On the day this blog goes live, I’ll be flying out to California.  I’m going to the Romantic Times convention in Los Angeles, but that won’t start until April 6.   I’m flying out early to visit family including a new nephew!  (I gotta say, I love being an aunt.  I get to bring gifts, be the cool adult, and then give them back when the kids become annoying!  My guess is it’s a lot like being a grandmother!)

Anyway, some of you may know Cindy Dees.  She doesn’t write for Blaze, but she’s in a lot of the other category lines.  She does incredible work.  A lot in military romance (aka Suzanne Brockmann before she went single title) but also a bunch of other stuff.  She even won a Rita last year!  Here’s her latest book, btw.

She and I were talking about RT, and she has decided not to go this year.  There were many factors (time, family, deadline, etc) but we started talking about whether RT was the best conference for category readers.  Certainly there have been times when I’ve thought that RT was dominated by the small press.  Other times I thought the major presses were everywhere!  I’ve been going for ten+ years, so I’ve seen a lot of changes over the years.  Ten years ago, I hadn’t even heard of Ellora’s Cave!

But RT has always (as far as I can remember) had a few workshops on category books.  Carina Press (Harlequin’s e-imprint) was launched at RT.  This year will include “Lights, Camera, Action, the Series Romance Way.”  And let’s not forget that I will be there as Kathy Lyons (not just Jade Lee).

So now here’s my question to you: are you going to RT?  (If you are, make sure to find me!  I have kitch for anyone who tells me they love my work!  And even for those who say they can’t wait to read my work!)  And do you think RT does enough to support us category readers/writers?  One lucky commenter will get a copy of my latest IN GOOD HANDS, by Kathy Lyons.

March is here! March is here! Well okay, so it’s not really here. It’s almost here. But in theworld of publishing, March books are hitting the shelves already. And in the marvelous world of Harlequin Blaze, subscribers have already gotten my March Blaze, In Good Hands by Kathy Lyons. And, to make this month extra knuckle-biting, my latest Jade Lee book, Wicked Seduction hits the shelves too. Now, I have to say, I love Wicked Seduction because I’ve wanted to do a pirate comes home book forever! And the hero is extra yummy (he even got an RT KISS award). But this is a Blaze blog, so I’ll tell you about In Good Hands. And lest you think I’m all about shameless promotion, I’m gonna talk about the reason I wrote the book.

So…why did I write In Good Hands? Because I know this woman. She had a lucrative career as an Orthopaedist. Well respected, did a ton of research, and…well, that research led her into the wild, weird world of energy healing. After decades of more research, she ended up leaving her practice to devote her considerable brain to energy healing work. In her words, Western medicine doesn’t get the whole picture. In some ways, it doesn’t even get close.

Far from being a condemnation of modern medicine, her example gives me great hope. We need more people like her in medical fields, constantly exploring wherever their research takes them. Even if it’s into energy healing. So, since this woman is my inspiration, I ended up writing a book based on that concept.

Now, don’t be afraid. I don’t go deep into medicine or the energy aspects that (incidentally) I have been studying for about a decade. In Good Hands is a romance story and a Blaze. My heroine is a doctor turned energy healer and my hero has a big problem that western medicine hasn’t helped: very high blood pressure. They wander through a variety of different energy healing traditions in search for a cure with hilarious results. It’s funny and it’s hot, and I had a blast writing it!

So, everyone, tell if you’ve experimented in the wacky world of the woo woo! One lucky commentor will get a copy of In Good Hands. (Or a copy of Wicked Seduction if you prefer!) And, btw, if you want to learn more about In Good Hands, here’s a link to my website. And for those who like pirates coming home, here’s the link for Wicked Seduction.

Athletically, I was a late bloomer. Oh sure, I ran around and drove my mother nuts like most kids, but sadly, my Chinese mother thought girls should play violin not basketball. I was told to study math, not the perfect volleyball serve. Sure that helped me pass calculus, but did nothing for my body’s shape which has always tended toward plump.

