A $4500 New Business Giveaway

If you have always dreamed of starting a new business or if your current business is in need of some assistance DESIGNHER BRANDS and friends are offering $4,500 worth of prizes to ONE LUCKY WINNER to help you get there.
The winner gets EVERYTHING listed below. Link to enter is below.
Its FREE and EASY to enter and there's no purchase required.

A website design of your choice from Avalon Rose worth at least $400

• A SEO package from Designher Brands worth over $400
• A $100 gift certificate to Brave Girls Club
• Three life coaching sessions from Here to There
• $50 to spend at The Crystal Cottage Boutique
• A fine art print {mailed to your doorstep!} from Everyday is a Holiday
• A giant handmade cork board from For the Love of Junk {mailed to your doorstep!} in an antique frame
• $50 to spend at Lavender Fields
• A custom piece of altered art {mailed right to your doorstep!} from Upcycled Soul
• A FREE Gilded Girls Stash Society box from A Gilded Life {mailed right to your doorstep!}
• $60 to spend at AJ Bloom
• $75 to spend at Bella Rennie
• A FREE Goodie Box {mailed right to your door!} including: a red velvet flower brooch, pin with a jeweled center, a black ribbon rose necklace on a velvet cord accented with black feathers, a cluster of Caroline Alexander ribbon rose brooches (in lime, tobacco and putty), an upcycled ruffled denim flower pin, a black wristlet handbag with a sequined bracelet carry and a felted red rose pin from Caroline Alexander
• Six FREE exclusive Quilt patterns from For the Love Designs
• FREE professional stock images to use on your blog from Jennifer Wolsey
• $40 worth of customizable monogram notecards from JWD Boutique
• $50 to spend at Mary Not Martha
• $50 to spend at Pansy Cottage & Garden
• FREE Master Pattern Collection from Snazziedrawers-bunches of boutique kids patterns

FREE ADVERTISING:

• in Romantic Homes Magazine Pink Pages
• in Stampington & Company Artisan Avenue
• on Avalon Rose Market Square
• Sidebar at Jenny Doh's Crescendoh
• Sidebar at Adored Before
• in Belle Inspirationmagazine

AND

• SIX FREE MONTHS at Shabby Lane Shops online boutique shopping mall

Custom, handmade jewelry from

• An Eras Ambiance
• Bittersweet Ridge
• Calico Juno
• La Vie Charmante

• A FREE gift bag from Julee Ireland worth over $100
• A FREE custom designed crown from Blooming Hairlooms
• TWO FREE NY TIMES BESTSELLING BOOKS signed by authors Debbie Macomber, Christina Skye and Susan Mallery

RULES FOR ENTRY ARE HERE

G O O D   L U C K to all!

Catching up with the super talented Robyn Carr in LA

So I was walking through the hotel lobby one afternoon, tired from too much chocolate, shopping and chatting.

Um, research.
Networking and research.

Then suddenly I caught the scent of brewing coffee and desperately followed.
I had my sights set on a tall half-caf latte.  Instead I found something even better!

I found Robyn Carr, and we immediately started talking about her hugely popular Virgin River series set in rugged northern California, an area that I love.  Her newest book in the series is HARVEST MOON.  Pick up a copy and see why readers are falling in love with Virgin River!

I was thrilled when Robyn took time out of her hectic convention schedule to sit for a little video.  We discussed her continuing books in the Virgin River series and her new book due out for Christmas.  (You can find all the details at Robyn's website.
She's on Facebook too.)

While we talked, I worked a bit of scarf magic.

Hint--she looks amazing in purple.

Watch and see.
You can do this too!
Keep at eye up near the collar.  That is where the real magic starts.

:-)

The best thing is, you can do all of this with our own scarf.
Just fold in the collar, drape the scarf on the diagonal and use a clip or pin to
hold it in place.

A little bit of magic.

Stay tuned for more videos.
And don't forget to pick up a copy of HARVEST MOON!



                       Christina

A secret mission

Amidst all the parties and the book plotting and the workhops,

Amidst all the shopping  research and the networking, I stumbled on a cool idea.

It has to do with scarves.

Huh? You're probably saying, "What scarves?"

I'm going to be brutally honest here.  How many of us know how to work a scarf?  I mean really work a scarf?

And how many of you have about two dozen scarves jammed somewhere in the back of your closet, forlorn and forgotten?

Go on, raise your hand.  Be honest.

So that is the hard question.  How is that so many of us are afraid of such a simple yet elegant accessory.  And why don't we know how to toss a swatch of silk over our shoulders with that wonderfully indefinable confidence and authority that any self-respecting Frenchwoman seems blessed with at birth?

It's simply not fair!

And that is how my mission began.  Because I am on a mission.  I have learned some of the secrets of the scarf.  They whisper their magic when I am very lucky.  And in LA I saw the results and captured them in videos.

The results were...well, pretty darned amazing.

And you are going to see those scarf videos right here.

Blink?

You are looking confused.  Scarf videos?

