MY WISH FOR YOU

I'll see y'all in the New Year!

Wishing the very best to you and your family! 

May love's warmth surround you

May the joy of laughter be shared

May peace hold you close.

~Sia~

Making Characters Real

I like to welcome Joanne Kennedy back to Over Coffee.  Joanne believes in Romancing The West. She's a bonafide denim and lace western girl who writes about hot cowboys.  Her believable stories have towns and critters, romance and love, along with danger and suspense.  She is also a RITA finalist for One Fine Cowboy. 

What draws us to cowboys? Maybe a touch of the rebel, for sure a bit of bad-boy, but there is also the image of tradition, respect, and moral strength. The strength to fight against the odds.  At the core, they're men and women of the land. 

They're almost larger than life, aren't they?

Still, cowboys are everyday people with quirks, foibles, good and bad. If you're writing cowboys or any character you have to make them realistic and three dimensional. After all, you are telling a story about people which your readers will love, hate, like or dislike. Give them personalities they can to relate to.

Joanne chats a bit about her characters, two and four legged, and the world they inhabit.


A compelling plot and great writing draw us into a story—but what we stay for is the characters. Elizabeth Bennett and Darcy; Jane Eyre and Rochester—what’s a romance without great lovers who come alive on the page?

Giving life to characters is the best part of writing. I love creating a small town of my own, peopled by characters who hopefully come alive for the reader. They’re certainly real to me!

I spend a lot of time in my fictional universe, and my characters become like friends—or maybe more like family, because much as I love them, they sometimes drive me crazy. Demanding, difficult, and determined—they’re just like real people!

Teague and Jodi have been with me a long time, waiting for their story to be told and gradually revealing who they are and what they want. By the time I actually sat down to write the book, they’d taken on so much personality that it was all I could do to keep them under control. It wasn’t easy to keep them out of bed, either. These two were definitely made for each other.

The best part about having a new book released is knowing that my characters are out there in the world, living in readers’ minds as well as my own. I’m thrilled when readers love them as much as I do, and reviews that praise them warm me up with the kind of pride you feel when your kid gets a straight-A report card.

And it’s not just the hero and heroine I love. Every one of my books has a whole community of characters, animal as well as human. Here’s a partial roster of the cast of Cowboy Fever:

• Teague Treadwell is possibly my favorite cowboy hero ever. He’s a good man overcoming a rough past, working hard to turn his life around and earn a place in his community and the heart of the town’s golden girl. He’s turned his alcoholic father’s played-out ranch into a first-class roughstock operation, raising bucking horses and bulls and competing in rodeos.
• Jodi Brand is a former Miss Rodeo America who’s been back East modeling and earning a degree in special education. She once promised to return and make her hometown a better place, and she’s keeping that promise by starting a therapy riding program for children with disabilities. She’s also coming back to see Teague, but that’s not something she’s ready to admit to herself.
• Troy Treadwell is Teague’s older brother and Jodi’s inspiration for working with the disabled. He has Down’s Syndrome, but his disability doesn’t define him. Troy wants to live an independent, fulfilling life of his own, but it’s hard for his brother to let him go; it’s taking care of Troy that inspired Teague to turn his life around.
• Courtney Skelton never really had a chance. The daughter of difficult but wealthy parents who bought her everything she wanted but paid little attention to her, she’s spoiled, self-involved, and accustomed to getting whatever she wants. Right now, she wants Teague—and that’s where the trouble starts.
• Cissy is Jodi’s best friend. She married her high school sweetheart only to discover he’s abusive. Now she counts on Teague for protection—but can he keep her safe without risking a return of the rough streak that made him the town bad boy?

And then there are the animals. In my books, they’re almost as important as the people, and a big part of my hero and heroine’s lives.

• Vegas is Teague’s old horse. He plays a part in all Teague’s best childhood memories—and Jodi’s, too. Now nearly blind, he’s ready for a new life as a therapy horse.
• Luna, Teague’s bossy border collie has one goal: getting Teague and Jodi together.
• Beelzebub, a.k.a. Beelzy, is a goat who’s supposed to keep Vegas company, but he spends most of his time dreaming up devilment.
• Honeybucket, Courtney’s teacup Pomeranian is a pocket pet who wants to be a real dog.

That’s just a partial list of the dramatis personae of Cowboy Fever. There’s a small town full of people who help Teague and Jodi’s story spin out, but in the end what matters most is the love they’ve had for each other all along. It’s not easy to leave the past behind, but I think you’ll agree that these two deserve a new future—and they deserve to spend it together.

Animals play a big part in my books.

Do you have a favorite animal hero or heroine from romance? 

COWBOY FEVER

Miss Rodeo Wyoming Jodie Bryce is back from the big city to find that her childhood friend Teague Treadwell’s rugged cowboy charm never looked better. But Teague thinks Jodie’s success lifted her out of his reach, and now he’s got to shed his bad boy image to be worthy of the girl next door. Excerpt.

Buy:  Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, Indiebound  Format: paperback and e-book

~*~~*~~*~~

After 25 years in the business of selling books, Joanne finally decided to sit down and write one. Five years and a lot of hard work later, came Cowboy Trouble.

A member of Romance Writers of America and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Joanne Kennedy won first place in the Colorado Gold Writing Contest and second in the Heart of the Rockies contest in 2007. Her first novel, Cowboy Trouble, was released by Sourcebooks Casablanca in March 2010, and will be followed by One Fine Cowboy in September 2010. Two more contemporary western romances are scheduled for release in 2011. Joanne lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming.


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Creating Emotional Impact

I’ve heard it said, and no doubt you have too, that to write emotion you first have to feel it. Author blogs and writing books will tell you all sorts of things. Write what you know, write what you love, and write what you feel. These are all true statements in so far as they go. It’s how we understand those statements and what they mean, and how to apply them that the trouble starts.

