I am excited. Sorta. For the first time in a long time I’m going to a concert. Emilie Autumn (whom I’ve blogged about before) is playing at the Gramercy Theater in NYC tomorrow night and yours truly has VIP tickets. Yes, like a 16 year-old fan girl I purchased a meet and greet with this fabulous performer. At least I’m not nervous about meeting her. I like to think age has SOME benefits!

Speaking of age, what does it say about me that A. I hope the theater has decent bathrooms and B. I hope the concert ends before I have to meet my train? It says I’m stinking old, that’s what it says!

Regardless, I’m looking forward to the event. It’s always inspiring to witness creativity in progress. I love EA’s music enough to brave a theater that will more than likely be filled to the majority with people 15-20 years younger than me. At least I will have brightly dyed hair, but I’m leaving my corset home. I’m rooting through my closet looking for comfortable shoes. OLD!

Is there anyone you would pay to see live? Or pay extra to meet? I admit I have my limits. I cannot bring myself to pay what Bon Jovi asks for a ticket. No sir. I wonder if Jon Bon Jovi ever feels old? Or does he simply revel in the fact that he’s hotter now than he was 20 years ago? Jerk. Which leads to question #2 – how old do YOU feel? I realize not all of this is being frumpy — I like comfort. I can afford comfort. Age does have it’s benefits. So, I think it’s more a matter of what I’m willing to go through now. Obviously I’ve decided Emilie Autumn is worth a day in NYC in the middle of February and a ride home late at night on the Metro North train. She is not, however, worth the prospect of not making that train.

Anyway, I must go make certain I don’t have any gray showing, and see if I have comfortable shoes that also look funky. Wish me luck!

. . . and no, it’s not Christmas or back-to-school!

For romance writers, this month is the best time of the whole year. We are revered and sought-out. We are experts and influential. We ARE ROMANCE WRITERS!

I always think it’s funny that during the rest of the year we are trivialized, much as our work and our readers are, but the general public. Most reporters look down their noses at us when forced to do a story, tsking about the way all romances are the same, or how shallow they are…or how they aren’t literature. (I’ve heard all of those during interviews, btw.) But not now — now, in February, reporters seek us out for articles and interviews because love matters. And we’re the love experts!

We can tell the truth about the power of love – how it can change lives, save hearts and souls and make a difference is so many ways. We can reveal that love influences and convinces in ways that words can’t. We help men who would be heroes and women who would be heroines to find their way to their destinies.

Best of all, we invite readers along on that journey so that they can experience the thrill of finding love, the terrible possibility of losing it and the triumph when love does indeed conquer all.

But, we don’t simply limit this power of ours to one day or one week or even one month each year, romance authors tell stories all year through!  And we tell those stories and set them in historical or in contemporary times, with all sorts of various slants and twists and turns in them. We use the journey of our characters towards love to make readers laugh and cry and wish and hope and pray and worry and then rejoice by that last page, and then want more once they finish.

It’s all about the love though. Without that, a romance could be any other story. With it, a romance is unlike anything else.

So, what recent romance did you read that made you laugh or cry or worry or hope? What romance did you read that you wished would not end? Post here and let me know and I’ll pick a poster who will receive a signed copy of one of my books!

Terri is thrilled to see that the last book of her Knights of Brittany series will hit the shelves in just 2 weeks — HIS ENEMY’S DAUGHTER — from Harlequin Historicals. There’s also a special project to-be-announced that tells of love of the royal kind (watch for that announcements soon!).  Please visit her website or her Facebook page for lots more info about Terri and her books!

Most of my life has been sort of charmed. I don’t mean in the way that I’m beautiful or have everything that I desire; I mean that I’ve been happy. Really happy. The older I get the more I realize how

"Mom and Dad expecting me!"

lucky I am to have been born to my parents who are truly great people. They are incapable of saying no. I don’t mean in the spoiling your kids rotten way, I heard no often enough growing up and we didn’t have a lot of material things, but as I got older I needed someone when times got tough I knew I could always just call my mom or dad and say I need you and they’d be there.

A few years ago my really good friend Beverly Brandt had been nominated for a RITA for her book the TIARA CLUB and she couldn’t find the exact dress she wanted. My mom (and all the women in my family) sews. So I said to B that my mom could do it. I said to this to her as we were talking on the phone so she knew I had no time to call my mom and ask her, I just knew that mom would never say no to something like this. But what I realized after Beverly and I finished talking was that my mom wouldn’t say no to me.

I’ve tried to be that way with my kids. I don’t say yes to everything only the really important things. The things that can change their lives and make a difference, the things that will show and remind them that the world should be a nicer place.

My heroine in TAMING THE VIP PLAYBOY has this same kind of charmed upbringing (to be honest I based her loosely on my youngest sister). She was a very talented dancer from a young age and her parents and her older sister sacrificed to make sure that Jen was taken to dance rehearsals and eventually to competitions. They did this not because they had to but because they realized that Jen lived to dance and that she needed their support. She needed to safety net of her family to fall back on.

