- Nov. 24 (today) - Chat at 8 PM Eastern/5 PM Pacific at Night Owl Reviews along with Rose Lerner, Cecilia Grant, and Olivia Waite
- Nov. 25 - Spotlight at Ella Quinn's blog
- Nov. 26 - Carina Press blog
- Nov. 26 - Ramblings From This Chick
- Dec. 2 - SOS Aloha
- Dec. 5 - Boosting the Signal at Angela Highland's blog
- Dec. 6 - Romance Cooks
- Dec. 10 - Mistletoe Madness at The Book Nympho
Showing posts with label blog tour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog tour. Show all posts
Monday, November 24, 2014
A Christmas Reunion blog tour
My holiday novella A Christmas Reunion is out today, and over the next few weeks I'll be talking about it at various places around the internet.
Monday, December 2, 2013
More on my blog tour...
Click here for all the stops on my blog tour, and enter to win a chance at a $50 gift card to your choice of Amazon or Barnes & Noble!
Blog Tour kicks off today!
Just a very quick post to announce that the blog tour for Christmas Past officially kicks off today with an interview at Roxanne's Realm.
There'll be more to come on this blog this week--what I read over Thanksgiving, my latest random cookbook of the week, and my thoughts on my beloved Auburn Tigers' defeat of Bama and how their turnaround season inspires me as a writer...but for now it's Monday morning, and I've got a day job to get to. Have a great week!
There'll be more to come on this blog this week--what I read over Thanksgiving, my latest random cookbook of the week, and my thoughts on my beloved Auburn Tigers' defeat of Bama and how their turnaround season inspires me as a writer...but for now it's Monday morning, and I've got a day job to get to. Have a great week!
Sunday, July 28, 2013
A Dream Defiant release day and blog tour!
My new release (and first-ever novella), A Dream Defiant, hits virtual shelves tomorrow, July 29!
Spain, 1813
Elijah Cameron, the son of runaway slaves, has spent his whole life in the British army proving that a black man can be as good a soldier as a white man. After a victory over the French, Elijah promises one of his dying men that he will deliver a scavenged ruby necklace to his wife, Rose, a woman Elijah has admired for years.
Elijah feels bound to protect her and knows a widow with a fortune in jewels will be a target. Rose dreams of using the necklace to return to England, but after a violent attack, she realizes that she needs Elijah's help to make the journey safely.
Her appreciation for Elijah's strength and integrity soon turns into love, but he doubts she could want a life with him, knowing the challenges they'd face. As their relationship grows, she must convince Elijah that she wants him as more than a bodyguard. And she must prove that their love can overcome all obstacles, no matter the color of their skin.
A Dream Defiant is now available for order pretty much wherever ebooks are sold, including:
Spain, 1813Elijah Cameron, the son of runaway slaves, has spent his whole life in the British army proving that a black man can be as good a soldier as a white man. After a victory over the French, Elijah promises one of his dying men that he will deliver a scavenged ruby necklace to his wife, Rose, a woman Elijah has admired for years.
Elijah feels bound to protect her and knows a widow with a fortune in jewels will be a target. Rose dreams of using the necklace to return to England, but after a violent attack, she realizes that she needs Elijah's help to make the journey safely.
Her appreciation for Elijah's strength and integrity soon turns into love, but he doubts she could want a life with him, knowing the challenges they'd face. As their relationship grows, she must convince Elijah that she wants him as more than a bodyguard. And she must prove that their love can overcome all obstacles, no matter the color of their skin.
A Dream Defiant is now available for order pretty much wherever ebooks are sold, including:
- Directly from my publisher, Carina Press. Note that Carina is having a sale on historical romances through July 31 at midnight Eastern time. Order now and enter coupon code HISTC25 and you can get 25% off on all historical romance purchases, including my three previous releases.
- Amazon.com
- Barnes & Noble
- Google Play
- iTunes
- Kobo
- All Romance eBooks
- Amazon Canada
- And, for my European readers, Amazon UK, Amazon France, and Amazon Germany
I will be doing a brief blog tour over the next week or so, and at several stops will be giving away a copy to one lucky commenter.
- It's not too late to comment on my Friday post at Risky Regencies.
- July 29 - Cecilia Grant's blog
- July 30 - the Carina Press blog
- July 31 - SOS Aloha
- July 31 - Romance Cooks
- August 1 - Excerpt at Unusual Historicals
- August 2 - Novel Reflections
- August 4 - Q&A at Unusual Historicals
- August 6 - Romancing the Past
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Blog tour grand prize winner!
With my blog tour for An Infamous Marriage behind me, it's time to draw my grand prize winner from all the commenters who took part. I kept a list as I went along, with each entrant getting one entry per blog post they commented on.
And the winner of a $50 gift certificate to her choice of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Powell's Books, chosen via random.org, is...
Cathy P!
Cathy, I'll be emailing you about claiming your prize. To everyone else, thank you for taking part in my tour, and if it inspired you to pick up a copy of my book, I hope it brings you hours of reading pleasure.
