The Jaunty Quills are happy to welcome Cyndi D’Alba!

This post is proudly a stop on the TEXAS TWO STEP Blog Tour. For a complete listing of all stops on this tour, please visit here. All contests are for U.S. residents only unless otherwise noted. Comments left on this blog will be counted toward the Texas Two Step Faithful Follower Gift Certificate. To see a complete listing of Blog Tour Prizes, click here.

Ever since I heard this vicious rumor about Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, I’ve decided that we cannot be friends. I know, I know. It is shocking that I would rebuff any friendship overtures from Her Grace, but I’m afraid I must. So what has she done that is so heinous? One word…PANTYHOSE. She’s wearing pantyhose on all public appearances. And you’re thinking, so what? Here’s what…fashion authorities say she is single-handedly bringing pantyhose back into fashion. No! Say it ain’t so, but alas and alack (I threw that in for your historical writers!) it appears to be.

When I was growing up, girls were not allowed to wear pants (including jeans) to school. We were restricted to skirts and dresses. (Why yes, this was the dark ages. Why do you ask?) Through the sixth grade, all the girls wore shorts under our skirts. How else could we do flips and climbs on the monkey bars without the boys seeing our pretty white panties?

When we graduated from elementary school to junior high in the seventh grade (now called middle school), shorts were left behind with all our other childish ways and we started wearing nylon stockings, complete with a girdle(!) and garters, not that any of us needed a girdle. (As a side note, my favorite girdle was purple paisley print. I doubt I could get that puppy stretched around my thigh today, much less my hips!) I can still recall the pain of those garters digging into my thighs. Somewhere around eighth grade, pantyhose began showing up in stores. We gladly traded girdles and stockings for the comfort of pantyhose, which remained a staple in my wardrobe for years

Somewhere in the late eighties or early nineties, professional/business women began appearing with tanned, bare legs. I remember seeing a bare-legged Heather Locklear playing a sexy business professional onMelrose Place. At first, I was appalled. After all I was a professional and every day I struggled to pull those tight, thigh squeezing, runner-prone pantyhose up my legs. Pantyhose were considered to be a required article of dress for a female professional.

I tried alternatives like thigh-high hose. Wow. Was that a disaster. Let me just say that thigh-highs were not made for my chubby thighs.

The day finally came when nude legs could be worn in the workplace and a southern woman still be considered professional. I wept with joy on that day. Personally, I believe it should have been a national holiday, but I digress.

In Texas Two Step, my February Samhain debut, the heroine, Olivia wears thigh-highs as part of her wedding attendant attire. Here is a quick excerpt on Olivia’s thoughts about wearing hosiery.

As she hurried through the lobby to the Promenade, her three-inch strappy heels clacked on the white and black tile of the foyer. Hosiery and she were not close friends. Heck, they were barely acquaintances. Normally, she avoided wearing stockings when she could, but for tonight, thigh-high black silk stockings made a sexy swoosh sound as she race-walked. She liked it.

So that’s what the heroine thought. What did my hero, Mitch, think about her thigh-highs?

The sexy swoosh of silk stockings teased him as she neared. He swallowed hard. Mitch’s heart got a beat faster with each step she took, until it raced as she stepped beside him.

And

He stroked fingers along the inside of her thigh, the silk of her stockings tickling and enflaming her flesh at the same time. “Your silk stockings drive me wild,” he said, nibbling along her chin. “Your skin was always silky and smooth. I love to touch you. I’ve always loved to touch you. I loved the way you moaned and twisted at my touch. The way your eyes would glaze over when I stroked you.” His hand moved higher, stopping at the top of the stocking. “But tonight, I want—no, need—to see you in these stockings. These stockings, my necklace and nothing else.” His voice was coarse and guttural and harsh.

So what about you? Did you grow up wearing pantyhose? Girdles and stockings? Thigh-highs? Nude legs? Tell me about your leg coverings.

Today’s TTS Blog Tour Prize

Many guest bloggers can offer a copy of a backlist book to be given away as a potential prize for a blog commenter. As a debut author, I don’t have a backlist. But I do have some awesome author friends who have stepped forward and offered one of their books as a prize. Today’s TTS Blog Tour Author Sponsor is HQ Super Romance Author Liz Talley. Liz will send Vegas Two Step to one lucky person who leaves a comment. To find out more about today’s Blog Tour Sponsor, you can visit her website, Twitter or Facebook.  

