Reader Request: I Do

A picture-filled post today! Talli Roland demanded requested more wedding photos and I'm pretty darn sure she's going to stick a hot poker in my ear if I don't comply, like, now. So here we are. A flashback to January. I'm telling The Story of Our Wedding in Four Photographs.

That's the wedding cake, sitting on our kitchen table the night before the wedding. You can also see a) my father's legs and b) the glass of Pina Colada I guzzled almost compulsively in the hopes that it would ease my terror of Walking Down an Aisle. (It didn't.)

The aforementioned terrifying Walk Down the Aisle. We had music. We had a whole minute of music picked out for this very moment, actually. Everything had been timed. Fifteen seconds in, I was at the front and they had to turn the music abruptly off. Yep. I sprinted. All I could think was OMGsomanyfacesIthinkI'mgoingtofaintmustgettherenow.

I think I was reaching for Steve's ring here, to put it on his finger. You can't tell from this photo - obviously, because that's his back you see there - but he was a little teary at this point. Probably thinking 'holy s***, what am I doing? I'm condemning myself to a lifetime of making tea while my wife becomes a hunchbacked crab over her laptop!'

You have to feel for the boy.

And finally, that's us cutting the wedding cake at the party afterwards. It's not one of my better facial expressions, I'll admit, but I blame it on the cake. I swear the thing did not want to be cut. It wasn't tradition that compelled us to cut it together - it was necessity. Neither of us could so much as make a dent in it on our own!

So there you have it. Cakes, booze, terror-inducing Walks, rings and a groom who is no doubt by now wishing he'd never met me or my laptop. It was the best day ever.

What was your best day?

Ah, St Valentine

If you think about it, few 'holidays' are as controversial as Valentine's Day. After all, you don't see many people calling Christmas 'cheesy' or getting seriously worked up over the pros and cons of Diwali? My own mother thinks Valentine's Day is incredibly cheesy, while my husband has no problem using the opportunity to be romantic and do something special. Vastly different viewpoints there.

In fact, growing up in India, you heard a lot of unusual things about Valentine's Day. So, here, your Valentine's Fact of the Year:

There was a story going around when I was younger, about members of a very right-wing group who were so opposed to the moral degradation Valentine's Day obviously represents that they went around beating up couples who were caught hugging, kissing or - heaven forbid - holding hands in public.

The cool thing about it, though, was that apparently one year a group of volunteers banded together and actually went around protecting the couples on Valentine's Day. Like, you know. Beating up the bullies.

I enjoy that part of the story very much.

Romance in fiction can be just as controversial, as any member of the Edward/Bella/Jacob Twilight love battle will tell you. And I think it can get people so worked up simply because it matters so much to us. I don't know about you, but relationships in fiction, when done well, fascinate me. Any kind of relationship, it doesn't necessarily have to be romantic (though I do have a special soft spot for those!)

So I try to remember that every time I write. Character relationships matter. Without them, a story feels flat and hollow.

And as a final note on the theme of love, romance and relationships, here are a few wedding photos - at last!

 That's us, unable to keep straight faces as we sign the register. So much for great solemnity on the occasion!

After the ceremony. My smile looks a little manic, but it's probably because I'd been smiling non-stop for photos for the last half hour.

That's me with my bridesmaids. You probably can't tell from this photo, but literally seconds before the camera clicked, we were all squealing because Lindsey (the blonde one) had just stepped on an enormous earthworm.

And that was my wedding. Well, more or less. I don't think Blogger would cope with all the photos.

How did you spend your Valentine's Days? 

Things to Be Excited About

With the weather getting everybody down (it's bleak and cold and snowing in England, it's even cold and grey here in India where I still am, and I expect most of the northern hemisphere is feeling the onset of winter), I thought this was as good a time as any to concentrate on all the things I am happy/excited about - and to ask you to share what you're excited about!

1. I will be back in the UK in eleven days! This might not seem like such an exciting thing, especially because I will be sad to leave Bangalore and my parents and family after having seen them for such a short time, but I am so excited to be back with Steve. 