Then at the ripe age of twenty-two, I discovered racquetball. It’s fast, it’s competitive, and best of all, I never had to go chase a ball anywhere. Since it’s played in an indoor court, the ball always rolls back to me. Oh, and girls can beat boys in racquetball. Maybe not at the pro levels. Men just have so much more power behind their swings than women do. But at my level? At my local fitness center? Heck yes! I could obliterate the guys and swagger off the court with the best of them. In fact, I do that on a regular basis (tee hee)!

So now I’m in my forties, and not at the low end, I might add. I’ve built a successful writing career, my kids are gone from the house, and I’m getting back into my favorite sport. This weekend (long over by the time you read this) I’ll be playing in a Pro racquetball tournament. I’ll be the slow woman with aching knees in the amateur division. The one they usually say has a lot of heart. Some will say grit. I don’t really care what they call me. And frankly, I’m not sure I care if I win. Okay, I do care, but as an older athlete it’s not really about winning. It’s about competing despite that extra 10 or 40 pounds. It’s about playing your hardest against someone else who is sweating and grunting as much as you are. And it’s about hanging out with people who love talking splats and roll outs and recounting that perfect serve.

Anyone else out there discover a sport in their less then prime years? Who plays in age divisions? And who loves beating the guys as much as I do? Tell me if you’re a player or a cheerer and one lucky commentor will win an early copy of my March blaze, IN GOOD HANDS. (And isn’t that a pretty cover!)

We here at the Blaze blog have been talking about our pets. Not necessarily on the blog itself (I’m writing this in advance of the holidays, so I don’t know what other people have done) but certainly behind the scenes. And given that we are smack dab in the middle of the holidays, I’d like to talk about the gifts my cats have given me.

I have two cats, both adopted from the local humane society. One is a lovable, loud, purring mass of male cat called Bandit. Here is a picture of Bandit in his usual habitat. Yes, he’s asleep on my chair taking up all of the chair. His other natural habitat is sitting in front of his food bowl crying for more food. Just because he ate ten minutes ago doesn’t change the fact that he’s hungry now.

What gifts do I typically receive from him? Well, mostly laughs. He’s not the brightest feline on the planet. When my other cat is chasing things, he’s usually about ten minutes behind. Yes, a full ten minutes. He’s the one looking for the mouse underneath the couch when the creature has run past him and into the kitchen and is now lurking behind the refrigerator. But he’s adorable in his stupidity…er, less than brilliance. And his purr never fails to cheer me up.

My other cat is Tali. She’s my huntress. She’s fast, smart, and has a talent for bringing me gifts of another sort. Here’s a picture of her (on my desk) with her most benign kill. That’s a Kathy Lyons keychain lion at her feet there. It has been appropriately killed and gifted to me. Other presents have included all manner of rodent and bird, both living and dead. The most Bandit ever killed was a full box of Q-tips. But he was quite proud of himself. He walked around with one hanging out of his lips like a cigarette.

Suffice it to say that I adore my cats, no matter what they give me. I have been known to tell my husband to be careful because he might disturb the cats when he climbs into our bed. I should note that they’re usually sleeping on his pillow when I say this.

So what presents have your pets brought you this holiday? Hopefully it’s an abundance of love and affection. But there are other joyful things that they bring too. Tell me, tell me! (Or confess that you’re pet free but think my cats are adorable). One lucky commentor will receive a free Kathy Lyons book like Taking Care of Business, my November release.

So a few weeks ago, I bought an iPad.  The reasons (excuses) are myriad and all boil down to this.  I needed (wanted) a tablet-like thing, and even though I’m PC all the way, nothing available beat the iPad.  So I bought one.  And I LOVE it.  My husband, btw, HATES it.  Why?  Well because this is what I do every morning before I even get out of bed.

I wake up and reach for the iPad.  I download my email before I’ve managed to blink four times.  And while I’m in a weak and vulnerable state, all those beautiful ads pop up. 20% off, just touch here!  Sale today!  Shop now!

