Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

I read somewhere that Debbie Macomber has a mailing list of over 75,000 readers who receive postcard updates of her latest releases. Her first sale, HeartSong, was the first ever romance to be reviewed by Publishers Weekly.

It’s hard to imagine that someone like Ms. Macomber ever worried about being published. But Macomber, like every author and every aspiring author, began with one sale and the story that she tells for us is not that of the sale of her first novel, but rather a different kind of first sale. Her most recent book, 8 Sandpiper Way debuted on No. 8 on the New York Times.
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I’m sure all writers remember the sale of their first book. For me, that fateful phone call from New York came on September 29, 1982 (at 4:39 p.m.)–but what I want to tell you about is my very first official sale.

I’d been pounding away at the typewriter for nearly three years, and I’d completed two and a half manuscripts. They were returned so fast that I often tell people they hit me in the back of the head on the way home …

For anyone who is a long time reader of Dear Author, you’ll know that Julie Kenner is one of Jayne’s favorite authors. Ironically, Kenner’s books are ones that we rarely receive review copies of. Many of the Kenner books that Jayne has reviewed she has purchased herself. What’s even more amazing is Jayne is off paranormals but one of her favorite series is Kenner’s Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series. Kenner must have some magic in her pen. Her latest release, Deja Demon, is Book 4 in the Demon Hunting series and on shelves right now.

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My first sale came in June of 1999, and although I kinda-sorta-maybe-please-please-please knew that it was coming, it was still a shout from the rooftops, dance around naked kind of experience. (Except for the naked part, since I was at work, and attorneys tend to frown on that; and the rooftop part since there was no public rooftop access in my office building. But you get the idea.)

It all started in a small mountaintop village … oh, wait. That’s not me. It …

Hilarious, as always (Note to self: no food/drink while watching authortalk videos). See Nora perform some of the skills she picked up researching Tribute, her July release.

Authortalk.tv

We rarely post letters from male authors on the blog but mostly because we read female authors but when I learned of this C.W. Gortner’s quest for publication, I thought it was particularly inspirational.   After all, rejection knows no gender.  While The Last Queen is Gortner’s debut novel to most the world, he actually first self published after thirteen years of snubbing from New York.

Gortner has an M.F.A. in writing from the New College of California and has taught university courses on women of power in the Renaissance.   The Last Queen tells the story of Juana La Loca who many people believed was insane.  Gortner’s story, however, told through Juana’s eyes, suggests that insanity was the pretense by which she held power and saved her country.  P.S. Jayne, I asked for a review copy for you.  It’s on the way.
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In May, 2007, I received a phone call from my new agent, the fabulous Jennifer Weltz at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency. She told me my historical novel, THE LAST QUEEN, had gone into auction. A few days later, Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, …

Robyn Carr really broke out with her Virgin River series. Readers became so enamored with the series that they launched their own site called “Jack’s Bar”, a local watering hole for Marines who have made Virgin River their home. This year was the second time that Robyn met with the “Jack’s Bar” gals at RWA. Virgin River is a fictitious town set in the redwood forests of northern California. The Fourth Virgin River book, A VIRGIN RIVER CHRISTMAS, will be published in November by MIRA Books, and there will be three new Virgin River novels in February, March and April of 2009, with more contracted for 2010.

Because of the success of Robyn’s Virgin River series MIRA Books is reissuing her Grace Valley series, which preceded Virgin River. (Grace Valley is located near Virgin River.) Some of the major Grace Valley characters appear in the Virgin River series–Dr. June Hudson, Dr. John Stone, old Doc Hudson (June’s father), Harry Shipton, the preacher from Grace Valley, and, later, Jerry Powell, a counselor from Grace Valley. The two series are loosely linked.

Carr writes books for …

Lora Leigh is synonymous with erotic romance. She began her career in epublishing, built a formidable fan base, sold to New York and became a bestselling author. Dawn’s Awakening hit number 3 on the NYT Bestseller List. Her Nauti series has consistently hit the NYT Trade Bestseller list.

