Follower Friday: Playground Monitor (Marilyn)

Steps to the microphone. Tap, tap, tap.

My name is Marilyn and I air dirty laundry for money.

When I was a child, my daddy’s sister read True Confessions, and they were off-limits to me. I always wondered what was so bad about them. You know… forbidden fruit and all that?

Now I not only read them, I write for them and the other four “tell all” titles (True Romance, True Experience, True Love and True Story) published by Dorchester Media.

I’ve always enjoyed writing, but after my boys came along, writing took a backseat to motherhood. After #2 son started college, the writing bug struck again after I stumbled backwards into romance novels. I began a novel and it stalled. I started a second one. Ditto.

Meanwhile my accountant was nervous about my tax returns since I had no income but was deducting expenses like RWA membership, my local chapter dues and trips to national conference and our local chapter retreat. It’s nice to keep accountants happy, and even nicer if you can position yourself to avoid an audit. I’d heard about writing for magazines and began studying the market. I submitted my first story in early 2006 and color me shocked when it sold. I sold seven more stories that year, ten the next and ten in 2008. I sold my most recent one about a month ago, bringing my grand total to 30 sales.

These stories are written from the female POV with a conversational style like two friends chatting over coffee. While the titles may look scandalous – like “Mistaken for His Mistress” and “The Texas Bride’s Revenge” – the stories really aren’t. The heroine may face a big challenge, overcome it and learn a lesson along the way. HEAs are not a requirement, but they make readers happy. And y’all know how I feel about keeping people happy.

Once a year, though, True Romance publishes a “hot issue” where the gloves come about halfway off. It’s nothing like mass-market erotica, but for the writers it’s a chance to kick the heat up a couple degrees.


I’ve often wondered about the appeal of the Trues. Is it the suggestion of scandal or lure of forbidden fruit like my childhood experience? I asked my mother who read them as a teenager in the 1940’s. “I don’t remember talking to any of my friends about reading True Confessions. In those days they were considered ‘racy.’ I read them because I like the romance you didn’t find in novels. Also they were inexpensive – maybe ten cents.”

Someone gave me a 1942 issue of True Confessions. Like Mom said, it cost ten cents, and except for the dated photos and advertisements, the magazine was essentially the same microcosm of life it is today.

My accountant is happier these days. The pay isn’t huge but it covered my writing expenses last year.

I’m often asked, “Are they really true?” I’m pleading the Fifth. Actually, they may or may not be true, but they are believable. I get ideas from eavesdropping at the mall food court, watching cable TV and digging into family history.

Have you ever read any of the Trues magazines? Do you have a dotty old aunt or family scandal that would make a good story?

P.S. Remember that second book I started and abandoned? I wrote 50,000 words on it last November for NaNoWriMo, finished it the end of February, entered it in an online pitch contest at eHarlequin in early March and on March 9th the editor requested the full manuscript.

A bit (more) about Marilyn...

Marilyn has spent a lifetime reading, though not always willingly. After college, she swore off the stuff. In her early twenties, she tried her hand at writing and had a letter to the editor published in Cosmopolitan magazine. She quickly envisioned a career as the next Erma Bombeck, a journey that was sidetracked by carpools, Little League, track practice and life in general. A six-year stint in the corporate world found her writing again, but this time it was reports and procedures. When she retired in 1996, she returned to her favorite job: staying at home with her boys.

Fast forward a few years and through a bizarre act of serendipity, Marilyn discovered romance novels. Being an internet junkie, she soon discovered websites devoted to the genre and eventually found her way to her local chapter of Romance Writers of America. She’s published online in non-fiction and has sold thirty stories to the confessions and romance magazines. She is also a contributor to the Bylines Writer’s Desk Calendar as well as EAT DESSERT FIRST: The Red Hat Society Cookbook and THE RED HAT SOCIETY TRAVEL GUIDE: Hitting the Road with Confidence, Class, and Style. She lives in her empty nest in north Alabama, dotes on the cutest granddaughter in the world, is active in her local RWA chapter and is a founding member of the Writing Playground (www.writingplayground.com) where she blogs every Wednesday. RWA has opened a whole new world to her and introduced her to not only the healing power of the Happily Ever After, but the remarkably sharing world of romance writers as well.

Tweetin' and Friendin'

I admit I've been digging my toes in and clinging to the walls with clawing fingernails in an attempt not to join Facebook or MySpace or any of the other timesucks the Internets has to offer.  

"But alas..." she says with a sigh.

Harlequin Digital sends out these great emails to their authors telling them about promotional opportunities, and recently they said even if you don't want to get on any of the online networks, you should really just go in and grab your name.  Made sense to me.  I might like to use one of the networks in the future.  Now, MySpace makes me shudder.  Every time I've visited one of those pages they take so darn long to load and there's music and pictures and it's just a visual and auditory overload.  I can't do it.  So I signed up for Facebook and Twitter.  Hey, I was just grabbing my name, right?

Yeah right.

