Category Archives: Royally Lost

Love Locks, Love Stories, & Prague

Last year I was in Prague and came across this bridge covered with locks. Our tour guide explained that they are called Love Locks. Of course, I knew immediately that I wanted to include Love Locks in my next book, Royally Lost. It involves an American girl on vacation with her family to Europe, and you guessed it, she meets someone royal. That’s all I’ll say about that for now, but you can expect lots of teasers when the release grows near.

Here’s how it works. People write their names or initial on a lock, secure it to the railing and throw the key into the canal. The legend goes that if a lock is placed by two people in love, their love will be forever locked.

I’ve done a little bit of research on Love Locks, also referred to as Love Padlocks, and it turns out they appear in locations all over Europe. Some of the locations include Rome, Paris, Cologne, Florence and Dublin. In some cities there are great controversies over whether or not to remove them, as some consider the myriad of locks an eye sore. But to me, they are a romantic gesture of love.

So when Royally Lost comes out, you can look forward to a romantic scene over the Vltava in Prague.

Royally Lost ~ Cover Reveal

Here it is. The awesome cover for my next book.

RoyallyLost_cvr_des1

Dragged on a family trip to Europe’s ancient cities, Becca wants nothing more than to go home. Trapped with her emotionally distant father, over-eager stepmother, and a brother who only wants to hook up with European hotties, Becca is miserable. That is until she meets Nikolai, a guy as mysterious as he is handsome. And she unknowingly finds herself with a runaway prince.

Nikolai has everything a guy could ask for-he’s crown prince, heir to the throne, and girls adore him. But the one thing he doesn’t have…is freedom. Staging a coup, he flees his kingdom and goes undercover on his own European tour.

When Nikolai and Becca meet, it’s their differences that draw them together. Sparks fly as they share a whirlwind of adventures, all the while dodging his royal guard. But Becca’s family vacation ends in a matter of days. Will Nikolai and Becca be forced to say goodbye forever, will his destiny catch up to him, or will they change history forever?

New York City, Harper Collins, and my Aching Feet – Day 2

I’m tired. That sums it all up. Navigating this city, facing the big scary subway and walking for miles when my feet are used to being up is exhausting.

My day started with a visit to my publisher, HarperCollins. What an entrance!

HarperCollins

I met an amazing team of women who are all working hard to get my books out. One might think it would be intimidating to sit in a meeting with seven publishing professionals, but not for me. Nope. I start blabbing about my near death experience on the subway, facing my first rat and they knew I was one tough cookie. Okay, maybe they figured out that I was a total fruit loop. Anyway, they laughed. I hope it was with me and not at me, but one never knows for sure.

And for those of you wondering where my next book is, I found it! Ta da! I think it needs a little more work before it hits the shelves.

Harper book

After I left the hardworking HarperCollins ladies behind I snuck into a restroom, changed out of my dress and heels, and into jeans and sport sandals. Problem is, my fancy shoes had rubbed my heel raw, so I readjusted the sandal strap so I was walking on it. That was fine for the first half mile, but after that my whole foot hurt and it was only 2 pm. I gimped through my tour of the majestic New York Public Library and then the ten blocks to the TKTS line to buy tickets for another show.

The ticket line was long, how long? How about two hours long! On my sore aching feet. But a bit of a miracle happened while I was in that line. A friend found me. And not just any friend. A fabulous woman from Australia, who I know from a Facebook group, and had never met in person, author Karly Blakemore-Mowle. We knew we’d both be in the city at the same time, but what are the odds that we actually found each other and in Times Square!

Karly & me

After a nice visit and a great show,

Jersey Boys

I hopped in a cab for a quick roller coaster ride back to my rent a room. But there’s one little thing about cabs. They want the address you’re going to. Hmm, kind of forgot that. I’m renting a room, not staying a hotel. I knew it was 27th Avenue and 6th Street. Or is it 6th Avenue and 27th Street? Which was the avenue and which was the street? I told him to drive south, but he didn’t seem happy about it. It’s on the corner by a Starbucks. Gee, that didn’t help either.

6th&27th

After a quick call to my lovely hostess, I was able to give him an exact address and poof I’m back. With my feet up!