Easy peezy!  I touch the SHOP button because I really don’t want to face the day.  And instant gratification appears.  All those lovely things I could buy!  Oh how much fun it is!  No more standing in line on Black Friday.  No more combing my hair or getting dressed.  All I have to do is touch a button, and bam, the whole world of internet shopping is available to me while I lounge against my pillows.  And after a Thanksgiving day dinner like I ate this year, believe me when I say I did NOT want to get out of bed for any reason at all!

So tell me what your secret shopping habit is.  Are you a crack of dawn Black Friday shopper?  Or a laze in bed internet binger?  (That would be me, btw).  Tell me, tell me, and one lucky commenter will get a copy of my newest Blaze, Taking Care of Business by Kathy Lyons.

One night years ago, my fiancé had a huge project due at work that required a ton of data entry. Because I loved him, I agreed to help. We finally got it done at 2 a.m. when, flushed with elation, we realized that we were alone in a huge office building. And given that he worked in an electronics firm, my mind quickly danced through a zillion gadget and gizmo fantasies.

I will never tell what exactly happened that night, but suffice it to say that I had much more imagination than stamina. I will also confess that we did not resort to raiding the lab. Turns out there’s a lot you can do in an office that has nothing to do with high end electronics!

So there you have it. My deep, dark secret: I have office fantasies. Thankfully, I was able to put some of them to paper in Taking Care of Business, my November Blaze. It helps that I modeled my hero after my own special geek of a husband, a man with more integrity than sense, more heart than he-man. Hopefully you’ll fall in love with him as quickly as I did.

But before you rush out to buy my very own fantasy put to paper, tell me something naughty you did—or thought about doing—in an office and one lucky winner will get a copy of my earlier Blaze, Under His Spell.

Hey everybody! I’m on a bestseller list! Yup, WHITE TIGRESS has made amazon.com’s top 10 FREE DOWNLOAD list. I’ve sunk into double digits today, but for a while there I was up at number 5! Woo hoo!

Okay, so maybe it’s shouldn’t be so exciting to make a free bestseller list, but I swear I’ve been checking the site every day just because I want to see where my book falls. For those of you who are wary of pirates, first…THANK YOU. And second, this is completely legit. It’s a publisher program to spark interest in the rest of the series. So for a limited time (it ends in a week) you can download WHITE TIGRESS for free onto your laptop or Kindle. If you don’t have a Kindle, you can get the free computer Kindle ap. Then just download whatever books you want.

Oh! You probably want the link. Here it is: WHITE TIGRESS on Amazon.com.

And if you want more information, reviews, etc, about WHITE TIGRESS, here’s the link to my website.

So enjoy! I have to admit, I downloaded a few other books while I was there. (If you want to know the list of free books, just go to www.amazon.com, click on Kindle Store Books. Then hit Kindle Bestsellers. The list on the left is paid. The list on the right is FREE!)

ENJOY!

Back at RWA nationals in Orlando, our keynote speaker Jayne Ann Krentz told us to know what our core story is. In other words, what is the story that always seems to appeal to you. It took me a while, but I realized that I just love giving my heroine the choice between two good but very different men. As in, would you choose security with a man who loves you or passion with the man who doesn’t? An easier life as a respectable woman or an exciting life of topsy turvy adrenaline in the moment?

I think it all harks back to my college romance where I had two guys, um…men, who were interested in me. The first was Simon who was a fellow extrovert. Being with him was exciting, passionate, and a huge roller coaster ride of exhausting fun/pain. The other was David who was like coming home to hot chocolate cookies and settling in for a nice night of good television. He was warm and accepting, and I was never more peaceful than when I was with him. In the end, I picked David and have never regretted the choice. But sometimes I wonder if Simon and I could have sustained something lasting. I think not. We were too hot as it was, and after just a couple months the lows were getting bad. Still, it’s fun to remember those hot college nights!

