Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Between Silk and Sand is Here!


It’s release day for my new YA fantasy, Between Silk and Sand!

You’ve seen the bee-yoo-ti-ful cover...


You’ve read the back cover blurb...and the excerpt on my website...


You’ve seen the video...


Now you can finally read it! Between Silk and Sand is now available directly from Book View Café in both MOBI and EPUB formats and also from Kobo, ibooks, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, GooglePlay, and Smashwords. Or you can order it in print from your local bookstore (or buy it online too, for that matter.) It’s receiving some lovely reviews on Goodreads and was rated 4 ½stars with a Crowned Heart of Excellence by InD’tale Magazine, which called it “a fantasy lover’s treasure!

I'm so happy this book is finally out in the world; it's one that's close to my heart--I love these characters dearly! I hope you'll check it out and give it a try--and let me know what you think if you do! 


Friday, July 27, 2018

Dateline: Denver, Part 2


Oh, what a lovely time we had at the conference! I quite agree with Marissa that the best part of conference is spending time together. Sometimes we attended workshops as a pair; sometimes we divided and conquered, sharing notes with each other afterward.

Two special moments involved tea.

The first was the Beau Monde mini-conference. As we have mentioned, the Beau Monde Chapter of Romance Writers of AmericaTM  promotes excellence in romantic fiction set primarily in the Regency period (1811-1820). Marissa and I are both members. The workshops on travel, Bow Street, rebellious ladies, and inheritances were excellent, as was the keynote by fabulous author Cheryl Bolen. And after all that information and inspiration, we were treated to tea, followed by an elegant soiree in the evening crowned by the announcement of the winners of the Royal Ascot contest. This contest highlights up-and-coming authors. Remember the name of Lesli Lent. I predict you’ll be reading great books from her soon.

Friday, Marissa and I had the honor of being invited to tea by the incomparable John Charles, reviewer extraordinaire. We joined the likes of Kristan Higgins, Jane Porter, Evelyn Richardson, and Elizabeth Boyle for a splendid tea at the Brown Palace Hotel. This Italian Renaissance-style hotel in downtown Denver opened in 1892 and was one of the most expensive and luxurious hotels then and now. Tea was served with delicious treats, on the traditional three-tiered tray. Because I have food allergies, the hostess brought me my own plate. The conversation, my dears, was as delightful as the company and the fare.

And then we returned to the less rarefied but much beloved air of our homes, our families, and our books. Stay tuned next week for a very special announcement on the last from Marissa. Two words: awesome story!

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Dateline: Denver


Hi everyone!  Regina and I are back from the Romance Writers of America’s national conference (and our annual get-to-hang-out-with-each-other event), held this year at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.

I’ve never been to Denver, so I was looking forward to going. And I wasn’t disappointed: I really liked Denver as a city (at least, what I saw of it)—it felt like a very liveable, friendly city...though this New England girl had a hard time wrapping her head around the miles of flat land spreading out below it, unobscured by tree and hills and more trees. More than a little cognitive dissonance, I think...

Regina and I were terribly clever and managed to find flights that got in more or less at the same time, so we got to hug and squee at each other by the luggage carousel while we waited for my suitcase...and then we were off! The rest of Tuesday was spent checking in to the conference, then catching up on family news and our lives in general over a very tasty dinner (note to self: blackened shrimp vampire tacos are amazing) before heading back up to our room to keep on talking (of course!)

And speaking of rooms, we had a lovely one—it was enormous, with separate walk-in closets and a huge bank of windows looking down over the pool and out toward the Civic Center Park and the Denver Art Museum and Central Library.

Regina will give you the details of what we did, but I want to mention a few stand-out points for me:

  •  The hotel staff were incredibly nice and helpful...which was a good thing, considering that the convention area of the hotel was more than a bit of a rabbit warren and required frequent stopping to ask for directions.
  • The Beau Monde mini-conference—a terrific line-up of workshops on multiple aspects of Regency history as well as delicious food (yay, cucumber sandwiches at the tea!) and a lovely evening party, the Soiree, which included a delightful historic dance instructor, an appearance by that lovable scoundrel, Sir Reginald, who has recovered from the gout that side-lined him last year and danced up a storm, and a fun silent auction where I won the bidding on a lovely item that will be making an appearance here on NineteenTeen at some future date.
  • The RWA workshops I attended were, with just one or two exceptions, excellent. I came home with a lot of information and a to-do list about three feet long.
  • Seeing so many writers (it's so cool!), catching up with old friends and acquaintances, and meeting new people.

But the best part, as always, was seeing Regina. Every year when we arrive at conference, we look forward to a nice long visit...and it always goes by in a flash. But what a lovely flash we had!!

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Off to Denver!

Not much to say from me and Regina this week. Like about 2000 other writers, we're off to Denver, Colorado for the Romance Writers of America's annual National Conference. We’ll be attending workshops on everything to do with the writing biz, from craft to business to maintaining health while parked in front of a computer for long periods of time (a definite occupational hazard.) We'll be seeing old friends and making new ones...but most important of all, we’ll be seeing each other! It’s not easy to see one of your dearest friends only once a year, but we manage to cram a lot of talking into the 4 ½ or so days we have together.
Stay tuned till next week, when we’ll have a full report. And now, I had better go finish packing because I’m outta here bright and early...

