Amazon.com - Kindle
Itunes:

A book recommendation...

I've just finished reading "It Started with a Kiss" by Miranda Dickinson - if you're looking for a cockle warmer for your Christmas stocking, this could be just the thing. I really enjoyed it.
The story centres around twenty-nine year old Romily, who has a brief encounter with her ideal man... one perfect kiss, and then he's gone. She gives herself twelve months to track him down, and sets out on a quest that snowballs into a popular blog and newspaper coverage. Does she find him? I won't spoil it for you, but suffice to say there are a couple of twists along the way that I didn't see coming. Running alongside the main story there's the fact that Romily is the singer in a wedding band, and their various gigs and weddings make a glorious romantic backdrop for the story to play out against. Throw in a cast of friends and family that spice the story up nicely, and it's a proper Christmas 'curl up on the sofa and escape'  sort of read - the ideal antidote to a hard days Christmas shopping!
'It Started with a Kiss' has only been on release for a couple of weeks, and I can see why it has already hit the Sunday Times Bestsellers list. It's warm and sparkly, one to read over the holidays with a big mug of hot chocolate.

Movie Review - Only You

Every so often, an old movie pops up on TV, which, even though I've seen it loads of times, I have to watch. Only You is one of those movies. Made in 1994, it stars Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr, and I love it.

Marisa plays Faith, a woman who believes utterly in destiny, and that every person on earth has a soul-mate. At the beginning of the film, when she is only eleven, she earnestly tells her brother, Larry:
Soulmates are our destiny.
We all have one.
My soulmate is the one I'm supposed to wait for, the one that will wait for me.

Playing with a ouija board, Faith learns the name of her soulmate, Damon Bradley. And later, a meeting with a fortune teller confirms that Damon Bradley is her destiny, although the fortune teller warns her : The truth is, you make your own destiny, don't wait for it to come to you.

As an adult, without meeting Damon, she accepts the proposal of her exact opposite, the practical and unromantic doctor, Duane. But even then she longs for romance, watching romantic movies with a soundtrack of 'Some Enchanted Evening,' and declaring that love is all to her disollutioned sister-in-law, who plays the perfect counterpart to her romantic lead.

Ten days before her wedding, Faith learns that Damon Bradley is in Venice, and, dressed in her wedding dress (which she's trying on) immediately dashes to the airport to find him.

What happens next is a delightful romance, where she meets the man of her dreams (played by Robert Downey Jr,) falls in love with him, and then rejects him when he admits that he is not, in fact, Damon Bradley, but is the man of her dreams in every other aspect.

I won't spoil the ending by explaining any more about the plot, but I find this story beautifully crafted. Echoes run through it in complex webs. On a date with Robert's character, Peter, (while she thinks he's Damon), they have so much in common - so many things they both love, that it is obvious they belong together. As if to confirm it, a street musician plays 'Some Enchanted Evening' as they walk past, and they stop to dance in the street....
Swoon.

If you haven't seen it, and you love romantic movies, track down Only You. You'll love it!

Author Spotlight - Amy Andrews

Today I'm pleased to welcome one of my favourite medical authors. Amy writes smoking hot medicals that have me turning the page long into the night. It was no surprise for me to hear that Amy's next release is going to be a Riva. I'm so excited to read it!! Here's Amy talking about her current release.


Where were you in your writing career 5 years ago?

I had about four or five books out and was just dabbling in my first ST. I was writing fast back then – I’ve been getting slower and slower. Sob!


Where did you get the idea from for this particular book?

My latest medical – Waking Up With Dr Off Limits - is the fourth in a linked series and came about from a few of my medical writer friends talking about wanting to do something together and then approaching one of our eds about it. We were given some very loose guidelines by editorial but essentially all the characters and setting came from us. We set it in Coogee so at the conference there in 2010 we were able to meet and discuss our characters and go looking for local Coogee landscapes that we could put in the book. We hadn’t decided who was going to do what book but as our plotting chat expanded on a little loop we’d set up, we kept talking about how there was going to be a TDH character that also lived at the house, maybe a brother of one of the heroines, to give the books a bit of eye candy and comic relief but then he grew and grew and grew and I knew I wanted my heroine (who hadn’t even really come to me by that stage) to be hopelessly in love with him. So I volunteered to go last so that Jess’s (really must stop choosing heroines names that end in an s!!) unrequited love could be well chronicled and then I could give her, her HEA at the end.


Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?

