One of the groups I belong to asked the question: How is it working with other authors on a project? Good and Bad. The Rogue's Angels decided to work on Anthologies together. The first one will be published in 2010 on Valentines Day. The experience has been great. We are the best of friends and so we have been able to pull our combined talents into an anthology which will be a fun read. Our next project to be published in 2011 will be a St. Patrick's Day anthology. This one will be a little bit diffrent because we are trying to combine the three stories into one continuous one. I'm a little scared about how this is going to work but I think with lots of planning the story will come together. The problem with all this is that I'm not a planner. Sigh--it is a good thing Chris K. and Genene are excellent at this endeavor.

Look for The Wager coming in November from Awe-Struck books and Forever His in November from Rogue Phoenix Press. Yes, the date has been moved up. Go to http://aidansmisadventures.blogspot.com/ to read an excerpt from The Wager.

The heroine is racing to the park to stop the duel. Will she make it in time? Will her brother survive? This is an action packed scene with bullets flying, horses racing and oh my, I forgot how awkward and accident prone our heroine is. Will she survive the race to the park? Can she avoid the phaetons and other transportation devices that might get in her way? Will the fae folk intervene and sprinkle a little magical dust on her to keep her from hurting herself? So many questions and not even time.

Looks like the Valentine Anthology has a kick-off party planned for--you'll never guess--February 14th and I think it will be at the animal shelter in Salem. Mark your calendar and plan to be there. The three stories? Chasing Rainbows, The Lending Library, and The Gift.

I'm looking for some inspiration here. I'm sure the fae folk will give it to me once I start writing. The duel is about to take place. Ah--questions, how will the faeries interfere? Will there be trickery? Will the antagonist turn at 10 paces or will he cheat?

On another note, I'm looking forward to the phone call from my daughter. She is off to Greece. What an adventure. She was there for school last year and now cannot resist the place and is back. She has been to two weddings and traveled the countryside a little bit.

Look for another excerpt for The Wager coming in November from Awe-struck posted at http://aidansmisadventures.blogspot.com/

What will happen this morning when there will be duels at dawn? Will the hero and the heroine survive? Will they ever get that first kiss? Will the hero see his love before the duel or will he never see her again? Will they ever find out what the feud tearing apart their families is? I certainly expect they will.

An excerpt of The Wager will be posted at Aidan's blog. Take a look and see what the 12 sisters/cousins will be up to in November when The Wager is published by Awe-struck.
http://aidansmisadventures.blogspot.com/
Look for Forever His in November also. The pub date has been moved up. I will post an excerpt for this book also.

I'm looking for ideas: What is this feud all about? Could it be something so little as one family getting the last package of corned beef? Or could it be something more meaningful more horrible? Ah, but faeries are involved, the little mischief makers, so it can't be all bad.

Buy Allura at Awe-struck. Look for Forever His coming out in December at Rogue Phoenix Press the last book in the series which started with Dakota's Bride in December of 1999.

I actually wrote yesterday. Not a lot but I put word to paper which gives me a starting point today. As usual, the characters changed the plot line of the story and now I have some follow up and revising. Duels vs. fights, one is legal the other is not. Oh, my will the faieries fight a dual, a dual of curses and blessings, maybe tossing pixie dust back and forth. Oh, my, oh my. I'm sure there is protocol for all of this. Must consult an encyclopedia of faeries.

Look for the Valentine Anthology February 14, 2010. Forever His has suddenly become a November release as well as The Wager.

Let's try this a second time. Computers, we love them and we hate them. I was hunting for a title of a book and the computer froze. So everything I wrote vanished in a twinkle of an eye. Chapter 4--oh what a turning point the faeries have in store for the humans. It will keep you speeding through the pages to see what will happen next. And the feud, we are learning, was over something very minor which escalated as the years passed. These families should not be enemies!

Look for the new slideshow posted on roguesanglesblogspot.com. I am working on it and it is growing in preparation for the release of the Valentine Anthology in a little over 6 months. I am looking for faeries for the Lending Tree by Chris Kraemer and a nutty professor for Chasing Rainbows by Genene Valleau and civil war clip art for The Gift, by me.

Should they share the kiss? Is this the first big turning point in the story? Turning points--I believe there should be a turning point in every scene leading up to the dark moment. Turning points make the story interesting and they keep the pages moving. Should they not share the kiss? What pagan faerie will get in the way of the kiss? Oh, so many questions and so much trouble to get into. I thought I had the scene figured out and now...

Check out Rouge's Angels blog. www.rougesangelsblogspot.com I will be starting a slide show which will begin advertising the 2010 Valentine Anthology written by Genene Valleau, Chris Kraemer and myself. It will be out in print and ebook forms on February 14, 2010. Look for Forever His coming in December 2009 and The Wager November 2009.

