Winner of Anne Hope's Broken Angels

Host

Congratulations, Host. You've won an e-copy of Anne Hope's Broken Angels. Please send me an email at leah.braemel   @ gmail.com with your choice of format you'd like it in (go over to the Samhain   website for a listing of what's available. http://samhainpublishing.com/aboutebooks  ) Don't forget to take out the spaces from the addy before you hit send ;)

(Usual legal  stuff, you have seven days to claim your prize or I draw a new winner.)

There were 5 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Host
2. Elaing8
3. Estella
4. Valerie
5. Jennifer Mathis

Timestamp: 2010-08-31 02:06:39 UTC

Sunday Round-Up

I've pulled up the "new post" page a couple times since Gizmo Guy's post, but what a hard act that post was to follow. GG's a little embarrassed by all the attention he drew -- oh, don't worry, he did say originally send it to me as a post, but he didn't expect so many people to respond. As I said at the start of that post, he's a man of few words, but when he speaks....Wow.

He's out for his regular Sunday morning round of golf with one of his friends. Guitar Hero is off driving his new truck to get a hang of how it handles before he has to drive to his new job site next week on the other side of Toronto. And Curly's downstairs laughing about something. Spike's asleep on the chair beside me so the house is quiet.

I've received some emails asking about the next in the Hauberk series. I have completed Chad's story--it's a reunited love story. It's currently in with my editor. Fingers crossed, I'll know something soon. Here's hoping I've done Chad's story justice and my editor will give it a thumbs up.  

The first draft of Dillon's great-grandparents is finished, and now I'm editing it, in hopes that there'll be good news on it too. And I'm drafting up a synopsis for a sequel to Texas Tangle following Dillon's brother Griffin.  And I have another couple projects I've been fiddling with but there's not enough done on them yet to talk about. Lots to do.

Don't forget that the good folks over at Whipped Cream and Long and Short of It Reviews have a contest for a Nook going on that ends today.  Head on over there as you can win not only a Nook but lots of ebooks, including Private Property.

Oh, and don't forget that the contest for Anne Hope's Broken Angels is still open. You have until tomorrow night to leave a comment to enter to win your own copy.

I Slept with Leah Braemel!

Gizmo Guy is not a big talker; he prefers to let his actions speak louder than words. Often times we'll each be sitting in our chairs in the family room typing into our laptops and I'll get an email he's sent me -- yes, from only 5 feet away. Usually they're little jokes or links to pictures that he knows will make me laugh. Tuesday afternoon was no different. Except when I opened his latest email. He mentioned he'd read my blog on Tuesday saying I was looking for guest bloggers and wanted to reserve a date. He even enclosed his blog post. When I opened the doc ... well, I just had to share it with you. No, I didn't edit it. These are all completely his original words. Yes, I was sniffling by the end of it. I'm not the only romantic in this family.

Gizmo Guy Speaks

I slept with Leah Braemel – just don’t tell my wife!

Gizmo Guy, Vancouver Island, 2006

I have for more years then either of us would like to admit, shared a bed with the famous Leah Braemel. And a house, two kids, and at times various animals – a budgie, a cockatiel, a wonderful lab-mix dog, and the current master of the house a tuxedo-cat named Spike.

Yes I am Mr. Braemel, or Gizmo Guy as I get referred to in these pages. I am Husband, sometime critique partner, research assistant (one of the perks), sounding wall, and firm supporter of Ms. Braemel.

The worlds and the words Ms. Braemel create are glorious, but perhaps I am coming from a biased view. I have watched her mature through the years, starting as a twenty-something young girl scribbling her words in small notebooks, hiding them from curious eyes.

Then she realized the characters in her mind demanded to be let loose, their stories had to be told. She was amazed when people actually read her early fan-fiction works – and demanded more.

You see I am a product of the Canadian Education system – although a graduate of community college in a technical field I had not read, for purely entertainment purposes, a novel until my mid twenties. I was a television junkie – the boob-tube was on twenty-three hours a day in the house I grew up in. Meals were consumed in front of it. Conversations took place over its din. My mother even managed to time her cat-naps around the commercials – waking herself up just in time to turn the sound back up.

So I was confused when Leah would disappear into another room for hours at a time ‘reading’. Why read when they will act it out in front of you – and you don’t have to think… A typical male I imagined I had done something wrong – that she was mad at me. I just didn’t understand.

Then one day I was in a used book store with Leah – did you know that some of the movies I watch on my glorious TV were books originally. Who Knew! Tom Clancy actually wrote ‘Red October’ as a book before it was made into a ‘blockbuster’ film.

And you know what – the book was better.

Well it was all downhill from there – Clancy, Steven Coonts, Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Series, along with the wildly popular Grisham novels amongst others. Piles of paperbacks grew in the bathroom (still my preferred place to read). I was hooked. This woman was a terrible influence on me.

