 Finally after what seems like months, the rain has come. Our lawn has stayed green, I think due to our daughter mowing every weekend this summer. But the farm has steadily turned brown and we have started to sell stock to lighten the load a bit. It's not all bad though. We've had some lovely weather this summer. We had a wonderful holiday at the beach before it was time to head for the kids to head back to school and even my legs managed to get a bit of a tan! :o Just before Christmas we created a great space under the roof by my son's room. We have an old table and a church pew. It is one of my favorite places to sit. Days like today with the rain pouring down, it is a great place to write. The weather is still warm so there isn't any need to be inside. I love the sound of rain on the tin roof. What about you? What's the sound that brings a smile to your lips?
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Research for an author can be both mundane and fabulous. My research is normally pretty easy. If I have a technical question about something specific involving ranch life, I can usually remember from when I grew up or if I can't, I just call my brother. It's great having a real-live cowboy as my go-to guy. And then there is the best kind of research...at least in my opinion. This of course involves finding someone to base your character on, or at least provide inspiration. As many romance authors will tell you, this is one of the best parts of the job. So in order to find this elusive character, I did what any other modern woman would do...I trawled the internet. Please enjoy the results as much as I have. I consider myself very lucky. Not only did I grow up on a ranch in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, surrounded by real cowboys, but now I get to live in another beautiful location married to my very own cowboy. Can't get better than that really. Unfortunately to me, this is all everyday stuff. I know others would dream of my life but we always want what we don't have, don't we? However to combat the everyday hum-drums I escape into my imagination and write. The best thing is, I get to write about sexy cowboys. See? Told you I was lucky. :) While you wait for me to finish my next book, I thought I'd share some of my cowboys with you. Enjoy!     You can find all three books here.
In about 2 days I will be sitting at a table with fellow authors at the Harlequin Authors Dinner, a preempt to the Romance Writers of New Zealand's annual conference which starts on Friday. This is my favourite time of year. Well, besides Christmas (nothing beats Christmas). I spend all year waiting for the next conference to roll around; and finally it's here. This year is extra exciting! I have two books as finalists in the Koru Award, short and sexy category. The Koru award is a reader choice award, aimed at recongising excellence in published romance writing. I must add that 1) I took the description from the RWNZ website and 2) this contest is open to all published writers, not just those from New Zealand. So you can see why I'm so pleased. I find out the results at the Awards Dinner on Saturday night. The competition is pretty amazing and I'm so happy to see my names next to theirs. They're both authors I admire and look up to. Maybe I am getting closer to my dream after all. The two of my books that made it through to the finals are the first two in my Copeland Ranch Trilogy, I Choose You and Because of You.   The last book in my Copeland Ranch Trilogy came out early this month on March 4th. All For You is a story about second chances and forgiveness. Here's the blurb. Is it time for a second chance at love? When Lily left her home town – and the love of her life Wade – 8 years ago to start her acting career she had big plans to make her dream a reality. However, a few dead end jobs and one dead end relationship later she is back to make a fresh start with the only good thing to come out it all – her unborn baby. Lily soon realises however that the heart wants what the heart wants, and hers clearly still wanted Wade Copeland! Can they overcome the hurt and pain of the past to allow themselves a future?  Neverland Book Tours is hosting my blog tour. For those of you who have no idea what this means, don't worry I'll explain. For two weeks, myself and/or my book is being hosted by different blogs. There are author interviews, reviews, guest posts and excerpts from All For You for you to read. This is a great way for readers to connect with me, so make sure you follow along. If you're familiar with Twitter, I have been posting daily which blog(s) I'm on that day. If you aren't familiar with Twitter, not to worry, my author Facebook page also has all the links you need. See below for the line up.  In celebration of my new release I'm giving away an Amazon gift voucher for the value of $20/£15. This competition is being run by Rafflecopter. Each blog stop will have the link to enter. To get you started, HERE is the link to today's blog stop.  Depending on which time zone you're in, (Because let's face it, it's all very confusing. It seems to me as though today was yesterday and yesterday is today half the time. I have to constantly check World Clock to figure it out. Lol You would think after living in NZ for so long, I should be able to remember the time differences...no such luck.), Anyway as I was saying, yesterday was the cover reveal for my third book in the Copeland Ranch Trilogy, All For You. While everyone was sharing the gorgeous picture all over the internet and writing blogs about it, I was in the woolshed shearing lambs with my darling Mick. ...well, he was shearing them, I was sorting the wool.
