Welcome!

by Jessica Darago

Welcome, everyone, to the American Title V finalists’ blog! On behalf of all of us, thank you for coming by. We’ve only just begun our journey, and already it’s been a wild ride. We’re glad to have your company over the next few months and beyond.

First things first: Along the sidebar you’ll find lots of links to more information about us, the American Title Contest, Romantic Times Magazine, and Dorchester Publishing. More links are forthcoming, so be sure to check them often!

Second, bestselling author Sylvia Day has graciously invited us into her online home. Each week from now through December, Sylvia will host a Q&A with each of the American Title V authors and with one of her characters! The author interviews will be conducted by our own Marie-Claude Bourque (thanks, M-C!). You can find the interview schedule on Sylvia’s blog

First up is Edie Ramer, talking about her romantic ghost story, Dead People. Stop by for a fun read, and leave a comment for a chance to win prizes!

*administrator hat off*
*writer hat on*

It’s a glorious autumn day here in Northern Virginia. I took the long way to work this morning, along twisting roads lined with frosted, fallow fields. You’d never know such quiet and beauty lie so near the noise and rush of the nation’s capital. And while DC’s crowing glory is the springtime, for Virginia, it’s autumn.

When I set a scene, I love being able to base it on a real location. The internet is a wondrous thing, and it’s made a writer’s work infinitely easier (especially for those of us who write historicals), but there’s nothing quite like being there. A location is more than just an image; it’s sound and smell and texture and sometimes taste and … okay, I’ll say it, it’s the vibe you get from a place.

One day last autumn, a friend suggested we go hiking in Sky Meadows State Park. I was hip-deep in revisions on The Serpent’s Tooth at the time, wrestling with one scene in particular, a clandestine meeting between the heroine’s uncle and the woman he’s forbidden to love. A lot of my best writing happens when I’m hiking (the inside-my-head part of writing, anyway), so I agreed. And it was there, along an old carriage road, that I saw it: Toby, his collar turned up against the autumn wind, would ride his horse around that bend right there, and he would see Mary standing by the split-rail fence, her hands resting gracefully atop a fencepost, her searching eyes finding him at last and sparking with joy….

I found out later that Sky Meadows was named by former owner Robert Hadow after the Isle of Skye, the region of Scotland where many of the book’s characters come from and where a good chunk of the story takes place. It’s been years since I last visited that original Skye, but I saw the resemblance. I felt the vibe.

I didn’t type a single word that day, but it was one of the best writing days I’d had in a while.

There’s nothing like being there.

Have a great day, everyone!