I know I’ve been MIA — blame it on the flu!  But I wanted to post info about my upcoming class next week:

Traveling to Wales — Dragons, Castles, and Books

* Presented by our resident globetrotter Jo Ann Ferguson

* Class Dates: February 1st thru February 14, 2010

* Fee  $15 for Non-Beau Monde Members & $10 for Members

Wales proudly claims to have more castles per square mile than any other country.  Those castles range from the Stone Age to the Victorian era…and some

of them are connected with the legends surrounding Merlin. Did someone mention dragons? How about music? The industrial revolution?

Medieval resistance armies? A prince who sailed to North America before Columbus? The first and best book town?

Find out about Wales, a charming land with ancient traditions, surrounded on three sides by the sea. In the many small towns, a traveler can visit buildings

that weren’t “victorianized”, losing what our Regency characters would have encountered. Whether you write Regencies or medievals, Wales offers beautiful settings and fascinating history. And did I mention that book town???

Sign up at: http://www.thebeaumonde.com/academe/

ImaJinn Books is offering a 40% discount off the retail price of all books at their site.  www.imajinnbooks.com  Here’s your chance to get Sea Wraith or one of my J.A. Ferguson paranormals or Jo Ann Ferguson Regencies at a great discount.  The sale goes through January 3, 2010.  Check out the titles over at www.joannferguson.com or at the ImaJinn site.

Also ImaJinn is giving away three (3) $50.00 Gift Certificates on December 12th.  All a reader has to do is fill out a reader Questionnaire that tells us what types of books they like to read and they’ll qualify for the drawing. 

Sea Wraith is out today.  It’s available at ImaJinn Books.

http://www.imajinnbooks.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=IB&Product_Code=SEA&Category_Code=NR7

It’s Sian Nethercott’s story, and the long awaited conclusion to the Nethercott Tales trilogy.

And here’s what it’s about:

ONE SPIRITED MISS . . .
Sian Nethercott wants to put her mistakes behind her. First, a man she agreed to marry, even though he did not touch her heart; then Lord Lastingham, the only man she has ever loved, even though he seems to have forgotten her. She travels to her sister’s house in Cornwall in order to paint a mural, but her trip is interrupted when she encounters a masked man named Wraith, a criminal whose brazen kiss thrills her. But she can’t forget the warning she received before she left Nethercott Castle: Beware of ghosts in Cornwall!

THREE DANGEROUS MEN . . .
Shocked to find Lord Lastingham in Cornwall where he intends to put a stop to Wraith and the other wreckers, Sian also meets Arthyn Trembeth, the curate in the tiny village of St. Gundred. All three men charm her in their unique ways, but it is Wraith who seems to be near whenever she finds herself in need of rescuing . . . or a soul-sapping kiss. Is he the ghost she was warned about? Even if he is, can she deny herself what she thought she would never find?

TOO MANY GHOSTS . . .
Sian and Wraith must come to trust each other—and their own hearts—as they battle a common enemy to protect all they hold dear . . . and have a ghost of a chance at love.

Yellow Rose Romance Writers is pleased to announce our November/December
workshop! All workshops are $15 for Yellow Rose members and $25 for
non-Yellow Rose members.

Starting November 30, Jo Ann Ferguson will present Physics of Time Travel.
This is a 2-week course. To register, go to
http://www.yellowroserwa.com/workshops.php
<http://www.yellowroserwa.com/workshops.php> and fill in the form. We accept
PayPal and check/money order. Registration deadline is November 29, 2009.

Physics of Time Travel

By Jo Ann Ferguson

November 30 - December 11

Readers love time travel stories. There’s nothing quite as romantic as two
lovers separated by centuries who find each other. But readers also expect
the stories to have a plausibility about them - a logical way to suspend
belief in the impossible. Learn some basics about “real” time travel (from
a non-physicist) and some ways to make readers come along on the
extraordinary journey with your characters. The two-week discussion will
provide examples from television, the movies, and novels.

About Jo Ann Ferguson:
Award-winning author Jo Ann Ferguson has a split writing personality. Jo Ann
Ferguson launched the new Regency line at ImaJinn (where her next book will
Gentleman’s Master, the next book in her popular Regency mysteries) as well
as being the author of best-selling historicals. J.A. Ferguson writes
paranormals for ImaJinn. Jocelyn Kelley’s next book is Sea Wraith, coming
this month. Jo Ann Brown novelized Thomas Kinkade’s The Christmas Cottage,
a movie starring Peter O’Toole that was released on DVD in November 2008.
Her 80+ titles are also published by Tudor, Ballantine, Zebra, Harper,
Warner, and Thorndike. The books have been translated into almost a dozen
languages and sold on every continent except Antarctica.

