I’ve finished most of my revisions on A Night to Surrender–just a few little things to wrap up, hooray! (And I do think that title’s going to stick.) It also looks like the release date will be August 30, 2011. I really hope I have a cover to show you soon! Thank you so much to everyone who left “anxiously awaiting” comments on my previous post. 🙂 They really mean a lot to me.

Next week, I hope to post a little more about the new series.

In the meantime, I’m moving house on Facebook! I was getting too close to the limit for Friends, so I’ve opened a new Fan page that will eventually house all the updates, giveaways, and such. If you’ve been a Friend on my profile page (or even if you haven’t), I’d love it if you’d come “Like” my new page now. To kick things off, I’ve uploaded a new photo album of some pictures from my trip to England that inspired locations in the new series. You can view it here. And all next week, I’ll be giving away an autographed book every day, so don’t miss out!

I’ve updated my contest page with a new giveaway – and I’m making up for lost time by giving away five hot new historical romances in one bundle!

I recently learned rights to my first trilogy (Goddess of the Hunt, et al) were sold for French translations. C’est magnifique! Finally, a translation … Read More »

Quite a few of you lovely, lovely people have asked about the next book, and now that the book is actually written 8) I feel I can post a few tidbits of information. I should say that everything in this post is subject to change, as it’s not yet set in stone. Once I have an official cover, blurb, and release date I will definitely create a proper page for the book in my Bookshelf section. For the meantime, here’s what I can tell you.

The book will be almost probably certainly titled A Night to Surrender. It will most likely be released in early Fall of 2011, like August/September-ish. And it will most definitely have a gorgeous cover, if the preliminary artwork is any indication. I can’t share it yet. Believe me, I want to.

Oh, I am weak. Maybe I can give you a just a teensy, tiny snippet?

*siiiiigh*

The setting for this book (and the entire series) was partly inspired by the trip I took to England this past August. I spent most of my time on the coast of Sussex–Brighton, Hastings, Rye. The hero of the book, Victor Bramwell, is a war hero. He’s been granted a revived medieval earldom, which includes a very un-revived medieval castle. Rycliff Castle, as it exists in the book, was loosely cobbled together from several sites I visited. One of them was Hastings Castle, pictured here.

*siiiiigh* some more. So lovely.

To go along with that, here’s a … Read More »

Today, I received a very exciting package in the mail – copies of the German translation of Goddess of the Hunt! It prompted me to do some web searching to see if any of the other translations have hit the market while I wasn’t looking. And look, they have! Not only in German, but in Japanese, Russian, and Slovak!

See the pretty covers!

I love the clinchy goodness of the German cover art, and the tender romance of the Russian one. I’m very impressed by the way the Slovak publisher referenced the design of the original US cover. Though I have to admit, that lovely, sweet girl on the Japanese version (the title of which, Google Translate informs me, is something like “Earl and a Fake Kiss”) strikes me as rather innocent-looking to be representing Lucy. 😉

Which is your favorite? … Read More »

Um, the seasons changed!

Also…
I went to England!
My eldest started first grade! *sob*
Goddess of the Hunt came out in Russian!
Booklist mentioned me as one of the “new stars of historical romance” – woot! (If you’re looking for new historical authors, be sure to check out that list.)

And I’ve received so much lovely reader mail. I’ve noticed a few common questions cropping up, so I thought I’d go ahead and post answers here for anyone else who might be wondering.

Will Claudia get her own book?
I love this question. I love that so many readers have cared about her, asked about her, and want to see her happy in life and love. She was definitely a character who came alive for me. I hope I do get to write her story someday, but it won’t be happening right away. For one thing, she is still pretty much a teenager in my mind. I need some time to think about the kind of woman she’ll become, and how her life experiences will have shaped her. Second, right now I’m busy with other projects. Which brings me to the other question I’ve been fielding a lot lately…

What are you working on next?
I’m thrilled to report that I’m working on the first book in a brand new Regency historical series. This one has an alpha hero and an alpha heroine mixing it up in a fun, flirty battle-of-the-sexes. Regency-style, of course! Because I … Read More »

…is finally on my blog!

Okay, here comes the overdue conference wrap-up!

So, I did not win the Regency Historical RITA on Saturday night – that honor (most deservedly) went to Julia Quinn for What Happens in London. I was so elated to see her get her third RITA and instant induction into RWA’s Hall of Fame, I honestly didn’t feel the least bit disappointed. What I felt was hungry, and, in the absence of any lingering nerves, finally able to enjoy my dessert. 🙂

The conference was wonderful, on the whole. Both of my panels seemed to go okay (even if mostly on the strength the other panelists!), and the book signings were amazing experiences. Last year, I was mostly signing books for my friends. This year, I had actual readers! Ones I didn’t know! Seriously, that was beyond thrilling.

Of course, there were parties. The swanky Avon party at Epcot’s Living Seas pavilion was one highlight, as was the rockin’ party we held in our suite. I had fun hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones, had productive meetings with my agent and editor. Good times, good times.

