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!

This month, Rita-winning author Karen Templeton kicks of the latest Harlequin Special Edition series: THE FORTUNES OF TEXAS…WHIRLWIND ROMANCE. Her book, FORTUNE’S CINDERELLA, is the first of six books in the continuing saga of one of the compelling Fortune family.

* So glad you could join us today, Karen, where did you get the idea for FORTUNE’S CINDERELLA?

From Harlequin’s editorial department, actually. <g> Since FC is part of the ongoing Fortunes of Texas continuity series for Special Edition, I was given a brief overview of the storyline, as well as the character types, which I then expanded on to make them “mine.” Kind of like an actor getting a script (only I then had to write the script, too!).

* Tell us about the hero of the book? Why will we fall in love with him?

Interestingly, I tend to write mostly blue-collar or “everyday” heroes, so writing a rich dude is a stretch. A fun stretch, but a stretch. Scott Fortune was originally supposed to be on the alpha side, too…but that’s even more of a stretch for me than the wealthy thing! It’s the betas that make my knees weak! However, there’s a lot to be said for the alpha protective streak, too…and boy, is Scott protective. To the point where he’s willing to put his posterior on the line with his family in order to take care of the heroine – and how can you not fall in love with someone who does that? But what makes him even more swoon-worthy is that, for all he’s used to manipulating people and events to make things go his way, he quickly learns that the business of love doesn’t work that way…and that sometimes you have to let things unfold however they’re going to. You know, let the other person call the shots some times? A good man, that Scott.

* Tell us about the heroine? Why is she the perfect woman for the hero?

Christina Hastings really is a modern-day Cinderella, a snack bar waitress living in a seedy apartment complex (with her trusty sidekick, Gumbo, a hound who lives to love) while she’s struggling to finish up her college degree before she turns eighty. But although she has little in the way of material things, she’s got enough spirit for ten people…as well as an unshakeable conviction that if you don’t go after what you really want in life, what’s the point of living? Which makes Scott – who’s spent way too many years doing what’s been expected of him, not necessarily what’s best for him – reassess a thing or six. And fall in love in the process.

* What life lessons do your H/H have to learn before they can find their happily-ever-after?

This story is all about letting go of preconceived notions, of who we are and what we think we deserve…or not. That you can’t talk the talk about life being too short to go after your dreams, and then be afraid to take a chance on what could be the biggest blessing you’ll ever know.

* Is there any particular significance in the setting?

Since the entire series has been set in and around fictional Red Rock, Texas, I didn’t get to make up that part. J However, I did find a whole lot of symbolism in those wide open spaces, especially for big-city boy Scott – who decides to trade all those imposed expectations for what, in comparison, feels like infinite possibilities.

* If this is part of a continuity, tell us about your experience working on connected stories with other authors.

In my case, working with the other authors – Marie Ferrarella, Judy Duarte, Nancy Robards Thompson, Susan Crosby and Allison Leigh – was an absolute delight. We have a great time brainstorming plot points and character details with each other, and in my mind at least, this is going to be the Best. Series. Ever. LOL!

* What was the most difficult scene for you to write?

Oh, man – the first three chapters? Take an entire family, add a huge supporting cast, toss in a tornado and an aftermath hospital scene with literally three dozen speaking parts…oy. I *never* write opening scenes with that many people, but in this case, because I was setting up the whole series, I had no choice. All I could do was try to visualize it from a cinematic standpoint, then write it all out as succinctly as possible. Early feedback has been very positive, but shoot me if I ever willing do something like that again! <g>

* Can you share if there were any real-life inspirations for a particular scene or character in the book?

Gumbo! We have our own little hound mix – named Petey – who looks like somebody stuck a beagle head on a corgi body. And he’s every bit as nuts – and as lovestruck – as Gumbo. And the Art Department even put a dog who looks like him on the back cover. Score!

* What do you feel are some of your strengths as a writer and how did those show up in this particular book?

I realized early on I have a pretty good ear for speech patterns/syntax, which make it easier to “hear” my characters – and once I do, they pretty much tell their own stories. It took no time at all to hear Christina, although Scott took a bit more work. But once I did, their dialogue – especially in their first big scene together, when they’re trapped in the rubble after the tornado – just flowed. Very fun scene to write.

* Any interesting tidbits of information you discovered while researching this book?

Yeah. That San Antonio – the general area where the book is set – rarely gets tornadoes. Oops. So we all had to work that fact into the overall storyline to make it plausible!

* Why will readers enjoy this book?

Because Scott is yummy and Christina is adorable and Gumbo is a hoot and a half. <g>

Please leave a comment or ask Karen a question for a chance to win a copy of FORTUNE’S CINDERELLA!

