Kathleen Is Back From the Dakotas

I've been to the Dakotas twice in two weeks, and, man, that's a long drive. We usually go home where the Eagles roam (i.e., Standing Rock Reservation) for Memorial Day, but having made the trip a week early for Clyde's oldest sister's birthday, we weren't planning another trip so soon. But we got the call to attend to some horse business. Immediately. So off we went.

We just got back, and it's late, but I've been thinking about my Friday blog on the long drive. And I have a couple of pictures from the trip, so here we go. First off, a question for any horse lovers or Horse Bowl champs out here--and we do have a championship coach in our midst--regarding our two yearlings.
Can you tell from the picture whether they're Medicine Hat Paints? Okay, I just wanted to show off a horse picture, but 7 hours in a pickup will lead to the occasional disagreement, and one of us says they are, one says not. Anyone know what makes a Medicine Hat?






Enough horsing around. So we ended up going to the Dakotas for Memorial Day after all. Clyde says it always rains on Memorial Day, and it seems to be true. It rained like crazy the whole 3 days we were there.

Here's what an Indian cemetary looks like after the veterans have put up the Memorial Day flags. There aren't many headstones here. Lots of wooden crosses and other smaller markers on a windswept hill. It's an old graveyard--late 19th century graves there, including Gall (of Little Big Horn fame), but it's where the Eagles tend to land. Ordinarily you'd drive right past, hardly notice what it was. But the flags makes such a stirring sight! Oh, the people are proud of their warriors, let me tell you. And this military brat loves all the ceremony--especially when it's combined with singers around a traditional drum.

Moving on, has anyone seen Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee yet? We watched it the first night. It focuses on a very small part of the book, but I like the way they chose three people whose stories, taken together, offer a range of insight. They are Sen. Dawes, the white man who "knows what's best" and probably really wanted to save the people from extinction; Sitting Bull, who stood his ground; Charles Eastman, a man caught between two worlds.

Any story--fact or fiction--is all about characters, and figuring out how to tell a story about Wounded Knee without sending your reader/audience after the bottle of anti-depressants is a challenge. So often I hear people recite the list of topics they don't want to read about/watch on the screen in their "leisure" time. Children dying is a big one. Animals dying might even be bigger. Infidelity is a common taboo among women. War and gore and the list goes on. But, hey, we're romance writers. We can stay away from the icky stuff, can't we?

Maybe. But sometimes we don't. (And some of us take a broader view of Romance than others do.) I've touched on the history of the Wounded Knee massacre in two of my books: Reason To Believe (contemporary) and Fire and Rain (sort of a historical-contemporary hybrid). Both stories have hopeful, uplifting endings--what I consider to be the real hallmark of a Romance--and I think you can only achieve that through the characters. Let's face it, is there anything darker than human nature? But, oh, that individual good-hearted soul, that shining moment, that selfless deed! How do the rest of you deal with potentially dark or disturbing aspects of your stories?

I do think the HBO movie is worth watching, but they gave short shrift to the climax, blending two events that happened miles and weeks apart into what almost appeared to be one incident. I've heard that a multi-part series was condensed into two hours, and that would explain the montage effect at the end. Read the book. When it came out it opened a lot of middle-American eyes. Anybody see it yet? Comments?

Cindy Takes the Big Plunge

I seem to have had more than my share of big adventures lately and I hesitate to blog about yet another one but this was so supremely cool I have to share. And I have a point to make buried in here somewhere so hang on and I’ll get to it. :o)

Let me preface said ‘point’ with a little background info. Three years ago I hiked the Grand Canyon. Yup. 11.3 miles down Bright Angel Trail and 2 days later, 11.3 miles back up. Let me tell you. This hike is NOT for the faint of body or heart. It was grueling. It was also the most beautiful, spiritually fulfilling journey I’ve ever made. Sort of an “I am woman hear me roar” experience. I made the trip with 2 of my friends and we did not take the task lightly. We trained and read up on all the perils and dangers of the Canyon and prepared ourselves for the adventure. And when we stood on the South rim of that magnificent hole, looking down and down and down we were scared. Really. We carried a gallon of water each, trail mix for protein, salt and carbs to keep our electrolytes in balance and made sure we had first aid supplies – the whole shebang. It was truly a treacherous but fulfilling adventure. And painful. Did I mention the pain? Muscles strains, joint pain, bleeding blisters – you get the picture.

So, why am I talking about this today? Because ever since I hiked the Canyon I’ve been determined to go back … see it from a different perspective this time, uncluttered by the concerns of the physical stress of the hike, the real probability of having to be air lifted out by helicopter if I were injured, a snake or scorpion bite, etc. Soooo … last week, I did it. I went back to the Canyon only this time instead of hiking in, I flew with 6 of my friends on a 10 passenger mini plane piloted by a Doogie Howser clone to the rim of the canyon where we boarded – get this – a helicopter that flew us to the bottom of the canyon where we boarded a J-rig raft with 11 GREAT guys (now THAT was a hardship :o) and proceeded to white water raft and camp for 3 days.

Do I know how to push the envelope or what?? It was an amazing trip. Gorgeous scenery, incredible sights – I did mention the 11 guys, right?? – fabulous food and spectacular hiking adventures along the way.

Okay. Finally, my point. Here’s a photo of me jumping off a 30 foot cliff into the river.

Yeah. The Big Plunge. Now the teeny tiny plane and the super young pilot rattled me. The helicopter ride – a first for me – scared me. The white water rapids were white knuckle and screaming all the way. But the leap from the cliff TERRIFIED me. It was by no means mandatory. No one did any goading. No one called me chicken as I stood on the edge and peaked over into the abyss. So what made me do it? I don’t know. Would I do it again? Probably not. But right then, right there, in that moment, I felt like I could do anything, survive anything, triumph over anything. And that, my friends, is an amazing feeling.

And that finally leads me to ask, what about you? What envelopes have you pushed lately? How far have you tested your mettle? What would you like to do that scares you half to death? And the big question, with life being so precious and short, how long can you afford to put off doing that one thing you’ve been afraid to do? Tell me, tell me. I want to know …

For those of you who have never published comments before and have that puzzled look on your face, just click on comments, type what you want in the box, chose: anonymous as your identity, click publish and you're done - unless a pop up asking you to verify some letters comes up then just do that and THEN you're done :o) Don't be shy...