And in the book Jen is falling from some really tough breaks. For the first time in her life, she’s not feeling very charmed. This happened to me almost four years ago and I had no idea who to turn to, but instinctively went first to my parents and then my closest friends for support. In TAMING THE VIP PLAYBOY Jen’s parents are dead and she has only her older sister and young nephew to turn to, which she does. And they offer her a safety net that she uses to rebuild her life and to some extent herself.

I’m not sure what kind of family you have. My wise friend Beverly says we build the families we didn’t have from the friends we choose and I feel very lucky that I have both a great family to start with and one that I’ve built from friends.

I hope you all will check out TAMING THE VIP PLAYBOY its in stores today. And for one lucky blog participant I will send an autographed copy of the book.

Tell me in what ways are you charmed? Is it by your family or maybe you have an incredible talent? What is it that makes you special?

Erica Marie, dumped on a bus by a stranger who was making a move on her boyfriend…wow! You are the winner! Great (if awful) story, and one that definitely deserves a reward…though it was close. Thanks so much for sharing your tales of woe, gang! Erica, email me at k.higgins@snet.net and I’ll get the book out to you right away.

Let’s be honest—breaking up really IS hard to do. He loves you, you’re The One, he’s shopping rings…you’re registering on Match.com. Or you’re shopping for a wedding dress, and he’s getting the phone number of the cute chick at work.

There is a right way to break up with someone—gently, in person, acknowledging her/his many qualities and admitting that you just don’t feel the same level of commitment, and as hard as it is, you’re ending things now. You’re clear, you’re compassionate, you’re quick.

On the other hand…I’m a romance writer, and I’m constantly on the prowl for fodder. So if you’d like to feed the muse, as it were, please follow these guidelines. Thanks!

Break up after you’ve had a few. Nothing says ‘class’ more than the drunken phone call. “Krishtan? Krishtan? Is tha’ you? Dude…look…hang on. Jake, don’t be a jerk, man! I’m dumping my…hello? Right. Look… (idiot laughter ensues). Uh…we’re done, ’kay? Sorry! Jake, dude, get me another beer!” If you’ve chosen the non-sober breakup method, you can expect a furious visit from your former sweetheart, usually at your place of work. There will be shouting. There may be a recording of your call. It will probably appear in one of my books.

Choose a public place. Yes, you’re breaking up with her, but surely she won’t have a meltdown in public, right? Wrong. Sometimes I think Starbucks was invented just as a place for people to get dumped. How many times have I (and thousands of others) heard the famous words, “What? Are you serious! But…but…but I thought you loved me!” uttered in a coffee shop? Keep it up. It’s good for business.

Be vague. By all means, confusion makes this more fun. “It’s just that we’re not really connecting these days” can translate into you want to go away for a long weekend together so you CAN connect. You miss spending time together! This is such a good sign! Or…hang on…wait a sec…You’re breaking up with me? Are you serious? Fury ensues.

Use the word ‘dude.’  There is nothing guaranteed to make your honey feel the sincerity of your words more than the word dude. Once, he/she was honey, sweetheart, baby, cuddlebuns…now he/she is dude. You want that drink in your face? It’s coming. Just keep using that word.

Post the news on your honey’s Facebook wall. “It’s been a good run, Kristan, but let’s call it quits, okay? Take care.” By all means, show the world exactly what a weenie you are. Let the wrath of her many friends and relatives visit your own Facebook page. Expect to be spammed, hacked and sent fatal viruses. Enjoy.

Leave a voicemail message. “Hey. It’s me. Listen, it’s just not working out. So…see you around. Good luck.” I love hearing these voicemail messages! Soon it will be on YouTube, and the world will know of your weeniness.

Don’t have an exit strategy. You take her out for dinner and break up over appetizers…buddy, that was not a wise move. This person may have cared about you, but she hates you now. She is going to order the lobster tail and filet mignon and several of those twelve-dollar martinis. And oh, yeah, you are so going to pick up the tab, uh-huh. And the rest of us get to watch the two of you for the rest of the meal. Awkward!

Send a friend to do it for you. Hey, why should you suffer, right? Dumping by proxy is so much easier. Expect a visit from this person within hours, if not minutes. Oh, you’re hiding at your new honey’s house? Don’t worry. We’ll find you.

Say “It’s not you, it’s me.” You’re telling her that you’re taking your romantic cues from George Costanza on Seinfeld. And  by the way…of course it’s you! In this moment, you are a jerk. Sorry, but you’re breaking someone’s heart. By channeling George Costanza. This will lead to “Seriously? You’re quoting Seinfeld to me? You can’t be more original than that?” Fury ensues.

State how much you still love this person. This way, we enter into a debate. “So you do love me. Then what’s the problem here? See, I think it’s your fear of commitment. When are you going to grow up? You love me, but you don’t want to be with me? I think you’re just fooling yourself. I think you love me so much you’re scared. And you don’t have to be, because I love you too. Remember that time we went to San Francisco, and it was so perfect?” This method usually ends up with a diamond ring on someone’s finger.

