by Heather Foy, Senior Manager, Public Relations

I had the chance to hit the road last weekend with authors Carla Neggers, Gena Showalter, Susan Mallery, Rachel Vincent and Emilie Richards on the Authors in Motion Book Tour and it was a blast. We had a great time riding in the “love bus” (although our driver one day was a little crazy) and it was a real privilege to see them meet excited readers.

From L-R: Susan Mallery, Rachel Vincent, Emilie Richards, Gena Showalter and Carla Neggers

Fans arrived from all over (even neighbouring states) to meet them, some with quilting squares for Emilie Richards and others with custom-made books for Rachel Vincent. All the fans got photos to remember the experience, and they left with signed books and great memories.

Thanks to all the authors on the tour! Harlequin is so proud to publish your amazing work, and you are all incredibly talented. I’d be happy to travel with any of you, and we proved that with Starbucks all things are possible!

Gena Showalter cuddling up to something Grande and iced.

And just in time for the holiday weekend, here are their latest releases from the authors on tour – ALL great beach reads!

Happy trails!
Heather

PS—Check out Rachel Vincent’s blog for more photos of the tour!

by Heather Foy, Senior Manager, Public Relations

Road trips.  Nothing says summer like hitting the road in search of fun and adventure.  This weekend, I’m lucky enough to be striking out with five of my favorite Harlequin authors for the ultimate summer signing road trip.

If you’re in the Chicagoland area this weekend, you have a unique opportunity to join best-selling authors Carla Neggers, Gena Showalter, Susan Mallery, Rachel Vincent and Emilie Richards as they make stops on the Authors in Motion book signing tour.  I’m so excited to have this amazing group of writers all appearing at the same time, and they are anxious to meet their fans.  Susan Mallery joked: “Most of us work at home in our sweats or pajamas so it’s a big deal to get dressed up with makeup and shoes!”.  Don’t miss this opportunity to meet your favorite writers, get a photo, and of course a signed book.

The tour rolls into 8 different locations between Chicago and Milwaukee and the complete schedule is below.  You can follow our adventures on twitter also at #lovebus.  Come and join our summer road trip!

Congratulations to all of our authors who are on this week’s New York Times bestseller list.

Hardcover:

#11 Hannah’s List by Debbie Macomber (MIRA, week 3)

Paperback:

#9 Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (MIRA, week 3)
#13 Sweet Tea at Sunrise by Sherryl Woods (MIRA, week 3)
#19 Rule’s Bride by Kat Martin (MIRA, week 3)
#24 Chasing Perfect by Susan Mallery (HQN, week 3)
#31 Into the Dark by Gena Showalter (HQN, week 3)

Enjoy a sample of some of our bestsellers with the Browse the Book widget!

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Congratulations to all of our authors who are on this week’s New York Times bestseller list.

Hardcover:

#8 Hannah’s List by Debbie Macomber (MIRA, week 2)

Paperback:

#3 Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (MIRA, week 2)
#10 Sweet Tea at Sunrise by Sherryl Woods (MIRA, week 2)
#18 Chasing Perfect by Susan Mallery (HQN, week 2)
#22 Rule’s Bride by Kat Martin (MIRA, week 2)
#24 Into the Dark by Gena Showalter (HQN, week 2)

Enjoy a sample of some of our bestsellers with the Browse the Book widget!

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Congratulations to all of our authors who are on this week’s New York Times bestseller list.

Hardcover:

#5 Hannah’s List by Debbie Macomber (MIRA, week 1)

Paperback:

#2 Sweet Tea at Sunrise by Sherryl Woods (MIRA, week 1)
#4 Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (MIRA, week 1)
#9 Into the Dark by Gena Showalter (HQN, week 1)
#11 Chasing Perfect by Susan Mallery (HQN, week 1)
#21 Rule’s Bride by Kat Martin (MIRA, week 1)

Enjoy a sample of some of our bestsellers with the Browse the Book widget!

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

by Olga Kwak, Harlequin Blogger

Despite the fact that I run the Harlequin Blog, I must admit: I am not a writer.  Sure, I’ve been writing all my life, but, let’s face it—if I were pressed to write a full-length novel I would probably break down and cry trying to come up with a plot outline.

So I definitely admire our authors who can not only plot a novel, but create interesting characters and places that transport readers to the very corners of the world.  Take for instance author Susan Mallery, whose new miniseries Fools Gold begins this month with Chasing Perfect.  Susan stopped by not too long ago to introduce the series and invite readers to her Facebook launch party for the Fools Gold, California website.

And here’s the site now!

Learn about the fictional town Susan’s created—there’s a timeline, news/events section where you can leave comments, a great Who’s Who section that includes pictures and descriptions of the characters (or should I say townspeople!) of Fools Gold, and lots of fun stuff like postcards, a cookbook and even a knitting pattern. You can even read an excerpt from chapter one and two of Chasing Perfect in the bookstore section.

We think the web site is awesome—have you ever been tempted to look for something similar after reading a book? Or has it ever led you to reading the book after discovering the web site? Let us and Susan, who frequently stops by, know!

By Susan Mallery, New York Times bestselling author of the upcoming Fool’s Gold series from HQN books

It’s ironic that the heroine of the first Fool’s Gold book is a City Planner, because that’s what I became while creating this series. I built Fool’s Gold from the ground up. I set the town in one of the most beautiful regions in the world – the Sierra foothills, California wine country.

Fool’s Gold is a delightful tourist town known as The Land of Happy Endings. There are festivals and parades throughout the year, celebrating everything from Cabin Fever Days in January to a Day of Giving in December. Remember Gilmore Girls? Fool’s Gold looks a lot like Stars Hollow. The town is small enough that you often bump into people you know, and large enough to have quaint boutiques, a movie theater and a world-class ski resort.

In fact, Fool’s Gold has everything. Everything except enough men.

There’s a man shortage in Fool’s Gold and no one knows why. When boys grow up, they tend to leave town and not come back. The women didn’t realize how bad the man shortage had become until early 2010 census numbers trickled in. The news is about to hit the national press, and the ladies are quite crabby at the thought of being portrayed as lonely, desperate spinsters.

Enter Charity Jones. Charity has been recruited as the new City Planner. She’s excited about her new job because she’s always wanted to live in a small town. Her excitement fizzles when she learns about the man shortage…and that it’s her problem to fix.

Josh Golden is just the man to distract her—er, to help her. Josh is one of the few men who returned to Fool’s Gold after making his fortune in the world (as a champion cyclist with beaucoup endorsement contracts). He was abandoned in Fool’s Gold when he was young and adopted by the town, so who better to help spread the word about everything that Fool’s Gold has to offer? But Josh is hiding a few secrets of his own…

The Fool’s Gold series will launch with the release of Chasing Perfect on April 27, 2010.

Happy April Fool’s Gold Day!

On April 1, I’ll host a party on Facebook to launch the new Fool’s Gold website. It will be April Fool’s Gold Day! I hope you’ll join us. The more, the merrier! On the website, you can read about the history of Fool’s Gold, explore the town, meet the characters, even go on a virtual tour. You’ll also find free Fool’s Gold Family Recipes, as well as a free pattern to knit an adorable puppet. (My dog Nikki, the official mascot of Fool’s Gold!)

Be sure to sign up for the Members Only area at SusanMallery.com to receive an email when the Fool’s Gold website launches.

I’ve been inspired by other authors who have created ongoing series, such as Robyn Carr and Debbie Macomber. What fictional towns do you love best and why? If you were going to create a town, how would you name the streets? Where would your town be?