HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope 2008 is a wonderful year for romance readers and writers alike.

I'm very excited about the new year as it starts with the release of my latest book for Harlequin Mills and Boon. The Greek Tycoon's Unexpected Wife goes on sale this month in the UK and next month in Australia and New Zealand. (Readers in North America will have to wait till May.) Writing Stavros and Tessa's story was lots of fun, though Stavros is such a strong-minded character sometimes it was a challenge too! If you'd like to read an excerpt of the story, or see a couple of the pictures that inspired me as I wrote, go my book page. The picture of the swimmer on that Greek beach really does remind me of Stavros. It's been several months since the release of my last story and I'm very excited. If anyone spies it on sale in the shops, or better yet, takes a picture of the book on the shelf, I'd love to hear from you. In fact, I'll send a prize to the first person to send me a photo with details of where it's on sale (separate prizes for different continents!). It's a thrill having this book released in the first month of Mills and Boon's centenary in Britain. I never thought one of my stories would be part of that particular celebration!

I also had some fantastic news at the end of 2007. In the week before Christmas I heard from my editor that my seventh book has been accepted by Harlequin Mills and Boon. It will be called The Desert King's Pregnant Bride and will be an October 2008 release in the UK. Other release dates to be advised. This was wonderful news as I grappled long and hard to get Maggie and Khalid's story just right. It will be my third sheikh story and while most of it is set in Khalid's desert kingdom, it opens in the beautiful Hunter Valley, Australia, a few hours drive from my home.

Then, just before new year came the news that my 2007 release The Sheikh's Ransomed Bride has been nominated for the prestigious Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Awards, specifically for Best Presents. This is my first ever such nomination and I’m absolutely thrilled, even more so as I know some of the other authors nominated, and their work. I’m delighted to be in such fantastic company. Other nominated Presents books are by Helen Bianchin, Robyn Donald, Natasha Oakley and Julia James. In addition a number of other Aussie writers and friends have been nominated in other categories – wonderful to see so many familiar names and great writers on the lists!

December was a chance for me to catch up with other writers. My dear friend and critique partner, Anna Campbell, flew down to visit and we had a lovely couple of days relaxing together and sharing news. One of the highlights of her visit was a wonderful seaside lunch where we discussed books published and yet to come. Anna and I have a tradition of sharing a waterside lunch to celebrate our successes. This was our first on the edge of the Pacific, instead of Sydney Harbour. I'm glad to say it was a wonderful success, especially as we were entertained by a pod of dolphins who came in to feed and frolic amongst the surfers and swimmers. The restaurant was stylish, the food tremendous and the company excellent. My only regret was that I didn't take a good photo of the long, lovely beach just outside the window to share with you. Technically we were celebrating the success of my first sheikh story - The Sheikh's Ransomed Bride, which many readers seem to have loved. But we found time for a few other toasts, including for Anna's second book, Untouched, which is currently gathering terrific reviews.

I also managed to catch up with a lovely Harlequin author, Michelle Douglas, in December. I was amazed to discover that Michelle lives about 15 minutes away from me and has been writing for years. Her very first release, His Christmas Angel, was on sale in the UK and Australia/NZ in December. Michelle and I have met a couple of times for a 'quick' coffee which has taken several hours as we chatted about books and writing. What fun!

I have to report that the response to my recent new year contest with Anna Campbell has been overwhelming. I've never seen so many entries, and they're from all around the world. Details of the results, and of a brand new chance to win are on my contest page.

Hello to everyone who stopped by the EHarlequin Open House in December. There were lots of romance readers and writers visiting over one short day. It was great to catch up with people in the lead up to the festive season. I loved the recipe for Welsh Cakes I got there too, which was a bonus.

Dates to watch out for:

2nd week in January: pop over to Liz Fielding's website where I'll be blogging. This will be part of Liz's party to celebrate her 50th book! What an achievement!

18 January: I'll be at the Pink Heart Society talking about a great romantic movie.

2/3 February:  I'll be back at the Pink Heart Society with a post for their weekend wind down.

I hope your new year starts well and continues that way. I'm hoping to fit in a little reading before I get to work on my next story. Best wishes for 2008!

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope the 14th is a special day for you.