Friday, July 13, 2018

Don’t be Envious: Never Envy an Earl


Surprise! The third book in the Fortune’s Brides series, which was to be an August release, is out now. Because I could. There’s definitely something to be said for self-publishing. 😊

The saucy Yvette de Maupassant is used to danger. She’s spent the last 10 years spying for England in Napoleon’s court. Now that her work has been discovered, she must hide, and what better place than the remote wooded estate of the Earl of Carrolton? Her friend Miss Thorn and that delightful cat Fortune place her in a position where she can pretend to be companion to the earl’s sickly mother. Yet one look at the earl has Yvette rethinking why she wants to stay.

Gregory, Earl of Carrolton, is used to power. So why does one moment in the company of his mother and spinster sister leave him feeling powerless? And why does the look in a certain Frenchwoman’s eyes leave him weak at the knees? As danger draws closer, Gregory and Yvette must work together to protect her, his family, and the future of England, as they discover the greatest danger and delight is falling in love.

Here’s a little taste:

Gregory ventured into the chamber. He’d worked with his interior designer to make each of the one hundred rooms in Carrolton Park unique. This one had been inspired by spring, with sunny yellow walls, bed hangings patterned in jonquils and tulips, with matching fabric on the curved back chairs. The cornice of the bed and above each doorway was crowned with a gilded sun, its rays beaming out.

Against all that cheer, his mother, dressed in one of the black, lace-encrusted gowns she favored, looked a bit like a raven. Beside her tall, elegant frame, Yvette de Maupassant resembled a china doll.

And that hair! Cut as short as that of the infamous Caro Lamb, it curled about her piquant face in wild abandon. He could imagine running his fingers through the locks, silk springing beneath his touch.

He shook away the thought. Harry’s note, which had accompanied Lord Hastings’, indicated Gregory’s friend had rescued her from a prison house after her espionage had been discovered. For all Gregory knew, her captors had cut her hair to shame her. He should not find the look so appealing.

“Gregory!” His mother smiled at him, wrinkles crinkling around her pale eyes as she raised her ebony-headed cane. “You came to see me!”

She made it sound a rarity for all he tried to check on her at least once a day besides dinner when he was in residence.

“Mother,” he said, going to kiss her cheek. “You look busy.”

“Very,” she assured him, waving away the cream-colored linens a maid offered. “The blue, I said. I was very specific. Why do you all fail to listen?”

“They are doing splendidly,” Yvette corrected her. “See how nicely the blue complements the gold? And cream lace on the pillow cases—so inspired!”

The maid bobbed a curtsey, blushing at the praise.

He left his mother directing another servant in the making of the bed and drew Yvette aside.

“I must apologize,” he murmured, feeling like a hulking brute beside her. “I didn’t know Mother had subjected her previous companion to sleeping on a cot.”

She waved her hand. “It was easily remedied.”

The bustling about him did not look easy. And he could not like the way the room’s layout was being changed before his eyes. That black walnut trunk with the battered sides threw off the entire scheme. He looked to Marbury, who immediately came to him.

“My lord?” he asked.

“There’s a maple wardrobe in the north wing,” Gregory told him. “Have two of the footmen bring it here and remove that walnut monstrosity.”

He inclined his head. “At once, my lord.”

Yvette chuckled, the sound tickling him. “Monstrosity, he says. I am fortunate to even possess that.”

Gregory kept his chin up. “And while you are here I am determined that you will be surrounded by beauty, Miss…French.”

She laughed again. “You must practice, my lord. I am a poor companion, the lowly Miss French.” She fluttered her lashes in his direction.

“Perhaps you should practice,” he said with a smile. “You look and act nothing like a lowly companion.”

She made a moue. “But I am doing my best.”

“French!”

At his mother’s demand, Yvette hurried away from him. The sunny room seemed to dim. Once more he shook himself. What, had he been flirting? He was surprised he even knew how. She made every thought, every act, seem natural.

His mother may have taken the lead in redecorating, but he was fairly sure there was only one leader in the room, and that was clearly Yvette. Somehow, he thought Carrolton Park would never be the same.

The e-book is available at fine online retailers and the print book through Amazon:

Kobo 

Because only a matchmaking cat can hunt true love.

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Between Silk and Sand...the Movie?


Well, a girl can dream, can't she? ☺

It may not be a movie, but I do have a book teaser video for my upcoming YA fantasy, Between Silk and Sand, that I'd love to share.



What do you think? This was enormous fun to make--looking for just the right image of my hero was the best part (and isn't he adorable?) Looking for other images to communicate the story and mood was a challenge at time, but also a lot of fun...and listening to dozens and dozens of music clips was as well. I hope it will inspire you to pick the book up when it comes out on July 31 (and it's available for pre-order now on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, and GooglePlay, if you don't want to forget.)

Enjoy! And feel free to share!