Firstly I’d like to say what a great pleasure it is to have been invited to blog at the Sisterhood of the Jaunty Quills today and thank you very much to the wonderful Shana Galen for inviting me.

A reader pointed out to me recently that a lot of my books feature an instantaneous attraction between the hero and heroine. Sometimes they act on it pretty quickly, other times they don’t, but in almost all cases they set eyes on each other and it’s a case of lust if not love at first sight.

Desired, my new book, out next week, is slightly different because it is a marriage of convenience story or perhaps more accurately, a betrothal of convenience story. Tess, the heroine, has been unhappily married before and has absolutely no desire to wed for anything other than mutual benefit. In contrast Owen, the hero, is very attracted to a fantasy version of Tess, the beautiful, scandalous widow with the bad reputation. Despite this attraction he woos her slowly and it is only as he gets to know her properly that Owen discovers that the real Tess is completely different from his somewhat heated imaginings.

Tess is not accustomed to feeling physical attraction. In fact she has never felt it in her life. Her feelings for Owen disturb her because she is drawn to him but it is his protectiveness, his intelligence and his chivalry that she falls in love with first. On her wedding night she runs from him but what she has not yet realised is that she has already started to trust him. Owen has courted her with such patience and sincerity that she knows he would never hurt her. She then has to take the step of deciding if she can trust him enough to confront her fears and give herself to him. She is committed emotionally to him even though she doesn’t yet realise it. The question is whether she can commit to him physically too.

I haven’t written a marriage of convenience story for years and it was a great pleasure to revisit the idea for Desired. There’s something very appealing about the idea of a couple who are thrown together through need or circumstance getting to know each other and then finding a love that can be as powerful as it is unexpected. The marriage of convenience story is said to be a favourite with historical romance readers but what do you think? Do you enjoy the slow burn as characters get to know each other and fall in love or do you prefer the instant attraction as eyes meet across a crowded ballroom? Or both? I have a copy of Desired to give away to one commenter.

I’m a sucker for family dramas with all the angst and heartache and family secrets just waiting to be revealed.  Though there have been several noted TV dramas with continuing episodes (anyone remember Dallas, Dynasty?) that give you the same sense of urgency, nothing compares to the lush detail found in books.

Harlequin has been awesome about fulfilling this need with various continuity series, but for me none are as dramatic as the ones done by Harlequin Presents.  So I was thrilled to be asked to participate in their latest series, The Notorious Wolfes (or Bad Blood as it was known in the UK.)

Here’s the trailer to wet your reading appetite.

Wealth.  Privilege. Beauty.   Having that handed to you should open doors. Make life easier.  But it rarely does for a variety of reasons.

In the Trophy Wife, Rafael was born into a rich, powerful dynasty  yet cruelly denied his paternity from birth.  Instead of the wealth due him, he was forced to dwell in poverty.  Instead of having doors instantly open for him, they were slammed in his face.

Rafael de Souza is a Wolfe by blood, yet carries his mother’s name.  Her shame of succumbing to one night with her rich powerful employer is his own cross to bear.

As a boy, Rafael only wanted to be accepted.  To be loved.  He didn’t know what went on behind the closed doors of Wolfe Manor.  He only knew he was horribly lonely, the unwanted one.

Thanks to the largess of one brother, Rafael used his wits and clawed his way to the top.  He became a rich powerful man in his own right.

Rafael earned and commanded respect.  But inside he was still the boy at the back of the fence, aching with loneliness.  Until he met beautiful super model Leila Santiago.

They say money can’t by happiness, and it was true for Rafael and Leila.  They had everything at their fingertips.  Fame, wealth and a glorious future ahead of them.

So how could something so perfect as marrying the love of his life ever be shaken?  How could he suddenly find himself on the brink of losing the one person he loved beyond reason?  How could he reclaim the passion, and the love to last an eternity?

I hope you enjoy reading Rafael’s and Leila’s turbulent journey to love and happiness as much as I enjoyed writing it.

What about you?  Do you like family dramas or continuing series?  What are your favorite family drama series?  I’ll give away the winner’s choice of one of my Harlequin Presents back titles to one commenter.

