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October 2011

Friday, October 7, 2011

FOR EVERY STORY THERE IS A SEASON... OR TWO OR THREE

Jaycie Cash

MRS. GOODFELLER

Although not true for the whole country, in the middle of America, where I live, we had ourselves one long, hot summer, my friends. Can I get a “Hallelujah” that the season has officially changed? In interest of full-disclosure, however, this has always been my favorite time of year. So even if I hadn’t just survived more than 60 days of triple digits, I’d still be glad we’re sliding into autumn.

The colors, brisk nights, cute sweaters, walks through crunchy leaves... all a delight.


Of course, changing seasons can also be a metaphor for the different phases of our lives. If we were to use one for my debut novel, MRS. GOODFELLER, it would be fair to say Elyse Smith, the protagonist, has had a lifetime of winter. Frozen out of the level of society and organizations to which she has always aspired, she doesn’t experience the thaw, beauty and hope of spring until she takes matters into her own hands and convinces her fellow citizens of Scissortail, Oklahoma that her husband—a sweet, though inept, insurance salesman—is an ex-Mafia hit man in the witness protection program. Sadly, the red-hot danger of summer follows all too soon.


Intrigued as I am right now by the idea of changing seasons, I invited all Writerspace authors with books being released in October to tell us their thoughts on this topic as well. They wrote . . .


Dara Girard

ALL I WANT IS YOU

www.DaraGirard.com

The coming of autumn always signals ‘dessert’ season for me—caramel or candy apples, pumpkin pie, raspberry tarts, warm muffins and Jamaican spiced bread with a cup of English breakfast tea. It also means gathering with family and friends in cozy comfort by a warm fire and anticipating my two favorite holidays Thanksgiving and Christmas.


For Monica Dupree, the heroine in my latest book ALL I WANT IS YOU, the changing seasons reflects a significant shift in her life when she enters into a sexy bargain with a mysterious stranger who’s determined to uncover some of her secrets and steal her heart. Just as autumn leaves become brilliant colors—golden yellow, deep burgundy, or striking red--right before they die, Monica sheds the woman she once was and reemerges renewed with a new love.


Jane Graves

HEARTSTRINGS AND DIAMOND RINGS

www.JaneGraves.com

It's always fun when the seasons change, but fall is definitely my favorite time of year. Why? Because Halloween is almost here! I love Halloween. More to the point—I love Halloween decorations. Styrofoam tombstones. Vampire teeth. Fake internal organs complete with faux blood. I love it all.


With that in mind, I was poking around with my daughter the other day at the dollar store, which is the epicenter of Halloween cheesiness. And lo and behold, the most magnificent decoration of all was waiting for me: A spider the size of a dinner plate. With sparkles. And google eyes. And it was poseable. I have arachnophobia, and it was still the best Halloween decoration ever. However, I received enough derision from my daughter for my taste in holiday décor that I declined to purchase said spider. I swear, though, that before October 31, I'm sneaking back to the dollar store. That spider will be mine!

Wendy Corsi Staub

HELL TO PAY

www.wendycorsistaub.com


My new suspense novel, HELL TO PAY (Avon Books, October 2011), which I finished writing well over a year ago, takes place in New York City and features two over-the-top Mother-Nature-related events that I thought, at the time, were pretty far-fetched. Oddly, both have since come to pass!


HELL TO PAY opens with an unprecedented major earthquake hitting the Eastern seaboard—which is exactly what happened in August. Luckily, the real-life quake caused far less damage than my fictional one, which flattens a prison and allows a dangerous inmate to escape.


The book concludes with a Christmas blizzard in New York City. While we do see major winter storms here in New York, they tend to strike later in January and February. White Christmases are very rare. However, a few months after I wrote the final chapter, New York was crippled by a December 26 blizzard—a day later than my fictional storm, but close enough to have my editor a little worried about what natural catastrophe I might dream up next! You can read more about HELL TO PAY and my upcoming thrillers at www.WendyCorsiStaub.com!

M. Scott Carter

STEALING KEVIN'S HEART

www.MScottCarter.com

For Alex, fall brought football.


After the almost unbearable heat of August two-a-days, autumn brought shorter days, cooler temperatures, and Friday night football.


But for Alex, fall also brought death.


Kevin died in October.


And so autumn’s chill brought Alex no relief. Instead, it was simply the opening note in a long, difficult song that Alex did not want to play.


Yet despite his grief — made more vivid by the striking purple autumn sunsets — Alex survived.


And, eventually, he discovered that fall, in the same way as spring, can bring hope and renewal and even love.


