West Houston RWA

Jo Anne Banker is a finalist in the Heartland Romance Author’s Show Me the Spark contest in the Contemporary category with her manuscript, Homecoming. She’s hoping for a request from the final judge, Wanda Ottewell of Harlequin.

Cheryl Bolen was all smiles in October. Her October release, Marriage of Inconvenience, popped up to number one on Amazon’s inspirational historical romance sales rank, briefly helping to boost Cheryl’s ranking to number 7 in historical romance authors. Her other October release, Christmas Brides: 3 Regency Novellas, has made the Top 100 Regency list on Amazon. Also, she accepted a contract from Montlake, Amazon’s romance publishing house. She will be the launch romance author for their new serials. Hers will begin in mid-December. To entice her to write fast, they asked her to name her advance. (She did not ask for the moon.)

Deeanne Gist’s Love on the Line placed second in the Inspirational/Traditional category for the Heart of Excellence Readers’ Choice Award sponsored by the Ancient City Romance Authors.

Donna Grant is thrilled to announce Dawn’s Desire, a novella to spin off her new series, hit both the New York Times and USA Today lists.

Gay N. Lewis received news on October 24, 2012 from her publisher, Prism Book Group that Sarah: A Mission of Love, was #1 in three categories on Amazon.

Janice Martin is pleased to announce that her entry The Blessing took Third Place in the Inspirational Category of the 2012 TARA Contest sponsored by the Tampa Area Romance Authors. The final judge in the inspirational category was Natalie Hanemann with Thomas Nelson, who gave Janice some excellent suggestions.

P.J. Mellor ‘s latest single title, Island Nights, won the Heart of Excellence Readers’ Choice Award.

Joan Reeves is celebrating the release of her third book in France. At the time she wrote this, Un seul regard (The French title given to her novel Just One Look ) was #1 in Kindle Littérature sentimentale. The paperback edition which came out last month is holding steady in the Top 100 of the same category. Viva les ventes en France! Joan thinks that means, “Hurray for French sales!”

Colleen Thompson is delighted to announce the sale of two more books to Harlequin Romantic Suspense. Lone Star Legacy and Return to Rusted Spur (working titles) will be 2014 releases. Colleen’s first full length Harlequin Romantic Suspense, Passion to Protect, is in stores now.

Gerry Bartlett is happy to learn that her tenth Glory St. Clair book has a name. It’s Real Vampires Think Size Matters , coming December, 2013 from Berkley Publishing. A fan on her Facebook Real Vampires Fan Group helped come up with the title and won a gift card to Amazon.

Cheryl Bolen’s good news is that her 2011 Christmas novella, Christmas at Farley Manor , won Best Historical Novella of 2011 in the Romance Through the Ages competition for published authors. The bad news was they listed her name as Cheryl Manor. That may explain why she was never notified of the win. In other good news, Cheryl’s With His Lady’s Assistance (Book 1 of her lighthearted, romantic Regent Mysteries) was one of four featured indie books in Romantic Times magazine’s blog.

Vicky Dreiling sold translation rights to Russia again, this time for How to Ravish a Rake . In other news, she’ll sign books at the Buns & Roses Literacy tea in Richardson with fellow West Houston authors Sophie Jordan and Kerrelyn Sparks in October. In December, Vicky will present marketing workshops at the Orange County RWA chapter.

Shana Galen sold a novella featuring the secondary character Blue from her Lord and Lady Spy series. It will be published as an original digital short by Sourcebooks in fall 2013.

Rachel Harris’ young adult debut, My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, about a twenty-first century girl sent to Renaissance Firenze via gypsy magic hit bookshelves and e-readers September 18th.

Gay N. Lewis’s Sarah: A Mission of Love was published by Prism Book Group on September 18. A wealthy businessman… a widow and her five-year old daughter. A dyslexic angel arrives with a love for red stiletto and a cupid assignment. Escape reality with this fun read.

Kerrelyn Sparks will be at the Buns & Roses event in Plano October 14th, signing The Forbidden Lady . Afterward, she’ll assist Sharie in the kidnapping of Sarah MacLean. Oct. 15th, Sarah and Kerrelyn will sign at the B&N in Pasadena and on Oct. 16, they’ll be at Katy Budget Books. Kerrelyn will also appear at the Ringer Library in College Station on Oct. 27th. Good news for All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire ! Walmart will feature it once again for the holiday season, so it has gone into its 12th printing for an additional 32,500 copies! For more info on appearances and to enter the contest, please visit www.kerrelynsparks.com.

Sandra Worth’s Rose of York trilogy on King Richard III has been experiencing a nice resurgence since the news out of England this month that his body may have been found and a state funeral could be in the offing, as well as a movie! You can read about the find on her blog historyworthreading.blogspot.com

Gerry Bartlett was thrilled to accept an offer for a tenth book in the Real Vampires series from Berkley Publishing.  It will be a December 2013 release.  No title yet.

Vicky Dreiling sold Italian translation rights for How to Marry a Duke, How to Seduce a Scoundrel and How to Ravish a Rake.

Vicky Dreiling’s e-novella A Season for Sin releases September 4th, 2012.  The e-novella is the prelude to her new series The Sinful Scoundrels coming Spring 2013.

Shana Galen and Katy Budget Books are having a launch party for her new Jewels of the Ton series and the first book in the series, When You Give a Duke a Diamond.  The vent is Monday September 10 from 6-8 at Katy Budget books. There will be food, jewelery, swag and fun!  Everyone is invited.

Deeanne Gist’s Love on the Line is a finalist in the Inspirational/Traditional category for the Heart of Excellence Readers’ Choice Award sponsored by the Ancient City Romance Authors. Winners will be announced in early October at their annual writers’ bootcamp in St. Augustine, Florida.

Lark Howard’s manuscript, Shadows of the Past, finaled in the single title category of Northwest Houston RWA’s Lone Star contest. Winners will be announced at the chapter’s conference in October.

Janice Martin is pleased to announce that her entry The Blessing took Third Place in the Long Contemporary Category of the Touched By Love Contest sponsored by the Faith, Hope & Love Chapter. The awards were announced at the Wednesday meeting ofthe FH&L Chapter during the RWA National Conference in Anaheim.

Joan Reeves is celebrating. The French edition of her book Jane {I’m Still Single) Jones is #1 in Romance Contemporary in France on Kobobooks.fr.

Mullholland Books, the mystery publishing arm of Houghton and Stodder, UK, is re-printing The Saint series by Leslie Charteris. Long out of print, the books served as the basis for the longrunning television series starring Roger Moore, two revival series, and a 1997 movie. Member William Simon, author of Spider’s Dance, and Sometimes, There Really ARE Monsters Under the Bed, has been invited to write the introduction to Alias the Saint, due in January of 2013.

Kerrelyn Sparks will be appearing at the Buns & Roses event in Plano, TX, on October 14. Afterward, she has plans with Vicky and Sharie to kidnap Sarah Maclean and bring her back to Houston. Kerrelyn will be signing with Sarah at the B&N in Pasadena on Monday, Oct. 15 and at KBB on Tuesday, Oct. 16 from 6-8 pm. Katy Budget Books will have print copies of Kerrelyn’s historical romance, The Forbidden Lady. As an Avon Impulse book, The Forbidden Lady will release first in e-book form on Sept. 25th for only $4.99. It is a revised version of her debut book, For Love or Country, which released in 2002. After being trapped in a closet for ten years, the sequel will also be published by Avon Impulse. To read an excerpt from The Forbidden Lady, please visit Kerrelyn’s website, www.kerrelynsparks.com.

Colleen Thompson was happy to receive an Icelandic translation of her Harlequin Intrigue, Capturing the Commando. Her next Intrigue, Relentless Protector, will be in stores on September 4th.

Linda Warren is happy to announce The Texan’s Bride won the Booksellers Best Award in Long Contemporary in Anaheim at the RWA conference. The Texan’s Bride is also a finalist for The Maggie given by the Georgia RWA. And, The Texan’s Secret won the Lorie in Contemporary Series.

Sandra Worth is delighted to announce that audio rights to her Rose of York trilogy have been sold, and that the German translation of her novel Lady of the Roses is due out in October.

Cheryl Bolen’s gothic Regency romance My Lord Wicked won Best Historical in the International Digital Awards for ebooks published in 2011. Two of her G-rated Regencies also finaled in the competition. They were The Earl’s Bargain and With His Lady’s Assistance.

In other news, Cheryl has consistently been named to the monthly list of Top 100 Bestselling Indie authors. Her rankings have ranged from number 22 to 38.

Delphine Dryden’s erotic romance The Theory of Attraction earned Romantic Times’ Seal of Excellence for July 2012.

Delphine Dryden sold her steampunk romance trilogy, tentatively titled Steam and Seduction, to Berkley Publishing for the Berkley Sensation line. The first book, Gossamer Wing, will release in summer or fall 2013.

Delphine Dryden’s erotic romance novella The Theory of Attraction will be released in print on November 1st, 2012, along with two bonus BDSM-themed novellas by authors Christine d’Abo and Jodie Griffin. This bundle will be the first print release to bear the Carina Press logo, rather than releasing under another Harlequin print line.

Shana Galen’s September 2012 release, When You Give a Duke a Diamond, received a 4! star review from RT Book Reviews.

Deeanne Gist’s Love on the Line won the Readers’ Crown award in the Inspirational catergory sponsored by the RomCon. The same title also won third place in the Write Touch contest in the Mainstream with Romantic Elements category sponsored by the WisRWA.

