The Book I Just Finished Writing...

So, in January, this book is coming out.

It's a Dreamspun Desire, and it's adorable and fluffy fluffy sweet, and short (they're supposed to be less than 60K--this one is 55K.)

Now, these books need to be titled carefully.

By necessity, Dreamspun Desires are "tropey"-- they are shameless about using time-honored romance tropes, moments that every romance reader adores, storylines, character types, structures that are familiar and easily predictable, but made fresh with each new approach. It's harder than it sounds--and for a lot of romance authors, breaking paper for a category romance is a devoted homage to the books we read as a kid. Some of us stole them from Grandma's cupboard (only one in three grandmothers would NOT have been scandalized) and some of us checked them out from the library because the librarians thought, "How bad could they be?" (Deliciously bad... so, so deliciously bad... rich Baked Alaska bad. I'm saying.)  But most romance writers, at one time or another, dreamed of having their name on a category romance cover.

In fact, in my garage, I've got bound paper copies of something like four of these, M/F, that I never found a way to publish. I loved writing them. I wrote them for free.

To me, covers like this were why romance readers existed in the space-time continuum.

Now, I love writing the longer stuff, the deeper stuff, the ANGSTIER stuff--but I absolutely could not resist the chance to write one of these.

Now, back last year, when the first one of these was done, Lynn, my editor and I were trying titles on for size. Uh, we may have gotten a little punch drunk.

"A Manny for Your Thoughts?"

"Manny Hands Make Light Work?"

"Stand by your Manny?"

"No, no, I"ve got one! Manny Get your Guy!!!"

So, the next day, I e-mailed Lynn and said, "So, uh... how about a trilogy."

So we decided to go with The Virgin Manny, which I had already completed, and Manny Get Your Guy, as well as Stand by Your Manny.

Please, please, don't shoot us cause we're punny. (I mean, seriously. We're never going to be cured--it's like a disease. Paronomasia -- that's a real thing!)

But The Virgin Manny will be out the first of January.

And tonight?

I'm finishing Manny Get Your Guy. 

And yeah. I'm still giggling over the damned pun.

Next book? Red Fish, Dead Fish--and I'm giggling over that one too!  But right now? Just enjoy the hunky manny on the cover--and giggle to your heart's content.

I'm almost done-- YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!