Welcome Party for Clare Connelly (with giveaways)!

Today is a special day for the LoveCats DownUnder. First we need to bid a very fond adieu to dear Melanie Milburne, who has been such an active LoveCat. Melanie, thank you for being such a big part of the group. We'll miss you, but we're so glad you'll be popping back from time to time even though now you're technically 'In the Wild'! We wish you everything good.

Today also marks the arrival of our newest LoveCat, Clare Connelly. Welcome Clare! That means it's party time, so relax, pour yourself a glass of bubbly or a cup of tea or whatever takes your fancy and help us celebrate.

Clare grew up in an Australian country town where she says stories and story telling were a huge part of her childhood. She styles herself a romance devotee, reading everything from Jane Austen to Georgette Heyer, and from Mills and Boon to the Fifty Shades trilogy. She wrote her first romance at the age of fifteen! More recently she's become a highly successful category romance author with 43 self published titles and seven anthologies published since 2014. Clare has recently signed a contract with Harlequin Mills and Boon (you can buy her first book now!) and will be busy writing for Harlequin while continuing her indie career. And we're all exhausted just thinking of so many books published in such a short space of time! 

Clare kindly participated in an interview so you can get to know her better:

Can you recall the first category romance you read? Is there a book (romance or otherwise) that made you want to become a writer?

I read Harlequin Series voraciously growing up, and a lot of them were older ones. My mum is an antique dealer and, as children, my sisters and I were trotted around to all the antique markets and garage sales and charity shops, and we would spend the time it took her to browse out treasures selecting books. I was always drawn to Mills & Boons, and particularly loved the powerful stories of the eighties and nineties. I was, and remain, a devoted reader of Emma Darcy, Penny Jordan, Sarah Morgan, Valerie Parv, amongst about a billion others! In terms of wanting to write, it wasn't a conscious decision, so much as an ever-present desire to meddle in the worlds of the characters' that I was reading about. I suppose I have that control-freak gene that likes to take hold of the narrative and move it in the direction I want! I began writing romance novels at thirteen, and finished my first full manuscript at fifteen. I found then, and still find now, that I am never happier than when diving into the world of my people, layering a story onto their lives, and steering them towards their happily ever after.

Do you have a favourite romance trope?

I love sexy contemporary romance novels, and read almost all tropes. I need well-drawn characters and convincing motivation, and am a sucker for a really, really 'how the hell are they going to work this out?' angsty conflict. I think second-chance-at-love books are very compelling because there can be such a strong history of hurt and pain which brings the tension into it right from the first page. I love marriage of convenience books too, and who doesn't love a secret baby!?

What do you most enjoy about writing category books? What’s the hardest part?

Writing category is an art form. There's a huge emotional journey to pack into a relatively modest word count, and romance readers are discerning! They want to know their characters, to get their motivations, to be moved by their story. I love the pace of a category – there's no room for fluff. You need to tell a great story without getting bogged down in unnecessary detail. I also love the guaranteed happily ever after. Life, real life, can be such a dark and gloomy place at times. There is always happiness to be found in the pages of a category romance – it's my favourite part about writing these stories.

What category romance are you hoping to read next?

I buy most of the Mills & Boon Sexy titles each month and am really looking forward to the current selection, in particularly Michelle Conder's THE ITALIAN'S VIRGIN ACQUISITION. The cover is so pretty!

Do you share your life with anyone furred, feathered or scaled? If so we’d love to hear about them.

My husband wouldn't really appreciate the description but, speaking of furry, he is sporting a phenomenal beard at the moment! He's growing it to raise funds for SHAVE-FREE FOR CALVING, a charitable initiative started by our Kiwi farming family, who raise funds each year for the NZ Rural Farming Trust – which helps farmers dealing with the hardships of life on the land during the really tough times (including with much-needed psychological support). I know that's not what you meant but I'm so proud of the good work my Kiwi family is doing... and they have about two hundred cows. I'd love to get a Labrador one day, but my little human puppies take up most of my spare time at present. Full-time school for both next year and then we'll see!

Finally, can you share one fact about yourself we might not already know?

