I've Moved!

If you have bookmarked my blog as being at www.annemcallister.com/blog you won't be here anyway. You will be where my regular ongoing content is and will be.

But those of you who have found my blog on blogspot and wonder why it's stagnating, please go to to Anne McAllister's Blog and find out what's going on now.

Thanks to blogspot for being such a great host. I have enjoyed being a part of the blogger group but as my blog has grown, it needs to be associated with my website.

Where I've Been

It seems like I do a lot of apologizing on this blog lately. And I'm doing it again, but life as I have recently come to know it has been getting in the way of regular posting.

My mother has been very ill and continues to be, and so I have not had the time to post -- or even to write the book I'm supposed to be writing -- that I would ordinarily have.

On top of that, the day after we came back from New York, my dear friend and traveling companion for the journey, Nancy the Cat Slayer, lost her son in an accident.

If there is anything worse than losing a parent by inches, it is losing a child in a matter of moments. He was the best friend of one of my sons for years and years.

Suffice to say, life around here has not be full of fun and games of late.

I will be putting together the last two weeks of April's worth of books for the Great Book Give-Away and I appreciate your patience. Rach, if you read this, I'm still in the process of getting your book mailed. Everyone else who has won a book so far, I've posted the last of them through March. I'm working on sending out those from the first two weeks of April.

Bear with me. We'll get there.

If you want one of the writing books, let me know. I've still got a couple of them left.

Cheers? Well, yes, it will be again sometime soon.

Oh, and big Hank is one today -- so there are bright spots in life.

New Cover for Demetrios's Book

Life seems to be getting back to what passes for normal in this neck of the woods. For the moment at least.

And one sign is that I actually had time to go looking for Demetrios and Anny's book cover. It used to be that someone from Toronto sent them. And they still will, if you remember to ask. I haven't had time to remember to ask.

But the other night, I was online and I thought, Hmmm . . . it comes out in UK next month. I'll have a look.

And there it was!

Am I pleased? Oh, yes.

Somehow the covers that look like they've been inspired by From Here to Eternity just work. They're intense, they're romantic. They're unlikely to introduce some incongruity -- though I do recall an Alp in my Bahamas on The Inconvenient Bride which was my other FHTE cover, and which, in spite of the Alp and the fact that most of the book took place in New York City, has always been one of my favorite covers.

This new one, now called The Virgin's Proposition, is lovely, too. At least in my mind. He looks enough like Demetrios to work for me (sadly, Raoul Bova doesn't do book cover modeling!) and she could be Anny.

What do you think?

I know they are changing the covers on Mills & Boon Moderns (which end up here in the US as Presents or Presents Extra) and I have seen the new ones. They are okay. This one is better. So my thanks to the artist whoever he/she is -- and the models, whoever they are -- for making me smile, for putting a good cover of Demetrios and Anny's book.

Great Book Giveaway -- Redux

The books for the Great Book Give-Away in April will be late coming to the contest page because my webmistress is now on vacation and due to circumstances beyond my control, I wasn't able to send her the list before she left.

I can, however, tell you the first two weeks' worth of books here, and the questions required to enter the drawing.

If you want to be eligible to win one of them, send your answer to me either from the bottom of the page at the "contact Anne" link or from my contest page. I will add your name to the list. Also, please include your name and snail mail address as well as the answer so I can just send out the books without having to track you down.

I'm still trying to catch up with everyone who won a book in March because I was gone for the last part of it and then those circumstances came along and I never got back here after March 31. So, my apologies for being late. I hope it won't happen again. I may need to ask you for a snail mail address if I don't already have one. It will only be used to send your book.

For the first week of April some of the books have to do with writing. So if you are a writer or interested in what writers read about when they are reading "how to" books and inspirational tomes, sign up to win one of the following books:

• Jessica Page Morrell, Writing Out the Storm
• Susan K Perry, Writing in Flow
• Chris Baty, No Plot? No Problem
• Jane Yoken, Take Joy
• Elizabeth Lyon, A Writer's Guide to Fiction
• Noah Lukeman, The Plot Thickens (there's some underlining in this one)
• Donald M Murray, Shoptalk

To enter the drawing, send me your name, address and answer to the following question:
In my mini-series Beware of Greeks, all of her heroes are Greek but one. I calls him my "honorary Greek tycoon" because he tried to take over The Santorini Bride until I gave him his own book. What's his name and what's the name of his book?


The second week we have:

• Anne McAllister, Antonides' Forbidden Wife
• Cecelia Ahern, If You Could See Me Now
• Hester Browne, The Finishing Touches
• Lucy Gordon, Farelli's Wife
• Barbara Metzger, The Hourglass
• Fiona Walker, Lots of Love
• Sherry Thomas, Delicious

To enter the drawing for this week's books, send me the answer to the following question (also include your name and snail mail address): I wrote a mini-series for Harlequin American called Quicksilver. There were five books in the initial series. Thirteen years later I wrote a sixth book which came out as a Desire. Who was the hero and what was the name of the book?

