Sara Reyes | 5 Reasons to Get Out Of Town

One thing I learned at South By Southwest (SXSW) is to occasionally have blog posts with a number in the title. So, being I finally got home after an event-filled eight days, yes, I counted them, and thought, why there is my blog title! Woo Hoo! I originally wanted "Dead To Me" but thought definitely too negative. I'd really rather concentrate on the positive this morning. So here goes: Five Reasons to Get Out of Town.

• 1. Anticipation is to be savored

It's exciting to anticipate the journey. Sometimes the thought of leaving is so thrilling and adrenaline pumping it makes or breaks the entire trip. Be wise and temper the enthusiasm if you're emotional, otherwise let 'er rip!


• 2. Make New Friends

Don't be afraid to talk to strangers. If you need to give yourself an out, take a page out of Gwen's playbook and "be the hostess" the one who performs the introductions, makes sure no one is standing alone, put out your hand, shake and introduce yourself. Ask about the other person. It works, trust me!


• 3. Be Flexible

Rigid is not a good thing. So if the panel is full, or you meet someone who wants to keep talking, let it flow! If your companions insist on going to a restaurant you don't like, be gracious. New experiences will lead to unanticipated results. Sometimes just trusting fate works out very well. You never know who you'll meet at that restaurant you can't stand and if you'd thrown a fit, it would never have occurred! How tragic!


• 4. Expect the Unexpected

Know that something not just good but great is going to happen! Every SINGLE day! Go at it from the minute you leave the door of your room to getting on the elevator to the last minute of a long night that something wonderful is happening and you're living the experience. If you combine expectation with being flexible you will have a series of "perfect" days. Think of Ferris Bueller. Even though his day had ups and downs it was a "perfect" day. It really works!


• 5. Review Your Experiences

Take the time to internally review every thing that occurred or you learned. Do follow up immediately, send a thank you email while it's fresh, write up your thoughts in a note book or your computer, where ever it's practical for you. If you can, talk about the trip with others. The writing and speaking help solidify your experience.

Home is a sweet place to be

After all the traveling, snafus, strange coffees and stranger beds, it's always good to come home to where your pets and family love you, you know how to work the shower (or bath for those who are addicted to bathing) and you don't have to worry about running out of anything! Being greeted at the door by an excited canine is always gratifying. The dogs are usually more demonstrative than the husband, but hey, you get it where you can! And waking up to a your own coffee is heavenly for this coffee addict!

So, I'm home and back to work after a night's sleep on my own bed with its wonderful sheets and a dog sprawled across my legs. Bliss!

Until next time...


Get out there and READ a book...

Sara Reyes

DFW Tea Readers Group

Join us at Readers 'n 'ritas November 12-14, 2010! with Sherrilyn Kenyon and more guests


See you on the Twitter (@FreshFiction)

PS comment and you could win signed books in this weekend's blog contest. Two WINNERS!!!

Heidi's report from the Leverage CON-con

I've been to a lot of conventions, both fan-run and "professional", and I'd like to say how much I love what Marc Lee and his group of volunteers have pulled off here at the first official Leverage CON-con event. As with all conventions, each person will have a different experience. For the first half day, mine has been fabulous.

Traveling to the West Coast from Texas means even though it's 7:30 am here, it feels like I've slept in for two hours. As I reached the lobby around 9 am, they were giving out tickets for the registration line, once they opened at 10 am. For the intervening hour, I roamed the hotel taking pictures. The Governor Hotel
(http://www.governorhotel.com/) is filled with amazing architectural accents which are different in every room. The extra tall ceilings make for an extra level of stairs, but once those elevators fill up this weekend, the stairway is going to be my main access route (and justification for having dessert).

Once I got through registration and signed up for the set tour Saturday morning, it was time to stand in line for the autographs and photo ops. In the sad eventuality that this is the only Leverage event I get to attend, I burned some plastic on buying photo-ops - even the tickets are pretty. I hauled my platinum ticket goodie bag back to the room and when I dumped it out on the bed, I was stunned.

Not just at the quantity of stuff, but at the quality as well.

• city map with stickers of where different Leverage eps where filmed


• beanie hat branded Leverage and TNT


• headshots of The 5 for the autograph sessions


• packet of chips


• bottle of green tea


• full color program book suitable for framing (I'm not kidding)


• Leverage, Electric Entertainment, IF Magazine stickers and tattoos

Then I spent some time in the dealer's room, burned more plastic, and got to meet Dean Devlin and Marc Lee. The informal opening ceremonies was scarcely attended because the registration line was still processing people, but Marc filled us in on the rules (you will die if you video tape anything in this room) and a preview of the weekend's events. We were also told that IF Magazine's is going to be streaming various aspects of the event, as well as exclusive interviews.

Lunch was a huge roast beef sandwich from Jake's Catering in the dealer's room, and then here I am in my room using the hotel's free wi-fi to write this report. This afternoon is fan trivia, the art of fan music videos (a personal favorite of mine), and the art of the soundtrack with the Leverage composer Joseph LoDuca. I've got reservations for dinner at Jake's Grill, then back to the ballroom for the TNT Cocktail Party Extravaganza (seriously - that's what it's called in the schedule).

