Weekend Wildcard: Go Green with Harlequin Romance Authors

Harlequin Romance is going green this month with the UK release of two specially-paired Aussie stories with wounded heroes, artistic heroines and landscaping themes.

Nikki Logan launches her Harlequin Romance career with her 4.5 star debut, 'Lights, Camera...Kiss The Boss'. Nikki calls herself a nature-based writer: she believes that the passion and risk of falling in love are perfectly mirrored by the danger and richness of wild places.

'Australian Boss: Diamond Ring' brings award winning author Jennie Adams into her sixth year as a Harlequin Romance author. Jennie's books often explore themes of family and overcoming the odds. In this case, with an out-of-the-ordinary landscape designer hero and the graphic artist he employs to help lift his business to a new level.

Thanks so much for having us, PHS.

We've been looking forward to this weekend for ages.

*Waving to all the Pink Heart readers*

It's a WildCard Weekend so we're going to zoom through a couple of things that we (as writers) enjoy bringing readers. And we want to hear what you love best about your favourite romance stories! Keep up, we're going to be flying between topics! Coffee topped up...? Okay let's go.

Nikki: Something that means a lot to me as a writer is incorporating a third character in every book - mother nature. One of the things I loved and really connected with about your book, Jennie, is that several of your most pivotal scenes take place on the ridge of a mountain in the Australian bush. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Jennie: I must admit I'm probably a little self-indulgent when it comes to choosing scene settings within my stories. I love Australia as a country, partly because it's so diverse when it comes to climate and scenery. The scenes in Australian Boss: Diamond Ring that are set in the New South Wales Blue Mountains were fun to write for me because I lived in that area for a while and absolutely loved it. I don't think you can be there, really, without feeling that you've been brought back to nature. I think that kind of setting works well when characters are exploring the issues that are deep at the heart of who they are, and what they need in life. I'm not sure if I'd say setting is a third character for me, but it certainly has its impact on the style and tone of each story.
Readers - What settings do you love to read? Do you most love to be swept away to an exotic locale? Or read a story that could happen around the corner from your home? If you could read a book set absolutely anywhere, where would that place be?

Nikki: When I was dreaming up Ava Lang for ‘Lights, Camera…’ she was always going to be earthy but I wasn't expecting her to turn out arty, like your Fiona. Ava's a country girl with a really pure heart and an absolute passion for nature. It was tricky finding a way to make that work in Australia's most crowded city but once I hit on the idea of a landscape designer renovating barren rooftops into gardens I was off. The nature-loving heroine is a bit of a common thread in my books. What are your 'signature' heroines, Jennie?

Jennie: First up I have to say that I think a heroine renovating barren rooftop gardens in the heart of a city, but a country girl herself, sounds like a lot of fun to write - and read! I love reading stories where the characters are thrown into an environment that is out of their usual element. My heroines are often quirky or a bit different, but I have a sneaking suspicion (and my reader mail suggests) that there are a lot of women readers out there who can very much relate. I think a heroine who can think outside the box a little and has a big heart often works well with a hero with a past. He can be as prickly as he wants to be, but she's still going to break through his reserves . I do enjoy pitting a damaged hero against a quirky, bouncy, look-life-in-the-eye-and-be- happy-regardless kind of heroine. I like watching the sparks fly!
Nikki: Ah, love a damaged hero *sigh*
Readers - Do you believe a man can be healed by the love of a woman?

Jennie: Nikki, what motivated you to write your damaged hero, Dan? People often ask me if I style my heroes on my experiences or those of people dear to me. How was Dan's character born and what are the keys to his nature and situation?

Nikki: Dan was always going to be a surfer turned suit. I wanted a hero who chose the wrong path and has lost sight of the way out. It takes Ava ages to dig beneath the protective layers to get to why. In fact, Dan and your Brent both keep a lot of secrets from their past (and from their heroines!) but Dan's is more of the bitter-n-twisted variety that fuels his furious drive for public success. Brent has this lovely support team of brothers supporting him through a really private, really challenging pain...