But the people that wrote those stories, they were not mere mortals. They must be gods sent from the heavens to entertain us. Surely one of us could not ascend to such heights.

Then the magic happened. Leah scrunched up enough courage, and egged on by some close friends, to expose herself as openly as anyone can. She put herself out on display. She took one of those worlds that she created, and sent it off to one of those dreaded people – the Editor.

The rest is shall I say history. Three books out there being received well beyond her dreams. Accolades coming in from all sides.

I was sitting in my chair the other day, watching golf on my glorious TV (yeah I’m still hooked) when I noticed Leah smiling to herself. I inquired to find she was following two people talking on Twitter as they read her latest novel. It was like watching a little girl at Christmas. In the famous words of Sally Fields at the Oscars ‘They like me – they really like me’.

Leah – get used to it – you have talent. You have stories to tell. You have – dare I say it – fans!

I won’t say that living with a writer is always fun – many a night I have rolled over only to find the other side of the bed vacant – "the characters started talking to me… I had to let them work it out…" I think there is a very fine line sometimes between the creative and the insane…

But her influence has once again hit me. I put pen to paper (actually finger to keyboard) myself and wrote a comedic attempt at a very short story about a modern plight – the failure to launch syndrome. This was based mostly on our own home life – and the fact the two very grown children still lived in our house well past the norm. Sitting again in front of the TV with my laptop in my lap I read it over for the hundredth time. Finally I screwed up the courage and sent it in an email to Leah – who was sitting all of five feet away from me.

“What’s this,” Leah asked.

“Um, something I wrote…” I mumbled.

Between the tears and the laughter she gave me something that I will never forget – encouragement. "She liked it – she really liked it." This woman has indeed been a terrible influence on me.

Leah – the twelve hour days – the constant research and work – the edits – the promotion – the endless novels, good and bad you read – are worth it. You have arrived. Your words and worlds are out there for all to see.

Congratulations – and know this – you are loved – and not just by your fans….

Having Hope...Anne Hope that is

I first met today's guest at the Ottawa Romance Writers' conference back in 2008 a month after I signed my very first contract with Samhain. Anne's first book with Samhain Where Dreams Are Made was due out a month after the conference, so she gave me little tips about what to expect, along with lots of boosts of confidence. So I'm thrilled to have her on my blog today.

Meet 

Anne Hope

When I tell people I’m an author, they often ask me if my books are about me. I guess the answer is yes and no. Since there are strong elements of suspense in my novels, there are quite a few things I’ve written about that I’ve thankfully never experienced. I’ve never been homeless, relentlessly pursued by a sadistic killer or physically assaulted. I’ve never had a friend brutally murdered, was named guardian of three heart-broken children or had one of my kids preyed on by an Internet stalker.

That being said, I always make it a point to include some of myself in each book I write. The more I can relate to the characters, the truer the emotions I bring out in them will be. For instance, my son and daughter greatly inspired the children in Broken Angels. I’ve lived through their tantrums, have experienced their squabbles first hand, and know exactly how it feels to have a small child run off without a word of warning. I also understand that, despite their bickering, siblings have an unwavering devotion to one another. Because of that, I was able to add depth and realism to Broken Angels.

In order to put myself in the characters shoes, I also spent a few days in Boston and Cape Cod, where the story is set. By actually experiencing the places I was writing about, I was able to add texture and flavor to the descriptions. I stood on a small beach and stared out into the ocean the same way Rebecca does in the book. I gazed at the moss-covered roofs, smelled the musty, salt-laden air, and even watched a mother osprey feed her hatchlings. For some reason, this made me feel closer to my characters and helped me to better understand them.

So, although the stories I write aren’t necessarily about me, I try to experience as much as I can about my characters in order to bring them to life. And once in a while, I’ll include a little of myself in the book—my hopes, my fears, the way I view the world, or simply a funny conversation my kids had.

In fact, one scene is practically an exact replica of an argument my children had once. Can you guess which one?

Broken Angels

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
ISBN: 978-1-60928-158-8
Length: Novel
Price: 5.50
Publication Date: August 24, 2010
Buy it through My Bookstore and More

Tragedy gave them a second chance. Now they’ve got everything to lose.

Zach Ryler always prided himself on his ability to handle anything life flung at him. Nothing could have prepared him for his sister’s brutal murder, let alone being named legal guardian of her three children. Now, the only person who can help him is the one woman he vowed never to touch again. The one woman his love couldn’t fix.

Rebecca James never stopped loving Zach, even after her infertility slowly crushed her spirit and destroyed their marriage. Suddenly Fate has dropped her dream in her lap: a family. But opening her heart to them—and to Zach—is a risk she wonders if she’s ready to take.

