cooking a book :: add one heroine...

Meet Wynnie.

My friend Emily has a little girl called Wynnie and I think it the cutest name. The Wonder Years used to be one of my favourite shows as well. Wynnie for me is short for Gwendolyn. And I learnt sooo much about her in particular from my collage.

I found out what she did for a living, her habits, her home, her family situation and her conflict, all from a bunch of random piccies I cut out of magazines that felt right when I stuck them next to one another on a scrap of paper.

I usually know very little about my heroines as I dive into the story as I find it most fun to discover things the same way the reader would. As they occur. Wynnie and I have a long way to go yet...

cooking a book :: take one hero...

It's taken me a while to settle on a hero.

Going from the gooorgeous Richard Armitage, who I must admit inspired the idea of the story in the first place but I just couldn't find the right picture, through Collingwood footy player Alan Didak who has the right beautiful eyes but in the end felt too young, and I think I'll save him for a Modern Heat ;), and even through Harrison Ford (Working Girl era) but in the end he still felt a tad too old.

But now methinks I've found my man!

So heeeeeere's Whatshisname! Otherwise a fair bit similar to one Johhny Depp. Okay, so I know who my hero is, what he does, what he looks like and where he's come from.

As to a name? Aaaaargh!

Today is the last day to visit Liz Fielding's blog with the view to possibly winning a signed copy of this month's Harlequin Romance release FALLING FOR THE REBEL HEIR!

cooking a book :: the name and the glossy picture

This monthy sees the release of my latest Harlequin Romance, FALLING FOR THE REBEL HEIR in the UK and North America which is so exciting as I loooove that book. It's my fairy dust book. And at the same time I am about to set forth and write my next Harlequin Romance. So - big deep breath - here goes!

Before I could even start to cook my book I needed a working title. To me this comes part and parcel with the creation of a collage. As both things are all about creating the mood of the book.

My last Harlequin Romance working title was "Ring a Ding Ding". It's a fun book, with a hero who looked in my mind like a 1950s dreamboat. The Modern Heat I sold next had a working title of "Hanky Panky". Sexy, flirty, a more than a little bit naughty. The working title gave me that feeling every time I saw it which helped keep that feeling through the writing of the book.

The book I am about to begin is a Harlequin Romance, a story with depth and heart and hope and sweetness and softness. There is a kind of "pretty" feeling I get in the back of my head when I think of it.

As I sat down to work on my collage, I found a picture of a couple kissing in the sunshine. It seemed to have all the warm feelings I was having about the story. The name of the article attached to the piccie? TREATS, TREASURES AND SIMPLE PLEASURES. (Or a version thereof.) Done!


Do you think the working title suits the collage? I really do. The whole thing gives me a warm fuzzy feeling which is what the aim of a working title is all about!

Ooh, and that reminds me, for members of Romance Writers of Australia, I have an article coming out in the April Hearts Talk called, "A Working Title by Any Other Name" in which I discuss how important, or not, a working title can be. So look out for it!

Now don't forget to head on over to Liz Fielding's blog this weekend because whoever gives me the winning name for the gorgeous daughter of this next hero will win a signed copy of this month's Harlequin Romance release FALLING FOR THE REBEL HEIR!

"falling for the rebel heir"

From today FALLING FOR THE REBEL HEIR is on sale in bookstores around the United Kingdom, and I'm sooo excited!

This was the book written through my Between the Sheets series on how I write a novel (click on the link to read the whole lot) as I chatter about location, characters, motifs, brain stimulaiton, head-hopping and POV, revising, collaging, locations, eating habits while writing, soundtracks, and how to deal with real life getting in the way ;). (Apologies that some of the pics have gone awol!)

FALLING FOR THE RBEEL HEIR book that made me turn my eyes to Paris. That had me re-reading Henry V. Reseaching things like Colombian coffee plantations and professional still cameras. And staring at pictures of the gorgeous Rachel McAdams and Marat Safin day in and day out.

I had a ball writing this book. There was definite magic in the air. Here is the collage that helped insipire me and I think it really gives off the dreamy, free feeling of the story.

As in all successful collages so many of these pictures, which were originally chosen as they helped create a "feeling" rather than a narrative, inspired me to create actual scenes and special moments within the book. Do have a look back here once you've read the book to see what I mean. And don't you think the book cover even feels kinda the same? See...magic!

To find out more about the making of this book:

~ read an excerpt ot the book's page on my website
~ check out my "Between the Sheets" series of blog posts I wrote at the time.
~ hang out at Liz Fielding's blog from the 5th of March
~ and at Tote Bag blog on 17th March
~ and to find out why I believe in love, head on over to eHarlequin on 20th March

The North American release is the 11th of March with Australia and New Zealand to follow in April as part of the bestselling Mothers Day Gift Pack.

And over ther next month I will be talking about how I write my next Harlequin Romance in a series called "Cooking A Book". Hope you enjoy!