One of my favorite expressions when describing a man is “he’s a tall, cool drink of water”  (or something to that effect.)   I’ve never actually written that in a book, but whenever I hear it or read it, it makes me smile.  It’s so perfectly descriptive.  It gives you a picture–but even better, it gives you a feeling.  A man who can quench a hot, dry thirst.

When I think of the hero of my new Blaze, visually represented so perfectly on the cover of TOO HOT TO TOUCH (are the August covers not fantastic or WHAT?) I think the expression applies…though I have to substitute water with sangria, because Alejandro Aguilar is…well, Alejandro Aguilar.  He’s cool…that’s for sure.  He’s intense and powerful and handsome.  He hails from a part of the world that takes things like loyalty and honor very seriously…so much so that after working with my heroine, Lucienne Bonet, for nearly two months, he knows he has to have her.  But she’s his employee!  He can’t cross that line.  There’s only one option open to him…

She flicked her fingers beneath the flap, her gaze trained on Alejandro, who gave nothing away.  She slipped two sheets of paper out and scanned each one with confusion.

The first was a glowing letter of recommendation.  The second, a certified check.

A check with a lot of zeroes.

Not enough zeroes to get Daniel out of trouble, but maybe enough to buy his safety until she found Ramon’s ring.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Your commission.  Or at least, an estimate based on your projections for the auction.  Should we take in more, I’ll make sure you get the adjusted amount.”

“And if you make less?”

He shrugged nonchalantly, then braced his hands on the arms of her chair so that his cologne, a warm musk with a hint of tobacco and leather, sizzled through his crisp, white shirt.  “Our business always includes a certain amount of risk.  It will be worth it if it means I’ll have more time with you.”

She tucked the check and the letter back into the envelope, trying to hide how her hands shook.  “I thought you were firing me.”

His dark irises simmered and when his tongue slid slowly across his bottom lip.  “Oh, I am.  But only because I have a very strict policy against seducing my employees.”

Once again, her heartbeat hammered within her chest, hampering her ability to breathe without gulping in air.  Or worse, panting.

He grinned.  “I’ve surprised you.”

She opened her mouth to inhale, but the added awareness of his intoxicating scent only knocked her further into sensory overload.

When he moved even closer, she drew back and said, “No.”

It was a quiet no.  Barely audible.  And yet, Alejandro had instantly complied.

He arched a brow, but moved no more than an inch in retreat.  “Or perhaps you’ve surprised me.”

She flicked her thumbnail on the corner of the envelope. The clicking noise kept pace with her stuttering pulse.  He was so close.  The space of a breath separated his lips from hers.  Until he’d breached the invisible boundary of her personal space, she hadn’t realized just how long it had been since she’d kissed a man—any man, much less one she barely knew and who possessed the scruples to resist toying with an employee.

An employee whose ultimate goal was to rip him off.

She had to reach deep within her Lucienne persona for an adequate reply.  “You didn’t expect me to collapse instantly into your arms, did you?”

His eyes widened with even more surprise.  “I believed our attraction to be mutual.”

She smiled, glad when he backed up a bit, giving her room to inhale deeply.  “Who says it isn’t?”

“You’re not exactly jumping at the chance to—”

“Fall into bed with you?”

The corner of his mouth quirked into a reluctant grin.  “Even I’m not that presumptuous.”

She quirked an eyebrow.  “Then what else did you have in mind?”

“This is San Francisco,” he replied, his voice a warm drizzle of rich, dark chocolate, “a bastion of fine dining and entertainment.  Perhaps we could start with dinner or a concert.  Maybe a stroll the wharf.  I haven’t seen much beyond the walls of this auction house or the lobby of my hotel, but I’d like to see more.  With you.”

Again, his gaze swept over her with such potent scrutiny, she knew that what he truly wished to see more of was her body, preferably naked and supine beneath his.  Instantaneously, her nipples pebbled and chafed against the transparent lace of her bra.  Sweet pressure pulsed between her legs.  He was interested in her—and vice-versa.

Oh?  Did I mention that Lucienne’s name isn’t really Lucienne…and that’s she’s been lying to him for months…and that she’s only working for him so she can steal a valuable ring he inherited from his father, a man he’s hated since he was three years old?  It’s all very tawdry and tragic and conflicted and romantic and … well, it’s the kind of situation a woman might need a whole pitcher of sangria to survive, if you know what I’m saying.

