ISBN!
A rare occurrence! Two posts in one day. I just had to share something, and this will likely reveal me as the gauche newbie that I am, but I don't care. Medallion Press has put my new ISBN up on their website. It means I'm REAL! They haven't changed their minds, and it isn't some dark plot to dangle the carrot of publication before me and then snatch it away. They were serious when they said they wanted to publish my book!
No cover yet, but a very nice version of my back cover blurb. I've copied it below:
"When secrets destroy, can love live on?
When her brief, disastrous marriage to a fortune hunter ends in scandal, Baronesse Sabina von Ziegler's vengeful adoptive father imprisons her in a cloister. Nine years later, however, following the teachings of the reformer Martin Luther, she arranges a daring escape. She is free at last--for the moment--a noblewoman of conscience, and has learned a lesson about trusting men she will never forget.
Wolfgang Behaim, a widowed commoner, is a tradition-bound printer from the rising middle class with a secret that threatens to destroy everything he holds dear. Burdened by the mysterious circumstances surrounding his father's death, he has no heart for love. Yet he finds himself suddenly betrothed to Sabina, the Baron von Ziegler's adopted daughter.
It is a marriage neither wants. Sabina again finds herself imprisoned by the Baron, in a dungeon this time, being slowly starved to death. Her only key to freedom is marriage to Wolf. And Wolf must marry Sabina, or the murderous Baron will reveal the secret from his past.
Though neither comprehends the dark purpose behind the Baron's machinations, they are forced into a union they never plan to consummate. But as they fight to discover the truth of the mysteries surrounding them, they find themselves challenged by a fiery passion they cannot resist. Can they overcome their past and find love even as lies, war, and an unexpected enemy conspire against them?"
If anyone wants to, you know, gaze at the holding space my book will occupy in 2008, you can go to the website, look under "Genres, Romance" and click on the Sapphire imprint for historicals. Then scroll way down to the bottom, where you'll see my "coming soon" holding space. Click on the title to see the blurb.
I feel like the Velveteen Rabbit! :-)
Coffeetime Romance Chat
Just wanted to let everyone know about a special opportunity in which I'm participating. A bunch of Medallion Press authors (my new publisher) will be hosting a moderated loop on Feb. 23. If you're interested in learning more about MP, or writing for them, or just want to know what really terrific books will be available from MP, stop by for a visit. Not to mention there will be a GREAT contest prize available. Details follow.
What: Medallion Press Authors' Day
Where: Coffeetime Romance Yahoo e-loop
When: Friday, February 23, 10-8 eastern time
(I will be hosting time slot 12 – 2 pm EST with other Medallion Press authors, including Hope Tarr, Lynda Hilburn, Kathy Steffan, and Sara Reinke (scheduled to appear)).
~~Teatime and Treasure with Medallion Press~~
Join Medallion Authors at our Coffeetime Romance e-loop chat on Friday, 23rd February! Win a Medallion Press Treasure Chest, with painted porcelain teapot, matching cups, tea, cookies, and a dozen Medallion Press paperbacks of your choice (any genre, not just romance)!
As a special treat, Kerry Estevez, Medallion Press's Author Liaison and Acquisitions Editor, will be available to take questions about submissions/acquisitions.
Please note: This is a moderated loop, so you need to sign up in advance and be approved by the moderator. I'd suggest joining a couple of days ahead and selecting "no mail" or "special messages only" until Feb 23. Then you can either go to the web yahoo group and post and read messages there, or change your preferences to individual messages.
To sign up for Coffeetime Romance's loop:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karenfindoutaboutnewbooks
click "join this group"
THE LEGACY, Medallion Press (April 2008)
February 4th would have been my mother's 73rd birthday. She didn't make it that far. Mom died on September 22 after an illness of several months. I haven't been able to write about it until now, so deeply have I felt that loss. I won't say much now, either, but tomorrow, as I write this, her birthday approaches and I want to say what I can.
For her service, the funeral home made up a video of pictures and music of my mother. "His Eye is on the Sparrow" and "I'll Be Seeing You" were both songs we, her children and my mother, had selected for my father's funeral eleven years before (he died in 1995, before my children were born). We felt it was appropriate to chose the same music for mom. My sister chose a selection of pictures representative of the various stages of Mom's life, and the two were combined in DVD format in a poignant tribute interspersed with nature images. The final image is the one that you see elsewhere on this site, in the post that was the only tning I could manage to write even weeks after her death.
There is nothing like the death of a parent to make one feel one's own mortality. As I sit here, watching the DVD and remembering moments with my wonderful, wonderful mother, I can't help to think that years from now--hopefully many, many years--when I have passed on, and all that is left are pictures, my sons will watch them and try to remember what their mother's laugh was like, what she smelled like, how soft her skin felt. It is a humbling thought.
I asked my uncle after her burial in Tennessee beside my father, how someone gets over a loss that goes so deeply. My uncle, who had lost his brother (my father) and his wife in the same month, and who had lost his oldest son years before, told me something I would never forget. "You never get over it. But you do get past it."
I know he's right, because he is wise, so I know we'll make it through. But today, and tomorrow, it will be hard. We owe her that, I think.
Love to you, Mom.