The heroine of my new historical WICKED SURRENDER has just that choice. Respectable marriage with a sweet man. (Well, in his case, he’s really more of a boy). And passion with someone who loves her with a kind of madness, whose touch excites her, and who is not offering marriage.

So tell me what you think! Have you ever faced a choice like this? One lucky commentor will get a Jade Lee book!

A friend of my daughter’s is a rather handsome, very articulate young man. Of any of her friends, he is the one I expect will go far in life. At present, he’s in college and working part time at a major corporation. All very nice, but what follows shows more than anything why he’s an exceptional young man. Honestly, I could not have done what he did. And at the end, tell me a story of your latest adrenaline rush. One lucky commenter will win a copy of Kathy Lyon’s UNDER HIS SPELL.

HERE’S HIS STORY:

I would have preferred to tell this story in person, but it is simply too ridiculous not to share as quickly as possible…

So I’m taking a shower, which is normal for a Saturday morning. And my parents and brothers go to karate practice, which is also normal for a Saturday morning. I get out of the shower — still normal — and try to open the door — still normal — at which point the doorknob in my 90-year-old house falls off — not normal.

I am now alone in the house, trapped in the bathroom.

My family will not return for two hours. I am straight-up, R Kelly-style trapped in the bathroom. I have no phone. I also, for the record, have no Beretta. And there was no singing, although in retrospect there should have been.

The first option is to wait it out. I could take an extra-long shower, Clorox-wipe the entire bathroom, or do the Unspeakable (which honestly couldn’t occupy me for two hours). The second option is to exit through the window. But I wouldn’t be able to get back into the house. So I would be marooned in my hot backyard, wearing my dirty boxers and a towel, waiting for my family to come home. The third option is to escape. I go from R Kelly to MacGyver, amass a collection of potentially useful bathroom items — electric razor, seven toothbrushes, plunger (not sure how exactly that would have helped), hand soap, Q-tips, depleted toothpaste tube — and get to work.

My first plan of attack is to reattach the doorknob, which of course fails. Then, after about fifteen minutes of poking, hitting, jiggling, and otherwise harassing the door with various implements, I discover the fatal flaw of my prison: The door opens inward, but when I push it out, the Little Thing that the doorknob operates that goes into the Little Notch in the door (I don’t know much about door anatomy.) gets pushed back into the door. So all I need to do is block the Little Thing from going into the Little Notch while I yank the door back towards me.

I survey my toothbrush army, and ultimately select two soldiers for the mission: The smallest (one of my brothers’) and the largest (a surprisingly robust free handout from our swanky downtown dentist). I lodge the small toothbrush in the Little Notch, hoping that the Little Thing will slide over it when I pull the door. But without a doorknob, it is very difficult to exert inward force on a door, so I use the large toothbrush to pry into the stump where the doorknob once was and start yanking.

With each toothbrush dangerously close to its breaking point, the door lurches open. A refreshing burst of not hot-sticky-just-took-a-shower air comes over me. Free at last! And it was so freaking fun.

If you really want an adrenaline rush, I encourage you to succeed in escaping from an inconvenient but not dangerous situation using only immediately available household items.

Hoping there will be no Volume 2.

Some of us are born rebels-those people who intentionally set out to break the rules and live life the way we want. Others, me included, are accidental rebels. The first book in my six book series set in Shanghai, China circa 1900 is White Tigress. AFTER I sold it, someone told me “no one will ever sell a historical novel set in China. It’s just not done.” To which I say, “neener, neener, neener”.

Not only did I break this rule but so did a bright new writer, Jeannie Lin! I was asked to present Jeannie with her First Sale bouquet of roses for her (you guessed it!) TANG Dynasty China-set book, Butterfly Swords. After presenting her with her bouquet, I also gave her a cover quote!

Keep an eye for Butterfly Swords this fall. Harlequin Historicals will be releasing it in October. Jeannie sent me the cover and I just have to share it with you. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Tell me: are you a natural born or accidental rebel? What’s the last rule you broke? Don’t worry, we won’t tell anybody!