ELIZABETH CATCHES FALL FEVER

I’m suffering a holiday lull.

You know what I mean. Waaaay too much to do and waaaaay too little oomph to do it.

Or maybe I’m just lazy.

*ponders the idea*

Maybe it’s the shorter days.

Maybe it’s the beautiful storm rolling down off the mountains over the red rock cliffs and down the canyons. Watching the clouds is like watching the ocean—always changing, always the same, always mesmerizing.



What kind of wife/mother/grandmother/sister/aunt am I, to watch clouds when I could be wrapping presents to mail, baking cookies, polishing silver, dusting ornaments, and hanging wreaths?

*bites down on a yawn*

Those clouds sure are glorious.

Maybe I’m not lazy.

Maybe I’m a cloud dreaming I’m a wife/mother/grandmother/sister/aunt.

*votes for the cloud idea*

*settles in to watch the show*


Do you have days when you declare a “time out,” if only for a few minutes? It’s a new skill for me, one I’m a bit uneasy about acquiring, yet I find that I enjoy it quite a bit!

When Thanksgiving is over, I sink into a deep depression.
All the painful memories of the past wiggle into my brain and I am one miserable allig--woman. Please bear with me. I'm sharing with you the sad story of my birth and formative years. They did have a great deal to do with my urge to write The Bayou Books.

COMEDY OF ERRORS

My mother told me I was hatched from an alligator egg she found when a swan got tired of sitting on it. Mother took that big old egg home, popped it inside a crocheted tea cozy, then put it in a cardboard box by the fire. The family cat took over egg-sitting duties and eventually the shell cracked (the noise was ear-splitting) and out came a baby alligator dripping slime. The cat got a bit carried away with clean-up duties and licked every scale off that critter, then, when the cat saw how ugly the baby was, she wouldn't feed it. So my Mother stepped in with some milk and other human foodstuff and the result was . . . Me!

My childhood in England was a mess of turmoil. You wouldn't believe how long it took me to find myself and how much I suffered on the journey. Children can be so cruel, especially if they get to pick on someone who’s a bit different. They taunted me and called me Jaws—among other things. You should have heard the tacky references to my tail.

But all that changed after the plastic surgery. I was turned into a swan, maybe because it was a swan who almost brought me into the world.

Well, I never felt really at home in England. I couldn't get past thinking my Mother put up with me out of duty and I knew I needed to get to wherever I ought to be. I knew that couldn't be in that cold seaside town, but the more places I visited, the more places I found where I didn't fit in—until I took a plane to Western Australia and got diverted to Baton Rouge.

Did you know that the duck billed platypus is native to Western Australia? It is. Platypus babies are called puggles—isn't that sweet? I'd decided to take a look and see if these folks were my long lost relatives because I have this spike on one of my ankles and if you get scratched by it, you may die. The platypus has spikes like mine, but my plane being diverted was a real blessing in the end. I arrived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and I was home. I mean those swamps called to me—sirens’ songs. I just followed my twitching nose and slipped into that thick, green, snake-filled warm water and knew I was finally where I was meant to be.

You wouldn't believe the gossip that gets tossed around among the water hyacinth. Some Louisiana folks think they can keep secrets—that makes me laugh. You'd think by now they'd all know how at night, the cottonmouths hide in their walls and under their floors, and disguise themselves as bathmats. Remember making those mats out of crocheted tubes that you wound around and around—bit like a big, swirled candy sucker?

I could tell you things that would make you molt (and I do), but you've got a right to know all about how I came to write stories like A MARKED MAN, A GRAVE MISTAKE, NOW YOU SEE HIM and BODY OF EVIDENCE—The Bayou Books. Cottonmouths! They were the reason. They slithered back to the swamp and kept us alligators up all night telling us what went on in little towns along the bayou and in the houses, taverns, sheriffs’ offices, dance halls, hotels, cafes, doctors’ offices, bookshops, lawyers’ offices and rectories in those towns. All I had to do was keep my computer dry and the rest is history.

As always, I thank my readers for their support. I'm crazy about Louisiana—of course I am! The parts of the state I write about are sultry and mysterious, and so are the folks I want you to care about.

--Stella

Susan Gives Thanks

Happy Day after Thanksgiving, everyone!

I have so much to be thankful for this year.