Jo Ann served as RWA’s president (1998-2000) and recently celebrated the
20th anniversary of her first pub in 2008. She has taught creative writing
for 17 years, including establishing courses in romance and sci fi/fantasy
writing at Brown University. Her websites are www.joannferguson.com and
www.jocelynkelley.com She also blogs at www.jocelynkelley.com/blog

I love days when I click off things on my to-do file.  Today I sent back the copy edited ms for Sea Wraith, the third book in the Nethercott Tales series.  It’s always a bittersweet experience.  I’ll have a chance to read it one final time in galleys, but soon the book will be published and I won’t be spending time with these characters any longer.  Of course, the nice thing is that my characters will be out there for readers to enjoy (hopefully!).

Don’t you just love this cover?  Mystery and danger and romance in Regency Cornwall!

I’m so excited to announce that I’ve been offered the opportunity to write the second book in the Patchwork Mysteries series from Guideposts Books.  The book is titled Time To Share, and I’ll be writing it as Jo Ann Brown.  It’s a cozy mystery series, and it’s set in the Berkshires.   The chance to write about small town New England  is so delightful!  I’ll post more info as I have it.

Like so many in the romance writing community today, I’m mourning the passing of my first editor and friend Kate Duffy.  Like so many in the romance writing community, I was one of the authors she launched.  That was way back in 1987 when she made a multi-book offer for my first books.  Her precise touch with editing and her brilliant sense of humor endeared this naive author to her immediately.  She has a way of making whomever she spoke to feel special, and every situation offered an opportunity for her wit which was as self-deprecating as it was incisive to the world of publishing.

This photo is over 20 years old, and it’s from the party for Tudor Books at the Seattle RWA National conference.  It’s how I’ll always remember Kate.  Smiling and by her author’s side.  Thanks, Kate for all you’ve done for all of us — writers and readers alike.  You’ll be missed because there’s no one else who can take your place.

I was asked that question a few months ago by an editor.  She went on to say that England has lords and ladies while Scotland has men in kilts.  My answer:  Wales has dragons.  Here’s one of my favorites.  It’s actually set in a roundabout (rotary for New Englanders, traffic circle for the rest of the US) in Carmarthen, Wales.

Today I tried sketching out the chapters for my fun project.  Three chapters which will give me an idea if the project is viable or just one of those great ideas that aren’t really meant to be written for publication.  I started Chapter One with a scene that was in my head when I woke up this morning.  Then I made my first mistake of the day.  I decided the story needed to start at a different place.  WRONG!!!  I wrote out most of that scene before I realized it wasn’t the right place to start the story.  The scene that had come out of my subconscious while I was sleeping was the right scene to begin the story (or so I think now).  Tomorrow, I will go back and slice out the offending scene, decide what parts of it — if any — need to be saved for another spot in the ms.   Yes, despite the missteps, this is still fun to work with.  It’s quite different from anything I’ve attempted before, but the challenge excites me.

And in the meantime, I’m having fun reading, too.  Right now, I’m reading Stone Heart by Charlie Fletcher on the recommendation of my writing friend (and new ImaJinn author) Karen Dennen.

I’m working on a project…just for the fun of it.  I have a contracted book I could be working on, but a few days ago I had a character come knocking on my brain.  She told me her name.  Now that’s really unusual for me.  My standard operating procedure is to come up with a concept and then fight for a name for my characters.  Not these.  They stepped right up and told me their names.  Everything in their story seems to be falling into place with ease.  Why?  Because I’m having fun with the characters and the plot.  Will I ever go further with it than writing up a truly bizarre synopsis/overview — not in story, but in structure?  At this point, I don’t know.  What I do know is that I’m glad Miranda and Jack came knocking on my brain.  It’s been a great way to spend a holiday weekend, and it’s a wonderful reminder about why I love my job.  I get to meet new people (if only in my head and on the computer screen) and learn about their adventures, their victories, their failures…and I can let them be all they want to be.  I can be swept away by their enthusiasm for their tale…and by mine.  Who knows what will happen with this idea?  A trunk book or a best-seller or something in-between?  Or just a fun exercise?  At this point it doesn’t matter…because I’m having fun with it!