Sara Reyes | Do You Glom?

I've been thinking about the characteristics or traits of a bookaholic recently. Maybe it's time for introspection or I'm bored, no matter, I've been thinking about "stuff" and one of those is why do I call myself "addicted to reading." I am. I read every thing. I read the paper. In today's world that might be old fashioned but I enjoy fighting with the paper to get to the next part of an article. And it's always a battle for me. The paper NEVER cooperates and folds nicely on the creases. I also read abandoned brochures. Sure some day I might buy that lake property in Arkansas, it could happen. I read any magazine left around unless it's too grimy or in a doctor's office. I never read magazines at a doctor's office because I've got the theory stuck in my head the previous readers were sick and I'm sick enough thank-you-very-much. But I do read magazines when I'm waiting at the stylist. Those handlers when I think about it have just as many sick germs as the doctor's office. Hmm. Well, most days while I wait I read my phone because it has email and NPR on it, so I can connect. Anyway, the point is I read obsessively and all the time. Enough that I've labeled myself as addicted to reading.

But one of the most misunderstood descriptions of an addicted reader is glomming. Non-readers really don't get it. First, my definition of "glom" is the search for ALL published material by an author or within a series. Glomming is the act of finding and acquiring said material. Glommer is the person who performs the search. I've only glommed for twenty or so authors in my life. Or at least the life I remember. One of my first glomming incidents was discovering the world of Pern and dragons and obsessively collecting all the Anne McCaffery Pern books. I even picked up her non-dragon books and was delighted. Another author was Mary Stewart. She may have been my very first, beginning in junior high. Wow, she wrote of a sophisticated world that was a universe away from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Filled with spies, murders, intrigue and international European settings. I loved her. Then she wrote Merlin books and lost me. Ah, well. It wasn't my time for Merlin, maybe later. After my European adventures I discovered Jane Aiken Hodge. Ah, European, but not just England. She tossed in France, Russia, Poland, Vienna, and Savannah. She made European history in high school come alive for me.

More recent gloms have included Lois McMaster Bujold and Janet Evanovich. the Bujold Vorkisian universe and characters are ones I revisit yearly, almost as a ritual. The Evanovich I sold. Sometimes books hold up and sometimes they do not. It's sad when you go through a glomming adventure, finally collect all the books and then settle in for a good solid week of reading and then feel left down. It happens. But it's more the case you'll glom and have a wonderful adventure of reading a new-to-you author who delights with every book, or at least makes you feel it was worth all the effort.

Recent glomming has been made so much easier with the Internet. Ten years ago you discovered new authors from reader groups, yahoo or listserves. That's how I found Mary Balogh, Jo Beverly and Mary Jo Putney. I had some of their books but never realized they had whole series! Then groups like book store junkies formed of like-minded people who could help you find and price books. I remember being SO excited when a package would arrive filled with books from a far away state or country. It was like Christmas and birthday rolled up into one. But no one in my family "got it." They seriously could not understand my excitement over plastic wrapped used books. Better than an Amazon package because those packages contained something that a glommer treasured, a book or two to complete a set.

Today I have a good friend who will hunt down books for me, and I love her! Amazon and other sites will help you find entire backlists easily and quickly and give you and idea of what they're worth. But there is still the joy in the hunt. Of wandering into a used book store or garage sales with a book table or boxes or into a thrift store and finding that one book you've been looking for and not having to spend $30 to acquire.

But things are changing, now old backlists are being issued as Kindle versions so that search may not be so hard. And the annoyance of finding the book you're reading is number 8 in a series and only the last three are still in print, so good luck in finding the missing ones that will explain all those nasty gaps you just don't get may finally have come to an end. And maybe if an author doesn't sell book three of a trilogy to their old publisher, it will still see the light of day in an e-version. I have high hopes!

So are you a glommer? If so, who have you glommed? How do you do it? Search in stores personally? Hire / commission a glommer? or do you buy online?

Until next time...


Get out there and READ a book...

Sara Reyes

DFW Tea Readers Group

Join us at Readers 'n 'ritas November 12-14, 2010! with Sherrilyn Kenyon and more guests


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PS comment and you could win signed books in this weekend's blog contest. Two WINNERS!!!

Fresh Pick | MARTYR by Rory Clements

May 2009
On Sale: May 19, 2009
Featuring: John Shakespeare; Elizabeth I
400 pages
ISBN: 0385342829
EAN: 9780385342827
Hardcover
$25.00

Thriller, Historical
Buy at Amazon.com

Martyr
by Rory Clements

In this ingenious debut, Rory Clements introduces John Shakespeare, Elizabethan England’s most remarkable investigator, and delivers a tale of murder and conspiracy that succeeds brilliantly as both historical fiction and a crime thriller.

In a burnt-out house, one of Queen Elizabeth’s aristocratic cousins is found murdered, her flesh marked with profane symbols. At the same time a plot is discovered to assassinate England’s feared sea warrior Sir Francis Drake – a plot which, if successful, could leave the country open to Spanish invasion.

