Wild Card Weekend - Second Chances

This Wild Card Weekend, welcome to Dana Marton with her blog on second chances....

I’ve been always fascinated by the concept of second-chances. I find the fact that no matter how badly we mess up, we can always try again, very encouraging. I’ve written a number of novels that explore this thought. Desert Ice Daddy is one of them. Akeem Abdul is the grandson of a powerful sheik, but he grew up in poverty in Texas because his mother had to flee her native land to stay alive. Now, thirty some years later, Akeem and his friends built empires and he’s called the Texas sheik, a billionaire in his own right.

He’s tough and relentless, the consummate businessman. Over the years there was only one thing he denied himself--the woman he loved. Taylor McKade is his best friend’s little sister, firmly off limits as far as Akeem was concerned, no matter how torn up he was when Taylor married another man and moved away.

But now Taylor is back with her son, having left her abusive, drunkard husband. When her son is kidnapped and it seems he’d been taken into a remote Texas desert called Hell’s Porch, Akeem is the only one who can help her track the boy. Fighting the heat, wild animals and the kidnappers, he swears that if he can save them all, he’ll never let Taylor and her son go again.

Since Akeem and Taylor had been in love with each other forever, there was an emotional intensity and passion between them that was a lot of fun to write. Akeem got his second chance and he doesn’t waste it. How about you? Any major decision you regret in the past? Anything you’d like to do over given the chance?

Dana Marton
http://www.danamarton.com/

Desert Ice Daddy is part of Harlequin’s 60 Anniversary Celebration

Billionaires. Bachelors. But that’s all about to change…

Must Watch Friday - TiVO with Kay Stockham

So, when I signed up to blog here at PHS, I was given the theme of Must Watch Friday. The thing is? Everything I watch is via TiVo. Yes, I HEART TiVo. You see, in my family, the television is generally off limits to me. Why? Because I like movies, mainly those considered chick flicks, and shows where I can’t feel my IQ lowering. Yes, I’m the boring MOM.

Which is why for Must Watch Friday I’ve decided to post a list of my favorite TiVo listings. Here they are in no particular order:

Sex in the City. Carrie Bradshaw and her romps through NYC aren’t new by any means but they’re new to me. When Carrie debuted, I was a tired, worn out mom of two under two who could’ve cared less about Carrie and her friends. Yes, I have a lot of Sex to catch up on. Jerry’s character definitely helps ease the process.

The Biggest Loser. Gotta tell you, not a whole lot of sexiness going on here BUT I absolutely love the show. Talk about inspiring! I love the trainer tips, learning the different methods of working out but wish they’d show more in the general area of healthy cooking.

American Idol. There are some hot prospects on American Idol this year. I love to watch the early shows, pick my faves and see how they do. Right now there is a sixteen year old red head by the name of Allison Iraheta I just know will be the winner. She rocks!

Crusoe. Anyone watching this? Some shows are better than others but I find myself watching every week regardless. Might have something to do with this guy.

House. The man’s got it going on. How anyone can watch an episode and not be hooked is beyond me.

Two and a Half Men. This show has awesome one-liners. When I need comedic relief? This is the one. Love the orneriness of it, the comedy and the just plain fun of it. Charlie Sheen isn’t bad either.

Grey’s Anatomy. There are so many hunks on this show I don’t know where to begin. Patrick Dempsey is a given. The man is gorgeous, sensitive and all around loveable. Then there is Eric Dane who plays Dr. McSteamy (hot, hot, hot!) and a new favorite? Kevin McKidd. He’s the new guy at Grey’s and I positively LOVE the chemistry between him and Sandra Oh’s character. HOT!

And last but not least, LOST. Again, way too many hunks that keep me watching no matter what. Yeah, the story line is good, too, but let’s face it—seeing this guy every week? Sawyer is just too yummy. Toss in Jack and the rest of them and, well, I can see why so many people wouldn’t mind being on that island—monsters, Others and all.

So those are my TiVo faves. What are your favorite, can’t-do-without shows? Am I missing shows I need to TiVo? I’ll chose a winner from those who post and they can choose between Another Man's Baby or His Son's Teacher, books one and two of my Tulanes of Tennessee series.

Kay Stockham’s third book in her Tulanes of Tennessee series is titled Her Best Friend's Brother and will be on shelves March 10. Her Best Friend's Brother was given 4.5 stars by RT and chosen as an RT Top Pick. For more information on the series, Kay’s backlist, contests and more, please visit her at http://www.kaystockham.com/.

