by Joshua Corin, author of While Galileo Preys, the first book in the Esme Stuart series

It was a moment of desire and hope.

I was in my cubicle, staring at my work phone. I knew the call from my agent would be coming. He seemed to think that MIRA was interested in publishing my new series but the offer had yet to be made. He assured me that if the offer was going to be made, it was going to be made that afternoon. These were my office hours so occasionally a student would come by to ask a question about an assignment or to argue a grade but most of that afternoon was spent staring at my work phone, begging and wishing and praying for it to ring, and for the news to be good.

And then the call came.

It was a moment of desire and hope.

My agent informed me that MIRA was indeed interested in publishing my new series and were in fact making an offer. I screamed. I danced. I uttered a litany of joyful obscenities. I was happy for myself, of course, but I was also happy for my protagonist, Esme Stuart, a woman struggling with that most wonderful and difficult of burdens—a sense of duty. She quit the FBI to become a wife and a mother, to live out the American dream in white-picket-fence Long Island, but when a madman crisscrosses the country on a murderous rampage, her sense of duty tugs at her. Can she join in the manhunt without destabilizing the idyllic life she has worked so hard to create? Can she balance work and family? And what happens when these two worlds collide, and the madman comes to Long Island seeking revenge?

It is a story I believe in and a topic that both women and men can relate to, and the fact that MIRA, on that afternoon, agreed to share Esme’s story with the world, left me giddy. And so, after I proceeded to call every person I ever met, I walked over to my department office to share my good news with my colleagues.

It was a moment of desire and hope.

One of my colleagues congratulated me on the accomplishment and, of course, asked me who was publishing my novels. When this colleague confessed to having not heard of MIRA, I explained to her that it was the division of Harlequin that specialized in thrillers. My colleague listened, nodded, and then replied, “Oh, Harlequin? I didn’t think your book was a romance novel.”

No, it’s not. It’s a thriller. Although Harlequin made a name for itself publishing romances, that genre most famous for its literary promises of desire and hope, for over fifteen years now it has been branching out, and successfully, I might add, into other areas. I am proud to be a Harlequin writer. MIRA publishes some of the best thrillers in the market today and I am honored that the first novel in Esme’s story, While Galileo Preys, is now among them. I hope that you get a chance to pick it up, and, if you do, I hope that you enjoy it.

One warning, though: although the context of the story is dark and the pace is nonstop, as befits a thriller, While Galileo Preys is ultimately a novel infused with, yes, desire and hope. If that’s not your cup of tea, you might want to contact my colleague. I’m sure she could recommend an alternative.

Editor’s note: To celebrate Joshua’s MIRA debut, we’re giving away a print copy of While Galileo Preys to a blog reader! We’ll pick a winner on Monday, September 6^th. To enter, please leave a comment on today’s post—have you ever come across a fellow reader who’s been surprised by your “reading choice”? The contest will run until 11:59 pm EST Sunday, September 5^th and is only open to US and Canadian residents (with our apologies to our overseas readers!) For full entry details, please click here.

Now don’t panic, but I have something to tell you: Summer is almost over. Before you start weeping into your last mojito, take heart! Because with the end of Summer comes the beginning of Fall, and that means…State Fairs!

I love State Fairs. The smell of cotton candy wafting over the game stalls adorned with stuffed animals being hawked by questionable-looking carnies. Late-night rides on the Ferris Wheel, squeezing my beau tight as my stomach lifts up into my lungs on that short gentle plunge back down to Earth. The animals, the blue ribbon pies…do I need to go on?

I didn’t think so.

Now there’s one more reason to head down to your local state fair…if you live in Minnesota, Texas, Arizona or North Carolina, that is!
We’re sending our sexiest Harlequin Heroes to give away FREE copies of B.J. Daniels’s Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch.

