One Tough Marine launch winners!

Congratulations to Genia, Carla, Laryssa and Lisa G, the winners of the four $10 bookstore eGift Cards! Please email me at paulagraves (at) charter.net (close spaces and use the @ symbol) and tell me what online bookstore you'd like your eGiftcard from.

Thanks for commenting!

Blogging on Intrigue Authors today

It's another Q & A, this time with Luke Cooper, the sexy ex-Marine hero of my August book, One Tough Marine.

Like last time, I'll be giving away a $10 eGift Card to a commenter at random--you can choose your favorite online book store and I'll buy you a gift card!

Want a little hint of what you'll find at the Intrigue Blog? Well, how about this cryptic answer:

A: I knew what they'd choose. They'd take their chances. And any one of them could end up dead.

What was the question? Click the link above and find out!

Blogging on Pink Heart Society today

It's all about the U.S. Marines.

Please drop by and give me a little comment love!

Book Launch: One Tough Marine! UPDATED

Welcome to the book launch of One Tough Marine, my August 2010 release from Harlequin Intrigue, which just made the Borders Series Romance Bestseller List! It's my first time to ever make the list, so I'm beyond thrilled.

By the way, due to my very bad scheduling, I'm also featured in a Q & A on Mysteries and Margaritas today, so if you want to drop by and hear my answers to Kari's great questions, you know how to click the link.

Now back to the book launch!

One Tough Marine is my seventh book from Harlequin Intrigue, but it's the first one to ever deal with subject matter I once swore I'd never touch as an author.

That's right, I'm talking about secret babies.

I've never really understood the appeal of secret baby stories. I know a lot of readers must love them, because a lot of books are built around that popular hook. But I always have trouble with the motivations involved.

Why would the heroine keep something so important from the child's father? I mean, I could see why she would if the father was an abusive creep or a crime lord or something. More power to her for lying her head off. But she's invariably lying to the guy who's going to be the hero of our book. How are we supposed to root for a woman who'd keep that kind of secret from the hero?

So you can imagine my surprise when I was plotting One Tough Marine and realized that the heroine's young son belonged to the hero. See, when I first started conceiving of the story, I thought the baby was the son of the heroine's late husband, and the hero would be protecting her and the little boy because he was the late husband's best friend.

But almost as soon as I got into the meat of the story, I realized the little boy had to be the hero's son. It raised all the stakes exponentially, complicated both the internal and external conflicts, and just all around made for a better story.

But once I committed to the secret baby story, I had to work really, really hard to motivate my heroine—and hero—in ways that allowed both characters to remain honorable and rootable. To generate sympathy for the heroine, I had to give her a very good reason to keep the secret. And then, for the hero, I had to provide a sympathetic reason to have deliberately made the heroine believe he would be an unreliable or indifferent father. Whew! That was a tough assignment.

I'll be interested in seeing if people think I've accomplished the task—not just people who love secret baby stories but also people who don't.

I'll be drawing four--that's right, four--winners from the comments to receive copies of your choice of any 2 back list books I still have available (including my January and February Intrigues, the first two books in the Cooper Justice saga)--or a $10 eGift card or certificate from the online bookstore of your choice.

So get to talking! Are you a fan of a secret baby story? If so, what makes them appealing to you? And if you're a secret baby story skeptic, like I was (and mostly still am), what would a writer have to do to convince you to go along with her secret baby story?

UPDATED

I realized a $5 gift card wouldn't cover shipping for even one book, so I've upped the total to $10. And you get two back list books if you go that route. So even bigger prizes! Tell your friends. Tweet about it. Drop a line on Facebook. Let's get this party started!

Blogging on Intrigue Authors

I forgot to tell y'all that this morning.

Anyway, I blogged a Q & A with Abby Chandler, the heroine of my August book One Tough Marine. (Click the link to the side if you haven't ordered your copy yet!)

Click the link above and ask Abby your questions! I'll be drawing the name of a commenter to win a $10 gift certificate to the online bookstore of your choice (as long as they offer eGiftcards or certificates).

Blogging on Writerspace Blogs today

I'm blogging today on U.S. Marines and why I think they make great romantic heroes.

I'm giving away a prize to a random commenter, so join the conversation! Click on the link above and leave your comments. We're talking about what kind of romance heroes rev our engines. So to speak. :)

My Blog Schedule for August - Updated 8/5/10

I promised a few days ago that I'd be posting my blog schedule for the month of August. Here it is:

8/6/10 - Writerspace Blog
Update: My topic is U.S. Marines. Mmmm.

8/10/10 - One Tough Marine in stores

8/10/10 - Launch Party on Spinsters & Lunatics
Be sure to show up for this one. I'll be giving away prizes, answering all your questions about the upcoming books (well, except spoilery ones) and discussing what's in store for the final (sob!) three Cooper Justice books if you're interested in hearing about those.

8/11/10 - Petit Fours and Hot Tamales

8/15/10 - Romance Magicians Blog

8/16/10 - Pink Heart Society Blog

8/18/10 - Intrigue Authors Blog

8/20/10 - Tawny Weber's Blog
Just turned this one in, so I know what it's about. It's called Quick Six, and it's a set of either/or questions. Sort of like "Paper or plastic?" only more fun. And at the end, I ask YOU to answer an either/or question. Commenters automatically qualify to win a couple of my backlist books, so if you're missing any, this could be a good time to comment, as I'll let you pick your choice of my backlist.

8/26/10 - Intrigue Authors Blog

Bachelor Sheriff now available on eHarlequin

See?

And while we're on the topic of my books, I'm planning to do a book launch for One Tough Marine on Tuesday, August 10th. I'll be giving away prizes and answering all your questions—well, most of your questions, so mark your calendars and make plans to be here on Tuesday the 10th to celebrate the official publication date of my 7th Harlequin Intrigue.

And in a few days, I'll also be posting my blog schedule for August. I have several guest blog posts coming up, and I'd love a little comment love from my buddies here on Spinsters and Lunatics. So keep an eye out for that as well.