Thursday Talk-Time - Mood Music with Donna Alward

Last week I really enjoyed Anne McAllister's post on music and whether to write with it or without. I posted in the comments that while I often have a soundtrack, I don't actually listen to it as I'm writing. I'll put it on when I check my e-mail first thing in the morning, or eat lunch, or listen to a song a couple of times before I launch into a scene.

Like Anne, sometimes the noise distracts and pulls me out of the scene, and it's so very vital to be present in it. But at the same time, music speaks to me so deeply that I inevitably find songs that cry out to be heard in reference to a specific story or character. And this isn't something new....one of the first songs that I attached to a story was Diamond Rio's "Unbelievable" for a dance at Connor and Alex's wedding in Hired By The Cowboy.

The first time I heard "Far Away" by Nickelback, for instance, my husband played it for me and I sat and cried. That became my song for Jonas in The Soldier's Homecoming, before I ever even started the book.

Josh Groban's album CLOSER was the mood music for Hired: The Italian's Bride, my release coming up in June.

And "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts was definitely Lucy and Brody's song in The Rancher's Runaway Princess - as well as "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" - as those of you who have read (and thank you if you have!) will remember.

There is another story burning in my mind, one that I hope to start writing very soon and for some reason it has caused me to spend a considerable amount of time on YouTube. It also prompted me to watch The Lord of the Rings trilogy - all 12 hours of it. Again. And I discovered Celtic Woman.

Now I'll confess there's a lot of Celtic Woman I don't care to listen to. But there are a few songs that have helped me pull more notes together for this future project. First of all is their version of May It Be (from LOTR). I immediately thought, if that doesn't say woman standing on a cliff looking out to sea thinking of her lover, I don't know what does.

Then there was The Last Rose of Summer, which is beautifully sung.

But I think my favourite might be The Soft Goodbye, which actually made me cry at one point.

Will I listen to these as I write? Probably not. But the spirit, the emotions they inspire will always be just beneath the surface, lending support (I hope!) to the story I'm trying to tell.

Donna's rushing headlong towards an April 1 deadline, and listening to "Broken" by Lifehouse and "The Blower's Daughter" by Damien Rice for inspiration!

Her next release is Hired: The Italian's Bride, coming in June!

Writer's Wednesday - Elle Kennedy

Please welcome debut Blaze author, Elle Kennedy, for our Writer's Wednesday!

First off, I wanted to thank the ladies at the Pink Heart Society for having me today! My debut Blaze, Body Check, is out in stores now, and I’m thrilled to finally see my name on a Blaze cover. After years of rejection, I figured I’d never sell a darn book, so I’m pretty glad I was wrong about that.

But the title of this blog sums up the way I was feeling last year. At the time, I’d had a proposal out with Blaze, and a full manuscript with Silhouette Romantic Suspense. And I told myself, if neither of them sells, it’s time to give up. I’m not a quitter. Really, I’m not. But I am a realist. If I wasn’t going to make any money writing, then I needed to find another way to bring in an income, and writing was sucking up so much of my time.

So, I made the decision to quit submitting work. I had a whole plan: find a good paying, full-time job, buy a house, maybe have a kid. And as for writing, well, I’d think of it as a hobby, and not a career. I was being realistic

Two weeks after the decision was made, I got a call from the editor at Silhouette Romantic Suspense, saying she wanted to buy my book. Two weeks after that, Brenda Chin from Blaze called me and said she wanted to buy my book too. How’s that for luck?!

Needless to say, I am unbelievably relieved that giving up didn’t have to be an option. I think I really would’ve done it, though, had I stacked up another pile of rejections. Life as an aspiring writer is hard! Submitting, waiting for months only to get rejected, submitting again—hey, a request for a full!—waiting again, and yup, another rejection. I did it for years, and each new rejection took my confidence down a notch or two. Until last year I finally reached that breaking point and had to say, look, maybe you’re just not a good writer!

Fortunately, two editors disagreed with that notion. And honestly, I learned a valuable lesson. Getting published is extremely difficult. It doesn’t happen with the snap of your fingers. I always wonder, though, would I have actually given up?

I’m really glad I never had to find that out….

But I am curious—has anyone else ever given up on their dream? Have you ever gotten so frustrated by not reaching a goal that you just threw it out the window? Do you regret it? Or did the dream come true?

Share your answers! One commenter will win a copy of Body Check, so even if you don’t have an answer, comment anyway for a chance to win!

Elle

Temptation Tuesday - Reminiscing

I was going to talk about gianduja (aka ‘better than sex’ chocolate, as my heroines call it in my London City General trilogy) – but as my favourite supplier has changed their product listings this month and it’s currently unavailable, talking about it when I can’t have it is kind of like rubbing salt in the wound. (Especially when I have a screaming deadline and am in need of the stuff. Sob.)

