May 30, 2007

From Brogan MacLochlainn

I thought I’d give the hero of A Warrior’s Taking a chance to tell you about himself and his mission. His book will be released in just a few weeks … June 26th!

The murder of my father, High Chieftain of the magical Druzai people, is the only possible inducement to make me leave my home isle of Coruain. We know that the murderess is the powerful sorceress Eilinora, an ancient enemy of the Druzai, and we have only one fail-proof weapon to use against her.

The witch’s intentions are clear: to destroy the Druzai and enslave the Tuath, the non-magical people of the earth. I have no interest in the inferior Tuath, but ’tis my role as my father’s chief warrior-sorcerer, to keep Coruain safe. In order to do so, I must travel to the land of the Tuath in search of the powerful weapon – a dull, red stone – that was hidden centuries ago. There are two of these so-called blood stones, and the one I seek is hidden in a place called England, stowed away far into my future, in the year 1813.

Since I was warned to use no magic which could draw Eilinora to me, my journey through time was painful and disorienting. I washed up on the beach near my destination, and was ill-equipped to deal with the Tuath lass who discovered me and kept me from drowning in the surf. I felt sure she must have some magic of her own, for she drew me like a moth to flame. ’Twas impossible, yet Sarah Granger was the most compelling female I’d ever encountered, Druzai or Tuath.

I was more than anxious to collect the stone from its hiding place in the ruins of Ravenfield Castle and get away from there, away from my attraction to the Tuath woman. But since I could not use my magic, I had to search the old ruins painstakingly, brick by brick. It took much longer than I’d hoped, and I found myself being drawn into Sarah’s dire circumstances and her intrepid pursuit of a solution to the problems she faced.

Sarah – and the two little orphaned lasses in her charge – are soon to be evicted from the house at Ravenfield, for it is entailed (whatever that means) to some distant cousin of the children’s father. Sarah intends to take the children into the nearby town and try to support them all by giving lessons to the town children, and by selling her homemade baked goods (which are beyond any magic I’ve ever known). But Sarah was an orphan herself, and ill-treated in that miserable little town. It pains me to think of her trying to make a life there, without any help. I feel certain the best thing would be for her to wed … to have a husband to provide for her … to take care of her needs … to love her as she deserves to be loved.

There was one likely candidate to become Sarah’s husband, the local squire whom she has loved for years. But he’s such a milksop, I can hardly stand the thought of him touching her. Especially when I’ve experienced the utter magic of her kiss. I never meant to do it, but her mouth was irresistible. And when I pulled her fully into my arms …

My actions made no sense whatsoever. Even now, when I think of touching Sarah, I feel an arousal so potent it makes my heart pound and my mouth go dry. As a son of the Druzai chieftain, a member of the most powerful Druzai family of all Coruain, it seems unimaginable that I could succumb to the charms of a Tuath lass, no matter how compelling they might be.

Yet, impossible as it is, I find myself falling completely, recklessly, and wholeheartedly in love with Sarah. I say recklessly, because as a Tuath, she cannot come home to Coruain with me. No matter how I might wish to pursue the attraction that burns between us, Coruain is in terrible peril. I have no choice but to go back. I can make no commitment to her.

There is no way ’round it. Sarah is Tuath, and I am Druzai. Our worlds are entirely different. Our peoples must remain separate, as we were meant to be. I have no choice but to deal with the threat posed by the ancient sorceress by finding the stone and returning it to my home isle. I must leave Sarah.

I only hope I can defeat Eilinora before she can harm Sarah and the lasses …

April 24, 2007

Behind the Scenes of The Devil’s Temptation

Yay! Today is the official release date for The Devil’s Temptation, the second book in the Daventry Sisters series, and it should now be occupying space on a bookstore shelf near you. I am so excited, I’m doing the Snoopy dance. Okay, maybe not literally, since I am sitting at my computer, but I am picturing it in my mind. And now that I am picturing it, maybe it’s a good thing that I’m not actually doing it. I am a terrible, terrible dancer.

