A CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE

Joanne Kennedy is my guest and she's brought her Hooligans, a bit of small town Americana, and some fun conversations. Oh, let's not forget the tall dark cowboy!


Actually, like the song says, he's not that easy to forget...*contented sigh.

I love hearing from readers. But recently, I received an e-mail that gave me a stab of remorse.

“Your books make me want to move to a small town,” it said. “One where I can find a cowboy who will really love me and my three kids.”

I write about ranch life and small towns, celebrating old-fashioned values like community and caring. But was I raising readers’ expectations too high? There aren’t many storybook places in the real world—are there?

I’ve been living in the city for too long. It was time for a road trip—one that would confirm that the world I was writing about really existed. Loading my husband and the Hooligans into my trusty Subaru, I headed for the closest cluster of small towns.

The first town was proof that reality doesn’t always match the wishful world of fiction. It was November, so the bright sky of summer had changed to solid, wintry gray. The wind was cold and biting. A string of battered buildings huddled together in a crooked row beside a street pockmarked with holes and patched asphalt. There were no sounds except wind rattling dry sagebrush, and the harsh, lonely cry of a crow.

And I was encouraging people to believe this was some kind of romantic paradise.

Worse yet, I was hungry, and the only place to eat in the next town was the Longhorn Grocery and Cafe. You can usually judge a small-town eatery by the number of trucks parked outside—and there wasn’t a single one.

But it was early in the day. When noon struck, the place filled up quickly. And as the townspeople filed in, my world—the world of my novels—bloomed right before my eyes.

“Oh, you brought the boys!” the cook crowed as a middle-aged lady walked in. I turned, expecting to see a couple of kids, but instead two fragile elderly gentlemen stumped in, canes tapping. The crowd grew, and sure enough, everybody knew everybody else. Gossip and greetings filled the air. It was just like one of my books—except the dialogue was even better. Here’s a sample:

Lady #1: “What happened to you?”

Lady with Arm in Sling: “I fell downstairs. But at least I didn’t run over myself like Bob did.”

 Run over yourself? I thought. How do you do that?

 Gentleman #1: “He never learns. He left that pickup running while he went in the post office the other day. Says he puts it in park now, though.”

Gentleman #2: “That’s not as bad as Ed Simmons. He got hit by the school bus. Didn’t hurt him much, but he yelled at the driver. He said, ‘What’d ya hit me for? You know I turn here every day!’” 

By the time I finished my cheeseburger, my conscience was cleared along with my plate. These towns might look bleak from the street, but once you took the time to step inside, they’re full of life and love.

And I realized that it’s the bleakness, the hardship, and the challenge of living in this part of the world that brings these people together. Community is created by common interests and shared enemies like the weather and the wind.

So when you’re driving through small-town America, keep in mind that even in a place that looks hopeless on the outside, there’s life and love and family behind the lighted windows—just like in a romance novel.

Tall, Dark and Cowboy by Joanne Kennedy—In Stores November 2011
 
She’s looking for an old friend…

 In the wake of a nasty divorce, Lacey Bradford heads for Wyoming where she’s sure her old friend will take her in. But her high school pal Chase Caldwell is no longer the gangly boy who would follow her anywhere. For one thing, he’s now incredibly buff and handsome, but that’s not all that’s changed… 

What she finds is one hot cowboy…

 Chase has been through tough times and is less than thrilled to see the girl who once broke his heart. But try as he might to resist her, while Lacey’s putting her life back together, he’s finding new ways to be part of it. Excerpt

• Amazon 
• Barnes&Noble
• Indie Bound Books
• Books-A-Million
• iTunes

Joanne Kennedy is the author of three previous contemporary Western romances for Sourcebooks. She brings a wide variety of experience, ranging from chicken farming to horse training, to her sexy, spicy cowboy stories. She is a 2011 finalist in the prestigious Romance Writers of American RITA© Awards, for One Fine Cowboy. Joanne lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where she is working on her next book, Cowboy Crazy (June 2012). 

For more information, please visit http://joannekennedybooks.com/.

Translating Innate Talents into Writing Success

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with good food, great company, and lots of laughter and good cheer! My Thanksgiving was fabulous. We spent it with some close friends (who are like family), rather than my huge extended family. It’s been a rough year for many and that includes both our friends and us. It was an excellent time to celebrate the good and important things we do have and most have little to do with material things. I came home this evening feeling content and well fed. 


Hope you did too!

