Wow, it’s so pretty here!  I love guest blogging in a new place – new friends to make , new conversations to have.  I love my regular blog haunts, but sometimes it’s fun to shake things up.  It keeps me from getting bored, changes my perspective, and works new brain cells.

But while I like change, I also fear it a bit.  Change is… well, it’s change and you never know what’s going to happen.  Could be good; could be bad. The thing is, you never know until it’s too late to turn back.

Of course, change is at the heart of every book.  That’s the point, right?  No one wants to read about the same-old-same-old in a character’s life.  I think the technical, writerly-type term for that change is the “Inciting Incident.”  Something happens that changes the heroine’s life from the ordinary and sends her on her journey through the plot.  In romance, that change is often called “The Hero.” ~grin~

But I like books where the heroine – for good reasons or not – makes a decision to make a change.  Maybe she steps outside her comfort zone, does something she always wanted but only got the courage to do it today. Maybe she’s smarting over being called a prude by her ex, so she intentionally sets out to prove she’s not.

Is that always the wise, mature thing to do? Not necessarily.  But I like those heroines who say “Nope. Not anymore. Today, I’m going to be brave, impetuous, and listen to that little inner voice that’s urging me to go for it.” That attitude is almost guaranteed to create one heck of a story for our heroine.

That’s one of the reasons I love my newest release (you knew I’d get to that eventually, right?). In Magnate’s Mistress…Accidentally Pregnant!, my heroine Ally is a bookish bookkeeper who is on her honeymoon – alone. She dumped her cheating fiancé but is just too practical to let a pre-paid vacation go to waste. Stepping outside her comfort zone onto a tropical island where she can be anyone and anything she wants, she embraces her inner femme fatale when the hero arrives on the scene.

That’s change. The good kind.  The kind we should applaud.

But as I think you can tell from the title, that decision kinda backfired on my heroine, and now her life is about to change in a whole different kind of way. Pregnancy is a “no-going-back” kind of change, you know.  J As the author, this kind of change is fun for me to write for my heroines, even if it’s not all that fun for the heroine herself.

One of my favorite quotes by Eleanor Roosevelt reads, “Do one thing every day that scares you.”  Maybe that’s why I like those moments in a book when the heroine makes that decision to do the thing that scares her simply because she wants to shake things up and make a change.  Even if it doesn’t work out quite like she planned.

Have you ever listened to that inner voice that told you to go for it?  Done that scary thing just because it seemed like it was time to do it?  How’d that work out for you?  Did it backfire or did it work like a charm?  Tell me all about it, and I’ll send one of you a copy of Magnate’s Mistress…Accidentally Pregnant!

Kimberly

www.booksbykimberly.com

PS:  Be sure to drop by my website… I’m running the Writing Playground’s Jan/Feb contest and you could win a prize pack to help chase away those winter blues!

Magnate’s Mistress… Accidentally Pregnant! is a February release from Harlequin Presents.

Pregnant by the wild and wicked billionaire!

Ally Smith might have dumped her cheating fiancé, but she refuses to waste her non-refundable honeymoon in the Caribbean!

Trying to embrace her freedom, Ally meets sexy stranger Chris Wells… Not recognizing him as the famous thrill-seeking tycoon, Ally throws caution to the wind and allows Chris, with his hot body, to sweep her into an even hotter summer fling!

But back home Ally realizes that, unlike her tan, memories of their wild night will never fade… Oh-so-sensible Ally is expecting the playboy’s baby!

But never fear, you’ll definitely be able to find all of us at our other various haunts on the Internetz. This social media thing has really exploded huh? I remember signing up for Twitter when hardly anyone was on it. And thinking, “Why am I doing this? Twitter is a dumb idea.”

Guess I was wrong.

So yeah I’ll still be blogging over at my personal blog (http://karenwritesromance.com/blog). I’m hanging out there at least four or five times a week, talking about strange, sexy, mundane and silly stuff. Though over there, I do tend to talk about the family more…

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who’s stopped by over the years, who’ve lurked, who’ve guest blogged. I’ve enjoyed each and every one of you!

Can’t name the blog post this without sharing this song. I’ll say you’re welcome for the ear worm in advance!

I’m also taking some time off from SFC & my personal — in part because every time I think my dayjob might be slowing down so I can catch my breath, it just picks back up again.  And trust me, you will get NO complaints from me over having job security.  Not with two teenage boys.  Writing-wise I have two shorts planned for a pub this year and that’s about it.  That’s all I have time for … in part because with the economy the way it is, I have to go with what keeps a roof over my head and right now, that’s the day job.

So if you see me on twitter, bitching about my kid, gimme a shout out. In the mean time, peace, love and tattoos!

—–

*PS I have no clue what happened to that MOTHER EFFING SIDEBAR! *glares* Will fix when my head isn’t so full of cold medicine.

