“What’s a Pinaholic?” you might ask…unless you already know about Pinterest, a site where users can “pin” and save images and other media to themed “pinboards.”

Some of my pinboards are themed: Books I Love; Quotes; The Writing Life; Health; Dream Home; Recipes to Try; Work in Progress; and My Book Covers (along with thirty-one others). The wonderful thing about this site is that the possibilities are endless. You can easily set up a board for anything you’d like to gather. Let’s say you’re interested in beekeeping, you can set up a board for that and pin photos, articles and videos about beekeeping.

The idea is that this is a place to easily pin, categorize, organize, share and discover interesting information. The good people of Pinetrest have even developed a  “Pin It” button that you can add to your computer toolbar or header so that when you stumble across something you can push the “Pin It” button and with a couple more clicks you’ve added the item that captured your fancy.

I’d like to believe that Pinterest has helped me cut down on my compulsion to shop online. Instead of “buying,” I add an item to one of my boards. Later, if I absolutely have to have it, I can easily find it and make the purchase.

It’s also great for creative inspiration. I used to make collages of my works in progress so that I could capture the theme and feel of my books. I’d include photos of people who looked like my characters, photos of their houses, their communities – anything that captured the essence of the book. Now, with Pinterest, I just click the “Pin It” button and add photos to my “Work in Progress board.” I used to have to download, print, size and paste these photos to a piece of poster board. Pinterest is a very handy time saver in that regard.

Although, I mus caution you that it’s so much fun that sometimes it’s easy to get absorbed in pinning just one more image… before you know it, hours have gone by. The other day, I found a little ditty that said, “Quit Piddling and Write Your Book!”  I pinned it on my board called “The Writing Life.”

Is anyone in the JQ community on Pinterest? If so, let me know and I’ll follow you. If you’d like to check out my boards, you can find me at http://pinterest.com/nancyrthompson/

On another note, my book FORTUNE’S UNEXPECTED GROOM has been on BookScan’s Top 100 list for the past four weeks! In celebration, I’ll give away a free copy to someone who leaves a comment today about interesting themes for Pinterest  boards.

Thanks so much to everyone for posting!

I’m a quote collector. I love stumbling across a quip or a pondering that strikes a chord.  It probably started back when I was a kid and my mother – trying to help me loosen my mind-grip on whatever was troubling me – offered the Prayer of Serenity. Now, I have the saying taped to my computer and refer to it when I’m struggling with something I have no control over. Sometimes it’s my saving grace.

Another of my favorite quote comes from the philosopher Voltaire: “Perfect is the enemy of very good.” It serves as a gentle reminder when I’m having trouble letting go of something … say, a book I’m writing… because it’s not quite there yet…. Sometimes I want to stop – or worse yet, not even start- because I can’t get it as perfect as I think it should be. Then I remember, it will never be perfect, because nothing is perfect. Perfect is, indeed, the enemy of very good.

Jordana Fortune, the heroine of my latest book, FORTUNE’S UNEXPECTED GROOM – book five in Harlequin’s latest Fortune’s of Texas series, would’ve benefitted from Voltaire’s little ditty. In her quest for perfection – being the perfect daughter; cultivating the perfect life; finding perfect love– she almost misses out on “living” altogether.  That is, until fate blows her right into the arms of Tanner Redmond and turns her entire belief system upside down.

Along their journey, Tanner and Jordana realize that the most perfect kind of love is imperfect; it encourages a person to be herself and knows that even on those very human bad days there’s a safe haven in the forgiveness of unconditional love… which reminds me of another favorite quote from Marilyn Monroe: “I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, you sure don’t deserve me at my best.”

Those are words we can all remember when we’re feeling less than perfect.

Do you have a favorite quote? If so, please share it with us. Each person who comments will be entered in a drawing to win a copy of FORTUNE’S UNEXPECTED GROOM.

