Being in the moment or being in the Network...

I'm so glad that I was brought up in a time when there were no mobile phones, no social media and no Internet.

Back then, during the sixties and seventies, we didn't even own a house phone.   We used the call box up the road and often had to queue for ten minutes for the privilege of using it!

These days people seem obsessed with their phones.  It's almost as though they live their life through their iPhones, Blackberrys or whatever.   Not only can mobiles make calls now, but there are texts, ways to log into Facebook, Twitter, Myspace.  You can Instagram and pin pics at Pinterest.   You can send photos to friends even video clips.   Video conference even.  When they can make me a cup of coffee or programme some robot to hoover the carpet, then I'll get excited.

But what people forget about when they're constantly checking their phones for updates and logging in to certain websites via their phones, is the here and now.

I remember when my children were young attending their Christmas school concert.  One woman was so intent on videoing her little darlings that she was jumping up in her seat blocking people's views and asking to change seats with people. 

She was not in the moment.

She was so intent on filming the event, she wasn't enjoying it and annoying other people at the same time who wanted to see their children live at a very precious time after queuing outside for twenty minutes in the freezing cold!

I'm not saying it's wrong to make videos.  I have several taken over the years myself.  But I'd far rather watch something live as it happens rather than worry about filming it.   I see the same thing happening at rock/pop concerts too and often those clips when uploaded to Facebook or YouTube are of very poor quality sound and vision.

Something which I find annoying about mobile phones, and yes, I do own one, but am not on it obsessively, it's not even connected to the Internet, nor can I sent pics on it.  All I use it for is to make calls, text and take the odd photograph.  That's all I need it for...

The thing I find annoying is this... I find lately if I go out with certain friends, they are slaves to their phones.  Constantly checking for texts, answering texts, answering phone calls that probably aren't that important, checking their Facebook accounts..."Wow she really posted that on her status?  I'm going to post a reply now!"  What about replying to me about the question I just asked you instead?

Why don't people just live in the moment?

I'm not saying I mind if someone occasionally checks their phone if it's that important, maybe they're worried if they've left the children with a baby sitter, or waiting to hear what time their lift is about to arrive, that's different.   What I'm referring to is the constant need to check their phones and block out the people they're with.  That's downright rude.

Most mobile phone calls if we admit it are non essential.  So often I hear people on their phones in the supermarket saying things like, "Do you want mushroom soup or tomato soup?"  Or on the bus or train answering their phones in very loud voices so that all eyes fall upon them, "Yes, I'm on the bus [or train].   On the bus I said!  I'm on my way home!"  They bellow.  Yes, we're all aware of it, we're on the bus with you but we're not SHOUTING about it!

This constant need to check up and check in, is it that necessary in most instances?  Will the world end tomorrow if someone chooses mushroom soup instead of tomato?"

Answering unessential mobile phone calls or texting has even killed people as they find it necessary to do so while they're driving.   Not only endangering their own lives but those of their passengers or other drivers/pedestrians.  Very rarely is a call that important it has to be answered there and then.  Maybe unless you're a doctor or paramedic and even then it's debatable.

Even the bus drivers are doing it.  The other day I found myself speaking in a loud voice in front of other passengers to say, "The bus driver is endangering our lives doing that...that call can't be that important."  Don't know whether he heard me but he put his phone down.  Other passengers agreed.  How can a bus driver keep proper control of a bus if his wife or other is on the phone distracting him?

One driver killed someone as he was busy sexting while he was driving a huge lorry.   That was sheer madness that he felt the need to do that whilst in charge of a vehicle.

I'm glad for time being I'm taking a break from Facebook.   So much time can be lost there.  Although some of it was productive for me at certain groups like the writing group and the history group and some social groups, there were times when it wasn't productive at all.

Instances when time was wasted looking at other people's wall posts and photo shares.  'Share this Post',  Often times, posts are shared and the photographs aren't authentic or there's no way to know if they are.  Some posts claim that if you share them Facebook will donate a dollar to poor Johnny's plight.  Really?  I doubt it very much.  Does Johnny's mother give you permission to share his horrendous pic of his skin condition on Facebook and is it really Johnny anyhow?

Far better to donate to a real charity.  No idea how sharing a photograph that could have been grabbed anywhere off the Net will really help anyhow.

Sometimes I think it would be nice to go back to the days before mobiles phones, social media and the Net, but then again if we did, I wouldn't be able to post this...would I?

My Garden of Gethsemane

When Jesus was facing his own trials and tribulations he went to the Garden of Gethsemane which was at the foot of the Mount of Olives.   He went there to pray, in amongst his solitude from people, he found peace and guidance.

He went there the night before his crucifixion.  He prayed while his disciples slept.

