If you Haven't Heard . . . .

 My next book, Unexpected Destinies, has been accepted for publication through Lyrical Press. I'm so excited to work with them again and keep the series going with the same publisher. So now starts a whole process of edits back and forth with my patient new editor Ann-Marie.

Meanwhile I have to put food on the table, so I'll be doing all that in between job one and job two, and the mommy job I have on the side. Did I mention that the ex filed for divorce? Yeah, so I'm going through that too. I guess I should post pone that new diet after all. Phew! I am woman, hear me roar!  More on Unexpected Destinies coming up. Meanwhile, I'll try to update my blog about once a month. I can't really promise more than that because, well, I don't believe I'll go into that again!

Book Review: The Duke is Mine by Eloisa James

I have been a fan of Eloisa James for years. Last spring I was lucky enough to meet her and hear her speak at the Connecticut chapter of Romance Writers of America Fiction Fest. I showed her my copy of her book, "When Beauty Tamed the Beast" on my kindle. I guess it was the first time she'd seen her book on a kindle because she was excited. She then signed the free copy she'd given out at breakfast, making me even more inclined to love her. I don't know if I'd consider us exactly collegues yet. I'm more of an up and comer and she's established romance writer royalty. Ahem.

When I saw a few weeks ago that she had a new book out, I immediately pre-ordered it. It follows her new theme of re-writing fairy tales and she hasn't turned a toe wrong yet.  I have to say this book was worth the wait. If you haven't read it yet, I'll try not to put in too many spoilers.

 The story is about Olivia, a plump but attractive twin who has been betrothed since birth to a man five years her junior. Her parents are so eager to make sure the betrothal isn't broken, they tutor their twin daughters daily on the appropriate behavior of a duchess. While Georgiana takes to the lessons like a duck to water, Olivia tosses all the rules when she's not around her mother. She shocks her sister and delights her friends with her love of naughty limericks and double meanings that words could have.

The Duke, Tarquin, is about as amusing as a stick in the mud. He's shoved all his emotions down where the sun doesn't shine because the last time he believed in love his heart was torn out of his chest and stomped on. When his wife ran away with her lover, she wasn't content with merely leaving, she had to take their son and the heir with her, dooming them both to a watery grave. Now, in need of an heir, he's decided to let his mother decide whom his lucky bride should be and she has a method that makes sure love won't factor in. She invites the lucky candidates to be his Duchess to an intimate house party to test them and see how they measure up. One of her contestants is Georgiana who brings her sister. And the fun begins!

I don't want to give it all away, but I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of reading "The Duke Is Mine." I could relate with Olivia in feeling like her body was too plump to be fashionable. Then realizing that a man found it very desirable, she realizes that she is beautiful in her own right. What I loved about the story was how Olivia and Georgiana discovered things about themselves they hadn't known and really came into their own as people. I also loved how Olivia showed Quin that life was full of laughter and love and he didn't have to be afraid of either.

If I had a rating system, I would rate his a 5 star book. If you love romance and a fun story with some unexpected twists and a satisfyingly happy ending, this is the book for you. If you'd like to check out more about Eloisa James or see more about the book, click this link to Eloisa James official website.

Year In Review - 2011

Happy New Year! As I look back over the past year, it's been a journey unlike any I've expected. I had a baby, had a book released, traveled around with a baby on a disastrous vacation, attended a wedding where I got to stay at a beautiful mountaintop B&B in New Hampshire, said good-bye to my husbands dog when his long life was ended by illness and then good-bye to my husband when it became apparent our relationship was beyond repair. I took my children and moved downstate to a beautiful home about 10 minutes away from my parents and realized that my life is moving forward. As I look forward to the new year, I realize that while life may take some unexpected twists and turns, it is happening and instead of sitting back and let it happen to me, I can take the wheel and direct it where I want it to go. After years of being not much more than a housewife and mother, I face the prospect of finding a full time job and making a life for my children and myself. For some reason the prospect isn't as scary as I'd once thought.

As a romance author the loss of my marriage is especially painful. I believe in the whole "happily ever after" deal. I see it with my sister, my cousin, my aunt and some friends who have all found the right person to spend their lives with. Unfortunately it's not something I've found for myself - yet. I still believe in love and that there is someone out there who perfectly complements me. Someone who will believe in me and make me feel good about who I am. So romance isn't dead for me. It's just around the bend and waiting for me to find it. It'll wait until I'm ready.