Check out the list below and mark your calendars!
Minnesota State Fair
Dates: August 26 – September 6
Location: 1265 Snelling Ave, St Paul, MN 55108-3109

http://www.mnstatefair.org/

The ‘Big Tex’ State Fair of Texas
Dates: September 24 – October 17
Location: 3921 Martin Luther King Blvd. Dallas, TX 75210

http://www.bigtex.com/sft/

North Carolina State Fair
Dates: October 15 – October 24
Location: 1025 Blue Ridge Rd, Raleigh NC 27607

http://www.ncstatefair.org/

Arizona State Fair
Date: October 15-November 7
Location: 1826 W. McDowell Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85007

http://www.azstatefair.com/

P.S If you do decide to visit one of the fairs and meet one of our Harlequin Heroes, you just might get a chance to win a trip. Hint: check out the copy of Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch you receive at the fair!

Congratulations to all of the White Heat Twitter Party winners! To claim your prize email bnparty1@gmail.com with your name, your Twitter handle and your shipping address. Here is the complete list:

$50 Outback gift card: @tjh2008
$50 Barnes & Noble gift card: @MandaPanda429
Murder Mystery Game: @LuvUrBooks
$50 Olive Garden gift card: @ShyGoddessWolf
$50 Borders gift card: @LaurieJD
Signed copies of The Perfect Couple, The Perfect Liar and The Perfect Murder (2 winners): @cluttery AND @Uticawoman
White Heat, Body Heat and Killer Heat Lip Glosses (2 winners): @BookOwner AND @kaisquared4

Unfortunately, Brenda could not answer all of the fabulous questions during the party, but she will stop by the eHarlequin Community soon with a response. Thanks everyone!

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 Kristan Higgins, author of All I Ever Wanted, on sale everywhere August 1!

Hello! It’s so nice to be here today! I’m very excited to chat about my new book, All I Ever Wanted. A romantic comedy set in a small town in Vermont…a brooding veterinarian…a sunny heroine…a couple of wicked cute dogs…a quirky family…I hope you’ll have a lot of fun with it!

One of the things I love about this book is, of course, the hero. Ian is a man incapable of lying, even when lying might be a good idea. Ian is honest to a fault…he can’t schmooze, he doesn’t sugarcoat anything, refuses to play along with anything. So different from Callie, who feels the need to make everyone like her. Callie will do just about anything to keep on the sunny side, overlook anything, go to any lengths to paint people in the most flattering light. No matter what life throws at her, Callie’s determined to make lemonade, as it were. Ian—well, Ian seems to prefer animals to humans. He’s a vet for a reason. Theirs is definitely a case of opposites attract. Ian’s been burned in the past, and not in the way you might expect, so he’s rightfully suspicious when Callie turns up in his office to check him out. A single guy in a small town is not going to go unnoticed by the female population, after all!

Another thing I had a lot of fun with in this book was the family, especially Callie’s grandfather, Noah. He’s a crusty old Vermonter who tells it like it is, and Callie adores the guy, even when she’s picking up his dirty dishes. Add Callie’s parents, who are attempting a reconciliation (well, sort of), her older sister, a fertility doctor with a grudge, and Fred, Callie’s wise-cracking baby brother…ah, families! No one loves us or knows us quite the way they do…but no one drives us quite as crazy, either.

As for the pets, well, I’ll admit that I love animals, so writing a vet hero was bound to happen. I’m the proud owner/best friend of Digger, a black lab mutt (I based the dog in my first novel on him). I’m also the obedient servant/doorman for our cat, Cinnamon. In this book, you’ll find Bowie, a dog as cheerful as his owner, and the rather perfect and elegant Angie, who fits Ian’s life to a T. Including pets in a story was a natural thing for me…owning a pet shows a commitment to another living creature, a selflessness and gives a person companionship, loyalty and friendship. Who doesn’t want all those nice things, right?

I hope you’ll enjoy All I Ever Wanted and can’t wait to hear some of your comments, answer some of your questions and hear about what you love in a romance. Thanks for dropping by!