Part of Jesus's prayer was: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:42)

Sometimes when faced with our own trials and tribulations we need to find that place of solitude and kneel down before HIM and ask him to take the cup from us to do HIS will and not our own.  Amen.

I'm about to discover my own Garden of Gethsemane once more.  It was there all along but I left it for a while.

A bunch of roses for myself!

I posted this pic of a bunch of roses on my blog exactly five years ago today.  That particular blog post has been relegated to 'drafts' as it was very personal and although I wrote a lot about a particular incident back then, I decided to remove those posts which covered around two months of my life, from my blog.

On that day as I was going through some personal trauma I stopped on my way home to buy myself a bunch of yellow and white roses.  White roses are my favourite flower.   I found it comforting buying flowers for myself, it was a way of saying, "There, there, you've been through so much.  Maybe these will help..."  In fact, it was like something I might have done for a good friend.

I read that post again today and realise I need to buy myself those roses again.

The strange thing was after buying myself those flowers, other people started to buy me flowers too.  Maybe I had put out a thought into the universe that I was worth loving and appreciating, who knows.  But it really helped.

Sometimes we need to appreciate, love and value ourselves in the first instance, then we will attract the right people toward us, who will show their love and appreciation too.

Memories of 911 and what I was doing at the time...

I found one of the first articles I ever had published online this morning in a creative writing newsletter:

http://www.author-me.com/newsletters/NewsMarch2002.htm

This reminded me of my early days of writing for publication.

Back then in 2002, I think I was just filled with enthusiasm and hope.  I'd joined a large Yahoo online writing group called Momwriters who I learned so much from.  Some were editors, publishers, authors, freelancers, whilst others were ordinary mothers with young children with an urge to write something and see it in print.  If it were published and you got paid too, then that was the icing on the cake.

The group was very supportive and encouraging.  We shared writing tips and writing markets.  I saw some of those ladies go on to achieve great things.  One called, Joshilyn Jackson, even made the best seller list.  That was a thrill for me to see her book on the shelf at my local Tesco. 

It was a feeling of a 'can do' attitude back then.  Nothing seemed impossible.  It was quite easy to find markets and provided you had the skill to get published online and in magazines, so much the better.

However, following 911, when the twin towers fell, I noticed a change in the market.  Websites offering payment no longer did so, or some offered less payment or  none at all.  I've no idea really whether that was coincidental or not.  I suppose 911 must have had some impact on the economy.

I remember the day of September 11th 2001 so well.  It was a cloudless day with blue skies on both sides of the Atlantic.  I came home from work and walked the dogs and when I arrived back at the house, my husband arrived home a little later, this was just after 2 pm I think.  He said there's been some sort of plane crash into a tower in New York, I just heard it on the car radio.  It sounded awful but it sounded like an accident at that time.

However within minutes of hearing the news, we switched on the television to see another plane had crashed but this time it was into the second tower.  It was like watching a disaster movie unfold on the big screen, so surreal and spooky.  It was at that point I think that the world realised it was not an accident at all.  It was deliberate.

At the time people were discussing this at the Momwriters Yahoo group.  Now don't forget this was well before Facebook so we didn't tend to get instant threads with people joining in live on Yahoo groups like we do on social media these days.  But a phenomenal amount of messages were pouring in and even the moderators were allowing them to be posted immediately.  In that group ALL posts were moderated so they could take some time to appear.  Hours later usually.

I was hearing of people who had narrow escapes, hearing about people whose friends and family were missing.  People shocked to the core.  People on foot near the scene.  It was so strange to share the grief in some way when I was so far away from it all.

One Momwriter lost ten friends in one of the towers.  Can you imagine that?  Ten of your friends gone.  It's unimaginable.

At the time I was running an online E-zine called Positively Woman and one lady shared a story there her husband wrote.  It was of how he escaped from one of the towers and what it felt like being out in the street afterwards.  It had all started off as an ordinary day for him and ended up as Armageddon.

It was definitely a day that shook the world.  I had an article published about it at the time at the Canadian website Suite 101.  People posted lots of comments.  There was even one from a pilot's son his father flew airplanes for American Airlines.  I remember friends contacting me from all over the world afterwards saying, take care, hold your loved ones tonight, sending our love to you from Australia, or wherever.

I think what came out of it all was that after that horrendous tragedy which cost so many lives, we held our own loved ones a little closer and thanked our lucky stars we still had them.

The French Letter King makes it into the Daily Mail!!

Thea Horton was recently interviewed by a journalist about her book, The French Letter King.  Her grandfather, Tommy Horton, had a condom factory in Merthyr Tydfil and was way ahead of his time.  Read the complete article here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2716555/Greengrocer-grandfather-Britains-condom-king-created-measure-reusable-condoms-using-car-tyre-rubber.html

Why I Sacked My Publisher!

