New Blog on the Block

And talking of Contests - I want to mention My Tote Bag.
And a very special friend of mine - Leena Hyat.

Years ago - 8? 9? - when I first launched my personal web site, I had a guestbook on there - and the very first person ever to sign it was a lovely lady called Leena Hyat. She thrilled me because someone had actually found my site and taken the time and trouble to sign my guestbook - and tell me how much she loved my books (this lady could do no wrong!) And apparently I thrilled her because she was looking for Authors' web site - and believe it or not, very few of us had sites in those days - and she was delighted to find mine because yes she did love Presents books and she'd always enjoyed mine. A lady of great taste obviously.

At that time, Lee worked with Heart Rate Reviews and she had written some wonderful, more than complimentary reviews of my books for that and all the other sites she has worked on. We've stayed friends since then and I've 'followed' her from HeartRate to all the other sites she's worked on. Well, Lee shares my mother's birthday so there must be something in the stars that said we'd become close. In the beginning, Lee had also started Lee's Goodie Room where - well let me tell this in Lee's own words -

it all started like this.... I've been addicted to reading novels since I was in
my teens and love to discover new authors. I also love to collect goodies from
authors ~ whether it's an autographed coverflat, bookplate, a bookmark or
something fancy like a coffee mug or mouse pad. I got the idea for the Goodie
Room when I found myself sending out SASEs to dozens of authors each month for
an autographed coverflat or bookmarks etc. I imagined how nice it would be to
just send out one SASE and get back cool promotional material from 20 - 30
different authors at one time. I found other people who liked the idea too
because we could all discover new authors we'd never read before. Anyway, to cut
it short, an idea was born.

Lee's Goodie room has had various incarnations on various sites, but now she has started up her own site and the Goodie Room has a permanent place on it.

That's not the only thing that you'll find on My Tote Bag. If you love reading romance and want to find out more about the books, the authors, and the world behind the books - then My Tote Bag is a site you just have to visit and keep going back to. If you want up to date news, interviews, books reviews - details of awards, booksignings, this is the place to visit - and keep on visiting.

And Contests - there are contests too with great prizes. I know because right now Leena is running a special contest to win books by the brilliant Michelle Reid and some other author called Kate Walker.
Contest Deadline: November 30th, '06.

Prize: A Kate Walker totebag and the following six titles ~
THE SICILIAN'S WIFE - Kate Walker
THEIR SECRET BABY - Kate Walker
DESERT AFFAIR - Kate Walker
A SICILIAN SEDUCTION - Michelle Reid
THE BRAZILIAN'S BLACKMAILED BRIDE - Michelle Reid
THE ITALIAN'S REVENGE - Michelle Reid



That's quite a prize - even if I do say so myself. So if you're interested take a look over on the My Tote Bag Contest Page .

And while you're there why not check out the other interesting things Leena has on the site - everything a romance reader could want. There's also a brand new Blog - Tote Bags and Blogs - where you can find some of your favourite authors chatting about what they're reading, what they're doing - and what's going on in their lives generally. Right now there are blogs bySusanna Carr, Susan Stephens, Sandra Marton, Trish Morey - and that Kate Walker woman again.

So why not add My Tote Bag to your list of favourite sites and bookmark it so that you can pay a visit often? You won't be disappointed.