JANUARY WINNER!!!

CONGRATULATIONS Tammy Yenalavitch! You’re the January winner. To receive your free autographed books please contact Jacqueline Diamond, Cathy McDavid and Linda Warren through their Web sites.

To enter the contest simply leave a blog comment and your name will go into the drawing. Simple and painless. And FREE BOOKS.

My book cover quest continues

What makes you pick up or click on a book? I mean, apart from the author’s name and the title?

I had no idea how tricky this subject was until I started revising and posting my older books on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. After all, Harlequin does a beautiful job of creating covers for my Safe Harbor Medical miniseries, as you can see for my February release, The Detective’s Accidental Baby. All I do is provide the art department with a few descriptions and the storyline.

Among the books I’m reissuing are half a dozen Regency romances set in Jane Austen’s era. They’re traditional, which means lots of fun complications but no sex. I’ve been using flowers as the background, simply because I like them.

A fellow writer, Anne Glover, who maintains the Regency Reader site (http://anneglover.wordpress.com/) , reviewed one of my books, Lady in Disguise. She loved it—except for the cover. I emailed her to ask why, and we began corresponding. Anne prefers the traditional type of cover, featuring a heroine of that era in an old-fashioned setting.

She recommended graphic designer Kelly at customgraphics.etsy.com. Kelly has now designed a charming new cover for my Regency The Day-Dreaming Lady. It tells the reader right away what genre this is, with an elegant touch. I’m posting it here. I’ll be eagerly watching the sales figures!

Then there are my contemporary romantic comedies. How do you stand out in the crowd? After rewriting and updating Unlikely Partners, the first of two books that form the Runaway Heiress series, I got inspired…by my teddy bears. I created the cover shown here and another for the sequel, Capers and Rainbows.

What do you think? Cute or confusing?

Meanwhile, I’m grateful to Harlequin for the terrific way the art department handles my covers. Thank goodness I don’t have to do those too!

A Sweet Sewing Project

Wouldn't these cute 'n' cosy slippers make a great gift for your Valentine?

I found the pattern here at Craftsy.com and just had to share.

They would be so quick and easy to make for yourself or to give as a gift. I think they'd also be fun to have on hand for overnight guests, who could then take home and have a lovely memento of their visit.

Happy crafting!

Until next time,
Lee
www.leemckenzie.com
The Christmas Secret (November 2011)
The Daddy Project (TBA)
Daddy, Unexpectedly (TBA)

From Supers to Americans--Taking the Leap

After writing about thirty books for Harlequin Superromance , this year I decided to try something exciting and new: writing for Harlequin American. So for the next few years I am going to be all about Cowboys and Montana--and what could be better than that?

 My first American will be released in August as part of a continuity series called Harts of the Rodeo. I was honored to be included with a group of amazing and talented American authors. Do the names Cathy McDavid, Roz Denny Fox, Shelley Galloway, Marin Thomas and Linda Warren mean anything to you? J I thought so!

I’m excited about the new direction  and want to celebrate by offering an autographed set of a trilogy I wrote for Superromance called: Three Good Men.

To enter the draw, please leave me contact me via my website: www.cjcarmichael.com . If you also “Like” my Facebook profile http://www.facebook.com/#!/authorcjcarmichael  you will be entered twice. I will randomly select a winner on February 1^st.

Cheers from CJ!