What's the secret with a merengue??

Now, I promise I shall post a smashing lemon merengue pie recipe later on...It seems ridiculuous because I used to make it in the past w/o any problems. It's not the batter or the custard I am having the problem with, it's the merengue and the sugar. My question, do I have to add the sugar at the very end...I am always getting to the soft-peak stage ok, then I add slowly the sugar. But, I never get to the hard peak stage...No my lemon pie taste nice, but it looks horrific...HELP