TGTBTU has the pleasure of presenting (three or four) up coming Harlequin Historical anthologies for you to add to your ‘I WANT’ list:
Hallowe’en Husbands: “Marriage At Morrow Creek,” “Wedding At Warehaven,” “Master Of Penlowen” by Lisa Plumley, Denise Lynn, Christine Merrill (we will have their guest posts this weekend as well).
The Magic Of Christmas: “A Christmas Child,” “The Christmas Dove,” “A Baby Blue Christmas” by Carolyn Davidson (sniff don’t think she is coming), Victoria Bylin (guest 6/25/08), Cheryl St.John (guest 6/23/08)
Both of these novels come out in Oct 08 and we will be posting excerpts from Hallowe’en Husbands this weekend as well.
One Candlelit Christmas: “Christmas Wedding Wish,” “The Rake’s Secret Son,” “Blame It On The Mistletoe” (Harlequin Historical Series) by Julia Justiss, Annie Burrows, and Terri Brisbin
And we know that Jillian Hart will be in an HH antho in the spring of 2009 with Rocky Mountain Courtship (Joseph’s story). I don’t think we have the name yet or the other authors in the antho… or did we? Anyone? anyone?
My question to readers are do you like the Harlequin anthologies? Have you ever purchased one? Have you tired one from the Harlequin Historical Line?
If you are an author have you ever written an anthology? Tell us about it. Did you enjoy it? Did the story turn out like you wanted or were you disappointed in it? And of course if you are a Harlequin Historical author and have written one you MUST answer and tell us all about it ;).
And a question for anyone (wearing any hat: reader or author 😉 ) – it the response I liked it but wanted MORE or it ended too quickly… is that the sign of a good novella or poor execution of the story type. Should we be left always wanting more?
I love anthologies, and I have purchased several from Harlequin over the years. I especially like the Christmas ones, but I have also enjoyed others. It is fun to get a taste of several authors in one seating, and I have discovered new authors this way. Most of the time these short stories have been satisfying, but a few times I have wished for more to the story.
Since I’m an author in the One Candlelit Christmas anthology, yes, I’ve done anthology stories! This is my second Christmas one and I did one other with Merline Lovelace and Deborah Simmons with a military theme called “The Officer’s Bride.” In that one, the thread that linked the stories together was the heros all belonged to the same regiment, Dunbar’s Dragoons, although the stories were set in different eras, mine in Portugal during the Peninsular Wars, Deb’s after Waterloo and Merline’s Victorian-set. Obviously with Christmas novellas you have to work in a Christmas theme.
Since I always write long and have to cut, writing a novella is scary since it is by nature a much shorter venue. Focusing on just the h/h and a narrow time frame helps keep the story more manageable. I’ve enjoyed doing them–it’s a different sort of challenge from a full-length novel, but despite the page count restrictions I think a reader should not be left feeling “there should be more” when she finishes the book. Maybe there are other characters whose stories she’d like to have told or maybe she’s curious about the backstory of the h/h before they come together in this particular time and place, but their love story should be well and fully told so that the reader feels satisfied when she reaches the end.
Novella collections are a great way to “try out” a new author you’ve not read before and line up quick reads you can fit into a single evening. Plus the Christmas ones make great gifts for reader friends.
Another anthology fan here. I have read several Harlequin anthologies. My favorite is the Valentine’s anthology, “Jinxed.” I haven’t picked up a Harlequin historical yet.
I glommed HH anthologies before I ever considered writing. Loved them then and still do. My faves are the Christmas ones. I have most of them around here…somewhere.
“Wedding at Warehaven” in the Hallowe’en Husbands anthology was the first one I’ve written. And the timing for it was perfect! I’d just finished my first Nocturne that had proved to be my personal book from hades and back, and wanted/needed a major break. Plus, I’d been trying to figure out how to tie the Faucon’s to the Drakes (Nocturne) to Jared the Dragon of Warehaven in the next medieval series. As soon my editor asked if I’d be interested in doing a story for the halloween anthology, I knew how I would tie everyone together. So it was way kewl to be able to write a short story for Jared’s parents where I’d be able to tell/show/figure out how the Lords of Warehaven became known as the Dragons.
And since I write short to begin with, writing the anthology didn’t pose much of a problem. It helped that the time frame was extremely limited and using an old wives’ tale to bring the couple together took care of the “how did they meet” problem quite handily.
While I’m more than satisfied with the story, in the end it’ll be up to the readers to decide. From this point on, I can only hope it works.
Denise Lynn
I love the anthologies, there is a real art in telling a short(er) story. I am sure it takes longer to boil a story down to its essence, so to speak. So far my favourites have been the Christmas anthologies, and also the medieval ones.
Best wishes
Carol
Julia,
I was gonna be all smartassy and say you had done another Christmas one but that was HQN wasn’t it?
hee I loved The Officer’s Bride, great antho and I recall enjoying the HQN one (that I so can’t remember the title which is sad since it is sitting with about 20 other books for the grand prize) but you can’t go wrong with partners like Balogh tale and Nicola Cornick.