The Cover Gods Strike Once Again!

I was going to wait until my next website update on May 1st to unveil the new cover for THE RECRUIT, but of course, guess what? Yep, Amazon already has it up (I guess Random House has already had it up for 2 weeks!). I mentioned on FB how much I love this cover. I think it's my sexiest yet--and that's saying something! I love the pose, and it really feels like there's movement to it. Oh yea, the abs aren't too shabby either :) So what do you think of Kenneth?

How much do you know about your heritage?

One of the benefits of writing about real historical figures is that I receive emails from readers who are related to some of the people/clans I've written about. I've even received emails from Bruce descendants--which is really cool! (I've also had to apologize to a few Comyn and MacDougall descendants, LOL). Sometimes, the books have inspired readers to go digging deeper into the family genealogical charts.

I went through a period, probably around fifteen years ago, when I became really interested in genealogy. My aunt is the resident family historian, and using some of her information I filled out a fairly extensive family tree using Family Tree Maker software. Unfortunately, as that was about 5 computers ago (when floppy discs were still being used), I don't have the info at my fingertips anymore. I do recall that we could trace one of my ancestors back to early 16th C. Sweden. Since I didn't realize I had any Swedish ancestors that was pretty neat. :)

Alas, I was disappointed to find no illustrious relatives. Nor--I'm sure you will be shocked--am I the long lost grand-daughter of a prince, duke or earl. Sadly, I don't think I'll be inheriting any long lost family castles.

I did find out a few things:

--One of my great grandfather's fought in the American Revolution

--Another was a semi-professional baseball player (given that I married a baseball player I thought that was cool)

--My father's Irish ancestors did not come over during the potato famine, rather my ancestor was the younger brother, so when the family farm went to the elder, he took a boat to America.

--My mom's grandmother fled Mexico to get away from Pancho Villa. She made it over the border because she was blonde-haired, blue-eyed and could say "coca-cola." (Passed for American).

My father's mother was Scottish (Ferguson), but I don't know much about where they came from. That's on the list of things to research at some point. Ironically, there was a Ferguson who fought with Bruce and was reported with him when he fled to the Western Isles. I wanted to write about him in THE HAWK, but ran out of page space :)

Are you interested in genealogy? Do you have a resident family historian? How much do you know about your family? Any cool relatives?

The Saint is a NYT (#23) and USA Today (#72) Bestseller!

I'm cracking open the bubbly tonight--well, actually a Guinness--to celebrate THE SAINT's hitting the bestseller lists! Thank you all so much for your support. It's such a wonderful marker for an author, but it couldn't be done without you guys. So to all of you who have recommended the books to friends, spread the word on review sites or social networking, pre-ordered, ran out and bought a copy right away (or downloaded!), I truly appreciate it. Cheers from me!

It's Here!

I'm thrilled to be able to say that THE SAINT is now in stores! I hope you guys fall in love with Magnus as much as I did! As always, I love to hear where you see the book if you are out an about. I'm blogging over at Romance at Random today to celebrate the release, stop by if you get a chance.

Is there such a thing as too much reading?

One of our inside family jokes to our daughter is taken from the brilliant musical Matilda that we saw in Stratford-upon-Avon in Nov. 2010. Our 12 year old daughter has her nose in a book so often, we ask her why she can't be like a normal kid and watch telly (you can hear part of the song here).

Talk about ironic timing. I was thinking about writing this blog yesterday, and I opened up Yahoo this morning to see that Matilda has been nominated for 10 Oliver awards! We've been talking about it (raving!) since we saw the opening preview shows of the premier two years ago at the RSC. I think I've mentioned it on the blog before. It's the first musical I've ever been to where I hadn't heard any of the songs before, but absolutely fell in love with it. Really brilliant writing. If you've read the book or seen the movie with Danny Devito it's even better. When it crosses the pond to NY next year, I'm sure we won't be alone in my enthusiasm. We feel very fortunate to have caught it when it first opened (literally first few shows).

