Silhouette Desire Author Blog

Whew, I did make it!  It's always a bit confusing, what with the time difference and all!  So this being my first official post on the Desire blog, I thought I'd wax lyrical about firsts, if y'all don't mind.  So here we go.

Many of life's failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up -- Thomas Edison.

I met my husband-to-be at a bar on St. Patrick's Day.  So, you could say St. Patrick's Day will always be the most romantic holiday for me.  Valentine's Day, not so much.  (Yeah, yeah, I know, very unromantic of me.  ) 

Good morning! Or afternoon, as the case may be.

Yes, I'm late for the blog! So here's my way of saying I'm sorry ...

And the winner is.......Linda Henderson!

Linda, just email me at maureenchildbooks@gmail.com and I'll get you your prize!

willworkforbooks and tappitytaptap!

Congrats, ladies! Please email me your shipping addresses at redgarnierATgmail.com so I can send one of you the spiral notebook, the other the matchbook pads. You'll love these!

Dear Jessicue and Pat Cochran--

Please email me at charlenesands@hotmail.com  with your snail mail address and which book you'd like from my backlist. OR I can send you Texan's Wedding-Night Wager, my current Desire.   It's your choice!   And thanks to all of you who have visited our blog this week! 

Sorry I didn't post it last weekend. Time just got away from me. But the winner is Seriousreader.

Please email me at emilybmckay@gmail.com with your snailmail address.

Congratulations! 

And the winner of my Things Change blog is.... Tammy! Tammy, can you please email me your snail mail address at maxine @ maxinesullivan.com and tell me which book you would like from my backlist and I'll post that and the koala keyring to you. Congratulations!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. While my sister does Christmas Eve, I do the Thanksgiving meal. And I do it big. Each year I get one new decoration for the season and after all these years, I now have boxes of Thanksgiving decorations, the way some would have for Christmas.  The house is awash in orange and gold hues, pumpkins, scented candles, colorful table settings and wreaths. The scent of cinnamon and baking turkey fills the air.

As the evening begins in a local jazz club, I sit in the corner smoking my cigarette in a slim, long holder. My ruby red lips blow the smoke in rings as I check the small compact mirror for any necessary touch-ups on my kohl eyes. Yes, checking my make-up in public is considered non-ladylike, but I must look my best at all times.

Like a good marriage, some things in life just get better and better. A loving husband and wife will complement each other as they change and grow old together. Changes in technology mean advances in how we can read our books, listen to music, or watch a movie. Medical breakthroughs.

Wiccachick_1!

Due to a torn rotator cuff a couple of days after my blog on October 20, I didn't get a chance to draw a winner for my October give-away.  If Elaine and Caira could please send an email to kathie@kathiedenosky.com with their snail mail addresses, I'll get your prizes in the mail ASAP.

 Kathie DeNosky

I’ve heard a lot of people, readers and writers, laugh at the idea of a contemporary romance with a virginal heroine. I discussed the issue in the Dear Reader letter for my newest book:

Is it the Happily Ever After ending? The irresistibly hunky hero? The smart, brave heroine? The sparkling dialogue between the two? The funny banter? The sizzling attraction? The breathless passion?

Is it the woman's journey? Is it the thrill of seeing the hero overcoming all odds to rescue his one true love? Is it the courageous heroine rescuing him right back?

 What can I say?  I'm a girl who loooooves a bargain? 

It's so cool that I write books that I consider a huge bargain.

Silhouette Desires are cheaper than a movie ticket.  Far less expensive than a live show or a concert, and I can read them again and again and again...  I love knowing that I'm not breaking somebody's bank with my books.  Since I buy Silhouette Desires too, I appreciate the value for myself as well.

This made me start thinking about all my bargains.  I tried to explain bargain shopping to my husband.  "It's like hunting is for a man.  Bagging the deer with the huge rack with one shot."

So what are some of my best bargains? 
 

Congrats Vicky B!  You're the winner from the What have you learned lately blog!  Yikes I've been swamped with deadlines, so I'm running late with my contest winners and prizes.  I'll get them out this week.  I haven't forgotten you Laney 4!!!

xo

Leanne Banks 

Have you seen Gilles on Brothers and Sisters lately?   Just asking ....

Enjoy your Tuesday everyone!!

Sorry I'm a litte late with this, but April and Laney - send your snail mail addresses to me at sandra @ sandrahyatt dot com and I'll post out a copy of my next book, The Magnate's Pregnancy Proposal as soon as I get my copies.  

Last night was Halloween here in the States (and I'm feeling very ignorant, because I'm not sure where else in the world Halloween is celebrated). My kiddos came home loaded down with candy and we didn't even go to that many houses. But we live on a street with only four kids on it, so all the neighbors buy huge bags of candy and then give fistfuls to each kid. 

The random winner of Rachel's blog on shoes is:

Nicolerko!

Nicolerko, email your snail mail address to me at rachel at rachelbailey dot com and I'll send you a copy of Claiming His Bought Bride as soon as I get my author copies.

Hearty congratulations to KAELEE for being the winner of my little kiwi key ring and one of my books of your choice (personal stock permitting.)

FROM THE HEROES AND HEROINES AT DESIRE!

Recently, I received the cover of my first Desire, Claiming His Bought Bride. And I LOVE it. Really, really love it.

The scene is from the book, just after Damon and Lily get married. The fabulous production department at Harlequin have used so many details from the story: from Damon's dark, wavy hair to him carrying Lily through the door to their hotel room.

Lily is tall and has long blonde hair and is carrying a small bouquet of Lily-of-the-Valley, just as the scene is written. She’s also wearing a white cotton summer dress as she is in the book.