As Zach and Rebecca struggle to help the children deal with their grief, they slowly begin to rediscover the passion they thought they’d lost. Just as they believe that this time, they can get it right, shadows from the past close in, tearing at the fragile bonds they’ve forged. And a lethal predator is waiting and watching, one who will stop at nothing to protect his secrets…even murder.

Broken Angels
excerpt

The harbor shivered, and from its depths a figure sprang. She walked toward him, bathed in starlight, her body glistening, her hair streaming wet and wild down her back.

Zach’s next breath snagged in his throat.

A siren, he thought. A mythical creature rising from the sea to seduce him.

His lungs felt crushed, deprived of air. The walls of his throat narrowed as an electrical charge pulsed across his nerve endings.

Then he realized the siren was Becca. She’d gone for an evening swim. She loved swimming at night because the water was always warmer then. Shadows played along her curves, making her hips rounder, her stomach flatter, her breasts fuller. Her hair was a deep bronze, her skin a translucent ivory in the pale light of the moon.

His body instantly responded to the sight of her, hardening, aching, until he couldn’t remember why he’d vowed to keep his hands off her. None of it seemed to matter anymore.

She grabbed a towel from the porch railing and swathed it around her figure, and it took all of his self-control to bite back the protest that scratched at his throat.

“I was wondering where you disappeared to,” he muttered instead. His voice sounded gruff.

“After I tucked Noah and Kristen in, I decided to go for a swim. You were busy with Will, and I can always use the exercise.” She lowered her body next to his, smelling of the sun and the sea. Water dripped from her hair. Rivulets trickled over her shoulders and slid down her arms.

Unable to stop himself, he captured one of the drops with the back of his index finger. It was cool against her warm skin, silky. Their gazes locked, and awareness sizzled between them.

“Did Will go to sleep okay?” Her question pierced the cloud of lust enveloping him.

“Yeah.” He let his hand fall away before he was tempted to explore more of her. “He was exhausted after all that crying.”

“Not to mention all that fun in the sun.” A hazy smile ghosted across her lips. “We had a pretty full day. The kids were really excited, weren’t they?” The tenderness on her face shook him. It was the same look Lindsay always used to get whenever she spoke of the kids.

He eyed her steadily. An image of her playing in the waves with the pack earlier today flashed through his mind. “You’re really something with them.” He couldn’t suppress the note of wonder in his voice. “I never expected it.”

She gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “Half the time—correction, most of the time—I feel like I’m in way over my head.” Bolt ambled onto the porch to sit beside her, and she stroked him absently. Zach’s gaze was drawn to the gentle rhythm of her fingers as she threaded them through the dog’s lustrous coat. He remembered how those hands had felt on his body when she’d massaged him last night, the way they’d twined in his hair and chased the tension from his limbs.

“But I understand them. Understand how they feel,” she added, oblivious to the dangerous path his thoughts were taking. “I get Noah’s anger, Kristen’s totally delusional hope, Will’s tantrums.”

Zach made a sound that was half laugh, half snort. “At least one of us does.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself as usual. You’re great with them. I can see how much they look up to you.”

“That’s because I’m tall.”

Her heartfelt laughter filled the night. God, he’d missed hearing her laugh. The sound of it made a strange energy pulsate in his pores and burrow deep within the marrow of his bones. It took all his self-control not to reach out and touch her again. Instead, he clasped his hands together and let them hang between his knees.

“Can you answer a question for me?” He stared at his joined fingers, unable to look her in the eyes for fear of what he would see there.

“Sure.”

“When I suggested adoption, why did you refuse? I thought maybe you believed you couldn’t love a child that wasn’t biologically ours. But now that I see you with these kids I can’t help but wonder—”

“You thought I couldn’t love a child I didn’t give birth to?” She sounded offended.

He ventured a glance in her direction. Even in the dark he couldn’t miss the indignation that flamed in her cheeks.

“I didn’t know what to think,” he answered honestly. “You were so set against it.”

“Because I was angry. Because if I couldn’t have what I wanted, then I wanted nothing at all. It was the injustice of it, the unfairness. Why should I be deprived the joy of feeling my child grow inside me when it came so naturally to everyone else? Adoption felt like acceptance, like throwing in the towel.”

“Would that have been so bad?”

“At the time, yes.”

“And now?”

She hesitated. The light breeze lifted her wet curls from her shoulders, sent them rioting around her face. “It doesn’t really matter anymore,” she whispered. “The choice is no longer mine to make.” He barely heard her past the whoosh of the waves.

“That sounds oddly like acceptance.”

“Maybe it is. Even I have to give up sometime.” Her inflection held a hint of amusement, but he wasn’t buying the flippancy.

“Is that what this feels like to you, giving up?”

She was quiet for a long time. The waxing moon haloed her head and made her eyes sparkle like liquid gold.

“No,” she answered with more conviction than he’d expected. “It feels like family.”

