Romy Sommer

I have now started "Beneath the Ionian Sun" four times. Four different beginnings and I'm now so far behind my self-imposed schedule that I feel like crying. Why, you might wonder, is this so hard when I already had such a good grasp on my characters? I started Attempt #1 on a high and the words just flowed. I worked on that opening for three days. The story starts on Corfu, with a summer romance between hero and heroine. A brief encounter that both know will not last. Then the doubt set in. How could I hope to hook a reader (or an editor) with a story that opens with sunshine and roses? I needed more conflict! So I rewrote the beginning, starting at the moment of most dramatic conflict. Attempt #2 opens when the hero and heroine are thrown together months later and he discovers that she's pregnant ... and that she planned to keep it from him. Enter the next set of doubts. I've seen this opening done countless times. Where's the fresh twist I need to hoo...

And yes, I really am talking about selling something I've written! The Wild Rose Press has offered to contract a short story I wrote ages ago, currently titled Let's Misbehave . This story is set in 1920s London and is completely different to what I usually write, but it was also the most fun I've had writing and the words just flowed out of me. There are still some major revisions to get through, but I'll keep you all updated of progress as it happens.

My blog has been awarded a Kreativ blog award by Kaily Hart. Thanks, Kaily! Here's how it works: I get to thank the person who bestowed it on me, reveal 7 interesting things about myself and then pass it on to 7 other bloggers. So, here goes: 7 Interesting Things About Me: I grew up in the lush, tropical coastal town of Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa I'm addicted to chocolate I dropped out of Film School in my final year I spent two years living in London (and I sometimes still miss England) My first (uncompleted) novel was an epic set in the dark ages. One day I still want to go back and finish it. With what I now know, it'll be a very different story ... Both my daughters were born in water births My biggest fear is that I will never be as good a mother as my mother is. (She's the most incredible woman alive!) 7 Interesting Blogs I follow: SA Romance Writers - because I blog there and because South African romance writers really need to come out ...

I'm not a big fan of New Years' resolutions. They've never really worked for me - probably because I've never really been specific about what I want to achieve and therefore never achieved it. A recent blog post by Michelle Styles over at Pink Heart Society on creating effective resolutions got me thinking though. Turns out I've been doing all the right things - I just called mine a Five Year Plan. I'm now embarking on Year Three of the plan to publication. Every six months or so I re-evaluate these to make them a little more achievable, but even knowing I trimmed the goals along the way, I'm happy with what I've achieved this past year. My updated aims in 2009 were to complete the Playboy Duke's Reluctant Bride (check), submit PDRB to the RNA's New Writers' Scheme (check), write a second short story set in the 1920s (check - though I have one chapter yet to complete), enter the Presents Contest (check) and complete an entire novel during N...