Romancing February Blog Contest Results!!!

The grand prize winner of a $75 gift certificate to The Wild Rose Press is Dena Walton! Woooooooo hooooooo! Congrats, Dena! And a big thank you to all my fellow romance authors for participating and all the blog hoppers for hopping aboard the looooooveeeeee train!

Hugs and Love to all!
~Alisha

An Interview with James Boyle and A Contest!

Please welcome James Boyle to my blog today!

Alisha: Can you tell us a little bit about your childhood? Favorite memories?

James: Sure. My family moved around a great deal when I was young. We figured once we’d moved twenty times by the time I graduated high school. My father worked for the phone company, which was like being in the military. They transferred you every couple of years. We ended up in the Pacific Northwest when I was eight. Some of my fondest memories were of me and my friends playing in the woods around our neighborhood. We were always in the woods. We knew every little trail, every spot there were berries, etc. The woods were our world, everything else belonged to the grownups. Eventually the woods did too. They were cut down to make way for a housing complex.

Alisha: Tell us about the hero and heroine in your latest release.

James: Dan Connor is the Police Chief of Placerton, a small town on the remote south coast of Oregon. He takes his responsibility as the head law enforcement officer seriously; as a small town Chief, he also has to patrol just like a regular officer, so he is closer to his community than a police chief normally would be. He is a widower. His wife died in a traffic accident two years before the story; her memory still lingers strongly in his existence.
Stephanie is the secretary/receptionist/dispatcher for the Placerton Police Department. She is strong and intelligent, very much Dan’s right hand at the department. She is also quite a bit younger than he and, technically, his employee, which raises all sorts of barriers to their mutual attraction.
Until, that is, events shatter any semblance of their normal lives and the rules that go with normalcy.

Alisha: If you were granted three wishes by a genie, what would they be?

James: Enough money to not have to worry about the bills. Good (better) health. The ability to grant a wish to someone else.

Alisha: If you could go anywhere to tomorrow, where would you go?

James: As a history and literature buff, I would love to spend some serious time exploring Europe and the near east.

Alisha: If you could see anyone tomorrow (dead or alive), who would it be?

James: My mother, who passed away nearly twenty years ago. It would be nice to get one more hug from her.

Alisha: Sniff...If you could choose six people to spend one week on a desert island, who would it be and why?

James: I would choose dynamic pairings, just to see what happens, such as Jesus and Hitler, Paris Hilton and Eleanor Roosevelt, Karl Marx and Thomas Jefferson, then sit back and watch.

Alisha: Oh my! That WOULD be interesting. I think I'd have to strangle Hitler if I were there but Jesus would probably stop me. What word or phrase tingles in all the right places for you?


James: It’s a line from a Stephen Stills song “Southern Cross:”

“So we cheated and we lied and we tested
And we never failed to fail; it was the easiest thing to do.”

I think it says a lot about the human condition.

Alisha: Very true. If you had one day to spoil yourself, what would you do?

James: Treat myself to a tour of the Smithsonian Institution. (That history thing again).

Alisha: If you could change one incident in your life, what would it be and how would you change it?

James: When I was eighteen, I was diagnosed with a severe case of scoliosis (Curved spine) and had major surgery to fuse my spine. Needless to say, it has affected by life ever since. I’ve always wondered what my life would be like if I hadn’t had the limitations and deformities of this condition.

CONTEST: LEAVE A COMMENT FOR JAMES TODAY AND YOU'LL BE ENTERED INTO A DRAWING FOR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF HIS BOOK!