Jennie: I loved writing Brent and his two brothers. The condition that Brent wrestles with is one that I'd wanted to write about for a while, and his history and upbringing were things that had personal significance to me. Digging down to find all the layers of Brent was a bit of a personal journey for me as well, but worth it.

Nikki: While 'tortured hero' is more common, I have no objections to a tortured heroine either. As long as both characters can express it in a way that still makes them nice people. We all have shadows in our past that drive how we are in the present. In fact, part of Ava's attraction to nature and all things wild is because she's lost a bit of confidence in human-kind since Dan broke her heart when she was a young woman.

Jennie: Reunion stories bring the hope that things that have happened in the past can heal and two people can find their way forward, stronger than before. Did you plan a reunion story from the start?
Nikki: No, I didn't set out for that to happen but Ava forced the story that way. About a third of the way in I suddenly realised 'Oh, they knew each other before!' And once I made that mental shift the rest of the story wrote itself.
Jennie: Some of the best stories come about when the characters start dictating. I'd like to say we just sit back and act as the conduit for the words to appear on the screen, but it's usually a bit harder work than that :-)
Nikki: Couldn’t agree more. Another similarity our stories have are some really gorgeous minor characters. Readers who’ve read pre-release copies of 'Lights Camera' have loved Cadence, the surly goth character--again a character that I wasn't planning to write until she burst into Ava's office in all her PVC-wearing glory. One day I'd love to give Cadence her own story. But Brent's brothers, Alex and Linc are both as gorgeous as he is and they're just so loving to each other. Is there a story for each of them in the future?

Jennie: (Rubs hands together). Secondary characters can really lift a book. One of my fun moments as a Mum of teenagers was dropping off a teen friend at his house in the middle of the night. His driveway was long and winding, it was after midnight, the dead of winter. He was tall and slender with straight, jet black hair and dressed in black from head to foot. As he strode up the driveway, the sides of his trench coat flapped about his calves and his hair drifted in the faint misty breeze. My writer's mind went straight to 'The Count of Monte Christo' and of course I shared this insight with my teen son, who was rather unimpressed with my imagination. Still, there is something spectacular about someone who has the courage to dress to their own 'tune'. I like Cadence already! And yes, there will be stories for Brent's two brothers. Actually, I'm working on one of them right now.

Readers - What do you most like (or dislike) about linked books, such as stories about brothers?

Well... we could do this all day :) Thanks so much to everyone who came along to celebrate the release with us. We'd love to hear your comments about wounded heroes, natural settings, signature heroines, minor characters you'd love to see in their own books or anything else we've chatted about today.

PHS - thanks again for letting us scootch up on your comfy couch for WildCard Weekend!

And thanks to all our Pink Heart Readers for dropping by.

Lights Camera.. Kiss The Boss by Nikki Logan is the Pink Heart Society's book of the month for discussion on 23 February. Please come and join in the fun! If you are in the UK, it is 2 in 1 so you can read both stories.

Must-Watch Friday: Francesco's Venice

Sometimes, in a romance, the setting is as much of a character as the hero and heroine. And that’s why this week I’m not looking at a romantic film, as such – I’m looking at a series that charts the history of a city that’s just full of romance and amazing stories.

Venice.

OK, confession time. I’m going there in April. Actually, it’ll be the very first time I’ve visited La Serenissima. Sono molto eccitata per il viaggio. (So excited, as you can tell, that I’m brushing up my rusty Italian – and teaching my daughter bits too.)

Naturally this means that I’m reading a lot of books about the city… and watching a certain DVD, i.e. Francesco’s Venice – the subject of my post today.

Count Francesco da Mosto’s family has lived in Venice for hundreds and hundreds of years, and he knows his native city’s history well. I love his presentation – he’s an expert on architecture (one of my big passions) and showcases the city beautifully, from the faded grandeur of some of its palazzi through to the glories of its churches (I cannot wait to see the horses and the stone carvings in St Mark’s).