It was ten years ago when I got 'The Call'.  Now those in the publishing world understand that it means you got that exciting information from a publisher that they wish to publish your book!  Many years ago it was more likely to have been a phone call or a letter.  Though nowadays, it's just as likely to be an email or even a text wouldn't surprise me!

Anyhow I'd got 'The email'.  I was so excited.  It was my first novel, the first one I'd ever written 'The End' on.  The first one I'd revised and edited and then followed all the publisher's guidelines and submitted for possible publication.

The publishing world moves at a snail's pace.  My novel entitled, 'It Happened One Summer' had taken around 9 months to complete.  As long as it takes to create a baby.   In fact it was my baby.

I ended up submitting it online to a publisher in the US.  Most of the romance publishers in the world are situated there.  It was a small press but they'd published lots of novels and had a good online presence.  I even knew a couple of authors published there.

However they did insist on a $45.00 set up fee.  Being a small operation it had it's overheads and the person who printed the books was a separate operation.  So I thought, fair enough.  They weren't charging hundreds and even thousands of dollars like the big vanity presses did. 

Fast forward two years.   Yes, a full two years later my book was slated for release and that's not unusual in the publishing world.  I had decided to donate all the proceeds to a charity I was working for and a big book launch was arranged with the mayor, other dignitries and the press.   So, imagine my disappointment when the first batch of books arrived at my door all the way from the good US of A and I opened them to see all was not as it should be.

In fact it my was my son who noticed it first.  He was 14 at the time and he looked inside one of the books and asked, "Mam why have they spelt your name wrong at the top of each page but it's correct on the cover?"  I thought as my son was a bit of a joker, he was teasing me.  But when I looked I could see he was telling the truth.

I checked book upon book and they were all the same.  My surname was Rees on the cover as it should have been but Reese inside.   I immediately contacted the publisher explaining my dilemma this was to be a big charity event at a local castle.  There press would be there for heaven's sake!  I got no satisfaction from the publisher at all.  They were very blasé about it all.  They didn't even offer a few free copies as a gesture of good will. 

It was the first print run and all they said they'd do was make sure the spelling was correct for the next print run!  I was mortified and had to go to work and explain the situation.  It was decided to go ahead with the launch anyhow as it could take weeks or months to ship more books over from the US.

The launch went very well and all books sold out.  There wasn't even one left for the mayor and some others, so more were ordered.  I kept my fingers crossed that the next batch would be as they should and they were, though they took a lot longer to arrive and there were hundreds of them.  The postman almost broke his back getting the sacks down the steps outside my house.

While this was going on I had a follow up book called, 'Return to Winter' accepted by that publisher, who I shall not name for legal reasons.  There has already been a double page spread about this published in a national magazine.  It was an article I wrote a few years ago and the editor discussed the merits of naming the publisher or not and we both decided against it, just in case it should come back and bite us both on the bum!

There were so many things I wasn't happy about with that publisher, including poor communication, that I asked to pull my book from them and also the second book due for publication, even though I'd signed a contract.   After a lot of bad feeling from them I got them to release me as an author, though they probably could have fought it but it was a small operation it probably wasn't worth the hassle to them.   And maybe I was a thorn in their side as I'd warned other authors about them at their online group.  There were others there too who felt like I did and maybe they were worried we'd join forces.  Several left after I did.

Anyhow I heard of a new publisher in New York who had just set up and I sent both books there which they immediately snapped up.  They were great to work with and they gave me free copies of my books and didn't charge a bean.  I had a good experience with those. 

Of course ten years down the line, I've learned a lot and been published with other publishers since.  I suppose the moral of the tale is, if it doesn't feel right, don't do it.   And even if it does at the time, you can probably do something about it.  The first publisher and the second publisher were like chalk and cheese.  The first was unprofessional but still exists today with mixed reviews about them.  The second has gone on to achieve a good reputation and now has lots of authors on their books.  I was one of the first in their new stable of authors.

For anyone who has written a novel and wishes to send it somewhere I advise you to do your homework and find out as much as you can about that publisher beforehand.  It might just save you a lot of aggro in the end...

Life Without Facebook

I've been away from Facebook now since last Thursday evening.  That's almost 5 full days...

So what have the negatives and positives been thus far?

Well it's definitely been a very positive experience for me.   I've been writing up a storm.   I wrote 4000 words of my novel in progress on Sunday alone.  I doubt if I'd have done that if I'd been tempted to log into Facebook on the weekend.  I estimate since deactivating my account, I've clocked up around 10,000 words.  That's around a 1/6th of the first draft of most of my novels.  Imagine how quickly I could write if I carry on like this?  My productivity could soar through to the heavens!

