JANUARY WINNER!!!

CONGRATULATIONS Kaelee! You’re the December winner. To receive your free autographed books please contact C.J. Carmichael and Laura Marie Altom through their Web sites.

 

To enter the contest simply leave a blog comment and your name will go into the drawing. Simple and painless. And FREE BOOKS.

Taking deadlines seriously

As a kid, I was compulsive about turning in school assignments on time. Later, as a news reporter, I knocked myself out to get my stories done by deadline.

Despite the popular image of novelists as dreamers who write when the spirit moves us, we have deadlines too. Even best-selling authors have an obligation to turn in their work on time, because publishers maintain production schedules. Editors, copy editors, cover artists, printers and bookstores depend on us.

So I feel rather strange about missing my most recent deadline, for the 12^th book in the Safe Harbor Medical series. In fairness, I didn’t exactly miss it. I asked for a month’s extension, which Harlequin immediately granted.

As you may recall from last month’s blog, my mother died in December. Although she was 95, Sylvia Hyman was still working as a ceramic sculptor, with a show running through mid-March at Scottsdale Fine Arts in Arizona. Her death wasn’t exactly a shock, but neither was it expected.

I spent much of January at her home in Nashville. Along with my brother and his wife, my mother’s studio assistant, the housekeeper and numerous other wonderful friends and consultants, we tackled a big job: emptying out the home where she’d lived for 27 years. We also made sure her materials and archives went to the Tennessee State Museum and her studio equipment to working potters and ceramics programs

Now I’m back at the computer, revising and completing my latest book. I certainly don’t intend to miss another deadline.

My mother, who taught art for decades, didn’t accept sloppy work. So I won’t let her down, or my readers, either.

Jackie's website

Jackie on Facebook

Look Mom, I Made A Town!

And it's called...

That's Coffee Creek, Montana, a location I selected because I liked the sound of the name and the images it evoked for me. So, since Montana is on the southern border of Alberta, where I live, I talked my partner Mike into taking a road trip with me. We headed south and eventually ended up here:

Getting close, I thought, all excited. Only. When we arrived at the handful of buildings that constituted Coffee Creek this was the highlight. Look closely. It's abandoned, I think:

My heart sank. Then rose again. After all, I'm a fiction writer. I could fix Coffee Creek! And that's what I did. I totally re-vamped it, and even moved it a little closer to the mountains and ranching country (because real-life Coffee Creek is actually in a farming area). Nothing against the real Coffee Creek, but my fictionalized Coffee Creek is awesome. It has a topaz-colored creek running through it (hence the name Coffee :)), a charming cafe called the Cinnamon Stick and a librarian and a postmaster who used to be married, but now have a schedule so they never run into one another. I even have a map, thanks to my friend Rolf Stengl who took my sketch and made this:

And now, after all that hard work of mine, I'd like to officially invite you to Coffee Creek, Montana, and to the first of my 4-book series: Remember Me, Cowboy.

To celebrate the launch, I'm giving away the entire six book Harts of The Rodeo series published in 2012. To enter, just go to my website and follow the easy instructions. Now I'm off to create another town... Cheers, CJ Carmichael

Like a lot of people, I make goals for myself every January. Personal goals and writing related ones. Some of these writing goals are within my control, such as, I will write XX pages a day or update my webpage every XX months. Other goals are more what I call aspirations and mostly beyond my control. I will be a New York Times bestselling author or one of my books will be turned into a movie (I especially like this one).

A few years ago I was researching an author who was speaking at my writers' group. I noticed on Amazon that one of her books I'd read had over 350 reviews. 350! Seriously. I've only ever had a handful of reviews for my books on Amazon, maybe 6 or 12 at the most. I thought to myself that, even though all her reviews weren't good, to have hundreds of reviews on Amazon was a sign of success, and I immediately established that as one of my aspirations.

