Join me Today at The Chatelaines

Happy Friday! I'm blogging over at The Chatelaines today. I'm kicking off a theme of "What's next?" Be sure to pop by often to see what's up with Jennifer Ashley, Joy Nash, CL Wilson, Gerri Russell, Cindy Holby, Bonnie Vanak and me.

Rita Finalists!

I'm happy to report that my publisher Dorchester is well represented in this year's crop of Rita contenders. First up is Elisabeth Naughton's STOLEN FURY for Best First Novel and Romantic Suspense!



This title was edited by Leah Hultenschmidt, who's also my fabulous editor.








My fellow Chatelaine, Joy Nash has made it to the finals for her A LITTLE LIGHT MAGIC in the Contemporary Romance category!

Alicia Condon was the editor.






In the Novel with Romantic Elements category we have Gemma Halliday's Scandal Sheet, also edited by Leah.

In the paranormal romance category, Marjorie Liu's THE FIRE KING got a nod. Christ Keeslar is the editor.


















My fellow A CHRISTMAS BALL author, Alissa Johnson was named a Regency Historical finalist. Another Leah Hultenschmidt title!



You can find all these wonderful titles at Dorchester!

I'm off to the NECRWA conference in Framingham, MA. Have a great weekend!

Monday Night Chat At WritersSpace!

Just a quick note! Tonight USA Today Bestseller Joy Nash and NYTimes Bestseller CL Wilson will be at WritersSpace for a chat and to give away signed copies of their new books, SILVER SILENCE and QUEEN OF SONG AND SOUL. I'll be there offering a signed copy of A CHRISTMAS BALL to someone who chats with us as well. Please join us tonight at 9-10PM EST!

The Rhys Rumble

Gore Vidal said, “Each writer is born with a repertory company in his head. As you get older, you get more skillful at casting them.”

The first step for me in peopling my story with interesting characters is deciding on their names. Before THE CHATELAINES (the group blog I share with CL Wilson, Jennifer Ashley, Joy Nash, Gerri Russell, Bonnie Vanak and Cindy Holby) got up and running, the whole gang had some group email discussions about the relative hotness of certain male names. Face it, it’s hard to get excited about a hero named Murgatroyd or Icabod. One name we all agreed had a high hotness quotient was Rhys (pronounced Reece).

I was surprised to learn that several of us had already used, or intended to use, the name. In fact, Rhys is the name of Joy Nash's current hero in SILVER SILENCE. If you love retellings of the Arthurian legend, you have to try Joy's vivid re-imagining of Camelot.

Rhys is also the name of my hero’s father in PLEASURING THE PIRATE. Of course, my Rhys is already dead when the story starts, but that doesn’t diminish his influence over Gabriel. Rhys Drake was a hard man, a driven man, one who demanded much from himself and those around him. His indomitable spirit motivates his son Gabriel to leave a life of piracy and try to reclaim his place as a gentleman.

Would Rhys Drake have ultimately approved? Gabriel will never know. And it maybe wouldn’t matter in the end. Pirates have a tendency to take what they want, devil take the hindermost. Gabriel might not have a swaying deck beneath his feet, but he’s still a pirate at heart.

So that’s the story of my Rhys. Have you read a book with a Rhys in it lately?

What guy names rate high on your hot-o-meter?

PS. Still a few weeks before the drawing for the $100 gift card in my MERRY CHRISTMAS BALL contest! If you haven't done so, be sure to enter!

Contest Cornucopia

Last week readers seemed to enjoy my Friday spotlight on contests, so here are a few more!

First up, from my friend Joy Nash:

Silver Silence, a Druids of Avalon novel, is in bookstores Oct 27!
To celebrate, Joy is running a special contest:

One lucky reader who comments on either last Wednesday's Chatelaine post (10/21) or next Wednesday's (10/28) by midnight ET on Sunday Nov 1 will win autographed copies of The Grail King, & Deep Magic, along with an autographed copy of the November RT BookReviews magazine featuring yours truly and the Druids of Avalon on the cover!

Please consider including your email with your post so Joy can contact you quickly if you win! And if you don’t…check out more chances to win at www.joynash.com.

Good luck to all!


Lots of my readers are also writers. JC Koi is running a contest to find the best book video! So if you're an author with a book out and there was a super cool video made to pimp it (either by you or someone else who has given the appropriate permissions), then send the link to jkcoi(AT)rogers(DOT)com .

Details: Only one entry per person, so pick your best! Contest entry deadline: October 30, 2009. Submitted videos will be posted on www.jkcoi.blogspot.com for voting on November 2, 2009. Voting will run until November 6, 2009 and the winning entry will be posted on the blog on November 9, 2009!

