The Wine Glass Over the Water

The Wine Glass over the Water

God bless the King
I mean our faith’s defender.
God bless — no harm in blessing — the Pretender.
But who Pretender is, and who is King —
God bless us all — That’s quite another thing.
          John Byrom

Joanna, here, talking about an interesting sort of drinking glass our hero and heroine might have encountered in their travels through Georgian or Regency England.
The Jacobite Drinking Glass.
These are wine glasses that form a body of distinctive Eighteenth Century artwork.

We have these through a confluence of lucky chances.

First off, by 1700, English glassmaking was particularly advanced. 
A century before, the champion glassmakers were Venetian. The best glass in England was made by imported Italian glass artists, working by Italian methods.

This changed when the English developed flint glass.  'Flint glass' contains a high proportion of lead oxide, an ingredient that makes for tough, workable, clear-as-water product.  Excellent stuff, in short.  And it was an English specialty.


Continues here, at Word Wenches

Brenda Novak's auction

Every year, Brenda Novak runs an auction to raise money for diabetes research.   It's a good cause.  This year I contributed a gift basket.

Go to here.  for the Brenda Novak Auction.



The  Joanna Bourne basket (My Basket!!  See.  My basket!!!)
is item 2116660.  

So many lovely things to bid on. 

Jewels!!

 See 2154315 2174878   2156649 
2125526  2078380  2152053
2157817
That's a vintage silver necklace.  1920.
2095303  -- I like this because it is a set of three earrings.  So few sets for those of us who have three ears. 


Or consider the random joy of a crocheted tissue box 2152030. 
A box of a bazzilion boxes  2157798
Funky keyboard stickers  2195979 
Or an e-reader  2160553 and  216055





  We got manuscript critiques.  There are wonderful author crits out there -- Julia Quinn, Madeline Hunter ..  just search 'critique'

But every one of these below is less than $100 (right now.)

Christine Wells, Anna Campbell, Courtney Milan, Candace Hern.


 2069562, 2170745 , 2059148 , 2069564



What are you waiting for???

The Dutch Cover

Excellent Reader Danielle, tells me the Dutch version of Forbidden Rose is out.   That's a bright and pretty cover, isn't it?

Find it all in Dutch, here.  I think it can't be delivered yet, but that may lie in the future.  I am so delighted to be in Dutch, not least because Holland is such a wonderful place.

Babelfish is surprising little help in translating the blurb at the site.  I do not think I have ever been so confused.

The title means, 'Treason Me Not' which I rather like.

ETA:  Wonderful Dutch reader, Saskia, writes to tell me the title should be translated 'Don't Betray Me'.  Isn't that cool?

Cover Cafe Contest

The 2010 Cover Contest is on!  Here.

This is always fun.

Every year I go there and sigh over all the beautiful and excellent covers. 
Alternate Reality is always breathtaking.  I get envious.  The paranormal folks get the best covers.  Why?  Why?  Why?

Then I head straight for the Worst Covers of the Year.  Because there is great snark involved.
I sympathize with the authors, but I can't help myself.

Anyhow.  Forbidden Rose is in the 'Two Cover' category which delights me because I think that is a beautiful cover.


The information given about artist is limited to --  Artist: Cover Art by Lott Reps; (They are here.)  Cover photo by Shutterstock; Cover design by Springe Design Concepts LLC (Penguin Group, USA)  

I love that stepback cover on TSL.

Stepback by Judy York

mass market cover by Judy York

 I do not know exactly which artist at Lott Reps did the Forbidden Rose cover.


Alan Ayers, here,  did the trade Spymaster's Lady cover.  Judy York, here, did the mass market Spymaster's Lady.

The Alan Ayers trade cover

The Regency Cat

Talking about the cats of Regency England.  

What kind of cats can our characters expect to encounter as they go about their adventures?
Lots of cats, for one thing.
While Englishmen may love their dogs, the English householder hated his mice and depended on cats to get rid of them.  Defoe talks of forty thousand cats in London in the mid-1600s.  "Few Houses being without a Cat, and some having several, and sometimes five or six in a House."

