So I figured I’d ask you…

Which cover do you like best?  And why? Share in the comments section for a chance to win whichever you claim as your favorite.  (Or if you already have that one, you can pick from my others or my backlist.) 

Another reason I’m attached to this particular story is the cat that’s featured in it.  Dottie is one of our Blaze Authors Pet Project kitties from the Furry Friends shelter.  I was so excited to hear she’d found a family and a loving home.

I loved bringing Dottie into the story. She became an integral character, playing her part in bringing her mistress and the hunky FBI agent together.  Here’s a snippet to show her matchmaking skills:

Tossing his coat on the plump chair in the corner, he stripped off his shirt and draped it over his coat.  Needing to do something to shake off the intense sexual tension pounding through his body, he dropped to the floor to pushups in quick succession.

As he hit ninety, he felt a cool draft.  The hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention.  Turning his head, he saw two sets of bare feet standing in the doorway connecting their rooms.  One set had vivid red toenails, with tiny flowers painted in the corners.  The other set was covered in black and white fur.

His gaze traveled upward, taking in the smooth golden skinned legs.  They were about a mile long, cut off mid-thigh by a teeny tiny leopard print satin nighty.  He’d have to wrench his neck to get the rest of the view, so he jackknifed into standing position.

Avoiding looking at her scantily clad body while he was so scantily clad himself, Simon dove for his shirt.  Before he could grab it, though, Maya’s cat padded over and pounced on it.

“No need to stop on my account,” Maya said, her words low and husky.  “I was enjoying the show.”

Simon grimaced, rubbing his hand over the cat’s soft head as a pre-apology before trying to tug his shirt out from under it.  The kitty rubbed her black and white head against his fingers, letting out a soft purring sort of meow.  Then, before he could move her and get his shirt, the cat swatted at him.

“Hey!”

“Sorry.  Dottie’s gets a little snippy sometimes.”

“She almost snipped the tip of my fingers off.”

“What?  A big strong man like you, with all those lovely, lovely muscles…” her words trailed off as she let her eyes trace over his bare chest, shoulders and biceps.  Appreciation glowed in her golden eyes as she wet her bottom lip and sighed.

“Yeah.  A big strong guy like you, I’d say you can hold your own with one tiny little kitty-cat.”

Simon eyed the cat, who was staring at him through pale green eyes that just a second ago had been slitted with pleasure.  Was the feline’s moodiness indicative of her mistress’s personality?

“I’d kinda like my shirt,” he muttered, feeling like an idiot.  Not thinking, he turned to glare at the cat’s owner as if she’d trained her pet to hold clothing captive.

His brain immediately short circuited.

She was gorgeous.

Black curls waved over her shoulders, teasing the tips of her satin, leopard covered breasts.  Her nightgown looked like a slip, with narrow straps holding up the shimmery fabric and a swath of lace highlighting the curves of her breasts.  As a nod to modesty, she wore a robe of sorts.  The same fabric as the nightgown, it had wide lace lapels and draped low, hanging from the edge of her shoulders to the floor as if gravity were trying to torture him.

“I think Dottie would prefer to keep it for herself,” Maya said, laughing a little.  She sent the cat a look of approval.

And that clever kitty was only getting started!!

I know that many of you, like me, have a special place in your heart for pets. In SEX, LIES AND MIDNIGHT,  Maya gives a lot of weight to her cat’s opinion of Simon.  I tend to pay attention, too, to how my pets react to new people.  They often sense things faster than I do. Do you think our pets, or animals in general, are good judges of people?  Are they better than we are sometimes? 

Last month I kicked off my Undercover Operatives series with the release of SEX, LIES AND MISTLETOE, and I shared a peek into the gossipy fun that goes on in the small town of Black Oak as the town’s two Information Matriarchs (much classier than gossips, right?) dished the dirt on the return of bad boy, Caleb Black.   And boy, oh boy is the dirt dishing now that he’s not only back, but engaged.  Just when the ladies are ready to settle back and start rehashing the shocking events of the last month, Black Oak gets another shocking visit.  Not only is Maya Black back, but she’s brought her own sexy entertainment along as well.

