Fun Filled Days in London

Last Thursday I travelled to London for the RNA's summer party.

What made it more exciting this year was meeting up with some of the members of The Write Romantics for afternoon tea in The Wolseley, where we had a celebrity spotting moment having noticed Annie Lennox!
Afterwards we headed to the party where Write Romantic, Lynne Pardoe was a contender for the Joan Hessayon Award. As usual there was a fabulous line up of newly published writers who'd come through the RNA's New Writer's Scheme. You can see all the official RNA Summer Party photos here.

The Award Line Up

On Friday, I woke up to a sunny rooftop view of London and the knowledge I had the whole day to

Kew Palace

myself. After a leisurely breakfast in Covent Garden I made my way to Kew Gardens, a place I've always wanted to visit. I walked so far that day, but really enjoyed it. I wandered around Kew Palace, but my favourite was Queen Charlotte's cottage, nestled in woodland.

Queen Charlotte's Cottage

After all that walking I settled down by the lake for a spot of reading and very quickly found I had a captive audience of ducks. They were somewhat disappointed I didn't have anything for them to eat and soon waddled off.

It was a great few days away and I'm looking forward to the RNA Conference in July. Another chance to catch up with friends.

Latest News

I'm thrilled to say my fifth book has been accepted.  Xavier and Tilly's story, New Year at the Boss's Bidding will be out at the beginning of 2016.

I have also now have a gorgeous Presents cover to share with you for my September release, From One Night to Wife.

And don't forget, Charlotte and Sandro's story, Craving Her Enemy's Touch is out now!

UK edition

Time Out

Sometimes it's nice just to get away and spend time completely focused on writing and that's exactly what I did last week.

I swapped my writing desk for the kitchen table of this lovely little cottage set in the heart of the Welsh countryside. Llanwrtyd Wells is full of stunning countryside and Bronfelin Cottage is geared up for enjoying the many walks that surround it. But my main aim for those few days was to write - and write.

I wasn't alone, as fellow romance writer Melissa Morgan joined me, which made for the perfect mix of writing time and talking writing time!  It was so nice to be able to give all my attention to my current story and with a deadline fast approaching, those few days away were perfectly timed.

With countryside like this on our doorstep, we took a well-earned break after spending the morning writing and enjoyed the April sunshine. Once we'd enjoyed a relaxed lunch we went our separate ways again and wrote for the rest of the afternoon, after which we made the most of the nice weather and walked again before cooking our evening meal.

On our walks, we often wandered along footpaths where ewes grazed with their lambs and they were all very friendly, often coming close.


Each evening we enjoyed a glass of wine sat outside in the evening sunshine, which was so warm, it was hard to believe it was only April. The sounds of lambs calling mingled with cheerful birdsong and the sound of the river, rushing by.

Just perfect!

Easter Sunshine

It's been a beautiful Easter weekend here in Wales and whilst it's been busy on the farm with lots of new calves, I was still able to make the most of the sunshine and a friend visiting. We went to Aberaeron, a nearby seaside town and enjoyed a stroll around the harbour and sat overlooking the pebbly beach.

From there we went to a National Trust property, Llanerchaeron and sat in the walled garden which was filled with the delicious scent of Camellias - until we were disturbed by this pair who'd slipped unnoticed from the farmyard.

Llanerchaeron is a place I visit often and it's great to see the gardens
at different times of the year, but I've never met the turkeys before!


It was also a chance to have a long walk, just what I needed when the weekend was full of chocolate temptation.

I also spent time writing and am really excited that one of my favourite heroes, Sandro Roselli will be in bookstores very soon. Craving Her Enemy's Touch is my May release.

If you missed my first book A Deal Before The Altar and you are in Canada or US then it is available at the great price of 99c until April 12th here.

