My book cover quest continues

What makes you pick up or click on a book? I mean, apart from the author’s name and the title?

I had no idea how tricky this subject was until I started revising and posting my older books on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. After all, Harlequin does a beautiful job of creating covers for my Safe Harbor Medical miniseries, as you can see for my February release, The Detective’s Accidental Baby. All I do is provide the art department with a few descriptions and the storyline.

Among the books I’m reissuing are half a dozen Regency romances set in Jane Austen’s era. They’re traditional, which means lots of fun complications but no sex. I’ve been using flowers as the background, simply because I like them.

A fellow writer, Anne Glover, who maintains the Regency Reader site (http://anneglover.wordpress.com/) , reviewed one of my books, Lady in Disguise. She loved it—except for the cover. I emailed her to ask why, and we began corresponding. Anne prefers the traditional type of cover, featuring a heroine of that era in an old-fashioned setting.

She recommended graphic designer Kelly at customgraphics.etsy.com. Kelly has now designed a charming new cover for my Regency The Day-Dreaming Lady. It tells the reader right away what genre this is, with an elegant touch. I’m posting it here. I’ll be eagerly watching the sales figures!

Then there are my contemporary romantic comedies. How do you stand out in the crowd? After rewriting and updating Unlikely Partners, the first of two books that form the Runaway Heiress series, I got inspired…by my teddy bears. I created the cover shown here and another for the sequel, Capers and Rainbows.

What do you think? Cute or confusing?

Meanwhile, I’m grateful to Harlequin for the terrific way the art department handles my covers. Thank goodness I don’t have to do those too!

A Sweet Sewing Project

Wouldn't these cute 'n' cosy slippers make a great gift for your Valentine?

I found the pattern here at Craftsy.com and just had to share.

They would be so quick and easy to make for yourself or to give as a gift. I think they'd also be fun to have on hand for overnight guests, who could then take home and have a lovely memento of their visit.

Happy crafting!

Until next time,
Lee
www.leemckenzie.com
The Christmas Secret (November 2011)
The Daddy Project (TBA)
Daddy, Unexpectedly (TBA)

From Supers to Americans--Taking the Leap

After writing about thirty books for Harlequin Superromance , this year I decided to try something exciting and new: writing for Harlequin American. So for the next few years I am going to be all about Cowboys and Montana--and what could be better than that?

 My first American will be released in August as part of a continuity series called Harts of the Rodeo. I was honored to be included with a group of amazing and talented American authors. Do the names Cathy McDavid, Roz Denny Fox, Shelley Galloway, Marin Thomas and Linda Warren mean anything to you? J I thought so!

I’m excited about the new direction  and want to celebrate by offering an autographed set of a trilogy I wrote for Superromance called: Three Good Men.

To enter the draw, please leave me contact me via my website: www.cjcarmichael.com . If you also “Like” my Facebook profile http://www.facebook.com/#!/authorcjcarmichael  you will be entered twice. I will randomly select a winner on February 1^st.

Cheers from CJ!

Taking the Plunge

So many "first" things in life can be scary, in my humble opinion.

The first haircut, when those awful scissors snip close to your ears.

That first plunge into your best friend's three-foot swimming pool, which looks about the size of the Atlantic Ocean.

And don't forget that very first walk into a classroom where everyone stands staring at you. They won't say a word because they're just as frightened as you are—but how can you think clearly enough to realize that when you feel like you're ready to upchuck on their shoes?

Just imagine, all those things can happen even before we graduate from kindergarten! It's a wonder we all make it into first grade. LOL

I'm talking about "plunges" and "firsts" today for a couple of reasons.



Caleb Cantrell, the hero of my February book,
THE RODEO MAN'S DAUGHTER, has literally taken a plunge. Thrown by an angry bull, he lands hard and does serious damage to his body—so serious, it's touch-and-go as to whether or not he'll survive. He barely makes it through and is left with the scars to prove it.

Those current scars are nowhere near as bad as the ones he's carried from the past. To heal those, he's got to take another plunge and go back to where his life began. To his little hometown of Flagman's Folly, where the reception he gets from folks isn't quite what he expected....

I'm taking a plunge today, too. Luckily, it's not a scary one. Then again, for someone who tends to stay at home with her characters and concentrate on telling their stories, it's a bit of a big deal. (smile)

With this post, I'm kicking off a virtual blog tour to celebrate the release of THE RODEO MAN'S DAUGHTER. There will be many stops along the way, and I look forward to seeing you on the Internet trail. (Visit my website to find the full list.)

Also, take a look at the end of this post for two chances to win a copy of A RANCHER'S PRIDE, the first book set in Flagman's Folly.

But first, please share! What's one big plunge you've taken in your life?



For a chance to win an autographed copy of A RANCHER'S PRIDE: answer the question asked above.

For a second chance to win: 1. Like my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, or sign up for my Yahoo group newsletter (link available at my website)—or do all three. (smile)

2. Then send me an e-mail via the Contact Form on my website letting me know which you've done.

(Drawings will close at midnight tomorrow, January 18. Check my blog www.barbarawhitedaille.com/blog on Thursday to find out if you've won and how to claim your prize.)

Thanks for reading and responding to this blog, and again, I look forward to seeing you on the trail!

All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille
http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com
http://www.facebook.com/barbarawhitedaille
https://twitter.com/BarbaraWDaille

Fort Worth Stockyards

If you’ve followed my blogs over the past few months, you’ve probably noticed that my hubby and I have been making an effort to get out and do different things. Having moved to a small town, it’s been fun to check out the local culture and activities.

But this month was our anniversary and we decided to just go bumming around for the day. One of our favorite pass times. No agenda, no plan. One thing leads to the next.

