Category: Travel

November Lady Jane’s Salon & Peru

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Q: What do Lady Jane’s Salon and Peru have in common?

A: Absolutely nothing…barring that this month I must give up one to gain the other.

Yeppers, I am headed for Peru–the land of Machu Picchu, the Inca Trail and such–which means I will miss our monthly Lady Jane’s Salon on Monday, November 7th.

Still, while I’m rambling amongst the ruins, there’s no need for you to miss. Check out the deets on the Lady Jane’s blog and prepare to party with three great guest authors: Addison Fox, Jeanine McAdam and Isabo Kelly.

Happy Trails,

Hope

PS Whilst I’m away, please check out my latest interview on Digital Book Today.

 

 

 

Living History or My New Old Venture

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Chilling out on the veranda of the Hotel Villa Cipriani in Asolo. May 2011. Treviso, Italy.

One upon a faraway time, the 1990’s, there was a freelance writer named Hope Tarr. While Hope enjoyed writing articles, her Big Dream was to write books.

In 1999, Hope sold A Rogue’s Pleasure, a sexy Regency-set romp and her first book. From then on, she got busy writing books. Really busy.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Fortunately for all of us, living history can shift and change, twist and turn. On a dime.

While I’m happy to report that I’m still really busy writing books, I’ve also found time to return to a former love: travel writing.

And we’re having us quite a honeymoon. 😉

Please check out my two (and counting) articles on Italy for the fabulous travel site and blog, Europe Up Close. My Eat Pray Love…Florence series will be followed shortly with Eating in Venice and another trio of articles on Day Tripping in The Veneto.

Grazie Mille!

Hope

May Contest Winner

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With travel companions at the Hotel Villa Cipriani, Asolo, Italy.

Congratulations to my May contest winner, Sherry B of Tyrone, PA. Sherry’s prize, a signed copy of Strokes of Midnight is en route to her “as we speak.”

My regular monthly contest will go on hiatus for June-August. That said, throughout the summer I’ll be running several contests here on my blog. Check here and look for winner announcements on Facebook/HopeTarr and Twitter @HopeTarr.

Ciao, bellas.

Back from Italy, April Contest Winner & Lady Jane’s

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In the garden, Hotel Villa Cipriani, Asolo.

So I’m back from Italy–Venice, the Veneto (Venetian countryside, specifically the foothills below The Dolomites) and Florence. In the course of my two weeks away, I went on some incredible hikes, saw lovely Palladian architecture actually designed by Palladio, and ate and drank my way through many a long, lazy lunch and even longer, lazier dinner. (Did I mention the white asparagus was in season)?

Civilized midday and evening meals always begin with an apperitivo. Sigh!

In case you can’t tell, I had a bellissima time. 🙂

Gradually I’m getting back into the proverbial swing of things, diving into the vortex of the crazy eclectic hodgepodge of energy that is New York City. As much as I miss my afternoon glass of prosecco–so civilized–and my post dinner “digestivo” of grappa (Northern Italy) or limoncello (Southern Italy), regular reality has a good deal going for it, too.

For one thing, I get to announce my April contest winner. Susan B of Marion, Iowa, come on down! Your signed copy of Strokes of Midnight is making its way to you “as we speak.”

For those who didn’t win, no worries. I’ll be announcing May’s winner on Wednesday, June 1st, so there’s plenty of time to enter. Visit my contest page for the deets.

Last but never least, the June 27th Lady Jane’s Salon will welcome out-of-town and local authors attending the Romance Writers of America’s annual national conference here in  NYC with seven super returning and new guest readers, including first-time Salon guest, the incomparable Eloisa James. See the complete list of guest authors at the Salon blog site and please note the change in date (June 27th, which is the 3rd Monday of the month) and time (7-10PM, an extra hour of romance goodness!) for this month only. We’ll skip the July Salon and resume our regular first Monday of the month, 7-9 PM schedule starting August 1st.

On the "old bridge" in Bassano del Grappa.

Until next time…

Ciao & Happy Trails,

Hope

 

 

 

April Contest Update

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Tomorrow I’m off to Italy, if not the land of milk and honey, arguably the land of two of my favorite things: olives and wine.

April 30th is also the date my April contest at HopeTarr.com closes. The cutoff for randomly selecting the winner is 12 midnight ET. Only I won’t be here.

Sooooo, I will pick and announce April’s winner two weeks from now when I’ve returned from the trip. In the interim, the May contest will run as planned from May 1st through the 31st. I hope you’ll take two ticks and enter to win a signed copy of Strokes of Midnight. For now…

Ciao, bellas!