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Be sure to check out all six books in the newest Fortunes of Texas: Whirlwind Romance series

Available Now:

FORTUNE’S CINDERELLA – by Karen Templeton

FORTUNE’S VALENTINE BRIDE – by Marie Ferrarella

MENDOZA’S MIRACLE – by Judy Duarte

FORTUNE’S HERO – by Susan Crosby

FORTUNE’S UNEXPECTED GROOM – by Nancy Robards Thompson

Coming in June 2012

FORTUNE’S PERFECT MATCH – by Allison Leigh

While most people fight rush hour traffic on their way to and from work, I pour myself a second cup of coffee and remain in my jammies or a comfy pair of sweats.

But there are times when writing can be a lonely profession, especially when my family or friends are heading to the mall, the movies, or my favorite restaurant for dinner, and I can’t go with them because I’m struggling to make a deadline.  That’s when my office becomes a dark, dank writing cave.  And I have to admit, it’s not fun to be chained to my desk when I’m struggling with stubborn characters or plot holes.

However, that’s not the case when working on a continuity series, especially the Fortunes of Texas.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with the process, I’ll tell you know how it works.

Suddenly, out of the blue, my agent calls and tells me that I’ve been invited to take part in a new series.  And I’m thrilled.  I’ll even shuffle other deadlines, just so I can take part.

Next the continuity bible, a detailed account of the series, arrives via email.  There’s an overview of the series and the continuity plot that begins in book one and builds until the wrap up in book six.   A brief synopsis of each book in the story, is included, including a cast of characters, certain locations, and other details.

Last comes the list of participating authors, their contact information, and their assigned books.   The authors then contact each other and work together to create six solid romances in a successful series.

Some authors don’t like the constraints of following the plot details created in the series bible, but I’m not one of them.  I love looking over my story assignment and making those characters my own.  I also enjoy hammering out plot or character issues with the other authors.

My most recent participation in a continuity series was the Fortunes of Texas:  Whirlwind Romance.  My book, MENDOZA’S MIRACLE, was the third of six books. 

In book one, FORTUNE’S CINDERELLA by Karen Templeton, a tornado strikes Red Rock and affects the lives of all the characters.  My hero, Javier Mendoza, was critically injured in the tragic event.  And it’s not until book two that his family and friends learn that he’s going to live.

So what happens in my story?

Here’s the back cover blurb:

From the Desk of Leah Roberts

Review of Patient Case

Name: Javier Mendoza

Age: 31

Condition: Injured in Red Rock tornado—still hospitalized. Recovering nicely. Too handsome for a hospital bed. Too sexy for his own good.

Prognosis: Likely to cause racing pulse, sleepless nights and hospital gossip.

Course of treatment: Walk away, STAT!

The Fortunes and the Mendozas had been anxiously awaiting Javier’s recovery. Finally he was on the mend, and no one was happier than his nurse, Leah Roberts. She’d been his rock during the ordeal, but now she was having thoughts that were most unprofessional. She was losing her heart to her flirty, sweet-talking patient.

But did Javier also have a case of true love?

When the Jaunty Quills asked me to blog, I thought it might be fun to discuss continuities, especially the Fortunes of Texas, and their appeal to readers.

So if you have any thoughts, suggestions, or questions, I’d love to hear them.  In fact, I’ll be giving away autographed copies of MENDOZA’S MIRACLE to two lucky commenters.

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Be sure to check out all six books in the newest Fortunes of Texas: Whirlwind Romance series

Available now:

FORTUNE’S CINDERELLA – by Karen Templeton

FORTUNE’S VALENTINE BRIDE – by Marie Ferrarella

MENDOZA’S MIRACLE – by Judy Duarte

FORTUNE’S HERO – by Susan Crosby

Coming in May and June 2012

FORTUNE’S UNEXPECTED GROOM – by Nancy Robards Thompson

FORTUNE’S PERFECT MATCH – by Allison Leigh

The Jaunty Quills are thrilled to welcome Susan Crosby to the sisterhood today. She and I are chatting about her new book, FORTUNE’S HERO, the fourth book in the latest Harlequin Special Edition series,  Fortunes of Texas – Whirlwind Romance.

