It’s not hugely different in theme, but it’s much much neater.  Love, love, love.

www.imogenhowson.com

It also (because it’s WordPress and because MG is clever and loves me) has its own blog, which means, I’m afraid, it’s time to up sticks yet again and reset your bookmarks and feeds to the new address.  It should be super easy to subscribe to the feed, but let me know if you try and have problems!

Abstract and I also loved a talk by peace campaigner Bruce Kent, who was also wonderful, and inspiring.

The girls and Abstract, plus a friend of Sparkler’s and our vicar’s youngest daughter,  went to a whole bunch of concerts, including Beverly Knight, and we went to Sing-a-Long-a-Grease on Monday which was super fun.  And we drank good coffee and organic cider in The Jesus Arms (it’s meant to be a joke, honest!) and ate yummy yummy food.

I love Greenbelt.  It’s a really helpful time out for an awkward, doesn’t-quite-belong-anywhere, feminist, very-liberal-but-still-Christian person like me.  I wouldn’t miss it for anything, and it’s about the only thing I’d be willing to sleep in a tent for.

Ah yes, the sleeping in a tent.  Last year, at about two o’clock in the morning, I sent a sad tweet from my phone that read something like “Too cold to sleep. Sometimes I hate camping”.

This year I was determined to be warm.  And I’m happy to report that I succeeded.  The things that I need to keep warm at night in a tent turn out to be:

1. Long socks.
2. Leggings.
3. A long-sleeved top.
4. An adult-sized fleecy babygro (patterned black and white like a cow), with feet.
5. A pink body-warmer.
6. A red fleece jumper.
7. A dark red slanket, wrapped round my body and pulled over my head so I could breathe warm air.
8. An air bed.
9. A duvet.
10. Wellies for when I have to go outside the tent.
11. And, finally, sloe gin.  Not wine, because if you drink too much late at night you end up having to take off the duvet, slanket, jumper, body-warmer and babygro so you can go to the loo, and does that sound like fun?  But sloe gin is strong, sweet and extremely warming, and after you’ve had a couple of shots you can curl up in your multitudinous layers and sleep happily until the sun comes up the next morning.

I loved editing this.  It’s a romantic suspense with some really dark themes (including human trafficking and an Internet predator), but it’s lightened with humour (and of course lots of romance!) and Anne never lets it descend into the gruesome.

Anne’s got an interview at The Long and the Short of It up today, and on August 23rd there’ll be a chance to win a copy of Broken Angels at The Romance Studio Book-a-Day Giveaway, so make sure you visit!

Anne’s website is here, too, if you want to bookmark it.

As of tomorrow I’m officially on holiday for a whole ten days, so I’ve been working like mad all this week to get stuff cleared out of the way.

And finally, at three minutes past six this afternoon, my inbox looked like this (click to see the full glory):

Not forking out the dough for the RWA Conference this year, with evening wear, suits, high heels and whatever “business casual” means?

Not to worry! Romance Divas is hosting the

Not Going to Conference Conference…

The Conference You Don’t Have to Get Out of Bed For!

From July 28-31, come hang out with some terrific, savvy authors — and you don’t even have to brush your teeth (although, seriously, good dental hygiene gets you extra points).

We’ll be hosting panels on:

The Power of Three: A crit group tell-all (Paranormal)

Crystal Jordan

Patti O’Shea

Dayna Hart/Rowan Larke

The Lolitas of STEAMED! Present Writing the Steampunk Romance -more than leather corsets and brass goggles!

Marie-Claude Bourque

Theresa Meyers

Whips, Chains, Slings, Oh My: It Really Isn’t About the Toys (BDSM Erotica)