C. C. Hunter’s first book in the Shadow Falls series, Born at Midnight hit #15 on Germany’s Best Seller’s list.

From Gay N. Lewis, Sarah: A Mission of Love will be released in September 2012. Gay has signed an additional two book contract for the Sarah series for a total of three books. Publisher: Prism Book Group.

Lynn Lorenz’s new proposal accepted by Liquid Silver Books—Tales From the Suburban Salon, a six novella series spaced over 2013 and 2014, about a day spa whose owner is a BDSM matchmaker. It’s set in suburban Houston.

The Secrets on Forest Bend, by Susan C. Muller, finaled in the Oklahoma RWA International Digital Awards in the long romantic suspense category.

Joan Reeves is celebrating the release of her first audio book, Just One Look, which is available on Audible.com and iTunes. On the same day that happened, she received the French copies of her second book with Bragelonne entitled Mariés à tout prix (loosely translated to be Married At All Costs which, in the U.S., is her book Still The One.

Kerrelyn Sparks has just returned from Alaska, where she didn’t run into any grizzly were-bears like Howard in her upcoming release, Wild About You. At the conference in Anaheim, she’ll be giving the luncheon speech on Librarians Day (even scarier than a grizzly were-bear!) Her interview for RWA can be seen at http://my.rwa.org/p/bl/ar/blogaid=228. Kerrelyn is looking forward to cheering for her fellow West Houston members who have finaled in the RITAs and Golden Heart.

Kerrelyn also placed second in the Prism awards with Sexiest Vampire Alive

Christie Craig, writing as C.C. Hunter, was recently added to RWA Honor Roll List Christie Craig’s single title, Don’t Mess with Texas, took first place in the 2012 Write Touch Readers’ Awards. Christie, writing as C.C. Hunter, tied for first place with her young adult novel Born at Midnight and took second place with her young adult novel Awake at Dawn.

Vicky Dreiling got a great opportunity to blog for Target. Check out her blog How to Flirt Jane Austen style. http://tinyurl.com/7h3mspo

Nicole Flockton sold her book, tentatively titled New Year’s Eve Masquerade to Crimson Romance Publishers Contemporary Line. This contemporary novel is about the mysterious appeal of a New Year’s Eve masquerade ball, where two people connect and after spending one night together their lives will never be the same. Release date to be advised.

Shana Galen is excited to announce the launch of her author app. It’s available for free download on both Apple [http://bit.ly/Lc4IRA] or Android [http://bit.ly/LwaG2i] devices.

Deeanne Gist’s Love on the Line won the Traditional category of the Golden Quill Award sponsored by the Desert Rose RWA.

Mary Lindsey sold an untitled companion book to her young adult paranormal romance, Shattered Souls, to Penguin due for release early 2014. Mary Lindsey, writing as Marissa Clarke, has sold the first three books in the PNR Underveil Series, following numerous species of immortals existing in a parallel dimension intertwined with that of the human world to Entangled Publishing. Book One, Love Me to Death, will be released in mass market paperback and ebook in late 2013.

Natalie C. Markey is thrilled to join the talented authors/speakers with the newly launched WANA international. Created by social media guru and bestselling author Kristen Lamb. WANA’s purpose it to empower artists in a digital age. Markey will teach her popular Writing Moms and Time Management workshops. For more information visit http://www.wanaintl.com/.

Joan Reeves was excited to receive the French paperback of her best-selling romantic comedy Jane (I’m Still Single) Jones. She thinks the cover art captures the fun of the book. The French title is Jane (coeur à prendre) Jones which, roughly translated, is Jane (Take Heart) Jones. Joan’s French Editor told her that the book was received well. In fact, Joan found the book on Amazon France bestseller’s list as n°8 on Litterature Erotisme and n°94 on Litterature sentimentale.

The debut of Amber Shah, writing as Amber Lin, was released by Loose Id under the title Giving It Up. “This is a book you MUST read if you like gritty, edgier romance that makes you think as well as turns you on.”—Cari Quinn, USA Today Bestselling Author

Kerrelyn Sparks is thrilled and nervous to be the luncheon speaker for Librarians’ Day at the RWA conference in Anaheim. At least it will be over early on Wednesday! Book #13 in the Love at Stake series, Wild About You, releases November 27th. Avon is reprinting her first historical, For Love or Country, with some revisions and a new cover and title, The Forbidden Lady. It releases at the end of September. The sequel, Taking Liberty, which has been hiding in a closet for ten years, will also be published!

Colleen Thompson is happy to announce that her September 2012 Harlequin Intrigue, Relentless Protector, will be released in audio format via Audible.com.

Kim Ungar, writing as Kim Lenox, will have her short story, Valkyrie Down, included in 2013′s Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance.

Joanna Wayne is officially eligible for her 50-book pin from Harlequin. She never dreamed she’d hit that mark but is excited to have made it!

Vicky Dreiling won the HOLT medallion in the historical category with How to Marry a Duke. She also received an award of merit for best first book. How to Marry a Duke also finaled in the National Reader’s Choice Awards.

Deeanne Gist’s Love on the Line placed second in the Inspirational category in the 2012 New England Reader’s Choice Bean Pot contest. Dee was also thrilled to find out that Love on the Line is a finalist in the Traditional category in the GDRWA Booksellers’ Best contest.

Judythe Hixson’s 2003 Emily winner, Alex, is now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and Createspace in print.

Kay Hudson’s light paranormal romance, Bathtub Jinn, is a finalist in the East Texas chapter’s Southern Heat contest.

Sophie Jordan has some happy news! In addition to re-signing with Avon for three more historical romances, she also sold another YA series! Here’s the deal announcement: NYT and USA Today bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s Uninvited, the first in a two-book series pitched as The Scarlet Letter meets Minority Report; in which a teen’s perfect world unravels when mandatory genetic profiling reveals she’s a carrier for HTS (Homicidal Tendency Syndrome), otherwise known as the “kill gene” and she’s forced to question herself, her world and her love, to Kari Sutherland at Harper Teen, in a good deal, by Maura Kye-Casella of Don Congdon Associates.

Gay N. Lewis sold her first Inspirational book, Little Angel Screw Up. The publisher is Inspriational Romance. They are primarily E books, but Gay’s will also be in print.

Lynn Lorenz’s book The Rougaroux Social Club: Bayou Dreams has finaled in the FF&P’s Published Author Contest—The Prism—in the erotic category! She’s very excited and can’t wait until the winners are announced in July. Also, her eighth book in the Hearts of New Orleans series—novellas set in New Orleans before, during and after Hurricane Katrina—is out this week from Amber Quill Press. In June, Liquid Silver Books will release the second book in Lynn’s McCallan Legacy series, McCallan’s Heart. It’s about a small family of werewolves living in central Louisiana.

William Simon will be signing copies of the new anthology Thriller 3: Love is Murder from ITW and Mira, featuring his short story “Spider’s Tango”, at the June 9th meeting. William’s previously published novels include Spider’s Dance (featuring Nicholas White of “Spider’s Tango”, Sometimes, There Really *Are* Monsters Under The Bed, Street Heat, and Prodromos. )

Kerrelyn Sparks is thrilled that the tenth book in the Love at Stake series, Vampire Mine, has received an Award of Merit from the Holt contest. Kerrelyn will be appearing at the Boas and Tiaras event (proceeds go to Plano Family Literary) on June 9th. For more information, please check http://dfwtea.com/blog/. To see and hear Kerrelyn and Charlaine Harris discussing humor at C2E2 in Chicago, please visit Humor is No Joke:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uh93ABvjY8. More snippets from C2E2 are available on YouTube.

Linda Warren is happy to announce her book The Texan’s Bride is a finalist for the Bookseller’s Best Award and the Golden Quill Award.

Sandra Worth is pleased to report that the third book in her prize-winning Rose of York trilogy will soon be available as a $2.99 e-book to complete the series. For more information, please visit www.sandraworth.com

Gerry Bartlett was thrilled to learn that her latest Glory St. Clair novel from Berkley, Real Vampires Hate Skinny Jeans, hit number 13 on the Barnes & Nobles romance trade paperback bestseller list the week after it was released in April. This was #8 in her series about the vampire who was bloating when she was turned in 1604.

Cheryl Bolen was excited recently when following a link on Google Alerts. The website called Self Publishing Success Stories highlighted her – without her knowledge. From various internet sources, including guest blogs Cheryl had done, the site featured several of her titles and gave Amazon sales ranks for her top sellers. In other news, Cheryl was thrilled when her newest short Regency novel (a mid March release titled His Lordship’s Vow) rose to be the top-selling Regency romance on Amazon. She was also bowled over by the reader reviews of her little book.

Christie Craig, AKA, C.C. Hunter, hit #7 for her series, Shadow Falls, on the Children’s Best-selling series list. She hit #49 on the USA Today list with her third book in the Shadow Falls series, Taken at Dusk.

Vicky Dreiling finaled in the Best First Book category of the National Reader’s Choice Awards with How to Marry a Duke. Winners will be announced at the RWA conference in Anaheim this summer. And Vicky’s recent release, How to Ravish a Rake, was an Amazon Editor’s Pick for Best Book of the month at #5

Michele Dunaway is excited to announce that the Missouri Interscholastic Press Association named her its 2012 Missouri High School Journalism Teacher of the Year. After a rejection of her latest proposal (and then the decision to turn down an ebook only offer from a different publisher for the manuscript), this gave Michele a needed boost. She was also asked to submit another proposal to the NYC house.