Excerpt
Dan didn't know how much time had passed. He did know his butt was sore from sitting on the log and that he was getting sleepy. One could only remain fully alert for so long, and the fact that they were in utter darkness didn't help. He couldn't see a thing; there was nothing to concentrate on.
The first hint something was up was the click of Alan Sr.'s safety going off.
Dan sat up straight and switched off his own safety.
The lamb had stopped bleating and struggling. It was holding perfectly still.
“Downhill and to the right,” Alan whispered. “Something's moving.”
Dan concentrated on listening, but could hear nothing unusual. There had been noise the whole time they'd been waiting. He'd always been surprised at how much activity went on at night, animals foraging for food and water, he imagined.
Then he realized what was unusual. The activity had stopped. The lamb was not the only creature who was holding still; the entire forest was holding its breath.
Then he heard a branch snap . . . and another . . .
“I hear it,” he whispered back to the hunter.
“Wait until it takes the bait.”
Dan nodded, though he knew the gesture would be invisible in the darkness.
The animal moved slowly up the hill. Dan could follow it by sound. Each twig snap, each rustle of a bush, was like a map marker, plotting its course up the hill.
He wondered if Tom and Alan Jr. heard it also.
It stopped immediately below them.
Dan held his breath.
There was a sound below, but Dan couldn't identify it.
The lamb screamed.
“Now!” Alan switched on the spotlight and stood, his rifle at his shoulder.
Two other spots lit up on either side of them.
“What the-?” Alan said, then he began to fire.
Dan saw an image centered in the combined light of the spots. It was large and covered with long bronze-colored hair. It's head was huge and strangely misshapen. Its mouth held all but the bloody head and front legs of the lamb.
Shots rang out to Dan's right and left. Tom and Alan Jr. had joined their father in shooting at the beast.
Dan raised his rifle only to discover the beast was suddenly gone.
The others ceased firing.
“Did you see it go down?” Alan Sr. asked.
Dan shook his head. “It was there. Then it wasn't.”
Alan was hurriedly shoving cartridges into his rifle's magazine. “I know I hit it. At least three times.”
“Dad!” Tom called over. “Did we get it?"
“I hit it. A head shot!” Alan Jr. yelled.
Other than their voices, Dan was keenly aware of how quiet the forest was around them.
“Boys, cover us. We're going to go have a look around.”
Alan turned to Dan. “Ready?”
Dan took a deep breath and nodded. “But I think I'll leave this behind.” He leaned the rifle against their former seat and pulled his Beretta from its holster and switched off the safety. “I'm better with a handgun.”
Alan nodded and led the way down the slope.
They went slow. Even with the three spots, the landscape was a patchwork of shadows and they had to carefully check each before entering or passing it. It made no sense to take unnecessary risks. If whatever they'd seen was wounded, it would be even more dangerous.
They finally reached the other side of the clearing without finding their victim.
“Here we go,” Alan said. “Be ready.”
Dan felt like he was on combat patrol.
They stepped out onto the small clearing they'd used to stake out the lamb. The metal stake was still where they'd left it, still trailing a frayed length of rope. Nearby, they found a spattering of fresh blood, probably from the lamb.
There was nothing else there.
Dan turned to look back up the hill. All he could see were the three spots of light burning holes in the darkness.
Alan pointed toward the tree line on the downhill side of the clear cut. “Keep an eye peeled. I'm going to look around.”
Dan nodded, swallowed hard and took up a flexible stance facing the woods and started sweeping. He concentrated on spotting movement, rather than any specific object. In the darkness, anything could be in there; he wouldn't have a chance of seeing it until it moved.
Alan Sr. was crouched down to his right, checking the grass and brush for signs that they'd hit the animal.
Dan licked his lips and kept scanning. He was very much aware that the forest around them was absolutely silent.
“Anything?” he asked.
“Not a damn thing. I don't get it. I know I hit it.”
“What was that thing anyway?”
“Looked like a bear to me.”
“I've never seen a bear like that.” Dan had never seen anything like that before.
Alan sighed and stood up beside him. “Relax. It's long gone.”
Someone screamed above them. A rifle went off, then again, and a third time.
Dan hit the ground with the first shot. He rolled and looked back up in time to see the second of the three spotlights explode in a fountain of sparks.
“Tommy! Junior!” Alan Sr.'s voice edged toward panic. “Are you okay? Tommy!”
There was no answer.
“Alan?” Dan wanted to find out where everyone was.
“I'm okay.” He heard from his left. “It must have circled around behind us.”
That seemed a reasonable guess.
The third light exploded. There was the sound of a scuffle up above and then silence.
They were in pitch darkness now. Dan couldn't even see his own hand when he waved it in front of his face.
“Junior!” Alan called. “Junior!”
There was no answer.
It was picking them off one by one. And now that it had knocked out the lights, they were effectively blind and virtually at its mercy. Their only chance lay in somehow making it back up to the road and the truck.
“Alan . . .”
“It killed my boys. My boys . . . Junior! Tommy!”
“Alan, listen to me,” Dan insisted. “We've got to get out of here and we've got to move now.”
He wasn't listening. “Junior . . . Tommy . . . my boys . . . “
Something moved in the darkness above them and to their left. It was circling back.
“Alan! We've got to get back to the truck.”
There was no answer.
Dan looked over toward the hunter. Alan's was just another irregular shape in the darkness. The hunter was in shock over his sons' death, Dan guessed. But what to do about it? Time was running out.
The thing in the darkness made a sound, the first one Dan had heard it make, and it sounded like chuckling.
The hair at the nape of his neck stood. Dan pushed himself to his feet, moved over to Alan and jerked him up by the shoulder. “Are you coming, or am I going to have to carry you?”
“I'm coming.”
“Good.”
Dan started up the hill. It was too steep and too rough to run. In the darkness, running would invite a broken leg or a head-on with a tree trunk. But he went as fast as he safely could, pulling himself up on saplings and whatever else he could grab with his left hand. His right still held his pistol.
He glanced back once to be sure Alan was still behind him. Satisfied, he concentrated on climbing.
He had no idea where the animal was; it could be anywhere.
It certainly would know where they were; they were making as much noise as a herd of wildebeests.
He emerged on the road so suddenly, he lost his balance. He went down, landing on his right shoulder and rolled over onto his hands and knees. A searing pain ripped down the length of his arm. He sucked air through clenched teeth to keep from crying out.
Alan stumbled onto the road right behind him.
Dan's gun had fallen from his limp right hand. In the dark, he couldn't see where it had fallen.
“You all right?” Alan asked. His breath came in great rasping gasps.
Dan shook his head. “I think I broke something.”
He clutched his shoulder with his good hand.
“Can you make it to the truck?”
“Yeah,” Dan nodded. He could see the dark outline of the pickup less than a hundred feet to his left.
He couldn't leave without his pistol. The first rule of law enforcement: never let your sidearm out of your possession.
“My pistol,” he said, “I dropped it when I fell.”
Something moved in the brush at the edge of the road.
Alan spun around and raised his rifle.
Dan frantically looked for his pistol, knowing that if that thing was coming after them, Alan would need all the additional firepower he could get. Even a few left-handed shots would be better than nothing.
He managed to stand, despite the pain the effort caused, and moved to one side, quickly scanning the gray of the dirt road for his pistol.
“Head for the truck,” Alan said, “I'll cover you.”
The animal, whatever it was, seemed to be toying with them. It remained in the woods, but also continued to make so much noise it had to be on purpose. It was as though it were daring the two men to do something.
Dan found his pistol near the far edge of the road. Actually, he stepped on it.
“Did you hear me? Head for the truck.”
“I'm not going anywhere.” Dan painfully crouched down and picked up the Beretta with his left hand. He straightened back up and had to take a step against sudden light-headedness. “I've got my gun. We're going together.”
Alan looked like he was about to argue when something stepped from the edge of the woods onto the road.
“Junior?” Alan lowered his rifle.
Dan stared at the young man.
“Junior? You're all right?”
Something was wrong. Dan was having trouble focusing on the younger Wright's figure. It was like his vision was blurred. He would have thought it was the effect of shock from his injury, but he wasn't having any trouble focusing on Alan Sr.
The figure of Alan Jr. stepped toward his amazed father.
“Junior . . . “
Alan Jr. lifted one hand and with a sudden blow, took his father's head off at the neck.
Dan could only watch in numb fascination as the headless body of Alan Sr. teetered unsteadily under a fountain of blood, then slowly tipped over and fell like a tree.
The thing that looked like Alan Jr. tipped its head back and screamed at the sky.
Dan backed away.
The truck was no longer an option. The creature stood between him and the pickup and Dan didn't think he was up to trying to get by or around it.
The creature turned toward Dan now and its shape seemed to dissolve before his eyes, becoming less an object than a dense cloud of--something.
Dan glanced once at the pistol in his left turned, and ran for his life.
But he was injured and the jarring pace of running on the dark road seemed to open something in his shoulder. It felt burning hot.
Still, he forced himself to run.
Something came between Dan and the clouds, something big and dark and moving very fast.
He tripped and went down and the blackness swallowed him.