I hope you’ll pick up Alex’s story — STEALING KEVIN'S HEART— at your local bookstore this month. It’s my debut novel, and it goes on sale October 12. And thanks to readers like you, this fall will see me transition into being a published author, proving at least to this writer that change is good.

Barbara Hay

LESSON OF THE WHITE EAGLE

www.BarbaraHay.com

In early September I wrote a haiku that captured, in a few words, my feelings about the transition from summer into fall.


September comes in Full of sunshine and promise Fall's around the bend.


For the past five years, fall has been bittersweet for me — bringing the bliss of cool, crisp days but also the poignancy of the anniversary of my husband's death. Being a widow with four children was one transition I never saw coming.


This year marks a change for the better for me, a new beginning as I return to writing and the publication of my first novel, LESSON OF THE WHITE EAGLE on October 12.


I am now brimming over with characters, plot lines, and settings for future books, which I will be fleshing out over the next weeks, months, and, with any luck, years.


After more than sixty days of triple digit temperatures here in Oklahoma, I am so ready for a change of season. As well, as I move from caregiver to writer, I am eager to realize the promise this fall brings.

Amelia Grey

A DASH OF SCANDAL

www.AmeliaGrey.com

A blog on the change of seasons gives me the perfect opportunity to talk about one season in particular—the London Season during the Regency. It was a time for grand ballrooms filled with impeccably dressed gentlemen and beautifully gowned ladies. It was a time for expensive, wispy lace, fine cotton chemises, and jeweled hair combs for ladies, and perfectly tied neckcloths, cutaway coats, and shiny Hessian knee boots for gentlemen. It was the Season for gossip whispered behind fans, printed in the tittle-tattle sheets, and discussed in drawing rooms and clubs. Please join me for the London Season where the gossip is always fresh, sexy, and exciting, and a new scandal is always brewing. A DASH OF SCANDAL by Amelia Grey October 1, 2011

Bertrice Small

BOND OF PASSION

THE BORDER LORD'S BRIDE

www.BertriceSmall.net

Everyone who knows me, my readers especially, know that Autumn is my favorite season.It comes a bit late this year, September 23rd. A week later comes October, my favorite month of all. Out here on the North Fork of the east end of Long Island Autumns can be long, and slow with no hard frost until November allowing our wineries, farm stands and pumpkin patches to continue to do business. But it's blue and gold October that raises my spirits most of all. The trees finally begin to turn culminating with a peak around the 10th of November. Muted colors like a Degas painting. Reds, oranges, yellows, purples, the russet gold of the beech trees. And of course this October George and I will celebrate 48 years of marriage, our oldest granddaughter, Cora, turns 13, and SKYE O'MALLEY remains in print after 32 years. And on the last day of October I will do what I do at sunset every October 31st. I will light my Samhein bondfire, welcome the shades of the ancestors, and pray the same prayer I do each. year: Oh Lord! Let me live to see another October. And then I hope I do.

Joanne Rock

RIDING THE STORM

www.JoanneRock.com

Changing seasons means changing settings for me as a writer. Because I work often work about eight or nine months out on my release schedule, that means I’m always thinking about the wrong season. Often I’m dreaming of frosty sleigh rides and fireside kisses in the springtime while I work on a holiday story. When fall comes, I’m packing my mental bags for the beach as my heroines frolic around the shore and flirt with hunky men.


When I wrote RIDING THE STORM, my October Blaze, I was in the midst of basketball season with the kids and I had nothing but leftover snow and a cold mud season to inspire me out my office window. But in the same way that reading can be an armchair escape, writing lets me enjoy other places and seasons vicariously. Soon I was navigating Nantucket Sound and the Atlantic under an Indian summer sun and feeling the cooler autumn breezes as a storm blew in. It was a welcome change from mud season!

Amanda Quick

THE PERFECT POISON

www.AmandaQuick.com

Fall means October and that means National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. My publisher the Penguin Group, is participating in a campaign to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. They have selected several books written by some of their romance authors to feature in this project. I am proud that THE PERFECT POISON is one of the titles that will carry the special Read Pink logo.

