The Celebration has started! Check out Jessica Andersen’s Q&A

and enter to win autographed books HERE!

I had some interesting posts planned for this week, but time got away with me. Sorry about that! But I promised on Monday I’d have an announcement later this week…and well, can’t get much later than today.

Next month is release month for me! Okay, so that’s not the announcement…but it is the reason for my announcement. To celebrate the release of A Taste of Magic, each Monday in February will feature a guest blogger, as well as a contest. That’s right! 4 guest bloggers and 4 contests in February all leading up to my release on February 24th.

On Monday, February 2nd, Jessica Andersen will start things off with a Q & A session! Jessica is the author of many Harlequin Intrigue novels, as well as the oh-so-cool Final Prophecy series.

On Monday, February 9th, Holly Jacobs will blog about her thoughts on Valentine’s Day and what romance really is. Holly is a fantabulous romance author who currently writes for both Harlequin and Avalon.

On Monday, February 16th, Denise Lynn will blog about something really cool and exciting. I don’t know what that is yet, but trust me, it will be goooood. Denise writes for Harlequin Historicals and for Nocturne.

On Monday, February 23rd, one of my closest friends and Steeple Hill Romantic Suspense author Lisa Mondello will be on board to answer some questions.

Mark your calendar and stop in each Monday in Februray to help me celebrate my release! Oh yeah…I mentioned a contest too, didn’t I? Each week, there will be autographed books up for grabs. AND, on March 2nd, I’ll be holding my own contest to celebrate!

Don’t Forget!

This week at The Novel Girls we’re diving into our purses to see what lurks there.  

It’s Monday. The beginning of the week. I thought it might be nice to start off the day with a few laughs…so, here are some cat videos I’ve found that definitely made me chuckle. Take a peek…I bet you laugh at least once!

This one is a compilation of cat videos…trust me, it gets funny. It’s also my favorite video of the bunch!

Okay, this guy? He has way too much time on his hands…

What happens when you introduce a new puppy into a household that has an Alpha cat? Take a look…and yes, I felt very sorry for the poor puppy.

Now they’re friends! Yay!

This is my second favorite video of all of these. Sure, I was a little creeped out at first, but come on…somehow, it’s also endearing and more than a little sweet.

Have a great Monday!

Don’t Forget!

This week at The Novel Girls we’re talking about what’s in our purses. Today is my day, so come on over and say hi!

Later this week, I’ll have an announcement. Stay tuned to see what it is!

After yesterday’s post, I began thinking about the books I was looking forward to reading in 2009. Naturally, I’m all aglow about MY books (A Taste of Magic and A Stroke of Magic), but what about books by other authors? Of course, I’m antsy to read all The Novel Girls’ books (listed on our blog–go see!). And here’s a down and dirty list of some of the other titles (in no particular order) I can’t wait to get my hands on:

• Promises in Death by J.D. Robb - February 24th release
• Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward - April 28th release
• An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon - September 29th release
• Larceny and Lace by Annette Blair – August 4th release
• Skykeepers by Jessica Andersen - August 4th release
• The Fire King by Marjorie M. Liu – August release
• Hopefully, a Sofie Metropolis novel by Tori Carrington! (I couldn’t find info on the next release:()

At the moment, that’s all I can think of. I am absolutely sure there are more, and they’ll likely come to me the second this is posted. What about you? What titles are looking forward to reading in the next year?

Don’t Forget!

Over at The Novel Girls, Lesley Livingston is going to talk about character building, and tomorrow Carolyn McTighe will be up.

Do you? Read a book more than once, I mean? I used to a lot when I was younger. When I was a kid, I loved the Trixie Belden mysteries, and I would read them over and over and over. Now, however, it takes a really special book to not just make it to my keeper shelf, but for me to read it again.

This past week, I began re-reading one of my favorites: Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. It all started because I’d been on a bit of a reading binge, and in less than a week, read:

• Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston –(one of The Novel Girls!) and an awesome, beautiful book, btw! Faeries in Central Park (dangerous faeries!) 
• Salvation in Death by J.D. Robb – I’m a huge fangirl of this series, and this one was as excellent as normal. (Thanks to Natalie for sending it my way!) This series is auto-buy for me.
• Spirited Away by Cindy Miles — I’ve had this on my shelf for about a year and a half, and finally read it. I really enjoyed it. So much, I’ll be checking out her other books.

At any rate, when I finished Spirited Away, which is set in the Highlands, I started thinking about Jamie and Claire from Outlander. What a wonderfully immersive book it is, so I dug it out and have started reading it again. Guess what? I still love it. It almost feels like the first time, even, because I’m re-discovering things I’d forgotten about.

If you don’t know the story, here’s the back cover copy:

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon–when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly, she is a Sassenach–an “outlander”–in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord…1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life…and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire…and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

I’m so glad I’m reading it again, because it is one of those types of books that carries you away and sucks you into the story, into the world, and well…I’m loving every page of it.

What about you? Do you ever re-read a book?

Don’t Forget!

Jillian Cantor’s gives her perspective on character building today over at The Novel Girls!

As many little girls have for years and years, I loved Barbie. She was the “ideal” (which, yes, is a whole ‘nother discussion), she could do anything, had Ken who certainly seemed to adore her, and wow–her Barbie Dollhouse…er mansion…was just way-too-cool. Not to mention any variety of her sports cars.

