So The Waiting Game turns one year old today! I searched and searched to find the perfect gift to celebrate The Waiting Game's publication. And suddenly there it was - just as I was thinking that this silver steel rose with gold-leaf edged onto the petals would make the coolest prize ever in a romance-writing competition, Hubby, turned to me and said: Actually isn't that the perfect gift to celebrate your book being published! 

As well as finding the perfect gift to treat myself to, I got to experience a lot of firsts waiting for The Waiting Game to release...

This year has flown by, but I can still remember the flutter in my heart when I first saw ‘copyright by’ and the copyright symbol next to my name. 
 
And seeing my cover for the first time? I can admit that it took me a while to realize Big Ben was in the background—I was distracted by
something in the foreground. Abs can say so much, don’t you think?!

Then there was seeing my book appear on all the bookseller sites that I usually purchased books from. Typing in my name and having my book pop up to buy—yep, total rush!

But as I raise my glass in celebration of The Waiting Game being out a year, the absolute icing on the cake was the first time a reader took the time to contact me and tell me how much they enjoyed my book. 
 
I think that’s why all the firsts surrounding the release of your debut book are so special. The fact that people are prepared to take a chance on a new voice and without any pre-judging dive right in for an adventure, well, it’s the greatest of compliments. It is also why writers write—to share a story.

If you’ve been looking for the next adventure to dive right into, then consider the wait over! Here are all the details you need to immerse yourself in The Waiting Game:

Blurb: 
Five years ago a madman stalked her. Kidnapped her. Tattooed her.
When security expert Cameron Dexter—the man Brooke Bennett once loved—appears unexpectedly at her door with terrifying news, the former musician discovers she can no longer hide from her past. After five years, her vicious
kidnapper is out of prison and on the hunt—for
Brooke.
Now he’s returned to complete his art.
Cam failed to protect Brooke once before. Now he’d rather die than let her be captured. With her life at stake, Cam vows to keep her hidden and safe. Brooke, however, is done with running. Unlike Cam, she wants to stand and fight. Emotions both old and new roil between them, but addressing their heated past must wait. Together they set a trap in London to catch a killer. But they soon discover the enemy wears many faces...
And waiting is no longer an option.
Buy links:
Amazon        
Barnes and Noble      
iTunes             
KOBO

My name is Georgia Hill and I’m a stationery
addict.

Ooh, I love stationery. I mean, I really love stationery!

When I taught, the summer holiday ritual I looked forward to most was a trip to a well-known stationery superstore to stock up on teaching
essentials for the year ahead.

I spent many a happy hour wandering the aisles buying motivational stickers (mostly for me!), pen holders, A4 pads of lined paper, sparkly pens, novelty crocodile clips, rubbers shaped like pigs – and don’t even get me started on pink, fluffy pencil toppers.

My efficiency as a pedagogue (don’t panic, I’m not like that, look it up) depended entirely on a) post its and b) plastic wallets. Whatever the academic year threw at me, I felt prepared with a novelty shaped post-it at my elbow.

Now, I’m launched onto another career (I’ve had quite a few!) I find stationery still plays a vital role.


Nowadays I cannot resist the lure of the hunt for the perfect notebook. I have notebooks all over the place. I have a small one, now very tatty and coming up to retirement, which goes in the handbag. I also have one which sits by the bed, to capture those just woken up moments of inspiration and which doubles as a coaster. Shamefully, and with a sincere apology to trees
everywhere, I have a shelf full of yet to be used notebooks. 

The perfect design? 

• A5     sized – big enough to scribble in, small enough to fit into a bag.
• With a hard cover – to lean on.
• A  pretty or inspiring cover. Current favourites include a Jane Austen themed    one and a Kandinsky painting.
• Ring bound. So the pages can easily be folded back.

Often I get bought note-books as presents. Some expensive perfume? A new pair of red-heeled shoes? Something small and sparkly? No – what makes my birthday and Christmas is a new notebook! I’m so cheap.

If I were more organised I’d, like a lot of writers, have a new notebook for each work in progress. I’m afraid mine are full of a muddle of random jottings, bits of overheard dialogue, train times and story outlines. Oh and some really bad poetry.

I’m at the serious stage of writing the work in progress at the moment. This is when I have to abandon the notebooks and force myself to sit at
the laptop with a boring A4 pad of paper next to me. It has a chapter by chapter synopsis, character profiles, a list of places, time-scales and yes, you’ve guessed it, more random jottings. Currently it has a page open which
reads:
“Hunt Ball"
Party
Check Llewellyn – 4 lls
Leeks, cabbage, squash, toms, salad cut ‘n’
grow.” 

