Good Last Day of August, my lovely goddesses!!!!

Check this out:

Yup, it’s a live action book trailer made for MUCH ADO ABOUT MARRIAGE (on shelves today!). It was a fun and interesting process and I discovered just how difficult it is to capture the real flavor of a book in a movie, even in a tiny movie like this.

Which made me think about all of the books-to-movies I’ve seen and which I liked and which I didn’t.

Take Lord of the Rings, for example. I never made it through any of those books. I TRIED, mind you, but they just weren’t my cup of tea. But the movies? Loved them! The action and adventure and the characters, while all in the book, felt more fleshed out in the movies. If I had my choice, I’d ‘druther’ see the movie.

And then there was Interview with a Vampire. The book was phenom and so was the movie. I’m not sure which I’d druther here, because they were both excellent in their own way.

But then there was Little Women. I love that book and have yet to see a movie version that I’d druther. Even the famous one from way back when with Elizabeth Taylor didn’t work for me. They just never found the right Jo, so for me, I’d druther have the book.

When I went through the list of books-to-movies I’ve seen, I realized that it’s rare that I love BOTH the movie AND the book, it’s usually one or the other.

Which made me wonder, which movie interpretations have you guys enjoyed? So, just for fun, let’s play BOOK OR MOVIE, WHICH DID YOU DRUTHER?

BOOK OR MOVIE? DRUTHER?

9. Any others?

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I’m not superstitious. On any day of the week, I will step on cracks, walk under ladders, shrug at black cats crossing my path, and laugh at people who get panicky over a broken mirror.

Or I do until I want something really, really badly. And then, watch out because NO ONE can be as superstitious as me.

For instance, when my son’s football team was up for their regional championship, I became the Queen of Lucky Magicks. Every time I spilled salt, I tossed a pinch over my shoulder. Every time I saw a black cat, I made an invisible ‘X’ in the air. I kept my rabbit’s foot close and rubbed it every time I thought about it. And, just to be safe, I avoided all ladders, broken mirrors, and cracks in the sidewalk as if they could lash out and kill me on the spot.

If it COULD be bad luck, then I wanted no part of it.

His team won. It was the first time his school had beaten the other school in over 40 years, too, so I guess all of my superstitious actions paid off. Either that or it was the hundreds of hours that my son and his team mates put in during practices.

Nah. It was probably because of me.

There are two things I want really, really badly right this minute and, as I have no control over either, I can feel the itch of superstition beginning to tickle my ears.

First, I want the Packers to win the Superbowl. (Don’t laugh. Aaron Rodgers has come to save the Pack. He is the New and Improved and Younger and Less Egocentric Brett Favre.)

Second, I want my book, MUCH ADO ABOUT MARRIAGE (which is coming out tomorrow!) to be uber, fantastically, and magnificently well received.

Those are the two big things I’d love, love, LOVE to happen, so tonight I’m going to get out my two lucky horseshoes, a pressed four-leaf clover, and the anti-evil eye bracelet that Hot Cop bought me when we visited Istanbul, and I’m going to place those items in my purse so they can start spreading their positive vibes all over me and my hopes/dreams/and wishes.

I may leave my lucky rabbit’s foot in the drawer, though. He’s losing his hair due to all of the rubbin’ he’s been getting this week.

Are you superstitious? Do you use a rabbit’s foot? Avoid walking under ladders? Does it bother you to step on a crack? Is there anything you’re crossing your fingers about right now? And do you, like me, become more superstitious when you’re faced with something you can’t control?

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Summer lovin’ had me a blast…  Summer is officially here and so are all those fantastic beach reads we’ve been waiting for all year! What would summer fun be without a few great reads from our Goddesses? This month we’ve got something for both the contemporary and historical lovers. AND we’ve got some fantabulous prizes!

On June 29, Julia London brings us her latest contemporary, One Season of Sunshine. It follows last year’s Summer of Two Wishes. While it’s not a sequel, it does take us back to the lovable town of Cedar Springs, TX. Here’s a little about it:

Adopted as an infant, Jane Aaron longs to know the identity of her birth mother and why she gave her up. Her only clue is the name of the small Texas town where she was born, so she’s come to Cedar Springs for answers.

Handsome ad executive Asher Price lost his wife, the beautiful, mysterious Susanna, in a terrible car crash eighteen months ago. When he hires Jane as the nanny for his two children, sparks fly. Jane finds herself falling in love with both Asher and his children, but begins to suspect that Susanna was not the perfect mother and wife the family portrays her to have been.

