Cat Tray-ler Friday has moved to Sunday

Okay - we have decided to go with a weekend of fun and have Caturday Fun and Cat Tray-ler Sunday.

This weeks Simon's Cat is something I have seen my own cats do many times.



And now for a Champion theme - and I am aware of the commercial aspects of these ads but they are also really cute and really inspiring. I like to think of these two clips being a little story.



And now he's grown. Thanks to Rachel for this one.



And here is a Champion Cat - what a brave little guy.



If you have any really cute or funny youtude videos with a pet theme send it along to tracie [at] traciesommers [dot] com. We will look at it and if we decide to use it - you will get the credit here on the blog.

A Bit Of Fun For A Caturday

A LoveCat Word Search! (But be warned... I set the difficulty level to hard.)

Love Cats word search game » word search puzzles

Thanks to ProProfs for providing the means to make our first LoveCat puzzle!

What Are You Reading?

Rachel's Cat Stats
Watching: Love Actually (again!)
Listening to: Love Actually soundtrack (makes the joy last longer)
Making me smile: Fergus pretending he's the biggest dog in the house (that's him below)



I'm an absolute book lover. There are several things I like that I could live without - a good book is not one of them.

And one of the most special times for a book lover is to find a new-to-me author whose writing I can sink into. Especially if they have a backlist. All those new books to read!

I do have a few authors I need to try, based on recommendations. Georgette Heyer would be near the top of that list. Unfortunately when I was first told to read her, I wasn't given any titles, so I bought a book randomly only to find it was one of her 1920's mysteries. It didn't grab me the way I'd hoped and it took me a while to work out that these weren't the books people had raved to me about. Now I need to try her again - a Regency this time (and I've seen they've brought her books out again Downunder with gorgeous covers!).

I'm reading something fabulous now - Anne Gracie's To Catch A Bride. I'm almost finished and going slow because I don't want it to end. But the good news is, it's the third in a series and I haven't read the others yet. Guess what's next on my To Be Bought list! =)

Before this, I listened to Susan Elizabeth Phillips's What I Did For Love on audiobook. Loved it! And I surprised myself by being completely swept away by the Twilight books.

So now I have a question for you: who else should I put on my To Be Tried list? Tell me the last great book you read, or if you're reading something now that you're enjoying, please share the details! My reading addiction needs new titles! =)

Catwalk Wednesday

Name:
Splat. And not because I'm going to make that noise as a car runs over me (sniff) as some people have suggested!

I'm not quite sure how I ended up with my name. It might have been because when I was a kitten I used to run through the house, launch myself at the curtains/washing hanging on the line/skirts/whatever waved in the breeze or was fun to climb, swing on it and then let go. The name came from the sound of moi's chubby, furry little body hitting the ground.

Or maybe it was the time I chased my sister, Panda through the house while my human companion was painting, and I happened to mistime a ferocious leap and ended up knocking over the paint bucket, splattering mango hue all over the place, including my fur...my first (and if I have any say in it) my LAST bath!

Dislikes:
Dogs, that's a given. What's so appealing about a panting, slobbering, butt-sniffing canine for company?

Vacuum cleaners also come high up on this list. I have nightmares about being sucked up into that noisy contraption. It's a good thing I'm 6kgs of fur and fat--umm, I mean muscle. No way will I ever fit up that long, thin tube! Gotta keep up the diet, gives me an excuse to snack, muscle building requires energy, you know.

Thunder and rain hitting the tin roof (shudder) - but don't tell my companion or I'll use your legs as a scratching post. She thinks I'm comforting her while the storm is raging by following her around the house and sitting next to her legs or on her lap. If she's not home, I like to hide under the nice, dark, safe bed.

Favourite Pastime:
Eating, sleeping, eating, helping my companion write her stories (did you know she blogged the other week about me being her furry little protege?), eating, sleeping, checking out the washing (I'm HELPING get the wrinkles out, not swinging off it, honest!), eating, sleeping, terrorizing Panda, eating...

Best Friend:
My uncle, Furball. We hang out together - on the bed, in the garden, across at the neighbours house, on the rug while watching TV. He calls me his Little Shadow. I follow him everywhere - except when I hear the refrigerator door open...or the grocery bags rustling...or the pantry door squeak...

What do you like to sharpen your claws on:
Mostly the lounge. Did you know my companion actually bought me a new one last week! I mean those scratching posts are OK but why go for the rough hemp when you can sharpen your claws on suede? Much more sophisticated and it feels divine under the paw pads, so soft and velvety...purrrrrrr!

Do you have a pet photo you'd like to share?

