Friday, April 18, 2009


I am so THRILLED to have one of my oldest writing buddies join us today at PFSW. I met Susan Shay in the Fall of 2005 before I wrote my first word. I've had the privilege of watching her career grow from her first book to now.

Help me welcome Susan to our little home on the internet.

Susan - sit and get comfortable. (*hands her the complementary pink fuzzy slippers*). Tell us all about your new book...

Thanks for letting me wear the pink, fuzzy slippers today. I always enjoy your blogs!

I'm so excited! Today is the release of my second book, BLIND SIGHT! I can hardly keep from stopping strangers just to tell them about it.

Cassie Reynolds is channeling the dreams of a serial killer. But without the resources to stop him—if she's able to discover who he is—how can she succeed? Only cynical Keegan Flynn, who believes in nothing and no one, has the tools needed to complete her gift. Will Cassie be able to make Keegan believe in time, or will Christmas this year be murder?

In BLIND SIGHT a touch psychic and a man who doesn't believe in anything fall in love.

One of the first things I do when I start a manuscript is to "discover" the characters. Cassie Reynolds and Keegan Flynn are the outcome of a conversation I had one day with an old friend. It's when I realized how very different we are.

I'm terribly empathetic. I can put myself in almost anyone's shoes. My friend can only see things one way—hers. I can't talk her over to my side. I can't make her see reason. She always knows what's right...She is.

From my sympathetic soul, Cassie was born. If she touches a man, she not only feels what he feels, she lives it with him. Before the book begins she touched a postman who kidnapped a child and is keeping her in his basement. Cassie saw what he'd done, then kept him in the store so she could alert the police.

Keegan, on the other hand, has a hard heart. His parents belonged to a cult with a false leader he calls Boz. His first big break in a newspaper was when he visited his parents' cult. The leader walked on water and turned water to wine, amazing his followers and taking their money.

Keegan was able to prove the man was a fake, wrote about it for his newspaper, where it hit the AP. Rather than appreciate their son, his parents disowned him for it. After that, he knew he'd never again believe in anything except his sister.

Here's where Keegan learns about Cassie.

It was all Keegan could do to keep from swearing. Cassie claimed to be psychic? And worse, Miriam believed it? What sort of game was this woman playing? “So Cassie told you she was psychic?”

“She’s lived here in the apartment on the top floor for a couple of years, Keegan. She’s my friend and trusts me to keep her secret.”

“Cassie’s the newest princess in the tower?” Unable to stifle a bark of laughter, he snorted loudly. “God, Miriam, you’re such an easy mark. Hey, if we ask really nice and cross her palm with gold, maybe the all-knowing, all-seeing Miss Cassie will read our futures, too.”

Making shushing sounds like a leaky gas pipe, Miriam fluttered her hands at him. “Don’t say that, Keegan. If she heard you, it would hurt her feelings.”

“Aw, hell, Sis. If she’s psychic, she can probably pick up what I’m saying even in the tower.” Hoping to make his point, he fixed his gaze on her and raised his brows. “Let’s try to see this clearly. As a psychic, able to hear every voice speaking at this moment, how would she know which one was mine? And if, like most telepaths, she can also hear thoughts, and everyone in the entire world is not only talking but also thinking at the same time, doesn’t she get confused?”

With a stern look, Miriam folded her arms and leaned back in the chair. “I didn’t say she was a telepath. And besides, it doesn’t work like that. At least, for Cassie it doesn’t. For her, it’s usually touching something or someone that tells her. It’s called psyc-psychometry, I think. She really doesn’t like to talk about it much.”

“Right,” he scoffed. “She doesn’t like to talk about it. So why was the story in the paper?”

Her frown deepened. “The story came from the police, not Cassie. And if you read it again, you’ll see her name’s not mentioned anywhere. She wouldn’t do that.”

All he could do was to lay it on the line for her. With any luck, she’d come to her senses.

“Listen to me, Miriam. She’s following the usual pattern—it’s how these people work. They come on as if they’re your friends to get you on their side. They fill you full of bull, and because you like them so much, you believe anything they tell you. So when it’s time for them to start spreading their crap around town, they don’t even have to fight their own battles. They have you to do it for them.”

Keegan decides to debunk her, and so he has to spend time with her to learn all he can.

“Oh, I can find my way around her. In my hands, this baby will be very happy.” Gingerly caressing the leather-covered steering wheel, he glanced at Cassie in the semi-darkness to see her mouth drop open.

While he hadn’t intended to give the words a sexy spin, seeing her face after she took the phrase the wrong way—eyes at halfmast, cheeks pinking, and her glistening bottom lip caught between her teeth—made him wish he could do it again.

“That’s right. You owned a Volkswagen in college, didn’t you?” Her voice rasped slightly as she buckled her seatbelt, then leaned away from him to angle her back against the door. In a play of shadow and light, the simple red dress she wore made her body look perfect, touchable, kissable.

When she finally turned her head to look at him, the heat in her gaze stole the air from his lungs. Without breath, he COULDN’T speak or think, so he nodded. It didn’t matter what she’d asked. Whatever it was, he’d do it. Or find it. Or climb it. Or build it.

For the woman gazing at him with eyes that could heat his very marrow, he’d do anything at all. Even take on a monster, if need be.

Later Cassie touches a cup in the library coffee shop and "lives" the memory of a murder. She soon learns he's not just a murderer, he's a serial killer, and she can't stop him alone. She needs Keegan to help her, but he doesn't believe in what she is.

Will she convince him in time to stop the murderer or will Christmas this year be murder?

Thanks for letting me stop by!

I'm giving away a copy of BLIND SIGHT. Just comment to get your name in the drawing!

Thanks Susan! Blind Sight is from Wild Rose Publishing. It sounds wonderful.

This interview is also posted at Cynderella's Castle. Comment there for two chances at this wonderful book.

Until Next Time!

Cyndi

Winners!

Black Lace: Seductions goes to DIANA COSBY

All of Me: Kimmie (From the Blackbird Sister's loop)

Congrats ladies.

contact me at ArkansasCyndi at sbcglobal dot net

Thanks everyone for your comments. There are many more books to come so check back often.

In fact, there is a book giveaway on FRIDAY!

I don't know any writer who doesn't want to be a breakout writer. I know I do. That's why I'm on a breakout writer's journey using Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass.

This month I'm summarizing Chapter Two, titled "Multidimensional Characters." Maass says: "One-dimensional characters hold limited interest for us because they are limited as human beings. They lack the complexity that makes real-life people so fascinating. In well-constructed fiction, a multidimensional character will keep us guessing."

I recently figured out the number one reason I stop reading a book, even a well-written one, is that I know what's going to happen. The book has no surprises for me. Now I realize why there are no surprises. Their characters don't have enough dimensions.

Maass uses Artemis Fowl in Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer as an example. Artemis is a 12-year-old diabolical criminal mastermind whose mother is mentally and physically ill and whose father is missing. Maass says, "Artemis is trying to deny his longing for his father and his grief over his mother's condition, but Colfer makes sure that his readers do not miss them."

Later, when Artemis captures a fairy, he feels guilty about her discomfort. He's still intent on extorting the fairy gold, but now the reader won't be sure what he'll do.

In my wip, a tough secondary character, whose ugly face scares small children, has adopted two dogs. One is missing a leg and one an eye. They've become his family. That's one of several ways I show his multidimensional character.