I think there is a mistaken assumption about writing emotional impact into our writing. What it is and what it’s not.

I can write about fear because I know what fear feels like. It doesn't mean I have to feel my heart racing, have clammy hands, and hyperventilate as I'm writing the scene. I know what anger feels like too, and what makes me angry, but because I am choosing to put my characters in an emotional situation of anger or fear doesn’t mean I’m feeling those emotions as I write. You see what I mean?

As a writer, I'm ultimately the narrator carrying the story from point A to point Z. To do that, I have to be able to keep my wits about me. I have to keep my goals clearly in mind, which means I can’t get bogged down in emotion as I’m writing. Look at it this way, a writer is dealing with a set of people going through various situations, having problems, facing heartbreak, making love, laughing, anger and fear—the gamut of emotions. As narrator of this group’s story I have to be able to relay everything clearly. I have to stay removed from the situation to be focused. Otherwise I’ll go off in a tangent or lose the thread of where my story and characters are going.

I’m rather clinical as I write certain scenes. In that sense I’m the observer as well as narrator. I equate it to being a therapist. Therapists hear the most heartbreaking details of people’s lives. While they have to have compassion and understanding for their patient, they also have to remain detached to effectively do their job.

Knowing what an emotion feels like gives us a base from which to write emotion for our characters. Our characters have to be real not only to our readers but to us. They have to act and react realistically. As we write, we put our characters (or they put themselves), into certain settings/situations. Much of the inner conflict for our characters is about them facing their fears. So we produce external conflicts in our story so they have to face those internal demons.

For example, if we’re writing romance or a suspense and we have a character that has grown up in an abusive home that got so bad she and her mother have to run for their lives. They’re always looking over their shoulders, always changing their names, always in fear because they’re hunted. Never taking a stand and able to fight back. Now we have her background and some idea of her inner conflict. As an adult she stays clear of anything that resembles the trauma of her childhood. What is the worse external conflict we could put her in? To keep it simple, let’s place her in a situation where she has seen a murder, and the murderer knows she’s seen him. Now he’s after her. Just like that she is again on the run, living in fear. But now she is an adult, not a helpless child. She has to take her stand at some point. Add to it a hero whose job it is to keep her safe, keep her from harm. He’s tough and strong and very good at his job. But let’s say as a child he came face to face with the inability to keep those he loves safe because he was too young and inexperienced. Now his job choice makes sense, as does his inner pride/need in being very good at his job. But internally his greatest fear in not keeping someone he cares about safe from harm. Hero and heroine come together, and emotional attachment forms. Now we have both characters facing their inner conflict/fears while dealing the external conflict/fear. Now we have in place a plot specifically designed to trigger emotional responses from the hero and heroine. And the reader.

Writing what you feel is the ability to write or invoke an emotional response in your reader. You don’t have to be feeling whatever the emotion you’re writing as you write it (although I’ll confess there have been time or two I have). You do need to know what a particular emotion feels like to set it up and then amplify it via your character’s reaction to the stimuli. If you know the feeling then it follows you should be able to imbue that emotion in your writing by the story set up, character reactions and hence trigger the reader’s reaction.

That’s writing what you feel and what you know. That’s creating emotional impact for your reader.

What are you thoughts? 

ROCK HARD: Review

My blogger had to reschedule his blogging date so I decided to give you a treat by posting my review of Rock Hard, by Olivia Cunning. I loved this story!


I will be interviewing Sed Lionheart on April 1st—no fooling—and I'm expecting several of the Sinners to pop in as well. Sure to be a treat not to be missed. Be sure to mark your calendars and let everyone know. It's sure to be a fun time with all the ribbing from the rest of the band and groupies too.

Rock Hard

Book two of Sinners On Tour
Olivia Cunning
Sourcebooks
431 Pages
Release Date: April 1, 2011



Sinner’s lead singer, Sed, had his heart shredded when Jessica left him to pursue her dreams, so when she dances her way back into his life, he's not sure he's ready for her brand of pain, or pleasure, again. When she convinces Sed to engage in a benefits with benefits relationship, things seem to be going his way, until one of his fans catches their explicit public display of affection on film and posts it all over the internet. Will Jessica ever trust Sed again? And has Sed become the man of Jessica’s dreams or is he just posing to get what he wants?  Excerpts You can read chapter one and two.


My thoughts:

Love, Sex, and Rock and Roll. Any one of those items would make a good theme for an interesting story—or a very good one, as Olivia Cunning, demonstrated with her debut, Backstage Pass. But could she do it again? Ah the sixty-four dollar question and not always an easy thing with a second novel.

My answer? She has produced another winner. Rock Hard is not only an excellent read but also, in my opinion, it surpasses her debut novel both in writing depth and entertainment.

Why would I say that? Olivia has taken an arrogant and highhanded character that pretty much everyone wanted to dislike and shows Sed Lionheart as a sexy, loveable hero. Oh, he hasn’t lost his arrogance or dominating personality, but Olivia gives us insight into what makes him tick. His inner vulnerabilities and strengths, and shows us through his actions that he cares deeply for his Sinner family members. We clearly see his motivations for his highhanded ways.

“Isn’t it dangerous to drill a hole in someone’s head?” Sed asked.


“If they don’t, I’ll die.” Trey covered his eyes with one hand. His throat convulsed as he swallowed.


“You’re not going to die, Trey,” Brian said. “If you do, I’ll kill you.”


Trey chuckled. Sed realized he was probably making Trey feel worse, but he didn’t want to leave. He needed to see Trey moving, breathing, joking around. That way he could convince himself that Trey would be okay and that helpless feeling in Sed’s gut would ease…


“What can I do for you, Trey, Sed asked? “Anything. I’ll do anything.”


“Smile.”


Sed tried, but it made his chest constrict in agony.

