HelenKay Dimon

I was asked to write a novella for a Christmas anthology for 2009? Yep. I’m thrilled. My fellow authors will, again, be the wildly talented Donna Kauffman and Jill Shalvis. The title…KISSING SANTA CLAUS.

My novella isn’t written yet but will be set in Hawaii. Yeah, Christmas in Hawaii. That means that all three of my original releases next year will be based in Hawaii – two in Kauai and one in Oahu. The schedule of original titles (excluding mass market re-releases) goes like this:

April ‘09: IT’S HOTTER IN HAWAII – which is now available for pre-order!!
Oct. ‘09 – HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO
Oct. ‘09 – KISSING SANTA CLAUS

And for those who missed it, here is this year’s Christmas antho TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT:

It’s time to welcome a new blogger to the blogosphere and this one is a bit surprising. It’s Danielle Steel.

The first entry went up yesterday. It’s about age and being happy where you are…I think. Either way it kind of seems like a big deal in that she is not someone most of us would expect to blog. I’m guessing she’s not doing it for promo. This seems more like a case that she wants to chat. Works for me.

HOT AS HELL is now out. Mad is holding a contest – check it out.

For those still thinking about picking this one up, here are some quotes to convince you:

-”In the end, readers will be swept up in Noah’s and Lexy’s happy ending – one that is real and healthy, full of true love and understanding. HOT AS HELL is more than a sexy little contemporary romance, it is a story with a moral to it – one that many of us can undoubtedly apply to our own relationships.” – Wild On Books

-”Lexy and Noah heat up the pages of this race-to-the-truth mystery of murder and corporate espionage. But what keeps the story fresh is the unusual setting — a health spa in Utah — and Dimon’s deft characterizations. Her characters not only have layers, they also exhibit complex feelings through subtle signals.” -Romantic Times

It’s release day. HOT AS HELL is out and ready for you to purchase. If for no other reason buy it for the guy on the cover. See:

Barnes & Noble
Borders
Amazon

While I’m working on copyedits I thought I’d update you all on Josh’s story. His book, HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO comes out in October ‘09. Here’s the back cover copy:

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT…

Deana Armstrong needs a hero—not for herself, but for the nephew all her money and time can’t seem to get out of jail. Unfortunately, the best hero in all the Hawaiian Islands is set on turning in his badge and getting his excellent butt into another line of work. If that wasn’t enough, Josh Windsor also has a big-time grudge against Deana herself. But if there’s anything being rich, smart, and stubborn has taught Deana, it’s never to settle for second best…

Josh has had it with saving people. He’s had it with getting hauled into court. And boy, has he ever had it with Deana. Or well, he hasn’t had it. Yet. But the more she pops up sounding infuriating and looking good enough to eat, the more her hot bod and her cold case wriggle into his mind. And there’s only so much even a hero can resist…

It’s that time again. I like to call it The (Almost) Release Day Celebration. Honestly, I have no idea what else to call it, so we’re going with that title. The point is HOT AS HELL officially comes out next week. To usher in this fabulous event, it’s contest time. The Rules are below…

HOT AS HELL centers on Lexy and her ex-fiancee Noah. She’s at a hiking spa in Utah. He’s there to convince her to get rid of the “ex” in their relationship. She’s there to prove Noah is not the man he says he is. And Noah has made her task a little easier by failing to mention some big issues in his past.

As an example, here’s a short excerpt from the book:

Noah leaned in and lowered his voice out of eavesdropping range. “Are you upset about Mexico?”

“A trial and a conviction, and I didn’t have either. And, by the way, no harm came to the bird.”

CONTEST: Another thing Noah “forgot” to mention was an ex-wife. Oops! So my question to you is this: If you found out the man you were engaged to had an ex-wife and he didn’t tell you, you would….what?” Put your answer in the comments section and you’ll be entered to win, pursuant to the Rules below. I’ll pick winners from those commenting.

PRIZE: I’ll be giving away five (5) copies of HOT AS HELL to people chosen from those commenting. For those who already have the book, are planning to buy it, or have it on pre-order, you can chose a book from my backlist instead.

REQUIREMENTS: Put your answer to the question in the comments AND if you win you agree to post comments/a review/thoughts about HOT AS HELL somewhere on the internet (after you read it, of course) by November 15th, including a copy of the cover. You’ll also need to send me the link for verification…and because I’m nosy and will want to read it.

RULES: One entry per person. You can comment on the responses of other people, of course, but please do not enter the contest under different names/web addresses. That sort of thing drives me insane. International entries are welcome, but your copy will need to come from an online bookstore that I can access (ie find and order from for delivery to you). So, you won’t get a signed copy. Sorry. Also, please don’t enter unless you can post about HOT AS HELL as required by November 15th. That’s a rule of the contest.

