While at RT, I picked up a lovely award for Mad About the Duke. The 2010 Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Love & Laughter Historical. I tried to tell a joke as I accepted the award but it sort of fell flat. Way to go for the funny writer. Let me tell you, humor is a lot easier to write than execute before a live audience.

But I have to credit the Duke of Parkerton for being the real comic genius of this story. He arrived in This Rake of Mine, all stiff and proper and ducal, and … 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 »

A real quick update for everyone: here are the names of the winners from my last contest–each of whom will/or already has received a gift certificate from the online bookseller of their choice: Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, or Borders.

With the appropriate drumroll and fanfare, the winners are:

Christina S of Tonasket, WA
Margaret R. of Grand Rapids, MI
LaQuita P. of Alma, AR
Patricia A. of West Miami, FL
Judy B. of San Diego, CA
Vanessa O. of Hanslett, MI
Sharon D. of Abbeville, LA
Miranda O. of Hamburg, NY

I’ve notified everyone, but not everyone has claimed their … Read more »

Okay, I make no bones about this. I hate excerpts, sneak peeks, previews, look aheads, whatever you want to call them. I don’t like them. I want to be surprised, amused, delighted as I turn the page of a book, watch a movie, check in on All My Children or lately, One Life to Live. I don’t want to know what day Angie’s baby is going to be born. I want to tune in and be part of the story, then and there. No Cassandras allowed in my life. I don’t want to know.

Sadly, I have had to come … Read more »

My good friend, Melissa McClone, asked me if I minded if she could tag me. She’s one of my long distant friends that I never see enough of, but when we do get to see each other, I find that it doesn’t matter how much time has passed, we are already caught up. Does that make sense?. So for Melissa, I will endeavor to be Honest and thank you for asking.

The rules are as follows: Thank the blogger who awarded you, and then list 10 honest things about yourself. Choose 7 other blogs to receive the award, and … Read more »

I got an email this morning from a friend that I was up on the AAR Blog about their recent reader poll and that I HAD TO GO LOOK. She knows me too well, I don’t visit review sites, so the caps were her way of saying, “Get your butt over there and look.”  Yes, yes, Chris, I went and looked. Happy?

Well apparently they do reader’s polls, and they had adjusted my rankings. I have rankings? I never knew. Again, I am hopelessly out of the loop on review sites. I spend too much time on knitting blogs, or … Read more »

So you all just cracked me up this week. Here I thought I’d posted a good blog on “what makes a great romance,” and then the discussion turns to focus on my poor decrepit RITA. So I feel I should offer both a defense and some thoughts for anyone who might gain one in the future.

RITAs are delicate creatures. Swanlike in their grace, they also have their quirks. Take the pen. Most winners will tell you, that through no fault of their own, the pen has snapped off. Mine lasted for about seven years, then one day snap, … Read more »

Last week, Sarita Leone of From the Heart blog surprised me by giving me (well, my blog that is) an award. It’s nice to know that not only does someone read my blog, but likes it enough to make such a nice offer of recognition.  I am honored and just plain thrilled.  Oh, let’s cut to the chase–I love winning anything as my post Bringing Home the Elephant will attest. I’ll have you know I blew dry my hair this morning in honor of publicly accepting it. It’s not every day I blow dry my hair. I went out for … Read more »

Thanks to the internet, I’ve discovered that I get around. Well, not me exactly, which would be sort of fun for a 40-something stay-at-home mom with the social life of an earthworm in the Mojave, but my virtual me.  That Elizabeth Boyle entity, who in the last month or so was popping up all over the place, that impertinent little minx. I rather envied her prowess, her brilliance, the way she was beloved by all.  Okay, that is probably overstating the case–okay, way overstating the case, because some people were slightly miffed with my virtual self, but then again any … 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 »