*sneaks onto blog*

Oh, hello there! Yes, it’s me, ***********. The new Jaunty in town. And in case you’re wondering, that IS the exact right number of asterisks for my first and last name. Now all you have to do is figure out how many asterisks go where. And figure out the letters, too. But that shouldn’t be too hard. *grins* You guys are romance readers, after all. Intelligent people, we romance readers and writers are.

I have to tell you, I’m so honored and excited to be invited to become the newest member of the Jaunty Quills! And I’m equally as excited to get to know the Jaunty readers, too!

But first, here’s a chance for you to get to know a little more about me.

1. I love all sorts of music. But my favorites are: Frank Sinatra, Sara Bareilles, the Foo Fighters, Jim Croce, Pavarotti, Blessid Union of Souls, Hootie & The Blowfish, Taylor Swift, Michael Buble, Jason Mraz, and Louis Armstrong.
2. As you can see from above, I tend to lean more toward the unusual and the oldies. Maybe this is why my first love will always be to read and write love stories of the past.
3.  I’m from Texas! (emphasis on “from”) This means no other state will ever have good Mexican food or understand the truth that Blue Bell ice cream is the best ice cream in the world. I’ll never be able to completely stop saying “y’all”, “fixin’ to”, or end my sentences with “ma’am” and “sir.” It also means that I have relatives that may or may not be hicks—that depends on whether we’re talking about my cousin who dresses in overalls, owns twenty hounds, and likes to go hog hunting or raccoon hunting for fun.
4. I’m married. I have children. I have a dog. All of this means that I never get enough sleep and the first thing I want to do when I win the lottery is hire a maid because my house is never clean enough!
5. I’m a sucker for romantic comedies and war movies. Yup, I’m a woman of interesting contrasts. My favorite war movies include HBO’s Band of Brothers, Men of Honor, and Defiance. My favorite romantic comedies include Two Weeks’ Notice, Love, Actually,  You’ve Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally, Sabrina, and 27 Dresses.
6. I was born in April, but I have another favorite month of the year during which I go a little mad.
7. I’ve wanted to own a motorcycle and marry a man who rides a motorcycle ever since seeing Top Gun and falling in love with Maverick when I was a child. (Note: Of course, the man I marred is convinced he would die if he ever got on a motorcycle.)
8. I own bookcases filled with nothing but books on studying other languages.
9. I like to write about duchesses and countesses, but I also like to write about commoners, too.
10. One of my favorite books when I was little was Little Women, although I bawled when Laurie didn’t end up with Jo. (Coincidentally, I have plans one day to write a heroine named Jo Laurie.)

 

Now it’s time to play The Guess the Jaunty contest!

As a reminder, here’s how it works.  I will blog periodically in September, giving you hints as to who I am. Each time I blog, you guys can post a comment guessing my identity.

Everyone who guesses will be entered to win a gift certificate for $50 to Amazon.com. Those who guess correctly will also be entered to win a signed copy of a book from each of us (that’s 12 signed books!). In the unlikely event that no one guesses correctly, the first person who is randomly chosen from our secret Jaunty Quill’s posts will win and get to choose her prize.

My name and the winners’ names will be revealed on Sunday, October 2nd. So visit us all through the month of September, and don’t forget to comment on all of my Guess the Jaunty blogs to enter the contest!

Good luck, and I’ll see you around the blog soon!