The Pink Heart Society

Writer's Wednesday: Creating Continuity with 8 Heroes

2009-11-25T01:00:00.002Z

Louise Allen gives a sneak peek into how the upcoming Historical continuity Silk & Scandal was created! Start with the Heroes (where else?)

Harlequin Mills & Boon have given six of us – Annie Burrows, Julia Justiss, Margaret McPhee, Christine Merrill, Gayle Wilson and me, Louise Allen, the opportunity to join together to write an eight-part Historical continuity.
It was exciting enough to be part of Regency Silk & Scandal, especially when we were asked to come up with the over-arching concept for the series, plus the individual stories, ourselves – but then it dawned on us: we had eight heroes to discover and we got to write about each other’s heroes as well as our own.
I’m always fascinated by where the inspiration comes from for a hero – sometimes a picture will do it, sometimes an image comes much later. Here are our individual stories of how we found our heroes.

Book 1: The Lord & the Wayward Lady by Louise Allen

I haven’t found a picture of Marcus Carlow, Viscount Stanegate yet, at least, not one who matches the man in my imagination. All I knew at first was that he is dark, he has flint-grey eyes – and he frowns a lot. The man has a strong sense of duty and lot on his mind – a father whose health was wrecked by a shocking murder and spy scandal years before, a rakehell brother, one sister who is headstrong and wild and another who is far too innocent for her own good. And then a mysterious milliner and murderous enemy arrive to make his life even more fraught: Marcus finds himself fighting for his family ad for a woman who fascinates him but who he cannot trust. But when he smiles, and when he kisses – then the responsible gentleman becomes a reckless lover, as Nell Latham and I realised to our delight.

Book 2: Paying the Virgin's Price by Christine Merrill

By the time we meet Nathan Wardale in the second book, he has gone from wealth to poverty and back again. His father's disgrace has stripped him of a title, and after escaping from a press ganged stint in the Navy, he is back in London making his living as a professional gambler. I wanted a hero who had been physically toughened by life, and whose appearance had been changed by hardship to such an extent that close friends and family might not immediately recognize him. Although he is worldweary and has reason to be cynical, he still has the manners of a gentleman. The separation from his mother and sisters has left him more than a little protective of the women he cares for.
I wrote Nathan with tanned skin, green eyes and prematurely grey hair. And then, after I had the image in my head, I discovered how hard it is to find a picture of a youngish, good looking man who isn't trying to hide that grey. But Anderson Cooper of CNN comes close.

Book 3: The Smuggler & the Society Bride by Julia Justiss

Since we’d already established the families for Regency Silk & Scandal, I had a heroine, but no hero. After Lady Honoria Carlow is ruined by some unknown adversary, she wants to get as far from London as possible. She’s also angry at her family for initially believing she was responsible.
How much further away can one get than Land’s End? And if one wants a hero guaranteed to horrify one’s very proper family, how much more dashing and ineligible can he be than a smuggler?
Enter Gabe Hawksworth. Blacksheep younger son of an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, Gabe is returning a favor to the army friend who saved his life by becoming temporary captain of one Dickon Kessel’s smuggling sloops. In Kessel’s small Cornish town, the incognito gentleman encounters runaway English beauty “Marie Foxe.”
Why would such a stunning girl reside with her well-born aunt near Land’s End rather than in London, dazzling suitors? Gabe scents a scandal—and if the lady is of a mind to be seduced, he’s just the man to oblige.
My image of Gabe, though, is a Scot—Gerard Butler, here courtesy of Celebriosity Today. Is there any wonder Honoria/Marie finds this supposed “low-born brigand” so appealing?

Book 4: Claiming the Forbidden Bride by Gayle Wilson

I have always had a strong affinity for the military hero—very natural, I suppose, since I married one. Rhys Morgan, the hero of Claiming the Forbidden Bride, is an ex-soldier, someone who has known the deprivations of war and suffered grievously as a result of his service to King and Country. At the beginning of my story, Rhys is seeking other ways in which to serve when, as a result of his daring rescue of a little girl, he becomes involved with a beautiful Romany healer, the forbidden heroine of the title.
I confess that I was primarily conscious of Rhys’s character as I began to write, particularly his courage, his honor and his sense of duty. How a character acts has always resonated more strongly with me than how he—or she—looks. That was true in this case as well. It was not until the editors requested a visual of my hero and heroine that I went searching for a real person who was a physical representation of Rhys. Sadly, I don’t remember where I found this picture nor do I know who the model is. I wish I did so that I could give credit where credit is certainly due, but I have only this picture to share with you.

Book 5: The Viscount & the Virgin by Annie Burrows

This is the picture that gave me the inspiration for the hero of my contribution to the continuity series.
I seem to remember first seeing it posted on the PHS! Somebody was bemoaning the fact that so few heroes are blond. And a short discussion followed, during which I remarked that I could just see this guy in skin tight breeches, top boots, and a ruffled shirt. One of the comments was, “Oooh, I’d read that book!”
And thus, Viscount Mildenhall was born. Like the Green Arrow (the character this actor is portraying) he has a bit of a dual personality. In public, he dresses like a dandy, with those aforementioned skin tight breeches, flamboyant waistcoats, and an obscene amount of jewellery. Yet he has only just sold out of the army, having endured all the privations common to the nineteenth century soldier, and rising to the rank of Major.

Book 6: Unlacing the Innocent Miss by Margaret McPhee

For my hero Wolf's character I wanted a strong man, an out and out alpha male who had got where he was off his own bat and through guts and determination. From a disadvantaged background, just to strike even Wolf has to do everything twice as well as his rich-boy counterparts. He's been raised with a chip on his shoulder, learned to survive on the mean streets from an early age and yet Wolf has his own moral boundaries. He might not be a gentleman but he is, as my heroine, Rosalind Meadowfield, comes to discover, an intrinsically good man
I envisaged him from the North, a tough, gritty Yorkshire man – sexy and tall and scarred – both physically and emotionally. Not a million miles from Sean Bean's Sharpe. Wolf is no pretty boy. He's handsome in a rugged masculine way. A real hottie that women find irresistible. Even Rosalind who is, quite literally, trying to escape him finds herself falling for him – in a BIG way – as did I. Undoubtedly common, untitled, not even a gentleman...and blond (see Annie's comments above)! And still hot!

Book 7: The Officer & the Proper Lady by Louise Allen

My second hero is Major Hal Carlow, the rakehell brother of Marcus Carlow from book 1. Hal is a hellion: blond, blue-eyed, a devil with the ladies and lucky with any form of gambling. But I could not get a clear mental picture of him until I found one of the officers who fought at Waterloo, as Hal, who is seriously wounded in the battle, does.
In Heaphy’s portrait of Sir John Fox Burgoyne I saw the other side of Hal’s character – the courageous, dedicated and honourable soldier. His heroine, Julia Tresilian, falls in love with the rake but it is the man in the portrait for whom she risks everything – her reputation, her safety and her love.

Book 8: Taken by the Wicked Rake by Christine Merrill

As we were creating the Silk and Scandal universe, we began with a nebulous concept of a someone that would be in each of the stories, not necessarily as a hero, but as a reoccurring character who would act as a catalyst to start out the plots. As I remember it, he started out with adjectives like avuncular, and puckish.
But as the story morphed, and the plot thickened, Gypsies arrived. And the character that eventually became Stephano Beshaley got younger, and angrier, and darker both physically and mentally.
And I became more and more obsessed with him, feeling much more sympathetic towards his past than I should have, considering how terribly he was likely to be treating all the other characters. I desperately wanted him to have his own book, so he could redeem some of his bad behavior and tie up the series with a happy end for everybody.
His Gypsy heritage meant that I had to settle for a tall, dark and handsome hero with a tortured soul that could probably be seen in his big brown eyes. And to undergo the burden of a light shower of pictures of good looking men posted by the other continuistas, who were also using him as a character. Good looking models from perfume ads and Canadian Olympic divers eventually lost out to Aidan Turner from the BBC series Being Human.

We all discovered our heroes differently, but we hope you like the sound – and look - of all of them. You will be able to make up your own mind about them when Regency Silk & Scandal comes out next year. In the UK it will run May to December 2010 (Harlequin Mills & Boon) and in North America (Harlequin) June 2010 – January 2011.

Tuesday Temptations - Rocking the Wii

2009-11-24T00:00:00.005Z

At the beginning of 2009, Pink Heart Society columnist Kate Hardy introduced us all to the Wii Fit. Well, Jenna Bayley-Burke has decided the Wii is good for other things than exercising...

Procrastination is the ultimate temptation, for writers at least. My procrastination tool of choice (other than Farmville) is the Wii. We celebrate Chanukkah, which means 8 wild nights of fried food, gift giving, and usually some kind of game that involves losing money. Seriously, dreidel can be quite lucrative, as can blackjack after you've run out of Manischewitz.

So last year, tired of being taken to the cleaners by a preschooler, we opted to have a Wii-themed holiday. On opening night we got the Wii, with a new game each night. It was a great idea - even games that were a bust didn't ruin the evening since we could set aside our African Safari aspirations or Scuba Diving dreams to race Mario Karts.

The new still hasn't worn off the Wii, probably because we continue to buy new games - including the Wii Fit on Kate Hardy's reccomendation. We really enjoy most of the games, even if the baby is bummed not to have her own Wii Remote Controller. Maybe they'll upgrade to a 5 controller system one day, or we'll get her a toy one. She'd one, she's not interested in playing, just in having a remote like the rest of us.

I've even convinced myself that my Wii time is research - hear me out! After an hour of Winter Sports, you could probably describe the well-used muscle stiffness after your heroine spends the morning on the slopes. Want to experience the depressing defeat of losing to a master, then play Fritz Chess (or my 8-year old, but you'll have better luck with the computer).

Other games - like Mario Party - are just pure brain candy. We've even taken to playing Monopoly on the Wii so there is no clean up, and no longer watch Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader on TV, because we have our own version at home -- complete with an unbeatable 3rd grader.

The Wii Fit, My Fitness Trainer, and Active Life Outdoor Challenge could actually provide exercise. But we've found that we opt for Mario Super Sluggers over anything that might actually cause you to break a sweat, and Outdoor Challenge is more about the comedic value of watching the people playing, than the actual game (if you ever need a pick-me-up, I highly reccomend watching my husband log jump).

Anyone else tempted to pick up a Wii remote more often than they should? Go on, admit it - and then tell me what you like to play. Specifically....Cooking Mama, Cake Mania, Rock Band, Guitar Hero , or New Super Mario Bros...any good?

