I knew it was Golden Heart and RITA "call day," and I was very glad that I'd already made plans to spend the morning volunteering in my dareling's classroom. You see, this is my 3rd or 4th year watching "call day" closely -- but the first time I've ever been entered in either of the contests.  For those who may not know, the RITA and Golden Heart are nationwide contests sponsored by Romance Writers of America.  The RITA is for published romance novels, and the Golden Heart is for unpublished manuscripts. Entries happen way back in November/December. Then the finalists all get phone calls on the same day in March, and around the world, writers are plastered to websites and blogs and Twitter feeds, waiting to see who gets "the call".

The stress! Yeah, I would rather be chillin' in kindergarten.

I brought my phone along, just in case, but kept it on silent.   So there I was, happily cutting crafts and stapling papers, when my pocket started to buzz.  I didn't answer.  When I checked the number, I didn't recognize it.  My phone told me it was a call from Texas, though (where RWA headquarters is located), so the next time my pocket started tingling, I ducked out onto the playground to take the call.

And it was a lovely lady from RWA Headquarters, whose name I will never be able to remember, calling to tell me that Surrender of a Siren is a finalist in the Regency Historical category!  I was so excited!  But I had to be very, very quiet.  So I was quietly excited for an hour or two more, until I went home to get on the computer share the good news.

Oh, I did get a very exciting text from Courtney Milan, letting me know her novella, This Wicked Gift, had be nominated in the Novella category!  That just made everything sweeter.  Congratulations, CM!

For that matter, congratulations to all the finalists in all the categories! If you see the other nominees in my category, you will understand why I am just thrilled to be anywhere on the same planet as this list. A list of all the finalists is here.

2010 RITA for Regency Historical Romance Finalists

Surrender of a Siren by Tessa Dare
Scandal by Carolyn Jewel
Tempting Fate by Alissa Johnson
A View to a Kiss by Caroline Linden
Revealed by Kate Noble
What Happens in London by Julia Quinn
Lord Braybrook's Penniless Bride by Elizabeth Rolls

Oh, and a big shout out to my Fanlit friend Gillian Layne, who got the Golden Heart call this morning!  Congratulations, Gillian!

A little roundup of links:

Two more review sites recently gave high marks to Surrender of a Siren!
Review at All About Romance
Review at The Romance Reader

And if you click here, you can read an in-depth interview about writing Siren that I did for Rhapsody Book Club.

Don't forget - the release of book three, A Lady of Persuasion, is coming up September 29! I've got plans in the works for a great big launch party right here on the blog, with prizes galore. Stay tuned for more details!

And if you'd like to be among the first to read it, click on over to the Borders TrueRomance blogthis morning. There's a little video that book buyer extraordinaire Sue Grimshaw taped with me during the RWA conference in DC. And I'm blogging about the writing of Surrender of a Siren. Best of all, if you comment, you could win a full set of the trilogy!

More links from the Department of Random Awesomeness:

Can you believe mega-bestselling author Vicki Lewis Thompson took my little book on her summer vacation? Yes, she read Goddess of the Hunt and liked it and added to the Book Club portion of her website! How cool is that? I was completely stunned and so honored. (There's a little blurb there by Vicki--if you use a browser other than IE, you might have trouble viewing it because it's light on a light background. You can highlight the text, and then it should show up.)

And Rakehell.com posted a great review of Surrender of a Siren the other day.

It's just a few weeks until the release of Courtney Milan's fantabulous debut novella, This Wicked Gift, published in the Heart of Christmas anthology with a few authors you might have heard of....Mary Balogh and Nicola Cornick, anyone? Go to Courtney's site to learn more about the book and enter for a chance to win a copy! Also giving away copies is the fantabulous Sherry Thomas, of the mad query writing skillz. (And, um, not to be a copycat, but I intend to be giving away copies too! When A Lady of Persuasion releases. So if you don't win any of these, come back around here in three weeks. Or just go buy it, 'cause you know you want to.)