So instead I’m going to talk about another of my favourite indulgences – especially as I’ve been talking about it on my blog recently and it seems I’m not the only one....

Reminiscing.

My current memory-fest started when my daughter was practising songs for her school choir’s concert – and it included a song from Grease. (Yes, I know it was 1978. Almost the 80s. Bear with me.) I bought her the DVD, and she absolutely loved it.

Then I noticed the kind of things that are being played on the radio at the moment – either 80s originals or cover versions. And what do they have on Wii Boogie? Songs such as ‘Walking on Sunshine’ and ‘Karma Chameleon’. Definitely 80s. (And yes, I get nagged into doing those ones with the kids.)

And then I was flicking through a magazine when I noticed the kind of clothes and make-up that seem trendy right now. Ra-ra skirts, coloured tights, and blue mascara... (Please, someone tell me that legwarmers, poodle perms and mullets are not coming back! I admit, Jon Bon Jovi managed to look good in a bad perm - but he's an exception and would look good in just about anything. Just to make the point, look at how gorgeous he is now with a decent haircut.)

Terrible hair, terrible clothes, shoulder pads and strong perfumes. Not to mention terrible dancing (Fame had a lot to answer for). I remember it all, first time round. And I’ve been having a wonderful time reminiscing about it lately!

But this isn't just self-indulgence. It’s also quite helpful for a writer to reminisce. Why? Well, when you think about what reminds you of the decade when you had your first kiss/met the love of your life (which is the position your heroine is in, in your book), the things you remember are the same kind of things that will have an impact on your heroine. The music, the clothes, the films, the food, the scents... Obviously you won’t put them all on the page (you’re not going to make the mistake of burying your reader under an information dump), but if you know your characters well you’ll be aware of the kind of things they notice.

And – this is the crunch bit – how these things make them feel. Because that’s what a category romance novel is all about: the emotion.

Got a baby or children in the story? That’s your chance to reminisce about your own pregnancy (or, if you don’t have children, a close friend or relative’s pregnancy, and the first time you held that child). The first smile, the first word, the first tooth, the first step, the first day at school, the first visit from the tooth fairy – all things that will have an impact on your hero and heroine. How did those events make you feel? Your hero/heroine is likely to feel the same way. (Or you can twist it and add something completely different, start a chain of what-ifs, and end up in a completely different place. But it's the initial reminiscence that'll start it off.)

Weddings? Oh, yes. The moment you exchanged your vows, the first dance, the cake, the flowers. (Even now, when we go to a wedding, DH and I hold hands that little bit more tightly as the vows are exchanged, and at the reception we remember our own first dance. According to Son, we start looking all soppy...)

Reminiscing, and remembering how things make you feel, can help you add that extra layer or two to your book. True, you might never wear blue mascara again... but you can remember how you feel when you put it on. The possibilities that life held, and all the dreams.

So come and tell me one of your favourite memories – 80s-based or otherwise. Something that’ll put a smile on your face even on a rainy Tuesday morning. Whether it's glittery hairspray, a fashion mistake or something that really rocked your world.


I'll start. This is probably something that people in the UK might remember most, so I apologise in advance - and it's definitely an 80s moment. There was a record by a band called Splogenessabounds: 'Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please'. Now, given that I was working as a barmaid (no, not 'working as a waitress in a cocktail bar' - this isn't a Human League moment) when I first met my husband, care to guess what his first words to me were? (Honestly. They really were!)

Kate Hardy has a few books out this month.





















In the UK, on shelves you can find the first in her To Tame a Playboy duo, Surrender to the Playboy Sheikh (Modern Heat’s first sheikh! And if you give it another 10 days you’ll be able to get an early copy of the second in the duo - Playboy Boss, Pregnancy of Passion - from the M&B website); plus the second half of the London Victoria duo, The Children’s Doctor’s Special Proposal. You can get them both on the M&B website in the UK (and the Med is still available at eHarlequin in the US – sorry, you’ll have to wait until July for the Sheikh). And in Australia you can get an early copy of The Children’s Doctor’s Special Proposal on the Harlequin website.

You can find out more about these books, and Kate, on her website (http://www.katehardy.com/) and her blog (http://katehardy.blogspot.com/)

Male on Monday: Mr Rochester

This week our columnist Annie West revisits one of English literature’s best known heroes, Charlotte Bronte’s Mr Rochester.

Some time ago I had fun writing about one of my favourite characters: Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. Upstanding, oh-so-correct, honourable, responsible, rich and good looking – what a man! Perfect a subject for romance. That made me think about the other men who people our romances. The ones who mightn’t be quite so honourable and upstanding, but who are just as riveting.