My best friend Mimi's husband Doug, who is a very good friend in his own right, is finally on the mend. Just a few short weeks ago he was in Seattle's premiere trauma center, where he'd spent 5 long weeks in ICU connected to so many tubes and machines, having so many procedures done to him it boggled the mind. I'll tell you the truth: we weren't always confident he would recover and it's devastating trying to imagine a world without someone you cherish in it. But he's home now and although it might take him a long time to regain all his strength, in the end he will.

And I give thanks for that.

My mom is getting up there in years and she's kinda forgetful these days. But she's still one of the most generous souls I know and she has that best of all possible attributes: a wonderful sense of humor.

And I give thanks for that.

(that's her on the right in the blue turtleneck)

I guess I simply give thanks for family --both that into which I was born, that into which I long ago married and that which, while not technically related perhaps, I call family all the same. (Here's my Sweet Baby Boy with The Girls)

I spent the day at my oldest brother and sister-in-law's house. There were 18 of us and kids laughed and played, adults laughed and talked, and I ate way too much. I'm sitting here now in a turkey and pumpkin pie induced stupor.

Pretending those calories didn’t really count and tallying my blessings.


I hope you all had a lovely Turkey Day. How did you spend yours? What do you all give thanks for? And did anyone else (she inquired, burping delicately behind raised fingers) eat as much as I did?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING from the Quills!

Suzanne "jumps" at the chance to interview Shirley Jump

I had a celebratory lunch last week with my friend and fellow romance author Shirley Jump. Her feet weren't touching the ground that day because SUGAR AND SPICE, a Christmas anthology she's part of, had hit the USA Today and NYT extended bestseller lists. I had a few pertinent questions for Shirley about the writing life.

Suzanne: Why would any sane person want to be a writer?

Shirley: First, you make the assumption that I AM a sane person. Right there is the flaw in your logic. There are many days when I question my sanity, and pretty much 365 days a year when my husband does. Bless his heart, he stays with me anyway. I think it's something to do with a charitable tax deduction.

Suzanne: What is your writing schedule like?

Shirley: Excuse me while I have a laughing fit. Okay, there. I feel better now. I have two kids. Two dogs. Two cats. And the aforementioned husband. That means whenever I think I'm about to have a great uninterrupted writing day, someone forgets a trombone at home, someone pukes, someone needs shots...in other words, one of those bothersome people in my house needs me to do something that I hadn't figured into my day and my whole writing day is shot. So I end up running to school, the pediatrician, the vet...anywhere but the office. And vow to write more the next day.

To get some actual writing time, I feed my children junk food, allow them to dress in clothes they find on the floor, and encourage the dogs to be my vacuum cleaners.

Suzanne: Who do you want to be when you grow up?

Shirley: Again, flawed logic. Assumes I actually want to grow up. Growing up means I'd have to take responsibility for my actions. Quit eating chocolate for breakfast (thanks for that box of chocolates for my birthday, Sue. It was a very nutritious breakfast last week and was a good replacement for those nasty Wheaties). If I had to choose anyone to be when I grow up, it would be Peter Pan because he doesn't have to cook. He just imagines the food and it's there. That's the kind of kitchen I want.

Suzanne: How would you describe your books?

Shirley: Not a fair question. Because I would go on glowingly for hours about the brilliant writing, the complex story lines, the incredible characters...oh, who am I kidding? Five minutes of that and I'd be weeping in my chocolates, begging you to reassure me that I truly don't stink and can indeed write my way out of a paper bag. Hey, I'm an artiste. That means I am riddled with angst (I dine on chocolate all day...it's bound to mess with my emotional state). Let me put it this way--I am a better writer than most, but not all, of my son's third grade class.

Suzanne: Tell me about the life of an author. Is it really as glamorous as people think?

Shirley: Oh yeah. I told you about the chocolate, right? Well, that's the only perk.

The day I sold my first book, I was expecting the feather boas, the loveseat and the Pekingese. Instead, I got a nearly three-year-old with an overloaded diaper, a dog who had jumped INTO the Christmas tree (thanks to the three year old throwing a tennis ball into the tree). The dog knocked the tree onto the floor--glass everywhere--and then left me a carpet full of doggie surprises the next morning because my sweet Golden Retriever ate those nice shiny ornaments.

The day after my 14th book hit the bestseller lists, I came home to the same dog and a whole lot more doggy surprises from her eating something else equally bad for her digestion. Since the maid is still wearing her invisibility cloak, I had to clean it up myself. My editor suggested that maybe all the excitement of sales and bestseller lists is too much for my dog, and perhaps we should keep the news quiet. I think maybe I just need to buy an island and trade in the dog for a lot more cats. It worked for Hemingway, didn't it?

