Sarah MacLean's Blog, page 22

Miranda Neville's Ten Ways for a Regency Bookworm Nerd to Seduce a Lady

I've mentioned before how very much I adore Miranda Neville.  She's hilarious, she writes incredible, sexy romances, and I'm consistently floored by how amazingly talented and clever and generous she is.  If you have a question, Miranda has an answer, and she's always willing to help.  In short, she's totally lovely.

I feel so lucky that she responds to my emails...and even luckier that she's here today as part of the launch month celebration of Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing A Lord ! I'm thrilled to celebrate Miranda's latest release (just out two weeks ago), The Dangerous Viscount here on the blog.  The hero of The Dangerous Viscount, Sebastian, is my favorite kind of Regency hero--the historical nerd. Maybe it's because I'm married to a modern-day equivalent...but that's a story for another time.  :)

Here are Miranda's Ten Ways for a Regency Bookworm Nerd to Seduce a Lady! Welcome Miranda!

The hero of The Dangerous Viscount starts out, shall we say, socially-challenged. If the book wasn't set in 1819 he'd be called a nerd. His clothes are old-fashioned, scruffy and baggy, he wears steel-rimmed spectacles, he collects rare books, and his principal means of communication is the grunt. Once he discovers an urgent desire to please a lady, he gets cleaned up with the help of his Burgundy Club buddies. But they are Regency dudes and I figured Sebastian could use a little help from the twenty-first century.

1. Since you refuse to use a quizzing glass, may I suggest contact lenses? Or at least some frames from Ottica Veneta. 

2. If Weston cannot provide a coat without a pocket protector, Signor Armani of Milan makes a nice suit. And leave the inky quill at home. 

3. Grunting is for animals. This is a Regency, not a Shapeshifter romance. Speak in complete sentences. 

4. Do not boast about being captain of the Eton chess team. 

5. Watch Project Runway, which would be your lady's favorite show if she had the good fortune to own a TV. (Little projection going on here) 

6. When she mentions her plan to begin a reducing diet, assure her that the loss of a single ounce would be a tragedy. Do not give her the address of the nearest Weight Watchers meeting. 

7. Expensive jewelry is always an acceptable gift. (Era-neutral advice) 

8. Be there when she needs you, whether it's to save her from highwaymen (muggers on horseback) or find her a cab in the rain. 

9. Learn to kiss really well. 

10. When she invites you to visit her bedchamber, say yes. Don't be late. Make it work.

LOL!  Make it Work!  Excellent advice!

And now for the contest! Who is your choice for present-day sexiest nerd? Share your answer in comments, and one lucky winner will win a copy of The Dangerous Viscount AND a TDV magnet from Miranda! We'll choose the winner on Friday! **Don't forget to share your email so we can contact you if you win!

And stay tuned all this and next month for fabulous prizes and awesome Ten Ways posts from an incredible range of authors! And don't forget to read more Authors Rule(s)!

Jackson Pearce's Ten Ways to Survive a Werewolf Attack

I'm thrilled to host the fabulous Jackson Pearce today on the blog...when she agreed to celebrate the pending release of Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing A Lord by sharing her own Ten Ways from  Sisters Red , I was so excited! Jackson is hilarious, brilliant and the reason for the 2009 Debutantes...and she has written an incredible reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood.  Like. Incredible.  It totes lives up to that fabulous cover.

Jackson has kindly agreed to come on the blog and do an important public service for all of us.  We live in dangerous times.  Dangerous, frightening times in which werewolf attacks are a clear and present danger. It is October, after all. So...in preparation for your autumnal walks through dark and quiet wooded areas, I present Jackson's:

Ten Ways to Survive a Werewolf Attack

1. Don't get attacked. I know, I know, it sounds stupid, but all I'm saying is: If the hot guy asking you to dance smells like a dog and is licking his lips, maybe sit this one out?

2. Know his weak spots. Don't be afraid to gouge some eyes or cut at that soft spot on the throat. And all I'm saying is-- a swift kick to the crotch hurts werewolves just as much as it hurts frat guys.

3. Be aware. The element of surprise is priceless to predators-- you know how lions creep up on their prey? Guess what? You're the prey. Don't give the predator the chance to sneak up on you.

4. Choose your partners wisely. Your odds of surviving a werewolf attack are greatly improved if you've got help. Choose allies who aren't going to run like little girls when the werewolf snarls. Well...unless you want them to run like little girls, draw the monster away from you, and be eaten...

5. Carry weapons. You'll never make it past airport security, but at least you won't have to go mano-a-mano with an animal three times your size. I advise going with knives/blades/axes, because you don't have to stop and reload them.

