trueromance

BTRB, SueG interviews Reader, Karen Hillis!

BTRB: So Karen, what did you first think when you won the chance to blog?
Answer: What on earth would I talk about?

BTRB: What got you started reading romance?
Answer: Fabio on the cover of Johanna Lindsey’s “Defy Not the Heart.” I was visiting my parents and Mom had several romance novels in the bedroom I was using. I recognized his picture, saw it was historical (I have always loved history, especially biographies), and decided I had nothing to lose by reading it except a bit of time. But I loved it and I’ve been an avid romance reader and supporter ever since!

BTRB: Name a few of your favorite authors?
Answer: (in no particular order) Johanna Lindsey, Amanda Quick/Jayne Castle/Jayne Anne Krentz, Sandra Hill, J. D. Robb, Eloisa James, Janet Chapman, Leigh Greenwood, Lorraine Heath, Sabrina Jeffries, Stephanie Laurens, Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Kerrelyn Sparks, Lynsay Sands, Nina Bangs, Lisa Kleypas, Lori Foster - okay, I’ll stop now but there are actually more.

Question: Are there any genres or plots you don’t read & why?
Answer: I read pretty much all genres as long as the writing is good and I like the protagonists. I don’t read a book if either the hero or the heroine drives me nuts. In fact, I just started a new book and if the heroine doesn’t shape up pretty soon, I may not finish it (though I have loved the author’s books in the past, including the precursors in this series). I know the heroine’s apparently had a rough background but she’s pretty darned annoying at this point and I cannot imagine what a hero would see in her.

I do steer clear of certain plots, though. I dislike mean and cruel people and I cannot read a novel set in Elizabethan times if it takes place at court. There just seem to be nothing but horrible intrigues and I can’t stand it. I read for relaxation and enjoyment and I can take only so much bad stuff on the way to the happy ending.

I also don’t like books that torture either the hero or the heroine too much. There’s an author whose books I initially liked until I realized that in every one of them the hero was tortured in various ways for various reasons for a very long time. I’m really worried about that author’s husband!

And I’m really tired of the 18-20 year old virgin heroine with the 30-35 year old very experienced man. It creeps me out since she’s frequently young enough to be his daughter. And all of these innocents immediately seem to know exactly what to do in bed to enchant the hero, even though he’s slept with too many women to count. Totally implausible!

Last but not least, I cannot read Harlequin Presents, though I have purchased quite a few for the gorgeous cover models they use (John DeSalvo is a particular favorite). I think they are more of a European sensibility but the heroes are too arrogant (ok, they’re mostly obnoxious), the heroines are too innocent and passive, and the endings seem to suddenly happen. I like my heroes strong and smart and my heroines smart and sassy (like me, I guess).

BTRB: What you think publishers should offer their readers that they don’t now?
Answer: I’m a big fan of sexy guys on the cover of the book and while I don’t mind the female being included, I certainly don’t want her falling out of her clothes (the cover of Lois Greiman’s “Charming the Devil” is an example of showing more of her than I’m interested in seeing). In terms of content, I can always find something good to read so I really don’t have any suggestions. But here are some things publishers are doing that I don’t like:

1. Half covers to show the stepback. Those half covers are hard to hold.

2. Too tall books (Christine Feehan’s “Dark Demon” and “Night Game” were published in this format). Very hard to hold and they take up too much room in my bookcase.

3. Stepback covers that just give reviews of the book. I don’t care about these reviews and it’s a waste of a perfectly good and expensive stepback. Ditto stepbacks with landscapes.

4. Too thin cover stock. A recent book I read was also hard to hold since there wasn’t much substance to the cover. It seemed to be little thicker than the actual pages.

5. Getting the color and/or style of the hero and/or heroine’s hair completely wrong. I just finished a book where the hero was described as having blond hair but the cover illustration showed a man with dark brown hair. Yes, I want a good looking man on the cover but I’d like him to resemble the hero’s description also.

BTRB: How do you decide what you’re going to buy each month?
Answer: I only buy books that I plan to keep “forever” so either the cover has a gorgeous guy or it’s a very favorite series by a VERY favorite author. Money is tight and so is storage so if I only want to read it, I go to the library.

BTRB: How you decide where to shop?
Answer: Generally, wherever I’m closest to when I decide to spend some money. Or if there’s some kind of sale I can take advantage of.

Question for discussion: How much do blogs influence your purchasing decision?
I use blogs to find out what’s coming out and sometimes what is not worth reading (Smart Bitches Trashy Books is especially useful in that regard). I have so many favorite authors (see above for a short list) who are still writing and not enough time so I simply cannot read everything.

Alyssa Day, ATLANTIS REDEEMED, Setting: Atlantis and Yellowstone National Park
Subgenre: Paranormal Romance
Hero: Brennan, an Atlantean warrior who has lived without emotion for more than 2,000 years
Heroine: Tiernan Butler, a human investigative reporter who has the Gift of Truth Telling

One sentence summary:
When 2,000 years of lost emotion hit you all at once—do you fall in love or die?

Scene you like most and would never cut:
When Brennan first re-encounters Tiernan and the curse he has suffered under for so long shatters.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying:
Anything that makes her look, feel, or be helpless. She has a vested interest in bringing the truth to the public and achieving justice for her murdered best friend.

