The Secret Ingredient (47 page)

I have to begin this time with thanks in retrospect, as some of the team have moved on since my last book. Top of the list is Cate Paterson – my wonderful, amazing publisher who plucked my first manuscript off the slush pile and has nurtured, guided and mentored me for more than ten years. She is deservedly now the Publishing Director at Pan Macmillan, but she remains a mentor and a very dear friend. I have said it before, but it bears repeating – I will never be able to thank her enough for everything she has done for me.

Louise Bourke was her assistant for the last few years, and was always incredibly patient and hardworking as she shepherded my novels through to publication. I hope she knows how much I valued her contribution, and that I wish her all the very best on her new path.

So life moves on, and people come and go, but fortunately Pan Macmillan seems to attract the best and the brightest. Thanks to my new publisher, Alex Nahlous, who has stepped up to the plate and guided me to the finish line – or perhaps dragged? (late again!) – and has dressed up my book with the most beautiful cover, designed by Jon MacDonald. This is the first time I've met the designer in person, and I was blown away by his enthusiasm for the task.

My structural editor, Julia Stiles, did an amazing job, as usual, helping me wrangle this book into shape. I couldn't have done it without her intelligent insight and her empathy.

Thanks to Libby Turner who replaces Lou, and has brought the same passionate commitment to transforming the manuscript into the finished book that you have in your hands. She is a joy to work with, as is my new publicist, Caitlin Neville, who is not only ultra-competent and dedicated, but also very sweet.

My sons always deserve a special thank you. This time, Pat was my primary sounding board, helping me thrash out ideas early on, and putting up with more than his fair share of my doubts, and emotional ups and downs – so much so he's left the country for four months of R&R in south-east Asia! Joel leapt to my aid and read the first draft at a very busy time for him, and came back with his trademark insight and spot-on suggestions. And I'm grateful to Zac for being such an easy-going kid, and to Dane for never failing to surprise and inspire.

Thanks to Diane Stubbings for reading my longwinded emails full of writerly angst, and taking the time to give me thoughtful feedback and understanding, and thanks to Desley Hennessy for the long walks and a listening ear. And I am always appreciative of the friendship, support and encouragement of fellow authors, especially Tony Park and his lovely wife, Nicola, and Ber Carroll and Liane Moriarty.

And last, but never least, thanks to my wonderful readers. It has been a genuine privilege to meet so many of you this past year at library and bookshop talks, and on Facebook and even Twitter. Your unwavering loyalty and enthusiasm are the reason I keep writing.

Dianne Blacklock has been a teacher, trainer, counsellor, checkout chick, and even one of those annoying market researchers you avoid in shopping centres. Nowadays, she tries not to annoy anyone by staying home and writing.
The Secret Ingredient
is her eighth book.

www.dianneblacklock.com

Also by Dianne Blacklock

Call Waiting

Wife for Hire

Almost Perfect

False Advertising

Crossing Paths

Three's a Crowd

The Right Time

ALSO BY DIANNE BLACKLOCK IN PAN MACMILLAN

Three's a Crowd

Catherine, Lexie and Rachel are lost. Without Annie, the one who kept the four friends together, everything suddenly feels different.

These worries are soon pushed aside as their own lives become increasingly complicated. Catherine is excelling in her high-flying career but struggling in her relationships, especially with her unfathomable teenage daughter. Lexie is juggling her young family and the ego of her hardworking husband, while taking the first steps to achieving her own dreams.

And Rachel, the one who can't seem to settle down, is in the heady euphoria of a new relationship. But when the truth comes out about who she has fallen in love with, fragile friendships will be put to the test all over again . . .

Crossing Paths

With a hefty mortgage, a frustrating career as a newspaper columnist and a flailing relationship with a married co-worker, Jo Liddell is resigned to living a less-than-perfect life.

That is, until she crosses paths with Joe Bannister – a celebrated foreign correspondent returning home to care for his dying father. Against all her natural instincts, Jo finds herself falling for Joe, and with his help begins to realise that she might deserve to be happy after all.

But when she decides to take the plunge and give love a chance, the results are catastrophic. And so Jo must fight hard for everything she has never believed in – success, self-acceptance, and above all, real love.

False Advertising

Helen always tries to be a good person. She recycles, obeys the water restrictions – she is even polite to telemarketers. As a mother, wife, daughter and nurse, Helen is used to putting everyone's needs before her own. But it only takes one momentary lapse of concentration to shatter her life forever.

There was no such momentary lapse for Gemma. Her customary recklessness leaves her pregnant, alone and estranged from her family, with her once-promising advertising career in tatters.

So when Gemma barges unceremoniously into Helen's life, things will never be the same again for either of them. Two very different women who have one thing in common – their lives have fallen short of their expectations. But is fate offering them a second chance?

Almost Perfect

Georgie Reading runs a successful bookshop – with a name like that, she was born to. A fun-loving friend, loyal sister and adored aunty, life's pretty good for Georgie. Except her love life, that is. Nothing seems to go right and she's ready to give up.

On the other side of town, Anna and Mac appear to have the perfect marriage. But with every failed attempt at IVF their relationship suffers further and Mac doesn't know how much longer he can cope with Anna's pain and disappointment.

So when a stranger walks into Georgie's bookshop and they strike up a friendship, events are set in motion that no-one could imagine. What is the connection between the stranger, Anna and Mac? And what will the consequences be for everyone involved if Georgie allows herself to fall in love with him?

Wife for Hire

When she was a little girl, all Samantha Driscoll ever wanted was to be somebody's wife. She would marry a man called Tod or Brad and she would have two perfect children. But instead she married a Jeff and he's just confessed to having an affair.

Spurred on by supportive friends and her unpredictable sister Max, she finds the job she was born for:
Wife for Hire
. Sam manages the domestic duties for many satisfied customers.

But when Hal Buchanan is added to her client list, and claims not to need her services, Sam realises that while she can organise many things in life, she is not so business-like when her emotions are involved.

Call Waiting

Ally Tasker feels trapped. Her dreams of a fulfilling life after art college didn't include cleaning up after bored school children and being a doormat for her high-flying boyfriend. Ally envies her friend Meg who has turned her art training into a lucrative job in graphic design, not to mention having a doting husband and gorgeous baby to complete the package.

But when Ally's grandfather, her sole relative, dies, she returns to the Southern Highlands home of her childhood where she must confront painful issues from her past that her safe life in the city has allowed her to ignore. Meanwhile, Meg is not as happy as Ally imagines . . .

Sometimes you have to risk all you have to realise what is worth saving.