Write to be Published and details of a Minxy contest

She says she's a Crabbit Old Bat, but I've met her at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and I happen to think she's lovely. She knows her writing stuff, too, and is very generous with advice, as any of you who follow her blog will know. I'm talking, of course, about Nicola Morgan. The good news is Nicola has written a book full of advice on how you can 'make a publisher say Yes'. I now have my very own signed copy of Write to be Published, but was lucky enough to be picked to read it pre publication and you can find out what I thought here (scroll down, I'm there near the bottom of the page). It's a terrific book, very readable, humorous and it details a number of ways you might improve your submission to increase your chance of publication.

In other news, the Minxes are still celebrating their first birthday You can join in the fun and find out how to enter our Grand Prize Contest here (don't tell the rest of them, but I think I've just given you the answer to the contest question in these few lines - oops).

Finally, I'm still preparing that post of seven reasons I know my backside's too big. If I'm honest, I'm finding it hard to narrow it down to only seven. You may or may not be interested, but be warned, that list will be posted soon.

A Mother’s Day Mishap - Guest Post by Wendy S Marcus

Today, I'm delighted to welcome Wendy S Marcus to my blog. Wendy's first book for Harlequin, a Medical Romance, is a terrific read and Wendy's offering you a chance to win a copy - read on for details.

Thank you for popping by, Wendy - it's great to see you here.


Hi Suzanne and Friends!

I’m so happy to be here for the third stop on my blog tour to promote my debut Harlequin Medical Romance, WHEN ONE NIGHT ISN’T ENOUGH, currently available on the Mills and Boon Website and releasing in Australia and the U.S. in July 2011.

So what have I chosen to talk about? A Mother’s Day mishap. And how does this relate to my writing? You’ll have to read on to find out.

This past Mother’s Day (the second Sunday in May here in the U.S.) was a little sad. For the first time since I became a mom one of my children wasn’t home to celebrate with me. My oldest daughter started college this year and, while I’m no longer standing in her bedroom clinging to images of her lying in bed and I’ve stopped inhaling the air in a futile attempt to detect the lingering scent of the incense she loves, I miss her.

When I hadn’t heard from her by nine in the evening, I told my husband to call to remind her to call me and wish me a Happy Mother’s Day…making no mention of the sad fact I’d received no card and she seemed to have forgotten me altogether.

“I feel terrible,” she says before I even finish my hello. “I ordered you a special present and I paid extra to have it delivered on Mother’s Day. I keep checking and they haven’t confirmed delivery. I don’t know what happened.”

I could tell she felt bad. “Don’t worry, honey. These things happen. I’m not upset. I can’t wait to get the package. Thanks so much for thinking of me.”

We chatted for a while. She called the company and got a refund for the special shipping she’d paid and was told the package would be shipped on Monday. So imagine my surprise when I returned home from some errands on Monday afternoon to find a large box of flowers on my kitchen table. (Brought in by my son.)

Thrilled, I ripped into the box then snipped the ends off my beautiful buds and ran water into the shapely pink vase that accompanied them. At the same time my youngest daughter explored the chocolates and sniffed the lavender bath salts. Lovely!

Then I found the card. Dear Mom, Thank you for all the wonderful things you do for us. I love you. Love, Nate.

Nate? Who the heck was Nate?

Eyes wide I sucked in a breath. “Oh no,” I said to my youngest daughter. “These flowers aren’t for me. I just snipped the ends off Nate’s mother’s flowers and you,” I pointed an accusing finger, “just ate one of her chocolates.”

We both started to laugh.

I checked the label on the box. Sure enough, it was addressed to me. We called my other daughter to confirm what she’d ordered and that I’d received the right package. I had. But it was accompanied by the wrong card.

“So what did your card say?” I asked.

“Dear Mom. Don’t be mad I bought these on sale. Happy Mother’s Day. Love, Rebecca.”

While I was pleased my frugal daughter hunted down a bargain and didn’t waste her hard earned cash on me, I felt terrible for Nate’s mom. Not only did she miss out on the lovely sentiment in the card meant for her, but she learned her stingy son brought her Mother’s Day present on sale.

In the end I found the entire situation quite amusing.

So, in answer to your question, what does this have to do with writing? Anything I find the least bit entertaining becomes fodder for my stories. And, as I begin work on my third book, I’m already thinking of a way to work this card switch into one of my scenes.

Before I go I’d like to invite you to my website to read an excerpt from WHEN ONE NIGHT ISN’T ENOUGH here. While you’re there, check out my Home page to see how you can enter a contest to win an Amazon gift card.

And, if you’re interested in a chance to receive free copy of my 2in1 UK debut, which includes a full novel by Janice Lynn, read the excerpt and e-mail me the answer to this question: What is Dr. Padget’s pet name for nurse Ali Forshay? My e-mail can be found on my Contact page. Be sure to put Suzanne’s Blog in the subject line. One winner will be chosen on Friday.

Now, for a couple of questions to get some conversation started. Have you ever read a Harlequin Medical Romance? If so, what did you think? If no, why not? And are you willing to make mine your first? And what do you think of the card switch idea for my upcoming story? Any suggestions you’d like to share?

