Marking A Milestone! This summer at the RWA annual conference in New York, Harlequin Enterprises hosted a fabulous Black and White Ball at the Waldorf for its authors. That evening I received a special pin commemorating twenty-five books I've written for the company since I sold my first in 1998. It was a wonderful evening made even more special by the distinguished company of other 25-Book authors and my darling husband, who has been so amazingly supportive of my writing over the years.

New York, New York! The Harlequin Ball wasn't my only fun in the Big Apple. Besides attending loads of great workshops and networking with other professionals in the romance industry, I also got to visit with many of my writing buddies, some of whom I see often at my local RWA chapter and others I seldom get to meet in person. The Harlequin Historical Team hosted a lovely tour and tea at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum. The stately old house tucked in among the high-rises once belonged to the daughter of John and Abigail Adams. Over tea and scones in the garden, I had a chance to talk to other HH authors about their upcoming books. The next day, Love Inspired Historical Senior Editor, Tina James, took a group of her authors to lunch. It was so nice to meet her in person as well as LIH authors Abby Gaines and Janet Dean! The day after the conference, Mike and I had a long, chatty lunch with dear writing friend Catherine Mann, whom I've known since before either of us were published. After the conference, my husband and I stayed on for a few extra days to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We took in the Harry Potter exhibit and had the best seats in the house for Phantom of the Opera!

To see more pictures from my New York trip, visit my Face Book Album!

Governesses in Glass Slippers I recently finished the third story in my Glass Slipper Bride stories for Love Inspired Historical. The series began with the novella "Much Ado About Nuptials" in The Wedding Season and continues with The Captain's Christmas Family in December. The third novel, The Baron's Governess Bride, is scheduled for June 2012. I hope there will be more coming after that.

Proud Mom Moment Delighted as I am with my career achievements, I am even prouder of my children. They were all quite young when I sold my first book so they grew up sharing me with my literary offspring, eating take-out food during deadline crunch and having me talk to their English classes. They've turned out very well in spite of all that. This year my eldest received his Bachelor of Engineering (second in his class!) and my two youngest graduated high school with honors and both won the Technology medal for highest marks in computer studies. They were accepted into the Information Technology program at Nova Scotia Community College. When they were diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder at the age of four, I could not image how far they would go, how independent they would become and what cool characters they would be. High-five, guys!

 

Dynamic Group! In October my local writers group, Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada, hosted a visit from Harlequin Executive Senior Editor, Birgit Davis-Todd, who is in charge of the company's Toronto office. The evening before, many members of the group dined with Birgit, who graciously circulated and introduced herself to everyone. The next morning, Birgit gave us an informative presentation about what editors are looking for in a manuscript and the reasons some manuscripts get rejected. After a break, she spoke about the changing publishing world and the challenges of self-publishing. We had a great lunch (in spite of a freak power-outage that had our chapter president scrambling) after which Birgit had pitch interviews with a number of our members. Meanwhile, the rest of the group had fun doing a variety of individual and group writing exercises. Many thanks to our Executive: Annette McPhee-Gallant, Donna Alward, Kelly Boyce and Michelle Helliwell their hard work to make this event such a success!

Upcoming Special Events! This fall I'll be taking part in a number of special events for readers. At Hallowe'en, I'll be giving out treats in cyberspace as part of A Novel Trick-or-Treat with authors including Michelle Willingham, Deb Marlow, Julianne MacLean, Donna Alward and Darlene Gardiner. Readers can visit each of the authors for chances to win books and candy prizes! A few weeks later, I'll participate in the popular Harlequin Historical Advent Calendar. Once again the grand prize will be a state-of-the-art Kindle e-reader. Last year one of my entrants won! On December 14th I'll be celebrating the holiday season at the Harlequin Open House. There will be lots of great conversation and loads of prizes, so mark it on your calendar! I'll also be taking part in the Indie Romance Book Blowout , a great chance for readers to stock up on digital books by many of your favorite authors at bargain prices!