An Interview with Missy Jane!

Please welcome Missy Jane to my blog today!

Ms. Missy Jane is the alter ego of a Texas mother of four who has been married to the same wonderful man for thirteen years. About five years ago Missy finished reading a book by Mercedes Lackey and thought "Now, what if..." and a monster was created. Missy now spends most of her time lost in worlds of her own making alternately loving and hating such creatures as vampires, shape-shifters and gargoyles (to name a few). When not writing, she spends her time reading, taking photos of her beautiful daughters and training her husband to believe she's always right.

Alisha: Can you tell us a little bit about your childhood?

Missy: I had a very good childhood, so long as I didn’t mind being picked on by my two older sisters. I was the baby and basically spoiled rotten by everyone in the family, now my hubby does it.

Alisha: Favorite memories?

Missy: Some of my favorite memories revolve around food. We would often eat at a seafood restaurant shaped like a boat that sat beside train tracks. Any time a train would pass it looked like the boat was moving. One of the servers was really good friends with my dad and he always peeled my boiled shrimp. I was an adult before I realized they didn’t automatically come that way when you ordered them.

Alisha: What a sweet memory. Tell us about the hero and heroine in your latest release.

Missy: They Call Me Death is the story of Alexia and Andor. She is a former housewife and mother who lost her family to animal shapeshifters. Andor is a Golden Eagle shapeshifter whose daughter is missing, presumably at the hands of humans. They have to learn to trust each other and work together to find his daughter and stop events that threaten the fragile peace between the species. I liked Alexia’s character from the first time she spoke in my head. She knows how to stand up for herself and evolve as a person despite the obstacles she encounters.