And the winner of a $50 gift certificate to her choice of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Powell's Books, chosen via random.org, is...
Cathy P!
Cathy, I'll be emailing you about claiming your prize. To everyone else, thank you for taking part in my tour, and if it inspired you to pick up a copy of my book, I hope it brings you hours of reading pleasure.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Guest blogging and reading update
My blog tour is starting to wind down, but there are still a few more stops where you can comment for a chance to win a copy of An Infamous Marriage or the tour grand prize of a $50 gift certificate to your choice of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Powell's.
Today, 11/26, I'm at The Maiden's Court.
Tuesday, 11/27 - Everybody Needs A Little Romance
Wednesday, 11/28 - I'll be at fellow Carina author JL Hilton's blog, and she'll be here.
Thursday, 11/29 - Rose Lerner's tumblr
Friday, 11/30 - Romance Writer's Revenge
Next Monday, 12/3 - Novel Reflections
And on the evening of 12/6, I'll announce the winner of the grand prize here on my blog.
In my life as a reader, I'm almost to 100 books for 2012! Here are the latest two:
98) The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty, by Dan Ariely. Behavioral economist Ariely explores the degree to which people are willing to cheat and why, and what kind of conditions make them more or less honest. Basically, people have competing urges to seek their own advantage and to portray themselves as honest, honorable people--whether as part of their self-image or to the world. A couple of the anecdotes that struck my interest:
1. College students were more likely to cheat on a test as part of a study if someone in the room neutrally dressed or wearing their school's colors and logo visibly cheated or pointed out how easy it was to do so, but less likely than a control group if the cheating person wore a rival school's logo.
2. In a study where a blind and a sighted researcher each asked growers at a farmers market to give them a pound of their best produce, which was then taken off-site to an independent evaluator, the blind researcher was consistently given better produce.
99) Redshirts, by John Scalzi. A hilarious, delightfully meta piece of SF where a bunch of ensigns on a starship realize they're characters in a TV show--and a poorly written one, at that.
Today, 11/26, I'm at The Maiden's Court.
Tuesday, 11/27 - Everybody Needs A Little Romance
Wednesday, 11/28 - I'll be at fellow Carina author JL Hilton's blog, and she'll be here.
Thursday, 11/29 - Rose Lerner's tumblr
Friday, 11/30 - Romance Writer's Revenge
Next Monday, 12/3 - Novel Reflections
And on the evening of 12/6, I'll announce the winner of the grand prize here on my blog.
In my life as a reader, I'm almost to 100 books for 2012! Here are the latest two:
98) The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty, by Dan Ariely. Behavioral economist Ariely explores the degree to which people are willing to cheat and why, and what kind of conditions make them more or less honest. Basically, people have competing urges to seek their own advantage and to portray themselves as honest, honorable people--whether as part of their self-image or to the world. A couple of the anecdotes that struck my interest:
1. College students were more likely to cheat on a test as part of a study if someone in the room neutrally dressed or wearing their school's colors and logo visibly cheated or pointed out how easy it was to do so, but less likely than a control group if the cheating person wore a rival school's logo.
2. In a study where a blind and a sighted researcher each asked growers at a farmers market to give them a pound of their best produce, which was then taken off-site to an independent evaluator, the blind researcher was consistently given better produce.
99) Redshirts, by John Scalzi. A hilarious, delightfully meta piece of SF where a bunch of ensigns on a starship realize they're characters in a TV show--and a poorly written one, at that.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Blog tour, reading, and no more NaNo
Just a few stops on the blog tour this week, since I'm taking the four-day Thanksgiving weekend off from promo:
In other writing news, my 2013 novella now has a release date--July 29. That's a bit earlier than my editor and I had been anticipating, which is entirely a Good Thing. Between my shoulder and hand issues and my full-time day job, I'm just not going to be the world's fastest writer, but I'm trying to put myself in a position where my new releases are no more than 8-9 months apart.
However, it also means editing the novella is now my highest writing priority, with completing a proposal for its sequel a close second, so I'm abandoning my goal of 25,000 new words this month. One of the hardest lessons I've had to learn as a writer is the importance of flexibility, of being able to change plans when your circumstances change. In this case it makes no sense to pursue an arbitrary goal at the expense of focusing my energy on what my publisher needs next from me.
One personal goal I am continuing to pursue is that of reading 100 books this year. Here's what I completed this week:
94) The Dark Vineyard, by Martin Walker. Second in Walker's mystery series, and while I didn't like it quite as much as the first book, Bruno, Chief of Police, I expect I'll keep reading these, if for nothing else to see what happens to Bruno and his assorted friends and lovers and to take more mental vacations to the Perigord.
95) The Wrong Hill to Die On, by Donis Casey. Sixth in a series of mysteries featuring early 20th century Oklahoma farmwife and mother of many, Alafair Tucker. While this isn't my favorite of the series--that would be either Hornswoggled or Crying Blood--I still enjoyed visiting the familiar characters again.
