Julie Miller | Covers, Covers, Covers

Thank you to Sara Reyes and the gang at Fresh Fiction for inviting me to blog with them this month! I’m honored. Today, I’m going to be talking Harlequin Intrigue.

Since Intrigue is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, I thought it'd be fun to share some Intrigue covers, and show how the look of our beloved romantic suspense novels have changed over the years.

1. Here's where it all started, with THE KEY by Rebecca Flanders.


2. Then we went through a "white" period--I discovered 43 Light Street series by Rebecca York in this phase--read bunches of the white covers in college.

Click here to read the rest of Julie's blog and to comment.

Pamela Stone | All Time Favorite Books

We all have a select few favorite books. I don’t just mean the ones on your keeper shelves. I’m talking about that book that you’ve read until the pages are dog-eared and the cover is coming off, perhaps the pages are falling out. The one that you raved to your friends about and possibly loaned them and never got returned. My theory is that they liked the book so well, they just kept it. Since I love good books and enjoy sharing my passion, I just buy another copy for myself. I have purchased, full price, at least three copies of Sea Swept by Nora Roberts. One I actually bought for a friend, but the other got lost twice before it didn’t make it home the final time. The other books in Nora’s Chesapeake series are also wonderful reads, but Sea Swept stands out. Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss is another book that sits atop my shelf. I’ve read many, many good books, but these are the ones that make me swoon. They aren’t just on my keeper shelf, if they disappear, I will go to all lengths to replace them.

Click here to read the rest of Pamela's blog and to leave a comment.

Dana Marton | Daydreaming

I love a great many things about romance, but I like the fantasy aspect the most. Daydreaming is such a wonderful pastime, isn’t it? And it’s free! I did get to indulge in a big way while writing SAVED BY THE MONARCH.

Since I’m scared to death of flying, I make a point to do it at least once a year. If there’s anything I’ve learned from my intrepid heroines, it’s that life is too short to let fear win. When I travel, I see as people wait for their loved ones at airports, or for strangers holding up signs with names. And since I’m a writer, I see book ideas everywhere…

What if someone went on vacation to Europe, to a small kingdom her parents had left behind when she’d been a very young child? And what if the surprise of a lifetime waited for her when she arrived?

Click to read the rest of Dana's blog and to leave a comment.

Kimberly Lang | Hero Characteristic

One year at the RWA National Conference, I had coffee with an editor (not my editor) who told me that if you read an author’s books closely, you’ll be able to see that all of her heroes will share some common characteristics. Maybe it’s a core value or just their sense of humor, but it’s often unique to that author’s heroes and it shows up over and over again. And, she says, if you get to meet the author’s husband, you’ll often see that same quality in him.

It makes sense – after all, the author has to fall in love with her hero before the heroine or the reader can. The same qualities the author loves in her real-life hero are going to be what she wants her fictional heroes to have as well.

When I told my husband this, he got a cute little worried look on his face. He quickly ran down a list of common characteristics my heroes have: insanely rich, powerful, successful, tall, muscular, athletic. He figured he could claim “tall.”

Click here to read the rest of Kimberly's blog and to comment.

Tina Leonard | MAKING LISTS

I love lists. I am a list-maker, a list-keeper, a doodling scribe of anything on any surface. My kids have picked up a dinner napkin as we left a restaurant because I had jotted a few ideas down on the paper. Bless their hearts, they were afraid to leave behind one of Mom's Big Ideas. Lists keep me organized, make me aware of how much I get done in a day or not done as life may have it.

I also love bestseller lists, especially when one of my books or a friend's book makes its way onto the hallowed spaces. Recently, my four-book series, The Morgan Men, was fortunate enough to make a few lists, one book being first on the eharlequin.com list, and another staying on same list for about eighteen days in various spots. Throw in a Waldenbooks/Borders list for three weeks in a row for my March book—culminating in the #2 spot in the third week!--and I began to ponder the scattered good fortune in the universe. (Remember, I am a student of listing—I try to figure out these random occurrences, whether or not I can find an answer being irrelevant). Greater minds than mine have written about the quirky fate in making bestseller lists, but my house is on the market so I have time to scattershoot while I'm scrubbing floors and cleaning out shrub beds.

Click to read the rest of Tina's blog and to leave a comment.

Tara Taylor Quinn | A Ninth and a First

The first, first. Last week delivered to my door, in five boxes, were my copies of my first, first printing hardcover. It's not wholly mine. It's an anthology of work by five authors. But my name is on the cover. My story is inside. I've had two other books in hardcover. One was a foreign edition. The other was a subsidiary sale to Thorndike Press who prints mostly for libraries. Both were cool.

This is cooler.

The book, More Than Words Volume 5 is due out in April. Heather Graham, a woman I've known and admired for years, is the headliner. I'm honored to be in the volume with her.

Even more meaningful than being out in Hardcover, or being published with Heather, is having been a part of the work itself. More Than Words is a project that Harlequin started several years ago. Throughout the year, the company solicits applications from private women's charities. Five are chosen. Each of the five authors, who are hand chosen by the publisher, are given one of the charities. I was given Sandra Ramos, founder of Strengthen our Sisters. Sandra founded the very first battered women's shelter in the United States. She's an amazing amazing woman. I spent a couple of days reading about Sandra, speaking with her, getting to know her. And then I wrote a fictional story inspired by all that I had learned. Each of the other four authors in the anthology did the same with their charity founders.

All proceeds for the book go to the five charities.

Click to read to the rest of Tara's blog and to leave a comment.

Maxine Sullivan | THE LONG JOURNEY

If anyone had told me in the early 1980s that it would take me over 20 years to be published, I probably wouldn't have kept on writing. Perhaps. Back then the world was much smaller, and living in Australia it was smaller still and very isolated. There was no internet, no romance writer organisations, it took two weeks for a letter to get to a publisher before waiting months for a reply, and it took me weeks to type up a manuscript on a typewriter from longhand. Patience was something you had to have. And that was a good training ground for the next twenty years as I tried hard to get published.

In the early 1990s the fledgling internet began to trickle information through. Luckily I knew a computer guru who set me up with an internal modem with a speed that is laughable now but was sheer heaven back then, and I started to learn that there was a growing network of writers out there. It was fantastic. The world was coming into my home and suddenly Down Under wasn't so far away.

Click here to the rest and enter Maxine's one day blog contest.

Darlene Gardner | Secondary Romances

Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley. Willow and Oz. Betty and Barney Rubble.

You've probably figured out by now what the couples from the book Pride and Prejudice, the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the cartoon The Flintstones have in common: They're involved in secondary romances.

Now here's my shameless confession: I adore secondary romances, often considerably more than the main event. In THE HERO'S SIN, my February release from Superromance that starts a new series, the secondary hero relentlessly -- and, I hope, charmingly -- pursues his ex-wife. Part of the reason their marriage broke up was because his favorite pasttime was getting drunk with his buddies. I wouldn't give the primary hero that flaw unless there was a deep, dark reason he was drinking.

Click here to read the rest...

Tina Leonard | Fail-And-Succeed Success

I love writing. I feel fortunate that I get to make my living at putting words to paper. It means that I get to indulge my love of doing what I enjoyed when I was a child, which was read every single word I could get my hands on. Now I get to read wonderful works by other authors and friends, and sometimes I feel like I have a front-row seat to the ever-changing publishing world. I see a book make a bestseller list and I think, "Wow! I met that author!" Call me perpetually star-struck because I suppose I am. I root for everybody's careers and the state of the publishing industry because this is my team, the team that allows me to stay at home and do what I love to do most: Write, read, be a mom, a wife, a good neighbor and friend.

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Mary Nichols | Writing Historical

I love writing historical romance, researching the backgrounds and working out how my hero and heroine are going to resolve their dilemmas. Although the majority of my books have Regency backgrounds, I have also used the English Civil War, the Jacobite Rebellion, the building of the railways (Working Man, Society Bride) and the outcry for and against building the Crystal Palace in Victoria's reign (A Desirable Husband). Romance can be found in the most unexpected places. For instance, the conflict between Roland, the Earl of Amerleigh and Charlotte Cartwright in The Earl and The Hoyden, just out in the UK, involves a quarrel over the ownership of a Shropshire lead mine.

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Anne McAllister | Where do you get your ideas?

The most common question writers are asked is: Where do you get your ideas?

Generally the people asking it are perplexed because they can't quite fathom how such ideas come or how they are different from other ideas or what writers can possibly do with them when they do turn up.

Usually I say, "Ideas are everywhere."

But that doesn't really help. So in case you're wondering how things come together, let me just illustrate with my January Harlequin Presents, Antonides' Forbidden Wife.

It certainly didn't come as a full-blown story. No IDEA (in capital letters) popped up in my head. In fact, it wasn't supposed to be a story at all -- because PJ Antonides is not what is commonly considered "a Presents hero." He was a surfer, for heaven's sake!

He made an appearance in an earlier book. As the younger brother of the uptight, determined, severely responsible hero, PJ was by turns annoying, misunderstood, breezy and charming. Pretty much everything his brother was not. He also didn't own any multi-national corporations on the side.

He was also, in that book, called Peter because that's my husband's name and I called him that because I wanted a name I liked but one that I wouldn't be using for a hero (one hero named Peter is all anyone is allowed, I figure).

But I needed a book (I'd just stopped writing the one I had been working on, due to circumstances beyond my control), and one of the higher beings in the Harlequin pantheon of editors suggested Peter's story.

I said, "What story?"

Long pause on the trans-atlantic telephone line.

"He's a surfer!" I said.

"I thought you left him running the company," she replied, "when Elias went off to build boats." There was a sniff of disapproval about Elias's behavior.

"Well, yes," I said. And already the wheels were turning. I had left Peter running the company. But he was pretty much an unknown quantity as far as the family went. They'd barely seen him in ten years. He'd gone off to Hawaii and rarely came back. He'd even left his old identity behind. He'd become PJ out there. (Tricky guy. He obviously had designs on becoming a hero).

I wondered what other secrets he might have.

No secrets, he told me. Just a wife.

A wife? Where did that come from?

I have no idea. I guess it was mulling over what shocking revelation might create an interesting set-up and provide a stepping stone for some conflict. Yeah, a wife would definitely do that!

But where did he get her? Hawaii, apparently, because that's where he'd gone. Who was PJ likely to meet in Hawaii?

And just when I needed her, Ally Maruyama waltzed into the book.

Ally was a combination of several girls I'd known growing up in California -- daughters of mixed cultural backgrounds who had to try to deal with "old world" expectations within the world they wanted to live.

But why did PJ marry her? And where was she now? And what had brought her back?

All these questions demanded ideas to answer them. They were questions that took a lot of thought -- a lot of playing around with who these people were, what mattered to them, what drove them.

And then, of course, I had to ask who was Ally now, so many years later?

There were, as I said, lots of ideas involved in discovering the answers to that.

And that's where another bit of my own background came in. One of my best friends, growing up, has become a talent fiber artist. Melody Crust has won awards, written books, taught scads of workshops. Her career informed Ally's. I read Melody's book, A Fine Line, trying to see it through Ally's eyes.

I didn't know a lot about fiber art. I'm not an intensely visual person. But one of the joys of writing, as Silhouette author Karen Sandler said the other day at the Harlequin Open House, is learning about so many different things in the course of research.

