Why Not Wednesday?

On Monday I promised both a Wednesday and a Friday post. Why didn't I post Wednesday? Because I have a schedule I prioritize over blogging. I have a weekly page count for Warrior's Hilt, my paranormal romance in progress. I weighed my commitment to blogging against my writing schedule and I chose to write my novel.

Writing a whole book - 95,000 words, 300 plus pages - is that simple. You choose writing over other things. That might be instead of sleeping in or replying to email or cleaning a closet. Maybe you send the husband to the zoo with the kids and decide to skip it this time because after all you went to the playground yesterday and hey you can write three more pages while they're all out. I'm by no means a motivation or planning expert, but after fourteen years tinkering with Shooting Stars, I started writing Warrior's Hilt in January 2009 and today, July 31, I have 290 pages. I am on track to be finished September 1 and polished in time to enter the Golden Heart. Here's what I've learned.

• Plan your writing realistically in weekly chunks. I use a 3-column Word document with three months of Wednesday and Saturday dates on the left. The middle column contains blank lines for pages achieved each date and a pre-printed weekly page goal. On the right I note expected events (my week to blog, vacation, camping) that add or subtract writing time. I vary my page goals based on the week. On the road for vacation, 5 pages. A so-called regular week, 15 pages. Both kids at camp 9 am to noon for a whole week, 30 pages (didn't quite make that but it was a great goal).

• Print the plan and put it on the fridge. Forget weight loss, I want to write. I track pages achieved on the fridge instead of wasting computer time opening the chart. Not only does seeing my goals all the time keep me aware, I'm accountable to anyone who looks at the fridge.
  I've had failures. The week my laptop died I wrote nothing and I'm still catching up. I grew distracted the whole month of May and let my writing priorities drift. They slipped so far I had to revise my accountability chart from an August 1 deadline to September 1, and that's why I ended up with a 30 page goal one week and waaay too many 20 page weeks. But now I'm past the hump (see Monday's entry for the rhino). That's how normal slow people run marathons and that's how you raise kids and that's how you mow the grass. You keep going.

• Write anything, even crap. This is Cherry Adair's view of writing and I believe in it. You can edit the crap out of anything but a blank page. If I can't figure out a transition from a chunk of dialog to the next action sequence, I [add transition here] and move forward. Brackets and speed are my friends.

In this system, do not under any circumstances agonize over phrasing. Maybe spend time choosing one word, but you can put a [boring word] in brackets and come back later to jazz it up. When I write what I know to be a cliche, I add [cl] after it to remind me to freshen during editing.

Two months ago I described three scenes in Warrior's Hilt as [go to his tuscan castle - dinner - bad guys invade]. I wanted to move to the morning after the fight scene, which I could see clearly at that moment, but I think moving linearly is important to character development and manuscript integrity.

By this week I was one hundred pages past that point, stuck at the final part of a snow mobile chase. I couldn't tackle that frigid mess in Seattle's hundred degree heat, so I flipped back to my Tuscan castle brackets and it all flowed, the fight scene with tipped over candles lighting a tapestry on fire, the dining room's historic weapon collection, the hero's anger that the heroine didn't follow his commands.

In sum: make a realistic accountability calendar, print and post it visibly, write fast and sloppy to move forward. You will have a rough draft faster than you imagine and you will be able to edit, polish, tweak and fiddle as necessary - with a new calendar or you'll be at it fourteen years like I was.

Do you have a different system that works for you to get your writing done? I'm always interested in tips and tricks to squeeze more writing out of a day, so please post here. And I promise to post my dialog editing comments when I get my page count back to green-light status.

Shelli's Great Contest

Since I hope most of our readers believe in HEAs (it took me six months to realize that stood for Happily Ever After on blogs), please humor my announcement that today is my eighth wedding anniversary. I forgot to buy a card for my Favorite Canadian, but that's okay. At least this year I know how many years it is. Hey, I'm a romance writer, not a romantic. I did make him a fancy dessert one night last week when it wasn't raging hot and suggested he count it as an early deposit on today.

It's over 90 here in Seattle and no one has A/C, so I can't possibly think of anything witty or interesting and I have to get moving with the kids to the Mariners' game. Luckily Shelli Stevens, the amazing chapter president of Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America, is running a fabulous contest to celebrate her new Aphrodisia book. Go to her website and do it. In the heat.

An Editing Exercise

How many of our readers are also writers, published or trying? I hope my posts this week offer inspiration and advice for those who are writing and insight into how it works for the rest of you. Here's my plan for the week - a short exercise, a medium-long insight and final tips about dialog. Stick with me.

To use one of the tips from Margie Lawson's Deep Edits class, print a scene you want to improve. Before you begin other edits, highlight the last word in every paragraph. Is it a powerful word that drags you to the start of the next paragraph? A word with emotion, force, strength, meaning or imagery? Or is it a be-verb, a pronoun, an -ing ending (Kate would call that a gerund), a downbeat that drops the reader? If you're focusing on a paragraph, do the same with the last word of every sentence (that also catches repetition).

Darn. Look at my first paragraph. I used trying, you, dialog, me. Two pronouns and a gerund out of four words. Not compelling.

I'd love it if someone tried this on random pages of a book you couldn't put down and one you never finished, and posted a list for us to compare. If you have a tough hide, be brave and do it to your own work - a scene you think is strong and also one that you doubt. Tell us how it works. And come back for my other tips Wednesday and at the end of the week. Now go read, write and drink coffee. (FYI I took this photo at The Wilds, a conservation park near Zanesville, Ohio. If you're traveling I-70, it's a great stop.)

I'd Love to Taste You. No, Really.

I'm going to continue my line of thought for this week.

Enjoy the video! And feel free to post your thoughts on Twilight. Edward Cullen: sweet, or stalker?

Courting vs. Stalking

"Would you forgive me, love, if I boiled your rabbit?"

Yes, I had a friend in high school who once modified some Alanis Morissette lyrics. It was all part of a general conversation regarding the difference between courting and stalking.

It started after a viewing of Say Anything. There was a heated debate about Lloyd Dobler's boom-box move: sketchy, or sexy?

This seems like an easy question to answer, but we never actually reached a conclusion. Let's be honest. Pet death and property destruction aside, it can sometimes be a tough call. After all, one woman's deranged psycho is another woman's hot emo vampire.

My own perspective: I admire a certain amount of persistence in the pursuit of romance. This should be obvious, given my choice of reading/writing material. If there's not an obstacle, it's not interesting! Imbalance of interest/commitment makes for good conflict.

And yet sometimes, I get a little whiplash from my beloved romance novels. The "persistent" hero seems like a stalker. Or the "over-protective" hero seems controlling and emotionally abusive. But I've yet to come up with a good list of tricks/traits that definitively tip the scales.

I put it to you, dear reader: what squicks you out in a hero? I'm looking for the stuff that makes you say, "Wow. If that happened in real life, I'd probably call the cops." All the better if you can give us examples from novels, TV, and/or movies!

Our Own Vivi Wins Big!