Hubby is a Fort Worth historian. He has shelves of books, old bottles, and tokens he’s collected from Forth Worth. And my current work in progress is centered around a Texas cowboy. So we ended up in the Fort Worth Stock Yards. Toured the cowboy museum, watched the cowboys herd the longhorns down Main Street. Checked out the local shops and watched a couple two-step to the tune of a guy strumming a guitar in front of one of the shops. We ended our day at the Flying Saucer Bar in downtown Fort Worth, sipping a beer and watching the sun fade away.

Quite a fun day given that we had no plans. Something a little different than dinner and a movie anyway.

What type of local activities do you have where you live?

My Not So Glamorous Writing Life

For several years, I attended a writers’ retreat that was held in a somewhat rustic location. Among the lists of what to bring (and what not to bring) where instructions that encouraged attendees to “dress in whatever you wear when you’re writing.” That always gave me a laugh ‘cause no one—not even door-to-door salesmen—see me in my writing clothes. I’ve heard there are authors who dress, wear makeup, select jewelry and shoes for the day before sitting down to the keyboard. I’m not one of them. My writing day, and those of my writing friends, is more about hard work than glamour.

A couple of months ago, I told you about attending Blaze author Candace Haven’s Fast Draft workshop, and how that amped up the pace of my writing. Candace encourages writers to form groups that hold individuals accountable for meeting daily word counts. Lately, several graduates of her course have taken that accountability to a new level by working together. No, we don’t write each other’s books. But we do meet frequently in each other’s homes for days we like to call writing marathons.

Of course, we all know what happens when you put three or four women in the same room—we talk. And email/internet shopping/texting can be such a distraction. Then there’s lunch and coffee and breaks to deal with. We found out quickly that we needed rules to keep our get-togethers from dissolving into coffee klatches. So here they are:

Arrive on time. 15 minutes, max, of chit chat while we settle in, power up our laptops, grab a cup of coffee. The house phone is taken off the hook, internet connections are severed. Cell phones are muted and stored out sight (where, hopefully, they’ll remain out of mind). No Spider Solitaire, Mah Jong or other computer games.

Here’s the kicker--Each participant must write 1000 words before the group can stop for lunch. (I’ve heard a few tummies rumble as everyone waits for me to make that goal.)

After a quick lunch break, it's back to work. The afternoon session is usually even more productive, and several of us routinely hit the 3000-word mark before the day is over.

So, no, writing for a living is not a glamorous life. It’s hard work. It requires persistence, dedication and it’ll put calluses on your gluteus maximus. :)

But seeing your work in print, especially as a Harlequin American Romance, that’s what makes it all worthwhile.

A NEW YEAR - A NEW COVER

All authors have stories of how they started writing. I’m no different. I’d read so many wonderful Harlequins that I wanted to try my hand at writing one. I had an idea for characters and a plot so I started writing longhand in a spiral notebook (a true panster), just playing with it and enjoying it more than I’d ever thought. I wrote for a solid year when I could and I had about ten notebooks full. I wasn’t sure what to do with them until my husband gave me a computer for Christmas. I was in business. That book, The Silent Cradle, made the rounds of rejection, over and over. I finally put it away and started on another and another, which I never finished, but I was hooked on writing.

I finally finished another book and sold it. It took two years. I was still ecstatic. While my editor and I were working on revisions, she asked me about The Silent Cradle. Yes, she was one of the editors who had read the manuscript. She remembered the plot and wanted me to send in another proposal on it, keeping in mind that I’d have to rewrite the book. Again! I did and she bought it. The Silent Cradle was titled The Christmas Cradle and became my 10th book and my first Harlequin American in 2004.

This book is very close to my heart because it was my first attempt at writing. I rewrote it so many times I’ve lost track. The final manuscript hardly resembles my first clumsy effort. I learned by trail and error. I’m so happy it’s been given new life with a re-release and a new cover. I love it. What do you think? Which cover do you prefer?

Happy New Year!!
Linda
The Texan’s Christmas – Dec ‘11





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Wave if you love cowboys

Happy 2012, everyone! I’ve been gone awhile, but I’m now writing novels for Harlequin American again, and am so glad to be here. My new series, which debuts in February, centers around a fictional ranching town in Eastern Montana. (If you like ranchers and cowboys, raise your hand.) I’ve never written western-theme romances and am enjoying learning about ranch life–both from the western books written by my Harlequin American friends, and from my research.

In my research, I discovered a fascinating non-fiction book, The Cowboy Way, written by David McCumber, a journalist and magazine editor.

What a fascinating read! McCumber wanted to live the cowboy life and took a year off from his regular job to do just that. Some of the information in the book is a bit too gritty to put into a romance novel. (Such as the part about bulls who broke their, shall we say male apparatus, due to enthusiasm and an inaccurate aim! Not exactly romantic, is it?)

I hate to leave you with that image in your brain, so I’ll end with something far more pleasant–a few cowboy quotes and sayings I found online (http://www.coolnsmart.com/cowboy_quotes/). There are no names attributed to these, but they mostly show good, common sense. (Except for the first one, which is just plain true…)

“Whoever said a horse was dumb, was dumb.”

“The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back into your pocket.”

“Nobody ever drowned in his own sweat.”

If you get to thinking you’re a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else’s dog around.”

Great words to mull over, don’t you think?

In that vein, are there any common sense quotes that stick in your mind? Something your mom or grandma or maybe your favorite uncle often says/said? If so, feel free to share the wisdom.

Here’s to cowboys, common sense, and romance!

Best wishes from your cowboy fantasy to mine,

Ann

www.annroth.net