In honor of our new president, I thought I’d ask one of my favorite questions. If you were voting for president and the only choices on the ballot were movie presidents, how would you vote? 

Here’s what the ballot would look like:

 Jeff Bridges in The Contender

He’s quirky and honorable. Everybody loves his quest to find something the White House chef can’t prepare. And in the end, he does the right thing. Who can resist a guy like that?

Kevin Kline in Dave

He’s just one of my favorite characters in one of my favorite movies. He’s smart. He’s funny. He has fun, but knows when to be serious. Besides I love the way he looks at the first lady.

Harrison Ford in Air Force One

Okay, y’all know I love Harrison Ford in … well, anything. He’s always smart and sexy, with just the right amount of tough. And he’s never better than in this movie where he’s fighting to protect his country and his family. Gotta love that.

Bill Pullman in Independence Day

Great movie. Great president. Plus, he’s a great dad and there’s the tragic loss of his wife. In this, he almost kicks more a$$ than Harrison Ford. 

 Or maybe, like me, you’re a Battlestar Galactica. If so, you might want to vote for Colonial President Laura Roslin. True, she’s been acting pretty crazy lately, but let’s face it, even crazy, is there any woman who exudes brains and intelligence like Mary McDonnell? I think not.

Here’s hoping our new actual president can emulate some of these great examples. Or at least find a snack will stump the White House chef.

So would you vote for? Or have I forgotten some great movie president you’d like to vote for?

Cast your vote and I’ll enter you into a drawing for my February release, Tempted into the Tycoon’s Trap.

I always wonder what I’d do in case of a real emergency. McIrish, as many of you know, is a firefighter, so I’m always hearing stories of risk and rescue. I’ve never been tested — not yet — and I constantly picture myself in any given situation. Would I panic? Would I risk my life to save another? I like to think I would, of course. Many are the times I’ve imagined diving into a pond to rescue a child, or putting pressure on a wound until the paramedics arrived, or yes, even rushing into a burning building and emerging with a victim.

And of course, every time I fly, I imagine what it would be like to crash. Having a fear of drowning above all other forms of death, I’ve shuddered at the words “in case of a water landing.” Until Thursday, in case of water landing has been a joke. There are no water landings, of course. A plane hits the water, and everyone dies.

I wrote about this subject on my own blog. I am admittedly obsessed with the case of Flight 1549. The NTSB may as well call on me to testify, because I’ve studied that footage like it’s the Rosetta Stone. I keep reliving that miracle, for really, sometimes that word just fits. So much went right that day. Captain Sully. The valiant FDNY and Coasties. Those great people who were driving on the West Side Highway, telling the 911 dispatcher just where the plane was passing now. The ferryboat passengers who tossed lifejackets to those in the water. Everyone lived. Everyone! It was a miracle.

Yesterday, President Obama called for unity in times of crisis, for sacrifice from every American. He recalled the strength of character our country was founded on, and I thought of Flight 1549 again.

According to CBS radio, last Thursday a man found himself in the back of Flight 1549. Water was flooding in fast. Fearful that his waterlogged clothes would slow him down, terrified that he would drown while trapped in the plane, he stripped down to his underwear and swam up the aisle. When he emerged outside in the 17 degree weather, his fellow passengers, scared, stunned, wet and frigid, immediately gave him their clothes.

They took off their clothes in that weather, and without hesitation, without forethought, they covered the freezing man.

Last Thursday, America worked as we citizens all hope and believe it can, not just in training and preparedness, but in heart. A captain set his powerless plane on the Hudson River, and no one died. Everyone was rescued within minutes. The best of our country was seen by the world — the extraordinary heroism, kindness and generosity of the ordinary citizen.

