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Sports stars

We had a great sporty weekend watching the Formula One in Baku, Azerbaijan, and then the NRL Preliminary Grand Final between the Penrith Panthers and the Newcastle Knights.  I wanted the Panthers to win but the Knights fairytale story was incredible. Bottom of the ladder last year and now they are in next week's Grand Final. It truly is a fairytale and whatever happens next week, it was one memorable Semi-Final. I've long admired the dedication of sports player, (oh my gosh the physical pain they must endure so much of the time, the ups and the downs, the brilliant highs and the super bad lows!) and I chose sports stars for two main characters in books; players at the end of their careers. The book I'm now working on, A Sweet Tomorrow , (publication: October, Book 4 in Clearlake County) features a former American football star, now managing players.  In Marrying Michelle , the hero, Luke Slater, is a former Kiwi rugby player. His career is over and he faces the new challeng...
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Cover love

I've been playing around with new covers for the City of Sails Series. I found an image of the Auckland skyline to use as a backdrop. Perfect!  On each of the five covers I've changed the colours so they're different, and with different characters but they're clearly a series. I really like the pinky one for All About Sage .  I've also seen a trend where books in a series will have only slight differences in the cover. I spoke to a cover designer at the recent romance writers conference here in New Zealand, who said the cartoon-style covers are showing no signs of losing popularity just yet. Hence the new covers! I'm hoping to upload them all before the end of this month.
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Friday Flashback

Photo taken on my grandparent's farm when I was possibly four or five years old. My grandfather was killed a month before I turned six, so it has to be before that. I just look kind of excited and brave to put my hand on the side of the cow. I love the hand on the hip, too! I was thinking that I maybe remember when it was taken, but I think that's the curse of the photograph memory. If I truly remembered it, I'd remember who took the photo (possibly my father) but I have no memory of that at all. I do know I loved going out to the farm, loved the animals from the Border Leicester sheep to the milking cow, to riding on the tractor and all the farm stuff. Good times.
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GOLDEN RETRIEVER

I was with a bunch of writers recently and heard the phrase, "Golden Retriever hero."  What on earth? Were golden retrievers a thing in books now?  I used to have a golden retriever, adore them, but what was going on? Why not the Scottish Terrier or the Jack Russell, or if we're going large, the Old English Sheepdog? Well, actually it doesn't refer to the dogs at all. It is in fact a reference to a type of hero, inspired from the dog, with all the attributes of the Golden: loyalty, warmth, affection, kindness, and those lovely qualities.  You learn something every day. You really do!
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CAPTIVATING KELLY

I am beyond delighted that Captivating Kelly has been released! (excuse the over-the-top sized font!) and there are even a few tropes! Fake boyfriend Boss and the baby Forced proximity A CEO workaholic who needs a nanny, a burnt-out TV producer who needs a fiancé, and the deal that throws them both together in this sweet romcom. Workaholic CEO Sam Bracken has just been landed with his best friends’ baby (Tiffani with an ‘i’) and he makes a deal with employee, Kelly Brown. If she lives in as Tiff's nanny, he'll take her to the party where she wants to come face-to-face with her scumbag ex. Burnt-out Kelly left her beloved TV show ‘Mystery Date’ for a job she doesn't live and breathe 24/7. Life is sweet, until she learns the ex who humiliated her is back in town, and she's determined to confront him once and for all. Sam is the answer. Plus he's absolutely gorgeous; enough to make any man jealous. The problem is that Kelly doesn't know the first thing about babies...
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New covers for Clearlake Country

 My Clearlake county books have had an upgrade, brand new covers including a cover for the  upcoming, "A Sweet Tomorrow," which will be released later on this year. I think they are just gorgeous...! They are currently exclusive to Amazon but will be wide by September 1st. They are all standalones, but set in Clearlake County, USA.
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Romance Writers of New Zealand Conference Kiss'n'Tell 2026

Pic: @mrs_moa_book_hub I spent two days this last weekend at the Romance Writers of New Zealand conference, 'Kiss and Tell,' and had a marvellous, marvellous time. It was five years since the last conference I went to in Wellington. Five years!!  This time I missed the Friday workshop but was there for Day One and Day Two. So here is a bit of a round up on just a couple of talks. Speaker T.L. Swan (Tee). I'd never heard of Tee before but the woman is quite something. Massive seller, who also started up her own publishing company over in Australia. Main points I learnt from her talks: Keep changing covers and blurbs if you need to. She changed covers on one of her series literally dozens of times before they started selling. Nothing had changed about the books at all but just the covers. You don't give up, you just keep pushing, pushing, pushing until you find your readers. Interestingly, she doesn't read romance fiction at all. I remember ages ago, another top selle...
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