Spring in Seattle

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

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

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

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:)

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...

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

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?