GUEST BLOGGER: Cynthia Eden

Let’s begin with death…

Yes, this was my thought when I started to write IMMORTAL DANGER, my upcoming paranormal release from Kensington Brava. Maybe starting the book with my heroine’s death wasn’t the nicest thing that I’ve ever done to a character—the woman barely has screen (er, book) time before she’s attacked.

But for this particular story, the beginning had to be about death.

So my heroine, Maya Black, dies in the first few pages of my book, and it is only with her death that her character truly comes alive. Because Maya doesn’t stay dead. She comes back, better, stronger, and ready to kick butt like never before.

From that death, the rest of my story unfolded. The novel appeared for me, the characters and plot points all fell into place, and, well, all it took was a little death. J

Since I’m talking about my beginning, why don’t you share your favorite book openings with me? Maybe I can add some books to my TBR list! And one commenter will be selected to win her/his choice of an autographed book from my backlist.

Thank you so much to the wonderful folks at TRRC for having me here today! It’s a pleasure to visit your home on the web!

Cynthia Eden
http://www.cynthiaeden.com/
IMMORTAL DANGER—03/31/09 from Kensington Brava
Believe in monsters. They believe in you.

GUEST BLOGGER: Susan Mallery

Let me start by saying it's not my fault. I didn't plan to write a women's fiction book. I'm a romance writer. I love romance. I love all the firsts. First meet, first kiss, first—well, you know. But I had this idea for a story...

The heroine came to me one Saturday afternoon while I was watching Project Runway. (I’m obsessed with Project Runway.) With great excitement, I told my agent all about this quirky, artsy girl. Megan was one of those kids who could take an outfit from ordinary to awesome with nothing but scissors and some thread. She saw art in fabric and texture, put together odd combinations that shouldn’t have worked but did.

What would happen to a girl like that, I wondered, if she bowed to family pressure and got a “sensible” job? And how would she feel about a sister who rejected sensibility to pursue her own crazy dream?

“Sounds fabulous,” my agent said. “You realize, of course, it’s not a romance.”

Not a romance? Heresy! Of course it’s a romance. I’m a romance writer. So I pulled out Travis, the Boy Not Taken. The bad boy Megan loved but let go. See? A real, live hero. They kiss. They—well, you know. (Hope I haven’t ruined any surprises for you.)

My agent patted my hand condescendingly. “Not a romance,” she repeated. “You want to tell Megan’s story.”

She was right, as she often is. Travis is a big part of Megan’s story, but her annoying sister and hypochondriac mother also play major roles. Sunset Bay is Megan’s journey. Rediscovering her quirky, funny side. Making peace with her less than perfect family. And yes, finding the man who will appreciate everything that’s unique and wonderful about her.

Sunset Bay was such fun to write that I almost hated finishing it. Almost. To celebrate its release, I’m giving away $250 in gift cards to some of my favorite department stores so that some lucky reader will be able to enjoy a fashion spree. You can enter at my website, http://www.susanmallery.com/.

Sunset Bay is, I’m forced to admit, women’s fiction. But wow, the line between romance and women’s fiction sure is blurry. At least for me. What’s the difference between the two for you?

GUEST BLOGGER: Susan Krinard

Okay, I admit it. I'm a drama queen.

Anyone who's read my books knows that I am not a subtle, delicate writer. I love drama. I love big, windswept tales of passion and adventure. My characters are unabashedly larger-than-life, and so are my stories.

That's why, when a new Publisher's Weekly review of my forthcoming book, Lord of Legends, called my story “overwrought,” I really wasn't surprised.

That's right. I'm as overwrought as a New Mexico sunset, a raging Pacific Ocean, a Texas thunderstorm. As melodramatic as one of those humongous historical epics Hollywood doesn't make any more. As unapologetically romantic as The Prisoner of Zenda, King Solomon's Mines, or The Mask of Zorro. I love duels to the death, hair-raising escapes, operatic sacrifices, and eternal love.

In short, I'm an old-fashioned storyteller.

So, this is a warning to any reader who prefers a quieter, more refined type of story. I don't believe in false advertising. If you don't care for swashbuckling characters, intricate plots, “overwrought” sacrifices and explosively dramatic finales, I'm not for you.

And that's okay! Where would we be without a good range of different types of writers and stories? I happen to love Jane Austen as much as Jane Eyre, and would be lost without them. Not everyone is a drama queen, nor should they be. I'm thrilled that we can all find what we want, that reading can bring such joy to our lives.

Well … now that you've been warned , may I tell you a little about Lord of Legends?
I've always loved writing paranormal stories, of course. Way back in the early 90's, when werewolf protagonists were almost unheard-of in romance and those few that existed were “cursed,” I wrote my first romance novel, Prince of Wolves. Luc Gevaudan was not cursed … he controlled his own Change, wasn't affected by silver bullets, and was very happy to be what he was. Little was I to know that fifteen years later werewolves (the non-cursed kind) would be all the rage.

Meanwhile, I've been plugging along with my paranormal romances for over fifteen years, continuing with my werewolves series and adding vampires, time-travel, ghosts, reincarnation and witches into the mix. And I'm always looking for something a little different, a little new … which is why I took a chance on setting my three werewolf/vampire novels in the 1920's.
That trilogy didn't go over as well as I'd hoped … seems that once again I'm ahead of the curve. I'm willing to bet in less than five years the 20's will be all the rage, too.