Melody's vocation was my starting point. Ally's career and Ally's personality grew from there.

That's what most ideas are -- they are beginnings. They are catalysts. But alone they are no more than sparks. They need to ignite interest, research, discussion, and ultimately they need to create more questions and more answers until the story begins to develop and, eventually, takes on a life of its own.

And when it does, the characters come up with their own ideas -- and it's all I can do to keep up with them!

Anne McAllister
www.annemcallister.com/

Tracy Wolffe | Traditions

When I sat down to write A Christmas Wedding, I had a lot of different things in my head that I wanted to get across to my readers. I wanted to create a super-strong female character who wasn’t afraid to take on the establishment—and win. I wanted to tell a story about horseracing and the world of thoroughbreds. And I wanted to tell a story of love—with all its ups and downs, a story that showed how difficult marriage can be sometimes, but also how worthwhile.

But as I was writing the book, something else worked its way into the pages, and it became not just the story of a relationship between a man and a woman, but the story of that woman’s—of Desiree’s—relationship with her father and husband and children and the very male-dominated world in which she lives. It became a story of old and new, of borrowed and blue. Of hanging on to old traditions and making new ones—something I think is particularly apropos to the holiday season beginning to unfold around us.

For Desiree, keeping old traditions and making new ones was often a matter of necessity—playing hardball in a man’s world often requires a blending of following the herd and blazing new trails. For me, unlike Desiree, keeping traditions—or making new ones—has been largely about choice.

One holiday tradition I love is baking a huge number of cookies with my mother—and my children—on the days leading up to Christmas. Of assembling trays and passing the cookies out to all my neighbors, who have come to depend on the tradition as much as we have. Two years ago we were late passing out the cookies, and when I finally made it around my neighbors all breathed a sigh of relief and told me they’d been afraid I had forgotten them that year.

I also love filling my house to the brim for the holidays—with friends and family and acquaintances who don’t have anyone else to celebrate with. It’s a tradition I learned from my mother, who learned it from her mother and nothing thrills me more than putting on a huge buffet at Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year’s and feeding thirty or forty or more people. At the same time, I love that Christmas Eve is all about my immediate family—my husband and children and mother and I go to Mass and then out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate the holiday (and a meal that I don’t have to cook ;)

And one last tradition I can’t do without—one that I started a number of years ago and hope to pass on to my children. The tradition of service, of giving to those who don’t have the family and friends and support system that I have. At least once every couple of months—not just during the holidays but throughout the year—I make a point of taking a bunch of food to my county’s food closet and of volunteering to cook at one of the many soup kitchens in town. So far, it is only my oldest son who comes with me, as the others are too young, but as they grow I hope to make it a family affair—one that helps my children understand that not all kids have Wiis and Nintendo DS’s and that not having Playstation 3 because their Playstation 2 works just fine does not make them underprivileged.

So, what traditions do you observe every year? Have they been passed down from your parents and grandparents or have you started them as you became an adult?

Tracy Wolff
tracywolff.com

Pamela Ford | How would you change your wedding?

I went to a wedding last weekend. The ceremony was lovely, the bride and groom, Dan and Lindsay, a striking couple very much in love, the reception elegant, the atmosphere festive. But, I got to wondering…if people could go back and do their wedding all over again, what would they change? Soon, I was asking the question out loud. Leaving out the jokester who replied, “I’d change the groom,” here are some of the answers I got.

Katie, who married three years ago, wishes she had videotaped the ceremony so she could see everything she missed as she waited in the back room and as she walked down the aisle, too filled with excitement to notice much.

Don, who married 55 years ago at the Carmel Mission in California, would go back and hire a professional photographer because the friend who took their pictures set the camera on the wrong speed and every picture was blurred.

Teri, married 17 years ago, wishes she’d bought a wedding dress off the rack instead of having hers made. The seamstress kept insisting the dress was almost done and when she finally let Teri try it on the day before the wedding, not only was it too big, but half the lace and the collar were missing. The next morning, the seamstress arrived with the dress unpressed, partially-fixed, and the hem falling out.

Which brings me to you. What would you change about your wedding if you could go back and do it all over again?

Weddings are at the center of my new book, THE WEDDING HEIRESS, which got 4-1/2 stars from Romantic Times BOOKreviews. Delaney is an upwardly mobile career woman who doesn't believe in happily ever after – even when she has to return to her hometown to plan weddings in order to get her inheritance. Going home brings her back in contact with Mike Connery, the girlhood crush she's never gotten over. Good thing Mike doesn't believe in happily ever after either. Or does he?

I’m celebrating the release with two contests – the first runs from October 15-31; the second from November 1-15. Stop by my website www.pamelaford.net/, read the excerpt and enter to win.

Now, don’t forget to take a moment and tell us about how you would change your own wedding!

Pamela Ford

www.pamelaford.net/

pamelaford@pamelaford.net

Tessa Radley | O for a beaker full of the warm South…

I wasn't thinking about Keats' Ode to a Nightingale when I first started to write MISTAKEN MISTRESS. But when I conceive of a story one of the first things that I have to decide is where to set the book. For me, the atmosphere of the setting will permeate the entire story.

The Saxon Brides is about a family who run a vineyard, Saxon's Folly. So I knew I wanted the homestead to have a sense of family history and go back at least a couple of generations. I had a great deal of fun researching the locations where I could possibly set the books.

My first thought was of the Napa Valley. I'd read about it, but because I like to be able to visualize the place where the story takes place my big stumbling block was I'd never visited the Napa and I wasn't going to have time to go stake it out.

Next, I considered the Barossa in Australia. It's awesome. Named for the Battle

of Barrosa which Colonel Light, Surveyor General of the day, fought in during 1811, it boasts some of the oldest existing Shiraz vines in the world.

And then of course there is the Loire Valley with its fertile valley and rich history…those chateaux, the Frenchmen, the romance...it nearly won.

I finally settled on the Hawkes Bay region in New Zealand simply because it is one of my favorite places on earth. I adore the art deco jewel that is the town of Napier. And it's a place I've taken to visiting fairly frequently so when I close my eyes I can visualize the hills, the sea, the sky and the vines.

Against this background I could see Alyssa, the heroine of MISTAKEN MISTRESS, striding up to the Victorian homestead and gate-crashing a masked ball at the winery. I could imagine the reaction of Joshua, my hero, to this woman who wasn't leaving until she'd gotten what she came for.

Do you have a favorite place? One that you escape to when you lean back and close your eyes? And if you could choose to visit a region anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Once you've posted your comment you might want to check out my October contest being run by Fresh Fiction for a chance to win a $15 Barnes & Noble Gift card and my BILLIONAIRE HEIRS trilogy. Click to read an excerpt from my October book MISTAKEN MISTRESS.

Tessa Radley

Stephanie Bond | Writing a Letter to Yourself

In this day of faxes, e-mails, instant messages, and texting, what a treat it is to receive an old-fashioned hand-written letter! The pleasure of unfolding crisp pages of stationery..ahhh. But what if you received a letter one day, and it was a letter you'd written to yourself ten years ago!

My husband had a high school instructor who asked his students to write a letter to themselves about the things they wanted out of life and where they thought they would be in ten years. Then he sealed the envelopes and ten years later, sent them to the last address of record the school had for each student. My husband's parents forwarded his letter on to him and I remembered how amazed and thrilled he was when he realized what he was reading. It was like a time capsule into his teenage mind, and he must have reread it a dozen times. It was a time of self-evaluation for my husband, comparing where he thought he'd be with where he was. As it turned out, my husband's achievements had surpassed what he'd thought himself capable of
only ten years earlier, and he said that revelation alone reinforced the idea of never underestimating what he could do.

I loved the idea of writing a letter to yourself, and used it as the premise for my Harlequin Blaze Sex for Beginners trilogy: The women at an all-girls college who took Dr. Michelle Alexander's Sexual Psyche class (fondly dubbed "Sex for Beginners" by students) were given the optional assignment of writing a letter of their sexual fantasies and sealing them, with the promise that the letters would be mailed to them in 10 years. Now 10 years later, the women are at pivotal points in their lives. When they each receive their fantasies letter, it takes them on a sensual path they never imagined!

The idea is that the women were 22 when they recorded their fantasies. When they receive their letter, they are in their early 30's and at a sexual peak-it's the perfect time to relive the things about sex they were curious about, what things turned them on, and what they were hoping for in a partner. Their letters help them reevaluate where they are in their lives in general-have they settled? And if so, can they redirect their destiny?

Do you remember what you were doing and thinking ten years ago? How much do you think you'll change in the next ten years? Writing a letter to yourself is an enlightening exercise for taking stock of your relationships, achievements, and hopes, and would be a great project for family or best friends, book club members, school mates, etc. (And hey, if you want to
record your sexual fantasies, no one's stopping you!) Have fun with it-happy writing.and reading!

About the author: Stephanie Bond is the author of over 40 humorous romance and mystery novels, including the BODY MOVERS sexy mystery series and the Harlequin Blaze Sex for Beginners trilogy: WATCH AND LEARN (Oct 2008), IN A BIND (Nov 2008), and NO PEEKING. (December 2008). Learn more about Stephanie and her books at www.stephaniebond.com/.

Stephanie Bond

Jennifer Lewis | What’s your fantasy destination?

Inventing your own country is a lot of fun. If you like hunky Mediterranean men, you can make sure it’s densely populated with them. Naturally all your favorite foods feature prominently in local cuisine. And if you’d like to take a sensuous mental dip in the warm waters lapping against the crystal sands of your imaginary locale—who’s to stop you?

I had all this fun and more in creating the nation of Caspia for my new book Prince of Midtown. It’s the third book in Silhouette Desire’s “Park Avenue Scandals.” The editors at Silhouette chose a different Desire author for each book in the series and gave us the plot and characters to make our own. In my case they also gave me a country.

I was handed the name Caspia and informed that it was in Europe and “like Venice.” It came complete with handsome prince Sebastian Stone, a spirited playboy in desperate need of reform by the love of a good woman: namely his down-to-earth American assistant Tessa Banks.

I’m the kind of writer who likes to know ALL the details, even if they don’t actually end up in the book, so first I had to figure out where Caspia was. I remembered there’s a Caspian Sea, but when I rushed to the globe I realized that—bordered by countries including Iran and Kazakhstan—it wasn’t technically in Europe. While visions of Kazakh horsemen galloped readily across my brain, I decided that wasn’t exactly what the Silhouette editors had in mind. After a lot of research and intense daydreaming, I imagined the horsemen had galloped through Southern Europe, conquered some picturesque countryside between Italy and Greece, and named it Caspia.

You’d never know all that from reading the book, but I needed to know ::grin::

I love warm weather, so naturally Caspia enjoys a balmy Mediterranean climate. Since I enjoy dramatic landscapes, I brushed in some steep mountains skirted with lush wildflower meadows. From the top of the crags you can look down over the red-tiled roofs of the town all the way to the glittering ocean. As Sebastian was proud of bringing prominent designer stores to his homeland, I made sure the harbor was ringed with upscale boutiques, accessible by a stroll along the smooth stone quays, or by a romantic gondola trip. ::sigh::

Nearly every review I’ve had has mentioned how much the reader enjoyed visiting Caspia in the book, so I guess my fantasy works for other people too. What would your personal paradise look like?

