New *Spooky* Contest!

‘Tis the season of Halloween, and to celebrate this auspicious time of spirits and spookiness, you could win two – yes, two! – signed books: one will be a hot-off-the-press copy of Haunted Hearts, by myself, and the other will be a copy of From Darkness: An Anthology, which features my good friend and critique partner Nell Dixon. Your prize parcel will also include pens, notepads, fridge magnets, bookmarks and some spooky candy!

Cue Me In, a novella by Nell Dixon, features in "From Darkness", a spooky anthology published by By Grace Publishing.

Fae Heath wants to be on TV, but not just in any show. She wants to become one of the presenters on Ghost UK, the leading show on supposed paranormal activity. With the reluctant help of her sister Izzy she intends to win the TV company’s competition to find a new presenter. Tall, slim, blonde and with a fabulous pair of kick-ass leather boots, how can she fail?

Haunted Hearts by Jessica Raymond is a romance novel with paranormal elements, published by Moonlit Romance.

When Beth Albright comes to Hoblington Grange to perform a paranormal investigation, she is blissfully unaware that her client is Sam Aston-Wilkes, her first love. In the gathering storm that greets her, the house she has come to examine seems almost alive, and the terrible pressure only grows when Sam reveals the heartbreaking truth about why he broke up with Beth. He seems determined to protect her by any means, even if he can't protect himself, yet she still just wants to solve his problems. Beth's doubts about whether she can fix the shattered heart of the man she never stopped loving begin to increase as the forces of the Grange, both past and present, close ranks to influence Sam and Beth's destiny. Will they make it through the storm, or, as those before them, will their love be doomed to fail?

To be in with a chance of winning this spooktacular prize, just answer the following question:

What kind of work does Beth do when she is not carrying out paranormal investigations? (Click here for a hint!)

Send your answer to mail@jessica-raymond.com, including the following details:

ANSWER

NAME

MAILING ADDRESS

EMAIL ADDRESS

HOW DID YOU FIND US?

Plus, go to Nell’s site and answer her question to gain an extra entry into the contest. Contest closes on 25th November 2006 and worldwide entries are welcome.

Good luck – and Happy Halloween!

Haunted Hearts is OUT!

Huzzah, what a joyous day! Haunted Hearts is now on release from Moonlit Romance! You can purchase a downloadable e-book copy in either PDF, HTML, or Mobipocket format, or you can order a print paperback. The link to purchase is here!

In other news, this weekend some of the Moonlit Romance authors are participating in a writing workshop. Why not join us? Here are the details:

Unique Enterprises Writers' Workshop

Unique Enterprises, parent company of By Grace Publishing and Moonlit Romance, is proud to present our Writers' Workshop interactive website. We will be offering workshops on writing
romance on a quarterly basis.

Our first workshop will start Friday, October 20, 2006, and will conclude on Sunday, October 22, 2006. Our topics for this inaugural workshop are self-editing, writing techniques and characterization.

The site of our workshop is http://ueworkshop.wetpaint.com/. Wet Paint websites are designed to be interactive websites, but you must be a registered user with Wet Paint. You may sign up to be a registered user by going to the website given above and click on "join this community" in the page toolbox located in the upper right part of the site.

This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the craft of writing, get your work before Unique Enterprises editors and network with other authors of romance.

Maybe I'll see you there? :)

Final Day of Contest

Today (Friday 20th October) is the last day for entries into the contest that myself and Nell Dixon are running to celebrate the release of Fall in Love: An Anthology. All you need to do is answer a question on my website, and if you answer Nell's, too, you get another entry into the contest.

You can win: a signed copy of the anthology, a box of chocolates, a box of English Breakfast teabags, and other assorted goodies. If you'd like to enter, click here!

Come Chat With Me

Let's chat, let's chat away... etc.

Tomorrow there will be a chat in the Moonlit Romance chat-room (the link is on the homepage) to celebrate the release of my novel Haunted Hearts, published this month by Moonlit. It will be an hour long, from 2-3pm New York time (which equates to 7-8pm UK time).

Do join me, if you can, for chats, fun, and maybe a little prize giveaway!


Just finished reading: To Love, Honor and Defend by Beth Cornelison

I Left My Brain In Lichfield

This week has been mad and I don't know where my brain has gone. I can't retain any information and everything seems to be shooting past me unnoticed!

So, to summarize what I've been up to...

Last Saturday the Bloke and I went to Lichfield to attend author Phillipa Ashley's wine-tasting party in celebration of the release of her new book, Decent Exposure. Nell and her hubby were there, too, so we had a lovely time catching up and chatting and swapping little prezzies.

