A List for Last Year

Farewell 2010 - a very fine year, even though I passed through another decade. Here's a short list, no particular order, of some favorites from last year:

Favorite "Vintage" Romance I Read for the First Time: Harvard's Education by Suzanne Brockmann (originally 1998 but reissued in a two-novel collection this year).

Memorable Spam Offer: Encourage Your Winky.

Fave Romantic Suspense: Body Heat by Brenda Novak.

2010 Winter Olympic Event I loved more than expected: Curling!

Fave Cake from Mr. Richland: the Lego Articulated Bus.

Don't-Miss-Regencies of 2010: Soldier's Lady by Susanna Fraser (Carina Press) and In For a Penny by Rose Lerner.

Best concert with children: Great Big Sea at Woodland Park Zoo. Try a little Canadian Celtic rock with Excursion Around the Bay. You'll want to hoist a fizzing drink and jump around, remembering sticky floors you stomped sometime in the '80s (me) or '90s (Kate). Concert without children: Pink Martini at Chateau St. Michelle. Try Dosvedanya Mio Bombino from Hey Eugene! or the two-song piece from Splendor in the Grass. Her version of the breakup is And Then You're Gone. He sings But Now I'm Back. There's a romance novel in six and a half minutes. And I have no idea how to add song links to Blogger so find them yourself.

Most extreme contrast between my real life and my writing life: the "Dirty Laundry" miniseries at Carina Press. Plenty of that in my basement except ... well, you don't have to be over 18 to tackle my pile of socks and towels.

Share your favorites from 2010 or comment on mine. Here's hoping more great books, music and cake come our ways in 2011. (Um, and an agent and book deal too, please).

Grinchitude

Do you have a favorite holiday movie? Me, I'm a sucker for the cartoon version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and A Christmas Carol (any version, but my Scrooge of choice is Michael Caine in The Muppet Christmas Carol). I love all holiday movies, but for some reason those stories are the most irresistible to me.

Maybe it's the fact that they take place on Christmas Eve - a time I've always associated with magic ever since I realized Santa was going to need some mad space-time-continuum-bending-skills to complete his route. Maybe it's the songs (Kermie's Only One More Sleep Til Christmas is my personal anthem). But I think the main reason is the idea of love redeeming even the most curmudgeonly on Christmas.

I'm one of those people who doesn't view villains as "evil". That is one of my pet peeves in reading a villain's POV - I think it's very hard to do it right because in my opinion No one thinks of himself as evil. And if you aren't "evil" then you aren't beyond redemption. And I love that little flicker of hope. You may have been hardened by life and the poor choices you made. You may have realigned your moral compass so "merciless" becomes a mercy in itself (deprivation of coal is teaching Cratchett toughness, you know). You may have built up walls to protect yourself from the very love you want so badly, but it's never too late.

I love that message.


When Carina press contacted me and asked me to write a paranormal Christmas story, I knew I wanted to play with the idea of going through hell to learn to open your heart. It was an homage to my favorite Christmas awakening stories. But No Angel didn't end up having three spirits or Cindy Lou Who. It has angels, demons, Hollywood celebs, and Lucifer himself - but most importantly to me, it has a character who, though she loves Christmas and never thinks of herself as Grinchy, needs to learn to let herself love and be loved. And if a Christmas Eve trip to the Underworld can't convince her, nothing will.

What's your favorite Christmas/Holiday story? Do you have certain ones that you watch or read every year as part of your holiday traditions?

Let It Ride

Do you like to gamble? Do you live your life from one Vegas vacation to the next? I confess, I’m not much of a gambler. I know how to play all the games, I know the odds (I’m a math nerd, it’s in my DNA), but when it comes time to throw your money on the table and let it ride… I just don’t. It’s not that I’m afraid to. It’s just that I like being in control. I like taking risks in ways where the resulting success or failure depends on my skill or, more often, on my skill and luck.

Pinochle, hearts, poker – those are my kinds of games. But those are all the games where you are pitting your skill (and luck) against someone else’s rather than against The Fates.

I feel like the appeal of craps and roulette and those games which depend entirely on the roll of dice or the plunking of a little ball is in throwing yourself into the hands of the Universe and letting it do what it will with you. I haven’t ever done that, but maybe I’m missing out.

