The other day, my friend and fellow author Jennifer Haymore announced on her blog that she’s been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. (You may remember that I hosted a giveaway just a few weeks ago to celebrate the release of her newest book, A Touch of Scandal.) Her prognosis is good and her attitude is fantastic, but I’m sure she’d appreciate all the support, prayers, and well wishes she can get. Whether you’ve read her books or not, if you’d like to send a good thought her way, you can visit her blog to do so, or click on over to Smart Bitches Trashy Books today. SB Sarah is collecting helpful hints and tips for getting through cancer treatment, and giving away several copies of Jennifer’s book.

YA author Rosemary Clement Moore is celebrating the paperback release of Highway to Hell with her wonderful Mosquitoes Suck Contest.

From Rosemary’s blog:

In Africa, the bite of one mosquito can transmit malaria, a disease which kills one person every 30 seconds.

Can you believe that a $10 mosquito net could save someone’s life? It can.

The United Nation Foundation’s Nothing but Nets Campaign is a global, grassroots effort dedicated to saving lives by preventing malaria in Africa. When you make a $10 donation, 100% of your contribution goes directly toward purchasing and distributing an insecticide-treated mosquito net and teaching the recipient to use it properly…

Make any size donation to the Nothing But Nets Campaign, and you will be entered

I woke up to a flurry of tweets informing me that Publisher’s Weekly had posted a starred review of One Dance with a Duke (releasing May 25)!

One Dance with a Duke Tessa Dare Ballantine, $7.99 (416p) ISBN 978-0-345-51885-9

This standout Regency romance, the first in Dare’s Stud Club trilogy, matches an unlikely heroine with an arrogant, secretive duke. Plump, plain, and poor, spinster Amelia d’Orsay is astonished when Spencer Dumarque, duke of Morland and a famously handsome and wealthy bachelor, literally sweeps her off her feet and out the door at a London ball. The news of a friend’s unexpected death leads them on a significant detour, and Amelia returns home at dawn. Deciding others will believe Amelia compromised after a night in his company, Spencer asks for her hand, leading to a hasty, often conflicted, and deeply passionate marriage. Amelia’s imperfections endear her to both the reader and her husband, while Spencer’s complexity of character sets him well beyond the typical aristocrat and a little bit of a murder mystery adds the perfect finishing touch. (June)

I can’t tell you how unbelievably happy this makes me.   Little stars, be they gold or red, never lose their thrill, from preschool onward.   Also, I know a positive review in PW gives cash-strapped librarians a little extra motivation to order the book for their collections, and that is good for cash-strapped readers.

My weekend was also great.  I spent Saturday at the Literary Orange event at UC Irvine.  Along with the … Read More »

I need to update my bio. I’ve been putting this off for years now. You know, the little bio I have on my “Author” page? I wrote it late one night when I was putting together my very first basic website, when I was an unpublished author with no actual books to mention–let alone any awards or honors or other nifty bragging points. And I was a frazzled mom with a toddler and a tiny infant. Between caring for them and writing, not much else got done. So I let my bio reflect that.

While I still like this bio because it sounds very “me”, it’s getting pretty out of date.

Tessa Dare is a part-time librarian, full-time mommy and swing-shift writer living in Southern California.

Tessa lived a rather nomadic childhood in the Midwest. As a girl, she discovered that no matter how many times she moved, two kinds of friends traveled with her: the friends in books, and the friends in her head. She still converses with both sets daily.

Tessa writes fresh and flirty historical romance, a blog, and the stray magazine article. To the chagrin of her family, Tessa does not write grocery lists, Christmas cards, or timely checks to utility companies. She shares a tiny bungalow with her husband, their two children, a dog, and many dust bunnies.

Tessa enjoys a good book, a good laugh, a good long walk in the woods, a good movie, a good meal, a glass of good wine, and

Firstly, winners! Thanks to all who entered the Jennifer Haymore/A Touch of Scandal giveaway! We will have four winners, since Jennifer is kicking in two extra copies. (Thanks, Jennifer!) Winners, as drawn by Random.org, are:

Liz (#9)
Liza (#14)
Peggy H (#15)
Hannah (#20)

Winners, please use the contact email form (click contact in top menu) to send me your snail mail address.

While I’m announcing winners, and since I’m still on a little high from the RITA final last week, I think I’ll blog a bit about contests. (If you’re not an aspiring author, this may bore you to tears. Sorry! I will not be hurt if you sneak out the back.)

In the time since I sold my first book, I’ve sometimes been asked by aspiring authors about contests. Did I enter RWA chapter contests as an unpublished writer? Did I find them of benefit?

The answers are yes, and yes–with caveats.

I entered a total of five chapter contests with Goddess of the Hunt, and one with a very early draft of Surrender of a Siren. The entries placed everywhere from first place to “bottom third” (where they mercifully do not reveal your exact ranking). I got something out of each and every contest.

