Friday Chit Chat

Happy Friday. I haven't posted in about a week, so it's time to catch up. Plus, I'm on vacation until after the 4th, so I have a little time to blather on. I don't have a particular topic, just a few things I've been meaning to mention, and now is as good a time as any.

First, the gratuitous, self-serving plug. FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION is still on the book shelves, but I don't know for how much longer. You may or may not know that category (i.e. Harlequin/Silhouette) books don't usually stay in book stores, grocery stores or your local Wal-Mart or Target for more than two or three weeks before they're cycled out and the new books are cycled in. So if you're thinking about buying someone's category romance (like FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION--buy early, buy often), you really do need to get to the bookstore quickly, because they don't stock a whole lot per store, and they don't stay in the stores that long. Fortunately, places like Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com and the on-line versions of Wal-Mart and Target do have the books in stock online much longer. So it's not too late, even if your local store has sold out of FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION.

/Gratuitous, self-serving plug

Yesterday was my birthday. We're not big birthday people in my family. You're lucky if someone remembers it and says Happy Birthday. (I'm looking at YOU, brother dearest). But we do generally do the birthday cake thing around here, and I got to choose what I wanted. Now, if it were my sister's choice, or her kids, I'd have gotten a big rectangular flat cake with lots of frosting balloons, flowers and writing. But I'm just not into all that stuff, so I requested a simple Red Velvet cake. Yum. They bought it at the local Food World and it was delicious.

Hopping topics like a mad woman, last week, my editor asked me to do a cowboy hero for an "all heroes" promotion Intrigue plans to do next year. My first instinct was sheer panic. I'm that person you run into on writers' message boards who bemoans the glut of "Cowboy, Baby and Bride" books out there in category as it is. Plus, I was born in the city, I grew up in the city, and though I live outside the city at the moment, I'm in a suburban town, not the country, and my exposure to cows and horses is pretty much limited to occasional visits to my extended family in rural Alabama. I've never met a real cowboy, though I once attended a local rodeo. Yeah, I'm really the person to write a cowboy book.

But I actually do like cowboys. I used to watch Bonanza. I liked Tom Selleck in Louis L'Amour movies he did a while back. I read Zane Grey books as a child. I'm prepared, right?

Of course, I hedged my bets a bit when I started plotting . The bulk of the story is set in cities and towns along the road from Philadelphia to the Wyoming Rockies, not on a working cattle ranch. And my hero, while raised on a Wyoming ranch, left it to seek his way in the world. But I do think I understand the appeal of wide opens spaces and the sort of gritty, pioneer spirit that makes a cowboy who and what he is. The ideas of honor and responsibility and the siren call of the land appeal to me as well. So in spirit, I think I can write a cowboy and make him the kind of guy readers will love. With lots and lots of research.

I hope you'll also love the heroine who transforms his life and gives him a greater sense of what the word "home" really means.

I guess I'll let that be it from me for now. Since I'm on vacation, I'll try to blog a little more regularly this week.

Sweet TonyOnAHorse, That was a Show!

Yesterday's Days of Our Lives episode was the best the show has been in about two decades. The dueling Brady and Dimera families each had family dinners to discuss the feud situation between the families. Old friends showed up (Anna! Back in Salem!) and internecine rivalries erupted into near violence and one of the most hysterically funny faux displays of brotherly reconciliation I've ever seen.

Good soap, people. Good Soap.

Chat Reminder

I'll be chatting tomorrow night, Sunday the 17th, on Writerspace. 8 pm central time (9 eastern, 6 Pacific). I hope you'll join me so I'm not sitting there twiddling my thumbs all alone with the moderator!

Launch Party!

FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION should be out in book stores tomorrow, so its Launch Party time again! Tomorrow night from 7 pm to 9 pm Central Time (That's 8 - 10 Eastern, 6 - 8 Mountain and 5 to 7 Pacific), I'll be giving away books and Amazon.com gift certificates and answering your questions about my upcoming book. Anything you want to know, from how I got the idea to what the story went through before it sold, what's coming on the horizon, etc., ask it in the comments section of this blog post and I'll be here Tuesday night to answer them all. And try to make it on Tuesday night to be part of the prize giveaways!

Kira gets The Call!

My Southern Magic and Heart of Dixie chaptermate Kira Bazzel got THE CALL. Her book Curing Dr. Desire has sold to Brenda Chin at Harlequin Blaze!

Go visit The Writing Playground; I'm sure they'll be updating with all the scoop soon!

Five Stars!

CataRomance gave FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION a 5 star rating! Check out the review.