Changing Places

It’s been a busy weekend here on the farm, but the previous weekend I was enjoying the sunshine at Fishguard. It’s become a big part of my year attending Kate Walker’s course, organised by Writer’s Holidays. It was a bit different this year as I no longer attended the weekend as an unpublished writer. But how could I miss the opportunity of meeting up with old friends and making new ones?

I always enjoy a morning walk in the winter sunshine, because we are usually very lucky with the weather. Just look at this sunny photo from my Sunday morning walk. Such a dramatic difference from the pouring rain of yesterday.

On Saturday evening I signed copies of my second book, Claimed by the Sheikh and it was so lovely to be able to give away copies and hopefully inspire others to keep writing and chasing their dream of publication.

Thanks to Vasiliki for the photo.

I was also a little sad, thinking that it would probably be my last opportunity to attend this unique writing weekend. After all, I’ve attended for so many years and have achieved my dream of publication! So I was thrilled and very honoured to be invited to attend next year, not as a student, but as a tutor. How could I refuse such an offer?

The course I will be running is The Novel Workshop and I’m looking forward to preparing for this over the next twelve months, remembering all the stumbling blocks I found along the way and the questions I needed answering. More details and booking information can be found at Writers’ Holidays.

The long, but fun filled road to publication.

A year ago this week, I had a wonderful dream-come-true moment. The Call. Finally after seven years of writing and many ups and downs, I had achieved my ambition of publication. I'd known I wanted to be a writer since I was about nine years old, but only seriously began pursuing that dream eight years ago.

So what set me off on that path of determined persistence?

Thirteen years ago, I saw an advert in my village for a new writing group and as my children were young then the meeting time of Monday afternoons was perfect. So along I went to that very first meeting, and met Brenda Old, the founder member of what is now known as Cwrtnewydd Scribblers.

I soon began to write short stories, which I loved doing, but I kept wishing I could write a book, to get from the very first page to the last. It seemed perfectly natural to want to write romance as my favourite reading since my teenage years, was Mills and Boon.

 Occasionally, we had guest writers at our Monday afternoon meetings, but the day Liz Fielding joined us, set in motion a chain of events which not only focused me on my dream of writing a book, but helped me achieve it. Liz brought with her a book and that was, Kate Walker’s 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance.

I went home and set myself the target of completing my first book by that time the following year. But before I began I sat down and devoured The 12 Point Guide. Imagine my excitement when I read about courses Kate Walker ran for Writers’ Holiday in Fishguard, which was only a short drive away. One phone call later, I was booked up – and with the course being just a matter of weeks away, I began my very first attempt at writing for Mills and Boon.

The Watermill at Posara

The next few years passed in a whirl of manuscripts submitted both to Mills and Boon and RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme. I also attended Kate Walkers course each year and discovered the amazing Watermill in Tuscany where Sharon Kendrick teaches romance writing each May. Through these courses and conferences, I’ve made wonderful friends, travelled and learnt so much, but above all, had an amazing time!

I am also very fortunate to have met up with a wonderful group of writers online, known as The Write Romantics. Together we have formed a very supportive group and my success is only a small part of the success of the group as a whole. Not only have The Write Romantics got lots of debuts to look forward to this year, but they produced a brilliant charity anthology, Winter Tales – which is still available, by the way!

Things began to change in September 2013, when I entered my story into So You Think You Can Write and that entry took me to the Top Ten and finally to being offered a two-book contract, the second of which, Claimed by The Sheikh, is out now.

One year on from that fantastic moment, I now have three fabulous book covers. My fourth book has just been accepted and will be available later this year. Currently, I am working on my fifth book – and enjoying every minute. I hope you will enjoy reading my books!

This was made for me by Amanda Shivratten - thanks Amanda!

Blogging on...

This week, I'm talking about my second book, Claimed by the Sheikh, on I Heart Presents. This is a blog I've followed for a long time and dreamed of one day appearing on. In fact, I'm still pinching myself!

So to find out the inspiration behind Kazim and Amber's story, head on over to I Heart Presents!