An exercise Maass gives in the back of the chapter is to find your progonist's defining quality and apply the opposite of that quality to the protagonist. The example I gave for my character is toughness and gentleness. Opposites.

Can you think of a defining quality and its opposite for any of your characters? Or are there other multidimensional qualities you've given your characters?

UPDATE: Ms. Shayla got her nails done and plum forgot to sent her contribution to the blog! But it's here now. She's below Kristina's post.

Today I am thrill to have the authors from Black Lace's latest anthology: Seductions. As I write this, I am waiting for the third author to join us, so if you see posts from Shada Royce and Kristisa Wright, but not one from Shayla Kersten, come back! Shayla's will be an addition to the blog today. Today's post is long, but I think if you read through it, you'll be wanting this book, which I am of course giving away to one lucky commenter. As always, comment here and on Cynderella's Castle for double the chance to win!

Shada Royce is a good friend I've known for about two years. I remember the first RWA chapter meeting she attended and she fit like a glove with this group. Not only does she write wonderful romance, she works a fulltime job as a civil engineer. She currently serves as our RWA chapter president, but will be missing our meeting this weekend. But she has a good excuse. She has been choosen Outstanding Alumni for the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas. (If I've got the award wrong, I'm sure she'll correct me.) I believe this may be her first guest blog, so everyone be nice to her! Shada lives in Central Arkansas. When she isn't playing professional enginner, photographer, volunteer or mom, she spends her time writing and honing her craft.

Kristina Wright is one of my tweet buddies on Twitter. (If you don't know what Twitter is, get thee to Twitter.com and grab hold of the hottest thing going!) Since Shada and Shayla are both chaptermates and friends, I didn't hesitate to draft them to guest blog. Kristina answered my Twitter plea to visit PFSW and help us decorate the place for the day! Kristina claims to be an the insomniac writer whose mind is always working, even late into the night. She's a full-time writer, as well as a perpetual college student and community college adjunct. She lives in Virginia with her husband Jay and their menagerie of pets.

I asked each lady to basically tell us whatever she wanted to about her story in this anthology. Take it away, ladies!

Shada Royce

In the summer of 2008, fellow DSRA member and friend Delilah Devlin issued our chapter a challenge - answer the call for submissions for the 'Seduction' Anthology from Black Lace. I took the challenge on a whim, another opportunity to write a story and another opportunity to sumbit. I never imagined I'd be chosen for the Anthology and I am so excited to be published with such well-known erotica writers.

The 'Seduction' Anthology:

Twelve Steps is a story of a woman who sets out on a path to sexual self discovery by developing a twelve-step program which leads her to seduce a stranger in a library and thereby releaseing her inner vixen. The threat of having a tryst in a public location, with a stranger, only heightens her desire. In the end, she finds letting go of the reigns may be the ultimate step to any seduction.

EXCERPT:

‘Excuse me?’

The library attendant on duty turned around as I leaned across the counter. ‘Can I help you?’ He smiled, the small scar above his lip stretched with the action. My gaze focused on his firm, full lips. Flashes of how his hot, wet mouth would feel trailing a path down my shoulder made me dizzy. A wave of heat flashed over my skin as I considered what I was about to do, what I prayed I had the gumption to do.

A breeze drifted from the door to caress the length of my bare legs and flirt with the naked, heated flesh under my skirt. The cooling effect of the tendrils of the wind’s breath reminded me of my state of undress. Knowing I didn’t have on knickers brought a rush of fluttering sensations pulsing through my body, bringing goose bumps to my heated skin and tightening my over-sensitive nipples. I shifted over the counter, bringing my arms together so my breasts pushed against my hot pink tank top.

He glanced down at my cleavage then back to my face with little more than a blink.

I cleared my throat, a little unnerved by his nonchalance to my display. Looking around, I leaned over before whispering my request. ‘Do you have any books on oral sex?’

This time his eyebrows shot up into his hairline before snapping together in a tight vee over his blue eyes. ‘Is this some kind of joke?’

I leaned over further, giving him the full view down my shirt. ‘No, I’m doing research.’

‘On oral sex?’ His lips tilted to the side and my heart fluttered against my breast. Steadying my resolve, I stuffed back the urge to look away. Instead, I pinned him with what I hoped was my steamiest, come-hither look.

‘Uh-huh.’ I finally managed, and twisted my finger through a lock of my hair. The seconds between my question and his response stretched on. Would he tell me to get lost? Would he call security? My face bloomed with a rush of heat from the twisting of embarrassment tying a knot in my stomach.

‘On giving or receiving?’ he asked, breaking the unforgiving silence. The straight planes of his face revealed nothing behind his ice blue eyes. I swallowed, fighting the urge to tuck tail and run. Throwing caution to the wind, I glanced at him from beneath my lowered lashes.

‘Receiving.’ I managed in a low, sultry voice.

WOW SHADA! HOT HOT HOT!

Okay, Krisina. Take it away!

Hi there! I'm so delighted to be visiting Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers-- though I must confess I prefer bare feet to fuzzy slippers! I've been writing short erotic fiction for several years, but I've only recently begun writing erotic romance. My story in Seduction marks my first appearance in a Black Lace anthology, satisfying a long time dream! It's an honor to be included in the same anthology with Shayla Kersten and Shayda Royce.

"The Rancher's Wife" is a sensual, tension-filled reunion story about two very different people on the brink of divorce. The only thing they have in common is their passion for each other. Here's a taste:

Win groaned and the sound was primal and startling.

Leslie jerked her hand away as if she had been burned. He wrapped his long, callused

fingers around her wrist and pulled her hand back to his crotch, pressing it firmly against his erection, staring into her eyes.

Here was the power she missed and longed for, the raw, physical power that had nothing to do with money or prestige. Here was Win, in all his masculine glory, and heaven help her, she wanted him more than she had ever wanted anything in her life.

“You want this,” he said, and it wasn’t a question.

He had always been able to read her and had used it to his advantage. Teasing her, taunting her until she was out of her mind with lust and desire, a woman in need and only one man to satisfy her need.

He knew her, knew her better than anyone, and she hated it—and him—in that moment. Hated him almost enough to get up and walk out and not look back. Almost.

Almost.

Mmm... did I mention that Win is a cowboy? Who doesn't love a cowboy? :)

In addition to "The Rancher's Wife" in Seduction, I'm very excited to also have stories forthcoming in the Black Lace anthologies Liaisons and Sexy Little Numbers.

Thanks for this lovely opportunity to share my writing with you and I hope you all will stop by my blog www.kristinawright.com and say hello!

OH MY! Who doesn't love a cowboy!! I may have to enter myself in this book drawing!

Now that Shayla Kersten's checked-in, tell us about your story.

Hiya! Yes, I am a ditz. I knew today was the release date of Seduction. And I knew I was supposed to have a blog post at Pink Fuzzy Slippers on the day Seduction released. Yet in my scatterbrained way, I didn’t associate the two with April 14!

The Shopping List was the result of a challenge among the Diamond State Romance Authors. Three of us submitted and two of us sold! I was thrilled to be in the anthology with galpal Shada!

A quick blurb: A shopgirl finds a man and woman helping themselves to the privacy of her store’s fitting room. She’s fascinated at the sexual freedom of the couple-something she longs for but can’t find the strength to do-until they catch her watching and invite her into their closeted playground. But what will her boyfriend do when he catches her in a threesome?