The year is 1587. One man is charged with the desperate task of solving both cases: John Shakespeare, chief intelligencer in Sir Francis Walsingam’s spy network. With the Spanish Armada poised to strike, Mary Queen of Scots awaiting execution and the pikes above London Bridge decorated with the severed heads of traitors, the country is in peril of being overwhelmed by fear, chaos and religious strife.

Following a trail of illicit passions and family secrets, Shakespeare travels through a teeming underworld of enemy agents, sorcerers, whores and poets, among whom is his own younger brother, the struggling playmaker Will.

Gradually unravelling a complex conspiracy of international intrigue – and shadowed at every turn by his deadly rival, the Queen’s brutal torturer Richard Topcliffe – John Shakespeare soon realises his own family and the beautiful woman he desires are in grave danger of becoming the next martyrs to a passion for murder.

Conspiracy and murder in Elizabethan England.

Excerpt

John Shakespeare looked around the gloomy shell of the house. It was remarkably intact, given the ferocity of the fire described by the constable. Something caught his eye on the sodden floor. He picked it up. It was a paper, wet and unreadable. Then he saw that there were more papers lying around amongst the burnt stubble of thatching.

Some of the papers had distinguishable words and all of them were unfolded, which almost certainly meant they were new printed. He signalled to Boltfoot Cooper. ‘Gather them all up.’

There were other things, too: type sorts for printing. But no sign of a press.

‘All of it, Boltfoot, the type sorts, too. I will examine it all later. Perhaps we can find the letter foundry where it was made. Now, Mr Stocker, where is the body?’

Above them the roof was burnt Read More...

Previous Picks

Kathleen O'Reilly | Where Inspiration Strikes

As a writer, I get ideas from all sorts of things: movies, newspaper articles, stories from my friends, and yes, sometimes the calendar. The Blaze Encounters series are linked short stories that revolve around a common theme, which is sometimes a holiday. A couple of summers back, I was hanging with my editor at the RWA National Conference and chatting up what’s *hot* in the Blaze line, and we began talking about the Encounters, and at that point, we were one glass of wine away from the idea of a Blaze Encounters that revolves around April Fools Days.

Yes, while others think of Valentine’s Day or Christmas, I, of course, think of April Fool’s, and because I felt the idea was so stupendous, I immediately drafted my talented critique partner, Julie Kenner, into coming along for the write.

April Fool's dates back a long, long time, easily as far back as the Middle Ages, and some experts pin its origin to Chaucer's Canterbury Tale. Others experts point to the French calendar, which is the most respected (or suspected, as the case may be) theory. In 1564, the first of the calendar year was moved from Easter to January 1, but the French were a stubborn people who didn't want to give up their old New Year's, and so they stuck to the older calendar. The French, being a not only stubborn, but surly bunch, were mocked for their old-fogey attitudes, and were dubbed "Poisson d'Avril" or Fish of April, which now loosely translates (as is the way of such entomological anomalies) to April's Fools.

In 1983, a Boston University professor was interviewed by the AP for an article on the origin of April Fool’s Day. He had a fabulous explanation of how the holiday dated back to Roman times and was used to mark the elevation of one special court jester to King for the day. Of course, the story was a prank on the AP itself. The AP was not amused.

The best part of April Fools is reading about great hoaxes in history, and wow, we people are an April Fishy bunch. In April 1998, an article appeared in the New Mexicans for Science and Reason, claiming that the Alabama Legislated had decided, in its infinite Alabamian wisdom to change the value of pi. Hoax? Oh, yes.

In 1962, those loopy Swedes broadcast that TV viewers could change their existing black & white TV sets into color ones by carefully placing a nylon stocking over the screen. There was a run on nylons that day, and the Swedes have sworn off color TV ever since (not really; I’m joshing you on that one.)

In 1996, Taco Bell claimed to have purchased the Liberty Bell and was renaming it to the Taco Liberty Bell. Thousands of Liberty-Bell-Loving patriots were furious and their voices rang out in rage at the brass commercialization. According to the Museum of Hoaxes website (very fun, check it out), the best line of the day was this one:

"...when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known, he said, as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial."

When Julie and I brainstormed the idea, we knew we couldn’t do pranks because a lot of April Fools pranks end up not being funny. So, we came up with the idea of two brothers and sisters who suffer a curse on April Fools Day, and each one copes with the curse in their own individual way. And of course, since this is a romance, they find true love along the way. And of course, since this is a Blaze, there are lots of steamy moments (usually with April Fool’s cursed type things happening around them). I’ve posted an excerpt on my website (for readers to enjoy. It was a lot of fun to write, and I’m pleased to say that I’ll be giving away a prize package to TWO winners (No fooling!). A copy of the April release of JUST FOOLING AROUND, and also, my May release (did I mention that I have a May Blaze as well?): LONG SUMMER NIGHTS. Winners will be chosen from comments.

So, no fooling, what’s the best April Fool’s joke you’ve heard of, been a party to, or alternatively been subjected to or embarrassed by?

Kathleen

To comment for a chance to win on Where Inspiration Strikes please click here.

Fresh Pick | GIRL MARY by Petru Popescu

September 2009
On Sale: September 8, 2009
Featuring: Pilate; Mary
368 pages
ISBN: 1416532633
EAN: 9781416532637
Paperback
$15.00

Religious Fiction, Historical
Buy at Amazon.com

Girl Mary
by Petru Popescu

For nearly two millennia, Mary of Nazareth, the mother of Jesus, has been one of the most revered women in history, yet she remains one of the most mysterious.

