Come Hope and Dream with Anna

New Blog: http://www.annawrites.com/blog

2009-05-22T13:31:00.006-04:00

This blog will stay for all who find their way here--but all the new blog content, including the background content and excerpts and articles on Dark Legacy, will be over at:

http://annawrites.com/blog

Newsletter to follow soon... Look for it, and if you're not on the mailing list, sign up on my website home page:

http://annawrites.com/

Squeeeeee!!!

It's here... It's here... It's here...

2009-05-21T10:20:00.004-04:00

The new site, the new blog AND the new newsletter... They're ready!!!!

I've been a bit quiet while I wait and work with the fabulous ladies helping me, but he wait has soooo been worth it.

Look for things to go up and down the next few days...probably through the weekend, if things go the way technology always goes when you switch stuff over. Then look for my new and improved newsletter blast to kick everything off.

When we're back up, there will be a COACH puse give away to celebrate, in addition to the monthly blog contest of Dream Flutters jewelry and the Fresh Fiction contest and Between Your Sheets scavenger hunt.

It's going to be soooooo much fun to scoot around and pop wheelies and show off my new toys, AND to get back to regular posting and chatting an raving about Dark Legacy as well as my Harlequin "heroes" WIP. Don't miss a bit of it.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

More Hunky Guys...Because Pat's Pouting ;o)

2009-05-14T09:35:00.008-04:00

Can't have any pouting in the comments (where you're supposed to be leaving comments to WIN!!! Dream Flutters jewelry...so, more comments and less lurking, ladies...scroll back a bit for a peak at the jewels in question ;o)

Time for some final cover model reflections from the 2009 RT Reader's Convention!!!

Want to know how versatile Mr. Romance winner Charles Paz is--here's one of his scruptious, soulful pics...

And Stephan Pinto, 1st runner up, there's nothing he doesn't look soulful in...

2nd Runner Up Jeremy, those eyes. Young man, blink those eyes my way any day...

Hunky men getting down on stage...

And gladiators are always a girls best friend. Just ask author Janice Lynne ;o)

Tails of Love...

2009-05-12T13:57:00.007-04:00

We're just back from the mountains and our annual Mother's Day retreat (see the pic of Hurricane Falls in my Facebook teaser to the right...well, and hunky fireman, too), so I'm super busy catching up with work.

But I wanted to pop in share something really fun from Michelle Buonfiglio's Romance B(u)y The Blog. Check out her and Lori Foster's super fun contest, running through the Month of May. And send in your amazing pet photos to be entered to win fabulous prizes sponsored by Lori, Michlle and Virginia Kantra! Here's the link.

http://romancebytheblog.blogspot.com/2005/05/tails-of-love-pet-photo-mascot.html

Back soon, with Mother's Day tales (not tails) and new exciting Dark Legacy news--great stuff just keeps coming for this release. I'm totally floored!!!

Another Contest (someone stop me!), more RT news, and Happy Mother's Day!!!

2009-05-08T09:04:00.019-04:00

Check out my Dark Legacy contest over on Fresh Fiction. Enter anytime this month!

http://freshfiction.com/contest.php?id=1778

News Flash: Romantic Times is doing a "Behind the Scenes" Dark Legacy spotlight, talking all things dream theory and other fun stuff that went into my research for writing psychic paranormal suspense. Did you ever wonder where I got the idea to weaponize lucid darydreams??? I'll let you know which issue to look for all the 411.

This just in...I'll be guest blogging on RomanceB(uy)TheBlog in August, to kick off my Dark Legacy blog book tour. Michelle Buonfiglio's site is such a haven for all who love to read and write romance--I'm thrilled!!!

Go check her out, especially if you've never been to her blog before.

http://www.romancebuythebook.com/

I hear Michelle and Lori Foster have something fun cooking for next week (I'll poke you again in the 12th...that's all the dish I can give for now ;o) When I have a launch date, I'll report back. I'm working this to line up my other appearances--any blog or review site favorites? Let me know!

And for Mother's Day, me and my guys are off to the North Georgia mountians. Remember this place? It's becoming our Mother's day tradition. Can't wait to unwind and play in all that beautiful green... Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!!!

Oh, and of course, a few more hunky guys below ;o)

The last shot from the vampire ball just might be my favorite!!!

Scavenger Hunt, Facebook, I'm a National Reader's Choice Nominee--and, yeah, more Hunky guys...

2009-05-05T09:23:00.023-04:00

Some quick updates today...

Find me on Facebook--I've caved and joined the world of Internet social networking, and I'm already hooked ;o) There's a feed to the right.

Wanna win amazing goodies from some of your favorite authors??? Check out Between Your Sheet's online Spring Quest--do the legwork, then send your answers in for your chance to win!

http://www.betweenyoursheets.com/website/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1067&Itemid=72

I heard just before leaving for RT that To Save a Family, Atlanta Heroes Book 3, is a National Reader's Choice Award Nominee!!! Fingers crossed--we'll see if I win at RWA Dallas...

And...more hunky RT cover models ;o)

Cover models are soooo strong!

And they pose so pretty...I mean manly...I mean... Oh, whatever. Aren't they yummy beside a vintage Harlequin cover???

Looking Forward...Looking Back...Looking at Hunky Guys!!!

2009-05-02T19:13:00.029-04:00

Posting two days in a row as promised. It doesn't hurt that there's so much to share ;o)

1) Brenda's auction is going gangbusters already. Don't miss any of my or anyone else's goodies:

http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/

2) More pictures of Romantic Times Convention fun below--hence the "Hunky Guy" teaser in today's title.

3) I arrived at this year's convention, opened my agenda and discovered that I was not only a finalist in this year's awards, but I'd WON the 2008 Best Superromance award for my suspense To Protect the Child!!!

Look for my picture in the announcement in this month's RT BookReviews magazine. Until then, here's one my Dorchester Editor took during the awards ceremony. Yes, that's my hair. And, yes, it got bigger and bigger as the humid Florida week went on. I think this was Friday, and by then it had taken on a life of it's own ;o)

Catch Leah's great blog about all things Dorchester, including lots of fun RT pics and recaps, over at Romantic Reads:

http://romanticreads.net/

4) Of course, keep leaving comments to be in the running for this month's blog contest--your chance to win your own leather Dream Flutters necklace or a Dark Legacy ARC. both of which I'll draw for at the end of the month, to kick off our celebration of Dark Legacy's August 25th release!!!

Which of the pendants do you like best? I got so many mixed responses at the conference, but folks were snapping them up. If you bought a book the signing, you got to take one of the "book cover" pendants home with you! And I gave away several of the others, including the coveted leather necklaces so many of you are emailing me about, to special publishing friends who've been so helpful to me and my career.

Someone even asked if they could buy a necklace and the black butterfly (the paranormal version of my logo) pendant at the singing. I let it go for $20. Maybe it'll be a collectors item one day, LOL!!! Hmmm....

5) I found some old journals while cleaning out my office (stress cleaning is my way of settling into each new book, and I have the draft of The Fireman's Secret Baby to write this month, after all). These were journals I started when my 13 year old was just a baby, and most of the contents I can't share. But some of it's suitable for public consumption, and I found myself tearing up several times... How 'bout I post some of those sniffles off and on this month, too???

So, before we fall back into RT fun, here's a snippet from "Dear Baby James:"

Dear Baby James...

You'll be 11 weeks tomorrow, and I thought it was time for me to start recording a few things I hope you'll read some day. Things I can't tell you now, because you wouldn't understand. Or is it that telling you would be too hard for me, because then I'd have to face that you're already growing up before my eyes? Things I hope you'll learn with every smile and hug and kiss you get for the rest of your life...

You're my "sweet love" and Daddy's "little man." Never, ever, forget that.

I learn from you each day about things I could never teach myself--lessons I hope to share with you. I've begun to truly understand how important it is to be patient and loving and tolerant and encouraging when someone else has no other defense in the world beyond your unconditional acceptance and approval. My heart will always be yours. Please tell me you feel the same.

There is so much of you to love--so much to be grateful for. Your beautiful smile and button nose. Your sparkling eyes and little pink toes. The way you hug me back when I hold you. The way the early morning hours are a beautiful beginning every day I get to hug you close...

Okay, sniff sniff... Enough of the mommy stuff. Bring on the hunky guys!!!

Here are hunky guys with a really excited fan...

Mr. Romance 2009 Runner Up, Stephan Pinto, with a host of Harlequin authors...

Let's see who can name the most authors in the comments section!

And last one for today (you'll have to check back for more next week!), Mr. Romance 2009, Charlse Paz, giving me a candid smile because I ran into him walking into the hotel on Tuesday and I swear I became his big sister on site (seriously, he looks just like my brother, and it doesnt hurt that the first thing he said to me any time I saw him was, "Dude!")

Some secret insider info... If you get RT BookReviews, look for my group ad with Between Your Sheets. It's the centerfold in the May issue, and Charles is part of the AMAZING image fading in from behind all the book covers ;o) If you don't have a subscription, head to Borders or B&N. They always seem to have a copy, and it's worth the trip.

Until then, here's Charles in a moment where he wasn't having to be manly on cue... Just your every day handsome guy...until your gaze tracks down from his fun smile and checks out the rest of him!

See you next week with more hunks!

Romantic Times Pics and Auction

2009-05-01T10:20:00.020-04:00

Yep--time to feel sorry for me again, because I just got back from a week at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention. It's hard, grueling work, networking and hanging with best selling authors and cover models...but I don't mind taking the hit, so you can enjoy the spoils ;o)

No over the top treasure trove of conference goodies this time--though I did run into pirates and burried treasure and mermaids in Florida. I promised my family I wouldn't flood the house with any more promitonal items than I already have to sell Dark Legacy between now and its September release, but I do have MY OWN BOUTIQUE over at Brenda Novak's online Diabetes Research Auction. Folks are already getting busy with the bids, so don't miss out. You have all month to drool over the goodies I found this year (including Dream Flutters Necklaces and of course Coach Purses!!!).

Check out the Anna DeStefano's Designer Boutique category, and everything else, at

http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/

And speaking of jewelry, last month's winner, Cathie Morton, should have her lovely leather neckalce and pendant by now. So, it's time to start this month's contest. Leave a comment in any blog post this month, to be in the running for one of my signature Dream Flutters necklaces. Another lucky commenter will also win a Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of Dark Legacy, which I hope to have in my hot little hands by early June ;o)

I'm also sending in the details for my own Coach giveaway to FreshFiction.com today... I'll share the link as soon as my May contest is up over there. Also, there will be a scavenger hunt up on BetweenYourSheets.com soon, and I'm one of the participating authors--look for BYS's centerfold ad for me and other spotlighted authors in May's Romantic Times!

Lots of RT news to share!!! Check back tomorrow for more pics and dish. And one of these days soon, I'll have the new website, blog and newsletter ready to share...gotta lot to do now that I'm off deadline and home for a whole month ;o)

Oh, and I'm hard at work on my next Atlanta Heroes novel--had so many questions about that last week. Nope, NO WAY am I stopping my Superromance series until they drag me away from keyboard and make me, so look for The Fireman's Secret Baby (wt) in early 2010!

More tomorrow!!!

So Much To Be Thankful For...

2009-04-16T15:23:00.014-04:00

Each day, there are challenges and mountains to climb and work to struggle through, even if the work is what you dreamed you'd one day be doing. Or is it just me??? I doubt it--we all find ourselves "struggling" through even our happily ever afters some days. Sometimes that can be the hardest, because we're supposed to be thrilled by all the good stuff, right?

But work is work, and the more you dream, the more work there is to climb to that next peak. Except, I've found a secret I wanted to share.

When I get down about my thirteen-year-old (yep, he's a teenager now) heading to college for three weeks this summer (yep, he's taken his ACTs and tested into a Duke program for gifted kids...oh, and into college itself, if he wanted to apply now ;o), I remember to be thankful that he's in love with learning and feels confident enough in himself to want to go away and explore on his own a bit.

And when travelling and new deadlines and all that stuff makes my current exhaustion after finishing Dark Legacy seem like a dress rehersal, I remember to be thankful that I have an amazing new suspense series to promote and fans already emailing me for more information and a jewelry artist so inspired that she created a whole new like just with Dark Legacy in mind, and the opportunity to write two more books this year alone.

And when one of my old man kitties gets sick (he's seventeen and his current ailment is minor, but when you're seventeen and a cat nothing's minor), and he's still suffering even though he's supposed to be better, I hold him as much as I can and then console myself in giving my other three extra attention, too, (yes, do the math, I'm the crazy writer cat lady with four cats), and remember how lucky I am to have all that unconditional love in my life.

I guess what I'm saying, before I get back to sharing all things Dark Legacy and Dream Flutters (Marci's named our new jewelry line, from which I'll be giving away pieces every month out here, in addition to Dark Legacy ARCS and other promo goodies like T-shirts, from now through the fall), whether things are going well or not so well in your world, it's all work and that's just the way it goes--but I wish for you a daily dream and a daily reminder of all the "thankful" stuff in your life, too. All the things that make the work and the dreams worthwhile.

And never forget--I'm thankful for all of you ;o)

And while we're on this "positive speak" rant ;o) I know everyone's seen this by now, but watch Susan Boyle again. It's the best 6 minutes I've spent in a long time. Well, since watching my teenager relish the ice cream I bought him the other day, after he'd asked me to play tennis with him and enjoyed every bit of our together time. That was a dream come true, too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk

And, BTW, everyone's reaction to her--the way she made them shiver and smile and cheer and dream along with her--that's my dream every time I launch a new book. That's what I want for all of you, every time you read something with my name on it!

Back...Chatting...Dark Legacy goes to production in a week...

2009-04-03T18:21:00.016-04:00

Thanks for all your patience, my blog friends. Dark Legacy is revised, I took a trip to Boston to talk with the NEC romance writers, and now I'm working on line edits so DL can go to production next week.

The website/blog redesign is almost done, I have beautiful pics of jewelry I'm going to be using as giveaways for Dark Legacy promotion (and if you really like them and don't win one, you just might be able to buy your own soon from my kick-ass jewelry designer friend Marci). See the pics below...

Oh, and I'm chatting all weekend over on Dangerous Women Writing. Check us out...it's going to be a blast.

dangerouswomen-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To get us going again, I'm going to give away one of the beautiful leather necklaces with the Dark Legacy book cover charm (sterling silver fastenings and embellished with pearls and whatever else Marci dreamed up) to someone who comments out here over the weekend!

Stay tuned for more "down to earth" blogs starting next week, and a beautiful new site/blog to look at soon. It's going to be a great count-down to September, my friends ;o)

Here are some pictures to drool over. The theme is my new logo and the dream images from DL's cover. Especially our weekend prize, the Dark Legacy cover pendant and leather necklace ;o)

Hidden Feasts

2009-03-03T10:11:00.009-05:00

Time for a mini break from the info dump ;o) But no worries, those of you who want to know more about my Sept. release, I'm not straying too far.

So much of Dark Legacy (which I'm currently revising for my editor) is about symbolism and hidden meanings and dream imagry that the characters must figure out, if they're going to find their happily ever afters (and, since this is a suspense, often just to stay alive).

I play a lot on everyday things, things we could find in our own lives, that take on critical meaning. The idea being, see the world around you--really see it. You never know what you could be missing... I've become facinated with it these days. Always looking around me, wondering what I'm really seeing. What I could see in a slightly differently world, where the impossible was a little more possible.

I stumbled across these pictures today--great, vintage images of New York City subway grafitti. There's a flickr link below, to the larger grouping. Part of what I'll be exploring more as my Legacy series continues (if it sells well enough for Dorchester to want to buy more ;o), is everyday things I can use to motivate, spook, intrigue and torment my characters (and readers, lol!), but giving them paranormal/psychic meaning. My Legacy stories will be contemporary reflections of the real world--dramas that you could imagine happening in the world around you, if you accepted that the psychic abilities I write about might really be possible.

Imagine what I could do with some of these movable works of art... Hmmm....

What other images come to mind? What would you like to see from your every day lives, used to crank up the suspense and paranormal punch in a future Legacy book? I'm aready writing proposals for the next leg of the series, after the Temple Twins are written. Three more books, about another family with different talents but equally spooky bad guys after them, and equally compelling love stories to tell. More about them later...but beyond that...what would you like to see???

Here's the link to the flickr page for more hidden feasts...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhonetb/sets/72157605979490996/

If you haven't been following along, read back through the last few posts for information about Dark Legacy. More to come--folks are asking off list about dream theory and I've promised a taste of the prologue (naughty romance author, using a prologue...I did say this was going to be a bit more mainstream, and definitely paranormal, so the prolugue fits about as well as the evil scientists and the secret government psychic weapons program ;o)

The Temple Legacy

2009-03-02T13:02:00.009-05:00

The basis for my Legacy series for Dorechester, is that there are ancient family lines that have carried their magical gifts into future generations. Paranormal gifts that, when concentrated, can be harnessed for great good or powerful evil. A brotherhood of watchers has tracked these families for generations--intervening when needed, when their legacies become a potential threat to mankind.

The Temple twins have been "blessed" with powerful gifts they're not fully aware of--here's a bit of their story.

Let me know what you think. Oh, and, next I'll post the prologue, so stay tuned ;o)

Generations ago, a secret legacy of healing foretold the birth of two daughters to the gifted women of the Temple line—twin empaths who would posses psychic abilities beyond anything the world has known. During the Salem witch trials, written record of the legacy died with the family matriarch, Olivia Temple, when she was burned at the stake. The family's empathic gifts were hidden by subsequent generations. The myth of the twin legacy "curse" was passed down verbally from mother to daughter, until it became little more than a colorful folk story grounded in the kind of truth time cannot destroy.

On a deep summer morning, the legacy is fulfilled when Madeline and Sarah Temple are born. Their supersensory talents are apparent from the cradle to not only their terrified mother, but also to a league of scientists developing an arsenal of psychic weaponry. The girls' mother fights to hide her children's powers from her daughters, her husband, and the world. Ultimately, she faces a mother's worst nightmare—having to sacrifice the more unstable of her children to save the other. With the safety of her family and anyone exposed to the twins' unpredictable "gifts" at stake, what choice does she have?

Original Idea

2009-02-26T10:58:00.005-05:00

One of the things that sells books to publishers is having a unique high concept.

I knew when I wanted to take my novels to another level, that I wanted to branch out from more classic romance into something more mainstream and contemporary. Something more like the exciting novels I've come to love in my own reading life (you know...the books that inspired me to specialize in romantic suspense in my Atlanta Heroes Superromance series ;o)

And one of the common responses I received from all the editors who read my Derk Legacy pitch was that I had a unique, original idea on my hands. So, thanks in part to Bob Mayer's Original Idea workshop during one of his weekend retreats years ago (where I was just starting to get my brain churning around doing a different kind of book), here's the original idea for my new "Legacy" series for Dorchester books ;o)

Original Idea: Psychic powers are exploited to assassinate classified government targets—using only the mind, scientists can custom design and remote-trigger violent daydreams.

Premise: Hijacking nightmares, secret government scientists imbed sleeper programming into the subconscious of unsuspecting people. Homicidal fantasies (lucid dreams) can then be triggered in the waking world, transforming innocents into deadly weapons. Beware—your next daydream could become a living nightmare.

The first two stories in the series, Dark Legacy and Haunted Legacy (or Forogtten Legacy, I can't decide about the title for the sequel), are paranormal romantic suspense, based on a secret family legacy of psychic power that a government weapon's program wants to exploit...

Come back tomorrow, for a closer look at the legacy ;o)

Cover Copy...

2009-02-24T16:06:00.013-05:00

Today's taste...

Stay tuned for more. Such a cool story. I'll be sprinkling details about all week...maybe even a brief excerpt or two ;o)

“Die!” scream her nightmares. The voice is her sister’s, the compulsion stronger than any ordinary dream.

Maddie Temple can’t go through this again. Her twin has been in a coma for the last ten years. Their psychic link was severed. At least, that’s what she thought.

But there’s a lot Maddie doesn’t know—about the 200-year-old curse on her family, about the shadowy group that wants to exploit the Temple twins’ powers for themselves, about the sexy psychiatrist offering to help her.

The only way to find the answers and avoid being pulled into the abyss of madness is to trust her heart and confront her... DARK LEGACY.

New and Improved

2009-02-23T09:46:00.010-05:00

Okay, Dark Legacy is in to Dorchester, and the revisions are already back and I'm talking with my editor about them in a little over an hour...so stay tuned...details every day this week on this amazing new direction my writing life is taking.

In the midst of writing and planning for a rewrite, I've been hard a work getting this year's travel/promotion schedule nailed down (up on the website soon), singing the contracts for my new Atlanta Heroes novel for Superromance (tentatively titled, The Fireman's Secret Baby ;o), collaborating with a local jewelry designer on promotional items and custom designed prizes for the Dark Legacy release, oh!, and working with a wonderful graphic artist on redesigning my logo, website and blog presence.
For now, sprinkled above and below are a sneak peak of the new logos: my main brand, my classic (Harlequin) projects, and my paranormal (Dorchester) books.
More soon on everythig, includng a new newsletter format using the very yummy Constant Contact! In the mean time, current prize winners your gifts are going out today (including the Fresh Fiction winners--of the XOXO and Coach purses). I'll annouce the winner of the matching XOXO wallet by the endof the week.

Everyone, whatcha think of the more mainstream "me" look of the logos??? The color stories of the website and blog are going to change, to allow for the variety of books I'll have coming out going forward. But we're trying to still offer a "soft" option for those who prefer my Harlequin work, and a spooky place for paranormal fans to come and feel at home--plus a way to visually combine the two into an overall brand...

O. M. G. !!!

2009-01-29T23:27:00.004-05:00

Due on shelves in September...

On deadline finishing the book...

But, OH MY GOSH, look at my beautiful new cover!!!

Cover copy and description to come in February ;o)

Winter Heat: Excerpt 3, and A Cool Video to Watch!

2009-01-22T10:30:00.007-05:00

One final Winter Heat Excerpt, to brainwash you into going and buying the book if you already haven't ;o)

And for those clammoring in the comments and my inbox for more news on Dark Legacy--coming soon to a blog near you, I promise. Just as soon as I get the draft of the book into my editor... All 400 pages of it...

And so you'll know a little what the last few weeks of a deadline this big feels like, here's a fun look at what water does when a single drop hits a hard surface... It's kind of like trying to weave (read POUND) a single change or idea through 400 pages of a story, lol!

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1897461/

Wish me luck everyone! Dark Legacy cover and promo news and descriptions and all sorts of good stuff soon. Until then, enjoy a bit more of Felicia and Tony's story (and, by all means, read all of it, after you BUY THE BOOK ;o)

**************
Winter Heat
Scenes Three and Four

"I've lost my mind," Felicia insisted several hours and twice as many second thoughts later, at the welcome dinner's cocktail reception.

"It's the altitude." Willard smiled up a passing waiter, then shamelessly checked out the guy's butt.

"It's your bad influence." Felicia straightened and re-straightened her fucia Versace minidress.

"Enjoy." He eyed the non-existent back of her outfit. "You fit in perfectly here. Forget about Rossi. It's very chic to—"

"Make an fool of myself?" First in front of Rossi, then the poor bell man.

"To wear your fabulousness with daring and pride, darling."

"Kind of like humiliation is the new black?"

"You're talking as if you went streaking through the lobby. You deserve to let loose a little."

"Is that what they're calling it these days?"

"You've come this far. It's just dinner, Fe."

"Yeah, and it was just a few sips of wine in the car. Just a dare to loosen me up. Just a kiss."

"No, honey. That was straight up sex with your clothes on. Whatever crawled up Tony Rossi's ass after you lifted your spell on him, that man's the hottest thing in pants I've seen in a long time—and you had him melting all over you."

Yeah, except who had been melting whom?

Willard had egged her into entering her sonnet in the contest in the first place, after he'd shown up at her door late one night on his way home from clubbing. She'd been in her rattiest guy pajamas—a pair of her ex's, actually—and that's when she'd finally gotten it. Her best guy friend had a sexier wardrobe and dated hotter men than she had in years. It had been time to stop wallowing in the efficient, business side of her personality that Phillip had found so boring. Time to mine for passion, before the well dried up.

But a secret part of Felicia wondered even now if it wasn't already too late.

"Don't throw in the towel!" Willard insisted. "I won't hear of it. Men will be crawling all over you and your couture tonight, gay or straight. If you're not going to work this fabulous makeover for you, the least you can do is be my arm candy, until I land myself a live one."

It was a beautiful dress. One of her favorite purchases for the trip. When she'd tried it on at Bergdorf's, she'd felt a forgotten piece of herself coming back to life. The same passionate piece that had kicked into high gear downstairs, in the arms of a man who'd left her feeling giddy, then completely forgotten—dismissed—once he'd decided she didn't suit his PR plans.

The judgmental bastard!

She was a guest for the weekend. She could quit this scene any time she wanted. But that would mean walking away with her designer tail between her supermodel-long legs.

Was she really going to prove her ex and her own subconscious right—by conceding that leave-them-panting sexy had never been her talent, and never would be?

Hell no!

She snatched a glass of champagne from a passing waiter's tray, and raised the flute to salute Willard.

"Let the games begin!"

***

Tony had heard of men buzzing around a woman like bees near a honey pot. And he'd spent the last twenty-four hours running interference between Maddy Lov and the hard-partying crowd that trailed after her. But he'd never seen anything like Felicia Gallo, wearing Versace's finest as if it were a second skin. Or the effect she was having on the rising testosterone level in the banquet room.

She'd wrapped herself up in his mother's favorite designer. She was wearing matching heels so high, every step she took without mishap was a triumph of fluidity and grace.

Versace was on the wilder end of the designer spectrum. But it was a must-have wardrobe staple for the adventurous socialite. Or so Tony's mother insisted every time she spent a new fortune on the label's newest line. Too bad Gabriella Rossi had never showered the same attention on her husband and only child. Not that Tony's father had minded.

The two still lived the same jet-set lives as when they'd relegated Tony to boarding school at too young an age—alternating their time between Aspen and Milan, Florence and Madrid. New York and Paris during fashion season. LA for the awards shows, which were the few months out of the year during which Tony sporadically saw them.

Their empty relationship was the envy of everyone they met, and his mother's glamorous, sophisticated façade was their crowning, glittering glory. A facade the romantic Ms. Gallo had obviously honed to her own advantage. Gone was Felicia's skin-tight snow suit, which he doubted had seen the first flake of winter ice. In its place were swirls of severely cut color and silk that invited a man to smooth his hands over every restless curve and valley.

She'd collected quite a bevy of admirers throughout the cocktail hour. A room full. And her friend, Willard, dressed to kill in what looked like Armani, was scoping things out for himself.

Actually, he was headed Tony's way!

"She's really something, our little poet, isn't she?" The man held up a copy of the program Tony had carefully designed, complete with a border of hearts and flowers that reeked of romance.
Tony had spotlighted Felicia's sonnet on the cover page. He glanced at the poem again, trying to match it to the woman sipping a cocktail and flirting with the besotted men standing on either side of her.

"She's...unexpected," was the best reply he could manage.