What I got out of contests:
Some helpful feedback
Some unhelpful feedback
The invaluable experience of learning to sort out which is which
A few wonderful networking connections with published author judges
A chance to thicken my skin before dealing … Read More »

I am so jealous of my friend Jennifer Haymore. First, because she gets the most unbelievably beautiful, hawt stepbacks. If you’re a clinch lover like I am, you must visit her website and mouse over the cover of A Touch of Scandal, so you can see this one in all its blond-hero glory.

But my envy of her doesn’t end there, not by a mile. Jennifer is not only a beautiful writer, but she has a gift for creating gut-wrenching, heart-wringing, romantic scenarios for her characters. You know, the kind of books where you wonder halfway through, “How can this possibly end happily?” …and then it does! And the end is so much sweeter for all that angst.

Last year, her debut, A Hint of Wicked, was a runaway success and the talk of Romancelandia. It featured a love triangle between a widow, her new husband, and the first husband thought dead, who returns eight years later. Let me tell you, I still get chills thinking of the first chapter of that book. I’m pretty sure you can read it on Amazon with the “Look Inside” feature.

But of course, with a love triangle, you know someone’s going to get left out in the end (in a mainstream romance, anyhow!), and now this year we have Garrett’s book, so he can have a happy ending of his own! Yay! The blurb for A Touch of Scandal:

The last thing Garrett, Duke of Calton, expects to find while

I’m thrilled to announce that Surrender of a Siren is a RITA finalist in the Regency Historical category! The RITAs are given by the Romance Writers of America to celebrate excellence in the romance genre, and the awards will be presented at the national conference this July. I’m so honored.… Read More »

So, this morning was pretty awesome. 

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… Read More »

Today, I refer you to a most unique and memorable interview. I’ve been interviewed by the resident were-llama at CJ Redwine’s blog.

You all know the penchant I have for were-creatures, in particular ruminants. So this was great fun. And blogger CJ’s husband even made me a Stud Muffin! Okay, a Stud Cupcake (even better, I say!) Check out the interview to learn the significance of that big, gold stud-emblazoned coin.

There are prizes to be won!

Oh, and the were-llama also coaxed an excerpt out of me — if you’ve been curious to read more snippets of One Dance with a Duke, click on over!… Read More »

This year, I am adding a new term to my publishing vocabulary: “crash”. As in, “to crash a book.”

Perhaps you already know what this means. I confess, I didn’t. My agent called me a little over a year ago to let me know yes, Ballantine would publish the Stud Club trilogy. I said, “Great!” (Read: OMG, squeeeeeee!). She said they wanted to publish them in May/June/July 2010. I said, “Um, how is that possible?” (Read: massive internal freak-out) And she said, “Well, they will just crash the last book.” And I said, “Oh, okay. I totally know what that means.” (Read: a total lie.)

I still don’t have a hard-and-fast definition for “crash”, but I’ve gathered it means to rush a book through production. Sometimes this is unplanned, because the author for one reason or another turns in a book after deadline. In this case, however, the “crash” was planned in advance, as it was the only way to get the trilogy releasing back-to-back in the summer months. And since having a trilogy release back-to-back in the summer months is pretty awesome, I was down with this “crashing” thing, whatever it meant.

See, before this crashed book, I’ve always worked in my own little bubble between contract and deadline, then turned in the finished manuscript 9+ months before the book’s publication date. Subsequent revisions, copy edits, page proofs have felt almost…leisurely, in retrospect.

But since we knew this third book would be a crashed book, turned in just four … Read More »

Well, I returned from the wedding (um, a week ago, but who’s counting…)! My dareling made a precious flower girl, if I do say it myself. Actually, several other people said so, too! I’m glad she got to have the experience, and it was lovely to see all our family members.

As I look at my schedule for the next few months, I see it filling up with exciting travel and literary events and book signings. If you are anywhere near any of these events, I would love to meet you! Yes, you! (Okay, maybe not you, who stumbled onto this site while searching for topless pics of that Canadian ice dancer).

Saturday, April 10th – I will be appearing on a Romance panel and signing books at the Literary Orange event in Irvine, CA. This is an all-day event with panels, speakers, food, and book signings. The Romance panel will be moderated by Super Librarian Wendy and also features authors HelenKay Dimon and Linda Widsom. So, you could come to see me. Or you could come to see HelenKay and Linda and Wendy, or keynote speakers Dean Koontz and Karen Joy Fowler, and just pretend you also came to see me. Either way, it’s all good!

April 28-May 2nd – I’ll be in Columbus, Ohio for the RT Booklovers Convention. Woot! My first RT con. Time to see if all the rumors are true… 😉 I’m not on any panels or other official thingys, but I will … Read More »