And I’m thinking about that today because it’s that time of year again–that week between Christmas and New Years–when a year is ending and another one is beginning.  In life, I’ve always liked new beginnings. I loved going away from home to start college, I adored moving into my first apartment and taking on the challenge of my first job.  I really like the idea of starting over with a clean slate, making changes, and taking on new challenges.

I’ve been blogging on December 29th for a few years now, and usually I just make a list of all the things I’m going to do to finally improve about my life–like lose five or ten pounds, exercise on a regular basis, and finally clear the clutter out of my drawers, my closets and my basement.  And I could put the exercise and the clear-the-clutter things right there at the top of my list…again and forever.  But in 2012, I’m going to make a different kind of resolution.

I was making a mental list of my favorite memories of 2011 this morning–and the first ones that popped into my mind all had to do with trips I made with family or friends.  Last January, my sister and I spent a weekend with our niece Emma in New York City.  She was there on a business trip and we joined her for fun.  We indulged in theatre, great food, and, of course, shopping.  In February, I went with my sister to Florida, and we spent a week babysitting and playing with my two grandchildren and their new, untrained puppy.  (It was a kind of working vacation for me.  I wrote three chapters of “Sexy, Silent Nights,” my December book while I was there).  And in June, I got to go back to NYC for the RWA conference and hang out with friends I only see once a year.  (And indulge in more theatre and great food.)

In looking over my list, I came to a kind of epiphany moment.  Instead of making a long list of things that Cara Summers could do to improve herself, she’s going to make one resolution for the new year.  She’s going to find the time–no make the time to have more fun.  She’s going to schedule more trips with family and visit friends.  (There will definitely be trips to NYC and Florida involved).  The clutter in her closets will have to wait another year.  Or forever.

So what are your new year’s resolutions?  Do you make them?  Accomplish them?  If you had a magic wand, what’s the one thing you’d like to change about your life in 2012?  I’d love to hear from you.

Happy New Year!

One of my favorite memories about Christmas when I was growing up is that my mother used to take the time to select a special gift for my sister and me, and it was always a surprise.  We didn’t have it on our lists and my mother could really keep a secret.  That present was always the best present of all.  Of course, since we were two years apart in age, it was always the same gift–or something we had to share.  One year she bought us dolls that were the size of a six month old.  They could wear real baby clothes–which my sister and I could shop for.  We played with those dolls and shopped until we dropped for them for years.  I still have my doll packed away in a box in my basement.

Many of you might know that in Cara Summers’ other life, she teaches writing to freshmen and sophomores at Syracuse University.  On the last day of class-especially in the fall semester–she has students share a secret talent.  Something that the rest of us might not otherwise know about them.  They don’t actually have to perform the talent (although some of them do).  They just have to reveal it.

That class of “secret sharing” is often my favorite class of the semester because I learn things about my students I never would otherwise have known.  Last Thursday, one of my students from China shared his talent for photography.  He made a movie, using stills and clips of the time he spent fighting in the Chinese army as a rifleman and showing us photos of his homeland.  Another showed us photos of her trip to Honduras with a church group and explained the work they did in an orphanage there.  One of them composed an original blues song titled “Writing 105.”  Still another one performed a dance that he used when he auditioned in New York for the Fox TV show, “Glee.”  And another showed video clips of his winning competition at the world championships in Karate.  All of them shared secret talents that we might never have known they had.  And I usually end the class by revealing that my alter ego writes hot and sexy Blazes for Harlequin.

Now I’d like you to surprise me–either by sharing your “secret” talent or by telling us a story about a “secret” Christmas present that truly surprised you.  Or maybe you have a story where you kept a secret and truly surprised someone else.  All stories are welcome.

And in the true spirit of Christmas, I want to give away some copies of my December Blaze, “Sexy Silent Nights.”  (By the way, in that book, the hero and heroine who are strangers when they meet discover that there’s a “secret” in each of their pasts that links them.)  So please share your stories.  I’ll pick my three winners out of a hat–because I have so much trouble picking out the best stories.

And my wish to all of you is a very Merry and Blessed Christmas that is filled with wonderful “secret” surprises!

1.  I love trimming my Christmas tree.  Traditionally, that included a trip to a Christmas tree lot to pick out the perfect shape.  But now, I have to admit I’ve switched to  prelighted “fake” tree which my children have to help me haul up from the basement and assemble.  I really like the fake one.  It’s large, it has a perfect shape and I can enjoy the lights for several days before I get around to decorating it.  My current color scheme is white, silver, and clear class.  Each year, I wait until the sales are on, and then I shop for some new ornaments.