Until tomorrow, or maybe later tonight,

Heidi Berthiaume

(somewhat) daily stuff kestrelsempai.com/mv/ - music video stuff

writing and promoting stuff

Fresh Pick | WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS...AFTER DARK by Anya Bast, Jodi Lynn Copeland, Kit Tunstall, Lauren Dane

May 2009
On Sale: May 1, 2009
432 pages
ISBN: 0373605315
EAN: 9780373605316
Paperback
$13.95

Romance Erotica Sensual, Romance Anthology
Buy at Amazon.com

What Happens In Vegas...After Dark
by Anya Bast, Jodi Lynn Copeland, Kit Tunstall, Lauren Dane

Las Vegas…it's the town that lives up to the promise of its nickname, Sin City. A gambler's paradise for innocent tourists, it conceals a darker, sexual world where the ethereal and wraithlike meet to play a different game…

If there's one thing succubus Deitre understands it's revenge. That, and enticing men into arousing, exciting and, okay, perilous sex (for him). Beautiful on the outside, demon on the inside, she's going to get back at the naughty firefighter in Darkness…unless he plays his cards right…

Bounty hunter Nell is a hell of a tracker. Now she's in Vegas on the tail of the witch who dared to steal from her clan. She's going to get to the unsavory harlot through the woman's ex-fiancé, and nothing about their charged encounters will be shallow, quick or friendly.

When the half-blood fae male comes to club Darkness, Elena can't resist acting on the mind- blowing heat coursing between them. She might be betrothed to another, but fae culture says sex with other men until marriage is most definitely foretold.

Tattoo artist Devi is the latent vampire the warlocks need to heal all wounds. But taking her power is a sexually exhausting and dangerous task requiring dark deception…and gambling on her life.

Previous Picks

JULIE JAMES | Hitchcock + Bourne = Romance

Well, sort of.

In their own ways, both of these men inspired me while I was writing my new book, SOMETHING ABOUT YOU. First, let me start by telling you a little about the book.

Here’s the blurb:

FATE HAS THROWN TWO SWORN ENEMIES. . .
Of all the hotel rooms rented by all the adulterous politicians in Chicago, female Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde had to choose the one next to 1308, where some hot-and-heavy lovemaking ends in bloodshed. And of all the FBI agents in Illinois, it had to be Special Agent Jack Pallas who gets assigned to this high-profile homicide. The same Jack Pallas who still blames Cameron for a botched crackdown three years ago--and nearly ruining his career...

. . .INTO EACH OTHER’S ARMS
Work with Cameron Lynde? Are they kidding? Maybe, Jack thinks, this is some kind of welcome-back prank after his stint away from Chicago. But it’s no joke: the pair is going to have to put their rocky past behind them and focus on the case at hand. That is, if they can cut back on the razor-sharp jibes--and smother the flame of their sizzling-hot sexual tension...

So how did Alfred Hitchcock and Jason Bourne influence my book, you ask? I’ll explain the Hitchcock part first. One of my favorite themes that Hitchcock used in several of his movies is that of an innocent man in the wrong place at the wrong time who becomes swept up in some kind of murder/suspense intrigue. It’s a theme that works well because everyone can identify with it. We watch the movie thinking, "Hey--that could be me. What if I walked into that bar at just the wrong moment and accidentally saw X that got me in a whole load of trouble?"

This is, essentially, the set-up of SOMETHING ABOUT YOU. Only instead of a bar, I use a hotel room. And instead of an innocent man in the wrong place at the wrong time, it’s a woman. My heroine, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde, is treating herself to some much-needed pampering at the luxurious Peninsula hotel when, in the middle of the night, she’s awoken by strange noises coming from the room next to hers. At first it sounds as though the couple next door is having some kind of crazy sex marathon, but then the noises change. . . and what Cameron ends up overhearing is a murder that involves a U.S. Senator and a call girl. Watching through her peephole, she sees a man leave the hotel room next to hers and thus becomes the sole witness to the high-profile crime. And just like in Hitchcock’s films, that’s where the trouble begins. Trouble, that is, in the form of FBI Special Agent Jack Pallas.

Okay, so this is where the Jason Bourne part comes in. See, Jack, the hero of the book, is this tall, dark, and smoldering tough-guy FBI agent who can pretty much kill people with his thumb--normally the type of hero you would find in an action film or dark, edgy romantic suspense or thriller.

But not this time.

Jack is in charge of investigating the murder that Cameron overheard and--wouldn’t you know it--the two of them don’t get along. They worked together three years ago on a case that ended badly with Jack mouthing off to the press about Cameron and consequently getting transferred to Nebraska. And if it’s not bad enough that the two of them have to work together as Jack tries to solve the crime, things get even worse when it turns out that the murderer may be after Cameron next. . .

When writing SOMETHING ABOUT YOU, I wanted it to be a lighter, funnier contemporary romance, like my first two novels. Sure, there’s a suspense element, but that’s just a subplot--a device that brings these two strong-willed characters who allegedly can’t stand each other together. At first I thought to myself, "You can’t put an edgy, action-hero in a light-hearted story!" But then I wondered, hmm... or can you? I realized there’s a lot of potential for humor in that scenario.

I like to think of SOMETHING ABOUT YOU as my "What if somebody dropped Jason Bourne into a romantic comedy?" book. Which means that my hero, FBI Special Agent Jack Pallas, is running around all dark and scowling and trying to save the day, while everyone else is cracking jokes. What’s fun about Jack is that we get to see him slowly warm up throughout the course of the book as he begins to fall for and trust the heroine.

You can probably tell that I had a lot of fun writing Something About You, and I hope you enjoy it as well. Here’s a brief excerpt:

"And then I heard the door open, so I ran and looked out the peephole," Cameron said.

