Look No Further... - Christina Hollis

…for more good reasons to read romance. When the weather’s murky and the economy shows no signs of improving, it’s an ideal way to relax and raise your spirits. First, there’s the pleasure of browsing the book shop shelves. Nowadays you can leaf online, too! Then there’s the delight of plunging into the story. Romantic novels are the ideal way to escape the everyday, and enter a world of dreams. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve taken a break from the housework, abandoning it for the pleasures of a dashing sheik or brooding Greek.

Romance is a very popular way of cheering ourselves up. Recent research conducted by Book Marketing Limited for the Romantic Novelists' Association showed the romantic fiction market to be worth £118million a year, and growing. For a small sum (or even for free, if there’s a lending library nearby) anyone can indulge their favourite fantasy, or discover a new one. Best of all, there’s the assurance that whatever the romantic strife, it will always reach a satisfying conclusion. In my view, there’s only one thing better than reading romance, and that’s writing it. I can let my imagination go wild. Developing new characters and then setting them down to sort out their conflicts in a place I love is a wonderful job. When I was working on The Ruthless Italian’s Inexperienced Wife, I found the perfect way to get myself in the mood for writing. There’s a lane not far away from here that runs through an avenue of lime trees. At this time of year they are in full flower. The perfume is wonderful, and to walk in their shade on a hot afternoon when they are humming with millions of bees is heavenly. It was so relaxing, I gave my hero Marco some lime trees outside his grand house. Now, when you read The Ruthless Italian’s Inexperienced Wife, you’ll know where I got the idea!

Christina

www.christinahollis.com

Whooping it up in Washington!

by Anna Campbell

When you read this, I will have become an international woman of mystery.

Well, at least an international woman!

Every July, Romance Writers of America host a huge convention in the States and for the last few years, I've been lucky enough to go. Wow, is it a shock to my usually hermit-like system.

Thousands of romance writers, all completely overexcited like toddlers drinking red coridal at the kindy Christmas break-up. People you love but only ever see once a year. A week where I talk romance fiction nonstop with writers and fans and industry bods.

If anyone is in the Washington area on Wednesday, 15th July, make sure you come to the author signing to benefit literacy charities. Every romance author you ever wanted to meet will be there (well, perhaps not EVERY one but enough to make your heart beat faster!). Details here.

The conference is huge fun as well as a great networking opportunity and learning curve. There are fantastic workshops (most of which I never seem to get to although my intentions are good - darn you, hotel bar!) and lots and lots of parties.

One of my favorite parties is the big awards night which is the culmination of the conference on Saturday night. This year I'm all excited - a lot of my friends are up for the Golden Heart (unpublished) and the RITA Award (published). I'm also lucky enough to the guest of RITA nominee for Best Regency Romance Christine Wells for the ceremony which means I get to sit up the front and drool over all the stars. Yeah, I agree, not an attractive picture.

Christine's THE DANGEROUS DUKE finaled this year and I'm so excited for her as it's a fabulous book, witty and passionate and romantic.

until recently, I'd never visited the U.S. and I find it an absolutely fascinating country. I always try and tag a few extra days on to do some sightseeing. Last year, as many of you know, I got to explore the area around San Francisco. This year, I'm so looking forward to checking out a few things in the national capital and its adjacent area.

Of course, there are too many wonderful sites in Washington for anyone (and particularly a history geek like me) to cover in merely a couple of days but I'm looking forward to getting a taste of the place. I'm hoping to hit a couple of art museums and the White House (still to be confirmed) and the monuments and the Library of Congress. A writer HAS to go to the Library of Congress!

Lovely romantic and talented suspense author and fellow Romance Bandit Jeanne Adams (her latest book DARK AND DEADLY has just hit the shelves - another treat!) has offered to drive me around a few places outside the city.
Something I'm particularly looking forward to seeing is Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home and estate. Several years ago, I remember seeing a marvellous documentary by Ken Burns about Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson has always been someone I've admired without necessarily knowing a lot abouthim. What an amazing man (obviously not perfect, but who is?). So clever and interested in absolutely everything and such vision for the future.

So have you been to Washington D.C.? If you have, what was the best thing you saw/attended/experienced? If you haven't been, what would you most like to see? The Smithsonian? The White House? The Washington Monument? Inquiring minds want to know!

Getting Ready For Nationals - Kimberly Van Meter

Sometimes I envy the relatively simple process men enjoy when preparing to travel. As I prepare to leave for the Romance Writers of America National conference, I’m struck by how much there is to do and how I should’ve started preparing way before this moment. You see, I think women are the only ones who stress about things that are fairly ridiculous in the big scheme of things.

To put it into perspective: North Korea might very well be readying to blow the United States (or at least some part of it) to the hereafter yet, the networks are too busy going over the minutia of Michael Jackson’s funeral arrangements to bother with something so boring, hence it makes perfect sense that I’m fretting over all the pampering that still needs to be done before I’m ready to make my entrance among my writer/author friends. I’m completely guilty. I am more worried that my aesthetician will manage to squeeze me in before I leave when I really should just make do with a good facial scrub and moisturizer and call it a day. I’m being completely frivolous and I admit it. Does that count for something? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Internally, I’m rolling my eyes at my own foolish primping I’m not going to stop. And I know I’m not alone. My friends are tweeting and posting on Facebook, listservs and IMs how appointments have been made at the hair dresser, manicurist, and shopping trips have either been scheduled or finished, all in prep for this major event.

So what’s the big deal? I’m a wash-and-wear kinda girl. I choose comfort over fashion most days and I rarely bother with make-up during the work week, yet during National I’m a diva of the primped, coiffed, and stylized (well, my version anyhow) of the jet set. It makes no sense. I have new clothes to purchase, dresses to squeeze myself into, new make-up sets to put together, hairstyles to try out, new shoes and bag to match my outfits, not to mention all the accessories that go into putting together a fashionable look and let me tell you, this stuff is not cheap. So not only am I going to all this effort for a week’s worth of activity that I don’t bother with the rest of the year, I’m spending a fortune to do it. It’s crazy.