Kiss the girl, Kiss the girl, Kiss the girl. What do you all think? If the fae folk whisper kiss the girl in the heroe's ear, do you think he will kiss her? That remains to be seen. I didn't get much writing done yesterday. I went to see The Half Blood Prince. Saw lots of death eaters and magicians but not a lot of faeries. No real inspiration in the movie. It seemed Rowlings did a lot of setting up for the next movie. I didn't like it that Dumbledorf (sp?) died--just didn't seem right.
Back to the story at hand. At least my uncoordinated heroine has survived the crashing surf and the tide pools without falling victim to the ocean. Stay tuned for further adventures of -- I'm really going to have to decide on their names.

Buy Allura from Awe-struck as an ebook or POD from roguephoenixpress. Look for Forever His the last in the Dakota's Bride series coming in December from roguephoenixpress. Buy The Locket and The Talisman from roguephoenixpress.

I have always loved to write villians into my stories. Antagonists are fun and they let the inner demon go unchecked. The two evil fae folk, and they really aren't that evil, they just like pranks and mischief more than most, are Conn and Carey. Conn has the task of seeing the arrogant and very pompous Florence marries our heroine. But he is bedeviled at every turn by Oran and Moya. Carey hasn't entered the story yet but she is Conn's sister. I haven't figured out her role yet but I'm sure she will be up to lots of pranks. Stay tuned for more adventures from our fae people.

Look for Forever His, coming in December 2009. Buy The Locket and The Talisman at Rogue Phoenix Press. www.roguephoenixpress.com. These are the sequels to Dakota's Bride and My Angel.

Faeries, faeries everywhere. The Fae people are taking over my life! They are playing tricks and writing my anthology, putting thoughts in my head. But they are so much fun. I'm introducing Moya and Oran (the good faeries) into my story. They are fairy godmother and fairy godfather to the heroine and hero in the St. Patrick's Day anthology I'm writing with Genene Valleau and Chris Kraemer. I have not settled on my the names for my hero and heroine yet. These two fae creatures have blessed the heroine and hero with the gift of true love (for each other) and now they have to figure out how to bring these two people together. Since humans are so inept at everything, including finding true love, this is turning out to quite the task.

I am looking for guest bloggers and in return would love to blog about my books at other sites. Please let me know if you would like to be a guest at my site.

I am currently finishing a project that has spanned six books. This book Forever His is a historical romance. It is the last of the six books. The story is Jacob St. John's. Jacob appeared in the second book Dakota's Bride, and My Angel the third book that were published by Kennsington. I now have the rights to those books. He has been in all the books since. Etta Barringer appeared in the fourth book The Locket and has been in each book since then. In every book Etta and Jacob fall more deeply in love but in each book she betrays him some way.

Look for Forever His coming in December 2009. Buy The Locket and The Talisman at www.roguephoenixpress.com

So, yesterday I tried to post on this site and the post ended up on one of my other blogs. Sigh...
I guess 4 blogs are too many to handle. I am so looking forward to the festival this weekend. I'm going to learn about Irish faeries, gnomes and leprachauns among other things. If you have any information about Irish faeries, celtic myths, runes, magic and so much more--lead me in the right direction--please. My next book will have some of these elements.

NW Book Festival--long day with lots of new people and almost flawless weather. Valley Romance was represented by Paty Jager, Genene Valleau, Chris Kraemer, Teri Reed, Minnette Meador, and myself. (I hope I didn't leave anyone out) Rosemary Indra (a past member/longtime secretary of Valley Romance) was also there with her debut book A Wife for Jay Prescott. We missed you Eli. but we are all praying for a speedy recovery. Thank you so much Veronica for hosting this event and I'm hoping there will be a repeat. Oops, I forgot the adorable little girl, Tink, who gave the entire experience a brand new spin. Check out Tink in her cowboy hat. OMG, I think Tink's a girl. I even asked. So, hopefully, once again I hope I don't offend any of her/his doggy friends.

My appologies to Minnette. I left her out the first time around. And as with Chris K. I somehow cut her in half. Sigh...a photographer, I am not.

Review from Coffee Time Romance for The Talisman:

This is a wonderful tale, full of action, emotion and a bit mystical at times. Ivan and Moriah each have a silver armband set with amber, an heirloom in their families. They are unlikely soul mates at first, but the author creates a very engrossing love story for them. There are no half measures here at all, the heroes are very good and brave and the villains have absolutely no redeeming qualities. Sometimes it is nice to not have to make a decision whether to love or hate a character.

To see the entire review: http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/thetalisman.html

Woohoo, I received my rights back from Kennsington for my first two books, Dakota's Bride and My Angel. In honor of this I am giving away a copy of The Talisman which is the fourth book in the series beginning with Dakota's Bride. (Actually,there is one before Dakota's Bride but it isn't published yet. All you have to do to win is comment on my blog. Please include your email address in your comment. I will draw one lucky winner. The contest will run until the end of the month.

