Emmy Awards and wow, those dresses!

Sadly, I missed the Emmy Awards the other night but there was no escaping the recap of the dresses the next day! I have been stunned and amazed by the beautiful gowns (and the not so beautiful) and thought I'd share some of my favs with you all today.

This first one is Glee's Lea Michele in a navy blue Oscar de la Renta flamenco dress. Love Glee. Love Lea and LOVE that dress.

On some lists Mad Men's January Jones took the prize for the evening's best dressed but on others, it was all about, "what was she thinking?" What are YOU thinking about this bright blue Versace gown, which was shorter in the front and longer in the back with snow cone cups? Oh - and she's sporting a million-dollars Cartier diamonds just for fun.
















Kelly Osbourne is all grown up and looking fine in a chic black Tony Ward gown. What happened to the punk hair and baby fat? I think she looks great!

















I'm a HUGE Kyra Sedgwick fan. The Closer is at the top of my list for all time fav shows and I was so glad to see her get the Emmy, BUT, I'm not so sure about this dress. Love the rich wine color and even the fabric but the styling? Eh. She looks a little lost in that dress, don't ya think?
















I wouldn't have recognized Emily Deschanel, everyone's favorite forensic anthropologist on Bones, had her name not been posted beneath this photo. Crepe and purple. Hummm

There were mixed reviews on Tina Fey's patterned silver gown. I thought she looked great but others, not so much

Modern Family's latin bombshell, Sofia Vergara looked hot, hot hot in this Carolina Herrera gown - but once again, the dress was on at least one 'worst dress' list

The general consensus is that Mindy Kaling (The OFFICE) could have ditched the 1950's style prom dress. Maybe the comedienne was attempting to make a funny statement not a fashion statement?

I must admit I have NO beef with Rita Wilson's appearance on the worst dressed list. The Austin Powers-esque Prada features dangling shells and crystals and Lucite heels. And that hair? In a word: UG.

How about Anna Paquin, everyone's favorite vampire lovin' Sokie Stackhouse from True Blood in the roman soldier-esque Alexander McQueen gown. I think she looks pretty hot!
















Okay. So that was fun, right? But even more fun is this video of the opening number where, in a parody of Glee, Jimmy Falon (and several Glee cast members and special guests) raise the roof with this fun and funny production.



Enjoy and tell me what you think about both the video and the dresses!

Deadline look, food and drawing for Oct. book!!!

Technorati Tags: deadline,chocolate,free book

I’m on deadline.  And it’s not pretty.

I’ve told my husband it’s like when men go hunting and they don’t shower or change clothes for days because they’re focused on bagging the prize.  It’s the same for me during deadline.  I’m focused on bagging the prize.  The prize is the end of a good book and the ability to get it off my desk and to my editor.

My writing process is dilly-dallying for the first half of the book because it doesn’t feel perfect.   Sometimes it feels like crap.  I’m actually not even sure I’m going to finish the book until I reach 100 pages and there have been plenty of times I haven’t backed up until that point.  Yes, I know that’s living dangerously, but… I can be a bully to myself about my writing.

None of this changes the fact that I need to turn in my book.  So, as I draw closer to this date, I must give up my pathetic disbelief in myself, buck up and write the daggone book whether I feel like I suck or not.

But I digress.  Along the way of writing over 55 books, I do some things to get through.  1. Wear yoga pants.  The great thing about yoga pants is you can wear them to the mailbox, and when truly desperate to the grocery store, and no one will know that you wore them to bed last night (and maybe the night before). They are also black and won’t show what you spilled on them.  If you don’t remember to wash your yoga pants, you could end up wearing these…   but don’t wear them to the grocery store.:)   2. A shower is a reward for pages written, but deodorant is compulsory.  3. Dry shampoo covers a multitude of… well, it sorta covers, but if you use too much, you’ll look like a freak.  4. Iced tea (or coffee for people who don’t understand the necessity of iced tea) is the nectar of life.  5. Boiled eggs for breakfast.  Avoid the contaminated ones, and yes, I know boiled eggs sound gross, but eat too many carbs and you’ll be snoozing in front of your computer screen.  6. Speaking of carbs, low-fat Cheez-it crackers are great for nervous munching.   (Warning:  Don’t give these to your dog or she will expect one EVERY time you touch the box.)  7. Chocolate.  I generally confine my chocolate consumption to a couple of pieces or a couple of chips ahoy chocolate chip cookies.  But don’t get between me and the chocolate, and don’t eat the last cookie without replacing the bag unless you want to wake up with scissors in your head... Just kidding.  Maybe.  8.  Make-up?  What’s that? During deadline, I embrace the fact that I am the BEFORE picture.  9. Dinner?  Casseroles and take-out.  If it doesn’t last more than one night, then I’m not cooking it this week.  10. Ear plugs and noise-reducing headphones.  Bose brand is not necessary, although I gave my husband the good ones as a gift.  These are important so you don’t start throwing sharp objects at your neighbor who begins mowing his yard right when you’ve gotten into your Zen zone … or your family members can’t stop asking you questions.