My guest today is historical (set in the Georgian era)romance author, Emery Lee. Her discussion centers on being thankful for her writing career and the steps that lead up to it. She also includes a link for the Clifton Strengths Finder test and how she uses her strengths in her writing. 

My writing career has been a very roundabout path. In fact, even five years ago, I could have more easily imagined myself as a Jeopardy contestant than a published author. A writing career is something I could never have imagined in my wildest fantasies. How did it happen?

Since this blog is very much about writers’ journeys, I thought it would be interesting to share a very unique personal experience that served to guide my path as well as validating my decision to pursue a full time writing career.

Five years ago, as an initiative to more fully develop the potential of its workforce, my former employer required all management level employees to complete a talent assessment tool.

The stated purpose was to evaluate each managers’ natural talents in order to promote personal and career success. I was highly skeptical when I completed the on-line questionnaire, but upon receiving the results, I was stunned.

EMERY LEE’S FIVE KEY “THEMES” From Clifton StrengthsFinder http://www.strengthstest.com/theme_summary.php

StrategicTM	People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
Achiever®	People strong in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.
Responsibility®	People strong in the Responsibility theme take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.
Input®	People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.
Intellection®	People strong in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.

Wow! What a wake-up call! These results implied I’d wasted twenty years of my life in a completely incompatible job! No wonder I was miserable!

But what did this REALLY mean?

While I had already begun writing my first novel at this time, as purely a creative outlet from my stifling job, these results served to validate that writing was the right path for me. This is how I translated my individual themes into my writing career:

·       Strategic means I have the ability to think a story through, to examine it from all angles – to plot with complexity.

·        Achievement means I have an innate need to always finish what I start or die trying.

·        Responsibility keeps me on deadline.

·      Input applies fabulously to historical fiction as this theme allows me to spend tireless hours researching even the smallest details for my stories.

·      Intellection – the love of thinking allows me to give myself over completely to my imagination

Realizing these individual strengths/themes has helped my writing career by enabling me to focus on what I do best, and in doing so, I have discovered more personal satisfaction that I have never known before. 

• Whether you be a writer or not, what are some of your strengths and how do they help you to be successful?

FORTUNE'S SON available now in print and ebook.

Love is the ultimate gamble...

Seasoned gambler Philip Drake knows every trick and uses most of them. After years of infamy, he's ready to accept the mantle of respectability with his earldom-- until a devastating racing loss and the threat of debtors' prison force Philip right back into his gaming ways...

Susannah, Lady Messingham, is a woman with a past who refuses to belong to any man again. But Philip's skill catches her eye and she persuades him to teach her how to win at the tables. Their new partnership turns into an exhilarating high-stakes game that entangles them in terrifying risk and unimaginable rewards...

Immerse yourself in the risky side of Georgian England with a pair of lovers who aren't afraid to risk it all on a toss of the dice...

BUY:  AMAZON, BARNES AND NOBLE, BOOKS-A-MILLION, INDIEBOUND

Emery Lee is a lifelong equestrienne and history buff 
who loves nothing more than a romantic story that also provides 
food for the intellect.

Her debut novel THE HIGHEST STAKES is an epic tale of star-cross 
lovers set in the high stakes world of 18th century horse racing. In 
FORTUNE’S SON, Emery spins a web of drama, passion, and deceit
deep in the world of high stakes gaming.

You can find Emery: Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads 

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LISA RENEE JONES—The Fun And Oh So Sexy Sterling

Warning: A sizzling excerpt included

My guest is romance author, Lisa Renee Jones. You'll remember she visited us back a ways with a delicious new paranormal Zodius Series and her first book of the series, The Legend of Michael. I loved the book. It was fresh and oh so fun to read. 


Lisa uses quite a bit of humor in her stories and I love the humor between the guys and the heroines also have a healthy dose. Of course, given the circumstances and their battles, the characters need that humor. 


Lisa, using a Dr. Pepper Commercial, gives us a visual of Sterling's sense of humor. Yeah, it made me laugh.



Recently I blogged about THE STORM THAT IS STERLING and Sterling’s addiction to M&M’s and Dr. Pepper. I shared some really fun clips from M&M’s most inappropriate commercials. One of the things I love about Sterling is that he is a true Renegade.  He’s been hurt and beat up emotionally and he survives this by jokes and a willingness to do anything he can to protect the world and save others. See, he doesn’t feel like he saved people in life that have been hurt. His mother died in childbirth. His father died in war. His grandmother became an alcoholic right after his mother died in childbirth. But he isn’t bitter. He has the biggest heart.

