APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS

THIS MONTH WE ASKED INTRIGUE AUTHORS

Do you garden? 

What’s your favorite flower or plant? 

Or is your favorite flower delivered in a vase?

ELIZABETH HEITER

HUNTED 

Harlequin MIRA, January 2014 

When I moved into my current house, it was winter and I had no idea what was in the gardens, so I waited anxiously to find out what would bloom in the gardens.  The answer?  Mostly pricker weeds that promptly grew to 3-feet tall.  Other than a few daffodils and irises, there wasn't much.  So, it was a lot of fun to yank out those weeds and replace them with roses, hibiscus, hydrangea, rose of sharon, peonies, and other assortments. 

I also dragged in 800 pounds of rocks to border another garden so I'd have more space to fill with flowers.  But some of my very favorites are probably my orchids, which brighten up my house even in the dead of winter. 

ELLE JAMES

THE WITCH'S DESIRE

Harlequin Cravings 
May 2014

I love flowers! All the colors bring a smile to my face every time. I haven't always been fortunate enough to grow them, but the house I live in now has the best sun to grow flowers and I've been lucky each year to have a beautiful flower garden. 

I planted a lot of azalea bushes that bloom in the spring and again in the fall. I planted tulips to welcome spring in each year. 

In late April, early May, I plant my annuals. Usually I'll put in begonias and vinc (periwinkles) and marigolds. I have the pleasure of enjoying them all summer long. 

Which flower is my favorite? Hard to say. They all bring me joy! 

ANGI MORGAN

NAVY SEAL SURRENDER

Texas Family Reckoning Book 1

Harlequin Intrigue, May 2014

I'm sooooo not a gardener. But I am surrounded with great gardens here in my hometown and take a ton of pictures to share on my blog and on Facebook.

I do try rosebushes, but I don't have much light in my yard--so more power to 'em for sticking with me! My favorite flower is an Apricot Queen Anne Rose...mainly because it's right by the back porch and has outlasted my black thumb.

April in Texas is bluebonnet season and this year they were awesome. We searched all day for a picture like this. I will definitely be framing it for our wall.

JENNA RYAN

BLACK ROSE

Harlequin Shivers

April 2014

Sorry to say, I don't garden at all.  But I do love looking at other people's lovely gardens.  My favorite flower would definitely be a deep red rose, the kind that smells so beautiful. 

And of course, I'm doing a whole series for Shivers where the titles have flowers in them, so that's an ongoing theme. BLACK ROSE, BLOOD ORCHID, AND SCARLET BELLS.  I'm currently working on a fourth book which is called DARK LILY.  See?  Like I said, all about flowers.  Well, and a lot of shadows.

PATRICIA ROSEMOOR

ANIMAL INSTINCTS

I'm a long time self-taught gardener, but five years ago, I became a Master Gardener, trained by University of Illinois Extension to be a volunteer to help other people with their gardening problems.  That training has helped me improve my own garden, and it has made me more aware of a sustainable lifestyle. I recycle, I compost, I add native plants to my garden to help with storm water runoff, which is a serious problem in big cities. 

My city backyard is totally a garden as you can see the in the attached photos. I spend as much time as I can reading or writing in my garden every summer. It is my greatest pleasure. My heroine Skye in Animal Instincts reflects on the healing nature of her (my) garden. But, writing as Lynn Patrick with a partner, I was able to give  my gardening knowledge to my heroine, Heather, in A Forever Home. 

AIMEE THURLO

UNDERCOVER WARRIOR

Harlequin Intrigue, July 2014

Here is a photo taken today of a Columbine, a plant Aimée and I planted three years ago. Last year it didn't bloom at all, but this year it's bigger and more beautiful than ever, and that means a lot to me.

