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.

Well, I just posted that title because I liked it. No one’s crying here, but there is a party. And it’s a birthday party, folks. I take birthdays seriously. I think it’s truly the day to celebrate that person. And today we’re celebrating Blaze’s senior editor’s birthday. That’s right, Brenda Chin is the party girl today cause it’s her party and she’ll cry if she wants to — although we hope she’s smiling instead.

And I suppose we’re only supposed to say nice things about the birthday girl, but I’m going to beg your indulgence to complain for a few minutes. I’ve known Brenda now for thirteen years (I think that’s right, my math’s not so good). You know, most people have the decency to add a few wrinkles, put on a few lines — ya know, that thing call aging. Not Brenda. I’m telling you, it’s just not fair.

Okay, whew, I feel a whole lot better having gotten that out. Thanks for your indulgence and now let’s party on.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRENDA!!

I’ve got heroes on my mind lately. (Fictional ones, mind you. I am happily married.)

Heroes are kind of my thing. Often I identify with the male protagonist more than the female. I like computers and fast cars, so maybe its part of my wiring, but I also like creating a unique character, building an interesting backstory and finally laying out the scenes to make a compelling story. (This instinct of control has to be pure female.)

Writing allows me to explore aspects of many types of guys, gals and relationships I choose, so I’m always interested in how other readers and writers feel about specific character archetypes. The bad boy, the conservative guy, the manly man, the cowboy, the executive or the prince. Alpha? Beta? Beautiful, rugged or average looking. Rich, poor or somewhere in between. With Harlequin’s varied lines of publication, you have a choice of any and all of them.

Since I recently agreed to a new 3-book Blaze contract, and my heroes are all over the board, I thought I’d ask your opinions about heroes you remember and love. (Call it market research.)

My guys range from the second son of an English lord, to an adventurous cowboy, then a hardened cop.

Are there certain heroes that push your buttons? Is it about a type or how a type is presented? Do some authors do it better than others? Why do you think (or not think) that’s so?

By the way, Roarke from the J.D. Robb “In Death” series is my all-time favorite, though there have been dozens of favorites over the years. I’d love to hear about your memorable characters.

Honestly, this isn’t just some New Year’s Resolution — it just happens to fall into that time frame. Jen’s got to lose some pounds. I’m about to say something I thought I’d never say, but I had gotten too thin. So, I put on fifteen pounds — really without meaning to but everyone told me how much better I looked so I thought, “this is cool.” But then I rolled with too much of a good thing and packed on another fifteen. Let me do that math for you — uh, that’s thirty. If it doesn’t have elastic in the waist, it’s not fitting, and even that’s a stretch — no pun intended.

It ain’t pretty. But I’m determined to take those last fifteen really ugly pounds off. Four down, eleven to go. Actually, I may have to round it up to twenty.

But the whole point is not how fat I’ve gotten but rather the process to take it off and not let it happen again. I can’t do a diet. It makes me crazy to count calories or fat grams or points.

The deal is I like good food, I’d just gotten into some very sloppy eating habits. Chips, fries, sausage biscuits, beer, wings, just about any kind of cheese. See, it’s no real mystery where that weight came from. I am, however, not one for munching rice cakes or celery sticks. So, at the height of my unhappiness with myself a good friend sent me Tosca Reno’s new book (published by none other than Harlequin ) YOUR BEST BODY NOW.

Great information, very user friendly and it got me back on track and inspired. I eat about 5 or 6 times a day. I haven’t been hungry and I haven’t had any cravings. Woot!

So, I think sometimes eating healthy comes with a connotation of eating boring or deprivation. Far from it. I thought I’d share this recipe I found on the ‘Net and made for lunch the other day. It was quick, easy and truly delicious. Just a note, I used a frozen salmon filet and subbed water/chicken broth for the white wine. Served it over a bed of mixed greens and it was yummy!

Here’s the link for roasted salmon with carmelized onions and figs:

http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/RECIPES/RECIPES/Fish/salmon_fig.html

I got a food processor for Christmas and plan to try my hand at making hummus in the next few weeks.

I’m fully convinced healthy eating need not be boring or limiting. If you have a healthy, tasty recipe you’d like to share, I’m all for it!

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.

Just call me Princess Nancy. Yep, that is my bona fide, official Las Vegas stripper name. I am, you see, a proud graduate of Stripper 101.
I must admit, on booking my trip to Vegas, I was apprehensive but kind of intrigued by the whole notion of ordinary women learning stripper moves. I might not have done it but I thought my characters would in my upcoming series, so, Naturally, where my characters go, there go I! There were six of us in the class, which is given in a small dance studio in the V theater in Planet Hollywood. While we were in class, a Beatles tribute band played out front adding the surreal experience. So, anyway, here’s what I learned. 1. The sexiest part of a woman is her attitude. It’s true! We were all shapes, ages and sizes, and it didn’t matter. Once a woman finds her inner stripper, she connects with her sexuality. Or maybe that works the other way around. 2. Pole dancing is easier than it looks. I have pretty weak arms and was fairly certain I’d be on the floor faster than a firefighter zipping to a five alarm fire. But, in fact, you use your own body momentum and your legs to help hold you up. Though, I must admit, my arms are still sore and the class was Thursday. 3. The stripper is in control. I think that’s the fun of it for us average women who never intend to take our clothes off in public (and probably wouldn’t get paid if we did). When you do this stuff in the privacy of your home, you set the pace, and the results can be a lot of fun.

