Hello, friends!

Welcome to September, the month of the harvest moon and the hunter’s moon, here in the Northern Hemisphere! The time of year when this year’s gaggles of Canada geese strut their stuff and practice flying in formation, readying themselves to migrate. The time of year when some of my hostas decide to start packing it in for the year, while others are still going strong. But best of all, my white roses have absolutely covered themselves in new blossoms!

Thank you very, very much for your warm welcome of THE NORTHERN DEVIL! It went back for a second printing in two weeks, much to my – and my editor’s – delight. A special thank you to the members of The First Week Club! In fact, you were such a wonderful success that I’ll be doing it again in October for the mass-market reissues of THE IRISH DEVIL and BOND OF BLOOD. To further tempt you (and thank you for your support), I’ll be sending a special holiday mailing to all members of The First Week Club in December.

You’ll find a recap The First Week Club’s details at the end of this newsletter.

More good news: My website, has a fabulous new look! It’s very unique (okay, I would believe that but other people say so, too!) and easy to navigate. You can find lots of information about my books, me, my friends, and my upcoming appearances. I’ve even started a blog, just to keep in touch with y’all a little more informally. Please stop by, if you have time, and check it out! I’d love to hear from you. You can even suggest topics for me to blog about.

If you’d like to learn a little more about THE IRISH DEVIL or BOND OF BLOOD, please stop by my website, where you can find excerpts and a book video for each book. You can also find a link to my current contest there.

The Irish Devil

Bond of Blood

Appearances

I will be chatting at Coffeetime Romance on Tuesday, September 18th at 9 P.M. EDT. Please drop in – I’d love to see you! We can talk about anything you’d like, including my books.

I will also be making two personal appearances in October. On Saturday, October 6th, I will be part of the New Jersey Romance Writers’ 2007 Literacy Book Fair in Iselin, New Jersey. More than 100 authors will be autographing books from 4-5:30 P.M. You can find out more at my website and the following link:
http://www.njromancewriters.org/conference/bookfairauthors.html

From Friday, October 19th through Sunday, October 21st, I’ll be part of the Kingsport, Tennessee’s Women’s Expo at the Marriott Meadowview Resort & Convention Center in Kingsport, Tennessee. Events kickoff with a Meet the Authors dinner on Friday night, followed by signings and more up-close contacts Saturday and Sunday. For more information, please visit http://www.womensexpoauthors.com or my website.

Coming Up

Just to make sure there are new stories in the pipeline for you, “Caught by the Tides,” my Regency magick novella, will be published in BEYOND THE DARK in December 2007. Plus, BOND OF FIRE, the Texas vampires trilogy volume 2, will be published in January 2008. To whet your appetite for BOND OF FIRE, I’ll be sending you weekly excerpts starting approximately two months before it’s released. Some of those excerpts will be posted a week later on my website but not all. Yes, you’ve got it right: in order to read the full set, you’ll have to be a subscriber to my newsletter. You’ll understand better once you read the excerpts, I promise!

Now for the hiccup: While we were transitioning from my old website to the new one, we unfortunately had to go back to an older version of my mailing list.

I’m extremely sorry but as you probably understand from personal experience, computers just aren’t as reliable as everyone would like them to be.

There’s a chance we may be able to recover the later version. Until then, anyone who joined after May will have to rejoin if they want to read all BOND OF FIRE excerpts. Please pass the word if you can, encouraging folks to rejoin my newsletter.

To thank you for your patience and to build your lust for my Irish Devil, I’ve included an excerpt from THE IRISH DEVIL in this newsletter.

I hope y’all have a splendid September, full of fabulous crisp days, delightful experiences at school (fingers crossed!), and lovely celebrations with your family and friends! For my friends in the Southern Hemisphere – oh, how I envy your coming springtime flowers!

All the best to you and yours –

www.dianewhiteside.com

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Excerpt from THE IRISH DEVIL

By Diane Whiteside

William smiled down at Viola, curious why she’d come to the depot. Probably for money to return back East.

“May I have a word with you in private, Mr. Donovan?”

Poor lady, she sounded so awkward and embarrassed. “Certainly. We can use the office,” he soothed and led the way across the yard. “Would you care for some fresh tea or coffee?”

“No, thank you. What I have to say should not take long.”