What do you win? Besides a basket filled with great books from some fabulous authors and a selection of other goodies. The winner shall receive a coupon from Blazing Trailers for 50% off a new trailer or a free trailer review.




Stephanie Worth, another one of my fellow Dorchester authors, has a new Christmas anthology out. To celebrate the release of her novella, HeavenSent.com, in HOLIDAY BRIDES, she's giving away books, gift cards, and beautiful keepsakes!

There are two ways to enter and yes, you can enter both ways.

Reader Thank You Prize Pack:
Sign up for her newsletter and you'll be entered to win a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card and a signed copy of Stephanie's backlist books, Where Souls Collide and The Holiday Inn. Three lucky readers will each win one of these prize packs.

Grand Prize Pack:
Stephanie's heroine, Brenna, has decided that the only way to make good on her mission to find a man is through online dating at HeavenSent.com. For a chance at the Grand Prize Pack, you need to sign up for Stephanie's newsletter AND write your own online dating profile! Five entries will be highlighted on her web site, blog, Facebook and MySpace pages. Two winners will receive a grand prize pack that includes a $20 Barnes & Noble gift card, signed copies of her backlist books and a gorgeous souvenir ceramic tile from Detroit's nationally renowned Pewabic Pottery studio.




And finally, a reminder about my little Merry CHRISTMAS BALL Contest! Someone is going to win a $100 B&N gift card on December 1st. Will it be you?

Several readers have sent me pics of their sightings of A CHRISTMAS BALL. It's been seen on a bestsellers table near the check out in a Honolulu Borders, on an endcap in a Phoenix Target, spotted in a Michigan Walmart . . . This little book is really getting around! Thanks so much to everyone who's picked up a copy! I appreciate YOU!

Oh! and today is Friday, my day to post at The Chatelaines. I'm hosting Lori Brighton, a debut author who's offering 3 chances to win her new book, Wild Heart!

Enjoy!

A Christmas Kiss!

The 12 Days of A CHRISTMAS BALL Blog Tour is at The Romance Studio today. And we're sharing exclusive excerpts from each of our novellas featuring a Christmas kiss!

Please pop over to join us and leave a comment. You just might win a freebie!

Also, Fridays are my regular posting days at The Chatelaines, a group blog I share with CL Wilson, Joy Nash, Jennifer Ashley, Gerri Russell, Bonnie Vanak and Cindy Holby. I'm afraid I'm on a bit of a rant today, but I'd enjoy hearing from you there, too!

Have a great weekend!

Hot Dish Friday!

In Northern Iowa, hot dish is what you have when you take all your left-overs, mix them in a caserole pan, pour a can of cream of mushroom soup over it and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. I'm sort of doing that with my blog today. Sorry.

Fridays are my usual day to post at The Chatelaines. If you haven't given this group blog a try I urge you to pop over. It features CL Wilson, Jennifer Ashley, Joy Nash, Gerri Russell, Bonnie Vanak, Cindy Holby and moi. Today I'm talking a little about my novella in A CHRISTMAS BALL. I've been so heads down working on STROKE OF GENIUS, this release has snuck up on me. As you can see, it's coming fast. (And as you can also see, you can click on the corner of this countdown widget and grab the code for it. If you decide post it on your blog, you will have my undying gratitude! Let me know you did and I'll build a link to your site!) You can pre-order your copy on Amazon!

Writing a novella was a different experience for me. 30K words seems so short when you're used to luxuriating in 90K. That meant things had to pop. It was a little like writing a romance haiku. Every syllable counts.

Now I'm writing at a 10 page a day pace. For A CHRISTMAS BALL, my recovery from cancer surgery slowed me to 2 pages a day. But this is a special story for me because while I was dealing with uncertainty and a good deal of pain, slipping into the world of A CHRISTMAS BALL was a respite. An affirmation that joy and beauty and love was stronger than what I was going through at the time.

And paradoxically enough, my editor says it's the funniest thing I've ever written.(No, it wasn't drugs! I was off pain meds by then.)

Last Monday, Tessa Dare came to visit and those of you who left a comment had a chance to win a copy of her book. I'm pleased to announce that Booklover1335 is her winner! Congratulations. Please contact me through my website with your mailing info and I'll see that Tessa gets it!

And while we're on the subject of contests, my CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST is still running. Please drop by and enter for your chance to win your choice of my backlist.

So that's all in the blog frig for now. The DH and I don't have plans to explore any more harbor islands this weekend (No need to make a "Spectacle" of ourselves again any time soon!) We're going (involuntary shudder) shopping. But we're shopping for him, so it's all good. (I know, I know, I need to overcome my shopping anxiety. I'm working on it!)

Have a lovely day and a weekend filled with everything that pleases you. (And if you care to share what things that might be, please feel free!)