Times have changed, and with Twitter and Facebook, not as many people blog or blog hop. All the NAS girls’ schedules have changed, our lives have changed, our writing paths have changed…change is in the air.

I really want to thank all our readers (including the authors!) and all the Open Mic Spice bloggers we’ve had join us over the years. And I’m so sorry to those Open Mic Spice bloggers who are losing future spots I gave out.

I had a lot of fun on this blog. A LOT. It was the place to just say (pretty much) whatever we wanted and let our hair down. This was a fun blog. We had great readers who were so much fun with their interactions. I’m really going to miss it here. But maybe the bonus is I’ll start blogging more on my OWN blog, since I tended to put my heart into NAS. And you’ll still find me floating around the blogosphere at the Bradford Bunch, and Samhain Blog, and the Aphrodisia Blog for a bit longer.

I’m not sure each one of us will do a farewell post, but if we don’t, know we all heart you very much! But you’ll see us around online I’m certain! *Wave*

(Here are the NAS girls Amie, Me, Karen, Lilli, back when the blog was just beginning. Texas at RWA 2007)

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” John F. Kennedy

Hugs to you all! And keep being a little bit Naughty!

Shelli

I’m very happy to be back today as guest blogger  for two reasons. To tell you a bit about my new Nocturne series – Wolf Moons … and this month’s release of Red Wolf -  but  also because I’m hoping you can help me out with something.

I’ve been asked to gather a list of questions for a romance writer’s group on what readers really want to know about the authors and books. This seemed like a great experience to understand the minds and hearts of readers, so that in author chats and book signings, authors can cover some of these items.

If you were in the audience at a book signing, where the author was taking questions, what things would you ask? You know, the things you’d really want to know. Would it be about the book being signed, or the author herself? The author’s background, or something about the world created in the book?

Can you help by supplying a few questions, pretty please?

So – here’s a wee bit about me, in brief:

I love the supernatural. I’m hot for sexy werewolves.

I’m a paranormal writer through and through, and loving every minute of it. Every book I write drives home the fact that I am very luck to have so any stories to tell, and readers who love to read them.

I fall in love with most of my characters in the books I write, and have withdrawals from their world when I type The end. This, for a writer, is known as writing bliss. Or in my case right now = Werewolf bliss.

This month my new Nocturne series, Wolf Moons, is on bookstore shelves. Red Wolf this month, followed by Wolf Trap in March. Both books contain bonus material, in the form of  novellas previously released in this series in 09 as Nocturne Bites (e-books) So, all four stories are together in print.. Two full books … four stories… four couples fighting to deal with rogue werewolf bites in sizzling,  sultry Miami. Hot stuff in the city. Werewolves to the max!

Buy It Now

And then there’s this January’s Nocturne Bite – Moon Marked, about the secret war between humans and werewolves, and two… um… people (term used loosely)… who find themselves caught in the middle. Romeo and Juliet on the wild side.

Now that the stories are done, and published, I have quite a few promotional book signings set up for Red Wolf and Wolf Trap. Hence the question I’ve posed to you.

If you’re a reader who loves to really get involved, immersed, in the world of the books you’re reading, please do tell us what you’d like to know about them.  Hey, maybe it’s nothing. But if you’re like me, I always want to know how the mind comes up with things like they do.

I once found out that Michael Crichton (Jurrasic Park, etc) wore the same shirt and pants every day when he wrote (yes, I’m sure he had a washer and dryer) ha. And that he was said to have to write in the same place, with everything exactly the same around him. Some sort of luck thing. Or maybe (my idea running rampant)… his Muse only recognized him I that one outfit?

Well, you see what I mean? The answer to questions can be quite fascinating.

So….. go to it, if you will. Leave those questions for the list.

Buy It Now

Check out RED WOLF February Nocturne book… please. I think you’ll feel my enthusiasm for what I write, and hopefully connect with me. I exert a lot of energy into my books, so there’s lots of action and … sexual tension. YUM.

Check out my web site, too. You can always leave a question there – for me!

I’m here listening!

Thanks for joining me today. Hope you win a book!

xo

Linda Thomas-Sundstrom

www.lindathomas-sundstrom.com

TODAY IS MY 40TH BIRTHDAY!!

Yes, I came into the world forty years ago today. All I can say is DUDE. I can’t believe I’ve already been on this earth for forty years! Where did the time go? Seriously, it feels like yesterday I was still in high school. Now I have a kid in high school who is learning how to drive. Aaackkk….

