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Archive for December, 2009

Covering the cover

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

So! My book is officially coming out tomorrow, and before it does so, I have a very important public service announcement.

You see, I have had very mixed reactions to the cover for Proof by Seduction. People either love it, or they are completely embarrassed by it. On the one hand, I’ve had a lot of people tell me that it is gorgeous, elegant, beautiful, sexy, and classy. And it is! See? Love that corset. On the other hand, I’ve had a handful of people e-mail me to say, “Wow, Courtney, I am interested in reading your book… but that cover! It is far too sexy for my bus ride. All the other people on my commute are going to look at that cover and then they will leer at me. Also, I can’t read it at lunch, because my mostly male colleagues will rib me over it.”

Hmph. Personally, I fail to see how a mostly-unclothed woman, lying on a divan in a provocative pose, could indicate anything except the highest of high-minded high-mindedness, and I think all those people who judge books by covers should be frowned upon. But, to be slightly serious for the only time in this entire blog post, back when I first started reading romance, I would take my books up to the cash register very carefully–sometimes even buying High Minded Looking books with sepia-toned factories belching smoke on the front to hide the clinch romance books I actually wanted to read as I walked up to the cash register. Even now, I won’t whip out truly scandalous clinch covers in front of some of my older, male colleagues–their hearts just can’t take the rise in blood pressure. So I totally understand how someone could look at this cover, imagine herself taking it out at lunch in front of a bunch of unsympathetic co-workers, and wincing.

Plus, one reader said that she teaches small children, and if she took a book like this out, they might start to get the Wrong Idea, and parents somewhere would complain. How could she possibly read my book? This was an excellent point, and it got to me to thinking about something I could do to help out with that problem, especially since there are children involved. (If you have not noticed, one of the things we take seriously here at courtneymilan.com is this: lying to small children.)

Here, for the first time, for your covering-up pleasure, is a downloadable book cover. Like all High Minded books, this is a cover done in sepia (although if your printer is black and white, it will print just fine in grayscale, and it will look appropriately bleak!). This is the book you have always wanted to carry on the subway: It declares that you are so smart that you’re reading not for pleasure or enjoyment, but for the sheer thrill of scraping your fingernails across the chalkboard of literature. It can be read without hesitation in accounting firms or in kindergartens. Feel free to whip it out during dull moments at the New York Stock Exchange.

Here’s what it looks like:

And here’s how you use it:

What you need:

One printer; one internet connection; one piece of paper; four pieces of tape (optional); and one copy of Proof by Seduction (available here: B & N | Amazon | Indiebound | Borders | Powell’s) (other books can be substituted, but really, why would you want to do that?)

Download the full graphic (warning: it’s huge at around 4 MB) here. Print it out.
Fold on the white lines along the top side and the bottom side; then fold along the white lines on the right and left sides. This should form little pockets on the right and left side of the cover.
Jimmy the right pocket over the front cover of Proof by Seduction; wrap the cover around the book, and then jimmy the left cover over the back cover of Proof by Seduction.
For those who are extra-conscious of security, four pieces of tape can be used to make sure that the book cover does not come off.

The result:

One of these books is read by smart people! The other is only read by people who are intelligent. Can you guess which one is which?

So, what do you think? Let me know–one random commenter will win a copy of A Completely Serious Compendium of Utterly Dire Events, as created using above method.

Posted in Proof by Seduction | 42 Comments »

Win my book; read their excerpts!

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

So today, December 30th, Carrie Lofty, Victoria Dahl and I are having a joint contest! It goes like this.

1. I’ll be posting excerpts from Victoria Dahl’s Lead Me On and Carrie Lofty’s Scoundrel’s Kiss.

2. I will then ask a few questions about those excerpts (on this blog) and throughout the day on Twitter. One random answer will get a free copy of Proof by Seduction.

3. Carrie and Victoria will have excerpts from Proof by Seduction on their blogs, and they’ll be asking questions about my books on twitter. You can follow Carrie on Twitter here, and Victoria on Twitter here. So go read the excerpts for Proof, and you could win a copy of Lead Me On or Scoundrel’s Kiss from either of them! Carrie’s post is here; Victoria’s is here.