That's right.  Why should the French have all the fun?  Why should we miss out on all that cool elegance and easy grace?

In LA half a dozen lovely authors and publishing figures agreed to sit for the camera and let me work some scarf magic on them.  The results were spectacular.  And the best part?

You can do exactly the same thing yourself, using scarves that are probably hanging in the back of your closet right now!

Wait--you don't believe me?

Watch and see.

Here's Sue Grimshaw to show us the lovely results!

Congratulations to Sue on her move from Borders to Random House.  She has all kinds of exciting projects planned.
Drop by Romance @ Random at Facebook and join the fun.
Books and romance 24/7!

And doesn't she look wonderful in that scarf?



        

Romantic Times-- Chapter Two

The parties were great.
The cakes?
Check.  And check.

The talkfests?  Wonderful.

And on Friday... ahem....I happened to win an award.  Someone thinks that I am a writing Pioneer.

What a lovely thought.  I was bowled over.

And very honored.

I stashed the award fast, before they could change their minds!

No point in tempting fate.

But....the biggest event of the weekend was the ginormous Book Fair on Saturday.
Did I mention authors?  400 authors??  Convention Overload!

It was pretty overwhelming, actually.  There was noise and laughter.  Even screaming.  What an energy level.  And it was a first for me to have readers bring their Kindles for me to sign since they left their books at home.  I'll admit that it felt a little surreal to be signing a leather covered reading device!  But very cool nevertheless.

What a treat to see some wonderful booksellers, too.  I don't get to see them often enough.
One even came all the way from Thailand.  (More about her later too!)

Then I ran into talented and always funny Elizabeth Boyle, who kept me laughing, as always.

Next?  A little shopping retail therapy consumer research with the super witty Kim Adams of SOS America and the charming Jane Elissa.

 

Yes, you caught us in some serious shopping.
Um, Research.  That's right, it was product and clothing research for my next book.  Research.  Book research.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Next I got to chat with wonderful RT contemporary and paranormal reviewer, Jill Smith, who looked so elegant in her ruana and crocheted scarf.

Plus I got to wear a $1000 turquoise necklace that gave me seriously larcenous thoughts.
Isn't it gorgeous?  I mean seriously.  Gor--geous.


If I look distracted, it's because I'm thinking really hard, wondering if I can lunge through the crowd and make a break for it before someone tackles me in the lobby.

Alas, the answer is no.  And the necklace goes back to its very lucky owner.  (More about her in a future post....)

You meet the best people at a Romantic Times Convention!


Then I had the thrill of seeing the stunning Dianne Moggy of Harlequin model my own knitted scarf design.  Isn't it lovely on her?

Can you see why I mention....Convention Overload?
:-)

Clearly, I will be in Chicago next year.

~Christina

If you like books, LA was the place to be!

It seemed as if anyone who had an interest in books – publishers, agents, writers and readers – ventured West last week.  Everywhere you went, you were bound to run into old friends and new friends. Even complete strangers who felt like new friends!

There was an air of giddy excitement on the hotel meeting floors and the certainty that you might meet your favorite author (over 400 of them!) at any moment. There were over 100 workshops for writers on subjects that ranged from paranormal plotting and crime writing to self-publishing, blogging and writing YA (Young adult) fiction.  You could see a live-action fighting demonstration as well as tactical canine handling by a team from the Los Angeles Field Office of the ATF.  Melissa Marr moderated a panel on girl power, feminism and the YA Revolution.  Very cool! 

There was a wonderful, inspiring Military Mixer with Kathryn Falk, Kim Adams and SOS America, honoring special guests and local military families.    

There was a Steampunk Social.  There was a Bollywood party.

Bestselling authors Eileen Dreyer, Cathy Maxwell and Patricia Rice gave sage insider tips on how to bump up your characterization.  Plastic elephant noses were involved as teaching aids, I am told.  That workshop alone would have been worth the price of admission!

I mean, seriously?

Where else would you get to stand next to Dean Koontz, chat with Catherine Coulter and learn about new cross-genre vampire literature from Melissa Marr?  And all under one roof?

And yes, there were cakes involved.  Luscious, beautiful cakes.

And more cakes....   Mostly chocolate.  

This was definitely the place to be.

For me, the real excitement was catching up with writing friends, wonderful booksellers and enthusiastic readers whom I see far too rarely. (Email is great, but it's just not the same.)  And the parties ran non-stop from morning to night.  Every night.

Until very, very late at night.  With alcohol and chocolate.  With tea and cookies. 

Ahem.

Amazing.  That's all I can say.  Well, actually I can say a whole lot more.  And I will.  So please stay tuned..... 

                        Christina 

It's Almost Here!

Hello friends!

We’ve been hard at work, collaborating on a new book and are so excited to be able to share it with you. The Knitting Diaries is set to hit the book stores this weekend!  If you’d like a chance to win a signed copy of our book, leave us a comment below!

 

~Debbie Macomber, Susan Mallery and Christina Syke