2. I have a wedding to plan, so I'm expecting a lot of stress and chaos and amazingness in the next few weeks. We're hoping to get married at the end of January, if all goes according to plan, so  Oh. My. God. that's not far away now!

3. WOVEN is going to be published! Sara Sargent, an editor at Balzer + Bray (an imprint of Harper Collins Children's in the US), made an offer about three weeks ago and my agent and I had another offer but we ultimately went with Sara, who is awesome, by the way. I haven't signed the contract yet, which might be why it still feels surreal and impossible - apart from, of course, the fact that it is surreal. 

I've been telling myself to hold off posting about this until it's all signed and sealed, but I couldn't resist! And hey, I've held off for three weeks, that's pretty darn good willpower! I know I need to write up a proper post about it and explain things better, but for now, let that be a bit of exciting news. And let me also say: thank you, Melissa, for making this happen!

4. I bought a pair of gorgeous gold heels the other day. Now I know this is a very frivolous thing to be excited about - and that it's shameful I don't even have a photo to show off yet - but I love those shoes. I bought them for the wedding, but I'm totally going to get more wear out of them afterwards.

So there. Four things I am thrilled about this week. But I'd love to know about the rest of you (though I'm not sure I have to ask Talli what she's excited about)!

What's brightening your winter?

Tales of the Week

I'm going to open this post with a question: has anyone ever tried to write a book, find a house and plan a wedding in the same week? 

Yes, it's been a crazy week.

So it all began on Saturday, when Steve proposed. Many of you will know who Steve is, or will have at least seen him in the comments or in a few guest posts, but for those of you who don't, it's probably fairly clear by now that he was my boyfriend/now my fiance. There's a word I never thought I'd use. And lest my somewhat frazzled post suggest otherwise, I am actually terribly excited and happy about it! Yay! I'm engaged!

Of course, this has meant that I've spent the week neck-deep in messages, phone calls and the like from my friends and members of my (very large) family. I've also been neck-deep in planning a wedding (so exciting and so much fun, but, can I just say, so stressful). At least, I've been trying to, what with conflicting schedules, timing problems, legal things, etc etc. 

Yeah. Apparently it's not all gorgeous fashion, presents and pretty tablecloths.



Steve and I have also been looking for house for July, because I pretty much finish at Lancaster in June. And house-hunting, while also fun and exciting (because it's my first one ever), carries its own share of mayhem. Wowee, you wouldn't believe it unless you've done it yourself. But we've found a couple places we really like, and we're going to see them two weekends from now, so that's something near to look forward to!


As mentioned above, I've been trying to write this week too, which has proven more difficult than usual. I've outlined most of TEA WITH DEATH, DESIRE AND RAGE and have done some more work on planning the sequels to ECHOES.


Yesterday, the lovely Tessa Conte gave me this award, so, thank you, Tessa!

Yay!

So, in passing it on, I'm just going to pick five of my many favourite pretty blogs, regardless of how prolific their writers are (no offense to the others, I've had a really hard time just picking five for now!)

1. Jane at Novel Pretender, for her gorgeous background and amazing word cloud

2. Marian at Just a Trifle, because it looks so pretty and it's about Sherlock Holmes

3. Terresa at The Chocolate Chip Waffle, for that beautiful photo at the top

4. Nina at WICKFIELD, 'cause I'm a sucker for Disney

5. The Slushpile Slut, because I'd love a few of those stilettos.

I've decided that next week is going to be a themed week! Themes! Hooray! 


As I feel rather mushy these days (reasons why above), I thought I'd focus on love stories. I'm going to pick five literary or fictional couples, iconic or not so iconic, and write about them. One for each day of the week, Monday to Friday. I'll talk about why I love them as a couple and as individual characters, why the love story works on paper, how it's conveyed, and I'd love any contributions about why you might agree or disagree with me.

Now to pick those couples...


Finally, please don't forget to sign up for the Character Interview Blogfest if you're interested! The signup sheet is in the sidebar, so swing your eyes right!


Happy weekend, everyone!