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Since 1998, two-time RITA award winner Karen Templeton has written more than 35 heart-tugging, family-centric romances for Harlequin. An east coast native, she’s called New Mexico home for more than 25 years, where she lives with an ever-changing number of her five sons, two dogs, two cats, and the world’s oldest Beta fish.

   Dear Terri and the Jaunty Quills, thank you so much for inviting me to blog with you.  I hope I don’t let the team down, however, because, far from being jaunty, I’m a particularly droopy quill at the moment — and no, that’s not a tacky sexual metaphor it’s the plain truth. I’m downunder and in a summer heatwave — 104F and the air-con has broken down, so I’m wilting. . .

But still, I’m so pleased to be visiting that I will dip my quill in ice-water (not a rude metaphor either) and forge ahead.

Today I want to talk about “the eye of the beholder.”

One of my favorite scenes in a romance is where the hero sees — really sees —the heroine. It’s one of the first signs that he is truly her hero — he starts to notice things about her that no-one else — not even the heroine — does. He sees her true self, not the ordinary person everyone else sees, but someone special, the woman she will become. Transformed by love.

I’m not sure how popular this is with readers. I love it, but I’ve heard some readers say they want a heroine to be self-confident from the get-go. Me, I like more of a journey.

I like a heroine who can get things done, who is smart and courageous in an everyday sense, who will stand up for herself and others where necessary. But I also like her to have some secret vulnerability, and for me, that’s where the hero comes in, because for me, that’s one area in which he shows he’s a hero.

So my heroines aren’t always conventionally beautiful. That’s particularly true of Isabella, my heroine in my new book, BRIDE BY MISTAKE. Not that Bella’s a gargoyle or anything — just that she’s known she’s plain since she was a kid. Had her nose regularly rubbed in the fact, actually. She’s the only daughter of a widowed father and his highest compliment was that she was almost as good as a son. Almost.

War breaks out in Spain (Napoleon) and Bella’s father is killed. His last words are a warning that a forced marriage is planned by a horrid cousin, and Bella must flee to her aunt at the convent of the Broken Angel. She’s just thirteen…

On the way, Bella is attacked, but is rescued by a young English officer, my hero, Luke Ripton — tall, dark and beautiful as an archangel. He rescues her from the forced marriage by marrying her himself. He then escorts her to her aunt in the convent and rides away to war.

Luke never expects to live long enough for it to matter. But when my story starts, the war is over, the annulment is denied, and Luke, now Lord Ripton must come to Spain to collect a wife he’d almost forgotten and doesn’t particularly want.
And Bella? For years she waited, like a princess in a tower, dreaming of her prince, but by now those dreams have withered on the vine. She’s fed up with waiting, she’s about to turn twenty-one and is determined to leave the convent and make her own life.
Of course, that’s when Luke arrives. . . (There’s an excerpt on my website of that scene)

Bella, having arrived at the convent with nothing, has no pretty clothes but her friends in the convent dress her up, curl her hair, dust her skin in rice flour and paint her lips into a small fashionable bow.

This, then was her husband. Isabella tried not to stare.
He was even more beautiful than she remembered. Eight years ago she’d seen him with a child’s eye. But she was a child no longer and he was… he was breathtaking. Tall, dark, his skin burnished with the sun, a rich dark-gold flush along his cheekbones and such fine cheekbones they were, too. His nose was a strong, straight blade, his mouth, severe and beautiful. And his eyes, dark, so dark they looked black, but she knew from before they were the darkest blue she had ever seen. There was no sign of blue now.
She swallowed and held her head higher, knowing what he would see in her, knowing they were ill-matched. The girls had done their best to make her look as beautiful as they could. It wasn’t their fault she looked as she did. She knew she’d never make a beauty. She desperately wished she looked pretty for him.
But she could see in his eyes she didn’t.
Dear God but it was Mama and Papa again, Papa the handsome eagle soaring high and Mama the plain, dowdy little pigeon, bleeding with love for a husband who never looked twice at her.
Mama’s words rose unbidden to her mind. Guard your heart, my little one, for love is pain. Love is nothing but pain.

And Luke sees a thin, young woman with a too-big nose, garishly made up and covered in frills. But the second time he sees her. . . ahh, the second time. . . That’s the moment for me. And that’s just the start of their journey. . .

So what about you? Do you like a heroine with secret vulnerabilities? Or do you want her to be fully confident and kick-ass? What’s the most romantic scene you can think of in a book? I’m giving a book away to someone who leaves a comment.

Anne

   Anne Gracie spent her childhood and youth on the move, thanks to her father’s job, which took them around the world. The gypsy life taught her that humor & love are universal languages and that favorite books can take you home, wherever you are.

