Ten Ways to be Adored When Landing a Lord!

I'm pausing the Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake excitement to make an announcement!

I am so thrilled to reveal the title of my next book, Ten Ways to be Adored When Landing a Lord, will be released this fall!

Ten Ways is the story of Lord Nicholas St. John, twin (younger by four minutes) brother of the hero of Nine Rules, Gabriel St. John, Marquess of Ralston.  I'm not going to share much about the plot of the book just yet...but in the spirit of A WEEK FROM THE RELEASE OF NINE RULES (omg omg yay!), I give you:

Nine Things That Do Not Appear in Ten Ways to be Adored When Landing a Lord 
(Or, what happens when an author becomes too meta for her own good.) 

1. Justin Bieber
2. Sexting
3. The Zombie Apocalypse
4. The phrase "Haters gonna hate."
5. Virgin Widows
6. The word "whose."
7. Were-Turtles (although there is an *actual* turtle!)
8. Internet dating
9. Conan O'Brien (Jay Leno will appear in his place)

And, as an added fun bonus, I just discovered that if you Google 10 Ways to be Adored When Landing a Lord, you get a picture of the Bluth Banana Stand.  Frankly, I can't imagine anything better.  Unfortunately, there are no banana stands (or Bluths) in 10 Ways.... Sorry to disappoint.

Release Month Celebration! Nine Rules Excitement!

Tomorrow makes it March!
Release month!

I am so excited, y'all...as you know, I've wanted to write romance novels for virtually my entire life, and this month...I get to be a bona fide romance novelist! I'm thrilled that in T-minus 30 days, my first romance novel, NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE, will be on bookshelves all across the country! SO. EXCITED.

Even more exciting is this: For the month of March, there are going to be all sorts of surprises, giveaways and excitements here at MacLeanSpace...free books, goodies, and, my very favorite thing...a series of guest posts by some of my favorite authors--each giving his or her NINE RULES to live by! I'm so very honored that so many good friends have agreed to celebrate with me!

If you'll do me a favor and bear with me, I also have to squee for a second or two...because the first reviews for NINE RULES have started coming in...and I really really have to share!

ROMANTIC TIMES gave it 4.5 stars and named it a TOP PICK for April...MacLean has penned a fast-paced, funny tale with a marvelous cast of characters who captivate and enchant. This book should come with a warning: Once you start, you won't want to put it down! (Yes...I'm calling that "my Times review." Forever.)

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY called it: An entertaining Regency debut, and said, The 19th-century clothes are luscious, the 21st-century sensibility is raunchy, and it’s all implausible, escapist fun. And, while I cringed a little at that raunchy the first time I read it, I'm now considering putting it on bumperstickers. :)

And...my favorite...A STARRED BOOKLIST REVIEW!!!--MacLean’s devilishly fun debut novel is an absolute delight: rich in supple wit, suffused with sensuality, and enlivened with a wonderfully engaging cast of characters.

SQUEE!!!

Ok...I swear, I won't post reviews often...so thanks for sticking with me on this one! I hope you'll come back over the course of the month and celebrate this amazing time with me!

And one more thing...I want to thank you all...for your patience, and your encouragement...and for being so willing to go on this crazy journey with me!

Much love...

Oh, Olympics, How Do I Love Thee?

I do not like to watch sports on TV. I'll go to a hockey game, or to the US Open--and when I was in high school I had a big fat crush on a soccer player so, yeah, I've been to my fair share of soccer games--but when it comes down to it, I'd rather do anything than watch sports.

But there is something about the Olympics. Every two years (although I still think of them as every-four-years kind of things)...a bunch of kids from around the world come together and they compete. And every year, I am glued to the tv. Because there is something about the Olympics. Something really remarkable.

I think it's hope. I think it's the fact that today, in this world that is filled with people (myself included) who are filled with boredom and ennui and a real sense that there is nothing that can really awe us, there are hundreds of athletes in Vancouver who are literally experiencing the most amazing days of their lives.

