The longer I live, the more I believe in and appreciate the power of women to transform lives, to nurture the future, to demonstrate that strength and gentleness are not mutually exclusive. Not that I don’t adore men. I absolutely do–not only do I treasure the ones in my life and thank them for how they enrich it, but I just like the male sex in general. Writing great heroes and falling in love with every one of them has been one of the very best parts of being a romance writer. In my women’s fiction debut, THE GODDESS OF FRIED OKRA, the roles women can play in the lives of other women are a crucial element in the narrative. Eudora “Pea” O’Brien desperately misses the sister who raised her and feels the need for Sister’s forgiveness. Because she so badly wants a do-over, she decides to gamble on Sister’s belief in reincarnation. In the hope of somehow finding the new body in which Sister resides, Pea hits the road with everything she owns in a beat-up sedan. Pea may miss Sister greatly, but that doesn’t mean she’s the type to sit around and wallow in self-pity. No, she charges…

No writer can assume that her career is without risks. Writing stories for public consumption comes with innumerable risks. No matter what the topic, fiction or non-fiction, someone out there abhors it, is offended by it, or decides to deride it publicly. I believe writing ethnic fiction is somewhat riskier than other kinds because it deviates from the typical readers’ perception and expectations. While most Indian authors write serious literary books, I write mainstream novels with romantic elements, something I enjoy immensely. When I started writing my debut book, The Dowry Bride, I wondered if there was a market for such a story. Would any agent bother to look at a manuscript that was so outside the box? It fitted into no particular genre, the setting was unusual, the theme controversial, and the author unknown. It was “Bollywood in a Book.” It could be a perfect recipe for disaster. Nonetheless I started querying various agents. It took me a while to find the right agent. Naturally I had my share of rejections, since fiction is so subjective–one agent’s food is another agent’s poison. Editors are no different. After some effort, when three agents offered me representation, I was thrilled that…

I’m planning to lock myself in a bookstore, any bookstore, overnight and re-shelve the books. Before you call the authorities, let me explain. Most categories make sense: art, self-help, travel, reference. But what about the “Fiction and Literature” category? Isn’t that redundant? Or is there some fiction that’s not literature? Is it IL-literate, then? There’s some literature that’s not fiction, but aren’t those volumes across the aisle in Nonfiction? While we’re at it, let’s think about the other bookcases. There’s one case, around the corner from “Fiction and Literature,” labeled “Mystery.” Hmm. Is Mystery neither Fiction nor Literature? Confusing, isn’t it. Mystery comes under the umbrella known informally as Genre Fiction, along with Romance, Western, and SciFi, to name a few. Mystery writers grumble about this seeming second-class citizenship in the world of books. We like to think we create engaging characters, interesting and complex stories, rich settings, and aesthetically pleasing turns of phrases. In other words, literature. As a mystery writer myself, with 13 novels published, I often envision all the mysteries in a bookstore coming to life and entering into a criminal conspiracy. I picture them infiltrating the Fiction and Literature shelf, until they are seamlessly woven in…

The Dark Days series follows a vampire named Mira with a fiery disposition and a vampire hunter named Danaus as they are forced to work together to thwart a dark race from its attempts to wipe out mankind.  Over the length of several books, Mira and Danaus have come to respect each other and see each other as comrades in arms.  They’ve even become reluctant friends, even though there is a lot of mistrust on both sides.  PRAY FOR DAWN is the fourth book in the series and was just released at the end of June.  I really enjoyed writing this book because it gave me the chance for the first time to tell the story from Danaus’s point of view.  This was an interesting struggle because it was the first time that I had ever tried to tell anything from a guy’s point of view.  However, I enjoyed it because it was the first time that I was able to dig deeper into this mysterious guy’s past and do a little exploring as to why he acts the way he does.  Oddly enough, the book even delves a little into Mira’s own past and looks at how fragile her…

Don’t try to be topical. That’s what writers, agents, and editors say. By the time you’re done with the book and it’s in stores, it could be over two years since you came up with the idea for the story. So when I wrote my debut novel, The Ark, what were the odds that, a couple of weeks before the novel’s release, two attention-grabbing news stories would relate directly to the plot of my book? Apparently, the odds were very good, because that’s exactly what happened. I wasn’t trying to be topical, but I did want to explore universal themes like the dangers of religious fanaticism and recovery from personal loss, which makes The Ark sound like a PBS documentary combined with a Very Special Episode of Blossom. It’s not. The Ark is a thriller about a former combat engineer named Tyler Locke who must find Noah’s Ark in seven days to stop the end of the world. There were some eerie links to my book that made the news in the weeks leading up to the release. At the beginning of The Ark, Tyler is on an oil rig in the north Atlantic when he discovers that bombs have…