Jenna is actually writing this November. While she's busy, be sure to check out Compromising Positions -- available with chocolate, Kama Sutra yoga, a decade old crush and a steady addiction to sugar. To find out what Jenna is up to now...check out her website or almost daily NaNoWriMo reports on her blog

Male on Monday: Team Jacob

2009-11-23T00:00:00.001Z

Donna Alward is here this Monday kinda wishing she were 20 years younger so she could age-appropriately gush about Taylor Lautner - aka Jacob Black.

New Moon just opened in theatres and so the debate is on again: Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?

I have to admit that in the books it was Team Edward *most* of the time. Edward is so deliciously alpha. In New Moon Jacob is, well, a teenager. He thinks like a teenager and acts like a teenager and at times you want to say, Jake - grow up.

BUT that being said, on a completely superficial level I have to admit: when it comes to the movies, I just might be Team Jacob.

Even in the Twilight movie, I thought, dang. He's cute. I liked how he talked, I liked his relaxed manner, I liked his sense of humour. I liked how he walked along the beach with Bella and told her the story and then laughed and said, "It's just a story, Bella".

I haven't seen New Moon yet, but all I can say is all that cuteness "all growed up" is pretty darn attractive. The fact that he added 30 pounds of bulk so he'd be able to reprise his role of Jacob is fab. The previews alone are awesome. I mean I *get* all that Edward chemistry and intensity, but at the same time...well, he's kind of gangly and geeky lookin'. *Ducks all Team Edward members*

So, instead of a bio, I thought I'd post (courtesy of IMDB) some of the trivia facts that are pretty cool.

Is a keen martial artist who, from the age of seven, won many karate tournaments on a local, national and international level.
Plays football and baseball. He enjoys watching college football and supports the Michigan Wolverines.
Has a younger sister named Makena.
Has a Maltese named Roxy.
Received his driver license in 2008.
Played football during freshman year in high school.
Had to start training the day after Twilight (2008/I) was finished for his role of Jacob Black in The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), whose transformation had to be drastic. He gained approximately 30 lbs. for the part, as promised to the director.

Has become close friends with Twilight (2008/I) co-star, Edi Gathegi . They have been exercising in the gym together since they finished filming the movie.
Close friends with Gishel Rafael, Alyson Stoner, Kristen Stewart, and Nikki Reed.
#1 in Access Hollywood's "Top Five Hollywood Abs".
One of People Magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People 2009.
Of French, Dutch, German, and Native American (specifically Ottawa and Potawatomi) ancestry.

So which are you? Team Edward or Team Jacob?

Donna's current release is Montana, Mistletoe, Marriage, where you can find her novella "A Bride for Rocking H Ranch".

Check out this release and her upcoming duet at her site: www.donnaalward.com

Weekend Wind-Down : : Thanksgiving Memories

2009-11-21T00:01:00.013Z

Anne McAllister is not lying in a hammock like the PHS kitten this week. She's gearing up to cook Thanksgiving dinner with one hand come Thursday while she writes a book with her other hand. So life is not exactly restful and there's not much winding-down. But it's definitely one of her favorite times of the year.

I love Thanksgiving.

Other people are crazy about Christmas (and I like it, too, but sometimes I think it's too much of a good thing). Or they go all out for Valentine's Day. Or they celebrate another holiday in their own tradition and in their own country every year that means a lot to them.

For me, in the USA, it's Thanksgiving.

When I was a kid I wasn't so keen on it because it meant getting dressed up ("Why?" I used to say plaintively to my mother. "It's just family." And I still don't think there was a good answer to that except maybe we were supposed to be impressing each other) and going to my grandparents' house to spend the entire afternoon and evening with my grandfather's multitude of eccentric sisters.

There were good bits, though. There was fabulous food. There was the chance to play with cousins I didn't normally see. And there was my uncle George who always said the same things every year: "Who made the dressing? The dressing is soooo moist. Did you make the dressing, Minnie?" As the dressing was inside the turkey and my grandmother had made the turkey, it was pretty much a given who had made the dressing. And her name wasn't Minnie, either -- that was the name one of the cousins called the cow creamer pitcher. But on Thanksgiving it was my grandmother.

We always smiled about that. And now that I think about it, maybe that was the starting point of why I like the holiday so much.

It is what you make it.

It has the requisite good food, but the rest is up to you.

But the essence, I think -- and why I like it -- is that it's inclusive. It makes you a part of something bigger than yourself. It connects you -- to the past, to the future, and to the people around you that day.

There are traditions that have grown up in various places and parts of the country -- we have a Thanksgiving day Turkey Trot race and football game where I live -- and one of my boys has played football in it when he's come home. It reconnects him with people he doesn't see any other time. It connects him -- for now at least -- to people with a common goal, often people he doesn't even know.

There are similar connections on a national level. There's the Thanksgiving Day Parade and a couple of televised NFL football games. When my dad was living, those games were a big part of his day -- partly for the football, of course. But also because on another level, watching even from his own home, connected him with other people. They shared something. And the next time he played pool with his buddies, they talked turkey -- and football. He was connected.

I learned to love the eccentric great-aunts more when I had gone away to college and didn't get to see them at Thanksgiving. I found that I missed them. I remembered their stories, their eccentricities, their hip flasks -- and I understood later what I hadn't understood at the time -- the value of connection.

When we moved to Iowa and had no family nearby -- before I realized I was related to an entire county not so very far away -- our neighbors invited us to dinner. We didn't know them well yet, but the friendship grew out of that Thanksgiving. It made us feel at home. It connected us to our new home.

Over the years we've had so many people for Thanksgiving that I can't begin to remember them all. Embarrassingly, I invited someone last year who said she just loved coming to our house for Thanksgiving, and I didn't remember that she'd been with us before!

My only excuse is that I'm so often in the kitchen cooking that I barely seem to know who is there. I just know I'm glad they are.

As I cook that day, I will again be using my grandmother's recipes and I'll feel connected not just with the people who are coming for dinner but with her -- and with my aunt who made all the same recipes at Christmas, and my great-grandmother who did the same thing a hundred years ago.

I'll feel connected to Uncle George who is probably hassling "Minnie" up in heaven about the dressing. And I expect I'll even feel connected to the eccentric great-aunts who have provided me with many wonderful family stories, even if, in person, they were sometimes a little, er, challenging.

Someday I hope to have all my kids -- and the ever-increasing horde of grandkids -- around for Thanksgiving. Last year we Skyped with all of them. One of them even 'joined' us for dinner via Skype. It was a new sort of connection. A new way of connecting.

A new tradition, maybe? I don't know. I just know I'm looking forward to it.

What about you? Do you have a favorite holiday? Particular traditions you relish every year? What are they and why are they special to you?

When she's not messing with cranberries and stuffing birds, Anne is working on her latest Savas family book for Presents. The most recent one, One-Night Mistress ... Convenient Wife is a November release both in UK and US. You can read an excerpt on her website.

Must Watch Friday - NCIS

2009-11-20T00:00:00.015Z

Fiona Harper tells us about her must-watch Friday – because every Friday night she really is glued to her television, waiting to catch the latest instalment of her favourite TV show: NCIS.

NCIS stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and this show is about a team of specialist investigators who work for the US Navy. Oh no, I hear you all cry. Not another CSI-type programme with moody lighting and people who use torches to look at things in broad daylight. And you’d be right. It’s not another show like that (although I do confess a weakness for CSI as well). The cases are clever and the forensics complicated, but what makes NCIS is the characters and the wonderful interaction between them. I honestly can’t pick a favourite character out of the cast, because they are all so compelling.

Team leader is Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon (see above). He’s an ex marine sniper who says little and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. He’s fiercely loyal and protective of his team, even if he has to give them an ‘affectionate’ slap on the back of the head every so often, just to keep them in line. If you like tough mavericks with slow-burning sex appeal, Gibbs is your man.

Senior field agent is Tony DiNozzo, played by Michael Weatherly, who has filled the Male on Monday slot more than once here at the Pink Heart Society. He’s one of those irresistible charmers who seems completely shallow and full of himself, but underneath there is tenderness and depth – he just doesn’t let anyone see it very often. Although he paints himself as a playboy, he fell in love with a woman he’d been told to date so he could gather information on her arms-dealer father, and he’s been guarding his heart very carefully ever since.

Tony sees it as his job in life to torment junior agent Timothy McGee, or “McGeek” as he calls him, played by Sean Murray. McGee is a super-brainy computer whizz-kid, who secretly wrote a thriller based on his colleagues and gets plenty of stick for it. His writing almost gets one of the team killed, as a stalker who thinks his books are real tries to defend his writing hero.

Last member of the field team is Ziva David, a former assassin, played by Cote de Pablo. She’s a feisty lady who drives like she has a death wish and knows how to handle herself. There’s been plenty of sexual tension between Ziva and Tony since she joined the team, and I keep watching hoping that one day they might get together. Ziva has a long and complex history with her father, the director of the Israeli security agency Mossad, and underneath the tough exterior she’s much more vulnerable than anybody realises. Ziva is a tough and multi-layered woman. Sometimes, I would just love to be her. Although I might draw the line at sleeping with a gun under my pillow.

Down in the lab is forensic scientist Abby Scuito, played by Pauley Perette, the sunniest, most affectionate goth you are ever likely to meet, even though she sleeps in a coffin and drives a hearse. She talks to her lab machines as if they are her babies and is the only member of the team who can get away with hugging Gibbs without losing a limb. I love Abby. She rocks.

And I can’t leave out the wonderful David McCallum who plays Dr “Ducky” Mallard, the teams’ medical examiner, who is a fount of useful (and useless) information. The episode where Ducky had to bring his rather senile elderly mother in to work with him has to be one of the funniest I have ever seen!

I could go on for pages about the wonderful, fast-paced dialogue, the quick humour, the gripping storylines that keep me rooting for the characters week after week, but the best way to share the magic of NCIS with you is to leave you with a fast-paced clip that sums up the sharp writing and humour that makes me love this show so much:

Thursday Talktime: Daring to Dream

2009-11-19T01:00:00.006Z

Dreams are more than just one book, or one appearance

Sometimes you just know. When I saw first the you tube video of Susan Boyle doing her audition, I thought -- yes this is what dreams are made of. Many thought the final of this would be Susan winning the talent contest. Indeed if it was a hollywood film, she would have.

She came second and the pressure became far too much. She went through the valley of shadows and some dismissed her as not up to it. But her dream was not to win a talent contest, her dream was to be a professional singer and she had an inner core of strength and resolve, bolstered by her faith.

