Summer Heats Up

I'm over at Star-Crossed blogging about my upcoming Amber Quill release, U-4EA. Stop by for an excerpt!

Thursday Thirteen #17

Since it’s summer and there’s almost nothing to watch on television, here’s a list of some movies that are definitely worth renting, especially for us romance novelists.
Thirteen Surprisingly Good Movies

1. A Good Year – starring Russell Crowe
2. Sliding Doors – starring Gwenyth Paltrow
3. Shall We Dance? – starring Richard Gere
4. Bridget Jones’s Diary – starring Renee Zellweger
5. Love Actually – starring Colin Firth
6. The Mirror Has Two Faces – starring Barbra Streisand
7. Emma – starring Gwenyth Paltrow
8. The Girl with the Pearl Earring – starring Colin Firth
9. Chocolat – starring Juliette Binoche
10. Anna and the King – starring Jodie Foster
11. Chasing Amy – starring Ben Afleck
12. Romancing the Stone – starring Kathleen Turner
13. Sabrina – Starring Harrison Ford

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Behold

the swirling vortex of insecurity. My WIP is in its third incarnation now and I'm still plugging away. I will finish it. Then I'm moving to Siberia.

The view from my desk

For a change we had absolutely gorgeous weather this weekend. We didn't need the AC on and it was breezy and beautiful outside. I actually needed a sweater for a while believe it or not, but the best part was I got to enjoy working outside on the patio. This was my view all weekend.

It made slogging through my WIP a little bit easier and now I think I'm almost done. I may actually make my deadline without having to find a creative way to ask for more time.

Unfortunately the perfect weather didn't last past Sunday evening, and today it's seasonably hot, but it was sure nice while it lasted.

Pimpin' a Diva Today!

And now for something totally different. Fellow Romance Diva Debbie Mumford wrote a fascinating story that caught my attention right away. I'm an explorer from way back so when i read the blurb of Beneath and Beyond I had to pick it up.

This short story is packed full of adventure and mythology. It's a quick, well-written read and I really enjoyed it. If you need to clear you palate of a steady diet of romance, check it out, it's different and intriging!

Beneath and Beyond

by

Debbie Mumford

Archaeologist Erin Carstedter is a no-nonsense kind of gal. Her colleagues know, if she can’t examine it with a microscope or define it by scientific method, it doesn’t exist. Erin’s beliefs are about to be tested by the most exciting archaeological find of this (or any other) century. A ruin has been discovered beneath the polar ice cap some fifty miles north of Alert, Canada. What Erin and her colleague, Dr. Matt Davidson, discover in those icy depths will challenge her thinking…and change the world forever.

Publisher: Lavender Isis Press

Genre: Science Fiction / Fantasy

Format: eStory (23 pages)

Buy Beneath and Beyond here!

I'm a Cave Girl now!

Rogue Theta released today at Ellora's Cave!

You can see it on the home page HERE
And read the blurb HERE
and read an Excerpt HERE

Stay tuned for a way to read another excerpt, and don't forget even new releases are eligible for my Book of the Week Backlist Bonanza Contest so visit my website to find out more!

Thursday Thirteen #16

In addition to today's Thursday Thirteen, I'm also over at Star-Crossed talking about the evolution of character values. Check it out!


Thirteen Hobbies I Have Had

1. Writing – turning this one into a career
2. Quilting – an excuse to collect pretty fabric
3. Candlemaking – an excuse to never throw out a piece of wax
4. Beading – now I make beaded book marks for promo
5. Reading – wish I had more time to spend on it
6. Blogging – is it a hobby if you do it for promo?
7. Painting – I’m not good at it, but it’s fun
8. Miniature doll house building – a lot of work but fun
9. Needlepoint – gave that up a while ago
10. Crocheting – I do this while I watch TV
11. Counted Cross Stitch – I gave up counting, too hard on the eyes
12. Quilling – not to be confused with Quilting, also very hard to do
13. Laundry – I do it so often it’s either my career or my hobby, I’m not sure which


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Looking for a happy place

I could really use a nice, secluded place to hide out for a while. A cave would be nice. I just feel a little raw today and very tired.

I've been knocking myself out working on a novella and though I'm steadfastly turning out new words each day, I just don't feel this one and that bothers me. I have a week and a half to get it done and then I'm taking a forced vacation - no writing for at least a week.