(Is anyone else humming Luck Be a Lady to yourself right now or is that just me?)

In my new release, The Naked Detective, my heroine Ciara has been cautious for years, never taking a chance. Then she takes one and it works out for her so… well, she throws herself into the hands of the Universe and lets it ride. Ciara becomes an instant gambling junky, high on the thrill of her first win. And when she keeps on winning…. Oh yeah, we know how dangerous that is. She spins right out of control, but is that so terrible when the last thing you want is caution?

It’s an adventure to give up control of your life, throw yourself into the hands of Fate and let go – and if you aren’t feeling quite that daring yourself, you can live vicariously through Ciara. ;)

Are you a risk taker? Does gambling make your heart race or your stomach drop? What’s your favorite way to throw caution to the wind?

Finally... a Series!

This just in, from Julia Quinn's website:

The Smythe-Smith girls finally get their heroes.

Look for Book #1 in the Smythe-Smith Quartet
early summer 2011.

Is anyone else RIDICULOUSLY thrilled by this news? I still remember mowing through the Bridgerton series one rainy weekend in college. My gal pal and I were reading different books in the series, but we kept laughing in tandem over the Smith-Smythe musicales. Always something to look forward to, those musicales...

One can only hope that Lady Danbury makes a triumphant return in the quartet. LOVE that sassy old dame!

Where Have I Been?

Kate's been remarkably restrained and didn't hassle me about skipping my blogging week. Thank you! Where have I been since I last showed up here? I'm at the podium, moderating the Editor & Agent Panel at the Emerald City Writers' Conference.
Check out Barbara Vey's blog Beyond Her Book at Publisher's Weekly (you have to go back to October 2d through 5th to see both photos in their original context). She visited the our conference and gave our Sunday keynote - an amazing story about how romance novels transformed her from an agoraphobic, depressed shut-in to the globe-trotting reporter she is today.


Most of the 250 conference attendees are aspiring (me), or published (Amanda Forester and Susanna Fraser) or best-selling (Cherry Adair and Brenda Novak) writers. We read a lot, but most of us write more. Since I started writing seriously, I've read less and read differently. More targeted, more analytical. I can't silence my inner editor or my awareness of "the industry" as I read. Barbara captured the difference at one point in her speech. As a reader, she heard someone was from PW and nodded uh-huh, and kept talking. And writers and agents stared open-mouthed ... Publisher's Weekly ... Writers think differently from readers.

Barbara Vey is a reader who devours romance, and who isn't embarrassed or ashamed to say it, say it loud, and say it to anyone who will listen. I needed to hear her. She made me spend a week reading whole-heartedly again like I used to. It felt great! Thank you, Barbara Vey! (Here I am with the rest of the ECWC Committee - in the green sweater, front row. )

Third Times the What?

Revision is a necessary skill for any writer. Sometimes, no matter how carefully we plot and plan, the character dynamics just don't work out the way we planned them. It can be hard to know when you're going off the rails in the middle of a first draft, but if you're lucky, you can spot the trouble areas and fix them before you get all the way to The End.

Last week Serengeti Lightning, the third novella of my lion shapeshifter series, came out. Three is really the number of this book. I actually started writing it three different times before I finally hit on the right heroine to match the youngest Minor brother.

I knew from the start that I wanted her to be older than her heroic counterpart, but in her first iteration Mara was a tough, independent outsider introduced to the pride for the first time. She wore leather and rode a motorcycle. She would eat a sensitive (albeit muscle-bound and manly) guy like Michael Minor for lunch. In a short novella, I didn't have the pages to bring her into the world and crack the shell she'd constructed around herself. But the kiss of death was that even though I had invented her expressly for Michael, I just couldn't see them together.

Then came Mara 2.0. She was already a pride member, and while still older, she was a softer, gentler woman. This heroine was defined by longing. She wanted intensely to be loved, to have a family, to find the One. But when I tried to draw her into a relationship with Michael, I realized I couldn't figure out how I could get Mara to consider dating a guy she wouldn't take seriously as mate material. It had to begin as a fling, but in only 23,000 words, did I have the space to start a fling, have it grow into love, and then deal with the emotional fall-out of reconciling that love with the longing?