Guest Blogger: Roxanne St. Claire

Cindy here - letting you know how delight we are to have our guest blogger, Roxane St. Claire, join us in the convertible. I met Rocki a few years ago when she and I were both writing for Silhouette Desire. She's one of those women you'd really like to hate because she's so talented and gorgeous and cool. :o) But you just can't do it because she's also a really neat person, too. Case in point: last summer in Atlanta, I was with Rocki on a 'field' trip with the Kiss Of Death chapter of RWA when we visited a gun shop and took a few turns on the indoor shooting range. Rocki was scared to death of the guns. Shaking in her boots, knocking in her knees scared but she soldiered on and she went through all the stations and fired those weapons even though her hands were sweating and her pulse was pounding. You've just got to admire that kind of courage. It's no big deal to do something that doesn't rattle you but it's a very big deal to face that fear down and defeat it. Way to go Rocki. And now, here she is.....

Some (Day) Dreams Never Die

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the Riders for inviting me to take a top-down spin! There are so many great friends and writers on this blog, and I admit to being a major lurker from time to time. When Cindy Gerard asked me to guest blog, I only had one question: When?

Like my friend, Cindy, most of the writers on this blog, and many of its readers, I write about…men. Not just any kind of man, but the kind I think of as “out of my league” men. Fearless, funny, fantasy men. Men so tough and tasty on the outside and sweet and gooey on the inside that they are like human Tootsie Rolls just waiting for you to take a lick. Men who cut a sly glance, a sneaky smile, a wink that whispers you’re the one, sweetheart. And we almost believe them.

Men like this, who is the inspiration for Adrien Fletcher, the hero I’m writing right now.

They are, of course, born in my imagination. (That’s really Gabriel Aubry, by the way. When my husband spied him on my computer screen and asked who he was, I said, that, my love, is what you get to wake up to when you are Halle Barry J.)

But I digress…inspiration for heroes is everywhere. Somewhere in my past, in a movie, on the street, in an elevator, in a classroom, at a party, stopped at a red light in a convertible…a man attracted my attention and gave me a reason to weave a fantasy about him when I tried to fall asleep that night. Those fantasies, I believe, were the foundation for my romance writing today.

This morning, while answering reader mail, I was thinking about a particular hero in the Bullet Catchers series I write, after a fan emailed that she was anxiously awaiting his story. His name is Dan Gallagher, and he has definitely captured some attention, even though he’s only been a peripheral secondary character in the series so far. It was early when I wrote back to her, pre-coffee, and I sort of blurted out the truth about Dan Gallagher. He’s based on a real guy. In fact, several of the Bullet Catchers are inspired by real men I’ve known and talked to, and one I actually kissed. In eighth grade.

Yep, three of my heroes are loosely inspired by those larger-than-life, cuter-than-Christmas, so-cool-you-drool boys who ruled my elementary school, and my heart, lo those many years ago. The names have been changed…ever so slightly…but their essence remains the same.

There was the husky, quiet one named Mark Roper. Today he is Max Roper, a big, bad bodyguard who tries to steer clear of emotion in Thrill Me To Death.

There was the dry-witted Italian boy named Danny Ferrari, who morphed into a wise-cracking, kitchen-friendly quasi-mobster in Take Me Tonight.

And then there was Jimmy Gallagher, he of the grass green eyes and the insanely cute crooked smile. Somehow he grew up to be Dan Gallagher, the current odds-on favorite to be the hero who cracks the shell around Lucy Sharpe, the former spy who owns the Bullet Catcher agency.

No, not all of my heroes are culled from the eighth yearbook, I assure you! It started when I introduced Max as a DEA agent and a secondary character in my very first book (an unpublished manuscript at the time), Tropical Getaway. I did it as a sly joke to amuse one person only – my BFF from grade school who remains a dear friend today. Purely for fun, I based him on a boy we’d both fluttered over a thousand times together. It worked. When she read the manuscript, sitting by my pool, she spewed her margarita all over the page and proclaimed that “some dreams really die hard.”

Yes they do. For me, some of those childhood fantasies, those first crushes, those early days of breathless admiration across the cafeteria fueled the fire for my romance writing. And I sense I’m not alone in turning my girlhood boy craziness into a lifetime of loving the fantasy of romance.

So, tell us, ladies. Who was he? What was his name? Was there a boy you imagined could grow up to be your hero? And any writers out there…will you own up to being inspired by a middle school stud? I’ll give an autographed copy of one Bullet Catcher book – winner’s choice – to one commenter who dares to share and gets us to giggle the way we did when that certain someone strolled by your locker, and smiled.

Thanks again to the Riders for the invite – I’ll stick around all day and would love to chat on the comment board!

All the best,

xoxo

Rocki

PS. You want to know which one I kissed, don’t you? It was Dan Ferrari, while dancing to “Ooh Ooh Child” at my first boy-girl party. Sadly, I can tell you what I was wearing. And I can also tell you that I had one thought during that blissful slow dance in heaven: “Oh, my. That is not a belt buckle.” I never kissed him again, nor any of those other young Bullet Catchers. But I do get to live that fantasy every time I write. My friend was right, of course. Some dreams don’t ever die. They just grow up to be romance novels.

Cindy's Big DAY!!

Hi all.
Quick post to let you know that INTO THE DARK is officially on the stands today. YAY!
So this is a very sweet day for me. Double sweet because DARK has been bouncing around between #1 and #2 on both Amazon.com and B&N.com's Romantic Suspense best seller list the past several days.

Anyway, I'm jazzed!!

Thanks for indulging me and have an extremely great day!!
Cindy

Debra - MONDAY MORNING REVIEW Capt'n Jack is Back!

Pirates of the Caribbean III- At World's End


Who can resist the most excellent pirate swagger of Johnny Depp? The intense pirate-in-training Orlando Bloom? The take-no-prisoners Keira Knightly? The incredible special effects?

Apparently not many. Me included. I snagged a Friday matinee so I wouldn't have to see the movie in a packed theater. Even so, there was a nice sized crowd.