Some very special news I’ve recently received: my release THE SHEIKH’S RANSOMED BRIDE has been awarded the CataNetwork’s Reviewers’ Choice Award for 2007. This is my first writing award and I’m celebrating!

At last the time has arrived when I can visit the shops and see THE GREEK TYCOON’S UNEXPECTED WIFE on the shelves here in Australia. Nothing beats that feeling of seeing your work go from messy manuscript to luscious book in the store. Except maybe hearing from readers who enjoyed the book too. This is a story I loved telling – high stakes, glamour, Greek island setting, a gorgeous hero who’s got so much at stake – he’s just discovered he has both a wife and a fiancée! To find out more about how I wrote the story, or read an excerpt, go to my book page. If you read the book and want to share your thoughts, feel free to contact me.

Hello too, to any readers from India. I’ve learned that THE GREEK TYCOON’S UNEXPECTED WIFE has just been released there.

Good news for those who like a sneak peak at forthcoming books. I’ve just posted an excerpt for THE BILLIONAIRE’S BOUGHT MISTRESS. You can read about how I came to write this story which will appear in a special centenary anthology for Harlequin Mills and Boon in April. Watch out next month when I’ll start a very special competition to mark the release of that anthology.

Speaking of competitions, don’t forget to check out the one running right now from my contest page. It’s easy to enter and there are free books to be won!

January was a busy month with writing, summer holidays and some major works happening at our house. I thought I’d share with you two pictures from that summer month. One is the Stargazer lily that’s been flowering just outside our home. Lovely isn’t it? And the other is a scene from Melbourne. I’m recently back from a short trip to that southern city, after revelling in the delights of the Australian Open Tennis, theatres, sightseeing and shopping.

I had such fun last month, contributing to Liz Fielding’s blog site. Congratulations, Liz on the publication of your 50th book. What an achievement! Thank you, too, to all the people who joined us there and left comments. I thoroughly enjoyed our discussions.

This month I’m trying to restrict my time on the internet as I’m working very hard on a new story. However, I’d love to have some company on the following blogs:

1 February - Tote Bags and Blogs and

2-3 February - at the Pink Heart Society with a discussion aimed specifically for writers.

Speaking of resources for writers, I’ve just posted an article to my website about time and how writers can use it to help achieve their goals. You’ll find it on my articles page.

March is a very busy month for me so I'll keep my news brief.

First up I'm pleased to say that my story THE BILLIONAIRE’S BOUGHT MISTRESS is now available. Antonia and Rafe's story is part of a special anthology being released by Harlequin Mills and Boon to celebrate the centenary in the UK of Mills and Boon publishing. A hundred years of publishing! That's an incredible achievement.

I'm thrilled that I was asked to contribute to the special centenary release called "MILLS AND BOON PRESENTS...". This is an anthology of three full length novels, showcasing the work of new authors and is introduced by best selling author Penny Jordan. I'm one of those authors along with Annie Burrows who writes historical romances and Margaret McDonagh who writes medical romances. In one collection readers can experience three different styles of romance. This one volume contains brand new novels:

~ AN ITALIAN AFFAIR by Margaret McDonagh

~ THE EARL'S UNTOUCHED BRIDE by Annie Burrows; and

~ THE BILLIONAIRE’S BOUGHT MISTRESS by Annie West.

At the moment dates have not been set for release of this anthology outside Britain, so if you don't live in the UK and you don't want to miss out, the best way to buy is copy at the moment is through the Mills and Boon website or UK Amazon.

If you want to read more about THE BILLIONAIRE’S BOUGHT MISTRESS, visit my books page.

To celebrate the launch of MILLS AND BOON PRESENTS... Annie, Margaret and I are jointly hosting a contest where you can win free books from all three of us. It's easy to enter. Check out my contest page for details.

More nice news that came my way recently. As well as receiving a CataRomance Reviewers' Choice Award, my 2007 release THE SHEIKH’S RANSOMED BRIDE was voted Favourite Harlequin Presents of 2007 in the CataRomance 2007 Best Book of the Year Awards. Thank you to all the people who voted for Belle and Rafiq's story. It's wonderful to know that readers enjoyed the story so much!

The last few weeks have also brought a spate of translations for my books including, most recently my first Russian release. Now that's exotic!