With his empire in crisis, Augustus orders a young Roman spy to find a sign of his divinely inspired power. Concealing his real name, Pontius Pilate enters the Judean desert seeking an unknown miracle. The moment he meets the striking adolescent Mary, he senses that he is in the presence of someone magical.

Mary, vigorous, spiritual, and charming, is a girl like many other teenage girls: full of passions and weaknesses, surrounded by her loving family and her close friends, steeped in the mystic traditions of the Jews -- territory that defies Roman comprehension. The young Pilate isn't wrong in believing that Mary is remarkable. On the verge of blossoming womanhood, Mary's world will soon open to love -- and to the miraculous.

Full of mystical realism and set against the lushly reimagined settings of the biblical world, Girl Mary is the love story of the beautiful girl, naïve and yet complicated, who beguiled everyone -- even God -- with her soulful simplicity, and whose destiny would change civilization in untold ways.

Excerpt

He spurred his horse, which pulled behind it another horse, loaded with water skins and bales of hay.

Five nights in a row, the young Roman, king Herod’s envoy, had chosen a campsite in the desert, poured water from the skins into a bucket and watered the horses, then broken hay and spread it on a tarp of flax before them. He ate heavy barley bread and ripe cheese and figs. Then he tied the horses’ front legs two palms above their ankles, as if handcuffed. If they spooked and took off during the night, the hooves’ banging on the sand would awake him.

When jackals approached, the horses whinnied and awoke the envoy, who bolted and waved his arms and shouted until the jackals withdrew. He lay back to sleep. When the dawn cracked the dark open, he was in his saddle already, horse Read More...

Previous Picks

Emery Lee | Mixing Fact and Fiction in THE HIGHEST STAKES

What I love about historical fiction is the license to recreate a period in the past while weaving into it assorted threads of fact and fiction. A perfect example of this is the opening scene of THE HIGHEST STAKES.

I had selected the early years of Thoroughbred horse racing in Georgian England as my setting, an era of great political upheaval leading up to a series of wars between England and France, which would dominate the next half of the 18th century. As my research began, I was thrilled to uncover a myriad of fascinating historical facts that worked themselves quite seamlessly into the plot. One of these was a single blurb in a history book about an emissary from France who met with Jacobite intriguers at the Lichfield races. Now add that the emissary was an unnamed Equerry (officer responsible for royal horses) of Louis XV, and that the Godolphin Barb (one of the three stallions the founders of the modern Thoroughbred horse racing bloodstock) was cast off from the stables of Versailles before coming to England.

The Lichfield races, held annually in September, transformed the Whittington Heath, a three-hundred-acre sheep pasture, into the premiere event for all of Staffordshire. Lords and gentlemen had arrived from the North of England, Wales, and even the Scottish highlands, but as unusual as this was, never had this innocuous little village ever attracted a foreign dignitary.

By far, the most distinguished patron of the races this year was the elegant and illustrious Grand Ecuyer de France. Rumored to have travelled all the way from Versailles to procure a number of English running-bloods for the Royal stud, Monsieur Le Grand’s visit to Baron John Leveson-Gower had propitiously coincided with the Lichfield races.

With the final preparations for the race in progress, Lord Gower and his eminent guest promenaded the grounds, surveying the field and assessing prospective stock to complement the Royal stud of France.

“I have heard for a number of years, Lord Gower, that the finest racing flesh resides across the Channel in England. I was of course loath to believe such a thing, but most curiously, after seeing so many specimens of excellence, I must confess that this might be so.” He paused in his perambulations to admire a particularly sleek black stallion in one of the myriad paddocks.

“Do you know, what is the breeding of this horse, Lord Gower?”

“Hastings’s Hawke? He is indeed a fine specimen! I believe he is by Francis Lord Godolphin’s Barb stallion, but I shall inquire further, if you so desire.”

“The Godolphin again! He shall forever plague me, this horse! It is said that one of the finest producers of racing champions in England was first cast-off by Versailles. A very foolish move by the Grand Ecuyer, was it not?”

“Am I to assume that you refer to Lord Godolphin’s stallion?”

“Indeed! One and the same, but the name was not so. In France, the stallion was called by El Sham. You do not know the history of this horse, Lord Gower?

“Only these past years while he stands in Cambridgeshire, Monsieur Le Grand.”       

“Then I shall recount to you this story, bien sur?”

“Indeed, I am most intrigued.”

“The stallion, El Sham, was presented to His Majesty as one of eight horses—chevales pur sang arabes—from the Sultan Muley Abdulah of Moroc. The grand riding master at Versailles, Monsieur de La Gueriniere, the man whom I appoint, finds this stallion wanting, you see. As he is small in stature and not of the form preferred for the dressage, he is cast out from the stud Royale. This same horse was then procured by your Englishman, Monsieur Coke, who brings him to England, where he soon becomes the sire of champions! So you see that I, en effet, am responsible indirectly for this horse leaving France, and now I come to England to find such a one to take back! C’est l’ironie magnifique, n’est ce pas?” He recounted his tale with surprising good humor.

