Jane Porter's Blog, page 31

Summer Reading: Claire Cook

We’re halfway through summer and there are so many wonderful summer books out there that I wanted to highlight some of my personal favs with you.   These books are all in my TBR pile, or have been read and are now in my library, and so every Saturday from now until Labor Day, I’ll be featuring a different ‘beach read’ and author here.

I’m starting off my Summer Reading blog feature with the wonderful Wallflower in Bloom, by Claire Cook.  Claire Cook wrote her first novel in her minivan and is now the bestselling author of nine novels including Must Love Dogs, which became a Warner Bros. movie starring Diane Lane and John Cusack.

And now I’m handing my blog over to Claire.  Claire, it’s your turn!

_________________

Thank you so much, Jane, for inviting me to visit your blog to share the inspiration behind my new novel, Wallflower in Bloom. And may I say that I’m absolutely counting the days until The Good Woman is released in September!

Wallflower in Bloom began in kind of a crazy way. The publishing blog GalleyCat asked its Facebook readers which author they’d most like to see on Dancing With the Stars. Amazingly, I was one of the 10 authors nominated, along with Nora Roberts, Jodi Picoult, Harlan Coban, Ally Carter, David Sedaris, Andy Borowitz, Tatjana Soli, Tishani Dosh and Kathy Patrick. (I don’t know how they missed you, Jane – you would have been perfect!)

I have such true blue, incredibly supportive readers, as I know you do, and they got all excited and started voting like crazy – and I won the popular vote! GalleyCat sent the petition off the DWTS producers. Everyone started asking me if I’d really do it. “Of course, I would,” I said, my knees shaking. “Not just for me, but for midlife women everywhere.”

I totally would have done it, shaky knees and all, if Dancing With the Stars had ever called, which they haven’t – yet! But I have to admit it was a lot less stressful to turn the experience into the jumping off point for Wallflower in Bloom.

What was intriguing to me was the thought of a non-celebrity suddenly dropped into a celebrity world. And then I started thinking what if the heroine was the personal assistant to her famous brother, who was the family star. And what if she somehow used his connections to find her own fifteen minutes of fame?

And somehow into all this, my new novel, Wallflower in Bloom, was born!

________________________

For more on Claire, and to read an excerpt of Wallflower in Bloom (as well as enter to win a review copy) visit ClaireCook.com,  and while you’re there make sure you visit the book club page for questions, recipes, cupcake flags, and to schedule an author chat.   You can also follow Claire on Facebook and Twitter and sign up for her newsletter to stay in the loop.

Readers, for a chance to win my special Claire Cook beach tote give away–a tote bag packed with three of Claire’s fantastic novels, Summer Blowout, The Wild Water Walking Club, and Best Staged Plans, a Starbucks drink card, a Ty Gurney surf school water bottle, and fun Jane Porter giveaways–comment below.   The contest will run from now until Thursday night, with the winner announced on Friday.   Good luck and welcome Claire!

©2012 Janeblog. All Rights Reserved.

.

Settling in…Sort of

I’m in my house…barely!

It’s a juggling act still, trying to get settled when we’re having contractors, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, heating specialists, and audio/visual techies in virtually every room.  My office, though, is pure chaos and I can’t write until it’s unpacked and organized, and sadly, I can’t even get to my office to unpack and organize when I’m needed in every other room to make decisions.  Help!!

One of my boys, too, has decided not to move with me and it was a very sudden, shocking decision…at least for me.  I’ve never not had my boys live with me but son Ty didn’t want to leave Bellevue, and his dad was willing to move back there from Arizona so hopefully it will work out for him.  Right now it’s hard to be okay with the decision but eventually I will adjust to life without him in the house.

I desperately want to hear from you!  Fill me in!  Tell me what’s going on.  I’ve got 3 great fun surprises…gift cards galore…and contest ends Friday night at midnight PST, with winner announced Saturday morning.  Check back Saturday to see if you won.

Have missed you!

©2012 Janeblog. All Rights Reserved.

.

A Special Good Woman Contest

We leave Washington tomorrow.

We’re on an 8 am flight to Orlando and then Saturday morning we board our Disney cruise with all my family, (Mom, sister, both my brothers and all their kids, too) and then after the cruise ends, we fly straight to Orange County to settle into the new house.

It’s been a bittersweet month…..highs, lows, and tons of emotion as we say goodbye to Belleve which has been our home for sixteen years.  I moved here late June, just before Jake, my first baby, turned one, and now we leave end of June, just before he turns 17.