Anne started her first novel while backpacking solo around the world. Originally published by Harlequin, she’s since written nine ST historical romances for Berkley and a novelization of the first “The Tudors” TV series. Anne is a former president of Romance Writers of Australia, a three time RITA finalist, has twice won the Romantic Book of the Year (Australia) and the National Reader’s Choice Award (USA) and has been listed in Library Journal (USA) best books of the year. For more info about Anne and her work –

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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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Today is release day for my very first young adult, The International Kissing Club (co-writen under the name Ivy Adams).

With fifteen books under my belt, you’d think this would be old hat by now, but it’s still exciting every time I have a book hit the shelves. Today is doubling exciting, because it’s the first in so many ways. It’s my first young adult, my first single title, my first book with a publisher other than Harlequin, and–for my writing partner, Shellee Roberts–it’s her first book at all. She’s so super excited she’s bouncing off the wall.

All of these firsts have added up to one excited me. Plus, I just love this book! I really do. And I can say that without being all braggy, because I didn’t write  the entire book. The book is the story of four best friends. Since there were three of us writers, we each wrote the scenes for one of the girls. That leaves me completely open to love the chapters written by my writing partners, Tracy and Shellee.

So do you want to know all the things I love about this book? Here’s my list of my three favorite elements/moments from the book:

• The IKC Facebook Page — since the four friends are spending the semester apart, they decide to keep in touch via a Facebook page. The Facebook updates were so much fun to write and I think they turned out really fun and funny
• All the travel — three of the four girls travel for the semester, so we get to travel with them to Paris, Australia and China
• All the great guys — what would a YA romance be without … well, the romance? And, can I just say how much I love Lucas? Just wait, you’ll love him too.

At least, I hope you will. I hope you’ll pick up the book and give it a try, even if you’re not normally a YA fan. And as a sidenote, we’re doing a a great blog tour and giving away great prizes.

So when was the last time you were really excited about something?

It’s a short blog today – Just one question: What was your most memorable moment of 2011?

I’m going to send a copy of Seducing the Governess to one participant today, and … maybe there’ll be a little bonus prize to go with it! So come on – tell us what you remember most about 2011!

As I look back on 2011 and think of all that I accomplished and all that I just didn’t get to, I see that the year held a number of “firsts” for me.  I consider that to be a good thing.  Acknowledging that an achievement is a “first” means that it’s something brand spankin’ new; a fresh challenge; a pushing at my personal boundaries and looking beyond, even if it’s not the easiest option, which is exactly how I’d classify my approach to my writing in 2011.

So here are my “firsts:”

I went Indie.  I released my first self-published eBook in August

My sensual medieval romance Dance of Desire was the first full-length manuscript I sold to a publishing house, back in the fall of 2004.  It was the first mass market paperback to hit bookstore shelves with my name on the cover (wow!) .  I held Dance of Desire in my hands and marveled that, finally, I’d done it: I’d become a published author, as I’d always dreamed.

At the end of 2010, after my former publisher decided to stop printing paperbacks, I got the rights back to this novel and all of my other previously published historical romances.  I thought then about reissuing Dance of Desire myself, but this meant learning about formatting and all of the other details.  Ugh!  My brain just wasn’t ready for that.

It wasn’t until August that I tackled the daunting learning curve and, with the help of my technical genius husband, figured out how to “make it so.”  I’m so glad I did.  I’m thrilled that Fane and Rexana’s fast-paced, romantic story, which is one of my personal favorites of all the books I’ve written, is available to readers via Kindle and Nook.

I tried a new genre.  My first contemporary romantic comedy written as Cate Lord was published.

Earlier this year, I heard about a new, ambitious company called Entangled Publishing.  I asked my literary agent to submit the full manuscript of my funny, quirky, Bridget-Jones-esque romantic comedy Lucky Girl, to see if they might be interested.  They were.

Let’s face it. We all do it, right? Mentally re-hash all the gifts we got for Christmas or Hanukkah,  or whatever holiday we’ve just celebrated. I’m gonna be honest, this year, my stuffing in my stocking was a little sparse.

My sister always comes through and this year she did. Great gifts from Sis.

My mom is always a spotty gift giver. This year, from my parents I got a scarf that’s not in my colors and a bottle of Grandma’s Spot Remover. Um … okay.

Normally, my in-laws give great gifts, but my mother-in-law passed away this year and instead of gifts my father in law gave us daughters-in-law pieces of her jewelry. Beautiful, priceless heirlooms … but, really, I just wanted to sit and cry. I’d have to be pretty heartless to be excited about that.

My sister-in-law got me a nice toiletry bag. Not bad at all. Very nice.