“Indeed, a most amazing irony! But in all truth, this stallion’s value was little realized at the first. When he left our poor departed Coke’s hands for Lord Godolphin’s stud, he was intended as a teasing stallion, to prepare the mares for the services of his lordship’s Hobgoblin. Apparently, he fought Hobgoblin for Roxana’s honors, and the unintended byproduct, Lath, was a most formidable opponent on the turf. The fleetest since Flying Childers, some say, and now this former teasing stallion is making a greater name as a sire than Hobgoblin.

“Indeed, it may be of further interest that a son of his, called by Cade, is to run today. He is full brother to Lath and already proving as remarkable a runner. His first year at Newmarket, he won both heats of the King’s Plate. His next year, he ran second only to Sedbury, a great-grandson of Colonel Byerley’s Turk, another long-proven champion sire. I daresay we might yet see a match race betwixt the pair, but I should be in a veritable quandary where to lay my money on that one!”

“How I should like to see such a race!” remarked Monsieur Le Grand.

“If one offers a large enough purse, most anything might be arranged for the entertainment of Le Grand Ecuyer de France.”

© Emery Lee, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2010

These little-known historical tidbits were almost too good to be true, and allowed me to meld the Jacobite plot with the true history of the Godolphin stallion and his progeny, while adding only a slight fictional twist. I hope you’ll take some time to see what else I was able to discover, and how these interesting facts found their way into my book!

THE HIGHEST STAKES BY EMERY LEE—IN STORES APRIL 2010

All thoroughbred horses in the world to this very day can trace their blood back to three specific Arabian stallions imported to England in the early part of the 18th century. Against this backdrop comes a painstakingly researched novel with breathtaking scenes of real races, real horses, glimpses of the men who cared for them, and the tensions of those who owned and controlled them.

In 18th century England and Colonial Virginia, when high-spirited stallions filled the stables of the lords of the land and fortunes were won and lost on the outcome of a race, a love story unfolds between a young woman for whom her uncle's horses are her only friends and the young man who teaches her everything about their care and racing. When she's forced into marriage, his only hope of winning her back is to race his horse to reclaim all that was stolen from him—his land, his dignity, and his love.

About the Author

Emery Lee is a life-long equestrienne, a history buff, and a born romantic. Combine the three and you have the essence of her debut novel: a tale of love, war, politics, and horseracing. A member of Romance Writers of America, she lives with her husband, sons, and two horses in upstate South Carolina. For more information, please visit http://authoremerylee.com/.

Comment to win a copy of THE HIGHEST STAKES, two winners!

Fresh Pick | REMARKABLE CREATURES by Tracy Chevalier

January 2010
On Sale: January 5, 2010
Featuring: Elizabeth Philpot; Mary Anning
320 pages
ISBN: 0525951458
EAN: 9780525951452
Hardcover
$26.95

Fiction
Buy at Amazon.com

Remarkable Creatures
by Tracy Chevalier

A voyage of discoveries, a meeting of two remarkable women, and extraordinary time and place enrich bestselling author Tracy Chevalier's enthralling new novel

From the moment she's struck by lightening as a baby, it is clear that Mary Anning is marked for greatness. On the windswept, fossil-strewn beaches of the English coast, she learns that she has "the eye"-and finds what no one else can see. When Mary uncovers an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near her home, she sets the religious fathers on edge, the townspeople to vicious gossip, and the scientific world alight. In an arena dominated by men, however, Mary is barred from the academic community; as a young woman with unusual interests she is suspected of sinful behavior. Nature is a threat, throwing bitter, cold storms and landslips at her. And when she falls in love, it is with an impossible man.

Luckily, Mary finds an unlikely champion in prickly Elizabeth Philpot, a recent exile from London, who also loves scouring the beaches. Their relationship strikes a delicate balance between fierce loyalty, mutual appreciation, and barely suppressed envy. Ultimately, in the struggle to be recognized in the wider world, Mary and Elizabeth discover that friendship is their greatest ally.

Remarkable Creatures is a stunning novel of how one woman's gift transcends class and social prejudice to lead to some of the most important discoveries of the nineteenth century. Above all, is it a revealing portrait of the intricate and resilient nature of female friendship.

Previous Picks

Lydia Dare | I'll Take Two Happily Ever Afters Please?

Have you ever been to a bar and ordered a "sex on the beach"? (It’s a combination of schnapps, vodka and juices, if you’re not familiar with it.) Or a "between the sheets"? (Brandy, run and some other things that escape me at the moment.) Then there’s the famous "screaming orgasm." (I just made myself blush, in case you’re curious.)

Here’s my question for you - have you ever seen anyone smack the table, wink at you and ask for two "happy every afters?" Probably not. Mainly because a happy-every-after isn’t scandalous enough to make an innocent blush or a rake chuckle. It’s not fodder for the rumor mill nor is it something that will make you wake up sweating during the night.

If it was on the menu, would you order it? Thank goodness it is, right in the pages of a book. I can find a happy-ever-after winking at me from the bookshelf any day of the week.

