We had originally intended to just blog about our favorite fictional worlds this Saturday.  The ones we love to escape to but after the horrible tornados that have struck in Oklahoma we were all reminded of the power of books to help ease our pain in the midst of a tragedy and of course to give us a few hours escape from the real world.  Please share your favorite fictional world or worlds below.  We will be donating $1 for every comment made up to $150 to the American Red Cross from the Sisterhood of the Jaunty Quills.

Katherine Garbera:

I love the Hunger Games but live there? No thanks. I’d love to live in the world of the Scarlet Pimpernel. I’d be in his league and rescue French Aristos.

Mia Marlowe:

Oh, plop me down in the middle of Downton Abbey! But of course, I’d need to be a well-titled, well-moneyed cousin of the Granthams or something. The folk below stairs work far too hard!

Shana Galen:

Since the worlds of Downton Abbey and the Scarlet Pimpernel have been taken, I’d love to live in the Pirates of the Caribbean world. Swashbuckling pirates, sword fights, adventure on the high seas–yes, please, matey!

Nancy Robards Thompson:

I have a small family and I think it would be fun to celebrate the holidays with a huge brood. So, the fictional world I’d love to live in is one of Dorothea Benton Frank’s southern women’s fiction novels. Her stories are always so warm and family-centered, with all kinds of big, boisterous characters… lots of brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins and quirky neighbors who are part of the extended family.

Cindy Kirk:

I’d love to live in the world I created in my RX for Love (Jackson Hole) series. I’d love to have breakfast every Sunday after church with a group of friends. I’d enjoy the monthly book club meetings where it’s as much about what’s going on in each of our lives and the community as it is about the book selection. Not to mention enjoying the fabulous food everyone brings. I’d enjoy dances at the Spring Gulch Country Club, hikes at Yellowstone and all the activities that Jackson Hole has to offer.

Margo Maguire:

I feel as though I could fit in at Nonnatus House on Call the Midwife. I was a critical care nurse for many years, and I think I could pick up midwifery pretty quickly. Plus, I love the 50s music they use in the series.

Robyn DeHart:

I’ll take JD Robb’s world but only if could kick butt like Eve and come home to Roarke. I love the gritty futuristic world where so many improvements have been made, but still there are crimes to be solved with wit and skill. And again you know I’d get to come home to Roarke – I really don’t think I need to say any more.

Terri Brisbin:

I tend to sink back into historical romances when I’m seeking relief from stress or trying to escape the woes of real life.  This week, when restless and sad from the news, I sought and found refuge in one of my favorite authors’ newest books – The Conquest of Lady Cassandra by Madeline Hunter. Madeline just pulls me in with her authenticity and style and, for a short while, I was living in Georgian/Regency England again.

How about you? What do you watch or read when you need some escape time?

from Mia Marlowe…

I’m a firm believer in writing down goals, mostly because I’ve seen the things I commit to paper come to fruition in my life. When our kids were small, I wrote that I wanted to live in a log home in the mountains close to my parents (who were halfway across the country from us at the time.) Within a few years, I found myself living in a log home at the base of the Big Horns, a mere 10 miles from the girls’ grandparents.

But that wasn’t the first time I wrote down my goals. In high school, my English teacher invited us to dream on paper. After deciding finding The One was my first priority, having a family was number two. As a kid, I’d camped all over the western US with my family, and loved experiencing new places, so in a flight of fancy, I wrote “Travel the world” for my number three.

I met and married my DH before we graduated from college. #1 & #2 Daughters arrived thereafter. Then, lo! and behold, out of the blue, my math major/computer guru DH had the opportunity to become a travel IT professional. While he worked for several different airlines, we made great use of the flight benefits. We flitted about at every opportunity. Our kids had passports before they had double digit birthdays. I’m ashamed to admit I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve been to Europe, something we couldn’t have afforded without the DH’s job. I routinely tag along when he travels to interesting places for work and our latest adventure took us to Japan.

Of course, if the work travel isn’t enough to ease my travel bug, we launch out on our own. Even though I suffer from mal de mer, I love cruising. I almost don’t feel as if I’m on vacation unless the deck of a ship is swaying beneath my feet. So, it should come as no surprise when I tell you that I am not in my Boston condo today. I’m actually in Portsmouth, England, getting ready to board a ship for a 12 day cruise around the British Isles!

