Lynn Sheene's Blog

The day has finally arrived! The Last Time I Saw Paris hit the stores and ebookshelves and I celebrated with a full house at Warwick's bookstore in La Jolla, California. I read from and discussed my debut novel, writing, and of course, Paris, while champagne, wine and French treats were enjoyed by all.

Thanks so much to Warwick's, my family and friends, and the new readers who attended. It was a night I'll remember forever.

THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS is going to Italy!

 The Italian language rights to THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS were recently acquired by Fanucci Editore, who will publish the novel in their women's fiction imprint Leggere Editore.

 I can't wait to see what the new cover will look like!

 Thanks so much to my hard working agent, Kevan Lyon of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, and my wonderful Foreign Rights agent, Taryn Fagerness of the Taryn Fagerness Agency.

 Ciao!

I am thrilled that Berkley Books has purchased my next novel, UNDER PARIS SKIES.

 This novel is set in the same "world" as THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS - German-Occupied France, where people made life or death decisions everyday, where the price of integrity could be execution, and where something as seemingly simple as your order in the food line could mean survival.

 In UNDER PARIS SKIES, a young ballerina goes undercover to spy for British intelligence as a cabaret dancer in German-occupied Paris while searching for missing family until a smitten Nazi officer brags to her about a naval advance that could hand the war in the Atlantic to the Germans. She is forced to partner with a dashing but mercenary French Count, risking her life and the lives of countless sailors to a man she cannot afford to trust but also cannot help but grow to love.

 I am so grateful to have the opportunity to write another book to be published by Berkley and to work again with my wonderful editor, Kate Seaver. Such gratitude to my hard working agent, Kevan Lyon!

My debut novel The Last Time I Saw Paris will be available on May 3rd!

To celebrate my novel's upcoming launch, I'm hosting a contest "A Debut in Paris", starting Wednesday, March 9. The contest will feature photos from my recent stay in Paris. Join us to test your knowledge of Parisian landmarks.

Follow me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/lynn.sheene and Twitter www.twitter.com/LynnSheene  for cool photos, trivia, and chances everyday to win free books!

I started my novel – the first scene of Chapter One – in a class at the University of California, Los Angeles Writers' Studio. I continued through the university's novel writing series, learning craft, making friends, and weaving together the best and purest story I could. By January of 2010, I was ready for the next step.

 What a difference a year makes!

 Thankfully, over the course of last year, I found an amazing and supportive agent who led me to Berkley Books and a wonderful and passionate editor for The Last Time I Saw Paris. It was an magical year and I owe a great deal to UCLA's Writers' Program.

 So you can imagine my delight when I was featured as a success story on UCLA Writer's Program website. I can't say enough about the talent, craft and support available in the program. I hope that reading my story inspires someone to start Chapter One of their novel.

 See the story at the University of California, Los Angeles Writer's Program Success Stories website:

http://www2.uclaextension.edu/writers/success.php?recordID=224

I've received a wonderful early Christmas present. Pam Jenoff has honored The Last Time I Saw Paris with an endorsement!

"Set against the backdrop of Paris during the Second World War, The Last Time I Saw Paris is a breathtaking tale of love, courage, intrigue and betrayal. Beautifully written and heartfelt, it is a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable read."

Pam Jenoff is the author of The Kommandant's Girl, which was an international bestseller and nominated for a Quill award, as well as The Diplomat's Wife, Almost Home and A Hidden Affair. Both The Kommandant's Girl and The Diplomat's Wife are moving historical chronicles of women caught up in the drama of Nazi-Occupied Poland in World War II and its aftereffects.

I greatly admire the way Ms. Jenoff seamlessly ties together history, suspense, and heart-felt love stories and am so honored she enjoyed The Last Time I Saw Paris.

I am absolutely delighted to learn that Katherine Neville has honored The Last Time I Saw Paris with an endorsement!

"American money, Nazi skullduggery, British sangfroid, French passions --in The Last Time I Saw Paris Lynn Sheene delivers more drama, romance and suspense than we've seen since the Paris occupation in Casablanca."

Katherine Neville is the author of what she describes as "swashbuckling Adventure/Quest novels" and bestsellers in forty languages and more than eighty countries. The Eight, her first novel, spans two centuries and is the story of the quest for a bejeweled chess set that once belonged to Charlemagne. The Eight was an instant bestseller in twelve languages, received numerous awards, and in a national poll of the noted Spanish journal, El Pais, was voted one of the top ten books of all time. The Fire, sequel to The Eight, is set thirty years after the events of The Eight, when the Black Queen resurfaces in Russia. The Fire received rave reviews and spent more than six months on bestseller lists around the world.

Its official -The Last Time I Saw Paris, Lynn Sheene's first novel, is available for preorder online! Check out the links below for more information and to order your advance copy TODAY!

Go pick up your copy of The Last Time I Saw Paris and we'll see you May 3rd when the book hits shelves everywhere!

I am so thrilled! Rebecca Cantrell, who I recently met when she took home the Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award for her novel A Trace of Smoke (Forge) at Boucheron, the World Mystery Convention, just honored me with this wonderful endorsement.

"The Last Time I Saw Paris glows with the faded but indomitable beauty of the city herself. Sheene's research is impeccable, her writing lyrical, and in Claire Badeau she has created an unflinching heroine who haunted me long after I regretfully devoured the last page. Sheene is a powerful writer and I cannot wait to read whatever comes next."

–Rebecca Cantrell, award winning author of A Night of Long Knives

Rochelle Staab, author of the upcoming Hollywood Hoodoo (November 2011) gave a wonderful interview to the Romance Writers on a Journey blog (See original article here!), discussing her path to publication. Hollywood Hoodoo is her debut novel and the first in a series published by Berkley Prime Crime.

In Hollywood Hoodoo, mysterious tarot cards, a cursed voodoo spell book, and a best friend falsely accused team L.A. Clinical Psychologist Liz Cooper and Religious Philosophy Professor Nick Garfield in an unlikely partnership to hunt down the real killer of a voodoo initiate in contemporary Los Angeles.