Plus, there will be fan Q & A, exclusive download for those in attendance AND Aimée will sign & giveaway, LIVE on-screen, her latest book GODDESS INTERRUPTED!

WHERE: Harlequin Teen Facebook Livestream » http://on.fb.me/I8UgbH

WHEN: Tuesday, May 1st 3pm ET / 12 pm ET

Do you have a question for Aimée? Send them to us via Twitter with hashtag #harlequinlive attached and we’ll pass them along. You can also leave it here in the comments section!

Mark it on your calendar!

I’m thrilled to tell you that Gena will be the first author to join the Kobo Pulse community to chat with fans—from within her ebook!  Here’s how you can get in on the action:

• Add The Darkest Seduction to your Kobo library.
• Open the book on your iPhone or iPad and tap on the Kobo Pulse icon between April 16-23.
• Look for the Author Note symbol to read a note or leave a comment.

You can chat with Gena and your fellow readers on plot points, fun facts, and the characters in The Darkest Seduction. To make it even sweeter, interact with Gena and you’ll unlock the Author-ized Reader Award.

Exciting, yes? I think so. Hope to see you there!

I’ve wanted to be an author ever since I can remember. And then life happened, which put writing and all my dreams on the back burner. Fast forward waaaay too many years and, one day, I picked it up again, but for real this time. I focused on craft and did a lot of research. I’ve loved Harlequin since grade school and everything I read talked about how Harlequin partners with authors to build a career, how fantastic they handle the business side, and how open they are to new writers. Bingo. That’s what I wanted. A career I love at a publishing house with a great history and reputation.

I clung to that dream as I embarked on the submission and rejection merry-go-round. Wow, did I cling. I needed something to hold on to because it was painful. Two steps forward and forty steps back. I had no idea if I was improving with each rejection or if I was on the completely wrong path. Maybe this wasn’t for me. Maybe I was fooling myself. How many people actually get to live out their dreams? But each time, I took the advice and applied it to the next story because I could not let myself give up.

I eagerly anticipated SYTYCW because I was obsessed with absorbing every scrap of information possible on that magic combination of elements Harlequin sought. When I saw the details of the contest, I immediately planned to enter the new manuscript I’d been writing. So I did. And then I waited. Meanwhile, I was still getting rejections on previous manuscripts and trying to evaluate the next steps. I told myself – this is it. If I don’t get somewhere with SYTYCW, I’m going to try another approach, but I had no idea what that would be. There are only so many times you can beat your head against a brick wall before you finally get a clue, right?

I was nauseous for the two weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, the day when Harlequin would notify the winner. I told myself I was okay with not winning, and it would be an honor just to be a finalist. Not winning meant I wasn’t there yet. I needed to do more work, and I was willing to. But I wanted to win. Really, really badly.

That morning, I worked on my current manuscript and tried not to think about it. I had to go to the grocery store at 11:00 and “forgot” my phone. I think it was a Freudian thing, but I have no idea what it means, if so. Regardless, I checked missed calls the second I walked in the door. Nothing. My stomach dropped. Surely the call had gone out before lunch.

Then around 2:00, the phone rang. It was a 212 area code and before I picked up the phone, I knew I’d won. I was about to answer The Call. But it didn’t hit me until Stacy Boyd told me I’d won, and she wanted to publish my book. Somehow I’d actually forgotten the winner would be offered a standard publishing contract. I won AND I was going to be published. Holy Cow! I think I must have freaked out a little because Stacy told me three times to take as long as I needed to collect myself. I liked her immediately, especially when she said she loved my hero. Then she said I was going to be one of her authors and that she hoped we’d be working on many more books together. I don’t think I fully internalized that I now had an EDITOR until I had already hung up.