June Faver’s Bad Habit was reviewed in RT Bookreviews. The reviewer said, “An author on the rise, Faver’s Texas set books reflects her pride in her home state and her love of both pulse-pounding action and a hot romance.”

Deeanne Gist’s Love on the Line is a finalist in the New England Readers’ Choice Bean Pot Award for Inspirational Romance.

Kay Hudson was ecstatic to get a Golden Heart call this year for Bathtub Jinn, a light paranormal romance. She wrote like a dervish over Thanksgiving weekend last year to “finish” it for the deadline. Now she needs to expand those sections she raced through in case anyone actually wants to read the whole novel.

Alison Kent’s The Kitchen at Second and Chances, a contemporary romance about a woman who returns to the small Texas town where she lived as a foster child to buy the old Victorian she called home and turn it into a cafe with the help of a carpenter who mentors ex-cons

William Simon’s short story, “Spider’s Tango”, was featured in Publisher’s Weekly review of the new anthology Thriller 3: Love is Murder from International Thriller Writers and Mira Books! The release date is May 29.

Kerrelyn Sparks’ latest release, Wanted: Undead or Alive, managed to stay alive for three weeks on the New York Times mass market print list where it debuted at # 11. It also hit #14 on the NYT e-book list, #25 on USA Today and # 14 on Publishers Weekly. Kerrelyn went on tour in Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio, where she survived her first television appearance in Dayton. In Chicago, she had a great time at RT and C2E2, where she signed books at a table close to Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee!) She also appeared on a panel with Charlaine Harris, Jeaniene Frost, and others. Snippets can be seen on YouTube. Photos from the tour, RT, and C2E2 have been posted on her Facebook author page.

TJ Bennett announces that the non-fiction project she co-authored in 2011 with Lewis Senior and Laura Senior Garcia has a website – www.readourbooktoday.com – as a pre-launch to the official publication of At the End of the Day on June 8th, 2012. At the End of the Day is an inspirational memoir about transformational change. The book was a finalist in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association’s non-fiction/memoir category.

TJ is also celebrating the release of her second foreign translation of The Legacy, her historical romance debut novel, this time in Spanish (the first one was in French). Titled El Legado de Amor, the book is available stateside on B&N’s Nook and most other e-platforms except Kindle (due to the distributor’s recent spat with Amazon over contract terms), and is also available in a beautiful trade paperback edition in print. The book received a very good review in a Spanish-language magazine.

Cheryl Bolen is pleased to announce her mid-March release, His Lordship’s Vow, made it to Number 6 in Hot New Releases at Amazon, Regency romance category, and also to Number 38 overall Regency its first week out. It’s a short, G-rated traditional Regency available in all ebook formats for $.99. Speaking of G-rated, she just received her copyedits of her October Love Inspired Historical, Marriage of Inconvenience, along with the sweetest letter from her editor, senior editor Tina James, thanking Cheryl for writing a “wonderful story” with characters readers would love. Cheryl said in her ten previous sales to New York publishers, none of her editors ever sent a gushing fan letter before!

Karen Sue Burns is thrilled to announce the June 4 release of her first romantic suspense novel, In Hot Pursuit, by Crimson Romance, the romance imprint of Adams Media. Finally selling after ten years of writing is a dream come true. Although she will admit that cutting nearly 23,000 words from her baby, to fit the publisher guidelines, was initially a challenge yet ended up being a worthwhile writing experience.

Delphine Dryden is thrilled to announce that Ellora’s Cave will be re-releasing an expanded version of her previously self-published novella, Love With a Chance of Zombies, on March 28, 2012. Life-or-death love in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse! In other news, Carina Press will release Del’s BDSM nerdmance, The Theory of Attraction, in July 2012. For this hero, love may actually be rocket science.

June Faver published her 7th and 8th novels and enrolled them in the KDP select program. On Ice and Bad Medicine are both romantic thrillers published under J.D. Faver.

Deeanne Gist’s Love on the Line is a finalist for the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence.

West Houston RWA member Gerri Hanten (writing as Rae Renzi) has won the 2012 EPIC award in Contemporary Romance for her adventure-romance novel, RiverTime, published by Carina Press.

C.C. Hunter’s Born at Midnight, the first book in her Shadow Falls series, finaled in the Gayle Wilson Award.

April will be a busy month for Lynn Lorenz. First, the release of Tor, book one of her new series WereWolf Fight League, published by Loose Id. Second, Charlie’s Mission, from Amber Quill Press, will be released April 3rd. Both are gay erotic romance. Lynn is also attending the Romantic Times convention in Chicago and will be featured on three panels and at a reader’s workshop called Pimp Your Badge where she and ten other authors are offering all sorts of bling to make attendees’ badges sparkle and shine!

JoAnn Robisheaux (writing as Claire Sanders) is excited to announce the release of her second novella for Barbour Books. “New Garden’s Inspiration” will appear in The Quakers of New Garden and will be available at all the regular book sellers.

Kim Ungar, writing as Lily Dalton, has sold three Victorian era romances to Grand Central/Forever. The first in the series, A Rogue No More, will release in the Fall/Winter of 2013.

Linda Warren is excited to announce that her book The Texan’s Bride is a finalist for the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence in Contemporary Romance.

And congrats to all of our Rita and Golden Heart Finalists!

Lara Chapman is a Rita finalist in the Young Adult Romance category for Flawless.

Vicky Dreiling is a Rita finalist in the Best First Book category for How to Marry a Duke. Vicky also double-finaled in the Regency Historical Romance category for How to Marry a Duke and How to Seduce a Scoundrel.

Deeanne Gist is a Rita finalist in the Inspirational Romance category for Love on the Line.

Kay Hudson is a Golden Heart finalist in the Paranormal Romance category for “Bathtub Jinn.”

Jan Nash is a Golden Heart finalist in the Inspirational Romance category for “Powerless Consent.”

Amanda Stevens is a Rita finalist in the Paranormal Romance category for The Restorer.

Linda Warren is a Rita finalist in the Contemporary Series Romance category for The Texan’s Bride.

Rita

Vicky Dreiling
How to Marry a Duke
Best First Book
Regency Historical Romance

Vicky Dreiling
How to Seduce a Scoundrel
Regency Historical Romance

Linda Warren
The Texan’s Bride
Contemporary Series Romance

Deeanne Gist
Love on the Line
Inspirational Romance

Amanda Stevens
The Restorer
Paranormal Romance

Lara Chapman
Flawless
Young Adult Romance

Golden Heart

Jan Nash
Powerless Consent
Inspirational Romance

Kay Hudson
Bathtub Jinn
Paranormal Romance

Jo Anne Banker is thrilled to announce that she won first place in the contemporary series category of our very own Emily Contest with her newest manuscript, Dawn’s Light. This is Jo Anne’s first win in her home chapter contest, garnering her the coveted silver Emily pin. To add to the perfection of the day, she found that Susan Litman of Harlequin requested the full manuscript.

TJ Bennett announces another foreign sale, this time of her historical novel, The Promise, to France. The same French publisher previously acquired her debut novel, The Legacy. Both novels have 16th c. European-set locales: The Legacy, in Germany, and The Promise in Italy and Spain. TJ is looking forward to seeing what her books look like in French!

Vicky Dreiling signed a three-book contract with Grand Central Publishing for a new trilogy of Regency Historical romances.

All That Bleeds, the first novel in Kimberly Frost’s paranormal romantic suspense series, was named a Barnes & Noble “Must Read” romance for January 2012. The story was also given 5 Stars by Manic Readers whose reviewer called it “spectacular.”

This February Lynn Lorenz released her first Amber Heat PAX, from Amber Quill Press, called Wintertail. It’s a novella about a dragon who finds love right here in our own Houston, Texas. With a winter storm bearing down on Houston, Chinese fire dragon Tsang Zhou finds his life on Bellaire Boulevard becoming more complicated. And Maddie Nordstrum isn’t making it any easier for him. He wants her, but the last time he trusted a woman, she betrayed him, and he had to flee his homeland or be killed.

Coming on April 2, Lynn’s long awaited new series WereWolf Fight League premiers with its first book, Tor. A mixture of elements – from Persian harems, Roman gladiators, thoroughbred racing, dog fighting and Ultimate Fight Club – Lynn’s created a world where werewolves are bred to fight and slaves are bred to be their mates. Tor’s lost his mate to a crazed wolf in his last cage match and refuses to fight again. Until his owner brings him Sky, a young sex slave to be his new mate. Both men fall in love, but will Sky’s betrayal end Tor’s life and everything Sky has found with his mate?

Jane Myers Perrine is one of five Love Inspired writers who collaborated on a book about their experiences with dyslexia and has been nominated for a Women of Worth award. The title is The Overcomers: Christian Authors Who Conquered Learning Disabilities. The book is available at amazon.com both in paperback and for Kindle.

Amber Shah signed with agent Jewelann Cone of the Cascade Literary Agency. Her contemporary erotic romance, Asking For It, was contracted with Loose Id and will be published under the pen name Amber Lin.

Kerrelyn Sparks’ next release, Wanted: Undead or Alive, goes on sale March 27th! The e-book price is only $4.99! Please visit www.kerrelynsparks.com to read the excerpt and enter the contest. Kerrelyn will be speaking at the Virginia Festival of the Book on March 24th. Launch party for Wanted: Undead or Alive is at Katy Budget Books on March 27th. Book tour begins March 29th in Dayton, Ohio. Many thanks to everyone for their support!

