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.

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.

I have the worst time with the beginnings of my books sometimes. There are times when it comes to me so completely formed that I don’t end up changing much in rewrites, and other times when I rewrite the opening chapters three or four times. I am currently working on one of those books.

Here are the openings of two books that came to me pretty much as they are: Prince Voronov’s Virgin** and The Devil’s Heart. (At the top of the pages, hit the forward arrows and you can read the first chapters.)

I just knew they were right — and other than a few minor tweaks, they stayed that way. But this book. Yikes. (The last as well!) I wrote it one way and I was struggling to make forward progress. I was convinced it was a good setup (opened at a gloomy burial in a storm swept cemetery) and I was pushing it forward as hard as I could.

But it wasn’t the set up that was wrong. It was the characters’ deepest conflicts. My editor helpfully pointed that out when I sent her the first chapter. (Thank God!) I’ve learned that when I’m pushing it hard to make forward motion, and it’s like trying to push Sisyphus’s rock uphill, that I really should listen to my intuition. Because when I cut the cemetery, changed the characters’ internal issues, and threw them together in a different setting, the story took off like a rocket. I know it’s working when the words just keep coming, when I’m excited about what the characters will do next, and when I’m nervous and a bit overwhelmed that I’m not getting everything on the page. That means it’s flowing naturally.

So listen to your internal voice. Often, she knows what she’s talking about even if you don’t understand why. If a section of the book is giving you hell, if you’re struggling for every word and trying hard to make it work, you might be traveling a wrong path. Have the courage to cut what isn’t working and go back to the fork in the road. Yesterday, I had to make another of those choices — I cut 2000 words — but it began to roll and I made it all up again very quickly.

Listen to the voice. It knows when you’re messing it up on the subconscious level and just can’t see it. Cutting is hard, starting over is hard, but don’t be afraid to try it. Save the words in another file and you haven’t really lost anything, have you?

**A huge shout out to my UK readers — in the two weeks it’s been on sale, you’ve bought all the copies of Prince Voronov’s Virgin that Mills & Boon had available on the website! And you’ve made PVV the #1 Mills & Boon bestseller for two weeks in a row! I’m thrilled and honored!

Just a quick post to tell you all that I’m working hard on book number 9 — yes, number 9! Can you believe it? I can’t. It’s been two years since I got the call, and only a little over a year since the first book came out. Time really does fly when you’re having fun! This one is untitled, but I can tell you it features a yummy half-Indian hero named Raj and a socialite named Veronica. So far, they are burning up the pages!

I also have exciting news about what’s next. In the UK, Prince Voronov’s Virgin is the Mills & Boon Book of the Month for January! I’ve been getting a lot of early reader mail about this story, and it thrills me that you all are enjoying it so much. It seems to be flying off the shelves over there, and for that I thank you! In fact, it’s the number 1 bestseller this week!! This book will be released in North America in June under the title Behind the Palace Walls. It will be a Presents Extra — my first, so I hope you’ll help me make it a success here too!

Next up in the UK will be Strangers in the Desert in May! I have no links for this one yet, or order information, but this is my first full-length sheikh book. Adan and Isabella have a delicious past together. When they are reunited, the sparks fly. I can’t wait for the back cover copy to share with you! I don’t have it yet, so no idea what sort of things it’s going to say — there’s a pretty big secret in the book that I don’t want to give away just yet. Though maybe the back cover will do so, LOL!

Next up in North America is The Devil’s Heart in April! I haven’t posted this cover on the site yet, but check it out. I am so in love with the Presents version of this cover!

Finally, coming in the UK sometime this summer, and in November to North America, is The Heartless Rebel. (Available at Amazon UK. No order links for NA yet.) This book is part of a continuity series called The Bad Blood Collection! In this series, you get to read about a family called the Wolfes and all their trials and tribulations. My Wolfe brother is named Jack — and he’s an absolutely delicious mess of alpha toughness and stoicism. Just wait until he hooks up with his heroine, though! This is a very sexy story — probably my sexiest yet!

That’s what’s coming up in 2011. And now I’d better get back to work on this book, since it absolutely refuses to write itself. Hope you’re prepared for the Holiday Season! I’m not, but what’s new about that?

I really love seeing my international translations. It’s like Christmas when I discover a new one. The other day, the hubby was playing with a new iPad app he’d gotten. If he types something in English, he can have it translate the phrase into another language. Somehow, this got me over to Amazon Japan where I typed in my name. They sell the English versions of my books there, and I think we were looking for what the titles translated to in order to double check the app’s accuracy.

In addition to my English-language books, a familiar cover with Japanese lettering popped up. Yes, Spanish Magnate, Red-Hot Revenge had made it to Japan. I may have squealed. It’s incredibly awesome to see my books appear in translation. I’ll never be able to read them, but I always hope the translator managed to keep my voice. Mostly I’m just excited though. It’s the coolest thing, I swear. I never get over the novelty of it.

