Julie Anne Long

Sound the trumpets—we have a title!! + a very groovy guest blog, a Facebook reminder, and "one of the really great musical artists of our time!"

Hello my darlings! With much, much gratitude and big hugs to everyone who contributed brainpower and creativity to the renaming of my next book, I'm delighted to announce we have a title for the book formerly known as The Dangers of Desire! I present to you....

LIKE NO OTHER LOVER!

So what do you think?? I quite love it, actually. Whew. What a process!! And you can preorder that baby, too -- the correct title will show up on Amazon in a few weeks, but that link takes you to it.  We'll have a cover and back cover copy, soon, too, and I'll tell you about that when I have it.

All of this news actually makes me feel like dancing:

Hee! Thought you'd enjoy that. :) Is that surreal, or what? I like The Captain's sparkly lapels.

Also—I wanted to let you guys know that I did a very groovy guest blog over at the FAB Lux Magazine today—Bethany asked some great questions. . Find out how I know that 65-year-old men love Beauty and the Spy, whether I think there's a stigma associated with romance novels, and how to stay motivated to write! Stop by to check it out or just say hi!

And don't forget to join me and the Avon Romance group for a live chat about POP on Facebook—February 29th, 8 p.m. EST, 5 p.m. PST, and if you live between coasts, you do the math for the time, because math isn't my strength. LOL. You have to register for Facebook and join the Avon Romance group if you haven't yet, but that's easy and free and quick.

How is everyone?? It's sunny here! I'm up to my eyeballs in work! All is status quo, in short. :)

Happy Valentine's Day, blossoms! + Check out my blog at Avon Romance

First: Check out my blog at Avon Romance this Valentine's day where I talk about POP, what's sexy to me, and wrap it all up by mentioning a nude Jude Law. :) 

And yes -- note the seasonal nature of my greeting! There are indeed blossoms busting out all over here in San Francisco. What's it like in your neck of the woods?? The trees around here seem to think it's spring. I'm less certain, though it's definitely sunny, outrageously windy, and I'm sneezing a lot. A little bird was merrily and noisily splashing in the birdbath out in back of my house, too, and all of these things seem to be signs of spring.

Over there to the left is one of my readers, Bethany Hensel, who works for a hot new magazine in PA called Lux—here's their new blog. And that delicious man she's with is none other than Joshua Bell, violinist extraordinaire, who's on my hot guy list. :) She had an opportunity to meet him a few weeks ago and she shared these photos with me. His talent is superhuman—in his hands, a violin seems like a living thing, with a full range of emotions. And here's our theme song for the day, and my valentine to you: Ave Maria as played by him.

And yes...we're still working on the title thing!! LOL. I'll keep you posted! Meanwhile, hope you celebrate the day by doing a few of your favorite things with your favorite people. ;)...I had chocolate-covered strawberries to celebrate, in part, and mostly I'm celebrating today by writing something romantic. xo...julie

POP goes my heart (and look inside POP!)

This is hilarious, and I have Harlan Coben (who posted this on his MySpace page) to thank for this: Ever see that Hugh Grant movie, "Music and Lyrics?"? Ever live through the 80's? I love Hugh Grant, I loved the 80's, and you might have noticed that I like the word "POP." Couldn't resist sharing this.

Thanks for the title brainstorming help, my darlings. I had a blast, and you made me laugh, and I sent a little list off to my editor this morning incorporating a lot of your words and a few of your suggestions. Status report? We (my editor and I) are still mulling titles. LOL. I tell you, sometimes coming up with a title takes almost as long as writing a book. (well, OK: that's a major exaggeration. But still.)

While we wait for the title, enjoy a little POP music. LOL. Happy Monday!!

Adding something new to this post at 9:45: ust for laughs, I'm adding something new to this post: a new widget!! If you're feeling nostalgic for the POP countdown widget, or just jonesing for a new toy, check this out. HarperCollins just provided this new "Browse Inside" widget, and with it you can browse POP in its entirety, and grab the code put it on your blogs and website, or pass it around to your friends via email or what have you. I'm hoping it goes viral, in the nicest possible way. LOL. So help yourselves!! Help me, I should say. LOL. Spread the word, if the spirit moves you.

I'm very demanding lately, aren't I?? :) 

Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

Calling all brainstormers! Need a new title, stat!

Hey kittens! I need your help (Ahem -- Lareign you've already made this something of a hobby, so you have a head start :) ): we're renaming THE DANGERS OF DESIRE, as another Avon book coming out this year has a title much too similar. So!  Brainstorms, please! ASAP! Tell your friends! LOL. Spread the word!! And if you or someone you know suggests the title we use, you will be LAVISHLY thanked in the front of the book. LOL.  And I"ll send you a signed ARC! (I don't know how many ARC's I get from Avon with this second book, but I figured i'd make this rash promise anyway.) We're looking for something alliterative (repetitive initial letters); it doesn't necessarily have to begin with "The."  And very, very, very broadly stated: it's about reluctant but very hot and secret attraction between an aristocratic hero and a charming, penniless ambitious girl who had a glorious reign during the season and is suddenly made a social pariah by scandal. Pride is an issue. I realize that isn't much to go on, but hey -- go to town! LOL. And I just had some cough syrup, so I ought to be able to come up with a few wild titles. (Hmm....maybe something to do with "Wild." Or "fantasy." Or...) Throw anything out there, because one of your titles, even if we dont'  use it, might inspire another idea. Go ahead and post them in the comments if you have ideas.

"The Dangers of Desire" worked very well, because risk really was involved and the danger of desire of course is that you might just fall in love. (Hey...maybe something with "Risk.") I liked the "The Art of..." (Lareign's suggestion in the blog below) but it's a trifle to soft for this particular book.

And also...Lareign alerted me to a wonderful review of POP, and AAR just sent it to me, and I had to share it. They made it a Desert Isle Keeper, and I love what the reviewer had to say -- it's a very thoughtful, detailed, wonderfully written review, and I'll cherish it.

AAR Review of POP.

I'm going to go lay on the couch and think of titles and try to recover from POPping til I drop.