Happy New Year

Whether you ring in the New Year clinking glasses with friends and party music pumping or at home watching the televised Times Square ball drop with Chinese carry-out and a cat curled on your lap, in the words of my STROKES OF MIDNIGHT heroine, Becky Stone, I wish you a 2008 chockful of "fresh starts and "dazzling opportunities."

Happy New Year,

Hope

The holidays: all pumped up

Foremost, to all of you who've called "time out" from the holiday bustle to email me nice notes on my December holiday book, STROKES OF MIDNIGHT, thank you! Your kind words mean more to me than any critical praise. For those of you who missed my previous Christmas book for Harlequin Blaze, IT'S A WONDERFULLY SEXY LIFE, "Don't worry, be happy." ;) It may be long gone from brick-and-mortar bookstores, but you can still order the book online, including trusty ole amazon.com.

Fortunately STROKES OF MIDNIGHT is a two-day read, leaving oodles of time for tackling all those other great books waiting to be read. (Christmas started out as Twelve Days, remember). My personal pick is Claire Cook's LIFE'S A BEACH. Claire is the talented author of MUST LOVE DOGS as well as several other books celebrating not only romance but the quirky beauty of all our relationships. LIFE'A A BEACH is chockful of romance, to be sure, but there's also plenty of sister love-hate to go 'round as well as pets--you gotta love a heroine who names her cat "Boyfriend."

You can read my "review" of LIFE'S A BEACH at a wonderful new site/ezine: Writersarereaders.com.

P.S. Don't forget...My special holiday co-contest with fabulous fellow Harlequin Blaze author, Cathy Yardley draws to a close this Monday, December 17th, so please check back for the announcement of winners. In the spirit of celebrating the charms of giving *and* receiving, each winner will receive two extra sets of books to give as gifts.

PPS. I can't believe I left this out of my NYC posts. Check out the above photo of STROKES OF MIDNIGHT (center), my New York-over-the-holidays book taken, yes, in New York over the holidays!

Back from the Big Apple

Yes, I'm back from New York and though the impetus for the trip was work-related, you guessed it--I had a fabulous time. Following in the (spiked heeled) footsteps of my romance writer heroine of STROKES OF MIDNIGHT Becky Stone (AKA Rebecca St. Claire) I took an off-Broadway detour to Rosie O'Grady's for a drink and a nosh. Unlike Becky, I was spared the confrontational encounter with any "Elliot"-like bad boys though I definitely checked out the bar's dark-suited "inventory."

As to that dreaded "work" stuff, it wasn't dreaded at all but totally fun. Morgan Doremus and her hubby, Nick, owners of Pacific TV, graciously opened their Murray Hill filming studio to interview me. Prior to me sitting down with Morgan to dish on the book, they indulged me with a behind-the-scenes tour of the facility. The equipment room alone had more buttons and knobs and blinking lights than the console of the Starship Enterprise! Sitting down in front of the camera in the celebrity hot seat, my nose dusted with shine guarding powder and my posterior warming the same seat occupied by Jerry Seinfeld the month before when he stopped by to promote his blockbuster, "Bee Movie" was...well, pretty heady stuff.

My fifteen minutes of fame, winnowed down to ten, will "air" from the newly launched Romance Writers of America-NY website later this month. In addition to a few juicy not-yet-released Behind the Scenes details on the book, I include some hopefully helpful tips for aspiring writers on how to best use the Internet as a research tool to "keep it real" in our books. As they say, stay tuned...

I also hope you'll join me on Thursday, December 20th when I "sit down" with LifetimeTV.com "Romance Buy the Book" host, Michelle Buonfiglio, to dish on ENSLAVED and the future of unusual historicals. Visit my Media & Events page for details on how to sign up and participate.

Live from New York...!!!

Hi All,

The famous Snow Flake on Fifth Avenue, the annual Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center (breathtaking!), the 75th year anniversary of the legendary Rockets, and Jack Frost nipping at...well, everything I "own"...Yes, you guessed it. I'm in the Big Apple soaking up the holiday vibe and walking the walk albeit in slightly more comfie shoes of my STROKES OF MIDNIGHT heroine, romance novelist Becky Stone. So far I've skipped: a) the not so nice editorial news Becky receives at the book's beginning (whew!), b) the totally medicinal martini she understandably quaffs afterward (replaced with a very good glass of shiraz), and c) the shoe-shopping splurge at Saks (drats!). I also haven't managed to collide with any 6"4 blue-eyed blond-haired Max-like hunks on Avenue of the Americas--but hey, the trip's not over yet. ;)

I hope you'll stay tuned for the next update on my self-guided tour of the city at this most magical time of the year and please do look for STROKES OF MIDNIGHT in brick-and-mortar and online bookstores.

Happy (Shoe) Shopping,

Hope