Needless to say, by the time we were done, there was nothing glamorous about me.  A shower never felt sooo good! In any case, I missed my cover reveal, and because I'm not always the most organised person (as those of you who know me can attest), I didn't pre-write any blog posts or status updates to coincide with the reveal. But that's okay, because I can do it now! (Just quietly between you and me, this is my favourite cover of all my books.) But first, the blurb. Is it time for a second chance at love? When Lily left her home town – and the love of her life Wade – 8 years ago to start her acting career she had big plans to make her dream a reality. However, a few dead end jobs and one dead end relationship later she is back to make a fresh start with the only good thing to come out it all – her unborn baby. Lily soon realises however that the heart wants what the heart wants, and hers clearly still wanted Wade Copeland! Can they overcome the hurt and pain of the past to allow themselves a future? The third novel in the sizzlingly sexy Copeland Ranch romance trilogy from Kristina O'Grady THE COPELAND RANCH TRILOGY Book 1 - I Choose You Book 2 - Because of You Book 3 - All For You  Isn't it gorgeous? I love, love, love it.
If you are interested in finding more great books with awesome covers, take a look at the Carina UK website. I love hearing from fans! You can contact me HERE or slip me an email at kristina.ogrady@yahoo.com. Amazon has, for some unknown reason extended the Free Promotion on I Choose You, the first book in my Copeland Ranch Trilogy. I have no idea how long this price will last, but I wanted to let as many people as I could, know about it. Who can turn away from a free book, right? As far as I can tell Amazon.com is the only place I Choose You is still free so get in while you can. Here's the link. http://amzn.to/1aRanzW See if you can find the hidden shout out to one of my fellow CarinaUK authors. I love mentioning them in my books because they are all such great writers. It's so much fun that I continued the tradition in the rest of the trilogy. The second book, Because of You is out now and the third, All For You is due to be released in March. Follow the link to my Books page to find links and more information. And, because I have you here, check out the gorgeous teasers Love Reading Romance made for me. Aren't they lovely?     If you have liked (or not!) any of my books please consider posting a review on the website you purchased the book from. Writers love reviews!
Today I have a very special treat. Holly Martin has shared her gorgeous cover and blurb for her new book, The Revenge. This is the third book in The Sentinel Series. Read below to see what happens next for Eve and her friends. And don't forget to check out her gorgeous cover at the bottom of the page. He was created to be her back up and now he's out to take her place After the Oraculum orders Eve’s execution, she has to flee her home in the fort as those that have been guarding over her are forced to turn against her. Amongst the chaos, a new Sentinel is named. Adam, Eve’s half-brother. Adam has spent his life incarcerated by the Oraculum while Eve was allowed to grow up with a family and friends. Now he is hell bent on revenge. He rules over his Guardians and his new kingdom with arrogance and a cold heart, but his one ambition is to make Eve’s life a living hell. Nowhere is safe from him, not even her dreams. With the threat from the Putarians moving closer, her own Guardians betraying her, the survival of the world hinges in the balance. Above all else, Adam must be stopped. But when Eve has a prophecy of her and Adam saving the world together, she quickly realizes she needs to work with him not against him. But can Eve get through to Adam before it’s too late? Or will Adam’s evil heart result in the destruction of all? Praise for The Sentinel (Book 1 in The Sentinel Series) It’s a book you HAVE to read, because it’s incredible. An outstanding book that has left me bereft its finished. I wished I’d savoured it for longer. This book was one of those that once you started it was impossible to come away from. It was fast paced, exciting, full of suspense and action that had me gasping in shock at twists I never imagined could happen. It’s a story of courage and adventure. And no matter how dark it gets, there’s always love and hope. – Victoria Loves Books Blog It's really hard to find the words to describe how amazing this book is. This is definitely the best debut I've read this year! I just love this book, I want you all to read this book, in fact you all need to read this book! - Love of a Good Book Blog If you want to pre-order this book so it pops straight onto your kindle on December 1st then pop over here. Its only 99p/99c UK http://amzn.to/1GQcNOt US http://amzn.to/1S7aAOX And if you haven’t read the first two books in the series yet, then pop over here and get your copy, all three books are 99p/99c at the moment The Sentinel UK http://amzn.to/1giKNVp US http://amzn.to/IKSOUk The Prophecies UK http://amzn.to/1DZ8ECN US http://amzn.to/1khpDuY   After doing my GST the other day I realised I need to pull on my Big Girl Pants and get writing. If