I’m blogging today at Access Romance about my recent family vacation. But here, I thought I’d tell you about my girl time—the five-day summer party officially billed as the Romance Writers of America national conference but what I like to call my personal summer camp.

It’s so much fun to hang out with my romance writer friends and meet new readers every year. My good friend, Love Inspired author Renee Ryan, led the First Timers Orientation this year and she had a really fun analogy for a writer’s first time at RWA. She talked about the conference at large as the cool sorority and the other first timers were your pledge class. That each year you attend RWA, you look for your sisters who rushed along with you, cheering on their successes and commiserating on the bumps in the road. You share your journey with those folks, and it’s all the more fun for having a few BFFs around. Together, you become the cool sorority, squealing in the halls to see each other once a year at your personal summer camp. I loved that idea. To me, RWA is exactly like that.

Renee, for example, was in my pledge class. So was SIM author Beth Cornelison and Desire author Catherine Mann, my critique partner. Other classes close to me included Tanya Michaels, Winnie Griggs and Anna DeStefano, friends I seek out faithfully every year.

And we do more than just gab it up. We sign books to raise money that supports a literacy initiative. We teach workshops for aspiring writers to share what we know and attend workshops to learn from our peers. Oh, and we dance.

Summer camp isn’t summer camp without a glitzy party after all. The RITA and Golden Heart ceremony is our fun excuse to dress up and the publisher parties provide our opportunity to shake our collective groove thing. I’ve discovered Blaze authors Wendy Etherington and Jacquie D’Alessandro are just as committed to the dance floor as me, so I like to hunt them down once the music starts hopping.

I think every woman should have a summer camp – your personalized version of the sorority reunion. Whether it’s a handful of high school friends or the crowd from your book club, you owe yourself a retreat weekend to celebrate friendship and a common interest. Don’t have a big budget? You can tent it down by the lake for a night and share a few bottles of cheap champagne. I guarantee you’ll come home happier!

**You know what I’m talking about…. girlfriends speak a different language than our significant others! What’s been one of your favorite friend-dates? Ladies’ poker night? Neighborhood bunco? Chat with me on the boards today about fav ways to hang out with friends and I’ll give one random poster a signed copy of my August relese, Double Play.

Summertime is baseball time at my house and not just because I have an August Blaze with a major league manager. We watch a lot of baseball—from major league to little league—and critique games, plays and coaching decisions on an almost daily basis. The sounds of cheering ballpark crowds and the crack of a bat on a hardball are as rooted in our summer family memories as the scent of barbecue and cut grass.

Even the pace of baseball is suited to summertime. With one hundred and sixty-two games in the regular season, the sport is spread out over time so that we don’t live or die by the outcome of a single game. Win some, lose some is a given attitude, though obviously we want the win column to boast the better number by the time all is said and done. Games are long and languid, with plenty of downtime as pitchers kick the dirt around and batters adjust their gloves. That leaves me enough time to order a beer and a bag of peanuts without missing a beat.

I like the friendliness of baseball and its players, too. The tradition of batting practice allows fans to see their favorite players up close before game time. The ability to catch a foul ball or a home run ball gives everyone in the park a shot at returning home with a free souvenir. Also, the accessibility of tickets means you can afford to take the whole family to a game without taking out a second mortgage, the way you might have to if you want to catch the NFL live.

So summer and baseball go hand in hand for me. I’m already planning a trip to watch the Reds beat the Pirates in Pittsburgh the first week of August. But I’m not just going to root, root, root for the away team. I’m going to savor a family tradition with my glove in hand in case any balls are fouled off in my direction. And with any luck, maybe I’ll lay eyes on a player who inspires the sequel to Double Play…

***As I make a list of what to bring to on my road trip to see the Reds, I wonder what road trips you’ve got in mind for the summer. Water park for the weekend? Picnic at a friend’s camp? Chat with me on the boards about your summer day tripping plans and I’ll give one random poster an advance copy of my August Blaze, Double Play.

I hope you don’t mind if I put you to work today. But I have a question and I hope it’ll be a fun one. I’m teaching a class called Writing Popular Fiction this fall, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot today. I’m asking the students to write an opening chapter and a synopsis during the course. It’s a task that sounds fun to me, but I know there might be a few who weren’t expecting to wade so deeply into storytelling during an undergraduate course.

