Kate Duffy

:-(

Kate Duffy, longtime Kensington editor, has died.

This sucks.

I didn't know Kate, but met her a couple of times. She always struck me as a blunt, down-to-earth, funny as hell woman, and I'd heard her skills as an editor were terrific. She never hesitated to say what she thought, and to me, that was so damn refreshing.

I first met her at the Florida Romance Writers convention in 2007. Kate was on a panel with other editors and agents, doing a Floridian Idol. Writers would give, anonymously, a few pages and the panel would critique them.

Brave souls.

I remember one particular entry that was extremely racist and offensive. The others on the panel were delicate in their comments, but Kate laid it out on the line. She clearly said how offensive it was.

Go Kate.

I met her again at Heather Graham's Writers for New Orleans in 2007, the very first year Heather organized the conference. Kate did an impromptu session with the audience, sitting down with us instead of speaking at the podium, and telling us what she liked, what was up and coming at Kensington, and what she looked for in books.

It was fun, it was open and honest, and I thought, "Damn, as an editor she might be tough, but you'd know where you stood." Even though I had nothing to send to her, as I was already under contract with another house, I wanted to submit to her just to see what she'd say.

I never did, and I regret that now.

I heard she was getting treatments for cancer. If they can find a cure for this horrible and heart-breaking disease in my lifetime, it won't be soon enough. Just last week, I found out a couple of co-workers have cancer, and a friend's father was diagnosed with lung cancer and another friend just had surgery for cancer.

Kate Duffy. A helluva editor, smart, witty woman, and a good person.

She'll be sorely missed in the publishing world.

My condolences to her family, her authors, her coworkers, and her friends.

Hump Day Hunk and excerpt

Busy week, have to have a medical procedure tomorrow so for today I'm posting a pix for Hump Day Hunk of how I envisioned Raphael from IMMORTAL WOLF. This is my Nocturne that is out Oct. 1.

And here is an excerpt to go along with it! Enjoy.

Also, something cool, TIME magazine did an article on romance, and in the photo of Harlequin titles is my book, ENEMY LOVER. Woot!

Immortal Wolf, copyright 2009 by Bonnie Vanak

He advanced, his body tensing with aggressive need to dominate and claim. Raphael forced himself to move slowly. Must not scare her. All else was forgotten, but this driving sexual need for her. Emily did not retreat.

She remained motionless, her hands in their ugly mustard yellow casing of gloves now shoved behind her back. He drew close enough to see a slight sprinkling of ginger freckles on her delicate, upturned nose. Close enough to count the light gold lashes feathering her large eyes, see the swirls of green in the irises shift to blue, and then deep violet.

Raphael blinked. Her eyes changed color?

And then she parted her lips and lifted her face to him, like a daisy eager for the sun’s caressing rays, and he forgot about everything but fusing his mouth to hers.
His hand gently caressed her soft cheek. Raphael cupped her face and kissed her, feeling the electric shock between them as their lips touched.

Emily sighed into his mouth and closed her eyes. He did as well, tasting her, his blood roaring through his veins, his body humming like a live current. She was of the earth and nature, pure as a crystal stream, and he ached to dive into her, plunder her sweet, innocent depths with his hardened body, let her know a male’s driving passion while awakening her own.

Very good blog about book piracy

Kim says everything I'd like to say, so I'll just post the link to her blog.

Book piracy hurts authors. Trust me, those sales DO count. And when they're lost to e-piracy, everyone loses, including the reader.

Chasing book pirates is like herding cats. As a midlist author, I have little time to do it. I'd rather write, and keep writing. But the more sales I lose to book piracy, the less chances I have of getting another contract.

Click here to read the blog.

Win a copy of my October Nocturne, IMMORTAL WOLF!

Just comment on the blog I posted over at eharlequin titled, "Climbing mountains and dreaming dreams."

Click here!

Good luck!

BTW, news update. SEDUCING THE VAMPIRE will be the Weekly Read on eHarlequin starting October 19. Every week there will be a FREE chapter to read.

This online serial features Indigo, the half-Draicon werewolf, half-vampire, who was first featured in ENEMY LOVER. Indigo also makes an appearance in IMMORTAL WOLF.