Alisha: Ooooh! I love shapeshifters! If you were granted three wishes by a genie, what would they be?

Missy: 1. For everyone to genuinely care about each other (the closest to world peace that might actually work), 2. Good health and happiness for my children and 3. To win the lottery (I have to be selfish on at least one of the three).

Alisha: If you could go anywhere to tomorrow, where would you go?

Missy: Hmm, Disneyworld. I haven’t taken my kids there yet.

Alisha: If you could see anyone tomorrow (dead or alive), who would it be?

Missy: Jim Morrison. He’s my favorite dead celebrity.

Alisha: Oh yes! And a very yummy man. That man invented sex appeal! And oh so dark and dreamy! If you could choose six people to spend one week on a desert island, who would it be and why?

Alisha: What word or phrase tingles in all the right places for you?

Missy: The word “suckle”. Ooh, that just sounds naughty, doesn’t it?

Alisha: Mmmm...VERY naughty..tee hee. If you had one day to spoil yourself, what would you do?

Missy: I’d start with a long luxurious bath, then have a full body massage (from a hunky guy of course), then eat somewhere sinfully decadent and most likely wind up in a bookstore. I’d end my day with another luxurious bath and fall asleep to soft jazz. This might sound kind of boring, but considering I have four kids any day to myself in calm silence is luxurious.

Alisha: I have three children so no, not boring at all. Wouldn't it be nice to even BE bored for a while?

EXCERPT 1
"Show me." He looked at me, doubt clear on his face as he
unsuccessfully tried to suppress a grin. "Show me, Andor. I won't
freak out this time."
He sighed and rubbed his face. I looked at how large his hands
appeared and wondered why I stood with a shifter I barely knew in my
space. The feel of my Glock still in my hand reassured me.
"Would it be too much to ask for you to place your gun…somewhere
else?"
I considered it, but not for long.
"Yes. I shower and sleep with my gun, Andor."
He grinned and nodded in understanding. He took a step away from
my sofa into a clearer area of the room, removed his coat and shirt
and dropped them to the floor. His wings instantly unfurled from his
body, spreading across the room. I looked him over, and everything
else about him remained human, or as human as usual. I took a step
toward him before I realized what I was doing. Placing my cup on the
counter, I stretched my hand toward the tip of his wing and Andor
froze. I touched the feathers tentatively at first, amazed at the
sheer size of each one. They were soft and beautiful. I had a deep
desire to see them in full sunlight, wondering if they would shine
like gold.
I heard Andor's breathing speed up, as if he were panting from
physical exertion. I still had my hand on his right wing when I
turned to look at his face. He was watching me with completely male
interest, and I became self-conscious.
"Can you feel this?" I asked, as I ran my fingers lightly over a
feather.
"Y-yes."

EXCERPT 2
I tried my best to delve into Andor's thoughts while he tried his
best to ignore mine. I was vividly remembering a bikini shopping trip
with some girlfriends on my eighteenth birthday when he finally
broke. I have to admit, I'm not sure why I'd taken to teasing him in
such a way. It was completely unlike me, especially with a shifter.
But I'd grown comfortable with Andor, and he no longer felt like an
enemy.
"Damn it, Alexia! Even the strongest man has a limit on his
control," he groaned, rising from the living room floor where we sat
facing each other.
I laughed and gave him a wink.
"Just seeing how much of a man you are, Andor. I knew you couldn't
stay an ice statue forever."
He walked into the kitchen, as I remained seated on the floor
cross-legged.
"An ice statue?" he asked in my head. Suddenly I felt fingertips
running down my bare arms from shoulder to elbow. I glared at him and
he smiled. "Does this feel like a frigid sculpture to you?"
I gasped as a warm touch traveled over my stomach and up my sides
past my ribs. The warmth continued to my back and up to my shoulders,
making me shiver. Andor chuckled at my reaction, the sound purely
masculine and sexy as hell. I jumped to my feet.
"Cut it out! You've made your point."

EXCERPT 3
Deep bass drum rolls woke me. For a moment, I just lay there, trying to remember whose bed I was in and why. It came to me slowly and I realized I was lying in Andor’s arms. I felt the movement of his breathing against my back, his warmth seeping through my shirt. The last thing I wanted was to get out of bed and away from his arms, but we had a schedule to keep. The Annual Conference of Human Scientists was beginning that day at Castor Laboratories and we had to sneak in.
As soon as I moved, I realized he was awake. His arm was still around my waist, his hand resting beneath my breast. I placed my hand in his and moved it up as I pressed back into him.
“Alexia,” he whispered, and it made me smile to hear desire in his voice.
“I know, we don’t have time,” I whispered back, not even trying to hide my disappointment.
“Soon. This will be over and I’ll spend hours worshipping you as you deserve,” he replied before suckling the back of my neck.
It sent a shiver up my spine and made me gasp. His hand squeezed my breast through my thin T-shirt and his leg settled between my thighs. I realized he was naked and moaned my approval.

