People often wonder why I write in different genres. The answer is simple — it relaxes me. When I’m working on a contemporary romance or women’s fiction, the tone is usually heavier, the issues more complex, and there’s invariably a moral dilemma that’s ambiguous. My brain is tired when I finally type the end. I love the work, love the process and the results, but I need time to play…or in other words, write about brooding heroes and smart heroines aka Regency historical romances. I began writing these for the pure joy of falling into romance through a fairytale setting. The beautiful young women, the wealthy, titled men, the gowns, the carriages, the estates, even the villains are pure fairytale material reminiscent of Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Sleeping Beauty. I still remember watching Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella with Leslie Ann Warren and Stuart Damon, (who was later Alan Quartermaine in General Hospital!) The historical lifts me up and carries me away into happily ever after. I love, love, love Mr. Darcy of PRIDE & PREJUDICE. What a delight when he appeared in movie theaters and later, on our televisions 🙂 I own both the regular and the deluxe…

I write romantic women’s fiction.  You may be wondering, what exactly is romantic women’s fiction?  Is that anything like romantic fiction? Yes, I believe it is.  Similar to novels with strong romantic elements, romantic women’s fiction is my term for combining the two. For me, romance centers on the hero and heroine and the slew of reasons these two characters whom are otherwise hot for one another cannot be together—and why they should be. It doesn’t give equal weight to best friends or family and it doesn’t focus on a woman’s personal growth and maturity where women’s fiction can. The main reason I consider JENNIFER’S GARDEN to be romantic women’s fiction is because it portrays the journey of Jennifer’s personal growth in regard to false impressions and misplaced judgments, particularly with regard to one Jackson Montgomery. My theme questions how a woman goes about the business of choosing her husband. Is it about social status and job title or a matter of chemistry and friendship? Must the man be equally or more successful? Men have been marrying up and down the social ladder for years. Can women? It’s romantic because there is a budding relationship at the heart of the…

I really never thought I’d write a book about talking wolves.  I was going to write Very Serious Literature That Wins Prizes.  I had it all planned out, and had been trying for many years to write this Very Serious Literature.   Then one day, when I was sitting in my recliner recovering from a sore neck and minding my own business, the wolves barged into my apartment insisting that I was the one to tell their story.  They wouldn’t leave me alone. They sat under my desk at work, followed me as I walked around San Francisco, crawled onto the bed when I was trying to sleep. Soon I found myself immersed in the Wide Valley and in the life of Kaala, a young wolf living 14,000 years ago.  The wolves took over more and more of my life until I eventually quit my job to play with them. SECRETS OF THE WOLVES is the second book in The Wolf Chronicles trilogy, which tells the story of how the wolf became the dog from the wolf’s point of view.  It’s based on the theory of wolf-human coevolution (the idea that wolves, and later dogs, helped make us the dominant species…

Remember the furor over the royal wedding?  Kate became a princess and William became Prince Charming.  We watched the vows with tears in our eyes and couldn’t wait for that first kiss.  Cinderella might be an ages-old fairytale but the storyline encourages dreams from the little girls who watch Disney-princess movies to the women who faithfully follow the Bachelor and the Bachelorette.  Subliminally, our curiosity in relationships and interest in public romances is all about the happily-ever-after storyline.  Can two people fall in love and commit to each other for a lifetime? My husband and I recently celebrated our fortieth wedding anniversary.  I wouldn’t be able to write romances from my heart unless I believed in them.  When I was a little girl, I remember pretending a lace curtain was a bridal veil.  My girlfriends and I reenacted the marriage ceremony.  Recently by BFF’s daughter asked if she could play dress-up with her mom’s wedding gown.  Are the dreams of little girls now any different than ten or twenty or forty years ago?  Loving and being loved drive our collective consciousness.  Have you ever been in the midst of a crowd at a wedding and watched everyone grow misty-eyed?  The…

It’s nice to be here today to talk about my book and to meet your readers. I was given free rein in this blog, and so I thought I’d talk about music and how it’s a part of FITZWILLIAM DARCY ROCK STAR. FDRS is a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s classic PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. It’s about Fitzwilliam Darcy, virtuoso guitarist and the behind the scenes leader of the world famous rock band Slurry. The other members are Darcy’s best friend, Charles Bingley, the frontman on vocals and bass, and his cousin, Richard Fitzwilliam on drums. While Slurry is hugely successful, they’ve had trouble completing concert tours and they’re current one is about to hit the skids. Right as they’re about to begin the American leg, they’ve lost they opening act, and they’ve gained a reputation for being impossible to work with. Forced to chose a ‘B’ group, and quickly, they hire Long Borne Suffering, a girl group made up of Elizabeth and Jane Bennet and Charlotte Lucas. These ladies are right on the edge of making it big, and they’re hungry for a chance, hungry enough to go on a tour with the band with the worst reputation in the…

