Romance novels are often accused of being formulaic.  Of being the same story, told often.  After all, how many different ways can you tell the story of a girl and a guy (or a guy and a guy, or a were-beast and a girl, depending on the genre you prefer) falling in love and working there way to a happily ever after?  My general response to that is, how many different ways are there to make a dress? The answer of course, is TONS.  From choice of fabrics, line, length, cut, style, and level of sophistication, there are a million different ways to make a dress.  And is a dress going to be the same old dress, sewn often?  No, of course not.  Any dress Michael Kors makes is going to be different from Christian Dior, from Jessica McKlintock, from the Gap. Similarly, there are millions of different ways to tell a love story, because a love story is unique to each individual couple.  That said, much like with clothing, there are certain patterns that romance writers follow, called tropes.  These tropes are not meant to make the stories the same – but they are recognizable – just as a…

Hi y’all! And how is everyone at Fresh Fiction today? In southern Oklahoma things are hopping right along. Spring has sprung. Summer is well into coming into its own and the flowers are blooming. And I have a new book on my bookcase! LOVE DRUNK COWBOY just hit the stands today and I’m so excited I could just dance a jig with a peg legged pirate, or maybe do some line dancin’ with a tall, dark sexy cowboy! Yes, indeedy, that does sound better. LOVE DRUNK COWBOY is the debut book in the new Spikes & Spurs series which has grown into four books already with the possibility of more on the horizon. Red’s Hot Cowboy will be out in September; Darn Good Cowboy Christmas in October and an untitled fourth book in the spring of 2012. What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas. Right? That’s what Jasmine and Ace thought when they had a secret wedding but then it was broadcast on national television and the secret was out of the bag. We haven’t come up with a name for it yet but believe me, my fabulous editor Deb Werksman will find a perfect fit for…

For a solid 24 hours, my novel THE COLOR OF HEAVEN outsold THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO on Kindle, and for the next two weeks sold at a record rate of a book a minute. It rose to #4 on the general fiction Kindle list at Amazon and hit #1 on the contemporary romance list. I was flooded with letters from readers who believed my fictional story was true, and I had to write back and explain it was not.  Some went hunting on the internet, looking for actual news items about the story.  Other readers wrote to share personal stories of connection with lost loved ones, who they believed were watching over them from some other dimension. THE COLOR OF HEAVEN isn’t a religious book.  In fact, it’s more of a love story than anything else, but it touched a nerve with so many different kinds of people – men and women, young and old. Some key parts of THE COLOR OF HEAVEN are based on my own life experiences (the character’s car accident and her daughter’s illness) but the essence of the story comes from my imagination and my research into the fascinating subject of actual, documented…

Thanks for having me today! I had the first opportunity to see Michael in the shelves at Barnes and Noble this weekend so that was pretty darn exciting.  It feels that Michael has been a long time coming. I first started envisioning the story during a time when I use to travel to Vegas several times a year. I started out in denial that I would EVER gamble, and so I explored the city. Of course, I later developed a real love for roulette, but thankfully not until the city caught fire in my blood. Once I found the roulette table, I was hooked, but even that fun game couldn’t overshadow the excitement and energy of Vegas. The series has lots of that Vegas energy I so adore, and I hope readers will enjoy experiencing it through my characters. Aside from the Vegas flavor, the Zodius series is about a group of Special Forces soldiers that were told they were receiving immunizations and instead received injections of experimental alien DNA. These soldiers become immune to all human illness, but they also develop very special skills — super speed, super strength, and they can travel with the wind. Some even develop…

Did Vestal Virgins exist? Yes. Chosen between ages six and ten, they served Vesta, the goddess of fire. BASTIAN, THE LORDS OF SATYR is a love story between Silvia (a former Vestal Virgin–now an immortal Ephemeral) and Bastian, who’s the lead archaeologist in the Roman Forum during the 1880s excavations. Crossing the centuries, Silvia now seeks to trick Bastian into helping her locate powerful, mysterious relics in the Forum ruins. Relics she herself lost during the destruction of the pagan temples (including Vesta’s) in the 4th century A.D. It’s historical fact that these relics existed and were guarded by the six Vestal Virgins. The relics were believed to protect the city of Rome from harm. Today, no one knows what the relics were or what became of them. So I was free to decide what form these relics would take and what power they hold. The Virgins were revered and privileged. They could own property, when other women could not. However, in times of strife, they were scapegoats. Accused of being unchaste, whether fairly or unfairly, some were buried alive in small underground enclosures in the “Evil Fields” near the Colline Gate. When Vesta’s temple was destroyed, Silvia and the…