I've also been reading a lot more too and have read one complete novel and I am in the midst of reading another.

I've also been enjoying reading and contributing more at romance writers' forums and reading articles about writing romance, online, etc.  Better than watching arguments arise on people's walls and in groups on Facebook!

My only vice is still logging into the Interpals website occasionally to speak to the quirky characters there, but I might even abandon that soon.

I'm not constantly leaving what I was doing to check in at The Book any more.

Am I feeling happier?  Yes, I think I am.

I think too if you leave a social media website that has been a big part of your life, then when you leave it even for a short while [as I did a couple of years ago] you rapidly discover who your real friends are.  Those who have other ways to contact you, will!  They'll email, phone or text you, or even as in one case, write you a letter!

All the others who don't seek you out are mere acquaintances.   If you don't have their contact details, you've chosen not to ask.  Others who do want to keep in touch but don't have contact details for you, will ask those that do.

They will CHOOSE to seek you out.

After all, for someone like me whose name is plastered all over the Internet....[my articles and stories have been published online since 1999 so I'm a bit of an Internet Whore] I'm not too difficult to find.  My email address will be there somewhere in amongst my articles on various websites or on my personal blogs/websites.

A Google search for my name throws up around 254,000 results.  Most of the 'Lynette Rees's' are me.  There's a Lynette Rees in Australia who's a successful photographer and there's one who is some sort of quilter, one is a poet, another some sort of researcher on TV, another a lawyer.  There was even one who was a belly dancer back in the old days when I first got online!  But the majority of the hits are for 'Lynette Rees the girl from Merthyr who happens to be a writer'.

Sometimes I wonder if the photographer from Australia minds we have the same name as it must be annoying for her to see the writer from Wales taking over most of the pages at Google.  But I had an online presence way back when....so I got there first I suppose.

So what have the negatives been being away from Facebook?  None really.  The only thing I miss is posting songs from You Tube and discussing them like some Hippy Internet DJ!  I do miss some of the people though, but like I said, I'm easy to contact and I have told two friends to pass on my email address should anyone want it as we share lots of mutual friends on Facebook.

I wonder if I'll be speaking this way next week and still think it's better to be away from it all?  Will I be straining at the leash to get back to Facebook or will I not give a jot?

Watch this space...

Talking to the Wall: Why I decided to deactivate my Facebook account

I've been away from Facebook now a full forty hours.  Yes, I can be that precise.

For time being I've just deactivated my account to see if I feel any better.  And guess what...I do.

You see I'm not one of those people who only log in now and again.  I am a full blown Facebook addict who can't resist compulsively checking her inbox, newsfeed and groups.

Some of the time I've spent there has been useful.  I made some nice new friends who I've met in real life and kept in touch with.  I set up a writing group that inspired and motivated me to write new novels and complete unfinished ones.

The trouble for me was, I was wasting far too much time there.  I'd sometimes ask myself where the time had gone to.  Another day without writing a chapter of my latest work in progress.

And OMG please don't talk to me about the drama on Facebook!!  LOL

I was being a bit sarky there.  So many people seem to look for arguments and quarrel over the pettiest of things.  They also say things they wouldn't dream of saying to your face in real life.  They hide behind their computers and class themselves as 'keyboard warriors'.  Keyboard worriers more like as most of them couldn't punch their way out of a wet Echo and have so little going on in their lives that they want to cause mayhem and mischief on Facebook.

Let's be honest if they had more going on they'd pay scant attention to little things.

And of course, are these people real friends anyhow?  Some of them will friend you on Facebook but walk past you in the street.  Others will friend you in real life and ignore you on Facebook.  What's that all about?

I have made some nice friends on Facebook, I've also lost real life friends over it too.  Which is a shame but I think what happened was they showed their true colours online.  Things I hadn't noticed about them before became magnified on the Book.

And the other thing of course, is Tagging.  I don't appreciate being tagged in photographs showing up on my page before I've seen them, for the world and his wife to see.  Of course there is an option to stop that now and I did that. 

For me Facebook has so many privacy issues.  Have you noticed if you inbox someone, key words are chosen from your messaging and appear as sponsored ads in your newsfeed?  I remember one day a male Facebook friend messaging me, asking me a question about the book,  'Fifty Shades of Grey'.  I thought, what's he asking me that for?  Then he told me he'd seen one of my posts from that group appearing in his news feed even though he wasn't a member. 

Facebook encourages stalking.  I've had people follow me onto other people's pages and make comments, even though those people were not their friends.