Wendy S. Marcus lives in upstate New York with her husband, two of her three children, and a much loved Bichon Frise named Buddy. A nurse by trade, after years of working in the medical profession, Wendy has taken a radical turn to writing hot contemporary romance with strong heroes, feisty heroines, and lots of laughs. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family and blogging/e-mailing/tweeting with her online friends. To learn more about Wendy visit her website, http://www.WendySMarcus.com.

Locked Out, Minxy Birthday Gifts and Awards

You might think I would have done some writing when I was locked out of Blogger over the past few days – but you’d be wrong. I strongly believe that if you carry out the same procedure countless times, you will eventually get a different outcome (who said that was the definition of madness?). I was proved right when, on the millionth attempt, I was able to log in.

Thankfully, all seems to be well now, and the problem means the deadlines for the competitions to win my Minxy Birthday Gift and Rae Summers' Minxy e-book have been extended until tomorrow – winners will be announced on Monday. Pop over to the Minxes’ blog now, for details of this and other great Birthday Prizes.

And, now we’re all safely back, I’d like to thank lovely Teresa and lovely Patsy for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger award.

 As a condition of accepting, I now have to tell you 7 things about myself. This time I’m going to restrict it to food:

1. When there’s a choice, I always choose sweet over savoury. Sometimes, when we’re eating out, I even order a starter instead of a main so I can have a big pudding.

2. I like tomato soup, I like tomato sauce. But I don’t like tomatoes. Never have done. I think it’s the seeds.

3. If I’d married the man who killed two of his wives with poisonous mushrooms and the third with a hammer because she wouldn’t eat the mushrooms (I think it was a joke), I’d have been the one he killed with a hammer. I don’t like mushrooms. It’s the taste and the texture – and the fact I would be eating fungus.

4. I don’t like most fruit or veg. Even the ones I do like seem like a chore, so I always eat them first so I can enjoy the rest of my meal.

5. As far as I’m concerned, nuts in chocolate is a crime against nature.

6. However, everything else is improved by adding chocolate into the equation. I frequently get my ‘five-a-day’ through eating chocolate covered treats (chocolate raisins, Bounty, Chocolate Orange, Fry’s Orange Cream, fruit fondants...).

7. Cooking isn’t my strong point. But I’m great at reheating ready meals.

As I was nominated for the award twice, I will be listing another seven facts soon: 7 reasons why I know my backside’s too big.

Next Wednesday: Wendy S Marcus will be blogging here, and she’ll be giving details of how you can win a copy of her fabulous debut Medical Romance for Harlequin, WHEN ONE NIGHT ISN’T ENOUGH.

A wedding - and a bit of a mystery

Yes, I'm talking about that wedding (even though I promised I wouldn't). After all my big talk of avoiding it, we ended up watching some of the Royal Wedding live, after all. We were invited to a friend's house and Daughter was keen to go in case there was drink. This was wrong in many ways, not least because the party started at 10.30 am - and she's only 14 (and wouldn't have been allowed to drink whatever the time of day). But, as I was quite keen to get her away from Portal 2 - which she's played right the way through at least twice since it was released - we went.

Despite my cynicism, I thought the bride was lovely and I'm glad it didn't rain. But didn't our dear Queen look grumpy?

And what's with all this criticism of the poor Beckhams? For goodness sake, leave them alone. Who cares if he shouldn't have worn his medal - he was gorgeous. And her dress wasn't funeral black - it was blue. And she was gorgeous, too. And, a pregnant lady's allowed to be miserable - particularly if she has to sit for hours without access to a loo.

I'm still cynical - still suspect the wedding date was orchestrated to make us forget the economic climate for a day or two. And wasn't it convenient they chose a day when nothing else happened in the entire world for our newscasters to report?

We did get a bit bored half way through, and popped up the The Body Shop, where I was relieved of a small fortune. I don't know if every branch is the same, but our local one employs the loveliest staff imaginable - the downside is they're killer sales people. You go in for a present costing £15, as we did, and leave with a bagful of stuff. But I saved £20, so that's alright.

However, there was another local party on Friday I wish I'd been asked to: A group of middle aged women gathered together, dressed in their own wedding dresses, to watch the ceremony. I'm mightily miffed I wasn't included - never mind I didn't actually know the hostess or any of the guests. I love my wedding dress and hardly ever get to wear it these days. It's ankle length and ivory so not really the kind of thing you can wear to Sainsbury's. I'm thinking I might even have to get married again, just so I can give it another outing.

And the mystery? I was eating Smarties in the car while waiting for Daughter to finish a dance class (less than 200 calories and, if you eat them one by one, they last for ages - definitely worth it), when one missed my mouth. I know, how can anything miss a mouth this big? It landed on my seat and I don't know yet what happened to it after that. I suspect it's been absorbed into my giant arse and been converted directly to fat. Nothing like cutting out the middle man.

Finally, next time, I'll be accepting an award (thank you, lovely Teresa for the nomination).