Hope

 

East Hampton Library Authors Night

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Hope signs THE TUTOR at the East Hampton Library Authors Night, August 14, 2010
Hope signs THE TUTOR at the East Hampton Library Authors Night, August 14, 2010

On Saturday I participated in the East Hampton Library’s fifth annual Authors Night, a fundraiser for the library and its programs.

The weather was sublime, more like early spring than late summer. Seated beneath a massive tent set on the library lawn with the more than 150 other participating authors, I sipped wine and nibbled on tuna roll and sesame chicken, and of course signed copies of The Tutor.

Throughout I chatted with attendees, both readers and fellow authors, including romance writer, Barbara Metzger. And yes, I indulged in the occasional Fan Girl Moment with Alec Baldwin, the event’s Founding Chair, Candace Bushnell, and Lois Stern, to name a few. And before the crowd grew too crazy, I had the pleasure of meeting a charming gentleman from New Orleans, Bryan Batt. Bryan, who portrays Salvatore Romano on AMC’s wildly popular “Mad Men,” was there to sign his new memoir, She Ain’t Heavy. She’s My Mother. As a latecomer but passionate devotee of the show, I was thrilled.

Mad Men's Bryant Batt signs his memoir.
Mad Men's Bryan Batt signs his memoir.

After the signing, my handsome date and I were treated to cocktails and dinner on the water front terrace of bestselling author and former Letterman writer, Jill Davis. Biographer Robert Caro, whom I first met at the Empire State Book Festival in Albany this spring, was the dinner’s delightful guest of honor. Between bites of caviar dressed oysters, quail eggs, and tempura shrimp, we collectively picked Robert’s brain for behind the scenes details on Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson, the subjects of his seminal works, The Power Broker and The Years of Lyndon Johnson (multiple volumes). Witty, wise, and infinitely charming, Robert did not disappoint.

Founding Event Chair, actor Alec Baldwin, was thronged with eager book buyers, especially the ladies.
Founding Event Chair, actor Alec Baldwin, was thronged with eager book buyers, especially the ladies.

Alas, my Cinderella evening ended far too soon for all that it began at 4:30 PM and didn’t end until well after midnight. Sunday morning began with an 8 AM eight-mile training run for the upcoming Hampton Marathon & Half, followed by a brief jaunt to the beach for a cool down wade. A quick shower, a hasty cup of coffee, and then it was on the road headed home to New York City and dare I say it, Real Life.

Now I’m back to work, plugging away on two new projects as well as promoting my newest release, A Rogue’s Pleasure, out today with Carina Press, Harlequin’s digital-first publishing imprint. Originally published with Berkley, the book has a beautiful new cover and a fresh new look overall, so if you didn’t read the original print issue back in 2000, I hope you’ll have a go at the e-book version.

Under The Big Top at the East Hampton Library Authors Night.
Under The Big Top at the East Hampton Library Authors Night.

As for the East Hampton Library Authors Night, I’ve already begun the countdown to next year!

Back from RT!

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I’m just back from the RT BOOK Lovers Convention in Columbus, OH, exhausted but still beaming with conference goodness. Personal highlights include Heather Graham’s Vampire Ball where costume peeps from Victorian widows to dagger-stabbed ghouls strutted their stuff; the Saturday afternoon book fair where I got to meet fabulous readers as well as literally hundreds of other authors; and of course our Special Lady Jane’s Salon Event with guest authors Sabrina Jeffries, Linnea Sinclair and Delilah Marvelle. Bonus: an impromptu shout-out for donations for local no-kill cat rescue group, Purr Babies, brought in more than $150 for this labor of love and all-around good cause.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the romance community rocks!

Thanks to our guest author, Delilah Marvelle, who got the giving rolling by donating ten copies of her fabulous release, Lord of Pleasure to the first ten givers. Ditto to the RT staff, especially web wizard, Morgan Doremus, for scaring up not one but two more bags of books so that every attendee who donated to Purr Babies could receive a book as our thank you. Also, thanks to former Lady Jane guest author, Louisa Edwards, for the donation of the lovely take away champagne flutes in celebration of her latest release, On The Steamy Side.

Special sloppy cyber hugs and yes, kisses go out to conference coordinator, Jo Carol Jones, who personally supervised the putting out of shimmery red table clothes, the lighting of candles, and yes the pouring of champagne, all of which transformed the Hyatt’s Peppercorn Lounge from hotel event room to a very Lady Jane-like boudoir.

Putting on the Ritz...Leanna Renee Hieber and Hope at the RT BOOK Lovers Convention, Columbus, OH.
Putting on the Ritz...Leanna Renee Hieber and Hope at the RT BOOK Lovers Convention, Columbus, OH.