My husband, on the other hand, is content with throwing deodorant, assorted toiletries, just enough clothes, one pair of shoes into the suitcase, and he’s ready to rock and roll.There’s no need for fancy haircuts, a massage, a pedicure, fake tan, new clothes or some ridiculous compulsion to diet one week before leaving.

Oh well. It is what it is.

So, let’s commiserate together. Tell me, if you’re going to National, what prep you’ve undergone and if you’re not going to National, share your war stories of another event you had to go into hyperdrive to attend with any measure of success. One lucky poster will receive a free copy of my July Harlequin Superromance novel, KIDS ON THE DOORSTEP.

Kimberly

http://www.kimberlyvanmeter.com/

What Book Should I Read?

I have a summer cold, though I have been telling myself that it is allergies, as if that somehow minimizes the yuck. For some reason, I find sniffling in the summer far more egregious than in the winter. I would like to crawl up under a blanket on the couch and read books, or watch my Netflixed Lost in Austen DVDS.

For that matter, I would like to get a little lost in Austen myself. Wouldn't you?



But I digress. My problem is that for some reason, I cannot manage to find a single book on my towering to-be-read pile. I'm not looking for a specific book. I just want one that will yank me in and make me forget that I can't breathe through my nose and my throat hurts and I can't stop coughing. Is that so much to ask?

What book would you recommend? It can be old or new. It just has to be amazing. I can't wait to read your suggestions!

Yours for the Night by Jasmine Haynes

I've got a new erotic romance series coming out, the first book, Yours for the Night, arriving in stores November 3, 2009. This one is an anthology, a collection of stories all by me. Here's a little bit about my "Courtesan Tales."

A glitzy, sensual world of powerful people and the courtesans they’ll pay anything to have.
An exclusive and secret agency, for over two hundred years Courtesans has specialized in providing entertainment of a sexual nature. Its clients are rich, powerful, and influential men and women, and one only meets a courtesan through referral from trusted sources. Courtesans facilitates bringing together men and women to satisfy any sexual need imaginable, matching the perfect courtesan with just the right client. The agency prides itself on training its courtesans, male and female, to interpret and fulfill its clients greatest fantasies, even the secret ones no one dares to say aloud. The price is high, but everyone who’s ever had the pleasure of a date with a courtesan will agree, the fantasy is worth every penny. And sometimes it changes your life.

These stories are completely fantasy, of course. I didn't want to deal with the seedy, seemier side of "ladies of the night." I wanted to create a fantasy world, a playground for powerful people. And within that framework, I wanted to examine why a woman would choose to do this. I sold the concept to Berkley right at the exact same time that the governor of New York was caught with a high-priced call girl. So that added more to my stories, by also examining why men would wish to use my fantasy agency. In the first story, "The Girlfriend Experience," Chase Ramirez has lost his wife in the most tragic of circumstances, and a year later, he's so lonely he just wants to pretend life is normal by paying for a girlfriend. He's still so broken up, he can't handle a real relationship. Until he meets Marianna.

I've been watching "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" on Showtime (well, actually, I'm renting it off Netflix). And in the last one I watched, she had a "girlfriend experience!" I'm working on the second book in the series now, Hers for the Evening, which will be out early summer 2010

Leave me a comment, and I'll enter you in a drawing for a copy of Somebody's Lover. Please leave your email so I can contact you.

And at the end of the week, stop by my new website http://www.jasminehaynes.com/!

Jasmine, Jennifer and JB!
http://www.skullybuzz.com/
Newsletter: skullybuzz-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Blog: http://jasminehaynes.blogspot.com/

Makes You Want to go "Huh?" -- Susanna Carr

Last night Duran Duran was playing at the amphitheater at the park down the hill from me. Usually I can hear the concerts in my backyard, but this time I wanted to enjoy the whole concert experience. What can I say? I grew up in the 80's.

Since you have to find a spot to spread your blanket on the grassy knoll, I made sure I got there on time. It turns out I didn't need to rush because there was an opening act. I never heard of them, but I don't think I'll ever forget their name: Natalie Portman's Shaved Head.

Seriously. What kind of name is that?

Then again, Duran Duran is a strange name. According to their website, "the band took their name from Roger Vadim's 1960's cult sci-fi classic film "Barbarella" starring Jane Fonda. There was a character played by Milo O'Shea called Durand Durand."

Uh... okay. It begs the question WHY.

And here I thought coming up with book titles was hard. Creating a memorable band name might be tougher.

What crazy band names have you heard? The kind that you don't know where they got it or why they use it?

Crazy July - by Kate Walker

I've known all year that July was going to be a crazy month for me but now that it's here it's actually even more hectic and crammed with events than I had planned.

I'm writing this just before I set off halfway across thre country to a Writers' Day where I'm giving a workshop on writing romance - and that's just the start of things.

And then I'm going to America in two different ways -

One is that in just over a week from today I'll be getting on a plane and flying from the UK to Washington to be at the RWA National Conference there. I can't wait to meet up with all my friends, writers, readers and of course hosties from eHarlequin. I'll be signing my books at the literacy signing. If you're going to DC and you're coing to the event I hope you'll come up and say Hi.

And second - I have some exciting news that my 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance is going to be in America too.

For ages now - ever since the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance was first published, I have hoped that one day I would be able to tell my American readers and would-be writers that they could buy the book direct in USA. I know that it's been available on Amazon.com, but not everyone likes to buy on-line, and some of you have had difficulty getting hold of it 'over the pond'.

The good news is that I heard today from the publisher that the first copies of an American edition, printed and published in Chicago, are being printed this week - and that means that you can easily order the book from any book shop and hopefully get a copy very quickly. That's the idea anyway

This news means that there is also the hope that the book will now be on sale at the RWA Conference in Washington - if it isn't, it won't be for want of trying! But I'm really thrilled to know there will be an American edition at last.

If you've been wanting to get hold of a copy of this book - and I know that a lot of you have - then the details you'll need to order it are:

Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance

ISBN: 978-1842851319

Price : $27.50

printed and published in Chicago by:
Studymates Publishing
Chicago Distribution Center
11030 S. Langley Ave.
Chicago, IL 60628
Phone: 773-702-7000
Fax 773-702-7212

And then when I get back from Washington I have just five days to unpack, do my laundry, repack my bag and head out again - this time for Caerleon in Wales where again I'm teaching the Writing Romance course at Writers' Holidays.