Nancy Robards Thompson: Welcome, Susan! Please tell us about your latest book.

Susan Crosby: FORTUNE’S HERO has an older hero and younger heroine who are such complete opposites you’d never think they could end up with a happily ever after.  Garrett Stone rescues Victoria Fortune after she’s crushed in the aftermath of a tornado, then he disappears into thin air.  Victoria never gets to thank him, so a few months later she goes in search of her unsung hero.  Garrett thinks he’s perfectly content with his life.  He and the many stray animals who come or are brought to him on his ranch are content together.  They don’t need a woman around.  But even his dogs start to favor the lively Victoria, and Garrett can’t fight his feelings forever.

NRT: What life lessons do the hero and heroine of FORTUNE’S HERO learn before they earn their happily ever after?

SC: Victoria learns about true passion, not just for the man she comes to love but for a particular, satisfying kind of work in a world vastly different from what she’s known all her life.  Garrett learns he can count on another person.  This is huge for him.

NRT: Why will readers enjoy this story?

SC: Garrett is an old-fashioned cowboy, a modern day knight in shining armor—and he wants no gratitude from the woman whose life he saved.  How Victoria wriggles her way into his life leaves him baffled, amused and ultimately deeply in love.

NRT: That sounds fabulous, Susan! I can see why readers will love it, but what will they enjoy the Fortunes of Texas series as a whole?

SC: I personally love the Fortunes, the whole continuity of family and all it entails—support, criticism and a love you can count on, no matter what–unconditional but also honest.

NRT: They sound like quite a bunch!  On another note, what’s a typical writing day like for you?

SC:  I start early in the day because I’m a morning person.  I’m generally done by 2:00, which gives me time for other things.  I begin by reading what I wrote the day before and making changes, if necessary, then move into new material.  When I stop, I almost always write a few sentences about what happens next so that I have a place to start the next day.  It’s rare for me to work on Saturday, and never on Sunday.

NRT: What was your path to becoming a romance writer?

SC: I read THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss in my late 20s.  That fueled the fire for me.  I wrote a few historical romances just for fun, then abandoned that to return to college in my 30s.  After an 8-year pursuit of a bachelors degree in English, as well as raising a family, I got serious about writing for publication.  By then I was more interested in writing contemporary romance.  I went to book signings and talked to authors.  I read like crazy.  Then I sold the 2nd book I wrote—because I’d done so much preparation in advance, I felt.

NRT: What advice do you have for aspiring romance writers?

SC:  Writing is a learned skill.  Yes, you have to be a good storyteller, first and foremost, but the mechanics of writing is a skill you develop.  I had no idea was conflict was when I started.  I thought it meant fighting, and I didn’t like fighting.  Then I learned that conflict drives the whole story.  What is keeping this couple apart now?  More important, what could keep them apart forever?  How those conflicts get resolved in a believable way is the biggest challenge.

FORTUNE’S HERO is my 36th book, and my fourth Fortune continuity.  I love revisiting the Fortune family as much as I love creating my own fictional families.

Award-winning, nationally ranked #1 bestselling author Susan Crosby began writing in 1992 and made her first sale a year and a half later to Silhouette Books, a division of Harlequin Books.  She was selected as their Premiere Author, which is their “rising star,” for Silhouette Desire for her first novel, The Mating Game, released in 1994.

She has since published 35 more novels, including the current FORTUNE’S HERO for Harlequin Special Edition.

Susan has made the USA Today and Borders best-seller lists, and has been nominated for or won every major romance award, including having one of her books, His Seductive Revenge, named by Romantic Times magazine to their Top 400 Romance Novels of the past 2 decades, a list culled from 25,000 books.