Sed’s greatest weakness is Jessica, his feisty, very independent ex-fiancée. Jessica is a third year law student; smart, sexy, and gorgeous. She isn’t one to let anyone, much less Sed, control her and when he tried she walked.

Sed’s determined to make her fall in love with him again. Whatever it takes. If she needs hot sex to convince her he’ll give her the fires of hell in their sex.

“He’d always loved her. He’d never stopped loving her…he wouldn’t survive if he had to watch her walk away from him again.”

The dynamics between these two independent and stubborn characters makes for an exhilarating ride to happy ever after.

The sex between these two is on the yowza! I need a cold shower stat, scale. Inventive and hot, but never stuck in the story unnecessarily for the sake of having a sex scene. Just as Brian and Myrna Sinclair have a rich and satisfying sex life, which fits within their needs and fantasies, so do Sed and Jessica. And what better place to explore fantasies than Sin City—Las Vegas.

This is a full, well rounded romance, strong on story, yowza sex, two strong minded people who have to learn giving up control doesn’t mean losing, but winning the best reward of all—love, hard rock style.

Ms. Cunning gives us another dazzling story of Sinners, love, sex, and rock and roll!

5 stars

How to Keep Fit without Leaving the Flat

My guest is romance author, Talli Roland. She hails from London, UK. She can be a bit of a cheeky monkey—I got to say I love that about her!


Talli is also one of my favorite blogging buddies. As I've gotten to know her, it's easy to see this English beauty is as lovely inside as she is on the outside. I do love to see what she’s up to and her take on normal every day things. Talli has a way of making me laugh and those are special people for me. Her sense of humor is fun and bit tongue in cheek, as you’ll see with her article below.

Enjoy!


As a full-time writer, I’m lucky that I don’t need to go out to work – or brush my hair, get dressed, and endure getting up close and personal with someone’s armpit on the Tube. No, I can roll right out of bed, throw on my fluffy slippers and robe, and head straight to my desk for another day within the heady proximity of the fridge. The only downside to this Nirvana? The threat of an ever-expanding butt.

To combat this, I’ve developed a handy set of exercises for writers. No need to embrace the great outdoors – or even get off your chair! Now, you too can have the svelte frame of a commuter, without the commute! Are you ready? Here we go!

The five-fingered salute. Every so often, lift your fingers from the keyboard and make a fist. Open and close your digits several times in quick succession. This is even better when performed near a window in proximity of passers-by to encourage social interaction.

March like you mean it. The ideal exercise to release any frustration when your characters just don’t behave. Sitting on a chair, lift one knee in the air and bring your foot down firmly on the ground, then do the same with your other knee. Repeat for five minutes – or as long as your downstairs neighbours will allow. When you’re finished, you won’t care anymore about your characters’ misdemeanors. You’ll only care about impending repairs needed to the floorboards.

The burning butt-clench. Designed to encourage circulation after long periods of sitting, this exercise has the added benefit of making anyone around you question your need for the loo. Sitting comfortably, lift one buttock off the chair, and clench the cheek that’s touching the surface. Hold for twenty seconds, then repeat with the other butt cheek. You should feel a burning desire never to do this exercise again.

The navel gaze. Tilt your head slowly downwards until your chin touches your chest. Hold for thirty minutes – or until you drift off. This position allows observers to believe you’re engaged in deep thought, while elongating your neck muscles. Repeat until observers get bored and depart.

So there you have it! My tried and true methods to maintaining your shape while keeping your manuscript moving ahead!

The Hating Game

When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she's confident she'll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she's perfected from years of her love 'em and leave 'em dating strategy.


After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £200,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it's revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes.
Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end.


Who will win The Hating Game? Excerpt

Buy: Amazon, Chapters Indigo

Talli lives in London, UK, where she savours the great cultural life (shopping and cupcakes).

When not hunched over the keyboard or staring out the window, she drinks coffee.

Talli Roland’s debut novel The Hating Game is available in paperback today (it's selling fast), and is also available as an e-book. The Hating Game is her first novel.
 
You can find Talli at her blog, and follow her on Twitter. She can also be found Facebook and Goodreads.

STORIES ARE LIKE PUPPIES

It’s my pleasure to have, Deborah Coonts, visiting with us Over Coffee. She describes her writing as “sexy, wry, romantic, and slightly naughty mixed with a little murder and mayhem—shaken, not stirred—then illuminated by the bright lights of Las Vegas.”

She is an overnight success—by way of 15 years of bad writing and learning her craft. Sounds familiar. :-)

So how did she find her voice and style? What made this story worth publishing where her other stories weren’t. Deborah shares a bit about her journey to publication.



For a long time I wanted to be Sandra Brown. Okay, I didn’t actually want to be her, I just wanted to trade jobs with her… and paychecks…and, well, maybe wardrobes, but that’s all, I swear. But, have you seen her husband? He was the sports guy on Channel Eight when I was growing up---serious crush. Sandra was the weather girl. The weather girl and the sports guy, it’s great isn’t it? I couldn’t write it as well.

As it turns out, I can’t write like Sandra Brown either.

Oh I tried. My first romantic suspense effort was an international intrigue mish-mash of long-winded backstory, a plot with more black holes than a Star Trek movie, purple prose and nauseating descriptions. Absolute drivel. I’m pretty sure I’ve destroyed every copy. I’d rather find myself naked on the Internet than have anyone read that thing.

My second effort was a bit better—something about a small town Colorado lawyer, single parent with a small son. Curiously, I was a small town Colorado lawyer on my own with a small son. To say the whole story bored me is a gross understatement. Writing it was like Groundhog Day. Didn’t I just do this? Didn’t my son just say that? My life wasn’t nearly exciting enough to live it over and over.

But, I had no more stories. Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. The well was dry.