Your hero, is he a boxer or brief kind of guy:
Pure Atlantean silk, baby.

Ancillary character you had the most fun with:
The vampire leader, Devon. He has very interesting goals and the shocking twist at the end almost surprised even me! I’m going to write his book one day.

Your heroine’s favorite hobby:
Walking on the beach, far away from anybody who might be telling lies. Lies hurt her; they feel and sound discordant and screeching against her soul.

Your hero’s favorite hobby:
Can I say it involves Tiernan and nakedness? LOL. He also is having a great time learning to tell jokes now that he has emotion back and can recognize humor.

What you think readers will like best about this book:
The emotion. My editor said this is the most emotional novel I’ve ever written and I think she’s right. Something about Brennan’s almost childlike attempts to cope with 2,000 years’ of lost emotion swamping him all at once; then the way he and Tiernan fight for each other even when they are in so much pain—I admit I cried more than once writing this book.

Reviews: Wow! Everything from “spectacular” and “exemplary” to “a cocktail sauce of awesome.” I’m loving the reviews!

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet:
High priest Alaric. His path is so tortured, and everyone wants to know what happens with him and Quinn. There is a very emotional scene in Atlantis Redeemed between the two of them; Alaric is starting to crack around the edges a little bit.

What’s next:
Christophe’s book is next – and it’s a heist book! In ATLANTIS BETRAYED, out in September, he encounters a famous British cat burglar and boy, do the sparks fly! Then it’s the first of my new urban fantasy series, also for Berkley. I can’t wait!
For the first time ever, I’m stuck for a title for Denal’s upcoming book. If you can think of a wonderful title (must have Atlantis in it), I’ll put you in the acknowledgements for the book.

There must be prizes! One book to 3 random readers commenting on this blog! Please visit me online at http://www.alyssaday.com for excerpts, a free short story, video interviews, and more. Thank you so much!
Hugs,
Alyssa

Lauren Willig writes the acclaimed “Pink Carnation” series for Dutton, and her latest book, “The Betrayal of the Blood Lily” comes out in January ‘10. Cara Elliott (whose real name is Andrea DaRif) debuts her new “Circle of Sin” trilogy in March ’10 with “To Sin With A Scoundrel.”(She also writes historical mystery romance under the pen name Andrea Pickens.)

These best selling authors are teaching a course at Yale U: READING THE HISTORICAL ROMANCE.

What was the genesis of the course; how did you two come up w/the idea and what was/is your goal in teaching the course?
(to read the syllabus click here)

LW: Two Yalie romance writers find themselves next to an open bar…. There is, as there always is, a bit more back-story to it. Over the past few years, I’ve become involved in the burgeoning romance scholarship movement, as a group of academics have fought to build a critical apparatus around the study of popular romance novels, not just as sociological artifacts, but as texts. It’s a movement that’s been spearheaded by Professor Eric Selinger at DePaul and Professor Sarah Frantz at Fayetteville, both of whom were instrumental in putting together the Princeton conference on popular romance last spring. There are dissertations being written on Heyer, on Cruisie, on Roberts, just as there are on E.M. Forster or Hemingway. (At last year’s Popular Culture Association conference, I got to hear papers on the use of the first person in Mary Stewart’s “Nine Coaches Waiting”, the symbolism of food in J.D. Robb, and inversions of status in American-written Regencies. I gave a paper on the uses and abuses of history in historical romance.) It’s an incredibly rich and interesting field, all the more so because it’s been neglected for so long.

Fast forward to last spring, as Cara and I sipped glasses of wine during the intermission of Lady Jane’s Salon, discussing romance scholarship and how we would structure a class if we had the chance. It suddenly occurred to us—why not?

CE: Oh, right, the open bar definitely came into play! The idea for the seminar began with one of those fun, serendipitous moments . . . Lauren and I ran into each other at Lady Jane’s Salon, a monthly romance reading series in downtown New York City, and as fellow Yale grads, we started comparing notes on our experiences there. As we chatted, we starting joking around, saying, “Oh, you know, we should really propose to teach a college seminar on romance novels and how they should be treated as a serious literary genre—the students would probably love it.”

We both laughed . . . and then a simultaneous spark lit in our eyes. “Oh, let’s go for it!” we both said. And so began the process of putting together a formal proposal and week-by-week syllabus of readings and discussion topics. Lauren’s sister Brooke, a junior at Yale, was a fabulous sounding board for ideas and books, and together we polished up a presentation.

After passing the first few hurdles, we were called to New Haven to interview before a group of twenty students and two faculty members. They asked great questions, and I think our enthusiasm for the subject came through loud and clear (neither of us has any trouble talking about books and why we love them!)

In any case, our proposal was accepted, and received the stamp of approval from the English department, so come January, historical romance will “go Ivy League!”

What was it like to interview in front of a panel of students?

LW: There was something a bit surreal about being interviewed in a college dining hall (the smell of baked scrod brought me right back!), but it was an incredibly invigorating experience. It was a large panel of interviewers, about twenty at a guess, composed of both faculty and students, which meant they brought a very wide range of approaches and questions. We got to speak about everything from how one would define the term “romance novel” to the intricacies of English society in the early nineteenth century.