Comment to win a Latte Cup! Crime writing can be a challenge at times, but it can also be barrels of fun— double barrels. Where else can you get even with a boss who lays you off with the line: “I wanted to do this myself because it’s such good experience for me as a new executive!” (No kidding. That’s how she did it.) In one of my mysteries, I cast this sadistically perky charmer as the murderess and brought her to justice via a smack to her noggin with a thick bestseller. In another, her lifeless body was found on the floor of a women’s room. (She’d mistakenly ingested a poisoned soy muffin.) I put a version of her in my latest culinary mystery, MURDER BY MOCHA, too. But I won’t spoil the fun for you. You can guess how I cast her by reading the book yourself. (Click here to see the first chapter.) When Crime (Writing) Pays Eight years after my ignominious layoff, I am happy to report that the pen is mightier than the corporate pink slip. I am now fully self-employed writing THE COFFEEHOUSE MYSTERIES—an urban cozy series set in a landmark coffee shop that…

Brought to you from Kathy Lynn Emerson (aka Kate Emerson and Kaitlyn Dunnett) When this blog was originally scheduled, I planned to talk about the next Kate Emerson historical, SECRETS OF THE TUDOR COURT: AT THE KING’S PLEASURE, which first had a release date of September 20th , then August 23rd. And now? December 27th! The novel is written and edited and has a gorgeous cover. It will be in stores eventually, but when my editor phoned to explain about the delay (actually a good thing in terms of marketing), I was disappointed, as I know readers are at having to wait those extra months. SECRETS OF THE TUDOR COURT THE PLEASURE PALACE #1 BETWEEN TWO QUEENS #2 BY ROYAL DECREE #3 AT THE KING’S PLEASURE #4 In a writing career that stretches back  more years than I like to count, this is far from being the worst setback I’ve ever experienced. That “honor” goes to something that happened in 1988, when I had three young adult novels already written and edited and scheduled for Silhouette’s Keepsake line. One even had a cover. Then Silhouette decided to discontinue the line, and none of them saw the light of day, at…

Hi everyone! Thank you for joining me today for my guest blog! I am so excited to be here on Fresh Fiction to talk about my work. My debut novel THE RAKE AND THE RECLUSE is a bit different from the usual romance. I know everyone like to think that about their book, and I like to believe there is something very different about my story, but I am talking about something else all together. THE RAKE AND THE RECLUSE is an illustrated novel. There are over one hundred photographs embedded within the story. The idea came with the advent of digital readers. I wanted to embrace new media and as a professional photographer I believed the obvious way to enhance my novel for digital media was to illustrate it. A bit about my hero. Gideon is the Duke of Roxleigh, he lives in the far north of England in 1880, and would happily stay there far from society and the pains of London living, but as one of the most powerful peers of the realm his duty calls. He is determined to satisfy the Queen by finding an acceptable wife and doing all the things a Queen requires of…

Ever read a romance that stopped you dead (hit you deep in the gut) because the moment was just too much? What was it that did this? Here’s a list of my fave show stoppers and what really happens when you try this at home. 1.       A lick behind the knee. Come on, seriously who does that? So… since I’m ever curious and always open to research in the name of romance, er…. Romance in the name of research… whatever. I’m always open to new things. I asked my partner in crime to take a lick. Now, you may think this is going somewhere naughty, but I promise it’s not. In earnest, the hubs proceeded to shove me into the nearest bedroom—thank goodness it was ours—and then took the opportunity to flip me backwards on the bed, hike my leg in the air and flatten his tongue against the back of my leg. Now, I’ll tell you ladies and gents don’t ask your hubs to help with research unless you give him a script and the set up. Believe me the knee lick in the book did things to my libido that poor hubs will never accomplish with the skills…

I’ve never been one to play the field. Really, I’m very faithful and loyal by nature, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that starting a second cozy mystery series wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. The idea for it had been percolating in my mind for a while, and I was looking forward to having my way with it. But actually embarking on another writing relationship felt a bit like cheating on the one I was already involved in. Right from the start there were problems. I had trouble naming my main character. I don’t know about other authors, but I can’t move forward until I have a satisfactory name for my lead. “Rory…Rory McCain” a little voice in my head kept whispering. “I can’t call all my protagonists ‘Rory’,” I replied, getting a little testy with myself. “Besides, Rory already has a great gig of her own.” I went through all the baby name lists until I was bleary-eyed. I’d had less trouble naming my two kids and four dogs. Nothing seemed right or suitable for a strong, young woman who’d weathered a difficult childhood. A cutesy name would never do. After a ridiculous amount of…