It’s the 4th of July weekend and I’m finishing my chapter 2 today of my new Harlequin, an intense ‘secret baby’ story set in Sicily. I’ve spent the past week working on chapter 2, tearing it apart, putting it back together, editing, tweaking, and just couldn’t figure out what was wrong until I realized that the stakes still need to be higher to rachet up the tension to breathless Presents pace.
Harlequin Presents aren’t like any other Harlequin novel. They’re not just sensual stories with explosive love scenes, the tension, plot, and pacing is also explosive. A wonderful Presents grabs you from page one til the very last page but it’s not an easy thing to do as a writer! It means creating incredibly strong characters and a very good premise that connects tightly one scene to the next. When I start a new Presents I spend a lot of time adding in layer upon layer, and now I think I’ve finally got chapter 2 figured out and can start chapter 3 this afternoon. I’m down to two weeks before my big boys arrive and I’d really like to be over halfway done with story when they come.
Meanwhile, Mac is totally enjoying Hawaii, loving his time with his ‘summer nanny’, Haley Smith, an awesome girl who just finished her freshman year at University of Washington. Haley’s a Pi Phi and great fun, very positive, and so good with Mac. Everyday they head out somewhere to play–beach, park, zoo, aquarium, children’s discovery center–and on one of their outings last week Haley bumped into a friend of Ty Gurney’s who has a son the same age as Mac. Aiden and Mac hit it off immediately as you can see from the picture below. I love how both boys have cool beach themed shirts and crocs on! Mac and Aiden will be getting together next week for a playdate. Rad, as Surfer Ty would say.
I hope everyone will have a wonderful 4th of July. I’m planning on heading to Ty’s beach tomorrow with Mac to play in the sand and surf. I imagine tomorrow night we’ll BBQ on the deck and watch the fireworks they shoot off from the nearby Hawaii Kai park. Last year we hosted this huge BBQ and I bought tons of fireworks to light on the beach but of course the one year I throw a 4th of July party it rains. Murphy’s Law, right?
What are your plans for the 4th? Share and you could win an awesome summer beach prize filled with really cute, fun things that I know you’d love, PLUS a Barnes & Noble gift card to pick out the perfect summer beach read! Contest runs through Sunday night and I’ll announce the winner Monday morning. Now go have some fun!
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