Congratulations to Catie James, the winner of a signed copy of Jackie Barbosa’s BEHIND THE RED DOOR! Please email me your address, and I’ll get it in the mail to you.
Second, you could win a DVD of Moonstruck, or one of my other favorite movies, plus coverflats and goodies – just enter my movie club contest here! I’ll be drawing the May winners in just a few days.
Third, don’t forget – there’s now only one way to get an ARC (advance readers copy) of GODDESS OF THE HUNT, and that’s to bid on my gift basket in the Brenda Novak auction to benefit diabetes research. Bids close on May 31st!
And now, on with the show.
Moonstruck. Oh, how I love this movie, for so many reasons. But I will confine myself to a listing a few.
First, the film features one of my favorite pairings: The deliciously tortured hero and the no-nonsense heroine who refuses to coddle him. Ronny lost his hand in a bakery accident, and he’s still bitter and blaming his older brother, Johnny. When Johnny’s fiance, Loretta, comes to invite Ronny to the wedding, so many sparks fly between them they practically combust. Their dialogue is so wonderful.
One of the most memorable exchanges (sorry for video quality):
Or this speech by Ronny:
Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn’t know this either, but love don’t make things nice – it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren’t here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and die. The storybooks are bull****. Now I want you to come upstairs with me and get in my bed.
Oh, and then there’s the opera. The opera! *sigh*
But the thing I adore most about this movie is the ending. I was tempted to embed the video, but it’s too long and a spoiler if you haven’t seen the whole thing. But what I love about it is that Ronny and Loretta are surrounded by all the people they love and who love them. In making their declarations of love and commitment, they’re not just an isolated couple, but part of a family, a neighborhood, a community, a culture. In my books, I have a tendency to write the final reunion and happy ending in the context of big group scenes–with families, party guests, or whole crowds looking on, because I love the idea that a happy ending is about more than just two people. It’s a part of a larger circle of love.
Do you have any favorite lines from Moonstruck, or other movies? Favorite ending scenes with public declarations of love?
GIVEAWAY! One lucky commenter today will win a signed copy of BEHIND THE RED DOOR.
Like many of you, I first met Jackie Barbosa through the 2006 Avon FanLit writing competition. Since then, I’ve had the great fortune to become friends with Jackie both online and in real life. She’s a fabulous person and a gifted writer, and it’s been so exciting to watch her career take off. After publishing several contemporary and historical novellas with e-publisher Cobblestone Press, today Jackie celebrates her first print release with Kensington – BEHIND THE RED DOOR, a single-author anthology of historical erotic romance. I’ve been lucky enough to read it an early copy, and it is smart, sexy, and sooooo romantic.
When Jackie and I were discussing the best way to celebrate and handle this here guest blog, we decided perhaps we’d chat and interview one another about the writing of novellas–since I just recently released one of my own. Here’s our conversation on the long and short of it.
Tessa: *clearing throat*
So, Jackie–it amuses me that we’re having this conversation, because
we are both writers who end to write novels on the long side, but who
have also written short novellas (under 20K words). What made you
decide to attempt a novella in the first place? Did anything surprise
you about the writing process?
Jackie: I wrote my first short novella on a dare from Ann Aguirre, actually. She mentioned an Ellora’s Cave call for submissions, said she was going to write something for it, and challenged her blog readers to try it, too. At first, I didn’t think I had a story that short in me (it had to be under 15,000 words), but almost at the last minute, an idea popped into my head, and voila, Carnally Ever After was born. It wound up being the first manuscript I ever sold and, as the prequel to the novellas in Behind the Red Door, it was really the stepping stone to my first New York contract. Read the rest of this entry �
That’s the topic of my guest blog today over at Risky Regencies! Please do come visit and tell us what were-hero you’d like to see in historical romance. One commenter will win a free copy of The Legend of the Werestag and a signed coverflat of Goddess of the Hunt!
(Title is inspired by Alice’s mad tea party in Wonderland)
I had a blast guest-blogging at the pirate ship Revengeyesterday, and I’ll be guest blogging at Risky Regencies tomorrow, so my Tuesday post is going to be brief. Do be sure to come back next Tuesday, May 26th when debut author and FanLit alum Jackie Barbosa drops by to celebrate the release of BEHIND THE RED DOOR! We’ll be chatting about the art of the novella. I think.
