It’s almost starting to feel like spring here in Northern California. Thanks to the endless rain, the hills are green and lush. My daffodils, with their cheerful yellow ruffles, are bright and happy.

Soon I’ll be filling my flower pots with annuals. Pansies and petunias, stock and impatiens. And finally this year, after living in our house for just over a year, we’re ready to plant the gardens. I’m beyond excited. My old gardens were a joy. My lilac and lavender, ground roses and daisy bushes, salvia and jasmine. I miss my koi pond, and know I can’t put one in here because the raccoons are a major problem. So instead, I’ve been mulling over garden designs and missing the joy of bright flowering colors.

But now I’m ready! (I think) I want to put in a dry creek bed meandering down the hillside, with lots of color and brightness along the sides, as well as some fun. Climbing roses along the fence and another lilac tree. Evergreens and Lavender, anything to attract the butterflies and lots of luscious scents. I love flowers!! So much, that I think I’ve been a little intimidated at the vast possibilities, and had trouble narrowing it down to a basic starting design.

Have you ever done that? Wanted something but had so many options and ideas, it was hard to narrow it down?

And what are your favorite flowers- spring or otherwise? Do you garden, and grow them yourself? And am I the only one who feels mean cutting flowers to bring inside when they look so happy there on the bush or in the ground?

edit: AND THE WINNER IS: ROSIE!! Thanks, everyone for all the wonderful Birthday Wishes

It’s my birthday and I’ll party if I want to, party if I want to… Yes. I’m ruining wonderful lyrics, but if you’ve ever heard me sing, you’d know that ruined lyrics are a given even if I did get the words right

But… it is my birthday (and yesterday was Jillian’s. Go Pisces Blaze Babes!). And I’m celebrating, as I always do, with cake. Because I love cake. The biggest discussion in my house each year in the last week of February is cake. What kind do I want? Almost always, I default to my favorite, German Chocolate. But the discussion is still great to have, because, well, it’s cake. I love talking cake LOL.

This year, besides the German Chocolate, we debated Black Forest, tirimisu cheesecake, ice cream cake and strawberry shortcake. Mmmmmm, I love them all. I love making them all, too.

But since I refuse on principal to make my own cake, this had to be something my daughter could make. So… we decided to go with both the German Chocolate and the Black Forest. Doesn’t that sound decadent? How will we do both and not be huge? She’s making cupcakes! YUMMMMMMY! Single serving, not too fattening, easily contained deliciousness. And so much easier to pawn off on visiting guests to take home, so all I have to face the next day is a single leftover cupcake.


So what’s your favorite birthday cake? Do you have a traditional one? Or do you like to change things up? Do you bake, or are do you do the bakery cakes?

Aaaaand… Because we all deserve pressies on a birthday, I’ll draw one random commenters name to win a copy of BREAKING THE RULES (or if you have it, any of my backlist)!!!

Did you hear the news? Harlequin filed a patent application for the Essential Romantic Kiss. And we’re going to be hearing a LOT more about that, later this week when Michelle Renaud chats with us!

So in the meantime, let’s talk kisses. There are story book kisses and hot, sexy kisses. Romantic kisses and ewwww kisses. There are sweet kisses and saucy kisses, and everything in between.

But what I want to hear about is first kisses. The first kiss is one of the sexiest moments in book. It’s the shift, that scary step over the line into intimacy. The first kiss can tell you everything about the relationship. Who’s in charge? Is the dynamic sweet or tender, sexy or intense? Is it equal ground or is one partner a little more aggressive than the other? Who initiates it? Who ends it? And most of all… did they like it?

I love writing first kisses. And in real life,since I adore my husband (this week *g*) I soft of figure I’m through with my own first kissing adventures. But I do have very, very fond memories of our first kiss. And I’ll admit, I have fond memories of other first kisses, too. Like my very very first kiss,when I was in second grade. Awwww, it was the fastest brush of two sets of lips, complete with giggles and blushing (heeeheee his, not mine). But even as sweet as that first kiss was, I’m still going to claim my first with my husband as my all time favorite.

Do you remember your first kiss? Do you have a favorite first kiss- of your own or in a book?

