Category: Contest News

Holiday Goodness Challenge: Yes, We Can! We…Did!

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To borrow President Elect Obama’s campaign slogan, “Yes, we can!” Even better, we did.

Many thanks to the following generous souls who participated in my Holiday Goodness Challenge to benefit the ASPCA by giving a gift of $10, in some cases, more to support formerly homeless companion animals.

A once homeless pet has something to purr about--because of you. Image courtesy of www.aspca.org.
A once homeless pet has something to purr about--because of you. Image courtesy of www.aspca.org.

Debbie J, Levittown, NY

Jessica D, Arlington, VA

Jennifer K, Ashburn, VA

Madelina R, Parlin, NJ

Jacquie D, Atlanta, GA

Heidi B, Kylertown, PA

Mary R, Brentwood, NY &

Kay A, Blaine, MN.

Because of you, we reached our goal of $100–and saved the life of one dog or cat this holiday season. I mailed your signed copies of Vanquished over the weekend, so hopefully you’ll receive the books sometime this week.

Romance fiction writers are some of the kindest, most generous folks on the planet, ever ready to lend a helping hand to a good cause, and my Holiday Goodness Challenge was no exception. My heartfelt thanks go out to the following publishers, online communities and authors: Romantic Times BOOKReviews Magazine, The Rebels of Romance (Liz Maverick and Marianne Mancusi), Romance Vagabonds, Medallion Press, Jacquie D’Alessandro, Leanna Renee Hieber, and Heidi Betts.

Finally, I have a new contest posted, with copies of Strokes of Midnight and cover flat keepsakes of Untamed as giveaway prizes. Please check back later in the week when I post last month’s contest winners. The latter might just include…You!

Happy Tales/Tails,

Hope

Happy New Year

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2008 has been an amazing year for me. Highlights include a move to Manhattan, my first but definitely not last trip to Ireland and yes, the release of two more novels, Bound to Please and now Every Breath You Take...

Many thanks to all of you who stopped by Book Talk with J&J yesterday to chat with me about Every Breath You Take… Among those who visited to cheer me on were bestselling writer buddies, Jacquie D’Alessandro and Tony and Lori Karayianni w/a Tori Carrington. Never doubt that the romance writing community harbours some of the kindest and most generous souls on the planet. And congratulations to my three prize winners: Elaine (Lainey), Sara H, and Sarah T. I hope you enjoy my New Year’s themed Blaze, Strokes of Midnight.

In the spirit of ringing in the new, I’ll be blogging at FreshFiction.com on Monday, January 12th, and yes, there will be at least one of my back list books offered as a give-away prize. Please check my web site’s Media + Events page for event listings throughout the year.

Finally, thanks to all of you who’ve taken up my Holiday Goodness Challenge to benefit the ASPCA. Donation receipts are rolling in, but we’re not to our goal of $100 quite yet, and I have copies of Vanquished still to give away. In these tough times, your generous $10 gift means more than ever before.

Wherever you are tonight and however you choose to celebrate…

May 2009 be a year of fairy tale dreams come-true.

Hope

Blogging Today at Book Talk with J&J

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Today (12/30) I’m blogging over at Book Talk with J&J and we’ll be giving away copies of Strokes of Midnight, my New Year’s themed Harlequin Blaze, too! If you can, please take two ticks and come over and say hi.

Hope

Happy Holidays

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In case you haven’t noticed how quiet this blog has been, I’ll admit it. My gadfly wings have been seriously clipped by the need to get some honest to goodness writing done. Still, you know what they say about all work and no play…

EKM and Moi looking very pleased with our holiday gift bags. Love those prezzies...
EKM and Moi looking very pleased with our holiday gift bags. Love those prezzies...

