Step Into The Story

Yes, today is the day of the paperback launch of Loves Me Loves Me Not ! This "big fat gold book" as Katie Fforde called it, is the Romantic Novelists' Association's 50th anniversary anthology and is packed with short love stories to suit all tastes from Regency to chick lit. Described by Good Housekeeping magazine as "an uplifting anthology of love stories from Britain's leading romance writers," Loves Me Loves Me Not is an indulgent treat and I am very honoured to have a story in the collection. There's a copy up for grabs in my website contest too!

Happy September, everyone! Whilst I have enjoyed the hot summer days we've occasionally had here in the UK this year, I do love autumn very much. Living out in the country I can feel the seasons turning. It's darker earlier in the evening when I take the dog for his bedtime walk and as we go round the fields I can feel the cool nip in the air. The young owls, born this year, are calling in the willows by the stream and the September full moon is waxing. The dew is heavier on the grass in the mornings. The swallows are starting to fly South and the leaves are starting to fall. It's beautiful! I've had an incredibly busy but exciting summer of work that focussed on my Brides of Fortune Trilogy and I am so happy and grateful to my readers for the lovely response the books have had. Not only did all three books hit the Bookscan bestseller charts in the US, The Scandals of an Innocent reached Number 10 in the Borders romance chart as well. I hope UK readers will be pleased ...

Ok, so by now you may well have heard that in a Romantic Novelists Association poll, Richard Armitage was voted The Sexiest Thing on Two Legs. The Press Release states: "British actor Richard Armitage has leapt from last year’s 4th place to this year topping the ratings in the Romantic Novelists’ Association 2009 Valentine’s poll, to take the title of Sexiest Thing on Two Legs, beating top Hollywood stars to the number one spot. Johnny Depp, who topped last year’s poll, was pushed firmly into second place, with Hugh Jackman and George Clooney mere also-rans. “Richard Armitage took 20% of the vote, more than double the count of any other male on the list,” said the RNA pollster. “He was a clear winner from the off.” The RNA is not alone in admiration of the actor, as numerous online Richard Armitage fan sites will testify. The ardency began with North and South, grew by leaps and bounds with his appearance as the leather-clad baddie in Robin Hood, and shows no sign of diminishing a...

This week a very exciting thing happened – I received the draft cover for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Golden Anniversary anthology and I'm sharing it here. The book, called LOVES ME, LOVES ME NOT, is a collection of romantic short stories written by the RNA’s members to celebrate the RNA's 50th anniversary. It will be published by MIRA books in hardback in December 2009 with a paperback edition coming out early in 2010, the anniversary year. Contributions cover all the romantic fiction sub-genres, including contemporary and historical romance, regencies, sagas and chick lit with stories from some of the RNA’s finest authors from Joanna Trollope to Adele Parks! The book promises to be a total treat and I am very proud and honoured that my own story, a regency called The Elopement, is to be featured in this volume. The Romantic Novelists' Association started in 1960, mainly through the efforts of Alex Stuart, with 115 members. Over the years, membership has grown unti...