You Gotta Read Videos

Voting is now open for the book trailer for Let's Misbehave. Please click through and vote for me at http://yougottareadvideos.blogspot.com/2010/08/august-2010-entry-16-lets-misbehave.html.
I'd also be grateful for comments and feedback, so don't be shy!

And because I'm not above a little bribery and corruption, here's cyber chocolate for everyone who votes. There's plenty for everyone, so take as many as you like ....

Wild Roses Blog Tour and Contest

My alter ego, Rae Summers, is currently participating in a blog tour with a group of lovely authors from The Wild Rose Press to promote her release of Let's Misbehave.

At the end of August the tour will be rounded up with an amazing give-away to one lucky commenter. So if you'd like a chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on one of the participating blogs during the month of August.

To view the prize, visit Rae's blog at http://raesummers.wordpress.com and leave a comment on one of the blog tour posts.

Let's Misbehave

Today is release day! You can now download Let's Misbehave from www.thewildrosepress.com for your reading pleasure.

As you read this, I'm currently in mid-air on my way to London to attend my first ever romance writing conference (the RNA's 50th anniversary conference at the University of Greenwich). If you'd like to find out more about Let's Misbehave, visit my alias' blog at http://raesummers.wordpress.com.

From tomorrow until Monday I'll be running a contest there, and you could be the one lucky winner who wins a free copy.

My Cover!

Here it is ... my gorgeous cover courtesy of Wild Rose cover artist Nicola Martinez.

My first sale!

And yes, I really am talking about selling something I've written!

The Wild Rose Press has offered to contract a short story I wrote ages ago, currently titled Let's Misbehave. This story is set in 1920s London and is completely different to what I usually write, but it was also the most fun I've had writing and the words just flowed out of me.

There are still some major revisions to get through, but I'll keep you all updated of progress as it happens.

Stray Kittens and Wild Roses

Over the week-end we discovered three gorgeous kittens living in our garden. The mother is a stray who lives at the school across the road, but she probably chose our garden as we're the only house on the block with no dogs. We think they're old enough to be weaning and they're already wild enough to hiss whenever we get too near.

We've decided to try to tame them while they're still young enough, but as I've only ever had domesticated cats before I'd appreciate advice on how to earn their trust. At the moment we're just letting them get used to us being around so they feel less threatened, and we're leaving out milk and food. Any other suggestions?

In writing news, this afternoon I finally sent off my revisions for Let's Misbehave to The Wild Rose Press, so I am now waiting on two submissions (counting the Presents contest as a sub!).
A huge thank you to all my CPs who have helped me get this far - you know who you are!

Week-end Progress

With NaNo rapidly approaching I've been feeling the pressure of all the things that need to be done to clear my plate. Happily, I ticked a lot of things of the to-do list this week-end.

• My first chapter and synopsis for the Presents contest are now finished. Cutting it fine, but allowing a few days for crits before I hit 'send' on the entry.

• The revisions for Let's Misbehave are done, though on the suggestion of my new crit partner I'm thinking of adding a scene or two to flesh out the story a little before I re-submit to Wild Rose Press at the end of this week.
  

• As my on-line crit groups will see, I'm finally clearing that folder on my computer and putting in my two cents' worth.

• And I even managed to read an entire novel this week-end! Fiona Harper's Invitation to the Boss' Ball, which was one of the best M&B Romances I've read in far too long.

Now if only the rest of my life were falling into line as the writing has done. Right now I feel like I'm on quicksand and my life is being dragged down into an abyss that is not of my own making. The only good thing I can take from the knocks I've had these last few days is that it'll make good fodder for conflict in some future novel ...

Interrupting this travelogue to announce ....

Great news! While I was on holiday, I picked up an email from Wild Rose Press, asking for revisions on Let's Misbehave. My first ever revision request!

The revisions all make complete sense. They are mostly historical inaccuracies that need to be fixed, rather than writing issues, though the editor has asked me to make the POV shifts fewer and clearer. It's very clear what needs to be done - but that's still easier said than done.

The editor's letter was very positive and encouraging, and just reinforces everything I've heard about the wonderful people at Wild Rose. I so hope this story finds a home there ... and the next one ...

Now that I've done jumping up and down and celebrating with cheap Greek wine, I'm going to concentrate on my opening chapter for the Harlequin Presents contest and let these revisions stew in the back of my head. Then I need to knuckle down and complete them before Nano starts!

All Quiet on the Southern Front

I would love to say that my life has been as quiet as this blog, but in fact the last three weeks have been an emotional roller coaster ride.

So much for thinking that my manuscript was done ... my on-line crit group picked up some major flaws in my final three chapters and I've had to dig deep and do some difficult re-writing. At last it looks like it might just be strong enough to withstand the RNA reader's scrutiny, but any hope I had of sending it off well in advance of the deadline is now well and truly shattered. But as one of my crit partners wisely said, it's better to be at the back of a long queue with a better novel than rush a weaker novel to the front of the queue.

These last few weeks have been difficult for me on the personal front, but I am truly humbled by the realisation that when you make hard decisions and experience tough times, life hands out unexpected gifts to help you cope. In my case, the unexpected gifts were courtesy of Nina Harrington and Wild Rose Press.

Nina Harrington (http://ninaharrington.wordpress.com) is Harlequin Romance's debut author. I entered a launch contest on her blog and actually won something! The bonus is that I really enjoyed her novel. Her heroine is different from the norm, with a whole life lived before her story even starts. If you enjoy Harlequin Romance, check out Always the Bridesmaid.

A couple of blog posts back I mentioned that I sent off an historical short story to Vintage Rose. I hadn't received the expected automated response, so I emailed again last week to check if it had been received. Almost immediately, I received a lovely email requesting that I re-submit - and just one day after I resubmitted, I received a request for the full manuscript.

I'm floating on air - not just because they're interested in Let's Misbehave, but also because of the charm with which they replied to me. I'm really happy I chose this publisher, if they treat all queries with the same promptness and enthusiasm.

I've hit Send!

This afternoon I submitted the 1920s short story I wrote last year to Wild Rose Press. Another wait begins.

So far this story has been rejected by Harlequin's Historical Undone (for which it was written) and by Samhain Publishing. I'm hoping the old saying 'third time lucky' holds true.

I was planning to only send it after I'd mailed off my full manuscript to the RNA, which is a much bigger deal as it requires so much more effort than just hitting send on an email (if only!) but somehow today just felt like a good day.

The deed is done.