To celebrate the upcoming release of All I Ever Wanted, we’re giving away five sample copies of the book, which includes an excerpt from both All I Ever Wanted and The Next Best Thing, as well as a coupon for $1 off the purchase price of All I Ever Wanted. To enter, please leave a comment about your favorite pet on this blog post before 12:00 AM EST Monday, July 26th. Unfortunately, the contest is only open to residents of the U.S. as the coupon is only valid there. Click here for full contest rules.

by Karen Queme, Manager, Digital Marketing

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We received thousands of submissions from old and new fans of Debbie, who all expressed what they would do with another chance, whether it be at love, school, work or family.

The submission deadline was on May 29^th and a list of 10 (our finalist list) was selected by Debbie Macomber herself! She was definitely touched but all of the entries.

We are now in the voting phase of our contest. Our 10 finalist submissions ranges from going back to school, helping out family members and students in their community. Now, I don’t want to give it all away, so check out the contest site, read the entries and vote for your favorite today!

By the way, our instant win game is still on! Visit every day to vote for your favorite finalist, and while you’re there, play our instant win game for a chance to win a copy of Hannah’s List.

If you haven’t gotten your copy for Hannah’s List yet,  check out www.Hannahslist.com to find out where!

Good luck!

Editor’s Note: From May 24-28 we are featuring posts by the editor and authors of the Harlequin NASCAR series. Are you a fan? New to the series? Leave a comment and be entered to win a FREE copy! See below for details.

by Abby Gaines, author of “Chasing the Dream” in The Memory of a Kiss (Harlequin NASCAR, June 2010)

My first love—of the fast, four-wheeled kind at least—was open-wheel racing. Dirt track stuff. Nitty-gritty…mostly gritty.

I was editor of a speedway magazine called The Dirt, and at my local racetrack I became known as “the Dirt girl.” I was so grateful anyone still considered me a girl, I didn’t worry about the dirt part…

Open-wheel racing “midget race car”

I loved that job, but I never thought my interest in racing would link to my romance writing until…deep breath… NASCAR.

I’d seen NASCAR on TV, along with other motor sports, but until I heard that Harlequin planned to publish stories set in that world, I hadn’t paid much attention to what those guys were doing out on the pavement for hours at a stretch. (The races I usually watched lasted all of four minutes!)

But if I wanted to write about NASCAR, I needed to watch it. There would be big differences, I figured, from open-wheel racing, and not just the cars.

So I started watching, and got hooked right away, just like millions of other people.

But, guess what? It turns out the major difference between NASCAR and the open-wheel stuff I’d cut my teeth on is…the cars. They look different and go much faster. Okay, yeah, the tracks are bigger, too, and way more people watch the races. But there were more similarities than differences.

Such as, the driver and the racing mindset. Turns out, whether you’re hurtling around a dirt track in a midget, or eating up pavement in a stock car, wanting to win is the just the starting point. There’s persistence, focus, physical fitness, the ability to overcome setbacks…Hmm, no wonder NASCAR drivers make great romance heroes! (They make WAY better money than dirt track drivers, too, which always helps.)

Next, the families. One thing I love in open-wheel is the multi-generational involvement. Grandfathers, fathers, sons—a legacy passed through generations, but also bringing the generations together in their passion for motor racing. Turns out it’s the same in NASCAR, even though there’s huge corporate participation in the sport. There are “NASCAR families” in the administration, in the teams and, of course, among the fans. I’m a big fan of anything that brings families together!

Then there are the teams. I learned early in my race reporting career that drivers seldom say “I.” It’s always “we,” and they mean it. A driver, in open-wheel or NASCAR, knows he’s nothing without the guys who bust their guts, week in and week out, to put together the perfect car for the track conditions. Those guys’ jobs are a blend of extreme skill and extreme intuition, not to mention speed and physical fitness. Hmm, no wonder NASCAR team members also make great romance heroes!

I’m really looking forward to reading the new Harlequin NASCAR series. Yummy heroes, strong families, intense competition. What do you love about racing?

