2012 Rita and Golden Heart Squee Party

can be found here: http://judifennell.wordpress.com/ritagh-blog-parties/ritagh-2012/

The party officially starts tomorrow, Monday, March 26, 2012!

If you’d like to relive past squee-ing, go here: http://judifennell.wordpress.com/ritagh-blog-parties/

I’ve disabled comments here; you’ll need to go to the 2012 party to leave a message.

Let the squee-ing commence!

(And if you have a Random Act of Kindness, either done by you or to you, or someone you know, please add it to the Random Acts of Kindness page. So many times we only hear about the bad; I like to celebrate the good.)

If you’d like to receive my newsletter with upcoming releases and sneak peeks, email me at JudiFennell (at) JudiFennell (dot) com.

RWA Saturday

Sourcebooks book signing and Rita/GH Awards – Congrats to all the winners!

Deb Werksman, editor; Dominique Raccah, publisher; Danielle Jackson, publicist

Danielle Jackson

Anne Cain, my cover artist – she’s amaaaaazing!

Sourcebooks signing – with the ARC of Wild Blue Under

Valley Forge Romance Writers (+1): Stephanie Julian, Daria Czyon, Ann Twinkles LaBar Russek, Mary Yelesin, Laura Morrigan, me

All the VFRWers

Steph and I at the Ritas

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.

Blog Tour with Kelly Parra

Invisible Touch

Today I’m taking part in a blog tour for author, Kelly Parra.  Kelly is the author of Graffiti Girl, a double RITA nominee and Latinidad Top Pick, and the contemporary paranormal, Invisible Touch. When not pulling her hair while writing her current novel, she likes to play with her abundance of websites (see below!) and feed a serious television addiction.

www.kellyparra.com

www.secretfates.blogspot.com

Invisible Touch Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsvyTWhrWJ0

 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Touch-Kelly-Parra/dp/1416563377/

 

Barnes & Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Invisible-Touch/Kelly-Parra/e/9781416563372/?itm=2

 

INVISIBLE TOUCH

by Kelly Parra

MTV Books | October 14, 2008

ISBN: 1416563377

(For ages 13 and up)

 

Do you believe in fate?

 

Kara Martinez has been trying to be “normal” ever since the accident that took her father’s life when she was eleven years old. She’s buried the caliente side of her Mexican heritage with her father and tried to be the girl her rigid mother wants her to be — compliant and dressed in pink, and certainly not acting out like her older brother Jason. Not even Danielle, her best friend at Valdez High, has seen the real Kara; only those who read her anonymous blog know the deepest secrets of the Sign Seer.

 

Because Kara has a gift — one that often feels like a curse. She sees signs, visions that are clues to a person’s fate, if she can put together the pieces of the puzzle in time. So far, she’s been able to solve the clues and avert disaster for those she’s been warned about — until she sees the flash of a gun on a fellow classmate, and the stakes are raised higher than ever before. Kara does her best to follow the signs, but it’s her heart that wanders into new territory when she falls for a mysterious guy from the wrong side of town, taking her closer to answers she may not be able to handle. Will her forbidden romance help her solve the deadly puzzle before it’s too late…or lead her even further into danger?

 

 

Praise for Invisible Touch

 

“A magical blending of mystery, romance, and deep and dangerous secrets. Kelly Parra’s Invisible Touch is an action-packed coming-of-age novel, sure to keep readers turning pages and begging for a sequel.” 
– Laurie Faria Stolarz, Bestselling author of Blue is for Nightmares and Deadly Little Secret

 

“Readers are going to delight in this fast-paced, gripping story, and be kept spellbound until its surprising finish.” 
  – Tina Ferraro, author of How To Hook A Hottie

 

“The Gold Award of Excellence! An amazing, touching novel that deals with big issues in an original context.”  – TeensReadToo

 

“Five out of five gold pens for Invisible Touch.”—The Salinas Californian

 

  

Judi: Wow, Kelly – you’ve piqued my interest! What a great premise! Can you tell us about the inspiration behind it?

Kelly: I’ve always believed in intuitive vibes and repetitive signs and thought wouldn’t it be cool to have a girl who really saw visions and have to piece the signs together to help others? But not only that, but this gift had to also be a curse and would a logical mother believe her?  And from there Kara was born in my mind with secrets and pain and grief and romance. My inspiration was to write a book to make readers “feel” and I hope I succeeded.

Judi: This sounds like it could maybe continue into a series. Do you think about writing them or do you prefer stand alone titles?