Jen
http://www.jenlewis.com/

Leanne Banks | Great Days

Thank you Fresh Fiction for allowing me to visit today. I’m having a great day because my book, BILLIONAIRE’S MARRIAGE BARGAIN, which features a hot, powerful, charming and RICH man is on the stands! Alex Megalos has the ability to charm women into his bed with no difficulty at all. When my shero, Mallory James tells him she’s not interested in him, he decides to prove her wrong. There is a lot of heat and a couple of scandals to keep things interesting. If you get a chance to read BILLIONAIRE’S MARRIAGE BARGAIN, please write me. I’d love to hear from you.

I’m having a great day, but that got me to thinking about bad days... or odd days.

...cuz you had an odd day...

I changed the lyrics to that hit song American Idol played over and over again because I believe there are degrees to bad. Bad is a piano falling on you, incurable diseases, a plane flying into your condo, bombs going off in your town ...

You get the picture. I feel like a real whiner if I say I’ve had a bad day when I think about how tough a lot of other people have it. So, again I have different ways of expressing an “odd day” using words like sucks or crappy or my favorite “I’m not having a sparkling day.” Could be the weather, could be the dog gets out of the yard, could be a fender bender, could be I’m the recipient of a snark attack from a pretend friend... A day that doesn’t sparkle usually has at least three sucky things associated with it.

How to put some sparkle back in your day:

1. Wear your favorite bright color. Remember you’re trying to ward off the blackness.
   
2. Play beach music especially in your car. Crank up the volume, roll down your windows (if it’s cold, turn up the heat).
   
3. Call a friend and ask them to give you a phone hug.
   
4. Splurge... at the Dollar Store. It’s so fun! And no guilt! You can buy 15 items and only spend $15.00.
   
5. Do something small for someone else. Bake brownies, take flowers, send a card of encouragement or thanks. Sometimes it helps to think about someone else because thinking about yourself too much can be depressing. And it makes you feel like less of a POS person.
   
6. Watch a funny sitcom or movie. I have an aversion to crying. For the most part, I don’t find it cathartic. I much prefer to laugh.
   
7. Make a list of things for which you are thankful. Yeah, I know it sounds hokey, but it helps.
   
8. Get a cosmetic counter makeover. But tell them you don’t want the natural look. Tell them you want the movie star look. If you like what they do, you can use some of their tips. If you don’t, you can use it for Halloween.:)
   
9. Love this one from Cherry Adair. I had an upsetting day a couple months ago and she said “Did you buy yourself a gift?” That was wonderful, so I must pass it on. Buy yourself a gift.
   
10. Eat chocolate!

I’m celebrating the release of BILLIONAIRE’S MARRIAGE BARGAIN with lots of cool stuff:

A chat party Wednesday, August 27 at 9pm ET at where I will hold a drawing every 15 minutes!

TWO new polls on my message board and I will hold a drawing from those polls.

A bonus contest. Name the car billionaire Alex Megalos drives in BILLIONAIRE’S MARRIAGE BARGAIN and enter the drawing for a prize pack for what every billionaire’s girlfriend should have: a key ring to his car, a sterling silver anklet with a crystal studded star, and sunglasses by designer Betsey Johnson!

In the meantime, since I’ve gone drawing crazy, I’d like to do one here with the good folks at Fresh Fiction. I will send a prize to one of the people who enter my ONE Day Blog Contest. How about that?

Leanne
http://www.leannebanks.com/
BILLIONAIRE’S MARRIAGE BARGAIN Available NOW!

Allie Pleiter | I think I have a writing disability.

Well, perhaps disability is too strong a word, except that I do truly feel “differently-abled.” I feel somewhat hampered by it, like I stand out more than I already do by being six feet tall. And at gatherings of writers and readers, like here at the Romance Writers of America conference in San Francisco this week, I feel my “freak flag” flying especially high.

I’m an extrovert. A raging, card-carrying, put-my-photo –in-the-dictionary-next-to-the-definition extrovert. And introverts—not extroverts--populate the writers world by a huge majority.

Why is that a disability? Well, it sets me at a disadvantage. All you thoughtful introverts are watching, observing cunning truths of human behavior, carefully selecting your contribution to the dialogue, and I’m…well I’m yakking away like that crazy uncle everyone tolerates at Thanksgiving. I’m on my ninth story, mistaking all your quiet for consent when I’m now rather sure you all were saying to yourselves (or maybe even each other) can’t someone rein this gal in? Take her volume and drama down a notch? I’m trying—perhaps too desperately—to pull you into conversations when you all would probably rather have a root canal than make small talk with the likes of me.

Really, I’m starting to think I’m coming off rather badly at these things. I’m missing a gene. Most of the writers I truly admire don’t have this psychotic impulse to go meet new people and make them talk to me. Perhaps I need to start counting to ten before I engage another person in conversation. Or find a support group. Perhaps I am the exception that proves the rule. Perhaps I serve some useful social function, saving introverts from having to create conversation—or…gulp…giving them an oddity they can all talk about like the bad boss that unites an office by giving all the workers a common enemy.

Pipe up! Chime in! The internet is the water cooler of introverts! Tell me what you think of the oddities of extroverted writers…or extraverted readers…or tell me to please hush up and go home….

Allie Pleiter
www.alliepleiter.com/

Megan Kelly | Pursuing the Dream

Thanks to Fresh Fiction for having me today. I’ve had a terrific weekend with the release and signing of my second Harlequin American Romance, The Fake Fiancée. One question I’ve been asked at book signings that tickles me is, “Why did you keep writing?” (I hope the person asks this before they’ve read my work!) If you aren’t familiar with my story, I started writing when my kids were toddlers and didn’t get published until after they became teens. During this time, I finaled in several “prominent” Romance Writers of America chapter contests, had requests from editors to whom I pitched my work at conferences, and even landed on the senior editor’s desk. All to no avail. I guess it could be called a “lucky” thirteenth year when I sold.

So why did I stick with it? Stubbornness? Blind faith that someday I would sell? Well, maybe the first explanation. Because for six years, I’d lost the belief I’d ever see my work in print. Those were dark times. It wasn’t until one day when I had “people” in my head again that I realized the characters who usually inhabit my waking hours had been AWOL. Even my family commented how much happier I seemed. I made up stories for people I’d see on the street (bank robber, runaway bride, demon in disguise…) and realized I hadn’t been doing that either. My everyday creativity was back from its hiatus.

To paraphrase author Barbara Scott (Cast a Pale Shadow), when you have a block you just have to bulldoze through the wall, which in my case meant: keep writing. That’s what I had done. Without believing I’d sell, I wrote. Without characters or imagination, I wrote. (Gee, I wonder why nothing sold during that period!) Without creativity in my everyday life, I wrote. Eventually, I broke through the wall--which made the sell of my first book, Marrying the Boss, to Harlequin all the sweeter.

I doubt my story is unique. Think Man of La Mancha or The Little Engine That Could. I often say my most valuable writing advice came from Winston Churchill: “Never, never, never give up.” Please visit me at http://www.megankellybooks.com/or at the Harlequin American Romance authors blog, www.harauthors.blogspot.com/. And if you have something you really want, really NEED in your life, keep striving for it!

Megan Kelly

Tara Taylor Quinn | Black and White; Right or Wrong; You Tell Me

My favorite colors are…non-colors. And that’s so me. So TTQ. I’ve never been a joiner. Hard to believe from someone who was president of a large writer’s organization, huh? You’d think a person had to be part of the ‘in’ crowd to get to such an elevated position. Except that the position wasn’t elevated, and when I entered the board room for my first term of service, I didn’t know anyone well. And only two people by name. I hadn’t run for office, and had no idea how the current president had ever heard of me or why she thought I was the one she wanted to appoint to a vacated position. After eight years of service, I came away knowing a lot more names, but only a handful of people personally.

It’s not that I like being alone. Or that I don’t want friends. I’ve just always been alone. I grew up with my nose in a book. Literally. By the time I was fourteen, I was reading a Harlequin romance a day. Throughout high school I attended class, did my homework, worked in the nursery at a bowling alley and then at Wendy’s, and I lived for those moments every day that I got to escape into my books – even when those moments had to come in the wee hours of the morning. I graduated from high school never having attended a single party or having gone on a single date.

And this is pertinent today only because I’ve come face to face with myself – with a few major differences. This mirrored image is a loner, too, no close friends, doesn't know how to socialize, spent high school reading on the computer instead of books, but still reading. The differences? The person I’m facing is only twenty-three years old. And male. His name’s Ryan Mercedes. He’s Sara’s Son. Ryan isn’t like any other twenty-three year old guy I’ve ever heard of. When he presented himself almost two years ago, the twenty-one year old son of a woman who’d been raped at sixteen, I told him to go away. He came back. He told me that his mother had to meet her rapist. I told him he was nuts. And sent him away. He didn’t go. He just stood there. Silently for a long time. I wondered how he could wait so long without getting tired. Eventually, of course, he won. Because that’s Ryan. He doesn’t believe in losing. He doesn’t believe in giving up. He’s hard headed and stubborn and when he’s sure he’s right, he’s sure he’s right. Period.

And now we’re back to my favorite colors. They’re black and white. I’m wearing them today. I wear them many times a week. I have many many renditions of black with white shoes, white with black shoes, white shoes, black shoes, blank and white shoes – and purses – and jewelry to match. I have at least seven white button up blouses, and more black and white other shirts than I can count. I have at least five black cardigan sweaters. Three-quarter length sleeves, long sleeves, long body, short body, heavy, light. I have a black sweater for every occasion. (I get cold a lot!) And Ryan, darn him, showed me that I AM the clothes I wear. Or he is.

A long time ago someone told me once that ‘Life is not lived in black and white. It’s lived in shades of grey.’ This was not someone I knew well. It was not someone I particularly liked. And I liked the message even less. I want things to be clearly delineated. I want there to be right and wrong. One right and wrong meant for every occasion. I want to know that there is a right, best choice that fits every situation (just like my shoes and shirts are made for my black and white days) and I want to do my best to make that best/right choice every single time. Ryan again. That’s him. Exactly.

Only difference is, Ryan’s more than twenty years younger than I am. He has the ignorance of youth to bolster him. I, on the other hand, have enough years of experience to know that that person I didn’t like all those years ago, that message about life being shades of grey, was pretty accurate. Life isn’t black and white. For every situation there are multiple sides, multiple layers, multiple people with multiple needs that will be effected, and multiple choices that serve different goods. There isn’t one right answer waiting to be found. Or one best choice, either. Rather, life is a learning experience, and a choice that might seem ‘wrong’, if it teaches us a lot, could then be deemed the best choice we could have made. If we grow and progress and get a tiny bit closer to ultimate joy and happiness with that learning, to being able to bring it to others, then how can we pronounce the choice wrong?

I posed the question to Ryan. He argued with me. Adamantly. He stood again. For a long time. Staring at me from the back of my mind. But I’d learned. I knew him. I stood, too. For longer. It was an eternal stalemate. Except, somehow, while Ryan and I stood stubbornly, refusing to budge, we ended up creating Trusting Ryan. (He came up with the title, not me.) See, Ryan orchestrated a meeting between his rapist father and his biological mother in my July ’07 Superromance Sara’s Son. They went behind his back and fell in love. He couldn’t accept that. At all. And he was blaming me.

