Merry Christmas!

A peaceful Christmas to all

Happy Christmas to all the LoveCat readers and the LoveCats themselves. This is my first Christmas as a LoveCat and I'm both honoured and delighted to be part of this wonderful blog.

This year is a very quiet Christmas for me and my husband. Our daughter, our only child, is away from us for the first time in her twenty-two years. She's staying with friends in California, a long way from Sydney. They are the nicest possible people so she is in very good hands. But we miss her... 

Her cat Tabitha howled and cried outside her closed bedroom door last night. When I let her in she saw daughter wasn't there, cried some more and slunk out in misery. Of course I consoled her and she slept happily on my pillow. That I didn't have a very good sleep is beside the point, isn't it!

Fortunately we will have the company of two nieces and three great nieces on the actual day. It will be the first time for years we haven't cooked Christmas dinner, as the younger generation is taking over this year.

I'm sharing my all-time favourite Christmas photo. Three years ago my darling old cat Albert found my sweet great niece, then two, admiring our Christmas tree. He ambled over to keep her company and I quickly got this shot. It was his last Christmas, he crossed the rainbow bridge six months later aged twenty-two.
I'm spending Christmas Day with this same  lovely niece - and her hamsters!

Christmas is usually huge for us in terms of entertaining. For years we held a party on Christmas Eve and then woke up and did it all again the next day. It's quite nice to be quiet. But perversely I feel a little let down that I'm not stressing out with all that's to be done!

All over the break, I'll be working on a book due early in the new year for Harlequin Romance so won't have time to miss daughter (lie, I miss her already and she's only been gone two days!)

As a writer, Christmas is lovely for me this year with two new Christmas stories out. My novella Millionaire Under the Mistletoe is part of the wonderful LoveCats boxed set Hot Christmas Nights, seven brand-new holiday-themed romances. Also from me is my Harlequin Romance Gift-Wrapped In Her Wedding Dress which is heavily Christmas themed.

What about you? Are you celebrating your usual Christmas or doing something different this year? I'd love to read your comment! I'm giving away a free download of Hot Christmas Nights to one commentator.

Christmas movies that I must watch......

With only a week to go before Christmas, I thought about the movies that I consider my 'must watch' over the Christmas break. Every year I try to watch at least one of these.....

Love Actually......

This one has become something of a Christmas classic.....the intertwining storylines are so cleverly done, the stories range from uplifting to heartbreaking. Who can forget Emma Thompson walking around her bedroom to the haunting sound of Jonie Mitchell and trying to keep it all together for the sake of her family. Or Bill Nigh and his Christmas CD performance. Brilliant!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y-8vxObugM

Sleepless In Seattle....

I'm do love a good Meg Ryan Rom/Com. This is my favorite. interestingly, Meg and Tom Hanks only had a couple of minutes of screen time together....and yet the chemistry is still there.

Die Hard.....Okay, so not a traditional Christmas movie.....but it's set around Christmas and there's Christmas music....and Bruce Willis at his best. (And Alan Rickman) I love the romance in this one too....

It's a Wonderful Life.....my all time favorite Christmas movie.....and still very pertinent. Jimmy Stewart at his best!

Do you have a favorite holiday movie? I'd love to hear any suggestions.

Merry Christmas to all and a safe and happy holiday!

Focusing on the Positive - a Year's Blessings - Annie West

 Almost the end of 2015 and I decided it was time to think about the year almost gone and wave it goodbye in style. 2015 has been a mixed year for our family with joys and fun and sadness and crises all mixed together. That's life of course but some years seem a little more 'lively' than others. My initial instinct is to wish the year farewell as soon as possible as there were events I know I won't want to reminisce about. But then I stopped to take stock of the many truly wonderful things we'd been blessed with in that time and how very lucky I am.

First up I live in a democratic, free, peaceful place where I can pursue the work I love, have enough to eat (far too much in fact), get top quality healthcare, education services, and whatever community support I need. We have a comfy home in a quiet setting and if the kookaburras or channel-billed cuckoos choose to wake me in the early hours with their raucous noise, so what? All those things I take for granted every day are enough to make me grateful. Then there are the extra bonuses. Far too many to share here, but believe me, I've been thinking about them. Here are just a couple at random:

1) My garden. Stepping outside and seeing how the tree ferns are faring in the summer heat, saying good morning to the blue tongue lizard who guards our vege patch, or enjoying the green space, is enough to rejuvenate me.