Hi, there, Jaunty Quill Readers.
I really enjoyed my last visit with you and am happy to be here again to promote my new book, A MAN SHE COULDN’T FORGET. But for those of you I didn’t meet last time, let me reintroduce myself. I’m Kathryn Shay and I write for Harlequin Superromance and The Berkley Publishing Group. I have 23 Supers and ten Berkley Sensations published; there are over four million copies of my books in print. I write contemporary romance, sometimes with a bit of suspense thrown in. I deal mostly with everyday characters like firefighters, cops, teachers and construction workers, but occasionally I have a TV chef, a senator or a secret service agent as the hero or heroine. I like to explore social issues and I’m told my books are highly emotional, often tearjerkers, and have hints of humor.

This time around I’ve written a story about amnesia. Clare Boneli is a chef on a TV cooking show and a popular cookbook author who wakes up with amnesia and doesn’t know who she is, nor does she recognize the two men keeping vigil at her bedside. One, Jonathan, tells her he’s her current lover and owner of the network which hosts her show. The other, Brady, says he’s her best friend of twelve years. But even in her befuddled state, Clare senses something’s wrong. When she figures out the tension between them is over her, she realizes nobody is telling her the whole story. As the plot progresses, Clare and the reader discover more about Clare’s life and the situation with Brady and Jonathan. I think you’ll be kept guessing right until the very end.

Many of the reviews of A MAN SHE COULDN’T FORGET have focused on the research in the book. I was wondering how readers feel about writers’ research and how they use it in their work. Several things help me when I research a book. First, what I find out usually drives the plot. In this novel, the type of amnesia Clare has, how memory returns, how dreams figure in to the malady and how frightened amnesiacs feel all helped to propel the characters and plot.

When I wrote a book on domestic violence, I read volumes about the cycle of abuse and the likelihood of a reformed abuser staying reformed. For an adoption book, I spent hours researching statistics on the sexual habits of the average American male, for a school term paper the adoptee was writing. Now THAT was a lot of fun. (I ended up using a statistic the boy of sixteen discovered in the beginning of each chapter and made it relevant to the plot.) And for a gang book, I read heartbreaking accounts of the travesty of girl gangs in New York City.

I also watch movies–some fiction, some documentaries. For A MAN SHE COULDN’T FORGET, I concentrated on SPELLBOUND, MEMENTO, ANASTASIA and REGARDING HENRY. For a book on the Secret Service, I watched a documentary which took the viewer inside the actual headquarters. Side note: when I went to DC and found the building which houses headquarters and took some pictures from the street (you couldn’t go inside), two agents actually came out and ordered me to erase them!

I also gravitate toward primary research, what I call “being there.” I still remember the first time I road a real fire truck and felt the movement of it, heard the sounds of the horn and siren, experienced the fear of the run—it was Sunday morning and we were going to a stabbing. I once spent a day with a public defender and sat in court watching him argue a case, noticing the big wooden walled courtroom, how the judge sat high above the others, and startling a bit at the echo of the gavel. I worked at Habitat for Humanity and smelled the sweet scent of newly cut lumber and learned how the concrete was poured. All of these events gave me real sensory experiences to infuse in my work, as well as specific details, when I wrote books about firefighters, lawyers and construction workers.

So, again, how do readers feel about writers’ research? Also, what do you think of my new book?

Kathy Shay

PS: And for readers who like the cooking show theme: Many of the recipes in A MAN SHE COULDN’T FORGET are from my Italian family. They’re published on my website. Go ahead and take a look. And if you try one, Mange!

Watch the trailer for A MAN SHE COULDN’T FORGET

The winner for the autographed copy of Elisabeth Naughton’s STOLEN FURY is Pat. Please email elisabeth@elisabethnaughton.com with your snail mail address so you can get your book!

My husband and I are lucky enough to own our home outright. It’s an old home, built in the 1950s, and once belonged to USF’s grandfather. The house itself isn’t much. In fact, it has a lot of problems—including flooding every time there’s a long, hard rain.

The good thing about the house is the location. The land we’re on is worth two times the house itself. For a while now USF and I have been talking about knocking the house down and building a new one on our lot. This weekend we took the first step. We went to visit builders.

