Medical Authors Group Blog

Last month I was away in South Africa where I spent my childhood. I go back whenever I can as I have a older brother and sister who still live there and it's great to catch up with them. (Phone calls and email just aren't the same.)

I'm posting early for the Aussie faction.

You have to admit, bookshelves like these for your favourite stories wouldn't be a hardship! (Thanks, Jayne for letting me upload them).

How many of you keen readers out there in cyberspace are members of a book club? Is it an online club or do you get together in person?

Happy Halloween!

Memories are made of this.

Once again, time has gotten away from me, which is one reason why my blog post is late!  But as I'm almost certain that I'm not the only one who has had time get away from them, I'm hoping you all will forgive me.

Glamorous launch parties, lunches, champagne and feather boas – that’s the life of a romance author, yes?

This picture of Alison Robert's dog, Molly, has nothing to do with the topic. I just love it.

To the topic...

Hi, Everybody!

Picture this –

...it’s twenty to five on a Saturday evening and you’re about to get ready to go out to the 25th Wedding Anniversary of good friends. You’re excited about the evening so you’ve had the clothes laid out for several days. Your best patent leather shoes have been checked for scuff marks, you bought some new silky stockings, your favourite navy satin skirt is ironed. And you’ve got one of those beaut crinkly tops that don’t ever need ironing – even better, it’s in that melon shade you really love. From the depths of your wardrobe, you’ve dug out a little peach-coloured evening bag which just happens to go rather well with the top.

You’ve had a fab day being a bit of a slob, catching up on a whole heap of annoying little jobs that needed doing around the property.  In short, you’re feeling pretty darned pleased with yourself.

You’ve got plenty of time to get ready so you plan a long leisurely shower (mmm, better make that a frugal, leisurely shower because you’re on tank water and the drought hasn't relinquished its hold yet!)

I didn't have a clue what I was going to blog about today but then, this morning, I saw a cute little movie called 500 Days Of Summer. It's a quirky romantic comedy about a woman who doesn't believe in true love and the guy who falls for her.

On the weekend I helped cook 600 sausages at the boys' school Athletics Carnival. I('m the one with her mouth open in the pink pinny!!)  I'll be brutally honest here and say a large part of my motivation to do this was to make seven hours go a lot faster .  

Hi there,

Hi everyone

What is your fantasy or wish? I was speaking to a friend recently, who like me, enjoys playing tennis and she confided that every time Wimbledon or the US open is on the telly she fantisises about coming on to centre court with Roddick as her mixed doubles partner. She stands in the middle of the court, after they win their match of course, drinking in the applause. (ps If anyone is following the US open at the moment, don't tell me the result of Andy Murray's match. I'm going to watch it when I have finished work for the day.) 

My fantasy is much more prosaic. I would love tradesmen, or women, to turn up when they say they're going to. I can't tell you how many hours I have wasted waiting for people who never arrive! At the moment, I have hundreds of jobs around the house that need doing. 

Hi everyone,

Last night DH was up in the big smoke and boy wonder 15 is 'up the bush' and boy wonder 11 is so knackered at the end of a huge Tuesday he was in bed, lights out 7.30pm so I had the house to myself,.

Well, I'm sitting here in Scotland, gazing out of my bedroom/come study window at the

leaves on the trees, and the lavender and roses which look so lovely in the border, and my

Emily is a very hard act to follow!  And she can post photos, an activity which is still elluding me.  I can only hope that at least I might have cracked the formatting this month and that my sentences are not all over the place by the time I have finished and posted this. 

Last Saturday night was the annual Quiz night at my children's school. Traditionally it has always been fancy dress - something our table wholeheartedly embraces, so much so that we concentrate far more on winning the prize for best dressed than we do on answering any questions!
We always choose a theme, so far we've been

Hello -

Rich man? Poor man? Which one do you prefer to read about?

I ask because my anthology with Margaret Way and Jennie Adams (that can only be bought from the UK presently - so take advanatge of the UK HMB sale pronto and go order one) is out now and I've written my first billionaire.

