Category: Books & Authors

Marin Thomas Guest Blogs Tomorrow!

Yes, I’ll return to posting about Peru. Look for a new Peru post this Wednesday. But, first, let me entice you to visit tomorrow and meet my pal, Harlequin American Romance author Marin Thomas. Marin is blogging about the Harlequin American Romance line and how it differs from other “home and hearth” category lines at Harlequin/Silhouette. Here’s your chance to pick the brain of a successful American Romance author—whether you’re a writer or a reader. Marin would love to hear from both!

Every person who leaves a comment at Marin’s blog tomorrow will enter to win a copy of her latest American Romance, DEXTER: HONORABLE COWBOY. Please leave your comment on tomorrow’s post to enter. If you’re reading this post through a feed at Goodreads, Facebook or another social network, please note that you need to visit www.museinterrupted.com to enter.

Without further ado…!

About DEXTER: HONORABLE COWBOY

The Codys: First Family of Rodeo Mini-Series

For This Cowboy, Family Comes First

Josie Charles was back in town, and Dexter Cody desired her as much as ever. She was his twin brother’s girl, but it was hard to act honorable when all he wanted was to stake his claim on the woman and her boy. Sooner or later, his brother was going to step up and do the right thing. And when that time came, would Dexter be able to step aside and lose Josie all over again?

No way was Josie losing her heart to the sexy-as-all-get-out rancher. The last thing the single mother needed was another Cody messing with her life. But her high school pal had sure grown into one fine-looking cowboy. Caring. Hardworking. Responsible. Exactly the kind of man she’d want to be a father to her son.

Which one is the right brother? Looks as if there’s going to be a showdown…

About Marin:

Marin grew up in the Midwest town of Janesville, Wisconsin. She attended the University of Arizona in Tucson on a Division l basketball scholarship. In 1986 she graduated with a B.A. in radio-television and married her college sweetheart in a five-minute ceremony in Las Vegas.  Marin was inducted in May 2005 into the Janesville Sports Hall of Fame for her basketball accomplishments.

Even though she now calls Chicago home, she’s a living testament to the old adage “You can take the girl out of the small town but you can’t take the small town out of the girl.” Marin’s heart still lies in small-town life, which she loves to write about in her books.

To learn more about Marin and her books, please visit her website.

See you tomorrow!

Susan Gable Guest Blogs Tomorrow!

I’ll return to posting about my Peru trip on Wednesday. Today and tomorrow are devoted to RITA-nominated Harlequin Superromance author Susan Gable. It’s been awhile since I hosted a guest blogger, so please drop by and make Susan feel welcome. Susan’s blogging about contest judging, providing a judge’s perspective on those comments that might leave a writer shaking her head in confusion. Susan’s also giving away a copy of her July Superromance, THE FAMILY PLAN. THE FAMILY PLAN is available now on eHarlequin and in bookstores July 13th.

Anyone who posts to the Comment trail tomorrow, Tuesday, June 29th, will enter to win the drawing for Susan’s book. Please note if you’re reading this on Facebook or another social network, only comments entered at www.museinterrupted.com are eligible for the draw.

About THE FAMILY PLAN:

Dr. Amelia Young has meticulously organized her family plan. Wonderful daughter? Done. Man? Unnecessary. All Amelia has ever needed is carefully selected DNA. So what if the donor turns out to be a ridiculously hot chef with a distracting butt and wicked smile? That only proves she had good taste in genes.

Anonymously donating his DNA at a clinic when he was a student is one thing. A strange woman at his door requesting a second deposit is quite another. But when Finn Hawkins realizes Amelia needs another child to save her first—his first—he relents. And when that first kid turns up on his doorstep a few months later, he’s in this family deep!

About Susan:

Susan Gable has sold seven books to Harlequin’s Superromance line. Her books have been Rita and Golden Heart Finalists, she’s been a Waldenbooks Bestseller, been three times nominated for Romantic Time’s Best Superromance of the Year, and she’s won numerous other awards, including the National Readers’ Choice Award. Her new book, THE FAMILY PLAN, got 4.5 Stars from RT. It hits shelves on July 13th, and is a savior sibling story – the story of a mom who will do just about to save her child’s life. In the process she learns that depending on others makes you stronger, not weaker. To read the first chapter, visit Susan’s website: www.SusanGable.com

Gabi Stevens Guest Blogs Tomorrow!

