July is finally here and I’m counting down to the July 13th release of my first book in the Texas Firefighters series, Playing With Fire.

(If you thought it was already out and are confused, this is understandable. eHarlequin sells all of its books a month early, so this one has been up since June 1st . But for those who want to shop a brick and mortar store, or other online retailers, the official day is the 13th.)

To celebrate, I’m giving away one big prize to one lucky winner at the end of the 13 days. I’ll also randomly select three other winners to win a copy of Playing With Fire. To enter, all you have to do is answer one of my very easy blog questions that will appear daily for the next 13 days. You can enter once per blog post, so if you come back every day and comment, you’ll have 13 entries in the random drawing. (You can answer any post until midnight on July 13th. Then the contest is closed and I’ll select winners on the 14th.)

The big prize? A 13-pack of books, including:
From Friend to Father by Tracy Wolff
Shadow Hawk by Jill Shalvis
One Perfect Rose by Mary Jo Putney
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
Cowboy Trouble by Joanne Kennedy
Simon Says Mommy by Kay Stockham
Atlantis Unleashed* by Alyssa Day
Deep Breath* by Allison Kent
The Earl Claims His Wife by Cathy Maxwell
3 Brides for 3 Bad Boys by Lucy Monroe
The Tycoon’s Pregnant Mistress* by Maya Banks
Kill Me Twice by Roxanne St. Claire
Defeat the Darkness* by Alexis Morgan
* signed copies

Today’s question:
My firefighter series is set on San Amaro Island, a fictional version of one of my favorite places, South Padre Island. What is your favorite beach? (If you’ve never been to one or don’t have a favorite, make one up. )

Good news! A Little Consequence, book 2 of my Texas Firefighters series, received 4 stars from Romantic Times!

Here’s the back cover blurb from the book:

It was the best night firefighter Evan Drake has ever had. And now those hours with Selena Jarboe are turning into the biggest challenge he’s ever faced. Fatherhood and marriage were hardly part of this Texan’s plans, but he won’t let his child grow up the way he did — without a dad. So like it or not, Selena is getting his help. She and his unborn baby need it.

Turns out this alluring, passionate woman is not exactly the struggling single he thought she was. She’s a runaway heiress with issues about men with risky jobs. Jobs like his. Well, tough luck. He’s not giving up on her… And he’s definitely not giving up his career, either.

Here’s a quote from the Romantic Times review:

“Knupp’s story has wonderful description and characters with depth. Selena’s determination to avoid pain is depicted quite clearly, and one can almost smell the salty sea air.”

You can read an excerpt here. A Little Consequence will be for sale on www.eharlequin.com in print and ebook format on July 1st and in stores everywhere on August 10th.

I frequently get asked where people can find my books. Unlike “normal” book releases from other publishers, Harlequin works a little differently. The company puts out something like 100+ books per month, and the majority of those are available only for a short time.

In case you’re not a regular Harlequin reader, here’s how it works. The on-sale date for Playing With Fire is July 13th. That’s when you should be able to find it at bookstores, Wal-Mart, some Targets, some grocery stores, etc.

It stays on the shelf for just 4 weeks, and then the next month’s Harlequin books will be available. (Happily, I have a new one in August as well — A Little Consequence.)

For a book that takes so long to write, the shelf life is over before I can blink, kind of like a magazine.

Thankfully, my books are available online for a longer period of time. Harlequin releases all its books on its website, in both print and ebook format, a month early and sells them for 7 months. So Playing With Fire will be for sale, through eharlequin.com only, on June 1. (It’s also discounted on eharlequin.com if you like saving a few pennies.)
Other online retailers will sell it beginning July 13th, just like brick-and-mortar retailers. But online sellers will keep selling it until they run out of copies, unlike brick-and-mortars.

So…as of today, 28 days left till eharlequin offers Playing With Fire…and just over 2 months until you can see it in stores everywhere.

I posted an excerpt of Playing With Fire so if you’re an excerpt reader, please check it out! And if you decide you’d like to be among the first to read it, I’ll post a link to purchase it from eharlequin.com as soon as it’s available.

Class dismissed. No test.

Today’s topic was sparked by Fatin’s blog about the romance section of her local bookstore. She’s an avid romance reader who goes to the bookstore several times a week and she isn’t happy with the way her local romance section is handled.

I could spend days on this topic because I totally agree with her. I’ve been in a lot of bookstores and it’s always the same. You have to search for the romance section. None of the employees are well-versed in romance books. The displays are lacking. Books that are NOT romance are classifed as romance (though I don’t see this as much at Borders, thankfully.)