I love writing this kind of hero.  One reviewer compared Alex (the name he goes by with friends) to a Presents hero.  I don’t know if they meant it as a compliment or if they were basing this opinion on ethnicity alone, but Alex does have a lot in common with those powerful men of industry who command those virgin brides in our sister line.  Luckily for Blaze readers, however, Lucienne ain’t no virgin bride.  She’s a woman with a purpose–and a woman with a libido.  Putting them together was a joy and I can’t wait to hear what readers think about it.  The book is available in stores now, as well as online.

And just like all the August Blazes, the 10th Anniversary special edition of  TOO HOT TO TOUCH includes a *free* bonus book!  In my case, it’s a copy of EXPOSED, Blaze #4!  The books are connected in that they’re both set in the same city–San Francisco.

So tell me…what kind of drink describes your favorite kind of hero?

Hi, everyone…every so often, my Blaze blog falls on the same day as my blog over at Plotmonkeys, which I share with fellow (and former) Blaze authors, Carly Phillips, Janelle Denison and Leslie Kelly. Since I can’t really be in two places at once, particularly before the holidays, please stop by and see me there!

Wishing you all a very happy (and warm) holiday season!!!

So I have a new book out right now. It’s not a Blaze, but if you’re interested in knowing more about it, stop by Plotmonkeys today or my website, which I’m now regularly updating (brought to you by the magic that is WordPress!)

The book is based on the romance of a real-life couple. To find out more about them, they filled out a very long questionnaire and then I exchanged emails with them. This gave me a strong sense of who they were as people–but it was through the actual writing of the book that I really got to know them.

You’d think this would be somehow different from the way a completely fictional book is written, but it’s really not. When I sit down to write a book, I have a general sense of who those people are in my head. For instance, the book I’m currently working on is a Blaze, and my heroine is pretending to be someone she is not. When I sat down to write, that’s really about all I knew about her. Well, I knew WHY she was lying about her identity and what she meant to accomplish by it, as well as a little bit about her background in that her parents took in foster kids and she became very close to one of those kids, a young man who is like a brother to her and who is currently in jail.

But discovering her character–really finding out what she’s about–comes from putting her in situations and seeing how she reacts. What she says and what she does are what characterize her for me–and for the reader.

In that way, writing the heroine of my new release was exactly the same. I knew basically what she was about and I did have a strong sense of events and her emotional reaction to those events…but just because I knew some of the facts (not all of them, since I didn’t actually live the experience with her) I still had a LOT of work to do in making her come alive for the reader. I need my readers to empathize with her, understand her, be compelled by her enough to continue reading about what happens to her. That’s all part of characterization.

This book was a truly creative work for me. It tested me as a writer on a lot of different levels–and the best part is, I think it gave me added insight into the work I’m doing now, which is completely fictional. Without my ability to simply “make up” every event of a book, I had to focus on what I did have–the emotions, mainly. I think I’m much more aware of that aspect of my writing now. Once you have to rely on it rather than plot devices, you learn something. I think that writing HARD TO HOLD (in stores now) will make my Blazes and any other work I do from this point forward, much stronger.

So today’s question is…what makes you fall in love with a character?

It looks like my new book, 3 Seductions and a Wedding, is starting to hit bookstores and TBR piles…and I want to give a special thanks to anyone who has already bought the book. I’m really, really excited about this one. It’s a bit of a departure for me. There are no ghosts, no witches, no fairy godmothers or other magical creatures. The only spells cast in this book are those of the contemporary romance kind. Writing 3 Seductions is a little back like returning to the roots of my earliest work…but with the knowledge gleaned from nearly forty books in publication.

In other words, an fascinating challenge.

3 Seductions is THREE stories (not four, as noted on a popular review site…the fourth story is actually only available HERE, for free, as it is a prequel…please stop by and read it if you haven’t already!) I love how all three stories turned out…the first, “Tying the Knot,” (I should note here that I really, really love a good double entendre) is a redemption story. The hero, Leo, screwed up ten years ago and lost the love of his life, Jessie, who has not ever forgiven him. This is an uber-sexy story of revenge and forgiveness. And it’s a lot of sexy fun.

The second story, “Take this Man,” is a December-May story featuring Annie, a thirty-something mother of two and Drew, a much younger man who has pined for her for years. I have to confess…this is my favorite of the three. From the instant Drew and Annie appeared on the page, they were friends of mine who didn’t give me a lick of trouble in translating their complicated story onto the page.