Suzanne: Finally, what do you dream of for your future?

Shirley: Peace in my living room, good will among my children, dogs that don't shed and dinners that cook themselves. If I could have all that and an island too, well, hey, then I might not need the chocolate anymore to get through my day. :-)

Suzanne: Thanks for talking with me, Shirley. You always make me laugh!

Inquiring Minds want to know: Do you give books as Christmas/holiday gifts? If so, what is your favorite kind of book to give as a gift? (I buy books for myself, wrap them, and put them under the tree with a tag that says: To Sue from Santa.)

Jayne Draws the Line

Now that the vampire craze has gone from being "the next new thing" to becoming a major, well established subgenre -- as I predicted a few years ago, by the bye -- I am frequently asked "when are you going to do a vampire novel?" The answer is "probably never". (In this business I never say never).

Trust me, I looked at the idea six ways from Sunday back at the start of the rush. I really wanted to write a vampire novel, not only because vampires are the ultimate Alpha Males but also because being one of the first to catch a rising tide and ride the crest of a big new genre wave is an ideal situation for an author. But, alas, it was not meant to be.

I could enjoy reading vampire novels but I couldn't figure out how to write one -- not without obliterating most of the standard conventions (the ethical and moral implications of eternal life for creatures who clearly haven't done anything to deserve it, risk of incineration by sunlight, the necessity of drinking real Bloody Marys to stay fit, etc., etc.). I figured I could handle the great sex and the cool clothes that go with the vampire lifestyle but the other stuff was just too complicated. I don't do magic. I need some grounding in reality, however faint.


Ah, you say, but you do write paranormal fiction, Jayne. Yes, I do. I write psychic romantic-suspense and I do it in three different settings: historical, contemporary and futuristic. I absolutely love writing stories with a strong psychic twist and have done so off and on since the very beginning of my career. Now, with the start of my new Arcane Society series, I'm pulling out all the stops.

But, you see, for me there is a clear, bright line between the psychic and the supernatural. It may be a line that exists only for me and only in my imagination, but it is there and I don't seem to be able to cross it as a writer, although I can as a reader. I love the psychic thing because I see it as taking the concept of human intuition one step beyond. Almost everyone believes in intuition. Pushing the envelope in that realm works just fine for me.

But it appears that, for now at any rate, I am doomed to remain a reader -- not a writer -- of vampire novels. If nothing else, I find myself curious to see how other authors deal with the factors that stopped me cold.

What about you? Which of the many aspects of the vast new paranormal sub-genre appeal to you? Which ones do you love and which do you avoid?

Journey of the Covers

Today I wanted to talk about covers.
Yeah, yeah, I know most of you will say that you don't judge books by the covers. But a lot of readers do, or publishers wouldn't have huge art departments.
They wouldn't have meetings to discuss the artwork for the covers.
They wouldn't "go back to the board" on covers that they feel aren't quite right.

And writers everywhere live for the day that they get cover approval.

Ahhh... cover approval. My most coveted perk.

Yeah, it was a dream thing for me.
I felt I'd finally "made it" when I got cover approval.
I'd reached one of my biggest goals, scaled the toughest peak.
Sound dramatic? Hah!
You haven't seen some of my really stinko covers.

So that's what I'm going to talk about today. My little perspective on the journey of the covers I've had. Through reissues, some have morphed from the ugly duckling into the beautiful (and appropriate) swan.

These days, most of my covers are awesome. The ones that don't blow me away are still good enough that I trust the art department's opinion. After all, that's the biz they're in and I can't always be objective.
Books aren't my babies, but they do represent several months of hard work and a lot of creative energy and I really, really get visuals, especially of my heroes.

What is that?

C'mon, you know you're asking that right now.
Well folks, that's the first cover for Sawyer, a category book I wrote for Harlequin way back when.
The first of a 4 book series.

Scary, huh?

Yeah, I wasn't too happy. Believe it or not, this is a revised version. In the original, he had no neck at all. And his chin was really pointy.
I know, I know. His eyes are still crossed and he looks really confused, but at least he doesn't have a pointy chin anymore. (I always try to look on the bright side!)

Here's the example I sent Harlequin, to show what Sawyer should look like.

What? You say he looks nothing like the guy in the cover? Really? Huh. (Picture me laughing, cuz I am. I wasn't at the time of that cover, but I laugh now.)

The hunk on the right would be mightily insulted if he saw that warped impression of himself.