The reasons I love to write are endless (although if you’re following my Top Ten Tour, you can check out a few of those reasons) but one of my absolute favorite reasons to write romance, and especially to read romance, comes down to the heroes. I love heroes. Sexy heroes, alpha heroes, cowboy heroes, cop heroes, beta heroes, military heroes, geeky heroes… oh yeah, there are so many many kinds of heroes, aren’t there?

And what’s a better way to get into the groove of writing these yummy heroes than to find a little heroic inspiration. So here is my top ten list of my absolute favorite heroic inspirations!

Johnny Depp. He’s quirky, he’s sexy, he’s oozing with talent. He can inspire me any day!

Richard Castle. Cute and sweet, with ample charm and just as much talent.

Ryan Reynolds. Those abs. Need I say more?

Sean Connery as James Bond. The original Mr. Suave and Sexy.

Robert Downy Jr. The ultimate comeback kid, he’s the bad boy who turned it around.

Hugh Jackman. That voice. That body. That smile. Big sigh…

Jon Bon Jovi. Ahhh, the hair bands hunkiest hero. His smile is almost as great as his smile.

George Clooney. His smile is as charming and clever as his wit.

Colin Firth. I love his accent, and he’s got such a sweet smile.

Cary Grant. A classic gentleman, that duded rocked a suit.

So that’s my list of my favorite ten heroic inspirations. What are yours? What heroes make you think Romance? And how about hot, sexy romance?

To celebrate the release of BREAKING THE RULES, I’m giving away some Valentine’s treats to one Blaze commenter today! A hand-crafted (by me) heart-shaped tin filled with candy, and a book of the winner’s choice from my backlist!

Be sure and check out my upcoming party!
Valentines Party!

I’m so excited that my tenth release, BREAKING THE RULES, is on shelves now! I loved writing this story, because it focuses on something near and dear to my heart – a Military Hero (my own hero-hubby was in the Army). Even more fun was making this a Valentine’s story, complete with hearts and flowers.

To celebrate, I’m having an invitation-only Valentine’s Day Party! Including:

* A downloadable short story written just for this party as a door prize for everyone who attends
* A sexy Top Ten to wind up my Top Ten tour: Ten Tips for a Hot Valentine’s Night
* One lucky person will win a Valentine’s Basket!

All you have to do to join the fun is go to the Breaking the Rules Valentines Party page on my website, and RSVP!

It’s holiday time! I love this time of year. The delicious treats, the lights and pageantry, the family traditions… and even the family itself

I’m gearing up for the holidays in all my favorite ways. I’ve made cranberry bread, pumpkin bread, almond toffee, fudge and caramels so far this month and plan to do cookies, more candy and more bread in the weeks to come. I’ve baked the gingerbread for the house and tree we’ll decorate this weekend, too.

I’ve finished most of my shopping and the majority of my gifts are wrapped and ready to tuck under the tree, or shipped off to their new home. And I’ve taken three drives around the neighborhoods already to ooh and ahhh and sigh over the light displays.

You’d think I was kicking holiday preparation butt, wouldn’t you? You’d think I was on track for the smooth, easy and relaxing holiday season I promised myself I’d FINALLY have.

ahahaahahaaaaa. Ahem. Nope. Not even close.

I’m scary-behind in my decorating. My house looks as holiday ready as does in July. In other words, it’s the same, boring, everyday non-decorated house. And it’s driving my kids nuts. I’m going a little nuts myself. But am nagging my husband relentlessly to get my decorations down from the rafters! As soon as they are down, we’ll have that wonderful joy of one of my favorite traditions – decorating the tree.

Are you a fan of decorating the tree? My mother does a color coordinated, elegant tree. My father opts out of decorations and places the holiday cards he receives in the boughs of his tree. My tree is more of an ode to things that make us smile. Each of my daughters have their own collection of ornaments they and only they place on the tree. I have ornaments that celebrate special events – my first holiday with my husband, my first year as a published author, the birth of my girls, darling depictions of my puppies and cats, etc. Retelling the stories and remembering the years gone by that these same pretty decorations have graced many a’tree.

