I am so ready for Italy and before you ask, no, I haven't booked it yet. I was debating on doing so before the RWA Conference, but my time has really been flying by. I just keep wondering, where did May go? Perhaps coordinating the long overdue maintenance on my house has stolen a lot of my spare time and my social life has taken the rest. You see I bought my house/office a little over two years ago and I don't think the previous owners did much maintenance that wasn't required. I had the ducts cleaned (they had never been cleaned before, all I can say about that is ick!); the carpets stretched, cleaned and Tefloned; the patio deck power washed (it was green in some places); the windows cleaned (there was no way I was going to be able to reach the second story bay windows); my hot tub assessed and fixed (if only it was a hot tub time machine!); and all the yard work done, which was no small job. We had a pretty nasty storm a couple of months ago and it took down six trees and countless tree size branches across my 3-acre property. My yard looked like a tornado had hit it and although it's looking a LOT better they're still working on it. 

You'd think with all that I've had done on my house that that would be it but there was still so much more that I could have had the maintenance guys do. Did you know you could have pretty much anything power washed including your patio? Yes, they do power wash your driveways and patio stones. I was recently informed that they will also power wash the exterior of your house, siding and all. Yes, you did read that correctly. They will come and power wash your entire house if you want them to! That just cracks me up. Maybe I should have them power wash the big cedar in my front yard because the needles are looking a little dull lately. LOL 

Oops... well I know I'm not supposed to use LOL anymore as it is, and I am quoting our local paper here, 'So 2009', but Haha just doesn't cut it for me. Haha does not bring to my mind Laughing Out Loud. Haha reminds me of Nelson, that really obnoxious kid from the Simpsons. Shrug... I guess I'm a little old school. Besides it takes an extra letter, four to LOL's three, and I'm all about timesaving. (grin)  

My big news...The Reluctant Vampire is now out! Yes, May 31st is the release date (my pretties!) and Port Henry is being revisited. Hope you enjoy seeing Harper and Drina squirm as Stephanie has a little too much fun playing their cupid. 

Thank-you so much to everyone that submitted a story for contest #18. Many of you are so courageous, some of you on a daily basis. I was amazed. It was very hard to select just two out of so many great stories so, again thank-you. Now, drum role please... the winners of a signed copy of The Reluctant Vampire are Ashley Fong and Cindy Colohan. Congratulations ladies! 

And although there weren't nearly as many entries for contest #19, there were many great suggestions all of which I will keep in mind as I head for where the Italians roam free and are unhindered by our frantic North American work pace. Again, another drum role please... the winner of UK edition of A Quick Bite is... Maria Rosa Contardi! Ahhh! 

Finally there is another contest (#20). This one is about not wanting to give up something old. How it relates to winning a book I'm not sure but you can read the details below.  

As my final adieu in this newsletter, I hope to see you all at the RWA conference! And just in case a smiley face is also now deemed 'So 2009', I will describe it... I'm curving my lips in a gesture of good will, showing my teeth a little but not so much that it may be deemed scary or shark-like. (ROTFLMAO) 

Lynsay

May 31, 2011: The Reluctant Vampire, the fifteenth book in the Argeneau series is set in the little town of Port Henry and involves one of Elvi's potential suitors from The Accidental Vampire, Harpernus Stoyan. Harper lost his lifemate, Jenny, during her turn and has blamed himself for her death ever since, so he's rather happy for the distraction when Tiny and Mirabeau arrive with a young immortal in tow. Stephanie McGill is a young newly turned, immortal who is being hunted by a mad no-fanger named Leonius. When Anders and Drina Argenis (Argeneau) arrive to help, Harper finds himself working with the beautiful young Spanish woman. But things get interesting when Stephanie decides to take on the role of cupid and bring Drina and a reluctant Harper together. How much trouble could a newly turned teenage vamp be?

April 26, 2011: The Chase, What She Wants, The Brat, The Perfect Bride and the digital copy of The Loving Daylights have been reissued! So this means it's the exact same story as when it was released the first time but with a new cover. If you follow the links you'll see the story descriptions and both the original and the new covers.

