US cover for To Marry a Matchmaker

I love the feel of this cover so I am very pleased that it will be used for the North American version of To Marry a Matchmaker which is released digitally on 1 October.
It is the prequel to An Ideal Husband? and I am hoping US readers will enjoy it.

Some news

Awhile ago (June 2011 to be precise) I found out that three of my books To Marry A Matchmaker (An Ideal Husband? is the sequel to this and has been out for over a year -- so much for me trying to force the issue), Compromising Miss Milton and Breaking the Governess's Rules were caught up in the transition to simultaneous publication for the Harlequin/Mills and Boon Historical series. They had already appeared in the UK but not in the North American market. They were supposed to go out digitally.
I found out that all three (!) are listed to be published electronically in October 2014.  I don't have anymore info than this but I am trying to find out.
It is a bit like waiting forever  for a number 7 bus and having three come along at once. I am just thrilled that my US and Canadian readers who read electronically will be able to get these books.
I knew this was happening and so have saved a few print copies which will be used for giveaways.
But it feels good to be moving forward.

Scandali e Matrimoni Giveaway

To Marry A Matchmaker is out in Italian this month. And for once I have my authors copies in a timely fashion. So I am doing a giveaway on Goodreads for a signed copy. It is open to people living in Italy, the US, Australia, Canada and the UK. I figure that there are Italian communities in those countries and someone might like to read it in Italian.

Inghilterra, 1848 - Lady Henrietta Thorndike nasconde la propria solitudine divertendosi a recitare la parte di Cupido, e benché spesso le sue vittime l'accusino di interferire nella loro vita, lei preferisce vedere la propria attività come un modo per aiutare il prossimo. Robert Montemorcy, tuttavia, sa che questo deve finire. La sua giovane protetta, Sophie, è infatti appena sfuggita a una situazione compromettente e l'ultima cosa di cui ha bisogno è di essere coinvolta nei complotti matrimoniali dell'intraprendente gentildonna. Così, per arginare l'esuberanza di Lady Henrietta, le propone una scommessa. Senza immaginare che così facendo rischia di perdere anche il cuore.

You see more about the book here on the Eharmony website. It is also available as an ebook in Italian wherever ebooks are sold.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Scandali e Matrimoni

by Michelle Styles

Giveaway ends August 24, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Lovely Review for To Marry A Matchmaker

Julie Bonello has reviewed all of my books for cataromance and has just posted her review of To Marry a Matchmaker. It made my day. She gave TMAM 4.5 stars but more importantly she said:

To Marry a Matchmaker was an absolute joy to read! Wonderfully absorbing, deliciously witty and absolutely impossible to put down, To Marry a Matchmaker is a superb historical romance that kept me riveted from start to finish. I absolutely adored Henrietta, a wonderful heroine who was smart, plucky and resourceful and Robert was simply perfect: honorable, brooding and charismatic, he’s a hero romance readers will be unable to resist. I also loved how Michelle Styles brought to life the colourful community of Corbridge which made the background of the novel more believable and real.

You can read the full review here.

Thank you very much Julie.  I adored Robrt and Henri and it does my heart good when they connect with others.

Currnetly I am working away on my latest. I am enjoying it more but I do want to get it done before my eldest comes home mid-month. My deadline is 1 Sept.

To Marry A Matchmaker on Sale

It is 1 June and that means To Marry A Matchmaker is on sale at Mills and Boon -- both as a print and ebook. It is the quickest way to get your hands a copy. My paperback authors copies have not arrived. Apparently they were supposed to be dispatched but somehow have forgotten. My editor is on the case... It will come out on kindle on 1 July btw.

Giveaway To Marry A Matchmaker

Goodreads Book Giveaway

To Marry a Matchmaker

by Michelle Styles

Giveaway ends June 23, 2011.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Because it comes out on 1 July, I am doing a giveaway with good reads.

Blogger is being  annoying. It will not allow me to use the tool bar.
 I did a post at the Healthy Writer blog  http://www.healthywriter.com/ yesterday and today I am the Pink Heart Society  http://www.pinkheartsociety.blogspot.com/ talking about pacing. Tomorrow I am at Tote Bags.
With writing, I am waiting to hear back from my editor and have started the next one.
With exercising, I keep working out every day -- slowly but surely. It takes much longer than you think.

