Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Twilight

Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) Twilight by Stephenie Meyer


My review


rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read this book b/c my 15 yr. old daughter gave it high marks, as well as a respected Christian writer, so I wanted to see what all the hype was about.

It lived up to expectations, since I put aside my current reading to finish it in about 2 days. Let me also mention, I'm not into vampires or any paranormal romance. So, I thought this book would be an effort for me to get into.

In analyzing why it works, I would have to say personally (and my 15 yr. old agrees), is that unlike so many romances, this one has A LOT of interaction--mainly dialogue--between the hero & heroine, once they meet. He is also the quintessential hero, both dark, dangerous & brooding--to humorous, warm & caring. And good (as in a basically decent human being. But I think Meyer's strength in developing him is that combination of dark & funny to make an irresistible hero.

It also has good pacing, beginning with the heroine's curiosity about this strange young man, the personal hurdles they face to any kind of personal relationship, and then escalating to a gripping climax when the heroine faces personal danger.


View all my reviews.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Indian Summer Downeast Maine


This is downeast Maine at its finest. No fog, crystal blue sky and water. I spent yesterday hiking Western Head, a large parcel of land bordering some spectacular coastline. I lay on a cliff half-dozing in the sun for a while. The horizon was so clear I could see some miles out to Seal Island and just make out its lighthouse.

My October Love Inspired release is in stores now. A Man Most Worthy is a Victorian tale set in London. What happens when a woman meets the young man she had a crush on as a teenager?

Saturday, August 9, 2008

new post at long last

Wow, I haven't posted anything since May 30. At that time I was under a pressing deadline to complete a book, and then in the midst of organizing things to travel to Maine from the Netherlands.

Now, I'm back on the downeast coast of Maine, one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places on Earth. The photo at the top of this blog shows one of the many small harbors along this coastline.

Here is the cover of my October book, A Man Most Worthy.

In the meantime, this month is The Making of a Gentleman, an English regency about a spinster and an escaped convict from the notorious Newgate Prison.

I've dedicated it to a woman who has had a prison ministry for a number of years. Little did I imagine when I was writing the story that she would have a prison romance of her own. When I saw her recently she told me she had married a former inmate!

Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Debut Author's Book, The Hunted


I just wanted to let all my readers know about a blog tour featuring debut author, Mike Dellosso. In the midst of gearing up for the launch of his first book, Mike was diagnosed with colon cancer. Read the interview at the end of this post to see how he has risen to this challenge.


Mike Dellosso
THE HUNTED (rated 5 stars on Amazon)

A town’s deadly secret will drive one man to the edge of his faith…

After learning of the disappearance of his nephew, Joe Saunders returns to his childhood home of Dark Hills to aid in the search effort. When Caleb is found, badly mauled and clinging to life, Joe embarks on a mission to find the beast responsible. But the more Joe delves into the fabric of his old hometown, the more he realizes Dark Hills has a dark secret, shrouded for three generations in a deadly code of silence. As Joe unravels the truth behind a series of unexplained animal attacks, murder, and corruption at the highest level of law enforcement, he is led to a final showdown where he must entrust his very life into God's hands.


To read an excerpt of this book, just click on the link: Chapter One


If this whets your appetite, you can order a copy of Mike's book, by going directly to Amazon


If you'd like to read more about Mike and his road to publishing, here's an interview:

What do you do to pay the bills?
I’ve been a physical therapist assistant for 10 years.

Will you share a little bit about your family?
I’ve been married to my lovely and supportive wife, Jen, for 10 years. We’ve been blessed with three daughters ages 5, 6, and 8. All fun-loving, sweet-spirited, and of course always well-behaved (ahem).

What do you like to do when you’re not working, writing (which is work!), churching, or familysizing?
Read and fool around with my website. Oh, I also mow the lawn, trim the hedges, paint the porch, replace rotted boards, and all that other fun stuff homeowners do to pass the time away. Actually, I’m pretty boring (except when Toby Mac is in the CD player).

A full-time job, church involvement, family life, writing books: How do you do it all?
Very carefully. Seriously. God’s blessed me with time management skills and I make use of my time wisely. Of course, there’s the tendency to get over involved and that’s when I need to take a step back and re-evaluate what I’m doing. But careful management of time is key. Make the most of every minute.

