Musing on Writing

An Inspirational Siren

2012-01-23T16:11:00.000-06:00

A fun note about the small world created by the internet-- In my interview with USA Today columnist Joyce Lamb, I mentioned that child star Aria Tesolin was one of my inspirations for LURE OF SONG AND MAGIC. Shortly thereafter I received a message from Aria's office that she's just released an EP of love songs. We've been exchanging emails and Twitter messages about our simultaneous releases.

Small Town Girl

2012-01-10T15:19:00.000-06:00

Just popping in to announce that my digital reissue of SMALL TOWN GIRL was put on sale at Book View Cafe today. The book is available without DRM so you can load it to all your Nook or Kindle devices and your computer. I'm still blogging all over the internet and giving away copies of LURE OF SONG AND MAGIC, so if you're into print books, hit that blog tour schedule link above and come join me!

Book Covers

2012-01-02T14:19:00.000-06:00

In hunting images for my American historicals, I ran into difficulty finding appropriate costume. Since I enjoy the history more than bare chests--sorry, but I'm jaded--I was disappointed not to be able to do the covers my way. But my cover guru (Pati Nagle at Mandala) helped me put these silhouettes together for the Paper series. I just discovered that the photographer is Alan Poulson http://

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-19T14:24:00.000-06:00

Hope everyone is enjoying gift wrapping, carol singing, and yummy cookies and that you all are enjoying health, happiness, and family over the holiday season. I've really not meant to neglect my poor blog but I've been writing a dozen blogs for other people for my January release of LURE OF SONG AND MAGIC, while fighting Facebook in my effort to regain some control over it. The blogs are

Christmas Present

2011-12-05T11:06:00.000-06:00

RegencyReads.com/BelgraveHouse.com has just released four of my Christmas novellas in e-book format. These were previously published in anthologies with other Signet Regency authors and have never been compiled in one book before. Even if you're not interested in Christmas stories, you should take a look at this website if you're interested in Regency stories. They have a wonderful collection of

Frustration and Tediosity

2011-11-29T17:49:00.000-06:00

I am a creative word person, right? That's my comfort zone, zinging words out into the world. I used to do it via Bic pen and a Walmart college-ruled notebook which I eventually typed up on an old Underwood electric with a wonky S key. Even then, I had problems with technology, I guess. I actually LIKE technology. Word processing was worth worshiping, except the ghosts in the computer kept

2011-11-13T15:57:00.000-06:00

While I'm trying to crawl out of my Facebook crash, I thought I'd come over here and see if I can destroy the blog while I'm at it. (You really have no idea what I've been doing behind the scenes at http://www.bookviewcafe.com/ where I've been trying to add my ebooks to the new Wordpress bookstore! But keep an eye out for their new bookstore and see how many errors I made.) So I'm experimenting

Facebook fiasco

2011-11-07T07:47:00.000-06:00

In the shadow of approaching Mercury retrograde, I have managed to merge my Facebook Page and Profile while eliminating all the links to it as well as my links to everyone else. I may have to hire someone to dig me out of this hole! And I'd just so neatly attached the Networked Blog gadget, too. I guess I should have stopped while I was ahead. But if I seem to be missing in action, really, I'm

Networked Blogs

2011-10-29T15:41:00.000-05:00

In my constant attempt to destroy the internet, I have installed a gadget called Networked Blogs that's supposed to connect my blog to Facebook--which it used to do without that ugly gadget over there on the side. This is a test to see which blows up first, my blog or my facebook page!

Paranormal Romance for $0.99!

2011-10-28T06:55:00.001-05:00

Sourcebooks is running a 99 cent special on their paranormal romances, including my Merely Magic, so now's your chance to run over and get a copy of the first book of the Magic series. (And refresh your memories for the release of my first book on the Malcolm/Ives descendants--LURE OF SONG AND MAGIC in January!) They'll also have books by Linda Wisdom, Stephanie Rowe, Lydia Dare, Terry Spear,

Nobody's Angel

2011-10-25T14:43:00.002-05:00

I know, I know, I'm malingering again. I really need a thirty-hour day. I'm just back from the Novelists Inc conference in St Pete Beach and while I had a fabulous time, my head is buzzing with all the things I should be doing. But no one mentioned where I was supposed to steal the time. On top of that, I'm fighting with a new laptop with new programs and none of my passwords or email addresses

Michael's Book

2011-09-22T10:24:00.000-05:00

For years readers have been asking me for Michael O'Toole's book, the sequel to The Marquess (e-book pictured here at Regency Reads) Since I'm in the process of working through boxes of old files to recycle, I hunted down the dead tree manuscript of The English Heiress, the title I sold the book under. I don't think this is the original version I sold, but it roughly matches the ancient Word

Moonlight and Memories

2011-09-08T16:47:00.000-05:00

Moonlight and Memories is a special book written after my first trip to New Orleans. I fell in love with the city, the culture, and the history, and since the Battle of 1812 had always fascinated me, I dug into the research with great eagerness. But of course, the book is a romance, so it's about two strong characters who have suffered humiliation, rejection, and abuse but come through as better

Shelter From the Storm

2011-08-25T14:57:00.000-05:00

Shelter From the Storm is the latest of my backlist titles to go up as an e-book! The Kim Killion artwork is a decided leap forward from the original which just showed the mansion and a lot of improbable flowers. I hadn't realized until I went hunting for the Amazon link that there were so many books with this title! This book came out in 1993 but it's difficult to tell if it predates many of

Experimental Brainstorming

2011-08-09T08:23:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, I've been writing historicals for almost thirty years. I miss the days of "anything goes" but understand the market has become so huge now that we have to be far more organized in our approach to find readers. Unfortunately, the result is that I'm feeling claustrophobic with all the limitations crushing my weird imagination. I could self-publish but I'd rather continue

Craft Guru Continued

2011-08-06T14:28:00.000-05:00

Sorry, lost track of what number guru session I'm on. It's a lazy hazy August day and if I could tolerate the humidity, I'd take a nap in the hammock. Instead, I'm amusing myself at the computer and realized I needed to check in here. Here's another of the dreadfully bloated sentences that used to appear in my old historicals: