Wednesday, January 21, 2009

News on the writing front



Sadly, it's not my news. Happily, it is news about some writers I know and love.

Cathie Linz

Cathie Linz in my local writers group and is one of the most nurturing and supportive writers I know. She's a big proponent of protecting the writing process.

After publishing about 50 series contemporary romance novels, she branched out into single-title contemporary romance. Smart Girls Think Twice (Berkley Sensation) is, I think, her 55th novel.

I took these photos at a signing she did a few weeks ago at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, Ill. Despite a horribly snowy day, she had a nice turnout of people.

Linz is known for her warm humor in her stories. Oh, and she once borrowed my name for a heroine in her book The Cowboy Finds a Bride (Harlequin Duets #17), although she did modify the spelling to "Hailey Hughes". An author's prerogative. :)

Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Susan Elizabeth Phillips is a New York Times bestseller, and it's probably only a matter of time until you see one of her books adapted to the big screen.

She's also a member of my local writers group. About 12 years ago I was lucky enough to have her read my very first draft of the first chapter of my first attempt at writing a book. She gave me incredible feedback that bolstered my confidence in my writing while still pointing out areas to work on.

Before I read her, I was a committed reader of only historical romance. Her books were the first contemporary-set romance novels I read that successfully sucked me in and wouldn't let me go. They still have that ability.

Phillips' newest book, What I Did for Love: A Novel, comes out next week in hardcover. She has a booksigning set up on Saturday, Feb. 7, at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, Ill. I really hope I can make it.

Grace d'Otare

Grace d'Otare is one of my very best friends in real life. She and I have shared rooms at conferences, critiqued together, and even decorated her Christmas tree together. Of course I'm excited to be able to share some of her latest news.

She writes erotica, and her first short story, The Queen's Tale, which was published electronically last year, will be included in a trade paperback collection of stories called Naughty Bits due to be released in March.

She also has a new short story, The Pirate's Tale, that is coming out even sooner. It's a February release from Spice Briefs that will be available for electronic download from various sites -- definitely the Harlequin website at first, but probably Amazon Kindle soon.

The Pirate's Tale is the second in the series started by The Queen's Tale and packaged under the unifying logo of "A Maeve and Devlin Story". And this time, Grace's story gets a proper beefcake cover. :)  Oh, and this story is a take on the tale of Blackbeard.

Rumor has it that Grace has sold a third short story, The Dancing Girl's Tale, I believe it's called. There is no date yet for its publication. Publication has been set for November.


Destiny d'Otare

Destiny d'Otare is also one of my very best friends in real life, and I am quite excited to report that she has also sold a short erotic story to Spice Briefs. Her story is called Knightley's Tale and is part of the "A Maeve and Devlin Story" series started by Grace d'Otare.

Destiny's story is an erotic take on Jane Austen's Emma. It does not yet have a publication date so, unfortunately, I can't tell you anything more about it. Late-breaking word is that it has a March 2010 publication date.

8 comments:

  1. I thought it was nice of me to pose on Grace's cover like that. 'Waived the fee too. Big of me. No. Big *of* me. :)

    Congrats writers, I am *raging* jealous.

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  2. Anonymous1/22/2009

    Haley, what a great pic of my books! Thank you for you kind words, they are greatly appreciated. Cathie

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  3. I've read something by Cathie Linz before and liked it.

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  4. Anonymous1/28/2009

    55th novel? wow. impressive. very impressive. i did give it a look and will add it to my amazon wish list.

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  5. Wow! How awesome that close friends and members of your writers' group are getting published. You'll be posting your own good news soon . . .

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  6. Anonymous2/03/2009

    Wow congratulations to all these talented girlies. I'll be looking out for them for sure :)

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  7. @Ken Armstrong -- Wow. I never would have guessed that was you on the cover. You must have an amazing secret life. :)

    @Cathie Linz -- Thanks so much for stopping by. And it's a great book cover, so the photo virtually took itself. :)

    @Laura -- Great. I really hope you check out her new book, too. :)

    @Natural -- It's worth checking out. :)

    @JD -- One thing I love about Romance Writers of America is that there is all this amazing talent, and the writers are, in general, very supportive of each other.

    @fragileheart -- Check out the Grace downloads for sure. That will make you feel better. :)

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  8. Anonymous2/06/2009

    Will do :) and also... you've been taaaaaged. hehe but you can play along from your photo blog!

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