I’m so excited to be part of the fabulous Montana Mavericks series.  I love that it’s set in a small town in Montana and the way everyone knows a little bit about everyone.  Not everything, but a little bit.   The heroine in the book, Abigal Cates, is part of a big family.  She has several older sisters and one younger brother.  One of her sisters, Laila is a beauty queen and actually dated Cade Pritchett, the man that Abigal has secretly been in love with for ages. Abigal makes some pretty bold moves and finally gets Cade to look at her as more than everyone’s favorite little sister.  But he realizes he’s not right for Abigal and breaks off their relationship.  This is devastating for poor Abigal and she instinctively turns to her sister Laila, who offers her a place to sleep for the night, a cup of tea with honey and booze, and a lot of sympathy and encouragement. This started me thinking.  Are there people in your life that you stepped up and encouraged when they were down?  How did you do it?  Flip side, are there people in your life that encouraged you when you were down?…

My friend and writing partner Susan Sey and I have often discussed the alpha hero. What makes him hot. How to keep him from becoming a jerk. How both of our husbands are alphas, even though they are completely different men. We are romance writers and the sort of people who like to analyze things, so naturally, we can spend a lot of time on this subject. But our conversation often comes down to this: if we’re writing an alpha male, what is his essential characteristic? How do we know when we’ve gotten him right? First, let me debunk a myth: an alpha male doesn’t have to be handsome to be sexy. We have all sorts of great examples of sexy alpha males who aren’t pretty. Take Hugh Laurie — not the prettiest man alive, but I bet you wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating crackers. 🙂 His looks are almost immaterial; there’s something about him that makes him sexy, regardless of the breadth of his shoulders or square cut of his jaw. So what is that thing that the sexy alpha hero has got to have? Absolute, unmitigated, and totally-deserved confidence. Alpha men know they are good…

Thanks so much to Fresh Fiction for hosting me today as I continue the celebration of my latest release, ROMANCING THE COUNTESS! I have a confession to make: I never thought I was going to finish this book. You see, when I was first approved to write the story, I was a little over 5 months pregnant. The original due date (for the book) was when I would have been 8 months pregnant. Some women are happy-go-lucky everything-is-swell when pregnant. I. Am. Not. At 28 weeks, I went into the hospital with early contractions. Fortunately, they didn’t go anywhere. This continued off and on until I was about 34 weeks, with several hospital visits. When I’m pregnant, my joints ache. I am…well, let’s just say…unwieldy. =) It’s hard to get up. It’s hard to sit down. In fact, I could hardly bear to write because all I wanted to do–and I mean ALL I wanted to do was to lie in bed. Sitting at a desk (even if it was a very comfortable chair) was excruciating on my body and exhausting for my body. Truly, it was pathetic. We won’t even start in with the blood pressure issues. And–here you’re…

Thank you so much for inviting me onto your blog! I thought I’d give you a glimpse of my typical writing day, here in my Sussex village. I always write at my computer, which sits on a chaotically untidy desk, in what was once a small spare bedroom. In this room is also a filing cabinet on which stands my printer, a dear little occasional table and a shabby old antique chair, upholstered in old-rose velvet. There are piles of paper, and books everywhere. The window looks out over my quiet village street, which is great, because I’m very nosy, and like to keep an eye on what the neighbours are doing. This room is peaceful, which I find absolutely essential to getting any writing done at all. I simply can’t work in noise. (I’m struggling at the moment because one neighbour has just acquired a very vocal rooster, and it’s driving me bonkers!) I have a dog — a dear old Lakeland Terrier – who spends much of each day curled up like a cushion at my feet. He’s very calm and quiet, and a good companion for a writer — it’s also very good for me to have…

All fiction writers have imaginations, big imaginations, or we’d never come up with the stories we do. We’re the ones walking around with the voices in our heads. But these big imaginations can take different forms. I think all novelists love the question ‘what if?’ But not every writer looks at a plane in the sky and wonders, “What if it exploded?” or “What if it just disappeared or morphed into an alien spacecraft?” I believe that those of us who write speculative fiction (paranormal/sci-fi/fantasy) tend to have brains that serve up the strangest what-if questions. What if that dude in front of me in the check-out line were to suddenly shift into a hawk and fly through the window of the store? Or to sprout claws and fangs and start growling as if he wanted to tear someone apart? What if that teenaged girl was really an immortal over a hundred years old? What if shape-shifters and demons and mages fought battles for dominance of the earth all around us as we remained happily clueless? These are the types of questions that came to me at one point or another in the creation of my Feral Warriors shape-shifter series,…

