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What’s New for 2012

Written by Dara

I’m writing as fast as I can. Here’s what I’m working on for 2012.

The print version of THE DAUGHTERS OF WINSTON BARNETT coming early January.

Pride and Prejudice meets Fiddler on the Roof with a Jamaican-American twist.

Meet the Barnett sisters: Faithful, good natured Beverly; headstrong, ambitious Janet; bookish, droll Francine; silly but sweet Trudy and bold, reckless Maxine. They live under the strict rule of their religious, Jamaican father in the small town of Hamsford where they’re content with their sheltered life. But that comfortable life is shattered when Janet tries to leave and the wealthy Jeffrey Farmer returns to town with his foreign friend, Frederick Durand. Soon the Barnett’s world is turned upside down and the sisters find themselves embroiled in scandal, devastated by betrayal and tempted by a forbidden love that threatens to rip them apart. But they fight to stay together and learn the power of tradition, the depth of family, the healing strength of forgiveness and the destiny of love.

Buy the eBook version on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

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A Shopaholic Finds Love: Behind the Scenes of GAINING INTEREST

Written by Dara

Copyright (c) <a href='http://www.123rf.com'>123RF Stock Photos</a>

Can’t resist a sale?
Have a budget, but rarely stick to it?
Do store clerks know you by zip code?
Does your credit card have a name: Maxed Out?
If this sounds like you, you’re not alone. The holidays are a season of giving, but for shopaholics they’re the equivalent of an alcoholic at a beer keg party—temptation everywhere. Sales, discounts, buy one get one free, layaway…all to the tune of holiday music. It was during one holiday season when I came up with the premise for GAINING INTEREST.

A close friend of mine had just spent over $600 dollars on clothes she didn’t need (and couldn’t afford). I convinced her to take all the items back and cancel her store credit card. I then went to the library and read Julia Cameron’s MONEY DRUNK, MONEY SOBER and bought it for her and another friend of mine. The other friend, who happened to spend more on clothes than on food and rent, read the book and said that it didn’t pertain to her…oooookay.Read More

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3 Quick Questions for Susan Fox

Written by Dara

Susan Fox, who also writes as Susan Lyons (and in future as Savanna Fox), is the award-winning author of “emotionally compelling, sexy contemporary romance” (Publishers Weekly).  Publishers Weekly gave her February title, His, Unexpectedly, a starred review and ranked it as a Top 10 Romance for Spring 2011. A resident of both Vancouver and Victoria, B.C., Susan has degrees in law and psychology but would far rather be writing fiction than living in the real world. Here she talks about her newest release YOURS, UNEXPECTEDLY.

About the Book

Yours, Unexpectedly

Kensington Brava
ISBN 9780758259318

What happens when the runaway bride finds that her discarded groom has come along for the honeymoon cruise?

Merilee Fallon has been planning her wedding to Matt Townsend since she was seven. But, two days before the big day, she has a serious case of cold feet. She shocks both Matt and herself—and calls off the wedding. Needing a total change of scene, Merilee decides not to let their non-refundable Mexican Riviera cruise go to waste—not realizing Matt has the very same idea. Can they be friends? Will they find new lovers? Or will they discover that sometimes there’s nothing more arousing than a second chance at first love—especially on a cruise ship where there are no rules and anything goes…

This is the fourth book in Susan’s sexy “planes, trains, automobiles, and a cruise ship” Wild Ride to Love series featuring the four Fallon sisters.

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3 Quick Questions

Mr. Darcy’s Proposal author Susan Mason Milks

Written by Dara
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I’d planned on making this another 3 Quick Questions post, but as I learned more about debut author Susan Mason Milks and her new release MR DARCY’S PROPOSAL, I knew I couldn’t stop at three. Jayne Ann Krentz first brought her to my attention on her Facebook page and when I discovered Susan was a Jane Austen fan like myself (Ms. Austen was a big influence on THE DAUGHTERS OF WINSTON BARNETT) I had to talk to her. Enjoy!
About the book

Mr. Darcy’s Proposal

Available in both print and eBook formats!

This retelling of Pride and Prejudice asks “what if” events prevented Fitzwilliam Darcy from proposing to Elizabeth Bennet that day at Hunsford parsonage? Darcy arrives with marriage on his mind, only to find that Elizabeth has just received news her father is critically ill and probably dying. In the process of offering his help to her in traveling home, he discovers what she really thinks of him—and it’s not good. Should Darcy deliver Elizabeth home to be with her family and then disappear from her life, or will he propose another kind of help? Will Elizabeth be willing to sacrifice her future happiness to save her family from financial ruin? Or, do she and Darcy, two very stubborn people, have a chance of finding happiness together?

 The Questions

The first time you read Pride and Prejudice in eighth grade you weren’t impressed. Why?

I’ve thought about this quite a bit, and I can’t really come up with a good answer. I do remember that my first impression of Darcy was much the same as Elizabeth’s. Ironically enough, I must have let my impressions prejudice me against the book – and of course, that’s just what the book is about. If you’re familiar with Austen’s work, you may remember that First Impressions was her original title for Pride and Prejudice.

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The Dairyman and the Gentleman

Written by Dara

It was a rainy day in Seattle when I first saw him. I’d planned on reading that day, but my aunt’s dog had chewed up one of my favorite books and I was in a rather foul mood. So I turned on the TV and a man walking with a lame horse appeared on the screen. He was talking to me about his town of Anatevka and the traditions there. Soon I got to meet his wife Golda and his five daughters: Tzeitel, Hodel, Chava, Sphrintze and Bielke.

I watched the movie Fiddler on the Roof transfixed. I was ten, but I knew these people. I knew this man. I knew his connection to tradition, faith and family; his sufferings and hopes. I could relate to his thirst for knowledge and riches. The fact that he was Russian, Jewish, and poor meant nothing to me because on the most basic level–the human level–I could relate.

Tevye and his family taught me about life. Their story about grappling with identity and change was something I, a child of immigrants, could identify with. From early childhood I was told about the importance of our family name and listened to the many stories of my grandparents and their grandparents. I had a responsibility to keep the family name from shame. I know that to some this is a foreign concept, especially in America, which prides individuality over anything else.  In Fiddler on the Roof I saw the daughters struggle with trying to deal with individual identity versus family identity, something I dealt with growing up and saw all around me especially among other immigrant families we knew. When I read the stories in Tevye the Dairyman and Tevye’s Daughters on which the movie is based, I was heartbroken by the stark realities of their lives (outright depressed sometimes).

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