 Since we’re featuring blog posts all week from the Harlequin NASCAR series, we are going to randomly draw five commenter’s names from the week’s posts to win the latest Harlequin NASCAR release, The Memory of a Kiss, by Wendy Etherington, Abby Gaines and Liz Allison! Just leave a comment on any of the posts published this week and you’ll be entered in the draw. Unfortunately, the contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. Contest closes at 11:59 pm EST on Friday, May 28th. Click here for full contest rules.

Editor’s Note: From May 24-28 we are featuring posts by the editor and authors of the Harlequin NASCAR series. Are you a fan? New to the series? Leave a comment and be entered to win a FREE copy! See below for details.

by Jean Brashear, author of Crossing the Line (Harlequin NASCAR, April 2010)

When I was first asked to be part of the Harlequin NASCAR series, my reaction was to laugh.  “Not only do I not know anything about NASCAR, but it looks like a really dumb sport.  I mean, what’s interesting about cars going around in a circle?” I said.  Fortunately for me, my editor insisted I look into it because she wanted me for that particular book.

I did a lot of research and my interest was quickly piqued…but nothing sold me quite like my first race, the Bristol Night Race, called The Hottest Ticket in NASCAR.  People kept telling me I was in for something special, but…wow.  Double wow, is all I can say.

There’s so much I could talk about, but the first should be the generous spirit of the NASCAR Nation.  People might be diehard devotees of one driver and despise another, but when it came to helping out a greenhorn too ignorant to live (aka me) every last one of them was more than willing to lend a hand or patiently explain (and okay, sometimes debate) the ins and outs of drivers and teams and strategies, etc.

I found a lot going on during the Bristol weekend besides the races, including a festival downtown and the very cool parade of haulers on Thursday night.  (If only my pictures had turned out to match the experience. Sniff.)

And speaking of experiences—drum roll, please…Jean got a HOT PASS!!!!!!  For those of you who don’t know, that is A Big Deal for us mere mortals.  It meant I could be in the pit/garage area while the cars were on the track (aka the track is ‘hot.’)  I spent most of the day on Friday watching Nationwide and Cup practice and qualifying, and it was unbelievably exciting to see in person all the activities I’d researched.  The pit/garage area at Bristol is so small that it’s jam-packed with haulers, inspection tents, tire sale area, fueling area…you really have to watch where you’re going so as not to be in someone’s way.

Jean with friend John modeling their Hot Passes.

But boy, are you ever in the center of the action! I couldn’t believe I was standing right by all these drivers I admired and was bowled over, when I first emerged from the tunnel that goes under the track, to see the cars whizzing around within mere feet of me!  (And talk about banking…they’re driving around the slope of a mountain, I swear!)

Then the Main Event—Saturday night at Bristol!  They were doing the world’s largest card stunt to get in the Guinness Book of World Records, and the opening ceremonies still give me goosebumps just describing them:  the whole stadium one big American flag, Lee Greenwood’s always-moving song, “God Bless the USA,” a giant flag being parachuted onto the track, fireworks, the children of NASCAR teams singing the national anthem and jets flying overhead…I swear, you could not help having your heart just about pound right out of your chest!

Opening Ceremonies

Then, 160,000 fans screaming as the engines roared to life—it was all absolutely unforgettable, one of the most unique experiences of my life and one I will cherish forever.

Speaking as someone who was so sure only five months earlier that NASCAR was a silly sport…well, famous last words, eh?  I might have begun as the most unlikely fan on the planet, but when I finished writing that first book, I had to alert my still-bemused family and friends that even if I was never asked to do another book, they weren’t through hearing about NASCAR.

This formerly skeptical writer is well and truly hooked!

 Since we’re featuring blog posts all week from the Harlequin NASCAR series, we are going to randomly draw five commenter’s names from the week’s posts to win the latest Harlequin NASCAR release, The Memory of a Kiss, by Wendy Etherington, Abby Gaines and Liz Allison! Just leave a comment on any of the posts published this week and you’ll be entered in the draw. Unfortunately, the contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. Contest closes at 11:59 pm EST on Friday, May 28th. Click here for full contest rules.