Wickedly complex and appealing in a primal way that he couldn't take his eyes off of. But, unexpected or not, she was nothing more than a principle player in his business plans for the opening. A means to an end, that it was his job to control.

"She's not the only unexpected distraction tonight." Willard sighed in response to Tony's scowl. "You're gorgeous. A young Paul Newman, but rough enough around the edges for some flavor. You clearly have a sense of style most heterosexual men refuse to own. But you're straight as an arrow, aren't you? Pity."

Willard was a straight-shooter. Right up Tony's ally. And he seemed to have a precarious hold on Tony's star poet's leash.

"It doesn't matter what I am." Or what he wanted outside the job. Tony's gaze tracked the way the curve of Felicia's bottom rounded against the hint of a skirt that finished off her dress. "I'm working. When I'm working, focusing on anything or anyone else is out of the question."

"Uh huh." Willard was watching Tony watch Felicia, his knowing smile almost as wicked as his friend's ass.

"Listen—" Tony turned his head to make it clear that he didn't have time for whatever games Willard wanted to play.

But out of the corner of his eye, he saw Felicia stumble—right into the waiting arms of one of the bachelors panting after her.

"Shit!"

"Heat" Sitings and Web Contest Prize Sneak Peak

2009-01-16T10:56:00.014-05:00

There's always such a stir in the comments when I show off prizes ;o)

And I totally understand the excitement for new, beautiful things. To further oblige, I highly recommend you keep reading for a sneak peak of the new...direction...my website contest prizes are going to be taking this year. How's that for a teaser, bwahahahahaah...

But first, I had some excitement of my own on Wednesday.

First--and this is HUGE. I got out of my house, actually fashionably dressed and washed and brushed and everything, for an appointement. Even more excititng than that feat (because I'm mostly a cruddy, on-deadline writer these days), I gave myself permission to stop at a bookstore.

Usually, this creates potential for hours of lost time, as I'm prone to wander in such a heavenly environ. But I was a girl on a mission, and that was to see how my New York Silhouette editor and co. were handling the Jan. 13th realease of my new anthology. Would it be on the Sil. category racks? Would there be any push for sales?

Well...the pics sprinkled about this post are of WINTER HEAT ON A SHELF UP FRONT IN BORDERS!!! I didn't make it over to our B&N (but I will some time today/tomorrow). But at Borders/Waldenbooks, my publisher has spent what's called co-op money to place the book amongst the "Read This" sections of tables and shelves at the front of a chain store. A great thing for sales, because a lot of readers head to this section first.

So, yep, that's Winter heat, facing out (HUGE advantage, because readers love them a pretty cover), one shelf above Sherry Kenyon, and I must say our frosty blue cover pops just lovely next to all that black. And, yep, thats me/us next to Jeffery Archer and above Tim Dorsey.

Notice all the NYT Bestselling lead lines on the covers surrounding Winter Heat. I think we really look at home, don't you?

Just working with Vicky and Jade was such a treat, anthing over and above that is gravey. But this was quite a moment for little 'ol me, and I couldn't help snapping a few pictures. And... If you look closely enough at the number of copies of each book in the frame, I think...yes...yes I do believe there are only two copies of Winter Heat left (on the day it released) and, oh my, so many more of all the other titles...

That's just wishful thinking for good sales, I know, but a girl's got to dream, right???

Come back over the weekend for one final Winter Heat excerpt, BTW.

Speaking of working with dream people you'll feel lucky for having worked with for the rest of your life, you should go check out this amazing woman I've been priviledged to meet and began creating with the final few months of '08--Marci Fried:

http://www.mollye.net/about_the_artist.html

I met Marci at the High Museum of Art here in Atlanta, where she's shown numerous times, as well as at other locations in and around the South East. Her jewelry is not only museum quality, it's amazingly creative and unique, and brings together the old and the new and surprises you with symbolism in ways I couldn't help but stop and admire, and then chat with her about and then meet with her for lunch to chat about some more... Take a look at some of the beautiful things Marci Fried does:

http://www.mollye.net/vintage.html

http://www.mollye.net/custom_designs.html

I'm so excited to be planning to tell you more in the coming months--about a custom line of jewelry we're working on together, to represent/promote symbols in my upcoming "Legacy" series with Dorchester. See--I really am a tease, beacause that's all I'm going to tell you about that for now.

Except so say that Marci needs coaxing, so coax her in the comments so she'll come out and play. Then go check out out her fashion blog, too, and watch for her great ideas over there (I've already subscribed).

Now, getting back to my website prizes: I'm going to be spotlighting Marci's jewelry a lot this year, because she inspires me. I find myself wearing her creations when I need to feel that hopeful, positive vibe that makes the writing flow...

So, the blue butterfly necklace to the left is someting she designed for me--to match my website butterfly... That's right, it's mine--MINE!!!

I wear it a lot while I write, and get raves when I take it out to play in the real world.

But THIS beauty is the necklace I've chosen for my next big website contest prize. You didn't think I'd forget my online buddies, did you?

I'll have details up on the site (and much, much more about Marci and our collaboration together) after Dark Legacy goes into my editor.

Until then, drool and oooh and aaaahhh and say hi to Marci in the comments, and dream of all the exiting, beautiful things to come this year ;o)

Cute Kitten Videos and Contests...

2009-01-13T15:23:00.020-05:00

Because, a girl writing the end of her psychotic, psychic twins novel needs something to rip her back from the darkness... Like kittens and lots of prizes ;o)

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1813050/

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1828311

Now that we're all smiling and feeling all cozy, wozy, let me point you toward two Fresh Fiction contests I'm running this month (one for their Valentine's feature, the other just 'cause I couldn't resist), to celebrate Winter Heat being on the shelves TODAY!!!!!:

http://freshfiction.com/contest.php?id=1562

and

http://freshfiction.com/contest.php?id=1563

And for those of you visiting from FF, here's the matching wallet I promised for the XOXO purse (I have one more I'll be offering later in the month, so keep checking back in). Old and new blog friends alike, leave a comment throughout the month to be in the running for this little beauty (it's not a kitten, but then again, it won't miss the litterbox or yack up a hairball ;o)

Working Late for Me--Good for You!!!

2009-01-11T19:44:00.015-05:00

Those of you who've been through a deadline or two with me know that the final month before a deadline is the chained to my keyboard part of the process. I have rough-cut rewrites to do, an ending to pound out (which I can't do until I get the rough draft squared away and go back and figure out all I didn't know before I wrote the ugly stuff), and then targeted edits to weave through the last two weeks or so. Finally, the last two or three days are 24/7 reading and rewriting through the entire manuscript as a whole, one more time.

And since I'm 11 days into the final month of my Dark Legacy deadline (I might have a cover for you guys sometime soon, and I CAN'T WAIT to share what Dorchester's working on), you'll find me blogging at odd hours and frequently and not always coherently, because I need a break sometimes and there's just so much televisionwithoutpity.com a girl can read before she starts feeling like a sarcasm junky.

And if you're wondering why there are pics of tornadoes throughout this post--they're visual aids, in case you were wondering what my brain feels like on deadline ;O) Yep, the funnel clouds and the lightening and the destruction about to happen and even the rainbow. That's my happy little mind at the moment...

Each post this month will be entertaining, no doubt. And some even rewarding beyond the mere experience of sharing in my sleep deprivation (I'll start chatting about new contests tomorrow, so keep coming back--I'll even be sending you to other fun sites for multiple chances to win, and we all like fun, so you'll go, because I say so, and if you know what's good for you, you'll do what the girl with tornadoes in her brain says).

Where was I??? Oh, right, fun.

Tonight, in honor of a quick trip to New York I'm planning in Feb. to speak at a new writing organization I've just joined (more of them coming soon, too) and hopefully to meet with some publishing-type people at Dorchester and Harlequin, I give you...

The best NYC Midtown Lunches...I wonder how many I can fit into a three-day visit?

http://midtownlunch.com/blog/2009/01/07/the-best-midtown-lunches-as-voted-on-by-you-2008-edition/

Check it out...do it...because I say so, and if you know what's good for you... Oh, just go, and have some fun while you drool over all the yummy food pics. I defy anyone to tell me there's not something on this list you're dying for a taste of RIGHT NOW!!! Or maybe that's just my stomach growling...

Which one's my favorite, you ask. Anyone want to take a guess what a girl on deadline craves???

Winter Heat: Excerpt 2--Meet Felicia, And I'm "Raising the Bar"

2009-01-07T13:54:00.010-05:00

I loved opening Weekend Meltdown in my hero's point of view.

That's not how my first draft started out, but my Silhouette editor asked me to throw the reader more into the story right off the bat (I only had 100 pages to work with), and I loved the result. And it sounds like from your comments, the hook did it's job just fine ;O)

But, now you have to meet Felicia. Well, you already met her, and Tony REALLY met her. But get inside her head a litte in this next excerpt. I think you'll like the ride, LOL!

Oh, and since the new TV season's coming on strong--those of you who haven't watched "Raising the Bar" yet, make sure to get you some this month. Do it. Yes, it looks a lot like Law and Order from the outside, and it is gritty. But the writing. The anti-heroes you still want to root for. The new twist on what's good and what's bad and what is grey and in between and we just have to accept it that way or go mad... Yeah, I like it. If feels more St. Elsewhere to me, than modern legal drama. Scrapping and scraping and no real heroes to light the way, except maybe for some of the clients. I promised I'd share more of what I watch and read, so there you have it. My start. Can't wait to raise the bar some more. Make sure you listen to the dialogue. Really. Just close your eyes and listen to what they're saying. It's amazing stuff.

Oh, and I can't wait for "Mad Men," too. Weird little show, but not so little, and really not that weird, since they're focusing on human beings, once you get past the amazing sets and wardrobe and the kick ass acting. The human element. Flaws. Redmeption. My kind of stuff, I guess.

So, here's more from my Winter Heat anthology, due out on Jan. 13th. There are chats and guest blogging coming up to help us celebrate it's realse next week. But for now, you get to read what's not even on shelves yet ;o)

******
Weekend Meltdown
Chapter Two

"You're drunk, Ms. Gallo."

Felicia was drunk all right, swimming in a golden, sensual haze. But not from the few glasses of expensive wine she'd imbibed between the airport and the lodge. Blinking, she tried to clear the dazzling glare from her vision. Glare that had nothing to do with camera flashes.

"Ms. Gallo?" prodded the sinfully-sexy man holding her.

His mouth was near her ear, so no one but her would hear. The wash of his breath over her sensitive skin wrecked her balance even more.

"I'm per...perfectly fine," she insisted.

And just to prove it, she didn't shamelessly throw herself at Tony Rossi again. No matter how badly she wanted to.

This was Willard's fault. All of it.

"Of course you're fine, darling," insisted the mastermind behind her humiliation. Willard hitched a supportive arm under her elbow, then batted his lashes at Rossi's Steve McQueen glare. "I'm sure this fine specimen has a valet at his disposal, to fetch our bags away while we get you checked in."

"Everything's exactly as described in your prize package." Rossi stared down the photographer who was still snapping away, until the poor guy gave up and got lost. "If you think you can manage, Ms. Gallo, I'll help you register, then take you to your suite so you can...rest. I'm sure you'll want to be at your best for tonight's activities."

And Felicia's best clearly wasn't good enough at the moment.

Steve McQueen seemed to have forgotten his enthusiastic participation in her Willard-inspired naughtiness.

No fear this weekend, Willard had insisted ever since they'd jetted away from Manhattan. Willard and her, and the brand new wardrobe she'd purchased to ramp up her battered sexual confidence. No holding back.

She was a goddess, she reminded herself. Not a woman so wrapped up in her high-powered career that her fiancé had dumped her for the coat check girl at Willard's East Village trattoria, Viva!

Too kiss-wobbly on her fuck-me platform sandals to make another scene by stomping away—but determined to remind Rossi that it had been his tongue inspecting every inch of her orthodontist's handiwork—Felicia sidled closer. She ran an acrylic nail down the yummy fabric of his expensively distressed shirt. Batted her own heavily massacred lashes.

"I think you'll find that I'm always at my best, Mr. Rossi."

Willard's wicked chuckle was a dear thing, no matter how pissed she was at him. She let him lead her into the lodge. He'd pay later, when they were alone and she'd reclaimed enough brain cells to punish him for baiting her into embarrassing herself. But for now, she needed his sass to feed her own.

Head high, adding extra sway to the undulation of her hips, she tossed her hair over her shoulders and left a frowning Rossi at the curb.

"Well played, my dear." Willard lead her into the luxurious lobby that wasn't exactly the tranquil, Gatsbyesque scene she'd expected. "How come you never put that weenie Phillip in his place like that?"

"You promised never to say that name to me again." She fake-smiled through her teeth at a passing couple.

"Well, your Big Mistake of 2007 didn't deserve you. And you haven't deserved beating yourself up over the asshole for two years. How did it feel, propositioning the first hunk of a man you saw, then leaving him in your dust?"

"Mortifying." And unsatisfying.

It had to be the sparkling wine they'd found waiting for them in the Town Car, making her crave more.

Two glasses of champagne?

Right!

That's why she felt so woozy.

Rossi, the real culprit behind the buzzing in her brain, had a backside as amazing as his front. And of course, she couldn't keep her eyes off him. He flanked the bell man and their cart of bags as far as the elevators. Then he headed Felicia and Willard's way, oozing such intoxicating intensity, she realized she was panting for air.

"Why did I let you talk me into this?" she whined.

"Because it's a freaking dream weekend, girlfriend. And you're going to take advantage of every second. You're more in need of a winter meltdown, than any woman I know—including myself."

"You just want to swap lip gloss secrets with Maddy Lov." She ignored her gay husband's wounded moue. Out of the corner of her eye, she tracked Rossi's approach, and every amazing thing his body did to the tailored slacks he wore. "This farce is about you storing up tidbits to share with your divas in Manhattan."

"You're the only diva I care about this weekend, love." Willard caught her tugging at the fur-trimmed neckline of her top. His eye-roll destroyed the last of her champagne's golden glow. "You're wearing Cloe played with Blahnik. Very, Shut your mouth, I'm not an uptight lawyer freaked out about being the main draw at the party of the season! Now own it. Take some chances. Let me see you slinking back into your lawyer's shell, and mama's going to slap your hand—or some other part of your anatomy."

The threat came with another affectionate wink.

Felicia laughed.

Even being annoyed with Willard called to creative, exuberant parts of her. The parts she usually draped with classic Chanel suits and St. John dresses, when what she secretly lusted after was Prada and Cavalli.

"How are we doing?" Tony Rossi asked at her side.

Speaking of lusting...

"Never better." She focused on her surroundings, rather than the impulse to run her hands through the guy's caramel-brown hair again.

Romantic couples cuddling by firelight would have been a bit much, she supposed. But Winter Pass' aura was more like Manhattan's high-energy dating scene, than a quaint venue for the poetry readings, elegant dinners, and the wine and cheese cocktail hours described on the lodge's Webpage. Willard was right. It was going to be the party of the season.

He drew her to the registration desk, an arm draped supportively about her waist. A whoop went up from the lobby's wood-paneled bar. Gales of laughter followed. Felicia glanced toward the mayhem, the skin on the back of her neck tingling at Rossi's nearness.

Maddy Lov was one of her father's law firm's top celebrity clients. At one firm VIP function, Felicia had watched Maddy drink men twice her size under the table, daring her besotted admirers to keep up. And Rossi thought Felicia needed a nap so she could rein in her inner wild child?

The kind of alluring wild child she'd let her ex-fiancé's rejection convince her she'd never be.

Suddenly fed up with years of weak second-guessing, she left Willard to handle things with the registration attendant and turned on Rossi. She thrust the plunging neckline of her halter top out and smiled her best siren's smile.

"This place isn't exactly how things were described in the prize package," she challenged. "I must say, I'm a little disappointed."

"I know exactly how you feel." Rossi stopped checking out her cleavage and consulted what looked like a vintage watch. Then he took in her over-the-top ensemble again, making her even more determined not to let him know how unsettled she felt in her risqué fashion. "Why don't I show you to your suite, while your friend finishes taking care of the particulars. I'm already late to help set up for the welcome reception, and—"

"No need." Willard took her hand and kissed her fingers. "But once I help this lovely creature freshen up, maybe you and I can get better acquainted."

Rossi's answering annoyance went no further than the chill in his gaze.

"I'll look forward to it." He sounded as if eating dirt would be more appealing, but his congenial smile was rugged perfection. "Especially since Ms. Gallo's due to recite her grand prize winning poem after dinner."

"I'll try extra hard to make it a memorable moment." She pushed past Rossi, annoyed by this all-business side of him. Where was the passion and lust from before? "I'll look forward to your critique afterwards."

Critique? Willard's raised eyebrow asked as they neared the elevator.

Eat shit!, she smiled back, feeling Rossi track their progress toward their third floor suite. Once inside the elevator, she turned and met his gaze, shivering.

What kind of man made even blatant disapproval look sizzling hot?

The doors whooshed shut. Willard watched her rub at the chill bumps skittering up and down her arms.

"The first man wasn't the old guy at the concierge desk," he quipped. "That's a plus."

She punched him as a reward, nearly missing his forearm while her body shivered in awareness. He'd dared her to seduce the first unsuspecting guy she saw. And like a fool, she'd played along, just for fun. What could it hurt?

The elevator slowed, then stopped.

"I just sexed up the most obnoxious man in the place," she reminded her friend as the exited. "The guy's acting like he's ready to toss us both out, when he was crawling all over me outside. I'm an asshole magnet. What's wrong with me?"

"Absolutely nothing, except you need to relax and enjoy the ride. Stop worrying. I wouldn't mind finding someone that obnoxiousof my own to spar with this weekend."

"He's all yours." Felicia needed someone less...everything, to test her battered self-esteem on.

"Ah, good." Willard ushered her toward their suite. The cart with their things on it was positioned outside the open door, the bell man still unloading. "See, darling. We get to stay the night, despite you shamelessly making the most fantastic man I've ever seen your love slave."

"I did not make Tony Rossi my love slave!" Felicia turned into the suit in time to catch the shocked expression on the bell man's face as he screeched to a halt in front of her...

Winter Heat: Excerpt 1, And A Monday Chance to Win

2009-01-04T22:16:00.009-05:00

I'm including an excerpt below from Winter Heat--my Jan 13th Silhouette release that's already hitting the Amazon best seller lists, on pre-orders alone.

Pretty cool, huh? And I always share the good stuff with my online friends ;o)

And speaking of really good online friends who love sharing, make sure to visit Michelle Buonfiglio's birthday party tomorrow (Monday the 5th) on her myLifetimeTV.com blog--Romance B(u)y the Blog:

http://www.mylifetime.com/lifestyle/entertainment/romance-buy-the-book/blog

She's going to be hosting great fun and giving away great prizes. You don't want to miss out.

And here's a touch of Winter Heat to warm up your chilly night ;o) Keep checking back. I'll be teasing you with more, off and on, until the release date--and I'll be posting a pic soon of the the AMAZING prize I'll be drawing a winner for, from thise who leave comments through the end of the month.

Enjoy the excerpt and Michelle's party!

********

Winter Heat

Chapter One

"You'll have the romantic getaway reputation you're paying me for." Tony Rossi flashed Tom Walker a confident smile. "I guarantee it."

A whoop heckled him from the lobby's oak bar, where rock star Maddy Lov was holding court. Lov was A-List Publicity's problem for the weekend. Not Tony's, thank God. But the lodge's floundering PR firm had figured what better way to grab Winter Pass an Internet full of tabloid attention, than to leverage the latest pop princess du jour for all the viral press they could get.

The ensuing chaos was dangerously close to running off the romantic couples the Walkers wanted drawn to their lovely jewel in the mountains.

"A Weekend of Poetry and Romance, huh?" Walker asked.

The theme had been his and his wife's brainchild. So was the online sonnet contest, the winners of which were the weekend's guest of honor. Now Tony's job was to promote his ass off at the eleventh hour, to counter A-Lists' missteps. He was a one-man show, an insanely-expensive PR gun for hire, and he never let a client down.

Walker's attention shifted to a buxom ski bunny prancing by. The party girl's snow suit was unzipped so close to nirvana, Lov's contingent of paparazzi had her under round-the-clock surveillance.

"Well." Tom clapped Tony on the shoulder. "You're our closer. Get it done!"

With a glad I'm not you glance, he headed behind the Tucson-inspired registration desk and disappeared into the lodge's offices.

"No luck to it," Tony reminded himself.

Luck had revealed its mercurial ways to him at a tender age. He'd made his own success ever since, screw the odds against him. Winter Pass might be a mess, but it was his highest profile account yet. His professional future was riding on delivering on the promise he'd just made.
Maddy Lov had been watching Tony's exchange with his anxious client. She smiled from the epicenter of her sea of admirers, as if she'd heard every word and relished the trouble her girls-gone-wild approach to ski resort chic was causing Tony.

The day kept getting better and better.

Liz Song, the author of one of the contest's winning poems, was snowed in somewhere not Colorado. The second contest couple, whom Tony had wanted settled in before that afternoon's welcome festivities began, was MIA. At least Felicia Gallo and her guest were on their way in from the airport.

She and her amazing poem were the real deal the Walkers needed to show the lodge off. And Tony, and the events schedule he'd created and subsequently leaked to the press, was determined to make sure that's exactly what happened.

He'd gladly left classic literature behind after high school. But poetry was the language of lovers. And twenty couples were arriving at Winter Pass, expecting the luxury poetry weekend the Walkers had dreamed up. A romantic vibe he wasn't letting Lov's full-tilt-boogie mania tarnish.

The Walkers would have their dream, despite A-List's bungling. He'd organized a flurry of expensive, last-minute publicity on every available travel magazine Website. Couples bookings had quickly surpassed the flurry of singles coming to Party with Lov. The sonnet contest winners were going to romance the socks off the guests. That's just the way it was going to be.

He jerked at his lapels, resettling his black wool sports coat on his shoulders. Or as settled as the jacket could look, considering the distressed finish of the shirt he'd thrown on beneath it—without a tie. Appearance was an essential part of the PR game. He did his job and kept the wrinkles at bay. But dawning a conservative shirt and tie every day wasn't going to happen. Neither was getting excited about the arrival of a hard-core romantic like Gallo.

But as he headed for the carved wood and stained glass doors that opened onto the lodge's portico, he caught himself smoothing the front of his tailored slacks.

Damn, man!

Felicia Gallo's coming with the date the Walkers urged her to bring. Get her settled, give her weekend her itinerary, then get back to Maddy Lov before one of her groupies torches the lobby!

Except all day, while Tony had been keeping an eye on Maddy's boom-baby curves, it was Gallo's soft features he couldn't get out of his mind. He'd studied her head shot as he'd designed and distributed a flurry of press releases. Soft waves of dark blonde hair. Sparkling, princess-blue eyes. Her smile was sugar-sweet.
So why did it make him think of wicked sex and satin sheets? Why did he keep imagining the warmth radiating from her expression, smoldering into nuclear waves that could melt even a frigid Colorado January?

She made him think of sex and drama, and he never let his sex life get anywhere close to dramatic.

Standing at the curb, Tony checked the time on his Tag Heur Manaco. Then he checked himself. Gazed at the snow-covered landscape he'd spent the last three weeks hyping to anyone who'd listen.

Felicia Gallo, and the warm intelligence dripping from every word of her poetry, was arriving any minute. He'd work her pedigreed business success and romantic heart to the resort's advantage. If a part of him wanted to sample any of her warmth for himself, he'd deal with it. The same way he dealt with the few things that ever managed to surprise him. He'd ignore the impulse to indulge in weak feelings that would only bring him trouble, then he'd get back to work.

A speck on the frozen horizon crept closer—one of the Town Cars Tony had reserved for the weekend's VIP's. The corporate lawyer with a lover's soul would be inside, along with the man she'd invited to share her romantic prize package.

But the poet from Ms. Gallo's poignant biopic didn't emerge from the luxury car. Out teetered a high-maintenance fashionista instead, wearing four inch heels and the kind of severe style he'd seen firsthand on Madison Avenue.

Nothing turned Tony off more, than the brittle kind of bombshell striding toward him.

Her hips swayed as if she was on a mission to captivate every man in sight—because she knew she could. Gallo's smile zeroed in on Tony, as if she were playing a role, and his part in her production was to do her bidding. She wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, meeting him eye-to-eye—a woman who had no intention of being ignored.

Then she leaned in to whisper, "Hello," with both her wicked perfume and a husky, sensual voice.
Turned off or not, Tony's body instantly helloed back.

He found himself sipping the taste of champagne from her lips, groaning while she licked, then sucked, at his tongue. Her bottom wiggled beneath the vibrant purple of the catsuit-come-snowsuit she'd worn with her skyscraper stilettos.

Actually, a firm cheek had found it's way beneath each of his palms.

His hands skimmed across the softest female flesh he'd ever touched, and kept right on skimming, encountering not the barest trace of panties.

Damn!

His fingers clenched, and her breath hitched. A rough sound that brimmed with wicked promise. Then she jerked away, shock vibrating through her body, her pupils expanding, her head slowly shaking.

Tony's body screamed for more. A spark of reason argued that his hands were better off in his pockets. His palms settled the matter by pulling the enticing globes of her ass closer. She squirmed, but in the next second her body brushed his hardness, and her resistance evaporated. She burrowed her head against his neck, her teeth nipping. Lost in the rush, he settled her tighter against his straining flesh and lost what was left of his mind.

Wrapping a fist in her wildly curling hair, he pulled until he had her lips again. Her taste.

"Good Lord, Fe," a masculine voice chided. "Get a room before you devour the beautiful man for dinner."

Tony opened one eye, then the other. The woman in his arms panted, her legs sliding down his thighs and calves until the toes of her outlandish shoes touched the sidewalk, then the heels. A wave of uncharacteristic protectiveness had him pulling her head to his shoulder, shielding her face, while she pulled together whatever wits she still possessed.

It took him longer than it should have to do the same. Then he took stock of the man the wanton in his arms had arrived with. A man dressed as expensively, and as vividly, as Felicia Gallo herself.

Tony made his hands drop to his side.

"I suppose," he rasped, "that this is the muse for your words of enduring love. The date you were encouraged to invite to share your romantic getaway with?"

"Wh... What?" Afternoon sun shone fire-red in the deep blond of Gallo's hair. Her features softened in confusion. Something of the woman in the picture Tony had studied emerged.
"Your new boy toy wants to know if he has competition for the weekend." Gallo's flamboyant friend winked, his gaze skimming from Tony's laced-up dress shoes to his untamable hair. "And I want to know if you plan to share the wealth."

A strobing flash of light momentarily blinded them.

"Kiss her again, Rossi," demanded one of the photogs constantly cruising the lodge. "That was hot!"

More flashes followed, attracting the attention of passers by who otherwise might not have noticed Tony's insane reaction to the kind of female he wanted nothing to do with. The nexus of his wholesome PR plans for the Walkers.

"Rossi?" The hard-core sex goddess who'd been mauling him blushed from the diamonds winking in her earlobes, to the tantalizing cleavage spilling from her top's plunging neckline. "Oh-My-God!"

