Party Post 7: Annette Blair

Author Annette Blair took a twenty-year roller-coaster ride to overnight success. Yes, her tenacity is legendary, though some just call her stubborn. Her latest release, THE SCOT, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE is a December 2006 release. www.annetteblair.com

Dear Friends,

Christmas always comes early at my house—a legacy from my mother. The season is enough. I even like Christmas commercials. But TV Christmas stories are my favorite. I tape and watch every one. I collect Christmas movies: favorites are Meet Me in St. Louis, Miracle on 34th Street—with Dylan McDermott, of course—the Bishop’s Wife, The Gift of Love, and Love Actually. I collect Christmas romance novels to re-read yearly at Christmas, especially Mary Balogh’s Playing House. I got my first job at Christmas in a department store as a salesgirl in the toy department. I loved it.

I even started my family at Christmas—December 13th—and beneath our tree that year was a cradle with our baby girl in it. Can you think of a better gift? When she was five, at a Christmas service, she whispered, "This is it! The Christmas Spirit. It's here!"

Over the years, Christmas included delivering food baskets and toys to the needy, which taught me to appreciate my gifts all year round. Writing is a gift for which I am daily grateful. Who knew I’d end up writing about Witches? What fun! This season, whatever holiday you celebrate, let me wish you the best of the best, kisses beneath the mistletoe, a snuggle by the fire, joy the year round, a life of happy endings, and long hours of reading pleasure.

Blessed Be! Happy Holidays! Merry Merry!

I'm giving away a signed copy of my December release, The Scot, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, with a pair of lucky witch socks, the kind I wear when I write.

Tell me what celebrities you think would make the best looking heroes, to be in to win!

Annette Blair

Party Post 6: Winner of Annie's Giveaway

I've had such a wonderful time, being part of your blog party! Thank you so much for inviting me to participate.

There have been so many great posts from so many people, all with the Christmas theme, that it was impossible to choose one winner. In the end I decided to give two signed copies of 'A Mistress for the Taking'. One was chosen at random and the other because the post made me think so much of the joys of Christmas (as did many of the posts). The winners are:

crystalg
and
robynl

If they'd like to email me at annie@annie-west.com with their postal addresses I'll ensure their books are sent this week (hopefully in time for Christmas).

And I'd like to say THANK YOU to the many contributors who passed on their congratulations on my first book, and who also got into the Christmas spirit so early. It was wonderful reading all the posts.

regards,
Annie

Party Post 5: Winner of Nalini's Giveaway

While I didn't go through and do a scientific analysis, I think Roarke came out the winner in terms of the character most of you would like to see come to life. That man is hot!

Thanks everyone for playing and without further ado, here's the winner of my giveaway (picked via a random number generator):

dannyfiredragon

Email me (nalinisinghwrites @ gmail.com) and we'll sort out the details. All the other prizes are still up for grabs so comment away! Also there's another guest author coming up later today.

Party Post 4: Tessa Radley

Tessa Radley is still thrilled to bits by her first sale to Silhouette Desire earlier this year. The sale of Black Widow Bride followed an online editor pitch on eHarlequin.com. Tessa’s second book Rich Man’s Revenge will be out in June 2007. Right now Tessa is working on getting a website up in time for Christmas—it’s her Christmas prezzie to herself. Come visit www.tessaradley.com in late December.

Bearing Gifts They Travel So Far…

I love all the ritual and ceremony that goes with Christmas. The red pohutukawa trees that signal Christmas is coming. The lighting of the Christmas lights in the village. The snow cave guarded by Santa down the road. Christmas carols in the Park.

But the one Christmas ritual that is totally beyond me is shopping. I loathe and detest shopping at the best of times. Doing grocery shopping is something I trade with my dearly beloved where I can (If I scrub the toilets pleeeez will you do the grocery shop…?) But the event of e-shopping has me perking up. Tiffany's looks good—although frankly that's a little beyond my budget.

So what to give without killing the budget? A beautiful card? Sometimes that's all you need.

Chocolates? Yum! My heroine in Black Widow Bride (Sil Desire April 2007) owns a chocolate boutique and ships hand-made chocolates everywhere. Chocolates have to be a winner.

More gift ideas to share this Christmas…

1. A Starbucks gift card. Who can resist coffee?

2. My cousin always sends a Christmas ornament each Christmas. Each year when we put up our tree we think of her. Order personalized ornaments online at Wal-Mart

3. Being a third-world child I have to include the gift of planting 20 trees or providing 100 meals to 100 under-privileged kids for under $20

4. And don't forget books! Give someone the chance to buy dying-to-read books with a gift card to your favorite bookstore.

5. And from here came the idea of a Sephora gift card available in denominations of $25 with lots to choose from under $25

Share your gift suggestion. I will draw a random winner from those who comment and send a sensual shower pack to pamper yourself with this Christmas.

Party Post 3: Sasha White

Gifted with a salacious imagination, Canadian author Sasha White enjoys working in multiple genres', and various story lengths. With a voice that is called “distinctive and delicious” by The Romance Studio, Sasha has over a dozen erotic short stories published in various anthologies, her novellas in Kensington’s Pure Sex and The Cop anthologies have gotten rave reviews, and her first single title novel with Berkley Heat, Bound, has been called “the best sort of erotica for an erotic romance fan" by Sex, Sizzle and Snark Reviewer Jaynie R.

If you're attending the Romantic Times Convention in 2007, Sasha will be giving a workshop on Bad Girl Heroines - and how to make your readers love them, with her buddy, Vivi Anna.

Sasha loves to chat with readers and can be found on her websites’s blog most afternoons. www.sashawhite.net

IS BAD BETTER?

Bad Boys are a favorite type of hero among romance readers. And we all know why. We want to be "the one" to tame them with love.

But what about a favorite type of heroine? Personally, I love reading stories about quirky free spirited and independent heroines. You know the kind. The ones that laugh at themselves and make you laugh at the same time. Sometimes clumsy, sometimes too smart for their own good...always cute and sassy.

Normally when I write, I like to write Bad Girls. The ones who can kick ass and take names. IN my newest release, SEX AS A WEAPON, the heroine is a thief. And the hero is the cop on the hunt for her. It's too much fun to write about women who live by their own rules, and Vanessa was no different. While I do write erotica with no traditional Happily Ever After, SEX AS A WEAPON is a romance, and does have a HEA. Aren't you curious how a cop and a thief find their way?