Still, I’m convinced that there’s a story inside us all just waiting to get out. Maybe most people don’t have twenty or thirty or a hundred the way some prolific authors do. But I think we all have at least ONE.

Some people don’t have the desire to tell the story, of course. I know some folks flat-out don’t enjoy writing. That doesn’t stop the story from lurking inside us! Haven’t we all thought at some point, “That would make a good story.” It seems like everyone I meet—who isn’t a writer—tells me at some point that they have a great idea for a book. The writers I know, of course, have ideas for books too but they keep them for their own Muse to work on.

One of my favorite authors, Clarissa Pinkola Estes wrote a book called Women Who Run With the Wolves. As a cantadora, or storyteller, Estes talks about the story as medicine and our need to carry on the storytelling legacy. She writes, “Although some use stories as entertainment alone, tales are, in their oldest sense, a healing art.” Look how much we learn about life and ourselves from stories. And frankly, I think some of the stories that are fore entertainment are healing in and of themselves since occasionally we crave the total escape that only fiction can offer. That ability to travel into a book is one of the most healing pastimes I know.

Assuming we all have a story to tell, what would yours be? That’s my question today and I hope you’ll take a moment to think about it. Maybe you’ll shout out the answer the moment I ask the question because you already have an idea for a self-help treatise for people married couples or a memoir about your childhood in a foreign country. But if you haven’t already got a book idea brewing, what kind of fiction story would you tell if you had the talents of a writer at your disposal to put the idea on paper? They say the best story to write is the one you want to read. So maybe you can ask yourself what kind of book you’d like to read in order to answer the question.

I know I’d like to read something historical and paranormal. Something involving magic and romance. I’d also like to read a great twin story in Blaze… maybe as an Encounters. So… what story ideas are brewing in you?

**I’m giving away a copy of any book from my backlist to one random poster today.

It took me a long time to develop a fashion sense. As a kid, I’d wear most anything, easily guided by what my friends wore or what the stores put on display. Even in college, I suffered from sartorial multiple personality disorder, buying most anything that fit me since having pants long enough to cover my ankles was one of my only real requirements. Sometimes I felt like throwing on a power suit with a t-shirt underneath. Other times, I’d wear pearls and long skirts with a woven basket for a handbag. From rocker chick to flower child, I wore it all without any great preference, trying on clothes like new personalities.

In fact, choosing a favorite of anything – books, restaurants, songs, you name it—has always been practically impossible for me. To the point that I never thought I’d really have an individual sense of style.

But lo and behold, it happened sometime over the last ten years. I almost never wear a hockey jersey to the mall anymore (okay, maybe in playoff season). And as I look in my closet now, I no longer see a hodgepodge of pieces I kind of like. I look in there and see ME.

Part of it is a lifetime of seeing myself in mirrors and photos and developing a better eye for what looks best on me. Some clothes I simply have no business wearing—the photo evidence in the family albums don’t lie and they were educational in helping me choose things that were not only more flattering, but more reflective of me.

I find this kind of interesting lately as I sometimes think I suffer from writing personality disorder. I like to write historical, contemporaries, romantic suspense, and hey—if there’s a slot open for a time travel Blaze, I’m first in line. But my recent closet epiphany—the blend of a mishmash of clothing that finally morphed into a genuine sense of style—has encouraged me that maybe the direction I’m headed in professionally is just fine. Maybe I need to try on the romantic suspense and the historical and the fun, warm-hearted stories to find my most true voice. I like to think that—like my fashion sense—I’ll end up with a uniquely blended assortment of influences that culminate in something original. Something truly reflective of my perspective on the world.

Until then, I’m glad that readers seem to be patient with me as I write my way to my most authentic voice. One day, I’ll look back and see just where I was headed all along—a great design taking shape that was evident from the very beginning.

And if not, at least I’ll have the comfort of a wardrobe that I really like.

*** What about you? Have you gravitated toward a sense of style, or—like me in the early years—are you a likely candidate for What Not to Wear? Tell me your greatest fashion find or faux pas and I’ll give one random poster a signed copy of a book from my backlist (reader’s choice, assuming I have it in stock).

