Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2011 is a positive and fruitful year for you.

When it comes to writing, 2010 was an amazing year for me. One of the top highlights was finalling in BRAVA/RT’s Writing with the Stars contest. Kensington editors Alicia Condon and Megan Records selected the 10 finalists for the online voting contest. To have an editor at a publishing house select my work out of all the entries was great validation.

The contest is ongoing. Today, Sunday, Jan. 2, is the last day to vote in Round 3. I hope you’ll take a moment to check it out and will consider voting for my entry, Seducing Charlotte, a historical romance set against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution. 



Me with Madeline Hunter at the NJ PYHIAB conference

 I also attended my first writers’ conference in 2010. Seducing Charlotte placed first in the New Jersey Romance Writers Put Your Heart in a Book contest.

I was thrilled that one of my favorite authors, Madeline Hunter, was among the judges. I met Ms. Hunter at the conference and she was lovely – amazingly generous. I ran into her in the lobby and she spent a good 45 minutes discussing my writing with me. I learned so much about plot, conflict and layering from both our discussion and the workshop she presented at the conference. As a result of that discussion, I’ve gone back and started revamping the first manuscript I ever wrote, Compromising Willa, which placed 2nd in the PYHIAB contest. It’s already a much better manuscript.

If you’re an aspiring writer, I strongly suggest you try to make it to one of the chapter conferences. They are well worth it.     


I got this saucy apple green cover with my Kindle.


I also became a Kindle-ista in 2010. I received a Kindle for my birthday and never looked back. I wavered on whether I wanted the e-reader – it made me feel a little unfaithful to traditional books. But now I enjoy both e-books and tree books. I still haven’t discovered how to lend an e-book to a friend but I hope to figure it out in 2011.   

I actually launched this blog in 2010 – as a result of the Writing with the Stars contest. It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve tried to provide interesting information about publishing, the romance industry and just reading in general.

I plan to continue blogging away into 2011. Happy New Year and I hope you’ll be back to visit often! 

Exciting news! RT Book Reviews magazine officially announced today that I am one of six remaining finalists in Kensington Brava/RT’s Writing with the Stars contest.

That means I managed to garner enough online votes to make it through the first two rounds of competition. Thanks to all of you who voted. I could not have made it this far without your support.

Voting is now open for Round Three. For this challenge, I had to write a back-of-the-book blurb. Anyone who has tried it, knows blurbs can be a real challenge. Agent Kristen Nelson is the “celebrity” judge for this round. She gives a detailed, indepth critique of each entry that you might find interesting and instructive. Check it out!

I hope you will consider voting for me. It’s super fast and easy. Just CLICK HERE, scroll down to the bottom and vote. It takes less than a minute. Let me know what you think. I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for your support!  

There are many things to like about Julia London’s latest offering, The Year of Living Scandalously, starting with its cover.

There seem to be lots of purple covers lately and I, for one, am liking them. Of course, taking a look at the cover, there’s lots more to feast one’s eyes on besides the color!

Declan O’Connor, Earl of Donnelly, arrives at Hadley Green to find that the new countess of Ashwood is actually an impostor – a woman he knows quite well from back in the day in Ireland.

Snappy repartee keeps this fun story zipping right along from start to finish. The heroine is winningly charming and the hero is easy to fall in love with.

The back story centers on the mystery surrounding the execution of a man for the theft of the Countess of Ashwood’s historic jewels.London uses it to set up an intriguing twist at the end of  The Year of Living Scandalously that made me want to run out and buy the next book in the series.

That’s where the bad news comes in.

According to London (per her website), the sequel – The Secrets of Hadley Green – will not be out until February of 2012. That’s more than a year from now.  London says the long wait was unforeseen when she wrote the ending to The Year of Living Scandalously.

Disappointing yes, but I still plan to be among the first to read The Secrets of Hadley Green.  (I just hope I can remember the story!)

And now for the shameless plug…

Voting is now open in the Kensington Brava/RT Writing With the Stars contest.

Online polling runs until November 28.

I am one of eight remaining finalists in the national competition. The winner will be published. But I can’t get there without your support!

Click here to check out all of the entries. I hope you will consider voting for my manuscript, Seducing Charlotte, a historical romance set against the backdrop of the dawning Industrial Revolution.

I promise voting is super quick and easy. You can click in, scroll down to the bottom, vote and be done in under a minute. No registration is required. Thank you!