Romy Sommer

And Ireland too (I am aware the Republic isn't part of Her Majesty's Kingdom!) I arrived in London around midday and it took a few hours to get across the city and out to Bishops Stortford, so I was pretty finished by the time I finally arrived. My first evening was spent quietly with my childhood friend Donna, catching up over steak and wine. The next day I travelled back into London for lunch with my editor, Charlotte Ledger, at the lovely Rooftop Cafe , across the road from the new HarperCollins offices. Hidden behind a nondescript office building entrance, this little gem was a wonderful surprise, with a great view and even better food. We enjoyed a delightful yet healthy lunch (really yummy asparagus!), accompanied by Cava (Spanish sparkling wine) and lots of chat. We didn't talk much about business but it was wonderful just to get to know each other. The Rooftop Cafe near London Bridge The view from the Rooftop Cafe towards The News Building After lunc...

My apologies that I've been AWOL for so long. I've been rolling over from one film shoot onto the next, and as I've said over on the Minxes blog today, I'm currently on Day 3 of a 5 day shoot. Which makes this the perfect time to show you where I work when I'm not at a desk ... this is today's office: Usually my office is a camp chair in the VT tent (known as the Video Village on larger shoots), and usually set up in some cow field or on a sidewalk: but on my previous shoot I had a rather more civilised set up in a professional ballet studio. At least it was out of the elements! But sometimes being on set offers real challenges ... this is my production co-ordinator (and former book editor) Ceridwen Morris on the Santam shoot I worked on in Cape Town earlier this year. Can you believe anyone would give up working with books to do this ? If you'd like to see the Santam commercial, click here .

This is the office where I spend most of my days. I don't get much writing done on the day job, but this is where I read blogs, do my research and email endlessly to all my wonderful writing friends. I'm in the building on the left: The offices are glass boxes with screeded concrete floors, so not the most pleasant place to be mid-winter! And my current desk (we tend to play musical chairs, depending on which project we're working on at any given moment).

Here's a little sneak peek into my life. This is where most of my writing happens: my home office. The room is not very big, but it contains everything I need: desk, bed, cupboards. The books, naturally, have an entire room of their own in the house! And yes, those beautiful landscapes and gorgeous heroes on the desk are inspiration, not reality. The heroes (notice, the plural) of my WIP, When September Ends , are right at the top of the board. Any guesses who they might be?

By profession, I’m an organiser. As a film production manager, I plan everyone else’s lives and make sure they all know where to be and when, and that they have the tools to do their jobs. I have to be on top of everything all the time, keeping all those plates spinning, because if I drop one the repercussions could be enormous and costly. How did I ever land up in this job? Because I'm really a ditzy blonde, just like you see in the movies. Though I’m sadly a lot less glamorous and a lot less organised than Alicia Silverstone in Clueless . I’ve been told I’m actually quite good at the day job. Perhaps that’s because I’m over-conscientious. I’m so scared of failing that I work extra hard to get it right. But exactly because I do it at work for 9 to 10 hours of every day (and sometimes more) I’m the complete opposite in my personal life. As though the day job gets all the energy and effort, and there’s nothing left for my home life. In school, I was the kid forever staring out the w...

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 new to the wonderful world of blogging, so I'll start with a bit about me. I am married, and have two inspiring young daughters. I live in Johannesburg, South Africa, where I work as a film production manager for a company that makes television commercials. And that is not as glamorous as it sounds. All my life I have been a writer. I still have schoolbooks from my earliest school years in which I wrote down my dreams and stories. My first class teacher told me I'd amount to nothing, because I spent all my time day dreaming. Well, I still day dream and I'm happy to say I'm pretty pleased with how my life has turned out. (So there!) It was my husband who made me sit down and write. At the time I was working for a very small film company and we were experiencing a quiet patch, so I spent a lot of time in the office researching Arthurian history and legends (still a passion of mine). Exasperated with my obsession and how much of my time it monopolised, my husband ...