Well, in mid 2012, Harlequin offered one of my backlist books for free Kindle and Nook download. Very cool! Over the months, I've been racking up the reviews. As of today, I have 148. Not quite 350, but I'm getting there. Almost all the reviews are good. Like the author I researched, I do have a couple zingers. Such is the life of an author :)

I'm still thrilled that 148 people were moved enough by my story to take the time and post a review. I'm feeling a little bit successful.

Cathy McDavid

P.S. - if you're interested, the book COWBOY DAD is still available for free. Here's a link to the Amazon. Go check out the reviews for COWBOY DAD.

MISSING: Charlie the Contractor!!

Daisy's exhausted from looking for Charlie . . .

Sing it with me, "Oh where, oh where has my little dog--er, contractor gone?  Oh where, oh where could he beeeee?"

December was quite a month around here.  November, too, for that matter.  We got the news that we're moving.  We were scared, then excited, then scared, then downright terrified when we realized just how much of a fixer-upper our home really is. 

With a To-Do list three miles long, we assessed the projects we could handle ourselves, then started hiring.  According to our realtor, granite counters are a MUST.  Granite installed--check.  According to our realtor and HGTV, neutral walls are a must.  Yellow kitchen now beige.  Green accent wall in bedroom now beige.  All clutter must be gone--still working on it.  One must focus on curb appeal.  The list went on and on and on . . .

Our house is a 70's-era architectural fantasy with insanely high, pointy ceilings and custom-everything.  Back in the day, it was built for a doctor who had deep enough pockets to afford bathroom sinks from Portugal.  Alas, with three kids in college, our pockets aren't deep enough for McDonald's!!!  If anyone happens to have a spare Portuguese sink that'll match the old one from the downstairs bath that needs replacing, but we can't find one the same size, please give me a call at 1-800-MY-HOUSE-IS-A-NIGHTMARE!!!! (Sorry for the grammar horror story of the last sentence.  Feel free to rework!!)

But I digress, back to the REALLY big projects like replacing the deck and drywall repair, we hired Charlie the contractor.  He's a likable enough guy and when he shows up, he does nice work.  Key words being--when he shows up.

Lovely view from our kitchen window . . .

The last time we've seen Charlie was when he stopped by asking for a check two days before Christmas.  With a half-finished deck and yard littered with construction debris, I gave him a little cash, but nowhere near what he's still owed.  It's now January 14th and our deck project has been frozen like a crime scene.  Every time the phone rings, I'm expecting the neighborhood association prez to be calling, asking when we anticipate the mess being gone.

I called Charlie last week.  Here's a recreation of our convo:

"Hi Charlie.  This is Laura Altom--remember me?  The one with the deck?"

"Oh, hey girl!  I was just thinkin' about you, but lost your number.  I haven't forgotten you.  We've just been REAL busy.  But, hey girl, now that I've got your number, we'll be right there."

A week has now passed.  Still no sign of him.  Prior to Christmas, he was at our house every day for two weeks.  Did he also forget the location?!?!

Even better news--after all the work we've done, we're now NOT moving.  Sigh . . .

Lucky for me, Charlie's just my contractor and not my Baby Daddy!!!!!!!   How about you?  Got any contractor nightmares to share?



 

Birthdays!

Let me start off with saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!  I love you!

Birthdays can really be a mixed bag of emotions.  We can’t wait for them to happen when we are kids…Sweet 16…Legal age of 21…You’re considered a real adult at 25…After that, they’re hit or miss.

When it comes to books, I love seeing birthdays worked into the storyline.  It makes me feel more connected to the characters by adding that extra personal moment layer.  Babies are born in many of our stories, kids and teenagers have parties, but I don’t see too many adult birthdays in books.  That being said, I haven’t written any either!

My favorite birthday was the last one I spent with my grandmother before she died.  We all went to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville.  She had cancer at the time although she didn't know it until a few months later.  You never would have known she was sick and when I think back to how far she had to walk from the car to the restaurant, I don’t know how she did it.  She enjoyed the ambiance as much as I did, and she was determined to have fun that day…giant margarita blender, beach music and all.  It was a day I'll never forget.

I would love to hear about your favorite birthday.

