Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Fresh Pick | RENEGADE by Catherine Mann
Fresh Pick / March 22, 2010

Black Ops #3 January 2010On Sale: January 5, 2010Featuring: Mason “Smooth” Randolph; Jill Walczak304 pages ISBN: 0425229238EAN: 9780425229231Paperback$7.99 Romance Suspense Buy at Amazon.com Renegadeby Catherine Mann Tech Sergeant Mason “Smooth” Randolph lives to push boundaries. But he never anticipated how far outside the box he would land when an in-flight accident sends him parachuting into Nevada’s notorious Area 51 – and into the handcuffs of sexy security cop Untamed and Undercover: Third in the Dark Ops series. Tech. Sgt. Mason “Smooth” Randolph lives to push boundaries—whether by bucking his wealthy family’s expectations and joining the Air Force or by working outside the box on top secret flight projects. But no way could he have anticipated how far outside the box he would land when an in-flight accident sends him parachuting into Nevada’s notorious Area 51—and into the handcuffs of sexy security cop Jill Walczak. As a member of a covert surveillance force, Jill is searching for a serial killer inside the Air Force—and the last thing she needs is some rebel aviator threatening her case. But the smoky cloud Mason flew through during his parachute landing may have been toxic fallout from biochemical experiments—forcing Jill into quarantine with the reckless…

Leverage Day Two — Cocktail Party, Leverage Set Visit and Conference Panels.
Uncategorized / March 21, 2010

I have been to exactly two media convention cocktail parties, so I do not have a large sample to draw upon for this review. From what I can tell, corporate sponsorship makes a difference. The TNT Cocktail Party Extravaganza at the Leverage CON-con was amazing. cash bar two separate tables of food free ticket for 1 drink 2 Wii stations Garage Band set-up in an adjoining room live music by Andy Lange entertainment by Rick Overton I hung out with new friends I’d made at this convention, and some local Browncoats (Firefly/Serenity fans) I had cruised with in 2006. Being an introvert in a heavily crowded room filled with good yet exceptionally loud music, my instinct was to find a place and stay put. Barbara taught me the find art of “wandering”, or as we came to call it, “hit-and-run mingling”. Through this technique I talked with actors, a financial producer, a director, and the man who runs the computer systems that get the shows digital dailies to LA after having been filmed in Portland. I had a fabulously fun time. Around 11 pm, after getting off a full day ofshooting, all five main actors showed up for a brief…

Sandi Shilhanek | Guilty Reading?
Sundays with Sandi / March 21, 2010

Can you remember the first “adult” novel you read? I don’t fully recall, but believe that the first “adult” novel I read was The Promise by Danielle Steel. As we may have discussed previously because of that I’ve always felt a loyalty to Steel, and even though she is extremely prolific I have found myself veering away from her over the years. When I discovered audios I found that my library offered several of her titles as downloads, and so decided that audio reading would be a way to be loyal without having to do visual reading. It was amazing, because I discovered that some of what had begun to annoy me when I used my eyes to read was missing when I used my ears to read. Therefore I went back to my library and downloaded more of her audios, and have been slowly working my way through. I recently listened to and really enjoyed A Good Woman, and that made me decide to see if her newest release was available. It wasn’t, but I thought ok…I’ll put it on hold in book form. That means that I’m spending time this weekend reading Danielle Steel’s Big Girl. Unfortunately it…

Sara Reyes | 5 Reasons to Get Out Of Town
Saturdays with Sara / March 20, 2010

One thing I learned at South By Southwest (SXSW) is to occasionally have blog posts with a number in the title. So, being I finally got home after an event-filled eight days, yes, I counted them, and thought, why there is my blog title! Woo Hoo! I originally wanted “Dead To Me” but thought definitely too negative. I’d really rather concentrate on the positive this morning. So here goes: Five Reasons to Get Out of Town. 1. Anticipation is to be savored It’s exciting to anticipate the journey. Sometimes the thought of leaving is so thrilling and adrenaline pumping it makes or breaks the entire trip. Be wise and temper the enthusiasm if you’re emotional, otherwise let ‘er rip! 2. Make New Friends Don’t be afraid to talk to strangers. If you need to give yourself an out, take a page out of Gwen’s playbook and “be the hostess” the one who performs the introductions, makes sure no one is standing alone, put out your hand, shake and introduce yourself. Ask about the other person. It works, trust me! 3. Be Flexible Rigid is not a good thing. So if the panel is full, or you meet someone who wants…

