This is what’s known as a displacement activity! I am supposed to be squaring up to that blank screen right now, typing Chapter One and getting on with it, but as usual I keep finding all sorts of excuses why there’s no point in starting just yet…

The good news is that I do have a plot, thanks to Stella, who helped thrash out an idea over a bottle of wine and was allowed to name the baby as a reward (she’s already had a name check as a secondary character in Fiancé Wanted Fast!, out May/July this year). She chose Noah, which is, apparently, what she would have called a boy if she had had one, so Noah it is. My heroine is called Martha, and the hero – for the moment at least – Lewis, although I’m not entirely convinced about it. Am not sure why, as I do like it as a name. I imagine a Lewis as a very cool, rational, no-nonsense kind of character, which would make sense for the hero. Will have to see how I get on when I eventually get round to writing a first draft. Sometimes the characters and the plot turn out quite differently to how you originally imagined them. That can be a good thing, as it means the characters have come alive, but to be honest, it can be a real pain too, sometimes, if it means you have to rethink the entire plot!

Shared another bottle of wine with another friend last night (Isabel, name-checked in The Blind-Date Proposal, July/August!) to work out the nitty-gritty of how the hero and heroine could kiss, but not be able to get on with falling in love, so that’s another problem solved. And they say writing is a solitary business. I don’t know what I’d do without my friends (or wine!) when it comes to plotting. Now if they could only write the book for me as well, everything would be perfect…

Back in March, by which time I will have to have finished the first draft at least, so had better get on with it. In the meantime, don’t forget about The Wedding Challenge , out now in North America.