A snapshot of the view screen taken by a friend when the finalists for Best Historical Romance were announced during the RITA ceremony

Sorry it’s been so long since my last update. Let’s see if I can get caught up here.

The Romance Writers of America conference in Atlanta (July 16-20) was an absolute whirlwind. Between business meetings with my agent and folks from Penguin, my publisher, I got to spend precious face time with my author friends — Norah Wilson, Bonnie Vanak, Jenn LeBlanc, Courtney Milan, Julie James, Joyce Lamb, Jill Shalvis (though we barely had time to say hello) and some of the authors from Rock*It Reads. Writing is a very isolating profession, so any time we get to spend together away from our computers is precious.

The highlight of the conference had to be meeting Kaleo Griffith face to face for the first time and meeting members of the I-Team Facebook group at the I-Team party. There were people there from as far away as Canada and California. Some had driven for six or more hours to be at the party. I signed books and Kaleo signed audiobooks. We gave away a complete set of the I-Team audiobooks and a copy of the audiobook of Surrender as prizes.

I’m already thinking about how I can improve the experience for people at next year’s conference in San Antonio.



It was wonderful to be a RITA finalist. I didn’t win, but I wasn’t as disappointed by that as I had perhaps imagined I would be. Sharing the finalist honors with writers like Monica McCarty and Jade Lee made me really happy just to be in that circle. Monica and I sat at the same table — Table 69! — during the awards ceremony, both of us cheering for the other. Kaleo was my guest for the ceremony, and having his support was wonderful.

I got home feeling extremely sleep deprived and spent a week getting caught up on all the different post-conference emails and phone calls, not to mention sleep and laundry.

While I was at RWA, Surrender (MacKinnon’s Rangers #1) was released in audiobook. Unfortunately, it was released with some significant editing mistakes. Tantor Audio went into motion to correct the problem and is offering replacement CDs to anyone who got the flawed version. Contact them through customer service. The new corrected version will be up soon. Audible pulled Surrender from its offerings and will post it again once the new corrected version is available. My apologies to any audiobook listener who got the original, flawed version!

Although that was a disappointment, the audiobook itself got an A/A+ from AudioGals. This link includes a terrific sound sample showcasing Kaleo’s skill as a narrator — all three brothers plus Lord William — and offers information about the errors on the CD and what is happening to make sure listeners get the correct version. Thanks so much to AudioGals for their continued support!

So what am I up to these days? I’ve been taking a nice long break from writing to get my mojo back and to focus on all of the important things that were neglected while I was working so hard on Striking Distance, including sleep, good food, exercise and time with both of my boys. I’ve decided that writing can’t mean my quality of life goes to hell.

But more on that in my next post.

Also, watch for news on First Strike, the erotic prequel to Striking Distance.

Upcoming releases:

Untamed — audiobook — Aug. 12
Defiant — audiobook — Aug. 26
First Strike — ebook special — mid-September — This is the erotic prequel to Striking Distance. It is not romantic suspense, but tells the story of how the hero and heroine from Striking Distance met.
Striking Distance (I-Team #6) — print, ebook, audiobook — Nov. 5.

Untamed, Defiant, and Striking Distance are all available for pre-order, while First Strike is not.

I can’t believe how long it’s been since I last posted anything on this blog.

I did finally finish Striking Distance and turned it in. My editor got back to me last week and said she loved it, which took the weight of the world off my shoulders.  I’m still waiting for a final cover, which, of course, I will share with you. This was one of the toughest books I’ve ever written, very complicated and requiring a lot of nuanced planning, but my editor said it was definitely worth the wait.

Striking Distance will be out on November 5! Watch for excerpts soon!

In the meantime, it somehow became July. Say what?!?! No, seriously. It’s July, and I’m chasing my tail trying to catch up. I’ve spent the better part of two weeks trying to clean and reorganize my office, focusing on the monstrosity that is my desk, and am finally making some progress.

But more than that, I’ve been getting ready for the Romance Writers of America conference being held in Atlanta, Ga., July 17-20. I wanted to invite you to a couple of events.