Vulnerability sparkled in her eyes, more potent than her glistening skin, her clingy swimsuit, the small towel wrapped around her breasts and hips. Zach lost the battle and extended his hand to cup her face. Her skin was soft, an odd blend of velvet and satin. It tickled his palm as a strange current traveled up his arm and thrummed along his flesh.

He never should have allowed himself to touch her. Now the need to kiss her blinded him. It was a physical ache, sharp and insistent. She turned her cheek into his palm, moved closer…

Want to buy Broken Angels? You can find it here at My Bookstore and More.

Want to know more about Anne?

You can find out more about Anne and her books at her website: www.annehope.com or friend her over on Facebook or her Facebook fan page:  You can follow her on Twitter or MySpace, or join her Yahoo group to receive her newsletter.

So tell me if you've ever read a book where you've wondered if a scene or a snippet of a scene might have been drawn from the author's life -- I'm giving away a copy of Anne's Broken Angels to a commenter. (the contest will close next Monday night -- August  30th at 9 p.m. Eastern time)

Past, present and future

I'm busy booking guest bloggers for the rest of the year, so hopefully I'll have a nice long list again on my sidebar soon. There'll be some new names and some more familiar, as always. Carina Press authors, Samhain authors, NY pubbed authors. All sorts of choices for you.

I'm still in my writing cave. I'm this || close to finishing the first draft of a novella length historical western. I'm quite pleased with how it's going, though it is a bit slower than I'd hoped. I've got a few other irons in the fire right now too that are keeping me hopping.

And in real life, Guitar Hero has bought his first vehicle -- a huge beat-up V8 gas-guzzling half-ton that he needs for his job. (Guess who gets to finance it?) He's supposed to get it tonight. Which means I get to do some running around ahead of time.

He's almost the age I was when I had him, and yet I still worry about him as if he were still a youngster. (The picture to the left was taken when he was 6 months old. He started walking a few weeks after that and has kept me chasing after him ever since.) 

All sorts of scenarios are running through my mind as he will soon have to be driving it across Toronto to get to his various job sites. I was doing that when I was 6 years younger than him, same with Gizmo Guy. The worries of parenting never ends, it seems. Or maybe it's just me.

If you're a parent, tell me, please, do you ever get to a point where you can stop worrying about your children?

Changing Tastes

I'm sitting in my family room writing today -- thanks to the patio door overlooking the back yard, it's nice and bright as opposed to my cave of an office.  I love writing out here, but normally can't get any work done as there's always someone home wandering in and out, turning on the television or talking so I can't concentrate. So I usually end up retreating to the office with its door firmly closed. (Except when Spike starts meowing and clawing at it to come in.)

But today, everyone's at work, so I'm taking advantage of the opportunity.  I've got the television turned on, but to one of those "music" channels.  I have it turned to the country channel.  A few years ago, I would never have turned to it, but while I was writing Texas Tangle, I found that listening to country music helped get me in the right frame of mind to think country.  Color me shocked when I discovered I actually liked country. Oh, I had Shania's CDs (she is Canadian after all) and what respectable Canadian didn't have a Gordon Lightfoot's the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald stashed somewhere? But I was raised in a household where classical ruled.  I will admit that in my teen years I rebelled and subjected my parents to Deep Purple and Black Sabbath at full blast. But those classical LPs were replaced with CDs and downloaded onto iTunes -- Elgar's Nimrod variation is one of my favorites. Sooo moving.



And I also tend to listen to a lot of soundtracks, especially when I'm writing. They seem to help set a mood. The one I have been obsessively listening to for the historical I'm working on right now is Last of the Mohicans.



But lately, when I just want to listen to music without having to a set a mood, I've found myself cuing up Tim McGraw. (Damn, that man is HOT.) 



When I run through my Tim collection then I cue up Lady Antebellum, Lone Star, Brad Paisley, Mrs. McGraw Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, Toby Keith, Reba (well, okay I'd always liked her stuff), Martina McBride...the list goes on and on...

It's sort of like how I used to hate yogurt as a child, but now I like it as an adult. Same goes with beets. Ugh as a child, yum, now.

Have you changed tastes over the years? Ever had something that you didn't used to like that you like now?

Winner of Teresa Noelle Robert's contest

Cathy M

Congratulations, Cathy M. You've won your choice of either Teresa Noelle's Foxes' Den or Lions' Pride. Please send me an email at leah.braemel @ gmail.com with your choice of book and what format you'd like it in (go over to the Samhain website for a listing of what's available. http://samhainpublishing.com/aboutebooks ) Don't forget to take out the spaces from the addy before you hit send ;)

(Usual legal stuff, you have seven days to claim your prize or I draw a new winner.)

