Stephanie Cage - Writer

Yikes!  I last posted in summer 2017.  What's happened since then?  Well, for one thing life happened.  For another, editing happened.  Next week my holiday novella Paris Proposal  finally hits the virtual shelves.  Paris  is published by The Wild Rose Press, who also published my earlier novellas Desperate Bid , The Santa Next Door and Djinn and Tonic .   I think this is their best cover yet!  What do you think? For another thing, I've self-published a sci-fi romance, just for fun.  It's called Sleeping Satellite and you can grab it free from 3rd to 5th December to celebrate the launch of Paris Proposal . 

I wonder how often those words have been uttered over the course of the 13 years that Strictly Come Dancing has been aired? The celebrities who speak them are usually referring to the intense roller-coaster ride of a single series, but those of us who have been fans from the start have travelled a much longer and more rambling route. When the show started in May 2004 I was an English graduate, ballroom dance lover and aspiring writer in my late twenties, living near London and working in market research.  Over the years, my Strictly journey and my writing journey have become intricately entwined, thanks to an idea I had as soon as I heard that there was going to be a competitive dancing show on TV again for the first time since Come Dancing hung up its dancing shoes.   I’d noticed at university that the dancing world was something of a hotbed of gossip and romance, and thought it would be fun to combine a dancing show with something more relationship-focused – think ‘Str...

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the launch party of local author Lynda Stacey's debut novel, House of Secrets.  It was a lovely night (with an incredible book-cover cake - I definitely want one of those one day!) and a few days later I had time, while travelling, to start reading House of Secrets. Naturally, once I'd started, I raced through the book in no time, but it's taken me a bit longer to get around to working out how to explain its charm.  Here's my attempt... House of Secrets by Lynda Stacey My rating: 5 of 5 stars I love Choc Lit books, and House of Secrets is a great example of what Choc Lit do best: love stories with an added dimension. At one level, House of Secrets is a classic love triangle: Maddie is fleeing Liam, whose love for her has tipped over into a frightening obsession, when she meets Christopher Lawless, nicknamed Bandit. Maddie is a clever, capable woman whose confidence has temporarily been damaged by an abusive relationship - ...

What, No Pudding by Sheila North My rating: 5 of 5 stars I thoroughly enjoyed these stories by Sine fm presenter Sheila North. I'm particularly fond of Penelope, Queen of the Dole Queue. Sometimes it seems as if people in stories just don't live in the same world as us, but in this story Sheila North drags a mythical character kicking and screaming into reality. When Odysseus clears off on his round the world voyage, Penelope struggles to make ends meet, and soon finds herself pondering just how to answer the question about marital status on the benefit application form. Turf Wars similarly blends reality and fantasy, in an improbable but oh-so-entertaining account of garden fairies running wild in a South Yorkshire backwater. Then there are Bill the dragon and the defenestrated Bede.  I've been waiting a long time for a story which justifiably uses the word 'defenestrated'.  Sheila makes it worth the wait, with her charming tale of a nearly-flameless dragon...

So, I just posted about the Crimson Romance sale, which I'd been told only applied to Amazon US.  But apparently the ways of Kindle pricing are mysterious, and against all expectation, the price change has filtered through to the UK too.  So, you can buy my 'Perfect Partners', Nancy's 'In the Shadow of Greed', and a whole host of other titles, for just £1.24 in the UK*.  That's hours of entertainment for less than the price of a coffee! * Prices are subject to change without notice, so pick up a bargain while you can!

If you've heard those horrible announcements on the radio which tell you how few days you've got left to do your Christmas shopping, you might welcome something to help get you in the mood for Christmas. Here's one idea: The Santa Next Door is free on Kindle from today until Saturday 19th October. Why not download a copy and get back in touch with the spirit of Christmas? Or pop a copy on your Kindle now and save it until you're ready to feel the Christmas spirit (but maybe 24th December would be a little late...!) Click here to view the book on Amazon and get your free download.

Squee!  And assorted other excited noises!  It feels like Christmas... for two reasons.  One is that seeing my book going out into the world always feels as exciting as opening a shiny new parcel and waiting to find out what's inside.  The other is that the book in question is the snowy story I've mentioned a few times on this blog... The Santa Next Door.  Although it's not officially released until early December, it's already available exclusively from Amazon on the Kindle Select program .  Look, here's a picture!  Oh, and if you missed the earlier mentions of the story, you can find a sneak peek into the snowy opening here and an introduction to the lovely Sue and Bryn here.