Have you ever broken up with someone? How’d it go? Been dumped in a classy way? No? One commenter will be given a signed copy of TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, in which there’s quite a memorable breakup scene (filed under What Not to Do). Fire away, gang!

Victoria P—

Congratulations! You have won my last week’s drawing of Harlequin’s vintage novel, Virgin With Butterflies.

Email me and I’ll put the book in the mail.

www.cindykirk.com

Some of the Avon authors have gotten together and made a round robin for Valentines’s Day ideas, from the perfect date to some deliciously decadent chocolate recipes. Start here Lavinia Kent’s Website and follow the Avon heart on each web page for the next installment. And enjoy!

First, I have to apologize for not picking a winner from last week’s posts. I read them all…enjoyed reading the posts as I aways do. Then the bad weather moved in and I forgot all about checking back and picking a winner at 9 pm.

I will go back to last week’s posts and post the winner Sunday night at 9 pm. I promise!!!

This week, I thought it might be fun to share what’s been going on with the weather in your area. I’ll start first.

Where I live, it was reported that we had the 5th highest snowfall in January since the city started keeping records! What’s wierd is that it didn’t seem like it was all that snowy. Last year seemed so much worse. The snow started in October and our last snowfall was March 21. It was like the cold weather would never end.

We got a lot of ice last Sunday night (before the snow) and, while I worked from home on Monday (and Tuesday, and Wednesday) both my husband and son-in-law said they’d never driven in worst conditions (and believe me, living in Nebraska) that’s saying a lot.

So, tell me how your weather has been. And, if it’s been good, I’d love to hear that too!

**I’m posting this for Emily because she has a sick computer, so for today the roll of Emily McKay will be played by Robyn DeHart**

Today, I feel like I’m living in a Mary Balogh novel.

No, a handsome but aloof Duke has not come to sweep me off my feet, but rather that this morning I woke up in a winter wonderland. Right after breakfast, the entire family poured out into the yard to play in the snow. We threw snow balls and went sliding down the hills at the end of the road. We made snow angels and licked snow off our gloves. (Okay, my kids did that. I was too aware of the deer footprints in the yard to actually eat the snow.)

Since I live in central Texas, most of experience with snow has been vicarious, lived through the heroines of al the Mary Balogh Christmas novels I’ve read. Inevitably, in those novellas, there’s an unexpected Christmas snow. Tromping out into the snow, the emotional barriers between the hero and heroine melt away. Their frosty tension between falls away and the couple begins to fall in love.

Playing in the snow with my kids and husband, I knew why she’s written so many scenes like that. There is something wondrous and special about the snow. It makes you feel like a child again. It’s so beautiful, it’s hard to believe it’s real. And even harder to believe that it’s supposed to be seventy in two days. But when that gorgeous, spring like weather hits, my Mary Balogh winter wonderland will fade away. I’ll have to pretend I’m in another novel. Maybe Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I heard her speak recently at a booksigning. When asked why she sets so many books in Texas she said, “Readers will believe anything if it happens in Texas.”

Even three inches of snow?

It’s possible I’m a closet meteorologist because I really enjoy tracking storms, especially the big ones.  Cyclone Yasi, a Category 5 cyclone, certainly fit that bill.  It hit the northeast coast of Australia today with devastating winds at 165 km (103 mph) and wind gusts up to 240 km, ripping through towns and sugarcane fields.  Their last category 5 cyclone was in 1918, and it decimated the area, especially Innisfail.

Yasi was stronger than  Katrina in 2007 which destroyed so much of the Gulf Coast region of the US.  That was enough comparison for me to realize the power of this storm.  Towns of Mission Beach, Tully and Innisfail got the brunt of Yasi’s blow.  Schools, businesses and airports closed.  Australia’s military were airlifting patients to Brisbane for care.

It was so reminiscent of Katrina. 

Hopefully the damage won’t be as horrific, and those precautions done by residents in the Queensland area to protect their homes and businesses worked.  I can certainly see a lot of exciting and touching stories that will come out of this disaster. 

Here in the Midwest, we are shoveling out from under a massive blizzard that has moved on to dump snow and frigid cold eastward.  We knew it was coming, but there’s not much you can do to prepare for a blizzard other than have plenty of food and water on hand.  Gasoline in the generator, if you have one.  We didn’t lose power, and our street crews did an amazing job of cleaning up after the 8” to 18” of snow throughout the area around Kansas City.   That’s a huge feat because we aren’t used to dealing with big amounts of snow at a time.     

In the summer, we get tornadoes, and we usually have a bit of advance notice.  At least we know the atmosphere is right to brew up a storm so we can be semi prepared.

So what do other areas in the world do who are visited by those bouts of instense stormy weather?  What’sthe typical destructive weather in your area?  Do you get advance notice it’s coming?  What do you do to prepare? 

I’ll give away a copy of Lynn Raye Harris’s The Prince’s Royal Concubine, which is set around a major storm, to one commenter.