The other day I received a question from a reader who’d already read my latest release Scions:Revelation (December 1st) and the last book in my Scions trilogy. She asked if the prophecy–that has been an underlying thread through all three of the books in the Scions trilogy–was something I planned from the very beginning, or if the outcome of the prophecy had come to me as I wrote the books. The answer is actually somewhere in between. 🙂 The idea for the first book in my Scions series came straight from a dream. I’d dreamed about a woman who was kidnapped by a vampire and they were being chased by gunmen. Lots of running, leaping across building rooftops and gunshots ensued. The scene in my dream was right out of an adventure novel and too surreal not to write once I woke up. But once I started jotting down notes, I then had to figure out how to turn that “one scene” into a novel. Hmmm…I ask the question: Why the vampire might want to kidnap the human woman and why the gunmen were chasing them….and all the reasons in between….and that’s how the first five chapters in the first…

Thanks for inviting me to blog! My name is Sara Bennett and I write historical romance for Avon. I have to confess that I tend to write books that have a lot of angst in them. I try not to. I tell myself that I’ll lighten up, write one of those bubbly, sunny books. But no matter how I try the angst creeps in. Before I know it the hero has suffered some terrible trauma or the heroine is struggling with the memory of a miserable childhood. For some reason my creative voice tends to dwell on the darkside. My November book is called Her Secret Lover, and is the final in my series of Aphrodite books. Aphrodite is an infamous courtesan living in Victorian London, and she has lots of angst in her life. The first three books (Lessons in Seduction, Rules of Passion and Mistress of Scandal) told the stories of Aphrodite’s three daughters and some of the issues covered are, well, dark. The next book (A Seduction in Scarlet) deals with widowhood, the expectations of others, assassination attempts . . . yes, there are some angsty subjects in this one as well. Now I’m saying goodbye to…

I don’t have my own good luck charm, per se, but I do operate on the presumption of superstition in some ways. And sometimes, thankfully, luck pays off for me! I definitely don’t like to presume good things will happen, I like to hope. I’m afraid of jinxing something. Can you really do that? I rarely tempt fate. But it’s an interesting concept, isn’t it? Luck? LUCK is fickle. And yet many of us believe. When I ask myself why, I realize it’s because of HOPE. It’s the possibility that Lady Luck will step in and pick us up that provides a ray of hope. LUCK causes us to play the lottery, pick up a heads up penny, read fortune cookies, and many more crazy, superstitious things. It was the concept of LUCK that drove the idea for my new LUCKY series, starting with LUCKY CHARM. Fortune hasn’t been so kind, however, to the men in the Corwin family. And Derek Corwin is the latest to cross her path. Long ago, as revenge on a Corwin who stole her son’s fiancée, a witch proclaimed an eternal curse that every Corwin male who married for love would be destined to lose…

In the last few weeks some authors are being discussed quite a bit in a few of my yahoo groups. Naturally, I expect to hear about authors and their latest works through my groups, but what surprises me about the ones I’m hearing a lot about is that people are just discovering them, and because they enjoyed the newest title having to go on a back list hunt. One of these authors is Robyn Carr. I have to admit to being somewhat new to the Carr party. I once read a book for review (Down By The River) and didn’t enjoy it at all. What I didn’t’ know at the time was that it was part of a series, and the third in the series. Had I known that I might have been a bit more lenient in how I thought of it. Years passed and I had the opportunity to review her new book, Virgin River. Since I knew it was the beginning of a series I thought here is a way for this author to make my auto buy list. I was of course wowed by what I read, and told one and all you must read this…

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been reading the Bakery Sisters Trilogy by Susan Mallery. People who know me best know that I love connected stories. I tend to horde the first and second book until the third becomes available, and then read them back to back to back.While for a short series that will release quickly this is a great plan, but for a longer series such as the In Death books this does not work. When Naked In Death by J. D. Robb first came out I bought the book even though I didn’t think it was truly my thing. I saved it knowing there would be more to follow. What happened? I’m sure you know. I kept collecting expecting an end to this series so I could finally begin to read, but that end is still nowhere in my line of vision. Finally I saw a website that was beginning a book of the month read, and offered people several choices to choose from, and amongst the choices Naked In Death. A few friends and I decided to all vote for Naked In Death and get one book or perhaps more should our choice win out…