Our heroine in the July 1st Copper Canyon Intrigue, UNDERCOVER WARRIOR, has a dream of buying her own farm someday and working with her hands, growing things. Here is an excerpt from UNDERCOVER WARRIOR:

Erin led the way outside, then hurried over and crouched by the tiny plant. At the tip of its sole slender stalk was a small stem with new growth and two leaves. In the center was a tiny perfectly formed bud. “Look!” 

 

REBECCA YORK 

DIAGNOSIS ATTRACTION

Harlequin Intrigue, April 2014

I love to garden.  My favorite flowers are the azaleas that bloom here in the spring.  I wish they lasted longer, but I do have early blooming varieties and later ones, so the color lasts for about six week.  Here I am with some of the ones in my front yard.

JULIE MILLER 

THE BRIDESMAID'S BODYGUARD

June Free Online Read at www.Harlequin.com 

(a prequel to KCPD PROTECTOR, August 2014)

I'll confess, I'm not much of a gardener--too many allergies!  Fortunately, my hubby has a green thumb and we have a lot of flowers around our house.  I love a riot of colors--nothing too lined up or perfectly sculpted for me.  An iris is my absolute favorite flower, but impatiens are a close second.  I have a stand of irises across the front of my house.  I'm bummed this year because a late freak sleet/snow/ice storm pretty much decimated the iris that were coming up, so I probably won't have many (if any?) of those this year.  

But it's an annual tradition at my house to go to the local nursery on Mother's Day and pick out a bunch of flowers to put around the house in colorful pots I've collected over the years.  I love to get lots of impatiens and bunch up related and contrasting colors to show off against our white house.  My job is to pick out what I want, and my hubby plants them for me.  I help a little with the tending.  But since I have the distinction of being able to kill even a cactus, no one lets me do too much but enjoy the flowers all summer long.

BEVERLY LONG 

HUNTED

Harlequin Intrigue, Aug 2014

One of my favorite things in the world is a flower garden in bloom.  I live in the Midwest but that doesn’t stop me from getting excited in February about gardening, anxious in March, and ready to go in April. This year it is way too cold to be planting flowers, yet I’ve already been to the garden center and have bought many flats of annuals and have started filling pots.  Of course I’m covering them with a sheet at night so that they don’t get too cold! I suspect that amuses my neighbors.

I generally do about thirty pots every year so I have to get an early start. Plus, I like to plant annuals in my perennial gardens to give them a boost of color.  I don’t have a favorite flower, although I am partial to Cosmos and Zinnias and for early spring, nothing beats a big pot of pansies.  Here’s a picture of my early efforts. 

We hope May brings our readers many happy blooms !!  You can catch us everyday on Facebook. Send us a copy of your favorite Intrigue in your "blooms" and be entered in a special giveaway.

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DIAGNOSIS: ATTRACTION

by Rebecca York    

Miniseries: Mindbenders   

Dr. Matt Delano's life is turned upside down by his intense connection to a beautiful amnesiac.

No medical test could ever detect what Dr. Matt Delano experiences while taking the pulse of his beautiful amnesia patient. For a few shocking moments, he feels more deeply connected to Elizabeth Forester than he thought humanly possible. And to his shock, a scorching sexual heat flares between them.

As a professional, the handsome doctor tries to stay away from Elizabeth, but finds it impossible. He'll risk his life to help her regain her memory and discover who's trying to kill her—and why. Only then can he try to solve the more baffling mystery of their powerful bond: What's turned two loners into passionate soul mates?

Read the Excerpt     

Buy the Book    

BRIDAL JEOPARDY

by Rebecca York

Miniseries: Mindbenders

P.I. Craig Branson finds himself falling for a woman he should be staying far away from.

Love at first sight can't begin to describe the attraction detective Craig Branson feels when he locks eyes with gorgeous Stephanie Swift. It's more powerful, passionate and deeply emotional than anything he's ever felt. But the P.I. is in New Orleans to track down a killer…not to have a fling.