And then an excerpt:

At five minutes to closing, Morin Lansing flipped off the ‘open’ sign and the display window lights then stormed across the store to the dressing room. Paul would be here in half an hour to pick her up. Time to ask her customers to leave.

The man had insisted on being in the dressing room with his girlfriend…wife…

Whatever...

The two of them went through at least twenty different dresses. Three of the last four draped over the rod holding the privacy curtain.

Morin opened her mouth to speak but stopped as a soft moan slipped through the thin curtain. She raised her hand to knock on the doorframe but a breathy groan made her hesitate.

Peering through a tiny opening in the curtain, revealed the woman–fair and curvy–, her shoulders pressed against the wall with her hips pushed forward. The woman’s mouth hung agape, her tongue skittered across her full lower lip.

Morin dropped her gaze. Following the swell of the woman’s breasts, past the six hundred dollar dress–not yet paid for–hiked around her waist and found the dark-haired man with his face buried in the apex of the woman’s thighs. His hands rustled under a swath of expensive silk near her ass.

Heat swirled in Morin’s lower stomach. An ache of need reminded her of Paul’s recent neglect in the bedroom.

‘Jason…’ The woman breathed his name like a reverent prayer. ‘We shouldn’t…’

Jason lifted his head. ‘Come on, baby… You know the rules. If it’s on your list, you have to go through with it.’ The staid suit jacket was gone and his tie pulled loose, dangling down his open shirt.

‘List?’ Morin’s lips mouthed the word. Her teeth caught her bottom lip, forcing silence. Curiosity kept her still, suppressing a shiver of desire.

‘I know.’ The woman’s whisper was almost inaudible.

Jason’s hands ran down her thighs and back up again. ‘Hey, the list thing was your idea but we can stop if you want to.’

‘No!’ Her fingers ran through his hair. ‘No…’

This time the word was gentler. She banged the back of her head against the wall with a soft thud. ‘What if the salesgirl comes back?’

Standing, Jason planted a quick kiss on the woman’s mouth. He sucked on her lower lip then murmured, ‘Then we get caught. Wasn’t that part of the excitement? Part of what got you so hot to begin with?’

A shudder swept through Morin from the base of her neck, down her spine and straight to her sex. ‘You’re so sexy…standing there exposing yourself,’ Jason mumbled between kisses. ‘Sara, so hot…’

Sara wrapped one leg around Jason’s thigh. Her body undulated against her lover’s crotch. A flush reddened her creamy breasts rising up her throat then to her face. ‘Yes…’ Her whisper barely reached Morin’s ears. ‘Let’s do it.’

The Shopping List is my first story with Black Lace. Another DSRA challenge resulted in the sale of my story In Heat, which will be in the anthology Sexy Little Numbers in August. This time, four Diamonds submitted and three sold! Give us time and we’ll have a Black Lace antho with all the Diamonds in it! Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks ladies for dropping by. This sounds like a wonderful anthology!

Monday, April 13, 2009

All Of Me
Warner Forever
ISBN: 0446502057
April 2009

Recently on Twitter, Grand Central Publishers asked if anyone wanted a copy of ALL OF ME by Lori Wilde to read and do a review. I jumped on it! Here's the "official" blurb:

Can two broken hearts become one?

Attorney Jillian Samuels doesn't believe in true love and never, ever wished for happily ever after. But when a searing betrayal leaves her jobless and heartbroken, a newly inherited cottage in Salvation, Colorado, seems to offer a fresh start. What she finds when she arrives shocks her: the most gorgeous and infuriating man she's ever met is living in her home!

Tuck Manning was a gifted architect who left a skyrocketing career to care for his dying wife. But the life he's made for himself in this quiet town is turned upside down when Jillian appears on his doorstep. Tuck won't go without a fight, and the two resolve to live as roommates until they can untangle who owns the cottage. Yet as Tuck and Jillian's days--and nights--heat up, they realize more than property rights are at stake...and that sometimes, salvation comes when you least expect it.

Here my review:

ALL OF ME is the fourth book in the Wedding Veil Series. I confess, I haven't read the first three, but that didn't pose a problem. Each book in the series stands alone and, while this book referred to the earlier books, I had no trouble following this story. In fact, if you have read the first three books in this series, you certainly want to get ALL OF ME as it does a nice job bringing the reader up to date on the lives of the three women features int he earlier books.

This is a "curl-up on the couch and lose yourself" kind of book. It's romance at its best. Sweet and sexy. Giggling funny at times. Heart jerking at other times. I felt for Tuck as he struggled with the loss of his wife. Maybe it's because I married a widower that some of little digs at his late wife's perfection rang so true. It can be hard to follow a dead wife. Lori Wilde did a good job getting those feelings right on the part of Tuck and Jillian. Watching them both grow and learn to love another person was touching and realistic.

I loved the small town appeal of the story. For me, the setting in Colorado was a large part of the story. I felt the nip in the air. Smelled the trees. Felt the cold water of the lake.

I really enjoyed Tuck and Jillian's story. I'll be looking for the first three books in this series! Well done, Ms. Wilde. Very well done!

If you are interested in a "gently read" copy of this book, leave me a comment and tell me you want to be entered in the contest.

If you want another chance to win, this review is also posted at Cynderella's Castle. Make a comment there for a second chance to win!

Good luck

When is a Sandwich not a Sandwich? This question might sound similar to the one the Mad Hatter asked Alice: "When is a Raven like a Writing Desk?" He never got an answer to that riddle but I'll give the answer to mine. Later.

When writing my novel The Irish Lady's Spanish Lover, I decided I was going to set it during the battle with the Spanish Armada in which that mighty navy was defeated by the British. I had it all laid out in my mind: One of the Spanish sailors escapes from his sinking ship, is captured by an Irish Lord friendly to the English and held for ransom. He and his captor's wife fall in love and attempt to escape together. Tragedy ensues.

Since what little I knew about that sea fight and what happened before and afterward was gained by watching the movie Young Bess, I decided I'd better start researching. With visions of men in velvet doublets, starched neck-ruffs, and quilted codpieces, and women in low-cut gowns with bejewelled stomachers, I set out to enlarge my knowledge.

Before 1588, there was a great Spanish influence in Ireland. Galway had been a trade center since around 1124 AD. It was an important seaport for trade between Spain and Ireland during the Middle Ages and that city still is architecturally different from the other towns. The Armada was defeated off the coast in 1588. At Milltown Malbay alone, six ships went down with all hands. A good many of the Spanish sailors didn't drown but swam ashore to be killed by the Irish. There are many graves in Irish cemeteries whose headstones bear Spanish names and the date "1588." Not all the sailors died in the sea or on the shore, however. Some were given haven by the countrypeople.

The legend is that the "Black Irish" are the descendants of the Spaniards who didn't die at Milltown Malbay but a good many sociologists and pathologists will tell you it's just that--a legend.

I decided I'd accept the legend as fact. My hero wouldn't be one of the surviving Spaniards, but his descendant, dark-haired and brown-eyed in a country of ruddy-cheeked redheads.

Okay, so far, so good. But how to work in the other things I'd learned, such as the information about Bunratty Castle? Simple. I'd have my hero take the heroine there. She'd be a tourist, and he's been asked by his cousin, the heroine's friend, to show her around.

The castle was built in 1250, burned in 1318, and restored in 1460. Nowadays, its open to the public, where medieval banquets--those so popular in reenactments in California at present--are held. In a dining hall where the Lord and his Lady sit at the head table and the others are arranged according to rank and caste, while authentically-clad saucy serving maids bring them trenchers of food and minstrels dressed in velvet capes and pointed-toed shoes with bells attached, walk among the tables playing their lutes, the tourists grasp drumsticks in their hands and toss the bones on the floor while swigging mead from pewter tankards. Bad manners? Not at all! It's all in the Era.

Two other castles fit into the story also, one real, one fictional. Dungary Castle rises proud and tall above the water, a thin veil of fog nestling around its banks as it sits on an island in Kinvarra Bay. It's still a private residence and not open to the public. Kilmeath Castle is a fiction, a ruin abandoned after its last owner--and all the others in his family--died a mysterious death on its walls, killed it's said by a dearg-due, the "red bloodsucker."

So where would my Spanish sailor fit in? He'd the dearg-due, I decided, wreaking his revenge upon the descendants of the man who killed and buried him in unconsecrated ground.

Satisfied with the way the story was going, I now sat down to write it. My hero and heroine would see much more of the Irish countryside before being confronted by this vengeful ghost, as well as learning a secret hidden in the dust of time and one woman's heart, and I would use descriptions of the Emerald Isle to make my story come alive.

So when is a sandwich not a sandwich? When it is a round--as my heroine learns. In Ireland, what they call a sandwich is really half of one, and a whole sandwich is called a round.

Here's a peek at the finished product of my research, The Irish Lady's Spanish Lover:

Happy Easter all! Do you make Easter baskets for anyone? I made them for my daughter and her delightful husband. I bought the cutest baskets last year, a Hello Kitty one for my daughter and a soccer ball for my son-in-law.

Will you be shopping for Easter candy tomorrow? I will! I still have easter candy in my freezer. Yep! It keeps fine frozen. I won't buy much tomorrow but will do my best shopping when the leftovers are marked down to at least 75% off. Then I'll make a last trip for the 85-95% off stuff. By then there won't be much worth having but I'll look anyway. FYI, the candy on the baskets this year was new.

When my daughter was small we sometimes did out egg hunts on Saturday at home, since we spent many Easters with grandparents and cousins. Sometimes she would have us re-hide the eggs so she could "hunt" more. We even had more than one hunt inside the house because of bad weather.


Tell us your Easter stories.

Most people who've ever watched a Western movie are familiar with the name Quantrill. This Confederate guerilla and his men have been the subject of many movies and as far as I know, there has never been a sympathetic portrayal of them (as a group) yet. They fought during the War Between the States under the command of William Clarke Quantrill, a former Ohio schoolteacher, who led his men on raids throughout the state of Missouri.

Although Quantrill wasn't the only Confederate guerilla in Missouri, he was undoubtedly the most infamous. His men's job was to halt Union activities in a state which had been taken over by Federal forces and they did so with a vengeance, firing on army supply patrols, disrupting the mails and eventually attacking towns on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri border. Most of their attacks were against Union sympathizers although even Confederates might get killed if they got in the way. At that time, their opposite number was the Jayhawkers, a Union group which was equally bloody and undisciplined.

Receiving the commission of Captain in the Confederate army, Quantrill rationalized the brutality and devastation his men caused by citing the Partisan Ranger Act which allowed guerilla activities within certain limits. Most of the time, however, he and his men operated outside the law of even the Confederate forces, and he was declared an outlaw by the Union. Ranging from Missouri as far as Texas, their greatest moment of lawlessness was the attack upon Lawrence, Kansas in 1863 when they massacred 200 men and boys. Though that act alone--often called "Bloody Kansas"--brought severe censure from the Confederacy, Quantrill's forces were still allowed a free hand because of their effectiveness against the Union.

Eventually--as to be expected with such a bloodthirsty group--there was dissention among Quantrill's men and he began to lose what hold he had over them. The band began to split up, forming smaller groups who independently attacked Texas and Missouri towns. After Quantrill was killed by Union troops, these groups became more and more lawless, eventually becoming nothing more than highwaymen and bank robbers out for their own interests. Among the men who rode with Quantrill were Frank and Jesse James. After the War, during the terrorist days of Reconstruction, they formed the James-Younger Gang, consisting of brothers Frank and Jesse, brothers Cole, Jim, John, and Bob Younger, Clell Miller, Arthur McCoy, Charlie Pitts, John Jarrette (Cole's brother-in-law), Bill Chadwell, and Ace Nelson. The gang ranged from West Virginia to Texas, but eventually disbanded when Jesse and Frank decided to "go straight," and ended with Jesse being shot in the back by Bob Ford, "that sniveling little coward who shot Mr. Howard and laid poor Jesse in his grave"--as the song goes.

This was the group of men after whom I patterned the guerillas Hobbs' Raiders in my book Vengeance from Eden--lawless individuals who may have started out with the best intentions but who eventually let their baser instincts of cruelty and enjoyment of pain inflicted on the helpless take over, placing themselves outside the laws of decency in the process.

It is this band which the racist Race Jago led and it is Jago whom rancher Luke Brennan tracks from Nebraska to the little border town of Rosarita, Texas, for a final showdown with the man who destroyed his life.

Let's welcome the wonderfully talented author Helen Hardt. Helen take a bow!

Helen's blog is the place to go for your hunk addiction. She posts the best pictures of the hottest guys I have ever seen. Many a day I have gone to her site to be put in a better mood, and I must say it always works for me.

Helen we're all yours.



First of all, thank you so much to the lovely Mary Ricksen for inviting me to blog today with the Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers! Release day is always fun. Today, Passion in Paris debuts at The Wild Rose Press, Wilder Roses. Like my first release, Seduced in Seoul, Passion is part of the Destination Pleasure series.

Attempting to overcome her fear of heights by visiting the top of the Eiffel Tower, Raine never expects to end up in the arms of a gorgeous Frenchman. But after fainting in the tower’s elevator, that’s where she awakens. Blaise is young, charming, and hot, so why, Raine wonders, is he attracted to her? And why does she have the strange feeling she’s seen him somewhere before?

I hope you’ll all check it out!

If you’ve been to my blog, www.helensheroes.blogpost.com, you know I’m a sucker for the romance hero. My whole blog is devoted to heroes and gorgeous hunks ;). So today, I thought I’d share with you some of my favorites

I hope you all find them as inspirational as I do ;).

I’m running a contest to celebrate the release of Passion in Paris. Email me at helenhardt@gmail.com and tell me Raine’s real name. You can find it hidden on my blog, www.helensheroes.blogspot.com. Don’t post it in a comment and give it away, LOL. The contest will close at midnight EST next Friday, April 17. I’ll draw a name, and the winner will receive a Barnes and Noble gift card. And I’ll throw in something extra special if you can tell me why she doesn’t use her real name. For that one, you’ll have to read the story ;).

Thanks again for letting me visit today, ladies!