Who'd a thought when you sign on to Twitter (a mere one minute process) you're then actually...twittering.  I mean, right there at the top of the page there's a little box that asks "What are you doing?"  Well, I figured how harmful can it be to answer?  So I answered.  It was my first official Twitter.  I've now Twittered 27 times according to my Twitter homepage, since last Friday.  Oy.  But you know, it's kinda fun.  And I've found this great program called Nambu that organizes all your 'tweets' for you on your desktop so you don't have to go online all the time (Macs only).  And then I discovered there are Twibes.  Yep, you read that right—Twibes.  They are Twitter Tribes of people.  So I joined a Writers Twibe, and then I created my own Twibe, the VampChix.  Hee.  Okay, this is really fun!  And guess who I'm following?  Jeffrey Donovan of Burn Notice.  I know, he doesn't know who the heck I am, but dude, it's like he's writing just to me when he tweets.  Sigh...

And then there's Facebook.  Signed up and right at the top of the page it asks "What's on your mind?"  Seriously?  It was as easy as that to just...start.  I hadn't intended to start.  I wasonly there to reserve my name.  Uh-huh.

So Facebook is interesting.  You can post 'what's on your mind' or photos, or join groups (I joined Chipotle!  Hey, I love their vegetarian burrito bowls.)  And you know, there's probably a group out there somewhere for 'fans of Chipotle's vegetarian burrito bowls'.  But I've figured out that Facebook is just some twisted game called 'Let's see how many friends you can collect'.  I get friend requests.  I can go out and seek friends.  It's like a hunt.  And they can either approve you or ignore you.  But seriously, I suspect some people are just out to collect friends.  Even people they don't know.  I get requests, and if I don't recognize the name I check their profile.  I don't even know these people!  How did they find out about me?  I know it's not because I'm a world-famous author.  I mean, the 21 yr old guy who's only profile notation is that he 'recently took an IQ test and it was 126'.  Is that something a normal person would use to attract other friends?  I don't think so, buddy.  

Anyway, it is fun collecting friends, both writers and readers and some family mixed in there too.  (Sorry 126 IQ guy, you just creep me out.)  And I'm following links from notes friends have written on my Wall, and again, I'm kinda, maybe, sort of—well, okay, I'm REALLY having fun with this.  

So friend me, will ya?  (You don't have to tell me your IQ, either.)  And tweet me.  And join my Twibe if you so desire.  I tell you, for someone who spends her day sitting before a computer screen, typing away, with no human interaction at all, it's nice to take a break and go chat with my 'friends' once in a while.  

So I admit it, I like Facebook and Twitter.  There I said it.  Now all my friends who have been listening to me say "I'll never get on those" can say "I told you so".

So what are your thoughts on the various online networking sights?  Love it, hate it.  Find it fun?  Use it only for promotion or family?

Michele

The pic of the pink chick on top 'tis my Facebook persona.  Hey, I'm sure I looked like that in the 18th century!

Trish Albright - Adventures to be had!

DEBRA HERE...

Why did I want to have Trish come for a visit?  Her bookmark.  Yep. 

The woman made me want to read her books from a BOOKMARK. She's a funny gal.

Her current book from Leisure is SIREN'S SECRET, which you can find at your local bookstore this month.  First, I'm going to give you the blurb on the book from her website and then I'll type in the bookmark text that had me cracking up and running over to put her books in my Amazon cart.  And you'll find a great post from Trish after that!

Lady Olivia Yates enjoyed a wide array of scholarly pursuits. And she had an astounding vocabulary to prove it. Thanks to her archaeologist father, she also knew just about everything there was to know of ancient Egyptian artifacts—including a code no one else had yet deciphered. But she had no idea what to do when it looked as though someone was trying to murder her.

Samuel Stafford understood only about half the words that came out of the woman’s mouth. But he didn't mind—so long as he had a chance to watch those luscious lips at work. Too bad he wasn't paying more attention, because suddenly Olivia was dragging the shipping captain halfway around the world on a perilous treasure hunt. From fighting Barbary pirates on the high seas to exploring centuries-old tombs, only together could they unlock the... SIREN'S SECRET.

Now here's what the bookmark has to say...

Meet Lady Oliva Yates--  Expert Translator, Righteous Thief, Consummate Know-it-all

--Demonstrating heroic intelligence...

Olivia looked at the rope.  Stafford was going to swing to the next ship.  "I don't think you should do that Stafford."

"I've done this before, Ollie."

"Yes, but the trajectory of your landing--"

Stafford ignored her and jumped, realizing too late the line had been caught.  It jerked free and he slammed to a dead stop into the side of the enemy ship.  She winced as he somersaulted onto the deck before miraculously landing on his feet.

"I'm all right,"he saluted his laughing crew.

Olivia shouted.  "Indeed, Stafford.  I'm sorry if you've done that before!"

 

You Just Know

 

Debra Dixon and all the crazy drivers! Thanks so much for having me here today to guest blog about love and how you know it’s real. Of late, I seem to be asked on a regular basis, “How do you know?” As in “How do you know he is the one?” After years of asking the same question, I finally have the answer: “You just know.”

Just kidding.

While surprisingly it’s true, to the one on the other side of that answer, it’s incredibly frustrating. I know! And you definitely don’t believe it, until it happens. So here’s one way to measure how you can know, if you’re not already “in the know.”
“Knowing” is really based on three things—the three Cs. Please note, not one of them stands for Conflict! Here they are…

Chemistry: Yep! And it should be strong enough to go the distance. Chemistry is that first thing that bonds you in a relationship. It’s that spark of interest and intrigue that keeps you looking at, noticing, and wanting to touch that other person. Most women nod with knowingness at this first one. Many rarely get past it, unfortunately.

