Wildcard Weekend: High School Reunions

Pamela Ford discusses the pain and pleasure that is The High School Reunion

I missed my high school reunion last July because I had a conflict. But even without a conflict, I was conflicted about going. Why is it that getting an invitation to our high school reunion can send fear into even the most successful, self-assured women? What is it about going back to see old classmates that can send us into a dither, making feeble excuses why we can’t possibly attend, dieting, getting Botox, changing hairstyles, exercising like crazy, you name it. Is it because, seeing old friends, we fall into old insecurities about who’s popular and who’s not – and this time around, darn it all, we’re going to be cool…and successful…and someone to be envied. Or, is it that we feel the reunion is going to be a “life report card,” with people making assessments about how well we’ve done in life…and we want to make sure, this time at least, we get really good grades.

That’s what happens to the heroine in my newest book, Her Best Bet. Faced with an invitation to her ten-year reunion, she panics over attending the reunion as a lowly traffic manager. Instead, she decides to pursue her long-buried dream of becoming a filmmaker, and sets off to make a documentary about an old Wisconsin lodge and its gangster history.

Of course, the funny thing about dreams – especially high school dreams – is that they often change. Mine sure did. Sometimes what we think we want most isn’t really what we want at all. Did that happen to you? Did attending one of your reunions – or the mere thought of attending a reunion – send your life in a different direction? If you have a reunion story worth sharing – funny, dramatic, romantic, or just plain interesting, please share it with us!

Pamela Ford’s latest book for Harlequin Superromance, HER BEST Bet, is out now.

RT BOOKreviews gave HER BEST BET 4-1/2 stars and said, “Ford’s characters are wonderfully realistic – with real emotions and problems – plus, her dialogue is witty and the story is captivating.”

Stop by my website to read an excerpt and enter my contest: http://www.pamelaford.net/

Must-Watch Friday - Julie & Julia

Modern Heat author Heidi Rice explores a culinary masterclass of acting, writing and directing as Meryl Streep and Amy Adams cook up a storm for Nora Ephron's new women's pic Julie & Julia. But be warned, this is one movie to avoid if you're trying to diet...

On one of our rare nights out recently (thank goodness for sleepovers!!), my DH and I treated ourselves to a delicious meal at our local pub-restaurant The Duke of Cambridge and then decided to continue the foodie theme by going to the new movie by writer/director Nora Ephron (she of Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally fame) at the nearby multiplex.

And what a treat we had in store for us. Even my husband couldn't fault this movie, despite the fact that I did have to ply him with a fair bit of wine to persuade him to see it, after lots of predictable muttering about chick flicks and girly stuff and the inevitable 'are you sure there isn't anything better on' rejoiner once we'd arrived at the cinema box office.

Normally, I would have waited for a girls night out to see this movie, so I could avoid the usual huffing and puffing... But after our splendid meal this just seemed like the way to go. Because, as well as being a movie about two bright, brilliant and wonderfully unconventional women - the indomitable 20th-century chef Julia Child (author of the seminal 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking') and perky young 21st-century blogger Julie Powell, who challenged herself to cook all of Julia's 524 recipes in a single year - this is a film about food... In all it's mouth-watering perfection.

As Meryl's Julia cooks her way through the cordon bleu establishment in Paris and endeavours to write a book about it and Amy's Julie takes on everything from steaming a lobster to boning a duck in her tiny Queens apartment we get up close and personal with gastronomique excellence. Honestly, at one point I could have sworn I could actually taste the boeuf bourginon it looked so good.

Ephron has chosen a topic which is as fabulously unconventional as the characters of these two trailblazing women. I mean, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when she pitched this movie to the executives at Columbia. 'Well, you see I've got this great idea based on a blogger's book and it's about two women who never meet, cooking, for two solid hours.' No car chases, no guns, no CGI and not a single teen dance-a-thon in sight.

Luckily for us, they decided to thrust Ephron's judgement. But I suspect the cast also sweetened the pill. After all, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams are surely two of the most watchable, and most liked actresses about at the moment, and with good reason if this film is anything to go by. Meryl, who just keeps getting better with age, has the tall, ungainly and delightfully outspoken Childs down pat, while Amy is no slouch either as the slightly ditzy but surprisingly determined food enthusiast who soon realises she's bitten off a lot more than she ever planned to chew.

