Running With Quills, Blogsite for Jayne Ann Krentz, Elizabeth Lowell, Stella Cameron, and Suzanne Simmons
Susan Andersen
Suzanne Simmons



Stella Cameron
Stella Cameron




Lori Foster
Suzanne Simmons



Jayne Ann Krentz
Jayne Ann Krentz




Elizabeth Lowell
Elizabeth Lowell




Suzanne Simmons
Suzanne Simmons






Welcome to Running With Quills, your online newsletter designed to keep you up to date with what your favorite authors (that would be us) are doing throughout the year. Here you will find the release dates of our new books and get information about our backlists. We'll preview our cover art here long before the books hit the stores and we'll keep you informed about works-in-progress and special projects. You'll also receive advance notice of signings and appearances. From time to time we'll give you a peek at our worlds, tell you what we're reading, and introduce you to some new authors.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

A new cover as stand-in for my brain



My cat Mojo is a big fan of bathtubs and sinks. When he's in my tub upstairs, he often spins in circles trying to catch a glimpse of his own shadow, which I imagine he sees out of the corners of his eyes.

That's what I've been doing this week--spinning in circles, chasing my own shadow. You ever have times like that? Mine was mostly due to work. The soulmate's out of town on a job, I've had my nose seriously to the grindstone and everything else has fallen by the wayside. I sat down early Monday morning and swear I didn't look up again until Wednesday afternoon when I realized I'd forgotten to check in here and so had missed out on Christina's blog. That bummed me out, let me tell you. But then I got sucked back into the story and just came up for air a minute ago.

Only to realize it's my turn to blog. (You don't want to know the word that came out of my mouth.)

Okay, the above timetables may be a wee bit exaggerated, but it definitely felt like days had lapsed while I wasn't paying attention. So because my brain is toast, I'm posting my new cover for Cutting Loose (Coming to a bookstore near you July 29th). This is Book One of my new Sisterhood Diaries Trilogy, which features three BFFs who inherit a notoriously ugly Seattle mansion. Tell me what you think.

And I hate to look like the absentminded professor all alone. So do a weary writer a favor, would you? Share some of your own less than brilliant moments.

I'll love ya forever for it.

~Susan

39 Comments:

Blogger DFender said...

Susan,
LOVE the cover... very..erm... rowwwrrrr, even. My "less than brilliant" moments are many and varied.

The most recent? On Tuesay, I was recording the receipt of a payment in our accounting computer system at work and... yes, indeed... instead of shredding the envelope, I shredded the check instead. It was so fun to call the customer and tell them I'm an idiot. NOT! I woulda rather told 'em my dog ate my homework...LOL. Unfortunately I've made shredding mistakes aplenty. You'd think I'd learn. Ha!

Good luck with the writing, Susan. Sounds like an awesome trilogy, can't wait!

Happy Friday!

3:46 AM  
Anonymous Lori of Canada said...

I just got home a few days ago from a school trip where I organized 40 students and 10 adults to visit London, Paris, the Riviera and Rome in 10 days....

The first day in London?? I grabbed the wrong suitcase - and didn't realize it until the students pointed it out (didn't that become the running joke for the next 10 days?? "MS. MacDonald, are you SURE that is your luggage??")and we were past security, meaning I had to go back through, escorted, to get my own luggage.

Then, the vice principal, his wife and a few of us went to a pub for lunch. I forgot my Visa when we left. Luckily, my VP grabbed it for me.

Sigh. My face was quite red. And trying to tell the students that I was doing it so THEY would be more vigilant definitely didn't work. ;)

Lori M

5:03 AM  
Blogger Lori Foster said...

Susan, that is a seriously gorgeous cover! I love it! I hope you're happy with it too. I know sometimes outside perception of a cover can vary from what the author thinks.

So a sisterhood trilogy, huh!? A big mansion!? Sounds great already!

