The End of the Beginning

Maggie Robinson Means Romance. The title started out as a mistake when I was registering on Blogger and then I just ran with it, figuring no one would ever read my blog anyway. I was wrong! Now, almost three years later, I'm getting ready to move on and I hope to drag as many of you with me as I can to my new home. You will be relieved to know I still mean romance, but it's not in the header to make you roll your eyes anymore. ;)

I'm so happy that Frauke Spanuth of Croco Designs has launched the official, elegant websites for Maggie Robinson and Margaret Rowe

Both are Dot NET sites. I will still be blogging, for how can I shut up? To celebrate , for everyone who links to my new site and/or comments on my first offical post on the new blog (to be entitled First Official Post...how original)and/or signs up for the newsletter and/or tweets the grand unveiling this week, I promise a special something when I get my special somethings. An arc? A bookmark? A coverflat? Something else rare and valuable? Only time will tell. :)

So, please bookmark and visit www.maggierobinson.net/blog if you want to see how things are going. This is my last post on MRMR. Sniff. I'll miss my wistful little rose-bedecked woman that Haven Rich designed for me. Thank you so much for sharing the journey thus far with me. See you on the Web!

Editricks

Yesterday I sent off the copy edits for Mistress by Mistake. I spent about 10 hours on Wednesday reading every single word---again, for the zillionth time---and was so impressed with my copy editor. She (he?) caught all sorts of stupid things. Me for be? Heaving for leaving (honest)? The marks were an interesting secret code, and my favorite is 'stet'---let it stand. I did write that a few times, but mostly the copy editor was right. So whoever you are, thanks a bunch. While there may yet be mistakes (did you know that Persian rugmakers always made a deliberate mistake in their pattern to show humility because only Allah is perfect?), it won't be for lack of attention to detail.

I laughed at the funny parts. And I cried at the end, as if somebody else wrote the story. I hope you will too!

Baby Steps

1. Rented post office box. Hope I don't lose the keys.

2. Ordered address labels with new post office box #.

3. Ordered business cards.

4. Receiving copyedits for Mistress by Mistake next week!

5. Working on cover copy for Any Wicked Thing.

6. 65,000 words on Master of Sin as of Sunday. Slooooww.

7. Buying ad with other Bradford authors in June RT.

8. Was quoted in December issue of RT (p.30*g*).

9. Reserved room in Gaylord Opryland Hotel for RWA.

10. Set up new desk and managed to re-plug-in the computer correctly.

11. Changed my Twitter (above right) and MySpace backgrounds, not that I use either very often. I'm all about the dark, rich reds now...so passionate, LOL.

12. Margaret Rowe site almost ready! (Tiny sneak peek at banner, left)

13. Pinching self on a daily basis.

What are you doing?

Tempting Eden Cover Copy

You know what the front looks like (see below). As promised some time ago, here's the back cover copy for Tempting Eden:

Set against the backdrop of Regency England comes a scorching new novel about a perfect gentleman and the imperfect woman who makes him forget all his good intentions.

Eden Emery is no stranger to sin. To keep her sister safe from harm, she’s paid a steep price with her body—and very nearly lost her soul. But when Baron Ivor Hartford, the very Devil himself finally dies, her troubles are far from over.

Major Stuart Hartford, the late baron’s nephew, is in the market for an honorable wife, but first he has to take care of the matter of his Uncle Ivor’s ward—a young woman who makes him question the virtue of being proper. For the passion she incites burns away his inhibitions and inflames his heart.

But Eden has vowed to never again cede her destiny to a man. And Hart is left with no choice but to tempt the temptress herself, to show the woman he longs to possess forever that passion can heal, that the sins of the past can be overcome, and that submission can be the greatest power of all.

OMG Part Deux

Last Friday, I (Maggie Robinson) got the beautiful Mistress by Mistake cover. This Friday, I (Margaret Rowe) got the absolutely tempting, equally beautiful cover for Tempting Eden, my June 2010 Berkley Heat release. I feel overwhelmed and grateful and giddy. Kudos to my editor Kate Seaver and the Berkley art department. The cover gods have got me covered! Thanks so much to everyone who had a hand in creating this exquisite cover. I only hope my words will live up to the beauty outside.

Somehow, I don't think next Friday can top the past two, LOL.

OMG

Here is the gorgeous cover for my April 27, 2010 release Mistress by Mistake!!! I could not be more excited! Thank you cover designer Kristine Mills-Noble, illustrator Alan Ayers, and my editor Megan Records at Kensington, who wrote the perfect, perfect cover copy.

My scanner did not quite pick up the rich reds and maroons. In person, the coverflat is darker, more raspberry than orange, absolutely exquisite. I'm off to have a little cry.

Progress Report

So, I'm back on my Scottish island with Andrew and Gemma in Master of Sin, and they are 45,000 words away from their happy ending if I'm aiming for 90,000. Half-way there, kids!

My websites are being worked on.

Mistress by Mistake is on Amazon, available for pre-order! (see sidebar)

Any Wicked Thing (a Margaret Rowe book) has a tentative publication date of January 2011 from Berkley.

I got sucked into Say Yes to the Dress and am so happy one of my daughters bought a beautiful wedding dress for $250 with no drama.

I'm spending my advance money at the dentist. Ah. the glamorous life of a writer.

What's new with you?

Quote of the Day

Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of sh!t.

One-Way Ticket to Madrid, Por Favor

Now, who can resist a poll like this? A public service announcement from MRMR.

WORLD'S WORST LOVERS
1. Germany (too smelly)

2. England (too lazy)

3. Sweden (too quick)

4. Holland (too dominating)

5. America (too rough)

6. Greece (too lovey-dovey)

7. Wales (too selfish)

8. Scotland (too loud)

9. Turkey (too sweaty)

10. Russia (too hairy)

WORLD'S BEST LOVERS
1. Spain

2. Brazil

3. Italy

4. France

5. Ireland

6. South Africa

7. Australia

8. New Zealand

9. Denmark

10. Canada

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1216621/Unhygienic-German-men-voted-worst-bed-lazy-English-come-second-battle-sheets.html?ITO=1490#ixzz0SRIj1j3f

Wicked Good

So what if you haven't bought your Halloween costume yet (I know you've snuck some candy)---aren't you in the mood for Christmas? Run right out and buy The Heart of Christmas, featuring Courtney Milan's This Wicked Gift. Deck those halls and bookshelves!

Persuasive

Another tempting Tessa Dare treat! A Lady of Persuasion releases today!

Wrap It Up

Yippee! Any Wicked Thing is predominantly finished. What does that mean, you say? It means that when I first started to write the book in May, I began each chapter with brief diary entries written by Sebastian Goddard, the Duke of Roxbury and Frederica Wells. Somewhere in the middle of the book, those diary entries disappeared. My dilemma now: do I add the missing ones, or delete the written ones? Time (and my crit partners) will tell. I'm going to step away for a short while and then revisit that remote Yorkshire castle to make sure all the loose ends are securely tied up. Then it will be back to my storm-tossed Scottish island and Master of Sin!