Plot Monkeys

Carly’s Jungle Madness Winner is …

Lynn Matherly (Comment #57)

Email Carly at: carlyphillips@mac.com with your mailing address and CONGRATULATIONS!

And now in honor of Mother’s Day, we thought it would be fun for us to post pictures of us as babies, and let you all guess who is who! Here are the pictures, and when you’re done guessing, the answers will be below the Sunday Mother’s Day funnies!

Before we post the answers to who is who, here are a few of those cute and funny “kids say the darndest things”, just for Mother’s Day!

A kindergarten pupil told his teacher he’d found a cat, but it was dead.
“How do you know that the cat was dead?” she asked him.
“Becaused I pissed in its ear and it didn’t move,” answered the child innocently.
“You did WHAT?!!” the teacher exclaimed in surprise.
“You know,” explained the boy, “I leaned over and went ‘Pssst’ and it didn’t move.”

A little girl went to the barber shop with her father. She stood next to the barber chair, while her dad got his hair cut, eating a snack cake.
The Barber said to her, “Sweetheart, you’re gonna get hair on your Twinkie.”
She looked up at him and smiled. “Yes, I know, and I’m gonna get boobs, too.”

One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her son into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, “Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?”
The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. “I can’t dear,” she said. “I have to sleep in Daddy’s room.”
A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice. “The big sissy.”

A small boy was sent to bed by his father. Five minutes later: “Da-aaad . . .”
“What?”
“I’m thirsty. Can you bring me a drink of water?”
“No. You had your chance. Lights out.”
Five minutes later: “Da-aaaad . . .”
“WHAT?”
“I’m thirsty. Can I have a drink of water?”
“I told you NO. If you ask again, I’ll have to spank you.”
Five minutes later: “Daaa-aaaad . . . When you come in to spank me, can you bring a drink of water?”

And now, here are the answers to who is who in the pictures above:
Leslie
Carly
Janelle
Julie

Have a wonderful day everyone!

This is a re-release of our very first offical Plotmonkeys post…posted by Leslie on April 17, 2006. It’s great enough to be read twice! And for some of you the first time…thank you all for celebrating our anniversary week with us…what a blast!

Of friends and monkeys…

Hi and welcome to our jungle!

I can’t believe I got singled out to be the first blogger here on our fun new site. That’s what I get for leaving my house for an hour right in the midst of a Plotmonkeys email frenzy.

Anyway, it seemed appropriate, given how this whole thing came about, for the first conversation to be about friendship. Yeah, yeah, gag me. Who wants to get slammed with a saccharine-sweet ode to playing nicey-nice first thing on a Monday morning?

Well, those of you who know me probably know I’m not very sweet. So I promise, I won’t turn this into a Hallmark commercial and make your teeth hurt. But I do have a few things I think are worth saying.

First, to be clear, I’m not talking about our best friends from 8th grade who can still make us crack up over shared memories, even if we haven’t talked in a year. Or our college roommates, or our siblings (I have 5 and adore them all.) And I definitely am not talking about our spouses. Mine genuinely is my best friend in the world.

I’m talking about writer friends…who are also something more.

Let’s face it, writing is a pretty solitary profession. We work alone, we don’t want distractions. There are days when I don’t even want to have to look at somebody much less have to actually smile at them. “Have a nice day!” says the mailman? Well, bite me, I’m not having a nice day because you rang the doorbell right when I’d finally begun to plot my way out of this quagmire. Grrrrr…

Even when we’re out and about in the world, a lot of times we’re not 100% present because we’re never able to “turn-off” that writer living inside us. We eavesdrop on conversations and spin stories about the people having them. We overanalyze movies and drive our sig others crazy by always predicting the plot twist. We frown at the chatty grocery store clerk because her incessant talking is interfering with the important conversation our characters are having in our heads.

In essence, we exist in the worlds we create every bit as much as we live in the real one.

Few people understand…unless they live the very same madness. So is it any wonder many of us count our most important friendships to be with other writers?