I'm on LifetimeTV (.com)!!!

2009-01-02T13:41:00.011-05:00

Touching something amazing every day, remember!

I wanted to share a fun surpise. Last April, at the 2008 Romantic Times Conference, I was interviewed by good friend, journalist and romance advocate Michelle Buonfiglio, who blogs about all things romance over at for LifetimeTV.com:

http://www.mylifetime.com/lifestyle/entertainment/romance-buy-the-book/blog

It was fun, if a little terrifying to be on camera beside a professional journalist and former beuty pagent winner (Michelle's a former Miss Penn. and a Top 10 finalist in the Miss America contest, bless her beautiful heart, and it is beautiful, just like the rest of her). Her film crew put me at ease, even though they had me squinting into direct sunlight because they needed it to keep the shadows at bay. So, I survived without hyperventilating and pretty much figured that's the last I'd hear of the experience. Michelle had so many other wonderful, better known authors on her call sheet. My twenty minutes or so would no doubt be cut--what a relief!

Well, fast forward to a friend sending me a link last night, and, woops! So much for relief. Seems I managed to say something intelligent, after all--about loving to hear reader responses to my stories, and staying in touch with fans over the information superhighway.

So, here they are--my first "national" interviews. Really amazing things, actually. Once I got past the feminine hygiene ad--which evidently is intended to score with the romance target market (always happy to help, any way I can). And once i got over the way I sound (that's not my voice), and how tense my face is (did I mention the staring directly into sunlight part, while a tinfoil thingie reflected even more of it into my peripheral vision?). Once I watched it a few times and relaxed enough to listen to what I was saying.

Michelle and I have known each other for years, both professionally and as friends, and she knew just the right questions to get me to open up. And I really seem into what I'm saying--in a tense, squinty way--and most of it's not half bad, even though there are a few rough cuts where they spliced one part of the interview into another. In the end, I even managed to make me feel a little more excited about this career I've been lucky enought to build a presence in. I'm a lucky girl. Jan. 2nd, 2009: amazing thing--check.

So, take a look and chuckle amongst yourself. And--just to show you I'm a team player, all the way around--go buy sanitary pads, for heaven sake!!!

Follow this link to my LifetimeTV video page (that's a very cool thing to type, BTW ;o) Thanks, Michelle B.!!!

http://www.mylifetime.com/video-search/tags/Anna%20Destefano

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T20:00:00.013-05:00

At least twice a week, every week...that's my goal for cardio and blogging in 2009 ;o)

And there's so much to share. New publishers and new books and new genres and new creative partners and new obsessions and the same compulsion to share it all... So check back every week, more than once, and you won't be disappointed. My Silhouette Special Release anthology, Winter Heat, is out in a few weeks, so stay tuned!

Of course, we'll be having release parties and contests, just like the good 'ol days. All winners from 2008 who contacted me with the snail mail addresses should have received their goodies. If you didn't get yours for some reason, email me one more time and I'll set things a right.

Today, I'm trying to slow down from a fast-paced holiday so I can sink back into the manuscript due on Feb. 1st. You know, that paranormal romantic suspese about the psychic twin sisters and their psychotic dreams I've been teasing everyone about??? Yep! I sold it--actually, I sold it and it's sequel--and I'll be sharing all the details soon.

But for now, I've watched Looney Tunes this morning with my son, chatted the mid-day away with my husband, and now I'm rewatching Double Jeapardy on the DVD. A great contemporary suspense I'm hoping will get me in the mood for a night of writing and rewriting ;o) Next in the line up... Watching Blue Crush because it's a girl-power movie and the photography of surfing the Pipeline in Hawaii is amazing. And I want a touch of amazing in every 2009 day.

Settle deep into your life, too, wherever you are. It's the beginning of a great new year. 2008 was full of a lot of hard work that I allowed to take me too far away from the things I need to feed my creativity. I'll be working even harder in 2009, but I'll be working smarter, too. And I'll be cherishing the things in this new year that nurture me--a long list, of which all of you are most definitely part.

Don't be gone long. I'll be waiting here for you!

Things that have Rocked My World so far this Month!!!

2008-09-21T18:43:00.005-04:00

1) Everyone who "stopped by" to say hi with an email or a blog post, chatted up To Save a Family (which is selling like gangbusters everywhere I look, so grab your copy), and who left me snail mail addresses for prize winners. Shipments go out starting tomorrow (check back over the last few blog posts to be sure if you're one of the lucky winners!)

2) The political conversation in the air--whatever your opinion, people are talking with passion and maybe even digging beneath the surface for enough information to make up their own minds, instead of repeating what they hear a reporter say on the news. Kudos!!!

3) Watching the first season of Dirty, Sexy Money on DVD--then reading the recaps at televisionwithoutpity.com. The subtext and underlying threads in this wacky show are really amazing.

4) Reading The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen--an amazing, etherail read.

5) The weather turning "fall-ish" around here--which means, the air's not running all day and I can sit on my back deck and write while a cool breeze takes the edge off the late-summer sun's heat.

6) Watching the Rachel Zoe Project on Bravo. I'm a wanna-be stylist/personal shopper, what can I say. I'm already addicted--I DIE!!!

7) The national bail-out of those in and around Housten and our nation's financial and real estate crisies. Not sure which is more of a tragedy--but the latter could most definately have been stopped long before now, so it's about damn time.

8) Hearing/watching my son grow into his gifts for music and tennis. He's practicing both all week long, every week, and starting to learn that working hard at something you love doesn't always have to feel like work.

9) Having all four of my cats in bed with me the other week, when I was under the weather. My family, when my other family has to leave me for work and school. Proof of love in the world, no matter how much everything else seems to be spinning.

10) Falling in love with Vanity Fair and The New York Times again. It's been a while since I've
had the time to catch up on my reading (can you tell I've been emmersing myself in somthing else besides my words, lol!), and I'd forgotten how amazing the Vanity Fair articles are. Lots of good stuff in the NYT, too, even if you have to dig a bit (but not as much as with other papers) to tunnel under the spin.

How's your month going?

Making Your World Small, So You Can Dream Big...

2008-08-26T14:44:00.021-04:00

Otherwise, how can you see through all that's around you...to embrace what's to come?

There are so many distractions and tasks and responsibilities and claims on all that makes us creative and alive. On the spirit within that is a promise of more to come. The very weight of it can bear us down until the world seems too big for us to find our place in it.

Any of you mothers and daughters and wives and sisters out there know what I mean?

My solution these last few months???

To make the amazing world that was getting too big just a little bit smaller, then smaller and smaller again, until my mind could see past the very full days and nights--to the blessing that my dreams are to me. To the writing that gives the dreams life. To the circle of creativity that binds us all together.

New Age stuff? Maybe. But I can smile again now. And the writing is coming along nicely. And I'm excited about my new books coming out next month and in January. And about dreaming again, and beleiving that there really is even more to come.

The rest of the details we'll work out. Like parties and prizes (my mail server has crashed, so stay tuned if you're one of the winners below, for details on where to send me your mailing address).

And new sales and series and proposals. And holidays and new parties and how we can share our lives and all the big things that are ours to claim.

Doesn't that sound like fun?

Okay, here are the new winners I promised so long ago. Thanks to everyone for being so patient, and for emailing to check in and ask how things are going.

Scroll back through the blog for pictures of each prize. I'll update this post with info on where to send me your snail mail addresses.

Let's give my email server a chance to calm itself down and behave better. Those who've already sent theirs, I can't even get in to print them off at the moment. See what I mean about needing to back up, so you can see the bigger picture ;o) We'll make it work...

UPDATE: OK, my mail server is up and running--for now ;o) Let's give it a shot, shall we? If you're one of the winners below, please email me your snail mail addresses at
anna(at)annawrites.com (replace "(at)" with the "@" sign). This includes the first two winners who may have already sent me their addresses months ago--I've lost some of my inbox and the "contest winners" folder where I store everything.

If I haven't heard from everyone by next week, I'll repost. Thanks!!!

Already Posted

-------------------------

Snow White and Grumpy plush (in honor of my April anthology, Mothers of the Year)--Tavelor

The Green Grumpy t-shirt--Annie

New Winners:

From the 5/27 Post

------------------------------

Another Snow White and Grumpy plus set--CheriO, who left a comment at 2:34 pm

The Pink Snow White t-shirt--Amy S., who left a comment at 3:36 pm

Snow White and her trusty steed plus set--Cas2ajs, who commented at 5:38 pm

The White Snow White t-shirt--lil, who commented at 11:14 pm

From the 6/26 Post

------------------------------

The Silver compact and lipstick case set, with the square compact--lily, who posted at 8:49 pm

The Pink compact set--Jane, who posted at 5:35 pm

The Silver compact set with the round compact--kathleen, who posted at 8:04 pm

The Things You Learn from 40 Years and 10 Books

2008-07-11T20:00:00.006-04:00

Yeah, no use beating around the bush... I turned 40 yesterday. That's right. 4-0. Halfway to 8-0, but since the women in my family live into their 90s, thank dog, I haven't expended half my shelf life yet ;o) So, you're stuck with me for a bit longer...

And with age (and 11 books written in 4 years), comes, well, mayhem. Not dementia, or early-onset anything...but chaos and choices and the wisdom to sit back and decide what's what, and what's not. Don't worry. This blog is part of what's what. The what's not is elsewhere, and I'm weeding my gardens and rearranging my closets and hugging my family and cats and loving the writing I'm about to do and honoring what I've already been blessed to create and not being afraid of the unknown ahead, and generally deciding which fork in the road is for me. Not to worry, I'm a less-travelled by kind of girl. So, no generic posts coming your way, even though I'm looking into make things better for all of us by not disappearing for weeks on end ;o)

Philosophical enough for you?

As you might have noticed, the list of prize winners wasn't in the last post. That's because I have to go back to both my email inbox for the addresses and the previous posts for the winners I've already announced, cross-reference to see who I have and who I'm missing, list those in the blog, and then pick then go back to the right entries in the blog and pick random winners from the comments, then list them. And while that should only take ten minutes or so, there simply hasn't been any ten minutes in my life the last few weeks that hasn't already been earmarked for something else (like partying, writing, brainstroming, momming, wifing, and prepping for travelling).

The result--I have an amazing book on the shelves (my first RT Top Pick since my first book), To Protect the Child, and I'm not getting to crow about it and give away the goodies I earmarked for the last book. Pout. Pant... Pant... And, like, I can't have a new party until I've tied up after the last one. More Pout, pant, pant...

Let's just say this--the calendar by my desk...it's still sitting on December '07. The new one's unwrapped on the floor. It's been that kind of year.

And then it hit me, amidst my musings, because I've had all kinds of time to just sit and think: I'm trying to finish things from the last party (plus mail my Brenda Novak Auction winners their goodies, and all that just got straightened out), have a new one, and there's another book out in September... And I'm not doing a very good job of keeping up with any of it, because the writing and new proposals and stuff have to get done. And the family has to be loved. And the cats. And the few friends that haven't decided I've died or something...

Okay, maybe I'm overdramatizing things. But what's a writer to do ;o)

Long story short--because I'm getting older by the second--have no fear, I'll get everyone their goodies, and I'll make sure there's something extra in every box. But it's going to take me a little more time. I'm off to Seattle for the Pacific Northwest Writer's Conerence next week, then to San Francisco not too long after that for the RWA National Conference. And my birthday present to me is giving myself that time, and believing it'll be okay.

I'll get that help, so we can still party on. But in the mean time, I'm going to blog more often than I have lately, about the world and what inspires us in it, and what flashes and catches our attention when we least expect it. About this new decade of my life. About what the writing and the living in it is, and what it isn't.

Join me. You'll see more of me. And once I find my helper for all things "party," I'll introduce her and she'll make sure we rock on out here in "Anna Land!"

Have a great weekend, my friends.

Long List of Winners, New Release Party Date

2008-06-26T15:40:00.009-04:00

What's the phrase? Stuff happens... Well, it's been happening the last month. But, stuff happening is better than the alternative, so ...

So, below is a list of all winners whose prizes STILL haven't been shipped. The new winners of all the Snow White goodies, please email me your mailing addresses at anna(at)annawrites.com.

There are a few pictures of some of the goodies I've saved for the To Save a Child release party that's GOING to happen next week (and a list of still more)--stay tuned for an exact date, there will be fun excerpts from lots of books and fun surprises.

And I'll also give you a peak at my new COVER for my September book. Ok, I'll leave that here--can't help it, I LOVE IT ;O)

More to come! My thanks to everyone who've let me know how much you're loving my June Superromance thriller/romantic suspense. I adore the story, and am excited about the direction the Atlanta Heroes series is taking. We'll party next week!

And finally, here's a quote a friend shared from me. It really struck a cord ;o)

"...Whatever anybody says or does, assumepositive intent. You will be amazed at how your whole approach to a personor problem becomes very different. When you assume negative intent, you'reangry. If you take away that anger and assume positive intent, you will beamazed..." --Indra NooyiChairman and CEO, Pepsico

Winners Patiently Awaiting Prizes (Bless You!)
----------------------------------------

A Few New Prize Pics to Tease You Until Next Week (He-He!)

These are great lipstick and compact sets!

-----------------------------------------------------

And a List of a Few More...

----------------------------

Pet-friendly charm bracelet and necklace!

Borders Gift Certificates!

Of course, signed copies of books!

Prizes for Everyone!!! Or at least until I run out ;o)

2008-05-27T09:00:00.024-04:00

See, there's this thing about getting organized and caught up... The Universe has a way of saying, "Oh Yeah????"

GRW (Georgia Romance Writers) and family have been my reality the last week or so. Both very important to me, even if I miss my blogging. Even if I have to put equally important things on hold. Balance... I'm learning the healing reality of it, and how little a writer gets of it by default. You have to create your own.

So, I've gone back to my yoga and pilates, and we've bought a new bed (heaven), and I'm caught up on the tons of things I've had to put off for so long, and my son's finished with his first year of middle school (complete with a spot on the District Honor Band, achademic awards, four honors classed lined up for next year, and a true passion for tennis that will see him through three back-to-back camps this summer). A school year well lived, and one of my proudest accomplishments--that my son's happy and balanced in his own intelligence and creativity. They're our future, our children. Our legacy. I'm grateful that my son's a daily gift to remind me of that promise.

And I've just returned from a Memorial Day weekend emersed in Native American culture (part of my heritage)--and I've fallen in love wint Zuni fetish carvings (small masterpieces carved from gems and precisous stone by Zuni artisans) and the work of a Zuni jewelry artist, Effie Calavaza (http://www.taostrading.com/eshox_pages/effie.html). Seems snake medicine is what I find myself drawn to, and this great lady is the best of the best at creating and healing through her art. I hope to meet her some day. I've included a few pics of her work to give you a little taste...

It was a magical weekend of drum music and native singing and dancing. I bought a wooden flute with the perfect earthy tone, and met some wonderfully inspiring artists. The festival is a "pow wow" I've attended before, and there are several more throughout the year. I won't miss a single one. And I really need to delve into my family history and figure out my Cherokee roots. But that's for another day.

I've been remiss in prizes, and that can go on no longer ;o) So, in addition to the prizes in the last post, pictures of the rest of my Snow White treasures follow. I'll give them all way to commenters by the end of the week--so speak up!--while we celebrate the success of Mother's of the Year--and my "Snow White" themed novella, Baby Steps.

In the mean time:

Snow White and Grumpy go to...Travelor, who posted at 3:14 in the May 13th post.

And the green Grumpy T-shirt...to Annie, who posted at 3:58 in the May 8th post.

Did anyone catch the Mothers and Daughters article in this month's Romantic Times? I received a call from an editor at RT a few months back, who'd heard about my foster care story and was intrigued. Baby Steps was spotlighted prominantly, and the message I hope every reader takes away that motherhood is about giving and caring and loving unconditionally, and helping a child find his own confidence and purpose in life... I've had wonderful feedback on it. The unexpected blessings are the best, don't you think?

Remind me to tell you about my LifeTime TV interview next, 'kay ;o) Oh, and to give you another excerpt of Weekend Meltdown...

Until then, enjoy drooling over more Snow White prizes, chatting about the spritual zaniness of yours truly ;o), and looking forward to my To Protect the Child Blog release party which will begin on June 17th!!!

Winter Meltdown Excerpt and another Hunky Guy Pic

2008-05-13T11:04:00.021-04:00

Hope everyone had a GREAT Mother's Day.

We disappeared up into the mountains, slept in a B&B beside a water fall (it was a working Grist Mill), and hung out all day Sunday (my husband, son and I), being a family in the sunshine and fresh air (and of course the flea markets and antique places along the way ;o) It was heaven. Perfect!!

Then we came back and celebrated my husband's birthday yesterday. And my son winning awards at his 6th Grade Honors ceremony. Let me just say, I'm such a proud mommy.

As promised, I'm including a excerpt of my VERY early Winter Meltdown draft (just received revision notes from my New York editors), to tease you ;o) You're going to love this one, my friends--due on shelves next January! Let me know what you think of this tiny taste, LOL!

Also, check out what another gifted artist I've also gotten to know through the Romantic Times conference, Maida Reyes from Crossing Realms, (http://crossingrealms.com/) did turning one of Steve's and my late-night shots into a sample book cover.

Don't she and Rose (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?
fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=129805753&
MyToken=20170a1a-78ae-4eb6-b0aa-a9a285db4d2a ) make a great team! And of course, Steve ( http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=301715902 ).

The Crossing Realms site is under reconstruction, so keep checking back to see more of her Maida's fabulous work. She's a true talent, and as she comes up with more samples from my little experimental walk through the publishing world beyond writing my books, I'll be sure to share!

You can check back to the May 5th post (http://annadestefano.blogspot.com/2008/05/gorgeous-gus-gorgeous-guys-everyone.html ) and see how much work was done on ME (my jeans and T-shirt are gone, I have makeup on now, and it's not so obvious that I work out 4 or 5 times a week, LOL!), and how amazing Steve looked right from the start ;o)

So, just one more glimpse for my faithful readers into the work that goes into getting our books and covers out on the shelves for you to enjoy. Without all these creative artists making us visually appealing and relevant, no one would pick up our books. Maida, Rose and Steve--you rock!!!

Enjoy the Winter Meltdown draft excerpt--more to come ;o).

Remember, all comments go in the running for Snow White and Grumpy and the Grumpy T-shirt giveaway. New prizes with the next post, too, and we'll keep it going through the end of the month. If you haven't bought your copy of Mothers of the Year yet, it's still available in some stores and on Amazon (see the link to the right) and eHarlequin.com. I'm hearing RAVES from readers--it'll make you laugh and cry!!!

Then, keep an eye out for my To Protect the Child release party in June!!!

Winter Meltdown
******************

"Chloe played with Prada. That's a fierce outfit you're almost wearing. Very, Shut your mouth, I'm not and uptight lawyer freaked out about being the main draw at the party of the season!"

"It's not a party," Felicia Gallo corrected her best friend, over the rim of the champagne flute Willard had kept filled with Cristal during their winding drive from the airport. "It's a—"

"It's a freaking dream weekend, girlfriend." His discriminating eye catalogued one of the many designer outfits her last-minute shopping spree had produced. "And you're going to take advantage of every second of it."

"What do you care?"

Felicia hadn't cuddled up with champagne in ages. When would she have found the time? She'd forgotten the warm, golden glow of it. The expensive bubbles that effervesced into her thoughts, making it more trouble than it was worth to obsess too much about anything.

"As long as you get to swap lip gloss secrets with Maddy Lov," she snarked, "you'll be the talk of every Diva in Manhattan."

"You're the only diva I care about this weekend, my dear." Willard caught her tugging at the fur-trimmed neckline of the purple snow suit that fit her like a second skin. His eye-roll of frustration admonished some of the champagne's golden magic. "You agreed to take some chances again. Let me catch you slinking back into your shell, and mama's going to slap your hand—or some other part of your anatomy."

The threat came with an affectionate wink.

Felicia laughed.

Laughing with Willard always called to the creative, exuberant parts of her. The parts she covered up with Channel suits and St. John dresses, even though she secretly loved Cloe and Roberto Cavalli.

Willard was tall and pretty-boy-meets-gym thin. An outlandish risk-taker in both business and expressing his personal style. Unabashed about relishing the success he'd willed into reality. Midwest born and bred, he owned three of the top restaurants in New York. He traded on his connections to power players from industries as varied as entertainment and sports, as a child swapped baseball cards. Effortless should have been Willard's drag name—then again, his current moniker, Vivid, wasn't far off the mark.

"To fun." She raised her glass in a toast that the wine kept her from questioning.

"To my goddess friend embracing her fabulous self." Willard clinked and drank. "And, to you propositioning the first gorgeous hunk of man you see."

She sputtered at the challenging arch of his eyebrow.

"No more dares." She sighed when Willard emptied the rest of the bottle into her class. "Dares and booze are what got me into this mess in the first place."

Her gay husband, as Felicia's friends affectionately referred to Willard, chucked her under the chin with his forefinger.

"You're confusing being drunk," he said, "with hiding behind your brains and daddy's legal empire for five years."

"Six." She stared at her empty glass.

Six years already?

"That's right. The asshole with the teeny, tiny penis was your big mistake of 2003."

"And 2002. And 2001." She raised her champagne flute in an empty salute to Phillip Rhalston Bowen IV, a man of sizable ego and ambition. And equally sizable genitalia, no matter the rationalizations she'd needed to survive their breakup. "Hell, we'll just call him my big mistake of the millennium."

"Nonsense." Willard popped the cork on more Cristal and poured for both of them. "You have much better mistakes in you. This weekend for instance. You agreed—"

"No holding back," she recited. "I know."

The mantra had been her talisman for weeks. Without it, she'd have called off the first vacation she'd planned since nixing her engagement to the asshole with the teeny, tiny penis. It had gotten her and all her new clothes into her father's Towncar and to the airport. Then on the plane, when she'd almost bailed on Willard in the Crown Room.

Too bad it wasn't silencing the second-guessing now.

"Hiding's not for you, darling," Willard insisted. "What a waste of that mind and refined sass of yours."

"You couldn't care less about my sass. If it weren't for Maddy Lov, you—"

"Hiding's beneath you." Willard's glibness evaporated. He set his drink aside. "It's definitely beneath me, and we're supposed to be attached at the hip for this romantic getaway in the snow. It's time to live the exciting, lust-filled life a successful woman like you deserves—and a successful man like me."

"And what kind of woman would that be?"

Intelligent?

Sophisticated?

Stylishly unapproachable? A force to be reckoned with in the boardroom? Or lonely as hell—every night she crawled into her king sized bed alone, aching for a man's hardness next to her?
Willard took her glass.

"A woman who should be blasting out of her comfort zone," he said. "Not tiptoeing around inside it, following all your stupid rules and locking your heart away. Screw how badly no-nads took you for granted. "

Felicia watched the Colorado scenery whiz by. The complimentary limo that had retrieved them from the airport had been steadily climbing toward the their resort ski destination ever since. The quiet, isolating snow that covered the world outside her window called to Felicia, not the excitement that supposedly lay ahead.

Had Phillip simply been taking her for granted, when she'd caught him sampling the leggy brunette who manned the coat check at Willard's East Village Italian trattoria, Viva!? Or had Felicia just not been enough to keep his attention?

You're a tiger in the boardroom, Fe, he'd said. But sometimes a man needs more...

"Kick that shell to the curb this weekend, gorgeous." Willard motioned over her shoulder. They were pulling up to Winter Pass Lodge. "Remember, you're going after the first hunk you set eyes on. I'll accept nothing less from you than a total weekend meltdown..."

Free Online Story, Winner, More Giveaways, Snow White and Grumpy!!!

2008-05-08T08:52:00.016-04:00

I know, That's too much for a blog post title--but for those just cruising by, I didn't want you to miss out on anything. So, stop and hang for a few minutes while I take us through it.

I WAS going to excerpt Baby Steps some today (my novella in Mothers of the Year, out now from Superromance), but... It's I have something better to share, and if you go to my website (annawrites.com) and scroll down just a smidge and click Read an Excerpt below the Mothers of the Year cover, the first chapter's there for you.

In it's place out here, click on this link

http://www.eharlequin.com/article.html?articleId=1016

to access "The Sheriff's Wife" -- a FREE Daily Read I did for Harlequin when my first "Daughter" book came out in 2004. The sheriff/hero in this twenty-segment online short story is a minor character in The Unknown Daughter, and he has a critical role in the last of that series, The Perfect Daughter (the entire out-of-print Daughter series is avialable via Amazon's used bookstore network, if you want to check it out). I'm soooo excited they have it up on eHarlequin again!!!

Also, if you're into the newer technology, in addition to each of my Superromances now being avialable in ebook format (Kindle, from Amazon, and also on eHarlequin--(http://ebooks.eharlequin.com/5D72FABA-85AC-4975-B89C-73065EB2BB2D/10/126/en/SearchResultsImprint.htm?SearchID=9747261&SortBy=date), in
2003 I participated in something called a Writing Round Robin contest Harlequin used to sponser. I didn't realize they were making these avaialable electronically, too, but I just found the one I "won" a chapter for. check it out:

http://ebooks.eharlequin.com/5D72FABA-85AC-4975-B89C-73065EB2BB2D/10/126/en/ContentDetails.htm?ID=F122CCB4-041E-4D7A-879F-76E6077D6E2D

Even if you don't partake of the electronic medium, you have to admit this is pretty cool ;o)

My randomly-drawn Snow White winner from the May 1st through May 5th post comments??? Jennifer Yates, who commented at 3:45 for the May the May 1st post. Keep leaving comments--I'll draw again, and the more times you name's in there the better chance you have to win. Two prizes up for grabs this time:

One randomly-drawn commenter for this or my next post will receive a plush set of Snow White AND Grumpy ;o)

Another... This great XL Grumpy T-shirt!!!

Okay, one final pic of Steve and Me... One of my favorites, because it looks like I might actually be posing for a yummy book cover (except what's going on with my hair, and my manly yoga hands and forearm...relax your hand, Anna!!!).

Thanks to everyone who commented on the last post, where I exposed just how little I know about what I was doing ;o) Someone mentioned actually interviewing Stelve--I think that's a GREAT idea! Maybe I could do a series of interviews with some of the great guys I've met in the business.

So, there 'tis. More stuff than one blog entry (certainly on title) should hold, but I'm a busy girl. We're all busy. No one has time to waste spreading content out, right?

Come back tomorrow--I'll give you a tasty, hot bite of my Winter Meltdown (the hot, hot, hot novella I'm writing for a Harlequin Single Title anthology release due to land in stores in Jan.). Plus, more RT photos (of model and author friends I met there). More winners... More prizes...

Now go read that free online story, if you didn't when it came out years ago...

Gorgeous gus, Gorgeous Guys, Everyone LOVES Gorgeous guys...

2008-05-05T14:05:00.030-04:00

I know you've been waiting for more pics from the Romantic Times conference. Manly, gorgeous guy pics like this

and this.

