Donny & Me

Well, well, Donny Osmond is 50 years old today.

Some of you may only know him as Marie Osmond's older, toothier brother, but for me, he was my ultimate teen heartthrob. My Puppy Love knew no bounds--I had Donny Osmond posters all over my bedroom, every 45 the Osmond Brothers and/or Donny the solo act ever made and practically ALL of his albums. I even saw Donny in concert with his brothers (at the old Boston Gahden, the grungiest concert venue EVER), and yes, L'il Sis Marie sang too and no, she didn't faint.

Donny wasn't my only teeny-bopper crush--I was fickle, lurved David Cassidy and Michael Jackson--but the thing that made Donny special-est to my tweener heart was the fact that we had the same birthday, but I was one year younger. Now he's 50; long-in-the-tooth so to speak. Yikes, you know what that makes me! But I take comfort in one thing as I begin my final year still in a demographic advertisers give a crap about, my final year before the AARP comes a calling--I'll never be as old as HIM. Happy birthday, Donny!

Janet - no power in the verse can stop me!

The Fateful Knight is here!

How many times have you said "I'm looking for a fast, funny, romantic read featuring time travel, two bickering but made-for-each-other leads, a smelly villain and a haunted suit of armor?"


Lots of times, right? Well, me too! And that's why I wrote THE FATEFUL KNIGHT, a paranormal short story NOW AVAILABLE at The Wild Rose Press in their "Faery Rose" paranormal line.

Just go to The Wild Rose Press website (http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/) or my author's page at (http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/authors/JanetHalpin.htm) to purchase and download THE FATEFUL KNIGHT--you'll be glad you did (and so will I)! Thanks!

Janet - "No Power in the 'verse can stop me!"

A (Long) Fateful Time

Been a while since I last posted. I blame that partly on laziness and partly on a lot of crap going on in my life. First, I fell walking the dog and ended up with a dislocated shoulder. A lot of fun (and by that I mean not--pain, sling, discomfort, PT, more pain, typing one-handed for a while). Then I had a long-standing heart condition corrected (more fun, only this time overnight in the hospital--who knew you could have a BP of 60/40 and still be alive?).

Anyway, my shoulder's back in its socket and the ticker shock's behind me, I'm back to typing with two hands. Working on a YA that has nothing at all to do with WWII and also working on two short stories I hope to send to The Wild Rose Press when done. I'm having a lot of fun being part of that e-publisher's family--and my next release from Wild Rose, The Fateful Knight (a time-travel paranomral romance) will be out August 15.

Ciao! Janet - No power in the verse can stop me (literally, lately!)

The Fateful Knight--Coming Soon!

The Wild Rose press has been very good to me--taking on my first pubbed romance story, "Miss Danforth's Big Adventure," still available in the English Tea Rose line (http://www.thewildrosepress.com/) and *coming soon*, "The Fateful Knight" in the Faery Rose line.

Here's a blurb:

History teacher Beth Reynolds thinks she's hit the jackpot when she finds a genuine gauntlet from a suit of armor at a collectibles show. But her treasure soon turns terrifying as the artifact exhibits supernatural powers, including giving her horrific dreams about an attack on a handsome knight of old and his lady. What's more, the gauntlet keeps leading her to Hal Lawrence, curator of armor at the local museum, and a dead ringer for the knight in her dreams. The mystical gauntlet propels Beth and Hal on a journey across time. Will they succeed in their quest to restore the gauntlet to its rightful owner? Or will its curse mean an end to their growing love—and their lives?

I had a lot of fun writing this story, I love the cover, and I can't wait until I get a release date (which I'll dutifully report here!).

Janet - No power in the 'verse can stop me!

I'm baaaaack...

Hi! Been a while since I touched down here. Also been a while since I actually ranted about something instead of shilling for my work (both still available BTW--and another to come, more details later). Thought I'd get a few rants off my chest:

1. The Jehovah's Witnesses stopped by my house last week. Again. They fan out over my neighborhood at least once a month, which begs the question--do I live over Hellmouth? Should I have Buffy on speed dial because the minions of darkness are about to rise up and take over my tree-lined suburban street? It sure seems that way the way they keep coming back, no matter how many times I politely turn them away. In the dead of winter even. Sheesh!

