Under and Over with Denise Rossetti

A lightning quick post to let you know I’m away traveling (Ireland and Paris) until 10th October and during that time my Internet access may be intermittent, but hey! - I’m nothing if not stubborn and I have my precious iPhone and a netbook. All I have to do is hand over money to make them talk to the Net from Over There. Piece of cake!

So…
You can find me ‘on the road’ with Twitter - @DeniseRossetti -
Facebook and of course, this blog. Hopefully, there’ll be pics, but that’s only if I remember to take them. I’m usually too busy talking. But I bought a raincoat (with a hood) from Army Disposals yesterday, so I’m all set for the Emerald Isle and the rain. Can’t believe it’s colder over there in summer than it is here on an only-just-spring day.

Bye!

Denise *bounce, bounce, bounce*

Here it is - free on my website - a vignette with Griff and Fort from Strongman. Ah, I love those two! What can Griff give Fort as a Natal Day present when he’s already handed the big man his heart and soul? All in one pdf file.

Here’s a taste, followed by the link.

***

Almost a year.

Griff glanced across the interior of the lamplit van as Fort ran a hand through his hair for what had to be the hundredth time. He was glaring down at the papers spread across the table, the end of an ink brush clamped firmly between his teeth. Gods, he had no idea what he looked like, not even now, after Griff had told him Twister knew how many times. Big and tough and oh-so-serious. Not handsome, not by any stretch, but with his own rough beauty.

Griff’s chest went tight. Blinking rapidly, he drained the last of his Aetherian brandy. And all his, since that day in the hidden valley, almost a year ago. Some sort of celebration was definitely in order, but what?

Fort frowned more ferociously than ever, one big finger running down a column of figures.

“You need spectacles,” said Griff absently.

Fort’s head jerked up. “Nonsense.”

Griff lay back against the pillows and grinned. Fort’s bark was worse than his bite and to be honest, he had no objection to either. “Then why are you squinting?”

“Am not,” said Fort automatically, but his storm-gray gaze skimmed over the other man’s body in the skintight costume, lingering on Griff’s fingers, drumming casually on one muscled thigh.

***

Read it! Celebration: A Strongman Vignette

***

Read the first chapter

Read the Reviews | Read the free Epilogue

Ebook: Ellora’s Cave

 Print: Ellora’s Cave | Australian Bookstores

Remember that the free epilogue (all 30 pages of it) is only available if you subscribe to my monthly newsletter.  Enjoy, my dears!And let me know what you think, okay?  All feedback is welcome.

The creativity of some people simply amazes me, but I like it so much better leavened with a dash of sly humour. Get a load of these unbelievable shopping bags.  Aren’t they clever?

Which do you like the best? Or, more to the point, which would you be prepared to carry around in public? LOL

I so look forward to the Romance Writers of Australia Conference every year - and every year, it seems to get better. For you guys Over There, think about an organization about the size of a large RWAmerica chapter, and full to overflowing with fantastic, creative, obsessed, loud writers. Oh yeah, did I remember to say LOUD? LOL

The venue was the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Coogee Beach, a southern suburb of Sydney. This is the view from one of the upper rooms. Not, I hasten to add, mine. My room overlooked the tennis court, and though I kept a sharp eye out, there were no hunky tennis players, alas.

The Highlights:

The Book Signing was organized by the Australian Romance Readers Association and they did a fabulous job. It was noisy, frenetic, exhausting -  and a whole heap of fun.

The Cocktail Party theme was Fantasy Island which, um, leaves a certain amount of leeway costume-wise.  There were multiple Lara Crofts, Cleopatras and Princess Leias. Keri Arthur came as a dark angel and looked terrific, but Anne Gracie swept all away (as usual!) to win the prize as Dame Barbara Cartland (left). My personal fantasy was to be able to squeeeze into my purple medieval-type dress,which I did by giving up breathing for the night, so I wore that. Here I am with the Bennett sisters. Aren’t they demure? Get a load of the gowns and bonnets, let alone the spiffy reticule.

Of the workshops, two were standouts for me. Jessica Hart’s A-Z Survival Guide for Romance Writers was funny and touching and wise. This business might be sending me slowly but surely around the twist, but - hey! - I’m not alone. *snort* The other was How to Stage a Fight Scene with combat expert Ray Flores and two incredibly brave assistants. Ray was charming and funny - and absolutely lethal. What he did to a raw lamb roast with the merest flick of a knife gave me the shudders. On the other hand, I learned all sorts of useful techniques, and discovered I’ve been garroting people the wrong way for years. *evil cackle*

I did my workshop on Deep Point of View for an astonishing eighty people.  I survived, and fortunately, so did they. I’m thinking the chockies helped. When it’s my bum on the line, I’m a great believer in bribery and corruption. heh heh

The awards dinner is always such a joy. I love frocking up for a start. (I’ll have you know my evening wardrobe is now almost exclusively red. Wonder why?) Check out the shoe fest (left) with the lovely Lisa Barry - who is now, officially, a Master of Creative Writing (Romance). Go, Lisa!

