male on monday

Today I'm blogging about one yummy brunette at the Pink Heart Society. To find out which one head on over for a read!

I'll give you a hint... He's the most recent head of the Corleone family.

my deep and abiding love of the red pen

I love revisions. Adore them. Apart from actually selling a book they are my favourite thing about writing. Which surprised my editor no end!

But here's why...

The book has been written. The hard work of creating loveable three-dimensional characters, of generating unique and believable conflicts, of keeping them apart and giving them a beautiful happy ending has been achieved. The book has been read by my editor, deemed to be so very close to ready - woohoo!!! - and this is where the fun comes in.

I print out my whole book and begin the slash and burn!

This is where I get to come back to a story with fresh eyes, to ditch the funny but ultimately extraneous scenes I was so atttached to I couldn't let them go, where I will have lightbulb moments about the perfect word I couldn't put my finger on when I was so close to the material it became a blur. I can pare down the fat and leave behind a lean mean fighting book!

So that's me. This weekend I'll be neck deep in "Heavenly Bodies" reliving the romance between star-crossed lovers Cameron Kelly and Rosalind Harper. She's an astronomer with her head in the clouds, he's a property developer with his feet firmly planted on the ground. Can they find their way to meet somewhere in between?

meet caleb

Now for all of you out there who have read this month's Sexy Sensation THE MAGNATE'S INDECENT PROPOSAL, Caleb's story will be out and about in the UK in October and in North America in November.

And here's his cover! Love love love love love it. It's peeeerfect for the story. And did I mention how much I love it????

Caleb Gilchrist is a baaaaad boy. The baaaddest I've ever written to be sure. He's such a lad, a cad, a cheeky fella he had me downright worried when I decided I had to tell his story as I truly wondered if such a baaaaad boy could ever mend his ways.

The moment he thought he spotted a familiar brunette within a crowd of people I realised in a heart beat why he was so baaaad in the first place and the rest was a breeze!

You can meet gorgeous, and baaad Caleb in THE MAGNATE'S INDECENT PROPOSAL (out in North America in September) and then get to see a whole lot more of him in A NIGHT WITH THE SOCIETY PLAYBOY.

the reviews just keep on coming!

Today I received the latest in a blush-inducingly long line of nice reader emails from people who've loved my current Aussie release, Sexy Sensation THE MAGNATE'S INDECENT PROPOSAL. Which has really been such good timing, really, as I have just begun to tackle my next in the same line.

Here are some of the truly lovely things people have had to say:

5 stars, CataRomance
"Flirty and totally funny The Magnate’s Indecent Proposal will leave readers smiling and thoroughly entertained by its characters. Ms. Blake has penned an extraordinary story."

Heidi Rice, RITA nominated Romance Author
"Absolutely loved it. Phone sex, restaurant sex, dog shampoos and a really hot hero. What's not to like, right."

Joanne, Reader
"I just finished The Magnate's Indecent Proposal and I loved it! yep, it was great!! Loved the sizzling story line; the heat between the H&H almost burned up the pages."

Timna, Reader
"I read your latest book in one sitting – how addicted am I?"

Monique, Reader
"I just finished reading "The Magnate's Indecent Proposal" and I thought it was fantastic! I have to say it was the funniest romance novel I have ever read - and I've read quite a few over the years! If you add such warmth and humour to all your books, I can only imagine they'd be just as good as the one I just read.Thanks again for a great read!"

Ain't they sweet?

my name is ally, and...

...I'm totally addicted to the High School Musical movies. There, I've admitted it.

I'm admittedly a tad older than the target audience for such flicks. The fact that the first two were made for the Disney Channel is a bit of a giveaway there. But even so, I wonder, how can a gal not love such sweet, fun, romping romances?

Now here are the reasons why...

Well, duh, it's a romance! Gorgeous jock falls for smart girl. Can that combo ever get old? Uh, nope!!!

Umm, Zac Efron. Google Zac Efron and you get a run down of fan sites that boggles the mind. If I was 16 I'd have posters of him all over my bedroom walls to be sure! The kid's too cute for words.

It's the Strictly Ballroom, Full Monty, Grease, Dirty Dancing phenomenen. Sticka musical number at the end of a movie and you cannot go wrong. Have the audience daicing in the aisles on their way out the cinema door and their lasting memory will be one of joy. Seriously, I reckon you could make a shoot 'em up action movie, finish with a dance number and I'd love it!

Kenny Ortega - the director & choreographer. He choreographed Dirty Dancing, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo's Fire, Xanadu and directed Newsies (an early Christian Bale musical flick - fabulous!!!), and Gilmore Girls. In my humble opinion he can do no wrong.

The third movie is coming out at the cinemas in October. I have friends with preteen girls who'll be going along. And now that I have a daughter, I'll have an excuse to join 'em.

Go Wildcats!

can alpha males have soft squishy sides?

Head on over to the Modern Heat blog to find out whether Modern Heat authors think that the uber-sexy, hot, yummy, powerful Alpha male heroes in their books can in fact have soft squishy sides.

We'll be there all month, so come along and let us know your 2 cents as well!

http://sensationalromance.blogspot.com/

happy birthday to me!

Where has 2008 gone??? Perhaps I can ask my new Tom Tom GPS system I got as a pressie from my clever hubby - it seems to know everything else!!!

I'm heading off to watch my hubby do his stuff today - he works for his favourite footy team - so will use my new Tom Tom, to get there. Will be too much fun! Especially with the lovely, deep, sexy Aussie "Ken" voice leading the way ;).

oops...

It's 6 days into July and I completely forgot to hurrah about the release of my third Sexy Sensation THE MAGNATE'S INDECENT PROPOSAL in Australia and New Zealand! Must have been the heavenly scent of too much new paper on my desk that had me in a daze.

So...

THE MAGNATE'S INDECENT PROPOSAL

is out now in Australia and New Zealand!!!

There. Done. Phew!

If you want to see why people have called it "flirty and totally funny", "really hot", "sizzling" and "addictive", well then you're just gonna have to read it for yourself!!!

Grab a copy in any good bookstore in Aus/NZ, online in the UK, or if you're in North America it's a coming your way in October!

happy new year!

Today is the first day of July!!!

In Australia that's the start of a new financial year. And since I am a complete and utter addict when it comes to all things paper (coloured paper, post-it notes, filling out any kind of paperwork, forms, tax returns - seriously!) then I'm in heaven.

Today I get to open my beautiful new red leather 08/09 day to a page diary and pretend like it's going to help me be more organised. To keep my to-do-lists in one place, not on scrap paper all over the house. To keep track of my writing targets each day. To make story notes that don't end up in the back pocket of my jeans and through the wash. To get my Pink Heart Society posts up to date weeks in advance...

And to take a deep breath and leap into a brand new story, this one lovingly entitled The Cat's Pyjamas. Meg and Hamish...here I come!