Other Authors with October releases include:

Catherine Anderson

EARLY DAWN

www.CahterineAnderson.com


Christina Dodd

DANGER IN A RED DRESS

www.ChristinaDodd.com


Elizabeth Lowell

DESERT RAIN

www.ElizabethLowell.com


Diana Palmer

A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

www.DianaPalmer.com


Leanne Banks

A MAVERICK FOR CHRISTMAS

www.LeanneBanks.com


Shayla Black

BELONG TO ME

www.ShaylaBlack.com


Ann Christopher

DEADLY DESIRES

www.AnnChristopher.com


Sylvia Day

A TOUCH OF CRIMSON

MEN OUT OF UNIFORM

www.SylviaDay.com


Marie Ferrarella

THE DOCTOR'S GUARDIAN

LABOR OF LOVE

www.MarieFerrarella.com


Paula Graves

MAJOR NANNY

www.PaulaGraves.com


Sandra Hill

THE NORSE KING'S DAUGHTER

www.SandraHill.net


Lucy Monroe

THE SPY WHO WANTS ME

www.LucyMonroe.com


Erin Quinn

HAUNTING EMBRACE

www.ErinQuinnBooks.com


Mariah Stewart

HOMETOWN GIRL

www.MariahStewart.com


Sherryl Woods

AN O'BRIEN FAMILY CHRISTMAS

www.SherrylWoods.com


Kaitlyn Dunnett

THE CORPSE WORE TARTAN

www.KaitlynDunnett.com



 

Note from Jenny J: We will be giving away a random free book to one lucky commenter!

Hang on to your hats- and Kindles, Nooks, computers, and smart phones! Jaycie Cash has just announced that she will be giving away an e-book version of MRS. GOODFELLER to a lucky commenter on her blog!

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Thursday, October 6, 2011

A LOVED BOOK IS A SHARED BOOK!

Booklovers worldwide know this one fact: Love a book and you want to share the joy.


Oh, I don't mean physically because we all know about that mysterious black hole where lent books tend to disappear. What I mean by "share" is to tell everyone you know about this wonderful new book (or author). It's a deep-seated compulsion, imo, to gush our enthusiasm when it comes to the printed word.


It's what I miss most about my mother who died ten years ago. As soon as I finished a book I loved (you know the kind I mean, the ones that make you stay up late when you need to get up early the next morning, the ones that have you turning the pages when you know you should be working), I would call my mother and tell her, "You have to read this book!" I still do the same with a select group of friends who share my taste in books, and the reverse is true, too, of course. And for those who don't have like-minded friends, there is always the Internet with its myriad reader websites.


For me, it all started back "in the day," of Jude Devereaux, Johanna Lindsey, Rosemary Rogers, and Katheleen Woodiwiss, but then I moved on to a love of humor in romance, like Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Janet Evanovich, and Rachel Gibson. Then came Mary Balogh, Loretta Chase, Suzanne Brockmann, Beverly Lewis, Karen Marie Moning, Susan Wiggs, J.R. Ward, Lynsay Sands, Christine Feehan, Dorothy Garlock, and so many others. Two authors I came to late are Charlaine Harris with her Sookie Stackhouse books and Jan Karon with her Mitford series; I found myself reading the latter books in those series slowly to put off the ultimate conclusion of "Oh, my God! No more books!" A friend who reads more literary fiction recently turned me on to Anne Rivers Siddons with her book ISLANDS.


Sometimes when I see negative reviews of books on the Internet, I cringe, not because I object to negative reviews. Hey, we've all read wall-bangers! But some of these bad reviews are written with such seeming joy, with a relish for the trashing. On the other hand, I honestly start each book with a hope that this is going to be a book to be enjoyed...and, yes, "shared." And all I feel when that doesn't happen is disappointment, not anger.


I've been blessed to have some fans tell me they stayed up late reading my books. And many claim to have turned family members and co-workers into fans, as well. Honestly, that is the greatest compliment any author could ever get. And, of course, I'm hoping that my newest book, THE NORSE KING'S DAUGHTER will join those ranks. For more info, please visit my website at www.sandrahill.net for more info on this book and others in the Norse Princess series.


So, which books or authors have become those special "shared" books for you? C'mon, share with us.


Sandra Hill, as always wishing you smiles in your reading.









Note from Jenny J.: Sandra Hill will be giving away to two visitors of the blog five signed books each!

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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Semper Fi!

I have a thing for the U.S. Marines.

The dress blues, the high and tight haircut, the great bodies, the matter-of-fact confidence that they're the best in the world at what they do- there's not much about a Marine that I don't find wildly attractive.

While I've always had a Southern girl's abiding love for the military, I think my passion for Marines in particular dates back a few years to a Moonlight and Magnolias writers' conference in Atlanta. What was a great conference to begin with became extra-special when we realized there were a few dozen Marines attending a seminar in the same hotel.