Yesterday I got fabulous news in the form of a letter from my Ballantine editor. She loves the manuscript I turned in for Stud Club book one, and thinks it’s good to go with just a few minor revisions. That’s always a great feeling!
However, the second part of her message was that the title The Desire of a Duke will probably need to change–it’s too similar to some other Ballantine releases coming out next year. Several of you have already been helping me brainstorm alternatives on email, but feel free to sing out here if you’ve got more ideas! (Or simply want to repost some of the late-night gems we were throwing around for laughs.)
Oh, here, let me:
The Disastrously Draining Decadence of a Duke’s Dependents
The Thoroughbred Duke’s Unbridled Passions
The Duke Doubles Down (it’s a gambling reference!)
I’m guest captaining the pirate ship today, over at the Romance Writers’ Revenge. Come check out my post about taking the paranormal bandwagon for a joyride, in which I explain some of the Werestag’s mythic origins. I’m giving away a copy of the e-novella and a signed coverflat for Goddess of the Hunt! Just comment for a chance to win.
Coffee Time Romance posted a 4-cup review of The Legend of the Werestag yesterday! You can read it here.
Also, if you read historical romances, you won’t want to miss this beautiful new online newsletter put together by soon-to-be-published Kensington author Beverley Kendall. Called The Season, it’s going to be a quarterly guide to forthcoming historical romances, both from debut authors (“The Debutantes”) and returning favorites (“The Belles”). Bev’s done an absolutely lovely job with it.
First off, thank you to everyone who helped make my first release day so very exciting! There’s still a chance to win a copy of my historical (NOT paranormal) novella, The Legend of the Werestag, at Jennifer Haymore’s blog. Check it out! And while you’re there, treat yourself to the blurb and excerpt of Jennifer’s debut historical, A Hint of Wicked, releasing in just a few weeks. It’s an intense, passionate story of a woman torn between her love for her two husbands. (Yes, you read that right.) And the stepback alone is worth the click over!
I usually do most of my writing at cafes, because I find it too hard to concentrate whenever I have the darelings around or convenient internet access. So I pack up my laptop and head off to Starbucks or the Bean and Leaf or Borders and camp in for a few hours. Sometimes I change it up and go to McDonalds, and I’ve become a regular customer at the one near my kids’ preschool on Thursday mornings.
You see, there’s an older couple that comes in on Thursday mornings, too. I’ve chatted with them a few times–the gentleman is always interested in my laptop and how it works. And he’s very proud of his successful kids and grandkids, as any father or grandfather should be. His wife is always with him, and though she seems like a lovely person, she’s not able to speak much. She seems to be in an advanced stage of Parkinsons or some disease that affects the muscles–she can’t move her arms or hands, and she walks with difficulty. But every Thursday, they come into McDonalds and have breakfast together. The gentleman sees her to their regular table, and he goes to get their food. Then he feeds himself and his wife, too – holding the food to her mouth and telling her when to take a bite, or urging her to swallow a sip of juice.
While this goes on, I’m there writing my stories of love in its first blush–attraction, infatuation, courtship, wooing, and..well…romance. But I find it so touching and inspiring to see the proof of real-life HEAs sitting just a few tables down. And I’ve been fortunate to see similar examples within my own family–couples who truly live out that “richer or poorer, in sickness and in health” part of their wedding vows.
Detractors of the romance genre often decry the ubitquitous happy endings as “easy”. I’d argue they’re anything but. A happily-ever-after ending implies a lifetime of commitment, sacrifice, and hard work to come. Anything but easy, but wonderful and rewarding in the way only difficult things can be.
I’m sure my McDonalds couple has a very romantic story to tell about the beginnings of their relationship, too. Some Thursday morning, I’ll probably get to hear it!
This quirky, sexy historical romance novella is not a paranormal shifter story, but rather the tale of five romantically entangled Regency-era houseguests who become intrigued by the local legend of a cursed man-beast. Among them is Miss Cecily Hale, a young lady who’s spent four years waiting for her girlhood love, Luke Trenton, to come home from war. And Luke himself, who has come home from battle alive but changed, only to spurn Cecily’s long-held affections. But everything changes the night they forge into the forest in search of the fabled “Werestag.”
To read a longer blurb and Chapter One, click here. I’ve posted an exclusive excerpt from Chapter Two to the Samhain Cafe loop here. Check back later this morning. And I’m blogging today on the Samhain blog about how ALL romance heroes are legendary man-beasts.
