merry christmas!!!

Boy do we have a big day ahead of us.

This is our first Christmas since moving back home. After spending the morning at home we are stopping at both my parents' place and my husband's. All with two toddlers and a newborn in tow. Phew!

The day will be filled with cousins galore for our kids to play with, including three newbies who are all having their first Christmases - my Baby Boy being one of them. Though at two weeks old I'm not sure he'll appreciate Santa's stocking stuffers as much as I will ;).

I hope your holidays are filled with as much food as mine will no doubt be, the chance for as many afternoon naps as needs be, and bucketloads of laughter and fun and family and love.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!!

Love
Ally & Family
xXx

baby love

A big thanks to all of you who've sent such lovely eCards, and Tweets and messages on Facebook congratulating me on the arrival of my own little hero.

For those yet to hear the news, Dominic Lucas arrived on Friday the 10th - soft, warm and too sweet for words.

My funnest memories of the birth - yes I am a bit of a Pollyanna - are reading In Style in between contractions as it was beautifully distracting! And pulling the gas tube from my mouth to ask the midwife to turn off Dr Phil on the TV when I heard him yabbering on in between pushes ;).

Now home, I'm having an absolutely lovely time baby gazing, as are his two big sisters who are wondering just when he's going to be big enough to chase them around the house!

nothing as tempting as a new hero!

I'm sooo close to picking my heroione inspiration so a big smoochy thanks to all those who emailed and commented! Any one of them could have done the job, but as always happens, one gal's light just shines when it comes to the crunch. Watch this space to see who won!!!

So here's the hero who's about to line up against my fabulous tough as nails heroine. I tend to lean towards tall dark and handsome but this dark blonde honey is just peeeerfect for my new guy. The blue eyes, patrician nose, preppy polo shirt, neat hands that haven't seen a day's hard work in their life.

Plant him on a barstool in front of my heroine who's had to work her backside off just to survive and boy oh boy the sparks!!!

holding out for a heroine

Had two new ideas for new books the other day. Ones I love. Ones I can't wait to write! It's truly the worst kind of temptation when neck deep in trying to finish a book under deadline.

But wanting to lock down the ideas while they're fresh, I'm on the lookout for a heroine for one. A Harlequin Presents/RIVA.

She's tough, feisty, unforgiving, smart-mouthed and owns a rowdy bar in the middle of nowhere. Why she's in the middle of nowhere is a slight mystery to me, but I get the feeling she's run away from something bad. These are the girls I have in mind. Any of which I can see doing a great line in backchat, drying a beer schooner while wearing jeans and t-shirts with the kinds of slogans to make lesser men than our hero shrink.

They are Anne Hathaway, Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Biel and Drew Barrymore.

Any grab your fancy? Or can you suggest someone else great?

If you want to see the charmingly gorgeous hero they line up against, then you'll have to check back later in the week for some 'inspiration'!

first loves revealed

Head on over to the Pink Heart Society - the blogazine dedicated to all things category romance - to find out about my first love, and my first red-hot love affair.

Pictures included. I'm serious! But naturally, there is a twist ;).

december? it can't be!

Is it really December already? No!!!!!!! How fast has this year gone???????????

Don't you know I have a book due? And the Christmas tree's not up. And summer's yet to hit sunny Brisbane. And I've yet to even contemplate what needs to be done to update my website. Oh, yeah, and I'm due to have a baby any day. Eek!

At least I've been nesting so rabidly the Xmas shoping is DONE! (Okay, all bar the things I want to get for hubby - poor love.) The new couches have just arrived, and they look goooorgeous! And the air-conditioning is going in on Monday. And my boxes and boxes of author copies of my books have found a home in the magnificently lucky space we discovered in our ceiling above the garage.

Right, so now that I'm over the worst of the shock, I'm actually kind of excited. The kids' presents this year are, to my mind, pure genius. Our new house feels so much like home I can't believe we haven't lived here forever. I'm enjoying my current book. Christmas is coming! And, best of all, I HAVE A NEW BABY DUE ANY DAY!

Yep, that tingle in the tummy is happiness. Not labour pains. Promise!