Julie Miller | Covers, Covers, Covers

Thank you to Sara Reyes and the gang at Fresh Fiction for inviting me to blog with them this month! I’m honored. Today, I’m going to be talking Harlequin Intrigue.

Since Intrigue is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, I thought it'd be fun to share some Intrigue covers, and show how the look of our beloved romantic suspense novels have changed over the years.

1. Here's where it all started, with THE KEY by Rebecca Flanders.


2. Then we went through a "white" period--I discovered 43 Light Street series by Rebecca York in this phase--read bunches of the white covers in college.

Click here to read the rest of Julie's blog and to comment.

Linda Conrad | Why Do It?

I had every intention of writing a blog about my latest release for Silhouette Romantic Suspense, SAFE WITH A STRANGER (the first book in my new trilogy called The Safekeepers.) The Safekeepers is a series of suspense novels about bodyguards for children--with the fun addition of Mexican witchcraft and a family curse. Or maybe I could’ve blogged about connected books. That seems to be my thing lately. My last series for Silhouette was six books long! I just don’t seem to be able to write single books anymore. I like fleshing out characters over several books and really enjoy revealing a series-long connection inside each book.

But as I was sitting here at my desk, my mind wandered off (as it usually does,) and I began thinking about why I write at all. As I have said before, I hate to write. Really I do. Oh, I love telling stories. I love getting into the heads of my characters. I love doing research. And I love finding just the right word to make a sentence sing. But the process of sitting my back end into a chair and shoveling out the words makes me want to cringe. In fact, right now I am avoiding beginning a new work that has a looming deadline date.

So why do it? I can’t say it’s because I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I haven’t. What I’ve always wanted to be was a reader. I guess I should’ve been an editor. Or maybe a librarian. But no, those weren’t really right either. Actually, what I have always, always, been is a dreamer. I make up stories in my head. And have done so since I was two or three years old. Reading is just an excuse to tweak my stories into something better—in my head.

If my father was still alive, he might be surprised to find that at this point I have written twenty-three books (all in the category lines for Silhouette.) Many times while I was a teenager he would look at me with my head in the clouds and call me lazy. He couldn’t see how I would ever accomplish anything when all I ever did was daydream.

My mother knew better. She was the real reader in the family. I can remember as a little girl being frustrated with trying to get her attention only to find that she was so absorbed in a book she couldn’t even hear her name being called. I can do that too, by the way. Get lost in a book.

Mother knew in her heart what I should do, even when I didn’t. In high school she nudged me toward creative writing, but I was so wrapped up in earning a living that I couldn’t see my way clear to giving it a try. Not me. Nah uh. I became a stockbroker. I did fairly well at it too, but I was never totally happy and I didn’t know why.

Not until my mother had a stroke. My father was gone by then and I became Mom’s main caregiver. I took a leave of absence from my job and worked with her everyday. She could no longer read or watch TV, her eyesight betrayed her. So in an effort to make her hours more pleasant, my sister and I found books on tape. But that wasn’t a perfect solution either. Her mind wandered too much. In fact, she began daydreaming stories about all of us. So I went along with her and helped make up the story lines. While she was in the nursing home, the nurses would become fascinated to hear our stories. The hours went by quickly and I found I enjoyed entertaining people by doing what I’ve always done—daydreaming things in my head.

Still, I might not have given it a second thought if in the week before my mother passed away she hadn’t asked me to consider writing books as a career. She knew how much I loved giving others pleasure and taking them away from their troubles for a while. And bless her heart, she was just positive I would be good at writing the stories down. I didn’t know it for sure, and my husband was completely unconvinced. But I made the promise and then did my best to make it happen.

So to all of you mothers out there, nudge your children to do what’s in their hearts—even if they can’t see it. And to all of you dreamers out there, I’ll be the mother and say maybe it’s time to stop dreaming and make it happen.

I dream in Technicolor and with dialog and scenes fully formed. What do you dream about?

With all my very best,
Linda

Linda’s latest release from Silhouette Romantic Suspense is Safe With A Stranger, now available on stands and online from eharlequin.com, Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please visit her at http://www.lindaconrad.com/ for the latest news, extras, contests and a complete Behind the Book description of The Safekeepers series!

Kathleen Long | The Gifts of Writing

I want to thank everyone here at Fresh Fiction for inviting me to blog today. I was sitting at my computer this morning trying to settle on an interesting topic for today’s blog. My new series? My future plans? My typical writing day?

Instead, I found myself thinking about the gift of writing—or should I say gifts, plural. Writing has brought so many layers of good to my life—new friends, new challenges, new skills—that describing those gifts would take all day.

Then, the best “gift” of my life announced she was awake for the day. That was the moment I realized a toddler’s chattering was the perfect place to begin—and focus—this blog.

Did writing bring about my two-year-old? No, but my writing career taught me to work hard and chase my dreams. In life, just as in writing, there aren’t any shortcuts. Our daughter came into our lives after a ten-year pursuit of parenthood, and I wouldn’t trade a single moment of the journey. After all, each step brought me to this wonderful moment filled with alphabet songs and questions and belly laughs.

My writing journey has been no different. Writing—like life—is about doing the legwork.

Writing is about believing your dream is worth chasing. It’s about dusting yourself off and trying again each time you face an obstacle in the road. Writing is about reading—how-to books, favorite authors, market news. Writing is about learning—pacing, plotting, story techniques. Writing is about writing—first drafts, second drafts, third drafts, and more. It’s about starting over time after time simply because you refuse to quit and because the need to write is part of who you are.

Writing is about setting the alarm to wake up two hours before your family to steal time in front of your computer. It’s about staying up far too late—or early—because the storyline in your head won’t take no for an answer. It’s about rolling over at 3am and thinking, wait a minute…what if my heroine said this instead? then racing downstairs to make notes or fire up the laptop.

Writing, for me, is its own reward.

Writing is about setting free the words and characters and places in my mind that come to me so clearly and purely I couldn’t ignore them even if I wanted to.

Writing is about creating worlds into which readers might escape for an hour or two or three.

The Body Hunters is my first trilogy—my first series—and I loved the process of creating the cast of characters and their stories. Developing the series provided me with the opportunity to form a longer-lasting, deeper connection to the characters in my mind. I hope the series will provide the same opportunity for connection—and escape—for readers.

Escape. That one powerful word sums up why I write.

At a particularly difficult point in my life, a book pulled me out of the fog of grief that had overtaken my every thought and movement. A book carried me away, helped me turn the corner toward becoming whole again. Since then, books have been my escape time and time again—be they books I’m writing or books I’m reading.

That particular book gave me the kick in the pants I needed not just to live again, but to write again. That book made me want to provide that same escape for others.

I sat back that day and decided to value my dream enough to chase it.

To every author out there—both published and as-yet unpublished—thank you for believing in yourself enough to chase your dream. Without you, I might still be stuck in my fog. Instead, I’m headed upstairs to help a two-year-old start her day. I can’t imagine a greater gift than that.

Please visit me at www.kathleenlong.com for the latest news and release info, and at www.thebodyhunters.com/ for the latest on The Body Hunters trilogy and just what inspired your favorite character or scene. Join me all this week over at the www.eharlequin.com/ Forums where an entire thread has been dedicated to discussing The Body Hunters. Most importantly, thank you for stopping by today, and thanks again to Fresh Fiction for inviting me to blog!