|
April 2004 Newsletter
Happy April Fool's Day and Happy Easter,
One of my favorite holidays has finally arrived, Easter! Peeps,
chocolate bunnies, and pastel M&M's, what more could a girl want. I
think it is finally Spring here in Oklahoma, the flowers are blooming,
the weather is getting warmer, and we lose an hour Sunday. I can't
seem to make up my mind, do I stay up late reading or get up early and
read? There is just so many of our author's books to read. Check em'
out.
Kristen Price
 The
weather is great here in California and I'm actually starting to get out in
the garden. I see delphiniums and California Poppies pushing through the soil
and I can't help but get excited. Even some of my roses have started to bud! I
can't wait to get out and really get my spring plants in and my veggies, too,
but it will probably be another month. Can't wait for Easter and our annual
Easter bash. I'll get some pictures up after.
THE WINNER OF MY FEBRUARY BASKET IS TANGELA WILLIAMS, from Blountsville,
Alabama. Congratulations, Tangela! Hope you enjoy! MY BOOK WINNERS ARE: GIGI
HICKS, RITA PHILLIPS, SHELLEY KRUSH, ERIN ELLIS, LINDSEY BUMPASS, VIRGINIA
LEE, NICOLE FOLTIN, DIANNA FOSTER AND MELISSA LAWSON. I went crazy giving away
books this past month. Who knows what will happen next month...? BUT I DO LOVE
TO GIVE AWAY BOOKS! Congrats and happy reading to everyone!
I have a three-in-one book coming out in June, a spin off from the Desire
Dynasties series. Myself, Maureen Child and Sheri Whitefeather are the three
authors, all the stories are set in or connected to a nightclub in Savannah
called Steam. My heroine, Sophia Alexander, one of Tina Alexander's sisters
from THE
CINDERELLA SCANDAL turns up in the wrong place at the wrong time and she
and the hero are on the run. It won't be out until June, so I'll post more
about it later.
My next book will be MISS PRUITT'S PRIVATE LIFE, a July Desire and continuing
the SECRETS! series in Wolf River. It's a little different than anything I've
written before, but was so fun to write! Miss Marcy Pruitt needed just the
right man to loosen her up and Evan Carver enthusiastically took on the job.
I hope everyone across the country is warming up now and getting out into some
sunshine. I'm currently chained to my computer and working on my next book,
BLACKHAWK LEGACY. But more about that one later...
HAPPY EASTER AND SPRING TO EVERYONE! Please drop me a line and say hello!
All the Best,
Barbara McCauley
Georgina Gentry was thrilled to hear the Rhapsody Bookclub picked
her hero, Lieutenant Jim Eagle, as "heartthrob of the month" for
March from her latest romance: To Tame A Rebel This honor netted her a full page in their monthly newsletter and a
position on the return card to check if you wanted the book. Her
last two books also had heroes who were "heartthrobs" for the months
those books debuted.
The good news didn't stop coming! Georgina has just been notified
that her last romance. To Tame A Texan, has won the Romantic
Times "Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Western Romance for 2003."
Georgina won the same award last year for To Tame A Savage
. To win two years in a row is almost unheard of. Georgina has
now accumulated five major Romantic Times awards. Way to go
Georgina.
Dear
Friends,
It's been a challenging month at Springwater Station. My little Yorkie,
Bernice, has been somewhat under the weather, and of course I was frantic. I'm
happy to say she's on the mend now, and I can concentrate on the current
writing project, McKETTRICK’S CHOICE, which will be published next year by HQN.
The hero is Holt, the half brother you met in
HIGH COUNTRY BRIDE and
SHOTGUN
BRIDE. (Look for SECOND HAND BRIDE in early December.)
I've just returned from New York, where I had an exciting meeting with the
publishers of my romantic thrillers, Atria Books. I went on a photo shoot, and
will have new pictures on the covers of the paperback reprint of
DON’T LOOK
NOW, last fall's hardcover, and on NEVER LOOK BACK, which will be coming out
in a terrific format – trade paperback. All the fun and excitement of a
hardcover, but without the heft, and with a much better price. The cover is a
knock-out, and I'm really proud of the story – the further adventures of Clare
Westbrook and Tony Sonterra.
I'm into collage in a big way, and you will soon be able to see some of my
pieces on my website. While in New York, I discovered Kate's Paperie, and I
was in heaven. If you get a chance to visit, don’t miss this store on West
57th Street. I've also developed a fascination with tarot cards – I'm studying
the Jungian Tarot right now. I predict a great future and a lot of good
reading for all of you!