CE: And we brought down the house with a mention of Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan’s website Smart Bitches, Trashy Books! They loved it (humor is very important in our books) I thought the sherry-colored wood paneling was going to pop off the walls. And that’s exactly what we are trying to do—shake up the old perceptions of romance as mere “bodice rippers.”

Was there a question put to you that stands out as something very astute or that may have caused you to think about romance fiction in a way you hadn’t? In other words, were there moments when you were surprised by how folks saw romance in a good light, but perhaps one you’d never considered?

LW: I don’t know if I’d call this the most astute, but the question that left the deepest impression on me was whether we expected to have only women in the course. When I told them that the scholar on the forefront of putting romance on the academic map was, in fact, a man, I could see the entire room take notice. Although it is a small point, it makes our larger point that this is a literary field worthy of general study by interested and intelligent people of either gender. Should guys study romance novels, too? Hell, yes.

CE: That really was an interesting moment. As Lauren says, you could see something click in both the men and women. The question had been asked half in jest, but I think the answer made them think—and in a very good way.

LW: On top of that, I think the focused nature of the class also caught their attention. We tailored the class around the Regency romance—not only because we both write it and men in knee breeches are always a Good Thing—but because it provides a self-contained field through which we can track the development of a genre in a comprehensive way. Our class starts with Jane Austen’s “Northanger Abbey”, moves through Heyer and Woodiwiss, looks at changing attitudes towards sexuality and heroism in a variety of authors over a thirty year time span, going right up through Regency paranormals and chick lit. Some of the tropes and changes we look at are unique to the Regency romance, but many mirror developments in the romance community as a whole. The fact that there are sub-genres within romance, each with its own traditions and trajectory, rather than just a monolith known as “oh, romance novels”, clearly made the students on the panel stop and think.

What strength/s do each of you bring to the course?

CE: I think one of the great things about this collaboration is that Lauren and I bring a pretty unique set of skills to the course. We both have a good undergrad grounding in history, and I have a Masters degree in Graphic Design from Yale while she has a Masters degree in History from Harvard, as well as a Harvard Law degree. So it’s a fun left-brain/right brain sort of thing—and together we make the complete package! Lauren brings a really impressive formal academic experience to share with the students, while my background in art and visual communication adds a different perspective.

But most importantly, we both are really passionate about romance and what we write, and I think that comes through when we discuss it. Our goal in this course is to share our excitement in the creative process, as well as to inspire an appreciation and respect for the romance genre. Hey, it’s time for the world to recognize that smart women write romance—and smart women (and even smarter men) read romance! We hope that we can help spread the word.

LW: Both of us bring a passion for the subject, years of experience as readers of the genre, and a nuts and bolts perspective as practitioners. On top of that, we each have our own unique skills. Back in the day, I pursued a doctorate in English history at that Other School (the Crimson one in Cambridge). The doctorate got away from me, but not before I spent several years scribbling endless dissertation notes, teaching undergrad classes, and generally doing the whole academic thing. One of my various teaching appointments was on the tutorial board of Harvard’s History and Literature department, which seems particularly appropriate for a class like this. As a lapsed historian, I contribute the history side of things and lots of war stories about grading papers, while Cara brings in the more textual, literary approach. It’s worked perfectly as a balance.

Why Yale?

LW: It was a combination of affection, opportunity, and geography. Both Cara and I are devoted Yale grads with lots of warm and fuzzy feelings about our alma mater. I live in New York and Cara in Connecticut, so, for a commute to class, Yale lies nicely in the middle. Not to mention those amazing caramel lattes at Atticus, which I will now get to drink regularly.

CE: And Yale has a wonderful undergraduate program where each semester, the 12 residential colleges sponsor courses that are supposed to be a bit “outside the box” and allow students to work with notable professionals in fields ranging from sports and art to music and literature. (One of the highlights of my student experience was the chance to study the art of the children’s book with Maurice Sendak.)

So we thought that this was the perfect place for the course we wanted to create. It’s incredibly exciting to have this opportunity, and we are really looking forward to it.

What questions would you ask these talented, instructors? Would you entertain taking a course about Reading Romance?
Answer below & you may be one of 5 winners to be randomly chosen to win a copy of Cara or Lauren’s books!

Kate Douglas - known for her sexy Chanku shapeshifters in the popular erotic paranormal series, Wolf Tales, but her newest series from Kensington, The DemonSlayers, takes her out of the realm of erotic shapeshifters and into a world populated by demons, mythological warriors, and the humans brave enough to join them in the ages old battle of good versus evil.
www.katedouglas.com

Tag line: It’s the ultimate battle of good versus evil—the demon’s the good guy, and he’s got just one week to save the world, or all hell breaks loose.

My thanks to Borders Books for giving me this great opportunity to post. This is a really exciting week for me as my very first mass market paranormal, DemonFire, the first in my new DemonSlayers series, is just out. I got to thinking about the dynamics of coming up with a new series, of changing genres, and the process that we, as authors, go through in order to create a story. And ya know what? It’s not nearly as mysterious as it sounds.

