HelenKay Dimon

The start of a new year seemed like a good time to change some things around here. There are new photos, new items to watch in the Media section, new information on my upcoming releases and a new and improved (ie streamlined) look to my Coming Soon and On Sale Now pages. I, of course, did not have anything to do with these changes. The fine folks at DreamForge Media did it all – huge thanks!!!

So, as you click around and see the changes…Happy New Year!!!

See you again in 2008.

The Romantic Times 2007 Reviewers’ Choice Award Nominees have been announced. There are some great reads on there. I wanted to point out one by fellow Kensington author and former lawyer Ann Christopher. Congrats to Ann!!! Her book, Risk, is on the list.

If you missed Risk, you can still order it. And, Ann has others. Her newest book is a January ‘08 release. It’s called Sweeter Than Revenge.

The copy goes like this:

Was Maria Johnson a pampered princess who relied on her good looks and her daddy’s money? You betcha! But when her father cut off her funds and ordered her to become an executive assistant at his firm, Maria was forced to make her new position work. Until she met her new boss—the gorgeous man who’d broken her heart four years ago. How was she supposed to work with David Hunt?

Not with—for, David kept reminding her. He was back in Maria’s life for one reason only, R-E-V-E-N-G-E! And he knew the sweetest way to get it, too.…

Go check it out!

Ventured into a Barnes & Noble yesterday. I was there for something other than to engage in a frenzied book-buying experience…unfortunately. But, that did not stop me from looking around and grabbing one book. I bought Kitty and The Silver Bullet by Carrie Vaughn.

This is the fourth in the series. I loved the first, Kitty and the Midnight Hour, and enjoyed the next two (though not as much as the first). For those who have not tried this series, you should. The plot synopsis goes like this:

Kitty’s radio show is as popular as ever and she has a boyfriend who actually seems to understand her. Can she finally settle down to a normal life? Not if this is just the calm before the storm. When her mother falls ill, Kitty rushes back to Denver–and right back to the abusive pack of werewolves she escaped a year ago. To make matters worse, a war is brewing between the city’s two oldest vampires, threatening the whole supernatural community. Though she wants to stay neutral, Kitty is again drawn into a world of politics and violence. To protect her family, her lover, and herself, she’ll have to choose sides. And maybe become what she hates–a killer.

Anyone read this one or the series?

I hope everyone had a great holiday. We stayed home this holiday and avoided the flying troubles, weather troubles, lost luggage troubles and all other travel-related troubles. Copy edits arrived for my July ‘08 release, HARD AS NAILS. They’re due back in New York by January 3rd. So, yeah, I should be working on those. Instead, I am debating which book to read. I picked up a few new releases, read some pages and just did not have that loving feeling. Honestly, that’s probably more of a reflection on me than the authors or their books. It’s a post-deadline reaction. I always feel a mixture of relief and exhaustion. That sounds a bit dramatic, but you get the idea.

So, to get back on the reading track – because I love reading – I’m going to read a few old favs. The three on my list so far are:

-RISING TIDES by Nora Roberts – This is the second book in Nora’s Chesapeake Bay Saga. Love the series. Ethan, the hero here, is one of my Nora favs. He is broken in so many ways yet such a decent man. Many times flawed characters are written in such a way that their flaws feel forced. Ethan is a terrific example of how to write and create an imperfect yet utterly compelling hero.

-DUNCAN’S BRIDE by Linda Howard – This is a modern marriage-of-convenience story. Normally this set-up would not work for me in a non-historical romance. Doesn’t matter. I find this one irresistible. The way Maddie brings alpha hero Reese to his knees is just…well, read it and see.

-TOO MUCH TEMPTATION by Lori Foster – Hero with a tough past, a voluptuous heroine (one who borders on chubby), two brothers dedicated to each other and a family saga. Come one, how could I not love this one?

That’s to start…

Christmas is almost here. I’ve spent the days shopping, eating, wrapping, eating and finishing a book (while eating). The book is a novella for the 2008 Brava Christmas anthology, TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT with Donna Kauffman and Jill Shalvis. I saw on Jill’s blog that she just finished up her novella as well. She said:

I can’t explain why, but sometimes the stories come easy and sometimes it’s like pulling teeth. Without drugs. With a rusty set of pliers.

I absolutely agree. For Jill, this holiday novella fell into place easier than most. I had a similar experience…well, sort of. I wrote the novella twice. The first time, I got it wrong and had many days with those rusty pliers. I knew it was wrong, tried to force it and had a “this is not working” moment. Then, I took a step back, inhaled a few times, spent some more time thinking about what I wanted to go and say and started again. The second time was a dream. Like Jill, I knew who these people were and what they wanted. Writing it wrong let me figure out how to write it right. After that, the words came fast and free. I wouldn’t say the novella wrote itself because I really don’t get that phrase. But, this one came close.

I once read something Linda Howard wrote about one of her MacKenzie books (Joe’s story, I think) where she wrote it and decided the story was not good enough for the characters. In other words, they deserved a better story and she re-wrote it right before deadline. The second time worked. I didn’t fully understand what Linda was saying then. Now I get it.