AT WORLD'S END should satisfy fans of the franchise. The humor is there. Surprises are there. The visual texture of the film is so engrossing that I had a little trouble keeping up with the story line. I'd miss dialogue because I was intensely interested in something not the center of action. I'd think, "Wait. Go back. I want to look at that for another few seconds!"

Or maybe I was a bit confused in the beginning because I hadn't recently watched Pirates II. I'd recommend a quick trip to the Disney website for a timeline for anyone who can't easily recall the specific character actions in the Pirates II storyline.

As III opens Lord Cutler Beckett is busily wiping the floor with every pirate in sight. He's formed an alliance with The Flying Dutchman and controls Davy Jones' heart which keeps the Dutchman's captain doing his bidding. The only hope the pirates have of stopping Beckett is for the Lord Bretheren Pirate Lords to convene and act together. But they'll need all nine Pirate Lords.

Barbossa (back from the dead), Will and Elizabeth have set off on a quest to rescue Captain Jack--one of the nine--from world's end, where he's languishing in Davy Jones' Locker. There are some fabulously funny scenes with Captain Jack losing his hold on sanity while marooned in the Locker.

Intrigues abound. Will has his own motives for rescuing Jack. Elizabeth has some guilt over Jack's situation. Barbossa has a grand plan. And the Pirate Lords can't agree on anything.

Keith Richards does a turn as Jack's dad. Very satisfying.

They do wrap up the plot, but in a way that doesn't put "finished" to the franchise. The door is wide open for a fourth. And personally, I found the ending a little lacking.

But let's face it. I don't watch Pirates for the storyline. I could care less. It's the characters who make this movie series interesting and they don't disappoint.

Don't forget to stop by this Wednesday, 5/30, to visit with Roxanne St. Claire.

From romantic suspense for Pocket to NASCAR for Harlequin to steamy romance for Silhouette, Roxanne's written more than a dozen books.

And she's been nominated for two Rita's. Should be a fun day!

The Unexpected

I am a bit of a control freak. (gasp!) I'm sure that's a huge surprise to you all.

Not about everything. In fact, it's pretty limited, but the things I hold tight I hold REALLY tight.

But interestingly, most of the really exciting things, good and bad, that happen to be are complete surprises.

All the things I worry about almost never happen. (There's a part of me that's convinced I'm warding them off by worrying so much.) The big whacks of life have always come at me blind.

But the good stuff works that way, too. And a really good surprise is something you all can go find on your newstand right now.

My next book (June 5, JUST SEX) is in Redbook. It was a complete fluke. I had nothing to do with it; my editor had nothing to do with it. The publicist at Berkley just send a bunch of bound galleys out to all her media contacts. Somebody who got it at Redbook just happened to know that they were looking for a book for their RED HOT SUMMER READ program, and they liked it and bought it.

Small excerpts are being printed in each issue this summer. It's up on their website, and I'll be doing website columns for them through June.

It's weird to have your book excerpted and condensed. I got to read and (technically) approve it in advance, and it was very strange. Vaguely familiar - there's a line I wrote! - but a lot of it doesn't sound like anything I'd ever write. But still, it's got my name on it, and a lot of people who were never impressed that I wrote books ARE impressed that something I wrote is in Redbook. I guess there's too much variety in book publishing, and most people don't know what's a major publisher or not. But Redbook - they've all heard of Redbook.

What's the best, completely unexpected surprise you ever had?

Susie

What Won't You Buy...

…for yourself? I don’t hesitate to buy new clothes, new dressy shoes, new running shoes, new sandals (okay, fine, I have plenty of shoes), or books. Even hardbacks. I always purchase the latest J.D. Robb and right now I have Lisa Kleypas’s Sugar Daddy and our own Kathleen Eagle’s Ride a Painted Pony waiting for me in my TBR pile as reward for finishing my current manuscript. Paperbacks require zero second thoughts, of course. Can’t wait to chow down on Cindy Gerard’s Into the Dark next week.

But when it comes to things for the kitchen… I was scrubbing a cookie sheet this week, contemplating its age. I think it should have rings like a tree…or maybe we should start carving initials and dates in it, at least, like you would a tree’s bark. Because I recall that this simple piece of metal came out of a box that was from a roommate of my older cousin’s at her first apartment. Who knows who had it before that?

This year I finally threw away a metal colander that had been my sister-in-law’s mother’s…but not until it had lost one handle and one leg so it listed like a pirate off his ship. I sure miss it, too. The plastic one I replaced it with just isn’t the same.

Then there are the cupcake pans. Every young mother knows (Keri, listen up) that you need cupcake pans. But I didn’t have two 12-cup pans. No, I had one that I received as a shower gift and then two four-cuppers that came from—guess—my cousin’s old roommate. For years, I struggled with baking the requisite 24 cupcakes you get from a cake mix, because I wouldn’t just go to Target and buy another pan. Too cheap, I guess, when I wouldn’t blink an eye at buying a pair of gold strappy shoes even though I already have two other pairs.

One year I asked my husband to buy me some new spatulas for Christmas. He looked at me as if I was nuts, because he already knew how bad that would look to the rest of the world if I said the love of my life gave me kitchenware. But I wanted kitchenware! I won’t buy myself kitchenware!

Am I suffering from some sort of disorder? I even like to cook! Please tell me you have some odd quirk that makes you reluctant to purchase, I don’t know, new pencils. Or maybe it’s gym socks. Is there something you won’t buy yourself?

GUEST BLOGGER - LORALEE LILLIBRIDGE

(That's Loralee on the left!)

We asked Loralee to come and give up the facts, just the facts ma'am on attending the police academy!

Hi y’all, thanks for inviting me along for today’s ride. I’m so glad it’s nice enough to have the top down. What could be more fun than a road trip with nine awesome and totally talented women?

When Deb Dixon asked me to guest blog about the Citizen Police Academy I’m attending, I wondered how in the world I could relate all that the course involves in 300-600 words. Truth is I can’t, so I’ll just hit the highlights, but I’ll be happy to answer any questions later. And yes, I’m taking the class because I’m a writer. I want to include some law enforcement background in the romances I write. And there’s a mystery or two buzzing around in my imagination just waiting to be written. Can you think of a better hero than a cop?