You can see it on their faces when they enter the opening ceremonies in the parade of nations. You can see it in their eyes when they stick their landings. In the way they clutch their partners when they finish their remarkable iceskating routines. In the way they collapse to the ground when they cross the finish lines after the Nordic combined (did you SEE that?!).

They are awestruck. And they are hopeful. And they know that TODAY is the greatest day they have ever had.

And that is some serious mojo.

Serious enough that I feel it through my tv.

Eric makes fun of me. He thinks I'm silly to care about curling. But I do care. Not because I know anything about curling or ever will. But because these guys care about it. And they've been working their whole lives to be the best in the world at it.

And that's something. Because I recognize that I'm not the best in the world at anything. So I give mad props to anyone who can lay claim to that superlative.

So, to the Olympians...all of them...go you. I'm watching.

Nine Books You Should Buy From Not Amazon

So, anyone who follows the publishing industry has heard about the throwdown between Macmillan Publishing and Amazon today.  I think there's a lot of insanity from both sides, but it sounds like it went something like this.

Macmillan: Hey, Amazon, we're not so thrilled that you're price-fixing eBooks for the Kindle.  Since iPad is going to take over the world, uhm...yeah...we're gonna need you to go ahead and up the prices on Macmillan ebooks.  All of them. Also, we're pretty sure that Steve Jobs can kick Jeff Bezos's butt in a cage match.

Amazon: Yeah...no. 

Macmillan: Well, we're at an impasse then.  Because that means we won't let you carry our eBooks. So, there.  

Amazon: Uhm...while we're at it, why don't we make it ALL your books.  Paper ones, too?

Macmillan: Uhm...

Amazon: Tell Steve Jobs it's on. 

Macmillan: Shit. 

Ok...so there's some crazysauce on both sides of this debate.  And I don't really know who was more ridiculous in the discussion, because, frankly, Macmillan shouldn't have been so astoundingly short sighted, and Amazon shouldn't have been such a bully.  BUT...what I do know is this: Authors who publish with Macmillan (or any of the imprints of Macmillan, like Tor, Farrar Straus & Giroux, Holt, and St. Martin's) are pretty well screwed by this news...because for a lot of authors, Amazon accounts for the lion's share of their sales.

So...without further ado...I give you Nine Books You Should Buy From Not Amazon. All of these books are published by Macmillan. And, yes. Some of these authors are my friends...because I want them to be able to eat. I think it's important to stress how INCREDIBLY vast the impact of this kind of major publishing event is--it impacts authors from all genres...as you can see from the list below.

1. Elizabeth Strout's, Olive Kitteridge (Literary Fiction & Winner of the Pulitzer Prize)

2. Lisa Kleypas's, Blue-Eyed Devil (Contemporary Romance)

3. Lisa Mantchev's Eyes Like Stars (YA)

4. Polly Frost's Deep Inside (Erotic Horror) 

5. Liel Leibovitz's Aliya: Three Generations of American-Jewish Immigration to Israel (Nonfiction)

6. Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series (Bestselling Mystery)

7. Natalie Babbit's Tuck Everlasting (Children's & one of my favorite books of all time)

8. Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall (Historical Fiction & Winner of the Booker Prize)

9. Deva Fagan's Fortune's Folly (Middle Grade Fiction)

Really, team?  We can't get it together and reach some kind of agreement?

ETA: There are, of course, thousands of other authors impacted by this insanity.  Visit the Macmillan website to look for more.

Help Haiti

Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross.

OR...Visit the Red Cross online and give all you can.

barack-b-q

Presidential Burgers...


Want.

RIP Michael Jackson...

Michael & Janet...cute as buttons.

OMG! Carrie Ryan goes HOLLYWOOD!!

This is late to the party, slightly...I meant to post last week when the news went public, but life got away from me...so apologies...but as you all know, I *heart* Carrie Ryan and her incredible book, The Forest of Hands and Teeth which is all zombies and romance and yes, please.

