Book signings are complex things. They can be wonderful or they can be . . . well, very bad. Let me give you an example of the “very bad.” My husband and I drove three hours to a signing. It was at a large chain store in a well-populated area, so you would think it would be a fairly successful event. When we arrived at the store, the manager appeared happy to see me. “I’ve got you set up back here,” she said. She led me through the store to the video section where there was a table and some chairs. She smiled and looked at me expectantly. I smiled, wondering why in the world I’d been placed in the videos. “Great,” I said. “Thanks.” One of the best parts of book signings is meeting and talking with new people. I met three new people that day, including the manager of the store. I pretty much only conversed with one new person, a boy who told me his favorite movie was “Lean on Me.” The other new person was a young man who wandered by and spoke. The manager didn’t really talk with me, other than to ask if I’d…

January 2009 On Sale: December 30, 2008 464 pages ISBN: 0553385518 EAN: 9780553385519 Trade Size $13.00 Add to Wish List Women’s Fiction Contemporary Buy at Amazon.com Congrats! The 2010 RITA Winner for Best Novel With Strong Romantic Elements The Lost Recipe For Happiness by Barbara O’Neal In this sumptuous new novel, Barbara O’Neal offers readers a celebration of food, family, and love as a woman searches for the elusive ingredient we’re all hoping to find…. It’s the opportunity Elena Alvarez has been waiting for–the challenge of running her own kitchen in a world-class restaurant. Haunted by an accident of which she was the lone survivor, Elena knows better than anyone how to survive the odds. With her faithful dog, Alvin, and her grandmother’s recipes, Elena arrives in Colorado to find a restaurant in as desperate need of a fresh start as she is–and a man whose passionate approach to food and life rivals her own. Owner Julian Liswood is a name many people know but a man few do. He’s come to Aspen with a troubled teenage daughter and a dream of the kind of stability and love only a family can provide. But for Elena, old ghosts don’t die…

Refuel stop of day. Missed the Thrifty Peanut apparently it moved & forgot to tell @patcatbooks — at Walmart http://gowal.la/r/ZGRJ # And there are another 1000 coming # Thank you we're in Texas. Last sprint to Plano for #ffrwa10 — at Rest Stop http://gowal.la/r/ZJcT # We are sorry to hear the closing of @legacy_books on 8/14. @dfwtea # Powered by Twitter Tools

Before I started writing SUCH A PRETTY FACE, I asked myself, ‘What would it be like to lose 170 pounds?’ For years I was a freelance writer for The Oregonian. I wrote about homes, home décor, people, events, and fashion. When I started freelancing I had three kids under the age of five. I was buried in diapers, the housework was crushing, and I rarely slept like a normal human. I tried to remember to brush my hair. My most glorious of days occurred when I realized I did not have spit up on my shirt. My three little sweethearts were dear and wonderful, and oh, how I loved them and their sweet smiles, but the Role Of Mommy was all encompassing. I felt myself, I felt Cathy, slipping away, down a rocky cliff, out into the shark-filled ocean, no life raft or calm and serene, pineapple – filled deserted island in sight. Until I started working as a freelance writer. Freelance writing gave me something else to think about. It gave me an identity. It gave me something to do that I loved doing – write. I had a new, part – time job, complete with interviewing and photo…

January 2009 On Sale: December 23, 2008 Featuring: Brittany Ellis; Alex Fuentes 368 pages ISBN: 0802798225 EAN: 9780802798220 Trade Size $9.99 Add to Wish List Young Adult Contemporary Buy at Amazon.com Congrats! The 2010 RITA Winner for Young Adult Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles A fresh, urban twist on the classic tale of star-crossed lovers. When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she’s worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more. In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks…

Fresh Pick is WHAT HAPPENS IN LONDON by Julia Quinn congrats on the RITA historical win http://bit.ly/azJYtd # JEAN BRASHEAR talks about "The Power of Women" http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=2745 Comment to win a copy of her latest book # Have you seen our August contests? Wow!!!! Lots of good stuff to win, but you gotta enter! http://bit.ly/13zrSL # Cafe au lait + books what a deal! Faye recommends, she's so good. Great way to start a day final — at Books For Less http://gowal.la/r/ZtF7 # Photo: Boulder Creek Cafe portion of bookstore — at Books For Less http://gowal.la/r/ZtFE # On the road with coffee and diet coke, charged phones and an iPad. Texas here we come #ffrwa10 # What do you do when you need to stretch your legs on a roadtrip w/ @patcatbooks? Hit the flea mkt. Has — at Flea Mall http://gowal.la/r/ZwkM # @candacehavens thought you meant Donal Logue # Was on True Blood (Donal Logue) sorry confused by @candacehavens # Missed all my @dfwtea ladies. 2 weeks without you not good! Do have lots if books & news for you # Omg @patcatbooks made it to checkout. Only 2 stacks of books including Jodi Rhomas & Suz Brickmann classics….

