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Mavens Of Romance August 2010 1. Welcome 2. Dally with Donica 3. Becka's Babble 4. Ciara's Golden Nuggets 5. Read A Good Book 6. In Closing

Volume 4

Issue 8

Welcome to August! Well, I don’t know about y’all but here in St. Louis it has been hotter than Hades! The last three days have been temperatures in the one hundreds with heat indexes hitting 115-120! That’s just crazy! You may have noticed that you didn’t receive a newsletter for the month of July. The Mavens had different situations come up that required them taking a short hiatus. Ciara was in Scandinavia, Donica spent most of her time with her ailing grandmother then she took off for her girl’s week vacation. Becka’s been writing like a women possessed (as well as having had surgery) and Phyllis’s been working on several projects that have taken up her time. This month you’re going to see yet a few more changes from your Mavens. Phyllis has left us and moved on to a new phase in her career. Ciara’s stepping back due to busy lives and hectic schedules so she’s opted to only post with us on special occasions.

What this means is that while you will still receive news from Becka, Donica, and occasionally Ciara, we’re changing our format. We’ll be inviting in guest Mavens from time to time. We’ve also decided that we’d like to spend time chatting with our readers. Becka has a readers group called The Magic of Romance and she’s opened it up to the Mavens. This is a group that does have a high level of email activity. We pop in daily and chat about one thing or another. If you’re not already a member of this fun and exciting group, we invite you to do so now. We’re heading into a fall kick off of some fun and games to celebrate the release dates for Becka and Donica and they’d LOVE to see you there! You can join here: http://groups.google.com/group/themagicofromance We’re also in the process of determining which is the most beneficial to our readers: monthly newsletters, every other month, or quarterly. We want to know what you’d like see. So please tell us, would you prefer we keep to a monthly schedule, are you interested in every other month or quarterly. Let us know at [email protected] [email protected] While you chew over that question, let’s move on with the news!

Dally With With Donica Isn’t the cover for Hunting Mickey HOT?!?!?!? I’m so very excited because Hunting Mickey will be released in just a few weeks! I can hardly WAIT for October! I created a few options for a book video for Hunting Mickey and liked three of them. It’s so impossible to decide. So I asked my readers which one they liked best. The overwhelming winner was this version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNnTncdE5yY however the other two are still up on my YouTube channel (for a little while anyway) You can view them here: http://www.youtube.com/user/DonicaC I’m anxiously watching the calendar, waiting for September 20th or there about to arrive because that is when I should be hearing from the submission regarding Death Rides a Pale Harley! I received an email letting me know the acquisitions editor had it in her hands and she “couldn’t wait” to read this book! WOOHOO! Keep positive thoughts in that direction, please? THANKS! In our personal life, my husband finally, FINALLY, had a job interview! He actually had two! There are two places courting him. I really, REALLY, want him to get the one job—it will mean relocation to the most wonderful place in the world: Arkansas! The second job is also a possible relocation, to the state capitol. I’m not as big on that one. Of course if he did get that one he could get a one bedroom economy apartment and come home once a month. Hmmm…THAT idea does have some merit…ROFLMAO! Actually, I don’t really care WHERE it is as long as he gets a job SOON! Future events: September: I’m working on final edits for Hunting Mickey. I’ll also (hopefully!!) hear on a contract for Death Rides a Pale Harley. There will also be an email chat at Love Romances and More with Champagne Books on Tuesday September 7th. (This chat goes on all day long and you can usually find the Mavens there!) October: There will be month long activities to celebrate the release of Hunting Mickey as well as celebrating the release of Becka’s book Black Angel. We’re RELEASE TWINS! WOOHOO!!! And have we got some fun in store for you! (PSSTT! It’s also her birthday month but SH! Don’t tell her I told you!) And on October 5th I’ll be spotlighted on the Book Boost Blog as well as being in another all day chat at Love Romances and More! Hopefully I’ll have some big, joyous news to share with you next month. In the meantime, Huggles, keep cool and HAPPY READING! Donica

Becka's Babble Everyone! I have so much news to share it's not even funny. Let's get started. First and foremost, I have a NEW EROTIC series coming out with Carnal Passions. It's entitled "Desert Princes of Jikkar" and Book I is THE VIPER PRINCE. Isn’t the cover HAWTSAUCE?!? This book releases Wednesday, August 18th from Carnal Passions, and here is its logline and blurb: She will soon learn the Viper is to be obeyed. Sabine Santiago is a successful romance author. Her latest book is about hot desert sands and a sexy caravan prince she dreams of each night, ever since she bought the coiling viper armband at her local flea market. But little does she know the trinket is about to transport her to another world. Tariq Sayed is the Viper Prince of Jikkar. For millennia, the six princes of the Golden Desert have ruled their caravans, providing water for their people and protection from the hot desert sun. Punishment for stealing water is death, so what is Tariq to do when the woman he’s been dreaming of is caught drinking from his oasis?

When their worlds collide, Sabine is dropped right into the plot of her book with no hope of returning to Earth. One look at the sexy Viper, and it is clear to her the line between fiction and reality is slim to none. But Tariq has been promised to wed the niece of the Jackal Prince, and with that marriage, he will form a strong alliance for his people. Now, the Viper must choose between his duty and the woman who burns his very soul.