 These London cats were working cats --
rangy, businesslike mousers and ratters.  I see them dozing the day away in the kitchen, then rising in the night, roaming the house to do battle with vermin, meeting the enemy behind the plush curtains of the drawing room and down behind the sofas in the parlor.  All the while, the gentlefolk snored in their beds. 

But there were pampered, plump cats as well.  We find them in paintings, batting at a soap bubble, peering into a fishbowl. 

For the rest of the article -- including the breeds of cats you'd see in Regency London, see here

Adrian looks like . . .

I'm gearing up to make the Romance Trading Cards for Adrian.  I have a few possible faces and I  . . .

I just don't know.

These are stock photos.  I have not bought all of them, so I'm only going to leave them up till Saturday.

So, tell me which Adrian you like best.  I'll send Romance trading cards to some lucky poster . . .  *g*

ETA:  There's watermarks on some of the photos.  These will go away.

Photo A

Photo B

Photo C

Photo D

Photo E

ETA:  I went and bought the stock photos so I could leave them up on the bog.

RITA

Purrrrrr

I am so pleased.  I've been nominated as a Finalist for the RITA in the Historical Romance category.

For those of you who don't follow Romance genre, the RITA is the Humongous Mother-Of-All-Contests Contest put on every year by the Romance Writers of America. 

I'm in.  I'm a finalist.  I am so happy.
My agent sent me flowers.

When we're dealing at this level, getting the nomination is the win.

At DABWAHA for a bit

Those of you who have been following my DA BWAHA saga know that I rather surprisingly slunk into the back row of the competition.  I've managed to survive one bout and have now come up against the redoubtable Courtney Milan.  In particular, her excellent Trial By Desire.

More below the cut:

My Romance Trading Cards

My Romance Trading Cards -- here.  I'll be handing these out at the RT Convention and at RWA National.  I don't know which one is going to be more popular -- the realistic or the manga style.

ETA:  I wanted to do one for my Adrian, but I haven't really got my act together for this yet, so I won't be handing out an Adrian trading card at RT.  I tried out a manga version -- no dice on this so far.  I don't have enough dpis or something on my anime picture. 

I will give this some more thought in April.
 

I'm In DA BWAHA

I saw in Sonomalass's Blog this morning that I'm in DA BWAHA.  Here.

This is wonderful and very exciting, and also worrisome, because there is nothing I cannot look at -- all eight sides, six in the physical dimensions and two in time -- and obsess over. 

So I am surprised and pleased and delighted because I thought I wasn't in, but now it turns out I am after all. 
Life is not so much good or bad, but more along the lines of weird.


My post with this year's DA BWAHA book pimping is here.


Who else is newly in?
These are the ones I know a bit about:


All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins  (She is so good.)

Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews  (I.A. is now competing against herself.  Magic Bleeds versus Bayou Moon.)

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins  (Yes!  I mean, like, somebody is surprised . . .?)

Storming the Castle by Eloisa James (I haven't yet read this one, but I love her writing.)

AAR WIN for Best Non-UK Romance

I am so very delighted, so honored, and . . . may I say  . . .  surprised and knocked off my feet and spit-drying-in-my-mouth excited, that Forbidden Rose won one of AAR's categories.

See all the winners here.

Forbidden Rose, winning 'Best Romance not set in the UK'.


This is what I say:

Thank you very, very much. I am honored beyond words that folks nominated Forbidden Rose.

This book was hard for me to write.  I'd already pictured my hero and heroine as a happily married couple. I had to delve back into the past and imagine them much younger. See them at the moment they met. There was this also - their love story was set in a grim era of history. I wasn't sure anyone would want to join me in an adventure there.

Thank you so much for followin my Doyle and Maggie back into their dark and dangerous past. I am so delighted you liked the book.


