Dresses, DC and Dallas

I'm a happy bunny at the moment. Finally, I am going to be able to wear the ball dress I bought from eBay back in 2007 for the RWA conference in Dallas.

The dress was a lovely Monsoon creation in black and green. Although I'd ordered the right size, it came up quite small and, since I was losing weight, I decided to see if I could slim into it. I got so close. So close. But then disaster struck - and no, it wasn't in the shape of a dozen doughnuts...

Basically, I was up early one morning at the conference (blame jet lag), was at a loose end and decided to try my party frocks on to decide which to wear to the Harelquin party, and well...the zip broke. You can read the whole story here. So, it was 6am and I was stuck in a full-length evening dress. Not a good situation to be in. Leaving the hotel room to get help would have made me look slightly (!!) ridiculous.

To cut a long story short, I managed to get out of the dress without assistance - but only by breaking the zip. The wonderful hotel concierge managed to arrange for it to be fixed for me but, when I tried the dress on again later that day, I realised they'd had to take it in to fit the new zip and now the dress was too tight. Sniff. I packed it away and hoped I'd be able to wear it again one day.

Well, that day is about to arrive. Not only can I do my dress up now, but I can do it up with ease. This year I will be wearing it to the RITA/Golden Heart ceremony at the RWA conference in Washington DC. Yay!

If you're in that neck of the woods on Wednesday 15th July, come and see me at the Authors for Life Literacy Authographing, to be held at the Marriot Wardman Park Hotel from 5.30 to 7.30 p.m. (Disclaimer: I may not be wearing the ball dress to that event, but I will smile and sign a book for charity for you if you come and talk to me.)

New Cover

If anyone was feeling particularly eagle-eyed when looking at my last post about my Clippykit bag, you would have noticed the covers for my new book, due to be released in September - Invitation To The Boss's Ball.

This book is part of the In Her Shoes mini-series - modern-day Cinderella stories for the 21st century reader. Mine has a downtrodden heroine, a suitably remote prince in his high tower, a ball and even a fairy godmother who completes a transformation on the heroine with a wave of her (mascara) wand...

Alice Morton ends up having to organise a charity ball and fashion show for tycoon Cameron Hunter after his event planner elopes and leaves him in the lurch. She's a wannabe vintage fashion retailer who never, ever wears anything glamorous, and he's the boy she had her first crush on, aged sixteen, who has always been out of her league. But as the night of the ball approaches and Alice and Cameron start working closely together, magic begins to sizzle. Will Cinderella make it home with both her shoes? And will her prince come looking for her when she disappears into the night? You'll just have to read it to find out!

As you can see, in the UK, Mills & Boon are trying something new with the Romance line. From August, the books will be 2-in-1s, and have a brand new look. I'm sharing the pages with Nicola Marsh, whose Trip With The Tycoon is set in exotic India and is part of the Escape Around The World mini-series. I think the cover is very pretty and I'd been interested to hear what you think of it compared to old-style pink Romance covers. Will this look be less embarrassing to read on the train or in the coffee shop, or will die-hard M&B fans just not care?

Almost there...

My 'first draft' of my Clippykit bag is done! (I see this as a work in progress that will be 'tweaked' over the coming months).


I ended up using the small book covers with coloured paper behind, bookmarks, notebooks, the ticket to the RNA party on the day I sold my first book, pencils, mini notepads and lots of felt flowers, bows and stick-on bits. I tend to think of the front as the side with the bows on the handle and the other side as the back.


The colour scheme is based on my website/blog banner. I initially went with these colours as I was going to slip a buisness card in one of the pockets. I was going to cut out stars and flowers and hearts out of card to match the banner, but I ended up using some felt flowers I got in my local craft shop instead, as they were just the right colours. Sometimes they were too big, so I cut them down a size or two until they looked right.

But now I have another dilema.

When I orginally bought my bag, I ordered the black liner to go inside. When I was trying out my inital attempts (see previous Clippy post) the black looked too stark and I decided the pink bag my black liner came in was a better colour behind my pictures etc, so I asked if I could exchange it for a pink liner. But now my bag is just about finished and looking more 'bitty', I don't think the black looks as stark. (I tested my theory out with a folded-up T-Shirt). So...do I stay with the pink liner or do I order a black one?

After changing the liner once already, I wouldn't be cheeky enough to send it back a second time, but I could get another liner. Then I could change my coloured liner to suit my mood. Good idea? Or am I letting my obession start to show? (Start, Fiona? Start?) Oh, the curse of being both a perfectionist and indecisive too! This will haunt me in my sleep until I make a decision. Anyone got any suggestions?

Bag Obsessed

I have a new obsession.

I have a Clippykit bag. It is a thing of beauty. Or it will be once I manage to translate the vision of how gorgeous it’s going to look into reality. The problem is in the execution. My fingers are not as nimble as my ideas.

If you haven’t come across this wonderful product yet, here’s the lowdown:

It’s a clear plastic bag with pockets (see picture above). Mine’s a small one, so it has six each side. Put like that, it doesn't sound very exciting, but the idea is to personalise it by putting pictures and objects in the pockets and to basically make it look as funky and cute as you like.

I’m experimenting with book covers, back blurbs, book pages, scraps of notes and craft paper, and basically anything I can get my hands on that looks as if it will fit in a 9cm x 11cm pocket. (You can see some beautiful examples on the Clippykit website).

Actually, I need some advice. I had intended to use cover flats (flattened out book jackets) in the pockets, but I’m not sure it has the desired effect, so I tried printing out a small, whole book cover and I think that looks better. What’s the verdict? Partial cover (bottom right pocket) or whole cover (top left pocket)?

Told you it was becoming a new obsession…

Anyway, my plan is to have the bag finished by the time I go to the RWA conference in Washington DC. I’m sure it will be an eye-catching bit of promo and will help start a few conversations. I will post pictures when I have finished filling the pockets and getting it just so.

Husband totally does not get this. He looked at the bag, just stared at it, when I pulled it out of the box, ooh-ing and ahh-ing. ‘You hate it,’ I said. He just shrugged. ‘It’s another bag’, he said. What does he know? I think you have to be a girl to get it, really I do.

Super Fi

I couldn't resist this when I saw this link on Liz Fielding's blog - the chance to create a super hero version of myself:

What fun! Personally, I couldn't resist the angel wings.

And what superpowers would I have? Hmm. I know!

• The ability to write 10k a day and never need to edit it.
• The ability to clean my house by just imagining it clean.
• Moving at the speed of light. This would mean I needn't ever get on an aeroplane again, I could decorate my house in seconds and I would probably burn off a lot of calories too!

Go and have a go yourself! You know you want to.

Fiona Harper in Manga!

I'm so excited! I discovered yesterday that English Lord, Ordinarily Lady is out this month as a manga comic in Japan! How cool is that? Check out the funky cover:






I think this may be my favourite cover of all time. Josie actually has pink hair – something I thought I'd never see on a Harlequin cover!

Video book review

Here's a definite first for me - a video book review from a reader on YouTube! Made my day!