So, from Lead Me On:

The door opened and she expected to look up and see Mr. Jennings walking in. What she didn’t expect was the man who’d visited her dreams the night before. But she was cool Jane now, the impenetrable fraud, so she merely raised an eyebrow. “Good morning, Mr. Chase.”

“Hello, Miss Jane,” he countered.

She almost laughed at his joke, and what a disaster that would have been. If he knew she found him charming, he might ask her out again. She didn’t
allow her expression to budge. “What can I help you with?”

He held out the folder he’d tucked under his arm. “See? Safe and sound. I’m the soul of responsibility.”

“Mm-hm,” she murmured, trying to hide the way he was wreaking havoc on her concentration. His sleeve had inched up, revealing more of the tribal tattoo on his left arm. “Thank you.”

“So…” he said.

She jerked her eyes up from his arm.

“Have you thought any more about it?”

“About what?”

“Going out to dinner with me?”

“No,” she answered as if it were the honest truth. Actually, it was. Dinner hadn’t entered into her thoughts even once.

“Come on.” He smiled at her, his wide mouth curving into a very handsome grin. His dark blue eyes sparkled. “Just dinner.”

“No, thank you.”

“Why not?”

“You’re not my type.” The bald-faced lie fell smoothly from her tongue.

“You sure?” He glanced toward his arm, and Jane felt her pulse leap. Oh, my God. Had he looked at his tattoo when he said that? She felt her
face heat despite her best efforts to suppress the betraying flow of blood. He’d seen her looking. But those could have been looks of horror, she told herself. They’d meant
nothing. Nothing.

Her pulse wouldn’t listen to her. It gathered speed. Chase smiled and put one hand on her desk to lean closer. His gaze fell to her mouth, and she
could feel herself breathing too fast.

Last night as she’d boxed, she’d imagined her trainer was Chase. She’d imagined him grabbing her, his hands sliding across her damp skin, his mouth
descending with a growl…

Oh, God, her masquerade was crumbling around her. What if she let Chase–

Her cell phone rang, breaking the man-spell she’d fallen under. Jane looked down to the phone and the display was a bucket of cold water dumped over her head. “MOM,” it read, the back-light glowing red in warning. She stared at it for a moment, skin cooling as each second ticked by. “Yes,” she finally answered him, “I’m sure.”

“Sure about what?”

“I’m sure you’re not my type, Mr. Chase, but thank you very much for the invitation.”

Though his face fell, Chase didn’t look the least bit angry. In fact he pulled a business card from his back pocket and handed it over. “All right then. Call me if you change your mind. That’s my cell.”

“Thank you.” She meant to drop it in the trash. She really did. But as Chase turned and walked out, Jane tucked his card into her purse. Then she turned off her cell phone and stuck that in her purse too.

NICE. And I mean not “nice” as in, “he’s a nice guy,” but NICE, as in, “oh yeah, baby.” This is one of the things I love about Victoria Dahl–she knows how to get a slow burn going. And she also knows how to take a gallon of gas and pour it over that smolder. You can read more about Lead Me On here.

And here’s a sneak snippet from Scoundrel’s Kiss, by Carrie Lofty:

When one step separated his body from hers, Gavriel breathed the scent of lemon and skin warmed by the mineral-rich spring water. The more he breathed, the more lightheaded he became. He felt every heartbeat in triplicate: beneath his ribs, in his skull, at his groin.

Gavriel brushed his mouth along the curve of her shoulder. Ada shuddered but did not pull away. The moist heat of his breath raised goose bumps on her skin and reflected back against his face. He waited, glorying in that intimate caress, knowing he would take her if he tasted her.

“Order me to go,” he rasped.

Ada looked over her shoulder. He let his eyes fall down the line of her brow and her cheeks and her chin. “I won’t do that,” she said.

“Why not?” The need to touch her again burned like hell’s fires. “No respectable woman behaves as you do.”

