Intrigue's Latest Continuity

Harlequin Intrigue's latest continuity launched this month. Look for
the Kenner Country Crime Unit books that run from January all the way
through September. Here are the titles and authors:


Secrets in Four Corners --Debra Webb (January)

Profile Durango, Carla Cassidy (February)

Snowed in with the Boss, Jessica Andersen (March)

Criminally Handsome, Cassie Miles (April)

Collecting Evidence, Rita Herron (May)

Pulling the Trigger, Julie Miller (June)

She's Positive, Delores Fossen (July)

Captive Hearts, eharl online read, Delores Fossen (August)

Final Analysis, Elle James (September)



So, tell me. Do you read continuities, or do you prefer regular
Intrigues?

Delores Fossen

Teapots and teacups

Meet the latest addition to my collection of teapots and teacups. It was a Christmas gift and the first I've added in a long time. I LOVE it. Very art deco, and because of all the gold trim, it goes so well with a lot of my other pieces.

When I was stationed in England in the 80s I used to take five pounds (about $7.50) to the market several times a month, and I'd always come back with a teapot or a cup or two. It was so much fun, and when I unwrapped this cup and saucer, it was like shopping in Cambridge, England, all over again.

So, what about you--is there something you collect?


Delores

CONFESSIONS OF A FICTION-WRITING TEACHER

Those that can, do...those that can't, teach. You've heard that, right?

I beg to differ.

Some say one of the insanities that many successful working writers get involved in is to teach others to replace them. I guess I'm insane because I've been doing it in various ways ever since I was first published twenty-five years ago-by giving workshops, then running adult ed classes and private classes.

For the past twelve years, I've taught credit classes-Writing Popular Fiction and Suspense-Thriller Writing-for students at both undergraduate and graduate levels at Columbia College Chicago-a college noted for visual, performing, media and communication arts. Columbia hires working writers, filmmakers, television directors, artists, theater people and many, many others to bring up the next generation of creatives.

So why do I do it?

THE SPY WHO FOOLED ME

As I was staring at my laptop screen, contemplating the next action scene in my WIP, I was startled by a burst of laughter. When I looked up inquiringly, my husband handed me the front page of THE BALTIMORE SUN. The headline said, “Laurel Man an Iraqi Spy.”

An Iraqi spy in the town of Laurel, Maryland, made famous by the 1972 shooting of George Wallace? Yeah. From my husband’s reaction, I was pretty sure who it had to be. The grandfatherly guy who owned Gourmet Shish Kebab, the restaurant where we sometimes stopped for lunch or dinner. The place was decorated with artificial flowers and plastic hanging plants. The tables and chairs would have been at home in a VFW hall. Service was cafeteria-style from an open counter. But what the place lacked in ambiance, it made up with the food. Since we’re on a low-carb diet, Mr. Al-Dellemy, the proprietor, would obligingly fix us a plate of mixed kebabs–with cabbage and salad instead of rice and pita bread. He called it his “protein special.”

Gourmet Shish Kebab attracted quite a mix of people. Soldiers from nearby Fort Meade. Defense Department types from NSA. Moslem families. And groups of Middle Eastern men who turned out to be from the Iraqi Intelligence Service, stopping by for the hummus and the sensitive information collected by the proprietor, code name Adam. According to the SUN article, he’d been spying for the Iraqi government since 1989. Now he could spend five years in jail.

Adam, who always sat behind the cash register, was good at his job. Starting with the nicely spiced kebabs and the easy conversation. He knew how to chat you up. To find out what you did for a living. And where you lived. He said he had a PhD in psychology. So why was he running a kebab joint? That should have been a clue there was something funny in kebab land.

Did I tell him anything he could pass on to Baghdad? Probably not–unless Saddam Hussein wanted my recipe for low-carb Key Lime Pie.