Connection: This is the one that might get us into more trouble than we wanted. It’s the feeling that the other person “gets you.” And they actually do. It’s knowing you have a common set of values that contribute to an emotional and/or spiritual connection beyond the physical. We are not simply flesh after all. The reason this gets us into trouble, is that it’s rare to have both Chemistry and Connection in one person, so when we find it in a potential partner, it’s easy to think, “This is the one!” And all our common sense goes out the window.

Compatibility: Before you flop into bed, get engaged, or declare your undying love—this is one I highly recommend you check out (especially if you met the man in a bar and know nothing about his daily life and habits). Compatibility is how you relate on an everyday level. Do you enjoy some common hobbies? What do you talk about? What will you do together when you’re not on your best date behavior? Can you clean toilets and still enjoy each other’s company? This one is the real clincher. It’s the one that confirms that even your worst day together is better than your best day apart. That’s when “you know.” And a sense of peace fills you and grounds you. There’s no uncertainty, or mistrust or questions. It’s cosmic!

My advice: Don’t add a fourth C, Commitment until the first three are in place. Well, unless you’re an adventurous sort who likes to live dangerously. Nothing wrong with that either.

That’s my list, let me know yours. Perhaps three As? Three Zs? How did you just know? Was it one moment or action that clinched it? Or did you look at the big picture and it all added up? For writers, how do your characters “just know” or finally know? Share your wisdom or ask your questions, I’ll be around all day!

Trish Albright

Obsessions

Lois Greiman

I’m an obsessive compulsive personality. I know that because I’m generally consumed by something. I call it my default topic. If my mind isn’t absolutely needed elsewhere, it automatically pops over to my current fixation.

There was a time all I could think about was having babies. I wanted a child something desperate. Even though it really didn’t take me that long to become pregnant, it seemed like a lifetime.

Then there were years…quite a lot of them, actually, when I thought about writing constantly. Plots, phraseology, characters--all cycling wildly around in my mind like manic circus performers.

If I remember correctly, there was even a time when I was rather focused on boys. But that’s so long ago it hardly bears discussion.

Now, however, I have a new obsession. Her name is Bey Silhouett. Let me tell you about her….please!! Here’s a picture of her grandsire, Bey Shah.

And more of her antecedents.

For several years now I’ve been considering adopting a horse from Minnesota Hooved Rescue. It’s kind of like a humane society for horses. Then the economy took a nose dive and people began turning their horses loose and neglecting to feed them etc. so I decided there’s no time like the present. I called the director of the organization and told her that Arabs have always been my favorites. Even though they’re flighty and unpredictable and tend to be overly dramatic about every little scrap of paper that blows through their pasture, they’re also gorgeous and generous and the best endurance horse in the world. So three weeks after calling Rescue I came home with a bay Arab mare.

Little Silly, as she’s called, is not a young horse. Thirteen actually, completely untrained and skittish as a firefly. I’m pretty sure she’s going to be the death of me, but looking at her gives me goosebumps, and as a friend of mine said, every equestrian knows that goosebumps trump training any day of the week.

I was determined to give Silly a month to acclimate to her new environment, but I can’t seem to leave her alone; I have too many plans for her. Here are a few things I’d like to do with her.

Native costume classes. Did I mention that Arabs are all about drama?!

Endurance rides--long distance races--25-100 miles.

Dressage--the elite equestrian sport.




I’m aiming high with this little mare. But if I’m going to dream…

So how about you? Surely you have an obsession or two. Do share.

www.loisgreiman.com

Remembering On Memorial Day Weekend

Flags for our veterans at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day.















Flags for our veterans at St. Elizabeth's Cemetery, Standing Rock Sioux (Lakota) Indian Reservation, SD on Memorial Day.

Will you be #100?

Yep, we love our Followers here at Riding. Heck, we even love ya if you don't want to Follow. It's all good. But I noticed the number of Followers is getting up there. And in the tradition of offering fabulous free stuff to the one-millioneth customer—oh, erm, okay, so maybe we can't do a million. But we can do 100! So the 100th Follower is going to win a bunch of books from the Riders. But shh, let's just be patient and see what happens. It could be one of you lurkers who have yet to Follow, or someone totally new to our sight. And sorry, but no fair unFollowing and then trying to sign up again. Then, look out 200, here we come!

And as always, if you're interested in being a featured Follower here at Riding, email me and we'll get you scheduled on a random Friday.

Michele

Kathleen: Fragile, Fleeting Spring

I love the change of seasons, and I love that every region of the country wears the seasons differently. I've lived in lots of places in my life, and I'm a nester, so I claim roots in many of those places: Virginia, where I was born; New England, where I spent those lovely "formative" years; the Dakotas, where I got married and had children; Minnesota for the past...can it be 18 years?...and shorter stretches in other places. I think I could live anywhere and be content. But I do love four distinctive seasons. Today I celebrate Spring green.

It's such a young, fresh color. It appears quickly, and it doesn't last long. It doesn't demand
attention. It's a soft, quiet surprise.

Spend an extra week hibernating, you'll miss the first yellow-green. It's especially beautiful on the High Plains. It's a blanket, and it rolls on forever beneath the uninterrupted, ever-changing sky. Out here you can't escape the sky, but why would you want to? You've never seen blue like this. You've never seen so many stars or experienced such uninterrupted natural music. I do believe the meadowlark's song is the most delightful of bird calls. It's a lovely trill floating through tall grass.

