Terri’s thrilled that her story  will be part of a Mills&Boon Special Release in February titled ROYAL WEDDINGS THROUGH THE AGES. WHAT THE DUCHESS WANTS is one of seven historical short stories featuring real royal weddings.

FMI visit her website!

JQs Cindy Kirk and Terri Brisbin will be speaking and signing at the Desert Dreams 2012 conference in Scottsdale AZ on April 27-29. FMI visit their website — and plan to stop by the open-to-the-public signing if you’re in the area!

JQ Terri Brisbin, along with recent Jaunty Guest Tina Gabrielle, will be speaking at the Bordentown Library on Wednesday, February 15 from 7:00-8:30pm about writing and being published and signing copies of her latest releases. It’s open to the public so please stop in and chat!  For directions, visit their website.

    Do you watch police dramas like LAW&ORDER? Or lawyer shows like THE FIRM or my old favorites BOSTON LEGAL, LA LAW and SHARK? I confess to being a long-time addict of LAW&ORDER in most all of its forms — especially the UK version with. . . sigh. . . Jamie Bamber in its first five seasons.

I really enjoyed stars and celebrities showing up in guest roles, too, even knowing that they’ll be either a) the viillain, or b) the opposing attorney. Jerry Lewis appeared on it and so did Julia Roberts along with many others. And almost the entire cast of the HBO series OZ appeared on the various versions.

I think it was my love of Law&Order that got me bounced from the jury box the last time I was called for jury duty. That or my general fascination in watching people and analyzing their behaviors (as any good writer does)! I made it to the jury box and noticed that the defense team (two young men accused of robbery, etc) were stacking the jury with mothers of boys and single young men and the prosecution team was going for single women and old(er) white men. Interesting, huh? Anyway, I was watching and kind of enjoying/appreciating their strategies when I was dismissed….

So, guess what I’ll be doing today as you’re reading this blog? Yeppers — jury duty! This time I’m going to try to be more circumspect. . . and discreet. . . yeah…sure! I’m packing up my not-yet-read magazines and a few books to take (because jury duty day IS guilt-free reading day) and getting ready to spend the day at the courthouse in Camden.

Have you been called to jury duty? Served on a jury? How did your experience go?  Are you as fascinated with law-and-order type tv shows as I am? What’s your favorite? I’ll check in when I can during the day to find out…and to let you know how it’s all going!

    Terri is thrilled that A MATTER OF TIME, the third book in her MacKendimen trilogy, is now available now in digital formats!! THE QUEEN’S MAN, her Elizabethan time travel romance will be available soon!

    Visit her website from info on all of her current and upcoming releases. . .

A MATTER OF TIME, book 3 in the MacKendimen trilogy, by Terri Brisbin is now available in digital formats! FMI

I just got one of my favorite yearly emails — the one telling me to expect a package of books in the mail! Now, c’mon, what kind of romance reader would I be if that didn’t make my heart beat a bit stronger? LOL — and I AM a romance reader through and through.  So, after I have fun with that box of books, what do I have planned? Well, after reading the other Jaunty Quills upcoming releases, I’ll be looking forward to:

Okay — you all know (or some of you know) that I swear I don’t like vampire romances…….for sooooo many reasons. And I stand by that except when a new Midnight Breed romance comes out from Lara Adrian! LOL!  Her vamps are a different twist on the ‘same old’ vampire mythology and these stories are dark and steamy as are the heroes in them. Wow….. This one is special because it also marks Lara’s first  hardcover release AND because we finally get to Sterling Chase’s story — woohoo!

Next up on my anticipation list is Kerrelyn Sparks’ WANTED:UNDEAD OR ALIVE — hey! wait a sec! It’s a vampire romance! How could that happen?

Well, I am hooked on this series, too — Kerrelyn’s Love At Stake series has a lighter approach to vampires as well as those other paranormals I’ve sworn never to read — shapeshifters!  But I do enjoy these stories about the good vamps fighting the bad vamps to protect humanity — the good vamps’ leader Roman isn’t too bad either!

Okay, okay, before you all think I’ve lost my mind actually talking about vampire romances — I am sooooo waiting for the first book in Madeline Hunter’s next historical series – THE SURRENDER OF MISS FAIRBOURNE – coming in March. OH NO!! Why do Madeline Hunter books always come out on or near my own writing deadlines? I guess I’ll have to work something out with her publisher because there is no way I can NOT read this the day it hits the shelves….. It’s the first of her new Fairbourne Quartet and this time she tackles the world of auction houses. Since I love the rich, historical texture of her stories, I can’t wait for this one.

My newest addiction is Gaelen Foley’s INFERNO CLUB Regency historicals. I found a reference online to Gaelen’s stories involving a secret order of warriors founded in the Middle Ages and still operating in Regency England and France – I was hooked! I raced through the first two and am in the middle of the third — just as the fourth one was released — AND there’s a fifth one coming too! Woohooo for me!

