Margaret Mayo Romance Author

I’ve been away for the last week (half term and took my grandson away) but now I’m back and I have the news I’ve been waiting for. My editor has read my plot and really likes it. She has a few reservations about the second half but I’ve been working on those and I’m ready to go. I’ve promised it her for the end of January, which sounds a long way away but I have so many things on this next week that I can’t see me starting it yet.

My hero is Santo (he’s Italian) and my heroine is Penny (she’s English) – unless I change their names – which sometimes happens. Sometimes when you’re writing you discover that the name doesn’t suit the character. I even find myself occasionally calling either my hero or heroine by a completely different name, and then I realise that that’s the name I should have given them in the first place.

Santo’s suddenly found himself in charge of a five year old daughter he never knew he’d got and Penny – you’ve guessed it – is going to be the child’s nanny. I’m planning an explosive start and can’t wait to get going.

Don’t you just love Autumn? \There is a tree in front of my bedroom window that is turning all sorts of wonderful colours. The last few mornings it’s been quite misty but as the sun has broken through it has backlit the leaves and they looked stunning. It’s a pleasure to wake up in a morning just to see it.

Which reminds me that the second book I had published was called Shades of Autumn – set, as you can imagine, at this time of year. The hardbacks in those days were plain red with a paper sleeve and an artist’s impression of the characters. My hero looks like a young James Mason!

No news yet regarding my synopsis.

Amongst other things I’ve been busy this week plotting out my new book. I’ve sent my editor a synopsis and now I’m playing the waiting game. Well, not entirely, because further ideas keep popping into my mind which I scribble down on all sorts of bits of paper. And then it’s like a jigsaw trying to fit them all together. By the time my editor gets back to me I’ll probably have an entirely different story.

I’ve also heard when my Australian book’s going to be published. September 2008! It came as quite a shock. Such a long time. I thought it would be in about six months. I guess I’ll have to put the thought behind me and concentrate on my new book.

I’m looking forward to meeting my Italian hero properly. He’s just a picture on my wall at the moment. It’s when he becomes a real person that the fun begins. Which reminds me of a book I was given as a Sunday School prize when I was about thirteen or fourteen. It’s called When the Fun Begins and is about a group of schoolchildren leaving school and starting work. I wonder if school leavers really see work as fun? The fun for me is creating new characters, becoming a part of their lives, living a different life for a few months. I’m getting quite excited just thinking about it.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you about the highlight of my week. A new Armed Forces Memorial was opened by the Queen on Friday for all the service men who have lost their lives since the Second World War. We were fortunate enough to get tickets and after the ceremony we (my DH and I) were walking along one of the pathways watching old planes doing a fly by as a salute to those named on the Memorial, when a policeman asked us to step to one side because a car was coming. It was the Queen and Prince Philip! We thought they’d left. I waved and she smiled and waved back and the Prince waved as well. We were just a couple of feet away from them. We felt so lucky.

We went to Blackpool to see the Illuminations over the weekend. It’s been a year or two since we last went and I have to admit they were excellent this year. (For those of you in other countries who don’t know where Blackpool is, it’s on the north west coast of England and is a favourite holiday resort with excellent beaches and a theme park with rides that are not for the faint hearted – which is me!)

We took our grandson and one of his friends and they had the time of their lives, and when darkness fell we were all duly impressed with the Lights which are strung both along the road and across the road. Apparently the Illuminations started in 1879 with 8 arc lamps and now they stretch for six miles and can be seen from space. They cost 2.4 million to stage and attract over 3.5 million visitors in 9 weeks – and I wished I’d taken my camera so that I could have shown you one or two of the displays.

Perhaps another time…

Hurrah, hurrah, my Australian book’s been accepted!

I have no title for it yet and no idea when it will be published but I am so pleased. Now I can finally put it to bed. Simone and Cade can take a rest as well until it’s their turn to enter the world of books. Of course they do live in the Whitsundays – so you can just imagine what they’ll be doing, can’t you? Sailing, snorkelling, lazing around until the yacht charter company’s up and running again. (Big sigh!) All this makes me wish I was still with them. Never mind I have new people to meet. My next hero’s going to be a gorgeous Italian. I can’t wait to get started with him – except that I haven’t quite worked out his story yet…