Hope everyone is having a good November thus far! Mine has been incredibly busy — and now I have a book due in just a few weeks, so I’ll be working hard again.

What have you been up to lately? Looking forward to the holidays? Got your shopping done already? (I don’t….)

I am so excited to share this with you! I’ve teamed up with friends and awesome authors Kimberly Lang and Kira Sinclair to offer our readers an excerpt book that features teasers from our upcoming releases. But it’s this cover, designed by my fabulous web designer, Croco Designs, that has me simply squeeing with joy. Isn’t it beautiful? Frauke always delivers!

As if the cover weren’t exciting enough, the fabulous Linda Howard very graciously gave us a quote that still has me giggling in the middle of the night for no apparent reason whatsoever. Well, there IS a reason, and this is it: “Something sizzling this way comes … enjoy a special lagniappe from three of my favorite writers.” — Linda Howard.

LINDA HOWARD, y’all! *breathe, breathe*

This cover excites me just as much as my first cover, I have to say. And as soon as I have some in hand, I’ll be hosting giveaways. So what do you think? Is it pretty? Would you be likely to pick this one up in a goody room at a conference?

Today only, you can get SPANISH MAGNATE, RED-HOT REVENGE absolutely free when you order 2 or more books over at eHarlequin! It’s their featured Freebie Friday special!

Hubby and I are mired in busy-ness. I’m trying to finish the current book I’m working on, which is almost there, and the hubby is working on his MBA classwork. The beautiful days of summer are beginning, and we’re too busy to go to the pool or enjoy the sunshine for more than a quick break. In fact, this coming weekend when everyone else will be going on Memorial Day holidays, we’ll be here, working. Well, he’ll be working, because I MUST be done by then. Other than a quick read through, I won’t have the pressure I’ve had for the past few weeks. Don’t know what I’ll do with myself — except, yes, I’ll probably start another book. I have ideas for the next few, so I want to get them on paper before I forget.

The most exciting thing going on at Chez Harris, for me anyway, is that you can now find THE PRINCE’S ROYAL CONCUBINE in stores! Here’s proof:

I don’t know why the book looks so orange in photos. It’s not orange at all! A reader sent me a photo too, and yep, it was orange. Have you seen the book in your neck of the woods? Is it orange?

Comment here, send me a photo at lynn AT lynnrayeharris DOT com, and I’ll enter you in a quick little blog contest for a choice of one of my backlist books and a $5 gift card to Starbucks!

NOTE: since I know you aren’t hovering in bookstores as I write this, the contest will be open for a few days.

Though I am completely mired in getting this book finished in the next two weeks, I took a short break this weekend to attend my chapter’s annual luncheon. Heart of Dixie puts on a fabulous luncheon, y’all! And I’m not just saying that because I have to. We have a huge ballroom, a sit down meal, and lots of prizes — not to mention fabulous guest speakers.

This year, Julia London was our speaker. Long before I was published, I was a Julia London fan. In fact, one of my favorite contemporaries of all time is a Julia London book: Beauty Queen. I love this book with a deep and abiding love! BQ was the second book in the Lear family trilogy — all the books were good — but something about BQ really resonated with me. Rebecca Lear, the former Miss Texas with no discernible skills, a young son, and a rich husband who divorced her and left her a mess, is just wonderful to see in action. You’d think it’d be hard to sympathize with a woman this beautiful, but in fact it really is easy because Julia makes this character so likeable. When Rebecca meets Matt Parrish — they have a misunderstanding over a quesadilla — things really get interesting.

I have hauled this book around the world, and when I realized Julia was coming to Huntsville, I took it down off the keeper shelf and carted it to the luncheon. Julia very graciously signed it for me — and I didn’t realize it was out of print until she told me. This book should be available on the Kindle! Everyone should have a chance to read the fabulousness that is Beauty Queen!

Okay, so I got Julia to sign my book. We chatted for a bit, and then it was time for the doors to open. I shared a table with the most wonderful people! Lonnie Payne and his wife Tabetha have been coming to this event for 10 years. They were also accompanied by Heather Hart and her mother (the only lady whose name I didn’t get!), and Patricia Lloyd (attending her 2nd luncheon) joined us as well. Rounding out the table were my mother and her friend, Margie.

We had a great lunch, and then it was time for the basket giveaways. When I went up to draw a winner for my basket, I drew Julia’s name! I hope Julia likes Harlequin Presents. My table won about 8 baskets between them, which was awesome. Apparently, Lonnie comes along because he has this knack of winning raffles. He doesn’t read romance novels, but he supports his wife’s love of them — and he won three baskets!

After the basket raffles, we had a book signing — and then several of us stayed and went to dinner later with Julia. It was a great day, and though I was completely worn out, I needed the break from this book. So now I’m back at work, but I’m glad I had that little bit of time away where I could chat with readers and other writers and have a generally great time.

With the peeps at my table

Julia London and me

Signing books