“We’re working on a murder together…” Lady on a Train, 1945 I’m not sure why but, for me, romance and murder go hand-in-hand. That’s probably the result of a youth misspent watching a lot of black and white movies. You know the kind of thing. Lots of snappy dialog and meaningful looks, great clothes, wonderful old cars, and a certain freewheeling attitude where the law was concerned. In fact, sometimes the line between the good guys and the bad was fascinatingly narrow. Anyway, very few of those vintage mystery films were without some kind of romance — even if it ended very badly indeed. Not that romance isn’t exciting all on its own, but it does certainly up the ante if you’re running for your life or accused of a crime you didn’t commit or faced with the most perplexing puzzle of your life. It’s not that most romance novels just don’t have enough plot for me — well, maybe that is what I’m saying. I know that’s not true, because I’ve read plenty of romances that are stuffed with plot and conflict, both internal and external. Maybe it’s because I personally have trouble of thinking of a plot that…

The Christmas season is one of my favorite times of the year, so I was thrilled when Harlequin Intrigue published my latest book, THE SPY WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS. Of course, as an Intrigue, THE SPY WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS puts a very different spin on the season. More gunfire than mistletoe, more car chases than sleigh rides. No matter what the season, Harlequin Intrigue promises an action-packed thrill ride, with an equal focus on two characters in danger falling headlong into love. Passion in all its forms. I wanted to fulfill that promise by putting a twist on the traditional things that mean “Christmas” to me. First and foremost, that’s family. Children bring the magic to the holidays. They are the sparkle. They’re the tinsel on the tree, the happy note in the carols, the whipped cream on the hot chocolate. People say that scent is the sense linked most closely to memory, and that’s certainly true for me when it comes to the holidays. Whenever I smell bread or cookies baking in the oven, I’m immediately brought back to my childhood Christmases. Something about the toasty flour aroma mingling with the hint of caramelizing sugar makes me feel warm and…

I have to admit, I can’t believe 2010 is drawing to a close.  I’m absolutely astounded that we are in December and that Christmas is right around the corner!  But since we are in the last month of the year, I thought I’d take a look back at some of the new authors I’ve discovered this year and the books that I’ve loved. I know she’s been around for a few years, but I found Kristan Higgins this year and absolutely fell in love with her spunky, down-on-their-luck heroines.  Contemporaries are back in a big way and Kristin’s latest book, ALL I EVER WANTED, was absolutely awesome.  I’m most of the way through her backlist and loving that as well. Patricia Briggs’s Mercy series is another set of books that absolutely blew me away.  I’m a huge paranormal and urban fantasy lover anyway, and I picked up the first book on a whim.  I went back to BN the next day and bought the following four and am currently waiting, with bated breath, for book number six in the series. I also picked up Rachel Caine’s Morganville Vampire series on a random trip to the bookstore and really got sucked…

I’ve always loved history; there’s something very romantic in thinking about the past. Perhaps it’s because my mom would drag us to antique shops when we were children and I’d tiptoe around piles of ancient objects, feeling as if I was peeking into someone’s private life. Being that we lived in the Midwestern U.S., these antique shops would be full of Victorian Era leftovers, about the earliest date we have. It’s not only in antique shops where you can find Victorian fingerprints. Just about every Midwestern city has ornate Victorian homes in their downtown area. So you can definitely say I’ve been surrounded by the 1800s for most of my life. When I decided to become a writer, there were many time periods I could have picked. I loved the Medieval era for their Knights in Shining Armor. And of course there is the Colonial era here in America with its stark attractiveness; an era I feel is rather under-developed in the romance world. There is also the lovely delicateness of the Regency time period, one of the most popular of the romance genres. But for me, it has always been about the Victorian era. Some find the décor gaudy,…

Tim Barney was the first boy I ever dated. The first boy I ever kissed. I met him when I was eighteen — a freshman in college. I’d never been on a date. Didn’t go to high school proms or dances or hang out at parties. I read Harlequin romances. I worked. I wrote. And then, in geology class in 1977, I met Tim. I fell so hard and so fast and had so little experience, I was completely out of my element. Tim broke my heart. Twenty-seven years later, when I was living in emotional isolation, Tim sent me an email. He wondered if I remembered him. He claimed that I broke his heart back in college. Did I remember him? A girl doesn’t forget her first kiss. Or her only true love. And as for breaking his heart, I didn’t think so. But twenty seven years had passed. Life had taken its toll. For me, the price had been heavy. I’d been attacked by darkness. Lived in darkness. I wasn’t the same naïve young girl Tim had held in his arms all those years ago. HCI books heard about our story from an author friend of mine. This…