Because of all the writing deadlines and family dramas (do any of you have family drama?!?  Please tell me you’re not all leading perfect lives!!) I haven’t had a chance to really absorb that we’re going….and its only hitting me now that this is it.  And then I start to cry.  :(

Thank you to all of you here in the Pacific Northwest who’ve loved me and supported me and claimed me as one of your own.  I am so grateful that you’ve come to my events, and bought my books, and fed me and my kids…thank  you.

To celebrate endings, as well as my new beginning, I’m doing  a special Good Woman contest–its a Beach tote and towel, a DVD of the Flirting with Forty movie, Jane Porter books and a little Starbucks gift card, as well as an Advanced Reading Copy of f The Good Woman! Those of you who are eager to read my next book….this is your chance to get it early!

This contest is special, and slightly different…because you’re not just commenting here, you also need to comment on Facebook.  It’s a two step process, and these are the two steps:

1 – Leave a comment here, on my blog.

2 – Visit my author page on Facebook and leave another comment there.  And in case you haven’t already Liked the page, I hope you’ll do it now!  This page is different from my personal page which has reached its capacity of friends and will eventually be shut down to comply with all the Facebook changes.

That’s it.  Just complete these two steps and you’ll be entered for a chance to win!  This special contest runs until Thursday June 28th, when winner will be drawn and The Good Woman arc and beach bag will be mailed.

Good luck and I hope to see you soon!

 

 

©2012 Janeblog. All Rights Reserved.

.

Happy Father’s Day!

I’m really pushing hard to finish this novella and I’ve got to be honest…I’m exhausted.  I need a vacation from writing and getting the new house ready for us, and worrying about the kids who are so sad to leave Bellevue.  But things work out, they always work out, so I’m sharing some photos of my wonderful surfer guy who definitely has his own cool vibe.

He’s in Hawaii right now working, so that I can wrap up my story, so I’m sending a shout out to him, and all the wonderful fathers out there.  Good job Dads!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Love to all, and now, sadly, its back to work for me.  Can’t wait to have this story wrapped up and some time away from the computer to just be with my kids.

xoxox

Jane

©2012 Janeblog. All Rights Reserved.

.

Bellevue Goodbye: Cupcakes & Coffee with Jane

I leave Washington on June 21st, and hate to move away without saying goodbye, so I’m planning a casual afternoon coffee on Tuesday, June 19th, in downtown Bellevue at Cupcake Royale from 2-4 pm.

It’ll be a very relaxed, but yummy Open House event…feel free to come by with or without babies and friends, bring books you’d like me to sign, arrive at 2 and stay until 4, or just walk in at 3:45 for a quick hug, coffee, and cupcake, before dashing off again..

Cupcake Royale

21 Bellevue Way Northeast  Bellevue, WA 98004

(425) 454-7966

http://www.cupcakeroyale.com/bellevue.php

If you think you’re going to come, let me know in the comments section below so I can prepare Cupcake Royale for a rough headcount.  If you don’t RSVP, you can still stop by, as this is a very laid back little social hour with no agenda.

And if you can’t make it to Cupcake Royale on June 19th, don’t worry…I’ll be back!  In fact, I’ll be returning in October for a book event to celebrate the release of  The Good Woman.  My book event will most likely be the same weekend as The Emerald City Conference, which is October 26th – 28th, so keep an eye on the events page for more details as I post things as my plans firm!

 

©2012 Janeblog. All Rights Reserved.

.

Royalty Duo

Last week I blogged over at the Harlequin Presents site about the inspiration behind my Royalty Duo series, which kicks off with Not Fit for a King?, which is out right now, and available in stores for a few more weeks before its (rudely!) yanked off shelves,to be replaced by its sequel, His Majesty’s Mistake.

For those of you who aren’t Harlequin readers, you need to know that Harlequins are like magazines:  they have a specific pub month (think how magazines are referred to as the October issue, or the November issue) and then the Harlequin books, again like magazines, are pulled from stores at the end of thirty days, for the next month’s releases.

So many people in the media, as well as a certain segment of my readers, are always amazed that I continue to write Harlequins even though I’m also getting ready to write my 9th fiction novel, and people assume its because writing Harlequin Presents are easy (ha!), and I can churn them out (double ha!), or that I simply do it for the money.