And then there are the men in their lives.... Stanley Tucci as Child's diplomat husband Paul who supported Julia's dream of becoming a published cookery writer during her many knock-backs, and Chris Messina as Powell's hunky husband Eric who put a brave face on having to scoff down an incredible array of cordon bleu cuisine and amazingly didn't seem to gain an ounce (and yes, I was looking!!)

All in all, this one ticks all the boxes, but I'd recommend going for a slap-up meal before hand, or you may find yourself salivating over your popcorn.

Warm and fuzzy rating, an easy 10 out of 10, and that's just for the food!

Heidi Rice's latest Modern Heat, Public Affair, Secretly Expecting, is due out in the UK in November and will be morphing into a Presents come next March.

The sequel to her September Presents, Hot-Shot Tycoon, Indecent Proposal, Public Affair features bad boy Irish movie star Cormac Brody and shy, but not at all retiring, London dress shop manager Juno Delamare.

Heidi loves to hear from readers, and you can contact her on her blog or through her website.

Soundtrack Thursday - Invitation To The Boss's Ball

The soundtrack to Invitation To The Boss's Ball has to be one of my favourites. I wrote most of the book while listening to it on my ipod. It was a way of cutting myself off from the noise and distractions of the outside world and immersing myself in Alice and Cameron's universe.

I build my soundtracks chronologically - but that I mean the songs relate to different stages of the book and I try and put them in an order that reflects my hero and heroine's emotional journeys. There are always a couple of songs that stand out to me and become inspiration for the writing of key scenes. I often play them on continuous repeat while I write those scenes. You'd think I'd get sick of the songs, but I never seem to - not even after the book is finished.

Here's the full playlist for Invitation To The Boss's Ball. It's a big of a strange collection, but the songs all seemed to follow an emotional thread for me. Listening back to them now, I realise that many of them have a lilting rhythm, and are the kind of songs I could imagine dancing or waltzing to. Weird. I didn't notice this at the time.

1. Throw it Away - Delta Goodrem
I liked this one because it summed up Cameron's high-and-mighty attitude at the beginning of the book.

2. Crush - Jennifer Page
"It's just a little crush..." Yeah, who is Alice kidding?

3. The King of Wishful Thinking - Go West
So Cameron thinks he's immune to Alice, does he? He might as well keep right on dreaming.

4. City - Sara Bareilles
This is the first song that captured me and would not let me go as I wrote this book.

Right in the middle of the story there is a scene where Alice and Cameron eat a takeaway picnic on the floor of his Canary Wharf office. Alice looks out over the city twinkling away below her, knows it's madness to feel anything for Cameron, but still can't help herself.
"In these deep city lights, a girl could get lost tonight..."

The way Sara Bareilles sings the line, "These boys only listen to me when I sing" sends shivers up my spine.

5. I'm With You - Avril Lavigne
"Won't you take me by the hand, take me somehwere new?"
I wondered why I included this when I looked down my list, but then I heard the lyrics, telling of a girl desperate to break out of her life, and listened to the 3/4 waltz rhythm and I remembered why.

6. Don't Dream It's Over - Sixpence None The Richer.
I've always liked this song and when I discovered it on a Sixpence None The Richer CD I'd bought in a sale, I fell in love with it all over again. I love the lead singer's voice.

7. She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5
"Look for the girl with the broken smile..."

8. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
After seeing the beautiful rhumba danced to this song in "Strictly Ballroom" I couldn't not include it in a soundtrack that was all about dancing.

9. Runaway - The Corrs
Another one in 3/4 time. This song gives a sense of being on the verge of something, and I could imagine it going through Alice's head as she watches Cameron bid for her dress at the charity fashion show.

10. Gravity - Sara Bareilles:
"You hold me without touch. You keep me without chains..."
This was definitely another of the key songs for the book. This song was the one I listened to as I wrote the scene where Cameron and Alice waltz on the balcony, as the music from the ball below drifts up and surrounds them.


11. Fall At Your Feet - Crowded House
"I'll be waiting when you call."
Cameron's ready to give Alice his heart, but she's too scared to accept it.

12. When You Know - Shawn Colvin
"Cos you know, and you know that you know."
This song has a sense of coming home to me, of realisation. It matches Alice's sudden awakening as she realises that Cameron always looked at her "as if he meant it". (Picture me shaking my head). Silly girl.