96) A Case for Solomon: Bobby Dunbar and the Kidnapping that Haunted a Nation, by Tal McThenia and Margaret Dunbar Cutright. 100 years ago, 4-year-old Bobby Dunbar disappeared on a family camping trip in Louisiana swamp country. Though the most logical explanation was that the child drowned or fell prey to an alligator, no body or sign of a struggle was ever found, so the grieving parents clung to the possibility that he'd been kidnapped instead. Then, many months later, a little boy who looked a bit like their son turned up in the company of a wandering piano tuner and repairman, so the Dunbars claimed him as their own.
I'd heard a version of this story on This American Life, so I already knew the outline and what a DNA test on the boy's descendants would bring to light. But I enjoyed reading the more fleshed-out version, though it's for the most part just a detailed history that leaves it to the reader to draw conclusions about the motivations of all involved and the role politics and class divisions played.
97) Marathon, by Boaz Yakin and Joe Infurnari. A graphic novel account of the Battle of Marathon and the legendary messenger whose feats gave rise to the race that bears that battle's name. I enjoyed it, and was glad to see a story of the Greco-Persian Wars where Athens gets her due--I'm sick of it being all about Sparta and Thermopylae, when Athens managed to be pretty dang badass without having to be a completely militaristic state to do so.
- Today I was at Reading Between the Wines.
- Monday, 11/19 - TBQ's Book Palace
- Tuesday, 11/20 - Cecilia Grant's blog
In other writing news, my 2013 novella now has a release date--July 29. That's a bit earlier than my editor and I had been anticipating, which is entirely a Good Thing. Between my shoulder and hand issues and my full-time day job, I'm just not going to be the world's fastest writer, but I'm trying to put myself in a position where my new releases are no more than 8-9 months apart.
However, it also means editing the novella is now my highest writing priority, with completing a proposal for its sequel a close second, so I'm abandoning my goal of 25,000 new words this month. One of the hardest lessons I've had to learn as a writer is the importance of flexibility, of being able to change plans when your circumstances change. In this case it makes no sense to pursue an arbitrary goal at the expense of focusing my energy on what my publisher needs next from me.
One personal goal I am continuing to pursue is that of reading 100 books this year. Here's what I completed this week:
94) The Dark Vineyard, by Martin Walker. Second in Walker's mystery series, and while I didn't like it quite as much as the first book, Bruno, Chief of Police, I expect I'll keep reading these, if for nothing else to see what happens to Bruno and his assorted friends and lovers and to take more mental vacations to the Perigord.
95) The Wrong Hill to Die On, by Donis Casey. Sixth in a series of mysteries featuring early 20th century Oklahoma farmwife and mother of many, Alafair Tucker. While this isn't my favorite of the series--that would be either Hornswoggled or Crying Blood--I still enjoyed visiting the familiar characters again.
96) A Case for Solomon: Bobby Dunbar and the Kidnapping that Haunted a Nation, by Tal McThenia and Margaret Dunbar Cutright. 100 years ago, 4-year-old Bobby Dunbar disappeared on a family camping trip in Louisiana swamp country. Though the most logical explanation was that the child drowned or fell prey to an alligator, no body or sign of a struggle was ever found, so the grieving parents clung to the possibility that he'd been kidnapped instead. Then, many months later, a little boy who looked a bit like their son turned up in the company of a wandering piano tuner and repairman, so the Dunbars claimed him as their own.
I'd heard a version of this story on This American Life, so I already knew the outline and what a DNA test on the boy's descendants would bring to light. But I enjoyed reading the more fleshed-out version, though it's for the most part just a detailed history that leaves it to the reader to draw conclusions about the motivations of all involved and the role politics and class divisions played.
97) Marathon, by Boaz Yakin and Joe Infurnari. A graphic novel account of the Battle of Marathon and the legendary messenger whose feats gave rise to the race that bears that battle's name. I enjoyed it, and was glad to see a story of the Greco-Persian Wars where Athens gets her due--I'm sick of it being all about Sparta and Thermopylae, when Athens managed to be pretty dang badass without having to be a completely militaristic state to do so.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Updates--reading, half NaNo, and blog tour
Wow, last week was quite a ride. Having a book release on Monday and a presidential election on Tuesday is...kind stressful, actually. I didn't get as much writing done as I'd hoped, though I've plenty of time to catch up and meet my November goal of 25,000 new words.
I did, however, get quite a bit of reading time in. Here are the latest on my trek to 100 books read in 2012:
90) Off Balance: A Memoir by Dominique Moceanu. Back when I was watching the 1996 Olympics, I remember disliking Dominique Moceanu because she came across in the media coverage somehow as a cutesy little spoiled brat. I feel like I should apologize for how severely I misjudged her, when actually she was stuck in an abusive coaching and home situation. I'm happy that she's developed a remarkable amount of resilience and seems to have a happy, stable life with her husband and two young children. I'm impressed, too, that she still loves gymnastics in spite of how its luminaries treated her and is trying to make it a better, healthier sport for the next generation.