Those people, and their assumptions, are wrong.  I write Harlequin Presents because they’re intense and exciting….passionate and dangerous…they give readers a wild rollercoaster ride of emotion and hope, heartbreak and disappointment, with yet another crazy loop of longing and pain, before finding a resolution based on compromise, understanding, sacrifice and love.  All in 55,000 words.  Whew.

But where do I find my inspiration for these intense, emotional, passionate stories?  In my childhood.  Strange, I know, but I was a very imaginative, dreamy little girl and I’m constantly drawing on fairytales, and Greek myths, and all the stories and Disney movies I loved as a child to help me understand people, and conflict, and motivation.

One of my all-time favorite Disney movies was the 1961 film, The Parent Trap, starring Hayley Mills. I loved the premise…what if I had a twin sister somewhere (never mind the real sister and brothers already in my family)? What was my twin doing? Would she like me? Was she doing okay… or was she living a more privileged life than I was?  The Prince and the Pauper was another story that made me wish I had a twin, and that I could change identities…be someone else…experience a different life.

These stories stuck with me, and then Disney remade the original Parent Trap with Lindsay Lohan in 1998 and I fell in love with the story, and movie, all over again.  I thought the young Lindsay Lohan was fantastic, but in this new version, I was really drawn to Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson’s love story. I thought they were perfect…loved their careers and lifestyles, as well as how lovely and warm and funny they were.   I wanted them together…I, like their twin daughters, believed they were meant to be together.

I write romance and empowering women’s fiction because I do believe in love, and happy endings….especially when characters have to fight for those happy endings.

So if you haven’t picked up a copy of Not Fit for a King? yet, do!  Read my modern day fairy tale and tell me what you think…would you swap places with your look-alike royal version if you could?  Would you enjoy being a princess for a day?  And once you’ve read Hannah’s story this month, look for His Majesty’s Mistake in stores late June through mid to late July.

 

©2012 Janeblog. All Rights Reserved.

.

Lilian Darcy’s Saving Gerda

One of my favorite authors and dearest friends, Lilian Darcy, is celebrating the release of her new book Saving Gerda.  I got a chance to first read this book when Lilian had just finished it, and it absolutely blew me away.

Okay, yes, Lilian Darcy is one of my best friends, and she’s a bestselling author and has won many awards, but this story just captured my heart and I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters for months after I finished the book, because they didn’t feel like characters.  They felt like real people and I cared so much about what had happened to them, and what could happen.

Lilian is known for writing deeply emotional books, but this is by far my favorite book of hers.  This is Lilian’s description of the story taken from her site:

“I’ve had this book and its characters clamoring in my head for more than fifteen years. It’s the first book in a trilogy that sweeps between Germany just before World War Two, Italy and Antwerp in the Sixteenth Century, and New York in the 1980s. You probably wouldn’t know it was a trilogy if I hadn’t said so, as Saving Gerda stands up completely on its own. I know these characters as well as I know myself – privileged, beautiful, good-hearted Kitty; twelve-year-old Gerda who doesn’t yet know who she really is or who she wants to be; dutiful Sophie, hemmed in by life and desperate to take action; awkward Johannes, whose shyness masks his good looks and acute perception.”

I know this time period, I used to teach this time period in history to my jr high and high school students, but this story had layers and nuances I rarely see in fiction from this time period.  I loved, loved, loved Kitty, Gerda, Sophie, Johannes and I think you will, too.  If you’re a fan of literature, Historical fiction, or Women’s fiction, you’ll find this a compelling, unforgetabble story.  If you’ve got a moment, go read this small, but powerful excerpt on Lilian’s website now.

And to celebrate the ebook release of Saving Gerda, I’m hosting a contest and giving away a prize consisting of:  a $25 B&N gift card, several signed Jane Porter Harlequins, a Starbucks drink gift card, plus lots of other fun JP reader goodies.  The Saving Gerda contest will run for the next five days with winners being drawn on Friday and announced on Saturday morning.  To enter the contest, tell me what you’re reading now, and/or, what you’ve read lately that you absoutely loved.

Bonus prizes —-I have a gift for the first 14 of you who do purchase Saving Gerda….forward  the  purchase receipt to me (via my personal email) and you will get a signed copy of Easy On the Eyes, a Starbucks drink card, lots of other fun goodies.   And then when you’ve read Saving Gerda, we have to chat!  Maybe we can do our bookclub discussion about the story here?

Good luck, and do check out this amazing, unforgettable story!

©2012 Janeblog. All Rights Reserved.