But I did one better this year, than just buying a great new digital camera that was so tiny I could take it with me everwhere... I conducted a little modelling experiment, because I wanted to know what these amazing men's lives were really like at one of these reader events. How hard could it be, right, to smile and have your picture taken... Kind of like, how hard could it be to write one of those romance novels... Yeah... Let's just say it was an eye-opening experience ;o)

First, let me introduce my partner's in crime. Really good friends.

First the photographer who agreed to snap another photo session, in the midst of a week of non-stop work for her. Rose, the "R" in A&R photography (her partner's her sexy husband Anthony ;o), who's responsible for such fabulous pics as this one of the 2008 Mr. Romance Winner, Chrish Winters!

Check Rose and Anthony out at: http://www.myspace.com/a_n_r_photography !!!

Chris is a great guy--one of the contestants I posed with in last year's contest. But, since he was so busy becoming this year's Mr. Romance (yay, Chris!!!), I was lucky that there was another friend to step and take his place.

A friend like Steve Rossi:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=301715902

I got to know Steve last year, when we realized our birthdays were close together--after talking for hours and wondering why it felt so natural. He's a successful business man, a wonderful friend, and takes pictures that should be all over book covers (rest assured, I'll be sharing that sentiment and Rose's pictures with some Harlequin/Silhouette editors I know well!).

So, that brings us up to speed with the final night of RT. Where everyone was exhausted (especially the people in the photoshoot) but still willing to give my little experiment a go. After all, how hard could it be???

Well first of all, some people (Steve) are blessed with bone structure that comes across like visual gold through the lense of a camera, while others (me) have the kind of moble features they can't control, resutling in something close to a perpetual grimace instead of the hundreds of other more appealing expressions that are available. That's right, yours truly seemed incapable of smiling...I couldn't remember how to smil! Shine the camera on me for anything but a candid, and I freeze.

It wasn't like public speaking (duh!) or even posing with the guys in last year's Mr. Romance Contest. All that was about motion, and I had something to wrap my head around besides the fact that my picture was being taking. Somewhere for my thoughts to go. I mean, I knew I didn't like to have my picture taken. Not really. But this was Rose. Steve. Great people doing everything they could to help me relax my mouth, my hands, my eyes...anything.

And that's when I got it, after looking at one digital proof after another. How much WORK goes into understanding your angles, and how your features look in each expression. And how much imagination it takes to fall in to a photographer's instructions and act like you're not posing at all.

I mean, look at Steve. He believes every pose he's making. He's coaching me and trying to put me at ease and work with Rose, even though the both of them were as tired as I was (and, btw, I have no makeup on in these photos...not that Steve does, either, but could I be any paler???). We changed locations eventually and got away from the crowd milling around outside the ballroom and the last night's dancing and revelling. And in a quite corner, with my other friend Patrice Michelle cheering me on, I finally started to let go of my ego and anxiety and just trust the process. Actually, the poses got easier, too, because Rose and Steve finally got the positions and proportions working better with my limitations as a VERY novice model (and when I say model, what I mean is hahahahaha).

Getting my body involved (leaning against a wall, one leg up and braced, my back arched), was challenging after a few minutes (or five or ten), and I hold yoga poses like nobody's business! And I didn't want to ruin the frame or disappoint Rose or Steve. Of course all that emotion went to work on the last of my energy reserves and made things even harder...

Models are masters of their bodies, not just how their bodies come across on film. The poses are often awkward-feeling, even though they're perfect for the lense, and when the photographer says, "hold that"...you hold...even if you don't think you can any longer. Notice, class, that Steve's body and face and features (and especially his eyes and that wicked-looking mouth) are always spot on in every shot. I learned as time went on, and he was still coaching to the very last photo, but just before every shutter snap, he turned back into a model and knew exactly what he was doing with his amazong assets ;o)

Did I mention the imagination he and Rose put into every frame... I love me some of that! Like I said, models and photographers are masters of their imagiantions, or they'd never be able to tell a story with their faces and body positioning and lighting and camera angles. And Rose and Steve are two of the bests around!

It was amazing to see Steve turn it on and off. He was my buddy one minute, laughing and trying to get me to losen up... and a H-O-T cover model the next... Always encouraging and supportive. Never frustrated with the novice. But never out of his element or off his game. Maybe if I did this for the next four years (about how long I've been writing fiction professionally), I might figure it out. But, then we'd always come back to genetics. And what can I say. Look at his cheekbones and his jawline and everything else about that amazing face and body and creative mind... The next time you're at one of these events, ladies, respect these guys while you're drooling over them. They're working harder than you know!

Me learning to relax and pose aside, it's crystal clear who belongs on the book covers and whose job it should be to write the stories inside ;o)

And getting back the photographer. No one could be more supportive or talanted than Rose. Just look at what she finally got out of me--and, no, I never figured out how to smile right, but Rose knew how to work aroud that. Don't forget, this was late the last night of the conference, after she'd spent the day shooting real models for her business? You go, girl. It's definitely clear who belongs behind the camera shooting hunky guys like Steve!!! She tells her own story, doesn't she ladies, one we'd all kill to be part of!

So, I learned that I dont' know how to smile on cue;o) And that my anxiety in front of the camera comes across crystal clear. I learned to trust my partner and photographer, and finally to fall into the shots (a little, at least) the way I fall into my characters when I write. I mean, who wouldn't smile in Steve's arms. Really!!! What was I thinking!

What do you think of my little experiment?

Remember, I'll be drawing for our first Snow White winner soon. Leave a comment (scroll back to the previous post for details). And come back next time for more great RT shots and an excerpt from Baby Steps (my Mother's of the Year novella). The excerpts are up on my website (annawrites.com) for those of you who can't wait, but I'll include some of the good stuff out here, have no dobut ;o)

Snow White and Grumpy Giveaways!!!

2008-05-03T19:05:00.016-04:00

You've heard so much about my novella, Baby Steps, right? Well, it's on shelves now as part of Superromances Mother's of the Year anthology. Do you remember me crowing about it when I was writing the little gem? I'll excerpt it over the next few days (and maybe even give you a peak at my single title anthology that's coming out in January).

But first, Snow White and Grumpy...one of my favorite fairytale paradyms...how Grumpy's not bad, he's just misunderstood and needs unconditional love (enter Snow White) to find his true heart. And how a reborn Grumpy is the dwarf that leads the charge against the witch at the fairytale's black moment, then leads the prince back to give our heroine true love's waking kiss...

Sigh... it was so much fun to write a contemporary version for Mother's Day. My story is about foster care and what a true mother is and how helping somone else through their troubles can lead you to your own light. And of course about true love ;o)

To celebrate, I went to the local Disney Store Outlet (you heard me right...there's an outlet near me!!!) and cleaned them out of Snow White and Grumpy Goodies I'll be giving away to blog commenters (I'll randomly draw names, same as I do during my blog parties, since I wasn't able to hostess one this time around) and to friends who attend my May 17th signing after GRW's chapter meeting (another drawing).

My first giveaway, of course, has to be Snow White herself ;o) I have some Grumpies, too, for later, and her horse from the movie. Alas, they didn't have the prince to add to the collection, but I did score some T-shirts, so stay tuned. Keep leaving comments, I'll pick a winner every other post from all who've left a comment since the last drawing (including everyone who's already commented in the last week).

Brenda Novak's auction is going gangbusters already. Here's my page again--

http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/auctionhelp.taf?S=N&R=2&C=2&m=3&sort=1&st=1&days=&category_id=8335&skipkw=1&_
start=1&_UserReference=D1D0771246B56925AC3D25DA775B481CF001

One of my favorite items that's still a steal is this Isabella Fiore leather clutch--in black florettes. Yep. those are leather medallions and flowers stitched to a bag that will go as great for evening as it does with jeans and your favorite strappy heels. It's a classic.

Head over and bid on mine or any of the other great items folks have donated. It's a GREAT cause. Those of us with blood sugar issues thank you ;o)

As for my new blog/website giveaway...here's a sneak peek for all my buddies out here. I'll be drawing July 31st for this beauty, after both my April/May and June/July releases are out. Then will have another to drawing for a different purse in October, to cap off my September release excitement.

Guess what I found at my Saks outlet (yes, I live near some AMAZING outlet stores ;o).

P-R-A-D-A!!!

I can't believe they had this cute mini purse on super-super sale!!! But it'll belong to one of my blog faithful soon, so I'm most grateful...

I'll have the website contest page updated soon, but you get first dibs, so comment away, my friends. The more you chatter with one another, the better your chances to win the random drawing ;o)

Later, 'taters!

Winners, Winners, Everyone LOVES Winners

2008-05-01T09:21:00.022-04:00

Okay, a brief newsletter's going out later today, sending everyone here to see

This--My April/May anthology release with Lori Handeland and Rebecca Winters, Mother's of the Year, which is still on shelves--this is my Snow White and Grumpy story, guys!!! Baby Steps. I'm so thrilled with the way it turned out ;o) I'm already getting great feedback, and we received 4 1/2 stars from RT:

"This trio of charming stories...is heartwarming and well written. All three authors are masters of their craft..."

You can still find it in stores and on Amazon at:

http://www.amazon.com/Mothers-Year-Rent-Along-Daughter-Baby-Superromance/dp/0373714823/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209649207&sr=8-3

And This--My June release--Book II in Atlanta Heroes--To Protect the Child, which I promoted like the dickens at the Romantic Times conference (more pics of hunky guys to come ;o) and just received a 4 1/2 stars Top Pick from Romantic Times:

"...a nonstop thriller full of action and excitement. Alexa and Robert's relationshop is hot... Readers won't want to put this one down."

You can pre-order it on Amazon (already selling like hotcakes out there) at :

http://www.amazon.com/Protect-Child-Harlequin-Superromance/dp/0373714971/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209649207&sr=8-1

Or, if you can't wait 'til June, you can buy it now on eHarlequin.com, at

http://eharlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=17310&cid=229

Eharlequin's spotlighting it as part of a special "hero" promotion, too:

http://www.eharlequin.com/store.html?cid=459

Then there are my purse winner...from last Summer (one more chance for that winner to claim his prize). I never heard from Jack M.!!! Or maybe he emailed, and I my spam filter lost it in the midst of the last six months of writing instanity, lol! Anyway, Jack... I'm dying to send this Signature Suede Coach Tote your (and your lovely wife's) way!

And my blog purse winner from last Winter (finally announcing her, so I can do new prizes ;o) -- Pat L., who posted on October 1st!!! Congrats!!! This amazing designer Isabella Fiore bag is yours!!!

Email me guys at anna(at)annawrites.com (replace the (at) with "@").

Of course that means we need a new blog prize for commenters to win...

I'll be updating my website contest page (http://annawrites.com/contests.shtml) later today, so stay tuned...

Also, even though I was too busy for a Mothers of the Year release party, you know come June I'll be there partying for To Protect the Child!!! I'll have the dates up soon!

Until then, speaking of Coach and Isabella Fiore (my new favorite purse designer), May first is the official beginning of Brenda Novak's online auction (http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/) .

My page:

http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/auctionhelp.taf?S=N&R=2&C=2&m=3&sort=1&st=1&days=&category_id=8335&skipkw=1&_
start=1&_UserReference=D1D0771346B5C9E4FE37D12162F74819D488

is full of amazing things I hope everyone heads over and bids on.

Things like this...an Isabella Fiore wallet that's to-die for... Isn't the seahourse the cutest thing you've ever seen???

and this.... A Coach double-handled fabric with leather trim travel comsmetic tote...

There's so much more I'll be spotlighting out here this month...And, yes, of course I saved some goodies to give away just to blog visitors!

So, until tomorrow, here's a pic of yours truely with hunky Romantic Times Mr. Romance '06 to hold you over, once you're done drooling over all the great books and bags, LOL!

Thanks for coming back out to join the fun,

Anna

Books, Books, Everyone Loves Books!

2008-04-25T12:06:00.015-04:00

I know you what you're thinking...another author blog...another book discussion...
And I do have some new covers and cool review quotes for you. We'll get to them eventually. I'll also tease you with the first of many photos from this year's Romantic Times Conference (a running commentary I won't run out of material for, for months, I assure you). And there's lots of fun news to tell.

But I'm a tired girl, so we'll have to take it slow ;o) Seriously, writing something like six books in 18 months is enough to wear out even the strongest of us. It's easy to forget what's important, if you're not careful. Then I realized something Wednesday night--when I skidded home on two wheels from RT and landed in the midst of a NovelTalk chat. I LOVE readers, readers, readers...writing and selling my books is my living, but my stories are my connection with all of you. I cherish that, really.

And I don't ever want to let that go. Ever. So, here's a picture of a handsome guys to oggle, and a teaser for my designer purse and wallet boutique in Brenda Novak's '08 Diabetes Research auction.

This weekend I'll update everyone on the purse prizes I'm waaaaay overdue sending to their rightful blog buddie owners. I'll get covers and reviews (really, really good ones) up on the blog and website, and we'll take it from there...while I take a few weeks off from the writing grind.

Did I mention romance cover model king John DeSalvo was at this year's RT? A very, um...friendly guy. Yeah, friendly, that's what it felt like to hug on him for a while... ;o)

And here's a designer Isabella Fiore purse you can bid on at http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/ .

Of course, I'll have some fun things to give away out here, to celebrate my April (Mothers of the Year) and June (To Protect the Child) releases!

More on that tomorrow ;o)

Come to My Window

2008-04-23T20:10:00.009-04:00

Coming back to life... It's a lovely thing...

My new contests and mega announcements and release party were supposed to start on 15th!!! Alas, exciting opportunities and deadline dementia had other ideas. But I'm finally getting back online for good, with lots to share.

Come back to my Spring window tomorrow, and then the next day, and then the next. I promise, you won't be disappointed ;o)

Oh, and I'm chatting tonight at 9:00 on Noveltalk.com. Come play if you get the chance!!!

Anna

Poetry and Snow Angels

2008-01-20T10:38:00.001-05:00

Amazing things, suprises... You're better off not looking for them, but it doesn't hurt to become a pro at wringing them for every last drop of the good stuff once they show up.

Another definition of surprise--this time of the noun:

Something, such as an unexpected encounter, event, or gift, that surprises.

How often do we leave our eyes open to the unexpected? Too often, I wager, we like the everyday calmness of our lives too much, to risk unexpectedly encountering anything we can't control the outcome of. Then again, control's pretty much a like-to-have in life, and not so much a reality most of the time no matter how much we need it to be.

Artists (getting back to our metaphor of writing as life, or at least the art of writing paralleling the art of living) harness surpises--at least the successful artist does. You have to study and prepare and practice, yes. But you also have to be ruthless about taking advantage of those surprises that come your way. The gifts, as our definition above states.

Be ready for your luck, a stragetic business professor a Georga Tech once told me. Seeing the gift is the first skill you have to master, and a lot of us aren't creative enough at that, to move on to developing the next. Which is harnessing the unexpected. Letting it in, inviting it to fill you, and releasing control of where it takes you. If you know where you were going, after all, where's the surprise???

This week, my son's innocent enthusiasm for life illustrated this for me better than anything a professor, a degree, ten years of corporate business experience and four years in publishing have been able to achieve. It snowed in Atlanta this week. Not so much a surprise, because we all saw it coming. But also this week, came the moment I thought might be possible but had given up looking for because it wasn't my moment and I didn't want to mess it up with anticipation--my twelve year old discovered he was a writer...

This kid's a math and science genius (even if I do say so myself). He takes gifted classes in both, is in the LEGO robitcs club at school, loves being in the band and on and on...all things I loved, too, meanwhile he's a natural-born story teller who's struggled in Language Arts (not with grades, but with his difficulty to make everything perfect as quickly as everyone else turns in their first drafts).

So, he decided years ago he wasn't going to like LA, even though he reads and reads and likes to talk about books and loves music and watching movies and favorite TV shows over and over because he digs the characters. Anyway, his class hit poetry this last week...and what can I say...on his first try, with no revision, he started pouring out prose so full of emotion and unique viewpoint it blew my husband and me away. Words strung together in amazing ways--truth and humor and depth in a young voice that makes you hope it will just keep talking so you can hear what comes out next...

"I'm not a writer, mom," he insisted. "I don't want to write books..."

"You were born a writer, honey. Nothing you can do about that. And who says you have to write books? Or try to publish."

"I don't have to write books?"

"Nope, just write something. And you will, for the rest of your life, I have no doubt."

"Oh--Hey! I just thought of another poem."

"Cool!"

And off he went to write about his cats. Or was it the wind, coming and going and "leaving" the trees when it was ready to blow somewhere else... Or truth... Seriously, the kid wrote about truth, and it made me cry. Not because he's my kid, but because the honesty of what he was sharing about himself without even realizing it humbled me... Okay, AND because that honesty was coming out of my kid's mind... What's a mom to do...

Guess how old I was when I learned I was a writer--Twelve. Guess what I was doing at that moment--sitting in 7th grade Language Arts, listening to the first poem I'd ever written be read to the class... Yeah. Gives me shivers, too...

Like the snow outside. Which we've all enjoyed looking at and messing with and it'll be gone soon so why not revel. But guess how the youngest writer in the house decided to enjoy it. My son and the kids next door were making snow men, then all too soon he'd lead them back over to our house to make snow angels--on the trampoline. My little hyper, never-sitting-still engineer found the one surface where the most snow had built up (because a scientist would know that the canvas would freeze first because the cold air would be circulating above and below it). And so he picked his favorite jumping, laughing, constant-motion place to be still and make something beautiful with his friends in. He made the most of the surprise in a way that no one else would have dreamed up. If that's not an artist...I don't know what one is.

Making something beautiful and unique out of unexpected surprises... That's what writers and artists do. That's what we can do in any part of our every day lives. In fact, it's the best part...take my word for it. You don't have to write books or paint paintings or learn how to play instruments or sing... You just have to give the creative part of you the reins every now and then, then motivate yourself and others to take advantage of the surprises you find...

That's what I'm doing, anyway, while I work on the draft of my next Atlanta Heroes book, the art department sheets for that book's cover, and the copy edits for the second book in the series... Oh, and as I watch as my child revels in his budding love for writing and probably the only snow he'll see this year...

Go make yourself some poetry and snow angels this week...

Okay, yeah (hangs her head in shame), I do read the endings of books first...

2008-01-07T16:30:00.001-05:00

What can I say. It's a job hazard that can't be avoided... And it's come up more than once in the blog comments over the last year or so, so it's time to come clean...

It's not so much about spoiling the surprise for me, because I'm not really reading for content or plot points. Actually, unless it's a book that's been adapted to a movie I've seen, discussed on the Internet (a-la Harry Potter), or someone esle has blown the surprise, if you haven't read the beginning yet how could you technically spoil the ending by reading it first??? The circular thought for the day. No need to thank me ;o)

As an artist, I cherish the work and the magic in how others express themselves above all else (no matter the form or delivery of the art). And I guess I need to be even more amazed at the creativity of another artist to be carried along for the amazing experience they've promised me. And writing the ending (as well as the beginning) of a book is so much more art than craft. The craft is key, but the emotions and relationships and symbols in an ending should speak to your soul (whether you're reading biography, comedy, drama, or something in between).

So, if the author's not giving us her best in the end, it pretty much louses up the experience for me. To the point that I get angrier than my yoga instructer ever wants to hear about me getting. Think of the nastiest, thundercloud of an emoticon you've ever seen and superimpose my featers. It totally sucks to be let down that way. So, I do flip to the back and read the dismount first. I know, not the most endearing facet of my nature.

You could say that I don't trust the writer. Or you could say that I'm impatient and can't wait for the good stuff. But I've come to grips with the compulsion by seeing that it's more that I understand what feeds my need to read--connecting with characters and their journeys and how they get to where they've been marching throughout a book. Get that wrong, and you're not just disappointing me, you're abandoning characters I've gotten very attached to.

Okay. Fess up yourselves. Do you have a secrect cheat that you do that others refuse to understand?

I'll prime the pump a bit more...

My son eats only the bottoms of muffins. Good thing that I only like the tops, right ;o) To the point that we now have pans that only make tops, lol!

Oh, and my husband loves the crust and bottom of really good pizza. Me? I'm a cheese girl. Very early in our relationship, we bonded over pulling apart more than a few pies, so we could both have exactly what we wanted. And we've been co-conspirators in that altered behavior pattern ever since. That and the fact that we like the pizza better the morning after--cold!

It's the truely disturbing things about folks that make them even more loveable, don't you think ;o)

Okay--Surprises...Let's take a closer look...

2008-01-03T15:15:00.000-05:00

The thing about suprises, is there are so many kinds. I use to be of the mind that you could prepare for the little besties. That was before I started feeling trapped by the need to keep on the lookout and ever vigilant. Which of course, I was doing to myself. So after much pointless knashing of teeth and wailing, I did the self-slapdown and knocked off.

Not that being prepared is a bad thing. Preparation is where living life and learning intersect. But prepare for what you want and what you need, I always say--not for how the world could take away what you want or what you need. Be positive in your learning and experiencing of things that will get you where you need to go and prepare you for getting there. Nix the negative, protective "I can't trust myself or anyone else" stuff. That's just bad ju ju, and we don't want to upset the spirit gods so early in the Year of the Rat ;o) We'll have to figure out what Year of the Rat bodes, but that's for another day.

Today, let's gander at the transitive verb "surprise:"
(note: nouns and synonyms await further scrutiny as well)

1) To encounter suddenly or unexpectedly; take or catch unawares.
2) To attack or capture suddenly and without warning.
3) To cause to feel wonder, astonishment, or amazement, as at something unanticipated.
4) To cause (someone) to do or say something unintended.
5) To elicit or detect through surprise.

Interesting. A passive verb (to encounter) in only half of one of the definitions. The rest are active. Dare I say it, intentional. We can take or catch, attack or capture, cause, elicit or detect surprise. More often than not, do the surprises turn out to be what you seek, and not so much what's being done to you???

I really like the "cause to feel wonder, astonishmnet or amazement" at the unanticipated one. How often do you embrace the scary, new, shocking stuff that hurtles your way?

And then there's "eliciting or detecting through surprise". That's the learing part I'm growing to appreciate. The letting the surprise teach you what you didn't know you needed to know part.

Kind of like being asked to write a lighter, funnier story for last year's Singles with Kids series--which not only showed me I could do lighter and funier and actually LIKE doing it, but that's the book that's the RT Award finalist. And my latest, "do you want to?" surprise--the "Hot Winter Read" novella I'm doing for Harlequin Single Title (HQN). The synopsis was due yesterday, and it was like nothing else I've ever written--a cross between Sex and The City and My Best Friend's Wedding is all I can come up with, of course with characters you'll love or I couldn't write it. But it was a blast to dream up, and I can't wait to be able to dream some more of the sexy, steamy stuff ;o). REALLLLY can't wait, since I'd always rather be writing the next book than the one currently due, lol!

But I digress. 2008 out here in Annaland is supposed to be about the publishing world as an anology for the world at large. Surprise is such a big part of what writers put up with. In fact, we have to plan for it, learn to sniff it out, and pretend it's no big deal when we get smacked silly by it...wait a minute, that IS just like the world at large. You know what I mean, right???

Right???

2008--Let's Take a Closer Look

2008-01-01T16:01:00.000-05:00

Yep--2008. Can you believe it!

Where did the end of 2007 go? Like the last two months of it???

Well, remember that old saying, be careful what you ask for... Here's the skinny...

1) 2007 was so eventful (don't believe me, check out the Appearances like above), I pretty much crashed into the end of the year. Not that I got to rest much, because...

2) I finished revisions on Atlanta Heroes: Book 2 (my agent's over the moon with the results)--Remember Me's title's now To Save a Child, BTW--then did quick Line Edits, too...

3) Took a week and a half to head down to the Isle of Palms outside of Charleston (for a writer's workshop weekend), then stayed a week to finish my Paranormal Thriller trilogy pitch--oh, and to pitch it to a big dog editor from a big dog NY publisher...more on that later...

4) Then there was Thanksgiving, and more work for Harlequin, including final packaging work on the Superromance Mother's Day anthology that's coming out in April with Lori Handeland and Rebecca Winters.

5) Oh, and GRW (Georgia Romance Writer's) stuff that had to get done (coming off of our 2007 conference and New Jersey's...my last speaking travel of the year...)

6) Atlanta Heroes Book 3 is due in mid-Jan., and I have half of that to write still, which means I wrote half of it between Thanksgiving and now...

7) While I was finishing revisions on the "Temple Legacy" series pitch--Book One: The Healer. My agent has all the final goodies, and she should be getting back to me this week about taking it out for a spin in the publishing world... I'll share details as soon as I have them...

8) Then came the surprise the week before the week before Christmas--a call from a lovely Harlequin NY editor (my super's are published out of the Toronto office), who wanted to know if I'd like to participate in a single title anthology (with their HQN mainstream imprint) that will be headed by a New York Times best-selling author, and, oh, will also be joined by a USA Today best-selling author:

I give you my newest partners in crime (the book's due hit shelves--tables, actually, because this isn't a series book, so I might just get to see my name on a bookstore table, he-he--in January '09):

Vicki Lewis Thompson:

http://www.vickilewisthompson.com/

and

Jade Lee:

http://www.jadeleeauthor.com/biography.shtml

The hitch...and this is the be careful what you ask for part)--we had to pull together a anthology overview and a blurb/short synopsis for each of our stories in a week! Eeeeeek!

Did I mention the revisions and line edits and new novel writing that I was supposed to be focusing on???

Did I say yes--you betcha! You have to be ready for your luck and opportunities, and you have to believe you can make what you want happen. It was exhausting, but that's part of the job. And it put me further behind during the holidays, but that's part of the job. And it was a blast, because the are great authors and fun ladies and we had a blast collaborating on the idea--one of the best and most surprising parts of the job ;o)

So, concept approved, all I had to do was write a book and I was one week further behind and more tired, and then the holidays came again, and

8) then came the surprise the week of Christmas ;o) I'm a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice nominee again--this time for All-American Father, the Singles with Kids continuity novel I was asked to do in '07...another surprise that I had to work hard to take advantage of, but that's the job... So, cool to be included with such fine writers...and the contest season's only just starting...

Pant, pant....

There you have it, where I've been and what I've been doing (sans all the personal life stuff that would make this long post even longer)...

And just what does that have to do with '08???

This year, I'm going to be focusing on the suprises of this business and the world in general (which I happen to think the publishing/writing business paralells pretty closely)... Because I'm sensing it's going to be a year for the unexpected...

What does Bette Davis say in All About Eve? "Strap on your seat belts, it's going ot be a bumpy ride."

So, I'm on the looking out for bumpy in '08. Bumpy but surprising and very, very good. I'll be ready this time ;o)

There's lots to catch up on, I know. If you've been trying to reach me, know I haven't been ignoring you. I literally haven't had time to check any of my three email accounts since befoer Thanksgiving. Of course, there will be prizes and I'm going to get a newsletter out regularly.

No real resolutions this year, except to enjoy each bump. I'm pitching workshops to cross-genre conference all over the country. So, hopefully I'll get to see some new places and people and to teach to lots of different types of writers. And who knows...promote that mainstream thriller series I'm hoping will sell ;o)

Otherwise, I'm sticking closer to home. Join me as we start a new year of blogging--we'll be inspirational and wild and fun and supportive and it'll be exciting. That's what I want for all my friends this year--exciting lives you can't wait to share!!!