It’s divided into four parts – Blood, Beauty, Sex and Death.

Blood tells us how the city was founded, how the Doges were elected, and how St Mark’s body was stolen and brought to the city to fulfil a prophecy. And then there’s the story of Doge Enrico Dandolo, who deflected a crusade in 1202 to get revenge on his trading rivals in Constantinople (mind you, they had blinded him, so you can understand why he was upset with them) and to expand the Venetian empire. I was fascinated to learn that even though Venice was almost on its knees (thanks to Constantinople), the citizens all pooled their wealth to build the huge square of the Piazza San Marco in defiance.

Beauty tells how the city grew in wealth after the plunder of Constantinople, and how the architectural style became a fusion between Gothic and the East. And then, after the fire of 1514, there was much rebuilding (cue Palladio). And then there was the flowering of art, with Titian and Veronese… brought to a halt by the plague of 1575.

Sex shows how Venice became the pleasure capital of Europe. Casanova got about a bit (!); architecture became Baroque; Vivaldi composed an awful lot of tunes (to sell the dedications to rich patrons – and I love his cello concerti); and Canaletto painted. There’s the Bridge of Sighs, the Ridotto and San Barnaba… and then Napoleon sacked the city, deposed the Doge and the Republic was overthrown.

Death brings us up to date. Tourism – Byron, Dickens, Turner and Ruskin romanticised the city, and arguments started about modernisation versus restoration.

And in between there are the stories. The duels, the lovers, the Doges, the thieves, revenge. (Francesco tells them so well that I’m going to be forced to buy his cookbook, because I bet it’s going to be as fab a read as Locatelli’s.)

Rich, rich pickings for a romantic novelist. (And Francesco has the most gorgeous voice. Almost as nice as that of Mr Banderas, which is something coming from me!)

Watching the DVD is a real inspiration. And I can’t wait to go and explore the city for myself!



In the UK, Kate’s latest book, Good Girl or Gold Digger?, is just about to hit the shelves. You can still get Falling for the Playboy Millionaire from the Mills and Boon website in Australia; and Temporary Boss, Permanent Mistress is still available in the US. You can find out more about these books, and Kate, on her website (http://www.katehardy.com/) and her blog (http://katehardy.blogspot.com/)

What Are You Reading? Linda Thomas Sundstrom

Nocturne author Linda Thomas Sundstrom reveals what she is reading!

Hello Pink Heart Society . . . What a wonderful way to kick off a Thursday, with a subject so close to my own little pink heart - books!

I am a book junkie. I read books, write books, listen to books on CD, and covet stories of all kinds. I wonder if you're the same? Like great movies, I equate reading terrific books to eating deep, dark chocolate. Yum! Blissful! Can't get enough!

I have stacks of books in every room, mostly arranged very neatly on floor to ceiling shelves of course. But then there are the stacks on my office floor, and more on my bedside table, that call to me. Thing is, it's difficult to get to them when I'm busy writing my own. And as I have three books out early this year (Jan, Feb, and March Nocturnes in my Wolf Moons series, released back to back),as well as a brand new contract for four more Nocturnes.... and well.... you get my drift.

So - with as little time as I do have to read, I get real particular. And I get a lot of books "in" by listening to them on audio as I drive to and from the day job (I'm a teacher). Books on CD are the best things going for someone as time-challenged as I am these days. However, I'll tend to listen to books I wouldn't necessarily pick up to read - remember that being particular confession?

There are some books that just need to be held, smelled, and read, line by precious line. You know? The feel of a book in my hands and the sound of the paper turning are blissful moments for me. I've been known to read paragraphs over several times to figure out why it struck me as being so good, or soulful. Only a book in the hand can allow for such things. So nope, I'll never be a Kindle or other e-reader fan. Don't care how many books they'll hold ---- the key is that you can't hold those books at all.