But I digress. I thought I would celebrate the occasion by sharing a bit of top secret, behind the scenes info on the book. So, without further ado, here are just a few tid-bits to whet your appetite:

Here is the original, never-before-seen blurb I wrote for my editor when I first started work on my proposal for the book: The Devil’s Temptation is the story of Lady Maura Daventry, the second born of the Daventry sisters. Ever since the murder of her scandalous mother, the Marchioness of Albright, Maura has been forced to endure the condemnation and whispered speculation of the ton. But when she inadvertantly stumbles upon the marchioness’s old diary, she discovers to her shock that her mother was not the villainess she has been portrayed as. Not only that, but the wrong person may have been held responsible for her murder! Full of guilt and remorse at having believed the worst of her mother, Maura sets out to find answers, only to have her search complicated by the one man who could prove to be a threat to her vulnerable heart: Gabriel Sutcliffe, the Earl of Hawksley–the handsome and dangerously seductive son of the very man once accused of her mother’s death!

If that brief summary has left you intrigued, you can check out an excerpt from the book and some early review quotes here. And here are a few little-known secrets about the writing of the book:

1. In my original plans for the series, Maura was supposed to be paired up with the stepson of their mother’s good friend, the Dowager Duchess of Maitland. But halfway through the writing of Sins of Midnight, Gabriel made a sudden appearance and things changed. Those of you who have read the book will know the scene I am referring to. It takes place at a ball, where Gabriel comes to Maura’s rescue when she is being accosted by a rather arrogant young lordling who is being overly aggressive in his attentions. Gabriel told me in no uncertain terms that he was the one for Maura, not Maitland. So I didn’t argue. I went back and wrote in a son for the late Earl of Hawksley, and the rest is history.

2. Maura was the most difficult of the sisters for me to pin down as a writer. In the beginning of Sins of Midnight, she came across as very haughty and cold and far too concerned with appearances. But once I realized that she had a very good reason for behaving the way she did, I came to understand her better. Her character definitely changed and softened, and now she is my favorite of the three. I hope you will find her a heroine to root for.

3. Readers will get a sneak peak of Aimee Daventry’s hero within the first few chapters of the book.

4. I am not normally the sort of writer who visualizes a particular actor in my mind whenever I am creating one of my heroes. Usually they are an amalgam of several different people that slowly comes together as I write. But I must admit that I definitely saw Gabriel as an older, blonder, green-eyed James Franco of Tristan and Isolde and Spiderman fame. Just picture him with a head of golden-blond curls. He’s got the wicked angel look down pat.

5. And the killer is…Nah, just kidding. You’ll have to buy the book to find out the answer to that.

So there you have it. At least for now. I plan on sharing a bit more with you in the coming days. And in the meantime, if you pick up Devil’s Temptation this week, please do let me know what you think!

January 30, 2007

Jaunty Goes Good Groom Hunting

Hello! It’s me, the fabulous Jaunty P. Quills, Porcupine Extraordinaire. I’m here with guest blogger Shana Galen to—

Shana: Um, Jaunty. Excuse me.

Jaunty: Shh! I’m trying to introduce you.

Shana: I know, and that’s great, but I’m not a guest blogger. This is my blog—well, mine and the other Jaunty Quills’.

Jaunty: Of course it is, Shana (patting her shoulder). You keep believing that.
But, as I was saying, my guest today is Shana Galen. We’re here to talk about her new book, GOOD PORCUPINE HUNTING.

Shana: Jaunty, that’s not the title. It’s GOOD GROOM HUNTING. See, here’s the cover.

Jaunty: Right. So tell me a little about the book.

Shana: It’s the second in my Misadventures in Matrimony series. The first was NO MAN’S BRIDE, and it was about Catie. This story is about Catie’s cousin Josie. She’s the one who always wanted to be a pirate. Her grandfather was a pirate, and she has half of a treasure map he gave her—

Jaunty: No, no, no! Not that boring stuff! Tell me about the parts with the porcupines.

Shana: What parts with porcupines?

Jaunty: Wait a minute! Are you saying you’ve written another book without any mention of porcupines in it? (quills stand menacingly on end) You promised me that this book had porcupines!

