Editor Blogs on Harlequin

Wow, Terri Reed here, my editor blogged on the Harlequin blog about the upcoming continuity series for Love Inspired. I wrote book two and will hit the shelves in August. This series is set in Alaska, with plenty of mystery running through all the books as well as tender love stories. This book was so much fun to write. And I have to say I love all the covers. They are so bright and vibrant.

And I know you will recognize all the authors!!

http://harlequinblog.com/

Things to be Thankful for this Thanksgiving

Hello from Lisa Mondello. I was going to talk about the Project Runway finale (I really do love looking at all those fashions!) but I find myself a little sidetracked today.

I have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. You see, yesterday my agent called me to let me know that Steeple Hill is offering me another contract, this one for the Love Inspired line. I mean, how cool is that? I get to write the kind of books I love and I get paid for it!! Fly Away Home, a soldier's homecoming story, is scheduled to be released October 2010! By the way, that title most likely will change, so check back soon. I've very excited about this book because it'll be my first Love Inspired Contemporary.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. My December 2009 Love Inspired Suspense release, Yuletide Protector comes out next month! I'm really excited and feel blessed to be sharing the month's releases with Margaret Daley, Debby Giusti, Pamela Tracy and Ramon Richards, 4 amazing women who are part of the CRAFTIE Ladies of Suspense.

As Lenora Worth announced in her post the other day, some of the CRAFTIE Ladies will be participating in a short story. Each day for 8 days they'll be giving readers a new piece of the story. You won't want to miss this, so mark your calendars.

I know it's easy to get wrapped up in annoyances and worry about things that in the end really don't matter. It's easy to overlook the things that are important. My hope for all of you is that you stop and take a breath this Thanksgiving and enjoy time with your family and friends.
I know that's what I will be doing.

Until next time, many blessings, Lisa Mondello

A whole lot of fun...

I'm finally recovered from my trip to DC last week where I attended the Romance Writers of America National conference. I met a lot of wonderful people, including people on this blog. I know I'm posting at the end of the week and you've probably read all the juicy details from some of the other CRAFTIE Ladies this week so I'll just touch on a few things.

First, I loved meeting all the Love Inspired authors on the opening night of the conference. The LI ladies took over a back room of Harry's Pub and had dinner. (Thank you Janet Tronstad for arranging all of that!) I think there were about 25 LI authors there and it was nice meeting everyone and just getting a chance to chat before the conference went into full swing. I know Lenora Worth took some pictures, so keep checking the blog and the Love Inspired Authors website for more pics.

One of the highlights of the week was doing a wonderful workshop with Lenora Worth and Renee Ryan about the inspirational market. It was very well attended and everyone asked a lot of questions, which shows there is great interest from authors who want to write inspirational stories!

Another highlight was the Harlequin Party. Here are a few pics. I took them on my cell phone so I hope they came out okay.






I finally had a chance to meet my editor, Elizabeth Mazer. Harlequin was celebrati

ng 60 years of romance at this party and here we are standing in front of a beautiful collage of old Harlequin book covers.



I came home very jazzed to get writing. That can be good and bad because while I wanted to write, write, write when I got home, I had been gone for FIVE whole days and while the house didn't look like a bomb had exploded, you could tell I'd been gone. So I spent the week doing a bit of housework, writing and reading some of those books that weighed down my suitcase on the train coming home.
Until next time, many blessings, Lisa Mondello

The Susan Boyle Lesson

There are few moments in life when we confront our own failings head on. Good books cause us to do that and so, this week, did a short clip on You Tube. I’m sure many of us watched Susan Boyle’s triumphant audition on Britain’s Got Talent. It was a moment when a plain, middle aged, chubby spinster stood on stage and gave a riveting singing performance that wowed judges and audience alike. It was not the performance that we should take note of, as much as why it shocked us. To put it plainly, society judges the worth of an individual by what is written on the outside. It’s true, no? Oh we make exceptions for the extremely wealthy and powerful, but sad to say lovely people are valued and assumed to have more worth and talent than extremely plain ones.

How could we have gotten to this place? The Beatitudes give us a list of blessings and not one refers to external appearance, yet on this planet the people we idolize are the stars and actors who give us a beautiful figure and face to adore. That is why the Susan Boyle video was so stunning, because it took us to task for our attitudes, for our assumptions that a homely figure has no blessings to offer. Susan Boyle made us look inside ourselves.