Amanda Renee 
Betting on Texas (March 2013)

Home to the Cowboy (August 2013)
Legacy of a Lone Star (Early 2014)

www.amandarenee.com 
www.twitter.com/TheAmandaRenee 
www.facebook.com/AmandaReneeFanPage

'Tis The Season For...

 

Yes, it's that time of year again.  Flu season is upon us.  According to Florida Today, my local newspaper, this year's strain is hitting and hitting hard. 

 

We've all heard the news that there are over 700 confirmed cases in Boston. Well, I don't live in Boston, but in my little corner of Florida, one doctor reports seeing six possible flu cases a day.  Six!

 

How do you know you have the flu?  Symptoms include high fever, aches and fatigue.  Two of my critique partners caught it.  They both whisper that this year's flu strain can lay you flat for more than a week.  But the little bugs don't stop there.  They keep on giving, weakening the immune system until you fall prey to secondary infections, like bronchitis or other complications. 

 

It's enough to make you want to hole up in the house until spring time!  Unfortunately, we do occasionally need to venture out, if only to buy more cough syrup and nose tissue.

 

So, what's a person to do? 

 

According to the newspaper, the second best defense against the flu is to practice good "hand hygiene."  What's that, you ask?  Well, use hand sanitizers; they really help. And cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze (and hope everyone else does the same.)  If you feel sick, stay home!  

 

Okay, that's the second best defense.  But what's the best defense? 

 

A flu shot.  Get one before it's too late and you wake up one morning feverish and achy. 

 

So far, I've avoided catching the flu.  Instead, my g'kids shared their usual mishmash of cold and cough germs with me over the holidays.  As soon as I recover from that, I'm going to get a flu shot. 

 

I just hope it's before I see them again next month. 

DECEMBER WINNER!!!

CONGRATULATIONS Scarlet Wilson! You’re the December winner. Please contact Leigh Duncan and Lee McKenize through their Web sites to receive your autographed books.

To enter the contest simply leave a blog comment and your name will go into the drawing. Easy and painless. And FREE BOOKS.

So check back often and be sure to leave a comment. Good luck!

And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

Treasuring the old and the new

Each January, because I blog on the first of the month, I have the privilege and responsibility of ushering in a new year.

Sometimes I do so light heartedly. Other times, I’m more introspective. This is a particularly emotional time because my mother, internationally renowned ceramic sculptor Sylvia Hyman, died December 23 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Although she was 95, she had been actively working in the studio until early December, when she fell ill. A younger person might have survived the series of infections and related ills that befell her, but she wasn’t strong enough.

We live in a miraculous age when many of us, including me, have survived ailments and complications that would have killed us off in an earlier era. That’s assuming we hadn’t succumbed to any of a zillion now-vanquished childhood illnesses. Still, losing our elders is painful, at any age.

In my family, we’re grateful to have the older generation still contributing to our lives. My stepfather turned 101 on December 24. Today, January 1, we’re celebrating the eightieth birthday of my husband’s stepmother.

So a new year dawns, filled with change and promise as our family’s younger generation moves into the future. What a bittersweet reminder of how temporary is the reality in which we live, and how precious.

Now for a more cheerful matter. Each month on my website, I offer a special for readers. In case you've resolved to work on your novel this year, I’m offering my ebook How to Write a Novel in One (Not-so-easy) Lesson, for 99 cents through January 31. I hope it’s helpful.

May your new year be filled with happy surprises.

Jackie's website

Jackie's Facebook page

Christmas Traditions--Zoolights

Since we moved to Arizona over a year ago I've had a difficult time capturing the "feeling" of Christmas out here in the desert.  I was born and raised in Wisconsin and the memories of my Christmas's there include snow, cold temperatures, the family car getting stuck in the snow after visiting Grandma and Grandpa Christmas Eve, building snow forts, sledding down the hill we lived at the top of and filling the freezer with snowballs for a fight with the neighborhood kids.  Don't get me wrong—Christmas in the desert is unique and beautiful in its own way, but I miss the cold and snow—just around the holiday.   