My big "duh" moment is in a book that's out right now. I'm sooooo embarrassed about it, I don't know if I should share, in hopes that others won't realize it. LOL. Let's just say, I have a really stupid mistake in a book, and at least 2 readers have already found it and pointed it out to me.
:::red faced:::

Lori

5:44 AM  
Blogger Lisa F. said...

I love cover - flirty and sexy combined with purple, my fav color!

My most recent mistake - chatting on a publishers loop during an author day, and talking about the author's book that I really liked, and then realized it was published with a different publisher.

Lisa F.

6:48 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I once told an author to her face how much I enjoyed a title and then had to apologize to her because she hadn't written it. She was gracious; I was horrified!

Love the cover, Susie, and the BFF in a mansion idea. I've seen several candidates for the "ugly old mansion" here in the Seattle area so my imagination is already kicking in. Now I can't wait for the books!

I will be reading you soon.

Lynne Thomas

7:42 AM  
Blogger Jayne Ann Krentz said...

Susan, I LOVE your cover. That is one of the best that I've seen in a long time. I especially like the way it shows the hero's jacket and watch -- so much sexier than showing him already undressed for some reason, at least to my mind.

8:06 AM  
Blogger Elizabeth Guest said...

Ditto for me, Susan. I love the cover! And I agree with Jayne: it's so much more provocative seeing a hero with his clothes on. And the tagline goes perfectly with the heroine's bare shoulders. Can't wait to read CL this summer!
~EG

8:51 AM  
Blogger elizabeth said...

Great cover! *marks date of book on calendar*

Mistakes? Lord, I've made so many, and will continue to do so, that I learn from them and forget them.

9:41 AM  
Blogger Laura said...

oh my this trilogy looks good! I just read the excerpt on your website and Dev and Jane sound great.

My less than brilliant moments are too numerous to mention. ;)

2:01 PM  
Blogger susan andersen said...

You guys are GREAT!! Deb, I've done that shredding thing. I had to phone my editor once and ask her to re send several pages of copy- edited manuscript because I'd put my pages that needed to go back to her with changes in the wrong pile and shredded them. Yep. Makes one feel a lit-tle less than intelligent.

Lori, you weren't hitting on all cylinders on that trip, were you, girl? Isn't it weird how one can get on such a streak sometimes?

Lisa, LOL!! And Lynne, I had a reader tell me how much she enjoyed my book, but then went on to recite passages from a Rachel Gibson book. :) I thought it was funny, because we all confuse stuff sometimes. Also one of the really fun aspects of this book for me was setting it in Seattle. It's been a long, long time since I've done that and it's nice to bring the setting back to my hometown.

Thanks all, for the kudos on the cover. It's funny because there's a running joke throughout the book about the heroine never wearing colors. And the hero never wears a suit. But even though it's not particularly representative of the story I'm really pleased with the cover. Love the purple, love the heroine's skin and the hero's hands--especially that finger that's lifting her strap.

And Sue! Holy moly, girl, you must have EXcellent eyesight!! I couldn't remember what the tagline said and had to make the multiply the screen print several times to read it.

3:13 PM  
Blogger susan andersen said...

Lori, meant to add: in Present Danger (1993) I had a scene set in the original REI, in which I mentioned a Swedish Army knife. I didn't catch it, my various editors/copy editors didn't catch it, my brothers, who read the book, didn't catch it.

But my girlfriend who works for REI said, "Uh, Susie? Should't that be SWISS Army knife?"

Sheesh.

3:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Swiss, Swedish whatever, it's in the north and cold. Course anyone of either decent will tell me ten thousand ways the countries and people are different.

I've marked my calendar for the new book.

I have a check mistake too. I didn't shred it. I dropped in the mail box with my outgoing mail instead of taking it to the bank. I was so confused when I did get to the bank later that day. It was my birthday money and I still wonder if some postal worker managed to cash that check.

Zeus

3:46 PM  
Blogger susan andersen said...

Zeus, that bites, especially considering it was your birthday moola. If you're anything like me, that would be your own personal go-to-hell money--to be spent foolishly, not on paying the bills or buying the groceries.