With help, she came through and her first album I Dreamed a Dream is released on 23 November. She is living her dream -- a career as a professional singer. Dreams should never be about just one contest, one performance or one song but about achieving something life changing and lasting.
This is something that all authors of series romance can identify with. It is never about just one book, but about forging a writing career. And walking through the valley of shadows makes the sun filled uplands that much brighter.
The first video is about Susan Boyle and her life and career thus far. It is about hope. Dedication, desire, determination, discipline and most of all persistence.

But is she any good? Is her album all hype and no trousers?

The second video Wild Horses shows why you should buy her album. Not because of her story, but because of her voice and the heart she puts into her songs. If this video doesn't convince, listen to the free samples of the various tracks on Amazon. Her voice conveys a richness and a depth that is sometimes missing in younger singers. She puts her heart into her work and really that is all you can ask.
I know that I will be listening to this album for inspiration again and again because of the depth and complexity of her voice, rather than her story. Bring on the next album! And congratulations to Susan Boyle for having the courage to dream her dreams and not give up.

What dreams have you dared to dream? And what have you done about them lately?

Michelle Styles's latest historical romance The Viking's Captive Princess is a December 2009 release and you can read an excerpt on her website http://www.michellestyles.co.uk/ .

Writer's Wednesday - THE CALL with LIZ TALLEY

2009-11-18T01:33:00.000Z

A huge Pink Heart welcome to brand new author Liz Talley! This Pink Heart editor admits that she read Liz's story before posting - and had to wipe a tear or two.

Congratulations Liz!

Pst! Let me tell you a secret – one that is familiar to every writer, actor, or singer. It’s the secret desire that lurks in the bottom of the heart. The one you nurture in the wee hours of the morning, playing out over and over in your mind. It’s “the call” fantasy. You remember it, right? In fact, you’ve probably traded it for the Rita acceptance speech. Here’s how I envisioned my call playing out:

Twenty pounds lighter, I would be out and about, bustling around the metropolis of Shreveport. The kids would be yelling, horns honking, and music blaring. The phone would ring and I wouldn’t bother to look down at the caller. It would be my mom. Of course. But I couldn’t hear because the kids were yelling at each other about someone eating all the red skittles. So I would say, “Sorry. Hold on, Mom.” Then I would yell at my kids, give the rude driver honking at me a deserved finger-shake and manage to turn down the radio. Finally I would say, “Sorry.” And she would say, “Amy? Hello, this is Wanda Ottewell. I want to buy your book.” Then I would scream, hit the car in front of me, slide out from behind the wheel and dance in the middle of the intersection.

Sounded like a good story to me. I could even see myself telling it (as I stood on the stage accepting my Rita). Everyone would chuckle and think how clever I was . .and how good I look in my gown after losing another ten pounds.

But it didn’t go quite like that.

It went more like this.

I had been out all morning running errands with my husband. We’d unloaded a huge bag of dog food and I stepped in to heat up our lunch. So I popped the leftovers in the microwave and spun around to check caller id. First number up, my mom. No surprise there. Next number, Harlequin Enterprises. My stomach hit my knees. No kidding. I thought I might vomit.

I set the phone back down on the receiver and said, “huh.”

My husband, walking into the kitchen, said, “What’s wrong?”

I said, “Nothing.”

He said, “Good, then let’s eat.”

I said, “It’s in the microwave. I’ve got to check something in my office.”

So I calmly walked to the back of the house, holding the phone. I had the number on ID, but I hadn’t listened to the message yet. I pushed the dial button and waited to hear the message. Instead a voice said, “Harlequin Enterprises.” I panicked and hung up.

Shaking, I made it to my desk and sunk into my chair. I dialed the voicemail and tried to look nonchalant, like I called publishers every day. The message was from Wanda Ottewell. She wanted me to call her. Okay. Call her. So I managed to dial the number and tell the receptionist who I’d just hung up on that I needed to be connected to Wanda’s extension. And then I said a prayer. Please, Lord, don’t let her tell me she liked the revisions, but they just wouldn’t work. Please. Wanda said hello before I could get any further on the prayer. We exchanged pleasantries and I prepared myself for the worst. Instead she said, “Amy, I’m right in the middle of something. Do you mind if I call you back in about 30-45 minutes?”

I gulped. “Sure.”

Then I hung up and stared at the phone. My husband appeared at the door. “You gonna come eat?”

I nodded.

“Hey,” he said, “Who was that on the phone?”

“Um, Wanda Ottewell.”

He grinned. “Is she going to buy your book?”

“I don’t know,” I said, trying to rise on shaking legs.

“You don’t look so good,” he said. “Why are you shaking?”

I shrugged. “I’m nervous, I guess.”

So forty three minutes, four trips to the bathroom, and one xanax later, the phone rang. I picked it up and looked at my husband. He nodded.

“Hello”

More pleasantries and then finally….”Well, Amy, I liked your revisions. You did a good job with that, and I want you to know I want to make an offer for this book.”

“Great,” I said.

I rose, closed the door in my husband’s face, and got out a pen and paper. She told me what she wanted, how everything would go down and what I needed to know. Mid-way through the particulars, Wanda stopped and said, “You’re really very calm about this.”

I said, “I’m medicated. I had to take a Xanax.”

She laughed…and laughed….and finally, I laughed too.

Because I’d done it. Finally. I’d done it. After I got off the phone, I climbed into my husband’s lap and cried. “I did it. I sold it.”

He patted my back. “That’s great, honey. How much money are you getting?’

And then, through my tears, I laughed some more.

Vegas Two Step, Liz's Debut with Superromance, hits the shelves in June 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Temptation Tuesday: Make 'Em Miserable

2009-11-17T00:00:00.000Z

Please welcome Allie Pleiter to the Pink Heart Society! Thanks for joining us, Allie!

Anyone who knows me knows my number one temptation is yarn. As in the thing I knit. It’s my obsession, my passion, my craft, the thing I’m never without.

As I writer, though, I have another guilty pleasure: making my characters miserable. Why? Because we love characters who go through the ringer in books. We’ll pull for the hero under the gun and for the heroine who’s had the rug pulled out from under her. To be honest, part of the fun of being a writer is having the chance to make folks genuinely miserable before we make them deliriously happy. It’s a very productive place to take our your frustrations. And so, in the spirit of confession (and because you may not really be interested in hearing about all my yarn adventures, although if you are go to www.destiKNITions.blogspot.com and you’ll get more than you ever wanted), I’m going to share my top five favorite ways to make characters miserable.

1. Meet his match

A dominant, controlling guy deserves to lose his heart to a woman who won’t let the world push her around. We love to watch his character grow when he falls for the gal who won’t fall for his usual tricks. He has to dig deep, to relinquish some control, and pursue partnership instead of mastering manipulation. She’ll make him a better man by the end. Think Matthew McConaughey in How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days.

2. Take away her toys

Pluck her away from her comfortable surroundings, and your heroine will discover new abilities (and annoyances) in the challenge. She may even do it willingly, in an attempt to change her life, but when it ends up costing her more than she imagined, it’ll reveal her true character. It’s that true character that makes love happen. Think Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama.

3. Give him nothing left to lose--or everything to lose

The bigger the battle, the mightier the hero. When the woman he loves costs him everything, we’ll cheer him on to his just reward. An epic love sweeps us away from the ordinary in our lives. Throw in a few extra challenges, like a war or a sinking cruise liner, and we’ll love him to the end. Think Daniel Day-Lewis in Last of the Mohicans or Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic.

4. Let her fall on her face

Bumbles in the name of love are, well, lovable. How many of us can recall times we’ve been that “fool for love?” Let her go to extremes in the name of impressing her beloved--we already know he loves her warts and all. Have her lie to save him when the truth is actually what’s needed most of all. Let her affections drive her to irrational, consequence-laden behavior, because we know that resolution will be sweet indeed. Think Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones Diary.

5. Make him think he’s no good for her

Oh, we love our dark and brooding heroes, bent on denying himself his true love because he’s too dangerous, unworthy, too wounded or, say, a vampire. We know she’s up to the task of loving him, but he’s unwilling to risk hurting her. We’ll watch him rip his heart out of his chest for want of her, and we’ll break out the tissues when he finally allows her inside his dark and tormented soul. Think Robert Pattinson in Twilight or Tobey Maguire in Spiderman.

Every one of these miserable moments paves the way for a happy ending. Mac and Mary make each other supremely miserable before they make each other blissfully happy in Bluegrass Christmas. Because where’s all the fun if they’re happy the whole time? Remember what they say...”you always hurt the one you love.” And when a whole lotta hurt brings a whole lotta healing, you’ve got yourself a keeper of a book.

I'll give away a signed copy of Bluegrass Christmas to one commenter!

BLUEGRASS CHRISTMAS

An Old Fashioned Christmas...

That’s what led new believer Mary Thorpe to start over in quaint Middleburg, Kentucky. As director of the church’s Christmas pageant, Mary’s job is to bring the townspeople together, to remind them what the season is really about. But everyone is all riled up over one very handsome man: the man daring to run against Middleburg’s popular long-standing mayor. Mac MacCarthy wants change. Mary wants things to stay as they are. Is there a happy medium? Both Mac and Mary are in for one very big Christmas surprise.

Visit Allie at www.alliepleiter.com

Male On Monday - My Perfect Presents Hero

2009-11-16T00:00:00.000Z

Sabrina Philips is back at the PHS with her perfect Presents hero - Christiano Ronaldo!

Being allergic to sport myself I used to avoid watching it at all costs. But when I got together with my now husband, a die-hard sports fan, there had to be a little compromise in the television department. Which was why, in summer 2006 I found myself watching the football world cup and getting suitably whipped up in the hysteria along with the rest of the country. And that was when – during the quarter final between England and Portugal – Cristiano Ronaldo first came to my attention.

And not in a good way. At first. Along with the rest of the British public I was appalled by what the press branded as his conspiracy to get Wayne Rooney (his team mate at Manchester United) sent off (he protested to the ref about a move by Rooney, and was seen infamously winking at the Portuguese bench when Rooney was indeed shown a red card, and England subsequently lost the match)

He was totally arrogant, totally ruthless, but in typical Harlequin Presents fashion, also (in my opinion) totally sexy.

When the media storm died down (the ref said his decision had nothing to do with Ronaldo, and Rooney encouraged him to stay at Man Utd when he considered leaving, following the backlash) I started to feel a little less guilty about my crush. Particularly when I caught up with the rest of the world and realised that Ronaldo is one of the best football players there has ever been.