Bio:

Helen Hardt is an attorney and stay-at-home mom turned romance author and freelance editor. She met her real-life hero in law school, and they live in Colorado with their two teenage sons. Helen writes contemporary, historical, paranormal, and erotic romance. Her first two releases, Seduced in Seoul and Passion in Paris, are available at www.wilderroses.com. The Outlaw’s Angel, part of a western historical anthology, Lawmen and Outlaws, releases June 5 at www.thewildrosepress.com. Blood Wolf, an award-winning dark paranormal, will be out in October, and her first Ellora’s Cave story, Slow and Wet, comes in November. Her non-writing interests include Harley rides with Her husband, attending her sons’ sports and music performances, traveling, and Taekwondo (she’s a blackbelt.) Visit Helen at www.helenhardt.com and www.helensheroes.blogspot.com.

Thanks Helen for posting with us. The pictures are wonderful, I am sorry I couldn't post them lower in the blog. But it gave me fits. Helen's blog is a must visit place, go there, see hunks, feel better!!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

My good friend, KAY THOMAS, is celebrating the release of her second book by having a CONTEST!

"HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?"

Bulletproof Sighting Contest

Spot KAY's April Intrigue, BULLETPROOF TEXAS, on store shelves and be eligible to win a gift card to Barnes & Noble for $15, $10 or $5.

Here’s how it works:

1. You see Kay's book, BULLETPROOF TEXAS, on the shelf at: Barnes & Noble, Borders, an Independent bookseller, Books A Million, Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart, the grocery — wherever Harlequin Intrigues are sold retail in the US. (Sorry, no resale allowed in this particular contest.)

2. Snap a picture with your phone or digital camera. Make sure Kay can tell the book is in the bookstore from your picture. Take the shot of the book on the shelf, at the checkout etc. Put yourself in the pic, too! (I’ll be posting the winners names and photos here on my website.)

3. Send the picture to: contest@kaythomas.net

If you are sending from your phone, be sure to include your email address. Don’t forget to include the store’s name and location with the picture:

Store Name

Your town, USA
4. If you are my first “in store” Bulletproof sighting, you win a $15 gift card to Barnes & Noble. She’ll randomly draw from the rest of the entries for a $10 gift card winner and a $5 gift card winner.

Can’t snap a picture? You can still enter:

Email Kay the store name, the store’s physical address and the store phone number.

Contest starts April 6. Official release day is April 14. (Many times books are put on the shelves several days early, so keep an eye out!) Entry into contest puts you on my newsletter mailing list. Contest ends and winners will be announced May 11.

Questions? Email Kay at: contest@kaythomas.net

Here's a little more about the book:


TRAILER FOR BULLETPROOF



The Bulletproof action continues in BULLETPROOF TEXAS when a brooking ex-park ranger and a sexy research scientist fight for control over a cave that holds the secret to curing cancer.


Nothing and no one could him... Except maybe a beautiful doctor full of secrets.

Escorting Dr. Maxine (Max) O’Neil into the cave known as Devil’s Hallow was Zach Douglas’s job. Relishing the sparring matches with the type-A scientist was his pleasure. He ran the show in the Texas Hill Country cavern—until sabotage and murder struck the site. Hours spent in the dark, cozied up in tight quarters with Max had shown Zach her passionate side. Now he wanted to see the truthful one. What was in that cave that was worth dying for? Only one thing was for sure” Whether Max liked it or not, Zach would de everything in his power to keep them from being Devil’s Hollow’s next casualties.

Reviews:

Scientist Max O’Neil things there may be cure for cancer in the clear waters of a pond recently discovered in an underground cavern. Her pharmaceutical company sends her out there to investigate. But park ranger Zach Douglas’ sister was killed by a corrupt pharmaceutical company’s renegade enforcer, so he doesn’t buy Max’s explanations that she’s conducting research for women’s cosmetics. Then equipment is sabotaged, a student is murdered and rumors of diamonds have desperate townspeople trying to close down the cavern for their own exploration. Thomas’ characters are not easy to like, but the unwinding plot it taut, tricky and worth the read.
--Pat Cooper / Romantic Times BOOKreviews
4 stars.


With non-stop action, nail-biting suspense and fiery passion, Kay Thomas pens Bulletproof Texas, leading us further into the world of pharmaceuticals.
--Debby Guyette / Cataromance reviews
4 ½ stars

Read an EXCERPT


Buy BULLETPROOF TEXAS

Karen, we are excited to have you here. I miss seeing you at GRW meetings. Ladies, help me welcome Karen.

Hi, and thanks for hosting me on the Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers blog! I’m excited to be here and I’m celebrating the release of TAKE ME TWO TIMES, the second book in my series about an agency that recovers stolen art. (For more info please visit www.KarenKendall.com.)

What was your first published book and with whom?

My first published book was SOMETHING ABOUT CECILY, which was released by Avon Books in May, 2001.

How many books did you write before selling one?

I wrote four complete manuscripts before selling the fourth.

How many books have you published?

At this point, I’ve published eighteen, written four more and am under contract for another three.

What themes go through your books?

Interesting question! I’d say themes of honesty, growth, materialism vs. what really matters in life, and all different kinds of love . . .

How would you best describe your books?

I’d say my books are character studies, romps, capers – but with some very serious themes like forgiveness, redemption, etc.

How did you write with kids and deadlines?

Well, I have no kids (unfortunately) but I do have two very tolerant greyhounds, Merry and Lilah, a funny, sarcastic, sweet husband, Don – and a demanding cat, Boo.

Which other jobs have you had?

I’ve worked retail, I’ve worked for small museums and galleries, I’ve done merchandising. I’ve been a grants writer . . . lots of odd jobs! Funny, they’ve all ended up helping me in my writing career.

What do you love most about writing and do you not like?

I love creating characters, bringing them to life, exploring a new story world. I love the process of writing, even though it always feels like a pressure-cooker because of the deadline . Hmmm, what do I not like? That pressure-cooker feeling, the fact that I know I can always make something better if only I had more time, and nasty reviews. LOL. Also, the pressure to increase sales is nerve-wracking.

What are you writing now?

Right now, I’m working on the revisions for TAKE ME FOR A RIDE, which is the third book in the TAKE ME series. (Book one is TAKE ME IF YOU CAN and book two, which just came out yesterday, is TAKE ME TWO TIMES.)

What would you write if you could do write anything you wanted to write?

You know, I really, really love this series that I’m writing now! I feel lucky that I’m able to work on these books. They draw on my art background and also my love of exciting intrigue—movies like the Thomas Crown Affair (remake) and the Alias series and old films like Cary Grant’s To Catch a Thief.

Why do you write?

I write because I love to. I can’t imagine doing anything else, despite the pressures of promotion and sales and all those other things that don’t come naturally. I love bringing characters to life and telling stories about human behavior and what motivates it . . .

How do you write?

It’s funny—I’m a combination of what they call a “pantser” and a “plotter.” What I do is start with some basic plot points in the classic three-act story structure. Then I flesh those points out into a synopsis. And from there I do the first few chapters of a proposal. Then, LOL, I hope my editor buys it!

After that, the story may change or I may restructure it. Some of those changes can be drastic (like when I threw out 200 pp. of TAKE ME IF YOU CAN and changed the villain to the hero!) but most often they’re subtle.

Do you write what you know?

I love this question! I think that a fiction writer always produces a combination of what he/she knows and what he/she imagines and researches.

What’s next for you?

Coming next is the third book in the TAKE ME series, which is TAKE ME FOR A RIDE. It’s a really fun story involving a family heirloom necklace which once belonged to Catherine the Great. The hero is a bad, bad boy—in fact, the girls at ARTemis, Inc. (my art recovery agency) love to call him McManWhore. But even bad boys fall in love—it just takes the right woman!