Everyone has a version of a deadline or can remember exam week during school or college.  When you’ve got to make a big push, what do you do to get through?  What are your guerilla tactics to achieve, succeed and FINISH? 

I just received author copies of my October Silhouette Special Edition, ROYAL HOLIDAY BABY.  I really like this one and I don’t always say that.  It’s nice that RT liked it too and gave it a 4 ½ review.  This book is NOT on the shelves and I will give ONE responder a copy!  www.leannebanks.com

Who won a prize?

You won a prize, Barbara E ! And it's better than some ol' trophy. It's an autographed copy of Kathleen Eagle's COOL HAND HANK.
Please e-mail your snail mail info to kathleen.eagle@comcast.net. Congratulations!

Kathleen's List of Splendid Things, Chapter 1

I'm going to give a book away today, and this is a splendid thing.
I have a new book out, and this is a many-splendored thing. The book is splendid, of course, but don't take my word for it. Get yourself a copy and see for yourself. Horse trainer Logan Wolf Track teams up with Army Sergeant Mary Tutan to train a wild horse as part of "Mustang Sally's Makeover Challenge." There's an excerpt on Amazon along with a brand new review to give you an idea of the story. My web site features the book, too.

I haven't had a chance to check the stores--September 1 is the official release date, but Amazon is shipping already--but one of the first things on my list of splendid things is seeing YOUR book with YOUR name on the cover sitting right there in on a bookstore shelf. That thrill never gets old.

ONCE A FATHER is the perfect title for this story. I love it when the editors like the title that I chose for the simple reason that it fits the book. Logan has two adopted sons--both prime candidates for books of their own--and once a father, always a father. We've probably mentioned a time or ten that writers don't always get the final say over their babies' names, er, their books' titles. Marketing gets lots of input, which is cool because we all want to sell books, but sometimes not so cool when you have to tell an audience what the title of your latest book is. Certain words sell Romance, and that fact has become increasingly important as key words become keys to the information kingdom. Father happens to be one of those words, along with cowboy, baby, bride, wedding and like that. Magic words come and go, but the aforementioned, like certain thrills, never seem to get old. Try to jam too many key words into a title and it can get pretty silly, even though they say it works in the marketplace.

But you know what sells non-fiction? Numbers in the title. 10 Ways. 20 Secrets. All too often the "ways" are pretty much common sense, and the book could have been published as a pamphlet, but it makes a catchy title--always catches my eye. Recently I saw a TV interview with Neil Pasricha, author of THE BOOK OF AWESOME. Now, the word awesome is about as tired as I am right now (It's 2 A.M.) but the book grew out of a blog called "The Top 1000 Awesome Things," and it's about small miracles and everyday joys, sort of like the little book "Happiness Is..." from way back in the day. Thinking them up is a feel-good exercise. Totally awesome.

Want to play? Let's play. I'm saying Splendid Things in honor of my son, who likes to say "Splendid!" I'll start.

--watching bats darting to and fro overhead at dusk (vacuuming up mosquitoes!)
--finding the clothes you left in the dryer folded and stacked on the bed
--a good blood pressure reading
--old toys
--the prairie sky on a clear night
--the prairie sky anytime
--exchanging a taste of what I got for a taste of what you got at a restaurant
--a full moon on a warm night
--the smell of cinnamon
--a really good down pillow
--the scent of snow
--a chorus of frogs
--a movie that has you clapping at the end
--a horse's ears
--a baby's feet

Once you get going it's hard to stop, so it's your turn. Splendid Things. I'll send an autographed copy of COOL HAND HANK--the book that precedes ONCE A FATHER in my Special Edition series--to one of our commenters.

P.S. While you're here, scroll down and click the free-mammograms-for-those-in-need button. The site is getting enough clicks to donate an average of 1 1/2 mammograms a day. That's splendid!

Debra – Miles To Go Before I Sleep

I have just returned from Australia.  Yep.  That’s where I’ve been.  Missed me?

No?  Geez.  Lie a little.  It wouldn’t kill you.  Pretend you noticed I was gone.

What did I learn during those long miles on a plane ?