There were 14 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Cathy M
2. mermaidlady
3. Victory Essex
4. Tarra
5. Louisa Bacio
6. Andrea Becraft
7. elaing8
8. joder
9. Valerie
10. Estella
11. Embermwe
12. Lindy
13. flchen1
14. Loretta Canton

Timestamp: 2010-08-20 00:29:18 UTC

Lists vs plot bunnies

I'm a plotter. Who knew? Not me.  Oh, I've always been a list maker. My desk has a half dozen lists on it at the moment, mostly in the form of short lists on sticky notes: "Things I need to organize my desk" is the one that stands out the most (maybe because it's on a bright yellow sticky?).  "Wordcount for day" hangs right beside it. (that one is written on a green sticky note.) There's a to-do list - which also includes a list (I had to call around to insurance companies since Guitar Hero is planning on buying a truck and we needed to get quotes--he's been working 12 hour shifts 6 days a week, so I volunteered.) 

But whenever I've tried to plot out a story, I've usually ended up with a list of scenes that end up similar to the list of "things I need to organize my desk" list. It just sort of hangs there and nothing gets done about it.  Because it used to be as soon as I wrote a half page, the plot bunnies would start nipping at my ankles and leading me off down bunny trails.  Don't get me wrong, it worked really well for Private Property. When I started writing it, I had no idea Sam was going to ... well, do what he did to Mark. (Nope, no spoilers here.)  It didn't work quite as well for Personal Protection. I wandered down a lot of plot trails that led no where and ultimately had to get cut. Multiple times. Not efficient. I wasn't a happy camper. The next in the Hauberk series did the same -- lots and lots of twisting and turning bunny trails leading...nowhere. That manuscript is the one that made me realize that something had to change.  Part of it was due to a frickin' annoying thyroid condition that affects my creativity, but some of it was due to my insistence that I. Was. A. Pantser. (By the way, that story is done, and submitted, I'm just waiting to hear back from my editor on it.)

Enter the wonderful, brilliant, and extremely patient Vivian Arend.  She nudged me to stop following those pesky bunny trails. To make a plan and stick to it. Oh, there was still room for creativity. There are times when you're writing that the character does something that makes you sit back and go "Oh My! I didn't see THAT coming. That's freaking brilliant/hilarious/sad." And you just have to follow it, as long as it follows the main path and doesn't lead you to Mars when you were originally heading to Washington.

I've discovered that instead of writing a story outline like a list the way I had been, I needed to ... wait for it...tell it like a story. I'm having so much fun. By telling the story, I get to explore things about the characters and find out problems BEFORE I've written the story.  Do you know annoying/frustrating it is to written only to discover something about your character that means you have to make drastic changes to your manuscript. (You know that butterfly theory -- that if a butterfly flaps its wings in Beijing, it affects the weather in Texas? If you change a line on the first page of a manuscript it can often mean massive changes the further into the story you get.)  By fiddling around with the "short story" before jumping into writing the manuscript, I'm discovering where the potential plot problems are and solving them in a line or a paragraph. Plus, I get to work on these "short story" outlines while I'm working on my work-in-progress. That gives my brain a rest on those days when it's really fed up of looking at the manuscript.

But, as I announced on Twitter, I think I have to hand in my Pantsing union card and move to the dark side...but I won't making lists. I'll be telling short stories (that's a much nicer name than synopsis -- AKA sucknopsis.)

So tell me, are you a listmaker? And do you stick to them? Or do you find yourself choosing the easiest things on the list and putting off the tough items?

Quick Name That ....

How well do you know your movies or books?

Vivian Arend and I were scheduled with back-to-back posts over on the Samhain blog. She's up today and I'm up for tomorrow. So we decided to get together and have some fun.  Today Viv's giving you some lines from my favorite movies and you have to guess where they're from. And she's also listed her favorite movies and books and you have to tell her your favorite lines from them. So drop by both days.  Here's Viv's post to get you started.

And to paraphrase a line from Ferris Bueller: "What? You're still here? Go on over!"

What's Your Favorite Texas Tangle Scene?

I have an email that's been sitting in my draft box for a week now, waiting on me choosing a short (as in 300 word long) excerpt from Texas Tangle.  But I'm having trouble choosing a short scene that's sexy and but is short enough yet would make you want to read more.

So if you've read Texas Tangle, help me out. Tell me if there's a section that stuck with you, that would make you read the book if you had to judge only by those 300 words. Something sexy preferably ... and no more than 300 words.  If you can, leave the first line (not the entire excerpt) in the comments.

Guest blogger: Teresa Noelle Roberts

Meet 

Teresa Noelle Roberts

Thanks for having me here, Leah. It’s been a busy summer so far. I’ve had a print release and a brand new ebook in the Duals and Donovans paranormal series come out in the last four weeks. I’ve just finished the first draft of the book that wraps up my Seasons of Sorania Cycle for Phaze and am in the thick of the next Duals and Donovans title for Samhain.

