Running With Quills

Spring in Seattle

2010-03-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

I think I mentioned in my last blog that the weather in the Pacific Northwest has been bass-akward this winter. We appear to have gotten California's weather up here, while they've gotten ours. Consequently, it's been much warmer and dryer and spring has arrived early. Yesterday it was 65 degrees and sunny.

All I can say about that is...Woo-hoo, tres kewl! Today is more overcast, but it's still wonderfully mild. I took a walk around the neighborhood this morning and shot a few pics to show you springtime in Seattle. I mean, all my tulips are days from opening up--that's almost a month ahead of their usual schedule. There's only a dusting of blooms left on my plum trees--they're already turning from flowers to leaves--and my orchid's flowers are starting to dry up and will soon be gone for another year. All the cherry trees, on the other hand, are in full bloom. Here are a few of the shots I took (I tossed in the one I took of a sunrise a couple of weeks ago, just cuz it was so pretty).

So that's spring in my 'hood--how's it shakin' out in yours? Has it caught up to your part of the world yet? And what kind of flowers/flowering trees do you most look forward to seeing?

JAYNE brings you CATHIE LINZ

2010-03-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to bring you my friend, CATHIE LINZ today. Her new book, MAD, BAD AND BLONDE is in stores now. I just finished reading it and I adored it! I mean, how can you go wrong with a romance between a children's librarian and a Force Recon Marine???? And the fact that the librarian knows how to use a gun just adds to the fun. Ahem, the fact that I am mentioned in the dedication has nothing to do with my opinion. For the record, Cathie and I go way back. We started our careers at about the same time and we've been reading each other's books ever since.

No one does romantic-comedy like Cathie.

By the way, Cathie's slogan for this blog is: Have bridal bouquet, will travel. Please welcome Cathie Linz.

*******************************************************

Thanks, Jayne!

I got the idea for my new book MAD, BAD AND BLONDE (in bookstores now!) from the opening lines – “It was the perfect day for a wedding. Too bad the groom didn’t show up.”

I heard those lines very clearly in my head. That doesn’t happen all the time, especially for the opening of a book. But right away I knew that my heroine Faith West was a children’s librarian and a jilted bride.

As Jayne Ann Krentz knows, I’m a former librarian (as is she).

And as a former librarian, I love writing about librarians. My heroine Faith works at the Chicago Public Library and the book opens with Faith being jilted at the altar. Faith has a choice – does she take her honeymoon to the Italian Amalfi Coast alone? The tickets are non-refundable. During the opening of the book you discover that Faith has a special place in her heart for Jane Austen. So she asks herself “What would Jane Austen do?”

The result is that Faith ends up going on her trip. Here’s a peek:

MAD, BAD AND BLONDE

by Cathie Linz

JILTED AT THE ALTAR!

Librarian Faith West is going on her Italian honeymoon solo, but she’s not staying that way for long. Does her sexy rebound man have ulterior motives? When they both return to Chicago, Faith has her hands full keeping former Force Recon Marine Caine Hunter in his place…and out of her bed!

Faith and I just couldn’t give up her Italian trip. Do you like to travel? What are some of your fave locations? Mine include Moraine Lake in the Canadian Rockies (I took the photo there). How about you?

You can read the first chapter of MAD, BAD AND BLONDE at my website cathielinz.com. Be sure to check out the book trailer as well on youtube.com.

Thanks again to Jayne for inviting me to blog today. I hope you bloggers will friend me on my Facebook page or you can follow me on Twitter.

Kay Stockham - She's the One

2010-03-11T02:11:00.000-08:00

Good morning all! I hope you've been enjoying some wonderful spring weather.
I'm loving the sunshine and milder tempts here in Ohio - but I haven't been able to go out and play. I'm hopelessly behind right now, so I'm thrilled that my good friend and mega talented author Kay Stockham is blogging in my spot today.
Please give Kay a giant Quill welcome!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hello, Quills!

Thanks so much to Lori and the other ladies for inviting me to stop by.

I'm always amazed (even though I shouldn't be) at the generosity and willingness to help that can be found in the romance community. That goes for the readers as well.

Last year when I was researching Alaska, I found myself clicking away on the internet and shaking my head. While there was overwhelming amounts of information, I wasn't finding what I was looking for. I wanted an insider's look at Alaska, at bush planes and remote lodges and all the other 'stuff' that makes Alaska such an appealing destination for so many. So I sent out a few emails explaining who I was and what I wanted and once again I was overwhelmed by someone's generosity. A wonderful lady named Marlie not only returned my email, she answered dozens of emails, each with dozens of questions. She also sent photos and went above and beyond to help with my research for She's the One, my latest release with Harlequin Superromance and the fifth and final book in my Tulanes of Tennessee series.

RT gave She's the One 4 stars and praised the 'bird's-eye view of Alaska.' But I’ll readily admit it was a view Marlie provided with every answer and every photo she gave me permission to share with all of you.

When I asked for photos of the types of planes flown into the bush, Marlie sent these:

One look at these photos and my heroine immediately developed a fear of flying in small planes.

Lake photos? Lodges? What did Alaska look like in the bush?

And when I asked about bears, well... Here's a photo Marlie simply titled "Lunch."

LOL Cool, no? Marlie was so gracious about sharing her experiences living and working in Alaska, and She's the One became richer and more detailed as a result. Thank you, Marlie!

I hope you'll take a moment to venture to my website at http://www.kaystockham.com/ and read the excerpt from She's the One.
But before you do, I hope you'll tell me about someone who has gone above and beyond for you. A family member, a stranger.
Your mechanic? Doctor? Friend?

Tell us about them. I'll choose a winner from those who post and they'll win an autographed copy of She's the One.

Kay Stockham
The Tulanes of Tennessee Series-Five stories...five ways to fall in love.
SHE'S THE ONE, March, 2010
Look for a NEW Montana series coming soon!
Want to win fabulous prizes?
Check out http://www.kaystockham.com/ Friend me on Myspace & Facebook!

Carla and friend Nancy Martin

2010-03-10T03:51:00.000-08:00

Crazier-than-normal week here, and my friend Nancy Martin's stepping in for me today. Please welcome her to RWQ. Nancy and I met when our daughters were in pigtails and we were both having a grand time writing category romances. Nancy's fast-paced style and quirky characters earned her a huge number of fans and, for me, are an indelible part of her "voice" as a writer. I'm a sucker for a strong voice. I've followed many writers across genres and sub-genres just because of their voice.

Thanks, Nancy!

Carla

Girls Gone Wild

After writing nearly forty romance novels, I slung my writer’s bag of tricks over my shoulder and tried writing a book in the genre I grew up avidly reading—a murder mystery

I mixed my mayhem with a dash of romance as I wrote the first Blackbird Sisters Mystery series, HOW TO MURDER A MILLIONAIRE. I took a chance, because I thought most mystery readers liked just the facts, Ma’am, no lovey-dovey stuff. Who knew my mysteries would be greeted with such enthusiasm? The quirky characters I loved writing in romance novels made an easy trip across the aisle in the bookstore, and mystery readers declared I’d created something totally new with the “romantic mystery love interest,” which is a hoot. Any romance reader will recognize the “love interest” in my Blackbird Sisters mysteries in a heartbeat. But to the average mystery reader, the alpha male, the man who breaks the rules, the criminal with the heart of molten gold—he’s a totally new character.

When Michael Abruzzo, son of a New Jersey mobster, meets my amateur sleuth and

Philadelphia society columnist Nora Blackbird, it’s love at first sight. He’s attracted by her gentle and genteel ways—not to mention the broken heart that only he can see. And she’s the proverbial moth drawn to his hot flame. Can he give up his mob ties and go straight? Can she solve murders on the Main Line using his insider knowledge of criminal ways . . . without getting him arrested? In seven books, the path of their true love runs rocky, but for me—a writer who had penned nearly forty romance novels--the luxury of exploring the same complex romantic relationship for many years was a great pleasure.

But recently I started thinking mystery readers were ready for another “new” character with roots in the romance genre--the trickster heroine. I’ve always liked the hot-tempered woman who hides her softer side behind snappy dialogue, plenty of action and chutzpah. So I spun Michael Abruzzo’s wild child little sister Roxy into a series of her own. I figure it’s time a female amateur sleuth gets as much action—in bed as well as on the mean streets--as her male counterpart.

OUR LADY OF IMMACULATE DECEPTION hit bookstores last week, and many cozy mystery fans immediately got the vapors. Roxy is too tough! Too sexy! She’s actually—gasp!—corrupt!

Mystery readers love their male tough guys, but if a female detective so much as forgets to feed her cat, they complain about her character.

In the first chapter of OUR LADY OF IMMACULATE DECEPTION (available for you to re

ad here: www.nancymartinmysteries.com ) Roxy steals a priceless statue. (After all, what red-blooded girl can resist a handsome naked man?) But the statue’s disappearance triggers the murder of a philandering tycoon and an international art scandal, too. Roxy’s caught in a big mess of her own making. And there are other difficulties to cope with: Her teenager is p

robably smarter than she is. The father of her child has problems that may make him an impos

sible life partner. And

Roxy also has what I’ll delicately call sexual issues. Like a serial killer, she even keeps mementos from her conquests. Plus she doesn’t quite know the difference between right and wrong.

I think I came up with a dynamic character who’s every bit as unrestrained as the male detectives who roam the mean streets. She’s free to act in ways that make her exciting to read about. But she’s not for the faint of heart—readers who only want to read about nice girls.

I’m thinking romance readers will understand Roxy. Do you remember the most exciting heroines you’ve ever read? And how many of them are faint of heart?