Then there’s BOUND and my “good girl” heroine. Yup, I did it, I wrote a good girl...yet even my good girl has a yen for high stakes Texas Hold’em and wet t-shirt contests.

It’s just too much fun to have my heroines do the things I’m not brave enough to do.

So, what do you like best? A bad girl or a good girl? Does it depend on your mood? Or on the author and how the story is told?

Tell me your preference in the comments here for a chance to win a signed copy of THE COP.

Party Post 2: Annie West

Annie grew up loving books and travel. Her childhood dream was to become an archaeologist ... or a national parks ranger ... or a bookseller, so of course she became a public servant. In the meantime she travelled and read books and met the man of her dreams. They live with their family on Australia’s eastern seaboard.

After years of writing, in late 2005 her work was accepted by Harlequin Presents. Now she enjoys fantasising about wonderful men and their love lives. It’s hard work but she has no regrets!

Nalini, this is definitely the blog party for me. Christmas is my favourite time of year! Thanks so much for inviting me along. It’s a real thrill to be here.

When I read the theme for the blog party I panicked – I looked at the calendar and realised I’m not organised for the holiday season. Perhaps I’ll just relax and hope someone else organises everything for me to enjoy (hey, I’m an optimist!).

Maybe the reason I’m feeling so laid back about the festivities is that Christmas really has come early for me – two years running. I count myself to be one very, very lucky woman. (Santa was obviously making up for past years where I slaved over a hot Christmas turkey in sweltering Aussie heat to keep the family content).

Last year, in early December, my dream came true. After nine years writing fiction, I woke to find an email from an editor in Richmond (London). I’d had several full manuscripts rejected by editors of other lines. I’d had people tell me they loved my writing but it just wasn’t what they were after. The luck seemed always against me. I’d submitted revisions on this manuscript and, frankly, I was waiting for the rejection. I skimmed the email looking for the inevitable ‘thanks but no thanks’ and couldn’t find it. I read it twice before I realised the editor really wanted to buy my book. I’d been too nervous to notice the title of the attachment: ‘Mistress for the Taking acceptance doc’. Duh. I printed the email and kept reading it through the day just in case I was hallucinating and it was really a rejection. (You think I’m joking, don’t you?).

That book, my first for Harlequin Presents, is rolling out to the bookstores now and in just a few days I’ll be able to pick it up off the shelves! What more could I want for Christmas?

Well...as I said, I’ve been doubly lucky. I’ve recently sold my fourth book to Harlequin. Believe me, the festive season has started early here!

What about you? Has Christmas ever arrived early? I’d love to hear your story if it has. Or maybe you’ve got ideas on what would make this Christmas extra special for you and yours. Join the party and send in your thoughts. Now, there’s an easy way for you to win an early Christmas present. I’ll send one contributor a signed copy of my lucky first book ‘A Mistress for the Taking.’

Merry Christmas to you all!

Annie

‘A Mistress for the Taking’ is out in the UK now, in Aus/NZ Dec06, and in North America Jan07. To find out more, or for a second chance to win one of Annie’s books, visit her at http://www.annie-west.com

Party Post 1: Let's Get This Party Started!

It's party time!! Before we start passing out the cocktails, I thought I'd lay out how the party will run.

First, it's going on all week.

Second, there are going to be at least two posts per day, though a couple of days have three. Each post will be by a different guest author and all of them have giveaways...which is why the theme is Xmas Come Early! Each giveaway will run for at least 24 hours, so even if you miss seeing a post go up, make sure to scroll down past the most recent post and enter. To make it easier for you to party-hop from post to post and keep track, I'm going to be numbering them.

I've got new and established category authors from Sweet to Medical, debut authors (yay!), erotica authors (ooh la la), historical authors and of course, paranormal. And that's not all! Some are friends and some are new to me. But one thing's for sure - they are all ready to party! :)

Okay, let's kick off this party in style. Would you like to win an advanced look at Visions of Heat? I'll print out, sign the manuscript and send it to you. Or if you haven't read Slave to Sensation, I'll send you a copy of StS instead.

All you have to do to enter is tell me which fictional character you'd bring to life if you had superhero powers?! (I'll pick a random winner sometime tomorrow). Hmm, I find myself torn between Mr. Darcy and the dragon Temeraire - how cool would it be to talk to a dragon?! Ok, your turn!

I love Saturdays

Today's post is late courtesy of it being Saturday morning (and me sleeping in). *grin* Hope you're all ready for the party that kicks off Monday morning. I've got all the posts and giveaway details from the participating authors, except for two naughty people who haven't sent them in (hmm, how shall we punish them?).

So this week while I was not surfing the internet, I came across this post by Alison Kent on blog plans. The idea of a plan makes a huge amount of sense and I'm wondering if I should sit down and do one for this blog. Instead of random thoughts, you'd get something structured per day of the week. But then I'd have to follow the plan!

What are your thoughts on this? Do you like going to blogs that have a set format, knowing what you'll get according to the day/time? Or are you more interested in organized chaos?

Icebergs

If you've caught some international news over the past weeks, you'll know that we've been getting icebergs off the coast of New Zealand. We are near the bottom of the world but this is very rare. A few enterprizing souls have turned into tourist operators, flying people out see the icebergs.

But the award for the most cheeky iceberg related event goes to the guy who put the iceberg up for auction on Trade Me (like ebay). The original auction's no longer up there, but you can see a partial record of it here - scroll down to read the question and answers.

Drive By

Sorry about all the short posts this week folks - mad, mad week. I have galleys of Visions of Heat (exciting!) to get away as well as a few other things. But I'll make it up to you with the party next week!

For today, here's a smile for you from one of my favorite sites.

My oh my!

You all know I'm as innocent as a spring chicken, so I have absolutely no idea whatsoever as to how I found my way to this particular link: Naked Rugby League. Oh yeah, don't open this at work (unless you work in an office full of women) *g*

Between The Covers

I'm over at Between The Covers today, talking about the heroes we love and why we come love them. Come on over!

Interesting Book

I read Death of a Thousand Cuts by Barbara D'Amato last week and really enjoyed it - not just in terms of the suspense aspects, but in its setting and characters.

What made this book stand out for me is that the murder takes place during a reunion at Hawthorne House, which 15 years ago, was renowned for its work with autistic children. Now, the founder is dead and the suspects are the teachers and more interestingly, the students, who came to the reunion.