EXCERPT 4
The first thing I saw was blood. There was a lot of it, and in the middle of it all stood Jack naked from the waist up. His chest and arms were covered in blood, as if he had dipped his body into it and tried to bathe. My stomach tried to rebel at the sight and smell and I froze in my tracks. Jack had a whip in his hands that had been black when he started, but now it was crimson and dripping.
“My God… You son of a bitch,” I whispered.
Jack heard me and looked up, his smile slipping away.
“What the hell are you doing here, Lex? It’s too early for your shift,” he said calmly.
“You know me, ever the overachiever.”
I looked at the heap at Jack’s feet, and that was all I could call it, a heap. It no longer resembled anything that ever lived, human or animal. The ropes were still on his hands, but he had long ago fallen from whatever Jack had him tied to. He wasn’t even moving any more.
“Jack, what have you done?” I asked, unable to keep the trembling from my voice.
“Done? Ha-ha, I did what you do best, Alexia. I killed it. I killed it and it screamed for me until its last breath. It sounded human at first, but near the end… Near the end it sounded like a cat.”
He started laughing. He laughed until tears streamed down his face, cleaning tracks through the blood, and all I could do was stand there staring at him. He was still laughing when Lance arrived with a half dozen other men. Jack let them take him into custody, all the while laughing.


Excerpts from Missy's work can be found at www.msmissyjane.com.
Missy’s first book, They Call me Death is available from Samhain Publishing.

Buy Link for They Call Me Death

Welcome Lynn Crain!

What’s in a name?

Recently I started a new series called ‘Protectors of the Earth’ and most of the stories in the series are about people who have the ability to use elemental power. You know what I’m talking about: Earth, Wind, Air and Fire.

It’s the stuff of legends. Think about the movies you know which use this type of force. Well, all the Star Wars movies use some type of elemental power. In them, it’s called the force and one has to be attuned to it before they can use it. Another story, The Fifth Element is very science fiction in nature but when it actually came to saving the world, they went back to the four elements. Then there’s one of my all time favorites, The Lord of the Rings series. If they don’t use elemental power and magic, I don’t know who does.

If you are fans of manga and anime, then you’ve seen plenty of elemental magic. Some of my favorites were Avatar, Naruto, InuYasha, Pokemon, and Sailor Moon. I could watch all those cartoons for hours. Also, Final Fantasy was based upon elementals. When I was designing this whole series, I really took into account just how Avatar was put together as it’s such a great story of the elements.

The whole concept is rampant in books and has been for years. Fantasy is strewn with those who can use elemental powers, some for good, some for evil. Some of my favorite stories have been based upon a Dungeons and Dragons type worlds. DragonLance was one of my favorite readings of all time. All nine books. LOL!

So, now it’s my turn to create fantastic characters and the first thing I realized was I had to name them for their element. Rather it was the second thing as I had the whole first book done before I had even planned the rest. What was strange is the fact the characters in the first book told me their names. I had had the heroine down as a one-liner for almost a year and every day she yelled at me for not doing more.

Last month, something told me I needed to get this series into high gear. So I finish the first story in record time and realized there is a whole lot more to the story. I decide then it’s time to take the plotting class which I’ve talked about in previous blogs. Once there I knew if I were ever to finish this series, it would have to be plotted meticulously and simultaneously.

So, I start with the second book and before I know it, I have the basics for each of the subsequent stories. Then come the names. After lots of thought, I decided to do something I’ve never done before and actually name the characters for what they were going to be. I looked up names and pondered if I would actually name someone that. Believe me when I say some of them were very strange looking and sounding at first.

Still, I have in my possession eight of the coolest sounding character names one would ever find. The second book is called ‘Playing with Fyre’ and the heroine is Endellion Fyre. She’s nicknamed Endy. The hero’s name is Haydn Keegan. Every word has something to do with fire which is their element. Endellion actually means fire soul. How cool is that?!?

I then took it one step further and went to a website called ‘How Many of Me’ which tells you just how many people in the world have any given name. Very cool tool for an author. I loved the fact there are only 18 Lynn Crains in the US. But I really loved the fact there is only one or less person who is named Endellion Fyre. Uniqueness is a great quality for a character. People tend to remember unique.

Your character’s name is one of your novel’s or story’s greatest assets. Sometimes the characters scream out their names loudly and they will drown out anything you might say or want to say. If they allow you to plan things out, try naming them for who they are, what they do, what they like or what ever floats your boat. Make sure they like it and you like it. You will know what a character’s name should be because it will feel right.