As a result, he’s currently the highest paid player in the world, and the most expensive in footballing history since Real Madrid bought him from Manchester United for a whopping 80 million last June. But apart from the fact that he’s loaded, got an incredible physique, dark Mediterranean looks and is still undeniably arrogant, the main reason why, to me, he’s the perfect Harlequin Presents hero, is his drive and passion. When I watch a match (something I’m no longer quite so ‘allergic’ to), there’s no one else who can match him for single-minded focus. And it’s paid off - he bounced back from the media storm and has gone on to score an incredible number of goals, and deservedly win award after award for it, including World Player of the Year.

And he’s still just twenty-four. Which means, by my estimation, it won’t be long before he discovers that he has everything but it’s not worth anything without the love of a good woman …well at least that’s the way it goes when I’m writing the story!

Sabrina’s latest book, Prince of Montéz, Pregnant Mistress, hits the shelves in November in the UK, and January 2010 in North America. Check out her website www.sabrinaphilips.com for more details.

Wild Card Weekend - The Best Christmas Present Ever!

2009-11-14T00:00:00.002Z

Please welcome brand spankin' new, debut Harlequin American Author CC Coburn to the Pink Heart Society!

This week my debut novel, “Colorado Christmas” goes on sale in North America, making this a very special Christmas for me!

It’s been quite a year (and a bit) since I got The Call in person at the RWA conference in San Francisco.

Although I was overjoyed that a twenty year undertaking had finally been realized, in some ways it didn’t feel quite “real”.

It started to get real around the time, “Colorado Christmas” was listed on Amazon. Up until then, I couldn’t help thinking it could all fall in a heap. Not that I didn’t have confidence in Harlequin or my wonderful editor, Paula Eykelhof, or even the belief in the evidence of my advance check – it was just that somehow, until that concrete proof that my book was actually in production and people could order it—it was still all a little surreal. Like I might wake up and find it was all a dream.

It’s been an interesting journey since the 2006 Romance Writers of Australia conference where I met Paula Eykelhof and pitched what was then called, “Judge Becky and the Scoundrel” to her (very badly I might add, since I forgot the rest of the story after the elevator pitch!)

Fortunately, Paula’s 25 years in the business helped her see through my tangled tongue to the essence of a story that showed potential for the Harlequin American Romance line. She patiently worked with me on the ms and several revisions for two years and then at the RWA San Francisco conference, Paula and American Romance editor, Kathleen Scheibling, gave me The Call in person. Believe me, after 20 years, I thought that day would never come and it took a moment for the info to sink into my brain!

After getting the longed-for Call, I thought that I was nearing the end of the journey to publication. Little did I realize how much more is involved in bringing a manuscript to publication standard. I’m still not sure of the difference between line edits and copy edits, am still finding my stories are riddled with head-hopping and clichés, and a hundred other writing no no’s, but with Paula’s guidance, I’m getting there.

There’s also the difference in language between English Australian and English USA and I don’t mean just the spelling. Paula often queries me on things like – “rugged up” (meaning dressed warmly) “wrapped the baby in a rug” (no, I didn’t mean a floor rug, I meant a blanket!) She was particularly alarmed that in book #2 the hero is nursing a baby. Hey! What’s wrong with that? Australian men nurse babies all the time! (nurse, means hold, in OzSpeak).

I eagerly awaited my author copies, but in the meantime, A Top Pick review from Romantic Times had my head swollen bigger than a watermelon and I received some lovely fan letters from readers on Harlequin’s direct marketing list – but still not sign of my author copies!

But they eventually arrived and were duly sent off to friends and relatives who’d supported my career over so many years. I read my very own copy and was surprised how much I enjoyed it.

Even my husband liked it: “Apart from spoiling it with all that mushy stuff”. Any wonder I write romance? (grin)

Still, he did love Louella (the very naughty pig) and asked if she’d be returning in any other stories. Well… no… she wasn’t but then I ran it by my editor and she thought Louella deserved an encore performance. So Louella is back in book #2 of The O’Malley Men series, “The Sheriff and the Baby” (the one with the “nursing” hero (wink!).

It’s interesting hearing from readers what they liked about the book, each one so far has remarked on something different which surprised me. Some enjoyed the light-hearted moments, others the romance, or the quirky characters and yet others remarked on impact of the… well, I can’t tell you about that because it would be giving away the ending! So you’re just going to have to read the book and tell me your favorite part of “Colorado Christmas”.

I hope readers will enjoy Colorado Christmas and want to read more of the O’Malley Men series and subsequent books of mine. I love writing for Harlequin American Romance and I love my fellow authors!

Write and tell me what would be the best thing you could imagine getting for Christmas and I’ll choose a winner to receive an autographed copy of “Colorado Christmas”.

Till next time - happy reading everyone!

CC’s debut novel, COLORADO CHRISTMAS is on sale now in North America. You can check out a review or order it through Amazon or eHarlequin via her webpage www.cccoburn.com

Must-Watch Friday - Pixar's Up

2009-11-13T00:00:00.000Z

Modern Heat author Heidi Rice takes a teary-eyed looked at the sweet wonder of Disney/Pixar's new animated family classic Up... And discovers a heart-warming romance in the most unexpected place.

Okay, so animated movies aren't the usual pick for the Must-Watch Friday Film slot... Probably because of the distinct lack of male beefcake in most cartoon movies (shallow? moi?), but after going to see Up at our nearest IMAX cinema in awe-inspiring 3-D, I simply couldn't resist blogging on it, and knew that lovers of category romance would totally get why. Because this film has one of the sweetest, most beautifully drawn romances as its driving force, and the story itself is so perfectly crafted it reminded me of a great category romance - where a huge amount of emotion and intensity, and love, laughter and tears, is packed into a small format.

First off, I consider Pixar's films to be the best family entertainment around. And not just for the obvious reason — all that fabulous computer animation — but because Pixar, unlike a host of other animation studios, spend literally years crafting their scripts before they ever get the drawing boards out. And all that time and effort shows in every one of their films: Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Monster's Inc, Finding Nemo, WALL.E. Each start with a brilliant premise and then make sure that every single scene, every single line counts towards telling the perfect story. And most importantly of all, they always allow their stories to be driven by characters and not gimmicks (or marketing opportunities).

This is traditional storytelling talent with eye-popping ultra-modern computer animation to seal the deal. And I love it. And so do my kids. Even the bolshy teenage one!

So, the premise in Up is as brilliant as all their others. A cantankerous old widower and an eager young boy scout end up on a voyage of discovery to a far off land by virtue of a flying house - held aloft by thousands of colourful balloons. How these two beautifully realised characters eventually become friends, crossing the generational gap and filling up the empty spaces in each other's lives, is the essence of this tale, but it's dressed up with a series of imaginative ideas that will delight both kids and parents and even grandparents in the telling. There's the talking dogs ("My name is Dug, I have just met you and I love you."), the edge-of-your-seat battle atop a zeppelin-style blimp, the climatic fight scene between two pensioners, but best of all for me is the film's opening gambit.... Which is where the romance angle comes in.

Because you see, at the start of the movie, Carl (expertly voiced by veteran star Ed Asner) isn't a cantankerous, embittered and desperately lonely old pensioner ensconced in a rickety old house that is about to be demolished by developers, he's a cute, shy little boy with a passion for adventure who meets a live-wire little girl call Ellie on his way home from the movie theatre where he's been watching the latest exploits of his hero, wilderness explorer Charles Muntz. Turns out Ellie has the same spirit of adventure that Carl does, although she talks a lot more. After that first delightful childhood encounter, we get a montage in snapshots of Carl and Ellie's life, from their first kiss, to their wedding, to the years they spent doing up the derelict house that became their home, to their sadness over not being able to have children, to their companionship of their advancing years, until finally Ellie dies. Leaving Carl all alone with nothing but his memories, their old house and the scrapbook Ellie gave him as a child, which was supposed to contain all the worldwide travels they'd planned to go on but never did.

Now I'm not ashamed to say that at this point in the movie (approximately fifteen minutes in) I was already blubbing, but what's more surprising is that both my boys and my husband also had a suspicious sheen in their eyes. Ellie had become a real person, she was the love of Carl's life and suddenly this guy had a history that explained all his grumpiness and showed us the desperately lonely soul beneath. Carl rescues his house with the defiantly loopy idea of stringing thousands of balloons to it and flying it to the deepest, darkest recesses of South America to finally see the place he and Ellie had often dreamed of going. But what he hadn't counted on was having a stowaway on board. Eager little boy scout Russell is hoping to get his 'helping the elderly' badge — so his absentee father with come to the badge-giving ceremony — and just happens to be on Carl's porch when the house lifts off. What neither Russell or Carl realise is that they will be each other's salvation, how they get there is something you'll have to see for yourself. Suffice it to say, their story is heart-warming, uproariously funny, edge-of-your-seat exciting, always true to its characters and almost unbearably poignant at times.

And eventually leads us to that life-affirming, and wonderfully romantic moment when Carl finally opens Ellie's scrapbook and discovers that it's not a load of blank pages as he had believed, it's full of mementoes and pictures from all those smaller but just as important adventures they shared during their life together. And Ellie's message to Carl... "Thanks for the adventure. Now go have one of your own."

See, now I'm blubbing again! I can't recommend this movie highly enough. For people of all ages. It's quite simply got everything.

Warm and fuzzy rating: 11 out of 10!!

Heidi's currently hard at work on her latest Modern Heat novel. Her November release Public Affair, Secretly Expecting is out in the UK. About bad boy Irish movie star Mac Brody and shy London dress shop manager Juno Delamare, it's got glamour, excitement, lots of sexy, sassy dialogue and enough heat for the coldest winter. And the first of her Brody Brothers duo, Hot-Shot Tycoon, Indecent Proposal, about property tycoon Connor, Juno's best mate Daisy and their luxury fortnight in New York is still available in the US. Heidi loves to talk to readers. Contact her through her website or on her blog.

What Are You Reading Thursday - Luxury

2009-11-12T00:00:00.002Z

Modern Heat author Natalie Anderson joins us this week about what she's reading - and why reading is a luxury these days....

Reading time is a luxury for me and all too rare. And that time-drought doesn’t seem to be showing signs of letting up yet either sadly!

We’ve just moved to a smaller but more cosy-home kind of house. We used to have five big bookcases in our old lounge but there isn’t the space in the new place. So we bit the bullet and boxed up all our ‘adult’ books and put them into storage with some of the shelves. The fact is we weren’t reading them anyway. All that’s left is the library of children’s books. With four kids ranging in age from three to seven we tend to read their books with them. My eldest has worked through the Little House series and is now starting Anne of Green Gables, my son adores Tintin while the preschool twins are picture book central (usually the same five night after night). So there’s a baseline level of reading that I do every day but then I have to get on with my own writing. But it’s not enough, its not my choice (although I love those books) and sometimes I long for the luxury of those pre-children days when I used to laze in bed for most of a Sunday and not put a book down ‘til it was finished. That never happens now – when the final Harry Potter came out I had to sit in the car in our driveway for hours speed reading while my husband and kids looked out the window every now and then and laughed. But I had to know what happened before I could re-engage with the real world!

