Last week, my husband and I went on a cruise to San Juan, Puerto Rico, Grand Turk, St. Thomas, and the Bahamas. That’s me on the left, swathed heavily against the sun. Unfortunately, that is not my husband on the right. Nevertheless, I had a great time. I had hoped to go kayaking and be able to trade stories with the intrepid Blaze Senior Editor, Brenda Chin, but it was not to be. Instead, I toured del Morro, annoyed iguanas, shopped in St. Thomas, and made friends on the beach (see left). I handled an alligator and went on a pub crawl–and I won the toasting contest with this limerick:

There were two couples from Texas
Who could have been driving a Lexus
But they went on a cruise
And are enjoying the booze
And afterward hope they’re not exes.

My prize was a lovely key chain.

The fact that I was on a pub crawl at all is solely due to the Blaze influence. Blaze heroines are confident and go after what they want. Their attitude has begun to rub off on me. Would a Blaze heroine sit around moping about her cancelled kayaking trip? Absolutely not, and neither did I. And now I have a new key chain and a new friend! (see above)

While I was cavorting in the Caribbean, did I forget the Blaze Blog readers? Why no! Straight from St. Thomas is a lovely, dainty, sterling silver Larimar necklace that a lucky blog commenter will win. Larimar, or blue pectolite, is found only in the Caribbean and is the result of lava merging with copper. The more times you comment, the better your chances of winning. On Sunday night, I’m going to ask the girl next door to draw a number and will post the winner on Monday morning.

I don’t know my new friend’s name since I, er, didn’t bother asking. It didn’t seem important at the time. What shall we call him?

Since this is my first post on the new blog and the theme this month seems to be firsts, I thought I’d share one of my favorite first stories. And we also have a mini-theme going about Brenda, it fits in perfectly!! You see, my husband is crazy about my editor. Seriously.

Now, keep in mind that my husband is notoriously easy. All it takes is a good meal and he’s your best friend. Make his wife happy on top of that meal? There you go – absolute devotion.

Here’s the story: A few years back my husband got to meet Brenda Chin and a few Blaze authors at a dinner we’d attended at a small regional conference. He was so impressed. Even though he was 100% behind my writing dream, he’d never realized how cool it would be. There he was, at dinner with writer’s whose books stacked the bookcases at home. He had a great time. With the people, definitely –but also with the fabulous food All he could talk about afterward was what a great deal it would be if were eventually able to write for Brenda and for Blaze.

About six weeks later, I sold my first book! After we’d finished celebrating, I figured he’d go back to his happy but quiet (quite being the key word here) support of my writing career. But noooo, he’s apparently on Brenda’s payroll now. Right after my sale, I broke my foot. So there I am with my very first broken bone and my very first revision deadline. My husband was a doll, setting up a comfy writing place on the couch, my broken foot elevated, my glass of iced tea kept full. Sweet, right? Except the man wouldn’t let me off the couch or give me my pain pills until I’d finished my pages each day… telling me that he promised Brenda I’d have the revisions in on time and hey, hadn’t that been a great dinner?!

Every once in awhile we get to reminiscing. I’ll say something like, “Remember my first sale? Wasn’t that so freaking amazing?” And he’ll respond with a huge, beatific smile and say “Yeah, I remember the barbeque. By the way, shouldn’t you be writing?”

So this brings me to my question – As you chase your dreams in life, who is your biggest supporter… and are they in it for you? Or just the good food?

I grew up on a farm. 100 acres outside of what was a really small (1-traffic light for years) town in south Georgia. Trust me when I tell you, this was not where I wanted to be. (Cue the theme music to Green Acres.)

One of the animal groups we had on our farm was cows. Not just a couple. We had lots and lots and lots of cows. And a bull. Black Angus. Do you know what a bull likes to do? I know this is the Blaze loop, but no, I’m not talking about that. Bulls like to take down pasture fences. At 1 friggin’ 30 in the a.m. And you know what happens then? You get a call at 2 friggin’ a.m. telling you the cows are out and the whole household has to go out in pajamas and round the damn cows up and herd them back into another pasture.

I’m really not so fond of cows.

My husband used to have this crazy fantasy that we’d buy 20 acres somewhere even further out than the suburban hinterlands we live in now and he’d have himself some cows. Really, he’s clueless. But I quickly clued him in that he’d have to live out that fantasy with his next wife.

Anywho — stick with me here, I have a way of going around my ass to get to my elbow — Brenda Chin bought my first book (a Duets) in 1999 and that was the first year I went to National Conference (that disaster is a whole nother blog a whole nother time.) The conference was in Chicago that year. I was THRILLED to be there — trust me, there’s nothing quite as exciting as attending your first national conference as a newly bought author.

Also in Chicago, along with the RWA conference, was the Cows on Parade.

I absolutely ADORED these. And they were part of what was a very special experience for me.

Fast forward from Chicago conference in July 1999 to early September 2000. It was another exciting day in the fascinating, sophisticated life of Jennifer LaBrecque — prepare to be wowed here…. I drove out to my local feed store in my mini-van to pick up dog food. See? Glamorous and exciting, no? But actually that day it was, well, exciting, though not exactly glamorous. I pulled into the parking lot of the feed’n seed store and there stood a herd of life-sized, fiberglass cows. It wasn’t even a conscious thought, it was more of a knowing. I HAD TO HAVE ONE. I could artistically interpret and have my own Cow on Parade that I’d seen and loved at my very first national conference.

I perused the herd. While the entire ten were all exactly alike, one in particular spoke to me. She was now mine…or would be soon. I had the store owner tag her. I bought my dog food. I made the trek home.

September is my birth month. I called my DH.

“I found what I want for my birthday. You just have to pay for it and trailer it home.”