I’ve been busy with my Wolf Tales series for Kensington Aphrodisia now since the first book debuted in January 2006, but last year I realized I was ready for something else as well. My agent, Jessica Faust, and I were brainstorming new ideas—

Jessica: Demons are popular. Got any ideas for a demon story? Something big!

Me: Not really. Big? Good versus evil…that’s big. (laughing…what a stupid idea!)

Jessica: I like it! Send me a proposal…

And thus the DemonSlayers series was born. I imagine all books begin, at some point, with the author asking that simple question: What if…? Okay…good versus evil? What if the balance between good and evil were reaching a tipping point—in Evil’s favor? What if demons were streaming into our world unchecked? What if the only one who could stop them was another demon? And what if the one woman with the power to save that good demon’s life didn’t believe in demonkind at all?

Once I began asking myself that blasted “what if” question, I couldn’t stop. Ideas kept popping into my head and before long I knew these characters—Dax, a demon too good for hell, booted out of Abyss and hired by the good folk of Eden to save Earth from demonkind. He’s got a human body—an avatar, of sorts—that’s only good for one week, and all of his demon powers are stored within a tattoo of a serpent that snakes from his thigh to his heart. Unfortunately, he’s cursed by demonfire as he enters Earth’s dimension, and the curse turns his powers against him.

Then there’s Eddy Marks, a pragmatic newspaper reporter. She believes in things she can see and feel and understand, but the naked man she finds injured and bleeding—and impossibly under attack by a garden gnome wielding a pitchfork in her potting shed—knocks all her preconceptions out the window. Her biggest surprise comes when she learns she has the power to control Dax’s horrible demon curse.

Eddy’s got a foster dog—Bumper—a cross between a pit bull and a standard poodle, described as looking like a pit bull in a Shirley Temple wig, and Dax has Willow, a tiny will o’ the wisp who feeds him energy and helps him understand his human body. There’s Ed Marks, Eddy’s dad, who believes in all things paranormal, including Lemurians, the mythological warriors who supposedly live deep within the extinct volcano of Mt. Shasta that looms over the town of Evergreen.

So, what if Lemuria really exists? It must, because Alton of Artigos, the six foot, eight inch Lemurian warrior is every bit as real to me as either Dax or Eddy…or Bumper or Willow or Ed Marks. This is a good thing, because it takes every single one of them to battle the demons descending on the tiny town of Evergreen.

As Dax’s week flies by at breakneck speed, as he battles the demon curse tattooed across his torso and Eddy fights falling in love with a man with the lifespan of a moth, the demon king grows stronger and the threat to all mankind more ominous. The battle of good versus evil reaches an unimaginable climax on the slopes of Mount Shasta, but it’s a wild ride to the finish with unexpected results.

What’s next for the DemonSlayers? Book 2, HellFire, will be out in September 2010, when the Lemurian warrior, Alton of Artigos, teams up with Eddy’s best friend Ginny Jones to fight a new demon invasion near the town of Sedona, Arizona. In the ultimate battle of good versus evil, it often takes the strangest of comrades—and lovers—to even the odds.

For a first chapter excerpt of DemonFire (and one of HellFire!) go to www.kensingtonbooks.com/demonslayers.

And let me know, because I really am curious, if you’ve followed authors who’ve switched genres. A lot of us are doing it—for me, the change isn’t so drastic as I’m merely going from erotic paranormal to sexy paranormal, but what about the BIG switches—from contemporary to historical, for instance, or contemporary to paranormal? And what about those authors who write across the spectrum? Lately it seems that we’re just all over the board. I love reading old authors in new genres, but what about you?

GIVEAWAY: I’ll be giving away five copies of DemonFire, or if the winner already has the book, they can exchange it for a copy of one of my Wolf Tales or Sexy Beast books.

Hi my name is Rosemary Potter and I own an independent Romance Bookstore, Rosemary’s Romance Books, in Brisbane, Australia. We stock and sell only new Romance Books and we are really proud of our range and dedication to stocking the best that romantic fiction has to offer. Even so it was still a surprise and honor to win the Steffi Walker Bookseller of the Year award in 2009.

To be honest I can’t remember the exact date that that I first discovered that I loved Romance books, but I do remember the first book that got me hooked! The book was Green Darkness by Anya Seton and it was and still is one of the most romantic and enthralling books that I have ever read. I actually made the mistake of loaning the book to a friend and never got it back. So this led me to track down another copy. The only problem was, I didn’t own a fantastic well stocked bookstore at that time and the replacement copy set me back US$185. Still it was money well spent and it has pride of place on the “touch and you die” shelf of my bookcase. Anyway I never imagined then that it would inspire me to own my very own romance bookstore.

I am a great fan of Audio Books as I have quite a lengthy commute from home to work. I find that the majority of Audio that I listen to is Crime and Suspense and any new releases that release as a hardcover. For some reason there isn’t a lot of paranormal fiction available on audio which is a shame. I am currently listening to No Mercy by Lori Armstrong, I have been torturing one of my staff members with tidbits of the plot which will eventually force her to buy it. Other Audio titles that have featured this month include Fired Up by Jayne Ann Krentz, A Matter of Class by Mary Balogh, Trial by Fire by J.A. Jance and Sizzle by Julie Garwood.