There are other choices to suit my mood, of course. When I’m feeling anxious, I might want to go for a crime novel. When I’m feeling unsettled, I might like to read a book about a mom who takes a walk and keeps on walking. When I just want to escape, a comedy or cozy book is nice. But, those instances are few and far between. I much prefer the happy-ever-after. I like the whirlwind affair, the swirling emotions that can unsettle a reader almost as much as the characters on the page and I really like the ending, the thought of the happy-ever-after. It gives me a hint of what it’s like to feel cherished, even when I’m not feeling that way in my real life.

In the first book in my new series, A Certain Wolfish Charm, Simon Westfield, the dangerous Duke of Blackmoor, is introduced to the reader as he tries to decide between ordering one whore or two. How’s that for menu choices? The wild Lycan in gentleman’s clothing hasn’t done a very good job of hiding his inner beast and makes a sport of creating all the havoc he can. That is, unless the moon is full. And then he’s forced to retreat to the forest where he can seek the pull of the moon and let it take him away. Of course, that’s a solitary pursuit until he meets Lily Rutledge, who might be strong enough to tame him.

It’s the very idea that a rake can be tamed, that a hellcat of a heroine can be set down, or that love can overcome a man drunk on the pull of the moon that keeps me going back to romance, to the happy-ever-after.

So, consider me as someone who will most definitely smack the bar, wink and ask for a happy-ever- after. What ingredients are necessary for your happy-ever-after?

A CERTAIN WOLFISH CHARM by LYDIA DARE-IN STORES APRIL 2010!

He gets crankier and crankier as the moon gets full...

The rules of society can be beastly--especially when you’re a werewolf and it’s that irritating time of the month. Simon Westfield, the Duke of Blackmoor, is rich, powerful, and sinfully handsome, and has spent his entire life creating scandal and mayhem. It doesn’t help his wolfish temper at all that Miss Lily Rutledge seems not the least bit afraid of him, and in fact, may be as untamable as he is...

A woman whose charm is stronger that the moon...

When Lily’s beloved nephew’s behavior becomes inexplicably wild, she turns to Simon, the boy’s cousin and guardian, for help. But Simon’s idea of assistance is far different than hers, and Lily finds herself ensconced in his house and engaged to the rogue.

They both may have bitten off more than they can chew when each begins to discover the other’s darkest secrets...

About the Author
Lydia Dare is the writing team of Tammy Faulkner and Jodie Pearson. Both Tammy and Jodie are active members of the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers and live near Raleigh, North Carolina. They are working together on their next paranormal historical trilogy as Lydia Dare, which will be released by Sourcebooks Casablanca in Spring 2010! For more information, please visit their website.

To comment on I'll Take Two Happily Ever Afters Please? and for a chance to win please click here.

Fresh Pick | O, JULIET by Robin Maxwell

February 2010
On Sale: February 2, 2010
Featuring: Juliet Capelletti
352 pages
ISBN: 0451229150
EAN: 9780451229151
Trade Size
$15.00

Historical
Buy at Amazon.com

O, Juliet
by Robin Maxwell

"One of the queens of historical fiction" offers a new take on the mesmerizing young woman and poetess who inspired Shakespeare's most famous female character.

Before Juliet Capelletti lie two futures: a traditionally loveless marriage to her father's business partner, or the fulfillment of her poetic dreams, inspired by the great Dante. Unlike her beloved friend Lucrezia, who looks forward to her arranged marriage, Juliet has a wild, romantic imagination that knows not the bounds of her great family's stalwart keep.

The latter path is hers for the taking when Juliet meets Romeo Monticecco, a soulful young man seeking peace between their warring families. A dreamer himself, Romeo is unstoppable, once he determines to capture the heart of the remarkable woman foretold in his stars. The breathless intrigue that ensues is the stuff of beloved legend. But those familiar with Shakespeare's muse know only half the story...


Previous Picks

Amelia Grey | One Liners That Stick With You

Good morning! I’m very happy to be with you at Fresh Fiction today. Thank you for having me here.

Just a week or so ago I was reading over some old letters from my sister and one of them ended with, "May the force be with you." I started laughing. I had not thought about that line from Star Wars in years. But it started me thinking about great one-liners I remembered from movies and books and I said, "Oh, I must blog about them!"

Are any of you old enough to remember Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry Series and his famous, "Go ahead, make my day," line? I think he is also the one who said, "Do you feel lucky?" I have to smile about that one! Do you remember Star Trek’s "Beam me up, Scottie." Another favorite one-liner of mine is Love Story with Ali McGraw saying, "Love means never having to say you’re sorry." A more recent quote that is often mangled and misquoted to the point of being humorous is Jack Nicholson’s line from A Few Good Men,"You can’t handle the truth!" I love them all.

There are some great lines from books, too. Probably two of the most famous are "It was a dark and stormy night and Frankly, my darling I don’t give a damn." Both of which have been muttered by most everyone at one time or another. And then, for me, there are some great first lines in books that are so powerful and intriguing that I knew I had to read on. One of my favorites that may not come easily to every romance reader’s mind is the first line from Julie Garwood’s Honor’s Splendor, "They meant to kill him." I immediately wanted to know; who is he, who wants to kill him, and why. Look at the first line in Laura Kinsale’s latest book Lessons in French. It says,"Lady Callista Taillefaire was a gifted wallflower." I was instantly hooked by that description. What would make a wallflower gifted? I wanted to keep reading and find out about this young lady.

