A Week Of Firsts

Ever have one of those days? One of those weeks?

Usually, when someone asks that question, there’s a negative connotation. But I’ve had a series of those days that folded themselves into one of those weeks…in the best of all possible ways. Starting with the release of my debut book for Harlequin American Romance last Tuesday. Walking into a book store and seeing The Officer’s Girl on the shelf was so exciting I grabbed the first sales clerk I saw and said, “This, this is my book!”

Poor woman. She obviously didn’t understand. It took another couple of tries before she realized I meant I’d written the book. Once she did, the joy spread until the next thing I knew, a voice came over the speaker announcing “an author” was in the building, and if anyone wanted to, they could come on over to the Romance section. And it was super when the clerk asked me to sign the copies of The Officer's Girl they had in stock.

I also participated in my first official book signing this week. And boy, what a book signing it was! Every new author should have nearly 300 eager fans show up and a staff to hand out tickets so attendees wouldn’t have to stand on line for hours. You probably already guessed not all those people were there to see me. And, much as I’d love to insist they were, you’d be right. The book signing kicked off the annual Washington Romance Writers’ Retreat. Held at Turn The Page Book Store Cafe in Boonsboro, MD, the other signers included the amazing Nora Roberts, Charlaine Harris, and Roxanne St. Claire.

For me, it was still a blast. Chatting with the attendees and being part of this event was such a fabulous experience, I’m eager to do it again. And, since I just completed my second Harlequin American Romance, maybe I'll be able to next year when Catch of a Lifetime is released.

Here's a photo of some of the crowd at Turn The Page.

Happy Launch Day to Me!

Or—The strange and wonderful feeling of being a debut novelist.

It’s been quite a year (and a bit) since I got The Call in person at the RWA conference in San Francisco. Although I was overjoyed that a twenty year undertaking had finally been realized, in some ways it didn’t feel quite “real”.
It started to get real around the time that my debut novel, “Colorado Christmas” was listed on Amazon. Up until then, I couldn’t help thinking it could all fall in a heap. Not that I didn’t have confidence in Harlequin or my wonderful editor, Paula Eykelhof, or even the belief in the evidence of my advance check – it was just that somehow, until that concrete proof that my book was actually in production and people could order it—it was still all a little surreal. Like I might wake up and find it was all a dream.
Maybe it was the 20 long years it took to get The Call that had me feeling jittery?
Well now I’m feeling jittery in a different way because today is the official launch day for my book!
I’m jittery about whether people will enjoy it and want to read more of the O’Malley Men and subsequent books of mine. A Top Pick review from Romantic Times had my head swollen bigger than a watermelon, but how am I going to feel when I get my first negative review?

So far I’ve had some lovely fan letters from readers. And even my husband liked it: “Apart from spoiling it with all that mushy stuff”. Any wonder I write romance? (grin)
Still, he did love Louella (the very naughty pig) and asked if she’d be returning in any other stories. Well… no… she wasn’t but then I ran it by my editor and she thought Louella deserved an encore performance. So Louella is back in book #2 of The O’Malley Men series, “The Sheriff and the Baby”.
It’s interesting hearing from readers what they liked about the book, each one so far has remarked on something different which surprized me. Some enjoyed the light-hearted moments, others the romance, or the quirky characters and yet others remarked on impact of the… well, I can’t tell you about that because it would be giving away the ending! So you’re just going to have to read the book and tell me your favourite part of “Colorado Christmas”.
I’ll choose my favourite comment and give away a copy to the winner in my December 10 blog. Since you might already have read “Colorado Christmas”, I’ll autograph the winning copy to whomever you wish to give it as a Christmas present. A perfect Colorado Christmas gift!
Till next month - happy reading everyone!
CC