24 May 2011

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Well…here in Ireland we have had an extremely busy couple of weeks, full of VIP visitors. Last week we had a state visit from Queen Elizabeth which was an extremely historic and moving occasion. She’s the first Royal monarch to visit us since we gained independence in 1921.

 

 

She and our President – Mary McAleese were the epitomy of grace, warmth and elegance. Here they are, just before a state banquet at Dublin Castle where the Queen gave a speech and spoke some words of Irish!

 

Then just yesterday Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle were here. Along with an entourage of about 3,000,000 security personnel, press staff, and any number of other staff!

 

 

Here is the queue of people waiting to get into College Green for a concert to welcome the US President:

 

 

The city was gridlocked!

 

But it was lovely to see that both visits had something in common…Guinness! Barack took a great big gulp…

 

While the Queen looked at hers a bit warily and walked away!

 

 

And in book news I have a new cover to show off: The Stolen Bride – this is the US version of Restless Billionaire which is on the shelves in the UK and Ireland at the moment..The Stolen Bride will be out in North America in August.

 

 

Also…I’ve been getting a lot of emails from readers who are looking for advice on writing for Mills and Boon. I’ve added (with the not insubstantial help of Heather Reed ;)) a new page of FAQ’s for aspiring writers or anyone interested in how I got published, so I hope it’s a help!

Back soon, I’m off for a lie down after all that excitement!

x Abby