Whee! Congratulations! Last night Vivi won the Golden Heart award for best unpublished contemporary single title romance at the 2009 Romance Writers of America Convention. The winners are listed at the RWA National website. You can go to Vivi's blog and read her thoughts on winning and the conference. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The Armchair Traveller

Thanks to Marg at Reading Adventures, I found this cool map feature that let's you plot all the countries you've "visited"-- in real life or through the pages of a book. I like seeing where my reading has taken me (and where I need to read more), as I take off on another real-life trip. Looks like South America could be next up for me--in life and literature! Why don't you do your own?



create your own visited country map

London is for Lovers!

As July slips away into August (and takes with it my hopes for a productive summer), I'm doing the only sensible thing-- getting out of this NYC heat and heading to the UK with my beloved.

My first visit back to England in a decade (after spending a year living in the Midlands) is doing triple duty. I'll be presenting a paper on one of my research interests at an academic conference. I'll be celebrating two years of marriage with a nice vacation. And I'll be jotting down notes on Regency architecture and style and London street layouts for my novel-writing.

Of course, a London trip calls for some London-centric reading. I've got David Copperfield and Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies on hand to provide some nineteenth- and twentieth-century London flavor. But what about the twenty-first? Any of our readers up for a possibly impossible task?

Which London-set romance novel should I bring with me on this decidedly lit-geeky trip? The novel should be set primarily or exclusively in London. And ideally the city would feature prominently as an essential element of the book--a few references to Almacks here and Covent Garden there won't cut it. (This, clearly, negates most of Julia Quinn's Bridgerton books from the running. Sadly, my own London-set Then Comes Marriage doesn't fit the bill either).

Expect some lovely London shots after I get back.

Super Special Travel Plans!

When I was an undergrad, I completed a Group Independent Study Project (GISP) on children's literature. What does this mean?

(a) I got college credit for reading Harry Potter
(b) I wrote literary analysis on Mary Anne Spier and Logan Bruno
(c) At age 20, I had a sleepover party and played the Sweet Valley High board game
(d) I made some excellent lifelong friends
(e) All of the above, and then some!

It was one of my best college experiences, mostly because I've stayed in touch with the other women in the GISP. After graduation, we continued to have semi-regular reunions. But then people started moving away from the Providence area. Now, we are spread throughout Boston, New York, Washington, and Alaska. So when we want to get together, we have to have a Super Special.

How many of you read Ann M. Martin's Baby-sitter's Club books? If you've got any sort of familiarity with the BSC, then you must know the term "Super Special." They were the thick white books chronicling the club's group vacations.

The GISP had our first Super Special last year, when everyone flew out for my wedding. Starting tomorrow, we're on our next Super Special: GISP Alaskan Adventure! I can't wait. Everyone's been joking that, if our vacation runs true to the BSC model, we will care for adorable toddlers (and meet equally adorable men with accents) on our trip.

I am more than happy to do without both kinds of adorable. I am just excited to hang out with my friends and see Alaska!

I'm sure I'll have all kinds of pictures and stories when I return. For now, though, I'd love to hear about the best gal-pal vacation you ever took. (And former BSC readers: who was your favorite/least favorite baby-sitter, and why?)

A-Number-One, Top of the Heap

For the last two weeks I have been obsessed (and I do not use that word lightly) with top ten lists. My latest ebook release, Serengeti Heat, a sexy shape-shifter novella, released just thirteen short days ago. And ever since that fateful Tuesday, I have been haunting my publisher's sales site (and a handful of other ebook retailers) looking for any clues as to how my little shifter story might be doing.

Were people reading it? Were they liking it? The agony of not knowing had me in a frenzy. I latched onto anything that might give me some hint how my baby was being received.

And then it happened. The Top Ten List Obsession. Serengeti Heat hit number one on the My Bookstore & More Best Sellers List. Then (gasp!) it crawled up to be the number two bestselling shape-shifter ebook on the All Romance eBooks site. When it became the All Romance eBooks top reader rated shape-shapeshifter story... well, that's when the obsession really spiraled out of control.

I web-stalked those sites, visiting them constantly (even though I knew they didn't update their information more than once a day), waiting with dread in my poor lil heart for the time when my sales would plummet and Serengeti Heat would fall from its precarious perch atop those lists. (Which it did, of course, in epubbing that first week phenomenon is quickly replaced by next week's first week phenomenon.)

Do these lists mean anything? Honestly? It just means that I sold at least one book more than the person at number two over a rolling seven day period. It's all relative. That could mean I only sold a half dozen books, or it could mean a thousand. Who knows? But one thing's for sure: the New York Times list it ain't. Buying my own private island will have to wait a couple more years. Still, in my little minnow pond, it's pretty fun to be the big fish for a week or two.

And now that I'm done bragging... I give you the result of my Top Ten List obsession:

The Top Ten Coolest Things About Being a Writer (according to me).

10. Going to writing conferences, meeting your favorite authors, basking in their genius and being given free books. LOTS of free books.
9. Meeting other people who use phrases like "fully-actualized character arc" and "jarring POV shift" in everyday conversation.
8. Visiting blogs, social networking sites & yahoo loops all count as "name-building" and "promo time".
7. Reading is research.
6. Movies, TV shows, plays, anything with a plot, or just sitting in a park people-watching - ALL RESEARCH.
5. Taking vengeance on people who annoy you by putting them in your books. The obnoxious girl who gets murdered in the second act? Total authorial catharsis, baby.
4. Talking in public about ways to murder people, blow things up or perform battlefield triage after the undead apocalypse = totally acceptable. (Though no guarantees that the civilians around you won't give you very strange looks while you're discussing the relative symptoms of arsenic vs. cyanide.)
3. You are God (or at the very least a god) of your own stories. You control the universe and everything always turns out exactly as you wanted it to.
2. Working in your pajamas.
1. Getting an email from someone you've never met, totally out of the blue, telling you that they loved your story and thanking you for writing it. (Yep, I cried. I'm just a big ole softie.)

That's my list. So what are the top ten most kick-ass things about your job? What's on your Top Ten List?

Comeuppance

Last month I followed Kate and Vivi's advice and bought a copy of Beyond Heaving Bosoms, Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan's book based on the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books blog. On vacation last week I managed to sneak away and indulge a few chapters. Reading their analysis of Old Skool romances such as Kathleen E. Woodiwiss's The Flame and the Flower, I had one of those "I can do that" moments familiar to both crafters and aspiring authors. I resolved to go to the scary basement, unearth the bin of books from under the Christmas lights, and find The Wolf and the Dove, a Woodiwiss book I read twenty times during high school but not since. I remembered a Saxon maiden chained to the hearth by the Norman warrior who pillages her home. That would fit Sarah and Candy's description:

[I]t was well-nigh de rigeur for the heroine to be raped by the hero in those novels. The rape would be justified in any number of ways with the framework of the story ... Sometimes, the heroine was the spoils of war, so clearly, it was acceptable to rape her. Other times, the hero would assume the heroine was sexually experienced, and as we all know, rape counts only if the rapist knows the victim is a virgin.

