L. K. Below’s Cinnamon and Spice Scavenger Hunt

Hello, everyone! As a writer of erotic romance, among other things, I’m very pleased to introduce to you my latest release -- and my latest contest!

Blurb:

Jack is smart. Jack is charming. Jack is persistent.

But Melissa is dead certain that he isn't the guy for her. In a moment of weakness caused by his shiver-inducing voice, Melissa finally agrees to one date. She shows up on his doorstep determined to get it over and done with, but Jack has something different planned. With a home-cooked meal, wine, and cinnamon-scented candles, can he break down Melissa's resolve?

Can he steal her heart?

Rules:

1. Must be 18 or older to enter contest.

2. Contest open to entrants world-wide

3. Email me at the provided address (lbelow at lbelow dot net) with the answer to the question. No need to answer in essay format (unless you feel moved to do so) a simple sentence or even one word will enter you.

4. Only one ballot per question -- but if you visit my other stops and answer the other questions, you will be entered multiple times.

5. Contest open until May 2nd, 2011 at 11:59PM EST. Winner will have 48 hours to confirm their email address and give a physical address where they would like their prize to be mailed.

Prize:

1. A goodie basket of cinnamon-scented products.

2. A photo of the Cinnamon and Spice cover, signed by me (L. K. Below)

3. A PDF copy of Cinnamon and Spice.


CONTEST ALERT: To enter to win the above prizes, simply email the answer to the following question to lbelow(at)lbelow.net.

Question: What is your favorite scent?


Do you want more chances to win? Each scavenger hunt question answered counts for one ballot towards the prize. Check http://lbelow.blogspot.com for the full itinerary. Good luck!

Read a review of Cinnamon and Spice.

Pocket author based new book on 2009 ice storm experience

An ice storm. Stranded in a strange, isolated place without power. Children with an unsettling ability to win staring contests. This is how horror movies start.




Watching the news coverage as cities across the Midwest are pelted by the much-touted historic blizzard, I’m having strange sympathy pangs. In January 2009, an ice storm ripped through Kentucky, taking out power and phone lines for thousands of homes, including mine. The first night I spent camped out in my in-laws’ darkened living room with my two young children, I was sure this was just a temporary blip. It was going to be a funny story we could tell the next winter. As in, “Remember that night we had to sleep on an air mattress in front of Grandma’s fireplace and cook on a gas grill in the garage?”




By the sixth night, I was no longer amused.





Over the next week, Kentuckians were cold, cranky and progressively ill-groomed. I returned to my dark, cold house to forage for supplies one afternoon, only to find my neighbor shaving his head in his driveway. I sincerely hoped that was related to the lack of electricity and not just a personality quirk I'd never noticed before. Neighborhood block parties have been stilted and awkward since.





But I managed to channel my cabin fever, before going the full fire-ax-through-bedroom-door and elevator-full-of-blood route. I started writing. Having recently published the Nice Girls books, a vampire romance series about an undead librarian in small-town Kentucky, I’d already decided that I wanted to write a werewolf story. And being isolated, in the dark, in an increasingly crowded, enclosed space, I decided to set the story in the frozen regions of Alaska.




While we waited for the power to come back on, I wrote about twenty pages of notes by candlelight. What emerged was the story of Mo Wenstein, a woman who moves across the country to escape her intrusive hippie parents and make a life for herself in the remote town of Grundy, Alaska. Cantankerous neighbor Cooper has been giving Mo a hard time about her place in her new community since day one. But when Cooper stumbles onto her porch, naked, with a bear trap clamped around his ankle, she realizes there’s more to him than a surly- though attractive- surface. A series of werewolf attacks, for which Cooper may or may not be responsible, dysfunctional werewolf clan drama, and romantic hijinks ensue.





The manuscript grew over the next few months and became HOW TO FLIRT WITH A NAKED WEREWOLF, which is due to be released by Pocket Books on Feb. 22, wherever books are sold. The sequel, THE ART OF SEDUCING A NAKED WEREWOLF, will follow on March 29.





So, while the encroaching claustrophobia is frustrating, make the best of your snow days. Use the milk, eggs and bread you hoarded to make French toast. Plow through the To-Be-Read pile of paperbacks on your nightstand. Write journal entries about the sights, sounds and emotions you’re experiencing as a blizzard survivor.