Nancy Martin is the author of nearly 50 popular fiction novels including the award-winning Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series. She serves on the board of Sisters in Crime and teaches writing workshops around the country. In 2009, she was awarded the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award for mystery writing.

Bless you every one:)

2010-03-07T19:50:00.000-08:00

Good morning, my flowers:

On Sale Now!

This has been a fabulous week and an icky week sometimes. We won't discuss the icky which only has to do with my issues over sleep. Anyone else have a lot of trouble sleeping? Even as I write that I know it's a dumb question because it's such a common problem.

The good stuff: thanks to you and my readers everywhere, OUT OF BODY is on the New York Times List. It's always such a thrill.

When I got the call on Wednesday I was staring at a blank computer screen willing some words to magically appear in front of me—no luck. Then, "brrrring" and I heard that lovely voice tell me about OUT OF BODY and I felt so cheerful. In fact I know I did some running around and whooping—very unladylike but feels so good.

On Sale Mar 30

Tomorrow evening the questions for my new book club will be posted on Facebook. There will be some starter questions but most of all I'm hoping some of you will have a question or two. If you can, please go to www.facebook.com/stellacameron and click on "discussions" in the top bar.

Have a wonderful week,

Stella

This is an off-the-wall question, but I'm looking for suggestions—for names of businesses. Crazy ones. Names that absolutely don't fit the kind of business. Any ideas?

This 'n that...

2010-03-05T09:02:00.001-08:00

Hello my friends, and...whew! Take a deep breath, Kate...yep. It's been ONE OF THOSE weeks...or two... and I should have published my blog yesterday but our Internet went down, so here I am, as the saying goes--a day late and a dollar short!

But it's been a wild few days, and it made me think of something one of my neighbors said one time, of how cool it must be to have a job where you get to work in your jammies "when the muse hits." Yeah...right. We all just hang around in our jammies all day, waiting for inspiration, right?

Uh, huh....

My nutty few days began with the release of my very first mass market book, DemonFire, on February 23, which was very exciting. I was driving to town to puppysit the granddog and visit a couple of bookstores to sign stock when I managed to hydroplane in my little pickup truck while going over the mountain in a rainstorm. I've never done this before--hope never to do it again. I'm a control freak and I dislike immensely being out of control. When your vehicle is sliding out of control with a 100 foot drop on one side, oncoming traffic ahead and a mountain on the other, you pray for the mountain. My prayers were answered and I slammed into the hillside. I'm fine, the truck is not, but it was a good lesson that, even driving slow in a rainstorm doesn't mean you're going to be safe. Of course, since the little Nissan pickup is/was our only car, my husband had to fetch me in the motorhome (thank goodness we have it--the only other alternative would have been his motorcycle!) but we picked up a rental and, other than tweaks and bruises, I'm fine. Didn't make it to the bookstores, though.

But, plenty of other readers did, and DemonFire hit the Nielsen BookScan list this week--my first list EVER of ANY significance, so that sort of balanced out the wreck...hey, in this business, we take what we can get!

And during all this time I've been working on Wolf Tales 11, which was due on February 15 and didn't quite make it on time. Luckily my editor, who's had me doing a lot of other stuff not on my schedule in order to publicize DemonFire, has been really cool about the missed deadline, and finally, this morning around two a.m. I finished my final read through on the book and it's now all ready to print and send. I also got the page proofs for Wolf Tales 10 finished, and this is all in good time as I've got copy edits for HellFire, the next in the DemonSlayers series, coming in by FedEx. (yep--jammies/muse/hanging out...)

The coolest thing, though? Remember that contest I mentioned, about asking readers to take photos for my "DemonFire sightings?" I've gotten some of the neatest pictures, and they're posted on my Facebook page! I'm still getting pictures in, and I'll be arbitrarily (names in a basket) choosing a winner in a couple of weeks for an advance readers copy of HellFire, the next book in the series. Just send your pictures to me at kate@katedouglas.com, and tell me where they were taken--store/city/state. Cell phone images are fine--I'm really getting a kick out of this, since my Wolf Tales aren't in grocery stores and Walmart and places like that. It's fun to see the various displays in different venues.

So that's how my last week or so has gone. It's an exhausting, sometimes frustrating, but oh, so gratifying business, this "author shtick," and on occasion, life gets in the way, but I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing. (and okay...yes, I do work in my jammies...)

So how was your week? Any highs or lows you want to share? I'm listening!

Susie's not gonna be foe no moe

2010-03-02T22:36:00.001-08:00

Once Upon a Time, when I was a wee sprout about to turn five, I was asked how old I'd be on my birthday. Family history has it that I looked the questioner in the eye and said, "Well, I ain't gonna be foe no moe." So of course my fam has beat that to death over the years by bringing it up anytime I was about to turn 24, 34, 44, 54. I'm pretty sure I'll go to my grave with that bit of family lore attached to me. I can hear them now: Hmmm, guess she really isn't gonna be ninety-foe no moe.

<-- born a blonde

I imagine every family probably has sayings that make no sense to anyone else, but tickle those involved. Or perhaps in your family, as in mine, they just won't let it die no matter how pretty you beg.

I don't remember exactly how old I was the year I got a cunning pair of blue flip flops with tinsel-shiny straps. I do remember we were calling them zorries that summer, that I loved mine to pieces, and had probably only had them a week the day we went over to Pleasant Harbor in my dad's old Hollywood, a 17 foot wooden boat we used to water ski behind. My cousin Colleen and I were messing around on a long, narrow dock 10 or so feet above the water when I managed to knock off one of the sandals. It fell into the water below and I flipped out in the way only pubescent girls can do. My brother Ron, who's 3 years older than I, said he'd get it for me--probably just to shut me up. He was wading from the shore out to where it floated fifteen feet away, when we saw that he was headed for an abrupt and very steep drop off. Being a know-it-all-teenage boy, however, he blew us off when we warned him-- only to immediately take the step that made him sink like a stone. So the saying he got stuck with is: "Hah! Wanna make a bet--glub, glub, glub."

Before my sweet baby boy had words, whenever we'd ask him where something was he'd say, "Eee ee ee!" with the same inflection you'd give "Here it is!" To this day the soul mate and I will still occasionally respond that way when we find something we've been searching for.

So I get it. It wasn't that my family lived to annoy me by refusing to let go of my childish "Ain't gonna be foe no moe"--although I don't doubt in my brothers' minds that was a bonus. It's more that such family sayings anchor moments in our lives, moments that bring with them flashes as clear as the days the sayings came into being. I can still see Ron's face just before he stepped off the drop off, can still feel the sun on my shoulders and picture those flip flops as clearly as the day I got them. I can still see my baby's face, all lit up with the pleasure of telling us where the item we asked about was located, if only in babyeze.

So these are a few of my family sayings. What are the ones that have become part of your family lore?

Jayne Gets a Bit Frantic

2010-02-28T15:59:00.000-08:00

This is going to be one very short blog, folks. The first volume in my Dreamlight Trilogy, FIRED UP came out in January. The second volume, BURNING LAMP, will be out in April. Meanwhile, the paperback rollover of THE PERFECT POISON goes on sale at the end of March. This has been one busy winter and, yes, I'm feeling frazzled.

Now just to top it off, I find myself on deadline with a book due on Tuesday. Yikes! Tuesday. I simply cannot think rationally about anything except sorting out my very tangled plot. I hope you will understand.

I rarely let myself get up against a deadline like this but here I am. Serious crunch time. Wish me luck.

Time to prioritize. Time to stay focused.

What do you do when you find yourself up against a wall like this?

Sincerely,

Jayne

Monumental Moments

2010-02-25T07:21:00.000-08:00

See the flowers and pretty colors? Yes, I'm anxious for spring! :-)

I have a reissued book coming out at the end of the month. It's "TEMPTED," a compilation of 3 oldies with hideous titles that I did NOT choose. They're "Annie Get Your Guy," "Messing Around With Max," and "Little Miss Innocent?" I know, poo, huh?

But I'm so glad the book is being reissued because readers often ask me about those books.

And the reissue reminded me of how utterly THRILLED I was for that first reissue. It was a milestone of sorts, a sign that my writing had gotten popular enough that it was financially beneficial to the publisher to start reissuing old titles.

That made me think of other monumental career moments...
Like first meeting Stella Cameron. That happened before I'd ever published and I was having a complete and total fangirl moment, carrying a bag of my "Stella books" to be signed. I think I'd picked her up at the airport for my local chapter during a conference. I was immediately agog when she stopped to use the payphone to call "Jayne," (yes, you should have seen my face when I realized STELLA CAMERON was in front of me, and she was calling JAYNE ANN KRENTZ, and I was privy to it all. LOL

Later Stella and I talked about my writing and she encouraged me in ways too great to go into. Stella can take a lot of credit for getting me on my published path so I can never think of monumental moments without thinking of her.

And then there's the time I was asked to be in an antholgoy, “Charmed,” with THE Jayne Ann Krentz. Holy cow, yes! Sign me up. I think I danced around the house for a week. I was also in Beguiled (which was first?) with Jayne, but that was a reissue of Jayne's with a new book of mine, totally meant to give me a boost - and it did! I loved my publisher for that.

You should have seen me when I first got to meet Linda Howard. I was totally tongue-tied. Later, when Linda invited me to speak to her chapter and even asked if I wanted to stay at her house... well, let me tell you, THAT was a big moment!

(Just last year at the RWA convention, Linda saw me and said, "Hi Lori," and I said, "Oh my God, you remember me!" LOL Heidi Betts was with me - she's a lovely person - and she said, "Well of course she remembers you. But there was no "of course" in there for me. I'll always be a fangirl for some of my favorite authors.)

