Reader Reviews - Lee Hyat

I have great news! Susan Mallery hit the NYT list at #20 with SWEET TALK, the first book in her fabulous Bakery Series! YAY Susan!!

If you've got sisters (or even close cousins) this is a series you've got to read. I know it's totally biased coming from me (after all, she's a client!) but honestly, if you enjoy contemporary romance and you pick up these books, you'll have a good time reading them.

Is there anything sweeter than a first love?

Don’t ask Claire Keyes. The twenty-eight-year old piano prodigy has never had a regular boyfriend, much less a real romance. Her music career has left little room for friends or family — which is just part of the reason she’s estranged from her two sisters.
But now Nicole is sick, and Jesse is AWOL. Despite the fact that Claire can’t boil water, she’s determined to play caretaker. Connecting with her sisters tops her to-do list….along with falling in love, or at least in lust, for the first time.

Ambitious? Maybe. But a girl’s gotta dream. And ruggedly sexy Wyatt is a dream come true. Although he keeps telling himself that he and Claire come from entirely different worlds, he lights up hotter than a bakery oven whenever Claire is near. If this keeps up, she just might sweet-talk him into her bed….and her life.


So, the real reason for this post.... If you've got a blog and you think you'd like to read and review this book on your blog, I'd like to send you an advance reading copy.

Here's how you can qualify -

Send me an email with your full name and mailing address
Please include a link to your blog so I can check it out.
If your name is chosen, you'll receive a arc for SWEET TALK.
If you can write a post about the book on your blog within 3 weeks of receiving it and send me a link to the review, I'll put your name down to receive future titles for review as well, (while supplies last) if you're inerested!

If you've already read the book or you want to read the book, you're welcome to comment here -- but just so we're clear, I'll only be picking names from the emails I receive. :)


Thanks!
Lee

Christine Rimmer says, "Yay, It's Plot Group Time!"

Hi all!

I'm writing this ahead of time as I'm at plot group on my Tote Bags day.

That's me at left, all dressed up during Romance Writer's of America's conference a couple of years ago. I post this pic as I want you to know it's nothing like the way I look at plot group--which is one of the may wondrous things about this twice-yearly event. Everything we wear is strictly casual. No pearls or little black dresses allowed.

By "we" I mean moi and fellow-authors and friends, Kate Carlisle, Maureen Child, Susan Mallery and Terry Southwick. We meet in Las Vegas in September and January. Our plot group is the brainchild of Susan Mallery, who's been plotting this way since she started writing romance fifteen years ago. Over a hundred books later...yep. She's still doin' it.

Because it works. I, a totally independent non-plot-group, non-critique-group writer for twenty years, will attest to the genius of this method. I love it. Susan had to club me over the head and drag me there the first time--okay, I exaggerate. But there was some nagging on her part. And some mocking of my totally ridiculous excuses, as well. But she only had to do that once. Since then, she couldn't get rid of me if she tried.

The method: Each of us brings material to plot two books. Each day of plot group, we do four books--two before and two after lunch. Sessions are an hour to 90 minutes long, depending on how it goes. We double-tape each session. During the session, it's all about the book being plotted. We make an effort not to talk over each other and to be guided by the one whose book we're plotting. It's fast and furious and you have to work hard to stay in the game and on the story. Amazing. Every time, I head for home with the basics I need to write the proposals for two books. It's a dream come true, having four brilliant, knowledgeable, talented brains at my disposal. Mwahaha!

So yes, the work is exciting and such fun. But there are other kinds of fun at plot group, too. Susan always leaves room for plenty of down time. There's eating out every meal. What's not to like about that? And there are cocktails in the evening, totally deserved after a great day of work. There's gaming, if that's your thing. There are bondy moments and alone moments. One of my greatest pleasures at plot group is having a whole room to myself with no one to please but me. I watch movies the DH has no interest in, spend hours tuned to Lifetime. Oh, yes! I also love the gym at the resort/hotel we always go to. I get up early and exercise. True,my plotmates have been known to scoff at the idea that I'm pumping iron when I could be resting in my room with a latte and the morning news. But hey, it's my downtime and I can use it as I please!