Enter Mara Ver3.0 (the keeper!). Already in the midst of a no-strings fling with Michael, Mara believes he isn't the settling down kind and decides to break it off with him in order to go after the life she really wants (with the picket fence and two point two kids). But Michael won't give her up so easily. This Mara is the pragmatic one of the relationship. The goal setter. The organized thinker. These traits contrast Michael as the emotional core of their twosome - and provide plenty of conflict. And in the end, they balanced one another perfectly, providing a match we can believe is going to go the distance.

I'm very happy with the way this pairing turned out, but it was definitely a longer road than I had anticipated to find Michael his perfect mate.

Have you ever changed a hero or heroine mid-stream to adjust the plot or relationship dynamics? Do you ever think a hero or heroine in a book you are reading would really be better matched with someone other than their author-designated significant other?

Good Things and eBooks

Here's a great thing I discovered today: TUL pens. Try one.

Here's another awesome thing: My fellow Greater Seattle RWA writer, Susanna Fraser, released her debut historical through Carina Press last week. The Sergeant's Lady is a twist on the usual Napoleonic-era lovers: a common-born sergeant and a high-born lady. No secret dukes or heirs switched at birth. (Please check out the website Mr. Fraser built for his wife. Exceedingly not-cheesey). Carina Press gives novels like this, novels that break genre conventions, a chance to find readers. Hey ... I know a writer in Seattle with a palindromic first name who has a time-travel Western romance. Hmm...

Several blog readers have never read an ebook. (Hello, Mom). If you want to try a novel from Carina - whether it's The Sergeant's Lady or Talk Dirty to Me (do I have to explain that plot?) - you DO NOT need a Kindle or any of those other readers. I read on my laptop. It's not as fancy or as lightweight, but a computer totally works for ebooks. No one tells you that, do they? If you have a recent copy of Adobe software, you can install "Digital Bookshelf" in seconds, free, from Carina, Samhain (where Vivi publishes ), or most public library ebook catalogs. Yes, public libraries are in the free ebook business. In Seattle you can check out (download) up to twenty ebooks at a time for twenty-one days before they expire. For free. This is amazing for romance readers because our paperbacks are rarely cataloged and the bindings self-destruct after only a few borrowers, but digital copies circulate forever.

And a third good thing: Pink Martini plays at Chateau St. Michelle tonight, 7 pm. Mr. Richland advised me to take a slicker but I'm totally ready to sing Dosvedanya, Mio Bombino in the rain.

Going Way Back

A few days ago I returned to Seattle after visiting my past. I took Big Boy and Miss Bossy Boots to Cincinnati's Kings Island Amusement Park where I worked in the summer of 1990. I hadn't been there in twenty years, and the day transported me like a vintage Michael J. Fox movie. Miss Boots took this picture of me posed in front of the mirrored windows of the "fancy" park restaurant where I once waitressed. In the picture I'm trying to explain to a four-year old how long ago "twenty" is.

Many books or authors evoke a general time for me, the eighties or college or my California years, but some make me think of a specific point in my life. West with the Night by Beryl Markham resonated for me in 1993 after I jumped from the East to West Coast.

A recent plea for help identifying a book by a few plot elements at the Smart Bitches website led to a long thread about various way-old romances and someone mentioned Jennifer Blake. BOOM I was back in the mid-eighties in Ohio in my light grey bedroom with geometric black and red accents (red rubberized picture frames, I kid you not), reading Royal Seduction. Does anyone else remember Rolfe, Prince of Ruthenia, and Angeline? Perhaps you recall the feather scene? Or the back cover text, "Angeline, awakened to sensuality, was not entirely unwilling to be his captive!" Well, yearn no more - it's being reissued by Sourcebooks on August 3. Now I can shed twenty years for $7.99 instead of the price of a plane ticket to Ohio. (Mr. Richland, if you are reading this, you have an idea for a birthday present.)

Anything outrageous - songs, music, a food, a Wa-dog with cheese - that takes you back in time?

Stylish

What makes a book a keeper for you? What puts an author on your Auto-Buy list? For me, the answer is one word: style. Writing style, to be exact. If I like the way you tell your story, there is very little I won't put up with.

Unlikeable characters? Far-fetched plots? Utterly ridiculous leaps of logic? Senseless misunderstandings? No worries. For me, whether or not I really love a book is a case of it ain't what you do it's the way that you do it.