"Just being nosy?"

The sarcasm seemed to reinvigorate her. "And thank goodness for that," she said. "Otherwise you wouldn’t have whatever information I know that I don’t yet realize I know." She smiled ever so sweetly. "Besides, if I hadn’t been so nosy, Agent Pallas, you and I never would’ve had this lovely chance to reconnect."


Wilkins coughed while taking a sip of his coffee. It sounded suspiciously like a chuckle.


Jack found her sarcasm laughable. Back when he was in Special Forces, before he’d joined the FBI, he’d interrogated foreign operatives, suspected terrorists, and members of various guerilla militias. He could certainly handle one cheeky assistant U.S. attorney. "I’m glad to see the coffee’s put a little ?re back in you," he said dryly. "Now why don’t you tell me what you saw when you were doing your civic duty and spying though the peephole?"


Wilkins held up his hand. "Um, I’m thinking maybe I should pick back up with this."


Cameron and Jack answered simultaneously. "We’re fine."


"I saw a man leave the room, which I’m sure you know," she told Jack.


"Describe him."


"I already described him to Slonsky."


"Do it again."


Jack saw her eyes ?ash. She didn’t like being told what to do. Too bad.


"Five foot eleven, maybe six feet tall," she said. "Medium build. He wore jeans, a black blazer, and a gray hooded T-shirt pulled over his head. He had his back to me the entire time, so I never saw his face."


"Didn’t you think the hooded T-shirt was a little odd?"
Jack asked.


"I heard butt cheeks being slapped and walls that were banged so hard my teeth nearly rattled. Frankly, I’ve found this whole evening to be a little odd, Agent Pallas."


Out of the corner of his eye, Jack could see Wilkins glance up at the ceiling while ?ghting off another smile.


"Are you certain about the man’s height?" Jack continued.


Cameron paused, thinking."Yes."


"How about his weight?"


She sighed. "I’m really bad at guessing that kind of thing."


"Make an effort. Pretend this is something important."


Another glare.


Cameron glanced over at Wilkins. "How much do you weigh?"


"Wait—--how come Jack doesn’t have to answer that?"


"The man I saw seems closer to your build."


"Oh, so he’s a smaller guy, then?" Jack suggested helpfully.


Wilkins turned around. "A smaller guy? I’m an inch above the national average. Besides, I’m spry."


"Let’s try to narrow this down," Jack regrouped. "I weigh one-eighty-?ve, Agent Wilkins is about one-sixty. Given that, where would you say this guy falls?"


She looked between the two men, considering this. "About one-seventy."


Jack and Wilkins exchanged looks.


"What?" Cameron asked. "What does that tell you?”"



On that note. . . I think I’ll turn it over to you guys. Let’s talk about other books or movies you like that balance both suspense and humor. Or. . . tell me about your favorite tough-guy hero. Or. . . maybe you have a question about SOMETHING ABOUT YOU. One randomly-selected person who leaves a comment below will win a copy of the book.

Happy reading!

For more information about Julie James’s books, visit Julie's website here.

To comment for a chance to win on Hitchock + Bourne = Romance please click here.

Fresh Pick | WEEKEND WARRIORS by Fern Michaels

Revenge of the Sisterhood #1

July 2004
On Sale: September 21, 2007
Featuring: Myra; Nikki Quinn
304 pages
ISBN: 0821775898
EAN: 9780821775899
Paperback (reprint)
$6.99

Romance Suspense, Suspense
Buy at Amazon.com

Start at the beginning of the "Sisterhood" and be sure to also check out the latest (#17) in the series, GAME OVER

Weekend Warriors
by Fern Michaels

Every Woman Has A Story…And That’s Just The Beginning.

Life isn’t fair. Most women know it. But what can you do about it? Plenty…if you’re part of the Sisterhood. On the surface, these seven women are as different as can be—but each has had her share of bad luck, from cheating husbands to sexist colleagues to a legal system that often doesn’t do its job. Now, drawn together by tragedy, they’re forging a bond that will help them right the wrongs committed against them and discover inner strength they didn’t know they had. Growing bolder with each act of justice, the Sisterhood is learning that when bad things happen, you can roll over and play dead…or you can get up fighting…

Nikki Quinn is devastated when her best friend Barbara is knocked down and killed by a hit-and-run driver who claims diplomatic immunity. But Nikki has her work and her lover, fellow lawyer Jack Nolan, to keep her going, whereas Barbara's mother, Myra, has nothing. Festering in a sea of recriminations and hatred, unable to gain a sense of perspective, Myra is lost . . . until one day she switches on the evening news and sees Marie Lewellen, mother of a murder victim, take matters into her own hands and stab her daughter's killer.

An idea is born, and within months Myra and Nikki have drawn together a group of women who have one thing in common: they have been failed by the American justice system, they're down but they're not out, and they're ready to find their nemeses and make them pay. First up is Kathryn, a long-distance truck driver who was raped at a road stop by three motorcyclists as her paralyzed husband watched, helpless. Banding together, the Sisterhood plot the ultimate revenge -- but with dissension from inside the group and out, there's no saying if the plan will work until the moment of truth arrives.

In the tradition of The First Wives’ Club, Weekend Warriors is a slam-bang, take-no-prisoners tale of survival, sweet revenge, and the healing power of friendship.

