Merry Christmas!!

To all of you, dear friends, Merry Christmas! 🎄🎅💖

May this season bring you much joy and wonderful memories of time spent with those you love.

For all who celebrate other holidays during this month, I send you the same wishes of peace and happiness.

And I hope the New Year ahead will bring only good things to you all!!  xox

"Yours at Midnight" is here!

I'm so thrilled for my friend Robin Bielman, who has out her newest novella from Entangled Publishing, Yours at Midnight!!! Isn't the cover gorgeous and sexy?!

Check out the blurb:

Lyric Whetsone only had eyes for Quinn Sobel's brother Oliver, until a car crash took Oliver's life on New Year's Eve. Then, a moment of shared grief between Quinn and Lyric became something more impassioned, something that frightened Quinn so much he ran from Lyric's bed and her life, disappearing for four long years.

Now Quinn's back for another New Year's Eve, struggling for closure, desperate to leave his grief in the past and make amends with the girl of his dreams. But Lyric has a secret--one that could drive Quinn from her life forever. Will Quinn run away from the love and acceptance he's always wanted...or will he claim his New Year's kiss and make her his at midnight?

 

Can't wait to read this -- and you can get your copy now on Amazon and B&N!! Congrats, Robin!!!! (ETA: Giveaway alert!! Robin says that anyone who leaves a comment here is automatically entered in a drawing to win a copy of the book! Woot! Thank you!! We'll choose the lucky winner next Friday. :)

 

And, since I really don't think the world is ending today, but the weather around here has definitely been frightful, I snorted with laughter when I saw this "New 7-Day Mayan Weather Forecast" on Twitter last night:

 

Too funny!!! I'm blogging today at Magical Musings and humming R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It"... Hope you all have a wonderful (and uneventful) Friday!

 

Jane's 237th Birthday & a 99-Cent Ebook Deal!

Happy Birthday, Jane Austen!!! (Hey, you look fabulous to my eye, even at age 237... ;)

Hope you're all having a happy start to the holiday season! Here, it's been the usual hecticness, but I love that there is NO SNOW in our area yet. (My sincere apologies to snow lovers everywhere but, really, it's like a huge Christmas present for me NOT to have to scrape and shovel that fluffy white stuff while trying to get everything done.) I remember going to an Austen birthday luncheon a few years back and having to deal with blizzard-like conditions on the drive home, so mere rain in December is always welcome!

I sent out my newsletter this past week and, for those of you who didn't know about this, I'll mention it again here: As a special for the holidays, Double Dipping is on sale right now at both Amazon and B&N for just 99 cents! If you don't have copy yet, I hope you'll consider picking one up for yourself or giving it as a gift to an ebook-reading relative/friend.

Wishing you all a wonderful rest of the month, full of celebrations with those you love!! xox

A Summer in Europe Goes Polish!

This is so exciting for me, I actually don't know how to contain it...

Ever since I started writing fiction, it seemed a huge enough dream to get to see my novels published here in the U.S. and Canada. I figured, if I were really lucky, readers in other English-speaking countries or non-native speakers with a strong grasp of the language (i.e., not like my laughable attempts at speaking French...) might just snag a print or digital copy of one of my books and -- in that way -- my stories could travel the globe. Kinda.

But still there lingered this little fantasy I couldn't deny...the one where I imagined how it would be SO INCREDIBLY COOL if a book I'd written were translated into a language other than English, too. That a subrights agent somewhere out there might feel a story I'd written was universal enough to appeal to citizens who were part of another culture, and would think it worth the time and effort to actually translate it.

Well, that happened this week for A SUMMER IN EUROPE... The foreign translation rights were sold for the first time, and the book will be coming out in July/August 2013 in Polish!!! (My editor said the cover wouldn't be available for a while yet, but I'll definitely post a photo as soon as I get one. :)

We have some family friends who are originally from Poland. We went to one of their weddings in September (it was beautiful!), and we got to try a piece of traditional wedding bread dipped in salt. I learned the word for "thank you" (Dziękuję - pronounced something like "jen-koo-yeh"). And, one of my dancing partners from college was Polish-American. Years ago, he brought me some handpainted wooden Easter eggs made in a small village near Warsaw, which I still put out for decoration each spring... But the only other connection I have specifically to Polish culture would be -- of course -- the foods, LOL.

We have a Polish deli nearby and have picked up various delicious sliced meats and sausages and the occasional pastry. But what we really love are the cheese and potato pierogies (Polish dumplings). We buy them frozen most of the time, and just bake them until they're lightly browned. Yum. And I can tell you right now, we'll be having them in celebration this weekend!!

Do you have any favorite foods, songs, traditions or decorations that are Polish? Anything I should be sure check out?? If so, please share!

Also, just a quick FYI for anyone interested: I'm hosting a Fresh Fiction Holiday Contest this month, featuring Godiva Chocolate + HOLIDAY MAN, that runs until December 12th. The giveaway details and prizes are all here!! Wishing you a Happy St. Nick's Day!

