Yesterday, Ruby Sister Hope Ramsay was blogging at blameitonthemuse.com about the appeal of Regency heroes.  I thought I'd share my comment here:

Ooh...Regency heroes.

For me, the #1 thing I love most about them is their intelligence and witty speech: they can speak in actual PARAGRAPHS, with layer upon layer of subtly nuanced irony, plus plenty of seductive wordplay. They do battle with speech--with their friends, with their enemies, with the heroines (sizzle!!). Sadly, that kind of verbal fluency is something too many modern "guys" have abandoned as unmanly. 

Other than that, I like the duality of the Regency period: an unbending sense of honor mixed with a louche self-indulgence in physical pleasure; elegance on the ballroom floor paired with a pure joy in fisticuffs; pristine starched neckcloths paired with leather boots. Yum!!

Plus the hair...the hair is good!!

The first round of the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood's Make It Golden Contest has been judged, and the TOP TEN finalists are listed on the blog!  Stop by today to see the expanded 250-word entries as finalists compete for the Grand Prize. 

It's a hoot!  Check it out at rubyslipperedsisterhood.com. 

This is the big day!  We're celebrating the Ruby Blog-O-Versary with virtual balloons and champagne and lots and lots of birthday prize giveaways, including no less than SEVEN books going out to lucky commenters, plus a $20 Barnes & Noble e-gift-certificate.

AND you can enter the Make It Golden Contest with your fabulous romance novel first line!  (See rules below). More fabulous prizes will go the three final-round winners...and the Grand Prize is having your 2011 Golden Heart entry fee PAID by the Rubies! Grab your digital party hat, and join the fun at rubyslipperedsisterhood.com!  

The Ruby Slippered Sisterhood's blog is about to celebrate its first birthday!!  Hard to believe, but we've been posting there every weekday for a year.

In honor of that milestone, we're having a contest, Make It Golden. If you win the Grand Prize, we pay your GOLDEN HEART 2011 ENTRY FEE!!! 

To enter, stop by the Ruby blog on Tuesday September 21, and leave the first line of your romance manuscript as a comment.

The Rubies will choose TEN finalists.  On Sept 27, those finalists will return to the blog to post expanded entries: the first 250 words of their manuscripts. 

The Rubies will vote, and the TOP THREE win prizes.  First place gets the GH entry fee, second gets a bookstore gift certificate, and third gets a ruby slipper journal. 

I can't wait to see the first lines!  NO FEE to enter.  First 100 entries on Sept 21 qualify.  Be brave, be bold--stop over and sign up!

Speaking of contest news:  I just learned this morning that I've doubled finaled in Reveal Your Inner Vixen--which, incidentally, is the Contest Name I Love Most.  

The cool thing about this one is that you can submit a sensual-tension-filled scene from ANYWHERE in your book, and it just so happens i submitted Chapter 3 from A Most Improper Gentleman and Chapter 3 from The Devil May Care, which are chapters that don't usually get feedback from contests. So nice to know they still did well. If you'll forgive a moment of complete immodesty (not the sensual-tension-filled sort of immodesty, the OTHER kind of immodesty), this means that Gentleman has finaled in every contest it's been entered in!  

You can actually read Chapter 3 of Devil if you look under the first Excerpt link over on the left, and scroll down a bit.  Chapter 3 of Gentleman is still under wraps and can only be seen if you offer me your first-born child (or maybe chocolate.) Actually, on second thought, keep your first-born child, though I'd welcome a quick cuddle if he or she is still a chubby sweet baby--my own two semi-grown kids create plenty of mess and chaos around my house, miraculous and wonderful and joy-bringing as they are. (Chocolate still welcome, of course.)