the story of a book

Oh, yeah, and by the way I have a book out this month ;).

GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS was my first ever attempt at a sexier book. I had some time up my sleeves mid-last year and a story that just flew from my fingertips - famously the first half of which was written in a week! 25 k. In one week. I can hardly believe it even now!

Having no idea if it was silly, fabulous or even the kind of thing Harlequin might in fact publish, I sent the first half to my lovely then editor Jenny who came back with the greatest priase on a partial I've ever had! "ALPHA is fantastic! Great characters, good pace, fab story, glamorous setting, and of course an extremely sexy hero! It really feels as if you have tapped into the fun, flirty voice that Modern Extra is looking to provide."

So, having about a month in which to finish it before the Australian Romance Writers conference on the Gold Coast, and the time to start a new book for a line for which I knew I could write, I put my head down and wrote as fast as my fingers could type. Which was pretty easy considering the inducements. Jeremy Northam was my hero inspiration and he was perfect. I had a half dozen great pictures which set off scenes in my head. (Check out my Male on Monday at the Pink Heart Society on the 16th of this month for more...) And my one pic of Reese Witherspoo was sooooo perfect for Abbey. Oh happy days!

Alpha came in at 66,000 words. Too long. But I sent it off anyway, again having no idea if it would sell. If they liked it I could cut it, but until then the week it would take me to trim it down to size was spent getting my outfits together for the conference. Highly important stuff!!!

The word came back. It was a go! Shorter it had to be. A tad sexier at the begining too. But that was it. And henceforth from that time forward, I joined the likes of my good friends Trish Wylie, Nicola Marsh and Jenna Bayley-Burke as a fully fledged sexy writer. Do you reckon I should put that on my business card? Or demand every interview or library talk start that way? "And here is sexy author Ally Blake." Mmmm....

And now the four of us are all starting our next Modern Extra books this week! To keep track of how we are all getting on, check on our blogs!

Check out an excerpt of GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS here...

Or just buy the thing here!