ADVENTURES IN HAIR

We've been promising you a surprise and today's the day for the big reveal. First hint: You may have noticed a few changes on our Header. For one thing, we've gone from 'chicks who rock and write' to 'Fiction in the Fast Lane'!! Woo Woo. We've also moved our names to the side of the header instead of beneath it. Looks classy, huh? BUT, the biggest change on the header is: TA DA - we have a new rider!!! The fabulous, fun and fantastic Leanne Banks has officially hopped in the 'vert and will be riding along with us from now on. Yay!!!!!
So, please give Leanne a big warm Rider welcome, will you? We just know you're going to love having her along for the ride as much as we are!

Without further ado ... heeeeeerrrrrreeeee'sssssss Leannnneeeee.....

I’m so excited about joining the Top Down Writers that I can hardly stand it. I’m grinning like a loon. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your fab group!:)

I suppose I could have chosen something profound for my first as an “official rider”, but my brain kept returning to the subject of ... hair.

I was born bald. My mom told me the advantage of bald babies is that they look cleaner longer.

Since I was the third daughter, I’m thinking that may have been a good thing. When my hair finally came in, it was blonde with the consistency of cotton candy. I always got bad bedhead after a nap. As a result, my mother kept my hair short for the first ten years of my life while I dreamed of long locks that reached all the way down my back. With my fine hair? Never. Gonna. Happen.

Teenage years hit along with hormones and my hair turned the color of dirt. So highlighting began. First with a paint-brush. I ended up with leopard spots. Then came the cap.

Have you noticed that we sometimes change our hair when we go through big life changes? In my case, I chopped mine off in a pixie cut six months after I got married. Surprised the heck out of my husband. After my first child was born, I briefly went red. After my second child was born, I dyed my hair dark brown.

With varying success, I’ve had foils for highlights and lowlights for the last – (sheesh!) ten years... or longer. Lately, however, I’ve begun to resent the moolah and perhaps even more so, the time spent rotting in the hairdresser’s chair. Every six to eight weeks, shell out the money and spend two to three hours in “the chair”. So I’ve decided to rebel and attempt to handle most of my hair color on my own. It’s not as if the hairdressers do a perfect job. (woman in foils Photo credit: Alan Berner, The Seattle Time)

Surely I should be able to mess up my own hair for a lot less money. Yes?

What about you? Have you ever made a dramatic change to your hair? Do you master your hair color? Or does it master you? How often do you go to “the chair”?

I’m giving away all three books from my Silhouette Desire series: Medici Men.

Welcome Leanne Banks and Games People Play-

We're really jazzed to have Leanne Banks riding with us today! Leanne has been my buddy for years and it's just a thrill to have her here. Make sure you check out her new supper hot, super fun TROUBLE IN HIGH HEELS. It's a great pick me up after a long hard winter! So, please welcome my buddy, Leanne. Thanks! Cindy


We have these great friends -- Ann and Ray Cholewinski. Ann is a constant “ray” of sunshine. Ray is Mr. Be-Prepared. Gotta love them both. It’s a big deal for me to host people at my home. I’m terrified they’ll learn how disorganized I am and stop loving me. I’m not dirty. Just cluttered. My husband and I do a mad-dash de-clutter before we receive guests. Ray and Ann love us anyway.:)


Ann loves to play games. Her family of origin is partly to blame. They hold the “Lineberry” Olympics every summer where the multitudes of the Lineberry clan gather and compete in golf and other games such as racing with a balloon between your legs, threading a needle, etc… Competitors range from young children to seniors, and winners receive a trophy. Ann brings her game-loving ways to many gatherings.

Last weekend I served BBQ, green beans and potatoes, and Ghiradelli brownies. The “Chows” brought homemade slaw… and two interesting games “Would you rather?” and “Whoonu?” We officially played “Whoonu?” I came in second, but it’s mostly about the cards you’re given and the fun is in learning about your co-players. Players take turns choosing their favorite and least favorite ranking their choices1-6. Ann got lucky and chose my top two favorites in one of the turns -- room service and TOMATOES. I would almost ‘ho myself out for homegrown tomatoes! Although one of my fave frozen veggies is broccoli with low-fat butter-ish sauce, it just doesn’t come close to tomatoes. I had horrible cards and made a big mistake and chose climbing a tree for my husband. (Yikes, he’s afraid of heights!) I was busy remembering a tree I climbed when I was a child. My nostalgia got in the way of thinking about what he would like, (however one of my other choices was talking on the phone! So what was I to choose!).

