Romy Sommer

Available to download exclusively from Amazon:  http://smarturl.it/Misbehave

If you're here looking for the next instalment in my Behind the Scenes series, my apologies. Those posts take a little time to put together, and since I've been kept busy on a shoot for a headache tablet commercial (and the house we were shooting in had zero signal) the next post will be delayed. In the meantime, I've gotten my rights back to Let's Misbehave and have been re-writing it ready to self-publish. There are moments when I see flashes of brilliance, but mostly I'm thanking all the writing gods for the opportunity to edit. There are 'had's and 'that's all over the place, and my characters 'notice' or 'watch' everything around them. Happily, I not only get to fix these basics, but to add more depth to the characters. The new and improved version will be available on Amazon later this coming week. Here's a sneak peek at the new cover, courtesy of Viola Estrella .

My alter ego, Rae Summers, is currently participating in a blog tour with a group of lovely authors from The Wild Rose Press to promote her release of Let's Misbehave . At the end of August the tour will be rounded up with an amazing give-away to one lucky commenter. So if you'd like a chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on one of the participating blogs during the month of August. To view the prize, visit Rae's blog at http://raesummers.wordpress.com and leave a comment on one of the blog tour posts.

Today is release day! You can now download Let's Misbehave from www.thewildrosepress.com for your reading pleasure. As you read this, I'm currently in mid-air on my way to London to attend my first ever romance writing conference (the RNA's 50th anniversary conference at the University of Greenwich). If you'd like to find out more about Let's Misbehave , visit my alias' blog at http://raesummers.wordpress.com . From tomorrow until Monday I'll be running a contest there, and you could be the one lucky winner who wins a free copy.

Here it is ... my gorgeous cover courtesy of Wild Rose cover artist Nicola Martinez.

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.

Over the week-end we discovered three gorgeous kittens living in our garden. The mother is a stray who lives at the school across the road, but she probably chose our garden as we're the only house on the block with no dogs. We think they're old enough to be weaning and they're already wild enough to hiss whenever we get too near. We've decided to try to tame them while they're still young enough, but as I've only ever had domesticated cats before I'd appreciate advice on how to earn their trust. At the moment we're just letting them get used to us being around so they feel less threatened, and we're leaving out milk and food. Any other suggestions? In writing news, this afternoon I finally sent off my revisions for Let's Misbehave to The Wild Rose Press, so I am now waiting on two submissions (counting the Presents contest as a sub!). A huge thank you to all my CPs who have helped me get this far - you know who you are!

With NaNo rapidly approaching I've been feeling the pressure of all the things that need to be done to clear my plate. Happily, I ticked a lot of things of the to-do list this week-end. My first chapter and synopsis for the Presents contest are now finished. Cutting it fine, but allowing a few days for crits before I hit 'send' on the entry. The revisions for Let's Misbehave are done, though on the suggestion of my new crit partner I'm thinking of adding a scene or two to flesh out the story a little before I re-submit to Wild Rose Press at the end of this week. As my on-line crit groups will see, I'm finally clearing that folder on my computer and putting in my two cents' worth. And I even managed to read an entire novel this week-end! Fiona Harper's Invitation to the Boss' Ball , which was one of the best M&B Romances I've read in far too long. Now if only the rest of my life were falling into line as the writing has done. Right now I feel...

Great news! While I was on holiday, I picked up an email from Wild Rose Press, asking for revisions on Let's Misbehave . My first ever revision request! The revisions all make complete sense. They are mostly historical inaccuracies that need to be fixed, rather than writing issues, though the editor has asked me to make the POV shifts fewer and clearer. It's very clear what needs to be done - but that's still easier said than done. The editor's letter was very positive and encouraging, and just reinforces everything I've heard about the wonderful people at Wild Rose. I so hope this story finds a home there ... and the next one ... Now that I've done jumping up and down and celebrating with cheap Greek wine, I'm going to concentrate on my opening chapter for the Harlequin Presents contest and let these revisions stew in the back of my head. Then I need to knuckle down and complete them before Nano starts!

This afternoon I submitted the 1920s short story I wrote last year to Wild Rose Press. Another wait begins. So far this story has been rejected by Harlequin's Historical Undone (for which it was written) and by Samhain Publishing. I'm hoping the old saying 'third time lucky' holds true. I was planning to only send it after I'd mailed off my full manuscript to the RNA, which is a much bigger deal as it requires so much more effort than just hitting send on an email (if only!) but somehow today just felt like a good day. The deed is done.