Giveaway: 10 Great Authors, 10 Unforgettable Adventures
This giveaway starts August 1st, so if you’re here early, be sure to come back. We’ve got some fabulous reads to share with you, some from best-selling authors you already know, and some we hope will be new favorites for you. I’ll post updates here on the blog from August 1 to August 14, so if you’ve found this post, you’re in the right place. In the meantime, check out these gorgeous covers to see what’s up for...
Read MoreMrs. Hughes’ Scandalous Toaster and the Unexpected Controversy of Other Commonplace Things
Maggie Smith’s scene-terminating quips aside, the most delightful moments of a Downton Abbey episode occur when a character squints, bewildered and curious, at some mundane object or concept: Carson the butler ranks an electric toaster alongside the ordeal of “sheltering a dangerous revolutionary.” The Dowager Countess wonders, “What is a weekend?” And suddenly, a fourteen-dollar kitchen appliance and two alarm clock-free days become exotic to us, too. New Yorker blogger Alexandra Lange notes that when it comes to technology on Downton Abbey, it’s the female characters who are the...
Read MoreWriters Who Meet Readers
If I really knew the song “People Who Need People,” I’d be humming it right now. However, I only know that the song goes on to say “…are the luckiest people.” And the reason I’m thinking of this song is Pam. And I don’t really know Pam, either, but in a funny way, I feel I know something about her heart. At the booksigning at the RT Booklover’s Convention, I found myself seated near the amazing and legendary Mary Balogh, whose books I have loved and even studied. I came into the signing with plenty of hopes and...
Read MoreIn honor of Julia Quinn: The Bridgerton Ode
Out today: A new Bridgerton epilogue by Julia Quinn (The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After), and in observance, I’m sharing a poem I wrote about the series. Yeah, that’s right. Serious fangirl stuff, writing a poem. When He Was Wicked was one of the first romances-from-the-actual-romance-section that I read. I didn’t know many authors in the genre then, and often chose randomly, not even reading the back cover blurb. I do remember reading the dedication in WHWW (something like, “For Paul, even though he thought it should be called Love in the Time of...
Read MoreBetsey’s Collage
As an Argh Ink reader, I’d admired the book collages Jennifer Crusie posted there, but resisted doing one myself. After all, I’d had a rather stressful experience at one of those scrapbook home sales parties. At the end of the evening, everyone else had orders placed and cute layouts all done, while I had an archipelago of loose photos and scrap paper strewn across the host’s coffee table because I couldn’t give myself permission to take shortcuts with pre-made templates. Thus, a book collage seemed like something that would cost me writing time rather than make me...
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