Why I Write

While I'm guesting over at NightsOfPassion today, please welcome my friend and fellow Dorchester author, Joy Nash here on my blog! Joy is a USA Today Bestseller who wrote part of the wildly inventive IMMORTALS series, as well as her own DRUIDS OF AVALON historical romances set in Roman Britain. But that's not enough for this talented writer, oh no! Joy has now gifted us a delicious new contemporary with a paranormal twist called A LITTLE LIGHT MAGIC. Just look at that lovely cover. My blood pressure has already dropped 10 points.

I've asked her to be my guest-blogger today. So take it away, Joy!

Why I Write by Joy Nash

Short answer: I’m insane.

Oh, okay, not really. At least, I don’t think so. But as any writer will tell you, writers are wired a little differently than normal people. I think Jennifer Crusie said it best in a talk I heard her give at a writer’s conference: “Given a free afternoon,” Jennie declared, “most people do not choose to sit down at their computer and make stuff up!”

But writers do. In fact, we’d rather sit around making stuff up than do almost anything else. We make up characters and settings, plot points and dialogue. We make up love scenes and fight scenes. We make up jokes and hair-raising danger. We wrap ourselves in our own little worlds. And it’s very, very satisfying.

We get to play God.

So why do I write? Confession time: at heart, I’m a control freak.

Now, I used to be a control freak in my real life. This was long ago, before three kids and a dog. Before home ownership. Before marriage. When I was single, childless, and renting, it was relatively easy to keep my life in some semblance of control. Take that ordered existence and throw in a husband, a house, a dog, kid 1, kid 2, a bigger house, kid 3 (who arrived within four years of kid 1), a new dog…and well, you get the picture.

I’d kept a journal and written short pieces since childhood, but I didn’t start writing novels seriously until my youngest went to part-time preschool. It was a desperate bid to control…something. I’d have given almost anything for a world in which people did what I wanted, when I wanted them to do it!

If I’d only known...

To my shock, I found out fictional characters can be every bit as ornery and contrary as a two-year-old in the middle of a full-fledged tantrum. My fictional characters, not unlike my kids, take off in different directions. Sometimes I guide them, sometimes they keep me running after them. Sometimes I wonder: who’s really in charge here?

I’m not sure it’s me.

Joy Nash

PS: My latest attempt at playing god is A Little Light Magic, a summer romance set at the Jersey Shore. (Leisure Books, May 26) www.joynash.com

Ok, Joy's A LITTLE LIGHT MAGIC hits the bookstores TOMORROW, so please run right out and snap up your copy before they're all gone. If you too have "control issues" and would like to have A LITTLE LIGHT MAGIC delivered to your door, here's your chance:

Amazon
Barnes&Noble
Borders

Please leave a comment or question for Joy. If you do, I promise to track her down and make her answer! (See, I have control issues too!)

Join Me over at Joy's House!

IRL, I'm boarding a cruise ship today, but online I'm over at Joy Nash's COUNTDOWN TO SUMMER! . Joy asked me to post an excerpt from VEXING THE VISCOUNT and I'll be giving away a signed book from my backlist to someone who leaves a comment over at Joy's blog!

Come on over and join in the party!



Even though I'll be boarding a cruiseship in just a few minutes, I do have some posts set to go for you. Here's what's coming:

Monday the 11th: Tiffany James is popping by to guest blog. Please stop over and show her some love!

Tuesday the 12th: I posted a wonderful pic that's my inspiration for my newest hero, Crispin Hawke in STROKE OF GENIUS. He's totally delicious!

Wednesday the 13th: I'm in an island state of mind. Join me for some palm tree joy.

Thursday the 14th: Especially for aspiring writers! I post a little of my MEAT ON THE BONES workshop about developing characters who breathe on their own. Readers will enjoy a peek behind the scenes at what an author thinks about when devising her hero and heroine.

Have a fantastic week!

Joy Nash's Countdown to Summer

To celebrate the May 26th release of her Jersey Shore romance A Little Light Magic, Joy’s hosting a month-long blog and Facebook party dedicated to everything wonderful about summer - summer fun, summer memories, summer vacations, summer food, summer entertainment, and - most importantly - the boys (and men!) of summer. Lots of chances to win goodies, including books by Joy and other authors such as Angie Fox, Emily Bryan, Gerri Russell and more.

Starting May 1 and continuing through Memorial Day! Details at http://joynash. blogspot. com/

Confessions of The Anti-Shopper

Fridays are my regular days to blog at The Chatelaines--a group blog I share with Jennifer Ashley, CL Wilson, Joy Nash, Bonnie Vanak, Gerri Russell and Cindy Holby. Usually, I try to have two different posts--one here and one there, but getting ready for RT next week is compressing my time. Please join me today at The Chatelaines. I reveal the depths of my anti-shopping bias and how a transcendant shopping experience can convert even a jaded non-shopper like me.

