For instance–around here we call the recycling bin “the green thing.”  As in “Why hasn’t anyone brought the green thing in from the curb yet?”

The remote is called “the TV changer.”  As in “Why is the TV changer missing again?”

IV, who is in construction, will shake his head at certain jobs he sees on TV and mutter “That ain’t workin’” a line from the Dire Straights song.  When he does this we all know he’s had a particularly tough day.

We will also say to each other “don’t poke the bear.”  This means leave whoever “the bear” is at that particular moment alone.  They’ve had a bad day, week, year etc.  Poke (or speak) at your own peril.

Share some of your family shorthand memories.

I’ve done what I can to bring the “wilds” a little bit closer; I have two bird feeders, and I encourage the rather dimwitted dove pair that like to nest on my front porch to remain by using my garage door when they’re around. (They had six babies this year.)

Suburban as the area is, I am constantly surprised by what I see in my own backyard. These pictures are all ones I’ve taken inside my yard within the past six months. In addition to these critters, I’ve seen a heron perched on my backyard wall where it could gaze longingly at the koi pond next door. I once flushed what I thought was a cat while I was watering, only to realize that it was a possum when it nearly stepped on my foot. (And yes, that one of the doves, dead, beneath the hawk’s tail on the lower right. Circle of life, right?)

On the way home from my parents’ house (about three miles from mine), I once had to hit the brakes to avoid a skunk crossing the road, and I once saw a coyote crossing the nearby railroad tracks.

I love my “wild” backyard and the surprises I see when I look outside.

Do you have a “wild” backyard? Which animals have visited you there? Do you encourage your wild neighbors, or prefer to have them stay away?

Check this out:

Yup, it’s a live action book trailer made for MUCH ADO ABOUT MARRIAGE (on shelves today!). It was a fun and interesting process and I discovered just how difficult it is to capture the real flavor of a book in a movie, even in a tiny movie like this.

Which made me think about all of the books-to-movies I’ve seen and which I liked and which I didn’t.

Take Lord of the Rings, for example. I never made it through any of those books. I TRIED, mind you, but they just weren’t my cup of tea. But the movies? Loved them! The action and adventure and the characters, while all in the book, felt more fleshed out in the movies. If I had my choice, I’d ‘druther’ see the movie.

And then there was Interview with a Vampire. The book was phenom and so was the movie. I’m not sure which I’d druther here, because they were both excellent in their own way.

But then there was Little Women. I love that book and have yet to see a movie version that I’d druther. Even the famous one from way back when with Elizabeth Taylor didn’t work for me. They just never found the right Jo, so for me, I’d druther have the book.

When I went through the list of books-to-movies I’ve seen, I realized that it’s rare that I love BOTH the movie AND the book, it’s usually one or the other.

Which made me wonder, which movie interpretations have you guys enjoyed? So, just for fun, let’s play BOOK OR MOVIE, WHICH DID YOU DRUTHER?

BOOK OR MOVIE? DRUTHER?

9. Any others?

Or I do until I want something really, really badly. And then, watch out because NO ONE can be as superstitious as me.

For instance, when my son’s football team was up for their regional championship, I became the Queen of Lucky Magicks. Every time I spilled salt, I tossed a pinch over my shoulder. Every time I saw a black cat, I made an invisible ‘X’ in the air. I kept my rabbit’s foot close and rubbed it every time I thought about it. And, just to be safe, I avoided all ladders, broken mirrors, and cracks in the sidewalk as if they could lash out and kill me on the spot.

If it COULD be bad luck, then I wanted no part of it.

His team won. It was the first time his school had beaten the other school in over 40 years, too, so I guess all of my superstitious actions paid off. Either that or it was the hundreds of hours that my son and his team mates put in during practices.

Nah. It was probably because of me.

There are two things I want really, really badly right this minute and, as I have no control over either, I can feel the itch of superstition beginning to tickle my ears.

First, I want the Packers to win the Superbowl. (Don’t laugh. Aaron Rodgers has come to save the Pack. He is the New and Improved and Younger and Less Egocentric Brett Favre.)