The course, offered by the Grand Rapids Police Department, is primarily focused on educating citizens about the local law enforcement operation. These are the greatest bunch of men and women you’ll ever meet. They truly care about their jobs and the people they have sworn to protect. Police Chief Harry Dolan is totally committed to serving the City of Grand Rapids and its citizens, plus he’s a terrific public speaker.

Every week for ten weeks, our class of citizens meets at Police Headquarters in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a 3-1/2 hour session. Organized and led by Lt. Mark Ostapowicz and Sgt. John Dorer, the classes cover everything from the dangers of traffic stops, internal affairs, Emergency Dispatch, the Special Response Team and their weapons, how a Crisis Negotiator handles an emergency situation, crime scene procedures, Emergency Vehicle Operation, Criminal Law and the K-9 Unit. Officers from each department give lectures and demonstrations and show videos. There are three other writers in the class also. Needless to say, we have some lively Q&A sessions.

So far, I’ve completed five weeks and one ride-along. Keep in mind that I’m getting pretty darn close to my 72^nd birthday, but I have a laundry list of things I really want to do before I head for the Big Library in the sky. Taking this course and riding along in a police cruiser was on that list, and by gosh, now I can check that off, along with getting published and climbing to the top of a light house.

Now, about that ride-along...I was fortunate to have Officer Anthony Leonard as my ride-along partner. He outfitted me with a safety vest and we headed to the motor pool and his cruiser. After explaining how the car camera worked and demonstrating the laptop used for sending in reports, we hit the streets. Our first call came within half an hour of leaving headquarters. Our service area was one of the busier parts of town.

Officer Leonard patiently answered my questions, handled situations that could have become more serious if he hadn’t intervened, explained why he did what he did, and was a master at the wheel of his cruiser. When the situation was not safe for me to exit the car with him, most of the time I was able to observe the event through the car camera. I never felt in any danger, even when we were transporting prisoners to the jail.

We made two arrests, which gave me the opportunity to see the inside of the jail where the subjects were booked. I expected a Thursday night ride to be rather uneventful, but we answered numerous calls. One required the use of lights and sirens as we sped down the traffic-filled expressway. Talk about an adrenalin rush! Oh, did I mention the ride-along was a 12-hour shift beginning at 6:30 P.M.?

There are still five weeks left in the course and I look forward to each one. I wonder how I’ll fare when we’re placed in the video simulator and have to make snap decisions. What should I say? What should I do? Shoot or don’t shoot? This is very much a hands-on course. We’re told the K-9 Unit demonstration is one of the most exciting. I’m definitely not sticking my arm in that padded sleeve!

When graduation arrives in June, Chief Dolan will give us our certificates and pins at a reception and I will have accomplished one more challenge on my list. If the GRPD ever offers an advanced course, I’ll be there in a heartbeat. There’s a lot more to learn.

WHAT’S ON YOUR LIST OF THINGS YOU REALLY WANT TO DO IN YOUR LIFETIME? HAVE YOU CHECKED OFF ANY OF THEM YET? HOW WOULD YOU FEEL ABOUT TAKING A COURSE LIKE THE CITIZEN POLICE ACADEMY?

Cover Model Fred Williams

Romantic Times 2007!

If any of you are familiar with the Romantic Times convention you know that it’s a little crazy, a little fun, a little business. This year it was held in Houston Texas at the end of April. A couple hundred authors attended, along with dozens of editors and agents a host of dedicated fans.

But today I’m focusing on….the cover model contestants. This year there were eight men vying for the title of Mr. Romance. And this year Fred Williams won not only the People’s Choice award, but the Contestant’s Choice award.

He’s a body builder, a poet, a working man, and a really nice guy. So please pop in, say hi, and get a chance to win an autographed copy of the 2006/07 Between Your Sheets calendar.

Here's Fred!

Hey, this is Fred. Lois contacted me and asked me to blog. What a surprise! I was like sure so I look forward to chatting with all of you.

Conversation is OPEN but if you need an angle to think of a question....

-Staying motivated to meet fitness goals.

-My column for www.SculptMagazine.com

-Life as natural bodybuilder/power lifter/cardio kickboxing instructor/personal trainer.

-My first RT 2007

-My poetry

-My short story Scramble which is turning into a novel. :))

-Life in St. Louis

-Anything you might wonder....

TTYL
Fred
www.myspace.com/fredwritespoems

And here's Fred's bio.

Fred Williams is a Network Service
Manager for the local phone company,
a devoted St. Louis Rams fan, and
a natural bodybuilder. He divides his
free time between writing, attending church, and the gym.

He’s a fitness columnist for Sculpt Magazine who’s expertise is staying motivated to achieve fitness goals. A newcomer to the personal training arena, Fred will challenge the champion in all of us by setting goals and raising the bar through one on one outdoor fitness courses, cardio kickboxing and sculpt training.

Fred is also a seasoned author searching for his first publisher. He loves to write short stories. His first was a critically acclaimed short story conceived in 2002. He has since stretched his talents to include over 100 poems written and three additional stories with his latest in Feb. 2007.

He received an Associates Degree in Engineering Science from St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley and Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Missouri-Rolla specializing in Mechanical Engineering.

Fred has competed in ten natural and open bodybuilding competitions, placing in the top five in eight shows including 1^st place middleweight Division at the Show Me Naturals-St. Louis in 2003, and recently taking 1^st place lightweight division in the 2006 Oklahoma Bodybuilding Championships. His recent achievements include winning his first power lifting meet last month with a total lift of 1,255 lbs over three events.

He’s dedicated to breaking a sweat to help meet fitness aspirations for all shapes and ages. He takes a passion to all who’s priority is to look and feel good, but emphasizes true confidence comes from building a healthy spirit.

Ask away folks!

Helen - Monday Morning Review

THE OH IN OHIO

Priscilla Chase (Parker Posey) seems to have everything going for her – the perfect job, the perfect house, the perfect husband – except in bed, where sex has always left her a bit short of the finish line. When her husband unexpectedly leaves her to regain his manhood, Priscilla embarks on a wild journey that ultimately leads her to love in the most unlikely place … One woman’s story is about to climax ...

I don’t remember seeing or hearing any info about this movie when it first came through theaters, so when I saw it on the shelf at Blockbuster I didn’t know what to expect. I rented it to watch with my daughter when we were both at home having a sick day. About five minutes into it, she turned to me and said, “I can’t believe I’m watching this with you!” That might have been half the fun of it for me, although I did have to keep reminding myself that my daughter’s eighteen.