Still, he can't resist the intense sexual pull he feels the first time he kisses Stephanie. He'll risk everything to rescue her from her rich, possessive fiancé. Taking her on the run, Craig faces danger from two relentless pursuers—one who would expose the secret of their bond…and one who would keep him from his soul mate forever.

Read the Excerpt    

Buy the Book

Collaborating to Publish a Romantic Suspense Collection

Patricia Rosemoor, Rebecca York and Dana Marton have banded together with seven other successful romantic suspense authors to publish DANGEROUS ATTRACTION, a collection of their works--this includes Patricia's SEE ME IN YOUR DREAMS, Rebecca's CHRISTMAS CAPTIVE, and Dana's DEATHSCAPE. The nature of the partnership is somewhat unusual, inthat a few of the authors are indie only, some are indie and digitally published, while others are hybrid--both indie and traditionally print-published. The collaboration comes not in the writing, but in the business of supporting and promoting each others' work.
***
Having written two Intrigues with a paranormal element, Patricia pulled together an idea for a paranormal series, The McKenna Legacy. In the first novel, SEE ME IN YOUR DREAMS, she explored a different aspect of the dream world. Keelin McKenna dreams through the eyes of a teenage girl who runs from her home because of an emotional crisis. Tyler Leighton, her father, doesn’t believe Keelin when she first comes to him. He thinks she’s a scam artist trying to con him out of money. Having refused to act in the past and thereby prevent a tragedy, Keelin won’t let it be. What will it take to win Tyler’s trust? And will they find the girl before some real harm comes to her?

Patricia says, “I got the idea for a family legacy when my uncle and cousin both created unrelated family trees for the McKennas – my maternal grandmother Rose having been a McKenna. I’d done two other paranormal stories for Intrigue and I wanted to do something that combined my family tree with beliefs of my Irish ancestors. So I created Moira, a bean feasa (believed to be a wise woman, healer, witch) and had her leave her legacy of love and danger to her grandchildren. I made Keelin most like her both in her psychic abilities and in her using her grandmother’s herbal garden to heal. Unlike many of my action-oriented heroines, Keelin is soft, both sweet and tart in nature, and definitely the ultimate romantic.”
***
Was it attempted murder or a boating accident? Either way, Jordan Campbell, the hero of CHRISTMAS CAPTIVE, is in a coma. In this novella, part of Rebecca York's Decorah Security series, Frank Decorah asks nurse Hannah Andrews to use her psychic talent to connect with Jordan. She knows it’s a dangerous job. Once she’s on the case, whoever tried to kill Jordan will likely turn on her. But as she digs into the man’s background, she can’t refuse Frank’s assignment. Now she’s risking her life–and her heart.  But will this be Jordan and Hannah's last Christmas?

Rebecca says,  "Apparently I am fascinated with the idea of mind to mind communication because I have used this in several stories, including my Mind Benders series for Intrigue. In CHRISTMAS CAPTIVE, there's a further complication.  Hannah Andrews must communicate with Jordan Campbell, a man who's in a coma. I love the intimacy of forging a bond with another person's mind.  What closer connection could there be between two people?  Either they're going to love or hate each other.  Since I write romantic suspense, i come down on the side of love.”
***
In Dana's DEATHSCAPE, a Broslin Creek novel, when artist Ashley Price saves a man buried alive on her land, she doesn't know he's a detective, or that he will accuse her of being in league with a serial killer. Detective Jack Sullivan spent his career hunting the man who'd murdered his sister. But when he does catch up with the man, Jack loses the battle and is nearly killed himself. Can he trust Ashley, or is he walking into another deadly trap?