Click to pre-order!

We’ll be stopping at one of the Channel Islands, Cork, Dublin & Belfast in Ireland, Glasgow, one of the Orkneys, Inverness & Edinburgh in Scotland and finally, Le Havre, France. I’m so excited about this trip, but actually, there is a bit of work involved. I just accepted a new contract from Kensington for more Scottish stories, so I’ll be researching like crazy! I  know, I know. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

I have a couple of Scottish titles coming out later this year. First in late August, there’s Plaid to the Bone, #1 in the Spirit of the Highlands series.

Adam Cameron, laird of Bonniebroch, didn’t expect his bride to turn up at his castle so soon after their arranged marriage was settled. But the daughter of his former enemy is comely beyond the common, so he’s counting his blessings. Unfortunately, Adam doesn’t know the lovely Cait Grant has sworn to kill her new husband with a blood oath that will set a terrible curse in motion if she fails.

But Cait never counted on falling in love with the man her father had taught her to hate.

Click to pre-order!

Then on October 1st, my Scottish Christmas story Plaid Tidings hits the bookstore shelves.

Christmas in the Highlands…

Not any dashing English lord’s idea of a good time. But now that Lord Alexander Mallory has won a Scottish estate in a hand of cards, he is the unlikely laird of the wild, snowy Bonniebroch. Worse yet, the ancient pile of stones comes with a betrothal. To a fiery red-headed virgin. And a curse.

Alex will have his hands full honoring the first, seducing the second and breaking the third … all by Twelfth Night.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t share the special price Sourcebooks is offering on my first Scottish story, Sins of the Highlander. I wrote this one in collaboration with romance legend, Connie Mason~a New York Times Bestseller and a wonderful writing partner! It’s only $2.99 right now but the sale is only good till May 26th.

Obsession

Click to order!

“Mad Rob” MacLaren thought stealing his enemy’s bride would be the perfect revenge. But Rob never reckoned that this beautiful, innocent lass would awaken the part of him he thought dead and buried with his wife. Against all reason, he longs to introduce the luscious Elspeth to the pleasures of the flesh, to make her his, and only his forever.

Sins of the Highlander is available for both Kindle and Nook at the special price of $2.99 till May 26th.

But back to goals…what about YOU? Do you write down your dreams? Is there one you’d like to share with us here? I may not have access to the internet in order to respond today, but your thoughts are important to me. I’ll check back here when I return!

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If you’d like to do a little armchair traveling with Mia, be sure to pop over to her blog for updates on her adventures in Scotland!

You know how some things just get wildly popular? Like a TV show or a band or a book series or whatever? Ever had the experience where something is hugely popular and you just don’t get it, don’t connect with it? This happens to be frequently, makes me kinda wonder what I’m missing. So here are some of my misses…

the Beatles. I know. I know! Some of you are probably crying, or gasping in shock, but listen I can at least claim that I was too young to really appreciate their music and well, it just doesn’t work for me. I remember when I was in high school there was a group of kids who were just Beatle nuts. I tried to get into the music, but it just doesn’t speak to me.

Twilight. The book, the first book…it’s not that I don’t get why the series is popular. She’s a pretty compelling storyteller, but it just fell flat for me. But clearly there are millions of other readers out there proving me wrong. Once I’d read that first book though, I was done and never tried any of the other books.

Seinfeld. This makes The Professor sad, but frankly I think this show is just stupid. None of the characters are likable and it’s just not funny. At all. I mean really, what was so funny? Just the fact that the show was about nothing? That’s an SNL skit, not a 30-minute show that lasts for several seasons. But again, it had great ratings and won tons of awards so what do I know?

The Simpsons. I’m pretty sure my aversion to this show is pretty centered on ironic humor and I’ve never been much of a fan of irony. I’ve seen several episodes and the people around me laugh and laugh and wow, so not funny (exactly how I felt in that movie, There’s Something About Mary – I don’t even think it made me smile…)

So how about you? Do you have any of those things that other people seem to think is great, but you just don’t get?

Did that get your attention? I’m sure it did! I am so excited to share some news about something happening for a good friend and co-Harlequin Historical author Michelle Willingham — and it’s happening tonight!

T: Michelle, tell us about the exciting event that’s happening tonight?

Michelle:  One of my books is going to show up on the season finale of MODERN FAMILY!

