Places To Go...

Going through my photos and I thought I'd share this one of Ashwini and me looking out over Neko Harbour in Antarctica. It's one of my favorite photos from the trip!

Antarctica was a dream trip for me, a place I've wanted to visit for a long time. What's your dream trip? Where would you go if you could pack a suitcase and head out today?

Antarctica

A couple more photos from my recent trip to Antarctica as I continue to go through them. Hope you enjoy this glimpse of the beautiful frozen continent!

Taken from just outside the bridge of the ship on a day so clear it was crystalline. I used no filters in the above shot, did nothing fancy. It really was that clear and beautiful.

See the tiny dots at the bottom? Those are people. We hiked a long way to get this gorgeous shot of Neko Harbour!

Auckland at Night

Taken from the top of Mt. Eden. :-)

Weekend Post

 
A shot of Auckland's Viaduct area - looking toward the city. See that bridge on the left? It features in a scene in Charlotte and Gabriel's book (ROCK HARD/March 10th). 

I hope you all have a great weekend. It's Saturday morning here and I'm itching to do some work on Guild Hunter #8 (details to come!). What are you up to?

Japan: Handmade Udon Noodles

While I lived in Japan, I once got to help make udon noodles. Here's a pic from that day. (Makes me miss my quiet little town with its tea plantations and rice fields). :-)

Travel Photos: Swiss Alps, New Orleans, and Chocolate :)

I've finally had a chance to go through some of the photos from my recent travels. Here's a few!

Chocolate shop, Brussels

Julier Pass, Switzerland

 

St. Moritz, Switzerland

French Quarter, New Orleans, USA

Rhine Falls, Switzerland

Chapel Bridge, Lucerne

Taken after the first Paris signing, at the Milady offices

In the Swiss Alps

Travel: High Atlas Mountains, Morocco

I took this in the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco. I love how the roads ribbon through the mountain range, and the sky is so clear. The vehicles  to the right give you an indication of the scale of the landscape.

One of these days, when you least expect it, this mountain range will appear in a book. :-)
 

RITA, Silhouette Desire Deal & Eye Candy

I have a story to tell. First up, I'm kind of a night owl, because often, that's when my brain seems to kick into high gear. Last night, I was up till 4am working on ARCHANGEL'S SHADOWS.

So, when the phone rang at 7am, I answered it, had a perfectly rational conversation and hung up. Ten minutes later, my eyes flicked open and I thought: Did she say HEART OF OBSIDIAN has been nominated for a RITA Award?!

I checked the list of finalists on the website and yes, Kaleb and Sahara's story is a finalist in the Paranormal Romance section of Romance Writers of America RITA Awards! Wooho! I ate a peanut butter cupcake with dark chocolate icing for breakfast to celebrate. :D

Alas, I ate it too quickly to take a photo, but here's a photo from the last time I baked a batch. And here's the link to the recipe at Sally's Baking Addiction. (Warning: the site is a vortex - once you enter, you will find it difficult to escape. I say that as someone who looooooves baked goods! Her recipes work really well for me - both the usual version and if I substitute gluten free flour.)

Click the link to see the full list of RITA
nominees.

~

Also, A few hours ago, it was a UK deal, and now I have a North American deal - one of my Silhouette Desire books is on sale for $1.99: SECRETS IN THE MARRIAGE BED.

Check it out if you'd like to get a glimpse of where my career began. The six Desire novels I wrote are all short contemporary romances, no paranormal elements, but they're still me. :-)

So far the deal's showing up at Amazon. I'll keep an eye out for other links but if you spot it first, please leave a note in the comments for other readers.

Here's the excerpt link.

Also, if you're hunting up the Desires in paperback, I've been told two (Awaken to Pleasure and Awaken the Senses) will be reprinted in one volume later in the year in the US, under the title AWAKE.

~ 

And last but not least, some eye candy! This gorgeous, gorgeous photo was brought to my attention by Under the Covers book blog on Twitter. The reviewer asked me if he was a good representation of Vasic. Answer: Oh my goodness, YES! (The model is: Goran Jurenec).

Photos!

Prague - View from the Charles Bridge

I just uploaded ten new travel photos (from Hungary, Austria, & the Czech Republic) into a Facebook album. You can view them by clicking this link! (Scroll down for the newest images). Hope you enjoy. :-)

Photos!

