The winner of the copy of Would-Be Witch is Fedora! Fedora, contact Kimberly Frost at frost_fic@yahoo.com with your name and address and how you’d like the book signed.

Congrats!

Did anyone else spend the 80′s glued to the TV Thursdays at 9, watching Magnum PI? I’m not saying I had a crush on Tom Selleck, but the hero in my first attempt at a novel was a blend of MacGyver and Magnum.

(Pardon this tangent – did anyone else get a big kick out of the MacGruber skits on Saturday Night Live last week? I squealed when I realized that really was RDA in a mullet wig. They aired one of the skits as a Super Bowl commercial for Pepsi.)

So, back to Magnum. Private investigator, drives a Ferrari, lives on an estate in Hawaii. Big dude. Stands 6’4″ and no one has looked as good wearing short shorts since. Put the “Oh!” in Oahu. His deep, gravelly voice goes up an octave at times in a way few men can pull off and still be macho. (I’d happily listen to him read the phone book … or even narrate orange juice commercials.)

He has a playful sense of humor, which is advertised in the opening credits. You know the part, where he looks back over his shoulder at the camera and … just how do you describe what he does with those thick eyebrows? Magnum may giggle but he does not waggle. “A lift of the eyebrows” doesn’t do it justice, either.

I’m often stymied when trying to describe my characters’ facial expressions and movements. I’ve spent way too much time cross-referencing words in my thesaurus, both online and in Word, and the Synonym Finder, struggling to find more precise ways to describe a smile, a lift of the eyebrow, a crinkling of the eyes. Have even resorted to The Romance Writer’s Phrasebook at times, which offers many suggestions that went out of vogue probably about the time Magnum went off the air.

There’s another gesture for which I’ve been seeking the precise description. Our intrepid hero has attempted to escape only to be caught in the act by the villain with a wicked sense of humor. Said villain moves his right index finger. He did not “shake his finger” as you would at a dog who’s misbehaved. The villain’s right palm is not facing left. His palm is instead facing the hero, and his finger is moving side to side. (In a commercial, the frustrated mom whose kids keep throwing away their rollover minutes does the same thing.) It’s the Holy Grail of description, right? At lunch with several writer friends I demonstrated the gesture, and none of them could come up an efficient description, either.

In the name of research (ah, the sacrifices we make for our art and craft…) I’ve started watching an intriguing new show on Fox called Lie To Me. Anyone else hooked? Dr. Lightman, the lead character, is billed as a human lie detector. He runs a consulting firm specializing in deception detection. He doesn’t need to hear police interrogate the suspect, he just needs to see. To watch the body language. Something like 70% of all communication is done non-verbally, so it makes sense.

The cool thing for me is when they study film, and stop-frame when a character gives something away. They back up their hypothesis by showing still photos of other people giving away the same thing – people we know well from the six o’clock news. (The guest actors must get a lot of extra coaching to get the tics and gestures just right.) And they identify the gestures and expressions by name. It’s like learning a new language. How cool is that?

I’m going to start taking notes while watching it. Many of the descriptive terms they use are new to me but make sense. I might even be able to apply them in my fiction. Yes, that’s all I need to make my writing always go smooth and easy. (I can dream, can’t I?)

The last time I visited The Sisterhood of the Jaunty Quills, I made a comment that while Tammy Jo Trask, the main character of my newly released book, Would-Be Witch, isn’t quite Jane Austen in flip-flops, she’s got a lot of the characteristics of my favorite historical romance heroines. That comment got me daydreaming…

What advice would the characters of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice give Tammy Jo regarding some of the challenges she faces in this first book in the Southern Witch series?

In Would-Be Witch, a family heirloom is stolen, and Tammy Jo must recover it. There’s also a pack of werewolves stalking her for unknown reasons, and the one person that she’d like to turn to for advice (a wizard named Bryn Lyons) is someone that her family forbids her from associating with.

Here’s the conversation I pictured…

Mr. Darcy: This Bryn Lyons…what does she know of the man’s character?

Lizzie: Not much. I’m certain it would be very imprudent of her to trust him.

Mrs. Bennet: He’s worth millions of dollars? How much is that in pounds?

Lizzy: Still millions, Mother.

Mrs. Bennet: Well then she must marry him!

Lydia: Is he handsome?! Oh, he is handsome! She should run off with him!!!

Kitty: Why did Lydia get to answer first? I’m older, so my answer should go higher. Papa, please make them move my answer above Lydia’s. This blog post is SO unfair.

Mr. Bennet: I shall be in my study.

Caroline Bingley: What does she mean traipsing across town, fighting werewolves? It’s shocking. A young woman should be properly attired and composed at all times. Bare feet? Casting spells? Whatever can she be about, Mr. Darcy?

Mr. Darcy: What Miss Trask lacks in refinement, she makes up for in character, but a young woman can’t be left alone in the countryside. Where are her relations?

Jane: I think the werewolves may be understood. The account of their attack may have been exaggerated. Perhaps they didn’t mean to hurt anyone.

Mr. Darcy: They lack all sense of propriety, and how can someone as young as Miss Trask be expected to deal with them on her own when she has no experience with such matters?