Having the bookstore, my staff and I are lucky to receive Advanced Reading Copies from some of the best in the romantic genre. I am really excited about the March release of Demonfire, a new paranormal series by Kate Douglas, and the April release of His Darkest Hunger by Juliana Stone which is a great paranormal shifter series in the vein of Lora Leigh’s breeds and I haven’t stopped talking about a historical novel called Pieces of Sky by Kaki Warner which was a January release.

This month my must read list include Bitter Night (Bk#1) Diana Pharaoh Francis, Blood Cross (Bk#2) Faith Hunter, Tempest Rising (Bk #1) Nicole Peeler, Blood Kin (Bk #3) Maria Lima, Beyond the Night (Bk #1) Joss Ware, Three Days to Dead (Bk#1) Kelly Meding, Death’s Mistress (Bk #2) Karen Chance, and The Secret of Everything by Barbara O’Neal.

I must add that I absolutely LOVED the Jayne Ann Krentz reissue, Starfire. In fact I loved it so much I jumped online to see if I the next two books were being reissued. To my horror I found that they weren’t currently available so in my desire to continue the series, I once again forked out an exorbitant amount of money for a used copy of Bk#2 Crystal Flame and was happy to track down and audio copy of Bk #3 Shields Lady.
I am going away on holiday in March and the short list of books that will be in my suitcase are, Flirt and Divine Misdemeanors by Laurell K. Hamilton, The Endless Forest by Sara Donati and Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb. The list is sure to get longer and the suitcase heavier before I leave but we all have our vices and this is mine.

“Never Be Without a Book to Read”
Rosemary
Rosemary’s Romance Books
www.rosemarysromancebooks.com

Question: As an avid fan of romance books do you appreciate the work and information that authors put into their websites, and is it frustrating when they aren’t kept up to date?

How To Buy A Novel From A New Romance Author
(funny enough, it’s the same way a literary agent decides to sign a new romance writer client!)
By Kristin Nelson www.nelsonagency.com

Last week I was chatting with my sister by phone. She’s an avid romance reader but for some reason, she always gravitates for her tried and true favorite authors. This is something I always chastise her about! Sure, it’s nice to support your favorites but how are you going to discover a new writer who might quickly become part of your tried and true list if you don’t buy a novel from someone new?
Sound like you? Well, don’t worry, I won’t chastise you but I am going to encourage you to take a chance and buy a new romance author this week.
But how to go about it? After all, the economy is tight. Who wants to waste money on buying a new author only to discover about a third of the way in that this author simply isn’t your cup of tea. Ack. You could have bought a Starbucks Latte instead and trust me, I sympathize with you. I’ve read any number of novels by published romance authors that I couldn’t finish and wished I had saved my money.
Well, the process of discovering a new author and having a pretty good idea of whether you’ll like the rest of the novel is pretty much the same process that I use as an agent when I’m reading our submission pile and looking to sign a new author.
The test is in a strong beginning. If the opening pages capture you, chances are good it’s a novel you won’t end up putting down and regret buying.
And I’m going to share with you the opening pages of some of my debut romance authors who have newly published in the last four years. What’s even better? These are the opening pages from their unpublished manuscripts before the novels were published. That’s almost never shared!
Don’t forget, Borders Buy 4 Get the 5th FREE promo is going on now so that will help you budget & try these new authors!

Let’s start with newish author Sherry Thomas. Her historical romance debut PRIVATE ARRANGMENTS , came to me on submission under the title Schemes of Love. Here is the opening:
London
May, 1893
Only one kind of marriage ever bore the haut ton’s stamp of approval.
Happy marriages were considered vulgar, as matrimonial felicity rarely kept longer than a well-boiled pudding. Unhappy marriages were, of course, even more vulgar, on a par with Frau Von Teese’s special contraption that spanked forty bottoms at once: unspeakable, for half of the ton having experienced it firsthand.
No, the only kind of marriage that held up to life’s vicissitudes was the courteous marriage. And it was widely recognized that Lord and Lady Tremaine had the most courteous marriage of them all.
In the ten years since their wedding, neither of them had ever uttered an unkind word about the other, not to parents, siblings, bosom friends, or strangers. Moreover, as their servants could attest, they never had spats, big or small, never embarrassed each other, never, in fact, disagreed on anything at all.
However, every year, some cheeky debutante fresh from the schoolroom would point out–as if it wasn’t common knowledge–that Lord and Lady Tremaine lived on separate continents, and had not been seen together since the day after their wedding.
Her elders would shake their heads. Foolish young girl. Wait till she heard about her beau’s piece on the side. Or fell out of love with the man she married. Then she’d understand what a wonderful arrangement the Tremaines had: civility, distance, and freedom from the very beginning, unencumbered by tiresome emotions. Indeed, it was the most perfect marriage.
Therefore, when Lady Tremaine filed for divorce on grounds of Lord Tremaine’s adultery and desertion, chins collided with dinner plates all over London’s most pedigreed dining rooms. Ten days later, as news circulated of Lord Tremaine arrival on English soil, for the first time in a decade, the same falling jaws dented many an expensive carpet from the heart of Persia.
The story spread like a well-fed gut. It went something tantalizingly like this. A summon came at the Tremaine townhouse on Park Lane. Goodman, Lady Tremaine’s faithful butler, answered the bell. On the other side of the door stood a stranger, one of the most remarkable-looking gentlemen Goodman had ever come across, tall, handsome, powerfully built, an imposing presence.
“Good afternoon, sir,” Goodman began placidly. A representative of the Marchioness of Tremaine, however impressed, neither gawked nor gushed.
He expected to be offered a calling card and a reason for the call. Instead he was given the gentleman’s headgear. Startled, he let go of his hold on the doorknob and took the satin-trimmed top hat. In that instant, the man walked past him into the vestibule. Without a backward glance or an explanation for this act of intrusion, he began pulling off his gloves.
“Sir,” Goodman huffed. “You do not have permission from the lady of the house to enter.”
The man turned around, and shot Goodman a glance that, to the butler’s shame, made him want to curl up and whimper. “Is this not the Tremaine residence?”
“It is, sir.” The reiteration of “sir” escaped Goodman, though he hadn’t intended for it to happen.
“Then kindly inform me, since when does the master of the house require permission from the lady to enter into his own domain?” The man had removed his gloves. He held them together in his right hand, and slapped them quietly against the palm of his left hand, as if he were toying with a riding crop.
Goodman didn’t understand. His employer was the Queen Elizabeth of her time: one mistress and no master. Then the horror dawned. The man before him was the Marquis of Tremaine, her long-absent, good-as-dead husband and heir to the Duke of Fairford.

