by Marie Ferrarella, author of Cavanaugh Reunion (Silhouette Romantic Suspense, September 2010), her 200th release!

There are times I still have trouble believing it, believing that I am in effect “living the dream.” Despite the fact that for a number of years I wanted to be an actress when I grew up, there was a part of me that always wanted to be a writer. It came into focus because back when I was a little girl, aside from Barbara Stanwyck, there were no strong women to be had, certainly not on television, my entertainment of choice.

So, if I wanted to be an actress on TV, I needed to write parts for myself. I wrote myself into a number of TV series, expanding the stories until, somewhere along the line, I shed the initial storyline renamed the characters and made the stories my own (as with Bonanza where I was the sister they never talked about because I was away in boarding school but came bouncing back into their lives, the center of each story from thereon in.)

Eventually, I stopped thinking about acting and started focusing on getting something published. That little odyssey (from its inception to the date of my very first sale) took a mere twenty-two years. My first rejection slip came, at the tender age of eleven, from Children’s Digest. They chose not to publish my Christmas story which must have read far too much like The Little Match Girl to them. There was a reason for that. I’d read that story and then “adapted” it to fit my style, leaving far too many similarities in it for it to be remotely mistaken as origin work. Who knew you couldn’t do that? I didn’t. But I learned.

The rush I got from hearing my agent tell me that the editor at Berkeley Jove liked my work and was making an offer on it was unbelievable. From then on, I was hooked. The really neat thing? Even now, as I am being given the details of my umpteenth contract—for book number 229—that same wonderful rush returns. Selling books is something I will never get used to, never take for granted. Number 229 means the same to me as number 1.

By the way, the Harlequin Blog will hold a tiny contest for me. The winner, chosen by random, will get a much-faded (but authentic) first copy of my very first Silhouette book: Tried and True, a Desire published under the first name I used when I first came to join the Silhouette family: Marie Nicole. Ten books later, I took off my Clark Kent glasses and revealed my secret identity and, coincidentally, my real name which was to be my new name. I’ve been Marie Ferrarella ever since. And very happy, I might add, because the dream continues, thanks to my editor, Patience Smith, and to you. I’d be lost without either one of you.

As ever, thank you for reading and continuing to make me very, very happy.

Editor’s Note: Marie’s right! We’re giving away one copy of Tried and True to a very lucky winner! To enter, leave a comment on this blog post. Submit your comments by 11:59pm EST Sunday, August 8th. Only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. For full contest details, click here.

by Marie Ferrarella, author of Finding Happily-Ever-After (Silhouette Special Edition, available for pre-sale July 1)

The above words occurred to me (my head is a mass of swirling trivia) when I went browsing through Amazon as I do periodically when I run out of energy to do anything else.

As you might remember from your childhood fairy tales, “seven with one blow” got the bragging little tailor in trouble and pitted him up against a fire-breathing dragon (he got the princess in the end, so all was well). But what do those words have to do with me? Well, they lit up my heart because, according to Amazon, on June 21st, they released twenty-seven of my out-of-print books on Kindle, where those books, in virtual form, will go on to infinity (and beyond, to steal a phrase from a current, extremely popular movie franchise).

This is cause for dancing around and singing (which I do with only the dog to bear witness; she’s fairly closed-mouthed) for two reasons. One is, of course, that the more books out, the merrier and the second is that there is something humbling about immortality. Let’s face it, somewhere out in cyberspace, these reprints, along with space debris, will continue far longer than I will. It’s like being told your family line will go on forever.

I love each and every one of the books I have written. Writing is a labor of love for me. It’s also very much like a birthing process (where, unlike with my kids, I get to decide what color hair and eyes and what kind of a personality each of my characters will have). I regard each and every one of the books I have written as my children, fruit of my imagination as opposed to the other end.

The sad downside of writing series books has always been that their life expectancy is limited to around thirty days on the shelf and then, three to six months later, poof, they’ve disappeared from the warehouses and can only be found in second hand book stores, their little covers beat up, their pages dog-eared, bent and fading. Now, they’re lovely and fresh, just as they were when they sprang off the presses, full of promise and hope.

Yes, I am a touching person (in oh, so many ways…) and I like to touch the pages of a book when I read. I have to admit that I still prefer the real over the virtual (in books and in husbands). But there is something grand about knowing that you are carrying around Shakespeare’s entire collection of works (along with as many of your own books as are out there) in your purse and you are not building up to the mother of all hernias.

And, with more of my older books available in e-book format, I’d like to think that, just possibly, a reader who has discovered me for the first time might want to pick up a few more books and can have that option at their fingertips rather than leaving it up to fate and the availability of the closest used book store.

Isn’t technology grand?

Don’t miss Marie’s next release, Finding Happily-Ever-After, available for pre-sale from Silhouette Special Edition on July 1st!