The LoveCats are showcasing Catwalk Wednesday each week! For those readers who'd like us to feature their furred, feathered or scaled friends, please send Mel the snapshot to her email - melteshco@yahoo.com.au with the subject line: Catwalk Wednesday photo. Each week the LoveCats will choose one animal friend. Mel will then send off a list of questions for the pet owner to choose from!

Happy Australia Day

Tomorrow - Tuesday 26th of January - here in Oz we celebrate the landing of the First Fleet onto the shores of Australia.

For some it means backyard barbies, cricket, and a day off work, while to others it means a trip to the beach to celebrate in the sun, eat ice cream and swim in the surf.

But for me - this year is the 21st anniversary of the birth of my first born child. I have a lot to be proud about my boy. He is thoughtful, considerate and always there for his friends or for us. He is not adverse to coming to see a movie with me, or going out to dinner or even just been seen with his ol' mum. He is a wonderful son and I plan to celebrate with him tomorrow by taking him out to lunch.

To all you Aussies and Aussies at heart - Happy Australia day, 2010. Have vegemite on toast for brekkie, share a Tim Tam or two, have a barbie. Just enjoy the day.

If you are Australian, what does Australia day mean to you? Do you celebrate it, acknowledge it or just think of it as another day?

Aussie Cover revealed

by Nikki Logan

Just popping in bright and early on a Sunday to flash my new cover for 'Lights, Camera...Kiss the Boss' which releases here in March. You'll see this look previewed in the January releases next week.

It's a bit 'womens fiction'. It's a bit 'single title'. It's a bit pretty. It's a cover that won't make me (or anyone reading it) cringe. I personally like it.

*But*...is it a cover that will stand out on shelf? Will readers recognise it as Mills & Boon?  Do the old titles work with the new covers? Would you buy this?

What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

A Bit Of Fun For A Caturday

It's Saturday and I declare that all LoveCats and Friends of LoveCats deserve a bit of R&R!

In fact, each Saturday (Caturday) I'll be bringing you a bit of fun to start the weekend.

Today, for our inaugural Caturday Fun, I present Mel Teshco's cat Bundy. Enjoy! :)

Friday Cat Tray-ler & our USA Today Bestseller listee

Before we get into today's CAT Tray-lers - LoveCats would like to congratulate our very own Rachel Bailey for hitting the USA Today's Bestseller list at #94 with Claiming His Bought Bride - WAY TO GO you CAT-tastic girl!!!


Now onto the fun. Today we have three cat themed videos to watch today. The first is from the Amazing world of Simon's Cat. This clever artist know cats - and knows them very well. Over the next coming weeks we will feature a Simon's Cat Movie from his wonderful series. If you can't wait - then you can see them on his site. You'll watch them again and again - I promise you - especially if you are a cat lover.



Head 'em up, move 'em out - Raw-meow. Just love this Tray-ler




The third Cat Tray-ler is proof that not all cats hate the water.

A NEW LoveCat!!

Breaking News: there’s a new LoveCat on the block! (Or a new LoveCat on the blog, maybe?) The very gorgeous Anna Hackett has joined our ranks and become our Northern LoveCat. (Cheers erupt from the sidelines where the LoveCats are toasting the occasion with a fine sparkling white.)

So how did she earn her “northern” status, you ask? By day, Anna is a mining engineer in the north of Australia, and she’s also lived in the northern hemisphere. She’s got northern written all over her. ;)

Anna writes fabulous paranormal stories for Nocturne Bites (with very hot covers, I might add!). And I went digging (bad mining pun intended) and found some interesting facts:

Anna’s favourite animal: “Dog. I don't have one but I want one! A cute little beagle.” (The dogs lying at my feet are wagging tails the choice of another dog-lover.)

Favourite mythical animal: “Dragon. The first short story I sold featured dragons - so I have a soft spot for them.”

Something we wouldn't know: “Some people know I'm a mining engineer, what they wouldn't know is that I've worked at diamond mine and seen a pile of diamonds worth over two million dollars! I didn't get to bring any home though.” (Oh. For a moment there I had visions of very sparkly LoveCats…)

A few words from Anna: "I'm thrilled to be joining the lovely ladies at the LoveCats. Looking forward to meeting everyone and having some fun - LoveCat style!"

So please join us in a big welcome for Anna... Ready? Set? Go! PAWS IN THE AIR!!

Catwalk Wednesday

Name:
Dorkus aka Psycho Cat

Human Slave:
His name's Robbie and he turned up about a year after I moved in with mum and muscled in on our relationship. Thought he was the boss but I showed him. It took a few years of careful training but now I have him wrapped around my furry paw. I meow, he feeds me. I can usually score an extra meal or two during the day if I bug him enough. Trouble is, he escapes a lot and doesn't come home for days. And when he's gone, no matter how much I carry on, I can never trick mum into giving me extra food (not an extra gourmet tin anyway). Guess I better start the re-programming.

