Give a warm Mt. Oly welcome to debut author, Erica Ridley!

Erica writes Regency-set historical romances, often with a touch of paranormal. Since becoming active in the writing community, all of her manuscripts have finaled in or won various RWA chapter contests. Erica is also the webmistress of her local writing chapter. Her first book, TOO WICKED TO KISS, debuted March 2, 2010.

When not reading or writing romances, Erica can be found riding camels in Africa, zip-lining through rainforests in Costa Rica, or getting hopelessly lost in the middle of Budapest.

Real Men Wear Starched Cravats

One of the most fun and most challenging things about being a romance author is writing scenes from the hero’s point of view. On the one hand, I want him to be equal parts strong and sexy and thoughtful and romantic and understanding and compassionate and witty and logical and intelligent and charming and objective. On the other hand, I want him to be realistic. (What? Choice A isn’t always realistic? LOL.)

Luckily for me, I have four brothers and a wealth of male friends from which to draw upon when trying to decide what a man would really say and how a man would really react. I am also dating someone who is a walking icon of the male/female divide and therefore a constant source of entertainment.

Last Christmas, while I was out of town, he and I had the following two phone conversations:

Boyfriend: Hey, I went to a huge party last night.

Erica: Cool! How was it?

Boyfriend: I don’t have time to tell you right now. I’ll explain later.

[4 hours go by]

Boyfriend: OK, now I have time to talk.

Erica: Great! So, how was the party?

Boyfriend: Fine.

That right there pretty much sums up the difference between men and women, does it not?

How about you? Have you experienced dissimilar man/woman expectations of what makes for satisfying conversations? When you’re reading a romance, do you prefer the hero to behave more realistically or more idealistically? Name a favorite hero from your keeper shelves!

Erica will be giving one lucky commentor a signed copy of Two Wicked To Kiss!

Visit Erica on the web at: Her website, her book bonus feature website, Facebook and Twitter.

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Please welcome Linda Howard and Linda Jones to Mt. Oly!

Linda Howard is the award-winning author of many New York Times bestsellers, including Up Close and Dangerous, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Cover of Night, Killing Time, To Die For, Kiss Me While I Sleep, Cry No More and Dying to Please. She lives in Alabama with her husband and two golden retrievers.

Since the publication of her first book in 1994, Linda Winstead Jones has published more than sixty novels and novellas. She’s a five-time finalist for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award and a winner of the 2004 RITA for paranormal romance. Her leisure activities include retail therapy (she never met a shoe she didn’t like), easy hiking, and, naturally, reading. An active member of the Romance Writers of America, she lives in North Alabama with her husband of more than thirty-seven years.

Logical Vampires

LJ — Over the years, Linda H and I have taken a number of personality tests. We always end up with a designation of logical, analytical — even super analytical. Maybe that’s why until recently, neither of us considered writing about vampires. Guys who were dead and cold didn’t appeal to either of us. Worse, the lore wasn’t logical. No reflection? Garlic? Attractive dead guys?

LH — LJ’s the analytical one, I’m the logical one. Cold dead vampires didn’t make sense to either one of us. If they’re dead, then why do they need sustenance? And if they drink blood, then they have to have some way for their bodies to process it, right? Their digestive systems at least have to work! And for the sustenance to get to all parts of their bodies, their hearts have to work. That means they’re alive, their hearts beat, and they’re warm.

LJ — So, we started talking (always a dangerous thing) and Blood Born was conceived. Our vampires aren’t dead, they aren’t cold. They breathe, their hearts beat, and thank goodness they’re warm. Their lives and lore make sense to two super analytical writers who can’t stop asking “why?” and “why not?”

LH — But they also have magic, and powers. Isn’t it weird that we can both accept that? Doesn’t have to be logical, we don’t have to analyze it. It’s just falling in love with cold dead guys we couldn’t accept . Making love with something cold . . . can you put him in a microwave first, please? Heat him up a little?

Question: When you read a story, do you need logic?

LH — Depends on the story, depends on how good of a story-teller the writer is. If a story engages me, entertains me, then I can accept a lack of logic as long as I have a rip-roaring good time reading the book. It’s when the book doesn’t quite engage me that much that the logic had better hold up — and, for me, good strong logic will sometime engage me as much as good writing. It isn’t an either/or thing for me, it’s a combination that has to fall within a certain range.