But even among our writer friends, there are different levels of friendship. I bet everyone has a bunch of what I’ll call MySpace friends. You’ve heard of MySpace haven’t you? Teens ask other teens if they can be their “friend” so they can get a sneak peek into a closed profile. And parents just pray the next anonymous “friend” isn’t really a twisted, perverted old man pretending to be a 16 year old boy. (By the way, for the parents who are brave, a good way to keep an eye on your MySpace kid is to create your own profile, make sure your kid knows Big Mama is watching, and then watch!)

Back to the point. MySpace friends…we all have them. They’re the familiar initials or first names next to a post on a message board. The ones who can make us laugh on an open loop or blogsite. The ones we feel we know, even if we’ve never met them in person or heard their voice (and probably never will.) Good for a smile. They’re safe, non-judging. A solid foundation. Not someone you’re going to pour your heart out to and maybe not even someone you email with directly, but someone you feel you might very well like a lot if you didn’t live a thousand miles apart. And if you knew them by some name other than RomRdrinCA.

The friendships stack up from there. There are friends on closed author loops–you know them a little better. With the screen of privacy and loop discretion, the gloves sometimes come off and blunt hilarity can commence. You care about each other, you kvetch and joke and share stupid videos and mourn when someone experiences a loss. You email and ask about each other’s kids and pick up and call once in a while when you sense someone is having a tough time.

Then come the conference friends you do meet face to face once or twice a year. I have quite a few of these (and most of them, like the Temptresses, overlap with my closed loop friends.) They’re people who mean a lot to me even though I don’t see them often. Every time I do, it’s like that friend from high school, we pick right up where we left off the last time.

There are chapter friends you see or talk to every month. Critique group friends you see or talk to every week. Writing partners you see or talk to every day.

And then there are friends like the Plotmonkeys.

You do live a thousand miles apart. You did first only become aware of each other as a name on a message board. You perhaps shared some funny exchanges on a closed loop and then via email. You did only meet in person once a year at a conference.

And yet…something was different.

If you go to the FAQ section of this website, you’ll see how we all met. But those little descriptions don’t really touch on how the four of us just seemed to meld effortlessly together.

We complement each other–balance each other–not just in our writing, but in our lives. We’re an incredibly good karmic “fit.”

One of us is the emotional one–thoughtful, caring, sensitive. Incredibly generous. For someone so talented and so successful, she can be easily hurt and unfortunately she has been targeted in the past because of her success. We rally around her, we encourage her, we support her and, when necessary, we try to protect her from the petty jealousies thrown in her direction. After all, attack one monkey and you’re attacking us all…

Another is the sensible one. Despite being wonderfully creative and imaginative in her writing, she can always cut through the nonsense and get right to the core of an issue, and, usually, come up with a solution. She’s a problem solver. She never gives up. She’s a voice of calm and reason but she never backs down from what she believes is right. I think of her as the mother of the group (even though she’s the youngest…)

Then there’s the fighter. She’s fierce, she’s tough, she can dish it out and she can take it. She’s got opinions–usually very good ones–and she’s not afraid to share them. But really, we’ve come to understand, she’s a roasted marshmallow. Hard and crusty on the outside–when necessary–but so soft and sweet in the middle. You’ll never have a more loyal friend. If I ever fly into battle, she’s my wingman and I’m hers.

And there’s the wise-ass. Umm…that’d be me. Smart comments and raunchy jokes come flying out of my mouth at the speed of light but my monkey pals can always see through them and know when I’m trying to cover up my own insecurities or make light of something that truly hurt me. And they feel free to tell me to shut up and get serious if the situation demands it.

See what I mean? We just…fit.

So here’s to the MySpace friends and the loopy ones. To the conference charmers and the chapter buds. To the critiquing saviours and the plotting pals.

And to the monkeys . I hope each of you has a few of them in your life.

Why don’t you pull up a chair and talk about yours…

Yes, it’s happened. We’re blank for our Saturday blog. Well, not really. We just decided that there are things we’d like to know from you, our visitors/readers. So each of us monkeys will ask you a question we’d like your thoughts on. (minus Janelle who is on a mini honeymoon … er … vacation. Have fun, Janelle! Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do! )

QUESTIONS:

CP: I want to know if you have already bought CROSS MY HEART in hardcover … or if you haven’t (and are hopefully waiting for CMH in paperback June 26). And following up on that, if you do already own the hardcover, are you still planning to pick up the paperback version so you can have a matching set with SEALED WITH A KISS paperback in October. (And really this isn’t a “I can’t afford hardcover discussion because as I said, that’s over and done with. Your pocketbooks will now be lighter when you buy my books!) I’m just curious what to expect for CROSS MY HEART sales in July.

