Shana: Hi, Jaunty Readers. I know what you’re thinking. Why do you keep allowing Jaunty to interview you when he constantly interrupts and always focuses the interview on himself? It’s simple, really. He threatens me.

Jaunty P. Quills, Porcupine Extraordinaire: Shana! That is not true. I never threatened you.

Shana: Jaunty, you said you’d post covers of The Rogue Pirate’s Bride you Photoshopped with your face over my hero’s all over the internet, including my Facebook page.

Jaunty P. Quills, Porcupine Extraordinaire: That wasn’t a threat. I thought you wanted me to put my face on their cover as a way of apologizing for not writing a book with me in it yet.

Shana: Jaunty, really? Are we back to that again? Can’t we just talk about my new book?

Jaunty P. Quills, Porcupine Extraordinaire: It’s always about you and your books, isn’t it, Shana? What about me?

Shana: Have you written a book?

Jaunty P. Quills, Porcupine Extraordinaire: Um… So, Shana, tell us about your new book, The Rogue Porcupine’s Bride.

Shana: It’s The Rogue Pirate’s Bride, Jaunty, and do you know, I think you and Bastien, my hero, would get along. He’s a pirate, but he insists on calling himself a privateer. Neither of you live in reality.

Jaunty P. Quills, Porcupine Extraordinaire: I live in reality!

Shana: Jaunty, your Facebook page says you’re a romance cover model. Please.

Jaunty P. Quills, Porcupine Extraordinaire: It could happen, but I wouldn’t want to pose for your book cover. The female model is holding a sword.

Shana: That’s because Raeven is every bit as tough as Bastien. In fact, in chapter one, she challenges him to a swordfight.

Jaunty P. Quills, Porcupine Extraordinaire: Does she win?

Shana: Jaunty, I thought you said you read the book.

Jaunty P. Quills, Porcupine Extraordinaire: I might have just skipped to the good parts. And, might I add, there are some very steamy good parts.

Shana: Did you read any of the sea battle scenes? I had to do a lot of research for those.

Jaunty P. Quills, Porcupine Extraordinaire: Do you want me to have nightmares? I’m a lover, not a fighter. There is one thing I’m confused about. Is this book the third in your Sons of the Revolution series? I thought it was titled The Making of a Rogue.

Shana: Yes, it is the third in that series. The first two are The Making of a Duchess and The Making of a Gentleman. But Bastien’s book can be read independently. And it was originally titled The Making of a Rogue. It was even titled Once a Rogue and, very briefly, The Dread Pirate’s Bride. But now it’s The Rogue Pirate’s Bride. Nothing else changed. Only the title and cover.

Jaunty P. Quills, Porcupine Extraordinaire: I suppose now you want me to end by telling everyone more about where to find you.

Shana: I’ll do it, Jaunty. Check out my website for an excerpt from The Rogue Pirate’s Bride  which officially comes out tomorrow, and my blog tour schedule. I’ll be blogging everywhere and giving away books at each stop. In fact, I’ll give away two copies of The Rogue Pirate’s Bride here! Just comment below.

Jaunty P. Quills, Porcupine Extraordinaire: Yes, please comment. Tell Shana why she should include a porcupine in her books or give her a romantic title with the word porcupine in it.

Most writers will tell you the most oft-asked question they receive is where do you get your ideas? Most of us hate this question because we don’t know what to respond. Consequently, we say something like, Sears because it sounds a heck of a lot better than, I don’t know where I get my ideas.

It sounds kind of crazy, but it’s absolutely true. Every idea comes to me differently. Some I manufacture and some just spring to life from some inspiration or other–an article I read, a movie I see, even a TV commercial.

The idea for my new book, The Rogue Pirate’s Bride, had been percolating in my head for several years before I ever set down to write it. I’ve always wanted to write a pirate book. I think the desire started years and years ago when I read the definitive pirate book, The Wind and the Sea by Marsha Canham. I adored that book and read it several times. I wanted to write a book that was that exciting, that sexy, and that much fun.

But it wasn’t until recently that I had the opportunity to do something with my idea. I needed a third book for my Sons of the Revolution series, and when I began it, I had in the back of my mind that the third book would be about a brother who’s a pirate. Then, of course, I got to the third book and realized I actually had to write this book about a pirate brother. I couldn’t even change my mind because both previous books had mentioned Captain Cutlass, and they were both in production.