Lizzy: You’re right. She must solicit the advice of Mr. Lyons. And yet his character cannot be known from this measly account. I fear for her reputation. By the end of Would-Be Witch, she and her entire family may be ruined.

Now it’s your turn…in the comments section, please answer one OR both of the following questions for a chance to win an autographed copy of Would-Be Witch:

1.) What advice would you give to Tammy Jo about getting involved with a man that her family has forbidden her to see?

2.) Of the following Jane Austen characters: Lizzy Bennett, Jane Bennett, Marianne Dashwood, and Elinor Dashwood, who would make the best witch and why?

For more information and to read excerpts from the Southern Witch series, visit my website.

Warm Wishes,
Kimberly

I thought y’all might enjoy this humorous look back…we’ve come a long way.

And now onto a specific book. My own new one coming out this year. It doesn’t hit stores until August, but it’s already available for pre-order on Amazon. And it won’t be long before I put the first excerpt up on my website. In the meantime you can check there for the back cover blurb for a taste at what the book is about.

Oh and check out my fantastic new cover:

So while we’re on the subject of books, what’s the first book you remember really loving? That one that made a lasting impact on you?

A couple of months ago, I suffered one of the greatest disappointments of my adult life. I watched the movie Fletch. I had fond childhood memories of Fletch. I used to watch it any time it came on TV. I thought it was hysterical. I remembered Chevy Chase in endless, humorous get ups. When we were dating, I told my husband to be that it was a “must see classic.”

Flash forward fifteen or so years to a couple of months ago. For reasons I can’t explain, Tivo recorded Fletch. (Apparently Tivo thought I needed some comeuppance.) So late one night, after the kids were asleep, I turned on Fletch, prepared for my husband and I to be amused. twenty minutes in, I was confused.

“Is this the same Fletch you thought was so funny?” the Geek asked.

“I think so.” 

I rushed off to IMDB to check just in case Checy Chase had starred in two movies called Fletch, one that was hysterical and another that was a dreadful bore. He wasn’t.

So here’s my list of movies from the seventies and eighties that I just don’t get:

Caddyshack

The Early Bond movies — I’m sorry, Dr. No was just boring

Anything with Warren Beatty in it — I think Ishtar is to blame. It’s the first movie I remember seeing him in.

Most Woody Allen movies … no, wait. I just checked IMDB. Every Woody Allen movie

And here’s the list of movies I’m afraid to watch again for fear they too will go the way of Fletch:

Airplane

Vacation

Arthur

Stripes

After all, I still remember those movies fondly. Why should I ruin that?

Are there any movies you’re afraid to watch again?

Congratulations, Cheryl! I’ll be sending out your autographed copy of Too Good To Be True toute suite!

My latest book made its official debut yesterday! (Insert sound of Kristan breathing into a paper bag). It’s always a wonderfully terrifying time for an author…having your book go out into the world, wondering what people will think…

One of the things I’ve always tried to do in my books is describe something we’ve all done and might not want to admit to. Stalking a guy we like. Crushing on a guy we shouldn’t. Dating a guy we know isn’t really The One. In Too Good To Be True, it’s faking the old boyfriend.

This story is about Grace Emerson and the lengths she’ll go to in order to save her shredded pride, as well as protect the people she loves the most. See, Grace’s ex-fiancé has recently started dating her younger sister. Her much-adored, idealized younger sister, Natalie. Nat is feeling rightfully guilty, and in order to have her family stop viewing her as the dog no one wanted at the pound, Grace impulsively tells them she’s seeing someone. Someone who’s just amazing. He’s so…perfect. A doctor, see? Um…a pediatric surgeon. Sure. That’s the ticket. And of course, the guy’s completely made up. A guy like that is way too good to be true. The real hero is, of course, much more flawed, and much more interesting.

I’m here to say for the record that yes, I’ve faked a boyfriend myself. More than once. Sometimes it was to reject someone without hurting his feelings… “Oh, that’s so nice, but I’m sorry. I’m seeing someone.” No harm, right? Sometimes it’s been a bit more involved, as I confessed during a recent interview. Trapped on a plane for five hours, seated next to a man en route to a Star Trek convention (he was single, go figure), I invented a fiancé in order to protect me from Mr. Spock’s awkward forays. Suddenly, I was engaged to John, a cellist in the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. We had two dogs and lived in a sunny apartment in Noe Valley.

Like my heroine, I had a lot of fun imagining my honey (I too was single at the time, but not interested in dating Mr. Spock). How nice to picture our life together…great music, the charming neighborhood, the organic food we’d eat, the brilliant, talented people who would be our friends.

In Too Good To Be True, Grace will have to find out what we all find out — imperfect reality is a lot better than a perfect fantasy. Having been married for some time, I can certainly appreciate that. My husband is not a cellist and wouldn’t know Yo Yo Ma if he ran him over in our driveway. We don’t live in Noe Valley. We only have one dog. But McIrish does bring me a cup of coffee every morning. He cooks dinner more often than not, and when I have insomnia, he explains how a diesel engine works until I fall asleep. It might not be the stuff of romance novels, but it’s awfully nice to have.

So what about you? What’s been too good to be true in your life, and how has reality been even better? I’ll pick a name from the responders and send the winner a signed copy of Too Good To Be True.

Kristan