Hi everyone,
As promised here is a photo of me with my trophy. It was entitled The Most Popular Category/Series Romance Novel for 2008 for The Marciano Love-Child. A great thrill and I still can't quite believe it. Thanks to all the readers who responded to the online poll and of course for all the people who bought the book which put my sales figures into the top ten. Thank you!
Hugs,
Melanie xx

Hi everyone,
I have been so busy with my son's wedding and a conference the following weekend this is a double post to make up. St Valentine's Day has got to be the most romantic day to get married. It certainly was a special day for Paul and Dunya. Doesn't she look gorgeous? I was so proud of them both. The weather was superb and everything went brilliantly, apart from one of the groomsmen having his flight cancelled at the last minute! Lucky we had a stand in who was able to do the job until he arrived for the reception.

This last weekend I was in Melbourne for the Romance Readers of Australia Convention. It was a wonderful event, made all the more special as it was reader focused. I was so thrilled to meet so many lovely fans. Hi to Jo, Natasha, Xieng, Sonya, Natalie, Aggie, Toni, Hong and so many others who made the weekend so special for me. It was a humbling experience to be awarded the Best Category/ Series Romance Novel of 2008 for The Marciano Love-Child. It is not often I am speechless but I was close to it then. I have a beautiful trophy which I will always treasure. I will post some photos once somneone sends me some. I was so busy being overwhelmed I didn't have a chance to take a picture.
Have a great week and happy reading,
Love Melanie

Hello to you all,
No doubt many of you will have heard of the devastating fires in Victoria. I am shocked at the death toll, not to mention the number of injured and still missing. It is times like these when we should all stop complaining about our little issues and think of those so much worse off. It is a timely reminder of how forceful nature is and most especially when encouraged by the inexplicable behaviour of arsonists. For all my Victorian readers please be assured of my thoughts and I will be donating to the help line.
To everyone else, take a moment to treasure those around you, the ones you love, the things you own that you cannot imagine being without.
Take care of yourselves,
Melanie x

Hi romance friends,
I am home again after a very hot week at our beach house. It is not often so hot which made it difficult to work rest or play. The dogs really felt it one day, at one point I put Pippi under the tap as she was too hot to go down to the beach and seemed quite distressed. She loved the cool running water and recovered quickly. We were lucky as a cool southerly came across the bay but it was extremely hot in Victoria and South Australia.
I watched the Australian Open last night which was some of the most amazing tennis I have seen played. Nadal and Federer are the best in the world and they demonstrated that every step of the marathon journey. Nadal deserved his win so all you Spanish fans out there congratulations for having such a brave and noble countryman. He is a fantastic athlete but also a modest and compassionate winner as he understands what defeat tastes like. I admire people who show true sportspersonship as it is seemingly rare these days when powerful egos get in the way.
I have just finished some revisions and wil now get back to my last words of my work in progress. I have to reread the whole thing again as I have had a bit too much time away to remember everything! I am looking forward to it though, it sometimes surprises me what things I haven't noticed in an earlier read.
Hope you have a wonderful week wherever you are.
All the best,
Melanie x