I was mightily insulted for him!

In case you're curious, (and I'm just positive that you are!) I'm going to show you the other 4 covers and my original "ideas" of what they should look like.




The guy on this cover reminds me of William H. Macy. Great actor... but not the hero image I'd written.








This cover came the closest to matching the image I had.
It wasn't quite right, but at the least the guy isn't a mutant.










Little white dog?
There's no little white dog!






Okay, so what's the upside of all this?
Harlequin reissued the books once already, and the result was much, much better!


Isn't that a nicer cover treatment for my books!? I think so.
Once and Again featured the Sawyer/Morgan books.
Forever and Always featured the Gabe/Jordan books.







Next March, Harlequin is reissuing all 4 books again as single titles.
Same titles, all new look.
I love these new covers for a variety of reasons that I'll share...
right after I show them to you.













Nice, huh!?
When Harlequin does a cover right, they really do it right.

The important elements on these covers, in my never-very-humble opinion, are:

A. They're attractive. The men are good looking and rugged.
B. They bright. Smoky dark covers have their purposes, but these aren't smoky dark books.
C. They've kept the original titles, so readers won't be confused thinking these are new releases.
(I try to make it clear to readers what is new and what isn't. I have a couple of pages on my website - the reissue page and the connected book and series page - dedicated to that.)
D. They still have a "category" look, which I think is important because they are category books.

It doesn't matter if I've grown as an author, or that I no longer write in category.
(No slight to category authors at all. It is one tough job to write a category length book that covers all the bases of compelling plot, great characterization, and fast pacing. Categories were some of the hardest books I ever tackled.)
Because the books have such a fresh new look, it could mislead readers to think these are single titles. They don't read like single titles, though, and that's an important distinction.

So look at how those covers have changed! From hideous to really pretty nice.
Interesting, huh? I think so.

Another interesting facet of book covers is how the images can show up in multiple places.
You know I have examples for you, right?

This is my Too Much Temptation cover:


And this is from a magazine:










Very cool similarities, don't you think! I always wondered if one inspired the other.

And check this out! Same image, two different books. Both look great!















And...





You know that's the same pair of shoes!
But I love how they made the image look so different on the two covers.






And lastly, for a little thrill...
(hope I don't get tossed out of Quills for this)
...a nekkid photo of my Say No To Joe cover (foreign) and the same tush for a foreign Robin Schone!

Titillating, doncha think?

By now you're probably either bored, or as fascinated by all the incarnations of covers as I am!
My favorites?
Obviously something that represents the book. But not a "sex in your face" type of cover. I don't care for those. I think our work should be the draw, not the suggestion of "hot sex."

At the same time, I want readers to know what they're getting. So I love the nice, bold covers with a sexy stepback. I also loved the covers on Catherine Coulter's Sherbrook series. And Brenda Joyce's early "Fire" series.

You know that thing about cover approval?
Well, for an upcoming book, the stepback had a fighter - a very sexy dude leaning on a wall in work-out gear, all sweaty and macho.
But he had on the wrong gloves for the type of fighter I write. He wore regular boxing gloves when my fighters wear either 4 or 6 oz fingerless gloves.

Bless my publisher, they listened and changed it for me. To make it easy, they just took off the gloves. He still looks like a fighter, but now he's not the wrong fighter.
Yeah, I LOVE cover approval!

So what's your favorite type cover?
Images, like flowers or shoes (see Bryan's cover!)
Scenery? Characters (but only when they get them right!)?
Note: I've had the wrong characters on my books a couple of times. The one that comes most to mind was with a volumptuous redhead as heroine, and on the cover, the hero is atop (in a sexy pose) a scrawny blonde babe. The cheating swine!)

I've seen some stinko covers, and suffered for the writer.
I've seen some fab covers, and turned green with envy.

I've seen some that boggled my mind.

What about you?
Can you name a cover you loved?
What about "bad" covers bugs you the most?

I could go on and on - but this puppy has gotten long enough!

Happy Friday everyone!

ELIZABETH ASKS: TO SERIES OR NOT TO SERIES?

Most of the time I didn't set out to write—or not to write—series. I simply told the stories as they came to me.

When I wrote mysteries with Evan as A. E. Maxwell, we knew from the get-go that it would be a PI series featuring a guy called Fiddler. We wrote eight books for two or three different publishers (hard to say, because one pub swallowed another and/or branched into a third, carrying us along with the debris). Our audience was loyal and too small to make a living on. That was fine as long as Evan had a day job and I wrote science fiction books (lots of fun, miserable pay).