13. What Kind of Fool? (Autumn Rhapsody version)
"What kind of fool won't discover the jewel til the dust clears? Fools like us..."


I love this band. I own this song on 12" vinyl, and the Autumn Rhapsody version is even better than the 7" version, full of sweeping vocals and soaring violins. It decribes Cameron's journey for me.

Fiona’s latest release is Invitation To The Boss's Ball, on sale at eHarlequin and Mills&Boon and in bookshops in Australia and New Zealand

In this modern-day Cinderella story, plain Alice's world is turned upside down when she's askes to organise tycoon Cameron Hunter's charity ball...

She finds herself spending a magical night dancing in his arms, even though she knows that everything will be back to normal on Monday morning. But for now, she's going to enjoy every second...

Writer’s Wednesday by Kate Hardy: Productivity

I suppose I’d better come clean and admit that Kate Walker dubbed me ‘Scary Kate’, some years back - because I write very quickly and produce, um, a lot of books per year. Part of this is because I write for two Harlequin series (and my ed tells me that readers want three books a year in each), and part of this is because... well, I’ve always fitted in a lot to my life. (And I’m not really scary. I’m short, I’m round, and I make wonderful cookies. I’ll admit to being a bad influence, especially where puddings and music are concerned, but I’m not scary.)

So why am I having a problem with my productivity? (I know I’m not alone, here, because several of my author friends have said something similar.)

Over the last year or so I’ve noticed that my productivity has dropped. I seem to spend longer and longer sitting at my desk to produce each book – and I really want to work smarter, not harder. When my children were still at nursery, and I had less time to write, I still produced the same amount as I do now. Surely, now that I have more time, I should be able to write more?

Er, no. In my ratrace days, one of the most inspirational managers I ever met said that work expands to fill the time available. And I think he’s right. Instead of being focused because I know I only have a morning to write a certain amount of words before picking up my littlest from nursery, I’m over-relaxed because I know I have until 2:50pm before doing the school run. I’m not working efficiently or effectively.

I also let myself get distracted by a particularly large time-suck. Something that’s absolutely wonderful – but something that’s also not controlled. (And I bet I’m not the only one who suffers from this one!)

The internet.

Five years ago, I didn’t have broadband and my connection was quite slow, so I only checked my emails twice a day, and I couldn’t get YouTube.

(Ha. Since I mentioned it – and I need a pic to break up the text, a tad – this is my current fave video on YouTube. It’s the ‘black moment’ song for the book I’m writing now, and Joe Elliott is just… sigh.)



Now, my computer ‘pings’ every time an email comes in (tempting me to break off to read it) and then I might look up something on the internet and get distracted on a research trail (and sigh over Joe in the video above. Yeah). It’s taken a while for the penny to drop, but I realise now that unrestricted access to the net means that I’m working to even less of a schedule… and it’s affected my productivity really badly.

Some people hate schedules – they find them restrictive and it reduces their productivity. But I’m a planner, and I know that when I’m working to a schedule I’m much happier than when I’m muddling through. So, last month, when the children went back to school, I set about organising my time properly, using a business diary and scheduling in work slots during the school day. I really love Lotus Organizer because it lets me schedule things as and when I want it, and each day’s section will include items from my year planner (aka deadline dates, conference dates) and my to-do list (admin tasks such as registering books with PLR/ALCS; slots for guest and group blogs; and things such as the post office run so I make sure I send birthday cards and presents in plenty of time).

This also means that I can break my work down into times that suit me best. I’m a morning person, so my main time for writing fiction is the morning. I can also schedule in time for * breaks from the screen (important to avoid eyestrain and the spectre of RSI) * exercise (to help keep me fit and healthy – and I’ve put on enough weight over the last year to know that sitting at my desk all day isn’t good for me) * dealing with admin (the theory being that I won’t end up either with that shoe-box of receipts that takes hours to sort out for my tax return, or the pile of filing that becomes a hideous chore).

I know that the internet is my biggest weakness, so I’m batching emails and research, rather than breaking off in the middle of work to check something or answer an email (and then letting myself get distracted). I don’t feel that I’m disconnected from everyone because I’ve scheduled in email checks during my ‘working day’: first thing when I get back from the school run, at lunchtime, and just before I do the school run in the afternoon. It’s flexible because I can check more frequently if I know I’m expecting something important, but it also stops me frittering time.

