May 7, 2008

Deadlines

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” — Douglas Adams

I’m on deadline. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not really complaining. A deadline, for a writer, means employment. So it’s a good thing, but it’s scary as well. Especially this one, it’s always nerve-wracking turning in that first book to a new editor. I’ve been in that particular scenario three times now. Twice at Avon, and now with my move to Grand Central. You have a whole new learning curve with every editor because they’re all different, they all have their own likes and dislikes and hang-ups. So you essentially start over with every editor. And moving to a new house ups the ante too. Needless to say I’m a mess. A complete ball of nerves. Did I mention I’m not done with the book? And it’s due June 1st?

For the record I’m not a Simpson’s fan (much to The Professor’s annoyance) but this picture was perfect.

Did I also mention that this book is running short? Okay, it’s okay. Deep breaths. Ohm. Ohm. Ohm. Hey, pictures take up a lot of space and I wanted it to look like I really worked on this blog for y’all. But mostly I’m trying to rush right through it and get back to my writing. Wish me luck. And I hope I have new of a completed (and brilliant) book very soon.

In the meantime I’ll give you a topic to discuss amongst yourselves. (Remember that old Saturday Night Live skit with Mike Myers doing Barbra Streisand? The Prince of Thieves is neither about princes nor thieves…discuss…too funny?) Okay what was the first romance novel you read and is it still in your top 5 favorites? Ready…discuss.

May 1, 2008

Three Nights of Sin released

I have been very excited about the release of this book, and now that it’s here…I don’t know what to say! So, I’ll include the back cover blurb and a snippet from the book and just leave it at that until I recover my tongue in order to give the historical background and behind the scene snippets. If you have any questions about the book, please ask! I’ll make sure to check the comments frequently.

Back cover blurb:

Three nights of danger . . .

When her brother was arrested for murder, the ton shut its doors to Marietta Winters. No one would help her save him from the gallows - no one but Gabriel Noble. In exchange for taking the case, Gabriel requests three favors from the desperate young beauty, and Marietta has no other choice but to make a deal with the sinfully handsome devil.

Three nights of pleasure . . .

Searching for clues in the rough underbelly of London, Marietta must masquerade as a shamelessly wanton wench - much to Gabriel’s delight. But Marietta swears to herself that her passionate moans are just for show. She could never fall in love with such a maddening, arrogant, seductive stranger . . . could she?

Three nights of sin . . .

Night after night, she satisfies his wicked cravings. But soon Gabriel wants more from Marietta than just three nights of sin - and even a sordid secret in his past won’t prevent him from trying to possess her forever.

Small Excerpt:

“You asked for my help, Miss Winters.”

Her fingernails dug into her left palm. She picked up the journal, shaking it in his direction. “Were you going to give me this if I hadn’t walked in on the two of you?”

“And here I thought you trusted me.” His voice was nonchalant.

“I don’t trust you at all. A sin would be less dangerous.”

He was suddenly squatting in front of her, having moved too quickly for her to react. He ran his thumb over the leather top of the journal, the tip brushing her fingers.

“That’s a shame, Marietta.” His voice held the low hum of an ocean wave at night. “If you don’t trust me, your brother is going to hang.” His fingertips moved along the side of her hand and then lifted. The most dangerous man she’d ever met crouched in front of her. “And I guarantee that you will still be serving me. Three services. Three tasks. Three nights of sin?”

March 27, 2008

Secrets unveiled…

This is long overdue and for that I should certainly apologize. I’m embarrassed that I’ve neglected you for so long, but I’ve been holding on to a couple of secrets and the time has come to share them. So do y’all want good news or the bad news first? I know I can hear some of you groaning. Okay we’ll go with the bad news. I’m leaving Avon and that means no 4th book in the Ladies’ Amateur Sleuth Society series. At least for the time being. That doesn’t mean there won’t EVER be one, I have full intentions of completing the series at some point in the future. Suffice it to say that I’ll find a way to make sure poor Charlotte gets her happy ending and that Jack’s identity is finally revealed. So many of you have emailed me to ask about this book and I so appreciate your support. It’s sad, I know it, I’m bummed too. But with every bit of bad news there is a silver lining. I think I mixed my metaphors with that, but you get my drift.