I love the Vikings. Not the Minnesota football team—I’m a Steelers girl all the way. I’m talking about the seafaring warriors who sailed to the New World and back long before Chris Columbus was born. They built kick-butt boats still admired today for their sleek construction. They brought trade and organized communities to many parts of England and beyond, leaving a lasting legacy.

Yet history so often paints these guys as bloodthirsty heathens who murdered and raped their way to power. Well, no surprise there since the Vikings did not leave a written record to tell us their side of the story. We only have the writings of the conquered, and how fair are they going to be?

I bring up the Vikings today because my current release features a Viking hero and I’m fairly partial toward him. And of course, in writing Wulf, I got to thinking about why—as readers—we’re continually drawn to those dangerous types. Vampires, Vikings, international super spies who can kill you silently in ten different ways. And this wondering brought me to my bookshelf—the source of answers to all of life’s questions for a reader.

I found a few different answers, but my favorite came from one of my personal writer heroines, the incomparable Susan Elizabeth Phillps. SEP has a contribution in the classic anthology Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women (Harper 1992, Jayne Ann Krentz ed.) Her essay about “The Romance Novel and the Empowerment of Women” reminded me: “The domineering male becomes the catalyst that makes the empowerment fantasy work. The heroine isn’t as big as he is; she isn’t as strong, as old, as worldly; many times she isn’t as well educated. Yet despite these limitations she confronts him—not with physical strength, but with courage and intelligence. And what happens? She always wins!” No wonder we love those dangerous guys—the harder they come, the harder they fall, right?

The essay is fun to read—the way anything Susan Elizabeth Phillips writes is fun to read. And I think she takes on a fundamental truth about romances that is deeply underscored with the dangerous hero. We don’t just read romance for the happy endings. We read to see a woman take on a man who challenges her in every way possible—and wins his heart. We love to imagine we have that kind of power. Sometimes maybe, we do. I know my Saxon heroine managed the feat. And I envied her the journey! I hope you’ll check out THE CAPTIVE, but either way, I hope you’ll enjoy the next feisty heroine you meet all the more – knowing she’s a reflection of the courage and strength we all strive for.

***So which bad boy hero lingers with you long after the book has ended? A bawdy pirate lord? A sexy bloodsucker? Maybe even a raiding Viking? Chat with me about your favorite bad boy heroes and I’ll give away a copy of THE CAPTIVE to one random poster.

I’m practically a star this month. If you open your March issue of Redbook magazine to page 84, you’ll find a quote from yours truly as a contribution to the article “Find Your Sexist Self” by Colleen Oakley. It’s not every day I’m quoted in national publications, so I had to crow. My teenage son wasn’t terribly impressed; instead he seemed to fight the impulse to scream in horror when he saw “21 ways to unleash your inner vixen.” You’d think he would be immune to this sort of thing by now, having grown up with sexy manuscripts forever sitting on the printer and suggestive book covers winking back at him from the shelves in my office.

No surprise that he declined to read my quote.

But I digress. The real reason I mention the article is that it’s pertinent reading for the Blaze fan. I mean, chances are good if we’re reading or writing Blaze that we like the idea of “red-hot” for a sensuality level. You’re probably as invested as I am in maintaining a certain amount of your mojo.

The article points out various ways to do that, including my tip about tapping into romantic or sexy tunes from your dating days to create a personalized playlist. I think music has a great ability to transport you to another time and place, instantly reminding you of other steamy moments.

I’d also suggest that reading a Blaze is a good way to remind you of the temptress within. Reading romance, for me, is always mood elevating. Plus, sexy romance in particular reminds me that passion is a gift. Romance heroes and heroines fight so hard for that happy ending that I feel like it’s only right to celebrate my own HEA early and often.

What about you? How do you get your sexy back? I’m officially asking for your quote on the subject. Do you have a go-to dress in the back of your closet that makes you feel on top of your sexy A-game? A date night destination that puts you in a flirtatious frame of mind? Please share on the boards for a chance to win an advance copy of my April Blaze Historical,
The Captive

The longer that I write, the more interested I become in the creative process. It’s a fascinating business, and I’m as intrigued to hear where musicians and painters find inspiration as I am to learn where other authors get their ideas. Because I write for Blaze, my curiosity about the creative process takes some interesting turns.

For example, I spend a great deal of time thinking about what makes for compelling sex. Besides the obvious.

