Welcome to the Weekend :: Writing 25 books!

This weekend we are celebrating Kate Hardy's 25th book! Kate writes for both Medicals and Modern Extras and has written her 25 books in such a short time we all pretty much want to either keel over and faint or shackle her for it ;). So to tell us how she did it, here's Kate!

I’ve recently reached a bit of a milestone with the publication of my 25th Harlequin Mills and Boon romance, Breakfast at Giovanni’s, and when the Pink Heart gang worked out it was just under five years since my first hit the shelves, they had one question for me: how do you do it?

I put it down to being a planner. I write for two M&B lines, Medicals and Modern Extra and, as my editors like me to write three a year for each, that means writing six books a year – which works out at two months a book. Which gives a pretty good structure to my working week, because if you break that down a bit further it means a week’s thinking time, six weeks to write the book, and a week to clear my head.

So if we say 5 working days per week - that’s 50,000 words in 30 days, or roughly 2,000 words a day (building in time for slippage - because there will be days when I’m up to my eyes in family stuff and won’t be able to write as much as I’d like). Broken down like that, it isn’t so scary. Especially as I’m a planner rather than a pantster, so I know at the beginning pretty much what’s going to happen all the way through the book. I also have a spreadsheet (a bit like one of those wordmeter things) that tells me how many words I need to write per day to hit my deadline and it keeps me on track. (Especially on those days when it’s sunny and I think: work or go to the seaside with DH and the kids, paddle in the sea and eat fish and chips on the harbour wall? … easy choice, that. Seaside.)

The only problem with being a planner is that sometimes my characters rebel. The one I’m writing now is a case in point. I was on chapter three when the heroine informed me that she wasn’t a junior doctor, she was a nurse practitioner and part of the senior management team – so I had to go off and do some extra research. And then my hero pointed out that, coming from Barcelona, he regarded himself as Catalan rather than Spanish, so I’d have to change all those pretty Spanish phrases into Catalan, thank you very much. (More research. Sigh. Characters!)

Two thousand words a day is doable for me – and it means I get plenty of time to spend with my children. Though I do admit that sometimes real life gets in the way (Tuesdays are a wipeout because I have a guitar lesson and then put the world to rights with my teacher over coffee, and then when I get home it’s time for lunch with the dog, a walk, and then oh no it’s the school run), I get behind, and then have to write a ridiculous amount to meet my deadline. (That’s when a note that goes up on my door every so often: ‘Do not disturb unless dire emergency or bearing chocolate…’)

So to celebrate being a planner (note I didn’t say ‘neat and tidy’ – my office is a tip except the week I’m between books and have time to tidy up!) I’m giving away a copy of my latest Medical Romance, The Italian GP’s Bride (there will also be a copy in the August PHS hamper).

Question: what keeps you on track?

Check out Kate's blog and website for more about her upcoming books, her current works in progress, and her life and times as a working mum with a love of books, music and, ahem, a certain brand of handbags I'm afraid to meNtion in case it makes her go buy another!

Friday Film-Night :: Anne of Green Gables

Okay, so its not exactly a movie. But you can get it out at the DVD store and I do believe you absolutely must. I'm talking about:

Anne of Green Gables

I was never one for birthday parties. The last one I had with invitations and games and the like was when I was six years old. But one of my favourites was my twelfth birthday, while my folks had a bunch of friends over for "drinks" to celebrate ;), my friend and I sat back on a pair of beanbags in the TV room and watch the most gorgeous tale of a girl's journey into adulthood.

The 240-minute Anne of Green Gables was first shown on American television as a 3-part presentation in 1986.

Megan Follows is Anne Shirley. 13-year-old Anne Shirley, an orphan girl sent to live with a foster family on Canada's Prince Edward Island.