Previous Picks

DAVID CORBETT | The Elusive Stuff of Character

Despite having written four novels and numerous stories, and teaching fiction at UCLA Extension, Book Passage and elsewhere, the whole notion of what makes a character compelling, or how to construct such a character, continues to feel like mercury in my palm.

Just when that inscrutable line is crossed, between a fully realized character and one not so fully realized, remains as enigmatic to me now as ever--perhaps more so.

Recently, I told a writer friend that I've come to use music more and more in my characterizations, sometimes thinking of characters as chords, or melodies, or allowing the timbre of a particular instrument to inspire an insight into their inner life.

If a chord inspires a character, it can be quite simple, a dyad or triad: straightforward, clear, with a distinct tonal character: A vigorous, optimistic soul for example (G major), or a fragile worrier (C sharp minor). Or the chord and character can assume more complexity as I probe quirks, secrets, miseries, joys, regrets, contradictions. The result here is more complicated, tonal clusters of stacked thirds, jarring minor seconds, sprawling ninths and elevenths, diminished sixths, augmented fourths. These too have a distinct tonal sense but it's not easily discernible at first; the notes clash and resonate against each other, creating jarring or limpid harmonics.

In my most recent novel, Do They Know I'm Running?, I used a piano piece by Faure, a ballade I always associated with my father, to conjure for me the gentle inner life of an otherwise rustic Salvadoran truck driver, Tío Faustino. And the sly, sensitive protagonist, a budding guitar phenom named Roque, needed a blistering Santana solo to create a sense of the fire and hunger within him, of which even he is unaware as the story begins. His aunt, Tía Lucha, is a reedy woman who, not surprisingly, made me think of a clarinet, an instrument which, even at its most playful, retains a certain wistful tone of lamentation. And Godo, the marine who returns from Iraq both psychologically and physically damaged, found partial inspiration in the jarring, grinding, mocking intro to Control Machete's Sí Señor.

This sense of an ensemble of sounds and tonalities helped me immeasurably as I put these characters in crisis: Just as Godo returns from Iraq in pieces, the family is hit with a second sforzando in the arrest and deportation of the family breadwinner, Tío Faustino. Because music exists in time, I was capable of allowing the original sense of these characters to change and morph as the action developed without altering their essential nature, in the same way a chord progression or a melody will unveil itself as a song unfolds.

But I'm a musical bird, and such formulations suit me. I can imagine someone else using colors or animals or trees or tarot symbols in much the same way. The trick is to conjure an image that stirs to life, and the willingness not to define it, explain it, figure it out, but to let it assume shape and form and sense on its own. There's no small bit of magic involved, like a melody that rises up in the mind seemingly from nowhere--or, again, like mercury, quivering at my touch: shimmering, slippery, but substantial all the same.


To comment on The Elusive Stuff of Character please click here.

Fresh Pick | BEWARE A SCOT'S REVENGE by Sabrina Jeffries

The School For Heiresses #3

May 2009
On Sale: April 28, 2009
Featuring: Venetia Campbell; Lachlan Ross
384 pages
ISBN: 1439140170
EAN: 9781439140178
Mass Market Paperback (reprint)
$5.99

Romance Historical
Buy at Amazon.com

Beware A Scot's Revenge
by Sabrina Jeffries

Lady Venetia Campbell's visit to her childhood home in Scotland takes a dramatic turn when she's kidnapped at pistol point by her father's sworn enemy. Sir Lachlan Ross is widely feared in his guise as The Scottish Scourge, but Venetia remembers her former neighbor as a handsome youth whose attentions she craved.

Now a wickedly sexy man, Lachlan's appeal is even more intoxicating...and much more dangerous. Though Lachlan tries to treat her as his foe, his scorching kisses tell another story. And despite his plan to use her as a weapon against her father, Venetia is determined that Lachlan's lust for revenge will be trumped by an even more powerful desire....

Excerpt

The music began, and Sir Lachlan Ross forced himself to move, forced himself to ignore the throbbing in his half-healed ribs and the ache in his recently-broken thigh bone. Although certain steps proved a minor agony, dancing with Lady Venetia was better than standing about, listening to her aunt talk of his family, unraveling his plans with each casual word.

How in God’s name had the woman seen the resemblance between him and Father? For that matter, how had Lady Venetia noticed it? He was wearing a wig and mask! Not to mention that neither lady had laid eyes on him in years.

No one must recognize him, or this would be over before it began. His mother and clan had worked hard to hide the fact that he was alive by holding a pretend funeral for him. He mustn’t Read More...

Previous Picks

AMANDA FORESTER | Give Me Some Celtic Lovin'

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Today we celebrate St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Wouldn’t it be great if I had an Irish book to talk about? Well, as you can probably guess, THE HIGHLANDER’S SWORD is set in Scotland. So today I thought I’d chat about a common ancestor to both Scotland and Ireland: the Celts.

The Celts is a term rather loosely used to describe some of the early peoples of Europe and the British Isles. Currently, the six Celtic nations are considered to be Scotland, Brittany, Wales, Ireland, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. The Celtic culture is an ancient one and shrouded in mystery. The Celts were known as warrior adventurers, conquering and spreading through Europe and particularly into the British Isles. Woman may also have been warriors and leaders of their clans. Another important role in Celtic society was the members of the priestly and intellectual class called the druids. Celtic religion was polytheistic and their deities were often associated with natural features, such as rivers.