In addition to my personal burnout, I've been catching snippets of a couple of on-line trainwrecks this week involving publishers. Apparently the snark blogs are going wild about one issue, and the other issue will be affecting a number of authors, many of whom are my friends.

This industry is so full of ups and downs, it's a wonder anyone stays in it for very long. Having a tough skin is key, but even the toughest skin gets raw sometimes. I get tired of hearing bad news.

It would be nice to have a quiet place to sit for a while and contemplate everything. Then again, maybe the reason I've come as far as I have in a business where you're more likely to hear reasons why you won't succeed than why you will, is because I've ignored most of what goes on around me. Being a little clueless can sometimes be an asset I suppose. If you don't know you're supposed to be depressed about the current state of affairs, then you're not.

I think I'll go with that. But I'm still going to take a vacation and I'm going to keep looking for my happy place.

Call me Spooky

I'm over at the Samhain Blog today, my very first post over there! And it wasn't as terrifying as I thought it would be. I even figured out how to embed a link! Then I sprained my shoulder patting myself on the back.

Oh well. See ya there!

Cliche Much?

Since I've already blogged about my new release, La Mirage, which happens to be this week's Book of the Week, I thought I'd talk about something else today. I don't mind if you just want to scroll down and gaze at the cover art for Hunter's Mate in my previous entry, though. Whatever entertains you. ;)

Over at Romancing the Blog the other day, Lori Devoti was talking about romance clichés. She listed some of the major players and asked for others in comments.

Here are a few of the things that were mentioned and my take on it:

Happy Endings – yes, perhaps these are cliché. The HEA defines a romance novel even when we strive so hard not to have romance novels easily pigeonholed. But in defense of the HEA, I have to say this is the reason I read romance and the reason I write it. Books I’ve read that have ended badly, with notably few exceptions, have left me cold and not much inclined to seek out more of the author’s work. I read for enjoyment, and there’s nothing more enjoyable than a happy ending. Sorry if it’s been done to death. I need it, I want it, I demand it.

The Wasp-Waisted Heroine – Oh yes! Here’s one I heartily agree with. Skinny Minnie’s need not apply in my novels. Granted, I’ve written a few heroines who are slender and toned [because in my mind, so am I], but to me the term wasp-waisted brings to mind the picture of a bug wearing earrings and lipstick. Sadly, I was reading a reprint of an older novel from a well known and much loved romance author the other day and lo and behold, she got away with describing her heroine EXACTLY this way. For the rest of the book all I saw was a big bee buzzing around with the hero. It was awful.

The Surprise Orgasm – the inexperienced heroine gets old fast. Now of course in the average historical romance, you’d expect a respectable lady to not have any prior experience bumping nasties, but her utter and complete shock at discovering it’s actually a lot of fun with the right guy wears a little thin. We were all virgins once, but I doubt we were all shocked speechless or given to fits of the vapors at our first sight of a fully aroused male.

Soul Mates – Soul mates are cool, but in romance I tend to agree it can make for lazy writing. I’ve read too many stories where the readers are told, “these two characters were made for each other, they’re bonded by some mystical force” and that becomes the some total of the sexual tension. They’re hot for each other because they were born to be hot for each other, the fact that they have nothing in common and don’t get along even for a moment unless they’re in the sack and then suddenly they luurve each other just doesn’t cut it. I can’t root for a couple like this. Sorry.

Rich heroes – we’ve all done this one. Part of the fantasy of romance is to meet a prince, a dashing CEO, a closet billionaire, come on ladies, haven't we all wished that hubby would wake up one morning, roll over towards our side of the bed and say, "Oh, by the way, I never mentioned this before, but I have a warehouse full of money, let's go spend it." Fantasy aside, there seems to be a stigma against the working class hero unless he has a dangerous job, like cop, fireman, etc. How about a guy who’s just a guy? He has a job, he’ll make a good dad and he’s kind to small animals, but he doesn’t own a private jet or a storehouse of jewels and isn’t likely to inherit a castle from his rich Uncle Vampire? Regular guys need love too sometimes.

And best of all: The Amazing Schlong – okay, as a writer of erotic romance, I don’t think an eenie-weenie is going to cut it, but men who need a sling to carry their equipment need not apply as far as I’m concerned. If the author spends a whole page just describing the landscape of the hero’s...package, I’m taking aim at the wall. I’ve read too many books where the heroine basically falls in love with the guy’s pocket monster. She dreams about it, drools over it and works to impress it...and he’s just there because IT can’t walk on its own.

What about you? Any romance cliché’s that burn your toast?

