Hi guys! Ally Blake, Aussie Harlequin Presents author, here. How y’all doing? I’m doing great!
Especially because as a Modern Heat author I am a brand spanking new face of Harlequin Presents with my first ever Presents out in September. Don’t you think there is something really special about a Presents cover? The classic red on white, the elegant fonts, the image in the circle making you feel like you are peaking in at some intimate moment. I still can’t believe I have one out there with my name on it!
My first Presents, The Magnate’s Indecent Proposal, was one of those magical books that was a blast to write, the secondary characters were as much fun to get to know as the main characters, I got to showcase some of my very favourite haunts of my fabulous home town of Melbourne, and my hero Damien – sigh – was sooo vivid I still keep accidentally typing “Damien” instead of my next heroes’ names ;). Oops! And when it was released the reader reaction blew me away. Romantic Times gave it a four and a half star Top Pick, CataRomance gave it five stars. And the mail is still pouring in from those who found it “funny”, “wicked”, “hot” and “romantic”. Needless to say before I sat down to write my next book I read it again cover to cover, desperately trying to pick out the magic ingredients that made it such a reader favourite! Alas to me it just feels like an Ally Blake book.
My second Harlequin Presents novel, A Night With the Society Playboy, coming out next month, is all about Damien’s best mate Caleb. After blessed Damien, boy oh boy was Caleb a right challenge! Having been a terrible influence on Damien all through the first book, a total playboy, down on love, utterly delighted in his bachelor life, okay so he was the devil incarnate, I wonder now how I possibly felt brave enough to give the guy his own book???
Then I remember. Ava. The girl who loved him and left years before. Surely if anyone can tame a bad boy it’s the woman who made him that way. Right? You bet!!! If you want to see how a ncie girl can bring a bad boy to his knees, get a load of my Caleb in an excerpt on my website.
Thanks for coming along and chatting with me about my first forays into the bright, shiny, vivid, dazzling, elegant world of Harlequin Presents.
Hugs, kisses and happy reading!
Ally xxx
Ally’s next Harlequin Presents release is A Night With The Society Playboy. You can pick up a copy at eHarlequin online, or grab one off the local bookshelves across North America throughout November! Ally also writes for Harlequin Romance and her latest release Hired: The Boss’s Bride, is out now!
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HTG, I’m reading Indecent Proposal right now! Really! (OK, so I’m a little late getting to my TBR pile…) But I’m lovin’ it –sadly, I must keep putting it down to work on my own book, but let me say, I’m feeling a bit like a hack in comparison…
Hi, Ally! Congrats on all the kudos for your book!! It’s on my sadly towering TBR pile, and I’m looking forward to reading it. AFTER I get farther along on this book I’m supposed to be writing. *sigh*
I can’t wait to see my name on one of those distinctive covers either! You’re right, they are really special. :)
(Now I have to try and figure out what I did in the first book and do it in the second. LOL, thanks for saying that — it makes me feel not so alone.)
Hi, Ally!
This goes to something I believe hits all writers (whether in romance or not). There’s that way off fear factor that hits when the book is going well, when it’s not, when you’ve finished it and sent it off, and even when it’s published. That little niggling fear or voice that makes you think it isn’t good enough, that you might not be able to do that “magical” publishable moment again.
I know there might be some authors out there that won’t ever experience that weird apprehension, but there are more that will.
Are you one of those? Any advice from the multiple published authors on how to get over it and get the job done?
=)
Heather R.
Hi Kimberly!!!
How exciting that you’re reading my “Magnate” right now! It was certainly one of those ‘I wish I knew how it happened’ books as it’s had more reader feedback than anything I’ve ever written. I”m so glad to hear you’re enjoying it. As to feeling like a hack…if you didn’t then surely you couldn’t call yourself a writer ;).
A
Hiya Lynn,
Well now you get a big cheer from me for a) wining the Intant Seduction contest and b) oh so very recently it must still feel a bit like a dream selling your first Harlequin Presents!!!
One unfortunate side effect is that much of your beautiful reading time will now be sucked away by writing time, so if you’re anything like me that TBR pile will only get bigger. :(
Of course it’s extremely important that my “Magnate” remains near the top of the pile ;).
Congrats my sweet and happy reading…when you can!
Ally
Hey Heather
Thanks for coming along to say “hi”!
As to niggling fears, I think having that voice inside your head that says “you can do better” is only a good thing. Resting on one’s laurels, in any endeavour, will only lead to mediocrity work. So use the fear, harness it, welcome it and know that it will only make your work shine!
Hope helps!
Ally