First of all, thank you fellow Babes for the warm welcome. So happy to be here!

Next up. Topic of the week. What I’m reading.

I’m in the same boat as Rhonda. I'm on a fierce writing deadline. Plus, I work a full time day job.  Can you say, not enough hours in the day? So unfortunately reading for pleasure at times like this is tough.  Fortunately, my day job—senior library assistant—affords me time to read in snatches.  Books is our biz, after all!

A couple of days ago I finished my first Cherry Adair novel: White Heat (The Men of T-FLAC, Book 11).  I’d categorize this as an action adventure romance. Fast paced, exciting and sexually hot, hot, hot! I’m hooked.  Since I started at the end of the series, naturally, I must now go back and read them all. I did the same thing with Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooter's series. 

Before Adiar’s novel, I read Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Natural Born Charmer. LOVED IT! Killer dialogue. Killer. Poignant central plot with an equally poignant secondary plot.  Lovable, faulted, realistic characters. Did I mention the amazing rapid-fire, witty dialogue? *Sigh* This book reminded me of why I fell in love with romance novels to begin with.

Aside from that, I’m reading research books on con-artists and scams.  And, this is so embarrassing, my own books. I’m currently writing my third book of The Chameleon Chronicles. Stories featuring Evie Parish, a burned out performer who joins a government agency that busts nefarious cons. Because my memory stinks, I have to keep referring to the first two books to make sure I’m on target with the third. How sad is that? Even more sad, I read passages and think… Did I write that?

It’s all a blur folks. But a good blur. 

Next up on my reading list?  Books written by my fellow babes!          

How about the two April releases of my fellow Babes – Take Me If You Can  - I adored Avy and Liam.  Great start to a new series by Karen Kendall.  And of course, Leanne Banks always delivers with Bedded by the Billionaire – kudos, Leanne!! Lilli and Max are hot J

I’m mid-book of a terrific read by Lisa Manuel, Fortune’s Kiss.  Rhonda is so right when she says that reading has taken a back seat to writing and judging contests and critiquing.  It’s a “wow” surprise to read something new and fresh that can still reach my jaded heart, lololol.

And of course, I’m inviting everyone to give me their feedback on my April ebook release of my YA, Her Wiccan, Wiccan Ways.  It’s doing pretty good out there in cyberspace, and I’d love to hear what you think!  Email me from my website www.tracihall.com and I will mail you a bookmark J

I write, because I loved to read.  When I found out how much I’d given up, I created a weekend that is devoted to reading and playing catch up.  I read all over the board, from non-fiction to YA to historical to mystery to horror.

I’m going to try to put my picture in again – of me with my first print book!  If I can’t do it, Mary said she’d help me J  See why I need my babes???

Welcome Beth and Happy Friday to everyone.

First, a big welcome to new Babe Beth Ciotta!!! Yay, Beth--we're so glad you're joining us.

It appears that it's Babe Book Review Week, so I'm going to plug my new favorite author since I just finished the very last book of hers I could get my paws on and now I want another! Write fast, Barbara Parker. Please!

Barbara is a local south Florida author whom I've actually never met, but I'm fascinated by her work, which is brilliant. I'm learning so much from her about setting, law, south florida politics and history. I'm learning what gives a book texture and authority and "hookthereaderism," which is a new word I just made up.

She's probably best known for her series featuring attorneys Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana, but her other books are just as good--possibly better. You can check them out at www.BarbaraParker.com.

I just finished CRIMINAL JUSTICE and it kept me up almost all night. Her characterization takes my breath away--it's so honest without being harsh--and she almost always surprises me at the end with whodunnit and why.

I hope to be this good a writer one day! My hat is off to her, truly.

Short blog entry, but very heart-felt. If you're looking for an absorbing, intelligent, entertaining and educational read, go get Barbara's books!

Karen

I confess, I’m not reading a thing save for fashion mags, real estate listings and guide books for the Palm Beach area.  Why?  I’m on deadline and until May 15^th – no reading for pleasure for me. 

