Time for things to be on the up.

We've had some tough times in the Lovecats family. In the past year a few of us have lost parents, some have had ill family members, and some have had their lives turned upside down by fires, floods and other disasters. It's funny how bad things seem to happen in waves and then all of a sudden things start to take a turn for the better.

We've had some challenging times in the DeLeo house in the last twelve months, too. My husband and I have both lost our dads, I've had a few health issues and my husband left the job he'd been in for twenty years to start his own business so I'm back full time teaching. While I've been supporting my family and friends I've found it increasingly difficult to spend time reading or writing and so I haven't had a book out for almost a year. Now that I am starting to get back into some "normal" life, it's those happily ever afters that are helping me through. Picking up a book and knowing for certain that despite all the trials and tribulations love will always win out is the best feeling in the world.

To celebrate the upcoming release of the second in my "Weddings in Westchester" series my first book in the series, "The Bouquet List", is being re-released as a traditional sweet romance and is on sale for a limited time.

If you've been having a tough time, may this April 1st bring wonderful winds of change for you.

A month of celebration

This is me with my Blush version
of Cassie's Grand Plan in Big W!

July has been a big month for me! Please excuse me taking a moment to review all the amazing things that have been going on, but I feel like celebrating! And to help make the celebrations even better, I've got a book giveaway too -- so read on!

1. The first exciting thing for July was that my first SuperRomance, "Cassie's Grand Plan" came out this month in Australia under the "Blush" imprint.

It first appeared in North America in March, and I was lucky enough to be in the US then and I got to see my book on the shelves there. But there's something quite special about seeing your book on the shelves in your home town. I can't explain what the difference is. Maybe it's not a different feeling at all, just a new kind of excitement at seeing your book is really real.

2. I received the advance author copies of my second SuperRomance "In His Eyes" which is out in North America in August and Australia in September. (And having just gone to Amazon to find that link, I've just discovered it's number 5 on the SuperRomance best sellers list -- yippee!) I am absolutely in love with this cover -- it's so atmospheric and dramatic.

I worked so hard on this book and I can't even tell you how many boxes of tissues I went through when I was writing it. I'm hoping that effort and emotional energy comes through to readers. I've already had someone "complain" about me making them cry! I guess authors are kind of unique in taking that sort of thing as a compliment...

The book has obviously been blessed by the cover fairies, because I've also received the cover of the Blush release of "In His Eyes" when it comes out in September -- isn't it gorgeous? I'm thinking the art department at Mills and Boon Australia decided to take the title of the book literally and went to find a cover model with the most amazing eyes ever. I think they succeeded!

3. Last, but certainly not least, I sold book number three to SuperRomance! It's untitled as yet, but for the moment it's going by the name of "Dean and Jess's story". I can give you a very sneaky previeiw and say that it involves weddings, dogs, vampires, Twitter, muscle cars and comic books. Intrigued? I hope so.

The rest of my July is going to be filled with writing as I get stuck into Dean and Jess and get their story ready to submit. It's exciting to have a deadline. I wonder if authors are unique in liking deadlines, too?

I hope July has been an exciting month for you. Please leave me a comment to let me know about anything fun or exciting that's happened for you this month. I'll choose a commenter at random to receive signed copies of both the Blush version of Cassie's Grand Plan and an advance copy of In His Eyes.