After the conversion of the Celts to Christianity in 5th century Ireland, thanks to our celebrated St. Patrick, the Celts showed a strong interest in intellectual pursuits, particularly in Irish monasteries. One of the best examples of Celtic intellectualism and art is the Book of Kells, which is an illuminated manuscript in Latin of the four Gospels of the Bible, created by Celtic monks. This brilliantly illustrated work reveals intricate pictures combining Christian iconography and Celtic symbols, such as Celtic knots. The roots of earlier Celtic religion can be seen in the focus Celtic spirituality on the omnipresence of the divine all around us. The interest in adventure can also be seen in the frequent pilgrimages of the medieval Celtic monks, sometimes even getting into a boat without sail or oars and going wherever God led them!

In my debut novel, the hero and heroine reveal some of the characteristics now attributed to Celtic culture. MacLaren is the warrior adventurer. He seeks adventure in France fighting against the English and returns to Scotland a decorated knight, but also rocked by betrayal. In Lady Aila, we see the focus on intellectual pursuits. She has been groomed her whole life for entrance into the Convent. Since the cloisters were often the keepers of language and literature at this time, she has extensively studied Latin, French, and other languages. However, fate intervenes with the battle of Neville’s Cross, killing Aila’s brother and most of her kin, and leaving Aila an heiress. Her life is forever changed when instead of the convent, her father gives her in marriage to MacLaren, the Highland warrior. The road to romance is not a smooth one for Aila and MacLaren, but in the end love prevails!

I completely enjoyed writing The Highlander’s Sword, particularly learning more about the history of Scotland and the Celts. I can think of nothing more romantic than the image of a Highland warrior clad in a kilt. What is your ideal image of the romantic hero or heroine? Can you detect any Celtic influences?

THE HIGHLANDER’S SWORD. BY AMANDA FORESTER--IN STORES MARCH 2010


A quiet, flame-haired beauty with secrets of her own...
Lady Aila Graham is destined for the convent, until her brother's death leaves her an heiress. Soon she is caught between hastily arranged marriage with a Highland warrior, the Abbot's insistence that she take her vows, the Scottish Laird who kidnaps her, and the traitor from within who betrays them all.


She's nothing he expected and everything he really needs...
Padyn MacLaren, a battled-hardened knight, returns home to the Highlands after years of fighting the English in France. MacLaren bears the physical scars of battle, but it is the deeper wounds of betrayal that have rocked his faith. Arriving with only a band of war-weary knights, MacLaren finds his land pillaged and his clan scattered. Determined to restore his clan, he sees Aila's fortune as the answer to his problems...but maybe it's the woman herself.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Amanda Forester holds a PhD in psychology and worked for many years in academia before discovering that writing historical romance novels was way more fun. She lives in the Pacific Northwest outside Tacoma, Washington with her husband, two energetic children, and one lazy dog. Please click here to visit her website.

To comment on Give Me Some Celtic Lovin' and for a chance to win please click here.

Fresh Pick | MIDNIGHT PLEASURES WITH A SCOUNDREL by Lorraine Heath

Scoundrels of St. James #4

November 2009
On Sale: November 1, 2009
Featuring: James Swindler; Eleanor Watkins
384 pages
ISBN: 0061734004
EAN: 9780061734007
Mass Market Paperback
$6.99

Romance Historical
Buy at Amazon.com

Midnight Pleasures with a Scoundrel
by Lorraine Heath

She Sought Revenge but Discovered Desire

On a quest to avenge her sister's death, Eleanor Watkins never expected to fall for the man following her through pleasure gardens and into ballrooms. But soon nothing can keep her from the arms of the sinfully attractive scoundrel, not even the dangerous secrets she keeps. Strong, compassionate, and utterly irresistible, James is all she desires. But can she trust him enough to let herself succumb to all the pleasures that midnight allows?

James Swindler has worked hard to atone for his unsavory past. He is now as at home in London's glittering salons as he is in the roughest streets. But when the inspector is tasked with keeping watch on a mysterious lady suspected of nefarious deeds, he is determined to use his skills at seduction to lure Eleanor into revealing her plans. Instead, he is the one seduced, turning away from everything he holds dear in order to protect her--no matter the cost to his heart.

Can love survive when trust is missing from the relationship?

Previous Picks

Author Spotlight | Vicki Hinze

Does a normal person ever get to a place where they forget or lose their sense of self? If so, what happens to those things that make us unique individuals? Things like the way we feel about love, morals, values, ethics, our perspective on the way we see the world? Our faith? Do our automatic responses stay the same? If we (hard to imagine!) hated chocolate, do we still hate it?

Those were the kinds of questions in my mind and so I decided to think about them and explore them in FORGET ME NOT, the first book in my new Crossroads Crisis Center series.

The worst-case scenario would be to have a person whose entire life was suddenly a mystery to them. That’s a feeling we’ve all had at one time or another; a moment when we look at ourselves in the mirror and we’re not quite sure who that person is looking back at us. So naturally the heroine had to have her life stripped from her--all of it! Once it had been, then I could see what was left. I was admittedly eager. I know. I’m awful.

The protagonist endures a long, difficult and sometimes scary journey, rediscovering herself. But there were things like those mentioned above that never really went away, and I realized hat even when we feel lost, or as if we are in a dark tunnel and can’t see a speck or glimmer of light, those unique parts of us remain intact. The way that we feel about things doesn’t change. The way we view the world doesn’t change. All of the filters that we would typically use, we continue to use. And that means we can depend on the intangible things that make us us.

