Official Blog of Romance Writer Victoria James

I just found out the release dates of my books for Entangled last night.  I’m so excited because they are SOON and it actually is beginning to feel real!

I’m not sure about the titles, but right now these are the working titles.  The are all part of the Indulgence Imprint..

A FAMILY FOR CHRISTMAS in November, 2012

RETURN TO RED RIVER will be released in January, 2013

THE BEST MAN’S BABY will be released in February, 2013

I should probably get back and finish RETURN TO RED RIVER…

Big night for DS tonight, I’ll post about it tomorrow!

I can’t believe I’m writing this…it’s official, contract’s been signed…

I’ve sold 2 books to Entangled Publishing’s Indulgence Line!!

This is a dream come true, and I can’t believe it’s actually happened…

My first book “A Family For Christmas” (not sure if that will be title or not) will be out THIS year!!!

The second book, “The Best Man’s Baby” (again, not sure about the title) will be out sometime in 2013.  This book is actually the second in a series and the partial for the first book, has just been approved…so I’ve got my work cut out for me!

Both of these books are so important to me and were such emotional ones to write.  I’ll post details about each of them soon!

I still have to pinch myself.  I’m about to join some fabulous authors, and I’m about to be a writer for a fabulous publisher…

I can’t believe I’m here, writing this post…thanks to all of you for your love and support, xo.

I’ve been busy, busy, busy.

Finally it seems that today, routine is starting again.

DS is back in school finally!   He had 2 weeks off for Spring Break, went back to school and got sick after only three days-so was home again for 2 days, then I got his cold, then it was the short Easter week…

I’ve just submitted the partial to my agent as well as the synopsis and I’m continuing to plug away at the rest of the book.  I’m hoping to have it done in 3 weeks.  It’s a re-write, so if I really push, and no one gets sick, I should get it done.

The book I’m re-writing is about second chances and starting over.

My heroine has issues with trust.  She comes back to her hometown temporarily (hehe, little does she know what I have planned for her) and to her childhood home.  It’s a big old Victorian house that needs to be restored.  But while she’s there, she’s forced to confront her feelings for the man she could never truly forget, and because of that, could never truly move on.  They’re both a lot older and a lot wiser…except for the fact that they’re about to embark on a renovation together-really how wise can they be?  She’s an interior designer and he’s a builder.  This should be fun.

All right, back to work for me

Well, it’s done, it’s gone.

I’ve sent off a first chapter, synopsis, and a few paragraphs of some other book ideas I have.

The last few days have been a crazy blur…what seemed like something so simple, turned into a monumental undertaking.  Wednesday after school, DS came home with a sore throat-so right away I knew Thursday would mean he’d be home from school-after having just been off from school for his 2 week spring break.  Then DH had to go away for work.  Then the washing machine that was supposedly fixed now needs an entire new control panel.  So, long story short, the last 2 nights I’ve been up until 2am working away…

Last night (or early morning) I finally hit send, and emailed it off.

And now I live in fear of my inbox.  I sent a copy to my agent as well, as she hasn’t seen it.  So now I live in fear of two different emails.

This story is such a departure from what I’ve been writing lately.  It has glamour and intrigue and it’s set in France.  I do love the characters, Hayden and Madelyn, and the very different paths they’ve walked in life.  I guess the question though is whether the editor will like them and the premise…

So the self-doubt continues…on two different projects.

And now I have to decide which manuscript to return to…and then I’m taking tonight off!

Today was a big day for me…because I was expecting a call from an editor at Harlequin Romance, a result of the SYTYCW contest.

So of course, the morning was one gigantic, nervous blur.

I woke up at 5:30am because, well, I’m a total nerd and wanted to go over my synopsis and notes a few more times before the phone chat.  Then I got the kids ready, drove DS to school, raced home and basically paced the house.  I contemplated adding a little something from the liquor cabinet into my coffee (but decided against it, since I didn’t think I needed anything to add to my incoherency) and then handed over DD to my husband at about 10:00am.  She said she’d be calling around 10:30am.

Half an hour was too long for someone like myself to be left alone.  I stared at the phone on my desk.  Checked Twitter.  Checked my inbox.  Then I picked up the phone a few times to make sure there was a dial tone.  Then I turned it over to make sure the jack was plugged in.  Then I checked my inbox to make sure she hadn’t emailed to cancel.  Then I double-checked the email I’d sent her, making sure I had given her the correct phone number.  And then I waited.  At 10:36am I decided she’d changed her mind and wasn’t going to call.  Seriously.  I think I may have even shrugged sadly and said “oh well” out loud.

But then at 10:37am the phone rang

She was so easy to speak with and put me at ease right away.  We talked about my contest entry a bit, my voice and then my ideas.  I explained the manuscript that I’d been working on and she said to go ahead and submit a partial to her along with the synopsis.  So I will be editing tonight, and trying to convince myself that I CAN do this…

She truly was so nice and so helpful.  The phone call was the highlight of my day.  Actually, it was one of the best things ever.

