Harlequin American Romance Authors

Harlequin American Romance Authors

Hello from sunny Texas! As I walked into my kitchen this morning, I knew something was different. Gone was the constant rain, drizzle, mist, sleet, snow and ice. I suddenly realized that I was not living in Seattle, but indeed, resided in suburban Dallas! What a nice surprise after all the bad weather. My heart goes out to those in the midwest who are still iced in, without power or otherwise stranded in the ice.

I'm working on a Christmas book - the first of my career. TEXAN FOR THE HOLIDAYS is the second book of my new Brody's Crossing series and will be released in December 2007. It's been a lot of fun writing a Christmas book over the actual holidays, but now the ceramics, candles, photos, lights, greenery and ornaments are going back into storage (eventually, I tell my husband!) and still my characters are in the joy of the season.

Prolonging Christmas through my characters is giving me a chance to relax a bit after the "real" holiday is over. You see, our December was quite hectic. Our daughter (my only child) was married on December 30 in Las Vegas, and as soon as we returned, I hosted a reception at our house for them. The trip to Las Vegas was delayed for almost an entire day due to storms at the airport, so we drove to Austin and flew out of there. There were multiple false fire alarms at the hotel, a missing wedding gown, and much illness in our wedding party. Overall, it's amazing that one of us didn't say, "Have you thought about going downtown to the JP?" But we didn't, and the wedding was beautiful.

A couple of friends (not my writing friends, because they know better) said that I should use all the mishaps in a book. I told them that no one would believe everything that happened to us if it were in a book. Truly, things like this only happen in real life - well, except maybe for Jennifer Crusie books, because she can make me believe almost anything could happen. Have you ever read what happened to the dead body in WELCOME TO TEMPTATION? Anyway, I digress. What I wanted to convey is that I have to make up almost all the silly things that happen in my books. One exception is the incident in TEMPORARILY TEXAN, my July 2007 release when the hero, Troy, tries to teach his Yankee vegetarian houseguest how to country-western dance. Yes, I actually sent a shoe flying across the dance floor when I tried the Cotton-Eyed Joe. Needless to say, I'm a writer, not a dancer!

Thanks for taking time to read the Harlequin American author's blog. If you'd like more information on my upcoming releases, please check my website.