For the truly stylish author, I could read their shopping lists and be enthralled. Jennifer Crusie does that for me. Eloisa James and Julia Quinn knock it out of the park every time. And don't even get me started on Christopher Moore and Laurell K. Hamilton.

Of course, conversely, I am likely to be very critical if your style doesn't engage me. You can have the world's most likeable characters, most unique plot, beautifully thought out, but if your style is wooden, I won't make it past the first chapter.

That author's voice is intangible, hard to pin down and impossible to duplicate. And whether or not an author's voice will resonate with a reader is impossible to predict - so editors looking for the next stylish author have their work cut out for them, don't they?

My question for you - what do you look for in a book? A storyline or theme you like? A character you can relate to? Or, like me, are you a sucker for style? What makes an author hit your auto-buy list?

My Reading Drought is Over

I'm at the bookstore, purchasing two long awaited novels.

• Married by Morning (Lisa Kleypas)
• Ten Things I Love About You (Julia Quinn)

Where are you? What are you reading?

I feel just so very up.

Catch the filler words in the title? Guess what I'm doing again? I thought I had finished revisions to the nth power of nine, revisions as far as the final digit of pi, revisions that, if turned into frequent flier miles, would take all of the Richlands to New Zealand and back, first class. But no. Last week an agent rejected my full manuscript: "I just didn't feel the rest of the chapters were as strong as the first five." After I moped for twenty-four hours, I agreed. My first five chapters rocked enough for her to request a full and read it a week after submission, but the rest of The Soldier rocks like a chair, not an amplifier.

How do I know? Because finding and replacing the words "feel" and "felt" in the manuscript took me two hours. I didn't have a chance to tackle the third word on my list, "seem," and the list continues with then, just, few, some, even, still, only, up, down, against, back, look(ing), and sound. Last year I judged a writing contest entry that used the word "just" 43 times. In twenty-five pages. Sometimes Control-F is a better friend than coffee, and that is from a Seattle-ite.

I also like Joanne Bourne's technical advice on words to check. It reminded me to look not only for filler words like those above, but also for overused descriptions. Eyes and hands and fingers, oh my. I suspect I'll cringe when I read through the frequent hand/finger references in The Soldier.

(By the way, Joanna Bourne is a wonderfully gracious person - I sat next to her twice at 2008 RWA Nationals - and The Spymaster's Lady is a superb Regency. Please put it on your To Be Read list.)

Here's another word I spread far and wide through my writing - adjust. I tried to layer body language into the manuscript. Instead I created fidgeters. It makes me wonder how the saintly Mr. Richland tunes out my own constant "adjusting" of glasses, hair, bra straps and sleeves.

What words do you know you over use? And how many times do you use just or feel/felt? Can you be more atrocious than two hours of feeling removal? Let me know so we can wave our fingers and grip our hands together.

Writers Giving Back

When I was in college, my friends and I used to joke about whether we would choose to use our powers for good or evil. Essentially it was an "are you a hero or a villain" type discussion. I never really thought of myself as particularly heroic, nor terribly villainous. A lot of the things in our lives fall into that ambiguous grey area - neither good nor bad. They just are. But sometimes we get the chance to do something good. Maybe the heroes are just the ones who take those chances?

One of the amazing things about the various Romance Writers of America chapters I've been involved with is the way they get involved in good causes. The Greater Seattle RWA does a goods drive every Christmas for a women's shelter. The book signing at the RWA National convention always benefits literacy. Each May (right now!) Brenda Novak hosts an auction raising thousands upon thousands of dollars for Diabetes Research. Hundreds of writers participate in these and other philanthropies every year, raising funds and awareness for good causes.

I'm taking a page out of their book for my current one. The heroine of my current ebook release, The Sexorcist, is a survivor of a serious congenital heart condition. She triumphed over adversity and deserves every bit of her happily ever after. In honor of real-life heroines like Brittany, I've launched the Have a Heart promo, benefiting the Children's Heart Foundation.

Here's how it works: If you buy The Sexorcist in ebook, and email a copy of your receipt to heart@viviandrews.com before July 31, 2010, I will donate 10% of my royalties for that sale to the Children's Heart Foundation. If you would like to learn more about this organization which funds research for congenital heart defect treatment, or if you would prefer to cut out the middleman and donate directly, you can visit their website at: www.childrensheartfoundation.org.