But back to Lord of Legends …
I decided a few years ago that I'd like to explore some of the “faerie” myths of the British Isles. After a bit of research, I created my “Fane” … the Fair Folk of Celtic legend, also known as the Sidhe (pronounced “shee”.) Though most faerie lore shrinks the Fair Folk to a diminutive size, I decided to go back to the old Irish legends that paint the Sidhe as resembling humans in stature. I placed my Fane in the Land of the Young, Tir-na-Nog, a plane where life is eternal and beauty commonplace.

Like most Faerie folk, the Fane were not always kind to mortals. In fact, my Fane tended toward selfishness, arrogance, and disdain for humankind. There were exceptions, of course: my hero Hern in The Forest Lord, for one. And their half-human children, like Donal in Lord of the Beasts, were often torn between the magical Fane world and troubled earth, between immortality and love.

Since I've always adored shapeshifters, I considered how I could fit them into my Fane world. I wanted to do something different. So I came up with the idea of a shape-shifting unicorn: the King of the Unicorns, Arion, who is exiled from Tir-na-Nog and forced to take human form.
Arion begins by despising the human world to which he's been condemned, a helpless prisoner of the mortal lord who longs to hunt him as the rarest of game. But his arrogant heart is slowly awakened by the woman who saves him, Mariah Marron, the new but untouched bride of the Earl of Donnington. He'll have to decide if he can sacrifice his true nature—even his very life—for the sake of the woman he's coming to love, or abandon her to her own imprisonment. And Mariah will have to make the same choice between captivity and her love for the man she calls Ash.

It's a dramatic story. It's larger-than-life. It doesn't come with a warning label, but if it did, it would say:

Caution: Raging Romance Ahead!

GUEST BLOGGER: Susan Crandall

ROMANCING THE MUSE

The question I’m most asked is, “Where do your ideas come from?” I always respond with something logical, something that doesn’t make me look like a crazy person. And my answer is partial truth. I do get my ideas from observing what’s going on around me, from newspapers and overheard conversations, from family experiences and observed relationships. But the whole truth is I have a secret relationship that spoon feeds me ideas, characters, conflicts and many a surprise ending that I’d never seen coming.

“Ah, ha!” you say. “I knew there was more to it than Susan was letting on.”

You’d be right. But there’s a reason for my partial truth. It’s very complicated to explain the muse and my relationship with her. She is a very delicate creature and requires an extraordinary amount of attention and wooing for me to remain in her good graces. She doesn’t like to be tired. She doesn’t like to be hungry. The sound of the phone ringing sends her off to hide in a closet (after which she won’t come out for hours because I was fickle and talked to someone else). She sneaks up on me in the middle of the night just to see if I’ll pay attention to her. And she never, never works when she has a headache.

Sometimes she whispers in my ear. Other time she clubs me on the head with a shovel. And every once in a while, she jumps out of nowhere in the dark and startles me breathless.

My dearest, my muse, must be nourished on a steady diet of movies, books, undivided attention, and silence

“No problem,” you say. “Who wouldn’t want to take her to the movies and read her wonderful novels?”

If only it were that easy. The problem arises when you can’t figure out what mood she’s in. Does she need a comedy? Is she hungry for drama? Would she rather go for a long walk instead? Believe me, she won’t give as much as a hint beforehand. It’s like dating a … a woman.

If all of the above don’t work, I have to ignore her completely. As with any fickle creature, she can’t stand it. Sooner or later she’s telling me what I need to know – usually at the most inopportune moments; when I’m on the lawn tractor far from the house without a notepad and pen; when I’m on a long drive by myself and have no one to tell, “Hey, remind me later….”; in the middle of a public function where I must remain engaged with real people. Truly, she’s quite a handful.

But as with any worthwhile relationship, I accommodate, I indulge, I persevere.

I hope you’ll read my latest release, SEEING RED, and let me know how you think my muse is doing. You can send me an email (susan@susancrandall.net), or stop by my message board at http://www.susancrandall.net/. It’s completely safe to speak the truth; the muse isn’t allowed to see either of these things. I may need to modify my wooing strategy.

Monica Burns Dangerous Giveaway

Monica Burns is an Ultimate Staff favorite here at TRRC. Some of us love our romance from the steamier side of page. Monica knows how to deliver, time and time again. We have enjoyed many of her erotic romances. I was ecstatic when Monica contacted me about a contest here at the blog. She has offered up her latest release, signed, to a lucky TRRCreading reader who gets my pleasure(scavenger) hunt right. It will be easy and painless, I guarantee.

Simply email the answers and or a picture of the requested item to :ultimate@theromancereadersconnection.com

Also, you must comment on this post letting us know what you think of the blog! Both actions are required of the winner!!!!

1. Who is the author that has an advertising for the third and final book in a series on the front page of TRRC's review site.

2. Who has the 187th Romantic Suspense review at TRRC?

3. A cover of Monica's THE ART OF PLEASURE.

4. Where will Monica be appearing on June 6, 2009?

5. A cover of Monica's Dangerous.

6. A quote from Monica's Victorian Closet -hint: it is somewhere at her website.

7. A depiction (drawing, painting, etc...) of Isis, the Egyptian Goddess.

8. How many Ultimate Romance reviews are currently posted at TRRC? I am aware this may be a fluid number, as the site admin ladies are constantly adding new ones, I will take the answer that fits the time frame you emailed me!

9. A nice pic of a hot guy - just to add to my collection. Make it as naughty or as clean as you like, just make him sexy!

I will post a PG version of the winning pic along with the winner of the contest on February 27, 2009.

If the winner is someone from outside the continental U.S., then they will receive a free e-version of this book.

Thank you all for joining me in my fun!!!!

Thia