Fortunately I took time out to attend The Rebels of Romance holiday party at The Dove Parlour in the West Village. In addition to the co-hostesses, Liz Maverick and Marianne Mancusi, all the usual suspects turned out including Dorchester author Leanna Hieber, her editor, Chris Keesler, and Scandalous Women blogger extraordinaire, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon (AKA “EKM”). The Dove, which has appeared previously in this blog, is one of my favorite Manhattan venues–Victorian brothel meets Manhattan “secret” bar with cocktails like the Cherry Tart and, for the season, mulled wine. Then again, the holidays aren’t about a great venue or fab fashion wear though yeppers, everybody was certainly stylin’. Holidays are about spending time with the people (and pets!) we care about who care about us and remembering to be thankful for them as well as all the other blessings in our lives.

Per the pets, please don’t forget my Holiday Goodness Challenge. We’ve had several takers so far, but I still have copies of Vanquished to give out. Beyond that, homeless dogs and cats need our help this holiday season more than ever.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, or the Solstice…

Happy, happy & Merry, merry…

Hope

Holiday Goodness Challenge

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Times are tough, times are hard. Nobody’s denying it. Certainly not me.

In this tough–okay, scary–economy charities are taking the hit hardest of all. Charities with missions focused on our four-legged friends are taking a particularly painful hit.

In keeping with the holiday spirit of counting my many blessings, and celebrating the publication of Every Breath You Take…, my latest Harlequin Blaze release, I’d like to give ten of you a complimentary copy of Vanquished.

The first ten readers who make a donation of at least $10 to the ASPCA will receive a free signed copy of Vanquished, the first of my “Men of Roxbury House” trilogy. My wonderful publisher, Medallion Press is donating the books, and I’ll be covering the cost of shipping.

Founded in 1866, The “A” is the first humane organization not only in this country but in the Western Hemisphere. $100 will cover the rescue, shelter, feeding and care of a formerly stray, homeless, or rescued dog or cat for a month. That’s $10 from ten people–ten of you.

In addition to donating online, you can snail mail your check to:

The ASPCA, 424 East 92nd Street, New York, NY 10128-6804

For verification, I’ll need you to send me three things: 1) a photocopy of your donation receipt, 2) the name of the person to whom you’d like the book inscribed, and 3) an address label with your snail mail address to PO Box 1344, New York, NY 10276. Once we reach our $100 goal, I’ll post the glad tidyings here along with the first names, surname initial and home state of the ten generous souls who stepped up to the plate first.

My goal isn’t to save the world, or even the whole Companion Animal Kingdom, much as I’d love to do just that. But not being able to save everyone and everything shouldn’t be our collective excuse for saving no one and nothing. None of us can save the world, at least not all on our own. But each of us has the power, the goodness, resident within us to save our small corner of it.

Peace and Love, Purring and Fetching,

Hope

Congratulations, Contest Winners

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Congratulations to Tracey T of Gassaway, WV, Karen H of Colorado Springs, CO, and Jessica P of Norman, OK who knew that in Every Breath You Take, Cole saw that the old Alex was still there from the glimmer in her eyes.

The three winners will each receive coverflat keepsakes for my Victorian-set historical, Untamed and TWO signed copies of Strokes at Midnight — my winter holiday Blaze — one for themselves and one inscribed to a person of the winner’s choosing, perfect for a sweet and easy holiday gift.

And if you didn’t win this time ’round, don’t despair. Check out my new contest, which just started yesterday.

Let the merry making begin…

Hope

Romance B(u)y the Book Wrap-Up

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Despite Mercury apparently refusing to come out of Retrograde, yesterday’s Harlequin Blaze Historicals blog bash at Romance B(u)y the Book was a huge success as well as bunches o’fun. What a party we had! Bestselling Blaze Historicals authors Jacquie D’Alessandro, Jade Lee, Betina Krahn and our latest addition to the series line-up, Patricia Potter joined blog host Michelle Buonfiglio, Harlequin Senior Editor, Brenda Chin and Moi in steaming up the Blogosphere.

As promised, we all got a little bit naughty, a lotta bit bad. I got the proverbial ball rolling talking about size and how sometimes it sorta kinda matters. Jade Lee dissed on tantric sex, virgin monks, and how in her latest Blaze Historical, the two come together (so to speak). Thanks to Jade, I now know there’s even more to want–as in 9.5 hours more. Thanks a lot, Jade!