1) Frequent Flyer miles are your friend.  The Business Class with 180 degree recline with foot rest is awesome!  You’re in your own little cubicle, with a TV, power outlet, lovely people waiting on you hand and foot.  A back massager in the seat!!  And a remote control for everything, including the light, air, footrest, etc.  The TV has an inexhaustible movie, TV show and game supply.  And a very handy feature that you can use to check exactly where you are.  The screen shows you a map, tells you how much longer you’ll be in flight.  I used it to figure out when I should go to sleep so I could arrived “rested” when we landed in Sydney.

Yes, you may all laugh now.   I stayed up all night watching movies.  And reading Anne Stuart’s RUTHLESS.  And asking for things to drink.  And then hitting the loo.

2)  Packing my Kindle with submissions and SWEARING that I was going to work all those hours over and back was the height of delusion.  I’m a bad, bad editor.  :/

3)  You do not want to hear your pilot say, “Well, folks.  It looks like we’re going to have to divert to Brisbane because we’ve over-burned our fuel and we’re not sure we can circle safely before landing in Sydney if there is any delay.”

Seriously.  He said that.  I’m not making this up to be humorous.  So, we flew all that way and an extra 2-3 hours to divert, land, refuel, and wait in line to take off again.

4)  I should have known there would be some problems in Australia because when we landed LATE in LA to switch planes, we were cutting it very very close for making our international flight.  So close my husband told me to “gather and go” the moment the pilot turned off the seatbelt light.  Even in first class and first off he still thought we’d have to run for it.

Nope.   We walked off one plane and walked diagonally across to our next gate.  The flight was boarding but we made the plane.  No running necessary. That should have been the clue that we’d just used up our allotment of travel luck!

5)  Okay, this isn’t really about learning anything, but the return trip?  That was about 34 hours door-to-door.  Everything went wrong.  Delays, missed planes, broken planes.

Despite the usual travel hassles, Australia is such a lovely country with lovely people.  I attended the Romance Writers of Australia conference.  What a great group of writers!!  But even people we didn’t know were nice to us.  Like when the nice police car pulled up to my husband as we were driving down a mall area designated for people only.  “Are you lost, sir?”  ROFL.  Yeah.  That was amusing.

How’s your summer been?  Any funny travel incidents?  What books did you take along to read?

Networking or punking?

I’ve never been entirely comfortable in our evolving world of social networking. It seems rather odd to me that so many people have access to our lives, can contact us in any of a dozen different ways, but I’m trying to adjust. Yesterday, however, I received an email that still surprised me. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Here’s the note with the names changed to protect the…unexpected.

My name is Brian and while my specific issue is in the realm of dating, it is also romance related. While googling for advice I discovered that you were a romance author. Not sure if you can offer advice on my situation, but I thought I'd give it a try since I was too embarrassed to tell my friends about it. If you have the time and the interest, I describe the incident below. Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. I met a really attractive and intelligent woman at a party a few weeks ago. It was a public event at an art gallery. She was a high school teacher in her early thirties. We had been talking for about a half hour and really seemed to develop a great rapport. We had even made tentative plans to meet for coffee sometime. Then, things suddenly went downhill. I commented that she had a “really nice, hourglass figure”. I thought she would take it as a compliment but instead she became deeply offended. I went into damage control mode and tried to clarify my comments but I think I only exacerbated things. She told me I was being "inappropriate" and with a look of complete disgust, WHAP!, she slapped my face and departed. As I stood there alone rubbing my cheek, I was trying to figure out why she was so upset. It seemed like a harmless comment to me but maybe I don't understand women as well I should. I do have her email address. Do you think I should send her an apology note or should I interpret the slap in the face as a definitive way of saying she wants no further contact? Brian

I’m not entirely sure whether this note is a prank or an honest attempt to gain some insight into a weird situation. Either way, I wrote back, saying my only qualification was the fact that I myself am female.

He followed up saying he had already sent an apology and received this comment in return:

Hi Brain and thank you for the apology but I do think it is best that we not see each other again. Perhaps you meant well, but as you learned firsthand, it is very inappopriate and highly offensive to "size up" a woman the first time you meet her. I like to be appreciated for who I am, and not how well I can fill out a skirt. Hopefully you've learned from this, and the next time you meet a woman you like things will end on a positive note and not with another red cheek ;-) Emily

Intriquing, no? So what do you think? Is this just a hoax perpetrated by someone who was really bored? And regardless, what do you think of the situation? Should he have apologized? Should she have slapped him? What would you have done in the same situation?

Impluse Buys

Impulse buying is not a good thing. It has caused many a marital and financial problem. That said, I wanted to show you my latest:

It's a pony! Yeah, no one knows why I bought a pony. It's not as if I have any use for him. But look how cute!

My daughter says I need professional help but she still loves me. My husband has assured me he won't leave me...unless I bring home ONE MORE HORSE!