And another thing - I have a need to keep the books I love, even if I may never read them again. I have the compulsion to own them, and look at them on my shelf - which turns out to be sort of like my life on a shelf. I can see past, current, and future titles, and remember where I was when I bought or read those titles. Can't you? Like old songs?

Two of my all-time favorites: 1) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien. By far and away the best thing I've ever read, and I've read it six or more times all the way through, from high school on up, and still get caught up in the tale. And 2) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I mean, talk about writing talent, and addressing a personal philosophy so cleanly, whether or not you as a reader go along with it. Wow.

Then - more current titles I've really enjoyed for a whole host of reasons:
The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafon), Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd), all of Kim Harrison's urban fantasies, the Harry Potter series (need I say who wrote those?), all of Lisa Scottline's legal thrillers, all of Jim Butcher's quirky urban fantasies, Simon R Green's even quirkier urban fantasies, Janet Evanovish's Stephanie Plum series, early Sue Grafton books, early Laurell K. Hamilton Anita Blake books, early Ann Rice vampire fare. The list goes on.

Then, there are the non-fiction books, too numerous to mention.

So - what am I reading or listening to right now? At this minute?
In my car, I'm listening to a John Sanford mystery - "Phantom Prey." On my elliptical machine, and night, just before the lights go out, I'm reading one of those books I have to hold and read and savor = Kim Harrison's "Black Witch, White Curse." At the same time, I'm reading Nocturnes written by my fellow Nocturne authors... and have a stack of six that are calling to me.


Paranormal fare is my favorite. Both dark and light - which is what I write, both dark and light paranornmal romances. My light side - "Barbie and the Beast," last April's Dorchester release. My current, darker side - the "Wolf Moons" series for Nocturne that come out this month and next. "Red Wolf," and "Wolf Trap." Sexy werewolf fare in a hot Miami series.

How about you? What are you reading currently?
Do cough up some juicy titles, so we can add them to our list.

More questions: Do you read across several genres, interested in all good stories, or do you stick to one?
Do you share my love for quirky or dark paranormals? Prefer straight fiction fare?

Do you love romances ? ? ? ? (I love romance, for sure, which is why I write them !)

Talk to me. Share.

xo

Linda
www.lindathomas-sundstrom.com

And that's why I write paranormals for Nocturne, I suppose. To tell stories I'm craving to tell. I have two Nocturne Bites out now, one this month called "Blackout" and one next month titled "Wolf Bait," where I can go wild on werewolves.

Anybody else here have a hankering for the darker side of things? Have any insider knowledge on upcoming supernatural tales that don't involve Brad Pitt?

Cheers for now-
Linda Thomas-Sundstrom

Writers' Wednesday - Writing Emotion

Today Fiona Harper talks about resisting the urge to make every scene as emotional as possible. Heresy, you say, aren't romances supposed to be emotional? Well...Fiona thinks too much of a good thing can spoil the emotion in your book.

It's very tempting when you want to write an emotional scene, or even an emotional book, to throw everything you have at it. We're always told that including sensual information adds depth to our writing, and it does, but it's not always a good idea to go to town with it on every page!

Too much too soon.

Marjorie spun around as she heard a sharp click, and her breath caught in her throat. Was it that time already? Her heart began to pump. Slowly, carefully, treading through the balls of her feet, she walked across the kitchen. She could feel damp heat on her face, almost taste what was coming. Suddenly, her head swam. This was it. The kettle had finally boiled. It was time to make her cup of tea.

Okay, so I'm being a little over-dramatic in the passage above, but I wanted to make a point. If, right from the word go, you overload your story with rich, sensual data, it becomes a little melodramatic. Sure, you want to include sensual images, but choose carefully and use them sparingly if this isn't an emotional high point in the story. Don't overload your brush.

Less is more.

