Category: Uncategorized

Speaking the Love

Posted on:
From left to right, Sarah MacLean, Sarah Wendell, Hope Tarr, Tessa Woodward, Lauren Willig & Stephanie Klose. Photo courtesy of Lauren Willig.
From left to right, Sarah MacLean, Sarah Wendell, Hope Tarr, Tessa Woodward, Lauren Willig & Stephanie Klose. Photo courtesy of Lauren Willig.

Last night I had the privilege of being a panelist at WORD in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. “WORDs of Love: A Night of Romance,” celebrated the bookstore’s recently opened romance fiction section (yippee!) and brought together author, Lauren Willig (Betrayal of the Blood Lily); romance book blogger, Sarah Wendell (Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels); Avon Books Associate Editor, Tessa Woodward; RT BOOK Reviews Magazine Senior Editor/Reviews Coordinator, Stephanie Klose; and Yours Truly.

Hosted by store manager, Stephanie Anderson and moderated by the brilliant Sarah MacLean (Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake), the program covered, or rather uncovered, as many aspects of the genre as we could reasonably address in 90 minutes. For example, what is the role of cliché in romance? Or do these tropes form the foundation of the genre’s structure not unlike the conventions inherent to other genres such as mystery and science fiction?

TIME_OUT_NY_WORD_7_22_10My personal evening’s highlight came from one lady in the audience who counseled us not to defend, explain, or apologize for the romance novels we love to read and write.  “When someone questions me about why I read romance novels, I look them in the eye and say, ‘Because I love them, and I’m probably going to buy $100 more next month.’” Huzzah!

Running a close second was the attendee who told us afterward that she’d found out about the event from its listing in The New York Times. The event also made the front page of this week’s Time Out New York. I’m just sayin’…

Couldn’t make it? Don’t despair. The uber wonderful, Sarah MacLean recorded the event for your listening pleasure.

Have a lovely weekend,

Hope

And the Winner is…

Posted on:

jack_276Many thanks to all of you who took time out of busy lives to comment on my Wednesday blog on My Lord Jack at Carina Press. What fun we had! The winner of that special contest is Lise Horton. Yay, Lise!

Next stop on my Blog Tour will be Wednesday, July 21st at Fresh Fiction. Visit me and be entered to win a copy of one of my back list books.

And of course my regular contest continues here, so if you haven’t yet, please take two ticks and enter by answering a super quick question about my Harlequin Blaze Historical print release, The Tutor.

TGIF…

Hope

Jack is Back!

Posted on:

jack_276I’m a sucker for second chance at love stories. Always have been, always will be. Sometimes those love stories themselves get a second chance, too.

My Lord Jack, my Scottish-set historical first published in 2002 with Berkley, releases today with Carina Press, Harlequin Enterprise’s exclusively digital imprint.

Jack is indeed back and he’s better than ever before. Working with Angela James and the talented editorial team at Carina Press, I’ve reedited the book–and yes, I’m hopeful that I’ve learned a thing or two in the past eight years of honing my craft.

I hope you’ll take two ticks to read an excerpt. Or take more than two ticks and visit me on one of my blog tour stops for the book. Most of my guest blogging gigs, including today’s at Romance Writers of America, New York City involve a prize giveaway: one or more of my back list print releases. Prezzies, we all love those.

tutor_276And if you’re in New York City, you might just catch me up close and personal at one of my upcoming readings for my other July release, The Tutor.

Hope

Signed Copies of THE TUTOR

Posted on:

Ever a woman of my word, I took time over the Independence Day Holiday weekend to visit my local booksellers and sign copies of The Tutor. If you’re in New York City over the next few weeks, you can find autographed copies at the following brick-and-mortar bookstores:

Borders Stores:

Manhattan/Wall Street, 100 Broadway, 212.964.1988

Manhattan, 32nd St. & 2nd Avenue, 212.685.3938

Manhattan, Penn Plaza, 2 Penn Plaza (adjacent to Madison Square Garden), 212.244.1814

Manhattan, Park Avenue, 461 Park Avenue, 212.980.6785

Manhattan, Columbus Circle, 10 Columbus Circle, 212.823.9775

Barnes & Nobles:

Greenwich Village, 396 Avenue of the Americas

Manhattan, 555 Fifth Avenue

Citigroup Center, 160 East 54th Street

Brooklyn, Park Slope, 267 7th Avenue

Posman Books, Grand Central Station

Not in New York? No worries. Send me a self-addressed envelope with 44 cents return postage, and it will be my pleasure to mail you a signed book plate.