I have a feeling that you’ll either love this opening and the play of language or it’s not going to be your cup of tea. Sherry has a very strong voice and a beautiful way with words but as you can tell from this opening, the reader has to work just a bit to get all the subtle, dry wit. As an agent, I had just never read a romance novel that had begun in this type of way. I was immediately intrigued and had to read more.

Courtney Milan’s debut PROOF BY SEDUCTION is another great example of a strong opening . Her voice is much more light-hearted. Readers looking for a romp with more complicated characters than the average romance novel will probably be drawn to this opening. If it doesn’t resonate for you, then you probably don’t need to plunk down the cash (which would be much to my dismay!).

Chapter One
London, 1836.
Gareth had lost himself in his naturalist’s journal. The pages were ivory with age and black with rough ink drawings. But in his mind’s eye, the spindly sketches transformed into verdant jungle foliage lit by the scarlet breasts of a family of jungle macaws.
Somewhere, his senses registered the rustle of paper, the play of light and shadow across the pages, and the draft of a door opening. Engrossed as he was in his work, Gareth had no attention to spare for the frivolous details of reality.
That, of course, had never stopped reality.
“Blakely!”
The shout burst through his concentration, puncturing his bubble of scientific enjoyment. Gareth jumped and dropped his pen. Ink spattered all over the chart he’d painstakingly constructed, and he looked up in irritation.
His study reappeared around him with sudden, savage focus. Account books were stacked chaotically along the edge of his desk, and a collection of leather-bound volumes lined the walls. It took Gareth three pounding heartbeats to orient himself to the abrupt appearance of another person. His cousin, Ned, lanky as only a youth just out of adolescence could be, waved a hand in front of Gareth’s face.
Gareth grimaced at the reminder that he was no longer just Gareth.
He was Gareth Carhart, the Marquess of Blakely. And he had responsibilities.
Mr. Edward Carhart was one of them.
“Ned. Why were you not announced?” Gareth blew out an exasperated breath and prodded the inky mess on his desk. “I’ve been working on this for hours.”
“Your butler did announce me,” Ned said. “Twice.”
Had Gareth been that immersed in his work? The sunlight filtering through the gap in his heavy gold curtains was that of late morning. The rays fell on a tray that his housekeeper had left as a not-so-gentle reminder to eat. Gareth hadn’t paid it any attention, and the soup had long since congealed.
“Handkerchief,” Gareth muttered, patting his pockets. “Where did I put my handkerchief?”
Finding no cloth-shaped lumps, he unknotted his cravat and pulled the linen from his neck. He dabbed at the droplets sprayed across the map. Under his efforts, the neat black blobs of ink strewn across the page transformed into smeared black blobs of ink.
Damn it.
He tossed the ruined cloth on the desk and tried to quell his resentment when he looked up at his cousin. “Well? What the devil are you doing here?”
There was no point offering Ned a seat. He could hardly call the chairs crowded around his desk “available,” cluttered as they were with piles of books and papers. Besides, the youth wouldn’t be staying long. Gareth would make sure of that.
Ned drew a deep breath. “We have plans for today.”
Gareth narrowed his eyes to suspicious slits. “We have plans for today? What are we doing? And why was I not informed?”
Ned pulled at his collar and looked away.
Gareth sighed. Ned was officially Gareth’s heir. But if the boy ever had to take over the duties of the estate, British high society would devour him like the swarming piranhas they were. Oh, he had to give his cousin credit. Ned tried to pull off an air of casual indifference. But indifference had never satisfied the responsibilities of the marquessate. The Marquess of Blakely had to be better than everyone else. And on that point, Ned failed utterly.
“Come now, Ned. Stand up straight and stop studying the carpet. There. That’s better. Now, what have you to say for yourself?”
Ned took a few short, shallow breaths, as if for courage. “I came here—I came here to say something to you.” His next words came out all in a rush. “I’ve decided, as befits our stations in life, we are getting married.”
Gareth raised an eyebrow. “We are?”
A tentative answering nod.
Easy enough to dispose of that line of thinking. “Well, Mr. Carhart. I’m quite flattered, but I don’t think we should suit.”
Ned’s mouth fell open, and Gareth nodded with a twinge of satisfaction. But despite the red flush in his cousin’s cheeks, the young man took a step closer and placed his hands on the desk.
“Not to each other! And stop trying to put me off. To women.” Ned thumped the oak desk for emphasis. “Damn it, Blakely. If I have to marry, then you do, too.”

