Lynn Raye Harris

Come on over to the Writing Playground for my Book Launch Party! There will be book giveaways — and I think the Playground Monitor is even giving away some sand. Curious? Come find out what it’s all about!

I’ve always wanted to go to India — and now it looks like I will. But it’s only my book going, not me. Darn! I have a different cover for India as well, which doesn’t surprise me. I rather like it!

The revisions have arrived, so I’ll be in the writing cave again! They aren’t too bad, fortunately, but this next month is SO busy for me that I’ll probably be away more than I’m here. Boo hoo. I like talking to y’all!

I do have good news, though! CAVELLI’S LOST HEIR has a January 2010 release date in North America! Yay! It’s not available for pre-order yet, except in hardback from the UK. And one more piece of good news, if you like to read ebooks, you can order SPANISH MAGNATE, RED-HOT REVENGE now from the eHarlequin website!

If you’ve won a book from me in the past week or two, they’re going in the mail today!

I’m working on Book 3, getting deep into character and motivation, and generally having fun exploring the relationship between these two volatile people. And when I ran across this picture, the light bulb went off — this is my hero. Cristiano is strong, sexy, and tortured by the past. And he’s absolutely determined to get what he wants from the heroine — and to leave her with nothing when he’s done.

Oh be still my heart! Wounded heroes are so sexy to write.

Yeah, I love this job.

In other news, the website is inching closer to reveal day! I’m so excited about it, and can’t wait to share it with you all! There will be a new website, blog, and newsletter. And when it goes live, I’ll give away some goodies.

One last thing — my book is up for pre-order on Amazon, but now it has a cover — and that makes me delighted to share the link with you!

From Publisher’s Lunch:

And yet I still want a Kindle. But, yes, I’m not an ebook connoisseur at all. I don’t like reading on my computer. I have to read my drafts that way, and friends’ drafts that way, so I don’t want to read a book for leisure. The Kindle, OTOH, I thought might help me branch into ebooks a bit. Hmm, still very interesting that this technology isn’t spreading the way people once declared it would. As I saw on a Tweet from Stephen Fry recently, (paraphrasing) Kindles and ebooks won’t replace real books any more than elevators replaced stairs. It’s simply another tool to use, that’s all.

What are your thoughts?

I got the news on Friday that my second book was accepted! CAVELLI’S LOST HEIR will be a Dec 09 release in the UK; US still to be determined. I’m so thrilled! The first book is the most special, of course, but to get past those sophomore fears and actually turn in something coherent and decent — and have my editor like it — is amazingly gratifying. I really thought I’d written the worst book ever when I sent that baby off. I’d been trying so hard and staring at it forever that I couldn’t see the forest for the trees anymore.

(Though part of me optimistically kept insisting that it was good. And, while writing it, I DID love it. It was after, when I thought that what I saw in my head and what I got on paper were two different things that I went a little nutty.)

Writers, this is a lesson. It really is true that you are often a poor judge of your work — or a harsh judge, perhaps. We are harder on ourselves than anyone else is. We’ll take praise, be happy over it, and brush it off while remembering every single word of a rejection or a contest judge’s negative comments. You simply must get past those and press on if you are to get anywhere in this business. (Remind me I said this when I get my first negative review.)

Now, I’m working on a proposal for Book 3, and hoping to get that done today or tomorrow and off to my agent. CAVELLI’S LOST HEIR had a princess as a secondary character who I just fell in love with. She is the heroine in the proposal, so hopefully I’ll get to tell her story. Naturally, she’s getting her very own prince — and he is delicious! Prince Nico Cavelli was a bad boy — but I think my new prince is even badder. I do love a bad boy, especially when he’s being reformed.

Do you like bad boys? Princes? What are your favorite kind of themes or plots when reading?

PS Soon, my new website should be launching! I’m so excited about it! Keep visiting me because I’ll start giving away goodies soon to celebrate. And thanks for sticking with me thus far.

So the Kindle 2.0 is a reality now. And I want one. Why, I ask myself? I love real books. The size, feel, smell, etc. But, as I look at my groaning shelves, the neverending supply train of books that pours into my house on a regular basis — I’m wondering if the Kindle isn’t the way to go for me. I could still buy my keepers in paperback. But, oh, to have that Whispernet technology! (Can you say a spending nightmare waiting to happen?) To have instant access to a huge library of books that I can read the instant I want to read them. Oh, it is to dream.

It’s taken me a long time to get on the e-reader bandwagon. Because, quite frankly, the books once offered in e-format weren’t what I wanted to read. Now that the major publishers have jumped on the bandwagon, I’m so there.

But, I am also aware that I’m a gadget junkie. Do I want this thing because it’s sexy and looks awesome? Will it be yet another gadget I could have done without? (Yes, I speak to you T-Mobile Dash and you Alphasmart Neo — love Neo, but don’t use as often as I thought I would since I no longer have a need to write on the beach.) I just don’t know.

And, since I just got the iPhone (love it!), I’m out of gadget buying points for a while. I have to wait until at least my birthday, and maybe even Christmas (sigh). Though, I must admit, my hubby pretty much lets me have whatever my heart desires — so if I were to say I really, really, really wanted it, he would tell me to get it. Oh the temptation to abuse my power!

But, I will be good. For as long as possible. What do you think of e-readers? Do you covet the Kindle like I do? Have one already? Love it or hate it? Can’t ever imagine reading anything besides a paper and ink book?

PS: Had an interview yesterday in the Decatur Daily and will post a link just as soon as one is available. Unfortunately, the Daily won’t let you view their articles online unless you are a subscriber. So I must wait for it to appear elsewhere….

I’m giddy today because I’m up on Amazon for pre-order! But only in a hardback library version at the moment. Still, it’s me! It’s MY book!

Here’s the UK link. The US link is here. But they haven’t corrected my name yet, sigh. Amazon UK corrected it right away when I sent the update, but the US is being stubborn…..

I have just learned that SPANISH MAGNATE, RED-HOT REVENGE will be an August 2009 release in the US as well as the UK!! Yay!!

I read a lot of books I love, and I don’t usually talk about them because there are review blogs that do a much better job than I can. But last night I started a book I could NOT put down. Marjorie M. Liu’s Tiger Eye. It’s the first book in her Dirk & Steele series. I’d been hearing about this series for a long time, and I finally decided to give it a try. OMG. Could. Not. Stop. Reading.

I didn’t finish. Alas, sleep became a necessity, but tonight — must finish. This book is different than anything I’ve read lately. Not a vampire in sight! And this was a debut novel back in 2005. Holy sheesh, the woman’s power with words! I saw her at RWA in San Francisco a few times, but I hadn’t yet read any of her work. Good thing, because I might have stammered in awe.

What gives this book the page turning quality? The words, yes. But also the style. There’s a question on every page that you want the answer to, often quite desperately. (This wouldn’t work if you didn’t care about the characters.) That’s what I hope to do with my writing. To make the reader care and to ask questions to which she simply must know the answers. It’s a continual learning process, but I do hope I’ve succeeded.

Have you read any really fabulous books lately that knocked your socks off? Or do you have a favorite author who always delivers? (I have those too, but I love branching out. I also have Kresley Cole on the TBR pile. I’ve never tried her, so I look forward to it.) What’s the best book you’ve read lately? The most unusual book?