The problem was that I didn’t know anything about pirates. I didn’t even know anything about ships and sailing. And that was only one problem. The other problem was that when I began the book I had a three-month old newborn. I didn’t exactly have time to do research.

No problem, I thought. I’ll just write what I can and put XX when I get to a place where I need to look something up. You know what happened next, right? The story read like this.

Bastien walked down the XX to the XX. He lifted the XX and peered out at the XX.

I needed help and quickly. So what did I do? I did what every girl does–I called my dad. It just so happens I have a dad who knows how to sail. And it just so happens I have a dad who loves to know all there is about sailing. He’s read all the Patrick O’ Brien books and does his own research on sailing. (Just FYI, I read one Patrick O’ Brien book, but it didn’t have any kissing.) Yes, I also got a stack on books on ships from the library, and those helped me fill in some of those XXes, but what really helped was sitting with my father and reading passages of the book to him. He would tell me the right term or correct an error or ask me a question I hadn’t thought of (like what kind of ship was my pirate on). Of course, he also pointed out other things I didn’t ask about. He told me repeatedly no woman would ever be on a British naval ship-of-the-line. I told him we were going to have to leave that part in there since we needed the woman for the romance (too much Patrick O’Brien, I think).

So, here’s to my dad for all his help and support. To tell you the truth, the book isn’t even dedicated to him. It’s dedicated to my mom and my mother-in-law. but that’s another blog.

Tell me about your dad.  Has he ever gotten you out of a scrape? I’ll randomly choose one person who comments today to win a copy of The Rogue Pirate’s Bride.

Happy 2012, Jaunty Readers! I hope your holiday was as wonderful as mine. I spent last week in sunny, warm Key West with Ultimate Sportsfan and Baby Galen. Baby G’s favorite part was petting a dolphin. I enjoyed learning some pirate history.

Speaking of pirates, The Rogue Pirate’s Bride releases next month and I’m really excited!

Would you like an advance copy? Join my mailing list! I’m sending a newsletter out tomorrow and one lucky subscriber will be randomly chosen Friday to win an advance copy of The Rogue Pirate’s Bride. You can still win it if you join soon!

The Rogue Pirate’s Bride is the last in my Sons of the Revolution series. It’s undergone a couple of title and cover changes, but the story has remained the same. Bastien, the youngest brother of the three Harcourt brothers, is a pirate—I mean, privateer—whose often at odds with the British Navy. He has no idea his brothers Julien and Armand are alive and living in England. He’s too busy seeking revenge on the Barbary pirate who murdered his friend and mentor.

Until he meets Raeven Russell.

Well, he doesn’t so much meet her as he is challenged to a sword fight by our heroine Raeven. She’s the daughter of a British Admiral, and she hates Captain Cutlass because he killed her fiancé in a naval battle.

If you like spunky, fearless heroines and charming roguish heroes…If you like adventure on the high seas and fast-paced sword fights…If you like passion and romance and poignancy, you’re going to like this book!

And one more bit of news for you. My publisher Sourcebooks is hosting an e-book promotion celebrating the “First in Series.” My own The Making of a Duchess, the book that began my Sons of the Revolution series, is available digitally for $1.99 via participating e-retailers (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes/Books, etc.) until January 8, 2012. If you received an e-reader for Christmas, this is a great time to add The Making of a Duchess to your e-collection.

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So I know it’s December, and I’m supposed to blog about holiday-ish things. Something about shopping or materialism or traditions or new traditions or decorations or austerity. But I can’t stop thinking about pirates.

Pirates have nothing to do with Christmas, but they have a lot to do with my next book, The Rogue Pirate’s Bride, which will be in stores on February 7. I thought I might tell you a little about this book in case you get everything you want for Christmas and are looking for things to put on your Valentine’s Day list.

Revenge should be sweet, but it may cost him everything…
The Marquis de Valère escaped certain death in the French Revolution and is now an infamous privateer. Out to avenge the death of his mentor, Bastien discovers himself astonishingly out of his depth when confronted with a beautiful, daring young woman who is out for his blood…

Forgiveness is unthinkable, but it may be her only hope…
British Admiral’s daughter Raeven Russell believes Bastien responsible for her fiancé’s death. But once the fiery beauty crosses swords with Bastien, she’s not so sure she really wants him to change his wicked ways…

Interested yet? Okay, how about some early reviews?

