Megan Chance's Blog, page 39
February 1, 2012
More New Covers
And last but not least, there are new covers on two of my favorite classic historical romances, A Candle in the Dark and The Portrait.
That's it for now--short and sweet. I'm in the midst of editing....
That's it for now--short and sweet. I'm in the midst of editing....
January 18, 2012
New Covers
So The Gentleman Caller and Fall from Grace, two of my classic historical romances, have been given new ebook covers today, both of which I think are pretty cool.
They're both available in Kindle, Nook and Googlebooks formats.
In the meantime ... lots of snow in my neck of the woods, which is somewhat of a rarity in the Pacific Northwest. Everyone's home from school and I can hear kids playing in the yard next door. My office is toasty warm--and I hope it stays that way (power tends to go out here when someone breathes). Wish me a productive day!
They're both available in Kindle, Nook and Googlebooks formats.
In the meantime ... lots of snow in my neck of the woods, which is somewhat of a rarity in the Pacific Northwest. Everyone's home from school and I can hear kids playing in the yard next door. My office is toasty warm--and I hope it stays that way (power tends to go out here when someone breathes). Wish me a productive day!
January 10, 2012
Inspiring Things
Florence and the Machine's "Shake it Out" is my newest inspiration. I love this video too--it contains a clue about what I'll be working on next...
January 5, 2012
Ebook news
After the Frost, The Way Home, A Season in Eden, and A Heart Divided all have new ebook covers today. And ... After the Frost is on sale in Kindle and Nook versions for $1.99 for a limited time. Check it out:
Kindle link Nook link
Here are the new covers for the other three:
Kindle link Nook link
Here are the new covers for the other three:
January 4, 2012
Favorites of 2011
Usually, this list consists of my favorite books of the year, but this time I’m making an exception. Due to a change in my work schedule, my researching has had to be done at night, which has cut my fiction intake by about 50%. And frankly, this year has been pretty lame in terms of great books read. Or great movies seen, for that matter. But I have managed to cobble together a list of things that moved me or seemed to make a difference in how I viewed things. These are across all genres, and in no particular order:
1. Don Juan, by George Gordon, Lord Byron. I love my romantic poets, and Byron has long been one of my favorites, but I’d never read Don Juan–probably because it’s about 400 pages of ottava rima. But this year I decided to tackle it. The story, full of love and romance, shipwrecks and desert islands, battles and escapes is good, but it’s the satire that makes it so entertaining. It’s hugely self-referential, and full of cultural allusions, so you need to know something about Byron’s life and about the 19th Century to really get it. It’s full of wordplay, witticisms and asides, and it made me laugh out loud in places. All in all, it’s pretty stunning, and I learned more from it than I expected.
2. Florence and the Machine. I’m talking about both albums here: Lungs and Ceremonials, because I only really tuned in fully to Florence Welch this year. A huge voice, and luscious melodies and harmonies with a distinct rock/alternative bent. These albums were on my essential playlist this year.
3. The Life of Giacomo Casanova. I read the abridged version, because, well, Casanova’s memoirs run to something like 12 volumes and over four-thousand pages, and I’m not that interested. Casanova was an unapologetic liar, cheat, and libertine, with a healthy and irrepressible sense of the absurd, who was kicked out of almost every city and country he visited. His detailed descriptions of his charlatanism and his erotic encounters are surprising and entertaining.
4. The Vampire Diaries. The writers of this series must never rest. I’ve never seen a show that so consistently and intensely upped-the-ante every single show. There wasn’t an episode that didn’t leave me breathless.
5. Beauty Queens, Libba Bray. I’ve been a big fan of Bray’s since A Great and Terrible Beauty, and with Beauty Queens, this young adult author is in top form. This satire about American culture and its effect on young women takes the guise of a story about a group of teenage beauty queens shipwrecked on a desert island. It had me laughing so hard in places I was gasping for breath. This is one every female over 12 should read.
