Ok, I’m not playing it cool. I’ve never been especially cool, and the first sighting of a new book is enough to drive me into ungrammatical fits of delight. I just got the advance copies of my September romance, It Takes Two to Tangle, and WOW. Isn’t this book design lovely? Even the spine is a work of art. I can’t thank the Sourcebooks art department enough.

It Takes Two to Tangle is the first book in my new “Matchmaker” trilogy–so called because the characters try to matchmake for one another, and lo, nothing goes as they expect. The hero of this book, Henry, is a wounded ex-soldier/artist. That made him a real challenge to write, which is probably why I wound up liking him so much! (The fact that he’s a lefty by default only adds to his appeal.) And the heroine, Frances? Ohhh, she’s a sly one. Want a taste of the story? You can read Chapter 1 on my site here.

The Giveaway News:

As you might guess from the excitable post title, one of you can win an advance copy of It Takes Two to Tangle right here on this post. To enter, just leave a comment letting me know something you like to see in romance cover art. Or if nothing specific comes to mind, just tell us your favorite kind of cookie.

This giveaway is open internationally. Entries in the form of comments on this post will be accepted until noon ET on Thursday, May 23. (After that, you can still leave a comment, but it won’t be included in the drawing.) One winner will be chosen at random from among all comments submitted by the close of the giveaway. The winner will be contacted by email, so please submit an email address as part of your comment. It won’t be publicly displayed or shared.

And psst: More giveaways will be coming soon, so keep an eye on this site, my Facebook page, or Twitter (I’m @TheresaRomain) for all the updates.

Thank you so much for stopping by, dear readers! You guys are the best. I hope you enjoy meeting Henry and Frances.

At a friend’s cookout:
Little Miss R:  I picked you some flowers! *holds out bunch of puff-headed dandelions*
Me: Why, thank you.
Friend’s dog: *runs up and sniffs LMR’s handful of dandelions*
LMR: Do dogs eat dandelions?
Me: No. That would be silly.
Dog: *eats dandelions out of LMR’s hand*
Me: Huh.
LMR: I’m gonna go pick some more and feed them to the dog!

(Note: She didn’t really. And the dog was fine. He also ate some mulch, not fed to him by LMR.)

When I didn’t feel like making lunch:
Me: How many times can a person eat cereal in one day before it becomes a problem?
Mr. R: *considers* One is normal. Two is acceptable. Three is excessive.
Me: *pours self a bowl of cereal* Ok. I’m still acceptable.
Mr. R: Good to know.

When I tried to grab a coaster:
Stack of 4 coasters: *are stuck together*
Me: What’s with these coasters?
LMR: Are they stuck together?
Me: Yes. Did you do something to them?
LMR: No. I don’t know. I don’t think I remember.
Me: Did you play with glue?
LMR: I don’t think so. Are you mad at me?

Perhaps you would like more information? Sure thing.

1. This is Heather Snow. She writes the amazing Veiled Seduction historical romances: SWEET ENEMY, SWEET DECEPTION, and SWEET MADNESS.

2. This is me.

I might wear something other than a gray triangle to the signing, though. And I might not wear my glasses. But you’ll recognize me from the hair.

3. Our talk? Might include reading a few excerpts. It’ll definitely include profound insights, or barring that, a rap battle. Also time for questions.

4. Watermark Books is a fabulous independent bookstore in Wichita, Kansas. They host author events, book clubs, and offer a subscription for collectors who are interested in signed first editions. They’ve got a marvelous local history section. But then again, they’ve also got a great children’s section…and humor section…and their fiction section is awesome…ok, come early and just browse everything. There’s also an attached cafe that serves shockingly delicious baked goods. Come extra-early and get a cupcake.

5. Wichita is the city with the basketball team that just made the Final Four and the mascot that looks like a demented shock of wheat. Go Shockers! (Probably the only time you’ll ever see a topical sports reference on this blog.)