How often do you get to read a book and get warm fuzzies for helping a good cause at the same time? Well, luckily, with the efforts of the romance writers giving back, pretty often.

Don't forget to check out the Brenda Novak auction! (And keep an eye out for my Tickle My Fantasy Alaskan Gift Basket while you're there.)

What Does Funny Look Like?

I've been gazing at the cover for my April release, The Sexorcist, (because those are some highly gaze-able abs, baby). It's got me wondering: What does my cover say to you? (Hopefully it says Pick me up and take me home with you! but besides that...) Light/dark? Playful/sensual? Paranormal? What do you think the story is about?

I've been pondering the mysterious art of romance covers. I feel I should preface this by saying I have the utmost respect for cover artists and I profess to know nothing of what sells on the front of a book. I'm just a reader and a writer. Marketing ain't my thing. I once heard Sue Grimshaw (of Borders True Romance fame) talking about cover art and my mind boggled at all the ways her definition of a great cover differed from my own.

You see, I want something that captures the feel of the book. Something that gives me a sense of tone. Playful book, playful cover. Serious dark story, serious dark cover. Sensual, body-parts-a-flyin' book, well then lets see some body parts a-flyin' on that cover!

But, from what Sue Grimshaw said, I'm not so sure others share my cover preferences. So I'm asking: What do you look for in a romance cover? Sexy manflesh? Something demure that won't embarrass you at the checkout line? A couple in a torrid embrace? An iconic image like a flower or a high heel? What catches your eye when you're browsing your bookseller of choice?

My cover has manflesh in abundance, and there is many a manflesh cover out there that would lend credence to the idea that manflesh sells... but would you believe me if I said The Sexorcist was a paranormal romantic comedy? Does it look funny?

I've been thinking about what humor looks like on the front of a book and I'm curious about what others see when they look at covers. I've grabbed eight books of similar genre to my own from the last few years and slapped their covers down below here. Judging these books purely by their covers: Which one looks funniest to you? Which one would make you pick it up and flip to read more? And (perhaps most importantly) which one would you be most likely to shell out your hard earned cash for?

Ready? Here are the candidates!
#1:
#2:

#3:

#4:

#5:

#6:

#7:

#8:

What say you, romance readers? Let the social experiment begin!

Ten Things I Love About You

There's an official release date for the next Julia Quinn!

There's also a book cover.


I know what I'll be doing on May 25th! What about you? And is there anything else that should be on my reading radar?

Saucy versus Serious

Amanda Forester, a friend from our Seattle chapter of Romance Writers of America, has two fun book trailers for The Highlander's Sword on her website. She made both (with help from two real life heroes - her husband and his bagpiping buddy). One's saucy, one's serious. Vote for your favorite and you could win a FREE BOOK.

Amanda's videos rock like Canadian curlers. I watched them and thought ... when I sell a book I'm going to have to learn how to do that? And my mother thought romances would rot my mind!

Sunfire Romances

Last week, I wrote about my love for Jayhawk. This week, I want to talk about Sunfire Romances.

Do you remember these? Scholastic put them out in the '80s. It was a line of (sweet) young adult historical romances. Each book featured a different era of American history and a teenage protagonist who had to choose between two men. (Check out the Smart Bitches take on Sunfire covers as spoiler art.)

These were already out of print by the time I discovered them in my middle school library. (Yes, I distinctly remember my 7th grade self checking out Amanda to enjoy and Great Expectations to impress people.) Sadly, I did not get a chance to read them all--but I certainly sampled a representative variety.

As with all romance novel series, the quality of books definitely varied. Of the ones I read, my favorite romances had to be (in chronological order):

• Marilee (Jamestown: Mary Francis Shura)
• Amanda (Oregon Trail: Candice F. Ransom)
• Caroline (Gold Rush: Willow Davis Roberts)
  
• Susannah (Civil War: Candice F. Ransom)
  

There are several reasons these books had such an impact on me. First, they encouraged my love of history. Second, they influenced my writing. Even now, I use my favorites as excellent craft examples. Amanda changed dramatically (but convincingly) over the course of her story. Marilee fought against compelling conflict on every page--and all of the villains were satisfyingly punished. Ransom pulled out all the emotional stops in Susannah, and I remember bawling every time she raised the emotional stakes. Finally, Roberts gave a classic device new and interesting life in Caroline (heroine disguised as boy = most excellent!)

