May 5, 2008

I just pushed SEND on the email to my editor which contains the complete manuscript for As Shadows Fade.

Yay! And wahhh.

I purposely waited to write the epilogue this morning, and so now I'm feeling a bit teary-eyed at the thought of bidding Victoria and Company farewell. (Although I may very well revisit one or more characters in my novella for the Bespelling Jane anthology, if the timing is right.)

So now, how will I celebrate?

Here's what I have lined up to indulge in over the next week or so:

• Season Two of Friday Night Lights
• Suzanne Brockmann's Breaking Point (which I've been hoarding forever….Max & Gina's story!)
• A reread of Roberta Gellis's Alinor
• The new episodes of BBC America's Robin Hood, which I've been taping
• Chocolate
• A belated birthday dinner with Music Man (my day was last week and got lost in the shuffle of deadline)
• A massage.

Oh…and then starting work on my next project. (More on that later.)

So…that's my plan. Any other suggestions? What do you do when you're pushing up against a big project/paper/deadline…to celebrate being finished?

May 1, 2008

Very exciting news here in Colleen Land.

A few months ago, my friend Janet Mullany (author of Rules of Gentility, a very smart, very witty, slightly dirty Regency-set chick-lit romance) invited me to join her and author Susan Krinard in putting together an anthology of novellas. We wanted to find a "headliner," so to speak, and Sue managed to convince the amazing Mary Balogh (!!) to join us.

Talk about a headliner!

Anyway, yesterday, a final deal with HQN (a line at Harlequin/Silhouette) was struck, and so I'm going to be in an anthology with the one and only Mary Balogh…along with the fabulous Sue and Janet. I looooove Mary's books (my favorite is No Man's Mistress), so this is just as exciting for me as being in an anthology with Roberta Gellis!

And here's the cool thing: the tentative title of the anthology is Bespelling Jane and the theme that will pull all four novellas together is…wait for it…paranormal twists on Jane Austen books.

Sweet, huh?

I'm going to do a historically-set novella about Northanger Abbey (what could be better than a gothic romance with a vampire slayer?). Ms. Balogh is doing Persuasion (also historical), Janet is doing Emma (contemporary), and Sue is also doing contemporary–Blood & Prejudice.

I'm delighted. I don't know anything about a release date yet, but I'll keep you posted. 

More news to come! Things are just hopping here in Colleen Land. 

April 23, 2008

As many of you know, Rises the Night was released last June. Almost a year ago.  People saw it all over the place–in the bookstores, in Walgreens and Walmart, in Kroger, and a variety of non-bookstore locations.

Now, all of a sudden, it's popping up again in non-bookstore locations.

And that's odd (but not upsetting) to me, since the books displayed in places like Walgreens and Kroger and Giant Eagle, etc., are swapped out at least on a monthly basis. They don't have a lot of space, so they have to swap out books quickly to keep new titles in. 

Curiously, in the last few weeks, I've heard from several people that they've seen Rises–one saw it in an airport in Florida, and someone else in a grocery store in PA (and she squealed quite loudly and announced to everyone in the vicinity that she knew me).

So do me a favor–take a peek at the book sections in non-bookstore locations in the next week or so and let me know if you see Rises anywhere. Just 'cause inquiring minds want to know. You can comment below with store and location, or email me directly.

April 23, 2008

Still catching up from being away, plus trying to finish Gardella Five (As Shadows Fade) by next week, and the pages aren't flowing as quickly as I'd like. Alas, that happens sometimes. But I may be a bit quiet until that baby's finished, so bear with me.

However, I promised a few prizes for a lucky commenter while I was gone, and I've also got another opportunity for goodies today.

So the winner of the ARC of When Twilight Burns, and also a signed copy of Esri Rose's Bound to Love Her is:

Jill James

Jill, I'll be in touch shortly, but in the mean time, feel free to contact me at books at colleengleason dot com to exchange shipping info. Congrats, Jill!

I do promise to get to my tea tete-a-tete with Roberta Gellis, and also more pictures. But in the meantime, my friend Colette Gale has been bugging me.

She's got a new book coming out on May 6, and she wants to get the word out about it with the bloggers (she's seen how wonderfully supportive they've been for me.).

While she hangs out over at The Spiced Tea Party, she thinks we have as much (or more) fun here, and so she's willing to give up eight copies of Master: An Erotic Novel of the Count of Monte Cristo to bloggers who will read the book and blog about it before May 15.

Any takers? You can email Colette at colette at colettegale dot com and she'll get back to you.

Because it's an Erotic Novel of The Count of Monte Cristo, over 18 only, please.

(Her rule, not mine.) 

And here's a little pic of me with some of the Mr. Romance cover model candidates from Romantic Times.

The guy with the long hair looks just like a young Tom Hulce (but when I told him that, he had no idea who that was.)

Damn, I'm getting old.

More later. I promise. 

April 20, 2008

Me, that is.

Thanks so much to my guest bloggers who came by and kept everyone entertained while I was in Pittsburgh. I really appreciate it, and it appears that the regulars (and lurkers) did too.

Thought I'd post a couple pics from the Vampire Ball–nothing really exciting but you get the idea.

(Don't you love the boots?)

I'll write more on the convention later, but here's the two sentence overview:

BIGGEST EXCITEMENT: Having a one-on-one cup of tea with one of my all-time favorite authors, Roberta Gellis! What a treat to chat with her for nearly an hour. 

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: I didn't see hide nor hair of Fabio. (So, no picture, Binger.) Wahh!

So, more later when I get some pictures and have more energy to write.

And, now, in the category of Newsy News…

While I was in Pittsburgh, I received an email with the cover for my first UK release, coming soon from Allison & Busby.

Isn't it gorgeous? I absolutely love it!

(And do you realize that that's got to be Phillip on the front with Vic? Poor Phillip.)

So that's all the news that's good for now. More later when I catch up on my sleep.