Wanna hear what Hazel and Hortense had to say about this newest twist?  It went something like this…

Shifting irritably in her favorite chair, Hazel tapped her spoon impatiently on the side of her teacup.  She wasn’t sure what bothered her more.  That her guest for morning tea was later, or that things had been so exciting lately, morning tea was likely the only bright bit of excitement she had to look forward to for the next little while. 

Before she could take a sip, though, the front door opened and shut with a snap.  Less than a minute later, her neighbor and dear friend–bless her, she’d gained at least five pounds over Christmas–was seated next to her pouring tea.

“I know, I know,” Hortense said waving one pudgy hand before Hazel could issue a complaint.  “I’m late.  But I had to give my grandbabies extra kisses goodbye, didn’t I.  I love the holidays, but it’s so hard to see everyone head home when they are over.” 

Extra time with the grandbabies was a get out of a late-lecture free card.  Her own eyes still burning from the cry she’d had after saying goodbye to her own, Hazel sniffed back her complaints and offered a plate of scones.  “Have a treat, it’ll help distract you from thinking about the children all gone again.” 

“It’s so hard after they leave the nest.  Oh, we have a full life and plenty to do.  But it’s just not the same as having all the loved ones close.”  For a second Hortense looked like she was going to sob on her lemon scone.  Then she took a deep breath and blinked away the melancholy.  The look left in her eyes, pure glee, made Hazel sit a little straighter in her chair.

“I suppose Tobias Black is happy these days, having one of his children moving back to Black Oak,” she said before nibbling the iced corner of her scone. 

“I suppose he is.  Especially with Caleb engaged and ready to settle down here,” Hazel agreed slowly, trying to figure out what Hortense was up to.  That gleam only meant one thing, the other woman thought she had a piece of gossip that would trump Hazel’s gold star for the best gossip of the year.  The gold star she’d scored when she’d brought news of Caleb’s return. 

“I wonder if this means the other two will soon follow.  Wouldn’t Tobias be thrilled to have both Maya and Gabriel back, too?” 

Hazel narrowed her eyes.  What did Hortense think she knew?  Since Caleb’s return, Hazel had taken to checking on the Black doings at least once a day.  If there was news, she’d have it.  Wouldn’t she?

“I’d imagine Tobias would be overjoyed to see any of his children,” she agreed slowly.  “But Gabriel’s exit was even angrier than Caleb’s.  And Maya, well, I don’t know what came between her and Tobias, but it must have been something major.  She was always so devoted to her father, then poof,” Hazel snapped her fingers in emphasis, “She was gone.”

“I’ll bet it was that woman Tobias was dating,” Hortense said with a sage nod.  “None of those three liked her much, did they?”

“Did anyone?”  Hazel thought back to the hard-edged floozy who’d tried to rope Tobias Black.  Luckily he’d kicked her to the curb a few months after Maya’s departure.  “You’d have thought the man had learned his lesson about dating inappropriate women then, wouldn’t you?”

“Obviously not, if he’s dating someone as tacky and obvious as Lilah Gomez.  And her the same age as his own daughter.”

“Poor Maya,” Hazel said with a tutting shake of her head.  “Can you imagine her reaction if she knew that her father was dating her arch-enemy?”

“Actually, I don’t have to imagine.” Hortense set her plate aside and leaned forward.  “I hear we’ll get to see it firsthand.” 

Hazel bobbled her teacup, shock making her immune to both the splash of hot liquid and the stain on her new pink slacks.

“No…?”

“Yes.  I heard it from Ham Bollinger when I was out at Black Oak Manor this morning to say goodbye to my cousin.  Maya booked not one, but two rooms at the Inn.”  Hortense gave a gleeful nod, practically bouncing in her chair.  “Maya Black’s coming back and she’s not coming alone.” 