As Jane gets closer and closer to finding out the truth about both her own and Susanna’s past, devastating secrets begin to emerge that may be more than anyone can bear. Will the truth bring Jane and Asher closer together or tear them apart forever?

Up next to satisfy your historical reading tooth, on July 6th Claudia brings us Daring a Duke, the fifth installment in the Courtesan Chronicles. It follows up The Courtesan’s Daughter, The Courtesan’s Secret, The Courtesan’s Wager and How to Dazzle a Duke. Read a bit about it:

Jane Elliot of New York is in London for an adventure. Unfortunately, her two brothers are also in London and quite determined that Jane have no such thing, which creates a few problems, and really is so typical of brothers.

What Jane did not expect was the Duke of Edenham to be quite so dashing and quite definitely the most handsome man she’d ever seen. She also did not expect to capture his attention upon the first look.

It was flattering, to be sure, but did Edenham have to be quite so bold with her two brothers looking on? Most inconvenient. How was a girl to have any sort of adventure at all with brothers snarling at her and a duke commanding her attention?

How? Why with Sophia Dalby’s help, that’s how. If there’s one thing Sophia believes it’s that every proper woman should have at least one very improper adventure.

We’ve got awesome prizes this month, too! One winner will receive the very last ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) of Daring a Duke and another will receive a copy of One Season of Sunshine just as soon as Julia receives her author copies. Talk about hot off the presses!

How do you enter, you ask! Just comment share what’s on your summer reading list this year by posting on this blog! We want to know which books are you most anxiously looking forward to read while you’re lounging poolside.

PS. Don’t forget–if you’re going to be at the RWA Annual Conference or will be in the Orlando, FL area on Wednesday, July 28, the Goddesses would love to see you at the Goddess Blogs Party! The shindig is from 8pm-10pm, directly after the Literacy Signing. Just RSVP to kimscastillo @msn.com.

Contest ends at midnight, Sunday, June 27. Winners will be chosen at random.

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I confess–I don’t really know how quickly Shakespeare wrote his plays. No one does. It was 400 years ago, for heaven’s sake! But I do know that he had 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and some other poems PUBLISHED in his short lifetime of 52 years (that doesn’t count anything he wrote that wasn’t published). That’s a substantial body of work. I’m around his age, and I’ve had only 29 novels, six novellas, and two short stories published. And I’m considered relatively prolific. Plus, none of my works approaches his genius.

As you can tell, despite all my picking on Will, I am a HUGE Shakespeare fan. I’ve read nearly all of the plays (some multiple times), and seen several productions, plus just about all of the movie adaptations. I think he was brilliant.

That said, I know that he’s an acquired taste. I personally think everyone should read him … but not in high school. And they shouldn’t start with the tragedies; they should start with a good rollicking comedy and work up to the hard stuff. I also think that seeing a production will endear you to him, since the 400-year-old language is harder to comprehend when you just read it.

So how do you feel about Shakespeare (it’s okay to hate him–I understand, really I do). If you hate him, why? If you love him, what is your favorite play? Favorite sonnet? What is your favorite production? Do you think that his status as one of the greatest authors ever is justified?

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: Goddess Karen Rose’s newest book, SILENT SCREAM, is out TODAY! Also, goddesses Nicole Jordan AND Suzanne Enoch have re-releases today, too!

A year ago, Canadian Kyle MacDonald set out to do the impossible: he was going to barter his way from a paperclip to a house.

And this week, he did it.

Here’s the paperclip he began with:

It’s a big paperclip, I’ll give you that. But a HOUSE? At the end of his bartering, he owned a speaking movie role, which was the key for gaining the house.

Know who owned the house? A town. That’s right a Canadian town gave Mr. MacDonald a house in exchange for a movie role. They’re holding auditions in a month or so and want the role to go to one of their own citizens as a publicity move.

As houses go, it’s a nice, two-story Canadian style house. I’d live in it and Mr. MacDonald is very happy to do so. Here’s a picture of the house:

Not bad coming from a large paperclip. I’ve bartered before, myself. I once donated naming a character in a book for a charity auction. And when I was in college, I used to proof papers for my friends in exchange for having my laundry done. Now, I trade dog sitting with various friends and I sometimes help out my friends who own a cafe. I just do that because I love their place, but they sometimes ‘pay’ me with a bottle of specialty wine.