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was twenty six years old. My husband and I had been travelling through Europe and both picked up a really nasty virus. The theory is that my immune system fought the virus off and then attacked the beta cells in my pancreas, meaning I don’t make insulin of my own. I now wear an insulin pump 24/7 which does a fairly decent job of simulating the real deal. It’s far more common to develop the disease when you’re under ten years old, so I think I was pretty lucky to make it so far into my twenties ‘unscathed’. Although I’m on insulin, I still try to make the disease easier to manage by sticking to a relatively healthy diet – though wine and chocolate are two of my vices I always have to guard against!

Also, I’m completely Christmas mad. I love it. I start listening to carols around September, and we put our tree up on the 1st of November each year, so that we get about six weeks of it in the lounge. BUT I have to pull it straight down on Boxing day or it depresses me too much. The kids and I make gingerbread houses together each year – as they’ve got older they’ve had more interest in the creative process which has resulted in some, interesting, constructions, but it’s always good fun!

Thanks so much, Clare! How terrific to end with a photo of Santa's helpers with the gingerbread!

Now for our traditional mega-giveaway to celebrate the arrival of a new LoveCat.

Just leave a comment on this post and you will be entered in the prize draws. Winners will be announced in our Sunday Smooch post on Sunday 1 October.

ONE WINNER will receive a fabulous bundle of Mills and Boon paperbacks direct from Mills and Boon Australia!  Note, this prize is for delivery in Australia. Please mention in your comment if you're in Australia so you can go in this draw.

TWO WINNERS (from anywhere in the world!) will EACH receive from:

• Michelle Douglas, a signed copy of ‘Sarah and the Secret Sheikh’

• Shannon Curtis, a signed copy of ‘Warrior Untamed’

• Bronwyn Jameson, a London Love Cats Treat 

• Stefanie London, a signed copiy of ‘Mr Dangerously Sexy’ 

• Rachel Bailey. an ecopy of ‘The Finn Factor’ 

• Amy Andrews, a signed copy of ‘A Christmas Miracle’ 

Clare's newest title!

• Annie West, a signed copy of ‘His Majesty’s Temporary Bride’ 

• Kandy Shepherd, a signed copy of ‘Conveniently Wed to the Greek’

• Helen Lacey, a signed copy of ‘The Rancher’s Unexpected Family’ 

• Ally Blake, an ecopy of ‘Kiss Me Quick’

• Sue Mackay, a signed copy of ‘Falling For Her Fake Fiancee’ 

• Jennifer St George, an ecopy of 'Wild for You'.

So, here's to our newest LoveCat! And good luck to all of you in our giveaways. Don't forget to come back on Sunday to find out who won.

Welcome Party for Our New LoveCat - Shannon Curtis

WELCOME EVERYONE to a very special LoveCats DownUnder post. We’re welcoming new LoveCat Shannon Curtis to the fold! 

But as always in life, there’s a give and take here. Sadly we’re saying goodbye to long term LoveCat Yvonne Lindsay who’s been active here while writing so many terrific books for Harlequin Desire. We’re sorry to see you go into the wild, Yvonne, but we know the time is right for you. We’ll hope to hear from you in the future when you have time.

Now to our newest Cat. Shannon lives in Sydney and is published in suspense, thrillers, paranormals and contemporary romance – what a spread. Her books have been finalists for Favourite Romantic Suspense every year from 2011 to 2016, as well as Favourite Continuing Romance Series, with the Australian Romance Readers' Association. Her work has consistently received four-star reviews from RT Book Reviews, and in 2016 she won the Australian Romance Readers' Favourite Paranormal Romance Award! 

As we’re welcoming Shannon, and giving away some mammoth prizes too (more on that below) we thought it only right to begin with an interview so you learn more about our newest LoveCat.

How long have you been writing?

I actually penned my first ‘novella’ when I was fifteen. Alas, that will never see the light of day. I started writing in earnest when I was home on maternity leave with my first baby. I tried to write children’s books, but realised after the birth of my second baby that romance fiction was where my heart really was, and so in 2007 celebrated my first short story release. It took me another four years to get my first full length novel published.

What part of the writing process do you enjoy most?

I am a plotter. I love plotting, and structure, and any other anal-retentive preparation you can think of. I will spend a lot of time figuring out just how to best torture my characters. Mwhahahahaha! I tried to ‘write by the seat of my pants’ once, and it was the most uncomfortable, frightening writing experience. I prefer to spend a lot of time thinking up pitfalls and twists for my stories. J

Does one of your books stand out from the rest – because it’s your favourite or maybe because it was tough to write?