Editor’s Note: From May 24-28 we are featuring posts by the editor and authors of the Harlequin NASCAR series. Are you a fan? New to the series? Leave a comment and be entered to win a FREE copy! See below for details.

by Stacy Boyd, editor for the Harlequin NASCAR series

1.) Heroes are everywhere.

Growing up in Georgia, a lot of my friends made a habit of watching racing and the guys they most gushed over were the drivers. But in NASCAR romances, there are sexy dudes everywhere! On the track, in the pit stall, in the garage, owning the teams, sponsoring the teams…For NASCAR heroines, love happens when they find the perfect man for them, no matter his profession. I say this is true in life, too. And, yes, I am a hopeless romantic.

2.)  Every person’s role is essential.

When I first started working on NASCAR romances, I was pretty sure the sport was about driving in circles very fast. Not so! Strategy and teamwork are the backbone of racing, and everyone—mechanics, technicians, tire changers—plays a vital role in winning. Half a second at a pit stop can change everything. Isn’t that sort of like life? Everyone plays an important role, even if we can’t always see it right away. One after-school encounter at the Del Taco can change everything, i.e., that was all it took for me to fall for my husband.

3.) It’s all about love.

NASCAR romances are tales of families—blood relatives, working relatives, team players, fans who make the track a tradition. There are parties and festivities, rivalries and drama. All of it centers on love—of a sport, of family, of a boy and a girl.

Starting this June, you can discover more NASCAR life lessons by checking out our brand new storyline. We’ve changed the format—two novellas in each book—and we’ve got brand new voices in the line-up—YA author Mandy Hubbard and reader favorite Pamela Britton to name two.

Have you read NASCAR? Or visited a race? Let us know what stock cars—or their drivers—have taught you!

 Since we’re featuring blog posts all week from the Harlequin NASCAR series, we are going to randomly draw five commenter’s names from the week’s posts to win the latest Harlequin NASCAR release, The Memory of a Kiss, by Wendy Etherington, Abby Gaines and Liz Allison! Just leave a comment on any of the posts published this week and you’ll be entered in the draw. Unfortunately, the contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. Contest closes at 11:59 pm EST on Friday, May 28th. Click here for full contest rules.

Editor’s Note: Hannah’s List, the latest book in Debbie Macomber’s Blossom Street series, is on sale today wherever books & ebooks are sold!

by Karen Queme, Digital Marketing

An unexpected letter, and unexpected letter and the gift of a second chance. This is the theme for Debbie Macomber’s latest release Hannah’s List. The story is about Dr. Michael Everett who receives a letter from his wife Hannah, on the first anniversary of her death, asking him to take this second chance and find love again.

I work on the digital marketing team here at Harlequin, and was fortunate to help with the launch of Hannah’s List. With the theme of a second chance, we decided to take this one step further and are asking Debbie’s fans to tell her what they would do, in a 100 words or less, if they had this amazing opportunity. Whether it’s a second honeymoon, a chance to go back to school or to donate to a charity, it’s all about you.  (If I could enter — too bad I can’t cause I work for Harlequin! — I would’ve taken the $10K and moved to London after high school and gone to university there.)

Once you’ve posted your submission, they will be available to view in an online gallery, which will be updated regularly. Pretty cool, eh?  After the submission phase, we’ll narrow it down to the top 10 and readers can vote on who they think deserves to win.

By the way, did I mention the grand prize is $10,000 for the submission with the most votes AND a chance to win instant prizes every day? We’re all about second chances.

The contest is only a part of this new release–we also just launched www.hannahslist.com where you can watch the book trailer and a welcome message from Debbie, opportunity to read the 1^st chapter of the book and learn more about the book and its characters. Plus, for a limited time, you can read The Shop on Blossom Street online for FREE!

Check out HannahsList.com and good luck

Karen Queme

Manager, Digital Marketing

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