Good afternoon, everyone. I’m so happy to be here with my first guest post for Fresh Fiction. My latest novel, THE DUPLICITOUS DEBUTANTE, was released on September 1. This is the sixth book in a nine-book series about a large New York family. Each book can be read as a stand-alone, but by reading all of the books, readers can become familiar with each of the nine siblings in the family. And they can catch a glimpse of the other siblings, as they pop in and out of the earlier books while awaiting their moment. THE DUPLICITOUS DEBUTANTE focuses on 19-year-old Rosemary Fitzpatrick, who has been writing over-the-top dime novels under the guise of a male pen name for the past four years. She bases some of her story lines on events that are happening within her own family, several of whom live in St. Louis, at the edge of civilized America in 1859. While the thought of having a story about the wild west–usually with a damsel in distress and a larger than life hero, with guns, wild animals, cowboys and Indians thrown in for good measure–being written by a woman is strange enough, the concept of the dime…

I recently joined a new group of historical romance authors. Our intention in forming the group was to raise awareness of historical romance books. Too many readers pass us by because they believe ‘historical’ romance is too bland, too filled with boring historical facts, and too ‘old.’ Like a lot of other—especially girls—students, I loathed history class in school. All those boring, boring stories of wars, battles, political intrigue, and memorization of dates, really turned me off. I ploughed through my history classes with fingertips holding up my eyelids to keep from falling asleep. Then, a few years after I left high school, I picked up an historical fiction book about the sixth wife of Henry VIII. I was fascinated, and embarrassed now, to say I had not really heard much about Henry VIII. In America, it’s hard enough to get through our boring history, without having to suffer through another country’s. I went back to the library, and looked up more by the same author, and lo and behold, she had written about all six of his unfortunate wives. I read each one, not realizing at the time that I was reading ‘history.’ That began my love affair with…

COURSE OF ACTION: THE RESCUE, continues Merline Lovelace and my own 3-book series with the release of Book 2 of 3. These are stories of six high school football heroes and best friends who, after graduation, joined the military. Each of them ended up in black ops in their different branches of service. Harlequin Romantic Suspense, September 1, 2014. Available in ebook (all platforms) and paperback. These books can be read independent of one another or as a series. Book 1 came out via HRS november, 2013. Book 2 is out now. Book 3, the final one of this series, will come out late in 2016. Book 2 brings Josh Patterson (Jaguar Night) and Jack Halliday’s (Amazon Gold) stories to you. About Lindsay McKenna’s Jaguar Night Recon Marine Staff Sergeant Josh Patterson didn’t see it coming. As a high school athlete, he and five other young men known as the Sidewinders, took Texas football championship twice in four years. They came from a Podunk Panhandle area of Texas known as Rush City. It was a struggling ranching community out in the middle of nowhere. These six football heroes had teamwork, heart and were competitive. Each of them upon graduation, went…

Out of all the places in the world to travel, Belgium had never come to mind. Not for any particular reason, but I thought there were far more interesting places to visit like Scotland, England, Ireland, and perhaps France and Italy. Frankly, Belgium was never on my radar as a must-see. So when my sister asked me to tag along with her on a business trip for my birthday, I thought what could be better than spending an entire week in Europe with my sister? I was right. Nothing could be better. When my sister and I left the Belgium airport, she warned me that the scenery was very much like the PA Turnpike. She was pretty much right. There’s a farm. There’s another farm. I think you get the picture. I started to think my week was going to be very long. But as if the clouds parted and the sun decided to make a grand entrance, we reached the city of Antwerpen. The first thing I noticed was the amazing architecture. There were quaint cobblestone streets, men, women and children who rode bikes everywhere—churches, cathedrals, markets, shops, I was never so happy to be in my element. I…

You know how to relate to people when you know where you stand with them, when you know of their agendas toward you and their attitudes, when you know what motivates them in their interaction with you. Understanding those aspects affects your approach to the relationship. When there’s a lack of clarity regarding those aspects, you’re left in a more vulnerable position. In AS DARKNESS GATHERS, increasingly frightening events make Finch question those around her. Someone wants to hurt her, and she isn’t sure whom she can trust. I think Finch navigates this uncertainty with a lot more aplomb than I probably would. She’s afraid and angry, of course, but she doesn’t allow it to cripple her. She refuses to be cowed and doesn’t allow the experience to make her bitter. She doesn’t let herself become paranoid, and I think if I were in the same situation I would have a difficult time not allowing the suspicion to control me. She has a lot of grace and strength of character, even as she struggles to determine whether those she loves are the ones she can trust. About AS DARKNESS GATHERS When their plane goes down in the Canadian wilderness, Finch…