“We both know I left respectable behind some time ago.”

“Then you do this as a game or as punishment.”

“You’re mistaken if you believe this involves you alone.” She spoke with less deliberation and more speed. “Perhaps I do this simply to see what I’ll do next. I hardly know who I am anymore. It makes me wonder.”

He reached out to trace the line of her shoulder blade but pulled back. “Wonder what?”

“Am I the kind of woman to seduce you outright, or will I wait for you? Either way, you’ve become a most welcome distraction.”

“Ada, don’t–”

“You think you’ve cured me because I no longer shake or cry,” she said. “But in that you’re mistaken. The need is still here. Right here.” She clenched one hand over the other and pressed it to the hollow between her breasts. “It’s like thirst or hunger or lust. A need. Can you understand that?”

He could only nod, a weak one at that. A delicious and wanton angel stood before him, his own parable of temptation. The redness of the hot spring had faded, leaving the smoothest white porcelain skin–a feast for his eyes. But he wanted more. No matter his aims or his vows, he was a man who needed more.

“I can understand,” he said thickly.

“Then help me, Gavriel. Give me something new to crave.”

Oh, Carrie Lofty. I am definitely feeling some cravings right now–a craving for a really awesome book! You can read more about Carrie Lofty’s Scoundrel’s Kiss here.

So, for the first chance to win a copy of Proof by Seduction, answer these two questions (one random commenter will win):

1. What kind of parable does Gavriel think Ada is?

2. Where does Chase have his tattoo?

Posted in Contest, Friends, book recommendations | 18 Comments »

Giveaway: Lead Me On by Victoria Dahl

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

So, it’s December 29th, and a Tuesday, and that means that new books are on the shelf. Those of you who are familiar with this drill know how it goes: Almost every day is “Buy a Book Written by Courtney” day, which has been very inconvenient, as Courtney has (up until this point) only had novellas (rather than actual books) available for purchase.

Naturally, since today is Tuesday, and since the semi-official release date of my actual book is in a few days, my book is probably going to be on the shelves just about everywhere. So am I going to tell you to buy my book?

No! That would be weird. I’m going to tell you to buy Lead Me On by Victoria Dahl. It’s no surprise that I’m a huge Victoria Dahl fangirl; I think there’s something about her heroines that really just speaks to me. They’re never the sort of person to give up and let someone else solve their problems; they always dig deep and figure out how things move forward on their own. They don’t need heroes.

But they do deserve them. And I think, more than any of Victoria’s other books, Jane Morgan deserves her hero. I absolutely ached for her to have her happily ever after, and this book stretched her, forced her to really look into herself and decide that she was worthy of happiness. I just adored this book–so much so that I pushed a copy of it off on my sister who is visiting for the holidays. I don’t want to give away too much, but today is definitely a holiday: Go buy a book written by Victoria Dahl, and don’t wait to read it. Because Lead Me On is really, really fantastic.

(If you are reading this after December 29th, the link won’t work–in that it will no longer be a holiday in which you are supposed to buy a book written by Victoria Dahl. You can find out what I think about the book by clicking here instead.)

In any event, leave a comment and some lucky person will win a copy of this awesome book.

Posted in Contest, book recommendations | 41 Comments »

outtakes…

Monday, December 28th, 2009

When my agent first sent Proof by Seduction out to editors, it started with a scene between Gareth and Ned. I had played with the concept of ditching that initial scene, but had never quite figured out how to do it. On the one hand, I wanted to get rid of it because I felt as if it were like starting off playing a symphony with a variation, rather than a theme; on the other hand, getting rid of it would have ruined some of the symmetry that comes later in the book.

When HQN acquired the book, my editor had some ideas for how to tighten up the manuscript, and ultimately, that first scene disappeared. But since the book has apparently been showing up on shelves, both real and virtual, for about a week now, and as its official release date approaches, I thought it might be nice for everyone to see how it originally began…

Here you are: the original first scene of the book. Think of it this way: Gareth meets man-eating elephants, and lo, they are herbivores.