But I'll not be neglecting the readers of my blog while I'm away - I have a lots of activity and a great contest all planned out to keep you reading when I'm not there.

Every year I run a special summer contest to win a Tote Bag Full of Books – one of my special tote bags crammed full of fabulous summer reading. And this year I’m running the contest again – but this time it’s a really special competition.

Because this year marks the 60th anniversary of Harlequin, and because July is the month when the Harlequin Spotlight is on the wonderful Presents line, I have planned this year’s Tote Bag Contest as a Presents Special. Every book in the tote bag has been donated by one of my fellow Presents authors.

So you have a chance to win 15 – that’s right - 15 fabulous Presents titles, many of them signed, from some of your favourite authors.

Right now the prize list looks like this:

Cordero's Forced Bride by Kate Walker

The Italian Boss's Mistress of Revenge OR Forced Wife, Royal Love-Child by Trish Morey

Mistresses By Blackmail (3 in1 ) by Melanie Milburne

Ruthlessly Bedded, Forcibly Wedded by Abby Green

The Antonides Marriage Deal by Anne McAllister

The Markonos Bride by Michelle Reid

Rich, Ruthless and Secretly Royal by Robyn Donald

The Tuscan Tycoon's Pregnant Housekeeper by Christina Hollis

Virgin Mistress, Scandalous Love-Child by Jennie Lucas

The Greek's Convenient Mistress by Annie West

Spanish Magnate, Red-Hot Revenge by Lynn Raye Harris

The Desert King's Bejewelled Bride by Sabrina Philips

The Diakos Baby Scandal by Natalie Rivers

Desert King, Pregnant Mistress OR Housekeeper at his Beck and Call by Susan Stephens.

Bought for Marriage by Margaret Mayo

What do you have to do to be in with a chance of winning this great prize? Well this year, the contest is in the form of a Scavenger Hunt where you find one answer from each author involved by visiting their web sites or blogs.

All through July – starting July 7th - the Presents authors will be guest blogging on my blog and each one of them will end their post with a question.

Visit the blog regularly, and just answer the question of the day.
Keep that answer safely.

Collect up all the answers and at the end of the blogs send the 15 answers you have via email to me with Tote Bag Presents Special in the subject line.

The contest closes on August 1st. By then I will be back from teaching in Wales and after that, Sid will pick two winners who will both receive a tote bag filled with all this fabulous holiday reading.

These details will be up on my Contests Page just as soon as the wonderful Heather from We Write Romance gets the updates on my site done.

There will be other news of books, events and teaching courses up there too - so keep a look out for those.

And good luck with the contest

And I'll be back in August, by which time my hectic July will be over and things will have calmed down again . . . apart from the deadline for the next book!

The New RWA Readership survey

I was going to write a post about the Fourth of July and its northern counterpart -- Canada Day, but the RWAs latest readership statistics about the romance industry appeared in my inbox.

The RWA does two surveys -- an industry one which comes out every year and the Readership survey which appears about every four years. The readership survey gives info about the readers -- who they are, where they read and even what type of books they read. The last one appeared in 2005. And so this new one is the most up to date snapshot of the readership.

So what did I learn from the survey?

One of the big surprises is ebooks v paperback books. Of the respondents in 2008, 90.6% of romance readers read paperback books and just under half read hardbacks as well. 5.4% have read a romance book as an e-book and 6.5% listen to audiobooks. I would suspect that the last time this survey was run 2005, far fewer had read an e-book. And it goes show that while e-books are growing (and have had exponential growth), they are not replacing paperback books yet.
Of those who do read ebooks, more than half do not use a dedicated ebook reader.

No one genre is preferred to another. This makes sense as over 74.8 million people (90.5% of them women -- there are reasons why Donna Hayes, the publisher of Harlequin Enterprises said that she was unconcerned about male readership!) have read a romance novel and that is a lot of different tastes. There are about 29 million regular romance readers out there and the most popular place for readers to learn about new books is in the back of romance novels. ( As I am always finding new novels by reading the end pages, I was glad to see that I am not alone!) And the most popular online source for learning about new novels is the publisher's website.

The biggest age group of readers are aged 31-49. Romance readers are more likely than the general population to be married or living with a partner. More romance readers are located in the South than in the Northeast.
More than half said that these were impulse buys rather than planned purchases.

Most read romance novels at home and about 29% always carry a romance novel with them. (I wish I was more organised. I try to remember to grab a book before I leave the house, but more often than not have retrieved the book to finish and have forgotten to put the new book in! But carrying books around is one of the reasons why I have a large purse.)

Also 91% readers said that if they like an author, they will read her backlist. And that 70% were likely to follow a favourite author to a new genre. 88% were willing to try new authors. They found new authors via the recommendations from friends, and from the retail or library shelf.

About half had purchased a used book. However, just over 45% were not aware that authors receive no payment or royalties for a used book. I think it is very important to educate people that by all means buy a used book if you want (and in some cases it is the ONLY way to get hold of a backlist) but be aware that the author will not get any money for it. And if you don't have the money, try to get it out from the library as in some countries like the UK and Canada, authors do get Pubic Lending Right money. And at the very least you are supporting the library which does buy the books new.



Anyway, I found the survey very interesting and hopefully someone else has as well. Did anyone learn anything new?



Currently Michelle Styles is hard at work on her next early Victorian. Her next North American release will be The Viking's Captive Princess in December.

Summertime in Erie

Summertime in Erie never seems long enough to get everything done. We had a very long, snowy winter, so when spring arrived, we started our 'summer' with projects. This year's big project was ripping the siding and windows off half the house (we did the other half when we did the kitchen addition). Now, the ripping off wasn't nearly as hard as the putting back together (isn't that always the case?? LOL). We had to build out the windows on the inside, then stain and polyurethane them all. Ugh. But I can say, now that it's done, we're thrilled with the results. Having windows that open easily and are energy efficient is wonderful!