We have a long list of must-haves in our new house. These include
3 or 4 bedrooms
first floor master suite
open floor plan
study

Those are the things we agree on. We don’t agree on how necessary a media room is or whether our garage should be attached or detached. There’s a few other issues, and I’m sure we’ll have to compromise in the end. I mean we’re just talking bare bones. We haven’t even started discussions on tile or carpet or drapes!

We’re all readers here, and when we’re looking for a book to read, we probably have a checklist we use. When I go to the bookstore, I look for a book with
romance
strong emotion (very funny or very sad)
a hero with an interesting job
a heroine with some backbone

That’s just a start.

What are some of your must-haves?

The suggestion box is officially closed.

I want to thank you all soooo much for the fabulous name suggestions!! There were so many good ones that it was hard to pick just one.

Right now I’m chosing Solveig’s “LEO” but there were many others that I really liked that I might end up using.

Soooo, here’s what I’ve decided to do. Solveig is the grand prize winner. She wins the choice of whatever book of mine she wants.

The rest of you who sent in suggestions have won a copy of my March 2009 release from Silhouette Special Edition, Claiming the Rancher’s Heart!

Email me from my website www.cindykirk.com and give me your name and addresses and I’ll get your book in the mail! I’ve copied all of your posts so just let me know what name you post under so I can check you off!

Thanks again!!

Okay, I need your help. I’ve been trying to think of a male character’s name for a book I want to write…two or three books down the road. I have the heroine’s name. I have another one of the male character’s names…but I cannot find a name that works for this other guy.

I need your help and I’m willing to pay. For the one that gives me the best possible name (in my estimation), you will win your choice of one of my books! You can give me as many name selections as you want. I’ll read through them all on Sunday night (I’ll be at a writer’s retreat all day Saturday)…and announce the winner.

I don’t know much about this guy I want you to name, other than he’s:
Caucasion–though not sure what descent
Mysterious
Dark-haired
Strong but lean

I’d prefer a unique name, rather than a more common one. I don’t care about his last name, just his first.

Can you help me find just the right name for this character?? I’d really appreciate it!

My Dearest Readers,
As some of you may know (or may not), I write VERY steamy historical romances. So steamy, in fact, that my daughter won’t be reading them until she turns 35. That said, I am always looking for inspiration as to what my hero and heroine would define as sexy. Needless to say, everyone’s definition of sexy is different. Which is why I’m posting. Because I want to know what YOU find sexy.

According to a general poll that had been done in 1995 (yes, it desperately needs to be updated but it was all I could dig up at this moment) here are the top five things women find physically sexy in a man. Ranking from most popular to least.
1.)Height. Six Foot or taller. (Taller than six feet and I’m scared, truth be told…but then again, I’m 5’2″)
2.)Imposing body massiveness. (I am assuming they are referring to muscles. Not doughiness. Ehm)
3.)Broad shoulders (Oh, yes, please)
4.)A large YOU KNOW WHAT (Who says size doesn’t matter? Apparently it does)
5.)A full head of hair (As opposed to…?)

To take this a bit further, the dictionary defines sexy as “sexually exciting or excitingly appealing.” Hm. I suppose that would be a very stripped version (yes, pun intended) of what I would personally define as being sexy. Sexy to me is something that evokes my curiosity, sometimes causing me to mentally pause and sometimes causing me to physically stare. It could be all of these things combines or bits and pieces of them at a time. I do know this. Physicality is what catches my eye. But it isn’t what keeps it. And when I am writing about my hero and heroine, I usually have them follow my taste. To an extent. My favorite definition of sexy is this fabulous quote by Colette who was a French novelist: “When she raises her eyelids it’s as if she were taking off all her clothes.” Oh yeah. Now THAT is sexy.

So the two things that I find sexy? You will be proud to know that I am anything but superficial. I lace the physical with his character.
1.)His presence. Meaning he is neither overbearing toward others nor so shy that you have to lift a rock for him to crawl under.
2.)His mouth. The way he talks, the way he smiles, the ways he eats (ESPECIALLY the way he eats, LOL), the way he kisses, the way his lips move across his teeth and the way he conveys emotion through them.

