RX For Love: Harlequin Medical Romance (4)

Oh, look at this pristine room. Don't all those white walls scream out for some decorating? Oh look, I just happen to have some posters of my favorite TV docs. Maybe I'll just unroll them and put them up on the walls while no one is around. I especially like this life-size poster of Dr. McDreamy.

Nancy places the posters up on the walls, tosses some colorful throw pillows on the new sofas and slips quietly out of the room. 

... and I think Antonio Banderas will do very nicely.

Kate tiptoes in, puts up his poster, then goes over to the table and adds a plate of home-made cookies, a pot of coffee and a dish of home-made strawberry yoghurt ice cream (NB this is the uber-healthy version - first try of making it yesterday and it was AWESOME. Why did I wait so long to get that ice cream maker?).

Then Kate remembers deadline, waves to everyone and slinks back to her desk...

I wish Sunday would go on forever--it's a perfect day to write.  There's a cool breeze coming in past the open, sliding glass door. The recliner and laptop are positioned just right  My spaniel Molly is calm, even with all the birdsong.  My hero, Alex Smoker, former cop turned ED doc, is in a pinch.  I'm writing his way out of it.  He can be such a bad boy.   I'll put the kettle on for tea if anyone would like some.  Wish I was a good enough cook to whip up some of Kate H's strawberry yogurt icecream.  I'll have to settle for popsicles.

As long as what he's wearing underneath isn't a Texas Catheter! .

Texas catheter, huh? I was going to ask what that was but have decided it must be some kind of cocktail....

Amy (going to wash her mouth out with soap and preparing to stand in the naughty corner)

Nancy - thanks for the compliments on my sheikh book. Yep, you've described my Presents down to a T.           

Canada Kate - the ice cream is SOOOO easy. Just put strawberries and a bit of sugar and lemon juice in a blender, whizz together, add a carton of 0% fat Greek yoghurt and a smidgin of whipping cream or double cream (ummm... is that "heavy cream" in America?), whizz for a couple of seconds, pour it in the ice cream maker, and 30 mins later you eat it and smile.  (Today was raspberry ice cream - I sieved the puree first, and didn't add quite so much sugar. Lovely and tart and it tastes of just raspberries.) And most of the recipes on my website are easy, too. 

Amy - yeah, trust you to bring in the boom box and the booze. And the stripper. LOL!

And I had to google Texas catheter. Blimey!

Linda - great list of covers. I'd add Amy's wonderful Dr Romano's Christmas Baby to that. And Caroline Anderson had an anthology out, "Holding out for a Hero" - fabulous cover there, too. Actually, thinking about it, Amy had another cover I was really envious of - the one with the spaniel. That would've been out around the time of Breakfast at Giovanni's... I think, which makes it the year before last. Amy?

Righty - better go beat the outline of my new book into submission and work out how to implement the changes my lovely ed wants. I know it's a hard sell if they don't work together, but... she's on sabbatical (neurosurgeon - pain specialist) and he's a GP (family doctor). They're not going to work together much!  And I have to resurrect the person I killed off in the middle of the book. And the Regency doctor has to have a very, very, VERY small part. (Rats. She saw through that one. Well, she does. And I know she's right.) Might have to go and scoff my new discovery (rhubarb and custard chocolate puddles - they're kind of like giant chocolate buttons).

Single Dad, Outback Wife - Sept 2007 (NA edition) and July 07 in the UK and Aug 07 in Australia. I agree that is another great cover.

Kate; your ice cream sounds delicious!

Linda

I've been tiptoeing outside for the last couple of days (was in Astoria, OR) so haven't been able to pop in, but MAN! I couldn't resist the music.

This room is rocking, (thanks Amy!) and I can't wait to try one of Kate's chocolate button thingies!  I'm afraid rhubard requires a lot of sugar to make it palatable (for me anyway)

WOW!  I love the decorating.  Great posters and Oh!  Look over here - a cover wall.  Nothing like a handsome man with a stethoscope around his neck, or a baby in his arms.  Or a spaniel ...