I decided to blog using the Smart Bitches' methodology to analyze this old favorite, racking points for every "forced kiss - and she likes it" scene. I planned to ask you, Dear Reader, to play this parlor game with me. We would all be snarky New Skool romance fans together, bemoaning chained to the bed/hearth/ship's wheel/dirigible scenes, competing to rewrite overly modified sentences and rework similes beaten into "limp exhaustion," pointing out spears of manhood and other sexual euphemisms for our intellectual titillation.


I found the book box easily. The 1974 copyright date and $2.25 cover price dovetailed with my expectations. Filled with smugness and caffeine, I began to read and take notes, eager to line up this stereotypical Old Skool romance with the Beyond Heaving Bosoms flowchart.

I stumbled. Some bad guy named Ragnor, not the hero Wulfgar, is the one who rapes her (although, Candy and Sarah were correct in that Kathleen Woodiwiss contrived to have Aislinn and the villain consume sleeping herbs so in fact no actual bad guy rape occurred, thus the heroine was a technical albeit unaware virgin for the hero).

Sure, I found several forced kisses, such as page 40 where she slaps him, in front of his men, for mocking her and his retribution is ... "Without word or warning Wulfgar's hands were upon her like slaves' armlets." May I say, that is powerful writing? Read it out loud. Not an extra modifier lurking in that line. The repeated "w" sounds like a whip, doesn't it? Oh, the rhythm. It takes me hours to write like that.

Oops, it was her Saxon fiance chained to the hearth for trying to stab Wulfgar, who spares the poor guy and eventually elevates him to Sheriff. That's kind of progressive in 1066, isn't it? I am totally failing at snarkiness and remembering why I loved this book twenty years ago.

The Smart Bitches claim "most of these Old Skool romances were written solely or mostly from the heroine's viewpoint." But Woodiwiss does a fair amount of head-hopping, regularly giving Wulfgar his own point of view, such as this man-angst:

Was this to be his lot? To find her ever close at hand yet never know again the privacy with her that had been before. Was this marriage? To have a babe more oft between them than finding a moment to share long suffering passions? He sighed and turned his stare to the fire. Winter comes, he thought. And the nights are long.

Who among us is married with children and doesn't feel that? Woodiwiss wrote the thesis for Michael Lewis' new book Home Game when that dude still had baby teeth. The Wolf and the Dove is thirty-five years old, but it stills rocks and I feel ashamed at my pathetic intent.

I must apologize to the spirit of Kathleen E. Woodiwiss for assuming I could dismiss and mock a book that was already in its thirty-second printing twenty years ago, and remains in print and even ebook. I must apologize to my sixteen, seventeen and eighteen-year old selves for doubting their taste and judgment in reading material. And I must apologize for thinking I could convince you to play along with a petty game.

Let's try something nicer instead. I liked that paragraph from Wulf's point of view. Can you post a pre-1986 or so hero POV scene that you like? Something from the '70s or early '80s that reminds us all why we like those books (despite the arm-gripping). Brave your own scary basement, find a hero you've lugged around for longer than your favorite jeans, and put it up here.

The Procrastination Station

If you're not familiar with Will Write For Chocolate, I recommend checking it out. Debbie Ridpath Ohi knows the writing life well. Sometimes I don't know whether to wince or laugh when I recognize myself in her comics.

I posted this particular comic because I am in the grips of some killer procrastination. First there was the hustle and bustle of wrapping up my day job. Another school year ended on Monday. I took a day or two to rest on my laurels. There was lots of sleeping, and a Bones DVD-fest.

Today, I should be tackling Revising Mr. Right. Instead, I cleaned the kitchen. Yeah, that's right. Nothing added to my word count. My latest WIP languishes, ignored, on my computer. But at least my cupboards are beautifully organized.

How do you procrastinate from writing? And how do you force yourself back to the desk?

The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name

I was inspired by Zeek's Supernatural post awhile back. In it, she mentions the show's reference to the wide world of slash fiction. If you're not familiar, slash fiction is fan fiction that depicts romantic or sexual relationships between characters of the same-sex. In other words, stories depicting Captain Kirk and Spock making sweet, sweet love on the bridge of the Enterprise.

Now, one of the best academic discussions I've ever seen of slash fiction happened in the Bitch magazine article "Fan/tastic Voyage." Check it out if you want a truly thoughtful exploration of the implications of slash. (Slash writers = predominantly straight women. Slash audience = mostly other women. So why the focus on male/male romantic relationships? This is what the article explores.)

While I admire the article, I do not aspire to such lofty heights of feminist analysis here. I honestly just wanted to give you the recut Top Gun trailer. If you can't view the video at the top of this post, you can always follow the link here.

I don't know about you, but I thought the recut trailer was hilarious. If nothing else, it reminded me about the importance of editing! My, my... how it shapes a story...

What did you think? Did anyone else do a spit-take with their coffee?

Plot Happens in Vegas...

A few days ago, I promised to write about the Get-Drunk-and-Wake-Up-Married storyline, or as I call it, the Vegas Plot.

My new WIP is set primarily in Vegas, and for the longest time I didn't connect my love of cheesy strangers-getting-married-plots to my need to set the book there. After all, my hero and heroine already know each other before traveling to Sin City (they don't like each other, but they know each other). Given their reasons for visiting Vegas, I doubt they'll be hitting the craps tables and winding up at an all-night wedding chapel. And yet...

And yet, when you want to take two all-business characters and force them to get a little freaky, there's no better spot to set your story than Vegas. And not just in books or movies, as the perennial appearance of flicks like What Happens in Vegas or The Hangover prove. This year's summer pop hit (Katy Perry's "That's What you Get For Waking up in Vegas") bears a striking resemblance to last year's summer pop hit (Carrie Underwood's "I Don't Even Know His Last Name").

To bring things back to the realm of literature, Vegas operates in our cultural mythology like the forest in a Shakespearean comedy. In plays like As You Like It and (most notably) A Midsummer Night's Dream, characters leave the city and enter the forest, where they don disguises and alternate identities, where they experiment with different lovers and try on new relationships, where they reorder their place in world. It's an experience at turns jarring, confusing, exhilerating, freeing, and confining. When the characters leave the forest--after one long night or several long years--they return to their accustomed places in society and resume their usual relationships. But they bring something of their experience in the forest with them--a sense of the possibilities for anarchy and change that exist even in the most ossified institutions and rigid identities.

Doesn't that sound just like Vegas in 21st-century America? A confined and separate place where constrained and contained people can give free rein to the elements of themselves unallowable in their ordinary lives. A place where the promise that "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" allows for the kind of role playing the hero or heroine of a Shakespearean comedy would recognize as his or her birthright.

Of course, for contemporary writers, the real interest comes not with the loosening of morals in the secret, sacred space of Vegas. We can see unrestrained ids on display every night of the week on reality tv. For us, the more interesting question is, "What Happens When Vegas Doesn't Stay Put?" When the Forest of Arden invades the court? Or when you wake up married in Vegas and have to go back to work in Cincinnati?

