You know what the biggest challenge of a release-month blog tour is? Yep, you’re right—finding fresh topics. Between my own scheduling and my publicists, I’m at somewhere around 3 dozen blogs between November 1 and December 31. What’s a great strategy for surviving the challenge? Stealing other people’s stories. A couple of weeks ago, my mother-in-law was getting ready for work when her cat, Angel, wanted to play. She brought Mom the little felt toy mouse they play fetch with and cried at her until, exasperated, Mom picked it up by the tail and tossed it across the room, into the dining room. Angel just sat and stared at her. Fast forward to the end of the day. Mom comes home from work, and sees the mouse lying in the dining room still. But she looks closely, and it’s not the little felt toy mouse. It’s a real mouse. A real, dead mouse. Cue grossout. Poor Angel, she was so proud, and totally dissed. Their other, really fat, lazy cat, Charlie, went after another little mouse that evening. My nephew got it out from under the washing machine while my mother-in-law waited in the bedroom. I have three cats, but…

Philip Drake has the look of a man acutely aware of his surroundings. He emanates a sort of restless energy, not of the nervous variety, but of a man accustomed to taking charge of those around him.  He regards me first assessingly, and then flashes a raffish smile that makes my pulse speed up, but then Philip, even at his worst, has always had that effect on me. “So, Miss Lee,” he says, “To what do I owe the honor of this interview?” “It seems there are many misperceptions about you, my lord-” “Philip, please.” He meets me with his intense, dark gaze and then smiles warmly. “I am, after all, indebted to you for my very existence.” “Thank you.”  I return the smile and try to suppress my rising color. “I had hoped we could chat briefly.” He nods, relaxes in his chair, and crosses a booted ankle over his knee. “Philip, when readers were first introduced to you in THE HIGHEST STAKES as a brother-in-arms and boon companion to Robert Devington,  many were shocked  and dare I say even repulsed, by your selfish opportunism.” “Ouch.”Philip winces and then laughs a brief, harsh sound.  “I confess I had imagined…

I didn’t expect to be writing novels about the unjust persecution of misunderstood monarchs. It sort of just…happened. I blame THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL. I loved that story as a girl; I loved the 1934 movie with Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon on the late-night movies, and I loved the made-for-TV movie in the 80s with Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour, and I loved the 90s version with Richard E. Grant and Elizabeth McGovern that I recently stumbled upon on Netflix. (And just about died of swoonage at the line Grant delivers to McGovern at the end, when Sir Percy realizes he’s in love with his wife; as they’re going in for the romantic final kiss, she says something that ends with “…in a word, marriage,” and he replies in his fabulously perfect foppish drawl, “Marriage i’n’t a word, it’s a sentence.”) Okay, so maybe that says more about how I have a thing for somewhat effeminate men with foppish drawls, but that’s a story for another time. It was while watching THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL that I had this twinge of guilt: I was rooting for the French aristocracy. Shouldn’t I have been on the side of the poor and oppressed?…

I do love the tortured hero in romance novels.  My first book, THE HIGHLANDER’S SWORD, had a great tortured hero.  He had been raised in war and held lots of deep secrets, guilt, and anguish.  As a result  he was distrusting, moody, and did a lot of glowering and such. In contrast, the hero of my latest release, THE HIGHLANDER’S HEART, is not particularly tortured.  Laird David Campbell  actually had a loving childhood and is surrounded by family who adore him.  His clan is prosperous, and although he does have to negotiate with the surrounding clans to avoid war, I wouldn’t say he has anything in particular to be tortured about. Despite this, poor David Campbell is still a tortured hero.  No, he’s not being tortured by his own internal demons, he is being tortured by me, the author.  He had his life all worked out, controlled, organized, and predictable, until I threw Lady Isabelle into his path.   Within fifteen minutes of meeting her, he is attacked by ruffians, gored by a wild pig, and his horse is stolen.  And it pretty much goes downhill from there. David also has a secret fear, one that he doesn’t want anyone to…

“Jessica Scott writes with a soldier’s heart. Because Of You is touching, authentic and a fantastic read.”  New York Times Bestselling Author Cindy Gerard “Crackling with realism, sizzling with sexual tension, and pulsing with emotion, Jessica Scott has penned an unforgettable military romance that delivers heartache and hope on every page.” New York Times Bestselling Author Roxanne St. Claire Meet Jessica Scott, whose first book, BECAUSE OF YOU is out now from Loveswept. Jessica writes realistic but emotional military romance. But rather than rattling on about it, let’s hear what Jessica has to say. Can you give us a one sentence summary of BECAUSE OF YOU? The toughest battle Shane Garrison will ever face is loving Jen St James. Every author has a favorite or the toughest scene in a book, which one in BECAUSE OF YOU do you like the most? The scene where Jen finally trusts Shane enough to be comfortable with him unclothed.  Although BECAUSE OF YOU is very sexy, Jen resists total nudity during their intimacies. Tell us something unique about your hero? Shane is bald. What’s unique about your heroine? She is a breast cancer survivor. What is your heroine’s occupation? Jen is a nurse…