Readers, on the other hand, thought I did a good job with Sara and Mark, but they were not happy that I’d left Ryan hanging around. They couldn’t leave him behind. They wrote clamoring for more. Ryan, with an unsmiling nod, took this in stride. While he challenged me to give him his own book – his own forum to have his say. Let’s just say, the end result wasn’t quite what he’d been expecting. At all. And now, in just a few short days, you’ll all have a chance to see what happened when he and I met head to head. Trusting Ryan, the sequel to Sara’s Son, a 2008 RITA finalist, is a July ’08 Superromance.

Some say I made wrong choices when I gave my high school years to books. I missed a lot. I never learned to socialize. Or make friends. (My best friend was a girl I met when I was five who lived two states away!) I didn’t go to a single dance. I never went to prom. Or even to a movie with a guy. Bad, bad, bad, wrong choices. Yet…all of those years of reading romances instilled in me a need to spend my life with Harlequin books. I was driven to give to the world that which had been given to me. To that end, while others scoffed, or humored me, regarding my ambition to write for Harlequin, I put pen to paper. And then fingers to keyboards. For years. Over and over. I wrote many stories. Opened many rejections. And, like Ryan, I was sure about what I was sure about, I didn’t quit believing. I have no idea why. Ryan could probably tell you. I just knew that I was a writer and I was going to write for Harlequin and I had to write. And now here I am, fifty published novels later, giving you my story. Oh, wait, I mean Ryan’s story. (He made me say that.) Did I mention, Ryan’s a cop?

Anyway, we hope you’ll pick up a copy of our joint effort. And that, if you do, you’ll write and let us know what you think at staff@tarataylorquinn.com. And right here, right now, tell us…black and white? Or shades of gray? What do you think?



Tara Taylor Quinn

Cindi Myers | Research and The Writer

I started my career writing historical romances for Berkley and Kensington, under the name Cynthia Sterling. I’m a history buff and I loved researching the backgrounds for my books — figuring out what kind of clothes everyone wore, what they ate and what they did for entertainment. Those kinds of details are why I love reading historical novels as well.

Then I switched to writing contemporary romance. I thought this would require much less research, so I was shocked to find out I was wrong. Yes, I seldom have to look up specific historical detail, but if I send my hero and heroine to a restaurant for a meal, I end up browsing menus of real restaurants for ideas. Many of my books are set in real cities. For example, my current release, A Soldier Comes Home, from Harlequin Superromance, is set in Colorado Springs. Many times while writing that book, I pulled out a map to find the name of a street or location of a landmark so that I could describe it accurately.

While you can get away with fudging minor details in a historical novel, it’s much tougher to fake it in a contemporary book. Too many people will spot your mistake. You have to get name brands right, regional differences correct, and describe automobiles and clothes accurately.

A Soldier Comes Home is about Captain Ray Hughes, who receives a Dear John letter while he's serving in Iraq. He comes home to an empty house and a three-year old son he scarcely knows and has to pick up the pieces of his life again. He meets Chrissie Evans, the young widow next door whose husband was killed very early in the war. They're attracted to each other, but each has to get past their own private pain in order to love again.

Researching this book started when I was first forming the idea. The Rocky Mountain News ran a series or articles about our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. I clipped those articles and saved them and that became the beginning of my research. One of the articles was about soldiers who received Dear John letters. I thought their stories were heartbreaking and I really wanted to make things better for them. I couldn’t do that in real life, but I could give one soldier — Captain Hughes — a happy ending in the pages of my book. Other articles in the series were added to the file as more research into the lives of soldiers and their families here at home.

The Internet has really revolutionized research. I spent time on blogs written by soldiers and their families. I also emailed former and current military personnel. I visited the Fort Carson website, which had links to all kinds of great resources for soldiers and their families. I pulled up pictures of Colorado Springs to inspire me as I wrote.

I thinking getting these details right adds so much to a story.

My question for you is — do you notice mistakes more in historical or contemporary novels?

Cindi Myers

Kate Walker | Swamped by Spaniards

As I write for Harlequin Presents, I often have to decide on the nationality of my hero. And part of the fantasy of Mills & Boon Modern/Harlequin Presents is the fact that the heroes are more often than not Mediterranean men – Italians, Spaniards, and those so very-very popular Greek Tycoons. The Greek Tycoon books just fly off the shelf but I can’t always be writing a Greek hero – that would bore me, and my readers – and besides sometimes it seems that everyone else in the world is writing Greek hero story.

There are characteristics that fit some nationalities, and some that are more suited to others, and so I need to take these into consideration when I’m choosing my hero. And that’s what I’m doing at the moment – starting work on a brand new story. My latest titles (my 54th) has just been accepted and my editor is ringing me this week to discuss future plans so I have to have some ideas to talk over with her. So right now I have just the seed of an idea.

My hero won’t be a Greek though. I wrote a Greek hero the books before last and he was such a strong character that I’ll need to wait for a while before I can think of writing another of his fellow countrymen. And the new man won’t be Spanish either. I love writing Spanish heroes, they have a power and an passion that creates a wonderful hero, one who strikes sparks of his heroine and turns the book into an emotional tango – all fire and burn. But at the moment I have rather too many Spaniards to deal with – as the title of this blog says, I’m swamped by them.

My newest book is out in June. Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife is the title – so that gives away the hero’s nationality. And the book I just had accepted (Cordero’s Forced Bride) also has a sexy sensual Spaniard as its hero. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, I have Spaniard from the past coming back to join me all over again. Back in 2004, I wrote The Alcolar Family Trilogy – and this year those three books are being reprinted in a 3 in 1 By Request edition in July in the UK and an ebooks ‘Bundle’ on eHarlequin next month. Even the special short story I have in the Mills & Boon Centenary Celebration Collection has a Spanish hero!

One of the reasons why the Mediterranean hero is so popular is that he comes from a warm country - in the past they would have seemed much more 'exotic' before easy and frequent travel abroad brought Spain, Italy, Greece etc into our holiday plans so frequently. Warm countries, so the belief is , create hot-blooded men, men who are passionate, sensual, more 'alpha', less inhibited, less 'stiff upper lip' than the average British male. They are also it is believed more likely to woo the heroine, to indulge in romantic gestures. I don't necessarily think this is true - I think it maligns the poor British male (I married one after all!) - but it is in a way a sort of shorthand for the exotic passionate stranger who sweeps the heroine off her feet.

So a romance novelist isn't trying to create an absolutely perfectly realistic Spaniard or Greek or whatever. But neither do you want to create someone who is so much a stereotype that he appears almost a caricatures.

The thing I always remember above and beyond anything else is that my hero, whatever nationality he is, is a man. This sounds so obvious but it's important that he's a man first and then his nationality affects him second. There are certain characteristics that fit more strongly with certain nationalities than others - think of Italy and you think of style, sophistication, families. But Sicily has more of an edge, a sense of danger - you think of vendettas etc. Greece always bring with it the idea, for me, of that Greek word 'hubris' - that overweening excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance. And the many Greek islands all have a character of their own, some busy, sophisticated, some rural, even wild in atmosphere. And that can give the hero a raw edge, a primitive streak that underlies his sophisticated veneer.

So what hero will I choose this time round? Most times it’s the plot that helps me choose in ways I’ve described already. But this time it was a chance ‘serendipity’ moment when I came on an article in a magazine. It showed a wonderful, beautiful house set on a tiny private island on the Italian lakes . It was actually a small hotel but it would work perfectly for my hero’s private house. And I haven’t written an Italian hero in a while.

Now all I need is a name – and a heroine for him – and a plot . . .

Kate Walker

Thanks so much for inviting me over to blog on Fresh Fiction! I'll keep coming back to see what's new here. If you want to know more about me and my books, please visit my web site at http://www.kate-walker.com/ or my blog - http://kate-walker.blogspot.com/

Natalie Anderson | Being Fearless

Everyone has dreams and ambitions, don't they? At least, I hope everyone does because dreams can be one of the most fun things in life - there is nothing like sitting somewhere (anywhere) and indulging in a daydream. You can dream about anything - let your mind wander and suddenly you can do whatever, be whatever... then, when you've come up with a really good one - you can try to write it down... Cue the start of the author's nightmare!!!

Seriously though, if we didn't dream, we couldn't achieve things right? And often to make your dreams become reality you have to be brave.

It can be terrifying to throw in the good, stable job to chase the career in the high risk area you dream of, it can be damn scary letting your mum read the love scenes in the novel you've written, and I figure it'd be frightening when you've saved every cent you can so you can go jump out a plane at however many thousand feet - just because you've always wanted too ... what were you thinking??!!!!!

I think sometimes, to be able to realise our dreams, to be fearless, we need the help and support of someone else. This is a theme I love to explore in my writing. It doesn't necessarily have to be a lover of course - it might be a coach, mentor, mother or father - just that person who doesn't scoff but who says 'you can do it' - who picks you up when you're down and believes in you. She or he is the bridge to get you through the moments when you've lost belief in yourself (and who might give you that much needed boot in the backside!).

I've two books out soon - PLEASURED BY THE SECRET MILLIONAIRE (in the UK in June) and HIS MISTRESS BY ARRANGEMENT (in the US in June) and the heroine in each of these books is working on achieving her dreams - one secretly and one not so secretly. They're very different characters with very different goals but both have those dreams turned upside down when they meet that certain guy... Of course these women are completely capable of being happy and whole alone, but when they meet that hero they're destined for, then they're spurred on and supported and so go on to become the best they can be. And in turn, the hero develops and achieves too. It's that 'sum of the whole being greater than its parts thing' - Oh yes - I'm a hopeless romantic - and I make no apology about it.

My husband once said to me (regarding me being able to revise a book in the week I'd just given birth to premmie twins) that 'nothing is impossible'.
He was right.

What about you - is there someone in your life with whom you share your dreams and ambitions? Do you think having the support of someone like that enables you to do more than you thought you could? Or do you keep those dreams to yourself and let no one in on them?

Whichever is the case, I hope you soon turn them into reality!!!

Happy dreaming,
~Natalie

www.natalie-anderson.com/
www.natalie-anderson.blogspot.com/

Michelle Styles | Confessing My Sin

Before I decided to take my writing seriously, I was many authors’ worst nightmare. I was the person who always said – some day I want to write a novel. One day when I have time, I want to be an author. You name the eye rolling phrase about wanting to be an author, or desiring to write and I said it. I said it but I did nothing about actually achieiving the goal. People would ask me jokingly if I had finished that novel yet.I won’t bother to rehearse my excuses, just know that they were good and that I never finished a manuscript. I would start and then, something would happen. It never seemed as good on paper as in my imagination. Or life would get in the way.

I won’t bother to rehearse my excuses, just know that they were good and that I never finished a manuscript. I would start and then, something would happen. It never seemed as good on paper as in my imagination. Or life would get in the way.

What changed my attitude? In short, I became ill with gall stones and thought now or never. I became determined to achieve my goal. Nobody else could achieve that goal for me. I had to do it and I was arrogant to believe that I could tell stories.