 

 

So I've started a new Christmas tradition since moving to Arizona.  Each Christmas Eve we head to the Phoenix Zoo—voted one of the top 5 zoos in the nation for children—and spend a couple of hours walking around drinking hot chocolate and eating roasted nuts while taking in Zoolights.  It's an amazing and beautiful display of lights and decorations in a desert setting.  The zoo is transformed into a little magical Christmas village with millions of colored lights and a now- famous Music in Motion light display—twenty-six trees that dance to music around a lake.

 

 

Here's a youtube video of last years' Zoolights  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B82MssZYuco

 

So tell me...what family Christmas traditions do you look forward to every year?

 

Happy Ever After...The Cowboy Way

 

Marin Thomas

Beau: Cowboy Protector *Harts of the Rodeo* Nov 2012

No Ordinary Cowboy *Rodeo Rebels* April 2013

The Cowboy Next Door *The Cash Brothers* July 2013

All My Heroes are Cowboys

'Tis the season to be jolly...

Let me tell you, I'm living that phrase from the well-loved Christmas carol!

Although life has thrown many different opportunities—and, not to mention, a good number of curves—my way, the one constant since I was a little girl has been the knowledge that I wanted to be a writer.

I started scribbling stories well before I knew my ABCs—and I'll bet you can just imagine the trouble that gave my parents when I asked them to read my efforts.  LOL

After I learned how to use the alphabet to make spelling words, I knew the only thing better than being a writer would be becoming an author so I could share my stories with people outside my elementary school.  That wish came true a few years ago, and with two more books out this year and the recent sale of another Flagman's Folly story, I feel as though Santa came early to my house!  This explains why I'm so happy this holiday season.  J 

Along with the above, I have a lot to be thankful for, including the fact you've taken time out of your extra-busy schedule to stop by and read this post. 

I hope you'll also take a minute, maybe by sitting down with a glass of eggnog or a cup of tea and a cookie or two, to stop and think about what made your year wonderful.  And please share that with us!

To you and yours, I wish happy holidays and a happy, healthy, safe, and prosperous year ahead.

All my best, always,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille

http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com

http://www.facebook.com/barbarawhitedaille
https://twitter.com/BarbaraWDaille

The latest Flagman's Folly books:

The Rodeo Man's Daughter

Honorable Rancher

Cocoa the Incredible Blind Flying Wiener!!!

Just when I think Casa Altom can't get nuttier--it does!!!  LOL!!!

As I have only fifteen or so minutes before our contractor arrives and I'm forced to run and hide from drywall dust and/or the tooth-rattling growl of the Sawzall, I'll keep this short by sharing only the freakiest, truly most unbelievable moment of the week.

We're undergoing MAJOR renovations on our decrepit old house and one change is replacing the deck off of our dining room.  This second story deck is a doggy favorite.  High in the trees, squirrels frolic there and anytime the magic door's opened, our three dogs charge past me, hot in pursuit.

I was under the impression that only part of the deck would be replaced, but by Tuesday afternoon, the whole thing was GONE.  After the contractor left, Hubby, son and I stood at the door, gawking at the mess.  Son was horsing around and decided to open the door to do a mock walk-out and fall.

That lone support beam is all that's left of our old, second-story deck!

Cocoa, our 12 year old blind wiener, heard that magic door open, just knew she'd finally catch an evil squirrel and bolted--RIGHT INTO THIN AIR!!!!

I screamed and cried, Son tore down the stairs to reach her, with me running after him.  I was crying too hard, certain poor Cocoa had died from the fall, to even know what Hubby was doing.

Here's the odd part--we all get downstairs to Cocoa and she's fine!!!  Like not a scratch, not spooked, no broken back or legs, but 100% awesome, smelly wiener dog!!!  I hugged her for a good hour, then kept a close eye on her all night, afraid she might have internal ouchies.  Two days later, she's doing great!!  Still chasing evil squirrels and growling when anyone gets too close to her Dingo bone!!!

Cocoa in her usual lounging position!!