Maybe you’re thinking it’s ironic that the author of more than fifty suspense novels couldn’t recognize a real life spymaster when she stumbled over him. I’ll go with--his disguise was so perfect. He was the last guy I’d expect to be funneling information to a foreign power. Yet he must have been using his customers from Fort Meade and NSA as sources of information.

After reading the newspaper account of his activities, I was tempted to stop by and see how Adam is doing. Is he still sitting behind the counter, next to the cooler with the Cokes and bottled iced tea? On second thought, maybe I don’t need to have my picture snapped by the FBI agents in the parking lot.

Instead, I’m going to turn the tables and make use of the old spymaster. Of course, his name will be changed.. From Adam to Arnie? But how about a restaurant owner in one of my books who charms state secrets out of his patrons and passes them on to a hostile government halfway around the world. Will you believe it when you read it? Or will you say–that could never happen?

And now about the Key Lime Pie. It’s one of my favorite desserts. And if you’d like to try my low-carb version, I’ve put it on my Web site (www.rebeccayork.com) under “About Ruth” then “Cookbooks.” If you don’t cook much, you probably don’t realize that one of the main flavor ingredients, in addition to key lime juice, is condensed milk, which is very high in sugar. I figured out that I could get the same taste with evaporated milk and whipped cream. Unfortunately, I’m making myself hungry now, so I may be running out of the house soon to get a bottle of key lime juice.

Rebecca York

2nd Annual Holiday Blog Blitz Wrap-up and Newsletter Note and Public Speaking Faux pas!

Wow--that title is a mouthful.  But an excellent articulation exercise if you say it out loud (that's the speech teacher in me ;)

Happy New Year!

I had originally signed up to post today because I'm the keeper of the list of award winners for the blog, and had planned to post a final list of all the reader winners from December's blog blitz.  But, with the new format here on the blog, we've been able to post the daily winners as we go along.  So, CONGRATULATIONS!! to all the winners who'll be receiving (or have already received) their prize books!  But I won't bore you with another list ;)

Instead, I'm here to make a deal with you...

Since the site was down for 4 days during the blog blitz, due to technical difficulties, we missed 4 days of possible winners.  So, if there's anyone out there who didn't get his/her name drawn during December, post a question or comment to today's blog.  The first 4 commenters (whose names aren't listed in the lefthand margin already) will get to choose a book from my backlist and I'll send you the prize!  With a few exceptions, I have copies of all the titles listed at my website.  Once I know who the 4 winners are, we can work out the titles you'd like to read.

Everyone is welcome to comment, of course.  By next Monday, if we don't have 4 new names, I'll open it up to repeat winners.

But the gist of today's blog is--there are 4 more books to give away!!

*****

Need something to blog about?  How about sharing your favorite tongue twister or proudest/scariest public speaking moment.  Trust me, in all my years of teaching speech/theater and directing plays, I've got some doozies.

I could tell you about locking my hands on the podium and not being able to sit down when I was finished with my persuasive speech (embarrassing to have the professor come up and pry your hands open and whisper to come see her in her office for some tips on speech anxiety--that meeting was a blessing! made me always incorporate ways to deal with public speaking stress as part of my curriculum when I became a teacher)

Or, the football player who fainted giving a speech--this guy was so big, he had to duck and turn sideways to get through the doorway.  But yep, he was nervous enough to pass out.  You could see the color draining from his face before he slumped.  And then, boom!  He made a big noise when he hit the floor.  We tried our best, but he was too big to catch--and too macho to take the suggestion that he lie down and put his feet up.

Or, there was the time when I was in the middle of a "fight" scene onstage--my costume broke.  In order to continue the scene, I ripped off the skirt that wouldn't stay up and continued wrestling with "Helen Keller" in my pantaloons!

*****

And, on a side note, for those of you who've asked me (and anyone else who might be interested), my monthly newsletter is now posted on my website at www.juliemiller.org.  It's updated the first of every month.  So you don't have to sign up to receive anything, you can just go check it out whenever you want!  Thanks.

Julie Miller

Ahhh, love

Ahhhh, love is in the air.