Thanks for having me on the Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers blog—it’s been a lot of fun. Ask me anything you’re curious about, okay? And be sure to check out the sizzling hot, sexy series video trailer for the TAKE ME series at www.KarenKendall.com!

I’m also giving away a copy of TAKE ME IF YOU CAN to a lucky commenter. Have a great spring full of lots of wonderful books! All the best,

Karen Kendall

Mary Ricksen won a Rebecca York book by commenting on Rebecca's blog here! Congrats, Mary

Deb Kaufman won a Stephanie Bond Body Mover book. Congrats, Deb.

Look for a visit with the adorable and talented Karen Kendall here tomorrow!

UPDATE: Saturday April 11 - The WINNER of the ARC is Barbara Monajem! Everyone who commented HERE and at Cynthiadalba.blogspot.com got three chances. Everyone else was entered one. Winner chosen by Random number generator. Congrats Barbara!

Tuesday April 7, 2009

A couple of weeks ago, Alison Kent tweeted "Anyone want an ARC of NO LIMITS for a blog review?" My little fingers couldn't fly across the keys any faster than they did to answer that tweet! (For those who are unfamiliar with "Tweeting", it's a 140 character post on Twitter). I snagged a copy! Now, at this point, I must confess...I am an Alison Kent Fangirl. I have read her books for a long time. To snag an ARC for a book that comes out in May put in an euphoric high!

Be sure to read to the bottom for a surprise.....

Here is the "official" book blurb from Amazon:

The Heat is On...

Simon Baptiste's latest SG-5 mission just went south in a major way. It seems like a good time to take care of some business back home in Louisiana. Simon knows it ain't going to be pretty. He's got old enemies in Bayou Allain who won't exactly roll out the red carpet. But Simon's first night back is more than he bargained for. Not only has the homestead gone to hell in a hand basket, but there's a half-naked woman hiding inside it - a woman whose face Simon knows all too well. It's Michelina Ferrer, the sultry spokes-model for her family's Ferrer fragrance empire - and Simon's been staring at her picture on a billboard outside his Manhattan apartment for weeks...

And It's Only Getting Hotter...

Micky Ferrer came down to Bayou Allain looking for her old college friend, only to discover that Lisa Landry has been missing for days. As soon as Micky starts asking questions, someone runs her car off the road. She's hiding out in the old Baptiste place when Simon shows up - and he's the hottest thing she's laid eyes on since she got to town. Simon agrees that something strange is going on and that Lisa's disappearance may be tied to it. As he and Micky search for answers, the sweltering heat makes it hard to keep their heads straight or their hands off each other...even as they unravel the small-town secrets that some people are willing to kill for...

Here's my take on the book:

Simon Baptiste is a well-developed, imperfect hero, suffering from job burn-out, as well as guilt from a job gone bad. He needs a break from his work with the special SG-5 team. No amount of alcohol or conversations with the hot model on the billboard across from his apartment window is helping. He left some unfinished business twenty years ago in Louisiana...an inherited homestead that he's left to a property management company to handle, except none of his renters stays. It's time to sell it and move on with his life. Except selling that homestead will do nothing to resolve his family problems with the man he considered close as a brother...his cousin, Kingdom Trahan. Simon arrives at his Louisiana house to find a partially clothed woman who claims someone just tried to kill her. Interesting that this half-naked woman looks so much like the model from the billboard.

Micky Ferrer, daughter of Edoardo Ettore Ferrer, public face of and spokesmodel for Ferrer Fragrances, has to get out of town FAST...before her father's personal assistant has time to show him the pictures of her dancing sans panties on a tabletop. A long overdue visit to her good friend, Lisa Landry in Louisiana would be the perfect escape, only once Micky arrives in Bayou Allain she finds that Lisa is missing. A few little questions gets her run off the road and into the arms of Simon Baptiste. It's obvious to Simon that Micky could use a little help finding her friend while continuing to stay alive.

Alison does a fantastic job capturing the flavor of the Louisiana bayou. At times, I could hear the Cajun accents as each character acted out his part. I could feel the heat, the sweat. I could smell the aromas she describes. I came to care about the main characters, as well as the secondary character, Kingdom Trahan. (I sincerely hope she has plans for King in another book.) While the "bad guys" were known throughout the book, it didn't distract from the strong story telling. The dialog is realistic. The characters are layered and complex. One of the ways I judge if a book is working for me is when the characters continue to live in my mind even when I'm not reading the book. These characters did that for me.

I read many of Alison Kent's books and they never disappoint. I can, without reservation, recommend NO LIMITS, but only if you like strong, sexy heroes with strong sexy heroines!

One word of warning...This is one of the those books you don't want to put down when you start and one you hate to see end.

Now, the surprise....

This review is posted here and also on Cynderella's Castle. I am giving away a copy of a "gently" read ARC to one lucky person. If you comment here, you have one chance. If you comment on both blogs, you have three chances.

Trust me... You WANT this book!

Now, in the comments, tell me the best romance you've read lately and why that book really did it for you.

Good Luck and Good reading!

To Order NO LIMITS:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Books-a-Million

Travelling in Third World Countries - Part Four

Today, nine years into the twenty-first century, there are still countries run by dictators, one single individual who holds the power of life and death over every citizen. When I trained the UNDP staff in the eighties, Burnham, Guyana’s dictator was still in power. Weakened, but abetted by Castro and Russia, (these were the days before the Berlin Wall fall), he held sway over nine hundred plus citizens.

Okay, getting back to my trip, the day my parents, husband, brother and wife, arrived, I changed hotels. Can you call what we were staying in a hotel? Not in the good old USA. Motel from hell might be the term. But, the food was edible.

You have no idea what that simple term means. At the Pegasus, THE hotel for anyone visiting Guyana, breakfast was served buffet style. Powdered scrambled eggs, (we have them at our monthly FRW meeting at the Sheraton), toast, and something that resembled bacon, and an item I couldn’t figure out. Black and undulating, it looked like ham. It was ham, with a zillion black flies eating it. Gagged is not the term I would use to describe my response - simply too mild.

My father, a plant pathologist, had warned me not to eat anything without a skin as they still used DDT in Guyana to eradicate plant parasites. I couldn’t eat the cooked food, not without thinking about those flies, so I decided I would survive on the ration of crackers I had brought with me.

So many horrible experiences, but the next day I saw the beauty of the land. A North American cannot imagine it, not in a lifetime. My dad hired a private pilot with a twin engine aircraft to take us to the highlights of the country, the land of his birth and his pride. I imagine there are more beautiful places on the face of the earth, but the Guyana I saw that day will stay with me forever.

It is said that Guyana holds every geographical climate on the planet. Ibeni is the grasslands of Africa. Teeming with wildlife, plains, and savannahs as far the eye could see. Rivers, smooth and undulating, brooks soothing the travails of life. Spreading trees enormous, graceful, like a ballerina embracing her hero, I fell in love with the land.

Then we flew to the borders where Brazil, Venezuela, and Guyana met. Rapids, three rives crashing into each other, each fighting for supremacy. Not a border you’d want to cross in the rainy season.

