Books « Anne McAllister's Blog

Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

Revisions, Revisions!

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

Mom Camp is over and revisions are underway.

Unlike the last batch, which took forever, these seem to be moving along rather quickly. I’m hoping to get them finished within the week.

This is the book about Yiannis Savas, the youngest of the Savas brothers. When he first popped up in his sister, Tallie’s book, way back in The Antonides Marriage Deal, I wasn’t expecting to ever write about him. So he was a forest ranger and no one seemed to know much about where he spent his time (other than, presumably, in a forest). I didn’t know much, either.

But it turned out I was right. That’s where he spent his time then. And there was a reason for it which I didn’t really know until I started writing his book. Interesting to discover that he was having a life all the time I was writing about his siblings.

I actually thought my last book was going to be his. I’d planned for it to be his. But when it came time to write it, he was nowhere to be found. Oh, well, he was at the same wedding his cousin Nick was at – the royal wedding of his brother Demetrios and Princess Adriana.

But when I thought he’d step up and sweep Mona Tremayne’s oldest daughter away, he wasn’t the least bit interested. Thank heavens, Nick was. Otherwise I’d never had had a book!

Turns out Yiannis knew best.

When I started writing this book, he stepped right up, did his bit, grabbed hold of the story and basically said, “Yes, this is my life.”

Whew. I’d really have been up a creek if he’d walked away from this one!

So I hope the revisions go as well as they feel as if they will. And then I can start thinking about the next book.

I think I need another run at a Book-in-a-Week. This one turned out rather well – though it did take longer than a week to pull it off.

Posted in Books, Harlequin Presents, Heroes, Yiannis | 2 Comments »

RT Reviewers’ Choice Award Winner!

Friday, April 8th, 2011

Color me amazed.

And delighted. I just learned this week that The Virgin’s Proposition (aka Demetrios and Anny’s book) has been given the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Harlequin Presents of 2010!

Earlier today I was sitting here thinking about the day they finally sailed off to the editor. It seems eons ago — and yet, in other ways it doesn’t seem long ago at all. But I still have fond memories of them and their story, of my visit to Cannes with Sophie Weston in preparation for writing the book, of middle-of-the-night moans to Anne Gracie (at least it was middle of the day for her) when Demetrios and Anny were giving me fits, and of several sailing conversations with Antoinette Stockenberg who made my writing life much easier by sharing her expertise.

It doesn’t take only an author to write a book. It takes a whole network of helpful supportive wonderful friends as well. Thank you to all of them.

And thank you, RT, for your recognition and for making me and Demetrios and Anny very happy indeed.

Speaking of Reviewers’ Choice awards, I’m also delighted to report that Kate Walker won the Best Presents Extra award and Tina Duncan’s Presents Extra won for best first book in series romance.

Pretty cool, huh? Congrats to Kate and Tina!

And yes, Sid, there are greenies already on their way to England to celebrate the occasion. For those who don’t know, Kate’s uber-cool alpha cat, Sid, is a great fan of greenies, and since he is ALWAYS instrumental in seeing that she gets her books written in a timely fashion, he deserves his rewards, too.

Life here has finally become somewhat normal. Odd, actually, not having to run around like a chicken with its head cut off all day long. I actually got to spend some time with Yiannis (new hero) this morning. He woke me up, talking to me, and that’s the first initiative he’s taken in, oh, two months, I’d guess. So I’m very glad he’s back. And no doubt my editor will be, too.

Have just sent Nick and Edie’s page proofs back, so won’t be seeing them again until they are bound between the covers of a book. We spent so much time together over the past year that it’s going to be a little strange not to have them as regular family members. But Yiannis is quite ready to take up the slack, he assures me.

I will be coming back soon to talk about my book-in-a-week experience. I did April Kihlstrom’s online course back in late January and early February — yes, the course takes longer than a week — and I loved it. It’s the one reason I’m not panicked out of my mind about Yiannis right now. I have a good chunk of his book under my belt from that course. Now if life cooperates even moderately, I should be able to get the rest of his book done. (knock wood)

Spring is springing all over the place. The scylla are back in force.

I love the bright blue carpets they make on the lawns hereabouts. And all alongside our house there are daffodils.

Even the ones we set the air conditioner on top of four years ago have worked their way out from beneath it and are poking their heads out this year. They must be very glad to see the sun!

I know I am.

Posted in Books, Harlequin Presents, The Virgin's Proposition | 5 Comments »

Whew! Book Accepted!

Monday, February 7th, 2011

Way back when I wrote a book about Nick and Edie and I sent it in.

It is my Santa Barbara book. It began at Demetrios and Anny’s wedding, at the end of The Virgin’s Proposition, with a single night that changed my hero’s and heroine’s world — and it moved from the tiny European almost fairy-tale kingdom of Mont Chamion to real life Santa Barbara, California.

The heroine is actress Mona Tremayne’s daughter Edie, the hero, Demetrios’s cousin, Nicolas. I knew pretty much exactly what was going to happen in their story right from the start. And it did, though admittedly, given the chaos of life last year, it took a while to do so. But it finally got written. And eventually I sent it off.

A couple of weeks later, my editor sent it back with some suggestions, things for me to think about and incorporate. Or not.

I thought about them. And I started to revise the book.

And the more I read of the book over, the more I thought, this could be a lot better if only . . . and then I tore more apart and wrote new stuff.

Not essentially different stuff, but tighter stuff, stronger stuff, better stuff. Because now, among other things, I knew my characters better. And they trusted me.

Edie, in fact, trusted me enough to finally tell me something that, if I were a less magnanimous kind benevolent sort of person, I’d have happily strangled her for not telling me before! It did not amuse me to discover she hadn’t bothered to mention her first marriage and her dead husband.

It is not, I told her, the sort of thing you don’t mention to the writer who is trying to get your story in print.

She apologized. She said she did not want to depress me.

said, thank you very much. But having to rewrite your book is quite depressing enough. If you had bothered to mention it, perhaps I would not be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years and, for heaven’s sake, even Groundhog Day, writing what is essentially a whole new book.

Oops, she said. And then she brought me a cup of tea and offered to type it for me.

So Friday I sent it in, and Monday my editor said she loved it. Whew. They are going in the schedule, and they will be out in UK in October as a Mills & Boon Modern – Nick and Edie and Edie’s dead first husband. I’ll post the title as soon as it’s firm. They don’t have a pub date that I know of in the US, yet. But when they do, you’ll be the second to know.

Now, on to Yiannis.

# # #

Don’t forget to check out the contest page and answer the questions to be in the drawing to win a copy of Hired by her Husband and two other great books by Kate Walker and Liz Fielding. You’ve got a week left!

Posted in Books, Nick, Writing | 7 Comments »