And then there's the biggest benefit of all to the Vegas-set story: Research trips!

If you're a writer-- what locations inspire you most? And since we're all readers-- do you love stories set on cruises? In European locations? In small towns? What kind of setting grabs you...and why?

Yums and Yucks (and Guilty Pleasures)

Every reader of romance has her (or his!) mental list of yums and yucks. Mine look something like this:

Anneliese's Yums

• Second-time-around Stories
• Getting-to-Know-You Banter
• Hate Sex
• Heroines with Shady Pasts
• Super Angsty Heroes

Anneliese's Yucks

• Virgin Widows
• Forced Sex
• Too-Stupid-to-Live "Plucky" Heroines
• Super Asshole-y Heroes
• Vampires (I know, I'm not a red-blooded American woman or something)

In addition to these guaranteed pick-me-ups and throw-me-aways, I've got another list. Super-cliched romance plot devices that I KNOW are ridiculous, but can't help loving. It boils down to two items.

Anneliese's Guilty Pleasures

• Secret Babies
• People Getting Drunk and Waking Up Married

Yup, if you're wondering who's buying all those Harlequin Presents titles about secretaries who get knocked up after a night with the boss and hide the resulting child for six years, it's me. If you can't understand why another movie about two drunk idiots tying the knot in Vegas just got greenlit, look my way.

I'll be posting in a few days about the lure of the Vegas plot and why I think it grabs readers/writers/audiences, so let me take a moment now to tease out my motivations for loving the secret babies.

I think it's all about control, gaining it and losing it. The mother's position of dominance as holder of the secret probably lies at the back of it. And then there's the moment when the father realizes the truth about his child's paternity. They're always angry, and shocked, and excited, and nervous, and sad, and happy. They're thrown out of their element, even if they act all lordly and commanding. They're reminded that they don't really control the women in their lives, even when they think they do (and they usually think they do, at least in historicals). Damn, that's so hot!

If the enjoyment of fiction requires the willing suspension of disbelief, I'm willing to take my disbelief, tie a forty-pound weight to it, and drop it out a twelve-story window for the sake of a secret baby or a drunk Vegas wedding.

How about you? What are your Yucks and Yums and Guilty Pleasures? Is there any plot that gets you every time, no matter how ridiculously unbelievable? And most important...why do you love them?

Kate's Kitty

Last week's cat picture inspired me. I would like to introduce you all to my cat, Tigger.

Now, those of you that know me will be the first to say that I have never been a feline fan. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool dog lover. However, Mr. Marvelous and I kept Tigger for his parents while they went on a vacation. It turned into a slow but effective incident of pet theft.

Tigger has become my muse. Don't ask me why. He may be the most annoying cat on Earth. There are the 3 a.m. meowing marathons, the gluttonous requests for food, and the nights he decides to walk on my face. Of course, he does this because he knows he can get away with it. Why? We're sickeningly indulgent because he's just so cute and cuddly!

You know the cute cat face that Puss in Boots makes on Shrek? Yeah, he's got it down.

He's also truly a writer's kitty. He loves office supplies. He would much rather play with a pen than a cat toy. And he loves it when I'm writing--my desk is right by the door, which means that he can go in and out at his leisure. I can open the door for him without ever leaving my chair--a chair, by the way, in which he loves to lay. You can always tell when I've been writing because my butt is covered in orange cat hair.

Tell me about your own pets. What do the animals in your life reveal about you?

Say Our Names II

The damned scribbling women all have pseudonyms, for much the same reason. Anneliese wrote about our rationale awhile ago. As she said, "both Kate and I are involved in education and literary studies. While we feel that writing romance only adds to our credentials as proud feminists, not all our current and potential bosses/teachers and coworkers/fellow students will agree. Additionally, the parents of the little darlings we instruct may not want to associate Junior's English teacher with lusty Regency dukes or shag sessions in lakeside cabins."

Though we're not all teachers, the DSW do have daytime identities they need to keep separate from the writing life. Hence, pen names. And since picking a nom de plume such a big decision for a writer to make, I thought I'd share how I picked mine.

Factors to consider in picking a pen name:

• Is it easy to spell? (Think of the future Google searches!)
• Is it easy to sign? (Imagine your autograph sessions!)
• Will it shelve well? (Will readers have to get out a ladder or lay on the floor in order to find your book?)

Surprisingly, I hit on the perfect name pretty quickly. "Kate" is a diminutive of my given name, and it's what my loved ones call me when I'm at my feistiest (think Taming of the Shrew). "Diamond" is my maternal grandmother's maiden name. It's also a precious stone associated with riches and romance. (Yes please!) I liked the way the two names sounded together. It was easy to write, spell, and remember. Pretty simple!

And that's how my alter-ego was born.

What about you? Fellow writers/bloggers, how did you select your nom de plume? We'd love to hear your story!

My Husband, My Hero

I know, I know. In the "Meet Kate" post I already told you a bit about my husband, Mr. Marvelous. But I couldn't resist sharing some more about my good fortune. Having this guy in my life is great.

Writing romance has been a lot easier since he came into my life. For one thing, he's gorgeous. I know that makes me sound shallow, but seriously! It's somewhat inspiring to be married to a tall, dark and handsome dreamboat.

More importantly, though, he fully supports my writing career. Mr. Marvelous has offered to shoulder our financial burdens if I want to quit my day job and pursue writing full time (which is awesome, but also terrifying in this economy... I think I'll wait on that one!)

For Christmas, he got me an online writing course with Patricia Kay. This has been one of the best professional development opportunities I've ever experienced, and one which I highly recommend to you all!

Last but not least, he's got his priorities in order. Last winter we discussed the fact that we'd rather spend our free time pursuing our hobbies (his), ambitions (mine), or the fine art of being ooey-gooey married people (us). This seems much more important than scouring tile scum. So guess what Mr. Marvelous did? He did research and hired us a maid service! They come two times a month, and it's been great thus far. It's easier to be inspired in a clean environment--especially if I didn't have to clean it!

I realize I'm incredibly lucky. So feel free to congratulate or heckle me (as the spirit moves you). Better yet, tell us a bit about your own romantic hero/heroine!

The Sex & the City Effect

Last week, I was channel-surfing as folded laundry and I landed on E! Entertainment Television. (I'm allowed to watch whatever I want while folding my knickers. Don't judge me.) It was a pseudo-documentary about the making of Sex and the City. The E! show claimed Sex and the City was the first show to unflinchingly reveal how women really talked about men. Then I ran across this article in which the show's creator indicates that the show was less about showing women as they actually are and more about "turning the stereotype on its head," objectifying men instead of women and playing against type.

I'm guessing the truth is somewhere in the middle, that women didn't talk like that nearly as much before Sex and the City gave them permission to be blunt and selfish and sex-obsessed, but that doesn't mean they weren't already thinking that way. And once we got permission... woo, baby, just watch us run with it. Now the Sex and the City version of femininity has wedged itself firmly into our culture. And into the culture of contemporary romance novels.

