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Yes, the latter half of December truly is the most wonderful time of the year! Waistlines are expanding at an exponential rate, bottles of Buck’s Fizz are spilling from the shelves (why do we only drink this brilliant cocktail for one month of the year?!) and time ceases to be measured in anything more complicated than numerical chocolates. Could it get much better?
And in that slightly sugary, champagne bubbled wooziness, one often finds a certain nostalgia emerging for the year that is now almost behind us. So, before we start amalgamating our highly-unrealistic, highly-unachievable New Year’s Resolutions that attempt to right all our over-indulgent wrongs of the festive period, we thought what better way to turn the page on 2014 than to ask some of our December authors to write in with their very own, most wonderful moment of the year…
Sharon Kendrick (Christmas in Da Conti’s Bed, Modern, December 2014)
2014 was a great writing year for me (could that have anything to do with the fact that I love writing?!). It saw the publication of my Desert Men of Qurhah series – filled with the kind of sexy, brooding heroes you can’t help but fall in love with. The year ended on a high with the release of the shamelessly emotional holiday read, Christmas in Da Conti’s Bed. But the best bit – as always – was hearing from readers telling me how much they enjoy my stories. That, after all, is the reason I write them. Wishing happy holidays to you all – and hoping 2015 brings both pleasure and peace.
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Jennifer Hayward (The Magnate’s Manifesto, Modern, December 2014)
Well first off I have to say having four books out in my first full year writing for Presents was incredible. Then to have two of them chosen as Harlequin Junkie Top Picks and The Magnate’s Manifesto, a book I took risks with, awarded a Romantic Times Magazine Reviewer’s Choice Best Book nomination and a Gold star rating? So exciting! And of course, I can’t forget how much fun it was attending my first Harlequin RWA party. The BEST party.
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Maya Blake (What the Greek Wants Most (Modern, December 2014)
Take three successful, captivating brothers, each broken and betrayed in their own way by a domineering and callous father. Add the excitement of the Great British Olympic year in 2012, and the idea of Sakis Pantelides (What the Greek’s Money Can’t Buy), Ari Pantelides (What the Greek Can’t Resist) and Theo Pantelides (What the Greek Wants Most) was born. I loved Sakis’s wry humour, Ari’s gravity and Theo’s sarcastic comebacks. But the love and respect they had for each other and the bond forged through their championship rowing days were what made writing my Untameable Greeks Trilogy an unforgettable experience. That and of course, watching them fall for their one unique woman who would change their lives forever!
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Liz Tyner (A Captain and a Rogue, Historical, December 2014)
Going to San Antonio for the RWA conference didn’t seem like an adventure at first because Texas isn’t far from my home. But I found more family in San Antonio—writers this time. People who have the same goals and inspirations as I do. Getting to meet them face-to-face was an unforgettable highlight of my year.
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Ann Lethbridge (Captured Countess, Historical, December 2014)
This past year, I combined the annual RWA conference in San Antonio with a long overdue vacation with my sister, who lives in Trinidad. We left our families at home and it was like travelling back in time to when we were teens. I don’t think we stopped talking or laughing for the whole five days we were together before the conference started. It will likely be the highlight of the decade. We had so many adventures and funny stories to tell, we will be telling them for the next decade!
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Louisa George (A Baby on Her Christmas List, Medical, December 2014)
Winning the Romance Writers of New Zealand inaugural KORU Award in the short sexy category for my book, How To Resist A Heartbreaker, was fabulous! And having my amazing editor, Flo Nicoll, with me at the awards ceremony made the evening extra special!
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Annie Claydon (Snowbound with the Surgeon, Medical, December 2014)
My highlight of 2014 was a chance meeting with a friend, who told me that one of my books had helped to keep her company during a sad time in her life, when I had wanted to comfort her but felt that there was little I could do. In a year that has had no shortage of highlights for me this may not be the most spectacular, but the thought has stayed by my side as a reminder of why I love to write.
So do tell us, we’d love to hear…what is your most wonderful moment of 2014?