Dana says: "I wrote this book because of Jack. He is such a wonderfully complex character. Almost lost, walking that ragged edge. He's been obsessed with his sister's killer for too long. In trying to think like the killer so he can catch the man, Jack had taken a lot of darkness inside him. He's gone too far, broken too many rules. He's become ruthless. I wasn't sure if he was in control of his vengeance or his vengeance was in control of him. I think he was almost too far gone for love to reach him. Certainly farther than any character I've ever written. So writing his story was really interesting for me, watching the light inside him struggle against the darkness, rooting for him that he'd be able to come back from the dark places where he'd pushed himself."
***
DANGEROUS ATTRACTION is downloadable at Amazon, iTunes, Smashwords, BN.com and Kobo, available for the incredible price of 99 cents until the end of launch week on November 16. There's also an online launch party going on all week, with prizes, including an iPad mini.

Pictures and Writing

THIS MONTH WE ASKED INTRIGUE AUTHORS FOR A PICTURE INVOLVING THEIR WRITING.

~ ~ ~

CAROL ERICSON

TRAP,SECURE, September 2013

I live within a mile of the beach, and it’s very much a part of our lives.  My boys are surfers and junior lifeguards, my husband runs on the beach, and I take walks to the beach and sometimes go to bonfire parties at night where I took this picture of the sunset this summer.  The beach is also part of my writing.  When I get the chance, I go to the beach to write.  I sit in my chair with my ice tea lemonade at my side and my AlphaSmart in my lap.  The beach can also serve as my inspiration.  A few years ago when my boys were younger, I took them to the beach to surf while I sat on the sand watching them.  It was the end of the summer and the end of the day, and the beach was mostly deserted except for a few other surfers and the lifeguard in his tower.  

As I gazed out across the ocean, I began to think about a story involving a female lifeguard.  What if she was working late in the summer and late in the day when the beach was deserted and she noticed two men out in the water?  She watched them through her binoculars and saw that they were struggling.  She takes the phone off the hook, sheds her sweats, and grabs her can.  She high steps over the waves and dolphin-kicks out to the flailing men.  When she reaches them, there’s blood in the water and one of the men is grasping a knife.  This is no ordinary rescue.  And that’s the beginning of NAVY SEAL SECURITY, which is a bonus book along with my October release, TRAP, ENGAGE.  Hope you enjoyed your waning days of summer and didn’t run across any dead men on the beach!

ELIZABETH HEITER
HUNTED, Harlequin MIRA, January 2014

This shot (get it?  <G>) was taken at the FBI Academy at Quantico.  I'm learning proper form on a Glock pistol, which is what the FBI profiler in my debut suspense novel, HUNTED, carries.  As you can see in the picture, my finger stays outside the trigger guard until I'm ready to take my shot.

HUNTED is the first in the Profiler Series, Harlequin MIRA. Available for pre-order now.

MALLORY KANE

DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS,  Delancey Dynasty, January 2014

The pic is Smoke Monster and Mallory Kane. Monster is explaining what's wrong with my latest manuscript.

JULIE MILLER

TASK FORCE BRIDE, September 2013

"Writing Amidst the Chaos" has been my mantra this summer.  Between attending the fabulous RWA conference in Atlanta and taking a mini family vacation right here in the Midwest, as well as promoting my current release, TASK FORCE BRIDE, and editing hubby's newest YA novel, we've been doing lots of home repair work at our house.  

Some we've done ourselves (I'm an ace painter/stainer) and some we've hired out.  

New windows, new front door, new furnace & A/C, replacing hail-damaged siding, fresh paint in living room and bedrooms, and so on.  We had to make the most of hubby being off from teaching and not taking classes this summer.  

But that also means learning to ignore the hammering and drilling, extra bugs (bad year for flies here!), dog barking periodic alerts, furniture sitting in the middle of rooms, knocks on the door to answer workmen's questions, taking lots of pix because I'm so curious to watch the transformation, and so on.  In other words, it has been hard to concentrate on my writing this summer.  

But I keep plugging away.

Slow progress is still progress, and I'm finding that the further I get into my story (a new Precinct book, tentatively titled ONCE A COP), the easier it is to write.

