Veteran's Day 2009

I'd like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all vets and their families, especially ones who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Special prayers to the families and friend of the soldiers recently fallen at Ft. Hood.

Joy

Congrats and a celebration!

We have a winner! Congrats to Anthea! Anthea email your snailmail to cindyholby@aol.com. I'll pass it on to Elizabeth and she will send you your prize, an autographed copy of To Desire A Devil

Congrats to our own C.L. Wilson for hitting the New York Times best seller list with her latest release Queen Of Song and Souls. She came in at #12. Woot! And coming in right behind Cheryl at number 13 is my dear friend Elizabeth Hoyt with her book To Desire A Devil. Elizabeth is guest blogging here today and will give away a copy of Devil to a lucky poster.

After seven years in hellish captivity, Reynaud St. Aubyn bursts into his ancestral home half mad with fever, demanding his due. Can this wild
man truly be the last earl’s son, thought murdered by Indians?

NOTHING IS MORE INTOXICATING
Beatrice Corning is the niece of the present earl and a proper English miss. Yet she has a secret: No real man has ever excited her more than the handsome youth in a certain portrait. Now, suddenly, he’s here, in the flesh—and luring her into his bed.

THAN SURRENDERING TO A DEVIL.

Only Beatrice can see past Reynaud’s savage ways to the noble man inside. And Reynaud is drawn to this lovely lady, even as her loyalty to her uncle raises his suspicions. But can she tame a man who will stop at nothing to regain his title—even if it means sacrificing her innocence?

To Desire A Devil is the fourth and last book in a series. Each book, To Taste Temptation, To Seduce A Sinner and To Beguile A Beast has its own story, but through out all four books is the mystery of who betrayed the four soldiers who are featured in each story. I have to admit I was blown away when I read the teaser chapter about To Desire A Devil and can't wait to read it and find out the answer to the mystery, plus see how Reynauld survived his death by fire. So here's a little insight to how Elizabeth plots her stories. And one lucky poster will win an autographed copy of To Desire A Devil.


DRIVING THROUGH THE BUSHES

So recently I had to turn in a synopsis to my editor for approval on a
contracted book?the second in a series. There was a slight internet
pause after I sent the thing in, and then my editor pointed out
(correctly) that there was no plot in my synopsis.

Sigh.

You know, I used to take a month to plot out each of my books. A
month! I?d outline every scene, I?d have black moments and turning
points. I?d have arcs and timelines. And invariably about a third of
the way into the book, I?d go off the road and start driving through
the bushes. The last book I plotted out entirely was?wait for it!?To
Desire a Devil (out this month!) In that book I went into the bushes
on the very first page. There I was writing my first scene?a dramatic
scene in which the hero burst into a party, back from the dead!?and I
realized the heroine didn?t have anyone to talk to. So I gave her a
friend?Lottie?which led to a secondary plot?and a month?s plotting
work down the drain. And y?know, I think the book turned out pretty
good, after all that.

Really, why bother?

My next book?WICKED INTENTIONS (not out until Aug. 2010!) I plotted
the first third of the book, hit a few high notes for the rest, looked
at it, said, what the heck? and began writing. And y?know, I think
it?s a pretty good book.

I?m the kind of person who spends months planning the family
vacation?down to the pit stops on the way?so letting go of the
detailed plotting is a big step for me. But guess what? One of our
most fun family get-aways was a weekend when we just took off in the
car. We got lost in the hills of southern Illinois (I know! I had no
idea there were hills in Illinois either) and had a ball. And some of
the best scenes in my books are big wonking drives through the bushes.
The scene with Kind George in To Beguile a Beast wasn?t plotted. The
scene in the inn in To Seduce a Sinner came out of the blue. And
Lottie (her dog Pan) were completely seat-of-the-pants in To Desire a
Devil.

So maybe what I need to do is quite worrying about the pit stops and
enjoy the scenery.