I went through at least three to five name choices for each of my elemental characters. I’d put the names together and let them roll, or not roll, off my tongue to see if my people were meant to have that name. Once everything clicked, my characters not only had a mission they became real to me in a way that still has me in its grip.

Now that each of them are firmly planted into my mind, I have to finish the stories. From time to time, I’ll give you all glimpses into this new and fantastic world I’m creating. You can see that progress occasionally at my regular blog, www.themanyshades.blogspot.com every Wednesday.

Hope you drop by to see how this wonderful story is shaping up!

Lynn

An Interview with Sara Thacker and A Contest!

Please welcome the very talented Sara Thacker to my blog today!

Alisha: How did you meet your husband?

Sara: He was dating my roommate in college. She wasn’t that into him, just stringing him along. I asked if she minded if we dated, she said she didn’t mind. We’ve been married for eighteen years.

Alisha: Wow! Tell us about the hero and heroine in your latest release.

Sara: Jake, in Smooth Lies, is more like a superhero than a normal guy. Of course, I made him that way. He’s smart, sexy and muscled up. Jake knows he’s made mistakes, but he’s dedicated to those he loves. When he finds out Sophia is in danger, he’ll do anything to make her safe. He’s got a load of trouble haunting him and that trouble is threatening everything he knows.

Sophia is strong and beautiful. She wants her life to change but isn’t sure how to make it happen. Her life is in danger, her memories sketchy. Sophia run’s away from the man threatening her. Now she has to stay alive, but her skills are lacking. Finding Jake saves her, but can she save their relationship?

Alisha: If you were granted three wishes by a genie, what would they be?

Sara: That’s a tough question. If you could wish for world peace and prosperity then that would be my first. Second would be a house on the beach. And third would be Starbucks for life without any weight gain.

Alisha: If you could go anywhere to tomorrow, where would you go?

Sara: The beach.

Alisha: If you could see anyone tomorrow (dead or alive), who would it be?

Sara: My granny. She passed away when I was twelve. I would love to talk to her again.

Alisha: If you could choose six people to spend one week on a desert island, who would it be and why?

Sara: My husband and children, that would be three. Then I would ask McKenna and her two kids. Too bad her hubby couldn’t come along, but we would have fun.

Alisha: Well, I guess you can have seven..lol! What word or phrase tingles in all the right places for you?

Sara: I don’t think I have a word or phrase that does that.

Alisha: Not one? If you had one day to spoil yourself, what would you do?

Sara: I would go to the beach and read a book.

Alisha: If you could change one incident in your life, what would it be and how would you change it?

Sara: There’s so much that could be changed, but the events that happened made me into who I am today. So I’m not sure I would change anything that happened.

Alisha: What’s the sexiest thing a man has ever done for you or said to you or both?

Sara: My husband bought me a new computer. Trust me, it was great.

Alisha: Oh! I happen to find that very sexy! My husband did the same thing. Very sweet and supportive for a man to do that when he understands our passion for writing!


CONTEST: LEAVE A COMMENT FOR SARA TODAY AND YOU'LL BE ENTERED INTO A DRAWING FOR ONE OF HER EBOOKS!

Excerpt from Smooth Lies
Sophia sat up, her heart thumping wildly. Someone had shouted. She was sure of it. No noise followed from the rooms above. Hearing nothing, she decided to seek out a cup of hot tea to sooth her frayed nerves.
Padding softly down the hall to the kitchen, she came to the decision she could no longer pretend she wanted to stay with Jake. He wanted her to sleep with him, and she couldn’t. Jake wasn’t the man her memories conjured up as her husband. Her Jake was kinder, gentler. He never would have forced her to take medicine. Damn it, either her memories which had been coming back to her with such detail were wrong, or Jake was a liar.
With her hand poised, ready to flip on the light, she heard a voice. She froze. Turning her head slightly, she focused on the direction the sound came from. Someone was talking. She crept to the basement door and placed her ear near the crack, straining to hear the words.
“I’ll get it done. Don’t worry, before the end of the week I’ll have what we want. I’ll get the damn code.”
Sophia’s heart quickened. Jake wanted a code. She pushed down her fear and stayed put. She had to hear more.
“Listen, the bitch will be in my bed tomorrow night. I’ll do her over good and confuse the shit out of her. She’ll fall completely in love with me and won’t know the difference. I’ll tell her I forgot where I put the code and she’ll give it to me. Then we can get rid of her and Wendy can bring Randy home.”

Alisha: Oh my! Now I have to read this! Great excerpt, Sara. You tease! Come back anytime!

An Interview with Liana Laverentz and A Chance to Win Jake's Return!