More confession: I totally hate buncko. I’m hanging my head in shame, but I find it irritating. There’s no skill. There’s no psychology. There’s no real math (THANK GOD). There’s technically no way to “learn” from this game. I will play it to attempt to be social, but it’s really hard for me. That said, I suspect it’s so mindless that you could gossip if you really wanted and if you didn’t imbibe too much wine because you were bored out of your mind.:) Not that I ever would. Tee-hee.

I’ve read that playing bridge can help prevent Alzheimers. My mother is an avid Bridge player and at 78, she’s sharp as a tack. She also does Sudoku. I’m convinced part of the reason my daughter and son-in-law got married is because they play card games. My son-in-law plays genius Sudoku and kicks butt. My mother says he’s a sharp guy and I trust her. She’s a smart girl.:)

One of my favorite group games is Left Right Center or Screw Your Neighbor. You put 3 bucks in front of you and roll a set of dice with LRC and dot on them. (L)Left means one dollar goes to the person on your left, (R)right means one dollar goes to the person on your right, (C) Center goes to he pot and you never get it back. Dot means you get to keep it. We’ve played this so that the pot goes to brides, grooms, new mothers, new fathers and, grandparents and charities. We’re all screaming throughout the game. Try it.

Oh crap, I was supposed to tell you about my new book, TROUBLE IN HIGH HEELS. It’s a fun book. It will not give you a headache or heartache. It might even make you smile and feel better. Check it out on my website at www.leannebanks.com And even though it’s totally unrelated, I thought it might be valuable to get a word of advice from my 4 1/2 pound Pomeranian named Bijou.


So what’s your fave game? I’m giving away a book to one of the responders.

xo,
Leanne

Guest Author: Leanne Banks

Hi. Cindy here. It's my very great pleasure to welcome my buddy and author extraordinare, Leanne Banks to the convertible.

Leanne and I go way back to the Bantam Loveswept days - anyone out there remember Loveswept? Big sigh. Loved writing those books.

But I digress. We've both moved on - first to Silhouette Desire and then to single title. With over 40 titles to her credit, Leanne is now a USA Today and New York Times bestseller. Woo Woo, Leanne!! I'm so proud of you. Give her a big welcome and make her feel at home, okay?
And without further ado ... heeeeerrrrrreeeee's Leanne...........

Hello, everyone. Virgin Rider...

Okay, well sorta.:) You’ll understand more in a minute. But first, RIDERS, thank you so much for letting me join your fab party! I’m so honored!

And when I thought about your blog title, riding with the top down, I thought of a few different things -

Girls Gone Wild – topless, top down, get it?

Writing my first book - more of that naked feeling..

The times I’ve ridden with the top down.

The first time, I did it on a motorcycle. Get your mind out of the gutter. Not that it! The first time I rode with the top down was on a motorcycle, which isn’t a convertible, but it was daring and the wind was blowing in my face and hair and it was so cool. I loved it and rushed home to tell my mother how wonderful it was. She told me, “I’m glad you enjoyed it, because you’re not doing it again. No more motorcycle rides.” See, she knew that the ER calls motorcycles “donor-mobiles."

The next time, I was fifteen and I rode in Steve Key’s red/orange MG Midget. To me, he was so good-looking and my first real boyfriend. It only lasted three months, but ohhh, it was nice. Until the angsty break-up because not only did he have killer eyes and dark hair, but there was that cute car. In retrospect, though, that angst served a useful purpose because I’ve used it in my books.

Since then, I remember taking a convertible for a spin when we considered buying one. A different experience as an adult. I was shocked when the sales guy turned on the heat at the same time he put the top down. And there were rides in jeeps. I was tempted to buy a convertible for myself when I finally had some choice (and credit). I think that was about five years ago. I chose a modified convertible – a car with a moonroof. So, now I can ride with part of the top down any time I want...

What about you? When was your first time riding with the top down? And how do you ride with the top down now?

Xo,

Leanne Banks

www.leannebanks.com

Guest Blogger: Leanne Banks

Make sure to stop by on Wednesday, 4/25, to visit with Leanne Banks, author of 43 romances with HQN, Bantam and Silhouette and now as a co-author with Janet Evanovich for St. Martins Press.

HOT STUFF, co-written with Janet, debuted at #3 on the New York Times list. Way to go, Ladies!!

We're so excited to have you blog with us. And big time congrats on the NYT nod! You so deserve it.