RWA “Readers for Life” Literacy Book Signing  — Wednesday, July 17, 5:307:30 p.m. in the Atrium Ballroom A-C of the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. I’ll be signing books together with more than 400 other authors in a special event that raises thousands of dollars each year that go to literacy signings in the conference’s host state. As a RITA finalist, I’ll get to have a pretty blue flag on my table. I may be doing some audiobook giveaways and coupons courtesy of Tantor Audio at the signing, so if you live in the Atlanta area, please come!



Pamela Clare’s I-Team Party — Join me and Kaleo Griffith, the sexy voice/actor behind the I-Team audiobooks, for a special get-together. Meet us face to face, have us sign your books and audiobooks, and enjoy a tasty buffet and drinks. Space is limited, so RSVP as soon as you can.

Here are the details:




 If you’re already attending RWA as a writer or live in the Atlanta area and are just planning on coming to the public events as a reader, please join us!


In the meantime, I wish you a Happy Fourth of July if you live here in the U.S. and hope you’re having a great summer!

I am writing my butt off, basically doing nothing but writing 16 hours a day, seven days a week, to try to finish Striking Distance on time. The writing is going well, and the story is finally — finally — coming together.

Yesterday afternoon I got a pleasant surprise when my RITA finalist pin for Defiant arrived in the mail. I had totally forgotten that little perk of being a finalist. It’s my second finalist pin, the first having come from Surrender when it was a finalist in 2007.

I took a few minutes from writing to snap a photo to share with you.

I will be having a reader get-together in Atlanta, so if you’re one of my readers and you’d like to meet me, you can come to the “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing Wednesday, July 17, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis or connect with me to learn more about the other private events I’ll be hosting in Atlanta.



Kaleo Griffith will be joining me in Atlanta, and he’ll be attending the get-together. For those of you who’ve fallen in love with his voice and the I-Team audiobooks — I’m talking to you, OKD sufferers! — this is your chance to get your audiobooks signed by both of us and to meet us in person.

If you’d like to join in, please send me a message, and I’ll include you in all updates about events in Atlanta.

Now, back to the writing...

Watch for excerpts soon!

Sorry I’ve been away for so long! A blog that is updated once a month is a BORING blog. I do understand that. But my effort has been channeled into writing Striking Distance, which is halfway completed now, and I’m willing to bet you’re okay with that.

One nice thing about being so focused on Laura and Javier’s story is that I’m oblivious to so much else that’s going on in the world. I had completely forgotten that RITA finalists would be announced soon. I was not up at the crack of dawn on Tuesday, March 26, waiting for “the call.” In fact, when “the call” came, I was sound asleep.

I crawled out of bed — I’d been in the middle of a dream about bugs crawling on my bedroom ceiling  — and stumbled down the stairs cussing all the way to the phone. The caller identified herself and said she was calling on behalf of the RWA Board of Directors.

I was so asleep that my first thought — I kid you not — was, “Does this have to do with that penis post on Facebook?”

It didn’t.

She said, “I’m calling to let you know that your book...”

And it clicked.  RWA. March. Phone call. My book...

DEFIANT WAS A RITA FINALIST!

At which point, I said, “Oh my God!” or something like that.

She finished the sentence “... Defiant is a RITA finalist in the historical romance category,” or something like that... and then I was so excited who knows what she said or I said.

And that was the end of my getting anything done that day.

I am so grateful to RWA and to the judges who read Defiant and found merit in the story. Being a finalist at the RWA convention is kind of like being a princess for five days. You get a pretty blue flag on your table at the big “Readers for Life” Literacy book signing. They have a reception. You wear a special ribbon on your name tag and get a pretty pin. (Click here to see a list of all the RITA finalists in all categories.)

Surrender was a RITA finalist in 2007, so I’ve been fortunate to experience this once already. Although Surrender didn’t win, the conference was still unforgettable.

I should say that it’s pretty cool that TWO of the three books that make up the MacKinnon’s Rangers series so far have been RITA finalists. I love that!

So, yes, I’ll be attending the RWA conference in Atlanta July 17-20. The literacy signing, which will involve hundreds of writers, takes place in the evening on Wednesday, July 17, and is open to the public. Click here for more information on the conference and the literacy signing. If you live in the Atlanta area, I would love to meet you!

I plan to have a special event set up for members of the I-Team and Camp Followers Facebook groups so that we can meet in person and have some time to talk. And there may be other big surprises in store, as well. So please stay tuned!

And now back to writing...