Onto Amerindian territory, where we landed aside a circular hut - the residence for most of the villagers. Goat dung, chicken droppings punctuated the path to the entrance. And what amazing people greeted us, generous to a fault, tripping over themselves to make us comfortable. They took us to the river and invited us to swim. Stunning fish drifted by, canary yellow with blue stripes. Amazed, I asked what type of fish they were? The answer, Piranha…..yes we swam with the piranhas…

We landed at Kaiteur Falls as dusk stained the sky gold. The pilot did a slow circle around the churning falls. The last rays of the sun tangoed with the rippling waters making the swirling surface iridescent. The second highest falls on the South American Continent fed by a river loaded literally with gold, a source of water that had made my grandfather a millionaire in the thirties. We landed on a runway The smell of pine, the temperature perfect, high sixties, the plateau breath taking with pine trees, lichens, wild cats, even a languid cheetah who rolled his eyes as we leaped past.

National Geographic photographers and journalists hung from the death-defying cliff face leading past the falls. They were doing an episode on the rarest bat species on the planet. I crawled to the edge of the cliffs to observe them, but I became so dizzy the others had to drag me back to safety.

We landed in Georgetown around seven and headed straight to the hotel’s restaurant. My father encountered an acquaintance and he introduced the man to us. The most perfect specimen of manhood shook my hand. Tall, mid-thirties, educated, intelligent, he joined us for dinner and proved to be the most charming, charismatic individual I had met to date. After he bid us adieu, I turned to my father and said, “What an amazing man!”

My father stated, “A man who murdered over seventy people just charmed the pants off you, daughter. Remember the old adage about a book and its cover, and learn from this experience.”

The Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers welcome, Patrice Wilton, who is participating in TWRP's contest. Check for the next blogger.

What could be better on a beautiful sunny day in April, than to sit with good friends and share stories, gossip a little, and enjoy High Tea? Especially when those good friends are all very talented authors talking about writing and signing all their lovely books! Well, Saturday, the 4th, was such a day, and we all had the greatest time meeting old friends and new, as we sold books and enjoyed our finger sandwiches and scones, in this charming teahouse in West Palm Beach. The restaurant has several small rooms and comfortable seating arrangements, and each table was occupied with happy, chattering women who loved good food, charming ambiance, and romantic books!

Mary Ricksen barely had time for a sip of her tea since people were clamoring for her book, TRIPPING THROUGH TIME. Jianne Carlo kept the guests entertained with her sexy escapade, MANACLED IN MONACO. I mean who could resist a book with a title like that? Traci Hall was in one of her WICCAN, WICCAN WAYS, and Mona Risk was dying for a nibble of her scone, but was much too busy selling TO LOVE A HERO. Dayana Knight was licking clotted cream off her luscious lips and signing copies of ETERNAL OBSESSION. Everyone wanted to know about REPLACING BARNIE, my romantic comedy, and I was happy to tell them where they could buy their own Barnie. (hint—he’s a sexual toy!)

I still have a couple of copies left of my two books DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSIE and REPLACING BARNIE and I would love to give a signed copy away of either book for some lucky winner. Please leave a comment or two.
Thank you for taking the time to visit this website and join in the Easter egg hunt. Good luck to you all.


A TISKET A TASKET, PUT ROMANCE IN YOUR BASKET

Spring is in the air! Bees are buzzing. Children anxiously await the big morning where they can graze on candy all day. What about mom? We've got a treat for you! Come join a group of romance authors in celebration of spring. Enter to win a prize a day as well as enter to win the grand prize. All you need do is begin at Silver James' blog on April 1st at http://www.silverjames.com/. Silver will host the day's contest and provide the link to the next day's location. Don't forget to enter to win the grand prize! Here's the dirt...

A TISKET A TASKET, PUT ROMANCE IN YOUR BASKET Grand Prize:
To enter to win prizes from the authors donating treasures to the grand prize (see each day's post for what an author is donating to the grand prize), find the four Easter eggs in the A TISKET A TASKET, PUT ROMANCE IN YOUR BASKET blog event.

You will be searching for the above egg. Just visit all of the authors' websites, locate the 4 eggs, make a list of their locations by pasting the urls to the website pages in an e-mail, then send the entry to happyendings2007@aol.com by midnight CST on May 1st, 2009. The winner will be randomly drawn and announced May 2nd at http://blog.skhyemoncrief.com. Tip #1, subscribe to http://blog.skhyemoncrief.com to learn if you're the winner! And don't worry. If you start in on the blog event late, just head back to Silver James' blog on April 1st at http://www.silverjames.com/ to begin your website search for the Easter eggs. Don't miss the fun! See you next to the burgundy tulips. ~Skhye

Please go to Opal Campbell’s website next!
Opal Campbell: http://anncampbellsromance.blogspot.com
Have fun hunting!
Patrice Wilton
www.patricewilton.com

We're delighted to have with us today award-winning romance author Nina Pierce. Nina writes erotic tales of love, lust, and sex about men with a chink in their sexy armor, and the women who want to love and save them...

How Hard Can It Be?

Over the years I’ve had numerous jobs. And when I say numerous … I mean like over 50. Really. I’m the female version of George Plimpton. (Only he was into sports. And a writer. And he made TONS of money … but you know… kinda like him.)

Anyway, I started working when I was 15 at the local Micky D’s. This was the beginning of drive-throughs and when we used to make shakes the old-fashioned way, with a mixer. A squirt of flavoring and ice cream, then blend. That stupid machine and I didn’t get along. I can’t tell you how many times it exploded all over me. But my most memorable moment was when a container of strawberry topping slipped from my hand to the floor. It hit the tiles flat on it’s bottom which caused the most interesting eruption of strawberry sauce, easily 5 feet in the air. How do I know this? When it was done, it was dripping off my face and the brim of my hat, and down the front of my uniform. And all of this happened in slow motion in front of a lobby filled with the lunch crowd. FULL! Oh, yeah, that was a fun job.

Let’s see, I’ve worked at a jean store, a mortgage company, an aquarium, a frame store, a processing plant, an overnight summer camp, and a daycare. I’ve been a waitress, a “gofer” for a game warden, a science teacher, a lab assistant, a janitor, an ed tech, a tutor, a resident assistant, a substitute teacher, and a secretary at a job recruiter and a real estate office.

Some of those jobs I didn’t really like. Being a janitor in a girls’ dormitory wasn’t really something I enjoyed. I’m not even going into the whole bathroom situation. Nor the job working second shift at a processing plant for computer components. I spent the summer straightening wire leads with pliers and boiling components in oil to watch for bubbles. *shudders* Those were long days. But the summer I worked on an island off the coast of Maine at an overnight camp was awesome. Working as a lab assistant, teaching physics labs in college was pretty cool as well. And I didn’t really suffer when I worked as a waitress. All those people to visit with … yeah, it was fun.

But I have to say this current job … this writing career I’ve chosen. Man, this is hard. Three and a half years ago when I sat down without any idea about the publishing world I was in absolute bliss pounding out my first novel. Which, at the time, I believed was an absolute masterpiece … ummm, not so much! (I can confess now it’s hidden waaaay under my bed… never to see the light of day.)

I looooove stretching my imagination and creating plots. It’s a hoot when it all comes together. But sometimes it’s just work. Don’t laugh. Of course it’s work. I just didn’t expect it to be. And working for myself? Well, that requires more discipline than I have some days. It’s too easy to find something other than weaving new stories to fill my days. Like shopping on the internet, playing on twitter, visiting forums, or … blogging.