So, how bout you guys. Any interesting impulse buys lately. No? Okay, I need advice. How do you talk yourself out of those crazy purchases??

Oh, and...anyone need a pony??

Honeymoon Phase

I started a new book two weeks ago, so I'm in what I call (and probably many other writers) the honeymoon phase. This is my favorite time during the process of writing a book because I'm generally the most productive, or at least I feel the most productive. Full blown scenes and sections of dialogue--all kinds off possibilities--flow like sweet wine from brain to fingers on the keyboard.

Part of why I'm feeling this way might have something to do with having a terrible time writing my last book. In fact, I'm still not finished with it. But I got so far behind my own schedule that I decided it was best to start up the next book and go back to the problem child after school starts up and the house gets quiet again.

In any case, though, the beginning of books is generally an exciting time for me. I'm learning about my characters. The time line, motivations, goals, plot, etc... are still evolving, so nothing is set in stone. Anything can and does happen.

In contrast, the middle of the book tend to be something, we as writers have to slog through, I think. I HOPE like heck my readers don't feel that way when they're deep into my stories, but often middles can be difficult to write. So much has to happen to tie that beginning to the ending.

I heard something interesting from a fellow writer at conference in Orlando. She was talking, I think to a Harlequin exec, who told her that many Japanese readers like to jump right from the beginning of books to the end. I guess writers aren't the only ones who hate the middle of books!

Endings are exciting, too, because things are--hopefully--coming together. It can be another very fast time in a book. As a writer, you know what has to happen, you know what work your characters need to finish. It's just a matter of getting it all down.

So if you're a writer, what's your favorite stage in your process? And if you're a reader, what's your favorite part to read in a book, beginning, middle or end?

And another question ... they say the beginning of a book hooks the reader, but the ending is what determines the next purchase of a book by this author. True by you?

Helen

More Character Profiles

Helen and Michele got us started talking about their process for choosing what their characters look like. I wish mine were as specific. The picture I have of my characters exists only in my mind.

Why is that? Well, mostly because I'm not up on all the hot new actors out there these days. One of my fans informed me that my Jan. 09 book featured (he-whose-name-I-promptly-forgot) from One Life to Live. Or was it Another World? No matter. I didn't recognize the name (or apparently the soap opera.)


My problem is that when I picture a hot guy he invariably bears a vague resemblance to one of a handful of actors: Matthew McConaughey, Clive Owen or Goran Visnjic. And after 30+ books I can't keep picturing the same three men all the time!


My work in progress is a case in point. When I began the Mindhunters series, I never imagined the trilogy would turn into six books. Nor did it occur to me that the shadowy, enigmatic boss in the background of each story was going to command so much interest. Readers wrote to ask more about him. My editor asked for three more Mindhunters books, this trilogy with an overarching suspense plot involving Adam Raiker, the legendary ex-FBI profiler and head of Raiker Forensics. So here I am on book 6, Raiker's story and my uusal mix of go-to guys don't come close to resembling him. Perhaps he's a victim of his own mystique :)



What I do know is that he's in his early to mid forties, with dark hair and laser blue eyes. Raiker's last case for the Bureau nearly killed him eight years earlier. While tracking a notorious child-killer through the bayous of Louisiana, he was able to free the latest victim but ended up captured himself. He endured three long days of torture before killing his captor and escaping. As a result of the torture he has a hideous scar bisecting his throat; an eyepatch where he lost one eye; and he walks with a limp with the help of a cane, after suffering nerve damage in one leg. Scars crisscross much of his body, including the backs of his hands. After several surgeries he left the feds and began his own company, staffing it with the most brilliant criminologists and scientists in the country. They consult with law enforcement on particularly high profile and puzzling crimes.

You see what I mean. How do I find a guy who looks like that? An actor just doesn't convey the air of mystery surrounding Adam Raiker.

Oh, who am I kidding? Give him an eyepatch and a few scars and Goran will fit the bill nicely!

But I'm certainly open to suggestions! Do you have any names that you think might fit the bill? And does anyone want to hazard a guess at the identity of the guy in the first picture?

From Click To Commitment/Kate Carlisle

We are soooo lucky to have Kate Carlisle today with the Riders!  She was a NYT bestseller with her first hardcover mystery and she also writes Silhouette Desires.  Let’s give her a big welcome!