ANGI MORGAN
THE MARINE'S LAST DEFENSE, January 2014

I'm writing the first three chapters of book 2 in my WEST TEXAS PROTECTORS series, THE RANCHER. My trips to Chicago have inspired the heroine. A city girl with no experience of animals or West Texas. It's going to be very interesting getting this heroine on top of a runaway horse.

I love visiting this city. I took an early morning walk last year. Six A.M., clear and crisp (actually around 20 degrees)  and almost all to myself…I walked from the convention center back to my hotel snapping pictures. I love this shot where nature and city meet.

I've visited the cloud many times. It's a huge tourist attraction and always surrounded by people. But on that morning, you can see the tourists slept in. >>grin<< It was the first time I'd ever gotten the city reflection.

I also have to share. I love that my husband is involved in some of my writing. He designs my temporary covers until I receive the real thing from Harlequin. I thought of my Texas-themed website, but he followed through.

ROBIN PERINI
THE CRADLE CONSPIRACY, December 2013

Robin Perini had the biggest fan girl moment ever at this year's Romance Writers of America conference in Atlanta. Cowboy in the Crossfire was nominated for the RITA® award.

Guess who stopped by at the Harlequin book signing? THE Rita Clay Estrada, one of the namesakes of the RITA award. 

What an honor! I got a picture to prove it.

PATRICIA ROSEMOOR 
(writing as Lynn Patrick ) 
A FOREVER HOME, September 2013

Edward and I sailed the Bahamas on a Windjammer Barefoot Cruise a couple of decades ago. I learned to snorkel as well as sail.


-- The beginning of my love for the ocean, early research for Written in the Stars.

AIMEE THURLO 
FALCON'S RUN, July 2013

I've recently developed a great interest in handmade teddy bears. A neighbor of ours made them and I fell in love with her creations. Sadly, she passed away, but we now have some of her collection, in addition to two of her very special hobby horses that have become my pride and joy! One's an antique, the other not, but both were made by the same company in England.

It was our neighbor's beautiful crafts and her collectibles, like the ones pictured here, that inspired our story Homespun Christmas (Harlequin Heartwarming) set here in New Mexico.

In this very special book, Independence, New Mexico has lost the industry that kept it going, and now is in desperate need of a lifeline, one Myka Solis is certain she can provide. She's determined to prove that locally crafted treasures like those she sells online can help transform their dying town into a vibrant, creative hub. And she knows exactly who can help make her plan a reality: Joshua Nez, the confident, big-city architect, now back in town to rebuild his own life. 

Thanks to Josh's expertise, Myka finds herself leading a revitalization effort that draws in the entire community. But working with Josh has to stay a business-only arrangement. Her childhood friend has dreams of his own, and those involve starting up an architectural firm far away from their home town. If only Myka can show him they both have a future in Independence…together. 

This book is all about the will to survive even when the odds are against you. It's also the perfect southwest Christmas story. I hope those of you who are reading this will get a chance to pick up the book, now available for pre-order at Amazon!

November we will also have Ghost Medicine. In this new Ella Clah mystery, Ella's life and career take a new turn, one she wasn't expecting. In conjunction with this book, our readers will get a chance to see the CBS script Lee Goldberg and Wm Rabkin wrote based on our Ella Clah series. It will be available in mass market at the same time.

REBECCA YORK 
BAD NIGHTS, Sourcebooks,  September 2013

DESPERATE MAGIC, Carina Press, Chronicles of Arandal, July 2013


Sometimes I do research for a book. Other times, I do something cool that may end up in a future book. Here I am getting ready to take off in a glider plane a few years ago. 

The pilot sat in back of me. We were towed into the air by a small plane and then let go for a half-hour flight where we circled over Reagan's former ranch. I used this experience in BAD NIGHTS, my September romantic suspense from Sourcebooks. When the hero has to rescue the kidnapped heroine from a militia camp where she's being held, he and his Rockfort Security partners fly in silently using glider planes and land on the rifle range. 

