Awards

Awards

Thursday, February 17, 2011

A Nanny Story With Sass Factor

Hi All,

I'm lucky enough to have Judy Jarvie swing by to tell us about her next release (2 in a month--can you believe it?), Nanny Behaving Badly. It's a fabulously fun story, and I know her readers will love it. So heeeeere's Judy!





A Nanny Story With Sass Factor



Nanny Behaving Badly was a blast to write. Mostly because I gave sass factor full freedom!

Since Marcy is my long-time CP she will attest I love to let my characters banter. I like a bit of fun, a bit of attitude. And most of all I love the underlying sensual tension that causes characters to play along.

I love to let them have fun, say outrageous things, wind each other up – I guess it’s all related to pulling pigtails in the schoolyard. I especially love a hero who can give as good as he gets! It gets even better when the sass stops and things turn serious.

And in Nanny Behaving Badly there was a lot of things that fired things up between hero and heroine:
For starters rebel heroine Maddie Adams finds herself in hot water when she pushes the boss a bit too far at the end of Chapter One. (Note – I won’t spoil it by giving the story away but let’s just say she makes the worst impression possible with her new coffee shop boss, Lyle Sutherland).

Then they have to work together even more closely when Maddie accepts Lyle’s offer to be his son’s nanny. It may be a wise career move but it ups the banter and temptation factors hugely.

I loved writing their encounters, their fun asides and their differences of opinion.

If sass is the spice of romance writing, then Nanny Behaving Badly definitely gave me a chance to create something really piquant!

And lastly HUGE thanks to Marcy for helping me along the way. Nanny Behaving Badly took a lot of dirty drafts to get right and Marcy held my hand and kept me at it. I’m very very grateful.

WANTED: Nanny Behaving Badly

Waitress Maddie Adams hits black ice when she shocks her new boss, hot coffee king Lyle Sutherland, then agrees to be his son's SOS nanny.

It seems like the perfect solution to his childcare dilemma. But strong, silent-type Lyle is soon left reeling by his son's sassy new nanny.
Is off-limits attraction a 'naughty step' penalty? Can Maddie resist bad behaviour with the boss?

Out now with Embrace Books –
http://blog.saltpublishing.com/2011/02/14/who%E2%80%99s-your-valentine-%E2%80%94-launching-embrace-books/

More info at www.judyjarvie.com and http://judyj.blogspot.com

Flirting With The Fireman also out now from The Wild Rose Press –
http://thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=4381&zenid=198ad25c404e5749ff949efd6c8af2c0

Thanks for letting me drop by - and a big big thanks to Marcy. Without her - Nanny Behaving Badly would never have gotten as far as she has! In fact Marcy features in the dedication to the book!
(* Marcy here...Awe, you're so sweet, Jude*)

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Writing!

I broke through the post R slog and started writing again. Yay!

In a few days, I was able to write the short story (aimed at Woman's World) that I've been noodling for weeks, and it felt darn good! After another sweep to make sure everything is absolutely sparkling, I'll be back in submission waiting limbo.

It's small, but it's a start.

Anyone else starting something new?

Monday, February 07, 2011

My First Guest Blogger!

This is a first at my blog...I have a guest Blogger! Yippee!

I met Judy Jarvie many moons ago over on the eHarlequin Community boards, and we've been critiquing for each other on and off for years. And since this is a very exciting time for Judy (2 releases within a month!), I'm thrilled to have her visit to tell us a little about her first release--Flirting with the Fireman. Take it away, Judy...


Busting the Waffle

Big thanks to the lovely Marcy, my long time CP, for letting me drop by and trumpet about my books.

Marcy’s the best placed person to tell you about my writing foibles– since she’s read so many dirty drafts! I wanted to write a brief post about the wonderful editor I met at Wild Rose Press and how she helped me so much. Her waffle-busting skills blew me away.
Vicky who deals with Sweetheart Rose is a very special editor. She read my book – saw things she liked in it – but told me it wasn’t quite right. She wanted more. I went away and expanded. It still wasn’t right and it needed a hard edit. Vicky tells it like it is but she also really fired me to want to get it right and impress her. At this point Vicky could easily have given up. Written me off as too much to learn. But she believed in the story. She liked the voice. And this gave me confidence to try again and make it better.

That’s what makes Vicky so special. The fact she taught me to be my own waffle buster!

What happened next was that Vicky gave me a brief tutorial on putting my own foibles right. She only showed me once but she showed me so well I was fired to follow in her footsteps.

Here’s what I learned:
I repeat.
I explain.
I can’t stop myself doing the above.
This drags pace. This pulls a reader out.
It may have strong voice but the story is the most important thing. And asides obscure the story.
Keeping the reader’s interest is paramount. They want to know what’s happening now.
So she made me stop. And boy do I feel a big difference. This post is a thank you to Marcy and to Vicky – who stuck with me on the journey and were prepared to try to help! We all need an extra eye to help us work out our foibles.

Flirting With The Fireman was released by The Wild Rose Press on 28 January. You can find out more here Link -
http://thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=4381

LIBRARIAN BRIDESMAID versus FIREFIGHTER BEST MAN
Cyber sparks...combustible consequences
Felicity Truro's diary is fast filling up with problems. First there's the ugliest bridesmaid's dress in the world, then there's her sick aunt's serious secret. But it's Rod McAllister, the handsome firefighter best man with attitude, who's melting her willpower and frazzling her nerves the most.
Can Flick survive being a bridesmaid for the eleventh time whilst falling for the groom's aide for real? And how will she cope when Rod needs a stand-in and she's promoted to top of the candidate list?
And if you enjoy Flick and Rod’s story - on February 14th my release from Embrace Books, Nanny Behaving Badly, will be launched. See
www.judyjarvie.com for more information!
HOT News - The Wild Rose Press has just won the Best Print/Ebook Publisher in the Preditor's & Editor's Readers' Poll FOR THE THIRD YEAR RUNNING. Huge Congratulations. Thanks for letting me drop by Marcy - as ever, you're fabulous!