Happy New Year, my friends ;o)

More Baby Steps...

2007-10-26T16:19:00.000-04:00

Not sure, but I think I may have shared the opening to Baby Steps before. For those who've been asking, here 'tis. Scroll back or use the link below to read the first scene... This is my Mother's Day novella (out in a collection with Lori Handeland and Rebecca Winters in April) AND my Snow White and Grumpy story... Sigh...

Oh, and here's the Dear Reader letter I've written for up front, for those who weren't around when I dreamed this one up ;o)

...There's something beguiling about fairytales. Something addictive, if you will, that even grownups don't really want to be cured of. The timeless themes from our childhood stories are the backdrop for dreams and desires we spend our lives pursuing.

When I began searching within for what motherhood meant, my wacky writer's mind locked onto an unlikely motif from my favorite fairytale—Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Unlikely, because Snow White was never a "real" mother. Evidently, my Baby Steps heroine wasn't going to be either.

You see, Snow White not only took over the care and nurturing of an entire band of little people who didn't know they needed mothering until she came along. She picked the crankiest, most cantankerous of the dwarfs as her special project—Grumpy. Grumpy wasn't bad in her eyes, just misunderstood. With a little extra effort, he could become all he and the other dwarfs needed him to be.

And Snow White was in. Not just for the challenge or because she needed a little extra stress to add to the burden of watching her dreams disappear before her eyes. But, I think, because she understood how scary it was for Grumpy to trust again. How much he must have been hurt to have developed such a hard, hands-off shell. They had a lot more in common, these two, than the reader first realizes. Snow White was determined not to give up until Grumpy let love in again, and by helping him she never really let love go herself.

It's Grumpy who ends up leading the charge that destroys the wicked witch—saving both Snow White and her prince in the process. In fact, if it weren't for Grumpy, Snow White's happily ever after might never have happened. Amazing stuff.

I hope you enjoy my very contemporary interpretation of this timeless fairytale theme. Mothers of every kind out there, know that you have my admiration. Being a Mother of the Year is as simple as opening your heart and making a difference in a child's life. And it's just that complicated. Loving so deeply makes you all fairytale princesses in my book!

Okay, Excerpt #2--

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

"Because she's a teacher," Tyler Brooks explained to his gym class truant. Lily was also the most beautiful woman Tyler had ever met, not that now was the time to make that point. "And even if she wasn't, she's an adult. Don't talk to adults that way, period, and you might tunnel out of detention before the end of the school year."

"Oh, okay," the kid spat back. "But Nathan Grover can call me a bastard all he wants!"

"Of course he can't."

"Nathan called you what?" Lily stepped closer. A petite dynamo, she was barely taller than the kids she taught.

"Some of the boys were playing four square, and Dakota's our new all-star." Tyler dragged his attention away from his wife's peaches and cream complexion and dark auburn hair, and nudged Dakota's shoulder. "Seems Nathan doesn't take kindly to losing, so—"

"So! He cheats. And he calls me names when you're not looking. And—"

"You kicked him, Dakota, right before you bolted out of the gym without a pass." Tyler watched his wife circle a gentle arm around the fourth grader's shoulder. Caught up in the day's latest injustice, the child forgot to resist the nurturing that came as second nature to Lily as breathing.

"No matter what someone else does, there's no excuse for—"

"Defending myself?" Dakota's gaze slid to where Lily's hand rested on his shoulder. He sidestepped until they were no longer touching.

"There's no excuse for hitting." Lily wrapped her arms around her chest. She caught Tyler's smirk and shot him an eat me look, because she knew that he knew how much she wanted to still be hugging the kid. "And there are smarter ways to defend yourself. You let Nathan goad you into losing your cool, and you're the one who gets caught. Meanwhile, he looks clean as a whistle?"

"Screw you!" Dakota made a bee-line for the door.

Luckily, Tyler had the reach of an albatross. A handy thing on a basketball court, where he'd made many of his best high school memories. An essential for a career in corralling hyperactive school children into organized physical activity. He snagged Dakota and turned him around.

"First." He tightened his grip when the boy tensed for another sprint. "Apologize to Mrs. Brooks and Ms. Lawson. Second, help clean up their..." Tyler gazed at the piles of fuzzy white stuff, brown fabric and what looked like overweight chickens strewn about the floor, "...whatever. Then you and I are meeting Nathan at the AP's office for a little chat."

"Nathan?" Dakota peered up at Tyler.

"He started the fight, didn't he? He's going to stand up for his part in what happened."

Mr. Confrontation looked younger, suddenly. Confused. Stunned, even. Tyler smiled over his student's head, catching his wife's nod of approval. He squeezed Dakota's shoulder and shoved him forward.

"S...Sorry," Dakota said to the two ladies he'd sent crashing to the mint green floor.

Sincerity and belligerent ten-year-olds... An unnatural combination, if Tyler had ever seen one.

The kid began clearing his mess, mumbling under his breath. Something about how stupid adults were.

That kind of spunk was a good thing, Tyler reminded himself, not a pain in the ass. A child like Dakota learned to be tough from the cradle. Had to stay that way just to get through the day. Tyler understood that better than most. More than he cared to.

Lily motioned him closer to the door.

"New student?" Her chocolate brown eyes drank him in. When they were in their nineties, she'd still be able to bring him to his knees with just one look.

"Dakota started with Alma Rushing's class on Monday. He's having a little trouble settling in with the other kids."

"So it would seem." Lily held his gaze until he was the one to look away, hiding the need to pull her closer. "Sounds like he and Nathan's problems are more than just boys being boys in PE. You're going to make sure that Ms. Emory gives him a break?"

"Yeah, I'll handle it."

"You always do."

He frowned at the accusation, then started when she took his hand, reaching for him for the first time since she'd moved out. Their fingers tangled together out of habit. A perfect fit.

"You're amazing when you're fighting for one of your kids." Her smile was hesitant, as if she wasn't sure of its welcome. "You're going to make a great father."

Tyler's throat stung against the urge to start a conversation they couldn't have. Not there. Enough of their personal issues had already followed them to school, if even his newest student knew about their separation.

Temporary separation.

It had only been two weeks. It just felt like forever.

He squeezed her fingers and kissed them. Kept the rest to himself. The sparkle in her eyes dimmed at his non-response—eyes he'd once read so easily.

"Ready for our appointment at four?" she asked.

It wasn't really a question.

"How about I meet you there, as soon as I get things settled in the gym?"

It wasn't really an answer.

With a worried nod, Lily turned to help clean up whatever she and Ashley had been working on. Tyler dove in, too, his mind racing with the two battles looming before him that afternoon. And he'd be damned if he felt ready to tackle either.

He had to find a way to motivate a little boy to fight for the second chance only Dakota could make for himself. Then he had to convince his wife to accept the truth that had come as a crushing blow to them both, before what was left of their marriage slipped away.

Halloween Skies...

2007-10-25T18:35:00.000-04:00

Beautiful Halloween Skies are happening here. Raining a lot, in the midst of the worst run of dry we've had in a long time. Meanwhile, California is buring. It's a wacky time of the year to be sure. Hope everyone out there is staying safe and looking forward to lots of treats and good surprises next week ;o)

There's a summary of release party prizes below. Another excerpt ready to share tomorrow ;o)

We're stocking up on chocolate to give away--we like the smiles when the kids get the "good" candy. It's an addiction, LOL!

Before I forget, a special blog friend did a fabulous thing this last Tuesday--profiled BOAB and said some really lovely things about my writing over on her blog. You ladies know Jennifer Yates, so check out her "Random Musings" (http://jennifersrandommusings.wordpress.com/). She's a nice lady (it's always fun to see her at a signing) and she brightens up every chat and online party. Her blog layout is amazing, and there's lots to see and read. Check her out!!!

Okay, here's my list of the release party winners, including the folks I don't yet have a mailing address for. Packages start going out tomorrow ;o)

Note: *** Indicates that I don't have a mailing address for the winner.

Day 1

------

Guess Mini Evening Clutch--Ruth

RT Giveaway Bag--Julie***

Amy S.--Ellora's Cave cards and books

Day2

-----

XOXO Purse and Wallet--Fannie

RT Books and Promo items--Jan***

Border's Gift Certificates--Bambella

Day 3

------

Nine West Tote--Minna

RT Books and Promo items--Pat Cochran

Border's Gift Certificate--Cheryl (cas2ajs)

Day 4

------

XOXO Tote--Bethre

Day 5

------

Grand Prize: BCBG Tote!!! -- Crystal G.

RT Tote Bag--Nad D

RT Book selection--Donna***

Border's Gift Certificate--Emma

RT Promo Items--Belinda Peterson***

Last Release Party Winners--Baby Step Excerpt 1

2007-10-22T11:23:00.000-04:00

Yesterday got away from me--but no worries. The final prizes are out here today, so no worries ;o)

Nad D (who commented at 4:39 in the Saturday post)--I have one last RT tote bag and it's yours.

Donna (who commented at 9:30 in the Saturday post)--I have one final selection of books from RT '07 coming your way.

Emma (who commetned at 12:36 in the Sunday post)--a Borders Gift certificate has your name on it.

and

Belinda Peterson (who commented at 2:13 in the sunday post)--there a few of the fabulouse promo items from RT '07 left, just for you ;o)

Keep emailing me your mailing addresses, ladies. I'll post a summary of all the giveaways and who I haven't heard from yet either tomorrow or Wednesday (along with more blogging of the daily but still partying kind, lol!)

------------

Now, because I promised, a taste of Baby Steps...I may have excerpted this before, so it may sound familiar to some, but we're through revisions with the publisher, which means things are really strating to come together...I can't wait for this one to come out!

So, let's meet our Snow White (or Lily, as the case may be in this version of the fairytale story...)

******

"Lily, the chicken's bottoms aren't fat enough. Do you have any more stuffing?"

"If I had a dollar for every time someone's asked me that..." Lily Brooks looked up from her portable sewing machine and handed over a bag of cotton batting. "And for the last time, Ashley. They're hens. Happy mothers, all."

The stars of her Mother's Day surprise for Silent Springs Elementary's upcoming Spring Fling.

"Okay, then." Ashley Lawson crammed a brown, corduroy bottom with more fuzzy, white filling.

"I don't think top-heavy hen's toppling over and smothering live chicks is what Ms. Emory had in mind when you suggested doing something special for the K-3rd grade moms."

"Good point." Lily grabbed a handful of cotton, plumped the nearest chicken's tush to find the hidden Velcro seam and pried it open. "I'm going for memories the families can look back on and cherish. Not scarring children for life."

She'd pitched the assistant principal a booth where carnival attendees could stop and play with baby chicks, then smile for commemorative photos that the younger kids could decorate for a Mother's Day present. Another fabulous idea, Gayle Emory had cooed. I'm sure you'll pull it off as effortlessly and successfully as you do everything else.

Lily stuffed and sighed.

She'd lined up a local farmer to provide the chicks, arranged to rent a tent from the same company providing the dunking booth, and she and her best friend Ashley would be spending their lunch hours for the next two weeks effortlessly sewing and painting a picturesque barnyard motif for other women to enjoy with their kids.

A perfect idea that would take forever to execute.

She glanced around the cluttered, colorful art room. Ashley put her energy into exploring and enjoying the school day. Getting the most out of each moment. Not so much with the planning and worrying that everything be perfect. Lily had the corner on that obsession.

She tossed a chicken at her carefree friend.

Ashley giggled and lobbed the lovingly-stuffed bundle onto its growing pile of peers. "So, what's next?"

"Mr. Palmer offered to bring enough animals for a petting zoo, if we could find the space for him to set up a corral." Last year, Lily had been his granddaughter's third grade teacher, and she'd encouraged Molly's parents to test her for Dyslexia. Since starting treatment, the formally shy, withdrawn child had blossomed, and the Palmer family was convinced Lily was their angel's fairy godmother. "But I'm not sure—"

"Do it!" Ashley ran her hand over at the bolts of bargain-bin fabric Lily was morphing into easily controlled replicas of living, breathing, pooping stable inhabitants. "Sewing everything would be a safer solution, especially once the chickens—hens—don't look like the bad end of a funhouse mirror. But a little chaos is a good trade-off. It might get crazy, mixing things up with the kids and real animals, but everyone will love it!"

Crazy...mixing things up...

Panic surged through Lily at the mere suggestion. She was starting to hate that about herself.

"Maybe... Maybe it wouldn't be so out of control," she agreed, when she'd promised a calm, picture-perfect photo op. "As long as we're careful about which animals Mr. Palmer brings."

"Dakota, stop running in the hallway!" a familiar voice boomed, a split second before a whirlwind dressed in jeans, tee-shirt and a Atlanta Falcons cap blurred through the doorway and took aim for Lily and Ashley's poultry assembly line.

"Look out!" Ashley dove left.

Lily ducked right. "Ah!"

The boy hit his knees and slid beneath the table, catching a table leg with his sneaker. Corduroy and butt stuffing flew into the air. The table clattered to its side. Their hen-assailant kept on sliding, until he'd crashed into the easel Ashley had set up to teach the second graders coming in after lunch.

"Ow!" he yelped.

The wooden frame collapsed on top of him.

"Are you ladies okay?" His pursuer's emerald gaze connected with Lily's. Tyler knelt on one knee, held out his and helped her to her feet.

His frown warmed to a heart-tugging smile in response to her nod. When he turned toward Ashley, Lily forced herself to let go and head for the struggling heap of little boy and art supplies in the corner.

"Nice touchdown, kiddo." She extricated the easel, then the blank canvas that had been propped on top of it. The kid's shaggy, dark hair partially obscured the bright green eyes glowering up at her. "I bet you're a champ on the ball field."

"What do you know about it, stupid!" His insult missed it's mark. His scowl was simply too adorable to pull it off.

"Dakota, you know better than that!" Silent Springs, Georgia's impossibly tall, impossibly handsome PE teacher corrected. He stepped to Lily's side. "Apologize to Mrs. Brooks for your bad manners."

The child struggled to feet that were covered in unlaced, hole-riddled sneakers that didn't square with the rest of what appeared to be spanking new clothes. Lily caught a hint of embarrassment, maybe even regret, touch his hostile expression. Then everything but anger disappeared.

"Why do you care how I treat to your wife?" Dakota demanded. "Everyone in school knows you two aren't even living together anymore."

Saturday's winners--and let's talk Baby Steps

2007-10-21T09:06:00.000-04:00

Yay!!! What an amazing week. Exhausting, but amazing ;o)

Time's in short supply today, but I didn't want to miss a post. A new goal of mine--to stay up with the blog and all of you guys, because hearing from all of you last week was an ah-hah thing for me. Not ready to let it go yet ;o)

So, I'm giving away that BCBG shopping girl tote below, the rest of the goodies (books and promo items and another gift certificatet) I'll sprinkle into the post throughout the day and maybe even into tomorrow.

Did I mention that I've fallen in love with BCBG Max Azria's designs? I've had to basically replace my "business" wardrobe this fall--nothing I own fits...don't hate me, but I'm a wee tad smaller than I was last year (stress exercising and a year of deadlines can do wonders ladies, LOL!).

Take a look at their sweaters--
http://www.bcbg.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=2769188&cp=2769127&clickid=cat_leftnav_txt .

And the amazing tops that you can layer under them--
http://www.bcbg.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=2769164&cp=2769127&clickid=cat_leftnav_txt .

Ooh, and the dresses--
http://www.bcbg.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=2768985&cp=2769162&clickid=cat_leftnav_txt .

It's the kind of funky, creative mix and match line that pictures can't do justice, but it looks so cool on. Can't wait for it to stay cold here long enough to try everything out. So far, I've only been able to wear my new duds at conferences, where they keep the hotels so cold you practically need a parka on to keep your teeth from chattering while you give a workshop!

That Brunette asked about my Mother's Day anthology--Mothers of the Year comes out in April. Three amazing novellas you won't want to miss, including my Baby Steps, which was written around a Snow White/Grumpy theme. How about an excerpt tomorrow???

Here's the winner of the BCBG tote--check back in later for more giveaways. Toodles!!!

CrystalG--the shopping girls are yours my friend. Major congrats, you lucky lady, LOL!

Back later!

Friday's Winner--More to come tomorrow!!!

2007-10-20T13:03:00.001-04:00

Thanks everyone who participated over on Let's Talk Romance and out here. It's great to hear from so many people. And lots of hugs to those who shared not only their dream hero must-haves, but also lovely thoughts about Because of a Boy and Remember Me. Sorry Remember Me's going to be a bit more of a wait, but I promise to find something to keep everyone entertained out here once BOAB is off the shelves ;o)

Okay, yesterday's winner of the amazing XOXO tote bag--Bethre who posted at 6:30 PM!!! Email me your mailing adress, Bethre--I don't post my email addie out here, to keep down on the debilitating spam, but you can find it under the Write Me link on my website (annawrites.com).

More prize announcements to come (I'll post them by tomorrow) for the great BCBG shoping girls tote bag and the rest of the goodies.

Thanks again for the great party, ladies!!!

Keep reading ;o)

Release Party Bonus Excerpt 3--Final Remember Me Teaser

2007-10-19T17:09:00.000-04:00

Third and final excerpt from my WIP--thanks Bellas for stopping by to take a look. Remember to leave a comment in any of today's posts to in the running for the XOXO tote a few posts down ;o)

Don't want to give too much away in this one, but I've been asked for something sexy and hot, so here' a scene lifted from the middle of the book--Alexa (Jane Doe up until this point in the book, because she's lost her memory...but now it's slowly coming back) and Robert are trying hard to resist the attarction between them, but no such luck, lol!!!

********
Robert had brought her meal tray in himself. He'd kept the windows covered to shield her from the view of anyone walking down either hallway outside her corner room. There wasn't a nurse in sight.

He was protecting her, as usual.

Her angel.

Ditch him! Him and your fantasies. Let him help you eat if it makes him leave faster, then get out of here!

Alexa tried reaching for the lid covering the food, but her arm gave up about halfway to the tray. She sighed while Robert finished the job and scooped up a small bite. He held it up for her to sample.

"Shouldn't you be off daringly saving other lives or something." She willed her hand to take the fork from him and fed herself the eggs—at least, the half of them that didn't dribble onto her hospital gown.

He started to brush the mess away, smiling, then the barely-there feel of his touch feathered across her collarbone.

Her breath stalled.

The room shrunk around them. He slowly withdrew his hand, his gaze sharpening, heating, even as he shook his head in disbelief.

Had he felt the zing of energy arching between them?

Had she completely lost her mind?

But there was no stopping the wave of certainty that engulfed her. Suddenly, he stopped being a doctor acting more attentive than she had any right to expect, and she stopped being the patient pretending to need his help, to need him, when she wasn't really pretending at all.

"I..." she muttered. "I'm sorry, I..."

"No need to apologize," he said gruffly. "I..."

But he didn't seem to know what to say, either.

What's wrong with you!

Somehow between the dreams and the nightmares, the voices and the confusion, Robert had become something her mind had let itself need.

Every touch had been telling her. Every time she'd woken and been relieved to find him beside her. Now, with her amnesia no longer protecting her and him still sitting so close, his gaze drinking her in, her addled brain was determined to hang onto the dream. Her fingers were reaching to trace the stubble sprinkled along his jaw. Her body was clenching and then melting when that jaw tightened and his eyelids lowered at her touch, becoming piercing slits. Reflecting back the need racing through her.

It was the drugs. It had to be the drugs. She didn't fantasize or lose herself like this in ridiculous moments of insanity.

Only her head lifting instead, her lips hovering just below Robert's.

She had to know.

She had to have just moment with her angel that wasn't a dream, before her falling-apart life took over completely and she never saw him again.

Robert gripped her shoulders. His gaze trailed a scorching path to her mouth.

"Jane." A guttural groan followed. "I'm your doctor. I can't--"

"My name's not Jane," she reminded him. She lifted one final inch. Her lips trembled against his. She felt his body shudder. "And I want a new doctor."

"Damn." Robert's mouth took hers.

His hands slid in a too-gentle path down her shoulders. He pulled her closer. One touch of his tongue, one shared breath, and she was shaking. Then he was inching away, cursing again.

"We can't," he whispered. "You don't need more confusion on top of everything else you're dealing with. You can't even remember who you are..."

He cut another glance toward the closed door, analyzed the readings on her monitors--all in the amount of time it took her brain to convince her hand to smooth up his chest, so she could cling to his lab coat to keep him close.

Her.

Clinging!

It had to be the meds. The stupid dreams.

But it had been so long since she'd let herself need anything, want anything beyond working her way out of Dmitriy Andreev's insane world. Then saving Evie, and maybe somehow saving herself in the process. And in Robert's arms, all she'd failed out, all she still had to make right, faded. She could lie to him, lie to herself, about everything else, except how he made her feel.

"Please." She shivered at the roughness of his hands covering hers. "I don't understand it either, but your eyes... Your touch. They feel better than anything I could possibly remember. You make me feel free of all of this. Please... Please don't stop."

And he didn't.

She kissed him and forgot one more time, losing herself in her dream. He was there. He'd been there through every minute of the of the fear and the pain and darkness. And he was still standing between her and danger, even if he had no idea how much trouble she was leaving him to deal with.

His kiss filled her with the sweet need for more. Maybe even a little hope.

She clung to his shoulders. Shuddered at his taste and the simple goodness of a good man needing her back. She'd lost so much of herself, long before the amnesia. But Robert drawing her into his arms was a glimpse of what life could be like without the darkness. Something clean and simple and honest.

A life she wouldn't have to run from to keep herself and everyone else safe.

Release Party Bonus Excerpt 2--Another Rember Me Teaser

2007-10-19T14:23:00.000-04:00

Here's a glimpse of my WIP (Remember Me) hero--Robert Livingston (who's a continuing character from Because of a Boy)...

****

"Finish prepping her," Neurosurgeon Robert Livingston demanded, his gaze lowering to his patient's now-relaxed features. "I want to be in there looking for bleeders in five minutes."

He made himself let go of her hand as she was intubated. Studied the portable CT scans the ER had captured on their latest high-tech toy. Focused on the challenges of the case, instead of the rush of unprofessional protectiveness he'd felt for the gravely-injured woman who'd been frantically trying to crawl off his operating table.

Jane Doe's skull hadn't been breached by whatever had struck her--a pipe, maybe something smaller. But there was significant damage. The CT scan showed a compound fracture, a subdural hematoma beneath and other lesions that could become life threatening. Reversing the damage, even delicately, would increase the risk of complications. Permanent debilitation. But he had to stop the bleeding. Remove any debris that might cause a clot or escalating pressure and swelling.

Then all there'd be left to do was wait, and hope.

It will be okay...

Trust me.

Every person in the OR had frozen at his unprofessional lapse. Her odds of a full recovery were around 50/50 at best.

But she'd been frantic. Terrified. Desperate. And then she'd grabbed his hand, and he'd fallen into those expressive brown eyes--just like Jacob's eyes. And in the face of her all-consuming fear, he'd found himself promising whatever he had to, just as he had with his baby brother over twenty years ago.

"I have to re-scrub." He turned away while his surgical intern stabilized the patient's head, covering everything but the shaved area around the injury with sterile dressings. "We open in two minutes."

It had been drilled into him in med school that his patients's problems outside the hospital were beyond his control. So were the many possible complications they faced during recovery. But in the OR, the control was his. And he was good at what he did. The best in the state, tops in his field nationally. He lost very few patients, and his were the most delicate trauma cases of all.

And, damn it, he wasn't losing this one.

Not because of an emotional lapse that had tapped into decade's-old memories of watching helplessly while Jacob slipped away.

He turned on the taps and lathered up. Breaking the seal on a fresh brush, he scrubbed from his nails to his elbows. His fingers clenched at the memory of his Jane Doe's hand trembling in his. The strength that had fueled her determination to run, even though she'd been weak from heavy blood loss.

And he'd found himself equally determined to protect her. To defend her from whatever she was so certain was closing in.

The brush clattered to the floor.

Damn it!

He opened another from it's sterile packaging.

Focus, man.

Get it together.

He was a doctor. His patient was perfectly safe now, whoever had hurt her, and it was the police's job to keep her that way. He'd said what he had to. Calmed her down so his team could finish prepping for surgery. He'd have done the same thing for anyone in her emotional state.
This case was no different than any other.

He scrubbed harder.

He'd never promised a patient anything before. And he'd have promised this one even more. Whatever it took to ease the panic consuming her so completely.

You have to help me get out of here...

He shook his head. Began to rinse--fingers up, letting the sterile water wash the soap downward, away from his fingers.

It was time to work his magic, then send Jane Doe on her way. His focus had to stay on patching her up, so she could go wherever she so desperately needed to go--before he became even more irrationally attached to helping her get there.

Release Party Bonus Excerpt !--Remember Me Teaser

2007-10-19T11:50:00.000-04:00

Seems the best way to excerpt for our Let's Talk Romance, Romance B(u)y The Blog guests is to link them back here.

So....Here's the first excerpt from my WIP--Book II of Atlanta Heores (to read up on scenes from this month's release, Because of aBoy, scroll back through posts from the last few weeks, or click the excerpt link below). All comments from each of today's posts are in the running for the great XOXO tote!!

We join Alexa Vega (who's been seriously injured) in the OR of Atlanta Memorial Hospital, as she awakes from her nightmare to find she's going into surgery...

*****
...she kept fighting as she was yanked to her feet. She kicked for the nearest groin.

Her arms twisted against her restraints...

Her feet flailed at the hands holding her down to the table...

She fought to be free....
Fought the pain shattering her skull...

The darkness turning to grey. The light overhead drawing closer...

Table?

Light?

"Hold her still," a calm voice said.

The warm hand on her shoulder belonged to the voice, she realized, not the icy cold of her nightmare. It was soft, not cruel, absorbing her shivers. Quieting them.

"It's okay," he whispered closer to her ear. "Try to relax. You're safe now."

She somehow willed her body to still and her eyes to open. To focus. A tall figure towered over her.

Blue, shapeless shirt.

Blue mask.

Bluer eyes.

Honest eyes.

Safe.

Her mind recoiled from the thought. She tried to jerk away from the gentle touch, but he
stopped her. Him and the heaviness stealing through her body.

Their gazes collided. He smiled behind his mask, his expression kind. Caring. She hadn't had either in a long time. She was certain of it, even though nothing else made sense.

"We've given you a sedative," he explained. "You should be starting to feel it. Try to relax. No one's going to hurt you here."

Her instinctive laugh escaped as a moan.

He studied the whirring and beeping monitors she hadn't noticed before, his eyes frowning. His hand moved to the whatever bandage engulfed half her head, pulling it back to check beneath.

"You've got one minute to get her under," he instructed someone she couldn't see.

The blackness reached for her again.

His fingers smoothed down her cheek, easing her panic like magic. She blinked against the shadows, needing to see his eyes a while longer. Their blue was shot through with a steely, determined grey.

"Help me," she begged. "You have to help me get out of here. Get to the street. We need to go..."