Marines and romance writers? Talk about your match made in Heaven! And the amusing part was, they were as fascinated by us as we were by them. Though probably not for the same reason!

The Marines we met that day behaved as true gentlemen, treating every woman there with a combination of respect and delightfully male appreciation. And they had a way of looking at you that made you realize just how lucky you were to be a woman.

I've written several Marine Corps heroes before sexy Maddox Heller in my 2008 Intrigue, FORBIDDEN TOUCH; solid, dependable Sam Cooper in 2010's Chickasaw County Captive, and Mr. ONE TOUGH MARINE himself, Luke Cooper.

My October 2011 book, MAJOR NANNY, is part of the Daddy Corps continuity. All six books feature heroes who were once in the military. I got to choose my hero's branch of the military, so of course, I went back to the Marine Corps for his background. Harlan McClain is a big, strapping Georgia boy who found himself in the Marine Corps and left only because of an injury that doctors told him would never heal enough for him to get back to his Marine Corps sniper duties. But his sense of honor and duty remain intact as he takes on a new challenge: protecting the governor of Texas, Lila Lockhart, who is under fire now that she's announced her bid for the presidency.

Complicating his job is the governor's pretty aide, Stacy Giordano, a single mom with a son who has developmental issues that add to the strain of working such a high-profile, high-stress job while trying to raise a son alone. When it becomes clear that Stacy and her son may be targets, too, Harlan digs down deep to his inner Marine and pulls out all the stops to keep them safe.

Do you enjoy books with heroes in uniform? Or do you have a different kind of hero who revs your motor? Tell us all about it!

Paula Graves
http://www.paulagraves.com/
MAJOR NANNY - Daddy Corps - October 2011
Coming in 2012: The Cooper Security series!

Note from Jenny J: Paula Graves will be giving away the winner's choice of a signed back list book or a $10 amazon.com gift card to a commenter here on Writerspace or Facebook!

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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Haunting Embrace, Book 4 in the Mists of Ireland series—On sale October 4!


Áedán Brady has issues.

A millennia ago the woman he loved trapped him inside the ancient Book of Fennore. Since then he’s exacted his vengeance in the only way he can—by becoming the voice, the power, the corruption of the Book of Fennore. Humans fear him. As they should.

Then Meaghan Ballagh enters his world and pulls him out of the hell he’d thought never to escape. He hasn’t considered himself human for centuries, but now he’s a man—flesh, blood and emotions. With his renewed humanity, Áedán must question what he is and who he wants to be. All blue eyes and soft curves, Meaghan offers Áedán glimpses of a future that could be his. But accepting would make him vulnerable and that’s too high a price for him to pay. Yet when he looks at Meaghan, he thinks maybe he should…

It seems that Meaghan can see inside him—maybe even read his mind. She scares the hell out of him, and yet he can’t seem to stay away from her. Who is she? How did she bring him from the Book of Fennore into the real world? And why is he drawn to her when he believes she’s dangerous? He wants answers to these questions, but he’s studied humans from a distance for long enough to know they act on instinct, on impulse. He sees those traits emerging in himself. The cold calculation he used like armor for eons no longer protects or defines him. Áedán is ruled by something deeper now.

Desire… that’s what he feels when he looks at Meaghan. It pushes him forward when his survival instincts beg him to run. His fascination with her compels Áedán to touch her, hold her… possess her.

Until he sees something in Meaghan’s eyes that reminds him of the woman he loved millennia ago—the one who betrayed him, cursed him and trapped him in the Book of Fennore. She broke his heart and stole his will to live. As much as he needs to be with Meaghan, he will never give her that power over him. He tries to push her away, but no matter how many times he tell Meaghan he’s not a good man, no to be trusted, not the hero she’s looking for, she just shakes her head and goes on believing in him.

Menace looms in the future, but how can he hope to protect Meaghan against it? Because even though he escaped the Book of Fennore, he knows he’s not free of it forever. A great and terrible power still lurks within it—a power that needs a vessel. It wants Áedán back and it doesn’t care who it hurts to get him.

No matter how he tries to deny it, the truth is, Áedán is willing to die before he lets it touch Meaghan. He vows to stand between her and the evil of the Book of Fennore until his last breath is gone.

Erin Quinn loves to hear from readers. You can contact her through her website www.erinquinnbooks.com .

Haunting Embrace available in print and ebook October 4.