“Trailer it? What do you want?”

“I found this cow out at the feed store.”

*long, pregnant silence*

“You don’t like cows. And…uh…we live in a suburb.”

“She’s fiberglass…and I already love her…I HAVE to have her.”

He indulged my quirkiness. I got her. He trailered her home and had her delivered as a surprise on my birthday. Here’s My Cow Pattie.

So…it’s only 9 years later and my full extent of artistically interpreting her has been to paint her eyes red with purple squiggles. Hey, maybe one day. But I am still enamoured of her. And she’s a real conversation piece for people who actually come into the house and see her in the back yard. “Uh…why is there a cow in your back yard?” It sort of works with the whole artist/quirky thing. And my husband got his cow fix without 20 acres.

Now, before I wind this up…and, yeah, it’s about time…have you noticed this all goes back to Brenda Chin? Blame it on Brenda. If she hadn’t bought me, I’d never have shown up in Chicago in July 1999 and seen Cows on Parade. Therefore, when I saw the herd later at the feed store it would’ve merely elicited a shudder from childhood memories of herding cows at 2 a.m. rather than one of the finest moments of my life. Yep…it’s all Brenda’s fault.

So, do you have a spot of quirky you’d like to share? Go ahead. I’m convinced everyone has a quirky side.

Once upon a time I read a book published by Harlequin Temptation. That book was called Getting Rid of Bradley by some author who went on to do the coolest of things. I loved that book. I’d been reading a lot of Silhouette Intimate Moments and Silhouette Special Editions, and hadn’t read a Harlequin Temptation for awhile. I’m so glad I did. My first book had seen very limited publication a couple of years before, and since that line had closed (my book was the next to the last), I was basically starting over. Not fun.

Getting Rid of Bradley, however, *was* fun, and I thought, “A-ha! That’s what I want to write! A fun Harlequin Temptation!” So I did. I had a folder of magazine articles and news snippets I’d saved, all story fodder, and I pulled out a piece I’d torn out of (I’m pretty sure) a copy of Glamour. It was about a man and woman who’d made serious eye contact during a long flight, and when disembarking, the man handed the woman his business card with the words, “Call me,” scrawled on the back.

I submitted Call Me to Laura Shin at Harlequin in early 1995, and she moved from Temptation to Superromance while the manuscript was still in house. When I got the very cool call (complete with video) with the offer to buy, it came from Birgit Davis-Todd. Though she initially bought me, she then handed me off to Brenda Chin for revisions. Following revisions, I was unloaded onto Susan Sheppard who was my editor at Temptation and for my first two books for Blaze. (For those of you who are curious about how authors get shifted between editors, I was given to Susan Pezzack (now Swinwood) for my next two Blazes, and when she went to Mira, was given to Jennifer Greene for the three that followed. I went back to Birgit for the next few, then moved to Brenda again with Tex Appeal.) But back to the story of Call Me and Brenda’s revisions.

Oh, did I mention this story is about her?

Part of Call Me is set on a Central Texas ranch. When Brenda called to go over the manuscript, she said she would really like to see more of the place. There were a couple of scenes in the house there (with Gardner’s brother who got his own book) and several set in Harley’s antique shop with her assistant, but a lot of the scenes were the book’s signature phone calls between Harley and Gardner, i.e., plenty of dialogue but not much description to show off Gardner’s home. Thing is, *ranch* isn’t what I heard.

I heard that she would like to see more *raunch.*

I’m thinking that was the TRUE beginning of Blaze.

I was also thinking that it would be fun to give away copies of Call Me and Getting Rid of Bradley since I have originals of both sitting here collecting dust. Anyone want them? Comment by Sunday night, April 5, 2009, 8:00 p.m. CDT to be eligible AND give me your thoughts on Western set contemporaries. Do you like cowboys? Ranches? The Wild Wild West with all the modern conveniences?

And, really. How *do* you feel about raunch? Inquiring minds!

Wow! What a thrill to be the first person to christen this great new site!

As many of you know, the Blaze series is very special to me. I’ve been involved in the line since the beginning, (for those of you doing the quiz, I’m not going to give anything away – sorry), and have personally worked on a good number of the books we’ve published so far. In that time, the editors have discovered some incredible new voices, and have been routinely amazed at just how talented an author base we have. Many Blaze Babes are now considered Harlequin Stars! Personally, I’m always blown away by the ingenuity, the imagination and the determination our authors show. On more than one occasion, I’ve seen one of them pull off the near-impossible, then reach for another challenge. To say I’m proud to be working with such a fantastic group of women (and Tony, of course) would be an understatement.

So, what does this mean for Blaze readers? Simply that you’re reading the very best of series romance! Okay, I’m biased…but I’m also very sincere. In Blaze, you’ll find every kind of book – historical, adventure, suspense, forbidden fantasies, romantic comedies, paranormal, short stories, erotic bedtime stories, westerns and even time travel. The only elements tying the books together are the high level of sensuality and a lot of sizzling sexual tension. And really, what good is a romance novel without those?

So, now it’s your turn. Tell me what you love about Blaze (everything, I’m sure) and what you think we could improve on (don’t get carried away now…).

In the meantime, don’t forget to download Triple Threat by Jennifer LaBrecque, a free Blaze e-book that’s linked to the Uniformly Hot! miniseries. After all, we could all use a man in uniform to heat up those cool spring evenings. And, if you haven’t already, check out HarlequinCelebrates.com to download Leslie Kelly’s Blaze book, Slow Hands, absolutely free! There are other offerings there too…but I can vouch for Leslie’s. You’ll love it!

Finally, I’d like to thank our dedicated Blaze readers. Without you, we couldn’t do what we love best. And I think all the authors and editors will agree – we do love it!