I have actually promised myself that, once I finally finish my National Boards portfolio, I'm going to reward myself by tracking down a few of those Sunfires I never read.

Did you ever read any Sunfire books? If so, which were your favorites--and why?

And the Mountains Bore Witness To Their Love

Recently, I wrote about children reading romance (how parents should handle it, etc). This made me think about the path I took to becoming a romance reader, and I suspect the subject will preoccupy me for awhile!

My first official romance novel was Jayhawk, by Dorothy Keddington. My friend Tara loaned it to me in 7th grade. I remember reading it behind my pre-algebra book while she watched, grinning, occasionally giving the thumbs up sign and passing notes to ask what part I was at.

I also remember being a bit disappointed by the end. I spent the whole book waiting for them to "do it." There were several frustrating scenes where the hero and heroine would start making out, but right when things got good they'd break it off to have a conversation about waiting until marriage. Then they finally did get married and went on their honeymoon, and all I got was one sentence... the mountains bore witness to their love. So sad!

Where, oh where, was the detailed steaminess?

Not in this sub-genre, of course. At age 12, I didn't realize that there were different lines marketed towards different audiences. I didn't even know that I was reading a Christian romance (specifically marketed towards LDS readers).

I've got to say, though, that the romance between the hero and heroine was fairly hot. Even if they weren't acting on it physically you could just feel them oozing desire for each other. (The murder mystery and death threats for the B-story certainly helped escalate the tension!) And I still find the hero sexy, even if he is a victim of the '70s (the poor man gets married in maroon velour).

As a writer, that's a lesson to me--character chemistry requires something more than a detailed description of how often they exchange bodily fluids. (And, also, I should be sparing/vague in my description of clothing.)

That's one of the reasons I keep returning to Jayhawk. As a reader, I just love revisiting it. But as a writer, I have much to learn from Keddington's tight pacing. After all, she can keep me turning pages... even after 17 years of familiarity with the book.

I want to know... what are your favorite books to reread, and why? And what is the sexiest non-sexual book you've ever read?

Getting Better All the Time

There are times when being a writer can feel a bit like being Sisyphus. No matter how many times you roll that rock up that mountain, there is always another mountain. At least that's what it feels like to me when I'm staring down revisions on an old book I've already revised a dozen times over.

The good news is I'm getting better at this. Every revision brings something new that I've learned as a writer to the manuscript and so every revision is a little better than the last.

The same can also be said of my new projects. Not that each one is better than the last, necessarily (such a subjective question!), but rather that with each new manuscript I bring something new as a writer.

Tomorrow I have a new ebook release. Serengeti Storm is the second in my lion-shifter series and when I sat down to write it, I was simultaneously trying to please those who had loved the first story and bring something new to the table. The newness turned out to be a new understanding I had of writing deeper emotions - the conflicts based in our family lives and long-term lovers. There is a power in those emotions that the love-at-first-sight affairs in most romances can't compete with. I found the act of writing this story helped me grow profoundly as a writer.

Those leaps as a writer can happen when you least expect them. Sometimes it's a class or a book about writing that triggers a shift in your writing. Sometimes it's a critique or a compliment. And sometimes, it's just slogging through another draft, trying to see what you've seen a million times with new eyes, pushing that rock up that mountain one more time.

What has helped you grow the most as a writer?

This week, to celebrate Serengeti Storm's release, I would like to give away a copy of Janet Evanovich's How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author. Just comment on this post by Friday at noon (Pacific) and you are automatically entered to win.

New Year, New Books

I am not making any resolutions this year, for the simple reason that I need less stress in my life. Rather than resolutions, I have a hope: a hope that I spend more of my time doing what will make me happy, instead of what I think will make other people happy. (Teaching: a dangerous day job for anyone with martyr-complex tendencies.)

Well, one of the things that makes me happy is reading, and some of my favorite authors have books coming out this year. It's also a chance to catch up on my TBR pile. So, without further ado, here's my TBR list for the year!

I'd also love to know which books you're looking forward to reading in 2010, and if any of you are brave enough to make resolutions. Finally, if you have any reading recommendations for September, November, or December I would love to hear them!