The third novella, “Bedded Bliss,” is the sexiest of the three stories…more Blaze-y of old. And yet, Ajay & Mallory’s story ends up, in my opinion, with the most traditional and probably most romantic ending. How did that happen? It just worked.

Well, it worked for ME. I can only hope it will work for all of you!

So I thought I’d do an excerpt today…from “Take This Man.” I can’t wait to get feedback from readers on the collection, but especially on this story. Here’s the set-up…Annie’s younger brother, Coop is about to marry Drew’s older sister, Bianca, who have been together for 10 years, but haven’t tied the knot. Their friends and family are throwing them a surprise wedding…and Drew and Annie have taken on the job of flying to New York to pick up Bianca’s dress and trousseau. But Drew has another plan in mind…though Annie has no idea what’s in store for her once she takes off with this much younger hunk of a man…

Let me know what you think and you could win a free copy of one of my backlist books…your choice (based on availability…US & Canadian shipping addresses only, thanks!)
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I did not need to see this movie. I lived it. I counted, and in my younger days, I was a bridesmaid 7 times. Luckily for me, only one of those dresses was hideous…and it really wasn’t all that bad. It was just very plain and totally not my style or color, meaning I’d never wear it again in a thousand years, but luckily, it hadn’t been expensive and it did look good in the pictures.

But I love weddings. Even when I’m not a bridesmaid, I’ve often been involved in the wedding. I sang at two weddings and did the reading at one. I have given more showers than Mother Nature in April and I watch shows like SAY YES TO THE DRESS and MY FAIR WEDDING all the time.

Why is it then that I’ve never once written a wedding book before now?

It’s a popular enough trope in the romance genre and yet, because I write for Blaze, rarely do my characters end up with a proposal, much less a whole wedding. I’m lucky if I can get those randy so-and-sos (those would be my main characters) to commit to each other in the end. They’re so fiercely independent, it’s hard to wrangle. But I love weddings, so I jumped all over the chance to write a 3-in-1 Encounters for Blaze called 3 SEDUCTIONS AND A WEDDING that will be out in June.

The premise is thus: A wonderful couple, Bianca and Coop, have been together for over ten years. They started dating in college, fell madly in love and got engaged. The trouble is, they’ve never gotten around to getting married. They’re too busy going on adventures around the globe for their jobs (she’s a translator and he’s a software designer) to stand still long enough to say, “I do.”

Well, Coop’s best friend, Leo Sharpe, has had enough. He also has a secret agenda. He’s been pining for Bianca’s bff, Jessie Martinez, for just as long as Bianca and Coop have been engaged. They, too, were once madly in love–until Leo screwed up and Jessie told him to take a hike. Now, he’s planning on using the excuse of throwing a surprise wedding for Bianca and Coop as a reason to work his way back into Jessie’s good graces.

There are two other couples in the book, too. Coop’s older sister, Annie, and Bianca’s younger brother, Drew as well as Coop’s boss, Ajay, and Bianca’s boss, Mallory. Everyone gets into the wedding spirit! In a most Blaze-like way.

In fact, next week (beginning on April 26th), eHarlequin will begin publishing a free online read (short story length) about Bianca and Coop and what is happening between them on the eve of their return home. They have no idea their friends are planning a wedding…and they might not even make it down the aisle if they do. It’s a rough couple of days in the Costa Rican jungle for these two…and did I mention it’s free?

But I also have author’s copies! If you’d like a chance to win an early copy of this book, just answer the following questions:

Do you like weddings?
Were you ever a bridesmaid?
Tell us about either your prettiest bridesmaid dress or your worst…(and if you weren’t ever a bridesmaid, feel free to tell us about the worst dress you ever saw at a wedding…)

This should be fun!

If any of you are visiting Plotmonkeys on Wednesdays, you know that I’m giving away books. Lots and lots of books! What happened was I decided that my office was a wreck and I needed more space. Part of the lack of space is due to an overstock of author’s copies that I wasn’t aware I had. And so in a bid to introduce readers to my work, I’m giving away as many backlist books as I can afford to mail.

So why not spread the love a little bit here, too?

Two people who leave comments will get FOUR books. Three are Blazes…BOYS OF SUMMER, MORE BLAZING BEDTIME STORIES and THE DOMINO EFFECT. The fourth is my Blaze-style contemporary single title, MAKING WAVES.

I have a new Blaze coming out in June. It’s got a totally kick-ass cover. Want to see?

Obviously, it’s wedding themed. So, to win the four-pack, leave a comment about your favorite wedding-themed books or movies. Oh, and you have to live in the continental US to win the books.