"What street?" he asked. "We, who?"

The question strangled her breath in her throat. Adrenaline anchored her more firmly to the present, forcing a horrifying moment of clarity.

Because there was nothing there.

No answers to his questions.

She couldn't remember... Except for the gun pointing at her, and that final scream. A child creaming. She'd been trying to run.

"Run!" She struggled to sit up. She had to get out of there. "I have to go back, before--"

"Go back where?" He held her down until she stopped struggling against the straps securing her arms to the table. She blindly reached for his hand. He started, then squeezed her fingers.

"There's nowhere to go right now. Let me take care of you, then we'll figure out the rest. It's going to be okay."

The sentiment sent her fighting again.

"You've taken quite a blow to your head." He restrained her as gently as before. "You need immediate surgery, but you're safe. You're not alone. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

A mask was placed over her mouth and nose.

"Breath normally." He nodded to someone behind her, then smiled back down. "Let yourself fall asleep. I promise, I'll be here when you wake up. You can trust me."

She was in bad shape.

She'd seen the truth in his eyes. In the barely controlled urgency behind the orders he'd calmly issued. The right side of her head felt like it was on fire. The nightmare--it had been real. And now she could die. But worse, she'd...

Failed...

She'd failed at something important...again... And now...

Someone she cared about deeply, someone she couldn't remember, was in danger. She was certain of it. But she couldn't remember...

Please, she begged him with her eyes.

Please, she'd begged someone else a long time ago. Stay. Don't go away...

"It will be okay," he promised. "Trust me."

And she did.

She shouldn't. That long-ago voice had promised the same thing, and lied. She hadn't trusted anyone since. But the anesthesia was enticing her to let go, a cloud of security blanketing the fear.

She could finally stop running. From what, she had no idea. But just this once, she could stop running.

Release Party--Four to get ready...

2007-10-18T17:15:00.000-04:00

Great dream getaway ideas yesterday, my friends. You make me long for sandy beaches and tons of hours to read for pleasure myself...

Now to get ready for day Five... Link on over to LivetimeTV.com's "Let's Talk Romance" at Romance B(u)y the Blog, for a sneak peak of the fun we'll be having tomorrow with Michelle Buonfiglio's lovely Bella's:

http://www.lifetimetv.com/lifestyle/entertainment/romance-buy-the-book/blogs

In addition to the fun out here tomorrow, I'll be hanging at "Let's Talk Romance" at RBTB and inviting everyone there to hop over and join our Because of aBoy Release Party. With all that back and forth, we're bound to have a blast. To register and leave a comment at RBTB, don't forget not to leave spaces in your UserName (that's what tripped me up, when I couldn't get it to accept my info).

The topic of the day (well, tomorrow), is heroes and what makes up your ideal (both the larger than life hero, as well and the one who might be living right next door to you). Tell us what's most important to you in the man you'd trust with your life!

For more insight into what I think, check out the link above--my guest blog on LifetimeTV.com's "Let's Talk Romance" begins tomorrow!!!

To keep things moving here, I've added a final excerpt below. If you're a newcomer, link backwards through this week's earlier posts for more of the great scenes coming your way in Because of a Boy!

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The two great totes I'm picturing are up for grabs--the red XOXO bag I'll give to one lucky Thursday/Friday commenter.

The extra-special BCBG "shopping girls" tote will go to a lucky blog buddy who hangs out over the weekend and leaves a comment either Saturday or Sunday. And of course, I have a few more promo items left and a handful of books, all from Romantic Times '07, and one final Borders gift certificate, so keep leaving us your thoughts while we all get to know each other.

And don't forget, leaving a comment between now and the end of December puts you in the running for the designer Isabella Fiore bag I'm giving away in my website contest. Check out my contest page for more details and a great picture of the purse someone will be taking home after the first of the year!!!

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Before I forget...

Wednesday's winners--

Mina, the Nine West tote is yours!

Pat Cochran, you'll receive a selection of books and RT '07 promotional items!

and Cheryl (cas2ajs) , a Border's gift certificate is yours!

All winners, keep emailing me those pony express addresses...
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And One final excerpt:

This scene takes place after thier romantic black moment--when we're certain their relationship won't make it. But Kate's just heard that Stephen might have been seriously injured trying to protect the little boy they've been fighting to save throughout the whole book. It's a great set up for the resolution of both the romance and the battle these two heroes have been waging to protect Dillon and his father...

*****

Kate raced into the ER, not bothering with the reception desk. She slowed enough to pass through security and its scanners, then headed for the double doors that lead from admissions to the trauma area. It took three tries to get her card to swipe, then she was running inside, desperate, her heart breaking.

There was shooting outside the safe house, Martin had said when he'd phoned. The Digarros didn't make it inside. Either someone was tracking your lawyer friend, or something got leaked at DEA. Sounds like APD shut everything down pretty quickly, but there were some injuries...

Her brother hadn't been able to tell her anything more, other than that more than one ambulance had been called, arrests had been made and that everyone who needed patching up was on their way to the hospital. Stephen's friend Curt had been the one to contact Martin, and both of them would meet her at the hospital as soon as they could. Robert had been listening to her end of the phone call, and he'd already grabbed his keys before she'd hung up. After breaking every speed limit on the way from his house, he was outside conquering the parking deck packed with weekend visitors, while she sprinted toward a reality she wasn't sure she could bear.

Were Dillon and his father all right?

She hadn't heard from Stephen. Was he okay? Was he--

"Kate!" Marsha called from the other end of the hall.

Trauma was in chaos, as usual. Less critical cases were fast-tracked to an entirely different area, leaving the specialist in the trauma unit to triage and focus on high risk patients.

"I came down as soon as I heard." Marsha zigzagged through the maze of staff and patients, gurneys and other equipment, to get to Kate. "What happened--"

"Where is he?" Kate didn't stop for the answer. Ducking into each alcove, she stopped only long enough to see the face of the patient being treated.

"Who?" Marsha hustled behind her. "Dillon? He's upstairs. They're admitting him to pediatrics, and there's a slew of APD on the floor making everyone nervous. What happened?"

Kate pulled her friend aside as EMTs rushed in from the Ambulance Bay, pushing a gurney and calling out the patient's stats for the doctor hustling alongside.

"Dillon's okay?" Kate asked through the weight of the fear still pressing down on her. "Then he wasn't shot?"

"Shot!" Marsha grabbed her to keep Kate from rushing off. "He's perfectly fine, just weak. But he's terrified and he won't talk to anyone. Kate what happened? Where you with him when--"

"No." Because Stephen hadn't wanted her there. He hadn't trusted her not to be the kind of distraction he couldn't afford, while he faced down federal authorities who held his client's future in their hands. And now... "I have to find him..."

She wrenched away from her friend. Checked the next examination area, knowing as she went that she was getting closer to the rooms reserved for only the most critical patients.

"Dillon's upstairs," Marsha insisted, still close behind.

"Not Dillon." Kate turned the corner, her heart and her feet stopping at exactly the same moment, at the sight of the man being treated on a gurney in the crowded, over-filled hallway outside the largest trauma suite. "Stephen!"

He was looking away from her, into the trauma room, while an intern set stitches in his shoulder.
The sleeve of his shirt had been cut away to expose the wound. What was left of the expensive knit was covered in blood. Too much blood to have come from such a small injury.

Kate's gaze rose from cataloguing his condition. The intensity of his gaze locked with hers. Relief at seeing her warred with something else in his eyes. Something that looked too much like giving up to belong in Stephen Creighton.

Seeing, feeling, his pain was what finally got her moving again.

"Are you okay?" She rushed to his side. The intern who'd been working on him melted away--either finished with his task, or uneasy with the tears Kate couldn't keep from falling as she wound her arms around Stephen. "Martin said there was shooting...that there were injuries."

When Stephen didn't hold her in return, she eased away. He held himself rigidly erect. Rage was the only thing alive in his eyes now...

Release Party--Three for the Show

2007-10-17T10:58:00.000-04:00

What if we were balloons, and celebration meant flying away? A flashy show of color, free of worldly bonds, lifiting toward the sun, clouds softly brushing as they whisper by... ;o) Yes, I do indulge in a bit of poetry from time to time, but I promise not to burden the blog with any more of it, LOL!

But seriously, for day three of our release party, if you could grab hold of your balloon and fly, what would your destination be? What says freedom to you?

Is home the freest place you know, or would charting your way toward a sunnier place be the release you need? Is escape from time-to-time how you stay grounded in your every day (I have to say that's me clinging to the baloon to the left, getting away so I'll want to come back to stay), or can your peace only be found in the fondly familiar?

This is a creative excercise I do not just before every new book, but during yoga and pilates and other mind-body exercises, too. Also in the midst some of the tougher times life sends my way. I go back to simpler days, back when I was a young girl, and remember my fly-away dreams. For me, the trip usually involves ocean and tides and waves that sweep my imagination away...

Tell us where your mind goes, when you need a party of one--what's your dream escape, if you could fly far, far away. If your ties to all those to-dos fell away, what would be your first dream destination be? Where does your mind recharge or let go or whatever you need the most, even if it's only in fantasy?

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Day 2 Winners...

Fannie, the XOXO heart purse and wallet are yours!!!

Jan, a selection of books and promo items from RT '07 are yours (and congrats for sending your partinal in!!!).

And Bambella, you'll be receive a Border's gift certificate ;o)

Keep sending those mailing addresses to me, ladies.

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Day 3 Prizes--The great Nine West tote pictured above, more RT '07 books and promo items pictured in the last few posts (another deck of Ellora's Cave cards, perhaps???) and one more Borders gift certificate, if we keep getting such great participation.

There will be a new tote to win tomorrow and Friday--Friday's being the best of the bunch, so keep coming back and commenting.

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And my blog escape for you--another excerpt...this time, Kate and Stephen's morning after their first love scene. It's a great reveal of what these two are really dealing with underneath their tough, everyday heroic exteriors. Can't wait to hear what you think. I absolutely love these characters--think they're the realest I've ever drawn ;o)

*********

"Is the juice fresh squeezed?" Kate asked as she floated into the kitchen the next morning.

She'd gotten very little sleep for the second night in a row, but she'd never felt better.

"The juice is from the carton you keep in the door of the fridge." Stephen had pulled on his dress slacks. He'd left his oxford shirt unbuttoned.

He was using a wire whisk to give a mixing bowl of eggs what-for.

"Let me guess." She sat and sipped her juice. "Rich lawyers make their own breakfasts these days, just to prove that they don't take their status too seriously."

He shrugged. "No sense having to get dressed and go out for anything more complicated than coffee. So, I took a few classes and learned the basics."

Whatever he wanted, Stephen simply set his mind to and got. And last night, he'd set his mind on her.

"Basic smells good." She inhaled the delicious scent of her victory. Closed her eyes to savor.

How long had it been since she'd felt this loose? This at-ease with a new day, let alone with a near-stranger making himself at home in her kitchen. Except Stephen hadn't been a stranger since they'd first met at the hospital. Something deep inside them had connected. Something she hadn't ever expected to find.

She didn't want to leave the kitchen or the moment that a part of her wasn't sure she'd be able to hold on to, once they walked back into the real world.

"Eat." He laid a plate in front of her. "We've got a long day ahead of us."

He'd piled the plate high with eggs and bacon cooked to savory perfection. And there was plenty remaining for Lissa, who hadn't made an appearance yet. Kate lifted a fluffy, buttery forkful and saluted her indentured servant before taking a bite.

"You're as good as your word." She'd scooped up another mouthful, before she'd swallowed the first. "We'll have to wager more often, at least until my waistline outgrows my wardrobe."

"I'll buy you a new wardrobe." His naughty leer down the neck of her bathrobe, under which he'd insisted she wear nothing, made swallowing her next bite difficult. "Losing to you is a pleasure."

She covered her snort by sipping her juice.

"You loathe losing." She crunched a strip of bacon.

"Actually, I don't lose." He set his fork down and rested his forearms on either side of his plate.

"And that makes this morning..."

"About having you right where I wanted you, without having to ask if I could stay."

"So, you let me win last night, so you didn't have to admit to wanting to stick around?" She laid her fork aside. "That's a shade manipulative, don't you think?"

"I'm a lawyer." Stephen's expression turned distant for the first time since she'd walked up to his car last night. "Exactly what did you think I do for a living."

She blinked.

"You help people who are being chewed up and spit out by the legal system," she countered carefully.

"I help myself." He sat back and folded his arms, renewing her faith in just how sexy a man in rumpled, business attire could look. "Doing what I do for other people--"

"Is all about you?" There was no glass to hide her disbelief this time. She was clenching the tablecloth too tightly to pick it up.

The real world could have at least waited until after breakfast to make an reappearance.

"I'm not some romantic hero," Stephen warned.

During the night he'd been more generous, more patient, more involved than any man she'd ever been with. Before that, he'd waited for her to work through her confusion over the Digarro case and her brother. He'd given her time to trust him. To trust herself.

What exactly was a hero in his book?

"Do you always tell women that you're a using son-of-a-bitch over breakfast the morning after?"
"I don't make woman breakfast. I'm never around for the morning."

"Maybe I've manipulated you, then."

"Maybe you should listen to what I'm saying, before you go another round with me tonight."

"Tonight?"

"I want tonight." He took her hand. Held fast when she would have shied away, unsure of his mood. "I want tomorrow morning. Damn it, I want you, Kate, any way I can get you, and I never
play to lose. But I don't want you to wake up tomorrow or next week or next month--"

"Next month? Let me get this straight. You're a bastard, but I'm going to let you stick around for a month?"

His low opinion of himself, hidden deep beneath the successful veneer of one of the top legal players in town, translated at some level to a low opinion of her.

Didn't he get that?

"No. I'm..." He let her go and ran his fingers through his sleep-rumpled hair. "I didn't--"

"Think I was smart enough to figure out for myself whether I should trust you or not?"

"You're smarter than I am, Kate, but--"

"But with men, I'm too inexperienced?"

"Not that I could tell last night, no." There was that leering glance again, the one that made her want to shove reality back out of the kitchen door. "Hell no. But--"

"Then what exactly is my problem. What makes you think you have to warn me off, so I don't make the mistake of falling under your spell? I get it. You're a real person with your own agenda. I mean, you even have selfish motives for the work you do, just like everybody else. What was I thinking!"

Stephen studied his cold plate of perfectly prepared food.

"I don't do relationships well," he explained. "My work keeps people at a distance, but I still get to do them some good. Which is a step up from my parents, who spent their trust funds on themselves and didn't give a shit about anyone else. But, doing the caring, loving thing isn't my strong suite. Never will be."

And there it was--the connection she hadn't been able to put her finger on. The unspoken understanding she'd felt in Stephen, long before she'd let herself trust anything he said or did.

"Well, since my father beat the hell out of my mother, when he wasn't belittling her so she thought she was worthless without him--" Kate said, her voice rough. "--and since my mother hid the signs of their dysfunctional home life from everyone in town but me, and since I hid the whole thing myself, I guess I have my own reasons for pushing people away."

Stephen sat straighter in his chair.

"Kate--

"I don't have the first clue how to trust my feelings for anyone, either," she continued. She wasn't stopping until it was done. "Not even my brother, or the only man who pushed through my crap long enough to get me to marry him. So, I guess that makes me a closed-off, manipulative user, right along with you. Maybe you're the one who should be careful. Breakfast the morning after, with a serial one-night stand like me?" She tisk-tisked, as she stood and walked to the sink to scrape her food down the drain. "Not a wise move, counselor."

Stephen stepped behind her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and braced the other on the edge of the sink. Curled her into his warmth.

"We already established that you're smarter than I am," he whispered against the spot on her neck, just below her ear, that he'd discovered was ticklish. "And I'd bet money you can count the number of one night stands you've had on one hand. Not that I wouldn't take another night with you any way I could get it."

He turned her until their bodies aligned. She was close enough to want to kiss the beard stubble lining his jaw.

"So." She rubbed her palm across his chest--she'd discovered a few sensitive spots of her own.
"You're as bad a judge of playmates as I am, then?"

"I'm not playing." His hand covered hers. "And neither are you. But..."

"You're scared."

Strong, independent, successful men who could bend anything in their worlds to their will didn't get scared. But Stephen was.

"Of hurting you, yes." He pulled her fingers to his lips, kissed them, then let her hand drop to her side.

She lifted it right back to his mouth and began tracing his lips. Her breath caught as he sucked the tip of one finger between his lips.

"Or maybe," she offered, "you're trying to scare me away, so you get to control how much this hurts you when it's over?"

Stephen took a step back...

Release Party--Two for the Prizes

2007-10-16T10:53:00.000-04:00

Okay, the saying is Two for the Show, but I'm taking creative liscense because we're having so much fun...

Winners from yesterday and a new excerpt are below (a Lissa and Martin scene this time, as promised), but first a new party question to keep everyone hanging out and having a good time--and of course commenting, so you can be in the running for today's prizes (which I'm sprinkling in throughout the post, so enjoy the view ;o) ...

Reality TV--that's what a lot of my friends get together to watch on "party" night. I know, it sounds very tame, but we do have PR (Project Runway) and TC (Top Chef) night. I know I've asked this before, but so much keeps changing on the the tube...What do you and your friends watch the most? Are you tuned in to Tim Gunn's new fashion show? What about "What Not To Wear" or "How Do I Look?"

TV Dramas vs. SitComs--What's your fav. new show (Dirty, Sexy Money, anyone???) or is a drama more to your liking? Is there an "oldie but still goodie? you're still tuning in to watch? Is Grey's bumming you out now more than making you giggle???

Me? I'm actually getting back into The Unit this season--I think the writing and the drama/uniqueness of the plots is getting better...they seem to have hit their "mainstream" stride... Just about everything else, I have to wait for the DVDs to come up. I don't trust myself with TiVo, you understand. I'd never get anything done... Though I do see that PW is slated to start up again mid-November. Did anyone else catch that an outsted cotnestant is already griping on the Internet Gossip Rag blogs???

---

Okay--yesterday's winners and an new excerpt...

Ruth, the Guess mini evening clutch is yours!!!

Julie, you get the great giveaway bag from RT, complete with promo items I snuck back home inside ;o)

And, because the covnersation was so lively yesterday... One of my prize decks of EC model cards and an Ellora's Cave book goes to... Amy S.!!!

Ladies, email me your mailing addresses, and I'll pack everything up for you today!! Gonna keep up with the mailings this time...scouts honor ;o)

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Today's XOXO purse/wallet combo (see the pucture above), another selection of books and a Borders Gift Certificate go to randomly selected commenters to today's post...so Party On and let us know your guiltiest TV pleasure!!!

---

Now, about Lissa and Martin's first romantic scene, as a running subplot from The Perfect Daughter through Because of a Boy...our truobled lovers have already met in BOAB and spatted a bit...actually a lot, because Martin's fighting his therapy and recovery and has walked away from everyone and everything he still wants so badly but is afraid he can't keep...and Lissa's not ready to let him go without a fight...

Martin is working out with his physical therapist, overdoing it of course, and not aware that Lissa is there watching as he crashes and burns because he's too frustrated to let his recovery (or their relationship) take its own course:

********

Martin positioned himself between the bars and braced his weight on his hands. Carmen stood to the side, spotting him.

"Just a few steps today," she cautioned. "You've pushed a bit too far already."

Ignoring her, he set off, tentatively sliding--sliding--his right foot forward, while loosening his hold on the bars and lifting his hands. Letting the right leg bear his weight, he inhaled and lifted the left off the ground. His right let promptly gave out, its muscles clenching in a spasm he barely felt, as the ground rushed up to meet him. He caught his weight on his arms. Carmen took as much of it as she could, while he struggled to get his legs back under him.

Every curse word he'd ever heard came tumbling out, one right after the other.

"Martin!" Suddenly, Lissa was supporting the side opposite Carmen. "Are you all right?"

"What the hell are you doing here!" His body leaned into hers, as if he had no say in the matter. And to make matters worse, the area immediately south of his waist responded the same as it had every other time he'd seen her since she arrived in Atlanta. "Can't you get it through you head, I don't want you here."

Clearly his body did, but that didn't mean he intended to do anything about it. Hell, he couldn't even put one foot in front of the other, even if Carmen had given him the all-clear to pursue his reawakened libido.

Just no swinging from the chandelier for a while, big boy she'd teased.

"Back on the bars," she said now. "I'll get your crutch."

His damn arms were weak as noodles as he fought to support his weight on his own.

"Get away from me," he growled at both women. "I'm fine."

Carmen must have been satisfied. She turned and retrieved his crutch, then headed for the side room where she'd massage the kinks out of his muscles on a low table he'd barely be able to roll off of once she was through.

"Five minutes, and your ass is mine again," she said as she went. "You're going to be stiff tomorrow, and your hip's already tight. You're not going anywhere tonight, until I've worked you over from head to toe."

And he wasn't going anywhere near her table until his raging hard-on was under control.

"You can't be here," he said to Lissa in as close to a civil tone as he could manage.

"Martin..." She felt so right beside him, still touching him.

It was bewitching. Terrifying. It made him want to throw his crutch away and lean on her instead. Forever.

Except, even with his manhood intact, he was still half the man she deserved.

"I..." He sighed. Time to cut to the chase. "I can't handle you being here, making me feel the things you do, when..."

"You don't like the way I make you feel?" She glanced down, then let her gaze slide back up his sweat-slicked body. "Wanna run that one by me again?"

"Yes, I'm hard." He clenched his jaw. "It seems all you have to do is walk in the room the last couple of days, and I want you."

She smirked and backed up.

"Be careful, Martin, or you might just turn my head."

"Fine, as long as I'm turning it away." He eased out from between the bars, and headed on his one-and-a-half good legs to finish the day's PT.

Lissa, of course, put her two bewitching legs to work and cut him off at the pass. Leggings... She was wearing black leggings beneath her coat and the oversized sweater that hugged her thighs and butt in a way that gave every muscle in his body even more reason to cramp.

"Damn it, get out of my way!" He'd meant to sound mean.

What came out was closer to begging.

"I've done that long enough." The fury rising in her expression was more than a warning. It was a promise. "I don't care how afraid you are of me or us or whatever you're feeling, I'm not going anywhere tonight, or any other night, until I damn well want to. And right now, I want to be in your way, more than I've wanted anything else in my life."

It wasn't a good idea, he might not be able to get up again, but he headed for the nearest bench and lowered himself down with a groan.

He couldn't bear being close to what he couldn't have, no matter how many times she offered him his dream come true.

It was Lissa's turn to sigh.

"Is it really possible?" She was standing in front of him.

"Is what possible?"

"That you're more afraid of me than you are of never having complete use of your body again?"
Martin leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. He still saw her though. She'd always be in his mind, even after she'd given up and was gone.

"Anything's possible," he said.

Lissa's soft touch on his cheek had his eyes jerking open. Her touch trailed down his chest and the ancient muscle shirt he'd worn. Then those legging-clad legs he had nightly fantasies about were straddling him as she slowly, carefully lowered herself to his lap. His instant response jerked beneath her.

"The question is, why?" she purred.

"Why?" He gripped her waist, his hands filling with her sleek softness, his fingers tightening against his body's demand to sample more. "Because I don't have the strength to move you off me and walk away, not even for your own damn good. And screw sex. I can't be what you need outside the bedroom, either, and we both know it."

She rocked forward, her expression turning dreamy as she draped her arms around his neck.

"I know this feels wonderful." She lowered her head enough for her to lick the inner curve of his ear. "And I know your big, bad heart, and how much you're worried about hurting me, turns me on even more than your body does."

Her lips fluttered against his throat. His hands began to roam.

He'd touched her, held her, even made out with her back in Oakwood. But that had been forever ago, when he'd been carefully courting her and hiding the parts of himself he'd never wanted her to have to deal with. There was nothing careful about the need coursing through him. The drive to take her, to stake his claim, to make sure there would never be another man that could give her what she'd remember having with him.

He wanted to be that man for her, the one she couldn't leave behind, not in her mind. The way she'd always be the woman in his. No more lies. No more hiding. He wanted, needed, her soul.

The way he wanted to believe she needed his, shadows and all.

"Get away from me." He ordered his hands to stop their decent to the bottom nestled against his lap.

He dropped his arms to his side and opened his eyes to stare into her stunned ones.

"Why?" She didn't budge. "So you can be right? So you can limp away and console yourself, instead of dealing with the dirty work of living with what you want? You refuse to let yourself reach for happiness, Martin. That would mean trusting that you and I can handle the good stuff together, as well as whatever's bound to go wrong next."

A not-so-hushed cough was the only warning they got.

"Would you two mind postponing the good stuff?" Carmen wanted to know. "I've got dinner plans, and--"

"No problem." Lissa rocked forward and back again, then she slipped to her feet.

But she didn't back off. She just stood there, only an inch away. Martin's hands reached for her before he realized what he was doing. He clenched them. Pressed them against the bench. His chest accidentally brushed hers as he stood.

Like hell it had been an accident.

Her next breath took his away, his body was so sensitized to the feel of her against him. And she noticed.

She'd always noticed everything about him. About them.

"We're finishing this tonight," she promised.

Because of a Boy Release Party--One For the Money!!!

2007-10-15T10:55:00.001-04:00

Hey friends and readers--it's that time again. Celebrate with me, as I say thank you to readers and fans for a wonderful year of support, and while we all party about the October 15th release of Book I in my Atlanta Heroes series, Because of a Boy.

If you've missed the last week or so of posts, click the Excerpts and Reviews links below, or check out my website Reviews page:

http://annawrites.com/reviews.shtml

We'll fast-forward to later in the story below--to Kate's (Martin Rhodes' sister from The Runaway Daughter and The Perfect Daughter) and Stephen's (Neal Cain's co-worker from The Prodigal's Return) first love romantic scene together--what better way to start the party ;o)

Okay, okay, prizes wouldn't be a bad way, either, so... Today, a lucky randomly selected blogger commenters who tell us his or her favorite way to party will win:

This great Guess mini evening clutch.

Another will receive my last tote given away at RT '07--a very cool bag that will come with promotional goodies...

I also have decks of card adorned with Ellora's Cave models and Borders gift certificates. Let's see how many commenters we get...maybe I won't be able to wait until tomorrow to give those away, too ;o)

So, tell us what party-on means to you. To me, it means hanging with folks who lift me up and make my work seem like a dream come true--folks like you ;o)

Okay, onward to Kate and Stephen's first romantic scene--a release party exclusive!!! Trust me when I say the tension between these two builds and builds from p. 1...

They're coming together to help Dillon now, and Stephen, the man who doesn't ask anyone permission for anything, is asking Kate if it's okay to pull her estranged brother into the picture...

Tomorrow...a much anticipated love scene between our troubled couple from The Perfect Daughter--Lissa Carter and Kate's brother Martin Rhodes ;o)

*******
"Would you leave Martin alone, if I asked you to?" She needed not to care so much what he said next, but her heart was suddenly racing.

"It would be a mistake." He smoothed her bangs out of her eyes. "I know things are strained between you and Martin, but I saw how much you two still care about each other. I find it hard to believe that your brother wouldn't help, if he knew you were this involved with the Digarros. But, yes, I'll back off and look for some other way, if that's what you need. I'll put a private investigator on it, and see what he can dig up. Just tell me which way you want me to go."

