In one interview I gave to my local RWA chapter soon after becoming published, I said I loved the 3 Cs: Chocolate, Cowboys and Country Music.
You might be thinking, Chocolate? YES! Cowboys? You bet!
But…Country music?
Yeah, I know. But Country music isn’t all Mamas, Truckers and Coon dogs nowadays. It’s very romantic. Very…inspirational.
For instance, watch this music video for a song by Chris Young.
Tomorrow
There are so many wonderfully masculine “hero” inspirations in those few minutes and I’m not just talking about a tight black shirt and a cowboy hat.
How about that moment when he looks up and clenches his fist.
You can see when he takes a deep breath, and I especially love it when he pushes off the doorframe.
And oh, that kiss.
But, you say, this is a sad song. Where’s the romance in that? Okay, so this particular video is more inspiration for the black moment. I’d love to take this mini-romance gone wrong, give the blonde and the cowboy a backstory, and goals, and motivation and conflicts and then write my own happy ending to poor Chris Young and his Tomorrow.
For another super sexy Country music video with a Happy Ending there’s Billy Currington’s Must Be Doing Something Right
And for love gone wrong in a humorous way, watch this one by the cutie pie of Country, Brad Paisley with his future wife , Kimberly Williamson.
I\'m Gonna Miss Her

So, do you listen to Country music? If not, have a made a convert out of you?

With your indulgence, I’m updating a blog from the Sizzling Pens Blog, July 2008. I’m in a tight deadline crunch right now. So here goes:
I’m so excited! I have the cover art for my March Blaze, PRIMAL CALLING. Isn’t it gorgeous? I love the Northern Lights in the background. This is a story about an Alaskan bush pilot.
It’s fascinating to me how a romance cover is made. You can read about it here. An authors’ cover can be so important to her sales, and yet she basically has no say in how it turns out. She can only describe her characters and a few scenes and hope for the best. If you want to see some covers voted some of the worst in recent years, go here . And here is an interview with one of the artists who create romance novel covers.
Blaze authors are so lucky, the Harlequin art department does an outstanding job making the most delicious covers. I don’t know about you, but I love a clinch cover. And I don’t care who sees me reading a book with one. I read romance novels and I’m proud of it.
And have you seen some of the guys that model for Romance covers? Yum-EY! Romance cover models have come a long way since Fabio. Check out this site: Models like John DeSalvo, and Rob Ashton are tall, dark and sexy, baby. And they’ve gained a following in the biz among authors. Some authors with enough clout can actually request certain models for their covers. And it’s fun to go to the models’ web sites and look at all the covers they’ve modeled for and see how different they can look. Every year, Romantic Times Magazine hosts their cover model competition during their Book Lovers convention and one man is crowned Mr. Romance. Convention goers, both readers and writers of romance, drool and sigh as they get to meet and mingle with the years’ finalists. Some day, I’ll go to a Romantic Times Convention…
I guess some people think the “clinch” cover is cheesy, or demeaning, or even misrepresents what’s on the inside. Let’s face it, today’s romance novels -LIKE BLAZE-are compelling, relevant, complicated, and darned exciting. So why, you might ask, do we need a hunky bare chest with a set of rock hard abs splashed across the cover?
Well, sister, we might not need them, but they sure are scrumptious to look at. And if it encourages readers to pick up my book and read the back cover, then I’m all for it.
So, do you like or dislike the bare-chested guys on Blaze covers, and why or why not?

It’s no secret to anyone who knows me how much I dislike winter. I know we’re just in the middle of lovely autumn, but I can feel it looming in the gray skies that will eventually dump lake effect on us by the truckload. I hate the cold, the dry, the slippery and the never-ending white. I’ve grown up in it, and a few times I have tried to enjoy it (positive thinking and all) – doesn’t work. I love the colors and life of Spring, Summer, and Fall, the warm, sunny days and not being encumbered by layers of heavy clothing. All of those seasons exude their own kind of sexiness: the heat of a summer night, the rich spring blooming, or picking apples with your favorite someone on a fall day. However, it’s difficult to find much about winter that I enjoy.

So I ask myself (and you), what is sexy about winter?

Well, for one, there is Blaze. I am very psyched about my December Christmas book, I’LL BE YOURS FOR CHRISTMAS, (Romantic Times, 4.5). It’s the first book I have set here in Central New York, at a pair of wineries set on Cayuga Lake just above the city of Ithaca, and it is very sexy (RT called it “Naughty…” ). The wineries I write about are fictional, but there are many wineries in the area, and a glass of Finger Lakes Wine will really warm you up. This could be another sexy thing about winter if you are curled up with a Blaze or your honey.