Meeting those ladies and finding them so warm, genuine and REAL ranks right up there with the first time I sold, when I first got a multi-book contract, when I first made a bestseller list, and later, when I first made the NYTimes. It's even as grand as now being able to nix titles that I don't like. :-D

What about you? Have you had any great monumental life moments, or career moments? I'm not counting getting married and having kids, though I know those are very special times for many of us.

Have you ever met someone you admire? Were you disappointed or surprised in any way by the person?
Have you had an unexpected raise or promotion?
Have you ever gotten to rub elbows with someone you consider important or notable in some way?

If not, come join me at the 6th Annual "Reader and Author" Get Together. There'll be over 100 authors there, and publishers, editors, agents, and industry professionals. ;-) You'll get to meet lots of very notable peeps! Of course, there'll be a whole lot of readers, too! Only $50 (to cover your meals) to register for the entire weekend.
Deets are here: http://www.lorifoster.com/community/readergettogether.php

Have a wonderful Friday everyone!

Lori
aka
L. L. Foster
http://www.lorifoster.com/

On vacation with books

2010-02-24T03:43:00.000-08:00

Happy almost-to-the-end-of-February, everyone! I'm in south Florida with my husband, son, mother and sister, enjoying a break from winter. We're getting a foot of snow at home today. Nice for cross-country skiing when we get back but right now...I'm at the pool enjoying the Florida warmth and sunshine.

Whenever I'm on the road, I love to stop into bookstores. Yesterday I wandered into a nearby Barnes & Noble and snapped up my copy of Stella's OUT OF BODY. That cover just "pops." It was hard to resist so many of the other books with it, but I brought several with me and try to buy only one at a time when I'm on the road. Otherwise I end up with an even heavier suitcase!

I dove right in. OUT OF BODY is a great read. I'm having a blast. Reading on vacation's always fun, but reading a book by a friend makes it even more special. I'll finish it today and wander back to the bookstore and

see what else I find. My sister's reading Sue Grafton's U IS FOR UNDERTOW right now, and my mother's reading a Patrick Taylor book. Zack's reading I, SNIPER by Stephen Hunter, and Joe's reading Robert Crais's new Joe Pike book -- I read it on the flight down here and it's so good.

We walk and read a lot on vacation, but we'll hit Los Olas and maybe the casino, and we're trying new restaurants as well as old favorites...I had fried plantains yesterday. We don't exactly get those in my corner of Vermont. ;-)

Congratulations, Stella, on a wonderful start to a terrific new series. I can't wait for the second book, even if I'm reading it by the woodstove home in Vermont!

Do you like to read on vacation? Obviously Stella's book didn't hang out in my "TBR" pile for long, but what's in your "TBR" pile -- whether you're reading at home, in a hammock on the beach, or on break at work?

Take care, and have a great day!

Carla

P.S. Just back with Kate Douglas's DEMON FIRE!

Tee Hee!

2010-02-21T19:39:00.000-08:00

I'm popping–and I am not kidding. I am a happy camper, happy as a clam (how do they know they're happy?) And over the moon. Howzat?

OUT OF BODY from the COURT OF ANGELS Series has been released early. It is on sale in all outlets RIGHT NOW and I've seen it.

When I see a new book of mine on the shelves I just stand there “gobsmacked” as they say in some parts of the UK (imagine mouth open and eyes wide). I figure no one near me knows I wrote that book with the perfect cover. so I can wear a silly grin, get inside my own silent bubble inof thrillsville and I'm invisible.

The COURT OF ANGELS trilogy was written last year. Three books in a year is a lot of writing but I had so much fun with this series. And don't think I'm done with these people or the weird stuff they encounter. I have started on the next two stories.

A little excerpt from OUT OF BODY:

Gray cast about, afraid to move, afraid not to move. "Marley," he said quietly. "Marley?" Her eyelids slid shut but her face became rigid. As if she was wide awake and tense inside a sleeping body. Gray saw her breathing grow shallow and rapid.

He bent over her. She hardly breathed at all. Automatically he lifted her into his arms. Sharp currents ran through his body.

"You must not interfere."

Gray looked over his shoulder. In the multi-colored haze suspended over the dollhouse she had been working on, a wraith-like series of shapes coalesced into a dim face. He screwed up his eyes, strained to see. Gray-streaked dark hair. Sharp features, he thought.
The pattern of a voice rose out of that rustling, clear and demanding. It came from the direction of Marley's workbench and the hovering face.

Gray held Marley tighter, gritted his teeth at the battering of sensation passing to him from Marley.

He sat down with her on his lap and stared ahead. Like her still-sleeping dog, he waited. Gray waited because he felt he must. At least Marley kept breathing faintly, but she was limp. He was afraid, but not for himself. He wanted to know more about whatever was happening around him

The rustle continued.

His attention rose to the ceiling above the house. The colors there glowed, green, blue, pink.

They throbbed and he heard the sounds take shape again.

"She will live or she will die. She is uniquely gifted. You must only wait and be glad for your own emergence. Be ready to seize your own talents."

This time the words definitely came from the ethereal being.

* * *
I can't say I have ever thought about what it would be like to have an electric reaction (fairly literally) to touching someone who, er, appealed to you. And I'm not explaining more of what happens in the story with that element, but let's just say the results are explosive, penetrating and unforgettable.

In the back pages of OUT OF BODY there is a $1 coupon toward the purchase of OUT OF MIND roughly three weeks later and in OUT OF MIND you'll find a $1 coupon toward the last of the first three books, OUT OF SIGHT.

As Wazoo would say, hoo mama, I'm bubbling away here and need to give you all a break

You can write to me at www.stellacameron.com or join me at Facebook. Send me a tweet at StellaCam over at Twitter where I'm becoming addicted despite once saying I never would...

If you go to www.purplepapayallc.com you can get a signed bookplate.

Most important, I just want you to have as much fun reading these books as I had writing them.

Cheers,
Stella

Q: What do you think about our starting an online book club for this series? Let me know if I should think about putting some starter questions together. Also we can add your own questions right up front if you have them.

Book winner!

2010-02-18T22:08:00.000-08:00

We forgot to post the winner for Kristan Higgins' book giveaway. Congrats to Diana P. A book should be wingin' its way to you as we speak. ~Susan

Just one of those weeks...

2010-02-18T21:24:00.000-08:00

This has been a really weird week. I had a book due on Monday--Wolf Tales 11--and I missed the deadline. I rarely do that because, one, deadlines are important and they're set for a reason. Production is geared to the date a book is supposed to be turned in, and unless I warn my editor way in advance, I can really mess up Kensington's schedule. Did I say this does NOT endear authors to their editors? But, an even more personal issue is that if I'm late on one book, it cuts into the time I have slotted to write the next book, so this extra two weeks I've asked for will probably come back and bite me in the butt around the end of April when StarFire, the third book in my DEMONSLAYERS series is due.

Anyway, the book's late partially because I've been doing a lot of promotional stuff for DemonFire, which is scheduled to release next Tuesday, February 23rd. I've spent so much time writing blogs and "letters to readers" for various websites that it's put me behind and I've been scrambling to finish. Of course, it helps that I finally figured out yesterday how the book should end. (That's a big part of finishing these things.) The plus side of all this is that I've been so busy working on promo and writing WT11 that I haven't had time to worry about DemonFire coming out, which is a VERY GOOD THING.

Plus, I'm going to spend all next week babysitting the grandpuppy in town while our daughter Sarah and her family are in Disneyland, so I'll be too busy consoling Gigi while her family is away to freak out about my first mass market release. Gigi is absolutely wonderful--she's a rescue dog that Sarah found after weeks and weeks of searching for just the right pet for a family with three live wires known as children. She hadn't had much luck--the dogs she saw were either too big or too small or not trustworthy around small kids. Then she found Gigi at a "pet fair." She was filthy and matted and Sarah said she took one look and fell in love. Gigi looks like she should be a big dog, but somehow she got the wrong set of legs, which means she's a big but very short dog. Now tell me, who could NOT love a girl with a face like that?

But I digress...what's made this week so strange is the way my writing has been going on the current book. Each day that I've booted up the laptop and started in on the story, I've had the day's scenes in my head from the get go. Once I've gotten each scene down, I haven't had a CLUE what was coming next. So I'd shut down for the night, and when I got up in the morning, there was the next part of the book. Not my usual process as I generally have a little bit of an idea by the time I'm down to the last three or so chapters, how the book is going to end. Not this time--I didn't know for sure until yesterday, and I'm still not positive how I'm going to get there. It's not that the process has failed me, but it's sure taken a jog. It's left me a bit off balance, but also really excited to see what's going to happen next. I should be done by this weekend and be ready to turn it over to my beta readers. That's when I find out if this new writing method will have paid off or not! (My beta readers are not at all shy about telling me when I've totally mucked up a story. I "think" this is a good thing!)

My publisher has put up a wonderful webpage for me with the first chapters of DemonFire and HellFire, the second book in the series. I hope you'll take a look, and if you're out and about with a camera in your hand and see any displays of DemonFire (it's supposed to make it to grocery stores and Walmarts and Target stores along with bookstores around the country) take a picture and send it to me at kate@katedouglas.com. I'm so excited about having a book out with this type of distribution, I'll be running a contest on my Facebook page and posting some of the photos I get of places where readers have seen it. The winner will get an ARC of HellFire, the second book in the series.

Now I need to get back to work on Wolf Tales 11 and make sure the ending I think it's going to have is the one it's actually going to get. And then I need to think about StarFire and what's going to happen in that one.

And totally off subject, but have I mentioned lately how much I absolutely love my job? I'm sitting here writing this blog with a stupid grin on my face, thinking about what I've got on my schedule that's making me nuts and at the same time how much fun I'm having. I hope the day never comes where I feel jaded by the wonderful opportunity I've been given, to write the stories that pop into my head, and actually have people read them. It's an absolute rush, and I'm thankful every day for such a cool opportunity. It's got to be the greatest career in the world.