But back to spring green. We have lots of sumac in our neighborhood, which is bounded by undeveloped park land. The city tree guy said that it's a natural chunk of woods--nothing man-planted, just the stuff that's always grown here. I doubt that anyone would plant sumac, but it provides a lovely screen, and there's an Ojibwe legend about why its leaves are the first to turn blood red in the Fall.

We've left our back yard to to grow wild. It's woody, and the critters love it. Deer, fox, hawks, turkeys, squirrels like crazy, raccoons, everybody's welcome. The front yard is planted, but mostly with native plants. Right now the wild geranium (right) is blooming all over the place. And there's columbine, whose petals in mythology symbolize the seven gifts of the spirit. Wild columbine (right) has five petals, but some cultivated varieties have seven. Even more interesting, in pantomime, a ‘columbine’ refers to the sweetheart of Harlequin.

But my favorite early spring wildflower is the delicate Prairie Smoke. (Two views here.) Its feathery show doesn't last long, but that's part of its beauty. You enjoy it while it lasts, and then it gives someone else a turn.

So much to enjoy during this short, sweet season. The warm sun that feels so good some of us don't notice how quickly our winter white turns pink. Long hours of rain, big puddles, mud that smells ready for seeds. And the time is short to get those seeds planted. Time for concerts, graduations, the first baseball games, track and field, fishing (opener here is always on Mother's Day, for pity's sake.)

What's coming up, getting started going down in your neck of the woods?



This (left) should make you Californians smile. Spring Break in Minnesota.

Oh, should mention that Sam Beaudry is still selling really well after a month on both Amazon and B&N.com. I know I have our visitors and followers to thank. And get a load of the daylilies!

Christie Asks: How Are You Reading?

I loooove to read. Really really really. Recently my mom shared with me that her reading time had dwindled and I was crushed. My best memories include 1) my mom taking me to the library and 2) hot summer afternoons, finding my mom in the shade of her bedroom reading on her bed. Don't know if Mom was going through a phase, or if she needed new eyeglasses or what, but I sent her signed books from some mystery authors I know (mystery is Mom's fave genre) for Mother's Day and also shared with her a new (to me) mystery author I love (Julia Spencer-Fleming) and she was eager to read the books I sent and find Spencer-Fleming's books at the library. So...I think Mom's back on the books.

That said, reading the printed page is not always convenient. I try to read while blowdrying my hair (I kid you not), but that might explain why I've been complaining about my bad hair days lately. Housework seems to me a complete waste of time because I can't vacuum and read simultaneously. Except--now I can! Once I discovered audio books, my reading life expanded and my home became cleaner. (I discovered another audio book aficionado in Debbie Macomber. Last spring we spoke at the same conference and an attendee was bemoaning her lack of time for reading now that she was writing and we spoke up together: "Audio books!") You can purchase audio books for download at sites like audible.com, lots of libraries lend them, and my town even has a rental library for audio books. I listen while I clean, make lunches, cook a big meal, and go running. Interesting to note (and I add this in case you're thinking of trying audio), I happen to most like listening to action-oriented stories. I think they're just easier for my brain to process--though right now I'm listening to a lovely Mary Balogh book full of introspection and yearning and I'm hooked as usual. The narrator can make a big dif in my enjoyment. I was so excited when I listened to my How To Knit A Wild Bikini on audio. The reader got every inflection just right. Note to self: send her fan mail.

That brings me to e-books. I would so enjoy a Kindle (or equivalent), I know, but because I have so much reading to do for my BookPage column of reviews (and the ARCs are paper) that I wouldn't get to use it that much. I have tried to read at my computer...but I just can't settle in like I do with a book. I figure some kind of e-reader is in my future, but I'll have to find the right time and it's not quite yet.

So how about you? How are you reading these days? What formats have you tried...or are you a dyed-in-the-wool, gotta-have-it-in-my-hands book reader?

Guest Author: Karen Kay/Gen Bailey

Good Morning From new Native American Romance Author, Gen Bailey!

 Otherwise known as Karen Kay.

 Before I plug my new book, BLACK EAGLE, A Berkley Historical Sensation Romance, let me tell you why the name change. It is the first thing both authors and readers ask me. Why the change?

 Well, it goes like this. My last eight books -- and particularly my last 4 -- have been very paranormal. This book from Berkley/Putnam is not. It is a straight historical Indian romance. The pacing in the book is faster than what I usually write, also. I was trying to make it faster because the time period I'm writing in -- 1756 -- or was it 1755 -- can't recall exactly right now -- but anyway, it was a time when North America was under fire. The world was changing. The French and Indian war was making the countryside aflame with war and the Indians were choosing sides.  Not because they wanted to, but because they were forced into it. They were sandwiched between the English on the coast and the French on the
Western side of the Iroqois Nation.

    Okay, so anyway, this book was so different that my editor thought it
should have a different name. Thus, Gen Bailey, the author came into
being. The name comes from my family. Bailey is in reality my last name. 
Gen comes from a family member whose real name was Genevieve. But
Genevieve proved to be too long a name and so we shortened it to Gen. I
really hope you'll like the new name, as well as the new book.

