Feb 23, 2010
Well, I’m home, but my brain is definitely still on vacation. For those of you waiting for me to send out a newsletter and post my contest, please wait just a tiny bit longer. (Breaking news! Correction! Newsletter has been sent and check the Contest page. I’m rallying…slowly.) I’m finding it disorienting to be back at work—it’s like the week off wiped away all my library skills, LOL.
And now that I’m in my own cozy writing room, I have page proofs to read of Margaret Rowe’s Tempting Eden to keep me busy until their deadline, March 4. The manuscript came in the middle of our trip, and I was reluctant to open it up on the shiny new blue netbook we bought before we left. But when I did—so pretty! I love the font Berkley picked and the curlicues on the chapters.
I also discovered that Alan Ayers, the artist who created my beautiful Mistress by Mistake cover, also painted Tempting Eden’s! No wonder I couldn’t decide which one was more gorgeous, LOL.
The netbook is so damn cute. It fits into my (kinda large) handbag and is light enough for me to carry and not grumble. I’m still getting used to it, but it beats dragging along my husband’s laptop on trips.
Speaking of which, the cruise exceeded all our expectations. I relaxed by the pool while my husband ATVed through the jungle to see a Mayan ruin. I made two visits to the Elemis spa (you should see my red toes!) and ate way too much. I’m not getting on the scale for the foreseeable future. I also drank my first—and last—martini.
And quite by surprise, we were asked at the last minute to dine at the captain’s table the night of the formal dinner. Here’s proof that I can clean up pretty well…or they were really desperate!
We stumbled out of our stateroom and were approached by a crew member to replace a couple who had gotten sick, so we were pinch hitters. I did manage to tell people I wrote hot historical romances—the captain looked a little shocked. đ We dined with folks from Georgia, North Carolina and Missouri. If they’ve found this website, hi!
So, the question of the day—are you a laptop or PC person? Anyone have a netbook and experience with Windows 7, which I have not had time to explore? Have a fun travel story you’d like to share?
Feb 9, 2010
I finished Not Quite a Courtesan and sent it off. NQAC is a novella which will be part of the Kensington Brava anthology Lords of Passion in December 2010. (A perfect Christmas present!) I am absolutely thrilled to be sharing the same cover with Virginia Henley and Kate Pearce! It was a lot of fun to write, and I hope my editor likes it. Here’s a snippet where Darius and Pru meet:
The man on the step was tall. Dark. Too handsome. âYou!â she said. âI am glad you are here. We have business to discuss.â
âWe certainly do, madam, and I will not be put off like some other members of my family. But the discussion is not for outdoors where all the world can hear us.â He brushed by her, and Pru became acutely aware she was the only one in the house. But being alone with her cousinâs husband could not compromise her, could it? They stood for a minute in the front hall glowering at each other, although the man did not get the full benefit of her glower, veiled as she was. Pru retreated into the parlor, and Mr. Shaw followed.
He took up far too much room, looking out of place amidst the pink and purple stripes and patterns. To her horror, he picked up the reticule she had left on the sofa. The fortune hunter! But instead of shaking out the few coins she had, he slipped a velvet bag into it.
âThis will have to satisfy you. Itâs rare and valuable and old. Just like you.â
âI beg your pardon!â Pru said, stung. She was but nine-and-twenty. Oldish , but not yet dead.
âI mean no disrespect. But you must admit youâre past the pinnacle of your profession.â
Her profession? Good lord, did this man take her to be one of the courtesans of Courtesan Court? âWell it is you who is old and addled, if you cannot even recognize your own mistress,â Pru said with asperity. She tore the veil from her face. âAnd may I remind you that you have a young wife, who, God willing, will long outlive you and outlast the ignominy of being married to you! Only God knows why, but she wants you back. You may have a pretty face, but your character leaves a great deal to be desired, sir! If you do anythingâanything at all to ever hurt or discomfort her againâleave the top to the toothpowder tin off, aim carelessly into the chamberpot, snore in your sleepâyou will answer to me!â
To Pruâs dismay, the man smiled slowly at her. He had shockingly white teethâhis toothpowder had been used to good effectâand an elegant crease on his left cheek, too sophisticated to be called a mere dimple. For twenty-three or so seconds she could see why Sophy had been smitten.