Sirantha Jax #5 September 2011 On Sale: August 30, 2011 Featuring: Sirantha Jax ISBN: 044102078X EAN: 9780441020782 Paperback $7.99  Add to Wish List Science Fiction Buy at Amazon.com Getting ready for Readers & ‘ritas 2011 Aftermath by Ann Aguirre DEAD HEROES GET MONUMENTS. LIVE ONES GET TRIALS. Sirantha Jax has the right genes—ones that enable her to “jump” faster-than-light ships through grimspace. But it’s also in her genetic makeup to go it alone. It’s a character trait that has gotten her into—and out of—hot water time and time again, but now she’s caused one of the most horrific events in military history… During the war against murderous, flesh-eating aliens, Sirantha went AWOL and shifted grimspace beacons to keep the enemy from invading humanity’s homeworld. The cost of her actions: the destruction of modern interstellar travel—and the lives of six hundred Conglomerate soldiers. Accused of dereliction of duty, desertion, mass murder, and high treason, Sirantha is on trial for her life. And only time will tell if she’s one of the Conglomerate’s greatest heroes—or most infamous criminals… Previous Picks

It’s that time of year…October is here, nights are cool, almost time for trick or treating. The leaves are turning. Something about this time of year makes me want to check out haunted houses, scary movies, spooky books. I love a good thrill. I love it when something gets my heart to pounding…it doesn’t matter if it’s one of those fake haunted houses where you just know they are going to jump out at you with a knife, or if it’s a walk through a house that just may really be haunted. Scary movies, scary books…give me a good scare…a safe one, and I’m happy. That’s the appeal of romantic suspense for me—the edgier, the better. If You Hear Her is the first book in my romantic suspense trilogy…followed by If You See Her and If You Know Her, releasing this winter. While I’ve written several romantic suspense books before, this is my first trilogy and I was able to go a little deeper, took it a little darker…got to play with all those things that go bump in the night. And it all started with a scream…the heroine is awakened one night when she hears somebody screaming for help….

I’ve been blogging a lot about my re-entry into the dating world post-divorce. Last week I joined a certain well-known online dating site in a conscious move to meet men who want to be in a relationship. So far I had two dates with a Team USA athlete who sent out inspirational quotes via text everyday and will remain anonymous, which went south when it became obvious he was only out for one thing. Not that I have any objections to that “one thing” but it was far too explicit in his behavior, making it clear that it was all he was interested in. A pity. We had quite a bit in common. Then there is the high-paid account executive. The scientist. The Arnold Schwarzenegger look-alike. And the man who works for the military. Juggling all these dates is no easy task, let me tell you. Perhaps the site should have a queuing system: “your date shall be answered in the order in which it was received,” etc. It would make the on/off communication a lot easier to take. Ah…Johnny hasn’t emailed me in three days, he must have gone on a date. Oh, look, he’s back online. I guess…

When I was in second grade, my mother asked us, “What do you want to be for Halloween?” I looked down at the plate of food in front of me. “A baked potato.” She should have guessed I’d pick something I could see at the moment. A couple of years before, I’d chosen to be a telephone. It didn’t matter. My mother loved making costumes, the more challenging the better.  I’d worn a wonderful telephone costume, and she fashioned me a glorious baked potato costume. It was round and lumpy but lightweight, with eyes (potato eyes, not people eyes) sewn into the brown fabric body, and fluffy white fabric at the top. I was to peer out through holes in the pat of butter, a yellow-painted box, at the top. In those days, the entire school afternoon was devoted to the Halloween party and parade, and we tried very hard not to let anyone guess who we were. I went home for lunch, put on my brother’s old brown cords and shoes, then slid the costume on top. It was a little bulky, but I had the use of my hands, if not my entire arms. I dodged through neighbors’…

He’s the gorgeous man on the cover of HAUNTING EMBRACE.  He’s also the evil druid Brandubh (pronounced Brawn-doov) who’s been trapped inside the Book of Fennore for eons.  On the surface, he’s far from hero material.  But deep down?  A man just waiting to become a one. I won’t lie; it was a challenge getting him there.  Áedán fought me tooth and nail, insisting he was too dark, too far from humanity to save.  I disagreed.  I saw a man who’d been betrayed, used and abused but who’d never given up. I fell in love with Áedán while I was writing HAUNTING DESIRE, Book #3 in the Mists of Ireland series.  I admit, I fall in love with all of my heroes.  How could I not?  I create them.  But as they each emerge with their own special qualities and quirks, I begin to see what really makes them the men of legends.  Áedán tries to pretend he has no emotions, but deep down he feels as strongly as any other man and he wants…oh how he wants a life again.  His rough exterior may fool some, but not those who know him. Or people like me who’ve already fallen…