The FIRE DANCER series was born. I could have written a lot of them. I wrote only three.

Why?

When Evan quit his day job, life got interesting. The end result was that after eight years, we stopped writing Fiddler and Fiora mysteries. The fans wanted more. They still want more.

Ditto the science fiction fans.

But I simply couldn't afford to do more in either genre. There were bills to pay, kids to feed and educate, mortgages, cars, the whole catastrophe. I could make much more money for my investment of time writing romances.

And I loved romances with all the fervor of a recent convert. (Thanks, Jayne!)

When I started writing romances, I wrote unconnected books. At first, anyway. Every so often a side character would grab me and I'd write about that character in a different book. Then I wrote four inter-related stories. Didn't mean to. It just happened that way. The MacKenzie-Blackthorn books (Fire and Rain, Outlaw, Granite Man, Warrior) simply grew, one out of the other. Yes, I planned to do Utah’s story…but the publisher and I parted company for reasons too complex to go into here.

Bye-bye Utah. And yes, I still get requests for Utah’s story.

Frequently.


Then Evan and I started the Risk, Ltd. series under the name of Ann Maxwell. THE RUBY/now WHIRLPOOL, and SILK AND SHADOW were written against the Risk Ltd. backdrop. Then I found out I'd bitten off more than I could chew in terms of contracts. I had been working hard. Too hard, I guess. My doctor told me to cut back or crash.

No more Risk Ltd. books.

So now I was down to 2-3 full length historical romances a year for Avon. The ONLY series was a great success, surprising everyone when the third book went on the New York Times list. So, naturally, my publisher wants more, right?

Wrong.

My publisher was planning to more than double my print run on my fourth book. In order to sell that many copies into a resistant marketplace (remember, this was before Only You went on the NYT list), you have to have a sales “hook.” No same old same old will do.


The medieval series was born, one at a time, not as a planned unit. UNTAMED, FORBIDDEN, ENCHANTED. The readers were loyal, but the marketplace itself was beginning The Great Decline of mass market paperbacks, a process that is still ongoing.

No one knew this at the time, of course. The publisher asked me if I'd mind going back to westerns, maybe my audience wanted them more. I didn't mind—hell, I loved westerns. Always wanted to write them.

Bye-bye medievals, back to westerns.

So I wrote another Only, then took some side characters from that book for AUTUMN LOVER and WINTER FIRE.

Publishers change, people are fired or quit, news ideas come…and Avon decided to publish hardcovers under the Avon imprint. Again, there is this pesky marketing problem. How do you make a mass market paperback romance author look “important” enough to justify a hardcover price? (Remember, this was before NY really believed that down-market romances could sell in the up-market hardcover market.)

My publisher asked me if there was any other area of romance that I'd like to explore.

Oh, yeah. There sure as hell was. I'd been trying to sell romantic suspense for YEARS. (Remember, Jayne?) So it was decided that my “breakout” book would be romantic suspense, not western.


Except the timing was wrong. WINTER FIRE came out in hardcover and went on the New York Times. Yes, my publisher was surprised. But by that time, I'd already written AMBER BEACH and was well into JADE ISLAND. I was committed to romantic suspense and was loving it. I was also loving the Donovans. I did two more--PEARL COVE and MIDNIGHT IN RUBY BAYOU.

Don't know if you read my blog two weeks ago. Let’s just say that the covers for the Donovan books were a freakin’ disaster. Again, publishers were going in all directions trying to make the covers of hardback romances of all kinds appear more up-market. The “look” for romantic suspense hadn't yet gelled. I was unlucky to come out on the wrong end of the packaging game. Nothing personal, and certainly nothing intended. My publisher was doing the best it could with the knowledge at hand.

Bye-bye Donovans.

Enter MOVING TARGET—and Rarities Unlimited, a new backdrop for a new series. RUNNING SCARED and DIE IN PLAIN SIGHT were also Rarities books, with some side characters from the Donovan books snuck in.

My publisher really, really, really prefers one-offs; that is, totally unrelated books. As long as I could continue to do the kind of hard-edged romantic suspense I loved, I didn't care enough to fight to the death over the series question with my publisher.

So bye-bye Rarities Unlimited.

Enter THE COLOR OF DEATH.

Enter ALWAYS TIME TO DIE.

