Rose Lerner's Blog

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but after being unavailable as a print book for a while except from Dorchester’s website, In for a Penny is now readily available in trade paperback!

There are more buy links on the bookshelf page, but here’s Amazon and BN.com.

I’ve also put up deleted scenes for A Lily Among Thorns (WARNING: they contain spoilers!). You can find them here.

In honor of the occasion, I’m giving away a signed copy of the new Penny trade and one of A Lily Among Thorns to two commenters chosen at random. Let me know in your comment which book(s) you’re interested in.

Remember, you can read the first chapter of Penny here, and the first chapter of Lily here.

ETA: Mo won Lily, and Kim won Penny! Congratulations, guys.

I did a guest post over at the BN.com romance blog today, and the same post is up for discussion in their romance forum! Check it out.

I’m over at Kat Latham’s blog with ten tips on how I write characters with accents. Stop by, let me know what you think, and enter to win a copy of A Lily Among Thorns!

I’m over at Cecilia Grant’s blog today giving away a book and talking about protagonists who work for a living!

Make ‘em Work: 10 Things to Love About Heroes & Heroines with Jobs

Come on over and tell me about your favorite working heroes and heroines.

I’m over at Musetracks talking about Rosh Hashanah, personal growth in romance, and why I’m proud to be a romance reader and writer.

I’m over at The Season’s blog today talking about writing well-rounded villains (and, as you can see, my crush on Tom Hiddleston, who played Loki in the Thor movie). I’m giving away a book, so stop by and tell me about your favorite 3D villain!

Talking about beta heroes, titles, research, and Avatar: the Last Airbender over at my friend Susanna Fraser’s blog! This was a really fun interview, and I love the picture of Spock and Kirk she chose to illustrate one of my points.

My Lily blog tour got off to a great start at History Hoydens last week, where I talked about chemistry during the Regency period.

Coming up, here’s the schedule (I’ll still be adding a couple more dates but this is what I’ve got scheduled at the moment):

10/2: A Q&A at Susanna Fraser’s blog about beta heroes, research, titles, and Avatar: the Last Airbender.
10/7: A post about personal growth in romance novels at Musetracks.
10/12: A post about protagonists who work at Cecilia Grant’s blog.
10/13: A Q&A with Solomon and Serena at Bookworm2bookworm.
10/19: A Q&A at Smexybooks.
10/24: A post about writing accents at Kat Latham’s blog.
11/1: The Book Smugglers.

The Season: Date TBA

I’ll be giving away signed books at all of these, so stop by! Oh, and guess what? The In for a Penny Kindle edition is on sale for $3.99 through 10/3! Get it while you can!

I was skimming my tumblr dashboard and saw someone had posted this, from The Lorax:

I…sometimes cry at this part of the show. But if I’m being honest, the Onceler is still my favorite character.

He’s got a fairly complex characterization and arc, doesn’t he? He’s motivated by a genuine love for the Truffula trees, but he still destroys them and everything else in his quest to be rich. There’s the scene where he rationalizes his behavior (while lounging fabulously in an armchair and smoking a cigar) with “If I didn’t do it, then someone else would!” And of course he repents in the end.

Sometimes I am astonished at the continuity in types of characters I have loved over the course of my life. Smooth-talking, ruthless businessman/hustler who makes it big? Check.

Ever noticed how all Lex Luthor’s plans are classic real estate scams…that somehow require the death of millions?

"When I created the world..."

I don’t understand why Robert Duvall didn’t win an Oscar for this performance. But then, I don’t understand why Newsies didn’t sweep the Oscars that year, generally.

MAL: Wheel always keeps on turning, Badger.
BADGER: That only matters to people on the rim.

In a similar vein, I recently read a historical novel I read as a kid (Rebecca’s War, about the British occupation of Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War). I remembered having a crush on the male lead, but when I reread it I was completely astonished to realize that he’s still exactly my type:

Aristocratic young British officer, snarky, clever, good at worming his way into your good graces, particular about his clothes and a little vain, but he’s someone you can rely on in a crisis, too—and he’s always endlessly impressed by the plucky middle-class heroine. Cf. Chuck Bass, Logan Echolls, Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle, Peter Wimsey, and any number of historical romance heroes.

Is there a type of character you’ve always loved? Rewatched any cartoons recently and been surprised by how little your taste has changed?

Hi everyone! This is the discussion and questions post for A Lily Among Thorns. Tell me what you thought! If there’s anything you want to know (about the book, about writing the book, about characters in the book, about what happens next, anything really), this is the place to ask! And thanks so much to everyone who’s already e-mailed me about the book, you guys bring the light into my life.

WARNING: HERE BE SPOILERS.