   So, let me plug the new book. Please purchase a copy of BLACK EAGLE today! You can get it at any bookstore that carries books or online at your favorite bookstore. Again the name is BLACK EAGLE and the author is Gen Bailey.

 All right, with that dispensed with, let's get into the topic of
discussion, which I'd like to open up with the Iroqouis. Years ago, while doing research for other books, I ran across some information I'd not been aware of, and which I found fascinating. Did you know that long ago -- long before the white man arrived on this continent -- the Indians of the East coast had a form of government that was of, by and for the people?  Did you know that this form of government brought peace to at least 6
warring nations? And that this government freed an entire people and kept
them free and independent?

 If not, don't worry. I didn't either. That Nation was the Iroquois. 
Sometime in the 1400's a man by the name of Hiawatha and a man the Iroquois call the Peacemaker (they don't call him by name) came together in order to stop war between their people. At that time, there were many tribal, as well as clan wars. A man was duty bound to go to war with the relatives of those who had killed a relative of his own. There was so much war and so much grieving that these two men decided to do away with war completely.

  This was not an easy thing to accomplish. They had many barriers to overcome and particularly they had to win over to their side a man who was
feared throughout the Nation. He was said to be a cannibal and it was said that he had snakes for hair. Three times Hiawatha called people together to make peace. Three times he was thwarted by this man/chief. The chief was also a magician it is said and he caused Hiwatha's wife and two daughters to be killed. For many a time, Hiwatha was grieved and he left his own people to wander aimlessly. It was in his wanderings that he met the Peacemaker, who is said to be of the Huron Nation.

   Together these two men won over the different nations and formed the
Iroquois Confederation. This particular chief who was making trouble was made a good man by the Peacemaker and by Hiwatha combing the snakes from his hair. His bad mind -- as they called it -- went away and from that day forward this chief was in his good mind.

  The Iroquois had a Constitution. They had delegates to their counsels. 
The women held the power of the tribe and could impeach any member of the counsel if that man was found to be serving his own interests rather than those of the people. It was the women who held this power. Again, that's the women, for it was well known to the Iroquois that the women are the heart of any people and to ignore their counsel is to ignore the teachings of one's heart.

 When the white people came to this land, they -- who were from a
background of serfdom -- met a completely free and independent people. I
think that this influenced our forefathers greatly. As a matter of fact
Benjamin Franklin was so interested in the Iroquois Confederation that
parts of our Constitution come directly from the Iroquois. Thomas
Jefferson as well as Thomas Paine were also very interested in the Iroquois
Confederation.

 But here's the real kicker to this story. All those years ago, Hiawatha
and the Peacemaker decided that the country they knew as Turtle Island (North America) would lead the world toward peace, freedom and independence. And for many years -- well over two hundred now -- that decision brought to fruition the ideal of what can happen when a people are completely free. America has always lead what we have called, the Free
World. It was a wish for the future. It was a wish that is embodied in this Nation.

 Well, that's all for today. I hope you've enjoyed this little bit of
history. I find it fascinating. I think also that we should be proud of
those roots. 

  I'd love to talk to you today about this or about anything else you'd
like to discuss.  

 Gen Bailey/Karen Kay

 
51OBNqdgaSL._SL500_AA240_1.jpg

You Can't Make This Stuff Up. . .

Betina, here.

You're probably asking yourself: who in their right mind would try to pass a counterfeit bill like this. One very dumb criminal . Or a rather imaginative one. Seeing this led me to wonder briefly what kind of bill I would design if I were on acid and trying to pass off a million dollar bill. . .

But back to the topic for today. I didn't just make this up. . . some guy DID try to pass of this bill as real. Just goes to show that all those self-esteem programs out there are working. . . to totally divorce some part of the population from reality. Think for a moment: if you read this in a book wouldn't it just stop you cold? And if you tried to put it in a book you're writing (Yeah, I know that's a stretch) would you ever expect to get it past an editor?

Well, apparently REALITY doesn't have an editor.

Weirder than weird stuff happens all the time. The guy who stole a car and crashed it left a cell phone with several photos of himself on it in the seat. Proving once and for all that narcissism is totally unrelated to IQ. And what about the bank robber who wrote his "give me the money" note on the back of his own personalized deposit slip? Or the guy who led police on a 90 mph car chase was caught when he stopped at Taco Bell for a burrito. And lest I give the impression that guys are alone in the dumb olympics, I submit this photo in evidence:

Not to pick on blondes, or anything. ahem.

Here's some more stuff we'd never get by with in a book: weird history.

*In 1962, the schools in Tanganyika had to be closed because of an outbreak of contagious laughter that lasted for six months!
*In 1980, workers in a Las Vegas hospital were suspended because they use to bet on when patients would die.
*Women used to use arsenic in face powder to give their skin a healthy shade of "pale."

*A skydiver fell 6000 feet without a parachute and lived to tell the tale.

*A disgraced former governor of Illinois (you know who you are) developed and is marketing a line of hair products! (Brand name "Blago")

*Two national park workers were fired after peeing in Old Faithful. (Recently!)

*1918 Attempting to dodge German gunfire, a Canadian pilot named Makepiece went into a sharp nose dive. In the process his passenger, Capt. J. H. Sedley, fell out of the plane. When Makepiece leveled off several hundred feet below, the free-falling Sedley miraculously landed on the tail of the airplane, apparently drawn there by the downdraft of the plummeting aircraft. Sedley clung to the tail, then clambered into his seat, unharmed. Ultimately the plane landed safely behind Allied lines. True story!