So Parker Posey’s life ain’t all its cracked up to be. She’s a successful marketing exec who’s just received a promotion, but she can’t hold her yoga poses, if you know what I mean. Oh, all right, I’ll spell it out for you. She’s never (gasp!) had an orgasm.

Somewhere along the way, the movie states that 30 million women suffer from sexual dysfunction. I have no clue if there’s any truth to that statistic, but watching the main character’s attempts to rectify her situation are hilarious. Let’s just say she has a love affair with a certain mechanical object, and, once she gets going, can’t seem to stop herself. I laughed in this movie the way my husband laughed in the movie There’s Something About Mary. It felt great.

Usually, I’m a big dialogue person, and it’s not that the dialogue is bad or anything, it just doesn’t seem as important as the body language and facial expressions. I’ve never seen a movie where so much is not said, yet everything is understood so perfectly. Which gets me to the wonderful acting.

Parker Posey is adorable in her role as Priscilla Chase, the main character, and Paul Rudd is flawless as her not entirely pathetic husband. Danny DeVito (here's a second looker for ya), as always, is a kick. Those three make the movie. The only disappointment is Mischa Barton. Her performance is nothing short of wooden, making her character seem unbelievable. Heather Graham has a couple short scenes. She’s someone I’ve never really cared for, but this movie changed my opinion. Oh, and Liza Minelli has a cameo appearance too. Very funny stuff.

The ending is sweet, leaves a smile on your face, and brings home the point that being able to laugh with someone can make or break a relationship.

Has anyone else seen this movie? Was I just in the mood to laugh, or is it truly funny?

What’s your favorite mother/daughter movie?

The Second-Look Guy

I think we can all agree on the First-Look Guy. He's the one we know, with a mere glance, is handsome. He attracts us. He is visually perfect, or pretty darn close. He makes our hearts beat. He makes us think thoughts we should never mention to our significant others. His name is Johnny, or Brad or George or Orlando, Joaquin, Antonio, Matthew.

But I want to talk about my favorite kind of guy, the Second-Look Guy. He's the one we have a tendency to walk right by on the street. We don't give him a thought. Initial glance doesn't pull at our heartstrings or nudge us to wonder if we're wearing our sexy lingerie or the holey cotton undies. (We pray it's the sexy stuff should he be a First Look.) No, the Second-Look guy is the one we pass. But then...

...we do a fast look over our shoulders. Or we see him again down aisle three and this time are drawn to a distinctive feature on his face. Perhaps a crooked smile. He is worthy of a second look, and we go there. Sometimes, we even go for a third look. No matter if it takes a 2nd or 3rd, something about him attracts us. We often can't even put a finger to what it is that we find attractive about him, be we know it deep inside.

I've been a fan of Second-Lookers since I started dating at 17. I think I dated two First-Looks; the rest were all Seconders. Now, I'm using celebrity photos as examples, but we all know our own Second-Lookers who may be friends, lovers or hubbies. And I'm being shallow and talking purely physical looks here. We don't have time to look beneath the surface to the mental and emotional man. Second-Looks are for letting your eyes learn new seductions and interesting enchantments.

I submit to you, Jean-Hughes Anglade. He's a French actor. He of the Gallic nose and small chin and a scatter of messy hair. He is plain, and yet, there is something about those eyes. He will not look past you. Ever. He likes to look into you.
How about this fellow to the right? Jason Statham. If you had not seen him on the big screen, you'd likely walk past this almost-bald, scruffy guy on the street. But a second-look discovers an intensity to him and an interesting angled nose. And what about that short hair? Wouldn't you like to buff your palm over the top of it?

Even older, John Malkovich has an interesting allure. He made me take a second-look as the Vicomte de Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons, wearing a long black wig and seducing a woman he both loved and reviled. I know we're only looking at the surface, but that brow just screams intelligence, and don't you want to have a conversation with him?

All angles and bones and surprises of bright blue eyes and almost girlish lips on Guy Pearce. He treads First-Look territory for me, but he is an actor who enjoys looking grungy. And even beneath the stringy hair I want to know why his tendency to androgeny appeals to me.

He's wearing a silly black wig, but Michael Wincott has another of those faces that is all angles and overpowering features. A bold, masterful nose, and a chin to go along with it. But what is that? Those, eyes, they appear so soulful. You can't tell from looking at him, but he sports a two-pack-a-day rumbling voice that sounds like Lucifer has come up for oxygen. So sexy. I don't have to look at this one, all I want to do is listen. :-)

Another Frenchman for you, because I can't resist the awkward allure of the classic Frenchman's bold and defiant face. Vincent Cassel. Look at that nose! Mischief twinkles in this Second-Looker's eyes, and not the nice kind. He's thinking naughty thoughts, and I want to know what they are.

So what about you? Do you agree with some of my Second-Look choices? What are some of your favorite Second-Looks? One girl's First Look could be another's chick's Second, so don't be upset if I've listed one of your Firsts as my Second. :-)

Here's to men, no matter their looks, and especially for their looks. They are a wondrous and delicious bunch, and I, for one, intend to never stop looking again, and again, and again.

Michele

COVER MODEL BLOGGER

Don’t forget: Fred Williams, Romantic Times’ 2007 People’s Choice cover model winner, will be blogging with us on May 22nd. Every commenter will automatically be entered to win an autographed copy of this year’s Men Between Your Sheets calendar. So stop in, oogle at will, and don’t be afraid to ask embarrassing questions. Fred’s a brave guy.

Triumphant Or Tragic, History Is Fascinating

I dare say one of the things we Riders have in common is a love of history. I'm betting most of us got into it early on. It's like any other story; the characters draw you in and your imagination does the rest. You wear the clothes, ride the horses, live in the castle or the tipi, talk the talk and walk the walk--all from the safe vantage of your ever-lovin' mind.