Hex and the City, Sex and the Immortal Bad Boy, and the similarities don't end with plays on the title. The modern day romance heroine may not even be looking for love unending (though in my favorite romances that's what she ends up with). Nope, in the current generation of romance novels, the heroine is just as likely to start out looking for Mr. Right Now as Mr. Right. Cocktails and confidence, the new romance heroine is a different breed than her virginal predecessors. Did Sex and the City do that?

And what about the increased level of sensuality and sexual frankness? Sex scenes, baby. In recent years, romance novels have been steaming it up. Now that the bedroom door has been thrown wide by Sex and the City, readers seem to be looking for more heat. Metaphors and euphemisms are falling away as the savvy start calling things by their Sex approved names.

Is this a good thing? (Yay, honesty & freedom in sexuality!) A bad thing? (Everyone is just so darned superficial these days! There's more to life than Manolos and Cosmos!) Are we heading toward some Sex & the City-instigated cultural apocalypse or is this just the natural progression of women's lib? Equality or licentiousness? Liberation or just a new method of devaluing emotion in favor of blunt sexuality? What's your take?

Meet Vivi

A new scribbling woman emerges...

Vivi Andrews writes romance - paranormal romantic comedies, sultry shape-shifter romances & sassy contemporary capers.

Day Job: Author (I wish; until the writing pays big dividends I'm a Jane of All Trades, currently between day jobs)

Hails from: Alaska (with strong nomadic tendencies... I'm currently on the road)

In your next life: It's a total cop-out if I say I want to do exactly what I'm doing now, isn't it? Okay, then. If you insist. I'll go with... a gun moll. Or a "pro" on Dancing with the Stars. Both of which require great legs and sequins.

Preferred writing snack: Diet Coke and dry Life cereal.

Best romantic moments from movies:
1. Love Actually - There are so many moments I love from this movie, but one of my favorites has to be the Prime Minister of England trying to confess his feelings around a small child in a papier mache octopus costume. Brilliant.

2. The Last of the Mohicans - This is going to sound beyond macabre, but I think one of the most romantic moments ever captured on film is when Alice jumps off the cliff after Uncas is killed. They have this intense, wordless relationship throughout the entire film. They never say a single fricking word to one another, and yet he will fight to the death to save her. He fails, of course, and she jumps off the cliff, which normally I would not be a fan of (I think Romeo and Juliet were prize idiots for killing themselves), but for some reason I love it. Go figure.

Who are your favorite heroines from romantic fiction?

• Elizabeth Bennett from Pride & Prejudice. Wit and wisdom, beauty and brains. What's not to love?
  
• Sophie Dempsey from Welcome to Temptation. Though Tilda Goodnight gets an honorable mention. I adore all Crusie heroines, but there is something about the con artist and the art forger that make these two my absolute favs. This probably says something unfortunate about my moral compass.

Who are your favorite heroes from romantic fiction?

• C.K. Dexter Haven from The Philadelphia Story. I'm going filmic on this one because I love this movie with a passion that cannot be described. Cary Grant as Dexter is brilliantly Machiavellian, smooth, witty, wise and surprisingly compassionate as he attempts to win back his ex-bride.
  
• Phineus T. Tucker from Welcome to Temptation, again a hard call on the Crusie awesomeness. Davey Dempsey from Faking It ran a close second. I love me some Crusie men, mostly because they are so obviously in love with the Crusie women. Nothing is more attractive than sincerity of emotion.

Who's your favorite real-life romantic hero? As the first single Damned Scribbling Woman, I'm afraid I don't have a Mr. Perfect to brag about. My nomadic tendencies make me hard to pin down. Suffice it to say, that role has yet to be cast.

**Thank you, DSW ladies for letting me splash about in your pool.**

Preaching to the Choir

I must echo Vivi Andrews. Awhile ago, she reviewed this book and stated, "I would say that this book is a must buy for fans of Smart Bitches, but I'm certain all true fanatics already have their copy." Yeah, I'm probably a little late jumping on the bandwagon. You'll have to forgive me. I've had my nose buried in a pile of grading!

Most of our readers are probably already fans of the snarktastic Smart Bitches (and therefor probably already own the book). If not, gentle reader, rush out and get a copy!

Here's what others in the blogosphere have to say about this fantastic book:

"It’s snigger and giggle and burst out loud laughing funny, it’s perceptive, it’s enlightening, it’s incredibly well-researched, and it’s just plain fun. It will convince your readers to shout out loud from the rooftops that they’re romance readers. Or at least to raise a suggestive eyebrow at the sneering bookstore clerk when they buy their books." (Dear Author)

"English/Lit grad students working with romance novels: Smart Bitches just pwned your thesis. Scrap what you got and start over. Think I’m kidding? Ignore my advice and you will Not Pass Go and Collect $200 you’ll just go straight to FAIL." (Love Romance Passion)

"FUN! As someone with a BA and MA in English literature AND enjoys the occasional romance novel, it was a relief to read a book that defends the genre for what it is: a genre that's not much different than mysteries, thrillers of John Clancy novels -- just with more, um, man titty." (Book a Week with Jen)

Have you read it and reviewed it? If so, please post your link to the review! Or, if you just want to share your thoughts on the book here, please feel free to post a comment!

Opposite Love

When it comes to the hero and heroine in a romance novel, I have a thing for opposites. It could be because hubby and I are opposites – I’m an organized math geek and he’s one of those disorganized, creative music types. The ones who can pick up virtually any instrument and figure out how to play it well, whereas I am completely tone deaf. Seriously. I tried to play the violin a while back. One year later and I still sounded like screeching mice. Absolutely dreadful. Yep, I’ve since given up the violin.

But even though we’re opposites in so many ways, I adore hubby completely…because he isn’t like me. He’s him. If I had married another me, we would have driven each other nuts in no time at all. I like me, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t like me enough to marry another me. My own little quirks keep life interesting for hubby (God forbid he ever think me dull *g*). But in someone else, they’d be more annoying than one of those people who wait until the all their groceries are bagged and in their cart before pulling out their checkbook (which is a process wholly unto itself) to s-l-o-w-l-y write out a check. That’s about when I stop trying to keep my daughter in check and let her run amuck. Five-year-olds can be wonderfully handy little people to have around. Simply expressing a sudden and pressing desire to go pee can really get a line moving.

Therefore, when deciding whom to cast as the h/h in a novel, I can’t possibly go with two similar people. I want them to have a happily ever after that lasts, and not wake up one day and discover marriage to oneself isn’t all that fun. But there’s a bit of a science to casting opposites. The trick is to find two people who appear totally different on the surface but actually go together perfectly. Finding that mix of complementary strengths and weaknesses that make the individuals stronger when together. It may take the characters some time to realize they are meant to be together (and that smacking into each other, bouncing off what makes them different can lead to a lot of fun on its own). But by the time the HEA has rolled around, the characters have snapped together like puzzle pieces, and in more ways than just physical. Don’t get me wrong, I love the physical part (must have that, and it has to be…sigh…amazing), but it’s also that moment when the characters just click. When they realize they have found their soul mate.