Congrats to Minna! You’re the randomly selected winner of Colleen’s book, THE PHANTOM OF THE FRENCH QUARTER. Check you inbox or email me at shana@shanagalen.com

The Lure of the Dangerous Hero by Colleen Thompson

Marcus Le Carpentier had her in his sights. So ethereal, so fragile, she looked as though she might crumble into dust with the weight of the slivered sunbeam that pierced the fog layers like the devil’s darning needle.

Like the light, his caress came from a distance, focused by a lens that captured the rising bands of moisture, the single, slanting ray and the wings of the stone angel atop the mossy tomb. He blew back thick dark hair from darker eyes, his skin tightening with delicious anticipation.

—From Phantom of the French Quarter,
Harlequin Intrigue

In real life, he’d be frightening—-this stranger in the shadows, intent on watching your every movement (and in a dawn-tinted New Orleans cemetery, of all places!) He’d cause your heart to beat faster, all right, but you’d probably be reaching for your cell phone, or maybe even a can of mace.

In the world of a good book, however, the stranger in the shadows can be as seductive as he is scary. Perhaps part of the sexiness is the element of danger, the mystery that’s impervious to a quick Google search or a history of all-too-out-there comments on his Facebook page. (Talk about something that destroys the mystery!)

Let’s face it, one of the reasons we read romance is to vicariously enjoy the thrill of getting to know a potential lover for the first time, to the peeling back of layer after delicious layer to get to a treasure well worth knowing. And the best part is, we can experience the journey—-even one made with a potentially dangerous stranger in the shadows—-from the safety of our favorite reading nook.

In Phantom of the French Quarter, Marcus Le Carpentier is not only a photographer of funerary art, he’s a man on the run from a potentially deadly secret. Would that be the guy you want to go out with on a blind date? Probably not. But who wants to read a romance where the road to true love is wisely-chosen and convenient? (Snooze-fest!)

So who’s your favorite “dangerous hero” from a book you’ve read or movie you’ve enjoyed? Identify the guy, the source, and yourself in the comments for a chance to win an autographed copy of Phantom of the French Quarter.

Tonight I happened to be talking to someone The Geek works with about my job as a writer. “It must be great to be able to write like that. To have that gift,” he said. I stammered a bit and didn’t quite know what to say.

Partly, because I’m two weeks out on a deadline on a book unlike anything I’ve ever written. This is my favorite part of the writing process. It’s when the book starts to really take shape and feel like a book. But it’s also the time when I’m putting in extra long writing days and it feels like the book is just kicking my butt.  So at the moment I got the complement, it didn’t feel like I have a gift.

But the other reason the complement made me uncomfortable is that I generally don’t think of myself as having a gift. No, I’m not fishing for complements. I’m not being coy. I just don’t see it that way. I know a lot of truly gifted writers. People who write gorgeous poetic sentences and will make you want to weep. I’m not one those people. My friend Skylar White is like that. Omg, her writing is so beautifully lyrical, sometimes all I can do is shake my head. My friend Tracy Wolff/Tessa Adams/Tracy Deebs is like that too–oh, and she’s prolific too, if you can’t tell from the grocery list of pseudonyms. Sherry Thomas is another writer I know who’s like that. Just gorgeous prose! And she’s not even a native speaker of English.

All of these people can sentences so pretty they make you cry. Metaphors that make your heart sing. Me? Not so much. Me crafting a metaphor is a bit like those apes at the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s awkward and uncomfortable and everyone just wants it to end so we can get on with the story.

That’s what I mean when I say I’m not a gifted writer. I don’t do that pretty prose thing.

What I am, is a determined writer. I have wanted to tell stories since I was a kid. Telling stories is the thing I was meant to do. It’s woven into my brain and my blood like nothing else. My entire adult life has been about learning to tell stories well. Not so much because I wanted to be published (but, yeah, that too), but because I want to do justice to the stories  and characters in my head. I want them to be as vivid and real to other people as they are to me. It’s that determination that brings me to the keyboard everyday.

