February Newsletter

TRIUMPH IN ARMS is out! February 1 is the official "On Sale" date for this final book in the Masters at Arms series--though I've heard from readers on both the east and the west coast who have already bought and read it. Release dates are about best seller placement, the theory being that a book has a better chance to make the lists if initial sales are concentrated in a narrow time period. No matter, I'm excited TRIUMPH is making its debut. I love the artwork and general feel of the cover, which remind me a bit of an older book, ROYAL SEDUCTION, with its sensual pose for the couple, soft turquoise shadings, misty moon and live oak tree. I will admit, though, that I'm a little sad at the end of this series.

Reviews for TRIUMPH have been uniformly good. I won't take up space with these here, but will post the more interesting bits on my blog soon. Not that I expect them to be as fascinating to you as they are to me. :-)

Speaking of the blog, I posted the 75th Writing Tip of the Day to it this past month, and should reach 100-plus in February. The current subject is characters, or how to create more effective heroines. Up next will be 20 or 25 tips for putting dynamic heroes on the page. This project may turn out to be more helpful to me than anyone else. There's nothing like trying to tell someone exactly how you do something to clarify it in your own mind.

Due to the new book release, I've been doing a few extra things that will show up here and there on the Internet. I'll be the featured author for February at the historical romance section of Eye on Romance (http://www.historicalromancewriters.com/) with a special Dear Reader letter and a book excerpt. A (different) excerpt and a guest blog piece will be posted on the Fresh Fiction web site (http://www.freshfiction.com) on February 6. Also on the 6th, I'll have another guest blog on the RomCon web site during their special Fourteen Days of Love celebrations at: http://www.romconinc.com/index.php/conversations/blog/5. Finally, a guest interview with Christine Morehouse will be posted to the Romantic Crush Junkies site on February 10, with a free autographed book to be given away to a person who leaves a comment. Check out this great web site for other fascinating author interviews as well: http://romanticcrushjunkies.blogspot.com/

Meanwhile, I've been hard at work on Book 2 of my medieval series, BY GRACE POSSESSED. The goal set on January 1 was for 10,000 words per week, or 40,000 for the month. As of this past Friday, I had 38,589, a little behind due to a couple of "lost" days, but not bad. Now if I can just keep it up…

With warmest wishes for a Happy Valentine's Day!

Jennifer