Kelly: I LOVE to read series and it’s always been a dream to write one. My first books are stand alones, but I currently writing a sci-fi young adult novel and I’m hoping it could be a series.

Judi: You may have seen the contest I just had on my blog to come up with a new name for my second Mer story, Wild Blue Under. The winner gets a character named after her in the story. Do you put your friends in your books? Names, incidents, characteristics? Have any of them recognized themselves in a not-so-good way?

Kelly: I try to steer away from that, but family and friends have stated they see characteristics from other people in my characters. I don’t notice until after publication. It’s not intentional!

Judi: I’ve got a deadline looming and wondered, what happens in your house when deadlines hit?

Kelly: Oh boy, the laundry piles up and the rooms become a mess.  I sort of stare at everything with guilt, but my husband is very supportive in having me meet deadlines and will pick up the slack on the weekends.

Judi: (*relates very well to the guilt and piles of laundry thing, especially THIS week!) If you weren’t writing, what would you be doing instead?

Kelly: I can’t imagine doing anything else right now, but I started off as an artist in graphic design. So it could have stuck with illustration or become a web designer.

Judi: Which do you most like writing–dialogue, action, or description?

Kelly: Action and description. I’m not a great conversationalist and its the same for my characters. LOL.

Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Judi!

 My pleasure, Kelly. I LOVED hearing about this and wish you all the best!

And Now We Wait

There was a lot of traffic back here in the days following Tuesday’s calls, so I didn’t want to clutter up the blog with more posts. As you can tell from this blog, it hasn’t been utilized all that much (now THERE’S an understatement!), but I found that I had a great time on Tuesday with everyone’s comments. As of yet, I don’t have a book for readers to comment on, but I am working toward it.

Which brings me to this topic: WAIT. I’ve said that WAIT and HOPE are the ugly stepsisters of an unpubbed’s visions of a Cinderella career in writing. Who doesn’t want to send out that manuscript then get glowing reviews from editors, a possible auction then that wonderful word: SOLD?

But to get there, we have to deal with HOPE and WAIT. Sometimes they’re kind, like when you get that “I enjoyed the partial; please send the full” after a three week submission period. Sometimes they’re not so nice, “Not for me” which comes after six months or more.

And now the finalists, Golden Heart and Rita, are having their afternoon tea with WAIT and HOPE. At least for them, there’s a definitive end in sight: August 2. That’s only, what? 4 months? Piece of cake, right?

I’d love to hear from any of the finalists what it IS like over the next few months. Are you querying agents? Are you getting offers? Have any of the judges requested the full? Is a book deal coming your way? Was this a new series for Rita finalists and has it morphed into any other opportunity with your publisher or maybe even another?

Thanks for taking part in my Tuesday; it made the waiting go by quicker. Maybe chatting up your WAITING process until National can go by quicker with sharing comments.

Best of luck to everyone!

The Golden Heart Calls Go Out Today

The biggest contest in RWA for unpublished hopefuls, the Golden Hearts will be awarded at the National Conference in San Francisco on Saturday, August 2, 2008. I’m hoping to get emails from those who final and list them here. So, spread the word and Best of Luck to everyone who entered!

The categories are taken from www.rwanational.org.

