The Jennifer Blake Newsletter - January

Here we are with another new year, another new beginning. This winter period has always been a favorite of mine: the holidays are over, the winter solstice has passed so the days are growing longer, and not much is happening which allows extra concentration on writing projects. Still I won’t be putting fresh words on paper this month for the first time in ages. Because of the way the deadlines for my medieval trilogy fall, I’ll be polishing a rough draft, instead, getting the manuscript ready for its April 1 send off. This is for BY GRACE SEDUCED, the final book of my trilogy set during the reign of the first Tudor king, Henry VII. It will be released in October, following Book 1 in August and Book 2 in September. Can’t wait to get back to this story that was finished at the end of November—which is a good thing since it must be done!

I’ve mentioned the Sourcebooks reprint program here before. FIERCE EDEN is the next title up from them, scheduled to ship late this month for a February 1 debut. Look for it on the shelves in a gorgeous trade size paperback edition, the larger format selected by Sourcebooks for their Casablanca Classics Collection. FIERCE EDEN, set during the Natchez Indian uprising in French colonial Louisiana, circa 1730, spent many weeks on the best seller lists in the 1980s. Its original release from Random House was in trade size paperback as well. Cover Art for this book appears on the the home page for my web site.

And I discovered yesterday that I’ll have another book reissued this year, in addition to two Sourcebooks reprints and the three books of the medieval trilogy. Scheduled for June, this will be LUKE, a contemporary romance that belongs to my Louisiana Gentlemen series. Mira Books is bringing it out again in a hardcover library edition.

That second Sourcebooks reprint mentioned above, in case you’re interested, will be MIDNIGHT WALTZ, on the schedule for August. The covers for both LUKE and MIDNIGHT WALTZ are posted below.

For the sake of clarity, here’s a simplified list of the books appearing in the coming months:
Publications for 2011
February 1: FIERCE EDEN, historical reprint, Sourcebooks.
June 1: LUKE, contemporary reissue in hardcover, Mira Books
August 1: BY HIS MAJESTY’S GRACE, medieval trilogy Book 1, Mira Books
August 1: MIDNIGHT WALTZ, historical reprint, Sourcebooks
September 1: BY GRACE POSSESSED, medieval trilogy Book 2, Mira Books
October 1: BY GRACE SEDUCED, medieval trilogy Book 3, Mira Books

Another reprint from Sourcebooks, SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL, may be released before the end of the year, but the date hasn’t been confirmed.

So what’s next, when the medieval trilogy is done? Nothing! Well, nothing except answering editor’s queries and checking page proofs for all the books that will be out in 2011. In between, I expect to relax, travel a bit, catch up and clear away the household clutter that piled up while I was so involved with writing. I also want to work in my yard that’s been seriously neglected; one of my Christmas gifts was a candy apple red “little mule” truck, about the size of a golf cart, that has a bed for hauling mulch, fertilizer, clippings, etc., and I’m looking forward to puttering around in it. Eventually, I may work on a short contemporary romance or else write the futuristic novel that’s been in the back of my mind for years. Or I could revisit the medieval period if the trilogy goes well, who knows? The year ahead is chock-full of possibilities!

With warmest wishes for a New Year filled with plans and promise for you, as well,
Jennifer