I knew a bit about autism before reading this book, but I know a lot more now. But at no stage did it feel like I was being inundated with information. The author weaves the ex-students' lives and realities seamlessly into this whodunnit. And the fact that it's set mostly in the rambling Hawthorne House just provides an extra layer of spookiness. A big thumbs-up from me if you're looking for a suspense read with a difference.

So, what've you been reading lately?

Party Update

OMG, it's November! Where did the year go?! Is it only me or does time seem to be moving faster these days?

As you know, there's going to be a blog party on this blog the week of Nov 27th (put it in your diaries!). That's Nov 27th NZ time so it'll be the 26th for those of you on the other side of the world. I've got lots of authors coming in -from historical to category to erotic romance - and lots of giveaways, so don't forget to come party. The theme incidentally is Xmas Come Early (as it will for the winners!)

Talking about Xmas, what's your favorite part of that time of the year? For me, it's the chance to be with family and eat lots of guilt-free cake. *g*

First Dates & Star Signs

'Where should we go on a first date?' is probably the most common question single people ask themselves.

And hey, it's hard to know where the object of your affections would like to rendezvous, especially if you don't know each other too well. But if you want to make some sort of an informed guess, consider turning to astrology for the answer.

That's right - each astrological sign has its own favourite first-date locales. So do some sleuth work to find out your date's birthday; then head out to one of the appropriate places below.

Best First Date For Your Star Sign

Hmm, really? Check the tip for you star sign and tell me if it would work.

Between The Covers

Today's post is over at Between The Covers. We're having a round table discussion on a 'typical' writing day. Drop by and visit.

Backcover Blurb: Bound By Marriage

As requested, here's the backcover copy for Bound By Marriage (Sil Desire, Feb 07).

A Deal With The Devil...

How else to describe the pact Jessica Randall had made with wealthy New Zealand rancher Gabe Dumont? In exchange for marriage and an heir, he would save her family property. The agreement was calculating, completely devoid of any tenderness, just like the man himself.

Their relationship was supposed to be a simple arrangement. Instead, it was fraught with secrets and mistrust, jealousy and ultimatums - emotions that wouldn't allow her to maintain the distance she needed. Worse, the sizzling attraction between them made this marriage of convenience decidedly inconvenient.

Cover: Bound By Marriage

This is a scene out of the book! I love it! Releases February (available for preorder *g*).

Five Things You Might Not Know About Me

I've been tagged by good friend and fellow Sil Desire author Bronwyn Jameson to list "Five things you might not know about me". Here goes:

1. Despite my otherwise bookwormy nature, I played field hockey for almost fourteen years.

2. I've traveled from San Francisco to New York by train. (Which train broke down in the middle of the desert).

3. I once got told off in high-school English class (my absolute favorite subject) for reading a romance novel (it was a purple one - Special Edition - and I think the author was Christine Rimmer).

4. I'm scared of eyelash curlers. No joke. Those things are dangerous!

5. I can meow well enough to fool cats. I once had a conversation with cat who must've thought I was the funniest looking feline ever.

There you go. Surprised? Horrified? ;) Okay, I'm tagging everyone who reads this blog. If you do it on your blog, send me the link and I'll add it to the bottom of this post so we can all learn stuff about each other. If you don't blog, use the comments to tell us your five. I'm off to practice my meowing.

Check out:
NeyJour's (Christina's) Five
Racy Li's Five
Cynthia Bagley's Five

Cover: Visions of Heat

Here's the cover for Visions of Heat. There are going to be a couple of changes but nothing major (and the color are brighter on the actual cover). I love the markings on his back! So, what do you all think :)

My News

I'm going to be doing a Christmas novella collection next year with Maggie Shayne among others! Woohoo! :)

My novella's going to tell the backstory of Nate and Tamsyn from Slave To Sensation. Are you guys excited? 'Cause I'm on cloud 9. I love reading Xmas novellas and now I get to write one and in such great company! :)

Secrets

I have a bit of cool news but I can't share it yet. Drats! I'm not very good at keeping my own secrets - anyone else's and I'm a lockbox, but my own - furgeddiaboutit, so this is testing my patience. I mean, I can't even keep surprise presents a surprise!

Talking about presents - if you've won something from me at any stage, it's on it's way. I posted out everything last week. For those of you who want to know what the "stuff" prize from NZ ended up being, here it is...oh wait, maybe I should let the winner find out for herself? You think I should tell? (Ask me in the comments and all will be revealed *g*)

How about you? How good are you at keeping secrets?

Thoughts For The Day

Exercise is good. It gets your blood pumping and all that stuff.
Exercise is evil. (The whole getting-up-just-to-torture-yourself thing).

Post-Weekend Catchup

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was pretty good - a bit lazy I must admit. :)

If you're on my mailing list, you should've got a newsletter over the weekend with another excerpt from Visions of Heat. If Yahoo is holding your mail hostage, the newsletter is available on the group site so just log in and read.

In the newsletter, I also asked for interview questions for the characters from Slave to Sensation. Something you'd like to ask one of them? Email me! I'm hoping to eventually get some character interviews up on the site. And if you have a burning question for one of the characters from my other books, feel free to throw them my way too.

How was your weekend?

Between The Covers

I'm also over here today, discussing Guy Fawkes!

Thinking About Covers

I've got covers on my mind today - two coming soon! I was perusing my tbr and keeper shelves and looking at the different covers when I realized how many of them are paintings rather than real people. I used to think I was a painting kind of girl but then I saw the cover for StS and I was changed for life. Talk about hot! *g*

What about you? Do you like painted people or real people covers?

JAK Keeper

I reread one of my keeper books the other day - Wildest Hearts by Jayne Ann Krentz. I'm a total JAK fan and I just found myself falling in love with this book all over again.

The hero, Oliver Rain, is so quintessentially alpha, and the heroine, Annie, is wonderfully likable. I think part of why I loved this book is that Oliver is so together...except when it comes to Annie. Got to love those strong men and the way they fall for their women. Sigh.

What are some of your keepers and why do you love them?

Free books, Website & Party!

Want to read some free books? Then head on over to see the list of authors who participated in PBW's e-book challenge and wrote a free ebook (all now available to read). I'm amazed by the number and wide range of books, and simply wowed by the authors' dedication to the project.

The website updates have been done for November. No changes to the star hunt this month but I have put up the link to a StS jigsaw puzzle, as well as an article on Writing Fast(er) that I originally wrote for the Romance Divas newsletter.