Anyway, back to reading. I did a poll on FB to see how much you read. I probably average 1-2 hours a day (average--some days will be much longer). Do you think it's possible to read too much?

And the Winner is . . .

(Insert drumroll) Sabrina Tyndall! Congratulations to Sabrina, and thank you all for the wonderful posts on the covers. I truly enjoy hearing everyone's favorites, and it's fun to see the love spread around.

Sabrina, to claim your prize please email me ASAP at the contact email on my website: http://www.monicamccarty.com/contact.php with your mailing address.

Guess what I have to give away?

Yes, waiting for me when I returned from Tahoe was a beautiful hot-off-the-presses copy of The Saint! I know it's only two weeks until release day, but I thought there might be someone out there who wouldn't mind an early copy? :)

Just tell me this: What is your favorite cover of mine? (Here they all are.)

All the normal contest rules apply (http://www.monicamccarty.com/contest.php#rules). To be eligible to win, you can leave your answer here on the blog, on Facebook, or on Twitter. I want to get it out soon, so you will only have until Wednesday at 5 pm PST. I'll choose a winner Wednesday night and (hopefully) pop it in the mail on Thursday.

THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!

The Difficult Heroine

I mentioned on Facebook that I celebrated "finishing" book #6 of the Highland Guard (The Recruit), by watching the romantic comedy Leap Year. It's one of my favorites. I just love Amy Adams--actually I kind of had her pictured in my mind looks-wise for Helen, the heroine in the almost-on-the-shelves The Saint :)

But in thinking about her character in Leap Year--which I love--I realized that she's one of those slightly snobby but sweet characters that is really hard to pull off in a novel. Kind of like Alicia Silverstone in Clueless. In a movie, I think it's a little easier to make that kind of a character likable. We get to SEE how cute Amy Adams is (or Alicia)--and they are both so darn cute!--that we as an audience can't help but like her. But I think it's harder to do in a book.

As I mentioned, I love this type of heroine. I took my stab with Caitrina Lamont in Highland Warrior. Whether I pulled it off, I guess, depends on the emails/reviews you read, LOL.

In my experience, both from reader email and the reviews, it seems to me that readers in general are much much less forgiving of a the heroine than they are of the hero. In books where I thought I might get some flack for the hero, it hasn't materialized, but if the heroine does anything unappealing or makes any bad choices, you can almost count on someone coming down on it. Part of me wonders if maybe it's because women (heroines) tend to react emotionally, which makes their actions/decisions easier to criticize. I'm not sure, just throwing it out there.

Gone with the Wind often appears on many readers' favorite romance lists--although I don't think it technically fits the definitely of genre romance (happy ending)--but I really can't see an author today being able to get away with a heroine like Scarlett O'Hara. Spoiled. Snobby. Manipulative. A little mean spirited (poor Sue Ellen!). Mercenary. I don't think most readers would tolerate this type of heroine. Yet, I love her, and I'd love to see a heroine like her. But I can almost hear the reviews and emails now, LOL.

Now take that type of character and make him a man and most readers will love him. Myself included. :)

So do you agree with me? Do you like the "difficult" heroine? Do you think readers are harder on heroines than they are on heroes? Do you do this yourself? (I think I do unconsciously).

Catching up with the Lunch Gang

Since you are probably tired of hearing about me, I thought it might be fun to hear what my fabulous (& talented) group of writer friends are up to. As most of you know from prior blogs (okay, prior bragging), I am very fortunate to have a great group of writer friends I rely on for everything from industry information, business advice, story plotting, brainstorming, cheerleading and sympathy. Oh yea, and just plain fun. We regularly get together about once a month for lunch, although we have plenty of email time in between. Honorable mention must go out to Candice Hern & Penny Williamson who both had the audacity to move on us. But we still miss them. :)

So here's what everyone is up to in alphabetical order:

Jami Alden when she's not helping me brainstorm the latest part of my book, Jami has been making a big splash in the world of self-publishing with her erotic novella Private Pleasures, which just spent some time in the top twenty of the bestselling nook list! She's also getting ready for the release of her third book in her romantic suspense trilogy Run From Fear which will be in stores later this month.

