Congratulations to Alyson W of Shaker Heights, Ohio!
She is the winner in my CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST Contest. Alyson will receive her choice from my backlist. And I want to apologize to all the other entrants because my question was confusing this month. However, everyone who entered an answer of any sort was included in the drawing.
I thought about not having a contest per se on my website for the month of September because I'll be involved in a couple other give aways. One that runs until September 8th is the NightOwl Summer Love Webhunt. I'm joining Amanda McIntyre (you all know her!), Jianne Carlo, Lynne Connolly, Suzanne Rock, Celia Jade, Autumn Dawn, Michele Bardsley, and Raine Delight (who'll be visiting my blog at the end of September!) to bring our readers some serious book swag. There will be 3 Grand Prize Winners! See my website for details!
Then starting September 14th, I'll be teaming up with USA Today Bestseller Jennifer Ashley and Alissa Johnson for our 12 Days of Christmas Tour (12 days/12 blogs) in celebration of the release of A CHRISTMAS BALL on September 29th! And of course, there will be give-aways every day of the tour for someone who comments. Be sure to check here each day or on my Events page for our itinerary.
So now, I'd love some feedback from you. Do you enjoy contests? Are there any types that irritate you? Why do you think authors do them? (I will reveal my answer on that one at the end of the day!)
This sprig of holly is just a reminder that A CHRISTMAS BALL is coming soon. And today I thought I'd share a little with you about how this anthology came to be.
A CHRISTMAS BALL is the brainchild of my brilliant editor, Leah Hultenschmidt at Dorchester. (Leah is on the far right, next to Charles Paz, RT's 2009 Mr. Romance and Erin Galloway, marketing expert extraordinaire!) She conceived a holiday anthology where all the stories were linked by virtue of time and place--a grand Christmas Ball. She invited USA Today Bestseller Jennifer Ashley, Alissa Johnson and I to contribute novellas and we set to work. Other than the setting and the date of our stories (December 19, 1822) we were given free rein.
Because we did, however, have a few common elements, we had to agree on those. First of all, who are the hosts of the ball? Leah entertained suggestions (I hoped they could be Lord Robert and Lady Evelyn, because those are my parent's names. Turns out in 1822, Evelyn was a man's name, so Leah opted for Lord Robert and Lady Julia Hartwell as our hosts.) Lord Hartwell is a force to be reckoned with in the House of Lords and his wife is the consumate hostess. Their annual Christmas Ball makes staying in London over the holidays bearable for the politically well-connected members of the ton who normally would celebrate the holiday at their country homes.
Just where is the Christmas Ball being held? Since all our characters would be sharing the same space, we had to agree on the layout. So we did what all good writers do. We borrowed a little from a real London mansion and then altered matters to suit us. This majestic Georgian is Spencer House, the ancestral seat of Princess Di's family. Located in the heart of St. James, Spencer House was built by the first Earl Spencer between 1756-1766. History buffs will want to pop over to the Spencer House website for a more in depth peek into this fascinating place.
Of course, for the purposes of our stories, Hartwell House needed a few changes from the Spencer model. For one thing, we turned the Great Room on the First Floor (which would be the 2nd floor in the American system of reckoning) into our Ballroom. None of the servants' portions of the house is shown in the floorplan detailed on the Spencer website, so I used my imagination. Since my heroine is a scullery maid and my hero a head groom, they passed through the kitchen a time or two. And I discovered a system of secret passageways behind the walls in Hartwell House that are not easily discerned on the Spencer blueprints. But Spencer House gave us a wonderful point of commonality for our stories and a strong sense of place to get us started.
You'll be hearing more about A CHRISTMAS BALL in the coming weeks. It's due to hit the bookshelves on September 29th! If you'd like a taste, please visit my website! And while you're there, be sure to enter my CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST contest! The drawing is just days away.
And speaking of winners, I have a couple to announce from Gerri Russell's visit here this week! Debra Parmley has won a copy of TO TEMPT A KNIGHT and Katie O'Sullivan is the winner of a Scottish Templars T-shirt! Please contact me through my website with your mailing info and I'll get it to Gerri. Amanda McIntyre already announced her winner the day she was here, but I'll repeat the anouncement here--Etriv (aka Delilah) please contact me or Amanda to receive your prize! For those of you who didn't win when Amanda visited here, you have another chance today at The Chatelaines!
