Harlequin Superromance Group Author Blog

Congratulations to Tammy, Marcie and Caro, whose names were drawn to win books! Please send me your snail mail address to  KOBrien@aol.com.  Also tell me which title from my backlist you'd like to have, and I'll get it in the mail.

Thanks so much to everyone who sent in suggestions.  They were all so helpful, and I'm grateful.  

I am amazed by…

Now, first up I have to acknowledge that the title of this post is not mine - I believe it's a Robin Williams quote.

Thanks to everyone who joined my discussion on book titles. And congratulations to Laney4 -- you're the winner of a copy of HER BEST BET! 

My parents used to listen to an old Mills Brothers song that said, “You’ll never miss the water till the well runs dry.” I understood the line, of course. Intellectually.

But I was young. No well had ever run dry for me. So I didn’t really get it.

There are a lot of things that influence whether we buy a book - the cover design, the back cover blurb, the first paragraph, the author, the TITLE.

When the new show, Glee, came on, a few people emailed me and said that when they heard the title, they thought of me!  Wow, what a huge compliment!   I'll confess, I tend to be fairly happy...or gleeful.  Rumor has it that my gleeful love of Mondays (Happy Monday, everyone!) is odd, but friends indulge me!  And frankly, I'd rather smile than frown!

 Last week my husband, my daughter and I ran like girls.  We were three of 20,000 participants in the Nike’s Women’s Marathon, which supports leukemia and lymphoma research.  Actually, only  one member of the family ran the marathon.  My husband and I know our limitations, so we ran (by “ran” I mean our gait was slightly faster than standing still) the half marathon. 

 

I didn’t start running until I was in my forties.  Both my kids were in cross country and my husband went on their training runs,

Yesterday, a villain came to our house. Not in a car, or from the sky, or even on foot. The villain came into our home on a bill for a service that almost everyone has. 

This morning I was cruising this blog, thinking how strange that there had been no recent posts. A quick check of the schedule showed that I had missed my blog date! I have some excuses...the main one being that I feel as if I've been non-stop traveling (from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and quite a few places in between) since I settled my daughter in for her second year at Dalhousie University in Halifax. (And that explains the picture of the lighthouse!)

So here I am, 3 days late, asking is late really better than never?

I just turned in HOME FOR CHRISTMAS to my editor at SuperRomance and I'm feeling delighted! And nostalgic. I miss these characters and their struggle.

Plot points

I’ve been wondering what kind of plots Superromance readers like in romance novels.  With the preponderance of paranormal elements and erotic content, neither of which our line contains, I’m asking what do you really want our books to be about?

First to consider are the “old standards,” many of which I’ve used in Supers.  Amnesia is one.  I loved writing A MAN SHE COULDN’T FORGET using that prototype.  I did have to do tons of research, though, and it shaped the plot.  Then there’s twins separated at birth. In 2004 I was asked to be part of a continuity for which Super authors would write the prequels. I was assigned this device by the editors.  I didn’t think I could do it credibly, but apparently I did.  THE UNKNOWN TWIN was my highest selling book yet.

Yesterday was the deadline for my latest book, and I'm happy to say, I made it.  However, there's a kind of Deadline Hangover -- the brain is fried.  That's why they call it a DEADline.  So I struggled this morning to find something to blog about.  Cruising through my hard-drive for ideas, I found this humor piece I wrote a few years back.  I think it's got some relevent points.  We're heading into the holiday season, which means cookies, cakes, goodies...and we're forgetting that bathing suit season will be back before we know it.

So, I offer up "You Want Me to Super-Size Your Order?"

The truth is I read romance for the heroes. Don't you? Don't we all? Karina Bliss got me thinking about heroes with her post and I realized the heroine is merely the Triscuit with which to eat the sharp cheddar. The chip for the spicy salsa. A conduit. Important, yes. But not the reason those pages keep turning.

Thanks everyone for stopping by and chatting with me last Thursday.

Christa r, you won the drawing for NEXT COMES LOVE!  And for jumping fearlessly headfirst into the spirit of that post, I gotta send a book to JV, too!

Beer is an acquired taste, I'm told. And during each year's Oktoberfest season, I realize I've squandered all my chances for beer appreciation while working to acquire a taste for chocolate shakes instead.

Sew it's hear!  NEXT COMES LOVE, the second in my Mirabelle Island series, was released this weak and I’m celebrating.  I’m ready to have sum fun.  Let’s see if ewe can count awl the errors in this post!

Yesterday, I’m getting ready to take my dogs for a walk at the park, write? It’s a production, that’s fore sure. First, I had to figure out what to where. It had snowed out and it was cold, so I grab my thick gloves. A hat. I hate squishing
down my hare, butt if I don’t I’ll freeze my ears off. Kneed boots, two.

My family and I have been invited to Halloween at my brothers' house. It's a mix of ToT, a street party, and general, all-around fun time. Last year?

Is there anything better than a reunion romance?  (You'd sure  have to believe I don't think so, if you counted how many times I've gravitated toward the topic,
now that I look!)  It's like taking a romance and turbocharging it with
a stiff dose of bittersweetness and poignancy. 

Congratulations Emmanuelle and JV! You've both won a copy of His Secret Agenda. Please email your snail mail info to me at: beth@bethandrews.net

Thanks to everyone for sharing your favorite comfort reads!

Beth

I read romances to fall in love with the hero so it’s no surprise that as a writer I come up with my hero first, then give him a woman who can tame him.

As much as I love when one of my favorite authors releases a new book (or when I discover a fabulous new-to-me-going-to-add-them-to-my-keeper-shelf-author) there's nothing like revisiting old favorites.

