I am not much of a TV watcher, but I do have streaming video on my iPad, which is great when I’m riding my stationary bike every morning. I’ve caught up on a couple of movies I wanted to see but never got around to seeing, and now I’m watching some television programs I might never have noticed before. One is Ripper Street. The series is set in London in the late 1880s and filmed in a way that’s reminiscent of the recent Sherlock Holmes movies with Jude Law and Robert Downey, Jr. The stories are brutal, just as you’d expect life in the east end of London, so the series is dark. But it stars Matthew MacFadyen, and who can resist his voice, his diction? And the episodes – even though they are seriously gritty, are compelling. It’s on BBC America, if you can get that channel. Of course...
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The best part of being a romance writer is writing heroes who are manly and powerful, but sweet and tender. It’s also the most challenging task. But we romance writers have had great role models. We’ve seen all kinds of wonderful heroes between the pages of our favorite romance novels — from the men whose words make us melt, to the silent types whose actions speak louder than any words they might say. Do you remember the heroes of Julie Garwood’s early books? How about Lord Royce, Nicolaa’s hero in The Prize. He was a gruff Norman knight but there was a kind and gentle side to him that was irresistible. And the heat they generated between them… Oh baby. Then there was Katherine Woodiwiss and all her wonderful heroes: Lord Saxton, who buys Erienne at an outrageous auction in A Rose in Winter, and Ruark Beauchamp, who is saved from...
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…On the way to the holidays. I hosted Thanksgiving, as I always do. Everybody brought parts of the meal – squash, salad, vegetable – so it wasn’t all on me. Because with 24 sitting down to dinner, there is a LOT to do! On top of that, I had a book due at the end of the next week, and I knew I was going to have to really knuckle down and work straight through until that Friday to get it done on time. And then I’d be free during that first week of December to do my Christmas shopping. And I intended to get it all done! On Deadline Day, I was nearing the end of the manuscript and saw that I had some major plot problems. Then I realized I was writing badly, just to get it done. Which is unlike me! And then it hit me! The...
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My kids are older now. They’re not screeching into our bedroom at 5 am on Christmas morning any more. Quite the reverse – for the past few years, we’ve had to wake them in order to get our Christmas day going. And now that they all live on their own, my hubby and I establish a time for everyone to arrive (12 noon – so they can sleep in) and then we have brunch together. For the past couple of years, I’ve made something that requires advance planning. The recipe calls for 5 cups of cooked, cubed turkey, which means I have to roast a turkey in order to get the leftovers. So we have a turkey dinner a few days before Christmas, after which I cut up the turkey so it’s ready for Christmas morning. The rest is simple … in a complicated way. First, you need a cast-iron...
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An Unexpected Guest The Scottish Highlands. Christmas Eve 1690. Isobel Kincaid did not know what she was going to do. Wee Rory was so very ill, and she was on her own, much as she’d been since that horrid day in June of 1689, when Ket MacGaurie had left Balcraig to join Viscount Dundee’s army in the rebellion against the new British king. Her heart still quaked, all these months later, when she thought of Ket lying dead on the battlefield at Killiecrankie. She’d called him an arse and worse for leaving her, for leaving their clan to fight for a cause that was doomed to fail. Ach, aye – Isobel wanted King James back on the Scottish throne. Who didn’t? But had that cause been worth his life? Ach, how she wished she could take back her angry words now, for they were the last Ket had heard from...
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So proud and excited for our authors! Our nominees in RT's Historical categories: Historical Romance of the Year A LADY BY MIDNIGHT by Tessa Dare SINS OF A VIRGIN by Anna Randol + Historical Love and Laughter ALONG CAME A DUKE by Elizabeth Boyle SCANDAL WEARS SATIN by Loretta Chase TROUBLE AT THE WEDDING by Laura Lee Guhrke BETWEEN THE DUKE AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA by Sophia Nash SEDUCING MR. KNIGHTLY by Maya Rodale A WEEK TO BE WICKED by Tessa Dare + Innovative Historical Romance THE UGLY DUCHESS by Eloisa James A ROGUE BY ANY OTHER NAME by Sarah MacLean + British Isle-Set Historical Romance LORD OF TEMPTATION by Lorraine Heath A LADY RISKS ALL by Stephanie Laurens + Regency-Set Historical Romance HOW THE MARQUESS WAS WON by Julie Anne Long + Scotland-Set Historical Romance A WARRIOR’S PROMISE by Donna Fletcher A SCANDALOUS SCOT by Karen Ranney +...
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Kristan’s post on Monday reminded me of a certain type of person called “underminers.” These are individuals – sometimes good friends! – who say things like: You look so tired today! I’m so glad you broke up with that creep. Oh! I didn’t realize your hair was so naturally… curly. Aren’t you glad your skin cleared up before the [insert event]? Once you hear these things, all you can think of is: Crap. I slept really well last night. Are those little bags around my eyes really that ginormous? He was a creep? I was totally into that guy. Who else thought he was a creep? I spent a half hour with my blow dryer this morning to even out all those wacky curls, thank you very much. Oh. So that giant zit on my chin wasn’t invisible, then? Then there are the ones who – when you...
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