Isn’t it gorgeous? This is the Australian Trade Paperback edition of MAD ABOUT THE EARL, due out in February 2012 from Penguin Australia. Just in time for Valentine’s Day. I love that the cover artist, Cathy Larsen, has been so faithful to the Regency period. Rosamund’s gown is the same gorgeous cobalt blue as on the U.S. cover and doesn’t Griffin look splendid? I think my beast of a hero has undergone a transformation by the time this portrait is taken!

This is my dog Monty, who is the inspiration for the ageing Great Dane, Ophelia, in MAD ABOUT THE EARL. Monty is a Great Dane/Ridgeback cross with the Harlequin Dane colouring and a very pronounced ridge. She’s not much to look at and she’s getting on in years now, but when she runs, she’s pure canine poetry in motion.

Here she is waiting patiently as I cook the evening meal. She knows that if she looks pathetic enough I will always give her raw off-cuts of eye fillet or grain-fed chicken breast that I’m trimming before I cook it for the family. Of course, Ophelia is an aristocratic dog so she’s pure-bred Dane but her personality is definitely Monty’s!

Here is my beautiful blue cover for MAD ABOUT THE EARL (released on January 3 2012)!

I was so pleased the artist used blue because of the scene where Rosamund and Griffin first meet:

There has been much excitement in the Brooke household because copies of the gorgeous Australian edition of HEIRESS IN LOVE arrived on my doorstep yesterday. I couldn’t be more thrilled with the way they have turned out — thank you, Penguin Australia! I was surprised to find an excerpt of my next Ministry of Marriage novel, MAD ABOUT THE EARL in the back as a bonus read, so keep your eye out for that, too.

I’m working on copy edits for MAD ABOUT THE EARL (affectionately known as MATE) at the moment. This is the last chance I have to make substantial changes to the book. After that, it’s a final proofread and then the book is out of my hands.

The brilliant and thoughtful writer, Barbara Samuel, believes that once the writer has finished a book it ceases to be hers, but becomes the property of each reader who reads it. I love that idea. It’s true, because while I put the words on the page, it’s each reader’s imagination that brings all of the color and detail of the story to life. I think it’s another reason many of us become disappointed with film adaptations of novels. They interfere with our personal version of a book.

Loath as I am to part with it, I am going to offer a signed Trade Paperback of HEIRESS IN LOVE as a prize to some lucky person on my newsletter list. The winner will be drawn on 30 June so if you’re not on the list already, go ahead and join! You can subscribe on my home page.

I look forward to meeting you.

Like every other reader on the planet, I’ve joined Goodreads. I also have a fabulous contest running there. See below.

Should authors review other authors’ books?

This is a question I’ve struggled with when deciding whether to post reviews on Goodreads. On the one hand, authors are almost always avid readers. Like any reader, they have opinions on books and there is, of course, a tradition of writers reviewing story that probably dates back to the beginning of storytelling itself. No doubt Homer was heckled by rival epic poets as he spun his tales. “Enough of the wine-dark sea, already! Can’t he vary his prose a little?”

But there are a number of arguments against writers reviewing fiction, particularly if they review in the genre in which they write.

First–conflict of interest. Essentially, some writers see other writers in the same field as competitors. Can they really give an unbiased view of someone else’s work when they compete in the same market?

My personal view is that authors are not in direct competition for the consumer dollar the way rival soap powder manufacturers are. You only need one brand of soap powder in a given week or month. I’d like to meet the reader who can stop at one book if they see another they would like equally well. However, I feel that one should avoid the appearance of bias as well as the reality of it and that is one reason I am not going to provide criticism of any novels here.

Second–the author looks at books in a slightly different way from readers who do not write. We tend to admire the fresh, the original, the structurally perfect. We notice and become irritated by bad technique. We see the tricks and devices that are designed to produce certain emotions in the reader and if they are too obvious to us, they make us cross our arms and refuse to follow where the author leads.

That is not to say that readers are unsophisticated or unintelligent–far from it. But the writer’s experience of a novel will often be skewed by her knowledge of how a book is written in the first place.

So I’m not going to provide critical analysis of books that haven’t worked for me in this forum. I’m going to share my thoughts on the books I love and leave the criticism to those who I believe are in a better position to give it.

This post has also been posted on my Goodreads blog.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Heiress in Love
by Christina Brooke

Giveaway ends May 20, 2011.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

We have a winner!

I have notified the lucky winner of my January/February contest by email. She will soon receive four fabulous historical romances plus a coverflat of HEIRESS IN LOVE!

Thank you to all of you who joined my Brooke-Club. You will automatically be entered into the next draw. Details soon!

Ever wanted to have Richard Armitage murmuring into your ear…for hours on end?

The talented, intelligent and gorgeous actor has narrated three of my favourite Georgette Heyer novels.

Sylvester
Venetia
The Convenient Marriage

I’d love to hear him narrate Devil’s Cub!

My only complaint (and it’s a small one) is that these are all abridged. Not so noticeable in Venetia and The Convenient Marriage but the secondary plots in Sylvester were so utterly charming that I felt their loss. I particularly missed hearing more about young Edmund’s battles with Sir Nugent Fotherby!

You can find these on Audible.com

The cover of HEIRESS IN LOVE is even more gorgeous in the ‘flesh’ than it is online. Look at the shiny gold foil!

Don’t forget to join my Brooke Club to go into the draw to win one of these exquisite (limited edition *G*) signed cover flats plus some fabulous new release historical romances!

Go here for details.

Once you join my Brooke Club, you are eligible to win a great prize!

For January/February

Four fabulous new release historical romances:

What I did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long
When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James
The Seduction of His Wife by Tiffany Clare
Unveiled by Courtney Milan

And… a signed cover flat of HEIRESS IN LOVE

All you have to do is register here!

What historical romances are you looking forward to in the next couple of months?

Wendy the Superlibrarian has an excellent wiki that lists all the upcoming historicals to July 2011.

Here are a few on my list:

January/February

Wedding of the Season by Laura Lee Guhrke

Lady Most Likely by Eloisa James, Julia Quinn & Connie Brockway

How to Woo a Reluctant Lady by Sabrina Jeffries

When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James

The Seduction of his Wife by Tiffany Clare

What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long

Scandal of the Year by Laura Lee Guhrke

Unveiled by Courtney Milan

To Tempt a Rake by Cara Elliott

Any recommendations for books I might have missed?