So onto the good news. I’m moving to Grand Central Publishing (formerly known as Warner Books) and home to so many great writers. I’m super excited. Along with this move will be coming a new and very exciting series for me. I can’t give you many details right now, but suffice it to say they’re coming, I promise. I just can’t wait until you meet these characters, I can honestly say I’ve never had more fun writing than when I dove head first into this book. Be looking for more details on here and on my website as they become available to me.

I hope you’ll be excited for me with this new endeavor. I can’t wait to tell y’all all about the books!

December 28, 2007

And the award goes to…

Hello! It’s Jaunty P. Quills, Porcupine Extraordinaire making an unscheduled visit here. It’s Shana’s day to blog, but who cares! (Okay, okay, Shana!) Shana says that if you care, her blog is below. (Happy now?)

We Jaunty Quills are celebrating big today. We have 3 big announcements!

Drum roll, please. Seriously, do a drumroll on your desk. I’ll wait.

First of all, congrats to our own Jess Michaels (aka Jenna Petersen) who has made Lifetime’s Hottest Romance Books of 2007 with Everything Forbidden. Lifetime says “Michaels turns a deliciously erotic phrase in this sexy romance that pushes sensual boundaries just a blissful tad.” Go, Jenna! (Can I have some bark now?)

Secondly, two of our Quills have been nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Awards. Robyn DeHart is nominated in the Historical Romantic Mystery/Gothic category for Tempted at Every Turn. I hope you win it, Robyn (then maybe she’ll give me those pine nuts she promised).

Shana Galen is nominated in the Historical Love and Laughter category for Blackthorne’s Bride. Avon authors pretty much swept that category, but we’re still rooting for Shana (she promised me acorns if I said that).

Okay, time for the big finish.

2-4-6-8, who do we appreciate?
Jaunty!
P.!
Quills!

December 7, 2007

Elopement—Regency Style

I did this blog for the Avon Romance Blog, but I don’t know how many of you read that, so I thought I’d post it here. Forgive me if it’s a repeat for you.

If you’ve read a few historical novels, you’re probably familiar with Gretna Green. I’ve married two of my fictional couples there, and I had so much fun researching this romantic spot.

In 1752 the English Parliament passed the Hardwicke Marriage Act, which prevented the rampant practice of clandestine marriages. These marriages were being used by unscrupulous men looking to marry an heiress and secure their fortunes. As you can imagine, the parents of these heiresses were more than slightly displeased, even more so when incidents of men being clandestinely married to three or four women came to light. Lord Chancellor Hardwicke proposed a bill to end the worst abuses of the clandestine marriages. The Hardwicke Marriage Act, as it came to be called, made elopement all but impossible in England.

So what’s a couple who lacks parental support to do?

Elope, of course! And the nearest spot was Gretna Green.

Of course a couple didn’t have to elope to Gretna Green. Boats waited at Southampton to take runaway couples to the island of Guernsey, where the clandestine marriages were legal. But Scotland was easier to access, and therefore more popular.

There are many romantic stories of prospective brides and grooms running away to Gretna Green, the bride’s father in hot pursuit. In fact, Gretna Green has built quite a reputation as a destination wedding spot off these legends.

The primary legend was that the first stop eloping couples made was the local blacksmith’s shop to be wed over the anvil by the local blacksmith—men called anvil priests. There’s probably not much truth to the legends about blacksmiths and anvils, but there were several men who made their fame and fortune marrying England’s desperate lovers. Robert Elliott was one. Some scholars speculate that Elliott married over 3000 couples.

Joseph Paisley was another anvil priest, and he was not your typical “priest.” He’d been a smuggler before he got into the marriage business, and he had a bit of a drinking problem.

BLACKTHORNE’S BRIDE, my latest novel, incorporates a story about Joseph Paisley and mixed up marriages. Take one drunk anvil priest, a father with a pistol banging on the door to the blacksmith’s shop, and two couples in a hurry, and you get…well, let’s just say that I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed taking this real-life tale and weaving it into fiction.