My oldest child, a daughter, was also a huge Barbie fan. Christmas, birthdays, Easter, whatever–there was always a new Barbie, Barbie Clothes, Barbie house/car/whatever, on her list. While I don’t have any little girls in the house any longer, I have to assume nothing has changed. I mean, just a glimpse down the mostly pink colored Barbie aisle at the toy store shows boxes after boxes of everything Barbie.

So it was with great dismay this past week when I read this article: Barbie Creator’s Racy Sex Secrets Revealed. I’m not going to go into detail over the article here, but take a few minutes to read it and then come back…

Back? Okay…so, um, are you as disturbed as I am? I mean, it shouldn’t really bother me. I realize this, but wow, does it ever. It’s disturbing to think of a toy played with by so many children had it’s origins in well…you get my point.

Sigh.

On a much happier note, tonight is finally (FINALLY) the premiere of the fifth season of Lost. I am thrilled. I am beyond excited. It is probably my number one show at this time. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve watched all four seasons again, because there are so many things going on, I wanted them to be clear (well, as clear as possible) in my head.

SPOILERS!!!!! (Highlight with mouse to read if you want them, skip to below if you don’t!)

So, I’ve done a bit of research, because I’m really about the most impatient person in the world. Seriously. I have discovered (assuming the sites I found these at are correct) that:

• Jin IS alive. YAY!
• That Hurley might have the same “power” as Miles. Interesting…
• That this is the “Season of Sawyer.” Now, not really a spoiler, per se, because I don’t know what that means…but I can’t wait to find out.
• That Sayid will fall in love again, but I don’t know with who.
• We will not find out what happened to Claire this season. We’ll have to wait until next. But we will “see” or “hear” form her in some form or fashion.
• Someone will die in episode 5.

I am so looking forward to tonight!

Don’t Forget!

This week we’re discussing character building over at The Novel Girls. Today is Lisa Patton’s turn to share!

I haven’t done one of these posts in a while, so I thought today would be a good day to bring your attention to some interesting, fun, and even a little wacky things I’ve found on other blogs the past week or so.

First up, Agent Jessica Faust from BookEnds, LLC talks about her favorite editors (without naming names, of course). I definitely found this interesting!

Agent Nathan Bransford wants to know how folks feel about a very (cough) important issue: one space or two after a period. With over 1,500 votes and nearly 300 comments, it appears people take this issue QUITE seriously, indeed. My take? Well, I used to be a 2 spaces girl, but after months of focused study, I can now say I’m a 1 space girl. Habits are hard to break!

Author Diana Peterfreund shares how she writes a fiction synopsis. Readers of this blog will know I’m not exactly fond of synopses writing, so I read her post with great interest. And I’m applying some of her ideas in the re-draft of my current synop. Maybe I’ll get the hang of this yet!

A new blog! Five authors (Terri Clark, Natalie Damschroder, MJ Fredrick, Tanya Michaels, and Trish Milburn), who happen to be Supernatural fangirls, explore their favorite show at Supernatural Sisters. You all know what a fangirl I am of Supernatural, so this blog is just a natural and oh-so-awesome new place I’ll be hanging out at. BTW, what a GREAT idea!

Lastly (but not least), Dorchester Editor Leah Hultenschmidt shares the timeline of a book’s progress on her blog. It’s amazing, really, the time and work that goes into it! And, for a more fun look at how a book goes from manuscript to finished book on the shelves, check out this video from the digital team at MacMillan (which I hijacked from Leah’s blog).

Okay, that’s it for today! Have a great Tuesday!

Don’t Forget!

This week, we’re taling about character building at The Novel Girls. Today, Maureen Lipinski is on board.   

I’m so excited to share my brand new, first ever, totally awesome book trailer for A Taste of Magic. Huge thanks goes to Diane Whiddon-Brown at Novel Website Design for her hard work and creativity in getting it just right. I sooo appreciate it!

The even greater thing about this book trailer is the story behind it, and no…I’m not talking about the book (though, I think that’s pretty great, too). But there are levels of greatness. See, I won the creation of this book trailer through an incredibly worthy online auction last May. New York Times Best-selling Author Brenda Novak, for the last four years, has run a huge auction where all the proceeds go to diabetes research.

You can learn more about the auction here: About the Auction. There’s a lot of everything for just about everybody auctioned off every year, from editor/agent evaluations and meetings for writers, to autographed books for readers, to once-in-a-lifetime moments, to jewelry, to promo opportunities…seriously, the list goes on and on. In fact, this will be the fifth year in a row for this amazing auction. The site is already up in preparation for it, and items are beginning to appear. You can check it out here: The 5th Online Auction for Diabetes Research.

At any rate, not only did I get a wonderful book trailer, but the money I spent went directly toward diabetes research, and the work Diane Whiddon-Brown did on my trailer was a gift of her time and resources to benefit diabetes research. 

I’ll be talking more about the auction as May draws nearer, but I couldn’t share my lovely book trailer without explaining how it came about. So, here it is…enjoy!

Isn’t it awesome? I’m so thrilled, I can’t even begin to put it into words. (Kind of scary for a writer, but there you have it.) I think Diane did a terrific job in showing the overall tone of the book: fun and magical.

Don’t Forget!

Today I’m blogging in two places: The Novel Girls and Ohio Romance Writers MySpace Page. Come say Hi!

This week at The Novel Girls, we’re talking about character building. And at the Ohio Romance Writers MySpace Page, I’m talking about my favorite fictional heroes. Mmm.