25 September 2010

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Hi there…I’m glad to be back and bringing some news of the latest Mills and Boon author day in London last week. Every year we meet up around the middle of September for our author lunch and each year it’s been added to and added to and now it consists of a special Presents dinner the night before the lunch arranged by the lovely Kate Walker and Michelle Reid.  Jennie Lucas below is with India Grey.

At dinner we also had Lynn Raye Harris; Sara Craven; Sandra Marton; Christina Hollis and Natalie Rivers.

Here is myself and Christina Hollis and the cool new look cover of Christina’s current book,

Earlier that day Jennie Lucas, Lynn Raye Harris, Kate Walker and I went to Winchester and had lunch with Sharon Kendrick in her gorgeous house, after a quick tour around the amazing cathedral and a quick pub pit stop…

But the author lunch is the main event, and this year it was in the stylish and very central Charing Cross Hotel. We had a gorgeous big room which overlooks the concourse of the Charing Cross station itself.

This year it was organized by Natalie Rivers, pictured here with

India Grey,

..and also Sharon Kendrick, pictured below with Lynn Raye Harris.

Lunch was very sophisticated, the wine and conversation flowed. It’s such a treat to be able to sit and natter with fellow authors once a year!

Here are the name tags we had and Heidi Rice and Lucy King looking very glam…

The desert was like a work of art.

But of course I managed to demolish it…

After our author lunch and a short hiatus which was spent in our hotel room – I was sharing with India who I’d like to say snores, but doesn’t – we had a champagne toast with the Mills and Boon editors. And then we went for dinner, again! Needless to say a serious deflation is required.

And then before returning home I managed to pack in a trip to the National Portrait Gallery where my favourite piece was a huge canvas featuring just a small boy. It was about ten feet by ten feet, absolutely enormous and apparently the artist’s little boy had asked him to paint him as big as he could possibly be…and that was the result. The little boy was a giant. So cute.

But it wasn’t over quite yet…Saturday was Lynn Raye Harris’s birthday so Heidi Rice, Jennie Lucas and I had drinks and dinner with Lynn at the Charlotte Street Hotel…

We managed to mortify her by getting a small cake and candle brought out, and sang her Happy Birthday. So any attempt to be discreet about it was well and truly ignored..!

And then it was home to Dublin and I’m still recovering and in denial that I have to start a new book, like, Now.

So in an attempt to procrastinate even more, I’m going to offer up copies of my next UK release, In Christofides’ Keeping. I have 5 copies to send to the first 5 people who email me with their postal address…this is the follow up story of Rico, the brother of Rafael in Bride in a Gilded Cage.

And for anyone who entered the New Voices competition best of luck!

I’ll let you know when all the books are gone, so get emailing…;-)

x Abby