So how has your week been? Were you stuck in snow on the east coast, glued to TV and the Olympics, or are you taking your free time (we all have LOTS of that, right?) to read some good books. And if so, what are you reading? I'm waiting for my copy of Stella's OUT OF BODY to arrive. With any luck, it's going to show up AFTER I finish Wolf Tales 11! Wish me luck!

Susan's February so far

2010-02-16T18:07:00.001-08:00

February's been a busy, sometimes up, sometimes down, month for me. It started with a bang with a ski trip (with all the usual suspects) to the Mazama Ranch House in Washington's Methow Valley.

Eat...Sleep...Ski. That's a motto worth living by. Right up there with Write hard. Die free.

It was very cool--and the only opportunity I had to ski this year since, as anyone's who's been watching the Olympics can tell you, the Pacific Northwest is having an El Nino winter of higher than usual temps. My tulips are up, if not yet open, my crocus and Daphne Odora are blooming and my Thundering plum trees are about to burst into bloom. I put in some new ground cover on one of my parking strips this afternoon while my cats raced up trees and pounced on the dirt I displaced. In February. Weird.

My oldest brother broke his leg snowboarding and my husband was held up in Sakhalin, Russia, for an entire week waiting for freaking Alaska Airlines to find his duffle bag with all his tools, so he could board an 18 hour ferry to Iturup Island, get his work done and get home. (the latter hasn't happened yet)

I attended a 90th birthday party up on Whidbey Island for my sister- in-law's mother--a woman I've known since I was a kid--and got to see the new dream home it where it was held.

I received the covers for my next release: Burning Up (September) and 2 reissues: Skintight (June) and Obsessed (August)

HQN, bless em, let me make some changes to Skintight. I wish, wish, wish Kensington would let me edit Obsessed as well, as it's an early book of mine with freshman writer mistakes. I still love the characters and the story, but I've developed my craft quite a bit since then and to be able to strike out a paragraph here or a sentence there would have made the pacing soooo much tighter. But, sigh. It's not to be.

As mentioned, the soul mate's been in Russia since the 2nd, so Valentine's Day was a non-event. But my sweet baby boy took his girl and me to a restaurant called Spring Hill for dinner on the 13th. And oh my gawd their food was good. By sharing dishes we got to taste mussels and clams and pan fried trout, rolls with creamery butter and sea salt, a fuji apple salad, dinah's cheese and handmade tagliatelle with crispy pork shoulder and hen of the woods mushrooms. For dessert we shared bites of popcorn hushpuppies and blood orange sherbert. Got two words for ya, my pretties: Yum-mee. (I really like to eat. Does it show?) If you're ever in Seattle I highly recommend this restaurant. Reservations recommended.

I had a scare with my mom, who has dementia and my brothers and I have made some adjustments in her care. I think we'll be lucky if we're able to keep her in her own home beyond this year.

I've been hard at work on the beginning of Ava's story, but it's slow going. This is not exactly news, as starts are always the toughest for me--starting books, starting scenes or chapters. But especially the book itself. I always have to pick my way through several chapters before I begin to figure out what the heck I'm doing.

It now has a title, though. Drum roll, please, maestro. Rat-atat-atat-atat! "LAdies and GENTlemen! Please direct your attention to the book in ring three! Officially Announcing........rat-atat-atat-atat!.... Playing Dirty! (too much build up, anticlimactic pay-off?)

As you can probably tell, I've been on my own quite a bit this month, so I tend to run on a bit. I was going to add even more, but this thing is turning into a manuscript in its own right and I gotta go catch the women's snowboard cross. So tell me, how's your February been going?

Jayne brings you Deborah Schneider

2010-02-14T15:53:00.001-08:00

Jayne, here, to introduce a friend and Seattle-area author, Deborah Schneider. Deb is the author of historical Western romance. We haven't seen a lot of Western romance lately. It's good to have a new book in that wonderful sub-genre. Deb is also the 2009 Romance Writers' of America Librarian of the Year and the 2009 Stella Cameron Book Goddess award — yes, that Stella Cameron. Who knew? Visit Deb's website at www.debschneider.com

Please give a warm RWQ welcome to Deborah!

******************************************************

I’m delighted to be invited to blog today by all these amazing authors. I’m a huge fan of all of them, and like the stars of Wayne’s World, you should visualize me on my knees, bowing down and repeating, “I’m not worthy”.

It’s Valentine’s Day, the one day each year we set aside to send cards, flowers, candy and various other things, (apparently a cell phone is the new “it” gift), to express our love to our significant other.

In a romance novel, we use subtle hints to the reader to explore the couple’s feelings as they move through various levels of intimacy. We build a relationship step by step.

At the first meeting, whether they’re seeing each other across a ballroom, being introduced by a family member, forced to work together to solve a crime or save the world, it’s understood the couple experiences an immediate physical attraction to each other. You convey this to the reader using sensory details.

In my recent release, Promise Me, the hero and heroine meet for the first time late at night, in a hotel kitchen. Amanda can’t sleep and Sam offers to make her a hot toddy.

He was standing far too close to her. Only inches separated them, and she felt a tremor of delight when their fingers touched as she accepted the mug. She was acting silly as a besotted schoolgirl. As she tried not to stare at the chiseled features, golden eyes that sparkled with good humor, and the dark, thick hair that he wore too long to be respectable, she thought perhaps she might discover another use for her bed rather than sleep.

After the first flash of attraction, the couple spends time together, learning more about personal interests, tastes, hobbies and pastimes. The level of intimacy deepens and they begin to trust each other, sharing hopes, dreams and secrets.

At this point, the couple might move to sexual intimacy, with touch, kissing and making love. They could now be expressing their feelings openly or one of them might be holding back, because of fear, misunderstandings, or external circumstances.

Ultimately, the couple reaches the point of unconditional love, when they are willing to make a sacrifice and put the needs of the one they love above their own.

From the shiver of excitement when a couple meets for the first time to the end of the story, a reader picks up a romance novel because they want to follow the relationship that develops between this couple. It’s the slow kindling of love that brings the reader back, book after book to the genre.

Imagine all the small things your loved one does for you, the moments of quiet companionship, the joke when you’re feeling a little down, the movie or song you talk about all the time because it’s so meaningful to you. Whether you are in the early stages of a relationship, or celebrating a silver wedding anniversary, it’s shared memories and experiences that create true romance.

Do you have a favorite romantic memory of “True Romance”? (A Rated G one, please!)

Sincerely,

Deborah Schneider

www.debschneider.com

Valentine's Day plans, anyone?

2010-02-11T06:59:00.000-08:00

Hey, did I luck out or what!

For once I have a really good topic - Valentine's Day!

I also have a new book out, and it hit #7 on the New York Times. Yay. I'm super excited, so I don't really need any other Valentine's Day gift.

Saturday I'll take part in a multi-author booksigning where I'll get to visit with author friends, chat with reader friends, and later see a movie. Nothing too fancy for hubby and me.

But what about you?
Do you like flowers for the most-romantic day?

I'm spoiled because Allen brings me flowers all the time, whether it's a special occasion or not. I like any flower that smells good! Favorites are hyacinth, roses, gardenias, and lilies!

Are chocolates more your thing? If so, what kind of chocolates?
I'm partial to caramels, or good old Hershey. Yes, I'm a simple gal with simple needs.
I also love chocolate cream pie, so in a pinch, that'll do.

Romantic dinners? Or do you have a favorite restaurant?

I really like Olive Garden. Yes, I know, not all that romantic or special, but see above about me being pretty simple. LOL

Movie?
I'm DEFINITELY a movie gal, so guess what we'll be seeing for Valentine's Day!
Are you ready?
WOLFMAN! Oh yeah, I can't wait! Benecio Del Torro makes an awesome wolfman. And with Anthony Hopkins in there, too, we can't miss!
The previews look amazing.

Check out the movie site here:
http://www.thewolfmanmovie.com/

I know, not overly romantic, but mega fun!

BTW, if jewelry is your thing, do you trust hubby to pick out something you'll love, or do you want in on the decision making?
Me, I want in! His tastes are not always my tastes, and really, if he gets it for you, you gotta wear it, right? When Allen wants to buy me jewelry, he usually sets up a lunch date out near the jewelry store, then tells me after we eat, "Let's go buy you something." :-) Gotta love the guy for knowing me so well.

So what about you? Any big plans? Memorable Valentine's Days past?
Dish!

And Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Lori Foster
aka
L. L. Foster
http://www.lorifoster.com/

Carla presents guest author MJ Rose

2010-02-10T03:24:00.000-08:00

Hello, friends! I'm presenting my first guest since I came on board with Running with Quills. I'd like you to meet M.J. Rose, an extraordinary suspense author and one of the most creative people I've ever known. Please welcome her to RWQ and feel free to ask her any questions.

Thanks,

Carla

Great Expectations.

I’m all about being happy so I don’t have great expectations… too often they only lead to great disappointments.

Which is why when I got email in April 08 from Warner Bros TV asking if the film/TV rights to my suspense novel, "The Reincarnationist," were available I passed it on to my agent and didn’t think about it again. I’ve gotten those queries before and they’ve never lead to anything.

Two weeks later, my agent, Lou Pitt called to tell we were in “talks”. "But don't get excited,” he said. “These rarely lead anywhere.”

Keeping my nose to the grindstone, I just kept writing my next novel.

Two weeks later, they made an offer to option the book and after a few back and forth phone calls we agreed to a price. At which point he reminded me not to get excited. “Tons of books are optioned every year but few of them ever go any further than that.”

