Thursday 29 December 2011

Resolutions and Books

It's that time of year again when most people want to do better in the coming new year than they did in the one just gone. It's a strange beast this need to make resolutions and promises to improve ourselves. I'm not one for religiously making New Year Resolutions but I always feel a sense of optimism and a desire to get going, to be more motivated and organised as one year closes and another begins. And this year is no different. I think I worked very hard over the last twelve months. I've certainly written a lot of words and when I totalled up the amount I had written I was very surprised by my productivity. The end result has not produced a finished and polished novel, but I have achieved more than I ever thought I could: two completed first drafts and a couple of novels that are about a quarter of the way through. That's quite an accomplishment. Now what I want to do is to take that a step (or two) further. Myself and two of my CPs have already set ourselves each a deadline to have a working draft completed by the end of February and I still intend to work to that. What I should be doing next is polishing that draft and... *takes deep breath*... submitting it. I'm not promising that submission is what I will do, but I shall make the effort to get to that stage. That sounds like a cop out, doesn't it? Yeah, well, maybe it is or maybe I'm just being realistic and taking it in manageable steps at a time. We'll just leave it there for now.

I'm not a prolific reader although I'm always reading something, and there's usually a book tucked in my handbag - just in case. Sadly, I just can't read terribly fast and much to the distress of me and my credit card, the to-be-read pile just keeps growing at a rate not in keeping with the speed at which I read. So, the intention is to try and reduce the ever growing pile over the next year.

Of the books I have read here is a list (not exhaustive):

TOP READS
Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James (Faber & Faber)
Flirting with Italian by Liz Fielding (Harlequin Romance)
House of Silence by Linda Gillard (Kindle)
Inherited Bride by Maisey Yates (M&B Modern)
Not Fit for a King by Jane Porter (M&B Modern)
Ordinary Girl in a Tiara by Jessica Hart (Riva)
To Marry a Prince by Sophie Page (Arrow Books)
Taken by the Bad Boy by Kelly Hunter (Riva)
The Ice Prince by Sandra Marton (M&B Modern)
Secret Princess by Jessica Hart (Harlequin Presents)
Starting Over by Sue Moorcroft


BOOKS READ AND ENJOYED
A Mistake, A Prince and A Pregnancy by Maisey Yates (M&B Modern)
Cavelli's Lost Heir by Lynn Raye Harris (M&B Modern)
Innocent in the Ivory Tower by Lucy Ellis (M&B Modern)
Girl in the Bedouin Tent by Annie West (M&B Modern)
Molly Cooper's Dream Date by Barbara Hannay (Riva)
Once a Good Girl by Wendy S Marcus (M&B Medical Romance)
Tempted by Trouble by Liz Fielding (Riva)
The First Night of Christmas by Heidi Rice (Riva)
Tortured Rake by Sarah Morgan (M&B Bad Blood series)
Strangers in the Desert by Lynn Raye Harris (M&B Modern)
Surf, Sea and a Sexy Stranger by Heidi Rice (M&B Modern)