Meanwhile, I'll spend time helping my characters find the love and romance with each other that I know is out there. Here's hoping you all love Jayne and Nick (from Unexpected Destinies) as much as I do!

Ain't he cute? He's the reason I've been so distracted all summer. I'd forgotten how much work a baby can be.  Between the swimming lessons and birthday party trips for my four year old and dealing with the stress of the baby not sleeping it's been a lot of craziness so far this year. I'm still not sure what's going to happen next in my life.Thankfully that is no longer the case with my book.

I've been working hard to finish Unexpected Destinies and plan to submit it to Avon around October 1st. They have a new eBook line, but the best part is that you can also order the book in print so all those people who didn't have a device to read Past Destinies will be able to get Unexpected Destinies.

I'd been having a hard time deciding how to do the ending with in the best way. I couldn't decide if the villain should be killed by the hero, himself, someone else or just get carted off to jail. But then I thought about how I'd dealt with the villain in Past Destinies and he wasn't even as evil as this guy, so I thought I'd better find a good way to kill him off. Sorry guys, I'm not keeping him around for the next book. It has its own villain already, it doesn't need another one. I think I've found a good way to do it, but I'm not sure if I want to draw it out for long. I hate those books where you think the bad guy bought the farm and then he's in the next chapter trying to kill the hero again! I know I'm writing about magic and soul mates and a god and goddess but let's try to keep some reality in this.

The work doesn't end there though! Once I've submitted Unexpected Destinies I get to go back to work on the next book in the Destinies Series, Forbidden Destinies. It's another contemporary but has a lot of twists to it that I'm hoping my readers will appreciate. Some of the characters are really fun to write - I couldn't resist starting on it already. I've tried to stick to the self made rule, 'Don't start on another book before you've finished with the current work in progress' but it's not always easy. In fact I'm beginning to wonder if it is possible to write more than one book at a time.

My husband has been away for the past 6 weeks in Germany. He works for the government in a civilian capacity and visits a lot of military bases for extended periods. He'll be heading for Japan in another 6 weeks for another 6 weeks but will be home just in time for Christmas. We miss him terribly when he's away but it's always an adjustment period when he returns because I've been the lone adult for so long. It's nice to have someone around who appreciates my cooking though. And this morning he made breakfast! What a guy.

My daughter started preschool this year and managed to nail her first audition and was selected as a bee for a professional production of the "Nutcracker". She wants to be on the stage so bad, and every time I bring her to her dance class she wants to know if this is the week they'll go on stage. I told her she needs to keep practicing, it's not an automatic thing. I have a feeling that this is not the only stage she'll be on. 

Almost There . . . .

It's been a very busy summer for me. My husband is working in Germany and I'm home alone with my two small children. I've had to resort to a schedule (me? Schedule? Wow!) to keep my sanity with my 4 year old. If I didn't want her in front of the TV all day I needed to find a way to have different activities for her. It's worked out really well and there are times I even feel like I have it all together! Unfortunately focusing on my kids more means my writing has been placed on the back burner for most of the summer.

Current WIP is Unexpected Destinies. I have managed to add another crucial character and rip apart the beginning to redo it. Even though I thought the first page was pretty solid, it didn't work the way I wanted it to, so I had to change everything around. I'm hoping my editor agrees this way is better. I'm almost finished with all the details and ready to start the first round of edits.

I submitted to Bantom House, at their request, but haven't heard back. I'm guessing that's either because the editor I submitted it to is busy for the summer and hasn't gotten to it yet, or because she didn't like it. I've made a lot of changes since I submitted it so I'm debating on if I should re-submit with the changes. I just don't want to be a pest about it.

I've been really encouraged by the reviews that have been popping up for Past Destinies. I must admit that it's scary having my book out there wondering if people will like it and when I read the reviews I feel like Mary Tyler Moore "You love me, you really love me"!! They are very motivating and keep me plugging away at my current WIP. I want it to be just as well received, so I don't want to rush the process. I can see this is going to take much longer than I thought!  Well, Rome wasn't built in a day either!