Now, I consider myself a logical person, and I read the rules of SYTYCW about a hundred times. I knew the winner would be notified on Valentine’s Day, but not announced until March 1^st. Despite that, I failed to put two and two together to arrive at four, which equals SECRET. I won SYTYCW. I’m going to be published. All the tears and sacrifice had finally paid off. And I can’t tell anyone! The inhumanity! Seriously, it was so hard to keep my mouth shut, but I wasn’t about to ruin this amazing, unbelievable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

This wasn’t just The Call. My manuscript was chosen to be published above all the other entries, and I’m so blown away. So grateful. I know what kind of awesome talent is out there. I know how long and hard we’ve all worked.

After I performed the “I Did It!” dance for the fourth time, I told myself – Now comes the really hard work. I can’t wait.

Today, Harlequin, one of the world’s leading publishers of books for women, added a compelling epilogue to its tremendously popular So You Think You Can Write event by announcing Katrina Williams of Allen, Texas, as the winner of its unpublished author competition and awarding the Dallas-area resident with her very first publishing contract.

Ms. Williams, an avid Harlequin reader, impressed a judging panel comprised of Harlequin editors with her manuscript entitled The Divorce Deal.  “I loved Katrina’s hero,” said Stacy Boyd, senior editor for Harlequin Desire.  “But what really made her book stand out was her unique, fresh voice. I’m very excited to be working with her on her winning manuscript.” Ms. Williams has since sold a second book to Harlequin and begun to establish a permanent career as a professional author.

So You Think You Can Write is Harlequin’s annual digital conference offering aspiring novelists the opportunity to spend an entire working week with more than 50 Harlequin editors via social media tools such as podcasts, videos, webinars, blog posts, community discussions and Twitter.

Participants have the opportunity to learn valuable insider tips and have their writing samples critiqued by professional editors.  The event, which ran from November 7 – 11, 2011, drew more than 17,000 unique visitors to the site.  Ms. Williams’ manuscript was selected from 175 submissions.

“This is the culmination of a dream I’ve had since third grade,” said Ms. Williams.  Asked to describe her reaction when she received “The Call” informing her she had won the contest, she replied, “I believe I hyperventilated. I know I cried. Just because I wanted to write for Harlequin didn’t mean I was good enough. Winning provided that validation. I honestly would have been happy being one of the finalists, but winning is just…wow.”

In fact, the judging panel was so impressed with the quality of submissions that they have expressed interest in manuscripts by a further five contestants.  “We knew we would award one deserving participant with a contract but were delighted to read publishable manuscripts by so many other contestants,” said Kathleen Scheibling, Senior Editor of Harlequin American Romance and the organizer of this year’s contest.  “We are thrilled that participants in the inaugural So You Think You Can Write conference, in 2010, took advantage of the expert advice and tips from Harlequin editors. The quality of this year’s entries tells us that So You Think You Can Write is achieving its goal of helping young romance novelists get started on the path to publication.”

Ms. Williams’ winning manuscript, The Divorce Deal, will be published as a Harlequin Desire novel in February 2013.  Its release will be accompanied by promotions and a front cover design declaring it as a So You Think You Can Write winner.

So You Think You Can Write will return for its third conference and contest in the latter half of 2012.

Edit: You can follow Katrina under her pen name at Kat Cantrell on Twitter, Facebook and through her website!

Penny Jordan was loved the world over for her Harlequin Presents novels  but she also wrote a number of novellas and single titles for Harlequin totalling 187 books over 30 years. Consistently successful in North America with her Harlequin Presents novels, Penny regularly hit the USA Today bestseller lists and overall has sold 100 million books worldwide in over 25 languages. She also wrote sagas for HarperCollins in the UK as Annie Groves and women’s fiction titles for Avon UK.  In 2011, the Romantic Novelists’ Association presented Penny with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to women’s fiction, both as Penny Jordan and as Annie Groves.

