As a child, I watched the Wizard of Oz faithfully every spring.  Somewhere along the line, it occurred to me that I have a bit of all four main characters inside me.  I’ve always longed for something different in my life.  That’s the Dorothy part.  However, I’d worry that, in searching for the ‘different’, what if I lost the ‘safe’?  Meet my Cowardly Lion.  There were also times when I questioned my heart – Tin Man – and many moments when my Scarecrow side wondered how smart I really was.  What would it be like, I used to think, to pick up and leave everything behind, to start again in some new and exciting place where I’d have no obligations and no need to explain myself or my actions to anyone.  Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, hello freedom. Ah, but how would I live?  Would the people who matter to me be all right?  What if I didn’t like this new place?  Could I go back to who, where and what I’d been before?  And if I couldn’t, what then?  Hmm… Maybe a better idea would be to stick with the safe and only make minor forays into the different.  Or…

Okay, so there’s no Princess of Salamria, but bear with me… As I’m writing this post, I’m sitting at the kitchen table (which is littered with coffee mugs, cereal bowls, newspapers, crayons, and a vase filled with dead tulips) and kids are running around me.  They are yelling “Arrrrrrr Mateeeee” as they play some crazed version of pirates that involves high-pitched screaming, and the use of empty toilet paper rolls as telescopes.  The day started at 5 AM, thanks to kids who aren’t old enough to know that weekends are for sleeping in.  The play room is off-limits today because the cat decided since she wasn’t getting enough attention, she should pee all over the rug in there, and I haven’t had a chance to haul it out to clean. My husband is away at a conference and I’m at home with the kiddos this weekend. But this is all pretty typical stuff, right?  I mean, who wants to hear a mom drone on about her day with the kids?  All you parents out there have changed dirty diapers, cleaned up countless messes, and tried to either ignore or soothe toddler meltdowns.  Why would anyone want to read a book…

I used to be afraid of playing truth and dare. Partly because I was so horribly clueless that I wouldn’t have a good truth and partly because I was terrified of what kind of dare I’d find myself facing. Now, with the friends I have and the changes my life has taken, I find myself equally leery of the game. However, when I am dared to do something in my writing, I will often find a way to work it in. Once, after discovering “Love Game” by Lady Gaga, I was dared to use the term disco stick in a book. It has since made it into two of my books. Guess that’s a great thing about recurring characters in a series. 🙂 Most recently, and less naughty but no less fun, I was dared to put a line in from a movie. Did you see Letters to Juliet? You know the scene where he falls and she asks if he can move and he says “Only my lips.”? That cracks me up every time I see it, so when the dare came in for me to use that line I couldn’t resist. I don’t think it came off quite…

Book Five in the Maiden Lane series: LORD OF DARKNESS by Elizabeth Hoyt WHEN STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT He lives in the shadows. As the mysterious masked avenger known as the Ghost of St. Giles, Godric St. John’s only goal is to protect the innocent of London. Until the night he confronts a fearless young lady pointing a pistol at his head-and realizes she is his wife . . . BECOME LOVERS . . . Lady Margaret Reading has vowed to kill the Ghost of St. Giles-the man who murdered her one true love. Returning to London, and to the man she hasn’t seen since their wedding day, Margaret does not recognize the man behind the mask. Fierce, commanding, and dangerous, the notorious Ghost of St. Giles is everything she feared he would be-and so much more . . . DESIRE IS THE ULTIMATE DANGER When passion flares, these two intimate strangers can’t keep from revealing more of themselves than they had ever planned. But when Margaret learns the truth-that the Ghost is her husband-the game is up and the players must surrender . . . to the temptation that could destroy them both Excerpt of LORD OF DARKNESS “I…

When you have to meet someone at an airport or have a doctor’s appointment, do you take a book with you?  I do.  It’s a habit, one so ingrained that my husband teases me about never being without a book. Sometimes when I leave town, I pack several, maybe in different genres, because I don’t know what I’m going to be in the mood to read on a given evening.  I want a choice, and now that we have e-readers, I can take a small library along in very little space. Reading can offer a great escape from a day that was stressful or tedious or just didn’t go very well.  I have favorite books I read over and over, and I like having the option to relax with one that’s like an old friend. I don’t have to figure out who the people are or, if the book is a romance, how the hero and heroine will win their happy ending.  I can just enjoy the trip, as I do when driving through places I’ve lived before. Of course, I can also explore new territory with books I’ve never read before.  That’s always more of an adventure, something to…

