Posts Tagged "Ferguson and Madeleine"

• Release Day = Graduation + First Day of School

  Blog

  I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it. Heiress Without a Cause has been quietly available on Barnes and Noble all last week, but today is the official launch. It’s like the first day of school, my birthday (before the stupid terrorists ruined it forever), and graduation all rolled into one.

  In many ways, it’s like a graduation — the culmination of a lot of work over several years, ending in one lovely day full of celebrating and laughter and merriment. Some of my friends are taking me out tonight, which will be a great way to end the day, and I’ve gotten some wonderful emails and tweets and comments from all over the world. So today is truly a day to celebrate and reflect on everything that’s happened over the last few years (preferably with some champagne and possibly a mani/pedi).

  But in other ways, it’s more like the first day of school. Will the other kids (readers) like me? Am I wearing the right clothes? Am I smart enough to handle the work? What’s that smell in the cafeteria? (I’ve been shamefully neglecting my kitchen this weekend…). While all the work of getting my book out in the world has culminated in this, the next phase of work — connecting with readers, writing to deadlines, mastering the art of juggling writing and promo — is just beginning.

  Still, it’s an exciting day, and I’m going to enjoy it. Thank you for celebrating with me, and I’m so glad you’re here as I kick off the next phase. If you want to stay updated when the book launches everywhere, or if you want to be invited to signings/events/launch parties, please sign up for my mailing list.

  And really, if my outfit is a wreck, promise you’ll tell me?

  
  Posted on 23 January 2012 * 2 Comments
  Tags: Awesomely Ridiculous * Ferguson and Madeleine * Real Life * Thrilling * Writing Life *

• HEIRESS WITHOUT A CAUSE Selected as a Nook First Pick

  News

  I’ve kept my lips zipped about my latest news for awhile, but it’s time to share — my debut novel, HEIRESS WITHOUT A CAUSE, was chosen as a Nook First pick! The people over at Barnes and Noble want to get my book out to their readers, and I am thrilled to reach the awesomely ravenous Nook romance community.

  HEIRESS will be available exclusively on the Nook for one month after its release. If you have a Nook, you can read HEIRESS as soon as it launches, on January 23, 2012 (cue champagne and fireworks). If you don’t have a Nook and can’t wait for some fun, lovely drama between a spinster-slash-actress and the duke who loves her, you can download the free Nook app for iPhone, iPad, Android, or PC/Mac. HEIRESS will release everywhere else, including in paperback, on February 23, 2012.

  Happy reading! I can’t wait to share Madeleine and Ferguson with you.

  
  Posted on 5 January 2012 * Add a Comment
  Tags: Ferguson and Madeleine * Lucky * Thrilling *

• Coming in January – My First Two Books!

  News

  I am utterly thrilled to announce that I am publishing my first two books on January 26, 2012! Heiress Without a Cause and Scotsmen Prefer Blondes are the first two books in my Muses of Mayfair series, featuring a secret club for ladies with scandalous artistic ambitions. Heiress was a 2011 Golden Heart finalist in the Regency category, and Scotsmen won the Golden Heart in 2009. You can read more about both books below. Pray, tell me more! →

  
  Posted on 2 November 2011 * 4 Comments
  Tags: Ferguson and Madeleine * Real Life * Thrilling * Upcoming Books * Writing Career *

• NaNoWriMo = NoNoNoNo

  Blog

  Actually, NaNoWriMo is going okay, provided that you define success in terms of what you’ve learned rather than what you’ve produced. I’ve blogged all about it on the Ruby Slippered Sister blog (the group blog for my fellow Golden Heart finalists).

  Pray, tell me more! →

  
  Posted on 9 November 2009 * Add a Comment
  Tags: Ferguson and Madeleine * Productivity * Scenes from the Interweb * Writing Life *

• In Which Reality Has Fully Returned

  Blog

  So, as you may be able to guess from the fact that my last true blog post was over two months ago, it was perhaps a bit premature of me to claim that reality was coming back ‘slowly.’ In fact, I have essentially been beaten over the head with a big fat stick of reality ever since Nationals. I’ve switched apartments, attended two out-of-town weddings, planned an 800-person conference for the cursed day job, and tried desperately to maintain the eight hours of sleep a night that I need to feel like a functional human being.

  But, the biggest focus has been on getting back into my writing. I adore the characters that I am currently working with (Madeleine and Ferguson, tentatively titled ONE NIGHT TO SCANDAL). But perhaps because I adore them so much, I feel honor-bound to write them the best book possible; and so while my first book was much more of a seat-of-the-pants ordeal, I’m attempting to be more of a plotter with this book. I started out without a strong roadmap and wrote around 40,000 words, but over the past couple of weeks I’ve taken a step back, outlined what I had, and brainstormed virtually every angle of what will come in the last half of the book. This will of course necessitate rewrites of what I already have, but since it was a first draft, that’s to be expected.

  Allow me to embrace my inner technology dork (while I may be a Regency writer, I have a fascination with shiny electronics) and recommend Scrivener if you are a writer using a Mac. I downloaded it a week or two ago, and it has revolutionized my writing process. It has this cool corkboard feature that you can use to essentially write out brief synopses of every scene, categorize them by whether they’re done, partially drafted, or not written, and then move the ‘index cards’ around if you want to reshuffle the order of scenes. Best of all, moving the index card on the corkboard automatically moves the actual written scene to the right place in the manuscript. Score! For me, this is huge — since I can visualize the progress I’ve made, the balance of scenes in the female POV vs. the male POV, and what’s left to accomplish, I have a much clearer understanding of where I will take this work.

  Okay, technology dork moment over. The gist of this post is that I’m back in the game, looking forward to finishing the first draft of Madeleine and Ferguson by the end of November, and hoping to get back into the blogosphere just a bit more than I have been. If you are anyone other than my mother and you’re still reading, thank you! (and Mom, you’re of course always welcome

  [also, for the purposes of those ridiculous FTC regulations around recommendations on blogs - I bought and paid for Scrivener myself, so this is an unbiased review]

  
  Posted on 7 October 2009 * Add a Comment
  Tags: Ferguson and Madeleine * Recommendations * Writing Life * Writing Process *