It’s a milestone birthday but I’m not having a big celebration. My husband and I will go out for a nice lunch (sans kids – yay!). If we can fit it in we might go to a movie (Dear John so I can drool over Channing Tatum – yay!). But first, we have to pick up our truck which has been in the shop. There’s my birthday present – a decent vehicle that runs! (If you saw what I’ve been driving for the last week, you’d say yay too…)

I’m just happy to have been around for the last forty years. Overall, they’ve been good. Oh, some were kinda bad (like last year) and some were really awful (a few dark ones in the 90s) but I can’t complain.

So yeah…happy birthday to me!

Have you ever been caught in a, er, compromising position?

Got one to share? Your ’shoot we’ve been caught!’ moment?

I have, though not as often as I’d like .  I think one of mine was in a college parking lot, got caught by security. Another was in a coat closet at a party, got caught by my roommate (poor gal was scarred for life). And really…that might be it. But coat closet was the most humiliating one and yet at the same time I didn’t even care. Yes, I was that far gone. These were all waaay long ago pre-kid. I’m entirely too boring now!

I had a hard time deciding if I wanted to be naughty here. I don’t see why not. So I’m going to talk about hookups. Have you ever had a one night stand? I haven’t. And I’ve been married for 25 years, so the prospects don’t look that promising in the very near future.  (My husband just walked by and gave me the eye.) I need more of an emotional connection when it comes to sex.

But I can certainly imagine what happens. I mean, I do have friends who have triple digit one night stands. (No, I’m not talking about Rosemary and Shannon.) I’ve heard stories that would curl your toes. I’ve heard stories that will make you wonder just how stupid chicks can get when they are drunk. Luckily, they all survived these encounters, and some of them made for very sexy stories.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against the instant hookup, just haven’t had a lot of experience with it. But of course, through my fiction I can explore these kinds of relationships. Mariska and Jackson, the stars of my new novel TAKE ME IF YOU DARE don’t exactly have a one night stand, but the get together pretty fast. I like that there is a sense of danger and urgency. They can’t keep their hands off each other. There is an instant connection and they both want each other.

That I have felt. That heat you feel when you meet someone for the first time and you know they are into you, and you are most assuredly into them. That first kiss that takes your breath away, or they touch you and you get chills. The good kind. That’s one of the things I like most about writing romance. I get to re-live those moments time and again. It’s not a bad way to make a living.

For Mariska and Jackson the hookup happens fast but it comes about rather naturally. They both want each other, and even though they know they shouldn’t for a variety of reasons, they do. I think that’s something we can all relate to in some way. Haven’t we all been in relationships that were exciting and maybe a little dangerous, but we jumped in anyway?

Do you have some favorite fictional hookups? Those book that made you feel the heat too? Gena Showalter’s Lord of the Underworld series and Nalini Singhs Angel series come to mind. Hot, sexy reads with to-die-for heroes. That’s important part for me. A strong hero. So share some of your favorites.

Comment here and a random poster will win a copy of TAKE ME IF YOU DARE.

www.candacehavens.com

1) In Dare to Surrender, my heroine drives a 1979 Diesel Mercedes exactly like the one I drive. I’ve had two diesel Mercedes, one of which I accidentally filled up with regular gasoline. Turns out diesel cars don’t run on gasoline. Who knew? I also drove away from a gas station with the fuel nozzle still inserted in the tank. I didn’t notice I had the nozzle sticking out of my car until I glanced in my side mirror to make a left hand turn. I have a long, exciting history with this specific type of vehicle so I had to write one into this story.

2) Joy has a secret habit of belly dancing in the privacy of her own home. When I was writing Dare to Surrender, I played instructional belly dancing videos in the background during most of the time I spent writing. I admit once in awhile I’d get up and dance. When no one was watching, of course.

3) My inspiration for my hero, Ash Hunter, was based on Joe Anderson, who played Henry Austen in the movie Becoming Jane.

4) I’ve never written a story without at least one sexy scene involving food. Dare to Surrender was no exception. I never knew French fries could be so hot. Pun intended.

5) Dare to Surrender takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nearly every location is based on an actual place I know intimately. Any reader who wants to know more about my barely disguised locals, feel free to email me at lilli@lillianfeisty.com.

I had some major winter fur growing on my legs. Some of you might be grossed out. Some of you might come by this post because you have a hairy leg fetish. I bet more than a few of you will be thinking, “I do the same thing.”

Go ahead and admit it. I just did. I can’t believe how hairy my legs got! Makes me realize that when I read historical romances and the hero runs his hands along the heroine’s smooth legs, that’s TOTALLY BOGUS. More like he’s running his hand over her smooth fur.

Oh yeah I so totally went there. Hairy legs on women aren’t really sexy, huh? I mean check out these ladies:

Selma and Patty have got it goin’ on! Now confess – do you really keep up the leg shaving during the winter months? Or hey, maybe you’re single and have no man currently in your life. How about then? (Guilty of that too). Let’s talk hairy legs!