Later this afternoon, kindly bloggers at Dear Author will be helping me give away ten free downloads of the novella, as well as my last three Advance Readers Copies (ARCs) of Goddess of the Hunt. That’s right – get over to Dear Author and leave a comment today, and you could win an ARC! (And if you don’t win, there’s still one up for bids in Brenda Novak’s benefit auction.)
Sarah Wendell of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books gave The Legend of the Werestag a very favorable B+ review a few weeks back, and author Ann Aguirre called it “the best novella I’ve read all year.”
Best of all? It’s only $3.15 if you buy it this week from My Bookstore and More! It’s also available in the Amazon Kindle store, and from a variety of e-book retailers. If you’ve been wondering about my print books, here’s your chance to try my work for a low price.
Wow, my first release day. This is so exciting! I can’t wait to hear what people think of it.
I’m giving away a copy of this DVD and other goodies, including signed coverflats and gourmet chocolates! Just enter my Movie Club Contest.
I’ve heard it said that every modern historical romance novel has its roots in one of two classic books: Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre. I’ve blogged about P&P (too?) many times, and anyone who frequents this blog knows I came around to writing historical romance via Jane Austen fanfiction. But Jane Eyre is another book that has occupied a vast, complex space in my brain ever since I first read it at the age of 12, and I often feel it influencing me as I plot and write my novels now.
For one, Jane Eyre definitely influenced my taste in heroes. Rochester is the blueprint for the intense, brooding, darkly sexual hero with a complex past and a tragic secret. Contrasted with, say, Darcy–whose challenge is to grow beyond the results of a privileged upbringing (pride and prejudice, to name a few), rather than a tortured past. As a reader and a writer, I think I gravitate to heroes who are somewhere between the two. Haunted by the past, struggling to grow in the present. (The exception would be Toby, the hero of A Lady of Persuasion. A less Rochester-eque hero you could not find. But there are events in his heroine’s past that are loosely inspired by Jane Eyre.)
Another of Jane Eyre’s legacies to historical romance is the theme of equality as essential to the romantic relationship. As Jane says in the clip below, her tumultuous “friendship” with her flinty, antagonizing employer has an unexpected result: for the first time in her life, she feels a powerful man’s equal, both intellectually and spiritually. And when Rochester’s dark, tragic secret is later revealed, Jane cannot bring herself to surrender that hard-won sense of self, even to grasp the love she craves. She will have him on her own terms, or not at all.
I enjoyed the 2006 BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre starring Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson, but the 1996 version is still my favorite. Ciaran Hinds embodies the gruff, brooding, dark humor I always associate with Rochester, and Samantha Morton plays “poor, plain, little” Jane to perfection.
Courtney Milan stole the blog post from my fingertips this morning. Huge squees of joy are in order for two more friends who have made their first sales: Maggie Robinson, who recently sold to Berkley Heat, and Tiffany Chalmers, who just sold this week to St. Martin’s Press! Congratulations, ladies! I can’t wait to find Paradise and Hidden Beauty on shelves in 2010!
As Courtney points out in her great post, Maggie and Tiff are just two more successes from the amazing circle of friendship and support that grew out of the 2006 Avon Fanlit event and the Eloisa James Bulletin Board. (Now also Julia Quinn’s BB!) Courtney does a great job of discussing how that network has led to success – through various friendships, critique relationships, and sub-groups, many of us have gone on to complete manuscripts, land agents, and sell.
But another thing many of us have had in common? The advice and critique prowess of Ms. Courtney Milan. Which is why her critique up for bids in the Brenda Novak Auction to benefit diabetes research just may be the steal of a century.
There’s no way I could have completed or sold Goddess of the Hunt without my critique partners, one of whom is Courtney Milan. Her comments on my manuscripts have always been insightful, useful, and unfailingly honest. And her expertise in legal matters is unparalleled. If you’re an aspiring author of historical romance, I don’t think you could spend your money any better than to bid on her critique and then (important step) make use of her brilliant advice. I wouldn’t be a published author today without it!
And if you’re curious to see the results of Courtney’s critique, a rare advance reader’s copy of Goddess of the Hunt is up for bids, as well. Upon request, I will furnish first draft scenes to the winning bidder, so you can see the “before” and “after”.
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