Tell me about when you were diagnosed with cancer.
Yeah, cancer. Kind of a big thing. I was diagnosed on March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day. Here I was getting ready to launch into trying my hand at promoting my new book and in the middle of negotiating a contract for a second book when the doctor dropped the bomb: You have colon cancer.

Funny thing is, I don’t remember ordering colon cancer. Not part of my plans at all.

How has that diagnosis affected your writing?
How has it affected my writing? Well, immediately, it’s halted my writing. With the exception of daily journaling on my blog, I haven’t written a lick since being diagnosed. I love to write, it’s my passion, but this cancer thing trumps it. I took this diagnosis as a nudge from God that I need to set writing aside for a little while and just concentrate on the most important things: my relationship with Him and my relationship with my family. Sometimes it takes something like cancer to refocus you, to get you to evaluate your life and do a little re-prioritizing.

In the long run, I think the experience of traveling through this valley will only enhance my writing, give it more depth, more texture, more emotion and passion. I know firsthand what it’s like to traverse that Valley of the Shadow of Death, to question Why me?, to be scared of dying, not for dying’s sake but for my family’s sake, to live with a monster inside me that wants to kill me (hey, that gives me a great story idea), to be poked, prodded, scoped, and stuck, to live a life that revolves around the next test result or the next doctor’s appointment. I’ve been there now and I can incorporate those experiences into my stories, into the life of my characters. It’ll be interesting to see how my writing changes once I get back to it.

What is one thing your diagnosis has taught you?
One other thing I’ve learned is to fully rely on God, to willingly submit myself and put my life in His hands. And of course, this carries over into my writing as well. We writers never know where the next contract is coming from or how much the next royalty check will be for, or even how the next story will unfold, if there is a next story. We are constantly at His mercy, and I’m learning that’s a good place to be.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The Making of a Gentleman


I'm re-posting this entry, so that all my Amazon readers have a chance to view it.

Here's the cover of my next book, out in stores August.

This is the beginning of a new regency series (not part of my
Winter Is Past series). This begins the story of a brother and sister, Damien and Florence Hathaway. The Making of a Gentleman is Florence's story. It tells about her encounter with a prisoner from Newgate who narrowly escapes the hangman's noose.

Right now, I'm finishing her brother's story, A Bride of Honor. Damien Hathaway is a shy curate with a slight disability which makes him sure no woman will fall in love with him, much less a young lady of the London ton.

To pre-order The Making of a Gentleman, click here

Friday, May 23, 2008

The Making of a Gentleman


Here's the cover of my next book, out in stores August.

This is the beginning of a new regency series (not part of my
Winter Is Past series). This begins the story of a brother and sister, Damien and Florence Hathaway. The Making of a Gentleman is Florence's story. It tells about her encounter with a prisoner from Newgate who narrowly escapes the hangman's noose.

Right now, I'm finishing her brother's story, A Bride of Honor. Damien Hathaway is a shy curate with a slight disability which makes him sure no woman will fall in love with him, much less a young lady of the London ton.

To pre-order The Making of a Gentleman, click here

Friday, May 16, 2008

Paris in May



I'm in the process of rewriting my current manuscript, a process that I had dreaded because that first read-through can be a painful process. I hadn't read my manuscript since I'd started writing it, so I had no idea if what I had written would stink thoroughly. Was the pacing good? The characters' motivation? Was there anything salvageable?

Thank goodness, I've gotten halfway through the manuscript and my instincts tell me the story flows. I'm getting back into my hero and heroine's story, their angst and uncertainties. I'm rewriting, of course, tightening up things here and there; deleting unnecessary lines and paragraphs, but for the most part, I'm allowing their story to remain. The bones are good.

I've included a photo of a recent trip I took to Paris. Four days in Paris in May: bliss. The weather was perfect, the temperatures warm. The real tourist season hadn't started. The college students were all over the place. So many junior year abroad American and Canadian students wandering around the Left Bank. I was there twenty-nine years ago, rushing around from one end of the city to another going to classes at the different branches of the University of Paris including the Sorbonne. On this visit, I stayed with my former roommate. She met a Frenchman that year and came back to marry him after graduation.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Great Chat Yesterday on Writers At Play!


Many of us Love Inspired Historical and other Harlequin authors had a great day on the Writers at Play blog, where Editor Melissa Endlich offered tips to aspiring writers.
Congratulations to Jenny in Australia for winning a copy of my latest book, Hearts in the Highlands! Hope you enjoy it.