6. Grow a pair. These are werewolves, not kittens. Once they've singled you out, you're gonna have to fight to survive. Man up and start swinging.

7. Embrace the blood. There's gonna be a lot of it. But this isn't the Red Cross, you won't be offered a Nutter Butter after the melee is through. Power through your squeamishness or die.

8. Trust your allies. If you've assembled a crack team of werewolf killers, don't try to babysit them through the fight. Let them do their thing, and you do yours.

9. Don't run. Predators love it when you run. That's half the pleasure for them.

10. Forget sexy. You know how in movies, the heroine is always mega hot and wearing something skin-revealing while she kills things? This isn't the movies. Your t-shirt will do just fine. Besides, it'll absorb more of that blood we mentioned earlier.

Contest time!

We're giving away a copy of Sisters Red! Share one tip for fighting the supernatural bad guy of your choice.  On Friday, we'll choose one lucky commenter to win! **Don't forget to leave your email address, so we can reach you!

And stay tuned all this and next month for fabulous prizes and awesome Ten Ways posts from an incredible range of authors! And don't forget to read more Authors Rule(s)!

Courtney Milan's Ten Reasons NOT to Buy Trial By Desire!

So exciting!!! It's hard to believe that October is finally here--along with the release of Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord ! To celebrate, I'm bringing back Authors Rule(s)! Over the next few months, to celebrate the release of Ten Ways, an amazing group of guest authors will join me to provide their own Ten Ways/Things/Reasons/etc.! There will be contests and giveaways and awesomesauce, and I'm super excited!

I'm particularly thrilled that today I get to launch October with the fabulous Courtney Milan, who burst on the scene last year with her debut romance, Proof By Seduction ...and has just released her second book, Trial By Desire...which is receiving incredible reviews, including a starred Booklist review that calls her incandescent.  For the record, I have met Courtney, and I have to agree with this assessment! 


Here are Courtney's fabulously funny Ten Reasons Not to Buy TRIAL BY DESIRE--if they don't make you want to buy the book right this second, I don't know what will (except maybe that crazy hot cover?!)

Welcome, Courtney!

Trial by Desire is my second book, and it just came out this week. I realize that if I were a good author, I would try to convince you to buy Trial by Desire. But honestly, it gets a little wearying. All that pom-pom action, and a girl begins to get repetitive stress syndrome. So in the interest of my continued health, I present to you--Ten Reasons Not to Buy TRIAL BY DESIRE.

1. You need to save all your money to buy at least two copies of Ten Ways to be Adored when Landing a Lord.

2. Speaking of which, if this book had a rhyming, numbered title, it would be Three Things that kind of Rankle when You're Breaking your Ankle, which you have to admit is not nearly cool enough. Nor sufficiently high in numerosity.

3. The book starts off with a horse (of course), whose name is either Meat or Champion--depending on who you ask. It runs through a sheep dog by the name of Dobbin, and doesn't stop with a rooster named Kevin. Do you really want to read about animals with ridiculous names? Or is that, ridiculous animals with names? I can't even tell which one it should be, and I wrote the book.

4. Let's go back to that horse. Everyone knows that when the hero picks up a wounded, abused horse in the beginning of the book, by the end of the book he will turn into a fine racing animal who will save the day by winning enough money in the Royal Horse Tournament Cup Ascot to pay off the mortgage on the family cottage. But Champion (or Meat) doesn't ever race. There is no Royal Horse Tournament Cup Ascot. And Ned, my hero, doesn't have a family cottage--he has an entire manor--and he doesn't need money. Seriously. What kind of book is this?

5. Then there's my heroine. You might think you want to read about her--Lady Kathleen is shy, demure, and she loves to shop. Except, wait a second. Maybe she's not so shy--she has rescued six women from abusive husbands by the start of the book. And maybe she's not so demure: when her husband returns from China after three years' absence, she's the one who agitates for, ahem, marital relations to resume. But she does love to shop.

6. And what does she shop for? Nightwear. Everyone knows that heroines of the time period usually wore demure, linen nightrails to bed. But my heroine, Kate, purposefully departs from that norm. Twice. TWO TIMES, she chooses to garb herself in something other than the typical linen night rail. Why, why, why would she do that kind of thing? It is almost as if she wants someone to notice her. And do something about it. Shocking, scandalous girl!

7. It's even worse than the nighttime garb. Ladies in Victorian times don't speak about politics. Ladies don't speak about gentleman's wagers. And ladies don't speak about a gentleman's vegetables. Yet despite these well-known demands of etiquette, Lady Kathleen Carhart speaks about politics, wagers, and, most importantly, vegetables. She should be ashamed of herself. She isn't. Oh, Kate.

