More books at bargain prices

Suddenly this seems to be coming as frequently as number ten buses!
A QUESTION OF IMPROPRIETY, HIS UNSUITABLE VISCOUNTESS, IMPOVERISHED MISS CONVENIENT WIFE and TAKEN BY THE VIKING are all on super discount on Amazon.co.uk kindle.
This is the first time I have seen TAKEN BY THE VIKING on special discount.
I have no idea how long the super discount will last but thought to highlight it.

Taken by the Viking out in Brazil

One of the great joys of being published with Harlequin is its global reach.
This month marks my books being published in a new country -- Brazil!
The book in question is Taken by the Viking and I am thrilled.

HISTÓRICOS 153 – CORAÇÃO BÁRBARO – MICHELLE STYLES

Um ataque viking… Um invasor honrado… Uma nova vida como amante dele!

HISTÓRICOS 153 – CORAÇÃO BÁRBARO – MICHELLE STYLES

Eles haviam dito que vieram em paz, mas logo Lindis farne estava em chamas. Annis de Birdoswald tentou fugir, porém não conseguiu escapar dos guerreiros do Norte. Haakon Haroldson, o viking sombrio e arrogante, sequestrou-a e a afastou de tudo o que ela amava. Agora, Annis precisa escolher entre continuar uma prisioneira ou viver uma vida de prazer ao lado desse poderoso invasor.

You see the full entry here

 If you go on the Brazilian Harlequin website, Taken is up on the rotating banner and says firdt in a series. So fingers crossed that they will do more of my Vikings!

My Viking trilogy published in French

I was very pleased to discover that Harlequin France are publishing all 3 of my Vikings in the next three months.  The first one Captive du Viking is out this month and the others follow. They can either be order through the French Harlequin website or via Amazon. They have included a bonus book by Juliet Landon with the first book. I spent many years learning French in high school and at university so it always makes my day when one of my books is published in that language.

Captive du Viking
Captive et viking, Michelle Styles


793 après J.-C., Scandinavie. Plutôt mourir que se soumettre à l'emprise de Haakon Haroldson, le chef arrogant des barbares qui ont saccagé son existence ! Si Annis a dû renoncer à sa liberté lorsque Haakon a fait d'elle sa prisonnière, elle n'ira pas jusqu'à lui abandonner sa dignité : jamais elle ne sera son esclave ! Mais alors que, dans un élan de désespoir, elle envisage une impossible tentative d'évasion, le ténébreux Viking lui propose un marché qu'elle n'attendait pas : si elle accepte de devenir sa maîtresse, il l'affranchira de sa condition de captive pour l'élever au rang de concubine. Une offre scandaleuse... qui laisse Annis face à son destin.

À propos de l'auteur :


Intéressée par l'Histoire depuis son plus jeune âge, Michelles Styles nous fait découvrir sa passion grâce à des récits qui mêlent avec art véracité historique et souffle romanesque. Captive du viking est son quatrième roman publié dans la collection Les Historiques.

Resolutions, kittens and a new country for my books

First, next year's resolutions:

1. To be better at time management. This means getting in the habit once again of writing BEFORE I switch the internet on. Rather than just checking to see what is happening. I could be far more productive than I am.

2. To be better at weight management. Given certain health issues, it is going to be imperative that I manage my weight. It appears I am suffering not from repetitive strain, but from lymph oedema. Some people get swollen ankles, I have a swollen forearm. They are still doing tests but the big nasty things have been ruled out. (Apparently a swollen forearm can indicate breast cancer or deep vein thrombosis) It has been a stressful December but I am now officially interesting. Losing weight is supposed to help.

3. With my writing, I want to up my game and continue to work hard at providing the best story possible. So to be better at writing.

The kittens are growing quickly and are starting to explore. They had great fun on the stairs last night. Rushing up and down. Everyone in the house has been put under notice to keep the toilet lid down etc. There is no excuse when young kittens who are learning to climb are about!