Given all that, I bet you can guess that the h/h of my new sensual regency-set romance from Berkley, Her Ladyship’s Companion, are a tad opposite. Well, more than a tad. *g* When I was mulling over a hero for Bella, a married aristocratic woman who looks like an ice princess but has a heart of a tart, I couldn’t resist giving her a man like Gideon - a baseborn male prostitute. He’s an utter gentleman, of course, with a brain in his gorgeous head. Couldn’t match my heroine up with an overly-slick idiot whose idea of seduction involved asking where the bedroom was located. That would have been downright cruel. And I will admit that it was a bit of a challenge, one wrought with sex and angst (my two favorite parts of a book) to get these two to their HEA, but rest assured, they are truly perfect for each other, so of course they end up happily ever after.

So what do you think? Do you prefer opposite love in your romance novels, or do you have a different type of favorite h/h pair? And if you want, you can always tell me your cutest quirk, the one that would drive you nuts if it was your significant other’s quirk and not your own. *g*

To celebrate the release of Her Ladyship’s Companion, I’m giving away a copy of the book to one lucky commenter. Just leave a comment and on Tuesday night, around 10pm EST or so, I’ll pick a winner at random and post the name.

****UPDATE*****

I entered the names of those who commented into the list randomizer at random.org, and the name that came out on top is:

JEANMARIE HAMILTON!!!

Congrats, Jeanmarie! Send me an e-mail at evangeline @ evangelinecollins (dot) com with your snail mail address, and I'll have the book sent to you.

Thanks again to all who stopped by the blog!

******************

And my thanks goes out to Damned Scribbling Women for having me as a guest on their awesome blog. :D

********

His job was to please her. Not to steal her heart.

In the Scottish countryside of Selkirk, Isabella, Lady Stirling resides at Bowhill Park, serving penance for a sin that nearly ruined her family. For five years she has been condemned to a loveless marriage and confined to the estate where she does little more than tend her rose garden. With her husband absent for months at a time and few visitors, Bella lives a lonely existence, denying the passions that burn within her very soul.

Then her cousin comes for a visit and makes an outrageous suggestion: what Bella needs is a lover. A hired lover. Despite her need, Bella says no. But soon Mr. Gideon Rosedale arrives – and he is at her service for two weeks. Indulging in what she intends to be a harmless flirtation, Bella is overcome by Gideon’s intoxicating presence. And when she at last permits him to satisfy her desires, she discovers she’s done the unthinkable – she’s fallen in love.

Interested in an excerpt? If so, hop on over to my website - Excerpt

Available now in bookstores near you, or through Amazon


Thanks again!!
-Evangeline
Her Ladyship’s Companion/Berkley Sensation
http://www.evangelinecollins.com/
Lush. Elegant. Sensual Historical Romance.

Which Austen Heroine Are You?

Society snobs and deliciously haughty alpha heroes, beware! For I am Elizabeth Bennet, vanquisher of the pompous.

"You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of ridiculousness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed."

Tendency to pre-judge? Guilty as charged. And lone beacon of reason in a sea of ridiculousness? This could explain all my frustrations with the red tape and wasted energy involved in my day job...

Take the quiz here! And be sure to let us know... which Austen heroine are you?

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I know we have many Austen fans on this site. Friends, I must ask: have you all read Jane's latest? It's called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance--Now With Ultra-Violent Zombie Mayhem!

Many thanks to Dawhud for telling me about this delicious novel! Ms. Austen's remastered masterpiece comes to us with a little help from Seth Grahame-Smith (his biography: "once took a class in English literature. Lives in Los Angeles.")

I really enjoyed this book. Not only was the novel itself hilarious, but the questions for discussion in the back made me chuckle. (My favorite: "Does Mrs. Bennet have a single redeeming quality?")

For more, check out this description from Amazon:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read."

Run, do not walk, to your nearest bookstore. I loved this book, and I think you will, too!

And Now, For the Anti-Crush

Wow. I seem to be on a Buffy kick lately! Character crushes on Spike, T-shirt allusions, and now... the anti-crush!

Maren suggested that I do a blog post on the anti-crush... that is, the seemingly innocuous character that you just love to hate. The writer(s) of the book, movie, or TV show probably thought they'd created a semi-sympathetic someone. You were supposed to like the guy (or girl) in question. Yet instead, you find yourself consumed with a fiery loathing every time their face appears on the screen (or page, as the case may be). Often, you are not alone. There may be whole fansites devoted to hating this character.

I think the best example of that would have to be Buffy's utterly bland commando boyfriend, Riley Finn. Why do we hate him so? I could go into a deep analysis, but that's already been done brilliantly by others. Jennifer Crusie put it best when she wrote an essay for Seven Seasons of Buffy: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Television Show. Crusie said, "As the corn-fed farm boy, Riley represents the Beautiful American, light and peace and wholesomeness, and Buffy wants to connect to him because she wants to be Good's Girlfriend. But the relationship feels wrong: Riley wears a milk mustache while Buffy's hands drip blood."

Yeah, give me interesting blood over bland milk mustache any day. He wasn't intriguing. He wasn't Angel or Spike. He didn't fit the story, and we were all cheered when he left!

Do me a favor. If you're a Buffy fan, read that Crusie article. Then, I challenge you--tell me a bit about the anti-crush character you love to hate!

Amusing Apparel

Do yourself a favor: get one of these T-shirts from Jinx. You can order directly from their website, or from Amazon! Who wouldn't want a T-shirt that makes allusions to both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight?

I learned about this T-shirt from my friend Sam, and wasted no time in purchasing one for my very own. I wore this to school and it was a big hit with my Twilight-obsessed students. Some of them were horrified, some were delighted, but everyone took notice! Next up? I plan to wear it to my June GSRWA meeting.

From the Jinx website, a little plug for the T-shirt:

Don't you think the vampires-are-people-too thing has gone a little too far? I mean, the whole point of a vampire is that they survive by sucking your blood. I don't care if his skin glows and twinkles and he smells like kittens and fabric softener, he's still just a glorified syringe. Remember the last time you had blood drawn? Yeah, me too, and it sucked! It's time we put an end to this nonsense: Edward, may I treat you to a stake dinner?

What do you think of the T-shirt? Do you plan to make it part of your wardrobe?

I'd date anybody but...

Hello all, I'm Shelli Stevens. Thank you to the Damned Scribbling Women for having me guest blog today! I enjoy visiting this blog, think the ladies who run it are pretty fabulous, plus the blog itself is pretty sweet on the eyes.

Well, yesterday my book Anybody but Justin released. This novella is the first in three in a series that follows three friends with life, friendship, and finding love. My heroine, Gabby, in Anybody but Justin is pretty liberal with her dating life. She's always enjoyed dating. But there's one guy she dares not fall for, and that's her roommate Justin. Even though he's her best friend and she's totally hot for him, she has her reasons for keeping it platonic. But of course Justin has other plans. *Grin*

So now we know that Gabby would rather date anyone but her roommate. Now I'm going to get us all to confess to the guys (or girls) we've all avoided.

