DeAnna Cameron's Blog, page 19

Happy Release Day for STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION, by Jenny Brown

Today marks the publication day of STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION, the follow-up to Regency romance author Jenny Brown's terrific debut, LORD LIGHTNING, and I couldn't be more excited. I had the opportunity to read an early version of the manuscript and I fell in love with it. Not only does Jenny weave fascinating (and accurate!) astrological details into the narrative, she holds a graduate degree in 19th-century history and, boy, can she craft a great story. She is an amazing talent and I can't wait to dig into the novel all over again…



The book is also one of seven Avon titles in the K.I.S.S. and Teal campaign to promote ovarian cancer awareness.



Happy release day, Jenny!



Want to know more about STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION? Here's the jacket copy:



Lovers or Enemies? Captain Miles Trevelyan, on leave from active service in India, is heading out for a night on the town when he rescues a beautiful pickpocket from arrest. She's the perfect choice for a few days of dalliance--beautiful, cunning, and completely disposable. But Temperance has no intention of becoming the plaything of a man who wears the uniform of the solders who murdered her lover. Disarming Trev with a kiss, she escapes. But her sultry kiss opens the two Scorpio adversaries to an obsessive attraction that neither can elude--or possibly survive.



For more about Jenny and her books, visit www.JennyBrown.net.

Excuse the dust...

I'm just working out the kinks in a new blog design...

Tinkering with the Website

The manuscript for "Dancing at The Chance" is in my editor's very capable hands at the moment so I'm tinkering with my website.

I'm also learning new web software as I go so I would be ever so grateful if you'd let me know if you see anything wonky on the pages.

http://www.DeAnnaCameron.com

Historical photographs of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair*

Want to see what the people who visited the Cairo Street exhibit at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair saw? I just posted a few historical photographs on my website. Take a look:


http://www.deannacameron.com/books/FairPics.html

*9/30/11 Update: The link has been changed. It's now:

http://www.deannacameron.com/TheBellyDancer/TBDHistoricalPhotos.html

Historical photographs of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair

Want to see what the people who visited the Cairo Street exhibit at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair saw? I just posted a few historical photographs on my website. Take a look:


http://www.deannacameron.com/books/FairPics.html

Historical Novel Society Conference 2011

I knew I was going to enjoy the Historical Novel Society Conference that took place in San Diego last weekend (June 17-19). Seriously, a whole weekend dedicated to historical fiction? What's not to like? What I didn't expect was how much I was going to *love* the HNS conference. There were so many amazing panels, so many great speakers, and some great mingling events.

But far and away the best part of the weekend was connecting with so many people who share this same crazy passion for the past. Some I already knew, some I knew from social networks and was meeting for the first time, and some were just lovely people I had the privilege and pleasure of sitting next to during a dinner or breakfast or the book-signing, or chatting with while we stood in a line, or hanging out with in the hotel lobby, where we talked and laughed like kids at summer camp.

I was having such a great time, I rarely remembered to snap a picture, so there aren't many. But here are a few:

Michelle Cameron (The Fruit of her Hands) and I sharing a book-signing table Saturday afternoon.

Michelle Moran (Madame Tussaud, Nefertiti, Cleopatra's Daughter, The Heretic Queen) and I at Saturday book-signing

The Saturday night fashion Show of historic costumes. (My camera wasn't up to the task on this one. Trust me, these costumes were awesome.)

Michelle Cameron, Patricia O'Sullivan (Hope of Israel), and me at the Saturday banquet.

Elizabeth Kerri Mahon (Scandalous Women), Christy English (The Queen's Pawn, To Be Queen), Sherry Jones (Jewel of Medina), and, yeah, surprise, that's me again, basking in their loveliness.

Want to see the hotel where all the magic happened? Sure you do -- here it is: Holiday Inn San Diego On The Bay. And it really is. The water was just a stone's throw away...


The next Historical Novel Society conference will take place next year in London. If you're interested, details will be announced soon at http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/conference.htm.

Happy anniversary, Romantic Historical Fiction Lovers!*

A while back, I stumbled across the Romantic Historical Fiction Lovers group on Goodreads and it was an epiphany for me. I hadn't heard the term "romantic historical fiction" before, but I loved it instantly. It answered the question that had been bouncing around my brain since I was first asked what kind of novels I write.

You see, stories set in the past tend to be labeled either "historical fiction" or "historical romance." But there are a growing number of stories like mine that don't fit neatly into either category. There's too much romance for fans of the former, and too little for fans of the latter.
So what's an author to do?

Emery Lee, author of "The Highest Stakes," had the same question, and that's what inspired her to create Romantic Historical Fiction Lovers.

"I started Goodreads Romantic Historical Fiction Lovers a year ago in my growing frustration as an author whose publisher didn't quite know what to do with her!" Lee said in our email exchange earlier this week. "After discovering Goodreads and the various groups, I saw a distinct void between HF and HR. I then decided to try to bridge that chasm with authors, like myself, who endeavor to satisfy the intellect as well as engaging the emotions in our stories—
Romantic Historical Fiction Lovers was born."

