First Book out soon!

Happy New Year! Very best wishes for a fabulous 2012!

Hope you have made your resolutions and -over a week into them - are you finding a new you with a resolve and determination to make this year your best ever?

My resolutions are simple, I find that keeping them low key and achievable is the way to go:

-Lose the extra 3 kilos I put on over the Xmas period

-Spend more time with my family and friends

-Quit the procrastination!

-Avoid melodrama unless it's on the page!

-Eat extra chill (I'm such a chilli wimp, but I'm told I'm missing out so I'm giving it a try)

It's turning out to be a very exciting year for me - I have two books coming out! The first is: One Month to Become a Mum, out in March 2012 in UK (April-Jun in US/Aus). The 2nd book: Waking Up with his Runaway Bride is due out in July in UK and Aug/Sep for US/Aus. Both are from the Harlequin Mills and Boon Medical Line.

Book three is trundling along in its infancy -I am 3 chapters down and can't wait to see what chapter four bring for this quirky couple. Skye is planning a move to the other side of the world, but meets Adam, a brooding ex-army medic with a whole heap of issues. Their first meeting is filled with chemistry and sizzling heat, something they both need to avoid at all costs!

Tell me, what are you hoping for in 2012?

Until next time,

Louisa xx

EDITING!

So, here's the thing - I've just completed a mammoth task of writing 37,500 words in 23 days.

Why?

Good question. Great. I have no idea. My deadline is 1st February. I must be mad. The house wasn't cleaned. The kids barely fed. Although a great deal of 'research' was done while watching those lovely boys playing in the Rugby World Cup!

I guess the story flowed. But how do we know whether the story we're writing is good? Or great? or gold? (Or just plain dull?). Answers on a postcard please! All I know is that I enjoyed writing this story and seeing where the characters wanted to go. I hope readers (and my editor) like it too!

I'm now tinkering with it and am at the point where I'm wondering if I need to continue tinkering or whether I will tinker the life out of it.

So here's a question for all you writers out there - how do you know when your story is truly 'finished'??

Until next time,

Louisa xx

RWNZ conference Part Two

Having spent the previous weekend at Melbourne RWAus conference I was getting the hang of Bob Mayer's Warrior Workshop - aka Write it Forward. If any of you don't know Bob or haven't attended his lectures he's a must-see guy! Have a peek at his website here:http://www.bobmayer.org/

He has invaluable information about self publishing, the digital world and writing in general. Once again, I reiterate, the most important thing I learnt from him was that I am responsible for my writing career, no-one else.

Armed with these thoughts I attacked the rest of the conference with me and my weaknesses in mind. I have a blank when it comes to conflict. Conflict between my characters, that is. So I tried to counter this blind spot by attending as many talks as I could on this subject, and on craft in general. Superromance author Molly O'Keefe had some wonderful informative points on hooking and plotting and putting conflict on every page; crime thriller writer Tess Gerritsen gave us her tips on how she begins a story - looking for the emotional jumping off points. Editor Lucy Gilmour and the very lovely Medical Romance author Sue Mackay gave us some invaluable insights into what M&B are looking for in a Medical Romance. (I concentrated very hard in this one!).

All in all it was a very informative and interesting conference with lots of food for thought. Hopefully my writing will be stronger for it!!

I can't reiterate enough how important it is to attend events such as these to help develop a writing career. Not only is it a great chance to mix and mingle, but there is a sense of kinship, of renewal and commitment to our goals. Take every opportunity, make your writing better, focus on your dream.

Until next time,

Ciao,

Louisa xx