Also, make sure to mark the last week of Nov in your calendars. I'm having a blog party and there are going to be some awesome authors dropping by with posts and giveaways! I'll be putting up excerpts from them in the week before the party, so you'll get to have a sneak peak at lots of books.

Ok, who wants to challenge themselves with the jigsaw? Took me something like 8 minutes. Sad, very sad. *g*

Scents and Sensibility

You might call it muzak for the nose. The latest technique for putting consumers in a spending mood is to fill the air with a seductive scent. That's why Select Comfort, a nationwide chain of 400 bedding stores, is in the market for one that will soothe shoppers browsing for bedding. ScentAir, one of several firms that design scents for retail settings, has suggested a mix of cashmere wood, amber, cardamom, cinnamon and bergamot. The blend, it says, will convey quiet repose.

From an article titled Scents and Sensibility in TIME magazine, which talks about using scents to "affect a shopper's behavior". While I'm not too sure how I feel about being conveyed into "quite repose" or into anything else by custom-designed scents, the whole idea of scents affecting people so powerfully is quite interesting.

We all notice if someone smells good. Conversely we also notice if someone's overdosed on perfume or hasn't had a bath for a wee while. But are we always aware of it? Here's a question for you - when you met your significant other / best friend, did you notice the way they smelled? Ever been attracted to someone because they smelled so darn good?

Bookstore as Dating Heaven

The bookstore is like a singles superstore, complete with aisles labeled according to someone's interests. Follow these tips to a literary love connection.

From: The Bookstore Pick-up: How It's Done

Wow, you learn new things everyday!!

Creatures from Outer Space and Cell Phones

My workspace is currently being fumigated because somehow tiny, tiny, tiny biting insects have infiltrated it. I feel like a human pin-cushion! Ouch.

But in better news, I finally bought a cell phone. I've always been a bit on the fence about cell phones. They're great for calling for roadside assistances when the car breaks down or for checking directions, but the whole always-available thing doesn't quite work for me.

Then again, getting a fun unexpected message from a friend is always nice, and I must admit that living in the boonies in Japan, I was quite attached to my little phone, especially since it could receive messages from New Zealand. Hmm... What's your take on this marvel of modern technology?

On Chocolate

Chocolate cake for breakfast? Good or bad?

(Tastes delicious though!)

How to prune a manuscript

I now have a complete draft for Caressed By Ice. Yay! Lots more work left but I've got the bones of the story down. And it's looking like this book might be a bit longer than the others, but we'll see after I go through a couple more drafts.

Since I was thinking of book lengths, I decided to share some simple tips about how to cut words should you ever need to ie. if you're writing to a particular length (especially important in category romances). I'm talking technical tips to prune words, not tips about how to tighten the story itself.

* Find lines with only one word on them. See if you can somehow get rid of that one extra word by playing with the sentence. Sometimes you can't, but a lot of times you can.

* Get rid of unnecessary modifiers ie. just, still...etc

* Be alert to repetitions. Slice and dice.

* Forget about finding chunks to delete. If you find some, then great, but the less stressful way to cut even a huge chunk is to delete one line from every page of the manuscript, then go back and do the same again. I had to do this for Desert Warrior, my very first published book and it was a good lesson to learn.

Any other tips?

Show me the blog!

I don't know what to post about today, so I'm throwing myself at your mercy. Read anything good on blogs this week? Want to share?

For my part, I saw this cool perception of beauty video on Alison Kent's blog, and Dear Author's having an interesting discussion about author websites. Now, your turn.

Gothics & Bad Men

First up, a reminder - the Kiwi Triple Treat contest closes soon so have a look if you haven't already.

Second, it's a really cold day here today and I don't like the cold. Brr. Plus it's gloomy. Just the right kind of weather to write a creepy gothic with a hero you're not sure is good or bad, and a heroine who opens the door when you just know the monster's down there. Don't do it, you're screaming, but you want her to open that door just the same...

No, I'm not really writing a gothic but they are fun to read. What's the attraction do you think? Is it because the hero is the ultimate bad boy? Or is it because a gothic is often purposefully so over the top that the writer can get away with (and the reader can indulge in) total fantasy scenarios?

(Oh and the photo on the right is just for a certain blog visitor *cough TESSA* who has stated a decided prefererence for this gorgeous man. Gosh, he's all sweaty and wet...anyone want to wipe him down? *grin*)

OOTB Blog Party

It's my turn to play host at the Out of the Blogosphere blog party. Drop by and join in the discussion on Seeing the Future, which discusses whether we'd like to possess the gifts of an F-Psy, a foreseer (like Faith NightStar in Visions of Heat).

On Tour: Heart Quest by Robin D. Owens

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today I've got an OOTB Book Tour. Check it out.

I haven't had a chance to read this book yet but I have read and thoroughly enjoyed other books in the Heart series. So if you haven't discovered Robin yet, what are you waiting for?!
____________________

Robin D. Owens is an absolutely sensational storyteller. -- The Romance Reader

Somewhere in Druida City of Celta, Trif Clover has a HeartMate. Impatient to meet him, she's actually going door-to-door with her charmkey to find him. What she doesn't know is that he has already found her. Guardsman Ilex Winterberry knows Trif is his HeartMate, but has reasons of his own -- and for her own good -- to keep to the shadows of her life. But there's a killer on the loose, stalking those with unstable psi power like Trif's. Facing his most difficult task yet, Ilex must reveal the truth of their destiny or leave Trif vulnerable to a vicious murderer...

Excerpt / Blog

The Cave Dweller Emerges

I'm back - didya miss me? First, here's the info you've all been waiting for. The winner (picked via a random number generator) of the "stuff" from New Zealand (which is likely to involve chocolate among other things) is Danica/Dream. Congratulations! Send me your address and I'll get the prize to you.
I was over at Between The Sheets the other day, talking about the attractiveness ie. hunkaliciousness, of Men Who Read. Drop by and cast your vote if you haven't already! :)

Don't forget, the OOTB Blog party is still going strong. Lots of prizes and giveaways.

So, how was your weekend? Mine was filled with way too much sugar, but what delicious sugar it was! Saturday was Diwali, the festival of lights, so Happy Diwali everyone. :)

Special Notice: OOTB Blog Party

Emerging from the cave to let you all know that the Out of the Blogosphere authors are holding a blog party from Oct 16 to Oct 26th with giveaways galore. Drop by to be in to win. :)

p.s. Don't forget to comment on the post below to go into the draw to win stuff from NZ.