It means something to me – really it does!

Now I’ve embarked on this special adventure of being a writer – and I’ve only just admitted to people it’s what I now do for a living – I’m often asked about my writing process. I’m aware the answer is unsatisfactory. I just ‘do it’. 

Maybe I need a new note-book in order to organise my thoughts?  What a great excuse.

Love,
Georgia x

Buy Link:         AMAZON

Blurb: 
Who Dares Dances is a reality TV show with a difference. Not only do contestants have to learn to dance, they also face a series of bizarre challenges. When Julia Cooper signs up, all she wants is to revive her flagging acting career.
When she meets dare-devil Harri Morgan, though, the attraction is instant – and hot!

Forced to perform a sexy rumba together, the sequins really start to fly. Will they score the perfect ten, or is their romance destined to be a dance disaster? Find out in Say it with Sequins, the first in a series of three novellas.

Bio: 
I used to live in London, where I worked in the theatre. Then I got the bizarre job of teaching road safety to the U.S. navy – in Marble Arch!

A few years ago, I did an ‘Escape to the Country’. I now live in a tiny Herefordshire village, where I scandalise the neighbours by not keeping ‘country hours’ and being unable to make a decent pot of plum jam. Home is a converted oast house, which I share with my two beloved spaniels, husband (also beloved) and a ghost called Zoe. 

I’ve been lucky enough to travel widely, though prefer to set my novels closer to home. Perhaps more research is needed? I’ve always wanted to base a book in the Caribbean!

I am addicted to Belgian chocolate, Jane Austen and, most of all, Strictly Come Dancing. Keep dancing, everyone!

The lovely romance writer Eva Scott has had three books re-released through Musa Publishing and they look so good, I thought I'd share them with you here.

But first here's a little bit about Eva:
Eva lives on the Sunshine Coast, in Queensland Australia in the town which brought the world the Bee Gees. When she’s not writing romance you can find her out on the water kayaking, fishing or swimming. When on dry land it’s all about the shoes and the coffee (and old Bee Gees records). 
Website: 
http://www.evascottromance.com/
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/eva.scottromancewriter
Twitter: 
http://www.twitter.com/EvaScottWriter

MARRIAGE MAKEOVER
Nick and Talia Carmichael were childhood sweethearts. Grief over the death of their baby daughter from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome crushed their marriage. Talia moved to a new city, with a new career and life. Now it’s time to close the door on the past and ask Nick for a divorce.

Nick has other ideas. Once his wife, always his wife. He has no intention of letting Talia off so lightly and proposes terms and conditions to his agreement. It will mean moving back into their marital home, and force her to face long buried
grief. Can she do as he asks?

Being with Nick causes her to question everything she thought was true. Has she made a mistake thinking her love for Nick is dead? Can he still love her? More importantly, can he again trust after everything they’ve been through?

RELUCTANT WEDDING PLANNER
Dr Camden James is a rural vet, not a wedding planner, so he quickly feels out of his depth when, in a fit of generosity, he offers to glam up his sister's budget wedding in a secret move designed to surprise her. With only six weeks to make this the wedding of his sister's dreams he needs to move fast.

Stumbling around in the largely female world of weddings he gets a lead on the go-to girl for wedding flowers - Georgiana Mac Intyre. Georgi, reeling from a very public breakup, is not interested in men in anyway shape or form. Not even super-cute vets - even when they are clearly interested in her.

Cam shamelessly uses his story to get her to help. It has all the elements; romance against the odds, true love, orphans (you can't have good story without an orphan or two), and a bride.

T’WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
During her Christmas Eve performance, part time Burlesque dancer Miss Ginger Snap looks
out into the crowd to see her first and only love, Clay Roberts. The man who broke her heart and betrayed her. The man who caused her to flee her home town to Sydney and never look back. Desperate to avoid him, she makes a mad dash for the last train back to her home town in time for Christmas.

For Clay time stands still as he recognises the dancer. He’s certain it’s Jessica King. She ran out on him at their high school graduation and he’s been searching for her ever since. After missing her train, Clay convinces Jessica to travel home with him.

Can Clay convince his one true love to give him the opportunity to atone and a second chance? Can Jess risk being hurt again by the man she
loved?

BUY LINKS
Musa - http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=199

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Eva-Scott/e/B00AGLKWZ6/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1397540741&sr=8-2

BIO: So far I’m the author of one book:
The High-Street Bride’s Guide. I’ve written about dresses, bridesmaids and cake toppers for Brides and You & Your Wedding, and regularly contribute to the likes of GLAMOUR and Love Baking – often while eating cake in my pyjamas. I live with my husband in a chaotically untidy flat in Letchworth, which I pretend is an artfully
unkempt writer’s loft in St. Albans.

