Tag: paranormal romance

Reading Tomorrow’s Destiny at Lady Jane’s Salon

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Victorian Christmas Goodness!

This month, I read my Victorian Christmas novella, Tomorrow’s Destiny at Lady Jane’s Salon, the Manhattan, NYC reading series I co-founded back in ((gulp)) 2009. Like the Dickens’ classic from which it draws inspo, Tomorrow’s Destiny is a paranormal Christmas story. Only instead of ghosts, I have guardian angels. Guardian angels masquerading as the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future. One in particular, Fern, needs to score a h-u-g-e HEA for her human ASAP — or wait another hundred years for a shot at winning her wings. And in lieu of a mean-spirited, bent-back miser hoarding gold, I have my Scrooge-like heroine hoarding the best thing ever — books!

Yes, you read that right. My heroine, bookshop proprietress Fiona MacPherson, IS the Scrooge character. ‘Tis almost 2021, after all.

Watch my reading here on Youtube along with those of Salon guests Rose Lerner, Stacey Agdern, Harper Miller, Cara Bastone and Piper Huguley.

My intro and reading start at 38:10 minutes into the video.

You can get the Tomorrow’s Destiny novella as an ebook and audiobook, the latter voiced by my uber talented Salon co-founder, author Leanna Renee Hieber.

Scribd ebook
Scribd audiobook

This December’s Lady Jane’s Holiday Salon program is both deeply special and bittersweet. After twelve magical years as NYC’s first and only regular reading series devoted to romance fiction, we’re drawing the curtain on our beloved naughty red room at Madame X.

All our virtual Salon programs will continue to live online on Youtube and on the Lady Jane’s website. Please remember our wonderful house charity, Win (Women in Need, Inc.) in your end-of-year charitable giving.

Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and safe holiday season.

XO Hope

Time Out Treats and Mad Hatter Moments

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Last night I saw Twilight with my girl posse–birthday girl, Stacey Agdern, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon(EKM), Leanna Hieber and others. Based on the popular paranormal series by Stephenie Meyer, Twilight is a modern-day vampire romance set in a small town in Washington State. The protagonists are high school students, new girl in town, Bella Swan and resident undead hottie Edward Cullen, played by the winsome Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

I’ll admit upfront I’m not a huge vampire fan, though in the event that there are vampire lovers (or actual vampires) reading this post, I’ll add that I’m not against you–I mean, them–either. As for the lovers being both 17 (at least ostensibly–Edward admits to being 17 for “a while” as in since 1918), let’s just say high school for Yours Truly has been “a while” ago as well. And yet I really liked the movie. In fact, I bordered on loving it. It’s well acted, well crafted, and beautifully filmed. And the soundtrack is hauntingly lovely.

Afterward we headed ’round the corner to what has become our standard Irish bar where creamy pints and chilled glasses were enjoyed by all. A couple of us stayed long past the witching hour to sing along with the very authentically Irish band, which played a cross-section of tunes from traditional ballads like “The Black Velvet Band” to Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”

The lovely Elizabeth Kerri Mahon and Hope ramp up the glam.
The lovely Elizabeth Kerri Mahon and Hope ramp up the glam at The Montauk Club.

Earlier this month, I trekked out to Brooklyn’s beautiful Park Slope neighborhood with EKM and others to The Montauk Club. Founded as a private club in 1889, the stunning Venetian gothic club house is the host site for the Dances of Vice ball. Think 1770’s meets 1970’s glam rock. The costumes were uniformly gorgeous and innovative and the equally eclectic cabaret included opera, a tasteful striptease, and finally, a rousing rendition of “Rock Me Amadeus.”

I think of these time out treats to myself as “artist days,” or in my case, artist evenings. They stimulate my senses and fill up my creative well in a way that for a writer, for any artist, is absolutely essential. I call them my non-guilty pleasures because to write about life requires that first you really live it. So, whether you express your art through baking and decorating the perfect batch of Christmas cookies or crafting the proverbial Great American Novel, take time out this holiday season to live it up–not just a little but a lot. You deserve it.

Hope

A hatted Hope puts on the ritz with pals at The Montauk.
A hatted Hope puts on the ritz with pals at The Montauk including legally blond Rebel of Romance, Marianne Mancusi, a kiss-blowing Megan Frampton, and fellow Rebel, Liz Maverick (far right).

Hope, Leanna, EKM and Jason talk costumes, apparently serious business.
Hope, Leanna, EKM and Jacob talk costumes, apparently serious business.