As an agent, I just laughed aloud at this opening scene. I have a really clear sense of both Gareth and Ned and I’m interested in why they both need to marry and how exactly this is going to unfold. The published novel actually has a different opening. With the above, readers don’t catch a glimpse of our heroine, Jenny. The published novel opens with a scene that immediately follows this one when Ned introduces Gareth to “fortune teller” Jenny for the very first time. She makes a “prediction” that he’ll marry before the year is out the then the game of wits begins. It’s a bit more dynamic yet still has that fun but sardonic tone.

As contemporary romance goes, nothing beats Jana DeLeon and the opening of her very first romance RUMBLE ON THE BAYOU . This opening scene is so just so fabulous. I’m immediately dropped into a small, Southern Louisiana town with a host of interesting characters. Since I’ve lived in big cities my whole life, I find such a setting irresistibly charming.

Chapter One
“This day just keeps getting better.” Deputy Dorie Berenger stared at the alligator in front of her. It had to be the swimming pool.
Why anyone below sea level and not even a mile from the Gulf of Mexico would install an in-ground pool was beyond her. Even the houses in Gator Bait, Louisiana sat on fifteen-foot stilts. An in-ground pool was just asking for trouble.
And trouble was just what they had.
The pool owner, Maylene Thibodeaux, bulged out of a lawn chair next to the structure of cloudy water, jug in hand, wearing a pink bikini and sitting in stoned silence. Which was rare when you considered her usual mouthiness, but understandable since it was almost evening and she had probably been at happy hour since before noon.
Dorie stepped right up to the pool’s edge and studied the alligator more closely. He was a good-sized one, probably ten or twelve feet and currently floating like the dead in the center of the pool with what looked like a backpack hanging out of his mouth. His eyes were half-closed, as if he would drop off into sleep at any moment.
“What do you think?” Deputy Joe Miller asked. Joe had been the first to arrive at Maylene’s, but had immediately called for backup. This one was definitely out of his league.
Dorie blew out a breath. “I think this is not my usual fare. What about Curtis? This is his specialty.”
“I tried. He’s still on a call at the shrimp house. Turned out to be three gators instead of just one.”
“Damn it, Joe, that’s four times this month. Did Buster get those traps repaired?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Then I’m charging him this time. The taxpayers aren’t paying us to keep his shrimp house running, and trappers like Curtis don’t come cheap.”
“I agree,” Joe said, “but what about the problem we have here?”
Dorie sighed and tossed a sideways glance over at Maylene, who was working her jug like a prize-fighter with a water bottle. “How much homemade wine has Maylene had?”
“She was drinking when I got here.”
It figured. Maylene Thibodeaux was hard enough to please sober. Drunk was a whole different story. “You didn’t let her give you any, did you? That stuff’s worse than drugs.”
Joe looked surprised. “No way, boss. I’m still thinking that’s how she bagged Mr. Thibodeaux.”
Dorie smiled. Joe was probably right. Maylene Thibodeaux had been making her own stash since she was a little girl. Rumor had it Mr. Thibodeaux behaved oddly and had a strange tone to his skin on the day of their wedding thirty-five years ago. Folks around town said his skin was the same exact color when they buried him six months ago, making Maylene the most patient hunter in the parish.
After all, it had taken her only minutes to trap her prey, but thirty-five years to kill it.
Maylene’s ears must have been burning because suddenly she came alive and rose from her chair, kind of. Actually, the chair rose a bit with her, and there were a couple of seconds of detachment necessary. Then she glared at Dorie.
“Damn it,” she said. “I did not have this expensive piece of concrete put in to swim with the gators. I could go down to the bayou to do that. And I’m at least a mile from any water whatsoever.” She hiccupped and staggered a little towards the edge of the water. “What the hell is this one doing in my pool?”
“I don’t know,” Dorie replied. “Did you ask him?”
Maylene shook a finger at her. “Don’t you get smart with me, young lady, or I’ll have a talk with your daddy.” She pointed back at the gator. “Now, just what are you going to do about that?”

A test of a good novel is when, even a couple of years later, I can read this opening and I’m dying to read this novel afresh all over again. It just grabs me. If it’s doing the same for you, why not give this author a try?
Obviously as part of this blog entry, I’m giving readers some great suggestions for new romance authors to try. What if you don’t have this luxury? There are a couple of ways to discover these new authors.

