You are currently browsing the archives for July 2009.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 entries.
Saturday brought another day’s promotion – this time at Waterstones in Uxbridge where they had a lovely display of Molly’s Millions. I was delighted to be joined by my two lovely nieces, Lucy and Charlotte. Here they are with me and my mother-in-law.
And today I spent a wonderful afternoon with children’s author, Mary Hoffman. I met her three beautiful cats and we talked about – well – books! Get two authors together and it’s usually the same!
Whilst driving around the beautiful Oxfordshire lanes, I saw this sign which reminded me that I’ll be chicken-sitting again this week!
Continue reading My nice nieces! »
Last night, I had the very great pleasure of being part of the Summer Fiction Panel with Judy Astley and Jane Wenham-Jones at Notting Hill’s Waterstones. We had a lovely crowd of people: friends, family and “wannabes” who all risked torrential rain to join us and make the evening a success. Thanks to the fabulous Mark Farley who organises the very best author events in London. And thanks to everyone who bought copies of Molly’s Millions. I’m delighted to say that it sold out! We even had to grab the ones from the window display!
Continue reading Notting Hill »
This weekend, I had the very great pleasure of attending the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s annual confernce in Penrith. It was brilliant and it was so lovely to see so many of my writer friends with their copies of Molly’s Millions, all of which I was delighted to sign!
A highlight for me was taking part in the ‘Love in the Library’ talk in Penrith where a group of us – including Katie Fforde, Freda Lightfoot and Veronica Henry - told eager readers all our writing secrets. Many thanks to the wonderful staff who arranged the day and gave us a fabulous lunch.
Penrith and the Eden Valley is where I open Molly’s Millions and it was lovely to wander around the town and visit the amazing giant’s grave which my hero Tom and his daughter visit in the book. Here’s a pic of me with some of my very good writer friends.
Back to work now which has also been a pleasure as I’ve discovered beautiful Ardington House and it’s proving a very inspirational place. My new novel is going to be about a group of Jane Austen addicts who attend a specialized weekend at a Georgian country house. Here I am working hard – honestly, I really am! – on the island in the middle of the lake in the beautiful grounds.
And breaking news – I’m part of an exciting new group of writers who are all celebrating their first UK novels. We’re called Let’s Talk About Love so visit our website and find out all about us.
Continue reading The Romantic Novelists hit Penrith! »
I was sitting at my desk on Thursday, looking up gorgeous Georgian houses for my new novel about a group of Jane Austen addicts when I received an invitation to appear on Radio Five Live! The Richard Bacon show wanted a romantic novelist to talk about pre-nuptial agreements and how they take the romance out of marriage. I’ve never been on live radio before and thought it would be an amazing experience. I was cabbed in to the BBC at White City where I met the lawyer who would be arguing the case for pre-nups on the show, and we were introduced to Richard Bacon and userhered into the studio where enormous headphones were donned.
I’m pleased to say that it all seemed to go well and that I only embarrassed my husband a little by telling the nation about our old-fashioned courtship which included many a love letter!
Whilst at the BBC, I heard that Jonathan Ross was filming his show and I couldn’t resist leaving a copy of Molly’s Millions for him at reception. He has a reading group on Twitter and I’ve heard he likes romantic comedies!
Now, it’s back to the desk. I’ve discovered two amazing Georgian houses in nearby Oxfordshire and will be visiting them tomorrow. Another hard day at the office …
Continue reading Pride, Prejudice and Pre-nups! »
This has been an amazing couple of weeks. I’ve had the great pleasure of seeing my first UK novel, Molly’s Millions, in the bookshops. Here I am in a branch of Smith’s next to Cherie Blair!
I also did a spot of signing with fellow author, Lola Jaye. We ventured into central London on the hottest day of the year and signed as many of our books as we could find. If you can find an unsigned one, it’s worth an absolute fortune!
Here we are at Smith’s in Victoria. Thanks to the lovely Ines who was so sweet and helpful.
I also attended a wonderful garden party at Oxford’s St John’s College with my Great Uncle Peter who was a student there in 1949. The sun shone for us and there were cucumber sandwiches, heaps of cake and strawberries and cream. It was perfect!
Whilst in Oxford, we visited The Eagle and Child (also known as The Bird and Baby) where the ‘Inklings’ used to meet. It was amazing to step into the pub where early readings of The Lord of the Rings and the Narnia stories would have taken place, and my uncle told me he was in Oxford at the same time as Tolkien and CS Lewis!
Continue reading Out and about »