Let's welcome Helen Lacey with MADE FOR MARRIAGE Giveaway!

Please help me welcome Australian author Helen Lacey as she shares a bit about her debut release MADE FOR MARRIAGE!

Helen Lacey grew up reading Black Beauty, Anne of Green Gables and Little House on The Prairie. These childhood classics inspired her to write her first book when she was seven years old, a story about a girl and her horse. Although, it wasn’t until the age of eleven when she read her first Mills & Boon, that she knew writing romances was what she wanted to do with her life. Her parents’ love of travel meant she saw much of the world in those early years and she feels fortunate to have had a diverse and interesting education over several continents.

She continued to write into her teens and twenties with the dream of one day being a published author. A few years and careers later, including motel operator, florist, strapper, dog washer, and retail manager, she got the call from Harlequin Special Edition. She loves writing about tortured heroes, both cowboys and CEO’s, and heroines who finally get the love of the man of their dreams. She now works part time in her sister’s bridal shop, where she gets to meet fascinating people, some of whom might one day end up being in one of her books.

From Welsh parents and a large family, she lives on the east coast of Australia in a small seaside town at the southern most point of The Great Barrier Reef, with her wonderfully supportive husband, many horses and three spoiled dogs.

 Helen Lacey on the web:

 Website     Facebook     Twitter     Blog           Helen's Page at RomanceWiki

 For full itinerary on Helen's Celebration tour check out Helen Lacey- Author Page.

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Made For Marriage

1/ I came up with the idea for Made For Marriage at two o’clock in the morning. I got up and wrote the first ten pages in about an hour.

2/ When I first wrote this book I entered it into the Romance Writers Of Australia’s Emerald Award (for best unpublished manuscript) But the first round of this contest only required the first three chapters. So I entered, and then when I got into the second round I had two weeks to get the full MS back to the contest coordinator. Only thing was, I had only half the book written. I spent the next week writing 30k, and then editing, before I printed out the copies and sent it off. I was stunned that it managed to get into the top three, and overwhelmed when it won!

3/ This is the first book I’d written that had a heroine who was an equestrian (and this was my nineteenth written manuscript) It seems strange to me now because horses have been part of my life since I was a young girl. I think it’s one of the reasons why the book wrote itself so easily – I was writing about something I knew, and something I loved.

4/ Made For Marriage went through several transformations and I worked with a freelance editor for over twelve months to get it in the best shape I could. During this time I’d had a full request from my now editor after a contest win, and the book went back to the freelance editor once again when revisions were requested.

5/ The book was called Made For Marriage right from the moment of my 2am epiphany – I was delighted that I got to keep the title.

6/ The fictional town of Crystal Point where the book is set, and the following books in the series, is a lot like the small town where I live.

7/ The heroine’s horse, Indiana, was named after a horse I owned when I was teenager.

8/ As I wrote Made For Marriage I began plotting book two and book three. I’d planned for my heroine in book two to fall in love with a character not introduced in the first book. But to my surprise, a secondary character turned up in Made For Marriage who I knew would be perfect for her.

9/ When my agent called me on the 23^rd November 2010 to say Harlequin Special Edition wanted to buy Made For Marriage, it was 23 years earlier, almost to the day, that I had posted my very first manuscript to Mills & Boon in London.

10/  I have eight books planned for this series so far – but who knows what might happen as more character’s turn up. I’m happy to say that book two will be released in November 2012, and book three in early 2013.

MADE FOR MARRIAGE

Equestrian Callie Jones was used to difficult parents at her riding school. But Noah Preston took the cake.

How dare he question her teaching abilities, after his headstrong daughter paid no heed to rules—her teacher's or her father's?

Single dad Noah was ready to apologize for overreacting. But he wasn't sorry for the way the stunning American riding instructor made him feel. And he soon learned that there was more to Callie than her smarts, sass and fire: a shattered heart that threatened to splinter even further. Could he make her see that he—and his family—were for keeps?

Buy Links:

Harlequin   Amazon        Amazon UK      Book Depository

One lucky commenter will get a copy of MADE FOR MARRIAGE and all commenter's go into the draw to win a $50.00 Amazon voucher and for those who like a little bling, a fabulous silver Pandora bracelet.