(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!)… Read More »

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.

Happy Monday, everyone!… Read More »

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 … Read More »

On Sale Now!

My historical romance novella is available today as an e-book from Samhain Publishing! Click here for an excerpt!… Read More »

Hooray!  My e-novella, The Legend of the Werestag, is available today from Samhain Publishing!

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 … Read More »

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 … Read More »

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 … Read More »

Since I blogged last, I turned in the manuscript of The Desire of a Duke to my editor. Such a good feeling.

Then I met up with my wonderful friends and critique partners for the weekend, and among other things, they helped me hash out the plot of Stud Club book two. They also helped me brainstorm some new title possibilities for it, and now I think I’m leaning toward The Return of a Rogue. If for no other reason than that the acronym is ROAR. 😉

My goals for the week are something like this:
1) Sleep.
2) Spend time with the family.
3) Catch up on all the stuff I’ve put off in the last month. (LOTS)
4) Start promoting The Legend of the Werestag (releasing May 12th from Samhain)!
5) READ.

Mount TBR is nearing epic proportions. Aside from the pile of research I’m accumulating for ROAR (books on Devonshire, Dartmoor, house construction, smuggling, etc., etc.), it had been far too long since I’d been able to just sit down with a great romance and get lost in it. Sometimes I find it hard to get lost in a romance at all anymore, because I have a hard time turning off my writing brain and simply enjoying the story.

Lucky me, I did just that twice this past week with two brilliant, heart-tugging, beautifully written historicals, Elizabeth Hoyt’s newest, To Beguile a Beast, and Jennifer Ashley’s The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie. I’m in … Read More »

It’s May! Release month for my funny, sexy, not-paranormal e-book novella, The Legend of the Werestag, available from Samhain on May 12th! Read a great review here.

Also, author Brenda Novak’s annual auction to benefit diabetes research is underway. If you’re eager to read my print debut, Goddess of the Hunt, you can bid on an Advance Reader Copy and a basket of goodies here!… Read More »

There is a lovely review of my upcoming Samhain novella, The Legend of the Werestag, posted on Smart Bitches Trashy Books this morning.  It’s my first publicly posted review!  Ever!  And it’s entirely kind and mostly positive!  Wow.  I am honored and tickled and pretty much thrilled.  All this before 8 AM.

Now that I have a review, I suddenly realize I should start saving them somehow.  What do authors do with their reviews? Print out and save?  Bookmark?  Scrapbook it with pinking shears and the whole nine yards?… Read More »