It's November, and November 1st is apparently National Writers Day , so I suppose I should honour the writers by writing... something!! As in, a pseudo-review of one of my own books. Yes, you read that right, although it will be brief, I promise. I am currently reading a proof copy of the print version of A Perfect Forever , which is Farrell and Nick’s story. As I read it,  given I haven’t read it for years, I think I maybe wrote the Farrell character a little too snippily, but then, she is career focused and high pressured and there is so much stuff going on in her life. So, as I proof it one more time, I may tweak a few more things to make her a little less snippy... but not too much. Because a big part of it is that there is a softer side to her which Nick brings out. In fact, maybe I'll leave Farrell Bridgewater as she is, with all her snippy imperfections. (If you ask where I got her name from, I have no idea. I just know that when I first came up with the idea for t

And finally, the new cover for... Marrying Michelle. This actually is a picture of a couple on a boat. There is no boat scene in the book, but it is set in Auckland,  and Auckland is by the sea and there are heaps of boats in Auckland. The original picture is below.  

 Here's the new cover for Promising Penny . I will see how it goes as in a way its not that evocative of the story, which is about Penny who is a baker and dreams of her own cakery. But the story is set in the city as against in a small town, with that quaint vibe.  I really do like the font I found for the titles in this series though, I think they work well.  But this is the beauty of indie publishing. It can always be changed... again...! 

I have spent the past week sorting out new covers for the Dating Daisy series. I really liked the old covers but I think they needed a lift.  This one is evocative of the trip that Daisy and Joel win when they go on Mystery Date: a trip to the glam resort of Golden Grove, somewhere in the Pacific. Check them all out on the books page on my website HERE.

I remember going to a writers' conference and one of the guest speakers, a super top-selling, one of THE top selling, category romance authors, came out and said she didn't read much romance! She felt if she did, it would somehow influence her writing. As in, she would inadvertently steal someone else's plot. Well, we in the auditorium were shocked! Because the first thing the advice for writers is, is to read, read, read. And here is this super-successful Mills and Boon author (and M&B are always telling us to read their books) well, she is telling us she didn't read much romance. Cripes! I hope she read her own books when she'd written them, or maybe she didn't. Good lord, maybe she didn't even like them! I hate to think. One of the reasons an author should read is to check out the market. It makes sense as an author to know what a publisher is after, and what they're doing, but also to look at trends in fiction. Although by the time something is a

I had a strange week with my reading. Two books I started I couldn’t get into. One I actually found boring with all the detail and backstory, and the other one, it just didn’t grab me at all, not my characters nor the plot. I plodded on for a few pages and checked out the end (with both of them, tbh) but, that was it. Such is the joy of reading. It can be erratic. However, I was pleased to renew a subscription to one of my favourite magazines which is old school with warm and cosy short stories, recipes, puzzles and health stuff. I really like it and my first copy arrived this week. And speaking of old-school, here's another old picture I happened upon. It is simply called: Man and woman reading to children possibly on board SS ORMISTON, 1927-1939 Australian National Maritime Museum’s  Samuel J. Hood Studio Collection  

 I've changed covers a few times for Falling for Jack over the years. I don't really think changing them has made much of a difference at all, but I guess having an actual couple on the cover indicates it is a romance, as against say women's fiction or a love story. I do like them all. Here they are: This was the very first cover. Sweet and lovely. Then I changed it to this one. The woman walking, and the subsequent books in the series had that theme and most of them still do! And this is the latest and cover... and it's still permanently FREE !!!