First Beach Getaway Winner!

 

The Atlantis Inn

 

 

Hibiscus House

This Little Mommy Stayed Home

Praise for Samantha Wilde:

“Here’s a talent: when a narrator’s doldrums make a reader laugh out loud. Samantha Wilde’s inkwell must be filled with truth-serum because this brave and funny book gets the postpartum peaks and valleys so very, winningly right.”

—Elinor Lipman, author of Then She Found Me

 

“Think of the funniest person you know, give her a baby and a month without sleep, multiply by ten and you’ve got the incomparable Samantha Wilde rocking the hilariously appalling realities of motherhood and the modern marriage. This book belongs on the bedside table of everyone who’s ever been a mother, or had one.”

—Karen Karbo, author of The Stuff of Life and How to Hepburn 

 

“[This] is the funniest novel I’ve read in a long, long time. What a treat! Mothers everywhere deserve this book.”

—Ellen Meister, author of The Smart One

 

“Samantha Wilde is the irreverent, knowing, laugh-out-loud, brutally honest but most treasured best friend that every new mommy craves and every reader relishes.  They should issue this smart, hilarious novel along with newborn onesies and nursing pads.”
—Pamela Redmond Satran, author of Babes in Captivity

 

“Riotously hilarious, unabashedly honest and positively impossible to put down. Samantha Wilde’s debut is a must read for all moms and non-moms alike.”

—Jessica Brody, author of The Fidelity Files

 

This summer, Samantha Wilde makes her literary debut with THIS LITTLE MOMMY STAYED HOME, a fresh and funny novel about a new mother who discovers the wonders and terrors of motherhood—one hilarious crisis at a time. The book will be published as a Bantam Trade Paperback Original on June 23, 2009.

The novel introduces Joy McGuire who has gone from being skinny and able to speak in complete sentences to someone who hasn’t changed her sweatpants in weeks. But now with a new baby to care for, she feels like a woman on the brink and as she scrambles to recapture the person she used to be she takes another look at the woman she is: a stay-at-home mom in love with her son, if a bit addled about everything else. As a new mom herself, Wilde, a graduate of Yale Divinity School, wrote THIS LITTLE MOMMY STAYED HOME after the birth of her son when she was experiencing the ups and downs of new motherhood. According to Wilde, “I wrote the book because I couldn’t not write it. I took my lap top to my bed during my son’s naps and wrote and wrote. I wrote the book I wanted to read. The book takes a hard look at the effects of new motherhood on a woman and on a marriage through the eyes of one stressed but insightful woman. It’s a story that will keep mothers going when they think they can’t go any further.”

With THIS LITTLE MOMMY STAYED HOME, Samantha Wilde brings a candid and hilarious light to the universal story of new motherhood.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Samantha Wilde is the mother of two born in under two years. A graduate of Concord Academy, Smith College, Yale Divinity School and The New Seminary, she lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband and children. She is the daughter of novelist Nancy Thayer. When she’s not mothering her toddler and baby, she writes, teaches yoga, and moonlights as a minister. Although she never sleeps, she’s never once been tempted to give her children away to the highest bidder (well, almost never). She’s currently using nap times to write her second novel for Bantam Dell. You can visit her at wildemama.blogspot.com

 THIS LITTLE MOMMY STAYED HOME

by Samantha Wilde

A Bantam Trade Paperback Original

June 23, 2009/ 978-0-385-34266-7/ $12.00

 

Thanks, Sam, for taking time out of your busy Mommy schedule – I stayed at home, too. Still am at home, and, honestly, teens might need Mom around more than the younger ones!

So, are your children readers and have they become more so because you write? What do they think about what you do and the pursuit of your dream?

My babies, three and one, both love to read. My son, who can’t actually read, often “reads” to himself, making up stories. He treats books like special blankets. And the nice part is, even though he is so young, he can understand what it means that “mama wrote a book.” Meanwhile my daughter, at one, loves the cover. She’s crazy for pictures of babies.

When deadlines hit, what happens in your house?

I get more tired. The toilet bowl has to wait until late at night to be cleaned. I “stay-at-home” with my kids, so that’s my real job. If anything suffers during deadlines, it’s the house, which is not so tidy to begin with. No, that’s not true. It’s me who suffers. I won’t nap, and I’ll stay up later. I’ll forego a shower or a walk. So I guess I’m saying that I get stinky and fat. That doesn’t sound very good, does it?

 If you weren’t writing, what would you be doing instead?

I’d teach yoga, which I do once a week anyway. And be with my kids more, though it hardly seems possible. Or maybe I’d just be lying in bed reading and eating chocolate. That would be nice. But then you didn’t mean if I wasn’t writing AND was wealthy, did you?

Have you given your favorite names to characters yet or are you waiting for that special character and book?

I’m saving my best names for my children.

 Thanks so much for visiting, Sam!