All writers want to find powerful, intriguing opening sentences so the reader will be immediately pulled in to the story and want to read on. I’m hoping I did exactly that with the first line of my current book An Earl To Enchant. when I wrote; "Was she late, or just not coming?" Naturally, my desire is that the line intrigues you enough to want to read on and find out who is she, who’s waiting for her and why.

So, now that I’ve told you some of my favorite lines from movies and books, I would love to hear about some of yours.

The first chapter of An Earl To Enchant, which is the third book in my Rogues’ Dynasty Series, is available to read on my website. I hope you’ll give it a try. I’m always happy to hear from readers. Please e-mail me at ameliagrey@comcast.net or visit my website at ameliagrey.com.

AN EARL TO ENCHANT by AMELIA GREY--IN STORES APRIL 2010

He’s determined not to be a hero...

Lord Morgandale is as notorious as he is dashing, and he’s determined no woman will tie him down. But from the moment Arianna Sweet appears on his doorstep, he cannot resist the lure of her fascinating personality, exotic wardrobe, and tempting green eyes...

She has a deadly secret...

Arianna Sweet never imagined the significance of her father’s research until after his untimely death. Now she is in possession of his groundbreaking discovery, one that someone would kill for. She can’t tell Lord Morgandale her secret, but she knows she needs his help, desperately...

About the Author
Winner of the Booksellers Best Award and the Romantic Times Award for Love and Laughter, Amelia Grey's books have been sold in Europe, Russia and China. Married for twenty-five years to her high school sweetheart, she has lived in Alabama, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and now calls Panama City Beach, Florida, home. For more information, please visit her website.

To comment for a chance to win a copy of An Earl To Enchant please click here.

Fresh Pick | THE QUEEN'S LOVER by Vanora Bennett

March 2010
On Sale: March 16, 2010
Featuring: Catherine de Valois; Owain Tudor; Christine de Pizan
592 pages
ISBN: 0061689866
EAN: 9780061689864
Hardcover
$25.99

Historical
Buy at Amazon.com

The Queen's Lover
by Vanora Bennett

A sweeping tale of romance and political maneuvering in an age where women -- especially queens - were only allowed peripheral roles.

Before the Tudors could rise to power, Catherine de Valois became Queen of two countries by making her own rules

Catherine de Valois, daughter of the French king Charles VI, is born into troubled times. Though she is brought up in a royal court, it is a stormy and unstable environment. Before she is out of her teens, Catherine is married off to England's Henry V as part of a treaty honoring his victory over France. She is terrified at the idea of being married to a man who is a foreigner, an enemy, and a rough soldier, and is forced to leave her home for England.

Within two years she is widowed, and mother to the future King of England and France—even though her brother has laid claim to the French crown for himself. Caught between warring factions of her own family and under threat by the powerful lords of the English court, she must find a way to keep her infant son safe. In Owain Tudor, a childhood friend for whom Catherine has long had affection and who now controls the Royal household, Catherine finds both strength and kinship. As their friendship turns to love, however, she risks not only her life and that of her son but the uneasy balance of power in England and France that will be forever changed.

History comes alive in this lyrical and moving true story of one woman's courage and the inception of one of the most famous royal lineages of all time.

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Gwyn Cready | What Inspires My Time Travel Love

Hi, everyone. Thanks for having me here to blog today. I've also been getting a lot of questions about what inspires me about time travel as well as the painter aspects of my new release, Flirting with Forever, so I thought I take some time to address both those things, and if you hang on until the end, I'll have some news about a pretty nice contest. One hint ladies: shoes.

First, time travel. My friend theorizes I am a time traveler, that I leave this world when I sleep to visit another time, which is why certain times (late 17th/early 18th centuries) appeal to me more than others. Could be true. My mind is open to such possibilities, but personally I think Jamie Fraser made such an impression on me I couldn't let go : ) All I can tell you is I've always been fascinated with the interesting possibilities and conflict that time travel sets up in a story. Back to the Future is sort of like the basic textbook on that for me. I guess I watched it at an impressionable age, but there you have it. In fact, I was just at a lecture this week given by Audrey Niffenegger, author of the Time Traveler's Wife, who was asked, "How does one study time travel?", in reply to which I whispered to the friend sitting next to me, "One watches Back to the Future." Niffenegger's answer was far more scientific.

As as far as the story in Flirting with Forever is concerned, I've always loved painters and painting and museums, so I knew that someday I'd write a book with a painter hero in it. Two things inspired this particular story, though. Years ago, I was reading Tracy Chevalier's phenomenal The Girl with a Pearl Earring in which Chevalier weaves a fictionalized account of the making of Vermeer's painting of the same name around what little we actually do know about Vermeer's life. The book was fantastic, but because the love story in it was made up I just kept imaging Vermeer up in heaven, stretched out in his bathtub, flipping through the book and doing a spit take with his wine. So I filed that picture away in long-term storage, and when I was doing some research on real-life Restoration painter Peter Lely, who, like Vermeer, left few details of his personal life to history, I ran across an ancient article entitled, "Lely's Love Story," from a British periodical called Burlington Magazine. Turns out Lely has some dark secrets, and men like that make the best sort of heroes. So it was a natural to throw ambitious biographer Cam Stratford in his path, infuriating him enough with her prying and poking to make him return from the afterlife to stop her from writing about him.

