Spring in the city

Signs of spring bring to mind beautiful meadows with wildflowers, baby wildlife, and kids able to shed their coats and kick a ball outside again. And now that I live in NH, that's the spring I know.

But back when I lived in Boston and Spring arrived, even with warmer weather the awakening seemed less evident--maybe because the city never really experienced the quiet sleep of winter.

It takes until late May or June, but eventually the city blooms. The public gardens are a joy to walk again. The swan boats come out of storage. But the major change is with people. All winter, people hurried with heads down to get where they needed to go. Spring encourages a slower step. A smile. Maybe even a nod or hello.

My series for Sourcebooks is set in Boston. The upcoming spin-off series is still in Boston only a few blocks away on Beacon Hill. Today I want to share with you a walk I took last Spring. It was early June, and I can't think of a better time to visit.



My favorite seaon is spring and my favorite color combination is pink and green. It never occured to me before taking this walk, but those are the colors that finally come together when life blooms in the city.



This is where I used to live. The flowers here are a little sad, but what do you expect of students living in a dorm? If they're not tromping on them, you're happy.



Even Abigail Adams seems to be enjoying the beautiful flowers along Commonwealth Avenue.



Book one in the new Flirting with Fangs series begins in early spring, and book two takes place in later spring and summer. I hope you can see why these are the seasons and this is the city that inspire me.

Big book signing 4/28

Loads of New England romance writers will be signing our books at the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem MA on Sat. 4/28. Here are the deets:

Annual Book Fair for Literacy
Saturday, April 28
Hawthorne Inn
Salem, Massachusetts

General Public allowed in at 4:30
Authors from the world of Romance, Historical, Contemporary,
Paranormal, and Suspense
PARTICIPATING AUTHORS

Jessica Andersen

Gina Ardito

Judith Arnold

Caitlin Avery

Julia Rachel Barrett

Annette Blair

Linda Bleser

PatrickBurns

Jamie Cat Callan

Ruth Cardello

Susan Carlisle

Char Chaffin

L. E.Chambelain

Ashlyn Chase

Elizabeth Cheryl

Gail Cleare

Karenna Colcraft

Roland Comtois

Maxie Cooper

Crescent Moon Press

Marie Force

Karen Frisch

Pepper Goodrich

Marley Gibson

Diane M. Haynes

Michael Hauge

Kristan Higgins

Shirley Ann Howard

Hannah Howell

Christina James

Coralie Jensen

Arline Kay

Marne Ann Kirk

Meg Maguire

Mari Mancusi

Mia Marlow

Lara Nance

Cathryn Parry

Judi Phillips

Nina Pierce

Jo Ramsey

Teresa Roberts

Carol Smilgin

Amber Skyze

Barbara Wallace

Penny Watson

Samantha Wayland

Jennifer Wells

Back from RT convention

Despite my best efforts (almost got on the wrong plane) I'm home from the big, honkin' Romantic Times convention in Chicago.

I had an awesome time. Missed the late night stuff, but caught a few workshops. (I must be getting old...a few years ago it was the other way around!) One workshop I attended had Charlaine Harris on the panel and the subject was writing kick-ass heroines.

I had dinner with my Ellora's Cave publisher, Raelene Gorlinsky. Saw the IL home of my publisher Sourcebooks. They rented party busses and took us all out to Naperville. I was filmed for something there...not sure what will become of that little video, but I hope it gets lost in the back of a closet. I kept forgetting to look at the camera and kept looking over at my editor. Since it was supposed to be a message for my fans...Oops.

The food was bad and expensive, so I ate salads in the bar. My roomie was great (Cheryl Brooks.)

The best part was meeting the fans. I met a 'fan-girl' in the elevator. Her friend grabbed her elbow and shook it saying, "There she is. That's the author you were looking for!" Naturally, I turned around to see what author must be standing behind me. Surprised and tickled pink when there was no one there.

I sat next to Loretta Chase at the big book signing and was shocked to sell almost as much as she did. (Whaaaa?) In fact, I almost sold out of Strange Neighbors. I only had 2 left. I thought about buying them myself to make it a clean sweep, but decided that would be cheating.

But seriously, every time a reader said how much they loved my series and asked if there would be more soon...I grew another inch. I'm about ten feet tall now.
At least I feel like it.

With all the things in this business that can discourage a writer, the readers are what saves it. If any of you have thought about writing to tell an author you loved her book, but decided she's probably "too busy" to be bothered...you might just want to go ahead and send that email. Yeah, some of the biggies might have someone else reading their email for them, but us little guys will smile for the rest of the day.

Hugs,
Ash

I was tagged in a game of Lucky 7

And because 7 is my lucky number, I absolutely must play...despite packing for my trip to Chicago tomorrow! It’s called the Lucky 7 game because the tagged author has to post a segment from one of her books. It must be from p. 77, starting at line 7 and going on for the next 7.



This is from Strange Neighbors:

Sly shrugged. "Nope. It was a woman with a knit cap pulled over her hair. She may have been a private detective trying to catch a cheating spouse or jealous ex-girlfriend stalker or something. She had a camera. Well, have a nice night." As soon as he had jogged down the outside steps, he seemed to disappear into the darkness.

With my luck," Jason muttered, "it's the paparazzi."

I'll include the blurb since it might make more sense that way.

He's looking for peace, quiet, and a little romance...
There's never a dull moment when hunky all-star pitcher and shapeshifter Jason Falco invests in an old Boston brownstone apartment building full of supernatural creatures. But when Merry MacKenzie moves into the first floor apartment, the playboy pitcher decides he might be done playing the field...

A girl just wants to have fun...
Sexy Jason seems like the perfect fling, but newly intependent nurse Merry's not sure she's ready to trust him with her heart...especially when the tabloids start trumpeting his playboy lifestyle.

Then pandemonium breaks loose and Merry and Jason will never get together without a little help from the vampire who lives in the basement and the werewolf from upstairs.

Now...I'm to tag 7 more awesome authors and ask you to check their blogs for the next 7 excerpts. Even if they don't play, their blogs are worth checking out!

Desiree Holt, Toni LoTempio, Delilah Devlin, Sam Cheever, Maggie Nash, Annette Blair, Hannah Howell