P-P-PARTY!!!!

by Jeanne Adams

It's time for a LAUNCH PARTY!!! Everybody grab your hats and streamers. The countdown to Sunday, June 1, begins....five, four, three, two, ONE!

BLAST OFFFFFFFFF! My first, debut novel, Dark and Dangerous, has reached bookstore shelves - it's been sighted in Kentucky already! - and will be out everywhere, June 1, 2008.

Of course, like any office party, I have to give the obigatory speech. Tap the water glasses with a knife so everyone quiets down. Get the microphone. Okay. Here is is. Party Speech.

You know, its the one that begins with:

"Wow. It's been a wild journey. When this book was young, merely an infant idea, it won the Dixie First Chapter contest. The editor, from Harlequin, requested it. Before I could finish it, the editor left on maternity leave....."

(Note: it's a good idea to have an idea how the book is going to end if you're entering it in contests. Oh, and to have more than 50 pages of it written.)

Oh, and the speech has to have that part in it that's really inspirational, and mentions your team, your friends, your coaches...

"But finish it I did. It labored unappreciated in a LOT of contests. A LOT. Really. Then a friend dared me to really dig into it, really apply all that I'd learned at National and in online courses and really polish the darn thing. Hmmmm. I can never resist a dare. She also dared me to enter it in the Golden Heart."

Then, in the middle of the speech, you have to have a black moment, where there's a bit of despair, the thought of giving up...

"I wasn't sure I could finish it. But I did. It took another nudge from my friend, but I sent it in to RWA. I never thought it would do anything. I had become quite jaded about the contest circuit, I must say."

Then a milestone! A success!

"So, when in the midst of a plotting session with several authors, held at my house, I received a phone call from a stranger saying I'd finaled in the Golden Heart? Ummmm, are you sure you mean...Me? With what? Really?"

You could have knocked me over with Brad Pitt and a gun....oh, sorry, just HAD to put that pic in there. Feather, yeah, Brad Pitt and a feather...or just Brad.

Sorry. Having a moment...

Now where was I? (Quick, non-speech note about the GH - Enter if you can. Really. It's more than worth the $50 if you final. Just look what's going on in the Lair, if you don't believe me!)

But I digress...Back to the Party Speech:

"I went to conferences, I went to National. I had editor agent appointments. I wrote."

You have to wrap up the speech with a triumphant moment....

"Then, one day, I got THE CALL. You read that story last fall, so I won't repeat it today but WOW! What a life-changer."

Everything since then has been a bit of a blur, but everything came into sharp focus the day my author copies arrived. I had a BOOK. With MY name on the COVER. YIKES! Then it was reviewed by Romantic Times, and they liked it. I felt like Sally Field..."You like me, you really like me!"

LIFT YOUR GLASSES....DRINK.....End of the obligatory Party Speech. Now we can get to the FUN part...

We'll see what you and the rest of the world think as Dark and Dangerous heads out to stores and to homes, bookbags and beaches here in June. In the meantime, call over a Romance Bandit cabana boy, get a margarita or a glass of chardonnay - pick your poison, and our bartender will serve it up.

It's time to PARTY!!!!

What's your celebration this month? Got a birthday? Anniversary? Escape to the beach? I need to know too, what you're drinking today in celebration? Margarita? Jack and Coke? What's your favorite party libation? Oh, and would you do a body shot with Nick Stokes or Bond, James Bond? Bwah-ha-ha!

Share the celebration with me. One lucky poster will get a Dark and Dangerous Beach Read gift, complete with a brand, spanking new copy of....drum roll please....you guessed it, DARK AND DANGEROUS!!!