And when you think of it, does anyone really care about the mundane things people post on their statuses?   The things we don't need to know about, like how they got drunk last night and woke up with a hang over this morning.  Or what a great time they had at a concert last night.  No, not really.   Quite frankly, I'd rather watch paint dry.  Yet people seem to post these things as if to prove they had a great time. But can they really be having a wonderful time if they're not in the moment and constantly posting updates about the concert?  Surely if they were enjoying it that much, Facebook would be the last thing on their minds?

So then, are people using social media to make it sound as if their lives are better than they really are?  I think so in a lot of cases.  I felt far more popular on Facebook than in real life sometimes. 

This will be an interesting experiment to see how long I can resist.  I might even be back there Monday posting, "I've just put out three lines of washing and baked a cake..." on the other hand I might just get on with my real life instead.

Rapture Recapatured by Thea Phillips my Review

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended Read!!! Get Steamy this Summer!!

This is the first time in a long while that I've a read a book in one complete sitting!

I was drawn in from the first page...and taken on a journey of discovery and high excitement.

"Widowed Anna meets Rick on an Internet dating site..."

Internet dating can be scary when you're young but what about when you're approaching your sixties and ready for your bus pass and bedroom slippers?

If you think erotic sex is for the young then you are wrong it's also for the young at heart. This is one hot, steamy read that I highly recommend this summer.

It's not just about the sexual scenes though, there is a real romance going on here. Anna is conflicted about her children's feelings about her being so loved up with a stranger. After all, she does have 'babysitting duties' to attend to. Why should she have a life of her own?

But whilst she has a sense of honour toward her family she also has a huge sense of lust and longing toward Rick. But things are never plain sailing and a forced separation threatens to tear the pair apart.

But is their love strong enough to survive the turbulence of a long distance relationship or would they both be better off forgetting one another and bailing out mid journey?

This is a tale that peaks and troughs just like those hot sex scenes Ms. Phillips pens so well.

Reading this novel makes you realise as a reader that not all grannies are made to knit bootees and bake apple pies. Some of them actually enjoy hard core knee tremblers while the oven is still hot....

My review of 'The French Letter King' by Thea Horton

One novel you won't want to miss out on!!

When Tommy Horton arrived in the Industrial town of Merthyr Tydfil in 1900, little did he realise what lay in store for himself... 

A wheeler and dealer of his day, he set about to make his fortune, venturing into various deals, including pawn broking. After spending a period of time in prison, he eventually opened a rubber factory in the town to make ‘French Letters’, which as well as needed by the townsfolk, were in demand by the troops throughout the first and second world wars to combat sexual diseases.

Tom married and had an only son called, Ron. Both had a tempestuous relationship with one another, which is evident throughout this book. At times Tom could be controlling and manipulative toward his son, and Ron, although defiant on occasion, often buckled to the will of his father.

But the making of Ron is the love of a good woman called, Lorna.

This story is set against the back drop of the South Wales Valleys during a period in time when there was much hardship in the towns of Merthyr Tydfil, Tredegar and neighbouring valley towns.

This story will transport you back to an era when rationing came into force and black outs were the norm. Where families found it difficult to feed another mouth, so places like Tom’s rubber factory were a necessity. The women who worked there preferred to tell others they worked elsewhere. Indeed it was common place to tell people they worked at ‘The Butter Factory’. Such was the stigma of the day.

This is an excellent novel that not only brings to life the history and geography of Merthyr Tydfil during both world wars but weaved throughout it are two love stories: Tom’s relationship with his initially unappreciated wife and Ron’s relationship with Laura, the feisty ballroom dancer from Tredegar.

The characters in this novel leap out at you from off the page and this book will keep you reading long into the night. This is one novel you won’t want to miss out on!!

Available from:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/French-Letter-King-Thea-Horton-ebook/dp/B00KE8DSAC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1402324526&sr=1-1&keywords=thea+horton

Author Interview

I'm being interviewed today at Clean Romance Reviews:

http://www.cleanromancereviews.com/2014/05/author-interview-lynette-rees.html

For one day only...Rebate at All Romance!

For just one day All Romance Books are offering a 50% rebate off some titles, including my book, 'Beneath a Sicilian Sun'.

Click here to purchase at reduced cost:

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-beneathasiciliansun-1466193-149.html

Cover Reveal - Beneath a Sicilian Sun by Lynette Rees

Cover Reveal - Beneath a Sicilian Sun by Lynette Rees

USA Today website!

My novel gets a mention on the USA Today website!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/happyeverafter/2014/04/04/hot-new-romance-novels-april-2014/7282763/

Author Interview

I'm being interviewed at 'Beach Bound Books' today.  Take a peek and leave a comment if you like!

http://www.beachboundbooks.com/4/post/2014/04/author-interview-lynette-rees.html

'Beneath a Sicilian Sun' is now available!