Posted in Proof by Seduction | 3 Comments »

Antidisclaimer: Books I give away

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

Here we poke, disturbingly, behind the grotty scenes of a romance author’s blog, and ask this question:

“Courtney, where do you get the books that you give away?”

Good question. Sometimes when you see a book being given away on a blog, the truth is that the source of the book is either the author or the publisher. Authors receive a number of free copies of her book–I get 48, which is enough to fill a box that if dropped at precisely the wrong angle, could break your toe. We could leave these books on our shelves to look pretty, but (a) all our shelves are already full with books written by other people; and (b) they don’t do any good sitting on our own shelves, because an author is not precisely her target market (Although, admission: I bought a shocking number of copies of my own book–which makes no economic sense at all).

Despite this, as a general rule, I buy every book I give away. (The only exception to this was Sherry Thomas’s Not Quite a Husband; of the two copies I gave away, Sherry bought one copy and I bought the other.) I do this for two reasons:

1. I want to support other authors who I think write cool books.

2. If I’m talking about a book, by implication I think it is worth spending money on. It’s a way of keeping me honest: As a romance author, the prevailing community norm is that authors don’t talk critically about other books. So how can you trust that I mean it when I say I like a book? And that’s easy: you can trust me because I’m willing to put my own money–for the book and postage–on the line.

The only books I (probably) haven’t paid for are my own–my publisher gives me free copies–and even then that’s not guaranteed, because as I mentioned earlier, in defiance of all economic rationality, I buy my own book. Often.

Disclaimer to this antidisclaimer: I am writing this post because three separate people e-mailed me and said, “Oh, you’re giving away a copy of my book! Let me give you one of my author copies!” To these very nice offers, I said, “Pfft.”

Posted in book recommendations | 4 Comments »

I’m fairly certain…

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

I have the best friends ever.

Tessa Dare and a bunch of other people have teamed up to create the 12 days of Proof by Seduction. This was done entirely without my knowledge; I was holed up in an undisclosed location attempting to write while they plotted the whole thing. Apparently this will involve a song, with 12 verses (are you scared? I am scared!), and autographed giveaways from a ton of historical authors (Eloisa James, Julia Quinn, Anna Campbell, Sherry Thomas, Elizabeth Hoyt, Sara Lindsey, Julie Anne Long, Carolyn Jewel, Victoria Dahl, Jennifer Haymore, and of course Tessa Dare herself).

So, frequent Tessa’s blog. And watch Twitter. Or something. I wish I knew what was going to happen, but right now, you know as much as I do.

Also, I have some other things that will be going up on my site in the next few days, so keep an eye out for them!

Posted in Contest, Proof by Seduction | 8 Comments »

Be vewwy, vewwy quiet!

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Apparently, Amazon has copies of Proof by Seduction in stock. Order it now, and get it by Christmas…

Also available: Victoria Dahl’s awesome Lead Me On.

I will, of course, let you all know when I find it in stock other places. Also, thanks for the timing, Amazon! The slimy-baby post was supposed to be weeks away from official release. Now everyone will know about it when they can actually buy it.

Edited: Barnes & Noble shows that Proof is shipping as well; and Powell’s has it shipping in 1-3 days.

Posted in Proof by Seduction | 11 Comments »

In which Courtney solves RWA’s problems…

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

…and yet oddly, nobody feels like thanking her. (Edited to add: this is supposed to signal that I’m being tongue-in-cheek, and my goal is not to say “This is the answer!” but to start a dialogue; but obviously some things don’t come across in clear text.)

RWA has announced that it will be holding a special board meeting to decide how to deal with Harlequin’s announcement that it will include a vanity press going forward. I’ve been thinking about this, up and down, right and left, on and off ever since the announcement was made, and I’ve come to a handful of conclusions, which I now share with you (and which I will eventually pass on to RWA’s Board just as soon as everybody’s done shooting holes in it).

Since this is long and boring, it is after the jump, so that those of you who don’t care about RWA and vanity publishing can breathe a sigh of relief and go on your merry ways.