Recently, I began reading a nonfiction book titled Click, which explores that magical moment when we instantly and inexplicably connect with certain people. That “Wow, I like you!” moment.
Like at first sight.
During this serendipitous moment, say authors Ori and Rom Brafman, dopamine hypercharges the brain in a reaction very much like getting high on drugs. Most of us have experienced this euphoria at least once in our lives, whether romantically or with someone destined to be a friend. Right from the start, we feel energized in each other’s company. We laugh more, and we do our best to make the other person laugh because it’s just so fun.
We are, to put it simply, on.
We’re in the zone. We truly like this new person in our lives, and we feel thrilled and excited because it seems as though he or she likes us, too.
But here’s the coolest part: Unlike with narcotics, the high that comes with “quick-set intimacy” with another human being can last for years. For life.
The Brafmans cite a Dutch study of a thousand random couples who had been married an average of 25 years. The couples whose relationship started with that immediate click and a headlong fall into love were more likely to agree with deeply romantic statements such as “I cannot imagine another person making me as happy as [my spouse]” and “I melt when I look deeply into [my spouse’s] eyes” than were couples who married after a long, traditional courtship. Remember, they agreed with these deeply romantic statements after 25 years of marriage.
In other words, the magic can last.
Love can and does last.
Romance novels such as The Millionaire Meets His Match, my first release with Silhouette Desire, take readers on the journey from this Click to the moment when the characters embrace the truth of it. We follow the characters from click to commitment.

 
Cynics claim that our novels are unrealistic, but we know the truth. Sure, there may be an element of fantasy in romance novels. Adam Duke, the hero of The Millionaire Meets His Match, is rich enough to own a private jet and a luxurious mountain resort. Not the typical man you might meet every day. But what readers respond to is a core, emotional truth. They respond to that click of connection between Adam and Trish and between the heroes and heroines of other romance novels.
These two people are meant for each other. When we finish the last page, we believe that in 25 years, Adam and Trish will still melt when they look into each other’s eyes. From the plush leather seats of their private jet, of course.
So the next time someone says something snarky about romance novels being unrealistic, tell them that science is on our side. And tell them that Kate Carlisle says, “So there!”
Have you ever instantly clicked with another person? A significant other, friend, or co-worker? Tell me what you remember about that moment. Does your relationship still exist today? And is your connection as strong as it was at the beginning? I’d love to hear from your friend, too, so feel free to forward the link to this blog!

Kate grew up in a big family near the beach in Southern California. She spent over twenty years working in television production. She also studied acting and singing, toiled in vineyards, collected books, joined a commune, sold fried chicken, modeled spring fashions and worked for a cruise ship line, but it was the year she spent in law school that finally drove her to begin writing fiction. The Millionaire Meets His Match is her first release with Silhouette Desire. She is also the author of the New York Times bestselling Bibliophile Mysteries series, featuring rare book expert Brooklyn Wainwright, whose bookbinding and restoration skills invariably uncover old secrets, treachery and murder.  www.katecarlisle.com 

A Girl and Her Car…

I heard an advertisement the other day for muscle cars.  The announcer made growling noises and interjected… “Betty….John…. Is this car calling your name?”  It took me back to my first car.  My father bought it for my older sister and me to share (fight over).  It was an old Mustang and the appeal for my father was that it was big and heavy.  We referred to it at the blue tank.  Boys thought it was cool, but the “muscleness” was lost on me.  I was just thrilled to have transportation.  Automatic transportation.  And the blue tank easily withstood my unfortunate tendency to back over mailboxes.  (3 if you’re interested).  I became disenchanted with the blue tank when it refused to start on cold mornings.  This became a defining issue for me and cars.

Fast forward to 1980 and my father bought me a NEW car!  Gasp!  Well, he paid for the first two years of it.  I would pay the second two.  A silver Oldsmobile Starfire… that started all the time.  Perfect!  Plus it helped that it was metallic SILVER. 

During the next several years, we lost my husband’s car to a run-in with a train (he wasn’t injured, but the car was totaled).  The Starfire saw us through early marriage and the births of two babies.  It wasn’t all that convenient to strap two young ones into their car seats from one of the two doors; and living at the beach without a garage really took a toll on the paint job.  The Starfire went from silver to tri-tone – silver, grey and rust, but we kept that baby for 10 years and sold it despite a sagging headliner and a rotting floorboard.

Then we were pretty much given a Chevrolet Caprice (green), which I hated.  On the good side, it started and the AC worked great, but when it rained outside the car, it also rained INSIDE the car.  Plus the electric windows didn’t work and we had just moved to an area with toll roads.  Did I mention it was GREEN?  I was so thankful when that car died.

Next, we bought a used ugly, boxy Chevrolet Celebrity, but it was beautiful to me because A.It started easily.  B. It was four-door, which was so much easier for putting my children into their car seats in the backseat. C. No rain INSIDE the car.  D. It was a pretty SILVER color.  This car was very dependable and I still have fond memories of it.