Please welcome Liana Laverentz to my blog today. She's won NJRW's Golden Leaf two years in a row as well as an EPPIE Award. I'm thrilled and honored to have her here today!

Alisha: Can you tell us a little bit about your childhood? Favorite memories?

Liana: My grandmother, or Oma, lived in Germany. When I would go to see her, she would take me out for afternoon coffee, or Kaffee, to a café in a nearby town. It was called a Konditorei, with a bakery on the ground floor and a crystal and linen dining room on the second floor. You would walk in, chose something from the display case that ran the length of the room, order your coffee or tea, go upstairs and be seated. Your order arrived via dumbwaiter and would be brought to you by the waiter or waitress. My Oma would always order Himbeerkuchen, or raspberry cake. Kind of like those cakes you see with a spongy yellow base and jelled fruit on the top—or strawberry shortcake?

Anyway, her favorite was red raspberry cake, and I always got Nusstorte, or a hazelnut torte, because I was a kid and could eat a million calories and not take them home with me as friends for life. She would have coffee, and I would have tea…with lemon.

It was all so very elegant, and I always felt so big and grown up.

I love this memory because every time I bite into a fresh raspberry anything I remember her, and those afternoons at the café.

Alisha: Oh, Liana! That is a precious memory! Tell us about the hero and heroine in your latest release.

Liana: Rebecca and Jake in Jake’s Return have been friends since they were the town outcasts together. I loved writing their story because when you have two characters who know each other intimately (and I’m not talking in the carnal way, which they also do) the dynamics are such that you can do so much more with them than when they have just met and are slowly learning about each other’s hopes and dreams and greatest fears and disappointments. There’s a level of comfort that arises between them that is so much fun to play off of. There’s a history they can draw on, and nobody knows your strengths and weaknesses like your best friend.

Here’s a small excerpt:

He offered lemonade, she accepted. Their fingers brushed when he handed hers over, and Jake felt a damning jolt of sexual heat. He looked up and caught a faint flush in Rebecca’s cheeks. Their eyes locked. Apparently she’d felt something, too.
Great, Jake thought. Just great. If he thought for one second she’d go for some hot, no-strings-attached sex, they’d be halfway upstairs already.
But that wasn’t Rebecca, and never had been. Rebecca came with all kinds of strings.
“The yard looks nice,” she said.
“Thanks.” He’d spent most of the afternoon working on it. “It’d look better with some grass instead of these ratty clumps of weeds, though. I’ll have to look into seeding it.”
“I thought you were leaving right away.”
“Can’t hurt to fix the place up a bit before I unload it.”
Strong emotion flashed in Rebecca’s eyes, startling him. The unexpected flare-up passed too quickly for him to be sure, but Jake would have put his money on anger—or maybe bitterness.
Bitterness? Over his selling the house?
Maybe she expects you to stay.
She couldn’t. If she knew him at all, she couldn’t.

Alisha: Ahhhh...intimates. I love the sound of this story. If you were granted three wishes by a genie, what would they be?

Liana: A housekeeper, a publicist and freedom for my friend Louis.

Alisha: If you could go anywhere tomorrow, where would you go?

Liana: Greece and Italy, and France and England. (I’ll get there yet, Charlotte, you just wait and see!)

Alisha: If you could see anyone tomorrow (dead or alive), who would it be?

Liana: My Oma. And my friend Earl, and my friend the Group Captain (he knows who he is), all of whom have passed on. I’d like to be able to tell them I now realize how wise they were (I’m sure they already know) and thank them for not pointing out how clueless I was.

Alisha: If you could choose six people to spend one week on a desert island, who would it be and why?

Liana: I can’t imagine anyone I’d want to subject me to under those circumstances. We wouldn’t be friends when it was over, that’s for sure. I am not an outside girl…do not enjoy the outside, or the beach, or especially sand, in anything but the briefest of stretches. And sand with no amenities? Despite all the years of positive thinking CDs I have listened to, I would start complaining, and fast. Odd, because my website (www.lianalaverentz.com) is set on the beach, but really, I chose that for the colors and the sunset. I collect sunset memories. I love to watch a sunset from anywhere. But a full week of being in the great outdoors anywhere, no thank you.

Alisha: Ha ha...you and me both! I like to go outside but I want a nice bed and a shower at night. What word or phrase tingles in all the right places for you?

Liana: “You will not be charged for this call.” As anyone who has read my blog knows, my friend Louis is serving life in prison and on Fridays I blog about the differences between his life/thought processes and mine. http://lianalaverentz.blogspot.com/ He only calls collect when he’s upset with me or expects me to be in a bad mood. He says, “I’m not paying for you to argue with me.” (I swear sometimes we bicker like an old married couple.)