One of the things I love most about writing romance is the watching my hero and heroine fall in love. I love writing the ‘first kiss’ scene. I guess there’s something about it that awakens the memory of my own first kiss. I was 14, and even though it doesn’t sound very romantic… it happened at a roller skating rink. What makes it memorable is the anticipation and how much Iliked this boy. His name was Mike, and he was my first real boyfriend. I’d had fleeting crushes, but not no one returned my feelings… until Mike. It was a long, slow process leading up to that momentous first … months of shy flirting and “chance meetings” orchestrated by my best friend Millie. Then, like kids graduating from trikes to training wheels to a real bikes, Mike and I were off and rolling on our own – literally…we were on roller skates.  Gosh that sounds awkward, and it probably was – we were, after all, two geeky, gawky clueless fourteen year olds. But I don’t remember that being the case. What rises to the surface is the rush of liking and being liked, the sweet, clumsy hand holding, and the anticipation of that perfect moment that ended in our first kiss. In my memory, it really was perfect, and even though I haven’t seen Mike in decades, it still makes me all warm inside remembering that night.

Where was your first kiss?

I’m on the last few days of a deadline today. On Tuesday, I will turn in this book, which will be the second installment of my Celebrations, Inc. mini-series (the series will be released September, October and November 2012). In celebration, I’m throwing an end-of-deadline party.  I’ll provide the champagne and balloons. What will you bring?

The other day as I was taking a break from my work in progress, I came across the above Romance Writer “meme.” I laughed over it, repined it to one of my “Pinterest” boards (OMG, have you discovered “Pinterest” yet? If not, run! Save yourself…it’s more addicting than computer card games…) and got back to work like a diligent writer-do-be.

You see, I’m a few (long) days away from typing THE END on another book. Armed with my detailed “story board” and three dimensional characters who are calling the shots (at this point in the process, I’m just the scribe), I’m living full-time in “Story Land.”

That made me think about another misconception about the Romance Writing process, and it dawned on me that there could be another “Meme” for a writer on deadline.  I may be lost in “Story Land,” but friends, family and my editor probably see it another way.

At this point in the process, I’m pretty sure this is how my family sees it (or more aptly, this is how they see me):

This is what my friends see (because I usually go MIA around this time):

This is how my editor views this part of the process (why is it so hard to let go of a book???): 

When, actually, this is what’s going on (in my mind):

Unless the muse and/or the characters aren’t playing nice… then this is what’s happening:

I suppose I can see how that might be mistaken for this:

But they did have full warning:

I’d better get back to the book… But first, are there areas in your life that others don’t necessarily view the same way you do?

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Coming in May 2012
Fortune’s Unexpected Groom

By Nancy Robards Thompson

Book 5 in The Fortunes of Texas: Whirlwind Romance series

The Jaunty Quills are thrilled to welcome Marie Ferrarella to the sisterhood today. She and I are chatting about her new book, FORTUNE’S VALENTINE BRIDE, the second book in the brand new Special Edition series Fortunes of Texas – Whirlwind Romance.

Nancy: Welcome, Marie! Please tell us about your latest book.

Marie: In a nutshell, it’s about a woman who has been in love with the hero forever. She even went to college and majored in business so that she could come to work for him and show him how indispensable she was to him (men can be so dumb). When the hero has his near-death experience, he decides to live life to the fullest, which in his case means winning the woman he let slip though his fingers in college. He comes up with a campaign to make her fall in love with him and to help him, he decides to utilize the heroine. He uses her as his sounding board. Because she loves him and wants him to be happy, the heroine goes along with this—much to the horror of her best friend, the hero’s sister.

NRT: What life lessons do the hero and heroine of FORTUNE’S VALENTINE BRIDE learn before they earn their happily ever after?

MF: The hero discovers that what you wish for doesn’t always turn out to be what you actually want. In his case, he thought the woman he’d been with in college was the woman of his dreams—but she was everything he didn’t want—and the woman who could make his dreams come true was right there beside him all along (Like the Taylor Swift song You belong with me).  As for the heroine, she realizes that wishing and hoping that the man she loves will come to his senses and realize that she’s his perfect match isn’t “just” going to happen. She has to take a proactive stance with him.  And, in the end, she does.