I find comfort in that good news. In knowing there are some things we can depend on in life. I felt for the heroine. Her life was a mystery to her, she was in extreme danger; people wanted her dead for what she knew even though she no longer knew what she knew. And yet that which made her unique, that in which she believed, carried her through those dark and difficult times. Though she endures many doubts about what kind of person she must be, suffers confusion and so much more, she remains steadfast in her beliefs. The vulnerabilities, the fears, the uncertainties constantly test her. They test us too, and if we can remain courageous enough to confront and not avoid the challenges and obstacles, if we can be willing to see the bald truth, ugly though it might be, then there is hope for us as well. Not just to endure and survive, but to grow and thrive and create an even stronger sense of self.

At times we all might forget who we are, but we don’t forget whose we are or everything that goes into making us unique individuals. What I discovered in writing this book is that these things I explored are true every day for all of us. We might not lose our memory, but we do face challenges, and they do shape us. Not into the person we were before we forgot who we were, but into the person we become because we remember.

It’s this license to explore that makes me love writing. I hope that you will enjoy exploring with me. If you’re of a mind to, join me in Forget Me Not and at my website blog, My Kitchen Table. There are other blogs there too. To discover them, explore!

Blessings,

Vicki

www.vickihinze.com

Shanna Swendson | Exploring Romance in Literature...

Last month, I did a presentation at the Arlington, Texas, Public Library's paperback swap event. Even though Valentine's Day has already passed, we still kept the romantic mood alive by focusing on romance. Just to be different, I spoke about the romantic books you find outside the romance section.

The romance genre itself has some expectations, the most important of which is a happy ending with the couple together in some kind of relationship that looks like it will last. That makes it a safe place if you want to read a love story where one of the main characters doesn't die tragically at the end. But you can still find romantic stories in other places, though there's the risk that it won't work out in quite the way you might hope.


Actually, romance has been important to fiction ever since people started telling stories. Look at all the hooking up that happens in Greek and Norse mythology, in Arthurian legends and in fairy tales. Then there are the literary classics. There's a romantic happy ending in all of Jane Austen's books. Jane Eyre is essentially an inspirational romance, since Jane is rewarded with her true love after she holds true to her faith. Wuthering Heights is widely regarded as a deeply romantic story, though it's one that couldn't have been published in the romance genre (that pesky death problem). Most of Charles Dickens's novels contain some kind of love story.


Then there are the modern books that are classified as "literature" or "general fiction." Often, where these books are shelved is purely a marketing decision. That's where you may find bestselling romance authors whose publishers are trying to break them out as a mainstream author. You'll also find books that are essentially romances but that may break some of the genre rules. For instance, there are the chick lit books, which may be more about how hard it is to meet Mr. Right than about working things out with Mr. Right and which may involve multiple potential Mr. Rights instead of one key hero. Then there are the "women's fiction" books that have romance as a subplot in a book that's more about a woman's journey, such as dealing with divorce or widowhood. Within that category, you'll find those "club" books about an intergenerational group of women brought together by something like knitting, quilting or a book club. Men write romantic stories, too, and theirs tend to be shelved in this section. You'll find "lad lit," which is essentially chick lit from the male point of view by such authors as Nick Hornby, and the male-written romantic stories (which tend to have sad endings involving someone dying or leaving town -- I wonder if that says something about the male view of romance and relationships).

Mysteries, science fiction and fantasy often have romantic subplots within a larger story about finding the killer/saving the world/saving the planet. In the ongoing series, the relationship may develop gradually over the course of multiple books before it gets to the Happily Ever After. When it comes to urban fantasy, the line separating it from paranormal romance gets pretty blurry, and it may come down to a marketing decision or where the best publishing spot was. Finally, the young adult section tends to be deeply romantic and is a good place to find the "sweeter" love stories without as much graphic sex, though sex isn't entirely out of the question in today's young adult books.

Meanwhile, I also learned that, apparently, librarians tend to love Buffy the Vampire Slayer as much as they enjoy watching Masterpiece Theatre classic novel adaptations.

---

Shanna Swendson writes "Fairy Tales for Modern Times" and is the
author of the Enchanted, Inc. series about a Texan in New York City, a
magical NYC. Visit her
website or blog
for more information.

VICKI HINZE | So What's Wrong With A Little Whimsy

Reality is good. We all live our lives steeped in it. Some days are better than others. We know it, accept it, and consider ourselves lucky if we end up with a few more good days than bad ones.

We take care of ourselves, our families, our careers. We handle the expected demands--the voluntary demands and the compulsory ones--and the thousand other things that need to be done on a routine basis. We also handle the unexpected demands, everyone's crises, and the things that we couldn't plan or prepare for with a million years’ advance notice. And, wonder of wonder, somehow we manage to do all these things and stay sane.

So why then, when we mere mortals accomplish the impossible with monotonous regularity, are we'd begrudged our desire to indulge in an occasional bit of whimsy?

Admittedly, I'm having a little trouble with understanding this. While it seems it's perfectly acceptable for us to do all of the almost superhuman things that we do, we get every reaction from strange looks to admonitions for wanting to do something just for the fun of it. Sometimes, justification is actually asked for, and on occasion (can you believe it?) required or demanded.

Enough, I say. Enough, enough, enough!

So today, dear friends, I’m issuing an invitation to rebel and put our foot down. Today, I’m issuing a license. Just clip it out, fill in your name at the bottom, and be prepared to flash it. (How long has it been since some of us were carded? Wait. Let’s don’t answer that!)