Remember, if you enter for one week in April and you don't win, you are automatically entered in all of April's drawings, so you are welcome to answer the question and get another entry, but your original will still qualify you for the entire month's drawings.

Mitch and Micah are eying the treat box eagerly, raring to go and pick winners.

I'm putting together the books for the rest of the month now. They should be posted sometime around the 15th. Heather The Webmistress will be back by then, tanned and rested (I hope), and she will add the above, plus the rest of the month to the contest page.

I must admit I'm re-reading bits and pieces of the writing books before I send them off, looking for inspiration for Yiannis and Edie's story. I know a lot about her, oddly. I know less about him.

He's the Savas Mystery Man -- last noticed to any degree by his family when I wrote Tallie and Elias's book, The Antonides Marriage Deal. Back then they still thought of him as a "forest ranger" because he'd worked for the National Forest Service a couple of summers while he was in college. That's a part of who he is -- or was. It's not who he is now.

Finding out who Yiannis is now is turning into a very interesting project. He owns a Porsche. An accomplished flirt, a notable playboy.

Yiannis?

Apparently.

Who knew? And why? What happened?

Ah, backstory.

We finalled!

Hey, Christo here!

Did you hear about the RITA nomination Nat and Anne and I got? Cool, yes?

I didn't know anything about the RITA contest, and Anne didn't bother to mention it before she went off to New York. So when a very nice woman began leaving messages on the answering machine, I listened to them, but I didn't know what she was talking about.

It wasn't until Anne called home later that night that she told The Prof and he told me. Nat was in NYC with Anne and Nancy the Cat Slayer doing weddings and chocolate tours and whatnot. Girl stuff.

But what I want to know is, how could Anne just go off and not tell me something might happen? How could she FORGET?

Boggles the mind.

She and Nat are home now. Nat brought chocolate and tales of amazing places we need to go next time we're in New York City. We can do that, but we're also going to a baseball game or two or maybe a hockey game, depending on the season.

Anne, who is out running errands today, said to tell you that she's got the blog on the Pink Heart Society for April 1, so if you want to find out what she did in NYC, you should check it out.

She is giving away her favorite chocolate confection there, too. She and Nat brought a bunch home because they think they are the neatest funniest seasonal chocolates ever.

Check 'em out. Leave a comment. You might win your very own Chirp N Dale!

Christo is a RITA finalist!

Hi from New York!

We've been having a fabulous time, and it isn't even wedding day yet. That's Saturday.

In the meantime, though, we've been wandering the city, getting reacquainted with old haunts, seeking out a few new ones, and generally enjoying ourselves.

Nancy the Cat Slayer (not!) has joined me for this trip as The Prof is proffing and can't possibly leave his classes (he did retire, but no one told him that!). NTCS is a good traveling companion and we manage to find fun things to do regularly.

Yesterday we went to the Brooklyn Museum which was wonderful. I'll tell you about it later, but I have more exciting news to share that I got when we returned.

I had an email from Anne Gracie congratulating Christo on his RITA nomination!

Turns out the RITA finalists we announced yesterday and ONE-NIGHT MISTRESS. . . CONVENIENT WIFE is one of them.

Christo is pleased. Natalie is pleased. I'm thrilled and delighted and honored. Not to mention amazed.

This year there are FOUR (count 'em) Presents and Presents Extra nominees. Besides Christo's book, Jane Porter, Jennie Lucas and Kelly Hunter all have finalists in the contemporary series category! It was a huge category -- over 250 entries, I've heard. So the competition was fierce. And to have so many books from the line is great news.

I'm going to celebrate with Christo today by taking him to the Pierpont Morgan Libary and checking it out. Never been there. I've heard it's wonderful. Natalie is up for the chocolate tour. But it's drizzling and promising worse, so I'm not sure we'll make that.

Back home on Wednesday!

NYC, Here I Come!

I'm off to a friend's wedding in New York City bright and early tomorrow morning. The wedding is Saturday so I get to have some time to enjoy the city first.

I wrote a piece on walking tours in NYC on the Pink Heart blog yesterday in anticipation of what I might be doing. There're all kinds of tours. I've done several, but never the chocolate tour! Or the tea tour! Both of those sound tempting -- and pricey. We'll see what happens.

I'll try to blog once or twice from there, but I'm not sure how much time I'll have. I should have more than when I'm home. My mother is staying here! And she's been, understandably, the focus of a lot of my attention in the past couple of months. I'm thinking of this trip as a bit of a breather.

And when I come home I am starting Yiannis's book. I need a bit more plot though before I get going on it. Maybe something will occur in New York.

Everyone behave while I'm away!

Happy St Patrick's Day

It's still St Patrick's Day here for a few more hours -- and in points further west. So I wish you the joy of the day.

My youngest granddaughter who believes in the joy of holidays, thinks it's a celebration in honor of one of her uncles.