Bella Andre is the thirty-something wunderkind & posterchild for the brave new world of publishing. Think the Mark Zuckerberg of self-publishing and you get the picture. Sigh. I really don't know where to start. When she's not jet-setting to Denmark and London (refusing to take me!), she's building an empire. The fourth book of her bestselling Sullivan series will be released soon, and also--a little bird told me--we might be seeing another Bad Boys of Football book soon.

Carol Culver is also burning up the nook and kindle lists (sensing a theme around here?) with the self-publishing of her huge backlist of Harlequin/Silhouette books written under her pen name Carol Grace (Welcome to Paradise is free right now on kindle!). She also has great cozy mystery series from Berkley and Midnight Ink.

Barbara Freethy has been spending most of the last year on the New York Times Bestseller List. I think she's only been off for two or three weeks since April or May. She also hit #1 at some point--there aren't too many people who can write "#1 NY Times Best Seller" but she's one of them. This week it's the Sweetest Thing at #3! You know what a big deal the Times list is to us authors, but it's become so commonplace for Barbara that I sometimes forget to congratulate her--so here's a public congrats for this week, Barbara! She's also recently released an e-original novella, A Secret Wish, the first in a series I've been anxious for for a long time.

Tracy Grant is getting ready for the release of the second book Imperial Scandal (under the name Teresa Grant) in her fabulous new Regency historical fiction series, which started with Vienna Waltz. She's recently started on the third book, and has also joined the e-pub ranks by putting up her backlist of romances and historical fiction. Tracy was one of my favorite authors before I even met her, so you know where I stand on these books. Oh yea, and she is also a new mom. I think we are all living a bit vicariously right now through Tracy and baby Melanie (who is such a little cutie!).

Ann Mallory had a book out last fall, In Total Surrender, and is now working on summer 2012 release, as well as a top secret project. If I told you anything about it, I'd have to kill you. Or actually, I'd be killed.

Poppy Reiffin or MissPoppyR as she is known on Twitter is busy not only with her writing projects--Native American Women's Fiction--but also with her web development and e-book design company. Popular lady these days around these parts, as you can probably imagine.

Veronica Wolff my travel buddy has deserted me (& Scotland) lately for YA Vampires and small town Contemporary Romance--although I guess technically there is still a Scottish connection in the Vampire series :) She is currently working on the second book in her new Sierra Falls series (1st book out soon) and getting ready for the release of her second YA novel, Vampire's Kiss, which comes out in early March. I've absolutely been loving this series and hope to get my hands on book #3 soon. She's also getting ready for our big RT conference Spring Break Adventure with our daughters.

So that's the update. Oh yes, except for one person...I'm getting close to wrapping up book #6 in my Highland Guard series--the recently announced The Recruit--and getting excited for the release of book #5, The Saint, next month. I'm also suddenly dealing with a very big case of under-achieveritis after reading this blog :)

The i-Finger

Starting with the crash of my hard-drive about three years ago, I've made a complete platform switch into the world of Apple. With the exception of one computer (a laptop for my husband's work and to do Quicken on, which doesn't have a good mac program) all our household computers are macs. We have an embarrassing number of "i's" in the house--iphones, ipods, ipads, etc.

IMO the iphone is one of the most brilliantly designed technological tools of the last decade. I recommend it all the time. To me it's a total game changer. Extremely portable, with a wealth of tools available at the fingertips, easy to use . . . brilliant.

I don't feel the same way about the ipad. I sometimes feel as if I'm the only person in the world who doesn't really love it, LOL. It's "cool," but I just don't have the same love for it as I do my iphone. In many ways, it's just a bigger iphone without the phone, LOL. I don't like the reading experience at all--especially compared to my kindle. It's too heavy to hold comfortably in bed with one hand (unlike my kindle) and the backlit screen bugs me. It's great for poking around the internet and reading the morning newspapers (the USA Today App is brilliant). It's also great for watching movies on the plane and love HBO to Go for traveling. But as far as a productivity tool, I don't like it at all. I have a wireless keyboard, and I've attempted to write on it, but I much prefer a laptop and/or the alpha smart. Given the choice between an ipad or that small mac air, I'd take the latter every day of the week. And don't even get me started on flash!