Penny was born in Preston, Lancashire, UK in 1946 where she spent her early childhood. She then moved to Cheshire as a teenager, and continued to live there throughout her life. She attended Todmorden Grammar School and shortly after began work as a typist in Manchester.  She was working in a bank when her accountant husband, Steve Halsall, bought her a typewriter and an author was born.

Penny often recalled that she was ‘making up stories’ as soon as she ‘could think’ but  her first introduction to Harlequin Mills & Boon came when she was 10 years old via the Woman’s Weekly magazines passed on to her mother by a neighbor. In her  twenties she wrote twenty five Regency romances, two air stewardess romances and a romantic suspense under various pseudonyms. Around this time she read in a magazine Mills & Boon were looking for new authors. “I was still an avid reader of Mills & Boon Romances – on publication day I used to rush out of work as early as I could to get to the local book store to grab my favourites before they all disappeared – and so I plucked up the courage to write my first Mills & Boon romance. I chose to write the kind of romance I love best – one with a sheikh hero – and that story ultimately became my first published Mills & Boon Romance – Falcon’s Prey.  I’ve always loved writing sheikh books and I tend to think of them as being very much my ‘signature’ books.”

The editor who spotted Penny in the pile of unsolicited manuscripts in 1980 said about her writing: “Such a raw talent – a born storyteller with a unique, intense and passionate voice”. When writing on her old typewriter, Penny’s manuscripts were legendary for having gaps where her characters’ names should be and often missing  letters due to a faulty daisywheel on her typewriter. In addition to Penny’s very fast (and often imprecise) typing, the manuscripts could sometimes be difficult to edit!

Penny wrote her first single title “Power Play” in 1987 which was very successful, hitting The New York Times and The Sunday Times bestseller lists. Up until that point, Penny had not travelled much but to coincide with the US launch of Power Play, Harlequin hosted a promotional ‘tea party’ in Boston. After that Penny travelled on to Toronto, then New York and on to the QE2. More promotional tours followed, to Ireland, Paris, Hamburg, Japan and later to conferences in the US. Penny was always thrilled to meet her fans.

Penny was warm, charming, shy and modest in person. She always supported up and coming authors, giving to them lots of her time, support and friendship. After the death of her husband Steve in 2002 Penny remained as focused and determined as ever. She bravely carried on writing throughout her illness. Penny did not tell her editors or indeed many of her friends that she was sick as she did not want to be defined by her illness and wanted to keep her professional life as normal as possible. Penny is survived by her mother, sister and brother.

Penny remained incredibly popular with her readers. In January 2012, a review said about her latest Harlequin Presents, Passion and the Prince: “I have but one regret about Jordan’s beautiful flowing narrative: it had to end.” Publishers Weekly said about Jordan: “Women everywhere will find pieces of themselves in Jordan’s characters” and this perhaps explains her enduring appeal.

Her last novel was completed in October 2011. A Secret Disgrace will be published in Harlequin Presents in June 2012.

1. $2 off Debbie Macomber Christmas Cookbook

Loved the Christmas Eve Eggnog recipe I posted this week? Do you have a big Debbie Macomber fan on your Christmas list? Why not gift them with the Debbie Macomber Christmas Cookbook? From Dec. 14 – 21 you can save $2 off the cover price of the book with this exclusive coupon. The book is full of both recipes and crafts that you can use to create new traditions or provide fun alternatives to your own.

2. Carina Press Here Be Magic – the new Fantasy blog from Carina Press authors!

From December 17th through December 24th, Here Be Magic (a blog comprised of Carina Press fantasy and paranormal authors) will be running an amazing contest to celebrate the season of giving. Prizes include a brand new Kindle Fire, a virtual basket filled with over two dozen Carina Press titles, and a $25.00 gift card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice). No hoops to jump through, all it takes is a comment, so swing by http://herebemagic.blogspot.com/ starting December 17th to enter!

3. Carina Press’ Sea of Suspicion is now on sale in print!

Toni Anderson’s Sea of Suspicion is now on sale in print at Harlequin.com. We love when Carina Press titles move into print. We hope you’ll check out Toni’s novel!