Shana: Okay, okay! Don’t get so close with those quills. The book does have porcupines. Yeah. It does. See, the porcupine heroine, Josie, has half of a treasure map, and her arch-enemy Stephen, the porcupine hero, has the other half.

Jaunty: What does this Stephen look like? Anything like me?

Shana: Um—exactly like you, Jaunty.

Jaunty: Really?

Shana: Sure.
So anyway, as I was saying, Josie decides the best way to find Stephen’s half of the treasure map is by becoming his mistress. That way she can search his house. Plus, their families are enemies (her pirate grandfather allegedly shot his pirate grandfather), so she won’t have to worry about marrying Stephen and losing her independence. Josie doesn’t count on him telling her that he doesn’t want her for a mistress.

Jaunty: How humiliating! Did her quills droop?

Shana: Her quills were very depressed—for about 5 minutes. Josie’s pretty spunky, so she comes up with another plan, and before you know it, she and Stephen are running around London and then on their way to Cornwall in search of the treasure.

Jaunty: Do they find it?

Shana: I can’t tell you that, Jaunty. I can only say that they find something far more precious.

Jaunty: (gasps) The golden quill?

Shana: The what?

Jaunty: Oh, oops. Forgot I’m not supposed to mention the golden quill—bit of a porcupine secret. Erase that when we edit this, okay, Shana?

Shana: Sure, Jaunty.

Jaunty: So this is Jaunty P. Quills signing off. Thank you to Shana Galen for being my guest—

Shana: Jaunty!

Jaunty: —and don’t forget that her new book, GOOD PORCUPINE HUNTING—

Shana: GOOD GROOM HUNTING

Jaunty:–goes on sale today!

January 24, 2007

Collages: building a story with pictures

A few years ago Jenny Crusie did an article in the RWR (Romance Writer’s Report) about building collages for books in the early brainstorming/prewriting stages. I’ve done this a few times, once for A Study in Scandal, once for Tempted at Every Turn and just this weekend I made one for Charlotte’s book (which has no title yet.) The point of this exercise, other than indulging your cut & paste tendencies from childhood, is that it taps into your subconscious and pulls out potential ideas for the characters or story that might not have thought of before.

Now the way Jenny goes about it is a bit different from me, she collects things for a while, and not just pictures, but objects and so her collages probably have texture as well as being multi-dimensional. Mine consist (at least so far) of just pictures. I’m so visual anyways, that this makes sense to me.

So without further ado….here are two of my collages to share with you. Sorry about the glare in them – I couldn’t seem to take a picture without one.

Now, I don’t want to give too much away from this by detailing what I did or didn’t use in the book – you’ll have to wait until August for that. But as you can see I have images of gardens with water, some glasses, a writing desk, yummy Josh Holloway from LOST (I did use him!), and shelves of books.

I don’t even know at this point what I will or won’t use from this one since I’m just starting the book. I used more words on this one and lots of items of beauty, lots of jewelry and stockings and you can’t miss the Jack of Hearts right in the center…

So what about the rest of you? Do you do anything different for getting in the mood to write your books? Do you make collages? Or perhaps a soundtrack with songs that remind you of the characters? Do you draw pictures of the houses or configure elaborate timelines? Come on Jaunties, gives us the inside scoop…

January 15, 2007

Battle of the sexes

Now I’m not going to get into it, but wee see examples of gender inequality everyday. What I want to talk about is where we see it in our books. The differences between heroes and heroines, if you will, besides the obvious ones.

Heroines have certainly gotten stronger in romance novels over the past ten years, even the past five years, but still the standards seem to be different. Readers tend to be pickier when it comes to heroines than they are with heroes; more admissible with male characters than they are with female. I haven’t quite been able to figure this one out.

Why is it okay for an “Alpha” male to be domineering and bossy and more than a little rough around the edges, but similar behavior for a woman is considered too much? Are we just making excuses for the men? Or do we have problems swallowing a heroine with real flaws? I’m not talking about bitchy women; I’m just talking about stuff we all probably struggle with from time to time.

