Cathy P, Patricia, Irene, bn100, and Catherine L. I’ve sent you an email.
Thanks everyone for playing!
Janet
Posts in which we or our guests offer a giveaway.
Cathy P, Patricia, Irene, bn100, and Catherine L. I’ve sent you an email.
Thanks everyone for playing!
Janet
In all the delightful chaos of my life (but not as delightful as Ms. Jewel’s–all those dongles! It sounds rude) I have naturally dithered about promoting my new book A Certain Latitude which is now available on Kindle. Huzzah! And here’s the blurb:
1800—Allan Pendale, lawyer and the youngest son of the Earl of Frensham, is bound by ship for the West Indies, to impart the news to his estranged father that his mother has died. But he also has another mission—to find out the truth of his origins.
Miss Clarissa Onslowe is also on board, traveling to take up the role of governess to the daughter of the wealthy planter Mr. Lemarchand. There is nothing to keep her in England. An indiscretion five years before led to her reputation being ruined; her abolitionist family has disowned her and no gentleman would marry her now. But now she seeks redemption with her family by revealing the truth about the miserable lives of the slaves who work on the sugar plantations.
Clarissa’s previous encounter with love has left her aroused and restless, and Allan is a man for whom lust is a daily pastime; thrown together belowdecks during the long sea voyage, they embark on a sensual odyssey where no desire is left untested. But if they thought their exploration and ecstasy could not be bettered, then there are more pleasures to be taken and boundaries to be broken at their island destination—where “March” Lemarchand, sugar king and master of seduction, awaits them both…
You can read an excerpt here.
Now if all this sounds familiar, there was another book, six years ago (that’s about six centuries in the age of digital publishing and mass market fiction) called Forbidden Shores, by one Jane Lockwood, a name the publisher insisted I adopt to protect those who didn’t know my natural tendency to produce total filth finely crafted erotica. I got the rights back, rewrote, got a new cover, woohoo, we’re in business. (My first selfpubbing experience. It was educational.)
It’s delightful to be able to reinvent oneself and get the chance to spruce up a book that never quite worked. I just hope it works now. But hear for yourself. If you’re in the Greater Washington DC area, I’m reading at our new Lady Jane Salon this Saturday in Rockville along with Eliza Knight and Meredith Bond. Check it out. And enter the contest–I’m giving away five copies of A Certain Latitude.
Congratulations to the following winners of the Lady Dearing’s Masquerade audiobook!
Robin Greene, Lesley A, bn100, Julie, Jane A, Sheila C, Melody May, Cassie P, Billie Jo M, and Stacy
I will email you your download codes this evening, when I get back from the New Jersey Romance Writers conference. If you don’t get an email by Monday, please contact me at elena @ elenagreene.com (no spaces) and I’ll send it again.
I didn’t know much about audiobooks until this summer, when I had the pleasure of working with Robin Rowan, who narrated the audiobook version of Lady Dearing’s Masquerade.
I learned a lot and was incredibly impressed by what the narrators can do to make a book come alive in audio. There were a number of good auditions, but I ended up picking Robin because she did the best job at handling the full range of voices, from the heroine, Lady Dearing, to the many male characters including the hero, Sir Jeremy, and very importantly, the four children Lady Dearing “adopts” from the Foundling Hospital.
Robin was kind enough to answer some questions about the process of narrating this book.
What is it like to narrate a romance novel? How do you prepare to handle all the different characters’ voices?
I find one character (usually the heroine) that I can completely relate to, and then put myself in her situation, in her life, for the duration of the book. It isn’t always a woman, though. I think I especially enjoy the historical aspect of some of the romances I voice. I get to live in another time for a while. I hope the listeners are also transported to another time and can really feel that. I can visualize the characters so well—how they’re dressed, the setting they are in, the particular social mores they have to deal with in the book.
Was there anything particularly challenging about narrating this book?
I have honestly never done a complete book where all the characters and the narrator were British! I’ve done characters before, but I had to “become British” for this book. Did I drive my husband crazy staying in character all the time? Oh, yeah. And how do I prepare to narrate such a book? Why, watch all the Harry Potter movies, of course!
What did you most enjoy about narrating this book?
I could really sink my teeth into this story because of all the different stories and lives that finally merged at the end. And how much fun was it to get to be pompous Sir Digby Pettleworth and the wretched nephew Adolphus? I LIVE for these moments! Keep writing those awful and completely fun characters, Elena!
Thanks, Robin!
I’ll be giving away 10 free download codes from Audible for Lady Dearing’s Masquerade. Comment on this post between now and next Saturday, Oct 19th. I’ll announce the winners on Sunday, Oct 20th.
And check out the Youtube video below which includes a sample from the audiobook!
This summer I was so busy finishing Fly with a Rogue that I didn’t have time to read for pleasure. By September I was starting to suffer withdrawal symptoms! Now I’m taking a short break between my own projects to refill the well, taking some time to catch up on movies I’ve wanted to see and books I’ve wanted to read.
So it’s a happy coincidence that I’m also catching up on a task I’d put on my back burner: finishing our Risky Books page. We’ve been pretty good about putting the latest releases up in our “Featured Books” section of the right sidebar, but I wanted to get together a more comprehensive listing of our books. As I was working on the page, I was stunned anew by our collective creative output. The listing currently includes 99 titles, and I’m not even done putting in all of Amanda’s books!
Pictured in this post are just some of the backlist treasures listed at Risky Books. So if you’re looking for something new to read, do check it out!
Also I have a few unclaimed paperbacks left of Fly with a Rogue from my giveaway here and another giveaway. If you’d like a copy, please email me at elena @ elenagreene.com (no spaces) and I’ll send them out on a first come, first served basis.
Happy reading, everyone!