Marine biologist Susie Cooper traded her life in America for a dream job on the rugged Scottish coast. Now all she lacks is the right man to start a family with. After their first meeting, she knows sexy Detective Inspector Nick Archer isn’t what she’s looking for. He’s the type of guy whose idea of commitment is staying the whole night.
Nick has returned to St. Andrews for one reason only—to fulfill his vow to find his wife’s killer. Relentless in his twelve-year quest for justice, he has no problem using Susie to get close to his primary suspect: her boss. But the passion between them smolders, and as it ignites, Nick finds himself torn between his past and his present—with Susie.
When one of her boss’s students is murdered, Nick’s investigation draws Susie into a web of madness and betrayal. They will have to learn to trust each other if they’re going to catch a killer…and come out of this alive.

And if you’re interested in more Carina Press titles in print, Marie Force’s Fatal Affair is still available.

4. Harlequin.com: Holidays@Harlequin: 12 Deals, 12 Gifts

Well, it’s hard to believe, but the 12 deals of Christmas are over. HOWEVER! There are still plenty of Gifts to come, so you should keep checking back to the Santa Tree for more deals. Visit Harlequin.com to check on today’s!

5. FREE Linda Lael Miller Cowboy Wallpaper

Alright, the moment you’re waiting for! Thinking about changing your desktop wallpaper to something a little more manly? How about this FREE wallpaper from Linda Lael Miller’s McKettricks of Texas series? Sexy as all sin and did I mention that it’s totally, utterly FREE? You can download it from Facebook today!

Until There Was You by Kristan Higgins book trailer

I leave you today with the new (to me!) book trailer for Kristan Higgins’ Until There Was You (HQN Books). Kristan’s a big name around the Romance Mothership because her covers have been graced by some adorable pups. Check out the video to see more from Mumford, the latest “star” of her novel! (Rumour has it the next canine cover model is going to be pretty large too! Any guesses what kind of pooch it will be?) And in case you’re wondering, Kristan Higgins’ novels make great Christmas presents!

Holidays @ Harlequin
12 Deals, 12 Gifts

If you’ve started holiday shopping, then you’ll want to check out the Holidays @ Harlequin, 12 Deals, 12 Gifts promotion at Harlequin.com. That’s 24 really good reasons to keep coming back! Starting today you’ll find great deals for the next 12 days. For instance, today enjoy FREE shipping on your order. After that, Harlequin.com will have 12 digital gifts for you. Return to the site each day to find a new deal or gift waiting on the tree. What tree you ask? Click on the image below to see what I mean! It’s adorable!

Got a new eReader? Harlequin has an ebook for every mood

Did you unwrap an eReader this holiday season? Well, limber up your download finger, with more than 15,000 titles, Harlequin has an ebook for every mood. Naughty noblemen? Sexy cowboys? Insatiable vampires? Find these and more, at great prices, wherever ebooks are sold. We’ve also go the perfect way to break in your new eReader! Download the FREE Harlequin Holiday Collection featuring four seasonal novellas from authors Debra Webb, Merline Lovelace, Marta Perry and Leslie Kelly at Harlequin.com.

Harlequin LIVE Presents: Linda Lael Miller Live from Las Vegas

Linda Lael Miller is coming to Facebook Live straight from Las Vegas and we want her fans to be there! On Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. ES/12:00 p.m. PS join Linda Lael Miller for  a Facebook Live video chat. Linda will talk about Big Sky Country, her new series debuting in 2012 and answer questions from fans of the Creeds and McKettricks. And if you’re still catching up on the series, all of Linda’s Montana Creed novels are 10% off right now on Harlequin.com if you use promo code HARLIVE3. Follow @HarlequinBooks on Twitter on Dec. 6 to join the conversation!

