Ooops!...Contest Winner

So I'm just slightly behind...I was supposed to announce the winner Friday, and it's Monday. Ooops!

Last week's contest winner, receiving an e-copy of Donna Hatch's debut novel, The Stranger She Married, is...

Linda Banche

Congratulations, Linda! E-mail me at Tiffany@TiffanyJames.net and I will get you your copy of The Stranger She Married.

A huge thank you to Donna Hatch for joining us last week, and thanks to all of you who commented.

All manner of craziness has broken out at my house so I won't be blogging this week. I need to corral the chaos...and I'm quite sure it's going to take a good part of the week! Thanks for bearing with me. Hope to see you all back next week when I feature Seduced in Seoul author Helen Hardt.

Wednesday's Word Wizard: Donna Hatch!

Current Read: The Stranger She Married by Donna Hatch





Please welcome the lovely Donna Hatch, today's Word Wizard! Donna's debut novel, The Stranger She Married is now available from The Wild Rose Press.



Tell us about your release, The Stranger She Married.

Okay, here's my "elevator pitch"Book 1 of the Rogue Hearts Series: Torn between a disfigured war hero with the heart of a poet, and a handsome libertine who may not be all he seems, impoverished Alicia must marry by the end of the month. Despite a murder threat looming over her, learning to love the stranger she married may pose the greatest danger of all … to her heart.

The cover is gorgeous! Can you tell us a little about how covers come into being? Do you have input into the process?

Most publishers don't let the authors have any input, but I was lucky -- mine does. I filled out a questionnaire with character descriptions and a concept of what I'd pictured. The finished result was unlike anything I'd imagined, and my book's hero looks nothing like the cover, but they got the heroine spot-on right down to the eye color. And I do like it, too -- especially the castle in the background.

What are you working on now?

I'm finalizing the edits on book 2 of the Rogue Heart's Series which is called "The Guise of a Gentleman." The plan is to have it released in May or June 2009. Each book is a stand-alone book, about a different brother of the Amesbury family, and the family members wander in and out of each other's books.


I love to get updated on characters from other stories! You have a posse of kiddos, how do you find time to write? How do you balance family with writing?

Yes, with 6 children, making time to write is very challenging. I do much of my writing at night after they are in bed, or during nap time, but when I'm on a roll, I write instead of unimportant things like sleep and fix dinner. I haven't dusted since last Christmas and I gave up scrap booking. This year, my youngest child just started kindergarten, so now I can write after they all leave for school. I also work in an office part time every afternoon, so that really cuts into my writing but I'm very focused, (or obsessed) so I keep at it at odd times of the day. And night.

I think you have to be obsessed in this business. :0) What is the coolest thing about being an author?

A huge rush came when I got my contract and I was giddy about it for months. But I have to say that it was nothing compared to the day my book came out and I saw it on the home page of my publisher. The euphoria was a surreal experience. The giddiness is still with me and I've noticed people inching away from me when my grin gets a bit too happy. I guess I scare people. And now I do it without even opening my mouth.

The mark of a true author - scaring those around us without even opening our mouths! What has surprised you about being a published author?

How excited my friends and family were for me. I knew they'd be supportive, but I had no idea how they'd rally around me and help me promote it.

What do you like to do when you aren't writing?

I love to read more than almost anything else. And I love music; I sing, play the harp, and am the choir director for church. I also like to swim, water ski, snow ski, and dance. I'm totally uncoordinated, so I don't play any team sports and sports enthusiasts worldwide thank me for it. And, sappy as it sounds, I love to spend time with my husband; talking, walking, playing racquetball, or just cuddling.

A random question: This has turned into the theme for October...Do you celebrate Halloween? If so, what's your favorite costume?

My children and I love Halloween. We decorate the house and take the kids trick or treating around the neighborhood. I was never cool enough to be anything scary as a kid, I always went for the pretty costumes like fairies and princesses. Lately, I've been recyling a Maid Marian costume and my husband dresses as Robin Hood. I have yet to find an adequate Sherwood Forest, though.

Donna is generously offering an e-copy of The Stranger She Married in a contest. Same rules as always - leave us a comment and you're entered into the random drawing. The winner will be announced Friday!