Lastly, please be sure and watch
www.lindalaelmiller.com for updated scholarship information on the
website. The recent crop of winners is top-flight, and it was really difficult
to choose from so many excellent entries.
Blessings, one and all.
With love,
Linda Lael Miller
Is
life speeding up? Is the world turning faster? Or is it just me? Yesterday I
looked up and suddenly realized that my latest novel from Ballantine will be
on sale this month! April 27th is the big double-header day. Not only will you
find the new hardcover,
HEAT WAVE, on sale at a special price of $18.95, but
LOVER'S LANE will hit the stands in paperback and will be featured as part of
the "Get Caught Reading at Sea" promotion, with special stickers on the cover
and a cruise discount coupon inside.
|
 |
HEAT WAVE
May 2004
Ballantine Hardcover
$19.95 U.S. $27.95 Can.
On Sale
$18.95 U.S. |
Readers already on my snail mail list will receive ON SALE NOW reminder
postcards entitling them to a $5 rebate on
HEAT WAVE. So, how do you get on
the list for next year? Fill out the form on my guestbook at
www.jillmarielandis.com -- and be sure to provide your address. The great news
is that
HEAT WAVE is already getting rave reviews, and the cover will be
spotlighted in the June issue of Cosmopolitan. More great news - many of you
know that in my spare time (hahahahaha) I'm a quilter. One of my quilts will
be featured in an upcoming edition of QUILT Magazine. If you quilt, too, or if
you are curious to see what I managed to
create with fabric and thread and not on a computer, check it out. I'll send a
message to my reader e-list as soon as I know which issue to pick up. (Again,
to be on the list, fill out the guestbook on
www.jillmarielandis.com).
With so many exiting things happening, I'm not sure if I'm coming or going the
next couple of months, but if you live in Southern California or Hawaii, I
just might be coming to a bookstore near you. Check my website for my
appearance listings, and sign up for a fabulous summertime drawing gift by -
guest what? - filling out that form on my
guestbook. Make a note to kick off
your spring and summer reading by splurging on a hardcover copy of
HEAT WAVE.
While you're at it, pick up a paperback copy of
LOVER'S LANE for another
fast-paced, sensual contemporary story. You'll climb onto an emotional roller
coaster and follow characters you won't soon forget in settings that will take
you away from your own hectic world for a while.
Above all, happy reading! I love hearing from you, and you can write me via my
website guestbook.
Jill Marie
I
only thought I was going to relax and bask in the Arizona sun during March.
Instead, an exciting writing opportunity arose, and, well . You can guess the
rest. The adrenaline flowed, and more of our vacation than I had expected
involved work. But fun work. Is that an oxymoron?
At any rate, I hope you will access the Harlequin website <eHarlequin.com> for
the Friendship Circle stories, involving five women at various stages of life,
each with her own set of problems and challenges, who meet in an adult
education writing class. TOASTING NANCY, my story, involves the fourth of the
women. In her mid-thirties, Nancy, following a devastating divorce, is left to
raise two children. In the attempt to overcome her fear of being alone and
manless, she uses alcohol as a crutch. I hope you’ll enjoy discovering how the
bonds of friendship help to set Nancy on a positive, productive path.
TOASTING NANCY will begin on Friday, April 23, and new episodes will be
available every succeeding Friday. Just access the website and click on
“Online Read.” Enjoy!
Laura Abbot
Dear
Friends,
I like to think of myself as a smart businesswoman and author with a foolish
bent. By that I mean I’m a fool for love, a fool for fun and a fool for good
food.
If you’ve never checked out the recipe exchange on my website, why don’t you
do that now. Think of it as a frequent eaters’ club for those of you who enjoy
good food as much as I do.
But I digress. Its April, the sky is sort of blue, and the weather is iffy.
What a great month to settle down with a good book on a rainy afternoon. As it
so happens—trumpets, please--the mass market paperback edition of last year’s
hardcover,
CHANGING HABITS, is available this month. The USA TODAY chose
CHANGING
HABITS as their NUMBER ONE choice for summer romance reads last year.
(These people really know how to set my heart to racing!) This is a story
inspired by my cousin Shirley, who is a former nun. I follow the experiences
of three women who enter the convent, how and why they leave, and their lives
afterward. This is a story about new beginnings.
Have a wonderful month, when I’ll tell you how I combined two of my passions
in May’s book.