She must want a seat on the next stagecoach out of town, if the conversation must be fast. Buy her that ticket and she’d be gone in a day. Bloody hell.

William ushered her into the small room, bare except for the minimum of furniture, all solid, scarred, and littered with paperwork. Morgan’s numerous virtues didn’t include pushing paper to the Army’s satisfaction, when his clerk was absent.

She accepted the indicated seat but was wretchedly nervous, almost fidgeting in her chair. He wanted to snatch her up and swear the world would never hurt her again, then hunt down Charlie Jones and his fool wife. William closed the wooden shutters on the single window, filtering out much of the light and noise from the bustling corrals, then settled into his big oak swivel chair.

“What can I do for you, Mrs. Ross?” He kept his voice gentle, his California drawl soft against the muffled noises from outside.

She took a deep breath, drew herself up straight and tall, and launched into speech. “May I become your mistress, Mr. Donovan?”

“What?! What the devil are you talking about?” he choked, too stunned to watch his language. He knew his mouth was hanging open. “Are you making a joke, Mrs. Ross?”

“Hardly, Mr. Donovan.” She met his eyes directly, pulse pounding in her throat. “You may not have heard but my business partner sold everything to Mr. Lennox.”

He nodded curtly. He must have been right before: she needed money. “I met Mr. and Mrs. Jones on their way out of town. I won’t be doing business with them again,” he added harshly.

“Quite so. But my only choices now are to marry Mr. Lennox or find another man to protect me. I’d rather be yours than an Apache’s.”

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph,” William muttered as he stood and began to pace. Think, boyo, think. She deserves better than being your woman. Heat lanced from his heart down his spine at the thought of her in his arms every night. Marriage? No, she’d never agree to a Catholic ceremony. “There are other men, men who’d marry you,” he pointed out hoarsely.

“I will not remarry. Besides, Mr. Lennox blocked all offers other than his.”

Son of a bitch. The bastard should be shot. “What about your family?”

“They disinherited me when I married Edward. Both families refused my letters informing them of his death.”

How the devil could a parent abandon their child, no matter what the quarrel? His father had given everything to protect his children.

William’s gut tightened at the thought. Condoms were helpful but not a guarantee. If she stayed in his bed long enough, the odds were good. . .

“You could become pregnant,” he warned, his eyes returning to her face. Blessed Virgin, what he wouldn’t do to see Viola proud and happy, holding his babe in her arms.

“I can’t have children.”

“The fault could be in the stallion, not the mare,” William suggested, his drawl more pronounced. And this stallion would dearly love to prove his potency where another had failed, his cock caroled.

Breathe deep, boyo, let the lust fade, his brain warned. You were trained by the best and you’ll not leap upon a woman.

Viola stared at him and firmly shook her head. “All of Edward’s siblings have at least three children. No, the difficulty is entirely mine.”

He considered her slender body thoughtfully as he remembered other fragile women who’d rarely, if ever, conceived. Viola could be correct about her infertility.

More to the point, she was stubborn enough to continue insisting on this madness of becoming his mistress, no matter what arguments he mustered. Perhaps if he took her, he could sate his hunger before her inevitable departure. His cock eagerly agreed with this reasoning.

He moved to the window before speaking again, trying desperately to think. She needed to be warned about what to expect if she stayed with him.

“I have strong demands and unique tastes.” His voice was darker now. If she came to his bed, he’d play the games he loved, no doubt about it. But he’d never mastered a woman who hadn’t consented and he never would.

“And I understand you pay Mrs. Smith’s girls very well to satisfy them. I should think you would be glad to have a woman constantly available to you.” A hot flush lit her cheekbones and her pulse pounded in her throat, as she licked her lips. Blessed Virgin, she was aroused by this conversation but did she know what he was talking about?

His fist hit the rough wall. “Mother of God, Mrs. Ross, do you have any idea of what I might do with you?”

She ignored his profanity. “No, but I’m willing to learn.”

Dear God in Heaven, the images those words evoked. Viola’s moon-bright hair spilling across his thighs as she cherished his cock with her mouth. Viola, flung across silk sheets as she howled her pleasure under him. Viola’s sweet ass, blazing red from his attentions, thrusting back against him as she begged for more. . .

What wouldn’t she do as his mistress?