Result? Well, over the last month, I can say that I’m much less stressed and I’m definitely more productive. I don’t have to work most evenings to catch up: double benefit there, as it means I get more quality time with my family and I’m not tired in the morning from working late. And if a family crisis hits, there’s room in my schedule to deal with it.

So my question to you is: what single change has helped you be more productive?

In the UK, you might still be able to find a copy of Kate’s new book on the shelves (or, if not, it’ll be on the Mills & Boon website). Temporary Boss, Permanent Mistress is set under the Northern Lights. Playboy Boss, Pregnancy of Passion is still available in the US from the Harlequin website, and next up in Australia is Kate's contribution to the Penhally series, Falling for the Playboy Millionaire. You can find out more about these books, and Kate, on her website (http://www.katehardy.com/) and her blog (http://katehardy.blogspot.com/)

Temptation Tuesday: Lipizzaner Stallions

Michelle Styles reveals the temptation of a well schooled white horse.

There is something about a horse, particularly white horses who are so well trained that they can dance.
As a girl I first became aware of the Lipizzaner horses through the Disney movie The Miracle of the White Stallions which recounts the true story of how General Patton saved the breed from near certain destruction at the end of World War 2.

The horses also feature in the Mary Stewart novel Airs Above Ground.

There is just something magical about the way they move and the respond to the rider. They appear to be creatures out of a fairy tale. However, many of the moves were developed for military purposes and the ability to perform those moves is a result of highly schooled and intelligent horses working with dedicated men and women. It i

Lipizzan are not born white (or more accurately gray) but black or bay. They become lighter as they grow older. Often not getting their full colouring until they are 6-10 years old. Lipizzan are long lived. Some even reach 40. They spend their first years in pasture and do not start being schooled until they are about 3. It is the stallions who preform the complicated dressage, rather than the mares.

They are called Lipizzan after the town Lipica in Solvenia where the first stud was established. The blood lines are carefully controlled. The horses are given two names. The first is the stallion's bloodline and the second gives the mare's name.

The most famous place for Lipizzans to perform is the Spanish Riding School of Vienna. It totally threw me as a young girl as I was aware that Vienna was in Austria. So where did Spain fit in? The name Spanish Riding School of Vienna recognises that the breeding stock originally came from Spanish Andalucia. The School was established by the Austro-Hungarian Emperor in 1572 and 1735, they began to preform in the Winter Riding School in Vienna. It is still possible to see performances there.

Thankfully, the Spanish Riding School does tour the world and it is possible to see the horses perform closer to home. The following youtube video explains the various moves and gives a glimpse of the horses in action. But really they do have to be seen in person to be fully appreciated.

When not admiring horses, Michelle Styles is busy getting ready for the publication of her next novel -- The Viking Captive Princess (publication Dec 2009) and trying to make her deadline for the next book.

Male On Monday

A post in which Jenna Bayley-Burke admits to her HGTV addiction, and shows why.

I bored everyone who would listen with my house staging saga, moving mania, and new home conundrums. Now we're stelled and one would think I'd be done. But NO. No, no, no... I can't give it up. I don't need it anymore, not in the way I once did, and yet, I can't go a day without tuning in.

Home & Garden Television and the DIY Network got me through a turbulent year. They are a comfort to me. OK, so they're littered with man candy. Capable man candy. Not musclebound gym rats who strike a pose (though these guys can hold their own) but men who have earned their confident grin.

Imagine, no disaster is too daunting for these guys. Clogged sink? Fixed. Want a new shower head installed. Not a problem. And while we're at it, let's just renovate the bathroom. Can't you just see one of them saying "Precious, you go to the spa. Come home tomorrow and it will all be done." THAT would make me swoon.

I spent the weekend judging contest entries and it hit me that a gorgeous hero doesn't work if he isn't capable. Yes, the square jaw and sparkling eyes don't hurt, but it is what's beyond that which speaks to the reader. We want him to be handsome AND able to make our heroine's life better for having him in it.

That is the challenge of a romance author. Not to describe a gorgeous man in every mouthwatering detail, but to make him a man who can handle what needs to be done - shirt optional.

Jenna is not writing much of anything, and won't be until September October. In the meantime, Compromising Positions is available with chocolate, Kama Sutra yoga, a decade old crush and a steady addiction to sugar. To find out what Jenna is up to now...check out her website or blog.