My novel, 'Beneath a Sicilian Sun' is now available from Amazon and Kobo.  There's a special offer on my publisher's website of 30 % off as it's Taliesin's first year anniversary!

http://www.taliesinpublishing.com/beneath-a-sicilian-sun-p41.php

Amazon UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beneath-Sicilian-Sun-Lynette-Rees-ebook/dp/B00JER6ZW2/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396459162&sr=1-2

Amazon US:

http://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Sicilian-Sun-Lynette-Rees-ebook/dp/B00JER6ZW2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396459216&sr=8-1&keywords=lynette+rees

Kobo:

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/beneath-a-sicilian-sun

Purchase Book here!

The Sicilian's Proposition Excerpt

She wrapped her large beach towel around herself and came above deck to find Dante had already changed into a pair of white swimming trunks. She held her breath when she saw his tanned, trim body. He had a smattering of black hair on his chest and looked very muscular. His chest was broad, and she longed to run her fingers over its contours and lay her head on it. She inhaled, exhaled, and tried to keep her composure.

“Come on, Joanne,” he teased.“Drop the towel.” His chocolate brown eyes glinted devilishly.

She let her towel fall to the floor and watched as his eyes widened with desire.

“Mamma Mia. Why do you fear showing your body to me? You are beautiful…and that gold chain around your stomach, it makes you look very sexy…”

No one had ever called her sexy before, ever. Her mouth dry, she licked her lips.

“I haven’t let a man see me in a bikini for years, Dante. I’m not as slim as I used to be.”

“No, no, Joanne. To me you look fabulous. I love your curves. They suit you. A man needs somewhere comfortable to land.” He laughed, making her laugh too, and it helped to ease her heightened nerves. He pecked her on the cheek and then, much to her astonishment, he turned, walked to the side of the boat, climbed on the edge, and dived into the water, sending up a huge splash of sea spray.

She stood and peered overboard but couldn’t see him for a few seconds; her heart thudded. Where had he gone? Then there was a splash as he emerged and wiped the water out of his eyes, laughing and bobbing up and down in the water. 

“Come on in here, join me please, Joanne,” he urged. She hadn’t been expecting this at all.

Gingerly she sat on the side of the boat. “Will you help me into the water?” She bit her lip.

“Of course, amore mio. Jump to me, I will catch you.”

She closed her eyes and with blind faith threw herself into his arms. For a moment the combined weight made them dip under water and she began to panic a little. Then they were fully submerged, and eventually returned to the surface, bobbing up and down. There was a small ladder at the side of the boat she could cling to if she wanted to and that reassured her somehow. Who could fail to feel safe with Dante around?

“But…but…where are we?” she spluttered.

“Joanne, we are only just off the coastline of Sicily. Over there are the Aeolian Islands.” He pointed and she made out some dark shapes in the distance. “We shall have a little swim here, rest later, and eat too. Then I am going to sail the boat over to one of them. It’s called Lipari and it’s the largest island, it’s volcanic. The food there is out of this world.”

“You are full of surprises, Dante.”

“I know.” He smiled and drew her close to him, stroked her face, and then pressed his lips down on hers, stealing her breath away as his tongue danced with hers. “Like that you mean?” he asked, drawing away.

She nodded. “Yes.”

“And like this?” He wrapped his arms around her and untied her bikini top. She gasped at his cheek and watched as he spun it around his head and tossed it aboard the boat.

“What did you do that for?” She blinked several times.

“Because you have a beauty, Joanne, that needs to be admired.” He cupped a breast in his hand and lowered his head to suckle. She groaned as a tingle of desire coursed around her body. “Please do not worry, there is no one to see us here like this.”

He pushed her up against the boat; the water was so clear, so aquamarine and warmer than she thought, though that might have been because he had switched on her button of desire. There were some fish swimming down below in among the fronds and rocks. She gazed in awe.

“Yes, this is a good place to catch fish, Joanne. I have been scuba diving here. You should join me sometime.”

She laughed. “I think this is as much of the ocean I can stand, Dante. I’m not a strong swimmer.”

He ran a wet finger along her cheek. “Ah, you are frightened, I can see that, but you need not be when you are with me. I can teach you about so many things.”

She shivered; without a doubt, there were many things Dante Alphonso could teach her, not least of all love-making. He was her tutor and she was about to become a very willing student...

Available here in both Kindle and Paperback version:

Amazon Com: http://tinyurl.com/mot6rmc
Amazon UK: http://tinyurl.com/pl6n67m

Cover Reveal: Beneath a Sicilian Sun

Blurb for 'Beneath a Sicilian Sun':

Sparks ignite when love and lust collide beneath a Sicilian sun.