Keeping my nose to the grindstone, I just kept writing my next novel.

No more info for a few more weeks then Lou called to tell me Warner had sent the book to writer David Hudgins (Friday Night Lights). If he liked it they were gong to ask him to write the pilot. “But you know a lot could fall apart between now and then. So don’t expect much.

The idea was not to do a straight adaptation of my "Reincarnationist" novels (The Reincarnationist, The Memorist and the forthcoming The Hypnotist - due in May) But to use my premise -- past life research at aninstitute being utilized to solve mysteries and to help people deal with psychological traumas.

Keeping my nose to the grindstone, I just kept writing my next novel. And kept writing it over the next few months and David signed on to be the show runner and wrote the script and Warner Bros started shopping it and the studios bid on the pilot and Warner’s made a deal with Fox TV and Lou called to tell me that they were shooting a pilot. Six weeks from Feb – March 09.

Keeping my nose to the grindstone, I just kept writing my next novel. And kept writing it over the next few months and David signed on to be the show runner and wrote the script and Warmers started shopping it and the studios bid on the pilot and Warner’s made a deal with Fox TV and Lou called to tell me that they were shooting a pilot. Six weeks from Feb – March 09.

“But the chances of the pilot getting picked up are tough. Only one in four make it. Lots of pilots are shot and never see the light of a TV screen,” Lou said.

No problem…I was an old hand at this “no expectations” thing by now… though I will admit going down to Baltimore to see the filming was exciting beyond what I’d imagined. A cast and crew of 250 people working for two months based on an idea I came up with. It seemed impossible and I was really humbled by it.

And then on May 15th, all those "nevers" met their match when Lou called. I was in a cab at 23rd and Park ...not that I remember or anything. The cab driver thought that something terrible had happened because I screamed and then started to cry when Lou told me to tell me Fox had picked up "Past Life" and the series based on my novel would hit the small screen sometime in 2010.

That sometime is now. “Past Life premiered after American Idol on Tuesday night at 9(EST) and will now be on Thursdays at 9 (EST) through mid March."

Of course the great expectation thing isn’t over…now they are all telling me that what really matters is that we get picked up for a second season and 50% of shows never do.

So how to handle it? Nose to the grindstone I’m writing my next novel… but every once in a while I stop to pinch myself because if you’d asked me 10 years ago when I self published my first novel, Lip Service, if this is what I expected to happen…I wouldn’t have dreamed it. So much for great expectations.

If you’d like to download a 100 page free sampler of The Reincarnationist, The Memorist and that novel I was writing during all this - The Hypnotist - please visit. http://www.reincarnationist.org/?page_id=444

M.J. Rose is the bestselling author of eleven novels including THE REINCARNATIONIST (2/23/10 in paperback), chosen by Booksense/IndieNext as one of 2007's Best Suspense Novels, THE MEMORIST (3/28/10 in paperback) a People Magazine Book of the Week, and THE HYPNOTIST (4/28/10), of the acclaimed suspense series that looks at how our past lives impact our present lives.

NEWS FLASH–READING RELIEVES STRESS!

2010-02-07T21:21:00.000-08:00

Good Morning, my flowers:

Well, READING RELIEVES STRESS is not exactly news to most of us, but now I’m reading this information as if the rest of us haven’t been picking up books to “get away from it all” for just about as long as we can remember.

However, if there should be anyone who hasn’t realized the deeply beneficial results reading induces, now you know. Which brings me to my Court of Angels and the first book in the series, OUT OF BODY.

Neat segue, huh? Except that I believe there will be more than a few moments when the book produces more excitement than peace:) If I’m wrong, I haven’t done my job.

An even more blatant commercial here: If you are moved to pre-order the books from your favorite source, that would be great.

Special collector’s packets are available only through the book shops listed at www.purplepapayallc.com . For copies that I’ll sign for you, please use Seattle Mystery Bookshop, also listed at Purple Papaya or go directly to www.seattlemystery.com . They are happy to mail to any location.

Switching topics just a little. Wazoo and her “friend,” Nat Archer, want to take over the keyboard for an instant and I’m going to give in to them to get a little of that peace I mentioned.

Wazoo and Nat Archer here. We got two words for you, “WHO DAT!”

Stella back again. Okay, anyone know what that means?

Peace and regular excitement to all,

Stella

Q: What is your favorite way of dealing with stress/tension/the blahs? I’m always looking for more techniques.

Those sexy secondaries...

2010-02-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

Okay, for absolutely no reason other than the fact I'm wired weird, I've been thinking about secondary characters and what it is about them, at times, that gives them the power to hijack a story. As writers, we've all had it happen, but why is that? Where do they come from? No. Don't tell me. I probably don't want to know, though I must admit, when it happens it's almost always a good thing.

In DemonFire, I knew I was going to have my protagonists travel to the mythological world of Lemuria, but I had no idea what a big part of the series my Lemurian characters would play. For the record, the legend of Lemuria is real. Lemurians were supposedly forced from their island continent by a huge cataclysm, similar to what happened to Atlantis. Unlike the Atlanteans, though, Lemurians ended up relocating to a new home inside the dormant volcano known as Mount Shasta. They supposedly live in rooms lined with gold and jewels, and on occasion their jeweled homes are visible to the local residents if the sunlight hits the mountain just right. Looking at the picture I took of Shasta last year, it's easy for me to imagine an entire civilization deep inside that huge old volcano, but I digress...

When I was working on DemonFire, I met Alton. He's the son of the Lemurian leader, heir to the Chancellor's seat on the Ruling Council of Nine, but as the son of an immortal, he knows the potential for job advancement isn't all that great. He gets caught up in the battle between Earth and demonkind, but he doesn't do it from the sidelines. Nope. He goes and falls in love with a human woman.

Ginny Jones was another minor secondary character, sort of the foil for my heroine, Eddy Marks. Mouthy and hard-headed as she is, Ginny doesn't stay in her supporting role for long, though she really doesn't want anything to do with that big, tall blond guy who claims he's Eddy's friend from college. Yeah, right... like she's gonna believe that? Here's a quick look at what happens when the secondaries start jostling for the lead spots in a book:

She brushed her hands over her face, scrubbed at her eyes. Planted her hands on her hips and glared at Alton.

Standing behind Ginny, Ed shrugged helplessly and shook his head. They couldn’t let her remember what she’d seen.

Alton wasn’t sure it would work, but he reached for Ginny, lifted her up to her toes and leaned over and kissed her. Their mouths connected, hers slightly parted in shock, his firmly covering her soft, full lips and he poured the strength of his hypnotic powers into her startled mind.

She fought him for but a second, until the strength of his mental touch calmed her, confused her, left her breathless and wondering who she just kissed and why. Alton felt her confusion, sensed her blossoming desire and realized he could end the kiss at any time.

Slowly, reluctantly, he moved his lips over hers for one, last taste and then set her gently back on her feet. Ginny blinked, touched her fingertips to her mouth and then turned away.

Ed gently took Ginny’s arm and walked with her into her house.

Alton waited impatiently. He refused to think about the kiss, but it had been the only way he knew of to overwhelm her strong will. He couldn’t risk her recalling that she’d almost been killed by a concrete statue of a grizzly bear.

One that was powered by not one, but four demons. Four of the evil beings, cooperating...demons, working together.

It was worse than he’d thought.

So was his reaction to the woman. Ginny. Her name was Ginny and his kiss had made her forget.

Unfortunately, the taste of her lips, the soft curve of her breasts against his chest, the taste of her sweet mouth, was all he could think of. He’d never reacted to any female on such a visceral level, especially one so inappropriate. He had no time for a human woman. None at all for one with a will as strong as Ginny’s.

If you want to get to know Alton and Ginny, along with Dax, Eddy Marks, Eddy's dad, Willow the will 'o the wisp or Bumper the mutt, look for DemonFire, my first mass market release coming out on February 23rd, and there are first chapters of both DemonFire and HellFire posted at Kensington's site. And if you're at all into photography and want a chance to win an ARC of HellFire, Alton and Ginny's story, I'm doing sort of a fun contest--asking for readers to take photos of DemonFire wherever they see it displayed and send them to me at kate@katedouglas.com. I intend to post them on my Facebook page and the reason I'm doing this is to see all the different places the book shows up.

I'm published in trade erotic romance, and those books have limited distribution, so I'm absolutely jazzed about seeing my newest book in places where a lot of people go to buy books--like grocery store racks and Walmart or Target, and I can't wait to see what kinds of photos readers send me. If you want more details, join my newsletter. There's a link on the front page of my website. Or, you can find out more on my Facebook page.

So tell me--are there any secondary characters you've fallen for? Hoped they'd get their own story? So far I've been lucky--whenever I've read one, they've usually had a book written at some point, and whenever I meet one in my own work, they generally haunt me until I give in. They're tough, I tell ya. Tough and persistent, but that's probably what makes them so endearing!

Susan Welcomes back Kristan Higgins

2010-02-02T18:36:00.000-08:00

She's baaaaaack! Join me in giving the always fun Kristan a big Quills welcome!

Thanks as ever to the lithe and beautiful Susan Andersen for inviting me to be here! Of course, I had to remind her that yes, she really did offer to have me back on RwQ, but lucky for me, I keep meticulous records and had the hard evidence. It’s truly a pleasure to be back, and a little surreal to be in even the virtual presence of such amazing authors.

When I think about romance novels, one of the things I love best is when the hero and heroine are going to have a very hard time getting together. I think there are two fundamental questions that we author folk have to answer. The first is, Why are these two absolutely perfect for each other? And the second, of course, is, Why are these two so very, very wrong for each other?