6. April 18th is a Thursday. 7 pm is equivalent to 1900 hours if you prefer military time.

Hope to see you there! You can RSVP on the Facebook event page here. And if you can’t come to the signing–because you’re, you know, in a different sector of the world–both Heather and I offer signed bookplates, so you can still fancy up your books. If you want a bookplate, just email us through the contact pages of our websites.

My favorite part? How well the art fits the feeling of the story. Here’s the back cover copy, just to give you a hint:

UNLADYLIKE RISK

Jane Tindall has never had money of her own or exceptional beauty. Her gifts are more subtle: a mind like an abacus, a talent for play-acting—and a daring taste for gambling. But all the daring in the world can’t help with the cards fixed against her. And when Edmund Ware, Baron Kirkpatrick, unwittingly spoils her chance to win a fortune, her reputation is ruined too. Or so she thinks, until he suggests a surprising mode of escape: a hasty marriage. To him. On the surface, their wedding would seem to satisfy all the demands of proper society, but as the Yuletide approaches, secrets and scandals turn this proper marriage into a very improper affair.

So the dress and jewelry Jane is wearing? Yep, it’s exactly the way she looks when she gets married. And that sly expression on her face? That’s exactly the way she looks…well, most of the time.

The print edition of SEASON FOR SCANDAL is already up for pre-order, and the ebook links will be coming soon. And once the copyedits on this book are done, I’ll get an excerpt posted. Yay!

Intrigued? Oh, good. Heather has joined me today for a Q&A about her third book, SWEET MADNESS, which will be released on April 2. You might win a copy—just read on!

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Heather, thank you for being here!

You have a background in chemistry, so it makes sense that your first heroine (Liliana of SWEET ENEMY) was also a chemist. How did you decide on the occupations of your next two heroines, a Regency-style criminologist and counselor?

The first scene from SWEET DECEPTION just sort of came to me…I saw a man coming home after years away to find his house full of people and a woman commanding them while scribbling on one of his priceless maps she’d unceremoniously yanked from its frame. Emma quickly became a brilliant criminologist who used maps and mathematics in an early form of geographic profiling to find a killer. Whereas I came up with the title for SWEET MADNESS first, which necessitated Penelope being a counselor!

How did you create SWEET MADNESS’s unusual-yet-perfect-for-one-another wounded hero and strong heroine? Did you start with the character of the heroine, or the hero, or with a plot idea?

The idea actually started as a title. I had SWEET ENEMY and SWEET DECEPTION, and was trying to think of a third word that would juxtapose against sweet. When SWEET MADNESS popped into the running, I knew it was perfect and it just so happened that a secondary character from SWEET ENEMY was a very intuitive soul who would be the perfect heroine to heal a wounded war hero. As I began to think about Penelope and plot the story, I was able to create the perfect hero for her.

Which character or scene in SWEET MADNESSS was your favorite to write? Which was the most difficult?

My very favorite to write was the art therapy scene…

“I know that I said I was willing to do anything you suggested, but how exactly is this supposed to help?” Gabriel asked, eyeing Penelope skeptically.

It was mid-afternoon the following day and the two of them were alone in Somerton Park’s long gallery. The massive high-ceilinged room was dotted with comfortable-looking tufted benches, chaise lounges, a walnut pianoforte and the occasional overstuffed chair. A fire crackled in the massive hearth, centered along the interior wall. The other side of the room boasted tall windows separated by scarcely a yard between them, and every available patch of wall space was covered with colorful portraits and landscapes in gilt frames of varying shapes and sizes.

But the only canvas that interested him at the moment was the blank one on the easel in front of him.

Penelope grinned at him as she removed the lid from a cylindrical earthenware container about the size of a large pumpkin.

“When I first started visiting the soldiers at the hospital, I really had no idea how to reach them.” Dipping her hand into the pot, she withdrew a walnut-sized pouch and shook droplets of water from it until it stopped dripping. “Oftentimes we would just talk about our lives and interests. When they discovered I was an artist,” she said, taking a pin and piercing the pouch, “they asked to see some of my work.”