Briefly I thought of resorting to mind-altering substances to jump-start my muse. We all know about those creative personalities, don’t we? But as a tax lawyer, creativity was a go-straight-to-jail card. And that whole single-parent thing didn’t mesh too well with a life spent in an alcohol-induced haze. So I did what everybody in that position does: I took a job doing something I had absolutely no idea how to do and for which I was peculiarly unqualified.

I became a humor columnist for a national magazine.

I know, what was I thinking? I can’t tell you how many times during those years I asked myself just that. But, I kept churning out columns that were EXACTLY 1100 words. And I learned. I learned to write tight. I learned what was funny. Actually, I learned more from being scolded when readers thought what I wrote WASN’T funny AT ALL. I learned I am way more hambone than I ever imagined. And I rediscovered my infatuation with a good belly laugh. I’d forgotten. But, I still didn’t have a story.

Until I threw everything out the window.

Every rule I’d been told about writing novels, every suggestion, the whole write-what-you-know-thing, the wanting-to-be-Sandra-Brown thing, which was an example of the write-what-you-read thing, all of it, out the window. I opened my heart…and nothing but the wind blew through. Oh, I felt lighter, unfettered, a veritable ball of iconoclastic optimism, a renegade writer waiting to be told what to do. Yup, still hadn’t quite gotten the point.

One summer afternoon, I was sitting on a bench at the Grand Lake Lodge on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park. The sun balanced on the mountain range to the west. The air was still. I could hear the hummingbirds zinging by. The day had quieted. Even the boats on the lake bobbed at anchor, their engines silenced. I shut my eyes and leaned by head back, luxuriating in the warmth of the fading sun. Softly, a voice whispered through my brain. The voice belonged to a young lady named Lucky O’Toole and she wanted to tell me her story. I smiled as she talked and I imagined her world—a huge resort/casino on the Las Vegas strip. I imagined her history—a mother who ran a brothel, of course. Hey, it’s Sin City, right? And her best friend—a straight female impersonator who just wants to get the girl. Would he have trouble? How would women perceive him? How would Lucky respond to a guy with better legs than hers?

Just like a puppy picks it’s owner, MY story found me.

The minute I began listening and taking notes, I became the author equivalent to the Whoopi Goldberg character in Ghost—listen to one character and all of a sudden there were hundreds shouting to be heard. All of them were like puppies wanting to run in any direction other than the one I wanted, peeing on my foot when I’m not listening, refusing to budge until I give a little and go where they want to take me. They’ve taught me to trust my instincts, go with the flow. Since that day, it’s been my sincere delight to be able to herd them into a novel, then a sequel, and a third. Now, a fourth is coming together.

You know what’s funny about the whole thing? I had written the first line to what became WANNA GET LUCKY? five years before Lucky whispered in my ear. It was there all along, but I hadn’t listened… hadn’t found the courage to listen. I mean, humorous first-person stories are devilishly difficult. What kind of nut tackles that right out of the box?

This kind of nut, as it turns out. It turns out I’m not Sandra Brown; I’m me. Who knew?


Are you trying to be someone else? What story is in your heart, but you are afraid to write?

LUCKY STIFF (Hardcover 368 pages)


Lucky O’Toole—head of Customer Relations at premier megaresort the Babylon—thinks its just another night in Las Vegas. A tractor-trailer has spilled its load of millions of honeybees, blocking not only the Strip but the entrance to her hotel…The district attorney for Clark County—apparently the odd man out of a threesome on the twelfth floor—is hiding in the buff in one of the hotel’s laundry rooms…And Numbers Neidermeyer—one of Las Vegas’s less-than-savory oddsmakers—is throwing some major attitude at Las Vegas’ ace private investigator, the beautiful Jeremy Whitlock.


The next day, Lucky discovers Ms. Neidermeyer had been tossed into the shark tank at the Mandalay Bay Resort as a snack for the Tiger shark. When the police show up with a hastily prepared search warrant, applied for by the district attorney himself, and Jeremy lands in the hot seat, Lucky realizes her previous night was far from routine.


Amid the chaos of fight weekend, the Babylon’s hiring of a new, eccentric French chef, and her madam mother’s scheme to auction off a young woman’s virginity, Lucky is drawn into a deadly game that will end only when she discovers who made fish food out of Numbers Neidermeyer.


Lucky O’Toole and fabulous Las Vegas—life doesn’t get any better. Excerpt

Buy: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million

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My mother tells me I was born a long time ago, but I'm not so sure--my mother can't be trusted. I do know that I was raised in Texas on barbeque, Mexican food and beer. I currently live in Las Vegas where family and friends tell me I can't get into too much trouble. Silly people. I have owned my own business, been a tax lawyer and a flight instructor, and have survived a teenager. And now, I make stuff up for a living.

Each day I sit in the front window at my favorite Panera and play with my imaginary friends. My SO is a psychologist and he tells me that many of his colleagues would consider me an annuity. I can live with that. Thankfully, he can too.

I write a mystery series set in Las Vegas--funny, sexy and romantic. I've been told they are comedic thrillers--sounds like an oxymoron to me, but you get the drift. The first in the series, WANNA GET LUCKY?, came out May 2010. The second, LUCKY STIFF, will be available February 15th, 2011. With the third, SO DAMN LUCKY, to follow.
 
You can find Deb: Facebook, Twitter, and her Website
 

FRIENDSHIP

My guest is debut author, Karen Wasylowski. You may remember reading her holiday story, Lord of Misrule, I featured on Over Coffee. In that story we got a glimpse of a the strong friendship between Darcy and Fitz.

As writers we can only write what we understand, what we've experienced, what we know, and what we feel. For the reader to be touched by what we write it has to ring true. The dynamics of the emotion, situation, or time period.  

I love reading books where there are strong family ties and I love the sense of camaraderie, fussing and arguments, but where the love is solid. Books with strong friendships also appeal to me. In those stories the friends form a family of their own, not by blood, but by love. When the author writes them properly you're brought into their magic circle and are part of them and their adventures. That's the joy of reading a good book.