Siding and windows...we've got more going on! My dh and I both go out and get wood, but I do all the splitting. Because I spend most of my day writing, I try to find things that keep me active...wood splitting helps! Here's most of the results for this spring/summer. And then there's the garden.

We've been having a cool rainy summer. This week the street flooded. My house was safe, but neighbors' basements and garages flooded. There were a lot of other areas of town with flooding. But thankfully, no one was hurt.

I'm working on some more articles for RWR magazine...I visited our local library down on the bayfront. A building filled with books that looks out on the bay. It is my idea of heaven! LOL

I've got a number of conferences and signings coming up. Leaving for RWA's conference in just a couple weeks! Susan Gable and I are driving there...roadtrips with Susan are always...well, a trip! LOL

That's my summer. Well, we also have had a graduation, guests...and more guests on their way! I know I've talked about Erie's snowy, cold winters where all I do is huddle near the fireplace and write. I think knowing another winter is just around the corner makes getting everything done in the summer easier! LOL

Holly

Conferences, Workshops and Booksignings for 2009:

Wednesday, July 15, 5pm: I'll be in Washington, DC at RWA's conference. On Wednesday, they have a huge booksiginging. I'll be there, but so will hundreds of your other favorite romance writers!
And while I'm at the conference I'll be doing a panel discussion, “Our Favorite Flavors: What It Takes to Succeed in Some of Today's Most Popular Romance Subgenres” with New York Times bestselling authors Gaelen Foley, Gena Showalter and Allison Brennan.

Saturday, August 1, 12-2pm
Join me and Susan Gable at a signing in Port Clinton, Ohio's
The Book Exchange
136 Madison Street
Port Clinton, OH 43452
(419) 734-7018

Saturday, August 22, 2pm:
Join me, Susan Gable, Gwyn Creedy, Gaelen Foley
and Madeline Hunter to talk books and romance!
Borders Romance Bookclub
1775 North Highland Rd.
Pittsburgh, PA 15241

Saturday, September 12, 2pm: Susan Gable and I will be at Central New York's RWA meeting doing our "We Don't Need No Stinkin' Rules" workshop. You can find out more at

October 23-24: I'll be at the NJ RWA Conference. My workshop is "My Writing May Be Art...But My Kids Need Braces."

Beginnings and Endings - Dara Girard

I was thrilled with Leena’s invitation to guest blog. I was even more amazed when she gave me the perfect date to do so. Monday, June 29th the day before the release date of ROUND THE CLOCK, the fourth and final book in The Black Stockings Society series about four women, one club, and a secret that will make all their fantasies come true.

Last year at this time (June 30, 2008) I introduced the series with the first book, POWER PLAY, and ‘mousy’ Mary whose invitation to the society turned her from a lamb into a shewolf.

Then in October 2008 I introduced ‘sultry’ Yvette in A GENTLEMAN’S OFFER who turned her invitation into a Cinderella story.

In January 2009, BODY CHEMISTRY was released. A story where ‘good girl’ Brenda gets a second chance at love with her devilish ex-husband.

And now the series comes to an end with ‘people pleaser’ Anna Marie who is ready to turn the tables on everyone—especially her high school crush, former bad boy Desmond Rockwell.

They proved to be the perfect couple to end this series. At first, I agonized about ending it because more ideas and characters came to mind and I would miss certain returning characters, but I knew the time was right. First the title, ROUND THE CLOCK, is appropriate. I didn’t think about this until much later, but the title suits the end of the series because it’s about completion. Second this novel encompasses what the society represents—dreams coming true, secret benefactors, transformation and, of course, finding true love. Lastly, I wanted to end the series on a high note. To step out in style, which with the four stars rating this book received from Romantic Times BookReviews, I believe I achieved.

So to celebrate the end of this series I’m running a fun contest on my website in July. And if you want to know more about the series watch the video on my website - www.daragirard.com

Remember never settle for less in life or love.

For more information on Dara and her books and to find out more about her contests visit www.daragirard.com

The Creative Freedom of a Fictional Setting – Sabrina Philips

I’ve always loved the extra sense of escapism offered by romances set in exotic, glamorous and beautiful destinations – so it’s no real surprise that I’ve always adored Harlequin Presents. However, I have to confess that when I started trying to write for the line, I was wary of articles about writing that champion setting too much, that even suggested the location of a book could act as a third character. Surely there was a danger that thinking in such a way could result in page after page of elaborate descriptions which would serve no real purpose other than demonstrating that I’d spent an afternoon with a thesaurus? Setting, I thought, should add a dollop of fantasy. Maybe it might occasionally be used to reflect the characters’ moods too, but I knew what mattered most was the relationship between my hero and heroine, not the shape of the trees in Tuscany.

Largely, it’s a viewpoint I still stand by, but when I came to write my second book, my whole way of thinking about setting changed. Why? Because I’d decided to fulfil my dream of writing a sheikh story, and in order to avoid the complexities of choosing an appropriate Middle Eastern country which actually existed on the map, I knew it would work best if it was set in a fictional place.

And once I started thinking about the kind of place I wanted Qwasir - my desert kingdom – to be, it occurred to me that setting is so much more than just scenery. My first story was set largely in Italy, and its Western way of life was so clearly ingrained in my mind that I didn’t even give it a second thought. Now I was inventing a whole new country, I realised that I had free reign not just over geography, but over laws and customs too. Which suddenly made me realise that setting could be far more significant than just acting a backdrop, it could inform plot, I mean, what if Kaliq Al-Zahir A’zam had to marry in order to inherit his kingdom…?

The catalysts for conflict that my fictional setting presented weren’t just external either, because what if I decided that Qwasirian men considered it immoral for women to display their bodies, and what if the woman Kaliq couldn’t get out of his head was top model Tamara Weston?

Of course, real places have plenty of sources of potential internal and external conflict lurking in their own laws and customs too – that Eastern attitude to women has its basis in reality after all – but it took my fictional kingdom to make me see how setting could be so much more than just the colour of the sky and the scent of the breeze. Besides which, creating a fictional kingdom of my own was fabulous fun!