Okay, you might be wondering about my husband and kids. There was a slight misunderstanding about when we were going to exchange gifts. I told the kids we could do a few family-only gifts the day before we left to visit family. The Geek  thought I meant the morning we left. So there he was, at four in the morning before we flew out and he wants me to open my presents. Only my husband could want to exchange gifts at four in the morning. He did eventually come through with the presents, but for the holiday itself, I had nothing under the tree from them.

I know I sound whiney … it’s just … this Christmas felt a little flat. It probably would have no matter what gifts I recieved. We’re adjusting to life without my mother-in-law. There’s naturally a layer of grief on top of the holiday joy.

But as I was packing up all our presents to head home, I realized something else about this Christmas. I didn’t give as many gifts as I usually do. It was a particularly busy December and a lot of family wanted gift cards, so that’s what I bought. Don’t get me wrong, gift cards are great to get, but they’re not fun to give. I felt no joy when people opened them. No delight in having chosen well and it diminished my pleasure in the holiday.

So here’s my first new year’s resolution: I’m going to buy more gifts and give fewer gift cards. I might still gift a few to supplement those who are hard to shop for, but everyone on my list is getting at least one real gift.

What about you? Did you get great gifts this year? If you don’t celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah , what about for your last birthday?

I’ve been fooled again! I blissfully approach Christmas doing the non-chalant attitude right up until the last-minute panic hits just before the holiday. Then I rush and race around doing all the things that my friends did at a leisurely pace through the whole month. I survive only to discover that the year’s end is rushing towards me at an alarming speed.

Well, it’s happened again — even when I promised myself that I would be ready for it.  And as I’m gathering my markers and getting ready to fill in my 2012 calendar, I like to look back and look ahead–at things I’ve done and things I hope to do.

I am really looking forward to the new stories that are swirling around in my head. As I’ve been revising my first romance novels for re-publishing, I’ve gotten some great ideas for other stories – long, short and in-between. Stories that I never noticed the first time around, ones that now seem intriguing and new.  It’s funny how the excitement builds and all the possibilities look soooo shiny and sparkly ahead. I can feel the itchy feeling that happens when a new idea is swirling around in my brain…I wonder where they will lead me?

I’ll be doing some traveling this coming year — some personal (hubby and I are coming up on our 35th Anniversary in 2012!) and some for my work (both writing and dental hygiene) and, as most of you who know me can guess, even a trip (or two) to Mr. Disney’s World and Land.  (Hey, RWA is being held in Anaheim right across the street from D’land — how can I fight that? LOL)

And one of the best things I’ll be doing is meeting readers throughout the year at signings, chats and through blogs as well as during speaking engagements from Scottsdale AZ to the Pearl Buck House in PA. I hope to see you at one of them!

One of the fun things is looking ahead to all the wonderful romances to be read this year — my favorite authors have bunches of books on their way for me….and you! I’ll be having a couple of books out from Harlequin Historicals (or their UK counterpart-Mills&Boon) and two more of my time travels to re-release. But more on those later!

So, as you look towards 2012, what are your plans, expectations and hopes? Any books you’re waiting for? Anything that will make 2012 special? Do you plan to hit the New Year running or slip gently into it? Please post a note and I’ll choose one to receive a signed book and one of the last of my 2011 wee Disney gifties……….

  Terri is busy finishing up with the Christmas holidays and getting ready for the New Year and for writing her next Highlander novel. Visit her website for lots of info about her upcoming and current releases.

Happy New Year to everyone!

I know that not everyone is a goal setter, but I am. There’s nothing I like better than making a list of things to do and then checking them off. Its a sickness really–I will make a list for any little reason. I love them. But I really use them when I’m feeling out of focus or tired and rundown.

Every January I make a list of goals for the year and I feel refreshed and like anything is possible. A few years ago while I was in the midst of lots of troubling and challenging times, I made a list in August as my kids started back to school. I just couldn’t wait for January to get back on track–I needed it then.

And it worked.

I read some place that there is magic in writing things down and for me that’s always been so. Once something makes it onto my list, which I hang next to my computer monitor so I can see it everyday, I always accomplish it.

I don’t fill my list with impossible tasks or things I know I won’t do. I mean I’m never going to write “go to the gym everyday” on my list. I hate doing that and the thought of it makes me unhappy. But I will write “walk everyday”. I like doing that and it gets me up from desk and it doesn’t feel like exercise.

I also try to put things on the list that there never seems to be enough time for. Things like go on a date with my hubby, reconnect with old friends, talk to my sisters more often and listen to my kids. If you’re a parent you know how sometimes they are talking and your mind is going over what still has to be done. I’ve missed some important things by not paying attention.

Lastly, I’ll include writing goals for projects I want to start and new ideas I want to explore.

What about you? Do you like lists and set goals for yourself? If so what’s your number one goal for the New Year?