HelenKay Dimon

Today is Release Day. I usually enter this fog-like state, part terror and part squeeing joy, as my books hit the shelves. At this point, the books are out of my hands. I can only hope booksellers will stock them, people will buy them and readers will like them. But today’s release is different because my editor and long-time writing champion, Kate Duffy, passed away over the weekend. That loss colors everything.

Gruff, determined, funny, dynamic, supportive, direct, smart, devoted and savvy – all of those words describe Kate. She was this huge steamrolling force. A publishing icon who touched so many and launched the careers of hundreds, probably thousands. She loved romance novels and respected authors. She understood the creative side of writing enough to say, “I don’t know how you do what you do” but never lost sight of the fact publishing is a business. She got angry when authors missed deadlines and had little tolerance for whining, but if she enjoyed your writing she poured all her energy into making you shine.

Kate was my editor, the first person in publishing to love my work. She believed in me when I had ceased thinking I had any writing talent. She gave me two precious gifts: hope and a chance. There is no way to repay someone for those. A simple thank you is insufficient. Words can’t capture the gratitude just as a blog post can’t adequately pay tribute to her now.

I do have memories, some I can share and many more I can’t, but all give insight into the type of person she was:

…I remember the first time she read one of my manuscripts. I was unpublished and had finaled in the Brava Novella Contest. Kate called me and said: “I’m going to be your editor one day…but not today.” Then she told me what I was doing wrong and how I needed to fix it so she could buy from me.

…I remember the excitement in her voice when she called with my first offer. Most of The Call is a blur, but that much stuck with me.

…I remember how she called me three times on the day she read the book that would become YOUR MOUTH DRIVES ME CRAZY to tell me how much she loved it. She said calling once was not enough to express her happiness.

…I remember how she agreed to read an early draft of RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW when I said something was wrong but I was too sick to figure out what it was. She took a look and said: “The dialog is so good that I can almost overlook the lack of plot. Almost. Add in some of that and you’re good.” After I fixed the book, she declared it “perfect” and told me take a week off and then get working on my next single title.

…I remember how she read the original draft of the book that would become HOT AS HELL and called to say: “I have one problem: the heroine. I hate everything about her. I don’t even think I like her name.” When I pointed out that the heroine appears on almost every page, Kate said: “Yeah, that’s a problem but it’s your problem. And I need the rewrite in three weeks.” A year later I reminded her of this story and she said, “no wonder people think I’m a bitch, but I was right about that heroine.”

…I remember her calling last year and saying she wanted me to write a single title for a secondary character she loved from YOUR MOUTH DRIVES ME CRAZY and a Christmas novella based on another secondary character. When I pointed out that readers might be sick of my Hawaii-based stories, she said: “Then they’re idiots!”

…I remember how she made me promise that we would always have dinner together at the RWA National Conference so she could steal a few moments without people pitching to her or authors asking about their publishing schedules. I vowed to keep that promise of a non-business dinner to the end, never knowing the end would come so fast.

…I remember how hot she got when reviewers said negative things about books by her authors. She went into full Mother Hen mode and then let the nasty language fly.

…I remember her laugh and how great it felt to share a story with her.

…I remember the first time I met her, the last time we talked, and every dinner and phone call in between.

Kate wasn’t perfect and didn’t pretend to be. We argued and laughed, disagreed and gossiped. She was a mentor, my boss and a friend. The dragging sadness I feel right now will eventually lessen, leaving behind a mix of admiration, joy and appreciation. But today as the books she requested officially release – HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO and the novella in KISSING SANTA CLAUS – it all feels more bitter than sweet.

Be at peace, Kate.

It’s Release Day Eve – wahoo! KISSING SANTA CLAUS and HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO come out tomorrow.

Today I’m talking about my books at Access Romance and at Novel Thoughts & Book Talk. There are book giveaways at both. Stop by and say hello.

And go buy the books.

I got a copy of a foreign translation today. Love that!

It’s very pretty (apologies for my poor scanning abilities). Can you guess what it is?

It’s the Norweigan cover for RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW. The title translates into AGENT WHO LOVED HER. Very appropriate.

Love, love, love foreign covers.

Newsflash: HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO, KISSING SANTA CLAUS and the mass market reissue of TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT are shipping a bit early from B&N. Wahoo!! That means you can go order your copies right now and have them arrive super fast.

Also, Laurie’s Laudanum is running a contest for a signed copy of HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO. About the book, Laurie says:

HelenKay’s storylines are uniquely original, the dialogue snappy and characters bright and fresh. Individually, Josh and Deana are intelligent and extremely likable. Together, they are explosive. Readers will relish witnessing the sparks between them turn to embers that hold great promise.

Big thanks to Laurie.

UNDER THE GUN, my debut from Harlequin Intrigue, is available for pre-order on Amazon. No cover yet, but…Wahoo!!! The book comes out in March 16, 2010, but you can reserve your copy now. And, really, you should.

I also got the title for my second Harlequin Intrigue. It will be out in fall, 2010. You know how Harlequin emphasizes certain aspects on the cover, things that will help sell the book, like cowboys or secret babies or tycoons, or whatever? Well, my book has one of those very Harlequin sounding titles.