When: Dec 6th at 3pm ET / 12 pm ET

LINDA WILL TALK ABOUT:
Release of Big Sky Country, new series coming in 2012!
Creeds, McKettricks, and a fan Q&A

EXCITING EXCLUSIVES & GIVEAWAY:
Cowboys in Love: Big Sky Country behind the scenes COVER SHOOT Video
Exclusive Montana Creeds download
Linda will sign on screen and giveaway LIVE one of her Christmas books!

Do you have a burning question for Linda? Send them to us before Monday Dec. 6th at 9:00AM EST through: Twitter using the hashtag #HarlequinLive, Harlequin Facebook or in a comment on this blog post. Linda Lael Miller fans really shouldn’t miss this event, but if you can’t make it we do keep the full livestream video on the Facebook page.

To celebrate this event, all print and ebooks in Linda Lael Miller’s Montana Creeds Series are 10% off on Harlequin.com! Use Promo Code: HARLIVE3 (valid Dec 1 – Dec 31)

HERE IS A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM LINDA LAEL MILLER:

Yeehaw!  It’s rodeo time again—and I’m talking about the BIG rodeo here, folks—the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, held every year in early December.  I always look forward to the event—but this year, it’s going to be even more exciting than usual.  I’ll be on the Flint Rasmussen Show—Flint is a former rodeo clown (they’re called bull-fighters now), a major radio personality, and one of my favorite people.  He’s from my mom’s hometown, Choteau, Montana, which practically makes him kin.  My fabulous Harlequin family has teamed up with Caesar’s Entertainment for some special appearances and signings at the Paris casino and, of course, there’s the rodeo itself—my favorite event being the bull-riding, since my dad was a bull-rider, back in the day.  A cowboy has to be real brave—or real crazy—to ride these enormous critters and live to tell the story.

Cowboy Christmas, a huge trade show, is a highlight for me, too.  They sell everything there, from custom saddles and other tack to boots and purses and vests and jewelry.  Be still my beating heart!

Wendy, my daughter, and Jeremy, her future husband, will be joining me for part of the visit, and my cousin Lee and his wife Margie will be there, too—they’re coming all the way from Prince George, B.C.

Why do I love the rodeo so much?  Because it represents the Western way of life, and I’m all about that.  I love the excitement and the fireworks and the gathering of thousands of good, salt-of-the-earth people under one roof, especially when they sing the National Anthem.  I love that cowboys are “tough enough to wear pink” one day of the rodeo—and they all do—to promote a cure for breast cancer.

Heck, I just plain love cowboys, period.  And there’ll be a lot of hat at the NFR, as we country types say.

I’ll be doing a live online interview from Las Vegas, in hopes of sharing as much of the experience with all of you as possible, and I’ll be blogging right along, too, and posting pictures to Twitter and Facebook as well as the blog.

If you’re going to be in town for the festivities, so much the better.  Be sure to come on up to me and say howdy!

Linda Lael Miller

1. So You Think You Can Write Contest

We’re in the final two days of our second annual digital author conference and the it’s now your chance to enter our So You Think You Can Write contest — wherein you can win a standard series contract from Harlequin. The deadline to submit is December 15, so you do have a bit of time to digest all of the information that you’ve crammed in over the week and use it to create (or modify!) a manuscript fit for one of the 16 Harlequin lines. All of the details are available at soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com. Don’t forget to read the contest rules!

2. Harlequin.com Special Edition Community Cookie Swap (Nov. 1 – 16)

From Nov. 1 – 16 the Harlequin Special Edition forum in our Community boards is hosting a cookie swap! Stop by (or sign up first if you’ve never been to our Community) to trade cookie recipies and the stories that go with them. I’m especially loving the Butter Pecan Cookies recipe posted by author Christine Rimmer!