Writing is a difficult journey. It is so easy to let things just slow me down or completely block up the works. To help me over this hump and support my career, I’ve joined a goal group through my local writing chapter of RWA. We’ve agreed to support each other in our writing journeys. It’s the habit of writing every day that successful authors develop.
It’s baby-steps that get a book written. 100 words in a paragraph, paragraphs adding up to pages, pages to chapters and chapters to a complete manuscript. Then voila … I’m sending a finished story to an editor! And I tell you there’s nothing more thrilling in this business than a publisher offering you a contract for your story.

So this may be a really hard profession, but it’s worth all the work. Especially when people ask what I’m doing now and I can say “I’m a multi-published author.”

You can learn more about Nina and her smoking hot books by visiting her at:
website: http://www.ninapierce.com
blog: http://www.ninapierce.com/romanceblog
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/ninapierceauthor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ninapierce

The crowd was small and intimate. A hundred odd people, spilling cocktails on the hand-tied Chinese carpets, milled about the Minister of Agriculture’s Knightsbridge home. Most of them knew me. I knew some of them. But it was the ones I didn’t know—the mysterious Eastern element navigating the crowd with our host—that I was here to watch.
As a concert pianist, private parties weren't my normal gig, but I was on a mission for Les Elus, the ruling Council of the Vampyre. At stake—sorry bad joke--was a discovery that could well change our existence, providing rumor proved fact and if, of course, the goods didn't slip into the greedy hands of the enemy.
Geographical borders divide my kind as well.
If I swung from Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit to the boogie-woogie, would anyone take a blind bit of notice? In Charleston, South Carolina, an old blues man had taught me the proper way to play the boogie-woogie. Smoothly, I segued to the new beat and drew not a glance except from a reporter.
Gordon Thomas' slid a hand along the Steinway’s glossy black wing. Touching my piano was equivalent to fondling my mistress. I arched a brow as a reprimand.
The young man hid the offending hand in the pocket of his trousers, but didn't go away. I embellished a few notes then glided seamlessly into the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. The reporter dipped his head in salute, smiled shyly, a peace offering I assumed. He looked eager, this wide-eyed, rosy cheeked boy.
I decided to forgive his trespasses and stopped playing to talk to him. That attracted attention. Amusing that no one noticed the switch in musical styles, yet the absence of any style disrupted conversation. My host, Nick Croxton, in a close-knit trio beneath a potted palm, paused to look my way.
I mouthed, “Taking a break,” but he’d already gone back to whispering intrigue.
"Lord D’Arcy, I didn't intend to interrupt.” The young man's cultivated BBC accent grated on my nerves. “I'd greatly appreciate an opportunity to speak with you. I tried to catch you after your Royal Albert concert but they wouldn't let—" the rose in his cheeks flooded his face as he shifted back on his heels. "My name is Gordon Thomas. I'm a reporter for The Sun."
"The Sun?" I ran a quick inventory of recent peccadilloes that might have attracted the attention of a notoriety rag.
A striking blonde drifted to the reporter's side and squeezed his arm. "Introduce me, Gordon."
The party was looking up. Her elegant Versace suit dipped low between perfect Size C's. I didn't smell saline or silicone. Those perky puppies were real.
"Lord D'Arcy,” Gordon seemed to like titles, “my cousin, Ellen Amesworth."
"I admire your taste in relatives, Mr. Thomas.”

One of the first stories I ever wrote that I dragged out of moth balls and edited for submission. Morgan is the hero of one of my novel manuscripts Sinners Opera and does a walk-on in Black Swan, my Black Rosette from The Wild Rose Press. For more of Morgan, please visit me at http://www.lindanightingale.com/ for a continuing vampire story.

My son and his girlfriend came to visit us recently and we were on the go, squeezing every minute we could out of the short time we had together. Okay… I’ll be honest. They were mostly on the go; my husband and I worked hard to keep up with them.
One of the things on the agenda was their first attempt at skydiving. They looked into a facility in Titusville, Florida, which advertised a good view of the Kennedy Space Center from the plane climbing to 15,000 feet. They signed up and were forewarned that the process would take approximately four hours from signing in until they completed their jump and left with a video of their experience. My husband and I went along as support –my husband armed with a camera; I, armed with a prayer for their safety.
They checked in and the wait began. We discovered all morning appointments are processed before the jumpers are scheduled for their flights. Milling around within the sight of the plane and observing the many parachutes lying on the floor of the hangar, tension grew. Time crept by. Nerves of jumpers and non-jumpers alike were strung out until finally names were announced for each group of five. Steve and Hilary were in the second group.
The first group climbed aboard the plane, moving awkwardly in all their gear. We stood together and watched as the plane roared down the runway and lifted into the air. We searched the sky as the plane climbed among the clouds. Soon, a cry rang out and we saw teeny tiny colorful parachutes floating in the air above us, bodies dangling from them. Some of those bodies swerved and dipped in playful maneuvers way above the earth . It was thrilling and frightening to watch them.
Steve and Hilary took off with the second load, each with a videographer taking pictures of them and their tandem partner. While they must have been thinking about the exciting moment they’d jump from the plane, I stood with my feet firmly on the ground, thinking about the leap of faith it would take for anyone to actually do it.
With a little shove from their instructors, they fell into the sky and had the time of their lives, screaming for the fright and the pure joy of it. My husband and I watched breathlessly as they swooped with outstretched arms, like strange-looking birds. At the sight of them sweeping in for a landing, touching the ground with a smile on their faces, my breathing became a little easier.
For the next few days, I couldn’t help thinking of their leap of faith and relating it to writing. For most writers, a leap of faith is required every day. We look at a blank page and jump in, hoping for a good ride and a smooth landing.
Here’s wishing that your next leap is a good one!
Ready, get set, go!

If you delight in fruity minty fragrance and the sight of hummingbirds hovering above brilliant tubular blossoms, try your hand at growing bee balm. This Native American herb, also called wild bergamot and Monarda, is available in crimson, pink and purple flowers. As its name suggests, bee balm is attractive to honey bees. Butterflies also favor it. The red variety is commonly known as Oswego Tea and was used by colonists in place of English Tea after the Boston Tea Party, when they threw the English tea in the harbor to protest the tax imposed on it by the British.

To make a cup of tea, place a tablespoon of fresh or one teaspoon of dried bee balm leaves in a tea strainer or tea spoon and pour one cup of boiling water over it. Allow it to steep for ten minutes and bring the tea out. Sweeten if you wish and enjoy. The leaves can be chopped and added to salads. Flowers can also be used for tea or salads, but in my thinking that’s just wrong.

Bee Balm has a long history of medicinal use by American Indians and settlers, primarily for stomach and bronchial ailments, and is the source for the antiseptic derivative called Thymol. I haven’t used the plant medicinally, but enjoy its beauty and delicious scent in the garden. Hummingbirds appear without fail when my patch of bee balm thrives. Recent droughts have hurt it, so this year I’m setting out yet more starts of this invaluable herb.

You can grow bee balm in among other plants, but take care that it isn’t crowded out, a mistake I’ve made. And it’s susceptible to mildew, so sunshine and good air circulation are important. Some recommended companion plants for bee balm are: purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), black eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), and lavender (Lavandula).