Night Owl or Early Bird:
My humans call me the furry alarm clock. If my stomach is rumbling then it's time for one of the humans to get up and feed me. And if that means I have to tap them on the shoulder a few times, sit on the bedside table and stare down at them until they feel my feline power and wake up or jump on top of them, then so be it. I like to make the wake-up call as early as possible. Why should I wait just because they want to sleep? There's another 23 hours in the day for that.

Likes:

• paper bags
  
• dark cupboards
  
• sleeping underneath the bed
  
• raw chicken
  
• ambushing the humans
  
• sun-baking on mum's old writing desk
  
• the wood fire in winter.

Dislikes:

• thunder
  
• that damn cat burglar who stalked me for a couple nights in a row,
  
• that man who stuck a thermometer up my bum and a needle in my shoulder (though my mum thought he was cute), and when he started clipping my claws -- well, you've heard the story of Samson & Deliah? -- I was not impressed,
  
• eating the same thing day after day.
  
• Being called 'stumpy bum' - I can't help it if I lost my tail in a fight with a garbage truck - do I make fun of your appearance?
• car trips/plane trips -- any kind of travel. I'd rather stay home and watch the world pass by.
  

Ambition:

I have a blog called Diary of a Mad Cat which I must get back to one of these days, but I need "Cat Speaking" or some other cool software. It's really tedious typing with your paws.

I had a contest on MySpace for a while with a pig to see who could get the most friends. I'm sure I won. I haven't logged in for a while.

Mmm, come to think about it, guess I'm not very ambitious anymore. Hey I'm 14 years old! It takes too much energy to be ambitious (yawn!) and I like my sleep.

Occasionally I give mum a critique on her writing. This either involves sitting on her manuscript, vomiting on it or eating it. I'm sure she gets the message .

Got to go, I can feel a cat nap coming on.

***
Do you have a pet photo you'd like to share?

The LoveCats are showcasing Catwalk Wednesday each week! For those readers who'd like us to feature their furred, feathered or scaled friends, please send Mel the snapshot to her email - melteshco@yahoo.com.au with the subject line: Catwalk Wednesday photo. Each week the LoveCats will choose one animal friend. Mel will then send off a list of questions for the pet owner to choose from!

Grand Prize Winner!

Thank you to everyone who came along and helped us celebrate our launch! The LoveCats have had a ball in our launch week, but the party doesn't stop now - tomorrow, Mel will be here with our first ever Catwalk Wednesday. And then on Thursday, our Western Lovecat, Nikki Logan, will be back.

But before we can leave our launch week, we have a Grand Prize to award. This prize is 21 books, yes, 21 - some from the LoveCats, and some from the Friends of LoveCats who've generously donated a book to the launch. You can see the covers in the slideshow on the right, but the titles of the books in the Grand Prize are:

1. The Earl’s Dilemma, Emily May (in Fate & Fortune, with A Country Miss In Hanover Square, by Anne Herries) Quills / Regency
2. Claiming His Bought Bride, Rachel Bailey Desire
3. The Blackmailed Bride’s Secret Child, Rachel Bailey Desire
4. Marriage Reunited: Baby on the Way, Sharon Archer Medical
5. Single Father: Wife & Mother Wanted, Sharon Archer Medical
6. Stone Cold Lover, Mel Teshco Ellora’s Cave
7. Tonight, My Love, Tracie Sommers Spice Briefs
8. Night’s Cold Kiss, Tracey O’Hara Eos
9. His Housekeeper Bride, Melissa James Harlequin Romance / Sweet
10. The Rebel King (Suddenly Royal #1), Melissa James Harlequin Romance / Sweet
11. His Princess in the Making (Suddenly Royal #2), Melissa James Harlequin Romance / Sweet
12. Lights, Camera… Kiss the Boss, Nikki Logan, with Australian Boss: Diamond Ring, Jennie Adams Harlequin Romance / Sweet
13. Prince Incognito, Linda Goodnight, including a novella, The Homecoming, Melissa James Harlequin Romance / Sweet
14. Devil in a Dark Blue Suit, Robyn Grady Modern Extra / Presents / Sexy Sensation
15. Tycoon’s One Night Revenge, Bronwyn Jameson Desire
16. Valente’s Baby, Maxine Sullivan Desire
17. To Love, Honour and Disobey, Natalie Anderson Modern Extra / Presents / Sexy Sensation
18. Blackmailed Bride, Inexperienced Wife, Annie West, Modern / Presents / Sexy
19. The Count of Castelfino Christina Hollis Modern / Presents / Sexy
20. At the Boss’s Beck and Call, Anna Cleary Modern Extra / Presents / Sexy Sensation
21. Tempt The Devil, Anna Campbell Avon

Everyone who commented during the launch week was entered in the draw, and each time they commented again, they were entered again. Our resident Science Cat, aka Sharon Archer, used a highly scientific method of choosing (ie., names on screwed up bits of paper in a bucket).