Here’s a brief excerpt of the moment when Áedán realizes that whether he wants to be human or not, Meaghan makes him feel like a man:

Áedán’s gaze shifted to the full curves, the soft slope of Meaghan’s belly, bared where her T-shirt rucked up around her ribs. Dark, greenish bruises covered her arms, and a particularly nasty one spread upward from her hipbone, black and purple above the waist of her jeans. For a moment, the sight of her battered flesh touched off something in¬side of him. Sympathy? Compassion? Concern?

The alien emotions mocked him. He did not care about others, especially those who weren’t of some use to him. For eons he’d been an entity, a thing that did not experience, did not rejoice, did not mourn. He’d lived to siphon the emotions of others, to drain them dry, make them so empty that they’d choose death over their hollow existence. But he’d felt nothing for them, for their plight, for their demise.

And he felt nothing for this woman either.

He cupped her check and let his thumb trace the soft bow of her lips. She stirred and he jerked his hand away. Her pale blue eyes opened in the darkness. She looked frightened, and with a groan, she tried to lift her head. It seemed the effort would take more than she had, but after a moment’s struggle, she sat. She hadn’t seen him yet, but her hands moved to tug her T-shirt back in place and smooth her hair in a self-conscious manner so unguarded that it made him pause.

She was not aware. Not of him. Not of the cavern. Not of the danger.

Leave, a voice inside him urged.

As if hearing his thoughts, she turned that clear, bewildered gaze to his face.

“Áedán,” she breathed, and in the moment it took for the sound to whisper over his skin, he saw her expression change from puzzle¬ment to recognition and then to something darker, sweeter. It sur¬prised him even as it shocked a response from him. Her eyes widened and took on a shade of lavender that teased something in his ancient memories.

How long had it been since he’d known a woman as a man was meant to?

The stark answer filled his head. An eternity without end.

Watch the trailer for HAUNTING EMBRACE:

Note from Jenny J.: Erin Quinn will be giving away a signed copy of HAUNTING BEAUTY to one of the commenters here on Writerspace or on Facebook!

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Saturday, October 1, 2011

Behind the Book

I'm excited to share a new series with readers this fall.  I've introduced a new family of brothers that have really captured my imagination this year and it's nice to finally be able to talk about them with readers now that the books are starting to be released.


The Murphy Men had a prequel in an Online Read at eHarlequin in August.  “Living the Fantasy” is still available as a free read and follows the story of the oldest, Ryan Murphy, who inherited the CEO spot in his father's mega-successful resort business.  Then, MAKING A SPLASH (Blaze 9/11) and this month's RIDING THE STORM followed, with the stories of Jack (just released from the Navy) and Keith (a rogue entrepreneur who founded his own business outside the family's successes).   Next year, the other brothers will have their moment in their son, including Kyle – the youngest biological son who is a hockey player in the NHL in ONE MAN RUSH (Blaze 4/12).  Followed by Axel, a Finnish import and fellow hockey player who was taken in by the Murphy family as a teen.  Ax's story is available next May and it's called HER MAN ADVANTAGE.  Finally, I'll wind things up with Danny, who's still in the Navy and has a darker backstory then the rest.  His book will be a Uniformly Hot story out in September of 2012.


Today, I thought I'd share with you some of my world building for this family.  Take a look at the photo of the Cape Cod house I've used as an inspiration home for the Murphy's home base.  Sure, my guys are all out on their own, but it helps me to know where they grew up and where they go to spend the weekends.  I could picture the guys playing football on the lawn and racing their sailboats off the shore.



Jack's boat


Keith's boat


Having real photos to work from helps keep me oriented as I return to the same world again and again.  Instead of making up the house, a visual aid ensures I'm always working with the same model.  In the same way, I found photos of the boats I wanted Jack and Keith to captain in their respective stories. Jack sailed a vintage sailboat since the hard work and sweat labor required appealed to his old-school sensibilities.  Keith, on the other hand, commands a boat with more bells and whistles, a souped-up vessel with GPS docking and extras that remind him he has achieved success in the world. 


For the sake of MAKING A SPLASH and RIDING THE STORM, the brothers switch boats on a bet.  After all, Blaze's popular Wrong Bed miniseries is rooted in fun and sexy mix-ups, and both brothers get a surprise when they find a woman on board.  Because I'm not a sailor myself, I needed lots of help from the boating experts in my family and again, the pictures helped keep me rooted in a realistic environment.


I hope you'll check out the Murphys!  And until then, I'd love to know what have been some of your favorite miniseries of all time.  Still loving the Black Dagger Brotherhood?  In love with Jennifer Blake's Men at Arms?  Tell me about some of your favorite series and I'll give a random poster a copy of their choice of book from my backlist.

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