I don’t barter as often now, but I have a friend who barters for everything. He does websites and ad work and he never pays for haircuts, coffee, meals out, car repair, clothes — you name it, and someone in town ‘owes’ him. He lives pretty lush, too!

Have you ever traded an item you owned for one that you wanted? Or perhaps you’ve worked in exchange for something other than money? If any of you need some help doing something, I do love good cupcakes.

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Whew! Its been a crazy, hectic couple of weeks. I know KarenR glossed over our Romantic Times (RT) Convention adventures so I thought I’d go into way more detail.

To begin, the week before RT, I was at the awesome Chicago North Spring Fling conference at the amazingly lovely Deerfield Hyatt Regency. The gals in the Chicago North chapter and this hotel always make me feel like a rock star! I want to give a shout out to Pamala Knight and June Sproat who worked their tails off this year. If any of you writers ever have a chance to attend this con, do. Julia Quinn was the luncheon speaker. Other great authors and dear friends attending were Courtney Milan, Erica Ridley, Elizabeth Hoyt, Jade Lee and Jenna Peterson. I road tripped up with my bff Lindsey Faber who is editor extradordinaire at Samhain Publishing. If any of you are in the Deerfield, IL area–Wild Fish has awesome sushi and Carson’s really does have the best ribs ever. North Pond in Lincoln Park has an AMAZING Sunday brunch.  Just a little FYI.

After Spring Fling we were home for two whole days (Where Riley abused me greatly! She was one ticked off little birdy.) before heading to Columbus, Ohio for the Romantic Times Convention.

It was so wonderful to see Goddess Sabrina and Karen Rose accept their awards! My good friends, Dakota Cassidy and Tessa Dare, also won. There was much celebrating afterwards!  After the awards, Karen R and I went out for THE most decadent and amazing meal EVER! Just the appetizer alone was drool-worthy. I didn’t know shrimp grew that big. LOL! We had the sweetest waitress who brought Karen a chocolate tart to celebrate her award.

Karen and I didn’t attend too many of the parties but Sabrina did! And did she ever look gorgeous. Va-va-va-voom! Sabrina and I did manage a good chat with Jeannie from Nancy Berland publicity and Cissy from Writerspace.

On Saturday morning Karen and I put on her Heroes & Villains event. Everyone had an awesome time playing “artiste”, “mime” and “buzz”. Karen had mounds of amazing pastries, chocolate roses, Karen Rose mugs and gorgeous bracelets that her daughter handmade. This week I’ll be putting tons of pictures up on Karen’s Facebook page. If you ever get a chance to play, do! Directly after the event it was time for the huge booksigning where Sabrina was sweet enough to let me hide out at her table. Thank goodness because that room was packed!

Did any of you attend Spring Fling or RT? Are you planning on attending the Romance Writers of America Conference in Orlando? If you are, let us know! We’re already planning our Goddess Party for after the Literacy Signing.

Most importantly, let’s catch up! What have you been up to the past couple of weeks while I’ve been on the road?

PS. Two of my fav pictures. 1. With my very own FROS and good buddy, Graham Brown. 2. FINALLY getting to meet Vicki Pettersson!

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WOW! Have you seen the Goddess line up for next Tuesday? Talk about reading nirvana! No matter what your favorite genre is, one of Goddesses will deliver. To celebrate this plethora of happily ever after’s, we’re busting out the prizes. If you’d like to win one of our four prizes get your guessing hat on.

To enter this month’s Fun Contest Saturday drawing, you’ll need to guess which one of our Goddess’s upcoming releases the following line comes from.

Do not post your guesses in the comments below. Email them to goddesscontest@gmail.com with the subject line MAY CONTEST. Please include your name here at Mt. Oly and your mailing address.

Your title choices are:

1. Chaos Bites by Lori Handeland
2. A Lady’s Guide to Improper Behavior by Suzanne Enoch
3. I Can See You by Karen Rose
4. Nothing But Trouble by Rachel Gibson

Your choices for the line are:

A. Time to piss her off and get her to leave.
B. Her red dress plunged daringly, the skirt frozen around her dangling legs.
C. “She’s not tinkering with witchcraft now, is she?”
D. I didn’t have to touch him to know his thoughts.

Get your guesses together and send them off! We’ll award four winners to receive a signed backlist book from Karen Rose, Lori Handeland, Rachel Gibson or Suzanne Enoch.

The contest will run until Midnight, Sunday, April 25.

What is everyone doing on this glorious Saturday? Do you use your week ends for catching up on housework or to relax and unwind?

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