He’s also an expert hacker and that got him in a little trouble, which got him the attention of the Army where his father was Special Forces. They wanted him for his skill and for his daring. And he needed a family.

So to celebrate Sterling’s daring – I thought I’d share a video that celebrates Sterling’s addiction to Dr. Pepper, his woman, and his humor.

Do you love it? Want to win a copy of Sterling? Just tell me you stopped by!

Happy Holidays everyone!

The Storm That Is Sterling

Sterling Jeter has remarkable powers and has shown himselfto be just about indestructible. But beautiful, brilliant RebeccaBurns knows that even a Super Soldier needs comfort, and somuch more… 

But she can see that deep down, he’s just a man… 

Sterling and Rebecca’s teenage romance was interrupted,but years later the heat between them flares back to life.Even though it endangers everything they’re fighting for, it’simpossible to resist picking up right where they left off…

Lisa has chosen to give us sizzling excerpt from THE STORM THAT IS STERLING 
You can read an extra excerpt by following the link below this excerpt.

Erotic images rushed through Sterling’s mind as Becca walked toward him, anticipation for the moment this gorgeous, sweet, yet incredibly sexy woman would touch him. She stopped in front of him, her gaze lift­ing to his, simmering heat expanding between them. He swayed slightly, then silently reprimanded himself, despite the very male, very caveman-like desire to reach for her and say “mine.” He knew that wasn’t the right move. Just as he had known what to order for her at that restaurant, she didn’t feel she had choices, like she was spinning out of control. Well, she was going to have them with him. Whatever she wanted, she needed—he wanted and needed.

Slowly, her lashes lowered as she pressed her palm to his chest. It was soft, cool—a contrast to the fire licking at his limbs, spiraling between them. She splayed her fingers, flexing them against his skin before trailing one finger downward to his lower abdomen, and then flat­tened her hand on his skin again with the promise she wasn’t going to stop there. And man, oh man, did his cock know it. He was standing at attention, thrumming with anticipation, his heart pounding in his ears.

Her fingers walked a path downward to the base of his erection, and then she caressed straight to the tip. His cock jerked instantly with the pleasure.

Becca sucked in a breath and tried to pull her hand away, her eyes seeking his. And before he could stop himself, he stole a little piece of that control he’d vowed to relinquish to her. His hand closed around hers, wrapping her fingers around his cock. “Don’t stop,” he ordered, barely recognizing the husky voice as his own.

Her teeth scraped her bottom lip, and he all but moaned. Lust licked at his limbs like a four-alarm fire. That soft, amber gaze of hers so often full of innocent uncertainty flickered to his face, innocence no longer there. Instead, her eyes shimmered with a combination of desire and hestation. And then, blessed be, her hand tightened around him.

“Oh yeah, sweetheart,” he said hoarsely, releasing her hand, allowing her that freedom of choice, as long as it involved her hand on his cock.

“You like that?” she asked, more teasing than confirming.

“Just to be clear,” he said, his voice gravely and af­fected. “You pretty much can do anything you want to me… and I’ll like it. Aside from the use of teeth, that is.” Amending quickly, he added, “If used in limited capac­ity, of course, teeth can be kind of sexy and remain on the table for acceptable use. And being a scientist and all, I know you have an experimental instinct. Feel free to go with that. Just let it ride.”

Read an extra excerpt HERE:

http://www.lisareneejones.com/books/the-storm-that-is-sterling/sterling-excerpt/

And THE DANGER THAT IS DAMION is coming in May 2012!

BUY: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Borders | IndieBound

Award winning author, Lisa Renee Jones, has published more than fifteen novels in several different languages, spanning multiple genres of romance – contemporary, romantic suspense, dark paranormal and erotic fiction. In each book the hero is dark, dangerous, and sexy. She debuted for both, Nocturne and Blaze, on the Bookscan bestseller list. You can find Lisa on Twitter, Facebook, and her blog for regular updates. Lisa now has a Fan Page at Facebook.

INTERVIEW: Chatting With Jenny Brown

Do you love historical romance but are bored with the same old stories? I have just the ticket to relieve the boredom.

My guest is Jenny Brown. She's a fresh voice in historical fiction and her books have been highly acclaimed. Jenny writes a series called The Lords Of The Seventh House. Each book is set around a astrological sign--she's a bit of an expert in astrology. 