 

Praise for Samantha Wilde:

“Here’s a talent: when a narrator’s doldrums make a reader laugh out loud. Samantha Wilde’s inkwell must be filled with truth-serum because this brave and funny book gets the postpartum peaks and valleys so very, winningly right.”

—Elinor Lipman, author of Then She Found Me

 

“Think of the funniest person you know, give her a baby and a month without sleep, multiply by ten and you’ve got the incomparable Samantha Wilde rocking the hilariously appalling realities of motherhood and the modern marriage. This book belongs on the bedside table of everyone who’s ever been a mother, or had one.”

—Karen Karbo, author of The Stuff of Life and How to Hepburn 

 

“[This] is the funniest novel I’ve read in a long, long time. What a treat! Mothers everywhere deserve this book.”

—Ellen Meister, author of The Smart One

 

“Samantha Wilde is the irreverent, knowing, laugh-out-loud, brutally honest but most treasured best friend that every new mommy craves and every reader relishes.  They should issue this smart, hilarious novel along with newborn onesies and nursing pads.”
—Pamela Redmond Satran, author of Babes in Captivity

 

“Riotously hilarious, unabashedly honest and positively impossible to put down. Samantha Wilde’s debut is a must read for all moms and non-moms alike.”

—Jessica Brody, author of The Fidelity Files

 

This summer, Samantha Wilde makes her literary debut with THIS LITTLE MOMMY STAYED HOME, a fresh and funny novel about a new mother who discovers the wonders and terrors of motherhood—one hilarious crisis at a time. The book will be published as a Bantam Trade Paperback Original on June 23, 2009.

The novel introduces Joy McGuire who has gone from being skinny and able to speak in complete sentences to someone who hasn’t changed her sweatpants in weeks. But now with a new baby to care for, she feels like a woman on the brink and as she scrambles to recapture the person she used to be she takes another look at the woman she is: a stay-at-home mom in love with her son, if a bit addled about everything else. As a new mom herself, Wilde, a graduate of Yale Divinity School, wrote THIS LITTLE MOMMY STAYED HOME after the birth of her son when she was experiencing the ups and downs of new motherhood. According to Wilde, “I wrote the book because I couldn’t not write it. I took my lap top to my bed during my son’s naps and wrote and wrote. I wrote the book I wanted to read. The book takes a hard look at the effects of new motherhood on a woman and on a marriage through the eyes of one stressed but insightful woman. It’s a story that will keep mothers going when they think they can’t go any further.”

With THIS LITTLE MOMMY STAYED HOME, Samantha Wilde brings a candid and hilarious light to the universal story of new motherhood.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Samantha Wilde is the mother of two born in under two years. A graduate of Concord Academy, Smith College, Yale Divinity School and The New Seminary, she lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband and children. She is the daughter of novelist Nancy Thayer. When she’s not mothering her toddler and baby, she writes, teaches yoga, and moonlights as a minister. Although she never sleeps, she’s never once been tempted to give her children away to the highest bidder (well, almost never). She’s currently using nap times to write her second novel for Bantam Dell. You can visit her at wildemama.blogspot.com

 

THIS LITTLE MOMMY STAYED HOME

by Samantha Wilde

A Bantam Trade Paperback Original

June 23, 2009/ 978-0-385-34266-7/ $12.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Official: Book Signing at BEA

 

On Saturday, May 30, I went to BEA in NYC to do a book signing at the RWA Booth. It was so 

much fun to see people in line for my story, and to see some familiar faces! Luckily, LibraryJoural caught a picture.

I also stopped by the Sourcebooks booth (more like a beautiful living room!) and saw the Casablanca Authors books on display. Very impressive and the covers look fabulous!

 

 

3 Mer books on top shelf

 

 

 

OFFICIAL FIRST: Sighting of In Over Her Head in a bookstore!

Beth Hill, fellow Wombat, editor and author extraordinaire, and all around amazing human being, took these photos at her local Barnes & Noble near Atlanta.

All I can say (amidst the tears) is Thank You, Beth.

(and now please allow for some sappy self-indulgence…)

 

 

I’m A Princess

And no snarky comments from my friends – I meant that my name has been used by a friend as her heroine’s name in her just-released book.

My friend Dana Marton is a Harlequin Intrigue author and her new series, Defending the Crown, opens with Saved By The Monarch, complete with Prince Miklos and Princess-to-be Judi Marezzi.

Yep, that’s me.

I did a favor for Dana and she said “thank you” by putting my name in a book. I thought it was so sweet of her when she told me she would, but I was expecting a minor, secondary character. Not the heroine. And certainly not a princess.

Of course I wasn’t about to refuse!