I hope to tackle this topic more on another day. What I want to talk about today is related and equally frustrating: romance readers in bookstores.

About a year and a half ago, I got a part time job at Borders (which I loved by the way. And probably came out behind, financially. But that’s beside the point.) I didn’t mention my annoyance at the way the romance section is treated. But I took joy in straightening the romance section, turning certain books I’d heard good things about face out, to be more noticeable (I strongly believe covers can sell books if done well), and finding customers who liked to talk romance books.

Finding customers who liked to talk romance books.

That turned out to be an interesting adventure. Here’s what I observed every single day:

A lot of women sneak over to the romance section nervously. Many of them, when I casually asked if I could help them find something, acted like I’d walked into their bathroom stall to chat. The majority of them would say no and walk down the aisle, away from the attention. Some would even leave the section, as if they couldn’t stand that they’d been “busted.”

I’m not naive. Romance has always been the redheaded step-child of fiction, even of genre fiction. It gets made fun of and put down and disrespected regularly. (Which is also another post.)

But how many of us who read romance are helping the cause at all? WHY are we letting everyone else tell us that we should be embarrassed if we read romance? I know that Fatin isn’t embarrassed and has been vocal about getting her section some love. I know a few others online, from the Writeminded Readers Group, who are as vocal. A few others. Why are the rest of us letting our genre be treated this way?

If you’re reading this and aren’t an avid romance reader, you might be surprised to learn that romance is the best selling genre in the fiction section. From the Romance Writers of America website:

Romance Market Share Compared to Other Genres
(source: Simba Information estimates)

*Romance fiction: $1.37 billion in estimated revenue for 2008
*Religion/inspirational: $800 million
*Mystery: $668 million
*Science fiction/fantasy: $551 million
*Classic literary fiction: $446 million

And yet we sneak over and pick our books quickly before an employee can catch us in the act. We don’t ask for the book we can’t find because…it’s romance. We don’t mention that the books selected by the national chains as “romance”…aren’t. We just get our books and go.

So while I agree with everything Fatin said, I have to wonder how much to blame we, romance readers, are. Hats off to Fatin for venting about it. More of us should do the same. Getting the romance genre some respect is a tall order but romance readers are some amazing, intelligent people. Next time you’re at the bookstore looking for romance, be bold. Stand up for your genre. Ask for the books you can’t find. Show interest in the section. And of course, keep voting with your dollars. Maybe someday bookstores will figure it out.

Anyone else want to weigh in? How is the romance section at your local bookstore handled? Are you happy with it? If not, have you ever spoken up about it? Have you ever gotten into a good discussion of romances with an employee? (I have to say, the few in “my” bookstore who would discuss with me…we had some GREAT conversations!) Or are you one who’d rather not be “caught” in the romance section?

I finally have official titles for my upcoming Texas Firefighters trilogy: 

Book One:  PLAYING WITH FIRE, July 2010

Book Two:  A LITTLE CONSEQUENCE, August 2010

Book Three:  FULLY INVOLVED, September 2010

YAY!  I love the two fire-related ones and the middle one, in case you couldn’t tell, is a pregnancy story so the title fits well.

In case anyone has searched my site for any kind of information about these upcoming books, you probably discovered…nothing.  I’m working on a brand new website and hope to finish it in the next week.  That said, I still don’t have back cover blurbs for my stories.  I’ll post them when I get them and will get excerpts up soon as well. 

I’m off to discipline very naughty kittens….

A few years ago I started writing down all the books I read each year.  (No need to comment on the OCDness that shows, please, I’m very good friends with my OCD tendencies.)  On the Writeminded Readers group, we share lists frequently, and I feel the need to say right now that my list is MEASLY and TINY compared to a lot of our voracious readers.  (Some have read over 200 books in 2009 alone!)  But, my list is MINE and it represents more books than I’ve read in previous years, so I consider 2009 a good reading year.

It’s fun to look back and remember the best books, and interesting to see my own personal trends.  Here are a few bits from my 2009 list:

* I read 40 books total

* 7 were non-fiction

 * 33 were fiction…the vast majority were romance but I also read some general fiction (aka literary), urban fantasy and young adult

* Of 23 romances, 17 were category books (Harlequin/Silhouette) and the majority were Blaze and Desire

* 13 of the books I read were in ebook format (this from a former non-ebook-reader)

* My favorites of the year:  The Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, Shaken and Stirred by Kathleen O’Reilly (Blaze),  House to House by David Belavia and Hard to Hold by Stephanie Tyler

Anyone else keep track of how many books you read?  Want to list your favorites or any other stats (you know, in case anyone else is as anal as me and actually kept track!) 

Here’s to another year of good books!