Look at this photo. Just look at it. I don't know about you, but I am finding it difficult to drag my eyes away. There are few things that please me more than a beach bar, and this one looks - well, just perfect. The windswept coconut palms, the pristine white sand, the vivid turquoise sea, the artfully mismatched cushions and quirky vintage lamps... I can practically taste the icy, sour-salt Margaritas, practically feel the heat on my sun-baked shoulders, practically hear the incessantly chirping cicadas. Have I missed out any senses? Ooh - smell the coconut Ambre Solaire (we've gone back in time to 1977 now).

Escaping suicide Feb in the UK has become a very welcome marital tradition over the last few years, and after a long run in Goa, this year hubby and I have decided to swap fish curries for tacos. Hence, and at the advice of my very cool, globe-trotting brother (who would like me to make it clear, once and for all, that he is not the inspiration behind any of the characters in my books) - Tulum, on the Yucatan peninsula.

The Papaya Playa Project, where we'll be staying, is all eco, boho, possibly a little pretentious - and I simply cannot wait!

More on hammock-lounging, cycling to Mayan ruins and snorkelling around coral reefs once we're there.

Arriba, la Cucaracha, and TEQUILA!

And so, last night, to the fabulous launch of Alexandra Brown's Cupcakes at Carrington's, at private members' club Adam Street (think swanky, think arty, think - perfect venue for book launch).

I wrapped up warm on the coldest night of the year to meet my fellow writer and lit function partner-in-crime Carrie Duffy beforehand; together we ventured into a world of words, wine and cupcakes. And not just any cupcakes. These were red velvet morsels of loveliness, with the smoothest, creamiest icing - and they totally undid all the good work I've been doing on my pre-Mexico beach diet (more on Mexico tomorrow).

Alex was glowing with the amazing sense of achievement that comes with - yay! - being a published author (aka The Best Feeling In The World).

And if early reviews are anything to go by, Alex's star is well on the rise (I think Cupcakes... is the first in a series of four, or even five, Carrington's novels? You can correct me if I'm wrong, Alex!). Whatever, it's success richly deserved, and I can't wait to read my signed copy, just as soon as I've met my own deadline (two and a half weeks and counting!).

Carrie and I also met Sasha Wagstaff, whose latest novel, Recipe for Love, I'm dying to read (Mexico cannot come soon enough), and who - serendipitously, and along with Alex and Carrie - is part of Belinda Jones's Sunlounger travel short story anthology (see previous blog). She was great fun. It's difficult to overstate how much I enjoy meeting all these brilliant women.

Sadly, and despite our best intentions, Carrie and I were, as ever, the last to leave - whence we repaired to the nearest hostelry in the company of a certain (very lovely) book blogger who may or may not want to be identified here. But you know who you are!

Huge congratulations again, Alex! xxx

I love writing. I love travelling. And I love writing about travelling. So you can imagine my excitement and delight when I received an email from Belinda Jones, asking if I would like to contribute to her anthology of travel-based short stories, coming out this summer. 

At risk of sounding like a slightly creepy stalker, I have loved Belinda's writing ever since she was a journalist on more! magazine in the mid-nineties. more! was funny, irreverent and a refreshing antidote to the slightly more up-themselves glossies. When Belinda's first book, Divas Las Vegas, was published I gobbled it up - her fiction writing was just as funny and irreverent as her journalism, with fantastic characters and fabulous exotic locations. Sheer escapism.

Anyway, the anthology. The Belinda Jones Travel Book Club is running a short story competition, whereby previously unpublished writers can get their work published alongside that of 30 established romantic comedy writers (that's me!). I am thrilled to be in the company of some brilliant authors, whose work I have loved over the years - see the press release below for the full listing. 

I've already met the uber-glamorous Anna-Lou Weatherly, author of equally glam and utterly unputdownable Chelsea Wives (Harper Collins Summer Party at Kensington Palace, darling) and lovely Alexandra Brown, whose debut novel Cupcakes at Carringtons is coming out next week (Harper Collins Christmas Party at the Ivy, darling). And I can't wait to meet the rest of my fellow scribes - there's been talk of (guess what?) a party later in the year. Yippee!

But it's not all parties (really). The book should be amazing - the various locations we'll be writing about include Mexico, Cairo, Ibiza, St Tropez, Tuscany, Turkey, Cairo, Marbella, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Santorini, Australia, Gibraltar and a road trip between Vegas and LA. Now that has to be the ultimate beach read!