February 22, 2011: The Heiress, the second book in the Madison Sisters series will be hard on The Countess's heels. You met Suzette in Christiana's story and now you get to hear her story. Suzette needs a husband NOW. No doddling, whining or even love required. Anyone would do and the poorer the better as she needs a potential husband who is happy and pliable so she can access her substantial dowry to help pay off her father's overwhelming gambling debts. Daniel seemed to fit the bill to a 't' and their obvious chemistry was an added bonus. Now the only issue would be to try to stay alive and keep their hands off each other long enough to keep Suzette's virtue intact until they make it to Gretna Green.

January 25, 2011: The Countess, the first book in Lynsay's new historical series called the Madison Sisters will be starting 2011 off right! A fairytale marriage Christiana did not have. As a matter of fact the best part about it was the abrupt ending when her husband, Richard (or Dicky as he liked to be called), died. Or at least that's what they thought when Christiana and her sisters put him on ice. Only he didn't stay dead AND he became nice... huh?! And now the new and improved Richard can't help wondering if Christiana's sweetness isn't all an act. That she's actually a money-hungry murderess with great acting skills.

October 25, 2011: The Bite Before Christmas,Teddy Brunswick's anthology (the chief of police from Port Henry), is a nice addition to the Argeneau series. Short but sweet, this story starts off with a really cold bite. You see, for Teddy, being in Port Henry at Christmas is NOT an option. Though he has plenty of friends, family is scarce and Teddy refuses to be a charity case, which is inevitably how he feels if he winds up a guest at a friend’s holiday dinner. For a change Teddy decides to rent the Willan cottage this year, but he wasn't counting on a snowstorm taking out the hydro and blocking the only access road in. The only upside is he's not alone. A beautiful, bold stranger, Katricia Argeneau, is staying in a neighboring cottage and thus is also stranded for the holidays. Now, if a couple is trapped in cottage country, in below freezing temperatures, with only a fireplace and an incredible attraction to keep them warm, what do you think they could possibly do to keep themselves amused?

January 3, 2012: Under A Vampire Moon, is the sixteenth book in the Argeneau series is set on an island paradise called St. Lucia and involves Marguerite's son Christian Notte. After a bad relationship and an even worse divorce, Carolyn decides to go on a long overdue and much needed vacation with the 'girls'. Only the rest of the vacationers didn't get the memo. Around every corner there seems to be another couple celebrating their honeymoon or anniversary and the few single men she does see are far too young to even consider, including an irresistibly attractive rock violinist she meets. It's really too bad he's so young but in the end it doesn't matter because according to his cousin, Giacinta, women in general aren't Christian's type. But there's a catch, Christian needs Carolyn's help. He needs her to be his beard (to play the part of his fake girlfriend) for the week to appease his 'machismo' family. Carolyn just can't seem to say No and decides to help Gia's cousin. The only problem is that being around Christian and acting like they are a loving couple is wreaking havoc on her emotions. Carolyn's thoughts keep drifting back to places they shouldn't, like kissing his full lips or feeling his broad shoulders under her fingertips... good lord, she's in trouble.

This is for a signed copy of What She Wants. We will be giving away two signed copies of this reissue with the old cover. Just tell us about an old something-or-another that you (or a friend) love so much that you just can't seem to part with it. A ratty old chair that doesn't match ANYTHING, which your husband simply refuses to let go of. A mangy looking sweater that bares a remarkable resemblance to road kill that you really wish your sister would toss yet it just keeps popping up.

Please put contest #20 in the subject line and send your entries to admin@lynsaysands.net by midnight on June 13th, 2011.

As stated above, the office had a lot of maintenance guys around the house/office. One day when they were cleaning the ducts they were using a large industrial size vacuum to suck out all the guck that had accumulated. It is more than fair to say they were pretty noisy. As soon as it started we saw Emma running away from the kitchen, belly fur flopping to and fro as she went. About an hour later Terri went in search of her. No sign of Emma cat. She called her name, tried tempting her with shouts of  'num-nums,' and pleaded for her to come out, but nothing. Not a peep. At this point, Terri started to worry that Emma had somehow found a way downstairs (there's a cat gate preventing that) and escaped outside, as the garage door was open to allow their power vac access to the furnace. Terri called, looked in all the dark corners, under every nook and cranny and finally after a good half-hour of searching, Leigh, who had joined the hunt, found her. Emma had buried herself under a mountain of pillows in the spare room. She had 6 pillows on top of her and looked like she might swat at us if we tried to move her. She didn't come out until the duct men had gone. We have no idea how she did it but we've decided to start calling her Houdini cat.

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