6. A Very Long Engagement. I first watched this movie (which is in French, with subtitles) on New Year’s Day 2011, after a sleepless night, where all I wanted to do was veg out in front of the TV. I have watched it at least five times since then. It’s the story of a woman whose fiance is lost in WWI, and her relentless search for him. It’s romantic, bittersweet and lovely. It’s joined my list of favorite films
7. One Day, David Nicholls. This story about two friends who are revisited on the same day every year for 20 years sounds like it should be “Same Time Next Year,” but it isn’t. It’s edgier and more interesting. The characterizations are great, the dialogue priceless. I could not put it down. I think the ending cops out, but as for the rest of the book–I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.
8. Game of Thrones. When the first show ended, I thought these guys know how to tell a story. I was hooked from that moment on. This may be the first time ever I’ve decided to wait until the series is over to read the books, because I don’t want to know what’s going to happen. The series is always enthralling and unexpected.
9. A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan. Another book that involves a span of years, with a group of people revolving around each other, and each chapter in a different point of view. This book won the Pulitzer this year, and its another one I can’t stop thinking about.
10. Wither, Lauren DeStefano. This young adult book takes place in a dystopian world where no one lives past 25. The heroine is kidnapped to be one of a trio of wives to a rich young man. It’s really much more touching/interesting/strange than it sounds. The atmosphere is moody and compelling, and this book is hard to define. It’s been a year since I read it, and I’m still thinking about it much more than many books I’ve read that got more attention.
So that’s it. Here are a few Honorable mentions: the Met’s performance of Gounod’s Faust, an opera I love and a performance I did not want to end; Cassandra Clare’s continuation of her young adult The Mortal Instruments series, City of Fallen Angels; Holly Black’s continuation of her young adult Curse Workers series, Red Glove; HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, which held me in an iron grip and broke my heart this year; and Henry James' Italian Hours, which is heavy with the melancholy mood of a generation facing a very new kind of progress and the leaving behind of an old world.
I’m looking forward to 2012, and a bit of easing up. I’m planning to get in some more fiction this year, and I’ve got the return of Game of Thrones and Vampire Diaries to brighten up the year. On my to-read list: Clockwork Prince, The Night Circus, Beautiful Chaos, The Pure and the Impure, and about 100 others. What with all the new TV shows coming up, including HBO’s Luck, I’ve got my nights cut out for me...
1. Don Juan, by George Gordon, Lord Byron. I love my romantic poets, and Byron has long been one of my favorites, but I’d never read Don Juan–probably because it’s about 400 pages of ottava rima. But this year I decided to tackle it. The story, full of love and romance, shipwrecks and desert islands, battles and escapes is good, but it’s the satire that makes it so entertaining. It’s hugely self-referential, and full of cultural allusions, so you need to know something about Byron’s life and about the 19th Century to really get it. It’s full of wordplay, witticisms and asides, and it made me laugh out loud in places. All in all, it’s pretty stunning, and I learned more from it than I expected.
2. Florence and the Machine. I’m talking about both albums here: Lungs and Ceremonials, because I only really tuned in fully to Florence Welch this year. A huge voice, and luscious melodies and harmonies with a distinct rock/alternative bent. These albums were on my essential playlist this year.
3. The Life of Giacomo Casanova. I read the abridged version, because, well, Casanova’s memoirs run to something like 12 volumes and over four-thousand pages, and I’m not that interested. Casanova was an unapologetic liar, cheat, and libertine, with a healthy and irrepressible sense of the absurd, who was kicked out of almost every city and country he visited. His detailed descriptions of his charlatanism and his erotic encounters are surprising and entertaining.
4. The Vampire Diaries. The writers of this series must never rest. I’ve never seen a show that so consistently and intensely upped-the-ante every single show. There wasn’t an episode that didn’t leave me breathless.
