January 31, 2008 | contests, free book
Actually yesterday I was being unnecessarily whiney. It was a good day. Fecklet was at his child minder’s so I had the entire afternoon to fail to write, and I managed to scrub the bathroom, do two loads of laundry, descale the shower as previously mentioned, catch up on promo, package up some books to send, and go for a long walk along the river Kennet (a path I write about in One Night Stand, and which I last walked when I was nine months pregnant).
And eventually I also wrote 1500 words.
As tomorrow is the beginning of February, the month of Valentine’s Day and all things love, there is lots of exciting stuff going on in romance world. I’ve got two massive parties to go to next week–the RNA Awards lunch on Monday and Mills & Boon’s 100th Anniversary on Thursday. Plus, there are media promos everywhere and some fantastic book giveaways at the moment, too.
I’ll be blogging about a really big one tomorrow (a Modern Heat treasure hunt! Avast! she says in fake pirate-style). But one that starts even sooner than tomorrow, due to the Australian time difference, is Nicola Marsh’s Be My Valentine competition.
She has fourteen romance authors guest blogging on her site every day, each one with a book to give away. (I’ll be up on the 9th, and the other authors are like a who’s who of romance–Liz Fielding, Jill Shalvis, Lucy Monroe, Anna Campbell, Kate Walker, Nalini Singh, Bronwyn Jameson, Jaci Burton, Fiona Lowe, Christine Wells, Yvonne Lindsay, Barbara Hannay and Kate Hardy–whoa!)
And then, on the 14th, she will be giving away a big Valentine treat of 14 books.
Go over to her blog to see the rules, and I hope to see you there.
Leo says:
Hi Julie,
I have a question that is completely off topic from this blog entry but thought I’d ask anyway seeing as though if I were a popular author, I’d love a fan to ask me some such question!
When you’re working on a new book, do you work on a character sketch and a complete synopsis first? Or just go ahead and start writing and see where the character takes you having a general idea in your head of what type of person you’re writing about?
I’d love to hear from you
Leo
P.S: My local Waterstones got a new shipment of ONS in a week ago and they’re sold out…AGAIN! So, I have it pre-ordered and it will be in my hot little hands early next week. I can’t wait!
P.P.S: I know I could have ordered it online but I hate waiting ages for it to arrive. I want a book, I go in the store, buy it and start reading on my way out the door!
Julie says:
Leo, I’ll answer this question in a separate post, in a couple of minutes.
While I’m frustrated for you that Waterstones keeps on selling out of my book—WHOO-HOOO! That is great news for me to hear.
I hear you about wanting to get reading right away. I love going to the bookstore or the library and then reading my new treasure all the way home. A bit of a challenge when you’re pushing a pushchair with your other hand!
Leo says:
Julie Cohen, I dub(b?) thee the Goddess of romance. Rise Goddess Julie!
Oh my giddy aunt, I’m three quarters the way through ONS and I’m loving every neurotic filled minute of it! I love Eleanor (we both seem to be on the same paranoid wavelength) and Hugh…well what’s not to love about Hugh? I don’t know who you used as a model for Hugh but David Tennant comes to mind and I can just see our dear Doctor in Hugh’s oddly laced plimsoles.
Having read anything of yours that I can get my hands on (5 books?) I can definitely say this is my favourite. In a way, I can’t wait to see what happens at the end but then I don’t want this precious jewel of a book to end because I’m enjoying it so very much.
Not that I have hoardes of people reading my blog on my website but I’m hoping to write a review of ONS and put it on my website and also on a book review website called ‘Round the Campfire’ http://www.roundthecampfire.co.uk that is if you’re okay with it. Happy to send you the link when it’s ready.
I’m off to get some lunch and finish (she sniffs) ONS at the nearest Starbucks.
Leo