Despite the way February sped by I did manage a little time for socialising, especially with other authors. In fact I had some great writerly discussions with friends. As you can see, it was all serious talk! Here I am breakfasting with historical author Cheryl Sallick and young adult author Vanessa Barneveld.

This month I'm blogging at the Pink Heart Society on 26 March, so please drop by and say hello. I'll be talking about where writers find their inspiration and I've persuaded some fabulous romance authors to share their experiences with me.

On the subject of reviews, I was thrilled to be sent a 4½ star CataRomance review for the anthology MILLS AND BOON PRESENTS... which contains my story THE BILLIONAIRE'S BOUGHT MISTRESS. Again, you can read more on my book page but here's a taster: "Featuring a gorgeous Alpha hero, a spirited heroine and plenty of glamour, passion and seduction, if you like your romances sexy and emotional, then pick up Annie West's books: you certainly will not be disappointed!"

My other thrilling news is that one of my 2007 releases, FOR THE SHEIKH'S PLEASURE is a finalist in the prestigious National Readers' Choice Awards. This is an enormous honour. I'd love to attend the special reception where winners are announced at the San Francisco (Romance Writers of America) Conference in July.

Speaking of awards, I'm chuffed to announce that my dear friend, Anna Campbell has won the Romantic Times award for best first historical romance with CLAIMING THE COURTESAN. What a great excuse for a celebration!

Something new for you now. I recently circulated a newsletter to readers. As well as sharing information on my books, I included a special competition with a chance to win extra goodies, only open to newsletter recipients. This is something I'll do from time to time in the future. If you want to receive any future newsletters, just contact me with your email address.

8 May  - at Tote Bags n Blogs.

10 May - at the fabulous Romance Bandits' lair

14 May  - at Yo, Ho, A Writer's Life for Me (where I get to relax with a crew of pirates!)

14-20 May - chatting on all sorts of things at the lovely Jane Porter's bulletin board; and

20 May - at the Pink Heart Society

Please feel free to drop by and join in the discussions!

Nice news this month. First up Stavros and Tessa make it onto the shelves in North America in THE GREEK TYCOON'S UNEXPECTED WIFE. Watch out for this release in stores from the middle of the month as a Presents Extra edition. Harlequin is now offering four extra stories, along classic Presents themes, in the middle of each month. That's in addition to the usual releases at the beginning of the month. In mid May the theme is Greek tycoons, so be prepared to get swept away to a world of wealth, glamour and passion. Stavros certainly makes the grade on that score. He's wealthy, powerful and used to getting his own way. It was wonderful watching him struggle against a force greater than anything he'd ever experienced - his growing love for the woman he'd married but barely knew. Thanks very much to the lovely readers in the UK and Australia who've written to me about this story. It's wonderful hearing your feedback. A recent review of this book from CataRomance noted that "The edgy atmosphere between Stavros and Tessa is like a live entity; sizzling and boiling until the explosive consummation". (You can read more on my book page).

Thank you to the many readers who’ve contacted me recently after reading one or more of my stories. It’s wonderful to hear from you. I’ve been so pleased to receive such positive feedback about Stavros and Tessa’s story THE GREEK TYCOON’S UNEXPECTED WIFE. As I write this that book has been on the Waldenbooks bestseller list for romances for a fortnight and I’m very happy. It’s been great too, hearing from readers who have just discovered some of my earlier books. A writer’s life is pretty solitary and receiving mail from readers is terrific! Don’t forget, if you want to be advised of approaching releases, you can put your name down to receive my occasional newsletter simply by mentioning it to me in an email.

Speaking of releases, I’ve had a spate of lovely news about those. Just a few days ago I received copies of my first translation into Japanese. I was fascinated to find that as well as the book starting from what I’d consider the back, even the picture on THE SHEIKH’S RANSOMED BRIDE was reversed. So that makes editions in 10 different languages in less than 2 years. Pretty amazing! That means there are Annie West titles in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Korean, Greek and Japanese. I also have a new Spanish translation appearing in October, called Pasion En Privado (Passion in Private, which I think is a wonderful title).

