USA Today bestselling author
of contemporary women's fiction

May 2009

I am sitting in sunshine, which is always a beautiful thing here in the Pacific Northwest. Believe me, we earn these beautiful big cedars by living in a rain forest. In writing news, I just turned in my next Blaze, which will be out in November. It's called Power Play and is very loosely based on an EEEWW experience I and some writer friends had on a writing retreat. We booked a lovely three-bedroom cabin, complete with fireplace and wonderful writing spaces, and had some extra company. Bed bugs. EEEEEWWWW! Fortunately, I wasn't bitten, but we all had to give up all our clothes, got moved to the kinds of rooms a busy hotel doesn't rent out—you can imagine. Much hilarity ensued, because really, what can you do? And I—naturally—thought, I bet I could turn this into a romance. And you thought there were no new plots in romance.

I'm working right now on copy edits for a Christmas NASCAR novella coming out later this year from HQN and already starting to work on next year's projects.

I've had some neck and back issues and my physiotherapist and massage therapist, the women who keep me oiled and lubed, both told me I need to get more exercise. So, I've been running, which I HATE, snowshoeing, which I LOVE, and I'm currently taking a 40 Day Personal Revolution challenge at my local yoga studio. Every day for 40 days I've committed to take a class. It's actually pretty fun, and there's nothing like committing to something—there's even a chart on the wall and little sticky dots we put up every time we take a class—to keep us honest.

This actually does relate to writing. I've noticed that even when I'm tired, I still make myself go to the yoga studio because I said I would, and there's a chart on the wall with my name on it. I strongly believe we can use the same techniques to keep us to our writing goals. Why not make a commitment to yourself? Or, even better, to someone else to keep you honest? A chart on the wall is not too extreme. If you decide you will write two pages a day, put a happy face or a fun sticker on the calendar every time you make your goal. It's amazing how trainable—and reward oriented—we are. Or is that just me?

I'm teaching at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, June 6 and 7. It's a weekend workshop called Novel in a Weekend and there are some spots still available.

Also in June (Saturday, June 20), my wonderful editor, Birgit Davis-Todd and I are giving an all-day workshop for the Vancouver RWA chapter. Birgit is an executive editor at Harlequin and what she doesn't know about the romance business isn't worth knowing. She'll talk about Harlequin at 60 and is taking pitch appointments, and I'll be giving two workshops, one on creating dynamic heroines and a second workshop yet to be determined. For more information, please check out RWA GVC website.

I was delighted to find out that my book French Kissing has been awarded the Best of the Year for Series Romance by the reviewers at Romance Reviews Today.

Finally, I was thrilled to receive a Desert Isle Keeper review for Under the Influence from All About Romance. I also got a Desert Isle Keeper review for The One I Want, my last Kensington Brava. Thanks to everyone who buys my books, reads them, reviews them, blogs about them and writes to tell me you enjoyed them. I really appreciate hearing from you.

Happy Reading,

Nancy

FREE BOOKS To celebrate their 60th anniversary, this year Harlequin is giving every woman in America and Canada a free book. In fact, the world's leading publisher of romantic fiction is giving away 16 free books that readers can download. The titles, available as PDFs and in all eBook formats, run the gamut from sweet to sexy, historical to contemporary, traditional to paranormal—and Nancy Warren's Nascar novel Speed Dating is one of those 16 books. To find out more, and to download your free books now, visit www.HarlequinCelebrates.com.

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