You never know. You could turn this experience into your first manuscript.



http://www.mollyharper.com/

True Confessions of a Southern? Novelist

I have a confession to make. I think I write Romance stories. Okay, okay. Maybe they aren’t Romance as in the genre that has a beautiful pattern that must be fulfilled to qualify as a Romance novel but to me they are full of the essence of all good things romantic. People misaligned and finding themselves and one another, even over the course of death and great mystery, (The Gin Girl) Old girlfriends from down south and back home showing up on the doorstep of promising, dashing political figures (The Messenger of Magnolia Street). Skirt chasing men finding out that there is strong magic and medicine in finding the right woman and that it’s never too late for true love, Saints In Limbo. Romance I tell you! Yes, the characters are a wild and wooly bunch, usually raised on biscuits and fried chicken by strong women with wide hips who are not afraid to tell the truth. Yes, they usually bump into some mysterious happenings that must be resolved come, well - you know – and let’s just say a lot of high water and strange circumstance does arrive at their door. But in the midst of all this wildness you can believe a connection is being made between two people that will navigate the waters of their own special connection.

People often ask me what have been some of the greatest influences of my writing life. Many times they are wondering if it was great authors like Harper Lee, Flannery O’Conner, or William Faulkner who have influenced me. What I have to tell them truthfully is that it was Grandmama (the worrier with the sixth sense), Mema (the snake killer and cake baker), Aunt Leaner (the little one that could move a train) Katie Ruth (the second mama and Private eye), Uncle John (the dancing, singing, life-loving wild man), Uncle Eddie Louis (the great liar) and so on and so forth. It was the people who surrounded me in the late night on those porches telling stories, lies, and alibis that fed me more fodder for novel writing than I would ever need. And being born to be a writer I took it all in like nobody’s business. When they talked about love, loss, and broken hearted women who were out to get even, I pretended not to even be there I sat so small so they wouldn’t send me somewhere else. When they talked about wars and true love that lasts forever, I took note. When my closet romantic Mema received her new issue of True Confession magazine I tried to sneak them and read them while she cooked in that hot kitchen. When she told us kids to come in and be quiet because it was time for her ‘stories’ as she called her soap operas, we dutifully lined up on the little couch for a dose of the Days of Our Lives. Trust me, it was the romance that kept her coming back for more.

In my novels I think it’s the romance found and lost and rediscovered between many of the characters that keep people coming back for more. It’s the reason I receive notes about why they’ve read the novels more than once or begged me to write a sequel but by the time I get the note I’m already trapped, lost between the lines of another woman’s story who is navigating the tricky lines of love. Never in a novel have all these elements come together more than in The Miracle of Mercy Land. With elements of suspense, a touch of the supernatural, and a breath of mystery and a whole lot of room for shall we say, the powerful possibilities of romance.

I think if my Mema, the great romantic that she was, could be here to turn the pages she would agree with me. The Miracle of Mercy Land contains all the best elements of her True Confessions magazines and her daily ‘stories’. I think it will keep readers turning pages to discover if in the middle of the greatest mystery of her life Mercy Land will dare to allow love to find a way.

Books versus Movies

My name is Thia and I am a movie-holic. I love movies. I am a straight-up movie buff. I am also addicted to romance novels. These two things are my vices and I am extremely proud to say that I am not looking for rehabilitation from my addictions anytime soon.

One thing that kinda gripes me is when people complain about movies that are adapted from books. You will hear these people say things like – The characters did not look like I thought they would. Or They left out a bunch of the good stuff. Or The movie just did not capture the message of the book. This is when I have to grit my teeth and not say Well, duuuhh! Of course they are not the same!!

Reading is a journey for your imagination. Unless you are reading one of those books that have bright, pretty pictures on every page, you are in complete control of how you perceive the characters and their actions. The authors are merely our guides. What your mind does with the information it takes in is truly up to you. I have discussed with other readers how we would picture a certain hero or heroine. It is amazing (not really ;) ) how many of us insert ourselves into the role of heroine or hero. Or how many of us see the same character is such completely different ways.