It’s an exciting time in the publishing industry right now. With the availability of inexpensive eBook readers, the ability to read eBooks on devices like your cell phone or iPad, and the wide availability of eBooks, there are many more choices available for both readers and authors. Authors no longer have to write their books within the relatively limited areas that the large publishers require to stay profitable. Don’t get me wrong, big houses do take chances and they do offer a large variety of books, but to stay profitable, they only buy books they feel will sell enough copies to justify a reasonable print run. If they didn’t do that, they wouldn’t be able to stay in business. Now, however, authors can choose to write something a little different and sell their books to smaller publishers who specialize in eBooks, which allow those publishers to take a chance on niche books that the big publishers can’t afford to do. Also, in the past few months, self-publishing (or indie publishing as people have started to call it) is becoming a viable option. What does this mean for readers? Again, choice. You can buy traditional print books, you can buy those…

Pop Culture has always been in love with doctors, who figure prominently as heroes in movies like M*A*S*H, TV shows like House and Grey’s Anatomy, and in books like Eloisa James’s WHEN BEAUTY TAMED THE BEAST and Jo Goodman’s MARRY ME. And no wonder. In many ways doctors are the ultimate alpha males since they hold the power of life and death in their manly hands. They’re also educated, smart, and exercise their skills with a calm precision that instils confidence in the rest of us lowly mortals. By those characteristics alone, what’s not to love in a guy like that? But unlike other alpha males—who often channel a wee bit too much aggression and usually need to be tamed by the heroine—doctors have a nurturing side that displays itself in the very nature of the profession. They are warriors of another kind. They don’t come on all strong and warlike by hacking their way through a line of marauding invaders, nor do they rush into a hail of bullets to save a hapless victim from a psychotic criminal. No. Doctors fight a quieter, more intense battle by caring for vulnerable people and doing it in an intimate, personal way….

At different times I’m looking for different romances. When I’m working hard, or hip-deep in the problems brought to an Irish matriarch (sounds awful, doesn’t it?), I want something light, frothy. Regency romances, drawing-room comedies.  Barbara Metzger, Julia Quinn and the like. When I finish a bad deadline and I don’t have any words left of my own, I love beautifully written, poetic romances that linger long on the tongue.  Laura Kinsale,  Sherry Thomas. Or I might want romantic adventure, a la Patricia Veryan and Marsha Canham. But there are quite a few times, when what I really want is a good emotional wallow. I want to not just laugh, but sob. I want my chest to hurt, knowing that it’s safe to feel devastated for the characters, since I know that in the end,end all will be well. As a romance author, I write books the same way. I’ve been lucky enough to write all manner of romance in my career: contemporary and historical, issue books and comedies, adventure and suspense. Well, when Grace Fairchild walked onto the pages of BARELY A LADY, I knew she had to have her own story. There was something very special about her…

THE ALCHEMY OF DESIRE (originally titled, Once in a Coyote Moon) was my NaNo 2008 project. For those of you not familiar with NaNoWriMo, it’s where a bunch of writers get together in the month of November and try to write a novel of at least 50,000 words in a month. It’s fun, it’s crazy, and it borders on insane at times. But it’s doable if you have a story that’s driving you forward. I use NaNo to “play” with different ideas. In the case of THE ALCHEMY OF DESIRE, I not only got to play with a new genre (Steampunk), but I also got to play with an atypical hero. That’s right, ladies and gentleman – Diah Reynolds is not your typical alpha male. He’s the good son, a gentleman, and — dare I imply it? — a virgin. Or at least he was in the original draft. My editor asked that I tone down Diah’s naivety in the bedroom, but I tried to keep the changes to a minimum. I know most romance novels feature an alpha male as the hero – or as I like to call them, “man whores”. And don’t get me wrong — I…

As a debut author, with my first historical regency, THE DEVIL IN DISGUISE, coming out May 24, 2011, I’ve been thinking a lot about what an author can do for readers. In my opinion, one of the most valuable ways to provide access to all that’s going on in the author’s world is a monthly newsletter. It’s the perfect way for a writer to interact on a more personal level with her fans by sharing what she’s been working on, current happenings, and future publications and events that might be of interest. I’m very excited about what’s planned for my monthly newsletters. Each one will include an excerpt from the next book to be published—a sneak peek that will only be available to newsletter subscribers for a certain period of time before it’s posted on my site. A run-down on current contests will be featured with information on prizes and how to win—and let me tell you, I have some fabulous contests coming up with prizes including signed books from such luminaries as Julia Quinn, Amanda Quick, and Stephanie Laurens just to name a few! I’ll also be featuring a unique piece of specialized content in each mailing that, like…