LK: I want to know what makes you really chomp at the bit to buy a book before it’s released? Excerpts? Contests? Reviews? Buzz? Word of mouth? This matters because, as you know, I’ve got a lot riding on this next contemporary single title coming out in July, and I want to do absolutely anything within my power to make sure it does well so that hopefully I might someday get the chance to write the last of the Trouble books! So…any tips?

JEL: I want to question our aspiring writers…first, a public service announcement. My local RWA chapter, with which I’m very involved, has a writing contest coming up with a deadline of May 1. The contest rocks. I train the judges every year and have for the last six years at least. I highly recommend it. Joanne Rock sold her first book because of our contest. Or was it Julie Kenner? I can’t remember. It was someone who I’m a fan of! Anyway…here’s my question…are there any craft issues you’d like the plotmonkeys to discuss. If we set a few Saturdays aside for craft questions, would you participate? And readers…would this bore you to tears?

Check out the TARA contest here.

Patricia A asked:
Who are your favorite romance authors (based on body of work) and what impact did they have on writing your stories?

Who are yours? (our readers)?

CP: LaVyrle Spencer got me started on reading romance. My all time favorite is Separate Beds . She taught me that contemporary romance and happy endings was my calling in life. Gave me the warm, snuggly feeling I want and need in a romance, and that is always what I want to impart to my readers. I miss her writing new books!

LK: You know, I don’t even know if anybody else remembers her, but my all-time favorite romance author was always Laurie McBain. She wrote magnificent, heart-rending historicals back in Avon’s heyday. I read Woodiwiss and Wilde, but my heart belonged to McBain. She wrote books such as Moonstruck Madness, Tears of Gold, Chance the Winds of Fortune and Wild Bells to the Wild Sky. (Bells had a hero named Valentine Whitelaw and a heroine named Lily Francesca and I LOOOVED their story and I LOOVED the tragic love story of Lily’s shipwrecked parents!!) Anyway, I would read one of her books and be sobbing my face off all the while rooting for the h/H to get their HEA. I have never read another author, past or present, who could move me with her books the way McBain could.

Unfortunately, she hasn’t written a new book in years. A true shame, IMHO.

JEL I have so many favorite authors, but the one who got me started writing was Linda Lael Miller. Her Corbin series (Corbin’s Fancy being the first) truly inspired me. You can only imagine the thrill I experienced when I was in the novella collection with her last year that made the New York Times. Talk about coming full circle. When I wanted to write for Temptation, I read Jenny Crusie and Pat Ryan voraciously. More recently, I’d say Nora’s JD Robb books set me on my Marisela career path. She really took the idea of the strong heroine to a new level and really excited me with her Eve Dallas stories. I could probably go on and on about authors I love!

JD: For me, it was Sandra Brown who inspired me to write romances, and especially category romances! This was WAY back when she was writing for the now defunct Bantam Loveswept line. She really knew how to write a hot and sexy story, and once I discovered her books, I went back and glommed all the ones I missed! Unfortunately, once she turned to her darker suspense books, I stopped reading her. Too heavy for me! Another author who inspired me was Cindy Gerard — who again started writing category romances with Bantam Loveswept, then crossed over to Harlequin Desire. She just writes these super-sexy heroes, strong heroines, and a great love story. She has since started writing single title suspense, but I still read her books because her single titles still have a strong romance to them.

What about you? Who is your favorite romance author and whose work do you most admire?

What’s the toughest book you’ve ever written?