T: WOW! MODERN FAMILY is one of my favorite tv shows! How did this come about? How did you find out?

Michelle:  I received an e-mail out of the blue from my editor. The PR department spoke with the producers of Modern Family, who are featuring a Maya Banks book, TEMPTED BY HER INNOCENT KISS as the main title. They were also given a choice of two of my books to use: WARRIORS IN WINTER or THE ACCIDENTAL PRINCE. We aren’t sure which title they will use and likely we’ll only know when we see the episode. Given that Cam is the character who will interact with the book, I’m thinking it might be WARRIORS IN WINTER, because of the hot guy on the cover (the model completely reminds me of a blond Jon Snow, a la “Game of Thrones”). But we’ll see!

T:  What was your reaction? How do you feel about this? (I know I’m really excited for you!

Michelle: Thrilled! Followed by worry that maybe they’ll decide at the last minute not to use the book (this is entirely possible). With television or film, so many things are edited. You never know what will stay and what will go. Since my book isn’t the focus, it may only be a passing mention. Then, too, it’s possible that they could spoof it or make fun of it. I actually hope that they do have some fun with the book because really, it’s a comedy show. Why not go for it?

  T: What do you think they’ll do with your book?

Michelle: In theory, the character Cam will be holding one of my books and commenting briefly on the back cover copy— hopefully we’ll actually see the cover! I have no idea what he’ll say—but fingers crossed that it’ll be funny!

T: Do you have anything else to add?

Michelle: I’m absolutely thrilled about the opportunity, no matter what happens! It’s such an honor to even be selected for this, so I’m hoping for the best!

So, I hope everyone will watch tonight to see how Michelle Willingham is exposed on national tv! Thanks, Michelle, for letting me spread the news.

And PS – according to TV GUIDE, the family travels to Florida in the season finale ““….and Cameron falls in with a gang of old women at the retirement village where Phil’s dad lives.”  

So I’ve been wearing the exact same eye make-up since 2003.  That’s not too bad I could have said 1987 and you’d have groaned and had this mental picture of another Kathy.   But no, I do this tasteful kind of natural looking thing that involves different shades of brown.  And it’s fine.  I doubt anyone would notice that I haven’t changed my eye make-up routine in ten years, but I was getting bored with it.

One day while I was procrastinating, I mean researching I came across a new to me website called The Small Things blog.  I then spent the rest of the afternoon watching hair tutorials (my characters might need to know how to do these styles) and then trying them out on my crazy curly hair a bit unsuccessfully.  But then I saw she had make-up tutorials and found a link to something called a Birch Box.

Its fabulous!  I mean it.  Each month you get small trail sized make-up products.  I love it.  This way I can try out new looks at home and not have to pay a fortune for stuff that I might not ever use again.  I mean I love gel eyeliner but I do not think I would have had the nerve to try it if it hadn’t come in my box.

Now when I leave the house I look like this:

Not really.  :) But in my mind I do.

Have you ever tried anything totally new?  And you should totally try the Birch Box if you like make-up.  Its only $10 or £10 a month.  They have it in the US and the UK.  And last month I got to try some lotion used by Posh Spice a.k.a. Victoria Beckham which I love and have now purchased.

Kathy

from Mia Marlowe...

Today, I’m turning the Jaunty Quills over to romance reader and blogger extraordinaire, Kim Lowe. I first met Kim online when she hosted me on one of my many blog tours. Then when I visited Hawaii with my family last year, our online friendship blossomed in real life! Kim met us the day before we boarded our cruise ship and took us on a wonderful, behind-the-scenes tour of Pearl Harbor and Hickham AFB. Then after our cruise, she met us at the dock with a rental van and drove us into the fragrant hills overlooking Honolulu for a tour of Queen Emma’s Summer Home. Kim was so knowledgeable and such fun, she was the highlight of our vacation!

And true to her giving spirit, Kim is here today to share a great read with us all. Ok, Kim. The Jaunty blog is now yours.

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Mahalo, Mia, for hosting me today at the Sisterhood of the Jaunty Quills.   I love the name of this blog – the sisterhood.  Blogs like Jaunty Quills offer me entrée into a cyber sisterhood of romance readers.  Perhaps this is why I enjoy continuing series – I grow comfortable with the extended cast of characters.   Yet all good things come to an end, including series.