So what about you, do you like reading or writing about fictional settings or do you prefer your romances to take place somewhere you can find on a map?

The Desert King’s Bejewelled Bride is out in the UK in July, and will be released in North America as a Presents Extra this August.

To win a signed copy and a gorgeous Swarvoski crystal necklace, please visit Sabrina’s website www.sabrinaphilips.com where she is currently running a joint contest with fellow Presents author Kate Hewitt.

Reinventing the wheel

It's happened again and I have no idea how.

Yup, I'm talking about revision panic. The worst thing is, that every time I finish revising something, I swear that next time things will be better.

I will be cool, calm and collected. Oh, and I most definitely, definitely won't take my editor's or agent's one line comment to mean that I need to scrape three chapters and redo them without the X or Y or even the Z. Especially since after spending four days taking out the XYZ I will suddenly remember four chapters further along just why I had them there in the first place and so I will go back and find an original draft to cut and paste them back in, before then realizing that some of the new chapters were actually good so perhaps I should just cut and paste them into the cut and paste.

And so the crazy begins.

Fortunately I'm ending the near of the revision haze and there are only 30 pages to go (okay and about four extra essential scenes that I know my editor didn't ask for but they really help to bring the XYZ to life!). Unfortunately, at this stage I have absolutely no way of knowing if any of it is any good and my only conscious thought is - 'hmmm, where are my children? I'm sure I saw them somewhere in that mess I like to call a lounge room. But was that three days ago or four?'

So that's my lovely revision process, though please viewers, I don't recommend you try it at home unless you are fully supervised by a responsible adult (who will hopefully tell you to run a mile because my way leads to madness!)

In completely other news, in order to help celebrate the release of Tote Bags 'n' Blog's, Serena Robar's new book, 'Giving Up the V', there is a copy up for grabs over at my own blog and all you need to do is head over there and leave a comment. Oh, and if you haven't read any of Serena's books before you are in for such a treat because she rocks (and I totally bet she has a nice orderly revision process as well!)

Grandma and the Prince - Part 8

<==Grandma at 19

Something happened to me the year I turned twenty-six.

It was 1976, our Bicentennial year, a year of history and memory. A year of looking back to discover how we came to be. I suppose my family is as representative of the U.S. in the 20th century as any family could be.

Three of my four grandparents were born in other countries. Only one, my mother's father, was born in this country and he was halfChippewa.

I started thinking a lot about how my family evolved during that year, trying to weave together the disparate stories into a whole I could understand. And who better to start with than my garrulous, storytelling grandmother El?

Grandma was living in a small apartment in Elmhurst, Queens, the New York City neighborhood where I'd grown up. It wasn't much as far as apartments go, more a glorified studio than anything else. You entered into a dark and narrow hallway. The bathroom was off that hallway, along with a huge walk-in closet that also held Grandma's chifferobe and secretary desk. Everything else had been lost in the fire two years earlier that destroyed the Woodside building where she and her daughter Mona had both been living.

The moment she smelled smoke and heard the fierce sibilant hiss of flame, she grabbed her strongbox of old photos, her bankbook and jewelry, and climbed out onto the fire escape in her nightgown. The metal rungs of the ladder were slick with ice but that didn't stop Grandma. She ordered the firemen to keep their hands to themselves and made her way down two flights to safety.

When the smoke cleared, she learned she'd be traveling much lighter through life. Paintings, framed photos, furniture, clothes--gone, all of it. These days they call it simplifying your life but it was more than that. It was a tragedy.

So much of her past was lost in that fire, so many clues to her heart and soul. Of course, none of that mattered to me in 1976. I was only twenty-six and my grandmother was going to live forever. She was my constant, my North star. And she was ready to talk.

We decided I'd drive in early Sunday morning for breakfast and conversation. I had my questions all planned, fresh batteries in my cassette recorder, and a curiosity so intense that I was willing to brave the Long Island Expressway on a July Sunday in order to satisfy it.

No matter where Grandma lived, the place always looked like her. I remember the Prospect Avenue house with the steep front steps and angled roof. The small ranch house on Eckhardt Terrace with the apple trees in the back yard and the pinball machine in the basement. The address didn't matter. You'd know who lived there the second you walked through the door. She hated this apartment, her last, but still she'd made it her own. She'd found a loose pillow-back sofabed at a thrift store and stitched up a slipcover in a slightly tatty chintz fabric that seemed to give off the faint scent of Tigress. She had paintings on the walls, oils and watercolors and prints, street scenes, rainy vistas, all of them in ornate frames hung suspended from thick velvet cords. They weren't the pictures she'd carried with her from home to home but still they fit. I can see each of her homes in my mind's eye.

Grandma and I talked for hours that summer day. She was instantly comfortable with the whirring of the tape recorder, so much so that she would ask me to stop the tape when she wanted to say something incriminating or downright bitchy. But I can’t remember the words.

I remember the room and the heat and the smell of toast and bacon and the feeling of having turned a corner, of being accepted in her world as an adult and not a child. I remember the narrow little table pushed against the wall, the way you could reach the sink from your chair without even stretching very far at all. I remember the sound of people talking beneath her window, of the gentle ticking of her anniversary clock.

Whatever we talked about, I captured ninety minutes of it on tape. I remember the
cassette. Capitol Records made the blank tape and packaged it in a cardboard box
decorated with a Peter Max drawing that was all curves and primary colors. The label was red and white.

The tape is old now and a little flukey with age. I popped it in an ancient cassette player and was jolted from my chair by the sound of our laughter. I didn't remember the laughter. Isn't that ridiculous? But I remember now.

It wasn't easy but I transcribed the tape about ten years ago and while the
omissions are telling (like forgetting her first husband, the man who was my biological grandfather) the content is downright fascinating and I hope to share it with you next month.

(The photo above is Grandma El at 70.)

* * * *

Today's my birthday and to celebrate I'm giving away a signed ARC of my August
book, LACED WITH MAGIC. All you have to do is leave a comment and I'll choose one winner (thanks, Random Number Generator) on Sunday night and announce it right here and on my blog.

