It’s not often that all three stories in a collection are equally fun, but I really think that’s the case with this month’s Unwrapped. Erin McCarthy, Donna Kauffman and Kate Angell have outdone themselves with these fun, sexy tales of a Grinch who finds herself stranded with a man who loves all things Christmas, a bridesmaid who finally catches her own holiday groom (and a Scottish one, no less) and secret lovers who are reunited in the midst of a Chicago snowstorm and a fantasy midnight shopping spree.

What could be better than curling up in front of the fire with a glass of wine and these three great escapes?

Once the hustle and bustle of the holidays are over, Donna Kauffman is starting her brand new Cupcake Club series in January with Sugar Rush, followed the next month by Sweet Stuff. I defy you to read these books without a smile on your face or going out to buy a cupcake yourself. I even started researching islands off the Georgia coast, ready to move to a cottage by the shore on the quaint fictional Sugarberry Island, where life seems so much more relaxed than the real one of Manhattan.

Kate Angell creates an equally quirky, laid back paradise on the boardwalk of Barefoot William, where the town founder escaped a harsh midwestern winter, kicked off his shoes and swore he’d never put them back on again. Here’s a place to relive the simple pleasures of childhood – cotton candy, sand between your toes, playing ball – while experiencing the very grown up fun of falling in love. Plan your visit for next June!

What’s your favorite escape? Let me know with a comment and I’ll include you in a random drawing for an advance review copy of Sweet Stuff.

What kind of secret transgression could tie a proper young lady to a notorious rogue for seven long years, allowing neither to forget the other? This snippet will give you a hint:

Jess’s hand went to her throat. Despite the cold, perspiration misted her forehead. The horror she should have felt at finding a man engaged in sexual congress was markedly absent. Because it was Caulfield, and he fascinated her. It was a terrible sort of captivation with which she viewed him—a mixture of envy for his freedom and horror at the ease with which he disregarded public opinion.

She had to get away before she was forced to acknowledge her presence to Lady Trent. She took a careful step forward…

“Wait.” Caulfield’s voice was gruffer than before.

She froze.

“I cannot!” Lady Trent protested breathlessly.

But it was not the countess Caulfield spoke to.

One of his hands was outstretched, extended toward Jess. The request stunned her into immobility…

Well, fess up! Would you keep watching or turn away? Let me know and I’ll choose a random comment to pick the winner of a copy of the book Publishers Weekly named one of the 10 romances to read this fall. For the rest of you, the wait for what may be Sylvia Day’s best book yet is almost over. Seven Years to Sin goes on sale this upcoming Tuesday, August 30th!

The temperature’s heating up in NY (100 degrees tomorrow), and Megan and I are clearing our desks to get ready for judging the Brava Writing with the Stars next month. Reading new voices is always exciting (kind of like dating a new man), so I’m eager to begin looking for someone with the same star potential as previous Brava contest participants, authors like Jacquelyn Frank, Erin McCarthy and Sylvia Day.

For all you aspiring writers, it’s not too late to submit – we’re accepting entries until midnight of August 22nd, and we want to hear from you! A quick reminder about some of the rules. We’re looking for novellas that will shine in our Brava imprint, so that means contemporary, historical or paranormal romance with sizzling sensuality. We like to push the envelope; don’t be afraid to send us something a little offbeat or unusual, but no YA please.

There’s been some confusion about word length, thanks to my own incorrect post earlier. This year, we’re looking for submissions of 20 – 30,000 words. If for any reason, the project you’re working on doesn’t fit the contest guidelines, we invite you to query one of the Brava editors directly. Megan actually worked out the odds, and discovered that you have an even better chance of being published by sending her an unsolicited manuscript than by entering Writing with the Stars! Either way, if your story is a knockout, you have a great opportunity to join the Brava team. Complete rules and entry information can be found here: www.bravaauthors.com/contest/brava-contest/

I’m writing today from the hubbub of Times Square and RWA Nationals. This is a wild part of the city (on Tuesday, a man actually stopped traffic for an hour by climbing up a streetlamp and refusing to come down!). And with more than 2,000 authors talking business, brainstorming about romance and dishing the latest gossip, the Marriott Marquis is buzzing. As 500 writers signed their books at Tuesday’s literacy event, the roar inside the Broadway Ballroom made it almost impossible to talk, and eager fans were lined up around the hotel, waiting more than four hours for a chance to meet their favorite authors.