To learn more about Cynthia D’Alba check out the links below:

• Her website 
• Friend her on Facebook
• Follow her on Twitter
• Join her and her fans at her group Blog 
• Sign up for inside scoops and special contests by receiving the newsletter she shares with her blog buddies.

Texas Two Step is available for preordering at Samhain, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble and I will be forever in your debt if you would buy it!

This week I’m celebrating the release of “Jackson Hole Valentine” (on shelves January 24).  This book is my 25th book for Harlequin!!

Here’s a little teaser about the book: 

When Margaret Fisher’s friends were killed in a tragic accident, she suddenly found herself co-guardian of the couple’s six-year-old son.  Cole Lassiter was the last man she ever wanted to see again after he’d broken her heart in high school, but she’d do anything–even move into his house–to be a mother for Charlie.

Successful entrepreneur Cole still felt betrayed by Meg…and couldn’t imagine sharing anything with her, let alone a son.  But while adolescent wounds ran deep, so did their very grown-up attraction for one another.  And as they learned to be  good parents to Charlie, the mismatched pair were also learning about forgiveness–and the power of forever love.

I first sold to Harlequin in 1999 and that book came out in 2000.  My title was “Faith on a Harley.”  The title it came out under was “Unforgettable Faith.”   If you haven’t guess it, those books were inspirational romance (romance with a faith message).  I wrote for Love Inspired for a number of years as well as Silhoutte Romance (which no longer exists) before moving to Special Edition.  In addition to writing for Harlequin, I’ve also written two contemporary romances for Avon.  And, until this past June, I was working full time!

In celebration of this release, I’m giving away three books from my RX for Love mini-series–of which Jackson Hole Valentine is a part–to one lucky commenter.

All you need to do is tell me what quality you like to see in a hero to be entered into the drawing.

Let me also shout out a big THANK YOU to everyone who’s bought my books and posted a good review.  I appreciate your support!

JACKSON HOLE VALENTINE by Cindy Kirk is out on January 24!

Shh, don’t tell anyone but I’m having a love affair.  Not with another man, but with the elliptical. 

It’s been a long time since I’ve found some exercise or piece of equipment that I love so much.  Years ago  I loved playing raquetball.  In fact, at the gym I go to now (which I went to back then) I won the novice raquetball league.  I had a wicked serve.  But then I developed heel spurs from all the stop and starting you do and that love affair ended.  Not to mention, raquetball took a nosedive in popularity.

I moved on to Jazzercise.  A lot of the movements aggravated those heel spurs.  It’s a bite when you get injuries from trying to be physically fit.

Golf was another sport I loved.  Played in several leagues but gave it up when I started writing.  There was only so many hours in the day and something had to go.

Though all these different passions, I continued to walk several miles a day.  I love it when the weather is nice but when it turns cold- not so much.  I’m then forced to walk indoors on a treadmill…ugh.  Even while watching a television show or a DVD, I find it, well, boring.

But after all these years of searching I’ve found another passion…the elliptical.  I listen to my iPod and watch television.  I sweat, er perspire, and burn a lot of calories.  I think it’d be hard to hurt myself so I’m hopeful that this is one love affair that will last.

Have you found something that you love to do as much as I love the elliptical?

Tell me and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win my February release, Jackson Hole Valentine.

 I love this book and think you’ll love it, too.  Winner will be announced Sunday night at 9pm Central Time. So, comment and check back then!

Sandi,

Just contact me through my website www.cindykirk.com and give me your snail mail information.  I’ll get it to Victoria and she’ll put The Perfect Mistress in the mail to you!

The Quills are happy to welcome NYT Best Selling Author Victoria Alexander.  How’s your Christmas preparations going, Victoria? 

I love this time of year, even if I do tend to go just a tiny bit insane. Okay, my family would say I go more than a tiny bit. Right now, I’m trying to get ready for Christmas, for two parties at my house and for my kids to both be home. Add to that trying to promote my latest book—His Mistress by Christmas—my upcoming book—My Wicked Little Lies (out January 31^st) and write a new Christmas book for next year. Who wouldn’t be insane?

   But I have had a revelation. In the book I’m currently working on (right now called What Happens at Christmas) my heroine is trying to provide the perfect Dickensian Christmas for a prince she is trying to impress. Nothing, of course, is going well. And it dawned on me that striving for perfection at Christmas is exactly what I do and exactly what drives me nuts.