So...I didn't post on Sunday after the signing. It was Mother's Day after all. The month has been busy. The end of the 2008-2009 school year is upon us. (Two more days) Yay! I have two new books of my own out, Allura and The Talisman. Allura is the beginning of a series and The Talisman is the second to last in another series. I have my rights to Dakota's Bride and My Angel back. I will be publishing them later on this year or next. These two books begin the series of Dakota's Bride, My Angel, The Locket, The Talisman, and then Forever His which will be published in December of this year. Rogue Phoenix will start publishing two books a month in July.

Whew! I need to step back and take a break. Which is exactly what I plan on doing next week!

I'm looking forward to the May 9th book signing at the Blue Pepper. The Angels, (Genene, Chris K and myself) have all put a lot of work into this event. Rosemary Indra, a debut author will be there signing her book A Wife For Jay Prescott. The event is from 1:00 to 4:00. Hope to see everyone there. I will post picture on Sunday.

Readers Luncheon yesterday in Portland was fun. We had a great speaker, great food, and lots of great readers. I took some pictures of the Valley Romance crew but didn't think about having someone else take a picture so I could be in one of them. For the first time in three years they had my books. Wow! Thank you Marci, you did a great job. I drove to Portland with Genene. We had super convrsation and we were able to discuss some promotional ideas. I'm looking forward to the next Mid-Valley meeting. See everyone there on Thursday.

5 ribbon review from Romance Junkies http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/historical/Allura.shtml

Christine Young’s ALLURA is a delightful historical novel full of suspense, lovable characters, humor and a budding romance between two characters determined not to fall in love. Allura and Hunter’s stubborn, determined natures allowed for some interesting scenes as they attempted to get one up on each other. As a modern day woman I felt bad for Allura because technically her husband would dictate every aspect of her life and the freedom she loves would be a thing of the past. Hunter is unbending as far as to how he believes a wife should behave but falling in love changes him and his perception of Allura. Hunter and Allura are the main focus of this story but there are secondary characters whom I absolutely adored and would love to revisit in future novels (hint, hint). Especially the youngest sister Aiden and Hunter’s trusted friend Blade. He doesn’t believe in love and she’s determined to do whatever’s necessary to get him to notice her.

What is in a review? If it is a good one, it leaves the author feeling great! If it is a bad one...
Many different emotions go through my head. I absolutely love my last three reviews, two for Allura which is just out and one for Safari Moon. I couldn't want anything better.

How do you feel about reveiws? (as an author and as a reader) Does a good review sway you to buy the book?

Stop by and leave a comment. Check out Aidan's Misadventures blog and look for an upcoming interview on Rogue's Angles blog. Soon to be announced.

Check out Coffee Time Romance for the first review of Allura:

It has mystery, humor and, whew, steamy love scenes! An awesome group of characters make this read very entertaining, from the tough as nails Allura to her meddlesome younger sister, Aiden. There is never a dull moment throughout this book and you will surely not be disappointed. I can only hope that some of my favorites get a story of their own. Well done Ms. Young.

Allura will be released April 10th by Awe-struck.

Wow, it's spring vacation again and I have so much to do. In honor of the 12 sisters/cousins in Allura's household, I have decided to start a new blog. The blog will honor Aidan, the youngest of them all and will feature each relative as thier individual books are released. Since Aidan is already "in love" I wonder if she will marry her soul mate. Will Blade, the object of the young lady's desire, fall in love with her. At the moment she is simply an unwanted distraction and yet there is something protective about the way Blade treats this lovable and vivacious charater.

The question of the day is what is a soul mate? Do they really exist? Can someone fall in love "at first sight?" So all of you incurable romantics out there, what do you think?

Don't forget to check out the Rogue's Angels blog http://www.roguesangels.blogspot.com/ for the newest information on the Valentine Anthology coming in February 2009
And Rogue Phoenix Press http://www.roguephoenixpress.com/

Allura will be released by awe-struck books next month. This book is the first in a series of twelve books. They were conceived several years ago with the help of my youngest daughter who was in middle school at the time. I cherish these books, in part, because of the wonderful time I had with Jenee. She plotted their horoscopes, gave them physical characteristics, and fantastic personalities. I have only written three of the twelve books, but I'm hoping that when I retire, I will have more time to settle down and finish all the stories.

The origional concept was a fairy tale based on the twelve dancing princesses. Where did they dissapear to each evening? Their father was beside himself to discover this mystery.

In this series, there are three families, all related in some way. Each family has four daughters and yes, they too dissapear. Where do they go? The father of the oldest child, Allura, distributes a handbill over all of England and Scotland. He pledges to give the hand in marriage of his oldest daughter to the man who can discover their secret.

Of course, Allura is outraged. She is a kick-ass heroine in the regency period, and she doesn't appreciate all the medling done by her father.

Christine