I take this and I hug it close.  Because this is isn't just one reviewer saying she liked it.  This is READERS saying they liked it.

Since Readers were cool enough to say they liked the book, let me list the other cool books that won accolades.  There is just nobody on this list that isn't worth tracking down and reading if you haven't already.

We haz links.  Click on the author name to find out more about the book and buy it.


 

Best Romance of 2010  

Last Night's Scandal by Loretta Chase

Honorable Mentions for Best Romance

The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

Best Historical Romance Set in the UK

Last Night's Scandal by Loretta Chase

Best Historical Romance Not Set in the UK

The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne

Best Paranormal
The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

Best Contemporary Romance

Something About You by Julie James

Best Short Story
Here There Be Monsters (from the anthology Burning Up) by Meljean Brook

Best Romantic Suspense 
Naked Edge by Pamela Clare

Favorite Funny

Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn

Biggest Tearjerker
Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas

Best Chick Lit/Women's Fiction

All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgans
The Bikini Car Wash by Pamela Morsi

Best Series Romance

Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly

Most Kickass Heroine

Elena Deveraux, in Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh

Best Romance Heroine

Olivia Wingate-Carsington in Last Night's Scandal by Loretta Chase

Honorable Mentions for Best Romance Heroine

Margeurite de Fleurignac in The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne
Beatrix Hathaway in Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas

Best Romance Hero 

Leo Hathaway in Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas

Best Romance Couple

Olivia Wingate-Carsington and Peregrine Dalmay in Last Night's Scandal by Loretta Chase

Best New Author of 2010

Rose Lerner

Best Love Scenes   
Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt

Best Romantica

Patience by Lisa Valdez

DABWAHA

Smart Bitches kicks off the 2011 DABWAHA event, here.

Nominate your favorite book.  The entry form for nominations is online.


For instance . . . you might have liked some of these:


The Accidental Wedding by Anne Gracie, ISBN  0425233820

The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin, ISBN 0316043966

Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin, ISBN 0373296142

Changeless by Gail Carriger, ISBN 0316074144

Forbidden Rose  by me, ISBN 0425235610

Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie, ISBN 0312303785

Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep, ISBN 1439147973

The Wicked Wyckerly by Pat Rice, ISBN 045123071X

Forbidden On the ALA Genre List

I am so pleased. 

Forbidden Rose was short-listed by the American Library Association, Reference and User Services Association, on their Top Genre Fiction List.

The press release, here, says,
"The Reading List annually recognizes the best books in eight genres . . .  This year’s list includes novels that will please die-hard fans, as well as introduce new readers to the pleasures of genre fiction."

I am delighted and honored that Forbidden Rose is on this list and in such wonderful company. 

Romance

A Matter of Class by Mary Balogh, Vanguard Press.

 

A lady is ruined. A merchant’s son is trapped. Class differences loom large in this charming and playful take on the arranged marriage. Balogh’s Regency gem, where nothing is quite as it seems, is filled with affection and wit. 

 

         

Short List:

Barely a Lady by Eileen Dreyer, Hachette

The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne, Berkley

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook, Berkley

Something About You by Julie James, Berkley Sensation

These are wonderful books.
These are the books you hand to your friends who say . . . "Romance is nothing but cookier-cutter plots and sex scenes." 

(I mean, you hand them these books after you've sneered at them and maybe kicked them in the shins a little for being so closed minded.)

Barnes and Noble Picks of 2010

The Barnes and Noble Romance Blog has listed a bang-up strong set of books for favorites of 2010.

And me.  Me.  mememememe.
Oh wow.

What a lineup of strong heroines and exciting adventure.   Paranormal and Romantic Suspense and one Historical Romance.