Into the Cave

I have copyedits to do for Visions of Heat and edits to do on Caressed By Ice as well as a few other things, so the blog is going on hiatus for a week. I'll be back Monday 23rd. I am scheduled to post on Between the Covers on the 20th so make sure to drop by!

But don't say I never do anything for you - leave a comment during that period and you'll be in to win stuff. I say stuff because I'm not quite sure what I'm giving away. It'll be something fun from NZ. And if you're anything like me, you'll love receiving a surprise package in the mail.

So comment away about anything that takes your fancy. Tell me what you're up to, who your favorite book hunk is, what the weather's like in your area... :)

Search Engine Hits

According to Statcounter, these are some of the things people typed into search engines to get to my blog or website.

• nalini singh model - of course this is I dahlinks!
• ma cherie - methinks you should go to a French site instead.
  
• text message synopsis of pride and prejudice - why would you squish this beautiful story down into a text message? Why?
• mean redheads - um, okay.
  
• pale pink dress - this one I totally don't get.
  

And the coup de grace....

• leashed slave

Got any search engine stories of your own to share?

2208 Days Overdue

...William Vassily, who checked out John Y. Beaty’s The Baby Whale, Sharp Ears from the Portland Public Library, ME, in 1946, when he was nine...recently returned the book, and paid late charges of $440.16, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard...

From: Paying that Big Library Fine, For a Cause

Also reported here.

Have you returned all your library books? *grin*

18 Seconds by George D Shuman

This was an interesting thriller/murder mystery. The basic premise:

Investigative consultant Sherry Moore is blind and stunningly beautiful, with the extraordinary ability to "see" the deceased's last eighteen seconds of memory by touching the corpse.

Read the rest of the blurb

Sounded pretty cool so I picked it up, and I wasn't sorry. It kept me interested right to the end. The only thing I would've liked would've been to spend more time in Sherry's head. There were a lot of characters and lots of points of view, so we didn't see as much of her as I would've preferred. But I'll definitely be picking up the next book so a thumbs up from me.

The cover's a good one but I can't load it for some reason - check it out here.

Romance & Respect

Kati Dancy is a smart, successful conference planner in her early 30s. She is college educated, has a dog and a cat, and lives in a posh Washington, D.C., suburb.

She also has a not-so-secret addiction: Dancy is an avid reader of romance fiction.

This article came through on one of my email lists. It's very interesting and quite respectful to the genre. It notes however that:

With 64 million readers generating $1.2 billion in annual sales, the romance fiction industry is thriving. Yet, somehow, it hasn't garnered the mainstream acceptance so many other popular fiction genres enjoy.

Why is that? Is it because of the happy endings? It is because it's fiction primarily written by women for women?

Some people say it's because they're "all the same". Aside from the fact that these same people often begin their sentences by saying that "I've never read one but...", their statement could apply to other genres as well. So romances have a happy ever after. In murder mysteries, we always know the cop is going to find the killer. In high fantasy, we know the hero is going to defeat the evil. In horror, we know the creepy thing's under the metaphorical bed. All genres have their conventions. Why then do people feel justified in turning up their noses at romances? Opinions?

Stephen King On Writing

I'm not one for reading a lot of writing books. Those I do read, I tend to dip into here and there. But I just finished reading Stephen King's On Writing cover to cover and absolutely loved it.

Part honest, unflinching memoir, part writing advice, this is not like any other writing book out there. I don't agree with all of what he says - I don't think any writer would, as we all have our own likes and dislikes, our own ways of doing things. But that's what's so great about this book - he doesn't try to say that his way is the only right way. It's simply a compendium of what he knows.

I really liked the blunt, no-nonsense style in which the book is written. SK gets the balance just right - he talks about the hard work it takes to be a writer without losing the sense of magic that drives writers to do what they do. Even if you're not a writer, I think you'd find this an interesting book, in terms of the insight it gives into the mind of one.

The Midnight Hour

I'm the guest-blogger at The Midnight Hour today, so come on by and visit. You might win a signed copy of StS. :)

Between The Covers

I'm over at Between The Covers today talking about When Authors Become Human :)

Auction Heads-Up

Julie Kenner is hosting an auction for Love Without Boundaries, an incredible cause, and there's a heap of great stuff to bid on (including three of my backlist books). To read more about Love Without Boundaries, follow the link to Julie's site.

DIK, Website & Centaurs

Lots of news today.

First - StS just received a Desert Isle Keeper review from AAR!!!! Woohoo! These reviewers are tough so that was a verrry nice surprise.

Second - The website updates for Oct have been done. I not sure if the stars are active yet but for those of you who like hunting them, there are meant to be four new ones.

Also, I've added a page dedicated to FAQ etc about the Psy-Changeling series. It's relatively spoiler free right now but that will likely change as time goes by.

Third - the book drought is over! I just read Divine By Mistake by P.C. Cast and thoroughly enjoyed it. Fabulous book. She's a new-to-me author but not for long! This is a Luna book so heavy on the fantasy but I found the romance very compelling - I don't think romance fans would be disappointed. As an aside - what a lovely cover.

Short Synopsis: Shannon Parker is an English teacher who gets sucked into another world where she's treated as a Goddess Incarnate (the real GI has swapped places with her). Oh and she's betrothed to a centaur.

This is officially the first book I've ever read with a (sexy) centaur hero! Plus Shannon is a funny, smart and slightly offbeat heroine whom I liked immediately. Overall - highly recommended if you like your romance with lots of fantasy (and centaurs).

On Tour: Cheyenne McCray's Seduced By Magic

Today we're touring fellow Out of The Blogosphere author, Cheyenne McCray's new book. I gotta say, I'm digging that cover. Hmm, wonder if I could get away with thigh high boots? *g*

_________________________________________________________

SEDUCED BY MAGIC by Cheyenne McCray

(St. Martin’s; October 3, 2006)

DESIRE

Copper Ashcroft is an accomplished D'Anu witch, but the magic she wields is a potent force—strong enough to hurl her into a mysterious Otherworld when a spell backfires. Before Copper can escape, another being is pulled into her realm—Tiernan, a powerfully virile Tuatha D'Danann warrior. Blond, blue-eyed, and shamelessly seductive, Tiernan could be Copper's savior…and his touch sets her body on fire.