Red paint oozed out of the tiny hole she’d made, and the crisp tang of linseed oil reached his nose. Pen squeezed a dollop onto a wooden palette and then plugged the hole with a tack before placing the bladder of paint back into her container.

“After some great discussions of art, the men wanted a demonstration, so I did some painting for them.” She withdrew another bladder and pricked it, this time eliciting a bright green. “Then I encouraged them to try, and over a period of weeks, I discovered some interesting things.”

Green was replaced by yellow. “I already knew, you see, that the very act of painting made me feel better. I’d been pouring out my emotions onto the canvas since I’d picked up my first paintbrush. Thankfully”—she flashed him an eye-rolling grin—“the melodramatic canvases of my youth have long since been destroyed.”

Blue paint now joined the others on the wood. “Anyway, as the men created their own works, I started noticing symbolism in some. Others were able to externalize their emotions through their art, and once they were on the canvas, separate themselves from the feelings enough to talk about them.” Purple joined the mix. “And for some, painting simply improved their moods enough to make it through their day.”

He crossed his arms and lowered his chin. “You expect me to . . . paint my feelings?”

What made it so fun to write, aside from how I get to use painting and symbolism, is that is a turning point scene. It is near the middle of the book and Penelope and Gabriel have been working through some dark things and are making progress in their goal to discover what has been causing his struggles. But something happens during this session that makes Penelope turn a hard eye on herself and you start seeing the vulnerabilities and hurts that she is hiding…and how Gabriel is going to be able to help her just as much as she can him.

The most difficult was the beginning. I really worried about how the reader would see Gabriel…I wanted to show his difficulties without making him seem weak, because he’s not.

As the mother of two young boys—whom you call, in fine Regency fashion, the Heir and the Spare—how do you squish in writing time?

By not sleeping! The boys are 4 and 18 months, and VERY active! A challenging age for me to really get anything done while they are awake… I tried getting up early to write before they got up, but it was like they had a sixth sense…the earlier I got up, the earlier they got up! Now, my husband goes to bed with them at 8:30 and I sit down to write. It’s not ideal, as it’s really my poor husband who sacrifices his time with me, but we can see a time ahead when the boys go to school where I can shift to more daytime writing and have my evenings free to spend with my family again.

In honor of your counselor heroine, Lady Penelope Bridgeman, what’s your favorite trick for managing stress (especially during deadline crunches)?

A hot bath and a good book! I’m SO lucky to have a jetted tub, and it’s my favorite place to relax. I also dabbled in a little yoga while writing SWEET MADNESS. I’m not sure if it helped my stress level much, but it certainly did help me stretch out my spine and muscles that were tight from so long sitting in a chair writing!

What’s next for you?

Vacation! My first book sold shortly after the Heir was born, and the second was written right after the birth of the Spare—while my husband was finishing up his masters on top of his full time career! He graduated right after I finished SWEET DECEPTION and we’d barely had time to enjoy a breather before I jumped into SWEET MADNESS. My family and I are looking forward to a couple of weeks on the beach together during the month of May. Then I’ll get started on my new series…

Excellent! Enjoy that vacation, Heather, and thanks again for visiting today.

Now, readers, we have a question for you: what’s YOUR favorite tip for managing stress? Share it below for a chance to win Heather’s upcoming book, SWEET MADNESS. 

One winner will be chosen at random from all commenters on Saturday, March 30. This giveaway is open internationally, and the winner can choose print or ebook (if an ebook is available in the winner’s territory).

And if you haven’t entered the monthly contest yet, be sure to do that too, because Heather’s giving away her first two romances over there!

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Heather Snow is an award winning historical romance author with a degree in Chemistry who discovered she much preferred creating chemistry on the page, rather than in the lab.  She lives in the Midwest with her husband, two rambunctious boys and one very put upon cat.