Everyone fears the shadows of the night. No one likes walking down a deserted street after the sun goes down, not in 2008—and not in 1508. Of course, we think we’re being silly to start at every little sound we hear—when we know nothing is lying in wait for us out there in the dark. And violence and crime is on the upswing because our society has broken down—and not for any other reason….right? Welcome to the world of the Masters of Time. The Masters of Time are Highland warriors sworn to protect Innocence through the ages. They do not choose their destiny—it is chosen for them. The Masters are medieval men to the core—savage in war, ruthless in outlook, totally sexist in nature, and impossibly powerful—after all, they are descended from the old Celtic gods. And one of their greatest powers is the power to leap through time… And then along comes a very modern and independent woman… The romantic conflict is instantaneous. Imagine turning your street corner and coming face to face with the medieval hunk of all time—a Highlander who has more power than any mortal, a mandate to save the world, the knowledge he’s a cut…

I had every intention of writing a blog about my latest release for Silhouette Romantic Suspense, SAFE WITH A STRANGER (the first book in my new trilogy called The Safekeepers.) The Safekeepers is a series of suspense novels about bodyguards for children–with the fun addition of Mexican witchcraft and a family curse. Or maybe I could’ve blogged about connected books. That seems to be my thing lately. My last series for Silhouette was six books long! I just don’t seem to be able to write single books anymore. I like fleshing out characters over several books and really enjoy revealing a series-long connection inside each book. But as I was sitting here at my desk, my mind wandered off (as it usually does,) and I began thinking about why I write at all. As I have said before, I hate to write. Really I do. Oh, I love telling stories. I love getting into the heads of my characters. I love doing research. And I love finding just the right word to make a sentence sing. But the process of sitting my back end into a chair and shoveling out the words makes me want to cringe. In fact, right…

One of the first questions I’m often asked when I speak about my writing is why I chose to write mysteries instead of romances (I assume this is because I have such an innocent, baby face). My answer is simple: after twenty-two years in public education there are a lot of people I want to kill, there are very few I want to have sex with. Seriously, although I enjoy writing mysteries because I like knowing that the bad guy is going to get caught and pay for his crime at the end, I would like to write in other genres such as romance and fantasy. On the other hand, I love the sense of justice a well-written mystery brings to its readers. One thing I’ve learned from being a school psychologist for so long is that justice rarely happens in real life, so it gives me a sense of fulfillment to have it happen in my fiction. Having worked in almost every type of school setting, from the poorest areas surrounding Washington DC to upscale suburban Chicago, and from rural to urban, I’ve heard so many stories and seen so many bizarre situations I’ll never run out of plots….

I’m writing my sixth historical book now—the third in The Legend of the Four Soldiers series—and already I’ve gone off my writing map. Writers generally fall into two groups: ones who plot out their story before they begin writing and those who wing it. I’m in the former camp, but here’s the thing: no matter how meticulously I plot before I write, no matter how much I try to foresee all eventualities, I always end up making detours from my plot. Detours, in writing as in life, are sometimes frustrating (How do I get back on the main road?) sometimes confusing (Can I get back to the main road?) but usually interesting, and sometimes revolutionary. For example. About ten years ago my life took a major detour. I was a stay-at-home mom living in the city where I’d grown up, spending what free time I had volunteering in a non-profit organization. Then my husband got a new job. In a different state. I wasn’t pleased, but my husband was the main breadwinner at that time in our family, so I pulled up my roots, left the non-profit I’d been so active in, and moved away from both family and friends….

I want to thank everyone here at Fresh Fiction for inviting me to blog today. I was sitting at my computer this morning trying to settle on an interesting topic for today’s blog. My new series? My future plans? My typical writing day? Instead, I found myself thinking about the gift of writing—or should I say gifts, plural. Writing has brought so many layers of good to my life—new friends, new challenges, new skills—that describing those gifts would take all day. Then, the best “gift” of my life announced she was awake for the day. That was the moment I realized a toddler’s chattering was the perfect place to begin—and focus—this blog. Did writing bring about my two-year-old? No, but my writing career taught me to work hard and chase my dreams. In life, just as in writing, there aren’t any shortcuts. Our daughter came into our lives after a ten-year pursuit of parenthood, and I wouldn’t trade a single moment of the journey. After all, each step brought me to this wonderful moment filled with alphabet songs and questions and belly laughs. My writing journey has been no different. Writing—like life—is about doing the legwork. Writing is about believing…