 I keep trying to have the magical, perfect Christmases I remember from my childhood. Where the decorations were perfect and the tree was perfect and the holiday treats were perfect and everyone received the perfect gift and everything was, well, perfect. I want my kids to have those same sort of memories. But my memories must be clouded by the passage of time. My childhood Christmases couldn’t possibly have been perfect. Real life is not perfect.

 And, you know, when I try to remember specifics about those years, I can only really remember one. I grew up in the Air Force and one year, my dad was away.  A few days before Christmas, my mom said she had a special present for me and I should go look by the tree. So I went into the living room and there was my dad. I remember how he hugged me and how his uniform was all cold from being outside and how he smelled of frosty air and love.  And that was the best Christmas present I ever got. It was perfect.

            So, it doesn’t really matter if everything is perfect. If the tree falls down. If dinner is three hours late. If you have a small fire . . .

            I am taking deep breaths and in spite of my annual chaos, I am trying to adopt a new attitude. Because I have finally realized, the magic of Christmas has nothing to do with perfect. As long as you are with the people you love, whether in person or just in spirit, Christmas will always be perfect.

 What is the most perfect gift you ever received at Christmas?

 Everyone who comments will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of  His Pefect Mistress.  The winner will be announced Sunday night at 9 pm so check back then!

Thank you to Cindy Kirk for inviting me to hang out with the Jaunty Quills! I’m a little starstruck at the moment, but just give me a minute …
OK, I’m fine now.
In case you don’t already know, I head up the new romance novels blog at USA Today called Happy Ever After (I hope you’ll check it out!). I’ve been blogging at HEA for only about two months, and as my brain becomes more and more consumed by all things romance, I’ve realized that I can mark some of the major events in my life by what romance novel made a big impression on me at the time. Here are three of those life-defining books for me:

No. 1: Ashes in the Wind by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
Life-changing event: Finding the fictional niche that would shape my life and career.
I was always a voracious reader, even going so far as to actually enjoy many of the books I had to read for English class as a kid. But something changed in my head when I read my first romance novel, and I was hooked. And THEN I read Ashes in the Wind by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, and I got that feeling in the pit of my stomach. You know the one: At first you might think you just want a brownie, but it’s actually a fierce longing for this couple to get together. I loved that feeling. Alaina’s strength and Cole’s unwavering belief in her in that book epitomize, for me, what makes romance novels so satisfying. Not even a bitter, polarizing war could keep them apart. Love really does conquer all. Sigh. This book made such an impression on me that I even used the name Alaina for the heroine in my third book, Found Wanting. I also used “Cole” as a hero’s name in an as-yet-unpublished novel.

No. 2: This Calder Sky by Janet Daily
Life-changing event: Realizing I’d fallen in love
I was reading This Calder Sky when I realized for the first time that I was in love. I was in high school at the time and it was the ’80s, meaning I was a virtual kindergartner in the love department compared with today’s teens. But about halfway through the book, the light bulb above my head blinked on. I had something in common with this heroine: A member of the opposite sex was driving me crazy. Not with lust – I was only 14. OK, maybe there was a little lust (hormones, you know). But the point is that the jumble of feelings in my head suddenly made sense: I was in love. Maybe I was a little slow on the uptake, considering all the romances I’d read by then, but there you go.

No. 3: Hot Ice by Nora Roberts
Life-changing event: Discovering that my genre as a writer was romantic suspense
I was already writing romantic suspense by the time I read Hot Ice. I just didn’t know it. Seems unbelievable that I was writing in a genre I didn’t even realize existed, but, hey, the Internet wasn’t all that handy in 1987. At any rate, I’d been writing romantic suspense novels for at least four years by then but hadn’t read any (that I can remember), other than Gothics about the big scary house and suspicious hero whose point of view wasn’t included. I’d read lots of suspense written by men, especially Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Sidney Sheldon. The difference, for me, was that my books had a much greater emphasis on the romance than on the suspense. Then I picked up Hot Ice, and everything clicked. I’m sure there were plenty of other romantic suspense novels out long before Hot Ice, but that was my first – and the one that set me on the path to becoming a published romantic suspense novelist.

So, because of Hot Ice, I’ll be celebrating the release Tuesday of my seventh romantic suspense, True Shot. It’s the third in my True trilogy (and my favorite!). I hope you’ll get a chance to check it out. Two readers who comment below by Wednesday, Dec. 7, will win a signed copy. (International readers welcome!)
Here’s a question to get the ball rolling: Is there a romance novel that you associate with a life-changing event in your life?
You can find me (and an excerpt of True Shot) at JoyceWrites.com, happyeverafter.usatoday.com, Facebook.com\AuthorJoyceLamb and @JoyceLamb on Twitter.
Thanks for stopping by!