*In 1778, fashionable women of Paris never went out in blustery weather without a lightning rod attached to their hats.

*In 1892, Italy raised the minimum age for marriage for girls to 12. !!!!!

*The condom was invented in the early 1500's, and was originally made of linen. (Which later gave rise to the first nickname: French Letters.) (So much classier than the now venerable "rubbers.")

So with all that background. . . would you believe that there was a British Prince of Wales who only dallied with married women? And in fact sometimes was known to "arrange" a marriage for a single lady so he could bed her? Well, there was one. . . "Bertie," Queen Victoria's son and heir. It was a quirk that just begged for a story. And I gave it one in my upcoming book, Make Me Yours. But of course. . . the prince isn't the hero and the gal who has to marry so the prince can bed her isn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of being a royal plaything.

That's what I love about this job. . . you get to learn all kinds of stuff that "stranger than fiction" and then try to make it more realistic so they'll let you put it in a book!

History is not for wimps!

What about you? Got any favorite "stranger than fiction" or "believe it or not" stories? Got any examples of something an editor wouldn't let you put in a book. . . or something you read in a book, but didn't believe?

Debra-- Where'd she go ?

California. That's why I'm late with today's blog post!!

I arrived home from California late yesterday to see the proof copy of our newest Bell Bridge Books title!

Many of you long-time readers may remember and love Virginia Brown (also Juliana Garnett and a few other pseudonyms!) who's written over 50 books for the mega-publishers and even a few for smaller publishers.

We're tickled pink to be publishing Virginia in a new Southern mystery series. The first title is DIXIE DIVAS. The book is available on our website and should start showing up on Amazon, BN.com, Fictionwise, your bookstore's database, etc. in the next few days.

What's this mystery about? Well...

Wine. Chocolate. Transvestite strippers. See, that's just another good-time get-together for the Dixie Divas of historic Holly Springs, Mississippi, where moonlight and magnolias mingle with delicious smalltown scandal.

But Eureka "Trinket" Truevine, the newest Diva, gets more than she bargained for when she finds her best Diva girlfriend Bitty Hollandale's ex-husband in Bitty's hall closet. He's dead. Very dead. Now Trinket and the Divas have to help Bitty finger the murderer and clear her name.

Break out the hoop skirts and the zinfandel. The Divas are on the case.

We thought we'd do a little YouTube video for Virginia and then realized it was going to be very long as we covered her career. LOL! You can see the video here.

So, what do you think of the cover? We all know...I'm all about covers. And celebrities. But I didn't see any in California. Probably because I was in *San Diego.* (One can hope.) Had any celebrity sightings in your life lately?

Follower Friday: Margay

Let's welcome another Follower to the convertible today!  (And any of you other Followers interested in being featured on a random Follower Friday, let Michele know.)

Born to Read

Tucked away in an old photo album somewhere there is a picture of me holding a book in my lap, intent upon the words on the page. Two things stand out about this picture: One, the book is upside-down and two, I am only about two years old at the time the picture was taken. But I didn’t let either of those facts deter me. For all intents and purposes, I was reading that book.

I think it is safe to say that my love affair with the written word began at the time that picture was taken. Once I actually learned to read, I quickly moved beyond the grade school primers to more challenging chapter books. My appetite for reading became voracious and I eagerly awaited the arrival of the book mobile at school or – wonder of wonders – the Scholastic book forms. How I loved to pick out books just for me that I could read again and again, if I so desired! I could never get enough of fairytales, knights, and romances. And then there was the library, where I could borrow books any time I wanted, thus relieving some of the strain on my mother’s wallet from my addiction. Was it any wonder that I would eventually get a summer job in the library? Or that my love of the written word would translate into writing my own stories?

Now, as we embark on the digital age, reading is taking on a new persona. Who would have thought twenty years ago that one day, we would be able to read a book on a hand-held computer device? Or a cell phone? That we would be able to scroll through pages rather than leaf through them? Or that we would become addicted to a new thing called blogs that allow us to get up close and personal to our favorite authors – or that we would eagerly await tweets from them every day? In this age of instant gratification, we are witnessing the emergence of book kiosks that offer the ability to print out books on the spot rather than browsing through bookstores, and a little amazon of a company is changing the face of publishing day by day. And there is a resurgence of the love of reading in teens due to a little phenomenon called Twilight? Suddenly, it’s cool to read again. Does that mean I’m ahead of the game because I always did?

So whether I am leafing through pages or scrolling through them, vicariously living the life of a Regency spitfire or a modern vampire, or even swapping books with my teenage daughters, one thing remains constant. I was born to read!

Book blurb: Nora Kendall believed in angels once, but then her brother died of cancer despite all of her prayers, shattering her faith and illusions. Now, years later, she reaches a turning point in her life where her faith will be tested once again when she becomes embroiled in a battle between an angel of light and an angel of dark where the ultimate prize is Nora's Soul.

Margay Leah Justice 

http://margayleahjustice.com

Simple Pleasures

Despite the fact that I write about exotic places and high drama and hot and heavy romance, I’m a very simple girl. I’ve been realizing how simple lately as I’ve taken such great pleasure in the very, very simple things in life.

