Kate Noble's Blog, page 24

Let the Blog Tour Commence!

Today, I am touring around the internets, setting of on a fantastic voyage through space and time, visiting various ports of bloggerdom to let everyone know that TOMORROW, If I Fall hits the shelves!  (And The Dress of the Season hits the virtual shelves!)  Today, I'm making two stops:  At Coffee Time Romance, for a latte and an interview, and at The Booksmugglers, where I talk about my inspirations and influences, and how much I cribbed from The Princess Bride and Indiana Jones.  (Psst: at one of these events, there will even be a giveaway!)

So kick back, stop on by, and enjoy the ride with me!  It's almost April 3rd, and If I Fall is almost here!

Contest Winners, and Peru!

Hello all!  I have been out of town for the past week.  Can you guess where I was? (Even if I hadn't put it in the title of the blog?)

Yes, it's Peru!  and as you can see, I took some reading material with me.  That picture was taken at Machu Picchu, an Incan city high in the mountains, a true wonder of the world.

As excited as I am to have gone, and as happy as I am to be back, I am mortified that it has caused me to neglect you, dear reader.  Specifically, those of you who have entered my website contest.  So, since I missed drawing the contest winner last week, I will draw TWO winners this week!  So without further ado, the randomly chosen winners are…

JEAN PATTON and MARTHA LAWSON!

Congrats to both winners!  You have both won copies of Compromised!  I will be emailing you individually, but for now, bask in your glory!  (Hey, this is way better than Mega Millions, right?)

This contest is now closed. For those who did not win, I'm sorry.  But, stay tuned, because there will be a new contest announced in the next few days, with some seriously fabulous prizes!

In other news, Release Week is finally here!  This Tuesday, If I Fall hits the shelves, while The Dress of the Season hits the digital ones!  I am so excited for you to get the chance to read them.  I love Sarah and Jack from If I Fall so much, as well as Harris and Felicity from Dress.  And I hope you will too.

That's all for now.  I'll be back soon with more news re: blog tour, release day, contest info, all this coming week!

Until then — Happy Reading!

 

 

Smexy blogging

Hello!  Just a quick word to let you know that I'll be visiting the fabulous Mandi at Smexybooks today!  I am a big fan of the smexy, as Mandi well knows.  We talk about romance, coming home again, and of course, If I Fall and The Dress of the Season.

This marks the wonderful beginning of my If I Fall Blog Tour!  I'll be visiting several of my favorite places, as well as some wonderful new ones.  You can find out where I'll be (and where I'll sometimes be doing giveaways!) under Kate's Events!

And don't forget about my website contest!  There is still time left to win your choice of my backlisted books.  Until later, sweets — Happy Reading!

 

 

An Invitation to the Ballroom

I have such exciting news!  A few weeks ago, I received a note in the mail from that famous patron of literature, Lady Heliotrope Beaufetheringstone.  And she asked me… well, I'll just show you.

Dear Miss Noble –

Of late I have found that my ballroom is in need of expansion.  The lovely authoresses that populate my hallowed halls have often spoken to me of you, and Albert (my parrot, and a just judge of character) and I feel as if we know you already.  Thus we would be ever so please if you would come and become one of our in-house authoresses.  I look forward to your visit…

Yours, etc.,

Lady Heliotrope Beaufetheringstone  (affectionately, Lady B)

Thus it is with extreme pleasure that I tell you that, along with Sarah MacLean, Miranda Neville, Tessa Dare, Katharine Ashe, Sabrina Darby, Gaelen Foley, and the also newly added Lauren Willig, I am now an authoress at The Ballroom Blog!  I will be blogging there regularly, but never fear – it will not interfere with my posting fun and interesting tidbits here at my own blog.

I have so much to do before I visit the ballroom – my first post is this Thursday, March 22nd!  I have to get a new gown, gloves, bonnet, jewels… I need to learn all the steps of all the latest dances – although I loathe dancing and hope to avoid it as much as possible.  Maybe I should map out the locations of all the tallest potted palms… I'm sure Sabrina Darby can help me with that…

That's all for now, sweets.  Don't forget about my website contest – I'll be drawing a new winner sometime next week, and I'm ridiculously excited that April 3rd is almost here!  It's almost time for If I Fall, and The Dress of the Season!