~*~*~ On top of that great news, Carnal Passions just bought Book II, THE SCARAB PRINCE, and Book III, THE FALCON PRINCE! They will be releasing every two months, October and December respectively! I am currently working on Book IV of the series, THE SPIDER PRINCE, and there is one more, Book V, THE JACKAL PRINCE. To find out more about this series, go to http://desertprinces.blogspot.com . I am so excited, you don't even know! But be advised, this new series is EROTIC, so keep that in mind if/when you buy. Also, my book MARK OF THE B*E*A*S*T* is coming to Champagne Books on September 6th, so KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR WHEN BEAST ROARS BACK!!! You do NOT want to miss this book, especially if you loved my previous BEASTie Boys. This one follows Mac and Robyn, the two I left you hanging with back in Wade's book NATURE OF THE B*E*A*S*T*. So exciting! I feel like a newbie author with this new Princes series coming out. I really feel like it's a turning point in my career. I truly hope it becomes as popular as I hope it will be, and that's where I need YOU GUYS! If you love the Viper, then TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW!! heheh Until next time! ~~Becka Sexy. Sensual. Seductive. http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Ciara's Golden Nuggets This summer has been very busy for me in a good way. The first thing I did was take a trip to Scandinavia with my mother. We had a blast and enjoyed spending time together. We started in Sweden, made our way through Norway and ended up in Denmark. Of the three, I think Norway touched me the most. I’ve posted short blurbs about the trip with pictures on my blog: http://ciaragold.blogspot.com Now for my writing news: I’m very excited about getting a new editor, but at the same time just a bit worried. I’m so used to doing things in a particular order and I’m not sure how this editor will be. Usually I get a long list of just plot issues that need resolving. I fix them and turn in the corrected manuscript for line edits. After the line edits get done, then I get the ARC or advanced reading copy. But I’ve heard that other editors do it differently. We’ll see. I’m currently working on the sequel to On the Silver Edge of Time and I’m so in love with the hero, Torin, that I find myself visiting him each day without fail. At last count I have 86, 900 words written and my goal is usually between 90,000 and 100,000 so I’m almost there. I hope to have the rough draft finished by the time I go back to school. I’ll keep you posted on getting it contracted. Keep your eyes out for my Victorian Fantasy. I still don’t have a working title for it, but soon. That will probably something for me to report on for next time. Until then… Ciao, Ciara

Read a Good Book Lately? A new feature to the Mavens of Romance newsletter is the backlist spotlight segment. The kick off book is Promise Me Forever by Rebecca Goings. When we asked Becka for a backlist title this is the one she asked us to do. Why? We’ll let her answer that in her own words. MoR: So what is it about this book that made you choose it for the inaugural spotlight? Well, this book is a great one, but it hasn’t sold very well at all. I think it’s because it’s just a regular “vanilla” contemporary novel. I love it, though. I tried to get into Harlequin Desire with this one, but alas, I was rejected because the hero wasn’t a bajillionaire. I focus now more on the paranormal, the fantasy, or the historical western, but this little book is one of my only contemporaries. I thought perhaps my readers would like a change of pace from me. MoR: Tell us a little about Promise Me Forever? Emily Parker never thought she could find love again, but has she fallen for a man who will never love her children? Emily Parker is a widow with three kids who’s accepted that no man in his right mind would look twice at her. What single man wants to be saddled with an instant family? She doesn’t want a fling. Permanence is what she’s looking for, and a man who is willing to be a father figure. David Callahan steals her heart almost from the first. But there’s a catch. He has a ‘no kids’ policy with regards to women. Yet Emily has definitely caught his eye. Despite her children, he’s vowed to get to know her better. When their relationship evolves to the next level, Emily tells David she wants a man who will love her and her kids. It doesn’t help matters that he is an aspiring musician with a chance to make it big. But when she finds out she’s pregnant, which will he choose—fame or family? MoR: After looking over all your books, this one seems a little different from what we know as a Rebecca Goings title. What made you write it? I was thinking one day about what I would do if my DH died on me. I have a gaggle of kids. Would I ever find love again? And what man in his right mind would jump into an instant family? I know having kids in romance isn’t very popular. Perhaps that’s why this story hasn’t sold much. But the book came about from my own ponderings of my own life. I’d like to think there are men out there who wouldn’t mind a woman who already had kids. MoR: Who published it and more importantly where can our readers get a copy?

It’s published with Champagne Books and you can find it here: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-promisemeforever-5086-149.html MoR: Is there anything else you might like add about the book? David Callahan is an aspiring musician. I’ve wanted to write a musician for a while. I love watching American Idol and America’s Got Talent, and I often wonder about the love stories of people who suddenly make it big. So not only is this story about a widow coming to terms with her own baggage, but it’s also about a man trying to find a place for that woman in his whirlwind of a life. Very interesting to explore as an author. If you pick it up, I hope you like it! Thanks for sharing this title with us this month Becka! We know you’re busy with the wonderful upcoming new releases…Mark of the B*E*A*S*T, The Viper Prince, Black Angel and we wish you much luck! Make sure to check in with us next month when we focus the bright light on yet another backlist from one of the Mavens!

In Closing As always, we’ve loved having you with us. The changes for the Mavens in the coming months are exciting. We’ll be having special guests stopping by to share news about upcoming releases. The Mavens are busy planning special celebrations for their soon to be released titles and we all hope you’ll hang around with us to join in the fun! Also, please don’t forget to let your voice be heard regarding the future newsletters. Make sure to let us know your vote for keeping them monthly, going to an every other month format, a quarterly or a twice a year release schedule! Your opinion DOES COUNT! So please write to us at [email protected] or [email protected] See you in September, Mavens of Romance