Trick or Treat! I’m disguised as a blogger today. Usually I look like a science fiction romance author, which means I look a lot like a middle-aged woman in rimless glasses, cropped sweatpants, a ratty pink t-shirt emblazoned with MY NAME’S NO, NO BAD CAPTAIN, WHAT’S YOURS?, and lime green Crocs. But today, in honor of Halloween, I’m disguised as a blogger. Meaning I’ve switched out the lime green Crocs for my fuchsia pink ones in the Mary Jane style. As you can probably surmise, there’s not a whole lot of difference in the costume. Nor the author. You see, for most people Halloween is the one day they get to dress up and be someone else. For me, every day I get to be someone else on paper (or my computer’s screen, more likely). Authors live in a perpetual Halloween state. Scary, no? This past month I’ve been (mostly) Captain Chaz Bergren. She’s a gutsy gal, late thirties, dealing with being court-martialed for a crime she didn’t commit, and dealing with the love of her life being someone—and something—she never expected. She’s making a return appearance in my 2008 release from Bantam, SHADES OF DARK. Those of you who’ve…

Hey, I have a new Christina McMullen UN-mystery (Unmanned) coming out at the end of the month, so…in honor of Christina and her less than stellar dating history, I ask: Who’s your fantasy freebie?Okay, I understand that some of us have husbands/boyfriends/significant others who wouldn’t agree to a freebie even if the seven horsemen of the Apocalypse were thundering down on us from the sky. But if you could spend the night with anyone free of guilt, blame, and venereal disease, who would it be? Christina and I discussed this at some length. It was a difficult task, sitting around with my imaginary friend, thinking about hot men, debating their various attributes/body parts, but for you Fresh Fiction readers…anything. Anyway, we came to the conclusion that while physical appearances can hardly be discounted (let’s be honest–we’re all shallow here) there are actually other factors which might be more important. Attitude, for instance. Personality. Then there’s that strange inexplicable thing I’ll simply call the ‘wow’ factor. After this long cerebral discussion, Christina was rather chagrined to admit that her choice would be Colin Farrell, because even though she’s an intelligent woman with a PhD, she has a thing for bad boys…

When considering a topic, I’ve decided to go with one few writers talk about–How do we get back up when we fall. In my writing career of nearly twenty years, like most writers I’ve had my ups and downs. Once, just after my fifth book came out, my numbers were so bad my editor assured me I wouldn’t be writing another book for them, except for the fact I’d signed a two book contract. I was down and almost went back to teaching. I’d already written book six, so I decided to try one more time. I won a RITA with that sixth book. Since then I’ve learned to take the ups with the downs. I love the ups—the awards, the lists, the money—but I think it’s been the downs I’ve had that have taught me the most in this game of writing. Sometimes I’ve learned to try harder. Sometimes I’ve learned to trust myself. This year I decided to take another chance. With my next Historical Romance, TEXAS PRINCESS coming out in November, I’m hard at work on something different. In April I’ll have a book of a different kind released. TWISTED CREEK, I can only hope my readers…

(with a little help on the keyboard from Nancy Bush): Most of you know, I’m a pug and star of the Jane Kelly Mystery Series by Nancy Bush. You probably think I lead this glamorous life. Not so! Today, as usual, I woke up and thought about food. Then I trotted out to my bowl, which was empty, and thought some more about food. This is a continuing problem for me, and you’ll see just how much when you read the books. I show up in the first of the series, CANDY APPLE RED. The truth of the matter is that Nancy actually wrote about the pug in the book before she bought me. (I’m sure there were MAJOR revisions to CANDY APPLE RED once I became flesh and blood.) In the story Jane is a reluctant dog owner. The Binkster is thrust upon her. Well, suffice it to say, I worm my way into her heart pretty fast. But back to today– After checking my bowl again, I climbed on the couch and waited for someone to feed me. Nancy came downstairs and headed out to the Coffee Nook—yes, that’s the same coffee shop featured in the Jane Kelly…

Having been raised in New England, educated in convent school, hired as a church organist at age thirteen, and born into a family that boasted five priests, I suspect the last place you’d expect to find me on a Saturday night is in Amsterdam’s red-light district, but two weeks ago, that’s exactly where I was.I write the Passport to Peril Mystery series, featuring travel escort Emily Andrew and her band of quirky Iowa seniors, so I travel the globe looking for exciting places to kill imaginary characters. To date, I’ve committed murder in Switzerland, Ireland, Italy, Hawaii, Australia, and Scandinavia. With NORWAY TO HIDE due to be released at the end of October, it was time for me to select a new killing ground, which is how I happened to be eating dinner in an upscale Dutch restaurant, opposite two fellow tour members who suggested it might be fun to explore the red-light district after the bus dropped us off at our hotel. The red-light District? That den of inquity where brothels had thrived for a century? Where people could indulge in hanky-panky while guzzling ardent spirits and smoking something even more potent than Marlboros? Me? Go there? A bit…