* * * * *

January: Knight of Pleasure (Margaret Mallory)
I love me some medieval romance novels. And Ms. Mallory is a member of my local RWA--bonus!

February: Pleasure of a Dark Prince (Kresley Cole)
I've been waiting a long time for Garreth and Lucia's story. Cole's werewolves are so hot--all alpha-male, lusty, and elemental. Yes, please!

March: Wild Ride (Bob Mayer and Jennifer Crusie)

April: Prep: A Novel (Curtis Sittenfeld)

May: Chasing Perfect (Susan Mallery)
Book 1 Fools Gold series

June: Ten Things I Love About You (Julia Quinn)

July: I Kissed an Earl (Julie Anne Long)
Fourth book in the Pennyroyal Green series.

August: Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (David Kennedy)
Okay, a big departure from my genre reading... but this behemoth Pulitzer-Prize winner has been in my TBR pile since 2002, and I can never get past the Hoover presidency...

September: ???

October: You Again (Jennifer Crusie)
Emmeline takes a job caring for two orphans in the middle of nowhere (also known as Southern Ohio) at the behest of her ex-husband, and ends up with a houseful of delinquents, ex-in-laws, and ghosts. Plus there’s a haunted couch. Trouble ensues.

November: ???

December: ???

Meowy Christmas to All

By this point in December we've covered all the holiday topics - cooking, writing while busy, gifts for readers and writers. What's left for me?

One thing only - Christmas Kittens!

Several of my fellow romance writers - including members of this blog - have claimed to be unfamiliar with one of my absolute all-time favorite romance sub-genres. What? Truly you do not know of Christmas Kitten books?

I pulled four Christmas anthologies from the scary-basement book bins. To my shock, only one cover prominently featured felines, Winter Kittens (1999). From the back blurbs: "Having lost his wager, his intended bride, and his favorite horse, Lord Carrington is in no mood to be enchanted by the sweet kitten that tumbles down his chimney." Or "Every afternoon, the cat that belongs to Lord Stonehill's sister disappears, only to return with a new toy or a bright ribbon." I could rhapsodize about the rest, but doesn't the cover tell you everything you need to know?

Despite having feline-free titles, kittens lurk in my other Christmas anthologies ready to pounce. From Boxing Day (1997, Jill Barnett) in A Stockingful of Joy: "She sat in the middle of her convenient bed, surrounded by mangy cats with the bright Christmas bows." From Christmas Wish List (1999, Barbara Metzger) in A Regency Christmas Present: "They went up to the nursery together, the kitten complaining at being in the basket so long. Gerry spoke softly: 'Hush, Mistletoe. It's not every cat that gets to be a Christmas wish come true.' "

For a dash of happiness with fur, search Amazon for "romance kittens". My 581 results began with Mistletoe Kittens, and proceeded through Bewitching Kittens, Christmas Eve Kittens, Valentine Kittens, Wedding Day Kittens, and Snowflake Kittens before stumbling over Stocking Stuffers.

Before you begin a quest to read hundreds of holiday kitten anthologies, let me alert you to the dark side of the genre. Yes. A dirty secret about kitten anthologies. Many books are reprints with new cover art. For instance A Stockingful of Joy from 1997 was reissued in 2005. Other anthologies will mix a popular old kitten story with a couple new ones as a "new" book. I'm sure the publisher does not intend to trick a reader into buying something she's read before, and it's wonderful that the authors continue to receive royalties, but savvy kitten-readers check copyright dates inside the front cover.

The genre did not end with the '90s. It transcends treacle. It is not limited to Regencies. Nalini Singh (of the Psy/Changeling series) and Lora Leigh wrote novellas Stroke of Enticement and Christmas Heat, respectively, in The Magical Christmas Cat (2008). I have a very hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that the author of the Breed series and the Nauti Boys books has a Christmas kitten story.

Why? Why do some people, like me, love kitten romance anthologies? How have others never noticed them? Are we romance readers blind to sub-genres we don't read? Do we not see cars when we cross the street? At this time of year Christmas kittens are everywhere, like lit-up plastic candy canes, like icicle lights, like red-kettles and bell-ringers. Enjoy one with cookies and good cheer.

Me-owy Christmas to all our readers.