DUTY

Like others of his kind, Tiernan stands alongside the D'Anu witches to battle the demons of the Underworld. Obligation to his cause and his people cautions against any entanglement with Copper, yet each second spent with this beautiful, uninhibited woman stirs an insatiable hunger. Desire explodes into carnal bliss, but the visions that haunt Copper's dreams are growing stronger, and they foretell a terrifying evil waiting to be unleashed…

DESTINY

Saving the city will take more than brute strength…more than witchcraft. Only together can Copper and Tiernan find a way to overcome the dark forces—and seize a passion that has bewitched them both..

Excerpt

ABOUT CHEYENNE MCCRAY

Cheyenne McCray is the award-winning author of sixteen books and six novellas. Among other accolades, Chey has been presented with the prestigious Romantic Times BOOKclub's Reviewers' Choice Award for "Best Erotic Romance of the Year."

Chey has been writing ever since she can remember, back to her kindergarten days when she penned her first poem. She always knew one day she would write novels, hoping her readers would get lost in the worlds she created, as she did when she was lost in a good book. Cheyenne enjoys spending time with her husband and three sons, traveling, and of course writing, writing, writing.

REVIEWS

Her latest precious magical Ashcroft saga is a delightful torrid tale headed by a strong lead couple and supported ably by a horde of bad dudes. Fans who appreciate a strong fantasy will want to read the magnificent McCray mythos – Harriet Klausner

Website: http://www.cheyennemccray.com

Kiwi Triple Treat Contest

Want to win signed books from three very different authors? Read on.

__________________________________________________

Three New Zealand Authors...
Three New Releases...

Go into a draw to win a copy of Mr. Imperfect by Karina Bliss, a copy of Romancing the Alien by Shelley Munro, and a copy of Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh, along with a cute paua inlay bookmark from New Zealand .

Entry details

• Visit the authors' websites and name one upcoming release for each author, other than the books depicted here.
  

Karina Bliss
Shelley Munro
Nalini Singh

• Send us an email with the three book titles along with your name and address
• Closing date 31 October 2006
• One winner will be chosen after the closing date.
• Note: Entrants may be invited to join authors' newsletters as a result of entering this contest.

Ups & Downs

The plan this week was to get some reading done. These are books I've been waiting to read for a really long time. But for some reason, I can't get into any of them. I'm reading one right now and I know I'm not doing it justice.

Has this ever happened to you? What did you do to snap out of it? My plan is threefold - first, I'm being drawn toward my keeper shelf, so I think I'll surrender and dive into a couple of stories that I know I'll love. Second, I think I'm going to take a step back from romance and read a few thrillers and sci-fi/fantasy novels. Sort of like cleaning the palate to experience something like new. And third - I'm going to speed up this round of edits on Caressed By Ice. Writing always makes me want to read - one passion feeding another?

Happy Endings

Daniel Dibley, 17, needed a partner for the school dance in the Australian country town of Bathurst, west of Sydney, and he decided to aim high.

He wrote to Australia's best-known beauty queen, Jennifer Hawkins, to ask her to the dance, and was stunned when the 2004 Miss Universe accepted.

From: Plucky Boy Gets Miss Universe Dream Date

That's what I call a happy ending! Let's end the week on a high note and share happy endings - your own, someone else's, romantic or not, it doesn't matter. It just has to be happy!

How to win friends & Influence people

Today I thought I'd take a crack at some shameless self-promotion: Yesterday I sent out the backcover blurb for Visions of Heat to members of my newsletter - they get to see lots of things first. Doesn't that sound like something you want to join? *grin*

So, let's talk promo: How many of you belong to author newsletters? Why do/don't you join? What can an author do to entice you to join?

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Run Away With Me

Paranormal & More

Want to know what a top editor thinks about all things paranormal? Check out this interview with Berkley editor Cindy Hwang, who also happens to be my editor. (I love her!)

Talking about paranormal, it's very definitely a good time to be a reader who likes this particular sub-genre. There's so much choice, so many different stories. Ghosts, vampires, selkies, Psy *g* to name a few.

If you read paranormal, what do you like best about it? Conversely, what kind of stories would you like to see more of?

The Shadow by Shelley Munro

I am soooo behind in my reading it's not funny. But I'm hoping to clear a number of books off my tbr pile in the coming weeks. I got off to a good start with Shelley Munro's The Shadow. Before I tell you about the book, I have to tell you how it came into my possession.

Full disclosure: Shelley is a friend of mine and at the recent RWNZ Conference, I was the facilitator for her workshop ie. I did the intro and made sure no one got too rowdy (*g*). Now Shelley had a copy of The Shadow to give away and before the attendees arrived, she threw out a few ideas as to how best to pick a winner. One of them was: "The person with the birthday closest to Shelley's". I told her that was the *best* idea out of all the ones she'd brainstormed.

Um, guess who had the birthday closest to Shelley? Yep, it was me. I'm sure everyone thought it was rigged. But it wasn't, promise! Neither of us had a clue that our birthdays were so close. I can hear those sniggers of disbelief. Shush!

Okay, onto the book. In my opinion, the backcover copy (pasted below) has quite a light feel, despite the actual things it talks about. Honestly speaking, I wouldn't have picked it up in a store based on that blurb because I don't really like 'light' (I'm more into meaty and emotional). However that would've been my loss, because The Shadow, while lighter than my usual fare, is also an emotionally engaging book.

The heroine, Lady Katherine Fawkner is a trainee cat burglar. How cool is that?! That's not an occupation you see everyday. And she isn't a pretend cat burglar, she's a real one. It's the family business. I liked Kate a lot - she was smart and funny.

The hero, Kahu Williams, is a cop. He's definitely a "hottie" as one of Kate's elderly chaperones says. The book is from the point of view of Kate, so you don't get to see inside Kahu's head, but the outside package is very nice indeed. While the book is set in England, the sexy Kahu is from New Zealand and there are touches of NZ throughout the book.

Sensuality wise, I'd say it's warm. No full love scenes but lots of great sexual tension. Overall, I found this a fast, fun read with hidden emotional depths. I was hooked enough to put down other things I should've been doing in order to get to the end, so a thumbs up to The Shadow from me.

Backcover Blurb

Occupations often run in families, and mine is no exception. I’m Lady Katherine Fawkner, cat burglar in training. Under duress, I might add, but someone has to keep the family safe. Father’s gambling has escalated into debts, and with that debt comes outrageous interest charges and goons threatening bodily harm if overdue money isn’t paid. So, here I am, attending a society ball, researching the rich and their jewels for my first heist.