No prizes to give away here, but I still love to hear from you. We were talking about setting today. How important is the setting (the place, decorations, food, etc.) for celebrating a holiday to you?
My friend, Amanda McIntyre is doing a grueling 25 Day Blog Tour to celebrate the release of TORTURED, her new erotic medieval from Harlequin Spice. Today is Day Twenty-23 of the tour for Amanda and she's come up with something really fun and creative for you. But before I turn my blog over to Amanda, I want to share her cool book trailer with you.
from Amanda McIntyre . . .
In a time of chaos, darkness, and violence, it is better to live only in the moment, lest your memories eat you alive. A young woman blessed with “sight seeks vengeance against a tyrannical lord responsible for her mother's murder. Forced to become an executioner's apprentice, she encounters a Roman prisoner who offers her a way to escape her prison and find a future. Torn between desire, duty, and the chance for revenge, her choice to live or die leaves her TORTURED. (Available now, Harlequin Spice-Books Aug. '09)
TORTURED has been called “a disturbingly touching tale of hope, love and survival.” (Romance BookWyrm) and “Captivating, sexy…not to be missed,” Heather Graham.
With every book I write, at some point, I end up with music that paints a visual in my head of the scene I want to write, or the mood I want to convey. I am an eclectic music lover with very few genres that I don’t truly enjoy listening to. Case in point…just this summer we had the joy of being able to take a family vacation with three of our four children to the eastern states. While in Washington DC, we went to a outdoor music pavilion in Virginia called Wolff Trapp. I highly recommend the experience the next time you are in the DC area. It is amazing!
The concert that we went to see was called “Video Games Live” performed by the National Symphony Orchestra and conducted by composer/producer, Jack Wall. Tommy Tallarico, known in his own right as one of the top video game composers, Virtually has single handedly taken the sound of the music industry from bleeps to epic music now enjoyed by gamers and non-gamers alike. I was blown away how the music swept me up, taking my imagination to amazing places! If you ever have the opportunity to see this concert, I highly recommend it. But I digress…
Music…it inspires, it soothes, it entices. I’m sure my friend, Em would agree. As such, I thought it might be fun to share with you a couple of the tracks that inspired my writing of TORTURED.
Medieval, dark ages…for me I almost always go classical or soundtrack. After much searching, I found the King Arthur soundtrack and downloaded it on my itunes, so I could listen as I wrote.
So here is the game and how you can win a copy of TORTURED today.
Go to my blog and listen to the three tracks on the virtual Ipod. http://www.mcintyreshouseofmuse.blogspot.com (Em here with a quick note for those of you who may be visiting us while you're at work. The music plays automatically on the site, so you'll want to check it out at home unless you wear headphones at work.)
Match the songs with these three scene descriptions and leave your answers 1, 2 and 3, here in your comments on Emily’s blog. Winners will be chosen at random from correct answers:
Here are the song titles: (Em again ~ This is really cool music. Adventurous and evocative!) Woad to Ruin/Hans Zimmer Tell Me Now (what you see) Moya See Do you Think I’m Saxon?/Hans Zimmer
Here are the scene descriptions:
a) love scenes between Sierra and Dryston-learning to trust her emotions, trust another person
b) Sierra’s courageous attempt to alone, save her brother and Dryston
c) the battle march of the brutal Saxon warlord and his horde as they come to meet the grass roots army that has risen against them
Good luck!
May the wind be at your back~
Amanda
Thanks for coming today, Amanda. And thanks for sharing the music that inspired this story! I always write to a movie soundtrack and it really helps me slip into the world of my book.
Buy TORTURED here! and have fun matching the music to the scene for a chance to win a FREE copy!
Jenn from SapphireRomanceRealm sent me this very colorful blog award along with a couple rules about accepting it. I have to share my favorite 7 things and then pass the award along to 7 other blogs. So here are my 7 Favorite Things:
1. My DH ~ Without question, he tops my list. I know it sounds sappy, but we are everything to each other. There's a reason I write romance and he sleeps beside me every night. He makes me feel like the luckiest woman on the planet.