But you should be able to check on its status. Call the bank or go to your account online to see if it's been cashed. And if it has, throw a big ole fit, as the signature would obviously not match your own and the bank is supposed to check that sorta thing.

Meanwhile, Big {{{{Hugs!}}}}

6:11 PM  
Blogger talpianna said...

Cool cover.

And I need to point out another of your less than brilliant moments: you don't seem to have noticed that your "cat" is actually a small wolf....

6:29 PM  
Anonymous Lori of Canada said...

SUsan,

I tried to argue that I was focused more on the students, clearly, than myself.

They wouldn't buy that either. ;P However, I do think there is something to it that I was so worried about everyone else that i stopped worrying about myself.

Sigh.

It gave them something to tease me about, which was fun for them!

Lori M.

6:42 PM  
Anonymous Lori of Canada said...

Forgot to mention - Love the colours on the cover and I am excited it is MM. It will get added to my Summer TBR pile!

Lori M

6:43 PM  
Blogger Elizabeth Guest said...

Susan said: And Sue! Holy moly, girl, you must have EXcellent eyesight!!

LOLOLOLOL All seeing; all knowing. And don't you forget it, girl!

~EG (aka Sue/Suzanne)

7:16 PM  
Blogger susan andersen said...

Talpianna, that's my LITTLE cat. You should see his brother. Boo's my big boy. :)

And Lori of C, I'm betting your students were lovin' the heck out of being able to tease you. I think kids adore it when we make mistakes. They can relate. :)

11:25 PM  
Blogger Stella said...

Susan:

We all have favorite cover elements. This entire piece of artwork is lovely but I have a "thing" for hands. This man has seriously attractive hands!

Like Ann, I make mistakes all the time and usually forget them.

I also forget sunglasses in restaurants, gloves in church pews and names if I'm with a lot of people. The latter is my horror. Of course, I set myself up to fail because I try so hard to make sure I get names right that my brain blanks.

Stella

11:36 PM  
Blogger talpianna said...

Susan, I was going more by the fur and the muzzle shape. That's a wolf.

1:58 AM  
Anonymous Lori of Canada said...

Susan,

Absolutely. :) And seeing them make mistakes - and trying to accept it gracefully - is great modelling for them. Embarrassing but great modelling;)

3:36 AM  
Blogger MichiganMom said...

Susan~

All the lovely possibilities....that thumb just moving up a tad and stroking her back! Yum! The look in the eyes seems pretty promising too! Hot hot hot!

Pam

8:42 AM  
Blogger Judy F said...

Excellent cover. I am marking it down on my list of books to buy.

Mistakes??? I don't think there is enough room here to list them all.

Susan are you watching dancing with the stars?

9:43 AM  
Blogger susan andersen said...

Stella, hands get my attentin, too. ANd boy do I hear you on forgetting names--then really blanking out when I try too hard!

Pam, thanks, thanks, thanks! *g*

Judy, just the highlights will do. *gg*

And yep, I'm glued to my set for Dancing. You know who surprised me? Priscilla Presley! In all the little cuts to the dancers that they show she always looked so stiff (which might have something to do with too much plastic surgery) but she was surprisingly good. Kristi was great--it will be interesting to see how she does in the latin numbers. Jason is yummy and Mario looks good as well. So far those are my ones to watch. What about you?

9:54 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Susan,

Love your cover. Clothes on is definitely sexy on this one.

Dancing with the Stars: I agree with your picks. We were having a water cooler discussion about the celebs, and agree that Priscilla danced really well, but definitely had at least 1 too many plastic surgeries. Even when she smiles, her face doesn't move. Oh well, the vagaries of the celebrity mind set.

Looking forward to the new trilogy, and will add it to my list for the end of July.

KH

12:39 PM  
Blogger Judy F said...

My most common mistake is shoes not matching or thinking I have black pants on when they are blue.