Wouldn’t you know it? I’m looking for rubies and find a man instead. Not just any man, but a cop. A cat burglar and a cop? No future there. But I can’t stop thinking about Inspector Kahu Williams.

To make matters worse, now there’s been a murder. And if that’s not bad enough, my past has returned to haunt me. I’ve stumbled across a photo of a child who is the mirror image of my precious daughter. In my hands I hold a clue to reveal the identity of my child’s father – the man who drugged me six years ago. So I’m hot on the trail of my revenge for date rape while Inspector Williams searches for a killer. But we keep running into each other and … no, this is not going to work ...

Excerpt available on Shelley's site.

Links but no links

I've been doing links on Saturdays for the past few weeks but no links today because (gasp) I haven't spent that much time online this week. Me Good. *g*

But that doesn't mean we have to miss out on our link fix. Did you guys see anything interesting on the web over the past few days?

Famous Faces & Characterization

I recently got asked in an interview whether I use famous people as physical archetypes for my heroes/heroines. The answer is I don’t. Even when I read, I make up “new” faces for the characters. But I know authors who are the opposite.

What about you guys? Do you imagine a famous face for the character you’re reading/writing about?

(Doesn't he look all shiny and pretty and clean cut? *g*)

Between The Covers

I'm at Between the Covers today. Come visit.

Interview: Saskia Walker

Today, the blog goes sizzling - I'm interviewing the lovely Saskia Walker, who has Double Dare, an erotic novel, coming out with Berkley HEAT in October. I haven't read the book but it sounds hot enought to singe and the cover is amazing. Read on to discover whether or not Saskia is the back behind the corset!

1. Who is Saskia Walker? Tell us a bit about yourself.

I'm an average woman plagued with a very vivid and overactive imagination! Oh, I love it really. I was always destined to be a writer. I grew up an only child and that's when my imagination got its first hold on me. My parents traveled as I was growing up and the places I've seen inspire and inform my work – my readers get to visit many of the places I have, in my stories. In my late twenties I developed a rare bone disease in my leg, which has increasingly affected my mobility. Writing became even more of a chance to open my wings and live in ways I couldn't in real life. As a career, it suits me down to the ground.

Although I've seen and done some amazing things, I'm basically down to
earth and fun loving. I love dressing up, and live music. Those are my
passions, outside of writing. More of an optimist than a pessimist, I
also have a very naughty streak. I'm British by birth and I settled in
the north of England, in the beautiful county of Yorkshire. My real
life hero, Mark, inspires all my heroes. We share our love nest with a
big black cat who thinks we are her servants -- and, of course, we
are.

2. What do you write?

Erotic romance and fantasy, too, in novel and novella length. Lots of
erotic short stories. That's where I got started, building up to
longer works. I like challenges, and apparently that means I want to
try writing in just about every sub-genre, but there's always romance
and a high level of eroticism in my novellas and novels.

3. What's your next book?

Next up is the publication of my first full-length contemporary erotic
romance, Double Dare. It hits the shelves any day now. Such an
exciting time for me! The story is set in London and Paris, in the
world of high finance, property dealing, and the arts. Abby, the
heroine, is a woman who knows what she wants and dares herself to go
after it….in this case he's tall dark and handsome, enigmatic and
sexy, and his name is Zac. Little does she know she's going to fall
this mysterious stranger. :) Shortly after Double Dare, in January,
my first fantasy romance comes out. Lots more in the pipeline!

4. Were you the model for the cover of Double Dare?

Oh, Nalini, how I wish I could say yes to that! :) I do own a corset,
but alas I'm not as slim and glamorous as the lovely cover model --
let's just say I'm more of a wench than a diva. ;) I also don't have
the wild red hair, although I'm half Irish and it's in the family, the
gene wasn't passed to me. I have to say I totally love the cover
Berkley put together for Double Dare. It's taken from a scene towards
the end of the story, set in Paris, where the heroine is fitted with a
corset to wear to an exclusive fetish party, while the hero watches...
Wearing a corset is a very sexy experience, so I had to include it.

5. What's the wildest dare you've ever done?

Hmmm. Probably the time I had sex on a garden rooftop in the midst of
a summer thunderstorm. Madness. And very wet. Ahem. Naughty, naughty!
Rain, I meant rain! :)The heroine in Double Dare dares herself to do
things when she needs the nerve, and I confess that's something I do
too. Gets me in all sorts of trouble, but you know, life is for
living!

Got more questions for Saskia? Ask away!

Pirate Day!

Argh mateys, today is the International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Where's me cutlass? Shiver me timbers, some pirate's stole it! Argghh.

Dr. Seuss Rocks

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

Dr. Seuss

I'm planning on doing some traveling today and it all begins with digging into my tbr pile. :) What was the last book you read?

Saturday Links

I think I've mentioned how much I love the JD Robb series of books about Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her husband Roarke, so when I saw the tragedy of the Hungarian covers for this series over at SBTB, I wanted to weep. Why? Why? WHY?

Super NZ director Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame) has bought the rights to Naomi Novik's Temeraire series! Woohoo. I love these books.

If you've ever wondered how many copies of books have to be sold to get on the NY Times list, drop by Tess Gerritsen's blog, where she talks numbers.

Scott McLemee talks about annotating your books (link courtesy of Bookslut). Hmm, marking up books? I can understand doing it in a textbook for study purposes, but a fiction book? What's your take?

And to end on a heavenly note, the new dwarf planet (the one whose discovery ended up causing Pluto to be downgraded from planet to dwarf planet), will not be called Xena as originally named. It's new name is: "Eris, the Greek goddess of chaos and strife..."

Survey

What general age do you like your heroines?
20's? 30's? 40's?

And heroes?

Bound By Marriage

I did a post on The Knight Agency blog last night from the perspective of a writer living out of the U.S. so swing by that way if the topic interests you. And don't forget the chat in a few hours - Wed 13th 9pm EST (Thurs 1pm NZ time).

More good news for StS - it's #36 on the Bookscan MM Romance Bestseller list! Yippee!

I was in the middle of writing this post when I got a delivery - the galleys for Bound By Marriage, my Feb Sil Desire release. I always get excited when I get these and see "Author's Copy" printed in the front.

