In FLYING THROUGH FIRE, book 6 in my Dark Desires series, we have the whole cast of the series appearing at some point or other. I thought it would be nice to get inside a few of their heads, see how they were doing, what they were thinking… However, my editor believed that these scenes detracted from the two main characters and were a little jarring, and so the scenes were removed. This one was from Saffira’s (the heroine of book 4, TEMPORAL SHIFT) point of view. The door slid shut behind her. Saffira leaned against the wall of the corridor and tried to slow her breathing. Sweat pricked her forehead, heat from the vision. Thorne had burned because of her. She’d been powerless to help him, to save him. It’s not real. Not all her visions came true. Maybe this was a warning of what might be. And she’d already lost Thorne. He’d closed himself off. He’d given ten thousand years to his people. Now they were dead. Perhaps he was right, and that meant he was free. They were both free. She pushed herself up, hating the weakness that made her stumble. The visions drained her strength, but…

We’ve all been there. Deadlines are looming for our blog or our novels. A tingling in the pit of your stomach borders on nausea. We settle into our favorite chair and turn on our computer. Pull up our WIP. Position our fingers on the keyboard. And nothing. We read the pages we wrote the day before. We dive into our favorite source of caffeine. We read the blogs on how to get past writer’s block. One writer jogs three miles. Another pulls weeds. Read a few excerpts from a bestseller. Watch a movie. For some writers those ideas might not work. A twinge of fear sets it, and you search frantically for words that are chained deep inside your mind. The time has come to look deeper and discover your own ways to spark your creativity. Take a look at seven out-of-the-box ways to break out of writer’s block. Play with kids under the age of six. These little people have imaginations that soar into places we adults are afraid to go. A boy crouches on the sofa in the Spider Man position. A girl closes her eyes and sings from the movie Pose a story line and let them…

This time of year always reminds me of my childhood hometown. I grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the city of Sonora, California, the county seat of Tuolumne. A beautiful place with tree covered hills all around, lakes and rivers for fishing and swimming within a short drive. There are hiking trails through towering pines and camping sites beneath starry skies. Brick buildings amid a park like setting downtown with cute shops and quaint restaurants. Parts of the Back to the Future movies and Little House on the Prairie television show were filmed in our county. I remember once nearly running into Michael Landon walking down the sidewalk. Sonora resides in the ‘heart of gold country’ and is also known as the ‘Queen of the Southern Mines’, named after the miners of Sonora Mexico who settled in the area in mid-1800’s. The success of California’s “Mother Lode” can still be seen today, as Sonora remains the center of commerce for the region. There’s even a replica gold rush town, Columbia, on the outskirts of the city, complete with wooden sidewalks, gold panning and stagecoach rides. Columbia was one of my favorite places to hangout when…

We live in an era of strong women. When I was born, the second wave of feminism was just taking hold in the United States and Europe. While the first wave concentrated on women’s right to vote, the second focused on more self-determination through workplace, family, and sexual roles. Despite heavy resistance, women demanded equality in all parts of their lives. Yet even as women like my mother burned their bras, they read their daughters fairytales. Filled with damsels in distress, the heroines were saved at the last possible moment by their Prince Charmings. While still a tiny tot, I dreamed that a bold man would come along, sweep me off my feet, and carry me to his palace to live happily ever after. In later years, when my parents divorced and assorted caregivers succumbed to mental illness and addiction, my fantasies of rescue grew stronger. I wished for a hero, but like most of you, I had to save myself. Life made me tough. Fighting for my fair share put me arm-in-arm with my equality-demanding sisters. Yet my childhood fantasies lived on. It was a given that both elements would show up in my books. ALIEN RULE, the second…

Researching the Columbian Exposition for The Gilded Cage, I was fascinated by the history behind George Washington Ferris’ gigantic, people-carrying wheel. I took copious notes. In 1889, the city of Paris erected the Eiffel Tower, an iron structure that stood 300 meters (well over 900 feet) tall and cast its magic over the city. In 1890 in Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, planning the Columbian Exposition, knew he needed a spectacular attraction, something that would outshine the Eiffel Tower. Engineers tried, suggesting crude toboggan schemes and all sorts of things. Eiffel offered to build a taller tower. None of it appealed until a young engineer sketched out a huge wheel with cars to hold people while they leisurely enjoyed a birds’ eye view of the city on their circular trip. At first, Burnham rejected the wheel as too fragile, and Ferris spent his own money on safety studies. He hired engineers and recruited investors. Then he submitted the plans to Burnham again. His plan was chosen. The first wheel had more than 100,000 parts, including the almost 90,000-lb. axle required to turn the wheel. Thirty-six passenger cars held 40 revolving seats plus a small serving area which offered champagne and light…