Me, there's a few. I've always been pretty turned off by a guy who was just too hot. I mean, eek, I'm no Halle Berry. I'd rather not have to worry about my hottie guy running off with a hotter chick. The other big turn off for me? Well, not so much about the guy, but more of his driving habits. I cannot dig a guy who drives a sports car. Not sure why...they just are so small and feminine to me. LOL.

I tend to like average guys. The ones that have flaws, but are protective, and maybe on the burly side. Oh, and if you drive a truck that's a plus! (Though not for the environment, maybe I should rethink this!) But then again, I'm still single...so right now....hmm all guys are looking pretty sexy. :D

But, how about you? Even if you're married or taken now, tell me how it used to be. Come on and reply, filling in the blanks here: I'd date anybody but ____

One commenter will win a copy of my ebook Anybody but Justin (info below!), which I'm excited to say just received a Recommended Read from Joyfully Reviewed! Or if you already have it, you can pick another ebook off my Samhain backlist!

* * * * * * * * * * *

The line between friends and lovers can get a little blurry…especially when you add tequila.

A Chances Are story.

Gabby is serious about her search for Mr. Right, but no one can say she hasn’t had a good time looking. She enjoys her numerous dates and the sex that comes with them. Until she finds herself falling for the one man she vows to never love. Her best friend and roommate, Justin. A player in every sense of the word—and a reminder of her awful past.

One night, with the help of a bottle of tequila, things get a little too hot for comfort. She moves out, intent on removing him from the line of temptation.

Justin has different plans. The tequila did more than just change how he sees his good friend. It made him realize he doesn’t want to be just friends any more. He’s ready for something more intimate, and he’ll do whatever it takes to find out why she’s running. And convince her to stay.

Available for purchase here.

The Hunky Hero

The noble ladies over at Royal Reviews have issued a challenge, which I finally have time to accept!

This blog post is going to include information on:

• my favorite hero from a novel (and why he's so great)
• a short excerpt/quote involving that hero
• who I would want to play the hero in a movie version of the book.

That last bullet point guided my selection of a hero. While I could never pick an all-time "favorite hero" from a novel, I do know what I'd love to see on the big screen: Kresley Cole's A Hunger Like No Other. I think Gerard Butler would make a fabulous Werewolf King, don't you? Bonus: he's actually Scottish, so the accent would be no problem!

This book has great cinematic potential. And boy, does it start with a bang! Lachlain has been imprisoned by vampires, and cursed to burn to death repeatedly (only to have his mortality revive him again and again). He's been going through this for hundreds of years, so he's more than a little insane. But, true to good writing, the book starts on the Day That's Different. In the midst of torture, he scents his mate... the one woman destined for him, the one woman he's been waiting forever (literally) to love. The poor guy chews off his own leg to get to her:

Fate has given her to him when he needs her most, and God help him--and this city--if he can't find her. His brutality had been legendary, and he will unleash it without measure for her.

Well, he finds her. And guess what?

She's a vampire.

This is definitely one of the best romance novels I've ever read, and I love the hero and heroine. I won't spoil the rest of the book for you. Let's just say that it's got what every reader loves. Conflict, conflict, conflict! Sex, sex, sex! And Lachlain is definitely one hunky hero.

Now it's your turn to share. Who's your hunky hero? Take up the challenge! Even if I didn't list you by name, feel free to post a comment with a link to your own response. After all, think of what will happen if we don't respond. The Hunky Hero is destined to wander the blogosphere forever shirtless, clueless and lonely. You don't want that on your conscience!

I'm tagging:

• Alyssa Goodnight
  
• Ciara Stewart
• Michele Staci
  
• Vivi Andrews
• Kristie (J)
  

Contestosaurus

Thanks for the great welcome yesterday!


As I wrote my first post, I noticed an archaeologist and a paleontologist among my favorites, and I started thinking people dig up exciting stuff in fiction more often than they do in real life. The only things buried in my yard are abandoned toys and squirrel treasures.


I can name a half-dozen fictional archaeologists, including Amelia Peabody and her grumpy Emerson from Elizabeth Peters' series, Daphne and Anthony in Guilty Pleasures, and Dr. Lisa Maxwell, the spelunking archaeology professor in Stolen Fury. Leslie Howard played a pre-Indy Nazi-fighting archaeology professor in the 1941 film Pimpernel Smith. The plot parallels Scarlet Pimpernel, but the film supposedly inspired Raoul Wallenberg to emulate the fictional hero and save thousands of Jews.


Much as I love Harriet Pomeroy, there aren't many fictional paleontologists out there aside from Ross.


Why not?


Is it because dinosaur bones are found places like the Gobi Desert and North Dakota, whereas ancient human habitations can be anywhere, permitting a plot set in Italy or featuring Roman ruins in England? Archaeological treasures can be small, valuable and easily stolen - everyone loves a heist - but imagine stealing Sue the T-Rex from the Field Museum. Maybe authors feel that a hero or heroine who studies ancient culture or history has more appeal than one who studies bones.


Whatever the reason, I want to give all those dashing treasure-hunting archaeologists some competition, so I'm offering my first contest. Three people who post a dino-licious hero or heroine not mentioned above (and not part of the Michael Crichton/Jurassic Park empire) will win a squishy expandable dinosaur in the mail. The prize is a tiny little creature - until you get it wet. I'll make it easier: even a secondary character, if it's a bona fide paleontologist, is a valid entry. Movies count too. Especially if they have Leslie Howard in them.


I'll pick winners Sunday, May 10, random number fashion, not based on how much I like the character, so keep entering until then.

Meet Anna

Hello everyone. I'm thrilled to blog with Kate and Anneliese at DSW. I met Kate through Greater Seattle RWA, where we are usually roommates at the Emerald City Writer's Conference. This week I'll tell you about myself, hold a contest tomorrow and blog about the musical inspirations for my two novels at the end of the week.

Day Job: Never ends. I'm home with two silly preschoolers. We'll call them Big Boy and Boots. I'm also a non-practicing lawyer and former U.S. Army officer.

Hails from: Seattle, Washington (since 1995).

In your next life? I'll have perfect eyesight and be 5'7" - tall enough to never shorten pants again.

Preferred writing snack: A double tall nonfat latte at Herkimer Coffee, something intriguing from the pastry case and two uninterrupted writing hours.

Favorite romantic movie: The Mummy. Isn't Brendan Fraser wonderful when his hair flops over his eyes? Don't all librarians deserve him?

Who are your favorite heroines from romantic fiction?

The paleontologist Harriet Pomeroy in Amanda Quick's Ravished (1992). She is the first Regency heroine I remember having an interest outside marriage, really a profession, that I wanted to share. These days many historical heroines have careers - Laura Lee Guhrke's "girl bachelors" for instance - but Harriet and her dinosaur fetish are still my first favorite.

