My Christmas anthology with Valerie Bowman, Vivienne Lorret & Ashlyn Macnamara, which released today in e-format! My story is titled Sophie & The Duke.

December 1, 2015
Buy the ebook:Kindle
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The holidays are a time for dining, dancing, and of course—dukes! Celebrate the Christmas season with this enchanting collection of historical romances featuring the most eligible bachelors of the ton…

A childish prank may have reunited the Duke of Hollingsworth with his estranged wife, but only the magic of Christmas will show this couple ’tis the season of second chances…

Sophie Kinsley planned to remain a wallflower at the Duke of Helmsworth’s ball. Yet when a dance with him leads to a stolen kiss, will the duke be willing to let her go? Or will Sophie’s Christmas wish be granted at last?

To the Duke of Vale, science solves everything—even marriage. When the impulsive Ivy Sutherland makes him question all of his data, he realizes that he’s overlooked a vital component in his search for the perfect match: love.

Patience Markham never forgot the fateful dance she had with the future Duke of Kingsbury. But when a twist of fate brings them together for Christmas Eve, will the stars finally align in their favor?

I don’t know where my ideas come from, but they always strike me in the midst of the project I’m working on… especially when I should be focusing on said current project.

I’m on my tightest deadline to date. I imagine, when I’m a pro at this, I’ll better be able to deal with these tight deadlines (yes, you can stop laughing now). I have 60K+ to write in the next 2.5 months. I’m not sure how I’ll do it. I can’t imagine there will be much sleep as my deadline approaches.

While I should be solely focused on my current characters, and just getting their story down, I have other ideas bombarding me. I wonder if it’s my subconscious trying to procrastinate? I already have my next five books mapped out in my head… but then out of nowhere (actually, while I was having a sucky writing day) I get another story idea. Sigh…

What I need is a challenge. A public challenge, ’cause I’m a gal of my word. Who wants to do a word challenge with me? Or a page challenge? I must finish this book sooner than my deadline, because I do not write the cleanest of first drafts…. I wish I was better at vomiting out the first draft! But it’s just not my thing.

I love first lines. They either grab me or they don’t. And if they grab me, I might just be sold on the whole story. I can think of a number of books that have sold me on first lines. Can you?

Speaking of first lines, let’s give you a teaser for my debut release, The Surrender of a Lady coming October 2010: “What do you mean, you’ll work this out? You’ve gambled me away! I’m your wife, for heaven’s sake!”

I have a habit of starting in the middle of the scene and with dialogue. Not sure why. Just always made the most sense with me. Mind you, the book I’m working on now starts in the head of my lovely hero. More about him another time.

Do you want the first line to be enough to make you wonder what’s next? Can you guess how a story is going to unfold, or what the theme might be by an opening line (or paragraph)? First lines are so important for setting the tone and mood that sometimes writers labor over them for months (sometimes even with the book is done).

Do you like the opening lines most? Or cherish the final lines of the book? Do you prefer an author who starts a story with narrative or dialogue? In the middle of a scene or at the beginning of a scene? Where do you other writers start your opening scenes?

They are the characters everyone usually hates in a book.

I often use them as a catalyst for the conflict. They are my seedy characters and tend to make your skin crawl (or at least I think and hope so).

In The Surrender of a Lady, my villain is actually an all around nice kind of guy. Yes, he has a harem full of slaves, and he keeps his pretty birds leashed inside their palace prison, but he cares for them in his own way. Still, he is a villain.

Before I went into my rewrite for The Seduction of his Wife (actually long before that), I knew I needed to feature my villain more than I previously had. I was avoiding writing more scenes with him. I dreaded thinking about him. Gooseflesh prickles on my arms whenever I conjure him up in my head (probably because I know him better than everyone else).

When writing, I like to get right into my characters head and portray them as I see them through their eyes (hey, I’m a writer, I’m allowed to be strange). I did NOT want to do this with Waverly. Pardon my French but, he scared the shit out of me.

You want to know why? Simple answer really. He was crazy! His mind so far gone from his abuse of drugs that he’s stark raving mad. Crazy as a cat strung out on a bag full of catnip. The devil in sheepskin is Waverly to a tee.

One of my crit partners suggested I do some scenes from his point-of-view when I was stuck on how to up the ante in the conflict department. I was quick to scream… ARE YOU CRAZY? Waverly is a lunatic, I am NOT going into his head. He scares me. I know he’s not real, but when you are writing a book the characters kind of come to life. Hell, I dream about my characters! I couldn’t imagine dreaming about Waverly. I get the shivers just thinking about him.

I don’t know how some writers go into the bad guys point of view. I envy them their ability (on second thought, maybe not). There was no way I could tell a scene from Waverly’s POV. I liked keeping him out of my head. I like to think it was safer and easier to stay sane that way.