James Buchanan

Joey Hill

The Great Big YA Panel

Rhonda Stapleton

Shannon Delany

Kiersten White

Carrie Ryan

Linda Gerber

Saundra Mitchell

Lara Zielin

Brenna Yovanoff

Register for free at Romance Divas, then come join us on the forums for the discussions, as well as some terrific prizes:
Eden Bradley/Eve Berlin:
1) erotic e-books, THE SEEKING KISS and TEMPT ME TWICE.
2) a synopsis critique in any sub-genre of erotica/erotic romance.
Jax Cassidy:
1) erotic e-books, DEVIL’S HEART and BRUSH STROKES.
2) book cover design or banner ad
Kristen Painter:
copy of her e-book, ALL FIRED UP
Rhonda Stapleton:
1) STUPID CUPID YA Book trilogy
2) a proposal critique (1st 3 chapters and synopsis) for any genre of book, romance or not
K.B. Alan:
1) The choice of one of her e-books: PERFECT FORMATION, ALPHA TURNED or BOUND BY SUNLIGHT.
2) A $25 Barnes and Noble gift card.
Robin L. Rotham: Signed copies of BIG TEMPTATION, ALIEN OVERNIGHT, and ENEMY OVERNIGHT
AJ Chase: copies of e-book CAT AND MOUSE
Inez Kelley:
1) e-book package of both MYLA BY MOONLIGHT and SALOME AT SUNRISE
2) The complete Dirty Laundry Series (3 e-novellas) co-written by Ginny Glass aka Wordsugar and Inez Kelley
Kate Pearce:
1) a three chapter ~and~ synopsis critique-any erotic romance, paranormal romance or historical romance.
2) Winners choice, in either print or e-book format (if available), of a set of the Simply series (there are 5) ~or~ a set of the Cowboys (there are 3) ~or~ a copy of KISS OF THE ROSE-readers choice.
R.G. Alexander:
Winners choice of any two e-books from her Samhain or Ellora’s Cave back list
Nadia Lee:
Critique of 1st chapter & synopsis-paranormal or contemporary romance
Shelley Munro: Winners choice of any one her backlist books from Ellora’s Cave or Cerridwen Press
Ciar Cullen: Winner’s choice of any one e-book on her website.
Voirey Linger: A copy of her e-book RISKING ETERNITY
RF Long:
1) a submission package critique (letter, synopsis and 3 chapters)
2) e-books! (details TBA)
Crystal Jordan:
1) 1st chapter and synopsis critique
2) One copy of any e-book off her Samhain backlist (http://samhainpublis…/crystal-jordan)
3) One copy of IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (print or electronic, winner’s choice)
Jeannie Lin:
1) a first chapter critique, any genre
2) an official BUTTERFLY SWORDS souvenir charm
Elise Logan: Winner’s choice of any e-book from her backlist
Marguerite Labbe:
1) A critique of an m/m story
2) Signed copies of her m/m vampire trilogy MY HEART IS WITHIN YOU, HAUNTED BY YOUR SOUL and OUR SACRED BALANCE
Seeley DeBorn:
One jar of home made body or face scrub, customized to the winner’s preferences and skin type.
For example: Orange Spice Oatmeal, Coffee-Cocoa, Citrus Salt, Lavender Mint, Honey and Flax
Sela Carsen: a copy of her e-book CAROLINA WOLF
Hailey Edwards:
1) a copy of her sweet fantasy romance ebook, EVERLONG.
2) two five dollar MBaM gift cards
Charlotte McClain:
Copy of her two e-books, LOVE TO DECLARE and ROCK STAR’S RETREAT
Cynthia Justlin: (Golden Heart Finalist!) Proposal Critique (3 Chapters and synopsis)-any genre other than erotic
Lainey Bancroft:
1) signed copies of her contemporary romance, THE TROUBLE WITH TESSA and her chick lit romance COZUMEL KARMA
2) Proposal critique (3 chapters and a synopsis) any genre except Steampunk
Tina Burns-Publisher-Liquid Silver Books:
1) a critique of 1st 3 chapters & synopsis
2) 3 be-book prizes for 3 different winners! Winners choice of any one e-book download from LSB library.
Mima:
Winner’s choice of one e-book from her backlist-see her website for booklist.
Taneasha: handmade jewelry by our own Taneasha-details to come!
Barbara Sheridan:
1) Winners choice of one e-book from her backlist-see her website for booklist.
2) Critique of up to 20 pages of either M/M, or M/F romance or erotic romance in various subgenres (contemporary, historical, paranormal or suspense/mystery)
David Bridger:
A copy of his ebook BEAUTY AND THE BASTARD
Victoria Janssen:
3 print books TBA (whatever she finds at the RWA Conference)
Gemma Halliday:
Signed copy of SCANDAL SHEET
Jennifer Leeland/Jennifer McKenzie:
1) copy of her e-book MARKED FOR PLEASURE (Kindle version available upon request)
2) copy of her e-book MARKED FOR DESIRE (Releasing June 29th) (Kindle version available upon request)
3) copy of her e-books The Command Series (Trilogy)
4)copy of her BDSM e-book series (3 from TWRP and 1 from Samhain)
Emily Ryan-Davis:
1) Critique of novella-length (up to 30k) manuscript; any time period, m/f, menage, f/f (m/m not her area of expertise)
2) signed print copies of her anthology: MATING CALL, DRAGON DANCE and DRAGON BOUND
3) e-book copy of CHANGING THUMBELINA
Sabrina Darby:
1) Signed copy of her erotic historical novel, ON THESE SILKEN SHEETS
2) Critique of first thirty pages of any Regency (erotic or non erotic fine, but m/m outside my area of expertise)
Alina Morgan:
1) copy of her e-book The Twilight Deception
2) copy of her e-book The Shadow Unveiled
Debbie Mumford:
1) Critique of a synopsis
2) Winner’s choice of any e-book from her back list.
Kimberly Troutte:
1) copy of her e-book SOUL STEALER
2) copy of her e-book CATCH ME IN CASTILE
Sasha Devlin:
1 pair of hand made writing mitts or gloves-style and color TBD by the winner
Julia Knight
Winner’s choice of one copy of any of her books available in e-book format

However, that meant no work got done this afternoon, so now, at quarter past eight in the evening, Sparkler is at a friend’s birthday sleepover, Gloworm is making sand sculptures in the garden, Abstract is at the pub with a friend, and I…

…am working.