(G) (F) (G) (*) (G) (F) (*)
EDITED TO ADD: Before it gets too late, I headed over the Random.org and had the computer choose two winners:

#34 Sue Hussein
#17 Cathy W! (I checked Cathy and I can send the books in a prepackaged Priority mailer, so the cost is not prohibitive!)

I’ll be giving away MORE books on Wednesday at Plotmonkeys, so do stop by for another chance to win!

Cougars. Can someone please explain to me exactly where that term came from?

And what, exactly, is the male equivalent…other than old goats?

No, I haven’t watched the television show. I’m having a hard time believing the concept of any show that relies on the idea that Courtney Cox can’t get a date with ANYONE she wants at any time. I’m just thinking about it because my next Blaze, which will be out next June, features a novella with a much older heroine. She’s 38. He’s 26.

I can’t tell you how many people wanted me to reduce that age difference. I’m not sure if my editor remarked on it, but I think we discussed the possibility of reducing the age difference but in the end, I didn’t. When I create a character, very little about them is random, particularly by the time I get to the end. I wanted her to have had a chance to not only have had a career, but also to give up that career to raise her sons. I wanted her sons old enough so that she could leave them with their grandparents without feeling guilty. I wanted her to be long over her divorce. Hence, 38.

For him, I wanted him to have some success as a businessman. I wanted him to go to college, but not finish in lieu of the true entrepreneurial spirit. I wanted him young when he first met the heroine…but not too young so that it was creepy that he had a crush on her. (He was 16 when he met her so she was still in her twenties at the time…very attractive to a boy his age, I think.)

At one point in the story, the heroine, Annie, does consider the whole cougar thing. But you see, she doesn’t go after Drew, the hero. He goes after her. And then some. And being that she’s not a stupid woman, she’s not going to resist too hard. I mean, he’s 26 and hot and single and pulling out all the stops to seduce her. What’s to fight?

Well, a lot. You’ve got to have conflict, after all. But what do you all think? Is a 12 year age difference okay? (Not that I’m going to change it… but I’m curious what people think.) Why is society still okay with older men younger women, but not so much the other way around? Or is that changing?

The novella is part of a collection called 3 SEDUCTIONS AND A WEDDING. It will be released in June 2010.

Honestly! You could…eHarlequin.com and Harrah’s in New Orleans is doing a great promotion that happens to be featuring the cover of several Blazes, including one written by me and Leslie Kelly, MORE BLAZING BEDTIME STORIES.

You can read more about the book here:

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

I gotta tell you, I’m loving this “look inside the book” feature at eHarlequin. When I want to buy a book, I like to sample it. In fact, since I buy almost all my books on my Kindle now, the way I remind myself to make the purchase is to send a sample to my Kindle. When I’m done reading one book, I browse through my samples and read a chapter (or two, depending on what is offered) and if I’m hooked, I order the book and it is delivered to my machine within seconds. It’s nifty! But even in a store, I read a lot before I buy.

I didn’t used to. I used to be much more of an impulse buyer when it came to books. The economy changed that, of course, but so did my purchase of the Kindle, which I bought in response to the hundreds of books I had around my house that I’d never read. I gave all the books away to readers on my group blog, Plotmonkeys, and I still give away books there every so often, particularly after conferences or judging a contest–anything that puts me in possession of a lot of paper books! And yet I still have bookshelves full of books!

If you click the widget above (which I took, with permission, from eHarlequin), you’ll get to read the first chapter of my upcoming Blaze, which is already starting to show up in stores and is shipping from eHarlequin and Amazon.com. But if you’d like a sneak peek a little further in…here it is!

Enjoy…and I hope it makes you want to buy the book!

The wine was making her woozy.

This was a surprisingly development, since in her world, wine was the drink of choice. Jugs of fermented grape juice flowed at every dinner, ball or party she’d ever attended and she’d never once felt like thin layers of skin were the only thing keeping her insides contained. The antsy feeling made it hard for her to stand beside Jack as they cleared off dishes and placed them in a remarkable invention called a dishwasher. Like a kitchen maid, but without the back talk.

“It’s late. Ready for bed?” Jack asked as he shut the door to the marvelous appliance.

She turned and leaned on her hands, which gripped the edge of the sink.

“Am I ever,” she replied, sounding breathless, which was appropriate, since her lungs suddenly weren’t working as effortlessly as usual.

“I guess that sounded like a come-on,” he commented, one eyebrow tilting upward.