'Nuff said

Coming in July from New Concepts Publishing.

Is it real or is it Memorex?

Sweat dripped down the back of Savanna Blaine’s neck and ran into the collar of her blouse. She moaned in annoyance and stole a glance at Ben Lantano who sat across from her behind the wheel of the ancient Chevy pickup he lovingly called Delilah.

Ben gave her an apologetic grin. “She leaks Freon sometimes.” With his dark brows arched over deep blue eyes, his sidelong glance caused an involuntary tingle down her spine. Despite her discomfort, Savanna found it hard to maintain her annoyance at the sweltering heat in the pickup’s cab. Unfortunately, Ben’s smile only served to ratchet the temperature up a few more degrees past the one-hundred mark.

Another drop of sweat rolled down Savanna’s neck and over her collarbone, then made a dive into the deep valley between her breasts.

Why had she gone for the Vicky’s Mysteries push-up bra this morning? In the late August heat wave the powder blue lace-and-satin construction felt like a medieval torture device. Next time she had an interview in the Nevada desert in August, she’d wear loose clothing and make sure her photographer’s car had better air conditioning. She felt like a wilted bouquet, cinched at the stems, her petals shapeless and drooping.

“Why don’t we make a pit stop at the next diner and get some cold drinks?” Ben, the eternal optimist, wore a sheen of sweat, too, but for some reason on him it looked good. The collar of his light green T-shirt had darkened in a ring around his neck, and the ends of his short black hair stuck out over his forehead and his nape in damp spikes.

“Fine with me. You’re buying.” Savanna smirked. She’d had her doubts about Delilah when Ben picked her up at her apartment on Thursday morning for the trek out to Jackson Deveraux’s secluded desert ranch. Of course, then it had been overcast with a faint breeze, the remnant of a passing storm. Her enthusiasm for the plum interview with the media tycoon had overshadowed any thoughts about the tenacity of a vehicle with silver duct tape patching a rust hole in the driver’s side door.

“What’s that noise?” A metallic ping with a regular beat interrupted Savanna’s thoughts and Ben’s grin faded. He reached over to shut off the useless air conditioner and his fingers brushed dangerously close to her left knee.

“It’s nothing,” he said.

It was Savanna’s turn to arch her eyebrows. “You don’t sound convinced.”

*******

To read the rest of this excert, get on over to Samhain Publishing, La Mirage is available today!

Thirsday Thirteen # 15

DH and I watched ‘Déjà Vu’ last night, that’s the one where Denzel Washington tries to catch a terrorist responsible for blowing up a ferry in New Orleans. It was really good. I haven’t seen a good movie in a while, so I thought I’d make a list of reasons I’d rather watch one at home.

Thirteen Reasons I’d Rather Rent a Movie

1. I can fast forward or skip all the annoying previews
2. If I want commercials I can watch network TV
3. It’s not butter, it’s butter-flavored topping
4. I don’t like to spend $25.00 on a soda and box of Raisinettes
5. No one pays attention to the ‘Turn off your cell phone’ ads
6. People bring babies to R and PG-13 rated movies
7. The sound track is usually too loud
8. The theater is usually too cold
9. I don’t like my shoes to stick to the floor
10. I like to hit pause if I want another snack or a bathroom break
11. There’s not a line to get into my bathroom
12. At home, nobody will be sitting behind me talking
13. I don’t have to worry about forgetting where I parked

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Now Entering The Twilight Zone

I'm over at Star-Crossed today blogging about my June 15th release from Samhain Publishing:


Don't forget, any comments left to me about any of my books become entries in Bernadette's Backlist Bonanza Contest, so stop by and say hello!

Climbing the TBR pile again

I haven’t done it in a while. I’ve been really, really good, but I just broke down the other day and went over the Amazon to buy some books. I couldn’t help myself. I’m desperate for a really good read and I haven’t had one in a while.

I just started Warlord by Elizabeth Vaughn, the last in her War trilogy. I’ve come to really like the world she’s created, though I still don’t feel grounded in it. I like to know where I am – a distant planet, an alternate universe, ancient or future Earth? I’m hoping this connection will be explained before the series ends, but I have a feeling it won’t. Oh well, the books are still well written and entertaining.

Today my Amazon order arrived and just like with writing [the grass is always greener on the other side of the page] I can’t wait to get started on all of my selections.

I bought:

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
I’ve never read a Stephanie Plum novel, so I think it’s time I gave it a try.

