A Hellion in Her Bed

A Hellion in Her Bed is my latest read. It’s the second book in Sabrina Jeffries’ current Regency series, The Hellions of Halstead Hall.

Hellion‘s  heroine has the most original occupation I’ve seen in historical romance in quite a while.  Annabel Lake is a brew mistress trying to save her foundering family brewery. Enter gambler Lord Jarret Sharpe, who has agreed to run his own more successful family brewery for a year. Annabel seeks Jarret out because she wants the two breweries to go into business together.

When he balks, she proposes a card game. If she wins, he must help save her family’s business. But if he wins, she must spend a night in his bed. Mmmhmm. Sexy set up. 

Jeffries’ fun and humorous writing style continues to sparkle in this latest book. Annabel is a memorable heroine you can root for. The romance satisfies and the Sharpes continue to be an emotionally-damaged family we care about.

If you’re looking for an entertaining read, check out A Hellion in Her Bed.   

Romancing the Recession

At the recent New Jersey Romance Writers’ conference, moderator Terri Brisbin asked a panel of editors about the state of romance in these challenging economic times.

According to Kensington Assistant Editor Megan Records, romance is the only genre that’s growing right now.

Leah Hultenschmidt, who recently joined Sourcebooks, says she was hired specifically for the romance line because the company wants more of the genre.

As Holly Blanck of St Martin’s Press sees it, romance is holding steady while young adult is expanding.

The editors say ebooks sales are growing but the industry is still grappling with how to quantify those sales, which are difficult to pinpoint. However, most seem to agree that romance sells extremely well in ebook form.

They also pointed out that ebook sales don’t count towards The New York Times bestseller list.  
 

If my good friend and conference roomie, Angela (right) is any indication, romance is doing just fine.

Here she is in our hotel room surrounded by her loot: freebies and a good number of books she purchased at the conference’s Literacy Book Fair.

Doesn’t she look like a cover model?

She definitely looks happy!

What an Editor Wants

What do the following editors have in common?

Amanda Bergeron — Avon/Harper Collins
Holly Blanck — St Martin’s Press
Stacy Boyd — Silhouette Desire
Lia Brown — Avalon
Leah Hultenschmidt — Sourcebooks
Alex Logan — Grand Central Publishing
Evette Porter — Kimani, Kimani Tru/Harlequin
Megan Records — Kensington Books
Patience Smith — Harlequin/Silhouette

They all have pet peeves about what they do and don’t want to see in a query or manuscript submission. This impressive group of publishing industry professionals was on an Editors Panel at the recent New Jersey Romance Writers conference.

Kensington’s Megan Records hates poor research. She wants people who submit to her to know her name and how to spell it as well as what line they are targeting. Alex Logan at Grand Central does not want to see anything longer than 80,000 to 85,000 words.

Leah Hultenschmidt of Sourcebooks gets annoyed when people send a manuscript in chapter pieces. She wants to see the entire manuscript in one document.  Avon’s Amanda Bergeron says writers should remember to make their query letters professional, because they represent your writing.

They all want to know about contests wins, other manuscripts or books, and anything else that tells them that you are looking at writing as a career and not a lark. The editors prefer that you use your name as your email address and not a family email address, which makes it more difficult for them to find your submission should they go back and look for it.

Oh, and as to whether you need an agent. The editors say they always look at things sent to them by agents first. A good reason to try to land an agent, wouldn’t you say?