Truthfully, having kids has made me have to use a bookmark. I am forced to put a story down when I have to do those necessary things like cook them dinner. But honestly, when I begin a book I’d really like to have however many hours ahead of me to be able to finish it in one sitting. Like a movie. I love to get totally sucked into the world and stay there until the story is resolved.

Back in August I went to the Romance Writers of New Zealand annual conference. For the first time in three years I was away from the children, I had no laundry, no cooking, no cleaning to do. My time was my own. I could go and be a writer and talk writing, surrounded by other writers as passionate about writing romance as me.

But do you know what I did?

I bunked. Not the social stuff, or a couple of those lectures I was desperate to hear. But for a few afternoon workshops I slipped upstairs, back to the quiet, clean comfort of my hotel room, hopped into bed and READ.

It was heaven. I devoured all the Nalini Singh’s I could get my hands on (not enough) and continued the paranormal bender and also read all the categories that found their way into my conference bag (and that of my room buddy). It was so fabulous – like a holiday and was just as much of a boost to my writer’s ‘well’ as the conference itself.

Already I’m looking forward to next year’s event and the ‘reader’s retreat’ it now is for me. If I could choose I’d have Nalini’s entire Psy/Changling series to read in one big go! Lovely new books from the stall Barbara’s Books has set up, the ink drying on where the fabulous author has just signed it for me… bliss.

What about you? If you had the luxury of spending a few days in a hotel with no cooking/cleaning/childcare duties and could just read anything, what books would you choose? Let me know your number one and be in to win a copy of Christmas with the Boss!

Natalie is busy mothering and writing and not reading enough. She has three releases out at the moment. Her contribution to the Royal House of Karedes continuity, Ruthless Boss, Royal Mistress is out and if you’re after a festive season story she has a hot one for you in Christmas with the Boss – a triple treat with other stories by Carole Mortimer and Alison Roberts. Natalie’s latest Modern Heat, Hot Boss, Boardroom Mistress will hit the shelves in the UK later this month! For more of her news, excerpts and chances to win books, drop by her website – www.natalie-anderson.com

Writer's Wednesday: Caring for the Environment.

2009-11-11T01:00:00.001Z

Is Our Writing Environment Important to Us? Steeple Hill author Margaret Daley investigates.

I remember when I first stated writing back in the Dark Ages when I used a typewriter. I had my typewriter set up on the kitchen table. I’ve come a long way since then. I’ve advanced to a computer (and so glad I don’t have to revise a manuscript on a typewriter—a lot of work) and I have my own office with a door I can close when I want to keep the world out.

Have you ever tried to write and family members keep interrupting you and you lose your thought in mid-sentence? Or, you don’t have anywhere to spread your stuff out? There are times when I’m on a deadline that my office gets messy, but I don’t have to straighten up until I’ve sent my book off. I just shut the door so no one has to see the mess but me.

When I set up my office years ago, I put a lot of thought into its layout and furniture. I wanted something that inspired me and was comfortable. After all, I was going to spend hours and hours in that room. I spend more time in my office than any room in my house—even my bedroom. Okay, that may read that I’m a workaholic and I probably am but I have everything I need at my fingertips.
My office walls are painted hot pink with white trim. I didn’t know how I was going to like hot pink and thought if it didn’t work out I could paint over it. But I love the walls. I find the color is invigorating, and I haven’t grown tired of the hot pink yet. In fact, the color has grown on me.

Over the years I began collecting flamingoes. I love animals and flamingoes are hot pink. What better accent than that in my office! Now I have so many—from a giant six-foot stuffed flamingo to a Christmas tree with mostly flamingo ornaments on it. The tree is up year round. And if my cats leave the tree alone, the ornaments stay on it.

When I published my first book in 1981, my husband starting framing my books to hang on the wall. Now I have over sixty on the walls in my office. When I get discouraged, I can look at what I’ve accomplished in almost thirty years in the business.

How important is your workspace to you? For me it is my getaway where I can go to dream up stories to entertain readers. I usually read books for pleasure even in my office. I have a couch that is quite comfortable. I have been known to fall asleep on it.

What do you think is important in an office or a workspace?

Margaret Daley has a book out this month from Love Inspired called Together for the Holidays. In the story, a single mother with a traumatic past, Lisa Morgan only wants to raise her son with love and values. But lately the boy is struggling. When his basketball coach becomes a reluctant role model, Lisa is relieved. Until she learns that David Russell is also a cop. She's not ready to share her past—or her heart. And neither is the world-weary detective. Yet as Christmas comes closer, the true meaning of the holiday brings them together in ways they never dared dream.

Next month Margaret has a Love Inspired Suspense out called Christmas Peril, a two in one story with Debby Giusti.

Temptation Tuesday: Celebrity Magazines

2009-11-10T01:00:00.007Z

What is more tempting than a dishy hero in a lush setting? Presents author Sharon Kendrick is here at The Pink Heart Society to talk about one of the few things that can compete!

What's the similarity between these two light English scones which are sandwiched together with a wodge of thick, double cream and a generous helping of juicy strawberry jam.......

And this array of some of publishing's finest - brightly-coloured glossy magazines with their in-your-face typesetting and titles such as Reveal, Heat, Closer and OK!?

It's pleasure, of course - but in this case a very guilty pleasure. Something you might not want to admit to......

And while you might just get away with eating the scones by spending a work-out morning in the gym - you'll be hard-pressed to mount a good defence about why you happen to enjoy celebrity magazines.

Because people love to trash them. Some of the criticism they attract happens to be the same as that which is sometimes leveled at romantic fiction: They are mindless pap. They are an insult to the intelligence. They focus the attention on a superficial world where Z-list fame and trashy image dominate instead of real issues which concern women. Oh, dear. What a shallow person I must be - because I absolutely love them!

For me they provide endless amusement and genuine opportunities for research. I like to study faces and expressions - trying to gauge the true emotions revealed when the celebrity mask slips. I analyse body language - and discovered long ago that feigned affection is as easy to decipher as genuine tenderness. I'm fascinated by relationship between fame and publicity and how the weapon of PR can occasionally backfire. All of these elements give me ideas for my own protagonists and the glamorous worlds they inhabit.

I also like fashion watching - to see what the Hollywood glitterati are wearing. It's interesting (and occasionally appalling!) to see how much someone is prepared to spend on an outfit and it must be particularly galling to see that same outfit on one of your peers. This Cinderella element is vital to my stories - sometimes I make up my own dresses, shirts and shoes - but it's a dream to be able to incorporate some of the great designers. A kind of dressing-up by proxy! But I never name designers and that way I never date my books (because fashion designers go in and out of fashion, just as much as music does).

It's true that celebrity mags sometimes include features which are not for the faint-hearted - the sweaty underarm-double-page-spread springs to mind, as does the "Stars' Bunions!" section. But the whole point is that our idols are real. Sometimes they sweat and their feet hurt. They are "just like us" and that is why we are drawn to them.

So if you'll excuse me. I've just put my trainers away and so a large cream cake awaits me, but first - there is something I MUST read......

Sharon would love Pink Heart readers to visit her blogspot: http://sharonkendrick.blogspot.com/

She plans to post more regularly and would be spurred on by your comments!

North American readers can look for THE ITALIAN BILLIONAIRE'S SECRETARY MISTRESS in January, 2010

Male on Monday : Matthew Settle

2009-11-09T00:00:00.013Z

Donna Alward explores the "real" side to her current book casting - actor Matthew Settle.

When I went shopping for a new hero, I had a pretty good idea of what I was looking for. He didn't need to be a cowboy, but he had to be able to pull off the jeans and boots look. He needed dark hair, enigmatic eyes, a soft voice but an underlying steel. You would think that knowing all of this, I would have a good fix on my hero anyway (who, by the way, is named Wyatt Black).

But I'm a visual girl. Especially at the beginning, when I'm looking to anchor the story. I like that touchstone until the story takes on a life of its own. Even then, sometimes I'll find myself recalling my casting, how that person might move, how they might sound, and it really really helps.

At the time I was watching Band of Brothers with my girls and then I realized. Matthew Settle could pull it off. I went searching for pictures and found a gold mine. Finding a good biography took a little more work.

Born on September 17, 1969, in Hickory, NC, Settle is the youngest of two girls and four boys. In 1983, his father, a Baptist preacher, and his mother, a church organist, relocated the family to Sevierville, TN. Settle sold records at Dolly Parton's nearby theme park, Dollywood, before deciding to become a musician himself. After getting kicked out of his New York-based rock group, he hawked meat and seafood off a truck on Long Island before Jay Julian, Robert De Niro's lawyer, got him into acting school. Settle borrowed money from friends to afford the classes, and then moved out to Los Angeles to begin his career.

Rather than go through his filmography, let's just say I've seen him as a gallant young man in The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, as the crazy boyfriend of Jennifer Love-Hewitt in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, to Captain Ronald Spiers in Band of Brothers and as Jacob Wheeler in Into The West.

In particular I loved him as Spiers, the cool as a cucumber, somewhat renegade Captain who became a legend based on rumours alone, according to the miniseries. After the Battle of the Bulge when he took over Easy Company, 1st Sgt. Lipton said, "The men don't care about the rumours. They're just happy to have a good leader again." That's the kind of man I wanted for my hero. His past is a bit of a mystery, and yet somehow we know he's one of the good guys, someone to rely on.

TV Credits include guest roles on ER, Brothers and Sisters, and currently he's playing Rufus Humphrey on Gossip Girl. He also played Bo Goodnight in Nora Roberts' Blue Smoke.

I made this collage that I now have on my desktop as I'm writing my WIP - what do you think?

Donna's new release is A Bride for Rocking H Ranch in Montana, Mistletoe, Marriage, hitting store shelves on November 10! You can check out an excerpt on her webpage at www.donnaalward.com .

Weekend Wind Down :: NaNoWriMo!!

2009-11-07T00:00:00.004Z

Jenna Bayley-Burke is here with The Pink Heart Society annual NaNoWriMo post!!

What is NaNoWriMo? National Novel Writing Month comes every November. All around the world, writers vow to collect words until they hit 50,000, throwing aside all notions that tell them that they can’t. It is the brainchild of No Plot No Problem author Chris Baty. Each year the NaNoWriMo website and forum teem with writers hopeful to turn someday into today.