But why Peter Lely, you ask? Well if the painting shown here doesn't answer that, then I'm not sure what would. What sort of man can elicit such a pose? I had to know the answer.

I wrote the book in late 2008 and revised it in the spring of 2009. I'm pretty familiar with Lely's time period (the middle and late 1600s)--in fact I was named after one of the characters in the book, Nell Gwynn (yes, my first name is Nelle)--so I'd say the amount of research was a fun level, not an onerous one. One interesting thing was investigating how painters of that era painted. I picked up a great book called, How to Paint Your Own Vermeer by Jonathan Janson. That really helped with some realistic detail in the book. The key, though, was that article on Lely. Thank goodness I have this wonderful university librarian friend who gets me anything I need.

The story is very romantic, the most romantic I've ever written, and I think the cover captures the magic and daring of the book perfectly. Doesn't Pocket Books do a marvelous job? Those zebra-striped shoes are to die for. I'm actually running a Flirting with Forever launch contest where you can win a pair of Michael Kors zebra-striped pumps worth $165 (or $165 Zappos gift certificate for those of you with non-zebra-striped shoe tastes). Go to my website to find out more.

If you have any questions or comments, I'm here to answer them. And if there are any painting fans out there, I'd love to know what painters or paintings have inspired you and why.

Gwyn Cready, dying to see Hot Tub Time Machine even if they don't go back to the late 17th/early 18th centuries.
www.cready.com


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Fresh Pick | THE ROSE OF SEBASTOPOL by Katharine McMahon

February 2010
On Sale: February 2, 2010
Featuring: Rosa Barr
416 pages
ISBN: 0425232220
EAN: 9780425232224
Trade Size
$15.00

Historical
Buy at Amazon.com

The Rose Of Sebastopol
by Katharine McMahon

The #1 international bestseller about love, war and betrayal from the author of The Alchemist's Daughter

In 1854, adventurous Rosa Barr travels to the Crimean battlefield with Florence Nightingale's nursing corps. For Mariella Lingwood, Rosa's cousin, the war is contained within the letters she receives from her fiancé, Henry, a celebrated surgeon who also has volunteered to work in the shadow of the guns. When Henry falls ill, Mariella impulsively takes an epic journey to the ravaged landscape of the Crimea and the tragic city of Sebastopol. What she finds there, as her world beings to crumble, is that she has much to learn about secrecy, faithfulness, and love...

Excerpt

Italy, 1855

We arrived in Narni late on a Sunday evening. Although the door to the Hotel Fina was locked the driver roused a servant who stumbled out with creased shirt tails, brought in our luggage and showed us to a bedroom that smelled of unwashed feet. Nora took away my cloak and bonnet, then I snuffed the candles and lay down. A man was shouting in the distance, perhaps the worse for drink. Instead of sleeping I rode through the night as if still in a carriage jolting over badly made roads across the plains of Italy. Eventually I heard a clock strike five and the rumble of a cart in the square outside and I fell asleep to the sound of women’s raised voices and the clash of a pail against stone.

I woke to a blade of sunlight sliced between Read More...

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Leverage CON-con Day Three -- The Girls, The Guys, and the Stairwells.

When I last left my blog post, I was on my way to the Saturday evening banquet of the first official Leverage CON-con convention in Portland, OR. It was in the same large ballroom at the Governor Hotel as the cocktail party had been. Lots of round tables with lots of chairs encircling them, white table cloths and even whiter cloth napkins. I found my Browncoat/Firefly Fan friends and we were joined by a couple from LA and a mother and her two teenage daughters. When signaled, your table could go to either side of the room and take your dinner from the buffet tables that had been set up. Salad, pasta, chicken, fish or beef - your choice. I have been to less than five hotel banquets in my life, so far, and can say that Jake's Catering has by far the best food.

Andy Lange and his band performed, as did Storm Large. I like Andy's music and picked up his CD from the dealer's room - his song "Not Sure Yet" is featured at the end of the Leverage Season 2 episode "The Beantown Bailout Job". I think Storm has an incredible voice, but I'm not fond of the lyrics. The sound was also turned up incredibly high (for me), so I spent some time just hanging out in the back of the room.

I thought of leaving the banquet a few times, but saw Apollo Robbins walking the room. Nothing fancy or showy, just walking from table to table, talking with folks, sometimes sitting down. Since I had missed his panel, I hung out, waiting to see if he was going to do a set. Eventually it was too late and too loud for me, so I got up to leave but was stopped at the door by Ava Do who said Apollo was getting ready to work his magic on the crowd. We talked a bit (she advised the Leverage gang on the fortune-telling aspect of season 2 episode "The Future Job"), but it didn't work out for Apollo to do his thing, so I went up to bed.