In Mesopotamia, somewhere in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, dating back to 3700 B.C., someone put stone to tablet and hammered out a message and we’ve been hammering out messages ever since. What is this love affair with the written word? They have the power to move people and even nations. People steal them, go to war for them, suppress them, cry over them, and love them. I enjoy painting with them, finding just the right ones that transport me to another place and all in the comfort of my overstuffed chair. The dappled sunlight in the forest, the clashing sound of a sword striking steel, and the apprehensive touch of the first kiss. I love them all. I’ve had stories in my head since I was a little girl. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have a damsel in distress and a knight in shining armor racing to save her. (I’ve always thought historical romance). There were times when I finished a book and I refused to let the characters go I loved them so much. I continued the story. It may have been Diana Gabaldon’s OUTLANDER that started me thinking how the accomplishments…

I’ve noticed that novellas have been making a comeback lately. Amazon.com has 8,224 novellas available at the moment. Once upon a time, novellas have been a well-respected literary form. Then, for some reason, they fell out of favor. I have to admit, it’s been a while since I’d read one, until Charlaine Harris started to put out Sookie Stackhouse novellas in between her full-size books. And then I fell in love with the format. So as of this year, 3 of those 8,224 novellas on Amazon are mine. Yay! Since I’ve started writing novellas, I’ve been reading more of them. They are the answer to my problem of not being able to put a book down once I started it. Sadly, I don’t get to read until it’s bed time. Then I’m up until 2 a.m. when the last word is read. Then I’m dragging the next day. Sounds familiar? But now I can read a novella, get the full experience, a rounded out story, and still get some sleep. They proved to be the perfect beach read as well. I’m not saying I’m leaving full-size novels behind, no way. But I found that novellas have their place in my…

You know the funny thing about writing, is you get into your characters far more than you think. For a good story to grab you by the throat and hold on until you gasp, it’s critical that the characters aren’t just two-dimensional constructs. They need to have fears and weaknesses, strengths and motivations just as real as any living person. Now this is not to say that some of those fears, weaknesses, strengths and motivations aren’t just as weird as real life. Take this guy for instance. He’s passing by a funeral procession at age 12 and is forced by the people in the procession to kiss the face of the 11 year old dead girl. It changes his life. He becomes obsessed with death and becomes a leading expert in Russian on Moscow’s cemetaries. He also turns out to be the man who’s stealing young women’s corpses and has them dressed up around his home. Creepy, yes. But look at how that one singular moment changed the direction of his life. And this isn’t fiction, it’s a true story! The characters in our stories aren’t any different if they are well-developed. They have reasons for what they do, even…

Wolf Pack #1 August 2011 On Sale: August 2, 2011 Featuring: Jaxon Law; Kira 352 pages ISBN: 0451234340 EAN: 9780451234346 Paperback $7.99  Add to Wish List Romance Paranormal, Paranormal Thriller Buy at Amazon.com Another great Readers & ‘ritas author Primal Law by J.D. Tyler To claim his mate, he would break all the rules Meet the Alpha Pack, a top-secret military team of wolf-shifters fighting the most dangerous predators in the world, human and nonhuman. After a massacre leaves Jaxon Law crippled, he must relearn how to fight-and battle the anger and guilt threatening to overwhelm him. But when Jax rescues a beautiful woman who awakens his primal instincts, he is unprepared for the dangers that lie ahead. Soon he must decide if the deep connection he feels with Kira is worth defying the ultimate shifter law… Sizzling and interesting, PRIMAL LAW pays homage….while forging its own paths. Previous Picks

Why is it that some of our fave heroines are just a tad bit chilly? They have an edge about them that can come off as cold-hearted or in some cases, just plain mean. I’m thinking Anita Blake, Cat Crawfield, Mercy Thompson, and my own personal heroine, Ice.  Oh yes, these women can be classified as strong minded (translation: hard-headed) or even hard, yet we love them. In some ways I think it’s because they are also witty, confident, and almost always fearless. Let’s face it, ladies, we enjoy playing in their shoes for the length of a novel. It’s a great way to relax and feel the empowerment that we may not get in our everyday lives. At least, that’s why I read and write about heroines like this. Here’s my list of things I look for in a good “cold” heroine: 1. Strength—not only to know her own mind and heart, but to be able to stand against everyone else for what she believes. 2. Compassion—even if she doesn’t show it, I want to know that she has a deep soul that cares for others. The most talented authors can take a heroine and make us believe that…