But one thing I didn’t describe in the book, and the production department has had to improvise, is Lily’s shoes.

But first - check out my new cover, it's for my second Desire book, due out in January, and I'm still pathetically excited about it. I love it. (And before I posted it here, he even had the top of his head - don't quite know what I've done).

Carrying on with Laura's movie theme, I saw the movie SPEED last night on TV. Don't know about you, but there's something about a buff Keanu Reeves with short cropped hair and a mission, that keeps me riveted to the screen.

It's inevitable.  Whenever I finish reading a great romance novel, I always say, "They should turn this into a MOVIE!"  Does anyone else do that?  Anyone?

**crickets**

Lol... Then I put together a cast list:-) It's an odd mix, but it's just who think of while I'm reading ...

AND THE WINNER OF MY RANDOM DRAWING OF "SMILES" AND A COPY OF ONE OF MY AVAILABLE BACKLIST OF BOOKS IS .... MEGALON22 

The other day I was walking out of a little café with my hubby as the sun beamed bright, after two days of much needed California rain and a Frank Sinatra song flowed out of speakers as we strode along the sidewalk.  The combination of a breezy, sky blue day, my hubby by my side and FRANK, brought a big smile to my face. 

 So here’s my list of the TOP 10 SPONTANEOUS THINGS THAT MAKE ME SMILE … but be prepared to share yours!  I’m posting for Day Leclaire today but I’ll be sending one random commenter a book from my backlist! 

Sorry I'm late announcing my winner....

My last Desire (from July this year) is titled Magnate's Make-Believe Mistress although I tend to think of it as The Maid and the Millionaire. That's a subtle nod to the story's Cinderella elements and to one level of conflict between the hero and the heroine.

I've been musing about the various pairings we see (and love) in romance and those which are popular in Desire.

The Boss and the Secretary.

The Prince and the Commoner.

The Cowboy and the Lady.

The Rake and the Virgin.

Beauty and the Beast.

While I've been out here in Seattle visiting my son and his family, I saw a commercial for a perfume that was one of the most romantic I think I've ever seen.  The woman (French actress Audrey Tautou)boards a train--obviously the Orient Express--and keeps running into this handsome man everywhere she goes on the train.  They never speak, but he keeps giving her these long smoldering glances.  When they reach Istanbul, she goes one way and he goes another.  End of story, right?  Wrong. 

As she's sightseeing, she takes a picture of a passing ferry and when she checks her digital camera to see if the shot was worth keeping, the man is standing at the rail of the ferry, watching her.  The ferry steams on and you think that's it, they are destined never to speak or see each other again.  But as the woman re-enters the train station to catch another train, he walks through the doorway, walks up behind her and wraps her in a steamy embrace.

Sorry to say that you're stuck with me again only a week after my last blog. The lovely Kate Carlisle kindly agreed to swap dates since I'll be on holiday for my next scheduled blog. Thanks, Kate!

Sorry to be so tardy. I chose three random contributors to my blog on October 7th to each win a copy of my October release, His Vienna Christmas Bride.

Caira

seriousreader (Linda Henderson)

Yenastone (Tammy)

Here he is!  Rafe Medici, hero from FROM PLAYBOY TO PAPA!   Coming in January!  I love how our clever Yvonne Lindsay describes this cover  "The Body".  As gorgeous and successful as Rafe is, when he finds out he has a son, he needs to learn how to be a Dad.

This made me think about how much I like to learn new things.  I'm sure I've learned several things during the last few months, but I'm thinking about two in particular.

Do you have any favorite authors that always bring out the deepest emotion in you?  I’ve always said it was easier to make a reader cry than to laugh, but that doesn’t diminish the author.  Some of us just don’t have the funny bone that we might hope to have in our writing.  I love to laugh and have often with Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ books and Janet Evanovich’s, Stefanie Plum series.

I've been thinking about heroes a lot lately.

Not the romance novel guys that we all adore, but the everyday heroes. Husbands, brothers, sons, friends. The men who day in and day out, do the right thing.

And the winner of my World Post Day blog is..... April! Congratulations!!! April, if you'd like to email me via maxine@maxinesullivan.com and tell me which book you'd like from my backlist, I'll pop it in the mail along with the koala keychain.

Emmanuelle, Anju, and WillWorkForBooks

Please email me at jen@jenlewis.com and let me know where to send your copy of "The Maverick's Virgin Mistress."

Jen 

Did you know that on October 9th every year it’s World Post Day? That’s the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874, when a structure was created for the free flow of international mail around the world.

People have been dreaming up heroes since the beginning of human history and writing, singing or just telling stories about them. The characteristics we enjoy in a hero haven't changed much over time: strength, intelligence, loyalty, courage, a well-toned physique... Certain things just never seem to go out of style. What do you look for in a hero?

It's been a long time since I've watched TV in the evenings, except for (gag) Coronation St and Criminal Minds, neither of which could be termed romantic. I have had a bit more time lately and have become queen of the remote. But I'm finding it all so depressing! 

Thanks to everyone who voted in our poll. The results were very interesting (and will possibly make an appearance in my future books!).

I've used a very sophisticated method for tallying this time: if you only voted for one option, it gets a full point. If you voted for more than one, they get half a point (no matter how many you voted for). I can see my uni statistics lecturer hanging his head now...

The winner for my Friday blog is Pat Cochran.

Pat email me at EmilyBMckay at gmail.com with your snail mail and I'll send you your fabulous prize.

The rest of you, check out my blog next month because I've got another fabulous bag from the Green Apple bag company to give away!