Good luck!

In Search of Serendipity

I am always amazed at the serendipitous moments in real life and in writing my stories. Many, many times, strange 'coincidences' happen and things work out in mysterious ways -- much like Robert the Bruce finding and watching the spider in that cave in Ireland when he was hiding. According to legend, it was observing the spider's relentless efforts to weave its web and inspire the Bruce onto bigger and better things....(If you magnify this photo, there's an itsy bitsy spider in the corner of one of the panes of stained glass in the Abbey at Dumfernline...)

Anyway...I believe that these moments happen and make things/my stories better. When I was writing my novella THE CLAIMING OF LADY JOANNA, I decided to use evil Prince. . er. . King John as a character but the story had to be set in Springtime in England. Well, heck, I said, as I wrote the novella and researched it as I was writing it. Amazingly, I discovered that the ONLY year King John actually held an Easter court in England was. . . the year in which I set my story!

Those kinds of things have happened lots of times in my life and my writing. Serendipity. Moments and events that I couldn't have planned but are special.


When I'd planned my first trip to Scotland, something I'd dreamed of for years and years, I ended up in the hospital. I begged my doc to let me go (once they couldn't find anything wrong with me) and I ended up joining the rest of the group a day late. Because of that, I flew to Scotland on my own, took a train across and into the Cairngorms and into a small town called Pitlochry. I also met a number of people I would never have met and was even helped from the train station by a nice young man who showed me around the town and found a ride for me (on a Sunday when no taxis were available). Pure serendipity.

One of the best examples of serendipity occurred during my first trip to Scotland when I stayed on with 2 friends - Sue-Ellen Welfonder and Lisa Trumbauer - to travel out to the Highlands. As we were on our way back to Glasgow, we passed by the sign for this castle I'd never heard of: Dunstaffnage. So, as Sue-Ellen fills me in on the history of it, we toured, climbed onto the battlements, walked the acres around it, all the time never dreaming that it would turn into a romance novel for me a few years later.

So, what's this all about? Well, I'm planning another trip to Scotland and I am in search of serendipity. I'll be driving all over the Highlands, visiting the islands and lots of places in between. And I'm hoping that something will click, something will ping, something from the cosmic universe to point me in a direction or inspire me. I suspect, with scenery like this-- -- it will happen!


Terri






While Terri is busy planning the trip, her latest Harlequin Historical - THE CONQUEROR'S LADY - is hitting the shelves. After beginning the story in her HH Undone, A NIGHT FOR HER PLEASURE in June, the Knights of Brittany return as Giles find his newly-betrothed wife marrying someone else! Visit Terri's website for more information about her upcoming novels and novellas.. www.terribrisbin.com

(okay - yesterday in work, we were talking about Elton John's TINY DANCER and how it was sung in a movie that none of us could remember; as I'm writing this blog, I changed the channels and came upon ALMOST FAMOUS as the whole group in the bus is singing along with TINY DANCER! Serendipity in action!)

Giving Up The V - Serena Robar

My new book has a great cover. It’s fun. It’s flirty. It’s even got doodles. And the biggest compliment I get from people is how the girl on the cover isn’t anorexic looking. She looks healthy. Healthy is a great self image to project. I couldn’t agree more. Except the model on the cover of my book is supposed to represent the heroine of the book who is a ‘bigger’ teen. She’s supposed to be a size 13 and the gal on the cover is New York’s interpretation of that size. Is it still a positive body image if it’s a lie?

So I pose this question to you, dear reader. Is it worse to put a too thin model on the cover and say this is the ideal or put a healthy, normal sized girl on the cover and say she is chubby?

-Serena Robar

Giving Up The V, June 2009, Simon Pulse release

So much drama over one little letter.

www.serenarobar.com

Truth in Fiction

My husband and I saw The Taking of Pelham 123 last week. I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite the fact that there were a couple spots in the movie that were highly implausible. (I had problems with the fact that the bulk of the movie took place over the course of 1 hour, yet the city of New York was remarkably well organized, responsive, and able to pull off an amazing amount of feats in that short period of time.)

Even though I found myself thinking a couple times, "Yeah, right," my enjoyment of the movie didn't waver. It was fun, it was entertaining, and that fine line of poetic license didn't get in my way. But I know it does for some people.

I have friends and relatives who are sticklers for accuracy in fiction. Put anything in a book or movie that is of questionable plausibility and they're turned off completely. Personally, I think if you insist on 100% reality maybe fiction isn't your thing. After all, the definition of fiction is "Not True". I know from experience that in order to write an entertaining story you need certain things to happen. Take an element out and you don't have a book. Imagine the movie Speed, then consider there's no way a bus could continue traveling through the city at 50 miles an hour. It's the central core of the plot. Lose it and you have no movie. Is it realistic? Of course not. But it's not being billed as a documentary. It's entertainment. We're expected to give a little on reality.

But how much? While I'm not excessively particular for reality in fiction, like most people, I have a line I draw, as well as hot buttons. I'm more willing to give on certain subjects than others. I know cops who won't watch CSI because the procedures aren't right, yet these same people watch a James Bond film without batting an eyelash. I'm sure doctors are sticky when it comes to shows like House. I know readers of Historical romance can be very particular about getting the period details right.

I think for me, I'm more a stickler about a character's behavior than I am about plot devices. The TSTL (too stupid to live) syndrome will cause me to toss a book across the room far faster than the improbable situation they're in. Especially in romance, one of my hot buttons is when thoughts of attraction are thrown in at a completely inappropriate moment. Like if a cop is standing outside a door, gun in hand, ready to storm a room where a woman being held hostage. 3..2..1 they bust the door open to find bad guy holding a gun to victim's head, and supposed smart-hero cop's first though is, "Wow, what a babe. Look at those beautiful green eyes. I wonder if she's single."

I would have gone with you through a half-dozen bungling coincidences that got the victim there in the first place, but the moment you throw the inappropriately-timed attraction in, I'm setting the book down for good.

That's my hot button. What about you? Are you a stickler for plausibility when it comes to movies or books? Can you forgive some things but not others? And if you have hot buttons, what are they?