So, how about you? What’s coming up in your reading future in 2012? Readers — what book or series are you looking forward to? Authors — what can readers expect to see from you in 2012? I’m looking for a few more suggestions for once I finish these….so what do you suggest?

     Terri is thrilled to see her 2011 short story WHAT THE DUCHESS WANTS included in the Mills&Boon Special Release – ROYAL WEDDINGS THROUGH THE AGES in February! Since it’s a M&B release, it can be ordered online here or here. For lots of exciting info about Terri and her upcoming books, visit her website. 

Crystal! Congrats on winning a copy of Anne’s book and thanks for visiting!

   Dear Terri and the Jaunty Quills, thank you so much for inviting me to blog with you.  I hope I don’t let the team down, however, because, far from being jaunty, I’m a particularly droopy quill at the moment — and no, that’s not a tacky sexual metaphor it’s the plain truth. I’m downunder and in a summer heatwave — 104F and the air-con has broken down, so I’m wilting. . .

But still, I’m so pleased to be visiting that I will dip my quill in ice-water (not a rude metaphor either) and forge ahead.

Today I want to talk about “the eye of the beholder.”

One of my favorite scenes in a romance is where the hero sees — really sees —the heroine. It’s one of the first signs that he is truly her hero — he starts to notice things about her that no-one else — not even the heroine — does. He sees her true self, not the ordinary person everyone else sees, but someone special, the woman she will become. Transformed by love.

I’m not sure how popular this is with readers. I love it, but I’ve heard some readers say they want a heroine to be self-confident from the get-go. Me, I like more of a journey.

I like a heroine who can get things done, who is smart and courageous in an everyday sense, who will stand up for herself and others where necessary. But I also like her to have some secret vulnerability, and for me, that’s where the hero comes in, because for me, that’s one area in which he shows he’s a hero.

So my heroines aren’t always conventionally beautiful. That’s particularly true of Isabella, my heroine in my new book, BRIDE BY MISTAKE. Not that Bella’s a gargoyle or anything — just that she’s known she’s plain since she was a kid. Had her nose regularly rubbed in the fact, actually. She’s the only daughter of a widowed father and his highest compliment was that she was almost as good as a son. Almost.

War breaks out in Spain (Napoleon) and Bella’s father is killed. His last words are a warning that a forced marriage is planned by a horrid cousin, and Bella must flee to her aunt at the convent of the Broken Angel. She’s just thirteen…

On the way, Bella is attacked, but is rescued by a young English officer, my hero, Luke Ripton — tall, dark and beautiful as an archangel. He rescues her from the forced marriage by marrying her himself. He then escorts her to her aunt in the convent and rides away to war.

Luke never expects to live long enough for it to matter. But when my story starts, the war is over, the annulment is denied, and Luke, now Lord Ripton must come to Spain to collect a wife he’d almost forgotten and doesn’t particularly want.
And Bella? For years she waited, like a princess in a tower, dreaming of her prince, but by now those dreams have withered on the vine. She’s fed up with waiting, she’s about to turn twenty-one and is determined to leave the convent and make her own life.
Of course, that’s when Luke arrives. . . (There’s an excerpt on my website of that scene)

Bella, having arrived at the convent with nothing, has no pretty clothes but her friends in the convent dress her up, curl her hair, dust her skin in rice flour and paint her lips into a small fashionable bow.

This, then was her husband. Isabella tried not to stare.
He was even more beautiful than she remembered. Eight years ago she’d seen him with a child’s eye. But she was a child no longer and he was… he was breathtaking. Tall, dark, his skin burnished with the sun, a rich dark-gold flush along his cheekbones and such fine cheekbones they were, too. His nose was a strong, straight blade, his mouth, severe and beautiful. And his eyes, dark, so dark they looked black, but she knew from before they were the darkest blue she had ever seen. There was no sign of blue now.
She swallowed and held her head higher, knowing what he would see in her, knowing they were ill-matched. The girls had done their best to make her look as beautiful as they could. It wasn’t their fault she looked as she did. She knew she’d never make a beauty. She desperately wished she looked pretty for him.
But she could see in his eyes she didn’t.
Dear God but it was Mama and Papa again, Papa the handsome eagle soaring high and Mama the plain, dowdy little pigeon, bleeding with love for a husband who never looked twice at her.
Mama’s words rose unbidden to her mind. Guard your heart, my little one, for love is pain. Love is nothing but pain.

And Luke sees a thin, young woman with a too-big nose, garishly made up and covered in frills. But the second time he sees her. . . ahh, the second time. . . That’s the moment for me. And that’s just the start of their journey. . .

So what about you? Do you like a heroine with secret vulnerabilities? Or do you want her to be fully confident and kick-ass? What’s the most romantic scene you can think of in a book? I’m giving a book away to someone who leaves a comment.