Until next time, Happy Reading!

Excerpts, Excerpts, Everywhere.

now with its very own excerpt!

Just a quick post today –mostly because I'm running around like a headless chicken trying to get as much done as possible before the excitement of my upcoming release day for If I Fall and The Dress of the Season. Speaking of the latter, it's finally got it's own page, with a synopsis, buy links, and, it's very own excerpt!

And of course, the website contest is still going on — and if you want to enter, the excerpt for If I Fall might be able to help you with that.

So what are you waiting for?  Happy reading!

The Winner of the Fortnight

Its time to draw another prizewinner in my website contest! So without further ado, the winner is…

Gail Hurt!

Congrats Gail!  You have won an autographed copy of your choice of my backlist – either Compromised, Revealed, or The Summer of You.  If you didn't win, fear not!  There will be a new winner drawn every fortnight (or two weeks, for the non-regency types out there).  For the unfamiliar, here are the rules…

The Contest will run for 2 months.
There will be a winner drawn every two weeks.
To enter, go here, and answer the question — that's it!
Prize is your choice of Compromised, Revealed, or The Summer of You .
Once entered, you will remain entered for the full length of the contest.
One entry per person.

In other news, I'm getting incredibly excited for the release of If I Fall, as well as The Dress of the Season.  And stay tuned, because very shortly there will be a fabulous new excerpt up for The Dress of the Season!

Announcing the Dress of the Season!

Do you guys remember way back to November, and my super secret Nanowrimo project?  Well…

It's here!  Long teased, but finally arrived, I am so excited to share with you the cover art of my new e-novella, The Dress of the Season!

It's the story of Harris Dane, Viscount Osterley, who orders a very fine and scandalously cut dress to be made for a certain lady he wishes to woo. While with the dress designer, he also orders a pair of gloves to be sent to his ward, Miss Felicity Grove, to wish her well for the new Season. But when Felicity accidentally receives the dress, along with Osterley's affectionate note, it sets into motion a tale of scandalous misunderstandings and love in the last place you look.

It's being released upon the world on April 3rd, 2012 – the same day as If I Fall.  So I have cause to have two margaritas that day.  For the curious, it is connected to If I Fall, with visits from familiar characters – but you don't have to read one to enjoy the other.  But I of course hope that you'll enjoy both!

I'm busy busy busy in the coming days – but don't forget about my website contest!  I'll be drawing a new winner next week!

Oscar winners ain't got nothin' on us!

It's Oscar Sunday!  And I am celebrating by drawing a new winner in my website contest.  I don't know when it began – likely sometime in the 80s – but the Oscars don't actually say "And the winner is…" anymore.  They've replaced it with the supposedly kinder "And the Oscar goes to…"

Thus, in keeping with that tradition, the autographed book goes to…

Jana Ferguson!

Congratulations Jana!  You've won an autographed copy of Revealed!  For those who did not win, take heart – there's still plenty of chances to win.  Here's a quick recap of the rules:

The Contest will run for 2 months.
There will be a winner drawn every two weeks.
To enter, go here, and answer the question — that's it!
Prize is your choice of Compromised, Revealed, or The Summer of You .
Once entered, you will remain entered for the full length of the contest.
One entry per person.

Work, work, work this coming week.  I keep hoping for spring break but its not coming any time soon.  So we must push on!  Right after I watch the Oscars, that is.

Until next time, Happy Reading!

Mailbox Q&A

[image error]I thought it might be worthwhile to clean out the mailbox this week.  It's become stuffed with inquiries, and while I do try to answer each person who takes the time to write me individually (and thank you to everyone who took the time to write me individually!) some of these questions might have been burning in your brain for a while, dear reader, and thus the answers may prove illuminating for all!

Question 1:  When is the next book coming out??  You've been teasing it FOREVER.

Yes, I know, I'm a tease.  I'm terrible.  But the truth of the matter is, I get so excited that when I get cover copy or my back cover blurb, even if its months in advance, I wanna share it with you guys.  But never fear!  The next book, If I Fall, is nearly here!  It will arrive, like a babe being dropped off by a stork, on April 3rd, 2012.  That's a mere 6 weeks away!

Question 2: What are you going to do to celebrate If I Fall's release?