Ironically, reading for pleasure is one of the first things I had to curtail after I sold my first book.  I remember thinking, “No time to read?  It’ll never happen.”  Well, it did and it does.  With a finite number of hours in the day, some things had to go.  My spotlessly clean at all times house is but a faint memory.  So is watching television.  Thank God for TiVo or I’d never get my Hell’s Kitchen fix.  Gone are the regular hair appointments and forget the weekly mani-pedi days. 

Then there’s the busman’s holiday aspect of it.  Writing all day and then reading at night is like working as a waitress all day, then coming home to prep and serve a meal.  I rarely read for pleasure when I’m chin deep in a book.  If I do read, it’s normally gruesome true crime, preferably with pictures.  Not everyone’s cup of tea but fascinating to me. 

Okay, enough about why I’m not following the week’s assignment and on to fun stuff. . .

KNOCK OFF is a Golden Quill finalist in the Single Title/Mainstream category.  That was a shock and a thrill; it’s always nice to receive recognition.  And . . . my Florida Book ward medal came in the mail this week.  An honor and wearing it makes me look like I just won best in show – it’s a big medal.  But again, it’s always nice to receive recognition.

And is this a great cover or what?

So, it’s back to deadline for me . . .  Happy writing,

Rhonda

I love this little book.  It stretches my mind when it feels narrow and tiny.  It offers options when I feel like I have no choices.  The official title is The Pocket Muse  Ideas & Inspirations for Writing by Monica Wood.  I have my bookmarks from FOOTLOOSE sticking out of about 50 pages.  Some of the pages feature a photograph.  Some ask a question. Some give an instruction or challenge. Others a writing exercise.  Here are a few:

“Invent an opposite.  What is the opposite of a kiss?   What is the opposite of green?  What is the opposite of a train?  What is the opposite of cake?  What is the opposite of a fence?”

“Don’t check your email today until you’ve written three pages.”

“Today’s horoscope:  Your prized possession will turn up in someone else’s hands.”

“Imagine a coat.  Imagine the pocket of a coat.  Imagine what is in the pocket of the coat.”

“What is the subject you’re avoiding?  Write it down.”

“Write about a person who wins something she does not want.”

“What is the longest time you ever waited for something or someone?  Why did you wait?”

I love these provocative questions and assignments.  They make me go to the core of my characters.  They make me learn what pushes my characters over the edge.  They really do spark my creativity.  Well worth 12.99.  Even when I look at the same question, I get a different answer.

Trust your crazy ideas.

Xo,

Leanne Banks

www.leannebanks.com     

I'm in a bookclub with friends from the day job.  We met the other week and selected Tami Hoag's Alibi Man as the next book to read.  (We run the gamut in our selections from memoirs to autobiographies to thrillers to romance to classics.)

I'm two thirds of the way and loving this murder/thriller.  I've been a fan of Tami Hoag's for years.  Oddly enough, I didn't read her back when she wrote category romance for Bantam Loveswept.  I was introduced to her work when she spoke at a NJ Romance Writers conference, about the time that Night Sins broke out.  I then picked up her backlist of sexy, dark, psychological thrillers.

Alibi Man is loaded with intrigue and complex characters, beginning with the female protagonist Elena Estes.  Former detective with more baggage than a 747, Elena is tough, almost hardened by past circumstances, but with enough emotional vulnerability and commitment to make us care.  She's recently broken off with (shoved away) Landry, the detective she was involved with, but circumstances keep them in each other's orbit.

Circumstances like the dead groom Elena worked with at the stable of her friend Sean.  Irina, a beautiful Russian party-girl who reveled in the society set of Palm Beach polo parties with wealthy men, and who also had connections to a vicious Russian mobster who is devastated by her murder.

The most likely suspects are a group of very successful, wealthy men including a polo team owner, some ex-pro athletes, a devastatingly attractive top polo player, and Elena's ex-fiance -- a man who beat and raped a young woman many years prior and then asked Elena to provide his alibi. 