JEL: That’s actually a hard question because every book is tough while I’m writing it. I don’t realize how easy one is until after I’m done and I think, “wow, that one just flew by!” But I have to say that the toughest book to date was DIRTY LITTLE LIES. Not only was I dealing with writing my first ever second-in-a-series book with the same characters, but life was being a particular b*tch during that time and well, that affects writers. We are, by our nature, emotional creatures. If our emotions are in a jumble, then the writing is harder. I knew about half way through the book that things weren’t working, but I was on a tight deadline and I thought I could write through it and revise later. When I got to the end, I realized I hadn’t told the story I wanted to tell. So, I rewrote the entire book during the revision stage. I didn’t fix…I cut and rewrote. Cut about 3/4 of what had been written and completely redid it. The second time around, the book moved. Words flew! I really enjoyed the process (even if the pace nearly killed me physically) and I’m very, very proud of the final project! Of course, my Plotmonkeys helped me decide how to tear the book apart and put it back together again…I never could have done it without them!

LK: You know, this one is EASY for me. I mean, like Julie, every book is tough while I’m writing it…but there’s ONE that almost killed me and put me in the hospital right after I finished it. That was my “Forrester Square” continuity book, called THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY, that was released to subscribers only in the fall of 2002. I HATED every minute of that book. Mainly because it was just not something I’d ever choose to write. Get this: A beautiful, perfect model heroine who has ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION because she wanted to be a mom, so now she’s raising this precocious, bratty kid. (I was given this, remember…my heroines are never beautiful, perfect models longing for motherhood! They’re normal women, longing for good sex!) Now, add: A male-biological-clock-is-ticking hero who wants to adopt a child (oh, God, SO NOT ME! My heroes are playboys and wicked bad boys!) Add a hospital day care center (lots more kids…oy…my only kid book ever!) and a mystery involving a bunch of other characters who do not have anything to do with my story, but whose plot I have to continue in my book.

Believe me, I have worked with other writers on “overlapping” or “continuing” stories…but they’ve always been stories I came up with or developed with the other writers. This, however, wasn’t like that…I was given the general plot and the characters and had to write it. And I just hated every minute of it. It was the first and last continuity I ever did…and I think it sold about 200 copies in the whole world! Anyway, I had such a hard time writing this so-not-me story, that I chained myself to a desk for hours a day, for many many weeks, and by the time it was done, I’d put myself in such a bad state that I ended up in the hospital with such severe back problems I had to have emergency back surgery.

So THAT was my worst book experience evah!! :biteme:

CP: EVERY BOOK I AM CURRENTLY WRITING IS THE HARDEST BOOK I EVER WROTE. Today that would be HOT PROPERTY. :biteme: (And if my real life … family, children, others’ health, my health, would cooperate, MAYBE things would get better). SIGH. I’d better in case anybody mentioned here reads this blog, which seems to be happening lately. Can we say “children” anybody?

JD: Like Leslie, the hardest/toughest book I had to write was a continuity book called NICK OF TIME. I received a call one day from my editor, Brenda Chin, and she told me that they were in a huge bind and needed an author to write this continuity book for them since the original author had to drop out of the series due to family/health issues. Being new and very green at the time, of course I said I’d do it. Never mind that I only had 6 weeks to write the book (280 pages), or that I had to write a book that someone else had already started (I had three of their chapters), or that, like Leslie, I was GIVEN the characters, story, and plot and had to basically write a book that wasn’t mine. So, after saying yes, I got started, and realized that I COULDN’T write the other person’s story, that I really did have to make it MINE. So, I had to scratch everything I had and start over . . . . which gave me about 4 weeks to write the book by this time. The book was a killer to write (and nearly killed me because I had to revise, revise, and revise some more) but somewhere along the way the characters and story DID come together, and by the time the book was done (the day before I was to leave on a one week vacation with my family! ), I knew I’d done the best I could. However, being that this was the toughest/hardest book I’ve ever written, it also is one of my absolute favorites. When I came back from my vacation and read my galleys with a fresh eye (and rested mind!), I realized that somehow, someway, I’d written a really good book with strong characters and conflict. Though the book was only available through mail-order only (such a bummer!), NICK OF TIME went on to winner quite a few awards, including the NATIONAL READERS CHOICE AWARD. So, even though books are hard and tough to write during the process of writing them, some of them do end up being gems.

Well, as you know if you’ve been around the Plotmonkeys for a while, Fridays are our giveaway day. We each take one Friday a month….but this month, there are five Fridays! So we’re offering a quadruply (is that a word? lol!) cool prize.