3. Carina Press titles were nominated for the RT Reviewers Choice Awards.

Altered Destiny by Shawna Thomas was nominated in the Small Press Paranormal/Fantasy/Futuristic category. We had contemporary romance titles nominated: Turn it Up by Inez Kelley, Boomerang Bride by Fiona Lowe and Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey. Winners will be announced at the RT convention in Chicago in April 2013. You can buy these books now on www.carinapress.com and check out what the buzz is about!

We’ll have a complete list of Harlequin and Carina Press nominees for you tomorrow.

4. Third title in the Royal House of Shadows series is out this month!

Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out…

So begins the Royal House of Shadows series. This month pick up the third novel from author Jessica Anderson, Lord of the Wolfyn. As a beast, Dayn mated with women to gain strength–strength he needed to rescue his royal parents. He must now choose to fight for Reda’s heated, sizzling touch or embrace his wolf to save his kingdom…

On sale this month at Harlequin.com!

1. Robyn Carr’s Bring Me Home for Christmas contest

Yesterday Robyn Carr stopped by the blog to talk about her latest Virgin River novel, Bring Me Home for Christmas, and mentioned her new homecoming themed contest. Countless military families experience reunion stories on a daily basis—sometimes joyous, sometimes painful, and sometimes bittersweet. From November 1 – December 15, 2011 we want to hear your story. One family of four has the chance to win a grand prize featuring the following:

• A family vacation (up to 4 people) to anywhere within North America or the Caribbean
• $500 Gift Card to Walmart to grant your Christmas wishlist
• A family photo session and portraits
• A signed copy of Robyn Carr’s Bring Me Home for Christmas

Five secondary prizes of signed copies of Bring Me Home for Christmas will be awarded as well. Share your stories today! Visit HoldOutForAHero.com

2. The Iron Knight photo contest

Are you a big Julie Kagawa fan? Have you ever been to New York City? Why not kill two birds with one stone and meet Julie Kagawa in NYC! Here’s how you do it: Between Oct. 24 and Nov. 18 grab one of the 4 Iron Fey novels (print or ebook), cover your entire face with it and create a FEY-TASTIC scene then take a photo and submit it to the contest. Then you can vote and vote and vote–get your friends to vote too! Still not sure what we mean? The Harlequin digital team has been getting into the spirit of the contest.

Visit the Harlequin TEEN facebook page to submit your entry, vote and view entries. Good luck, Fey fans!

3. So You Think You Can Write starts on Monday!

Last year’s So You Think You Can Write conference was such a big success we’re doing it all over again this year! Visit soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com between Monday, Nov. 7 to Friday, Nov. 11 for advice, tips and tricks from Harlequin authors and editors on how to get your own story published. We’ll also be running daily challenges for opportunities to have your work read by our editors! Follow @HarlequinSYTYCW on Twitter for the latest news as well.

4. Angela Henry’s The Paris Secret from Carina Press now in print!

I mentioned Angela Henry’s The Paris Secret in my last covers I love blog post, but I have to mention it again: each time a Carina Press title makes it’s debut in print, it feels like an angel just got their wings (Christmas on the brain much? Maybe!) Click here to purchase a copy today!

And if you’re looking for other Carina Press titles in print, Marie Force’s Fatal Affair is still available!

5. Harlequin app available for Android now!

Good news, Android users–the Harlequin App is now available for you as well! You can find it in the Android Market for FREE. You can browse our new releases, keep track of what’s coming up in the next month, create a wishlist, and even read free online reads! There’s loads more to do on the app, so pick it up in the market today and join in on the fun! Here: http://bit.ly/uJAd3S

6. Kristan Higgins’ Until There Was You book trailer

Yesterday we debuted the trailer for New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Kristan Higgins’ new novel Until There Was You.

Posey Osterhagen can’t complain. She owns a successful architectural salvaging company, she’s surrounded by her loveable, if off-center, family and she has a boyfriend—sort of. Still, something’s missing. Something tall, brooding and criminally good-looking…something like Liam Murphy.

Have a look below!