So many suspects, not enough evidence, plenty of danger. . . I'm hooked on this book -- even though I can't decide who's the murderer.

Alibi Man by Tami Hoag -- I give it two very enthusiastic thumbs up!

I’m a Babe!

I can honestly say I’ve never uttered that sentence before.   Probably I should amend that declaration to “I’m a Babe in Bookland” lest people think I’m full of myself.  And believe you me, I’ll be spreading the word.  This is a fabulous group blog brimming with talented, smart, and really nice ladies and I am enormously happy to be here. Waving to my fellow Babes and their loyal readers!  Helloooo! 

It was suggested that I use my premiere post to introduce myself. I’m thinking “Hello. My name is Beth Ciotta and I write for Medallion Press and HQN Books.” won’t cut it. But I also don’t want to bore you with a bio-like post.  You can always read ‘about me’ on my website. www.bethciotta.com  So I had this crazy idea of sharing an essay with you. An edited version of something I wrote off the cuff several years ago, but that still holds true today.  It’s ‘about me’ so I’m thinking it counts. If you get bored, please feel free to skip over to my website to my bio page. Okay. Here we go. (And I promise my upcoming posts will be MUCH shorter!)

Creative People –A Breed Apart

Have you ever felt like a unicorn in a herd of horses?  You know.  Different?  I knew I was different when I was five years old. Nobody told me. I just knew. I remember swinging on a swing on a rope tire in my backyard singing Petula Clark’s Downtown at the top of my lungs.  Not London Bridge.  Not Farmer in the Dell.  Downtown.  First clue. Different.  I knew, someday, I’d be a professional singer.

When I was ten I wrote my first ‘book’ – The Littlest Green Man.  No, he wasn’t a seasick elf.  He was a Martian. I don’t remember the details of the one-hundred page, handwritten tale, but I do remember that he was an imaginative alien living amongst boring earthlings. Stranded on this planet, he felt out of place. Misunderstood. Different.  I knew, someday, I’d be a professional writer.

I discovered the theater at sweet sixteen.  Ah, the smell of the grease paint, the sound of applause, the fear of forgetting lines and the joy of nailing a performance.  Instead of hanging out at the roller rink, I hung out backstage.  Instead of learning to drive, I learned to cry on cue.  My classmates called me weird.  Strange.  Different.  I knew, someday, I’d be a professional actress. 

As fate would have it, I grew up to become all three: A singer, a writer, an actress, and, just because the opportunity presented itself: A choreographer, a director, a publicist and a library assistant.  Can you say career crisis?  I cringe when people ask me what I do for a living.  I’d like to say, “I’m a creative person” and leave it at that.  Only that might garner blank stares.  Grounded, sane people say things like, “When I grow up, I want to be a doctor.”  Or a teacher.  Or an astronaut.  Not, “I want to be a creative person.”

That’s because you don’t become a creative person.  You’re born a creative person.  And I’m here to tell you, creative people are different.  We’re insecure.  We’re egotistical.  We’re realists.  We’re dreamers. Some of us yearn to be in the spotlight while others shy away from it. Yet we all crave approval and fear rejection. We all experience an orgasmic high when we receive a standing ovation or a respected award celebrating our creation. We’re all uniquely complex.  And of course we think no one understands us.  Except for other creative people.

A friend once relayed to me a theory I hold close to my heart.  Her psychic (did I mention we’re open minded?) suggested we, the creative people of this world, originated from another planet and were sent here long ago to enrich and entertain the logical, sane populace. She suggested we unconsciously spend our lives seeking out our own kind. A wacky theory, I admit. But I like it. Then again, I like being a unicorn. We’re a rare breed. A breed apart.

* * *

Okay. So one of two things just happened. I either scared the bejeebers out of my fellow Babes  (Hey, who invited this nut on board?), or I affirmed their decision to invite me into the fold.

As to you, wondrous readers, have you ever felt like a unicorn?     