First, a book from each of us.

Leslie’s offering a copy of HER LAST TEMPTATION…which, if you were a Temptation reader, you probably know was THE last Temptation ever published. (I still miss the line so much…loved writing those books! This is also one of the most glorious covers I ever had!)

If you already have it, she’ll swap out for another Temptation title as long as it’s available.

From Julie: Her best-selling Temptation title…GOOD GIRLS DO…with its beautiful reprint cover rather than the waiter & waitress who were on the original!

From Janelle: A copy of her last full-length WILDE title…TOO WILDE TO TAME! (Just in time to get ready for the next Wilde novel coming in September!)

And from Carly: Winner’s choice of any paperback book from her backlist…depending on availability. Woo-hoo!

PLUS the winner will also get a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com or BN.com…to indulge that book obsession we all talked about yesterday!

Just post a comment and you’re entered…(U.S. & Canada entries only please.)
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NOTE! Carly is guestblogging today at The Goddess Blogs! Come visit …

Donna McClure asks:
Why do series usually have 3 books as a Trilogy, why do 3 seem to work so well?

CP: I loved this question. Unfortunately I don’t have a good answer! And now that I have two new paperbacks out a year, each 3 months apart, I’m wondering if 3 won’t work. I have two schools of logic.
a) two new books a year that are related in a series; next year another two; or
b) a trilogy which means two books one year; one book the following year that finishes the trilogy and then the next new book starts a new series and you have to weight eight months or so for the next.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?

And maybe my plotmonkey pals have a real answer on why series work well!

LK: What a great question, Donna. But like Carly, I just don’t know the answer…lol! It does seem to be an industry norm, doesn’t it? Even a non-industry norm…I mean, look at the great movies in our pop culture. Three seems to be the magic number. Just this summer we’re getting Shrek 3, Spiderman 3 and Pirates 3. The original Star Wars came in 3 and so did the prequel package. Ditto with Indiana Jones and Die Hard (though, I know they’re both coming out with sequels…I kinda wish they’d just left them at 3!) Lethal Weapon should have stopped at 3. The original Superman movies. The X-Men movies. Back To The Future. Wow, there really are a lot of trilogies out there!

Maybe it’s just that old superstition–good things come in 3’s. (So do deaths, but we’ll leave that out of it.)

I have not set out to do a lot of miniseries, I just tend to fall in love with characters & places and want to keep writing about them if I can. It doesn’t always equal three. My Joyful, GA stories only had 2. My Derryville story spanned over, like, 4 books in one way or another. The Santoris are going to fill 5-6. And while there are 3 brothers who are the heroes of my “big” Trouble books, there are at least 2 other stories that go with the series. So I’m not limiting myself to anything. But I will say that my new romantic suspense idea is a trilogy…it just seemed to me that I needed to tell the stories of 3 different types of h/H pairings in that case.

Again, great question–wish I could have actually answered it!

(PS: My hubby just informed me that three is a sacred number in ancient geometry that turns up again and again throughout history. I dunno…maybe we’re all just a superstitious lot like Janelle’s post showed?)

JD: Wow, I don’t think I can answer this question any better than Leslie just did! It’s something I’ve really never thought about before — but it does seem that series do come in threes! Or at least they start out that way! I know with my Wilde series it was originally supposed to be only 3 books that told the stories of the Wilde brothers. But then the Wilde cousins were introduced throughout those three books and readers asked for THOSE stories, too! So far, it’s a series that has spanned 7 books!

JEL: I think the significance of the number three is simply ingrained in our psyches and manifests in ways from the spiritual to the commercial. Also, three implies a beginning, a middle and an end. If you analyze the first (and only IMO) Star Wars movies, Empire Strikes Back is clearly a transition between A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. When I was planning my upcoming paranormal series, which will (God willing) be six books, I definitely planned the story arcs in threes, with one overall storyline to tie all six books together.

Brenda Chin realized there were a few more questions from her visit Thursday and she graciously agreed to answer them. Thanks again for coming, Brenda!!

1) Tell us what new authors you’re really excited about. What authors are debuting this year? What sorts of stories are they doing? Comedy? Drama?