Luckily, or maybe unluckily, I’ve had plenty of time to deal with all this writerly goodness. I got laid off recently. I’m far from alone in this predicament, of course, but as a writer, I mind it less than most. I’m busily looking for a day job because while my last name is Roberts, my first isn’t Nora and I still need that paycheck. Time to write is a wonderful thing, though, and I’m taking advantage of it.

But perhaps not as much as I would if the layoff had happened in November. You see, I’m also a vegetable gardener. In July and August, a vegetable garden can easily become a full-time job. This is especially true when one’s characters are being uncooperative. Right now, one of my works-in-progress is sticky, and I don’t mean the kind of sticky that goes along with sweaty, steamy and sexy. That stickiness would be a good thing, since I write erotic romance and I love having my characters get down and dirty. I mean the kind of sticky that happens when you’ve piled so much angst and so many challenges on the hero and heroine that you’re not sure how they’re going to survive the book, let alone find their HEA. You know how it’s supposed to end, but the obstacles on the way seem almost as insurmountable to you the writer as they do to the beleaguered characters..

That’s where I’ve been lately.

And that’s when the garden gets really attractive. I could be wrestling with my uncooperative novel or I could be out among the beautiful, ripe tomatoes, listening to the birds sing and the cicadas buzz, watching butterflies, smelling the sun-heated basil. And then I need to do something with all that yummy produce to preserve it for winter! Since I’m unemployed and saving money is a good thing, “putting food by” is a useful task, not just an avoidance technique—but no one ever said you can’t procrastinate while doing something useful.

The good news is that garden-time can sometimes clear my head. I think I’ve just figured out how to tie up the main plot line in the WIP—and the solution even ties nicely back to Lions’ Pride, the first book in the series. And it came to me while I was watching a monarch flit among the sweet pepper plants.

Anyone else out there a gardener? Do any other writers fall victim to productive time-wasters, the kind that leave you feeling like you’ve put in a good day of…something important that wasn’t writing?

And now, for something completely different. I mentioned a new release. Here’s the blurb for Foxes’ Den: Duals and Donovans—The Different, Book 2. It’s also available in Kindle format.)  If you'd like to read an excerpt, there's one over on my LeahBraemelExcerpts page that you can read here.

Foxes' Den
Dual and Donovans: The Different, Book 2
 

Love has a trick up its sleeve…

Duals and Donovans: The Different, Book 2

Some guys just don’t take rejection well. Sure, Akane’s affair with an uptight sorcerer’s boy toy backfired, but two hundred years locked in a mortal body is cruel and unusual punishment for a Trickster avatar. To free her fox form, she needs sex magic with a male of her own kind. Except none exist.

Adorable Trickster-touched fox dual Taggart Ross-Donovan is the closest she’s found. Even better, he’s married to Paul Donovan, whose red magic sizzles the air around him. One night with them will generate the extraordinary power needed to set her free.

The last thing Tag and Paul expect to find under a sorcerer’s curse is a kitsune, a beautiful one who gets under their skin without even trying. Tag is more than ready to take the risk she needs. Paul has reservations, but it’s nothing Tag can’t overcome with a little sensual persuasion.

No one goes into the ritual with more hope than Akane…or more fear. Failure will leave her forever entrapped. Worse, she’s falling for two mortals. And there’s only one thing that can kill a kitsune—unrequited love.

Warning: Contains sly fox men (with tails), foxy fox women (with multiple tails), sexy witches chasing tail, Trickster magic, cranky sorcerers, and enough gay, het and MMF sex to torch your Kindle.

To thank Teresa Noelle for taking the time to visit my blog, I'm going to give away an e-copy of either of her Samhain books, Lions' Pride or Foxes' Den. But you have to answer Teresa's question -- are you a gardener? do you have any timewasters that leave you feeling you've put in a good day avoiding...whatever it is you're avoiding?  Tell us in the comments for a chance to win. Contest will be open until next Monday, August 16 at 9 p.m.

American Cowboys

Last call for entries to the contest for Lorelei James' newest release, Corralled.

While I've got your attention, if you've ever wanted a visual image of what cowboys these days endure (yes, they do still exist) or want to see what Lorelei's characters endure, you might want to tune into a show I've been watching the past month or so over on The Discovery Channel's Animal Planet: The Last American Cowboy.



It follows three ranching families in Montana, the different challenges they face and how they face them -- you might be surprised at some of the new modern day equipment replacing the good old fashioned horse.  and how some of the old-fashioned habits die hard.

I'm not generally a fan of "reality" shows but this one isn't a Jersey Shore or Big Brother type show. It's gritty and harsh and something anyone who has lived in the country and harsh elements can relate to. And if you live in the city? Well, these guys are just as stubborn and mule-headed as the characters in any novel, and just as heroic.