October 30, 2007

What’s Forbidden? Just About Everything.

It’s been a busy little month for me. And now it’s all culminating in my second release in 30 days. Today, EVERYTHING FORBIDDEN hits shelves.

There are a lot of things that excite me about this book. I really love my hero and heroine, Ethan Hamon and Miranda Albright. I liked creating an innocent heroine, who also had some kind of handle on her own desire. A woman who sacrifices something for her family, but refuses to be a martyr. And then there is Ethan. He’s one of the hottest heroes I’ve ever written, I think. I mean, he’s steamy. LOL He really likes sex, but when it comes to Miranda, he’s lost.

But I think the thing that excited me most about EF is that it’s my first full-length erotic romance. I’ve been writing erotic romance since 2003, when I wrote my first novella, “Ancient Pleasures”. But I’ve always felt like the shorter novellas and short stories fit my voice best. But when Avon asked for a couple of full-length books, I took the challenge.

Now I just hope you like it.

So have you ever wanted something that was forbidden? Did you get it? Someone who posts a comment today will win a book from my Jess Michaels backlist (SECRETS 11, SECRETS 12 or PARLOR GAMES, your choice).

And scroll down to see the winner of Shana’s contest.

October 29, 2007

Blackthorne’s Bride is Here–Almost!

It’s here! Almost! I’m so, so excited that Blackthorne’s Bride is hitting shelves tomorrow. I’ve said for a long time that I think this is my best work yet, and I hope you agree.

You’re reading this for the inside scoop, right? So let’s dish.

This is the third in my Misadventures in Matrimony series, and it focuses on Lady Madeleine, daughter of the Earl of Castleigh. Maddie is completely fed up with her overprotective father as well as dowry-hungry suitors pestering her with marriage proposals. She’s decided to solve both of her problems by eloping to Gretna Green with a sweet but bumbling dog breeder. Unfortunately, Maddie’s adventure-starved cousin Ashley figures out the plan and decides to crash the elopement.

In the meantime, Jack Martingale, the Marquess of Blackthorne, is having trouble with his incorrigible brother Nick. Nick has just insulted the powerful Duke of Bleven, and he’s managed to drag Jack into the feud as well. When the Black Duke shows up for retribution, his own private army in tow, the Martingale brothers don’t stick around. They hop in the first carriage they find: Maddie and Ashley’s carriage.

This is a fun, fast-paced story that’s based on a true story of a Gretna Green elopement gone awry. I tell the true story in the Author’s Note at the back of the book, but suffice it to say it involves two couples and a drunk anvil priest.

What else?

I’ve been looking forward to writing Maddie’s story because I’ve always wanted to buck the clichés and write a heroine who did not want adventure. Maddie just wants to be a wife, mother, and philanthropist. She doesn’t enjoy the risky escapades her cousins in The Spinster’s Club cook up. So of course that means Maddie has to have the biggest adventure of them all.

Jack Martingale is one of my favorite heroes. He doesn’t want to care about Maddie or his annoying brother or anyone but himself. He doesn’t want to save anyone. But no matter how hard-hearted he tries to be, he can’t make it stick. Jack’s an unwilling hero—and isn’t that just the sexiest kind?

Think about buying Blackthorne’s Bride tomorrow. I promise you won’t be disappointed. And one lucky reader will win a signed copy. All you have to do is go to the excerpt on my website and answer this question in the comment section below: What is the name of Maddie’s fiancé?

I’ll pick a winner tomorrow and announce it on the blog. Good luck!

October 9, 2007

Something Beautiful

Isn’t it great when something totally unexpected and really nice happens to you? Most days I go about my daily routine with nothing bad but nothing really great happening to me. Maybe that’s why it feels so good to get good news.

I got some good news recently. My October 30th release, Blackthorne’s Bride, got a 4 ½ star Top Pick review from Romantic Times Bookreviews magazine. I found out while I was at work. I had kind of sneaked my hotmail account open and peeked at my new messages. Imagine my surprise when I saw a subject line with a congrats to me!

Kerrelyn Sparks, one of our favorite Avon authors, had emailed me to let me know about the good review. My first urge was to jump up and down, screaming and pumping my arms in the air. But how to explain such behavior when I was not supposed to be checking my email?