That was a year ago, and in that time the group has grown into a fun and lively group of 325 members. And it's a diverse group, made up of avid readers, book bloggers and authors. Besides its popular discussion board, the group also maintains a recommended reading bookshelf of Romantic Historical Fiction titles.

The criteria for the recommended reading list has expanded and evolved over the past year, Lee says, but here is the criteria in a nutshell: Either historical or biographical fiction with a strong romantic element, or a work of historical romance based upon real characters, a major historical event, or having a well-researched exotic setting. Subgenres such as suspense, time travel, and some paranormal elements are also eligible. And only titles that are nominated by a group member are considered.

It's been a lot of fun watching the group grow and seeing all the enthusiasm for romantic historical fiction. I can't wait to see where the group goes from here.

Want to see what all the excitement is about? Here's the link to Romantic Historical Fiction Lovers: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/33864.Romantic_Historical_Fiction_Lovers



*Don't miss the group's virtual anniversary party on Facebook. Here's what Emery Lee says:

"The party begins 5/27/11 at 12:00AM and will go on until midnight. We will be offering book giveaways from great HF and HR authors every hour! We will also have a "virtual" historical costume contest. Entrants to photoshop or paste their faces on their favorite book covers and post to the Facebook page . Prizes for Ugliest, Prettiest, Sexiest and Funniest. BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!!!!"

Here's the link to their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_135857949796897#!/home.php?sk=group_135857949796897.

Any haggis lovers out there?

Yeah, I know, probably not many. But I am an unapologetic fan of the stuff, and I wrote this little article for our local Clan Cameron group about making haggis pizza with our family's Burns Night leftovers. I don't expect Pizza Hut or Domino's will be adding it to their menus anytime soon, but really, it's better than you'd think....

TASTE OF SCOTLAND: HAGGIS PIZZA

We love our Burns Night haggis, but we never manage to finish all of it. What usually happens is we eat it the usual way with leftover neeps and tatties.

This year, though, I thought it would be fun to try something new. Surely there had to be something different I could do with the haggis. So, I searched the Internet and found haggis wontons, haggis paninis, and haggis-stuffed chicken legs. They all sounded tasty and worth trying, but the one that won me over was haggis pizza.

A few bloggers posted about a prepared haggis pizza sold under the Cosmo brand in Tescos and other United Kingdom outlets. The verdict seems to be split along the usual lines: People who like haggis liked the pizza, and people who don't, well, didn't.

I decided to make my own haggis pizza. The only tricky part, I figured, would be the crust. I started thinking through the options. The food shows always suggest buying dough from your favorite pizzeria, but frankly I've never been brave enough to ask. That leaves the dough that's sold in a can next to the biscuits and cookie dough at the supermarket, but I'm not a big fan of it. And the plastic-wrapped Bobolis, which I'm not fond of it either. What I do like is the crunchy crust of a well-cooked DiGiorno Rising Crust pizza. And lucky for me, one was already in the freezer. Can't get any easier than that, right?

I pulled the pizza out of the freezer, unwrapped it and popped it in the oven. About halfway through the cooking time, I pulled it out, added the cold haggis like it was sausage bits, and finished the cooking.

When it was done, I thought it looked as good as the haggis pizza on the Cosmo box. And it tasted – well, probably a lot like you'd imagine haggis pizza to taste. I think the pepperoni was a good addition. Those strong spice notes, along with the well-seasoned tomato sauce, worked well with the haggis and enhanced the overall flavor. I enjoyed it, but to be honest, I never did persuade my husband to try it – even though he never passes on the Burns Night haggis. Maybe I would have had better luck with the haggis wontons.

The new novel has a name and...

At long last, the novel I have affectionately been calling "Untitled Vaudeville Story" now has a real, honest-to-goodness title, thanks to the brighter-minds-than-mine at Berkley. And it is.....



Dancing at The Chance





Yay! It's kind of a play on the phrase because the heroine is a vaudeville chorus girl who dances at a venue called The Chance Theatre. See how clever that is? The story takes place in 1907 New York, and in addition to a fun cast of fictional characters, there are critical roles played by Florenz Ziegfeld and pioneering moviemaker Edwin Porter. I had so much fun researching this one. Oh, and there's more news, too. Those wonderful people Berkley have decided to re-release THE BELLY DANCER in mass market paperback, probably in March, which would be a month before DANCING AT THE CHANCE releases in April 2012. Very exciting stuff!

Deadline: 3 hours and counting...

I suppose that headline should read "Deadline: 3 hours to spare" because -- yeah, baby -- I just sent the manuscript off. It's whizzing across the country as we speak and *fingers-crossed* landing in New York, in my editor's email in-box, any second. Whew! Also, I should have a publisher-approved, for-public-consumption title very soon... Yay!