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 

Debra - Witch Way to the Monday Morning Review ?

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

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

Yep. Young adult. High School. Witches.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_occult_power_best_suits_you

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

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

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

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