Today's topic is friendship. It’s a subject dear to my heart because friendship is so important to me. I look my friends as the jewels of my life. My friendships, like my family, have shaped my life—in different ways—but I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them. As a result it will also shape how I write about family and friendships. Karen tells a bit about the friendships that have shaped her life and hence her depiction of her characters, Darcy and Fitz.


My new novel, my only novel, Darcy and Fitzwilliam is about love, family and life- long friendships. Few of us have friends that last that long, that last a lifetime. We make acquaintances over the years and they play their parts in our lives at just the right moment of time then disappear again. Although we may regret their loss, it’s usually momentary, and they are gone from our thoughts quickly. Life long friends are different, they grow with you; their lives help in shaping your own. You may not agree all the time, you may not even like them occasionally, but they are as important to your being as breathing. I am very lucky. I have three life long friends; three women that I have known for decades, since my early childhood.

One such friend is Judy. We went to grammar school together, and although she is a few years older, she was placed in our class as an experiment in teaching the handicapped. She has been blind since birth. Each day the sister would ask someone to volunteer to take Judy to lunch and each day everyone would grumble because Judy walked slowly, she needed help with her food, her eyes looked funny. Many days I would volunteer; I felt so sorry for her standing there with her head bowed and her cheeks red with embarrassment. I wasn’t that kind every day, but many days I was. I learned a lot from Judy. I learned that people who looked different were just like you and me they just looked different. I learned that disabilities often could be overcome with greater abilities in other areas. She could play piano like an angel and we shared a love of music. Judy lives on her own, gripes about snow, taxes and her hair and gets mad at me for not liking the same books as she does. I get aggravated with her then often we gossip and always we laugh.

Another close friend from childhood is Fay. She moved next door to us when I was seven years old and she was nine and I remember her mother calling as we played in my yard and asking if Fay could join us. We got along great right from the start, but there were outside problems. Her family was the first Jewish family in our neighborhood and apparently that offended somehow. I could never understand why their religion mattered. Fay was my dear friend, our parents were friends, and it was warm and nice. A few neighbors were very angry with that. They wrote ugly words on our garage door that my mother wouldn’t let me see. She also would not let Fay’s mom have someone paint over. She said, “It’s just the truth, Dorothy. I do love you; and, you are a Jew. I’m proud of it, of our friendship – let it stay.” Some few days later the words mysteriously disappeared but the friendships remained, between my mom and Mrs. C, and between Fay and me. She encouraged my love of reading, my drive for learning, and gave me my first book. We complain about husbands, work and rotten movies. She’s hilarious.

My third friend from childhood is Diane; we met in kindergarten. She is my closest friend but I could never explain to you why she stands out from the rest. She and I always seemed to compete, we liked the same boys, we fought, we laughed, and we talked for hours on the phone (still do). Our friendship broke up over a guy. We didn’t speak to each other for at least twenty years – just drifted apart until about ten years ago when some mutual acquaintance gave Diane my number and she called. It was amazing; no time had gone by at all. I felt the same strong connection to her, the same bond - as if we had been living next door to each other since the beginning of time. Her life during those twenty years was very hard with divorce and sickness. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for her then, but I am now. Diane and I relate on a whole different level. I love her now and will forever.

Friendship is not something any of us can arrange, it just happens deep within. It is an accidental connection that grabs you and stays with you, whether together or apart, whether related to each other or from different cultures and religions. It is a miracle.

I am lucky. I have had three good friends.

• Readers: How have friendships shaped your life?
• Writers: How have your friendships in life affected your writing?

~*~*~*~

DARCY AND FITZWILLIAM: A Tale of An Officer and a Gentleman



A gentleman in love cannot survive without his best friend...

Fitzwilliam Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam couldn't be more different, and that goes for the way each one woos and pursues the woman of his dreams. Darcy is quiet and reserved, careful and dutiful, and his qualms and hesitations are going to torpedo his courtship of Elizabeth. His affable and vivacious cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam is a military hero whose devil-may-care personality hides the torments within, until he finds himself in a passionate, whirlwind affair with a beautiful widow who won't hear of his honorable intentions.

Cousins, best friends, and sparring partners, Darcy and Fitzwilliam have always been there for each other. So it's no surprise when the only one who can help Darcy fix his botched marriage proposals is Fitzwilliam, and the only one who can pull Fitzwilliam out of an increasingly dangerous entanglement is Darcy... Book Trailer (near the bottom)

A Truly original look into the life of Mr. Darcy and his cousin... This is Mr. Darcy as you've never seen him before, relaxed and at ease with the one person who knows him even better than he knows himself. A look into the private friendship of one of literature's most underappreciated pairs in a fascinating and historically accurate look at male friendship and fellowship in the Regency era.

Buy: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books.a.Million, Indiebound 

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Karen Wasylowski is a retired CPA. She and her husband spend their free time volunteering with charitable organizations that assist the poor. They also are actively involved with Project Light of Manatee, providing literacy instruction to immigrants and to members of the community. Karen and her husband live in Bradenton, Florida. Her debut, Darcy And Fitzwilliam, will be released February 1, 2011 by Sourcebooks.

You can find out more about Karen and her writing on her website.

You can also fined her at the Austen Blog, Facebook






Holiday stories: The Lord Of Misrule

~Story by Karen Wasylowski~

 “I don’t see why I must wear a costume; it’s degrading. This is my house! Certainly that should make me exempt from such foolishness. And why is Fitzwilliam Lord of Misrule this year? Again! He’s always Lord of Misrule and all he does is drink too much and give the children too much candy, then he plays terrible tricks on me, sneaks upstairs and goes to sleep while I must entertain the entire countryside in some ridiculous costume. I mean I’m in a ridiculous costume, not the entire countryside. The toes on these shoes curl up, Elizabeth! Who am I supposed to be, anyway?”