Lori Borrill has just finished writing her 8th novel for Harlequin Blaze. Her next release, THE PERSONAL TOUCH, will be on shelves August, 2009. For more information on Lori and her books, check out her website at www.LoriBorrill.com.

Connemara - by Abby Green

Thanks Leena for inviting me to blog! I thought that I’d like to share with you all, a very special place. I live in Dublin, which is the capital city of Ireland. It’s a tiny island, especially in comparison with the UK and the US. Special as Dublin is though, it’s not the place I’m talking about.

This April, myself and the lovely Kate Walker drove from Dublin to the west of Ireland to a place called Connemara. It’s right on the west coast and stunningly beautiful. I’ve been lucky enough to have worked down there a couple of times last year and it was so nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of Dublin for a few weeks.


Anyway, we set off on our little road trip. I had decided to go to a place called Delphi Lodge for a week to, ahem, write. In fact what I needed was a break so when Kate said she’d come too, it was the perfect excuse to make it into a holiday. I will state for the record here that Kate did encourage me to write, I just seemed to find it easier to read some of her early Mills and Boon books instead. For inspiration of course.


Delphi Lodge is a very well known fishing lodge (Prince Charles stayed there!), situated in a gloriously beautiful valley, on a lake. (It’s about a ten minute drive from Leenane where ‘The Field’ was filmed).

It is quiet and peaceful. The house is run as if it’s your own home; there are no locks on the doors, dogs come and go, and the kitchen is open for you to have tea, coffee, whatever you want, when you want. There is a small library, stacked with books and comfy chairs.

In the evening everyone who is there for dinner, meets in the lounge for aperitifs. There is an ‘honesty’ bar, where you can help yourself and write down what you have in a little book – a very dangerous state of affairs for two lady romance novelists. Having said that, I’d recommend the gin and tonics.

Then at approximately eight pm, you are called into the dining room and everyone sits down to eat at the same huge table. The lodge is renowned for its menu. In the week that we were there we had dinner with: A doctor, a barrister, a writer, a twice Oscar nominated actress (!), a Hollywood producer, a luxury car mechanic whose gorgeous girlfriend was a fan of Mills and Boon (clearly a girl with great taste ;-))…and that’s just to name drop a few!

There were lots of obsessed fly fishermen too, so we now know more about fly-fishing than we ever did. I don’t know about Kate but I haven’t quite decided how to marry fly-fishing with an Alpha male just yet…!

The place is truly magical, and I’m lucky that I got to share it with a good friend and mentor. It is absolutely perfect for a writing retreat. However, we were too busy nattering and socializing and walking and getting massages to write. (There is a place called the Delphi Mountain Resort – not linked to Delphi Lodge at all, just ten minutes walk down the road where they have a spa…say no more.)

So if anyone has a yen to get away from it all and to sit and write, in a room of one’s own, in peace and tranquility, Delphi Lodge is worth thinking, and dreaming about. Perhaps one day I’ll go back and actually write…or perhaps just go back with a friend again and relish the peace. And have more gorgeous massages…and gin and tonics.

Delphi Lodge is like the best treat you could ever give yourself…so go on, don’t you deserve it?! Check it out: http://www.delphilodge.ie/

Abby
http://www.abby-green.com/


ps - I have a Harlequin Presents Extra out this June – The Spaniard’s Marriage Bargain, and in September, Mistress to the Merciless Millionaire is released as a Harlequin Presents.I have a Harlequin Presents Extra out this June – The Spaniard’s Marriage Bargain, and in September, Mistress to the Merciless Millionaire is released as a Harlequin Presents.

What Makes a Father?

Father's Day is just around the corner and as I stood in the mall yesterday, contemplating what on earth I could possibly by my husband, it occurred to me how much he's changed--as a husband and as a father-- since we first got married. Our first son was a honeymoon baby, so we were married less than a year when he put in an appearance-- and neither of us had any idea of what we were doing.

From the very beginning, my husband was an enthusiastic father-- he wanted to be involved in every aspect of our son's life and was a very exciting playmate for him once he was able to sit up and crawl and run around. But despite his interest and enthusiasm, my hubby was also an immature father. One who expected the baby to only need him when it was convenient for him (i.e. no grad school tests to study for, no job to run off to), one didn't expect a kid to cost very much and one who didn't understand just how much sacrifice comes with raising a healthy, happy child.

Now, twelve years and three children later, my husband is the best father and husband I could ask for. A great provider, an interested and involved father who is still a great playmate, he does an excellent job of balancing his own needs with those of our children. I definitely consider myself one of the lucky ones.

In my June book, From Friend to Father, my main character, Reece, also has trouble with the transformation from being a man who only needs to take care of himself, to one who must step up and be a father to-- not only his own baby-- but my heroine's twin boys from a previous marriage. Becoming a dad isn't easy for Reece-- he makes a lot of mistakes along the way. But that only makes it so much sweeter when he finally gets it right with baby Rose and the boys. And it certainly makes things interesting between him and Sarah, a natural-born nurterer who doesn't believe that Reece will ever be able to make the transformation. It was great fun proving her wrong.

So, as Father's Day approaches, what about the men in your life-- father, husband, sons, friends-- makes you grateful? And if anyone has an idea for a great Father's Day present, please let me know. I left the mall empty-handed yesterday ...

My Favorite Authors - Cara Summers

My Favorite Authors—(the ones who’ve shaped me as a writer and perhaps as a person)

I’ve always been a reader. Growing up, my favorite thing to do was to curl up with a good book. And I credit my parents with my lifelong addiction to popular fiction. My dad read to relax, and he was always willing to share from the pile of paperback mysteries and westerns he kept on the table near his bed. My mom subscribed to several magazines. My favorites were Good Housekeeping and Redbook because each month in addition to short fiction they offered a full length novel. I even had a favorite place to read—a window seat that could be screened off by a curtain. I could hide there and read to my heart’s content. Whenever I had a doctor or dentist appointment, my mom would take me to a bookstore afterward and I got to choose a new book.

If I hadn’t been such an avid reader, would I have eventually become an English teacher, a college writing teacher, and a published writer? I don’t think so.