Website: http://www.HeatherSnowBooks.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/AuthorHeatherSnow
Twitter: http://twitter.com/HeatherSnowRW
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/HeatherSnowRW/
Reader Salon Blog: http://HeatherSnowBooksReaderSalon.blogspot.com

Order SWEET MADNESS: Rainy Day Books • Amazon (Kindle Edition)
 • Amazon (Mass Market Paperback) • 
Barnes and Noble
 • Books-A-Million
 • IndieBound

 • The Book Depository • 
Walmart

See, yesterday I had a little fun making a fake cover for ITTTT using the Pulp-O-Mizer. I had seen the real preliminary cover art, and I knew it was a) beautiful, and b) contained no robots. Still, I couldn’t resist making this because ROBOT WITH FLOWERS.

If you’ve never played with the Pulp-O-Mizer, I strongly urge you to change that. It will make your day at least 50% more excellent, and you’ll wind up with a dynamite fake book cover.

Anyway, a few hours after I posted the fake ITTTT cover, I saw that the real one got posted online. Zounds, you guys. It’s even more gorgeous in its final form. Behold:

Isn’t that beautiful? The Sourcebooks art department has, quite simply, made me fall over in delight.

Should you feel inspired to pre-order ITTTT, here is an assortment of links. So far, these are all for print editions, but I expect ebook links to pop up soon: amazon • barnes & noble • book depository • chapters indigo

So I’m proud to announce that there’s another author in the family: Little Miss R wrote her first story this week.

If I had to categorize it, I’d call it an action-adventure fantasy. Maybe a romance, too. Here, see what you think:

If you’re not fluent in Little Miss R-ese, the text translates to: “The little boy who [sic] got stuck in the mud and the princess helped him.”

The gold person in the brown bit at center, is, of course, the boy stuck in the mud. The taller gold person is the princess. The blue thingies are the rain that fell from a cloud (that red and green creation), and the orange shape at right is, Little Miss R informed me, “the sun going away.” The purple at the bottom is “just for decoration.”

I won’t analyze her story the same way I did my own childhood literary efforts. (She can do that when she grows up, if she wants to.) But let me say this: isn’t it cool that the princess does the saving?

2. Mr. R still thinks I am the sort of person who, knowing there are five Cadbury eggs in the house, can manage to eat only one per day.

3. I still think I am the sort of person who can watch a Paranormal Activity movie alone at night without going on Ultimate Nuclear Red Alert.

4. 21 inches is a lot of snow. WHICH CAN BE MADE INTO ICE CREAM, one delicious half-gallon at a time.

5. I’m never going to conquer that TBR pile. But in a moment of insight, I realized that I don’t want to. And then I drew a cartoon about it. (Warning: this likeness is not strictly accurate. I rarely wear dresses.)

While I wait impatiently for her new book’s release, I asked Shana if she’d be willing to join me for an interview about her work. Delightful lady that she is, she agreed–and even offered an international giveaway! One commenter on this post will win a signed copy of IF YOU GIVE A RAKE A RUBY. Stick around to learn more about Shana’s new book and get all the giveaway details.

*     *     *

Shana, thanks so much for joining me!

Hi Theresa! Thanks so much for having me today.

You’re known for lacing your romances with mystery and adventure. What drew you to start writing that kind of story?

It was a gradual process. I didn’t start out to write that sort of book, but I would get bored as I was writing more traditional Regency scenes in drawing rooms and at Almack’s. I’d want some excitement and would end up having my characters kidnapped or running from pistol-wielding thugs. Finally, I stopped fighting that aspect of my books and embraced the fast-paced adventurous aspect.

IF YOU GIVE A RAKE A RUBY is the second book in your Jewels of the Ton series. The first, WHEN YOU GIVE A DUKE A DIAMOND, introduced a mystery element along with its delicious romance. How much did you have to plan out the continuing plot threads, and how much did each book’s plot grow on its own?

