) and given a new cover. In addition, I have gone through the book and added funny scene tags, which have become a trademark of my later releases. Watch here for updates.
REISSUES
Can we talk?
I know that readers hate it when reissues are put out with new covers and no indication that they are old, repackaged novels. I feel the same way. But Avon has promised me that readers will be alerted on the front cover that these are revised reissues. They will all have the new scene tags.
Other print reissues scheduled are: THE BEWITCHED VIKING in February, 2011 (I wonder if they will get rid of that infamous finger cover, which my fans loved, but some review sites hated); and THE BLUE VIKING in March, 2011. Aside from correcting typos, all these reissues will have the new scene tags.
UPCOMING
Coming out in September, 2010 will be the third of my Viking princess historicals, THE VIKING TAKES A KNIGHT. This is the story of John of Hawk’s Lair (son of Lady Eadyth of Ravenshire from THE TARNISHED LADY) and Princess Ingrith (the sister with a talent for cooking). As a knight in the king’s service, all John wants is a little peace and quiet for his beekeeping experiments, not an irksome Viking princess with a horde of orphans who overtake his keep.
Then in October will come DARK VIKING, another Viking Navy SEAL book...this time an historical time travel.Please note that this book had previously been titled EVEN VIKINGS GET THE BLUES when it was still a manuscript in progress. Rita Sawyer, a former stunt woman and now a female Navy SEAL, can’t believe she’s been shot back in time to the tenth century where two clueless Vikings think she’s a fish (thanks to her head-to-toe wet suit and flippers). Steven of Norstead, a fierce Viking warrior, is depressed over the “death” of his brother Thorfinn (VIKING UNCHAINED). Love and laughter guaranteed in this trip down Memory Lane...uh Fjord.
HELP, PLEASE?
One of my sons is very much involved in rescuing shelter dogs which are about to be put down and finding homes for them. As a result, he is applying for one of those Pepsi grants to expand his work into a full-time operation. You can go in and vote for him once a day until July 31. Thanks in advance for your help. http://www.refresheverything.com/saveshelterdogs
MISCELLANEOUS
I will be launching a new website soon. A much needed overhaul. Check back over the next month or so for details.
I am touched and amazed by the incredible video about my Vikings
prepared by fan, Donna Lindgren: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyidQsfpBQ4
You have to check this out, too. Do I have the most amazing
fans, or what?
http://deeshore.net/2009/07/17/i-love-me-some-sandra-hill/
And this is another neat fan website:
http://jemaleddin.com/post/61681975/sandra-hills-viking-unchained-possibly-the
And if you like my Cajun novels, you might be interested in this
Wall Street Journal article on the Cajun way of life:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204456604574207760991807936.html
Would
you believe that I got an email from
Magnus Eriksson in Denmark? I'm not kidding. Who
would have thought when I named my hero in THE
VERY VIRILE VIKING that he would have a namesake
in modern times?
Then there's the woman who admittedly hits the dating
sites and her headline is "Where is my thunderbolt?" You
have to have read my Cajun books to get the humor.
I also smile a bit when some readers tell me that
their husbands or significant others now call them "sweetling" or "heartling." I
melt just thinking about having established such a
trend with my Norse endearments.
Can you believe this hilarious comic strip about
my Viking Navy SEALs?
Yeah, it's a little snide, but notice my name on the
back of the back, and that the nay-sayer is reading
the book at the end. And,
hey, you can't knock free publicity. Click here,
then click Comic 1281, "I love you, Sandra Hill."

Did I mention that WILD
JINX was named by Booklist as one of the
ten best romance novels of the year? It is
a great honor, especially since it comes from the
magazine put out by the American Library Association.

Okay,
you're not going to believe this, but when I wrote
the book, THE LAST VIKING,
I pictured Kevin Sorbo (in his TV role of Hercules)
as the hero. In fact, when Meredith first sees
Rolf, she says, "Oh, my God! It's Kevin Sorbo."
So, I was at the recent DragonCon conference in Atlanta
where, yep, Kevin Sorbo was signing memorabilia, and
ta da! Here I am with Kevin Sorbo.
I must say, the boy does age well. This is what
he said when he signed the book, "No, that's
not me on the cover, but it should be." <g>
Also while at DragonCon, which incidentally can only
be described as the world's largest Halloween party,
50,000 people strong, I finally met up with Chris Roberts,
a well-known supporter of the romance genre. And
what a sweetie she! Her daughter, too.
Four of us authors, calling ourselves Bump in the
Night Central had our own booth at DragonCon. Here
I am with Lori Handeland, Susan Sizemore and Sue Kearney.