As a heroine-driven writer, this can be a challenge. For one, I really struggle trying to create the perfect heroes for my specific heroine, what kind of man will bring out the best in her, but also challenge her? I’ve tried to write the classic Alpha hero, but I just can’t make myself do it. He is outside of my writing toolbox. For one, when I try to put in dialogue or actions that are more alpha, something in me stops cold. I know other writers create effective Alpha males, but for me I can’t get one down on paper without thinking, “readers will never buy this because he’s too cold and arrogant and the heroine will never fall in love with him.” It just doesn’t ring true for me – in my own writing. For another, readers tend to read romance for the romance so they’re looking to the hero to provide some fantasy fulfillment – when you’re a heroine-driven writer, you have to make sure your hero is strong enough to act in that roll even if the book is really about the heroine.

So my heroes tend to be flawed in other ways. But it’s my heroines who take the real journey of growth. In each of my books (with the possible exception of A Study in Scandal) the story is driven by the heroine’s character arc, by her need to overcome her fears and flaws and grow and change so she can be in a healthy relationship. Because of this, because I write truly flawed heroines, I’ve taken some hits. More so before I sold than now, although I have seen a few things on-line indicating the feeling is still out there.

With Claudia, some complained that she was too innocent, too naïve for her own good. Well, you know what, she was. That was part of her growth, learning to grow up and trust herself and stop allowing others to dictate her life. That’s just one example. I’m writing about this today because I’m struggling with my current heroine. For those of you who’ve read the first two books in the Ladies’ Amateur Sleuth Society series have already met her and know she’s a unique one.

I’m walking the fine line between keeping her character and personality as strong as its ever been and revealing her vulnerabilities so that new readers will give her a chance. It’s challenging but definitely a worthy task. And it simply occurred to me as I was working through the revisions that were it my hero behaving in such a manner, it might not be as questionable. So what do y’all think? Are you more excusable with male characters than with female? As a reader who are you more drawn to?

I’m going to randomly pick a lucky winner from one of the comments and you’ll win an autographed copy of one of my books – your choice.

January 9, 2007

Treasures

You know what’s fun? An adventure. You know what’s even more fun? An adventure with a big payoff at the end.

Keep reading this blog. There might be a payoff at the end…

I can’t believe it’s already January and my new book Good Groom Hunting is out January 30! Good Groom Hunting is the second in my Misadventures in Matrimony series (but you don’t have to read No Man’s Bride to enjoy Good Groom Hunting).

Good Groom Hunting is the story of Josephine Hale. Josie loves adventure, loves passion, loves danger and excitement. She comes by it honestly as her grandfather was a pirate. In fact, he left her half of a tattered treasure map, and Josie is determined to find the treasure.

Unfortunately, the other half is in possession of Stephen Doubleday, the Earl of Westman. The Doubledays are the sworn enemies of the Hales. But that doesn’t stop Josie from approaching Stephen.

Read an excerpt from that encounter here .

Though he needs the money, Stephen isn’t as excited about finding the treasure as Josie. First of all, he doesn’t believe the treasure is real. Secondly, he’s far too attracted to Josie, and he knows that working with her could be trouble.

I have to tell you that this book was so much fun to write! Pirates, treasure, romance. What more could anyone want?

How about an ARC?

I have one advance copy of Good Groom Hunting left, and if you comment on this blog, you might win it. I’ll pick one winner from all the comments posted between now and when I wake up tomorrow morning.

I’d love to hear what you treasure. Is it something special that’s been passed down to you? A person? Something abstract? What do you treasure?

December 26, 2006

Dreams Never Die (Just Like Desire)

Christmas may be over, but I’m still receiving gifts! Yes, today is another Jaunty release day — MINE (Desire Never Dies)! But you probably already knew that if you’re a regular visitor here.

What you may not know just how much this means to me. Desire Never Dies is my third book written as Jenna Petersen for Avon since October 2005. And just a little more than two years ago, I was beginning to think this dream would never happen. But here I am, three books on the shelves and at least two more coming (as Jenna Petersen, we aren’t even talking about Jess Michaels).

If this is a real dream, don’t wake me.

I’m a big believer in dreams. Chasing them, working for them, listening to them and never giving up on them. In Desire Never Dies, I wrote a character, Anastasia Whittig, who had given up on her dreams. Her hopes. Her love. Even her life. I put her in a holding pattern, a place where she was comfortable, yet stagnant.