The stories are historically accurate in the details, which is refreshing after so many that aren't, offers rich historical layers, emotional impact, don't always use just the Ton for settings (also a refreshing change), and are fun and sexy reads. In short, they're not the same old rehashed story. Instead they're fresh and different.

I had a chance to chat with Jenny and enjoyed her thoughts on her writing.

Blurb:
Lovers or Enemies?

Captain Miles Trevelyan, on leave from active service in India, is heading out for a night on the town when he rescues a beautiful pickpocket from arrest. She's the perfect choice for a few days of dalliance--beautiful, cunning, and completely disposable. 

But Temperance has no intention of becoming the plaything of a man who wears the uniform of the solders who murdered her lover. Disarming Trev with a kiss, she escapes. But her sultry kiss opens the two Scorpio adversaries to an obsessive attraction that neither can elude--or possibly survive. Excerpt Buy: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million

"This is Jenny Brown's second novel, but her exquisite characterization and unique sense of drama sparkles as brightly as that of a seasoned veteran. ..."[A] vividly emotional tale. " --Affaire de Coeur Book Reviews 

• Tell me a bit about you? When you were little what did you want to grow up to be? Tell me some fun things Jenny Brown likes to do?

My family used to laugh about how when I was in grade school I’d answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up” by saying, “A doctor on Mondays, a musician on Tuesdays, a writer on Wednesdays, a psychiatrist on Thursdays, and an Actor on Fridays.” They thought it was a joke, but I was dead serious and that’s pretty much what I ended up doing. That’s probably because my curiosity is my strongest characteristic, and what I find the most fun is learning something new.

• How has your own romance colored how you write romance in your stories?

I always tell the Hero of My Own Romance that he’d make a rotten romantic hero because he provides absolutely no conflict. Day in and day out he’s loving, kind, considerate, and giving. But it wasn't until I found a man like that who taught me what real love is like that I could write heroes other women would find appealing—though of course to make the book worth reading I do have to supply lots of conflict. No one would read a book about a decent, loving man who never gives the heroine a moment of anxiety!

• Did you try other genres before you chose this one?

I started out writing science fiction and historical novels, but when I discovered the wonderful historical romance writers of the 1980s and ‘90s like Laura Kinsale and Judith Ivory, who wrote so brilliantly, I realized it was possible to combine the kind of historical setting I love with the kind of powerfully emotional story I most enjoy.

• What do you still struggle with as an author?

I write slowly which makes it hard to cope with the demands of a genre where editors want a book every six months. I’m told most romance readers don’t care about many of the things I labor over—coming up with stories that aren’t just retellings of the same old story, getting the language just right, and respecting the details of the historical setting. But I care about them, and if a a book has my name on the cover, I want it to be a book that I’m proud of. That turns out to take a great deal of time and labor—which makes it hard to build up the kind of readership you need if you are to succeed in this genre.

• What was the single best or luckiest thing that got you published?

One frigid January, when I was snowed in and bored silly, I checked out a brand new online critique site—Authonomy—that was filled with highly articulate, English writers with whom I exchanged critiques. I posted a version of a book I loved but had never been able to sell. The English writers, most of whom had never read a romance before, went at it energetically, and pointed out subtle things that confused them or slowed them down as they read.

I kept rewriting that manuscript until new readers on Authonomy were speeding through what I’d posted and asking for more. Then I submitted it again with all those changes. An agent snapped it up immediately and Lord Lightning sold two weeks after she sent it out to editors.

• The Lords of The Seventh House are set around astrological signs. How much play did astrology really have in the 1800’s?

Astrology was surprisingly popular in the first decades of the 19th century. Astrologers advertised in periodicals in fashionable watering places and Astrology textbooks and ephemerides sold briskly, too. The reason I made my heroine an astrologer in Lord Lightning was that I wanted to tell a story about the kind of person who nowadays would be a therapist—someone who was an expert in other people’s emotions, but used her understanding of other people’s conflicts to keep from dealing with her own. Since there were no therapists in 1818, an astrologer seemed like the next best choice. It was my agent and editor who came up with the idea of doing an astrologically-themed series.

• Do you actually chart your characters? If so, that would mean some pretty serious research time to incorporate where the stars were at the time of your characters’ births, wouldn't it?

Yes. All my characters have real astrological charts, and I provide their birth data in the afterward of each book. I go out hunting for charts that match the hero and heroine after I’ve sketched out the plot and major themes. Once I’ve found charts that match, I pore over the house placements, planets, and aspects they contain, which suggest new ideas I use to deepen the characters and make them more multidimensional and real.