Due to this all-day chat, Writers at Play received over 3500 hits yesterday! A heartfelt thanks to Love Inspired Historical author Carla Capshaw for organizing this promotional blitz.

Congratulations also to Renee and Teresa who also recently won copies of my books on my guest interview over at Linda Ford's blog!

Monday, April 21, 2008

TALK TO AN EDITOR & GET AN INSIDE LOOK AT ROMANCE PUBLISHING

Mark your calendar and don't miss a unique opportunity to chat about romance publishing or the editing process with acquiring Steeple Hill editor, Melissa Endlich. For loads of editor insights into all the Harlequin lines, book giveaways and fun, visit: Writers At Play

I'll be dropping in along with lots of other Love Inspired Historical authors. There'll be drawings for our books if you leave a comment. There'll also be a grand prize.

If you are interested in writing your own romance, this is your opportunity to ask an editor what she looks for in a manuscript.
When: Thursday - May 1, 2008
Who: Steeple Hill Editor Melissa Endlich & loads of Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historical authors
Time: All day
See you there!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Spring


Don't you just love daffodils?
There are masses of them planted along the roadsides here in Almere, the Netherlands. Right now, they're at their peak.

Grape hyacinths with their little purple clusters are also in full bloom at the moment.

I think my stories are influenced by the seasons I write them in. My current WIP begins in spring but is now inching into summer. These nice (rare) sunny days we're enjoying this week are certainly helping.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Congratulations on book drawing!

Congratulations to Renee & Debby for winning copies of my latest books on fellow author, Linda Ford's, blog.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Scavenger Hunt Resumed!

Our February Scavenger Hunt--and a chance to win one of the 6 autographed books below--will officially end this Friday, April 11 at 3 p.m. EST. So, you still have a chance to enter!

Playing is easy. Get the list of clues at www.ChristianReviewofBooks.com. Then visit the links below to learn about the authors and their books—you’ll find the answers to the clues in the Q&A posted there! Once you have all 18 answers, send an email to review@ChristianReviewofBooks.com to be entered to win:

Six autographed books!

A Whisper of Freedom by Tricia Goyer

The Lady of Milkweed Manor by Julie Klassen

A Passion Most Pure by Julie Lessman

The Sovereign’s Daughter by Susan K. Downs & Susan May Warren

The Rogue’s Redemption by Ruth Axtell Morren

On Sparrow Hill by Maureen Lang

***

My own story:

Tell us a little about your road to publication.

It was a long road! I started to write a historical romance (the kind of book I liked to read) way back in my 20s with a college friend. The writing team kind of petered out, but I kept writing and completed the manuscript. About that time, I discovered RWA and began learning the craft. Needless to say, that first manuscript was rejected, but my second placed in the 1994 Golden Heart contest. I was ecstatic, thinking this is it!

By that time, my husband I had moved overseas to Holland and begun a family. I felt really out of the loop, not being able to join writers’ groups or have critique partners. But I kept plugging away, between having babies, and managed to complete 3 manuscripts. Which kept getting rejected!

Six years after we’d moved to Holland, we decided to move back to the U.S. The Lord also started dealing with me then on a spiritual level. I began developing a deeper hunger for Him and gradually began receiving a conviction to write Christian romances.

We moved to Maine, and I wrote my first full-length inspirational historical romance. In the meantime, however, the Lord was asking something of me far more difficult than just writing Christian fiction.

Was I willing to put my writing on the “altar,” and hand this desire of mine completely over to Him, even if it meant never pursuing publication again? I received a clear answer to put aside all writing, even researching ideas, for two years.

At the end of those two years, though, I woke up with a dream, which became the inspiration for my first published book, Winter Is Past. After researching and writing that historical romance, which took another 2 years, and entering it in a couple of contests, I got a call from the conference coordinator of the second contest, telling me Melissa Endlich, the judge, was interested in seeing the entire manuscript because she thought it might fit the new line of women’s fiction they were starting up.

A few weeks later, I was offered a 3-book contract, and the rest is history!

Where did you get the idea for this book?

While I was writing the book before it, Dawn in my Heart, I had a bad guy. In one of the last scenes of the book, I suddenly realized this guy, Garrit, whom I hadn’t paid much attention to beforehand, other than making him a schmuck, was redeemable. I suddenly wanted to tell his story.