So I cheered on the inside, then sneaked away at the first opportunity to call Ultimate Sportsfan.

It took me another couple of days before the magazine came in the mail and I actually saw the review. Here’s what it says.

With its Shakespearean comedy-of-errors quality, this fun, fast and sexy romance is a love-and-laughter banquet. Galen tickles the funny bone while titillating the senses in her provocative tale of marriage by mistake.

Summary: Earl’s daughter Madeleine Fullbright is determined to undermine her father’s plans for her marriage by eloping with an honorable philanthropist.

She doesn’t expect her best friend, Ashley, to be in the carriage, or to have her coach commandeered by the Blackthorne brothers, Lord Nicholas and Lord Jack, who are running from the murderous Lord Blevens. Blevens’ attempts to stop them are foiled by Ashley’s schemes, which include running through the countryside and bumping into Madeleine’s irate father and Blevens’ trigger-happy henchmen.

During their escape, Madeleine and Jack find time to enjoy a few delicious kisses. Then they find that a drunken “priest” has married Madeleine to Jack. What was smoldering in the woods comes to a blaze in the bedroom. But the vengeful Blevens will do whatever he can to make this marriage anything but simple and safe. —Kathe Robin

Jack, the hero is also a K.I.S.S. (Knights in Shining Silver) hero. RT said, “Perhaps Ms. Galen would allow the sexy, naughty Blackthorne brothers, Lord Jack and Lord Nicholas from Blackthorne’s Bride, to stop chasing their ladies through the countryside and chase us for a minute or two.”

Wow! Thank you Kathe!

So what about you? What’s the nicest thing that’s happened to you lately?

August 29, 2007

Under the Covers

Tempted at Every Turn has been out about a month now and I’ve already received such great reader feedback about Willow and James. I normally do my Under the Covers feature on my website and I will put this there too, but my Jaunty friends are getting a sneak peek at the behind the scenes.

Heroine: Willow Mabson
Inspiration – actually Anna Paquin, not someone I would ordinarily look to for a heroine, but this picture seemed to capture the essence of Willow for me.

Hero: James Sterling
Inspiration – Josh Holloway, I actually had a difficult time “finding” James. And as silly as it may sound, I get stuck if I can’t find THE right picture. But then, I found it…

Yowza! It totally embodied his arrogance and sexiness.

It took me a while to narrow down the subject matter I wanted to deal with in the mystery subplot of the book. I jumped around to several different ideas, even one about a kidnapped show dog – as it turns out, that would have been a WAY different book. The idea I ended up with worked so much better.

Anytime you have a really starched, repressed, uptight society, you’ll have an underground movement that swings the other way. As most you know the Victorian era is known not only for the industrial revolution, but also for their strict morality. But while so many were busy being prim and proper, prostitution was at an all-time high, and there was an emergence of both erotic literature and photography. It was the latter that I chose to use and it worked perfectly with Willow’s rather rigid nature. Needless to say it was rather interesting research.

The other aspect I tackled was Bi-polar disorder, a tricky feat for a historical novel when none of the modern terminology would have applied. I have a friend who has family experience with this and was able to assist me with making sure I portrayed the illness appropriately, especially in a day and age when we didn’t have the benefit of the medications.

On top of all of this, I had all the Scotland Yard (technically Metropolitan Police) procedural stuff to work out. Needless to say it was a really interesting book to research. And the characters are probably my favorite thus far. Well, I hope you enjoyed this peek from the inside of Tempted at Every Turn.

August 27, 2007

Sneak Preview

I love sneak previews. It’s so much fun to see something before anyone else. Recently I saw the sneak preview of Arctic Tale. It was a good movie, but not one I probably would have jumped to see in theaters. Give me a sneak preview, though, and I’m there.

I have a sneak preview for you. Actually, it’s for everyone, but I’m telling you about it first. There’s an excerpt from my next book, BLACKTHORNE’S BRIDE on my website now!

The book will be out October 30, and it’s fun, fast-paced, and sexy.

Check out the excerpt and let me know what you think.