So there you are, my holiday gift to you, straight from Princess Nancy, three tips for a thrilling private strip party. 1. Attitude, baby. Attitude. 2. Use your body and trust it. 3. Take control. And have fun with it. Your guy will thank you.

I wish you all a very happy, sexy and fun filled Christmas and holiday season.

Nancy

Ho, ho, ho! I’m talking about Santa Clause.

Santa’s always been one of my favorite parts of Christmas. As a kid growing up we exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning was all about what Santa had left the night before. And while getting presents from my family was fun, it was the anticipation of what SC had brought that was exciting! (G) It was a tradition I continued when I started my own family.

I would say at sixteen that my daughter is long past the age when she believed…er, not really. I think she was about twelve when she asked was Santa really, really real. We were at Home Depot of all places. She said she wanted the truth. I can’t remember exactly what I said but the girl got upset and I did some fast backtrack talking. She obviously wasn’t ready to give up the idea of Santa. The kid was thirteen, in middle school, and arguing with the other kids that there really was a Santa Clause. I guess that was the year that she finally couldn’t deny the hard, cold truth anymore.

However, we still put out the milk and cookies and there are still gifts from Santa under the tree come Christmas morning.

I think I was about eleven when I begged for the truth from my mom and promptly cried when she told me. I checked with a friend the other day and he said he was thirteen when he found out.;-(

One of my good friends has a daughter close to my daughter’s age. They never “did” Santa Clause. She felt it was lying to her child. Personally, I never had any problem perpetuating the myth. Somewhere in my disorganized paperwork there are letters to Santa my child wrote over the years. I have to say, she never asked for outrageous things and it wasn’t ever a long list. However, the year she asked for a baby brother or sister — “request denied!”

In my December Alaskan Heat book, NORTHERN ESCAPE, the entire town celebrates the holiday season with a Chrismoose festival. Chrismoose began years ago when a hermit named Chris rode his pet moose into the town of Good Riddance to pass out toys to all the kids in case Santa couldn’t find the little bush community. See, those kids in Good Riddance, Alaska were double-whammied with both Santa Clause and Chrismoose.

What about you? How old were you when you got the cold dash of reality? Do you have any fun Santa traditions you’d like to share or any alternatives similiar to Chrismoose?:-)

My family and I just got back from a fantastic vacation to Disney World. We went so that we could see how Disney does Christmas and to help us all get into the spirit of the season. We weren’t disappointed! In fact, I really want to figure out how to make going back every year at this time part of our family Christmas traditions. Special parades, lots of fireworks, snow on Main Street… You can’t see these things and not smile. However, there was one event that really got me in the spirit of the season – the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

The Osborne Family (not Ozzy) used to put these lights up every year on their home. The display started small but grew every year. For whatever reason, they decided in the mid 90s that they couldn’t do it anymore but wanted to see the tradition continue. They donated all of their decorations to Disney with the understanding that they’d be used in one display every year. And let me tell you, it’s impressive.

Trust me , the pictures don’t do it justice. The night we saw them was unseasonably cold for Disney. In my mind, it was perfect. Not only did it feel like Christmas (in Florida) but it looked like it too. Periodically the lights ‘dance’ to holiday music. I stood in the middle of the street twisting around in awe with this goofy smile on my face. The fact that my kids were fussing because they were cold and just wanted to go back to the room didn’t detract from my joy in the moment.

I’m a sucker for Christmas light displays, and let me tell you, this one is the best I’ve ever seen.

Do you like Christmas lights? Do you have any traditions? They must go up the day after Thanksgiving? Do you drive around the city on Christmas Eve looking at the displays before Santa comes?

Kira

P.S. I’ve got a new release coming out on Jan 1st. If you like a little danger with your romance, you’ll love Caught Off Guard!

During the busy holiday season we all have many places to go, many appetizers to make, many pounds to gain. :-O (Just keeping it real, lol) Anyway, every year when these events start rolling my way, I’m always asked the same question–”Are you bringing the cheese ball?” And almost always, I am, because I can pull it together in about five minutes and it’s really, really good. I look like a culinary genuis and have not spent hours in the kitchen. Win, win. Here’s the recipe.

2 blocks cream cheese
1 small can of smoked ham
1 packet of dry Ranch dressing
1 cup of chopped pecans

Mix first three ingredients well. (At least a minute with the hand mixer.) Form into a ball and roll in chopped pecans. Serve with crackers. Weep with satisfaction.

What about you? Any easy go-to recipes you’re always asked to make around this time of year? I’ll pull five books from my shelf for five lucky commenters!

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.