Except in the latter book, something called St. Kilda Consulting appeared—an international, private troubleshooting group for all those nasty transnational criminals the collapse of the Soviet Union caused. So many truly awful, and awfully fascinating, transnational crimes to understand. The more I researched, the more I realized that what we get in the headlines and six-second sound bites isn't even the tip of the international iceberg. It's hardly even the shine off the tip.

Oops. Here was another backdrop I wanted—needed—to explore with more books. THE WRONG HOSTAGE further expanded St. Kilda Consulting. Ditto INNOCENT AS SIN. Ditto BLUE SMOKE AND MURDER, the book I'm working on now.

Will all future books be St. Kilda Consulting books?

Wish I knew. Part of the answer depends on my publisher’s patience. Most depends on how long St. Kilda continues to fascinate me.

What I do know is that life isn't linear.

Series fiction is.

And you can't go home again.


My question for you is: If I could add onto any of my previous series, which one would you prefer? Or do you just want a good read, series or no?


P. S. I'm vanishing into the interior mountain west for a week. I'll comment on your comments when/if I hit a WiFi hookup, or when I get back, whichever comes first. Until then, enjoy what you have...this isn't a dress rehearsal!

IT'S NOT MY FAULT

It's the book, the latest one, the new one What's this one called? Can't remember but it'll come to me. Just give me some time.

I know what everyone's saying--that I'm lazy and pretending to work when all I'm really doing is holing up in my office with the door locked so they can't prove what I'm up to.

Mostly nothing.

Nothing visible.

It's all in the head, you see. (Control yourselves and don't say what you're thinking) My white board proves I'm working. Look at all those names and facts written up there. And the cork behind my computer--covered with maps, weather charts, and the book covers I use for dart practice.

There is a copy of BODY OF EVIDENCE, the first book in the Pointe Judah Bayou stories. And a manuscript for TARGET, the second in the series and already in production for April. Aha, a clue, this new one is another Pointe Judah book, or it will be--eventually.

Remaining sane in the early stages of writing a story that still resembles Thanksgiving dinner leftovers, all of them, after ten minutes in a food processor, isn't easy. One must devise all sorts of clever ways to keep moving forward while characters say helpful things like, "Nya nya nya," and stick out their tongues.

A joke always helps pass the time:

Wanda's dishwasher quit working so she called a repairman. Since she had to go to work the next day, she told the repairman, "I'll leave the key under the mat. Fix the dishwasher, leave the bill on the counter, and I'll mail you a check."

"Oh, by the way, don't worry about my bulldog Spike. He won't bother you. But whatever you do, do NOT under ANY circumstances, talk to my parrot! I repeat, DO NOT TALK TO MY PARROT!!!"

When the repairman arrived at Wanda's apartment the following day, he discovered the biggest, meanest looking bulldog he had ever seen. But, just as Wanda had said, the dog lay there on the carpet watching the repairman go about his work.

The parrot, however, drove him nuts the whole time with his incessant yelling, cursing and name calling. Finally the repairman couldn't contain himself any longer and yelled,

"Shut up, you stupid, friggin' bird!"

To which the parrot replied, "Get him, Spike!"

See, some people just don't listen.

Christian De Angelo! I knew a joke would work. It's loosened me up. Christian De Angelo, a former ATF (alcohol, tobacco and firearms) agent. Ice for a mind and it shows in his eyes. Big, tough, nasty history of close-calls with the mob. People can't avoid looking at him, especially Eileen Moggeridge.

Eileen's divorced and bringing up a teenage son who just did a stint in rehab. She's a fighter, has her own shop, makes sure to check behind her because some threats have been coming her way.

Christian (Angel to most) would like to be Eileen's bodyguard. Ooh, yes he would. But Eileen's through with being the helpless little woman for some guy who wants her to worship him.

There's Chuzah, he's a root doctor (think voodoo) and Sarah Board from TARGET has opened a club called, The Boardroom, that revs up when Pointe Judah revs down.

Someone's got murder in mind. Someone, or two, have other things in mind. It's Holiday time.

Whoa! JINGLE BONES. That's the name of the book. I knew it all along but wanted to keep you wondering.

Wish me well. Wish me clear thoughts and the courage to go wherever the characters and the story take me.

Darn, where are those elves in the basement when I need them?

Happy, happy,

Stella

Choose one or the lot, or none, or two:
Does your mind rush off, constantly making it hard for you to get organized?
What about coping skills--any great hints you'd like to share?
What do you do when you need to "get away from it all?"

Susan feels like the new kid on the block when it comes to connected books.