Second, I want my book, MUCH ADO ABOUT MARRIAGE (which is coming out tomorrow!) to be uber, fantastically, and magnificently well received.

Those are the two big things I’d love, love, LOVE to happen, so tonight I’m going to get out my two lucky horseshoes, a pressed four-leaf clover, and the anti-evil eye bracelet that Hot Cop bought me when we visited Istanbul, and I’m going to place those items in my purse so they can start spreading their positive vibes all over me and my hopes/dreams/and wishes.

I may leave my lucky rabbit’s foot in the drawer, though. He’s losing his hair due to all of the rubbin’ he’s been getting this week.

Are you superstitious? Do you use a rabbit’s foot? Avoid walking under ladders? Does it bother you to step on a crack? Is there anything you’re crossing your fingers about right now? And do you, like me, become more superstitious when you’re faced with something you can’t control?

First, there was Henry (Jonathan Rhys Meyers):

Henry was a bad, bad king. Sexy . . . but bad.

He had a friend, Charles Brandon (Henry Cavill) who was sexy, but bad, too. (Yes, there was a trend. The overall theme was ‘Absolute power corrupts absolutely, but wow, what a ride!’).

Here’s Brandon in his full glory:

So you can see why I was crazy about The Tudors with all of their bad, bad men. It’s also why I asked for the cover of my coming August 31st book, MUCH ADO ABOUT MARRIAGE, to have a Tudor look. See if you think Pocket Books managed to hit it:

So now you know why I was obsessed with The Tudors. If this little peek into the lush, sexy world of the Tudors leaves you hungry for a bite of more Elizabethan male badness, then you’re in luck because my book comes out on Tuesday! Happy FROS, m’dears!

This month we’re celebrating the release of Karen Hawkins’s newest historical, Much Ado About Marriage. This is the prequel to Karen’s MacLean Curse series and her upcoming Hurst Amulet Series.

Much Ado About Marriage is a rollicking tale that traverses a mystical Scottish isle, a stormy sea, and lands firmly in a luxurious manse upon the banks of the Thames as the luckiest man in England is forced to wed the unluckiest woman in Scotland!

How would you like to win a Karen Hawkins’s prize pack? Up for grabs this month is the best of both worlds from Karen–one reader will win a signed copy of Karen’s historical novel, Sleepless in Scotland, and a signed copy of her contemporary, Lois Lane Tells All!

To enter, just tell me about your most memorable wedding moment. It can be from your wedding, one you attended or even one you read about in a romance novel.

The contest ends at midnight, Sunday, August 29.
One winner will be chosen at random.

Here are some of my favorite been-there-wish-I-could-go-back places:

1) Hallstatt, Austria – it’s a lake high up in the Alps, with a salt mine.  But the view from here is breathtaking and, I think, the most beautiful place I’ve ever been

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2) Bridger Bowl, MT – my first time skiing!  It was majestic.

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3) Mizen Head, Ireland – it’s the most SW corner of Ireland, and home to a lighthouse.  The view from the bridge is straight down – has to be 1000 feet or more.  The day I was there, it was stormy and windy and the waves crashed on the rocks like they were whipped up by the devil himself.  It was so amazing.  I want to go back.

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Then I thought about the places I can see anytime I want to -

4) The beach near my house:

There are places I haven’t been and would love to go – Hawaii, Alaska, Australia, New Zealand (thinking about the scenes from LOTR), Tahiti…

Finally, the most welcome sight when I’ve been on the road – my own front porch.  Because I know the people I love are inside.  (Country music fans, yes, I’m hearing Lonestar sing “Front Porch Looking In.”)

What’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever been?  What beautiful places would you love to see?  Where would you go if you could blink your eyes and wish?  Did you go anywhere this summer that was amazing?

This particular young lady’s answers were: “My Blackberry, video chatting, my friends, my school, food, food, helping others, riding, my horse, poker, and family.” You can probably tell from her answers that she’s in highschool and has a fixation with being in with her peer group.

