So you’ve spent enough nights fantasizing about finding your own square jawed and sexy cowboy to tame the bronco bucking inside your blue jeans.  You’ve finally made up your mind to get out there and snag one for yourself. It’s a no brainer at Starbucks on Saturday morning when you notice that the low-fat latte’ drinker filling out his gym clothes puts his phone down when you walk in the door.  Easy enough. This is your domain.  But sadly, there ain’t a cowboy in sight. That’s where I’m going to help you girls fulfill your cowboy fantasies.  By following these 5 simple steps, you’ll have your very own boot-strutting cowboy with his tight butt wrapped up in denim calling you his lady before the night is over. 1. You’re Going Honky-Tonkin’ There are plenty of places to find a cowboy in his natural habitat. The feed store. Dairy Queen. The gas station. Tractor Supply Company. But here you’ll find your cowboy in his work mode, and that isn’t very sexy. A cowboy at work is a dirty, stinky mess because he’s been working with cows all day. That’s why you’ve got to go to the honky-tonk to find your cowboy….

So my editor asked me if I wanted to do a series set in Texas.  I said “Sure, I’ll be happy to do a series set in Texas.”  Then I wrote the proposal and my three chapters and the synopsis and the editor called my agent and said, “Why, Elizabeth knows Texas like the back of her hand . . .” Well, hold on now.  It’s not all that easy.  Elizabeth doesn’t only not know Texas “like the back of her hand,” she’s never been there. Next thing, after having the hubris to think I could take on the whole state of Texas without ever going there, was to get there fast.  My daughter, Kathy, was up for the trip and we were off.  It was June—getting hot in some parts of Texas—but still nice in the hill country where I got to visit a pecan farm like the one my story family: the Blanchard’s, own in Riverville, which is down in south central Texas. Now, don’t ask me why I put my town there—I’ve got no idea—but when I got there and was hiking along the Colorado River and visiting the little towns, it was all pure Riverville.  I’d…

The Deadly Notions mysteries are set in the fictional nineteenth-century village of Millbury in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In LIE OF THE NEEDLE, my heroine, Daisy Buchanan, owner of the vintage sewing notions store, is conducting research for the Historical Society on the village’s connection with the Underground Railroad. It wasn’t a real railroad, of course, but a series of safe houses or “stations”. Pennsylvania was a destination for many fugitives because it had a reputation for being anti-slavery. They came from the nearby slave states of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, and crossed the Mason-Dixon Line at the border of Maryland and Pennsylvania. A good number stayed in Chester and Lancaster counties, where there was a large free African-American population, but for some, the goal was always Canada, as it was simply safer. The underground line through Bucks County was less used than the main routes further west with more direct access to the north, but some slaves did come to the area by way of Norristown or Philadelphia. The towns of Solebury, Quakertown, Doylestown, Yardley, Newtown and Buckingham were all stops on the line, and they were hidden in churches, barns, spring houses, fields and caves. The last important stop…

Choosing the professions of my characters is always a lot of fun. I try to pick something I am interested in, so I can write about it with conviction, passion and sincerity.   I would not, say, write about an accountant or a mathematician; for me, math is a major irritant, like getting sand in my eye. That still leaves a lot of fields wide open.  I have written characters that were violinists, ballerinas, children’s book editors, podiatrists, obstetricians, bar owners, interior designers, and architects.  One character owned a bra shop.  Another did not know what she wanted to do, and found her calling in the course of the novel.  What I didn’t know about these fields, I was able to research–a process both invigorating and thrilling because it allows me, however briefly, to slip into someone else’s life. On the deepest level, though, the character’s profession needs to speak for her or his soul, and it is my job as the author to match my understanding of the character’s inner life with a suitable profession.  When I wrote my latest novel, YOU WERE MEANT FOR ME, I had three main characters for which I needed to create professions. I chose…

Shifters are fast becoming my favorite paranormal beings. I love the protectiveness, possessiveness, and the compassion for family. I also love the mixture of human and animal qualities inside one person, the internal struggle for control, and the primal instincts. I’m a cat person, so I tend to lean toward the felines of the shifter worlds. But I also like a HOT werewolf, or two, or three. When I set out to develop my own shifter world, I wanted the best of both the cat and dog worlds. That was when I came up with Ashwood Falls. Two Packs must depend on each other to survive and fight against their enemies—a rogue Pack called Onyx. The wolves and leopards came together to form one den and community where their people can rebuild their lives after the attacks that nearly destroyed them. So why two different Packs that are opposites and generally don’t mix well? Because I like tension and conflicts in my story lines, and I get to explore the differences between the wolves and the leopards. I also get to watch the Packs grow and strength together as the series develops. I believe they can learn from one another….