It was not easy. My family is busy and there are always reasons why I should not be writing. I started getting up an hour early each morning and writing. It became my time for me. I also decided that I would only work on one story at time and I would see it through to the end. One of my problems had been that of other ideas calling. I also decided that I would submit it once I had finished the book. I refused to accept excuses, and protected my time. Basically, I developed discipline and a discipline that worked for me.

When I finished, sent my manuscript out and received my first rejection, I did not quit. Not quitting is important. I became dedicated to achieving my goal. I started trying to make my writing better. I learnt to revise. I kept writing and more importantly kept finishing the manuscripts and sending them out. Submitting can become addictive. There is nothing quite like sending a manuscript out into the world, even now. My stomach always lurches with a combination of sick fear and excitement. Will my editor love my characters? Did I do my characters’ story justice? Will it be a great read?

Finally, I listened to my heart. This took about seven manuscripts. I started writing historical romance. I had tried contemporary romance to begin with, but my real love was history. I had the burning desire to write historical romance. It was another maybe some day goal, until a writing friend said – write what you want to write. Which line do you think you could write 40 books for? What are your ultimate dream stories? So I did some soul searching and decided to make my dream of writing historical romance a reality. I refused to listen to those wiser heads who said that no one would ever publish a Roman set novel, particularly not from an unpublished writer. I was going to make it work. And I knew that desire would not wane.

Eventually in the beginning of June 2005, I received the Call from Harlequin Mills & Boon. And I have just turned in the revisions to my 10th novel set in the Regency period. My books have appeared all around the world and in at least 8 different languages. In other words, my idle boasts of years gone by have become a reality. And it did not come from any place but within me. It took the four D’s and the one P. – Determination, discipline, dedication, desire and perseverance. And I firmly believe the 4 D’s and 1 P are what is needed for any want to be author (insert your own dream here) to succeed. It is my secret of success. Hopefully it will inspire someone else to finish that novel and try. It is the desire to write stories that shows you have talent. What you do with that talent is up to you...

Michelle Styles
http://www.michellestyles.co.uk/
http://www.michellestyles.blogspot.com/

Isabel Sharpe | My Two Hats

During a recent newspaper interview, the reporter made an observation that completely surprised me: “Your romance books are about finding men while your women’s fiction novels are about getting away from them.” Huh? I started to write women’s fiction because I had stories to tell that didn’t fit the romance mold, but I’d never thought about it in that light.

Romance novels portray a beautiful fantasy—the forever joining of two souls meant to be together. Since I’m a divorcée it’s pretty obvious that fantasy didn’t work out for me. (And given my bad date stories it might never. Tip for men—during that first-impression conversation, leave out mentioning throwing up your dinner, ripping your underwear with too-long toenails or seeing your 85-year-old father’s naked buttocks.)

That said, I don’t consider my women’s fiction to be a celebration of ditching men, but a celebration of women taking charge of their lives, of stepping off the martyr train and striking out for a destination of their choosing. I could have written about women quitting bad jobs or leaving dull towns but relationships are more important to women and involve more of their identities, thereby giving me the chance to tell a deeper story.

My Harlequin Blaze, INDULGE ME (out this month), is a romantic romp in which my heroine Darcy Wolf pursues wild times and total freedom but finds Tyler Houston instead. July brings my next women’s fiction book, AS GOOD AS IT GOT (Avon/HarperCollins), a dark comedy about three very different characters who meet at a coastal Maine retreat for “suddenly single” women. You can check out excerpts of INDULGE ME and my February 2007 women’s fiction book, WOMEN ON THE EDGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKTHROUGH at my website, http://www.isabelsharpe.com/. Happy reading!


Isabel

Gail Barrett | Advantage, Women

When the man sitting in the front row raised his hand, I was curious about what he would ask. There weren’t many men in the audience, mostly women who’d come into the bookstore to hear four local romance authors discuss their craft. And this fellow had arrived early. He’d parked himself belligerently in the front row, right in the middle, as if daring us to ignore him. And he’d been eyeing us ever since -- rubbing his jaw, biding his time -- like a predator waiting to strike.

And strike he did. Why did women read romance novels, he demanded. Was it because we were frustrated? Were we trying to escape reality? Was there something wrong with our (sex) lives?

I thought we did an admirable job of answering him. No one got excited. No one lost her temper. We took his questions seriously, answered rationally, compared reading novels to other forms of entertainment, including sports. We talked about fiction in general, romance novels in particular, told him why love stories touch our lives.

Was he convinced? Doubtful, although he stayed until the end and bought a book. Who knows if he actually read it, though. Maybe he did -- and maybe he loved it. Maybe he’s now devouring romance novels and has become our biggest fan.

And maybe he only read the sex scenes. But at least we tried. So the advantage this round goes to the women. Now if we could only win the game...

Gail Barrett

http://www.gailbarrett.com/



Coming next from Silhouette Romantic Suspense:

The Crusaders: Chasing legends, capturing hearts

HEART OF A THIEF - Book One of The Crusaders, May 2008

TO PROTECT A PRINCESS - Book Two, November 2008

LOVE IN 60 SECONDS (SRS CONTINUITY) - Spring 2009

Kathleen Long | The Gifts of Writing

I want to thank everyone here at Fresh Fiction for inviting me to blog today. I was sitting at my computer this morning trying to settle on an interesting topic for today’s blog. My new series? My future plans? My typical writing day?

Instead, I found myself thinking about the gift of writing—or should I say gifts, plural. Writing has brought so many layers of good to my life—new friends, new challenges, new skills—that describing those gifts would take all day.

Then, the best “gift” of my life announced she was awake for the day. That was the moment I realized a toddler’s chattering was the perfect place to begin—and focus—this blog.

Did writing bring about my two-year-old? No, but my writing career taught me to work hard and chase my dreams. In life, just as in writing, there aren’t any shortcuts. Our daughter came into our lives after a ten-year pursuit of parenthood, and I wouldn’t trade a single moment of the journey. After all, each step brought me to this wonderful moment filled with alphabet songs and questions and belly laughs.

My writing journey has been no different. Writing—like life—is about doing the legwork.

Writing is about believing your dream is worth chasing. It’s about dusting yourself off and trying again each time you face an obstacle in the road. Writing is about reading—how-to books, favorite authors, market news. Writing is about learning—pacing, plotting, story techniques. Writing is about writing—first drafts, second drafts, third drafts, and more. It’s about starting over time after time simply because you refuse to quit and because the need to write is part of who you are.

Writing is about setting the alarm to wake up two hours before your family to steal time in front of your computer. It’s about staying up far too late—or early—because the storyline in your head won’t take no for an answer. It’s about rolling over at 3am and thinking, wait a minute…what if my heroine said this instead? then racing downstairs to make notes or fire up the laptop.

Writing, for me, is its own reward.

Writing is about setting free the words and characters and places in my mind that come to me so clearly and purely I couldn’t ignore them even if I wanted to.

Writing is about creating worlds into which readers might escape for an hour or two or three.

The Body Hunters is my first trilogy—my first series—and I loved the process of creating the cast of characters and their stories. Developing the series provided me with the opportunity to form a longer-lasting, deeper connection to the characters in my mind. I hope the series will provide the same opportunity for connection—and escape—for readers.

Escape. That one powerful word sums up why I write.

At a particularly difficult point in my life, a book pulled me out of the fog of grief that had overtaken my every thought and movement. A book carried me away, helped me turn the corner toward becoming whole again. Since then, books have been my escape time and time again—be they books I’m writing or books I’m reading.

That particular book gave me the kick in the pants I needed not just to live again, but to write again. That book made me want to provide that same escape for others.

I sat back that day and decided to value my dream enough to chase it.

To every author out there—both published and as-yet unpublished—thank you for believing in yourself enough to chase your dream. Without you, I might still be stuck in my fog. Instead, I’m headed upstairs to help a two-year-old start her day. I can’t imagine a greater gift than that.

Please visit me at www.kathleenlong.com for the latest news and release info, and at www.thebodyhunters.com/ for the latest on The Body Hunters trilogy and just what inspired your favorite character or scene. Join me all this week over at the www.eharlequin.com/ Forums where an entire thread has been dedicated to discussing The Body Hunters. Most importantly, thank you for stopping by today, and thanks again to Fresh Fiction for inviting me to blog!

Michele Dunaway | Home Cooking

To celebrate the release of The Marriage Recipe, out this month from Harlequin American Romance, I’m celebrating a month of home cooking and made-from-scratch recipes. My heroine is a chef and the hero a lawyer (and also a single-engine pilot). Toss in falling in love with the boy-next-door and the girl who longs to return to the bright lights of the big city, you have a recipe for some craziness, kisses, and love.

Writing The Marriage Recipe was a lot of fun. One of the most important areas of character development is what the characters eat and drink. Seriously. If I’m writing a character who’s from New Orleans, I bet he or she has had crawfish. If not, what does that say about him or her? My characters located in St. Louis eat toasted ravioli and gooey butter cake; while in Morrisville, where my characters live, they would drink “pop,” not soda. Knowing regional food tastes and verbiage helps build a character in subtle ways. This is why I always set my books in places I’ve lived or visited. That way they come across as real. Setting is also another character—could you imagine Pretty Woman taking place in Chicago instead of LA?

What your character eats and drinks says a lot about them. Remember how Vivian (Julia Roberts) had no idea what fork to use at the restaurant? There’s a big difference in a heroine who does whiskey shots and one who sips wine. Same for men: the scotch tumbler says sophistication while the can of beer gives a more rugged, cowboy or every day guy you’d find at home impression. Characters who drink a lot are often frowned upon, while those who drink in moderation can be seen as social. And what about the heroine who has never had a sip of coffee and hates mocha?

Your characters can be suckers for burgers, or instead be vegetarians. Imagine the cattle rancher falling in love with the vegetarian. There’s a built in conflict right there. So don’t forget to pay attention to the food angle. It’s not just fun, but delicious. Or perhaps disgusting if you’d rather (I prefer the yum.) And remember, where else can a person eat whatever she wants and not gain a pound? Only in fiction...

For some of my favorite recipes, go to http://www.micheledunaway.blogspot.com/. For a review of The Marriage Recipe, check out Tonya’s Tidbits at. My next release is Out of Line, from Harlequin NASCAR, in June. My website is www.micheledunaway.com/.

Michele Dunaway

Shirley Jump | I Do…Again

When I wrote SWEETHEART LOST AND FOUND, the first in a six-book Wedding Planners series--a series about friends who are wedding planners, that I wrote with real-life author friends--I had no idea what great fun I’d have, or how many memories the series would open up.

For one, writing with friends is a blast. The other authors are all terrific women, and amazingly talented writers. Brainstorming was more like brain exploding--we all fed off each other and created some of our best work yet, IMHO. The ideas flew faster than our fingers could hit the keyboards. Then the best part was reading all the finished stories and seeing how our vision became real love stories.

But more than that, writing a series about wedding planners made me revisit my own wedding 18 years ago (next month, actually). All those memories of flowers and bridesmaids (oh, those ugly green dresses…sorry gals!), veils and gowns, came rushing back, filling me with a sense of romance and nostalgia. I forgot the stress of planning the wedding, the last few days of ‘oh my goodness, what am I thinking’ and the first few years of ‘oh my goodness, what was I thinking,’ LOL.

