Sunday 26 February 2012

Written on the Wind - part one

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Hooray! The first part of my new serial for Woman's Weekly is out this week!



Written on the Wind is about Annie Farrow - an artist who makes beautiful, stylised mobiles. Her dream is to create larger installations whilst supporting herself with her artwork, but this seems unlikely until her great aunt leaves her a house on the edge of the North Yorkshire moors.

However, Annie discovers that the wild seclusion of Moor End House doesn't quite provide the uncomplicated lifestyle that she'd thought it would.


Issue is March 6th 2012 - on sale 1st March!

(And yes that IS David Essex on the cover)


Friday 10 February 2012

RoNA Rose Shortlisting!

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The Kydd Inheritance shortlisted for the RoNA Rose 2012!



The news is now out and I am so, so, so thrilled to be able to announce that I have been shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists' Association awards for the third year running!

This year, the awards have a new logo and a new name: the RoNAs. There are six awards being made - Contemporary, Epic, Historical, Romantic Comedy, Young Adult and the RoNA Rose for category and hardback-only romance.

The Kydd Inheritance is a Regency love story set amidst secrets and skullduggery. Nell Kydd has to outwit her dangerously creepy uncle, reinstate her dangerously adventurous brother and come to terms with his dangerously attractive friend, Hugo Derringer.



The winners in each category will be announced at a wonderfully posh "Bubbly and Bites" event at One Whitehall Place on Monday 5th March. It would be a terrible waste not to buy a new frock for it, yes?


I'm delighted to see so many of my friends on the 2012 shortlists. The full lists are as follows:


Contemporary:
Chances, Freya North, (Harper Collins)
Christmas at Tiffany’s, Karen Swan, (Pan Macmillan)
It Started with a Kiss, Miranda Dickinson, (Avon (Harper Collins))
Summer of Love, Katie Fforde, (Arrow (Random House))
The Untied Kingdom, Kate Johnson, (Choc Lit)
To the Moon and Back, Jill Mansell, (Headline Review)

Epic Category: 
Crimson China, Betsy Tobin, (Short Books)
Jubilate, Michael Arditti, (Arcadia Books)
That Liverpool Girl, Ruth Hamilton, (Pan MacMillan)
The Kashmir Shawl, Rosie Thomas, (Harper Collins)
The Lantern, Deborah Lawrenson, (Orion)

Historical Category: 
A Gathering Storm, Rachel Hore, (Simon & Schuster UK)
Daughter of Siena, Marina Foriato, (John Murray)
Highland Storms, Christina Courtenay, (Choc Lit)
Perhaps Tomorrow, Jean Fullerton, (Orion)
The Noble Assassin, Christie Dickason, (Harper Collins)

Romantic Comedy Category: 
Lizzy Harrison Loses Control, Pippa Wright, (Pan MacMillan)
Please Don’t Stop the Music, Jane Lovering, (Choc Lit)
The Look of Love, Judy Astley, (Transworld - Black Swan)
Who’s Afraid of Mr. Wolfe?, Hazel Osmond, (Quercus)
Wrapped Up in You, Carole Matthews, (Little Brown Book Group - Sphere)

Young Adult:
Angel Fire, L. A. Weatherly, (Usborne Publishing)
Artichoke Hearts, Sita Brahmachari, (MacMillan’s Childrens’ Books)
Dark Ride, Caroline Green, (Piccadilly Press)
My So-called Phantom Lovelife, Tamsin Murray, (Piccadilly Press)

RoNA Rose: 
Flirting with Italian, Liz Fielding (HMB Riva)
A Christmas Knight, Kate Hardy (HMB Medical)
Ordinary Girl in a Tiara, Jessica Hart (HMB Riva)
The Kydd Inheritance, Jan Jones (Robert Hale)
The Dangerous Lord Darrington, Sarah Mallory (HMB Historical)
Winning the War Hero's Heart, Mary Nichols (HMB Historical)

Further information can be found at the RoNA Awards site and the Romantic Novelists' Association.