2. My family ~ We have two terrific daughters and I'm so proud of them both. My parents are a big part of our lives (even though we live far apart) and we have a large extended family of siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. on both sides of the house.
3. Traveling ~ Airports, harbors and train stations are about the most exciting places on the planet because they are portals to an adventure.
4. Cracking the spine on a new book ~ I'm hard on my books. I break their backs. I turn down pages. I devour them. I live every story I read.
5. The quality of light just after dawn ~ Give me a cup of coffee and a drowsy world stretching and waking and I'm a happy camper.
6. The slice of silence after an anthem ~ When the last note dies away in church, before anyone can rustle a bulletin or cough, you can almost hear the echo of heaven.
7. An afternoon in an art museum ~ When I look at a fine painting or walk around a statue, I can see the artist's soul. And a soul is a terrifyingly beautiful thing to behold.
Now I get the joy of paying this award forward! Here are seven blogs I find worthy of a Kreativ Blog Award:
1. TheBookBinge ~ Three women who love to read share what they think.
2. CheekyReads ~ Just what it sounds like. A sassy girl's guide to good books!
Please note: The winner of a shiny new copy of DIARY OF COZETTE has been won by Jane L, who left a comment on this post. Congrats, Jane! Today, I'm featuring a guest--Amanda McIntyre! A connoisseur of life, Amanda has sampled everything from an office career and motherhood to being a newspaper columnist turned fiction writer. Her work is described as "superbly sensual, powerful, emotional, and character-driven." Hailing from the Midwest (Yay! Me, too!), Amanda McIntyre, aka Pamela Johnson, enjoys the change of seasons, her always busy family life, and writing. She is the multi-genre published author of several novels, anthologies, novellas, and short stories as well as non-fiction.
As always when I have a guest, my words are in bold. Amanda is speaking italics!
So why don't you share a blurb about your newest release, Amanda!
Passion knows no status or wealth.
True, I am but a mere maidservant from a great house, snatched from a wretched existence of poverty and desperation to serve noblemen of wealth and privilege.
And yet.
While I am indeed of lowly rank, I am also a young woman who allowed herself to sample life's greatest pleasures in the hands of these titled men. My tales overflow in this journal, penning my journey to becoming a woman of power of the most base, yet stimulating, breed.
Unmarried and twenty, yet betrothed to no man, I would be considered a spinster by most, yet this is of my own ardent intention. With my unabashed lushness and wisdom regarding a man's most vehement cravings, I am not lacking for suitors or proposals given in the heat of passion. No, I have yet to meet the man who will challenge me, satisfy me in all ways, not only of the flesh.
For where passion and desire are fleeting, my heart continues to beat..
Sounds like Cozette is a strong heroine who knows her own mind. My kind of gal. When I first saw the title I thought you might be doing a derivative story based on the Cozette in Les Miserables, but obviously no. Tell us what inspired this story.
I am inspired by many things in my writing; movies, music, art and research. I love to research obscure bits about history, legends and lore. I was on one of my rampades of researching Victorian England when I came across information about "white slavery" in England. Not only were there double standards when it came to men and women, but between social classes as well. As I continued my research I discovered some disturbing notions of the time. One, that it was healthy for men to have sex with virgins--and secondly, that there were some families , so poor and with so many children that they would sell their older daughters to brothels or direct to wealthy men for this very purpose. So I wondered what it must have been like to be a young woman at that time, perhaps the youngest daughter of a family beset with poverty and having no alternative but to send their daughter away to where they thought she'd be safe. I was troubled in reading how many young girls simply disappeared, sold to men and no one ever heard or saw them again. Maybe I wanted to know that one of them escaped and survived?
That is when I met Cozette. Her story is told in diary form and follows her from the time she is sent to an uncaring Uncle and Aunt, and then on to an orphanage where she meets her first love, and then her escape of being sold by the greedy orphange director, only to wind up on the streets of London, where she must learn how to survive. A chance kindness shown to a stately woman and her strange husband brings her to the station of maidservant at an English country manor. And this is where Cozette's life begins to blossom, becoming a lover, a friend, a companion, and a woman. But even as she enjoys the present , she ponders her future, and remains haunted by her past. Will she ever find a man who can accept her for all that she is and all that she's has been through?