Visit these sites for the rest of the clues!

www.triciagoyer.blogspot.com
www.novelinspirations.com/blog
www.julielessman.com
http://sovereignsdaughter.blogspot.com
http://ruthaxtellmorren.blogspot.com
www.maureenlang.com

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Chance to Win Either of My Latest Books!



Fellow Love Inspired Historical author, Linda Ford, recently interviewed me and posted it on her blog http://www.lindaford.org/blog/

Stop by and enter a comment and you might win a copy of either The Rogue's Redemption, my single title regency, or Hearts in the Highlands, my first Love Inspired Historical which is just out this month.

Hurry on over; the drawing is for Wed. April 9!

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

line edits

Here's a bit of spring from my front door in the Netherlands.

Today I finished a line edit of my Oct. 08 release, A Man Most Worthy, my second Love Inspired Historical. I finished this manuscript just before Christmas after laboring over the ending. Now, a few months later, and with my wonderful editor's suggestions (more for the beginning than for the ending), I read it over, and wonder of wonders, it actually works. Methinks, it's not bad! A little more tweaking, the addition of an epilogue, and I've sent it in.
Now, I have to return to the galleys of my Aug. book and then back to my current WIP. I've left that hero and heroine at a very critical moment.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Harlequin's 100,000 Book Challenge

Harlequin Enterprises has a wonderful challenge going on right now. They are getting their eHarlequin Community to read 100,000 Books this year to benefit the National Center for Family Literacy. If they achieve their goal, they’ll be donating the equivalent number of books to this charity who have taken on the challenge to find solutions to the literacy crisis. This is equivalent to a $700,000 donation that will benefit women and their families and impact lives by helping to bring the love of reading home.

If you'd like to join in on this challenge, just take a few minutes to register at eHarlequin.com. No purchase is required. All you need to do is post a short review of each book you've read. That’s it! Read a book and create a book review and you’ve added one more book to the total. If 3,000 authors read 10 books each, then that's 30,000 books! So far, the tally stands at 6,500 books. You can participate individually or in teams by adding a team name to the tag list associated with your book review. It’s also a great opportunity to get to know what some of our most engaged and avid readers think and feel about the books you write.

All Harlequin requires is that 50% of the books read be published by Harlequin. That leaves a lot of selection, as they have dozens of imprints from NY Times bestsellers on their MIRA and HQN imprints to inspirational fiction to even non-fiction, their newest acquisitions.

If you read only ONE book this year, make it count!

Here is the link to the challenge rules and introduction.


Thursday, March 27, 2008

Edits, proofs, first drafts

I had just reached page 300 in the first draft of my current book when the UPS man rang my doorbell. A nice fat package with the galleys for my Aug.08 book for final proofing. I put aside my current WIP to begin reading a story I'd written about a year and a half ago, and which I'd edited for the final time about a month and a half ago. This will be the last time I read it before I see it again as a real book.

I had to wrench my thoughts from my current hero and heroine and get back into this other couple. Then this morning the doorbell goes again, and what? The UPS man again? Another fat package with a manuscript. This was my Oct.08 book, written about a year ago. My editor has just line-edited it, and now it's my turn to go over her changes and suggestions and do any final editing of my own, before seeing it as a galley.

By this afternoon, I was knee-deep (?) in the trials and tribulations of yet another hero and heroine.

I remember once reading an interview of an author who said he was usually working on about three writing projects at a time; he'd put one down and take up the other. I shook my head thinking at the time, I could never get out of my current story and into another at the drop of the hat like that...

Well, I guess you never really know till you try.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Getting there

Almost to the three-quarter point of my current wip. Sometimes it feels like slogging; at others there's still a spark of inspiration. Mainly, just steady jogging along; getting words down; making progress, going from Point A to B to C to M to N to O, knowing this and this needs to happen before the climax, although not always quite sure what form it's going to take.