When does the uh hmm "show" start?  Wish I could stick around, but I've got a book to write.  Kate, your editorial changes sound doable, by all means.  There are sooooo many possibilities with the medical stories, you know?

Take care all - glad to see the new folks sticking around, and always love to hear from (well I won't say "the old faces" heck no!) all the others.

Amy, wipe that smirk off your face - you little devil you.  Did you invite ... holy cow ... him? >points with mouth open<

to say that I've been having HUGE problems logging in for over a month now. Once again I've used a temp password but everytime I try to change it, it still takes me back to the ID page (Sue aka MsCreativity) and then doesn't allow me further access because 'this user name already exists'. Grrrr, of course it does, it's me! I've also cleared cookies, etc and even stopped using firefox (I'm here now in IE). I've also tried deleting everything on my profile - just in case it's too busy...

So, I've spent far too much time trying to sort it out, but I miss you guys...if I'm shut out when I try to log in I'll give in and re-register at some point again...(this also happened back in 2008).

I've got a busy/hectic/exciting/scary time approaching...I've almost finished the latest wip (Romance) and I also have an appointment at a conference with a M&B editor . HELP!!!

I hope everybody is keeping well - pop by my blog or facebook, or tweet me or, better still, email me at romancewriter2006 at gmail dot com or susan _ rix at yahoo dot co dot uk.

Oh Amy dear, my heart is breaking. I am only on page 33 of a certain jellyfish book and my heart is breaking right along with Izzy's. Can't wait to see what kind of stuff Dr McHusky is made of. Back to reading...

Sue - good luck with your pitch and hugs on the logging in woes. I know our Maggie is having the same difficulties. Please, please, anyone who has anything to do with fixing stuff - Penn, Rae, Jayne?? -  please help our Maggie. She's such a vital part of our little loop and we miss her. Wah! Maggie we miss you   

Nancy - thank you so much for your kind words and your lovely review. I've been anxiously awaiting my first review here on e-harl. You know when you talk a book up for so long and then you suddenly realise that maybe you talked it up so much its never going to reach expectations? I lurved Alex and I also loved writing a heroine who's so utterly screwed up by society's expectation on women's appearances and how, no matter how model-like they may be, it still does a number on their head.

 After an awful day at work it was sweet, sweet, sweet coming home to your praise. 

Amy 

Hi Canadian Kate - no glossary. Just write it as you know it and the eds will change it as they see fit.

Good luk.

Amy x

Well, it's official.  We are Live!  The Medical Romance Authors have a blog right here at eHarlequin community, and here is the link: http://community.eharlequin.com/content/medical-authors-group-blog

We decided to share a brief history of Medical Romance for the first time out of the gate.

Cheers!

Lynne

Medical Romance has a new author - Sharon Archer - her debut novel is on sale in the UK starting this month. Hopefully it will come to NA as well. Our very own Fiona Lowe has written a glowing tribute and interview with Sharon on Love is the Best Medicine today. Come join the party! Here is the link.

 http://medicalromance.blogspot.com/

Linda

I am trying to focus on some writing--it is hard to squeeze it in. I had about five days off between our school year and our summer program. Now that I am back at work I'm chronically exhausted.

I'm thrilled with the medical blog, but miss chatting in here. Is our Maggie still having trouble getting in here? Where is Maggie? Gee that makes me think of a song, "Oh, Are you Sleeping Maggie?" which makes me think of a fiddle tune, "Drowsy Maggie". Come back Maggie, we miss you.

Hi All - sorry it's been a while. Been on hols and have been hanging out at the medical authors blog - y'all should get on over there. We're having a blast!

Maggie is still in the e-harl naughty corner at the moment with log-in issues AND she's moving and is without access for a week or so BUT hopefully she'll be back on line soonest. It's quiet without her, isn't it?

AMY

or just playin' . . .