And we all agreed that while you can’t keep a good man down, with the right slip knot you can surely keep him horizontal. 😉

The blogging went on hot and heavy until almost 9 PM ET, with more than 140 of you stopping by! My heartfelt thanks to Michelle Buonfiglio and her Bellas for making us all feel so welcome we didn’t want to leave–literally. If it wasn’t for Richard Armitage of “North and South” waiting for me in my DVD player, I might still be over there.

And while even the good things in life must come to an end, in this case we’re not done yet. You can still catch the blog transcript with yes, my interview and juicy excerpt from Bound to Please at Romance B(u)y the Book.

Happy Weekend,

Hope

Blogging Today at Lifetime TV’s Romance Buy the Book

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Okay, chicks, I’m over today blogging with my editor, Brenda Chin, at Michelle Buonfiglio’s Romance B(u)y the Book at LifetimeTV.com. We’ll be visited throughout the day by bestselling authors Jacquie D’Alessandro, Jade Lee, Betina Krahn and latest Blaze Historical author, Patricia Potter.

The post topic: When Size Matters. I’d say more but really, doesn’t that sort of say it all? 😉

And bonus, we’re running a contest. Six separate winners will each receive signed books by Jade Lee (The Tao of Sex), Jacquie D’Alessandro (Jinxed) and Strokes of Midnight and It’s a Wonderfully Sexy Life by yeppers, Yours Truly.

So if you can, hop on over and join Brenda and I as we dish on what’s next for Harlequin’s sexy Blaze Historicals with Michelle B and her “Bellas.” Actually, if you come on over, that makes you a Bella, too.

On the Blogosphere Homefront i.e., “here,” look for upcoming posts on “Life According to Alda,” uber fab actor, director and yes, author Alan Alda whom I got to meet and yes, even actually touch last night and “Dating and Darwinism, The Old-New Frontier.”

So much to blog on, so little time…

Hope

July Contest Winners

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Okay, I am if not exactly fully rested up from the RWA Conference in San Francisco, then certainly back on the J.O.B. And one of the very best parts of this particular J.O.B. is announcing contest winners–and giving away books!

Jane C of New York, NY is the Grand Prize Winner of my previous month’s contest. Like the two runners up, Jane knew that “caudle,” a mulled wine with bits of brown bread, sugar, eggs and spices, is the drink Brianna first serves the captured Ewan in Bound to Please. Jane’s prize is a signed copy of The Haunting, my time travel Harlequin Blaze romance set in Fredericksburg, VA, and a signed copy of Monica McCarty’s Highlander Untamed, the first in Monica’s blockbuster trilogy about the MacLeods of Skye. Bound to Please also features the MacLeods albeit more than a century earlier.

Robyn L of Portage, PA and Andrea A of Bath, NY are my two additional winners. Robyn and Andrea will each receive a signed copy of Vanquished, the kick-off to my “Men of Roxbury House” historical trilogy along with a signed cover flat for Bound to Please.

Per my previous post, I’m still waiting on all those fab RWA Conference glam shots, so if you’re one of my shutterbug buddies, don’t be shy. Send ’em on. (Memo to self: next time remember to take digital camera. Also, remember to learn how to use said digital camera). 😉

Hope

Win, win–win!!!

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Congratulations to the winners of my June contest, all of whom knew that in Bound to Please, Brianna says that love potions are for silly young maids. The grand prize, a signed copy of my paranormal romance, The Haunting, and of the talented Monica McCarty’s Highlander Untamed, goes to Jennifer T of East Millinocket, ME.

But, as they say, there’s more… My two second prize winners, Kitty S of Muncie, IN and Christine W of Lawton, OK, will each receive a signed copy of Vanquished, the first book in my “Men of Roxbury House” historical trilogy and signed cover flat keepsakes for Untamed, the final book in the series.

Many thanks to all of you who took the time to stop by and enter. If you didn’t win this time ’round, no worries. I’m repeating the same great prizes for the current contest, so if you haven’t yet, please take a moment to try again.

Hope