Another
case of "It's a small world." There
I am at our DragonCon booth telling passersby that
I write (among other things) about time-traveling Viking
Navy SEALS, and this guy stops, looks at me, and says, "Whaaat?"
Yep, a former Navy SEAL, Unfortunately, not a
Viking one, but, hey, not so bad.

Here's a typical fan from Dragoncon.
And did I mention running into John D'Salvo at the
Romantic Times Convention this year? John has
been the cover model on a dozen of my books.
I must say, he is even better looking in person.

That's me with Rosemary of Rosemary's
Book Store in Australia.
Rosemary is an incredible supporter of the romance
industry.

Me signing books at RT.

Me (in the tan jacket) with the Mystery
Chix at RT.

Have you checked out the original
novellas here on my new
website? They'll be free of charge as a gift to
you for all your support, past and future. You will
need to
sign up for my mailing list, if you haven't already.
JINX XMAS
is already up, and I love it, if I do say so myself.
Funny and sexy. You've got to love poor, clueless
Lance who lets those crazy Cajuns talk him into...well,
read it and you will see. <grin>
BOLTHOR'S BRIDE--yes, I have
finally given the world's worst skald his own story.
In BOLTHOR'S BRIDE, the battered old Viking who
has been a friend to all in seven books has finally
found a woman who loves his awful poems. Everyone
is surprised, especially because of who she is.
But the real surprise will be...well, you'll have to
wait and see. Lots of familiar faces show up that
you haven't seen for years...Erik, Tykir, Adam, Rurik,
Toste, Vagn and their women and children.
I think you'll like them both.
TRULY, MADLY FUNNY
So, there's this young man
who writes me a letter. He
tells me that, as an entering
freshman at the exclusive Pomona
College in California, they were
required to write an essay on
the book MENDEL'S DWARF.
A literary novel, this book
detailed the sexual frustration,
in very graphic detail, of a
midget scientist who idolized
the scientist Gregor Mendel and
was in love with a librarian.
It was an odd choice, this
young man from the conservative
northeast thought, but then he
had this image of Californians
as being free-spirited,
progressive, sun-bathed hippies
(his words). The faculty
must be part of those wild
Californians.
Lo
and behold, several weeks later,
he and the other incoming
freshmen got another letter.
This one stated that due to
overcrowded classes, students
could be exempt from the writing
requirements if they provided a
second essay, this one comparing
MENDEL'S DWARF with, you
guessed it,
TRULY, MADLY VIKING.
Again, this young man
(embarrassed to find himself in
the romance section of a
bookstore) thought it another
example of those odd
Californians. In some
ways, he found lots to compare.
But, oops, another letter
followed. Turns out some
pranksters got hold of the
freshman mailing list and the
comparison to
TRULY, MADLY VIKING
was a joke. But meanwhile
lots of students had already
written the comparative essays.
The young man wanted me to
know that somewhere, on dozens
and dozens of book shelves, are
dog-eared copies of
TRULY, MADLY VIKING
and that literary essays have
been written about it.
Even more amusing, when that
class graduated, their class
shirts read: "Truly, Madly
Graduated."
Most pleasing to me was the
fact that this young man, who
never would have read a romance
novel otherwise, said he really
enjoyed the book.
Don't you just love this
story?
SPECIAL PEOPLE
On another note: These authors have been especially
kind in giving me quotes for my books. Please check out their websites
and tell them I sent you:
Christina Skye -
www.christinaskye.com
Susan Wiggs -
www.susanwiggs.com
Christine Feehan -
www.christinefeehan.com
Karen Moning -
www.karenmoning.com
Also, I got the neatest email from a guy after hearing
about A TALE OF TWO VIKINGS. He is
in a band called, yep, TWO VIKINGS. Check it out and tell them
I sent you:
http://www.twovikings.com.
Also, look at the
wonderful tribute one of my fans put on her website.
ON THE HOMEFRONT
Since
we live in Penn State Country, we live and breathe
football
here all fall. But then, we have no choice. The coach lives down
the street, folks, and we can hear the band play from our patio. Yay,
Penn State.
And how about that Penn State football team? National champions, for
sure! Funny thing...in
DOWN AND DIRTY, I have several scenes
take place at the Nittany Lions Beaver Stadium during the Penn State/Notre
Dame game.
As always, we get great pleasure from
our three grandchildren. Here's the three of them this summer...Jaden,
Jeffie and little Max, doing what everyone does best in this part of the
country, fly fishing.

And it's not just the kids fishing either. Here's my son Rob
showing off one of his Spruce Creek catches.

And my husband Robert is a big bonefish enthusiast. Of course, he
tells me he HAS to go to the Bahamas to catch them.

We continue to work on our fishing
cottage. My son Matt has developed a real knack for renovating. This is
the new kitchen facing the stream.

And our new deck.