Want your very own copy of The Stranger She Married? Order on line at http://www.thewildrosepress.com/. Look for The Stranger She Married on the historicals page or for a direct link click here. You can download it onto your computer where you can print it if you wish, or you can download it into your Palm Pilot, Sony E-Reader, or Amazon's Kindle. It's only $6.00. It will also be in paper back in April for $14.00.

Check out Donna's website here. There's a "buy it now" link on her website as well as a book trailer for The Stranger She Married. You can also visit her on MySpace...that's how we met!

Happy Wednesday!

Contest Winner and Friday Fiction

Current Read: Marry Christmas by Jane Goodger


A huge thank you to Jane for joining us this week, and thanks to everyone who joined in our conversation!

And now, for a contest winner...

Congratulations...

Tena

Tena, please e-mail Jane at janegoodger@gmail.com with your snail mail information and she'll get Marry Christmas headed your way! Those of you who'd love to have a copy of Marry Christmas but didn't win today, just click here to purchase your very own copy from Amazon.com.

And now, some Friday fiction:

Just the Sexiest Man Alive is contemporary romance author Julie James' debut novel, and it's creating lots of buzz! Clicke here to read an excerpt.

Check out author Tracy MacNish and an excerpt from her historical romance Veiled Promises here.

If you like romantic suspense, click here for a link to No Escape from author Shannon K. Butcher.

Happy reading! Have a great weekend everyone! I'm off to tour a southern Colorado winery and harvest grapes at a small Colorado vineyard. It's tough, I know. :0) But it's all in the name of research for my next manuscript. I'll let you know how it went next week!

Author Feature: Jane Goodger

Current Read: Marry Christmas by Jane Goodger

A Christmas wedding to the Duke of Bellingham. Any other socialite in Newport, Rhode Island, would be overjoyed at the prospect, but Elizabeth Cummings finds her mother’s announcement as appealing as a prison sentence. Elizabeth has not the slightest desire to meet Randall Blackmore, let alone be bartered for an English title. Her heart belongs to another, and the duke’s prestige, arrogance, and rugged charm will make no difference to her plans of elopement.

Against his expectations and desires, Randall Blackmore has inherited a dukedom and a vast estate that only marriage to an heiress can save. Selling his title to the highest bidder is a wretched obligation, but to Randall’s surprise his intended bride is pretty, courageous, delightfully impertinent—and completely uninterested in becoming a Duchess. Yet suddenly, no other woman will do, and a marriage in name only will never be enough for a husband determined to win his wife in body, heart, and soul…

Please give a warm welcome to today's Word Wizard, author Jane Goodger!

Thanks for joining us today Jane. Tell us about your latest project, Marry Christmas. Love that title, by the way. :0)

I’ve had the idea for Marry Christmas brewing for quite a while. I was so fascinated by Consuelo Vanderbilt’s life. At 18, she was forced to marry the Duke of Marlborough even though she was in love with another man. She was an heiress and he was an English peer in desperate need of cash. The Duke was, in modern lingo, a real tool---at least according to Consuelo Vanderbilt’s biography. He once took a valuable item, hid it, then called the servants in to demand to know who stole it. The poor maids were in tears until he, laughing, produced the item. Nice guy. I remember feeling sorry for poor Consuelo and wishing she’d had a happy ending (she did end up divorcing the duke and remarrying later in life). I decided I would create my own heroine, fashioned after Consuelo, but give her a much nicer duke. My heroine still has a difficult time, for she is forced to marry a man she doesn’t know or love, while she is in love with another man. But my heroine, Elizabeth, has a much happier ending with her duke, Randall Blackmore.

Sounds intriguing! I love when real life events inspire fictional ones. This is your first historical novel in seven years. Was it difficult to return to that arena? What did you find most challenging? What was surprisingly easy, if anything?

I was so excited when my editor asked me to write an historical instead of another contemporary. I only had three months to do it, and with three kids and teaching, it was a real challenge. But the book wrote itself. It was one of the most amazing writing experiences I’ve ever had. It was almost as if I were reading Marry Christmas instead of writing it, that’s how wonderful the experience was. I missed writing historicals; it’s really where my heart is. I’m certainly not discounting writing contemporaries again (I have a couple things brewing), but I find historicals easier and more fun to write. I’m a real history junkie and love the research aspect.