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!

The Jaunty Quills are pleased to welcome Harlequin associate editor, Emily Rodmell today.
Good morning. I’d like to thank Cindy Kirk for inviting me to visit with you all today. My name is Emily Rodmell, and I’m the associate editor for Harlequin’s inspirational romance imprint Love Inspired. That includes three separate lines: Love Inspired (contemporary inspirational romance of 55-60K words), Love Inspired Suspense (contemporary inspirational romantic suspense of 55-60K words) and Love Inspired Historical (historical inspirational romance of 70-75K words). I’ve worked with Love Inspired for almost seven years now and have had the privilege to acquire almost 20 new authors for the lines. I’m very passionate about these stories, and wanted to take a moment today to share with you both some of the great reading experiences that the lines offer as well as a great opportunity for writers.

Inspirational romance is basically romance that is targeted toward women of faith. It will have a great story, plot, conflict and characters. But it generally won’t have things like sex, cursing, drinking or anything else that would go against the values of a Christian woman or man (yes, we do have male readers!).  I’ve been thrilled to work on a ton of great stories that I think would appeal to any reader and love the variety of different themes and settings that I get to work with. We strive to make our stories relatable and not preachy. So if you’ve always thought that inspirational equals a sermon, think again. We do require an element of faith, but it can simply be your characters living a Christian life. There doesn’t have to be a conversion scene or a church scene.

I’ve become active on Twitter in the past year or so (@EmilyRodmell) and have challenged many of my followers who have never read inspirational to try one of our books. The responses I got almost all had one common thread: the readers (who ranged from super sexy paranormal fans to sweet non-inspirational romance fans) were surprised at how much they enjoyed the story. So I’d like to challenge you all to try a Love Inspired title as well. We have everything from Amish romance to heart pounding suspense to sexy outlaw heroes. Here are some books that I worked on this year that I would particularly recommend. If you try one, then definitely find me online (Twitter or here: http://community.harlequin.com/forums/love-inspired/editors-corner-chat-emily-rodmell ) and let me know what you thought, good or bad.

Amish: The Farmer Next Door or The Christmas Quilt both by Patricia Davids (You might be thinking “Amish romance? Is there such a thing?” But it’s actually one of the most popular genres out there these days.)
Sweet Romance: Longing for Home by Kathryn Springer (This book doesn’t come out until January, but it’s fabulous. You won’t be sorry if you put it on your wish list.)
Royal Intrigue: Princess in Peril by Rachelle McCalla (One of my favorite books of the year. It will keep you on the edge of your seat.)
Fast Paced Suspense: Holiday Hideout by Lynette Eason (It opens with the heroine saving the heroine and her infant from a bank robbery and doesn’t stop moving from there.)
Historical Outlaw Hero: The Reluctant Outlaw by Karen Kirst (If you think inspirational means goody two shoes characters, try this one. It might change your outlook.)
Strong Female Historical Heroine: Marrying Miss Marshal by Lacy Williams (A woman in a man’s job in the old West.)

And if you are an aspiring writer, there are some great opportunities for you in Love Inspired as well. All three lines are open to submissions from both published and unpublished authors. But Love Inspired Historical is especially looking for new voices. We’re open to any setting and time period up to World War II. I personally love to see new and different settings, strong heroes and heroines and stories that have an interesting twist that catches me by surprise. So I encourage you to give Love Inspired Historical a try. Unpublished authors should send a query letter and synopsis to me at 233 Broadway, Ste. 1001 New York, NY 10279, but have a full manuscript ready in case I love your concept and want to read it right away. Let’s think big, right?  Published authors can send a proposal (synopsis and 3 chapters) to the same address or have your agent email it to me.

To inspire you both as readers and writers, I’m happy to give away three of our books to commenters randomly chosen by Cindy. If you want to be included, leave a comment with your preferred genre (contemporary romance, romantic suspense or historical romance,) and I’ll send you one from your chosen line. I’d also love to hear your thoughts about inspirational romance in general. Does it intrigue you or turn you off? And I’m happy to answer any questions that you might have about writing inspirational romance.

Thanks to everyone who posted. Great comments!

Mimi, you won the drawing of Sarah Wendell’s book “Everything I Know about Love I Learned from Romance Novels.”

Please email me from my website www.cindykirk.com and give me your snail mail addy and I’ll put the book in the mail to you!