Sometimes, I wish like hell that I was a gifted writer, but I’m learning to make do with my determination. Determination probably will never earn me literary accolades, but it’s won me friends and fans. And I’m damn proud of that. My journey as a writer has taken some interesting twists and turns this year, partly because I’ve stretched and grown and tried new things. Partly because I’ve wrestled with issue of writerly gifts. There’s something to be said for making peace with your limitations. For embracing them even. I hope that doing so will make shore up the bedrock of my strengths.

Are there any gifts you wish you had?

…If I only had a babysitter…

Ever since my oldest (now approximately 2.5 years old) was born, my husband and I have realized what all parents soon realize after the arrival of their firstborn: our wild days are over. Our freedom is over. Okay, granted, we weren’t very wild to begin with–hiking in the “wild” foothills of Colorado is about as wild as we get–and when we did have free time, we usually spent it going out to catch the latest movie, because my husband is a huge movie fan (note that I didn’t say cinema buff, because that implies a certain connection to the arts; he just likes to see things blown up .

Which brings us to our topic for today. Movies. I recently found a list of movies that are coming out in the next couple of months, and I have been oh-so-envious of you childless or babysitter-possessed people ever since. I’ll probably catch one of these in the theaters (my husband and I have had a date to go see the new Sherlock Holmes since we heard it was going to be filmed–yay!), but for the rest I’ll most likely have to wait for Netflix.

Without further ado, here are the movies I am longing to see:

Happy Feet Two (November 18th)

Yes, I included the Happy Feet sequel. I actually went to see the first Happy Feet with my husband and our nephew when it came out (obviously, we were childless then, hence the freedom ), and I really loved it. Plus, we’re all huge Disney/Pixar fans in our family–even before the kids were born. And yes, there was some weird environmental emphasis at the end of the first movie, but I’m still looking forward to this sequel. Singing AND dancing penguins? Could anything get cuter? (Besides my own children, of course–she amends quickly.) And actually, I might take SuperGirl to see this with me. Hooray for making movies children can see!

A Dangerous Method (November 23rd)

Let’s put aside the fact for a moment that Michael Fassbender (on whom I developed a crush in the recent Jane Eyre) and Viggo Mortensen are in this movie. It’s about Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud getting into it over Jung’s “involvement” with a patient. If you’ve read my books, you know that there might be a little angst in them. And this just sounds like such a good angst-y movie. And if you have one of those families that always seem to fight over the holidays, I’d like to suggest watching this movie first to see how psychiatrists analyze their patients, and then practicing their analysis on your various family members. Good times will be had, I guarantee it.

Arthur Christmas (November 23rd)

I’m not generally a sucker for animated Christmas movies. but for some reason the commercials I’ve seen about Santa’s son remind me of How to Train Your Dragon, which I absolutely loved. AND James McAvoy is the voice of Arthur. (Which reminds me, why hasn’t anyone thought to get Richard Armitage to do a voice-over for an animated movie? It could be the most horrible movie in the world, and I promise you I’d pay to go more than once just to hear his voice. )

Hugo (November 23rd)

I have a vague idea what this movie is about (a boy and what looks like a robot are involved), but if you’ve seen the commercials for this movie, then you know how *gorgeous* the cinematography looks. And I admit it, I get weak in the knees for beautiful cinematography. Not to mention that the movie is set in 1930s Paris. *wistful sigh*

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (December 9th)

Okay, this might be the movie where I make Mr. March watch the kids while I go out with friends. I’m seriously dying to see this movie. Yes, it stars Colin Firth (a major bonus). And Gary Oldman (another of the best actors of our time, I believe). But it’s also based on what most consider to be the greatest spy novel of the 20th century. I love a great action/drama movie, and this one appears to be right up my alley. (And do I have to say it again? COLIN FIRTH )

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (December 16th)

So you already know Mr. March and I are planning on seeing this one together. Since we don’t often get the chance to go out on dates, we’re planning to make a big deal out of it. Lunch, the movie, and afterward, the Christmas lights at the Denver Botanical Gardens. Ah, romance. The Marches-in-December Christmas-style.