I consider this a full-on miracle.  Our pets are part of our family and with everything else going on right now, the thought of losing Cocoa is unthinkable.

How about you?  Have any great pet miracles to share?      

A Year of Firsts!

I’ve come full circle. 

A year ago today, I sent off my first submission to Harlequin, as part of their So You Think You Can Write competition.  Nerves were an understatement, but three months later to the day, Kathleen Scheibling, senior editor of the American Romance line called me and changed my life. 

What a wonderful year of firsts…

December 13, 2011 – My first submission to Harlequin.  Actually, it was my first submission to any publisher.

My First Sale - March 13, 2012 – BETTING ON TEXAS made it to Harlequin’s American Romance Line.

First Celebratory Dinner – There was champagne, chocolate, flowers and Chinese food.  It was a night I’ll never forget!

First Blog – Fellow American Romance author Marin Thomas grabbed my hand and led me here.  I love visiting with all of you every month.

First Contract – I never saw a document more beautiful!

First Advance Check – You mean they pay me for doing what I love?

First Revisions – No author is perfect.  Our editors find the flaws and steer us in the right direction.  My editor is a dream come true.

First Art Fact Sheet (AFS) – This should have come with a warning!  This is a database where an author enters the fine details about their book, from a character’s physical traits, clothing, scenery, etc., which in turn allows the art department to create our amazing covers. 

First Title Change – For years, my book was known as Double Trouble.  The name had been previously used by another author (shame on me for not doing my homework) so I had to come up with another one.  BETTING ON TEXAS was born.

First Dear Reader Letter – I’ve read hundreds of these, yet when it came time for me to write mine, I had so much to say I didn’t know where to begin.  

First Dedication – Words can’t describe how I feel.  Thank you mom and dad!

First Line Edits – Editor extraordinaire, Kathleen Scheibling, read through and edited each line of my manuscript.  This was the final time for me to make any major revisions to the book.

First Copy Edits - A Copyeditor goes through the manuscript with a fine tooth comb and ensures every comma, every letter, every everything is in the right place.

First Author Alterations (AA’s) - This is the author’s final read through to double check for errors.  A proofreader at Harlequin simultaneously reads the manuscript and changes are made if necessary, before another proofreader runs through it again.

First Pre-Order – Nothing compares to the feeling of seeing your book become available for pre-order at all major booksellers.

First Book Cover – Squee!

I enlarged this puppy to a 16x20, framed it and hung it in my foyer.  People can’t help but notice my cover when they walk through the door.  Obnoxious?  Nah – just proud J

First Proposal – Fellow American Romance sister, Laura Marie Altom, guided me through the right and wrong way to submit a proposal (I am forever grateful!) – Things are much different when a contest isn’t involved.  There were many rewrites…and lots of rum! 

First Multi-Book Contract – The sequels to BETTING ON TEXAS, HOME TO THE COWBOY (August 2013) and LEGACY OF A LONE STAR (early 2014) are coming to a bookshelf near you!

Soon I’ll have my first review, first sales ranking, first time I hold my printed book in my hands and many more firsts I’m sure I don’t even know about yet.

If you had told me exactly one year ago today that I would have three Harlequin books under my belt with so many exciting opportunities ahead of me, I would have said you were crazy. 

I’m living my dream and I wouldn’t trade it in for anything. 

Thank you for coming on this journey with me, I hope you stay for the next one.  The next time we meet, it will be 2013.  Have a safe and wonderful holiday season and a Rockin’ New Year!

Amanda Renee
Betting on Texas (March 2013)

Home to the Cowboy (August 2013)
Legacy of a Lone Star (Early 2014)

www.amandarenee.com
www.twitter.com/TheAmandaRenee
www.facebook.com/AmandaReneeFanPage

Cover Art Copyright © 2013 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. ® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.

Come Along On A Florida Cattle Drive

In Rancher's Son, fourth-generation cattleman Ty Parker looks into his childless future and wonders what will become of the ranch he’s worked so hard to preserve.  His answer might be a five-year-old boy abandoned on DCF’s doorstep, but only if the rancher convinces a jaded social worker that he’s good father material on a two-week cattle drive through Florida’s version of the Old West.