2) Friends. Those I see often and those I only catch up with at conferences. Or those I connect with only via social media or emails because we live on the opposite sides of the world.

Michelle Douglas and Rachel Bailey at the RWA Conference

3) My first gondola ride! I first visited Venice when I was a skint student and my eyes watered at the cost of a gondola trip. This year my daughter and I had a very short but very special stay in Venice and I finally found out what it was like to float around the city in my own private barge for an hour.

4) Winning a Romantic Book of the Year Award. Romance Writers of Australia is a very special organisation for me and probably the reason I ended up as a published author. You can see by the smile on my face how wonderful it felt discovering 'Damaso Claims His Heir' had not only finalled but won!

5) Visiting the UK and (very, very briefly, Ireland) to catch up with very special family and friends and also the Harlequin Mills and Boon team who look after me and my books. There were some indelible memories made, new books plotted, new experiences, places and faces and catching up with 'old' friends who are very dear.

Not only a welcome sign but bubbly too at the editorial office in London!

 6) Time out with family. Perhaps the best thing of all.

Family picnic spot in the Hunter Valley.

There are so many other things I could add here but this isn't the place for an exhaustive list - just a taste.

How about you? Did you have a fabulous year in 2015? What are your top 6 things for the year, or your top 3? Or are you already looking ahead to something special in 2016?

Pop Stars and Small Towns

When writing a novel, I often find some of my own experiences or loves sneak into the books. In my latest release – Her Small Town Christmas Wish – which is part of the Lovecats Boxset, two of my favourite things have made it into the story.

I love pop and disco music. Love to listen to it and love to dance to it.  When I need a pick me up, I play Earth Wind and Fire’s September. You can’t help but feel good after hearing that tune. 

Taylor Swift concert in Brisbane

Much to my friends’ amusement, I’ve followed Kylie Minogue’s career. She’s about the same age as me and I loved bopping around to her songs when I was younger. My daughter loves Delta Goodrem and Taylor Swift (went to Taylor’s amazing Brisbane concert last week – wow!), so I have lots of their music in the car too. So, as a tribute to young pop stars, my heroine is an Aussie who moved to London and made it big in the pop world.

Byron Bay

The other love that crept it into the story is Byron Bay. My fictional town of Turtle Beach is reminiscent of the town I live in. Coastal, lush and surrounded by sugarcane fields and acres of coffee and macadamia plantations. Place is always very important in my stories.

So, if you are looking for a fun and passionate Christmas read, pick up a copy of Hot Christmas Nights and read fantastic stories by my fellow Lovecats including Rachel Bailey, Michelle Douglas, Louisa George, Helen Lacey, Stefanie London and Kandy Shepherd.

We have the Boxset on sale at the moment for just 99 cents. To get you in the mood, here’s the blurb for Her Small Town Christmas Wish:

When superstar songbird Giselle Harrington is forced to return to her hometown, she’s faced with a house full of terrifying childhood memories. Jake Carlton has never forgotten his teenage sweetheart and now that she’s back, he’s determined to have a second chance to convince her to stay.

Wishing you all a fabulous holiday season.

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from Sue MacKay. 


A December to Remember

Arriving in Laos, Dr Ellie Thompson is determined to look to the future. The last thing she expects is to come face-to-face with her past, in the shape of her one-time best friend Dr Luca Chirsky - or to find him so very attractive!
Luca knows first-hand that love doesn't last, and he won't surrender his emotions to anyone. But after four years apart he's looking at Ellie with new eyes. And this time he knows that one Christmas kiss will never be enough...

KISS SCENE SET UP: Luca and Ellie are strolling through Vientiane after dinner with friends, and discussing their past and things are slowly being relieved that neither knew about the other despite being close friends, when all of a sudden it's too much and they're in each other's arms.