LJ — I’m with Linda. Whether it’s a book or a movie or a television show, I can completely dismiss my need for logic if I’m having a great time. Otherwise, I get caught up in every little detail that doesn’t make sense.

So, what about y’all? Do you need logic?

One comment poster today will win an assortment of signed books from our Goddesses!

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Give a warm Goddess hello to guest goddess Victoria Alexander!

Victoria Alexander was an award winning television reporter until she discovered fiction was more fun than real life. The author of 24 novels, she is a perennial best seller who has hit #1 on the New York Times. Her newest book is Desires of a Perfect Lady in stores March 30th. Yay!!!

  THANK YOU?

With Valentine’s Day ahead, a friend and I were talking about presents we’ve received from significant others that were, oh, let’s just say less than hoped for. Maybe it’s one of those basic male female differences. In most of these instances the guy really thinks he’s being brilliant and creative. That he is giving the most exciting gift ever. These are gifts with a lot of thought behind them. They just don’t work for the one on the receiving end.

Once, my husband put a beautifully wrapped carpet tube under the Christmas tree. Seven feet long, it drove me crazy trying to figure out what was in it. Needless to say, my anticipation was running high. When I opened it I started pulling out socks, one attached to the next. An endless stream of socks. Now, I thought there would be something cool at the end, you know, maybe jewelry. But no, it was just socks. He thought it was so clever and I have to admit it was but ultimately it was still socks. Seemed a shame to waste so much cleverness on socks.

My friend’s husband gave her a brick this year for Christmas. It was a memorial to her dead cat and would be placed in a sidewalk at the humane society. But this was her big Christmas gift (cause there’s always one big gift) and ultimately it was a brick. He thought it was very cool and while she did agree it was cool, it was still, well, a brick. She got a new kitten a few weeks later.

I had a boyfriend once who gave me boxes. Wooden, carved, painted, music—really nice boxes but boxes. It soon became clear to me that regardless of the occasion—Christmas, Valentine’s Day, birthdays—I would be getting a box. Oh, and did I forget to mention? These were empty boxes. Might have been after my third box that I knew I was not going to spend the rest of my life with the box guy.

So what’s the best/worst not-what-you-ever-ever-wanted gift you’ve gotten from a significant other?

Victoria will be generously giving away signed copies of The Virgin’s Secret and Believe! Comment below to be entered in the drawing.

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Please give a warm Mt. Oly welcome to the wonderful Mary Balogh! She is graciously kicking off our 3rd Anniversary week!

Mary Balogh is the author of more than 60 published novels and over 30 novellas and has met with critical success. She has received numerous awards, including a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Regency Short Stories in 1993 and has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list.

BRINGING BACK OLD BOOKS

I have a backlist dating back to 1985. Bantam Dell is republishing some of my old books. The first of five two-in-one editions, Dark Angel/Lord Carew’s Bride, will be out at the end of February. I have had a fundamental decision to make—whether to make changes to the books or not.

There are definite temptations to do some rewriting. I have changed as a person and as a writer since I was first published, I hope for the better in both cases! There are all sorts of details I would love to change. Some are purely factual. In one trilogy (the WEB books), the second son of the family was Lord Eden. Of course he ought not to have had a title at all, and I could correct that nasty error after all these years. Other details concern style and outlook on life. I used to write with far more interior monologue and less action and dialogue that I do now. I could get rid of much of the “heavy” stuff.

There are arguments against change, however. Many loyal readers remember those books and love them as they are. And the books represent me as I was when they were written. I hesitate to quote scripture, but Jesus once warned about trying to patch an old garment with new cloth. If I make factual changes in order to correct an error, I change the fabric of the book. Lord Eden, for example, becomes Mr. Dominic Raine, and seems like a wholly new character. If I cut introspection and add more dialogue, I am speaking in my present voice, not the voice with which I spoke then.

I have made no changes to my republished books. For me the cons outweigh the pros. I would rather spend my time writing something new. The clincher for me is that I am a reader as well as a writer, and I know that without exception, I always hate books that have been expanded or otherwise revised before they are republished. It feels like a betrayal, like the loss of an old friend.