I mean, if we’re going to bill our books as “red-hot,” I want to carry my weight. So I devote creative energy to a) dissecting what makes for a successful love scene and b) how to re-create my own, implementing what I’ve learned while maintaining appeal unique to my characters.

Admit it. This sounds like fun homework, right? So here’s a little bit of what I’ve discovered.

Sex can be intriguing when it’s a game of power. This is why we love captive stories (and because I’m so very trainable, look for my April release The Captive, coming to a store near you). There is a compelling dynamic between hero and heroine when one has power over the other, whether it’s physical, emotional or situational. The stowaway on a pirate ship is at the mercy of the captain. The ward of the rich duke is dependent on his will. The Viking’s captive is subject to his wishes. When the person in power is a villain, of course, the dynamic can have frightening consequences. But with the hero, the same situations are charged with high tension that can lead to very memorable love scenes.

Next, sex is hot when it’s forbidden. Maybe that’s obvious as you think back on the time you smuggled your high school boyfriend into the house while everyone else was asleep. But it’s an idea that’s important for the Blaze author to keep in mind as it’s not easy to create these situations with a modern heroine. First of all, a grown woman doesn’t have the same limits as the cheeky high school seductress. Second, contemporary women choose their own partners, so we don’t have the same restrictions our historical heroines encounter. In historicals, there are forbidden relationships between the duke and the groom’s daughter or between the Scotsman and the English lady. Think about how much steamy sensual tension those forbidden, clandestine meetings generate. Scenarios abound in historical where birth control wasn’t an option and the stakes were high for losing virginity. But a Blaze author must be more creative in finding forbidden relationships to capitalize on this.

I’ve got a few more ideas in mind that I’ll bring back next month. For now, I’d be curious to hear about a memorable love scene that’s either been a long time stand out for you or that you’ve read recently and it really perked up your day! I’m not asking for any great detail, just a particular moment whether it was the dressing room scene in Susan Elizabeth Philliips’ What I Did For Love or the first time Wrath showed up at Beth’s place in J.R. Ward’s Dark Lover. If you share a moment with me, I promise to put it to good intellectual use! I’ll also choose one random poster to win a copy of my Blaze Historical, The Captive.

I’m teaching a college-level introductory course to film and literature these days. I really love teaching because it demands that I study and think and stay on top of a topic in order to give the best to students. It also allows me to learn from bright young minds who—by virtue of being enrolled in college classes- are at a point in their lives where they’ve grown accustomed to thinking deeply about ideas, honing their critical analysis skills for success.

Of course, the topic itself makes it fun too. Discussing film and lit helps me to see my own work with fresh perspective. But recently, I got wondering where the Blaze stories are in modern film.

I know where the home and hearth, mainstream romance stories can be found. I’ve seen romantic comedy done over and over in film even as the market wanes a bit in commercial fiction. Of course, romantic suspense is a staple at the cinema, to the point where filmmakers will try to add a little romance to stories that don’t always need it.

But I don’t see much done with sexy romance on screen. Maybe that’s because of a certain reticence by movie-goers to sign on for something steamy while in a public venue. Perhaps being seated in a crowded theater next to strangers makes us wary about getting turned on vicariously.

Often, sexiness in film is a precursor to trouble. Steamy scenes occur when a spouse is cheating (Fatal Attraction, or when one character needs to lead another astray as part of a suspense plot. Remember Body Heat with Kathleen Turner? All steam, all deceit. Same goes for Black Widow, Basic Instinct, The Last Seduction. It’s almost as if movie characters are only rewarded with hot sex if they’re headed for a disastrous end.

Rarely do we see a sexy affair turn out well in Blaze fashion ala The Thomas Crown Affair. Sure, we see romantic comedy characters rewarded with happy endings. (And I’ll admit that naked Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal counts as sexy even if it wasn’t a steamy movie.) A case could be made for Out of Sight with Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney as filling the bill—after all, there’s a sense she’ll help him escape prison. But rarely do we see the steam factor raised and get the happy ending too. Guess we’ll have to keep reading Blaze.

Hmm… no hardship there!

**
I’d love to have you prove me wrong and bombard me with examples of steamy on-screen romances. Not because I’d love to be wrong so much as I enjoy a good love scene! Either way, please do share a favorite romantic film with me and /or a favorite film love scene. I’ll be giving away a copy of my February Valentine anthology, MANHUNTING, with Betina Krahn and Lori Borrill to one random poster.