Paranormal romance author Gabi Stevens visits the blog tomorrow. Gabi’s blogging about The Top Ten Writing Tips I Learned From My Students, and is giving away a copy of THE WISH LIST (May, 2010, Tor Books), the first book in her new trilogy.

About THE WISH LIST:

Kristin Montgomery is more than a little shocked when her aunts inform her they’re fairy godmothers. Worse, after dropping that bombshell they hand her a wand and head off on a world cruise. Now Kristin’s uncomplicated life as a CPA in San Diego has disappeared like magic and she not only has to deal with her burgeoning magical powers, but also a reluctant—and distractingly sexy—magical arbiter.

Tennyson Ritter is a historian. A scholar by choice, he is yanked from his studies to act as arbiter for the newly chosen fairy godmother. He doesn’t want to waste his time with a woman who doesn’t know anything about magic or the magical world, but soon the beguiling Kristin draws him away from his books and into her life.

But before Kristin can hone her skills and pass the tests necessary to fully claim her powers, she and Tennyson must work together to defend the world—both magical and human—against those that would claim her powers for their own.

About Gabi:

Gabi Stevens was born in SoCal to Hungarian parents. After spending time in boarding school, college, and studying abroad, she’s still in the classroom trying to teach eighth graders the joys of literature. An award winning author, Gabi now writes in New Mexico where she lives with her robotics engineer husband, three daughters, and a neurotic dog. She loves to play games, has a wicked addiction to reading, avoids housework and cooking, and doesn’t travel nearly as much as she would like to.

Her latest book is THE WISH LIST, from Tor Books, May 2010. It is the first book in a three book trilogy. You can reach her at PO Box 20958, Albuquerque, NM 87154-0958 or through her web site at www.GabiStevens.com.

Men With Fangs

By Alexis Morgan

I have something to confess.You know, just between you and me. Here goes: I seriously love a man who has fangs and knows how to use them. This  isn’t a new thing for me, either. I’ve loved vampire stories since I was a teenager watching Dark Shadows while I worked at my summer job. Barnabas Collins. After all these years, he still gives me chills—the good kind. 

The next vampire I remember stealing a piece of my heart was Don Ysidro from Barbara Hambly’s Those Who Hunt the Night. He wasn’t the hero in the book, but he sure dominated the story for me. He’d almost forgotten what it had meant to be human, but over the course of the book he rediscovers his code of honor. When the story ended, I worried about him, wanted to know how he did. It was years before she wrote the sequel, but I was so glad she did.

Then there was Andre Le Brel, the sexy vampire in Mercedes Lackey’s Diana Tregarde series. We first met him in The Children of the Night when his and Diana Tregarde are both hunting for the same villain and team up. Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve read those stories. I’ll have to dig out my copies and remind myself why I’ve kept them all these years.

I’ve loved watching the vampire evolve over the years from pure evil to heroic. Granted, in some stories, they are still the bad guys, but they don’t always stay that way. Spike, anyone? But part of what I love about vampire stories is all the amazing ways writers have taken the basic mythology and tweaked it to make it their own. I love Stefan in Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson’s series. He’s a soldier with a soldier’s honor and sense of duty. Works for me. Then there’s Zsadist in JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. His story left me absolutely stunned. My list of favorites could go on and on.

Which brings me to VAMPIRE VENDETTA, my first full-length vampire book. I had such fun creating my own version of what it means to be vampire. In my world, there are pureblooded vampires, hybrids called chancellors, and then the humans. The hybrids are sometimes looked down by both humans and vampires, but actually the chancellors are the strongest of the three. They have the strength of vampires but none of the limitations. They can move freely in the sunlight and don’t need blood to live. 