And she’d been worried after all the recent excitement, things might seem boring?  Not likely in Black Oak.  Hazel leaned back, her grin so wide it made her earrings wiggle.  “Well, this should liven up the New Year, shouldn’t it?”   

Wellll… There you go.  Maya’s home and she’s on a mission.  Not only that, but she’s not alone! The ladies are right.  The New Year is going to be pretty exciting in Black Oak.  And you can, of course, read all about it in SEX, LIES AND MIDNIGHT if you’d like :-D   To make that easier, I’m giving away a signed copy today to one commenter – just let me know what wild plans you have for New Years Eve, and what you want to see happen in the New Year to be entered in the drawing. 

And don’t forget to check out my Holiday Survival Tour as I celebrate the Undercover Operatives series with contests, giveaways and lots of good times. 

In my story, the cats Paulie and Bonnie belong to the heroine, Pandora. They live in her family’s new age store, where they not only get to interact with all of the customers, bask in the positive energy and keep things interesting. Especially when they help solve the case that brought prodigal bad boy, Caleb Black, home. I loved bringing these two cats into the story, not only for the fun pets add to anything, but because I think the way characters interact with animals shows so much about them, adding layers that interacting with people just doesn’t show. I hope readers enjoyed getting to know them, too.

Paulie and Bonnie were both rescues at the Furry Friends Animal Shelter in Barrie, Ontario. Bonnie is a darling black and white 5 year old female with the sweetest habit of tilting her head to one side. She’s sweet and friendly, always willing to share attention. And if people aren’t around to play with, she’s all about taking care of the other cats. Which worked well for Paulie, a super-friendly long-haired black 2 year old male who loves nothing more than lying in doorways, over shoulders, on laps. All while snuggling sweetly.

Obviously, I love pets. Especially this time of year. And not only because I can dress them up in silly elf hats, either! *g* although that is fun. We have 2 dogs (3 if you count my grandpuppy who I babysit 4 days a week), 2 cats and a bird. Like the rest of the family members, our pets all have their own Christmas stockings. The three dogs are getting new tags, a couple of stuffed squeaky toys and homemade treats. This time of year also reminds me that there are a lot of sweet animals out there that don’t have homes. Some, like Paulie, one of the feline stars of SEX, LIES AND MISTLETOE, will get adopted and spend a happy holiday in their new home. Others, like sweet Bonnie, are still at the shelters without a family to love them. So we try to do a little extra for the local shelter by collecting towels and blankets, donating food and toys.

This is last year’s holiday picture of my puppies. Tinkerbell is my baby, a 5yo Rottweiler. Sierra is our rescue, a 7yo Shepherd mix. And here’s my grandpuppy, Betsey, who is 5 mos now.

How about you? Do you enjoy seeing pets in stories? And do you have pets at home? Are they a part of your holiday celebration? And if you’re a dog lover, do you have any wonderful homemade doggie treat recipes to share?

My latest release, SEX, LIES AND MISTLETOE is on the shelves now!! And to celebrate, I thought I’d share a little snippet of what’s happening in Black Oak, where this story takes place…

The small town of Black Oak is nestled in the foothills of California’s Santa Cruz Mountains and filled with colorful characters.  Neighbors for over thirty years, Hazel and Hortense enjoyed a fierce rivalry.  Competing over everything from blue ribbon jam to who’s kids married first to who had the lowest cholesterol count, the ladies loved nothing more than beating the other out.  But their hands down favorite competition, and the one that made them a formidable force in the town of Black Oak, was gossip.  Every morning, at promptly 8:15, they met for tea and their daily attempt outdo each other for the perfect scone, coffeecake or cookie… and the juiciest gossip. 