Hello Fresh Fiction and thank you for having me back again! I always enjoy talking to the fabulous readers of this blog! I’m here today to celebrate the re-release of my very first book, BENEATH THE THIRTEEN MOONS, in mass market paperback, and I have to say, I just love the new cover. The book takes place on a landless planet where enormous trees grow up from the ocean floor, supporting all life within their canopies. The world was inspired by my love for the jungle (Tarzan, anyone?), for the ocean, and the city of Venice. If you’d like to know more about the creation of the world, please visit my website, but for today, I’d like to talk about my hero & heroine and how they are so opposite, and yet so perfect for one another. My hero, Korl Com’nder, is the crown prince of Sea Forest. Used to wielding great political power, he is also a victim of murderous schemes for the throne. He lives a life of luxury, is quite arrogant, and accustomed to living with rules and order. Mahri Zin lives in the wild swamplands of Sea Forest, beyond the city trees, which are larger and…

I have a thing for small town romance, which I’ve always found kind of interesting since I didn’t grow up in a small town. I grew up in St. Louis. Big city. Professional baseball and football teams, lots to do, major commerce, heavy traffic—all the big city things you would expect of a—well, a big city. But here and there I’ve lived in small towns. And oh, I love them. I raised my sons in what was then (but isn’t now) a small town. The kind of small town where if you lived there long enough, you’d run into people at the grocery store who knew who you were, or knew you were the parent of one of their friends. People on the street where I lived used to have block parties. No one stayed in their houses keeping to themselves. Everyone knew everyone else. If you went out at night, you knew your neighbors were watching your house (or your teenagers, much to their dismay). I live in a small town now, on an acre and a half of land, but still live on a street where I know my neighbors, where people watch out for you, where high…

I liked complicated men. They tend to be a bit (okay, a lot) more high maintenance, but they’re also a lot more intense, which means life with them is more passionate. And I like that. When it comes to writing my heroes, of course, I tend to go with what I like in real life. Not always. But usually. One of the first full-length manuscripts I ever wrote was an epic fantasy. This story had its origins in the idea that even a villain can have someone who loves him. My evil sorcerer started out life as a truly good guy who was corrupted by magic and turned evil almost against his will. I hoped to build empathy for him as a young man, so that when the magic twisted him, the reader would see the tragedy of his transformation and continue to view him sympathetically. While writing this story, I had the great good fortune to have the input of a very experienced Science Fiction/Fantasy editor who had spent twenty years at some of the biggest houses in the genre. She read the first draft of the manuscript and said of my villain’s trauma… I don’t care. Which meant…

Are you like me, shopping for the perfect gift at this time? Every year I try for that special gift that nobody dared to ask for but had been dreaming of. This kind of experience has happened to me a few times in my life and I know how magical it feels. I remember the Christmas when transistor radios had just been invented (okay, I realize I am dating myself ) and I longed for one. But my parents were giving me the train ticket to a friend’s wedding as my Christmas gift. Besides, transistor radios were a big deal when they first came out and certainly not cheap. So I didn’t even ask for one. Then on Christmas morning I went through my stocking—okay, I know I was a teenager but I still liked my stocking—and came across a battery. What a strange thing, I thought. What could I possible want a battery for? Then I felt hope and amazement flooding through me. It couldn’t be, could it? Not possibly… I went through the rest of the stocking and there at the very bottom was the transistor radio. I still tear up when I think about it now. The…

No one ever successfully controls a familiar. Historically, familiars were said to be magical helpers of witches. They had the ability to shift shape, often appearing as cats, bats, or other creatures in their service to the witch. It was assumed by inquisitors that familiars, as a type of imp or evil spirit, served the witch willingly. At other times, they were summoned by a magician, then trapped in a stone or piece of jewelry. The familiar spirit was trapped, coerced into service, like genies in bottles. In the world of EMBERS and SPARKS, Anya has a familiar, Sparky. He’s a five-foot long speckled hellbender with eyes like marbles–a fire salamander elemental, a creature that’s the embodiment of fire. The German magician, Paracelsus, called fire spirits &mquot;salamanders&mquot;in the sixteenth century. Salamanders were long associated with fire, despite their amphibious nature, because they crawled out of forest logs cast on fires. The salamander was assumed to dwell in fire, and embodied the impetuosity, power, and destructive changeability of the flickering flame. Anya’s had Sparky since she was a child. He’s tied to a necklace her mother gave her, which suggests that, like the familiars trapped in jewelry, he was coerced into…