KISS SCENE:  

Luca twisted out of her hold, reminding her he was with her. He’d remained silent for so long her mind had taken a trip into things she didn’t need to be thinking about right now. Had her question about missing home hit a chord? Should she press the point? Once she would’ve. But there were years between then and now. She went for the easy option. ‘You’ve gone quiet on me.’

‘I don’t have a home to miss. Angelique and Johnny have their own lives to lead that apparently don’t include me. Auckland is my home town, always will be, but it’ll be there whenever I choose to return.’

‘Hell, Luca.’ That sounded incredibly sad and bleak. Where was the man who was always happy and making jokes, always acting as though he didn’t have a worry in the world? Had he been leading a double life? But then she hadn’t known about his father, or lack of one, until tonight either. She stopped to look up at him, only just seeing his facial expressions in the star-studded darkness. The sadness for him grew into something else, roiling through her so that she wanted to reach out and touch him deeply, to show he wasn’t alone, that she cared. ‘I will never let you out of my life again.’

His jaw moved as he swallowed. He was staring at her, his eyes unblinking. When he spoke his voice was low and loaded with emotion. ‘Thank goodness for that. It’s been too long, El.’

Way too long, and the worst thing was that she hadn’t even noticed until today. Reaching out to him, she was going to hug him, as she used to whenever they’d celebrated an exam pass or lost a patient or felt a little lonely. But then Luca’s arms were tugging her in against his body, his head dipping so that his mouth found hers. With his lips on hers, his tongue slipped inside her mouth.

Ellie breathed deep, drew in Luca, a mix of beer and chilli and hot male. Of safety and—hot male. Surrendering to the need clawing through her, she focused on kissing him back and hoping she was wiping away that sadness that had been rolling off him in waves.

Then as suddenly as it started the kiss ended. Luca abruptly dropped his arms and stumbled backwards. ‘Ellie, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Look, that door to our right is your room. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ And he was gone, racing back the way they’d come, out onto the road and still he didn’t slow down.

‘Thanks very much, Luca. You’re sorry? Talk about taking a knife and cutting into me. You’re sorry for a mind-blowing kiss that I reckon you were enjoying as much as I was?’

But she was talking to the night. Luca was way beyond hearing her. Staring around the dark grounds, she could only sigh with relief that the lights were out. Doubtful anyone had seen them kissing. But her heart wasn’t letting her off that easily. It pounded hard and fast while her hands shook and her skin tightened with need. Luca. What had they done? Whatever it was, she wasn’t sorry. But she should be. She’d been kissing the man when only minutes before she’d acknowledged she never wanted to let him out of her life again. Way to go, Ellie. No one kisses a friend like that, with that intensity and emotion. It was sexy; very, very sexy. And her body was suffering withdrawal already. Which meant the future of their friendship was now in jeopardy.

 

 

Friendship to romance -  I loved writing this story and making it so hard for Luca and Ellie to resume their friendship when love is sparking between them.

 

Do you think friends can become lovers?

I have a copy of A December to Remember to give away.

 
 

 

What's on in 2016

Hard to believe that this is the second week of December, and the new year is right around the corner.
As much as I'm happy for the hours to slow down a little there are things I'm already looking forward to next year.

First is finishing and selling my twentieth M&B Medical story. Also hard to believe that I first got the call for Their Marriage Miracle in 2010. Where have the years gone? There is a stack of books in my office that attest to a lot of time sitting at a desk since then. Explains why I'm doing a lot of power walking at the moment.

I'm hoping to make great inroads into this pile of books, plus the ones he-who-doesn't-understand-the-need-to-read is completely unaware of. I'm referring to those on my tablet. With sun, a deck, and time away from the computer I'm planning on attacking the book piles from Christmas on.

The most exciting things I'm going to enjoy are watching

our two grandies as they grow and develop.
The just turned three year old has enough energy for a small village, and is learning to play soccer, dance on the trampoline and basically take over the world.














His sister is four months old and I know there are going to be lots of exciting changes over the next twelve months. At the moment she's placid, gurgles a lot, and sleeps right through the night, something her brother still struggles with.

 

And if I needed anything else to look forward to it would be many evenings on the deck with my man and a glass of wine in my hand.

 

What are you most looking forward to in 2016? Any special family event coming up?

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.