If you're a frequent visitor here, you've heard me make my predictions about two 2011 Golden Heart Regency Finalists, Anne Barton and Valerie Bowman. I've felt really sure that Anne's THE PROPER MISS'S GUIDE TO BAD BEHAVIOR and Valerie's SECRETS OF A WEDDING NIGHT were
both going to sell quickly (though I wasn't sure which of the two would win the Golden Heart...turns out it was Anne!)
Well,
the good news has officially arrived: THE PROPER MISS'S GUIDE TO BAD BEHAVIOR sold in a two-book deal to Grand Central Forever
(which is also publishing the LAST CHANCE series by Ruby Sister Hope Ramsay) and SECRETS OF A WEDDING NIGHT has sold in a three-book deal to St. Martin's Press (home of Ruby Sister Darynda Jones' FIRST GRAVE series...book two of which is out in just a few weeks, SQUEE!!!)
Congrats, Anne and Valerie!! Can't
wait to see your books on the shelves!!
Happy reports have come in from the Ruby Slippered Sisters who attended Nationals last week: including Ruby Sister Anne Barton's win in the Golden Heart Regency category with
THE PROPER MISS'S GUIDE TO IMPROPER BEHAVIOR! (I'm beyond delighted for her, though I feel a bit like last year's Miss America
handing over the crown.) The Rubies also got many compliments about our group blog from the many folks who read it and draw
encouragement from it regularly, even if they don't leave comments. Sounds like we're a major source of inspiration in the
Romance community, and that's been our goal all along!
My little sis, Eileen Emerson, a finalist in the Beau Monde's
Royal Ascot got THREE (yes, THREE) requests for the full for her first novel, A WHISPER TO THE WILD.
My friend
Rachael Herron got the news that Amazon has picked her latest, the utterly charming HOW TO KNIT A HEART BACK HOME as one of their Top Ten
Romances of 2011 so far:http://amzn.to/khQzCj Woot!
And the fantabulous Courtney Milan has been SMOKIN' the charts with her richly emotional, beautifully written self-e-pubbed novella, UNLOCKED. She learned during
Nationals that it was a freakin' BESTSELLER. (Check out the store rankings at the Kindle Store. She debuted somewhere
around #100, and is currently at #21, which is PHENOMENAL!!!) Couldn't happen to a more deserving writer. You can read
her account of the latest at her blog, but I have to quote this from her latest post, in which she talks about the uncertainties
she felt while prepared to take the plunge:
"Every time I wondered what to do, I consulted my mantra: I needed
to do what I thought would be best for my readers, because I believed if I took care of them, they would take care of me.
And my readers did. You read my book. You recommended it to friends. You wrote reviews and talked about it on Twitter.
You broke my wildest expectations for the novella in pieces.
There were a handful of perfect storms that have taken
place over the last few weeks–awesome reviews, incredible word of mouth, e-mails from Amazon. Every time I think my
expectations can’t get any wilder, wild outdoes itself.
So here’s something I never imagined would happen,
not even in my wildest most shameful author wet dreams of success: Unlocked is at #36 on the USA Today list, #6
on the New York Times ebook bestseller list, and #19 on the New York Times combined Print and E-book bestseller list (even
though there is no print edition, and no, I don’t understand that either)."
I feel like doing cartwheels
for her!!!
And one more item of good news (perhaps the best of all for me personally!): I'm staying at a lovely little
bayside house with extended family, and have my sister and CP Eileen right here beside me having our own mini-writers'-retreat
while our darling spouses take the hordes of small children fishing. WOO-HOO!!!