Hi!!!  I know that we are supposed to writing babies in books – but I would rather write about Books As Babies – and MINE CAME TODAY JJJJJ

My author copies are sitting next to me like infants in a brown cardboard bassinet, lol.  I’ve fondled them, caressed them, showered them with love – and I keep pinching myself because I can’t believe it’s real!

My name is on the cover.  My words are between the covers.  Yes, even the font is beautiful.  I’ve been working towards this goal of being in print since 1995…I’d always wanted to be a writer, but it wasn’t clear until I started taking a creative writing class that the dream could be specific.  I could write a book.

As many of you know, this has been such a strange road – plenty of curves and lots of hills and valleys.  But this moment, right NOW, makes it all worth while.

Hang on while I kiss the cover one more time…lolol.

I am thrilled, ecstatic, overjoyed.  That doesn’t even come close to what it really feels like to finally hold my baby in my hands.

Yeah!!!!!! My hubby is better than any knight in shining armor – he rode his convertible home, bearing roses and champagne to celebrate, within a half hour of me calling with the news.  We are celebrating – celebrating the journey.  Celebrating the BOOK.  Celebrating a dream come true J

I’m including a really bad picture that totally captures my happy self – the books were dropped off when I was in the shower, but I didn’t want to ever forget the moment – and why not share it with you??? LOL

As usual, I can't get the picture on

I'll try later!

Traci

Ladies and Gentlemen, Blog Readers of all Ages... please join the Babes in welcoming the newest Babe in Bookland, the talented, charming, funny and completely sweet

Beth Ciotta!

Stay tuned this Sunday for Beth's first official blog.

In the meantime, congratulations to blog reader Cheryl S.   We drew your name from among those who correctly guessed Beth's identity.  Please email your full name and address to mary@mary-stella.com and we'll see that you receive your prize -- an autographed copy of one of Beth's books! 

Welcome to Bookland, Beth!

How do I handle writing children in my books?

Well, like most of the Babes, I just don't write them. I can only recall one book in which I wrote a ten year old boy, and I'm not sure I did a great job of it, LOL. That was little brother Adam in SOMEONE LIKE HIM, and though I think I captured his voice I'm certainly not current on what ten year old boys are into these days. I had to ask a lot of questions of friends, since I don't have children.

So I honestly don't have a lot to say on this topic.

My thoughts--and prayers--are with a good friend whose husband is very, very ill. Why do horrible things happen to the best people? An unanswerable question if there ever was one.

If I could write a happy ending for my friend, I would. I hope that God will.

Please, everyone, send this couple your prayers, good vibes, positive thinking, whatever you want to call it. They need them.

Okay. Sorry to be so succinct today. It's one of those times when, even though I'm an author, I have few words and they all seem entirely inadequate.

I'm off to turn in the draft of a book to my editor. Normally I'd take great joy in having the monster off of my desk, but it's going to leave my thoughts way too free . . .

Karen, just praying

Here's your final clue and your final opportunity to guess the identity of the new Babe in Bookland.  Give us your best guess in the comments.  We'll pick a winner to receive a copy of the new Babe's book.

Stay tuned for the revelation of her identity.  Her first blog post arrives this Sunday!

Last Clue:   This Babe has been on stage at numerous RT Conventions!

Good Luck, Everyone!

Personally, nothing will put me off a book faster than a baby or toddler on the cover.  And yes, before anyone decides to count – that would be seven of my own books – including one book with not one but two infants.  Cool aside on that one though – every child featured on my books was drawn from a photo of my own children.  Here endeth the fun facts.

Now we’re taking personal taste here and my personal reading taste does not include baby stories.  You love them?  Read ‘em (feel free to read mine – I’ll take that royalty). 

Babies and toddlers present logistical problems for me.  Probably because I write mysteries and romantic suspense.  It’s not as if the heroine can yell “Duck!” to a three month old while bullets go flying overhead.  Toddlers talk.  Toddler dialogue is horrible to write and usually painful to read – they sound like either precocious sitcom kiddies or grunting Neanderthals.  It’s like writing dialect – a little bit gets really irritating really fast.