July already and winter has hit with a rush of whistling wind and even some rain. Even here on the coast north of Sydney it's been cold enough at night to light a fire and enjoy the cosy warmth. It's perfect weather to snuggle down with a good book or two and that's exactly what I plan to do. Of course I'll be trying to write one as well as catch up with my reading. Plus July is a significant month for birthdays in this house so the month promises to bring some nice celebrations. I have my fingers crossed for even more books when it comes to possible birthday gifts.

This month I've posted information for you about THE DESERT KING'S PREGNANT BRIDE, my next release. If you go to my book page you'll find a short description of the book and some of the photos that inspired me as I wrote. Hard cover copies of the book are already available to order in the UK. This is my third sheikh story and a little different from the others. As ever though, it was wonderful visiting my hero's faraway kingdom and finding out how Khalid and Maggie were going to find their happy ending. Look out next month when I'll be posting an excerpt from this new story.

Something new that I've just heard about via Harlequin. Daily Lit is a site that sends readers books delivered in instalments, by email, straight to their computer.  It's not a pirate site, just a different way of buying your latest read. Over 200 Harlequin titles are available from there, including 2 of my most recent releases: THE GREEK TYCOONS UNEXPECTED WIFE and FOR THE SHEIKH'S PLEASURE.  As a taster, bestselling author Kate Walker's newest Harlequin Presents release, SPANISH BILLIONAIRE, INNOCENT WIFE, is now available from DailyLit for free. You might want to check it out.

Speaking of books, I've just uncovered a stash I'd forgotten, of my first ever published romance: STRICTLY BUSINESS. The books got me thinking about romances that are old favourites and about newer favourites that have recently slipped onto my keeper shelf. That led to an idea for a new contest, with free books to be won by a couple of enthusiastic romance readers. All you have to do to win is tell me a little about one of your favourite books. Visit my contest page to enter. It's easy!

And if you want to continue the discussion about favourite romances, visit me on 10 July at the Pink Heart Society when I'll be talking about one of my all time favourite stories. I'd love to have you drop by.

July is conference month in North America. I wish I could attend my first RWAmerica conference in 2008 but sadly it's not to be. I'll have my fingers crossed for great contest outcomes for the many friends and other favourite authors who've been nominated for prizes. My own FOR THE SHEIKH'S PLEASURE is a finalist too, in the National Readers' Choice Awards. I hope everyone who attends has a fabulous time.

And, just following up a little news from last month: a surprise package arrived recently. It turns out that Arik, my second sheikh, has also gone Japanese, with FOR THE SHEIKH'S PLEASURE recently published there.

And to end on some excellent news, I've just discovered my latest Spanish release is available now! PASION EN PRIVADO is available from the Harlequin Iberica site. Isn't it a wonderful cover? I think I'm in love!

And for readers in English, a little news of forthcoming releases. My next title THE DESERT KING’S PREGNANT BRIDE has been scheduled for UK release on October 2008, followed by Australian/New Zealand release in November 2008. I’m waiting to hear about the North American release.  I’ll post more about that later. Plus, some more excellent news: my book THE BILLIONAIRE’S BOUGHT MISTRESS, which is currently available only from the UK in an anthology (“Mills and Boon Presents...”) has been scheduled for Aus/NZ release in December 2008 as a stand alone ‘Sexy’ title with a bonus novella by talented author Melissa James. Needless to say I’m looking forward to the lead up to Christmas this year!

For writers, or for readers interested in that perennial question of ‘Where do writers get their ideas?’, I’ve posted a new article on just that subject. You can read it on my Links and Writing page. You’ll find information there from a wide range of authors including Helen Bianchin, Bronwyn Jameson, Kelly Hunter, Abby Green, Ally Blake and more.

If you’re looking for a diversion, I’ll blogging at the Pink Heart Society on 25 June.   And for another diversion, don’t forget the new contest where you can win signed new release books by Michelle Douglas, Kelly Hunter and me.

For those of you, like me, who are heading into the cooler months, I’ll leave you with some mementoes of a recent quick trip to Caloundra on Australia’s beautiful Sunshine Coast. Believe it or not I worked while I was there, with the help of my good friend Anna Campbell, but I did manage to sneak out now and then for a walk on the waterfront.  Isn’t it lovely? I can’t wait to visit again.