And they claim romance is formulaic! This is a very fresh storyline. What's the coolest thing about your hero?
He has his flaws, both physical and emotional. He isn't perfect. He's made mistakes, but his love for Cozette never dies, even over a long period of time. He carries his pain and secrets that could do more harm than good to reveal, but he does so with compassion and honor. He is willing to sacrifice his own happiness for Cozette's. Though he is a patient, honorable man, he cannot deny the suffering of the passion re-awakened inside him, that he thought long dead.
Oh, yay! A tortured hero. Lots of my readers are also aspiring writers. What's the best piece of writing advice you can offer, Amanda?
Be flexible. Change is the only constant, I believe it's said. And never is it more true than the publishing industry. Not only is this true in writing that story that you desperately want to write, regardless of the market , but even more personally-for example revisions and reviews.
I once thought that to have to do "revisions" meant I was a "bad" writer. I have since come to learn that revisions are designed to strengthen the story, to make it the best it can be. Your editor, if she is a good one, will see with fresh eyes the things that you might not having been with the story 24/7 for 6 months. Don't go "diva" on your editor-make it a team effort. After all your goals are the same!
Having started out doing book reviews,(ina a galaxy far, far away) I have come to learn that reviews are subjective. Do we all hope for the stellar, top of the line all the time reviews? Of course we do! But I was told once that you are only as good as your next book, so don't rest too long on the laurels (or the bad reviews, god forbid) of one book, but get busy on that next book--and make it better, by what you've learned from your experiences with that first book.
What's next for you, Amanda?
Coming in August 2009 is TORTURED. It sounds interesting certainly, given its an erotic tale, but this is set in the Dark Ages and admittedly was a bit of a challenge to write! This is also where I have to credit my editor, Lara Hyde, for her eyes in seeing this story and helping me to create a fascinating story, full of the richenss and torment of that era. This is told in first person, from both the heroine and heroes POV's, which made an interesting journey of each of these characters to where fate finally brings them together and they will end up saving one another or killing each other. I am intrigued by medieval history. The stories are endless, of wars and feuds, of alliances, and arranged marriages. After going on a spree of watching every medieval age movie I could get my hands on, I was struck with how popular the events of beheadings were in those days. Entertainment for many, personal or political resolution for others I suppose. I wondered if there were ever such things as female executioners? Not many I discovered, but it was enough for me to ask, "what if" and that is when Sierra, my heroine who's life is spared, but who is sentenced by a ruthless Saxon king to become his executioners apprentice. A fate perhaps worse than death. The title then depicts not only the obvious conotation of the word , but also the metaphorical defintion as well.
Regular readers of this blog know I'd rather be on a cruise ship (destination immaterial) that just about anywhere. Just for fun--what's your favorite place in the world, Amanda?
That I have visited ? Because the list of "not yet visited" favorite places to drool over is substantial!
I have plenty of "wanna-see's" myself but I can't claim them as favs till my feet actually walk the ground.
Okay, well I have to say, anywhere my family is (aww) but after that? I love the Great Lakes . In particular Mackinac Island, Whitefish Point and all along the western shore of Lake Superior. My favorite thing to do is to sit at twilight, wrapped in a blanket on a comfy adirondack chair and watch the sun set and listen to the waves lap the shore. I love walking the desolate beach at Whitefish Point, far from the museum oglers, clear down to the point where no one goes. There is something so powerful and ethereal there. The weather on the lakes can change at the blink of an eye and I am reminded of how very small I am in comparison to nature's majesty. I feel the same way about the northern Oregon coast.
Whitefish Point sounds splendid. Too often the Midwest is overlooked but there are some great get-away spots. My DH and I honeymooned on a remote lake in the north woods of Minnesota. It was late May, the ice had just left the lake and we didn't see another soul all week. Or maybe we weren't very observant at the time . . .
Writers always have a few pots boiling. What are you working on now?
My current WIP, THE MASTER & THE MUSES features my randy Pre-Raphaelite artist, Mr. Thomas Everett Rodin, from Cozette. This is a book of three novellas, three women selected By Mr. Rodin to be his muses for his artwork. Told from each of their perspectives from the moment they first meet, to how their lives are changed in the company of such a volatile and passionate man, and what eventually becomes of them.
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