Bled Dry by Erin McCarthy
Funny paranormal romps – I can’t get enough

Three Motives for Murder by Michelle Perry
I was fortunate enough to have read a lot of this story when Chell was posting it to our writer’s group. I love her work!

Megan’s Mark by Lora Leigh
Red hot paranormals are right up there with funny paranormals. I can’t wait to dig into this one!

What are you reading or planning to read this summer?

Backlist Bonanza Week #6

Yep, it's still going on! This week's book is:


For an excerpt from Flight of the Valkyrie visit Bernadette's Place on MySpace and read my latest blog entry.

URL http://www.myspace.com/bernadettesplace
Blog URL http://blog.myspace.com/bernadettesplace

For details on my Backlist Bonanza Book of the Week Contest visit either of my Websites:

www.bernadettegardner.com

www.jennifercolgan.com

Chances to win every month just by chatting with me!

Pressure Release

Last week was a hectic week, full of uncertainty about my WIP and the usual doubts about my ability to pull off a story that has me writing in circles.

The upcoming week won't be any better. I've got new deadlines and new projects to work on and I'm still in the middle of an unstable WIP and wondering if I really know what I'm doing.

In the middle of these two weeks was a trip out of town for the high school graduation of our nephew. The packing, worrying about the logistics of traffic and losing a day of writing added to the stress, even though I always enjoy the long ride through country roads and was thrilled to see a remarkable young man reach an important milestone in his life.

Destressors are hard to come by but I managed to locate one this weekend that made me at least momentarily forget everything I had to do and had to worry about. While riding through the quaint back streets of a small Pennsylvania town, we came across a deer out for an afternoon stroll.

I made my husband slow down so I could snap a quick picture as this magnificent animal wandered across the street from one yard to the next, curious but carefull to give our CR-V a wide berth.

It's funny how the littlest things can take you out of yourself and release the pressure of life. I wish I'd gotten a closer picture, but I didn't want to scare her away.

I have a lot of things I do to try and unwind, but it's always a pleasure to have something given to you without asking. This was one of those unexpected gifts.

What do you do to unwind, and have you ever had a moment that was given to you simply so that you would stop and appreciate it?

Thursday Thirteen #14

Thirteen States I’ve been to

1. New Jersey – born and raised, sometimes I think I’ll never escape
2. Florida – I was 22 when I finally got to Disney World
3. New York – It’s seven minutes away, can’t really miss it
4. Massachusetts – Boston is fun and educational
5. Pennsylvania – Lovely scenery
6. Connecticut – half my family has moved there for some reason
7. Virginia – I kept a ‘Virginia is for lovers’ bumper sticker on my car for years afterward
8. Hawaii – I saw the Honolulu airport. That’s it
9. California – would love to go back and visit some Divas
10. Texas – don’t mess with Texas
11. Maryland – met my husband there
12. North Carolina – for a Star Trek Convention, would you believe?
13. Washington, DC – does it count as a state?


[I didn’t have room to include Tennessee [Nashville], Delaware [drove through it] and Ohio [Cincinnati Airport]]

How many states have you been to?



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Tighty Whities save the day!

I just have to blog about yesterdays little hiccup because I happen to think it's funny.

I'm in the process of purchasing some ad space for Infinite Worlds in an upcoming issue of Romantic Times magazine and I had transmitted some information to the lovely author who is coordinating the group ad. The info includes my cover art in black and white.

I was shocked and somewhat amused when said author let me know that Romantic Times had requested a change, or another graphic to replace my book cover because it was too explicit!

Well, it's not like I can argue. I mean, you've all seen it. There's a naked man butt right in the middle of the picture. [At least it's a back shot, you know?] I guess the crack makes people nervous. LOL. I bet they've never seen Molten Man - though at least he's wearing tights.

Anyway, [and here's the brag about how cool my publisher is!] I e-mailed Trace over at Amber Quill and literally within 23 minutes, I had a solution.

Saved by Fruit of the Looms!

Here are the two versions of the cover. I just hope the people who see it in RT aren't too shocked when they go to buy it [and let's hope lots of them do!] when they discover the actual cover is a bit more...bare than it looks in the ad.





So as funny as this is, the real point of this post is to say how Amber Quill has totally spoiled me. To get a resolution to a problem or question in 23 minutes is outstanding! Thanks, Trace, for being on the ball and helping me out so fast and thanks for having a pair of tighty-whities at the ready!

So many ideas...

