Irene M,

You’ve won a copy of Victoria Alexander’s novel, “A Little Bit Wicked.”

Please contact me through my website, www.cindykirk.com and I’ll put the book in the mail to you!

Victoria,

Thanks for joining us this weekend! It’s always fun when you drop by.

The Quills are very happy to welcome back NYT Best Selling Author, Victoria Alexander!!

(Everyone who comments on her post will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of her book, A Little Bit Wicked. The winner will be announced Sunday evening)

Just about a month ago I was honored to be the keynote speaker at the Romance Writers of America annual conference in San Francisco. Let me tell you—the conference was great and San Francisco is amazing. I had a fabulous time.

One of the things I talked about was—whether you’re a writer or a reader—not apologizing for your literary tastes or for where you get your literary inspiration.

I love Jane Austen’s stories and the way she looked at her world. I love Mark Twain and I think the Diaries of Adam and Eve is one of the most romantic, funniest, charming stories ever written with an ending that just touches your heart. If you have never read this—go, now, read it! I think the last few pages of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is the best ending ever written. It brings me to tears every time I read it. I think I’ve read the entire book maybe once but I’ve read the ending dozens of times. wm So, in terms of literary inspiration, I would love to say Jane Austen or Charles Dickreaens or Mark Twain but I can’t. The influence on my own story telling is grounded firmly in the 20th century, and very much in the 1960′s.

Several years ago, I came face to face with the 60′s and my writing roots while cleaning out a closet. I ran across a stack of comic books originally published in the early 60′s. I had started collecting them again as an adult—whenever I’d run across one I’d buy it.

These were comics I had bought as a child. These were old friends. I knew these stories by heart. Because these weren’t just any old comics. These were Lois Lane comics.

Lois Lane. Girl reporter. Superman’s girlfriend.

I loved Lois Lane. And I’ll confess to you, I was a Lois Lane addict. I knew what day the new comics arrived at the drug store that was a mere five minutes from my house in Stillwater, Oklahoma. For twelve cents I could be swept away to an entirely different world peopled with superheroes and practically unbeatable villains and best of all—a heroine worthy of the name heroine.

In an era in which women were only beginning to look at the world of working outside the home, Lois Lane had not merely a job but a career. She was brave, if somewhat impulsive, intelligent if not always as practical as she should have been, dedicated, honorable and she never had a bad hair day that wasn’t fixed on the next page.

And she was hopelessly in love with a hero too noble to surrender to his own feelings about her and thereby put her life in danger because, of course, evil doers would try to get back at him through her. In addition, her hero, our hero, Superman, was extremely well drawn.

Lois Lane had a profound impact on my writing and probably my life. When I look at the heroines I create today, regardless of what time period they may be set in, I see the influence of Lois Lane. I see her impulsiveness and her imperfections and I also see her courage and strength and sense of honor. And willingness to sacrifice her own happiness and sometimes her very life for the good of the man she loved or even to save the world.

I see Lois Lane in the heroine of my new book—Seduction of a Proper Gentleman.

Kathleen MacDavid is willing to sacrifice, to do whatever it takes including marry a man she’s never met to save her family from a centuries old curse. A curse she had always considered herself way too practical and sensible to believe in.

Seduction is the last of the Last Man Standing books. I’ve never actually brought a series to a close before—I truly think I will write the Efffington stories forever—and I find I’m feeling a little mushy about it. Oliver Leighton, the hero of Seduction has been with me for 6 books now and it’s strangely hard to say goodbye. I know he’s just fictional still…

Apparently, I am not as stalwart, as self-sacrificing, as tough a heroine as Lois Lane. Go figure.

Oliver Leighton, Lois Lane, Sydney Carton, Elizabeth Bennet, Adam and Eve—all characters that have affected my life in some way and will stay with me forever.

So who are those characters that still live in your heart?

