Author Interview: Lisa Pietsch

Please welcome author, Lisa Pietsch, to my blog. Be sure to leave comments and ask questions.


Ashley: Why do you write romance?

Lisa: I write romance because we all might as well be dead without it. Passion is what colors our lives. I may not remember my hairstyle in 1992 but I can give you every detail about my lover at the time.



Ashley: What romance subgenres do you write in? Why?

Lisa: I love action/adventure and suspense. I've been hooked ever since I saw Romancing The Stone.



Ashley: Are you aware of any themes that run through your stories? If so, what are they?

Lisa: My heroines always find themselves on The Hero's Journey. They discover their strengths, overcome their weaknesses and find their true selves.



Ashley: What would you like readers to take away from your stories?

Lisa: I would love if my readers could come away from my books believing they could be a heroine too.



Ashley: What inspires your stories?

Lisa: My own military experience, international news, dreams and other flights of fancy.



Ashley: Will you be attending any book or writing conferences this year? If yes, which ones? Where and when?

Lisa: Unfortunately, no. We're a military family about to move from Colorado to Texas and our oldest child is about to start kindergarten so I'll be staying close to home for a while.



Ashley: What is your writing schedule?

Lisa: I always snicker when people ask this question. I have a five-year-old, a two-year-old, two dogs and a military husband. I don’t have a schedule. I have stolen moments throughout the day. Since those moments are rarely at my computer, I do most the bulk of my writing on my Palm Smartphone.



Ashley: Do you have any other passions besides writing? If yes, what are they? Why?

Lisa: I love action movies (and the men in them). You know - men with muscles, large explosions, guns… Jason Statham in the Transporter movies, Hugh Jackman in X Men, Matt Damon in the Bourne movies, Diesel, Stallone, Schwarzennegger, Snipes, Willis. I’m passionate about all of them and it is evident in my regular Friday blog, Hot Guys with Guns http://lisapietsch.com/category/hot-guys-with-guns/.



Ashley: What is the best memory?

Lisa: I’ve had so many. Drinking tequila in Mexico (though some of that memory is blurred), holding my newborn sons in my arms, marrying my husband, seeing the man who would be my husband for the first time, crawling around pits of TNT while under heavy fire from M-60 machine guns, lying on a warm rock under the midday sun in a grove of lilacs. I could never pick one best memory when I’ve had several lifetimes worth of really amazing ones.



Ashley: What is your favorite comfort food?

Lisa: Pizza.



Ashley: What relaxes you?

Lisa: Tequila, unless I’m in the mood to scrap.



Ashley: What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

Lisa: Getting a massage.



Ashley: What decade has been your favorite? Why?

Lisa: The 90’s were pretty good to me. When you’re young, hot, single and packing a machine gun, the world is your oyster.



Ashley: What is your favorite way to promote?

Lisa: If I could promote my books while drinking tequila that would be the best. In the absence of that, I love chatting with people online.



Ashley: Where is your favorite place to write? Why?

Lisa: Any place where there aren’t screaming children. I’ve done some great writing in my Jeep, parked in a Wal Mart parking lot while my son slept in his car seat.



Ashley: What is your favorite fairy tale? Why?

Lisa: The Ugly Duckling because I’d like to think I could be a swan someday.



Ashley: What was your favorite vacation?

Lisa: Cruising to Mexico with my husband. We went to Mazatlan, Puerta Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. Great tequila at Cabo Wabo Cantina and the house band rocks!



Ashley: If you had another career, what was it?

Lisa: I’ve had quite a few. Other than motherhood, the one that meant the most to me was being a Security Specialist in the Air Force. Hot guys, guns, handcuffs…what’s not to like?



Ashley: If you didn’t write, what would you do instead?

Lisa: Mixed Martial Arts.



Ashley: If you could have one wish, what would it be?

Lisa: To win 32 million dollars.



Ashley: If you could describe yourself in only one word, what would it be?

Lisa: Bitch.

Ashley: LOL :)

Ashley: Are you a cat or dog person? Do you have any pets and if so, please tell us about them.

Lisa: I’m a dog person but I have known a few cats whose company I’ve enjoyed. I have two dogs: Freya is a German Shepherd we adopted at about four months and named for a Viking goddess. She’s nine now and a perpetual puppy. Roady is a German Shepherd/Rhodesian Ridgeback mix we adopted four years ago from the Ridgeback Rescue Ranch in Paradise, Texas. We had lost our first dog, Thor, a year prior to adopting Roady. When we saw Roady, who had the same coloring and facial markings as Thor, we knew we needed to adopt him. Both are wonderful pets, friends and children.