Three months, whew! I do love it when things just flow. If a group of people or a book club were discussing Marry Christmas what do you think would be the topic of discussion?

I think they would discuss whether or not they would have acted as Elizabeth did. Elizabeth was put in an incredibly difficult position, something as a writer I was very cognizant of. I think, when reading a book, it is easy to get angry with a character. Why doesn’t she fall in love with Rand the way I am? Well, because Elizabeth doesn’t know Rand as well as the reader does. Of course the reader thinks my hero is wonderful. But from Elizabeth’s perspective, he was a fortune hunter interested only in her money. Also, Elizabeth is one of my youngest heroines, so I have her acting at times like a nineteen year old. She clings to her lost love and to the idea of choosing her own husband. I kept thinking, ‘how would I feel?’ if I were nineteen. Elizabeth is a complicated and realistic character, and in the end, she’s the perfect heroine for Randall..

Interesting! It's easy as a reader to forget that we know more than the characters do. I think it's a testament to your writing savvy that you were able to step back into the mind of a nineteen year old. I struggle with that - which is why I write heroines closer to my age! :0) Is there a particular character that you've written over the years to whom you really related personally?

That would have to be Maggie from When There Is Hope. She is an eternal optimist, and I am definitely a cup-half-full person. Even in the face of horrible odds, she tries to find something, anything to cling to. She believed that, when there is hope, anything is possible. I loved Maggie!

I'm adding When There Is Hope to my to-be-read list! What are you working on now?

I’m working on the sequel to Marry Christmas. It’s Margaret (Maggie) and Lord Hollings’ story. I’ve already gotten many emails wondering when that book will be coming out and if it features Maggie (I obviously love that name!). The book is currently untitled, but it will be released for Christmas next year.

How exciting! I know I'll be waiting anxiously...I've just started Marry Christmas and can't hardly put it down to feed my children! :0) Would you tell us something about yourself, unrelated to writing? Hobbies? Quirks?

It’s a major, major effort for me to clean my house. Don’t get me wrong, I love a clean house, I just wish someone else would do it all for me. I always keep it clean enough so if my mother calls to say she’s coming to visit, I can make it look just fine in the thirty minutes it takes her to get to my house. I simply make sure she doesn’t look inside my closets or my oven (here’s a little hint, ladies, you can stuff an oven full of dirty dishes much faster than you can wash ‘em. Just remember they’re there before you turn the oven on.).

Mmm, there's nothing better than a clean & decluttered house...too bad I don't live in one! And here's your random question - although I'm reluctant to end this interview, it's been so much fun! *Sigh* All good things must come to an end, I guess. Your random question continues our theme this month: Do you celebrate Halloween? If so, what is your favorite thing about it? Costume? Ritual?

I have three little kids, so I LOVE Halloween. When I was a kid, there was a big scare about razor blades in apples and drugs in candy. So Halloween was cancelled. Instead, our community put on Halloween parties. Big snooze. Nothing beats going out in the dark in a cool costume and getting a bag full of candy. I make sure my kids walk until they can’t carry their bags anymore wearing the best costumes we can think of. I definitely am living vicariously through them. I wish I could freeze time so they would stay little and would always go out trick-or-treating.

I remember that scare - our Halloween was cancelled also. And I agree, parties just don't compare to trick-or-treating! Jane, thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule to hang out with us!

Jane has graciously agreed to give away one copy of Marry Christmas. Just post a comment about the interview or ask a question, and you'll be entered into the random drawing. Good luck!

Can't wait for the contest to end on Friday? Just click here to purchase your very own copy of Marry Christmas. Also be sure to visit Jane's website: http://www.janegoodger.com/. You can learn more about Jane's historicals and her contemporary writing under the name Jane Blackwell.

Happy Wednesday!

"Movie Magic"...Book Trailers

Current Read: The Great Scot by Donna Kauffman


Here's some movie magic for all of you Armchair Heroines on this magnificent Monday!

This is for Night Huntress by Yasmine Galenorn. I've never read any of her books, but I've added her to my list! Night Huntress is book 5 in the Otherworld (AKA Sisters of the Moon) series, and it sounds like they need to be read in order. Let me know what you think, and if you've read anything from Ms. Galenorn...







This trailer is for Ghost Moon by Rebecca York, another author I'm adding to my list. I love this trailer!