Linda Warren got unexpected promo from a YouTube video by Carly Rae Jepsen for her single Call Me Maybe. The video is a take on the Harlequin novel and Linda’s book, Skylar’s Outlaw, was one of the three books featured. The song is Number 1 on the pop charts in Canada and last week Carly signed with Justin Bieber’s label, School Boy Records and will be touring with him. The video now has over 4 million views. Check it
out. http://bit.ly/thXDAK

Sandra Worth is very excited to announce that the first and second book in her Rose of York Trilogy are now available as e-books for $2.99! Based on history, the first novel, The Rose of York: Love & War, relates the love story of Richard of Gloucester and the traitor’s daughter Lady Anne Neville, before they become King and Queen of England. Each of the three has won multiple awards and prizes. For more info, visit www.sandraworth.com

December brought Cheryl Bolen glad tidings and joy. Half way into the month she sold her 100,000th ebook in six months of indie publishing. Then the next week her G-rated Regency Christmas novella, Christmas at Farley Manor, reached number one in the Regency category in the Kindle Store at Amazon. Alas, she came back down in January, when she had a malignant tumor removed from her foot.

Shana Galen is pleased to announce the sale of a new book, connected to Lord and Lady Spy. This one is tentatively titled True Spies, and it’s the story of a secret operative who has kept his job from his beautiful, bored housewife for years but is forced to reveal his identity when they are both kidnapped by a diabolical villain. Release is set for Fall 2013.

Brandie Nickerson is proud to announce that her short story, Locke between Loyalty and Love was picked as one of Best of The Cynic Online Magazine 2011. You can read the story at http://archive.cynicmag.com/author.asp?author=Brandie+Nickerson

Joan Reeves received her countersigned contract the day before Christmas so she feels free now to reveal that she sold world French rights, print and ebook, to Bragelonne, the largest publisher of paranormal novels in France. A French editor obtained a copy of one of Joan’s ebooks, the romantic comedy Jane (I’m Still Single) Jones, and fell in love with the book! In one day, Joan had a big contract offer and a NY agent who negotiated a fabulous deal with Bragelonne who, by the way, wanted not one book, but three of Joan’s romantic comedies!

Kerrelyn Sparks will be appearing on a panel at the American Library Association’s midwinter meeting in Dallas on January 25. She’s also scheduled to speak at the Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, VA, in March. Her next release, Wanted: Undead or Alive, goes on sale March 27th. New wallpapers featuring the covers of past Love at Stake books can now be downloaded from her website at www.kerrelynsparks.com

Joanna Wayne’s Cowboy Conspiracy debuted at #27 on Bookscan.

Vicky Dreiling signed a new 3-book contract with Grand Central.

Jo Anne Banker is proud to announce that her latest WIP, Dawn’s Light, is a finalist in the chapter’s Emily contest. Jo Anne had some other fun news this month as well. She won first place in the Grand Slam at Donna Caubarreaux’s ContestAlert Loop for 2010 with a contest first, second and third place, as well as a Golden Heart win with her manuscript, Lost and Found. This win garners her the enviable prize of one of Donna’s contest Diva’s Tiaras, which will be delivered to Jo Anne soon. Hopefully, she’ll wear it to the next chapter meeting.

Cheryl Bolen and her editor at Love Inspired Historical came up with a new title for her 2012 release: Marriage of Inconvenience. At this writing, Cheryl’s humorous Regency romantic mystery, With His Lady’s Assistance, was No. 4 in New Releases (Regency) at Amazon, and her Regency Christmas novella made it to No. 33 – on the day of its release. It’s titled Christmas at Farley Manor. All three releases are G rated!

Vicky Dreiling and her debut novel How To Marry a Duke, a Regency era version of The Bachelor, were featured in a Publisher’s Weekly article entitled Romancing the Reader about self-promotion.

Tied With a Bow, the holiday anthology containing the launch of Kimberly Frost’s paranormal romantic suspense series, debuted at #23 on the New York Times Trade Fiction Bestseller List.

Forever Mine, Donna Grant’s Indie novella became an Amazon #1 Bestseller.

Donna Grant also agreed to another contract with St. Martin’s Press to continue her Dark Warriors series with four more books, but also for three novellas being released in 2012 back to back to begin another spin off series.

Mary Lindsey’s debut young adult romance, Shattered Souls from Philomel/Penguin, releases December 8, 2011.

Joan Reeves published her 7th ebook Old Enough To Know Better, a contemporary romance. This book was designed to be Book 1 of The Good, The Bad, and The Girly, a novella series, but ended up a full length novel because even though Joan, as a writer, is old enough to know better, she just can’t write short.

Kerrelyn Sparks is thrilled and honored that RWA has asked her to be the Librarians Day luncheon speaker at the national conference this summer in Anaheim. She’ll also be speaking at ALA’s midwinter conference in Dallas this January. To find out more about her Love at Stake series, please visit www.kerrelynsparks.com.

Colleen Thompson is delighted to announced that her first book for Harlequin Intrigue, Capturing the Commando, was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Intrigue of 2011.

Linda Warren is excited to announce she’s been nominated for a Lifetime Achievement Award from Romantic Times Magazine.

Sandra Worth is excited to be a nominee for the RT Reviewers Choice Award in Historical Fiction for her novel Pale Rose of England and honored to be in illustrious company (among them, Sharon Kay Penman, Diana Gabaldon, Philippa Gregory, Anne Easter Smith, and Karleen Koen) She wishes everyone a wonderful Holiday Season, and hopes 2012 brings good news.

The fourth book of Cheryl Bolen’s Brides of Bath series was released for the first time as an ebook on Oct. 1st , and it zoomed into Amazon’s Top 20 in the Regency romance category. Originally titled An Improper Proposal when it was published in paperback in 2004, it is now titled To Take This Lord, Cheryl’s original title. She said her publishers at Kensington/Zebra selected the former title because it sounded sexy, but it had nothing to do with the story. It was a runner up for Best Historical in 2005 in the Texas Gold competition. Cheryl’s also thrilled that during October she had eight of her historical novels in the Top 25 at Amazon, usually with four titles in the Top 10.

Sharon Forret’s manuscript, LAST TIME, is a finalist in the paranormal category of the unpublished Beacon Contest, hosted by the First Coast Romance Writers. It’s now off to final-round judges Courtney Miller-Callihan of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates and Lauren Plude, editorial assistant with Grand Central. LAST TIME is also a finalist in the Valley of the Sun Romance Writers’ Hot Prospects Contest. Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal category. Final judges for this one are Deborah Werksman, Sourcebooks, Inc., and Jenny Bent, The Bent Agency. This marks Sharon’s “return to writing” now that her son is a year old, and she is happy to get back out there!

Kay Hudson was delighted to learn that her work-in-progress, Bathtub Jinn, is a finalist in the Golden Network’s Golden Pen contest. She has sent in the revised final entry (with thanks to the low-scoring judge who caught the problems in the hastily written synopsis); now all she has to do is finish the book by the Golden Heart deadline.

Heather MacAllister has published her Golden Heart winning YA manuscript–exactly as it was entered in the contest–as an ebook. Picture Perfect, a historical contemporary, is available for Kindle, Nook, and through Smashwords. It took her nearly as long to figure out the formatting as it did to write the book in the first place.

Amber Shah (writing as Amber Skye) is excited to share that her manuscript, ASKING FOR IT, finaled in both the San Fransisco RWA Heart to Heart Contest 2011 and in the First Coast Romance Writers Unpublished Beacon Contest 2011 in the erotica categories. She also received a request for a full from one of her dream agents and so she’s currently working furiously on edits and polish.

Kerrelyn Sparks’ eleventh book in the Love at Stake series, Sexiest Vampire Alive, went into a second printing a week after release. It debuted on the New York Times list at # 12, Publishers Weekly at # 10, and USA Today at # 36. For more information, please visit her website at www.kerrelynsparks.com.

Colleen Thompson is happy to announce the publication of two Australian Reprints, Capturing the Commando and Phantom of the French Quarter, as part of the Mills & Boon Intrigue line. In addition, her novella, Lethal Lessons, was part of a recent Mills & Boon Intrigue edition of Deadlier Than the Male in the United Kingdom.

Nina Bangs and Gerry Bartlett are both excited to be teaching at the Low Country RWA Masterclass week in South Carolina, October 21-27. This is held at a fabulous Victorian mansion on the beach at the Isle of Palms outside of Charleston and there are only three spots left. If interested hit the Low Country RWA website.

Cheryl Bolen is thrilled to announce she has seven Regency-set romances ranked in the Top 75 Regency historicals at Amazon, including three in the Top 10. My Lord Wicked has held steady at Number 2. During August, My Lord Wicked was Number 1 in Hot New Releases, Regency.

Vicky Dreiling sold Japanese translation rights to How to Seduce a Scoundrel, and How to Marry a Duke made Booklist’s Top 10 Romances for 2011.

Delphine Dryden released her ninth novel, The Lamplighter’s Love, this month for Ellora’s Cave. She also celebrated the release of a short in the Cleis Press anthology Girls Who Bite. Del’s big news for the month is signing with Courtney Miller-Callihan of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, a stellar literary agency whose client list includes such names as Dan Brown (The DaVinci Code).

Sophie Jordan (Sharie Kohler) is thrilled to report that she’s an international bestseller! Firelight hit the German’s bestseller list at #13!!! Firelight also made the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults list.

Joan Reeves has started a free subscription newsletter Writing Hacks. Writing Hacks will be emailed every week and will contain tips, shortcuts, tricks, how to instructions, and more with an emphasis on ebooks of course. The signup form is on her blog http://SlingWords.blogspot.com.