2.  I love planning and hosting Christmas Eve Dinner for my family.  They’re very busy with their own families on Christmas Day so I invite them the night before.  We usually have roast beef, mashed potatoes with gravy, and Caesar Salad.  The menu I owe to one of my sisters-in-law who served that dinner for the five years we that our families spent Christmas Eve together.  She also made Yorkshire Pudding–something that I’ve never tried.

3.  I love playing Christmas music, non stop, in my house.  I just load up my CD player with every album I’ve collected over the years and enjoy.  Over the years I’ve collected Kenny G, Harry Connick, Manheim Steamroller, at least two albums of James Gallway playing the flute, and the complete score of the Nutcracker.

4.  I love taking long walks at night under the stars when the air is crisp and cold and the snow sparkles as if it were crusted with diamond dust.  It’s a great time to dream and to be thankful.

5.  I love visiting my grandchildren in Florida a couple of weekends before Christmas.  We will see a movie (hopefully the new Muppets one or perhaps the Martin Scorcese one in 3D), we will go to lunch at our favorite restaurant where we have our own table.  And since only book shopping is allowed, we will go to Barnes and Noble and I will sign copies of my December book, “Sexy, Silent Nights.”   Then I will try to avoid explaining the title and we will talk about what it’s like to be a writer while we drink hot chocolate in the cafe.

You’ll note that Christmas shopping does not make my top five things to do in December.  I don’t even like going into the stores. If I absolutely have to go to the mall, I try to go at dinner time and only once.

What are your favorite things to do in December?

There’s one last thing that I forgot that I really love to do in December and that’s send my sister a birthday present.  I usually send her a Poinsettia Plant that she can use to decorate her house or office.

And since I do have a December Blaze out, I will offer copies to the three people who either guess or come closest to her birthday.  (And if you already have “Sexy, Silent Nights,” you can choose another book from my backlist.

Happy December!

Oh, I’m not as bad as Carrie Bradshaw from “Sex and the City.”  I don’t have a full closet dedicated to my footwear.  But I do have boxes and boxes and boxes of shoes stacked on my closet shelves.

I could probably trace the addiction back to a childhood trauma.  When I was ten, I was diagnosed with fallen arches, and my pediatrician condemned me to a year of wearing “orthopedic oxfords.”  My arches recovered, but my psyche was permanently injured.

Still, in spite of that horrible experience, my shoe problem might very well be genetic.  My mother absolutely adored shoes–especially high-heeled, peep-toed sandals.  And one of our favorite things to do together was shop.

Even when I was in college, and later when I married and move away from home, Mom and I always scheduled time to shop together.  And shoes were always at the top of our lists.  My mom’s philosophy was that if you found a shoe you loved and it came in different colors, you should buy them all.   Which is how I ended up owning three pairs of peep-toed Marijanes with three inch heels–one in black, one in purple, and one in hot pink.  Thanks, Mom!!!

Not one of my three sons has inherited the shoe gene ( although the oldest would spend hours in in a shoe store selecting the perfect pair of sneakers.  But now I have a granddaughter, and Marian and I shop for shoes every chance we get.  Whenever we get together–whether it’s Rhode Island, Florida, Michigan, or New York, we have to go shopping and shoes are always at the top of our list.  Right where they belong.

When I visited her last summer, she wore my hot pink peep-toed Marijanes for three says straight.  On my last trip, her first question to me was: “Got any interesting shoes in your suitcase, Grammy?”

Of course, I did.

What is your secret vice?  And have you passed it on to someone?

When I was growing up, September meant new clothes for a new school year.  And I love both.  I still do.  I’m currently teaching writing to fifty-five freshman newly arrived at college and I’ve indulged in one new outfit that I can wear to class.  (Well, I’ll wear the tweed blazer to class–but perhaps not the ridiculously high-heeled shoes that I simply couldn’t resist).

But my secret, guilty pleasure in the fall is watching the new TV shows–at least once.  Then more serious work will intrude and I’ll have to get up off the couch and do it.  I’m always attracted by the hour long dramas.  The new ones.  (I”m really, really tired of Law and Order and CSI in all their various forms.)