1.    Lover Mine by J.R. Ward
2.    Deadly Fear by Cynthia Eden
3.    The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks
4.    The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne
5.    Not Knowing Jack by K.A. Mitchell
6.    Blood Spells by Jessica Andersen
7.    Stormwalker by Allyson James
8.    Life After Joe by Harper Fox
9.    Indulgence in Death by J.D. Robb
10.  Resistance by L.M. Turner
11.  Dark Peril by Christine Feehan
12.  The Search by Nora Roberts
13.  Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh
14.  Ruthless Game by Christine Feehan


I've linked to the paperbacks, where available, but these are all also in nookbook format.

More great books of 2010

Annie, in the comment trail, notes that Forbidden Rose is listed at Cultural Gutter, here, (an insightful and interesting blog, btw, which I'd point folks to even if they didn't like Forbidden Rose,) as one of their best books read in 2010.

Isn't that wonderful?  I don't know what to say. I don't recognize myself as the person on a list like this.

So I'll just point out all the great books I'm keeping company with and how much I like them.  That is very easy for me to do. 

Mary Balogh, A Secret Affair*
Joanna Bourne, The Forbidden Rose *g*
Loretta Chase, Last Night’s Scandal  *
Jennifer Crusie, The Cinderella Deal  *
Eileen Dreyer, Barely a Lady
Elizabeth Hoyt, Wicked Intentions *
Julie James, Something About You
Lisa Kleypas, Love in the Afternoon *
Nora Roberts, The Search
Sharon Shinn, Troubled Waters

I've read the ones with *.

They are wonderful books that I recommend wholeheartedly.   I read the Crusie book when it first came out.  I love all her work.  But it's been a while and I've forgotten the details.  I'll have to dig out my old copy or buy a new one and enjoy it all over again.

The Dreyer book is on my TBR shelf already, just jittering in place with impatience.  I'm going to read it the minute I finish this manuscript I'm working on.
The NR book I haven't bought yet, but will.  There's an Indie bookstore in town with a copy waiting for me.

The other two are a contemp and a paranormal.  I'm slower to pick up these genres, but I'll take steps to get them now that they've been recommended.

I am going to take this opportunity to say how glad I am for a surname that begins with 'B'.  It puts me close to the top of alphabetic lists which makes me feel important.
My maiden name, Watkins, left me at the bottom of all those lists.  Always in the back of the class.

Nothing I like better than . . .

Nothing I like better than Book Pimping.
Except bragging.

This is a case where I can do both.

Sarah Wendell of Smart Bitches does the Romance blog at Kirkus Reviews.  Here is her Best of 2010 list.    Here.

I'm posting it in case you have been hiding out in Serbia in a cave, meditating, and you somehow missed it.


Last Night’s Scandal by Loretta Chase (Avon, 2010)
Hot Finish by Erin McCarthy (Berkley, 2010)
The Summer of You by Kate Noble (Berkley, 2010)
Something About You by Julie James (Berkley, 2010)
Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie (St Martin’s, 2010)
Exclusively Yours by Shannon Stacey (Carina Press, 2010)
Iron Duke by Meljean Brook (Berkley, 2010)
Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin (Harlequin, 2010)
His at Night by Sherry Thomas (Bantam, 2010)
Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (EgmontUSA, 2010)
What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss (Harlequin, 2010)
Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh (Berkley, 2010)
Scoundrel by Zoe Archer (Zebra/Kensington, 2010)
All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins (HQN, 2010)
Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts (Berkley, 2010)
Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews (Ace, 2010)
The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne (Berkley, 2010)
Nine Rules to Break when Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean (Avon, 2010)
Naked Edge by Pamela Clare (Berkley, 2010)
Strawberries for Dessert by Marie Sexton (Dreamspinner, 2010)
Seven Nights to Forever by Evangeline Collins (Berkley, 2010)

I'm going to make a couple few comments.

1.  The first is that I'm on it.  See!  Lookit!!
Isn't that ultimate cool?

2.  We got books on this list from publishers who are not the New York Usuals.  Very interesting.

3. We got four books from various arms of HQN.  Category don't get no respect from reviewers and it's nice to see a list with HQN authors on it since HQN sells more books than Aunt Minnie has cats and always holds big juicy numbers at Bookscan.