Behind every book, there is a story.  And needless to say, behind my upcoming debut, MISTRESS OF PLEASURE, which centers around a school that educates men on the topic of love and seduction, there are several.  Because I don’t want to write a book about THE book, I’ve decided to elaborate as simply as I can about the inspiration behind the creation of MISTRESS OF PLEASURE.  That inspiration first coming from my research, when I stumbled upon Ninon de L’Enclos, a French 17th century courtesan.  Truth be told, I find it rather astounding that this fascinating woman somehow disappeared into the shadows of history.  She is but a ghost whenever the topic of courtesans arise.  For we usually hear of the same old, same old courtesans like Kitty Fisher, Cora Pearl or Harriette Wilson.  Let me be the first to tell you, however, that none of these women could possibly rival Ninon de L’Enclos or her life.  But don’t take my word for it.  Research her on your own and come to your conclusion.  Bottom line, Ninon’s thoughts, philosophies, and her approach toward men and sex went beyond anything I have ever seen in a woman of her day.  Much like other courtesans, she kept her bedroom door open to aristocratic men, yes.  But unlike other courtesans, she kept that bedroom door open for more than just sex.  This woman actually held meetings and classes in the confines of her bedchamber where men of all ages would come to visit in order to discuss topics of sex, philosphy and love.  These so-called meetings fascinated me and in turn, began to create the growing threads of what is now Mistress of Pleasure.  The more I researched, the more excited I became.  For there was almost too much to work with.  For instance, Ninon had various lovers, as you might imagine.  But to one lover in particular, she birthed a son.  A son who was raised apart from her to never know who she was due to her being a courtesan.  Then one day, when her son was a grown man, he happened to one day meet Ninon.  And fell madly in love with her.  (And no, I’m not bloody making this up…).  Though she had sworn to never reveal her identity to her son, because his advances were growing more and more passionate and he altogether outright refused to leave her be, she finally told him the truth.  That she was in fact his mother and that was why there would never be a sexual relationship between them.  Her son was so overwhelmed and distraught by the confession, that he left her house and committed suicide by falling onto the blade of his own sword.  Another story, somewhat less morbid, was about one man who begged and begged Ninon to admit him into her bed.  She refused him time and time again and finally told him, “Return when I am eighty.  Then I shall bed you.”  The besotted fool took her words quite literally and arrived on her doorstep many, many years late, when she turned eighty.  Ninon was so amused, she ended up bedding him, after all.  As you can tell by the stories I am selecting, it is the older Ninon that ultimately fascinated me.  Which created a dilemma for my writing.  Because my heroine couldn’t possibly be an elderly lady.  It would never sell.  But then I got to thinking.  What if she were a grandmother of the heroine?  Now THAT had possibilities.  At about the same time I started writing AN IMPROPER EDUCATION (which is what I called it before the publisher changed it), MY grandmother re-appeared in my life.  After 20 years of complete and utter silence.  Which is a whole other story I don’t have time to go into…  Soon, I discovered that the grandmother I never knew was actually an opera singer who had married into American Aristocracy and was living the life of a queen.  My grandmother had an air of royalty to her and was quite beautiful for a woman her age.  She had a heavy accent, walked with a sashay and always used amusing little words that I’d never heard before.  For instance, she referred to sex as “Poom-poom.”  She amused me so much so, that I could not help but morph her and Ninon together to create the fictional character that ultimately became Madame de Maitenon, who is both the creator of the School of Gallantry and the grandmother of my heroine, Maybelle de Maitenon.  And so, I ended up with a story about a retired French courtesan who opens up a school that educates men on the topic of love and seduction, and the granddaughter who is unexpectedly forced to take over the operation of the school and educate all the men.  Even though she has very little personal experience.  Life certainly makes for some interesting fiction.  And I have to say, I’m glad for it.  At least in the case of this book.

Cheers,

Delilah Marvelle

www.DelilahMarvelle.com

Hello! Thanks so much to the ladies of the Jaunty Quills for inviting me to blog. As you can guess, I’m here to talk about my new book, writing, and anything else you’re interested in! I see they had me listed as Gayle Callen, but since my newest release, SECRETS OF THE KNIGHT, was written as my pen name, Julia Latham, you can call me Julia, too!

I thought I’d write about the first book that turned me into a romance reader—and an eventual romance writer. I used to read a lot of science fiction and fantasy when I was younger. And then when I was 15 and attending a slumber party, a friend brought a copy of Kathleen Woodiwiss’s SHANNA. The cover blew me away—Ruark sitting on a tree stump, his back to us, his face buried in Shanna’s neck as she’s draped over him, gorgeous tropical flowers all around. Everyone else went to sleep, and I stayed up all night and read that book. And I was hooked. Shanna was a bad girl, no doubt about it, and needed to grow up and be tamed. Ruark was the noble hero, done wrong by her and by a villain—but do I even dwell on the villain plot? No. It was the romance that swept me away, how she could deny her attraction for him, yet still be seduced by him. Who wouldn’t be seduced by him? He’s still my favorite hero. And when Shanna was forced to play his mistress on the pirate island! Loved that. I can quote you lines of dialogue, because I’ve surely read it 40 times. It’s not the same kind of book as those being written today. Kathleen has a very poetic style that isn’t in fashion now. But SHANNA is the book that brought me to this wonderful world of romance.