Kerrelyn Sparks celebrates her latest release, Sexiest Vampire Alive, with a contest and a book tour. Please check her website (http://www.kerrelynsparks.com) to enter her contest and see where she’ll be signing. To attend the Author Dinner with Kerrelyn, Beverly Jenkins, and Toni Blake on October 25th, please contact Katy Budget Books (281-578-7770) for tickets.

Lynn Lorenz’s second book in her Rougaroux Social Club, her Louisiana bayou werewolf series, Bayou’s End, comes out on Oct. 4th from Loose Id. http://www.looseid. com The first book, Bayou Dreams, was a bestseller at Loose Id and at ARe, staying in the top 10 romance books for two weeks. Also, she has a gay sci-fi novella, Duty Bound, coming out from Amber Quill Press’s Amber Allure imprint, as part of a PAX (buy all 5 novellas and get a 25% discount). Lynn is one of the organizers of the first Gay Literary Romance Retreat, held in New Orleans Oct 16-19th, and she’ll be signing books there and hosting some lucky readers to lunch, breakfast and is also hosting a Cafe Au Lait and Beignet party with several other authors. She’s really looking forward to meeting readers and spending time talking to them about gay romance. This is the month 2012 RT convention announces its panels and workshops and Lynn will be in several panels. One with Belinda McBride—Writing the Future: This Isn’t Your Brother’s Sci-Fi—will be a discussion about where the genre is headed and how to give it a fresh twist. Another panel on craft, Making the Cuts to Strengthen Your Manuscript, a panel discussion with Belinda McBride, ZA Maxfield and Catherine Snodgrass, will discuss various editing methods for producing tight, fast-paced stories. The convention will be held next year in Chicago, in April.

Gerry Bartlett was thrilled that her latest release, Real Vampires Don’t Wear Size Six, hit #5 on the Barnes & Nobles trade paperback list the week it came out and was still at #6 the following week. On the heels of that she just got a contract for a ninth Real Vampires book to be released in early 2013.

Cheryl Bolen is delighted to announce a sale to Harlequin Love Inspired Historicals. The tentatively titled Love With the Proper Earl will be published in Fall 2012. And two of Cheryl’s ebooks hit the Top 50 Regencies on Amazon.

Thanks in part to West Houston RWA, Shana Galen won the Long and Short of It Reviews Book of the Week for Lord and Lady Spy. The site nominated the book because it received a 4.5 star review.

Kerrelyn Sparks’ novella, A Very Vampy Christmas (which formerly appeared in Sugarplums and Scandal), will be available as a 100 page e-book on Sept. 6th for only $1.99! And her next full-length book, Sexiest Vampire Alive, goes on sale Sept.  27th. The launch party will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 28th at Murder by the Book. Kerrelyn would love to see you there! For more information and to read an excerpt, please visit her website at www.kerrelynsparks.com.

Colleen Thompson is happy to announce two new sales, Relentless Pursuit, to Harlequin Intrigue, and Firestorm Face-Off, to Harlequin Romantic Suspense. Both will be Fall 2012 releases.

Natalie C. Markey will put her speaking talents to use in a month long, online workshop through Write It Forward Workshops with Who Dares Wins Publishing. In October Natalie will teach Writing Moms: How to do it all without losing your mind! For more information visit www.whodareswinspublishing.com

Jo Anne Banker (who did not send this news, by the way) won the Contemporary Series Romance Golden Heart for her novel Lost and Found.

Gerry Bartlett was happy to receive a top pick and a five star review from Night Owl reviews for Real Vampires Don’t Wear Size Six. This is book seven in her vamp series and hits shelves August 2. Meanwhile she is off to England and Scotland to research for book 9, so far untitled, date to be announced.

Cheryl Bolen’s A Lady by Chance is in the Top 10 romance sellers for Amazon UK. Its best showing has been Number 5. This is an electronic reissue of her 2000 Kensington Precious Gems book, selling for 99 cents. Sadly, the book has only made the Top 100 in the larger selling U.S. market.

Also, for Cheryl’s __th birthday, No. 1 son (who treated the family to a weekend in New Orleans) read her 2002 book A Fallen Woman as a present to his mom! It was the first time he’s read one of her books. (He says he doesn’t like to think about his mom knowing about sex stuff.) Following her custom of dedicating each book to a loved one, she had dedicated that book to him. He’s now decided Lifetime TV movies are missing out by not making the book into a television movie.

And one more thing for Cheryl. . .look in the Take Note section of the August edition of The Writer magazine for Cheryl’s mini article on Moleskines.

Sophie Jordan just landed her seventeenth foreign sale for her Firelight trilogy, selling to Taiwan. And she also just learned that Firelight is in its fourth printing. Also, her August historical romance, Wicked in Your Arms, earned a 41/2 stars TOP pick from RT BookReviews and a K.I.S.S award.

Vicky Dreiling’s historical romance How To Seduce a Scoundrel debuted at #45 on Nielsen Bookscan’s Top 100 Romances.

Shana Galen’s September release, Lord and Lady Spy, is on Publisher’s Weekly’s Top 10 Romances in their Fall preview edition.

Deeanne Gist’s historical novel, Maid to Match, won Book Buyers’ Best and National Readers Choice in the Inspirational Category. She has been acquired by general market agent David Vigliano of Vigliano Associates, who is listed by Publishers Marketplace as one of the industry’s top deal makers and whose client list includes Jackie Collins, Larry King, William Shatner, Rocco DiSpirito, and more.

Lynn Lorenz’s first book with her new publisher, Etopia Press, will be released August 5th. The book, a space Regency called The Ambassador’s Daughter was described as “24 meets Jane Austin in space, with a female Jack Bauer.” She’s also thrilled that her novella, C’est La Vie, set in New Orleans and Provence, France, is also releasing in August from Amber Quill Press—Amber Allure. Currently, she’s working on several deadlines and is on a first name basis with the folks at her local Specs.

Joan Reeves is testing the nonfiction ebook waters. Last month she added an ebook that’s a “best of” compilation from SlingWords, her popular blog. Written Wisdom, Quotation-Inspired Essays, 2005-2010, is inspiration, motivation, and encouragement disguised as an ebook. If you want to know how to persist, this is the book that illustrates that allimportant skill by an author who’s been in the trenches for a long time. In the end, she’s not only survived the slings and arrows of publishing, she’s finally prospered.

Joan Reeves is loving the ebook life and buying way too many bottles of champagne! The most recent bottle was opened in mid-July to celebrate the sale of more than 80,000 ebooks in less than 4 months. This month she publishes her fifth romance, the second book in her Texas One Night Stands series: Romeo and Judy Anne. Of course that means,more champagne!

Linda Warren’s book Skylar’s Outlaw won The National Reader’s Choice Award for Long Contemporary in New York at the national conference. A weekly online read by Linda Warren, The Cowboy Next Door, is available at www.eharlequin.com. http://tiny.cc/8hpo6

Joanna Wayne just signed a 3-book contract for books to be released in 2012. The series is Big D Dads, and the titles are: Son of a Gun, Live Ammo, and Big Shot.

Linda Barrett is delighted to report that Quarterback Daddy took FIRST PLACE in the Long Series Contemporary category of the 2011 Write Touch Readers’ Award contest. The Write Touch is sponsored by the Wisconsin Chapter of RWA and is a great way to get feedback directly from readers. Thanks, Wisconsin RWA!

TJ Bennett reports that the memoir she co-authored, At the End of the Day: How One Man Learned to Live Like He Was Dying, is a finalist in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association contest in their Non-fiction/Memoir category (winners to be announced in August). In addition, she’s received news of another foreign sale of her historical romance, The Legacy, to Spain.

As announced at the June meeting, Cheryl Bolen has gotten the rights back to her Brides of Bath series of sensual historicals set in the Regency and has put them up at Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords. The middle book, With His Ring, was a runner-up for Best Historical novel in 2003 by Texas Gold. Also, her Precious Gems Regency historical that was only available in Wal-Marts, is now available digitally. It’s a fun read titled A Lady by Chance and sells for 99 cents. You can visit her website at www.CherylBolen.com.

Vicky Dreiling (How to Seduce a Scoundrel) and Sophie Jordan (Wicked in Your Arms) will be signing and discussing their newest historical romances at Katy Budget Books on July 30th 3:30-5:30. http://www.katybooks.com/event/sophie-jordan-vicky-dreiling-event Shana Galen has a new Facebook fan page. She really wants you to LIKE her. http:// www.facebook.com/pages/Shana-Galen/211315085575366

Kristi Gold is thrilled to announce that her first Superromance, His Best Mistake, is a finalist for the National Reader’s Choice Award. Winners will be announced at the RWA conference in New York on July 29th.

Alison Kent sold her contemporary westerns to Berkley Heat on an unofficial exclusive May 31st. The tentative release schedule is 11/12 and 02/13.

Joan Reeves had her most exciting day ever on Amazon this month. All four of her romances zoomed onto the Top 100 Paid list. Her first ebook Just One Look had been on that list for more than a month, and all 4 had been on the various romance bestseller lists. In one 24 hour period, she sold almost 3,000 books. When the dust settled, one book had slid off the Top 100, but three remain on.