My absolute favorite ornament is generations old. It’s a gorgeous, long-legged frosted glass unicorn. Crazy fragile, it always sits at the top of the tree just below the star. It belonged to my great-aunt, who left it to me with the rest of her collection of unicorns because, well, I collect unicorns (I’d include a picture of it, except that, yeah, hubster still hasn’t got those decorations down. Grrrr)

I’m looking forward to the peaceful joy decorating the tree, then turning down the overheads, curling up with my family and watching the tree turn on it’s base, glistening and glowing with holiday cheer. Even more, I can’t wait to curl up next to it and dig into reading all the fab holiday books I’ve been hoarding to enjoy once the scene is set.

How about you? Do you have a favorite ornament? A story that goes with it? And is your tree up and decorated already? I’m counting the yeahs on this and using them as nagging ammunition with my husband ;-)!

Have you ever joined the Perfect Gift Holiday Quest? One year it was the Tickle Me Elmo, another it was that hot new (only available in limited quantities) gaming system. It’s always highly promoted, stingily available and requires hours of store-to-store searching or these days, online cruising to find at a decent price. And worst of all is when the few items available are all bought up, then resold at crazy high prices.

Or there’s the brainstorm gift. You know, the ‘wouldn’t it be perfect to get mom a replacement figurine like the one she loved and we broke to pieces when we were kids’ kind of gift (not that I’d ever do that… this is fiction, mom. I really don’t know how that got busted!) Yet another quest of searching, digging, hoping and craziness.

Or my favorite… the husband gift. Or for anyone that has everything, and seems impossible to please or buy for because if they wanted it, they’d already have it, right?

I’m not a big quester. Mostly because I’m lazy and hate crowds. I want to get the gift, get out of the store and wrap it up all pretty so it can decorate my tree, darn it! I’m not good at searching out bargains or finding those killer deals, if it’s there and I can afford it, yay, I’m done shopping! So usually, I try to get my holiday shopping done well before Thanksgiving, which means missing out on the hot quest-worthy toys.

Except this year. I had a late start, but was still on track to hit my done-by-Thanksgiving deadline. My niece wanted a set of fairy dolls. Easy peasy, they were on Amazon. I put them in my shopping cart, but before I hit that buy button, I needed to check on a gift for my daughter (did she or didn’t she already have her own copy of The Princess Bride). By the next day when I went back to Amazon to place that order, the fairies were no longer available. Anywhere on earth. Well, anywhere on earth for a decent price. ARGH!!! Now I’m an unwilling quester.

Interestingly enough (sorta), the heroine in my upcoming novella, A BABE IN TOYLAND had a similar quest. She’s out to get the perfect gift for her parents. Something she knows they’ll love, and even better, something that will prove that she’s doing well enough for herself to afford this fabulous gift they’ll love. But then she loses her job… and is in danger of losing her chance to get that perfect gift.

Of course, her quest involves misfit sex toys and a hot hunky hero… so I think she’s going to have a lot more fun than I will as I trudge out in the cold searching for fairies.

How about you? Have you ever done the Perfect Gift Holiday Quest? Did you find that perfect gift? Was it worth it?

I’m starting a new book and as I always do in the pre-writing stages, I create character profiles to figure out what makes my people tick, I sketch out a plot diagram and play with sticky notes on a plotting chart, and because I need music to write by, I create a playlist. So it was fresh in my mind today as I sat down to write my blog. Then Jillian wrote about music yesterday with characterization. So I thought I’d carry the theme today into mood. So to get us… you know, in the mood, I wanted to share my favorite mood song

I love that song!

And I love writing to music. I know a lot of people can’t, or don’t. The music, especially if it has words, is a distraction. But I began my writing career with a computer in the family room, next to the TV with a very loud and rambunctious three-year-old. Headphones were my defense The louder the music, the better. And because I’m not overly auditory, singing never distracts me, it just becomes a part of the beat driving my fingers on the keyboard.

And I love the feeling music brings to different events. Songs create emotion, after all, and I’m always a sucker for emotion. Especially romance, right? There are a slew of ‘romance compilations’ out there, in almost every musical genre. Do you have favorite romance tunes?

Another thing I realized as I was creating this new playlist is that the most important events in my life tend to have a song associated with them.

Did you have, or do you know what song you’d use, for your wedding first dance? Mine was Keeper of the Stars (Tracy Byrd). A special song for your children? My oldest daughter’s song is Sweet Child of Mine (Guns N Roses), my youngest’s is Truly, Madly, Deeply (Savage Garden). The song I chose for my daughter’s graduation song was I Hope You Dance (Lee Ann Womack). My dad and I even have a special song – Puff the Magic Dragon.