For instance, I’m at my desk in my office working, right? I’m writing a scene where my hero and heroine are caught in an airport in El Salvador in the middle of a fire fight between a British diplomat and his SIS security team and an ultra-nationalist terrorist group who are attempting to explain to the Brit – with their AK-47s – that he is not welcome in their country.
Jezz. Like my H/H don’t have enough trouble of their own, they get caught in the cross-fire of someone else’s fight. Anyway, the bullets are flying, people are screaming, glass is shattering and the whole thing stops cold because I hear a bird sing outside my office window.

So I look to my left and there sits this beautiful Baltimore Oriole on my feeder just chowing down on the grape jelly I put out for him. Well, needless to say, terrorists and AK-47’s and romance just flew out the window (pun intended) as I watched this gorgeous guy enjoy his afternoon snack. Wow. The pleasure of watching such a beautiful bird just transported me. What a simple, wondrous pleasure.


Okay, so finally, I go back to work. The bullets are still flying at the San Salvador airport and not only are my H/H fighting for their lives but they’ve stumbled onto a young mother and an infant in dire need of help. Just as they are about to either catch a bullet or a flying shard of shattered glass I hear this sound outside my window. It’s like a vibrating rubber band or something. So, I stop what I’m doing -again - leaving my people hanging in a perilous situation to look to my left – and there is Mrs. Hummingbird sipping nectar from the feeder I hung on the window. (Mr. H had been here Sunday with his beautiful ruby throat and tiny emerald feathers gleaming in the sun). I actually shot this photo of the Mrs. without the use of the zoom feature on my camera – that’s how close she was to me. And the pleasure I got from watching this amazing creature was just humbling.


I’ve always appreciated nature but it seems that the older I get them more in tune I am with all those things we sometimes take for granted and the deeper I reach to enhance the possibility of these types of encounters. Not that my heart rate doesn’t still accelerate at a shot of a nekked cowboy or kilt wearing Scotsman and I darn near drooled watching Gerard Butler in PS: I LOVE YOU the other day, but other things do it for me too. Like birds. I have more bird feeders in the yard than an aviary and they are constantly filled with gold finches and cardinals and siskens and any variety of birds. One winter I fed five varieties of wood peckers.

So, what are your simple pleasures? What can make you stop in the middle of a busy day and just watch or listen in wonder? Do you take the time to enjoy the simple things in life? If you don't, don't you think it's time you start? Do you think that age makes a difference in what we find amazing? Or fun? Or enlightening? Am I just turning into a crazy old bird woman and if so, can the crazy old cat lady phase be far behind?

Wednesday's winner!

The winner of Ellen Hartman's THE BOYFRIEND'S BACK is My Blog 2.0, so Dottie email Ellen at ellen@ellenhartman.com with your snail mail and she'll get the book out to you!

Thanks, everyone, for riding along!
Helen

Guest Author: Ellen Hartman

Helen here. I can't remember when I first met fellow Superromance author Ellen Hartmen, but I should. She is truly one of the funniest people I've ever met and writes wonderful romances. She has a new one out this month, so I'll let her tell you a little about it. Please welcome Ellen ...

I told Helen I was going to blog about enriched eBooks. But then I got a better idea. So, briefly: my May Superromance, The Boyfriend’s Back, includes extras with the eBook edition. (Like the extras on a DVD.) Some enriched eBooks include character sketches, maps, links to websites, or historical facts. Mine includes a short story about the main characters when they were in high school. I expect we’re going to see more enriched content, in more variations, as eBooks grow.

Enriched eBooks are interesting, especially for a person like me who’s part geek and part writer. I didn’t think it would make a great blog post, though. I imagined that I would post the info as I did above and then I’d say (imagine me talking in an announcer voice), “What enriched content would you like to see?” and then there’d be some polite comments and pffft. Nothing. Or at least nothing fun.

So instead we will discuss Lessons Learned from Old Boyfriends. In The Boyfriend’s Back, Hailey Maddox and JT McNulty dated during their senior year of high school and then JT left town. Fifteen years later, he comes back. They have to face up to their unresolved feelings and figure out if they can make something together after all that time. (There’s also the small complication that Hailey’s daughter thinks JT is her dad…but he’s not.)

Obviously this is a romance novel so the things that happen are both fictitious and romanticized. In real life, old boyfriends are rarely the source of new love; they’re mostly the source of Life Lessons. Here are some things I learned from my old boyfriends.

1. If you think he’s cheating, he’s probably cheating even if it is your birthday and no one could be that mean.

2.You can not teach a man to dress better through suggestion. You must buy the new wardrobe for him and then order him to wear it.

3. If the woman who raised him is nuts, there’s a good chance she passed some of that along. They don’t call them the formative years for nothing.

4. If a voice inside tells you you’ve just met the perfect guy for you, it’s telling the truth. (Okay, I learned that one from meeting my husband. But he was a boyfriend at the time.)

So what about you? Any lessons you learned from old boyfriends that you’d like to share? I have a signed copy of The Boyfriend’s Back to send to one randomly chosen commenter. I’m can’t wait to learn some lessons! (I’m also up for discussing enriched eBooks so ask questions or share your wish list of content you’d like to see. Anything you want to share!)

