Hi, everyone! I believe this doesn’t come as a surprise to most of you (you intelligent women with superb detective skills, you).

I am so thrilled to be part of this amazing group, and of course a hundred times more thrilled to be able to get up close and personal with Jaunty P. Quills, Porcupine Extraordinaire (*whispers* he blackmailed me to say that…and no, I can’t tell you what he blackmailed me with).

I know many of you through my various visits around the blogosphere and through social media (*waves wildly*), and I look forward to getting to know the rest of you as a regular contributor here on the blog.

But now, it’s time for the announcement of prizes! Thanks so much to everyone for participating in the Guess the Jaunty contest! As you know, there were two prizes to be won:

1)      12 signed books (one from each of the Jaunties!) to a random commenter who correctly guessed my identity.

2)      A $50 gift certificate to an online bookstore to a random commenter who made any guess.

And now for the winners’ names:

The winner of the 12 signed books is: Sonali N.!

The winner of the $50 gift certificate is: Deborah R.!

Congratulations to the both of you; you should receive an email from me soon!

Again, thanks to everyone who participated! Since so many of you guessed my identity correctly, I’d love to know what gave it away. Was it my debonair personality that can barely be restrained by such a cloak of mystery? My almost-too-obvious profile picture above that showed the distinguished contours of my image? As I included multiple points of trivia as hints about my identity during the contest, I’d love to know a piece of trivia about you.

Hellooooooo, Jaunty Readers! It’s me, Jaunty P. Quills, P.E. (Porcupine Extraordinaire) I have returned from the land of Facebook to regale you with daring tales of my latest extremely courageous exploits. I—eek! It’s the New Jaunty Quill!

Secret Jaunty: *blinks at Jaunty behind purple mask* *flips cape dramatically* Hello, Jaunty. I, too, have been off on extremely courageous exploits. Adventures reaching far into Romancelandia! Escapades that will take your breath away! Dangerous missions that will—

Jaunty P. Quills, P.E.: How should we refer to you? Is Miss Secret Jaunty, okay?

Secret Jaunty: Yeah, Miss Secret Jaunty is fine. Actually…perhaps it should be Mrs. Secret Jaunty, as I’ve hinted that I am married. Wouldn’t want my husband to disapprove of my mystery name, you know.

Jaunty P. Quills, P.E.: So tell us how you like being part of the Jaunty Quills so far. Especially tell us how you like the JQ’s resident mascot—that cute, lovable porcupine.

Secret Jaunty: I love being part of the Jaunty Quills! Not only are the other authors fabulous, but the readers here are wonderful, too! *smiles* As for the resident mascot, I must tell you that I’ve recently tried to convince my daughter that bunnies are out and porcupines are in, but… Unfortunately, she’s not having it.

Jaunty P. Quills, P.E.: As you know, we’re having a contest and giving away 12 signed books and an Amazon gift card for $50. You’ve seen some of the guesses. Has anyone guessed correctly yet?

Secret Jaunty: Why, yes. Yes, they have. Wait, it is okay that I say that, right?

Jaunty P. Quills, P.E.: We already know you like listening to the oldies, you’re from Texas, you’re married, have kids, and like motorcycles (vrroom, vrroom—you should see my motorcycle!). Can you tell us anything else about yourself?

Secret Jaunty: Ooh, Jaunty, you have a motorcycle! No one told me this! I knew there was a reason you’re my favorite porcupine. Let’s see…something else about myself. I’ve never been outside the United States, which is a sad, sad truth. Well, unless you count the time my family drove across the border to Mexico to do some tourist shopping and my older brother almost got run over by a truck. There is that.

