Jane Litte's Blog, page 1062

The Things I Learned from RWA 2011

Here is my list of things I learned from RWA 2011:

Harlequin and Sourcebooks are really interested in what the reader has to say in all areas of the publishing process from the cover, titles, content to how the stories are sold and they use their blogs, facebook and twitter accounts, and customer service emails to acquire this information.There is no one path to success. Bella Andre is not out there on the blogs, but she's making personal connections to her readers. Courtney Milan is...

Interview with Cindy Hwang, Executive Editor with Berkley/Jove

Cindy Hwang is the executive editor of Berkley/Jove. She is pretty well known to the DA crowd because she pens the quarterly giveaways for Berkley/Jove here. She also edits Christine Feehan, Nalini Singh, and Meljean Brook to name a few. One of her authors, Karen White, writes southern women's fiction with a romance thread. When Cindy was telling me about this author, I kept thinking that Jayne would love these books. (Jayne, I've asked Cindy to send you some of her titles).

Other titles c...

REVIEW: Rhapsody for Piano and Ghost by Z.A. Maxfield

Dear Ms. Maxfield:

This was a fascinating novel. I'm still not sure what to make of it, but I couldn't put it down and enjoyed reading it.

Fitz is a musical prodigy — a pianist since he was six. But he's been utterly sheltered his whole life. His mother marries Husband #8 and goes to England for a year, agreeing to let Fitz go to a private arts school before college. There he meets Garrett. From the excerpt, I expected Garrett to be the love interest, but turns out that on their first date, he ...

First Page: Unnamed Regency Historical

Welcome to First Page Saturday. Individual authors anonymously send a first page read and critiqued by the Dear Author community of authors, readers and industry others. Anyone is welcome to comment. You may comment anonymously.

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Robert did not wake.  Rather, he became aware he no longer slept.  Moreover, he was not alone.  The softness of a woman's leg touched his foot.  He lay in the pre-dawn darkness trying to remember how he had come to have a woman in his bed.  His mind, traitor that...

Interview with Courtney Milan, #6 on the NYT

On Wednesday evenings, the New York Times Bestseller list is emailed to editors and agents. On this past Wednesday, RWA was abuzz because Courtney Milan's self published novella "Unlocked" made it to number 6 on the NYT ebook list and number 19 on the combined print and ebook list and 36 on the USA Today list. (DA Review)

She is currently working on "Unraveled" which is Smite's book. She is shooting for a November release.

The production phase is about 6 weeks for Courtney which includes...

Interview with Sourcebooks

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Deb Werksman met Grace Burrowes at the Washington Writers' Retreat. Werksman had a few minutes between appointments and said "tell me about your books" as she does to every author she meets. Grace shared that she had written 19 unpublished manuscripts, all regency romances. The stories were written about the Duke of Moreland and his 8 surviving children. He is obsessed with the succession is pushing his three surviving sons to marry and have legitimate offspring.

She is a lawyer who...

2011 RITA Winners

2011 RITA Finalists for Best First Book Enemy Within by Marcella Burnard (Berkley; Leis Pederson, editor) Firestorm by Kelly Ann Riley (Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense; Tina James, editor) I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan (Scholastic; Cheryl Klein, editor) The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (Harlequin Teen; Natashya Wilson, editor)Pieces of Sky by Kaki Warner (Berkley Sensation; Wendy McCurdy, editor) WINNER The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells (Sourcebooks Fire; Deb...

Friday Film Review: Love and Basketball

Love and Basketball (2000)

Genre: Sports Romance

Grade: B

[image error]I've wanted to review this movie for over a year and finally got off my lazy butt when I realized that June 23rd was the anniversary of what's come to be called simply Title IX. Now I'm probably one of the most unathletic people on the planet but for women who'd always been taunted as tomboys or told to stop playing sports and be a lady, this was a big deal in that it gave US women, especially in high school and college, a greater...

REVIEW: The Taming of Dr Alex Draycott BY JOANNA NEIL

Dear Ms. Neil,

[image error]One of your novels reintroduced me to the Harlequin Medicals line several years ago. I haven't read any since then, but when your June release became available I thought I'd give it a try. Our titular heroine, Alex Draycott, is a pediatrician who has made the transition from full-time doctor to half-time medical practice, half-time administration. This in and of itself is unusual in a Medical; we rarely see hospital administrators and when we do, they're not sympathetic...

Interview with Heather Osborn, Samhain Editorial Director

Heather Osborn is the current Editorial Director for Samhain. The current romance Samhain publishing schedule is 4 to 6 a week. They don't anticipate changing this release schedule as more books flooding the market would likely canabalize their existing sales.

They will be launching their Retro Romance line in December. A few of the authors they have signed to the line include: Debra Mullins, some of her older Avon historicals; Patricia Hagan, an 8 book historical saga; and Karen Kaye...