Below, I’m with Eleni  Konstantine, tireless worker for RWA and total sweetheart. Eleni’s Taverna is the best blog. Also note beloved iPhone. LOL

All the contest winners receive their awards, but the big moment is the announcement of the R*BY Awards. These are a Big Hairy Deal, being our equivalent of the RITAs.It was delightful to see Sharon Archer, Amy Andrews, Tracey O’Hara and Sophia James win their respective sections.

But the best part of the evening - in fact, the most wonderful moment of the whole weekend for me, is when Anne Gracie gets everyone on their feet -

whether they submitted a contest entry or a query, published a book, contracted, finished a book or supported someone who’s writing. By the end, the whole room is standing and cheering. Always makes me want to cry.

On the Monday, I had the day to myself, so I tottered into Sydney city and did a tour of the Opera House. The tour was fascinating and the Harbour was stunning, as usual. Truly one of the great natural wonders of the world.  Next time I’m there, I swear I’m going to climb the Bridge, but I’ve hurt my knee and 400 steps up and back didn’t sound like such a bright idea.  One day…

If you’d like to read more and see more pics, you can try Kate Cuthbert at All About Romance, Paula Roe or Suzanne Brandyn. Plus, there’s the RWA blog. And I’m sure they’ll be more.

If you were there and I missed you somehow, I’m sorry. Don’t forget there’s always next year! Put a link in the comments if you have great pics. I’m not only a lousy photographer, I tend to talk too much and forget. Unbelievable, I know! *snicker*

This is amazing - so amazing it makes me a little suspicious. But hey, that’s just me. Get a load of this woofer, that’s a helluva lot of Pal right there.

Dog  For Sale
 Free  to good home. Excellent guard dog.  Owner  cannot afford to feed him anymore, as there are no more  drug pushers, thieves, murderers, or molesters left in the  neighborhood for him to eat.   Most  of them knew Jethro only by his Oriental  street name,   Ho Lee Schitt.

I’ll post about the Romance Writers of Australia Conference later, when I’ve recovered properly and got the photos organised. Geez, I had a good time.*grin*

I’m pretty well packed for the Romance Writers of Australia Conference in Sydney. I fly out tomorrow, all by my widdle self. What bliss!

For a change, I’m actually organised this time - washed, ironed, sorted - and polished. Every piece of jewellry I own positively sparkle! Now, I’m useless at practical things, like housework for instance. Always have been, always will be. My house is a tip. (A garbage dump for you Over There.)

However… I do take care of my pretties and I thought you might like to know how. So here’s my one and only housewifely tip.

To make a cheap solution for cleaning gold, silver and hard gems (diamonds, sapphires etc ONLY. No pearls, opals - if you’re doubtful leave it out! ) -

• measure equal quantities of -
  • washing up liquid
  •  cloudy ammonia (be VERY careful, it’s nasty stuff.)
  • water
• use a glass or china container
• rustle up an old toothbrush for brushing with (duh!)
• rubber gloves might be handy too *boom, boom*
• soak the jewellry and give it a scrub.
• rinse the items well with clean water
• dry off and admire.

I admit it, okay? Buying things makes me happy. Mind you, I don’t buy really, really expensive things like sports cars and diamonds, partly because I don’t have the spare cash, partly because I’m just plain mean. Oh yeah, I purely loves me a bargain!

Last Thursday was a pretty good day, by any standard. After 16 months managing a decidedly difficult project at the Dreaded Day Job (my secondment was extended repeatedly, much to my displeasure), I finally finished!  . To celebrate, I headed out for a spot of retail therapy and ran into a dear friend I haven’t seen for ages. We had a coffee and a delightful catch-up.

But on to the retail therapy!

First, I ordered some more charms for my bracelet. It’s quite nicely crowded now. I’m getting a skull and crossbones for Rackety Kate and the Pirates and a tree to represent Walker from The Lone Warrior. He’s an earth shaman, with power over anything green and growing. In his spare time, he’s a master swordsman and all dark ‘n’ deadly. *sigh*

Ever see something in a window that makes you stop dead in your tracks?  I was brought to a halt by a fabulous black shirt, with glittery buttons, fantastic detailing  and a great cut - and well, it was just ‘me’. I like classic tailored clothes. The same place had a red dress - on sale  - that will go with my red hooker heels. Not only that, it’s actually flattering.  Oh joy!

