I've been away from LJ, pulled in different directions by other social media, work, family, the usual.  So, I thought I'd catch up with y'all:

The edits on Castaway Dreams are done, and I have new bookmarks with this blurb: "A dour doc, a dizzy damsel, a darling (and potentially delicious) doggy.  Unlikely companions sharing adventure on a desert island. One may have fleas."

The publisher is talking about an early May release, but that would be for ebooks at their site (Amber Quill Press). I don't open up the publicity machine full throttle until the Kindle and print editions are out, usually a week or two later.

My sons were home for the beginning of Passover and we had a delightful time, with cooperative weather.  The elderly dachshund was thrilled to see them, and the feeling was mutual. Yofi's slowed down quite a bit now that she's nearly 14, but she still loves her morning walkies when it's not damp out.

The husband and I are fine, and looking forward to some summer traveling, mostly business, but that always includes seeing friends.

Now that I've finished Castaway Dreams I have to get back to work on [working title]The Hot Pirate's Secret Baby. I'm 44K words into it, so that leaves me somewhat comfortable about where the book's going. My goal now is to bring out a book a year, and if I can get this one done by the end of the year, I'll be on track.

I've been shouting this all over the blogosphere, so I apologize if you've already heard the news:

Castaway Dreams, my sixth historical romance, will be published in spring 2012 from Amber Quill Press.  As usual, there will be ebook and print editions.  If I had to describe CD in one sentence it would go something like this: "Gilligan's Island with only the Professor and Ginger, with a little bit of The Admirable Crichton mixed in."  There's an excerpt below the cut.

Castaway Dreams is the tale of Alexander Murray, the dour Scots surgeon first introduced in Sea Change.  In that book, he did not get the girl.  It's just as well, he and Charley Alcott would have bonded over dissecting cadavers and had a nice, but boring marriage.  Charley needed a pirate, and Alexander...well, read the excerpt.



( Read more... )

Once again I'm packing my bags with winter clothes for the annual trek to Boston, followed by a visit with my sons in NYC.  Here's my Boskone 49 Schedule:

Friday 18:00 - 19:00, Dressing the Parties--Regalia and Symbolism, Developing symbols and regalia in your worlds. Associations of colors, creatures. Displays of rank. Pilot patches. Japanese symbology and family. A lot of the systemization of heraldry is a very late development.  Any hints from SCA experience?    Has awareness of this increased from _Game of Thrones_?

Darlene Marshall (M), Leonid Korogodski, Walter H. Hunt, Ruth Sanderson

Friday 19:00 - 20:00, A Study of the Humours - Medieval Medicine--For thousands of years, learned doctors insisted that health and illness was governed by "the four humours" A look at how old ideas persisted and how they led to odd treatments like bleedings.

Laurie Mann  (M), Elaine Isaak, Darlene Marshall, Kenneth Schneyer, James D. Macdonald

Saturday 11:30 - 12:00, Reading: Darlene Marshall

Saturday 15:00 - 16:00, Trends in Young Adult Literature--Has the paranormal gotten to the end of the line?  Where is YA fiction going to now that Twilight and Harry Potter have wound down?

Darlene Marshall (M), Jack M. Haringa, Susan MacDonald, Leonid Korogodski, Jordan Hamessley

Sunday 10:00 - 11:00, Romantic Comedy in Science Fiction and Fantasy--What is romantic comedy?  What are examples in science fiction and fantasy?  Connie Willis says that the show _Primeval_ is a romcom...really?

Ellen Asher, Darlene Marshall, Toni L. P. Kelner 

The "M" next to my name means I'm the moderator for that panel.  Some of the other program participants are folks I've shared the dais with in the past, others are new to me.  I'm looking forward to this convention!  Should be a lot of good panels and good discussions.

Sea Change is the October Sizzling Book Club pick, and it's on sale with a 50% rebate through Saturday:


http://www.allromanceebooks.com/bookclub.html

Just in case you're not following the gazillion other social media sites eating up my writing time:

Sea Change made the Dear Author/Smart Bitches, Trashy Books bestseller list!  Dear Author also gave Sea Change a dazzling "Recommended" review and graded it B+.  I'll cheerfully take that, cause DA is not known for grade inflation.

Sea Change is now on sale at All Romance Ebooks as well as the publisher's site, Amazon, and is in the queue for Sony and Barnes & Noble ebook releases.  The paper edition is also available at Amazon and via the publisher.

Pirates and Privateers said of Sea Change: "5 stars! Sea Change is a fast-paced and captivating historical romance. The characters are well drawn and Marshall’s portrayal of Charley deftly shows how women of the period successfully passed themselves off as men while at the same time showing the difficulties and privations they faced in doing so. The depth of the author’s research enriches the story and transports the reader onto the ships and into the lush tropics of the Caribbean, be it in Jamaica or the brothel on Santa Rosa, during the War of 1812."

Finally, I heard from a soldier departing for Afghanistan.  She said she read my books at the public library when she was a student at UF, and was taking my newest releases with her for her deployment overseas.  I don't think I've received a fan letter that touched me as much as that one.  I write books that I term "mini-vacations", and I hope my stories give her a little getaway from the danger and troubles of serving in a warzone.  I also pray she returns safely to read for many more years.