As I mentioned earlier, good books do this, don’t they? They are the kind of books that stay in your mind long after the last page is turned. Often they are literary in nature (The Five People You Meet in Heaven, The Life of Pi, The Secret Life of Bees) but occasionally a romance will surprise you by painting a picture of a person so complex, so revealing of both their ugliness and spiritual beauty that you can’t get the book out of your mind. An example? The book Mrs. Mike, written by Benedict and Nancy Freedman in 1947. Do you have any favorite books that stay in your mind and soul?

Fierce Heroes...and their softer sides.

Everyone loves a strong hero (at least I do) and so to keep in our theme of March Madness: In like a lion and out like a lamb, I thought I'd talk about strong heroes and what brings them to their knees.

For instance, take Gil Waite, the hero in Her Only Protector. Being a bounty hunter lends itself to being pretty brave right from the get go. If you've ever seen those bounty hunter series on cable, then you know these guys (and gals) go into dangerous places in search of fugitives who are doing their best NOT to get caught. Sometimes with a gun pointed in their face for their troubles. I don't know that you could call them fearless, because let's face it, you're stupid not to fear the unknown where criminals are concern. But you'd definitely call them brave, ready to take on any challenge. That why many times you see these guys (and gals) out playing hard and getting dirty. They live on the edge.

Now, introduce a baby into their lives and this fierce lion turns to a little lamb. If you have any doubt, just look at the cover of Her Only Protector. In Her Only Protector, Gil is big and bad when he's after Cash Montgomery. But faced with Cash's sister Sonny and Cash's baby in tow and the fierce hunter turns into the fierce protector.

What is your favorite story of fierce hero turning to mush because of a woman and/or baby? I know there are many. Remember, if you leave a comment you'll be entered into our drawing to receive 4 Love Inspired Suspense books for March. (Leave an email address so we can contact you if you win!) And you can always order Love Inspired Books from Amazon.com using our link at the top of the page.

Until next time, many blessings, Lisa Mondello

Reaching out to old friends...

Recently I was going through a box of my "keeper" books and came across some books from an old friend I'd met online way back in 1996 or so on what used to be known as the AOL Series Romance Message Board. That board has now closed, but many of the people who were part of that group up and moved to their own email loop we now affectionately call the Series Mafia Loop.

I picked up this book by Anne Eames, an author who used to write for Silhouette Desires, and I wondered what had happened to her. Was she still writing? Was she still a part of Romance Writers of America? I decided to Google her name and found a blog post that talked about how Anne and her husband, Bill, had heard a calling to help the people of South Africa after visiting the area. They took their life savings, packed their bags and moved to South Africa where they work with the poor and people afflicted with HIV/AIDS.

I was struck by how wonderful it was for them to hear their calling to let God work through their hands. I questioned whether I should contact Anne through her website. It had been nearly 10 years since we'd connected. Would she remember me? We'd never met face to face, only interacted through email. I took the next step and decided that reaching out to an old friend was the way to go. I'm so glad I did.

I'd like to dedicate this blog to the project Anne runs with her husband, Bill. The work they do in South Africa is much needed and goes a long way toward making life a little easier for those who are sick and don't have much. It reminds me of how truly blessed I am here in the United States.

Please visit the African Hope Crafts project at http://www.africanhopecrafts.org/. I've discovered some beautiful crafts that I'm looking into purchasing as Christmas presents. Maybe you will too. And it will go a long way toward helping a wonderful cause.

On another note, our very own CRAFTIE LADY, Pamela Tracy, is blogging over at the CRAFTIE LADIES OF ROMANCE blog today at http://www.craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/. Please go on over and visit the CRAFTIE LADIES OF ROMANCE website and introduce yourself to some new authors.

Many blessings, Lisa Mondello

eHarlequins 100,000 book challenge

We all read books. And I'll venture a guess that we all read A LOT of books. Why not take our passion for books and turn it into a great cause. As mentioned before on the CRAFTIE Ladies of Suspense blog, eHarlequin is having their 100,000 book challenge. You can read ANY book and post it to their forum in the eHarlequin community. Here's the link. http://community.eharlequin.com/book-challenge . Read a book from January 2008-December 2008, post it on the eHarlequin forum, and the book counts toward the total 100,000 books. When eHarlequin reaches that amazing number, they will donate 100,000 books to National Foundation for Family Literacy. It's a great cause and easy to help doing something we're already doing. I must admit I have not been good about participating in this great program, but I'm heading over there and posting some great books I've read over the last couple of weeks. And I give you the same challenge! If you've read any books at all, check out the link http://community.eharlequin.com/book-challenge and participate in the 100,000 book challenge. Remember, you can also leave a comment on this blog for a chance to win all 4 Love Inspired Suspense books for August, including my book, Her Only Protector, which is now available in stores and on eHarlequin. Until next time, many blessings, Lisa Mondello