GOLDEN HEART FINALISTS                 

CONT. SRSS            Melissa James, REDEFINING MR PERFECT

                                Becky Clark, BORROWED STILETTOS

                                Diane Stoddard, SHE’S JUST RIGHT

CONT.SRS: S/A        Kelly Ann Riley, KITTY’S FIRE

                                Lynn Raye Harris, HOT PURSUIT

CONT. ST                 Amy Atwell, PUBLIC RELATIONS

                               Sarah Castleberry, BEAUTY AND THE GEEK

                               Theresa Ragan, BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

                               Susan Seyfarth, THE PRINCESS PROJECT

                               Susan Seyfarth, MONEY, HONEY

                               Shelley Coriell, THE LOST

HISTORICAL            Kathryn Parker, MOSS SQUARE

                               Kris Kennedy, THE KINDS OF WANTING

                               Kris Kennedy, WANTING FINIAN

                               Beth Trissel, THROUGH THE FIRE

                               Courtney Milan, BREATH OF HONOR

                               Cindy Nord, NO GREATER GLORY

                                CJ Chase, EARTHBOUND PARADISE

INSPIR.                    Susan MAson, WYNDERMERE HOUSE

                                Denise Meinstad, THIS TIME FOREVER

NOVEL W/SRE        Liese Sherwood-Fabre, HEADS UP, ST. ANTHONY

                               K. McMorris/L. Yoshida, FLAHERTY’S CROSSING

                               Cathy Perkins, THE PROFESSOR

PARANORMAL        Tracey O’Hara, NIGHT’S COLD KISS

                               Kelly Gay, BEDKNOBS & BROOMSTICKS

                               Jennifer North, THE SEXTANT

                               Helen Scott Taylor, THE MAGIC KNOT

                               Kerry Allen, WISH LIST

REGENCY HIST.      Susan Gee Heino, MISTAKEN BY MOONLIGHT

                               Darcy Burke, GLORIOUS

                               Anne Barton, MIDNIGHT PROMISES

                               Pam Bolton-Holifield, LOST IN LOVE

R/S                         Kim Howe, ONE SHOT, TWO KILLS

                              Theresa Ragan, FINDING KATE HUNTLEY

                               Robin Perini, TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES

                               Joan Swan, SAFE IN ENEMY ARMS

                               Rachel Grant, MURDER IN SITU

YOUNG ADULT       Amanda Brice, PARTY LIKE IT’S 1899                            

                              Catherine Chant, WISHING YOU WERE HERE

                              Kelly Gay, BLIGHTED

                              Kay Cassidy, THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY

RITA FINALISTS

ROMANCE NOVELLA  Cheryl St. John, CHRISTMAS DAY FAMILY

                                   Vickie Taylor, ANGEL AND THE HELLRAISER

                                   Sylvia Day, MISCHIEF AND THE MARQUESS

                                   Maureen Child, CHRISTMAS CRAVINGS

                                   Jennifer Greene, BORN OF MY HEART

BEST FIRST BOOK    Terri Garey, DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY

                                 Rosemary Clement-Moore, PROM DATES FROM HELL

                                 Kelly Parra, GRAFFITI GIRL

                                 Helen Brenna, TREASURE

                                 Emily Gee,

CONT. SRS                Kristi Gold, FALL FROM GRACE

                                  Nina Bruhns, NIGHT MISCHIEF

                                  Elaine Grant, MAKE-BELIEVE MOM

                                  Natasha Oakley, THE TYCOON’S PRINCESS BRIDE

                                  Kelly Hunter, SLEEPING PARTNER

                                  Heidi Rice, MILLIONAIRE’S BLACKMAIL BARGAIN

CONT.SRS: S/A         Cindy Dees, THE MEDUSA AFFAIR

                                 Cindy Dees, THE MEDUSA SEDUCTION

                                 Samantha Hunter, UNTOUCHED

                                 Raeanne Thayne, HIGH RISK AFFAIR

                                 Merline Lovelace, STRANDED WITH A SPY

                                 Helen Brenna, TREASURE

CONT. SIN TTL           Toni Blake, TEMPT ME TONIGHT

                                 Leslie Kelly, SHE’S NO ANGEL

                                 Kristan Higgins, CATCH OF THE DAY

                                 Diana Holquist, SEXIEST MAN ALIVE

                                 Jennifer Greene – BLAME IT ON CUPID

HISTORICAL              Julianne MacLean, SURRENDER TO A SCOUNDREL

                                Jade Lee, TEMPTED TIGRESS

                                 Madeline Hunter, LESSONS OF DESIRE

                                 Laura Lee Guhrke, AND THEN HE KISSED HER

                                 Elizabeth Hoyt, THE LEOPARD PRINCE

INSPIR.                      Linda Goodnight, A TOUCH OF GRACE

                                 Susan Mae Warren, TAMING RAFE

NOVEL W/RE            Allison Brennan, SEE NO EVIL

                                 Emily Gee,

PARANORMAL          Terri Garey, DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY

                                 Linnea Sinclair, GAMES OF COMMAND

                                 Linda Winstead Jones, PRINCE OF DARKNESS

                                 Linda Winstead Jones, RAINTREE: HAUNTED

                                 J.R. Ward, LOVER REVEALED

                                 Christina Dodd, TOUCH OF DARKNESS

                                 Stephanie Rowe, HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME HOT

REGENCY HIST.       Anna Campbell, UNTOUCHED

                                Anna Campbell, CLAIMING THE COURTESAN

                                Julia Quinn, SECRET DIARIES OF MISS M. CHEEVER

R/S                          Karen Rose, DIE FOR ME

                               Allison Brennan, SPEAK NO EVIL

YOUNG ADULT        Simone Elkeles, LEAVING PARADISE

                               Kelly Parra, GRAFFITI GIRL

                                Melissa Marr, WICKEY LOVELY