And the winner is:

**Tina C!**

CATgratulations, Tina C! If you can send your postal address to Sharon: sharon at sharon-archer dot com we'll get the prizes out to you asap.

See you all back tomorrow for Catwalk Wednesday!

ANNOUNCING BOOK WINNERS!

Our launch week is over! We've had the most fabulous time and it's thanks to all you gorgeous visitors! You've chatted with us and made us smile with your wonderful comments.

So today we're doing a wrap up of the week -

• re-announcing our daily winners (see below)
• tantalising you with what's ahead for LoveCats DownUnder!
• and saying a HUGE thank you to the authors who have supported us for our launch week with their generous donations.

This is a list of the authors who donated books for our daily draw packages: -

- Bonwyn Jameson
- Robyn Grady
- Melissa James
- Rachel Bailey
- Nikki Logan
- Tracey O'Hara
- Tracie Sommers
- Emily May
- Mel Teshco
- Zana Bell
- Sharon Archer

-- and we'll list the authors who donated to the Grand Prize tomorrow when we announce the lucky winner but you can see a slide show of all the gorgeous covers on the right side panel!

What's ahead for LoveCats DownUnder!!
We hope you'll come back and see us often. We'll be blogging regularly on Mondays and Thursdays BUT we'll have fun new things up on other days too so pop in and see what's there.

Mel is doing CATwalk Wednesday! If you want your fur-friend (or your feathered-, finned- or scaled-friend!) to appear then watch for contact details with her first CATwalk PinUp! She'll send you a choice of fun questions and ask for a photograph of your fur-friend.

Tracie is scouring the Internet for entertaining videos to post on the Friday CAT-tray-ler segment!

Rachel has found the cutest little puzzles to tease you with on Saturdays - hence forth Caturday Fun.

And you'll be able to meet other authors in our interviews, too!

So without further ado - let's re-announce our daily winners for the launch week.
Many of you have been in touch with us already and that's fantastic! Any one who hasn't, please, put your hand up and give us some details so we can rush your books to you!

• MONDAY - day 1 - Anita Mack

• TUESDAY - day 2 - Maree Anderson

• WEDNESDAY - day 3 - Linda Henderson

• THURSDAY - day 4 - Nancy who spoke of Little Women & music (please contact sharon (at) sharon-archer (dot) com with your details)

• FRIDAY - day 5 - Tamara Gill

• SATURDAY - day 6 - Becca J Heath

• SUNDAY - day 7 - Susanwilson44 (please contact sharon (at) sharon-archer (dot) com with your details)

Please come back tomorrow for the winner of the Grand Prize draw!

Thank you again for making our Launch Week such fun and we hope to see you soon!

Watch This Space!!

We'll post a wrap-up
of our Launch Week soon
with all our prize winners!!!

....in the meantime....

Who's helping out at your desk?

New Year, New Resolutions

Zana’s Cat Stats

READING: Tea and Biscuits Mary Scott (1950s/60s NZ writer. Good fun)

WATCHING: Deadwood – for the second time. Brilliant.

LISTENING TO: The Essential Leonard Cohen – esp. the 2^nd CD

MAKING ME SMILE: This luddite learning to blog!

As I’m bringing up the rear in our launch line-up, I thought I’d talk about beginnings.

New blog sites are like New Years. They provide a tabula rasa upon which we can make our mark. NY Resolutions are visions of how we’d like to shape our lives. All too often though, I’ve caught myself repeating the resolutions of the year before. I’m never sure if, deep down, I didn’t really care about these goals or whether I’m just very skilled at sabotaging myself.

David Lean has been on my mind these past few days (Bear with me. There is a link!).

I like making films about characters I'd like to have dinner with.

Lean understood the essence of storytelling and whether his films were black and white and intimate like Brief Encounter, or the vast epics like Dr. Zhivago, it was his characters and their journeys that touched our souls. Yet he didn’t make films for fourteen years following the savaging by critics of Ryan’s Daughter. Now they are all dead and while most of the critics have been forgotten, Lean takes his place amongst the great directors.

Why do we inhibit ourselves? Allow others to inhibit us? Somewhere between 2 January and 31 December, we lose that glorious vision of how things might be if we were just to seize life and push self-doubt aside. My resolve this year is to shift from technophobe to technophile. Hence blogging and many thanks to my fellow felines for pulling me into the 21^st century!

So today I raise a glass to David Lean in recognition of all the films that he gave us and all the films he might have given us. This is also a toast to a new blog site with its new vision and to a new decade. Happy Resolutions everyone!