I'm going to dance around my apartment with a pitcher of frozen margaritas, while rewatching season 2 of Downton Abbey.  Also, I'm going to be doing a massive blog tour, giveaways, and signings!  I'll keep you posted of when and where I'll be via the Kate's Events section on the website.

Question 3: What's on your Netflix queue right now?

I actually find Netflix an excellent resource for research.  For example: I'm writing a book right now set in Venice, Italy, but I've never been.  Thus, there are a lot of documentaries and movies on my queue that feature the city.  Also, Portlandia.  (Not for research.  Just because it's hysterical.)

Question 4: If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

Um…. A noble fir?

Question 5: I've always wanted to write a book, but I can never find the time, between kids, family, my job, my hobbies.  How do you squeeze in writing to your daily life?

Well, I don't squeeze in writing to my life.  Writing is my life.  It's my job.  But to be fair, it wasn't always that way.  There was a time that I was squeezing it in on weekends and after work.  The trick is to prioritize.  Granted, I don't have kids, so there is a little less pressure on my time than there is on yours, but if you are serious about writing, you find it.  You sacrifice 45 minutes of sleep every day so you can get 1000 words down on paper.  You turn off your computer's internet so you won't be distracted.  You might have to let go of a hobby or two.  One thing I did when I was starting out, was on Sundays, after I got done at the gym, and before I was expected anywhere, I would go to a diner and write for an hour.  Just me, a cheddar and tomato omelette and a pad of paper.  Carve the time out for yourself and eventually, it will get done.

Question 6: What is the last song you bought on iTunes?

We Are Young by Fun.  And Crazy Dreams, as recorded by Megan Hilty on Smash.

Question 7: Did anyone really ask you these questions?  I mean, come on…  trees?  iTunes?

I am shocked, SHOCKED, that you do not believe that people have been asking me these questions.  Every aspect of my life is of the upmost interest to my readers!

Okay, fine… I made up the tree question.  And the iTunes one.  But everything else are things I have been asked, whether via twitter, email or facebook.  Cross my heart.  And if you have any burning questions for me, please feel free to ask!  I'll do my best to answer them!

That's all for now, kids.  I'm getting super excited about If I Fall's impending release… are you?  Until next time, sweets… happy reading!

Valentine's. Why did it have to be Valentine's?

[image error]Like many people, I have a love/hate relationship with the modern Valentine's Day.  I love the sentiment behind the idea – not to mention the chocolates – but kinda hate the execution.  Red hearts?  Overpriced flowers?  Requisite expressions of saccharine emotion that you seem forced to make on this ONE DAY – as opposed to say, every other day of the year.

And what if you are unattached?  You are automatically made to feel bad by every googly-eyed cupid in every shop window, and end up buying yourself chocolates half-price the day after in a fit of unloved pique.  (Er, not that I've ever done that… and certainly not juicy, delicious, chocolate covered cherries…)

Granted, this is only through observational study and not any scientific method, but the best I can figure out Valentine's, it's this: Guys in relationships feel pressure to woo their beloveds with absolutely no originality, women in relationships agonize over whether their beloved will come through in expressing their true feelings via said unoriginality, while the singles eat all the chocolate.

These observations may seem cynical, especially coming from a romance novelist.  Indeed, romance novelists by their trade have to believe in love, romance and happy ever afters.  But I believe in them 24/7, not just one day.  So, believing in love, but not enjoying Valentine's exclusivity, I would like to propose a compromise:

Instead of spending Valentine's Day celebrating love – why not spend Valentine's Day celebrating what you love?

If you happen to have a significant other, and love them, have at it.  You're all set with overpriced flowers.  But maybe you should think a little broader.  Do you love dogs?  Today's a great day to volunteer at your local animal shelter!  Love 70s horror movies?  Have a screening party of The Exorcist and The Omen!  Love Polynesian cuisine?  Dig a pit in your backyard and get to roasting that suckling pig!  Love college basketball and chicken wings?  Every bar in America is your 2nd home, my friend.

When it comes right down to it, any celebration of something as good as love is a good thing.  But don't limit yourself to the flowers and chocolates.  And don't limit yourself to what the holiday tells you it's celebrating.

As for me, I'm going to spend the day in true splendor – riding Space Mountain, with my sweetheart by my side.

Until next time sweets, happy Valentine's Day!