4.  About half these books are from a single publisher -- Berkley --which happens to be my publisher.  So congratulations Berkley, you are doing something right.

I suspect this has to do with publishing innovative stuff.

5. I've read:

Last Night’s Scandal,
The Summer of You,
Butterfly Swords,
His at Night.

These four are just excellent and I recommend them to you.

I haven't read more than four because I mostly can't read Romance while I'm writing.    It messes with my head.
I have another four of these 20 in my tbr pile.

I've held off buying the Berkley books in the hopes I can get free -- and signed -- copies at RWA National.  (. . .  sorry about that.)

So there we go.  New authors and old favorites.  Wonderful books.  Go buy some.

Library Journal. Oh My.

Library Journal has listed Forbidden Rose as one of its Best Genre Books of 2010.  Here.

I am delighted and very, very honored.  

 I don't even know what to say.

Kristin Ramsdell, who works with Romance genre for Library Journal, puts Forbidden Rose in the most wonderful company.  Lookit:

 

(me) Bourne, Joanna. The Forbidden Rose. Berkley Sensation: Penguin Group (USA). ISBN 9780425235614. pap. $7.99.

From a burned-out chateau in the French countryside to the treacherous, violent streets of revolutionary Paris, this superbly plotted adventure pairs up an English spy and a French aristocrat. (LJ 6/15/10)  Here.

Brockway, Connie. The Golden Season. Onyx: Penguin Group (USA). ISBN 9780451412836. pap. $7.99.

A peerless lady of the ton learns she is almost penniless and surreptitiously sets out to find a wealthy suitor during her last "Golden Season." This delightfully witty, deliciously sensual romance is peppered with humor and enhanced by memorable characters. (LJ 2/15/10)  Here.

Dreyer, Eileen. Barely a Lady. Forever: Grand Central. (Drake's Rakes, Bk. 1). ISBN 9780446542081. pap. $6.99.

A woman whose life was devastated five years earlier by deceit, betrayal, and divorce has her peace shattered once more when her ex-husband is found at Waterloo, wounded, suspected of treason, suffering from selective amnesia, and convinced that they are still happily married. An emotionally compelling, flawlessly crafted gem. (LJ 6/15/10) Here.

Kinsale, Laura. Lessons in French. Sourcebooks Casablanca. ISBN 9781402237010. pap. $7.99.

An aristocratic, bull-breeding heroine and a charming French émigré hero reclaim their love in this funny, whimsical, clever, and thoroughly rewarding sensual romance that is Kinsale's first appearance in the market in several years. (LJ 2/15/10) Here.

 McDonald, L.J. The Battle Sylph. Leisure: Dorchester. ISBN 9780843963007. pap. $7.99.

This stunningly creative and riveting debut novel of a young woman who escaped sacrificial murder to become the adored queen of her remarkable battle sylph is a mental and emotional delight for both fantasy and romance readers. (LJ 2/15/10) Here.

 

I've read the Kinsale, of course.  Wonderful, wonderful book.  I have already resolved to put Eileen Dreyer's on my TBR shelf.  The Brockway book sounds fabulous,  Another one I must buy. 

I wonder what the MacDonald book will be like.  It doesn't necessarily sound like a Romance, but I'll check it out.

Publisher's Weekly 'Best Books of 2010'

Publisher's Weekly gives us a list of The 100 Best Books of 2010.  Here.  As they put it:

This year we took our annual slugfest to the pub underneath our new office and came up with a list of the year's top 100 books.

Courtney Milan 'tagged' me this morning in a Facebook post saying congratulations.
I'm on that list.
With FORBIDDEN ROSE.  Here.

That's saying it's one of the 100 best books of all kinds of books.
I cannot tell you how puzzled, dazzled, and delighted I am.