Anyone with an inkling they want to write a novel can join the NaNoWriMo brigade. It’s free, it’s fast, and it even has perks like a laptop loaner program, a free copy of your NaNo novel from LuLu if you finish, and a great reason to head out to your local community NaNo meeting and find likeminded writers in your area. If you’d prefer an online writing group, Romance Divas and eHarlequin both host specialized groups in their forums during November.

For years I found something wrong with the stories I wrote, usually right around chapter four. I’d drop it like a hot potato, chasing after the next idea so I’d soon forget I meant to go back and finish. Until I signed up for National Novel Writers Month in 2004, and forced myself to muddle through that fourth chapter, following it with more chapters until Just One Spark had a beginning, middle and an end. It became my first finished - and published book, put out by Mills & Boon in 2006.

Drafting a novel in thirty days isn’t for everyone, but for those who’ve never finished a novel, the magic of a deadline does pull you across the finish line. And those writers who hope to write category can benefit from the discipline. The draft that you have at the end of the month isn’t publishable, but it is fixable. As a great romance writer once said, you can’t fix a blank page.

Some might be concerned about how good a book could possibly be if it only took a month to write. There is magic in a book that spins together quickly. Don't take my word for it, be sure to read fabulous authors like Romance newcomer Nikki Logan & Modern Heat’s Natalie Anderson both of whom have told some amazing stories with stories they disovered in under 30 days.

What are you waiting for? Don’t write a novel someday, write it this November.

Jenna is actually writing this November. While she's busy, be sure to check out Compromising Positions -- available with chocolate, Kama Sutra yoga, a decade old crush and a steady addiction to sugar. To find out what Jenna is up to now...check out her website or daily NaNoWriMo reports on her blog.

Must Watch Friday - Spooks

2009-11-06T06:19:00.000Z

Last month Kate Walker talked about her love of spooky ghost stories. This time, with the must watch TV slot, her focus is on some very different sort of Spooks.

Spooks is back. My autumn (Fall) viewing treat is guaranteed. I have a date and a space on my living-room sofa every Wednesday 9pm BBC 1 - for Spooks. (Well, I also have one for Flash Forward but that’s another topic.) Spooks is back and I’m happy. I’m also at the end of the current book and so can afford a little extra time to just totally relax, enjoy – and do some heavy duty research.

This is series 8 and so far nothing has grown tired or totally repetitive, the characters still fascinate even when the political machinations, behind the scenes machinations and need to save the world every week can sometimes blur into one. But it’s the characters who matter. I can still remember the first episode of the last series that had me sitting in the edge of my seat, watching Adam Carter played by Rupert Penry Jones drive a car that was literally a ticking bomb through London, thinking ‘They can’t. kill him off . . they won’t. . .’ But they can and they did. The car exploded and one of the main reasons for watching was gone. Spooks is like that. They are not precious with their stars. As the cast have often commented no one is safe on Spooks. Anyone can be killed off at any time.

And it’s that edge of the seat quality, the sheer sofa-chewing, nuclear bomb-defusing vividness of last December’s season-ending cliffhanger, that when the show blazed back onto our screens last night after a gap of almost a year it was as if time itself had stood still, leaving us effortlessly picking up the story with Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) the old –school knight of the realm, head of MI5’s counter-terrorism division still in the clutches of a Russian from Putin’s security service, trussed up in the boot of a car with tape across his mouth and that ‘they can and they might’ sense exerting its grip all over again

Spooks, after all, has a remarkably cavalier approach to its leading characters, and has a considerably higher personnel turnover than most long-running series. In fact, landing a big role here is just one step away from booking a spot on the mortuary slab – in the TV studios at least. No fewer than 12 major characters have been brutally decommissioned over the course of the last seven seasons, with almost the entire cast being regularly refreshed by way of bullet, bomb, radium injection or – most controversially – a head in a deep fat fryer. On this show, you’re lucky to make it to the end of an episode, let alone settle in for a comfortable retirement. And its that nerve-shredding feeling that you can’t relax and think ‘he/she’s a star so it’ll be all right’ that gives the show it’s extra special pull.

But for however long they last, the stars are worth the hour spent watching it every week. And that’s where the research come in. From the start the cast has been filled with the sort of actors who can deliver lines that can sometimes veer into ‘we have to save the world’ silliness with the sort of clench-jawed control and sang froid that somehow holds it just this side of melodrama in spite of the endless and often bonkers conspiracies they have to fight – both in the outside world and within ‘the Grid’ itself. (Because that’s another thing about Spooks – you can rarely, if ever, believe that just because a character has access to the central ‘grid’ they are in fact squeaky clean and totally trustworthy. Some aren’t and the revelation of just who can’t be trusted is another of those ‘Oh, they can’t’ elements because again they can - and they do.) )

Those stars have included , along with Peter Firth, Hugh Simon and Gemma Jones as the older team, the ever watchable Matthew MacFadayen, Keeley Hawes, Ruprt Penry-Jones, Hermione Norris, Alex Lanipekun. And that’s without including the list of guest stars such as Hugh Laurie, Robert Hardy, Tim McInnerny, Bruce Payne, Ian McDiarmid, Jimi Mistry, Andy Serkis, Andrew Tiernan, Anton Lesser, Anupam Kher, Alexander Siddig and Anthony Head.

And the last series provided compensation for the loss of Adam with then introduction of the new – and decidedly ambiguous - character of Lucas North played by the man the Romantic Novelists’ Association voted the sexiest thing on two legs – Richard Armitage. And as someone who has been addicted to dark, brooding , possibly untrustworthy, definitely ambiguous heroes who might turn out to be villains, this piece of casting just added to the ‘must see’ quality of the show. Especially when the BBC killed off Guy of Gisborne over on the much less watchable Robin Hood.

Incidentally, in an interview about this new season of Spooks, Richard Armitage admitted that he trained as a dancer, and his best dance was the Argentinian Tango. Now that is an Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars I’d love to see. But for now I’ll settle for the heavy-duty research of Lucas North, steely blue eyes narrowed as he deals with one of Spook’s many puzzles, and many more villains - or those eyes warming as he charms the female American agent into cooperating with the scheme he has planned.

Spooks still delivers high-class escapism at its slickest, most glamorous and entertaining. Over the years it has had its ups and downs. But the last series managed to claw things back superbly, balancing pin-sharp characterisation with plots of such tension-ratcheting complexity that a rollercoaster ride was virtually guaranteed in every episode. If last night’s opener was anything to judge by, series eight promises to be just as good.

Kate Walker’s latest Presents title Kept For Her Baby is still available in Presents EXTRA. And the hero, Ricardo was inspired by none other than Richard Armitage in the last season of Spooks.

One reviewer called this book “a masterpiece that will live in the hearts of the reader for many years to come!” (We Write Romance)

You can find out more about Kate and her books on her website or her blog

Thursday Reading - YA Books Aren't Just Twilight!

2009-11-05T00:00:00.000Z

Brigid Coady is talking about her recent reading experiences.

I’m putting my hand up to confess that recently I have mostly been reading Young Adult books. Why you may ask? Why am I reading YA instead of grown up books?

Well I say to you that some of the best stories out there are being written for the YA market. Yes I have read the Twilight books and seen the movie (Robert Pattinson swoon) but there are some other YA books out there.

Here are some reasons I love YA books and what I am learning from them:

1. They mix up the genres, everything is YA whether crime, romance, paranormal, fantasy or historical. And sometimes they can be all of the above. They make me think out of the box, mix things up and take chances.

2. The books grip you from the start. These books are being written for an audience that has so many other pulls on their time. If they want to keep them reading they have to get in, grip you and keep it going till the end. I am learning loads about writing brilliant beginnings and pacing.

3. Who doesn’t remember being a teenager? Everything was more intense, ups and downs seemed more catastrophic. We had our first loves, our first kisses, our first dates. When I read YA books it comes flooding back and it reminds me of the intensity.

And because I am a nice person I’m going to recommend some recent books I’ve read.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. But Katniss has been close to death before—and survival, for her, is second nature. The Hunger Games is a searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. Welcome to the deadliest reality TV show ever...

I read this book in one sitting and then haunted the bookshop until the second one came out! Brilliant, disturbing with a love triangle that has you picking teams.

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
I'm Annabel. I'm the girl who has it all. Model looks, intelligence, a great social life. I'm one of the lucky ones. Aren't I? My 'best friend' Sophie is spreading rumours about me. My family is slowly falling apart. It's turning into a long, lonely summer, full of secrets and silence. But I've met this guy who won't let me hide away. He's one of those intense types, obsessed with music and totally unafraid of confrontation. He's determined to make me listen. Will I ever find the courage to tell him what really happened the night Sophie and I stopped being friends?

I would actually recommend any book by Sarah Dessen including ‘The Truth About Forever’ and ‘Lock and Key’.

They have all had me up until 2am sobbing my heart out by the end. Funny, sad, heart wrenching and dealing with difficult issues in a sympathetic way.

So go on, tell me what YA books have you been reading lately?

Brigid Coady is currently NaNoWriMoing (as BeeCee - come buddy up). She is finishing off ‘Bah Humbug!” and starting on a YA story of her own. Her short story ‘The Great Leap Forward’ will be published by Tonto Books in ‘Even More Tonto Short Stories’.

Writer’s Wednesday—Pondering Tension… aka An Excuse to Watch TV!

2009-11-04T00:00:00.003Z

It's Wednesday at The Pink Heart Society, so we'll be writerly and talk about, you know, writing. Thankfully, Steeple Hill author Missy Tippens stopped by to make it fun!

Missy Tippens, here. I’ve recently discovered yet another reason to watch TV. :) To study tension in a story.

Have you ever watched a show week after week and been totally hooked. But then bam!, they do something that defuses the tension, and you find you’ve lost interest? Think of the classic example of this…Moonlighting.

I was pondering this the other night after watching the movie Tristan and Isolde. Man, what conflict there: loyalty vs loyalty. In Tristan’s case, it was loyalty to the man who saved him and took him in as a son (and also to country) versus loyalty to his true love (and thus self).Painful to watch. And it made me realize the proposal I’m working on doesn't have that kind of tension. It reminded me that we have to be sure come up with book-length conflict, and we can’t give our characters a break! The readers have to want to keep reading to the end of the book before they get the big payoff.

So what am I doing to add that tension to my proposal? I pulled out one of my favorite how-to workbooks, Alicia Rasley’s The Story Within Guidebook. In her books, she talks about heroic conflicts such as loyalty vs loyalty and gives a helpful list of some common heroic conflicts/issues. So I’m in the process of figuring out the type conflict my characters will be facing.