Private investigator Jewel Parnell doesn’t believe in fairy-tale romance. What she does believe in are low-risk, short-term flings and ignoring her mother’s constant matchmaking attempts. But her newest clients—a solemn, sexy professor and his grieving little nephew—might just give Jewel the lesson in love she so badly needs!

Christopher Culhane hires Jewel to locate his deadbeat ex-brother-in-law, never intending to fall for her or build a family of his own. Yet drawn by her beauty, Christopher is soon determined to prove to Jewel that she can find happily ever after…with him. Even if he has to do it one kiss at a time…

by Jayne Hoogenberk, eHarlequin Community Manager

I’m back with a great line up of romances to help warm up your Spring and keep you turning the pages til we hit the beach with our summer time must-reads.  Our editors recommend you check out the following favorite authors and new miniseries and continuities, and I can’t wait to talk about them with you in our blogs and forums!

First off the block is Maureen Child’s Man of the Month story for Silhouette Desire, The Last Lone Wolf. Maureen is known for her provocative stories, family sagas and strong sexy heroes, and she’s been giving us some backstory on her hero Jericho and how Daisy Saxon plans to rock his world in the Silhouette Desire Author blog on eHarlequin.  Maureen says “I loved this book and it wraps up a quartet about the latest batch of King (of California) brothers! Oh, there will be more, but Jericho King is one of my favorites, so I’m excited to see him out on the shelves….”  you can read more of her blog here.

Of her new series in Silhouette Special Edition, fan-favorite author Marie Ferrarella says, ”Here we are with the second installment of Matchmaking Mamas. This time it’s soft-spoken Theresa Manetti who is trying to find a mate for her workaholic daughter. Kate has only ventured out into the dating field a handful of times. The last time was not the charm, inasmuch as she became engaged to a high-profile criminal lawyer who enjoyed more than his share of “undercover” work, the undercover in this case being sheets. After that disaster, Kate dedicated herself to building up her career and completely ignoring her personal life.”  Ha! We just know THAT won’t last, but you’ll have to read Fixed Up with Mr. Right? to say I told ya so!

You also won’t want to miss New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Brenda Jackson’s romance double-header this month with Spontaneous (Harlequin Blaze)and Hidden Pleasures (Kimani Romance).  Of Spontaneous she says, “I’ve been anxiously waiting to be able to write Duan Jeffries’s story—and I’m thrilled to introduce him in my very first Blaze novel. My readers first met the Jeffries clan when Reggie Westmoreland fell in love with Olivia Jeffries in my Silhouette Desire book titled Tall, Dark…Westmoreland! Since then, I couldn’t get Olivia’s two older brothers, Duan and Terrence, out of my mind. Terrence made his debut in my Kimani novel Temperatures Rising, and now, finally, it’s Duan’s turn.”  Read the first chapter here. (bring ice!)

And Harlequin American Romance is launching a 6-book continuity miniseries from June (available in May on eHarlequin) to November, called The Codys: First Family of Rodeo. The Codys’ are a wealthy ranching family with strong ties to the rodeo. Six siblings compete in rodeo events and find love in various western settings.  This miniseries is full of drama, emotion, family secrets, pregnancies and babies, weddings, and hunky cowboys! I know, I had you at rodeo, right?

The first three books are:
Walker: The Rodeo Legend by Rebecca Winters (June)
Dexter: Honorable Cowboy by Marin Thomas (July)
Dusty: Wild Cowboy by Cathy McDavid (August)

If Suspense & Adventure is more up your alley, then you’ll be wanting to check out the all-new trilogy from Harlequin Intrigue, Texas Maternity: Hostages kicking off with Delores Fossen’s The Baby’s Guardian and don’t miss Kerry Connor’s emotional and gripping Shivers miniseries title,  Stranger in a Small Town of which she says, “All of my characters mean a great deal to me, but I especially felt for these two people, two lost souls who find a connection when neither expects it.”  Read more here.  Kerry and Delores often blog at eHarlequin and you can catch up with on the Intrigue Author blog.

On a girls weekend in Las Vegas, best friends Alex, Molly, Serena and Jayne (sadly NOT me) are supposed to just have fun and forget men, but they end up meeting their perfect matches in Harlequin Romance’s new Girls’ Weekend in Vegas miniseries.  Check out Book One, Saving Cinderella! by Myrna Mackenzie, followed by Vegas Pregnancy Surprise by Shirley Jump (July), Inconveniently Wed! by Jackie Braun (August) and Wedding Date with the Best Man by Melissa McClone (September).

I promise to be back with more NEXT week, until then, tell me more of what you like to read and which stories you’re looking forward to most!

Happy Reading,

Jayne

Community Manager
eHarlequin.com