Hey all,

Today I’m hanging with Cynthia Eden for her Deadly Days of Summer Contest. We’re talking about ENTWINED and I’m giving away a book! So hop on over to Cynthia’s blog to join in the fun.

And I keep meaning to post this but have been distracted by all the fab GH spotlights. Anyhoo…here’s the widget for my July 27th release, book 2 in the Eternal Guardians Series – ENTWINED! I’m thinking a contest is in order (I haven’t done one in a while), so if you’d like to win a $25 gift card to the bookstore of your choice, simply past this widget on your blog sidebar, FB page, etc and tell me in the comment section of this post where you posted it. I’ll draw a winner in the next couple weeks.

Thanks to all who spread the word about ENTWINED!

I’m in two places at once today.

I’m over at The Ruby Slippered Sisterhood talking about my twisted mind (and giving away a book!) and I’m also at the Bradford Bunch talking about the upcoming release of MARKED (and part of what has me uber-excited). Join me at one or both places!

Forget the brouhaha between RWA and Harlequin. There’s a bigger, more vicious war going on and it involves princesses. Go HERE to see what all the hubbub’s about.

And since you’re popping around…Today I’m guesting at both Novel Spaces and Fresh Fiction. Stop by and say hi and enter to win a book!

Hey, all. Happy Monday!

I have the cold from hell so I’m playing the anti-social card the last few days. This thing is just hanging around and doesn’t seem to be improving much. At this point I WISH it was the Swine Flu. Three days and then I’d be over it. But alas, no such luck.

Today I’m guest blogging at the new RomCom Blog, talking about series, sequels and Transformers 2. I’m also giving away a free book so stop by if you get the chance.

I’m also blogging over at Nobody Writes it Better about covers and how lucky I’ve been with mine. Stop by and join in the discussion about cover art preference.

And finally, now that I’m home my focus is trained on finishing the 2nd book in my Eternal Guardians series. It’s due soon so I may be in and out. But don’t forget to check back soon for deets on my upcoming contest. STOLEN SEDUCTION, the third Stolen book, releases December 29, 2009. It seems so far away, but really it’s not. It’s right around the corner!!

Hey all!

Today I’m blogging over at the Rose City Romance Group Signing
Join us in supporting local romance authors at our third annual Rose City Romance event! Meet these talented women, ask questions, and get books autographed in a casual setting. Featured authors include:

* Cathy Lamb (Almost Home)
* Delilah Marvelle (Lord of Pleasure)
* Minnette Meador (Edge of Honor)
* Jenna Bayley-Burke (Her Cinderella Complex)
* Meljean Brook (Demon Bound)
* Jean Johnson (The Sons of Destiny Series)
* Margaret Mallory (Knight of Desire)
* Gina Robinson (Spy Candy)
* Elisabeth Naughton (Stolen Heat)
* Hanna Rhys-Barnes (Widow’s Peak)
* Lisa Hendrix (Immortal Outlaw, Immortal Warrior)

Friday, September 18th @ 7pm Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd. (800) 878-7323

If you’re in the Portland area, I hope you stop by and say hi!

Yesterday I found out that STOLEN FURY finaled in the Golden Leaf Contest for published authors! Not bad for the first published contest I’ve entered.

And today I’m blogging about vampires and werewolves at Nobody Writes It Better. Stop by and leave me a comment!

Today is your LAST day to enter my STOLEN HEAT Release Contest! I’ll be taking entries up through 11:59 PST tonight! Don’t miss out!

Today’s final freebie guest author is Emily Bryan!

Oh, and I have good tidings of romantic joy! I have a holiday anthology coming out September 29th this year. USA Today Bestseller Jennifer Ashley, Alissa Johnson and I have teamed up to bring readers A CHRISTMAS BALL. The characters in all our stories will be attending the same grand event (even though a few of mine do not have invitations!). But YOU are definitely on the guest list. Please visit www.emilybryan.com to try an excerpt.

3) What’s the best compliment you ever got on your writing or book(s)?
“You kept me up all night.” is hand’s down the nicest thing a reader has ever told me. The best thing I’ve ever heard from another writer was, “You make me forget I’m a writer, too.”

4) What’s your writing schedule like?
I’m blessed to be able to write full-time now. I fiddle with my blog and emails till about 9 AM, then I turn on my writing music and get to work. I like to pick an instrumental movie soundtrack to write my stories to because there are no lyrics to distract me and a soundtrack covers a wide range of emotions. Plus when revisions come back, the music will put me right back into the world of my story. It’s like an autonomic response.

