So, I have this friend. A brilliant friend. And she wrote this book. A brilliant book. It officially releases January 1st, but you'll probably start finding it in stores any day now.
My friend's name is and her debut historical romance is .
When Courtney and I met over three years ago, neither of us had ever written a full novel. We started working with another friend, Carey Baldwin, who had a full draft under her belt and a few more clues than we did, and together the three of us worked our butts off to figure out this romance-writing thing.
I still remember the day Courtney sent me the first draft of her first scene with Proof's heroine, Jenny Keeble. Jenny just leapt off the page with intelligence and secrets and desires and delicious potential, and I did a little dance in my chair because I just knew Jenny would be the star of Courtney's dazzling debut. And here she is!
Of course, by now, a lot of other people have figured out how brilliant Courtney and her book are, so don't take my word for it! Here's what the early reviews are saying:
“Historical romance fans will celebrate Milan’s powerhouse debut, which comes with a full complement of humor, characterization, plot and sheer gutsiness.”
—starred review, Publisher’s Weekly
“A dazzling debut by a multitalented author… Milan steams up the pages while drawing readers into an emotionally powerful relationship centering on the true meaning of love. Completely satisfying, this is a book meant for all time.”
—4½ star review, TOP Pick! RT Book Reviews
(To read yet more praise and an excerpt, check out Courtney's .)
To mark the release of this amazing book, today (Monday) we're kicking off a Twitter countdown to the official release day. It's the 12 Days of Proof! If you're on Twitter, join the fun by , or the #12pbs tag. For each of the twelve days, we’ll be tweeting a twist on the classic Christmas song, inspired by Courtney's book. The...verses?...are the collaborative creation of Courtney's most devoted fan base, the Bonbons/Vanettes.
AND, on each of the 12 days, we’re giving away at least one autographed book. Authors who've graciously donated their books include , , , , , ,, , , , , and of course Courtney Milan herself and yours truly, Tessa Dare. We're all fans of Courtney!
To enter each day, just and use the #12pbs hashtag in a tweet—either by RTing our 12 Days tweets, or by using the hashtag to do your own gushing, yearning, posting of book-spotting photos, etc. Winners will be picked at random from the #12pbs twitter stream. The entry period for each day will run from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM EST, and I will do my best to announce winners promptly after close of each day, but it being the holidays and all, please forgive minor delays. Winners will be asked to DM their snail addresses.
On the 12th day, Carey Baldwin and I will be in Courtney’s hometown to celebrate her official release day! We’ll be heading around to different bookstores, spotting and signing stock, and we’ll give away copies of PROOF all day long.
If you're not on Twitter and want a chance to win PROOF and two other great debuts (or even if you are on Twitter and want to hedge your bets), enter my monthly website contest!
Thanks for playing along! However you celebrate the holidays, I hope you find the time to give yourself the gift of reading!
A Lady of Persuasion is in stores today! This is the final installment of the trilogy, and I'm so excited to send Toby and Bel's romance out into the world. RT Book Reviews named it a Top Pick, citing “wry wit, endearing characters, laugh-out-loud moments, sensual interludes and poignancy." Please do stop by my blog today for a release-day party with friends, old and new. You could win autographed books for yourself and a friend!
A Lady of Persuasion is in stores today! This is the third and final installment in the trilogy that began with Goddess of the Hunt and continued in Surrender of a Siren. It's the story of Toby and Isabel's romance, but it's also a happy ending for an entire group of friends, both old and new. And who better to celebrate that with than you--my friends, both old and new?
You see, when I started writing Goddess of the Hunt, I had this thought that it should feel a bit like the TV show Friends, only set in the Regency. A group of...well, friends...who are at that time in their lives where they're figuring out their futures and pairing off, who know each other well enough to throw around a lot of witty set-downs and the occasional incisive remark. A group of people who genuinely care about one another, even though they'd sometimes rather not admit it. And it was just so much fun, to write Henry, Toby, Felix, and Jeremy giving each other sh*t in the way guys do.
