For those of you who have followed my career over the years, you know that I love to run contests and give away prizes.  I usually give away autographed copies of my novels, which I’ll start doing again when my new books begin to be published by Berkley Books in 2010.

 

In August, though, I ran a very different kind of contest—one that I had never tried before.  My editor and I had picked the titles for my first two Berkley novels—my ‘Spinster’s Cure’ trilogy—but we couldn’t decide on the title for the third book.  So I asked my fans to pick the title for me.

 

I didn’t know if anyone would enter that kind of contest or not, so I was stunned at how many entries I received.  It turned out to be such a fun undertaking, and I was delighted to see so many people jumping in to help me.

 

I’m thrilled to announce that the title chosen by my editor is DREAMS OF DESIRE.  The choice was provided to me by hundreds of fans, so I think it’s a good one.  The first—and winning—entry came from Elizabeth Banda, in Austin, Texas.  Elizabeth was one of my very first fans, who started reading my novels at the very beginning when I was just a fledgling novelist, struggling to learn how to write a great book.  She’s closely followed my career and has been an avid participant in all my contests over the years, and I’m so delighted that she won.

 

CONGRATULATIONS ELIZABETH!

 

To all the rest of you who entered, thank you so much for taking the time to send me your suggestions.  They were all awesome!  If you were one of the hundreds of people who sent in the winning choice, DREAMS OF DESIRE, please know that I consider all of you to be winners!  I am grateful to know that so many of you were thinking of me!

 

The three books of my ‘Spinster’s Cure’ trilogy will be:

 

PROMISE OF PLEASURE                     April, 2010

TASTE OF TEMPTATION                      June, 2010

DREAMS OF DESIRE                           Early, 2011

 

Here in Los Angeles, where I live and write, summer is over.  School is in session again, so it’s hectic at my house.  I’m busy with my son’s music and acting careers and with my daughter’s softball and basketball.  The highlight of our summer was Sean’s being selected to join the teen boys’ rock band, STATIC, as their lead guitarist.  STATIC played several public concerts over the summer, the highlight being two shows at the famous rock & roll club, The Whiskey A Go-Go, on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood where so many famous bands have started their careers.  I just posted a flyer of the band on this page, as well as a link to two of the songs they played at the club, and I hope you’ll check them out.  The band is so great!

 

As for me, I’m busy working on my books that are due at Berkley.  I have finished the first two manuscripts of my contract, and they are already in production—which means they’re being turned into books.  The covers are being designed and the text is being typeset and things like that.  Currently, I’m writing the rough draft of the 3rd manuscript, and I plan to have it completely done by mid-December.

 

I should have copies of the cover art very soon for the first two books, and as soon as the covers are available I’ll post them on this page.  I can’t wait to see what the artists at Berkley have designed for me!  These books are such fun—some of the best ones I’ve written—and I can’t wait till all of you have a chance to read them!