In five years I hope to be closing in on my 50th Harlequin. I’m now also writing for their RIVA line (Innocent Until Proven Otherwise is out in Feb next year) so the magical 50 will be split between two lines. I also hope to have a thriving ST career. Last year my sister and I co-authored a contemporary women’s fiction novel (with romantic elements – of course!!) which Harper Collins Australia picked up in a 2 book deal. Sister Pact, a story about two estranged sisters forced to play nice, is out in time for Mother’s Day next year.

Our second book tentatively titled Sister Napped is out the following year and continues the story of Joni and Frances. It’s great to see so many Australian publishing houses now realising what we Aussie romance authors/readers have known all along – romance rocks. And most importantly romance sells. It’s great to see so many Aussie authors being picked up by our local houses. And it was even better to hear one of the editors (can’t remember who) on the editor panel in Melbourne this year say that the RWA conference is now THE industry conference to attend in Australia. That can only be good news for ALL of us.


Which was the last book you read that you wish you'd written?

I have two actually. I just finished On The Loose by Tara Janzen, a new author to me. And also Susan Sey’s Money Shot. I highly recommend both of them. Tight writing. Great one liners. Zingy dialogue.


Was there any particular author or book that made you want to be a writer?

No. But there was one that made me want to be a different writer  Getting Rid Of Bradley changed my life. Until I read this fabulous Crusie category romance I thought I knew what a romance was. She blew that away. She showed me that you could be funny and snarky and sassy and irreverent. Yes perhaps I should have already known that  but to that point I wasn’t really reading any ST romance and my category choices were along the lines of Ann Mather and Carole Mortimer – great books but very different to Crusie’s.


What's the most romantic moment of your life so far?

Well it’s not going to sound very romantic I’m sure but a few years back my husband and I went to the Amalfi Coast in Italy sans children and one day we ended up at a little beach side shack (literally on the beach) that served basic food and cold local wine and we just watched the ocean together for a few hours – talking and eating amazing local cuisine and absorbing the ambience. It was bliss!


What do you wish you'd known about being an author before you were pubbed?

That getting the call isn’t the prize. It’s just the beginning of the journey and beyond that tantalizing, frustratingly out of reach door is another bloody huge mountain to climb!


What's the best writing advice you've ever been given?

Don’t give up.


How do you go about researching the medical detail that needs to go into your books?

I’m a terribly lazy researcher - I really don’t like it (would never make an historical writer!!) so I tend to chose medical situations that I know a lot about either through personal experience or just plain osmosis from having worked in the industry for over two decades. If I need to research I have a swag of medical people I know or work with that can usually answer most questions. If not it’s the www. But I think it’s also important to stress that any romance is first and foremost about the relationship – the medical stuff mustn’t overshadow that so I urge anyone out there trying to write for the line not to tie themselves in knots over medical detail.


Tell us about your book.

I’m excited about Waking Up With Dr Off Limits because it’s my first ever virgin book. I can’t believe it took me 25 books to get here  I guess though this series of four linked books is called Single Free and Fabulous in Sydney because it involved much younger heroines. I usually write my female leads in their 30’s so it seemed a good fit with Jess’s young character and her three year obsession/adulation/crush on Adam. I should perhaps add a warning here—my editor said she had to fan herself when she was reading it  Jess may have waited til she was 24 but she caught up fast! Jess is a newbie theatre nurse and Adam (Ruby from book 1’s brother) is a hotshot highflying surgeon working for an international surgical charity. He’s away a lot but that doesn’t stop Jess pining for him and imagining what could happen! Then one day she comes home from work after an all nighter in the OR to find Adam very much home and sleeping in her bed. And he’s coming to work in her theatres on a major case and wants her to help! Suddenly Adam isn’t looking at Jess as his little sister’s friend anymore. And Jess knows it’s now or never….


What’s next for you?

I’m writing my second RIVA next – not that I currently have a clue about any of it. But that’s okay, I know it’ll come. I have a title – the rest will follow 

Waking up With Dr Off-Limits


Jess's Diary: At least catching my housemate Dr Adam Carmichael--bachelor, sex-god, and my secret crush extraordinaire--in my bed {!} means he finally knows my name! For years Adam's been 100% off-limits {if ever a man needed a revolving door on his bedroom ...}, but there's no harm in dreaming of more ... is there?


Available from Mills & Boon UK, Mills & Boon Australia, Amazon UK




Thanks for being with us today, Amy, I'd be interested to know when you sleep with medicals, Rivas and Single Titles!!