May 18, 2009 | Uncategorized |
Sorry to have been absent all last week, but the book must be written! I'm still working and will likely be scarce this week too, but I have exciting news to share: I got my author copies for Spanish Magnate, Red-Hot Revenge! Yay!
Even more interestingly, at least to the hubby, is the fact these copies come from his hometown. Yes, Harlequin has a distribution center in Depew, NY. Hubby is still steeped in the irony of it all.
I hope to ship out copies to my winners from previous blogs (Rachel and Patricia) this week. And now we have a new winner from last week! (Scientifically determined, aka randomly drawn from all comments excluding mine.)
EllenToo, please send me your contact details and I'll get you a copy as well!
Who else wants a copy? Leave me a comment telling me why you love Spanish heroes (or Presents novels) and I'll draw a winner in the next few days!
My first author copies
May 11, 2009 | Contests, Heroes, Movies |
This weekend, I took a mini-break from the deadline and went to a movie with my hubby. We both wanted to see Star Trek. I remember the original series, in reruns of course, when I was a kid. It came on late at night, and I just loved it. Then came TNG. That was also a great series, and I'll just bet the producers thought that Will Ryker was going to be their Kirk equivalent (handsome, tall, alpha) instead of Picard. And yet it was Picard that often got the sexy storyline and the girl.
Fast forward (or backward, LOL, if you're serious about your canon) to the new Star Trek movie. Without giving away spoilers, I just have to say that while Kirk is indeed the womanizing sexy guy he always was, the show-stopping majorly sexy guy upon whom I now have a major crush: Spock. OMG, Spock. Who the heck knew?
It's not because the actor, Zachary Quinto, is all that. (He is good looking, yes, but it's not that.) It's the emotion he puts into Spock. And the fight with that emotion. Spock is not the unfeeling intellect we've known and loved. He's still the supreme logical guy — and yet he's fighting with himself, warring with his emotions, and it's the most incredibly sexy thing imaginable.
There is so much more, and I just don't want to say because if you haven't seen it then I don't want to ruin it. But oh my. Kirk is over the top alpha, as always, but it's Spock's tormented alpha that strikes a chord for me and reminds me so much of why I love Harlequin Presents.
Presents heroes are always Captain Kirk in many ways. They are large and in charge. They take a backseat to no one. But they are also at war with themselves once they've met the heroine (if not before). They are brave, strong men trying really damn hard not to show or feel emotion. They battle like hell to keep a lid on it. But when they lose? When they cave in to the heroine and admit they're in love? I am so weak at the knees by then.
I'm writing a hero now who is battling emotion. He's battling some dark stuff, and yet he won't be able to keep it in ultimately. The heroine will know that while he's strong and capable of battling the world, he can't battle her. She is the one who gets inside, who is able to help him accept that emotion is fine and good and not at all contrary to strength and power. Ooooh, shiver, I love this kind of stuff.
And I totally love Spock. Can't wait for the sequel!
Have you seen Star Trek? What did you think? Are you crazy for Spock? Or does Kirk's swaggering alpha do it for you? (Don't get me wrong, I love a swaggering alpha too! And Kirk is also tortured, but his torment isn't as bad as Spock's.)
I'm so sure that Spock is a tortured Harlequin Presents type hero that I'm giving away a copy of my book today to one lucky commenter. See if Alejandro de Ramirez isn't holding something in and fighting it with all his might! (Be aware you will have to wait about a month or so before I get copies, but soon as I do, I'll send it over!)
May 6, 2009 | Uncategorized |
I'm afraid the posts might get sporadic now. My deadline is fast approaching, and I have much work to do. Spent the morning battling tornadoes. Hope we're all done with those for a while. Pretty please?
What's your natural disaster where you live? Tornadoes? Hurricanes? Earthquakes? None of the above?
May 5, 2009 | Uncategorized |
This past weekend was the 12th Annual Heart of Dixie Readers' Luncheon. It was my first time participating as an author, and what a fun time it was! Disappointingly, I wasn't able to sign books with the other authors since my first isn't out until August, but I still had a blast. To be included with the likes of Vicki Lewis Thompson, Linda Howard, Linda Winstead Jones, Beverly Barton, Debra Webb, and Rhonda Nelson? It's one of those dream come true moments, I assure you.
There were so many talented authors there, in fact, that I was torn between being a fangirl and being a dignified author. 🙂 I think I managed dignified fairly well, however….
Vicki was our guest speaker, and she is absolutely as hilarious in person as she is in her books. The visuals she created for the audience were laugh out loud funny, of course. I simply can't imagine getting up on that stage and speaking to an audience of nearly 200 the way she did, but I hope I'll be in that position one day. Not that I want to speak to a large audience, but I want someone to think I'm a big enough draw to justify asking me. Definitely a dream at this point, so I won't panic over the idea of preparing a speech anytime soon. 🙂
Lunch was fabulous, the prizes were amazing as always, and my very own mother won not only a door prize, but also a raffle basket. She told me the next day that she counted 14 books in her haul — and that didn't include the petit fours, scone mix, tea, and other assorted goodies she also got.
Here I am at my table (I'm in the middle). You can also see this picture on my Meet Lynn page, as well as a photo of all the attending authors. (Barbara Vey of Publisher's Weekly featured the photo of the authors on her blog yesterday, too.)
How did your weekend go? Read any great books? I definitely got a haul of books, including the debut romantic suspense by chaptermate Christy Reece that I'm dying to dig into.
May 1, 2009 | Uncategorized, Life |
So my mother calls yesterday. The woman is not known for spontaneity in large measures — though she will spontaneously hop in the car and drive a hundred miles to see a potential rare antique, for example; or will take an eighty mile side trip just to see the spot where some interesting historical person once laid his weary head. She's very good at that kind of spontaneity. But large, spontaneous gestures like hopping on a plane to Europe in less than a week?
Color me gobsmacked. And envious. See, Mom read yesterday's blog post about my crazy week, and my upcoming crazy weeks, and then picked up the phone and said, “Well, I guess you can't go, but I thought I'd ask anyway. M (her friend) and I are thinking of going to Paris next week.”
What?! Paris? Next week? Seriously?
Yeah, seriously. They found cheap flights, they found an inexpensive hotel, they think they'll rent a car for some day tripping, and they've plotted out a week. I'm still in shock. My mother, adventurous though she is, does not drop everything and go to Paris in a week. But am I happy about it? Oh yeah. A little over a year ago, this was the woman who worked at a job that was strangling the life and health from her. When she decided to retire (another spontaneous event, actually), it was the best thing she ever did for herself.
And now she's planning short-notice trips to Paris. I like it. I'm shocked, but I like it. Wish I could go, but I have two problems. One, deadline. Two, I've had “Renew Passport” on my To Do list for months. As soon as I got off the phone with her, I went to the State Dept website and filled out the form. Now it's printed, my old passport is sitting here with it, and all I need are two photos and a check for $75. I'm not getting left out of spontaneous trips to Paris ever again.
Have you ever done a spontaneous trip like this? Just dropped everything and jetted away to somewhere you wanted to go? Or are you a planner, someone who has to book and pay for a trip months (or years) in advance? I admit, when I lived in Europe, it was no big deal to hop in a car and go. I did it quite a lot. But I've never bought a plane ticket at the last minute for a big trip off the cuff.