There are several sections of A Lady of Persuasion where the main characters from all three books are together--sometimes for pleasant reasons, and sometimes not. Don't get me wrong--I adored Toby and Bel as a couple, and their journey to love was a pure joy to write. But those ensemble scenes were a unique pleasure, because I really believed each of the three (four!shhh.) couples' happily-ever-afters would be supported and strengthened by this larger circle of friendship and love. And because I just can't write enough of those guys giving each other sh*t.
So, here's how this party works. Any comment will enter you to win a prize (more on those in a bit). We're just going to play a big long game of "Remember When," and the theme of the day is friends. You can share a memory about the friends in my trilogy (Remember when Jeremy and Lucy made out under that pear tree? Yeah, that was hot.) or Friends the TV show (Remember Chandler and his 'nubbin'? Ew.), or our real-life friendships (Remember when went out for that awesome barbecue in Dallas during RWA? Those rolls! Like buttah.). Or if none of those appeal to you, just bring out cocktail party conversation of any variety! Or make something up. (I write fiction; creativity's encouraged.)
Now, the PRIZES!
They are books, of course. I will give away 3 copies of A Lady of Persuasion, and 1 copy each of Goddess of the Hunt and Surrender of a Siren (all signed, of course). Because she is my friend and she is awesome, I will also give away 2 copies of the recently released anthology, featuring 's most excellent debut novella,
So that's seven books -- but wait! It's not! Because if you're a winner, I will double your prize and send a copy of the same book to a friend of your choosing, with a message that it is a gift from you! Your mom, your sister, your neighbor down the street...a senior center, a teacher, a soldier...anyone you think might enjoy reading one of my (or Courtney's) books. (Don't worry--any addresses collected will be used strictly to mail this one prize, then deleted.) Winners will be picked at random from all comments.
As the day goes by, I may have prizes on Twitter as well, if you follow me there.
So...let the fun begin! Thank you all so much for your friendship, readership, and support. I hope you enjoy reading Toby and Isabel's romance as much as I enjoyed writing it!
GIVEAWAY! One lucky commenter today will win a signed copy of .
Like many of you, I first met 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 - , 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 »
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 . Check it out! And while you're there, treat yourself to the blurb and excerpt of Jennifer's debut historical, , 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 . Check back later this morning. And I'm blogging today on the about how ALL romance heroes are legendary man-beasts.
Later this afternoon, kindly bloggers at 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 in Brenda Novak's benefit auction.)
Sarah Wendell of gave The Legend of the Werestag a very favorable B+ a few weeks back, and author 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 ! It's also available in the 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 haven't got a page for it up on my bookshelf page quite yet -- I'm waiting for the cover art. But the blurb and excerpt for my May 12th release went up on the If you read the title and laugh, that's good! It's a comedy. And the story is very loosely linked to Goddess of the Hunt.
Also - I finally have a contest going on this here website! So when you click that Contest link, it gives you something other than a vague promise of "coming soon."
I had plans to blog more today, but I am terribly sick. I did just want to comment briefly on the latest online debate. There's been a lot of discussion in the past week about the Kindle2 and it's TTS (text-to-speech) feature - whether it constitutes a copyright violation, whether Author's Guild was right to protest the feature, and whether Amazon was right to back down. (See and , for example.) I really can't pretend to understand all the legal arguments involved, but I tend to agree that clutching our intellectual property tighter to our chests is not the best way to protect our income. And what I can't understand is why an organization devoted to protecting authors' interests would not view protecting readers' interests as paramount to that mission. What are authors without readers? Sure, authors create the words on the page, but any cultural significance of a book is a joint product of the author and the readers. To put it Zen-ly: if a book sits alone, unread, in the middle of a forest, does it make a point?
Maybe it's because I was a public librarian long before I became an author, but I'm all about access. I'd let them read my books aloud over the PA at sports arenas and shopping malls, if anyone cared to do such a thing. I'm pretty sure my royalties would only go up!
A Lady of Persuasion
