Thanks very much for having me here today to celebrate my new release, MISCHIEF BY MOONLIGHT. It’s the last in my Regency Mischief series, and I hope readers will find the story funny and touching. Here’s a little list with the lowdown: 10 Fascinating things about MISCHIEF BY MOONLIGHT 1. It’s a love potion story! But it’s not a magical potion, LOL. It’s something made from flowers—think morning glories, which can cause hallucination. And, in this case, romantic mischief. 2. It’s a love triangle story! The hero, Colin, the Earl of Ivorwood, is in love with his best friend’s fiancé, Miss Josie Cardworthy. Her fiancé has been away at war for a year when the story opens, and in the meanwhile, she’s had a chance to become very good friends with Colin, whose property adjoins her family’s home. But she has no thought of ever being attracted to her handsome neighbor… at least not until her eyes are opened. 3.  Colin and Josie sometimes play a little game that Josie calls “not-dancing.” She doesn’t realize Colin has a very good reason for not dancing. 4. I’ve always had a soft spot for those still-waters-run deep guys, and Colin is one…

In ONCE UPON A KISS, Justina (Jussy) Penny knows that the last sort of man she would ever fall in love with is anyone remotely like the character of Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. When Darius Wainwright comes to her village with his arrogant nose in the air and an apparent stick up his posterior, she’s certain he is absolutely the Wrong Man for her. So when the obnoxiously proud fellow condescends to join her humble family for dinner one evening, she knows just what to do to keep him at arm’s length. Or so she thinks. 1. Wear something… unusual. “There you are, Jussy,” her father exclaimed and then immediately looked confused. Her mother, who had been in the process of offering a tray with a sherry glass to the rector, was frowning, frozen in place. The Wainwright person, seated on the couch beside her sister, winced in her direction and kept his lips very tight. “Good evening, everyone,” she said politely. “Oh, good! Sherry. I’m fair parched.” As she advanced with arm outstretched, her mother swiftly moved the tray out of her reach and set it on the pianoforte, forgetting the rector, who was left clutching at…

Who here likes the idea of a first date? A hot guy choosing you, the thrill of maybe a new outfit, flutters of anticipation… Okay, now who likes the reality of a first date? The stomach-clenching worry of boring him/him boring you, realizing you can’t afford a new outfit (especially if he turns out to be a dud), the angst of deciding if you can go ahead and order an appetizer and dessert, or if he’ll think you’re a gold-digger trying to test the buoyancy of his bank account…. Let’s face it, first dates can be scary. And more like filling out a job application than establishing a personal connection. You run down a list of questions: age, college, major, job, etc. These things are necessary. They’re also about as romantic as a bouquet of plungers. And when it comes to a book, and the main characters methodically covering those bullet points? Not exactly a page turner. In UP TO ME, the first book in my new Shore Secrets trilogy, the hero and heroine skip the first date. They share their first kiss on a hotel staircase the night they meet. And the next day, Gray discovers he can’t date…

Fresh Pick for Tuesday, June 24th, 2014 is THE GUNSLINGER by Lorraine Heath #WhatsNewTuesday Avon Impulse June 2014 On Sale: June 24, 2014 250 pages ISBN: 0062353071 EAN: 9780062353078 Kindle: B00I2PH69S Paperback / e-Book Add to Wish List Romance Historical Buy A Copy Amazon.com Kindle BN.com Powell’s Books Indiebound The Gunslinger by Lorraine Heath A version of this work originally appeared in the print anthology To Tame a Texan, under the title “Long Stretch of Lonesome.” A hired gun falls for the one woman who’s completely wrong for him in this Western romance from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lorraine Heath. Chance Wilder never wanted to be a hero. A road-weary gunslinger with a ruthless reputation, he focuses only on his next target-and his next payday. That is, until a young boy offers Chance everything he owns-a piece of string, a harmonica, and a bent penny-if he’ll save his sister from a couple of thugs. Chance agrees, only to discover that the beautiful, fierce young woman in need of rescue is actually the very person he’s been hunting: his next mark. But after he saves her, Lillian Madison awakens in him long- buried dreams and possibilities. Facing…

You might think that writing books in a series is easier than writing a book that stands on its own, but each type of novel has its challenges.  Thirty-eight of my fifty-six novels are connected in some way, part of several different series, including Bitter Creek, Hawk’s Way, Captive Hearts, and Sisters of the Lone Star.  I also have a couple of “two-fers”—two connected books. I just finished writing three connected historical Mail-Order Brides books, TEXAS BRIDE, WYOMING BRIDE, and MONTANA BRIDE, which are part of my long-running Bitter Creek series, and I’m currently working on a brand-new contemporary Bitter Creek spin-off called “King’s Brats,” which includes SINFUL (in stores December 30), SHAMEFUL, and SURRENDER.  So you can see this is a format I love. With a continuing series I don’t have to come up with a brand-new set of characters for every book.  On the other hand, I have to figure out how to weave every book together with the others using  both an underlying theme for the series and an individual plot for each book.  I need to give you, the reader, conflict, climax, and resolution in each book, while leaving the lives of other characters in chaos…