Hazel settled comfortably into her favorite chair, smug pleasure adding extra sweetness to her morning tea.  She waited for Hortense to take a bite of the coffeecake, sure it was her best recipe yet.  The look of dismay in her dear friend’s eyes told her she was right.  She chalked up another win in her mental scorebook, then leaned forward to make it two for two, best coffeecake and best gossip.

“I hear you got stopped on the highway again,” she said, sipping her tea and giving her friend an arch look.  “What does that make now, Hortense?  Three speeding tickets this year?”

“Well I was in a hurry, wasn’t I?  I’d gone Christmas shopping in Santa Cruz and had to get back to watch the grandkids.  But I didn’t get a ticket,” Hortense denied with a sniff.  “That lovely Sheriff Kendall just wanted to give me a talking to.  He dated my Clarice back in high school, if you recall, and has a soft spot for me.  He even mentioned how much he loved my peanut butter and jelly cookies.”

In other words, she’d bribed him with the promise of sweets to get out of the ticket.  Some women had no pride, Hazel thought, conveniently ignoring the bribe of fried chicken she’d used to get out of her last parking ticket.

“Could be he let you go because of those happy memories,” not likely since Hortense had beat him around the head with her broom when she’d found him swapping spit with her daughter on the back porch, “Or could be he was in a hurry.”

She drew that last word out with a nice lilt at the end.  Just enough to make it clear she knew more than she was saying, but not enough to sound like a nosy old woman.  Gossiping was an art, and Hazel considered herself a master.  Hortense, though, was no slouch.  She didn’t jump at the bait like most would.  Instead she sipped, she nibbled and she calculated.  Probably trying to figure out what local news might involve that cute young sheriff.

Finally…

“I don’t think he was in much of a hurry, since he had plenty of time to reminisce,” she dismissed.

“Maybe he was using his chat with you as an excuse to watch the road into town.”

“Why would he do that?”

Gotcha.  Hazel hid her smile in her teacup.

“Because I hear trouble is back in town. “

“We haven’t had trouble in Black Oak in years.  Tobias Black won’t stand for it.  My youngest son handles the books for Tobias’ motorcycle shop now, you know.  He’s always saying how on the ball and aware Tobias is of everything.” Hortense claimed, as usual tossing out her tenuous connection with the town’s powerhouse.

“Not everything.  There’s been a few things that slipped through Tobias’ fingers over the years,” Hazel pointed out, thrilled at the opening Hortense unwittingly offered.

“Nothing’s ever gotten past Tobias.”

“Not even his children?”

“His children leaving was the only thing I’ve ever seen that slowed Tobias down.”  Hortense nibbled at her cake, too distracted by the topic to pretend it wasn’t delicious.  “First Caleb stormed off, then Gabriel just a week or so afterward.  It was like someone kicked his legs out from under him. When Maya left a year or so after that, you’d have thought she took his heart, too.  I haven’t seen him so upset since his wife died years back.”

Testing to see if Hortense was sufficiently hooked, Hazel offered another slice of coffeecake.  Still focused on the many woes of Tobias Black, the other woman took it with a murmured thanks.

“Bet it’d make his holiday if his kids came home.  One or all, he’d be overjoyed.”

Hortense snorted so hard, cake crumbs sprayed across her lap.

“Not likely.  Don’t you remember Caleb yelling from the town square that he’d never return?  Who knows what he did after he roared out of here on that big, scary motorcycle of his.  He was trouble, I’m telling you.  Never respected authority, always had to do things his way.”  Hortense took a sip of the before offering a saccharine smile.  “Didn’t one of your daughters chase after him for awhile?”

Leave it to Hortense to remember the one detail she’d been hoping to gloss over.

“That’s neither here nor there. What’s important today is the fact that Caleb Black has returned.”