MISC.: I will post the winners here on Monday in an update. You can comment any time between now and midnight PST on Sunday October 26th to be entered.

Good luck!!

UPDATE: Thanks to all who commented. Me, well, I’d smack the crap out of the guy. I’m vengeful like that. Some of you are nicer. And, now the winners:

Congrats to all! Please email me so I can get those copies out to you.

My author copies have arrived – wahoo!!!

Check back tomorrow for a HOT AS HELL giveaway. Two chances to win free books:

1. Win one of five copies and all you have to do is post something somewhere online about the book along with a copy of the cover.

OR

2. For those who have HOT AS HELL (thanks to B&N early shipping or some other secret source) or who have already pre-ordered it, all you’ll have to do is send me the link of where you posted something about HOT AS HELL , including the copy of the cover, and I’ll send you a book from my backlist – your choice.

See? Easy.

I admit I don’t fully understand the strategy of the Bantam Discovery imprint where the trade paperback ($12) and mass market ($5.99) versions are released at the same time. Seems like no one would buy the more expensive one, but what do I know. I do like the books. Or, I should say since I haven’t read them but have, instead, stacked them on a pile to read later, that I like the look of them. Still, they’re here and I’m interested and an author looking to sell books can’t ask for more than that from a reader/book buyer.

The newest one to land on my doorstep is GOOD LUCK by Whitney Gaskell. The cover copy goes like this:

Lucy Parker wins the lottery on the worst day of her life. But can all the money in the world make up for a cheating boyfriend, a derailed career, and ending up in the middle of a media circus? Everyone wants a piece of Lucy…and all she wants is to escape from it all.

After life as she knows it falls apart, Lucy heads off to Palm Beach to hide out at the home of an old college friend. There, living in a tropical paradise of millionaires, Lucy acquires a new hair color, a new social set, and enough anonymity to put her notoriety behind her. Soon she’s courted by two men who don’t know her history. But just as Lucy begins to envision a new life for herself, the past catches up with her. Lucy would give up every penny to have her old life back—but just as she’s ready to cash it all in, fate has one last surprise in store for her…one that will show her exactly what she’s worth.

The book has a traditional chick lit look and sound to it. Now, let me be clear that I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I really like chick lit (so long as it’s not all about clothes and shoes)…or whatever we call it these days. I know I’m supposed to say smart women’s fiction but, really, that’s more offensive to me since it suggests that there’s women’s fiction out there that’s dumb. So, let me just say seeing this book and books like it hit the shelves makes me happy.

And now I want to share the happiness. I have two copies of this book. Comment here on Gaskell, chick lit or any related topic and you’ll be entered to win a copy. I’ll pick a winner at random by Friday and will post it here. It’s up to the winner to come back and check…and please don’t try to win by pretending to be different people.

Good luck (…get it?)!

UPDATE: And the winner is Nicole!!! Congratulations! Email me and I’ll get that book out to you.

According to yahoo, a marriage counselor named M. Gary Neuman surveyed 200 cheating and non-cheating husband to figure out why men cheat. His findings are in a book called THE TRUTH ABOUT CHEATING. Here are some of the highlights (lowlights):

-48% of men site emotional dissatisfaction as the reason for cheating
-77% of men who cheat have a good friend who cheated
-12% say the other woman is more physically attractive than the wife
-73% of cheaters say they got to know the mistress before cheating (ie, not a meet-and-sex thing a la Fatal Attraction)
-40% cheat with someone at work

What does this tell us? I have no freaking idea. Just thought the findings were interesting and, honestly, a bit surprising. As a divorce lawyer I saw case after case of the older married male hitting a certain age and starting to date some young thing who showered him with attention and making him forget real-life problems like, say, the kids, mortgage, how much his job sucked, etc. Because of that I’m reading “emotional dissatisfaction” to mean “real life intrudes and the wife fails to make me feel like Superman 24 hours a day” but that’s me.

For my romance writer friends who aren’t sure if they want to enter the RITAs this year, I give you this from agent Kristin Nelson via Romancing The Blog:

I just closed a major motion picture option deal for my author Kelly Parra because of the double RITA-nomination for her young adult novel GRAFFITI GIRL. Yep, you heard that right. My author didn’t even win this year’s 2008 RITA but she’s winning in a whole different way (although she was very sad not to take home that beautiful statue).

This past July, several movie producers decided to check out Romance Writers Of America’s National Conference. Obviously, they gave special attention to any work nominated for the prestigious RITA award. Several weeks later, this producer got in touch with us. One call to my film co-agent and a week later, we had spanking new film option. This in turn is generating new excitement by foreign publishers in Frankfurt (as I write this).

There you go…