“Are you offering me carte blanche, Mrs. Ross, to act as I please in the bedroom?”

“Your horses love you and you whipped a man once for kicking a dog. I believe you’ll treat me with at least as much consideration.”

Did she mean it? Would she truly let him do what he wanted with her? His brain finally agreed with his cock on the need to grab her now, quickly, before she had time to reconsider. He gave voice to the bargain. “I give you my word on that. And I’ll protect you from those who’d harm you as well.”

“Such as Mr. Lennox?”

His jaw set. “Definitely against Lennox.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at him then went on more briskly. “How much?”

William coughed at her businesslike words, which were a complete contrast to her nipples’ eager thrust against the thin cloth. “What did you have in mind?”

“One hundred dollars a week. I believe you regularly spend more than that at Mrs. Smith’s.”

If he paid her by the week, she could leave after a few days’ notice. Everything in him railed at the idea, desperate to keep her as long as possible.

William kept his expression shuttered as he answered, leaning back against the desk. “A weekly rate wouldn’t suit me. It will take time to teach you my preferences.”

“How long?”

His eyes hooded for a moment. What was the minimum stay for a student at Lyonsgate? “Three months.”

She didn’t blink. “One thousand dollars.”

Bloody hell, she hadn’t balked at the time he’d demanded. He summarized the deal clearly, needing her complete agreement before he acted. “And for that sum and my protection, you will live under my roof, be constantly at my disposal, and learn how best to please me.”

“Yes, sir.” She took a very deep breath, straining the blue calico over her slight breasts. A tremor ran up his spine. His balls were as taut as if this morning’s relief had occurred weeks ago.

His eyes swept over her and she met them steadily. Then he stared out at the window shutters for a long time as he fought to think. Could he really do this? On the other hand, could he turn her down? He knew the answer to that: no.

He could hear one of his men whistling in the distance, against the steady thud of barrels being stacked in wagons.

“Very well,” William said finally, his voice far too rough in his ears. “It will take a little time to gather that much cash together. Where would you care to wait?”

“No!”

He stared at her, caught by the first note of fear in her voice. Was she physically afraid of Lennox, not just annoyed by his attentions?

“I mean, we can commence now,” Viola stammered. “I am sure you’re good for the money.”

Their eyes met and anger rose in William. The bastard had done something to her, probably threatened her. He deserved to be hung, even if he was Donovan & Sons’ biggest client in this Territory other than the Army.

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One last factoid:

As I mentioned before, impressing my publishers’ number crunchers depends on my fans buying my books en masse during the first week when it’s released. Yes, it’s a narrow time window – but if you already know you want to buy a copy, why not grab it early? Authors still receive royalties, no matter when fans buy them. But the bestseller lists are compiled during very specific time periods and the first week is the most critical. If lots of people buy them during that first week, then a book’s sales get a big boost during that one time period, hopefully enough to boost an author’s standings on the bestseller lists. (Can you hear all my fingers crossing at once?)

I’d therefore like to encourage you to buy THE IRISH DEVIL and BOND OF BLOOD during the first week after their release. To thank you for your help, if you send me a copy of your receipt showing you bought it during that first week, I’ll send you a personalized, gilded bookplate saying you’re a member of my “First Week Club.” (A packing slip from an online bookstore showing the book’s shipping date counts as proof, too.)

Both of these books will be released on exactly the same day – Tuesday, October 2nd. Just send in a copy of your receipt(s) showing you bought either (or both) books during their first week and I’ll be very glad to say thank you by sending you a personalized, gilded bookplate saying you’re a member of my “First Week Club.” If you send in a receipt for both books, I’ll happily send you two bookplates.

All the receipt has to show is the date and the name of the book, i.e., THE IRISH DEVIL or BOND OF BLOOD. Please feel free to blank out any other personal information.

Very important: the receipt’s date must fall between October 2nd and October 8th, 2007.

There will be no other way to receive this special bookplate. Yes, this is open to non-US residents but I’ll mail your bookplate via first-class mail international.

Please mail the receipt copy to my publicist, Binnie Syril Braunstein, at 7504 Labyrinth Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21208-4517, USA. Please also include a name and address (especially city, state and zip/postal code) where your personalized bookplate can be sent.

Happy reading!

www.dianewhiteside.com