Wait a minute.  “Florida’s version of the Old West?”  Did I hear that correctly?  Why yes, yes you did.  While Florida is better known for its orange groves and theme parks, as a setting for a cattle drive, it’s more fitting than a lot of people might guess.

Cattle ranching has been a staple of Florida’s economy for a long, long time.  We should blame Ponce de Leon for that.  He brought seven head of Andalusian cows with him on his second visit in 1521.  And, despite the mosquitoes and the floods and the heat, people have been ranching here ever since. 

Did you know that today Florida is the third-largest beef-producing state east of the Mississippi?  Or that 1.1 million head of cattle graze its pastures?  We use term “Florida Cracker” when we’re talking about someone who was born and raised in the state.  The nickname harkens back to the days when cowboys would snap long, braided whips over the heads of the cattle they were herding.  “Crack!”

 

In 2006, over 500 riders took part in the Great Florida Cattle Drive, taking more than 500 head of cattle on a mid-winter drive through the middle of the state.  That drive became the inspiration for my December release, Rancher’s Son. 

 

Of course, a story about a cattle drive wouldn't be very romantic by itself.  For this romance, I needed a heroine.  And there stood Sarah Magarity, the social worker who'd appeared in two of my earlier books (The Daddy Catch and Rodeo Daughter).  She was just waiting to find the man of her dreams. 

Not that Ty Parker looked like Sarah’s ideal hero.  Especially not when the cowboy flatly denied fathering the five-year-old she’d taken under her wing.  And since Ty bailed on the last two foster children she’d placed in his care, Sarah has no choice but to go along on Ty’s mid-winter round-up while they wait for the results of a paternity test. 

 

Over the next two weeks, Ty and Sarah grow closer while they face stampedes and angry rattlesnakes, but will their new love survive the truth about the boy they both want for their own?

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN...NEW BOOK AND CHRISTMAS

Since it’s December, the last book of the Harts of the Rodeo series is out, Tomas: Cowboy Homecoming. Yay! It seems as if I’ve been working on this book forever and it’s finally in stores. Yay, again! 

The series has come to an end, but the stories will live on. So take a cowboy home this Christmas. There are six hunky ones in the series: Aidan, Colt, Duke, Austin, Beau and Tomas. Books make great Christmas gifts. Please check out the contest on my Web site. I’m giving away all six books for Christmas. A great gift.

Every year I say I’m cutting back and not doing so much at Christmas. I say it, but I never accomplish it. Once Thanksgiving is over it’s rush, rush, rush to get everything done.  I’m not decorating as much this year though. We won’t be here Christmas Eve or Christmas Day so my thought is why bother. It takes too much time to put it up and then take everything down and store it back in the closet. And I have a book to finish. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I’ve put a wreath on the door, a small-small Christmas tree is up and so is our nativity scene. That’s it. We’re ready for Christmas at our house, except for the baking.
        
Do you decorate a lot for the holidays?

Wishing each of you a fun-filled Christmas and an exciting New Year.

Linda Warren

www.LindaWarren.net
Dec ’12 – Tomas: Cowboy Homecoming

     

 

Where DO Ideas Come From?

Authors love this question (or not). We come in one of two sizes: either we have tons of ideas and can't decide which to write next OR we panic over never again having an idea good enough to merit writing a book. Not surprisingly, I fall into the panicking author type, always worrying about pleasing my readers. My answer to this question *used to be* a vague remark that ideas are everywhere. That's all changed now.

The difference came about when an author posted on a loop that she'd been sued for using pictures that weren't hers. It struck me hard. Authors hate piracy (people posting our books for free or profit to themselves without our permission). That's called stealing. I would never knowingly use a work not in the public domain, but  had I ever copied a pic here without checking? I could think of one instance, so perhaps I'd done it more often than that.

About this time, I began to think of pictures I would need for the cover of my self-published book, Holly & Ivey.  I needed Christmas trees. I considered snow, a steaming mug of chocolate, and of course people. Maybe a winter wedding or church dressed for the holidays. Where would I find these things?