But my biggest concern is for what I call the "ifinger." It happens a little bit with my iphone, but since I don't spend as much time "surfing" with it, I notice it MUCH more with the ipad. After a certain amount of time, the tip of my finger starts to feel numb. If I'm traveling and really using it a lot, I will actually start to get pain in my entire hand, stemming from using that finger too much. I try mixing up the fingers a little, but it doesn't seem to help much. My husband has noticed the same thing, so I know it's not just me :)

It really makes me worry about kids that are spending long amounts of time on these touch/finger devices. I've had discussions with my kids about limiting their time and paying attention to warning signs, but it makes me wonder what kinds of problems we are going to see down the road. I've actively discouraged their use of the ipad in favor of a desktop and/or laptop.

Do you have an ipad? So you love it? Any numb fingers around your house?

8 Weeks And Counting!

I was just getting my bookmark order ready for THE SAINT, and I realized it comes out 8 weeks from today! Wasn't it just yesterday that THE VIPER came out? Feels like it to me. I swear the time around the holidays just zooms by.

On a less fun subject and another approaching date, this weekend, in addition to enjoying the superbowl and working (deadline approaching), I'll be pulling my tax stuff together. Definitely the most depressing time of year. We use Quicken, and it's painfully easy to see where all the money "disappears" to. Oh well, at least I can drown my sorrows in plenty of Super Bowl beer. We're off to a friend's house for the annual Super Bowl party that we usually miss because we're skiing. Really looking forward to catching up with friends I haven't seen in a while.

Any Super Bowl festivities in your future or do you just like to watch the commercials on re-runs :) Anyone else dreading the tax bill this year? Please don't tell me you've already filed and are getting a refund.

The Lifeboat Test

I've been glued to the coverage of the Costa Concordia disaster the past few days and stunned by how the details have unraveled. It seems like there were failures on so many levels, and although it's difficult at this point to make any judgment of exactly "what happened"(so many stories to sort through) it seems that the Captain abandoned ship before all of the passengers had been evacuated. This, along with the number of reports that men were pushing past women and children to get off, really took me aback.

Now maybe it's because I spend way too much time reading (and writing) romance books with Alpha heroes, and it's probably not politically correct, but this feels so wrong to me. It's one of those situations where my modern woman sensibility can't explain my gut reaction. In a situation like the one that befell the Costa Concordia, I want men who to do the chivalrous thing and step aside for the women and children.

In the almost 100 years since the Titanic disaster (ironically the centennial is only a few months away), I think that might be one of the biggest changes. 100 years ago people didn't question the rightness of it--the men stepped aside. Not so anymore. I've seen a lot of comments from people saying: why should they? Maybe they're right. I'm not sure there is an intellectual explanation or one I can justify, and I'm sure I'd be begging my husband to come along with me in that situation, but it still somehow seems "wrong" to me.

I brought up the issue earlier on Facebook and mentioned that I kept thinking about my heroes and couldn't imagine Tor or Erik (or any one of them for that matter), jumping on a lifeboat before the women and children.

I've given an Alpha hero workshop with Jami Alden and Bella Andre a few times, and ironically one of the things I use to define what an Alpha hero means to me, is the lifeboat test. To me, an Alpha hero is the guy you most want on your lifeboat when the the apocalypse hits. He's the guy who knows what to do, stays calm under pressure, is tough, resilient, and a good leader. He's physically strong (to make you feel safe), capable, and dependable. In other words, he's Superman, Rambo, and MacGuyver all rolled into one--LOL. But what the Costa disaster points out is that for me, the guy I most want on my lifeboat is actually likely to be the last one to make it on!

What do you guys think of all this? Which member of the Highland Guard do you want on your lifeboat?

A Little Unveiling...