At the top of my list so far is “Ringer” on the CW with Sarah Michelle Geller.  I’ve been waiting to see what she would do after Buffy.  And what’s she’s doing is co-producing a show in which she plays twin sisters–Bridget (the bad twin) and Siobhan (sp?) (the good twin…supposedly).  And, of course, Bridget changes places with her good and rich twin sister.  It’s an old premise, one that I’ve used twice in my own books.  And two episodes in, I’m intrigued.   The plot is interesting and surprising–but not so intricate that I can’t follow it.  (Trying to watch NBC’s “The Event” last year gave me a headache.)  I think I’m going to be hooked by “Ringer.”  (But I have to confess I DVR it while I’m actually watching NCIS Los Angeles.  I can’t resist either Hetty or the eye candy of that show).

Coming in at second on my list of favorite new shows (so far) is “Pan Am.”  I have to admit I’m a sucker for the glitz, the costumes, the hair.  I”m also assuming that there will be intrigue plots along with the romantic trysts.  I’ll watch this one again–as long as there’s a plot…

I watched the debut of “Charlie’s Angels” of course.  I have to say I like the new Bosley–so far.  I may watch more of this series just to see if it measures up to the original and the movies.

I caught “A Gifted Man.”  It made me think of “House” with a ghost wife.  I do like the doctor’s secretary/office assistant.  She’s the same actress who played Miss Hamm in the movie “Secretariat.”  She also played a woman who ran a drug empire and killed people on the FX series “Justified” last season.  And she won an Emmy nomination for that role.  I may watch this series every so often just to see her.

“Prime Suspect” intrigues me.  It seems to be based on the British series that starred Helen Mirren, so I’ll probably watch more of these.  In fact, it may rise to the top of my favorites list.

So what are your favorite things about fall?  Or what are your favorite new or returning TV shows?   Please share.

Time does fly when you’re having fun!  One of the best things I got to do was to think about how I got here–writing for Blaze.  I’ve blogged about my journey before.  I’ve given speeches about how in the world I ended up as a romance writer.

I’ve credited my parents–not just because they were smart and loving and wonderful (all of which they were) but also because they gave me genre fiction to read when I was growing up.  My dad introduced me to mysteries and my mom handed me my first romance novel to read.

But what I hadn’t thought about before was the house they raised me in.  I know the importance of setting to a good story.  And I’ve often reflected on how lucky I am to have been born in this time, in this country, to be a woman in the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century.

But I’ve never before thought of how important a role my childhood home played in my creative development.  From the time I was five and a half until I went away to college at eighteen, I lived in an absolutely phenomenal house.

I grew up in a section of the inner city of Detroit known as Indian Village, and the houses on my block were all past their prime.  But in their prime, they’d been mansions with rooms for live-in servants.  My house had three floors and 24 rooms and a butler’s pantry!  Best of all, it had two staircases–one that started in the foyer and ended in a landing that boasted three stained glass windows complete with a window seat before it continued on to the second floor.

The second staircase was for the “servants’” and it went up three floors to the maid’s bedroom and offered a balcony on the second floor.  My mother used to whack her dust mop on that balcony railing.   (We didn’t have a live-in maid.)  My sister and I used that balcony to reenact “Romeo and Juliet” and “Rapunzel” and to dream dreams.

I use a lot of balconies in my Blazes (not just for dreaming, of course).  And I’m thinking that early on, they just took root in my imagination.

Plus, that second staircase offered endless possibilities and challenges when cousins visited and we played hide and seek.

I could make a list of the other spaces in that house that I now realize sparked my imagination, but there’s none more important than the window seat on the landing of the central staircase.   My other had it padded with a cushion, and then she installed a drape that could be pulled open and closed.  And she had it installed not just to cover the windows but to cover the window seat, also.

Doing that made the window seat a “stage,” and I can’t tell you the number of performances my sister and brother and I delivered there.

I also can’t tell you the number of times that I pulled those drapes and hid away there to read and dream.  The first piece of fiction that I ever wrote was when I was fifteen and in tenth grade and I wrote it there.  It was a romance, of course.  Two young people met on a merry-go-round and there was a St. Bernard involved in their first date.  My story won a first prize from the Detroit Free Press in the short short story category.  I still have the dictionary with my name engraved on the cover.

So my path to writing Blazes really started there.  Thank you, Blaze, for letting me celebrate and reflect on my path to this time and this place.

What are the favorite places of your childhood?  What places or spaces have played an important time in your life–or influenced your career decisions?  I would love to hear your stories.

And I want to invite all of you to a wind up party to our Blaze 10th anniversary.  Tonight at 9:00 PM Brenda Chin, Leslie Kelly, Julie Leto, Rhonda Nelson, Joanne Rock and Cara Summers will be guests on a radio talk show hosted by Leslie’s husband Bruce.  The link to the show is:http://www.blogtalkradio.com/romancewritershusband/2011/08/30/harlequin-blaze-10th-anniversary-party     The call in number is 347-215-7519   I hope you join us!