I remembered only the fun parts. The falling in love. The wonder of the proposal. And the magic of those two words. “I do.” They took me and my husband from a dream to a reality that now has two kids, three dogs and a cat, in a wonderful area of the country. I’d Do…all over again, given the chance. And I don’t think I’d change a single thing. Okay, maybe the bridesmaid’s dresses ;-)

Tell me--what is your favorite memory of a wedding, either your own or another? Or a wedding disaster? In the Dear Reader letter of SWEETHEART LOST AND FOUND are my two wedding disaster stories, both my own and my stepmom’s. A fire and a stumble ;-). Would you “I do”…again?

Shirley

www.shirleyjump.com/

Ann DeFee | Wanderlust

Wanderlust – once you succumb it’s like a chocolate addiction, tantalizing and almost impossible to kick. Growing up in a small south Texas town my childhood was a comfortable cocoon of sameness. I went from learning my ABC’s to the angst of puberty with an identical group of kids. But even while I was cruising the streets with my carpool buddy’s I knew I was destined see the world. I just didn’t know how far reaching that would be.

Now let’s fast forward to my life as a nomadic Air Force wife. At times the travel and moving was frenetic and sometimes it could even be exasperating, but it was always an adventure (all 23 moves). I had an opportunity to meet new people, to see new places, and to create my niche in places all over the world.

I skied in New England and Bavaria, hiked in the Pacific Northwest, explored Roman ruins, stuck my toe in the North Sea, the north Atlantic, mid-Atlantic, south Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, got up close and personal with a lobster trap and watched the America’s Cup race from the deck of a Coast Guard ship.

What a great life it was, especially for a writer. It provided me with wonderful settings, eccentric characters and a wealth of stories that find their way into my books. We lived in quite a few states of the Deep South so I set many of my books in that wonderfully rich tapestry of history and family culture. Not only do Southerners revere their “people” and eat rice, they gussy up the nutty relatives and revel in their eccentricities. And that’s what makes a story fun.

So if you love my kind of wild and wacky world, head to the stores and look for my March book – Goin’ Down to Georgia (Harlequin American Romance). It’s currently on the shelves.

But back to the DeFee wanderlust - it’s not over yet. When we moved to the Pacific Northwest we thought we’d found the place. But those darned kids of ours settled on the east coast (and they took my grandkids with them – what’s with that?) So naturally we decided it was time to permanently set our clocks on Eastern Standard Time. The cross country airplane pilgrimages were a killer!

The problem was we didn’t have a clue where we wanted to go. So short of throwing a dart at a map we armed ourselves with a list of “must haves” and made a 3 state (Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina), 8 community (Easton, MD, Columbia, MD, Fredericksburg, VA, Virginia Beach, VA, Chapel Hill, NC, Pinehurst, NC, Raleigh, NC and Williamsburg, VA), 50 house odyssey. Whew! I’ve seen so many houses my eyes are crossed – hardwood, carpet, tile, resale, new construction, small lot, acreage, yada, yada, yada.

It was overwhelming, exhausting and too confusing for words but we finally decided on Williamsburg. VA. It was love at first sight. So all we have to do (LOL) is sell our house, buy another and make a transcontinental move with a Golden Retriever, two cars and a spoiled cat. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Yeah, I know – I have a warped sense of humor, but I am a Monty Python fan.

Wish us luck – especially in dealing with this real estate market, and please visit my website (ann-defee.com) to read an excerpt of Goin’ Down to Georgia. Oh yeah, while you’re there check out my other titles.

Ann DeFee

Ann was a double Rita finalist in 2006 for her debut novel, A Texas State of Mind.

Stephanie Tyler | Writing Side of Writing

Thanks to Fresh Fiction for the invite to blog! It’s great to be here.

This month marks the publication of my fourth and fifth books – one under Stephanie Tyler called Beyond His Control and the other called Unleashing The Storm under Sydney Croft, the pen-name I co-write under with Larissa Ione.

And I’ve learned a few things since getting the call. For one thing, every book is harder to write than the one before it. I recently had an aspiring writer - a solider working on his memoirs from Iraq - ask me if writing ever got any easier.

My words of wisdom were – you get better but it never gets easier.

Or, at least it shouldn’t. And by that, I mean, you have to try to grow with every book you write. I’ll admit that writing Unleashing The Storm with Larissa was the easiest book writing experience ever. Beyond His Control, my 3rd Harlequin Blaze, was the hardest book I’d ever written to that point.

I say that because, having written 3 books and a novella since then, my current book is currently kicking my ass. I know I’ll look back and see that it was a good thing, but right now, I’m calling in chocolate for backup.

But today, I’m not going to talk about the writing side of writing – I’m going to tell you the three important things I’ve learned about what happens when your books begin to hit the shelves.

The first is that total strangers will most likely be far more excited with the fact that you’re a writer than your family will ever be, especially after the bloom is off the rose after the publication of the first book. I have a feeling a large part of this has to do with the fact that the general public doesn’t see me in my pajamas glued to my computer and ignoring everything around me. But there’s no excuse for my extended family. I guess I liken it to the fact that everywhere we go, people seem fascinated by the fact that my husband works for The Weather Channel – it’s like he’s some kind of celebrity, with people confessing, it’s my favorite – I love The Weather Channel to him. And I’m like, dude, he works in sales... and when I call him, he doesn’t even know what the weather is.

So yes, keep in mind that while your family might love and support you, it is the total strangers who will treat you like a rock star. Thank goodness for total strangers.

The second is that, if anyone in your family publishes a book on demand, every member of your family will own copies of that book and only a handful of those same family members will buy yours. And if they do buy it, the few that read it will say things like, your husband’s a lucky man. Which leads me to number three...

The third is that, if you write romance, your family and close friends may, in fact automatically assume that every love scene is autobiographical – even if they involve people who aren’t actually human. And then they will say things like, I had to put it down because I couldn’t stop thinking about you.

Yes, you can stop and have an EWWWWWWWW moment along with me.

I’ve been an avid reader my entire life and never ever once have I confused the author with the characters in the book. In fact, in a recent interview, someone asked me which character was most like me and that question took me hours to answer, because that’s how little my characters are like me.

I guess it could be worse. Recently, a friend of mine (non-writer) said that her cousin published a book. She bought it and read it and found that it was a thinly veiled account of her cousin’s life (in real life, cousin is a traveling salesman and basketball coach, in book, the lead character is traveling salesman and basketball coach.)

But what horrified my friend was that, in the book, the lead character is also a serial killer, murdering people when he goes out on his sales calls and then returning home to live a normal life with his family and coaching the team.

I told my friend she should be worried if her cousin suddenly shows up for a visit – and I told her to tell him that she adored the book.

So really, I guess I can see why in that case, people might confuse you with your characters. But it’s not like I write heroines sitting around in their pajamas typing all day when suddenly there’s a knock on the door and a traveling team of SEALs shows up...

Oh, sorry – got to go…there was just a knock on my door :-)

Oh, but before I leave, I’d love to give away an autographed copy of Beyond His Control. Just enter my one day blog contest and let me know if you’ve ever wondered about the secret lives of authors.

**And please note that I love and adore my family and friends, extended and otherwise, and the content of this blog contains nothing I haven’t spoken about with them in person. When I’m not busy with the SEALs…

Stephanie Tyler
Sydney Croft
www.stephanietyler.com/

Anne McAllister | No Such Thing As A Loose End

Thanks so much, Fresh Fiction, for inviting me to come and blog with you today. I love reading all the various blogs and getting to know writers (and thus adding to my TBR pile) in the process.

I've been writing romance fiction since the mid 80s and am currently working on my 61st book. For quite a few years I would amuse myself on long car trips by seeing if I could name the books and the heroes and heroines in order. Then I started seeing if I could name them in any order. Now I just write the books and think fond thoughts about all those lovely men in my past.

Sometimes, though, there's one who doesn't get his happy ending in one of my books and he turns up, rather like a bad penny, demanding one of his own.

That was what happened with Flynn. Six years ago Silhouette published a single title of mine called The Great Montana Cowboy Auction. It was part of a series of books I'd been doing for them since the mid-90s called Code of the West. TGMCA ran to 97,000 words, which should have been long enough to give everyone in Montana a happy ending.

But sadly, the heroine's daughter, Sara, who had a brief life-shattering fling with a footloose Irish journalist called Flynn Murray, got pregnant in the book. But she didn't get her happy ending. She came back in a later book and we knew she was doing fine as a single mom, but there was no Flynn in her life. Nor was there anyone else.

I went back to writing Harlequin Presents and wasn't writing Code of the West books anymore (it's what happens when you write as slowly as I do -- they make you pick a place to be since you'll be spreading yourself to thin if you're both places. That's the theory anyway). So I wasn't doing those books anymore.

Try telling that to Sara and Flynn.

They wouldn't let up. They kept coming around asking when was it going to be their turn. I said, figure out how you can be a Presents, and you can have a turn.

They're nothing if not resourceful. They did. Flynn managed to stop being quite so footloose, got himself saddled with a 500 year old castle that is crumbling around his ears, and an earldom which he really doesn't want any part of, but is obligated to shoulder because, well, he is the earl. Sara, of course, knows nothing of this. She hasn't heard from him in six years.

And then one day, Flynn got a letter out of the blue. . .

That was basically the way they told the story to me. I told it to my editor. Said, "Sound like a Presents to you?" She said, "Give a shot." Of course I had to. I owed it to them. They were quite right -- they deserved more than to be a 'loose end' in someone else's book.

I'm delighted to have written it because it took me back to my roots. And I got to revisit places and characters I didn't realize how much I'd missed.

That's one of the really lovely things about writing so many books -- especially linked books -- there is a whole other universe out there with these people in it that I can dip into now and again, stop back in and check on. It's like getting Christmas cards from them -- only better. Every once in a while they invite me back into their lives and let me share them with you.

And if you haven't read The Great Montana Cowboy Auction and are thus worried that you won't have a clue about the people in One-Night Love Child, let me assure you that I can barely remember what I wrote yesterday, so every book absolutely has to stand on its own!

How do you feel about linked books? What are some of your favorites? I never mind adding more books to my TBR pile, so suggestions for great reads, especially linked reads, are very welcome!

One-Night Love Child is a March 2008 Harlequin Presents and an April 2008 Mills & Boon Modern. If you want to read an excerpt, please click on the link.

Anne McAllister

http://www.annemcallister.com/

Amanda Stevens| Legend or Folklore

I’ve always had a fascination for the macabre, so I suppose my foray from romantic suspense into what I call 'creepy, southern thrillers' was a natural (or unnatural!) progression for me. I grew up in the foothills of the Ozarks, an area steeped in legend and folklore, and the stories I heard as a kid still give me goose bumps to this day. That same sort of breathless, shivery dread is what I hope to evoke with my own stories.

My latest thriller, The Devil’s Footprints, was inspired by one of those old legend. On the morning of February 8, 1855, the townsfolk of Devon, England, awakened to find a series of hoof-like marks in freshly fallen snow. The U-shaped tracks continued throughout the countryside for over a hundred miles, traversing over houses, rivers, and haystacks—even through stone walls—as though no barrier could stop them.

