Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Romantic Times — Houston, Texas
Uncategorized / April 28, 2007

Jade Lee and Sasha Lord were having a great time at the RT Booklovers Conference in Houston. It’s only Friday afternoon and Jade’s quiet — no voice! But she was able to stop by and chat with the Fresh Fiction crew for a time on Friday afternoon. She was joined by Sasha Lord who told us all about the book she’s finishing to be published in 2008! And it sounds terrific since she confessed to keeping it under her pillow at night! Sounds like a keeper to me if the author doesn’t want to let go of it! Jade’s next book will be on the shelves in June, TEMPTED TIGRESS, the sixth in the Tigress series of very sensual historicals set in China. Another winner guaranteed! We also ran across an old friend from DFW area — debut author Tracy Garrett. She was excited to show us the promo postcard for her book TOUCH OF TEXAS, on shelves October 2nd at a very special price! The cover is DE*lic*ious! Gotta love the cowboy, especially a Texan cowboy! It is tiring to be go-go-go at the RT gathering. We spotted a grouping of authors lurking, ah, resting, under the escalators. JC…

Book Club Rewind – Jenna Petersen
Guests / April 26, 2007

Ah. The horror. I forgot to bring a pen & paper to the table during our conversation with Jenna so I’m going off of some notes that I wrote down after the call. My apologies. I will be more diligent next time. I get a little wrapped up in the conversation. It’s like taking meeting minutes at my day job. I’ve never been overly great at that 😀 As anyone who has read the Lady Spies books will tell you, there is a HUGE James Bond and Charlie’s Angels influence. Bond’s superior named “M” from the Bond books/movies and “Lady M” in the Lady Spies series. Jenna did have stray thoughts about naming the secondary character from “Charles Isley” (as he is in the Lady Spies books) into “Charles Bosley.” She also swears that Lady M’s identity will be revealed in the third, and as yet, final installment of Lady Spies, Seduction is Forever. Lady Spies is currently only set to be a trilogy, but Jenna is open to writing more Lady Spies books based on some of the secondary characters. Possibly even a Charlie/Lady M book! She is blessed by the cover art gods! There was quite the controversy…

Plano Book Club – Note from this month’s author, Jenna Petersen
Guests / April 25, 2007

My name is Jenna Petersen and I write romance. Sort of sounds like a twelve step program, right? But if loving your job is wrong, I don’t want to be right (er, write?). I love writing romance! There is nothing better than taking two flawed characters, putting them together, throwing in some sexual tension, a lot of conflict and growth and mixing until smooth. And voila! True love. I have written historical and erotic historical romance (as Jess Michaels), both for Avon Books. My historical releases include Scandalous (October 2005), From London With Love (August 2006), Desire Never Dies (January 2007) and the upcoming Seduction is Forever (October 2007). The last three books are all part of the Lady Spies series. Think Charlie’s Angels, but in Empire Waists. As Jess Michaels, I’ve written “Fallen Angel” in Parlor Games (June 2006) and the upcoming Everything Forbidden (November 2007), plus novellas in Red Sage’s SECRETS collections. For both my names, I love dark heroes, intense sensuality and adventure. And I also love hearing from readers. I’m really looking forward to visiting with the book club tonight! Jenna PetersenDesire Never Dies (Avon), Available Now!From London With Love, Still AvailableSeduction is Forever (Avon), October…

Everyone do a rain dance
Guests / April 23, 2007

I spent my lunch break and after work time putting out grass seed today in hopes of putting tomorrow’s expected rain to use. My town is still under water restrictions due to lake levels so I’m all for using free rain water instead of hauling out the sprinkler. Anyone who reads this had better be doing a little rain dance for me in hopes that I will see a lot of baby grass out in my backyard (what I affectionately refer to as a mud pit currently — not fun when you have a dog) soon. It will be so nice NOT having to do that ritual 5 minute (2 towel!) paw cleaning that I currently have to go through when I let the dog back in from being out after it has rained. My mother was telling me about how her yard people had put out the weed control stuff and I said that I frankly didn’t care if I had weeds because that would be an improvement on the mostly dirt that I have now….and weeds can always be mowed to the height of grass. Come on! I’m desperate. I love the huge trees in my backyard, but…

Happy Earth Day!
Guests / April 22, 2007

Today is Earth Day and I have decided that I’m finally going to start recycling again. My parents have been very big on recycling for close to 20 years now. Probably because one of my older sister’s became very interested in it in high school and then went on to become a science teacher herself. When my parents were designing the kitchen for their home over 15 years ago, they planned the layout to account for additional recycling trash cans, newspaper pile and plastic grocery bags. Anyways, ever since moving to Dallas I stopped recycling. No more. I’m starting my pile of newspaper & advertisements (now I just need to buy some string to tie it all up — am I the only one who doesn’t just have string laying around the house?!). I also need to buy a can crusher and a separate trash bin for cans to recycle. More shopping. I’ve already started switching all my lightbulbs over to the Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) whenever the regular lightbulbs burn out. Changing topic. I read the mystery High Heels are Murder by Elaine Viets this week and loved it! The main character, Josie Marcus, lives in Maplewood, Missouri (right…

Why romance novels help keep me balanced
Guests / April 16, 2007

Off topic: For anyone in the Dallas area who has not been to high tea at the Grand Lux at the Galleria with DFWTea, you do not know what you are missing! My parents were in town this weekend and I dragged them there to experience high tea. They were thoroughly impressed 🙂 Now, I’m a self-proclaimed news junkie, but with all the chaos and tragedy in the world lately, I have rediscovered why I love reading romances so much. They (well, almost) always have a happy ending and they are a way for me to escape the reality of whatever is going on in my life or the world. Of course, I could live without the tear-jerker romances. You know the ones – they require a box of kleenex to get through and usually become Hallmark movies. (The Night We Met required kleenex toward the end, but I’m still glad I read it.) I’m definitely more of a romantic comedy or romantic suspense reader. Though I used to read a lot of historicals (love Julie Garwood‘s back list and I’m anxiously awaiting her new historical) and still read some new ones, I generally prefer contemporaries. Whenever I’m stressed, just…

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Guests / April 9, 2007

What is with this weather?! Easter in Dallas should NOT be this cold. Of course, my irritation with the weather could have something to do with the fact that I refuse to turn my heater back on in April. So, I’ve been a little chilly. Drum roll, please… I have highspeed internet access at home. I had been holding out, but I finally went and picked up the self-install kit with the modem from the local cable company. On Tuesday. Work kept me busy so I did not get a chance to hook the modem up until Friday afternoon. Why did I wait this long?! Working from home was so much faster today. Drawback: I was able to get in a lot reading during those long uploads and downloads on dialup when I was working from home. No more. Fingers are already starting to get cold again so I’m going to wrap up this posting with my weekend reading list. What I read over the weekend:Feels Like Family by Sherryl WoodsSay No to Joe? by Lori FosterFirst Comes Baby by Janice Kay JohnsonFinding His Way Home by Barbara Gale Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Celebrate the Last Return of the "Sopranos" with books!
Uncategorized / April 8, 2007

And you thought they only acted the parts…but no, you can check out A Meal To Die For by Joseph R. Gannascoli. A Culinary Novel of Crime, have you ever heard of a Food Broker? Why not? Or if you’d rather eat your way through the “mob,” try one of Steve Schirripa’s self-help books. The Goomba Diet is a good place to start. Or try one of his YA books about Nicky Deuce — WELCOME TO THE FAMILY is fun to read even for an adult *grin* Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.