Today I chat about the bittersweet anticipation of Cathy Maxwell’s THE DEVIL’S HEART, the finale of the Chattan Curse.    The series began with a 17^th century curse,

When a Chattan male falls in love, strike his heart with fire from above…

Charles Chattan abandoned his Scottish sweetheart, Rose MacNachtan, for an English heiress, prompting Rose’s mother to cast a devastating curse on the Chattan family.   Fast forward to the 19^th Century where the Chattan family is socially connected in Regency England.  Yet Neal Chattan, Lord Lyon, desires a family in Book 1, LYON’S BRIDE.   He hires society matchmaker, Thea Martin, to find him a bride he cannot love … only to fall in love with Thea.

Neal’s willing to risk his life for love prompts his brother, Harry, to wake up from his drunken stupor to find a witch to reverse the curse in Book 2, THE SCOTTISH WITCH.  He encounters a desperate Portia Maclean posing as a witch, only to fall under her spell.

With both brothers in peril, their sister Margaret, a London lady, ventures into the heart of the Highlands in Book 3, THE DEVIL’S HEART.   She confronts the witch’s descendent, Heath Macnachtan, a sensible laird who cannot understand Margaret’s fear of the curse – a fear that his clansmen also share.   Despite that fear, Margaret is welcomed into the sisterhood of his household, where she sees love abound despite their financial difficulties.   Margaret draws from her brothers’ courage and Heath’s compassion to track down the long dead witch.

As much as I wanted Margaret to find a resolution, that meant the story (and series) would be over.   As hard at it was for Margaret to let go of her brothers so they could find love, it is hard for me as a reader to let go of this series set in Scotland.  In the end, Margaret proved that she, too, deserves her own HEA along with Neal and Harry.  But how did she secure the HEA for all three siblings?  Let me just say that Cathy Maxwell surprised me and satisfied me with the climax.   THE DEVIL’S HEART should be labeled, “Read with a box of tissue”, as Margaret also learns that love is worth the risk.

I would like to offer a print copy of THE DEVIL’S HEART to one commenter here at the Sisterhood of the Jaunty Quills.  Three seems to be the magic number in a series – how many books do you think is “just right” for a series?

About Kim: Kim Lowe is a military spouse and romance enthusiast.  After four years in Hawaii, she is moving back to Baltimore this summer, ready for in person sisterhood with other romance readers.   Check out her travel blog, ALOHA ON MY MIND, at alohaonmymind.blogspot.com.

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Mia here again. Thanks, Kim! The Devil’s Heart sounds great.

Ok, now it’s your turn. What’s the right number of books for a series? (I’d also be interested to know your favorite series!)

Thank you to ll the readers who commented. The online random number generator picked Aislynn. Congrats, Aislynn!

Thanks so much for the fabulous input, everyone! We’ve read your comments and will put your suggestions to good use. I put the names of all who posted into a box and drew five names.

Here are the winners of an advance copy of CELEBRATION’S BRIDE:

Rhonda

Sue P

Mary Anne Landers

Kathleen OD

Connie Fischer

Please email me through my website NancyRobardsThompson.com and let me know where to send your book.

When you start writing you get all sorts of advice…one of the most common is “write what you know.”

Okay, so that means I should write about life in Nebraska?   Or perhaps my day job for many years in…insurance?  Wow, I’d really like to read those books. lol

I believe the advice should be: “Know What You Write.”

In the book I’m currently writing, “A Sweetheart for Jude Fortune,” (out next February) here are some of the things I’ve had to brush up my knowledge on:

1. This book has a Latina heroine so I had to find common endearments her father would use when speaking with her.

2. She’s had a heart transplant so I’ve had to look up causes (and decide on a cause) of why she needed the transplant, then figure out how many meds she’s still be on etc.

3. I have the hero teaching the heroine to Texas Two-Step while she teaches him to Salsa.  So, I had to brush up my knowledge on those dances.

4. The book takes place not far from Lubbock Tx in February…so I had to become familiar with the average temperatures in the region for that time of year.

5. The heroine’s father is in a plane crash.  I had to decide why the plane crashed and since the crash is being investigated for possible sabotage, I have to know what agency investigates that kind of thing and how long it takes to get a determination.

The list goes on and on.  Most of the time the research is only shown in the book by a sentence or two.  I, like most readers, don’t like an “information dump” which is the author putting a bunch of unnecessary stuff in a book just to show she’s done her research.

