I’m baaaaack!!!! First off, a huge thanks to the talented and brilliant Brooke who so deftly ran the Tuesday Trivia contest for me while I was off on my top secret research mission (despite the, cough, insinuations about the purpose of my trip. Hmph). Thank you, Brookiefly, for minding the homefront! And congrats to Amy, [...]

Yes, indeed, Robert, Charlotte’s knight errrant, showed up on a cold Christmas Eve–and, as many of you pointed out, three years late and sans armor. Blasted irritating of him, if you ask me. But Charlotte’s far more giving than I am… This week’s randomly chosen winner is… Amy! Amy, you get to join the Cool [...]

Hello, all! Be not fooled! Though I may look and sound like Lauren (or maybe just sound; it is the internet, after all), I must admit to being, in fact, her sister Brooke: proud owner of the renown Doggy-the Doggy and flattered inspiration of the apparently well-loved Henrietta. Since Lauren is off doing research (cough, [...]

More happy, happy news! That extra happy isn’t just for extra happiness, but because this week brought not one, but two more rave reviews for Night Jasmine, one from Library Journal, which gave glowing notices to “[a]nother well-written chapter” in the Pink series and the other from Kirkus, which decreed that “[s]mart characters of both [...]

Hi, again! For those curious about the painting we’ve been discussing below, the detail on the Night Jasmine cover was taken from a painting by Charles Sillem Lidderdale called At the Garden Gate. You can see the full painting on the Fine Art Photographic Library website. Our anonymous lady (let’s just call her Charlotte, shall [...]

Hi, all! Thank you so much for your fascinating and insightful comments on the cover of Night Jasmine. Frankly, I get a lot more out of the picture now than I did before. I love the interplay that some found between title and picture, perceiving the lady on the cover as weighing the moral dilemma [...]

Yesterday’s Publishers Weekly included an article on what messages covers are meant to convey to the reader. One of the covers discussed was that of The Temptation of the Night Jasmine. According to the PW article, the subliminal message indicated by the cover of Night Jasmine is that “[t]he heroine, while innocent and beautiful, also [...]

Hi, all! Henrietta’s stuffed animal is, indeed, Bunny-the-Bunny. Bunny’s long ears must be burning after all those mentions of his name last night. But, hey, that’s what happens when you’re the Official Stuffed Animal of The Most Popular Pink Carnation Character (TM). As a side note, I was terribly touched that so many people remembered [...]

My little sister called me up last night, crowing over being the most popular Pink Carnation character. When pressed, Brooke admitted that she might not actually be Henrietta, but insisted the relationship was near enough as to make very little difference. In honor of Henrietta (yes, Brooke, that’s Henrietta), here’s this week’s Pink Carnation trivia [...]

As I may have mentioned before, there is a little pile of advance copies of Night Jasmine on one of my kitchen chairs. (The reason they’re living on my kitchen chair is that the place under my cocktail table is already occupied by a pile of research books. Isn’t everyone’s? And the space under the [...]