Then we moved onto a Dodge Intrepid.  Now THAT was a pretty car.  A compromise between sedan and sporty.  It started easily, was four-door and IT WAS RED!  It was a sad day when I wrecked it in a traffic circle after watching my kids march in a Christmas parade.  That’s when I learned that even though the insurance company might not total the car, the car might not ever be the same after a wreck. 

I leased a couple of cars after that, one of which was a luxurious (to me) Chrysler 300 M.  It was too big, but the leather seats and great sound system made up for it.  It didn’t hurt that the color of this car was CHAMPAGNE.

Are you seeing a trend here?  Dependability and color are very important.  I did a bunch of research on my most recent car purchase (4 years ago).  I wanted something sporty, yet somewhat practical, VERY dependable with decent gas mileage, and it, of course, it  needed to be a great color. I’m still very happy with my RED Toyota Solara despite the fact that there are some scratches on the bumper because I still have backing-up issues.  I’m not troubled by them.  My husband is that guy who parks his 8-year old car three miles away from any other car.  Me?  I like to go ahead and get a scratch on the car as soon as possible.  Get that first nick out of the way!

What about you?  Do you have any fond car memories?  Or nightmares?  How do you feel about scratches on your car?

Winner winner low-fat dinner!

It's like the same as a chicken dinner, right?  :-)  Anyway, winners for my ROGUE ANGEL: THE BONE CONJURER are....

Chey
CrystalGB
Jeannette8042

Please send me your snail mail address at: toastfaery@gmail.com

Congrats, and thanks!
Michele

Finding the right face

Helen started it.  (I'm hoping some of the other Riders will post pics of their current hero/heroines, too.  It's fun to compare notes.)  So I started a new book on Monday and the working title is A Year And A Day.  Got about 100 pages written so far, but it's stream-of-thought, loosey-goosey stuff.  It's not sold.  I'm just working up the idea because these two characters are in my brain and won't let go, so if I can at least write it down, then my mind will quiet and I can go back to the real work (aka The Book That I'm Actually Getting Paid To Write).

A lot of times when I start a story I have the image of the hero in mind.  Then I rush to the internet and search until I find a match so I can place it on my desktop beside my open Word program.  It really helps me to have pictures to visualize the characters.  For me, the right face makes the story flow from my fingertips.

So this is another vampire story.  The mortal heroine (tentatively titled Lark) was once married to a vampire slayer who was tortured for a year and a day by vampires, then returned to her after they'd bitten him.  He begged her to stake him because becoming a vamp is the worst of the worst.  She did it (not without much angst).  So now she's vowed revenge in her hubby's name by killing one vampire for every day they tortured him. I saw this pic of Angelina Jolie and it was all in the eyes.  Some kind of cold, calculating look there.  Emotionless, and yet, the hint of compassion if you look real close.  She immediately became Lark.

Yeah, I could see her wielding a stake.

Now the hero is a vampire who was captured by werewolves and forced into the Blood Games.  It's what the mean werewolves do.  They capture vampires, starve them, keep them under UV lights (inducing UV sickness which causes burns, extreme light sensitivity, stripped veins, and a bunch of other nasty stuff), and after a month or so, they pit these tortured vampires against one another in a battle to the death.  The hero, Domingos, survived for six months and he's, well...he's a little bit insane after it all.  I knew right away who he would look like.

You can't really see what he looks like, but he could be really scary under that hat and shadow.  Is he smirking because he's going to kill you, or because he's remembering when life was sane? When the heroine first meets him he's bedraggled, tattered, yet focused, set on a quest to kill all the werewolves who drove him insane.  (Yeah, I  know, this story is heavy.  Lots of torture going on.  I think he's my most tortured hero—literally—so far.) 

Two opposites that don't belong together, but need each other desperately.  The heroine plays violin to escape her crazy world, and she will discover the hero was once a cellist, but music sets him off now, spinning him into an insane tirade.  I think music will eventually bring them together.  :-) 

Here's another pic of the hero (he is Perttu Kivilaakso of the cello-rock band Apocalyptica).  Sigh...  Musicians are so romantic (especially the ones with fangs).  

So tell me, when you read a story do you envision the character in your mind?  As an actor or famous face?  Or do you create your own hero and heroine?


Thought I'd put Apocalyptica's latest single here so you can see it.  Beautiful imagery.  And you can glimpse my hero in action.  ;-)





I've got three copies of my ROGUE ANGEL: THE BONE CONJURER I want to give away!  I'll draw 3 names from today's comments.

Also, I'm debuting my January cover over at my blog today.  Stop by and give me your thoughts!
Michele

Why is everyone all a-Twitter?

What kind of trick does an old dog have to do to get a tweet around here?

Ha ha, Kathleen. Very funny. See, that could almost be a Tweet. It's short enough. It's rhetorical enough. It's plenty cliche. But it doesn't answer the big Twitter question. What's happening?






