OMGHOLYCRAP Part VI: Marrying the Captain in stores now!

Carla Kelly was kind enough to send me an advance copy all the way in Korea. I've held off on gloating until it was available in stores, but let me say now... I LOVED it and can recommend it without any hesitation. It's sweet, it's funny, it's romantic, it's touching, and it's got just enough sizzle for me to feel slightly awkward reading my name in it. And the even better news? There's a sequel coming out in Many and I'm going to be in that one, too! Does life get more fun than this?

Synopsis:

Ever since her father tried to sell her as a mistress to the highest bidder, Eleanor Massie has chosen to live in poverty. Her world changes overnight when Captain Oliver Worthy shows up at her struggling inn. Despite herself, Nana is drawn to her handsome guest….Oliver planned to stay in Plymouth only long enough to report back to Lord Ratliffe—about Nana. But he soon senses that Lord Ratliffe is up to something, and Oliver will do anything to keep this courageous, beautiful woman safe—even marry her!

Three Five-Star reviews on Amazon (counting the Kindle edition)! Positive buzz at All About Romance! Most importantly, of course, MY NAME!

What are you waiting for? Go buy your copy!

Amazon, where it is ranked #1 in Harlequin Historicals sales

Barnes and Noble

Powell's

It's a bad economy. Your country needs you.

OMGHOLYCRAP Part V: I have cheekbones?

Welcome back to the OMGHOLYCRAP series, in which we trace the adventures of my name, given to the heroine of Carla Kelly's upcoming Harlequin romance novel Marrying the Captain. I anticipate at least one more installment of this series (when I read the book, of course!). But half the fun of a romance often occurs before you even open the book. I am referring, of course, to that bastion of awesome and ridiculous, the romance novel cover.

Yes. It's out. The cover of Carla Kelly's book!

My personal reaction? Not bad.Nobody looks like they're in pain, her hair is obeying all known laws of physics, and everybody has the right number of hands. (You clicked on that one. I know you did. Can you believe that?). Returning to the point, though: she's pretty. I'm not ashamed that the person on that cover shares my name. I see no reason for her dress to be falling off like that (after all, his hand isn't even on her sleeve - it's on her waist) but the composition is strong and the captain's a cutie. You go, Nana!

OMGHOLYCRAP Part IV: Time to pre-order!

A number of people have asked me lately when "my" romance novel - AKA Carla Kelly's novel featuring a protagonist named after yours truly - is coming out (for the complete backstory on this forthcoming novel, see OMGHOLYCRAP, OMGHOLYCRAP Part II, and OMGHOLYCRAP Part III).

The good news is that courtesy of a post by Carla Kelly on Likesbooks.com, we now have a release date: January 1 2009! The bad news is that the book has a new title: from Worthy, which I liked immensely, to Marrying the Captain, which I do not. Not to judge - I am, after all, somebody who bought and enjoyed a book called Secrets of a Pregnant Princess - but I feel like Marrying the Captain is a harder sell to the average reader.

But you, dear blog followers, are not by any means average! You will not miss out on this fabulous book by a fantastic author! You will pre-order this book from Amazon.com! Right now, before you forget. No, really, click on that link. It's a direct link to the page for this book. Couldn't be easier. And it's only $5.99! You can't even see a movie for that anymore!

I now leave you with this teaser from Ms. Kelly on Likesbooks:

A captain in the Channel Fleet comes to stay at the Mulberry Inn, a shabby little place down on its luck, while his frigate is in drydocks. Captain Oliver Worthy quickly discovers that Eleanor Massie (a.k.a. Nana), the innkeep's granddaughter, just might be the one. He never thought to marry, because his job is so tough and so dangerous. But there is Nana, and only an idiot would resist.

There you have it: Only an idiot would resist Nana. And Nana is telling you: buy this book!

OMGHOLYCRAP Part III: "Worthy," indeed!

While I was back home, several people asked about the status of "my" romance novel - aka, Carla Kelly's upcoming romance novel in which the heroine has been bestowed with my name (for earlier installments in the OMGHOLYCRAP series, see here and here.) The title of the book has been approved - it will now officially be Worthy, after the hero Oliver Worthy (Massie, after the heroine, would have been my personal choice, but I suppose the secondary meanings are a tad more limited). And as to its release, here is the very latest word from Ms. Kelly herself:

Hi, Nana. Just wanted you to know that "our" book has been approved by the publisher. I'm thinking it will be out next November or December.

And I'm thinking I'd better get moving on Book 2!

Thanks again for the loan of your name.

Best,

Carla

Everybody, mark your calendars! I expect absolutely everybody I've ever met to purchase at least one copy of this book. All the cool kids will be laughing at the sex scenes with my name in it.* You don't want to be uncool, do you?

I didn't think so.

*Note: book may or may not have sex scenes. I promise nothing.

OMGHOLYCRAP Part II, or the continuing adventures of my name in romance novels

You may remember that about six weeks ago, I posted about Carla Kelly, one of my favorite romance novelists, deciding she liked my name and using it in a book. Well, today, I got an e-mail from her asking for formal permission to use my full name (duh!). In the event that I declined to give permission, she was willing to change the character's name to Nana Marlowe. Horrors!

She also gave me a bit of information on the character as well as the first chapter of the book. According to Ms. Kelly, "Nana is a delightful character" - how could she be anything but? - "and she gets an excellent man, a post captain in the royal navy named Oliver Worthy." In fact, she says, she had so much fun with the whole thing that she's hoping to do a trilogy around the Worthy family, so I may even reappear in the future! This has to be the first time ever that I've hoped for a gratuitous cameo by the protagonists of previous novels.

I did enjoy the first chapter, although I won't distribute it because that's probably not appropriate. You'll all appreciate the fact that Nana spends most of the first chapter looking for food. The neatest thing by far, though, is that Nana is her character's nickname, too, and her real name just happens to be Eleanor. Eleanor, for those of you who don't know, was the name of my maternal grandmother, a wonderful, brilliant woman who died just a couple of years ago. I did not tell Ms. Kelly this, although I did write back to let her know. It is just a lovely coincidence.

Now I need everybody to send positive vibes to Carla Kelly's editors: Buy this book! Love this book! Pay Carla Kelly all the money in the world for this book! Don't change the names of any characters in this book!

OMGHOLYCRAP

Okay, so this has nothing to do with teaching in Korea, but I am excited beyond all reckoning by this and I just had to share.

I am a huge fan of a romance novelist named Carla Kelly, who also happens to hold a master's in military history. Once upon a time, she posted on a message board about a journal article she'd written on sanitation in frontier military forts, and me being me, I told her I'd love to read it. We e-mailed, she sent me a copy of the article, I told her I really enjoyed it, and at some point during the exchange, she told me she liked my name and could she use it in a romance novel sometime? Well, um, let me think! I told her absolutely, and then kind of forgot about it as work ate my life.

Can you tell where this is going?

Yes. Today on the same message board where I first bumped into her, I saw the following post by Ms. Kelly herself:

In the novel I'm currently working on (due to the publisher Dec. 15), my heroine is named Nana Massie, after a reader. This novel takes place during the bad bad days of the blockade of England in 1808-1809, and is named Worthy.

And my head exploded.

Can you believe it?!!!! I am not only going to be a romance novel heroine, but I'm going to be a heroine for one of my absolutely favorite authors of all time!!!!

Of course, I'm bracing myself for the moment when the publisher says, "That name is a disaster... can't you go with something like Louise?" But come on. This is still the awesomest thing to happen to me, well, ever. Or at least since I married Justin :) (Insert "awww" here).

God bless the Internet!