Tonight is the annual Alachua County Library District Foundation annual meeting.  Ten years ago I was president of the Foundation.  I found my remarks from that annual meeting on September 14, 2001, and wanted to share them:


"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  I would like to begin today’s program with a few remarks.  I thought about canceling this meeting and luncheon because of the terrible events that have rocked our nation.  All of us are still reeling from what happened Tuesday, trying to deal with the tragedy and the massive loss of life.  But the more I thought about the idea of canceling, the more determined I became that we would meet today.

Those who attack our nation seek to destroy the very things that make our country great.  One of those things is free and open access to information and knowledge.  America’s public libraries are bedrock institutions that keep our freedoms alive and are a shining beacon to the rest of the world.  Terrorists don’t want open discussion of ideas, they don’t want people to have the freedom to read, freedom to study whatever they want, freedom to think, freedom to believe differently. 

We are here today because we believe in those freedoms, and the guarantees given in our Constitution.  Freedoms and guarantees backed by people of vision who gave of their time, their money and their knowledge to build our nation’s public libraries.  We are here today because of those who built for us, and we are here today to build for our children.

Please join me in a moment of silence in memory of those who have died, and in honor of those who are working now to protect and preserve our way of life."

I indulged myself yesterday, something I try not to do too often.  I happened to be at the mall because I needed a specific item from Sephora, and as I passed the Ann Taylor store I noticed they had their fall line out.  I'm a sucker for shopping in the autumn, because those are my best colors--bronze, olive, russet, gold, deep greens.

So I went in and started looking through the racks.  As usual, they had a sales associate on the spot to take my items and get the dressing room ready.  The last time I shopped at a major department store I was disappointed. The dressing rooms were messy, and even dirty (not dusted or vacuumed well). In addition, the sales clerks were not to be found and when I did locate one, she didn't know the merchandise.  I find myself enjoying shopping at smaller, boutique stores like Anne Taylor or White House, Black Market these days because of the service.

Anyway, when I went to pull out a skirt to try on, she took it from me and looked at it, then looked at me, and said those words one longs to hear: "Oh, honey, you need a smaller size.  This will be too large on you."

And she was right.  I've been working to lower my cholesterol since my physical, and told my doctor I wasn't going to go on meds, I was going to change my eating habits.  I haven't been back yet for the re-test (it hasn't been six months), but I have lost some weight.

I ended up buying two skirts (one in deep olive, one in black), a dark teal ruched top and a lovely olive and bronze knit dress I'm going to wear to the annual library foundation meeting Sunday night.

All in all it was a good day of hunting and gathering.

This was an excellent Worldcon for me, and for my alter ego as well.  I had five days of hanging out with some of the best writers and most amazing fans in the world.( Read more... )

Heading for Reno early Wednesday morning, and I hope to see many of you there!  The programming looks amazing and you'll see Darlene Marshall on various pirate-themed panels, along with a Jane Austen one.

In my mild-mannered secret identity I'll be working for smofbabe in Program Ops.

PS--if you want a signed copy of Sea Change (also available in electronic editions), let me know today, if at all possible.

Darlene's schedule is now available.  They have me paired with some top shelf talent, including GoH Tim Powers. Where you see the (M), I'm the moderator.  Kudos to the hard-working Program staff for putting together a great program, and they did it early enough for people to see and plan their schedules.

When I'm not being Darlene I'll be working in Program Ops, helping smofbabe, and I may be working the Hugos as well.  Stay tuned!

My Renovation (Worldcon 2011) Schedule

Thu 16:00 - 17:00, Arrrggh! Tall Tales versus History in Pirate Research

Pirate fiction is a popular sub-genre. While grounded in history, research about pirates can be tricky. Records are erratic and often exaggerated. What are some of the more reliable resources? And what about when the truth about pirates is stranger than its fiction?

Carrie Vaughn (M), Darlene Marshall, Tim Powers, John G. Hemry, A. C. Crispin

 

Fri 11:00 - 12:00, The Continuing Popularity of Jane Austen 

Jane Austen remains very popular, including among SF fans. Her books continue to be read, and they've spawned numerous movies as well as a number of spin off novels. The panel discusses Austen's continuing popularity.

Darlene Marshall (M), Brenda W. Clough, Ellen Asher, Madeleine E. Robins, Martha Wells

 

Fri 16:00 - 17:00, Elements of Romance in Speculative Fiction

Romantic stories focus on relationships and romantic love. Speculative fiction is often considered a

genre of ideas. What is the role of the romantic element in this genre of ideas? How does speculative fiction bring a fresh perspective to stories about emotion and relationships?

Darlene Marshall(M), Christina York, Lois McMaster Bujold, Sharon Shinn, Louise Marley

 

Fri 17:00 - 18:00, Pirates for Kids

Carrie Vaughn, Darlene Marshall, Tim Powers

 

Sun 12:00 - 13:00, Fashion Design for Memorable Pirates

One of the things that makes Jack Sparrow a particularly memorable pirate was his fashion sense. What are the essential elements of a good pirate costume? How to think beyond ruffled shirts and tri-corner hats.

Darlene Marshall(M), Karen Dick, Espana Sheriff, A. C. Crispin