She is a fabulous heroine. Long red hair which she hates so much she dyes it - and it turns green. She has freckles and will never be as gloriously beautiful as her kindred spirirt and best friend cram-skinned Diana Barrie (Schuyler Grant). She has a romantic imagination to rival any person on the planet and is famously short-tempered. I could have been her as a thirteen year-old! Heck I still could be.

Though she has great difficulty controlling her temper, impulsiveness and vivid imagination, Anne eventually wins over her new guardians, domineering Marilla Cuthbert (Colleen Dewhurst) and Marilla's shy brother Matthew (Richard Farnsworth).

And then there's her supposed enemy Gilbert Blythe (Jonathan Crombie). The boy at school who pulls her hair and teases her and is the only one close to being as smart as she is. And here's where the romance comes in.

Gilbert is her equal, in every way. Stubborn, opinionated, intelligent. And we know he likes her. Though he squires the local beauties around town, we know he only has eyes for our Anne. Though it sets her off like a firecracker whenever he dares pretend otherwise. Talk about sparks!

The romance continues, falters, and shifts in the second series as Anne becomes determined to become a romance writer living a life of tragic singledom and Glibert becomes a talented young doctor with an eye on marriage. Will our young meant-to-be lovers truly not end up together?

Anne sees the world outside of Avonlea, and finally realises home is where the heart is.

From the book "Anne of Avonlea", by L.M. Montgomery:

For a moment, Anne's heart fluttered queerly and for the first time her eyes faltered under Gilbert's gaze and a rosy flush stained the paleness of her face. It was as if a veil that had hung before her inner consciousness had been lifted, giving to her view a revelation of unsuspected feelings and realities.

Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one's side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart it's pages betrayed the rhythn and the music; perhaps... perhaps... love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath.

Then the veil dropped again; but the Anne who walked up the dark lane was not quite the same Anne who had driven gaily down it the evening before. The page of girlhood had been turned, as by an unseen finger, and the page of womanhood was before her with all its charm and mystery, its pain and gladness.

Aaaahhhhhhh.......

There is a third series, set during the war, which I have never seen. Do I want to? Do I really want to know what happens next after the happy ending? I think I need convincing ;).

Warm and fuzzy rating: 9 with ease

Ally's current release, her first ever Sexy Sensation release in Australia and New Zealand, GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS, is out in Down Under right now. As we speak. Heck there may not even be that many left on the shelves so you'd better hurry.... ;)

Though you can be one of the first to read about Abbey and Flynn by checking out an except online now!

Thursday Talk Time. . .Love and Change

Please welcome one of your new columnists, Blaze author Samantha Hunter, with her first Pink Heart Society column!!!

First let me say how thrilled I am to be a regular columnist here at The Pink Heart Society. Thanks for asking me, gals! I love this site, so this will be fun...

Being asked to choose favorite category romances, however, is an inventive way to torture an author, since I hardly know where to begin. I’ve been reading category since I was twelve years old, taking a break somewhere in my twenties and early thirties, and then picking up again late thirties, so there’s a lot of territory to cover. Do I choose something early that I remember from years ago, such as Nora Robert’s MacGregor series, which was a keystone for all of her readers and for those of us who enjoy writing series?

Do I choose one of the early Blaze novels such as Janelle Denison’s The Ultimate Seduction, or JoAnn Ross’s Thirty Nights, that inspired me to write for the line? Do I choose something from the new authors and new books I’m reading, like Sarah Mayberry’s Daytime Diva Blaze series or Amy Knupp’s Superromance, The Boy Next Door, to help promote someone new and let you know how great their books are?

Damn, this is hard!

So, I did the only thing a rational woman can do. I closed my eyes in front of the bookshelf and pointed, and that’s the book I’m going to talk about, since if it’s in my bookshelf, it’s a keeper. Ah. . .there it is. A good one, indeed. Isabel Sharpe’s Christmas Blaze, Before I Melt Away. Perfect! Christmas in August. But this book is on my shelf because it is about more then the holiday; to me, it is category romance, and Blaze, at it's best.

