RWA Literacy Signing – Start Spreadin’ the News

At some point, I have to get rid of the Sinatra ear worm, which has been in my head for days. But anyway, here we are in New York! The New York Marriott Marquis is full of women and full of news. This is the fourth literacy signing I’ve been to, and it was easily the most crowded. The author were packed to the gills, and readers could barely get past each other in the aisles. The good news? Lots of news! I managed to check in with lots of authors about various topics – including the question greedy readers always want to ask: What are you working on next? Here’s an admittedly eclectic sampling of some books to look forward to:

Lauren Willig‘s new book, coming out in February, is her first featuring an American heroine. The hero’s a poet! Hopefully a good poet. She also has a short story coming out in a Jane Austen anthology.

Karen Templeton has her first release in a continuity series, Fortunes of Texas. It’s due out in January. She’s also working on a three book series.

Maya Rodale is working on the third book of four in her Writing Girl series (I read and reviewed the last one, and thought it was great).

Susan Elizabeth Phillips is writing the story of the runaway bride from Call Me Irresistible.

Mary Jo Putney is working on her fourth Lost Lords book and could see the series running to eight or nine books. She’s also writing YA, and her third YA, Dark Destiny, is on the horizon.

Delilah Marvelle (she who wrote the book about the Polish heroine with one leg, which I really enjoyed) has a new series called the Rumor Series. It will be out in January, but there’s an e-prequel (e-quel?) coming in December. And it’s set in New York City.

RITA finalist Cara Elliott has a new series as well; the first one comes out in November.

Readers can look forward to a new trilogy by Kathleen O’Reilly in the fall of 2012. It’s heroine-centered and focused on friendships – and set right here in New York City.

If you’ve read Kate Noble’s May book from this year, Follow My Lead, you may remember Sarah (who is dumped by the hero at the end). She’ll get her own story in 2012.

Janet Mullany is Jane Austen-focused right now. She has a short story in an upcoming Austen anthology, and continues to write a series with Jane as a vampire.

Courtney Milan has books out in October and November, both from the Turner Brothers series – Unclaimed and Unraveled. She was also giving out lip butter made by none other than Sherry Thomas (who can write, make lip balm, and probably leap tall buildings in a single bound).

I simply had to ask Kieran Kramer about her titles. Love them or hate them, at least you can tell they aren’t a product of the Random Romance Title Generator. She said that it’s a collaborative process; her editor has come up with some, she’s come up withe some, and some are a group effort. Up next: If You Give a Girl a Viscount.

Lavinia Kent’s latest news is her Real Duchesses of London e-novellas, available from Avon Impulse this summer. Then she has her last book in a series coming out: What a Duke Wants.

Kris Kennedy is working on another Medieval, this one with a con man and a bankrupt silk merchant. Count me in!

Leslie Kelly/Parrish has a Harlequin Blaze coming out in December. The rest of her Extra Sensory series books will be self-published (certainly a trend we are seeing more and more).

Julia Justiss is working on a series about four cousins (one of which will be set partly in Vienna and France, which naturally perks my interest. She also told me that Mills & Boon and Harlequin Historical will begin releasing all their books simultaneously next May. On the one hand, there will be fewer slots for authors – at least some months. On the other hand, this will be much less confusing for readers (and, admittedly, Managing Editors of book review websites, who have to try to figure out which book is coming out when). The cover art will be done in North America, and they won’t be reusing cover art for more than one book as they have in the past.

Elizabeth Hoyt has the next book in the Maiden Lane series coming out in November. It’s Winter’s story. She has a new contract for three more books as well.

Laura Lee Guhrke has the third book in her Edwardian series coming out in January. Her next series will be set a little earlier. With the popularity of the awesome Downton Abbey series, you would think we’d all be clamoring for Edwardian books. If you are one of the clamor-ers, it wouldn’t hurt to let Avon know.

Rachel Gibson is making a surprising-for-her move; her next hero is a former Navy SEAL. It’s Vince, who is the brother of the heroine of Any Man of Mine. She also has a short story in the works for Avon Online.

Suzanne Enoch (who is very nice, by the way, and let me steal her pen) is writing a four book series for St. Martin’s called Scandalous Brides. The first book (Beginner’s Guide to Rakes) is out in October.

Joanna Bourne is currently working on copy edits for her next book, The Black Hawk. Joanna says she writes slowly, so she wants each book to be both different and challenging. The Black Hawk is structured differently from many romances, mostly because Joanna found herself wanting to tell about the hero’s whole life – not just the part of his life that begins when he meets the heroine. (You know what word reviewers love? Different!)

I met Ashley March, who lives in the Denver area like me (something I managed not to know, even though I follow her on twitter). She told me Denver has its own version of Lady Jane’s Salon (which from all accounts was completely packed here in new York last night).

Last but not least, I caught up with Sherry Thomas (who, she says, makes lip butter as a relaxing counterpoint to writing. And I tried it, by the way – it’s good lip butter). She has a trilogy coming out next year (in May, July and October): Beguiling the Beauty, Ravishing the Heiress, and Reforming the Virgin. This is her first experience writing connected books, which is a new challenge for her. The books take place nearly all at the same time.

Very much in evidence tonight were romance trading cards, which are baseball card size, but much sexier. I have to say they came in handy for reporting tonight, and the size is better than a bookmark.

Tomorrow the conference starts in earnest. Sandy, Lynn, and I will be reporting on publisher spotlights as well as other news as we hear it.