So, am I right or am I wrong? Or are there sometimes good reasons for making changes and sometimes good reasons for keeping an old book as it is?

For more information about Dark Angel/Lord Carew’s Bride, and to read excerpts, see my web site.

Mary has kindly offered one commentor a signed copy of Dark Angel/Lord Carew’s Bride as a prize today! Please note that the prize will be mailed at the end of February when Mary has received her author copies.

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Susan Mallery is the New York Times bestselling author of over one hundred romances and she has yet to run out of ideas!!

Susan makes her home in the Pacific Northwest where, rumor has it, all that rain helps with creativity. She is married to a fabulous hero-like husband and has a six pound toy poodle…who is possibly the cutest dog on the planet.

The Christmas Introvert

I find the human race to be endlessly moving and amusing. One of the things I find most fascinating about people are the inherent contradictions in each of us. Although I truly do love people, I mostly love them one at a time. Crowds can be overwhelming. (Fortunately, people at book signings fall into the “one at a time” category. I delight in making that one-on-one connection with my readers.) Crowds make me long for a quiet room and a glass of good wine.

How do you avoid crowds but still get your full dose of holiday spirit? Today’s technology offers many joys for the Christmas Introvert:

Facebook and Twitter. Who needs to go to a Christmas party when you’ve got the fun of social networking? On my Facebook page, we play games, gossip about celebrities, share funny videos and pictures, and even have some pretty deep conversations. Like every good group of girlfriends, my Fans and Followers cheer on my successes. When HOT ON HER HEELS hit the New York Times list at #5, they were almost as excited as I was.

Video Streaming. Oh… my… God. Words cannot express the depth of my love for video streaming. You can watch made-for-TV Christmas movies online whenever you want. Lifetime has them here.  ABC Family has them at this link. Who wouldn’t love a movie titled “The Dog Who Saved Christmas”?

Online Shopping. Turn on a CD of Christmas music, fire up your computer, and you can get the full mall experience… minus circling the parking lot.

Christmas Cooking. When I’m in the mood to make something special, I often find recipes online. I decided this year to host a Christmas cookie exchange for my readers. Instead of exchanging cookies, we’ll exchange recipes and, I hope, pictures of the cookies. You’ll find the link at www.SusanMallery.com.

An Old-Fashioned Christmas. The number one way I get into the holiday spirit doesn’t require modern technology. I love reading Christmas romances. eHarlequin has created a whole separate category on their website to make it handy for readers like me to find those irresistible tales of holiday magic. Because I love writing Christmas stories, too, my books HIGH POWERED, HOT BLOODED and CHRISTMAS IN WHITEHORN are there. I’ve picked up Kasey Michaels’ THE TYCOON’S SECRET, Nancy Robard Thompson’s ACCIDENTAL CINDERELLA, and Allison Leigh’s A WEAVER HOLIDAY HOMECOMING. Nothing better than a cup of hot chocolate and a heartwarming Christmas story.

How do you get into the holiday spirit? If reading is part of your annual routine, tell me about the books you’ve read so far this year, and the books that remain on your wishlist. What are your favorite Christmas movies?

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During her frequent travels through England, Liz Carlyle always packs her pearls, her dancing slippers, and her whalebone corset, confident in the belief that eventually she will receive an invitation to a ball or a rout. Alas, none has been forthcoming. While waiting, however, she has managed to learn where all the damp, dark alleys and low public houses can be found. Liz hopes she has brought just a little of the nineteenth century alive for the reader in her popular novels.

Oooh, I feel so vindicated . . .

I love studies, don’t you? It seems some think tank or university is forever doing one, mostly to tell us stuff we kinda-sorta already knew. Just recently, for example, I’ve learned that tanning beds can be as dangerous as arsenic (can you spell M-E-L-A-N-O-M-A?) and that certain weight loss drugs can cause liver failure, and should be used only after careful consideration. (Personally, I think weight loss should always be given careful consideration. And I’ve been thinking about it for a looong time . . . )

But there was a headline in my local paper last week that finally made me pump my fist in the air:

Study Shows Multitaskers Do It Badly

Plodders and planners everywhere, shout it out with me! Yes! We already knew that! Not since the Rutgers study showing the inverse relationship between self-doubt and good judgment have I felt so vindicated. In my past life, when I would from time to time find myself looking for a Real Job, all the advertisements would say—somewhere in the first line—must be a self-starter, capable of multitasking.