I could go on (and on) but I’ll stop there with a reminder that the goodness didn’t end with my plane trip home to Big Apple Landia. Tonight, Monday, May 3rd is our regular monthly Lady Jane’s Salon here in Manhattan at Madame X, 7-9 PM. As always, admission is $5 or one gently used paperback romance novel to be donated to New York City groups serving women in need. We have the usual great lineup of guest authors: YA urban fantasy author, Jeri Smith-Ready (Shade); Christina Britton Conroy (One Man’s Music); and Lady Jane Salon Co-Founder, Victorian paranormal author, Leanna Renee Hieber (The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker, Book #2 in “The Strangely Beautiful” Series).

Giving back–it’s a good thing!

Hope

May Lady Jane’s Salon: Two Salons, Double the Fun!

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We at Lady Jane’s are taking our show, or rather our Salon, on the road to The Romantic Times BOOK Lovers Convention held this year in Columbus, OH. The Special Lady Jane’s Salon at RT will take place at the convention hotel, the Hyatt Regency Columbus, on Saturday, May 1st, 7-9 PM directly following the Mr. Romance Pageant. Guest authors will be Sabrina Jeffries, Linnea Sincair, and Delilah Marvelle. Squee!

Admittedly, capturing the Lady Jane’s boudoir vibe within the four white walls of a hotel meeting room presents something of a challenge, but with the help of RT’s wonderful Jo Carol and Company, we’re feeling more than up to meeting it. Think red scarves, candles, comfy seating and yes, champagne!

For those not going to Columbus, don’t despair. We’re still holding our regular monthly Lady Jane’s Salon here in Manhattan on Monday, May 3rd at Madame X, 7-9 PM. As always, admission is $5 or one gently used paperback romance novel to be donated to New York City groups serving women in need. And yes, we have another great lineup of guest authors: YA urban fantasy author, Jeri Smith-Ready (Shade); Christina Britton Conroy (One Man’s Music); and Lady Jane Salon Co-Founder, Victorian paranormal author, Leanna Renee Hieber (The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker, Book #2 in “The Strangely Beautiful” Series).

Back from the Empire State Book Festival

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I’m back from Albany, NY and the first annual Empire State Book Festival. Sponsored by the New York Library Association, the festival brought together librarians, book lovers, and writers to celebrate our favorite things–books. The kickoff was the cocktail and dinner gala on Friday night where literary legends James Baldwin, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Edith Wharton among others were inducted into the First Annual Writers Hall of Fame. Noshing on appetizers, I got to hear Baldwin’s niece recount poignant childhood memories of “Uncle Jimmy” as well as meet lots of lovely new-to-me writers, including fellow New Yorker, memoirist Alice Eve Cohen, author of What I Thought I Knew. (Note–a gorgeous book, darkly humorous and yes, wrenching).

Saturday’s day long program at the Empire State Convention Center was back-to-back busy.  In addition to attending the workshop events and browsing the exhibits, I sat on a panel, “Under the Covers: Modern Romance.” Dissecting the genre and the market with fellow panelists Lisa Dale, Kellyann Zuzulo, and Jackie Kessler was way cool and, bonus, our moderator was my buddy and Lady Jane Salon co-founder, Ron Hogan.

Hope Tarr books in the bookstore at The Empire State Book Festival, April 10, 2010.
Hope Tarr books in the bookstore at The Empire State Book Festival, April 10, 2010.

I wrapped the day with an author meet-and-greet where I signed copies of my “Men of Roxbury House” trilogy books and Twelve Nights. Then it was back to the hotel for a glass o’ vino and dinner before tucking into bed.

As for the “Second” annual Empire State Book Festival, count me in!

Cast Your Ballot for…Romance

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Sometimes a woman, even a romance writer living in one of the world’s most exciting cities, can get stuck in a bit of a rut. In search of a new adventure, I entered THE ULTIMATE THAILAND EXPLORERS Contest with fellow romance novelist Liz Maverick. Imagine our surprise when what started out as a little promo lark hit pay dirt.

Yes, good people, we’ve made the semi-finals!

To go from finalist to winners, we need your vote, and the other four competing teams in our chosen destination of PATTAYA are some pretty tough competition. Our competitors’ occupations include corporate trainer, physical therapist, architect, wellness manager, advertising exec, and a coupla singers/song writers.

rebels-of-romance
Click the image to go to the Ultimate Thailand Explorers website. Once there, you can watch the video, but you have to register to vote.

And our main heat is packing a seriously cute baby!

That said, Liz and I are no slackers. We stand proud of our genre and yes, proud of the twenty-four books we’ve collectively written. If we get to go to Thailand, we mean to use the opportunity to put a positive public–dare we say worldwide–spin on romance.

Our video, Liz & Hope, is parked under the PATTAYA section at www.ultimatethailandexplorers.com. The poll closes November 11th. Once you register, you can vote up to every 24 hours–I’m just sayin’.

Help us show not only Thailand but the world that romance writers rock!