Remembering a Friend

Her name was Marcey Jo Swearingen, and she was thirty-seven years old. She was friendly, supportive, wickedly funny and genuinely welcoming. She was from Enterprise, Alabama, and was attending college. She loved Steve and Kayla on Days of Our Lives, and wanted to meet Stephen Nichols one day.

She died on Saturday, May 12th, of complications from the 'flu.

I never met her in person. I have no idea what she looked like. I only know what I know of her from her posts on a message board I frequent and from the occasional chats we participated in together. But when I heard she was gone, the shock, dismay and--yes--heartache I experienced were real.

It's amazing how you can find community and family anywhere you go. As a Christian, I've often felt that sense of community and family among strangers in strange places when I learned we shared that common religious experience. I've found it when I've been out west or up north and ran into a fellow southerner. Part of what made me notice Marcey from among the hundreds of fellow posters, besides her wit and her sweetness, was that she was an Alabama girl like me.

I'll miss Marcey's funny posts and her wry asides. I'll miss her passion and her sweetness. But I'm also grateful that in the sorrow of her passing, I've found a moment to reflect on the very human need for connections and community. It's a good reminder for people, like us writers, who often toil in solitude, that we are not really all alone in the world.

Laura Shin blogging at Pink Ladies

Harlequin Superromance editor Laura Shin is blogging at the Pink Ladies blog. It's always a treat when someone who has the power to buy your book takes the time to give you some advice, and this is particularly good advice if you're in the middle of revising a book. Go read.

Look What's Up at eHarlequin

http://www.eharlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=14811

I just turned in a proposal for a fourth book yesterday--Code Name: WILLOW. It's not connected to the Forbidden series. And it's not really connected to the series idea I'm working on now. But it's an already completed manuscript, which is a plus.

It's won a couple of contests and placed second in the 2005 Daphne du Maurier contest, so I'm hoping my editor likes it.

Top Pick!

FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION got 4.5 stars and a Top Pick from Romantic Times Book Reviews!

Aaaaaahhhhh!

BTW, the website shows only 4 stars, but as you can see in the review itself, the actual score is 4.5:

Psychic Rose Browning finds herself swept up in an investigation into a serial killer with a predilection for young blondes. Scorned by the police when she tries to explain the "death veils" she sees covering the faces of future victims, Rose hooks up with former FBI profiler Daniel Hartman to catch the maniac before he kills again. Daniel, however, has a personal interest in the case: He believes the killer may be the same man who murdered his fiancee nine years earlier. Paula Graves offers up a top-notch psychological roller coaster in Forbidden Temptation (4.5).

I'm so excited!

UPDATED:

The RT website has now corrected the error and given me my cute little 1/2.

BTW, I'm not ignoring your comments; for some reason, my computer doesn't want to let me post to the comments section. I'm working on that.

This, that and the other...

Quick blog entry today, just so y'all won't think I've fallen off the face of the earth.

May 1st, my new book, FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION, will be available for purchase from eHarlequin.com. It'll be available in stores around June 12th--remember, series books like Intrigues don't stay on the shelves long, so buy it while it's still available. On June 12th, be sure to check here at the blog for my book launch blog party!

On Saturday, May 5, 2007, Heart of Dixie Romance Writers will be holding their annual Reader's Luncheon. There's still time to register if you hurry.

I've picked my story for my next book project, working title EXTREME PREJUDICE. The hero is an American raised in England (thus he speaks with a British accent). A former Regional Security Officer with the State Department, he's now working for a private global security firm which has sent him to work undercover as security for hire for a former State Dept. bigwig who may have terrorist ties. When he arrives at a formal dinner/ball to make contact with his target, he's shocked to find the suspect dancing with the one woman from his past he's never really gotten over. Can he set aside his feelings to accomplish his mission? Or will honor and duty fall victim to the affairs of the heart?

Well, that's it for now. I'll try to post a little more frequently now that my book deadline and tax season have passed.

So, What to Do With the Freedom?

Book Three is done. DONE. Gone to the editor and already received. Whew.

Now what?

I have a completed manuscript that I'll probably pitch next to my editor, and then it's time to buckle down and work on a proposal for another three-book series. (Actually, I'm hoping it'll turn into a multi-book series, but let's start with the first three and see how it goes).

Let me just preface what I'm about to say by saying one thing---I think my new series idea is going to be based around a security agency filled by former government agent types--CIA, DEA, FBI, Secret Service, Diplomatic Security Service, former military, etc. They have all left their government work to work for this security agency, whose mission is to do the jobs that the government can't--or won't--do.