Journalist Joanne Smith encounters Sicilian millionaire Dante Alphonso while conducting an interview for Life Today magazine. Dante has been well known to the media for years, where constant scorn has been thrown upon the playboy lifestyle of his younger years. He detests that reputation as he would much prefer to be known for his charity work for The Children’s Hope and Dream Foundation, an organization he established to help terminally ill children achieve their wishes.

Dante has already had his fingers burned by bloodhound journalists, but takes a chance on Joanne, inviting her to his home country to visit his vineyard and meet the Alphonso Family. Things begin to sizzle between them under the Sicilian sun as Joanne embraces their lifestyle.

A thorn in the side for Joanne is Dante’s ex, Carla, a strong alpha female whose family owns a rival vineyard in the area. Carla betrayed Dante before, so trusting any woman is difficult for him.
However, Joanne has a secret she has kept from Dante, which is stopping her from growing close to him. The secret is revealed after he invites her on board his luxury yacht on the way to the island of Lipari.

Will their love for one another be strong enough to withstand the stormy seas that lie ahead? Or will it get washed up on the shore?

Release date: 3rd April 2014, Taliesin Publishing

Bringing the Writing Senses to Life in my Novel: Linguine Liparese

When I wrote my novel 'Beneath a Sicilian Sun', my intention was to evoke all the senses, to really bring them to the surface, so the reader got a flavour of Sicilian life. So the country's wine and food became a big part of the novel for me.

My Sicilian friend Salvatore, who helped me with research for this book, [yes I always undertake some research, even if it's a contemporary romance], told me about this recipe.  Though he would use fresh red tuna instead of canned.  Sicilian red tuna is considered the best in the world and exported to Japan who apparently can it and sell it back to the country that sold it to them in the first place!  In one section of the story, there is a scene in a restaurant on the island of Lipari, where this dish is chosen and after that, things begin to steam up between the main characters, Dante and Joanne...

Linguine Liparese

Ingredients:

• 320 g linguine
• 100 g of tuna in oil 
• 80 g black olives
• 40 g capers
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 sprig of parsley
• 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Instructions:

Cook the linguine until it is al dente. Meanwhile, fry the following ingredients in a pan of  oil: crushed garlic, capers, olives, pitted and cut into pieces. Add a little 'water from the pasta, chopped parsley, a pinch of pepper, chopped tuna and mix. Drain the pasta, put it in a bowl and dress with the sauce.

A Writing Change is as Good as a Rest...

Lanzarote

A change of location is a good thing when you're writing. It can inspire you to craft, create and encounter new possibilities within your writing.

When I wrote my most recent novel, ‘Beneath a Sicilian Sun’,  I wasn't in Sicily where the majority of the novel takes place, but in Lanzarote which is one of the Canary Islands.

Actually, I'd started writing the novel the previous year while holidaying in Tenerife, another Canary Island. Did I tell you I love to go to the Canary Isles?

Anyhow, the settings in both locations were great. I'd get up in the morning in Tenerife, leaving my husband snoozing away in our hotel room and sit on a lounger near the poolside with a cool drink, my body slathered in sun protection lotion and a pair of shades slapped on my forehead, in case the sun came on too strong. When it rose high in the sky, so did I, and I'd head indoors having written about a thousand words or more.  I did that most days, so had quite a few thousand words under my belt and a good plot underway by the time I arrived back to a snowy white Wales that January.

I set that novel to one side for a time but then got inspired to pick up a pen and write again the following year.  This time it was an April time in Lanzarote and my husband and myself were sharing a villa with our grown children and their partners.  They all loved a good lie-in in the mornings, so I’d get up early and take my leather bound writing journal, pen and cup of coffee to sit at a table and umbrella near the poolside.  I’d get around an hour or more precious writing time to myself, so it all built up. 

We arrived back to a snowy Wales

Most of the book was written in Wales when the weather wasn’t so hot.  Where rain clouds are more prevalent than blue skies.  Yet, being previously in such warm surroundings gave me a feel for how Sicily would be under the sun.

Hearing people speaking in Spanish in the Canaries gave me an impression how it might have felt for Joanne, my heroine in the novel, when she heard people jabbering in a foreign tongue around her in Sicily.  In one scene, she feels like a round peg in a square hole and wonders why she bothers to stay there.

The villa in my novel seems similar to the one Dante lived in.  It even had its own pool and tiled floors.  Although as a multi millionaire, ours could have fitted into a corner of his no doubt.    A coincidence perhaps?  Or just my subconscious taking over and helping to fill in the dots?  That Sicilian villa though is the setting for a crucial life changing scene in the book and propels the reader into the hope that maybe true love will eventually conquer all.