Here’s the back cover blurb:

His bride came to Valtria on vacation and sound up a princess.Check out Dana’s website (www.danamarton.com) for an excerpt, information about the next books, and to see why she’s a

For Pince Miklos, a royal wedding was a royal duty, one more step toward saving his beloved, beleaguered country. Unfortunately, his chosen bride-to-be–beautifu, briany Judi Marezzi–didn’t realize that her vacation included an arranged marriage. n fact, from the moment they met, nothing went as planned. A dangerous conspiracy threw him and his princess together, and dragged the illmatched pair off to an Alpine prison. With his miliiatary training, Miklos took charge and made plans to bring them to safty. Danger surrounded them, but so did a shared passion–for his kingdom, for the honro f a free land and for a love that had been foretold since birth.

 

RITA NOMINATED AUTHOR!

Yes, Dana’s book, Tall, Dark and Lethal has been nominated for the prestigious Rita award, Romance Writers of America’s TOP award for published authors. Winners will be announced at the Romance Writers of America’s National Conference in July.

Dive Into The Romance – a Beach Bag Full of Fun!

Author Brenda Novack has a charity auction to benefit Juvenile Diabetes (her son has it), and many many authors have contributed items. I put up a Beach Read Bag for auction – full of a beach towel, sea shell candles, a mermaid cell phone charm, a signed copy of In Over Her Head, as well as about 15 other books to take to the beach with you.

Beach Read Bag

And, please, take some time to browse around for a good cause.

And the winner is…

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and commented on the RT blog posts. I promised one of you a mermaid cell phone charm and by the convoluted and highly technical random selection method (”Honey, pick a number between 1 and X…”), the winner is:

Kathryn Esplin-Oleski!

 

She’s a buddy from Gather and it was great to see her win.

Enjoy the mermaid, Kathryn!

RT – Authors Galore!

These are pictures from the Book Fair. Sadly, we had to leave immediately afterwards to begin the 15 hour journey home, so I don’t have any Mr. Romance pictures, but I’m sure you can see a few of them in the photos.

Faye Hughes

American Title III, IV, V

Helen Scott Taylor, me, Marie-Claude Bourque

Ann Macela

Ashlyn Chase

C.L. Wilson

Cai Smith

Cathy Maxwell

Christie Craig

Cover Model Jeremy Rivenburg

Eve Vaughn

Gerri Russell

Heather Graham

Jade Lee

Spencerhill Associates

 

Jocelyn Drake and agent Jennifer Schober

Steph packed up and ready to go

 

Joey Hill

Judi McCoy

Fabio fan, Karen Hillis

 

Kathryne Kennedy

Kerrelyn Sparks

Leanne Banks

Liddy Midnight – she makes beautiful bracelets and I love my under the sea one!

Lisa Daily

Liz French, RT Magazine and Kristina Cook

Lynne Connolly

Mark Johnson, Debra Parmley, Franco D’Angelo

Melissa Mayhue

Michelle Rowen

Raz Steel

Robin Kaye

Roxanne St. Claire

Sarah Wendell

Terri Garey

Traci Hall

Tracy Garrett

Bosom Cookies

 

made for Sarah Wendell by Alesia Holliday

 

       

RT Friday – Our Turn To Be Cover Models

Philharmagic: Stephanie Julian, Raz Steel

Ariel

Raz Steel, Stephanie Julian

Club RT with Kathy Kulig

Between Workshops

Kathy Kulig

Cinderella Castle Mosaic

Why is the seated guy smiling like that? Maybe it's because the woman next to him has her hand in his lap...

Christie Craig

Christie Craig

Janice Lynn's second job... cover model

Janice Lynn

hmmm... I might give it a try. LOL

author Mario Acevedo

Steph's going to give it a try too

Mario Acevedo

We couldn't find anyone willing to give the "rape against the barn wall" pose a try

Raz Steel and Stephanie Julian on Main Street Disney

Sayonara from Disney

RT Convention – More Cover Models and Authors

Today was a whirlwind from club RT first thing in the morning – thanks to Steph Kwan and the others for stopping by – to the fun session with Judi McCoy, Dakota Cassidy, Mark Henry and others about humor in paranormals, to chatting with my editor and my very first panel – which, thanks to Catherine Mann’s great suggestion ended up in the outside cabana with our attendees, the day was packed. Luckily, I did manage to have my camera with me when Jimmy Thomas, who will be doing a cover shoot on Saturday, as well as raffle off breakfast in bed for one lucky winner, grabbed me for a photo:

Cover Model Jimmy Thomas

American Title-ists I, II, and III

Judi (III), Gerri Russell (II) and Janice Lynn (I)

Humor in Paranormals Panelists, Michele Bardsley, Judi McCoy, Mark Henry

 

Then a few of us went to dinner:

RT meets Disney: Robin Kaye, Stephanie Julian

 Nessie eats Steph’s head

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner in Downtown Disney

 

 

 

 

And here’s my next mode of transportation:

This should come as no surprise to those who know me.

And so ends another fun, busy, entertaining, busy, informative, and did I mention busy day at the Romantic Times Convention.

Wonder what tomorrow will hold…