A Worthy Cause

That worthy cause would be the Brenda Novak Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research.  Brenda, a  New York Times best-selling author of romantic suspense, runs this auction every year in honor of her youngest son, who has Type 1 Diabetes.  To date, the auction has raised over a million dollars, cumulative, which is phenomenal!  The auction is a registered charity so donations are tax deductible.

Bidding in the auction is a wonderful thing to do in and of itself, but there are also some fabulous items up for bid that are very exciting for readers.  How about coveted Advanced Reader Copies (ARCS) of books by authors like Loretta Chase and Kelley Armstrong?  Or how about a set of autographed books from the wonderful Kieran Kramer?  You really need to check out all the fabulous items, including gorgeous jewelry, and awesome gift baskets by authors like Yasmine Galenorn.

And there’s also lots for you aspiring romance writers out there, including critiques from agents and editors like Laura Bradford, and authors like the fantastic Anna Campbell.

I’ve also donated a critique to Brenda’s auction, and you can bid on it here.  Not to toot my own horn, but I’m really good at this critique stuff!  In fact, last year’s winner of my bid went on to final in this year’s Golden Heart Contest, the prestigious Romance Writers of America award for unpublished authors.

So, what are you waiting for?  Get online and start bidding!

Regency Friday Fun & Awesome Links

I’m guest-blogging today at Book Lovers Inc, talking about why I love the Regency period and giving away a copy of my new anthology, An Invitation To Sin. Stop by and join the fun!  I’ll also be at the Romantic Times blog later today, appearing with the other authors of Sin: Jo Beverley, Sally MacKenzie, and Kaitlin O’Riley.  It’s sure to be a great interview with a swell group of romance writers.  You don’t want to miss it!

As you can imagine, historical romance writers tend to be research geeks.  I have several blogs and websites I visit when looking for just the right bit of research, but two of my favorites are Two Nerdy History Girls and Patrick Baty. Patrick  runs a family paint business called Papers and Paints in Chelsea, London.  He’s an expert in the use of paint and color in historical buildings and has worked in some of the finest structures in England.  Although he specializes in the Georgian era, he’s consulted on projects as diverse as a Tudor garden and a 1950’s concert hall.  His work is simply fantastic and really fun to read about.  Patrick always includes lovely, lush photographs in his blogs, so have a look.

The Two Nerdy History Girls are Loretta Chase and Susan Holloway Scott.  Loretta writes Regency-set historical romance, and is one of my favorite writers of, well, anything.  And Susan writes wonderful historical fiction set in the time of Charles II.  These women know their history inside and out and talk about it in a very down-to-earth, entertaining way, bringing their respective periods to life.  Take my word for it–you’ll love this blog!

I’m heading over to my guest blogs, now.  Hope to see you there!

Breaking Out Of The Box

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that I read a lot of historical romance novels.  I love the genre, of course, and have ever since my big sister introduced me to the delights of Georgette Heyer when I was just a tween.  And there are so many historical romance writers to love, monster talents like Loretta Chase, Teresa Medeiros, and Eloisa James, not to mention all the newer talent like Anna Campbell and Meredith Duran. Their books are marvelous reads and, as a writer, I always learn from them.

But sometimes, as both a writer and reader, I need to break out of the box.  It’s important to cross-pollinate ideas and themes – to not get stuck in the rut of doing the same thing over and over again.  I do that by reading other romance sub-genres, other types of fiction, and lots of history.  In doing so, I become a better writer and, I think, a more thoughtful person.

Two new-to-me authors that I’ve just discovered are Kelly Hunter and Meljean Brook.  I recently read a book by Hunter called Red-Hot Renegade, put out by Mills and Boon.

Hunter is really, really good.  Her writing is smart, sexy, and well-crafted, with surprising turns of phrase that, as  an author, had me seething with appreciative envy.  Her characters are engaging and sympathetic, and the emotion is intensely and movingly portrayed.  This book is category length, but Hunter packs a big punch into a shorter book.

Meljean Brook’s The Iron Duke made it onto many best book lists of 2010, and rightly so.  It’s a phenomenally creative story that took the Steampunk genre by storm.  One of the things that first attracted me to the book was the riff on the Duke of Wellington’s nickname, the Iron Duke.  When Wellington was Prime Minister, he went through a period of extreme unpopularity.  His house was the target of window-smashers, which compelled him to have iron shutters installed to protect the glass.  In the case of Brook’s hero, the Iron Duke actually has iron in his bones.  That’s just one of the many cool details in the hugely imaginative and thought-provoking alternate reality that Brook creates.  If someone were to lock me in a dungeon and force me to name the best book I read last year, it would probably have to be The Iron Duke. It’s that smart, that thoughtful, and that damn enjoyable.

So, anybody else read something outside her usual box, lately?  Discovered any new-to-you authors that you want to share?

Regency Friday Fun and Giveaway!

One of the best things about writing historical romance is that I get to do research about the clothing of the period.  By the strictest definition, the Regency period coincided with the tenure of the Prince of Wales as Regent while his father (George III) was deemed unfit to rule.  But in terms of cultural and social definitions, most of us recognize the Regency as spanning the years between the 1790’s all the way up to 1830. Fashions changed pretty drastically during that time and there’s lots of research fun to be had when setting a book during the Regency.

I stumbled across a very entertaining website that allows you to dress up your Regency hero and heroine like paper dolls.  There’s everything from undergarments to accessories, including a gentleman’s pistol and a lovely bouquet of flowers to give to his latest flirt.

Two other great stops on the web to learn about clothing of the Regency period are Candice Hern’s lovely and hugely informative website and Loretta Chase’s Two Nerdy History Girls blog, which she writes with historical fiction author, Susan Holloway Scott. If you love the Regency period as much as I do, I guarantee you’ll really enjoy following both Candice and Loretta.

So, what’s your favorite historical period for clothing?  Is it the Regency period with it’s beautiful, flowing dresses, the Tudor and Elizabethan eras with dresses that were more like works of art, or do you love the changing fashions of the Victorian Age?  One commenter will win a copy of my novella in the upcoming anthology, An Invitation To Sin.