So, for those wondering about next year’s holiday antho, here’s the back cover copy:

DONNA KAUFFMAN
Unleashed

When Emma Lafferty is hired by a billionaire CEO to watch his pets over the holidays, she expects to enjoy a quiet Christmas in opulent surroundings. What she doesn’t expect is to spend the week trapped in the mansion with the CEO’s sexy great-nephew—and heir—whose motives are as shady as his desire is crystal clear….

JILL SHALVIS
Finding Mr. Right

Brilliant chemist Maggie Bell has a knack for choosing Mr. Wrong, and with yet another lonely Christmas looming, she decides it’s time to alter the equation—and seek out someone who seems totally wrong for her. Enter Jacob Wahler, the rough and rippling contractor who’s about as far from Maggie type as he could get. But suddenly what’s wrong for Maggie seems oh-so-right….

HELENKAY DIMON
Can You Hand Me the Tape?

Natalie Pritchard is desperate. It’s a week before Christmas and she’s lost the naughty tape she made for her now-ex-boyfriend. She’s so desperate, in fact, that she’ll turn to her nemesis Spencer Donovan for help. The sexy criminal defense attorney would be only too happy to assist—but can Natalie afford his price?

I’m so excited!!

My July ‘08 book, HARD AS NAILS is available for pre-order on Amazon!! Go order.

HARD AS NAILS is an anthology of three related novellas. Two of the heroes first appeared in my novella Hardhats and Silk Stockings in the WHEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO BAD BOYS anthology (with Lori Foster and Erin McCarthy). If you remember Hardhats (and I know you do ’cause y’all bought the book and read my novella…) the hero got stuck in an embarrassing position – naked – when his brother Adam and friend Cole walked in. Ah, a fine moment and one I enjoyed writing.

Well, I never forgot about Adam and Cole. Many of you liked them as well and asked me to write about them. Now I have. Adam, Cole and their project manager, Ray, get their own stories in HARD AS NAILS. Hardhats hero Whit also plays a role. Frankly, I love these guys. They are working on a house rehab project and get caught up with these women who drive them nuts.

And, while you’re pre-ordering books…my March ‘08 release RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW is available as well. You should save time and order both. In fact, order multiple copies of both. Uh-huh.

Today is my hubby’s 40th birthday. We’re spending the day together and away from the computer.

Happy birthday, honey!

My hubby’s birthday is tomorrow. Our 9th wedding anniversary was last week. So, this seems like a good time to talk about the first romance anthology I ever read – Everlasting Love by Linda Howard, Jayne Ann Krentz, Linda Lael Miller, Carla Neggers and Kasey Michaels. Appropriate title, isn’t it?

The synopsis goes like this:

An omnibus of novels by Jayne Ann Krentz, Linda Howard, Linda Lael Miller, Carla Neggers, Kasey Michaels. New York Times Bestseller. Savor the magic of love everlasting with five new tales of romance and intrigue from your favorite romance authors. In contemporary Washington, treachery ignites an unlikely affair of the heart. In 1880s Montana, an abandoned bride searches for her love. A traveling film star discovers the role and the passion of a lifetime in an English regency manor. In places far and near, exotic and familiar, love is timeless — and everlasting.

I stumbled onto this one because I had read Jayne Ann Krentz’ Perfect Partners and was busy racing through her backlist. I had barely started reading romance and had never read a romance anthology when I found this. My thought was to read the JAK novella, skim the others and continue on with my JAK obsession. Then I read Linda Howard’s novella, Lake of Dreams. The story is about two people who have been doomed lovers throughout time and meet in what could be their last time to get it right. Well, I loved it. Suddenly my romance reading world opened up from the three romance authors I first read – JAK, LL Miller and Julie Garwood – to include these new authors. It was one of those “well, duh” life-changing moments when I realized there was even more great stuff out there, more great authors for me to find.

And now I write novellas…

This weekend’s newspapers were a bit more depressing than usual. I’m accustomed to messages of doom in the financial section and on the front page. This time, the arts and books sections were the biggest downers. The L.A. Times, the Washington Post and others proclaimed 2007 a dismal year for books and booksellers. The Times described it like this:

The year was punctuated by anxiety over the decline of many newspaper book review sections and worry that publishing, with its old-fashioned way of printing books on paper and shipping them to stores or to online services, can’t keep up with a fragmented, increasingly distracted and digital world.

A New York Times book reviewer complained about have to look really hard to find great fiction this year. Add to that a series of bookstore closings and a lack of huge book blockbusters, and people start throwing around words like “murky” and “unease” and then panic sets in.

Look, I’m as much a fan of hyperbole and exaggeration as the next gal, but is the sky really falling? I don’t think so. The store closings and digital age questions are relevant to all of us and are ones we need to figure out fast. But the ideas of great books getting lost among the many and certain authors getting all the press are really not new. That’s the publishing reality regardless of genre. Seems to me 2007 wasn’t a bad year. It was a normal year.