Image Credit Aaron Riddle AcRiddle.com

When the TopDownCrew decided to Twitter (or should that be tweet?) recently, I was eager to buy a ticket and hop aboard. I've been feeling without it (as opposed to with it) lately because everyone else seemed to be twittering, and I wasn't. I wasn't face-booking or my-spacing either. But I really enjoy this blog, and since most of my Rider sidekicks are way ahead of me in the social networking department, I said, "Goody, goody. How should I set myself up? Do I need an account? Do I get to have my own whachamacalit? Avatar thingie?" (My grandson informed me that an avatar is not a thingie. He's a very sophisticated 6-year-old.) I was told I could do as much or as little as I pleased. Cool!

So I found an eagle design, and I did the profile, and I opened my beak and made a couple of bird sounds. It took the better part of a day and some patient tutoring on the road to the realization that this would not really be a conversation. I clicked into some of the links on various tweets and retweets and discovered that a friend was going to the beach, another getting a pedicure, another starting a new chapter. Okay. Soooo what did you . . . oh, wait. Here's one I don't understand. Those aren't words. Hey, I've got some vowels I'll sell you. Cheap! (No, Kathleen, that's Tweet!)

Day 2 of my foray into Twitter: I close my separate account. I retire my cool avatar. With just a teensy bit of sadness I decide I'll do my bird calling on the TopDownCrew account for now. Twitterspeak ruffles the old English teacher's feathers a bit, but it strikes me that "tweets" are like headlines, and writing them is a wonderful exercise--the kind teachers use a lot. Focus. Make your point. Give me a precis, a log line. It's like the old telegram--a little before my time, mind you, but you sent a message and paid by the word. Great way to get announcements out. Or jokes. I followed a retweet to Stephen Colbert, and I was soon laughing my head off. Great online entertainment. (Aaagh! Where did the last 30 minutes go?)

I enjoy blogging because it's a two-way street. Unless I'm missing something, that isn't the purpose of Twitter. You follow people who do something that interests you. You find out what they're up to in 140 or fewer characters. I know a few people--mostly Eagles--who wish I would get my message across that succinctly, but it doesn't happen very often. So I'll contribute my bird calls to the TopDownCrew tweetings, and I hope lots of Twitterers will follow us.

I'd love to hear about other people's experiences with Twitter. What do you get out of it? What do you expect from a Twitterer? Do you follow personal friends? Celebrities? Politicians? Businesses? Do you respond to tweets? What's with the "retweeting"? What do you think of the 140 character format? Doesn't it lend itself to misinformation, misunderstanding, becoming the dreaded "Tweet of the Day"?

Guest: Susan Meier

Please welcome Harlequin Romance author, Susan Meier to the convertible today!  Susan will give away a set of her newest releases MAID FOR THE MILLIONAIRE and MAID FOR THE SINGLE DAD to one lucky commenter!

WOULD POPCORN SURVIVE A NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST?

Now that my kids are older, and not eating every meal with us, we find ourselves throwing away a lot more food that is past its expiration date. So we shop more carefully, but we also don’t simply trust that the milk will be good. We check the date on everything before we pour or spoon or taste.

But one thing I’ve noticed that seems to be good no matter what the date is popcorn. I’ve popped some popcorn packets that were over a year past the eat-by date. It made me wonder: If there was ever a nuclear war would cockroaches and popcorn be the only survivors? And if they were, what would they do? Would the cockroaches find the popcorn and use it as food? Or would they peacefully coexist?

That really sounds like an insane thing to ponder, but I’ve been thinking weird things like this my whole life. I thought I was insane until I went to my first writer’s organization meeting. Then I found my people. My tribe. My kindred spirits. Some of whom think about things even stupider than my internal debate about cockroaches, popcorn and nuclear holocaust.

Finding my tribe caused me to realize that everybody has a place, a group, an occupation or even a town where they simply fit. I’m a firm believer that if people spent more time searching for their authentic self and then got themselves into that group, they’d be happier. Instead, we look around at people we think are cool and we try to be them.

Kinda crazy.

Teenagers, I think, suffer from this problem the most. Even in trying to rebel they copy each other.

So right now you’re probably wondering what this has to do with romance novels, specifically the two books I have coming out this summer.

MAID FOR THE MILLIONAIRE and MAID FOR THE SINGLE DAD tell the stories of Liz and Ellie. Liz was married to the love of her life, a guy so rich she never felt she fit and she left him. Penniless, she did the only thing she could to earn money…she cleaned houses.