So there. It’s done. You have a license.

Now enjoy a bit of whimsy. Embrace it, relish it, and revel in it. And if anyone objects, flash your card. If they’re not nice in their objection, flash them your card and show them a list of all of the things that you have done in the last month that are practical, routine, mundane, ordinary, and then invite them to take over your list just for a day while you go play. That should mum them right up!

And every time you look at your license, remember that joy is found in the little things as well as in the big ones. We sometimes get so busy we forget that. But just for today, let's remember it. Let’s do one whimsical thing.

And if no one looks at us like we've lost our minds, let’s take that as a signal and personal invitation to immediately do another!

Blessings,

Vicki


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Fresh Pick | TASTING FEAR by Shannon McKenna

August 2009
On Sale: August 1, 2009
Featuring: Nancy D’Onofrio; Nell D’Onofrio; Vivi D’Onofrio
320 pages
ISBN: 0758228635
EAN: 9780758228635
Paperback
$14.00

Romance Suspense
Buy at Amazon.com

Tasting Fear
by Shannon McKenna

New York Times bestselling author Shannon McKenna delivers a provocative, thrilling new novel in which three sisters search for their mother's killer...and find unexpected passion on the way.

BLOOD WILL TELL

Nancy . . . Nell . . . Vivi . . .
Three sisters who know there is no force on earth greater than love . . . unless it is the desire for vengeance. When their adored foster mother is murdered, the D’Onofrio women come together to hunt for her murderer—and track down a family legacy gone missing; rare, priceless art from the Renaissance, a treasure worth killing for. The law can only do so much and the three sisters are on their own—until three mysterious men get involved . . .

Startled to find a brawny stranger at her mother’s house, Nancy is even more surprised at the heat of passion that flares between them. Liam is intense and instantly protective. But is it wise to trust him with every secret? Her sister Nell has turned to Duncan, her new boss, for help. He’s an expert on the dark underworld of cyberspace, where other clues may lurk. And Duncan is so sexy its scary. All Nell has to do is say the hardest word of all: yes. But what about the youngest of the D’Onofrios, the wild and willful Vivi? She’s on the verge of falling in love with Jack, who’s all about fierce vigilance . . .

The sisters embrace the ultimate in passion as danger stalks them all. Unknown and unseen, the killer is very, very near...

Three sisters, three loves, one secret, and one foe.

Excerpt

John was stoked. This job was going to be easy money. He parked in the shadow of a tree—not that his quarry could see him parked around the corner. The stupid old fuck was probably congratulating himself for being so crafty. Marco Barbieri’s plane from Italy had landed five hours ago, and the old man had been riding taxis in big, useless circles around the boroughs of New York City ever since. He’d changed cabs five times, but he always took the traitorous RF blip with him, the one planted deep in the trolley of his carry-on suitcase.

And it had led John right to the small upstate town of Hempton.

Served the old fart right for trusting his domestic staff back at his crumbling palazzo in Castiglione Santangelo. All it took was money to get the device planted in Barbieri’s Read More... Previous Picks

SUSAN HIGGINBOTHAM | Thank You Historians

One thing that can be said for certain about Edward IV-the king whose secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville sets the events of my novel The Stolen Crown into motion-he knew how to put on a show.

Take, for instance, the welcoming of Louis de Gruthuse to England in 1472, an event recorded by Bluemantle Pursuivant. We know that Gruthuse was led to the chambers of Edward IV’s queen, where the ladies were dancing and playing games; that Edward presented his visitor with costly gifts, including a great gold cup containing a unicorn’s horn, feasted with him, and hunted with him; and that when the long days of pleasure were over, Gruthuse was escorted to a splendid bed of "as good downe as coulde be thought."

Edward got another chance to demonstrate the magnificence of his court in 1478, when his four-year-old son, Richard, Duke of York, married little Anne Mowbray, who at age five was even longer in the tooth than little Richard. We have a detailed description of the wedding festivities and especially of the celebratory jousts, at the conclusion of which the king’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, presented the winners with golden initials studded with a diamond, a ruby, and an emerald.

Historical novelists as well as historians owe a debt of gratitude to the people who thought to record these events-too many medieval ceremonies, such as the funeral of Richard III’s queen, were either never described in detail or described in documents now lost to us. Not only do such contemporary descriptions give a flavor of the times (and provide a welcome reminder that fifteenth-century life was more than just battles and executions), they often can give us a much-needed indication of what lesser known historical figures were doing at a given date.

For instance, references to my hero and heroine, Harry and Kate, are sparse between their marriage in 1465 or 1466 and Harry’s ill-fated rebellion in 1483, but we get a rare glimpse of both of them at the ceremonies described above. Thanks to Bluemantle Pursuivant, we know that Harry danced with little Elizabeth of York during Louis de Gruthuse’s visit and that Harry and Kate dined together at the banquet that followed. Because of the person who recorded the 1478 marriage ceremonies, we know that Harry and the Duke of Gloucester (the future Richard III) led the newlywed Anne Mowbray into her wedding feast and that at the same feast, Kate sat beside the bride’s mother. As a novelist, I put both episodes to work: Kate uses the festivities of the Gruthuse visit to entice her nervous husband into consummating their marriage, and the wedding banquet in 1478 allows Kate the chance to hear a piece of gossip that will have fateful consequences when Harry remembers it years later.

So, lovers of history, let’s give those who recorded these festivities a grateful thanks. And who knows? Maybe five hundred years from now, someone will be poring over our wedding videos, trying to recapture an age gone by.

