My guest today is a fellow Australian author who writes ravishingly romantic reads published by Harlequin, HQ Digital and Penguin Random House and who has received a RITA Award nomination for Best Long Contemporary  Romance for her sexy romantic comedy, The Dating Game.  I met Avril recently at an ARRA High Tea event in Sydney and was amazed at all the careers she's had on her way to becoming a romance writer. She's worked in nursing, teaching, public relations, shoe-selling and has studied singing, acting, pottery, oil painting, millinery, German and Arabic (among other things). With such a depth of experience in her personal life it's no wonder she's able to create such deeply emotional, yet sassy and fast-paced contemporary romances.  Avril says, "I write sexy, funny, modern romances, featuring strong, successful heroines who refuse to swoon, and heroes with enough alpha in them to make swooning a clear and present danger. My hallmark is fast-paced, witty ...

Congratulations to the winners! The winner of Kandy Shepherd's title "Best Man and the Runaway Bride" is Michele. The three winners of a title of their choosing from Grace Burrowes are: - Lynlinwill Williams - Elaine P - Cassandra Samuels All these lucky ladies will need to contact me via email to: alyssaj.montgomeryromance@gmail.com with their postal addresses. The three winners of the Grace  Burrowes' contest will also need to tell me which title they would like to receive. Once I have this information I'll forward it to Kandy and Grace respectively as they will be mailing the prizes out directly to the winners. Thanks to all for participating in the contest which required entrants to leave a comment on the particular author blogs. The process for selection of the winners was simple and old-fashioned - all names into an icecream bucket and the winners drawn out! I hope you'll all continue to enjoy the Quick Author Quizzing and will enter o...

My guest today will be in Australia as a guest at an Australian Romance Readers Association Romantic Rendezvous tomorrow! Bella is a NY Times and USA Today Bestselling author who has sold more than seven million books! I have to admit to loving “The Sullivans series” she’s written, and I can’t wait to read the next installment, “Every Time we Fall in Love”, which was released on the 18th of July. Her other works include “The Morrisons” and “The Maverick Billionaires” series; and she also writes the “Married in Malibu” series as Lucy Kevin. Bella started her own publishing company, Oak Press, and this was named as the Fastest-Growing Independent Publisher in the U.S. Following her Indie success, Bella signed with Harlequin MIRA to release paperback editions of “The Sullivans” in Australia, the U.S. and Canada. Bella, I know how busy your schedule must be so thanks for taking the time today to join me on the blog. Thanks so much for having me! Firstly, I’d love to he...

My latest series for Escape Publishing was the “Royal Affairs series”, and my next guest actually has a link to royalty! Carole Mortimer received an award from Queen Elizabeth II in 2012 for her “outstanding service to literature”. I was thrilled to hear about this accolade being awarded to a romance author and Carole was, of course, a worthy recipient. A USA Today Bestselling Author, with many #1 Best sellers on Amazon as well, Carole Mortimer’s career as a published author began in 1978 when she had her first release for Harlequin Mills & Boon. I was very pleased to meet Carole when she came to Australia as a guest at the RWA conference in Freemantle in 2013. In 2014 I met up with her again in New Orleans at the RT Convention where she received an RT Pioneer of Romance Award. I can’t put a figure on the number of books she’s written, and the list of awards she’s won is considerable. I first discovered the contemporary romance stories Carole wrote for the Presents/Mod...

I was at a Harlequin author signing event in Reno in May this year with today's guest, and she really impressed  me with her friendliness and vibrancy. In fact, a member of the Harlequin team told me that to watch this special lady at a signing event was quite incredible because she connected with each and every one of her readers in a very positive way , and each reader left feeling the author's warmth. My guest began writing in 1989 after having owned a singing telegram company and having played in a band. She is now a hugely successful author of women's fiction and romance. I'm delighted to be able to welcome bestselling American author, Sheila Roberts (also writing contemporary and historical novels as Sheila Rabe) to today's quick author quizzing blogspot.    Welcome Sheila, and thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell us about your most recent release and whether it held any particular challenges for you?  My newest release Welcom...

When I was in Reno for the RT Convention in May, I had the pleasure of meeting Melinda Curtis. Melinda is an award-winning USA Today Bestselling author who writes sweet romance for Harlequin Heartwarming and also writes red hot reads as Mel Curtis. I've just finished reading her story, "Marrying the Wedding Crasher" which was a fabulous story, and I'm looking forward to reading "The Wedding Promise" as soon as I can. It was lovely to meet you in Reno, Melinda. Thanks for joining me on the blog today.  My pleasure. It's lovely meeting authors face to face because I don't normally get out of my office. You write contemporary romance "that spans the sexy scale". How difficult do you find it switching from a sweet to a red-hot story and back again? For me, it's like ordering a grilled cheese sandwich one day and spicy tamales the next. The characters in my sexy books tend to be more alpha, which makes it easier. My sweeter...

My guest today is an American romance author who’ll be in Australia again very soon and is to be a guest at an Australian Romance Readers Association Romantic Rendezvous on the 16 th   of August.  Now, although she writes fiction, she shares her name with a major fictional character from Edgar Rice Burroughs series of Tarzan novels! I’m speaking, of course, about Jane Porter! Having sold her first novel to Harlequin in 2000,  Jane writes both romance novels and women’s fiction and is a NY Times and USA Today Bestselling author with over 12 million books in print, in twenty languages and in twenty-five countries! Her novel "Flirting with Forty" was made into the Lifetime movie of the same name and starred Heather Locklear, and she founded Tule Publishing in 2013.  In 2014 her novel, “Take Me, Cowboy” won a RITA Award, and this year she’s a RITA Finalist again with her story “Miracle on Chance Avenue”.  (Congratulations Jane!) She’s no stranger ...