Today I welcome Andrea Downing, whose Western romance, 'Loveland', is a finalist for Best American Historical in the RONE awards, to be announced in August.  Her second book, 'Lawless Love' is free on Amazon from 9th to 13th July.  Congratulations, Andrea, on both your books.  You must be thrilled!  How did you come to start writing Westerns?   I grew up on a diet of television westerns—The Virginian, Bonanza, Alias Smith and Jones, The High Chaparral…I could go on and on.   But they took me to a time and place that somehow seemed more appealing than the suburban New York that surrounded me, and cowboys have always been my heroes.   When my daughter was six we started having holidays in the West on ranches and I became very involved with the whole culture of the West, its history and its landscape.   It was an obvious choice for a setting for my books. ‘Loveland’ features an English heroine and an American setting.   Did you fin...

So, it finally feels like summer here in Britain, and we have a few things to celebrate.  For one thing, Andy Murray won Wimbledon, giving us a British winner for the first time in 77 years (at least, I'm told that's how long it is - strangely enough, I don't actually remember the last time!).  For another, it's warm enough to enjoy strawberries and cream outside in the garden.  And for a third, it's my publisher's birthday.  Crimson Romance is a year old this month, and have been kind enough to send their authors a lovely little gift of choccies in celebration. Here's a picture of mine - needless to say, the picture is now all that's left of them.  Thanks, Crimson.  They were delicious!  If you're a reader rather than an author, don't worry, there's something for you too.  For the month of July, not only do Crimson have a huge sale on, but they're also giving away a Kindle loaded with their whole year's supply of reading -- s...

A while ago I introduced you to the snowy setting of my Christmas story, with the working title of 'The Santa Next Door'.   If you missed it, you can read it here . Now, I'm delighted to announce that Santa Claus really will be coming... to an electronic device near you.   I've just signed a contract with The Wild Rose Press for this short Santa story to be published as an e-book, hopefully in time for Christmas 2013.   So this seems like a good time to let my lovely heroine, Sue, and hero, Bryn, introduce themselves, to each other and to you...     “You said don't go in strange people's houses.”   Sue winced.   Apparently Trudi had inherited Sue's love of rules.   But why did she always have to trot them out at the most embarrassing moment?   Before Sue could find an answer, and definitely before her blush had faded, he had already supplied an answer: “Your Mum is quite right, usually.   But you see, I'm not a stranger...

Woo hoo!  The day is here!  Excuse all the exclamation marks, but I'm a little excited.  Today Lisa and Redmond and all the drama of the Couples show are finally unleashed on the reading public.  Yes, it's launch day for Perfect Partners .  To celebrate, I'm live on the Crimson Romance blog talking about growing up as a ballroom dancing fan and how it inspired the story of 'Perfect Partners'.  You can also find me at the beautiful Brook Cottage Books website. Please do come over and say hi!  And finally, because good things, like troubles, should always come in threes, here's a sneak peek at Lisa and Redmond's first practice session: She stood up, dropped her fleece onto the bench, and took his hand, willing herself not to notice the way his strong fingers encircled hers, making her feel safe and protected. Whatever his body told her, it was a lie, she told herself. He’d never been anything but trouble, and he never would be. Their partnersh...

I know Strictly has been annoying to dancing purists (increasingly so as the series have gone on), but for me it's been a lifesaver.  Suddenly it's no longer embarrassing to admit that I have a passion for paso and a taste for tango, or that for many years I've been a huge fan of Anton du Beke and Erin Boag .  (And for the record, yes, I do think they should give Anton Bruce's spot when he finally taps off into the sunset, and yes, I do still hanker for Arlene's honest feedback and encyclopedic knowledge of dance, although I'm pleased that the BBC have at last found a worthy successor to her in Darcey Bussell ).  For me, Strictly has filled many long, dark, depressing winter evenings with sparkles, glamour and excitement. I'm always slightly at a loss when a series ends, so I was delighted to discover on Christmas Day that my lovely husband had tracked down tickets for the live tour when it visited Sheffield Arena in February.  And just to prove that I ...

Now we've come to the end of my 'twelve days of kindle' round-up of my year's e-reading, it seemed helpful to put links to all the posts in the same place in case you've missed any. So, here goes with my twelve favourite e-books of the year: The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins Vampire State of Mind, Jane Lovering Those Violet Eyes, Vonnie Davis Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor Dear Julia, Rae Summers A Stolen Chance, Linda LaRoque Falling for You, Heather Thurmeier Honky-Tonk Man, Sylvie Kaye Sing to Me, Cowboy, Lauri Robinson The Sea on Our Skin, Madeleine Tobert The Beaumont Brides Collection, Liz Fielding Liz Fielding's Little Book of Writing Romance And now it just remains for me to wish you a very Merry Christmas, jolly holidays, and happy reading!