Clea Simon | Kitty Cornered

What is scarier than losing your pet?

Okay, I guess I should have put that question in context. There are many things scarier than losing your pet. Losing your child or your spouse. Losing your own life. Colonoscopies. Spiders. But for me, for a period of about two months last year, I had to face one of my own particular fears. What’s worse, I had to make that fear come to life for my heroine, Theda Krakow, her pampered and beloved housecat, Musetta, and for any reader out there.

You see, I was working on what became my third Theda Krakow mystery, “Cries and Whiskers,” and I wanted to ratchet up the tension and suspense. But it had to be on my terms – for my readers. And my readers love their pets. So although I have long promised my readers that I would never hurt or kill any animals in my books (humans don’t count), I needed to put Musetta at risk. I needed to have her disappear into a blinding winter storm. And I needed on suspicious phone call to hint that maybe that disappearance wasn’t entirely voluntary.

So what’s the problem? Well, Musetta is based on my own pet. And so I had to put myself in the mind of my heroine. I had to imagine the panic I’d feel if I came home on a freezing sleet-spitting winter night and found my pampered house pet missing. I had to imagine searching in a frenzy. Checking and re-checking all her hiding places, and then, finally, dashing out in the storm to start the hunt in earnest. I had to re-learn everything I know about searching for a lost pet, everything I know about trapping and signs and microchipping. And I had to imagine how I’d cope with all of this in the middle of a wild winter storm, in my panic, with loss creeping up on me like the icy wind.

To be honest, it was harrowing. My real Musetta sleeps on the chair behind my desk most days, but maybe she picked up my tension because several times while I was working on this part of “Cries and Whiskers,” she “went missing.” Not far in her case – I could usually find her in one of her regular spots, her “cave” at the back of the closet or her shelf by the window. But for many long minutes I’d find myself holding my breath, holding back my panic – all until I was holding my own cat, once again.

I’ve been lucky. Readers have responded to the real emotion I put into “Cries and Whiskers,” much as they have to my first two mysteries, the series opener “Mew is for Murder” and last year’s “Cattery Row.” And a recent skim through some new numbers has shown me why.

As silly as I sometimes feel – after all, not only do I write mysteries with cats in them, I’ve got kitty paraphernalia all over my office – it seems I am not at all alone. According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (yes, there is such an organization), nearly half of those of us who cohabit with cats – 49.2 percent – consider our cats to be members of our families. (Dogs are even luckier: 53.5 percent of dog owners consider their pooches to be family.)
The more I think about it, the more I suspect the real numbers are even higher. After all, it’s only recently that we’ve been finally ready to admit that we do love these little creatures. But now that we’ve brought them into our homes, we’ve also welcomed them into our hearts – and according to that same APPMA survey, we’re willing to spend on their health, comfort, and safety, too, to the tune of more than $40 billion that we spent this year on our 88.3 million cats, 74.8 million dogs, 13.4 million reptiles, or that odd 24.3. million category simply called “other small animal.” We want them to have as long and as healthy a life as possible, a life that they’ll share we us, and we’re finally ’fessing up to that fact – and trying to make it happen. Which is why housecats are now living into their 20s and even the larger dogs are now enjoying longer play-filled lives.

And why not? I mean, with all the uncertainties in life, especially in the middle of winter when the weather outside is truly frightful, isn’t it wonderful to come home to that one sweet face, with its purrs or wagging tail? Cause no matter how much we spend on our pets, we’re really taking care of ourselves.What more could we want, on a long, cold winter night, than the warm, soft bulk of our best animal friend, curling up beside us?

purrs!
Clea

Cries and Whiskers
Now Available

Homepage: www.cleasimon.com/

my blog: cleasimon.blogspot.com

Clea Simon is the author of several nonfiction books, including “The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection Between Women and Cats” (St. Martin’s) and the Theda Krakow cat mystery series, “Mew is for Murder,” “Cattery Row,” and the brand new “Cries and Whiskers,” all published by Poisoned Pen Press.

Tawny Weber | Spontaneous Goal Setting

Before the confetti settles, the champagne bottles are tossed into the recycling bin and the sound of fireworks dies away, talk turns to that time-honored New Years tradition... Resolutions.

Or, as I prefer, setting goals. I love goal setting. I’m big on writing lists and color-coding is definitely my friend. There’s something so satisfying about making a plan, setting a goal, and then working through the steps to see it become a reality. Call me a control freak, but it’s the only way I feel like I have much say in this crazy roller coaster that is life.

