I’m announcing the first of my five winners in my current contest.  And the winners are:

• Betsy B. of Taylorsville, NC
• Kari C. of Northfield, MN

Congratulations! And watch for your autographed hardback edition of Love Letters from a Duke in your mailbox.
Make sure you read all the details and then enter, because there are still three prizes left to win.

Have you seen the new feature in comments where you can share this blog on Facebook and alike? Just go to comments, click on your fav social networking icon and you can share this contest and blog … Read more »

If you haven’t noticed, I took last week off. Not intentionally, and with no good reason, other than I kept intending to get to the computer and blog, but life and the holidays kept luring me away. I don’t know about you, but I am so easily distracted this time of year.  Write? Are you kidding?  When there are Christmas cookies to bake, presents to knit, hunt down and then wrap like a contented Christmas Diva (especially if I’ve found it on sale and used a coupon)?

Goodness, I hope my editor isn’t reading this. But honestly? I never plan … Read more »

I’ve been sitting on these covers for a few weeks, dying to show them off.  I got the cover of Confessions of a Little Black Gown first (Tally’s story – March 31st)  and couldn’t believe how gorgeous it turned out:

When I asked them for this title (yes, this is my title) there was concern about a black gown looking too much like a “funeral”, but I don’t think anyone will be thinking about her graveside manner–am I right?    The stepback inside is breathtaking, but you’ll just have to wait for that.  I am such a tease.

But not so … Read more »

Last week was sort of a surprise.  I received two awards in one week.  It’s not every week that you snag even a single award, but two in one week?  Well, that is cause to celebrate.  We went out to Canlis and had a wonderful meal on Friday night.  Well, the Canlis thing was for his job and had been in the works for weeks, so my awards had nothing to do with it, but really when you are in Seattle’s finest restaurant with a roomful of engineers, it is much nicer to imagine that the entire affair is to … Read more »

I think books were meant to be shared.  At least that was what I learned growing up as I watched all the adults in the family pass along good reads.  And if a book was particularly good or popular, then there was the bartering that went into who got it next.  My husband and I did this on our honeymoon–I was reading a Grisham novel and he picked it up when I wasn’t looking.  Then the tussle began as to who got to read it.  I solved the problem by ripping the paperback in half before my horrified husband’s eyes. … Read more »

Here it is. August 26th. The day this book comes out. Of all the books I’ve written, this one feels like it has taken ages to reach this point. I wrote it nearly two years ago, just after His Mistress by Morning came out. So to me, the process has been a whole lot of waiting to share this very fun story. At least I think it is fun. It was fun to write, if that means anything.

But today, I would like to talk about the Dedication in this book.

To my good friend, Anne Ricci.

Whose support over … Read more »

I am no fan of spoilers. If I am looking forward to something (a book, a TV show, a movie) I make it a studious practice of avoiding anything that might hint at the plot, the twists or even if there is a surprise. I’ll read a review for about two lines to get the sense of whether the reviewer liked it or didn’t and then stop, for fear the reviewer has forgotten his job and gone and spoiled the premise for his readers.

Because, ladies and gentleman, IMHO the job of a reviewer is NOT to give away the … Read more »

So last week I talked about how great you all are, and this week I’ll share what authors are usually up to before a book comes out. Really, if you think we are all successful, well-adjusted and basically lofty individuals and you want to hold onto that delusion, please read no further. It only gets ugly from here.

Now most authors I know spend the two weeks before their book comes out fussing. Not just fussing, but pacing around. Waiting. You see we’ve spent months, years even waiting for this book to come out, for this story to get told … Read more »

Is come out of the woodwork and comment like crazy. Wow! Was I overwhelmed at how many of you took the time to enter my contest. Keep those comments coming because they all count. What also overwhelmed me was that so many of you have said that you can’t wait for Tempted by the Night to come out, and believe me I really, really appreciate hearing that. You don’t know how much such bubbly praise makes an author’s day.

Nor should I tell you that I have a copy of the book sitting on my desk–I usually get a … Read more »

(Please note that this contest ended on August 25th.  But please visit my contest page to win other fun prizes!)

When you go to the RWA conference there is a ton of free stuff to pick up. Everywhere. Books, bookmarks, pens, pencils, publisher’s tchotchkes, and more books. This year I exercised due restraint, mostly because I knew the DH would be around when I was packing up and I’d have to hear the complaints of “why are you bringing that stuff home?” Okay, he’d probably call it all junk, but he’s a man and just doesn’t get it.

But quite … Read more »