The answer: my new project. I opened a Pinterest account (pinterest.com/megankellybooks) and posted pictures there for authors to use. Free. No royalties, licensing or attribution needed. Anyone can download a picture and put it on their blog or website. Use it to make a cover.  I just ask that people let me know if they used a photo. If no one utilizes this project, I'll stop working at it. If a photo struck a cord and was used a lot, I'd post more like it (and take down that one for a while so it wouldn't be overused).

Now everywhere I go, I look for opportunities. Which means when I look at something, I try to imagine using it in a book and therefore on a cover. Train tracks = the one that lived on the other side. That got away. That ran away. That escaped. Or lost chances. Or new beginnings. So I snap a photo or three.

Need a picture of a rose or a mountain or a park bench? I have those. How about a sparkling lake? A dumpster could be used by a mystery author for that D.B. or a clue gone astray, but it also put me in mind of Julie Garwood's Roses series.

It's exciting, and I carry my camera everywhere. I'll stop to take a picture of clouds or a fence line, which may turn up in the background of someone's cover someday--and my family rolls their eyes.

I feel as though I see book ideas everywhere. A church. An airport. A snowman. I can imagine books for each of these. Next Spring when someone needs a bunch of colorful Autumn trees, I hope they check out my Pinterest page.

Do you post pictures on Pinterest? Is there something you need me to find a picture of for you?

I wish you all a Happy Holiday.
Megan 

Megan Kelly
Holly & Ivey, available now
www.megankellybooks.com

Those Good Old Holiday Movies

‘Tis the season for holiday movies. I love those oldies as well as the new ones. Why, you may ask? (As if you needed to. :-) ) Well, sentimentality. Watching people who suffer through the hard knocks of life to emerge triumphant and maybe even happy–what’s not to like? You can’t beat a happy ending with a warm holiday theme, especially when you are vested in the characters and see them go through such travails.

Hey, isn’t that exactly what happens in a romance novel? You bet! Call me weird, but I love putting characters through all sorts of trouble and making them work hard for that happy ending. Back to holiday movies.


Here are some of my faves: It’s a Wonderful Life. Miracle on 34th Street (the original). The Holiday. Debbie Macomber’s Mrs. Miracle, parts one and two. Sheila Roberts’ On Strike for Christmas. And just about any Christmas movie on Lifetime.

I'm always up for new movies. What are some of your favorite holiday movies?


Until next month, and wishing you the happiest of season’s greetings,

Ann
www.annroth.net
visit me on Facebook  at Ann Roth Author
Want a copy of my latest newsletter? Visit my website and sign up!
    

NOVEMBER WINNER!!!

CONGRATULATIONS BW! You’re the November winner. To receive your free autographed books please contact Marin Thomas, Laura Marie Altom and Lee McKenize through their Web sites.

 

To enter the contest simply leave a blog comment and your name will go into the drawing. Simple and painless. And FREE BOOKS.

Secret babies revealed!

Sorry for the sensationalist title, but writing this post made me feel a little like a tabloid journalist. My theme is the ever-popular secret baby storyline.

Here’s the classic setup, pre-Facebook, pre-texting, pre-GPS tracking. Teenagers fall in love, but he leaves town and disappears (possibly into the Army). Finding herself alone and pregnant, the heroine marries an older man to give her father a baby. He conveniently dies. As the book opens, the hero returns to town, but believes heroine loved someone else and had a baby with him. Gradually he discovers it’s his child, and true love conquers all.

Not very believable today, but oh, the possibilities. I’ve written countless secret and unplanned baby stories, including, in my Safe Harbor Medical miniseries, The M.D.’s Secret Daughter (he thought the heroine gave up their baby for adoption) and The Surgeon’s Surprise Twins (he donated sperm and she’s the surrogate).

This brings me to yet another high-tech twist, which I’ll call the Egg Donor Secret (or Unexpected) Baby Story. How many variations can an author come up with for a romance sub-category within a sub-category? You might be surprised—I was.

