Lynn Raye Harris

Today comes a lovely review over at Enduring Romance for Spanish Magnate, Red-Hot Revenge. Rebecca says, and I love this part:

Lynn Raye Harris has a great voice. I have a feeling I’m always going to enjoy her books. I’m looking forward to reading the one that’s out that I still haven’t read. But I’m MORE excited for her to have a new release, because based on what I’ve seen so far, her writing just keeps getting better and better!!

That’s what every writer hopes to hear! I want to get better with each book. I want to make better story choices, and I want to write the kinds of stories that resonate with readers each and every time. I know I won’t please everyone, and I’m fine with that.**

Reviews are a mixed bag, no matter who you are. I try not to read the negative ones, though sometimes they slip through the radar. I always read the glowing ones, and yes, they make me feel good. I don’t let them go to my head, but I do love that happy feeling they give me for a while. It’s always wonderful to know that something you sweated over, something that you wrote, found its way into a reader’s heart and made them happy. Those kinds of reviews trump the bad ones and make it all worth it.

Thanks, Rebecca! You’ve made me happy today.

**For a hilarious look at just how I didn’t please someone, go check out my Amazon UK reviews for Prince Voronov’s Virgin: one reader thinks the book must have been written by a man or a computer. I admit to being upset at first; now I just find it funny. Important Note: if you are related to me in any way, you are forbidden from commenting on that review or from writing a glowing review to counteract it. I mean it. You won’t be doing me any favors. Readers have a way of finding out that authors are enlisting family to say nice things. They don’t like it, and I understand that. If you are not related to me, feel free to glow away.

That’s what being a professional writer is all about. Did you know that? It’s not about waking up each morning with birds singing, wonderful emails from fans the world over, and breakfast in bed prepared by the household staff and served on real china with real silver and a real teapot, etc.

No, being a professional writer is about dragging your sorry butt out of the bed even though your dreams seem more interesting than the book you’re working on. It’s about brushing your teeth, wrapping your hair in a scrunchie, and turning on the coffee or the kettle. It’s about getting that hot cup of motivation (mine happens to be decaf these days) and going to your writing place. Mine is an office upstairs in my house.

It’s about opening the document and staring at the words, thinking they are probably the worst words ever written and that your career is most certainly over, and then clicking over to email, Facebook, and Twitter to waste time rather than face the task.

And then you might get the lovely surprise of a nasty review, or the news that your book is the only one not in the top whatever of Amazon while all the rest of the books in your line that month are. You might want to go back to bed and cry, or turn off the computer and swear you’re giving up because this is too hard.

But you can’t. Because you’re a professional and you signed on the dotted line and someone is expecting delivery of this monstrous piece of junk in a few weeks (if you’re lucky) or a few days (if you aren’t). You. Must. Deliver.

And because you are a professional, you will. You will tackle that manuscript like it’s you or it (which it is) and you will somehow, eventually, win the battle. You may even like it when you’re done. You may be pleasantly surprised, and you may cry and laugh and tell the cat what a genius you are. (The cat doesn’t care, but say it anyway.)

And then, if your editor thinks it’s not as good as you think it is, you may get it back with a letter that tells you what you need to do. The process of crying and foot dragging will start all over again, but you’ll wrestle the beast once more and you will, eventually, win.

If you really are a professional, you will do this even if you didn’t sign on the dotted line. Because you want to sign on that line and you better get used to the pain now. You have to write even when you don’t really feel like it. Some days, you won’t feel like it. Other days, you can imagine nothing more fun in this world that sitting at the computer in your jammies and making stuff up.

But the truth, dear friends, that I’ve learned after nearly 3 years in the published trenches is this: it doesn’t get easier. It usually gets harder. Better prepare for it now.

And with that piece of hard fought wisdom, I’m back to the trenches to battle these revisions. I will definitely win–but I’ll probably get a bit bloodied in the process.

There’s another new cover in the house! Woot, woot! This is for my May book in the UK, STRANGERS IN THE DESERT. I don’t have a page here on the site yet, I don’t even have a cover blurb — no idea what Mills & Boon have come up with to describe this story!

But the cover is *perfect*! The heroine has been living a Bohemian life at the beach, and she has wild blonde hair streaked with natural highlights. I think they got the hair on this model absolutely right.

And what can I say about the hero? Does he not just look delicious and sheiky?

I really, really love what Mills & Boon have done with the UK covers. I was hesitant at first, because I do kind of hate change and I liked the clinch just fine — but these, when they are right, are so VERY right. I’m a happy author right now. (Oh, except for those revisions I’m still working on…..)

I’m so excited to share the North American cover of Prince Voronov’s Virgin with you! This book will be available June 7, 2011 — you’ll notice a different title for the NA market: Behind the Palace Walls. Same book, fancy new title.

I *totally* love this cover! What about you?

This book, as Prince Voronov’s Virgin, has spent 5 weeks on the Mills & Boon bestseller list in the UK! Three of those weeks were at #1. I hope my North American readers will love it as much as my British readers seem to.