To celebrate the release of his upcoming romantic suspense, SHADOW OF GUILT, award winning author Michael W. Davis will select twelve winners on 9/30 Prizes range from a paperback (winners choice) to multi-author bookmarker packages. To apply, go to Davisstories.com, click on the yellow button “Contests & Events” (below the top left of the screen) and follow the instructions.
In conjunction with Hope’s guest blog post (http://www.wewriteromance.com/blog/guest-blogger/hope-tarr-guest-blogger-second-chances-a-rogues-pleasure), she’s offering a copy of Vanquished. All you have to do is post a comment and by the end of her stay, Hope will tell us who has one!
In case you haven’t heard of Vanquished, here’s a bit to tease you with:
A devil’s bargain.
"The photograph must be damning, indisputably so. I mean to see Caledonia Rivers not only ruined but vanquished. Vanquished, St. Claire, I’ll settle for nothing less."
Known as The Maid of Mayfair for her unassailable virtue, unwavering resolve, and quiet dignity, suffragette leader, Caledonia — Callie — Rivers is the perfect counter for detractors’ portrayal of the women a rabble rousers, lunatics, even whores. But a high-ranking enemy within the government will stop at nothing to ensure that the Parliamentary bill to grant the vote to females dies in the Commons — including ruining the reputation of the Movement’s chief spokeswoman.
After a streak of disastrous luck at the gaming tables threatens to land him at the bottom of the Thames, photographer Hadrian St. Claire reluctantly agrees to seduce the beautiful suffragist leader and then use his camera to capture her fall from grace. Posing as the photographer commissioned to make her portrait for the upcoming march on Parliament, Hadrian infiltrates Callie’s inner circle. But lovely, soft-spoken Callie hardly fits his mental image of a dowdy, man-hating spinster. And as the passion between them flares from spark to full-on flame, Hadrian is the one in danger of being vanquished.
Mills & Boon will be searching for new, fresh voices to join their ranks this Fall. Starting in September 2010, according to their new site (Romance is not dead) authors will enter and could win a chance to be published!
What do you say, are you ready to be their new voice?
The Conference season has started and at the end of this month, authors, editors and publishers will be heading for Orlando where the RWA will be holding their annual National Conference. But last weekend I spent five days in London, in Greenwich to be precise, at the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Conference. The weather was hot
- unexpectedly so for England, the setting in the architecturally beautiful Old Naval College on the edge of the River Thames was spectacular, and the whole event was extra special because it was to mark the RNA’s 5oth anniversary of their founding in 1960.
There was a fascinating array of courses and events on offer, with workshops on Conflict, Creating Characters, Managing Your Writing Career, and Using Colour in Your Writing. The list of delegates attending read like a who’s who of English romantic novelists with Katie Fforde, Kate Harrison, Julie Cohen, Judy Astley, Susanna Kearsley and the keynote speaker Joanna Trollope. Category romance authors who were there were Nicola Cornick, Sarah Morgan, Abby Green, Kate Hardy, Natalie River – and,of course, me! Every talk or workshop was fully attended – and everyone was deeply grateful for the efficient air conditioning that made the conference rooms so much more comfortable than the heat outside of the accommodation blocks.
The RNA’s 50th birthday was marked at a celebration dinner at the old Trafalgar Tavern where Charles Dickens once dined. On a hot summer night, the huge windows opening on to the balconies overlooking the river were hugely appreciated , and the sound of the water drifting past was a soft background to the buzz of conversation.
Harlequin Mills & Boon were strongly represented by many editors including Executive Editor Tessa Shapcott and many of the Richmond team. At their presentation on Saturday afternoon, the audience were given a sneak preview of the new covers that will be coming up for all the Mills & Boon lines from the Autumn. They will also be reorganising the way that some of the lines are distributed with Modern Heat becoming the newly-title Riva, and some of the Romance line being included with that. The rest of the Romance line will be published under the new name of Cherish.
Along with the new covers there will be some brand new style titles, specially for the Modern/Presents line with the Billionaires and Mistresses and Virgins titles disappearing (thank goodness!) to be replaced by titles such as my own new book, The Good Greek Wife, or others such as The Bride Thief, Reckless in Paradise, The Man Behind The Mask etc. You can see some of the new covers on Amazon.com and they will be appearing on the Mills & Boon web site very soon.