Fanfare here for Edward Fairfax Rochester, owner of Thornfield Manor. Brooding employer of innocent, serious Jane Eyre. A man of mystery who delights in learning more about the prim, starchy little woman who’s come to work for him.

First up Rochester isn’t good looking. The author goes out of her way to say so. She even has Rochester ask Jane if she thinks he’s handsome to which she replies immediately ‘No, sir.’. He’s described like this:

His figure was enveloped in a riding cloak, fur collared and steel clasped; its details were not apparent, but I traced the general points of middle height, [since Jane is tiny that’s tall] and considerable breadth of chest. He had a dark face, with stern features and a heavy brow; his eyes and gathered eyebrows looked ireful just now [his horse had pitched him onto the ice!]; he was past his youth but had not reached middle age; perhaps he might be thirty-five.

Later Jane explains:
My master's colourless, olive face, square, massive brow, broad and jetty eyebrows, deep eyes, strong features, firm, grim mouth,--all energy, decision, will,--were not beautiful, according to rule; but they were more than beautiful to me: they were full of an interest, an influence that quite mastered me...

Hm. Personally, I have a soft spot for a man with a broad chest, dark features and expressive eyes. As for energetic, decisive and wilful – it sounds like a handbook for some of our better known romantic heroes.

Unfortunately before I read the book I saw the black and white film, featuring Orson Wells in the title role. That film put me off Jane Eyre for years. You can see why. Mr Wells doesn’t do brooding gothic-style hero well. To bring Rochester to life an actor needs intensity and charisma. Look at Timothy Dalton or Toby Stevens in the role and you’ll see what I mean.

When they meet Rochester indulges in an intriguing game of discovering Jane’s identity without disclosing that he’s her employer. Before long we know Rochester feels something for Jane, but what precisely we’re not sure.

Mr Rochester is rich, respected, authoritative, strong and intrigued by the heroine. He’s shaping up clearly as hero material. But there’s a side to him that makes him even more fascinating. Jane herself says:

Remember, the shadows are just as important as the light.

I think that might be the key to Edward Rochester. The shadows that haunt him and make him a man unable to live a carefree life, unable to relax despite his wealth and power. Shadows that make him crave the simple, honest love of a devoted woman like Jane and urge him on to reckless action. Rochester will do anything, even flout the laws of state and church to get what he desires so badly.

Rochester is tied helplessly to the incurably and dangerously mad woman he wed years before. He can’t free himself of her and still feels responsible for her. Yet he craves love and when he comes to know Jane he falls for her, totally and unequivocally. His complete fixation on her is one of the things that makes him appealing to the reader. He says to Jane:

'I sometimes have a queer feeling with regard to you--especially when you are near me, as now: it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous channel, and two hundred miles or so of land come broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapt; and then I've a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly. As for you--you'd forget me.'

Not only does he care for her, he’s not afraid to admit it! He’s vulnerable to her.

But unlike a more upright man, Rochester takes desperate action to be with the woman he loves. He plans to commit bigamy to find happiness with Jane. When the truth is discovered, he faces the situation head on but cannot be sorry for it. We have a portrait of a strong, determined man, desperately in love and unapologetic for his attempt to have the woman he needs.

The strength of his passion and his desperation to hold onto Jane, are, I believe, part of his appeal. Don’t we adore a hero who’ll go to any lengths to win the woman he loves? We’re appalled by his actions but also by the situation he’s in. Even those who stopped the wedding feel sympathy for him.

The fact that he then suffers terribly when Jane leaves, and is crippled trying to save the life of the mad woman who’s been the bane of his life for so long, redeems him, for most readers at least.

Edward Rochester is dangerous – he’s willing to take Jane to wife in an adulterous marriage that would ruin both of them if it’s discovered. On the other hand he’s driven by love, the need to possess the one woman who means everything to him. He’s brooding, mysterious, clever, decisive, devious and intriguing. He suffers for love and is ultimately saved by it. If you like your heroes on the dark side, Mr Rochester is definitely one for you.

Do you like dangerous, dark heroes, or are you attracted by someone a little more respectable? Are you a Rochester fan or a Darcy fan? Or do have prefer another sort of hero altogether?

Annie’s own heroes are often desperate and for a while at least her heroines see them as a danger to their freedom and definitely to their ability to think straight! Her current hero, Khalid, finds in Maggie a sexy, strong heroine who turns his world upside down. He's driven to actions he'd never before considered. THE DESERT KING’S PREGNANT BRIDE is a mid April release in the US. You can read an excerpt or enter a contest to win the book on her website. You can also buy the paperback or ebook now.