As for the movie itself, we loved the first one so much that there was never any doubt that we would go to see this one. Although I think Jude Law plays a good supporting actor, and I’ve acquired a pretty big crush on Robert Downey, Jr. since the first movie, I have to admit that the two of them acting in a movie together wouldn’t get me near as excited if the setting were different. Victorian England? Yeah, baby!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (December 21st)

I haven’t read this book. (I know, I know.) Now I normally don’t want to see every movie that’s been based on a book, but Daniel Craig is in this one. And while I’m not sure I’ve yet forgiven him for the horrendous movie that was the James Bond Quantum of Solace, I typically enjoy his other films. I also haven’t seen a good thriller in a long time.

In the Land of Blood and Honey (December 23rd)

This was written and directed by Angelina Jolie–and honestly, I don’t care about that. What I do care about is that it features a love affair set against the backdrop of the Bosnian civil war. I doubt this one ends with a HEA, but I’d like to see it, anyway. I love war movies, just as much as I love romantic comedies. Although I don’t necessarily agree with the politics and philosophy of war, it interests me to see what people reveal of themselves during wartime. And the fact that this is in Bosnia, during a war which has been mostly forgotten by the American public already, makes me even more anxious to see it.

The Iron Lady (December 30th)

As soon as I saw that this movie was about Margaret Thatcher, the first female British prime minister, I was hooked. (This reminds me of the scene in Love Actually when Hugh Grant–playing the prime minister–looks up to Margaret Thatcher as if for advice. Now that’s a movie I need to watch 20 times during the holidays. Have to beat my record of 10 times last year. )

Beauty and the Beast-3D (January 13th)

I must confess that I really, really hate 3D movies. They hurt my eyes and give me a headache. (Wow, I feel old saying that, lol.) But this is such a Disney classic movie–with some of the best songs–and I never saw it when it was first released in theaters. This would definitely be one that we take SuperGirl to go see.

Red Tails (January 20th)

This is the story of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. I love seeing anything World War II, period. But this movie is also a view into part of the war that’s never been told on film before, and it’s directed by George Lucas. Even better.

And that’s it for my round-up of the movies coming soon that I’m looking forward to seeing! What do you think? Did any of these make it on your to-see wish list, too? Are there any movies I didn’t list that you’re excited about? Perhaps you’d like to recommend a good babysitter for SuperGirl and WonderGirl?

Okay so I’m piggybacking on Kathy’s blog yesterday, but instead of Thanksgiving, I want to discuss Christmas. As I’ve blogged on here many times, I love Christmas and love my family’s many traditions. But now that the Professor and I have our own family, we want to start some traditions in our house. Since we’ve been married, we’ve travelled every year to either his family’s house or mine and we’ve just been doing things their way. But this year, we start our own.

Now growing up things shifted some in my family, but mostly due to grandparents passing and then siblings having their own families and things like that. But for the most part we had things we did every year. My parents gave all us kids an ornament every year so that when we were adults, we’d have a collection to start with. I love this idea and plan to use it myself. I love the ornaments I put on my tree that are from my childhood. I remember the ones my grandmother gave me and the ones I got when I was in my unicorn phase or my cow phase (don’t ask). There are memories attached to nearly every ornament and putting my tree up every year is a treasured event – I want that for my girls too.

The other thing my family did that I liked was that stockings were a big deal at our house. No nuts and socks in ours, no, we had just presents and clever little items that added to the magic of Christmas morning. I’m still amazed at my mom’s creativity when it comes to gifts for others. The other thing to note about our stockings was that my mom made them, all of them. When I was a little girl, I had one that I think she embroidered. Then at some point she made us all velvet ones, red for girls, green for boys, and the top of the stocking has our names and a little scene that she cross-stitched. They’re all personal and beautiful and she has new ones to make this year!

There were plenty of other things that my family did that I love – the candlelit service at our church, my dad reading the Christmas story as well as the Cajun Night Before Christmas, my mom’s old Christmas albums (that’s right, kids, honest to goodness albums!) I have such lovely memories from the holidays growing up. So now that I’m the mom, what do I do? Which traditions do I pick? I know I can’t do everything? I know some years will be different. But what memories do I want my girls to have when they’re adults and trying to decide what to pass on to their own families?

How about you? What are your favorite family traditions at Christmastime? Which ones did you pass on to your own kids? Or did you adopt ones of your own? 