I write books set in the past. Life for them is definitely more inconvenient and dangerous. If they get sick, they may well die from a simple infection because there are no antibiotics. If they want to contact somebody they write a letter, then wait a few days for a reply. For entertainment they read or are read to. There is none of the instant gratification that we expect today. But at the theater the other night I began to wonder whether progress is always good. I was in the front row of the balcony. Down below me a sea of little lights twinkled. Special effects? Not at all. It was the whole of the ground floor of the theater on their mobile phones. I find this trend hard to understand. Here these people were in a beautiful old theater with carved pillars, painted murals, a gorgeous ceiling and they are waiting for the moment when the curtain goes up….and all they want to do is check their messages. How many of them would actually have gotten messages saying anything important? Buffett agrees to your offer to buy Walmart? President Obama wants you in Pakistan first thing tomorrow? Or even…

The catch phrase for Las Vegas is so well known you can find it in most television series or films about the fabled Sin City with its casinos and homage to the vices of mankind. Las Vegas is an adult party town where you can gamble, go to shows, see sparkling showgirls and never see the sun—despite the desert location. In every way, it was perfect location for a paranormal romance.  When I wrote SOULGIRLS I knew the Vegas destination was ideal for the Arcana Royale. My First Trip to Las Vegas This may make you laugh, but the very first time I “went” to Las Vegas, I went via Charlie’s Angels’ episode Angels in Vegas. It had my three favorite Angels: Sabrina, Kelly, and Kris working together, fabulous outfits and danger. Yes, it was 1978 and I fell in love with the city. After that came the series Vegas with Robert Urich. He was so hawt, dangerous, and great to know. Every show that took a trip to Vegas had me glued to the screen. When I was nineteen, I got to go to Las Vegas for the first time and it was everything I thought it would be….

Inspiration–and love–can strike in the most unusual places.  The authors of the newly released AN ENCOUNTER AT THE MUSEUM–Claudia Dain, Deb Marlowe, Michelle Marcos, and Ava Stone–share what inspired them to write unforgettable tales of romance blossoming amid the treasures of the British Museum. Deb Marlowe How easy is it to be inspired by the British Museum? There is a story in every book, piece of art, and artifact. Actually there is a story for every person who gazes upon every book, art and artifact, isn’t there, because we all have such personal reactions to such pieces. In writing “An Unexpected Encounter,” I chose the Grand Staircase as the location for my Encounter. I’d done some research and found some lovely period pictures of the museum, but I was struck not only by the grandeur of the wide main Staircase, with its painted ceiling and changing exhibits along the walls and on the landing (hello, have you seen the pictures of the stuffed giraffes?!) but by the thought of the anticipation and pleasure that so many people must have felt in climbing those stairs. And then my writer brain went “What If?” What if the anticipation faded and the pleasure…

Readers of my Sinners on Tour series typically say that the heroes of the series—the five members of the rock band Sinners—have a strong camaraderie that enriches each of the books. They joke around with each other constantly, which also adds to the humorous flavor of the series. I suppose if you live in a bus with four other guys for six months out of the year, you’re bound to form strong friendships, drive each other insane, or a little of both. Jokes will be made. Pranks pulled. Four of the five members of Sinners have been together since high school. They’ve known each other for over ten years. They understand each other’s quirks and limits. They accept each other. They’ve formed a surrogate family over the years and defend each other almost as much as they give each other a hard time. The newest member of the band, Jace Seymour, has only been a part of the band for three years. It’s a dream come true for him. Still, he has a difficult time finding where he fits in this close-knit group. Jace’s book, HOT TICKET, is like the rest of the books in the series, in that a…

If you look at the cover of my new book, you might think being “Cowboy Tough” was all about muscles. Or you might think it meant sticking to the back of a bucking horse for eight seconds. But being “cowboy tough” means something quite different here in the West. It’s not about physical strength; it’s about the strength of your mind and your heart. It’s about dedication, determination, and fighting against the odds. I’ll give you a few examples. If you’ve ever watched steer wrestling, you know it’s one of the most physically challenging events in rodeo. The contestant bursts out of a chute on horseback and chases a grown steer down the arena, then leaps from his horse onto the back of the steer, using momentum and skill to halt the steer’s run and bring the animal to the ground. You couldn’t possibly pay me enough money to even try to do that—but in February, World Champion Stan Williamson showed the crowds at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo that you’re never too old to compete. Williamson won his first buckle in 1979, his second in ’82, but at 65 years of age, he still managed to halt…