So now I smile no matter what the recorded message says. (Each time he calls, a mandatory recorded message plays, first.) If I won’t be charged, everything is cool. If he calls collect, I smile and say what’s on my mind, since it’s my money I’m spending.

Alisha: I'll have to stop by your blog. If you had one day to spoil yourself, what would you do?

Liana: Go to one of those day spas and get totally pampered. Hair, nails, steam bath/sauna, some kind of body wrap, facial, massage, reflexology, a couple of nice, healthy, light meals with lots of fresh fruit and water, soft instrumental music, and meditation.

Alisha: If you could change one incident in your life, what would it be and how would you change it?

Liana: I can’t say I would change anything, because all of what I have been through has brought me to where I am, which is a very blessed place to be. I can say I wish I’d caught on to a few things a little sooner so I could be a little farther along the path, but really, it’s all good.

Alisha: What’s the sexiest thing a man has ever done for you or said to you or both?

Liana: “Never accept being less than equal in this relationship. I know I won’t.”

Liana Laverentz
Thin Ice (NJRW Golden Leaf and EPPIE Award Winner)
Jake's Return (NJRW Golden Leaf Award Winner)
Ashton's Secret (available June 26)
www.lianalaverentz.com
www.polkadotbanner.com
http://lianalaverentz.blogspot.com/
www.myspace.com/authorlianalaverentz

CONTEST: LEAVE LIANA A COMMENT TODAY AND YOU'LL BE ENTERED INTO A DRAWING FOR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF JAKE'S RETURN, TO BE ANNOUNCED AFTER MIDNIGHT.

Romancing February....Love is in the Air!

I've always loved Valentine's Day. I love roses and chocolate and love to be pampered on Valentine's Day. Even as a little girl, my daddy brought me home flowers, chocolate and little stuffed animals. Here's a picture of my sweet daddy!




I remember one Valentine's Day, he had to take me to the doctor with a horrible ear infection. We stopped off at the drug store on the way home to pick up my RX and he bought me some Valentine treats. So, you see, it started early for me. I've always felt special on Heart Day so I always expected my boyfriends to do the same. It wasn't as if they weren't warned ahead of time either..ha ha. My highschool boyfriend was my first husband...uh...yeah, I said first...snicker....and he was pretty darn good at remembering roses, taking me out to dinner and buying me jewelry even. That was about ALL he was good at.

My one true Valentine is my husband, Michael.


He blows my highschool boyfriend/ex-hubby out of the water. You see, we met because he lived next door to me and his car broke down one day. I offered to give him a ride to work. He declined the ride to work but asked if he could have a lift to the auto parts store. After dropping my daughter off at daycare, I drove him to Autozone and then back home so he could fix his car. I went to work and a couple of weeks later, he brings me a bottle of wine. Thank you wine. That bottle of wine started everything. He brought it over on a Friday night after my daughter was in bed. I invited him in to drink it. We talked for hours. About everything. Politics, religion, the war, growing up, music, movies and I realized we had very different views on most topics. He seemed very extreme to me and a little too sure of himself. Silly me though...that kind of arrogance is a big turn on in my book. He was VERY sure of himself. So sure of himself that he decided to kiss me on my sofa. Man! What a kiss! I'll never forget it. Then he asked me out on a date and said it like this..."I want to take you out this weekend. How many days do I get you for?" Huh? He was asking for days? Not one night...he wanted to spend the entire weekend with me. I called my mom the very next morning to see if she could keep my daughter. I had a WEEKEND DATE with a total stranger. A stranger who had lived next door to me for two years. A stranger with long hair and soft lips.

Oh God. Then he got up to leave and we kissed by the door for several minutes. So yummy. He brought a dozen roses to my work for a STRAIGHT WEEK! We'd meet for lunch and drive to parking garages and parks so we could make out. I was 32 but I felt like I was 16. He proposed within six weeks, down on one knee and promised to always love me and take care of me. We've had two beautiful babies together and my oldest daughter loves being a big sister. He's working out of town this Valentine's Day but we'll all go see him. I have to have my kisses and the kids will take him his homemade cards. I hope you spend Valentine's Day with the ones you love and cherish one another.

~Happy Valentine's Day!

CONTEST: LEAVE ME A COMMMENT ABOUT YOUR FUNNY VALENTINE. TELL ME ABOUT THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE OR THE ONE YOU STILL THINK ABOUT. I'LL CHOOSE MY FAVORITE AND GIVE THE WINNER A CHOICE OF ANY OF MY BOOKS IN PDF.

To continue Romance February’s month-long party and win more prizes (and have a chance to win a $75-dollar gift card from The Wild Rose Press at the end of the month), be sure to follow the fun to fellow romance author Heather Hiestand's blog at http://blog.heatherhiestand.com.