I break at noon for lunch and watch something on HG TV (I’m fascinated by people doing clever things with their interior design, but am quite satisfied with my white walls, thank you.) Then I head back to the world of my story. I aim for 10 pages a day. When I hit a wall, I spend 30 minutes on the treadmill, walk the dogs, or (as a last resort) do housework till the scene becomes clear in my mind. When my DH comes home from work, I’m home from work, too.

When I first started writing, I had a 40 hour a week day job as a banker. My DH says I enslaved people to debt by day and lust by night! Back then my page goal was 2 a day during the week. I’d jot down a couple paragraphs while I waited for my teammate to open the bank with me in the morning. I’d think about the scene I was working on if I got a minute during the day and after supper, I’d park myself in front of the computer and I couldn’t get up until I finished the 2 pages. On Saturday, my DH would clean and do laundry so I could write 10 pages, and on Sunday, I did 5. In this manner, I finished a 400 page manuscript every 4 months. It’s grueling, but totally doable.

5) If you could be one character from any book you’re read or written who would it be and why?
My goodness, I can’t limit it to just one. I’m like Ben Affleck in Shakespeare in Love when he bursts back into the theatre with a flourish of his cape. “Silence, you dog!” he says. “I am Hieronimo. I am Tamburlaine. I am Faustus. I am Barabbas, the Jew of Malta. Oh, yes Master Will, I am Henry the Sixth. What is the play and what is my part?”

I am every character I’ve ever written or read. We read to try on other people’s lives, to experience their triumphs and failures. Sorry, Elisabeth. I could never pick just one.

Thanks so much for having me here today. I’d like to offer a copy of VEXING THE VISCOUNT to someone who leaves a comment or question for me. Let me kick off the discussion by asking your readers a question.

Do you prefer alpha heroes or beta heroes?

First things first. A little light housekeeping…

I had one guest author who missed her day so we’ve rescheduled her for tomorrow. That means you have TWO more days to enter my big STOLEN HEAT contest (I’m extending it by a day). I will take entries for the contest up through 11:59pm PST Saturday, August 15, 2009. That ALSO means you get one more freebie guest author day, so check back on Saturday.

Have you entered the STOLEN HEAT contest yet? If not, get on it. Prizes include (just to refresh your memory):

1st Prize: $100 VISA Gift Card
2nd Prize: $20 Barnes & Noble Gift Card
3rd Prize: Autographed copies of the first two Stolen books:
STOLEN FURY & STOLEN HEAT

Go to Enter STOLEN HEAT Contest or click the link below:

And now, I’m thrilled to tell you who our guest author is today. Pocket author Karin Tabke!

Eight mercenary knights, each of them base born, each of them bound by unspeakable torture in a Saracen prison, each of them branded with the mark of the sword for life. Each of their destinies marked by a woman.

‘Twas whispered along the Marches the demon knights who rode upon black horses donned in black mail wielding black swords would slay any man, woman or child who dared look upon them. ‘Twas whispered their loyalty was only to the other and no man could split them asunder, nor was there enough gold or silver in the kingdom to buy their oath. ‘Twas well known each of them was touched not by the hand of God but by Lucifer himself.

‘Twas also whispered, but only by the bravest of souls, that each Blood Sword was destined to find only one woman in all of Christendom who would bear him and only him sons, and until that one woman was found, he would battle and ravage the land…

…but the darkest secret whispered was that there was one among them whose violent craving for the one woman he could not have would be the spark that would set an entire region on fire, and nearly bring down a kingdom, with the aftermath to be felt for the next thousand years.

“Tabke’s alpha heroes and strong-willed women captivate. Her third Blood Sword Legacy novel is a powerful battle-of-wills love story that resonates with the atmosphere of the era and simmering passion, betrayals and
politics that add depth to a stirring tale.“
– Romantic Times

“The third book in the Blood Sword Legacy series starts with a captivatingly gripping scene, and each new compelling scenario contains additional attention-grabbing circumstances.. Karin Tabke has created a rewarding masterpiece, one to be savored again and again.“
–Amelia Singletitle.com

Please welcome Karin to the blog!!

***
Thank you Elisabeth for having me!

1) What kind of books do you love to read and how do those stories impact your own writing?
I love dark, edgy sexy as hell reads. Hmm, maybe that’s why I write them?