I'm home for 4 weeks (y'all will remember) and yesterday my mom and I had lunch with one of her friends. They picked the restaurant b/c it's good AND b/c there is a UBS a couple of doors down and a nice independent bookstore a couple of blocks up. 

I'm not reading much. I've been getting photos into a photo album. I've gone through 2 packs of 250 corners since Saturday. That got me through a few months of 2006 and all of 2007. That leaves 2008 and 2009 (which don't have as many pics, for whatever reason), and then I plan on going back to 2000 and catching up to 2006. I picked 2006 as my start year b/c that's when we went to France for 6 weeks, so I was motivated to get those pics organized and it just made sense to keep coming forward . . . 

Tomorrow I'm having lunch with Hosty Dream.

I guess Maggie's moving. What's everyone else up to?

Penn

It has been a quiet summer so far for me. For me and DH mostly working. DD is busy trying to earn money for next year of university coming up in the fall. DS is young enough to actually be on vacation. Currently he is visiting his father's side of the family in Nova Scotia. My BIL plans to teach him and one of his cousins scuba. BIL is an excellent instructor so the boys should haver fun. At least the sun finally came out the past couple of days and we got some great barbeque meals.

Hope everyone else is having a great summer, or winter for our friends in the Southern hemisphere!

Linda

Thanks so much everyone. I'm relieved that I can write it as I know it without a glossary. It was beautiful today. Nice cool breeze. I was out and about running errands and enjoyed every minute. Now it's back to the keyboard! Kate G

Lynne, I am so envious...you have an Italian in the house...I am writing an Italian hero at the moment (well Australian born Italian but still VERY Italian) and I have a very good friend to help out with phrases but to have a native in the house what a bonus.  Hope you're writing an Italian Stallion

BIg wave to everyone. Hope your summer is going well. Ski season is in full flight here and the mornings are COLD

Cheers

FIona

Hi Kate!  Your Swithin's day sounds as accurate as our Groundhog day.  Feb. 2nd, both Canada and US wait for Puxatawny Phil to (SP?) stick his head out of his burrow.  If he doesn't see his shadow he somes out and Winder is officially over.  If he see's his shadow he goes back into burrow and we're doomed with six more weeks of winter. Did I get that right?  It may be exactly the opposite. 

Fiona, I wish I were writing an Italian, but I will certainly have a source for any future Italians if I do.  Enjoy the skiing.

Hello to everyone.  Oh, I think So. Chloe was wondering about hearing back from UK eds.  Several of them are currently in US at conference, which means those left behind may be working extra hard, and there is that new Presents contest launching, which is bound to tie up more editors.  Sorry for the long wait time!

Hi all!  I'm home from the Romance Writers of America 2009 conference in Washington DC.  The conference was fabulous, but I am SOOOOOO glad I planned an extra vacation day so I could recover today.  The conference was FABULOUS & I wish you'd all been there!  I'm slowly starting to post pictures over at my website blog & on Facebook, so if you get a chance and want to see pics, stop by.  :) 

While at conference I got to talk with fabulous medical authors Laura Iding & Jessica Matthews.  I saw Lillian Darcy from behind as I sat in the row behind her during the RITA/GOLDEN HEART award ceremony.  (My roomie was also up for a RITA in a different category & a dear friend was up for two Golden Hearts! so I had a guest ticket to sit upfront-yea!)  Lillian was sitting with her Senior Editor so I restrained myself from gushing, but I do wish I'd had the opportunity to meet her.  Maybe next year.

I'm glad to be home, but miss my friends already.

 Mainly, just wanted to pop in and say hello and hope you all have a lovely day.   

Wow, Sue, great story, and thanks for talking up Medical Romance - Harlequin's best kept secret!

I hope you pointed her to this forum.

Thanks for being a Medical Romance advocate.  And I'd love to hear about the RNA conference.  I have a fantasy of attending one year.

Oooooh, I'm so jealous, Janice. Washington sounds amazing. Everyone's raving. Also a great opportunity for a writer to refill her well.

Amy