âI take it you are not Carmela de Castro.â
Pru felt the blood rush to her cheeks. âOf course I am not!â She took a step backward. âAnd you are not my cousin Sophyâs husband, are you?â
In other news, I’m revising Mistress by Midnight, scheduled for Spring 2011. And I’m going on a cruise for the first time ever! We’re flying to Tampa this weekend and getting on a ship bound for two ports in Mexico. I have a new passport with the most wretchedly hideous picture you will never see. So I won’t be back to blogging until the last week in February, when I’ll spill all the details of my Courtesan Court Contest!
Happy Valentine’s Day, too. Any special plans? Have you ever been on a cruise? Any advice to keep me from falling overboard?
Feb 3, 2010
More fun stuff! Every day brings something I never dared to expect. Linkage ahead.
From Katiebabs, a picture of her demon sheep King Mho enjoying a snuggle in a slanket with Mistress by Mistake. I could not embed it, but just click on over to Katie’s site and scroll down. I’ll still be here when you come back. đ
From India, 527 rupees buys you Mistress by Mistake.
A page at the Brava Authors site!
A teaser chapter from Margaret Rowe’s January 2011 Berkley Heat release Any Wicked Thing is going in the back of June 2010’s Tempting Eden.
I’m in great company! Beverley Kendall has beautiful bookmarks to promote The Season. And she has great things to say about MBM right here. 
So there’s the latest. Do you spend your rupees ordering books online, or must you hunt them down in the bookstore and hold them in your hand?
Jan 27, 2010
I was going to put an exclamation point in the title, but noticed I’ve gone a little overboard lately in my exclaiming in the headings below. So I’ll be nice and calm, although life has been one lovely exclamation point after the next lately. I recently celebrated my wedding anniversary (as my mother in law so famously declared at our January wedding, “And they don’t even have to get married!”), arcs have been mailed out to prize winners and reviewers, and I’m almost done with the novella that’s due in April. I should have plenty of time to rip apart Mistress by Midnight and put it back together again. Thanks to the fabulous Beverley Kendall and my fabulous critique partners the Vauxhall Vixens, Mistress by Mistake is getting some great buzz and review requests. Their fabulosity and generosity make me twitch to use an exclamation point, so I will!
Visit https://www.greaterhoustondefense.com for more info.
There’s a new News page on the menu bar above, with room for reviewers’ comments and what I’ve decided to call The Magical Mistressy Tour—my pajama-clad Internet promotion tour. I will have to polish up my wit for interviews to try to make my bespectacled library-clerk self seem mysteriously interesting. đ Maybe I’ll listen to some Beatles music to inspire me.
What music do you listen to for inspiration? What’s your favorite Beatles’ song? Mine is I Saw Her Standing There.
Jan 25, 2010
Congrats to ARC winners Amber E for her comment on the Vixens post and Blodeuedd for commenting at the Bradford Bunch! Mistress by Mistake is on her way! Thanks so much for all the the advice, good wishes and newsletter sign-ups. There will be more chances for free books and prizes in the months ahead.
Jan 19, 2010
In completely unexpected, exciting and exotic news, Mistress by Mistake will be published in Thailand! Translated into Thai! Foreign rights have been sold, so eventually I’ll have a book I wrote that I can’t read. đ
And FYI, Amazon is offering Mistress by Mistake for $11.20–in English– (cover price is $14) and Tempting Eden for $10.20 (cover price is $15) on pre-orders! What a deal. They’ve even got them grouped together. Is it embarrassing to say that I ordered some even though I get author copies? Here’s my Amazon author page , basically the same as the website biography.
I love a bargain. My dad was the shopper in our family, and he always came home with strange and wondrous things. It’s amusing to think of him, a chubby, nattily-dressed guy, pawing through the women’s clothes racks at S. Klein, the discount department store not far from where I grew up. He brought home stuff for my mother and me, guessing on sizes. Most of the time his selections were pretty good. I grew up with a ton of clothes, which dismayed my husband once we were married and I took up all the closet space.
S. Klein is closed now, but there’s always T.J. Maxx. Do you like to shop? Are you a bargain shopper or are you willing to pay full price? Do you know what the Thai alphabet looks like? (I had to Google. *g*)
I’ll post the ARC winners from the Vauxhall Vixen and Bradford Bunch posts on January 25. Everyone who signed up for the newsletter and gave me their mailing address should expect something, too. đ