The picture is of Mr Darcy on my desk. He is a cat whi is interested in technology. But he does need to learn that climbing up bare legs is not a good thing.

Finally, thank to my lovely CP, I learnt that Taken by the Viking was in Portugal this month. It is a new language for my books and I am really pleased. The cover is lovely. You can read more here. But the blurb reads:
A amante do viking

Encontraria a felicidade numa paixão que sempre considerara um pecado? Os vikings chegaram a dizer que vinham em paz, todavia, depressa Lindisfarne se viu em chamas. Annis de Birdoswald fugiu em pânico, mas não conseguiu escapar dos nórdicos. No entanto, havia um homem que a protegia: Haakon Haroldson. O viking arrogante levou Annis para a sua terra, afastando-a de tudo o que ela amava. Assim, agora Annis via-se obrigada a escolher o humilde trabalho que correspondia a uma prisioneira ou a vida de prazer pecaminoso nos braços do viking!
Fingers crossed that the Portuguese like it!

Three in One --Australia M&B Historical Release

Do not ask me the rational but Australia Mills & Boon have published 3 of my books together -- Taken by the Viking, Viking Warrior Unwilling Wife and Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife. As far as I know they have not published A Question of Impropriety which is linked to Impoverished Miss. But what the hey, all the books stand alone and it is the first time I have had a 3 in 1 stand alone so I am very happy.

Anyway if you want to know more, you can see the details (including how to purchase) here.

La Magnifica Preda (Taken by the Viking in Italian)

LA MAGNIFICA PREDA
di STYLES MICHELLE
Lindisfarne - Viken, 793
Mentre Annis di Birdoswald si trova sull'isola di Lindisfarne, un gruppo di vichinghi giunto dal mare saccheggia il monastero in cui la nobile scozzese si è rifugiata. A impedire che le venga fatto del male è proprio il loro capo, il bellissimo guerriero Haakon Haroldson che la porta con sé nella sua terra al di là del mare. Al suo arrivo a Viken, due possibilità di scelta attendono la giovane Annis: adattarsi ai lavori più umili destinati ai prigionieri o cedere alle lusinghe del vichingo alto e bruno diventandone la concubina. Seguendo i suoi sentimenti, si abbandona alla passione tra le braccia di Haakon, ma qualcuno trama nell'ombra per dividerli.

To see the full listing go here.

The cover appeals in a very retro bare chested way!

Judy York, the illustrator for Taken by the Viking

I always wonder about my covers.Who did them, when and what influences my book had (if any)

Imagine my delight when I discovered the Barnes and Noble video of Judy York talking about how she does her illustrations. In it, she mentions Taken by the Viking and how she used Viking headboards and tapestries to give it a realistic feel. The inside front cover of the US version is also shown briefly, and that picture helped to inspire Ivar's story (the one currently sitting on my editors' desks). I loved her whole approach to producing a cover image.

So if you are interested in cover illustration, you can view the full video here.

Palimpsest and medieval books

Merrimon Crawford has created a lovely site dedicated to reviewing medieval books -- Medieval Book Reviews.
She loves the period and is reviewing romance, mystery and general medieval fiction plus books with medieval echoes. As sometimes it can feel like it is an overlooked period, it is good to see someone taking the time and trouble.
The other great thing is that she has a definition of a palimpsest on her site. The site's design echoes a palimpsest, so you see the faint echoes of a manuscript behind. The idea of a twice written manuscript really intrigues me. The Smithsonian magazine had a interesting article about decoding the Archimedes Palimpsest in its March 2007 issue. And while not exactly palimpsests, I remain fascinated with the attempts to recover the scorched scrolls from the House of the Papyri near Pompeii. It is the things hidden beneath.
The other reason why the idea of a palimpsest is apt is that every book/piece of music/movie contains echoes of the writer's influences. And it can be fun to follow the shadows as it were.
Anyway, Merrimon enjoyed Taken by the Viking and has done a lovely review of it. I was especially pleased with her statement: In Taken By The Viking, Michelle Styles has an exquisite sense for detail that transports the reader into the landscape scenes and the community. You can read the rest of the review here.