Kate blinked.

How many times had she told her ex she was sick and tired of him trying to take care of her?
She'd needed to be treated as an equal in their marriage, capable of deciding what was best for her, even if he didn't understand or agree. Robert hadn't been able to do that.

But Stephen, the ace litigator who knew how to masterfully play whatever angle served his purposes, was laying his cards on the table, and allowing her to choose if he played them or not.
He was saying our.

We.

She didn't do we.

"Kate?" Stephen asked

"I...I don't think Martin will agree to help," she heard herself say. "I'm not even sure what he could do..."

"But it's okay with you if I try?"

Kate nodded, only then realizing that Stephen's palm was cupping her cheek--which was wet again.

"I don't know what's wrong with me?" She tried to move away, but found she couldn't.

"It's hard for me, too." His face was closer. His thumb soothed across her cheekbone.

"What?" she whispered.

"This need I have to trust you." His expression hardened. His gaze dropped to her lips. "I'm not an easy man, Kate."

"No, you're not." She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, her heart rate galloping when he flinched and his eyes locked with hers once more.

There was heat there now, tempering the hardness into something sexually challenging. Something she suddenly needed more than she needed her rules about keeping a distance between her and anything that made her feel this much.

"But you trust me, anyway?" he asked.

It was a statement, not really a question.

"Yeah," she replied, feeling the truth settle deep, where nothing ever got to her anymore.

"Yeah," he whispered, a second before his lips sealed hers in a kiss so full of need, it demanded she respond.

As if she needed the incentive.

Get closer.

Feel more.

Make the ache inside stop.

Or make it worse. She didn't care which, as long as she kept feeling what they felt like together.

Together.

His tongue grazed her lips. Took advantage of her gasp to feather inside. When her own twisted around it, his body tensed. He cupped the back of her neck, asking silent permission. She angled her head, closed her eyes and deepened the kiss. Their groans mingled as he took complete control.

There was no other word for the way he devoured her. Ate at her lips with tiny nips of his teeth. Sipped her tongue into his mouth and suckled gently--then as her nails bit into his arms, more firmly, his hands rubbing down her back. Cupping her bottom. Sliding her closer to the edge of her chair, until her thighs were cradled between his.

She should be protesting. It was too fast. Anyone could come in at any moment. But he was the one to pull away first.

His hands rubbed gentle circles up her arms, leaving her shivering. His kiss gentled, his chest billowing in and out with the effort it took to back off. Kate clenched his forearms, not ready to let him go, and leaned into his next kiss, pressing for more. She swallowed the low, needy sound he made.

A crash in the hallway sent them springing apart, to stare at each other.

Stephen cleared his throat and he stood.

"So." He dug his hands into his coat pockets. "Um... Your brother. I'll try to speak with him this afternoon, if you're sure it's okay."

"He..." Kate stood herself. "I think he's at the academy every weekday. Um--"

The break room door opened. Marsha poked her head in.

"Robert's looking for you." She glanced back and forth between Kate and Stephen, as if she could feel the tension still crackling between them. "I told him you were busy with something important."

"My ex-husband. He's a surgeon here," Kate felt compelled to explain. She shook her head. As if Stephen cared. "Yes, it's okay with me if want to ask Martin for help. But I think you're wasting your time."

"And I think you're underestimating his feelings for you," Stephen countered. "After what I saw last night--"

"Let me know how it goes," she interrupted.

With a glare, she begged Marsha to keep quiet.

"I'll be in touch." Stephen stepped past Marsha and disappeared into the hall.

"Last night?" Marsha asked.

"It was nothing."

"Doesn't sound like nothing, if the man's already met the brother you haven't said boo to since he moved back to town."

"It's a long story." Kate fished her stethoscope out of her pocket and followed in Stephen's wake.

Marsha kept up.

"So, is it nothing?" she quipped. "Or is it a long story?"

Kate kept walking...

Blog Party Starts Monday!!!

2007-10-13T11:09:00.000-04:00

Here are the pics I promised--goodies going out to Because of a Boy Release Party commenters next week. Lots of give aways, lots of fun and more excerpts and stuff you love ;o) Oh, and I've added one more review below--the response to the subplots and themes in this book is really blowing me away...

First, a sneak peak of what randomly selected commenters will win next week. Multiple winners every day--

The last of the RT '07 promo itmes I brought back, including amazing decks of cards with Eloras Cave cover models on them.

There are some books left--I'll be giving away a selection of them.

And of course there will be great purses--

And one final review--enjoy, and let me know what you think of BOAB, too! It should be in bookstores everywhere by Monday...

...Anna DeStefano’s BECAUSE OF A BOY is an emotional story that forces her characters to trust based on gut feeling, and this left this reader in tears more than once.

This story comes to readers at a time where America is at war with itself on what to do with illegal immigrants, and this story slants a whole new look into the lives who escape here for reasons most of us will never understand. Ms. DeStefano has taken a tale about a family facing deportation and other evils and made it a backdrop for a beautiful love story. While Kate and Stephen’s story may be a happily ever after love story, this reviewer was just as glad to see Manny and Dillon end their tale with an ending that beat the odds.

Anna DeStefano is an author already on this reader’s auto-buy list and she highly recommends finding the other novels by this author, as well as this one, you will not be let down, she writes a mighty tale filled with emotion.

--Anige, LovesRomanceAndMore.com

http://www.loveromancesandmore.com/Oct07/becauseofaboy_angie.htm

Having fun yet?

2007-10-11T09:55:00.001-04:00

That's what releases are all about, in the world of publishing. Readers having a blast with a new story--everyone wants that. I'm working through three--no, four--new stories in various stages of production right now, and watching everyone have a blast with Because of a Boy is a wonderful incentive to make something special of all the new characters and rocking story plots.

Why all the nature photos? Well, I love nature, and these pictures say thank you to me. I'm a wacky, creative nut...what are you gonna do??? Enjoy, and know this is what I feel like when I think of my online friends reading my work. Like the dawn and setting of a perfect day ;o)

Whatever your daily job, find your inspiration to make every new day the best, freshest work you've ever done. Love what you do and how it touches the people you do it for. That's the reality of why I write, I'm realizing. Knowing these stories touch you guys. You're the best, and you give back far more than you realize.

Okay--'nough of the touchy-feely stuff, right ;o) One more excerpt below, then you' ve got to go buy your own copy of the book. I'll pull specific scenes next week for the release party, but at least you'll have the last of the story "setup."

But before I go, thanks for coming out to chat, everyone who joined me at NovelTalk last night. Don't forget next week's blog release party and the LifetimeTV.com Romance B(u)y The Book guest blog on the 19th. I'm shipping the last of last month's blog prizes out today, and the NovelTalk winners will get their goodies as soon as I have their pony express details.

Oh, and I'm ePublished. Who knew! Check out these links:

http://ebooks.eharlequin.com/D7C70DAB-E04B-41DC-BC81-782D099096E6/10/126/en/ContentDetails.htm?ID=577314F1-7EF8-4A87-8083-6EC93F8B72EA

http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/BookDetails.asp?BookID=63734

Not sure if anyone's buying my "E" content, but it's cool to have it available... It's all cool today. My "thank you" day ;o)

Enjoy some more of BOAB:

******

"No word yet from the hospital?" Neal Cain asked from the doorway of Stephen's office.

The man's dangerous edge wasn't softened by the well-cut suits and crisply-ironed shirts he always wore to the office. Stephen's boss, the founder of the meekly-named Atlanta Legal Aid Center had done five years of hard time--entering the adult penal system as a seventeen-year-old--for a manslaughter conviction he copped to, because he'd felt responsible for his best friend's accidental death.

His choice had robbed Neal of the last of his childhood, and eight years with the people he'd left behind in the small southern town he'd grown up in. But the traumatic experience had sparked his passion for protecting vulnerable defendants from an often too-rigid legal system that had neither the time nor the resources to make sure everyone received the highest quality defense possible. Neal's mission since his early parole had been making sure the innocents he defended were safe from the horrors he'd survived.

As soon as Stephen had briefed him on the Digarro situation, Neal had asked to meet the distraught father, then green-lighted the case. Whatever time Stephen needed to spend on it. Nothing beat Neal's instincts with people, and his gut had told him the same thing as Stephen's--Digarro was hiding something, but he wasn't responsible for Dillon's injuries.

"Nothing official yet from the hospital." Stephen pushed back from the desk. He rubbed the back of his neck, massaging the knots that refused to completely untie themselves at the end of each day. "I got in to see the kid for a few minutes. He's pretty banged up. I can understand the hospital's concern."

"You starting to doubt the father?" Neal gave up his relaxed pose lounging against the door jamb, and stepped into the shadows of Stephen's office. It was hours past sunset. Only a desk lamp held back the darkness as Stephen replayed every fact he knew about the case, what he'd seen with his own eyes, and Kate Rhodes' certainty that Manny Digarro was a threat to his own child.

"No," he finally said. "No way is Manny responsible for his son's medical condition."

"But you don't believe his whole story." Neal sat. He was wicked smart and ruthless, responsible for the bulk of their behind the scenes work, since convicted felons technically couldn't practice law. He was a silent weapon, writing briefs and negotiating deals long before cases got to trial. Still, he read people better and faster than anyone Stephen had ever met, and he hadn't been wrong about a client yet.

"Digarro never touched his son." Stephen was sure of it. "But that green card he showed us..."

"Yeah," Neal agreed, "it's a forgery."

And now the Digarro kid was in the system, and the police were focused on the father, while the hospital ran their tests.

"How long do you think we've got?" Stephen asked.

"Before INS comes looking to join the discussion?"

"Before Digarro disappears from Atlanta for good." There had been a lot of fear in the man the last time Stephen had spoken with him.

Illegal or not, Manny Digarro was fighting to make a new start in this country for his son. Stephen would welcome the chance to help make it a legal one. There were ways to hold off the INS, until the right visas could be obtained. Loopholes to wrangle, giving the Digarros time to apply for legitimate immigration status, and then citizenship.

But deportation was the likeliest outcome, if INS got involved before Stephen was ready to negotiate. Dillon couldn't travel in his condition, but his abusive father might find himself on the next bus back over the border, then turned over to Colombian authorities to deal with. Manny had to know the danger he was in. He was nowhere to be found, at least not at the last shelter he and his son had stayed at. Digarro had disappeared as soon as he'd given Stephen that gift to take to Dillon--along with a father's promise that he would be back for his son, no matter how long they were separated.

"Manny's next move depends on what we hear from the hospital," Stephen reasoned. "If we're lucky, he'll wait long enough to be cleared of the abuse charges. But we won't have the test results for several days. At least that's what the nurses answering the phone on the pediatric floor are saying."

A rotating shift of nurses that so far hadn't included the willful, heart-wrenchingly protective Kate Rhodes.

"And if he's not cleared of the charges?" For Neal, cold, hard reality was the only way to do business. "If immigrations status is an issue, the Digarros are headed for a courtroom either way. You'll work your magic, we'll take our chances, but this one may not be winnable."

Stephen was Neal's top litigator--a pedigreed, trust-fund baby no one had seen coming. Underestimating him rarely happened anymore. He was too determined to help the under-privileged with the same passion as his boss. When he lost, he lost innocent lives to an unforgiving system, and he wasn't losing Dillon Digarro's father.

"We'll make it work," he said. "We've still got some time. If we don't hear anything by morning, I'll--"

"How many other cases do you have pending?" Neal asked.

He knew how many, of course. He knew what was written on every scrap of paper that circulated the office.

"No more than usual." Stephen shrugged.

"So, you're backed up two weeks out?"

The center's everyday caseload would have left the average lawyer drowning beneath mounds of briefs and pending motions, not to mention court appearances that ate entire days at a time.

"I'll handle it." Stephen always did.

"I know. You eat, sleep and breathe this job, the same as I used to," Neal conceded. He still beat even Stephen into the office most mornings, and was slaving away most evenings after Stephen headed home. "But if you're going to hunker down with the Digarro's, consider handing some of the everyday details over to the rest of the team. Let Kelly do your research. Give the junior associates a crack at some of your open cases."

"Yeah, sure," Stephen agreed as Neal stood and headed toward the deserted outer office.

Except Stephen didn't do teams, and they both knew it. Just like he never got sucked too far into a case or let relationships with clients get personal. He stayed in control. He got the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible, and then he moved on.

So why couldn't he get the Digarro's off his mind? And why had confronting one feisty nurse thrown him so badly that morning?

Kate Rhodes' mixture of strength and vulnerability had been a surprise. Her genuine concern for her young patient had been too genuine for an impartial medical professional. That was her tell. Stephen's way to convince her to fork over Dillon's test results before the hospital got around to doing it, so he could handle things for Manny and move on.

Except the idea of playing the woman to get what he needed for his client, the way he'd played countless contacts in the past, was suddenly the last thing he could do.

Beautiful New Jersey

2007-10-07T10:42:00.000-04:00

Typing away in the airport on my way home from a FABULOUS New Jersey RWA conference. It's warmer here than in Georgia right now...actually, it's freaking H-O-T. Take a look at my one and only picture from the weekend, and you'll agree, things are just about perfect in this lovely place ;o)

Yep, that's Bill Freeda, a romace cover model friend who showed for the book signing--a native Jersey boy who's always fun to see. I'm the tired lady standing beside him wearing no makeup because I'm working on my second conference in as many weeks. Bill, of course, is fresh as a daisy and lovely enough to hug that I remembered to pull out my camera and have a friend record the moment for my blog buddies! He'll be at RT again next year, and I hear tell there will even be a Romance Cover Model reunion...sigh...

I'm thrilled to report that Because of Boy once again sold like hotcakes. Romantic suspense seems to be a very good twist for my new Superromance venture. Can't wait to hear from readers as they get a chance to dive in. Harriette Klausner (a top online reviewer) has weighed in--and she likies:

"... BECAUSE OF A BOY is a fabulous look at health care for the homeless and for illegal immigrants as much as a contemporary romance. The story line is action-packed from the first encounter in the hospital between the lead couple and never slows down until the final altercation. Yet with all the non-stop action and the romantic subplot, Anne DeStefano provides a strong exposé on the lack of any health care for the homeless and limited at best for illegal immigrants (Hippocrates must be turning in his grave with some of the Draconian solutions to outlaw help).: --Hariette Klausner reviews

Wow--I LOVE writing about up-to-date topics and touch hearts and give you guys romance to gush over, all at the same time. And I promise, Remember Me, Atlanta Heroes book two, is just as exciting a romance. I'll give you a sneak peak during the blog release party, promise ;o)

But, more of Because of a Boy today... Thanks for letting me know you're enjoying it ;o) Here's more of Stephen Creighton--some of the last little bit of character setup before we run full speed into the action. Some of you will find Stephen and his boss Neal and theil legal aid center familiar--Neal was the hero of my award-winning The Prodigal's Return, and Stephen had a few cameo scenes in that book (too few...so I have him his own kick-ass story, lol!). It was a lot of fun to catch up with Neal and Jen ;o):

"No word yet from the hospital?" Neal Cain asked from the doorway of Stephen's office.

"No," he finally said. "No way is Manny responsible for his son's medical condition."

"Digarro never touched his son." Stephen was sure of it. "But that green card he showed us..."

"Yeah," Neal agreed, "it's a forgery."

And now the Digarro kid was in the system, and the police were focused on the father, while the hospital ran their tests.

"How long do you think we've got?" Stephen asked.

"Before INS comes looking to join the discussion?"

"Before Digarro disappears from Atlanta for good." There had been a lot of fear in the man the last time Stephen had spoken with him.

A rotating shift of nurses that so far hadn't included the willful, heart-wrenchingly protective Kate Rhodes.

Stephen was Neal's top litigator--a pedigreed, trust-fund baby no one had seen coming.

Underestimating him rarely happened anymore. He was too determined to help the under-privileged with the same passion as his boss. When he lost, he lost innocent lives to an unforgiving system, and he wasn't losing Dillon Digarro's father.

"We'll make it work," he said. "We've still got some time. If we don't hear anything by morning, I'll--"

"How many other cases do you have pending?" Neal asked.

He knew how many, of course. He knew what was written on every scrap of paper that circulated the office.

"No more than usual." Stephen shrugged.

"So, you're backed up two weeks out?"

The center's everyday caseload would have left the average lawyer drowning beneath mounds of briefs and pending motions, not to mention court appearances that ate entire days at a time.

"I'll handle it." Stephen always did.

"Yeah, sure," Stephen agreed as Neal stood and headed toward the deserted outer office.

So why couldn't he get the Digarro's off his mind? And why had confronting one feisty nurse thrown him so badly that morning?

So why was the idea of playing the woman to get what he needed for his client, the way he'd played countless contacts in the past, suddenly so distasteful?

Chatty Cathy--Noveltalk, Too

2007-10-04T22:53:00.000-04:00

October 10th...Come chat with me on Noveltalk.com at 9:00 PM Eastern time.

How does everyone feel about all the chatting and guest blogging these days??? I do more of it than the average author. It's a way for me to keep in touch. To understand what's important to you and share the world I see. It's a lovely break from the introspection that feeds the work writers do--a bridge between our minds and the minds of those who read us.

But does it help you decide whether to buy a book or not? Have you found new writers and stories that way, or do you have to love a writer's work before you seek out their chat or blog or go to a signing just to hear from them? Inquiring writing minds want to know ;o)

I'm at yet another coference--the New Jersey Put Your Heart in A Book conference. Lots of buzz about Because of A Boy and my new Atlanta Heroes. Cool!

Next scene--Let's catch up with Lissa from The Perfect Daughter. Remember this is a bridge book from the "Daughter" series and the new Atlanta Heroes. Kate from BOAB hooks up with Lissa first. We get a glimpse of Martin again not too far down the road, so don't give up on him.

Hope you keep enjoying--and that you buy the book ;o) It's available on Amazon and eHarlequin.com:

***********

"Martin stopped smiling a year and a half ago," said the tired voice on the other end of Kate's cell phone. "Nothing I tried here in Oakwood made a difference. Now that he's in Atlanta, I just thought maybe you.."

Sitting in the pediatric floor break room, Kate pulled the phone away from her ear.

What Lissa Carter thought was no mystery. Nor were the regrets and pointless guilt that flooded Kate every time the other woman called. The same queasy emotions that kept her on the phone, refusing to let her bail on her last connection to her baby brother--even if it was through an ex-girlfriend he didn't want to deal with any more than he did Kate.

Lissa's first call from Kate's south-Georgia home town had come on the heels of the one informing Kate that Martin had been wounded in the line of duty. Her estranged brother naturally hadn't wanted Kate to hurry to his side, but Lissa had begged her to come home.

The emotional chasm between Kate and her brother had been years beyond fixing. Dealing with things together wasn't their strong suit, and her visit hadn't changed that. Now, Martin was in a physical and emotional free-fall. Had been for over a year--ever since his surgery to remove a bullet lodged near his spine, which had left him with only partial feeling below the waist on his right side.

She pulled the now-silent phone back to her ear.

"He won't see me, Lissa. We hadn't talked for years before the shooting. Now, me being a nurse just adds to the drama. He came to Atlanta for his own reasons. Reasons I that can assure you have nothing to do with me."

"He's giving up on everything and anyone that used to matter to him. He was pushing too hard in rehab while he was still here. Lord knows what he's doing up there alone. How can you sit by and watch him hurt himself?"

Kate resisted the urge to toss the phone across the room.

Lissa hadn't left Martin's bedside for more than a few hours the entire time Kate had been in Oakwood. She hadn't given up on his recovery, even after he'd refused to see her or any other visitors--first at the hospital, then at the rehab center he'd gone to next. She'd just kept pushing, her determination refusing to falter.

A year and half later, Martin had moved two hundred miles away, and Lissa was still hanging strong. How was Kate supposed to cast away loyalty that rare, that unconditional?

"I've tried calling him a dozen times since he transferred to the Police Academy up here," she explained.

Her brother had ended each call sooner. The last couple of times, he hadn't picked up at all.

"Then stop calling and get your butt over there!" Lissa demanded. "He--"

"He's a grown man, and he has every right to make his own decisions, even if they're the wrong ones."

How many times had Kate fought with Robert during their marriage, insisting on the same consideration?

If I want help, I'll ask for it.

I'm not your problem to fix.

"As long as Martin can take care of himself in that dive of an apartment he's rented--" An apartment Kate had made it a point to locate as soon as she'd learned his new address. "--as long as he can live independently, I have no right to try and influence his decisions."

"But if you could just get him to let you in." Lissa's voice quivered. "If you could just get him to talk about--"

"He doesn't want to talk about it!" When it came to facing reality, Martin always took a pass.

"He hasn't wanted to hear anything I have to say since our parents died."

When she'd insisted on dealing with the truth about their parents' marriage, and Martin had cut her from his life. He'd accused her of twisting things, as if she'd set out to warp every childhood memory they shared.

"Kate--"

"Lissa, I know you love my brother." The other woman's pain was as difficult to listen to as it had been to watch in Oakwood. "And I know you have Martin's best interest at heart. But sometimes we can take love so far, it starts to hurt the people we care about."

Silence hung between them.

Kate checked the cell's display to make sure the call was still connected.

"What are you saying?" Tears turned Lissa's question watery.

"If Martin's certain you're not what he needs to get better--" Kate layered compassion over each difficult word, the same as she would if she were discussing a risky treatment option with a child's family. "--then maybe it's time for you to let go."

"The same way he let you go ten years ago?" Lissa demanded. "You left Oakwood behind and never looked back. No one knew why, including Martin. Now your brother's running, too, and you think I should just let go!"

"I did what I needed to, and Martin knows exactly why I left." Kate blinked back useless tears, nodding to herself, as if she needed convincing more than the near-stranger on the other end of the phone.

She'd made the right choice. She'd made the only choice she could, and she refused to interfere with Martin's right to do the same thing now.

"My brother and I were going to end up hating each other, if one of us didn't leave. And I was the one who couldn't live there and ignore the truth any longer. If Martin's feeling the same way now, and you love him as much as you say you do, then you're going to have to let him go, before the two of you end up hating each other."

Romance B(u)y The Book--October 19th, Mark Your Calendar!!!

2007-10-02T22:38:00.000-04:00

Guess what! I'll be blogging on LifetimeTV.com on the 19th!!! A very cool opportunity compliments of my friend Michelle Buonfiglio--thanks for the chance to hang with the Bellas at Romance B(u)y The Blog!!!

Check out the J.R. Ward blog going on this week ;o) That'll be me soon...sigh...

http://www.lifetimetv.com/lifestyle/entertainment/romance-buy-the-book/blogs

To those whom I owe goodies, they're going out in the mail tomorrow (when I ship out the last of the stuff I'll need at the NJ conference this weekend). So sorry for the delay. But did I mention that Remember Me is amazing???? Oh, and my editor called to say she LOVED the revisions to Baby Steps (my Mother's Day novella). So all's well.

To those who want more of Because of a Boy--you're going to fall in love with my little Dillon ;o)

***********
Dillon Digarro kept his eyes squeezed shut.

The grown ups were arguing in the hall now. He could still hear how angry they were. The shaking had come back--the shaking that didn't happen when it was just him and his papa.

Papa never got angry when it was just the two of them.

That nice nurse, Kate, was mad at Papa. Just like she was mad at the man who'd brought Dillon the car. And some other voice had been arguing with them, too.

Dillon just wanted to go home.

Not to another shelter, or another city. He wanted to go back home. Back to Colombia with Papa, except there were angry, scary people there, too.

Kate had been so nice at the shelter. She'd taken care of him when she'd found him hurt. She'd been with him almost all the time at hospital. He wished she'd come back. He liked it when she sat with him, even if she was mad at Papa.

She didn't understand why Papa hadn't come in the ambulance. She didn't like Dillon being hurt and scared, and she thought it was Papa's fault. She was wrong, but she was worried, and that felt good. There was no one else to worry but Papa.

He searched under the blanket with his good arm, until his fingers brushed the car he'd hidden there. Kate didn't know it was the first toy Dillon had had since leaving Colombia. She didn't know how worried his papa must be to have sent it.

We have to be able to move at a moment's notice. We can't risk taking anything that someone's seen us with. That's all they'd need to track us.

They never stopped moving. Atlanta was the longest they'd been anywhere in a year. They wore other people's clothes. Dillon's only toys where whatever the shelters had. Everything had to be left when they moved. Everything but the clothes they were wearing, and they got new second-hand stuff as soon as they stopped someplace new. He was tired of broken toys, clothes no one else wanted, and all the faces of people he wasn't supposed to talk to. Kids who couldn't be friends. All of it left behind, as soon as something spooked Papa and it was time to move again.

Except now he had his car.

Did that mean they could finally stop running?

Papa couldn't come to the hospital himself because Kate was mad at him. But if Dillon could get her and everyone else to understand, maybe they could stay in Atlanta.

Except he wasn't supposed to talk about anything with anyone.

Wait there for me. Try to get better. I'll come get you when it's time, Papa had said as the ambulance men took Dillon away.

When it was time...

Time to run again.

Dillon squeezed the car to his sore ribs, missing his papa, missing home--even though home was where they'd run from first. Home was what Papa was protecting Dillon from the most.

Except Dillon hurt and he was scared, and he wanted his own clothes and his room full of toys, and the friends he knew he'd never see again.

Papa was worried about him. The doctors and nurses here were worried. Everyone was worried about everything but what really mattered.

When were the men after his papa going to stop hunting them?

When would it finally be safe to stay somewhere? Be someone real? Have real friends and real toys like his new car, without waiting for it all to disappear?

Remember Me?

2007-10-01T22:11:00.000-04:00

It's done!!!

Remember Me, that lovely Book II of the Atlanta Heroes series that's been keeping me away from you? It's done. Finally. And it's really good, wink, wink ;o)

So, that's my only excuse for abandoning you guys for almost a month, after promising not to again. That and the revisions I had to do on the Mother's Day novella. And the Moonlight and Magnolias conference here in Atlanta. You know, insignificant stuff like that.

Stuff that's over--leaving me free to blog daily. Yes, you heard it here first. Daily. Oh, and to chat and guest blog and lots of other good stuff. Stuff like a RELEASE LAUNCH PARTY for Because Of A Boy the week of October 15th!!! Look for more details in a newsletter that'll go out before I leave for the New Jersey conference this weekend.

Let's see... What else, you ask? You guys are sooooo greedy (I like that about you , BTW ;o)... All-American Father is a Golden Leaf finalist (in it's first contest ever, so a nice showing there)... And I have a new Because of a Boy review to share, from a great review/book site, Books For A Buck...

Author Anna DeStefano (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by DeStefano) doesn't pull her punches in BECAUSE OF A BOY. Dealing with some of the most emotional issues possible, child abuse, the effects of abusive families, physical injury and betrayal, DeStefano delivers a page-turning read. In a subplot involving Kate's estranged cop-brother (who was injured in the line of duty and refuses to have anything to do with either Kate or his one-time girlfriend, Lissa) DeStefano shows another side of the damages caused by abusive families and the difficulties that victims have in developing trust or a sense of self-worth.