“Readers seeking wildly exciting escapades, nonstop action, rapier-sharp repartee and a heated romance need look no further.”
—Kathe Robin, RT Book Reviews, 4 1/2 stars, Top Pick!

“The highborn swashbuckling hero and the resourceful, fearless admiral’s daughter make an unusual, intriguing couple, and steamy romance heats up the pages.”
—Publishers Weekly

“…a fast-paced, swashbuckling tale of piracy, dangerous scheming, and intrigue. You’ll love the predicaments Raeven gets into and her inventive ways of getting out of them. Don’t miss this historic treat. It’s one you can’t put down.”
—Viki Ferrell, Fresh Fiction

Still on the fence? Maybe you’d like to win an advance copy. I’m giving one away to one lucky member of my mailing list the first week of January, so if you haven’t joined my list join today.

Oh, and happy holidays!

At this time of year, we’re all thinking about how thankful we are for good health, family, friends, financial security, good food, and more. I am thankful for all of those things, but most of all, I am thankful my parents instilled in me a love of learning.

The other day Baby Galen and I were looking at a book and talking about the different shapes. By which I mean, she was pointing to a picture of a shape, and I was telling her the name. She would get so excited to learn a new shape. When she learned oval, she ran around the house looking for anything oval she could point to an practice her new word.

I know Baby Galen is not the only kid like this. I see toddlers and pre-schoolers act like this all the time. They are so excited to learn and incredibly enthusiastic about gaining new knowledge. Their brains really do seem to be endless sponges that just soak and soak and soak up everything they see and hear.

But, as a former teacher of middle and high school, I can tell you this love of learning does not last. Most seventh graders do not rush into class excited to learn about pronouns. Most high schoolers do not pick up The Taming of the Shrew and exclaim joyfully.

So what happens? When does learning become something to be dreaded instead of something fun? I know teachers try to make it fun. I know I did, and I often succeeded. And I know I also had to say, “School isn’t always fun. Sometimes it’s work.” But I didn’t do anything to make learning shapes fun for Baby Galen besides introduce the book and spend time looking at it with her.

I won’t say I always enjoyed every class. I certainly never found the Pythagorean Theorem or the laws of physics exciting. But I did have a basic love of learning all through school, and I still do. The other day I was writing a new proposal and used the word castrati. I needed to look it up to make sure I was being historically accurate, and of course, that meant I had to read lots of articles unrelated to my tiny mention of the word and even listen to a castrati sing.

I didn’t need to do any of this research. One click would have answered my question. But I love learning. I wanted to know more. And I want to thank my parents for spending time teaching me new things, answering all my questions, and helping me find the answers when they couldn’t. I know the subjects dear to my heart weren’t always the ones they would have chosen for me, but they always supported them.

And for that I’m thankful.

This might be a little heavy for the day after Thanksgiving, but what are your thoughts on learning? Why do kids start to dislike it? Why do those who retain their love of learning keep it?

There’s nothing as exciting to an author as a new book cover, and my new cover is even more exciting to me because I have been waiting a long time to see it. Finally! Here is Bastien’s book!

Some of you have been waiting a long time too. This is the third in my Sons of the Revolution series, and it was pushed back from publication in April. It will now be published in February 2012.

If you’re thinking that the title changes as well, you’d be right. It was originally titled The Making of a Rogue, but as you can see that morphed into The Rogue Pirate’s Bride.

I’m so sorry for any confusion this has caused, and I’m sure all of you who were kind enough to pre-order The Making of a Rogue and then Once a Rogue will sigh with frustration when you have to go and pre-order The Rogue Pirate’s Bride.

Maybe I can ease that frustration for you? How about an excerpt? Click here to read an excerpt.

Want more? How about a copy of The Making of a Gentleman? How about 2 copies? Great! Just let me know what makes pirate heroes so sexy, and I’ll randomly pick two people to win signed copies of The Making of a Gentleman (the story of Bastien’s twin brother Armand).

In August I decided I needed to get back into shape. My clothes were a little too tight, and I was huffing and puffing on my way up the stairs. As many of you know, it’s not easy to find time to exercise when you run a house, write books, and have a toddler who wants your attention every waking moment. I tried going to the YMCA and working out, but Baby Galen would nap too long or I would need to run errands or…there was always something.