• I have to tell you, nothing ticks me off worse than getting the history wrong. I’m not nit-picky; I’m talking major things. How do you avoid that?

Most of my historical knowledge comes from having put in many years reading biographies of people who lived in the period I write about. I’ve also read many novels published in the late 18th and early 19th century. That’s given me a good basis from which to start. But once I start working on a novel, I have do a lot more specific research to get the details right.

For example, since the heroine of Star Crossed Seduction is a pickpocket, I spent a lot of time researching the Regency-era underworld and its slang, and found some sources different from the ones Georgette Heyer relied on so heavily which gave me some wonderful cant phrases you haven’t read in fifty other Regency-set novels.

I also read a lot about the British army in India in the Regency period since the hero’s story hinges on his experiences in the Third Maratha War. The undercover mission he’s involved in that plays such a part in the story, is based on actual cloak and dagger operations that were masterminded by a real English administrator who served in India in this period.

• Star Crossed Seduction your current book. Tell me what YOU like about Trev and Temperance and what still makes you laugh when you think about them?

Trev and Temperance are two magnetic, attractive people whose difficult upbringings have taught them to use their sexual charisma to gain control over others. They are both survivors of harsh environments—Temperance of the mean streets of London and Trev of service in a war in a foreign land where has lived, as an outsider, since his teens.

I start the story by pitting these two wily survivors against each other in a take-no-prisoners battle of the sexes and then enjoy the fun as each of these masters of seduction finds themself realizing that they’ve finally met their match—in more ways than one.

I love how intense these two people are and how hard they fight against trusting what they feel when they finally meet someone who is just perfect for them.

• You have a new book, Perilous Pleasures, due out in March. Can you tell us a bit about it?

Perilous Pleasures is the Pisces-themed book in the series. The hero, Lord Ramsay, is a Scottish lord with a tragic past who has taken a vow of chastity after falling under the sway of a mysterious mystical healer. I've paired him with Zoe, the ugly daughter of a cold-hearted courtesan.

Zoe’s virginity is essential to the rite that will transfer to Lord Ramsay the magical powers his teacher has promised him. So naturally, Zoe does what she can to rid herself of it—by seducing the mystical lord. Needless to say, trouble ensues.

• Hmm, magical and fun. I like the idea of a the woman doing the seducing. I'm looking forward to reading it. Thank you Jenny for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions. It's been a pleasure.

 Thanks so much for having me on your blog.

Find out more about Jenny Brown Website, Facebook, Twitter.

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ONCE UPON A TIME...

Two copies of Genie Knows Best are available to two commenters on today's blog.

My guest is romance writer, Judi Fennell.

Judi is a magically delicious storyteller and a dear friend from whom I've learn so much about this business. She's was also one of the first writers to read my work (a big moment of trepidation for me). 


Judi taught me the importance in having band-aids and the need of blood on standby after the reading and her comments. Yeah, I thought the manuscript was in imminent danger of bleeding to death, lol! 


But seriously, she also taught me the value of being objective of when it comes to your writing and critiques, the value of learning the craft of writing, and following your dreams—they don't magically. You work for them. 

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who liked to tell stories. From “Casper made me do it” when she rode her tricycle into the street, to the little raindrop who fell from the sky in that very first First Grade Essay, to Mr. Magical who lived in the sewer with a zebra-striped alligator, and Cotton The Lonely Rabbit, she always told stories. (Not fibs, mind you. I told stories. Fibs are an entirely different matter and not at all part of this discussion. And I totally plead the fifth on that.)

So the little girl wrote her stories, even won some awards for them, but the idea of becoming an actual Writer was laughable. Seriously, only those people could become authors. The exalted ones. The ones with talent. And agents. And editors. The general masses weren’t like these Authors.

Yet here I am today. An author. Who gets paid and has books on bookstore shelves. And has an agent and an editor. Even a publicist. And reviewers and, best of all, fans.

How did this happen?

You know, when I used to go to the library with my mom when I was younger and headed right to the romance section—and specifically the Ls and Ms (for Charlotte Lamb and Anne Mather), I had no idea “real people” could become authors. Books took me away to far off places. They taught me new things. They showed me heroines who could become who and what they wanted to be without compromising who they were. The stories fired my imagination and, in my voracious reading, I couldn’t imagine a better career.

But that was for those people. Not me.