What happens at the galley stage is that I go through and check for typos, printer errors, timeline mistakes etc. i.e. the details rather than major changes (that happens at the copy/line edit stage). Doesn't sound interesting but it is for the simple reason that because the book was turned in and line edited so long ago, I get to read it with a fresh eye. I once found I'd had a heroine's knees "crumble". Yep. After so many pairs of eyes going over it, she was still "crumbling" to the floor. I'm curious - what's your tolerance level for typos?

Good News!

If you heard some delighted screaming yesterday, that would've been me. Slave to Sensation is #22 on the B&N Mass Market Romance Bestseller list!! *If I had a insanely dancing smilie, I'd insert it here*

And in the more good news department, Visions of Heat has been pushed up from May to March 07, so not long to wait now!

Muwaha news - it seems my changelings are in danger of turning Bronwyn Jameson into a cat person. :) Check out her blog for a fun interview we did over the weekend.

I'll also be doing a chat at The Knight Agency Chat Room, Wed 13 Sep, 9-10pm EST. I really like the TKA chats. They're very organized and everyone's questions get answered. Hope to see some of you there. Here's how to get to the chat room:

To enter the chat room, follow this link (http://client1.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=115545), enter a screen name and simply select “login.”

So, tell me some of your good news! What's put a smile on your face recently? :)

Emails Eaten

I think my email program ate most of the emails that came in over the past 12 hours, so if you contacted me, pretty please resend.

You know, I wonder what people did before the Internet. Carrier pigeons? *g* And here's a question - when's the last time you wrote an actual pen and paper letter?

Ownership

So last night I did some blog-hopping and found this article about the next Bridget Jones book (link found via PBW, Alison Kent, Bookseller Chick & Meg Cabot). What Helen Fielding is thinking of doing to Bridget (if the article is correct) disturbs me, but what I found really interesting were the comments below the article.

One person said:

And what about Bridget's character? She has totally changed. All of this character development has all been for nothing, because Bridget is no wiser.

Another:

I feel she has been playing around with her audience and is so out of touch with the real character she created 10 years ago.

The basic gist of the comments was that Ms Fielding has betrayed her character and her audience by taking Bridget in this new direction. Which brings up the idea of ownership of fictional characters. Clearly, the readers who commented felt that they had some stake in Bridget, because they'd stuck with her through three books. However Ms Fielding probably feels that Bridget is hers. After all, she wrote the character in the first place.

What do you think? If a beloved author decided to do something completely unexpected with a character you'd grown to love, something that just struck you as wrong, what would your reaction be? And who do you think has emotional ownership of long-running series' characters?

(By the way, remember Misery? Now there was a fan who had a problem with an author's decision re her favorite character).

Chat

I'll be chatting at the Fallen Angel Reviews Chat Room on:

Saturday Sep 9th - 9p.m. EST

(For the Kiwis, that's 1pm Sunday our time) Come join me!

So what do you all think about chats? Do you attend any? Fun?

Working, working...

I'm currently working on the third draft of Caressed By Ice (book 3 in the Psy series). This is the draft where I work on a printout and write all over it. In fact I sometimes write on the actual page, on the back of the page and on insert pages. And guess what, this is fun for me!

What are you up to? What constitutes fun for you? Any plans for the weekend?

Between The Covers

I'm blogging at Between The Covers today. Come keep me company. :)

Oh ma cherie!

I got copies of Awaken the Senses in French yesterday. Doesn't it look all pretty and shiny and well...French?

While I was stroking the cover (all authors do this, trust me), it struck me that the hero of this book, Alexandre Dupree, is from France. Part of his appeal in the original English was that he was an exotic stranger (one who occasionally mumured sweet nothings in French).

But for the French readers, Alexandre will be a native, subtly changing the tone of the book. I've never thought about this before, but I suppose it applies to all the 'foreign' heroes we write - in one country at least, they're not foreign. Do you think women in those countries snicker and snort at authors' depictions of their men? Personally, I think not. I still find NZ heroes hot, despite living in the midst of Kiwi men. Do you have any preference as to where your heroes come from?

Incidentally when I went onto Amazon France to grab a jpeg of the cover of Awaken the Senses, I found the French cover for Awaken to Pleasure, too. Check it out on the right. Very different, no? But that might be due to the fact it's a duo - anyone know if that's Sara Orwig's cover?

Oh and to answer yesterday's question, the thing I bought is big and gleaming, has four tyres and takes me places. Yep, after three years of riding a bicycle through the rice fields of Japan, I now have a vehicle!

StS hits the stands!

What day is it today?

It's the official release date for Slave to Sensation! Woohoo!

Okay I'm a wee bit early as it's still yesterday on the other side of the world, but I refuse to let that dampen my excitement. :) Also up today is an interview I did with Martina Bexte of Bookloons so swing by there if you want to know if I've ever ridden a camel (among other things).

And I'm going to close with a question: I bought something this week, an early birthday present for myself. What do you think I bought? Hint: I both need and want it. *g*

Hanging out at the Idea Boutique

I'm over at the Idea Boutique today, talking about some of the things that might (or might not) have led to me writing Slave to Sensation, so please come on over and visit.

I also thought I had to post at Between The Covers today. Good thing I rechecked the schedule 'cause today is Julia Templeton's day. And she's discussing something very interesting - sex vs sexual tension.

TRRC Interview

I'm doing posts on a couple of other blogs today, so I'll put up the links to those once they're up. But for your reading pleasure this morning, here's an interview I did with Wendy Keel of The Romance Reader's Connection. If you're interested in the follow-up books to Slave to Sensation, you might want to check this out. Just saying... *g*

Saturday Links

A reminder that the viral blogging experiment for Slave to Sensation ends Sep 5, so if you'd like to enter and haven't yet, here's your chance to win a $200 Amazon voucher among other things.

Alison Kent is giving away books.

So is Gena Showalter.

There's a meme going around about the top 100 Romance Novels as determined by AAR's readers. How many have you read?

Chick Lit and Literary writers are having a somewhat heated "discussion".

And actor Daniel Craig finds 007 Tough But Cool. Hey it's writing related - these were books before they were movies!

Interview

New interview up at Milady Insanity!

Spring!

Today is the start of a new month and I'm officially no longer on holiday. September's shaping up to be a big month. Check out all these things that fall in Sep:

(1) The release of a book you might've heard of called SLAVE TO SENSATION! Gee, was that loud? ;)
(2) The anniversary of my very first book sale ever (Desert Warrior).
(3) My birthday. :)
(4) The official end of winter in this hemisphere. This is very important. Me and cold weather do not mix well.

So, what's September hold for you?