BLURB: Brides-to-be, this one’s for you!
You can say your vows in a catwalk gown so beautiful it reduces your mum to tears (and not because she paid for it).
You can style a reception so stunning your
guests won’t believe you didn’t hire an A-list
planner.
And you can sprinkle the day with personal
touches that make everyone feel like you gave them special attention before they even got there. Without spending a house deposit on it.
Honest.
Samantha Birch has written for GLAMOUR, Brides, You & Your Wedding and Cosmopolitan
 Bride. She knows a thing or two about planning a wedding on a budget, how much you can expect to pay for everything and where to go to get it for less. And she’s put it all down here.

I knew I had a problem when my best friend bought me something I never knew existed for my nineteenth birthday: a greetings card organiser. It’s a handy folder thing divided into monthly pockets where you put all the birthday
cards for people that you’ve bought way, way too far in advance. She smiled as she gave it to me and announced: “You’re the only person in the world I think would use this!”
 
She’s right. Because yes, I have too many notebooks to ever get any use out of, and yes, one of the highlights of my Christmas every year is picking out the co-ordinating wrap and ribbon (or twine—maybe twine this year?), but it’s got to be said I’ve also got a bit of an obsession with finding the right birthday card. I’ve been known to spot the perfect one for somebody months
before their big day, and keep it squirreled away until the time comes.
 
Writing the Stationery chapter of The High-Street Bride’s Guide only made it worse—I was researching places to get your invites, place names, menus, table numbers and orders of service, and finding that most of them also did some totally gorgeous birthday cards. Here are some budget beauties from the book, and some that aren’t so purse-friendly for your wedding
but might just work on a one-card-at-a-time  basis…

Hello! Lucky:
http://www.hellolucky.co.uk/zombie-birthday-hl-934.html Seriously, I’m going to have to start shielding my eyes until I’ve clicked through to where I need to be on this website—I’m always getting sidetracked by beautiful cards and charts and printables I have no use for at all. I mean really, I just got married last November, I have no use for a potty-training chart, but the damn thing was just too cute! 
 
I recently bought a birthday card here for my husband because it was not only bright, quirky and retro, it said ‘Live it up!’ and was—get
this—covered in zombies. I mean, how could I not? W-day potential: Come here if you’re planning a small do, or if you’re looking for freebie  printables.

Dicky Bow http://www.dickybow.co.uk/collections/all/products/owl-card 
Dicky Bow’s capsule collection of cards and prints swings from modern-vintage—retro-look rockets, anyone?—to in-your-face bright and cheerful. I defy you to look at that big-eyed geometric owl and not smile. And I just need
to think up an excuse to buy the hotdog. Anything!  W-day potential: Unless you’re going for something really off-the-wall, this place won’t fly for your nuptials, but it’s hard to beat for random ‘thinking of you’ cards that won’t get quickly forgotten.
 
North Divide Cards I’m a writer so—shock, horror!—I love a good bit of typography, and wotmalike.co.uk have got it by the bucket-load. Their cards are smothered in delicious slang that you’ll be desperate to say out loud as you read it—browse out of earshot of your significant other if you ever want to live it down… 
W-day potential: Invite-able picks are few and far between, unless you’re really excited that you’re getting wed in Newcastle or Manchester—then you could send out the awesome Geordie City or City Scape Manchester cards!
 
Paperless Post I’ll be honest, I’m still working these guys out—not sure how this Free, 1 coin, 2 coins, 3 coins business works—but they look great if you want to ping something pretty over to a friend abroad, you forgot to send a card and need something online last-minute or you just feel like saving a few trees (not that they don’t do a paper option). They’ve got designs by kate spade new york, Oscar de la Renta and Virginia Johnson, so you can’t really go wrong, but personally I’m currently drooling over their cute illustrated macarons.
 W-day potential: There are some super-pretty designs, even among their free options, so they’re great for save-the-dates. Also worth thinking about if you want to go green for your
big day. 
http://www.paperlesspost.com/cards/group/birthday_cards?colors%5B%5D=white&card=6639

My Wedding Invites No, really—that’s not a place. This is the result of all my hours trawling gift shops, Pinterest, websites and wedding magazines for graphical inspiration: mine and my husband’s wedding invitations! 
  
I wrote the words (just try and stop me!), he did the visuals and we had them printed locally—we loved them so much we let them set the colour
scheme for the whole day. And the barrage of ROFL texts we got as these babies landed on people’s doormats? So. Totally. Worth it.