This is hands down the most romantic title Blaze has put on a cover (even the font is romantic!), and it’s an annual read for me at the holidays. It was definitely an inspiration as I wrote my own Christmas Blaze, due out December ’07, Talking in Your Sleep, but we'll talk more about that later.

In Before I Melt Away, Personal chef Annabel Brightman is a driven workaholic, but her old friend Quinn Garrett convinces her to have some hot (very hot!) and sexy fun over the holidays – thing is, Annabel is so closed off from the world, from her friends, from her colleagues and the people in her life, she can be callous and unthinking that I literally wince every time I read the scene where she and Quinn are picking out Christmas trees and she whips open her cell phone, disappointing him sharply that she cannot extend herself to share in even the tiniest moment of Christmas magic. Isabel does such a great job of making you want to just shake her, she's so determined to resist the magic of the holiday and Quinn, and you have to wonder, how did this woman get this way and can she change?

Quinn has his hands full with Annabel – literally and figuratively as this story is as hot as any Isabel has ever penned – but it’s also achingly romantic and just a beautiful holiday story that asks how many of us get so wrapped up in work we forget what’s really important? How many people don’t make time for love?

In the story we can see that as successful as Annabel is, she is wounded, and she needs to change be a whole person, and that's what I find most fascinating about all romance. All romance novels open with characters who are at a point in their lives where they are ready for change, but will they do it? They will either take the risks that they must to win real love, or they may lose out forever.

They say that what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger, and maybe that’s true in a limited sense, but finding love is the way most people really grow, don't you think? Sometimes it might be "tough love," but it always has to be love. When you know someone loves you, you can let go of pain and insecurity, and then you can really blossom. But you have to be willing to change, and so many of us aren't, because we're afraid of what will happen. We just have to have faith that it will work out. This is what Isabel’s book is about, and it’s one of my favorite themes as well.

This theme emerges in my August release, Pick Me Up, as well, where Lauren and Brett have to both risk and grow to find real love, and the book was so much fun to write. In many ways, Lauren is a heroine I relate to, since my husband also has been someone who has supported me and helped me take risks I might not have otherwise, and so from that, I have grown and changed over the years, too. This is what love and romance is all about right? What is your favorite category romance where the characters really risk something or change for love? Is there a hero or heroine you've ever really related to in that way? Share! :) What's the biggest change you've ever made for love?

Samantha's netx release is PICK ME UP. Said to entail ". . .Hot sex, well-developed characters and humor, all placed in beautifully described scenery. Pick Me Up, (4 1/2 stars) is a winner!"

Writers' Wednesday with Kelly Hunter

This week one of the funniest authors to have popped up onto our radars in an age, Modern Extra's fantabulous Kelly Hunter, brings us some insight into how her life has changed since selling her first book...

• Writing became a business. This one’s a biggie because it involved a different mindset altogether to writing whatever I wanted, whenever I felt like it. There was promotional material to get to the publisher, a website to make, author loops to join and - if there was time - an online presence to build and maintain. There were line expectations to get a handle on (because, no, selling one book to a line doesn’t automatically make you an expert), and…oh yeah… there was another book to write. Once writing becomes a business there’s always another book to write.


• Life got busy. I have two children and a husband, and I adore spending time with the lot of them. I have two non-writing day jobs, friends to enjoy, a huge garden to play in, cooking to do, cleaning to avoid, ironing to try and force sons to do (and while we’re on the subject, what moron invented the notion of flat clothes?) and a couple of books to write for Modern Extra each year. Time to get the skates out and sit them by the door.


• I met some amazing women. Generous, savvy, funny, resilient, talented women who greet newcomers to this business with and a pitcher full of Margheritas in one hand and a parcel full of invaluable advice in the other.


• I got to hold my book in my hands. See it on the shelves in my hometown. I got to cross ‘become a romance author’ off my to-do list and it felt soooo good.

