don't you love Halloween?!

It may have become an American tradition, but Halloween's roots lie

in Celtic tradition. Courtesy "About.com." ...

Halloween had its beginnings in an ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival of the dead. The Celtic peoples, who were once found all over Europe, divided the year by four major holidays. According to their calendar, the year began on a day corresponding to November 1st on our present calendar. The date marked the beginning of winter. Since they were pastoral people, it was a time when cattle and sheep had to be moved to closer pastures and all livestock had to be secured for the winter months. Crops were harvested and stored. The date marked both an ending and a beginning in an eternal cycle. The festival observed at this time was called Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween). It was the biggest and most significant holiday of the Celtic year. The Celts believed that at the time of Samhain, more so than any other time of the year, the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living, because at Samhain the souls of those who had died during the year traveled into the otherworld.

Given m'Irish ancestry, probably isn't coincidence that this week I'm starting my thirteenth book?

Speaking of all things spooky, New Moon (the next installment in

the Twilight saga) is premiering next month in Knoxville. If you

haven't seen the amazing trailer, here it is. Stay tuned for next

month's exclusive pics (fingers crossed!)

Book news

The Billionaire's Fake Engagement landed on the Borders Bestsellers

List and is available in Australia and New Zealand this month!

Fabulous new Modern Heat/Presents talent Kimberly Lang and I have

a release in Italy this month. They do our covers SO well.

Watch out for the new erotic fantasy kid on the block!

Ellora's Cave is launching Mel Tescho's first fabulous release

Stone Cold Lover. Congratulations Mel and we're looking forward to

enjoying many more of your brilliant stories!

Some sad news... Kensington editor Kate Duffy, 56, died recently after

a long illness. Among the many honors she received, Duffy won the

Romance Writers of America's inaugural Industry Award in 1991.

Her long career as a romance editor included serving as founding editor

of Silhouette Books and founder of Harlequin's Worldwide Library imprint

and Pocket's Tapestry Books, while at Kensington she established Brava

Books.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm writing my 13th novel, this one for the fabulous

Modern Heat line! This new branch of Modern have really found a market

and it seems readers around the world want more. Mills & Boon UK

are seriously looking for new talent. If you're a fan and want to learn about

the possibility of becoming the latest Modern Heat author, here's part of

the current guidelines:

Modern Heat is a vibrant, sexy, new stream of editorial that launched

in the UK in 2006 and has been published within Harlequin Presents since

May 2008 (two every month). Upmarket, glossy and sharply contemporary,

these stories sparkle with lively dialogue and sizzling sensuality! They offer

all the international glamour, passion and alpha male heroes you expect from

Modern/Presents, with a flirty young voice and a whole load of sass!

Want to know more? Follow this link.