For writers and readers–what are some of the creepiest villains you’ve read in romance? What made them creepy? For the other writers out there–how do you deal with villains in your writing? Do you dive right into their head? See them from a safe distance (in another character’s pov), or avoid them altogether?

CONGRATS TO THE WINNER!

Please send your info HERE

jedisakora

The winner was generated by random.org

I consider myself a prepared pantser. I don’t outline, I don’t make note cards, and I don’t generally have much of a clue as to where my story will go. But I do know my characters and where their romance takes place. If those two elements are strong in my mind, then inspiration surely follows.

For example, in writing SCOUNDREL’S KISS, I knew only two things going in: the heroine would be an opium addict and the hero would be a warrior monk. Their main conflict revolved around Gavriel’s promise to get her well. She was lost, yes, but also playful and very clever. He was in charge, but his low self-esteem is buried within the body of a trained killer.

I love seeing how two people fit together and meet one another’s needs. That, to me, is inspiration. Playing with the possibilities could send me into happy smiles all day. Once I carve out those unique dove tails, the plot can be whatever I want. My brain goes into overload and, well, weird stuff falls out.

This is the moment when I grab the nearest pen or keyboard. I brainstorm. Every. Possible. Idea. And oh my, some of them are utter crap. I imagined Ada dressing up as a dancing girl from a harem to rescue a secondary character. I thought of burning half of the Spanish countryside in a drought-fueled fire. I even pictured a genuine love triangle.

But in between ideas that never came to pass, I found a few gems: a runaway girl, a villainous monk, a chess match, a daring love scene by a river, a wedding night in prison, and trial by combat. All of those came to pass, and they’re why I’m never scared of writer’s block. If I get stuck, I simply consult my Big List of Possibilities. There awaits all of the ideas that sparked my imagination when I was first became enamored of an idea.

Looking over them again charges me up. Oh, I think, that’s why I wanted to write this hideous, dull, good-for-nothing story! Believe me, long about page 100 or 200 or 300—whenever it is that I get bogged down—any little jolt of excitement, even something as simple as remembering when it was once fresh and beautiful, is just the thing to get me going again. And in the case of SCOUNDREL’S KISS, a book I adore, the results were well worth the struggle!

(Note: If this method doesn’t get me going, then my “being stuck” is just fear and procrastination, in which case it doesn’t do a damn bit of good. That’s when I have a mocha and take a few hours off!)

Commenters will be entered into a draw for a copy of Carrie Lofty’s Scoundrel’s Kiss.

CONGRATS TO THE WINNERS!

Please send your info HERE

RKCharron

And

Armenia

Winners were generated by random.org

I don’t believe in love at first sight. I do believe in lust at first sight. I do believe that people will do many silly, insipid, romantic, and crazy things for the latter. And I do believe that people will lay their heart and sometimes lives on the line for the former.

This is all a very roundabout way to explain my love of the ‘in love with my brother’s best friend ‘or ‘in love with my sister’s best friend’ plotline. My characters are not meeting for the first time and experiencing these overwhelming feelings for each other. Yes, I believe lust is a very strong emotion, and that some of us confuse, at the beginning, lust for love. But a good romance for me has to convince me that the feelings the characters feel are REAL not some imitation of the real thing.

Being infatuated with your brother’s handsome and charming best friend is almost inevitable for any young girl. He’s older. He’s usually very kind to you. He may come by your house frequently. You get a glimpse into his life that you don’t with your own male counterparts. Did I mention he’s gorgeous? J The thing about this plotline is that a reader can easily see it happening to them and that what entices them every time even if they’ve read it time and time before, as each author will apply their own fresh twist on this very tried and true storyline.

So the story starts with a familiarity between the characters, and the change of feelings from infatuation to full-blown love has either already occurred or will occur right before your eyes. And it seems natural. The things the hero or heroine will do for the want and love of the other doesn’t appear as far-fetched as if they’d met the week or even month before. Years have passed and still their feelings persist. Lust alone doesn’t last that long. It can disappear as quickly as it begins. So if the hero or heroine’s feelings were based on lust, those feelings wouldn’t have endured the passing of time. And in romance novels, as we know, love endures.

And then of course there is the forbidden aspect of that relationship, which makes conflict inevitable. Brothers don’t usually think any of their friends are good enough for their sisters. These are men who hang out together, get rowdy together, drink together, and talk women together. Good gracious no, not the likes of you for my saintly sister! Who doesn’t love a good conflict with so much at stake, (long held friendships, family relationships, honor) and your best friend impeding the progress of a relationship with the woman you want so badly? As a reader, this set-up has always worked for me, and as a writer it was the plotline that called out to me to tackle first. And I’m so glad it did because that in essence is my debut, SINFUL SURRENDER.

