Dear Friends,
It has been an eventful summer for me and I have a lot of news to share.
Secrets of Surrender, my June ‘08 book, was a NYTimes bestseller on their main, published list. This was a career first for me. I have had books on their extended list before, but not the one with the top slots that is actually printed in the newspaper.
Secrets also was in the top, published 50 of the USAToday bestseller list, and on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list. I thank each one of you who took a chance on my story and helped me to achieve these wonderful milestones!
Then in July, Lessons of Desire won the RITA for best historical romance of 2007. The award was announced at the annual convention of the Romance Writers of America. The conference was in San Francisco this year and I was delighted to meet some of you at the Literacy Signing.
I also had a chance to meet some readers at the Romantic Times conference in Pittsburgh last April. I was impressed by the wide geographic range represented by the fans. I met readers from as far away as Australia and Thailand.
Of course I also spent the summer writing! The results are coming on January 27, 2009. That is when The Sins of Lord Easterbrook will be released.
This is Christian’s story. He is the eldest of the Rothwell brothers who have anchored my current series. Readers have been writing to me about him since the first book, The Rules of Seduction, was published.
The “Sins” in the title refer to his, but also to those of his father, and the dark legacy from their parents that has shadowed the Rothwell brothers throughout the series. I hope that you will think I have done well by Christian, who is one of the most distinct and vivid male characters that I have had to grapple with. I say “grapple” because he truly wanted to take over a couple of the earlier books and I had to keep him in line until it was time for his story.
True to those previous appearances, in this novel he is mysterious, imperious, arrogant, but also at times endearingly thoughtful. Readers will also learn about the reasons for his somewhat eccentric habits, and the scars and vulnerabilities buried deeply beneath his confidence and authority. No, he is not mad, or even half so, as some in society whisper! As always with my books, you do not have to read the series in order.
On the personal side of life, the summer was also busy. Our family took a very relaxing cruise, visiting some Caribbean ports. I pretty much just rotted and came back rested and ready to work. My siblings and I also had the first of what will be regular reunions. I organized it and chose Williamsburg because there are a great variety of activities in the area. We could pursue our own interests by day and gather together in the evening. If anyone knows of other places like that—where you can keep the history/museum people happy as well as the shoppers or sports-oriented folks—please email me so I can put it in the “potential reunion site” pool.
On a very personal note, I send my best thoughts to all of you. As I write this we are in economically frightening times and I know that many of you are being affected, some severely so. I find myself seeking escape in a good book more often recently. I look forward to putting the crazy real world on “hold” for a few hours, and visiting one where someone seems to be in control!
Madeline Hunter