She didn’t care that she had been the wife of a millionaire and was now cleaning houses. Her marriage had failed and she had to support herself. She had learned the lesson that money bought neither love nor happiness and she’d decided to be her real self, to live life on her terms. Oddly, becoming the strong woman she was meant to be brought her back into her ex-husband’s life.

She got so good and her demand got so high that ultimately, she hired other women to help her. Her first employee was Ellie.

Like Liz, when Ellie escaped her abusive situation, she didn’t give a flying fig what anybody thought of her. Glad to be alive, she vowed to be herself.

Both stories are poignant and powerful, but filled with fun and laughter too, because when someone is being his or herself there’s usually a lot of laughter involved.

Truth is a powerful thing.

So for me belonging isn’t about fitting everywhere. It’s about fitting the important places. With the man I chose to share my life with. With my family. With the women I truly call friend. And with my writing buddies.

susan

Starting a New Book

I started a new book yesterday, the 6th in the Mirabelle Island series, and you know me. Had to find pictures of my hero and heroine for inspiration. Had fun looking through pictures of faces that seemed to match my characters.

My heroine, Grace, grew up on Mirabelle. Her father was the island pastor, a mild-mannered man, but she never got along with her mother. After a troubled period as a teenager , she rebelled and left the island to become a world famous model. After a tragic car accident that led to her divorce, she's back on the island, licking her wounds. I know what Grace looks like ... Gisele Bundchen ...


Gisele is married to New England's Patriot quarterback, Tom Brady, but he doesn't fit my hero. Not exactly sure who does, so help me out here.

Hero, Sean, is the relatively new doctor on the island. He comes from a high-pressure family of doctors - father is a neurosurgeon, sister a stem-cell researcher and brother a renowned cardiologist. Sean rebelled by becoming an ER doc in LA and after burning out, he moves to Mirabelle. Having too much time on his hands, he buys the island stable and carriage operation, and he loves working with the horses.

Naturally, my thoughts traveled to actors who have played doctors on TV.

Does Sean sound like Matthew Fox?


Or ... Eric Dane?


And Anna D got me wondering ... what about Leonardo????



Decisions. Decisions. Who looks like he fits with Gisele?

Helen

Most Influential Women of our Time ...

My guys are out of town, camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota for five--count 'em, five--nights. Some women hate being alone at home. Me? I love it. Introvert. Workaholic. Writer. Get the picture?

One of the things I look forward to when I'm home alone is catching up on movies that no one else in my family wants to see, like foreign flicks and musicals. So more than a week ago I set my Netflix queue in anticipation of this event. NINE is on the list. So is CREATION, a biopic about Charles Darwin starring Paul Bettany. And THE LAST STATION, a biopic on Leo Tolstoy. Looking forward to all of them.

Last night, I watched COCO AVANT CHANEL, another biopic about the life of Gabrielle Chanel before she became a famous designer. (Don't ask me why so many biopics are on my list. It just happened that way.) This was good movie that I believe ran fairly true to life. The acting was impeccable. I love Audry Tautou (pictured on the left), and Coco Chanel was much more interesting that I'd expected. I had no idea she was such a major influence in women's fashion.

She was born in 1883, and while the fashion of her time included dresses with corsets and monstrous hats with feathers, Coco preferred trousers and small straw hats. She got her start in the fashion business with hat-making and was initially financed with funding from a man who was purported to be the love of her life. (Spoiler Alert: their 9 year affair - the length of which was not made clear in the movie - ended tragically when he died in a car accident.) She became known for her loose fitting, elegant clothing for women made out of jersey, a material previously used only for men's underwear!

I was so intrigued by the movie that I did a little more research and was surprised to find that she stayed on in Paris during the German occupation in World War II, although closed her dress shops, believing there were more important things that fashion during that time. She not only was rumored to have had a spy with an important German officer and Nazi spy, she was also later arrested by the Gestapo accused of being a British spy. The British royal family intervened on her behalf, ensuring she evaded trial.

Here's the real Chanel.

She refused to marry, but the list of men with whom she was rumored to have had affairs is impressive, including Igor Stravinsky. When asked why she turned down a proposal of marriage from the Duke of Westminster, she replied, "There have been several Duchesses of Westminster. There is only one Chanel."

An unabashed workaholic, she worked until the day she died at the age of 88. She was listed by TIME as one of the top 100 most influential people of the past century and was the only person from the fashion industry to be included in that list. And she smoked like a chimney. Who knew?

The movie got me wondering about other influential women, so I checked out TIME's century list. I wasn't surprised to see Oprah Winfrey, Condoleezza Rice or Hilary Clinton listed, but I was surprised to see Lucille Ball, Princess Diana, Aretha Franklin and Marilyn Monroe.

What women do you think have been some of the most influential of the last century?

Helen