I don’t plan much at all. In fact, it was my editor who challenged me to think of a more interesting plot twist in When You Give a Duke a Diamond. Initially, the diamonds really were diamonds. But once I expanded that mystery, the other parts of the series plot sort of fell into place. And, still, everything except the most general aspects of the overarching mystery grew out of the writing of the story.

The hero and heroine of RUBY—Warrick and Fallon—both deal in secrets for a living, but in very different ways. How did you turn a patriot and a courtesan into the perfect matches for one another?

Very carefully—almost more carefully than turning a duke and a courtesan into perfect matches! Fallon and Warrick are secretive because they’re damaged and because the truth of what they hide is dangerous. Because they have both been through traumas, they understand one another in ways others couldn’t. But that doesn’t make falling in love easy. They have to learn to trust one another and realize they need one another.

What was your favorite part of the book to write—or what scene most made you want to tear out your hair?

I liked the very first scene with Fallon and one of her admirers. She kicks his butt, and that is always so much fun for me to write. I knew I would write that scene long before I knew anything else about the book.

The heroines of your Jewels of the Ton series are known as The Three Diamonds: fascinating women with mysterious (and surprising!) pasts. In honor of the Three Diamonds, will you share something mysterious or surprising about yourself?

Oh, I have lots of secrets! One is a secret project you may have read and not even known I was the one who wrote it! That’s all I can say…

Intriguing! All right…what projects are coming up next for you?

In September, the next book in what has become my Lord and Lady Spy series will be out. It’s titled True Spies and continues the story of Sophia and Adrian from Lord and Lady Spy, as well as introducing a new couple who must fight to save the Barbican group from the man bent on destroying it and England with it.

Sounds wonderful. Shana, thank you for being here today!

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Readers, it’s your turn to answer a question. Giving a rake a ruby worked for Warrick and Fallon; now we want to hear about your gifts! Please leave a comment telling about the best or most surprising gift you ever got–or the gift you most wish you would get! One random commenter will win a signed copy of IF YOU GIVE A RAKE A RUBY.

This giveaway is open internationally and will remain open until noon ET on February 26, 2013. The winner’s name will be posted in the comments; the winner will be contacted using the email address submitted with the comment.

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About Shana:  Shana Galen is the bestselling author of fast-paced adventurous Regency historicals, including the RT Reviewers’ Choice The Making of a Gentleman. Her books are published all over the world and have been featured in the Rhapsody and Doubleday Book Clubs. She taught English at the middle and high school level off and on for eleven years. Most of those years were spent working in Houston’s inner city. Now she writes full time. She’s happily married and has a daughter who is most definitely a romance heroine in the making. Shana loves to hear from readers: visit her website at www.shanagalen.com or see what she’s up to daily on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ShanaGalen) and Twitter (@shanagalen).

You can also download Shana’s author app for Android or Apple and check out her blog posts with the Sisterhood of the Jaunty Quills. And if you haven’t entered this month’s contest yet, stop on by–Shana’s giving away copies of WHEN YOU GIVE A DUKE A DIAMOND and LORD AND LADY SPY to one winner, open internationally!

Order IF YOU GIVE A RAKE A RUBY:
Print: IndieBound • Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Books-A-Million
Ebook: Kindle • NOOK • Kobo

I have a little extra for you today: love letters shared by Alex and Louisa, the hero and heroine of SEASON FOR SURRENDER. This is part of the “Sealed with a Kiss” series run by the awesome ladies of Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance and Ramblings from This Chick. Every day in February, they’ve been running letters by historical romance authors, and today it’s my turn. You can read Alex’s letter here and Louisa’s here.

If you’ve read SFS, you’ll spot a few references to the plot—including the odd way Louisa signs her letter. If you haven’t read SFS, there’s a giveaway going on with each letter. I’m offering two signed copies, one at each site. Go forth and enter!

Psst: I made these conversation hearts at http://www.cryptogram.com/hearts/. Such a fun web page; I’ve been playing with it creating serious work-related images with it all week. If you make a heart over there, share your message! I don’t think the comments will let you post an image (grr), but you can post the text.