And then I blew up her world. I shook every foundation, broke all her rules and introduced her to a man, Lucas Tyler, who would expect everything from her that she was secretly capable of. In short, I gave her back her dreams.

In a few days, we’ll be embarking on a brand new year, a fresh start - a perfect time to take out some old dreams, dust them off and pursue them. Or find some new dreams and make them a reality. So, is there a dream you have that you’re pursuing? Or one you’d like to pursue again.

To quote from Pretty Woman, “What’s Your Dream?”

December 7, 2006

Stars in your eyes

Now that my third book is out, I thought I’d share some of the research I did for Alistair, the hero of Confessions of A Viscount.

I resisted him being an astronomer — all I could identify in the night sky at that point was the moon and the Big Dipper. But Alistair, just like all of my heroes, was persistent and eventually pursuaded me to see things his way.

I started with Astronomy for Dummies and other books that included sky charts and info about telescopes. I’d always meant to learn more about the night sky anyway, especially since the best time to enjoy our hot tub is after dark, and I wonder about those white dots up there. I attended a sky show at OMSI, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, since it was scheduled right after an IMAX showing of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Hey, I’ll go to any lengths for research.

Then I discovered Rose City Astronomers, whose annual star party was only a few weeks away. Hundreds of amateur astronomers assemble high atop a plateau in the Ochoco National Forest in central Oregon for three days of stargazing and workshops. Practically salivating at the chance to interview so many astronomers in person and the chance to look at the universe through telescopes, I convinced my husband this would be a fun camping trip. Not until we started on the six-hour drive did I explain the reason for the red tape (to cover the car door lights) and red lenses for the flashlights: white light messes up your night vision. The whole reason for going out to the middle of nowhere is to get away from lights that interfere with your view of the cosmos. Unfortunately this also means campfires are not allowed. Did I mention how high up in the Oregon desert we would be, where the temperature dips quite low at night even in late August? And did I mention my husband’s night vision is poor under the best of circumstances, and he has absolutely no interest in astronomy?

He is, however, supportive of my career and understood the necessity of going on this research trip. Three days out in fresh air, and cooking outdoors on a gas camp stove where there’s always a chance for an explosion — he was reasonably happy.

Everyone at the Oregon Star Party was incredibly helpful and welcoming. The vibe was similar to that of a writers’ conference, where people willingly share their knowledge and the benefit of their experience. The first workshop after darkness had set in was The Night Sky for Newbies. Our instructor used a green laser pointer that helped make sure we were all viewing the same celestial object at the same time, as he identified the various constellations and told us something about them. That hour alone was worth the registration fee and 12 hours of driving. And the view of the Milky Way! I’d never before seen it so clearly, each pinpoint of light visible rather than just a smearing of fog or mist, like the steam from the “teapot” asterism that is part of Sagittarius.

By this time it was after 10:30 and Mike was getting cold. He also didn’t like having to hold my hand in the darkness to keep from stumbling off the gravel road and tripping on the sagebrush and rocks that covered the plateau. He turned in for the night, but I made my way back up the hill toward the field of telescopes.

Astronomers use tiny red lights to mark the base of the telescope tripod feet, and red flashlights for looking at star charts. Since the moon wouldn’t rise until shortly before sunrise, the only other light was starlight. I used the red lights and the sound of voices to guide me off the path, toward someone who was explaining something. If he was already teaching, I figured he wouldn’t mind if I eavesdropped.

Don spent almost an hour showing us various galaxies, nebulae and clusters. I’d remembered to wear my glasses so I could see distant objects clearly, but all I was seeing was random white dots. I tried one eye, then the other, but it made no difference. I was getting stiff and cold and couldn’t believe these people spent how much money to come up here to do this?

And then…

Then Don focused on the Andromeda galaxy. Eureka! I actually saw the swirls and the pattern, not just random dots. How cool is that, to see another galaxy? With your own eyes in real time, not just a photo. Don found several other objects to show us, each more cool than the last. But soon it was time for him to turn in since he gets up at pre-dawn for comet hunting. The next day I found out the only living person who’s found more comets than Don is some dude in Asia.