Ashley: What is the one thing you most want to do that you haven’t yet?

Lisa: Mixed Martial Arts.



Ashley: Please tell us about your most recent release and where we can purchase it.

Lisa: A Taste of Liberty is the second story in the Task Force 125 series begun with The Path to Freedom. In A Taste of Liberty, the former ugly duckling, Sarah Stevens, finally has a life. Instead of the same old life with no man around who is worth the energy, now she has three! One she loves but cannot have, one she can have but cannot love, and another who wants her and doesn’t care if she loves him. What’s a girl to do?

Lisa: You can get a taste of the first chapter on my website at: http://lisapietsch.com/task-force-125-books/tf1252/ or buy it at http://www.sapphirebluepublishing.com/catalog/index.php?manufacturers_id=22&osCsid=a5013264ac087c070ee3a500a907cdf5

Ashley: Please give us your urls and your publisher’s url.

My publisher is Sapphire Blue Publishing: http://www.sapphirebluepublishing.com/catalog/

My website: http://www.LisaPietsch.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lisa.pietsch

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/lisampietsch

Twitter: http://twitter.com/lisapietsch

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lmpietsch

Ashley: Is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers? Please do so here.

Lisa: As a thank you to my blog readers, I choose one email subscriber to my blog on a random day every month and give them the Sapphire Blue Publishing book of their choice (it doesn’t even have to be one of mine). Readers can subscribe at http://www.LisaPietsch.com.

Thanks for having me!

Thank you Lisa! It's been a real pleasure to have you visit.

Guest blogger: Author Liz Jasper

Please welcome my guest blogger today, guest author Liz Jasper. My apologies for posting this late. I thought I had ALL of the interview up, not just a few words. My husband calls it "Oldsheimers'" disease. I'll leave this up for tomorrow, Sunday, April 5, 2009 as well so that Liz will have her time here. I'll post otherwise tomorrow on the 5th at Hitting The Hotspot Blog for TEB so come and visit me there, too.

UNDERDEAD

By Liz Jasper

www.lizjasper.com

Winner of the 2008 EPPIE Award for Best Mystery

Go Green, Read an e-book!

Did you know if you read 20 books a year in e-book format instead of the printed version and switched to reading two newspapers on-line, you'd save a tree a year…plus associated pollution costs from making paper, transporting books, etc. etc. That stat might not fit your reading habits, but still, it makes a good point. Given all the readers out there, switching even to a few ebooks a year adds up to a lot of saved forests. And though the recent release of the Kindle 2 (and its software made available free on iPhone) makes reading e-books easy and effortless, you do not need a special device to read e-books. (If you're reading this, you can read an e-book.)

And, though about half of e-books sold are romances, the e-book market has recently taken off and you can easily find books in every genre. So why not give e-books a try?

* * * * *

Blurb:

Science teacher Jo Gartner thinks teaching geology to hormonal pre-teens is deadly... until she is bitten by an inept vampire and becomes UNDERDEAD--all the problems of being a vampire, none of the perks.

When she finds a body on her classroom floor with teeth marks in his neck, she must figure out who is trying to frame her for murder before her Underdead secret gets out. But she's running out of time. The detective in charge of the case is dogging her every move, her vampire traits are evolving in new and embarrassing ways, and someone wants Jo dead...the traditional way!

Excerpt:

“You should go talk to him,” Becky said, giving me a nudge.

“In front of everyone? You’ve got to be joking.” My legs felt like jelly. I gave myself a shake. I was being ridiculous, overreacting. Becky was right. If this was my response to the first good-looking man I saw, I really did need to get out more.

“Please. There’s smart, and then there’s stupid,” Carol said. “You’re going to let Roger and a bunch of old gossipy biddies keep you from a man like that?”

Carol was right. It was time I showed a little backbone. “Not when you put it that way,” I said. I risked a glance back in his direction. He was watching the band, giving me a good look at his profile. It was gorgeous too.

Too gorgeous, actually. Sanity returned. I turned around more firmly in my chair.

“Go on.” Becky gave me another little push.

I didn’t budge. “No way,” I said. “There’s something wrong with him.”

“What? What is wrong with him?” Carol demanded.

“He’s boring, he’s vain, he has six wives in various countries, he lives in a yurt with fifteen Chihuahuas, he sells deodorant for a living—I don’t know, but I stand by my theory. No one can be that good-looking and have a personality.”