Debbie Macomber
www.debbiemacomber.com
I'm on my
way to Oklahoma City today to spend the weekend with the "girls" from
my high school graduating class. At this time in our lives, I use the
term, girls, lightly, but I know you understand. We were a small class
from a small school in a very small town, so it's not as if we're
swamped with attendees. On a good reunion night, we might have six or
eight, which is amazing, because there were only ten girls in the
whole class, and ten boys with a total of twenty graduating seniors.
It's heartwarming to see each other again and catch up on family and
home town news.
On another note, April marks the release of my 52nd book. MIMOSA GROVE
from Mira Books and written under my pen name, Dinah McCall. If you
like ghost stories and drama and spies and a really hot love story set
in the deep south, give it a try. This time next month I will be in a
new house. I'm so looking forward to it. I'm not moving out of the
area in which I live now. Only six miles further south and back to the
country where I so belong. Wish me strength and patience. Lord help
me, but I hate to move. April is the month of my oldest grandchild's
birthday. I can hardly believe that Chelsea will be thirteen. Yikes.
The magic age, also known as hormone hell for poor daddy. (my son
Chris) She's somewhere between thirteen and thirty, trying to find her
way. And it's not as if it will be over for him once she's grown. He
has two other daughters, ages eight and seven, who will be doing their
share to make him crazy. He's already planning to just sit on the
porch with a shotgun when they become dating age.
I'm off to New York at the end of March for the Romantic Times
Convention, sponsored by Romantic Times Magazine. It seems I have won
a Career Achievement Award for my writing, and am going to proudly
accept. I have all of you to thank for the honor, because if you
didn't buy my books, I wouldn't be able to stay in this business I so
love... so, thank you kindly. I will be in New Orleans and in Baton
Rouge on a mini-book tour from April 5 through 9th or 10th, I'm not
sure which, promoting MIMOSA GROVE. Maybe I'll see some of you in the
area while I'm there. In the meantime, enjoy the oncoming Spring. Find
lots of Easter
Eggs. Rejoice in the Lord and be happy.
Until next time,
Sharon Sala
aka
Dinah McCall
That's
right – shopping. Not singing. Not swimming. Not sunning. Shopping. At
least in my books. I'm finishing up DIARY OF A RADICAL MERMAID, the
second book in the WaterLilies series, my contemporary fantasy novels
about a group of southern belles who believe they're descended from
mermaids – and have some extraordinary talents to prove it.
Unlike "real" mermaids (as portrayed in Hollywood, that is) my mer-babes
don't grow finned tails. They're permanently two-legged, gorgeous,
rich, and oh-so-ready with a witty barb to hook an unsuspecting
"Lander" (aka "ordinary people”).
In Diary, a rambunctious southern diva named Juna Lee Poinfax is
ostracized by a powerful New York mer in the real estate biz after
dissing Donald Trump's hair and causing the insulted Trump to pull out
of a mega-millions deal. Juna Lee retreats to the Georgia coast but
starts a rebellious on-line "blog," aka a diary, to tell the world
about mer people.
Little does she know that she's played right into the gentle schemes
of mer matriarch Lilith Bonavendier, who sends Juna Lee up to Memphis
to lure yet another closet mer to the ocean. This time it's
world-famous children's book author M. M. (Molly Martha) Revere, who
writes a Harry Potterish series about mer children.
Soon both Molly and Juna Lee are embroiled in an extraordinary
situation that's equal parts suspense, romance, comedy, and edgy
fantasy. This was an intense but fun book to write, and takes the
series off on a slightly new course, introducing a shapeshifting
merman who will, no doubt, show up in future WaterLilies books. Look
for DIARY OF A RADICAL MERMAID in July, with an excerpt on
www.deborahsmith.com coming soon. Order directly from BelleBooks at
www.bellebooks.com or check your local bookstore.
Happy springtime!
Deb
|
April Book Winners |
Paperback
Barbara McCauley -
CINDERELLA SCANDAL
Cherie Michalec, Owasso, OK
Georgina Gentry -
TO TAME A REBEL
Barbara Long, Allen Park, MI
Pat Potter -
BROKEN HONOR
Tutti Smith, Walker, LA
Kathy Brandt -
SWIMMIN WITH THE DEAD
Mary Radke, Pinole, CA
Debbie Macomber -
CHANGING HABITS
Sharon M. Manning, San Diego, CA
Hardcover (Autographed)
Peter Clement - MORTAL
REMAINS
Marsha Markle, Kalamazoo, MI
Debbie Macomber -
SNOW
BRIDE
Karla Kinney, Corvallis, OR
That's All for this month,
Kristen Price
|