Elizabeth took a deep breath to calm her annoyance. Darcy had been bickering and complaining like a child all evening, he was worse than a child. “For the third time you are Henry II and I am Eleanor of Aquitaine. If you like give me a quill and I can jot that on parchment for you.” She turned and left the room before his mind registered the insult.

“I remembered! Don’t think I did not remember, Elizabeth! I just dislike Henry II; I should prefer to be Henry V.”

“But I want to be Eleanor!” She spoke with the finality of hostess of Pemberley then closed the door on him. Of course he had to give in to her; house parties were far removed from his area of expertise. He just wanted to hunt and play football.

Just then there was a banging on their dressing room doors. “Open up for the Lord of Misrule.”

“Go away you big ox.”

“Darcy, quit pouting, it’s unmanly. You’re behaving badly because I am Lord of Misrule again and you’re not.” Fitzwilliam could not keep the taunting tone from his voice. Truth was, he did not try overly hard.

Darcy opened the door and starred at his cousin’s ridiculous outfit. He was wearing a long brown woolen sackcloth robe with green garland around his neck and a wreath of holly about his head. “Gad, you look like a fat spruce. You better be wearing something under that hideous cloak.”

“Oh be quiet. You’re still not Lord of Misrule and I am. Besides I’m older than you, it is my right.” Fitzwilliam stuck out his foot to show his raggedy stockings.

“Put that away. You have eight children and I have only three, that’s why you are chosen each year, and the only reason. You breed like a stoat and then bribe your offspring in a most disgraceful manner to vote for you. You bribe your own children, Fitzwilliam. Have you no shame?” Darcy shook his head in disgust, making a tsking sound as he did so.

“No, what’s your point?”

Darcy groaned. “Well, what have you planned for this evening?”

“Nothing too strenuous for you, brat. Love the crown by the way. Who are you supposed to be this evening, Catherine of Aragon? Honest mistake – sorry. No need to get into a snit. All right, tonight we shall eat and dance and drink and dance, the usual Saturnalia celebration. Then at midnight I will sacrifice my body and take my good wife up to bed but you must remain and entertain your neighbors and town officials until they drop over. That is my decree.”

“That cannot be all, surely. No inappropriately bawdy play this year? No feats of strength? No embarrassing solo singing?”

“Darcy, my dear friend, I find it’s not as much fun to taunt you as it was when we were younger, strange as that may sound. I have mellowed in my old age, brat. I find it amazing but the older we are becoming the more I admire you Darcy – tremendously really, and have no need any longer for childish behavior.”

They stared quietly at each other for several moments.

“Your wife has forbidden you to humiliate me this year, hasn’t she?”

“Stopped all my plans cold, let go the men I hired to dress up as women and kiss you and removed the nails I had placed on your chair.”

“I grow to love that woman more and more each year.”

“As do I.” Grabbing a handful of cookies from a tray, Fitzwilliam resettled his crown of ivy. “Feeling better, cousin?”

“Infinitely. Merry Christmas, Fitz.”

“Merry Christmas yourself, Darcy. Now I’ve stolen some pepper from cook - let’s go down and have a go at Bingley’s hot wassail.”

Karen will be a guest Over Coffee on February 4, 2011 with her debut book and excerpts.

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Karen Wasylowski is a retired CPA. She and her husband spend their free time volunteering with charitable organizations that assist the poor. They also are actively involved with Project Light of Manatee, providing literacy instruction to immigrants and to members of the community. Karen and her husband live in Bradenton, Florida. Her debut, Darcy And Fitzwilliam, will be released February 1, 2011 by Sourcebooks.

You can find out more about Karen and her writing on her website.

Available 2/2011

Morning Coffee Dates with Friends

My guest is award winning women's fiction author, Marilyn Brant. I love that she could visit on a Friday.

I like stories that deal with issues, concerns and worries that face me as a woman and those issues are different than when I was a young and barely twenty something. I also enjoy humor and the ability to laugh at both myself and situations I face. As I've grown up, I find girlfriends are all the more precious. I need that commonality of shared experiences, laughter, and grounding that true friends give you (and their opinions)--whether you want it or not, lol!

So, as you can imagine, I like Marilyn's books and really enjoyed her article. I hope you will too.

I'm thrilled to be back visiting Sia and everyone here today! I was lucky enough to be here the first time after the release of my debut novel, According to Jane, but I'm especially excited to visit again this fall...on a Friday...and to get to discuss the subject of friends and relationships with you all Over Coffee. It's particularly fun for me because my second novel, called Friday Mornings at Nine, is about three women friends who get together once a week (bet you can guess which day -- LOL) over coffee (!!) to talk about their relationships. So, this is one of those cool 'virtual life' meets 'real life' meets 'writing life' kinds of moments!

Anyway, one of the reasons I wrote this novel was to explore the idea of What-If relationships, even for women who might be (or seem to be) happy with their current ones. The three women in my story are 40-something suburban moms who have all been married for a decade or two. They think they know what their friends' marriages are like but, it turns out, they have a lot to learn -- not only about each other, but about their spouses and themselves. Complicating matters are three other men (not these women's husbands!) whom my main characters are becoming increasingly more aware of and, at times, attracted to... Bridget admires the warmth and cooking skill of her boss, a dentist in the office where she works. Tamara is noticing the divorced (younger) neighbor guy down the street who works from home. And Jennifer has been reconnecting with her college ex-boyfriend via text message and email because he'd contacted her about an upcoming reunion. All of them begin to wonder -- in light of their attraction to these other people -- if they made the right decision in marrying the man they did.

In real life, I also meet my friends for coffee once every week or so and we, too, discuss our families, jobs and lives. Over the years, one of the things I've noticed is that my friends not only help me sort through whatever ups and downs might be going on somewhere in my world, but they've frequently provided a sounding board for any What-If relationship scenarios that may come up, including: old flames who suddenly resurface via Facebook (!!) or that really handsome fitness trainer at the gym or my longstanding obsession with Ryan Reynolds and his REALLY great abs. (C'mon, who here doesn't have a bit of a celebrity crush on him?!)