It still feels good.

Kelly Hunter’s Wife For A Week was a finalist in eharlequin’s best laugh out loud book for 2006, and was Cataromance’s Best First Category Romance of 2006.

It’s on the shelves now in North America and also available as an ebook!

Visit her online at http://www.kellyhunter.net/

Travelling Tuesday - Where's Wylie?

This Tuesday at The Pink Heart Society our wandering editor Trish Wylie brings us the last of her Where's Wylie posts... well for now anyway... And she ended her American trip where she began... and left a little bit of her heart behind she feels...

There's just something about New York.

Even choosing the pictures for this blog from my vast collection has me pining to be back there again. I really did fall in love with it in a way I've never fallen for another city (and keeping in mind here that I'm a country girl at heart too!). Dublin is Dublin - friendly and fun and full of quirky history. London is London and full of grandeur and politely bustling crowds. But New York? Well there's just something so very ALIVE about the place that you can't help but feel a little more alive while you're there.

I don't think it really hit me where I was the first time until we drove closer to the Manhattan Bridge and it was laid out in front of me like some kind of surreal postcard. And I'll confess I had a giggly moment. Hey - I thought - That's New York - I'M IN NEW YORK!!! And we drove in through Times Square all lit up at night and it was just... A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! There truly aren't words. I had to unceremoniously dump my cases and head straight downstairs to a sidewalk cafe to sip coffee and take in the sounds and it was LATE and there were still people EVERYWHERE and you could hear that oh-so-distinctive honking noise that emergency vehicles make ECHOING FROM STREETS AWAY so you could never quite tell where it was coming from and.... I WAS IN NEW YORK.

It was as well I was as tired as I was, because honestly I was like a child on Christmas Eve. And VERY UNCHARACTERISTICALLY I was up and on the go at the scrape of dawn the next day. But I think New York kinda does that to you - you really don't want to miss a thing. And there's just SO MUCH to see! So after very yummy pancakes and maple syrup to fortify me (we just don't do pancakes as large here at home and they tend to be had with tea later in the day and maple syrup costs a FORTUNE) I headed off to sign up for one of the first of many open top bus tours that I was to take of the city (BOTH times) And on that first day I managed to take in a lot of Manhattan and did Ellis and Liberty Islands and spent AGES soaking in the atmosphere in Battery Park and then did some more of the bus tour and... y'know - the day just wasn't long enough - even with the RIDICULOUS HEAT!

I saw hilariously funny street entertainers, children playing in fountains, NYC Police officers on horseback. I gaped at how truly HUGE the Statue Of Liberty is. I felt quite emotional when I walked around Ellis Island with the voices of immigrants telling me their stories in my ears thanks to the audio tour. I stood for ages looking at the mangled globe mounted in tribute to 9/11 (transported from Ground Zero to Battery Park). I saw the steps of the Courthouse from shows like Law And Order, saw the library that starred in films like Ghostbusters and The Day After Tomorrow. And can I point out that this was just the FIRST DAY...

See what I mean?

On my second day I took the tour that guided us around Central Park and along the edge of the island of Manhattan that overlooks Brooklyn. I saw where John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived (the place he was shot), I learned about the millionaires who built mansions around the edges of the Park given to allow New Yorkers a little bit of the country in the midst of the madness of the City. I saw Royal Navy sailors walking around the City in their white uniforms as if it was an everyday occurrance. I was told about the cheapest places to shop for clothes and designer labels *cough* like Rolek Watches (and that's not a spelling mistake). I mentally made notes of where places like the Guggenheim and Natural History Museum where in the hope I'd get to them all. I leaned over the edge of the upper floor railing on the bus to throw down my dollar bill in exchange for the bottle of iced water thrown back up at me. I ate lunch at a hotdog stand... But the evening decision to walk back to my hotel while firmly believing I had the whole blocks/grid system straight proved a tad of a mistake for my poor bad leg in the heat - not to mention the blisters I gave myself... so that was Day Two... I DID consider a helicopter tour of the harbour and over the city but when one kinda...er...fell into the Hudson... I decided to skip that...And on Sunday I barely had time for some more wandering and picture taking and browsing the shops before I had to go get on a plane.