2. This year's Oscars proved several things:

- Curves, curves, and more curves are in. Not a bony, scrawny anorexic chick in the place. Seeing J Hud and The Queen (Latifah, not Mirren) gloriously strut their stuff confirmed that plus-size is a plus these days.

- Bald may be beautiful, but not on Jack Nicholson. Hopefully he'd adopted the chrome dome for a big-screen adaptation of Kojak (or is that KoJack?).

- Other male trend: facial hair; I won’t call it a beard since it’s mostly just some scraggly hair on the chin, like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. And that begs another question, when does Scooby get his Oscar? Mr. Doo’s body of work has been outstanding, and think of the acceptance speech…“Wrank wroo…”

- Who’d a thunk Al Gore would be the most exciting thing about the Oscars?

- And finally, Old Broads Rule! There were a lot of ladies in that “I feel bad about my neck” demographic at the Oscars Sunday night—and they stole the show. From glam Diane Keaton to glam Thelma Schoonmaker winning her umpteenth Oscar to glam Sherri Lansing receiving an honorary Oscar (for her good works, alas, not for her phenomenal producing credits), to double glam gorgeous Catherine Deneuve to the fabulously glam Helen Mirren taking home the gold, numerous women of a certain age were being celebrated by the notoriously "ageist" Oscar for the first time since…well, probably ever.

3. Book signings are fun--and weird. I did my first book signing a couple of months ago to a packed house of four very enthusiastic people (including the book store owner). From what I've heard from other authors, you can never be sure ANYONE will show up, so I was thrilled to see some live beings in the audience. I even got to sign autographs, so I felt like the real deal.

The children are shouting, something about starving to death and are we going to eat this century...and the dog is staring at me with that piteous I-want-dinner look, so I'd better hop to...

Ciao for now! Janet - Now power in the 'verse can stop me (but hungry kids can slow me down!)

Climbing that ladder

Feeling like a perpetual BSP-monger these days, what with plugging all my fiction releases (all two of them) and the Sister's in Crime-New England calendar. But who knows if I'll ever get the chance to do it again, so I'm shilling away.

My short paranormal mystery "Frank's Find" was just released by Level Best Books (www.levelbestbooks.com) in the anthology, "Seasmoke: Crime Stories by New England Writers."

The anthology made its big damn debut at the New England Crime Bake this past weekend, a fabulous writer's conference dedicated to all things mystery. I've attended four of the past five and the conference keeps getting better.

"Seasmoke" authors were invited to sign the book for conference-goers who picked up the anthology there. So I had my first book signing. A real thrill, except for the part where I forgot how to sign my own name. There's an "e" in Janet, isn't there?

I'm still stunned by these successes. I've been writing for ages and I've queried and pitched to practically every agent in the 212. Taking a few steps up the ladder to publishing success has got me, as we used to say back in my Zoo Mass days, sittin' in Shaefer City!

Janet - No power in the 'verse can stop me!

Janet and Janet--together at last!

I know you've all been wondering when Janet Halpin and Janet Evanovich would wind up in the same publication--well, the time has come.

Sort of.

Back in August, I answered a call from the New England chapter of Sisters in Crime. I'm a member of this awesome mystery writers' group, and my chapter was awarded a grant to produce a calendar for the national organization's 20th anniversary. A lot of great writers stepped up to be "calendar girls," striking "Clue"-like poses in the morgue, a cemetery, etc.

And then there's me, Ms. April, the rope-wielding psychopath hiding in the shadows on the far right.

Some of the other dames saying cheese for shutterbug Roger Leo are Sarah Stewart Taylor, Tess Gerritsen, Linda Barnes, Roberta Isleib, that most fatale of femmes, Dana Cameron, and oh yeah, that other Janet. She's one of the biker chicks on the cover!

The calendar is now available and you can order a whole bunch of Janets at http://www.sincne.org/calendar.html

Ciao! Janet - No power in the 'verse can stop me!