How did a small town Midwesterner ever decide to write about witches?? Well, I’ve always been the type of person who believed if I could read about it, I could do it, so when at the tender age of 48, I decided to write, I bought every book about the craft of writing that I could. The first piece of advice was to write what you like to read, and at the time I was reading a lot of romance. Okay, so we’ll try our hand at romance. I bought (again) the books I deemed necessary to help me with my quest and set about writing a romance novella. I leaned two things. First of all, I can’t write a love scene to save my life!! And if one is going to write romance, love scenes are kind of important! The second thing I learned is that if you use a password, be sure, and write it down. You might not remember it six months down the road if you don’t. Yes, I pass worded that terrible novella, but forgot what it was! The good thing is—that piece of literature, and I use the term loosely, is forever lost and…

Ah, this business! You plug along for years, putting out book after book, hoping that your small group of readers will grow into a group large enough that you might actually pay the mortgage. You plod along at a steady pace, building slowly, while other authors evolve at lightning speed. Nothing happens for years, and then suddenly, out of the blue, your books start to sell well. Print runs go up. Your publisher tells you that they are going to do more to promote your books. Your agent pumps you up and tells you you’re becoming a Big Deal, and you get all excited, even though you know she says that to all her clients. They approach you about doing a tie-in novel to a soap opera. A what? you cry, but you do it, because you’re no fool. And then one day it happens. You’re in a bookstore, talking with the bookseller whom you’ve known for years. When another customer approaches, you walk away to peruse the stacks, and you hear that customer say, “That’s Julia London? Ohmigod! Ohmigod!” You are so glad you put on some make up and changed out of godawful linen pants you’ve worn all…

I’m on the road. I just arrived in beautiful Salt Lake City on not such a beautiful day, but what incredible scenery. It’s my second time out west this year. In June, I was in Denver, Phoenix and Las Vegas touring for ABANDON, my most recent book, with side trips to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. In between these two trips west, I’ve scooted off to Dallas, New York, Maine and Toronto. Fortunately, I can write pretty much anytime, anywhere. I spent the first three hours of the flight to Salt Lake working on THE ANGEL, which is due out in hardcover in late April. I love this story, so it was easy to drag out my laptop, put on my iPod and dive in.Not everyone can or likes to write on the road, but for me it can be fun and energizing. Some writers I know like to hole up in a hotel for the last week or two they’re working on a book. Total immersion. No distractions. It’s something I’ve never done, but I can understand the appeal—especially if it’s a nice hotel! I wrote part of THE WIDOW, which is due out in paperback in a few…

During the summer I feel like I’m constantly waiting, anticipating the last week of September when the fall TV season begins. This summer was no different. I already had “my shows” picked out, my TiVo prepped and primed with a new To Do List, quivering with TV thrills. I salivated at the bright, Technicolor dream “Pushing Daisies,” brought to us by Bryan Fuller (“Dead Like Me” and the prematurely canceled “Wonderfalls”), while just barely noticing “Cavemen.” Now before I break any hearts, I do want to mention that I enjoy “Pushing Daisies” and I plan to watch it as long as it stays entertaining, but it just wasn’t as flawless as I anticipated. I had expected a fabulously whimsical fairy tale of unrequited love and unattainable intimacy, but what I got was a flashy and colorful visit to Willy Wonka’s factory. The images far overshadowed the superior writing and acting, and left my teeth throbbing. This is not to say the show is a bust, I just think it was too hyped, too, well, anticipated for its own good. On the other hand, “Cavemen,” which I had no intention to watch until I discovered that Nick Kroll starred on the…

Anna Marcus, the heroine of my book Seduced for the Inheritance is a tough cookie. She’s dealing with the fallout of divorce and bankruptcy, and is freshly bereaved. Then she runs into my arrogant, demanding (and of course, irresistible) hero. Anna has just unexpectedly inherited her childhood home, a tiny cottage in the middle of the huge Paradiso estate. When estate-owner Naldo de Leon tries to buy back what he sees as an integral part of his own domain, does she hand it over with a whimper and run away? Heck no. She’s constitutionally incapable of doing that. In fact, the more he tries to rush her and goad her into selling, the harder she fights back. She’s as stubborn, proud and insistent as Naldo…something he slowly, but surely, comes to appreciate and admire. Anna is an ‘alpha female’ who can’t be pushed around, even by the most determined ‘alpha male.’ I enjoy writing the kind of strong heroines who stand up for their beliefs and their rights, even when that makes life more difficult for them. Perhaps I enjoy living vicariously through them. In real life I dislike conflict and will sometimes let an annoyance slide to avoid a…