This can even happen when the heroine meets the hero in the early chapters of the book. Yes, we want readers to know that he affects the heroine, and that she's attracted to him, but if you have her swooning into a puddle at his feet every time he's within ten feet of her, it can get a bit too much. Readers eventually either a) get fed up with your swooning heroine or b) become so accustomed to the rich emotional language that it loses it's impact. By the time they reach the important emotional scenes they've been numbed by all the emotion flung at them and that scene will have lost its emotional punch.

Also, if you've already made things as intense and emotional as they can get, you've left yourself nowhere to go when things really heat up between your hero and heroine. Little touches, that's all that's necessary. Save the big guns for the emotional high points - those key moments in the story when passions and feelings really are running high.

Think about action movies... I love a good action flick, but if there is an unrelenting chain of car chases, shoot outs and explosions, I find I just switch off. You can have too much of a good thing. The skill in writing emotion is to know when and where to go for the jugular.

Fiona's next book, Housekeeper's Happily-Ever-After is out in March in the UK (as a 2-in-1 with Jessica Hart's new release, Oh-So-Sensible Secretary) and available in North America in April.

Ellie Bond tries to escape her past by taking a job as jet-setting Mark Wilder's housekeeper. But the accident that killed her husband and daughter have left scars, both inside and out, and she worries she'll never be able to leave the past behind and find true happiness.

Temptation Tuesday - Coffee Shops

PHS Columnist Kate Walker talks about one of her favourite places for doing nothing - ahem - research - aka people watching - and relaxing.

When my husband (the Babe Magnet) and I first met, we were both students at the University of Wales Aberystwyth. Neither of us had much in the way of personal living space. I had a room (originally shared with 2 other girls) in a hall of residence and the Magnet shared ‘digs’ with friend, again having on e room between them. Even when I finally got my own flat we still spent a lot of time meeting up in the popular coffee bar called The Cabin. The coffee was good, they sold cheap food - mainly cheese pancakes! – and we could spend hours keeping warm on someone else’s bills, talking and people watching. Even though I wasn’t a writer – well, apart from essays on D H Lawrence, the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen etc, I always loved just sitting at watching people come and go.

I still do. Only this morning, in town after doing all the various jobs I had on my list, I joined the magnet in our local Costa and we sat together over a medium Americano (me) and a medium cappuccino (him), chatting desultorily and watching what was happening. Watching and listening. This particular coffee shop happens to be one of the best for the really good stuff for a novelist. The tables are close enough together that you can catch snatches of the conversation at different tables nearby so that if there is something really interesting you can tune out the other people’s words and focus on that one. And the coffee shop itself has a wonderful huge plate glass window that looks out on to one of the busiest parts of town so that you can watch people coming and going, see what they’re wearing, who they’re talking to, what mood they’re in.

It’s all great research for an author. . You can get to be intrigued by the people who are meeting friends/relatives/strangers? You can start to recognise when he (or she) is ‘just not that into him or her’ and there is a break up coming very close on the horizon. You can see new relationships just starting out awkwardly and uncertainly, and have your heart warmed by long-long-term a Mr and Mrs sitting companionably together as they have done for years. You can study the clothes that people wear, their shoes, the way they do their hair, their makeup. And you can watch the gestures, their expressions. You learn so much about body language as well as the way people speak. And if you visit different towns, cities, countries, you can absorb so much of the local ‘flavour’ by just sitting and watching. I've lingered for hours in coffee shops in York, London, Dublin, Sydney, New York, Washington, San Franciso, Funchal . . ..

