February already, and it's the shortest month of the year, so that will be over before we can turn around!
The countdown to Romantic Times has begun and I'm starting to get my promotional items together. I really love Romantic Times, but I'll try not to talk about it too much until nearer the time!
Instead, there are a couple of things you might like to know about.
Samhain is doing an awards thing, the Sammie awards, and while I can't hope to compete with luminaries like Deirdre Knight and Maya Banks, it would be nice to get a respectable showing. So if you want to vote for me, or any other Samhain author, here is where you go:
http://www.samhainpublishing.com/
And then click on the "Click here to vote" button. There are cover awards, best author awards and so on. I won't go and vote for myself, I don't do that, and I don't enter contests very much, but I am entered in this one, anyway.
Honestly? It would be a kick to win.
For those of you in the UK, I've been asked to sit on a panel at Loughborough University, at the Writing Industries Convention. It's a really good convention, with one-to-ones with editors and agents, and I'm honored to have been asked. It's only the second year, but it's proving hugely popular. If you want to check it out, it's here:
http://writingindustries.com/
And I'm on the Paranormal Romance panel. If you attend, do come and say hello! It's on the 6th March.
I've also extended my reviewing. As well as reviewing for The Good, The Bad and The Unread, I've been asked to review for ERWA (Erotic Readers and Writers Association).
http://www.erotica-readers.com/
It is a serious endeavour to find the best in erotic writing and reading, and is a prestigious set up. I've been a member for some time and I was thrilled when they asked me to review for them. My first book will be a Spice book, "Rampant" by Saskia Walker. But I'm not saying if I liked it or not here, you'll have to find out nearer the time!
I just wanted to thank you for making my first venture into the contemporary, "Beauty of Sunset," such a success. I had my sales figures and they were good. Not spectacular, but few sales figures are these days! Enough to make me very happy. Working with the ladies of the Tempt the Cougar blog and the Cougar Challenge series was more than fun, it was a learning experience that I really value. I want to write another, but the muse hasn't visited me yet. Instead, I wrote a completely unrelated contemporary that I've sent to my editor and I'm waiting on tenterhooks to hear about it.
I've written a "Naughty Nooner," a free short story featuring Edie and John from "Beauty of Sunset" and that should be out at Ellora's Cave soon. I haven't had the release date yet.
I spent most of January editing and rewriting. I've rewritten the Richard and Rose book, "Darkwater" into "Hareton Hall" (because Samhain already have a book called Dark Waters and they don't like to duplicate titles). I'm going to start writing the next one soon. While Richard and Rose don't always sell well initially, I've found they do well over time, so I'm happy that those of you who enjoy their exploits are sticking with them. I really love writing the books, and the chances are that I'd do it anyway. Every time I start thinking businesswise, something happens to waylay me and I end up writing another book that I love!
I also edited "Crystal Tides," a new Dept 57 book that is due out in April, and "A Betting Chance," a Triple Countess book, also out in April.
In February, I plan to start the next STORM book, which will feature Jack, the cat shape-shifter from the Ecstacy in Red series. I'm toying with the idea of giving it a new title, since it's very different from the previous four and might do better as a standalone story. I think the STORM series will go into single titles for a time, because I don't have a Big Idea that would go nicely into a series. More and more I'm finding that I'm interested in the characters and their dilemmas, and so it makes sense to deal with them that way. But I'd love to know your ideas on that!
Excerpt from Tantalizing Secrets
He threw back his head and crowed with laughter. “Oh, my dear, how well you know me already. I shall have to take care with you.”
“Not after all those sophisticated ladies of the ton.”
“You have something very rare in society. Straightforward honesty.”
He meant it. She saw no subterfuge in his gaze. Arabella felt he’d just given her a far more profound compliment than the verbal one. Tentatively she smiled, then got to her feet.
Her sewing slipped forgotten to the floor, and Peter rescued it for her. When he handed it back his fingers touched hers. She let the embroidery fall again and then bent to retrieve it with suddenly clumsy fingers. He took her elbows and raised her up before she could retrieve it. She looked up and met his eyes, knowing what was to happen and unwilling to prevent it.
He kissed her. A gentle, undemanding kiss. She didn’t do anything to stop it, and then felt him slip his arms around her waist. He lifted his head, tilted it a little and returned to the fray.
This time he meant it. He opened his lips, taking hers with them and slid his tongue into her mouth. Arabella was stunned. She’d never felt anything remotely like this before. The world began to drift away. No wonder they were willing, these other women.
He tasted her and she let him. When he withdrew, she almost fell into the trap, and followed him, but remembered just in time and pulled back. She stared up at him, breathless.
Arabella Mason is too busy investigating her brother-in-law’s “accidental” death to entertain thoughts of love. She’ll go to any lengths to ease her sister’s grief, even accept the help of the distressingly attractive Viscount Bredon, Peter Worsley. Instead of answers, the trail of clues only leads to more questions. Who was her brother-in-law, really…and why does Peter, who poses as her brother in public, make mincemeat of her resistance in private?
A successful politician and confirmed bachelor, Peter has bedded the loveliest women in society. He never imagined he’d wind up in a Leicester backwater, helping a pretty widow investigate his brother’s untimely death. As his suspicions of foul play grow stronger, the danger rises—and so does his desire for Arabella. One kiss, and she snatches away all his resolve, leaving him wondering which he wants more…
To find his brother’s killer? Or keep Arabella safe—and make her his?
Tantalizing Secrets
A murder… A lord’s desire…and her quiet, respectable life is gone forever.
ISBN: 978-1-60504-394-4
From Samhain Publishing
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/tantalizing-secrets
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