The Next Big Thing

My lovely author friend Joan Reeves (NOBODY'S CINDERELLA) tagged me to take part in this blogging meme, and I thought it was such a fun idea! So...here goes:

 

What is your working title of your book? Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match

Where did the idea come from for the book? I was thinking about the whole Internet dating world and, having happily met my husband before that phenomena really existed, I've always been pretty curious about it. For fun (and with my hubby's full knowledge, LOL), I checked out a few sites like Match.com and read through a number of profiles. I thought it would be really interesting to have two characters with ulterior motives (not evil ones, mind you, just not exactly "looking for love" as their primary objective) find each other online. And the humor really came into play for me when I imagined twisting some elements from Pride and Prejudice into the story. "Lady Catherine's Love Match Website" is probably one of my favorite online creations!

What genre does your book fall under? Short Contemporary Romance

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Ohhh, I love this question! You know, considering my current addiction to "The Vampire Diaries," I've been looking for any reason to cast Ian Somerhalder in something (ha!), so I think he'd make a fabulous Dr. Will Darcy. As for my heroine, Beth Ann Bennet, I think she could be very well played by Willa Holland, who stars as the younger sister of the main character on the new TV show "Arrow."

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? A single mother and an ER doctor meet on an Internet dating site—each for reasons that have little to do with finding their perfect match—in this modern, Austen-inspired story, which is a tribute to the power of both "pride" and "prejudice" in bringing two people romantically together, despite their mutual insistence that they should stay apart...

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? This will be published through White Soup Press (a collective imprint of Austen Authors), and it'll be out in mid-January 2013!

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? The first draft took about 3 months, but I always, always need time to revise, and that often takes twice as long as the original writing.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Well, it's a light romance, so it's definitely in a similar vein to On Any Given Sundae, Double Dipping and Holiday Man. Or, for those readers familiar with the Harlequin American Romance line, it's a bit like one of those stories, too, but with an Austenesque twist ;).

Who or what inspired you to write this book? The always awe-inspiring genius of Jane Austen and a great desire to honor the 200th release of her masterpiece, Pride and Prejudice.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? Whether or not a reader knows the ins and outs of Pride and Prejudice, anyone should be able to follow this story. It's only slightly based on the Austen novel and diverges greatly from it in many ways, beyond just being a modern tale. However, for those who are fans, I hope they'll find some of the character names and situations to be particularly amusing!

 

           ~*~*~*~

And now I get to tag a few awesome author friends, too, who'll be posting about their latest projects on their blogs next Wednesday the 28th. Can't wait to hear what they're working on!!

 

Robin Bielman -- Author of WORTH THE RISK

Maria Geraci -- Author of A GIRL LIKE YOU

Vanessa Kelly -- Author of HIS MISTLETOE BRIDE

Malena Lott -- Author of SOMETHING NEW

Edie Ramer -- Author of MIRACLE LANE

This time of year always reminds me of how many people in my life I'm grateful for and how fortunate I am to get to connect with those I care about -- in person or online. Please know, I count all of you among those wonderful friends. Thank you for being so kind and supportive all year long! I wish everyone who's celebrating this week a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!

p.s. Today, as part of Bookworm2Bookworm's Blogoversary Celebration, Holiday Man is the featured book! And I'm giving away a copy there, so please stop by!

HOLIDAY MAN is Here!!

Just had to share that HOLIDAY MAN is officially out! Whoo-hoo!!! I'm having a celebration here in northern Illinois :). Alas, there will be no champagne or shirtless men with abs of steel at my little party...but I've got some chocolate truffles and sparkling grape juice in the house, and I'm more than happy to share them with my friends!!

This is quick story summary of my newest contemporary romance:

A Year of Holidays...

Shannon Quinn is the small-town girl who runs "Holiday Quinn" -- a holiday-themed inn and resort based in scenic Door County, Wisconsin.

One winter evening, wealthy Minneapolis businessman, Bram Hartwick, blows into town along with the fast-falling snow. The sparks Bram and Shannon create succeed in heating up the chilly Midwestern night, not to mention plenty of holiday weekends in the year that follows...

But is their relationship only for special occasions, or might it be the elusive everyday love that neither one thought could be found?

It's available now at Amazon, B&N and Smashwords for only $2.99 -- with Sony, Apple, Kobo and more to come soon! Excerpts from the book are on each of the retails sites, so I hope you'll check it out ;).

Also: A wedding announcement!! At Austen Authors, we're celebrating the double wedding of Miss Elizabeth Bennet & Mr. Darcy as well as Miss Jane Bennet & Mr. Bingley and, of course, you are all invited to join in the festivities. So, Ladies, slip into your favorite Regency gown (or fancy jacket and boots, Gents) and jump into the fun with us!

And, a question -- what's your favorite kind of wedding cake? The classic white? Lemon? Marble? Something with a strawberry filling? (That's what my husband and I had for ours, and it was delicious.) Untraditional but interesting?

Winners & Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts!

Just a quick note to say CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of Eliza Daly's blog contest: Sandra, who won the Godiva chocolates, and Pamala Knight, who won a copy of Eliza's debut novel, UNDER HER SPELL!! Way to go, ladies!

I hope everyone's having a wonderful start to November. Me? I decided to kick off the month by trying this recipe from Tasty Kitchen for *baked* Apple Cider Doughnuts... ["Not fried" means you can eat more of them, right?! Yeah, that's what I thought, too!] All I'll say is YUM!!! And, well, if a picture's worth a thousand words, here are 3,000 ;).

 



Next up...I'm gonna try to make pumpkin spiced doughnuts (a girl's gotta have her goals, you know ;). What are you all doing this week??!