Kerrelyn Sparks survived her first keynote speech at the Heart of Dixie Romance Readers’ Luncheon in Huntsville, Alabama. She’s also done workshops at the Comicpalooza event in Houston and the NOLA summer conference in Shreveport, Louisiana. Meanwhile, both her 2010 books, Eat Prey Love and The Vampire and the
Virgin finaled in the Colorado’s Award of Excellence contest. Eat Prey Love went on to win! And The Vampire and the Virgin won an Award of Merit from the Virginia Romance Writers HOLT Medallion contest. For more information please visit www.kerrelynsparks.com or find her on Facebook.

Linda Warren is proud to announce her Book, Skylar’s Outlaw, has won the Holt Medallion in long contemporary given by the Virginia Romance Writer’s. Also, the book has won The Bookbuyer’s Best in category series.

Sandra Worth is just back from a book signing in La Jolla with Margaret George. From La Jolla she went to San Diego to attend the Historical Novel Conference. She was particularly delighted to meet old friend Karleen Koen, and to get to know Persia Woolley (The Guinevere Trilogy) and Donna Cross (Pope Joan).

Natalie C. Markey launched her author website and appreciates feedback. www.NatalieCMarkey.com

Cheryl Bolen has sold another article to The Writer magazine. This short piece will appear in the August issue, which comes out at the beginning of July.

Brandie Nickerson’s short story, “Locke between Loyalty and Love” was published in the June 1st edition of Cynic Online Magazine

Linda Warren’s Skylar’s Outlaw is a finalist for National Reader’s Choice Award and The Reader’s Crown Award.

Jessica Trapp has updated both of her websites–the one for the medieval books and the one for the ladybug picture books. www.jessicatrapp.com and www.jessiefern.com

Jo Anne Banker’s Golden Heart finalist, Lost and Found, was requested by one of the three final editor judges. Jo Anne won’t find out who requested it until after the conference, but she sent it off to RWA® to be forwarded
along.

Cheryl Bolen is once again participating in Brenda Novak’s annual online auction to raise money for diabetes. Cheryl will auction a synopsis critique. Brenda’s auctions, which run the whole month of May, have raised over $1 million for diabetes research.

Lara Chapman, Tera Lynn Childs, and Sophie Jordan will join a group of Texas YA Authors for statewide book signings this month. Check their schedule and stop by for some great reads! www.chillsandthrillsteenbooktour.wordpress.com.

Linda Barrett is delighted to announce that her book, QUARTERBACK DADDY, is a finalist in the Write Touch Readers’ Award contest – Long Series Contemporary category. The Wisconsin RWA chapter sponsors the contest.

Kerrelyn Sparks is thrilled that her latest release, VAMPIRE MINE, has survived three weeks on the USAToday and New York Times bestseller lists. Kerrelyn is the keynote speaker at the Heart of Dixie Romance Readers’ Luncheon in Huntsville, Alabama, and she’s also scheduled to appear at Comicpalooza at the George R Brown convention center in May.

Linda Warren reports that Skylar’s Outlaw is a finalist in Long Contemporary Romance for the BookBuyers Best Award, the Oklahoma Reader’s Choice Award and the Colorado Award of Excellence.

Sarah Andre finaled in the 2011 Golden Heart- Romantic Suspense for LOCKED, LOADED and LYING. She double-finaled in the Sheila LOCKED, LOADED and LYING – RS (Leis Pederson, Berkley); WINDBURN -ST (Emilia Pisani, S&S), and she finaled in the Wisconsin FAB 5 LOCKED, LOADED and LYING- ST (Latoya Smith, Grand Central).

Colleen Thompson is happy to announce that her June release, CAPTURING THE COMMANDO (her first book for Harlequin Intrigue) has received 4 1/2 stars and a Top Pick from Romantic Times.

Joan Reeves has taken the ebook challenge. At times she feels as if she’s suffered a TKO due to the technical aspects of formatting, which differ from platform to platform, but she’s weathering the storm with 2 ebooks, JUST ONE LOOK and THE TROUBLE WITH LOVE, published and a third to be published before the end of April. Just One Look has proved to be immensely popular on Kindle, and has landed her on the Fiction Bestseller list on the English platform of XinXii, European Digital Publishing.

Natalie Cook Clark, writing as Natalie C. Markey’s book, “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog” comes out in May from Who Dares Wins Publishing.

Vicky Dreiling sold translation rights for her historical romance HOW TO MARRY A DUKE to Turkey.

Lynn Lorenz has a new publisher – EtopiaPress http://www.etopia-press.net/ who has contracted two books from her. One is a space regency, due out in June and the other a romantic suspense, due out in Aug, both traditional romance. She’ll also have her first gay romance ghost story, Cemeteries, out with Amber Quill Press – Amber Allure this summer, along with another novella. Both are set in New Orleans.

Sandra Worth is excited to report Lady of the Roses and The King’s Daughter: A novel of the First Tudor Queen have sold foreign rights to Germany.

Jo Anne Banker had a pretty exciting month. As so often, it happened one-two-three. Jo Anne is proud to announce that as of March 24th, she’s agented, with Robert Brown of Brown Literary Agency. The next morning, Jo Anne got a call, her manuscript, Lost and Found, finaled in the GOLDEN HEART. The very next afternoon, Jo Anne found out that she’d won the contemporary series category of Southern Magic’s Linda Howard Award of Excellence contest. The editor, Susan Litman, who gave her the first place would have requested the
manuscript- but she already has it from another contest final. So for Jo Anne, life is pretty good right now

Kay Hudson was thrilled–and stunned–to learn that her historical manuscript, PAPER HEARTS, is a finalist in the Golden Heart contest. She started Paper Hearts ten or twelve years ago, and the manuscript has passed through three or four computers, at least two word processing programs, several openings and numerous contests (with wildly varying results). Set in 1870s Texas, a little upriver from the Gulf Coast, Paper Hearts may be the only manuscript in its category to feature a javelina pelt, a baby alligator, and a (taxidermied) flying pig in the opening chapters.

In the published author category, Jessica Trapp’s DEFIANT is a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence contest.

Another finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence contest is Christie Craig, whose Shut Up and Kiss Me is a finalist in the Single Title Category. In release news, the first book in the Shadow Falls series, Christie’s new YA series, Born at Midnight, written under the pen name C.C. Hunter, released March 29th.

Georgia Ward, aka Georgia Tribell reports that her Harlequin Nocturne Bites story, Demon Love, will be released May 2011.

Also in release news, Joan Reeves just published her first ebook, JUST ONE LOOK, which was a formerly print published romantic comedy to the Kindle. She’s blogging about the process so others can learn from her adventures — and misadventures. Look for Kindle Progress Report posts on her blog: SlingWords.blogspot.com. On the personal side, she’s thrilled to report that her daughter Adina is able to walk normally, unaided, for the first time since the surgeries began two years ago. Now, that’s even better news than any book sale or publication!

Kerrelyn Sparks’s latest release, Vampire Mine, is # 10 in the Love at Stake series, which is currently contracted for 12 books.!HarperCollins has asked for four more books,!so negotiations are under way to bring!the total to 16!

In additional sale news, Vicky Dreiling sold translation rights for HOW TO MARRY A DUKE to Russia.

Deeanne Gist’s MAID TO MATCH is a RITA final for Inspirational Romance. In personal news, Cheryl Bolen was thrilled to be selected in the first class of inductees for the South Houston High School Hall of Honor. A plaque with her photo and the field in which she made her accomplishments appears on the wall at the school, which opened in 1959. In other news, she just received Japanese copies of her book A DUKE DECEIVED. This is the THIRD time that same title has been published in Japan. (And she was just ready to get her rights back on it.
Now she’s got to wait 10 more years!)

In other personal news, Michele Dunaway received a Gold Key from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, March 18, at a very moving luncheon ceremony in the Lowe Library rotunda at Columbia University in New York City. This month she’s off to Anaheim, and excited that gets a chance to catch up on reading during the flight. Sometimes being a teacher is a glamorous job.

Congrats to Cheryl Bolen who was thrilled to get her third book for which she has provided a cover blurb. All three of her quotes have actually been selected for the covers. The latest is for Laurie Alice Eakes’ Lady in the Mist. Here’s what Cheryl wrote: “Secrets, suspense, and a sweetly told love story make this a highly rewarding read.” Another of her quotes about the book—the one Cheryl thought would make the cover— appears instead on the first inside page. It reads: “Lady in the Mist is not to be missed.” Laurie Alice writes inspirational historical romances for Revell.

Also, Starting February 22nd and for a limited time, Kerrelyn Sparks’ How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire will be available for FREE as an e-book with bonus material– an excerpt from Vampire Mine! Vampire Mine goes on sale March 29th! For more information, please visit www.kerrelynsparks.com.

PJ Mellor’s news is her March release, ISLAND NIGHTS, will be excerpted in the Hot Reads section of the May 2011 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.

First up in our news is Vicky Dreiling! She is thrilled to announce that her debut historical romance HOW TO MARRY A DUKE made Bookscan’s Top 100 Romance list at #46 the first week on the shelves and went on to make #39 and #37, the second and third weeks. Booklist gave HOW TO MARRY A DUKE a starred review: “Dreiling’s Regency romance debut is, in a word, enchanting.” There’s more good news. Translation rights for HOW TO MARRY A DUKE were sold to Japan. Audio rights were sold for both HOW TO MARRY A DUKE and HOW TO SEDUCE A SCOUNDREL, coming in July 2011.

Kim Lenox is excited to share news that her three-book SHADOW GUARD series has sold to a German publisher.

