EXTREME FIGHTERS MAKE EXTREMELY SEXY HEROES!

They're big.
We're talking six foot plus, weighing in at 205.
All of it muscle.

They're smart.
Contrary to popular belief, athletes are not dummies. At least not the successful ones, definitely not the professional athletes. It takes motivation, dedication, and yes, intelligence to succeed at anything.

They're sensitive.
Sure they bleed. They do submissions that could make a man pass out, dislocate an elbow, or, in some cases, break a bone. Their big goal is a knock-out, and it happens a lot. But the bullies are few and far between. They care about their fellow fighters and about their fans.

They're good sports.
They accept a win with smiles and a hearty TV hello to "Mom, and all the folks back home."
They accept a loss without excuses, but with determination to come back and do better the next time.

They're good looking.
For the most part. Okay, there are some cauliflower ear problems. And for my tastes, too many tattoos on too many fighters. But oh baby... muscles on muscles. Lean and strong. We're talking the primo of physiques.


These are two of my favorites - Forrest Griffin and Andre Arlovski, outside a promotion event, signing autographs and mugging for the camera.

Extreme fighters are among the best trained and conditioned athletes in the world.

They come from the US, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Russia, Holland, England, etc...
Many of them were Olympic champions.

A recent event boasted over 17,000 spectators, among them movie stars, models, and musicians.

Below you see Vitor Belfort, Wes Combs (a good example of too many tattoos!) and Forrest Griffin.


These fighters provide my favorite form of entertainment, whether I'm watching on PPV, reading about them online - or writing about them in my current series.

The ultimate fighter. Mixed martial arts experts. Guys who can punch, kick, grapple, wrestle, and submit. Muay Thai is the favored discipline, but just about every martial art is included.

Recently, there have been movies about heroes with Muay Thai training: Ong Bak, The Protector, and others. Professional athletes in other sports joke about learning Muay Thai - that's how effective it is.

No, my books aren't about the fights. And for creative reasons I don't use the real organization names of the UFC and PRIDE. Mine is the SBC. For the most part (because I'm a hero writer, not a heroine writer) the story is about the man himself, his background, what he does and why he does it, and how perfectly suited he is to be a hero.

And talk about sweet heroes!
Here two of the fighters, Mike "Quick" Swick and Georges St. Pierre hold up one of my titles for a photo!
Now how could I not love 'em!?


I suck at synopses, so I won't bore you with them. Instead, I'll just share a little inspiration from each story. Hope that works for you!

In JUDE'S LAW, the fighter, Jude Jamison, has become a movie star. Hey, it happens! Years ago one of my favorite fighters,Oleg Taktarov, got a great part in a movie. Since then, he and other fighters have landed a lot of primo roles. One of my all-time favorite fighters ever, Bas Rutten, has also been in several movies and sitcoms.

Okay, they're not leading movie stars... but then, they aren't fictionalized romance heroes either.

Jude is a confident man because he knows he can take on the biggest and baddest and win. He's done it.

In real life competitions, these fighters go through tournaments that pit the best of the best against each other. Rather than make them cocky or obnoxious, the winners always seem humble to me, and quick to thank their trainers, their fans, and yes, their opponents.

For MURPHY'S LAW, the hero isn't actually a fighter. He's a wealthy hunk of a stud with a big heart. But anyway... the heroine has been befriended by (see above book) Jude Jamison's trainer, and he's a rather salty dog who adds a lot of fun to the book. Or at least, I think so.

So while this book is related to the fighter series, it's through secondary characters.

Still, Quinton Murphy has all the features I LOVE in my fighters. He's heroic by nature, cares for anyone smaller, weaker, younger or older than him, and he isn't afraid to stand up to bullies or villains, as the case may be.


JUDE'S LAW and MURPHY'S LAW were written through Kensington. So the characters aren't related to the rest of my fighter books. However, the organization of the SBC stays the same.

CAUSING HAVOC, available February 07, is the first of my fighter books with Berkley. Sexy extreme fighter Dean "Havoc" Conor has knee melting good looks, and a thick skin. But not from this brutal sport.