Hope Tarr

PO Box 1344

New York, NY 10276

Stay cool!

Hope

Interview with RT BOOK Reviews is Up!

Posted on:

My interview with the lovely Morgan Doremus is posted at the RT BOOK Reviews blog site. I hope you’ll take two ticks to check it out and post a comment.

In the interim, here’s a wee snippet of the segment.

New Yorkers don’t forget Lady Jane’s Salon on Monday, July 5th, 7-9 PM at Madame X. I’ll be reading and signing The Tutor along with authors Dianna Love Snell and Colby Hodge.

Bonus: romance blogger, Barbara Vey is in town for Thriller Fest and will be joining us as our very special guest. So much goodness…

Happy Independence Day!

THE TUTOR is Out! Plus Lady Jane’s July 5th Salon Goodness

Posted on:

My July Victorian-set historical release, The Tutor is shipping from online retailers as well as showing up in selected brick-and-mortar stores–squee! I’ll be signing stock in New York City stores over the coming week and posting a list here on my blog for readers living in or visiting The Big Apple, so please check back. In the meantime, check out the excerpt and, if you haven’t already, take a few moments and enter my contest.

tutor_276I’ll also be reading The Tutor and signing copies at the July 5th Lady Jane’s Salon, so if your Fourth of July holiday plans bring you into the New York City area, please consider joining us.  We have a jam-packed evening with three other great guest authors: Toni McGee Causey, Dianna Love, and Colby Hodge AKA Cindy Holby.

Otherwise, same time, same place: 7-9 PM at Madame X. Admission is $5 or one gently-used paperback romance novel with net proceeds supporting an end-of-year donation to a New York City women’s charity.

Hope

June 7th Lady Jane’s Salon

Posted on:

The June Lady Jane’s Salon proudly presents historical romance authors Cara Elliott, Amanda McCabe, and Salon Co-Founder, Maya Rodale reading from and signing their latest Regency-set releases.

LADY-jane-logoBooks will be available for purchase on site.

Details: Monday, June 7th, 7-9 PM at Madame X (94  W Houston St). Subsequent Salons on the first Monday of the month. Admission is $5 or one gently-used romance novel. Cash bar. Net proceeds support city charities serving women in need.

Stamps to the Rescue!

Posted on:

As many of you may know, I founded and directed the successful Pet Overpopulation STAMP OUT Campaign (1996-2002). This grassroots effort championed by American pet lovers nationwide resulted in issuance of millions of social awareness postage stamps urging the public to “Spay/Neuter — Save a Life.” Gracing the stamps were an adorable former shelter puppy and kitten photographed by veteran stamp photographer and pet lover, Sally Andersen-Bruce.  Spay/Neuter sold out, sending a strong message to the Postal Service that kindness isn’t only contagious. It’s profitable, too.

Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet on-sale as of April 30, 2010.
Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet on-sale as of April 30, 2010.

That humanitarian tradition continues in a big way with “Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet.” The AR Stamps were unveiled to the public by Ellen DeGeneres on her Ellen Show on March 17th and released for sale on April 30th in a star-studded First Day of Issue gala in North Hollywood. Watch the cool video segment from the Ellen Show.

But there’s more. Because shelter pets deserve a first-class meal, Ellen, co-owner of Halo, Purely for Pets is donating this high-quality pet food to feed one million shelter pets!

Sold in panes of twenty, the 44 cent stamps feature ten images, photographs of former shelter pets by Ms. Andersen-Bruce. The animals, five dogs and five cats, have all been adopted. But millions of other homeless dogs and cats aren’t so fortunate.

The Animal Rescue stamps will remain on sale in post offices around the country as well as online at the USPS store while supplies last. With 300 million AR stamps released nationwide, you may have plenty of time. Then again, given the cuteness of those furry faces and the goodness of all the human hearts involved in bringing the program to fruition,  on second thought, best stock up now! In doing so, you’ll be helping to get the word out for the millions of shelter pets waiting for good homes–maybe even…yours?

To find animal shelters and rescue groups in your zip code, go to PetFinder.com.

Ellen and photographer, Sally Andersen-Bruce, First Day of Issue, N Hollywood, CA. 4-30-10.
Ellen and photographer, Sally Andersen-Bruce, First Day of Issue, N Hollywood, CA. 4-30-10.

Hope

Back from RT!

Posted on:

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!

Posted on:

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).