Back from LA and RT and all those other two initial acronyms that elude me right at the moment. Had this sort of glorious time doing nothing. Well, I wasn’t exactly doing nothing–my schedule was packed–but I had that sense of flitting from one thing to another and not really having to work all that hard. Plus, it was fun. Yes, I said fun.

I don’t always find big conferences fun. Too loud. Too many people. Too many costume changes. Too much. But having made the decision to go to RT rather late in the game, allowed me to put … Read more »

The closer a book comes to being released, the more I feel my life speeding up. I start writing faster, I panic faster, I get out of the house more. Which is probably a good thing–because then I can get a chance to see all of you. And in that, let’s get outta here vein, I’m off to the Romantic Times Reader’s Convention this week. Currently I am going through my usual, “what to wear, what to pack” panic but by the time I reach LA, I will have my SoCal vibe on and be quite mellow.

I hadn’t planned … Read more »

They are a coming. In the next few months my website will be getting some upgrades and new features. Not giving away anything just yet, but just wanted to make sure you had a bit of a heads up. It’s been sort of exciting to go through my current site and look at it from a redecorating stand point. I love my site, but we all need something new every once in a while, don’t we?

One thing I can show you is that I’ve cleaned up my Blog Categories over there on the right–added some new, gathered together a … Read more »

Thank you one and all for the wonderful year you have shared with me. From your posts here on this blog, to your friendship on Facebook, to your kind emails that arrive in my inbox like little presents, I find daily reminders about why I love being an author–the readers who share my joy in happy endings, a bit of comedy and a dash of adventure. I am constantly amazed that you care so deeply about these characters I’ve created (yes, I am talking about you die-hard Marlowe fans!) and how much they live through not only through my … Read more »

One of the occupational hazards of being a romance author is email from men you don’t know. And not the usual strangers pushing prescription drugs and things to make my root grow like wood, but men who want to send you pictures of themselves, specifically male models. Yes, there it is, one of the perks of being a romance author: young, half dressed men send you their pictures just for you to privately oogle and enjoy, er review, purely on a professional level, of course.

But I realized I was being selfish, keeping these emails to myself, that and … Read more »

My friend, Maya Rodale, drops by to talk about: Life in London

There’s nothing like living in a place to really know it intimately, and thus to write about it authentically. Since actually visiting Regency London is out of the question, the next best thing is living in London. I was lucky to get to do that.

Thanks to my graduate school program, I was able to spend 8 weeks in London on an independent research project. Topic: romance fiction, of course. As I was reading early 1800’s gothic romances and other novels, along with conduct guides and things like … Read more »

What a fun day! The wonderful folks at the King County Library system have this annual event and it is so much fun–readers from all over and always some fun surprises. This year was no exception. They had us in the main foyer of the Covington Library which is right next to the children’s section and Cherry Adair was the opening speaker trying to tell her camel sex story and at the same time keep in G-rated for the kiddos right next to us. I’ve never seen anyone come up with clean synonyms faster than Cherry did. She had the … Read more »

I recently found an invitation in my inbox to come visit a new blog written by Kristine Hughes and Victoria Hinshaw, two of my favorite Regency and Victorian enthusiasts and researchers. Of course I dropped by immediately and found a delightful treasure trove of information. My next thought was to make sure all of you discovered their blog, Number One London, as well. So just to introduce you, here are Kristine Hughes and Victoria Hinshaw:

EB: Number One London is an exciting new blog! What do you intend to do and share with your newfound readers?

KH: We intend … Read more »

EB: Emma, I was thrilled to get to read Lessons from a Scarlet Lady early, so please tell everyone about the book so I can gush some more:

EW: Well, first of all…the main characters are married. I know, I know, usually the romance comes first with the wedding as the end result, but Colton and Brianna have made a fashionable, aristocratic match. Our independent duchess, however, is head over heels in love and doesn’t want her handsome husband to fall into the dilettante habits of the beau monde. He could very well take a mistress, but she … Read more »

Or, perhaps I should have named this post, What Was I Thinking? In the next few weeks I need to get all the Christmas shopping done. Cook Christmas dinner. Get all the stuff that has to be done for the arrival of How I Met My Countess on December 29th wrapped up and out the door. Oh, bother, I forgot. Get the newsletter written. And yes, finish the next book. Which is very close to being finished, but let me tell you, Christmas is putting the pinch on.

Oh, and to top it all off, my beloved Alphasmart had a … Read more »