But there’s nothing more I like than to read a book and not only enjoy the story, but learn something new.

How about you?  Have you learned anything new in a book?  I’d love to hear what it was….

C’mon, spill and let’s all learn something new today!!!

The wonderfully talented Deeanne Gist joins us today to talk about the making of her latest cover for It Happened at the Fair.

I got a call from my editor. “Do you remember back in the 90s when Christina Dodd’s cover had a heroine with three arms?”

“Very much.”

“Well, look at It Happened at the Fair. Do you see anything unusual?”

I quickly grabbed the book. The cover model had the right number of appendages. Then, I looked closer …

“Get out!” I half-choked. Then I giggled. Then I laughed out loud. “This is awesome!”

My editor gave a sigh of relief followed by light laughter. “I thought it was pretty funny, too.”

Can you see our little surprise—“little” being the operative word?

Yep. A bug. The heroine has a bug on her shoulder. That is not supposed to be there. I’ve already received fan mail about it.

A gal from Australia sent: “Why is there a bug on Della’s shoulder on the cover of the book? Once I knew about Cullen’s allergies, I spent the rest of the book dreading him being stung by a bee and going into full anaphylaxis or something!” LOL.

Am I upset? Quite the contrary. I’m delighted. I think it adds a wonderful bit of flavor to the cover. My only regret is that the publisher has already Photoshopped it out of all electronic images on the web and has corrected the color plates so that any subsequent printings will be bug-free. (So if you want the collectible edition, you’d better get it before they run out!)

I interviewed Jeff Miller, the graphic designer, and after learning how many steps are involved in making a cover, it’s easy to see how a little bug there or an extra arm here could be overlooked. Here’s the shortened version of his process:

Step One: Jeff offers three design directions for It Happened at the Fair.

I think it’s so interesting how each design reflects different moods, perspectives and character emphasis. My publisher chose the first option—the cover in which we see the heroine through the eyes of the man who will fall in love with her. This was also my favorite of the three. (Btw, no one—not me, not the photographer, not the designer, not the publisher, not my editor, no one—noticed our “friend” on Della’s shoulder, yet it was on there from the very beginning. LOL.)

Step Two: Since the cover model’s hair style was too contemporary and the color didn’t match the heroine’s, we needed to make some adjustments:

Step Three: The hair color on the right is now correct, but a woman in 1893 would never go out with her hair down. Quite scandalous! So she needs an updo.

Step Four: As you can see to the left, the updo looks great on the model, but once it’s tucked up under the hat, the texture becomes too coarse. It Happened at the Fair’s hero, Cullen McNamara, says, “Her light brown hair was silky and in a soft twist.” So … new hair, please.

Step Five: Much better.

Jeff is now ready to do the final tweaking. He meshed together several coloring and texture techniques to give the book an antiqued look which serves as an indicator to the reader that the story is an historical.

“The below image,” he says, “shows the final cover with all the pieces in the process that it took to construct one cohesive design that effectively and accurately depicted a window into the story.”

Pretty crazy, huh? You can see how there’s so much going on that it’s easy to miss some puny little ol’ thing like a cricket bug. But bug or no, that dress is yummy, the heroine’s curvy, her hair is perfect, and the backdrop is provocative. Everything you’d want in a cover.

So, have you ever thought much about how covers were made? What surprised you most about the process? Leave a comment here for your chance to win an autographed hardback, limited *bug* edition of It Happened at the Fair.

Contest ends midnight, Central Time, May 18, 2013. Must have continental USA mailing address to be eligible to win.

About the Author:

Speaking of great hair…Deeanne Gist—known to her family, friends, and fans as Dee—has rocketed up bestseller lists and captured readers everywhere with her very fun, very original historicals. She has received four RITA nominations, two consecutive Christy Awards, and rave reviews. Deeanne has a background in education and journalism and a degree from Texas A&M. She has written for People, Parents, and

Parenting. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and has four grown children. She has a very active online community on her website IWantHerBook.com and at Facebook.com/DeesFriends. Read more about It Happened at the Fair here.

Deeanne is celebrating the release of It Happened at the Fair with an iPad Mini Giveaway and a Live Author Chat Webcast event on May 22! Details here.

Don’t forget to leave a comment on Jaunty Quills for your chance to win an autographed copy of It Happened at the Fair!