And then I saw a boot camp class advertised in the YMCA booklet. It was three days a week from 5-6 a.m. Nothing is going to get in the way at 5 a.m., and Ultimate Sportsfan is home with Baby Galen. So I invited a friend to join me and signed up. To my shock, my friend agreed to do it too, which meant I actually had to show up. I couldn’t exactly invite someone else to be tortured in the wee hours of the morning and then sleep in.

So I’ve been going to boot camp for a month, and I am getting in better shape. I’m still sore and still huffing and puffing, but I’m doing it. And I’ll probably sign up for the next session too.

I feel like I’ve learned a few things from fitness boot camp I can pass on to you.

1. Pace yourself. Learn to slow down or say no when you’ve already got a lot on your plate. There’s usually 20 push ups still to come!

2. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. I am not embarrassed to admit I’m one of the last people when we do relays or sprints or pretty much anything. I’m not fast, but I am persistent. I can run three miles. I just can’t do it fast. And you know what? That’s okay. This is my workout, and it matters what I’m getting out of it. So don’t compare yourself to others (especially those bouncy college girls). Just do your best.

3. Just do it. September was probably the worst month for me to decide to wake up at 4:30 a.m. three times a week. I had a book due October 1st, a book out September 1st, book signings, a blog tour, and Baby Galen’s birthday to plan. But I knew if I didn’t do it then, I might never do it. So I went for it. Yes, September was inordinately hard, but October feels like a piece of…healthy celery stick compared to September. So don’t hold back. If you want something, make it happen.

Have you ever done a fitness boot camp or something else that was a real challenge for you? One person who comments will win a copy of my contemporary Reality TV Bites (written as Shane Bolks). The main character in the book has some real challenges to overcome.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess we had a little flub today, and I wasn’t supposed to be blogging. But today’s blog is my responsibility, and I needed to get something up fast! So I grabbed this fun blog that originally appeared on September 23 at Love Romance Passion. If you’ve already seen it, sorry for the repeat.

In my new historical romance, Lord and Lady Spy, both the hero and heroine have secret identities. He’s secret agent Wolf, and she’s secret agent Saint. The fun thing is that while Sophia and Adrian have been married five years, neither knows of the other’s secret. And how the sparks fly when the truth is revealed!

I love stories with secret identities. This isn’t my first secret-identity book and probably won’t be my last. Why are secret identities so sexy?

1. When you have a secret identity your secret self can do things your public self never would. As Lady Smythe, Sophia would never tell her husband what she wanted from him in bed. But as Agent Saint, she’s more than happy to give a few orders.

2. Secret identities mean lots of midnight rendezvous and clandestine meetings. Sometimes these dark, furtive meetings can lead to more than simply spy business.

3. Secret identities mean dressing the part. A dowdy lady of Society can dress as a sexy siren when she’s playing her role as spy.

4. Secret identities mean secret scars. How much fun to compare battle wounds, especially when they’re in interesting places!

5. Secret identities mean you have an excuse for slipping away from a boring ball or house party. On business—or pleasure!

6. When you have a secret identity you have the chance to meet your spouse all over again for the first time. Who wouldn’t want to experience that initial spark of attraction again?

7. A secret identity as a spy means Sophia and Adrian have to come up with lots of explanations for prolonged absences when they’re working on a mission. But they also get to travel the world.

8. Secret identities mean secret talents. Sophia has skills with a dagger, and Adrian’s a crack shot with a pistol.

9. Secret identities mean you don’t get much share of the applause for your accomplishments. On the other hand, your accomplishments often bring you into contact with the most powerful men and women of the day. Why, yes, prime minister, I would like to come to dinner!

10. And, finally, secret identities are sexy because it’s a secret we the reader know and the characters don’t know. At first. I love to guess how the hero or heroine will realize the secret and how he or she will react. I think this scene in Lord and Lady Spy is pretty sexy and exciting.

Do you like secret identity stories? What makes them sexy? Our JQ friend Mia Marlowe is offering a copy of her latest, Improper Gentlemen, to one random commenter!

This is a picture I took of Baby Galen about 6 months ago. She’s crying because I wouldn’t give her the camera to slobber over and drop. I took the picture and framed it because I wanted some reality along with all the cute, smiling photos.

And here’s one of those, too.