Heidi’s report from the Leverage CON-con
Uncategorized / March 20, 2010

I’ve been to a lot of conventions, both fan-run and “professional”, and I’d like to say how much I love what Marc Lee and his group of volunteers have pulled off here at the first official Leverage CON-con event. As with all conventions, each person will have a different experience. For the first half day, mine has been fabulous. Traveling to the West Coast from Texas means even though it’s 7:30 am here, it feels like I’ve slept in for two hours. As I reached the lobby around 9 am, they were giving out tickets for the registration line, once they opened at 10 am. For the intervening hour, I roamed the hotel taking pictures. The Governor Hotel(http://www.governorhotel.com/) is filled with amazing architectural accents which are different in every room. The extra tall ceilings make for an extra level of stairs, but once those elevators fill up this weekend, the stairway is going to be my main access route (and justification for having dessert). Once I got through registration and signed up for the set tour Saturday morning, it was time to stand in line for the autographs and photo ops. In the sad eventuality that this is the only…

Fresh Pick | WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS…AFTER DARK by Anya Bast, Jodi Lynn Copeland, Kit Tunstall, Lauren Dane
Fresh Pick / March 20, 2010

May 2009On Sale: May 1, 2009432 pages ISBN: 0373605315EAN: 9780373605316Paperback$13.95 Romance Erotica Sensual, Romance Anthology Buy at Amazon.com What Happens In Vegas…After Darkby Anya Bast, Jodi Lynn Copeland, Kit Tunstall, Lauren Dane Las Vegas…it’s the town that lives up to the promise of its nickname, Sin City. A gambler’s paradise for innocent tourists, it conceals a darker, sexual world where the ethereal and wraithlike meet to play a different game… If there’s one thing succubus Deitre understands it’s revenge. That, and enticing men into arousing, exciting and, okay, perilous sex (for him). Beautiful on the outside, demon on the inside, she’s going to get back at the naughty firefighter in Darkness…unless he plays his cards right… Bounty hunter Nell is a hell of a tracker. Now she’s in Vegas on the tail of the witch who dared to steal from her clan. She’s going to get to the unsavory harlot through the woman’s ex-fiancé, and nothing about their charged encounters will be shallow, quick or friendly. When the half-blood fae male comes to club Darkness, Elena can’t resist acting on the mind- blowing heat coursing between them. She might be betrothed to another, but fae culture says sex with other…

JULIE JAMES | Hitchcock + Bourne = Romance
Uncategorized / March 19, 2010

Well, sort of. In their own ways, both of these men inspired me while I was writing my new book, SOMETHING ABOUT YOU. First, let me start by telling you a little about the book. Here’s the blurb: FATE HAS THROWN TWO SWORN ENEMIES. . .Of all the hotel rooms rented by all the adulterous politicians in Chicago, female Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde had to choose the one next to 1308, where some hot-and-heavy lovemaking ends in bloodshed. And of all the FBI agents in Illinois, it had to be Special Agent Jack Pallas who gets assigned to this high-profile homicide. The same Jack Pallas who still blames Cameron for a botched crackdown three years ago–and nearly ruining his career… . . .INTO EACH OTHER’S ARMSWork with Cameron Lynde? Are they kidding? Maybe, Jack thinks, this is some kind of welcome-back prank after his stint away from Chicago. But it’s no joke: the pair is going to have to put their rocky past behind them and focus on the case at hand. That is, if they can cut back on the razor-sharp jibes–and smother the flame of their sizzling-hot sexual tension… So how did Alfred Hitchcock and Jason Bourne…