Congratulations Cady!!! Your name was drawn as the winner of a copy of Caitlyn's Prize. Please send your address to Lw1508@aol.com.

Thanks everyone for posting. And happy fall.

Linda

Wow...it's October!  I love this time of year.  It's cool enough that cooking's a joy again.  I love when the oven warms the house with scents of cookies or bread. And the leaves... I love--

At the risk of becoming known as That Creepy Superromance Author, I'm confiding that I saw another horror movie.

Do you twitter? Do you blog? Are you on Facebook? MySpace? Linkedin?

I went to a cowboy wedding this weekend.  It wasn’t one of those fancy theme weddings where the bride and groom wear expensive western duds and get married on horseback.  It was a cowboy wedding because we live in a ranching community.

 

The ceremony took place on an old homestead under the giant trees originally planted in the early 1900s to shade the tiny house from the Nevada sun.  The guests walked about a half mile to the site, where the groom and his groomsmen mingled with the crowd until it was time for the ceremony to begin.  There were chairs, but most people stood and quietly talked.  They were neighbors, after all, and needed to catch up.

The strength of women never ceases to amaze me.  A group sometimes
referred to as the weaker sex (WRONG!) could not possibly be more
seriously misidentified.  Underrated.

I put up an annual blog post here at eHarlequin where we post 12 books we’re planning to read during the year. I have to admit that my reasons for doing the blog post are partially selfish. Readers at eHQ are so widely read and so knowledgeable about the next great book that I scour the responses for recommendations. Sometimes we come back and post our impressions of the books in that thread, but it’s mostly a great way to find books people are anticipating.

So now I’m approaching the question from the other side: What’s the best book you’ve read this year? (Or any time recently. Don’t feel you need to confine yourself to one calendar year!) Doesn’t have to be romance. Doesn’t have to be anything except a really great read you want to share with us!

Congratulations to Emmanuelle, the winner of tonight's exciting
wedding story drawing here at the McLaughlin house.  Send me your snail
mail address in a private e-mail, and I'll send you a copy of A Small-Town Homecoming.

 

Is there any young girl who doesn't dream of being a bride?  Is it the idea of being a princess for a day--the gown, the ball, the handsome prince waiting at the end of the aisle?

Hello! This is my first post on the Superromance author's blog, and I'm very excited to be here with the enormously talented Superromance authors. I've been writing for Blaze for a few years now but my first Superromance, A Natural Father, was released in March 09. My second will be released in November, and it's called Home For the Holidays. 

I am loving writing for Superromance.  I love the scope of the stories, I love the families and the problems and the romances that these books explore. My November release is set in my home town of Melbourne, Australia, and features widower Joe Lawson and motor mechanic Hannah Napier. Joe's got a couple of kids who very badly need a mom (or as we say Down Under, "mum"), and Hannah's got a chip on her shoulder thanks to something that's happened in her recent past. I don't think it's giving too much away to say they don't get off on the right foot straight away!  

Authors have people talking in their heads...and it's okay, because we're writers.  Well, it's mainly okay!  LOL

 It's expected.  

As a military veteran and spouse I can't overlook that today is the anniversary of September 11, 2001. I send out my thoughts and prayers to all those affected by that day, directly or indirectly. The good that came out of this tragedy for me is that I was more determined than ever to keep going with my writing dream. I wasn't yet published but longed for the opportunity to inspire and uplift readers as so many authors had done for me in my lifetime.

It’s hard to believe that September is here and the summer is over.  Most of the kids are back in school, vacations have been taken, and it’s time to get serious again. At least, that’s what September usually feels like – no more fun, buckle down and get to work.  But I’d like to re-frame September.  There’s a lot to like about this month.  Maybe you’re back in school, or back at work, but I’d like September to be a time when we can catch our breath and have room to stretch.  It’s a time when the seasons are changing from summer to fall, but the weather is usually still warm and sunny.  If your kids are away at college or grown and gone, it’s a great month to take a trip. 

Happy Anniversary—to me!!!

Eighteen years ago yesterday I married my college sweetheart. We’ve been very blessed through the years, with two great kids, two stinky dogs, and home that is never clean but full of love.

Yes, I’m a lucky gal.

I received a clothing catalog last week and opened it expecting to see the usual too tight tops, too short sweaters, crop pants. In my day we called any pants that hit above the ankles “floods,” so I do have a slight aversion to crop pants.

Drum roll, please....

 

Laney4, your name came up from the many lovely, meaningful replies to my post yesterday. Email me privately with your snail mail addy and let me know which book you'd like.

 

As summer winds down, I find myself thinking of the past couple of months as the Summer of Glorious Eating.

Life is quirky. The highs and lows sometimes come at the same time—like a tsunami. You don’t know whether to laugh or cry. So you do both.

How does it happen that Johnny Depp has access to my computer? I mean, long before Johnny decided to star in a movie about the 1920's gangster, John Dillinger, and his escapades in Northern Wisconsin, I was working up a plot about a resort in Wisconsin that had once been a summer vacation destination of Prohibition-era gangsters. His movie came out in August; my book comes out in October. What are the odds that we'd have such a similar idea?

Miss Universe is over for another year, with Miss Venezuela Stefania Fernandez declared the most beautiful woman in the world. Make that the universe. Well, she is rather gorgeous, so good for her.

I woke up and my handy dandy computer calendar told me I was blogging at the Super blog today...and I couldn't think of anything to blog about.  To be honest, I rarely can think of anything deep and profound to blog about.  My life is rather quiet and non-profouund.  Well, except when it's not quiet (I still don't think it's profound)!

This weekend we took our son to college for the first time and I was completely unprepared for how sad I would be returning home without him.

Is there anything more Americana than baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie?  I think so.  The county fair.