As I said, I’ve always written. But it wasn’t until my youngest went to kindergarten that I sat down and wrote a “real” full length novel. (The one I wrote in 9^th grade when I had about as much life experience as an amoeba doesn’t count.) I had no idea what POV or head-hopping were. I had no idea about Goal, Motivation, or Conflict. I only knew that I had two characters who went through some stuff and ended up living happily ever after.

That first full length novel has been revised, oh, maybe a hundred times. I’m not exaggerating. I still have the earliest completed version. I mailed it to myself with a date stamp across the flap and thought that was a good enough copyright—told you I didn’t have a clue about any of this. I won’t even tell you how I mailed that first manuscript off to editors and agents in a way that makes me cringe to this day. I’ll never tell any of them that they once received a submission from me in a way that broke every rule I now know I should have adhered to. Well, except for the confetti. I didn’t put confetti in the envelope, thank God. One saving grace.

But I digress…

I’d written this story that had just popped into my head and then had no idea what to do with it. Hubs was the one who scoured the internet for Romance Writers of America and my local chapter. He even called the president to talk to her about me joining—all without me knowing he was doing this. Then he presented me with the meeting place, time, and driving directions, made play dates for the kids, and sent me on my way.

I can still remember the trepidation I felt going into that meeting. I mean, seriously, who did I think I was? I was going to be with real authors. I was a poser. A wannabe. They’d laugh me out of the meeting.

How wrong I was. Writers, especially romance writers, are some of the most encouraging, generous, knowledgeable, helpful, smart people I know. I remember meeting my very first published author at that meeting; she’d brought in copies of her latest release. Of course I bought one and of course I had her autograph it. We’ve become friends and I still have that book to this day.

But I left that meeting with utter excitement. I could do this! Others had done it. Other people just like me, with kids and homes and husbands and jobs. People who had the same dream.

This month, my fifth “dream” is being released from Sourcebooks Casablanca, the second in my Bottled Magic series, Genie Knows Best. And the thrill is as big and spine-shivering as the first book I released. The trepidation as I wait for reviewer and reader comments. The same impatience as I now await publication of the third book. The same angst as I work on my next proposal. The same worry that I won’t be able to do it again.

It’s a strange thing to be able to call myself an author. For years it was a dream. And, no, it didn’t happen overnight and there was no genie magic involved—how much easier that would have been. A lot of hard work. A lot of lonely hours with just my laptop and my imaginary characters to keep me company. A lot of “Don’t bother Mommy; she’s writing her book”s and a lot of take-out pizza.

And I wonder as I hold all five books in my hand (trust me, it doesn’t get old!) if someone out there who’s reading my stories has the same dream I had? Who wants to write but thinks she can’t be published. Who thinks that it’s only those people who can publish books. And I want to reach out to her and say, “You can do this. If the stories are inside of you, all you have to do is sit at the computer and type them up. Or write them by hand. Or dictate them into a recorder. Just get the stories out. That makes you an author. To become a published one takes more work, but you can’t be published if you don’t have a story to publish.”

Sia, I want to thank you for having me back on Over Coffee. You’ve been on this ride with me since before publication and I know it’s only a matter of time before you’ll hold your dream in your hands.

• To the readers out there—what are your perceptions of published authors? Am I alone in how I thought? And do you harbor the dream, too? 
• Or, if not to become an author, what is your dream? 
• And what’s holding you back from achieving it?

Genie Knows Best by Judi Fennell – In Stores November 2011

Be careful what you wish for… 

Samantha Blaine is about to make a fateful discovery. A tall, dark, handsome, ohmygosh kind of fateful discovery… 

Kal is very pleased to meet his attractive new master—especially since he intends to seduce her into granting him freedom. But when seriously dark magic spells trouble for both of them, Kal can’t help himself from falling for the woman who holds his fate in her hands…

 Warmly acclaimed by readers and critics alike, Judi Fennell brings to life a fabulous world of magic and mayhem where wishes come true in the most unexpected ways! Excerpt

BUY: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Indie-Bound.

Judi Fennell is an award-winning author and writes what she calls “fairy tales with a twist.” Her romance novels have been finalists in Gather.com's First Chapters and First Chapters Romance contests, and have won numerous RWA Chapter Awards, including the FF&P Prism Award, and the New Jersey Golden Leaf Award. Judi lives with her family in suburban Philadelphia, PA, where she is working on the next book in the Genie Trilogy, Magic Gone Wild, set for release in August 2012. 


For more information, please visit http://www.judifennell.com/, Facebook, Twitter.