Of course I had to read her backlist. THE WOLF AND THE DOVE was the first medieval romance I ever read, and I LOVED the era. No wonder my first six published books were medievals. I’ve really enjoyed returning to the era now that I’m also writing as Julia Latham. There’s something about knights in armor, swords, and castles. In SECRETS OF THE KNIGHT, my newest heroine, Diana, is a swordswoman, and she’s the one with all the power when she imprisons the hero in her dungeon. Now that was fun to write…..

What was the first romance you ever read, and why did you love it?

I think I told everyone a few months ago that my little sister was off to Africa to save the world. She’s been working for the UN in Ethiopia since June, and a few weeks ago, I got a call from the person who had adopted her cat, Pounce.

I suppose you can guess what the call was about: Pounce’s adoptive parent didn’t want him anymore. He didn’t get along with their cats. He doesn’t get along with my cats either, but what could I say? Pounce was about to be homeless.

So I brought Pounce to my house, but since he doesn’t get along with my cats, I decided he would have to live outside. This cat is 14, has no claws, and has never lived outside. So it wouldn’t be right for me to dump him in the backyard. I decided to let him live in the garage at night and on our patio in the day time. It gets too hot during the day for him to stay in the garage (even with 3 fans).

But since I wanted him to be safe and protected on the patio, I decided to buy him an enclosure. That way he can be outside and watch the birds and squirrels, but he can’t wander away or get hurt by all the traffic.

Here’s the enclosure I bought (actually my sister bought it). Needless to say, it was a little pricey.

Since Pounce likes to hide, I put towels on the side and a soft mat under one of the ledges. Then, a few days after Pounce arrived, he started losing some of the hair on his head. The vet said it was ringworm, but I think it was stress. Here’s a picture of Pounce in his enclosure. If you look closely, you can see the bald patches. They’ve just about grown back now.

It’s a lot of work taking care of 3 cats, especially when one has to move locations all the time, so I was so glad when my mom—who has no cats—offered to take Pounce when she gets back from vacation in mid-September.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever bought for your pet?

. . . whose new book, Passion and Pleasure in London, is out today!

The Dark and Dangerous Bad Boy Hero. Why We Love Them.

>
When I first began writing Passion and Pleasure in London, (AVON August 26, 2008) I began with a hero that had been a minor character in the previous two books in my Charmed and Dangerous series. Every time Rory Jameson appeared in a scene in those first two books, I could feel the power of this character. In addition to being hot, he cried out for his own book—demanded his own story—in that arrogant way of his that told me he needed a heroine who could teach him a thing or two about compassion and love. (Yes, my characters do talk to me. Yes, people like me were once committed to Bedlam or burned at the stake for hearing voices in their heads). But all of that aside, there is just something too irresistible about a tall, dark, and handsome bad boy hero.

Rory Jameson is a character formed by his past. The son of a disinherited future marquess, and granddaughter of a Gypsy and a Scottish duke, he has few regrets in life. As a surviving member of an elite group of men who work for the crown in various functions, he has performed the duties required of him. He follows orders well and, in this way, he has separated himself from the distasteful business of his world. His actions have been both heroic and non-heroic. I have always believed that a hero can be as bad as you can make him and still be loved if he possesses the basic quality of nobility. This one ingredient creates the endearing, memorable essence of a bad boy character, and is always the reason why the heroine will fall in love with him. Though the heroine may not at first recognize her reasons, as is the case with Winter Ashburn, in Passion and Pleasure in London, they always succumb. In Passion and Pleasure, Rory no longer just plays a hero; he becomes one to a town in need of a hero and to a heroine who would dare to love him. Transforming him from a man who thinks he needs no one to someone very much in need.

What makes a bad boy a great hero then? To further explore this, I ran a poll of sorts over on the AVON board and received back some interesting comments. For DanaAnn, one of her all time favorite “Bad Boys” is Sebastian St. Vincent from The Devil in Winter (Lisa Kleypas). “He is beautiful, charming and no matter what an a** he is, you can’t help but want to like him,” she says.

Historical Goddess replied, “Bad boys are like rare fine foods and they call to you to indulge to your hearts delight and content. They also hold all their secrets close so they make themselves a mystery to women. My all time favourite hero is Sebastian Duke of St. Ives in A Promise in a Kiss by Stephanie Laurens.”

