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 »

It’s crunch time.  My deadline for The Desire of a Duke is Friday, and I’m on track to make it–which feels great.

Last week,  a few friends joined me in twitter-based rehash of my “Save the Kitties” writeathon from last year to motivate me to push through to the end of the draft.  The idea is to challenge yourself to write a certain amount over the course of a few days – if you meet the goal, you get to donate $ to a good cause (like Kitten Rescue, for me).  If you fail, you have to donate that money to a cause with which you, ahem, strenuously disagree (not telling which).  Add in public accountability, and I find this method extremely motivating for short bursts.  I’m proud to say I powered through to finish my manuscript in the wee, wee hours last Wednesday.   Now the book’s been out for some reads with CPs and friends, and the feedback coming back is frighteningly unanimous in pointing out the book’s major issue, so I have a very clear direction for revisions.  All of that is good.  🙂

So once I turn in my book on Friday (and I will!  I will!), I get to reward myself with a weekend CP retreat!  My main goal for the weekend will be to read, relax, and start plotting my next book, tentatively titled The Passion of a Warrior.  (Doesn’t quite have the same ring, does it?  Again, I’m open to suggestions.)

A few … Read More »

Hey, all – more excitement! I just got the slightly revised covers for my trilogy. As you can see, they decided to make the typography a little more modern and the colors a little more bold. I love the red for GODDESS. Lucy wears red almost all through that book, so it’s perfect!

The titles will be embossed in foil now, which is very exciting. Well, and most exciting parts (for me) are those quotes. 😉

Does this mean the cover flats I’m giving away in my contest are now a collector’s item?

It’ll probably take me a few days to get the covers replaced all through the website. First priority is finishing the current book!… Read More »

First, I extend the usual apologies for scattershot blogging.  My deadline for the first Stud Club book is May 1st, and I need every (childfree) minute between now and then to finish and polish it up.

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 … Read More »