Tag: Bound to Please

Congratulations Contest Winner!

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Congratulations to my mid-April contest winner, Amira H of Humboldt, Nebraska. Amira’s prize package, a signed copy of Strokes of Midnight, my contemporary Harlequin Blaze and Vanquished,the launch to my historical “Men of Roxbury House” miniseries, is en en route to her “as we speak.”

Daisy Jane settles in with a good Hope Tarr book. Photo courtesy of Her Person, Rebecca G.
Daisy Jane settles in with a good Hope Tarr book--better yet, two! Photos courtesy of Her Person, Rachael G.

Here at hopetarr.com we pride ourselves on promoting compassion for all creatures great and small. “Animal-friendliness” is a big part of the brand for my books. I’m happy to report the critters are reciprocating in kind! Please savor these photos of Daisy Jane, the four-legged companion of my mid-March contest winner, Rachael G of Cairo, MO. Check out Rachael’s blog for more photos as well the dish on her latest reads.

Didn’t win this time ’round? Dinna fash as my Scottish historical hero, Ewan Fraser of Bound to Please would say. I’m offering the same great prizes through June, so if you didn’t win, there’s still time to head over to my Contest page and try your luck again. Someone’s gotta win. It might as well be…You.

Hope

(No Longer) Singing the Deadline Blues

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I hit “Send” on Twelve Nights, the sequel to my Scottish Blaze Historical, Bound to Please last Saturday at 5 AM. After three plus weeks of self-sequestering, I’m back to living like a biped human being–exercising again and washing my hair again and eating meals off an actual table.

Statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Union Square, NYC. Hope could have used some of the Indian nationalist leader's renowned peace last week!
Statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Union Square, NYC. Hope could have used some of the Indian nationalist leader's renowned peace last week.

Deadlining, not to be confused with mainlining (though admittedly there are similarities), allows writers to experience the duality of our natures. Think Devil-Angel, Jeykl and Hyde, The Ripper and…Jack. In my case, I go from being this fairly fastidious person to one who’s picking sushi rice out of her computer keyboard.

Deadlining puts me in touch with my inner adrenalin junkie. Deadlining is my NASCAR. I may not parachute out of planes or go on amusement park rides that spin faster than the classic carousel, but hop me up on caffeine and give me a week to write those last 20,000 words, and I’m a regular Evel Knievel. 

Random townhouse in NYC's West Village.
Random townhouse in NYC's famed West Village.

Now that the deadline drama is past, I’m living large–and enjoying spring in New York–at least until the revisions come in.

Hope

PS Check back in a few for my mid-April contest winner.

Lady Jane’s Salon, Monday, April 6th

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I’m still deadlining on the sequel to Bound to Please, but I absolutely had to take a wee breakie pooh to plug this Monday’s Lady Jane’s Salon. Guest authors are Alisa Kwitney/Alisa Sheckley, author of The Better to Hold You and our own Maya Rodale, who will read from The Rogue and the Rival. But as they say, there’s more…

Sarah Wendell of the crazy popular blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and author of Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches Guide to Romance Novels will be our guest emcee. How cool is that? (Hint: not really a question).

And yeppers, I’ll be there along with my founder buds: Maya Rodale, Leanna Renee Hieber, and Ron Hogan.

Otherwise program details remain the same: 7-9 PM at the uber swank Madame X. Admission is $5 or one gently used romance novel, all to benefit Share the Love, a nonprofit that reaches out to groups serving women in transition.

Okay, I’m headed back to Medieval Scotland for now, but so long as I can escape my “keeper,” I’ll see you there. 😉

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

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

Going Green…

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In many ways Manhattan is a very European city. For sure it demonstrates that a pedestrian society can not only work but work well. If I kept a car here, I think I’d probably end up having to shoot it like in those old spaghetti westerns when the trusty stead went lame on the trail and there was, well, nothing left to be done. (Really, did those wagon trains not have room for at least one veterinarian, for gosh sakes!).

Fortunately I don’t need wheels here in the Big Apple unless you count my shopping pushcart. Here not only the trains but yes, the subway and buses all run on time. Since moving, I like to say my “carbon footprint” has shrunk from small to minuscule. Think bound foot.