anyone ever tells you that farming is a licence to print money, laugh. You'd believe me if you saw the state of my bank account. And you'd stop dreaming of moving to the country if you only knew. I'm not saying that writing is the equivalent to having a money tree growing in the back yard either, that's for sure, but hopefully one day it might supplement our income enough so I can afford to buy a new fridge. Of course my dream is to write all day...I'd lock myself up in a room where I don't have to stop to make lunch or dinner or do laundry or answer the call of "Mom!". I'll have to wait for my kids to leave home before this dream even has a chance of coming true and even then I suppose I'll still have to feed my husband. Every once in a while I catch a glimpse of this dream life though. Like today, I'm home all alone. The kids are at school and are even staying late for ukulele lessons and Mick's gone to town and won't be back until after he picks the kids up. So today I'm living the dream! To top it off, my wonderful editor has given my an extension for Because of You. The good news is I have more time to get Because of You written, the bad news is, I have a deadline. I don't like deadlines. But they do push me to get done on time, which I suppose is the whole point, isn't it? This new deadline is in a couple of weeks and I need to get a certain amount of words written every day to be done in time. Currently the required daily word count is just over 4000. Today I'm hoping to add extra words to that target because the weekends are usually write-offs with the kids being home. I can write 1500 in an hour so technically on a good day I should be able to get 12,000 down on paper...or the screen, as the case may be. But I haven't had a day like that in months and months. It's my goal in life to be able to hit that target every day. Just imagine the amount of books I'd be able to pump out then!  Speaking of meeting word targets, I'd better get writing.
'Til next time, Kristina x If you want to learn more about what I write please head on over to my BOOKS page. I also love to hear from fans - please drop me a line. x  Exactly thirteen years ago today I lost my dad. There still isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him. He liked to enjoy a scotch at the end of the day so this time every year I pour myself a glass. This year I think I am finally grown up enough to actually enjoy it. I used to have to choke it down. This year, I'm even looking forward to having another one tonight. Today is also my Mommy's 65th birthday. Happy Birthday Mom. She's throwing herself a big party this weekend to celebrate. I do wish I could've made it home, but I'm saving up for a Christmas visit in a few years. The kids are going to love having Christmas in the snow! I talked to her on the phone this morning and something she said got me to thinking. She said that it wasn't all that long ago, she thought 65 was old. I'm sure that when I was in my twenties...yes I admit I'm older than that, I must have thought someone in their sixties was getting up there, but I don't remember thinking they were old. So how old is old? I can't put my finger on a specific age. Some eighty year old's act as though they are still in their thirties and definitely know people in their thirties and forties behaving as though they're knocking on Death's door. I do know sickness puts a different spin on things, but I'm talking about healthy individuals. I suppose I'm blessed with having the people around me that I do. A lot of my friends are older than me, one of my best friends is closer to my mother's age than mine, but I don't consider her old. I think we are as old as we want to be. Ok, I admit that sounds corny and full of 'new-age beliefs', but hear me out. Although the number of years you've been alive dictates how old you are, it doesn't mean you have to behave like society deem that age should act. We are as old as we want to be. Someday's I'm eighteen and someday's I'm eighty. It all depends on my mood...and usually what I've been eating. Bread and grains usually make me feel rundown and tired, but that's another story.  My mom came all the way down to New Zealand last year for the book launch of my very first book, Debutantes Don't Date. I still don't think she knows how much this really meant to me. I have told her, of course, but somethings just can't be conveyed into words. It was so wonderful to have her here while I was celebrating something I never expected to happen. And, I so enjoyed her being here when I didn't have a newborn, which has been her usual reason to come all this way. We were able to 'hang out' and talk and celebrate without me having to stop to breastfeed or change shitty nappies. :) So Mom, today I want to say Thank You for being my Mom. You're the very best one I could ever ask for. And although I can't be there for your birthday, know I'm standing next to you in spirit anyway.  My Aunt Jill, me and my beautiful Mom - Three peas in a pod. If you're interested in seeing what I write, head on over to my BOOKS page. Please feel free to drop me a line - I always love to hear from fans!
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