Last night, Kensington hosted an elegant cocktail party, complete with tuxedoed servers, twinkling lights and the special drink of the evening, The Romance Cocktail. (You can try this at home!)

Romance Cocktail

1 Part Rose Water
4 Parts Crème de Cassis
Sparkling Blanc de Blanc
Pre-chill rose water and cassis.
Add to champagne flute and top with Sparkling blanc de blanc.
Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Publisher Laurie Parkin welcomed guests to the Big Apple beside an ice sculpture of the Kensington logo.

Laurie Parkin

And authors conducted video interviews with a crew from Open Road Media. Here’s Brava star Kathy Love, waiting for her turn in front of the camera. (Check out DEVILISHLY HOT this November, where A Devil Wears Prada style diva boss turns out to actually be a demon, much to the dismay of her hapless assistant.)

Kathy Love

Brava newcomer Lexi George, who writes the delightful Demon Slaying in Dixie series, poses with bestselling author Donna Kauffman and two gentlemen worthy of a spot on any of our hot Brava covers. (Donna thought the red velvet cupcakes being served were almost as decadently delicious as the temptations whipped up by her hero and heroine in next January’s back to back Cupcake Club Romances SUGAR RUSH and SWEET SPOT.

Lexi George (left) & Donna Kauffman (right)

A fun evening for all—and it’s only one of the first in what promises to be very busy and upbeat conference. I’m off to meet with Emma Lang to discuss her new series, The Circle Eight, and learn more about the eight hard working, hard loving Graham siblings . . . .

As Maeve Greyson counts down the months to the April, 2012 publication of her new Brava paranormal romance, Eternity’s Mark, all you aspiring writers can look forward to your own chance to join the Kensington family as a published author. Our new Brava writing contest is up and running!

This year, we’re looking for original romance novellas of 15,000 – 20,000 words rather than full-length books. Submissions in any sub- genre will be accepted, providing they’ve never been published in print or ebook form and have a sensuality level suitable for our Brava imprint. (You know just how hot that is, because you’re our most loyal readers.) So that means historical romance, contemporary, paranormal or romantic suspense. We need your submission by midnight of August 15, 2011 – plenty of time for you to write the winning novella or polish up one you’ve already begun.

Once again, Brava authors and editors will narrow down the entries to our top eight contestants, and each of the writers selected will be given a Brava mentor to help her navigate the four challenges ahead. Romantic Times readers will be voting each month to narrow the field, and the winner will be announced at the awards ceremony of the RT convention in April, 2012. Here’s your chance to work with professional writers, publicize your story and win a contract with a New York publisher.

We’ll be posting more details on BravaAuthors.com as well as RT Book Reviews in the weeks to come. Discovering fresh new voices is the best part of the job for Megan and me, so we’re excited to see what you come up with!

At the recent RT convention, I was one of the judges of the Mr. Romance contest – a far cry from the kind of judging I usually do on writers’ contests like the Golden Heart or Writing with the Stars. Here’s a shot of all the contestants just after our winner, Len Gunn, was announced:

There were a lot of whispered consultations among the six judges as we considered strong jaw lines, perfect abs and ideal hair length. I’m sorry to say that even though certain contestants displayed charm and winning personality, we based our decision solely on looks. After all, the winner will appear on a Kensington book cover and we need someone hot. Do you think Len qualifies?

Fellow judge Heather Graham confided that she’d be happy for us to use him on any of her covers. But I’m thinking he’d look great in a cowboy hat, maybe on one of Emma Lang’s new Circle Eight Brava books, which will be coming out next year. Other suggestions, Ladies?

The Kensington editors have been especially busy for the last few weeks, preparing for our Spring launch meeting. This is our chance to present our January – April, 2012 books to our sales reps, to get everyone in house excited about the projects we love and to discuss marketing plans for each title. Some of us talk about being in tip sheet purgatory because it’s a time-consuming process to prepare the back up materials necessary: author bio, bestseller info, quotes, plot description, selling points, positioning statement, a list of comparable titles. This is the moment when an editor’s enthusiasm for a new book must be distilled down into just a few paragraphs that we hope contain the germ of its future success.