My most recent mistake was parking my car on the street cause it was supposed to snow and I knew I would never get out of my drive. That cost me a 40.00 ticket, completely missed the big old snow
emergency sign across the street.

on dancing. Priscilla really shocked me dancing wise and her face looked better with their people doing her makeup. Kristi was awesome. I love Jason what a smile.

12:41 PM  
Blogger Tina said...

The less than brilliant moment that comes to mind for me is:
My husband and I share one car. I drop him off at work first and then I pick him up in the evening. One day, I was outside of his office. They lock the doors and put the phones on the answering machine at 4:30pm on the dot (it's a university campus, what can I say) and no one was coming in response to the buzzer. I rang and rang. I fumed. I finally whipped out the cell phone and called home (because my husband refuses to carry a cell phone). When my son answered the phone, I angrily asked if my husband had called to say that he was getting home some other way as I'd been waiting for 20 minutes at his office and I wasn't getting a response. His reply?

"Uh, Mom? Jerry stayed home today because he wasn't feeling good. Remember?"

2:50 PM  
Blogger DFender said...

Ladies,

As I have a problem remembering names on a regular basis, even when I'm SURE I "know" them... here's a trick that I use that works each and EVERY time. I start with A (in my head) and progress through the alphabet (quickly! LOL). As soon as I hit on the right letter I remember the name. It gets so that I can do it so quickly that the "unnamed" person doesn't even realize I've forgotten their name. Whew. Just a suggestion, but it can't hurt to try, right? ;-) Ha!

Erm... DWTS? I always have a problem with the fact that even though they aren't "ballroom" dancers, other dancers are invited to participate. Mario can DANCE. Sheesh. Love Kristi. That show is like cheesecake for me. Bad for me, but GOTTA have it ;-)

How 'bout American Idol? Any watchers? or Closet Watchers? LOL. My favs? David Cooke and Carly Smithson. Love 'em both. Course there are a few other good ones like Brooke White, David Archuleta (cute little guy), Michael Johns and Jason Castro (gorgeous face!). Sorry... I'm blathering...lololol

Happy Easter to those celebrating!

Deb

1:58 PM  
Blogger Ranurgis said...

Susan, great cover and I love the colors. I've been a sucker for violet for a long time. Comes from loving the little wild violets, I suspect.

And yes, I've had brilliant times like yours. I was so determined to be here on Monday too. It's not that I was off somewhere else. In fact I was on the computer--and watching the TV across from me here--most of the day, but I still forgot Christina's blog, even though I was on her chat the evening before. Duh!

I was so involved all day--well, after a bad night and morning--that I suddenly looked up at the clock and it was after 6 p.m. It suddenly hit me that I hadn't taken my meds, hadn't had breakfast, hadn't... Well, I'm sure you get the picture.

9:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Deb,

Oh, American Idol, I am a HUGE fan. My favorites pretty much match yours, David Cook, Carly Smithson, David Archuleta, and Michael Johns. Brooke has been growing on me.

So between AI and DWTS the first half of my TV week is complete. Don't know what's going to happen when all the regular shows start again next month. I think my DVR is going to explode.

Thanks for letting me rant about AI. I thought I was the only one.

Kathy H

11:53 AM  
Blogger talpianna said...

Susan with her BIG cat:

http://tinyurl.com/yq2cqc

4:29 PM  
Blogger karibear said...

DWTS is okay, and so is American Idol. But I can’t seem to find them on the channels we have available. What I’m rapidly getting addicted to is Jericho. I missed a lot of it, but I think as soon as it’s available, I’ll get the whole season on DVD. Of course, me liking anything practically guarantees it’s going to be a ‘one season only’ thing - that’s what usually happens, with a very few exceptions. One of my favorites was Chameleon, but it doesn’t seem to be available anywhere under any circumstances anymore.

I’m packing like crazy, leaving this weekend. Next time I’m able to check back in will probably be a couple months from now, once I’m settled and have a new isp. I seriously doubt that ‘settled’ is the right word - my poor little house looks like an explosion of boxes in a warehouse!