No idea what works and what doesn't at this point. That'll be to sort out later when I read and begin revising.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Palm Sunday

A rainy Palm Sunday here in the Netherlands.
I preached my first sermon last Sunday in church. I was surprised when our pastor asked me if I'd like to bring forth the Word some Sunday. He gave me the sermon topic and some pointers and commentaries.
I decided to do it, even though I'm not a public speaker, because I never like to refuse to do anything in the Lord's work. You never know when He is opening a new door, a new opportunity in some fashion. Not that I'm thinking of taking up preaching, but if it got me to delve deeper into the Word, then it was a good thing.
I don't know if I liked the experience. I wasn't very comfortable throughout it, and I'll never know on this earth how much good it did, or were people bored to tears (I did see a few with closed eyes), but I guess that doesn't really matter.
This Sunday, our pastor preached. Later, when I was standing at the front with the pastor's wife, for anyone who cared to come up for prayer, an Iranian woman came up. We prayed then I went back to my seat to collect my things. She came up to me to thank me, touched by the prayer. We got to talking and exchanged emails. It was neat to think how the Lord brought us together. She will go back to her country and we might continue our exchange.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Some Interesting New Titles

You might want to check out some of these new releases:

Sweet Caroline

By Rachel Hauck

When a Southern waitress inherits the Lowcountry cafe where she works,
she suddenly has to balance more than just her next food order.

Caroline Sweeney has always done the right thing--the responsible,
dependable thing--unlike her mother who abandoned her family. But when
her best friend challenges her to accept an exciting job adventure in
Barcelona, Spain, Caroline says "yes" to destiny.

Then, without warning, ownership of the run-down cafe where she's been
waitressing falls right into Caroline's lap. While she's trying to
determine the cafe's future, handsome Deputy Sherriff J.D. Rand captures
Caroline's heart.

But when her first love, Mitch O'Neal, comes back to town, fresh from
the heat of his newly-found fame as a country music singer in Nashville,
Caroline must make some hard choices about love and the pursuit of the
sweet life.

"Hauck's adorable novel contains the multi-layered characters
readers have come to expect from her books. The enjoyable story and
unpredictable ending entertains and offers much to think about." -
4.5 Stars, Melissa Parcel, Romantic Times Book Club

Every Secret Thing

by Ann Tatlock

Every Secret Thing is the story of a woman who returns home after many
years away. Beth Gunnar hasn't lived in Delaware since high school
graduation, but when she's offered a teaching job at Seaton
Preparatory School--her alma mater--she accepts. Once there, she's
faced with an unresolved loss that she and her friends experienced
during their senior year. She realizes that the suicide of a favorite
teacher has haunted her all her life, and she wants to find out the
truth about what happened that night. There's a little bit of
mystery and a little bit of romance, and ultimately it's a story of
faith and reconciliation.

"Intelligent, introspective, and beautifully, hauntingly
written…."

- Tom Morrisey, author of In High Place

Friday, February 22, 2008

Halfway Point! Yippee!

Yesterday, I reached the halfway point in my current WIP. Ahead of schedule! What a good feeling. I've been whipping along, since I've had a lot of alone time in the last couple of weeks. Amazing what a difference that makes.

I've also given myself the freedom to write garbage. I told myself, relax, this is only the first draft. Just let the words flow, write what comes into your head, there'll be time enough later to sort out the chaff from the wheat.

I've also realized with this manuscript number, let's see...14th (not all published) that this is the most special time of my story, when it's the first time for my characters & me. I used to think the 2nd or 3rd rewrite was the best time to enjoy my characters. Their most obvious flaws were being smoothed out by then. By the time I get the published book, my heart is into other characters and I've read their story once too often in final edits & proofings to enjoy it as I once did.

But with my current manuscript, I'm beginning to understand that this virgin territory I'm treading is the most special time. The hero & heroine's words are being spoken for the first time. Their angst is my angst. Ohhhh. Will he win her? Will she succeed in breaking down those emotional barriers he's built up???

Stay tuned.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Contest to Resume

Just to let you know, we will resume our Scavenger Hunt at a later date (hopefully, in a week or so). Our coordinator just had a baby, so has her hands a little full right now!
Blessings to Mommy & son.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

It’s a Historical Scavenger Hunt!



Playing is easy. Get the list of clues at www.ChristianReviewofBooks.com. Then visit the links below to learn about the authors and their books—you’ll find the answers to the clues in the Q&A posted there! Once you have all 18 answers, send an email to review@ChristianReviewofBooks.com to be entered to win:

Six autographed books!

A Whisper of Freedom by Tricia Goyer

The Lady of Milkweed Manor by Julie Klassen

A Passion Most Pure by Julie Lessman

The Sovereign’s Daughter by Susan K. Downs & Susan May Warren

The Rogue’s Redemption by Ruth Axtell Morren

On Sparrow Hill by Maureen Lang

***

My own story:

Tell us a little about your road to publication.