So go on. Impress me. Define two things you find sexy.
Cheers and much love,
Delilah Marvelle

A while back the topic of discussion here at JQ was fairy tales, and I think it was Robyn who asked about our favorites. Many readers replied how much they love Cinderella — who wouldn’t want a fairy grandmother who could wave her wand and make everything better? And many are enthralled by the way love from Beauty transforms The Beast, which gives us hope that we can transform our significant other … maybe even get him to pick up his dirty socks. At the heart of every good romance is transformation, some form of growth for one or both protagonists.

Undoubtedly I read those fairy tales as a child and probably watched the movies but those stories, while powerful, don’t resonate with me all that much. The stories I loved, the books that became dog-eared from so much repeated reading, were more likely to have clever characters like Br’er Rabbit and Robin Hood. Not necessarily in the same book, mind you, but those are the sorts of stories I sought.

The same side of me that cracks up watching the wise-cracking Bugs Bunny outsmart Elmer Fudd just loves how Robin Hood outsmarts the Sheriff of Nottingham and his minions. Or Br’er Rabbit getting in trouble and then using his wits to get out of it. (Please, please don’t throw me in the briar patch.”)

Even in movies and TV, tricksters and clever plots are my favorite kinds of characters and storylines:The Hunt For Red October, The Thomas Crown Affair, Ocean’s 11, and of course all of the iterations of Robin Hood (even Men In Tights). Must-see-TV for me now is Leverage (Tuesdays at 10 on TNT) which is about high-tech crooks who steal from rich criminals and the corrupt and give to the downtrodden. Next week is the eagerly-anticipated return of Burn Notice on USA, where a disavowed spy uses his Special Ops training to help others.

Both shows require our intrepid heroes to outwit their opponents and improvise as they go along because things never go according to plan. Twists and turns abound. I love it that they often surprise me -– they zig when I expect them to zag. A memorable line from one of my all-time favorite clever shows, MacGyver, is spoken by Mac’s frequent nemesis, Murdoc: “No wonder I can’t defeat you – even you don’t know what you’re going to do next.” Or on the flipside, what happens is so meticulously planned and executed, like Mr. Crown’s art theft, it’s a thing of beauty.

Both forms of cleverness are a chess match. Move and counter-move.

When I grow up I want to be able to write clever chess matches.

Once I even researched the game of chess for a story. Put my new knowledge to a practical test by playing my husband’s nephew, who loved the game. Turns out I’m not a good chess player. Perhaps I’d get better if I had a lot more practice but it’s something that did not come naturally.

During the writing workshop I attended last weekend, at lunch several of us were discussing our mutual fandom of Timothy Hutton in general and Leverage in particular. I moaned about my desire to be able to write such clever plots. One gal said “It’s simple – don’t explain anything.” Which may help to some degree, but the problem is, first I have to come up with the clever stuff – the twists and turns, moves and counter-moves – to not explain.

Perhaps it’s like our workshop leader said about writing humor – you can or you can’t. It comes naturally or it doesn’t, and if you try to force it, it sounds forced. Often readers find some of my stuff almost as funny as I do, so perhaps I should be content with writing that and just watch and enjoy the clever plots and trickster characters that others create.

But maybe … if I keep searching I’ll come across the magic elixir — the workshop, mentor or how-to book — that will magically impart the ability to write clever stuff…

Romantic Times has released their best of the best for 2008 and two Jaunties are on the list. Help us congratulate them.

**Delilah Marvelle’s debut novel, Mistress of Pleasure is a Reviewer’s Choice Award Nominee for Best First Historical
**Anne Mallory’s The Bride Price is a Reviewer’s Choice Award Nominee for Best Historical Romance of the Year
**Anne Mallory is also up for a Career Achievement Award for Historical Romance

Congrats, ladies!!!

Now scroll down to read about Nancy’s help from her friends…