Hope to see you in Orlando!

A Visit with USA Today Bestseller Joy Nash!

Today, my 50day/50blog VEXING THE VISCOUNT Tour is swinging by the website and blog of the fabulous Joy Nash! Joy is my friend, my fellow Chatelaine and, as it turns out this time, my release mate! She has a paranormal anthology with Jennifer Ashley and Robin Popp called THE RECKONING coming out the same day as VEXING THE VISCOUNT--February 24th.

Joy is one of those uber-talented types who excels in two very different styles of romance. She writes lyrical, haunting Druid/Roman Britain romances--her award-winning Druids of Avalon series--and is also part of the wildly popular IMMORTALS phenomenon, where she creates a grittier, darker contemporary paranormal world. I urge you to try them both!


So please join Joy and me over at her house today and be sure to leave a comment or question. I'm giving away a VEXING THE VISCOUNT to someone. It might as well be YOU!


PS. Yesterday's winner was DEWANA H. Please contact me through www.emilybryan.com to claim your VISCOUNT!

Tingles of Magic at THE CHATELAINES

Have you ever been someplace that makes the hairs on your arms stand on end for no discernable reason? I'm blogging about the experience at THE CHATELAINES. You'll want to bookmark this fabulous blogsite. It features CL Wilson, Jennifer Ashley, Joy Nash, Gerri Russell, Bonnie Vanak, Cindy Holby and (blush) me!

I'm giving away a FREE copy of VEXING THE VISCOUNT to one lucky commenter, so be sure to leave a comment or question.

PS. I had a great time at the Romance and Chocolate Group Signing in Farmington, CT. (You can find signed copies of DISTRACTING THE DUCHESS and PLEASURING THE PIRATE at the Borders at 1600 Southeast Road!) Special thanks to Rachel, one of my blog "touristas", for making the trip and bringing her mother to the event! :)

The Chatelaines go LIVE!

Take a New York Times Bestseller, two USA Today Bestsellers, an American Title winner, and three award winning, multi-published authors, scramble them all together and what do you get? THE CHATELAINES! http://www.thechatelaines.blogspot.com/ ! It's the hottest new Historical authors group blog featuring CL Wilson, Jennifer Ashley, Joy Nash, Gerri Russell, Cindy Holby, Bonnie Vanak and . . . moi (blush!) Emily Bryan.

We'll be sharing about what's next for our writing, what's happening in our lives and any crazy thing that pops into our heads! Be sure to bookmark us so you'll never miss a moment!

The Crossing by Joy Nash

Just finished reading Joy Nash's latest Immortals release--THE CROSSING. I'm a huge fan of her Druids of Avalon series, but this was her first dark contemporary paranormal I've read.

Joy sets up a totally believable alternative world, filled with both light and dark magic. I appreciate the fact that her spell-weavers must pay a price for each act of magic. It shows a sort of spiritual economy. Her view of Hell as a darkly twisted shopping mall completely resonated with me (Whip me. Beat me. Don't make me shop!) and her descent into the deepest circles of the abyss was very Dante-esque.

The love story between Mac Lir, a demigod, and the witch, Artemis Black was completely believable and I loved the way she wove her extremely hot love scenes with the conflict between their magic styles.

This book has one of the blackest black moments I've ever encountered in a romance, but the HEA payoff was that much sweeter for it. Well done, Ms. Nash!

Check out my Em Recommends page at www.emilybryan.com for more of my picks and recommended reads!

The first romance novel I held in my hands . . .

. . . was Kathleen Woodiwiss's The Wolf and The Dove. My mother had read it and raved about the story. Then she passed it on to me. I loved the way Ms. Woodiwiss swept me away to a time gone by with her fat doorstop of a book. Now the days of the epic historical are gone. What have historical romances morphed into?

For one thing, they are tighter. Shorter word counts have cut out the pages of description of dresses and scenery. That's not necessarily a bad thing. The historical romance reader is pretty sophisticated and will spot shoddy period details in a skinny minute, but she doesn't need to have gobs of minutia. A few pithy, memorable images and appeals to the senses will do.

The new historicals are incorporating elements of other sub-genres as well. Jennifer Ashley's historicals have paranormal elements. Kathryne Kennedy's and Joy Nash's stories sparkle with magic. Jade Lee's Tigress novels are deeply sensual and deeply spiritual at the same time. My DISTRACTING THE DUCHESS has been known to make readers giggle. Visit www.emilybryan.com to read an excerpt.

Readers seem to want something more than a straight historical.

When you pick up a historical romance, what are you looking for?