Operation Auction live

Operation Auction -- the effort by members of the Romance community to raise money for Fatin, a long time support of Romance who lost her husband in tragic circumstances is now live. There are a host of items to bid on including 1.A hardback copy of To Marry A Matchmaker (I will send it anywhere in the world) and 2. A Critique for a partial from me (this has not gone live. I presume this will be live tomorrow) Hopefully someone will bid...
Among other items are critiques by people like Brenda Chin, Leslie Wainger and agent Laura Bradford. You can see the full listing of live items here.

To Marry A Matchmaker

My hardbacks arrived yesterday and this is possibly my favourite cover ever! It works for me at any rate.

This is the book that is up for grabs on the Authors for Japan auction. There are 150 other lots so I have to hope someone will bid for this (and the critique).

The blurb reads:
The Matchmaker's Wager
Lady Henirietta Thorndike hides her lonely heart behind playing Cupid -- some might accuse her of interfering, but she prefers to think of it as improving other people's lives!
But Robert Montemorcy knows it has to stop -- his ward has just fled from a compromising situation in Lodnon, and the last thing she needs is to be embroiled in Henri's complusive matchmaking! He bets Henri that she won't be able to resist meddling...only to lose his own heart into the bargain!

From the front page teaser:
'I can stop any time I want,' Henrietta replied, her face taking on a muntinous expression as she crossed her arms over her full bosom, highlighting rather than detracting from her curves.
'Prove it.'
'What are you suggesting Mr Montemorcy?' Her carefully arranged curls shook with anger.  'I enjoy helping. People need me.'
At last. She'd walked straight into his trap. 'I am suggesting a wager to demonstrated that you are  addicted to arranging others' love-lives and you have no sense of discipline in these matters. He watched her bridle at the words. He wondered if she knew how desirable she appeared when she was angry. Desirable but very much off-limits...

The first line -- as I happen to like it: Precise planning produced perfection.

It comes out as a paperback in July.

Success at last!

As you can see, I have FINALLY been able to upload my cover on to blogger!!!
I do love the cover and its colours. I also like the romantic feel of the cover.

With my current wip, I can see the end and will get there, either today or tomorrow. Then it will be going back and layering. I have a number of words to play with and there are places where I can layer. One of my big problems is that I have things in my head but not on paper. This can include sensual tension, emotion and sometimes whole scenes that should really be there. In theory, I know my faults and therefore should be looking for them.  But I am feeling more confident which is good. And I started crying when I was typing yesterday which is a good sign.

Doughnuts and not holes.

My AAs for To Marry A Matchmaker have to be done this weekend and I keep finding reasons why I love this book. Fingers crossed other people love it when it comes out in July.

There is some exciting news with regards to The Lady Soldier which I co-wrote with Kate Allan all those years ago. It will be going into e-book and I gather mass market paperback with the fledgling publisher Embrace Books. When I know more, I will let people know...but contracts have been signed.

To Marry A Matchmaker and creativity

My editor emailed yesterday to say that they have titled Henri & Robert -- TO MARRY A MATCHMAKER.  It brilliantly reflects the story so I'm very pleased with the title.

She also let me know that they want to offer me another four book contract. So I am pleased about that. It will be a small matter of hitting of deadlines!  But I should be able to do that. I am the one who set them and have no one to blame but myself.

I learnt a lot from rewriting TO MARRY A MATCHMAKER. One of the big lessons was never ever to take my process for granted and that  certain things can become rusty. Even if you think you know what you are doing, it doesn't hurt to go make to the beginning and revisit. In my case, it was revisiting Writing A Romance Novel for Dummies by Leslie Wanger and realising where I'd gone wrong. There is a lot of basic info in there. Info I once knew and then forgot. For example, you might know about the sexual tension between the characters but unless it is obviously on the page, the reader can't. Equally, she gave a few ideas on how to identify a sagging middle. One big red light beacon for me was the sudden focus on secondary characters. I had done that and it had to be resolved. Here I'd always considered that I was good at pacing.
Twyla Tharp in her book The Creative Habit gives the image of polish a clock face. It is about how dancers work on skills. It is a good analogy. However, you have to know which clock to polish!

The Creative Habit is another of those books that bears re-reading, particularly if you feel like you are in a creative rut.
For example she quotes the novelist John Gregory Dunne -- Because one has written other books does not mean the next becomes any easier. Each book in fact is a tabula rasa; from book to book I seem to forget how to get characters in and out of rooms -- a far more difficult task than non writers might think.
And further on in the same chapter -- The great ones never take the fundamentals for granted.

So fingers crossed that this next one goes easier and that I remember the focus and the main purpose of the story is the ROMANCE.
And it is a good reason why I'm pleased both books live on my bookshelves and I'm able to go back and re-read them.