6:19 PM  
Blogger susan andersen said...

Judy, I've done the parking the in wrong spot thing. I usually park half a block away from the salon where I get my hair cut. One day I came back to a parking ticket and as I was thinking, "What the he**" I looked up to see I was south of the No Parking South of Here sign. Sigh. It was sheer blind luck that I hadn't done it sooner, because I sure didn't notice it.

Tina, TOO FUNNY!!!! That's bound to be a classic that'll haunt you for the rest of your life, like when my sister in law was meeting my grandparents back in the days when she was first dating my brother. She was nervous and said, "It was meece nighting you," as she took her leave. She and my bro have been married 42 years and we still tease her about it.

Talpianna, now THAT'S a big cat. *g*

Deb, I'll try the alphabet thing and see if that helps, since I'm terrible at names! I never got into American Idol. I'll have to give it a try someday.


KH and Rangurgis, thanks for the cover kudos!!

Karibear, where are you moving to? Good luck to you, wherever it is!

7:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Karibear,

Jericho is actually in season 2. But I heard on the radio this morning that it's been cancelled.

It was actually cancelled after the first season, but there was a huge write in campaign to the studio to bring it back, and surprisingly they did.

But I guess this year didn't make it. The studio said you can write, call, email all you want, it's not coming back.

:(

Kathy H

7:29 PM  
Blogger karibear said...

Phooey. Well, the studio or someone cancelled Hill Street Blues after the first season, too, but then they won some great TV award and had to keep it going. I wonder how and why some of those decisions are made - if people really like a program and want to watch it, why should it be cancelled in spite of public outcry. They obviously aren't looking at ratings if that's the case.

And I'm moving from WA to Oklahoma.

3:14 PM  
Blogger psuedonyms said...

well the book looks good and it will definetly be one i have to add to me 'to be found then read post haste pile.' i swear finding the books is the hard part it can be so annoying.
is your big ugly mansion just ugly or is it dilapadated cause i love huge homes that are falling apart. don't ask me why but if the house is falling down i love it i used to live in a place where there was this house. the roof was caving in the orch sagged and was missing boards but i loved it and every time we drove past it i would stare out the window and imagine living in it and fixing it up.
as for absent minded moments none come to mind but believe me i have had some. however my principal once came into our english class and asked if could take some of our time, now my english teacher hated it when people asked if they can have something or if they could do something, and she would always correct us with an i don't know can you. so when our principal said that one of the kids in my class piped up with an i don't know can you. mrs stoll was having a hard time holding in her laughter and my principal replied with a wow so you actually do listen. it was amusing to say the least. i also have a friend who once asked a boy who had dropped his glasses in a river then found them again if his glasses were in the river when he found them. she blushed a million shades of red. and it was made all the more embarrasing because the guy was one of those tall dark and handsome guys who knew what they were. but he was also pretty good natured so she wasn't teased unmercifully. but yeah now it just seems like i am blabbing so feel free to skip the begining (hahaha i say that now that i'm at the end.)

8:55 AM  
Blogger susan andersen said...

psuedonyms, nope, it's just ugly and somewhat neglected, but not actually falling apart.

8:33 AM  
Blogger Errin Ricketts said...

ahhhh what do you do when you describe a setting or house do you just have a picture of it in your brain or do you actually go hunting for a house or a landscape that you can take a description from

1:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Susan
I have been on superhigh fast speed for two weeks straight and crashed this week. My vacation was Mar8-18th, then a brother was coming to town, a fundraiser was happening etc. immediately after the vacation. My colleague was genuinely concerned last Thursday and said she never saw me so wigged out. (I have been more wigged out but she has never seen it!)
Well, the house cleaning got done, the brother visited, had fun with family and realized my brother never got to several of the areas I spent hours cleaning. Sigh.
SusanB
UpstateNY

1:00 PM  

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