What do you read?

In a conversation with a friend a while back, I commented that as a reader she probably read a lot more than I did as a writer. I USED to read a lot more for pleasure than I do now--now the books I read tend to be viewed as research. "How did XXX author handle this type of scene? How did they craft the first few pages so the reader knew what type of world they were in" type reading.  (I'm told that the longer I write, the pleasure of reading for the sake of reading without dissecting the craft will return.)

Personally I tend to go in fits and spurts.  I spent 2002-2005 reading fantasies, all of 2006 and half of 2007 was devoted to historicals. I'd find an author and devour her backlist.  If she'd had an anthology I'd read the other authors' stories and decide if I liked them and stockpile theirbacklist as well. Lately, I've been all over the board but the books that have given me the pleasure of making me forget to dissect them have all been contemporaries (Shannon Stacey's Exclusively Yours, Victoria Dahl's Talk Me Down/Start Me Up/Lead Me On series, Lauren Dane's Laid Bare/Coming Undone Brown Family series. And of course Lorelei James' Rough Rider and Wild West series. I mustn't forget to mention that I own every single one of Lynsay Sand's Argeneau family series -- most of which are based in....wait for it...Ontario!)

There's another trend in that list too -- just look at the above list. Shannons' Exclusively Yours is set in the wilds of New Hampshire, Victoria Dahl's contemporaries are set in small town Tumble Creek, Colorado, Lauren Dane's Brown Family live in a more urban setting but it's Seattle, which seems more Canadian to me (scandalous, I'm sure!), and Lorelei's books are set in rural Montana.Lynsay's well, come on, I love that I understand her references to Toronto's PATH system, or know exactly the type of landscape she was talking about in the few of the Argeneau series that took place in cottage country.  Maybe I'm drawn to those stories because I was raised in a smaller, alright downright rural area so I can connect with the characters and worlds better than a story such as Sex in the City (Yes, I confess, I can't stand that series. I so cannot relate to the women's mindset in it. Ever.)

If you look at your regular reading habits, notice any trends? Do you only read paranormals? Or only contemporaries? Or just historicals? Any common traits amongst your books?

One down, six gazillion to go

Just checking in to tell you that yes I am still alive.  There's not been much going on here during the days -- Guitar Hero and Gizmo Guy are working hard during the day, Curly is at work most evenings.  It's been humid as heck around here, though today is promising to be cooler so I've managed to open the windows to air out the place.

Oh, and I, um, finished a project yesterday *ssssh*  I don't want to say anything more than that, I'm very very very very very superstitious and don't want to get my hopes up only to have them dashed. But I'm happy with the final product. It even has a title -- while it is alliterative, it doesn't start with double Ps or Ts, imagine that!  (Over on Twitter yesterday ppl called me mean because I wouldn't tell them, but as I said I'm superstitious...but I will say it starts with the letter D. Two of them. That's all I'm saying at this point although I've probably just opened myself to blackmail by those few who are in the know.)

So now I'm on to the next project everyone's been asking me about -- the prequel to Texas Tangle. Yes, Victory Essex, this is the grandparents story set back in 1890s Texas. So I'm having to change my voice a wee bit to a more historical one and make sure I don't use any modern phrases. The swearing has been cut down substantially as a result.  But the guys (Nate and Jackson) are talking loud and clear and telling me their story so I'm happy. And I'm now thinking and speaking and texting with their Texas Twang. Which is weird for a Canuck. But there you go...

Don't forget about my give-away of Lorelei James' Corralled...the contest is still open until, um, when did I say, Monday August 9th at 9 p.m.  (8/9/10, get it?)  Anyway, I'm off to write...

My Wayne's World impression (and a contest)

It's officially *head meet desk* time for me and *palm slap forehead* time too. I must admit that I am a total failure at multitasking. While trying to smooth out a proposal for Carina, work on the WIP on the next in the Hauberk series for Samhain, Texas Tangle's release and all the promo that entailed I have dismally and disgracefully dropped one of the most important balls I had in the air.

When I invited Lorelei James to return to my blog as my guest, I promised I'd send her some interview questions because a) I recognize that blogging takes a LOT of time out of anyone's day and to ask someone else to write up a post for you is a serious imposition on them, b) Lorelei, who also writes as Lori Armstrong, was dealing with a child graduating from high school and preparing for college in addition to her writing work and she had a helluva lot more writing balls in the air--enough to make my few pale in comparison. Despite numerous reminders I sent myself through Google Calendar, and sticky notes both real and virtual on my monitor,  I never got around to writing up Lorelei's questions and sending them to her. And I didn't even realize it until yesterday afternoon. *sob* A totally classy lady, Lorelei has graciously agreed to come back later in the month.