Isabel Santos, the heroine in my January Blaze, DOES SHE DARE? is exactly the same. She’s all about success and has not only a yearly goal list, but a five year, ten year and life goal list. Wow, even *I’m* not that obsessive. Then again, as goal focused as I am, even I wouldn’t write a Man Plan. But Isabel did. She based her plan on the hottest guy she’d ever known, listed her ultimate sexual fantasies, and created a set of rules to let her maintain control.

This got me to thinking. My planning and goal setting bleeds into every aspect of my life. When I travel, I make a packing list. I write menus for the week so I know what to get at the grocery store. As a writer, I have a career plan and am a die-hard plotter. I can’t imagine doing it any other way. And while this works great for me, I’m a little envious of those totally spontaneous people out there who decide on Saturday morning to take a trip and toss a few things in a tote before running out the door to destination unknown. The pantzers who write with the assured faith that the story they are writing is going to unfold beautifully for them as they go along.

For me, as there was for Isabel in DOES SHE DARE?, goal setting is vital. But that total focus on the goal has some definite pitfalls (as Isabel finds out!). And then there are those spontaneous types who simply live for the moment. Like Isabel’s hero, Dante Luciano. People like Dante have an awareness of opportunity that many goal setters don’t. It’s like a special sense that lets them grab onto a random happening and turn it into a huge success. They don’t need goals or resolutions, they simply make the most of whatever comes their way. And boy does he make the most of what comes HIS way!

Hmmm, ya think that created a few sparks when a total goal setter finds out the object of her Ultimate Man Plan is so spontaneous he travels with just what he can fit in his Harley’s saddlebags. Definitely!! What’s even more fun than watching Dante rearrange Isabel’s plans is watching the two of them fall in love.

My plan for the New Year is to embrace it all – goal setting AND to be more open to opportunities. It’s going to be all about flexibility –which is what both Dante and Isabel had to learn (and no, I don’t just mean to have the wild love scene on the Harley like they did *g* although flexibility did come in mighty handy then, now that I think about it).

How about you? Are you a planner or totally spontaneous? Or maybe like I’d like to be –somewhere in between? Do you make New Year’s Resolutions or set goals? Or do you simply take it as it comes, with that extra awareness of opportunities?

Tawny Weber’s latest Blaze, DOES SHE DARE? is in stores now. Tawny’s so into goal setting, she and her awesome CP, Beth Andrew’s even giving a workshop on it for From the Heart Romance Writers, http://www.fthrw.com/ starting early January. She’s also hosting a chat on http://www.eharlequin.com/ to discuss the Ultimate Man Plan and how to create your fantasy guy. And you can check out more goal setting tips at www.TawnyWeber.com/goals

Tawny

Diane Whiteside | Bond of Fire, or A French Lady Comes to Texas

Hullo! Here it is, January 2nd, the Christmas sales are over, the New Year’s Day buffet has been reduced to a neat stack of leftovers, and BOND OF FIRE, the Texas vampires’ trilogy volume 2, has finally hit the bookstores! Yes, Hélène d’Agelet, the French secret agent and firestarter, just made it into the Texas vampires trilogy.

Need I mention that she’s usually very well-groomed, as in very, very fond of designer clothing? No? Yes, I thought you might have guessed that, since she’s a French aristocrat. She enjoys a glass of good sherry but is willing to explore Texas’s unique ways of drinking beer. She’s also very bookish and prefers her flirtations take place in libraries, which isn’t where you’d expect to find one of those rare lady vampires.

Oh, and she’s passionately in love with Jean-Marie St. Just, Texas’s chief diplomat, spy, and assassin. They fell for each other across a crowded ballroom at Versailles over two centuries ago. They’ve suffered through a lot of trials and tribulations ever since, including major pieces of nastiness like the French Revolution and the Peninsular Wars. In fact, matters became so bad Jean-Marie and Hélène have spent the past two centuries thinking the other was dead.

Plus, there’s Hélène’s vicious little sister Celeste who’d dearly love to see Hélène dead. Not that Hélène realizes that – yet…

And now it’s present-day Texas and Hélène has just learned Jean-Marie is still alive. She’s on her way to Austin, eager to be reunited with her true love.

Sometimes I wonder who’s in for more changes – Texas or Hélène?

Hope you enjoy spending as much time with Hélène as I did!

Diane

http://www.dianewhiteside.com/

A new year in books...What's your reading resolve?

New Year's is a day of reflection and recovery in some cases and most certainly resolutions. Here are a few I've heard from family, friends, book club members and other readers for 2008.

Read more...
As a book club member I vow to read at least ONE book of each author chosen within the month of their appearance.