I actually like writing teenagers.  I like the biting attitude they can bring, the comic relief, the characterization they reveal and hell, just like in real life, you can always count on them to do something stupid.  A good thing in a mystery or a romantic suspense.  Oh, and they duck when the bullets fly.  They even have great villain potential (at least for me) – a warped teenager mind can be a powerful tool in creating a well-motivated but not obvious villain. 

Oh, except for that lady from Des Moines who wrote to tell me teenagers would never plot a crime, they are too young to craft a plausible plan.  Ironically, she sent me that email on April 20, 1999 - the day of the tragic Columbine massacre. 

Going off topic . . . Happy 68^th Birthday Bob – Thank God I have an SUV to cart all the candles home.

R

The time is drawing near for us to announce the name of the new Babe in Bookland.  Keep those guesses coming.  You can enter your guess in the comments right here on the blog.  We'll pick a winner from the correct guessers and that person will receive a copy of the new Babe's book.

Here's the latest clue:

Once a self-described coffee addict, the new Babe gave up the bean juice cold turkey less than two months ago!

Welcome to our new babe!!!

And a Big Apple wave from me!  I just returned from attending a screenwriting seminar BEYOND STRUCTURE presented by David S. Freeman.  Jam packed full of techniques.  It was intense, but I really enjoyed it.  You may be thinking why a novelist would attend a screenwriting seminar?  To stretch my mind, see things from a different pov.  I’m glad I went.  www.beyondstructure.com

But I digress. The subject is babies and children in romance novels.  From a writer’s pov, there are yays and boos.  Babies immediately up the ante in a story. They are so helpless and invoke a primal need to protect and take care of them.  More is automatically at stake when there’s a child involved, so having little people in the story can increase the tension.  That’s a good thing.  Little people can also provide interruptions at inopportune times (as they do in real life!).  They can get sick and cause a hero and heroine to bond.  They can reveal a different side of your characters and create empathy. 

On the boo side, unless the characters have a nanny, you can’t just put the kid in the closet while you develop the romance between the hero and heroine.  Children tend to require more attention and care than hamsters  and the story must reflect that.  And pregnancy, big sigh, that presents a whole other set of challenges.  Since I’ve been pregnant, it’s hard for me to suspend disbelief and forget about the swelling and nausea and feeling like a beached whale  and getting really pissed that I couldn’t have an epidural…  But I try to focus on “the glow” and the awesome sense of creation, and for many men, pregnancy brings out a great protectiveness.

There’s more to be said about babies, but I’ll let the other babes say it.  Now for my cool gift story.  Yes, I know it’s off topic, but it’s fun.   First, bear in mind that yesterday, three of my flights were cancelled and I had to take a connecting flight to Cincinnati from NYC to get to Virginia.  And of course my luggage didn’t arrive with me.  Not my most sparkling day.

I have this neighbor who has read a ton of my books and I’ve given her several, but we’ve never had lunch, coffee or anything together.  She ordered and read my most recent Silhouette Desire and sent me a note along with a plate of cupcakes.  In the book, the heroine, Lilli, brings birthday cupcakes to the billionaire hero at work to celebrate his birthday.

Here is what the note from my neighbor said:  Dear Brilliant and Beautiful,  Yet again – amazing! … The story was precious, sensuous and tender.  I loved it!  Here are some “Lilli cupcakes” as a thank you for your gift of creation…

Okay, so how cool is that for a reader to go to the trouble to use a scene from the book (cupcakes!).  I don’t know about you, but I do not get called brilliant and beautiful on a regular basis.  I think I should frame this.  Yes?

I’d like to pass some of this along. Unfortunately the yummy cupcakes can't be transported via my wireless connection.  So to all of you… Dear Brilliant and Beautiful, thank you for stopping by babesinbookland and have a great day!  

Xo,

Leanne

www.leannebanks.com