The launch meeting itself will happen over several days in early February, when all our reps come into town and we gather around our huge conference table to brainstorm about the best way to sell each of our upcoming books. Our publisher, Laurie Parkin, often stops the proceedings to challenge everyone to come up with new ideas. If an author’s previous book hasn’t performed as well as we’d hoped, we ask why and discuss different cover treatments, marketing strategies and specific sales problems. If we have a series that’s taking off, we talk about ways to take the next book to a new, higher level of sales. After intense eight-hour days of presenting, listening and sometimes arguing (it’s a group that’s passionate about books), we usually get together for an evening of great food and more spirited talk. Last year it was Mexican enchiladas with Margaritas and a discussion of favorite paranormal writers. Yes, our Brava authors were right up there at the top of everyone’s list!

So if your editor has seemed a little distracted this week or slow to respond, now you know why. With the snow swirling outside our office windows, we’re planting the seeds of next Spring’s best reads.

2010 has been a great year, my first as part of the Kensington team and working with the “brash, bold, blazing” Brava authors! But as January 1 approaches, it’s time to look ahead to 2011 and make those brave (or foolhardy) resolutions about how each of us hopes to improve the future. I asked some of the key players here in the office to share their own goals:

• Steve Zacharius – My New Year’s resolution, which has already started, is to sew my mouth shut and stop eating so I can lose weight. There was a comedian who told this story; and I can’t remember his name…..but he was eating so much and his stomach was getting bigger and bigger each day that his pants kept getting pushed down lower and lower. He thought that he had finally eaten so much, he had gone over the top and was now beginning to lose weight. Now that I have a granddaughter and a son who’s getting married in July, it’s time to finally get serious.
  Happy holidays, everyone.
• Laurie Parkin – I have two:
  1. to spend more time “finding hooks to sell books” — different ways to market to drive sales so that I can
  2. play more golf- — if I do, my husband promises to replace my miniature golf course putter with a real one
• John Scognamiglio — Do more excercising!
• Megan Records — I am going to try 6 months without buying anything I don’t need. That means no Starbucks, no new clothes, etc. I am drawing the line at cheap hair product, though. I need the good stuff.
• And what about me, you ask? Well, I’m definitely not giving up chocolate – that would be suicide! My resolution is to keep my mind open to the possibility that fantastic new things will happen, and to seize the opportunity when they do.

Now don’t be shy – let us know your resolutions, too!

As writers, editors and readers, we might disagree with that statement, but no one argues that when it comes to merchandising a book, the cover is a powerful sales tool. So how exactly do we come up with the covers of our Brava titles?

The first step is the art sheet. Before I begin filling it out, I usually chat with the author to get a sense of her vision of the cover. This is a chance to brainstorm, talk about cover trends, discuss whether we’re positioning the book to appeal to the readers of a specific bestseller, or going for a unique look. The art sheet includes a brief synopsis of the story (think one paragraph), a description of the cover concept and the names of other books in the series. I like to include examples of other covers that have the color scheme, mood or sensuality level I’m hoping for. The art sheet then goes to our publisher, creative director, and editor in chief to be sure everyone’s on the same page.

At the art meeting, all those people discuss the concept with the editor, and sometimes the process can be intense as we toss around conflicting ideas, deal with the realities of budget constraints, and work to come up with the most visually appealing representation of the story. In a typical art meeting, we’ll be talking about 15 to 20 different covers, some in the concept stage, ready to be assigned to an artist, some preliminary sketches, some finished art. At Brava, we’re particularly fortunate to have Kristine Noble working on all our covers as our creative director. Kris regularly creates miracles with stock images and has an unerring eye for what will make a beautiful trade paperback cover.

They say, “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” but readers regularly do. We have 3 seconds to catch the buyer’s eye and entice her to stop and pick a book up. A powerful, striking image is critical, and it must convey several shorthand messages about what kind of story is inside. If a reader loves Cynthia Eden’s paranormal romances, she’s more likely to pick up a new writer whose book cover reminds her of Eternal Flame.

If she always buys contemporary romance, she’s going to be looking for a cover like Donna Kauffman’s Off Kilter.

Got more questions about the art process? Give a shout and I’ll answer them all Monday morning.