And the best part? I can wear it all at the Romance Writers of Australia Conference, coming up 13th to 15th August at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Coogee, Sydney. I’ll be signing books, along with the other 42 author, on Friday 13th August, 4.30 to 6pm. (Though I think the red shoes might be a trifle overdoing it for a book signing!) Everything you need to know about the event is here on the ARRA website. I would absolutely love to see you there!

Tell me I’m not the only one who’s a material girl (apart from Madonna, that is!)

Yeah, yeah, I know it’s been ages. See, I thought I’d take a little break after I handed in Book #3 in the Four-Sided Pentacles series. (It’s called The Lone Warrior, BTW and you’re the first to know that.) What can I say? I’m one neurotic kitty and finishing a book takes a helluva lot out of me.

Plus, I’ve been involved in a pretty stressful project at the Dreaded Day Job. Thank goddess, it’s almost over - only one more week. Yay! 

So I decided I’d use the time off in a couple of ways - one to write more of Liseriel’s story (Phoenix Rising #4), another to complete the proposal for Book #4 in the Four-Sided Pentacle series. And finally, to  upgrade this blog to the latest version of WordPress.  Apparently, I’m so far behind I qualify as medieval.

WELL!

That was a huge honking mistake, wasn’t it? I became terminally confused and messed up all my passwords. *cue rolling of eyes* Now I’ve finally managed to get them back, I’ve decided to stay in the Dark Ages writing with the software equivalent of a goose quill pen. It’s safer.

So if any of you are still out there, patient souls that you are, please say hello and reassure me I’m not  playing all by myself in the sandbox. That would be sad because I’ve got some great topics lined up - killer shoes, iphones, plus a new vignette with Griff and Fort.Oh, how I love those two! *sigh*

On his 65th birthday, a man received gift certificate from his wife. The certificate paid for a visit to a medicine man living on a nearby reservation who was rumoured to have a wonderful cure for erectile dysfunction.

After being persuaded, he drove to the reservation, handed his ticket to the medicine man and wondered what he was in for.

The medicine man slowly, methodically produced a potion, handed it to him, and with a grip on his shoulder, warned, “This is powerful medicine and it must be respected. You take only a teaspoonful and then say 1-2-3. When you do that, you will become more manly than you have ever been in your life and you can perform as long as you want.”

The man was encouraged. As he walked away, he turned and asked, “How do I stop the medicine from working?”

“Your partner must say ‘1-2-3-4,’ ” the medicine man responded. “But when she does, the medicine will not work again until the next full moon.”

He was very eager to see if it worked so he went home, showered, shaved, took a spoonful of the medicine, and then invited his wife to join him in the bedroom. When she came in, he took off his clothes and said, “1-2-3!” Immediately, he was the manliest of men.

His wife was excited and began throwing off her clothes. And then she asked, “What was the 1-2-3 for?”

And that, folks, is why we should never end our sentences with a preposition because we could end up with a dangling participle.

Boom, boom!

What’s that old saying? You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family. Or - Friends are your family of the heart.

One of the most precious things this crazy business of writing has given me is friends.  Not just girlfriends, but women who share my obsession, who understand. There’s Joey Hill, whom I’ve never met, though we’ve spoken on the phone and by Skype. From Joey, I get unqualified support and an unsparing critical eye.

Then there’s Christine Wells, who actually lives not far from me. I’m so lucky! We meet for lunch and too much bubbly followed by rather giggly critique sessions. Occasionally, we run away to spend a weekend with the amazing Anna Campbell.

Quite often, Christine and I talk on the phone. Take last week - I was feeling very down. Yeah, yeah, I know, but I get like that sometimes, especially staring down the barrel of a deadline. Writers are neurotic creatures.  In desperation, I rang Christine.

And what did I get? Exactly what I needed, that’s what! Complete support and understanding - straightaway - followed by a good (metaphorical) slap around the chops and the reassurance that I really can do this. I’ve been able to move forward since then. Plus, it’s a two-way street.  I try to give back to the best of my ability. We’re there for each other, you know?

And yet, on the face of it, it’s not a likely friendship. Different professions, different backgrounds and quite an age difference. (I won’t tell you which way it goes. I’m sure you can guess! *snork*)

Christine has a new release, Sweetest Little Sin, a sexy, action packed spy thriller that stars reader favourites Lady Louisa Brooke and that ruthless bad boy of the Beau Monde, the Marquis of Jardine. You’ll love it! Click on the image to read an excerpt.

BTW, my family are terrific. Love them to bits, but they’re not writers!

Do you have a friend who’s always there for you? How do you show them what they mean to you? (Apart from writing blog posts about their new books, that is!)