Can you guess which Harlequin popular keyword is in my title? The first person to guess correctly wins his/her choice of my available books, including the three that come out in October. One guess per person. Post it in the comments. I’ll divulge the full title once someone guesses the keyword.

UPDATE: Congrats to Susan (#19). The answer is virgin. The title of my second Intrigue is: VIRGIN ON HIS DOORSTEP. Anyone familiar with my books knows I usually write sexually confident women, so this is a new thing for me. Should be interesting.

There was a discussion on twitter last week about moms in romance and the tendency for them to play the “bad guy” role. They tend to get the blame and come off a bit harsh. It can be – not always – an easy but not so great roadmap for an author to create a character. Add in a bad mommy and you have the excuse for why the heroine/hero needs love or whatever. If an author isn’t careful, it’s manipulative and smacks of formula. Either way, my apologies to moms everywhere (including my own very lovely mother) for making them the perpetual scapegoats.

The whole conversation got me thinking about my upcoming release, HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO. Some readers might not like my heroine all that much in the beginning. That’s okay. For what it’s worth, the hero doesn’t like her all that much at first either. See, Deana Armstrong is smart, strong and really wealthy. All fine things, but she tends to throw her money around to get what she wants. She doesn’t think she does this, but she does. She also has a secret in her past. This is not one of those faux romance heroine secrets. This is pretty bad and it shapes who she is and how she leads her life.

I make her sound fabulous, don’t I? I actually think she is, but she has to grow into that.

Deana has a mom who plays a role in the book. The easy thing would have been to make momma Armstrong a rich bitch and blame her for all of Deana’s failings. Now, there is a little bit of an entitlement issue with momma Armstrong. But, really, she’s fiercely loyal and loves her family with an intensity that sometimes overcomes her good judgment. She sometimes does not-so-attractive things and justifies them by insisting she’s saving her family. After all, where do you think Deana learned her habit of reaching for her checkbook to get her way? Right. From momma Armstrong. Deana can see the flaw in her mother but not in herself.

Part of the idea in crafting these two women was to capture the loving, precious, special, and sometimes tense bond between a mother and grown daughter. These two are imperfect but hopefully more relatable because of that. I hope you’ll let me know whether or not I was successful in that when you read it.

The very cool blog RR@H Novel Thoughts & Book Talk is doing big anniversary giveaway promotion. You can win all sorts of fabulous books. And one of the giveaways is for my books! YOUR MOUTH DRIVES ME CRAZY, IT’S HOTTER IN HAWAII and HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO – all three – are combined in one prize package. You can snag them just by commenting at this entry.

Go check it out.

I got the word yesterday that my novella “It’s Hotter At Christmas” from the KISSING SANTA CLAUS (Brava, Oct. ‘09) anthology will be the “Red Hot Read” and excerpted in Cosmo magazine in December. Wahoo!

This will be the second time I’ve had a book in Cosmo. The other one was YOUR MOUTH DRIVES ME CRAZY, my first single title ever. It’s kind of interesting that the books are related. Both are set in Hawaii and they share characters. The hero in one is a secondary character in the other…and vice versa. I’m thinking this means the fabulous editors at Cosmo like tropical romance. I know I do.

For those who missed it the first 100 times I’ve mentioned it, KISSING SANTA CLAUS comes out on September 29th (along with my single title and another Hawaii-set romance, HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO). Feel free to pre-order 60 or 70 copies of each. Of my entire backlist, actually. Clearly these books make perfect holiday gifts. You don’t have to believe me. Listen to Cosmo. The editors there know the truth.

A History of Violence screenwriter Josh Olson wrote an article that’s caused a bit of a tizzy. It’s called I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script** The article and his obvious frustration made me chuckle, but I laughed hardest at comments after the article. Rather than understand Olson’s point about his time and expertise, many of those commenting decided to go after Olson personally, call him a hack and other such classy stuff.

Good grief, people. Clueless much?

The article is about more than just screenwriting and getting asked for free advice. It includes some of his thoughts on being a writer. Check it out:

It rarely takes more than a page to recognize that you’re in the presence of someone who can write, but it only takes a sentence to know you’re dealing with someone who can’t.

(By the way, here’s a simple way to find out if you’re a writer. If you disagree with that statement, you’re not a writer. Because, you see, writers are also readers.)

And

…you cannot discourage a writer. If someone can talk you out of being a writer, you’re not a writer. If I can talk you out of being a writer, I’ve done you a favor, because now you’ll be free to pursue your real talent, whatever that may be. And, for the record, everybody has one. The lucky ones figure out what that is.

You may not agree with the rest, but the hard reality is that he’s right about writing.

**Apologies to mom and anyone else for the language, but I’m just repeating the title.

I already announced this on twitter and want to thank all of the people who sent congratulations. You all rock.

So, in case you haven’t heard…I just sold five – yes, five – more books to Harlequin Intrigue. Woot! One of the books will come out in late 2010. There’s even some science stuff in that one. And, yes, that scares me too. The other four form a mini-series that will come out back-to-back in early 2011. The series follows four guys who work for a now disbanded undercover quasi-governmental agency. They try to piece together what happened to their missing boss, fight a government bureaucracy, solve some mysteries, rescue some people, get shot at…a lot…and work on getting their group back together.

Can I tell you how excited I am about these? About writing a mini-series? Very. Like, babbling fool happy about it.