Chocolate day -- recipe

Natasha Oakley has decided to tempt people with chocolate on the Pink Heart Society. Some might say that chocolate is not a temptation, but a necessity, one of the basic food groups.

She wants recipes. Did I mention that Natasha also has a book out this month -- Wanted: White Wedding

S'mores

(as made over a thousand campfires)

To make one s'more --

2 graham crackers (in the UK use 2 digestive biscuits)

half a bar of chocolate (your choice, Green & Blacks is great, but Hershey's is standard)

1 toasted marshmallow.

First toast your marshmallow. Try not to burn to a cinder. There are generally great debates how to do the perfect toasted marshmallow. Place marshmallow on chocolate, sandwich between cracker/digestive biscuit. Eat. Have another one. Try toasting the marshamllow a different way. Eventually feel slightly sick.

One of the best parts of camping.

I had a lovely post from Krista at Coffeetime Romance. Taken by the Viking has been awarded five cups. My favourite bit of the lovely review was: Very seldom do I come across a book that affects me as much as this one did. Ms. Styles delves into emotions of both main characters so that I felt like I knew them inside and out. The fact that I have Scandinavian heritage only made this book more appealing. I was also very impressed with how realistic everything came across, which is not an easy task. I applaud Ms. Styles for telling a story that enchants and tugs at your heart. This is an author who truly knows how to write. The book only got better and at no point did I feel disappointed or let down. History and passion mixed together is a combination that makes this particular story one that will not leave me for a while.

As I too have a Scandanavian heritage, I think it is great that she enjoyed the setting. Many thanks to Krista for making my day.

You can read the rest of the review here.

I learnt that Kimberley Lang of Writer's Playground has sold her first Modern Heat. Hooray for Kim. She is quite naturally having a blog party and you can join in the fun here.

Amante del Vikingo, a review for Taken and other bits

First of all the Spanish Harlequin site has put the cover for La Amante del Vikingo up and it is HOT! Or maybe it is just me... It has the same feel as the S&S cover with subtle differences.
The blurb for La Amante del Vikingo (aka Taken by the Viking) is: La amante del vikingo (VIKINGOS)
Los vikingos llegaron diciendo que venían en son de paz, pero pronto Lindisfarne se encontró en llamas. Annis de Birdoswald huyó presa del pánico, pero no logró escapar de los guerreros nórdicos. Sin embargo, un hombre la protegía: Haakon Haroldson. El arrogante vikingo se llevó a Annis consigo a su tierra, alejándola de todo lo que ella amaba. Y ahora se veía obligada a elegir entre el humilde trabajo que le correspondía a una cautiva o una vida de placer pecaminoso ¡en los brazos del vikingo!
You can buy the book and see more of the covers in the series here.
I also had a wonderful review of Taken by the Viking from Melissa Fowler of the Romance Reader Connection. I loved: Ms Styles' vibrant descriptions of the viking world will no doubt carry the reader away, but it is the intricacies of the relationships of the main and supporting characters which I found to be the most haunting.Without a doubt, one of the author's best to date. very highly recommended! 4 1/2 stars.

The review made my day as I know what respect TRRC does command.

My lovely sister emailed to say that she had bought the last copy of Taken in her local Borders. So I am hopeful that it is doing well. She also told me a story about loaning the hardback copy to a friend whose son was just learning to read. The son when asked where anything was, kept replying Taken by the Viking. I suspect that excuse was used in Anglo Saxon times with more effect.

I have found out that there are 9 HMB authors in the 149 authors who are being Writers In Residence for the National Year of Reading programme. They are Louise Allen, Caroline Anderson, Nicola Cornick, India Grey, Kate Hardy, Sharon Kendrick, Natasha Oakley, Susan Stephans, and me. I do not know who the other authors from other publishers are. I do know that HMB and their authors are thrilled to take part. The National Year of Reading is about reading -- anything, any where, any time. You can go on the website and make a reading resolution. If you are inspired, why not go on the eharlequin site, post a blog about the book you read and take part in the 100,000 book challenge!