No, I'm not just talking about books, even though my Jan. Intrigue, BRANDED BY THE SHERIFF, definitely has a love story. I'm also talking about a wedding. My son, who's a lieutenant in the Air Force, popped the question to his girlfriend, and they're now engaged. Yay!

The proposal was a surprise to his girlfriend--first he gave her a Christmas ornament with a gawdy fake ring in a glass box. He told her next year they could put it on their first Christmas tree. (Paraphrasing here) She asked--we'll have our first tree next year? And he said--we will if you'll marry me.

Ahhh.

So,tell me your favorite proposal story, and to celebrate all this love in the air, I'll give away a copy of my Intrigue, SECURITY BLANKET.

Delores

The Secret of Imagination According to Ann Voss Peterson

I love action figures. It probably stems from my love of making up stories. From the time I could remember, I loved inventing my own stories, and action figures were the perfect way to act those stories out.

When I was a kid, female action figures didn’t exist. My brother had G.I. Joes. You know, the good twelve-inch-tall G.I. Joes with Kung-Foo grip and life-like hair. His were peace-loving former soldiers who belonged to the Adventure Team (since Vietnam had made military toys no longer politically correct at that time). G.I. Joes could do a lot of fun things. For me, the biggies were shooting guns and riding horses. Barbie could do neither of those things. Her hands couldn’t hold a gun, and she couldn’t sit astride one of my many model horses. Those deficiencies in Barbie left me playing with G.I. Joes and wishing for a day when female dolls could do everything the male dolls could.

Flash ahead a few years–
Before I sold my first novel, I was a professional window washer. Kind of an odd choice for a job, I’ll grant you. But I was a creative writing major in college and needed to make a living. There were many dirty windows in the world in need of washing, so my brother and I started a business to answer the demand. One of our regular clients was a former NFL quarterback, and he had a collection of memorabilia in his office that included an action figure of himself in uniform. Well, I thought that was just about the coolest thing ever. Just think of it! An action figure of yourself! What could be more bizarre and fun than that?

Flash ahead a few years–
I am a published novelist writing stories for a living. But I still haven’t gotten over my love for action figures. Only now there are female action figures in stores. I can collect my favorite strong, female fictional characters and use them to decorate my office. Super heroines like Batgirl, Hawkgirl, The Huntress, Wonder Woman and The Invisible Woman. Villains like and Harley Quinn (because I write for Harlequin, don’t you know). And my favorite movie characters - so far I have Eowyn from Lord of the Rings, Elizabeth Swan from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Princess Leia from Star Wars and Marion Ravenwood from Indiana Jones.



I have a few odds and ends, too. The head Ringwraith is here so Eowyn can kill him (no man can kill him, after all). And I have a Cairo bad guy for Marion to hit over the head with a frying pan (above). And there’s my newest addition that my brother gave me for Christmas, the Barack Obama action figure (“an action figure we can believe in,” it says on the box). He also bid on a John McCain, in the interest of bipartisanship, but wasn’t able to win him on Ebay.



Although I’ve realized my childhood dream of gender equality in plastic action figure form, I cannot forget the yen for an action figure of myself. What would she do? Slay a bad guy with a pen? Bash a villain over the head with a laptop? Or would she be sucked into the world of her books, having to duke it out on the page with serial killers while being mistakenly chased by the law and falling in love with a cowboy?

Well, I may not ever have a little plastic me to play with, but inspired by a November interview I did at the Writers At Play blog, I discovered something close. An animated me! And so here I am, dressed in something I might wear to a winter writer’s conference.




I’m a little wacked, I know. I suppose when you make up stuff for a living, some wackiness is bound to rub off. Or maybe I’ve just always been this way. But I’ll tell you a secret. It’s a boat load of fun. And if you haven't figured it out, that is what I believe is the secret of imagination. Fun. Play. So why not let your imagination loose to celebrate the new year? What were your favorite toys as a kid? And do you still get the urge to play with them now?