Karen Kendall | SECRETS, SEX and SO LONG: The SEQUEL to Take Me If You Can

I love the name Fresh Fiction and think it’s a truly inspired marketing choice. So isn’t it funny that often, the book that’s being released to readers (in my case, TAKE ME TWO TIMES--sequel to TAKE ME IF YOU CAN)--is not the one that’s fresh in an author’s mind because we work so far ahead.

You see, I’m currently struggling with the revisions on the, uh, threequel, which is called TAKE ME FOR A RIDE and will be out in November.

So when people ask me what TAKE ME TWO TIMES is about, sometimes I begin telling them about the wrong set of characters. Forgive me!

The TAKE ME series is about an international agency that recovers stolen art.

And TAKE ME TWO TIMES is the story of Gwen Davies, the one-time debutante who’s a rookie in the art recovery biz.

Gwen may look sweet and proper, but she can kill a man with a spike heel . . . and she’s got some skeletons in her past who are about to pop out and shake, rattle n’ roll. Our Gwennie once spent a secret, steamy summer down south in Brazil. And she got a little too bad with bad boy Quinn Lawson—though in her defense, he really was irresistible. All that tough muscle, dark-blond hair, five o’clock shadow and talented hands. His mouth left a brand on her.

Now, fifteen years later, he’s her client. Surprise! And the cursed, solid gold Venetian mask she recovers for him is not quite what it seems. The Borgias commissioned the original, but who forged this one—and where is the real mask?

Ready for the rest? And an opportunity to win a copy of the NEXT book in the series...then read on...

Sandi Shilhanek | DFW Tea Group

Recently I celebrated a birthday. How I wondered would this year be celebrated? The answer to that was really very simple. Go to the DFW Tea Group book dinner that is held monthly. Good food, good drinks (even if I don’t drink), wonderful conversation, and the highlight of the evening getting to chat via telephone with an author.

Many years ago, don’t ask how many because truth be told I really don’t know, I accidentally discovered the DFW Tea Group. My first event was interesting, but I was an unknown stepping into a world that was as well established as any writer who writes an ongoing series might have. As would be expected the members of the group had to scope me out, and at the same time I had to be both outgoing, and shy so as to ensure my spot at future events.

Now years later I’m a long established member of the group, and look forward to finding out what exciting events I’m going to learn about because of the DFW Tea Group. Do you want to learn about us? Go to www.dfwtea.com/ We really are a friendly group and always looking for new members.

Anyway I digress, the actual day of my birthday didn’t go quite according to plan. I didn’t get the time off work I was hoping for, I forgot the coffee I had promised to bring and had to run home to grab it. Lastly the store where I was sent to buy the wine didn’t have the wine I was told to bring!

Arriving at the home where the dinner was being held I got great doggie welcomes, followed by warm greetings from the hostesses. I was handed a copy of the book being discussed, Take Me If You Can by Karen Kendall, so I could finish reading it, as my copy was in another room. Didn’t quite make it to finishing before dinner was served.

Lovely chat with Karen, who even though she might have been being bombarded by rain(she lives in Florida) let her personality shine through while she talked with us. The only flaw to this point was I really like to know what the author of the month likes to read, and I nor any of my tablemates thought to ask that question before the end of the discussion. Next time!

The evening was topped off with chocolate birthday cake, coffee, and a wonderful present. So, while the day didn’t start out happy and celebratory as birthdays should, it certainly ended on a high note that I believe will be hard to duplicate!

So my day was almost perfection. Tell me what do you like to do to celebrate your special day? Does it include books, friends and/or drinks Inquiring minds want…no need to know!

Karen Kendall | Preparing for a Hurricane

Hello, Fresh Fiction!

As I’m writing this, Tropical Storm/Hurricane Fay is barreling towards lucky south Florida, and nobody is sure where she’s going to hit. This means that I am not writing outside at the wrought-iron table, looking at the water.

It means that I have piled that wrought-iron table, along with all the chairs, chaises, potted plants, plant stands, decorative garden objects and my husband’s green froggy ashtray into the formal living room . . . which is now not looking quite so formal. A pool net will do wonders for anybody’s décor, know what I mean?

I’ve been wrestling with hurricane shutters, making room in the garage for the cars and hitting the grocery store, gas station and ATM like every other person around here. It’s probably all a lot of overkill, but you can never be sure. And I have a friend who writes weather-related thrillers which keep me up at night, so I take these little ole hurricanes seriously.

Typical writer, though: I’m so glad that I met my revisions deadline on Friday, because now if rogue electricity streaks, say, from a window to my coffee table, through the couch, around the doorframe, down the pool net pole, past the dogs, under the cat, sets the rug on fire, misses me or my husband by a hair and then evilly zaps the computer, destroying it with an accompanying clap of theatrical thunder . . . well, at least my editor will have a cyber-copy. (How’s that for an 83 word sentence? LOL.)

And hey, if the house floods or the roof blows off, same goes.

Authors get a little neurotic about their manuscripts, as you can see, even when they live in laid back, sunny (uh, most of the time) south Florida.

Can I say that I get especially crazy about my manuscripts for the TAKE ME series? I don’t know why, but by the time I’m done with them I’m exhausted. I’ve told people the story: I tossed 200 pp. and started over when the villain stole the hero’s spot in TAKE ME IF YOU CAN. (That Liam is one talented thief.) And now, for TAKE ME TWO TIMES (to be released April of ’09) I’ve tossed 7-10 of the original chapters and rewritten a lot of the rest. Why? Well, for one thing, the cops were trying to take over, and that’s just unacceptable in a series that revolves around an agency that recovers stolen art. Move over, boys in blue, and make way for the girls in black!

These are tough women with a license to steal. They’re the high end, glamorous ‘repo men’ of the art world, and they’re armed to the teeth. If you’ve got an artifact, painting or sculpture that doesn’t belong to you . . . watch out, because they’ll be paying you a visit. And whether you’re a professional cat burglar, a captain of industry, a statesman or a pope, these art recovery agents aren’t intimidated.

They’re probably not even afraid of hurricanes. But I am! So I’m going to get back to fighting with the big accordion shutter that pulls across the sliding doors in the living room. Please keep everyone in south Florida—and the Keys—in your prayers. Thanks. All the best,

Karen Kendall
www.karenkendall.com/