91) New Orleans 1815: Andrew Jackson Crushes the British, by Tim Pickles. Research, as my current WIP features a British officer wounded at the Battle of New Orleans. A basic overview, heavily focused on the British experience and POV, which happens to be useful for my purposes.
92) Stealing Parker, by Miranda Kenneally. Earlier this year I read, and raved about, Kenneally's debut novel, Catching Jordan, about a girl quarterback good enough to realistically strive for a football scholarship. This book worked for me in a big way, too. I don't think I loved it quite as much--the whole "elite girl QB" plot of Catching Jordan gave me the same "somebody wrote a book just for ME?!" happiness I got when I first heard about His Majesty's Dragon. But Stealing Parker moved me. We meet the heroine in full crisis mode. Her mother left her father for a woman, and in their small, Southern, deeply religious town, the resulting scandal has thrown Parker's life into a tailspin. In some ways this is a painful read--17-year-old Parker gets involved with a 23-year-old teacher, and it's very much a slow motion train wreck on the page--but there's a certain saving grace and humor that kept it from ever getting unbearably dark.
93) Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George. A Newberry Award winner that I somehow missed reading in my own childhood--I read it yesterday to try to judge if it would be appropriate for my wolf-loving 8-year-old daughter. I think she's still a bit too young to understand and appreciate it, but in another year or two I bet she'll love such a tale of survival and finding your identity. I'm intrigued enough myself that I think I'll seek out the sequels.
As for writing...well, let's just say I didn't get any done Monday-Thursday, between An Infamous Marriage finally being out and the election. And when I went back to it this weekend, I realized the second scene had wandered off into the weeds, so I went back and rewrote.
Doesn't look too impressive, I know, but there's still plenty of time to get to 25K, especially with the 4-day holiday weekend coming up. We don't have any big plans--we live so far from our extended families that it's become a tradition to do a restaurant Thanksgiving dinner as our little family of three and travel at Christmas--so then I can write, write, write.
And, last but not least, the blog tour continues this week.
Monday 11/12 - Manga Maniac Cafe
Tuesday 11/13 - History Hoydens
Wednesday 11/14 - The Season for Romance
Thursday 11/15 - Book Lovers, Inc.
Friday 11/16 - The Romance Dish
I did, however, get quite a bit of reading time in. Here are the latest on my trek to 100 books read in 2012:
90) Off Balance: A Memoir by Dominique Moceanu. Back when I was watching the 1996 Olympics, I remember disliking Dominique Moceanu because she came across in the media coverage somehow as a cutesy little spoiled brat. I feel like I should apologize for how severely I misjudged her, when actually she was stuck in an abusive coaching and home situation. I'm happy that she's developed a remarkable amount of resilience and seems to have a happy, stable life with her husband and two young children. I'm impressed, too, that she still loves gymnastics in spite of how its luminaries treated her and is trying to make it a better, healthier sport for the next generation.
91) New Orleans 1815: Andrew Jackson Crushes the British, by Tim Pickles. Research, as my current WIP features a British officer wounded at the Battle of New Orleans. A basic overview, heavily focused on the British experience and POV, which happens to be useful for my purposes.
92) Stealing Parker, by Miranda Kenneally. Earlier this year I read, and raved about, Kenneally's debut novel, Catching Jordan, about a girl quarterback good enough to realistically strive for a football scholarship. This book worked for me in a big way, too. I don't think I loved it quite as much--the whole "elite girl QB" plot of Catching Jordan gave me the same "somebody wrote a book just for ME?!" happiness I got when I first heard about His Majesty's Dragon. But Stealing Parker moved me. We meet the heroine in full crisis mode. Her mother left her father for a woman, and in their small, Southern, deeply religious town, the resulting scandal has thrown Parker's life into a tailspin. In some ways this is a painful read--17-year-old Parker gets involved with a 23-year-old teacher, and it's very much a slow motion train wreck on the page--but there's a certain saving grace and humor that kept it from ever getting unbearably dark.
93) Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George. A Newberry Award winner that I somehow missed reading in my own childhood--I read it yesterday to try to judge if it would be appropriate for my wolf-loving 8-year-old daughter. I think she's still a bit too young to understand and appreciate it, but in another year or two I bet she'll love such a tale of survival and finding your identity. I'm intrigued enough myself that I think I'll seek out the sequels.
As for writing...well, let's just say I didn't get any done Monday-Thursday, between An Infamous Marriage finally being out and the election. And when I went back to it this weekend, I realized the second scene had wandered off into the weeds, so I went back and rewrote.
Doesn't look too impressive, I know, but there's still plenty of time to get to 25K, especially with the 4-day holiday weekend coming up. We don't have any big plans--we live so far from our extended families that it's become a tradition to do a restaurant Thanksgiving dinner as our little family of three and travel at Christmas--so then I can write, write, write.
And, last but not least, the blog tour continues this week.