Just wanted to let you all know that through Aug 31, there is a 25% off sale at the Mills & Boon site in the UK.  Now is your change to stock up on all of those fabulous medical romances you've been dying to read.  If this link doesn't work, copy and paste to your browser.  Go to: www.millsandboon.co.uk and make your selections as usual.  When checkout comes, put code: NIGHTCAP333 in the discount/promotion code box and the deduction will be processed at the end. 

Also remember, shipping is only $4 from the UK to the US, so if you stock up, it's totally worth it.

Happy reading!

Molly

For some unknown reason, August is always a very busy month in our family, and especially this week.

Hi Folks

Just wanted to let you know I'm blogging on the Love is the best medicine site today, if anyone wants to drop in for a chat, just follow the link below!

http://medicalromance.blogspot.com/ 

I think most authors would admit to having an untidy office, especially near deadline. And I always promise that I’m going to tidy mine ‘when I’ve finished this book’.

Hello again! I’m dog sitting for my sister’s black lab this week and let me tell you it’s a challenge to play referee between Grizzly (black lab) and Mac (my Westie).

Growing up, my family was a beach family. None of this heading up the bush into stifling heat, no, my mother insisted on the beach.  I think when she and Dad married, the honeymoon was a compromise in that the beach had the bush right behind it in Apollo Bay but after that I think Dad just gave in and adapted

Hello from Scotland

How important is location and setting in a book?

The last time I blogged I was in the US. What a wonderful country! I loved it. I don't think I ever really thought that the US would be quite as stunning.

Whenever I'm on my travels, local or otherwise, I'm thinking, can I put this in a book? It's my excuse (as if I need one) for searching out the most romantic of locations. 

When we were in California we had lunch in this most amazing place, high on the cliffs and overlooking the sea. The rooms were dug into the side of the cliff, completely private, with gorgeous views and log fires. I can just imagine one of my heroes whisking my heroine off there. (Sadly my real life hero didn't offer!)

 What's everyone doing out there for summer fun? It's now August and my son has returned to his year-'round school. He's glad, because he was getting bored at home with me. It's tough to be nine and soooooo bored. I, however, could never work again a day in my life and never be bored. There are so many things to do! Reading and writing, of course, but there are socks to learn how to knit, handmade cards to make, which of course, requires many trips to the craft store(s), new recipes to try out, gardening, and of course, luxury time at the coffee shop writing and reading without distractions (laundry and dishes). Eek!

Surprises - do you love them or hate them?

While I was in Washington, DC, recently for the RWA conference, I made a point to visit the National Art Gallery with two of my friends. For a gal who can hardly draw stick figures, it was quite an experience to see Monets, a daVinci, and a host of other famous painters’ works. Naturally, I was impressed (who wouldn’t be?) and bemoaned my own lack of ability, but as I studied those timeless canvases, I realized that while I may not be able to paint, I express my creativity in other ways.

So many people I talk to believe they aren’t “creative enough” to write a story. Yet, while it’s true that not everyone can (or should!) write fiction, creativity isn’t a trait that only writers, painters, or musicians possess. We shouldn’t sell short the other creative geniuses we encounter on a daily basis—the individual who can take a handful of seeds (or plants) and turn them into a beautifully arranged garden.

Fingers crossed this posts without me crashing the Harlequin system! Being technophobic,
I approach these things with a certain measure of caution, especially
knowing my penchant for messing up! It's not the first time this
week I have had to face the challenge of technology, however, and my
surprising success on that occasion has given me a smidgen more hope

Well, no not really.  But I am a male and my name is Peter.  Lucy is the other half and together we are Lucy Clark... and so yes, the Lucy comes from Lucy & the Clark comes from me. 

Hi everyone,

let's have coffee and chat a little.  I'm really wiped out after a week-long conference in Washington DC with my fellow romance writers, so I need a little down time to get my brain back to where it usually is. Getting into a routine for writing is a good idea for most of us.  Even pansters, like me.  We're people who write by the seat of our pants without a map of where our writing journey is taking us.

I like to go to Starbucks after dropping my son off at school and working there with my little ASUS laptop.  If I'm at home, there are too many distractions of what I could or should be doing, but if I get my writing done first, then the rest of the day falls into place.

The question I get asked most when people learn that I write and who I write for