Cover art!
by admin on Jul.11, 2011, under Author news
Dorchester’s wonderful Production and Art Supervisor just sent me a copy of the cover art image for A TRYST WITH TROUBLE. Isn’t it gorgeous? That’s the heroine, Lady Barbara Jeffords. As you can see, she has a great sense of style.
Cover art for A TRYST WITH TROUBLE
Busman’s holiday
by admin on Jun.25, 2011, under Conference news
I’m off soon for the 2011 RWA (Romance Writers of America) Conference, to be held this year in New York City. It’s a huge conference with some 2,100 attendees: agents, editors, aspiring writers, and published authors. Inevitably, 99.9% of the attendees will be female; the occasional male editor or agent must find the estrogen levels dizzying.
This will be my third conference, and I look forward all year to attending. It’s energizing to have a break from the daily distractions of laundry, cooking, and playing fetch with the dog, though of course I’ll miss my husband and kids like mad. The conference lectures and workshops always provide valuable advice on writing-related topics, from craft to career planning. (I bow down to the presenter who taught me last year how to write a concise synopsis.) The publisher who’s offered for my second regency has invited me to a cocktail party to meet their writers and editors. I even have an appointment to pitch to an agent. But, on a more basic level, it’s a simple joy to be around so many like-minded people: dyed-in-the-wool romantics who fret about conflict and motivation, battle writer’s block, and refer to the characters in their head as if they’re real people.
This year I’ll get to spend face time with two of my Seattle-based critique partners, and I’ll have two upcoming releases to strategize about. Who knows, I may even catch a show and try some real New York pizza while I’m at it. But I absolutely, positively have to add at least twenty pages to my work-in-progress while I’m gone. Because, you know, romances don’t write themselves.
New: Ruined by Rumor
by admin on Jun.23, 2011, under Author news
I just received an offer from a publisher for my next regency-set romance, Ruined by Rumor.
The Earl of Ayersley has a problem: he’s so head-over-heels for beautiful Roxana Langley, he can barely string two words together in her presence. Make that two problems, because Roxana is already engaged to a dashing cavalry officer, a war hero who oozes excitement and savoir faire. Having waited five years for Major George Wyatt to return from fighting the French, Roxana has such stars in her eyes she can’t see any man but him. But when George inexplicably jilts Roxana, she turns to the nearest shoulder to cry on, plunging herself into scandal with the least likely man imaginable: the dutiful, tongue-tied Lord Ayersley. The earl’s offer of marriage may save her from ruin, but are they only trading one disaster for another when they both know Roxana loves another man?
I’ll have more details in coming weeks, but for now, you can read a passage from the story under the “Excerpts” link.
A Tryst With Trouble
by admin on Feb.21, 2011, under Author news
My debut regency, A Tryst With Trouble, is slated for release by Dorchester publishing in January, 2012.
Throw the wrong man and woman together, and even basic civility may be too much to ask…
Dogged for years by painful gossip about his father’s homosexuality, the Marquess of Beningbrough—Ben, to his friends—has protected himself by becoming the ultimate man’s man. Passed over by suitor after suitor in favor of her pretty but vapid younger sister, clever, forthright Lady Barbara Jeffords has reached the disappointing conclusion most men are shallow, boorish clods. When a philandering footman turns up dead, the two square off: he’s sure she’s determined to pin the crime on his hapless young cousin, while she thinks he means to shift the blame to her sister. To find the real killer, Ben and Barbara must declare a truce that threatens to expose both their buried insecurities and their growing desire for each other.
Read a passage from the story under the “Excerpts” link.