Another important announcement is the latest writing contest that Mills & Boon will be running. I will be able to give you more details of this in my next Kate’s Corner blog when all the details have been finalised, but basically the new competition – New Voices – will be a sort of X Factor contest for writers. Entrants will upload a first chapter to the special contest web site (www.romanceisnotdead.com) and the public will be able to read them and comment on them. The editorial team will select a Top Ten who’ll be then asked to write a second chapter. Full details can be found on the Romance Is Not Dead web site soon and the contest will open fully on September 6th. A I said, I’ll bring you all the latest details on this in my next blog.
The RNA has started Conference Season off with a bang. Sadly, I won’t be able to attend RWA as I shall be teaching in Wales that week. But I shall be keeping in touch with what’s going on in Orlando, and I’ll definitely be glued to the internet when the RITA winners are announced to find out who’s won. I hope that everyone who is going to any conference has a wonderful time, and comes home as I did, tired out (there wasn’t much sleeping going on) talked out, but fired up with enthusiasm for writing and reading the wonderful romantic fiction that is being published these days.
Kate’s latest Presents EXTRA The Konstantos Marriage Demand is still available and in the UK she has The Good Greek Wife coming soon. Look 0ut for this book in Presents EXTRA in October 2010.
You can find out more details on her web site or on her blog
To enter Margaret’s contest is super easy. Just answer the following question:
What is the name of the hero and heroine in my book THE ITALIAN’S RUTHLESS BABY BARGAIN released as a Presents EXTRA in March?
She is giving away two prizes (copies of her latest release, MARRIED AGAIN TO THE MILLIONAIRE) so visit her contest page to find out how to enter.
Good luck!
Emily Bryan is running a quarterly contest in conjunction with her free online novella A DUKE FOR ALL SEASONS. Each month her readers vote for the direction the story should take and she writes the next chapter. March is the last month a vote will enter readers in her March 31st drawing for a $100 gift card. The link to the contest is: http://www.emilybryan.com/contest.htm
It’s that time of year again – Christmas! And the question in my latest contest is: What would be your perfect way to spend Christmas? Would you like money to be no object? Or would you be happy with your family around you? The more I think about this the more I realise that it does not matter whether we’re financially well off. Christmas is a time for families. To have our loved ones around us.
In 2004 I wrote a book called Her Husband’s Christmas Bargain. My poor hero had fathered a daughter he knew nothing about. She is four years old when the story starts and she asks Santa for a Daddy for Christmas. And guess what – she gets her wish. It’s a long uphill struggle before her Mummy and Daddy finally get back together but love conquers all in the end.
So do you agree with me that Christmas is about family get togethers and not money? Or do you think Christmas is too commercialised these days? Would you like to fly away from it all and enjoy a holiday somewhere different? Email me your answers here and you could win a copy of my latest book – The Twelve-Month Marriage Deal. The perfect Christmas present to yourself!
Happy Christmas everyone!
Margaret
A name will be drawn at random on Nov 30 and the winner allowed to select a paperback from any of the author’s novels, including: TAINTED HERO (receiver of six 5 star reviews), FORGOTTEN CHILDREN (nominated best romantic suspense of 2008 by two sites), or the new release BLIND CONSENT. To apply, go to the Contest page at Davisstories.com and follow the instructions.
75 Books & Counting Contest
Margaret Mayo
Since I’ve reached that magical figure of 75 – who can tell me what my very first book was called? It was published way back in 1976.
The first three names picked out of the hat will win a book from my backlist, and I would be interested to hear how you think it compares to my present day books. There’s no denying that they have changed over the years.
To enter visit Margaret’s site: http://www.margaret-mayo.com
Hi! Thank you We Write Romance for letting me visit. My name is Teryl Cartwright and my book is called A Sensible Match which is a Regency romance about the sometimes disastrous and sometimes wonderful results of matchmaking. Abby and Edwin, my fantastic and witty combatants, fight each other, their meddling families and fate itself. The big question for the reluctantly thrown together couple is simply this–can you choose whom to love?
Matchmaking is relevant today—not because of those annoying websites, but because we pick and choose everything from our schools to churches to home address. The internet has even given us freedom to choose relationships without the limits of geography, age or background. You just can’t get away from all the matchmaking we have around us! So I guess I wanted to write about matchmaking because it has a lot to do with the idea of whether we choose our destiny or it chooses us.
Why my enormous interest in matchmaking? I had it done to me (and it failed) until my husband and I decided to see why we were so “perfect for each other”. Some other neat facts about me—I have a horse which I snuck into the story, my favorite authors, Georgette Heyer and M.C. Beaton, were also “included” in this romance along with some inside jokes about being a pastor’s wife (which I know well).
I have several writing samples Read more… »
