Being here with the League of Amazing Writers is a fabulous capper for my 50day/50blog VEXING THE VISCOUNT tour! It hit the bookstore shelves TODAY! With each release, I feel as if I’ve launched a child into the world. I hope for its gentle reception, but at this point, it has to fend for itself!
Folk who blog for a living tell me I should dish a bit about myself. This is a problem because I was raised in Iowa, heart of the Midwest, where unassuming humility is considered an art form.
Unfortunately, I never quite mastered it.
Maybe that’s why my DH and I have bopped around the country more than most. We’ve lived in—hang on!—several towns in Iowa, Denver (twice!), Minneapolis, Winston-Salem, NC, Sheridan, Wyoming, Park City, Utah (during the Winter Olympics!), Seattle, West Plains, MO, and finally Boston! (No, we’re not in some witness protection program and keep blowing our cover. My DH works in the travel technology field.)
I loved living in every single place. (Well, Minneapolis in January was no picnic, but the people made up for it!) One thing I’ve learned as we moved around is that different areas of the country have very different ideas about how things should be done.
And they don’t much care how things are done elsewhere.
Case in point. We were new to this place. My DH and I were kibitzing with a group of people, trying to get acquainted. (When you move as often as I do, you have to make friends fast!) One woman mentioned that her neighbor’s son just landed a job driving a school bus. The boy was 16.
“16!” I said, aghast. “They let 16-year-olds drive school buses here?” The words poured out before I could stop them. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Silence descended for a full minute. Then one of the men spoke up.
“I drove a school bus when I was 16.”
I learned something that day (besides the fact that I’d be driving my kids to school myself!)
Not everyone is entitled to my opinion.
And besides, I may not always be right (though to this day I think I am about 16 year olds driving a school bus!). But the realization has freed me to consider other points of view—a very useful skill when one wants to be able to climb into a variety of characters’ heads.
Therefore, I won’t tell you what I think about Boston’s traffic, system of rotaries, or the unique hand gestures and honks I receive every time I get behind the wheel.
You don’t want to know . . .
Author blurb: Award-winning author Emily Bryan writes light-hearted, sexy historical romance for Leisure Books. She and her DH currently make their home in beautiful New England where, you’ll be happy to know, she usually takes mass transit!
Reviewers on VEXING THE VISCOUNT . . .
“Bryan’s delicious and witty romance has engaging characters whose fast-paced adventures will truly delight.” ~RT BookReviews
“Not your ordinary historical romance. It’s fresh, well written and chock full of the unexpected, the spectacular, and the intriguing.” ~WeWriteRomance.com
“A very welcome discovery. VEXING THE VISCOUNT is a humorous and emotional ride set in the often racy Georgian era.” ~ Romance Reviews Today
“Simply too delicious to miss!”~NightOwl Romance Reviewer Top Pick!
“The total package…witty humor, lusty sex, intriguing plot, great pacing, and marvelous characters.” ~ Penelope’sRomance Reviews
Connect with Emily Bryan:
http://www.emilybryan.com
http://www.emilybryan.blogspot.com
Buy VEXING THE VISCOUNT: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Vexing-the-Viscount/Emily-Bryan/e/9780843961348/?itm=1
Contest: Leave a comment or question to be entered in the daily drawing for a shiny new VEXING THE VISCOUNT!
February 24th, 2009 at 3:31 am
Hi Emily,
It’s been very interesting and exciting following the blog. Learning so much about you and your writing process and not to mention all those excpts. lol
Wow, 50 days already. And today is the big day. You must be very excited that it’s finally here.
I have already won so no need to enter my name for the drawing. I’m happily await
-ing my copy. I wish you much success with the release of Vexing The Viscount .
Carol L.
February 24th, 2009 at 3:52 am
Good Morning Emily!! Congratulations on the release of Vexing the Viscount! I am looking forward to reading it and as always your next project! I sooo sympathize with you and the traveling! My husband travels a ton for work in the past three years I have lived in my house in Minnesota 32 days!!! YUP, in THREE YEARS! I do get a little homesick once in a while, but I know where home is and I can go there anytime I need to. I to learn to make friends quickly and hmmm yes I need to sometimes bite my tongue LOL!!! I want to thank you for making this blog tour so fun and inviting us to join you everyday! Looking forward to Orlando and Bobbbies class! We will have some fun then! Again Congrats!!!!!
February 24th, 2009 at 4:53 am
Hi Emily,
congratulations on your release!
).
Your story about different regions doing things differently is very recognizable – it’s the same here in Europe, although sometimes the regions involved here can either be witihn a country or transcend a national border. People in the Netherlands tend to be really liberal on a world scale, even though we’ve got our own large community of conservatives, as well. But we know that not everybody thinks and feels the same… (Even if I usually feel I’m so right! But then, every now and then, I get proven wrong, same as everybody else
Nynke
February 24th, 2009 at 5:17 am
Wow! And I thought I had moved a lot!!!
Do you do it for the same reason? To get rid of clutter and clean your house? LOL.
Ash
February 24th, 2009 at 6:00 am
LOL, Ash! I will have to admit it cuts down on the clutter. I confess to a desire for Zen like simplicity in my decor because I know I’ll eventually have to pack it all up and ship it somewhere.
And I’d always rather spend my money on having fun experiences than acquiring things. Experiences are much easier to pack!