8. And while we're talking about shame, how about the scene where Kate walks in on Ned while he is... actually, I can't even make myself say it. He should totally be ashamed of himself, too! He isn't. Oh, Ned.

9. Also, peppermints. (Full disclosure: I am allergic to peppermints. They make me sneeze, which as you can imagine means I have to pick my brand of toothpaste Very Carefully.) My hero uses peppermints as an incentive. My heroine uses peppermints as a weapon. It's just not believable that two people, so utterly different, could come together and find love.

10. And finally, there's the title. Trial by Desire. It's misleading and inappropriate. The only trial in this book is conducted by Magistrate Fang, and so I'm just not sure what on earth I was thinking when I named the book. Trial by Fang has a much better ring to it, doesn't it?

I hope I have convinced you not to go to the store, not to take this book off the shelf, and to definitely not plunk your hard-earned money down for it. Do not buy this book--not unless you want to be accosted by peppermints, horses, and a heroine who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to wear a nightrail to get it.

Love! I cannot WAIT to read this book, which I will be doing today.  Literally. I am probably doing it right now.

Anyway...Contest! Courtney has generously donated a signed copy of Trial By Desire...in the comments, tell us what your favorite book NOT to read is, and we'll choose a winner on Monday! **Don't forget to leave your email address so that we can reach you if you win!

Keep coming back for a dozen more Authors Rule(s) posts from an awesome range of authors! To read the existing Authors Rule(s), please click here!

Debs Speak Loudly. Or, Go Win A Book!

There are days when I am so damn proud to be a part of the YA community.  And even prouder to be a part of the 2009 Debutantes--a group of YA authors who released their debut novels in 2009.  The best thing about the Debs is that we didn't just come together for one year...we came together for the long-haul.  And I *sniff* love these guys.

I have a particular fondness for one curly-haired deb, the funny, smart, oh-so-talented Sarah Ockler, who wrote what I consider to be one of the best YA boo...

Squee! Ten Ways is a Top Pick!

So...last night, I'm making unpackaging dinner and my Blackberry buzzes.

I consider ignoring it, because 1) I am hungry for chicken and brussels sprouts and  2) I'm three episodes from the end of Season 5 of Weeds and I can't decide if I love Esteban or hate him (on one hand, he's a fencer; on the other, he's a drug lord--you see my problem?) and Eric is ready to press play on the Netflix, but I can't resist the Crackberry buzz. It's a sickness.

Anyway...there's an email from the lovely and ta...

Inspiration Saturday

One of the best and worst things about being a writer is when you're neck deep in one book and the next one starts to act up.  Right now, for example, my next hero keeps trying to get my attention.

Bourne's got a wicked sense of humor and a fantastic laugh.
And he's very difficult to keep quiet.

Simon, my current hero, doesn't like him much. He thinks he's too flashy.

Anyway...this morning, I found this photo from the Burberry Fall 2009 show in Milan. Bourne would approve.


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10 Helpful Hints Should a Lady Find Herself in the Company of Pirates

I'm so very excited to announce that in the next few months, to celebrate the release of Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing A Lord, I've got a *sick* (in an awesome way) line up of authors who are joining in the fun to offer their own lists of 10 as part of Authors Rule(s)!

Today, I'm so happy to host the fabulous Katharine Ashe, who is not only a debut romance author who has just been named by Booklist as one of the brightest new stars in historical romance, but who is also super duper fun an...

Colorstrology!

I love this idea...that your birthday might be associated with a color that somehow resonates with you.  I'm so into it. I'm particularly happy that my color is Purple Sage, which is definitely a color I can get behind.


Who knows if this is an actual thing...but I the description of me is eerily accurate:

"You have an innate desire to learn and understand things. You are partner oriented and it is likely that you will feel best when you are connected closely to another person. It is important ...

9.11.10

Nine years ago today, I was late for work. I came out of the subway on that gorgeous, blue-skied morning, bought a paper and a muffin, and took the elevator to the 44th floor of the New York building on Madison Avenue.

The office was quiet; no one was at their desks. They were all standing in the office of the president of the company--that amazing office with that fabulous view that I'd envied for a year and two months, since the day I'd started my very first job out of college.

They all ju...

Louisa Edwards's Nine Rules for Seducing a Nerd With Food

I have made it no secret that there are any number of chefs on my laminated list. We've already talked about Eric Ripert, and no joke, I dreamt about Anthony Bourdain last night. Minds out of the gutter, team...it wasn't naughty (sadly). We were just hanging out, smoking Gauloises (I haven't smoked in years, but it was a dream, so it was still cool and I wasn't getting cancer).

Anyway...my obsession with chefs makes me a complete and utter sucker for the food romance. You know the ones...they...