Serenissima, come on down! You’ve won a signed copy of my debut Mistress by Mistake. Please e-mail your address to maggie@maggierobinson.net and I’ll get the book to you shortly.

I want to thank everyone who helped make my release day as special as it was. The Vauxhall Vixens and the Vanettes and the Write Chic girls and the Pirates made the day possible in so many ways. The romance community may write about love, but they also practice it in ways large and small every day. Thank you–you don’t know how touched I am by everything you’ve done, but I’m trying to tell you right now.

It’s release day for my debut Mistress by Mistake! Firsts like this don’t come along every day, and I want to savor the moment…and would, if I weren’t feeling nauseous and insane. Here’s the first sighting of the book on the shelves that I received last week from a wonderful woman in Hawaii. Hawaii! And how I wish I were there, lying under a palm tree with a pineapple drink in hand. I guess I could go drink a pina colada in Maine to celebrate if my stomach settles.

How have you celebrated special occasions in your life? Comment to win a copy of Mistress by Mistake!

Lucy Monroe is sponsoring a neat event during RT’s annual conference. For those who are at home (like me), there’s the Reader at Home Conference. Here’s some information and the schedule:

Reader at Home Conference
April 26-30, 2010

Each day will begin with a post listing that day’s special guests and the prizes to be awarded for the day. Closely following, a Cover Model & Hero Inspiration post will go live. Then beginning at 6 a.m., special guest posts will go live every 3 hours until 6 p.m. (6 a.m. ~ 9 a.m. ~ 12 p.m. ~ 3 p.m.~ 6 p.m.).

NB: Time zone = GMT – 8 (or -7 if your area is not on daylight savings) – that is Pacific DST for those in North America.

Following are a list of Special Guests for each day in the order in which their posts will go live on the blog:

April 26

Jami Davenport
Jules Bennett
Kate Davies
Leigh D’Ansey
Patti Shenberger

April 27

Maggie Robinson
Diana Duncan
Elizabeth Amber
Erin Nicholas
Elisabeth Naughton

April 28

Cynthia Eden
Kay Stockham
Mary Wine
Nicola Marsh
Jenna Bayley Burke

April 29

Gabi Stevens
Helen Scott Taylor
Barbara Freethy
Karen Van der Zee
Rick Reed

April 30

Susan Meier
Tricia Jones
HelenKay Dimon
Kaylin McFarren
Kimberly Fisk

May 1
Special New Release Announcement

I’m guest-blogging Tuesday at Lucy’s on release day and giving away a copy of Mistress by Mistake. For multiple chances at a copy, come back here on April 27, visit the Vauxhall Vixens, or find me at Romance Reader @ Heart. And if you’re not sick of me yet, check the News page for my Internet wanderings and giveaways. I will also announce a Super Special Surprise on May 3.

Hope to see you soon to celebrate the release of Mistress by Mistake!

Psst! Want to see (and read) something gorgeous? Here’s my May historical books page and review at The Season!

“All in all, whether my heart was being wrung dry, or I was smiling, or I was fanning myself silly (because the book is HOT), every word in Mistress By Mistake (because boy does Maggie’s prose sing) kept me completely enthralled until the very end.” Thanks so much, Bev! I’ll be sleeping with the review under my pillow.

Another Twitter #MistressMonday is coming up! Last weeks winners were @kellykrysten and @sara_lindsey. And a reminder again to check the contest page on this website and enter.

Want to know why I created Jane Street as the fictional home to my mistresses? Read my first Brava Authors blogpost and find out!

Have a wonderful weekend and week ahead. I’ll be beating back the butterflies.

A little more than two weeks, and Mistress by Mistake will be released into the wild. I’ve been having fun filling out interview questionnaires for blogs–thank goodness I can write my answers instead of speak, because I think at this point I’m one long stutter.

And I can still write some updates:
1. Three more #Mistress Mondays on Twitter to win six more books, and the monthly contest continues here.

2. Elyssa Papa wrote a funny Top Ten post on Vauxhall Vixens, highlighting some key plot points to MBM.

3. The fabulous Sara Lindsey, author of Promise Me Tonight and the upcoming Tempting the Marquess, designed beautiful banner ads for both Mistress by Mistake and Tempting Eden, and they can be found flashing on the books page of Maggie’s/Margaret’s sites. They are absolutely hypnotic, LOL.

4.Improper Gentlemen is the title of the upcoming Kensington Brava anthology in which I’ll have a novella. Love the title, and my hero Sir Simon Keith is definitely improper. And unfinished.

5. But I’ll have time to finish him, because I’ve given notice at work. Unemployment here I come! Due to a two million dollar shortfall in the school district, my position was reduced to half-time next year. I probably would have been able to keep my hours, but move to another school. I decided to get out now before word reached parents that the sweet bespectacled library clerk their kids hang out with writes scorching-hot historical romances. Huge relief, but I feel terrible for all the teachers and staff whose jobs and programs have been cut and don’t have sexy heroes to stay home and write about.

So, would you quit your day job if you could? What are you looking forward to this Spring?

Charlotte lay in the cupid-infested room, nervously bunching the scarlet satin coverlet between her fingers. She would not unpack her own trunk but to pull out her tattered nightrail and robe later. She could not move in and assume her sister’s life. She didn’t even want to consume her dinner. But an hour later, the fresh-faced maid Irene was at the door informing her that supper was on the table.

Charlotte imagined it tasted delicious, but was too distracted to tell. Despite her earlier pledge, she gulped a great deal of wine in order that she might actually fall asleep in her sister’s bed. Woozy and warm, she allowed Irene to help her undress and bathe, then crawled under the covers, closing her eyes to the grinning statues. How her sister Deborah had born them all alone for six weeks was a wonder.

She slept as if dead, having the most delightful tipsy dream somewhere past midnight. But when morning came and she found her nightgown hanging from a fat angel’s head and a naked man in the bed, she knew her dream was now a nightmare.

Come play with me! April’s contest is supposed to be fun, as is fitting for National Humor Month. How could one find oneself in the position of mistress by mistake? Details and entry form are on the contest page, and you may enter as many times as you like.Tell me your scenario—silly, serious or scandalous! Three winners will receive copies of Mistress by Mistake. And every Monday is #MistressMonday on Twitter. Two books will be given away each week until relase day, April 27.

My alter ego Margaret Rowe has news too. Thai subrights have been sold for Tempting Eden (Berkley Heat, June 2010). It’s really exciting (and a little strange) to think of people reading my books in translation.

Have a wonderful week. Stay tuned for more information about the Reader at Home Conference.

P.S. 4/6/10 I’ve already gotten some entries for April’s contest. Keep ‘em coming! Congrats to Twitter winners @sarahsreviews and @armiefox for winning this week’s copies of MbMistake. And I just discovered that Mistress by Midnight will be out December 28! It’s available for pre-order on Amazon. Holy cow. I think that means from April 27 to next January, the two of me will have released five books (Margaret Rowe’s Any Wicked Thing is also out in January). And I thought I was crazy now…