Dean was taken away from his sisters when he was just a little boy. He's lived his life as an orphan - that is, until he gets a letter revealing how much his once "little" sisters need him back in Harmony, Kentucky.

To stop one of his sisters from marrying a jerk, Dean teams up with her pretty-but-smart-mouthed bed friend Eve. Now all Dean has to do is protect his sisters, win Eve over, and expose a devious criminal. And he thought winning the heavyweight cage-fighting belt was tough!

Dean's trainer is Simon Evans, and he appears in SIMON SAYS.


SIMON SAYS, out August 07, is the second fighter book from Berkley.

With his perfectly chiseled, lava-hot body, Simon Evans, retired-fighter-turned-trainer, also has a perfect life—great job, great girl, and more than enough dough. All that changes, though, when he catches his girlfriend cheating. Wanting a change, Simon goes full-force back into the ring, ready to take out his rage on his opponents…

To make matters worse, the father who walked out on Simon and his mom eons ago wants to be back in the picture. He’s hired his stepdaughter, Dakota, to find his son. Hot on Simon’s heels, the gutsy P.I. puts love on the back burner. But when attempts are made on Dakota’s life, Simon steps in to protect her, all but putting both their hearts on the line…

HOOKING A SERIES TOGETHER...
You know, authors tie series together in a lot of different ways. It can be a location, a time of year, an event.

For me, it's almost always the guys.

Unlike the popular attitude of women today, I don't get the jokes poking fun at men. Sure guys are different, but that's not bad. Just different. Personally, I don't want men to be like women. I want them to be like... men.

I know so many stellar guys that I can easily overlook the few jerks. (Jerks are there in both sexes - it's not something exclusive to men.)

It's because I have so much respect for men that I love making them the driving force behind my books.

So many times, readers write to me and say, "I wish I could find a guy like that."

I want to tell them to stop looking for a body, and instead look for a soul. The men I write are, deep down, the men I know. I give them different jobs, different problems, different heroines, but at the core, they're the same great guy. I couldn't write a hero without the qualities that I admire.

Nope, I'm not talking about the studly body. I'm taking about the protectiveness, the work ethic, the caring for family and neighbors, the giving and politeness and humor... Good husbands, good sons, good fathers.
They're there, ladies. Just give them a chance!

WHY SERIES?
You know, I've done The Buckhorn Brothers (being reissued in March 07) and The Vistation Books, and Too Much Temptation and Never Too Much (also being reissued, probably in May and June 07) but I don't start every book figuring it'll be the first in a series. Nope. It just happens. I love my characters and get very invested in their welfare. I want to see each secondary character with a "Happy Ever After." And so it happens, whether I want it to or not.

There have been times when I've deliberately tried to exclude a character. And still readers will contact me wanting his book! A perfect example would be Tim from JUDE'S LAW. He's a creep. Okay, in MURPHY'S LAW he begins to redeem himself. But in my mind, he's not hero material. Sorry!

After SIMON SAYS, I plan at least one more book with a fighter as the hero and a musician as a secondary character. Both the leading man and the secondary hero appear in SIMON SAYS. Both have particular type women in mind that they want to meet, and naturally, I intend to show them what they really want.

(Insert my evil laugh here!)

So why only one more fighter book, you might ask?

My problem is that, while the real extreme fighting world has weight classes, I've stuck with the 205 pounders. Love those big muscled hunks! But if I keep writing these books, eventually my heroes are going to have to go into the cage against each other, and I just can't bear to do that.

For me, they're all heroes, and I don't want them to lose a single match!

Besides, I have another older series about a bunch of Winston guys, and suddenly there are more of them visiting the crowded spaces of my imagination. What do you think?

Would a couple more Winston males do the trick?

Do you like series?
Or do you like books that stand alone?
If you do like series, why? Have any favorites?

Specifically to those of you who have read my books, are there any characters you'd still like to see me write?

Any you wish I had skipped?

And lastly, if the idea of a fighter as a hero turns you off, what could I do or say to convince you of how wonderful these real-life guys are! Come on, give me a chance to win you over. I think every woman should watch the UFC or PRIDE at least once.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.
BIG HUGS!