In my new release from Steeple Hill Love Inspired, A Forever Christmas, I planned these conflicts in the early stages of writing. For my heroine, Sarah, her conflict is betrayal versus trust (the hero, Gregory, had betrayed her in their past and she has to learn to trust him again). For Gregory, it is guilt versus expiation (he needs forgiveness for past mistakes to be able to move on and love again). And neither of these conflicts could be resolved until the end! I have to admit, this is one weakness of mine. I have a hard time creating conflict (torturing my characters) because I don’t like conflict in real life. But I’m learning to stick it to ‘em. And if I ease up on that tension in the least, my editor lets me know! :)

What about you? What do you do to make sure to keep that tension running through the whole story?

Missy Tippens’ third book for Steeple Hill Love Inspired, A Forever Christmas, has just released. Read an excerpt at e-harlequin.com. It’s also available at Amazon.com or on the shelves wherever you buy Harlequin books.

Temptation Tuesday - Stationery

2009-11-03T00:00:00.014Z

Today our columnist Annie West explores a widespread but little discussed temptation - stationery!

It doesn’t sound as sexy as a Male on Monday, does it? And when we talk about temptations most of us think of the usual indulgences: a tropical island retreat, a candlelight dinner, new shoes, a sleep in (!), luscious chocolate truffles, a day in retail therapy, a week alone with our TBR pile… Yet, among the many romance readers and writers I know a surprisingly large number have a weakness for stationery.

Whether it’s funky designs and brightly patterned sticky notes, pads with cute messages, elegant pens or the sort of thick, creamy velvet paper that makes you long to write something wonderful, stationery is a hugely popular item.

Maybe it’s to do with our love of books. Though e-reading is increasing in popularity a lot of readers still say they love the feel and smell of a book in their hands, the physical sensation of curling up with that story. From an early age we fell for words on paper. In a similar way I think many of us who love the written word are drawn to the gorgeous array of stationery items that we can’t do without.

Go on, put your hand up if you’ve succumbed to the lure of the glitter gel pen (just for special messages), the multi-coloured post it notes or kaleidoscope tinted paper clips. Do you drool over embossed stationery and envelopes with decorative rice paper lining? Do you run your hands possessively over soft as butter leather journals, or the ones made to look like a vintage traveller’s diary from Paris and Rome?

Do you have a soft spot for the old Florentine design or Mickey Mouse note paper or even custom designed stationery of your own? Personalised address stickers? Notice boards with fancy pins? Fun diaries? Novelty design erasers? Hand made paper or pens that glide across the page for those days when the words flow so fast you can barely get them down (I wish!).

For the really serious, how about calligraphy sets or sealing wax and a personalised seal? The smell of sealing wax seems to make writing and sending letters somehow more significant.

Have you ever used a (modern) quill pen? Late last year I spent a night in a castle looking across vineyards to the river below (yes, I know how disgustingly luck I was). At the desk in the window nook was some gorgeous linen-finish paper, embossed with a scene of the castle, and a ‘quill’ pen (no ink well required, this was an up market biro). I used all the stationery in the desk! I sat and sipped sherry and wrote letters and felt very special indeed. Why not share my adventures with friends who’d love the holiday update and also get a kick out of the castle stationery? And they did – without fail.

Getting letters and parcels in the mail is such a thrill (except for window envelopes with bills inside). Sending out letters on great stationery is something that makes me feel good too, as I know others like the treat of a hand written message, plus it’s an excuse to indulge a taste for nice paper and cards.

How about you? Does stationery tempt you? Do you linger over the stationery supplies even though you don’t need anything, just in case you see something you just have to have? What’s your favourite piece of office paraphernalia or stationery?

To stimulate discussion, Annie is offering a choice of backlist book to one person who leaves a comment.

This month Annie is celebrating the almost release of her next US release. BLACKMAILED BRIDE, INEXPERIENCED WIFE goes on sale in December.

It was written straight onto computer, but plot points and queries were scrawled in a large purple spiral notebook Annie keeps on her desk and her fluoro post it notes were invaluable to mark passages as she revised that book.

If you want to find out more about this story (with Annie's first sexy Sicilian hero) visit her website for details or better yet, just order the book!

Male on Monday :: GEEKS!

2009-11-02T00:00:00.005Z

Silhouette Romantic Suspense author Sharron McClellan sneaks over to The Pink Heart Society to talk about her favorite kind of Male On Monday -- The Geeky Hero-Then and Now.

Geeks. Nerds. Trekkie. Or Techie. Whatever you call them, geeks are the new hotness.

Now, I have always loved nerdy males. Smart men are a turn on and whoever said that sex was mostly in the head wasn’t lying. So, one can only imagine what naughty, creative thoughts a nerd has rambling through his big ole’ noggin.

What I like about these guys is that most of them are like Clark Kent. They’re nice. They take out the garbage. Face it, when you’re down with the flu this is the guy you wants at your bedside because he will bring you soup and take care of you.

But that doesn’t make them weak. In fact, it makes them a little scarier and stronger, IMHO. No one expects the nerd to don the big-bad Alpha hat. But once the ones they care for are in threatened, look out—the good-guy suit is coming off and a geek will do whatever it takes to protect the ones he loves whether it’s using his MacGyver smarts or picking up a Glock and blowing someone away.

GEEKS THEN: The first Geeky Bad Ass

Richard Dean Anderson/Angus MacGyver

The original geek turned hero, MacGyver didn’t use guns. But he could use a paperclip and a stick of gum to disarm a bomb and save the girl. He was crazy creative, smarter than any two men put together and was a total bad ass. Plus, he made duct-tape a household word.

Hot then—mullet and all. Just a hot now!

GEEKS NOW: The New Geeky Bad Ass -- Zachary Levi/Chuck

Staring in the television show “Chuck”, Zachary Levi is the new nerdy hero. An “average” nerd, he’s turned into “super geek” when he opens an encoded email and ALL government secrets are downloaded into his brain.

Besides being wicked smart (and that’s even before the secrets were stuffed into his brain), he’s kind and I love a kind man. Plus, he’s funny. Tall. Has a great head of hair. And who could ignore that devastating, disarming smile! I think I am in love with him.

As far as fighting…. I’d be thrilled to have him guard my back. Whether it’s using his skills at Apache Commander (a computer game) to land a helicopter or using his knowledge of James Bond movies to cut the right wire on the bomb, he comes through in the end. And when the bad guys are in jail and the chaos is over, he brings you pizza just the way you like it. YUM!

When she's not travelling the world or writing about being on the run, catch Sharron at her blogs or website.

BOO! Happy Halloween Treats!

2009-10-31T00:00:00.003Z

Today's the spookiest of days so to help with the enjoyment (and be a little more creative than bite-sized chocolate bars and mini bags of potato chips) I thought I'd post a few fun recipes that kids - and adults - can love.

In the craziness of getting your ghosties ready for trick or treating, something make ahead is a real plus. And your kids will probably love chili - especially when you serve it with Breadstick Bones.

CHILI

Get out your crock pot and mix together the following:

2 (16) oz cans kidney beans, drained
2 (14) oz cans diced tomatoes
2 lbs ground beef, browned and drained
1 large onion
1 green pepper
1 red pepper

1 can kernel corn
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tbsp taco seasoning
2 teaspoons Tabasco

Simmer on low all day or on high for the afternoon.

The easiest way to make the breadsticks is to buy the premade ones from your grocery freezer section. Peel the dough on the marks and roll out into 12 inch strips. Then tie a loose knot at each end and bake according to directions!

For dessert, why not freak out the little beasts with some Witches Finger Cookies? A variation of almond fingers, they're fairly easy and sufficiently spooky.

1 cup (250 mL) butter, softened

1 cup (250 mL) icing sugar

1 egg

1 tsp (5 mL) almond extract

1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

2-3/4 cups (675 mL) all-purpose flour

1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder

1 tsp (5 mL) salt

3/4 cup (175 mL) whole blanched almonds

1 tube (19 g) red decorator gel (blood for fingers)

Preparation:
In bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla; beat in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Working with one quarter of the dough at a time and keeping remaining dough refrigerated, roll heaping teaspoonful (5 mL) of dough into finger shape for each cookie.

Press almond firmly into 1end for nail. Squeeze in centre to create knuckle shape; using paring knife, make slashes in several places to form knuckle.

Place on lightly greased baking sheets; bake in 325°F (160°C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until pale golden. Let cool for 3 minutes. Lift up almond; squeeze red decorator gel onto nail bed and press almond back into place, so gel oozes out from underneath. Remove from baking sheets; let cool on racks. Repeat with remaining dough.

And after the wee goblins are in bed and the doorbell has stopped ringing, kick back and relax with some well earned Butterbeer a la Harry Potter - the adult version.

BUTTERBEER

Ingredients:1 cup butterscotch schnapps

7 cups cream soda (2 liter bottle)

Carefully mix just before serving, adding the schnapps to the soda then stirring gently to mix well, or the fizz will dissipate too soon.

Happy Halloween!

Donna's latest book celebrates another season - Christmas. Montana, Mistletoe, Marriage hits store shelves in November, just in time for Christmas shopping!

Must Watch Friday: Wuthering Heights

2009-10-30T01:00:00.000Z

Michelle Styles looks at the latest adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Does it match the sheer power of the novel?

Once upon a time, when I was about six, my first grade teacher started to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl to the class. I loved the book but Mrs Hemming read it far too slowly. My mother bought me the book and it became the first chapter book that I ever read and really turned me on to reading. When the movie Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory came out several years later, I could not wait to see it. However, as I watched it, I wept bitter tears. The movie had missed the essential point of the book – Charlie never does anything wrong. He is a good kid.

And thus began my disillusionment with movie adaptations or television. In my humble opinion, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the book offers a far richer experience than the movie.
Now that I am grown, I can divorce my pleasure in a book from my pleasure in an adaptation. An adapatation stands or falls on its own merit, not its protrayal of the book.
I was forcibly reminded of this recently when I watched the latest ITV adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Wuthering Heights is a novel which taunts movie makers. No adaptation that I have seen has ever quite managed to capture the raw power of Emily Bronte’s novel. And I believe you can tell those people who have only seen an adaptation versus those people who have read the novel. Wuthering Heights is not a romance as protrayed in the classic 1939 version with Laurence Olivier as Heathcliffe and David Niven as Edgar Linton, but a novel about the destructive power of love and obsession. It scandalised a nation when So when I came to watch the latest television adaptation, I emptied my mind and tried to enjoy it for its own sake.

