Hello Everyone:
So here we are, in the month of romance. Drum roll, please!—GUARDED HEART was officially released on 01-29-08. That's right, this new story, book #4 in the Masters at Arms series, should be on the shelves now, in plenty of time for Valentine's. It was shipped a couple of weeks ago in boxes stamped with January 29 as the "lay-down" date, or the date it should be shelved. The purpose of this was to cluster initial sales around a single day so they show up together for positioning on best seller lists. Well, we can hope anyway…
Reviews continue to come in for GUARDED HEART. Maria Shaink at Romance Junkies gave the book their highest award of Five Blue Ribbons. It's at:
http://www.romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/historical/Guarded_Heart.shtml
Romance Reviews Today's Lisa Baca has also been complimentary: http://www.romrevtody.com
Well-known reviewer of romance novels, Harriet Klausner, had good things to say as well, avowing that this Masters at Arms tale was written by "(a) master writer:
http://genregoroundreviews.blogspot.com/2007/12/guarded-heart-jennifer-blake.html
In the meantime, I'm finally in the writing groove after the holidays, have progressed to just over the halfway mark with book #6 of the Masters at Arms series, TRIUMPH IN ARMS. (For those new to the newsletter, book #5, GALLANT MATCH, is on my editor's desk and will be published in 2009.) It's taken most of January to get to this point since several new ideas cropped around Christmas, ideas which required going back and inserting quite a few extra pages in the first few chapters. I think the book is stronger for them, however, which makes the delay worthwhile. Also, you may remember that I was debating back in the fall over whether to cut the prologue written for the story? It has a permanent place now. It seems the book wouldn't be same without it.
For foreign sales this month, two older titles were licensed for publication in Poland, ROYAL SEDUCTION and WILDEST DREAMS. One of these days, I'm going to add up how many times RS has been issued in different formats (hardcover, trade paperback, book club, large print, mass market paperback, electronic, etc.) and also how many different languages. This 1983 title just goes on and on.
I mentioned last month that I'd been doing email interviews to be posted on a couple of blogs. The first of these covers my career, including working methods, research, New Orleans as a setting, etc. It's now posted on the blog of fellow author Shauna Roberts. Shauna is a member of SOLA (South Louisiana chapter of Romance Writers of America) and former resident of New Orleans though she's recently relocated to California. Be sure to take a look at her other blog entries and the rest of her great site if you investigate this interview. The address is:
http://shaunaroberts.blogspot.com/
Shauna has also begun a monthly interview series on the Orange County Romance Writers blog which is called, appropriately enough, "A Slice of the Orange." Her focus here is on things authors wish they'd known when they started in the business, so is personalized advice for beginning writers. For this one, go to:
http://occsliceoforange.blogspot.com/
Over the past few days, I've been playing with my latest toy, high speed Internet. We live so deep in the backwoods here on the lake that this is just getting to us. What fun—though it's also a time-stealer. Because of this new set up, I have a different email address. Though my old AOL address will remain active for a while, I can be contacted now at either jennifer@jenniferblake.com or jenniferblake001@bellsouth.net
Valentine's Day, as we romantic types know so well, is just around the corner. My husband and I will probably eat out since that's our tradition. There will be decadent chocolates, of course, and I'll make a pie for him as I've done since we first married. What kind? Lemon, as that's his favorite. At one time, it would have been a Cherry Pie-O-My, made with the milk, cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice then topped with cherry pie filling. I made this every Valentine's for nearly twenty years, and he ate it, too -- until I overheard him telling someone he really doesn't like cherries! To eat a pie you don't like for twenty years just because your wife made it for you? Ah, romance.
With warmest wishes for love and romance every day of the year,
Jennifer
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