So, with that in mind, because I'm completely open for ideas within the parameters of that set-up, what are some of the "hooks" you like most? Secret baby? Marriage of convenience? Bad boy/good girl? Bodyguard hero? Lay 'em on me.

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have Cover

Ain't he purty?

Once again, I'm pretty sure my hero was never in the rain wearing a t-shirt. But I'm so gonna write in a wet t-shirt scene in book three.

Just a reminder or two

FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION is available for pre-order at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble online and Books a Million online.

FORBIDDEN TERRITORY is also still available from Amazon and B & N. I think BAM is sold out.

I'm hoping to get a .jpg of my cover sometime in the next week or two. As soon as I do, I'll show it to you. :)

Meanwhile, I'm in the last stretch on FORBIDDEN TOUCH. It's coming in long (when have I ever come in short???), but I think I can trim it to a manageable size by the deadline.

Romance Magicians blog

Test your visual perception skills.

You'll thank me later.

Casting Call

So, as y'all probably remember from a previous blog post, I have already "cast" Josh Holloway as the Maddox Heller, the hero of FORBIDDEN TOUCH.

And really, is there any other person to play the role of ruthless CIA agent Alexander Quinn than my beloved Kiefer?

But I'm not sure who to cast as Iris Browning.

Here's what I know about her: She's 29-30 years old, shoulder-length dark brown hair, coffee-colored eyes, a little too slender (it's a plot point, though she's not anorexic or anything like that), and pretty without being a beauty queen type. I considered someone like Summer Glau:

But she's doesn't have quite the look I'm envisioning. But she's the general type.

Anyone have any suggestions? Art Fact Sheet time is fast approaching.

Sold Again!

Got great news from my editor this afternoon. Book three, tentatively titled FORBIDDEN TOUCH, has sold to Harlequin Intrigue. It's probably going to come out in early 2008. This is the book that has been sitting unfinished on my counter to the right for a while. But I'm close to finishing it, and I have until March 31st to deliver the complete manuscript to my editor. I think that's very doable.

It's the one with my bad boy hero I love so much--I'm glad everybody's going to get the chance to meet Maddox, too!

So, I've Been Remiss...

...in reminding everyone that JACK IS BACK!



We just finished up hour five of 24, and boy, is America in the middle of a big mess! A suitcase nuke has gone off in Valencia, CA, and there are four more undetonated nukes somewhere in America, under the control of a terrorist mastermind named Fayed. But the only guy Fayed knew who could make the detonator work got blown up by the nuke, so now he's calling every Terrorists R Us in the world, looking for a new detonator guy. It might be a little easier to find one if he didn't have to admit that the last one got incinerated in a mushroom cloud, though.

To catch up on all the 24 action, I recommend Blogs for Bauer or Dave Barry's blog, where he liveblogs 24 every Monday night.

Hey, Look What's Up on Amazon

Forbidden Temptation has its own page on Amazon.com. Which means you can preorder it.

You do want to preorder it, don't you?

Of course you do.

Conference Time!

Where can you go to learn how to write romance southern-style?

Where can you go to meet 5 editors and 3 agents?

Where can you go to listen to Beverly Barton, Gayle Wilson, and Linda Howard speak?

At Romance in the Magic City in Birmingham, Alabama!

The writers' conference will be hosted by Southern Magic on March 30, 31, and April 1, 2007.Cost: $180 to $210 (pay by snail mail or PayPal)
(early registration rate deadline coming up)

Keynote speakers: Beverly Barton, Gayle Wilson, and Linda Howard.

Agent/editor appointments available for:

Tracy Farrell, HQN
Leslie Wainger, Silhouette Books
Melanie Murray, Warner (Hachette Books)
John Scognamiglio, Kensington Books
Hilary Rubin, St. Martin's Press
Kimberly Whalen, Trident Media
Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency
Vivian Beck, Vivian Beck Agency.

Workshops presented by: Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dianna Love Snell, Rhonda Pollero, Tina Gerow, Genie Davis, Linda Winstead Jones, and many more.

First 40 attendees to send in the full amount will receive a 2006 Romance Writers of America/Avon conference bag and a chance to win a critique of a partial from Kimberly Whalen with the Trident Media Group. You will receive the bag at registration and the drawing for the critique will be held Friday night.

Special hotel rate provided atWynfrey Hotel 1000 Riverchase Galleria Birmingham,.Alabama 35244 205- 987-1600 .. .. 800- 996-3739 .. 800-.WYNFREY www.wynfrey.com

Hotel attached to Galleria with 200 stores and 11 restaurants

For more information, check out http://www.southernmagic.org/conference.html