On the Sunday, we set off back down the motorway to a secret hotel my Bloke had booked as a birthday treat. It turned out to be the newly-refurbished Copthorne Reading, which was right on the edge of a 33-acre lake and very, very quiet. We had a gorgeous suite-room with complimentary bathrobes, free chocolates, a living area, and a massive balcony overlooking the lake! I recommend...

Monday was my birthday, so after heading home we spent the evening at my sister's with her fiance and my mum. I got some lovely presents (including a gorgeous little butterfly-patterned book bag from Paperchase) and we had a lovely meal.

I was back at work on Tuesday, with lots of typing and things to do because my boss and another colleague had just got back from the Frankfurt Book Fair. Then yesterday, the sis (who is getting married in a year's time), my mum, and sis's future mother-in-law set off to Birmingham for the National Wedding Show, which was good fun but tiring on the feet!

I really want to get started on my plans for my beach-themed novella (plus another novella idea I've had, which, for now, I'm calling "fax suspense"...), but I've been so busy this week that whenever I've had a moment to myself I've been catching up with laundry, or emails, or eating, or falling asleep.

On a separate note, some of you may have noticed that Haunted Hearts has not yet come up for purchase on the Moonlit Romance website. There have been a few technical difficulties, but the book should be up soon. As soon as it is I will put details and a link here on the blog as well as on my website.

And speaking of my website, don't forget that the contest Nell and I are running to celebrate the release of Fall in Love: An Anthology comes to a close on October 20th, so if you haven't entered, click here and get your entry in!

My Author Event is TODAY!

All right, this is a little late notice (Blogger wouldn't let me in earlier...), but today is my Author Event Day on the Moonlit Romance Readers Loop. This is a two-hour event, starting at 6pm UK tie (1pm New York time) and will involve excerpts from both Haunted Hearts and The Little Shop of Dreams, as well as chats and three great contests!

It's quick and easy to join the group by clicking on the above link. I hope to see you there!

Departing for a Party

So I have a new web browser now, and it sometimes insists on showing me archived pages of sites instead of the latest, updated ones, so I'm not entirely sure whether the link to buy Haunted Hearts is now up. Keep checking at the Moonlit Romance website!

Yesterday I went to a wedding-dress sale with my sister, who is getting married next year, and my mum. The Sis tried on four different dresses and kept laughing every time she looked in the mirror because "she felt like she was playing dress-up"! She looked beautiful, though, and it's so amazing to get a glimpse of how she's really going to look on the Big Day next year :D :D

I tried on a bridesmaid dress, a strapless Cadbury-purple satin gown with boned bodice and diamantes on it. It was a little much but the cut of it was reeeeally nice. I like trying dresses on. We should all do it more. It's fortunate that next week we're going to a huge wedding fair at the Birmingham NEC. Changing rooms, here we come!

Bloke and I are going away today, to attend a launch party in celebration of the release of my friend Phillipa Ashley's new Little Black Dress book, Decent Exposure. Nell's going too, so I'm expecting to have great fun.


We're booked into a lovely hotel with a lake in its grounds, and then tomorrow we're going to another hotel to celebrate my looming birthday, although I don' t know which hotel this is and where. I will tell you next week!

Introducing Fergus the Cat

Isn't it lovely???

I got this late last night, right before I was about to log off my laptop and go to bed. I hereby introduce you to Fergus the cat, who you can see here on the cover for Haunted Hearts. He is a cute yet mysterious character in my book (out this Friday!), and I hope you all like him.

I've also got some news on a couple of events. I'll be holding an Author Day/Evening (depending on your time zone) on the Moonlit Romance Reader Loop next Tuesday, 10th October, from 6-8 pm UK time (1-3 pm EST). This is a Yahoo group you can join quickly and easily by clicking on the above link. This two-hour event will be filled with chat, questions, fun, excerpts, and a few lovely little contests. I hope to see you there!

The second event will be my release chat at the Moonlit Romance chatroom, to celebrate the publication of Haunted Hearts. This will take place on Tuesday 17th October, from 7-8 pm UK time (2-3 pm EST). Do come along to chat with me and some of the other Moonlit authors!


Just finished reading: The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury

A *Different* Kind of Contest

Today I have another announcement, and for some reason, it's one that I've been very excited to make for a while. I'm not quite sure why, but here it is!

Contest!

Fall in Love with All Things English!

To celebrate the release of Fall in Love, the wonderful English-set anthology that myself and Nell Dixon have contributed to, we are holding a joint contest. You could win a hamper of goodies, including a signed print copy of the anthology, chocolate, English tea, and a host of other surprises.

For your chance to win, go to my website here and answer the question (there's a hint provided), sending your answer along with your name, email, and postal address to helen@nelldixon.com.

PLUS! If you visit Nell's website and answer her question as well, you'll get an extra entry and an extra chance of winning!

Contest ends on the 20th of October and is open internationally.

Look out for news tomorrow of my upcoming chats and author days!