We had a chance to ask a couple of questions of the SMP Romance authors about two of their favorite things: holiday movies and Halloween costumes. Here’s what they had to say! Favorite Holiday Movie Ruth Logan Herne Best-selling, multi-published author Ruth Logan Herne is the author of nearly thirty novels and novellas through traditional publishers and her own independent works. She loves God, her family, country, coffee, chocolate and dogs, and wishes possums would leave the cat food on the side porch alone. Seeker Collection WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | BLOG It’s a Wonderful Life Donna Alward While bestselling author Donna Alward was busy studying Austen, Eliot and Shakespeare, she was also losing herself in the breathtaking stories created by romance novelists like LaVyrle Spencer, Judith McNaught, and Nora Roberts. Several years after completing her degree she decided to write a romance of her own and it was true love! Five years and ten manuscripts later she sold her first book and launched a new career. While her heartwarming stories of love, hope, and homecoming have been translated into several languages, hit bestseller lists and won awards, her very favorite thing is when she hears from happy readers! Donna lives…

Sometimes characters ease into a writer’s mind and other times they stomp through our brains and demand their story be told. Samantha Carlton, the heroine of my new release, TELL ME AGAIN, did a lot of stomping before getting her own happily-ever-after. She’d been the perfect sidekick in the previous two books in the series and her snarky comments added a bit of levity when things got too serious. She was the one who could always be counted on to say exactly what she was thinking , but that’s much easier to do when commenting on someone else’s love life than your own. As fun as Sam was in the first two books, I quickly discovered her humor masked a lot of pain. This woman had a past to overcome, and when the niece she never knew she had showed up on her doorstep, it spurred her into action. One of the things I loved most about Sam was her big heart—or as her friends call it ‘her gooey center’. She’s all tough on the outside but she cares so much about the kids she works with at the summer camp she runs and, of course, about her girlfriends. She…

As a kid, my family always had pets. Dogs, cats, a goat, a pig, ducks we called Salt and Pepper, a rabbit… you name it, I think we probably had it. Maybe that’s why animals appear in all my books. It’s hard to imagine not having a pet of some sort. One particular dog stands out. Her name was Queenie, and she adopted us. I was eight or nine years old, and one day while playing outside, this little black and white dog trotted up to me. We later learned she was a purebred Boston terrier, but that day she was just a dog that wanted to play. She didn’t have a collar, and we’d never seen her around the neighborhood before, but she seemed well-taken care of. Our dad said not to get attached to her as she obviously belonged to someone. Ha! We were already attached to her. We named her Queenie and as far as she was concerned, we kids (there were four of us) belonged to her. If one of us got in trouble with our dad and got a stern talking to, Queenie would go to a corner of the room, turn her back to…

Think about all your favorite authors, and I bet the attribute they have in common is their willingness to put everything on the page. They have authentic voices, tell stories of unique, yet relatable characters who are challenged by a set of circumstances that, though they might not be yours, you could imagine what you’d do if life threw that curve ball. To put that kind of story on paper, you have to be wired in a particular way. This fact was taught to me by my kind, talented, incredibly smart daughter. A couple years ago (she was about sixteen), my daughter was asked to give a talk about mothers for a Mother’s Day event. She was nervous, but game. I spent all week looking forward to her magnificent dissertation on the glories of motherhood, using me, of course, as her shining example. I was very careful not to pressure her, not to even admit I was looking forward to this opus. Normally, as the writer in the family, I’d offer to edit the speech, but not this time. I wanted to be surprised, to hear it as a piece of performance art. My anticipation wasn’t giddy, but rather measured….

When I was in first grade, my mom made me a black cat costume for Halloween. It involved sewing a hood with cat ears and a tail onto one of my black leotards from dance class and a cat mask with a thin piece of elastic that ran went around the back of my head. I loved that costume. If memory serves, I wanted to wear the costume post-Halloween, because everybody wants to be a cat. Right? Since then there were gypsies and hobos and Indians. In college there was Marilyn Monroe, Cher, and the 80s-specific year I dressed as my Swatch Watch. I enjoy coming up with costume ideas as much as I enjoy wearing them which brings up a lot of questions about my identity. I’ve discovered that, when it comes to costumes, people fall into two camps: those who love them and those who don’t. There isn’t a lot of gray area. Being the former, I’ve wondered about the latter. Is it the trouble of putting together a specific look? Or have they only experienced uncomfortable costumes? Is the silliness of dressing as someone else off-putting? Or did they just not care about getting candy on Halloween?…