Nikki's debut Australian cover!

Here's another milestone for our Nikki Logan, her first Australian cover.....

It's a more single title type look, don't you think? Can't wait to see it on the shelves!!!

Go Nikki!

Mission Report - Alison, Nikki & Rachel

Hi, it's Roseanne with some more exciting news from the bootcamp 101. New year sparkled early for the ever impressive Alison. This awesome writer is on fire. Her happy new year was that she finaled in not one, but two competitions. Woohoo Alison. We're thrilled and excited for you. One of her fabulous entries (which will remain titleless) reached the finals in the Fantasy Paranormal section of the Emily, and is making its way to the final judges Chris Keesler of Dorchester and Laura (sorry can't remember her last name) an agent from Don Congolas Agency. Her other entry impressed the judges in the Linda Howard Award for Excellence, Unique Category, and is going to Heather Osborn for Tor Forge. Alison's writing is lyrical and emotional. Her characters distinctive and complex. Tap,Tap, what's that? Success knocking at her door. We wait for the results along with Alison.

February is almost here, with that, the long awaited arrival on Australia's bookshelves for Nikki Logan's, M&B sweet Romance Lights, Camera...Kiss the Boss. And Rachel Bailey's first release, Claiming his bought Bride, a Silhouette Desire Romance. So, as of Feb, I'll be at as many book stores, KMart, Target as I can get to and placing their books in the very front row. Congratulations. Nikki and Rachel, you are both as generous as you are talented. You offer advice and encouragement to all of us in Bootcamp and we thank you for it.

Till next time, remember,
BOOTCAMPERS ROCK.
Roseanne

Guilty Pleasures

Romance authors know a lot about guilty pleasures - sumptious food, a fabulous wine, warm bubbly soaks (preferably with a fabulous wine). So as I was driving along the other day I got to thinking about my guity pleasures - and I came up with an unusual one.

Television.

As a kid I grew up in a minimal TV family - we had one, but we kids didn't get to watch very often. Mum loved Elvis Presley and Jerry Lewis, so we saw all their movies, but not much else. I can honestly say I never saw an episode of Friends or Seinfeld the first time they aired, or even the first ten times they were repeated, which made me very boring in the eyes of my friends. "How could you not watch?" they would wail in the lunchroom at work.

I watch a bit more TV now, but not a lot. So everytime I sit down to watch TV now, I feel a little bit guilty for "wasting my time" as Mum used to say. My guilty pleasures are my "must watch" TV shows and I've decided I'm not giving them up for anything.

"Inspector Rex" and "Rex in Rome" are two very cheesy cop shows with a German Shepherd as the star and some nice looking actors wandering around as policeman accessories for the well-trained Rex. The plots are a little thin but with a dog as the star its not surprising. Even so, I can't stop watching. I've even bought a series on DVD.

Even more surpising is my absolute fascination for "Big Love", an American drama that follows the life of a polygamist and his three wives as they try to survive living in the suburbs. The characters in this show are fabulous and more than make up for the controversial subject matter. The writers portray the characters' absolute conviction that their way of life is the only way. And I am hooked.

Well, those are my television obsessions. What are your "guilty pleasure" TV shows?

Rachel's debut this month!!

How excited are we for Rachel & her debut book hitting the shelves in the US/UK bookshelves this month!!! Next month, we will see them for ourselves here in the land of Oz. Can't wait to do some shelf re-arranging (oops did I say that out loud *grin*).

And another bit of fab news is that Claiming His Bought Bride was #2 on the Borders Booksellers list. How cool is that! Congrats Rachel & many many sales for you!!

~Eleni

The Technology Gene

Those that know me well know that I was born without the technology gene - the piece of DNA that lets me distinguish downloads from widgets, and read error messages on the computer and know what they mean. This flaw affects all aspects of my life. At work I spend a fair amount of time implementing new IT systems into our department which is very challenging for someone who until recently didn't know why there was a right mouse button (It does what??). And at home I never tape TV shows because, in reality, its all too hard. I'll just catch the re-run some time in the next ten years.

So I've stunned and shocked myself in the last four weeks. I've been spending up to 4 hours a day in the car most work days on a long and tedious commute and one of my friends recommended getting an audio book to pass the time. So, as one does when you lack the technology gene, I trotted off to the library and grabbed "Key of Light" by Nora Roberts on 9 CDs.

And I'm hooked! Seriously considering never reading a physical book ever again. And that was before I found out you can download them onto a MP3 player. I can't even imagine how much "reading" I'll be able to do - at the gym, doing the ironing, cooking, commuting.

This book is the first in a trilogy, so as soon as I'm finished it I'll be headed for the steep learning curve of learning to download audio books. Wish me luck.

To a little author who’s ONE! (My first year in publishing…)

by Nikki Logan

A year ago last month, I received a phone call from Kimberley Young of Harlequin’s London office to ask ‘a few questions’ about the revised version of my submitted novel. She finessed me into thinking there were subsequent revisions and then blew my mind by offering me a two-book deal instead. Surprise!

That means I’ve just passed my first anniversary with Harlequin Enterprises.

Given the rapidly approaching New Year, it seems like a doubly good time to reflect on the (First) Year That Was in my journey as a published author. This will mean most to other writers (just published or yet-to-be published) but I hope that readers will enjoy it, too.