For example, ONE FOR THE MONEY by Janet Evanovich has just begun filming. This is one of my all time favorite books and series. I have always imagined the lead female as a Marisa Tomei or Sandra Bullock as the beautiful, slightly flaky, trouble magnet heroine. However, Katherine Heigl has been cast in that role. Oh, this is something we could debate all day. Who is Ranger? The perfect Joe Morelli is so-and-so. In the end, the actors chosen to play these parts may become our new ideal for their characters. There is no perfect answer for this side of the issue. But it sure is fun to get together and discuss with your friends. ;)

My son is the world's worst critic for books-turned-movies. He always complains about whole storylines being left out. (Especially Harry Potter movies.) What I try to remind him is that in a book, we are given a lot more background detail that does not necessarily need to be in a movie. We read that the boy is walking into a dark and dreary alley that smells of filth and decay. With a movie, we can see that scenario. Also, it is simply too much to ask for to have the screenwriters transfer every aspect of a book and still not have us spending all day at the movies. Can you imagine?

TV series' adapted from books are a particular favorite of mine. Oh, Sookie! True Blood is all the rage among my fellow paranormal reading friends! My hubs, who is very much not a reader, loves the show as much as I do. However, I have to watch myself so that I don't discuss how Eric did this on the show but would never have done that in the book. (And Oh, I love to see what Eric does! Could they have picked a better Eric?? He is not what I had originally pictured, but I love their choice!!)

My solution or final thought on the whole book versus movie debacle – Take them each for what they are. Movies and Books are separate forms of entertainment. Do not compare them, because truthfully, apples and grapples are not really the same thing. One is a version of the other, but they are simply not the same thing.

Now, are there any movie characters or television characters that you think fit your ideas of them perfectly? Which ones far exceeded your expectations and which ones bombed? What book are you looking forward to seeing as a movie? Which one has been the best so far? Which one tanked? Is there a book you want to see as a movie – give us the who, what, when, and wheres!

Oh, The Rakes! Anna Campbell - Guest Blogger

Oh, Those Rakes! By Anna Campbell

Hello, Romance Readers! I’m delighted to be here! Thank you for inviting me.

As a long term romance reader, and someone who spends a lot of time talking to romance readers, I know there are a couple of terms that really get people excited about a story. Bride. Scandal. Scoundrel. Sin. Just check out the titles in the historical romance section of any bookstore and you’ll get a nice list – all very delicious.

But to me, the most delicious of all is ‘rake’.

Think of the images those two words ‘Regency rake’ conjure up. The bad boy who’s irresistibly tempting. Someone wild and reckless and passionate. A man who breaks the rules of his society and just clicks his elegant fingers at any disapproval. Tall. Usually dark (although not always – I’m currently writing a blond!). Definitely handsome. Turned out in those gorgeous Regency clothes – coat, neckcloth, breeches, boots. A man who can seduce any woman with a single look. Witty. Arrogant. Intelligent. Sardonic. Skilled in the sensual arts.

Oh, yeah, we LOVE a rake.

Especially when he meets that one woman who turns his world upside down. That’s one of the reasons I love to read about a rake falling in love. These gorgeous alphas are always completely at sea when that happens. All their charm and sophistication won’t save them from tumbling head over heels – usually into drama! Or comedy. There’s plenty of scope for comedy when a rake falls in love. Mr. I’m Always In Control finds there’s some things he can’t control – and he doesn’t like it!

My June release from Avon, MY RECKLESS SURRENDER, features a notorious rake and I had such fun writing him. Tarquin Vale, Earl of Ashcroft, has his world pretty much as he wants it. He definitely qualifies as my first non-tortured hero!

Then a mysterious woman called Diana proposes a short affair to while away the summer months while most of the ton is away on their estates. At first he says no – he’s suspicious of this woman who is so obviously following a secret agenda. But it doesn’t take him long to succumb. Things get very messy indeed when both he and Diana start navigating deeper waters emotionally than either ever expected.

Before Diana propositions Tarquin, she has a stereotypical image of a rake in her mind. Perhaps she’s been reading too many historical romances, LOL! She has a chance to make all her dreams come true, but first she must seduce the Earl of Ashcroft. She’s sure a careless, selfish libertine won’t endanger her heart.

Instead of the jaded roué she expects, she discovers a man like no other. A man with his own code of honor. A man she falls in love with, even though her secrets threaten nothing but disaster.

You can read an excerpt of MY RECKLESS SURRENDER on my website at: http://www.annacampbell.info/recklesssurrender.html

So do you have a favorite rake in romance? Why do you think the rake is such a mainstay of the historical romance genre? Let’s talk rakes in all their decadent glory!