.

For A Good Cause

I’m now out of my house and into hotel with the 3 boys and our bulldog trying to get this Harelquin in.

Nearly every year I donate one or two items to Brenda Novak’s auction to raise money for diabetes research.  I love Brenda’s auction as there are so many fun items and I always try to bid on a half dozen things, hoping I’ll end up with at least one of them.

I’ve got some items up this year, too.  Check them out if you have a second, or just feel like doing some online browsing.  There are terrific items for readers, writers, travel lovers….you name it.

A Meal Or Drinks at RWA 2012 in Anaheim with Bestselling Author Jane Porter (and a 25 page Critique!)

SKYPE Book Event with Bestselling Author Jane Porter! (12 Copies of her latest release included!)

It’s a great auction and I’m sure you’ll find something fun and interesting!

I’ve got a long day of writing ahead of me so I’m going back into my cave.  I keep getting distracted though as readers from overseas are writing to tell me how much they loved and enjoyed my new Harlequin release, Not Fit For a King? It’s available for sale here in USA this week and I hope my US fans will pick up a copy too.  I’d love to know what you think if you read it!!  It’s getting fantastic reviews so I’m hopeful everyone who reads it will enjoy the book!

 

 

©2012 Janeblog. All Rights Reserved.

.

Gardens & Goodbyes

Five days until I move out of our beautiful Yarrow Point house and into a hotel for our last month here in Washington. So bittersweet!  It’s going to be very tough for us to say goodbye to this house and to Bellevue.  There are so many memories here.  Two of my three sons were born in Bellevue at Overlake Hospital.  This was our house after the divorce.  We closed on the house just two weeks after I met Ty Gurney for the first time.  And this was the house Mac came home to as a newborn in May 2009.  We did a two year remodel here, not knowing we’d be leaving for California so soon, so it’s a strange time…good, exciting, scary, but hopefully, ultimately, positive.

The practical now demands attention, too.  I finalized everything with movers today, and tomorrow we start packing up books in the kids rooms, and then the winter clothes, etc. It’s going to be chaotic packing and sorting out what goes to the hotel and what goes to storage, as I have a book due by Friday and I need to write, but keep getting distracted by all the things that demand a decision and my personal attention.

And speaking of practical…my office and files and promo stuff will all be packed as of Friday too, and that includes all the blog prizes that are sitting in my dining room unclaimed.  If you haven’t written to me to claim your prize yet, please do it now.  I have at least 5 unclaimed prizes from my last two blog contests, and you might be one of the winners and forgot to check.  So do check, and if you won, contact me!!   You have until Thursday night to claim your prize, and then it’s too late as everything will be packed up until July 1st when we start settling, and unpacking, in the new house.

It’s a gorgeous day here…the weekend was unbelievably beautiful.  Warm temperatures, blue skiies, lots of sun.  I walked around my garden with my coffee this morning and admired all the flowers that are in bloom, as well as the perennials that are popping up in my shade garden.  I hate leaving my house and my library, but also my dogwoods and my Japanese maples, and the wisteria that is blooming profusely right now.  It’s so wonderful to see my young wisteria that I planted two years ago finally blooming…so glad I got to see it bloom before I left.   I always struggle leaving my gardens…is anyone else that attached to their trees and flowers?

I have a special contest prize for one of you and it MUST be claimed by Friday.  Tell me about life…tell me about something you are reading…or something you are thinking…tell me anything and you’ll be entered for my Gardens & Goodbye prize.  Contest runs through Thursday night and winner will be announced Friday morning.  The winner must get back to me Friday, too.  So talk to me and I’ll keep checking back to read comments in between writing, writing, packing, and more writing.

©2012 Janeblog. All Rights Reserved.

.

Fifty Shades of Grey Discussion

On Friday, May 18th, I am hosting a one-time only book club event in Bellevue to discuss the book by E.L. James that everyone is talking about. Fifty Shades of Grey has been talked about on the news and T.V.  It’s also been the topic of discussion on social media sites and various other online forums.  A lot of my friends have read it too and I thought it might be interesting to have a group discussion about it.

If you’ve read the book, live in Greater Seattle, and think this sounds like your kind of thing, I’d love to have you join us for the evening. We’ll be meeting at a Bellevue location at 6pm on Friday, May 18th.   Drop me a note at jane(at)janeporter(dot)com and I’ll send you more details!

 

©2012 Janeblog. All Rights Reserved.

.