What about you, what is your favourite plotline? The one that will ALWAYS pique your interest?

All commenters will be entered into a draw for one of two copies of Beverley’s book, SINFUL SURRENDER!

CONGRATS, OKIE B!

Tell me what book you like from my top list and I’ll send it to you.

You can email me here

Elyssa here. (Sorry, Tiff, I’m tagging onto your post.) Thanks to everyone who commented yesterday.

CONGRATS, STEPHANIE J!!!!

Tell me what book you’d like from my top list, and I’ll send it to you.

Please email me your snail mail address here.

So we’ve decided to do our top ten reads this year. Our absolute favorite books we’ve read.

1. Anna Campbell, Tempt the Devil
With an AC book, you know you are going to get depth, an emotionally evocative story and your heart is going to go out to the characters.

2. Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
foolish woman that I am, I started this book on a Sunday night at seven. I did not go to bed till three in the morning. This is the best damn Post Apocalyptic book I have EVER read. I’d have to say it is my favorite young adult too!

3. Christine Warren, Big Bad Wolf
Hotness Galore. It’s no secret that I love shifters. And this book was sexy, emotional, and had plenty of fur and fang and alpha boy to go around that wanted more even when I made it to the end.

4. Larissa Ione, Passion Unleashed
Ah, 2009… The year I discovered Larissa Ione. (Actually it was Dec 08, hence the reason the first two books aren’t listed.)LI, you’ve made my year for Paras. Her books have everything the romance lover, urban fantasy lover, paranormal love could want. All mashed into awesomeness.

5.Nalini Singh, Branded By Fire
Surprise, surprise… more shifters. I’m just a ho for shifters *w*

6.Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie
This book surprised me. I’ve always loved me some JA. I read her in all her identities. But there was just something about this book. I’ll never forget it. I can actually recall details. And I don’t know the last time I’ve rooted more for a hero.

7. Tessa Dare, Goddess of the Hunt
When I read TD I had the same reaction as the first time I ever picked up and Julia Quinn. It gave me a certain giddiness to discover something I just enjoyed and smiled the whole way through reading.

8. Lora Leigh, Coyote’s Mate
9. Lora Leigh, Bengal’s Heart
Lora Leigh is a stable I require in my diet of reading. She’s my crack. I freely admit it. I love everything about her stories. From her tortured heroes and heroines to her stories that offer an equal amount of danger, adventure, kickassedness, romance. Okay, she tips the scales in hotness *g* I think her books have made my list every year.

10. Loretta Chase, Lord of Scoundrels
Yes, you read that right. Don’t know what took me so damn long to read it. It’s been sitting on my shelf for years. LC, you are brilliant. Have always been and will always be.

11. Toni Blake, One Reckless Summer
I have to add one more because I have two LLs. Toni Blake is the first contemporary romance author I had ever read. She’s brilliant. She has real characters. Characters that aren’t rich and famous. Have the best jobs ever. They are people like everyone else. And I love that.

I wish my list could be longer, but, alas, I must get ready for work.

PS. These books all have one thing in common… I stayed up all night to read them because I loved them so much. There are other books that are easier to put down. But I couldn’t do it with the titles listed above.

I bought all these books with my own damn money, FTC.

Tell us your favorite reads for 2009. Us vixens are a hosting a give-away contest. There will be a randomly picked winner for each of our blogs. Winners will get to choose one of the books in the vixen’s posting of favorite reads. The winners will be sent a brand new shiny book.

Can I say how happy I am to see the rear end of October. The whole month was about interference. It was like the world was conspiring against me to accomplish any single worthy task: in writing, at work, in life. Everything felt more or less as though it was in limbo.

Writing goals last month: hit 20K by Oct 31. Well, I did make it to 8K before the month ended. I did rewrite the beginning twice and cut a whole pile. I did lose my hard drive with all my research, but only about 10 pages of un-backed up WIP.

Life goals last month: That required too much thinking and figuring out to actually accomplish anything worthwhile. My kids spent the second half of the month sick. Halloween was a time suck and not overly enjoyable for me this year.

Work goals last month: fix my damn filing that is all wonky. Instead I feel like I’m trudging through sludge because it’s been crazy busy. I feel like I’m crawling on the ground with bloodied fingers from loss of nails. I get home at night and feel like a great big slump.

November goals: Hit 30K and write the synopsis by the end of the month. This is easy, only 19K to go and the synopsis is started, sort of, in long hand, so I’m tweaking that daily.

Kids are better. They are not allowed to be sick anymore. I’ve told them so 🙂

Work? Well, I say screw the filing system. It’s gonna have to wait, lol.

How’s everyone else been over the last month? Any interference in your life? Has it affected your writing life?