Who's the Girl?

After I finished the third Bronwyn book, "Charmed & Deadly," I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write next. I’d played around with a few ideas, but didn’t feel the passion necessary to see a complete manuscript through to the end.

Enter the Editor. My editor must have read my mind, because she called and said, "I want to know more about Kira from the Bronwyn books. She’s one of my favorite characters." "Hmmm," I thought. I’d kind of like to know more about Kira too. That is how "Like A Charm" was born.

All the previous books had just come to me out of the blue, and in a way this one did too. Once my editor gave me the spark of the idea. I don’t think she intends to make Kira a series, but I kind of hope it sells so well this month that I get to do at least one more book. I love Kira’s world in the magical library. I want to live there. (Smile.)

My friend Shannon Canard is in a new anthology with me, "Dreams & Desires: A Collection of Romantic Tales, Vol. 2." This book is close to my heart because the majority of the proceeds go to help women’s shelters. The stories are an eclectic mix, focusing on dreams and desires. There are 19 authors in all including C.T. Adams, Cathy Clamp, Jenna Bayley-Burke, Amanda Brice, Sela Carsen, Rachelle Chase, M.E. Ellis, Jenny Gardiner, Gemma Halliday, Zinnia Hope, Babe King, Susan Lyons, Sarah Salway, Rhonda Stapleton, Bebe Thomas, Emily Veinglory, Lois Winston and Shauna Wolf.

The idea for the short story in that book came courtesy of my sister-in-law who is finishing her teaching degree this year. She is a widow with two young children, and I have the deepest respect for her. I told her that I was going to write a story for her about a hero that comes in and sweeps her off her feet. She was beyond excited.

None of the authors took any payment for the anthology so that the money could go to the shelter, and they’ve donated incredible stories. So help a good cause and order some copies for you and friends.

Another of my buds, A. Lee Martinez, also has a new book out this month, "The Automatic Detective." He’s also the author of "Gil’s All Fright Diner," "In the Company of Ogres" and "A Nameless Witch." A. Lee, or Alex as we call him, was one of the first people to listen to me read in critique. He took me aside and told me just to keep writing, that I was ready to publish. It meant a lot that he believed in me.

One thing I love about his writing is his books always take unexpected turns. His characters are incredible, and he always makes me laugh. In "The Automatic Detective" there’s a talking gorilla, a brainy dame, a mutant lowlife and a little green mob boss. You see what I mean.

Jenny Gardiner’s book "Sleeping with Ward Cleaver" is in bookstores. She’s kind of a cross between Erma Brombeck and Candace Bushnell. Honestly, I’d pick this one up just for the title. If you need a laugh, Jenny has the book for you.

When Philippa Gregory found an obscure research paper on Mary Boylen she had no idea how it would change her life. Flash forward 10 years later and The Other Boleyn Girl has created a renaissance of interest in the Tudor period. The film is lush and sensual, and an absolute must-see.

I loved the book too, but what I want is Gregory's life. She seems to live that peaceful existence that most writers can only dream about. She lives in a beautiful house and spends most mornings walking in her garden or riding her horse. "I'm very lucky," Gregory says, "I spend my mornings doing things I love, and I'm able to have lunch with my husband."

She's more than pleased with the adaptation of her book. "They've done a wonderful job. Peter (Morgan, the screenwriter) "has made the focus the rivalry between the two sisters and that is as it should be. It is a big book, and he was able to put the focus on the most important part of the story about these two powerful women."

When she is writing, riding horses are walking in her gardens, Gregory is reading about history. "I don't watch the telly much," she says. "I love history and that's my form of entertainment." Look for her next novel to go back to medieval times.

Let's check the e-mail and see what we have for March.

Violet By Design is the second in Melissa Walker's series about a small-town-gawky-girl turned model. "Last year Violet made a decision to get out of modeling for good, but then the lure of international travel changed her mind," says Walker. "Now she's wondering if she should have stuck to her original decision."

After 17 years in medicine, C J Lyons left her practice to write fiction. The result is the new medical thriller Lifelines." "Think ER meets Sex and the City," says Lyons. This is one where you'll have to remember to take a breath.

Barbara Freethy says her new novel Silent Run is "one of my favorites. I loved the idea of a woman who can't remember anything about her life having to figure out who she is and why she told so many lies, allegedly to the man she loved. And the fact that her daughter is missing and she's the only one who knows where she is. The love story is a complicated as the suspense, because how can you find a way to trust the person who hurt you the most?"

Abby Gaines has two books out this month, The Diaper Diaries and Fully Engaged." In The Diaper Diaries Philanthropist Tyler Warrington has to figure out what to do when a baby is dropped on his doorstep. He's clueless, but do- gooder pediatrician Bethany Hart does. "I love to write about people finding that one person who'll love them just the way you are," Gaines says.

In Fully Engaged Sandra Jacobs wants to save her PR firm and to do that she has to find a sponsor for NASCAR driver Will Branch. But the very bossy and seriously gorgeous Gideon Taney, the team owner, has ideas of his own. "Sandra and Gideon are two incredibly strong minded people," says Gaines. "They'll never have a quiet life together, yet somehow they're perfect for each other."

Until next month...Candy

Candy is a nationally syndicated entertainment columnist, who has interviewed just about every celebrity there is in Hollywood and written thousands of articles. She is the author of the Charmed & Dangerous series including Charmed & Ready Charmed & Dangerous and Charmed & Deadly.

Her non-fiction prose includes Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy, and essays in Alias Assumed: Sex, Lies and SD-6, and Five Seasons of Angel. She's also the entertainment critic providing the latest on TV, film and celebs for the radio station 96.3 KSCS. And she's the managing editor for FYI Television.

You can visit Candy daily at her blog or her website