Fortunately other bloggers are more organised.  Posts are springing up about the RNA Conference, some which (yay!) mention me.  There are even pictures (click to enlarge).

I’ve totally stolen this picture from Romy Sommer’s blog, but I stopped short of stealing her blog post so you’ll need to go read it here:  http://romysommer.blogspot.com/2010/07/greenwich-day-4.html

You can also go see pictures of me in my gothic fairy dress at R.F. Long’s Facebook page.  I didn’t pull weird faces all conference, I promise.

I will give a better update later this week.

In the meantime, there’s an article on what not to do when you’re sending a submission to a publisher up on the Samhain Blog. I wrote it, but all the Samhain editors contributed, so thanks to Anne, Bethany, Heidi, Lindsey, Linda, Sasha, Tera and Jennifer, as well as ex-editors Deborah and Laurie. It still makes me giggle now!

Go read it: http://samhainpublishing.com/blog/2010/07/12/five-ways-to-get-rejected

I ran back to the house, grabbed a tea towel, then ran back to gather up the hedgehog (very carefully – they have prickles, did you know?).  He curled himself into a tight, tight ball, much tighter than I’d expected.  If you didn’t know you’d have thought he was actually ball shaped, with no feet or face or tummy at all.  Then I took him back to the house, showed Sparkler, and took him out to the garden to a nice quiet space under a bush.

At which point Xander and Willow noticed him.  They were, I’m sorry to say, terribly, sinisterly interested in him.  They poked him with their noses, prodded him, got chased away by me, then came circling back to prod him again.  The hedgehog, very wisely, stayed in his ball shape.  Eventually we got worried he would go into shock, though, after the trauma of tea-towel rescue and harassment by cat, so we took the cats away into the house, where they sadly prowled around looking for an open door, scratched at the bottom of the kitchen door in the hope that it would open, then curled up and went to sleep.

I took the hedgehog some water and catfood, then got back into the house to find a text from Gloworm reminding me to give him water and catfood not bread and milk.  Then I went back out and put a plank in the pond so if he falls in he’ll be able to get out again.

We’re very hedgehog friendly in this house!  Well, apart from the cats.

I’ve been writing this book for a year (I know, much too long, but I was working on Linked at the same time).  I need to thank my critique partners, MG Braden and Rowan Larke, also my chapter mate Stephanie Cage, who all read it, gave helpful feedback and some much-needed encouragement.  And my new editor, Anne Scott, who took me on after my previous editor left and said super-nice things about the book.

I don’t know if submitting to editors will ever get less nervewracking, but after six stories/books I definitely still haven’t got there!  When I emailed MG and Rowan to squee that Anne had accepted Blood of the Volcano, they both replied with versions of, “Well, duh.”  It’s nice they were so sure, but I really wasn’t.  And when I told The Model Auntie she asked if I’d known it would be accepted, to which I said OMG no!

It should be out in Spring 2011, with the print version coming out about a year later.  I have a great idea for the third in the series, plus a short free read I’m going to put up around the time of Blood of the Volcano‘s release.

Little unofficial blurb?  Yes!

Maenad, sworn virgin, instrument of the god’s vengeance—until she’s sent to kill the fugitive shapeshifter for whom she just might want to lose it all.

Maya has been a maenad half her life.  She hates the weakness of her human body, and lives for the temple ritual that transforms her into maenad form, ready to administer the vengeance of the volcano god.  Killing those who wield unholy gifts is not just her duty, but her delight.  When she’s sent to kill a fugitive shifter and, against all odds, he captures her, she finds herself living her worst nightmare: helpless and trapped in her despised human form.

Philos, shifter and empath, first fled the city of the volcano god years ago.  Now he’s committed to a war against the priests who have persecuted generations of people like him.  Unwilling captor of a maenad desperate to regain her power, he finds his empathy to be not so much a gift, as a terrible weakness.

The longer Maya spends with Philos the less she can see him as a monster who deserves to die.  The beginning of friendship with the man she was supposed to kill is bad enough, but she cannot risk feeling anything more.  Maenads are sworn virgins.  If she gives herself to Philos she will never regain the power she cannot bear to live without.