Jo Ann Robisheaux (writing as Claire Sanders) has signed two contracts with Barbour Publishing. “Equally Yoked” will appear in the September, 2011 release “A Quaker Christmas” and “New Garden’s Inspiration” will be out in 2012.

Jo Anne Banker has had a run of good luck with contests lately. Her manuscript, LOST AND FOUND, won The Golden Rose. Jo Anne also found out that it finaled in the Southern Magic’s Linda Howard Award of Excellence. Susan Litman, Special Editions editor, requested the full from a previous contest (Launching A Star). Jo Anne submitted it in January. Also, Roberta Brown of the Brown Agency, who had requested a partial
from the same contest, also requested the full.

In non-writing related news, long-distance member Michele Dunaway awaits the Emily results (she’s a finalist) and gets ready to end her yearlong, self-imposed sabbatical. On the “day job” level, Michele just found out she’s been named a Special Recognition Adviser in the Journalism Education Association’s Yearbook Adviser of the Year competition. Life is good.

Téa Trelawny (aka Teri Thackston) is thrilled to announce that FILL ‘ER UP? is now available in print. In this paranormal erotic romance, readers will discover that passion sparks romance in three couples at different stages of life — and death — and reveals that love has no limits. The book is available at www.jasminejade.com, as well as Amazon and Barnes & Noble online bookstores.

Jessica Trapp is on the cover of the RT Bookreviews magazine this month. Her fourth medieval romance, DEFIANT, will be on shelves in early December. Her Get Trapped in a Book Writing Gang meets Mon-Thurs from 9:30 to 1pm at Starbucks across from Bay Brook Mall. All writers welcome.

Gerry Bartlett is happy to know there will be an eighth book in the Real Vampires series. No definite title yet but the Berkley trade paperback will be a February, 2011 release.

Jane Myers Perrine accepted a contract for a three-book deal from Christina Boys at FaithWords/Center Street. The series deals with a young, inexperienced minister who is called to a small church in Central Texas. The first, THE WELCOME COMMITTE OF BUTTERNUT CREEK will be published February, 2012.

Lara Chapman very excited to be checking in with the news that Bloomsbury UK will be publishing FLAWLESS! They are planning a paperback original edition to publish just about simultaneously with the US edition in May 2011.

Patricia Kay is pleased to announce the sale of her 51st book to Silhouette. DESIGNING WOMAN will be a part of the Hunt for Cinderella III series, The Fairy Godmothers, and is slated for publication in November 2011. MEET MR. PRINCE, the last book of the Hunt for Cinderella II series, Seeking Prince Charming, will be published in February. The Hunt series books are a continuing collaboration between Pat and authors Lois Faye Dyer, Christine Flynn, and Allison Leigh.

Armand from Shana Galen’s THE MAKING OF A GENTLEMAN has been nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice “Best Historical Knight in Shining Silver” (Best Historical Hero).

Colleen Thompson is thrilled to announce that DEADLIER THAN THE MALE, a Silhouette Romantic Suspense 2-in-1 edition written with Sharon Sala, hit the Borders/ Waldenbook series bestseller list in its first week out.

And Michele Dunaway is thrilled that BABY IN THE BOARDROOM got an RT nod for Best Harlequin American Romance.

Kerrelyn Sparks’s latest Eat Prey Love has survived three weeks on the Borders Romance, USAToday, and New York Times bestseller lists. Polish publisher Amber has just bought rights to produce the sixth book in the series, Secret Life of a Vampire. For more information about Kerrelyn’s Love at Stake series, please visit www.kerrelynsparks.com or her page on Facebook.

Teri Thackston will be signing Deadly Climb, her 2001 Lone Star winner in the romantic suspense category, on Saturday, Nov. 6, at the Vintiga Park Harvest Festival.The festival is a free community event that celebrates food, wine and art, and is a daylong event for the whole family. There will be a children’s area with lots of fun activities as well as an artist alley showcasing local and regional artists and craftsmen. Vintage Park is located at 10805 Louetta Road (the southeast corner of Louette Road and Highway 249).

Just as she reaching that familiar plateau involving banging her head against the wall, Kay Hudson received two pieces of encouraging news. PAPER HEARTS placed first in the historical category of the Toronto Gold contest and has gone with the other category winners to the Golden Ticket round, and JINN & TONIC is a finalist in the paranormal category of the Golden Pen contest. Jinn & Tonic is also a finalist in the general paranormal category of the On the Far Side Contest, sponsored by the online Fantasy, Futuristic and & Paranormal Chapter of RWA.

Linda Warren is happy to announce her December book, Her Christmas Hero, received a 4 1/2 Top Pick from RT.

Gerry Bartlett is still popular in Germany with her second Glory St. Clair book, REAL VAMPIRES LIVE LARGE, chosen as a book club “Cheeky Vampires” selection for March, 2011. Love those euros!

TJ Bennett’s book, THE PROM I SE, is a finalist in the historical category for Heart of Denver’s Aspen Gold Published Authors contest.

Jo Anne Banker is happy to announce that she received a request from Wanda Ottewell with Superromance on her current WIP, Lost and Found, from her final in the TARA contest. Jo Anne recently found out the same manuscript finaled in the Golden Rose. The editor judge in that contest is Susan Litman with Special Editions.

Donna Grant’ s is thrilled that Books 7 – 10 have been contracted in her historical/ paranormal Dark Sword series from St. Martin’s Press. Also, WICKED HIGHLANDER, book 3, releasing November 2 got 4.5 Stars Top Pick from RT Book Reviews!

Registration is now closed.

NY Times bestselling author Bob Mayer has 40 books published. He has over three million books in print and is in demand as a team-building, life-change, and leadership speaker and consultant. Bob graduated from West Point and served in the military as a Special Forces A-Team leader and a teacher at the JFK Special Warfare Center & School. His latest book is Who Dares Wins: The Green Beret Way to Conquer Fear & Succeed. He teaches novel writing and improving the author via his Warrior-Writer program. He lives on an island off Seattle. For more information see www.bobmayer.org

Saturday, November 13th – Bob Mayer’s One of a Kind Warrior Writer Workshop:

I have created a unique and innovative workshop called Warrior Writer that focuses on educating writers how to be successful authors in all aspects of publishing. I have run this workshop through various writing groups and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. The basic concept is for me to present the Warrior Writer Workshop for your group on a Saturday as your normal meeting, or as a special presentation. No limit on participants. Run completely through your group. Then on Sunday, I run a smaller A-Team Writers Workshop.

WHAT IS WARRIOR WRITER?

Warrior Writer is a holistic approach that gives the writer a road map to become a successful author. Warrior Writer integrates the artist’s creativity with the business savvy needed to succeed in publishing. This is the only workshop that covers all aspects of an author’s role from creator of the book to being an integral part of the business end of seeing that book in a reader’s hands. The world of publishing is changing at an incredible rate. New technologies have required authors to adjust to a different mindset. Today’s authors have to not only write the better book, but create a platform for themselves. Social media is also changing the face of marketing. Formal author training does not exist in traditional publishing. Warrior Writer fills this gap by giving authors the tools they need to be successful in today’s new face of publishing.

WHAT WARRIOR WILL ADDRESS:

It is a nine-step plan that will give writers a flow to becoming the most successful author they can be. This includes finding personal blind spots that are hurting the writing and their career. Warrior Writer will help writers develop a plan to enrich their writing, and overcome hurdles.

Integral to the program is how to develop a career path with agents and editors that includes author goals in terms of books, theme, unifying concept, all the way down to organizing one’s day-to-day writing. The ins-and-outs of running a business as a self-employed author, and become an integral part of the publishing world including doing an ‘author’ dissection of a successful author whose career can serve as a template for yours. Of particular focus in creativity are finding true fears, developing courage to conquer them, and uncovering each person’s unique creative tactics & strategies.

November 13th Schedule (8am to 6pm):

8:00-8:30 AM Sign in
8:30-9:00 Quick business meeting/elections.

Schedule Warrior Writer Presentation

9:00-9:50: Introduction to overall Warrior Writer concept.
10:00-10:50: WINS: Setting a strategic writing goal; subordinate tactical goals and aligning them
11:00-11:50: WHY & WHERE: Understanding your goal intents; and your writing environment and interaction in the publishing world.
11:50-1:00: Catered lunch
1:00-1:50: CHARACTER: Understand your character, blind spots, and character traits of successful writers.
2:00-2:50: CHANGE: The three steps of change and the five stages.
3:00-3:50: COURAGE: What do you really fear, how to build courage, build a plan to expand your comfort zone by venturing into your courage zone.
4:00-4:50: COMMUNICATE & COMMAND: Evoke the responses you want with your communication; take charge of your writing career.
5:00-5:50: COMPLETE the Circle of Success and integrate all the Special Forces.

Saturday, November 13^th Registration Fee

WHRWA Members: $10
Other RWA Members: $45
All Others: $60

Registration capped at 75 participants. First come, first served.

Optional Sunday, November 14^th A-Team Writer’s Workshop

To learn more and sign up for this extra, for-fee workshop (not a WHRWA event) please visit – http://www.eventbrite.com/org/205142012?s=1229204

Use code RWA75 to receive a special discount!

WHAT IS THE A-TEAM WRITER’S WORKSHOP?

This workshop is limited to 12 participants to ensure excellent feedback to participants. This workshop will utilize the principles of Warrior Writer and The Novel Writers Toolkit and will be focused on both the participants writing as well as their business model. We will cover aspects of writing such as the original idea, locking down core conflict, query and synopsis writing as well as developing career goals that are in-line with each individual author and uncovering blind spots.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

All participants will receive a copy of The Novel Writers Toolkit, Who Dares Wins, a copy of Who Dares Wins outline, a submission critique of cover letter, one page synopsis and the first ten pages of manuscript. This is over a $100 dollar value in material and work even before the day-long workshop.