Oh, and this time we have some special events to celebrate. Kate has just sold her first book to NAL--actually a series of books about an expert on...books, meaning rare first editions. The series is called The Bookbinder Mysteries. We've already plotted the first one. I can't wait to see where she's taking the next.

Also, Susan has made the New York Times Bestseller list for the first time--and two weeks running, no less as I write this--with her latest HQN book, ACCIDENTALLY YOURS! How cool is that? Extremely!


So yes, there will be martinis raised high in salute to our successes. Congrats to Kate and Susan...

Happy 2008, everyone!

--Christine Rimmer

A Room With A View - Susan Mallery

I have a writer friend who writes in an office on the top floor of her house. She has a view of most of the area where she lives, along with a lake. Storms whip by, rain hits the windows. It’s inspiring and beautiful.

I have this fantasy office in my mind…actually it’s two rooms. A place for a desk and tons of storage with piles and books and folders and manuscripts cluttering every surface. Then, beyond that, a calm oasis in pale green with windows and a view, light and a desk with nothing but my computer and notes on the chapter in progress. There’s a sofa on one wall, an ottoman, maybe a ceiling fan and nothing else. Just total, relaxing peace.

My reality is much more the cluttered space than the calm oasis, which makes me wonder if calm is a good idea. I’ve always crammed too much furniture, too many papers and books into too small a space and I’ve never had a view. My first office was also the guest room, with high windows that showed nothing but electrical wires and a slice of sky. While living in eastern Washington State, I had an office in a walkout basement. (I was from California—what did I know about basements?) Not only was the space always cold and dark, my window was level with the ground. Even the spiders lived above me.

I tend to find rooms with high windows or back windows. My current office is a loft with skylights. I see treetops. There is one “real window” and from that I see the neighbor’s backyard. My computer faces a corner, so when I’m working, there’s no view at all. Except I’ve realized I tend to close my eyes a lot when I’m writing so I can “see” what’s happening in my book. I turn to check on the dog every few minutes and she wags her tail at me, but other than that, there is only the screen and the words.

Maybe it’s better that way. I’m not distracted by a warm breeze or the pattern of rain. I can lose myself in my characters and the mess they’ve made in their lives. A view might take me away from that. But still…it’s nice to think about.

Susan

http://www.susanmallery.com/

Perfect for a Day! - Susan Mallery

I just finished a book. Typing “The End” is a magic moment for me. Writing a book takes a lot of time and effort. It’s adding pages every day over and over until the story is finally told. At times it seems as if I’ll never get to the end, then I do and I feel so happy.

The absolute best part of writing is the sound a manuscript makes when it hits the bottom of the Fed-ex pick-up box. That “thunk” is satisfying and very previous, but typing “The End” is a very close second.

I know it seems that finishing a book would be more exciting than mailing it off. It probably should be, but it isn’t. Dropping the manuscript into the box is a simple act. Finishing a book is not.

When I get an idea for a book, things are so clear to me. I know what I want to happen, I know the feelings I want to evoke. I’m excited by the characters and the twists and turns in the story. When I’m writing, I push myself to make every scene better and deeper. I want the dialogue to sparkle and the emotional parts to be overwhelming. When I finish, I have the promise that I’ve actually done it. I’ve written the book to be as good as I want it to be. For that day, the book is perfect.

The next day I read it.

I start at the beginning, manuscript on my desk, colored pen in hand and I go through it, page by page. I edit, I rewrite, I tweak, I move scenes around. I rip it apart, then I put it back together because the cold truth is I can never make the book as good as I want it to be.

Eventually deadline constraints force me to send in the book. My editor reads it and sends me notes. A copy editor goes through it and leaves her marks all over the pages. I’ll have two more passes on the book, changing and changing, all in attempt to make it match that perfect vision in my head.

I never quite get there. I think that is truth of being a writer—we can never match that perfect vision in our head. I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. I know that striving makes me work harder to write each book better. I know the elusive goal keeps me motivated.

I finished a book today and for now…until I pick up that colored pen…it is perfect!