When I was growing up, history and geography were given equal and distinct focus from about the fourth grade on. I was in love with the the Aztecs, Greeks and Romans by the time I reached double-digit age. Movies helped tremendously. Westerns became my passion, but the big 3-hour Hollywood sagas about any period held my attention from beginning. Back then the facts were less important than the pagentry, but you got a feel for the past. We moved around a lot when I was growing up as an Air Force brat, and I know that seeing all those places helped to fan the flames of my fascination. I learned that people are different in some ways, but, remarkably, across time and territory they're essentially the same. Libraries, museums, historical sites were (and still are) not to be missed. "This is where it all happened," Daddy would say. (Mama wasn't big on history unless it starred Clark Gable or Richard Burton and Liz Taylor.)

Nowadays some of the best historical movies are made by HBO. It's great that they come out on DVD, but I subscribe because I can't wait for the good stuff. Loved Elizabeth. Loved Rome. There have been so many, but now I'm really looking forward to May 27 and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. It's based on a book that made a deep and lasting impression on me, not only because it's about my husband's people--the Lakota Sioux--but because it reads almost like a novel and it's about a period in American history that mainstream America has only just begun to get honest about. And getting honest about our history is good for our national soul.

Two really important things happened in South Dakota in 1890. Sitting Bull was assinated, and the U. S. Army committed a terrible massacre. I've dealt with this period in at least two of my books: Fire and Rain and Reason To Believe. They're both about the past touching the present, and they're both love stories. They were inspired in part by Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (c 1971).

The HBO movie stars two actors who are very easy on the eyes. Aidan Quinn--oh, those blue eyes--is Senator Henry Dawes, architect of the Dawes Act, which made Indian reservations what they are. He probably meant well, but Manifest Destiny was the order of the day, and, as Tony Soprano might say, Whadda'ya gonna do?

Adam Beach plays Charles Eastman. I've blogged about this actor before. He reminds me of The Young Clyde (my DH). Eastman was Dakota (eastern Sioux) but he worked in Lakota country as a medical doctor. He treated the wounded after Wounded Knee. (I own a signed copy of Eastman's Indian Boyhood. We found it ina used/vintage bookstor in Stillwater on our 25th wedding anniversary. How woo-woo is that?)

Oh, yes, there's a love story in BMHAWK. Eastman married a white teacher. Elaine Goodale Eastman (Anna Paquin) was teaching at Pine Ridge when Eastman went to work there. She wrote about her experiences in Sister To the Sioux. Her very worthy mission was to provide local day schools so that Indian children wouldn't be sent away to boarding school. She was way ahead of her time. Indian kids were sent away to mission or government boarding schools throughout most of the 20th century, but that's another story.


Sitting Bull was a fascinating man who's rarely portayed accurately. (Actor, left, is August Schellenburg.) He was accused of encouraging the Ghost Dance, which did not originate with the Lakota. He didn't practice it himself, but he did nothing to stop his followers from giving it a shot. What did they have to lose? His "crime" was his refusal to sign the agreement that put the Dawes Act into effect and shrank Indian Territory dramatically.

One more look at the two principles. Irresistible, aren't they? I can't wait for the May 27th premiere.

What's your favorite historical period? Most interesting historical figure? What makes them so interesting? How about book? Movie?

Did you get into history when you were in school? Are we doing a decent job of teaching history? How could we do better?

Cindy knows: It's all about the hair

It’s all about the hair – and mine ain’t my crowning glory :o
Here’s the deal. I have high maintenance hair. Not thin but definitely not thick. It's baby fine, string straight and has abso-freakin-lutely NO body. I live in fear of high humidity days. I run, screaming, from gusty winds. I tremble at the thought of an empty bottle of hairspray. But I leap for joy – you can picture that, right? - at the thought of vacationing in Colorado. Great hair air there, let me tell you. Zero humidity. Had some of my best hair days EVER in Denver. Next week I’m going on a white water raft/camping trip in the Grand Canyon. Normally, Arizona is no problem. Dry, dry, dry. But I mentioned water, right? So I’ve already given the edict to my rafting buddies: Photo ops officially end after the first rapids because the ‘do’ will go down in a blaze of white water and glory – make that gory. Ug. Truly, I’m more afraid for the hair than I am for my life.

After that first soaking, it will be hat hair from then on and let me tell you – it ain’t pretty. Although … just today I found a nifty little battery operated portable curling iron on line. It’s on its way (expedited mail delivery) as we speak. And it MAY be my saving grace in camp each night. There are ‘cute’ guides on this trip, after all, and hey, I may be happily married but I ain’t dead.

From the time I was old enough to know the difference between a bad hair and a good hair day, I’ve been planning around ‘the hair issue’. I was reminded recently how long it's been an issue when I was cleaning closets and discovered a box with my 6th grade diary. I kid you not, EVERY day had a journal entry something like: ‘My hair looked pretty good today.’ Or, ‘Today was awful. I didn’t want to go to school because my hair looked so crappy.’ Nothing shallow about me, even at 11 and 12. Ahem.

I know...I know. Some people might call all this fixation with hair an issue of vanity. Well --- yah. But those of you who have ‘bad’ hair know it’s much more than that, right? Right?? It’s an identity thing. And it ranks right up there with chocolate on the important meter. My friend, Susan, doesn’t understand. That’s because Susan has this amazing head of course, dynamic, glorious hair that NEVER goes flat, NEVER needs a curling iron and, God Love her, NEVER needs mousse, gell or even hair spray. Did I hear a collective gasp? If I didn’t love her so much I’d hate her for her hair alone, it’s that good.

So what about the rest of you? Anyone else out there feel my pain? Anyone else own a bazillion half-used bottles, tubes, cans, and vials (yes VIALS) of hair product that promised you the hair of your dreams but delivered only more nightmares? Or is truth in advertising more than a myth and somewhere out there one of you has, indeed, discovered THE HOLY GRAIL of hair products that lives up to all the hype and gives your hair the much sought after volume and lasting hold without the helmet hair effect? If so … there could be major perks in it for you if you will but share with this poor, pitiful hair deficient author who desperately needs to figure out how to survive RWA in Dallas in July. Again.

Come on, people. I’m whining here. Give. I need the secret to successful hair. And I need it soon. Let me hear what you've got. At the very least commiserate with me about your own hair dilemmas. I know you're out there. But you - yeah, you know who you are - you're the one with the gorgeous natural curls that you just once wish were straight. You don't count, sweetie, unless you can reaaallllyyy convince me you've got a problem :o)

Oh - and least I forget I have a new release out May 29 - INTO THE DARK. Also the first 4 books in the Bodyguard series (TO THE EDGE, TO THE LIMIT, TO THE BRINK, OVER THE LINE) were re-released this month. Truthfully, I could use a few sales - I NEED new hair products.