I'm planning on reading more books outside my comfort reads, maybe I'll even try a vampire book

To read other books in 2008 including mysteries, maybe even a cozy

To make more time for reading by not forcing myself to finish a book that isn't working

Go to book signings and not feel too shy

finish the Jane Austen books before watching the miniseries on PBS Masterpiece Theatre

and so on...

As for me, I plan to keep on reading and not ever feel guilty for "skipping the filler" when it bogs down. I am also, gulp, get rid of a few books. Yeah, right!

What's your resolution for 2008? Is there a genre or author you've avoided? Do you plan on pruning your library? Tell us!

Kate St. James | "Good Vibrations" & The Power of Goals

"Good Vibrations" in Red Sage Secrets Volume 21: Primal Heat is my first erotic romance novella. I had a blast writing it, and I'm thrilled to share the story with readers. My heroine, Lexi O'Brien, is funny and practical and dead-set on her goals. She's about to give notice at her quirky aunt's love shop where she works so she can enter a competitive MBA program. In the past, mixing her studies with dating has caused Lexi's grades to suffer, so she's decided to remain celibate for the next two looooooooong years. Then Gage Templeton, her favorite out-of-customer, shows up as she's about to close shop for the night. Lexi realizes this might be her last chance to see him...and her last chance for some hot loving before she straps on her chastity belt. So she does what any bright girl in her position would do--she modifies her goals. Lexi's new goal is to share one wild weekend with Gage and then go merrily on her way. However, Gage has other ideas. Unknown to Lexi, he was raised in her city and is moving home. He has no intention of settling for a short-term affair. So...Lexi's plans are turned upside-down. Have no fear, she rises to the occasion, just as readily as Gage does (sorry, couldn't resist the double entendre).

I'm talking about Lexi's goals because we're about to embark on a new year, and I don't know about you, but I'm allergic to New Year's Resolutions. They make me nervous. They make me feel pinned down. They make me feel like an ant has a greater chance of surviving a volcanic eruption than I do at keeping my New Year's Resolutions. I mean, how many of you have made a Resolution to stop biting your fingernails, for example? To lose ten pounds? You do great for a month or two, and then next thing you know you're nibbling again (on fingernails or snacks!). And now you're a failure, because apparently you have no Resolve.

I changed my feelings about New Year's Resolutions by deciding not to make them any longer. Instead I write up a list of potential goals for the year. Some might say it's just semantics--writing down goals instead of resolutions--but in my mind goals are more malleable. They are subject to change as life changes around us. Let's say, were I making New Year's Resolutions (which I'm not!), I might resolve to sell a single title manuscript. After all, resolving to attempt to sell a single title manuscript doesn't sound very determined. However, by changing the resolution to a "goal," suddenly the pressure decreases. My "goal" might be to sell a single title manuscript, but I can't control if an editor buys it. All I can control is that I send it out and keep sending it out if the rejections trickle in. I'm still putting forth my best effort, I am resolved, but using "goals" instead of "resolutions" helps me break down the goal into baby steps: polishing the manuscript, researching the market, targeting the correct editors, spelling their names right, licking the stamps, slamming that baby in the mail box! Achieving every tiny step toward the larger goal is a mini-goal and achievement in itself. Plus, at that point, aside from following up on the submission, I've done all I can. My "goal" might be to sell the story, however, if the manuscript sits on an editor's desk for over a year, I still have resolve, I've done everything I can to sell that book within the year's time frame. If the story doesn't sell, I can modify my goal: maybe look at the manuscript again with a new eye after (hopefully) getting good feedback from editors and agents, search out new markets, set a new and perhaps more reasonable time-line for hearing back from certain publishers...or even decide to stick the story on the back burner until the market changes.

Or...wonder if another of my goals for the year is to write a story in a new genre? What if, by some miracle, that story sells right away? Suddenly, I could have a new career taking off and so the goal to sell the single title manuscript in the first genre might decrease in importance. I might even strike that goal off my list, temporarily or permanently.

See what I mean about goals being more malleable than resolutions? I'd still have resolve, but my goals would have changed...as life changes.

How about you? Do you make New Year's Resolutions? Or, like me, do they make your head spin? What are your goals for 2008? If you don't achieve the goal, what will you do?

www.katestjames.com/
myspace.com/katestjames


Kate St. James **New Web Site!** www.katestjames.com/
Good Vibrations in Secrets Vol. 21 PRIMAL HEAT, Dec 07
Exes & Ahhhs in Secrets Vo. 26 BOUND BY PASSION, Dec 08