When I began writing ‘Beneath a Sicilian Sun’ I hadn’t written a novel for a few years and wondered if I ever would again.  To be honest, I doubted it.  Would I have the patience to sit down and discipline myself? Not only that, risk submitting a novel anywhere again?  After all, rejection is never easy for any writer least of all when you fear you've lost your mo jo.  But when I proved to myself I could finish it, I also went on to complete another couple of half written novels and have since written a brand new one.  So I know I am capable and back in the groove.  I got kick started again by a Facebook writing group called ‘Merthyr Writes’ that a very good online friend suggested I start up.  The feedback and positive encouragement from members helped to inspire me to begin my writing career again. 

‘Beneath a Sicilian Sun’ is the novel that will hopefully re-launch my writing career.  I’m really grateful to this book and the fact I spent those holidays beneath a hot sun getting up to write early in the mornings, even if it didn’t happen to be Sicily, it certainly helped that the sun shone…

** Beneath a Sicilian Sun is due for release 14th April 2014 - Taliesin Publishing

Coming Soon...

My latest novel, 'Beneath a Sicilian Sun', will be released on the third of April. Can't wait. Looking forward to seeing the cover art which I'll post here when it arrives. Meanwhile, here's a photo of Lipari [which is the largest of the Aeolian islands off the coast of Sicily] to whet your appetite! It's where some of the steamy action takes place in this story. 

Putting Those Pesky Edits to Bed

As an author, the absolute worse part of the writing process for me is the edits.  Not so much the editing and revision before I submit my novel to the publisher but the rounds of edits after the book is accepted for publication.

Too often we’re precious about our words because we think a sentence sounds great as it is but what we’re doing in effect is adding superfluous words.  I was going to add a ‘just’ to that last sentence but it wasn’t necessary!  See what I mean?

This is written assuming you’ve gone right through your story to check for any plot errors and inconsistencies first, the plot is tight, there are no obstacles that stop it flowing from A to B and you’ve spell checked, then these are the other things you need to watch out for.

So before you even think of submitting your work anywhere contemplate the following, as it will save more work with your editor in the long run:

1.  Omit useless words and phrases like ‘just’, ‘felt’, too many ‘that’s, ‘so’s, ‘exact replica’, ‘attach together’, ‘added bonus’ etc.  They add nothing to your work and are often used as fillers.  

2.  Watch out for overuse of modifiers.  These lessen the impact of your prose.  Words to watch out for are: obviously, positively, utterly, probably, quite, simply, really, etc.  To strengthen the sentence leave them out.  For example, “She was utterly beautiful” might sound fine but “She was beautiful” is stronger.  There are occasions when you might need to use them but use sparingly is the best rule of thumb.

3.  Are you telling and not showing?  ‘Showing’ is to demonstrate emotions, actions and dialogue via the story, bringing it to life.  ‘Telling’ is doing what it says, the story is lifeless.  Here’s an example.  Telling: She looked very angry and wanted him to leave the house. Showing: Her heart beat a tattoo as she gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists at her side.  “Get out of here now!”  She pointed toward the door.

4.  Have you repeated yourself too much?  This can slow down the story and makes it monotonous as the reader thinks: “I’ve already read that once!”  Ensure you delete any repetitive words and phrases.  I once read a novel by a best-selling author that used the same phrase in one sentence.  It was: “She rolled her eyes!”  She rolled her eyes and then she rolled her eyes some more?

5.  Why use lots of words when a couple of words will do?  Some authors love using grandiose words and phrases.  They think flowery language will impress the reader.  Unfortunately, all that happens is the reader gives up reading as it slows the book down to a snail’s pace.  Who wants to read a book with a dictionary by their side?

6.  There is a thought that it’s possible to edit about 20 % out of a manuscript and it will still be readable.  That’s one fifth, a sizable amount.  An editor requested I remove 4000 words from one novel and it made for a tighter read in the end.

7.  Avoid clichéd writing.  A cliché is a well-known saying that has slipped into our everyday vocabulary.  For example, ‘He had an axe to grind’, ‘She was worth her weight in gold’.  If I write something like those examples I try to find an original way to say the same thing instead when it comes to the edit.

8.  Avoid passive voice. In sentences written in passive voice, the subject receives the action expressed in the verb; the subject is acted upon.  An example of this is: 'We were invited by our friends to their wedding'.  To make it active voice, change it to: ‘Our friends invited us to their wedding.’

9.  Check your tenses.  It’s easy to slip into the wrong tense, sometimes past to present and vice versa. 

10.  When in doubt delete.  Don’t become so attached to your work that you can’t delete.  If I’m stuck on a paragraph and I try rearranging the words and it still doesn’t work, I often delete the sentence so the paragraph makes sense.  Sometimes less is more.