Monday 11/12 - Manga Maniac Cafe
Tuesday 11/13 - History Hoydens
Wednesday 11/14 - The Season for Romance
Thursday 11/15 - Book Lovers, Inc.
Friday 11/16 - The Romance Dish
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Blog tour update
My guest post on the RR@H Novel Thoughts blog has been rescheduled for this Friday, November 9.
No new progress on my Half NaNoWriMo to report, unfortunately. The election kinda ate my writing time the past couple days, but I mean to get back on the horse, tonight if I can stay awake, and tomorrow for sure.
No new progress on my Half NaNoWriMo to report, unfortunately. The election kinda ate my writing time the past couple days, but I mean to get back on the horse, tonight if I can stay awake, and tomorrow for sure.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
An Infamous Marriage blog tour!
My next novel, An Infamous Marriage, releases this coming Monday, 11/5, and is available for preorder from most of the usual suspects, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance eBooks, and, in a first for my books, Audible.com.
I'm celebrating this, my first new release in over a year, with a month-long blog tour. At most of the stops I'll be giving away a copy of the book to one commenter, and at the end of the tour, on December 6, I will do a drawing for a grand prize of a $50 gift card to the winner's choice of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Powell's Books (just in time for holiday shopping or treating yourself to some good books to read when you need a break from family togetherness). You get one entry in the grand prize drawing for each blog you comment on, so comment away!
Here's a preview of coming attractions. It's a long tour, but I'm looking forward to getting out there in the virtual world and sharing a bit about myself and my inspirations for my latest book.
Friday, 11/2 - Q&A at Angela Campbell's blog, including my favorite memories from the year I lived in England.
Sunday, 11/4 - Q&A at Risky Regencies, with my priorities for using history in the writing process.
Monday, 11/5 - Q&A at Callie Hutton's blog, revealing how Jack Armstrong, the hero of An Infamous Marriage, got his name.
Tuesday, 11/6 - I'm at Romancing the Past, recommending books as the best choice for celebration or consolation regardless of how you feel about the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.
Wednesday, 11/7 - A two-post day! I'll be at the Carina blog comparing my 8-year-old daughter's ideas of a writer's needs to my own and at Novel Thoughts talking about why I write military heroes.
Thursday, 11/8 - Q&A at Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance, wherein I reveal the romance novel I'd recommend to someone who's never read the genre before.
Friday, 11/9 - Q&A at Ramblings From This Chick, including the three authors I'd most like to have dinner with.
Monday, 11/12 - Q&A at Manga Maniac Cafe, with a list of my creative influences/inspirations.
Tuesday, 11/13 - I visit the History Hoydens and talk about inserting fictional characters into real historical events.
Wednesday, 11/14 - At The Season for Romance, I discuss writing my first rakish hero.
Thursday, 11/15 - I talk about what I learned by turning the maps upside down at Book Lovers Inc.
Friday, 11/16 - I discuss my fondness for marriage of convenience plots at The Romance Dish.
Sunday, 11/18 - At Reading Between the Wines, I do my best to explain why I don't so much write the Regency as the Napoleonic Era. (Hint: the uniforms play a part.)
Monday, 11/19 - Q&A at TBQ's Book Palace reveals, among other things, my favorite fictional crushes.
Tuesday, 11/20 - Cecilia Grant interviews me about writing an adulterous hero and the history in An Infamous Marriage.
Monday, 11/26 - Q&A at The Maiden's Court, including how my story ideas start.
Tuesday, 11/27 - I talk about raising my daughter to be a reader at Everybody Needs a Little Romance.
Wednesday, 11/28 - J.L. Hilton and I swap blogs to talk about being a sci-fi/fantasy author who loves costume dramas and a historical romance author who's a sci-fi/fantasy geek.
Thursday, 11/29 - My critique partner Rose Lerner asks me, among other things, about how I used Waterloo in An Infamous Marriage.
Friday, 11/30 - My top ten rules for success on my favorite cooking show, Chopped, with implications for good writer behavior, at Romance Writer's Revenge.
Monday, 12/3 - I close the tour with a visit to Novel Reflections, where I talk about how my experience with chronic injury worked its way into Jack's experiences in my book.
I'm celebrating this, my first new release in over a year, with a month-long blog tour. At most of the stops I'll be giving away a copy of the book to one commenter, and at the end of the tour, on December 6, I will do a drawing for a grand prize of a $50 gift card to the winner's choice of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Powell's Books (just in time for holiday shopping or treating yourself to some good books to read when you need a break from family togetherness). You get one entry in the grand prize drawing for each blog you comment on, so comment away!
Here's a preview of coming attractions. It's a long tour, but I'm looking forward to getting out there in the virtual world and sharing a bit about myself and my inspirations for my latest book.
Friday, 11/2 - Q&A at Angela Campbell's blog, including my favorite memories from the year I lived in England.
Sunday, 11/4 - Q&A at Risky Regencies, with my priorities for using history in the writing process.
Monday, 11/5 - Q&A at Callie Hutton's blog, revealing how Jack Armstrong, the hero of An Infamous Marriage, got his name.