Panic and paranoia ran rampant through the area, and armed with pitchforks and clubs, some of the townspeople set out to track down the beast responsible. Various newspapers, including The Times of London, covered the story extensively, and as a result, numerous theories soon evolved, the most bizarre being that Satan himself was roaming the countryside in search of sinners.

Wow. I mean, that’s good stuff, right?

For my purposes, I moved the tale to a little town in southern Arkansas, and the prints first appeared in a farmer’s cotton field in 1922. There, the legend was all but forgotten until the prints reappeared some seventy years later near the mutilated body of Rachel DeLaune.

If you have a favorite legend or folklore, I’d love to hear about it. I’ll be featuring a different story on my website (http://www.amandastevens.com/blog.html) every Tuesday during March. Also Marked by Evil, an online prequel to The Devil’s Footprints, will run every Tuesday and Thursday at http://www.eharlequin.com/.

Amanda Stevens

Kathryn Shay | Be My Babies

I’m delighted to be part of the Fresh Fiction family and appreciate the opportunity to blog today. I write for Harlequin Superromance and The Berkley Publishing Group and have published 32 books, including the two coming this spring. My work is known for its emotional depth and complex plots, usually based in research.

My next release, BE MY BABIES, out in March from Superromance, fits into those categories. It’s the story of Lily Wakefield, pregnant with twins, who’s escaping an abusive husband, and comes to Fairview, NY where her grandfather lives. There are so many twists and turns in this storyline that you’ll constantly be wondering what will happen next. I was. Yes, that’s right, most of the time as I wrote this book, the characters didn’t behave as I expected them to and I was left thinking, “Now what do I do?”

Research is always fun for me. I’ve ridden fire trucks and ambulances, followed around a federal public defender for a day, interviewed the FBI, used my extensive teaching experiences, and talked to police officers and fire chiefs about my next story. For BE MY BABIES, I borrowed a baby from a former student of mine. At the time, little Patrick was eight months old, the age of my twins when they appear in the second half of the book. My own babies are grown, so I’d forgotten many things about how babies behave. But Patrick taught me everything I needed to know: that he could hold his bottle, that he pulled off his socks, that he pumped his arms and made an adorable sound when he ate. I truly enjoyed my time with this child, and have had him back just for fun.

I’ve also based Lily and Simon’s relationship on what I know about how men and women relate to each other. Lily’s dealt a bad hand in life and when she tries to cope with it, she runs into obstacles, not the least of which is Simon McCarthy. He immediately resents her coming to town. Mostly he fears she’ll hurt her grandfather, but also that she’ll lay claim his newspaper, which Simon has been saving to buy. When he falls in love with Lily, Simon is fearful of the people in her old life coming back to claim her. I’ve found that often our worst fears come true, and in this case, it happens to Simon. How people behave when that happens is an underlying theme of this book. How people forgive the worst kind of hurt is also an undercurrent.

I hope you enjoy Lily and Simon’s rocky road to happily-ever-after and the part my babies play in it.

View my new trailer for BE MY BABIES on my Fresh Fiction page, or on my website, http://www.kathrynshay.com/ . Also, take a look there at my backlist and upcoming works, as well as my own personal blog.

Kathryn Shay

Trish Wylie | Do you get your ideas from real life?

Authors are constantly asked where they get their ideas from. It’s probably the most commonly asked question. And here in the UK and Ireland Mills & Boon (Harlequin’s UK division) is celebrating it’s Centenary, so we’re seeing a lot more press coverage - hence I’ve been asked this question about a half dozen times in the last week alone.

One of the next things they asked was ‘Do you get your ideas from real life?’ to which I consistently answered with a burst of laughter and ‘I WISH!’

But that’s probably not the real answer. Because the initial spark of inspiration *does* come from real life and the things we see and hear around us every day; a song, a movie we hated the end of, the sight of two people talking in a street café, a photograph that captures a moment we want to know more about. And then a chain reaction begins. The who, what, when, where and why starts to find answers inside our heads – the part of our brain in charge of creativity rubbing its hands with glee and setting to work with gusto! (We hope…)

For many it’s the best part of the job – that magical period when ideas come together and characters are born. It’s the putting it into words that makes it *work*. Add deadlines and sometimes it can even become a chore. But then there are so many jobs out there that lack that initial period of magic, aren’t there? I think that’s what makes it such a great way to make a living and what carries us through the harder stuff…

Well that and the readers of course! Because readers are just as capable of seeing that magic on the page, forming different images in their minds, adding personal experiences and how they felt at a certain point of their life to what they’re reading to create a completely original perception pf each book. And I kinda LOVE that. It’s why my February book for the Harlequin Romance line – Her One And Only Valentine – is dedicated to my Readers; the dream makers.

That’s what they are to me. By reading romance and sustaining the genre the way they do they allow me to do what I love to do. And by allowing themselves to get lost in a place where magic still exists they help celebrate love and hope in a world where it be so very over-shadowed by terrible things. So what is it you enjoy about romance novels? Is it that little touch of hope it leaves you with, the escapism, the way some plots make you think? Or was there a book that particularly touched you or helped you through a difficult period in your life?

To find out more about my books, where I got my ideas from and the Emerald Isle I call home you can visit me at My Website (http://www.trishwylie.com/) or my Blog (www.trishwylie.blogspot.com/)

Go n-eírí an bóthar leat.

Trish

Bronwyn Jameson | Working with Friends

They say you should be wary of working with children and animals, but what about friends?

This was a question I probably should have addressed when the Desire senior editor suggested a down-under continuity series back in 2006. I had worked on three continuity series before then, but each was an editor-led series. The overview of the series, the characters, the broad storylines were developed by the editors who invited the authors to participate.

This series, however, was to be author-led. In other words, the development of the series from initial concept to completion would be in the hands of the six authors. The idea of collaborating on a project like this excited me. So much so, I jumped right aboard that train while yelling encouragement to the others to join me.

"Come on," I cajoled to those dragging their feet. "It'll be fun! We'll brainstorm and bounce off each others' energy and we won't have to work in isolation as we usually do. Plus developing a whole series arc will be brilliant!"

Six strong-minded women who are used to operating in creative independence working together as a team... How would that work? Would we still remain friends after all that brainstorming, plotting, writing and promoting?

Two years later and Diamonds Down Under has launched with VOWS & A VENGEFUL GROOM (January, Silhouette Desire.) Getting to this point was all of the above AND about 300% more work than we'd anticipated. Along the way we honed our collaborative skills and learned about delegation, compromise, tact, and teamwork. AND--here's the happy ending romance always promises--the bonds of friendship have not only remained intact but have strengthened.

We're not the first to tackle our own multi-book continuity series for Harlequin or even for Silhouette Desire. Before Diamonds Down Under there was the six-book Millionaire of the Month, and before that The Madonna Key (7 books) for the now defunct (sadly) Bombshell line.

But when it comes to continuity collaboration, my poster gals are the Mills & Boon Medicals foursome who recently sold their 12th Crocodile Creek title.

Lilian Darcy, Alison Roberts, Marion Lennox and Meredith Webber have got together not once, not twice, but three times to develop and write three four-book mini-series. Who better to ask about the magic of collaboration? Here is what they had to say:

Alison Roberts: To sum it up, I'd say it's challenging but fabulous. And so much fun, working in little bits and pieces of the other books, like snatches of conversations overheard or even just the expression on someone's face.

Marion Lennox: It was indeed fun. It felt a bit like a free book cos there were four plotters rather than one. I think the fact that we totally respected each other as writers and we knew each other's characters would be treated sympathetically was the key.

Meredith Webber: What I loved was the intricacy of it, weaving the stories together so bits of one fitted seamlessly with bits of another. We even wrote little passages for each other's books so the stories melded. This might not have happened if we'd known each other less well or not been friends.

Lilian Darcy: What they said…plus I will add some advice to anyone attempting an author-generated series: give yourselves a simple over-arching continuity thread that hits the centre of your line's promise to the reader so that the complexity and uniqueness can develop within each story without you all getting tangled up and treading on each other's toes.

If you'd like to sample the results of the collaborative effort that produced CROCODILE CREEK, visit my blog (www.bronwynjameson.com/blog) in February. If you'd like to sample the results of the collaborative effort that produced DIAMONDS DOWN UNDER, visit www.diamonds-downunder.com/ for blurbs, extracts, backstory and our series blog. And don't miss the chance to win a diamond pendant in our Treasure Hunt. VOWS & A VENGEFUL GROOM, by Bronwyn Jameson, is available now.

Susan Stephens| Happy New Year

Happy New Year, everyone!

It’s great to be here so I can wish you all the very best for 2008.

I’m thrilled to announce the release of 3 books in January and February.

The first, Laying Down the Law, is particularly dear to my heart, because it tells the story of a young trainee barrister and her bad-boy American Italian pupil master, Lorenzo Domenico.

I can’t deny this UK Modern Heat release was inspired by my daughter training to be a lawyer- but she now complains she never got to meet anyone remotely like Lorenzo!

Bought: One Island, One Bride, is a Harlequin Presents release in February, and was inspired by my meeting a passionate environmentalist while I was holidaying in the Greek islands.

It was impossible not to be inspired by the romantic promise of such a fabulous setting, and by the passion of Jamie, the young man who opened our eyes to the vulnerable eco-systems surrounding us. (I only hope Jamie hasn’t minded my changing him into my heroine, Ellie Mendoras!)

My third book, The Tycoon’s Virgin

Is a Harlequin Presents 2nd cycle release in February, which means it will be shelved near the Desire titles, and a little later in the month than is usual for Presents.

The Tycoon’s Virgin was inspired by my house move to the remote Yorkshire moors and features a girl with plenty to hide and a hero who is determined to uncover all her secrets- Plus there’s plenty of hot mud and steamy showers in between!

Prize news

Some time in January I’ll be announcing a winner on my Blog, chosen at random from our list of Birthday Babies- and that winner will win a special hamper of gifts to make the New Year start with some much deserved pampering.

Plus, from January to June 2008 I am inviting you to bring two friends to join my Birthday Babies club. All you have to do is contact my assistant Lee at lee@susanstephens.net with your name and the names and info for your two friends who want to sign up and you will be entered into a special draw as a thank you. Yes, you have 2 chances to win!

I’ve also got some super new bookmarks to give away, so if you’d like one just send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:

Leena’s Goodie Room
Susan Stephens Goodies
4411, 76th Ave. West # 2
University Place, WA 98466
USA

USA readers should put 41 cents postage on the envelope and overseas readers should email lee@susanstephens.net for more information on how to get a bookmark.

Don’t forget, I love hearing from readers at susan@susanstephens.net and in the meantime, I’d like to wish you and those closest to you a very happy New Year with lots of love, laughter and reading pleasure!


Susan

http://www.susanstephens.net/

Kathryn Albright | Where do you find your inspiration?

What sparks that excitement inside that urges you to write? Is it a news report, a TV show, a person, or a place?