Yours Most Sincerely,

Elizabeth Hoyt

PS: Discussion question! What are your favorite off-the-main-road
memories? And if you?re a writer, what detours have you taken in your
work?

Sorry I missed my Day to Post

from Emily Bryan

Fridays are my normal posting day here at The Chatelaines, but I lost my 16 year old puppy yesterday. I blogged about it at www.emilybryan.blogspot.com and today we're talking about choosing rescue animals over pricy purebreds. I'm trying to make something good come from my grief. Please join me.

Nalini Singh Talks about Her Books!

And the winner of a copy of An Enchanted Season is: jeanette8042 !! Congrats. Please get in touch with me at jenniferashley at cox.net, so I can give your mailing info to Nalini. Thank you all, and thank you, Nalini!!

I'm thrilled that Nalini has come to blog with us today, to celebrate her new release in the Psy-Changling series, Blaze of Memory. She will be giving away a mass market copy of An Enchanted Season to one lucky commenter--so enter and get an early Christmas present!

JA: Nalini you have new releases all over the place! September saw your novella in Must Love Hellhounds, November is Blaze of Memory, a Psy-changeling book, and then you have a book in your new series in February 2010.

What can we look forward to seeing in Blaze of Memory?

NS: Blaze of Memory is set in the world of the Forgotten. Who are the Forgotten? In my world, there are three races—humans, changelings, and Psy. The Psy have phenomenal powers of the mind (telepathy, telekinesis etc), but they have conditioned emotion out of themselves.

The Forgotten are descendants of those Psy who didn’t agree with the conditioning process and rebelled. Though them, we get to see into the past, catch a glimpse of why the Psy made the choices they did.

The hero is one of the Forgotten, while the heroine is Psy—their relationship is dangerous, passionate and…perhaps lethal, right from the very start.

JA: I like the Psy-changeling series because it’s a different twist on paranormals and alternate-world stories. What inspired you to write this series?

NS: It wasn’t one particular thing that led me to write this series, but rather a build-up of interests. I’ve always been fascinated by psychic abilities, and by the big cats, and then one day, it all just seemed to come together.

JA: Likewise, what inspired you to write Angel’s Blood, and start in that direction?



NS: I remember one day seeing an image in my mind of an archangel high up in a tower above New York. Who was he? What was he doing there? And that’s how it began. I sat down and started writing, and I discovered that Raphael was the Archangel of New York, and that he was both beautiful and ruthless. For the rest, you’ll have to read the book!

JA: It's a cool idea--I haven't read the new series yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Look for the next in the series: Archangel's Kiss in February.




I myself would be thrilled beyond belief to be in an anthology with Charlaine Harris (not to mention you, Ilona Andrews, and Meljean Brook). I have the book (Must Love Hellhounds)and am reading through it, enjoying it very much.

You do several novellas a year in addition to your single titles—do you enjoy that process and how is it different from writing full novels?

NS: I adore writing novellas. Because my single title paranormals tend to be quite complex in terms of the overarching plot, it’s nice to occasionally write stories that have a much more linear storyline. Through novellas, I can also explore the lives of secondary characters who we might not see so much in the full-length books, and learn about different aspects of the world(s).

JA: Thank you Nalini!

NS: Thanks for having me, Jennifer!

Please leave a comment or question for Nalini in the comments to enter for a chance at winning An Enchanted Season anthology (stories by Nalini Singh, Maggie Shayne, Jean Johnson, & Erin McCarthy).

Dorchester Author Chat at Writerspace Mon Nov 9th at 9pm ET!

Hey all

Don't forget to stop by the Dorchester Author Chat at Writerspace on Monday Nov 9th at 9pm ET!

I'll be there talking about Silver Silence, and giving away an autographed copy of Deep Magic. And maybe some of my fellow Chatelaines will be there with me to chat about their current releases??????

Writerspace Chat Room at Writerspace.com

Hope to see you all there!

Joy