Thought I'd kick off the New Year by posting the new cover for THE SAINT (which you might have noticed on the sidebar--obviously Amazon is quicker than I am, LOL).

I knew they were tweaking the old cover (which is why I hadn't posted the first one), but I was thrilled to see a completely new pose/take on it. I've been touched by the Cover Gods yet again! But it's actually the fabulous people in the Art Department at Ballantine. They really put in overtime on this one, and I really appreciate it. I didn't love the way he was holding the axe in the first version, but this one is perfect. I also really like the misty background. And, uh, ya, the abs aren't bad either.

Before you ask, no I didn't get invited to the cover shoot. But I'm still hoping . . .

Happy New Year to everyone, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday break. I did a lot of writing, if not a lot of skiing. There was absolutely no snow in Tahoe.

Happy Holidays!

Decembers are always crazy, but this one seems to have been worse than normal. I've done quite a bit of traveling, which when combined with kids stuff, probably explains it. There is also the matter of a certain book that needs to get written! Deadlines don't care about the holidays, LOL.

Hope all of you are enjoying a great break with lots of family & friends. And for those of you like me who have to work--we can commiserate together.

Here's to a happy and prosperous New Year for us all! Can you believe it's almost 2012? Wasn't it just the millennium?

UPDATE: Sorry they're all gone

Cleaning Off the Bookshelf

I'm drowning in books! I realized I have a few extra copies of some of my books hanging around that need to find a home. Here's what I have: 3 copies of Highland Warrior, 2 copies of Highlander Unmasked, and 2 copies of The Hawk. I want to make this as simple as possible so my hubby can get them in the mail ASAP. If you want a copy send me your first two choices and your mailing address to the email here (make sure to check the "I'm a reader" box or it might get overlooked.) First come, first served :) Unfortunately, since my hubby is doing the mailing and wants to avoid the Post Office at all costs right now, only US addresses for this one. If you'd like it personalized let me know.

I also have some foreign copies of books to giveaway if anyone is interested in those (German and Spanish)--again only US addresses please.

I'm trying to think of a contest to do to giveaway a bunch of audio copies of THE HAWK as well, so look for that.

UPDATE: THE BOOKS ARE ALL GONE! Giveaway is over, thanks!

And the winners of the ARCs of RUN FROM FEAR are . . .

[Insert drumroll]

ShellyE who commented on the blog and Betty Kohler Hamilton who commented on Facebook!

Congratulations! Please send your mailing address to the email address on my website: http://www.monicamccarty.com/contact.php

Kicking off the Holidays Right! (With a Giveaway!)

The holidays are my favorite time of year and nothing sets the mood like getting together for a holiday luncheon with a fabulous group of friends. Actually, let me correct myself: there is nothing like getting together with a fabulous group of friends at Catherine Coulter's house for the holidays. To say it is decked out is an understatement. It's like walking into a winter wonderland. This picture shows the most miniscule part of it, but there are literally decorations everywhere--rugs, linens, wall-hangings, you name it. I am now officially in the holiday spirit!

So who are all those gorgeous women? From L to R: Barbara Freethy, Moi, Tracy Grant, Jami Alden, Catherine Coulter, Anne Mallory, Bella Andre and Veronica Wolff. Missing is Carol Culver who usually joins us but is traveling, and Penny Williamson who moved on us but we still miss. Pretty nice group of friends, huh? Not just one but two NYT #1 bestsellers in the group (Catherine & Barbara). Yes, I know, I pinch myself all the time at my luck. :) If you are wondering why Catherine is standing on a chair, it's because she always gives me a time for wearing high heels when I'm tall. This was to make her look not so petite in comparison, LOL.

To continue the holiday spirit theme, I thought it would be fun to giveaway two ARCs of Jami Alden's next release, Run From Fear, which hits stores in March. Jami is my CP, so you know how I feel about her books. We definitely share the same sensibility (or brain, LOL) when it comes to romance. This is the third book in her latest romantic trilogy. It's sexy, edgy, and has a hero to die for, what more could you want? All the usual rules apply (i.e. only one comment counts, must be 18 or over, must respond to email within 24 hours with snail mail addy, North America only, etc.). I will pick two winners from either the blog comments, Facebook comments or tweets.