What about you? What are your special songs?

Brenda kicked off September with a discussion about author’s voice. It was so great to see all of the thoughts and opinions on the subject. And it got me thinking about how important voice is in reading.

There are authors who are auto-buys for me. And for years, certain lines (like Blaze (H) ) were such auto-buys that I had the monthly subscription because I trusted the authors and line enough that I knew I’d enjoy the story without even having to read the back cover blurb.

But voice really is a personal thing. Yes, if I already love the voice, I’m fine ordering that author’s books off of Amazon or Barnes & Noble.com I don’t need to read more than the back cover blurb at the most (and usually just to make sure I haven’t already read the book) to know that I’ll love it. Because, really, I’ve already bought in to the voice of that author and know that they way they share their story is one I’ll enjoy.

But new authors? Those I’d rather not buy from an online source – not even for my Nook. I’ve downloaded plenty of ‘samples’ to check out before buying, and at least half of them end right after the dedication page – so there is no sample of the author’s voice for me to check out.

New authors, and even authors who haven’t made my auto-buy list, need to be checked out more carefully. I want to hold the book, flip through the pages, see how the first paragraph reads. I like to browse the bookstore shelves to see if that author has other books I can check out.

So how about you? Where do you do your book buying? Especially your Blaze book buying? Do you buy by author, by blurb or do you purchase the entire line cuz it’s so great? Or, for instance in the Blaze line, do you auto-buy series? Like the Forbidden Fantasies or Uniformly Hot books?

So summer is winding to an end. All over, I see mention of kids back to school (we don’t head back till the first week of September) Kathleen blogged about it yesterday, as a matter of fact And a lot of friends are taking end of summer get-em-while-you-still-can quick vacation trips. There is always such a bittersweet feeling when summer ends. Relief since the heat and the sometimes intense expectations of vacations and entertaining are coming to an end. Maybe a little regret that a vacation or some grand plans that started the season didn’t pan out. And sometimes a few cringe-worthy oopses, from blistering sunburns to drunken beach parties (I only had one of those this summer (H) )

Personally, I’m planning to celebrate the end of summer with the release of RIDING THE WAVES. I had a great time with this story, since it kicks off with some of my favorite things. Vacation, the beach and a forbidden fantasy. My heroine, Drucilla, finds herself giving in to her ultimate fantasy – a vacation fling with a young, sexy surf hunk. She figures its the best of all worlds. Fabulous sex and an incredible vacation memory. Since my vacation memories include photos of a sunburned me with a six foot mouse, I’ve got to admit I envy her a little

Of course, I come home from vacation with a suitcase of laundry, a camera card filled with photos waiting to be scrapbooked and a houseful of tired family who need a vacation from the vacation. Drucilla? She came home to find out her fling is now her new boss. It’s like the vacation thrill that just keeps giving!

How about you? Are you ready for summer to end or are you hanging on to the last weeks with clenched fists? Do you have fun vacation memories to preserve this year? What was your best summer memory?

Aaaand, I know this isn’t my regular blog day but I switched things up a little. Now the awesome Jayne Hoogenberk from eHarlequin will be hanging out with us on the 28th. So be sure to come back and say hi!!

I’m in Orlando, partying conference style all week – so I’m posting ahead of time and although I’ll try to get internet to check in today, it might be sketchy.

So I thought I’d use the day to play a little game

Answer as many of these questions as you’d like -for each answer, I’ll toss your name in the hat to win goodies from the conference (free books, doodahs from the goodie room, whatever I bring home).

*Name three books on your nightstand right now (if you don’t have books -first off, why not?- and secondly, go ahead and name three things instead)

*If you could ask any character you’ve ever read for advice, who would you ask and on what topic?

*What one character would you trade places with for 24 hours?

*Pick up the book you’re currently reading, turn to page 172 and share the third line on the page.

*What book in your TBR pile are you most looking forward to reading?

Hope you have a GREAT day. And if you’re in the Orlando area, stop by the RWA Literacy Signing this evening from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Walt Disney World® Dolphin Resort, Pacific Exhibit Hall