Information about my books including excerpts, deleted scenes, and more are available on my website at: http://www.ellenhartman.com. The enriched eBook edition of The Boyfriend’s Back is for sale at eHarlequin.com. (Link: http://ebooks.eharlequin.com/A02AEA65-814E-4A26-A9E8-B1ABB9EEF226/10/126/en/ContentDetails.htm?ID=BF9F6486-FB37-4AD5-B8C3-25A590F8B8D8)

If You Can Read This, Thank a Teacher

Okay, so I'm a little late but National Teacher Appreciation Week was last week. It slipped by at my school, largely unnoticed but for a note written on the whiteboard in the staff room. Since it was also a full moon last week, the one emotion I was definitely *not feeling* was appreciation!

I was one of those geeks who loved school. LOVED it. And those annual tests (in our state, the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills), well, I loved them, too. Maybe that's why I'm so intrigued by all the research I do for my books. And there were many many teachers along the way that if I had the chance today, I'd send them a note of appreciation for instilling that love of learning.



First there was Sister Davida in first grade who taught me to read. I must have been four when I started pestering my parents. "When am *I* going to be able to read?" From the first time I could open that first grade reader and those funny spots became words, I was hooked.

And then there was Sister Loretta in sixth grade, who was also the librarian. I realize now that one book lover had recognized another and that's why she had me working in the school library and always let me check out the new books first.

Mony Vega, my high school Spanish teacher, remains a favorite. Mostly because of the rapport he had with the kids, but he must have taught me something, too because when I'm in Mexico, after a number of margaritas, I become quite fluent in the language :)

There were others. Mrs. Petersen in high school social studies--I've always loved history. Bubbles Watson in English (I'm sure she had a first name but high school students are jerks, remember?) She introduced us to George Carlin in semantics class by playing that bit of his on the seven dirty words. And Father Geary, in psychology, who whetted my appetite for delving into the motivation of my characters. (He was also my introduction to the phrase, 'Father What-a-Waste' :)

To these and all the other teachers who shaped my education, I offer a thank you.

But, wait. Appreciation week wouldn't be complete without also tendering a few apologies. To Sister Marcellita in eighth grade, for whatever it was that used to make her embark on hour long tirades about the sins of the flesh and Jezebels. It appeared to us that we were merely hanging up our coats in the coat room, but apparently 'sins of the flesh' prosper in those shadowy confines, especially if a boy and a girl have to hang up their coat at the same time. To Sister I offer a line of hallway lockers for every boy and girl in her class.

For Father Hilsman in ninth grade religion, who walked out on our class because in our boredom we collected jewelry from everyone in the back of the room and held a silent auction during his lecture. To Father I offer my black pearl ring with my humblest apologies.

It was Father Salz in tenth grade Geometry. Shy and stammering, it was almost cruel to subject him to a bunch of high schoolers whose favorite trick was to open the windows and pull the blinds. And then one by one go out the window when he turned his back to the chalkboard. Child proof window locks are my gift of apology to Father.

And to Father McLean, who threatened to cancel senior week because we put Saran-Wrap on the toilets, whipped cream in the blow dryers and had a water fight in the hall outside the cafeteria I offer only a piece of advice: don't threaten something unless you can really follow through on it.

What about you? Who are the teachers who shaped you, for good or bad, during your school years? Who would you most like to thank now? Or maybe there's someone you'd rather have arrested :) Any teacher you'd like to offer an apology to? Now's your chance!

Sexy?

Lois Greiman

I went to my first horse show of the season yesterday and was promptly reintroduced to the epitome of sexy…men in chaps.

Now don’t get me wrong; I’m old enough to realize that not everyone has the same idea of ‘hubba hubba.’ But I come from a place where farm boys were admired and cowboys were revered with open-mouthed admiration. Where everyone and her aunt Sue had a thing about a guy with bowed legs and a Skoal ring in the back pocket of his jeans.

This concept was so ingrained in me that I believed everyone drooled when a guy with a Stetson walked by, but I’m beginning to see things differently because a couple of days ago, I went to a farm store with an old friend of mine. We were waited on by a guy in overalls. He was sixty-five years old if he was a day, had a bit of a belly and a hairline that had admitted defeat some years ago. But, after four decades on the farm, Tamara had just wintered in Florida for the first time. I’m not sure, but I think Fort Lauderdale is somewhat short on its share of farmers, because Tami actually gave a dreamy little sigh and said, “Ahhh, a man in Carthartts.”

Which got me remembering the time I took my daughter to see the Canadian Mounties ride drills a while back. Tara had just spent her first full year away from the horse show circuit, and at the end of the Mounties’ performance, went to the rail to speak with one of the riders. Afterwards, I noticed she was looking a little dewy eyed. I asked what had happened and she promptly replayed the conversation. “Well, he said, ’I have to go take care of my mare,’ and I said, ‘tee hee hee.’”

Now, generally speaking my daughter is not a ‘tee hee hee’ type of girl, but apparently there is something about a man in high boots and spurs that brought out the twitter in her.

So what’s it all about, Alfie? Is it how we were raised? Is it something very personal? Or is it something inherent in all women to admire the alpha male? And which is your favorite brand?

The fireman? The rock star?

The guy in (or out of) uniform? Do you have a story about somebody who just did it for you even though it made no logical sense? Or even better, do you remember a time when you were silly over a man who offended all your feminist sensibilities? Do tell.

www.loisgreiman.com