Oh and I actually got sick (twice!) after my last blog where I did a giveaway so I apologize for how late this is, but the following 5 people won a digital copy of one of my books, please email me. Melanie F., Astrid, Jane, Kristen and Rebe.

The holiday season always makes me think of traditions because that is the one time of that is all about the past. We do the same things for each holiday that we have always done. And this year since I’m living in England coming home for Thanksgiving is more important to me.

My thanksgiving goes a little Italian-American. We have a turkey, mashed potatoes, and regular side dishes you’d see at any American table, but we also have an antipasto that is purely Italian-American and the scent of garlic flavors all of our dishes.

When I was visited my cousins in New Jersey I realized how alike we are despite the fact that I grew up in Florida and she in New Jersey. Our grandmothers were sisters and our moms first-cousins. We visited each other a couple of times during our childhood but saw our great-aunts more frequently, so maybe that accounts for this. But we cook the same things for dinner each night, we put our kids first and make them tell us about their day and we honor the past.

I know this isn’t unique to my family but it is what I like the best about my traditions!

What about you?

In honor of the late Andy Rooney, who seemed like a true curmudgeon but whose segments I always enjoyed on 60 Minutes, I thought I’d indulge in a little Rooney-ism and ask certain eternal questions that plague us all. The first:

Why is that everyone thinks they’re a good driver?

Yesterday, we visited my in-laws in New Jersey, and my husband drove like a maniac, causing me to clutch, clench, stomp on the imaginary brake ten or twenty times and yes, squeal like a little piglet as he flirted with Death. The second we leave Connecticut (home of the most polite drivers in the world, thank you so much), he becomes a different man. Glued to the bumper of the car in front of us. Zipping in and out of traffic. Crossing 10 lanes to get to the EZ-Pass with the shortest line. Yet he thinks he’s James Bond behind the wheel. If only! And here’s the other thing. He got lost. Twice. On a trip we’ve made oh, 120 times or so.

Why is it that everyone thinks they have an excellent sense of humor?

One of my friends from childhood had absolutely no sense of humor. If we were watching a funny movie, I might laugh. This happens at funny movies. Not to her, though. She’d announce, “That’s funny,” in the same tone that she might say, “This milk has turned.” She was all serious, all the time. Her IQ was probably in the genius range.When others in our group got silly, laughing so hard we cried, she might crack an smile. Was she a lovely person? Yes! Good sense of humor? Not that I could see. One day, her boyfriend said something along those lines. “I’m funny, right? she asked me later.

“Oh, um…sure!” I lied. Because what else would you say?

Why is that everyone thinks they’re good cooks?

Now, for the record, I don’t think this. But most people do. My mom, for example, thinks she’s a great cook. For Thanksgiving, she made a broccoli dish…it was supposed to be a broccoli casserole topped with crushed Ritz crackers or something. However, despite the fact that she makes approximately 75 trips to the market the week of Thanksgiving, Mom forgot the Ritz crackers. She then overcooked the broccoli till it was the color and texture of sludge, topped it with cheddar (pre-shredded and frozen for an indeterminate number of years) and, in place of Ritz crackers, used crushed, stale Cheese Nips circa 1995. My brother and I stared at the dish, horrified and fascinated. “Only Mom could make broccoli bad for you,” he said, and we laughed so hard we wheezed. “What?” Mom asked. “I got the recipe from Bon Appetit.”

So in the spirit of old curmudgeons everywhere, how would you finish this line? Why is that everyone thinks they’re…

Thanks to everyone who visited and commented. Great comments and questions.

Here are the results of the drawing:
Emily’s three book give-a-way:
Quilt Lady
Laurie G
Gillian

These winners will need to let me know if they want a Love Inspired historical, contemporary or suspense

I also drew some names to receive copies of Jillian Hart’s “His Country Girl” that I will be sending to:
Melinda Pierce
Becky Lees
Chris Bails
Ellie

So seven winners in all! Everyone who has won–email me your name and snail mail addy. Go to my website www.cindykirk.com and click on the contact me. For those three who won Emily’s give-a-way, I’ll forward your information to her!