Tuesday, 11/6 - I'm at Romancing the Past, recommending books as the best choice for celebration or consolation regardless of how you feel about the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.
Wednesday, 11/7 - A two-post day! I'll be at the Carina blog comparing my 8-year-old daughter's ideas of a writer's needs to my own and at Novel Thoughts talking about why I write military heroes.
Thursday, 11/8 - Q&A at Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance, wherein I reveal the romance novel I'd recommend to someone who's never read the genre before.
Friday, 11/9 - Q&A at Ramblings From This Chick, including the three authors I'd most like to have dinner with.
Monday, 11/12 - Q&A at Manga Maniac Cafe, with a list of my creative influences/inspirations.
Tuesday, 11/13 - I visit the History Hoydens and talk about inserting fictional characters into real historical events.
Wednesday, 11/14 - At The Season for Romance, I discuss writing my first rakish hero.
Thursday, 11/15 - I talk about what I learned by turning the maps upside down at Book Lovers Inc.
Friday, 11/16 - I discuss my fondness for marriage of convenience plots at The Romance Dish.
Sunday, 11/18 - At Reading Between the Wines, I do my best to explain why I don't so much write the Regency as the Napoleonic Era. (Hint: the uniforms play a part.)
Monday, 11/19 - Q&A at TBQ's Book Palace reveals, among other things, my favorite fictional crushes.
Tuesday, 11/20 - Cecilia Grant interviews me about writing an adulterous hero and the history in An Infamous Marriage.
Monday, 11/26 - Q&A at The Maiden's Court, including how my story ideas start.
Tuesday, 11/27 - I talk about raising my daughter to be a reader at Everybody Needs a Little Romance.
Wednesday, 11/28 - J.L. Hilton and I swap blogs to talk about being a sci-fi/fantasy author who loves costume dramas and a historical romance author who's a sci-fi/fantasy geek.
Thursday, 11/29 - My critique partner Rose Lerner asks me, among other things, about how I used Waterloo in An Infamous Marriage.
Friday, 11/30 - My top ten rules for success on my favorite cooking show, Chopped, with implications for good writer behavior, at Romance Writer's Revenge.
Monday, 12/3 - I close the tour with a visit to Novel Reflections, where I talk about how my experience with chronic injury worked its way into Jack's experiences in my book.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Guest blogs of the week
I'm having a busy couple days guest blogging and would love a few more comments.
Yesterday my awesome critique partner Rose Lerner interviewed me about, among other things, Austen, Whedon, Wellington, and hot Founding Fathers.
Today I'm at Petit Fours and Hot Tamales talking about travel, my first book (the one I wrote in 4th grade), inspirations, and the surprising joys of writing a character you DON'T like.
And I'm also at Happy Writer, talking about how I've come to terms with not being an overnight success.
Yesterday my awesome critique partner Rose Lerner interviewed me about, among other things, Austen, Whedon, Wellington, and hot Founding Fathers.
Today I'm at Petit Fours and Hot Tamales talking about travel, my first book (the one I wrote in 4th grade), inspirations, and the surprising joys of writing a character you DON'T like.
And I'm also at Happy Writer, talking about how I've come to terms with not being an overnight success.
Friday, April 8, 2011
A Marriage of Inconvenience Blog Tour
A Marriage of Inconvenience releases Monday, and over the next couple of weeks I'll be visiting some of my favorite blogs to talk about the book, my writing, and my inspirations. At most of my tour stops, I'll be giving away a copy of the book to one lucky commenter. Here's the schedule as it stands now:
Saturday, April 9
Excerpt at Romancing the Past
Sunday, April 10
Q&A at Risky Regencies
Monday, April 11
Publication, the Second Time Around (With Bonus Cabana Boys!) at Romance Writer's Revenge
Tuesday, April 12
Horse Shopping With My Characters at History Hoydens
Wednesday, April 13
My First Time (um, that's my first time FINISHING A MANUSCRIPT, get your minds out of the gutter) at the Carina blog
Thursday, April 14
First Person vs. Third Person at Debuts & Reviews
Excerpt at The Season for Romance
Friday, April 15
Houses in Historicals at Historical Hussies
Saturday, April 16
Control Freaks in Love at Fresh Fiction
Sunday, April 17
TBD at Elaine Golden's blog
Tuesday, April 19
TBD at Rose Lerner's blog
Wednesday, April 20
TBD at Petit Fours and Hot Tamales
An Overnight Success (or Not) at Happy Writer
Saturday, April 9
Excerpt at Romancing the Past
Sunday, April 10
Q&A at Risky Regencies
Monday, April 11
Publication, the Second Time Around (With Bonus Cabana Boys!) at Romance Writer's Revenge
Tuesday, April 12
Horse Shopping With My Characters at History Hoydens
Wednesday, April 13
My First Time (um, that's my first time FINISHING A MANUSCRIPT, get your minds out of the gutter) at the Carina blog
Thursday, April 14
First Person vs. Third Person at Debuts & Reviews
Excerpt at The Season for Romance
Friday, April 15
Houses in Historicals at Historical Hussies
Saturday, April 16
Control Freaks in Love at Fresh Fiction
Sunday, April 17
TBD at Elaine Golden's blog
Tuesday, April 19
TBD at Rose Lerner's blog
Wednesday, April 20
TBD at Petit Fours and Hot Tamales
An Overnight Success (or Not) at Happy Writer
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Guest post at Pink Fuzzy Slippers
Today I'm a guest at the Pink Fuzzy Slippers blog, talking about where I get my ideas and how I avoid giving writer's block power over me.