I guess the other thing I enjoy in the cold months is being able to haul out my quilts. If I lived in a warm climate, I would never have use for them. Cuddling under a big quilt on a cold night is definitely a sexy part of winter.

I do like flannel shirts. I don’t know if mine are all that sexy, but I love a man in a flannel…. That’s it. I’m out of sexy winter things, so you will have to help me out.

So. . .what do you think is sexy about Winter? Share, and I’ll pick someone Sunday evening to win an early copy of I’LL BE YOURS FOR CHRISTMAS. I’ll also add in one of the bars of soap I have had made for the book and some bath items (since a nice hot bath with someone could be a very sexy thing to do in winter!).

I’m practically a star this month. If you open your March issue of Redbook magazine to page 84, you’ll find a quote from yours truly as a contribution to the article “Find Your Sexist Self” by Colleen Oakley. It’s not every day I’m quoted in national publications, so I had to crow. My teenage son wasn’t terribly impressed; instead he seemed to fight the impulse to scream in horror when he saw “21 ways to unleash your inner vixen.” You’d think he would be immune to this sort of thing by now, having grown up with sexy manuscripts forever sitting on the printer and suggestive book covers winking back at him from the shelves in my office.

No surprise that he declined to read my quote.

But I digress. The real reason I mention the article is that it’s pertinent reading for the Blaze fan. I mean, chances are good if we’re reading or writing Blaze that we like the idea of “red-hot” for a sensuality level. You’re probably as invested as I am in maintaining a certain amount of your mojo.

The article points out various ways to do that, including my tip about tapping into romantic or sexy tunes from your dating days to create a personalized playlist. I think music has a great ability to transport you to another time and place, instantly reminding you of other steamy moments.

I’d also suggest that reading a Blaze is a good way to remind you of the temptress within. Reading romance, for me, is always mood elevating. Plus, sexy romance in particular reminds me that passion is a gift. Romance heroes and heroines fight so hard for that happy ending that I feel like it’s only right to celebrate my own HEA early and often.

What about you? How do you get your sexy back? (K) I’m officially asking for your quote on the subject. Do you have a go-to dress in the back of your closet that makes you feel on top of your sexy A-game? A date night destination that puts you in a flirtatious frame of mind? Please share on the boards for a chance to win an advance copy of my April Blaze Historical,
The Captive

What is sexy? You’d think a Blaze author would be able to answer this question. After all, our series bills our stories as red-hot reads, and all the authors aim to fulfill that promise. On the surface, we can all answer the “what is sexy” question, but what I find interesting about the question is that we would answer it in all different ways.

Whereas we all agree—basically—on what is scary or what is sad, there is a lot more wiggle room when we try to pin down what’s funny or what’s sexy. I think that’s why dark, serious artwork (film/books) more often receives critical acclaim. Critics from all walks can agree on what makes for a poignant premise. But our funny bone—like our sense of sexy—is more individual. I think that makes it tougher to write a film/play/book with a fun or sexy premise that receives glowing reviews. Just ask Shakespeare. His tragedies are the most critically lauded and frequently produced while his brilliant comedies require more work to successfully appeal to audiences. And even when they are well done, not everyone appreciates the nuanced humor that occasionally was very relevant to the era.

So writing sexy is a tough thing to do and have universal appeal. Sure, sexy can mean explicit sex. But not always. Consider the film version of The Age of Innocence. One of the hottest scenes involves the unbuttoning of a glove. It’s been sixteen years since I’ve seen the movie, and trust me, the glove stays with you. On the other hand, I also find something like The Thomas Crown Affair sexy, with more overt love scenes and a strong focus on physical desire. But sexy is in the eye of the beholder. My husband thought The Age of Innocence was a snooze and the New York Times Review called The Thomas Crown Affair “an allegedly steamy love story … proof that sex can be in the head.”

How, then, does a Blaze writer ensure a sexy story for a red-hot read? I’m asking you. What elements make a book (or a movie!) sexy in your opinion? Is it the characters? The situation? The play of repressed emotion as in the quiet sexiness of Age of Innocence? Or love scenes early and often?

***Visit with me on the boards today and I’ll give on random poster a copy of my new Blaze, the universally acknowledged sexy Sliding Into Home.***