It was a long road! I started to write a historical romance (the kind of book I liked to read) way back in my 20s with a college friend. The writing team kind of petered out, but I kept writing and completed the manuscript. About that time, I discovered RWA and began learning the craft. Needless to say, that first manuscript was rejected, but my second placed in the 1994 Golden Heart contest. I was ecstatic, thinking this is it!

By that time, my husband I had moved overseas to Holland and begun a family. I felt really out of the loop, not being able to join writers’ groups or have critique partners. But I kept plugging away, between having babies, and managed to complete 3 manuscripts. Which kept getting rejected!

Six years after we’d moved to Holland, we decided to move back to the U.S. The Lord also started dealing with me then on a spiritual level. I began developing a deeper hunger for Him and gradually began receiving a conviction to write Christian romances.

We moved to Maine, and I wrote my first full-length inspirational historical romance. In the meantime, however, the Lord was asking something of me far more difficult than just writing Christian fiction.

Was I willing to put my writing on the “altar,” and hand this desire of mine completely over to Him, even if it meant never pursuing publication again? I received a clear answer to put aside all writing, even researching ideas, for two years.

At the end of those two years, though, I woke up with a dream, which became the inspiration for my first published book, Winter Is Past. After researching and writing that historical romance, which took another 2 years, and entering it in a couple of contests, I got a call from the conference coordinator of the second contest, telling me Melissa Endlich, the judge, was interested in seeing the entire manuscript because she thought it might fit the new line of women’s fiction they were starting up.

A few weeks later, I was offered a 3-book contract, and the rest is history!

Where did you get the idea for this book?

While I was writing the book before it, Dawn in my Heart, I had a bad guy. In one of the last scenes of the book, I suddenly realized this guy, Garrit, whom I hadn’t paid much attention to beforehand, other than making him a schmuck, was redeemable. I suddenly wanted to tell his story.

Visit these sites for the rest of the clues!

www.triciagoyer.blogspot.com
www.novelinspirations.com/blog
www.julielessman.com
http://sovereignsdaughter.blogspot.com
http://ruthaxtellmorren.blogspot.com
www.maureenlang.com

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Beginnings

Beginning a new story...dipping one's toe into that uncharted water...

This time it's a new regency series. I use the term 'series' loosely, since my stories haven't really been series. I just frequently end up becoming interested in a secondary character and then have to go on and tell his or her story in another book.

So far, for this series, I only have two books in mind, one for the sister, and one for the brother. I've already turned in the sister's story, which is due out this coming August. Notes on that are in earlier posts; it's entitled The Making of a Genleman. The manuscript I'm just beginning this month is the brother's story; he's a curate in an outlying parish of London in 1815. I've tentatively entitled the story A Man After God's Heart, but that's only a working title, and I won't be surprised if it changes.

The wonderful thing about this story is that I already know pretty much where it's going. The Lord has given me a well-mapped out plot and fully-formed characters. Glory be! It can make all the difference in writing.

Still, there'll be blood, sweat and tears before it's through.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Debut of new Steeple Hill line

It's kind of exciting to be part of the debut of a new line of fiction, in this case, Steeple Hill's new series of historicals: Love Inspired Historicals. Their previous Love Inspired lines (Love Inspired contemporaries & Love Inspired Suspense) have been so successful, that they are now taking the plunge and publishing a line of two titles per month of historical romances.

Time periods and storylines in the first few titles run the gamut from medieval to World War II. My own story, Hearts in the Highlands, is a Victorian setting, a time period which I love. This story takes place in London and in the Scottish Highlands. A woman who thinks she is safely a spinster and beyond all foolish romantic ideas has another think coming when she meets handsome Reid Gallagher, fresh from the archeological digs of Egypt. Imagine a combination of Indiana Jones & Denys Finch-Hatton (of Out of Africa fame).

I love the cover the Steeple Hill art department came up with for this story. It fits soooo well! The Scottish Highlands scene accurately portrays one of the scenes in the books, and the hero and heroine are perfect!

The line officially debuts in February with books by veteran authors Catherine Palmer and Jillian Hart. As part of the promotion, Steeple Hill is hosting a forum featuring LIH authors and editors. Come join us this month at www.eharlequin.com.