In The Next Best Thing, my fifth romantic comedy, we find Lucy, a young widow. She deeply loved her husband, Jimmy, who died in a car accident five years ago…but it’s time to move on. She wants kids. She wants a husband (sort of). Someone she won’t love that way, because she never wants to have her heart crushed again. She figures she’ll pick someone decent, someone nice…but not The One. Husband #2 doesn’t have to be all that special. It’s fine. Lucy doesn’t need much.

First order of business, stop sleeping with Ethan, her dead husband’s brother. See, Ethan and Lucy have been friends for years. In fact, Ethan introduced Lucy to his big brother, and the rest was history. A few years after Jimmy’s death, Lucy and Ethan start the privileges part of their friendship…and things start to get complicated.

So obviously, it’s got that so wrong feeling…not just her friend, but her brother-in-law! Not only that, but…well, Ethan’s very loveable. Because she (A) doesn’t want to kill him…there’s something of a family curse, you see, and (B) isn’t looking for love this time around, she cuts the benefits package, and off she goes, looking for Mr. Not-Awful.

Now let me just state for the record that I’ve always imagined being widowed. My mom was widowed young, so it’s regrettably easy to picture. And McIrish, my sainted husband, is a firefighter. And yes, he has a very good-looking younger brother. I mean, McIrish is very cute and I love him very much, etc., etc.…but his brother is gorgeous! Six-foot-three, blue eyes, black hair, killer smile. Have I mentioned that he’s single? And so nice. Imagine my conversation with said relation one fine day as he, McIrish and I drove merrily along on our way to the beach.

Brother-in-law: “So, Kristan, what’s your new book about?”

KH: “Oh, it’s about a young widow who’s trying to move on a few years after her husband dies.”

B-I-L: “Cool. Who’s the hero?”

KH: “The dead husband’s younger brother.”

Uncomfortable glances exchanged between brothers. Silence ensues.

KH: “Who’s hungry?”

The Next Best Thing is further complicated because Ethan, our hero, is tired of living in his brother’s shadow. Over the years, Jimmy’s become a bit of a saint, and if Lucy wants to find someone else, fine. Well, not fine, of course. Ethan loves Lucy…he can’t help it. But if she’s moving on, he’ll try to find something else, too. But you know how it goes. The heart wants what the heart wants. Throw in some fabulous desserts — Lucy’s a pastry chef — an Italian restaurant, a Mafia don of a cat, a tiny town off the coast of Rhode Island, and I think you’ll have a lot of fun with The Next Best Thing.

So here’s a question for you…have you ever fallen for someone who really seems off limits? A priest, for example? Your friend’s honey? Your sister’s ex? I’ll send a signed copy of The Next Best Thing to one of today’s responders. Alas, I did ask my gorgeous brother-in-law if he’d be willing to date one of the responders, but he took the high road and refused to let me auction him off. Sorry. You’ll have to settle for a book.

Looking forward to hearing your stories!

~Kristan

www.kristanhiggins.com

JAYNE WELCOMES PAULA GRAVES

2010-01-31T11:22:00.000-08:00

Jayne, here, to welcome back romantic-suspense author Paula Graves. She's got a hot new series debuting and the best part is that the first two books are being published back-to-back this month and next so you don't have to wait to read the second book!

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Hi, y'all. Thanks for letting me talk a little bit about my new series from Harlequin Intrigue, "Cooper Justice." The books center around the Coopers, a large, boisterous family who runs a fishing camp and marina on Gossamer Lake in Chickasaw County, Alabama. Some have moved away, while others have stayed, but they all feel the inescapable pull of family and home.

And love, of course. Growing up with parents still happy and in love after over forty years, the Cooper siblings all secretly yearn to find that same forever kind of love.

The first two books in the series, CASE FILE: CANYON CREEK, WYOMING and CHICKASAW COUNTY CAPTIVE, come out back to back this month and next. And the heroes in both books, Riley Patterson and Sam Cooper, share one attribute: they both need a second chance at forever love.

I love stories about love the second time around. I think people are hotwired to seek love in their lives, and just because you've known love, and lost it, doesn't mean you can't find love again, does it? Sometimes, we're lucky enough to find a powerful, fulfilling love more than once in our lives. And sometimes, we find the love we thought we had before but never really did. Those are themes I explore in the first two books of the Cooper Justice series.

When the only Cooper sister, Hannah, is ambushed by a serial killer posing as a cop during her Wyoming vacation, she's the only one of the killer's victims who escaped to tell about it. She's now a person of extreme interest to Wyoming cop Riley Patterson, who's been hunting the killer since the murder of his own wife three years earlier. But there's a big problem: Hannah can't remember much about the attack. Now, she and Riley are in a race to figure out just what it is she can't remember before the killer finishes what he started.

Riley starts the story very much in love with another woman, his deceased wife. But she's gone and he's still young, vital and alive. When he finds himself drawn to feisty Hannah, will he take a second chance on love?

Then, in February 2010's CHICKASAW COUNTY CAPTIVE, we meet Sam Cooper, a prosecutor who has just returned to Chickasaw County. Someone is targeting Sam, using his daughter Maddy to do it. After an attempted kidnapping leaves four-year-old daughter Maddy traumatized and her teenaged cousin/babysitter in a coma, Sam knows he needs help protecting his family and finding out who's behind the attack. But he's not sure Kristen Tandy, a young female police detective with a notoriously tragic past, is the right person for the job.

Sam's not pining for a dead wife. Instead, he's dealing with a living ex-wife, his daughter Maddy's mother Norah, who didn't love him enough to stick around for marriage once motherhood was involved. So the last thing he needs to do is fall for a woman who has a phobia about children. Kristen's tragic past explains her aversion, but can Sam help her work through her fears? Or, for his daughter's sake, will he have to walk away from a second chance at love?

Here's a sneak peek at my February book, CHICKASAW COUNTY CAPTIVE, featuring Sam and Kristen:

* * * * *

Blue and cherry lights strobed the night sky as Sam Cooper muscled his Jeep into a tight turn onto Mission Road. Ahead, a phalanx of police cars and rescue units spread haphazardly across the narrow road in front of his house.

He parked the Cherokee behind the nearest police cruiser, his pounding heart outracing the pulses of light. Ignoring the gaggle of curious onlookers, he took the porch steps two at a time and pushed past the uniformed cop standing in the doorway.

"Sir, you can't—"

Sam ignored him, scanning the narrow foyer until he caught sight of his older brother's terrified face. "J.D.?"

J. D. Cooper turned at the sound of his name. The look on his face made Sam's stomach turn queasy flips. "Is Cissy okay?" he asked J.D. "Where's Maddy?"

J.D.'s gaze flickered back to the paramedics working over the unconscious body of his teenage daughter lying on the woven rug in the middle of the foyer. "Cissy's alive but they can't get her to respond."

Sam's heart skipped a beat. "What the hell happened? What about Maddy?"

J.D. looked at him again. "We don't know."

The panic Sam had held in check broke free, suffocating him. He started toward the stairs up to the bedroom, where he'd last seen his daughter when he kissed her good-night before leaving for his business dinner.

J.D. caught his arm, jerking him to a stop. "She's not up there. We looked."

Sam tugged his arm away. "Maybe she's in another room—"

J.D. gestured at the obvious signs of a struggle. "Cissy didn't just fall down and hit her head, Sam! Someone did this to her! Someone took Maddy."

Sam shook his head, not willing to believe it.

A pair of detectives moved toward them, their badges hooked to their waistbands. All that broke through the haze of Sam's panic was the sympathy in the man's eyes and the complete lack of expression on the woman's face.

The female introduced herself. "Kristen Tandy, Gossamer Ridge Police Department. This is Detective Jason Foley. You're the home owner?"

"Sam Cooper." He bit back impatience. "My daughter's missing."

"Yes, sir, we know," Detective Foley said.

His sympathetic tone only ramped up Sam's agitation. "What else do you know?"

"We've searched the house and the property, and we have officers questioning neighbors, as well," Detective Tandy replied. Her flat, emotionless drawl lacked the practiced gentleness of her partner, but it better suited Sam's mood. He focused his eyes on her face, taking in the clear blue of her eyes and the fine, almost delicate bone structure.

Damn, she's young, he thought.

Foley took Sam's elbow. "Mr. Cooper, let's find somewhere to sit down—"

"Don't handle me," Sam snapped at Foley, jerking his arm away. "I'm a Jefferson County prosecutor. I know how this works. My four-year-old is missing. I want to know what you know about what happened here. Every detail—"

"We're not sure of every detail," Detective Foley began.

"Then tell me what you think you know."

"At 8:47 p.m. your brother J.D. called to check on your niece Cissy to see how she and your daughter were doing," Foley answered. Behind him, his partner wandered away from them, moving past the paramedics and out of view. Sam found his attention wandering with her, wondering if she knew something she didn't want him to know. Something bad.

Foley's voice dragged him away from his bleak thoughts. "When your niece didn't answer her cell phone, he tried your landline, with no luck. So he came by to check in person and found the front door ajar and your niece on the floor here in the foyer, unconscious."

Movement to their right drew the detective's attention for a moment. Sam followed his gaze and saw the paramedics putting his niece onto a stretcher. His chest tightened with worry. "How badly is she hurt?"

"She's been roughed up a little. There's a lump on the back of her head." Foley looked back at Sam. "There's some concern because she hasn't regained consciousness."

Pushing aside his own fear, Sam walked away from Foley and crossed to his niece's side, falling into step with J.D. "She's a fighter, J.D. You know that."

His brother's attempt at a smile broke Sam's heart. "She's a Cooper, right?"