Stuff I don't really want to know. . .

And maybe you don't either!

Recently the squeeze and I discovered a channel we've apparently had on cable for four years and didn't know it. BBC America. And on this channel there are numerous interesting, bizarre and creative programs. And some you really don't want to have on during the dinner hour.

Like "How Clean Is Your House?" Which sounds innocuous enough. You might expect a couple of tony British ladies to be going around with a white glove and pursed lips, tsking and tutting. You'd be wrong. These two gals, Kim and Aggie, climb into human-inhabited hovels and slag pits all over the UK. . . with cameras. After the initial vapors and gasps of horror at the filth and unsanitary conditions, they and a crew of strong-stomached cleaners get down to it, while dispensing much needed advice and teaching the hovel-dwellers how to actually clean. Toilets, kitchen stoves, beds, bathtubs, and yes, refrigerators. Ackkkk. (Like I said, NOT to be watched at dinner time. REALLY.)

Now, a special feature of this program is Aggie's bio-swab kit. She goes around kitchens and baths taking swabs and samples and sending them off to bio-medical lab for analysis. What she gets back is nothing short of horrifying. Salmonella, shigella, pneumococcus, staphylococcus, lysteria, clostridium, e coli . . . all manner of fungi and spores. . . trace amounts of all manner of poisons and toxic metals. . . not to mention the rodent and pest droppings and carcasses. These places are like covert breeding labs for biological warfare!

But the worst thing is she always gives the "normal" values before telling the hovel-dweller how much he/she has exceeded the maximum allowable human tolerance. (And usually it's astronomical.)

Normal values? It's normal to have 10,000 bacteria per square inch of countertop? !!!!! I did not need to know that! 2/3 of the weight of a five-year-old pillow is dust mites and dust mite carcasses? I did NOT need to know that. Pictures of dust mites with their BITING mouth parts. . . I did not need to SEE that. The worm eggs, insects, and feces that cling to dog hair-- ewwww! PLEASE don't make me look!

Call me reactionary, call me an ostrich, call me a luddite. But these days I'm content to rock along without having to face imminent biological disaster at every turn. Life is just so much more bearable without thinking about all the creatures that lurk on every available surface waiting to breed in me or on me. . . or in my food, air, and water.

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Especially when it comes to bacteria. And UFO's. What, you haven't heard the latest? That the government is suppressing information confirming that we've been visited regularly from extraterrestrials? That the government (or certain black ops units therein) has captured several crafts, and studied and appropriated their advanced technology? They're hiding anti-grav and zero-point energy technology from us. . . because it would upset the oil companies. . . not to mention unhinging the rest of the human race. . . and most of whom are down to a single hinge already.

If we're being visited and probed, I don't want to know about it. I'll wait for that cute Anderson Cooper at CNN to do a special.

And then there's the whole cholesterol/diet/genetics thing. . . and the sugar substitute thing. . . and the immunizing young children controversy. . . and the "don't go out in the sun thing". . . and the "social security is collapsing" scare. . . oh, and Paris Hilton's latest trauma. . .

I think I've spent way too much of my life watching and reading "news" and believing it. If history teaches us anything, it's that today's "knowledge" is tomorrow's "chuckle at the absurdity of it." So if that's true (and I said it, so I think I believe it) then a lot of what I'm being told today as "truth" is probably garbage. Stuff I just don't want to know.

That's a sobering thought. But also a freeing one.

What about you? What could you live without being badgered about? What stuff do you wish the media would just give us a break on? What stuff don't you want to know? Have you just quit listening to some arguments/advice and decided to make your own way?

Debra - Witch Way to the Monday Morning Review ?

Those of you who know me will find this fairly amusing.

I've agreed to do a young adult story for an anthology about a high school of witches.

Yep. Young adult. High School. Witches.

I read a ton of fantasy, horror, paranormal. I've read it all my life, but now that I'm doing this story I feel the need to "research." To plough though a ton of young adult books, especially when I learned there is a lot of cross-over adult readership in many of the young adult titles. That was my clue that I really needed to get current.

Guess what? A couple have really changed my perception of what is being published in young adult. It's amazing. But first I had to research young adult authors. I did the standard internet searches, chatted with nieces, talked with a couple of folks who wrote young adult, listened to a couple of workshops on writing for teens. Then I trudged to the bookstore, rounded up the YA section employee and said, "Dude, here's my stack. Add anything to it that I absolutely have to read."

I love this employee. She (get hip will ya? We call girls dudes too.) is now my favorite person. Not only have her books been the winners on my list, but she went back and rounded up some advance reading copies.

She liked TWILIGHT by Stephenie Meyer so much that on her vacation (after finishing TWILIGHT) she went to a bookstore and bought the sequel in hardback without an employee discount. This is a big book and gives new meaning to the concept of "safe sex" when your new boyfriend is a vampire, and to "dead run" when a nasty band of vampires targets our human heroine.

She recommended ANGUS, THONGS AND FULL-FRONTAL SNOGGING by English author Louise Rennison. Hilarious book, not what I was expecting. I gave it to my 25 year old son and said "Read this scene." He laughed and wasn't in a hurry to hand it back. I've now given it to my bestfriend to read just because I think she'll find it amusing too.

Holly Black has a very edgy and somewhat profanity-laced series about contemporary fairies. I liked the book but her subject matter and frankness took a bit of getting used to.

And a final recommendation is a book you may have already seen and read--PREP by Curtis Sittenfeld. General fiction, a NY Times Best 10 Books of the Year book about a Midwestern girl who heads to an Eastern prep school. This is a beautifully written book with a nod to being a "commercial" piece of fiction. The story is accessible and interesting. I find myself caring about the characters. This isn't young adult but the subject matter is clearly about the experiences in the age group I'll be writing. And anyone who's had any acquaintance with boarding/prep schools will recognize the authenticity in these pages.

