Thursday, February 02, 2006

Tarr'd and feathered

One good link deserves another, don't you think? I do, and so I'm going to link you to a blog titled: My Irrationalities. Tanya (Shesawriter) has a beautiful blog - visually and intellectually stimulating - and she covers a broad range of topics.

One of her posts today was titled Industry News, where Tonya updated us on the latest from the Publishers Lunch. She started by giving us all the special decoder ring needed to understand the rest of the top secret news:

KEY:
nice deal" $1 - $49,000"
very nice deal" $50,000 - $99,000"
good deal" $100,000 - $250,000"
significant deal" $251,000 - $499,000"
major deal" $500,000 and up

About halfway down the list of deals, was this:

Hope Tarr's MR. RIGHT IS... DEAD, in which a beautiful police detective is granted her New Year's Eve wish to turn back the clock one week to track down a killer and save the life of her dream man, to Brenda Chin at Harlequin Blaze, in a nice deal, for two books (world).

I met Hope Tarr last fall, and interviewed her for an article on a writers conference held near where I live. She was gracious, extremely intelligent (she's actually Dr. Hope Tarr, Ph.D.), and beautiful - we call that a hat-trick, sports fans.

Now, I'm not a big romance fan, but there was no way I was going to miss a chance to talk to Hope Tarr. On the desk in front of me is her book, Tempting, which she autographed to me. On the back cover are a couple of blurbs. May McGoldrick wrote, "Stunning... enchanting." She could just as easily have been talking about the author as the book. On the front cover is a portrait of a woman, seated, facing away from the artist. Her shoulders are bare above a laced corset. In all honesty, I think Hope Tarr may have modeled for her own book cover. She is that pretty.

Beauty, brains, talent, and now a two book deal. Women like that are not always the nicest people. Hope is, and I'm glad to see her finding the success she deserves. Congratulations Hope. Continued Success.

Stripping off his cravat, he did his level best to ignore Christine's silk stockings and - good God - garters dangling from the chair's back. He'd just added his waistcoat to the mounting pile when a sudden prickle of awareness shot through him. He looked up to find Christine watching him, gaze riveted to the triangle of flesh revealed by his open shirt collar. Despite the chilly, rain-scented air wafting in from the half-open window, he felt his flesh heat. And his pulse quicken.
- from Hope Tarr's Tempting

Mark Pettus,
Thursday, February 02, 2006


7 comments so far. Thank you, Blogger Scott, Blogger Erik Ivan James, Blogger Mark Pettus, Blogger Bernita, Blogger Mark Pettus, Blogger Bernita, Blogger Mark Pettus,


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7 Comments

at 7:18 AM Blogger Scott said...

It made my pulse quicken too!

 
at 2:08 PM Blogger Erik Ivan James said...

I enjoyed the entire post.

Ditto, Scott.

 
at 12:50 AM Blogger Mark Pettus said...

In the British news this week was the story of a 16-year old girl who has been writing novels since she was 14 and getting them all published. She writes for the teenage market and when asked if she intended to go on writing by the interviewer on BBC News 24 - stupid question to ask a writer, it's usually in the blood, after all - the girl said she intended to go on writing at least a book a year, she was having a great time and if she lived to be an old lady she'd have filled several bookshelves.

I couldn't envy her, I could only be happy for the girl. That said, I wondered if she had much of a life outside her writing to be as productive as she undoubtedly is. All told, she seemed to be a very sweet, nice girl - rather shy, smiling a lot to cover the fact that she was intimidated in the spotlight. Nothing arrogant about her. Indeed, she spends a lot of time in schools across the country encouraging other kids to read, write, learn.

Note new blog address, by the way. http://spicycauldron.com - it's shiny,all-dancing, all-new with added toys in the sidebar! x

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Posted by Spicy Cauldron to The Bluff at 2/04/2006 05:59:54 AM


Thanks for the comments, Gents. Was there too much testosterone in my post? Not a single female commentor, even Hope chose to email me her response rather than post it here.

I'm planning to update links this week, once I send out four score and 3 new queries. I'm probably going to leave Cece's link alone though, out of protest.

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Posted by Mark Pettus to The Bluff at 2/04/2006 11:44:51 AM

Hey Mark,

Thanks for the link and I'm sure your friend will appreciate the kudos and praise you've given her!

Tanya

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Posted by Shesawriter to The Bluff at 2/04/2006 01:09:18 PM

Thanks again Tanya for the great info. Your blog is part of the inspiration for updating the look of my own. You do such a good job, and your site looks so professional.

Calling Hope my friend might be a bit misleading, but writing is a good way to meet nice people.

Here is Hope's response to me via email:

Dear Mark,

Thanks so much for dropping a smile in my in-box. I've never been included on anyone's blog before, at least not that I know, and so I was very honored to read the beyond nice mention in yours. I spent a little time skimming the other posts and was very impressed with the topics covered. I probably should be blogging myself but then I'd likely write even less than I do now, and that wouldn't do. :)

Take care and thanks again for your kind note,

Hope

- She was wrong. She has been mentioned on several blogs.

 
at 6:13 AM Blogger Bernita said...

As I said before, Mark, you're a clever, clever guy.
I did find the white-on-black in comments difficult to read.
You shouldn't traduce lovely women by that stereotype. I always wonder if it's male ego or something like.
That excerpt from Hope's book display a freshness of detail - no wonder she got a nice deal.

 
at 12:08 PM Blogger Mark Pettus said...

Bernita,

Thanks for the kind words, and even those that are less than kind. You are an extraordinarily clever woman. I am humbled by your talent.

I had to look in the dictionary for traduce (see, blogging is an educational experience).

Main Entry: tra·duce
Etymology: Latin traducere to lead across, transfer, degrade, from tra-, trans- trans- + ducere to lead --
1 : to expose to shame or blame by means of falsehood and misrepresentation
2 : VIOLATE, BETRAY -traduce a principle of law
synonym see MALIGN
- tra·duce·ment /-m&nt/ noun
- tra·duc·er noun

I'm not sure how I degraded her, and I don't think you're accusing me of lying, so I'm a little confused. I may have been a bit effusive, but what I did was compliment her - mind, body, and soul.

Does a man's attraction to a woman diminsh her in some way? I admit I'm an anachronism. I'm a blatant flirt, and slave to my simian brain, but I refuse to pretend I don't like women. I do. I adore them - mind, body, and soul.

 
at 12:45 PM Blogger Bernita said...

Thank you, Mark.
~eyes above fan~
What I meant was your comment about lovely women in general- stereotyping them as often being nasty - the beauty bitch sort of thing.
You traduced the lot while singling her out as an exception.No problem with your compliments to her which are obviously deserved. I highly approve of that.

 
at 5:37 PM Blogger Mark Pettus said...

See - I knew I misunderstood, and now that I understand I have only three things to say.

Mea culpa.
Mea culpa.
Mea maxima culpa.

 

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