My husband treats the trout so good on
our property that they literally jump out of the water when they sense him
coming. I am not kidding when I say we have huge native trout, two feet and
longer, who can be seen swimming around, just waiting for him to throw them
some feed. In fact, they are so trusting of my husband that the females are
laying their eggs in the clear shallow water along the edge. Need I mention
that my husband does not eat trout!

My husband
also has become a bird lover to the extreme. My grandson Jeffie said
one day, "Pop, Pop, you have the fattest birds." I don't know how many
bird feeders he has now around the cottage and on the island. All I
know is, not only are the birds happy, but every squirrel, raccoon and
rabbit within a mile. In fact, while we were gone recently, a neighbor
reported seeing 17 turkeys, three bears and a bunch of deer on our property.
We would love to see them.
Snakes are a big problem out here in the country.
Lots of snakes. They are usually just water or
black snakes, which are non-poisonous, but Lordy, Lordy!
I even ordered a snake catcher from the Internet for my
husband. He believes in a "catch and release
policy," even for snakes. One day he caught a huge
one, put it in a trash can with a lid, then drove it a
mile away before he released it. I wanted to get a
picture of my daughter-in-law Bethany and myself one day
trying to catch a great big one, her with the snake
catcher and me holding the trash can and lid, but we
were screaming and laughing too hard. The snakes
were probably laughing, too. In fact, I figure the
snake grapevine is probably saying, "C'mon down to the
Hills. Paaaarty!"
Two of my sons and their families are gardening
enthusiasts, mostly organic. This is Jaden holding
up one of her prize lettuces.

Jeffie is still a great pirate
enthusiast. He even sleeps with his sword.
And when we ask him if he is a good pirate, he says,
"No! I'm a baaad pirate."

The only thing Max cares about is Thomas
the Train. And I mean, he is obsessed with that
character. Here he is with his favorite birthday
gift from Uncle Dan.

And the dogs, well, they love being just
dogs. The big-as-a-horse one is our Eli, a German
Shepherd. The other two are my son Dan's Tyler (as
in Steve Tyler) and Bethany's Kyra.

Sadly, we lost two members of our family this year. Eli, on the left, our beloved German Shepherd, and Kyra, my son Matt's family dog. Tyler, in the middle, my son Daniel's longtime pet, still survives, with two additions, Sky, a husky, and Sidney, a Grand Pyrennes that resembles a walking polar bear.
And now we have two more additions to our "family."
Two husky puppies, Sky and Zoey, which belong to my sons
Daniel and Beau. Zoey is the daughter of one of
the dogs which starred in the movie "Eight Below." Very
pretty, both of them.
YOU READERS
I must tell you, I have the best fans in the world. You
cannot know how much your letters make me smile, or tug at my heart strings,
or just plain make me feel good that you took the time to write.
One more thing. For those of you who love Vikings with
a sense of humor, as I do, check out this funny spoof on Vikings. It's
what would happen if Thor and Loki were college roommates.
http://www.nationallampoon.com/nl/01_cc/thor/thor_board.asp
SEAL HUMOR
Two things Navy SEALS are always taught:
- Keep your priorities in order
- Know when to act without hesitation
A college professor, an avowed atheist and active in the
ACLU, was teaching his class. He shocked several of his students when
he flatly stated that for once and for all he was gong to prove there was no
God. Addressing the ceiling, he shouted:
"God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this
platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes!!!"
The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin
drop. Ten minutes went by.
"I'm waiting, God. If you're real, knock me off this
platform!!!"
Again, after five minutes, the professor taunted God saying,
"Here I am, God!!! I'm still waiting!!!"
His count down got to the last couple of minutes when a SEAL,
just released from the Navy after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq and newly
registered in the class, walked up to the professor. The SEAL hit him
full force in the face and sent the professor tumbling from his lofty
platform. The professor was out cold!! The students were stunned
and shocked. They began to babble in confusion. The SEAL
nonchalantly took his seat in the front row and sat silent. The class
looked at him and fell silent...waiting.
Eventually, the professor came to and was noticeably shaken.
He looked at the SEAL in the front row. When the professor regained
his senses and could speak, he asked, "What the hell is the matter with
you?! Why did you do that!"
"God was really busy protecting America's soldiers, who are
protecting your right to say stupid shit and act like an asshole!!! So
he sent me!!"
ONE NATION UNDER GOD!!!
Free color promo materials (small posters, postcards, bookmarks) are
available for most books.
If interested,
send self-addressed stamped envelopes (correct envelope size and appropriate postage) to:
Sandra Hill
P.O. Box 604
State College, PA 16804
IN CONCLUSION
I will bid you adieu for now, sweet friends. Come by
and visit on occasion. I will have the welcome mat out.
Fondly,