Fresh Pick | WEEKEND WARRIORS by Fern Michaels
Fresh Pick / March 19, 2010

Revenge of the Sisterhood #1 July 2004On Sale: September 21, 2007Featuring: Myra; Nikki Quinn304 pages ISBN: 0821775898EAN: 9780821775899Paperback (reprint)$6.99 Romance Suspense, Suspense Buy at Amazon.com Start at the beginning of the “Sisterhood” and be sure to also check out the latest (#17) in the series, GAME OVER Weekend Warriorsby Fern Michaels Every Woman Has A Story…And That’s Just The Beginning. Life isn’t fair. Most women know it. But what can you do about it? Plenty…if you’re part of the Sisterhood. On the surface, these seven women are as different as can be—but each has had her share of bad luck, from cheating husbands to sexist colleagues to a legal system that often doesn’t do its job. Now, drawn together by tragedy, they’re forging a bond that will help them right the wrongs committed against them and discover inner strength they didn’t know they had. Growing bolder with each act of justice, the Sisterhood is learning that when bad things happen, you can roll over and play dead…or you can get up fighting… Nikki Quinn is devastated when her best friend Barbara is knocked down and killed by a hit-and-run driver who claims diplomatic immunity. But Nikki has her work and…

DAVID CORBETT | The Elusive Stuff of Character
Uncategorized / March 18, 2010

Despite having written four novels and numerous stories, and teaching fiction at UCLA Extension, Book Passage and elsewhere, the whole notion of what makes a character compelling, or how to construct such a character, continues to feel like mercury in my palm. Just when that inscrutable line is crossed, between a fully realized character and one not so fully realized, remains as enigmatic to me now as ever–perhaps more so. Recently, I told a writer friend that I’ve come to use music more and more in my characterizations, sometimes thinking of characters as chords, or melodies, or allowing the timbre of a particular instrument to inspire an insight into their inner life. If a chord inspires a character, it can be quite simple, a dyad or triad: straightforward, clear, with a distinct tonal character: A vigorous, optimistic soul for example (G major), or a fragile worrier (C sharp minor). Or the chord and character can assume more complexity as I probe quirks, secrets, miseries, joys, regrets, contradictions. The result here is more complicated, tonal clusters of stacked thirds, jarring minor seconds, sprawling ninths and elevenths, diminished sixths, augmented fourths. These too have a distinct tonal sense but it’s not easily…

Fresh Pick | BEWARE A SCOT’S REVENGE by Sabrina Jeffries
Fresh Pick / March 18, 2010

The School For Heiresses #3 May 2009On Sale: April 28, 2009Featuring: Venetia Campbell; Lachlan Ross384 pages ISBN: 1439140170EAN: 9781439140178Mass Market Paperback (reprint)$5.99 Romance Historical Buy at Amazon.com Beware A Scot’s Revengeby Sabrina Jeffries Lady Venetia Campbell’s visit to her childhood home in Scotland takes a dramatic turn when she’s kidnapped at pistol point by her father’s sworn enemy. Sir Lachlan Ross is widely feared in his guise as The Scottish Scourge, but Venetia remembers her former neighbor as a handsome youth whose attentions she craved. Now a wickedly sexy man, Lachlan’s appeal is even more intoxicating…and much more dangerous. Though Lachlan tries to treat her as his foe, his scorching kisses tell another story. And despite his plan to use her as a weapon against her father, Venetia is determined that Lachlan’s lust for revenge will be trumped by an even more powerful desire…. Excerpt The music began, and Sir Lachlan Ross forced himself to move, forced himself to ignore the throbbing in his half-healed ribs and the ache in his recently-broken thigh bone. Although certain steps proved a minor agony, dancing with Lady Venetia was better than standing about, listening to her aunt talk of his family, unraveling his…