Whee, covers!

Short stories coming soon from EagleSong Books:

-- in which a banker's widow in 1900 England discovers it's never to late to go in search of the love of a lifetime.

and

-- in which a 16th century Cornishwoman has one chance to break free of her family's grisly legacy and seize her heart's desire...the dashing Mateo.

I loved writing both of these stories, and am very pleased they have a chance to see daylight once more. Yes, "Queen of the Ocean" is the same story as "Frances, Queen of the Ocean" that appeared in A Hint of Seduction ezine. The original title wouldn't fit on an ebook cover, so we scaled it down.

Along with the novel work, I'm also writing a third story for EagleSong, "The Hired Husband," this one set in Wisconsin and New York in 1852. Widowed on the frontier, Mariah, a city girl at heart, advertises for a new husband to take her back to her hometown of Germantown, NY. German immigrant Kurt needs a wife and he is planning to go back east -- all the way back to Germany. What better wife could he find than one who wants to live in a German town?

Stay tuned for details.

Still dealing with family health issues, but hope to have things in that regard settled soon.

One bright spot -- I've sold two short stories to Eaglesong Books. "Tommy" (subtitled Quest for a Lost Love) is a turn of the century tale of an English widow who decides it's not too late for second chances. "Queen of the Ocean" takes place in 16th century Cornwall, and follows the adventure of Frances, a wrecker's daughter, and Mateo, the half-Spanish sailor. Both stories are very special to me (and have great covers, too) and I am thrilled they will be available once more. More details as I get them.

Due to a downturn in my dad's health, I'm a little scarcer than normal, but still hope to get some posting done in the midst of everything else.

This file was on the hard drive of the puter that got virusified, under the filename "manifesto"

• I like beautiful heroines. Not that there is only one kind of beautiful, but I want her to have impact.
• I like blond heroes. Or red-haired. Or bald. I honestly do not have a preferred hair color, but please, for the love of creamed corn, if hair is "dark," say dark what.
• I like stories that play out over years instead of weeks or months.
• I like stories that sweep across continents.
• I like it when beloved secondary characters die in the course of the plot.
• But not the dog, cat or horse.
• I want someone’s heart to break.
• I like long separations.
• I don’t mind if the hero or heroine has other spouses after meeting their true love, as long as they wind up together in the end.
• I like heroines who disguise themselves as male, and I like when they have to work to keep from being found out.
• I like it when they finally are.
• I like it when they transition back to being girly again.
• I like when hero and heroine clash.
• I want the highs to be worth the lows.
• I want my history to be an integral part of the romance.
• I want it to do that without turning into a textbook.
• I like it when the mores of the time affect how the hero and heroine deal with their attraction to each other.
• I want books to be real; sympathetic characters do, feel, and say not so nice things. They can have moments of being selfish, mean, fearful, dense, etc, and still be a hero or heroine.
• I want to break the box, take the risks, do something new.

Do you agree with any of these, or do they push your hot buttons?

Here in the northeast, it's somnolent weather. Which is fancy writer talk for hot and humid wherein one is prone to dozing at the first opportunity. Weather saps energy and initiative so it's a good thing my work involves staying inside and making stuff up.

It also helps that I'm currently researching things Carribbean and piratical and at least getting virtual sea air. But more on that later. I did promise a recap of the Long Island luncheon, so you get the quick version today.

Ferry rides there and back were fantastic and reminded me why it is I love having ships in my stories. There's something about being on the water (in joke for Jane S -- on a BOAT. A BOAT. On the WATER.) that puts one in a different frame of mind.

I went with my chapter sisters, Shirley, Jane and Melva. Despite one of Jane's car windows getting stuck in the open position right before boarding the ferry (packing tape and plastic sheeting to the rescue)and almost accidentally being stowaways -- it took all four of us to figure out how to handle passage for passengers in the car, but all was done in proper fashion, we had a great time getting to know each other better and enjoying some time on deck.

As soon as we got to the hotel, we began circling the tables like vultures to see if there was assigned seating (only for the editors/agents) and then to see who was sitting where. I ended up at a fabulous table and could have sat there yapping all day with my tablemates. I'm not going to name-drop as I'm self-conscious about that, but the best-best part was getting to see a dear family friend after far too long. Okay, that and getting requests for partials on both books from Dorchester and also from agent Maura Kye-Casella from the Denise Marcil agency. Talk about esteemed company.

Wonder of wonders, I actually won one of the raffled gift baskets, and will now share my strategy for such auctions. I bid on those baskets with tea things in them. I loves me some tea.

For those who know my esteem of artist Elaine Duillo, yes I was a slobbering, stammering idiot when introduced to her. Especially since she remembered a letter I'd written her upon her retirement, also gushy, but I am a raving fangirl here.

I'd hoped to use this post to recap the Long Island Romance Writers Luncheon this past Saturday, but the darned phone went off and family sutff requires me. Feh.

Recap will have to wait for tomorrow. I will say though, that I got a lovely mention (albeit misspelt) on Bertrice Small's summer newsletter:

http://www.bertricesmall.com/newsletter/index.htm

Note to Camilla -- I've tried three times to respond to your comment but for some reason my computer feels compelled to eat the response. May be a post of its own, but short version -- I think that's a very big part of things. I love historical romance dearly and I don't think happy ever after has to mean exactly the same ever after or in a bubble ever after. But more on that later.