Still jazzed about finally being able to see these really cool objects, I wandered further up the hill rather than going to bed. It was barely midnight — the night was just beginning! Next I found four men who were excited at having just located something in their spotting scope. Tom, PJ, Christopher and Christopher’s dad had three telescopes set up, including a Dobson that Dad had built. One scope could locate objects by itself, whatever you chose from the computer program. What impressed me is that the other two scopes had to be manually focused — using only star charts and the operator’s familiarity with the night sky to find what they wanted to view.

Just like the other astronomers I’d encountered, these guys were happy to chat about their hobby and let me look through their scopes. We watched Mars and the Pleiades rise, and they showed me a variety of double stars, double doubles, other galaxies, clusters and nebulae. I also saw my first satellites that night. One in particular wobbled like it was operated by a drunk driver. Since it was low on the eastern horizon, it was probably heat in the atmosphere that distorted our view of it. I’m sure the NASA guys are quite sober.

The Perseid meteor showers had ended a few weeks before, but under such excellent viewing conditions we were still able to see several meteors each hour. About 2 a.m. one zinged past low on the western horizon, with an impressive green tail that drew a collective “Ooh!” from more than a hundred people, reminding me that it was not just the five of us out there.

Only a small percentage of our time was spent actually peering through the eyepiece of the various telescopes. Part of the time we spent discussing which objects we wanted to view and how to find them, and the rest was spent chatting, getting to know each other. The guys were eager to help with my novel research and knew a lot of history of astronomy, though our conversation covered a variety of topics as the night progressed. (I will swear until my dying day that I did not bring up the subject, but somehow one of the guys, a high school drama teacher, worked into the conversation the fact that Captain Jack Sparrow (in Pirates 1) always holds one hand as if he’s got a martini glass in it, because Captain Jack is always at a cocktail party.)

Just past three, the intermittent clouds were becoming too intrusive so we decided to call it a night. By the rustle of tarps across the field, others were giving up, too. I found my way back to our campsite by starlight and didn’t need the red flashlight until I entered the absolute blackness of our tent. (A blazing campfire with glowing coals would have been quite welcome ’bout then – my toes, nose and fingers were numb.) The next day I was able to recognize the guys only after hearing them speak, since in the darkness you can’t see more than vague outlines and a pale blur rather than facial details.

When I got up at the crack of noon, I described my experiences in my journal. The reactions of Charlotte, Alistair’s heroine, are pretty much what mine were.

The rest of the time at the star party was spent in workshops, which didn’t begin until after 1 pm, and again wandering to other telescopes at night. Quiet hours are from three a.m. to 11 a. m., and the food-and-hot-beverage vendors stayed open until at least two. My kind of hours!

Here’s a pic taken the first afternoon. RVs and campers line the forest road, with the open space in the middle dotted with a variety of telescopes. Our campsite, like others sleeping in tents, was just below the tree line.

Mike said he now knows what the surface of Mars is like. And I’m still not sure we’ve cleaned off all the red dust from everything.

November 28, 2006

“Confessions” is here!

First, the totally self-serving announcement that my book is out today! Confessions of A Viscount should be on the shelves in a bookstore near you. If it’s not, please find a clerk and ask them to get it.

Mass-market paperbacks released in December have a spotty record. They often get overshadowed by holiday themed books, and many of our core customers sacrifice their monthly fix of romance fiction in favor of buying gifts for others.

To help overcome this deplorable self-sacrifice and increase my book’s visibility, I decided to follow Debbie Macomber’s example, and skipped the standard postcard announcing the book’s release in favor of sending a small gift to my readers. Debbie talks about creating community between readers and the author as well as the world her characters inhabit. I thought readers might enjoy an extended stay in my version of the Regency England community. To learn what my characters have been up to since they got their happy-ever-after, I created a mock newspaper to go with the two cards (my promo goodies).

