Archive for March, 2007

March 29, 2007 • 4 Comments

I’m so thrilled that New Zealand author Karina Bliss has agreed to an interview.

Please will you tell us about your latest book?

MR IRRESISTIBLE, a Superromance, will be published June 07. Jordan King, the long-haired arrogant ‘Viking’ of my first book, MR IMPERFECT meets his match in columnist Kate Brogan. It’s a contemporary combination of Taming of the Shrew and African Queen (an adventure novel by CS Forester). If you want a visual, picture Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall.

How long have you been writing and what made you start?

I’ve been writing romantic fiction for six years (published for one!) and I’m a journalist by profession. So I guess I’ve always been a writer in one form or another. I was one of those annoying kids who knew what they wanted to do when they grew up. It took me a long time to get serious about writing fiction though…acting on your dreams can be hard. But the alternative - giving up on them - is worse.

Many people spend a long time finding an agent, can you tell us about your agent hunt?

I was lucky enough to get an agent before I sold - Karen Solem of Spencerhill & Assoc. I wasn’t hunting for one, but Lucia Macro of Avon had rejected a ms I sent her and suggested sending it to Superromance, saying an agent would speed up the process. She suggested two she liked, and said I could use her name. I had to take advantage of the opportunity and Karen took me on. As an unpublished writer, you can really speed up the submission process if you have an agent.

Everyone loves a good call story, what was yours?

Loooong! Because I’d originally written the ms for Avon it was 50 pages too long for Superromance. They asked me to cut it, then I re-submitted then waited…and waited (not that long, it just felt that way). Finally on Friday the 13th, editor Victoria Curran rang me and we talked about the weather and eventually she said, we want to buy your book. My overwhelming feeling was relief…I’d been writing five years by this stage. Plus because I’d rehearsed a gracious acceptance so often in my imagination I felt like I was saying my lines…c’mon Karina, more EMOTION like we planned. The excitement came later when I finally accepted that this time, it’s for real.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Bum on seat, hands on keyboard. Accept that rejection is part of the process and don’t take it personally. Keep the faith. Simple eh? You’ll find the first one the hardest.

Can you tell us about what you’re working on now and what books are coming out in the future?

Mr IRRESISTIBLE comes out June 07 and I’m working on a proposal for the third book in the series, MR INVULNERABLE which tells the story of the third hero in the trilogy. I have a first line: “She was in bed with a man who wasn’t her husband.” Now I just need the rest of the book. G>

Bio

A scary birthday milestone had to pass before Karina Bliss understood that achieving a childhood dream required more commitment than ‘when I grow up I’ m going to be.’ A Golden Heart and Clendon Award winner, it took this New Zealand journalist five years of ’seriously writing’ to get a book contract, a process which she says helped put childbirth into perspective. She lives with her partner and their son north of Auckland.Visit her on the Web at www.karinabliss.com

March 27, 2007 • 2 Comments

What can I say? I have a brand new site and blog and then I disappear. It’s been a crazy ten days. The motel has been hectic and I’ve been completing revisions for my agent on one of my books. I’ve now sent them to my CPs and once I have their approval will send them back.

Nothing else to report…. except normal blogging will be resumed…

March 18, 2007 • 7 Comments

I am beyond excited to have my new website, with blog, up and running. I totally adore it. For the past few days, since going live, I’ve been checking it out every half an hour (if not more often) just to make sure it hasn’t lost its appeal. And it hasn’t. So, let’s hear it for Emily at Swank… my web designer!

Now, I’ve got to learn how to do the updates - which should be fun as I’m not the most techno-savvy person in the world… but where there’s a will, and all that.

March 17, 2007 • Comments

I’ve re-launched my site with a new design and new blog.  Take a look around!

March 16, 2007 • 7 Comments

I’m very excited because I’ve just seen the mock-up for my cover. And I love it. And as one of the witches said to me ‘you’ve got everything you wanted’. Which is true. So watch this space, because soon I’ll be able to post it.

March 12, 2007 • 4 Comments

This is a bit of everything blog:

I heard from my web designer today and we’re aiming to go live with my new site at the end of the week. WOO HOOOOOO I’m so excited. Because in my mind it means my book is nearer to being pubbed. And I’ll have a new blog (one that behaves, I hope).

What else…. oh yes we’ve just booked a weeks holiday in Fiji. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am about that too. Running a motel takes up your time 24/7 and by the time we go we won’t have had a single day off in 7 months. I hope we miss the rains, but even if we do get some rain it will be hot and sunny… picture me on the golden sands, reading, not having to answer the phone, being able to go to the bathroom without having to stop mid-flow because the phone or door bell rings (tma? Sorry).

Fellow witch Amanda will be arriving in NZ from UK in about a month. Check out her blog for pics of her leaving party.

At the weekend I’m going to Palmerston North (about 2 hours drive away) to have a farewell lunch with writing friend Abby Gaines (she’s moving back to Auckland) and my bf Kate (fab writer who hopefully will sell very soon).

Check out the new blog Teen Fiction Cafe. Twelve Young Adult authors (including me) have got together to blog about all things teen related. It’s so cool to be with these authors.

Ummmm…. anything else…. I’m writing up a storm on my latest book Dating The Megan Russell Way…. ok, ok before any of my CPs chip in…. I’m writing up a drizzle…

Oh yes, American Idol… omg… we’re a couple of weeks behind USA. I just hope the public vote off the right people, because if they do are we in for one helluva contest….

That’s it for now. Anyone got any news to share…..