Oops! I missed October. It was a busy month.
First, Mr. M and I returned from two weeks in London and Paris on October 3. We had a wonderful trip, and it took me a while to reenter reality. I posted some pictures as we traveled, but now I’m going back through our photos and posting more. I’d neglected to bring an important cable for my camera so couldn’t access any of those pictures while on the go. Here’s a tip–it’s dangerous to wait on that sort of thing. I’m now scratching my head a bit, trying to remember exactly what I’m looking at. (Or, perhaps more commonly, why I took that picture in the first place.) But it’s great to relive the trip and remember all the fun we had. If you’re interested in following along, you can find my pictures here. I’ve been assured you don’t need to be a Facebook member to access them, and my favorite social media Luddite, Mr. M., is able to see them, so I think that’s true.
The next two weekends were busy with writer events. October 10 was the Washington Romance Writers’ second annual Readers and Bloggers Luncheon. I had some great conversations with old friends and new–and, regretfully, I discovered I LOVE white KitKats. The following weekend I climbed aboard Amtrak and headed up the coast to Iselin, New Jersey, and the New Jersey Romance Writers’ Put Your Heart in a Book conference. I always have a good time with my Jersey pals. This year I gave a workshop on writing series which seemed to go well–no one fell asleep or threw anything at me and I filled my allotted time while remaining at least somewhat coherent.
And then I came home and thought about writing something here, but before I settled in at the computer, my copy edits for How to Manage a Marquess landed in my inbox. And there went October and the beginning of November!
I’m happy to report that the copy edits went back last week–and not so happy to report that I’ve been promised page proofs in two or three weeks. But after those go back, the book will be out of my hands–and hopefully in yours as early as April 26! You’ve probably noticed I’ve got the cover and back copy up on the web site. Once page proofs are done, I’ll add an excerpt.
And now it’s on to start planning and writing When to Engage an Earl!
In other news, once I sent off the copy edits, I finished up a fun Q & A in which I talk about the Spinster House series and also tell the tale of the hopping dust bunny. You can find it here. And I’ll be participating in a Queens of Historical Romance social media contest beginning the first week of December. (Hand me a tiara!) Look for more information on my Facebook page closer to the event.
If you’d like to keep in touch, I’m on my Facebook page often–perhaps too often!–and I try to reply to any comments there. And of course, please sign up for my newsletter which goes out once or twice a year, usually when I have a new book out.
And finally, those of you in the States, I hope you have a very happy Thanksgiving. And, if I don’t show up here in December (though I have the best of intentions), happy December holidays to everyone–or just happy December if you don’t celebrate a specific holiday. Our family will be a bit more scattered than usual for Thanksgiving this year, but we’ll all be together for a few days at the end of December. Even the West Coast MacKenzies will be here! A celebration, indeed.