Liz Adams has released an erotic ebook with a Wonder Woman type of heroine. Many call ARIEL’S DANGEROUS LIAISONS an erotic version of Wonder Woman. Today, the novella is free! The last day it’s free is June 28, 2104. To get your copy, download it from Amazon. *** When I wrote my erotic version of Wonder Woman, ARIEL’S DANGEROUS LIAISONS: THE EROTIC  WONDERS OF A SUPER HEROIC WOMAN, I had to ask myself more questions than I normally do when creating a protagonist. Ultimately, I needed to figure out how to make a well-rounded superhero. Consider these ten factors for a well-rounded superhero. 1. The Super Factor – Whether paranormal or not, she has to have superhuman skills that can overpower most humans. Such super skills can be other-worldly, like flight, or they can be with the help of gadgets, like a utility belt. My Wonder Woman-type character, Ariel, has super strength. 2. The Backstory Factor – How did she get those skills? Creating a backstory for your superhero is the same as creating a backstory for any character. Fill that backstory with love, pain, loss, and tragedy, and your readers will care about your super hero. 3. The Evolution…

My debut novel, DREAM HUNTRESS, releases on June 23 with Entangled Publishing—and wow—what a journey! I’m feeling a bit nostalgic, because as I prepare to do interviews and blog tours, I’ve been asked over and over what or who inspired me to write this book. After thinking about that question for a long time, I’ve realized there wasn’t a single incident or person that Jordan is created from, rather it was a culmination of events and interests that formed her. I’ve always loved reading romantic suspense novels, especially if they involve a great police detective story. I often think I should have been a cop or a profiler because I find crime fascinating. Have you ever sat down and just chatted with a police officer? I recently had the pleasure of doing just that, and I could have listened for hours to all the crazy situations this detective had encountered. He looked at me at one point and said, “Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up.” I’m forever grateful to the men and women who are brave enough to strap on a gun every day to go to work. And I love talking with them because their stories make great…

So here, in no order except for how they occurred to me, are the top 10 things I learned while writing THIS YEAR’S BLACK. 7. Pineapples grow in the ground while coconuts grown on trees. Yes, I’m from Nebraska and my stepfather is a farmer, but there weren’t any pineapples growing out in our corn fields. 🙂 6. I am not made to be a fighter. Yes, I know you’re shocked. Doing my MMA research not just on fighting techniques but on the way fighters who are starting out train was a real eye opener and confirmed I am a wimp. 5. Embezzlers are like car salesman. That was one of my favorite bits. Talking to a white collar crime investigator he explained that a bank robber was a thief who took everything at once. An embezzler is like a car salesman who wants to sell you a new car every year – or in their case steal a little bit off the top every year. It was such a great line I had to use it in This Year’s Black. 4. I want my own private plane. We’ll add this to the someday list. *eye roll from the Fab…

In TAMING THE COUNTRY STAR, Kylie Andrews is faced with coming to terms with country star Cole Grayson’s fame—particularly difficult because she grew up in the reflected glare of the spotlight on her famous rodeo father. But in the end, as Kylie realizes, there are a number of good reasons to tame a country star and make him your own!  Here are just a few of those reasons: 1. Love songs. If you think listening to a love song on the radio is nice, just imagine knowing that it was written just for you! 2. Fancy hotels. Although he may spend a lot of his time on tour (and thus hanging out in a tour bus), he can also arrange to stay in some of the nicest hotels in the world—and if he’s yours, you can, too! Cole’s favorite hotel in Fort Worth (Kylie’s hometown) is The Worthington, a downtown landmark. 3. Funny disguises. If the country star you’re setting out to tame is anything like Cole, he’ll sometimes want to go out in public—and in order to do that, he might have to wear a disguise! If you have a great sense of humor, this can be hugely entertaining….

The main character in my debut novel, COUNTING TO D, is dyslexic. I am also dyslexic, and I based Sam’s character largely on my own experience growing up with a severe learning disability. Dyslexia isn’t a cold; it’s not something that goes away. Even though I’m now a published author, I’m still a very slow reader and a horrible speller. Fortunately, I know what is and isn’t required to build a writing career. Knowing how to read fast and properly spell two-letter words is totally not necessary. I still misspell of all the time. Seriously, can somebody tell me when the letter f started making a va sound? Being an author does require an active imagination, and thankfully, that is something I have. Now that I’m a published author, I’ve somehow made it onto the “successful dyslexics” list, and people keep asking me what advice I would give to young, not-yet-successful dyslexics. My answer is that you have two simple choices: you can either strive for average your entire life and fail miserably, or you can accept that you were born exceptional. Every artistic masterpiece, every scientific discovery, every business innovation— every single thing that makes life on Earth worth…