THE STOLEN CROWN BY SUSAN HIGGINBOTHAM--IN STORES MARCH 2010
On May Day, 1464, six-year-old Katherine Woodville, daughter of a duchess who has married a knight of modest means, awakes to find her gorgeous older sister, Elizabeth, in the midst of a secret marriage to King Edward IV. It changes everything-for Kate and for England.

Then King Edward dies unexpectedly. Richard III, Duke of Gloucester, is named protector of Edward and Elizabeth's two young princes, but Richard's own ambitions for the crown interfere with his duties...
Lancastrians against Yorkists: greed, power, murder, and war. As the story unfolds through the unique perspective of Kate Woodville, it soon becomes apparent that not everyone is wholly evil-or wholly good.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Susan Higginbotham is the author of two historical fiction novels. The Traitor’s Wife, her first novel, is the winner of ForeWord Magazine’s 2005 Silver Award for historical fiction and is a Gold Medalist, Historical/Military Fiction, 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards. She writes her own historical fiction blog and is a contributor to the blog Yesterday Revisited. Higginbotham has worked as an editor and an attorney, and lives in North Carolina with her family. For more information, please visit Susan's website.

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Fresh Pick | THE BEST REVENGE by Justine Davis

Redstone, Incorporated

February 2010
On Sale: February 1, 2010
Featuring: St. John; Jessa Hill
224 pages
ISBN: 0373276672
EAN: 9780373276677
Mass Market Paperback
$4.99

Romance Suspense
Buy at Amazon.com

The Best Revenge
by Justine Davis

He wanted his last dead end buried...

Something in St. John's intense blue eyes reminded Jessa Hill of her childhood friend. But Adam Alden was long dead….

The handsome stranger had vowed to help her defeat Adam's father in the mayoral race. Yet St. John's quest for revenge seemed too personal for a casual acquaintance. Could St. John and Adam be the same man…and would he disappear with Jessa's heart a second time?

Dameron St. John returned home with a new identity and a score to settle. But he wasn't prepared for the emotions that surfaced when he reunited with Jessa. Could he let her in once again…and together would they slay his demons once and for all?

Excerpt

"Coward."

St. John looked at himself in the mirror. The scar was less vivid than usual this morning, perhaps because there wasn't much tan to contrast with the thin, long ridge that slashed along the right side of his jaw. That happened when you hid inside most of the time, he told himself.

Coward was definitely the word, he added silently.

He'd been hiding more than usual lately. Not that there had been more problems at Redstone. The opposite in fact; things were going well on all fronts. The Hawk V jet was ready for delivery. The damage done by the snake in their midst at Research and Development was finally under control, losses minimized and security rebuilt. That had inspired their resident inventor to a new round of genius, including a couple of revolutionary concepts Read More...

Previous Picks

Fresh Pick | REVENGE WEARS RUBIES by Renee Bernard

Jaded Gentlemen #1

March 2010
On Sale: March 2, 2010
Featuring: Haley Moreland; Galen Hawke
336 pages
ISBN: 0425233375
EAN: 9780425233375
Paperback
$7.99

Romance Historical
Buy at Amazon.com

Revenge Wears Rubies
by Renee Bernard

Vengeance doesn't always turn out the way you planned

Vengeance doesn't always turn out the way you planned.

First in a sexy new series of erotic passion set in Victorian London

Galen Hawke desires nothing but revenge against the woman who betrayed his dearly departed friend. Instead of mourning the loss of her fiancé, Miss Haley Moreland is merrily celebrating her upcoming nuptials to another man. Now, Galen has one mission: to seduce Miss Moreland and enslave her heart. And when she is completely his, he will destroy her.

The journey is long for an emotionally crippled man to finally discover the ability to love.

Excerpt

Bengal, 1857

They’d just been voices in the dark to each other in the first few days. The familiarity of English accents and the simple relief at not being alone were stark comforts none of them had ever experienced. In an ancient pitch-black oubliette, unsure of their ultimate fate, they’d observed the rituals of introduction and exchanged names and shaken hands as if they were in the foyer of a music hall in Brighton and not standing ankle deep in muck in an raja’s dungeon in the bowels of his stronghold.

Galen.

Michael.

Josiah.

Ashe.

John.

Darius.

Rowan.

Sterling.

Eight men of various walks of life, but their paths had led them each to India and now to this… And even without knowing the speaker, their Read More...

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SANDI SHILHANEK | LAUGH OR CRY WHICH DO YOU PREFER

This week I got news I wasn't expecting and have spent a lot of time crying over it. I know that as the
next few weeks and months go by I'm going to be doing a lot more crying, so I thought what a perfect
time to read a book that makes me cry, because I can just blame my news on why I'm crying, and my
husband and sons won't poke fun of me for crying over a book. On the other hand i'm also going to
need to find things to laugh about, and I know there are books out there with the humor I'm looking
for.

I read and cried over
The You I Never
Knew by Susan Wiggs,
Cloud Nine by
Luanne Rice, and
The Things We Do For Love by
Kristin Hannah just to name a few.

I read and laughed over Big Girls Don't by
Cathie Linz,
Bet Me by
Jennifer Cruise, and
True Confessions by
Rachel Gibson again to just name a few.

So, which do you prefer....to laugh while reading or a good tear jerker? Does it depend on your mood?
What recommendations do you have for me and others this week?

Until next week happy page turning!

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