But for the next week I’m not only going green, I’m going to the Green as in Ireland. Or at least a small part of Ireland: Connemara and Galway. I’ve wanted to take this trip for more than ten years, no joke, and a few months ago I decided to make like the Nike ads and “Just Do It.”

And yes, you guessed it–I’m walking.

Well, first of course I’m flying. Once there, though, in the main I’ll be traveling not by horse power but person power. Mine. Got my back pack, got my Timberland hiking boots, and yes, my rain poncho all packed. Fortunately the seasoned guides with the tour group I signed on with, Country Walkers, won’t let me veer too far off course. At least I’m hoping not…

While I’m gone, hopetarr.com will remain in the capable hands–and under the 24/7 watch–of the fabulous folks at WaxCreative Design, so no worries there.

Many of you have emailed to congratulate me on launching Harlequin’s Blaze Historical Miniseries with Bound to Please. Thank you–and please keep the encouragement coming. It means a lot. Though I’ll be mostly offline this week, once I’m back home from the Emerald Isle I’ll be reading and responding to every single email in my in-box as I always do. In the meantime…

Happy Trails,

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

Red Shoes Diary…

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Okay, so last night I had one of those quintessential Manhattan evenings that makes me proud to be a newly minted New Yorker tricked out in four inch red platform heels. Recently I reconnected with romance writer extraordinaire, Liz Maverick. Liz and I met “back in the day” at a Celebrate Romance Conference but beyond quick catch-ups at a conference here and there, we kind of lost touch. Like me, Liz is a recent transplant to the city, in her case from the West Coast, and a Saturday night out seemed as good a time as any to compare notes on our Single Girl in the Big City experiences so far.

Start point: Blue Ribbon Sushi in Soho where I met Liz and her buddy, Bonnie, for an early (for New York) dinner. After pounding down a truly amazing amount of excellent sushi, we headed Uptown to Terminal 5 where not one but three great bands were playing. The headliner, She & Him, was seriously amazing. The lead vocalist, Zooey Deschanel, who also happens to be a song writer and pianist, is so over-the-top talented it’s well…pretty insane.

This week my Manhattan adventuring will be put on the back burner as I head to San Francisco for the Romance Writers of America national conference. The conference kicks off on Wednesday night with a charity autographing to benefit literacy programs in the area. I’ll be signing copies of Bound to Please as well as Enslaved and later in the week giving a workshop on “Tracking Trends” in romance fiction with my friend, Terri Ridgell. In between taking care of “bizness,” there’s the Harlequin party at the fabulous Four Seasons Hotel and of course the conference finale, an awards ceremony and desert reception on Saturday night. Once I’m back in the city to catch my breath, I’ll be dishing on all of it–I promise!

In the meantime, have a great week…

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

Behind the Scenes at the Soaps

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Hi All,

The Novelist Inc. Conference held at the Affinia Hotel in Midtown Manhattan a few weeks ago was great fun. In addition to schmoozing agents and editors at the various events, I got to catch up with one of my very favorite author pals, Young Adult author, Niki Burnham. As it happened, both Nik and I were raffle winners for a deluxe behind-the-scenes tour of our favorite soap, THE GUIDING LIGHT at CBS Broadcast on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Thrill Moment–Yours Truly got to meet (as in actually touch the hands of) uber hunks, actors Robert Newman (“Josh Lewis”), Frank Dicopoulos (“Frank Cooper”). Frank’s real life daughter will be joining the cast very soon. We also spotted Beth Ehlers, the actor who plays Harley, and got to ramble around her house set.

The above photos show me bellying up to the fictional on-set bar, “Company,” as well as cruising one of the kitchen sets. I haven’t had so much fun in the “kitchen” since my Susie Bake Oven bit the dust. 😉

While at the conference, I also met Monica McCarty, bestselling author of the Macleod trilogy. FYI, I’ll be giving away book #1, Highlander Untamed, as a future contest grand prize to celebrate the roll-out of my next steamy historical, Bound to Please. Bound to Please, due out this July 1st, also features the MacLeods only more than a century earlier.

Hope