So I’m off to work…

A little over a week ago, while sitting in a coffee shop, and refreshing my inbox for what had to be the tenth time in a matter of thirty minutes, an email actually came in.  And it wasn’t from a friend or spam..no, it was from Harlequin!

It was an email from the Senior Editor of Harlequin Romance, saying that I was one of the 5 finalists from the SYTYCW contest!

They loved my entry!  It really took me a few minutes to process, as I thought that ship had sailed.  SYTYCW wasn’t even on the radar for me anymore.  In fact, I thought the email had something to do with a question I had posted on the Harlequin forums for the Romance fast-track they were working on.  But as I re-read the email, the reality of it dawned on me:  In black and white, on their letterhead, they said that I was one of the 5 finalists and that they liked my voice, they liked my story.

It wasn’t an offer to publish…but they would like to work with me!  I now have an invitation to send them something new.  I will be speaking with or emailing Bryony Green at Harlequin Romance.  I have a few ideas of what I’d like to submit…and I also have a partial that’s almost ready to go that I think would work really well…and the partial that I’m really hoping they like, will take me back to France…

So now, I need to get some coherent thoughts down on paper in preparation for our conversation and polish/revise the partial that I’m hoping will interest them.  Just thinking about a phone conversation already has my stomach in knots!  How many ways can I possibly embarrass myself in a conversation?

Hmm…I guess I’d better get to work before the self-doubt takes over!

I just came back from a hilarious, wonderful breakfast with my BFF.  We laughed a lot, drank coffee, and caught up on all the latest happenings in each others lives…

So this got me to thinking about the power of the girlfriend in books.  I know I love to read about a heroine and her friends.  I love seeing how they interact, I love the conversation (especially if it’s witty and upbeat) and the inevitable insight you get from their time together.  Even though the central romance is what has to be the focus, I really do love reading and writing about the world around the characters.  I know depending on word count for particular lines this isn’t always possible.

I am happy that in the book I just submitted and the one I’m working on now, the cast of secondary characters is very vivid and entertaining.  And the heroine Holly, and her BFF Claire have a long history together.  It’s so much fun to write strong women who have the confidence to laugh at themselves and support each other.  Claire challenges Holly to go after what she really wants (and Holly of course, returns the favour in the next book).

On that note, I guess I’d better get back to my cast of characters…

Well, we’re back from our little getaway and as much as it was nice to have a change of scenery, I’m happy to be home.

For some reason, neither of my kids seem to do well with change.  Last week, sleep schedules were completely off, DD woke up a minimum of three times a night and skipped her nap at least twice.  My attempts at writing in the bakery/coffee shop weren’t as successful as I’d hoped and I spent most of my time watching DS charm the locals.  He is so friendly and in typical small-town fashion, everyone stopped to talk to us.  DS was delighted by this, and was quick to offer some of his “artwork” to interested patrons.  And there is now a delightful picture of “Lightning McQueen” hanging in the bakery-only after DS made the owner of the bakery agree that it had to stay on the wall forever.

Now we’re home and back to a somewhat normal routine, though DS still has this week off school.  We have some fun day trips planned and working during the day will be tricky, but I’m counting on my evenings again.  Oh, BTW, my morning routine got scrapped once DS got wind of me waking early and repeatedly woke up to keep me company.  So back to evenings…

By the end of this week, I need to “commit” to the partial I’ve written, as well as the synopsis, and send it off…

My plan for getting writing done while away this week is to put DD down for a nap, and then take DS out to the little coffee shop in town.  The coffee shop is also a bakery, which all plays into my plan…

I have purchased a stack of colouring/activity books, a Cars 2 sticker book, new markers, new pencil crayons…all in the hopes that DS can entertain himself for at least one hour while I try and get some writing done.  I have also promised him a yummy treat every day at the coffee shop as well.  We’ll see if he can remain silent for longer than 5 minutes…

Well, yesterday spring break officially started! DS has the next 2 weeks off school.

And I’m about to give the DH a wonderful gift…silence…for 5 days…

My mom and I are taking the kids for a week to a quaint fishing village on Lake Erie.  My parents have a little place on the lake, and the kids love it, even though it’s not warm enough for the beach (we’re in Canada) the change of pace is wonderful.  It’s a charming town that holds many childhood memories for me, as we’d go there every summer.  Everything is a little more laid back, people are friendlier…and everything seems easier there in a way.

This little trip is also very timely for me since my full was sent off to Harlequin yesterday.  Honestly every time I think about that (which is at least once an hour) my stomach feels like it’s about to eject its contents.  Sometimes I don’t know what’s worse, a really long response where you allow yourself to daydream about ‘the call’ or the really short wait, where you wonder if your manuscript was so horrible that they only needed five minutes to decide it wasn’t good enough.

Hopefully this excursion will help me get my mind off things…especially since the only wireless is at one of the coffee shops in town.

I am bringing my laptop and will be working away on my other manuscript.