Oh, and they have those fangs. Works for me. Back in November, I did a Nocturne Bite starring Ambrose O’Brien, the head Chancellor to give readers a taste of my new series. Now, In VAMPIRE VENDETTA, Seamus Fitzhugh is a pureblood vampire on a mission to avenge his family honor only love with a hybrid chancellor gets in the way. I love a wounded soul hero who at long last finds something—or someone—that makes him remember what happiness feels like.

So if you’re a fan of the fang, who was your first? Who’s your  favorite? I’d love to know.

***

Leave a comment or question for Alexis to enter to win VAMPIRE VENDETTA. If you’re reading this post through a feed on Facebook, Goodreads, or another social network, please visit the comment trail at www.museinterrupted.com to be eligible for the draw.

To read Alexis’s bio and the cover blurb for VAMPIRE VENDETTA, see yesterday’s post. To learn more about Alexis and her books, check out her website at www.alexismorgan.com.

Alexis Morgan Guest Blogs Tomorrow!

Paranormal romance author Alexis Morgan visits Muse Interrupted tomorrow! Alexis is blogging about “Men with Fangs” and will give away a copy of her May 2010 Silhouette Nocture, VAMPIRE VENDETTA.

About VAMPIRE VENDETTA:

Hell hath no fury like a passion-hungry vampire bent on justice in Alexis Morgan’s sexy new saga.

As the lone survivor of his vampire clan, Seamus Fitzhugh lives only for revenge. And now that he’s infiltrated the compound of his enemy his chance has come…until he rescues a stunning hybrid from certain death. Megan Perez is a woman on the run from her own demons, and she’s a distraction that could cost them both their lives. But the passion that burns between them is too hot to ignore, and not even the threat of danger can keep them apart. 

Now their fates are intertwined—for better or worse—as they risk everything to experience the ultimate sensual release as evil closes in all around them. Seamus must weigh how far he will go in the pursuit of vengeance…or love.

About Alexis:

Alexis Morgan grew up near St. Louis and received a B.A. in English from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She and her husband have made the Pacific Northwest their home for more than thirty years, where she launched her career as a writer. She is published in contemporary romance, American West historicals, and currently writes paranormal romances for Pocket Star and Silhouette Nocturne.

To learn more about Alexis and her books, please visit her website.

Got A Mad-On For Nicholas Sparks?

For every romance writer who currently has a mad-on for Nicholas Sparks because of his perceived arrogance, here’s a link to funny instructions on How to Write a Nicholas Sparks Movie on cracked.com. First, read this quote from The News-Herald Blogs, and then read the funny instructions. Well, I think they’re funny.

Quote from News-Herald Blogs:

“I don’t write romance novels.” His preferred terminology: “Love stories — it’s a very different genre … (Romances) are all essentially the same story: You’ve got a woman, she’s down on her luck, she meets the handsome stranger who falls desperately in love with her, but he’s got these quirks, she must change him, and they have their conflicts, and then they end up happily ever after.”

Mr. Sparks says he doesn’t write romance novels. I’ve never read one of his novels, but I have watched a couple of movie versions, and he’s right. He doesn’t write romance novels. He does write “love stories.” There’s no guarantee that a love story will end happily. Love Story didn’t. Bridges of Madison County didn’t. And neither do Nicholas Sparks’s novels.

Romance novels do end happily.

Wouldn’t it be nice if some “love stories” did? Otherwise, the love stories just get predicable. Don’t they?

Whether Mr. Sparks writes formulaic fiction is something I can’t address with any degree of authority…because I haven’t read his books. I have to admit, though, that having at least one character die at the end of the movie version of every story a writer pens does sound somewhat formulaic to moi.

The article on cracked.com points out several other “essentially the same story”isms. If you need a laugh, check it out.

So, why do you think Nicholas Sparks books get made into movies while the vast, vast, vast majority of romance novels don’t? Is it because people die in his books, so they aren’t “formulaic”? Is it because leaving the audience crying throughout a movie version of one of your books is cathartic for them? Is it because he’s a man writing books mainly intended for a female audience, instead of being a woman writing books mainly intended for a female audience?

I rather think it’s the latter. But then I’m jaded.