Anne

   Anne Gracie spent her childhood and youth on the move, thanks to her father’s job, which took them around the world. The gypsy life taught her that humor & love are universal languages and that favorite books can take you home, wherever you are.

Anne started her first novel while backpacking solo around the world. Originally published by Harlequin, she’s since written nine ST historical romances for Berkley and a novelization of the first “The Tudors” TV series. Anne is a former president of Romance Writers of Australia, a three time RITA finalist, has twice won the Romantic Book of the Year (Australia) and the National Reader’s Choice Award (USA) and has been listed in Library Journal (USA) best books of the year. For more info about Anne and her work –

Website       Facebook     Tweet with me

I’ve been fooled again! I blissfully approach Christmas doing the non-chalant attitude right up until the last-minute panic hits just before the holiday. Then I rush and race around doing all the things that my friends did at a leisurely pace through the whole month. I survive only to discover that the year’s end is rushing towards me at an alarming speed.

Well, it’s happened again — even when I promised myself that I would be ready for it.  And as I’m gathering my markers and getting ready to fill in my 2012 calendar, I like to look back and look ahead–at things I’ve done and things I hope to do.

I am really looking forward to the new stories that are swirling around in my head. As I’ve been revising my first romance novels for re-publishing, I’ve gotten some great ideas for other stories – long, short and in-between. Stories that I never noticed the first time around, ones that now seem intriguing and new.  It’s funny how the excitement builds and all the possibilities look soooo shiny and sparkly ahead. I can feel the itchy feeling that happens when a new idea is swirling around in my brain…I wonder where they will lead me?

I’ll be doing some traveling this coming year — some personal (hubby and I are coming up on our 35th Anniversary in 2012!) and some for my work (both writing and dental hygiene) and, as most of you who know me can guess, even a trip (or two) to Mr. Disney’s World and Land.  (Hey, RWA is being held in Anaheim right across the street from D’land — how can I fight that? LOL)

And one of the best things I’ll be doing is meeting readers throughout the year at signings, chats and through blogs as well as during speaking engagements from Scottsdale AZ to the Pearl Buck House in PA. I hope to see you at one of them!

One of the fun things is looking ahead to all the wonderful romances to be read this year — my favorite authors have bunches of books on their way for me….and you! I’ll be having a couple of books out from Harlequin Historicals (or their UK counterpart-Mills&Boon) and two more of my time travels to re-release. But more on those later!

So, as you look towards 2012, what are your plans, expectations and hopes? Any books you’re waiting for? Anything that will make 2012 special? Do you plan to hit the New Year running or slip gently into it? Please post a note and I’ll choose one to receive a signed book and one of the last of my 2011 wee Disney gifties……….

  Terri is busy finishing up with the Christmas holidays and getting ready for the New Year and for writing her next Highlander novel. Visit her website for lots of info about her upcoming and current releases.

Happy New Year to everyone!

   “Is it time yet? Is it, is it time yet?”

Those words from last year’s holiday hit “Toy Jackpot” sum up the excitement of the next 10 days, don’t they?  I remember the way my kids would whisper those words throughout the days leading up to that wonderful moment on Christmas morning when they would charge down the steps to see what Santa had left them under the tree.

And then those minutes of wrapping paper hysteria and screams of joy, empty boxes and packages flying all over were followed by hours of trying out all the new games, toys, Legos, racing cars, or whichever was the toy-of-the-year present. The anticipation of the days and weeks before melted away in such a short time.

So, here we are, in that time of build-up and preparation when our hopes are high and our wish-lists are still growing. There’s still a chance that the one thing we want the most will show up on that magical morning under the tree. Or that the one person we most want to see at this special time of year will return home or visit.

What am I looking forward to? Well, I’m still trying to pull off a few Christmas surprises. I’m very good at “Christmas lying” – which is the only time I condone lying — and have managed to surprise my family with various presents that were in short-supply or hard-to-arrange. My habit began years ago during the Cabbage Patch kids phenomenon and continued until the last few years and I’ve arranged a secret Christmas cruise and found a Wii when no one had them. (That Wii involved LOTS of Christmas lies, but my son forgave me for those when he opened his present!)

My most enjoyable moment on Christmas is just having my kids home, opening presents and eating a BIG breakfast that includes a couple of their favorite foods and hot tea. Sounds simple but it usually is the simple things that bring joy.

And how about you? What are you looking forward to on Christmas? Any favorite family traditions or gatherings? Or something new? Do you use an Advent calendar? Do you have a favorite meal? Post and let me what builds your level of anticipation!

  Terri is taking part in the Harlequin Historical Authors’ Holiday calendar and will be featured author on Thursday, December 15th — but anyone reading this can enter a bit earlier than everyone else using this link!  And Terri is thrilled that the first two books in her MacKendimen Clan trilogy are now available in digital formats – A LOVE THROUGH TIME and ONCE FORBIDDEN can be found on the major online booksellers.