Although there is a bit of a suspense element to this story, with Columbian druglords in the background, DeStefano keeps the novel firmly centered on the romance and on the character growth Stephen and, especially, Kate will need if she's ever going to allow happiness into her life.

http://www.booksforabuck.com/rompages/rom_2007/because_of_a_boy.html

More goodies to come. Here's another excerpt to tide you over, greedy friends of mine... To catch up if you need to, scroll back through the last few blog posts. In it, you get to meet the hero of Remember Me, Robert Livingston...did I mention you're going to LOVE that book, too? But you're going to have to wait for that one, he he ;o)

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

"What was that?" Kate's ex-husband, neurosurgeon Robert Livingston, asked.

He was intentionally blocking her view of the lawyer's retreating back, shielding her the way he'd tried to protect her during their marriage. The way she'd refused to let him. Robert had always wanted to mean more to her than she could handle.

To save her from things they'd barely even talked about.

It wasn't in her nature to be saved. It wasn't in his to back off when someone needed help. Exit one marriage, but thankfully their friendship had survived.

And for the first time, as Kate peered around his tall frame to watch Stephen Creighton disappear behind the closing elevator door, she was thankful for Robert's coddling. Because there had been something in the lawyer's earnest expression, in his voice, that made her want to doubt what her own eyes were telling her. To believe that an abused little boy belonged with the man she was certain had hurt him.

"That was nothing," she assured her ex.

"You okay?" Robert rubbed the same place on her arm Creighton had grabbed. His other hand held up the man's fancy, embossed card. "Who--"

"He's a lawyer for some legal aid center." She glanced toward Dillon's room. "Manny Digarro sent him."

"The father of your banged up little boy from the shelter? He's already lawyered up?"

"Yeah. The police were notified by the ER attending, and I filed a report about what I saw at the center. They say they don't have enough evidence to arrest the father yet, and we're running more tests to try and figure out exactly how badly Dillon's been hurt. But his fall down the stairs couldn't have done all that damage, and there are too many signs of neglect to ignore. I guess the father thought sending a smooth-talking attorney would scare us into letting him near the kid again."

"Sounds like you're doing the right thing. Just don't get too sucked into the family's problems."

"Yeah." Except she was already in deep. Look at her reaction to finding Creighton handing a hurt little boy a toy car?

She'd all but tackled the poor man to get him out of there. He'd only been doing his job. But handsome lawyers with earnest expressions didn't change the truth. X-rays and broken bones didn't lie, no matter how much Dillon seemed to miss his father. And the truth was something Kate had promised herself to never rationalize away again.

She took Creighton's business card from Robert, tore it in half and smiled. And she kept smiling as she tossed it in a nearby trashcan, reassuring herself that she'd already put out of her mind how gentle the lawyer had been with her vulnerable patient. How earnest his assurances had sounded.

Only she'd glanced at the address on the card as she ripped it in two. She'd committed the name of Creighton's center to memory--Atlanta Legal Aid.

Damn easy-going Southern men.

Review Me Baby, One More Time...

2007-09-05T14:44:00.000-04:00

Yep, they're starting to trickle in. Reviews, that is--I have a couple to share for the first Atlanta Heroes book, Because of a Boy, and just in time. I'm slaving (back of hand to forehead, heavy, southern belle sigh) over finishing book two this week and next, tentatively titled Remember Me, and inspiration in all forms is always welcome.

BTW, you can now purchase an early copy of Because of a Boy at a 20% discount on eharlequin.com:

http://eharlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=15756&cid=229

Note: To read the award-winning Daughter series that feeds into it (especially The Runaway Daughter and The Perfect Daughter) Amazon.com is your best bet. Just search by my name, and you'll get the whole backlist.

Okay, some reviews (and there will be prizes later in the post, so stick around):

5 Stars from Cataromance.com: "With cameo appearances from Anna DeStefano’s previous Daughter series and the introduction of fabulous new characters, her Atlanta Heroes series has a winning start with Because of a Boy. I loved the connection of the two series, which allows the revisiting of old friends and the intertwining of storylines. Today’s hot topic, illegal immigration, is perfect for Ms. DeStefano’s trademark voice as she handles it with compassion and wisdom. Her heroes have that added depth, treating their careers as life work not just a job. In Because of a Boy, readers meet nurses, doctors, lawyers, fire fighters and police, all taking their professions one step further to help others...Because of a Boy is a stand alone book and the Atlanta Heroes series does not need the lead in of the Daughter series but why deprive yourself of the pleasure? Talented Anna DeStefano delivers a highly entertaining, rewarding read with every book she writes. "

http://www.cataromance.com/index.php?p=228

4 Stars from Romantic Times: "...Remarkably realistic characters and a fast-paced story make Anna Destefano's Because of a Boy hard to put down."

http://romantictimes.com/books_review.php?book=33439

Sigh... I guess I should make sure Remember Me isn't a disappointing follow up!

I'll do more excerpts later in the week. The ones I've shared so far are probably familiar to some, but I wanted to catch everyone up before plowing forward. I'll be posting new scenes you haven't seen any day now--tease, tease ;o)

For now, here's a preview of Because of a Boy's "Dear Reader" letter--

Dear Reader,

For those of you who've followed my award-winning "Daughter" novels, I'm happy to announce that my southern-set stories has a new home. Because of a Boy is the launch of my Atlanta Heroes series--where strong, southern men and women fight for love, as fiercely as they battle for everything else in their lives.

Pediatric nurse Kate Rhodes and legal advocate Stephen Creighton are unlikely heroes. Sure they work hard to help the people their jobs place in their paths. But as they fight tirelessly to solve others' problems, they also avoid dealing with the pasts they don't want to face.

Throw together an injured but determined little boy, an illegal immigrant family on the run from a drug king pin, hot pursuit from both the INS and drug enforcement officials, and a life-or-death medical condition, and Kate and Stephen are at a crossroads. Can they dig deep and work together for the sake of a troubled family, even when the attachment growing between them is more terrifying than the danger closing in? Heroes, after all, might flinch when faced with their deepest fears. But they don't back down--not even from true love.

And for those of you who read The Perfect Daughter and asked to see more of Lissa Carter and sheriff's deputy Martin Rhodes' relationship, did you really think I'd leave you hanging? Lissa and Martin's romance continues in Because of a Boy, as Martin moves to Atlanta to rehabilitate from injuries received in the line of duty (and to be closer to the estranged sister he supposedly doesn't want to see, any more than he does Lissa). Something tells me neither Kate nor Lissa is giving up on Martin without a fight...

And a few more winners of our RT 2007 goodies!!!

To receive one of the RT Conference bags from the 19th post:

Susan F, who commented at 10:45 am on the July 25th post

To receive a selection of promotional items and a book from the 19th post:

Jenna, who posted at 7:45 pm on the July 25th post

Winners, please email me your pony express address.

Everyone else, keep leaving comments, and I'll keep drawing names. We'll work our way through each post and all the goodies eventually ;o) And of course, we have our October release party to look forward to (more teasing...what has gotten into me?).

More excerpts and a new book review of my own (for Agnes and the Hitman) to come!

Now back to rewriting Remenber Me...

Decatur Book Festival--I'm Soooo Going to Get Lost

2007-08-31T10:24:00.000-04:00

Fun day tomorrow of many people roaming around me while I'm totally lost... Anyone in or around Atlanta, come check out the Decatur Book Festival this weekend (I'm on a panel at 3:00 tomorrow and will be lurking about the GRW (Georgia Romance Writer's) table a good bit):

http://www.decaturbookfestival.com/2007/index.html

Lots of great writers and artists and fun amazing things to see.

Thanks for the great feedback on the Because of a Boy excerpt--there's more below. I'll post later in next week with a glimpse of Martin Rhodes and Lisa Carter (returning characters from The Perfect Daughter and The Runaway Daughter who finally get to work out their romance in a way you're going to love!). For now, let's get to know Robert a bit better ;o)

I think I've heard from the last post's winners--packages to go out next week. I'll post new blog winners Sunday at the latest. In the mean time, check out the website contest page for a new prize that you can be in the running for starting in October, as well as the Coach purse winner from this summer (Jack, it's totally going to match your shoes ). Of course, I'll get around to the newsletter one of these days soon, but I wanted to give the blog a sneak peak.

I'll also be posting some reviews this week--Agnes and the Hitman, Garden Spells, maybe even one more. Great books piling up around me--must read, must read... I'll let you know what I think of them.

So, keep hanging out. I'm determined to stay in the posting groove. Come see me tomorrow if you can. And enjoy--here's some more Because of a Boy just for you:

*********

"You bet I'm keeping Manny Digarro away from his child!" The pediatric nurse who'd rushed Stephen into the hall was furious. Indignant. "If he does show up here, which I suspect he won't, the staff won't let him anywhere near Dillon."

Stephen didn't have to read her name badge to know she was the Kate Rhodes Manny Digarro had warned him about. The homeless shelter volunteer who'd first befriended the immigrant family, then two days ago had lodged a formal complaint of child abuse with the Atlanta Police Department (APD).

"Mr. Degarro's done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment," Stephen insisted, the soul of reason. "You can't separate him from his son. Dillon fell down those stairs, and his father is beside himself worrying about--"

"From the looks of the old fractures on Dillon's x-rays, someone should have done more than separate your friend from his son years ago."

"Client," Stephen corrected. "Manny Digarro is my client. A good man that I'd be honored to call my friend--regardless of the color of his skin, his ethnic background, or his current inability to afford his own home."

Kate's eyes narrowed. If her spine got any stiffer, she'd break in two.

"This isn't about them being homeless, or from another country, or anything else but protecting an abused boy from further harm--by someone who's supposed to love him."

"My client does love his son, very much. He--"

"--belongs in jail! Dillon has poorly healed breaks on both arms, his left wrist and right calf and ankle. Weeks-old contusions on his chest, to go along with the shiny new ones on his face. And don't get me started on the poor dental hygiene and the vitamin deficiency we suspect is causing his complexion to be at least three shades lighter than a healthy child's should be."

"Do you find oral hygiene and a healthy glow common amongst the homeless people you work, Nurse Rhodes?" Stephen included a casual smile with his question, free of charge.

She crossed her arms. "Once we have the results of the battery of tests Dillon's pediatrician ordered, I'm confident--"

"What tests? Manny's signed no consent forms for treatment, let alone--"

"In the case of suspected abuse, the doctors can sign on the child's behalf. The tests have been run. Once their results are in, not being able to visit Dillon will be the least of your client's concerns. Until then, Manny Digarro should be thankful that restricting his access to the pediatric floor is the only option the other nurses and I have."

The golden-haired, green-eyed beauty's chest rose and fell. Warm eyes that had smiled down at Dillon sparked with fire.

It was inappropriate, under the circumstances, to find Kate Rhodes' temper tantrum arousing.

But that kind of passion was hard to come by in Stephen's world--especially in the defense of another person's wellbeing. Certainly not in someone so meticulously put together, Stephen would bet tomorrow night's poker stake that Kate rarely let a hair slip out of place, let alone her emotions.

Too bad this wasn't the time or place to push her buttons further, just to see what she'd do next.

Work the case, man.

"You only met the Digarros a week ago," he said, as if reason would work any better the second time around. "You didn't see Dillon's accident. Admit it. You don't know for sure what happened, any more than I do."

"Dillon fell, violently, down a flight of stairs. Only his father seems to have witnessed it, just like all the other accidents. What else do I need to know?"

"Manny's no more a threat to his child than I am," Stephen assured her. "He's--"

"An abusive bastard who's never going to hurt his son again! Dillon is terrified. He's barely spoken to anyone since he got here."

Stephen blinked. Focused past the righteous indignation that he'd label racism or blind ignorance on someone else. There was genuine fear in Kate's voice.

Most people took one look at impoverished immigrants like the Digarros, and saw someone they couldn't trust. A threat they didn't want to be any closer to than they had to be. But Kate Rhodes spent several evenings a week up to her elbows in the homeless community. Shielding them from a world often too careless about the wellbeing of the weakest and most deserving of there care.

And now she was on a mission to protect a child she'd convinced herself had no one else on his side.

"Manny Digarro's terrified, too," Stephen countered. "He's watched his son have one accident after another, and tried to protect him the best he could, while working countless dead-end jobs to keep them off public assistance. Now he's being told that's not good enough. That Dillon doesn't belong with him. I'm here to make sure someone in this hospital listens to my client's side of the story, before a terrible mistake is made."

She sized up his Brooks Brother's suit.

"Where did Manny dig you up," she wanted to know, "if he's struggling so badly?".

"At the legal aid center where he'd heard someone would listen to him, instead of taking one look at his ethnic background and worn-out clothes and figure he was a no-account bastard who beats up on his kid to get his jollies."

Her eyes widened. But instead of biting back, she breathed deeply and squared her shoulders.

"Bait me all you want, Mr. Creighton. But my first clue your client was a no-account bastard came while assessing the damage done to Dillon's body, not Manny's fashion sense. And you've gotten all the details about Dillon's condition that you're going to get from me. Leave, Mr. Creighton, or I'll have security make sure you do."

He stood his ground, soaking in the honesty and integrity rolling off of her. Kate Rhodes wasn't on some blind mission to punish an innocent father for socio-economic circumstances he couldn't control. Instincts that had never let Stephen down screamed that this woman could help his client, if he could only get her to listen.

She headed around him. He grabbed her arm, his mistake instantly obvious. She didn't jerk away from his touch. She cringed. The agitated breathing that she'd brought under professional control just moments before, stopped completely.

Frightened eyes snapped to his face, then dilated, before her gaze flinched away.

"Let me go," begged the woman who'd just verbally handed him his ass. "Please, let me--"
Stephen released her, raising his hands to show he meant no harm, the same way he'd sooth a skittish animal.

She flinched.

"Is everything okay, Kate?" A tall man dressed in blue scrubs, a stethoscope draped around his neck, stepped to her side. He glared at Stephen. "What the hell do you think you're doing!"

Making a mess of things.

"Mr. Creighton was just leaving," Kate answered. "Robert, would you call security to help him find the door?"

"No need." Stephen edged away.

He buried his hands in the pockets of his winter-weight trench coat. His fingers wrapped around the stack of business cards he always carried. Drawing one out, he handed it to the doctor. He studied the beautiful nurse until she looked up at him.

"I'm sorry I upset you. But please, if you change your mind about helping the Digarros, call my cell any time of the day or night."

He walked toward the elevator, cursing the fear and confusion still clouding Kate's eyes. Eyes that seemed incapable of hiding whatever she was feeling. The eyes of someone who would fight just as hard for the patients in her care, as he did for his clients.

Someone he'd have found himself wanting to know better, if he wasn't so certain she was wrong, dead wrong, about the cause of Dillon Degarro's injuries.

And that her mistake could very easily ruin his client's chances of starting a new life in this country.

Winners--what everyone loves to hear ;o)

2007-08-26T20:09:00.000-04:00

Okay, before I do the winners of much blog booty and a little excerpting...

Here's a little something that renews hope that even when I'm losing my mind on deadline, I couldn't possibly be this out of it ;o) It's a video, so turn your sound on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

Just so you'll know--yes, that's what I sound like these days, as I work on the second book in my new series, lol!

Next, the prizes:

To receive a selection of the books from my July 19th post:

Catslady, who posted at 6:30 on 7/19

Cheri J, who posted at 2:03 on the 7/19

To receive one of the RT Conference bags from the 19th post:

Kim W., who posted at 8:21

Everyone, send me your snail mail addresses so I can get the prizes out to you.

I'll pick more winners in the next post ;o). So keep commenting. All comments from the 19th and later are eligible. We'll run out some day, but there's lots to give away for a while...

And let's see, an excerpt... Since Atlanta Heroes is coming in October, beginning with Because of a Boy--tell me what you think of the cover, it's up on the blog and my website...

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

Because of a Boy

Chapter 1

"What do you think you're doing?" Nurse Kate Rhodes asked the stranger standing beside ten-year-old Dillon's hospital bed.

The well-dressed man's hand stalled in the process of handing over a miniature sports car. Deep blue eyes rose from smiling down at the child, their corners squinting as they locked onto Kate's glare. A disarming grin quickly followed.

One she had no trouble resisting.

Her mission as a child had been not falling for her brother's southern charm. It was either that, or be in constant trouble for the mischief Martin could so easily talk her into. Now that she'd achieved the wise age of thirty-two, sophisticated, stuffed shirts brandishing easy smiles didn't rate a raised eyebrow.

"Visitation for minors is limited to immediate family only," she said as the tall, dark-haired man finished handing over the car.

"But, he knows Papa." What had been a withdrawn little boy flashed a megawatt smile.

The bruises mottling Dillon's right cheek and eye refused to allow Kate to celebrate.

His smile lit up the room when his papa was around. The two of them had been inseparable at the homeless shelter where Kate volunteered most of her free time away from the hospital. Dillon's unquestioning love for his only parent was what made this situation even harder to accept.

"Look what I got!" he exclaimed, his flawless English colored by a heavy South American inflection.

At least he was finally talking.

An electric green cast protected the thin arm holding up the plastic Corvette. A severe ankle sprain had been wrapped to stabilize the joint, and elevated to reduce swelling. Injuries resulting, supposedly, from Dillon's latest accidental fall--this time, down the Midtown Shelter's basement stairs.

An accident Manny Digarro had no better explanation for than that his only child was more clumsy than other kids his age. Accident prone. What's a father to do?

"That car rocks, tough guy." She smiled as she walked to the bed.

"It's the one Papa said we couldn't buy when we saw it in the store Monday night."

The same night the little heartbreaker had been rushed to Atlanta Memorial's Emergency--for the third time in two months, Kate had discovered after reading his chart, though this was the first time he'd been admitted to pediatrics.

"The boy's father asked me to bring the toy by." The man's small-talk didn't distract her from his too-observant gaze. "Seems the nurses at the admissions desk are refusing to discuss Dillon's condition when Mr. Digarro calls. He wasn't sure of his welcome if he came himself."

If the hint of judgement in the man's voice weren't enough, the worry clouding Dillon's smile was all the motivation Kate needed.

"I'll speak with you outside, Mr... Mr.?" Her query was polite, but he was leaving.

The man merely smiled.

Was she supposed to swoon or something? Like she hadn't seen dimples and perfectly-straight teeth before!

Screw polite.

She half-dragged him toward the hallway.

"Play with your car for a minute, Dillon," she said over her shoulder.

She kicked at the magnetic device that secured the bottom of the door against the wall. The door wooshed shut behind them. She released the man's arm, stopping short of wiping her hand on her cartoon-covered scrubs.

Just barely.

"You're so out of here." She headed for the nurses' station to page security, picking up her pace when she heard his footsteps behind her. "I don't know who you are, but--"

He edged around her, putting his body between her and the nearest phone, bringing her to a skidding halt.

"I'm Stephen Creighton," he announced. "And I represent the innocent man you're so determined to keep away from that child in there."

The moon then the sun on a fresh new day...

2007-08-23T18:53:00.000-04:00

I know, I know...

It's been like, what...a month?

I'd like to say there have been many adventures and many mountains climbed. Well, one mountain is closer than it was a month ago--the second book in my Atlanta Heroes series is two-thirds done. That's been most of the work part of my blog sabbatical. Yay, Remember Me!!!

Yay, you guys...'cause I have more excerpts to share ;o)

But there's also been family stuff and Georgia Romance Writers board work and promotion and travelling and my son starting middle school--MIDDLE SCHOOL!!! Let's take a moment to pay homage to the frazzled nerves that were lost forever in this transition ;o)

I'm writing like a maniac again each day, close to home so I can nurture and do all things motherly when the big yellow taxi spits my son back out at the curb in the afternoon...so, time to pay up with the giveaways I promised everyone (not to mention the Coach purse that I'll be announcing the winner of in an upcoming newsletter), and lots of fun prep for the October launch of my new series, Atlanta Heroes. Keep a look out. I'll be posting regularly--maybe even daily, lol!

In the mean time, I'm enjoying the summer storm outside my window, while I draft Remember Me and my son works on a creative writing assignment--ah, the growling and complaning from the creative youngster who'd much rather be spinning an algebra problem into an "A + B always = C" solution.

The lightening and thunder swirling make me think of moonbeams and water and trees blowing in the wind, and how the night shifts into morning so smoothly you'll miss it if you're not paying close enough attention.

I think that's what I've been doing most over the last month. Paying closer attention. The kind of attention that's needed sometimes, to get through the tough transitions that could suck you under if you rush too fast to be done with them.

So, slow down, a friend suggested. And I did. Hope you can, too.

You wouldn't want to miss the storms...it's actually better to savor them, I think. Otherwise, how are you going to truly appreciate the sun breaking through the clouds when you're finally through all the dark stuff?

Here's a poem that says things better than I seem to be tonight (tomorrow, come back for giveaways and an excerpt--seriously!):

"A Song of Enchantment" by Walter de la Mare

A song of Enchantment I sang me there,

In a green-green wood, by waters fair,

Just as the words came up to me

I sang it under the wild wood tree.

Widdershins turned I, singing it low,

Watching the wild birds come and go;

No cloud in the deep dark blue to be seen

Under the thick-thatched branches green.

Twilight came: silence came:

The planet of Evening's silver flame;

By darkening paths I wandered through

Thickets trembling with drops of dew.

But the music is lost and the words are gone

Of the song I sang as I sat alone,

Ages and ages have fallen on me-

On the wood and the pool and the elder tree.

Something Fun--To Keep Everyone Smiling

2007-07-25T13:10:00.000-04:00

So you won't think I've forgotten about you--Here are some of the funniest sports pictures I've seen on the Internet. Let me know what you think. Which is your favorite?

Click on the itty bitty link under the picture, the scroll down the website that pops up until you get to the first picture...

http://damncoolpics.blogspot.com/2007/07/funny-moments-in-sports.html

and let us know.

Winners of more goodies to be named by the end of the week, once I figure out which end is up after travelling pretty much non-stop for the last few months... Get it...the wheel's have come off...you know, like I'm putting the pieces back together...digging out of packing and laundry and...you know, not altogether in one piece yet...like, I'm a few wheels short of a full set...look, I'm tired, ok ;o)

Enjoy!

Fortunately...

2007-07-19T11:17:00.000-04:00

...You guys are wonderful readers and friends and don't mind authors going AWOL from time to time as needed.

Yeah, lots going on I won't bore you with, but the travelling and distractions from the writing that have also been putting the no-go on blogging have netted some great times (RWA Nationals was a blast, and I'm off to teach at The University of Georgia this weekend) and a chance to immerse my muse in some fabulous reading.

The times I've been en-route and haven't been able to (read, had the engergy to) power up the laptop were filled with catching up on my favorite authors, and there's lots more new releases to come in August (once the Potter mania has died down). So, to keep you with me (in spirit, even if you can't chill in the airport or hotel with me), I'll be posting reviews from time to time...while I continue to give away great Romantic Times Conference goodies...and, you know, chat about whatever motivational things happen to weigh on my mind while I'm at it, because who doesn't need a high-five every now and then.

So, look for more giveaway pics below, the names of some new winners (congrats and send me your snail mail addies and give me a week to pony express your prizes to you)...but first...fortunately...

I received The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes (http://www.unfortunatemissfortunes.com/homepage.php) in the mail a few weeks back--Jenni Crusie was asking for active bloggers who'd like to review her latest collaboration and I was lucky enough to be one of the 100 or so sites picked.

Reading any of my excerpts, you might guess that romantic comedy isn't the innate gift that fuels my creativity. I try not to depress folks too much, and there's alwas a touch of smart ass in what I do...but I'm an angsty girl at heart and while I make it work, you might want to have a few tissues handy when you read my stories... that said, my hat's off to authors who have the wit and intelligence and vision to tell emotionally compelling, accessable stories while making the reader laugh her ass off at the same time.

And let me just say...the Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dreyer and Anne Stuart collab accomplishes this and then some. This won't be a "spoiler" review, because I want to you head out today--sprint, actually--to your nearest bookbuying place and snag your own copy. Consider this a "reading this will fix whatever ails ya' " review. Because the three separate but intertwined stories that make up this collaboration are, as the cover suggests, magical.

Open the book to any page, do it, and you'll immediately fall into the light and energy these authors spun into their characters--three magical sisters who can't control their powers or their hearts or the men their future happiness depends on. Dee (Dryer), Lizzie (Stuart) and Mare (Crusie) are independent, loyal and quirky young women whose misfiring powers are becoming too obvious to hide, even in the all things paranormal-friendly town of Salem's Fork. Throw in an evil Aunt, Xan (Crusie, also, I suspect) , who want's to strip them of their powers and isn't above using the men of the sisters' dreams to get the job done, and you can imagine how quickly The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes takes off and leaves you breathless with all you want to know.

The first few scenes knock you off balance (intentionally, I suspect, because the sisters' magical dilemmas are like nothing you and I could imagine) as you try to absorb the images and backstory being sprinkled in from three different points of view. You might find yourself backtracking a bit to be sure you've caught everything. But you won't mind, not really, not when Dryer's painting a delightful image of what it must be like to transform into an owl and be hovering on top of a wardrobe lusting after the hunky guy below while you hope against hope that you don't shift back to human form (possibly in the guise of the guy's naked mother, which is what you tend to turn into every time the sexual tensions heats up with any man) before you get a chance to fly away--seriously, not kidding, and somehow she makes it work...one of the funniest scenes in the book...

The action and comedy and hot relationships surrounding the sisters' fight to keep their secrets, their powers, and eventually their men are reason enough to buy this book and reread it until you catch every nuance. But do it for another reason--these are master storytellers who know how to play your emotions and show you what you're capable of feeling if you were in these characters' shoes. This is at its heart a story of three sisters trying to find themselves and still hold on to the only family they have left. Endearing. Real. These women fight for each other. They're the kind of people we'd like to be, and their committment to one another is the true magic that holds their intertwining stories together.

I suspect the authors bonded quite deeply as they wrote and rewrote and rewrote the countless times it must have taken to pull a project like this off. Boggles the mind how they managed to so seemlessly knit their work together into a cohesive story. But they stuck together and fortunately made it work--don't miss your chance to see just how fabulous a job they did. Now go buy the book--do it!!!

Oh, and I'm tagging fellow author and Crusie fan Tanya Micahels (another goddess at writing comedy that touches your soul while tickling your funny bone)--check out her blog, where she'll be posting her own review any day now: http://www.tanyamichaels.blogspot.com/

Okay--'nough of the raving about my latest read...

Winners from the comments left for the last post:

Flip--who posted at 4:59 pm and

Lifeasamama--who posted at 8:18 am

Send me your snail mail addies, folks--RT goodies coming your way!!!!

What about the rest of the stuff, you ask??? There were great tote bags from TOR at this year's conference (I snagged several for you guys) and the ususal book giveaways you drool over at every RT...gotta get rid of all of it...any takers out there??? Leave a comment to be in the drawing (there's lots o' stuff, including the goodies in the last post's pics, so don't give up)--if blogger won't let you log in (grrrr), leave your thoughts anon with your name in the post.

Later!!! ;o)