Cara

At the top of my list is ice cream.  I love the soft kind that comes from a machine and is swirled into a cone.  There’s a store, a ten minute drive from my house, where I can stand in line to get a black raspberry soft ice cream cone.  And then try to eat in in the sunshine before it melts.   Yummm.  (Sometimes I bribe myself to get more pages written with a trip to that store.)

I also love to spend more time reading.  A lot of my favorite authors have books that are released during the summer.  I have Karen Robards’ latest, “Justice.”  And I’m looking forward to releases from Linda Howard and Julie Garwood.  I’m also trying Lee Child, a thriller writer, for the first time.  And I think I’m falling in love with his hero.

But the thing that I’ve noticed lately is that I spend a lot more time in summer watching TV.  I have come to love the Summer Series that are offered on Cable Stations.  And my weekly “must see” list is getting long.

For me, it all started with “The Closer” on TNT.  I love that show, not only because of Kyra Sedgewick, but because of the writing.  From the very first episode, the writers and actors swept me into their world and I’m comfortable there now.  More, I actually love visiting it on Monday nights.  I’ve come to know Brenda and her team and her family, and I’ll miss them all when the show wraps up its final season this summer.

My next favorite is “Covert Affairs” on USA.  This show I love because it offers a female action heroine.  Annie Walker can drive, fight in hand to hand combat, rock climb, and jump off buildings better than Jason Bourne.  (Which makes sense because the producers of the Bourne trilogy are now producing “Covert Affairs.)  I also have fallen in love with Augie.  Plus I’m a fan of Kari Matchett, the woman who plays Annie’s boss.  I remember her from when she was a regular on the old “Nero Wolfe” series on A&E.

Third on my list is “In Plain Sight.”  (I think there’s a pattern here.  I seem to love TV series that have female protagonists.  And I evidently like them to pack guns.  Who knew?)  This is Mary McCormack’s third season as a Federal Marshall with a wonderful partner and a dysfunctional family, and she’s pregnant and struggling with the decision to give the baby up for adoption.  (There’s another pattern here.  I love writers who can surprise me.  I didn’t see that baby coming.)

Others on my summer “must see” list are “White Collar” and “Burn Notice.”  I love the way the writers are developing the relationships on these shows.  There’s quite a bit of eye candy involved and on “Burn Notice” Fiona blows up a lot of things.   Am I the only one who thinks that Michael Westin has died his hair this season?

My favorite new shows are “Suits” and “Necessary Roughness.”  (Good writing, interesting relationships, and either serious eye candy or a strong woman in the lead role.)

And then there’s “Haven” which returns for its second summer on the Syfy Channel.  If you like paranormal and Stephen King, you’ll love this one.

What are your favorite and perhaps secret indulgences during the summer months?  Or do you have a book or TV show to recommend?  After all, summer is only about half over, right?  (Big sigh!)

PS: For those of you who won books during my July 14 blog.  They’re in the mail.  Thanks for your patience.  And if you participated in that blog and didn’t send me your choice of book or address, there’s still time to email me.

Happy summer pleasures!

Cara

Luca’s birth started me thinking of the various ways my family has celebrated birthdays and the rituals we establish and then change.

I still carry around in my head the day I turned five.  My mother threw a huge party for me outside in our back yard.  I can’t remember the food (except for the cake and ice cream, of course).  I don’t even remember what presents I received.  What I’ve never forgotten is that, thanks to my mom’s planning, every one of my friends at the party received a special paper doll.  She stood on a little stand and you could put her clothes on with magnets.  I played with her for months.  (And I’ve never forgotten her).

Another tradition that my mom eventually established was that my sister and brother and I could order whatever we wanted for our birthday dinner.  My order was always for turkey salad.  But it had to come from Saunders, an ice cream and candy store that still exists in Detroit, Michigan.  So the day before my birthday, a man from Saunders would deliver pounds of the restaurant’s turkey salad, along with one of their cakes and Neopolitan ice cream–the kind that has chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla in neat little ribbons.  I remember it came packed in dry ice.

For as long as I could, I carried this tradition on with my own children.  But not one of them ever let me get away with ordering take out.  I was the one who had to make the chicken parmesan or lasagna or deep fried chicken–until I eased them into the idea of going out to their favorite restaurant for dinner.   Whew!