I’ve watched her shoot dozens of times. I still don’t know how she does it.” Bill blinked at that. He was amazed by the shot. But the man sitting beside him was the senior Delta Force operator on the planet, and even he couldn’t unravel the technique. “It’s pure instinct. That’s the only possible explanation.” Michael looked over at him. “Is that what you do?” Now it was Bill’s turn to feel uncertain. He had trained thousands of hours to turn learned skills into instinct. “No, because I don’t have a gift. I have to train like any other fool.” Billy the SEAL is of course, as any alpha would, understating his role as the hero of LIGHT UP THE NIGHT (the latest installment in my Night Stalkers series that follow the exceptional first women of the U.S. Army’s SOAR helicopter regiment and the men they deserve). Just as the senior Delta Force operator is daunted by this shot, Bill is daunted by the woman who saved his life, Trisha O’Malley. The fact that he is a SEAL serving undercover in Somalia, the fact that a Delta operator has chosen him as his right hand of a dangerous and complex…

Men are Direct… There. You have the answer on how to understand the male point of view. Thank you for listening. Oh, you want further details of how men view life? Some insight from their point of view?  Okay, sure. Here are some nuggets: Primal… When it comes to a female in a man’s life, he’s constantly in threat-assessment mode. When a woman simply wants a hug when she’s upset, men are looking how to “fix” what is wrong: eliminate threats first, care for emotions second. Solutions… A man speaks his mind and is driven by the facts of any given circumstance. Men always want to solve the puzzle. Or, as needed, eliminate the threat. (See above.) Adrenaline… It is incredibly addictive for men. Addictive to the level of combining all the great things in life together in one source and then multiplying that times a billion. Adrenaline draws out a level of mental clarity that can be described as playing a five-level chess game—while simultaneously solving large-scale world issues. All this happens with few spoken words. Thoughts… Men think in a linear format, one topic at a time. Though when adrenaline flows, those topics fly by at the speed…

One of the immutable truths of romance fiction is this — men in uniform are undeniably sexy. Doesn’t matter if the man is a soldier, a sailor, a cop, or a fireman. The uniform is like a catnip to many women, myself included. Especially a fireman’s uniform. Be it the navy blue T-shirts, the beige turnouts, or the dress uniform — all are hot in novels and in real life. I’ll be the first to admit that I stare unabashedly when we drive past the firehouse that’s one-quarter miles away from our home. (By the way, have I mentioned how awesome it is that we live near a firehouse? BECAUSE IT IS! It is equally awesome that the men are often seen drinking coffee at the nearby coffee shop, providing yet another opportunity for ogling as I run my morning errands.) And since I know I’m not the only woman who loves a fireman, that’s why I chose to write about hot firemen in my Fighting Fire series that includes BURN FOR ME and my newest release MELT FOR HIM. But what is it about firemen in particular that can cause such jaw dropping and neck craning on the part…

Last year KILLING CUSTER came out and now is available in paperback.  This year’s novel, NIGHT OF THE WHITE BUFFALO, appears in early September.  Looking at these two very different novels on my shelf, I wondered if the only thing they had in common is the same author.  (That would be me.)   Which set me to wondering, is what ways are they alike? Let’s start with setting and characters.  Both are set on the Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming with the Arapahos, one of the Plains Indian tribes.  Both feature Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden and Jesuit missionary priest, Father John Aloysius O’Malley.  So, in what ways are they different?  Since I work very hard not to tell the same stories over and over again, the stories are different.  KILLING CUSTER deals with reenactors, people who dress up like Custer and the 7th Cavalry and fight—again and again—the Battle of the Little Bighorn, which took place on June 25-26,1876.  NIGHT OF THE WHITE BUFFALO deals with the birth of a white buffalo calf on the reservation, a  sign from the Creator Himself that brings hundreds of pilgrims and changes everything.  Both novels are set in the present and yet, what they share,…

I love historical mysteries! As I look back over my list of favorites, I see that most of them are historicals that take me to a different time and place, introduce me to different cultures, and show me different ways of seeing the world. That’s why my husband Bill Albert and I teamed up to write a dozen Victorian/Edwardian mysteries, under the pen name of Robin Paige. That’s why, when we finished that series, I turned to the life of children’s author and illustrator Beatrix Potter for eight books in the series: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter. And why my latest historical mystery project has been THE DARLING DAHLIAS, a Depression-era series featuring a garden club in a small Alabama town in the challenging decade of the 1930s. Most of us think of the Depression as a dark time, with businesses out of customers, people out of work, and families out of luck. And yes, it was a dreadful time, there’s no doubt about it. But the ladies of Darling, Alabama, reflect the best of those shadowed years. They belong to a garden club called “The Dahlias,” which (next to Beulah’s Beauty Bower, the Darling Diner, and the party…