Every once in a while I'll climb on my hobby horse and complain about how Romance genre gets no respect from reviewers.  I will have to eat a number of those ill-considered words.
Romance genre has FIVE books on that list.

(Two of those five Romances are from Berkley.  They're doing something right at Berkley.)

The five Romance genre books listed among the 100 Best Books of 2010 by Publisher's Weekly are:
 

The Forbidden Rose
Joanna Bourne (Berkley Sensation)
In mid-revolution France, a noblewoman and a spy are torn between wartime practicality and headstrong passion. The gripping espionage story and wry voiceovers from the heroine will win hearts.

The Iron Duke
Meljean Brook (Berkley)
Brook's fabulous steampunk tale has an iron-boned war hero and a half-Asian detective inspector matching wits and wills on airships and battleships and in smoke-choked London as England recovers from 200 years of Mongol rule.

The Heir
Grace Burrowes (Sourcebooks Casablanca)
Burrowes pulls off an improbable Regency affair between a spoiled ducal heir and a housekeeper with a secret.

Barely a Lady
Eileen Dreyer (Grand Central/Forever)
The wartime amnesia romance is as old as the hills, but RWA Hall of Famer Dreyer (aka Kathleen Korbel) makes this one work.

Trial by Desire
Courtney Milan (HQN)
Modern readers will be as intrigued by the Victorian-era political issues as they are by the central story of a man trying to reconnect with the wife he abandoned.

from Publisher's Weekly, quoted under Fair Use.


Two of those are already set aside in my mammoth TBR pile, waiting till I finish the manuscript.  I will zip out and buy the other two.



ETA:

Rose Fox, over at PW's Genreville, gives us an insider look at the process of selection and reveals the books that nearly edged out the five 'listees'.   

More great books, says jo, rubbing her hands gleefully.

Rose Fox's comments on these other great books are:


Proof by Seduction,
Courtney Milan
A stunning debut Victorian that very nearly made the top list, outclassed only by its sequel. 

Whisper of Scandal,
Nicola Cornick
An adventure story wrapped around a heartbreaking tale of a woman rendered barren by her husband’s beatings. 

Last Night’s Scandal,
Loretta Chase:

The hilarious and adorable story of two rapscallions renovating a haunted Scottish castle. 

Marry Me,
Jo Goodman:
A moving 19th century American romance with tons of interesting period medical detail.


Warrior/Scoundrel/Rebel
Zoë Archer’s
Cranks up the Indiana Jones–style adventure to 11 and then piles on the sexy heat.

Welcome to Harmony
Jodi Thomas
Contemporary Western, is a really lovely meditation on what it means to be family.

No Chance,
Christy Reece
series kickoff  is an exemplary romantic suspense novel with a fabulous self-saving heroine.

Romantic Times 2010 Reviewer's Choice Contest

Madly beating my own drum --

My novel, Forbidden Rose, has been nommed by RT in the 2010 Annual Reviewer's Choice Contest, 'Historical Romantic Adventure' category.

Fellow WordWench Jo Beverly, (The Secret Duke,) is nominated for Best British Isle and WordWench Pat Rice, (The Wicked Wyckerly,) under Historical Love and Laughter.


I cannot begin to list the wonderful books nominated.  I'd link to the noms -- it's just a shopping list of what to buy -- but I don't know where to find it on the net.

All that glistens is not . . . goldfish

You've probably asked yourself, from time to time, if there are any Shakespeare  quotes about goldfish.

Did Shakespeare say, "That which we call a goldfish, by any other name would be as bright"? 
Or insult some catiff with a, "Thou wimpled, reeling-ripe goldfish-licker!"

He did not. 
Goldfish didn't make it to England till nearly a century after Shakespeare's death.  We got Shakespearean dogs and cats, camels, carp, marmosets, mackerel, and whales . . . but no goldfish.

Basically, the goldfish is the carp who made good.

Read the rest of 'Everything you wanted to know about Regency Goldfish but didn't realize it'
over at Word Wenches . . . here.