Please feel free to share thoughts. We’d love to hear from you and you’ll be in to win today’s great prizes:

1. The Earl’s Dilemma, Emily May (in Fate & Fortune, with A Country Miss In Hanover Square, by Anne Herries) Quills / Regency
2. Forbidden Frontier, Zana Bell Mira
3. Single Father: Wife & Mother Wanted, Sharon Archer Medical
4. Duo of Marriage Reunited: Baby on the Way, Sharon Archer, with Lucy Clark’s Bride on the Children’s Ward Medical
5. Claiming His Bought Bride, Rachel Bailey Desire
6. The Blackmailed Bride’s Secret Child, Rachel Bailey Desire
7. Tonight, My Love, Tracie Sommers Spice Briefs
8. His Housekeeper Bride, Melissa James Harlequin Romance / Sweet
9. Tycoon’s One Night Revenge, Bronwyn Jameson Desire
10. Stone Cold Lover, Mel Teshco Ellora’s Cave

Over the hills and far away...

Name: Cattus avidtravellus

Common name: The Travel Cat

Home range: www.emilygee.com

The Travel Cat loves nothing more than to explore the world. With her eyes on the horizon, the Travel Cat eagerly sets out to see what's around the next corner and over the next hill. An outdoorsy creature, she tends to avoid cities -- her favourite haunts are isolated coastlines, peaceful, wind-sculpted deserts, deep forests, and rugged mountains.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi, my name is Emily, and I'm an addict. A travel addict. I love exploring new landscapes and experiencing the scents and sounds and sights of different countries. We live in a wonderfully varied world -- oceans, deserts, mountains -- there's so much to see!

As a Kiwi, growing up in a country full of trees, I never thought barren landscapes could be beautiful. Boy, was I wrong! Having visited more than 40 countries, many of my all-time favourite places are treeless, such as the Coyote Buttes on the border of Utah and Arizona.

(For more photos from countries such as Syria, China, and Antarctica, visit the gallery on my website.)

There are so many places I'd still like to visit. Hundreds of them! At the top of my list at the moment are Easter Island, with its stark isolation and extraordinary statues, Iceland, with its glacial-yet-volcanic landscape, Cuba, because it sounds vivid and fascinating, and the beautiful, barren Lofotens off the coast of Norway. All islands, strangely enough! (I wonder why?)

Kate Honeycourt, the heroine in my regency romance The Earl's Dilemma (out this month in Australia and New Zealand) dreams of travelling to Greece and Italy. She'd love to visit Delphi and Athens, Venice and Florence. But first she has to find the perfect bride for the Earl of Arden -- no easy task!

Where do you dream of travelling to? Please share a description of your dream travel destination. Tantalise us! The most evocative and interesting description will win the following books:

1. The Earl’s Dilemma, Emily May (in Fate & Fortune, with A Country Miss In Hanover Square, by Anne Herries) Quills / Regency
2. Marriage Reunited: Baby on the Way, Sharon Archer Medical
3. Claiming His Bought Bride, Rachel Bailey Desire
4. The Blackmailed Bride’s Secret Child, Rachel Bailey Desire
5. Tonight, My Love, Tracie Sommers Spice Briefs
6. The Rebel King (Suddenly Royal #1), Melissa James Harlequin Romance / Sweet
7. His Princess in the Making (Suddenly Royal #2), Melissa James Harlequin Romance / Sweet
8. Back in Fortune’s Bed, Bronwyn Jameson Desire
9. Prince Incognito, Linda Goodnight, including a novella, The Homecoming, Melissa James Harlequin Romance / Sweet
10. Stone Cold Lover, Mel Teshco Ellora’s Cave

Paranormal Inspiration

Mel's Cat Stats:

Reading: Fever, Christine Feehan
Listening to: Enya & Guns 'N' Roses (depending on scene I'm writing) Watching: The Prince of Egypt (well, miss Two is!)
Making me smile: Miss Two's potty training success!!




Happy day five to our LoveCats DownUnder blog! I am so very happy to be part of this wonderful cat gang - Rachel, Nikki, Tracie, Sharon, Zana and Emily!

I wanted to start my first post with something related to my becoming a Nocturne Bites author. With this in mind I decided to showcase how the dangerous creatures Australians live with on a day-to-day basis, along with our ancient landscape, inspire the darker, paranormal side of my imagination.

