One of the things I like to do when I’m procrastinating writing, cleaning, or paying bills, is to search for things I don’t need on eBay. I have huge lists of things I “watch” but will never bid on, just because I’m curious how high the bidders will go on items like Ursula Leyk lighthouses from Germany (very popular with military wives back in the 90’s), or Villeroy & Boch Christmas ornaments. While browsing the lists, I was surprised by how many vintage toys are available for purchase, and began to search for toys that I had as a child.

My absolute favorite was the Sunshine Family dolls, a sweet hippy family made by Mattel, consisting of Mom, Dad, and Baby Sweets. My older sister had Barbies, but I only wanted to play with the Sunshine Family, and I brought them with me everywhere. I think they cost about $10 back in 1974, and I saw them on sale for about $70 on eBay.

The least favorite toy I had was a ventriloquist Bozo the Clown doll that scared the bejeezus out of me. I would grab it by a foot and, holding it at arms’ length, would fling the thing deep into my closet. My mom would pull it out and put it back on my chair, and I never had the courage to tell her how much I hated that doll. My uncle came to visit one day with his golden retriever, Molly, who had an obsession with burying things. My sisters and I gave the Bozo doll to her and watched in glee as she buried it behind our garage. After that, we were too afraid to go back there for fear that it would crawl out of the ground and come after us.

These days, my favorite toys include things like my iPod, my laptop, and my Wii. What about you? What were some of your favorite toys as a child, and what about now? Leave a post here, and I’ll select somebody at random to receive a $25 Amazon gift card toward the purchase of a new toy!;-)

Gerard Butler is my guilty pleasure.

There. I said it.

I saw my first Gerard Butler movie about seven years ago, when I was home sick with the flu. I ordered Reign of Fire through On-Demand, and couldn’t drag my eyes from the hunky Scotsman with the sexy accent. I became an instant Gerry fan. I was actually naïve enough to believe that I was the first to discover him. Little did I know, I came waaaay late to the party. I soon learned that there were more Gerard Butler fan sites than you could shake a Scotch broom at. I became a Tart. And then a GAL. I even registered to attend a Gerard Butler Fan Convention, where I looked forward to dressing up for the event’s costume ball (I was unable to attend due to a conflicting business trip). There was no question about it; I was officially obsessed. Gerard Butler became the inspiration for every hero I created.

So when I was invited to participate in an amazingly fun Blaze mini-series, DRESSED TO THRILL, (where the best thing about dressing up is taking it off) how could I resist? I already had a story idea formulating in my head. You see, the one thing that kept bugging me about Gerard Butler was why he’d never been romantically linked to any one woman, despite his obvious appeal. So that got me thinking…

What if my hero was a Hollywood juggernaut? What if, before he’d become an A-list actor, he’d met the love of his life but the relationship had gone terribly wrong? What if he was secretly still in love with this woman? And what if she showed up—in costume—at one of his fan conventions, harboring a secret about the hero? And so HOLD ON TO THE NIGHTS was created. This is the third book in the series, and makes its debut in November.

Don’t miss the first book, FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME, by Tawny Weber, which is out on bookstore shelves right now, or the second book, CAUGHT IN THE ACT, by Samantha Hunter, which comes out in October. The series wraps up in December with SANTA, BABY, by Lisa Renee Jones. In addition to these four fabulous stories, there is also a behind-the-scenes romance that runs through all four books, and ties the four stories together. Like I said, it’s an amazingly fun mini-series, and I absolutely loved working with these three talented ladies.

Yesterday, the four of us began writing a “Dressed to Thrill” mini-romance on Twitter, round-robin style! There will be one new story each month, Tawny in Sept, Sam in Oct, Karen in Nov, and Lisa in Dec. These are free reads and it should be a lot of fun, since with round robins, who knows where the stories can go?

Each Twitter story will be another spin-off story from our books, starting with Tawny’s “Feels So Good” that began on Sept 7. Each day, we will post 5 new tweet installments of the story, and to follow, all you have to do is have a Twitter account and follow @BlazeDTT. Discussion cannot be held on that account, it will be for story tweets only, but you can discuss the account at #BlazeDTT, or on the Facebook group for @BlazeDTT.

So please come join us…I promise you it will be a great time. And if you’re brave enough to share your own guilty pleasure here, I’ll send a copy of HOLD ON TO THE NIGHTS, along with some other goodies (including a book-light and chocolate) to one random commenter. Thanks for stopping by!

July is one of my favorite months, and not just because it heralds a return to the sandy beaches and cool waters of the Atlantic. I adore the fourth of July and all the celebrations it brings, from flag-bedecked parades to backyard barbeques. We live on the banks of a large river, and each year the town does an impressive fireworks display over the stretch of water directly behind our house. We host a big cookout for family and friends, and everyone has front row seats for the fireworks. The river is filled with boats that drop anchor for the evening to watch the event, and the entire street becomes one giant tailgating party as people park their cars along the river and break out lawn chairs and coolers. The entire day is a ton of fun and, for me, marks the true beginning of summer.

This month, I happen to be working on a story for a Blaze anthology titled BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, featuring a military hero…one of my favorite subjects! But it also got me thinking about the true meaning of the holiday, and about the amazing men and women in uniform, stationed all over the world.

There’s something about a military hero that sucks me in. I love their unfailing courtesy, and how commanding they look in full dress uniform (and, okay, even better out of it!). Yet beneath that civilized veneer are men who make hard decisions, sometimes under incredible stress. These are men who lay it all on the line. I love the bond they share with their fellow soldiers and the loyalty they have for their units. I appreciate the sacrifices they make on a daily basis, whether it’s being stationed far from those they love, or risking their lives for what they believe in.

In my story, my heroine meets her military hero through an Adopt-a-Soldier program at the school where she teaches, and sends him care packages that are guaranteed to put a smile on his face. If you’re interested in supporting a deployed soldier, there are lots of non-profit, volunteer organizations out there looking for assistance. One of my favorites is Operation Gratitude, at www.opgratitude.org.

What about you? Does a guy in uniform (or out) get you hot and bothered? If you were going to put together a custom care package for your special soldier, what would it include? Let me know, and I’ll pick a random winner to receive a copy of ABLE-BODIED, part of the Uniformly Hot series!