We’ve got some really cool things coming up in Blaze in 2008 – the biggest two being Leslie’s Blaze Encounters, 5 connected short stories in one book. It’s perfect for people that are looking for a quick Blaze fix. Also, coming up in the summer of 2008, I’m going to have a chance to return to my first love – Historicals. Hope Tarr, who writes Historicals for Medallion and Blaze for me is going to mix the two! After all, historical romance has always been very, very sexy. There’s no reason we can’t try it and see how it goes. Hope’s book will take us back to Scotland, where the heroine has just become laird of her clan (father, brother dead). She knows she needs a male to solidify her position…but instead of a man, she decides to have a child. And she kidnaps the younger son of the rival clan to perform stud service. After all, the rival clan won’t attack when one of their own is poised to take over in 20 years, right? I’m really looking forward to it.

As for new authors, we’ve got a number of them. We just bought Karen Foley, whose book, Flyboy, has an incredible military hero. Other new authors are Tawny Weber, who writes in a very naughty, playful style and Stephanie Tyler, who also has a weakness for military men. (We do other things than just military – it just happens that these two writers know the military world really well.)

We also have some established authors, new to Blaze in the line-up. Kelley St. John’s Blaze debut is a trilogy called The Sexth Sense, featuring very sexy mediums, and even sexier ghosts, who don’t want to do any crossing until they’ve done the deed. Hope Tarr has her second book, The Haunting coming out in April, which introduces the theme of reincarnation and everlasting love. Jade Lee is in the 2008 schedule with a book based on Chinese erotica. So there’s a lot to be excited about.

2. Are you planning to teach a seminar or two in Dallas?

Yes, I’m doing one workshop in Dallas. Tawny Weber, Joanne Rock, Jamie Sobrato (all Golden Heart finalists) and I will be talking about how to stand out in the slush pile. I’ll also be doing an hour of appointments too.

3) Where do you see Blaze heading in the future?

Blaze is getting sexier. That doesn’t mean we need to have the sexy hooks that we started with, but there has to be romantic hooks that can be made sexy. Blaze is first and foremost a romance line – and themes like reunited lovers, love triangles, etc. work really well when done in a sexy manner. You’ll probably notice the change most starting in April this year. From that point on, covers are sexier, titles are more blatant and back cover copy lets the reader know just what they’re in for.

4) Regarding requested manuscripts, what separates the ones you buy from the ones that get passed up?

As far as what makes the cut, it’s exactly what Julie said – voice! And incredible characterization comes in a very close second. If a writer can draw me in with her voice, and give me characters I can identify with immediately, that’s the most important thing. Plot is important…but it can always be fixed. It’s the heart of the story–the characters, the romance, the author’s voice–that really counts.

We’re so excited here in the jungle today, because we have one of our very favorite people visiting!

If you read our “first call” stories during the past several Saturdays, I am quite sure you will recognize the name Brenda Chin. Brenda, an Associate Senior Editor with Harlequin Enterprises (who is currently in charge of the exciting and vibrant Harlequin Blaze line) bought the very first books Carly, Julie and Leslie ever sold, and bought Janelle’s very first contemporary. So as we’re sure you can imagine, we all :love2: :love2: Brenda VERY much.

Please give a warm jungle welcome for her as she gives her perspective on making that first call!

The Best Part of My Job

First of all, I’d like to thank Julie, Leslie, Janelle and Carly for having me here. I’ve never blogged before, so be easy on me, will you?

Anyway, since all the Plot Monkeys talked earlier about their first sales, I thought I’d tell you what it’s like on the other side - being the one to make those calls. It is, without a doubt, the best part of my job.

Over the past 18 years, I’ve had the privilege of making The Call 31 times!

Some authors, like Leslie, were pretty cool (it’s nice to know she jumped around AFTER she hung up the phone ) but the majority of writers are really, really excited…and it makes me feel great! I even had one woman scream and hang up on me. It’s something I tease her about to this day.