Stop by and say hi. One commenter wins a $10 Amazon gift certificate.
Stop by and say hi. One commenter wins a $10 Amazon gift certificate.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Back on the blog tour
Today I'm home from work with sniffles and a fever--yet another sign of fall, the first cold of the season. Which somehow seems to occur within a week of school starting back. Hmmm...
Anyway, today I'm also at Petit Fours and Hot Tamales, talking about the surprising amount of serendipity I've encountered in the most important areas of my life despite never expecting anything like that.
Anyway, today I'm also at Petit Fours and Hot Tamales, talking about the surprising amount of serendipity I've encountered in the most important areas of my life despite never expecting anything like that.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
...and the blog tour is back!
Today I'm at Historical Hussies, talking about the history I left out of The Sergeant's Lady and giving away a $10 gift certificate to Amazon, B&N, or Books on Board to one commenter.
I haven't had much time for blogging here lately, between work, editing A Marriage of Inconvenience, working on my desert island WIP, and getting my daughter ready for school. (She starts first grade today.) But I promise a real post soon, maybe a nice picture-filled one so you'll know what James and Lucy, the protagonists of Marriage, look like in my head.
I haven't had much time for blogging here lately, between work, editing A Marriage of Inconvenience, working on my desert island WIP, and getting my daughter ready for school. (She starts first grade today.) But I promise a real post soon, maybe a nice picture-filled one so you'll know what James and Lucy, the protagonists of Marriage, look like in my head.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Trying to catch my breath
It's been a crazy week, but more because of the day job than anything to do with my book, to tell the truth. Next week should be more settled, thankfully. I have a job that's fairly peaceful about 75% of the time but goes chaotic at often unpredictable intervals, and this happened to be one of the out-of-control weeks.
Anyway, on the book front, yesterday I posted at Rose Lerner's place about historical crushes. I've already given away the free book for that stop, but you're still welcome to stop by and comment, of course!
Today I have excerpts up at two sites: The Season and Unusual Historicals. Two different excerpts, and both different from the one I posted at the Carina blog on Tuesday, so if you're exploring my work to decide whether or not to buy, you might want to visit both. :-)
Tomorrow I'm at Once Written, Twice Shy, talking about the challenges facing introverts when they have to come out of their writing cave and work with their publishing team, and Sunday I'll be back at Unusual Historicals and also at Risky Regencies, with giveaways at all three sites.
On the reviews front, well, they continue to trickle in. I'm particularly happy with the B I got at Dear Author and my 9-star Top Pick from The Season.
At some point I need to write about my website and how it came to be, but that's just not going to happen for another few days. On top of the work madness, we have out of town company and a party planned, so it's all I can do to breathe, work on my CURRENT manuscript, and keep up with my blogging obligations.
Anyway, on the book front, yesterday I posted at Rose Lerner's place about historical crushes. I've already given away the free book for that stop, but you're still welcome to stop by and comment, of course!
Today I have excerpts up at two sites: The Season and Unusual Historicals. Two different excerpts, and both different from the one I posted at the Carina blog on Tuesday, so if you're exploring my work to decide whether or not to buy, you might want to visit both. :-)
Tomorrow I'm at Once Written, Twice Shy, talking about the challenges facing introverts when they have to come out of their writing cave and work with their publishing team, and Sunday I'll be back at Unusual Historicals and also at Risky Regencies, with giveaways at all three sites.
On the reviews front, well, they continue to trickle in. I'm particularly happy with the B I got at Dear Author and my 9-star Top Pick from The Season.
At some point I need to write about my website and how it came to be, but that's just not going to happen for another few days. On top of the work madness, we have out of town company and a party planned, so it's all I can do to breathe, work on my CURRENT manuscript, and keep up with my blogging obligations.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Today on the blog tour
Today I'm at my publisher's blog, and by the end of the day I should have three posts up, talking about my influences as a writer and including an excerpt from The Sergeant's Lady. The first post is already up, reflecting on my adolescent love of Sunfire YA historicals and traditional Regency romances and the degree to which The Sergeant's Lady is a combination of the two, with sex scenes. No giveaway today, but please stop by and say hi anyway!