February 24th, 2009 at 6:47 am
I really can’t wait to read this in the full book form…
February 24th, 2009 at 9:15 am
The big day is finally here, congratulations.
I know what you mean about different ideas and even words. Everytime I travel someplace I listen to people talk and what words they are using, especially when ordering food (LOL) since words have totally different meanings in different parts of the country.
February 24th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Carol, Jane & Nynke–You have been such faithful blog “touristas!” I need to make you a cyber-Tshirt that says, “I survived the 50day/50blog VEXING THE VISCOUNT World Tour!”
Katrice–Thank you! I hope you love it!
February 24th, 2009 at 9:28 am
LJ–I know what you mean. When I first moved to NC and asked my guests if they’d like a pop, they looked startled. I thought I’d offered them a soda. They thought I was about to hit them! LOL!
February 24th, 2009 at 9:46 am
A T-shirt, LOL! That’d be fun – but the tour has been better, of course!
February 24th, 2009 at 11:46 am
congrats on a crazy 50 days!
And of course, on the book being on bookshelves all over tomorrow!!!!
February 24th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Congrats Emily on your big release day! Doesn’t it make you feel good that it comes out today? I not sure I would want to travel like you have, but I would say one thing I would never let my child ride a but that the driver was 16 years old. Although I am not sure if I would let then ride a bus if the driver was 70 either. My son is in college now and I have to drive him because he has never got his drivers licences, which I hope will change this summer.
February 24th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Emily, The t-shirt idea is hysterical! Only because, when you started this tour, it was my first experiance in any type of blogging, so I would read sooo very carefully the add a comment area! Oh yea, Name is required, ok I can do that, mail (will not be published) required, well ok I can do that to. URl or website HUH??? Whats that mean, well WOW ! Look they give you a big box to type in, not so hard now is it. OH no now what, send? post? What how does this get to where I want it to go? Yea seriously I was that bad, LOL! And of course every site is different, like some you had to use a google account, GOOGLE what?? is that baby talk or a new term for researching? Seriously my three highly tech kids roll on the floor laughing at me!
February 24th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Jane, that’s hilarious! But it must feel cool to not only have learned how to do it, but also to have become quite used to doing it – not unlike your techie kids, I bet
.
As for me, I’m pretty internet-savvy (but don’t ask me to fix a broken computer or build a website!), but I’d never commented on blogs as regularly as on the blog tour. It’s a first for me too, and that’s mainly thanks to you, Emily, and your fun stories and engaging, warm and bubbly personality!
TTYS,
Nynke
PS I’ve learned so many new abbreviations these past 50 days – TTYS, HEA, DH, HH (or was it H&H)… they were a bit of a puzzle sometimes but I’ve managed to find the solutions
February 24th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Nynke–I usually do hero/heroine as H/H.
What did you make of ROFL?
Jen–I am so excited about VEXING THE VISCOUNT hitting the shelves! One reader sent me a picture of DISTRACTING THE DUCHESS on the shelf when it first came out. She’d found it at her Walmart and it was shelved out of order between Laura Lee Gurhke and Lisa Jackson. Fast company!
Virginia–Several of my host sites allowed me access to post my own blog. (Like the lovely writers at LAW!) and it was comforting to know when my post would be up. But I’m not very good at Wordpress, so it was a stretch for me to master other systems.
Jane–LOL! I recognize myself in your comments. And then my frustration when my comments would get caught in the spam filter because I tried to get fancy and add a link!
February 24th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Hi Emily,
I’m with Jane on the blogging experience and Nynke with the abbreviations. i feel like an old pro now thanks to following you around!
The story about the 16-year old bus driver is funny, though I’m sure it wasn’t then! Talk about stick your foot in your mouth. And we know about your feet
Congratulations on your long awaited date. Did you go to all the stores in town just to see if your book was there? I would have
I’m glad we’ve got another day tomorrow and one Friday for our farewells. See you then.
Julie
February 25th, 2009 at 2:33 am
Emily,
big congrats to your newest release! Wow 50 blogs is really a lot. I am sorry that I missed so much of it.
February 25th, 2009 at 5:48 am
Ladies–It’s been real. It’s been fun. It’s been real fun! Thanks so much for your love and support these past 50 days! I’ve loved seeing my “touristas” each day.
Our winner today is (insert trumpet flourish here) KATRICE! Please contact me through http://www.emilybryan.com with your mailing info.
If you’d like to wean yourself from the blogtour gradually, I’m having an “afterglow” today over at Michelle Buonfiglio’s RomanceBuyTheBook. Still giving away a copy of VEXING THE VISCOUNT, so please tell your friends!
Cyber-hugs,
Em
February 25th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Ladies–It’s been real. It’s been fun. It’s been real fun! Thanks so much for your love and support these past 50 days! I’ve loved seeing my “touristas” each day.
Our winner today is (insert trumpet flourish here) KATRICE! Please contact me through http://www.emilybryan.com with your mailing info.
If you’d like to wean yourself from the blogtour gradually, I’m having an “afterglow” today over at Michelle Buonfiglio’s http://www.romancebuythebook.com . Still giving away a copy of VEXING THE VISCOUNT, so please tell your friends!
Cyber-hugs,
Em
February 25th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Big congrats Katrice!