Rising star Tom Hardy played a credible and ultimately ruggedly sexy Heathcliffe but Charlotte Riley was a bit weak as Cathy. She somehow lacked the strength that is needed to play the part. And it was difficult to see what Cathy saw in Edgar Linton (Andrew Lincoln) and why she decided to marry him. And why her sense of betrayal at Heathcliffe leaving is so great, particularly when he decides to return after just after she marries. Equally the adaptation does not show why the whole cycle of revenge was so important to both men and defined them both. For example, Edgar Linton is not as kindly as he makes out and even though he knows that his sister has been ruined by Heathcliffe, he turns his back on her. But in this adaptation, it came as being somehow out of character and Lincoln’s portrayal of Edgar Linton did not quite have the complexity needed. The adaptation missed somehow.

A few weeks later, I went to Haworth and the Bronte Parsonage. There they had an exhibition of the costumes with an explanation of what the designer had done. For example, when Cathy is wild on the moors with her illicit love for Heathcliffe, she wears bright colours and then as she becomes tamed by the Lintons, she wears the pale shades. So that when she marries Linton she is basically in white. After Heathcliffe returns, now a wealthy man, colour is once again added to Cathy’s wardrobe as she struggles between her old love of the moors and her new respectability. seeing the exhibition, I wondered if I had not given the adaptation enough of a chance. Was it better than I thought?
>At my daughter’s entreaties, I purchased the dvd and watched again. I enjoyed it far more the second time. Tom Hardy is an excellent actor and he does bring a complexity to his portrayal. There is a certain power to his acting and you do really feel for Heathcliffe. He becomes a tortured soul who loves and loses and ultimately loses his mind. I also enjoyed Rosalind Halstead who played Isabella Linton who becomes trapped in the terrible triangle and is seduced by Heathcliffe. I actually found myself hoping that Heathcliffe would see sense and settle down with Isabella...alas it was not to be. It is good entertainment. But it is not my vision of Wuthering Heights.

So if you want Wuthering Heights as a romance, watch the classic black and white version. If you want to see a passable adaptation which gives several hours of entertainment, watch the Tom Hardy version. If you want to glory in the sheer raw power of gothic emotion, then read the book. Emily Bronte's vision of her book remains the most true.

Michelle Styles's next book The Viking Captive Princess is published by Harlequin Historical in December and she will admit to being more of a Mr Rochester fan than a Heathcliffe one but Tom Hardy did make a case for Heathcliffe.

What are You Reading Thursday - Ghost Stories

2009-10-29T00:00:00.000Z

It's the season of ghosts and ghouls - so columnist Kate Walker takes a look at some reading that really fits with the spirit(s) of Halloween.

Is the ghost story coming back to haunt us?

It’s October 29th and that means that it’s heading up towards Halloween. In the shops, witches’ broomsticks and cauldrons, plastic bats and skulls with glowing eyes fill up the shelves and children are planning costumes they will wear to go out Trick or Treating. Halloween has origins in the ancient celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced sow-in or sau-an) which is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end". The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half".

The celebration has some elements of a festival of the dead. The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home whilst harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces.

And of course at this time, everyone talks about ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night. Films like the Blair Witch Project, The Others and the new Paranormal Activity have frequently been made, keeping audiences on the edge of their seats. And programmes like Most Haunted and Living With The Dead carry out paranormal investigations in houses and ancient sites up and down the country. I’ve even been involved(indirectly) in the making of one of these when the Babe Magnet was a consultant on Derek Acorah’s Ghost Towns (Halifax).

But for a long time the real old-fashioned ghost story has been out of fashion. When I was growing up in Yorkshire - not very far from the moors where the Bronte sisters lived and where Wuthering Heights was set - I used to love to settle down on a dark winter’s night beside a fire, with the wind ‘wuthering’ around the house and curl up with a book of ghost stories. There was a big old volume on the family bookshelves – 100 Greatest Ghost Stories or something like that and I loved to lose myself in it and scare myself silly. Much to my mother’s disapproval. She had grown up in a small village in Ireland, in a house that was out in the country at the end of a long, rutted lane and she used to frown disapprovingly when she saw me with a ghost story and say ominously ‘If you knew what the dark was really like then you wouldn’t mess with things like that.’ A warning that my sisters and I never heeded, with the result that we had many sleepless nights hearing strange noises that we just couldn’t explain. (The house we lived in was built in 1870 so it was probably just the floorboards creaking.)

Many of the best – and scariest - stories in the 100 Greatest Ghost Stories book were written by the ‘master’ of antiquarian ghost tales, M. R. (Montague Rhodes ) James. I can still feel a shiver run down my spine simply at hearing the title of one of his most famous tales Whistle and I’ll Come to You My Lad which was made into a Ghost Story for Christmas – a great tradition that I used to love but that sadly is no longer made. By the time I was grown up and married, the ghost story seemed to have died a death. No one was publishing them – or even writing them – any more it seemed. Working as a Children’s Librarian, I found a few books in the children’s/young adult market – The Ghost Of Thomas Kempe by Penelope Lively and some of the books by Robert Westall went some way towards filling the gap in my reading life but there weren’t many really good supernatural stories.

The problem was that the horror genre took over from the traditional ghost story and horror isn’t what I want. I want old houses surrounded by mists, dreadful warning , things that go bump in the night and a slow creeping sense of horror – not blood and gore and special effects. The late 1980s and early 90s provided me with some great ghostly reading – Susan Hill’s two classic stories The Woman in Black ( now also on stage) and The Mist in The Mirror had that understated sense of something dark and dangerous just out of sight – and Jonathan Aycliffe’s Naomi’s Room had me sitting up late at night transfixed by a few words at the end of a chapter. Like Whistle and I’ll Come to You, ‘ It was Naomi’ still makes me shiver when I remember that Naomi was the narrator’s daughter, kidnapped and murdered at the beginning of the book. Jonathan Aycliffe is a pseudonym of Daniel Easterman who now writes thrillers.

I’ve tried James Herbert but his Haunted and other books just don’t work for me. The idea of ghosts interacting so easily with the living – and with the hero even sleeping with one of them, not realising she is in fact dead, just doesn’t work for me. So for a while I’ve had to be content with the investigative programmes and the Hauntings in Yorkshire/Lincolnshire/Dublin collections of real-life ghost sightings that my husband has published. But just recently there seems to be a revival in the ghost story as a fiction genre and as I’ve just finished my latest novel and have a change to catch up on some reading time, I’m really glad to see it. I just hope the new crop of books are better than one I tried recently – The Birthing House which had a lot of potential but, for me, became too much of the horror tale and not a ghost story.

But Sarah Waters has published The Little Stranger that is described as : A chilling and vividly rendered ghost story set in postwar Britain. Audrey Niffenegger, author of the bestselling Time Traveler’s Wife’s latest story is Her Fearful Symmetry which is set in and around Highgate Cemetery . And my son has just given me a copy of The House of Lost Souls by F G Cottam which isn’t quite a ghost story but he says he found it scary – so they will all go on my Halloween reading list.

So what about you? Do you just go Trick or Treating at Halloween of do you like to turn off the lights, light a candle, sit round the fire and tell spooky stories until you’re afraid to go to bed? Do you have any great ghost stories (fictional) that you’d recommend I try? Or maybe even a real ghost tale to tell. I’d love to know about them if you have. My mother would definitely not approve but I really do love being scared!

Kate's latest book - Kept for Her Baby - is on the bookshop shelves right now in America where it's published in Presents EXTRA. It's also out in Australia. And it's still around in the Modern Romance edition too. No ghosts, but it's getting a reputation for reducing readers to tears - so you have been warned!

Writer's Wednesday - Using Pets for Inspiration!

2009-10-28T00:00:00.001Z

This Wednesday, please welcome Carla Capshaw with a post about gaining inspiration in the cuddliest of places - pets!

As an author, I'm often asked where I get my ideas for my books. It's a tricky question, because, to be honest, half the time I don't even know. As writers, I think all of us are constantly on the prowl for the next plot idea or perfect setting. And we look for, and find, inspiration everywhere. Whether it’s in the people we love or love to hate, our home or travels, our own personal experiences or the experiences of others, we catalog ideas in our head and seem to pull magic out of thin air when we need it.

When I asked a few writer friends where they found inspiration for their characters, I wasn't surprised to find many an ex-boyfriend had been killed in the most painful of ways between the covers of countless novels. One friend said she based all her heroes on her own husband. Awww... Others turned their bosses into trolls or their whiny children into good little fairies--although one friend turned her kids into orphans. Yikes!

Me? I just use my pets. You see, I love my cats. How this happened I have no idea. I'm a dog person. I enjoy the loyal sweetness of a good canine and I was always raised with at least one mutt in the house. Cats and "cat people" (code for crazy) were on a different plain altogether. On the surface, felines are snotty little beasts, I'll grant you and the saying, "Cats were once worshipped in Egypt and they've never forgotten" is perfectly apropos. But what isn't so obvious is that once you've earned a cat’s love they're so adorable, you just want to spoil them.

I found this out three years ago when my cats adopted me. At the time, they were homeless little ferals who came and sat by my garage. I told myself, "Don't feed them and they'll go away," but I was soon learning the difference between Fancy Feast and Purina. After a mere eight months of clawed arms and sitting in the grass next to their dish while they learned to trust me, I had them tucked into their little beds every night and eating out of my hand. In so many ways, my experience with them was like living a Romance novel (minus the gorgeous hero who swept me off my feet, but you hopefully get the idea. :-) From the distrustful beginning, through the tumultuous middle, I wasn't sure where things would lead until the very end when my little wild cats turned into lap cats and we decided to live happily ever after. Since then, I've used the critters shamelessly. In my debut novel, The Gladiator, which hits stores next week, I turned my fourteen-pound tiger, Oliver, into a real tiger and made him a pivotal character. In my current WIP, my once abused little girl, Onyx, has been personified in the black-haired, golden-eyed beauty of my heroine.

I have no idea how my cats will inspire me in the future, but if I'm lucky they will for a long time. How about you? Have you ever used your pets for inspiration? Did you use them as pets or people or both?

Thank you Pink Heart Society for letting me visit with you today. Happy reading.

Carla Capshaw's debut novel, The Gladiator, is available next week from Love Inspired Historical and enjoying great reviews. In January 2010, The Duke's Redemption, set in Revolutionary War-torn Charleston, SC hits stores. Currently, she's back in ancient Rome working on a sequel to The Gladiator. She hopes you'll visit her website: www.carlacapshaw.com to read excerpts of her books and come back often to learn more about her future projects.