"Mom and Dad have Mike?" Sam asked, referring to J. D.'s eleven-year-old son. Poor kid, growing up without a mother and now facing another possible loss…

"Yeah. I'd better call 'em." J.D. headed out behind the paramedics carrying his daughter out to the ambulance.

"Mr. Cooper?" Detective Foley stepped into the space J.D. just vacated. "We have some questions—"

Sam turned to look at him. Foley's gaze was tinged with pity disguised as sympathy.

"What?" Sam asked impatiently.

"What was Maddy wearing tonight?" Foley asked.

"She was in jeans and a 'Bama sweatshirt when I left her in her bedroom with Cissy," Sam answered, the memory of his daughter's earlier goodbye kiss haunting him. "She didn't want me to leave. Tuesday is extra-story night."

"We found those clothes in the hamper outside her room," Foley said. "Maybe she'd already dressed for bed?"

"Then she's in Winnie the Pooh pajamas. Blue ones. She won't wear anything else to bed. I had to buy three identical sets." He fought a tidal wave of despair. He knew the odds against finding Maddy alive grew exponentially the longer she was missing.

"We'll put out an Amber Alert," Foley said.

Sam walked away, needing space to breathe. The thought that he might never see his daughter alive again made his knees shake and his chest tighten.

"Mr. Cooper?" The sympathy in Foley's voice was almost more than Sam could bear.

"I need a minute," Sam said.

"Sure. Take all the time you need." Foley stepped away. A few feet away, Sam saw the female detective edge toward the staircase. Her eyes met his briefly, her expression grim. Then she turned and headed up the stairs.

Sam's heart squeezed into a knot. Take all the time he needed? Time was the one thing he didn't have. Not if he wanted to find his child alive.

* * * * *

The house was clean but lived-in, the carpet runner in the upstairs hallway slightly askew, as if someone had hit it at a run.

Kristen Tandy moved past Mark Goddard, one of the two uniformed officers tasked with evidence collection, and crossed to a door standing slightly ajar. "Checked in here?" she asked.

Goddard looked up at her. "It's a storage area. Full of boxes. Didn't look like much had been touched, but I'll get to it before we leave."

She donned a pair of latex gloves. "Can I take a look?"

Goddard frowned. "Do you have to?"

But she'd already opened the door and flicked on the light.

Inside, the room was a mess. Stacks of boxes, mostly full, filled the spare bedroom. The Coopers hadn't been living here long, she guessed. Hadn't finished unpacking from the move.

"Maddy?" She stopped and listened. She heard no response, but the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. She stepped deeper into the room, squeezing between two stacks of boxes. "Are you in here?"

There was still no answer, but Kristen thought she heard a noise behind the boxes ahead. She froze in place, her head cocked. The sound of Goddard at work just outside the room mingled with a faint hum of conversation from downstairs.

"When I was a little girl, my favorite game was hide-and-seek." She formed the words from her frozen lips. "I was good at it, you see, because I was so little. I could go places nobody else could go. So they never, ever found me until I was ready to be found."

She eased forward, past a large box in the middle of the room, ignoring the tremble in her belly. "I bet you're good at hiding, too, aren't you, Maddy?"

A faint rustling noise came from the back of the room. Beyond the stack of boxes in front of her, she spotted a door. The closet, she guessed.

"My name is Kristen Tandy. I'm a police officer. I came here to help your cousin Cissy."

A faint hiccough sent a ripple of triumph racing through Kristen's gut, followed quickly by a rush of sheer dread. Taking a bracing breath, she pushed aside a box to get to the closet and pulled open the door.

Four-year-old Maddy Cooper gazed up at Kristen with tear-stained green eyes, her face damp and flushed. "I want my Daddy," she whimpered.

Kristen crouched in front of Maddy, helping her to her feet. The little girl's hands were soft and tiny, and up close, she smelled sweet. Kristen felt her knees wobble and she put one hand on the door frame to steady herself.

Do your job, Tandy.

She looked Maddy over quickly. No obvious signs of injury, she noted with almost crushing relief. "Are you okay, Maddy? Do you hurt anywhere?"

"Kristen?" Foley called from somewhere behind them.

Maddy Cooper flung herself at Kristen, her arms tightening around her. The little girl buried her tear-damp face in Kristen's neck, shaking with fear.

"It's okay," she soothed, fighting the primal urge to push the little girl away and run as fast and as far as she could—the way she felt every time she was this close to a child. Instead, she picked Maddy up and turned to face her partner. The scent of baby shampoo filled her lungs, making her feel weak, but she clung to her equilibrium.

Sam Cooper stood by Foley, staring at her with eyes full of shock and fragile hope. "Maddy?"

At the sound of her father's voice, Maddy wriggled to get away. Kristen put her down, and the child weaved through the stacks of boxes to reach her father.

He scooped her into his arms and smothered her face with kisses. "Oh, baby, are you okay?" Sam held his daughter away to get a good look.

Kristen looked away, a powerful ache spreading like poison in her chest.

"The bad man hurt Cissy!" Maddy wailed.

"I know, baby, but the bad man is gone now. And Cissy's getting help. It'll be all right now, okay?" Out of the corner of her eye, Kristen saw Sam Cooper thumb away the tears spilling from his daughter's eyes.

"Mr. Cooper, we need to ask Maddy—" Foley began.

"Enough, Foley," Kristen said flatly, joining them in the doorway. "You might want to take her to the hospital, too, let a doctor check her over," she said to Sam. "We'll talk to you soon." She grabbed her partner's arm, tugging him with her as she headed out of the room. She couldn't stay there one minute longer, she knew.

Foley stopped in the middle of the hallway. "How the hell did you know—?"

"Kids like to play hide-and-seek," she said, moving ahead of him down the hallway.

She knew from experience.

* * * * *

So what about you? Do you believe in second chances at love? Do you like to read those kinds of stories? Do you have a second chance at love story of your own to share?

-- Paula Graves
http://www.paulagraves.com
http://spinstersandlunatics.blogspot.com

Back in Black

2010-01-27T06:09:00.000-08:00

Feb 2nd is the release of my single title, BACK IN BLACK. I've got my fingers and toes crossed (and sometimes my eyes too) hoping that readers will enjoy the story!

For anyone who read the previous books in the SBC fighter series, this is Drew Black's story. He's the president of the SBC organization, and he's a real character.

Here's the back cover blurb:

SBC president Drew Black is as controversial as they come. But the hot-headed entrepreneur is a perfect match for his popular sports club venture: uncompromising and extreme. Maybe too extreme. With a reputation for saying what he thinks, Drew's been causing a lot of friction. That's why someone's been called in to clean up his image—before he does any permanent damage.

The lucky lady is Gillian Noode, a PR expert who's smoothed out the rough edges on many a man. But Drew is rougher than anyone she's ever met, and he refuses to change for any woman, for any reason. To make matters more complicated, Gillian's starting to like him raw. Now, opposites aren't only attracting, they're igniting. But in the rising heat, which one of them will end up on top?

Yes, before anyone asks, Gillian gets teased about her last name, Noode. She's used to that. What she isn't used to is a guy like Drew. He's someone who doesn't give a flip what anyone else thinks of him. He trusts his instincts and has complete confidence in his ability to make good - even great - decisions, in business and out. Of course, Gillian finds out that appearances can be deceiving, because Drew is also a caring, responsible, giving person too. But... yeah, he's far from perfect!

Hubby loves to help with my promo stuff, and he's pretty much taken over the book trailer stuff. He came up with the idea for the BACK IN BLACK trailer, incorporating an interview (from the Get Together last June, when I was plenty worn out from prep work!) with the actual storyline of the book.

I wanted to post an excerpt, but... well, Drew has a very foul mouth and I couldn't find anything I considered appropriate to this blog. LOL. If you're interested, pretty please go here to read an excerpt: http://www.lorifoster.com/books/black/index.php

RT Magazine gave the book 4.5 stars and said:

HOT!
Foster's latest is pure entertainment and a joy to read. Drew and Gillian are adversarial at first, but they soon develop a delightful back-and-forth relationship.

The secondary romance has likable characters in Brett and Audrey, whose relationship is a true pleasure to follow. Cat aficionados will delight in Brett's relationship with his pet.

As you can see, the book is on the cover. I thought the model made a very nice magazine cover. LOL. What do you think?

You can read the interview I did for RT by going here:
http://www.lorifoster.com/author/articles/2010/10feb_RT-article.html

Michelle Buonfiglio discuss (in part) BACK IN BLACK in her blog, Unabashedly Bookish, with BN. http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Unabashedly-Bookish/Type-Dirty-to-Me/ba-p/462476

I like for really stubborn characters to find a special someone for whom they WANT to change. But I also like that special someone to realize that too much changing isn't necessary.

So, knowing that Drew Black has a foul mouth and doesn't really curb it for anyone, I'm curious...
What do you think of characters who curse?
If it fits the character and makes sense within in the book, does it bother you?
Does it bother you in real life, or only if someone goes overboard?

Whatever books you're reading this February, I hope you find a lot of enjoyment!
All my best,

LORI
aka
L. L. FOSTER
http://www.lorifoster.com/

Carla "fired up" about Maine

2010-01-27T04:49:00.001-08:00

We're just back from a few days in Boston, "our" city, but my mind is on the coast of Maine -- way "down east," above Bar Harbor, in places like Schoodic, Corea, Milbridge, the Bold Coast. It's the land of wild blueberries, lobster boats, rocky coastline and quiet coves. The Maine coast is often a part of my books. ON FIRE, for one. My publisher has reissued it with a fabulous new cover. Marine biologist Riley St. Joe finds a dead body -- and an FBI agent -- on a small, uninhabited Maine island.