Something else…I was almost eaten by a great white shark. It’s true! My family and my aunt’s family went to North Padre (*ahem* apparently South Padre was not en vogue that year) for a vacation. While the adults MAYBE had a few too many wine coolers and MAYBE fell asleep on the beach lying beneath the sun, my brother and my two cousins and me drifted far out into the ocean on an inner tube. So far, in fact, we nearly lost sight of the land! I’m sure there were sharks nearby. I used to watch Shark Week, and I know they’re EVERYWHERE. Fortunately, my brother (who, that day, I was grateful had not been run over by that truck in Mexico) saved the day by swimming to shore, alerting my uncle to the fact that we actually needed help and no, we were not just waving hello from WAY out in the ocean, and we were all rescued. Of course, as a younger sister I don’t usually remind him that he saved my life once, because there was the time that he nearly killed me when we were riding a snowmobile…but that’s a story for another day.

Jaunty P. Quills, P.E.: Tell us about your most recent book. But change the details so you retain your ano…anony…

Secret Jaunty: Anonymity, Jaunty?

Jaunty P. Quills, P.E.: Right. So maybe you could call your hero Jaunty and your heroine Secret Quill. (flutters eyelashes).

Secret Jaunty: *stares enviously at Jaunty’s long, thick, luxurious eyelashes* *mutters* Of course, I can! *mutters again*

In my most recent book, my hero—Jaunty—and my heroine—Secret Quill—fall in love. As this is a romance novel, that shouldn’t be a big surprise. However, what really sets this book apart is that Jaunty and Secret Quill have both been married before, so this is a second chance at love kind of story. Neither Secret Quill nor Jaunty are looking to fall in love again due to what happened with their previous spouses, but you know that Jaunty… he just has a way about him (I think it’s those sharp shiny quills—they make him appear very debonair, you know), and Secret Quill can’t help but love him. Fortunately for Jaunty, he is successful at Romancing the Secret Quill, and they have a very wonderful and very beautiful happily ever after.

Jaunty P. Quills, P.E.: Have you figured it out yet, readers? One more question. Have you ever blogged with the Jaunty Quills before? Have you been a past guest?

Secret Jaunty: I have, indeed! Once in 2010 and once in 2011. *eyes Jaunty* Speaking of sharp shiny quills, since I’m part of the group does that mean I get to touch them now? *extends hand* Ow! Okay, okay, I guess that’s a no-no. Warning, readers. Never touch the quills, even if he does look adorable.

Jaunty P. Quills, P.E.: And that’s it, readers! Post your comments and guesses. Here’s a recap of the rules.

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.

We’ll reveal the new Jaunty’s name, and the winners on Sunday, October 2nd. So visit us all through the month of September, and don’t forget to comment on all of those Guess the Jaunty blogs to enter the contest!

*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!

Soon, Kathryn Smith’s photo wll be replaced by a silhouette (we miss you, Kate!). Kathryn’s writing is taking her in exciting new directions, and her schedule coupled with blogging was just too much.  While we hated to see Kathryn go, we’re thrilled to bring another great author on board as the latest Jaunty Quill.

Her name is…

Well, I can’t tell you yet.

All of the Jaunties are excited about this author and we can’t wait for her debut blog.  But we’re not going to tell you who she is right away. We’re going to let you guess! And the best part is we’re going to reward you for guessing!

So Ta-Da!!!  The Guess the Jaunty contest begins September 1st and runs through the month of September.

Here’s how it’ll work.  Our secret Jaunty Quill will blog periodically in September, giving you hints as to who she is. Each time she blogs, we want our readers to post a comment guessing her 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.

Fun, huh?  We’ll reveal the new Jaunty’s name, and the winners on Sunday, October 2nd. So visit us all through the month of September, and don’t forget to comment on all of those Guess the Jaunty blogs to enter the contest!

Oh, one last hint, but promise you won’t tell the other Jaunties I’m telling you this.  Are you one of Jaunty Quills’s Facebook friends? Jaunty, our resident porcupine mascot, has all the inside scoop. Friend him for additional hints and for the head’s up on when a Guess the Jaunty blog is coming.

Good luck everyone!