You moms and dads know that sometimes you have to say no to your tot and not give in to their demands. You know it’s actually bad to always give in because then the child doesn’t learn limits, boundaries, rules, and to deal with disappointments, challenges, and setbacks. So hopefully since being denied the camera didn’t kill Baby G, it will make her stronger one day.

I think I mentioned in a previous blog that I had a lot of trouble writing Lord and Lady Spy, which is on sale tomorrow, by the way. I just couldn’t get the conflict to work. I put it away and came back to it later. When I came back to it, I was dealing with a very personal crisis. I’d lost a baby when I was eleven weeks pregnant.

The miscarriage was completely unexpected. Ultimate Sportsfan and I were just about to tell everyone we knew our good news. We’d already told our parents, and we were just waiting for the one last formality of the doctor’s visit.

I remember every moment of that awful appointment beginning when the nurse could not find the baby’s heartbeat. At first no one was really concerned. Eleven weeks is kind of early to hear the heartbeat, and we’d seen the heartbeat at seven weeks. But I had a little nervousness, especially when the doctor asked me to come into the ultrasound room.

Still I was kind of happy because I looked forward to seeing my baby again on the ultrasound screen. I waited and watched the black screen and heard the doctor make a distressed sound. She said, “I don’t see a heartbeat.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“I’m going to have another doctor look and get a second opinion,” she said and stepped out. I looked at Ultimate Sportsfan, and he put his head in his hands. That’s when I knew.

Losing that baby was the worst time of my life, and like all of you, I’ve had some rough times. I have never cried so much, never felt so hopeless or depressed, never asked why and shook my fist at God as much as I did in the aftermath of that miscarriage.

To say I was devastated is a gross understatement.

Fortunately, I have a really supportive husband and friends who were there for me. I healed, very slowly, but I healed. And one thing that helped me to heal was writing about miscarriage.

As I said, I came back to Lord and Lady Spy after some time away. I came back after my miscarriage, and when I read over what I’d written, I realized Sophia’s inner conflict was that she’d had a miscarriage, actually three miscarriages. She doesn’t want to go through that pain again and has, consequently, excluded Adrian from her bed. Even as they begin to repair their fractured marriage, she keeps him at a distance.

Sophia is not me. Her thoughts are not my thoughts, and her pain is not my pain, but I hope that some of her thoughts and feelings can speak to the pain every woman who has lost a child knows.

Now I don’t want to mislead you. Lord and Lady Spy is not a serious, contemplative novel about pregnancy loss. It’s a fun book with lots of adventure, but it does have its serious moments and characters dealing with very real problems.

I dedicated the book to mothers—especially those who know the pain of loss. This blog is dedicated to you too. And all of you, hug your little ones a little tighter, but however long they cry and scream, don’t give them the camera.

Tomorrow is September. You do not know how long I’ve been waiting for it to be September! I’ve been waiting years for it to be September, even though I didn’t know it.

I started writing a book I called Lord and Lady Smythe in 2007. I worked on it, put it away, worked on it some more, wrote other books, tried to get it published, put it away again, and then in 2010 I dragged it out one last time.

I had always been in love with the concept for the book. What if Mr. and Mrs. Smith (like the movie with Brad and Angelina) lived in the Regency? Two married spies who don’t know the other’s secret identity who have to work together? I loved the premise, but I couldn’t make it work.

Until 2010. I finally figured out what was keeping these characters apart, what was driving them, what made them interesting enough to fuel a book.

And now four years later, Lord and Lady Spy, which has been with me for so long will finally be available to all of you. See why I’m so excited for September?

I want you to be excited about September and Lord and Lady Spy too. I’m giving away five copies of an excerpt book featuring an excerpt from Lord and Lady Spy. It also features excerpts from authors you love like Zoe Archer, Katharine Ashe, Monica Burns, Robyn DeHart (yes, one of our own!), Lila DiPasqua, Elizabeth Essex, Alexandra Hawkins, Sophie Jordan, Vanessa Kelly, Kris Kennedy, Mia Marlowe, Ashley March, Elisabeth Naughton, Miranda Neville, Heather Snow, and Emma Wildes.

Want a chance to win? Just tell me what you look for in a book excerpt.

Oh, and if you get a chance, check out my blog tour. There are tons, seriously so many, opportunities to win a copy of Lord and Lady Spy, and it all begins Friday.

And don’t forget tomorrow begins our Guess the Jaunty contest. Check back daily and comment on blogs by our Mystery Jaunty!