A New Niece & Too Much Chocolate

Phew, that was a busy Christmas. My son was a little delayed, but arrived on 23rd, the same day my sister in law went into hospital to have her daughter.

Amelie finally arrived just after 1am on Christmas morning, so the family has more to celebrate than usual this Christmas. The weather was gloriously sunny and everyone had a wonderful time. I had some fabulous presents, including a new camera, a Kindle (sooo in love with it), the Les Miserables DVD celebrating the 25th anniversary concert and a CD, a gorgeous poppy mug (favourite flowers), a docking station for my Ipod (am going to try listening to music whilst I write in the shed), and a calendar with pictures of the grumpy one on every month.

We've just come back from The Old Smugglers Inn where we had lunch before my step-son had to go to the airport to return home. My son has helped me move the furniture back to where it should be and am now working my way through loads of washing. (James has finally unpacked his uni bag...)

It's back to work for me tomorrow, but only for two days, then I can look forward to another four days off. Having eaten far too many chocolates, it isn't going to be too hard to think of my New Year Resolutions for 2011.

Merry Christmas From Debs & Grumps

Snow & Twelve Days of Christmas

I woke up to more snow this morning, but thankfully it's a Sunday and I don't have to go anywhere. My stepson arrived from Manchester yesterday, although he was slightly delayed, and now I'm just hoping that the weather warms up for Thursday when my son is coming home for Christmas.

I have to admit that all this snow has made me feel far more festive than I usually do and apart from one or two presents still to buy, pretty much everything is ready for 25th. I'll have fifteen family members coming for lunch on 25th and my brother and his fiance are expecting their first baby. She's already overdue and I can't wait to be an auntie again

Thankfully, with all this excitement going on, I only have two working days between 24th December and 4th January, so will have plenty of time to catch up with any writing and editing, and intend spending the rest of my time in front of the fire reading Trisha Ashley's best selling book, Twelve Days of Christmas, which is now at #1 in the Island Book Charts. You can read Kira Slaughter's review on Novelicious here.

So, what plans do you have for this Christmas?

Pure Passion 2011 - Romantic Novel of the Year

I told you Christina Jones's latest book, The Way To A Woman's Heart, was good (you can read my interview with the lady herself over at Novelicious) and if you don't believe me, just look at the long list for the 51st Romantic Novel of the Year Award for 2011 which has just been announced.

In alphabetical order by author:

To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick (Little, Brown - Sphere)
The Good, the Bad and the Dumped by Jenny Colgan (Little, Brown - Sphere)
The Golden Prince by Rebecca Dean (HarperCollins)
Sons & Daughters by Margaret Dickinson (Pan MacMillan)
Kissing Mr. Wrong by Sarah Duncan (Headline)
A Perfect Proposal by Katie Fforde (Random House)
The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall (Little, Brown - Sphere)
Amazir by Tom Gamble (Beautiful Books)
The Island by Elin Hilderbrand (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Queen of New Beginnings by Erica James (Orion)
The Way to a Woman’s Heart by Christina Jones (Little, Brown - Piatkus)
I Heart Paris by Lindsey Kelk (HarperCollins)
His Last Duchess by Gabrielle Kimm (Little, Brown - Sphere)
Christmas Eve at Friday Harbour by Lisa Kleypas (Little, Brown - Piatkus)
The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes (Hodder & Stoughton)
Virgin Widow by Anne O’Brien (Mira)
Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn (Little, Brown - Piatkus)
The Search by Nora Roberts (Little, Brown - Piatkus)
The Legacy by Katherine Webb (Orion)
Hope Against Hope by Sally Zigmond (Myrmidon)

The shortlist (six titles) will be announced on 10th February 2011 and the winner will be named on Monday, 7th March 2011 at a champagne reception at The Royal Horseguards, Whitehall Place London.

I've read a few of the books on this list and can see why they were included in the list. To read more please go to the Romantic Novelists Association website here.

The Way To A Woman's Heart by Christina Jones

I've just finished reading this fabulous book and to be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of The Way to a Woman's Heart, please go to Novelicious. You'll need to leave a comment (on the Novelicious site) about the most delicious meal you've ever had. The competition will be open until Sunday 12th December and a winner will be chosen at random. (UK ONLY though I'm afraid).

Also, to find out more about how Christina goes about writing her wonderful books and more about her characters in The Way to a Woman's Heart, please read my interview with her, also over at Novelicious here.

Good luck.

Footprints in the Snow

The shed is out there somewhere...

Well, the schools are closed and buses aren't running and I've got to try and find a way to get into work, as apart from the fact that we (in Jersey) tend to grind to a standstill if we see the mere hint of more than a dozen or so snowflakes, the only way to get into St Helier (where most of us work) from where I live, is down one of a choice of hills. Then there's the fun of getting home again afterwards.

My garden has been white, and I have to say very pretty, since last Friday, which is amazing for over here and it's lovely as long as you don't need to navigate these roads, but at least I can be grateful for having an inside bathroom. Poor Grumps has to go outside to conduct his ablutions and then go through the trauma of having his feet dried when he comes back inside again. Poor Him.

P.S. I didn't make it in to work and have spent the day mostly staying on the inside looking out.