Tsk, tsk, I would say to my anal, organized self. Multitasking is just another word for doing a bunch of things half-assed all at once. Making things twice as mucked up as they would have been had you gone at ’em one at a time. (Preferably in alphabetical order.) Yes, I’m a self starter. I just can’t self-start two things at once. So what’s an honest gal to do? Well, you lie. Yes, I would boldly state, I can multitask. It just sounds way more exciting than saying, “No—but I can do one thing at a time really, really well . . . ”

So nowadays I find it convenient to work for myself. At home. Alone. Where no one can un-sort my color-coded Pendaflex file folders. And I guess I’m out of practice with my multitasking. Last time I tried it, I backed my Volvo into the freezer and ejected a Pink Martini CD into the passenger seat—all at the same time.

So what about you? Are you Boringly Organized? Or Boldly Spontaneous? And what’s the funniest thing you ever did in the midst of multitasking? And by the way—does your freezer still seal? Because there’s some funky black mold growing down one side of mine.

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Tessa Dare is a part-time librarian, full-time mommy and swing-shift writer living in Southern California.

As a girl, she discovered that no matter how many times she moved, two kinds of friends traveled with her: the friends in books, and the friends in her head. She still converses with both sets daily.

Tessa writes fresh and flirty historical romance, a blog, and the stray magazine article. To the chagrin of her family, Tessa does not write grocery lists, Christmas cards, or timely checks to utility companies. She shares a tiny bungalow with her husband, their two children, a dog, and many dust bunnies.

Hello, Goddesses! Thank you so much for having me here today. It’s an honor to be here amongst so many authors I admire! I feel rather out of my league, but since my debut book was called Goddess of the Hunt, maybe I can fake my divine credentials. *g*

Goddess was the first in a back-to-back trilogy, and the second book, Surrender of a Siren, is in stores now. The heroine, Sophia Hathaway, is a runaway bride in search of passion and adventure. She’s decided to talk her way onto a ship bound for the West Indies, which she assumes will be a very romantic destination. But as Sophia and I both learned in the writing of the book, the West Indies weren’t all that romantic at this point in history. And ocean voyages during that era bore no resemblance whatsoever to a Carnival cruise.

As the book’s hero, Gray, tries to warn her at the outset:

“Miss Turner,” he said dryly, “I’m certain in that fertile female imagination of yours, you think sailing off to the West Indies will be some grand, romantic adventure.” He drawled the phrase in a patronizing tone, but Sophia wasn’t certain he meant to deride her. Rather, she surmised, his tone communicated a general weariness with adventure.
How sad.
“Fortunately,” he continued, “I’ve never known a girl I couldn’t disillusion, so listen close to me now. You’re wrong. You will not find adventure, nor romance. At best, you’ll meet with unspeakable boredom. At worst, you’ll meet with an early death.”

Sophia is undeterred (read: desperate), and she makes the voyage anyway. And of course, it wouldn’t be a romance novel if she didn’t get her sweeping, passionate romance in the end. But this got me thinking about activities and destinations that are much more appealing in fiction than they turn out to be in real life. For example, convertibles are bad hair waiting to happen. Making love on a beach? Gritty. Thank goodness we have romance novels, where the heroines are their most beautiful with no makeup, all the heroes have endless leg strength, and sand never gets in unfortunate places.

On our Hawaiian honeymoon, I foolishly decided that Mr. Dare and I should get in some romantic snorkeling the morning after we arrived (a trip that involved five airplanes—don’t ask). Of course, I had more optimism than equilibrium by that point. Two minutes into our power catamaran ride, and I was hanging over the rail. Spent the entire snorkeling trip dog-sick.

Tessa has a copy of Surrender of a Siren to share with one lucky commentor!

How about you—have you ever planned a “romantic” trip or activity, only to find it didn’t live up the imagination? Or perhaps the reverse: a setting that was unexpectedly romantic?

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