Among Friends

by Anna Campbell

One of the nicest parts of having joined the fraternity (well, actually it's mainly a sorority!) of romance writers is the wonderful, wonderful friends I've made on the way. This industry really does have the nicest people in it.

One of my faves is my critique partner Annie West who writes the most luscious Harlequin Presents you've ever read. Seriously, grab one of her books if you haven't read them. They're passionate and emotional and really, REALLY delicious! Her latest, FORGOTTEN MISTRESS, SECRET LOVE-CHILD, recently hit the USA Today bestseller list and I'm not at all surprised!

Annie and I used to live a couple of hours train ride from one another so we'd catch up probably once every six weeks or so. These days, I live in another State and it's a plane not a train ride away so our meetings have become much more infrequent.

Last month, Annie came up to visit me. I live on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, which sadly did NOT live up to its name although we had patches without rain. We also had whole slabs of pouring wet stuff from the sky!

Nonetheless we had a brilliant time. We talked current and future projects, we celebrated the successes of the last few months, we raved about some wonderful books we'd read in the interim, we caught up on each other's lives. We email all the time and talk on the phone quite often, but there's nothing to match a great face-to-face natter.

We have a tradition, established as something to look forward to when the two of us were unpublished, that the person who's had a book published takes the other out to lunch. It was Annie's turn to take me out to celebrate and we went to a new restaurant in my local area called La Dolce Vita. By the way, look at the wet street behind that photo of me and you'll see I'm not exaggerating about it bucketing down! Brilliant and wonderful, friendly service. With a sea view included. What more could a pair of slightly tipsy authors want? Yes, bubbly ALWAYS features!

We both had the same main course - zucchini flowers stuffed with cheese and crab meat. Yum! Here's a photo. It's a work of art, isn't it?

Annie is currently running a great Reading Treasure contest with multiple prizes, including a signed copy of my 2010 Golden Quill winner, CAPTIVE OF SIN. Check it out here: http://www.annie-west.com/contest.html

Another wonderful person in the romance world is Brenda Novak who runs a mind-bogglingly huge auction every May to raise funds for research into a cure for juvenile diabetes.

Brenda's auction started on 1st May and runs all month and there's an amazing selection of prizes there for readers and writers - and well, just about anyone! As always, I've donated a couple of things (just click on the description and it will take you straight to the page of the auction):

Detailed critique of a partial manuscript

Signed trade paperbacks of CLAIMING THE COURTESAN and UNTOUCHED

Signed trade paperbacks of CAPTIVE OF SIN and MY RECKLESS SURRENDER

Signed copy of CLAIMING THE COURTESAN

Signed copy of UNTOUCHED

I've also contributed to the Romance Bandits Book Bonanza! That's an amazing prize!

This is a great cause! So why not have a bid? Brenda wants to crack $1 million raised this year.

Statements about Stately Homes!

by Anna Campbell

Hey, check out the fabulous new cover for the Australian trade paperback edition of MY RECKLESS SURRENDER which goes on sale in June. Isn't that just delicious?

One of the things I love (yeah, all right, he's so handsome, I definitely love him, but that's kinda taken as a given, snort!) is that the house plays such a prominent part in the picture. In MY RECKLESS SURRENDER, Cranston Abbey where the heroine Diana grew up as the bailiff's daughter is like another character.

My vision of Cranston Abbey, the family seat of the Marquesses of Burnley, was more baroque and formal than the charming stone manor on this cover. That charming stone manor is more like Penrhyn, the house in CAPTIVE OF SIN with its history of smuggling and Elizabethan pirates and windows opening onto the ocean.

In my mind, Cranston Abbey is more like Chatsworth in Derbyshire, pictured here with its spectacular fountain. Or in setting, like Blenheim Palace which I must say for all its magnificence, was one of the most offputting stately homes I've ever visited. It's terrifically interesting but it's cold and so big, you can't really picture anyone living there and being happy. Given the history of some of the past residents, like the beautiful Consuelo Vanderbilt who became Duchess of Marlborough in 1895, that was definitely true.

The grounds of Blenheim are glorious, just like the grounds of my fictional Cranston Abbey. Here's an aerial view of that wonderful landscape, designed by Capability Brown.

One of the fun things about creating these fictional stately homes is that you get to steal bits from all over. Inspirations for the abbey's interior were the famous Heaven Room and Hell Staircase from Burghley House. I wanted that feeling of oppressive magnificence. I mean, look at this! I think it would be a bit much to face first thing in the morning before I'd had my cup of tea! And the idea of stumbling down this when I'd imbibed a little too much claret gives me the willies!

I love 'house' stories. A few that spring to mind are Manderley in REBECCA and Thornfield in JANE EYRE and of course, Wuthering Heights. The list goes on and on. Pemberley in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. Tara in GONE WITH THE WIND.

It was such fun writing the house in CAPTIVE OF SIN and a different sort of fun (because Cranston Abbey isn't altogether a benign influence in the story) with MY RECKLESS SURRENDER.

Oh, and don't forget I'm giving away an advance copy of MY RECKLESS SURRENDER in my website contest which closes at the end of April. The question is really easy! Check out the details here: http://www.annacampbell.info/contest.html

So do you like stories that feature old houses? Do you have any favorites?

My Reckless Surrender!

by Anna Campbell

It's always an exciting moment for me (and I suspect for all authors) when we see the final version of the cover for our next book. I know that's when everything becomes real for me - it's the moment when I think, yes, my story is going to be out there in the world very soon!

So it's with great pleasure that I share with you the cover for my June 2010 release MY RECKLESS SURRENDER.

Isn't it gorgeous? Really sensual and intriguing. Which is what I hope the book is as well! And that yellow really grabs the attention.

I love her pose, looking over her shoulder, as if daring the hero to come and get her, whatever the consequences. Hmm, that's like the story too! Needless to say, the hero can't resist her!

And I think you can see that very clearly when you open that cover and see this sexy stepback. They both look like they've surrendered very recklessly indeed!

Here's the blurb for MY RECKLESS SURRENDER:

Headlong into sin...

A well-practiced rake, weary of easy conquests and empty pleasures, Tarquin Vale, Earl of Ashcroft, knows women—and his every instinct warns him to beware of this one. Diana Carrick’s brazen overtures have thrown the haunted, sinfully handsome lord completely off his guard. Why, the exquisite temptress stated outright that she wishes to be his lover! But it is neither Diana’s boldness nor her beauty that intrigues him so—it is the innocence he senses behind her worldly mask.

Intent upon the seduction that will finally free her, Diana has set her sights on the notorious Ashcroft—never dreaming that there is much more to the enigmatic rogue than sin and deviltry. His kiss is bewitching, his caress intoxicating—and even the dangerous secret Diana must protect cannot shield her from Ashcroft’s dark allure.

Unwittingly yet most willingly, they are playing with fire. Now the fuse has been lit and there is no escape…except surrender.

You can find an excerpt on my website here. The book is already up for pre-order at Amazon.

So what books are you looking forward to reading in the next six months? I'm really looking forward to Madeline Hunter's new series and the new Christine Wells, SWEETEST LITTLE SIN, in May, among others. What about you?