2) What are you working on presently? What about upcoming releases?
I’m working on my first L.O.S.T., Last Option Special Team, book. The Dirty Dozen meets Mission Impossible with a slight paranormal element. No boundaries! It’s hawt! Look for it next June!

3) What’s the best compliment you ever got on your writing or book(s)?
You made me laugh, you made me cry, you made me sigh. I can’t stop thinking about your characters.

4) What’s your writing schedule like?
Manic. I write most days. I’ll write 20 pages one day, 4 the next and 20 again the next day, crash for a day then pick it back up. Primarily I’m a night writer. 11p.m. to 4 a.m. I am at my most productive. I love to write at night when the house is quiet.

5) If you could be one character from any book you’re read or written who would it be and why?
I’d be any one of my heroines, doesn’t matter which. And if you’ve read any of my books and know how scrumptious my heroes are you’d know why!

Find Karin at the following places:
www.karintabke.com
www.twitter.com/karintabke
www.facebook.com/karin.tabke
www.myspace.com/karintabke
www.MurderSheWrites.com
wanna say hello or ask a question? Karin@KarinTabke.com

A KNIGHT TO REMEMBER Free Read!
http://www.simonandschuster.com/giveaways/karin-tabke-free-download

***
Karin is giving away a copy of MASTER OF SURRENDER, book one in the Blood Sword Legacy series. To be entered into the drawing, simply answer the following question:

Who’s your favorite alpha hero of all time?

Time is ticking. Only two days left to enter…

Today’s guest author is Liane Spicer!

Londoner Shari Zamore’s carefully constructed world is falling down around her ears, so she runs away to her family’s home in Trinidad where she encounters Michael Chancery, a stubborn, sexy man determined to make her face all the things she desperately wants to forget. Her plan is to love him, leave him, and then return to the life she left on hold. But Michael doesn’t give up easily, and he’ll use every tool in his sensual arsenal, every moment of each heated tropical night to convince Shari that her place is on the island…and that his heart belongs to her.

“… a steamy, hot romance… I loved this book because of its brilliant flavor, rich aroma and the way it perked up my spirits.”
- Romance Readers at Heart

“Even if the reader has never set foot in the Caribbean, the sights and sounds, perfectly described in this book, will make you feel like you’re there… throw in some unexpected drama, and you’ve got yourself an entertaining novel.”
–Romantic Times Book Reviews

Please welcome Liane to the blog!

***
1) What kind of books do you love to read and how do those stories impact your own writing?
My tastes run the gamut from the classics to romance, from thrillers to sci-fi, memoirs, biographies, the works. The exception is anything containing extremely graphic violence. There are two key elements in my choices, and genre isn’t one of them: one is story, and the other the quality of the writing. Reading has been a lifelong addiction and having spent most of my life immersed in books writing them seemed the next logical step. The impact of all those books on my own writing is visceral; I’m incapable of analyzing it.

2) What are you working on presently? What about upcoming releases?
I’m working on licking my second novel into shape. It’s romantic suspense and although the main characters are from the Caribbean, the setting is Miami this time around.

3) What’s the best compliment you ever got on your writing or book(s)?
My agent, Susan Schulman, was the second person to read my manuscript. (The first was a friend who read the first draft.) Susan said she loved the story and the writing and wanted to rep me, and I was floored because it was my first feedback from an industry pro. When she sold Café au Lait a few months later she said something along the lines of: “I’ve been in this business a long time and I can tell. You’re a writer. It’s what you do.” To date, her compliments are the ones I cherish the most.

4) What’s your writing schedule like?
I fit it in when and where I can since I do have a day job. I’m a moody writer in the sense that I write when the mood strikes me, so I need to develop the kind of routine where I sit and write whether or not I feel like it. I’m working on finding that discipline.

5) If you could be one character from any book you’re read or written who would it be and why?
I’ve never wanted to be anyone else but I do admit that the Isadora Wing character from Erica Jong’s How To Save Your Own Life makes me rather envious of her free-spiritedness and lack of inhibition, what with her two lovers in the afternoon and her headlong dive into a love affair with a friend’s son. If I had to wear someone else’s skin it would be hers or that of someone like her – but only in my fantasies!

***
Liane has donated a copy of CAFE AU LAIT to one lucky commenter. To be entered into th drawing, simply answer the following question:

Whose compliments do you cherish most and why?