Lastly, I am going to be signing books and (eek!) speaking at my local RWA chapter meeting this Saturday morning! Our afternoon speaker? You might have heard of her. Little-known author by the name of Linda Howard? Yes, my life is charmed.

Wow, that was a lot of name-dropping! Sorry.
Feel free to name-drop in the comments section. Any brushes with greatness lately?

If you haven't yet bought it and want to know more about it than the excerpt and blurb here will tell you, here are some ways to learn more, starting with a very cool widget from Random House that will let you browse the first scene and the first page of each chapter.

Some blogger reviews have started appearing online, at:

Could it be...Seton?
The Book Smugglers
Babbling About Books
Mala's Bad Necklace

And finally, I'm guestblogging today at Yankee Romance Reviewers about SOAS's flawless beauty heroine with the slightly flawed personality. Come comment anytime in the next few days, and you could win a signed copy!

Today, book two of my trilogy, Surrender of a Siren is officially on sale! Siren stars Sophia Hathaway, Lucy's friend from Goddess of the Hunt. Sophia is a beautiful, pampered heiress with a wild, irrepressible imagination, and she's in for the adventure of her life when she boards the Aphrodite, a merchant ship owned by former privateer Benedict "Gray" Grayson. You can read a longer blurb and excerpt here.

Here's what RT Book Reviews had to say about it:

4-1/2 stars and Top Pick! “Dare’s second novel cements her place as a “not to be missed” author. Her gift is for creating stories that are filled with adventure, three-dimensional characters and exciting plots, yet she maintains the purest form of romance.”

Speaking of RT, the review for A Lady of Persuasion just came out yesterday! It will also receive a Top Pick! in the October issue. That makes three for three! Says RT, A Lady of Persuasion offers "“..wry wit, endearing characters, laugh-out-loud moments, sensual interludes and poignancy. This is stellar storytelling!” And now that Siren is officially on the shelves, I've posted a nice, long excerpt of Lady here. (Warning -- it's mildly spoilerish, if you haven't read the first two. But then, so is the blurb!)

I'm just happy as anything to watch Sophia and Gray's story sail out there into the world. I can't wait to hear what readers make of it!

I know I've blogged about this book's sentimental title--amongst friends, it's known as "Goats on a Boat". Why, you may ask? Well, because much of the story takes place on a boat. And because there are goats on that boat--in addition to a runaway heiress, a band of sketchy sailors, and one devilish-hot former privateer.

Why goats? That has to do with shipboard provisions. An early 19th-century ocean crossing was no luxury cruise. The diet consisted of hardtack (also known as ship's biscuit), salted meat (that often went rancid as the voyage progressed), and perhaps a few root vegetables--potatoes, onions, carrots--for the first few weeks out from land. Goats were a portable source of fresh milk, which was a welcome addition to the menu.

Here's a link to a template and directions for making your own paper goat, should you wish to do so! (Thanks to the ever-crafty, beadazzling Sara Lindsey!)

Don't worry--the goats don't take over the boat, or the romance. But if you've been wondering what the "Goats on a Boat" references are about...now you're in on the joke.

Here's a little excerpt, starring said goats, the book's hero, Gray, and one of my very favorite secondary characters, Davy Linnet.

A pale-faced youth trotted across the deck, a thick coil of rope threaded over his arm.

“What’s your name, again?”

“Davy Linnet, sir.”

“How old are you, Davy?”

“Fifteen, sir.”

“Come from the farm, have you?”

The lad shifted his feet. He regarded the goats warily. “Yes, sir.”

“Then I suppose you know how to tend a goat.”

The boy hesitated, looking toward Joss.

“Well?” Gray asked. “Do you know a goat’s teat from her tail, or don’t you?” When the boy still paused, he added, “Speak up now, or I’ll ask you the same about girls.”

“I’ve tended goats, sir. It’s just... I wasn’t expecting to tend them at sea. I rather thought I was finished with that.”

