Susan Mallery: I discovered Anne Hathaway

Dana Birch vowed never to put herself at the mercy of a powerful man. She became a deputy so that she could take care of herself, and protect those she loved. Especially her best friends, the Titan sisters.

Twenty years ago, Garth Duncan swore revenge on Jed Titan for abandoning Garth and his mother. Now he s back to fulfill that promise, even if Jed s daughters get caught in the crosshairs. All that stands between him and his goal is Dana, her gun, and a growing passion that can t be denied…

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I Discovered Anne Hathaway

Yep, you read the title right. I discovered the actress Anne Hathaway. It was your classic “actress discovered in a shopping mall” kind of story (with “kind of” being the operative words). Several years ago, after a long day of shopping, I felt like taking a break, so I strolled over to the movie theater. They were playing a movie called THE PRINCESS DIARIES. What fun! I love Meg Cabot’s writing, so I was familiar with the book and had heard they were making a movie of it. I immediately bought a ticket.

Princess Mia was this awkward, frizzy-haired girl with bad eyebrows and bad posture, but I could see right through that right away. I knew she could be beautiful and sure enough, abracadabra. A super-fun makeover scene transformed her into a beauty and gave me a satisfyingly smug thrill of delight. As I left the theatre, I called a girlfriend and told her she had to go see that movie. Anne Hathaway was the Next Big Thing, I was sure of it. I talked about that movie for weeks.

Ever since then, whenever I see her in a film, I get an echo of that smug thrill. A smug tickle, if you will. She is, after all, an actress I discovered. We can disregard the producer, director, and everyone else involved in the film. (Except Julie Andrews. One must never disregard Julie Andrews.) No, no. I discovered Anne Hathaway. And then I spread the word about her and so now I feel partly responsible for her success. Congratulations, Anne, and you’re welcome.

I absolutely adore when I hear from a fan who has just discovered me. It’s so much fun to be discovered! There’s such excitement in the tone of their emails and messages on Facebook, and I hope it means that they’re getting the same thrill of delight that I got when I discovered Anne Hathaway. I hope they spread the word about me to their friends. And I hope they know that they truly do play a part in my success.

A lot of fans seem to have discovered me via my latest series, the Lone Star Sisters, which culminates with the November release of HOT ON HER HEELS. In fact, I’ve been getting a lot of emails from people who had never read a romance novel before, who were surprised by how much they loved it. So now I get the thrill of delight from thinking that I may be partly responsible for the future happiness of those readers. Through my books, they were introduced to the world of romance novels, and we all know what a wonderful world that is! A world of exciting possibilities, first kisses, well-matched spar partners, and those oh-so-wonderful happy endings.

Who have you discovered, whether a writer or someone on TV or in movies? How and when did you discover this person? Who did you tell about this person?

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Thank you, Ms Mallery!

You can learn more about Ms Mallery’s novels by visiting her website.

To celebrate the release of Hot on Her Heels, Ms Mallery is giving a $50 certificate to Zappos to one lucky commenter (military addresses, US or Canada residents only, as they don’t ship elsewhere)