Tal believes we like those historical bad boys and all the brooding, tall, dark, bad boys because “we all want to be taken care of, and you know those guys will do it.”

For LimaGal: Michael Edward Halboro, better known as “Saint” as in Marquis of St. Aubyn, in Suzie E’s London’s Perfect Scoundrel is her perfect bad boy hero. “I can’t think of any bad boy who even comes close to him and his wicked suggestions to Evie. He was honest, at least!”

Manuelita agrees! “St. Aubyn is the first character I always think of whenever bad boys are mentioned. I think most times bad boys are hurting because of events from their past, so they are “bad” to hide their pain. We know that all he needs is just the right woman to help ease those pains.”

For Kieta2006, she finds them “dark and sexy.”

For me, I find the dark and dangerous type the only hero I truly love to write. The hero that comes to my mind when I think of the ultimate bad boy—well two actually—comes from the heart and mind of one of my favorite authors, Penelope Williamson. Her hero, Johnny Cain, in Outsider, was the ultimate bad boy, a killer tamed by love and the faith of the heroine. Then there is McCady Trelawny in Once in a Blue Moon. McCady is the ultimate scoundrel who believes in nothing until the heroine enters his life. His true character is defined exclusively by the motivations behind his actions toward the heroine in that book, so no matter what he does, or how badly he behaves, we still love him because inside he is vulnerable and in need of love to save him.

As a historical romance reader and writer this makes the ultimate emotionally satisfying story for me to both read and write. And because I am always interested in hearing what makes the ultimate hero for a reader, I would love to read your opinion on this topic. Who are your favorite bad boy heroes and the authors who create those memorable keeper books for your shelves? Then check out mywebsite and enter my contest to win books from my Charmed and Dangerous series. Happy reading!!!

I’m a pretty competent cook. Not amazing. Not stupendous. But competent—I get food on the table and sometimes it’s damn good. I rarely have the complete and total misfire.

Rarely, but not never. Last night was one of those occasions.

It was a combination of things really. Poor planning, bad timing and surfeit of Walkerswood Jamacian Jerk seasoning.

With nothing else planned for dinner, I decided at the last minute to use up the plantains  and make jerk chicken and sweet fried plantains. Since I didn’t have long to marinate the chicken, I tossed in a couple extra tablespoons of rub, to make sure chicken had some nice flavor to it.

Let me mention that I’ve used Walkerswood before with great results. Last night’s disaster was strictly a matter of user error.

The sign something had gone wrong was about five minutes into cooking time. I’d heated up my trusty cast iron skillet, added in a little oil, tossed in the chicken. Things seemed fine at first. Then the chicken started to smoke. By then I was frying the plantains and didn’t get the vent on quickly enough. Pretty soon the kitchen was filled with smoke.

And this was not just any smoke.  This was strip-the-tissue-from-your-sinuses smoke.

Remember back during the first Gulf War when soldiers thought they’d been exposed to some horrible new form of chemical warfare? Yeah, I’m pretty sure this is what they used.

Remarkably, once the smoke cleared—literally—the food itself wasn’t that bad. The plantains burned, because, well, I didn’t have time to evacuate my family to safety and get them out of the pan. They ended up looking about as charred as my nasal cavity felt.

As I was cleaning up the kitchen, I put the jar of jerk rub away. That’s when I noticed the second ingredient was Scotch Bonnet Peppers. And yes, that’s one of the hottest peppers. Guess I should have noticed that before I drenched my chicken in it, huh? 

With gas prices up at the pump, milk and other grocery prices through the roof, I’m proud to say I’m doing my part to be frugal. Here’s some ways I’m trying to save:

1. Turn the air conditioner up to 80 during the day when we’re at work.
2. Shut the shades/blinds during the day while we’re gone to keep the sun out.
3. Try to plan my trips in the car so I don’t just dry aimlessly around.
4. Eat at home more often…and actually eat those leftovers
5. Pay bills online to save money on stamps.
6. Change my home phone to only allow incoming calls.
7. Buy more store brands at the grocery store.

What about you? Have you noticed how everything is going up?

What are YOU doing to save money???

Recently in an interview gold medal record holder Michael Phelps was quoted as saying, “I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and put the work and time into it.” And when you watch the Olympics, you can clearly see the talent and drive from all of those athletes – the winners and the losers. So much tenacity, it makes you believe that anything you put your mind to you can accomplish.