I struggled to come up with a suitable name that wouldn’t infringe on any actual newspapers, and ended up giving it the name that I’d used to describe it — the London Gossip Rag. I had a great time revisiting characters and figuring out what they were up to now. There’s news and a gossip column and of course there are ads, including one from the Happy Jack Inn on the Dorset coast that insists rumors of smuggling in the area have been greatly exaggerated.

Debbie had 350 readers on her mailing list when she started, and I have almost 1200 readers and booksellers. In my other job I’ve done mailings to over 800 truck dealers, so how much harder could this be? Plus, I had my wonderfully supportive husband and mother to help with the actual folding and stuffing.

My mailing list came from about six sources. Yes, they were all in Excel, but they didn’t use the same layout. There were duplicates, and duds that came back from the last mailing. And then the actual mail merge to print the labels — something that seems simple but never works on the first try.

I wanted the newspaper to arrive the same time as the books would be in stores, so the clock was ticking. I’d re-ordered my tip cards and shopped for the supplies needed, and had everything ready to go by Tuesday afternoon. I was still cleaning up the list of booksellers, but printed the 350 reader labels and return address labels, and assembled my crew of volunteers.

Ignoring the fact that they referred to themselves as slave labor, I showed them how to efficiently label, stamp, stuff and seal the envelopes, and emphasized the importance of keeping them in order. You never know when you might have to find one in particular.

Finally, I succeeded in merging, formatting and proofreading the 850 bookstore labels and began printing. After only eight pages, my laser printer called it quits. The drum was done. Not to worry — I could print the remaining pages at work the next day and by this time the slaves were grumbling anyway, though Mom promised to return after breakfast.

My husband picked up the printed labels from my office and they continued stuffing and labeling through the afternoon. (Mom didn’t arrive until after two; she hadn’t said how long after breakfast.) There are 25 Romance Experts on my list who needed to receive extra cards for their readers groups. Rather than try to print those on their own sheet, I thought it would be simplest to just grab those envelopes from the stacks, since they’d still be in order. Right?

Thumbing through the stacks, Texas was followed by Michigan, part of California was in Ohio, and at least one envelope was addressed to me. Mike had a “system” for labeling the envelopes, and at one point he was working from two sheets of return address instead of one return and one ship-to. Luckily, Mom noticed this when he was only halfway through the sheet.

Since I hadn’t finished cleaning up the bookseller lists at that point, I hadn’t printed as many return address sheets as we ended up needing. And my laser printer had given up the ghost. My helpers were nearing the end of labels on hand and it was after six, the night before Thanksgiving.

No worry, I also have an inkjet printer! Whose ink is not waterproof, which is not good for mailing labels. But no worry, I have spray fixative! So all I had to do was run a sheet of labels out to the garage, spray it, run to the bathroom to blowdry it, then grab the next sheet of labels off the incredibly slow printer, start the next one, and run the labels to my slaves, er, helpers. In between each sheet, I’m still searching for the rest of those 25 Romance Experts.

Of course our neighborhood post office is closed by now, but the one at the airport is open until midnight. I figured we needed to get there by 10 in order for them to be on their way Wednesday night. (The postal clerks where I bought my stamps didn’t know the deadline, just like they couldn’t answer my question about label placement.)

Ignoring my inner perfectionist’s burning need to check every envelope and make sure no others were addressed to me, we loaded up the boxes of stuffed envelopes and made it to the airport post office by 9:15 … only to find out the cut-off for getting them out that night was 8:30. Based on the number of stamps used and labels printed, I estimate 20 envelopes are coming straight to me.

The project may have ended up being mailed two days later than I’d planned, but it least it came in on budget (except for 20 stamps).

So there you go, a glimpse into the glamorous life of an author. And here’s a peek at my living room, Tuesday evening.

When all was done and (almost) cleared away, Dakarai showed his appreciation for an empty envelope box.

PS: One more shameless plug — there’s a special prize for this week’s contest drawing. Details on my web site: www.ShirleyKarr.com

October 31, 2006

Jaunty Quill Book Release

Since Anne is being modest and not announcing it herself. Please rush to your bookstores and pick up a copy of Anne’s latest, An Earl of Her Dreams. I, for one, am super excited about this release as I’ve always loved CLUE. Congrats, Anne!