Some photos from my travels as promised!

Lara Adrian & I at our German publishing house, Lyx.

 

Some beautiful wings spotted by Lara Adrian's lovely husband, John, in a window ad in Dortmund.

Outside the Love Letter Convention in Berlin (too adorable not to take a photo!)

Berlin: Part of the Berlin Wall that's still standing. Different artistic works cover each segment.

Warsaw, Poland: Wilanow Palace

Berlin: Love Letter Convention - Impromptu Signing!

Krakow, Poland: Shot of chandelier in the Wieliczka Salt Mine. Each of the "crystal" links is actually made of rock salt. One of the most amazing places I've ever seen.
 

Hello from Berlin

Taken from the airplane as we flew over the edge of Australia

Hi from Berlin everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful start to the weekend. Mine has started off great - I had a lovely dinner with a group of authors and fans here for the Love Letter Convention. However, jet lag is hitting pretty hard! I'll be out for the count soon as this post goes live.

I thought you might enjoy some fun shots I took during the day segment of our flight. 

Taken from airplane over central Australia

Also, I have a new interview up on Under the Covers today. :-)

Beautiful clouds! The sparks of light are caused by the tiny ice crystals that form on the windows at that altitude.

Photos From Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

Back in March, I went down to Flaxmere for a great evening event. As my flight came in a little early, one of the lovely staff members from the Hastings Libraries, Carla, drove me around the area. 

Since it was a beautiful day, I got some great shots. I hope you enjoy!

You can just see a vineyard at the bottom of the mountains.

Closer shot of the vineyard.

Part of the ceiling of the Hawke's Bay Opera House. It's a stunning building - if you ever get a chance to visit, definitely check it out!

Photos from India

The Taj Mahal is incredibly lovely in real life. Even though it's such a large building, it is so graceful and delicate, you almost don't notice the size.

Taken in front of what were once government offices in Old Delhi

I love how many different forms of transport are visible in this shot!

And one more from another angle!

Red Fort, Delhi

Diwali Lights in Jaipur

Jaipur

Our hot air balloons prior to take off in Jaipur!

Lake Palace, Jaipur

I have a ton more photos to go through, so I'll be posting more over the next few weeks. I've also got some  on my Facebook author page. It's a public album, so just click through and you'll be able to see the images. :-)

New York Signing

The New York signing was so much fun! Thank you to all of you who came, and to the wonderful staff at the 150 East 86th Street Barnes & Noble. A special thanks to the brilliant and witty Sarah Wendell who interviewed me on stage.

Here are a couple of photos from the event! More photos to come from the tour stops soon as I have a little more time.

Sarah and I with the winner of the Archangel's Blade ARC we gave away at the event! (Don't worry, I snagged a couple for a blog giveaway after I return home. :-))

I hope you're all having a good weekend! I wasn't able to put up a Friday Book Club post, so share your reads on this post. What are you reading and loving at the moment?

ARRA Photos

Who is this? Swing by Oddshots to find out, and to see some photos from my recent trip to Sydney to attend the Australian Romance Readers Convention! :-)

Photos!

I just posted some photos from the Chinese Lantern Festival over at Oddshots, so swing by and have a look.

Isn't this guy adorable?

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. :-)

Shutter Bug

I've posted some of my travel photographs over at Oddshots today, including this shot from Hong Kong. Swing by, have a look and share your travel dreams. :-)

Aww....

One of my (awesome) friends posted this on her Facebook page, and I had to grab it and repost. How adorable are these two?!

I've actually seen them nuzzling at each other - they really are best buds!

Also, if you are on FB, and haven't seen my new author page, here's the link.

So, any cute pet stories to share?

Conference Photos

Some more photos from the Orlando RWA Conference! Included are shots of several of the RITA winners who passed by the fountain where I was hanging out with the NZ/Aussie contingent.

Julia Quinn with her two RITAs!


Sherry Thomas and Tracy Wolff, looking fabulous.


With the lovely Jodi Thomas at the Berkley signing.

Roxanne St. Clair and Kresley Cole celebrating Kresley's RITA win.

And one of the highlights of my conference - being able to meet the wonderful Lisa Kleypas, who not only writes awesome books, but is incredibly gracious in person. (I had a total fangirl moment, I confess).

I hope you're enjoying the photos. Question for today - if you had a chance, which author would you absolutely love to meet?