During lunch, Catherine had the theme from Charlie Brown's Christmas playing. When she and the four(!) other ladies get together to decorate her house, that's what they listen to. Funny enough, Bella mentioned that it's the same music they play when they decorate. At our house, there are a couple favorites. I'm partial to John Denver's Rocky Mountain Christmas (it's what I remember from our family ski trips to Tahoe over the holidays), but my husband grew up with Johnny Mathis, so that's his holiday music of choice. I also like Elvis and Bing Crosby. Do you have any special holiday music that you like?

UPDATE: Oops, forgot to mention that I'll pick the two winners on Monday evening.

The Holidays Already?

Huh? What happened? I feel like Rip Van Winkle. Wasn't it just summer?

I say this every year, but this year the holidays REALLY crept up on me. I was walking around a local mall last weekend and saw the Santa house going up! It gave me that little roll of anxiousness in my stomach, knowing that (1) I haven't done any shopping (2) I need to work on Highland Guard #6 through the holidays or I'll be way behind (3) parties and parenting obligations will be multiplying (4) all kinds of travel plans to coordinate (5) someone has to pay for all this (6) OMG, I feel ill...

Anyway, the holidays officially start for me tomorrow. My kids will be off all of next week for Thanksgiving. I really like having the whole week off, it makes travel much easier. Last year we went to London, and I was suffering serious withdrawals early today reading my buddy Candice Hern's FB page (she's there this week). I do have some fun things planned that I'll tell you more about later, but basically the whole clan is getting together on my side. My parents, sister, brother and both of their families. In total there will be 16 of us.

What about you, any big plans for the week? Does your holiday start tomorrow? Have you done your shopping yet? (And if anyone has actually finished I don't want to hear about it! :)

So Where's the Honeymoon?

Honeymoons are a big part of getting married nowadays, and although it was a long time ago, I remember one first questions I would be asked after learning I was engaged was, "Where are you going on your honeymoon?"

But it's funny, honeymoons don't figure much in romances. I can count on one hand the books I recall that have a honeymoon epilogue. If anything it's usually the wedding. Maybe readers find them anticlimactic (LOL!).

I was fortunate enough to have a dream destination honeymoon, a place that I doubt we will ever top in terms of luxury. We went to a private island in Fiji, and it was amazing. If I was doing it again, I think I'd still go for the beach destination. Although my preferred "normal" travel destinations are more sight-seeing type places, a honeymoon feels a little different. Private, relaxing, pampering, that kind of thing.

So I thought it would be fun to pick your ultimate honeymoon destination. If you were planning a wedding (cough, cough, Julie) or doing it all over again and money was no object, where would you go?

Me? I'm thinking Tahiti or the Pitcairn Islands. Can you tell I'm a MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY fan (Clark Gable or Marlon Brando version--doesn't matter)?

The Red-Headed Hero

An interesting discussion on Twitter (is that what you call it?) came up a few weeks ago about the article in the paper stating that red-headed sperm donors were no longer needed--not enough demand. Now, as a mother of a red-headed girl, I can tell you that I LOVE my red-head and am very jealous of her hair. But I must admit, it's almost always the first thing people comment on when they see her.

We started going back and forth a little about whether red-headed guys were "hot." We came up with a short list of actors: Kevin McKidd, Max Martini, Damian Lewis, and a couple others.

I must admit, I've never contemplated doing a red-headed hero. I'm not sure why, but I've probably steered away partly because of fear that readers wouldn't like it. About the closest I got was Jamie Campbell, who had dark brown hair with some lingering red/auburn from boyhood.

But I do think there are some "hot" red-headed guys. The guys listed above, and my new discovery the guy who plays Mike on Homeland (Diego Klattenhoff) pictured above.

So what about you...what would you think if you read the back of the book and it said the hero had red hair. Would you put it down? Be honest, and I promise no stones will be thrown and no names taken, LOL.