So...imagine my incredible SQUEE when I heard from Publishers Weekly that:

Alan Nevins of Renaissance Literary & Talent has just closed film rights on Carrie Ryan's YA novel, The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Nevins, who brokered the deal on behalf of Jim McCarthy at Dystel Literary, sold the book, which Delacorte Books for Young Readers published in March, to Seven Star Pictures (K-11, forthcoming). Nevins said the book, a zombie thriller set in colonial times about a girl who lives in a religious community in the woods and is equally worried about a zombie invasion and her planned marriage, is in line to "do for zombies what Twilight did for vampires." Supposedly Seven Star is developing the project for an-as-yet-unnamed A-list starlet, and fast-tracking the project with a first draft of the screenplay already in the works.

Uhm...I think it's worth repeating that FHT will "Do for zombies what Twilight did for vampires."

That's my girl Carrie, yo.

Am I the only one obsessed with Bo?

Are you kidding me? As if there weren't enough to make the Obamas the perfect family...

Dear Obamas,
Baxter makes a great play date companion.
Call any time.
xo,
Sarah

Matt Lauer Says Romance is Recession Proof!

After yesterday's piece on Romance and the Recession in the New York Times, the Today Show jumped on the bandwagon this morning with this piece...more kitsch than news, but interesting nonetheless!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Sunday Awesome

In honor of the big week...I give you this, which made me do a little dance...

It's official!

I'm guessing that since this was announced today in Publisher's Lunch, I can probably announce it here as well. I'm VERY lucky to say that I'm joining Avon's romance list.

Author of the forthcoming YA novel, THE SEASON, Sarah MacLean's NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE, a Regency set romance about a twenty-something spinster who, on the eve of her younger sister's wedding, sets out to seduce the Marquess of her dreams by breaking every rule by which a lady of high society is supposed to abide, to Carrie Feron at Avon, in a good deal, in a three-book deal, by Alyssa Eisner Henkin at Trident Media Group (NA).

(cue squealing and excitedness!)

from 52 to 48 with love...

Ze Frank is a pretty awesome, creative guy. And I totally heart his most recent project, in which voters from all over the country write notes to those who voted the other way. I can't stop browsing these photos...they're so poignant and touching, and I've teared up more than once.

So...here's mine:

Dear 48,
We're good together. Really good.
xoxo,
52

Thank you, America. I believe again.

Hi! I'm Sarah, calling from the Campaign for Change...

Neighbor to Neighbor enables you to talk to other people about Barack Obama and his vision for the future of our country.

In all states, you’ll be able to immediately start calling potential supporters. Once you select a campaign on the right, you’ll get a list of voters either in your state or in an important battleground state. You can pick up the phone and get calling immediately. Or if you’d prefer to call while you’re away from your computer, you can print your list and come back to enter your results.

I spent the day making phone calls for Barack Obama to voters in Pennsylvania. I did it in my jammies, with my dog curled up next to me on the couch and, while I was nervous about the first few calls, I actually had a really good time. Lots of wrong numbers and answering machines, but I got a few people who are “already voting for my guy” and a few who are still thinking. I also had some great, vibrant conversations with McCain supporters—respectful, even fun conversations that ended with us agreeing to disagree, and celebrating the fact that “only in America…”

If you have time, you should do it. It couldn’t be easier.

Visit my.barackobama.com to get your own list of people in swing states. I promise, after an hour of phone calls, you’ll have renewed your faith in America.

RIP Paul Newman

I'm so very sad to say goodbye to Paul Newman today...a king among men, who loved and lived with passion and gusto and reminded us all that the world is only as good as we make it.  

Rest In Peace, you handsome devil.

How Did I Miss This?

I usually don't miss Maureen Dowd...both because she's awesome in her snarkiness and because I envy her gorgeous hair. But somehow...I missed her on Saturday, when she and the ever-so-brilliant Aaron Sorkin teamed up to make the conversation I have fantasized about for 18 months a reality.

Yes. Barack meets Bartlet. O. M. Gee.

OBAMA Wait, what is it you always used to say? When you hit a bump on the show and your people were down and frustrated? You’d give them a pep talk and then you’d always end it with something. What was it ...?

BARTLET “Break’s over.”

Obama...get CJ and Josh and Sam together and knock it out, for god's sake!

----
Other musings you might enjoy...

Bartlet for President
The Farnsworth Invention