May Day

Today is the first of May, a traditional time of celebration and festivity. The Celts called it beltane and it was officially the first day of summer. The Romans used May Day as the start of the five celebration of the goddess Flora. It is thought that the Floriana festival celebrations may have directly influenced the May day celebrations with the crowning of the May Queen and the May Pole. Cromwell in his infinite wisdom banned maypoles and May Day celebrations.
In more modern times, May Day has been seen as a day to celebrate the Worker's movement. According to Chambers Book of Days, this practice originates from the 1867 Illinois celebration of the fact that the working day had been changed from 10 hours to 8 hours. 1May 1867 was the first official date of the change in Illinois. From here, the movement spread around the world and it is the origans of the early May Bank Holiday in Britain.
Today is also Wellington's birthday. He was born 1769. It is also the date of the Act of Union between Scotland and England (1707) and the date Queen Victorian officially open the Great Exhibition in 1851.

Today marks the official publication of Taken by the Viking in the US, So it should be in all the retail shops. It also means that it is now available everywhere on e-books, including kindle. Diesel is doing a special offer of 20 % off.
If you wish to take advantage of the offer, you need to key STYLbf5a4 into the special offer code box at Diesel e-books.
Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife is now available for purchase online at Mills & Boon.co.uk. This is the second book in my Viken mini series. M&B is the quickest way to get your hands on a copy. It will be in the UK shops on 6 June. US publication remains to be determined.

Amantes del Romance

Yesterday, my copies of Siete dias sin besos (the Spanish version of Sold & Seduced) arrived. I had not relised that it was part of the Amantes del Romance collection that Harlequin Iberica has published. The entire collection is listed at the back of Siete dias sin besos and I discovered that Taken by the Viking will be part of this collection as well, entitled --La Amante del vikingo. I think it comes out in May.

From what I could tell from the website, they are putting out a book a week,so I am assuming that this will carry on and La Amante del vikingo will be out the third week of May.

When I first saw the cover, I was somewhat confused,-- what was the picture. But then after I got the books, I understood. the black and white photos is a naked male torso with a highlight of a gold Roman coin being the only colour. Each of the different time periods have a differnt medallion/gold bit highltlighted. For example Carolyn Davidson's has a cowboy's belt buckle.

I was severely tempted by the covers even though I don't speak Spanish!

Here is the blurb about the series:

Nunca antes Harlequin ha lanzado una colección igual, los mejores Amantes a lo largo de toda la historia: highlanders, jeques, piratas, lords, vikingos, romanos... Novelas apasionantes que te enamorarán desde la primera a la última página. Oferta de lanzamiento El Corazón de un rebelde (Highlanders) por sólo 2,90 €, y en la segunda salida llévate un libro de REGALO: Pasado oculto (Caballeros del Oeste) y La cautiva del vikingo (Vikingos) por sólo 5,90€. Recuerda, tu colección Amantes ya está en tu punto de venta... Tentaciones que seducen
Si quieres suscribirte a esta colección mándanos a suscripciones@harlequiniberica.com los siguientes datos:Nombre y apellidos, dirección, código Postal, población, provincia, DNI, fecha de nacimiento, teléfono y correo electrónico. Si ya has adquirido algún libro de esta colección en tu punto de venta dínoslo y te haremos la suscripción a partir del siguiente número.
Suscripciones sólo para España

And the postman has just brought me a copy of Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance, the 2nd edition. there is far more jammed packed into this addition, including advice from various authors (like me). Anyway, it is fascinating to see how other authors work and the little twists etc. the thing about writing romance is that it is such a vast field, you never stop learning and polishing.