Unlike my Sister Quillers, it used to be that once I’d completed a book I was done with it, you know? Finished with those characters and ready to move on to brand new ones. I loved reading connected stories--I simply had no desire to write them.

But one day I took a good long look at the market and noticed that many of the most successful writers in our industry were writing books with connected characters. And I made a cold-blooded decision. I was going to try my hand at that as well. And If I wasn't particularly wild about the idea of reusing characters I'd already written-- well, I would just have to suck it up and do it anyhow.

Then something happened that I hadn't anticipated. I discovered I'd been missing out.

Oh. My. Gawd. Why had no one ever told me? It must be like the Secret Handshake or something, because this wasn't onerous at all! In fact, there was a huge benefit to writing connected books that had nothing to do with the advancement of one’s career. Not only was this fun, but it improved my comprehension of my characters. Yowsa!




I'm very much a character driven writer. Yet even so, it takes me a solid five or six chapters of feeling my way through the various personalities before I figure out just who all these people I’m creating are --and often it takes much longer. I've found out, however, that having a hero or heroine who's already made an appearance in another book gives me a big leg up on my understanding of their character. This was first driven home to me in the case of John, the Rocket, Miglionni from my Marines Trilogy. He was a throw-away line, hardly even a mention in Head Over Heels. In Getting Lucky he had an actual role and began to become real to me. By the time I got to his story in Hot & Bothered, I knew this guy inside out. It was so kewl that I immediately dove into another duo of connected books about Vegas showgirls.

And it happened again. I had to kind of tiptoe my way through the beginning of Skintight, but I really knew Carly Jacobsen (the best friend of Tight’s heroine) by the time I wrote Just For Kicks. And the fastest book I've ever written in my life (which ok, ok, isn't that fast compared to most writers I know, but still) is my upcoming Coming Undone, which is PJ and Jared's story. They were a couple of kids living on the streets of Denver in Hot & Bothered and those two simply would not leave me alone until I aged them 15 years and wrote their story.


So, as you can see, I’m a convert. I’ve discovered the wonders of writing connected stories, and I ain’t ever going back!

But what do YOU all love (or maybe hate) about these connected books? What pleases you most? What do you like the least? Who first sucked you in? Are there things connecting the characters that you like better than others? And do you find the characters more fully realized in subsequent stories. . . or is that a phenomenon realized only by me?

Suzanne shares: Psst! Let me tell you a secret or two or three...

Secret #1: For most of my life I’ve been fascinated by ancient pharaonic Egypt, specifically what is known as the New Kingdom dynasties (approximately 1550-1069 B.C.E.), especially the Eighteenth and Nineteenth dynasties. Among the fabled rulers of this time period are Tutankhamun, Seti I and II, and Ramses II, also known as Ramses the Great.

Secret #2: The most fascinating character I’ve ever created has been waiting for the right time, the right place, and the right book for me to tell his story.

Secret #3: Writers reinvent themselves for lots of reasons. I’ve reinvented myself to keep writing fresh and exciting for myself and hopefully for my readers.

Secret #4: My next book is truly a new beginning: I’m launching a new series, a new genre, and a new name.

Secret #5: Although I may appear to be a writer of lighthearted contemporary/historical romances, I’m actually something of a “drama queen.”

So this blog is the official unveiling of NIGHT LIFE, my first vampire paranormal romance, to be published in April 2007 by Berkley. I’ll be writing this exciting new series under the pseudonym of Elizabeth Guest. (For trivia lovers, this is a family name and the name of the heroine in my first historical romance, published by Avon in 1992.)

NIGHT LIFE is set in current day Las Vegas. You'll see that right on the front cover, where the tag line is: In Vegas, some people never see the sunlight...

NIGHT LIFE is a story of trust, betrayal, sacrifice, revenge. Life. Death. Awakening.

Here’s what someone very talented at Berkley has written for the back cover:

He returned from death…

Venerable pharaoh, ancient god of the Nile, Adrian King once sat upon his throne and led his people nobly, only to be betrayed. But a sacred ritual has allowed him to reawaken thousands of years after his death—as a vampire. Now the owner of the Royal Palace hotel and casino in Las Vegas, he is haunted by dreams of a beautiful woman—and by the dawning of an evil presence.

…and brought her fantasies to life.