Her dad says that all day long she's been telling everyone she meets, "Happy Uncle Patrick's Day!"

Sounds like a good idea to me.

I wish you the same, whether your name is Patrick or not.

I hope to be more timely in my blogging now that my mother is situated in an assisted living apartment and not moving from place to place on a nearly weekly basis, and I am not coughing my head off.

Next week I'm off to New York for a wedding. I'd actually forgotten because I'd made the reservations ages ago. I usually spend time ahead looking for things that will be going on in the city before I go. This time I made reservations to see one play back when I bought my plane ticket. And then life got interesting and I never got a chance to see what else might be happening.

If you have suggestions for things happening in the city now, please comment and let me know. Even if you haven't been there, but have ideas of good stuff to do, I'd love to hear about it. I've been to NYC lots of times, but there's always more to see and do than I ever have time for.

Suggest! I'd appreciate it. And you might well win one of the books in this week's Great Book Give-Away.

March Books for Great Book Give-Away

Apologies for my disappearance -- and Christo's, too. Everyone at our house got sick last week, even the fictional characters.

My mother ended up in Intensive Care and when her doctors finally decided she could leave the hospital, they gave me twenty minutes notice to find her a place to live that afternoon (she couldn't go home).

So I moved her -- and then I was flat on my back for five days. I'm now coughing vertically, but it's not much of an improvement. Tomorrow I have to move her again -- to what I hope will be her permanent digs. It's down two halls and around a corner from where she's been for the last week, but a nice bright apartment. I hope she likes it.

Christo is still under the weather, so I've given him the weekend off.

But I do have the list of the rest of the March Great Book Give-away books. Check out on my contest page what my webmistress Heather has dreamed up so that you qualify for drawings for the month.

When you send me your response, please do me the favor of putting your name, your postal address AND your email with your entry. The last two weeks' worth have somehow got truncated so that names are missing. Neither Heather nor I know what is going on. She's fussing and tinkering and muttering. I'm coughing.

As a result, no one is winning books. But they are all here and Mitch and Micah will be having a field day drawing all the winners every week. So don't forget to send in an entry.

The books I'm giving away in March are:

Books for the Great Book Give-Away

Fifth Week:

• Anne McAllister, Lessons from a Latin Lover
• Julie Anne Long, The Runaway Duke
• Carole Mortimer, The Duke's Cinderella Bride
• Jayne Ann Krentz, Lost & Found
• Nora Roberts, Key of Valor
• India Grey, Mistress: Hired for the Billionaire's Pleasure
• Susan Andersen, Just For Kicks

Sixth Week:

• Anne McAllister, Code of the West: The Cowboy's Code
• Margaret McDonagh, The Italian Doctor's Bride
• Trish Morey, The Greek Boss's Demand
• Meredith Duran, The Duke of Shadows
• Kate Walker, The Unexpected Child
• Sharron McClellan, Athena Force: Breathless
• Mary Balogh, Nicola Cornick, Courtney Milan, The Heart of Christmas

Seventh Week:

• Anne McAllister, A Cowboy's Secret
  
• Lucy Gordon, The Beauty and the Boss
• Eloisa James, Duchess By Night
• Rosy Thornton, More than Love Letters
• Carrie Bebris, Pride and Prescience
• Mary Kay Andrews, Deep Dish
• Nora Roberts, Black Rose

Eighth Week:

• Anne McAllister, Nathan's Child
• Lucy Gordon, Farelli's Wife
  
• Barbara Metzger, The Scandalous Life of a True Lady
• Rita Herron, Beneath the Badge
• Liz Fielding, Wedded in a Whirlwind
• Linda Winstead Jones, The Guardian
• Julia Quinn, To Catch an Heiress

Here Come The Grooms Winners!

Micah and Mitch (with a little help from Christo) picked a winner for him in this year's Here Come The Grooms! contest -- Dena W from Washington!

Congratulations, Dena. Your copy of Christo's book, One-Night Mistress...Convenient Wife is on its way to you.

Sid the cat has picked Nikos's winner -- Mary Ann D from Michigan. And Liz Fielding (or one of her minions) has picked Kal's winner -- Alison L from Scotland. They, too, will be receiving copies of Christo's book. The books went out this morning.

I've really enjoyed having Christo here to talk a bit while I was busy with the visiting family. I must say that a grandson's grin is a great way to start the day. I was so sad when he left yesterday. When I've downloaded the SD card from my camera, I'll share that grin with you.

And I think Christo may be back to blog later this week because 1) I have a cold and my brain feels like scrambled eggs and 2) my mother is back in the hospital and I've been going up there a lot, but now with the cold I don't dare, so I am trying to orchestrate things remotely (hahaha) and 3) I had George's copyedited ms to go over and what little brain function I did have, is gone.

So Christo, with his legal mind and razor-sharp intellect will be a lot better than me. Trust me.