For my debut book, The Angel and the Outlaw, a historical romance, it was the setting that captured me and begged me to write. Growing up in San Diego, I often visited the Old Pt. Loma Lighthouse with my family. My imagination would take flight there, and I’d conjure up scenarios involving the cliffs, the tide, and the caves. As a child, the news reports of people stranded when the tide came in made me nervous enough to keep a close eye on each and every wave while exploring the tide pools (and have nightmares about tidal waves!) The stories of shipwrecks off the coast added even more adventure to the mix.

The Old Pt. Loma Lighthouse was built in 1854. Through its 36 years of service the light keepers saw many of the things I mention in my book such as the community picnic. The light keeper, having a perfect view of the ocean, would hang a red flag on the railing when he spotted a pod of the California Gray whales migrating to alert the Johnson Whaling Company on the harbor side of the peninsula.

San Diego in 1873, the year The Angel and the Outlaw takes place, was already an international mix of people—much like it is today. The Hispanic culture formed San Diego long before any Anglos made their mark. Then there were the Portuguese whalers and Chinese fishermen, each staking their own area of town. All of these add wonder and interest to the city’s history and also to the setting of my story.

Needless to say—history fascinates me. I’d love to hear how you are inspired. Add a comment here or contact me through my website at http://www.kathrynalbright.com/

Thanks Fresh Fiction for inviting me to blog today!

Kathryn Albright www.kathrynalbright.com/ The Angel & the Outlaw ~ Harlequin Historical, Dec. 2007

Linda Lael Miller | Growing Up Western

I grew up in a little town in northeastern Washington state, a place called Northport. My dad was, really and truly, the town marshal. I was raised on stories, told mostly by my adopted grandmother, Florence Wiley, about 'old times', when she lived on a farm outside of Coffeyville, Kansas. In my childhood, she was usually working at the wood-burning cook stove while she told her stories, and that stove has been in every western I've ever written, always in the same part of the kitchen. Later, when the uncles went together and bought her an electric model, she hated it, claiming it burned everything, and banished it. The black iron and chrome Kitchen Queen was soon back in residence.

Her stories were great. Jesse James once slept in the family barn, and she clearly remembered the day the Dalton brothers tried to rob the bank in Coffeyville. The townspeople had gotten word that they were coming, and they were ready, on roof tops and between buildings, with rifles. The gang was annihilated--the shots were audible from the farm several miles outside of town--and later the bodies were displayed as a deterrent to budding outlaws. Grandma Wiley's father was ahead of his time, psychologically, and refused to take his children to town and parade them past those bloody corpses, like so many others were doing.

My dad and uncles were rodeo cowboys in their younger days--Uncle Jack Lael was a champion, rode at Madison Square Garden, and got to kiss Miss America, so I grew up around horses and tales of the baddest bulls and wildest broncos on the circuit, of course. When people ask me how I can make the old west seem so authentic in my books, I like to say it's because I was born and raised in it!

lindalaelmiller.com

Ann Roth | Fodder for the Creative Mill

People are always asking, Where do you get your ideas? Oh honey, if they only knew! Here are some of my favorite idea generators.

Eavesdropping. I do that a lot. It's easy, fun, and good for getting those creative juices flowing. Also, when friends say something intriguing, I let them know that some day their story or clever word usage could end up in a book. Fictionalized of course, so that often they won't recognize themselves. With strangers.... they'll never know.

Observation. People watching is such a kick. Even more fun is making up stories about those you watch. Why are they behaving that way? Who are the people they are with? I'll bet even non-writers do this.

TV, radio, music and the movies. I've been known to take a premise or a snippet of and run with it. The end results never look remotely like the show from which I drew my inspiration.

Magazines and newspapers. Tons of great stuff there. Especially those advice columns and the stories of personal triumphs over bad situations.

And of course, life itself. Something happens to me or a friend or relative, or a friend's friend, and I get to thinking, What if?

I'm sure there are other ways of generating ideas. If you know of any that aren't mentioned here, please share.

Ann
http://www.annroth.net/
Mitch Takes A Wife, August 2007
All I Want for Christmas, November 2007

Tawny Weber | What If and Why?

What if and why are two of my favorite things to ask. I'm notorious for asking them in writing and in life. (I think I ask often enough I drive my husband a little nuts, to be honest). I've what if'd everything from the idea that we are really all just microscopic beings on the thumbnail of a giant (hey, I was twelve) to the slightly-obsessive emergency kit I packed for the drive through a snowstorm for a family emergency (hey, I'm a California girl... how was I supposed to know those flutters weren't a storm? and we MIGHT have needed those empty tuna cans and tealight candles for heat... really, we might have). And I ask why more than an eight year old. Just ask my eight year old, she'll tell you!

A psychologist might refer to it as catastrophic thinking (taking what if to its highest degree of drama) but for a writer, it's mighty handy. After all, the question of “what's the worst thing that could happen” is what provides me with plot and conflict. Better yet, what if is what keeps the reader turning the pages. When I read a book, I'm always wondering, always asking -what's next? Why? When I'm writing, I love to think what if, and use that to keep tossing conflict and issues at my poor characters for them to figure out. Why is always in the back of my head. Why do they do this, why don't they do that?

This what if process can apply to any type of story, from paranormal to historical to suspense. My stories are pure fun... of the sexy kind. But that what if angle is always there. For instance - in my May 2007 Blaze debut I asked myself what would happen if a cop went undercover for the first time and was totally out of his element. Why would he be so uncomfortable? And what if, at the same time, a bad girl was dared to prove she was still just as bad as always. Why does she care what her friends think? What if she ended up with the wrong guy? Tada... DOUBLE DARE was born. I kept asking why, pushing the what if's and why's, playing with the idea, but that core question was the premise of my first sale and the heart of Audra and Jesse's story.

For my upcoming January release, DOES SHE DARE? I asked what would push a gal with major goal setting tendencies to create the ultimate Man Plan. Not only was it fun to ask the what if's for this story, it was even more fun to keep adding to them. What if this goal-setting gal wrote a Man Plan? Why did she think she needed a plan to hot up her sex life? What if the hottest dream guy she could imagine showed up on her doorstep? What if he got his hands on her plan? What if he was the one guy who could ruin everything she'd worked for... would she risk it? Why? (See how that works?)

What if and why -they are my favorite writing questions. How about you... do you ever ask what if? Do you make up stories to go with the question? When you're reading, do you ever ask yourself why on earth the character is doing THAT???

I know I do...

http://blog.tawnyweber.com/main
http://www.myspace.com/tawnyweber

Terry McLaughlin | A Kiss is Still a Kiss

Ahh, another day in the life of a romance novelist, spending long hours fantasizing about a lingering kiss--that all-important first kiss scene, to be exact. It's a tough job, but if I need some assistance, I can always find a bit of inspiration on film.

Clark Gable bidding Vivien Leigh farewell on a bridge outside Atlanta, Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint seducing each other on a train--I love to sigh over kisses that hint about forever and last nearly as long. In Learning Curve, I splurged on an I-shouldn't-be-doing-this-but-I-can't-help-myself first kiss scene that spread across ten pages.

Do I want to add a touch of go-for-broke passion to that first embrace? In Moonstruck, Nicolas Cage gets his message across when he upends the kitchen table before grabbing Cher. My hero in Maybe, Baby may not have knocked over the kitchen table, but he sweeps everything on it to the floor, pushes the heroine down on its surface, and sprawls over her before helping himself to a greedy gulp of a kiss.

I love Bacall's sass in To Have and Have Not when she kisses Bogart and then tells him, "It's even better when you help." Because my hero and heroine share their first kiss in a wine cellar, I had some fun with the dialogue in The Rancher Needs a Wife:

"A little tart," he says after she pulls him close for another one, "but not without promise.”

"Bold," she responds later, as he unbuttons her blouse, "but not without finesse."

"Full-bodied," he murmurs as the heroine gets to work on his clothes, "with a surprisingly strong finish.”

Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard got pelted with rain in Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster didn't seem to mind rolling in the surf in From Here to Eternity. Still, I chose a more comfortable--and drier--setting for the first kiss shared by the hero and heroine in my upcoming release, A Perfect Stranger. It's on a hill in Montmartre, with a view of Paris rooftops on a soft summer evening, and...sigh.

What are your favorite movie kisses? I'd love to hear about them--I'm always looking for some inspiration.

Terry McLaughlin
www.terrymclaughlin.com/

Lori Wilde | A New Series, Martini Dares

I have a book coming out in September, called My Secret Life from Harlequin Blaze. But it’s not just any book. It’s the first book in a series I’m with my writers pals, Carrie Alexander, Isabel Sharpe and Jamie Denton.

This series is particularly special because about the time we conceived of the idea, Jamie was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. We’d sent the project to our editors, but because Jamie was going through chemotherapy, we all decided it was better to back burner the project. Jamie gracefully volunteered to back out and let someone else take her place, but we wanted Jamie and we wanted her to know we believed in her recovery.

I’m happy to report Jamie came through chemotherapy with flying colors and we went on to write the stories. Her bravery, optimism and all around darn good storytelling abilities make this a fabulous success story.

So to give you a sneak peak into the Martini Dares, here’s the series proposal we sent to the editors.

SERIES SET-UP
The Premise

Desperate Housewives meets Sex in the City in this series featuring four desperate career women, four dark secrets, four steamy dares and four very sexy men.

THE BACK STORY

Once upon a time, in a stately brick house on Hawthorn Lane, in an affluent suburb of Boston, resided the three Winfield sisters, who lived a fairytale life with their homemaker mother and strict Naval Commander father. Brooke, Joey and Katie were schooled in the proper rules of conduct set by their father’s traditional Brahmin family. Even after their father passed away, the sisters never questioned the status quo. That is until their mother’s deathbed confession dropped a bomb on their perfect little world.

A MYSTERIOUS INVITATION

The sisters receive an intriguing invitation to join Martinis and Bikinis, a club that encourages female empowerment through raucous good times and sexy dares. As part of the program, members draw slips of paper that make up a challenge they must complete (such as wearing a bikini to the beach or dancing on the bar). Mysteriously, the Winfield sisters’ supposedly “random” dares pinpoint their most intimate fears.

DEATHBED CONFESSION

Each book begins in Desperate Housewives fashion with a brief prologue from the deceased mother’s point-of-view, as she narrates the situation each daughter finds herself in. Her words of wisdom prove her deep love and understanding of her children.

To my daughters:

I always did what I believed was best for each of you. Maybe this will be difficult to understand now that my many secrets have been discovered. After the shock has lessened, you must find a way to understand and go on as the loving sisters you are and the happy, fulfilled women I know you can become.

Darling Katie, you are the youthful me. Accept yourself, overcome your impetuous mistakes, and love will be yours.

Sweet Brooke, my quiet child. Step out of place and learn to be brave and bold. Be your own shining star.

Dearest Joey, always living by the rules like your father. Risking your heart will lead to your greatest success.

My own Lindsay, daughter of darkness and secrets. Come out of hiding and believe that you are well and truly loved.

Love, Mother

If you want to have some fun, read the books and then compare them to the series outline and see how far we strayed or stayed true to our original vision.

I hope you enjoy the Martini Dares. It was truly a labor of love.

Lori Wilde
2008 RWA Conference Workshop Chair
MY SECRET LIFE Sept 2007 Blaze
http://www.loriwilde.com/
http://myspace.com/loriwilde
Instructor: http://www.ed2go.com/