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again" is my favorite first line, but Lady Dona St. Columb of Frenchman's Creek is my favorite Daphne du Maurier heroine. She has so much more steel than the heroine of Rebecca. Lady St. Columb stares down the conflict between self-fulfillment and responsibility, adventure versus hearth. All with a pirate by her side.

Who are your favorite heroes from romantic fiction?

Sink me, if I don't require a tonic of Sir Percy Blakeney when I grow tired of alpha heroes. I adore Leslie Howard, that long-faced master of disguise, in the 1935 movie. Finding out that Howard's plane was shot down by Nazis shades the Pimpernel mystique into real life.

Who's your favorite Canadian? My sweet husband of almost eight years. He supports my writing, has never once complained about a messy house or eating curried leftovers, and was properly sympathetic last week after I left our new car's sunroof open, overnight, in the rain.

My first contest! Now that you know a bit about me, I hope you'll visit Tuesday afternoon (Pacific time) for my first contest.

Thanks for welcoming me!

Anna Richland

"Name That Navy Book" Contest: WINNER!

It took us a day to deliberate over your wonderful posts, but we've finally selected a winner for our "Name That Navy Book" Contest!

The lucky recipient of a Debbie Macomber novel is...

JAIME
(who's certainly had a string of luck recently!)

Congratulations! We will be contacting you and passing along the prize.

Thanks to everyone who participated! So many of the entries were hilarious, and we encourage you to go back and read them. Here's Jaime's entry:

Title: Navy Doc

Tagline: It was not just her arm that needed healing, it was her heart...

Blurb: Marybeth has survived med school, but basic training is even tougher. The injury that might threaten her career in surgery is less threatening than the injury that Dr. Mike, the senior resident, might inflict on her heart. Is this officer a man of honor, or an open wound? She may be a Navy doc now, but how will she know if her ship has come in?

*GASP*

Not five minutes ago, I sent e-mails to two editors at two of the big-name houses in romance publishing.

Gulp. Gasp. Heart attack.

All fall-out from the Princeton conference. Let me tell you, it is vastly easier to meet editors in an academic setting versus a wanna-be writers' convention. As one of them told me, "I don't have to worry here that if I mention I like Italy, I'll get 20,000 Italian-set mss in the mail."

They gave me their cards, and so I wrote. I don't feel ready. I'd like to rework Then Comes Marriage from top to bottom before showing it to anyone. I'd like to finish All the Things You Are, the new contemporary romance ms I started a few weeks ago, before reaching out to potential publishers.

But...fate puts opportunities in our paths. If I hesitate, I might lose momentum. If I dither for weeks, they could forget all about me.

It was easier to meet editors at an academic conference. We'll see if it's any easier to sell to them.

Gulp.

What Your Mama Told You

I'm back from the Romance Conference at Princeton--and wow, do I have a lot to report. It was a fascinating event, with some great papers and presenters...but I need time to process before I can give a full update. There was just too much to fit in my brain and spit it back out neatly.

As a teaser: a story and a question. Sarah Frantz, one of the academics in attendance, told a story in the context of her paper about reading her first BDSM romance--a relatively tame Harlequin that was handed to her by her mother with the remark "This one has bondage!" when she was fifteen.

I know a lot of women were introduced to the romance genre by their mothers (or sometimes older sisters). I'm in the awkward position of having introduced my mother to the genre. She picked up her first romances after she learned I was writing one and working at a romance-related corporation (my former, pre-grad school job).

I'm a long way off from having a teen or pre-teen daughter. Or son for that matter. But I'm not sure whether I will be comfortable sharing romance novels with her or him. I hope I will be! I hope I'll be a published author well before then and that romances will be like wallpaper to my kids--ordinary, taken for granted aspects of their environment. Nothing to feel embarrassed or ashamed about.

So, to the Damned Scribbling Women and friends: How did you start reading romance? How should mothers and children (daughters and sons) relate together over romance novels?

Snape Celebrates National Poetry Month

If loving Alan Rickman is wrong, I don't want to be right. And many of our readers agree with me!

While posting her list of character crushes, Maren said, "I look over that list, and realize that most of my fantasy character crushes are assholes and/or evil. Troubling. Which reminds me, add Professor Snape to that list."

Fist-the-Dead clearly agreed. In a later post on the same topic, she said, "I was dragged to "Harry Potter" by my friends thinking it would be totally lame. Then I saw Snape. I have to agree that he is an object of lust. He was like Trent Reznor, but a Trent Reznor who could give me detention for not wearing panties. And that my friends, is a good thing."

Love of Alan Rickman: clearly, it's a sign of fabulous taste. After all, the Smart Bitches agree with me--so much that they've posted an MP3 of Rickman reading Shakespeare's Sonnet 130. Hurray! This has got to be every brainy bombshell's secret fantasy. Shakespeare and Professor Snape, together at last?

Yes, please.

So take this moment, before April ends, to celebrate National Poetry Month. Melt a little, courtesy of the Bard and the Potions Professor.

Contest: Name that Navy Book!

How's this for inspiring cover art?

Did you ever read any of Debbie Macomber's "Navy" books? She wrote them for Silhouette Special Edition, and they had names like Navy Husband and Navy Woman. Theresa and I discovered these books while she was pondering whether or not to join--you guessed it--the navy. Not only did we greatly enjoy all of the "Navy" books we picked up at the used bookstore, but we took great pleasure in annotating them with our comments and sending them off to China, where our good friend Riley was working for the Peace Corps.

It was lighthearted reading for a transitional time in all of our lives. We were fresh out of college, starting to pursue our own career paths... all of us agonizing over what the future might hold, and all of us making dating choices that definitely do NOT belong in a romance novel.

Fast forward six years later: Riley, Theresa, and I are all happily married. Theresa is a full-fledged Navy doc, married to someone from her program! That's right, her man is an officer and a doctor. Be still, my heart.

Theresa's other half has been in Iraq for the past few months, but he's scheduled to come home soon. April also the month of their anniversary! So many reasons to celebrate...

Post your best wishes for the happy couple here, or join us in a contest in their honor! We think this doctor duo deserve their own book in the "Navy" series. Post a title, a tag line, and a blurb that does justice to this double-Navy-doc romance. Contest closes on Thursday, April 30th @ 11:59pm (PDT). Multiple entries allowed.

Winner gets one of the Macomber Navy books!

Here's an example from one of Macomber's books:

Title: Navy Blues

Tagline: She needed just one night with him . . .

Blurb: Despite her ex-husband's bullheadedness, Carol Kyle knew he'd be the perfect man to father the child she so desperately wanted. Yet she also realized that the strong, honorable man would never allow his child to be raised without a father. So Carol needed to plot, to plan, to maneuver, to seduce Steve into her bed for one last time . . . And then once more. Still, the passion when they were together was never the problem - it was the absences that tore them apart. Had they grown enough to chance trying again - especially when Carol's plan seemed about to work?

(For our long-time fans: yes, this is a re-post with slight tweaking.)