Testimonials for WARRIOR WRITER WORKSHOP

Susan Wiggs (#1 NY Times best-seller): “Bob Mayer is a gifted writer and a generous teacher.”

Terry Brooks (#1 NY Times best-seller): “An invaluable resource for beginning & seasoned writers. Don’t miss out.”

Elizabeth George (NY Times best-seller): “Something for every writer. My hat is off to Bob.”

John Tulliius (Director Maui Writers Conference): “Fiction writers everywhere will have the advantage of Bob Mayer’s teaching wisdom.”

Chicken Soup Creator Jack Canfield (#1 NY Times best-seller): “Your Warrior-Writer focus is a great one. I always loved at the Maui Writers Conference how your programs delved deeply into the psychological models you need to develop characters. Now you are using that same knowledge to develop people. As we say in California– way cool! Much love to you my friend, and congratulations on the new book, it looks great!”

In the news, WHRWA celebrates P. J. Mellor, whose DRIVE ME WILD took first place in the Heart of Excellence Readers’ Choice Awards. There is even a trophy–woo-hoo!

Cheryl Bolen has just done her third “blurb” for Revell inspirational books. She was blown away when the first one she did was prominently displayed in an RT ad earlier this year. No, she doesn’t get paid for this but says the books have been a joy to read and blurb.

The 9/16 episode of JEOPARDY! featured a question about Kerrelyn Sparks! The category was Bestsellers, and the $1200 Question: A vampire series by Kerrelyn Sparks is punningly titled “Love at” this. Book 9 in the Love at Stake series, EAT PREY LOVE, went on sale September 28. To read the excerpt or enter the contest, please visit www.kerrelynsparks.com.

Colleen Thompson is excited to announced that her RITA-nominated romantic suspense, TRIPLE EXPOSURE, hit #1 on both the free and paid sides of Amazon’s Kindle Bestseller List.

Wow, August was busy. Here’s the news that dropped into my inbox:

Colleen Thompson is happy to announce her second sale to Harlequin Intrigue, Capturing the Commando, which is slated for release in June 2011.

Joan Reeves has been asked to write for TheCelebrityCafe.com, which is, according to Wikipedia “the Internet’s longest tenured entertainment publication, having been in existence since 1995.” While the editors are setting up her page, she’s working with them on what kind of editorial content she’ll provide. Since TheCelebrityCafe.com receives about 4.9 million readers each month, she’s rather excited about this opportunity

Kay Hudson’s Paper Hearts is a finalist in the Historical category of the Toronto Gold contest. It also placed third in the Colonial/Western/Civil War category of the Romance Through the Ages contest, although it is a humorous romance set in
coastal Texas in the late 1870s. About ten years passed between starting and finishing the manuscript, but it spent a lot of that time as eighty pages in a file moving from computer to computer but rarely opened. Kay finally finished it with
the push of her “one hundred words a day for one hundred days” loop.

Writer Magazine has purchased Cheryl Bolen’s article titled “Making the Time to Write.” It will appear in the December issue, which comes out in early November.  Cheryl says this article was adapted and expanded from a workshop she gave
first to the Bay Area RWA and, later, to the San Antonio Romance Writers.

She’s urging everybody to hit their local B&N (or other bricks and mortar book store) to get it for all the timesaving writing tips she’s garnered over the years.The article also includes lots of examples about how other published writers “made” the time to write.

In July, Leslie Marshman got home from the West Houston meeting to find a contract from True Romance for a story I’d submitted five days earlier. She says, “My first submission, my first sale. It’s scheduled for the October issue, focusing on breast cancer awareness.” The story is tentatively titled Blind Date Redemption.

Linda Warren is happy to announce that her book, Caitlyn’s Prize, won the Booksellers’ Best Award.

Second Chance Bride, Jane Myers Perrine!s Love Inspired Historical, won second place in the Published Beacon Contest.

Kerrelyn Sparks is thrilled that the sixth book in the Love at Stake series, Secret Life of a Vampire, has won the Colorado Award of Excellence and the PRISM award. The ninth book in the series, Eat Prey Love, releases at the end of September. For more information, please visit Kerrelyn on Facebook or her website at www.kerrelynsparks.com.

Publisher’s Weekly reviewed Shana Galen’s October release, The Making of a Gentleman, saying, “plenty of mystery, intrigue, passionate romance, and a knack for bringing the historical setting to life.”

Joanna Wayne will be teaching the week long Master Class at the Low Country RWA Beach Retreat on Oct. 22. And she!ll be speaking at the North Louisiana chapter’s Boot Camp for Writers in Shreveport, LA on October 9. And best of all, Cowboy Swagger, the first book in her 5-book series, The Sons of Troy Ledger, will be out in September.

P.J. Mellor was thrilled to learn her 2009 release, Drive Me Wild, is a finalist in the Heart of Excellence Readers! Choice Award. Drive Me Wild also won Best Erotic Anthology 2009 from the reviewers at Romance Reviews Today (RRT).

Jessica Trapp got Trapped in a Book Sydney where she was sponsor for the Romance Writers of Australia conference this year. She says, “What an awesome time! Excellent workshops, friendly people and a beautiful beach to walk on. So grateful to for the opportunity to go.”

Michele Dunaway is excited and bittersweet over her final Harlequin American Romance release, The Doctor!s Little Miracle, which is out this month. However she’s enjoying the time off from writing romance to do family stuff that she!s put off for the last 11 years while she churned out those 23 contracted books. Also, in mid-August she became a contributor to VisualThesaurus.com, meaning she!s just shifting gears. She reports it!s rather fun to have college professors and literary types agreeing and commenting on her “Teachers at Work” columns.

Teri Thackston, writing as Tea Trelawny, wants to announce the release of her newest book Wood-Lovin’ Nymph. This erotic romance is written in the fantasy vein, and is a ‘quickie’ from Ellora’s Cave. Wood Nymph Ariana loves the Central Park Oak tree in which she lives–but she craves Rick Ballentine’s hard body more. Unfortunately the sexy NYPD detective believes she’s working with a couple of muggers in the park. To avoid arrest, she must convince him of her innocence and she’s willing to use her body to do it. Wood-Lovin’ Nymph is available at www.jasminejade.com beginning Sept. 9.

As I write this, it’s the end of July and many are off to Orlando.

Congrats go to Leslie Marshman who sold a short story to True Romance for the October issue that’s focusing on Breast Cancer Awareness. She got home from the West Houston meeting Saturday to find the contract in the mail. Her story is tentatively titled BLIND DATE REDEMPTION and it’s her first sale.  (Squee!).

In other exciting news, Sophie Jordan’s debut YA, FIRELIGHT, has been optioned for film! In addition, HarperTeen has also decided to send Sophie on a 5-city book tour in September, the month of FIRELIGHT’S release. She’ll be visiting Chicago, San Francisco, Phoenix, Dallas and Austin. In related news, FIRELIGHT has more foreign sales to report. Turkey and Brazil can be added to the growing list.

Next, Tera Lynn Childs is thrilled to announce that her June 1st release, FORGIVE MY FINS, has already gone back for a third printing!

Last but not least, Kathleen Y’Barbo is pleased to announce that her Rita nominated book THE CONFIDENTIAL LIFE OF EUGENIA COOPER was just named a finalist in Historical Romance in the American Christian Fiction Writers’ CAROL contest. Congrats!

Happy July. We have some sizzling hot news this month. Congrats go first to Jo Anne Banker, who is happy to announce that her new work in progress, LOST AND FOUND, finaled in the series contemporary category of the Tampa Area Romance Author’s 2010 TARA contest. This is the first time Jo Anne!s entered this manuscript in any contest, making the news even sweeter. Wanda Ottewell of Superromance is the final editor judge.

Kerrelyn Sparks continues to have a super hot year. She is thrilled that the sixth book from the Love at Stake series, SECRET LIFE OF A VAMPIRE, has won the Award of Excellence contest, paranormal category, sponsored by the Colorado Romance Writers.  The same book has finaled in the PRISM contest. Her September release, EAT PREY LOVE, will be a featured alternate in the Rhapsody/Doubleday Book Club. For more information, please visit www.kerrelynsparks.com.

After a disagreement between editors at her publishing house, Michele Dunaway’s Complete Idiot’s Guide will not be released. Thus, Michele is trying the Kindle route and the renamed book, INSIDE THE WORLD OF VAMPIRES, is available
for download at Amazon.com and through Smashwords.com. While she waits for the pennies to trickle in, she!s delighted to announce that she sold her eighth educational article to VisualThesaurus.com. The day job continues to be a delight.

Summer is officially here and we have a few items of news to share.

First up, Jane Myers Perrine’s Love Inspired historical, Second Chance Bride, is a finalist in both the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellent Contest and the Golden Quill.  Congratulations Jane.

This year has been fabulous for Kerrelyn Sparks, and her good run continues.  Kerrelyn is creeping out of deadline hell to announce!that Secret Life of a Vampire has!finaled in the Light Paranormal category of the PRISM contest. She’s also happy to report another sale in the Love at Stake series to Germany and the sale of three books to Turkey. Her next book (in English) is Eat Prey Love, releasing Sept. 28. For more information, please visit Kerrelyn on Facebook or at www.kerrelynsparks.com.