I'm blogging on the eHarlequin 2007 RNA Romance Prize blog this month.  Here's what I posted today:

I wish I had a fabulous story like Nicola's to explain how HER READY-MADE FAMILY came about! No glamorous Cavalier ghosts for me, I'm afraid ... I suspect the inspiration for my book came from the amount of time I seemed to spend at my local vet with a dog and two cats (sadly both gone now). I've always thought that there's something very attractive about a man who can handle animals gently and firmly (a bit like a big man holding a baby, very hard to resist!) I'd have to say that my Westie, Mungo, clearly doesn't agree. He HATES going to the vet and cringes and shakes in the waiting room in the most embarrassing way. What a baby.

I gave Morgan, the heroine of HRMF, a Westie too, although hers is overweight and inherited from her mother. I like Morgan. She's got a big nose and is a bit spiky and brisk and neurotically insecure (now, who does she remind me of??? ... and no friends of mine need answer that one) I must confess that I get a bit tired of beautiful, well-behaved heroines sometimes. I'm with Jane Austen: "Perfection makes me sick!" I like to read about a heroine I can identify with, so the less beautiful and sweet-tempered she is, the better!

I'm not fond of Alpha heroes either (you must be wondering how I ever came to be a romance writer) and Alistair is definitely not one of those. He's not particularly tall or particularly good-looking, and he's struggling financially as he brings up his twin daughters, Polly and Phoebe, on his own. In this book, it's Morgan who is tall, dark and handsome (rather than pretty), and more importantly, she's the wealthy and successful one. Alistair drives a beaten up old car; Morgan has a Porsche, and the discrepancy in their incomes is a problem between them. But for all her financial acumen, Morgan is desperately insecure, and Alistair, of course, can offer her something money can't buy. So in the end, this is actually a very traditional romance where both hero and heroine find the ultimate security of loving and being loved for themselves.