Her latest release, Nauti Dreams, is on sale on August 5, 2008.

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Romance, I think, has always been a part of me. As far back as I can remember, I wove daydreams of Prince Charming and Forlorn Heroine. You know, the heroine that needs to be rescued, needs to be cuddled, and needs to be protected from all the bumps and trumps life can throw at her, even as he does her homework and helps her make an “A” in English? (Yeah, yuck.)

I was in the seventh grade, a little young I admit, dreaming of that future prince. Staring at the wall, staring at the floor, laying my head down to nap in English class, and weaving all those wonderful, timid little daydreams. Through this year, I …

Caridad Ferrer is famous for many things, a few of them romance related. She’s written a RITA winner novel, Adios to My Old Life and this year she’ll be presenting at the RITAs in another vintage gown. Why another? Because last year, the fabulous Ferrer wore Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Oscar dress. Yes, I didn’t mistype that.

Caridad followed up her RITA winning book with another award nominated book, It’s Not About the Accent a book that she hopes will give readers the opportunity to “gain a greater understanding on how surface impressions are but a fraction of what makes us individual.” Good advice for all of us with RWA coming up.

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Well, aside from the obvious, which is it’s the height of summer and I live in Florida where we have two seasons: Summer and Not Summer. Obvious aside, July’s historically been a memorable month for me. My anniversary is in July, my son was born in July, and I made my first sale in July. July 2005, to be exact and the way it happened wasn’t at all how I would’ve expected, starting with what …

Gena Showalter is not just another pretty face. She is the author of thirteen books, has made the New York Times Bestseller list a number of times, along with the USA Today bestselling list with another eleven more books in the hopper. Her range includes paranormal, contemporary, urban fantasy and young adult novels.

And of course, she is one of the star hosts of AuthorTalk, the hilarious videos featuring authors talking to other authors. Or Jill Monroe and Gena Showalter talking over other authors. It’s hard to watch those videos and NOT be tempted to read a Gena Showalter. After all, you’ll need an answer for the most important question of the universe–What is your favorite Gena Showalter novel?

There are plenty to choose from. Currently Showalter is enjoying a back to back to back release of her Lords of the Underworld series. The latest release, The Darkest Pleasure, is in stores now.

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I’d written for a little over two years and had six manuscripts under my belt when I bagged an agent. …

I don’t know if this author needs introduction. I feel like I’ve been reading Linda Howard for as long as I’ve read romances. There are so many of her books that I’ve read multiple times. Last year when I met Ms. Howard at RWA, I was pretty star struck. Ironically, I found Howard in person (for the tiny time that I interacted with her) to be more represented by her humorous tales such as Open Season or Mr. Perfect than her darker ones. I know that there will be books that Howard has written that I’ll still be re-reading in 30 years.

Her latest romantic suspense, Death Angel, is in stores now.

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It was December. I don’t remember the exact date, but I think it was Friday. We had stopped to eat dinner after work, even though I had a niggling premonition that an editor named Leslie Wainger would probably be calling very soon to tell me Silhouette was buying my manuscript. I can’t say why I had that little sense of expectation, but …

Kathryn Smith aka Kate read her first romance, a classic Woodiwiss, at age 10 and decided then and there to be a romance writer. She began to fulfill her dream in 2001 when Avon published her first romance, Elusive Passion. Since 2001, Kate has published over a dozen books and recently became a USA Today bestselling author. Her June release was part of her Brotherhood of the Blood series, Let the Night Begin.

What Kate’s bio doesn’t tell you is how nice and genuine a person she is. Her newest writing foray is into urban fantasy with the August release of Before I Wake.
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Back in ‘ 97 I was working at a photo-finishing store. My manager was a real piece of work who liked to call me ‘lardy.’ When I complained, I was moved to another store, in the bowels of hell — a mall people rarely visited and required me to take a very long bus ride. I was miserable. Even the photos pudgy middle-aged men took of themselves naked couldn’t cheer me up. My boyfriend (who I later had the good sense …