If you’re an aspiring author and a member of Romance Writers of America, you’ve probably heard something similar. Something like, the only way you won’t sell is if you quit. It sounds nice, but in reality it’s simply not true. And neither is what Phelps says. At least not completely. I mean could anyone become a truly great swimmer just by working hard at it? I’m fairly certain no matter how much time I spend in a pool, I’ll never be able to even swim laps (did I mention I never had swimming lessons?)

The same is true about writing. There are over 9000 members in RWA and only about a quarter are published. When I heard what Phelps said it did remind me of a conversation I had at RWA’s conference this year with another published author – we talked about how RWA preaches that mentality that anyone can sell and yet statistically speaking so few actually do and even fewer who sell continue to sell. The realities are grim. The market is ever tightening, the shelf space decreasing, let’s face it, publishing is stinking hard to break into. And then there’s the whole bit about talent. That’s a big part of the whole scenario – yes, you have to be determined and you have to hone your craft and you have to learn the business, all of that is important, but without talent, where does that leave you?

Okay so why am I Miss Mary Sunshine today? I don’t say all of this to frustrate anyone or make it seem like your dreams are futile. Quite the opposite actually. I think we need optimism and hopefulness and faith in dreams that just might not come true because for some the unthinkable happens and that dream is seen to fruition. Had I not joined RWA and heard the message of “don’t quit” I might have given up when the road got particularly challenging. We need to think about the possibilities, when we’re questioning so much – our own abilities, our dedication – we need people around us telling us we can make it, that the dream is within grasp. Let’s face it, no one makes you sit down at your computer and write when you’re unpublished, you have no deadlines, no contractual duty to do it, yet so many sit down every day and pour out their stories on the page. Will they all sell? Probably not. But some of them will. And what if that someone is you?

Think back to the Olympics – those athletes are the best of the best and yet there are still really stellar athletes left in their home countries that didn’t qualify. And then there are those who don’t medal, yet they also do a bang-up job. I mean think about the times in the swimming races, those who came in last were often mere seconds behind those who won. Aren’t they still winners to some extent? They made it to the Olympics for Pete’s sake!

So what about writers and those who won’t sell? Well, I think many who aren’t really cut out for this life will eventually quit, they’ll decide they don’t want it that badly or they find something else they love more than telling stories. But for those of you out there who are still struggling, those who have been struggling for years and you continue writing book after book and all that’s happened is an ever growing file of rejection letters, I say to you – don’t give up, keep writing, keep honing, keep focusing on the writing and remember everyday why you do this, why you love stories. Someday your phone just might ring and on the other end will be an editor with an offer for your masterpiece. Because someone has to write the books in the stores, why not you? All you have to do is not quit.

We had guests staying with us last weekend (very awesome) and after a dinner at a local joint we were walking back and talking about dessert when my friend said something about ice cream and Magic Shell.

I think the cogs in my brain stopped for a second before creaking back into rusty gear.

Magic Shell? Ohmigod. I hadn’t eaten Magic Shell in years. That sounded…that sounded…delicious.

Luckily the grocery store was on the way, so we stopped in, ran to the freezer section, grabbed some vanilla ice cream and then reached for the Magic Shell shelf…only to find no regular chocolatey Magic Shell anywhere. The horror. There was Caramel Magic Shell, Smores Magic Shell, Turtle Magic Shell…but no Chocolate.

We paced around a bit, looked in the back of every shelf, pushed aside every container, but it was a no go. What were we to do? We could get another type of Magic Shell, or…we could get a competitor’s brand. *gasp* Deep breaths were taken. There was a Chocolate Hershey’s Shell and Reese’s Peanut Butter Shell that made the group’s fingers itch the most. So we did a blind pick, ended up with the Hershey’s Shell – and a bit of apprehension – and headed home.

The ice cream was scooped. The bottle was run under warm water and shaken well. The chocolate was poured. The spoons were poised… Would this be as good as I remembered it? Would the Hershey’s even live up to the Shell reputation?

One way to find out. A dip of the spoon, crackle of shell, and…bliss. YES! A childhood favorite sated. Delish!

There is just something completely awesome about discovering that an old childhood favorite lives up to the good memories. And when we finished the bottle of Hershey’s (man, with the spout on those things, it doesn’t take long to pour it all out!), I went back to the store and picked up the Magic Shell in its original incarnation. Yup. Still good. I’ll eat either of them, if you serve one to me. Now just to get through all the rest of the flavors…

Are there any favorite childhood foods that you have recently rediscovered? Or do you have a Magic Shell fetish too? Excuse me while I go to the kitchen. What? No, I’m not going for more chocolatey goodness. I swear.