“He hasn’t,” Hortense breathed, setting her tea on the table so she wouldn’t drop it.  “He’s come back to reconcile with his father?”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.  I heard from Carl Minsky, whose wife was shopping in that new agey store of Cassiopeia Easton’s that Caleb walked in there yesterday afternoon, bold as brass.”  She waited for the satisfying gasp, then continued.  “He was flirting up a storm with Cassiopeia’s daughter. The girl who’s trying to sex up everyone’s food?  Next thing you know, he turned around and came face to face with Tobias.”

“Then what happened?” Hortense asked breathlessly.

“Then… nothing.  At least, nothing that anyone but the Easton girl knows.  She scooted them into the back room for some privacy.”  Hazel said that like it was a dirty word.  And to her, it was.  “Can you believe the nerve of that girl?”

“You think they came to blows?  Did anyone hear yelling? Oh, this has to be juicy. ”

And that, right there, gave Hazel the big gold star win for the best gossip of the year.  Satisfied, she picked up her cake plate, prepared to revel in her success.

“I guarantee you,” Hazel stated, leaning forward to gesture with her forkful of coffeecake in emphasis, “With Caleb Black back in town, this is going to be one interesting Christmas season.”

Oh yeah… I think things are going to be very, very interesting in Black Oak this December.  What do you think? And if you’ve read the book already, do you think Caleb’s homecoming added a bit of excitement to the Christmas season?  Share your thoughts and I’ll draw one random name from the comments to win a copy of SEX, LIES AND MIDNIGHT to get a jump start on some New Year’s Eve fun.

And don’t forget to check out my Holiday Survival Tour as I celebrate the Undercover Operatives series with contests, giveaways and lots of good times. 

I swear, in my mind it’s still August.  I have plenty of time before my trilogy launches, the holidays hold no pressure at all and there is still plenty of time for me to achieve all of my 2011 goals.  Then I blink and realize that nope, it’s almost Thanksgiving and I’d better start planning the menu.  That the first book in my Undercover Operatives trilogy, SEX, LIES and MISTLETOE is out in just a week which means it’s time to kick into promo gear. And I have- holy cow -NO Christmas gifts bought yet. And those goals? ahahahahaha ahem ha.  Um, not even close.

Needless to say, I’ve hit panic mode. To stay as sane as possible, I fell back on my tried and true sanity saver… I made a list.

For Thanksgiving, I decided to go with the standards.  No new recipes this year, and nothing super fancy.  And since we always have a sick amount of desserts leftover because the family gorges on dinner, I’m going super simple there.  Just pumpkin pie.  Thats it.  No pecan, no trifle, no apple turnovers. Nope.  No matter how good those are, I don’t have time. And I don’t need the calories I’d end up with since I’m the one stuck eating it all after the holiday

For Christmas, and to try and meet my yearly goal of having all my shopping finished by Thanksgiving, I put out the word that I wanted wish lists by the end of the weekend.  I decided to go simple again here, and am making a calender of baby pictures of all the grandkids as a gift for the grandparents.  One project, 6 gifts.  Not bad.

Promo for SEX, LIES and MISTLETOE kicks into high gear toward the end of the month, and I thought it’d be fun to introduce you to the town of Black Oak through the eyes of the town gossips on the 28th.  I’m so excited about these stories and loved writing about the Black family.  I hope you love reading them!  I have high hopes after reading the first review from Romance Junkies.

Yep, it’s crazy busy time and I’m woefully unprepared.  I really do wish it was still August.

How about you? Are you ready for the holiday season?  How do you deal with the planning?  Do you follow a traditional route, or do you do something new each year?  And have you started shopping yet?  Share your holiday planning tips with me today (I’ll take all the help I can get) and I’ll draw one name to send a copy of SEX, LIES and MISTLETOE. 

Heck, I still love playing dress up.  Cute clothes are one of my favorite things -especially when they show off cute shoes!  But as an author, my standard day-to-day outfit tends to be yoga pants and a tank top in the summer, sweatshirt in the winter. Not much dress up fun there, let me tell ya!  I think this is one of the reasons I love the yearly writers’ conference – it’s like a dress up extravaganza.

