Greetings. I am having a tremendously busy time at the dayjob and I’m also on deadline, aargh. So this will be a quick post, sorry!

Here’s the cover for Bespelling Jane Austen, the anthology headlined by Mary Balogh that’s coming out in October. Isn’t it cute! And yes, there will be textual interest–embossing on the red. I’m very excited about it.

We all picked a favorite Austen novel and “bespelled” it. Mary’s Almost Persuaded is a version of Persuasion with reincarnation; Susan Krinard‘s Blood and Prejudice (I think you know what that’s based on!) is set in modern day New York (with vampires); and Colleen Gleason takes the Gardella vampire hunters out for another spin in Northanger Castle. Mine, based on Emma, is Little To Hex Her, set in the gossipy village of contemporary Washington, DC. The title is based on the opening lines of Emma:

Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.

I’m very pleased that this book is being released at the same time as Jane and the Damned (HarperCollins) about Jane Austen and the sexy, amoral, decadent vampires of Georgian England. Oh, and there’s a French invasion too. I have a killer cover for that but it’s still under wraps…

I’m managing to do some reading on my commute, when I’m not falling asleep. I’m reading The Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan, a novel about the Brontes, which is phenomenal. It has already caused me to miss my stop. It’s released in the US as Charlotte and Emily: A Novel of the Brontes (dumb title, but a better cover than the UK version which is the one I have. And what about Anne?).

What are YOU reading this week?