We have some of the most venomous snakes in the world, and also lay claim to two of the most deadly spiders - the Sydney Funnel Web & Red Back Spider. Venture into our beautiful oceans and you just may tangle with a Great White shark (cue Jaws music) and in the warmer waters there's a chance you could brush up against a Box Jellyfish *shudder*

But for me it's the Australian 'bush' that really inspires my story-telling: the majestic gums that seem almost to glow at night, the often drought-stricken landscape steeped in Aboriginal culture (I can almost hear the haunting sounds of a didgeridoo), the beautiful snow-capped hills of the southern states in winter, the interior's breathtaking semi-arid desert where the sandstone rock of Uluru juts into the air 1,142 feet. It's a landscape that conjures up visions of the unknown. There are many apparent sightings of the Yowie (Big Foot/Yeti) Min Min lights (unexplained light/s which appear and often bob through the air at night) regular UFO sightings and even the occasional claim to big cats.

It's little wonder I gravitated toward paranormal romance even before I realised it was my true calling! What creatures and/or landscapes inspire your imagination? Has something paranormal ever grabbed your attention? For one person with extra-special 'inspiring' comments, there is a lovely bunch of books up for grabs:

1. The Earl’s Dilemma, Emily May (in Fate & Fortune, with A Country Miss In Hanover Square, by Anne Herries) Quills / Regency
2. Stone Cold Lover, Mel Teshco Ellora’s Cave
3. Single Father: Wife & Mother Wanted, Sharon Archer Medical
4. Duo of Marriage Reunited: Baby on the Way, Sharon Archer, with Lucy Clark’s Bride on the Children’s Ward Medical
5. Claiming His Bought Bride, Rachel Bailey Desire
6. The Blackmailed Bride’s Secret Child, Rachel Bailey Desire
7. Tonight, My Love, Tracie Sommers Spice Briefs
8. His Housekeeper Bride, Melissa James Harlequin Romance / Sweet
9. Tycoon’s One Night Revenge, Bronwyn Jameson Desire
10. Prince Incognito, Linda Goodnight, including a novella, The Homecoming, Melissa James

Reading Experience!

by Sharon Archer

My Cat Stats!
READING: Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps by Allan & Barbara Pease
LISTENING TO: Amy Winehouse - what a fabulous voice!
WATCHING: "Spooks" - season one on DVD. Very intense!
MAKING ME SMILE: trying to get cats to pose! Bribery is mandatory and not always successful!

I love reading! And writing, of course, but first and foremost, I really love reading!

Some of the things we read, or hear read aloud, stay with us forever waiting for an opportune moment to surprise us with a powerful memory flash. This happened to me the other day when I was gardening. A bee was buzzing from the oregano to the thyme... and just like that, I remembered a book I’d had as a toddler about a bumble bee called Alexander.

How I loved Alexander Bumblebee! So much, in fact, I decided that a bee might like to play with me. Unfortunately, my chosen “Alexander” wasn’t impressed with chubby, grasping, little fingers – and I got my very first bee-sting.

Remembering Alexander Bumblebee got me thinking about other books which have stood out over the years. I vividly remember having JRR Tolkien’s book, The Hobbit, read to me in class when I was about ten years old. The teacher must have been a very good story teller because those sessions enchanted me.

Not long after that, I “discovered” horses in books! Black Beauty, Son of Black Beauty, My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead, Show Jumping Secret... If it had a horse in it, I was almost guaranteed to love it. My head was filled with all manner of wondrous new words - curry combs and colic, jumps and jodphurs, saddles and stirrups, manes and martingales, girths and gaits! It was the start of a long love affair with horses.

Then in my teens, I discovered romance novels! Magical books where I lived in an agony of suspense because all seemed doomed until the last few pages where a stoic hero declared his love for the heroine. Through those books, I visited all sorts of fabulous places. Outback Australia with Lucy Walker, high country New Zealand with Essie Summers, the opera with Mary Burchell. The list goes on!

Now, I write my own stories with happy endings for Mills and Boon and I have a whole new appreciation of the fascination of books!

Tell me some of your memorable reading moments. Do you remember your very first book? What special places have books taken you?

PS I've put up these pictures of a couple of very special "readers"! Sufi, so enthralled with the phone book, was with us for nearly twenty years. And Kari-Anne's cat, Bernie, is just about to dip into my last release! ;)


I have prizes!!! I'm so thrilled to have these books to give away to one of my commenters on the blog today!
The Earl’s Dilemma, Emily May (in Fate & Fortune, with A Country Miss In Hanover Square by Anne Herries) Quills/Regency * Marriage Reunited: Baby on the Way, Sharon Archer, Medical * Claiming His Bought Bride, Rachel Bailey, Desire * The Blackmailed Bride’s Secret Child, Rachel Bailey, Desire * Tonight, My Love, Tracie Sommers, Spice Briefs * The Rebel King (Suddenly Royal #1), Melissa James, Harlequin Romance/Sweet * His Princess in the Making (Suddenly Royal #2), Melissa James Harlequin Romance/Sweet * Lights, Camera… Kiss the Boss, Nikki Logan, with Australian Boss: Diamond Ring, Jennie Adams Harlequin Romance/Sweet * Just a Taste, Bronwyn Jameson, Desire *Stone Cold Lover, Mel Teshco, Ellora's Cave

With a little Help from my Friends

Tracie's Cat Stats
Reading: Lover Avenged by J.R Ward
Listening to: Glenn Miller (would you believe - no heavy Metal)
Watching: nothing - deadline looming
Making me smile: This Blog and the people responding

Friends make the world go round. Some drift into your life for only a short time, while other stay much longer and some forever.