HAVE YOU GOT A QUESTION FOR OUR AUTHORS YOU'D LIKE ANSWERED? Send it to Angi. 

Christmas Wishes from Intrigue!!

ALL THE INTRIGUE AUTHORS WISH YOU 
HAPPY, SAFE HOLIDAYS.



Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope you and your family stay safe, have good health, and experience the most joyous of all emotions in 2013 - LOVE! I hope you find new authors who will thrill and entertain you for years to come. And I hope you continue to enjoy the amazing stories of the authors you've already discovered. When life gets you down, turn to a good book and escape, if only for a little while. Hugs!
~LENA DIAZ

Happy Holidays!  I hope everyone enjoys a fantastic celebration this year.  Make wonderful memories, cherish your family, and smile at all the wonders that come your way.  This season is filled with magic--hold tightly to it! Best wishes to you!
~CYNTHIA EDEN

Beyond the noise, the laughter and the festivities, Christmas is about a wondrous gift of peace, love and  hope.  So I wish those things for all of you in the new year—that you'll have a peaceful year full of love and great hope for the future.  Merry Christmas!
~ PAULA GRAVES

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years. May all your wishes and dreams come true.
~ELLE JAMES

Happy Holidays to all of you. I wish you and yours happiness, fun and memories. Love and peace,
~ MALLORY KANE

Whatever you celebrate, may this time of year be safe and happy.  Hug your loved ones and count your blessings.  Happy Holidays!
~ JULIE MILLER

May Christmas bring you everything important you didn't know to wish for. May your New Year be filled with nothing but good surprises.
~ PATRICIA ROSEMOOR

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and the best possible New Year. I hope 2013 is all that you want it to be, and More!
~ JENNA RYAN

Hope you share the love and spirit of the Christmas season with those you love, either in person or in spirit. And may your new year be filled with joy, laughter, love and good health.
~ JOANNA WAYNE

As we come up on a new year, I wish you every good thing you have been hoping for.
~ REBECCA YORK

A Christmas Wish to all our readers . . . May God fill each dream you dare and even those you won't. Merry Christmas!
~ ANGI MORGAN

How did I pick my genre?

Recently, someone asked me where my weird ideas come from. I guess she meant, why are you so into paranormal? Why do you write about werewolves and demons and monsters from another time continuum?

When I was in elementary school, the D.C. Public Library sent a “book basket” to every classroom every month. In fifth grade, when the teacher put RED PLANET, by Robert Heinlein, up on the eraser ledge, the cover illustration made me want to read the book. So I rushed up to get it before anyone else could.

Thus began a lifelong interest in science fiction and fantasy. They were a big part of my recreational reading for years, with adventure and mystery thrown in.

In the early sixties, I didn’t have a television set. I got a TV for one reason–so I could watch a cool new program that my friends were talking about--Star Trek.

So I come by my interest in the paranormal honestly. The first novel I wrote was a kids' SF story, THE INVASION OF THE BLUE LIGHTS, about a bad alien and a good alien that land in the woods across the street from my house. (Only I gave the house to a 12-year-old boy who was a lot like my son.) In the 80's, the big romance boom started, and a friend asked if I’d like to write one. When I told her I hadn’t read any, she brought me shopping bags full. And I discovered they were all about the subplot that I’d loved in the science fiction and adventure novels I read–the development of a relationship between a man and a woman.

At first, I wrote straight romances. Then I figured out I was better at romantic suspense. And after a few romantic suspense novels, I began incorporating SF and fantasy elements into my stories. At first I wrote what I called stealth paranormals. There’s a ghost in my third Intrigue, WHISPERED IN THE NIGHT. And the hero of PRINCE OF TIME is a space alien. But the reader doesn’t find that out until she’s gotten a chance to know and love him. Now I’m fortunate that Intrigue lets me write books that are frankly paranormal. Like my latest, MORE THAN A MAN. The hero, Noah Fielding, has lived for hundreds of years, although he doesn’t know why. Then a dying millionaire discovers his secret and will do anything to find out the reason for his long life–even kill the woman Noah loves. It’s a fast, emotion-packed story that was a lot of fun to write.