5. Beauty Queens, Libba Bray. I’ve been a big fan of Bray’s since A Great and Terrible Beauty, and with Beauty Queens, this young adult author is in top form. This satire about American culture and its effect on young women takes the guise of a story about a group of teenage beauty queens shipwrecked on a desert island. It had me laughing so hard in places I was gasping for breath. This is one every female over 12 should read.
6. A Very Long Engagement. I first watched this movie (which is in French, with subtitles) on New Year’s Day 2011, after a sleepless night, where all I wanted to do was veg out in front of the TV. I have watched it at least five times since then. It’s the story of a woman whose fiance is lost in WWI, and her relentless search for him. It’s romantic, bittersweet and lovely. It’s joined my list of favorite films
7. One Day, David Nicholls. This story about two friends who are revisited on the same day every year for 20 years sounds like it should be “Same Time Next Year,” but it isn’t. It’s edgier and more interesting. The characterizations are great, the dialogue priceless. I could not put it down. I think the ending cops out, but as for the rest of the book–I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.
8. Game of Thrones. When the first show ended, I thought these guys know how to tell a story. I was hooked from that moment on. This may be the first time ever I’ve decided to wait until the series is over to read the books, because I don’t want to know what’s going to happen. The series is always enthralling and unexpected.
9. A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan. Another book that involves a span of years, with a group of people revolving around each other, and each chapter in a different point of view. This book won the Pulitzer this year, and its another one I can’t stop thinking about.
10. Wither, Lauren DeStefano. This young adult book takes place in a dystopian world where no one lives past 25. The heroine is kidnapped to be one of a trio of wives to a rich young man. It’s really much more touching/interesting/strange than it sounds. The atmosphere is moody and compelling, and this book is hard to define. It’s been a year since I read it, and I’m still thinking about it much more than many books I’ve read that got more attention.
So that’s it. Here are a few Honorable mentions: the Met’s performance of Gounod’s Faust, an opera I love and a performance I did not want to end; Cassandra Clare’s continuation of her young adult The Mortal Instruments series, City of Fallen Angels; Holly Black’s continuation of her young adult Curse Workers series, Red Glove; HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, which held me in an iron grip and broke my heart this year; and Henry James' Italian Hours, which is heavy with the melancholy mood of a generation facing a very new kind of progress and the leaving behind of an old world.
I’m looking forward to 2012, and a bit of easing up. I’m planning to get in some more fiction this year, and I’ve got the return of Game of Thrones and Vampire Diaries to brighten up the year. On my to-read list: Clockwork Prince, The Night Circus, Beautiful Chaos, The Pure and the Impure, and about 100 others. What with all the new TV shows coming up, including HBO’s Luck, I’ve got my nights cut out for me...
December 24, 2011
Happy Holidays!
I'm off for a couple of days of fun and frolic with my family--we celebrate both Chanukah AND Chrismas, so you can imagine how insane it is. I wanted to wish everyone a very happy holiday, whichever you celebrate.
In the spirit of things, both Nook and Kindle are offering a special, limited time only price on one of my early romances, "After the Frost." Beginning Christmas day, the price drops to $1.99 for a short while, so if you've ever wanted to read something from earlier in my career, this would be the time to do it!
Wishing you all much love and joy in the coming year.
In the spirit of things, both Nook and Kindle are offering a special, limited time only price on one of my early romances, "After the Frost." Beginning Christmas day, the price drops to $1.99 for a short while, so if you've ever wanted to read something from earlier in my career, this would be the time to do it!
Wishing you all much love and joy in the coming year.
December 11, 2011
Guest Blogging
Today I'm guest blogging over at The Lipstick Chronicles on my least favorite chore--and what it has to do with the 19th Century. Check it out:
http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/
http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/
December 9, 2011
Holiday Magic
Well, the tree is up, the house is lit, and every surface is abundantly covered with all things Hannukah/Christmas related. As I've said before, we celebrate both in my house, because my husband is Jewish, but I think he likes the Christmas lights and decorations even more than I do.
Even the dog couldn't escape it.