I would have to say the books I wrote for The Bold and The Beautiful franchise were amongst the most difficult and challenging. Prior to that, I wrote romantic suspense, and I was under strict instructions not to kill off anyone in these novels. No crime, no violence. No bombs, guns or poisons, etc. For the first time I had to remove the suspense element from a novel, and solely focus on teasing out the nuances of a developing relationship. To say it was emotionally draining is an understatement. I understand, now, that authors who write those books on a regular basis pretty much open up a vein and bleed out their story. It’s a really personal, emotional journey to write that type of novel, and my utmost respect to those who do it.

Can you recall the first category romance you read? Is there a book (romance or otherwise) that made you want to become a writer?

My first category romance was definitely a Betty Neels book (I think the title was ‘The Girl with the Green Eyes.’ My mother LOVED Betty Neels, and I’d ‘borrow’ (creep in and remove, read, then creep in and return) the books from beneath her bed. She would receive a little parcel of books each month, and I’m not sure who was more excited when they arrived. Then I was introduced to Robyn Donald novels, via a schoolmate (yes, we’d open the book to THOSE pages and gasp and giggle over lunch). I would have to say, though, that Johanna Lindsey, Julie Garwood, Jayne Ann Krentz and ‘Amanda Quick’ can be blamed for my desire to become a writer. I was introduced to their books in my late teenage years, and I was HOOKED. So we can blame them. J

What category romance are you hoping to read next?

I hear Kandy Shepherd has yet ANOTHER book out (Conveniently Wed to the Greek, due out May 2017), so looking forward to that one, and Their One Night Baby, by Carol Marinelli, due out in April 2017.

Do you share your life with anyone furred, feathered or scaled? If so we’d love to hear about them.

Yes, I do. We have a cat who I believe is just a tad psycho with me, but just fine with my daughter. Her name is Lily Rose, and she has cattitude. I also have a groodle (golden retriever x poodle), who needs to be shorn every 8 weeks or so, and who has the sweetest disposition, generally keeps me company while I write, and displays the appropriate level of caution around the cat. My dog’s name is Whiskey – on account that when we got her as a pup she had a beautiful whiskey-coloured coat. She’s sweet company. Okay, so I’m definitely a dog person, but that’s because our cat is a shrew. And she scares me.

Finally, can you share one fact about yourself we might not already know.

I used to do martial arts. Two disciplines; ninjutsu and karate. My darling heart husband and I used to spar in the backyard with sparring mitts. Until one of us was knocked unconscious. The crazy things you do for love… (note: I was not the unconscious one). Then life got very busy, and now we prefer to sit and watch a good action flick.

We're so pleased to have you with the LoveCats!

So excited to be here, and thank you all so much!

Please feel free to leave a comment here to welcome Shannon. 

Can you also please mention if you live in Australia? You’ll find out why in a moment.

All those who comment on our party post will go in the draw to win one of three prizes!

2 winners (from anywhere in the world!) will EACH win:

·         Michelle Douglas’s April paperback release ‘The Spanish Tycoon’s Takeover’,

·         Annie West’s April paperback release ‘The Desert King’s Captive Bride’,

·         Kandy Shepherd’s May paperback release ‘Conveniently Wed to the Greek’,

·         Amy Andrew’s paperback release ‘Playing by Her Rules’,

·         Bronwyn’s Jameson’s recent retro duo paperback (which includes another Michelle Douglas story),

·         Stefanie Little’s paperback release ‘Mr Dangerously Sexy,

·         A backlist paperback of your choice from Melanie Milburne,

·         Louisa George’s ebook ‘Something Borrowed’,

·         Jennifer St George’s ebook ‘Wild For You’,

·         Ally Blake’s ebook ‘Kiss Me Quick’,

·         Helen Lacey’s paperback ‘Married to the Mom-to-Be’, and

·         Sue MacKay’s paperback ‘Resisting Her Army Doc Rival’.

How is that for some amazing reading? PLUS

1 winner (who must be in Australia) will win a fabulous bundle of category books courtesy of Harlequin Mills and Boon Australia!

The three winners will be announced in the ‘Sunday Smooch’ post on Sunday 9 March. That gives you over a week to comment and to share with your friends who love romance. Don’t forget to check back on the 9^th to see if you’ve won!