What kind of Intrigues do you like best? And how do you like paranormal elements in them?

Rebecca

My Exciting Life

Over the years, I’ve made a point of seeking out danger. Partly so I can write about the emotions of my Intrigue heroes and heroines when they’re in a tight spot. And partly to try out perils that may end up in my books.

About four years ago I ended up in the passenger seat of a two-person glider, being towed into the air by a small, single-engine plane. FYI, the passenger seat is in the front. The guy who’s steering the glider is in the back. These babies are smaller than a World War II fighter, and there’s no engine. The little plane took us four thousand feet into the air. Then the pilot asks me to turn the lever that cuts us loose. I did, and we glided free in the sky above Santa Ynez, California, then over the former Reagan ranch. The worst part was being dragged along behind that little plane. Every time it tipped to the left or right, we also tipped, and I held onto the sides of the cockpit with white knuckles. But once we were on our own, it was like floating on a cloud. Or it would have been, if there had been any clouds in that perfectly blue sky.

At the other research extreme, about twelve years ago, I went down to the edge of the Atlantic shelf in a submarine, off the coast of Grand Cayman Island. It was a small sub, but unlike on the tiny glider, there were 29 other passengers lined up at seats along the hull, each with a viewing window. Before we dove, each of us was handed a kind of mask. The pilot told us that it was a “rebreather.” He went on to say, “If we get stuck for any reason, you can breathe through this thing for up to four hours.” Oh great, I thought. If I get stuck in this tin can with 29 other passengers, I’ll go stark raving mad and forget how to breathe at all.

When I go out on a research trip, I don’t always know how I’m going to use the experience in a book. Or if I will. I haven’t glided any heroes or heroines into enemy territory yet, but my submarine mission was perfect for my August Intrigue, MORE THAN A MAN. Only I made it ten times worse for my hero, Noah Fielding. As the book opens, Noah’s been stuck in a small, experimental sub off Grand Cayman. (Big coincidence, right?) The mother ship has hauled the sub up, and everybody except Noah is dead. The cops think he lived because he hogged the oxygen. The real reason Noah survives is that he was born 700 years ago in a little English village. He doesn’t know why he’s lived so long. But dying millionaire Jarred Bainbridge reads about the incident and is determined to capture Noah and discover his secret.

I love to use my research in my books. If I’ve “been there,” the experience is all the more real when I write about it.

Do you like to travel? What are some of your most memorable experiences? I’ll be sending a copy of my RT Top Pick Intrigue, CHRISTMAS SPIRIT, to one reader who posts responses.

Rebecca

Would You Believe?

When I saw the cover of MORE THAN A MAN, my August Intrigue, I did a double take. The great-looking guy on the cover is the spitting image of my son. Did the art department find a picture of him? Or is it just an accident? The skin tone’s off. My son’s got more olive coloration. And his hair is shorter. But that’s HIM. And if he ever sees this post, he’ll probably come after me with an ax for telling you about my reaction to the cover. I know he doesn’t see himself as the hero of a romance novel. (He once did a sarcastic review of one of my books for a literature class he was taking at the University of Maryland, where he pointed out that the brand of car my heroine drove changed in the middle of the book.)

On the other hand, he’s obviously a danger junky. He’s a State Department Foreign Service Officer, and his assignments are mostly in places I don’t want to visit, like Albania and Kazakhstan. The exception was a posting to Moscow a few years ago. Right now he’s in Afghanistan, on a Provincial Reconstruction Team. And he’s volunteered to stay another year, this time at Kandahar Air Base. Where I can worry about him some more.