(more…)

Posted in RWAChange | 83 Comments »

It’s a baby!

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

By the time I get to the end of every book, I absolutely hate it, more than you can possibly imagine, and I can see no reason why anyone else would ever want to read it.

It is in this lovely vein that I then must work at promoting it. I have to tell other people why they must read it. An admission, because I am feeling honest. I’ve been working on promotional stuff for Proof by Seduction in which I tell you how much I love and adore my book. But it’s all a pack of lies. I don’t love my book.

Some people say they love their books as if they were babies. Maybe there’s some truth to that, because there’s a moment in every infant’s life when it has just wet its diaper for the fourth time in thirty minutes, not that it matters, because somehow it wormed out of the diaper, which it left in a wet mass on top of the stairs. It’s crying at the top of its lungs. And despite what appears to be a general tendency towards immobility, the baby has still managed to climb out of its crib, open three intervening doors, and is now splashing in the antifreeze out in the garage. Also–dear God, what is that thing in its mouth? You have to be kidding me. It’s not a–oh. Yes. Yes, it is.

Mothers, you know what I am talking about. (I do not have children yet, but I have a dog, which is almost the same thing, and this story also perfectly describes my younger brother at one year old.) This is the moment when every mother, whether she admits it or not, wants to shriek, “Please! Anybody! TAKE THIS CHILD, I will give you twenty dollars! No, thirty!”

This is what I think about when other people say that their books are their “babies.” I hate my books with an undying passion, even if part of me feels some kind of grudging kinship and responsibility. If anyone asks me in public, of course, my books are all little angels and I adore every fat little dimple on their collective chins. But in private, my books are that baby, covered in antifreeze, oddly diaper-less, leaving a trail of terrifying baby-slime in their wake.

So. Ahem. Who wants to buy a copy of Proof by Seduction?

Posted in Trial by Desire, Writing | 14 Comments »

Many, many winners

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

So… giving away more books than you can shake a stick at, to more people than you can shake three sticks at, who are each asking for a different subset of books (some of which you can and cannot shake sticks at) requires precision. And spreadsheets. And random.org.

Nonetheless, I have persevered! Here are the winners:

Kris Kennedy’s The Conqueror: zjlht
Susan Gee Heino’s Mistress by Mistake: Pamala Knight
Michelle Monkou: Lynz and Sylissa Franklin
Lynn Raye Harris’s Spanish Magnate, Red Hot Revenge: RKCharron
Kelly Gay’s The Better Part of Darkness: Julie K
Jennifer Haymore’s A Hint of Wicked: Lyoness2009
Debra Mullins’ To Ruin the Duke: Pearl
Justine Larbalestier’s Liar: Pamala Knight (who is lucky in random draws!)
Sarah Rees Brennan’s The Demon’s Lexicon: Monica
Carolyn Jewel’s Indiscreet: Stephanie H
Lori Brighton’s Wild Heart: Chelsea B.
Tessa Dare’s Goddess of the Hunt: PeggyH
Annette McCleave’s Drawn into Darkness: Amy!
Tracey O’Hara’s Night’s Cold Kiss: …Pamala Knight (for a third time)
Helen Scott Taylor’s The Magic Knot: Gavia
Sherry Thomas’s Not Quite a Husband: bookwormchris
Victoria Dahl’s One Week as Lovers: Chelsea B. (again!)
Mary Balogh, Nicola Cornick, and Courtney Milan’s The Heart of Christmas: Paige Ray
And finally, last, Courtney Milan’s Proof by Seduction. I only mentioned one copy, but you know, I must have meant three? The winners (plural) are: azteclady, Laughing Yoga Mama, and KathrinH.

So you’re a winner! How do you collect? Easy–send your snail-mail address to courtney@courtneymilan.com. If I don’t get your address by Christmas, I’ll give your copy of the book away on Twitter. I will send out the copies of Proof by Seduction ASAP; some of the others might take a little longer to go in the mail.

Whew. Now I need to go recover!

Posted in Contest | 9 Comments »