For me, the who/what/where basics are:
NicoleJ, Utah, and Romance Writer

My interview list of things I love would probably run like this, in no particular order:
= watching sunsets from my house
= jumping over fences on horseback
= the camaraderie here at The Goddess Blogs
= hugging dh
= green grass (there isn’t much in Utah)
= hiking in the mountains
= getting together with good friends
= Chinese food, specifically Shrimp with Vegetables and Moo Shu Pork
= my writing buddies who are like sisters to me
= the Internet – staying connected with people and the world

But even though you can tell a lot about a person from the things she loves, you can’t get a complete picture unless you also can ask about things she doesn’t love. Probably the top on my list of things I hate is = Being Cold!

So in the interest of getting to know all you goddesses better, give us the scoop on you!

= Who, Where, What
= 1 or more things you love
= No more than 1 thing you hate (although cheating is okay of you don’t overdo it. Hey, it’s my rules here!)

When I turned thirty, I was ready. I had three kids and was settling into the whole soccer mom thing. I really enjoyed soccer games, dance recitals, and Optimist Football. I also sold my first book when I was thirty-five. I’d have to say that my thirties were pretty good years.

So, today is my birthday. I’m turning 40–again. I freaked out the first time I turned forty, but I have to say, that every time I turn forty, it gets easier. And I think I get smarter the older I get. I know who I am and what I’ll tolerate in my life. I like the stability I have found in my forties, but I could do without the wrinkle I found on my elbow.

Do you tell people your real age? What do you like about your age? What don’t you like? And doesn’t happy birthday sound so much nicer in French?

I remember receiving my author copies of that magazine. They had taken my novel, of over 100,000 words, and condensed it to about 15,000! Who knew I had so much fluff in the book.  Since it was in Norwegian, I could not read it either, to see just what they had done. Probably for the best. I did figure out, from the names and how they showed up, that they probably took one thread of the story, sliced it out, and used that. So the result was a lot different from the book.

Since then I have sold whole books to Norway, and 12 other countries. Sometimes I receive author copies, and sometimes I don’t. In every case I have seen, they used different covers from my American books. I thought I would share some with you, just for fun.

Some of these publishers do use American covers, just not mine. I think that sometimes the rights to old covers are licensed in batches to some foreign publishers. Then they mix them around. I figured this out when one of my books was published in another country with a cover that looked familiar to me. Sure enough, it had been used on another author’s book here in the U.S. about five years earlier.

Some foreign publishers are big on the clinches. This is true of my books published in Norway, the Netherlands, and Germany. Others used to be, but have moved to other types. My French books used to use clinches, but my recent edition of Lessons of Desire (seen at the top left) is not of that type at all.

I recently received a Portuguese edition of Secrets of Surrender (center left here  <—) that I love. Not only the cover, but the whole book. It is trade sized, maybe bigger, and beautifully produced.  The Turkish edition of The Sins of Lord Easterbrook (the one with the fan down there), also trade size, is another gorgeous, very high quality book.

The Japanese version of Lord of Sin is another favorite of mine. The whole format is different from any of the others. Different size, sort of small and squarish and compact. I think it is a lovely design. The Polish cover down below (the red dress)  is also interesting and different. No head, but no body either. The dress is on a dress form, which gives it an almost surreal look.

You can probably figure out that they often change the titles. My Italian publisher always asks for permission. Not all of them do.

One of the interesting covers is down on the bottom right. It is for the Czech translation of The Sinner, from my Seducer series. It is very similar in layout and components to the covers my publisher designed for that series.It even has the same swirly flourishes. Except—they changed the guy’s face in the upper right. Their guys look more . . . . “manly.” Tougher. It is an interesting window into marketers’ ideas of male beauty, and how that differs by culture.

If you saw covers similar to the non clinch ones here, would you know they were romances? 

What do you think of these different approaches?  Which do you like best?

Where do you stand on the clinch cover question? Are they fun, or embarrassing? Do they help you identify books as romances when you browse?

If you had the job of designing romance covers, what would your covers look like?

(By the way, that upper right cover is Polish, and on a trade paperback. All of my Polish editions have those vignettes, or still lifes. No people.)