He’s due to come home for a brief vacation in–wait for it–July, right around RWA. But his home base is DC, so I hope to see him during the conference. Maybe I can even persuade him to stop in at the Marriott so everybody can compare him to the MORE THAN A MAN cover. If I break away from the conference for a few hours, you’ll know it was to have some time with him. I’d love to rent a beach house for a week while he’s here and get the family together. But I don’t know if it’s going to happen, since he hasn’t answered my questions about when exactly he’ll be in town. How’s that for a cliff-hanger?

Rebecca

THE DISTRACTIONS OF SPRING

I should be editing a novel. It’s due soon, and I need to go through the whole thing, trimming wordy sentences, adding character development, and making sure I tied up all the loose ends in the plot. Instead, I keep slipping outside to wander through the garden. So far I’ve only got daffodils, vinca and violets blooming, but the redbud is about to pop. And the pear trees across the street are beautiful white mounds. The tulips I planted last year have come up, and the annuals like hostas, tall phlox and black-eyed Susans are poking their heads up through the ground.

This year I did some very unusual planting–a new rock in my front yard. It’s hollow, to hide the cleanout for the sewer line. (Not a very romantic reason, I know.) But I love the effect. It might be plastic, but setting it in place was a major construction effort. It looked so massive sitting in my front yard, that I dug a hole big enough to bury it four or five inches all around–under the disapproving eyes of watchful neighbors who were doubtless wondering if I’d gone crazy. To commemorate the occasion, I’ve posed with my new lawn ornament. I’m wearing the great dragon jacket that I got in China last year.

But my favorite spring event is a trip to Brighton Dam Park. I tell people that if they live around here and don’t go there in the spring, they’re crazy. It borders a reservoir, and the Water Commission made the acres along the water into azalea heaven. There are lots of natural trails, leading through acres and acres of flowering bushes. They’ll be fantastic in a couple of weeks. Many of the plants are twenty or thirty years old, and they tower over you. So you walk through a woodland that takes your breath away. Or you can climb the hill and look down on a panorama of pink, salmon, purple and white. The National Arboretum has similar trails. But it’s farther away. So we’re more likely to drive the fifteen minutes to Brighton.

My own yard’s not quite so spectacular, but my azaleas will be out soon. I call them my spies, because they tell me when it’s time to for a trip to azalea heaven.




My latest release is ETERNAL MOON, out this week.

Rebecca York

THE VILLAIN

When you write romantic suspense, you want the reader to fall in love with the hero. He has to be sexy and appealing. Not necessarily wildly handsome. But he’s got to have something that will connect strongly with the reader.

The other major male character in the story is often the villain. And you’ve got more leeway with him. He can be handsome or downright ugly. He can be charming or grating. He can be outwardly friendly to the h/h or outwardly hostile.

But you’re walking a fine line with this guy. (Usually he IS male, although you can have some very compelling female villains.) If you make him pure evil, then he’s going to be less interesting to the reader. Still, you want the reader to be rooting for his downfall.

I try to give my villains a background that helps the reader understand how they got so bad. I think one of the best examples of this is the killer in Thomas Harris’s RED DRAGON. He had a harelip and a speech impediment, so the kids made fun of him when he was little. And he was raised by (I think) a grandmother who was absolutely horrible to him. In the middle of the book, when he has a love affair with an innocent woman, you’re half hoping that he can go away and have a happy life with her, even when you know that’s going to be impossible.

Right now, I’m writing a Berkley book with a powerful bad guy who had a miserable childhood which makes you understand exactly why he turned out the way he did. The hard part here is that–um–how can I say this without giving away the secret of this book? He’s going to be the hero of another book. So I’m walking a fine line with him. He has to be bad enough to make a formidable enemy now. Then the reader has to understand how he gets rehabilitated. It’s an interesting challenge.

Which brings me to the question–what do you want to see in a villain? And how do you feel about a villain ending up being the hero of another book?

Rebecca