...so little motivation. There's a discussion going around over at Romance Divas about a growing inability to concentrate on one project, to motivate oneself to get the WIP done. I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem, but I'm concerned that it seems to be an epidemic.

A bunch of us have chimed in about the abundance of ideas on the drawing board, busy schedules, deadlines, projects planned and the distinct lack of motivation to do the butt in chair work it takes to get it all done.

I'm languishing at 60 pages of an erotic sci-fi novella, staring longinly into the distance where I can see stacks of covers for the paranormal romance I haven't even written yet [but I have a kick a$$ title for it!] My mind is circling around a five-book series [also with fabulous titles] that lack only an actual plot to bring them into being. Yet the story I have plotted right in front of me holds no interest.

Is it the weather? As soon as the mercury climbs above 60, I'm patently useless. I do so much better in the fall and winter, but I can't take half a year off because my brain doesn't function so well in warm weather.

What to do? A day off, a week? Plow into a new story or chain myself to the desk in order to meet my deadline and turn out something that isn't going to be my best work?

Agggh!

In other news:

I got my first review for The Concubine's Tale from Fallen Angels! Here's a nicely written snippet:



4 Angels! ...the flavor and detail Ms. Colgan uses to lure us into the dance of attraction that is seemingly as new as ever and as old as time is flawless. Ms. Colgan deserves her every angel – Catrina, Fallen Angel Reviews

What's up for Monday?

It's time for another Backlist Book of the Week!

For an excerpt from Wolfsbane visit Bernadette's Place on MySpace and read my latest blog entry.

URL http://www.myspace.com/bernadettesplace
Blog URL http://blog.myspace.com/bernadettesplace

For details on my Backlist Bonanza Book of the Week Contest visit either of my Websites:

www.bernadettegardner.com

www.jennifercolgan.com

Chances to win every month just by chatting with me!

Congratulations again to May’s Winner:

Tiarie Vaughn-Lazzar!

Please contact me, Tiarie, to claim your prize!

I think it's time...

... to post the cover of Rogue Theta!

It’s coming out June 22nd!

Here’s the blurb again:

Lilliana Jarmock’s mission is to neutralize a rogue super soldier. Abandoned after an alien raid that decimated his outpost, the cybernetically enhanced Theta represents a threat to galactic security.

When Lilliana locates her target, she discovers he’s more than a rampaging war machine. His sensual touch unleashes her deepest desires and she begins to question the ethics of her mission the moment she looks into his eyes.

Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Gaige gave up his name, his home and his freedom to volunteer for the Theta project because he thought he had nothing left to lose. Now, with his cybernetic implants on the verge of complete breakdown, his only hope is to avoid hurting anyone before his autonomic functions shut down completely.

The beautiful assassin sent to kill him peaks more than his curiosity, though. Her supple body and intoxicating scent set Gaige’s long suppressed needs against his enhanced survival instincts. The man he once was is drawn to the sexy huntress whose mission is to destroy him at any cost. Who will survive and who will become the hunted?

Stay tuned for more info...

News Around Town...

Eden Bradley’s debut novel, The Dark Garden released yesterday! [Sorry I’m a day late, yesterday was hectic here.]

Here’s the blurb, from Eden’s website:

Surrender has its own rewards…

This scintillating erotic debut tells the deliciously potent tale of one woman’s quest for self discovery-in the intriguing underground world of Los Angeles’s club scene…

Rowan Cassidy likes to be in charge—especially in her personal life. As a Mistress at Club Privé, the most exclusive bondage/S&M club on the West Coast, Rowan can live out her dominant fantasies safely, and with complete control—until Christian Thorne walks in. Self-confidant and sophisticated, he’s a natural dominant if Rowan’s ever seen one. Yet she can’t stop thinking about him and imagining his touch.

Christian has returned home from Europe, hoping to break free from his dissatisfaction and malaise—and discovers the cure in Rowan. He’s dying to get his skilled hands on her and watch her surrender, to unlock the mystery of her that captivates him. Determined to be her Master, he makes Rowan a daring proposition: give herself over to him for thirty days.

Rowan finds Christian’s offer terrifying—and impossible to resist. But abandoning herself to Christian’s power might be more than she can handle…Or it might be the realization of her true nature and the dark garden within her. There will be only one way to find out. And once the game has begun, there’s no turning back.

This is some hot stuff, folks! It’s available at a book store near you so go GO GO! And get it. [And look for my name in the acknowledgments, btw. ]