There are over 3000 islands off the Maine coast. Hard to believe, isn't it? Many are uninhabited, and just over a dozen are inhabited year-round, including the stunning Mt. Desert Island, home to Acadia National Park,

where we've spent many happy hours hiking. If you're going, be sure to stop at Jordan Pond for popovers and tea!

According to the Maine Coast Guide, "There are more islands in the Maine archipelago than in the Caribbean, more than in Polynesia or on the Dalmatian Coast."

That's a lot of islands. The island in ON FIRE is pure fiction, of course, and I've never found a dead body in real life anywhere, much less kayaking in Maine. For me, Maine is one of the places I go to in my mind when I'm stressed and just need a mental break -- e.g., when things get a lot bumpy on a flight across the Atlantic! A lit

tle bumpy doesn't faze me but a lot bumpy...I close my eyes, and I'm kayaking in Maine, or I'm sitting on a boulder watching lobster boats in Narraguagus Bay and reading a good book, or I'm perched on a hilltop with a breathtaking view of a classic Maine lighthouse.

I'm going through my Maine photos and putting them up on my photo blog all month -- it's my way of celebrating ON FIRE's return to print. Stop by if you get a chance, and if you have your own "happy place," I hope you'll share it with us...or just take a moment and go there now. :-)

Have a great day, everyone,

Carla

MY OWN OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCE...

2010-01-24T20:32:00.000-08:00

Good morning, my flowers:

Yes, I'm having my own out of body experience. I think I'm looking in from the outside and I don't know how that woman at the keyboard will get everything on her list done. She also seems to be scattered while she is working which is not a good sign. So, send a few good thoughts her way that she'll settle down.

Today I'm sending you a bulletin on OUT OF BODY events. (There's that phrase again)

1. There is still time to join me on Facebook for a chance to win the copyedited manuscript of OUT OF BODY or a COURT OF ANGELS mug. Follow the Facebook link from www.stellacameron.com or http://purplepapayallc.com/client_promotions.aspx There is a contest for one of Jayne's ARCs there as well as the link to my Facebook Page.

2. A giveaway for OUT OF BODY mugs will continue through February with a reader winning each week.

3. ARE YOU READY FOR THIS? Wazoo is the real reason I'm in a flap. She's "flapping" her mouth and threatening to give away all kinds of inside information about the first COURT OF ANGELS series. Cissy at Writerspace has given me an easier way to keep up with (or try to catch up with) the evil W. Either use the widget right here, go to www.stellacameron.com, or to Facebook to see what she is saying. And if that isn't confusing enough, Wazoo is parading around from Twitter at http://twitter.com/CourtOfAngels You can leave her a question there or you can tell her to behave--I would be very grateful for the help.

4. I'm working with some local booksellers to make goodie packets of an autographed COA logo bookplate, a COA bookmark, and a COA logo sticker available. For these you would need to order your book from the list of booksellers at http://purplepapayallc.com/ParticipatingBooksellers.aspx

5. Seattle Mystery Bookshop is taking orders for autographed books and these books will also include a goodie packet. There is always a link to Seattle Mystery Bookshop below and on my site.

If you aren't on overload, I am. I want to crawl back into my storyland. The only other thing I can think of right now (quit cheering:) is that you can mail away for autographed bookplates at Facebook or my website. Then, if you're quick, you'll have your plate to slap right inside your new book. I know, you can hardly control your excitement.

Q. And there will be a test... Is there anything that makes you really nervous, any situation you know you'll have to face whether you like it or not?

May the week be good to you and yours,

Stella

www.stellacameron.com

A case of nerves...

2010-01-21T12:18:00.000-08:00

Note: Kate asked us to let you know that she's currently snowed in under a foot of snow and has no internet service, so she won't be able to respond to comments for awhile!
(Power's on...I'm BACK!)

I'm sitting here in my office watching the snow fall and realizing that time seems to pass by a lot faster the older I get! It seemed like the release of my very first mass market paranormal romance was at least a gazillion years in the future, and now it's just a month away and I'm beginning to panic. What's funny is that this is far from my first book, and yet it's such an important step for me as I work at moving my career forward, that I'm sort of quietly freaking out about the whole thing.

Help me, ladies! I really need to put this in perspective!! I've had seventeen books out in the past four years alone, and not a one of them has made me as nervous as DemonFire's upcoming release. I think it's the distribution, to be honest, the fact that this one should show up in WalMart and Target and the grocery store where my neighbors shop--places where I've always bought books. I was actually doing okay for awhile, and then my video trailer arrived and reminded me that the release date is coming close...I do love trailers. Not sure if they actually sell books, but they are definitely cool! I had mine done by COS--take a look:

I have the first chapter of the book posted on my website if you'd like to take a look, and if you're the type who likes to preorder, I've got all kinds of ordering links on that page. (Gee, it's so unseemly to whimper, isn't it? I really REALLY need to relax or the next month is going to kill me!)

Anyway, if you get a chance I do hope you'll take a look at the excerpt, and if you'd like just a short taste, this will give you a feel for the dynamics between my heroine, Eddy Marks, a small-town newspaper reporter who does NOT believe in demons or anything at all to do with the paranormal, and Dax, a fallen demon, too good for hell, who's been given one week to save the world from demonkind and, just maybe, earn himself a spot in paradise.

Eddy couldn’t sit still any longer. She bounced to her feet and began pacing around the small living room. “Lemurians. They’re not real, unless you ask Dad.” She spun around and laughed. “He’s going to be thrilled when he finds out about you. Proof that some of his crazy theories are actually true.” Dax and the demons, she thought. It didn’t get any better.

“According to local lore, they’re a race of mystical beings, tall, beautiful people with strange powers who supposedly live inside Mount Shasta in rooms made of gold. Legend says they’re descendants of people from the lost continent of Lemuria that sank beneath the sea, that they had advanced science and technology thousands of years ago. They were even supposed to have flying machines, sort of like the old Atlantis myth.”

Dax shook his head. He twisted around in his seat so he could follow her erratic pacing. “Atlantis is no myth. It really existed and its descendents are still around. I’ve never heard of Lemuria. I’ll need to look into it. The vortex, though, is definitely real. How do you think I got here?”

Eddy stopped in her tracks and stared at him, looking for a twitch, a smile, anything to tell her he was teasing.

He wasn’t.

She glanced at Willow. As if the sprite knew she was being watched, she flashed bright blue and just as quickly faded.

Okay. Point made. Eddy took a deep breath. “Why don’t you tell me exactly how you did get here. Just promise to ignore me if I look incredulous.”

Dax stared at her for a long, slow moment. Then he shook his head and his gorgeous lips turned up in an unbelievably sexy grin. “Eddy Marks, I doubt I could ever ignore you...not for any reason.”

She felt it right between her thighs. A hot lick of heat that had no business firing her senses and making her muscles clench, especially after a hokey come-on like that. It took a tremendous amount of will to continue gazing directly into those smoldering eyes of his. Demon’s eyes. She had to remind herself that, for all his appeal, Dax was not only a stranger, he’d already admitted to being one of the bad guys.

“I’m waiting,” she said, planting her hands on her hips, ignoring his innuendo and her body’s traitorous response.

He still had that cocky grin plastered on his gorgeous face, but at least Dax settled back against the couch. “I was a demon. An immortal in a world of evil. It suited me for a long time, and then it didn’t.” He shrugged. “For some reason, I began to question the life, the constant desire to cause pain, to kill.” He shook his head, shrugged. Gave her a self-deprecating grin. “I guess I learned the hard way. One does not question evil. I got tossed out of Abyss.”

The snake tattoo crawling out of his waistband slowly writhed across his belly and chest. Mesmerized, Eddy blinked. She must be more exhausted than she’d realized.

The subtle motion stopped. The tattoo stayed put. She swallowed and raised her eyes. It was too unsettling to steal even the quickest glance at his body, not when things like that happened. “Where does a demon go that’s worse than hell?”

Dax ran his fingers lightly over his tattoo. Had he felt it move? He stared at her for a moment before he answered.

“Earth.”

So, there you have it--when I first began working on The DemonSlayers series, I was terrified--the books are bigger than my Wolf Tales--120,000 words compared to around 85,000, which is a huge difference when you're juggling plot threads and characters and have the memory of a flea. My office looked like I'd had a "post it note" snowstorm by the time I finished the last page! I had to keep reminding myself that if I can keep over thirty characters through 20 books (Wolf Tales/Sexy Beast) straight, this shouldn't be a problem, but trust me, I can make trouble where none should be found!

Anyway, I do hope you'll take a chance on the book, and if you do, please let me know what you think! Also, I'm planning on a contest--not sure yet what the prize will be, but I'm asking readers who see DemonFire in out-of-the-way stores or cool displays, if they'll take a photo and send it to me with the date and where you see it. I'm going to post them on my Facebook page, just for fun.

What made me think of doing that was when I was shopping in Hardester's, the grocery store in our tiny little town of Cobb, California the other day and saw Jayne's paperback release of Running Hot. All I could think was, DAMN! She's in HARDESTER'S? I mean, if your book makes it to Hardesters, it must be just about everywhere!

Oh, and while I'm talking about contests, I was talking to my buddy Robyn Carr the other day--she's guest blogged here before and I know a lot of you are hooked on her Virgin River series. Anyway, her publisher is running a contest that sounds like fun--the winner will get their name in a new Virgin River book! If you want to be immortalized forever in a bestselling book, Robyn's got a link on her website.

I think that's about it for now--time to go back to chewing my non-existent fingernails and writing Wolf Tales 11--thank goodness I've got a full schedule so I can't spend too much time whining. Besides, at least around our place, no one really pays attention to me anyway! Take care all, and be safe. While I've been working on this blog, we've gotten at least two more inches of snow!