For me, I've found that hearing what my friends have to say during our coffee dates is incredibly valuable because it reaffirms that -- most of the time, at least -- what I'm experiencing is something normal. And listening to my friends talk about whatever issues they might be wrestling with in their lives is just as helpful. I learn a lot from them about how to handle situations I haven't yet encountered myself, or I simply get to know more about my friends' lives and beliefs and passions, which is fascinating. During this time of year I'm especially thankful for them...for always being there when I need them, for helping me stay grounded/calm in the face of good or bad news, and for always making our outings such fun!

• What about you? Do you have a group of friends you get together with regularly? If so, where do you like to meet and what do you most enjoy talking about with them?

I'll draw one name randomly from all of the commenters below (on late Sunday night, 12/5) and give away a signed copy of Friday Mornings at Nine and an individual serving of Starbucks VIA Christmas Blend to one winner. Happy Holidays, everyone!!

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FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE

Every woman remembers her firsts: Her first kiss. Her first lover. And her first time contemplating an affair...

Each Friday morning at the Indigo Moon Café, Jennifer, Bridget and Tamara meet to swap stories about marriage, kids and work. But one day, spurred by recent e-mails from her college ex, Jennifer poses questions they've never faced before. What if they all married the wrong man? What if they're living the wrong life? And what would happen if, just once, they gave in to temptation...

Soon each woman is second-guessing the choices she's made--and the ones she can unmake--as she becomes aware of new opportunities around every corner, from attentive colleagues and sexy neighbors to flirtatious past lovers. And as fantasies blur with real life, Jennifer, Bridget and Tamara begin to realize how little they know about each other, their marriages and themselves, and how much there is to gain--and lose--when you step outside the rules. EXCERPT

BUY: Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Noble, Doubleday Book Club

Marilyn is the award-winning women's fiction author of ACCORDING TO JANE (2009), FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE (2010) and her upcoming novel, A SUMMER IN EUROPE (November 29, 2011), all from Kensington Books.

She received her M.A. in educational psychology from Loyola University Chicago, dabbled in both fiction and art at Northwestern University, studied the works of Austen at Oxford University and is an active member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Her debut novel featuring "Jane" won the Romance Writers of America's prestigious Golden Heart® Award.


Marilyn has traveled to 45 states and over 30 countries (so far -- she's not done yet!), but she now lives in the Chicago suburbs with her family. When she isn't rereading Jane's books or enjoying the latest releases by her writer friends, she's working on her next novel, eating chocolate indiscriminately and hiding from the laundry.
 

Brandt Flakes, Marilyn's Blog

 

Holiday Happiness

My guest is Blaze romance author,Tawny Weber.

I had a chance to read about the Cole sisters in It Must Have Been the Mistletoe...: When She Was Naughty...\Cole for Christmas\A Babe in Toyland (by Kate Hoffmann, Rhonda Nelson, Tawny Weber.)  I love how each author presented the three sisters from a well-known musical family and each with different views of being part of such a family and each with different goals in life. They each meet up with a great Christmas gift and not all the men were bad boys but all were sexy as hell, from the Appalachian doctor (gotta love that rug), hot guy with the band (love how he plays scrabble), to the wicked Tyler who absolutely will not allow himself to fall for one of those Cole sisters, aka sexy TROUBLE.

Tawny’s story is Babe In Toyland. Rita Mae feels like a bit of an oddity in her family and is searching for her niche in life. She also has a social network I envy. She’s always had a bit of a thing for Tyler Ramsey but there was that situation with her sister…so scratch following up on that attraction. Coincidently, Tyler had the same issue with his brother and one of the Cole sisters. When the two come together it’s fun to watch how they try to stay loyal to family ties and sort through the preconceived notions and look for reasons to indulge in some hot sex.


I’ve read all of Tawny’s books. I look forward to each one because I’m always guaranteed a fun and satisfying read. Her characters are well crafted, smart, and sexy, her world is everyday situations with a zing.

A Tawny Weber book is filled with delicious flirtation and sexy fun and lots of laughter. And just as with good chocolate, resistance is futile.


Woot –we’re kicking off the holiday season. I’ll admit it, I’m a total sap for the this time of year. I love the decorations, the food (oh baby, the cookies and homemade candy!), the good will and the music. I’m a sucker for the feel-good movies, shaking prettily wrapped boxes and guessing what stuffed animal my little girl got me this year.

I have several holiday traditions I love to visit every year. One is baking. I’m an avid winter baker (I hate baking in the summer, btw). Because I love baking so much, the holidays are the perfect time because I can give away all those goodies instead of eating them myself *g*

I love making special holiday crafts, too. Some years I go all out and make ornaments, others a wreath or something pretty. This year I’m knitting snowmen (yes they look dorky and as I live in Northern California where we don’t get snow, they are oddly inappropriate. But darn it, they are cute!)

Another tradition I love is reading holiday books. There’s so much fun in adding to the joy of the season with a sprinkling of romance, isn’t there? I love it! So it was such a major thrill when I was invited to write a novella for the Harlequin Blaze Christmas anthology. Ironically, I wrote A BABE IN TOYLAND in the spring, listening to holiday tunes and burning an evergreen scented candle. Hopefully, though, I still captured that holiday joy that I love so much!

• How about you? What are some of the holiday traditions you love? Do you curl up with holiday romances during the season?
   

It Must Have Been The Mistletoe 

The weather outside might be frightful—but the Cole sisters are indulging in something quite delightful...They're going to have a hot, hot Christmas...

