New Book Deal with Harlequin Superromance....

Okay, so I know you Cozies have been waiting a while for this announcement. I'm sorry it has been so long in coming, but here it is - FINALLY! At the end of August, I signed a contract with Harlequin Superromance to publish my contemporary romance novel in April 2014. It already has a brand spanking new title - A Place With Briar - and cover art is in development. It takes place in my beautiful hometown here on the Gulf Coast of Alabama. I've already turned in my first round of edits and written the dedication and Dear Reader letter for the first few pages of the book....

 

I've wanted to be published with Harlequin since I first started writing full time in 2005. Wait, scratch that. I've wanted to be a Harlequin author since I read my first Harlequin romance novel when I was fourteen. Harlequin was the first publisher I targeted with my work eight years ago. So to finally be able to say that I'm a Harlequin author is a blessing and a thrill! A big thank you to my agent, Joyce Holland, and everyone at D4EO Literary for believing in my work as well as to family, friends, and - as always - you, readers, for the support through the years....

 

I'm hoping to have a blurb and cover for you soon. Keep checking in here at The Cozy Page and my website as well as Twitter and Facebook! As I mentioned, there are new author head shots in the works as well as a new photo gallery for my website and a newsletter. Plus, I've been brainstorming ways to celebrate A Place With Briar's book launch in April, including a gift basket full of wine and goodies related to the characters and setting. In other words, stay tuned, Cozies. There's many more exciting things to come....

Get Ready, Gulf Coast...

...because the Silken Sands Conference on the Beach is now booking! Hosted by the Gulf Coast Chapter of Romance Writers of America, the convention will take place at a Gulf-front hotel in Pensacola Beach, Florida. The kickoff speaker is New York Times bestselling author of romantic suspense and paranormal romance, RITA Award-winner Dianna Love while the keynote speaker will be New York Times bestselling author of romantic suspense and RITA Award-winner Karen Rose. Love co-writes the BAD series with international bestseller Sherrilyn Kenyon.



The Silken Sands Conference on the Beach gives southern writers the chance to network with industry insiders like Barbara Vey, the woman behind Publisher's Weekly's Behind Her Book in the relaxing beach environment. Writers can also sign up for a limited time to pitch their stories to industry professionals like agents Laura Bradford (Bradford Literary Agncy), Elaine Spencer (The Knight Agency), and Joyce Holland (D4EO Literary Agency) and editors Megan Records (Kensington Publishing), Patience Smith (Silhouette Books), and Lindsey Faber (Samhain Publishing).

I will be attending the multi-author booksigning on March 20 as well as presenting my first workshop about group blogging called "Grogging: How Five Newbie Authors Bumbled Into A Successful Group Blog":

Amber, Laura, and Lisa, three of the five Roses of Prose, have been blogging together since the spring of 2009, and enjoying the flexibility and support of blogging as a group. In this workshop, they will share their grog-creation process, including researching successful group blogs, choosing a theme, assigning duties and titles (BlogMommie, TreasuryGal, GuestBloggerMistress, etc.,) setting schedules, and creating weekly topics. A small-group exercise will guide you through the basics of creating your own grog. Each participant will receive a goodie bag, and will be entered in a drawing for a grand-prize of books, promo items, and chocolate! We hope to see you there!

You can register for the conference and learn much more online at the GCC website. Up-to-the-minute conference news is available on Facebook! See our ad in the December Romance Writers Report.