He had gorgeous brown eyes. Dark and rich and expressive. She leaned forward, interested to see how his pupils reacted when she neared.

“Did it?” she asked.

The brown irises darkened to almost black. She might not be experienced with men on a personal level, but she was a quick study.

According to the plan dictated to her this morning before Harper left for her sleepover, Tatiana was supposed to spend the day buttering Jack up about Harper’s audition in New York—or at the very least, securing her position as a French tutor so she’d have more time to convince him that Harper possessed a rare talent that shouldn’t be locked away.

But once Tatiana had fully awakened, she’d decided on a different tack.

First, she’d given him space to prove she wouldn’t be a distraction to his comfortable, ordered life. She’d spent the entire day outdoors, exploring the landscape, napping in a hammock and trying not to replay the erotic, sensual dreams that had haunted her all night—the ones where Jack’s hands were pleasuring her body and not her own.

So far, her plan seemed to be working nicely. Since she’d re-entered the house, he’d given her his undivided attention. He’d wanted to know everything about her. She realized he was testing to see if she was worthy of contact with his sister, but she also hoped that some of his questions were personal.

“Do you often flirt with men you barely know?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I never do.”

His skepticism lifted the other eyebrow. “Never?”

“Never,” she replied, meeting his gaze straight on.

“So why now?”

She wasn’t certain he was aware of it, but he’d invaded her personal space deep enough for her to finally identify the mystery scent mingling with dizzying amber and heady musk.

“Do you paint?”

He retreated just as unconsciously as he’d advanced. She snagged him by his shirt, tugged him forward and buried her nose in the fabric.

“That’s definitely paint. Oils.” She peered upward, but did not release him. “You’re a man with secrets.”

“Everyone has secrets,” he whispered, his breath teasing the wisps of hair on her forehead.

“True, but I don’t think it’s any big secret that I’m attracted to you. And unless I’m reading the signs wrong,” she said, fully aware of how her belly brushed against his erection, “you want me, too.”

He wrapped his hands around hers and disengaged her fingers from his shirt. She had no idea she’d been holding him so tightly until she saw the wrinkled fabric.

“As I’ve told my sister many times, we can’t always get what we want.”

“Why not?”

“Because what we want may not be the best thing for us.”

“That’s a reasonable argument,” she said, recognizing that Jack St. Cloud was a man whose mind demanded just as much exercise as his body. “But what could be wrong about us?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but she held up her hand.

“Nothing beyond tonight,” she said. “I totally get you need to be a role model for your sister and that you have to look out for her best interests above all else, which is why I want to tutor her and help show you how bright and determined she is. But she’s not here now, Jack. It’s just you and me. I’ve never felt an attraction this powerful before.”

“You use that word a lot,” Jack said.

“What word?”

“Never,” he replied.

“Up until I showed up in your bayou, my life was pretty simple. Filled with absolutes.” She moved closer to him with each word, finally splaying her hands over his chest as if to smooth out the crinkles she’d put in his shirt, but in reality, to caress the rock hard muscles underneath. “For instance, I’ve never had a man excite me so much.

And with only one exception, I’ve usually gotten everything I want.”

“What’s the one exception?”

“Can’t say,” she replied, snaking her fingers up to his collar, then to his chin where she swiped her thumbs across his lips. His mouth was suddenly very moist and very appealing…not unlike a cake soaked in fine brandy.

Only she’d had enough alcohol tonight. She wanted only the intoxication that came from Jack. Just the thought of kissing him made her waver.

Luckily, he grabbed her by the elbows and held her steady.

“Why can’t you tell me?” he whispered, lowering his head one inch, then one more. “You’d never believe me,” she replied.

“You could convince me,” he murmured.

“I intend to—”

But her objective was cut off mid-sentence when his lips pressed so tentatively against hers, she wondered if the kiss was real or just a drink-induced dream. She forced her eyes open just as he spread his hands on her waist and tugged her closer. Suddenly, he wasn’t playing games. His tongue slipped into her mouth and did the most delicious things with hers that she couldn’t help moan in sheer appreciation.

His shoulders were broad and steady under her exploring fingers. His neck strained with what she imagined to be restraint, though his lips were giving no quarter. The swirl of his tongue, the nip of his teeth, the skillful way he turned his head so he could reach the most erogenous zones of her mouth caused her to nearly forget to breathe. When he pulled away, she stumbled a little.

“Wow,” she said.

A corner of his lips quirked upward. “Like that, huh?”