When I was younger I had lots of friends. The fact they were only 3 inches high, dressed in bright clothing and no one but me could see them didn’t really matter. Don’t get me wrong, I did have human friends and four legged friends too, but sometime I preferred the company of my little folk more. I would talk to them for hours, teach them things and tell them stories. Of course they all adored me and did whatever I asked them to. Looking back, I guess the writer in me was beginning to bud, though it would not fully bloom many years later.

And when my writing desire blossomed, I met two of the LoveCats—Rachel and Mel. We all belonged to the Clayton Critters group which sprung up out of the 2005 RWAus Clayton’s online conference. From the first words I read of both Rachel’s and Mel’s stories, I was in awe. These girls
could write.

Now I’m blogging here with these 6 awesome cat pals:

• Zana I don’t know much—well not yet—she’s a new friend.
• Emily I’ve met as several conference including a spectacular Nationals in San Francisco when she was nominated for 2 Rubys and I was a finalist in the Golden Heart
• Sharon and her lovely Mr Archer have been at every conference I’ve been to except last year and they were sorely missed. Their smiling faces are always a joy. When Sharon sold – I was overjoyed and we shared several celebratory emails.
• Nikki I know a little better. I can’t remember when we met. It feels like I have known her for ages. I actually screamed out loud and danced when I heard she was going to be a Harlequin Romance author. I am very impressed.
• Mel, Rachel and I have bit more history. We’ve shared good news and bad; we’ve laughed and cheered; we’ve vented and cried. We told each other the truth when it needed to be said, and supported each other if one of us was down. We used to dream and say “one day when we are all published... blah blah blah”. And now here we are, together. Old friends are a comfort and a joy. It was almost felt like selling again myself when each of them made their first sales.

What is it that you value in your friendships? Or do you have a special friend who has touched your life in a profound way?

Today's Book Giveways to one lucky commentor: The Earl’s Dilemma, Emily May (in Fate & Fortune, with A Country Miss In Hanover Square, by Anne Herries) Quills / Regency Single Father: Wife & Mother Wanted, Sharon Archer Medical Duo of Marriage Reunited: Baby on the Way, Sharon Archer, with Lucy Clark’s Bride on the Children’s Ward Medical Claiming His Bought Bride, Rachel Bailey Desire The Blackmailed Bride’s Secret Child, Rachel Bailey Desire Tonight, My Love, Tracie Sommers Spice Briefs His Housekeeper Bride, Melissa James Harlequin Romance / Sweet Tycoon’s One Night Revenge, Bronwyn Jameson Desire Prince Incognito, Linda Goodnight, including a novella, The Homecoming, Melissa James Harlequin Romance / Sweet Stone Cold Lover, Mel Teshco Ellora's Cave

Animals in Books

Rachel's CAT STATS
Reading: To Catch A Bride, Anne Gracie
Listening to: Michael Buble
Watching: Dr Who (season 4 on dvd)
Making me smile: my 8 year old nephew, Jai
Hi, I’m Rachel and I’m a cat lover. And a dog lover—yep, a huge fan of dogs. And penguins. And green tree frogs. Oh, and wallabies—I love wallabies (they visit my back yard, very cool).

I also love books. So when I find a great book with a dog or a cat or a frog or a penguin, I’m even more in love with it (though I can’t actually remember reading a romance featuring a penguin…).

Some of my favourites have been (but in no way limited to):

Tom Bradley’s Babies, by Marion Lennox (Harlequin Romance / Sweet). A playboy stuck in a storm suddenly has to deal with a woman giving birth to twins and a bloodhound giving birth to six puppies. Both females pass out afterwards from exhaustion and Tom is left caring for a heap of newborns. Fabulous, fabulous story. (Though I could just as easily have chosen Marion's one with the green tree frogs. Or the one where the border collies fall in love.)

Anyone But You, by Jennifer Crusie (originally Harlequin Love and Laughter, now reissued by HQN). In the foreword of the reissue, Jenny Crusie says people often refer to this as Fred’s Book. I can understand why. I loved Fred – he learns to jump out his apartment window and walk down the fire escape for his ablutions. And he brings the hero and heroine together. Definitely a great dog book.