What is it that draws readers to romance fiction, keeps them coming back to favorite books and authors again and again, year after year? Whether readers prefer their romance sweet or steamy, I think what we all look for is the passion, that heady sense of falling in love and finding a perfect soul mate. If we have been lucky enough to discover this in our own lives, we love to revisit the magic; if we haven’t yet encountered our own Prince Charming, we sigh over stories of heroines who do, stories that renew our hope that we, too, will find our Happy Ending. So what could be better (or at least as good) as that wonderful story with its satisfying ending? How about attending a conference of more than 2000 writers whose business it is to craft those stories every day? How about being able to rub shoulders with some of the best and most successful authors in the business, like New York Times Bestseller Debbie Maccomber and Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jo Beverley and Christie Ridgeway and

Time to say goodbye. A great time by all — at Disney's BoardWalk Inn http://gowal.la/r/Zgh6 # OMG we are stopping for Faye's diet Pepsi. It's a dp emergency. #ffrwa10 — at Okahumpka Service Plaza http://gowal.la/r/ZgYg # I ordered a large coffee. My caffeine needs are simple #ffrwa10 — at Dunkin' Donuts http://gowal.la/r/ZgZj # Fueling stop — at Pilot http://gowal.la/r/ZhCC # Diet prpsi emergency #2 Faye needs to express. @patcatbooks is so stressed she needs chocolate = frozen sni — at BP http://gowal.la/r/Ziwa # Made it to our 2nd state today. No blood shed. #ffrwa10 Still hotter than blazes — at Georgia Visitors Center http://gowal.la/r/Zj7L # Quick rest stop. Only 100 out. We're sweltering. — at Rest Area #10 http://gowal.la/r/ZjTt # We are in Atlanta How many starbuck stops # Fueling stop & quick drinks. Finally in Atlanta — at QuikTrip http://gowal.la/r/ZmsH # I'm at Home in Buford, GA http://gowal.la/r/ZmQe # Ready to crash for night in Buford. Comfy beds await us #ffrwa10 — at Hampton Inn http://gowal.la/r/ZnBK # Team 1 stopped in Buford, GA after dropping off Faye. Spent evening going thru emails. Lots of delegation & responses. # Powered by Twitter Tools

The longer I live, the more I believe in and appreciate the power of women to transform lives, to nurture the future, to demonstrate that strength and gentleness are not mutually exclusive. Not that I don’t adore men. I absolutely do–not only do I treasure the ones in my life and thank them for how they enrich it, but I just like the male sex in general. Writing great heroes and falling in love with every one of them has been one of the very best parts of being a romance writer. In my women’s fiction debut, THE GODDESS OF FRIED OKRA, the roles women can play in the lives of other women are a crucial element in the narrative. Eudora “Pea” O’Brien desperately misses the sister who raised her and feels the need for Sister’s forgiveness. Because she so badly wants a do-over, she decides to gamble on Sister’s belief in reincarnation. In the hope of somehow finding the new body in which Sister resides, Pea hits the road with everything she owns in a beat-up sedan. Pea may miss Sister greatly, but that doesn’t mean she’s the type to sit around and wallow in self-pity. No, she charges…

Late breakfast on the boardwalk. Delicious — at Boardwalk Bakery http://gowal.la/r/Z3Co # Heading to Downtown Disney for last night festivities: dinner + shopping #ffrwa10 # Arrived after event-filled trip from Boardwalk w/ Cindy Gerard, Heather Graham, Faye — at Pleasure Island Bus Station http://gowal.la/r/Zb56 # Hanging and people watching on a Sunday night — at Planet Hollywood http://gowal.la/r/Zb5t # Photo: Looks great at night — at Planet Hollywood http://gowal.la/r/Zb68 # Sandi & Daniel are flying @summersharp. Hopefully there is room for rest in cars. You will NOT believe the books! & Pat went shopping! # Dinner with Fresh Fiction crew after lovely RWA2010 — at Fulton's Crab House http://gowal.la/r/ZbtL # I just earned the Wayfarer Pin on @gowalla! http://gowal.la/r/ZbuX # Powered by Twitter Tools