1. If you are in the physical store, find the bookseller who enjoys romance. Explain to her the authors you love most and ask for new authors that might have a similar vein. A knowledgeable bookseller can steer you in the right direction.

2. Browse covers and look at the blurbs. Lisa Kleypas calls Sherry Thomas one of the best historical romance authors writing today. Well, if you love Kleypas and she loves Sherry, then you might want to take her recommend. Julia Quinn called PROOF “one of the finest historical romances I’ve read in years.” Well, I think Julia is pretty discerning and doesn’t blurb often. Her opinion might carry some weight.

3. If you hear about a title, scout around to see if you can find a sample chapter online. A lot of authors post the openings on their websites. That way you can get a taste of the writing and the story before you actually buy.

4. There are so many fabulous online review sites for romances. Check them out. Look up some of your favorite titles and see what the reviewer says about them. Then look up some of the romance novels that weren’t your cup of tea. Find the review sites that seem to match your own opinion. Then you know you can probably trust that site to recommend a new writer for you.
And if you are a romance reader who also writes and you want to see if your opening pages are doing the trick, then look into submitting to romance writing contests where you get feedback from the judges.
As an agent, one of my all-time favorite contests is the Toronto Romance Writers Gold Ticket Contest.
http://www.torontoromancewriters.com/contest.html
These ladies don’t pull punches. You’ll get honest feedback from several rounds of judging. I’ve been blown away by the quality of entries in this contest. In fact, just this past fall, our agency did the unprecedented. We asked for full manuscripts from the top 3 entries. We’ve NEVER done that before. And all three entries were so good, it was hard hard hard to pick a winner. In fact, we offered representation to 2 of the 3 winners. That’s a heck of a contest!

So, now your turn — how do you choose to try a new author? Is it the cover, back copy or word of mouth? Comment below - Happy Romance!

Setting: My characters travel a lot in this novel, so the setting covers Ft. Worth, St. Louis, New York, England, Las Vegas, Monaco, Bucharest, and Marseille.
Subgenre: Paranormal romance
Hero: Spade, real name Charles, centuries-old Master vampire
Heroine: Denise, 28 year old human

One sentence summary: Denise wants nothing to do with the vampire world and Spade is determined never to fall for a human again, but when a demon shapeshifter targets Denise, Spade is the only person who can help her.

Scene you like most and would never cut: It’s so hard to pick just one scene! I had several wouldn’t-cut-for-the-world favorites in this book. I’ll defer to readers, who’ve most commented about a scene where Denise and Spade are on a boat and the true effects of the demon’s brands on Denise are revealed (readers who’ve gotten an early look at First Drop, no spoilers in the comments, please :).

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying: My poor heroine! Her life gets turned upside down in this novel, so whatever she thought she’d never end up doing/saying, happens.

What celebrity is your hero like: Hmm. I’d say he looks like a cross between actor Hugh Jackman and model Christopher Douglas (haven’t heard of him? Click here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v351/Kailyn/Models/Christopher%20Douglas/)

What celebrity is your heroine like: I picture her as a cross between Kate Beckinsale and Natalie Portman. And yes, as you can tell, I can never just pick one person in my comparisons.

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing:
When the novel starts, Denise works in customer service at a bank. But circumstances soon require her to quit that job and plunge herself into the last place she wants to be – the vampire world.

What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing: Vampire society operates like a pyramid scheme, with the Master of the line responsible for the protection and well-being of everyone under him. Spade is a Master, so if someone killed a member of his line, Spade would have to avenge that death and provide for any of the deceased’s family/significant other/children. If someone stole a member of his line, Spade would be required to fight or bargain for their return. But there’s compensation for all that responsibility. Master vampires get ten percent of all their people’s income. If only our government took that small of a slice in taxes, right? *wink*

What you think readers will like best about this book: From early reviews, readers seem to love the heat between Spade and Denise, the deeper look at the vampire world, and the twist at the end (side note: I love it when readers say they couldn’t guess the ending in advance!)

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet:
This is easy – Vlad. I get more “please write a Vlad book!” emails from readers than any other character. I’m thrilled by this, because I’d love to write a few books featuring Vlad. We’ll see at the next contract time if I can convince my publisher to love the idea of Vlad books, too. Cross your fingers for me, readers!

What’s next:
Eternal Kiss of Darknesss, book two in the Night Huntress World novels, comes out July 27th. This features the mega-powerful vampire Mencheres as the hero, plus a new character named Kira as the heroine. In October, Cat and Bones have a short story in Death’s Excellent Vacation, an anthology edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner. And in early 2011, the as-yet-unnamed fifth book in the Night Huntress series featuring Cat and Bones comes out.

Thanks so much for having me on the blog! I’m very excited about First Drop of Crimson and can’t wait to share Spade and Denise’s story with everyone.
Since one of the events in this novel centers around an unexpected supernatural ability, readers – if you could suddenly have one superpower, anything at all, what would it be? Comment to be entered in a random drawing giving away three copies of First Drop of Crimson.

Sneak Peak - click here: (http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061583223

Linda Thomas-Sundstrom presents her new Nocturne series “Wolf Moons” with a Giveaway!