Blogging Away

Today, I have done several guest blogs. I don't know how it happened but I ended up on the same day for several places.
On the Pink Heart Society, I am talking about Elizabeth Cadell who is one of my favourite authors from when I first started reading romance. I have been very excited about doing this post as she is one of the authors whose work sticks in my mind. She also sold her first book to Robert Hale and that little connection made me smile.
On Love is An Exploding Cigar, I am talking about creating fictional worlds. As Elizabeth Cadell created such a fantastic fictional worlds, I suppose they are slightly linked. Anyway, I have never blogged there, so do come and drop by. Sam Hunter seems to be very welcoming.
Finally, on Unusual Historicals, I have done a Thursday 13 on causes of the Viking Age. This month the theme is social movements and the Viking phenomenon did give its name to an age. Viking is a verb and means to plunder. It comes from Vik or bay. Vikingr was a man from a bay.
Taken by the Viking is probably in the shops in the US now. Certainly it is in stock on Amazon.com. It went in and out of stock earlier this week, and now they are saying one copy remaining. Sometimes, I think Amazon have small quantities. Anyway, I am assured that plenty have been printed and you can find it at lots of places.

Harlequin Historical at Romance Vagabonds

This week, the lovely ladies at Romance Vagabonds are hosting Harlequin Historical authors. Each day is devoted to a different time period. Today is the Medieval cum renaissance. Tomorrow is Georgian/Regency/Victorian. Wednesday is Western and Thursday is Hybrid where I am blogging. Hybrid is the term they are using for authors who write in more than one time period. It was going to be exotic but they settled on hybrid. I feel a bit like a plant species. LOL. But I can see the problems. All other time periods is a bit vague and the authors in question do write in a number of time periods.
Joanne Carr is rounding out the week on Friday and she will be blogging about recent happenings and trends at HH.
There will also be giveaways through out the week, including on Thursday a copy of Taken by the Viking.
The winner of my Kate Walker launch party prize has been drawn and it was Jane Cheung. She emailed back to say that she has never read a historical set in ancient Rome...I noticed on Amazon.co.uk that Sold & Seduced is no longer available as a new book. There are 13 copies left as used though. This is one of the Romans that has yet to appear in the North American market. I think it is going to appear at some point...
Kate hardy asked about how the ducks were settling. They are fine, but have developed a habit of going over into the neighbour's garden. One duck is especially fond of tapping on the lower windows and asking for bread and scraps...Unfortunately, between the stream and the water gate, it is probably impossible to keep them confined, particularly as they have found a food source...
I do need to get my Viking finished. Normal service was disrupted by my pulling a tendon in my right arm. Serves me right for trying a new exercise.

Taken by the Viking is heating up April

Taken by the Viking is out in both paperback and ebook on eharlequin. It is also part of their April is heating up promotion. It is nice to think that E-harlequin consider Taken to be sizzling.

It also means that having started, I need to keep the current Viking sizzling as well. A certain standard has been set.

Hopefully people will enjoy it...I had fun writing it.

Currently though, I have cut one scene and am wrestling a few more as I try to keep the focus on the romance and not let it go spinning off into the politics.

A Four star review from the RomanticTimes

The very lovely Michelle Willingham passed along the information that The Romantic Times has given Taken by the Viking a four star review in its May issue.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I read the review. The synopsis was correct. And Taken was rated hot. In other words, I had managed to hold the reviewer's attention.

I have been working on the lushness of my sensual scenes, particularly since The Roman's Virgin Mistress was only rated mild...And I do like a lush sensual scene...And it was/is more a matter of me improving and working on that in order to get the reader to have a great experience.

There again, I do think I am still improving in other areas as well. It is part of the wonderful mystery of the medium. I also like Twyla Tharp's imagery of the clock face, and how you work on polishing different things, then you get back to the top and start polishing again.

The key take away line in the review was Styles' descriptive writing and jump-off-the-pages characters shine in this awesome story. It is really wonderful when a reader thinks that and I am so pleased the story worked for her.

It is also an added boost as I am currently working on my third Viking and want this one to be every bit as good, if not better. It is also a reminder for me to focus and to make sure the read is good. Ultimately, the thing that is important is providing a good quality read and I am so pleased that the reviewer enjoyed Taken.