Rita Mae Cole and Tyler Ramsey hail from feuding families. Be together? Impossible. But the incredible sex between them says otherwise…

“Dear Santa,
Thanks for the best present EVER!! I’ve crushed on Tyler Ramsey for so long and now he’s all mine for the drive home. If I promise to be really good, can I keep him a little longer?”


~~Rita Mae Cole Excerpt

Buy: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, eHarlequin

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Tawny Weber is usually found dreaming up stories in her California home, surrounded by dogs, cats and kids. When she’s not writing hot, spicy stories for Harlequin Blaze, she’s shopping for the perfect pair of boots or drooling over Johnny Depp pictures (when her husband isn’t looking, of course). In December 2010, her ninth Blaze, A BABE IN TOYLAND hits the bookshelves.

Come by and visit her on the web at: http://www.tawnyweber.com/

Launching a New Austen Blog

"My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company." ~ Jane Austen ~

It’s my pleasure to again have Sharon Lathan visiting Over Coffee, and this time she brought her partner, Abigail Reynolds. Both of them write Austen fan fiction. Regardless of whether you like or hate fan fiction, there are so many readers who love Austen stories and want to read about the research, social mores, fashion, and of course the continuing love affair between Lizzie and Darcy. These authors and the additional twenty plus Austen fan fiction authors can all be found on one site now. You want a daily dose of Austen like stories and ondits; you’ll now have that opportunity on this wonderful blogsite.

I’m so proud of Sharon and Abigail. I well know what work goes into creating a new blog, setting blog times and guests, as well as getting the word out. I love how quickly like minds came together to do a final chat about the blog to launching it a month later. All this month there will be all sorts of goodies on the blog.

First, for those that don't know Sharon and Abigail let me introduce them to you.

Abigail Reynolds is a lifelong Jane Austen enthusiast and a physician. In addition to writing, she has a part-time private practice and enjoys spending time with her family. Originally from upstate New York, she studied Russian, theater, and marine biology before deciding to attend medical school. She began writing From Lambton to Longbourn in 2001 to spend more time with her favorite characters from Pride & Prejudice. Encouragement from fellow Austen fans convinced her to continue asking ‘What if…?’, which led to five other Pemberley Variations and her modern novel, The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice. She is currently at work on another Pemberley Variation and sequels to The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice. She is a lifetime member of JASNA and lives in Wisconsin with her husband, two teenaged children, and a menagerie of pets. You can read the blurb, and excerpt of her soon to be released book.

Sharon Lathan is a native Californian currently residing amid corn, cotton, and cows in the sunny San Joaquin Valley. She divides her time between being a homemaker, nurturing her own Mr. Darcy and two children, and working as a registered nurse in a Neonatal ICU.  Sharon is generally found reposing in her comfy recliner with faithful laptop adhered to her thighs. Throw in the cat, dog, and a ton of fish to complete the picture. Read the Blurb and excerpt.

Sharon and Abigail in costume

So how did the two of them come up with this idea? Funny, I wondered the same thing and so I asked (as per usual, lol!)



Funny things happen when you get a bunch of authors together. Add in a party atmosphere and perhaps a bit of wine and rich food and watch out world!

Writers recognize that often times their best story ideas begin with some tiny snippet. Maybe an overhead comment or random one-liner meant as a joke that then takes flight and evolves into a huge bestseller! Well, for us the genesis for our Austen Authors blog began as a halfhearted proposal and has flamed into a massive undertaking successful beyond our wildest dreams.


The first time we tossed out the concept of a group blog for Austen fiction writers was in 2009 at the RWA National Conference. It was a great idea even if verbalized more as a jest about the hundreds of Austen writers banding together and taking over the world! For a host of reasons we did not pursue it, yet neither of us totally shelved the concept. We met again at this year’s Nationals in July and before lunch on day #1 we were again talking about a group blog. Seriously this time.


Now, barely a month later, Austen Authors has launched. With a sonic blast! Despite our flippant remark about hundreds of Austen fiction writers we truly did not grasp how many there were nor how positively they would respond to our invitation. It has been overwhelming, but in a fabulous way.


We have needed to rethink our process many times, but our mission has remained clear and unwavering:

To provide a consolidated website where lovers of Austen who want to experience more of her world can learn about the variety of literature published in the genre. As authors we want to share our passion for Austen and support each other, no matter whom we are published by, so that the diverse visions sparked by her brilliance will flourish.

Why? ... because there’s never enough Jane Austen


As of today, 20 published novelists of Jane Austen literary fiction have banded together for the first time in history to share their passion for Jane’s world and celebrate this ever-increasing genre. The brainchild of best-selling authors Sharon Lathan - The Darcy Saga sequel to Pride & Prejudice - and Abigail Reynolds - The Pemberley Variations.

Austen Authors

We cordially invite you to the launch of Austen Authors blog!

For the entire month of September there will be posts by each author as well as contests, quizzes, a scavenger hunt, oodles of information, three new release parties, author introductions, entertainment, humor, polls, secrets, recipes, games galore, and a massive giveaway of gifts and books from the authors and their publishers.


Today we are welcoming Amanda Grange, bestselling author of Mr. Darcy Vampyre and Mr. Darcy’s Diary!

The group also includes these established and debut authors ( to learn more about each one and what books they have out or being released soon, click on their names and it will bring you to their website):

Skylar Burris, Kathryn L. Nelson, Monica Fairview, 

Jane Odiwe, Susan Adriani, Mary Simonsen,
Cindy Jones, J. Marie Croft, Marsha Altman
Regina Jeffers, Jack Caldwell, Carolyn Eberhart
Heather Lynn Rigaud, Kara Louise, Lynn Shepherd

Marilyn Brant, C. Allyn Pierson, Victoria Connelly

• Sharon and Abigail, I'm so excited for you. Thank you so much for being my guest today!

Thank you, Sia, for giving us this opportunity to talk about our blog and the amazing talent involved. We hope everyone will click over and join in the fun.


**** Other links

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