Little Luca’s birth has also made me think a little about what we’re actually celebrating on our birthdays.  Early on, birthdays were wonderful because of the ice cream, cake, and presents–and all the attention.  But on the one that’s coming up in a couple of weeks for me, I hope I’m going to celebrate another year well lived and the even better ones to come.

(And I think I’ll try to duplicate Saunder’s recipe for turkey salad and pay a visit to Pottery Barn and see if I can find a magnet paper doll.)

How do you celebrate birthdays in your family?  And what special birthdays do you remember?

I want to give away three books to three lucky people and this month, I’ll choose the three most interesting or fun responses.  You can choose “Tailspin” or any book from my back list.

Happy Birthday everyone!

Cara

I know that there are writers who depend on research for story and character ideas.  And I’ve been inspired by research too, but first I have to be forced to do it.

Therefore, my favorite kind of research is the kind I can do by “searching” through my own memories and experiences.   I call this my “lazy girl” research.  I try to set my stories in cities and areas I’ve actually lived in or visited a few times–New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., upstate New York, Northern Michigan.  If I need to fill in details (like specific places, street names), I visit my nearest Barnes and Noble store and browse through travel books while I sip a latte.

Another kind of research that I favor is the kind that happens by accident.  I’ll meet someone who tells me a story that triggers an idea.  I got the idea for a trilogy from a young student of mine who told me how his parents met in Greece while his mother was traveling there and it was love at first sight.  Then his father followed her back to the states and they eventually married.  Another student of mine recently told me what the mountains surrounding Denver might look like in July because she’d lived in the area for ten years.

For the settings that fall out of my realm of experience, I still rely on travel books.  A few years ago when I had to set a book on a Greek Island (a spin off of that trilogy), I bought three books at B&N and brought them home.  In reading the history of Corfu, I found a great idea for my subplot.  Web sites of cities are also useful to check weather and geography.

Another thing that will force me to do research are those pesky little details that I have to get right–and that I can’t find easily with a Google search.   One of my heroines had to visit her uncle in a Federal Prison, and I had to call someone who worked as a parole officer to find out what the visiting room really looked like.  Another time, I needed to know exactly how much you could pack into one those little trunk-like things that you sometimes see on the back of motorcycles.  To find that out, I visited my local Harley Davidson store.  No one believed that I was in the market for a motorcycle, but they were very helpful.

Now, I’m going to make a confession.  As much as I try to avoid it, my very favorite kind of research is the kind where I actually have to seek out an expert in the field for an interview.  My July Blaze, “Tailspin” is part of the Uniformly Hot! series, and my hero is in the Air Force.

To learn more about the Air Force, I visited the ROTC office on the campus of Syracuse University and  I met a real life Air Force hero.  Not only did the Lt. Colonel answer all my questions, but just from talking to him, I could see the kind of enthusiasm, pride and dedication that must be part of being an Air Force Pilot.

And he gave me a medal that makes me an official Honorary Airman in the Air Force!

Of course, he became the inspiration for my July hero, Nash Fortune, and I dedicated the book to him.  Today, I’m going to take him some signed copies of the book.  His wife can’t wait to read it.   And I am so nervous.  I’m sure that I messed up on some of the details, but I hope I got the hero right.

What is your relationship with research?  Love it?  Hate it?  What kind of things do you research in your every day lives?  And if you are a writer, how much do you do for your books?

I want to give away three books, so I’ll choose the numbers out of a hat again.  Winners can choose “Tailspin” or another book from my backlist.

Cara

In the past two weeks I’ve been to two parties, one for a young man graduating from college and one for a young woman just finishing Optometry School. We gathered with friends and family to celebrate the successful end of a very important stage of their lives.

The two events made me start thinking of the fact thaI the word, commencement, means a beginning, a going forward. The last time I “graduated” from high school, or college, or grad school, was a long time ago. But I have had lots of experiences with commencement in my life. Marriage, the birth of a child, the start of a new job, the end of a job, the death of a loved one, divorce. All these events force us to make a new beginning.

Starting over and facing new challenges is always scary. But I think it’s also what makes life exciting. And it makes for a good story, too. I love to read and write about heroines who are starting over in some way. Even if they don’t want to. And in real life, I find myself admiring woman who are able to reinvent themselves like Cher.

To me the scariest thing is to settle into a rut. It’s when things aren’t changing that I start to worry. Even though, I’m quite willing to settle for less than life challenging changes at this point.

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” That’s what we celebrate at graduation parties. And it’s what we should celebrate every day.

What does graduation time make you think of? Let me know. I’ll choose three winners at random and you can choose books from my back list–or my July Blaze.