NRT: Why will readers enjoy this story?

MF: Ah, it’s the eternal girl-next-door-in-love-with-the-handsome-but-blind-popular-boy  story—with enjoyable banter (I hope).  We always root for the girl next door because most of us arethat girl. And who doesn’t love a happy ending?

NRT: Why will they enjoy the Fortunes of Texas series?

MF: This particular installment of the Fortunes of Texas series deals with the family coming to terms with and recovering from having a near-death experience because of a storm and Mother Nature’s wrath. They’ve all gone through an ordeal and we watch how that ordeal has affected them and how it makes them grow as people.

NRT: Marie, you are amazingly prolific. You write for three different Harlequin lines, and you have books out every month this year. How in the world do you do it?

MF: I don’t sleep—and there are family members stuck to my kitchen floor.  (Okay, maybe I exaggerated the last part, but I only sleep between 4 and 5 hours a night). By my standards, I’m slower than I used to be because back when my kids were little, I took care of them, my husband (men require care and feeding and occasional watering) the dog, the house and my mother-in-law who lived with us and needed to be taken to most of the doctors in the lower half of the state.  Still got the husband and the dog, the kids are mostly taking care of themselves, my mother in law still requires daily servitude, but sadly, my house no longer looks as if it belongs to Martha Stewart. All I can say is if I wasn’t lucky enough to have editors and a publisher who want me, I’d still be writing and trying to find a market—it’s an addiction.  I love escaping into the worlds I create and having a scene come together or a page of dialogue “pop” is one of the greatest natural highs I’ve ever had.

NRT: What was your journey to becoming a romance writer?

MF: It was a very bumpy journey fraught with self-doubt.  I collected my first rejection slip from Children’s Digest at 11 and enough rejection slips after that to decorate two of the walls at Grand Central Station. I wrote musicals, historicals, teleplays, poetry, you name it, I wrote it—the only thing I’d never written was a flat out romance because I’d never read one. The agent I had suggested I try my hand at that. I did and we sold my first book 4 months later (November 15^th to be exact).  My agent called to tell me the good news—and my then 3 year old daughter threw up all over the kitchen floor right after I hung up. Things like that keep you grounded.

NRT: What advice do you have for aspiring romance writers?

MF: The best piece of advice I can give them is to never give up. If you believe in yourself and want this badly enough, hang in there no matter what anyone says. I had an English teacher in college spend half an hour once telling me that anyone who ever said I had any talent in writing had lied to me;  and the editor who eventually bought my first book at Silhouette initially told my agent she really didn’t like my writing (I have the letter to prove it). She also told me (after buying several Desires) that I didn’t have what it took to write a larger book (like a Special Edition). But you see, you never say never in this business and if an editor says “No” take it as a “Maybe” and keep hammering at Heaven’s door. It’ll open eventually if you just keep trying (and don’t pay attention to your bleeding knuckles).

Born in West Germany, arrived in the U.S. at four, I began writing when I was eleven. I began selling many years after that. Along the way, I acquired a Masters in Shakespearean Comedy from Queens College in N.Y, a husband and two kids (in that order)—the dog came later. My first romance was bought by Second Chance At Love November of 1981. The road from there to here has two hundred and six more sales to it. I’ve been published by Silhouette, Harlequin, Zebra, Harper, Bantam and Berkeley. I’ve been fortunate enough to have received several Rita nominations from the Romance Writers of America Association over the years, with one win for FATHER GOOSE (in the Traditional Romance Category). I’ve also been nominated several times in various categories by Romantic Times Magazine.  I hope to be found one day—many, many years from now—slumped over my computer, writing to the last moment. But before then, I would dearly love to write a successful screenplay. My goal has always been to entertain.