Naughty Nights in the Millionaire's Mansion by Robyn Grady (Modern Extra / Presents / Sexy Sensation). The heroine owns a pet store and the gorgeous alpha hero comes in to buy a fish. Soon after, the heroine has to make an emergency call out when his fish gives him trouble - it keeps leaping from its tank, trying to commit suicide, and the poor hero is completely baffled. This was very sexy and quirky. I loved it.

His Secluded Survivor (working title) by Nikki Logan (Harlequin Romance / Sweet). This one is yet to hit the shelves (it'll be in a UK-only anthology for 2010 release), and I haven’t even read it, but it holds a special place in my heart already – it stars four dogs: Dougal, Oliver, Fergus and Jazmine. Anyone who knows me (or has visited my website) will know they’re my dogs in real life (in fact that's Dougal decorating my post on the top left). :) Nikki has immortalized them and I can’t wait to read it.

Given my love for animals in books, it’s probably no surprise that I managed to sneak in a dog or two into The Blackmailed Bride’s Secret Child. I gave my mother’s Dalmatian Misty a starring role. Well, she’s more of a minor character, but she gets to run in the park with a little boy, and the real Misty loves doing that. :)

So tell me, do you like animals in stories? And if so, what have been some of your favourites? And if you’ve read a romance that features penguins, please let me know!

I have 10 books to give away (including my first two releases and Robyn Grady's book about the hero and the fish): The Earl’s Dilemma, Emily May (in Fate & Fortune, with A Country Miss In Hanover Square, Anne Herries) Quills / Regency; Marriage Reunited: Baby on the Way, Sharon Archer Medical; Claiming His Bought Bride, Rachel Bailey Desire; The Blackmailed Bride’s Secret Child, Rachel Bailey Desire; Tonight, My Love, Tracie Sommers Spice Briefs; The Rebel King (Suddenly Royal #1), Melissa James Harlequin Romance / Sweet; His Princess in the Making (Suddenly Royal #2), Melissa James Harlequin Romance / Sweet; Naughty Nights in the Millionaire’s Mansion, Robyn Grady Modern Extra / Presents / Sexy Sensation; Back in Fortune’s Bed, Bronwyn Jameson Desire; Stone Cold Lover, Mel Teshco Ellora's Cave

Prizes!

Welcome to our Launch Week! Every day for 7 days, when one of the LoveCats posts, we'll be giving away 10 books. Yep, that's 10 books *every* day.

Then at the end of our launch festivities, we'll be giving away our Grand Prize to one commenter from the week - 19 books!

Every time you comment during the week, you'll be entered into the draw for the Grand Prize. If you comment once every day of the 7 days, you'll be entered 7 times.

A huge thanks to all the authors who've donated books for the Grand Prize and for the daily prizes (you can see them on the sidebar).

The winner of the Grand Prize, plus a round up of all the other prizes, will be announced on Monday 18th Jan.

Good luck!

Day One

Name – Cattus isolatus

Common name- The Western LoveCat
Home Range – www.nikkilogan.com.au

The Western LoveCat (Cattus isolatus) is a shy, solitary creature that prefers to hole up in its den scribbling incomprehensible symbols on paper than mix with other cats like its more gregarious, eastern cousins. It is primarily crepuscular and sleeps away the middle part of the day dreaming of far-away places.

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Hello and welcome to the LoveCats DownUnder blog, Day One! Zana, Sharon, Rachel, Tracie, Mel, Emily and I hope that we'll see you regularly for updates on what we're all doing.

But first, a quick introduction to me....

I live in Perth, Western Australia – about as far west as you can go before you run out of country. Perth is the world’s most isolated capital city (thousands of miles in either direction before the next major city) which makes us a more insular, home-oriented (aka lazy) mob. Fortunately we enjoy a sensational Mediterranean climate and fabulous coastal lifestyle (sheltered, as we are, by the eastern coast of Africa :) ) and so there is no shortage of beautiful places in which to enjoy wonderful activities. Most of them natural.

Is it any wonder I’m a nature-based author? All my stories have a wild element in them and I like to create settings which become one of the characters in the book. I get really excited when someone says they took their kids to a national park or out bird-spotting or even that they got stuck into their garden after reading one of my books. If I can enrich reader hearts as well as reintroduce them to the natural world around us… my work is done.

My debut 'Lights, Camera…Kiss the Boss’ is out now in e-book format. It hits shelves in the US/UK in time for Valentines Day. I’m giving away a fantastic ten-book prize pack including an advance copy of 'Lights, Camera...' to the commenter who can paint me the most vivid, gorgeous word-picture of the place they go to re-connect with nature.

Good luck!