Susan Stephens' Writing Diary

2 Paw, you're so right! Mud-wrestling? I can see that this might be a detour from my normal style... opulence, glamour, sophistication. Modern X-tra does have a different feel to Presents, but I hope you'll love it just as much.

How does it differ?

Speaking entirely for myself- I still adore the alpha male and the strong woman who brings him to his knees with love, and my hero Galem in Dirty Weekend is very much an alpha male.
The heroine Caz/Cassandra has been forced by circumstances to live life on her wits. And if Hawkshead is a little different from my usual setting there are still wide open spaces and dramatic vistas- there's just a little more mud.
But with Galem to run that nice hot shower for our heroine Caz, I hope you agree, that's not going to be a problem for very long!

What else is different?

Seeing the humour in the situation became inevitable when I was actually relating some of the things (minus Galem, of course) that happened to me when I first moved to the countryside. If you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?!
Moving here has been a wonderful experience for me, and an eye-opener too, and I was desperate to share it with you. I was so glad when the editors at Harlequin found a home for this story with Modern X-tra.

Taking my main protagonists out of their comfort zone and putting them head to head in Hawkshead really sparked my imagination, and I hope you'll look out for my next Modern X-tra when I'll be doing the same thing again, only this time I'll be taking my country girl and putting her smack bang in the centre of the city.

Rye Bread?
I love it, and have just discovered a new variety at my local store.
Yum.

Recycling. Trying to recycle/compost everything. (plastic still a problem)
Also switching off those sockets with TV's plugged in and mobile phone chargers- not to mention the computers etc!

Love to all, and happy reading everyone!

Susan