When I first started writing my Special Wolf Alpha Team (SWAT) Series, I quickly figured out that I needed to re-envision the werewolves that would be the focus of my story. In the series, the werewolves are all part of the Dallas SWAT team, using their abilities to protect and serve. From the name, you can obviously also tell that they’re all alphas—gotta have that sexy alpha-male thing going on! I couldn’t work with the traditional werewolf that only showed up during the full moon, though. That would be a rather extreme limitation to doing their jobs. I also didn’t want the typical “cursed” werewolf or the out of control “monster” (aka American Werewolf in London style). These guys had to be hunky, sexy, and–just as importantly–functional as cops. Yet, at the same time, I wanted these guys to be rough around the edges with a hint of danger to them. I also wanted them to be a diverse group, with some having abilities the others haven’t mastered. Finally, since I was planning the series to be 16 books (or more!), I knew I had to have more complex mythology than just a big, bad alpha wolf. I want some…

Did you ever wonder how authors get inspiration for scenes in their novels? We, co-authors Cary Morgan Frates and Deborah O’Neill Cordes, have used our actual experiences and things that happened to our family members, some of which occurred well before we were born. This became fodder for scenes in THE THORNLESS ROSE, An Elizabethan Time Travel Novel. What time trippy fun! One incident was passed down in Deborah’s family. On a wintry day in the 1930s, her maternal grandfather came home with something hidden beneath his coat, a bulge in his breast pocket. Everyone assumed it was a bottle of “good cheer,” until it started to wiggle. Out popped the head of a dachshund puppy! Deborah’s uncle, then a little boy, promptly called the pup Whiskey. The name stuck, and Whiskey became a beloved family member. Deborah incorporated some of this story into THE THORNLESS ROSE, in the scene where Dr. Jonathan Brandon gives a Christmas gift to his fiancée, Catherine, just before he vanishes. The amusing incident takes on poignancy as time goes on and Jonathan doesn’t return, for Catherine realizes the dog was his last gift to her. And Cary recalls a visit to a wonderful pub…

Happy New Year, Fresh Fiction folks! Thank you so much for inviting me to join you today and for helping me celebrate the release of my debut fantasy romance, UNEXPECTED EDEN. UNEXPECTED EDEN is a little different than most fantasy romances—mainly because it takes place in current times. It’s the first in a four book series and features the one and only “land of creation”—a realm parallel to our own and inhabited by the powerful Myren race. It’s a romance, so naturally, the hero (Eryx) is both honorable and handsome, and the heroine (Lexi) is spunky and smart as a whip…but that’s not what I want to talk about today. Nope, I’d rather share one of the drinks created by one of the secondary characters in the book—minus the Myren sedative that winds up inside it. (Yep, that’s definitely a teaser. Needless to say, that sedative gets our hero into some hot water with his woman.) Besides, Christmas and New Year are over now…time for you to move on to something other than Eggnog and Candy Cane Cocktails. Orla’s Mint Mudslide Recipe What you’ll need: -4 ½ oz Baileys with a Hint of Mint Chocolate -1 ½ oz Kahlua -7…

Pretty Woman was the first movie I considered a “keeper”. Richard Gere and Julia Roberts made that story pop, and I’ve watched it many times. When Hannah, the heroine of A SINGLE KISS is feeling low and lonely, she recalls that movie, and how it had often lifted her spirits at the end of a rough day. I’ve read romance novels in quantity for more than forty years—sometimes one a day—and I expect I’ll read them until death do us part, too. I’ve read them through the miseries of high school, the loneliness and confusion of college, the ups and downs of relationships, and the exhausting, bewildering years of early unwed motherhood. Romance was there when I needed a break from studying the law school texts, and handy when I had to wait for the prodigy’s soccer practice to end. When I started focusing professionally on child welfare law, my consumption of romance went up again. Historical romance is my first love, but I’m a diehard JR Ward fan, Carolyn Jewel’s paranormals are on my auto-buy list, and Julie James is another author whose books will always find room on my shelves. I’m not reading for the steam—contrary to my…

Deepest thanks to Fresh Fiction for having me. I never get tired of talking about books which happens to be my favorite subject…next to cowboys of course. You have to expect that from a Texan. I’m so excited about my newest TEXAS MAIL ORDER BRIDE that came out yesterday. I’m excited because I love stories about people finding love and acceptance when it appears so unlikely. For years, the number one question readers have asked me is: How do I get the ideas for my stories? I always say that they are sent from somewhere outside of myself. It’s a mystery to me. But each time one pops into my head, I’m filled with excitement. I feel like, that out of all the authors in the world, I’ve been “chosen” to write that particular story. The inspiration for Texas Mail Order Bride came when I read an article about Battle Creek, Texas. It was never a town; there’s only a granite memorial there in remembrance of a group of government surveyors who were massacred by the Kickapoo Indians in 1838. Battle Creek’s name appealed to me and it seemed the perfect place to set a story of conflict. I placed…