For those of you who are interested in such things, Michelle Willingham has an in depth interview with Harlequin Historical editor, Joanne Carr up on her blog. It makes for fascinating reading.

Back from London and a new cover

I am back from London. The M&B party was truly iconic. It was the sort of party that one daydreams about going to when you are an unpublished author. It was jammed packed with glitz and glamour. Filled with authors, agents and editors. Truly amazing. I will do a proper post later.

And yes, the Butlers in the Buff were there. Liz Fielding and I had a lovely time taking a few photos. But everytime, Liz did, they would insist on having their photo taken with HER! So she ended up being flanked by men who could easily star as inspiration for heroes! I however was never asked...there is just something about Liz and her wonderful smile.

A good time was had by all.

The US cover for Taken by the Viking has appeared in various places. It is basically the same as the UK cover, but the tones appear warmer. If you wish to read an excerpt, you may do so here.

News

I found out yesterday that Taken by the Viking will be released in the US in May 08. They decided not to wait afterall until the entire trilogy had been completed.

Also the sequel to A Christmas Wedding Wager is called An Impulsive Debutante and will be released in the UK in September 08. No news of when it will be released in the US.

I am tremendously excited about the title as it does encapsulate Lottie. According to my editors, it took a very long time to decide on the right adjective.

Now all I have to do is write the sequel to the one I just turned it.

Dear Author Review of Taken by the Viking

Jayne from Dear Author.com has penned a thoughtful review of Taken by the Viking. I always enjoy reading her reviews as she makes think how I can improve the book I am working on.
My cp, Donna Alward, will be nodding her head at the comment that the villian went too easily with Annis towards the end. She had mentioned this to me. I sort of ignored it because I didn't agree, and there was no way that Annis was going to allow him to do anything else. She does enjoy being proved right.
Jayne also mentions Johanna Lindsey's Fires of Winter -- a book I enjoyed way back but I have to agree with Jayne. I think now I would find the rape scenes disturbing. I know in 1970 Violet Winspear famously proclaimed that she could not write a hero that was not capable of rape. But that was way back when. I know in my heart of hearts that I could not write a hero who WAS capable of rape. Forced seduction -- yes perhaps but there would have to be good reasons., The key word here is seduction and it implies consent and the woman is eventually a partner in the scene. Rape implies something very different and that the woman has no desire or wish to participate. I like to have the sexual tension building before the actual act. One of the revisions I had to do for Taken was to move the first sex scene to later in the book. I had had it too early and it felt off and the tension had decreased. Luckily my lovely editor spotted the problem and suggested a neat solution. The revisions I did on Taken actually stretched me quite a bit and I think made me grow as a writer.
Anyway, I have been very pleased to read the reviews and to hear what readers think about the story.
Don't forget to visit Unusual Historicals for a chance to win a signed copy of Taken.

Falling off horses and other bits of extreme research

My post about Taken is up today at Unusual Historicals and Delia asked about research. This reminded me of the lengths I went to do my research for Taken by the Viking.

When I was in Iceland last year, not only did I visit museums, but I also went riding in the lava fields with Is Hestar. At the end of the 2 hour ride, the horse decided to make a run for the stable and I fell off. Totally my fault I should add, and the people running the stable were lovely. If anyone is interested in the Viking period, I would certainly recommend going to Iceland to ride one of the Icelandic horses. The horses are direct descendants of Viking horses and have an unusual gait.

I also tried on Viking armour and lifted a replica sword. The picture of my youngest, doing the same, mainly because my children objected to their mother having her photo taken. But I thought it was important to gauge the weight of a sword and how cumbersome a shield might be. This came in useful when I was writing the opening chapters of Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife.

One of the great things about being a novelist is that it does give me an excuse to go out and try things.

Ho and hooray for England on beating the French. Jonny Wilkinson's boot proved golden in the end. But the game was very tense. And now, England are in the final. Can they go all the way? Certainly the 30 men of the squad think so.