Lorelei is one of those writers who I hold up as the type of writer I want to be when I grow up. Even though I'm probably significantly older than her. She writes steamy hot erotic romances with Samhain -- yeehaw hot nekkid cowboys as Lorelei James and award winning mysteries as Lori Armstrong. I'm not kidding about those awards--this is straight off Lori's bio page:

Her first mystery novel, BLOOD TIES, published in 2005, was nominated in 2006 for a Shamus Award for Best First Novel by the Private Eye Writers of America. The second book in the Julie Collins mystery series, HALLOWED GROUND, released Nov. 2006, was nominated for a 2007 Shamus Award for Best Paperback Original, a Daphne du Maurier Award and won the 2007 WILLA Cather Literary Award for Best Original Softcover Fiction. SHALLOW GRAVE, released in Nov. 2007, was nominated for a 2008 High Plains Book Award, a Daphne du Maurier Award and was a finalist for the 2008 WILLA Cather Literary Award. The fourth book, SNOW BLIND, released in Oct. 2008, won the 2009 Shamus Award, from the Private Eye Writers of America, for Best Paperback Original

But it was her cowboys over at Samhain that made me fall in love with Lorelei's writing. The MacKays' Rough Rider series and the Wild Wests Boys series. She's set the bar high for the rest of us.

Now she's got a brand new series out -- the Blacktop Cowboy series from Signet Eclipse (they're part of Penguin) The first book in the series, Corralled, released this week.

Sports therapist Lainie Capshaw has been rehabilitating injured cowboys long enough to know that a charming western drawl combined with a fine physical form doesn't mean you fall for the man.

So no one is more surprised than Lainie when she finds herself involved with not one, but two different men: Hank Lawson, a bullfighter, and Kyle Gilchrist, a bull rider. Lainie feels guilty about her two-timing, but it doesn't keep her from doubling her fun-that is until Hank catches her with Kyle.

She's shocked that Hank isn't mad. But she's more shocked to learn Hank and Kyle are hometown buddies. But when the men offer to share her-in every way-she knows that she's going to have to choose the one man who can give her the ride of her life.

I picked up Corralled intending to keep it for myself, but as penance I'm going to give it away today to a commenter. Tell me what books of Lorelei's (or Lori's) are on your keeper shelf or who your favorite Lorelei James cowboy is.  I'll leave the contest open until next Monday (August 9th) at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. 

**edited** The contest is now closed and a winner chosen. Congratulations to "Soft Fuzzy Sweater". SFS - please send an email to contest @leahbraemel .com with your snail mail address and real name so I can send you your copy of Corralled. (You have seven days to claim your prize.)

Want to win a Nook?

I'm participating in the Long and Short of It/Whipped Cream Review's Third Anniversary Party. They're giving away not one, not two, but THREE Nooks that come with a $50 Barnes and Noble gift certificate AND are preloaded with dozens of ebooks.

Interested? Head on over to their site for more details, including a list of the participants.  Don't forget to check out the THREE different review sites -- Aurora Reviews, Long and Short of It (that's the non-erotic site) and Whipped Cream (that's the site for the erotic romances).  The contest however is open only to US and Canadian residents.

Winner of July's Reader Appreciation Contest

Armenia

Congratulations Armenia, you've won this month's Reader Appreciation contest by taking the time to leave a comment. You've won an autographed print copy of Personal Protection. Please send an email with your snail mail address to "contest @leahbraemel .com" (without the spaces or quotation marks of course) within 7 days to claim your prize. (If you already have a copy let me know and I'll come up with an alternate prize.)

Thanks to everyone who took the time to leave a comment this month, especially when so many people have been away on vacation. (Or just not here, me included!)

Phew!

The third draft of Chad's story is done and will be heading out to my critique partners tomorrow morning. Once they get their comments back, I go through and make the changes they suggest (or not). So I'm that much closer to subbing it to my editor. Now I need to write up a blurb, and come up with a title while I'm waiting for their critiques to come back.

Titles are tough to come up with. With Private Property, the title came to me while I was writing it--it's something that Sam says when you first meet him. "“You’re trespassin’ on private property, sweet pea.”" and “Dangerous business, breakin’ into private property. Even more dangerous when it’s mine.”

Personal Protection didn't get named until I sent it to my critique partners with a plea for help. (Thanks Wylie Kinson who suggested it.)

Texas Tangle -- well, I'd been calling it that to myself after I wrote a specific line that Nikki is thinking when Brett and Dillon first propose she choose between them: "What a tangle it had all become." (Yes, I questioned myself later and held a poll, but even after everyone voted it as the fourth out of five suggestions, I kept it. And I'm glad I did.)

Now I'm on another title hunt. I've got a couple of ideas that I'm tossing around (Gizmo Guy and Curly are offering up suggestions) but if nothing sticks in a couple days, I may be having another poll here.