The wise words of Tracey O’Hara (Night’s Cold Kiss) come back to me. She commented on the transition from being a big fish in a comfortably small pond to being a small fish in a giant, anonymous, competitive ocean. A bit like Finding Nemo, I found myself joining a tank with long-timers who weren’t too jaded to help out the new author with the wonky flipper—even if they occasionally burst into conspiracy theory and devised creative plots to escape. Beyond our tank, the ocean was a great, shady mystery filled with strange creatures and dangerous currents ready to sweep an unsuspecting newbie-fish miles off course. Advertising, promotion, blogging, networking, joining loop after loop, luring with the holy chalice of reader access if you just spend $500 on a business card sized ad on some website…

They distract, they confuse, they disorient. My job as an author was to just…keep…swimming…

And like the little blue Dory fish who suddenly found herself surrounded by silent, ominous, rising, sea-jellies…finding a place for me and my measly two-book-deal amongst a rising raft of established anonymous authors was daunting. It took me a while to realise I could stay out of trouble as long as I kept moving. Keep the momentum up. It helped me to see that the flashy jellies with the look-at-me tentacles (and the loudest voices) weren’t the ones I was interested in learning from. It was the big, silent, successful, experienced jellies that offered me the best education.

And then just when I had worked out how to bounce happily around on the harmless tops of the author-jellies, I was diagnosed with melanoma.

Me… Half-hobbit, half-vampire.

The irony of that did not escape me but I grew determined not to let it interfere with my golden new direction. I would be a successful new author. I would go to work in my pyjamas and to morning tea with girlfriends. There was no way on God’s green earth that I was going to let melanoma take me before I saw my book on a shelf and before I was forty. It was a brilliant motivator, it let me stay positive, it gave me a firm horizon to aim for. Two cuts and a lot of Petri-dishes later my positivity was rewarded with an all-clear and I was back amongst the author-Jellies, rising up and down with the tide.

The universe apologised for the skin cancer in the most tangible fashion! I graciously accepted its contrition. I was offered a spot in an Aussie continuity. Then a spot in a UK novella. I was offered a cover flash and two pages of extra materials to talk directly to readers about what I love—nature.

I read. I watched. I worked. I wrote. I sucked up knowledge like a little sea sponge all year. Some days the doubts won, but for the most part I did. I got my first Author Alterations. More learning. I got revisions on my second novel. Then my third.

And still I didn’t have a book on the shelf. Are you kidding me??

I turned forty. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as I’d feared. I was too busy writing to mope.

I asked work if I could go part-time—a commitment to my belief in myself and that golden dream for the future. They said no, the dirty stinking dream-busters. But they pay me so what could I do? J

I entered my first RITA – just because I could. I have no expectation of winning but I did it while I could still say ‘first book’. International politics mean it may be my last RITAs, too.

I entered the RuBY – just because I could. My days of being a comp whore are absolutely not behind me. Hey, it worked for me once!

I signed contracts for books 5 and 6 but still no debut on the shelf.

I asked the universe for one more favour—in return for me working so hard all year—and it delivered. I was offered a job that is, effectively, part-time. This moves me from the influence of some very unpleasant human-jellies and means I can take a bunch of months off in the middle of 2010. And around that I’m responsible for a project that other people would pay to work on.

And so…as I head into my second year as a published author I have six book contracts under my belt, a war-wound as long as a biro on my arm, quasi part-time status at work for 2010, a better understanding of the big pond that is ‘published’ and a book nearly…nearly... on the shelf. 

And I remind myself daily of the importance of ‘just…keep….swimming…’

It’s been quite a ride. It’s been quite a year. May you all have one just like it as we head into 2010 (you know, except for the bad stuff ;) )

From me and my family, to you and yours a very Happy New Year to you all.

Don't miss the launch of the LoveCats Downunder blog tomorrow!!

Nikki Logan’s debut novel ‘Lights, Camera…Kiss the Boss’ comes out (US/UK) in time for Valentines Day, 2010. ‘Their Newborn Gift’ releases in June 2010.

Release of LoveCats DownUnder blog

Two of our Bootcamper members is part of a brand new LoveCats Downunder blog!

That is Rachel Bailey and Nikki Logan. Congrats on being involved in such a great team (other members includes Sharon Archer, Zana Bell, Emily May, Tracie Sommers, & Mel Teshco). I'm sure it's going to be great fun.

So why don't you pop on over and become a Follower? *wink*

New Year's Resolutions

Do you make new year resolutions?

I try to have a few, and I always choose a challenge outside my comfort zone. So previous new years resolutions included "learn to do cryptic crosswords" and "run a marathon". And I succeeded with both of these resolutions, even if it did take five years and hours of lessons from my mate Hugh to crack the cryptics. And hours and hours of training to run a marathon only slightly faster than a group of competitive walkers in their seventies.

So this year, my resolutions include "spend less time doing cryptic crosswords and spend more time writing" and "do the Gold Coast Half Marathon (if my knees hold up)"

But when it comes to goal setting, my face to face writing group, the Belles have it all sewn up. At the first meeting of the year, members write down their writing goals for the coming year in a special book, and we look back to see how they progressed the year before. In the wilderness that is pre-publication, celebrating the successes of the group members is one of the things I look forward to at the start of the year. Walking into that meeting, most of us think we haven't achieved much with our writing, but we leave invigoratated by our success and ready for the year ahead.

So what are your writing goals this year?