One example is my upcoming March release, The Baby Jackpot. The heroine’s both a nurse and an egg donor who, after providing eggs to the recipient mom, has a tipsy tryst with her favorite surgeon. Because not all the eggs were harvested, she’s now pregnant--with triplets. She may be determined to give them to an adoptive family, but the surgeon, who’s falling in love with his family-to-be, has other ideas.

Then I was invited to write a short story for The Mammoth Book of Medical Romance, an anthology due out next year. In developing the plot for “What The Doctor Didn’t Tell Her” (my working title), I came up with, yes, another egg donor twist. I won’t detail that here, because short stories are, well, short, and I don’t want to give away too much.

When I can find the time, I’m also updating and revising some of my earlier books. I discovered that Yours, Mine and Ours, first published twenty years ago, had an egg donor twist, too. The widowed hero’s seven-year-old triplets have driven away every nanny he’s brought home. They want their strict dad to remarry so they can have a mom, and when the precocious trio ferrets out the fact that they were born from donated eggs, they manage to get their genetic mom hired as their new nanny, without her or their dad being aware of the relationship.

Yes, it’s far-fetched, but I think I managed to make it believable. Rereading it was lots of fun (I had forgotten many of the details). Those kids are wacky and the sparks fly between my offbeat heroine and stern hero. The plot also brought home just how versatile this type of story can be.

Yours, Mine and Ours is my December special for 99 cents at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can track my monthly specials at my website and/or Facebook author site. Hope you enjoy them!

Jackie's website

Jackie's Facebook site

Lee's latest DIY

Since I was a little girl, I've wanted a dressing table, the kind with a little bench that slides underneath and a big mirror, so I was thrilled to recently find a set online. It's from the '40s so I'm not sure it qualifies as an antique, but it's definitely vintage.

The dressing table itself is in excellent condition, hardly a scratch, but the bench needed some work. It had been painted brown so it no longer matched and I knew that if I stripped it, I would never get new stain to match the table.

The upholstery was worn and stained so I removed that and discovered two more equally grim seat covers underneath.

When I look at how dirty that top layer was, about the only thing that comes to mind is "ick"!

For paint, I decided white was the safest bet, and I went with chalk paint. If you've never used it, I encourage you to give it a try. Annie Sloan is a good brand. The surface being painted needs to be clean but otherwise very little prep is needed. It has no fumes, dries quickly, and a couple of coats will cover anything! After the final coat is dry, the painted surface needs a light coating with wax, Annie Sloan makes that, too, and you're done. Oh, and this paint is completely water soluble, so clean up is a breeze!

For upholstery I used a remnant that coordinates with the bedroom drapes and bedspread, and I added extra layers of padding so the seat is nice and cushy.

An easy project completed in an afternoon! It still doesn't match the dressing table, but now they go together better.

If you enjoy DIY and other decorating projects as much as I do, then I hope you'll enjoy my next book, The Daddy Project, which will be out on Tuesday. RT Book Reviews describes it as well as I can:

THE DADDY PROJECT (4) by Lee McKenzie: Single mom Kristi Callahan has been hired to redecorate single dad Nate McTavish's house - not to fall in love with him. But Kristi and Nate have more in common than just being single parents; they are both feeling family pressure to start dating again. Pretending to be with each other seems the simplest way to quell the complaints, but they do not anticipate the very real feelings that spark between them. When Nate's house is complete, they wonder if the relationship is over as well - and hope it isn't. McKenzie's characters are clever, with a captivating warmth that readers will love.

To celebrate the release, I'll be doing a series of guest blogs and giveaways, and will be posting details of those on my website. The next issue of my newsletter goes out next week and there'll be even more giveaways for subscribers. If you'd like to be added to my mailing list, there's a sign-up form on my website.

Happy reading!

Until next time,
Lee
www.LeeMcKenzie.com
The Daddy Project (Dec 2012)
Daddy, Unexpectedly (May 2012)
Maggie's Way (Harlequin Heartwarming, May 2012)