I was recently asked in an interview to name some writers who’ve influenced me, and that started me thinking…

At the top of my list is Carolyn Keene. You may not recognize the name, but Carolyn (probably a pseudonym for several authors) wrote the Nancy Drew Mysteries. My Aunt Kathleen gave me my first one when I was seven. It took me a long time to finish it, but I did. And then I was hooked. By the time I was ten, I had read every Nancy Drew book that had been written.

And Nancy became my heroine. She was bright and independent and she drove a convertible—a coupe. (I had no idea what that was, but I wanted one.) Nancy had two best friends (George and Bess), a handsome and fairly undemanding boyfriend named Ned, and a father who was supportive and rarely interfered in her life. She had exciting adventures, she solved mysteries, and she had an ingenious way of getting herself out of scrapes! Was it any wonder I wanted to grow up to be Nancy Drew? I still carry an image of Nancy in my head. She’s tied up in a locked room, and she gets herself rescued by tap dancing S.O.S. in Morse Code on the door. Amazing!

Perhaps I owe Carolyn Keene for the fact that in every single romance I write there’s always some kind of intrigue in the subplot. And I frequently put my heroines in jeopardy. (So far none of them has ever tap danced her way out of a locked room, but…)

The next writer who has influenced me is Mary Stewart who wrote several modern gothic romances before she turned her attention to the Arthurian legend. My favorite is Nine Coaches Waiting. The book is a superbly crafted, twentieth century version of Jane Eyre, and reading it reawakened my love for the Bronte sisters and also led me to read other modern writers of gothic romance such as Phyllis Whitney, Victoria Holt, and Daphne DuMaurier. (If you’ve never read Nine Coaches Waiting or DuMaurier’s Rebecca, I highly recommend them.)

Two years ago, my editor invited me to write a modern sexy gothic for the Blaze line and I jumped at the chance! I set it near San Diego in a Spanish hacienda with a mysterious past. All of its mistresses had met an untimely death, and two of them had jumped from the hacienda’s tower. And, of course, that tower is where my heroine finds herself in the climactic scene! I had so much fun writing that story (aptly titled Tell Me Your Secrets…) and playing around with all the gothic elements, not the least of which was creating a hero who just might be the villain.

In addition to inspiring me with her books, Mary Stewart also influenced me to start writing. In an interview she was once asked what inspired her to write her first novel. She said that one summer she simply couldn’t put it off anymore. She had to write. I wish I could say that after hearing that I sat down and wrote my first novel. But I didn’t. Still, her answer kept coming back to me until I finally stopped finding excuses to put off the compulsion I had to write. One summer I set myself the goal of writing a romance. I wrote it on yellow legal pads, and I found that I could finish about eight pages a day. Did I sell that first book? No. It wasn’t very good. (The word dreadful comes to mind). I didn’t even word process it. But I’d written it. And I stopped putting off my dream of “becoming a writer” and wrote my second book…and my third…and all the rest.

Who are my other favorite authors? The list is a long one, but I’ll mention a few more. Charles Dickens is on the list because of his ability to create characters that stick in my mind forever. (Who could forget Scrooge or Miss Havisham, the jilted bride who never changed out of her wedding dress?) Also near the top of the list is Harper Lee who wrote one wonderful book, To Kill a Mockingbird. I taught that novel to fourteen year olds for fifteen years straight, and each time I reread it, I found something new. If you haven’t read it in a while, read it again. And I’ll end the list, for now, with William Shakespeare. His romantic comedies, with their devices of disguise and the recurring theme of appearance vs. reality, have had a huge influence on my books.

In my two Blazes that are out this summer, Twin Temptation and Twin Seduction, identical twin sisters switch places and walk around in each other’s lives for three weeks. Where do you think I got that idea? Betcha Disney got the idea for The Parent Trap from old Will too. But in my books, of course, someone is trying to kill both of the twins. (Thanks to Carolyn and Mary!)

Who are the authors who have most influenced you?

Cara

http://www.carasummers.com/

The Temperature's Rising... - Christina Hollis

How does the weather make you feel? The last couple of summers in the UK have been so wet and miserable, I’ve had to escape. Not by travelling – well, no further than my computer keyboard, anyway! I turned my back on the grey skies and continuous rain by writing about hot summer sunshine and long lazy days. This month one of those summery books, The Tuscan Tycoon’s Pregnant Housekeeper goes on sale. It starts off with a flirtation in the South of France, the perfect antidote to the last two summers here. Then in July, The Ruthless Italian’s Inexperienced Wife is released as a Harlequin Presents Extra. In it, Marco whisks Cheryl off to his private tropical island for a relaxing break which turns into something a lot more intimate:

In one sinuous movement Marco slid an arm around her waist. He swept her into her apartment, off her feet- and onto his. Half a dozen steps in her new silver stilettos convinced them both Cheryl was no dancer. She stumbled and fell into him.

This is our first meeting all over again.’ He chuckled softly into her ear. Her cheeks pinkened with a rush of guilty pleasure. He supported her, and showed no signs of letting go. Despite the feeling she must be leaving prints all over Marco’s bare feet, Cheryl let him carry on. This chance to feel his arms around her one more time made her reckless, and she laughed.

‘Oh, dear. I’m sorry, Marco!’

‘Don’t be,’ He murmured. ‘I can’t expect you to be absolutely perfect in everything. After all, dancing isn’t part of your job description.’

Oh how I wish it was, Cheryl thought. It would be the perfect excuse to accept his arms around her at any time, without any consequences…

When I was writing that, it was so much more enjoyable to think about cocktails on the beach than to look out of my window at the thunderclouds!

This year seems to be getting off to a rather better start. We had a burst of warmth in April, and some more last month. The blizzards of February are a distant memory now. Looking back on the roaring logs fires, hot chocolate and brilliant starry nights is quite romantic. Perhaps I should try setting a romance in a ski lodge. Miles off the beaten track, with a handsome hero chopping logs for the fire – it’s almost enough to tempt me in from the sunny summer garden, and on to the computer!

Christina

http://www.christinahollis.com/