19 Year Wedding Anniversary

It's my and hubby's wedding anniversary today! Nineteen years. I can't believe it. Where did the years go? It only feels as if we got married yesterday. That has to be a good thing, don't you agree?

I've been asked how we did it. Let me see if I can break it down: Here is 19 reasons:

1. Dave is totally left brain and I am completely right brained ~ between the two of us, we have one brain -- hahaha.
2. As a deeply creative person, I need a lot of ego-stroking. Dave has perfected this fine art form over the years.
3. He is my best friend.
4. He is still as cute as he was at sixteen when I fell for him.
5. He is sweet, and yet an Alpha male.
6. He is a great dad.
7. Almost forgot, he's a great husband too.
8. He's clever.
9. He is a fantastic lov--um...guy (cheesy grin, telling wink)
10. He's perfected the ability to read my mind. Amazingly, he knows what I mean by, thingy, bit, the thing, on the side, the whatsit, "ah, you know what I mean", and "what was I going to say?"
11. He surprises me with little treats like a McDonald's Hot Apple Pie when I really would love one. Sometime I whinge about it when I've just started a diet--you know the one, it starts every Monday and only lasts half-a-day :)
12. He records programs he knows I'd like. 
13. After twenty-two years together, he still can't keep his hands off me. Nor I him.
14. He let's me be me!
15. He is everyone of my Heroes. All of my strong, sweet, clever, Alpha hero are based on my beloved Dave.
16. He's never jealous.
17. He keeps me from jumping into my impulsive decisions.
18. He makes me laugh even when I'm in the middle of a hissy fit.
19. He loves me beyond reason, and that's the way I love him too!

So there you go. 19 reasons for 19 years as to why we're still so deeply in love after all this time.     

Back Home With Megyn

Wow! It’s been a loooooog time since I had the chance to touch base. As some of you know, my adorable little girl, Megyn was diagnosed with Leukaemia in late October. In fact, looking below, I can see that it was the day after I posted the "Agents: What is the benefit? And who is Avon?" blog entry that we ended up rushing her to hospital to find out she was so ill.

There is a lot I can say about the medical system leading up to her diagnosis, but I won’t. Suffice to say, if you ever have to take your child to the doctor because they’ve been ill for a while, DO NOT accept the “it’s only a virus, she/he will get over it” line of fobbing off the system seems to prefer as a recognised form of medical care!

I don’t want to get into that line of discussion, because it upsets me very much. What I do want to say is Meg is responded to her chemo treatment astonishingly well and we thank everyone who has prayed for her and those who have continued to pray. As I write this, she has swine flu and a couple other viruses. Yet she is so well, she amazes everyone.

God is indeed an awesome God!

Megyn sends her love to everyone who has taken an interest in her, and promises to update her blog when she feels stronger. megynsblog.blogspot.com

Since I haven’t had much time to market my new book, Divorce Etiquette, I will take the opportunity to remind you that it is out now, and available from The Wild Rose Press.

I love to hear from my fans, so feel free to drop me a line at monique@moniquedevere.co.uk

Free ebook Cookbook

Do you fancy a free cookbook packed with delicious recipes from several Wild Rose Press authors? Then pop over to TWRP for your copy: www.thewildrosepress.com

I contributed a recipe to this years Garden Gourmet Cookbook, so keep an eye out for Michelle's-Lick-The-Ice-Cream-Right-Off-Him Sundae.

If you get the chance to read Divorce Etiquette, you'll know what I mean. Only four days until Divorce etiquette is released. You can read an excerpt and view the trailer HERE.

Happy reading.

Agents: What is the benefit? And who is Avon?

Today, one of my friends asked this question and it made me think of new writers, and how much you don't know you don't know when you're starting out.
I've been plugging away at the writing thing for twenty years, so I've picked up industry info as I went. Now I take it for granted that everyone knows all about this business. It isn't until a new writer asks a question that this is highlighted. I am in no way claiming to know a heaping load, but I do know one or two things. And I'm happy to share.

Therefore, I've decided to blog my answer because I believe it will help other new writers. And despite what those in the know may think, it's not because I'm lazy...I mean frightfully busy, and can't come up with anything to blog. I promise you, it's because I want to help the new writers out there.

So hon,

Let's take a walk to my office...

The reason authors prefer to be represented by agents is because agents can get authors better deals. They can get your book in front of editors who wouldn't look at a slush pile. There are a lot of publishers these days who will only look at work sent in by an agent.

Agents get us better deals. Sometimes if more than two houses are interested in your book, they can start a bidding war and you can end up with a major book contract--major contracts are anything over 500,000 £/$.

Having an agent frees the author to concentrate on writing while she has someone to deal with the selling. Agents know the market and can give great guidance as well as advice on editing/polishing.

Plus, when you have an agent you can sell to several different publishing houses--not the same book! Your other work. Although, books are often resold/reprinted by other publishers once the rights revert back to the author. All they do is change the title and note it on the cover. ie first published under the title bla-bla-bla.

You don't have to worry about fitting your book into a market, the agent takes on this headache. They also deal with foreign rights and translation rights and... oh please, Heavenly Father... film rights! So, all in all, an agent is a most desirable thing to have if you want to hit the potential big times.

Now, Avon is an imprint of Harper Collins, which is owned by News Corporation--a combination of the British publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, and the American company Harper & Row. They publish primarily romance novels. They are big and one of the very few publishers still accepting unsolicited manuscripts/queries.

Hope that gives you a quick rundown of a tiny part of this wonderful industry we're in and the advantages of having an agent.


Can I offer you a hot drink? Tea? Coffee? Herbal? "James!" That's my assistant hehehe... have a great weekend!

What a Saturday

Woke at six this morning with high hopes for my Saturday. Then discovered hackers are targeting author’s sites.

Being paranoid...I mean sensible, I rushed over to my website to check that it was all right. As far as I can see, it’s fine, praise God!!

Needless to say, my day has been totally derailed and to add a little extra irritation, I can’t get my Dragon Naturally Speaking software to work! It’s been months since I last used it and never seem to have the time to spend to sort it out.

I sincerely hope your Saturday is sailing along smoother than mine.