Mark Sheppard

Which brings me to Sunday, the last day of the Leverage CON-con. Up early enough to snag breakfast and a tall chai latte from the Starbucks and make it into the main programming room to see Mark Sheppard. If you have seen any genre TV in the last 5 years (Firefly, Dollhouse, Battlestar Galactica, Chuck, CSI, Burn Notice, Monk) you have likely seen Mark Sheppard. He shared the stage with John Rogers (creator, writer, show runner and executive producer for Leverage) and it was amazing fun. They are each dynamic individuals; put them on stage together and it's non-stop stories and banter.

The next panel was The Girls: Gina Bellman (Sophie) and Beth Rieisgraf (Parker). We heard about Beth's audition and Gina's past acts on the British TV show Coupling. They took a lot of questions from the audience and the audience policed itself very well regarding the quality and content of the questions. These actors are our guests and we should treat them with respect.

For the next several hours (yes, hours), I was sitting, standing, or walking the stairwells. This was where they kept the people lined up for the various photo-ops. A common option at media conventions, a photo-op is your five seconds of fame, standing beside the actor of your choice, getting your picture taken which is then either printed on site, or mailed to you as a photograph and/or an electronic file/jpeg. Unsure whether or not this would be the first or the last Leverage convention, I paid for photo-ops with everyone together (the group shot) and each actor individually. This meant a lot of time in line, in the stairwell.

I just want to insert a side comment here - no matter what you do, you cannot please all of the people, all of the time. This event had some issues, as does every convention. Being Sunday, being in the stairwell which was a concrete shaft that essentially had no air flow whatsoever, and being an activity that involved walking up and down several flights of stairs several times, some people were not happy.

Overall, I think what was pulled off in the five months that was available to coordinate this event was fabulous. Having worked on the other side of the convention/audience line, it takes a tremendous amount of work to create something like this, and most conventions have a year to do so. Could it have been organized better? Yes. Did I have fun? Yes. That's good enough for me.

Once I was finished with the photo-ops, I hurried back to the main program room and assumed I would see the closing ceremonies. It was well past time for them, which meant there wouldn't be a Boys panel (Timothy Hutton, Christian Kane, Aldis Hodge). Much to my surprise, all three actors walked out on stage. And sat and talked and joked and took questions for over half an hour. This is after they had been photographed and flashed in the face for the past 3 hours. I greatly appreciated their time, and so did everyone in the audience.

Closing ceremonies had every cast and crew member on stage to a standing ovation. It was the end of the first official Leverage CON-con event. I sincerely hope they have another one next year.



Heidi Berthiaume

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Fresh Pick | THE STOLEN CROWN by Susan Higginbotham

March 2010
On Sale: March 1, 2010
Featuring: Katherine Woodville
400 pages
ISBN: 1402237669
EAN: 9781402237669
Paperback
$14.99

Historical
Buy at Amazon.com

The Stolen Crown

by Susan Higginbotham

The Secret Marriage That Forever Changed The Fate Of England

On May Day, 1464, six-year-old Katherine Woodville, daughter of a duchess who has married a knight of modest means, awakes to find her gorgeous older sister, Elizabeth, in the midst of a secret marriage to King Edward IV. It changes everything—for Kate and for England.

Then King Edward dies unexpectedly. Richard III, Duke of Gloucester, is named protector of Edward and Elizabeth's two young princes, but Richard's own ambitions for the crown interfere with his duties...

Lancastrians against Yorkists: greed, power, murder, and war. As the story unfolds through the unique perspective of Kate Woodville, it soon becomes apparent that not everyone is wholly evil—or wholly good.

Excerpt

As I stood there, at a loss for words and sensing that I had somehow done a Bad Thing, the groom turned and stood, making me gasp. He was tall—well over six feet—and dazzlingly handsome, with hair of a rich brown. Small, sallow, and of middling appearance, I was none of those things, and I averted my eyes as if caught gazing into the sun. “Well, now. Who is this young lady?”

“Katherine, sir,” I managed.

“Kate,” the groom said as I thrilled from my head to my toes. How did this man know that I loved to be called “Kate,” only Mother insisted on the more dignified “Katherine”? He turned to my sister. “I’ve changed my mind, I’m afraid. This will be my new bride.”

“She’s a trifle young for you,” said Read More...

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SANDI SHILHANEK | SURPRISE SURPRISE

It’s time to reveal another secret about me. I’ve never read Pride and Prejudice or any of the other works of Jane Austen. I feel somewhat embarrassed about this, as my younger son had to read it as a high school assignment when he was a junior. He would never admit it, but I think he liked it more than he wants people to believe. This makes me think I really need to move it up in my TBR pile for sure.

Ok…so I’m obviously not much into classics, but what about new contemporary romances? I recently checked out the RITA finalists and discovered that out of 12 categories and approximately 100 titles I’ve read Dirty Sexy Knitting, Lakeshore Christmas, Fireside, and Promises in Death.

Several titles such as Red’s Hot Honky Tonk Bar and The Lost Recipe for Happiness are in my TBR and will eventually get read, but when is a really good question.

Is there a classic, a romance, a mystery or some other genre that has a specific title that people are surprised that you haven’t read? What is it? Do you have plans to read it or just let it remain forever unread?

Until next week happy page turning.


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