Part of the reason I’ve been so lucky with new authors is the fact that I’ve always worked on series romance–and series romance always needs new blood and fresh ideas. (Part of the reason Blaze did well enough in Temptation to warrant its own series is because many writers new to Temptation decided to push the envelope). For my series, new authors are very important because many of our core writers became very good, very quickly. Now, most of them are writing for other houses as well as Harlequin. This means fewer books in the schedule for me…and more opportunity for new authors.

My personal author base is mainly made up of authors I brought in, either brand new or new to Harlequin. I acquired many of these writers, like the Plot Monkeys, when I was just a junior editor, and we all sort of grew up together.
This fact hit home when I realized that 95% of my authors are within 5 years of my age. Now I know why we all watched the same thing on TV when we were kids….

(ahem…

The most amazing thing to me is realizing what one book can start. And it’s even more amazing to know I’ve been a part of it. It just seems like yesterday that manuscripts from Leslie Kelly, Carly Phillips, Janelle Denison and Julie Leto crossed my desk.

And look at them now! And they’re not alone. The Temptation/Blaze lines have introduced the world to some incredible talent - authors like the Plot Monkeys, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Tori Carrington, Jennifer Crusie, Julie Kenner, Stephanie Bond, Kate Hoffmann and Lori Foster, to name just a few…

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve often wondered if I should be doing something else, something that makes a difference in the world. But then I realize that I am making a difference - to every author who gets a chance at her dream, and to every reader whose day becomes a little better because she picked up one of our books.

All in all, it’s not a bad job at all…

What frustrates your current hero most about your heroine in your WIP or upcoming release? (Or visa versa: heroine/hero)?

CP: Amy Stone in HOT PROPERTY can not believe a strong athlete like John Roper would let his family run roughshod all over him. Of course she gets that he loves them and that he feels like he’s always been the man of the house but shouldn’t he say no to their constant demands for money? Shouldn’t his aging actress mom take the roles offered instead of claiming she can still play the ingenue if it means earning her own way? Shouldn’t his Jack of All Trades Master of None Brother stop blaming Roper for his less than stellar major league baseball career and quit asking him to fund his ridiculous business propositions? (i.e. Future Condom King of America … puhleeze!). And his sister’s getting married and Roper is footing the bill. Nothing wrong with that except for the crazy out of control requests coming his way (… when doves fly!) He needs someone from THE HOT ZONE to take control of the excess in his life so Roper can refocus on his problematic career. And Amy is just the woman to do it. If only she could put that sizzling New Year’s Eve kiss out of her mind …

JEL: I’m sort of in between books right now, finishing up edits on my Blaze, STRIPPED, and starting the new paranormal on Monday. In the Blaze, the main frustration for my hero is my heroine’s inability to trust him. She has good reason. My hero and heroine have a past. When my hero realized that my heroine truly was psychic and that she’d been using her powers to make him fall in love with her (reading his fantasies and then making them all come true) he goes off on her. He’s furious. Their breakup is really, really ugly. The book starts three months later when they are thrust together to solve a crime. He apologizes, but my heroine wasn’t the most trusting person in the first place, so opening up to him again is hard because he hurt her. And yes, she hurt him, too. So trust for them is a hard road and that leads to frustration. About the new book, I have to wait and see!

LK: I am still working on my Bad Girls Club Blaze, in which the heroine is a stripper (funny since Julie’s Bad Girls Club book the previous month is called Stripped! Mine’s called OVEREXPOSED.) Anyway, this heroine, a former Rockette, has had to come back to Chicago to help out her family in their little neighborhood Italian bakery and she’s going nuts being back in that world, so she takes a job as a stripper at a high end men’s club. The hero is one of those hot Santori brothers and he’s trying very hard to “fit in” to the world he left before going off to the Marines, including finding a “nice girl from the neighborhood” — and he thinks that girls is the heroine, Izzie, who works at the bakery. But he can’t get his mind off this sexy stripper who works at the bar where he’s just gotten a job as a bouncer. So, she’s driving him crazy–because he’s trying to stay good and resist the stripper and work on winning the nice girl…who won’t have anything to do him! Not knowing she is also the bad girl stripper who wants to have sex with him and no “nice” relationship…so she is desperately trying to seduce him. Sounds more complicated than it is…lolol…but I’m having fun having this hot guy dangled on the string by one woman who he thinks is two!