But that was okay - cos I knew I was coming back!!!

And d'ya know - after Houston I COULDN'T WAIT. Not that I hadn't enjoyed Houston and that drop of rain to remind me of home, but I knew I was going back to New York and THAT was just as amazing a thought the second time round, maybe even a little bit more cos I KNEW what I was coming back to! (I was even able to give sight-seeing tips to some tourists on the Shuttle Bus in from JFK...)

So on my second visit I tried to get to a lot of the places I'd missed the first time - like Brooklyn (with enough gorgeous Brownstones for heroines to live in to satisfy ANY writer) - and the Natural History Museum (which I went to on the Subway! An experience all on it's own...) - AND I got to visit the New York Harlequin Offices!!!!!!!!!!! Yup. I DID. AND I got taken out to lunch and got to pick books to read and EVERYTHING. *wriggles with glee!* And for you authors that have maybe been to the London Offices but not to the New York... this picture of the FOYER of the building pretty much says it all... Nothing quite like a Tiffany/Art Noveau ceiling, is there??? And the offices are EVERYTHING you expect them to be!!! (for you readers out there - it's HEAVEN - you could hide away in the corner of one of those gloriously-packed-with-books offices, only appear at night to sneak down the hall to the kitchen for sustenence and you could be in there for DECADES... TRUST ME...)

Oooohhh... now what else did I do??? How about the night tour where I got to see Little Italy packed to the gills with people who really DO shout 'How you doin?' or Harlem Street Market where no-one bats an eyelid as they walk past the famous Apollo Theatre or when I recognized the Archway you see in the opening credits of Friends... how about eating lunch in a gorgeous Italian Restaurant where you're charged by the WEIGHT of your plate? Or calming stepping out into the street to hail a cab to take me somewhere where I could GIVE THE DIRECTIONS all confident about cross streets like I'd been doing it for years... or how about shopping for souvenirs in Times Square at ELEVEN O'CLOCK AT NIGHT (not called the city that doesn't sleep for NOTHING my friends!)...

And how about spending my last night on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building taking pictures of the New York skyline all lit up??? Can you understand yet why I left a little piece of my heart behind???

There is so so much I'll remember about my first trip to the States this summer. I'll remember that very first glimpse of New York - the two lovely girls who talked to me in the queue for the ferry to Liberty in Battery Park in the blazing heat - the people who thought it was *cute* that some random blonde girl was taking pictures of a small leprechaun beside the sign for Ellis Island - the beauty of Georgetown in Washington - the poignancy of the boots left at the base of the Vietnam War Memorial - how much the Holocost Museum broke my heart and the love story one survivor told on a film there about when she met her future husband as the US Army liberated her with fellow women who survived the death marches - the helicopter with THE PRESIDENT IN IT landing next to my hotel while I had lunch in the rooftop restaurant - the marine who guarded the tomb of the unknown soldier in over 100 flipping degress of heat!!! - the many, many wonderful new friends I met in Dallas and the Editors I danced with (I jest you not) and the INSANE amount of people in one place at one time and the talking books til you were hoarse and the author friends I know will be friends for life - SOUTHFORK RANCH in all it's glory - the thunder and lightning in Houston - my first ever IHop food - Visiting NASA and that FIVE STORIES HIGH CINEMA SCREEN - flying back into New York over Manhattan AT NIGHT when you could see Time's Square lit up from the SKY - visiting the offices in New York and that lovely lunch - The Empire State Building lit up at night with that light reflected off the rainclouds it was disappearing into - the NYC Cop who made the mistake of posing for pics with tourists in Times Square and then COULDN'T GET AWAY - the pics I was able to take of where SPIDERMAN WORKS for my nephew who LOVES HIM - all the WONDERFUL STORIES the NYC Tourguides told and how their different personalities made every tour that little bit different - The New York skyline from 86 flipping stories up while I HATE HEIGHTS and the TERRIFYING speed at which the elevator counted the stories on the way DOWN - the shopping, OH-DEAR-HEAVEN-THE-SHOPPING...

