Join Me for a Virtual Grand Tour of Europe!

It's time! It's time! The release of A Summer in Europe (on Amazon, B&N and more) is just 24 hours away...

I can't believe the big week finally got here, but I've already begun celebrating. For this release, I'd hoped to give a bit of my heroine's exciting journey to all of you. I wanted to take you on a few of the highlights of Gwendolyn Reese's European tour. Some of you may have visited the sites I'm "traveling to" on this book blog tour, others not at all, but I hope you'll all enjoy the stops I'm making around the Blogosphere, talking about some of my favorite places across the Atlantic.

I have many of the tour dates already lined up, and I've just started the travel adventure:
Friday 11/25: Rome at Magical Musings
Monday 11/28: Pompeii at SOS Aloha
Tuesday 11/29: Isle of Capri at The Stiletto Gang
Wednesday 11/30: Venice at Girlfriends Book Club
Thursday 12/1: Budapest at Women's Fiction Writers
Friday 12/2: Florence at Writer Unboxed
Monday 12/5: London at Austen Authors
Tuesday 12/6: Salzburg at Robin Bielman's Blog
Wednesday 12/7: Lake Como at Brant Flakes (here!)
Plus, there will be other tour dates added later to include cities like Pisa, Vienna, Brussels and Paris, so I hope you'll be able to join me for a few of these.

Thanks so much to all of you for your support of me and your friendship. This day is only as much fun as it is because I have such wonderful people to share it with here and at home... Wishing you a week that is as thrilling as mine will be -- although I do wish you more sleep than I'll be getting!! -- and I'm sure you could all live without the case of nerves I have, too ;).

There is virtual Italian gelato, French pastries and Austrian sachertorte for every one of you, by the way. Let me know what other international delights I should have for my online book release party... What are you in the mood for this week? I'm open to suggestions -- and the more rich and decadent it is, the better!

Already Thankful...

In less than two weeks, A Summer in Europe comes out...

This is always such a tremendously exciting and, simultaneously, anxiety-producing time. Finally, this novel that you'd worked on privately, that only a handful of critique partners, editors, friends and early reviewers have seen, will be in the hands of hundreds or thousands (or, in some authors' cases, millions) of readers. There's no way to be sure if a story you spent a year or more of your life writing and polishing will resonate with anyone beyond your small circle. If strangers will be charmed by your characters. If major book sites will select your story to review. If Spielberg will call requesting the movie rights or if Oprah will invite you on her show... (We all can dream, right? :)

But, I don't need huge news like that to want to celebrate or to find myself unbelievably grateful for the wonderful opportunities that have come my way. Today alone, three really good things happened in the book world for me, and I'm excited to get to share them here:

1. A terrific reviewer who's also a talented cook, Virginia Campbell, included a lovely review of my novel in her "Fabulous Food & Fantastic Fiction" post on Romance at Random! And you'll want to check out her Thanksgiving recipes while you're there -- they all sound delicious!!!

2. Leah Eggleston Krygowski, whom I've been fortunate to get to know over the past few years since she's now reviewed FOUR of my novels (!!), wrote a review of the book that I just loved (with an 8/10 rating, too...) and she just put it up on Chicklit Club!

3. And at Single Minded Women, the book is up as a "Red Hot Read" today, thanks to the awesomeness of Josie Brown, an editor at SMW and the author of many women's fiction novels, including Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives, which ABC bought last month - with Jerry Bruckheimer producing the series - omg!! (Read about it here!)

The kindness and generosity of all three of these wonderful women have made me want to say my Thanksgiving thank-yous a full week before the holiday... Add to that, I just heard some incredibly exciting news from a friend that has my heart bursting with joy for her. I'm grateful good things are happening out there. I hope there's even more good stuff happening where you are!

Austen & the Magic 8-Ball

Today, I'm at Austen Authors talking about my obsession with the Magic 8-Ball and how that, in an odd way, relates to Pride and Prejudice. ('Cause I can relate almost ANYTHING to Austen. Just try me. ;)

And, because lovely reviews make me happy (and if I didn't post them here, where would I post them?), below are a few new ones:
Kristyn at Romantic Love Books (on Double Dipping)
Debbie at The Reading Frenzy and Julie at Jewel's Bookshelf & Reviews (both on A Summer in Europe)
And an interview with D.A. Kentner, too!

Also in day-brightening news, Debbie, who moderates the B&N General Fiction Book Club in addition to her own blog, invited me to be her guest on B&N in May 2012 when A Summer in Europe is their Featured Read of the Month. I'm SO excited about that already!!

Finally, who else has been hooked on ABC's "Once Upon a Time"??! I am LOVING this show, and I usually don't get sucked into a series so quickly. I'm finding the parallel story to be really fascinating and the fairy-tale characters to be compelling to watch -- both in the past and in the present. Any thoughts?