And finally, in doing reseach I came across several sites that offer quaint quizzes for helping you find out what element you are (air, water, earth, etc.)

http://www.streea-davis.com/element.htm (They said for ties, multiple description windows would open with descriptions. Apparently I was all elements. Someone report back if they get like 5 windows open. Maybe everyone is schitzophrenic.)

http://ynr.blogthings.com/whatelementareyouquiz/

http://www.quizilla.com/users/azuremariposa/quizzes/What%20Element%20Are%20You?

And to find out what occult power best suits you...

http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_occult_power_best_suits_you

(I'd be careful around me because I'm clairvoyant apparently. And my I seem to be at 50% power in all aspects of the supernatural. Who knew I had such power?

And if you want to know your magical personality...

http://www.llewellyn.com/free/mpq.php

So, who out there is reading "out of their element?" Finding good books in places you weren't looking? Or simply gathering knowledge you didn't know you were interested in until you stumbled on the subject?

Betina's Mother's Day Brunch

Happy Mother's Day!

I sincerely hope you're all out there enjoying the flush of spring and reveling in the joys and accomplishments of motherhood. . . whether yours or somebody else's. But in case you're at the computer, I thought we could take a break for a bit of Sunday Brunch and a few chuckles from those wonderful folks in India. . . whose web site collected the following goodies!

Enjoy!


"Mother's Dictionary of Meanings:

Amnesia: Condition that enables a woman who has gone through labor to make love again.

Dumbwaiter: One who asks if the kids would care to order dessert.

Feedback: The inevitable result when the baby doesn't appreciate the strained carrots.

Full Name: What you call your child when you're mad at him.

Grandparents: The people who think your children are wonderful even though they're sure you're not raising them right.

Hearsay: What toddlers do when anyone mutters a dirty word.

Ow: First word uttered by children with older siblings.

Independent: How we want our children to be for as long as they do everything we say.

Impregnable: a woman who remembers her last labor.

Puddle: A small body of water that draws other small bodies wearing dry shoes into it.

Show Off: A child who is more talented than yours.

Sterilize: What you do to your first baby's pacifier by boiling it, and to your last baby's pacifier by blowing on it and wiping it with saliva.

Top Bunk: Where you should never put a child wearing Superman jammies.

Two-Minute Warning: When the baby's face turns red and she begins to make those familiar-grunting noises.

Whodunit: None of the kids that live in your house.



The most frequent maternal admonitions. . . all around the world:

• Make sure to change your underwear always; you never know when you'll have an accident.
• Don't make that face or it'll solidify in that position.
• Be careful or else you'll put your eye out.
• What if everyone jumped into a well? Would you do it, too?
• You have enough filth behind those ears to grow potatoes!
• C'mon close that door! Were you born in a barn?
• If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.
• Don't put that thing in your mouth; you don't know where it's been!

Things Mom Would Never Say

• "How on earth can you see the TV sitting so far back?"
• "Yeah, I used to skip school a lot, too"
• "Just leave all the lights on ... it makes the house look more cheery"
• "Let me smell that shirt -- Yeah, it's good for another week"
• "Go ahead and keep that stray dog, honey. I'll be glad to feed and walk him every day"
• "Well, if Rahul's mamma says it's OK, that's good enough for me."
• "The curfew is just a general time to shoot for. It's not like I'm running a prison around here."
• "I don't have a tissue with me ... just use your sleeve"
• "Don't bother wearing a jacket - the wind-chill is bound to improve." "

As my own mother used to say, "You're never finished being a mother."
Witness:
One early morning, a lady went in to wake up her son. "Wake up, son. It's time to go to school!"
Son: "But why Mom? I don't want to go."
Mom: "Give me two reasons why you don't want to go."
Son: "Well, the kids hate me for one, and the teachers hate me, too!"
Mom: "Oh, that's no reason to not to go to school. Come on now and get ready."
Son: "Give me two reasons why I should go to school."
Mom: "Well, for one, you're 52 years old. And for another, you're the Principal!"

And now for some Wise Words on Motherhood:

All mothers think their children are oaks, but the world never lacks for cabbages.
- - - - Robertson Davies

If you have never been hated by your child, you have never been a parent.
- - - - Bette Davis

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.
- - - - Honore' de Balzac

Life began with waking up and loving my mother's face.
- - - - George Eliot

Men are what their mothers made them.
- - - - Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I stopped seeing my mother with the eyes of a child, I saw the woman who helped me give birth to myself.
- - - - Nancy Friday

Mother's love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved.
- - - - Erich Fromm

The love of a parent for a child is the love that should grow towards separation.
- - - - Kahlil Gibran

You may have tangible wealth untold:
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be
I had a Mother who read to me.
- - - - Strickland Gillilan

Youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall;
a mother's secret hope outlives them all.
- - - - Oliver Wendell Holmes

The greatest tragedy of the family is the unlived lives of the parents.
- - - - Carl Jung

For a woman, a son offers the best chance to know the mysterious male existence.
- - - - Carole Klein

Children aren't happy with nothing to ignore,
And that's what parents were created for.
- - - - Ogden Nash

Neurotics build castles in the air, psychotics live in them. My mother cleans them.
- - - - Rita Rudner

It’s sad that children cannot know their parents when they were younger; when they were loving, courting, and being nice to one another. By the time children are old enough to observe, the romance has all too often faded or gone underground.
- - - - Virginia Satir

Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life.
- - - - Sophocles

An ounce of mother is worth a pound of priests.
- - - - Spanish Proverb

All the time a person is a child he is both a child and learning to be a parent. After he becomes a parent he becomes predominantly a parent reliving childhood.
- - - - Benjamin Spock

Most American children suffer too much mother and too little father.
- - - - Gloria Steinem

Making the decision to have a child-it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.
- - - - Elizabeth Stone

Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.
- - - - William Makepeace Thackery

My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.
- - - - Mark Twain

Parents are the bones on which children sharpen their teeth.
- - - - Peter Ustinov

And so our mothers and grandmothers have, more often than not anonymously, handed on the creative spark, the seed of the flower they themselves never hoped to see -- or like a sealed letter they could not plainly read.
- - - - Alice Walker

Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.
- - - - John W Whitehead

So, what about YOUR mom? What was her favorite saying when you were growing up? What was the funniest piece of advice she ever gave you? What is your favorite memory of your mom?