Oh, and Nora Roberts gave an unforgettable keynote address. Inspiring, hilarious, and, in several places, delightfully profane.

So that was conference. Now let’s get to the important part: Harry Potter!

As a long overdue birthday gift, Carey Baldwin and I took our beloved friend and CP, Courtney Milan, to the brand spankin’ new “Wizarding World of Harry … Read More »

Hooray! Three Nights with a Scoundrel, the final installment in the Stud Club trilogy, is in stores today! I wish I could be online more, but I’m traveling today from California to Florida for the RWA conference, so I’ll be in transit for most of the day. But I want to say thank you to everyone who has been reading this trilogy and looking forward to Julian and Lily’s story–I hope you enjoy it!

If you want to read an early review, check out this one at The Romance Dish. Reviewer PJ was a Julian skeptic, and she’s now one of his biggest fans. 🙂

I’ll be tweeting and updating Facebook from conference, so if you follow me on either of those social networks, look out for news and pics! … Read More »

Congrats to Babs, lucky #15 as drawn by Random.org. You win the prize package of three autographed Silhouette Desires! Please use the contact form to send me your mailing address. Congratulations!

I’m packing my bags for RWA as I type… well, okay. Not exactly as I type, because I am not that good at multitasking. Let’s just say the room is a mess. 🙂

As always, I am so excited to be attending National Conference – this year in Orlando, Florida! Conference means getting to see old friends and make new ones. It means business lunches and publisher parties and inspiring keynote addresses and informative presentations and …eek, high heels.

If you’re in the neighborhood but not attending the conference, the Readers for Life literacy signing is open to the public. It’s Wednesday evening from 5:30-7:30 PM, and it’ll be me and …. oh, like 500 other authors of romance! For anyone registered for the conference, I’ll also be signing books at the Ballantine Bantam Dell signing, Saturday morning at 9:00 AM.

I’m also excited to be speaking on two panels during the conference. On Wednesday, aka “Librarian Day”, SuperLibrarian Wendy and I (but mostly SuperLibrarian Wendy) will be expounding on the topic of Romance Collection Development to a group of our peers – librarians!

Then on Saturday, from 3:15-4:15 PM, I’ll be on a panel entitled “Digital Publishing for the Print Published Author”, along with authors Kristen Painter and Shiloh Walker, and Samhain Editor Lindsey Faber.

On both of … Read More »

Last week was my local RWA chapter meeting, and I had the pleasure of signing books with several of our chapter’s published authors. What struck me was that three of them all had Silhouette Desire books out this month!

If you’ve read books from the Desire line (or even looked at the titles), you know the heroes are usually super high-powered businessmen. They have wealth, power, and of course, good looks…everything but the right woman in their lives. I don’t know about you, but I can never get enough of that storyline: the strong, uncompromising Alpha hero who won’t be ruled by anything or anyone, until love turns his world on its head. (Spencer of One Dance with a Duke being a case in point!) Evidently I’m not alone, because these books sell like deep-fried hotcakes at the State Fair.

Here are OCC’s home-grown Desires for the month of July:

The Millionaire Meets His Match, by Kate Carlisle

The CEO of Duke Development had been on guard since he discovered his mother’s diabolical plot to marry him off. Him and his brothers. And when his desirable new assistant, Trish James, hinted she wanted more than just a business relationship, Adam figured she was in on the scheme. So the boss decided to play along and seduce the secretary…then put a stop to his mother’s meddling marriage plans once and for all. But even Adam could not have guessed Trish’s true agenda for wanting him in her bed….

Claiming Her … Read More »

Or maybe I should just say, longer excerpt posted?

Anyhow, I can’t believe it’s just one week until the release of Three Nights with a Scoundrel! I previously had part of Chapter One posted as an excerpt, but this morning I’ve expanded it to all of Chapter One. So a few more pages to tease you. Click here to read it!

Summer has been keeping me so busy, but I’m going to make up for my lack of blogging with some great giveaways. Look for a particularly desirable contest tomorrow. (That’s a hint. Admittedly a very nonspecific one, but it will make sense tomorrow.)

Also, tomorrow I’ll be a guest on the Borders True Romance blog.

Hope summer has been treating you well!… Read More »

A few days ago, a very alert reader wrote to let me know that Goddess of the Hunt wasn’t available for the Nook (Barnes and Noble’s e-reader), even though all my other books were. But when I tried to email this very alert reader back, the return email bounced.

So for the benefit of all and sundry, I will post the reply here. I’ve emailed my publisher, and they are on the case…hopefully GotH for Nook will be available soon! Thank you for your patience.

Speaking of patience, the last few weeks have been Mr. Dare Appreciation Month in this house. Of course, Mr. Dare is always appreciated. But lately the darelings and I are discovering new levels of appreciation for him, because he is not here. He is far, far away, visiting old friends and relatives, and I am happy for him, but I miss him like PB misses J. I am also developing a profound sense of wonder and awe for all single parents, spouses of deployed soldiers, and others caring for children on their own. I raise a glass to you. (Not that I’m doing a lot of drinking after the kids go to bed. No, not at all. 🙂 )… Read More »