“Do you always ask questions where the answer is obvious?”

“I haven’t asked you enough questions,” he replied, the definitive sound of self-reproach in his tone.

She narrowed her eyes, grabbed his shirt again and lifted herself so they were as close to eye-to-eye as she could get with a man who was a good eight inches taller than she was. “I haven’t told you everything about myself yet, but I swear that there is nothing in my past, present or future that could hurt you or your sister. Can you say the same?”

“Definitely,” he replied.

“Then shut up and kiss me.”

Okay, so I’m in my Jazzercise class yesterday and my instructor, who has been out for a week since her trip to visit her 103 year old grandmother, singles me out toward the end of class to “thank me” for contributing to an interesting experience she had in the airport on her way home. Now, as I’m not a stranger to causing people “interesting” experiences, I wonder what I could have possibly done from Florida while she was in Indiana to cause her grief, but she was laughing, so I hoped it was something good.

We’re in between sets and she proceeds to take from her bag some of the produce she’d brought home from her grandmother’s farm. Inside her bag is the largest zucchini I’ve ever seen. I’m serious. This this was HUMONGOUS. It weighted about six pounds. She had two of them.

I still didn’t know what part I played in all this, but as a Blaze author, my mind instantly went to the dirtiest place possible. (For those of you with much cleaner thought processes than mind, think vegetable=sex toy.) I chuckled, but still didn’t know how I could have contributed to anything that happened thousands of miles away from me.

Until she took out the third thing she’d had in her bag–one of my romance novels. One with a very bright red cover. One that would easily attract attention from a long distance and that had the word KISS in the title, just in case anyone wondered what those two amorous looking people on the cover were going to do.

Apparently, she was standing in the line to board her plane, completely unaware that the contents of her bag had shifted so that one of the Black Dagger Brotherhood zucchinis and my novel were both clearly visible to passers-by. She said people were staring at her, but as she’s one of those people who normally attracts attention (she says it’s because she’s bubbly and animated, but in truth, it’s because she’s frickin’ gorgeous) she paid no mind. It wasn’t until she reached her seat that she realized that the pairing of a very large, quite elongated vegetable coupled with a steamy romance novel had caused her to be the subject of some speculation.

Now, I found this so hilarious, I could hardly work on my abs during our next routine. I’m sure half the people in class had no idea why I thought this so funny (most of them are quite prudish, or at least, they pretend to be) but I make no bones about the fact that sex, to me, is infinitely hilarious. I warned my instructor that I would blog about her experience…and that it might, someday very soon, end up in a book. It’s just too good of a story not to share!

So tell me…have you ever had an embarrassing situation with a romance novel? One you might be able to laugh off now, but wasn’t so funny then? Or did you think it was funny then, too.

I’m sleeping in today.

Yesterday, I finished my Blaze. I wrote the final 21K words in one week–an all-time high for me. Since I’ve been tracking word count (about two years now) the most I’d ever managed was about 14K. How I accomplished this feat is a mystery and it will likely never be repeated, but I’m enjoying it now.

You see, I’d been struggling with the last 20K of the book. The book is actually an Encounters, so it’s three 20K novellas. The last one was giving me fits and I couldn’t figure out why. So last Friday, after four weeks of struggling and only writing about 13K words (mostly crap that made absolutely no sense), I threw it all out. Hit delete. Good-bye! And I started over.

In seven days, I wrote the entire novella. Starting in a new place and tweaking the characters just a little bit gave me a flow I couldn’t stop! I’ve never written that much…4K in one day at one point…I’m exhausted. Exilirated, but exhausted. I loved how it turned out, how I tied it to the other two stories, and at the end, I felt like Joan Wilder in Romancing the Stone…all weepy, with no Kleenex.

But now I need sleep.

I’m a night owl. I don’t ordinarily get to bed before midnight, but I get up every morning to exercise and it hurts because my best sleeping is done in the AM. When I was a teenager, I could easily sleep until 1pm or 2pm. No problem. My parents didn’t even bother to try and get me up on weekends. (During the summers, I usually had a job, so I had to get up…but on my day’s off? I could sleep 24/7.)

Now, all I have is Saturday, about twice a month. I make it known to everyone in my life not to call before noon. My daughter makes her own breakfast. There is no mowing of lawns. The dog has to hold it. Seriously…when I’m sleeping in, I’m sleeping in.

So if I don’t show up here until around noon tomorrow, don’t hate me.

What about you? Are you a morning person or a night owl? Do you sleep in ever?