Egyptologist Christine Day is drawn to the Royal Palace by its breathtaking authenticity. She is the woman Adrian has been dreaming of, the only one who can evoke real sensual passions in this fierce warrior and leader. Compelled to share his well-kept secret with Christine, he puts her at great risk. For others have awakened who will not rest until Adrian is destroyed again, even if it means taking the only true love he’s ever known…

I’m currently working on the second book in the series, DEAD OF NIGHT, set in Los Angeles. Each story will absolutely stand on its own, of course, because that’s the type of series I prefer to read. Each book will feature a different hero and heroine. But I'm thrilled to finally get to write about a very special man and his extended royal family that I've dreamed of for years.

Cissy, web mistress extraordinaire, and I will also be creating an entirely new look for my web site this fall, which will be accessible through http://www.elizabethguest.net/ or http://www.suzannesimmons.com/. (I’ll announce the launch of the “makeover” here.)

So, my secrets aren't secrets anymore. But I can't think of anyone I'd rather share them with the gang here at Running With Quills.

Inquiring Minds want to know, of course, because they always do: Are you as fascinated by all things ancient Egyptian as I am? Do you watch the documentaries on ancient Egypt that seem to show up regularly on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, etc.? And how do you like the cover of NIGHT LIFE?

Cheers!
Suzanne
aka Elizabeth Guest

Pre-order:

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR OCTOBER WINNER!

Our October contest winner is Leatrice from Augusta, Kansas. She has won a signed book from each of the Quills: Susan Andersen, Stella Cameron, Lori Foster, Jayne Ann Krentz, Elizabeth Lowell and Suzanne Simmons.

We hope you enjoy the books, Leatrice!

JAYNE'S CUNNING PLAN TO LAUNCH A NEW SERIES

Okay, those of you who know me well are aware that I write romantic-suspense under three different names: JAYNE ANN KRENTZ (contemporary romantic-suspense), AMANDA QUICK (historical romantic-suspense) and JAYNE CASTLE (futuristic romantic-suspense). You know these facts because they are mentioned prominently on each of my new releases. HOWEVER, it turns out that a lot of you don't actually read me under all three of my names. Some of my best friends (so-called) won't read me under all three of my names. Sheesh, I've got actual relatives who only read one or two of my names.

Now, it has been my considered opinion for some time that if you like the kinds of characters that I do as Quick, you'll like the ones I do as Krentz or Castle. (Of course, the unfortunate corallary is that if you don't like my Quick characters, you probably won't love my Krentz or Castle characters, either. But that's another issue, one we are not going to dwell on at length here because I find the subject just too sad for words). :(

I think one of the primary reasons we love or hate an author's characters is that the values and worldviews of those characters either resonate with and affirm our own values and worldviews or they leave us cold. Another reason we love or hate the characters is that we actually “get” their sense of humor. Or not. And, yes, I do realize that my sense of humor -- which is, of course, my characters' sense of humor -- is not universally appealing. (Another unfortunate fact that we will not be discussing here).
Happily, if you are still reading this blog we have to assume that you and I share a reasonably similar, if somewhat warped, sense of amusement. :)

A third reason we love or hate characters is that we find them sympathetic, and intriguing. No, they aren't just like us, but we would find them interesting people to know.

If you're still reading this blog we have to assume we're on the same page in a lot of ways. Speaking as an author with three names, I would like us to be on the same page literally. As in reading my books under all three of my names.

Now comes the cunning plan. With my most recent Amanda Quick title, SECOND SIGHT, I introduced a new series. The next volume in the series will be my January Jayne Ann Krentz title, WHITE LIES. Are you getting the picture here? This series will cross over between my Krentz and Quick titles. (At this point I am not taking the series into the Jayne Castle books. I figure we need baby steps here..)

The heart and soul of the series are the men and women of the mysterious ARCANE SOCIETY, an organization devoted to paranormal research. Each of the books will feature a different hero and heroine and each can be read as a stand-alone. But those daring and adventurous readers who read across my two names will, I hope, learn lots of fascinating new stuff about the Society and about the characters from the other books.

If you'd like to get some background on the ARCANE SOCIETY go to www.jayneannkrentz.com and click on the “ARCANE SOCIETY” thingy on the left. You'll find some history, profiles of the first two heroes, and lots of other good stuff. By the way, the amazing art for the Arcane Society files was done by none other than my glorious web goddess, Cissy Hartley.

Okay, that's it. That's the plan. Majestic in its simplicity, is it not? Or course, some might claim that it is simpleminded in its simplicity, but, again, we won't go there.

I've given you my opinion. What do you think are the factors that cause readers to get hooked on a series?

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!