Gray laughed. “A man can’t shake his past, Davy. And don’t I know it."

GOATS ON A BOAT

Chewing their way through bookshelves, starting Tuesday next!

But I had to share this - my editor emailed me this morning to let me know that Goddess of the Hunt, Surrender of a Siren, and A Lady of Persuasion have all sold to the book clubs!  They will be featured alternate selections in July/Aug/Sept respectively, in the Rhapsody, Doubleday, and Book of the Month Clubs!  I am beyond excited.  So far beyond excited, I can't think of a word for it.

But wait, there's more!  You may remember that Courtney Milan and Ann Aguirre and Dear Author and I engaged in some werestag-themed April Foolery a few weeks back, regarding were-ruminant trademarks and the infringement thereof.  Well, Ann was good enough to actually read my novella, The Legend of the Werestag (coming May 12th from Samhain!), and give this stunning quote:

"Tessa Dare writes with incandescent emotional ferocity, balancing story and character with knife-edged elegance. This is the best novella I have read all year."
~Ann Aguirre, national bestselling author of Blue Diablo

I think there is more gorgeous writing in that quote than there is in my whole novella. I'm not sure that's fair. But I'm beside myself with glee about it anyhow.

If you haven't already bought Blue Diablo, what are you waiting for? I just started it last night, and not only am I wowed by Ann's amazing sense of place and command of first person--the hardest voice to pull off, IMO--but Corine and Chance have me absolutely hooked.

BTW, I've just realized that Ann and I are co-authors. She wrote the brilliant concluding chapter to the Manuscript Mavens Halloween story a few years back... Ain't that cool?

SQUEE!!! Beverley Kendall, another Fanlit friend, has just signed a two-book deal with Kensington!  Her debut historical, tentatively titled A Lady's Compromise, will be coming to a bookstore near you in Fall 2009.  Congratulations, Bev!

Lastly: Arrrh, mateys!  It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day!  I'm celebrating by taking the darelings to ride Pirates of the Caribbean for the one millionth time.

But, since piracy does play a role in my second book, Surrender of a Siren (releasing late August 2009!), I thought I'd leave you a little excerpt, below the fold. 

Sophia’s hand plunked down on the table.  “But privateers … aren’t they nearly the same as pirates?”

“No, miss.  There’s a world of difference between the life of a privateer and a pirate.”

“Less violent?”

Gabriel shook his head.  “About the same, there.”

“More honorable.”

“Not necessarily.  That would depend on the particular privateer and the particular pirate.”

“Then how is it different?”

“Why, privateering’s legal, of course.  Sanctioned by the Crown. Can’t be hanged for a privateer.”

“I see.”

“’Course, the war’s over now.”  Gabriel sprinkled the dish with pepper before removing the pot from the stove.  “No more privateering to be had.  So we’ve got to turn respectable, Gray says.  It was either that, or turn pirate.”  Gabriel winked at her.  “And I’m rather attached to my neck.”

Sophia sipped her tea, amazed.  She was the lone female passenger—the lone passenger, really—aboard a ship crewed entirely by men who might as well be pirates, except that they couldn’t be hanged.  And Mr. Grayson, with his arrogant swagger and mercantile lust, was their erstwhile, unhangable pirate king.

Mercy.

She drained the rest of her tea in one long draught, capped with an audible swallow.  “Thank you for the refreshment,” she said, rising to her feet.  Blood rushed from her head, leaving her dizzy.   The steam was suddenly too thick to breathe.  “I… I believe I’ll go take some fresh air.”

As she hurried on deck, her mind was awhirl.  All that time that Mr. Grayson had been touching her, teasing her… she’d been consorting with a pirate.  If he had the slightest inkling that she carried hundreds of pounds beneath her stays, he’d surely stop at nothing to get it.  And yet, she could not bid caution to overtake the gothic thrill.  For heaven’s sake, a pirate.

She could be in danger, she admonished herself.

She could be plundered.

The possibility really ought to have frightened her more than it did.