And if you’re really lucky you can overhear a snippet of conversation that might spark off a new idea. Just this morning I heard a woman telling her friend of the fact that her mother in law had just died and the intriguing poem that they had found in her locker at the hospital. She thought that her mother had written the poem, though I recognised it, and looking it up later found that these were the first few lines –
What do you see, nurse... what do you see?
Are you thinking - when you look at me:
"A crabbed old woman, not very wise;
Uncertain of habit with far-away eyes,

(You can read the whole poem here if you’re interested.)
It’s intriguing that the story that goes with this poem is that the poem was reportedly written by a woman who died in the geriatric ward of Ashludie Hospital near Dundee, Scotland. It was found among her possessions and so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. But the woman telling her friend about it was claiming it for her mother in law. But that’s the sort of thing that can spark off an idea for a story. What if the old lady had written the poem – what if she turned out to have been a famous and beautiful poet a long, long time ago. A poet who wrote under a particular pseudonym – someone everyone had forgotten about. What if the heroine of my story went to hunt down a man that the old lady had written love poems to . . . Or just how sad it was that she felt the need to write down that particular poem at that particular time . . .

Thinking about this blog post, and knowing that it was coming up, I noted down the first three snatches of conversation that caught my attention – the first was the one about the poem and I was so intrigued by that that I almost missed anything else! The next one was another rather poignant one –
‘And there was nothing there at all to make it homely. No cushions, not even a bath mat.’

And the final one was one that I heard as I was heading out the door. ‘I don’t know why he was making such a fuss. I mean, I would have paid fifty times that to get my hands on it.’ Fifty times how much? To get his hands on what?

This is all part of what I call the writer as magpie. And it’s why I always always have a notebook and pen with me in my handbag, ready to note down a line or two, a description, an image that I may want to use later. It’s one of the things that always intrigues people when they find out that you’re a writer – the question that almost always follows immediately is – ‘where do you get your ideas?’ Ideas? They’re all around me – and I get a lot of them just sitting in coffee shops. Next weekend I’m visiting Oxford – and I already know which coffee shops I’m going to be sitting in. And there will be a lot of new material for me to research while I’m there.

The only problem is that sometimes the people -watching becomes so addictive that I forget I actually have a book to write.

Kate Walker's latest Presents release is The Konstantos Marriage Demand which was published in Mills & Boon Modern on January 15th. It will be out on Presents EXTRA in March and is already available for pre-sale on eHarlequin.com. Romantic Times called this a ‘ terrifically well-paced and fiery romance’ with a ‘very rewarding conclusion,’ and chose it as one of their series romance Top Picks for March.

One of Kate’s earlier books, The Twelve Month Mistress is also featured in a brand- new ebook 'Bundle' - one of the Blogger Bundles now available on eharlequin.com. This is a special selection of favourite Presents authors chosen by We Write Romance.
You can find out more about Kate and her books by visiting her web site or get the really up to date news on her blog.

Male on Monday :: All The Good Ones Are Taken!

You know that old dating adage - all the good ones are taken? That's how Pink Heart Society editor Jenna Bayley-Burke felt as she tried to write this Male On Monday post! Must be time for a 'best of' roundup!!



We've had a great run of Male on Mondays! So much so, it can be difficult not to double up - though some men really deserve to have their hero-worthy attributes revisited. I can't complain, I don't think I've missed checking in at the PHS on Monday...well, ever.

Sometimes we think back to the classic heart throbs - Cary Grant, Robert Fuller, Gary Cooper...

Sometimes we're introduced to new-to-you reasons for swooning - Raoul Bova, Christiano Renaldo, Rodrigo Santaro (the very 1st Male on Monday)...






Sometimes we expand on a theme - carpenters, HGTV hosts, tennis stars, soccer studs, cowboys, regency hunks...



Sometimes we ask for opinions - Team Jacob or Team Edward, McSteamy or McDreamy or McArmy?

Sometimes we recognize a serious crush when it appears - Antonio Banderas, Nathan Fillion, Richard Armitage...

And then, there is always everyone's favorite, no matter the 160+ Male on Monday posts...Hugh in a towel!!

Enjoy ladies!!


Jenna's latest release is Compromising Positions -- available with chocolate, Kama Sutra yoga, a decade old crush and a steady addiction to sugar. To find out what Jenna is up to ...check out her website, blog, or the new RomConInc Forum where she is the author guest of the day!