Doesn't he look happy? The truly funny thing about this is that this dog is a 100 lb lab, and he actually LET us do this to him. Though you can't see it in the photo, that nose actually glows.
Now ... back to work.
Even the dog couldn't escape it.
Doesn't he look happy? The truly funny thing about this is that this dog is a 100 lb lab, and he actually LET us do this to him. Though you can't see it in the photo, that nose actually glows.
Now ... back to work.
November 13, 2011
This and That
So I realized it's been a while since I've posted. I've been keeping things up on Facebook, but fallen down on the blog--my apologies. All I can say is that I've been extremely busy with writing, researching and editing, and my mind is going about a thousand different directions.
So here: a few interesting things: The Stylist (U.K.) has a list of the 100 best opening lines for books. Check it out and see what you think. http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/the-bes...
Last night I watched "A Very Long Engagement" for about the sixth time (or perhaps more--I've lost count). I really love this movie. It jerks at every romantic bone I have (apparently, there are many more than I'd realized, which is a rather embarrassing admission). I've been reading a lot of 19th C works lately, which I often do when I'm researching and getting ready to write a new book. I read Henry James: Italian Hours, The Aspern Papers, and Turn of the Screw. I liked all of them. Italian Hours just for the amazing description, Turn of the Screw for its really insidious creepiness (I do NOT like ghost stories at all, and never read horror because I'm too susceptible to it, but the psychological underpinnings of this story were alluring). The Aspern Papers was kind of a different kind of animal. I really liked it and can't stop thinking about it. Some really great characterization, and a narrator who so consistently lies to himself and justifies his every action that it's like watching a train wreck.
I am also reading Don Juan by Byron because ... well, I love Byron and have never read it. I'm finding it fascinating, not just storywise, but stylistically. Byron developed a new way of writing poetry with Don Juan that really impacted every poet that followed after. It's immensely readable--more so than Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, and also pretty profane. I think I'm learning a great deal from it. Ah, the Romantics--(oh, there goes that romanticism again).
Happy Sunday!
So here: a few interesting things: The Stylist (U.K.) has a list of the 100 best opening lines for books. Check it out and see what you think. http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/the-bes...
Last night I watched "A Very Long Engagement" for about the sixth time (or perhaps more--I've lost count). I really love this movie. It jerks at every romantic bone I have (apparently, there are many more than I'd realized, which is a rather embarrassing admission). I've been reading a lot of 19th C works lately, which I often do when I'm researching and getting ready to write a new book. I read Henry James: Italian Hours, The Aspern Papers, and Turn of the Screw. I liked all of them. Italian Hours just for the amazing description, Turn of the Screw for its really insidious creepiness (I do NOT like ghost stories at all, and never read horror because I'm too susceptible to it, but the psychological underpinnings of this story were alluring). The Aspern Papers was kind of a different kind of animal. I really liked it and can't stop thinking about it. Some really great characterization, and a narrator who so consistently lies to himself and justifies his every action that it's like watching a train wreck.
I am also reading Don Juan by Byron because ... well, I love Byron and have never read it. I'm finding it fascinating, not just storywise, but stylistically. Byron developed a new way of writing poetry with Don Juan that really impacted every poet that followed after. It's immensely readable--more so than Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, and also pretty profane. I think I'm learning a great deal from it. Ah, the Romantics--(oh, there goes that romanticism again).
Happy Sunday!
August 15, 2011
News
Two things: First off, I'm pleased to announce that City of Ash was nominated for RTBookclub's August Seal of Excellence; see link here, which is very cool, and secondly, I have managed to penetrate the arcane and bizarre world of Google. Now ALL of my books, including all of the old historical romances, are available at the Google ebookstore. This was no small task, and I'm currently exhausted from navigating the ebook world. Here's the link for Google. Read away!
I'm now returning to what I do best: editing, researching and actually--dare I say it?--writing (collective gasp here).
I'm now returning to what I do best: editing, researching and actually--dare I say it?--writing (collective gasp here).