I'm going to post more about what it's like to go through my debut week as an author, but I think I'm going to wait till I've had time to reflect on the experience a bit more. It's oddly like your wedding day, in that it's something you dream of for a long time before it actually happens and you expect to be walking on air, but when it gets there it's awesome, but nothing like what you expected, and your mind tends to glom onto the most trivial things instead of the fact you're Actually Finally Getting Married. When I look back at my wedding day, I remember being tired (I was diagnosed with mono maybe two weeks later--I got chicken pox at 18 and mono at 28, and I hope I continue the pattern of getting diseases ten years past the usual time, 'cuz I'll live longer that way), the logistics of moving in a big dress, the problems with the caterer, and so on. All the romantic high points were before or after that day. When I look back at this week...well, I'll let you know once I'm actually looking back!
I'm going to post more about what it's like to go through my debut week as an author, but I think I'm going to wait till I've had time to reflect on the experience a bit more. It's oddly like your wedding day, in that it's something you dream of for a long time before it actually happens and you expect to be walking on air, but when it gets there it's awesome, but nothing like what you expected, and your mind tends to glom onto the most trivial things instead of the fact you're Actually Finally Getting Married. When I look back at my wedding day, I remember being tired (I was diagnosed with mono maybe two weeks later--I got chicken pox at 18 and mono at 28, and I hope I continue the pattern of getting diseases ten years past the usual time, 'cuz I'll live longer that way), the logistics of moving in a big dress, the problems with the caterer, and so on. All the romantic high points were before or after that day. When I look back at this week...well, I'll let you know once I'm actually looking back!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Release day!
My release day is here at last, and The Sergeant's Lady is available just about anywhere e-books are sold.
I'd have more to say, but I woke up this morning to a dead battery in the car we didn't take on vacation, so my schedule for the day has gone catawumpus. Sigh. The glamorous life of the writer.
Today I'm guest blogging at Magical Musings and will be giving away a free download of my novel to one commenter. Please stop by!
I'd have more to say, but I woke up this morning to a dead battery in the car we didn't take on vacation, so my schedule for the day has gone catawumpus. Sigh. The glamorous life of the writer.
Today I'm guest blogging at Magical Musings and will be giving away a free download of my novel to one commenter. Please stop by!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Office update and first guest blog
Yesterday I guest blogged at History Hoydens, talking mostly about my research process. And I learned that I'm going to have to be very diligent during my blog tour if I'm going to get any work or writing done, instead of, you know, just obsessively checking the blogs every 15 minutes to see if there are new comments.
Speaking of writing, my office is coming along. I don't have my desk set up yet, nor my Inspiring Images up on the wall, but the walls are painted and I'm starting to unpack my books. Behold!
The darker wall is Okra, the lighter one Oolong Tea. Those are my research books, about half unpacked--lots of military history, with a heavy focus on Napoleon and Wellington and their campaigns, plus a goodly amount of general Regency sources and stray books on subjects unrelated to the 18th or 19th century that I might write about if I ever get tired of mining the Napoleonic Wars. Want to know how ladies wore their hair in 1818, or who-all Wellington wrote to right after Waterloo (his letters from that period were unusually full of exclamation points!!! to the degree that I asked him if he were 46 or 16!!), or how the Athenians tricked the Persians into engaging their fleet at Salamis? I've got you covered.
For those who came in late, here's what my walls used to look like. Big improvement, no?
Speaking of writing, my office is coming along. I don't have my desk set up yet, nor my Inspiring Images up on the wall, but the walls are painted and I'm starting to unpack my books. Behold!
The darker wall is Okra, the lighter one Oolong Tea. Those are my research books, about half unpacked--lots of military history, with a heavy focus on Napoleon and Wellington and their campaigns, plus a goodly amount of general Regency sources and stray books on subjects unrelated to the 18th or 19th century that I might write about if I ever get tired of mining the Napoleonic Wars. Want to know how ladies wore their hair in 1818, or who-all Wellington wrote to right after Waterloo (his letters from that period were unusually full of exclamation points!!! to the degree that I asked him if he were 46 or 16!!), or how the Athenians tricked the Persians into engaging their fleet at Salamis? I've got you covered.
For those who came in late, here's what my walls used to look like. Big improvement, no?
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Blog Tour!
I'm about to embark upon The Sergeant's Lady Blog Tour 2010! It's a bit like a physical book tour, only without the travel to glamorous destinations, but also without the room service food or the sitting forlornly at a bookstore table hoping the next person who walks up will actually buy my book instead of just asking for directions to the restroom or where the Stieg Larsson books are shelved.
I'll be visiting various blogs and posting what I hope will be amusing and/or informative anecdotes about me, my book, and my writing process. At almost every stop I'll be giving away a free download of The Sergeant's Lady or an Amazon gift certificate to one lucky commenter, so do check the calendar on the sidebar and stop by for your chance to win!
I'll be visiting various blogs and posting what I hope will be amusing and/or informative anecdotes about me, my book, and my writing process. At almost every stop I'll be giving away a free download of The Sergeant's Lady or an Amazon gift certificate to one lucky commenter, so do check the calendar on the sidebar and stop by for your chance to win!
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