I admit it. I love my villains. In fact, if I have a book with a villain in it, I have to make sure I have my villain in place before I consider my hero and heroine complete. Because, if you think about it, the way I show the heroism of my protagonists is to match them against an equal opposing force. And that force had better be three-dimensional and compelling in some way, or else it’s pointless. The way I usually put it when I’m teaching is that the villain has to be worthy of the hero, and vice versa. If there is one complaint I have when I read a book, it’s that the author doesn’t spend enough time or attention on the creation of their villains. It isn’t enough that a person is evil. So what? That isn’t interesting. The villain has to have a reason for doing what he(or she) does. It also has to be a compelling reason, at least to the villain. But here’s the secret. It’s the best advice I’ve ever gotten about villains. No villain is truly villainous in his own eyes. He always has what he considers to be a perfectly…

We always hear about the millionaire playboy, but seriously. Trotting the globe alone. Sounds kind of sad and pathetic, doesn’t it? How much fun could a man have, bedding different women every night? No man wants to do that! After a while, arm candy would make a millionaire sick. Or at least, it would a millionaire of character, like Adam Duke, the hero of my latest book, The Millionaire Meets His Match. Adam has no intention of ever settling down, but that’s because he doesn’t realize how much a wife-the right wife – would add to his life. So here are the Top 10 Reasons Why Every Millionaire Needs a Wife 10. She makes a fabulous tax deduction. When you’re raking in the bucks, you need every tax deduction you can get. Which brings us to… 9. He needs someone to bear his insanely gorgeous heirs. No mansion is complete without the sound of children laughing as they play in the bowling alley or build a fort in the wine cellar. Of course, it will be a while before the children inherit because… 8. Married men live longer. He needs time to enjoy all that money. And of course, he…

It’s that time of year again. Stress levels are getting higher, interviews are being scheduled, road trip preparations are hectic, and yes, the intern has a whole lot more work to do. Haha, not that I’m complaining, just surprised about all the work that goes into preparing and attending an RWA (Romance Writers of America) conference for an online company like FreshFiction.com. But, you know what this means? While the staff is off having fun at Disney I get to sleep in, work from home, and dance in my living room in between breaks. It’s going to be a blast. I am writing today’s blog because Sandi is busy on that big road trip I mentioned above. I believe everyone left early this morning around 6am. Crazy; but then again, the early bird gets the worm. I’m just glad I get to sleep in. Working from home actually isn’t so bad. So far, I just have to make sure I’m not too distracted. Motivation definitely dwindles when the TV happens to be in the same room as me. It’s a good challenge, one that will help my future ventures at owning my own company. Yesterday was my first official “work…

What do readers like best about my medieval series, ALL THE KING’S MEN? Without a doubt, it’s the heroes! The joy of writing in the medieval period is that it lends itself so well to stories about honorable alpha men who have a heady air of danger about them. My heroes are warriors, fearless knights who live by an internal code of honor. I like to make it interesting by throwing these honorable men into situations in which duty and loyalty collide. Will my hero betray his father or his king? Will he break his oath or his beloved’s heart? I’m fair; I force my heroines into equally difficult dilemmas. Speaking of heroines, I give my knights worthy heroines..who cause them no end of trouble. These are women who…if they feel they must…are willing to wield a sword, spy for a prince, or follow an enemy into a secret passageway. In Knight of Passion, the last book in this trilogy, I give Sir James (Jamie) Rayburn a heroine who refuses to let him do the right thing by her. When Linnet gave him her virginity, my honorable knight assumed marriage would immediately follow. Linnet is a young woman set on…

My Mom and I had a conversation once that still makes me laugh to think about it. Concerning some movie set in historic times, my Mom commented that she didn’t think it was very accurate because it had people behaving in a – ahem – sexual manner. “People back then didn’t behave like that!” she stated, with some emphasis. “They just didn’t jump into bed with each other.” Well, mother is not always right! With all the sexual scandals in the news lately, it is easy to forget that ‘plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose’. That’s my fancy French way of saying, the more things change, the more things stay the same! Here is a look at just a few of the sexy scandals of the last two hundred years!! Charles Dickens and Ellen Ternan – By 1858 Dickens was a well-loved and well-respected author, adored by the public for his moral and piquant tales. But in a well-chronicled ‘oops’ moment worthy of any Hollywood writer, a bracelet intended for his mistress, Ellen Ternan, was delivered to his wife of 22 years, Catherine. TMZ woulda loved that story, but with no tabloid press to capitalize on the tale,…