Stuck for ways to impress your Valentine? Fear not! I've gathered the wisdom of some of the stars of my books to show you what (and what not) to do to win the heart of the woman in your life.
We all need a bit of inspiration when February 14th rolls around and the stars of my books
Fairytale of New York,
Welcome to My World,
It Started With a Kiss and
When I Fall in Love have top tips to share with you! Click on any of the book titles (in red) to see the books where each lovely fella hails from...
First up, self-proclaimed mystic and former rock god from 80s one-hit-wonder rock band Hellfinger,
WOODY JENSEN, star of
WHEN I FALL IN LOVE:
What do women want?
Man, what kind of a question is that? OK, in my experience, ladies have always wanted
me. I can't explain it, I must be a guru of love or something. But obviously you can't be me, so what I'll say is this:
treat 'em like a lady. None of this bargain bucket from KFC on Brighton Beach rubbish. You order bargain bucket in the food department, my friend,
that's what you'll end up with in the love aisle, if you get my meaning. Wine her, dine her, make her feel like the only woman in the world. And
don't get arrested. Trust me, dude, what you'd gain in the sympathy vote ain't worth it for the agro later...
Next, handsome owner of Wātea coffee shop in Stone Yardley - and star of
WELCOME TO MY WORLD,
ALEX BRANNAN:
What are your top tips for impressing your Valentine?
Wow. First off,
know who your Valentine is. It sounds crazy, but it took me so long to work it out. Second,
be yourself. I wasted so long trying to be what somebody else thought I should be. It doesn't work, it makes you feel crap and it's doomed to failure. When I met the right girl, she loved me for who I was: there's no substitute for that. Lastly, don't - whatever you do - try out your proposal to your current girlfriend on your best female friend who just happens to be beautiful. Her reaction will shock the hell out of you...
Our next Valentine's advisor is charming New York co-designer at Kowalski's florists, Upper West Side, New York - and star of
FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK -
ED STEINMANN:
What holds men back from revealing their true feelings?
Hey, you're asking the Master of Avoidance! You know I discovered my work colleagues call me 'the Iceberg'? I had no idea... See, it's like this: you have all these feelings for someone and it should be the easiest thing to tell her, but right when you think you're ready,
BAM! - something gets in the way. Like a little voice in your head that tells you it's a bad idea, or some wise guy publishing big-shot who's all smooth lines and intimate chats over coffee. And suddenly you're like an extra from
Dawson's Creek, agonising over every word - until you decide it's easier to date someone else for a couple of days, just to take your mind off it. Just because you can. But she's
still there, man, and she won't go away until you find it within yourself to say something. Here's my advice, for what it's worth:
say it. Melt the iceberg. Take the risk. Because if you don't, you have no idea what you could be missing...
And finally, the gorgeous drummer from Birmingham-based wedding band
The Pinstripes - and star of
IT STARTED WITH A KISS -
CHARLIE WAKELEY
How can you tell if a woman is in love with you?
She
tells you. Believe me, it's taken me a while to suss this. But in my case she told me, straight out. And I freaked. Like,
completely lost it - and before I realised what I'd done, she'd gone. I'm still kicking myself, you know? She's been my best friend for years: how could I miss it? So, of course, I'm trying to catch her now and I'm sort of confident she'll come round. We've been through everything together and she's my rock. And yeah, she might be on this ridiculous quest to find some random bloke who kissed her right after she told me she loved me, but I know she wouldn't say she loves me if she didn't mean it. I'm the one she wants. I just have to let her know that...
Images:
Paul Kaye (Woody Jensen) - Magweb.com
Bradley Cooper (Alex Brannan) - TopNews.in
James Marsden (Ed Steinmann) - GordonandtheWhale.com
Ben Barnes (Charlie Wakeley) - TheBosh.com
I am completely, utterly over the moon! Thank you so, so much for supporting the novel and for believing in my writing! I'm absolutely chuffed to ribbons (not to mention thoroughly relieved!). It's such a massive thing to put your literary baby out into the big, scary world and it doesn't get any less terrifying when there are three out there. So when I know that people are buying my book - and loving it, which has made me happier than I can express - it's the best feeling in the world!
Pics: The view from the balcony at my book launch event; all my babies together - free books for everyone!; meeting lovely people at the launch
Also this week, I received a copy of the special Tesco limited edition of ISWAK, which has pink-edged pages! How cool is that?! They will be available in major Tesco stores right across the UK. It's unbelievably cool to have my very own limited edition and this is the first time anything like this has happened for my novels, so I'm very chuffed with that!
And the great news (which came as a complete shock to me last night) is that the Kindle/ebook edition of It Started With a Kiss is out TODAY! The ebook edition has lots of bonus content, too - including a whole load of deleted scenes from the book, with a commentary by me!