Recently, I was grading some papers from my lit students, and while they were well written and interesting (yay!) there was a topic a few of them mentioned that made me a smidge disheartened– the over-commercialization of Christmas and the movement away from what the holidays mean. Now, I don’t argue student perspectives. I’m there to critique the writing and help them improve their techniques. But I figure I can share with YOU all what I think about this so-called commercialization of Christmas. Humbug.

I really love the holiday season. And I don’t buy into this idea that we’ve moved away from what the season means. I personally think one of the coolest things about the holidays is that this month encompasses so many ancient religious beliefs bound up with newer ones. No matter if you’re Jewish or Christian, pagan or atheist, you can find something to celebrate this time of year. I don’t think that any of us have the market cornered on the meaning of the season. We celebrate the things that are meaningful for each of us. How cool is that?

If things feel over-commercialized this time of year, I recommend turning off live TV and sliding in a DVD or Bing Crosby in White Christmas. Or turning off commercial radio and testing out Loreena McKennitt’s gorgeous Midwinter Night’s Dream for some holiday tunes. Light some candles and remember to enjoy a few of your favorite things this time of year. Bake your mom’s perennial favorite holiday cookie recipe. Or simmer some nutmeg and cloves on the stove to just make it smell like your baking. The effect is as heavenly and calorie-free. For me, it’s not the holidays without hunting for the perfect tree, watching my kids sled down a snowy, or hosting a big shindig for the whole family.

Beyond those traditions, I have a few faith-based acts that help bring the meaning of the season home to me and my family. But I don’t discount the outward trappings of the celebration that make it so memorable and joyous every year. I hope you remember to pull your family close to you this holiday and enjoy a few of your own favorite things. Happy Holidays!

What are a few of your favorite things this time of year? Favorite holiday CD or film? Beloved holiday tradition? Share with me the sweet and simple things that make the season fun for you and I’ll give away a copy of Blazing Little Christmas along with the NYT Bestseller The Thirteenth Tale, to a random poster, sure to make for fun fireside reading!

I was probably sitting in my ninth grade English class the first time I heard about star-crossed lovers. No doubt, it was the first year I thought English was going to be a little more entertaining than math and science. Even then, I was more interested in romance and passion than, say, algebra.

For those of you who’ve forgotten (pardon me while I channel my ninth grade teacher), it was Romeo and Juliet that kicked off with the rather stark introduction: “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes/A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.” Admittedly, this wasn’t going to be a romance with the same fun pay-off as The Flame and the Flower. But still, it sounded like racy fare for a fourteen year old.

I thought about the whole star-crossed bit this week as I plot out my next book and turn to the astrological inspiration of Linda Goodman’s Love in the Signs. Over the course of brainstorming many novels, I’ve frequently consulted astrological guides for character ideas. I like all kinds of psychological tools to develop my characters—from enneagrams to Myers Brigg profiles—and astrology is something I come back to time and again. Not because I believe I can predict my character’s future or anything (ha! Imagine how fast I’d be writing if I knew what would happen in the next chapter), but because the sun sign profiles depict identifiable, relatable character types that resonate with readers.

It helps keep my characters consistent when I use profiles like this. Midway through the book, if I’m not sure how my heroine would react, I can remind myself that she’s a Pisces and she’ll need to sit by the lake for a little quiet reflection to get her head on straight. Or that she’s an Aries and as such she’s itching for a major confrontation with the hero.

But the best reason to use the astrological profiles is so I can cast my hero and heroine in diametrically opposed signs to give them the most conflict possible (a romance isn’t a romance without a worthy battle for the HEA). I pit the Cancer woman against the Leo man. The Virgo woman against the Aries man. Literally, I cross their stars, just like The Bard suggested so many years ago.

It still works like a charm. And you know what? It turns out I was wise to tune into the racy stuff and save my napping for algebra. That wild and crazy couple from Verona sure gave me a lot to think about…

Well? Are the sun sign charts hogwash in your book? Do you fit your profile? Are you star crossed in your relationship? Chat with me today and I’ll give away a signed copy of any Blaze from my backlist to a random poster.