And then - at JFK Airport on the way home... the small crowd that had gathered to watch what I thought was an ad being filmed... so I joined them at the rail for a minute cos I'd been so good about checking in early and I was feeling somewhat euphoric about not having been charged excess baggage weight (had to buy a second suitcase mind you...) And that moment when I realized I was actually watching a MOVIE being filmed ('Old Dogs' according to the crew who had to move us off to the side cos we were interfering with the shot... apparently...) - and right there - across the airport from me - were Robin Williams and John Travolta !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sigh. Yup. It was ONE HELL OF A TRIP... Worth beavering away in a cave for a year I feel. Now.... where would you like me to trek to next?... oh, and can I interest anyone in CALIFORNIA next year????

H's & K's

Trish

Trish is THRILLED to bring her first Modern Extra book White-Hot

to the USA & Canada this month as part of the Promotional

Presents mini-series - Eligible Bachelors along with books by Kate Hardy, Kelly Hunter & Julie Cohen.

Released as The Firefighter's Chosen Bride the book is available through the Eharlequin Site and at Amazon. You can also buy it as an E-Book here!!!

For more info visit her Website or her Blog. (where you can also read more of the travelogues she did from her trip...)

Male on Monday :: Brendan Fraser

One of the most underated actors in the world today methinks. Is it his fault? Does he choose strange roles over class? Not always. So why isn't strapping, tall dark and handsome Brendan Fraser in the stratospheric realms of the Brad Pitts of the world I ask you?

He's not afraid to play gay - as he did in the really quite wonderful Gods and Monsters.

Not afraid to play dumb, and ugly, and stupid as he did in the almost forgettable but not quite for all the hilarious roles he played in Bedazzled.

And he's sure not afraid to play out and out comic book heroic. He could have been the next Indiana Jones with the wit and charm and gorgeous streapping good looks and swashbuckleness he displayed with suuuuuch ease in the rip-snorting adventure wonder of The Mummy. And that was up against the supremely beautiful tattooed one, Oded Fehr.

He goes topless better than almost any other man on the planet. Seriously. But he does so on films such as George of the Jungle which means not enough discerning movie goers get to see him in that manner.

Hit and miss? It sure seems so. So let's look past his spotty movie career, and his glorious abs, to find out more about the man behind the muscles. Come on, you can do it, look away from the pretty man for just a minute and then you can have him as long as you please!

He's been married for almost ten years to Afton Smith on and they have three sons, Griffin Arthur, Holden Fletcher, and Leland Francis. He holds dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship and speaks fluent French. He is also an accomplished amateur photographer. You can check out some of his work on his official website here. There are some truly beautiful black and white stills.

Good on paper so far right?

Has developed a reputation for being extremely approachable and friendly to fans who meet him on the streets. He's ambidexterous. And I reckon he's super cute. At 6'3" he towers over most pipsqueak Hollywood types. He has a booming deep voice. A sharp sense of humour. He fills a suit like nobody's business. Heck if I don't use him as hero inspiration and soon then I deem myself plain silly.

Oh, and I just found out he made something like $12,500,000.00 for making The Mummy !! like five years ago, so I think perhaps he's doing just fine without me;).

Ally's current release, her first ever Sexy Sensation release in Australia and New Zealand, GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS, is out in Down Under right now. As we speak. Heck there may not even be that many left on the shelves so you'd better hurry.... ;)

Though you can be one of the first to read about Abbey and Flynn by checking out an except online now!