And so is Halloween!  Not quite the same, of course, although there is a similar element of make believe involved in both :-D  And while I love Halloween for so so many reasons, one of the biggies is that it’s a free-for-all dress up day!  Even for adults (c’mon, don’t tell me you don’t dress up for Halloween-ever?!)  I’ve been a gypsy and a witch, a mummy and a rag doll, a belly dancer and a ghoul, to name just a few years’ fun.  I think my dream costume right now would be to dress up as Glinda, the good witch.  She’s got some serious awesomeness going on with her skirt, and I love her glittery crown.  That particular costume isn’t in the cards for this year, but it is definitely my some-day dream dress up outfit.  Maybe if I’m ever up for a RITA…

How about you? Are you a fan of playing dress up? What would your dream costume be? Are you dressing up this year, and as what?

And a bit of advice? I’m going to see my new fave band play Saturday night and the club’s theme is Hobo Prom.  Um, what does a girl hobo wear in the first place, let alone to a prom??

So what’s the point of this post, then, since Thanksgiving is still over a month away? Well, I could say because it was Canada’s Thanksgiving (Happy Thanksgiving!) this week. But also, it’s because I love to make gifts.  I drive my family crazy making them things they’d never buy (and really don’t want) for themselves.  So by this time of year, I need to decide WHAT I’ll be inflicting… I mean, gifting them with this year so I can get supplies and have time to get everything made.

One year, I bought 4×4 wooden posts and had my husband cut them into 4″ blocks.  I painted the blocks, then added photos on 5 sides, some blingy embellishments and called them gifts.

Another year I made picture frames, added my kids photos and wrapped those up pretty.  I’ve done mini scrapbooks, themed photo albums, knitted scarves and hats (I can’t get the hang of socks yet), I’ve made candy and cookies and bread and… well, lots of stuff.

Now I’m stuck for ideas.  I have no inspiration on what to do this year.  So… Do you have any ideas I can borrow? What kind of gifts have you made in the past?  What kind of handmade gifts have you gotten that you really liked? 

So I’m here to give a big whohoo to welcome Autumn. I love fall. Then changing colors and cooling weather. Chilly evenings perfect for romantic fireplace chats. And it’s soup time. It’s family trips to the orchards and Halloween and Thanksgiving (getting hungry yet?) and for me, it’s crafting time. Despite school being out in the summer, I never seem to find the free time to scrapbook. But with autumn comes the reminder that the holidays are looming and I’d better get to work making gifts and projects. This year, my first project will be an advent calendar for each of my girls with a 12×12 scrapbook layout as the centerpiece. And even though it’s only officially been Autumn for about a week, I’m already feeling the urge to make soup, too. Big pots of yummy vegetable soup, potato leek soup or corn chowder, all with homemade bread. (yeah, I’m seeing a definite food theme with fall).

Another thing I welcome with the return of Autumn is the return of my writing mojo. Summer is a hard writing time. Things like longer days (I write in the dark), the family distractions and things like vacations and conferences are all tough on my writing discipline. But Fall? That’s all about work. Harvest, putting in the time and focusing on results.

The one major downside? It’s rare that we see shirtless hunks in autumn. And that’s a shame. A darned shame. So to make up for that loss, I thought I’d share a shirtless hunk to inspire you as you wave goodbye to summer.

So… Are you a fan of autumn? What’s your favorite thing about this season?

What If… we could pick this part of one hero and that part of that hero, and mix them all together into a perfect hero.  

For instance, I’d take Robert Pattinson’s intense gaze, mix it with Johnny Depp’s cheekbones and Orlando Bloom’s sweet smile.  Hugh Jackman’s body, Alan Rickman’s voice and just ’cause I’m easily amused, lets throw in Tim Burton’s twisted sense of humor.

How about you? What perfect parts would you take from here and there to make your perfect hero?