“Oh, for goodness sake!” Carol said. “What a load of crap!”

Becky gave her a stunned look at this unexpected reversal of argument. Carol never backed off something that had been written up in Scientific American.

Carol continued, on a roll now. “Stop inventing reasons to avoid talking to him. If you want to forgo meeting fabulous men to sit here with the likes of us for the rest of your life, be my guest.” Her glasses had slid down her nose and she glared over the top of them at me.

“What she said,” Becky said. “Though I don’t know why you’d even care if he has thirty wives and eats deodorant for a living. You don’t need to have him around for scintillating conversation—look at him! He’s so hot he doesn’t need a personality. What do you want to talk to him for anyway?”

“Gotta love liberated women,” I muttered. “Equal opportunity chauvinism.”

* * * * *

A bit about my blog campaign:

Liz Jasper is the award-winning mystery author of Underdead and its sequel, Underdead in Denial, both available in e-book format. She's also an avid e-book reader, blogging this month for All Romance e-books' Go Green/Read e Campaign. Find out more about the Go Green/Read e Campaign at www.gogreenreade.com. To learn more about Liz Jasper and to read excerpts and reviews of her books, visit her website at www.lizjasper.com.

You can find Liz Jasper's Underdead mysteries and thousands of other e-books on-line at www.allromancee-books.com.

Liz Jasper

Award-winning mystery author

UNDERDEAD, UNDERDEAD IN DENIAL

www.lizjasper.com You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Guest Blogger: Skhye Moncrief romance author

Please welcome my guest today, author Skhye Moncrief. RESEARCH: THE ENDLESS JOURNEY I'm Skhye Moncrief, and I blog about reference books at SKHYE'S RAMBLINGS, http://blog.skhyemoncrief.com. Whatever I note from resources such as things that are interesting or made some connection between other books I've used in research are what you'll find on my blog at SKHYE'S RAMBLINGS. First, I'm considered a nutty professor. So, it's not odd that you'll find me blogging about rocks, historical periods, poetry, deep space, astrology, society, life, and death. I'm formally educated in geology and anthropology and often talk about strange things. ;) My reference-book blog posts document my personal library for insurance purposes. I've had to evacuate from approaching hurricanes twice in the past three years. The thought of losing the books that have marched through grad school and my Time Guardian series just makes me ill. So, voila, Skhye's Ramblings is where you can find a research book or two to help you with your current wip. But what about research? Most people rely on the internet for research material. I've been beat over the head enough in college not to do so. So, how do I do research? BIBLIOGRAPHIES I've learned most people don't check out bibliographies in something they've picked up to use for research. I have found more valuable research material by jotting down a list of books and articles to check out this way. Flip to the back of something you're using for research... Look at the references listed by the author. There's gold in them there hills! Although, I usually wait to go with the current wave of thought by reading multiple sources and looking for what is accepted in a field of study. Fiction authors don't have to do this. Albeit, if you're writing historicals, you should get most of the details correct. My work is cross-genre fantasy-historical romance. My works take place along the time line and often fall in historical periods. Reconstructing the world is the name of the game in historicals. But weaving in fantasy gives an author the opportunity to play with things. AMAZON.COM Another place I've seen authors forget to research is www.amazon.com. If you search for a topic, the database will provide you with a list of books, movies, etc. Never forget to do an amazon search. ;) INTERNET RESEARCH I often begin research by searching for topics that will offer hard/book resources I can get to read at my leisure. How does a person google a topic? Well, the trick is to get the most specific buzz word(s) for a search. Do you want Scotland, medieval Scotland, or 13th Century Scotland? A search with those different terms will produce different hits. Are you searching for a person's name? Does the person have a title or a nickname? I remember searching for a man who lived during the War of the Roses. Oy! His son had the same name... After hours of running in circles, I figured him out. But, you ask when is it safe to draw the line with online research? You may say enough is enough when the information repeats itself. For example, you've read information at 12 websites and the last 5 have said the same thing. Rest peacefully and move onto a new research dilemma. For the record, I usually find a topic's basic factoid guts at www.wikipedia.com. INTERLIBRARY LOAN Don't forget that your library will borrow books from other libraries if you need something specialized. Best of luck with your writing and researching! ~Skhye

Who is your favorite romantic hero and heroine (movies or books) and why? My favorite hero in a romance novel is in Christine Feehan's MIND GAMES. I've admitted this somewhere else... I don't know why! I think he's just a hunky take-charge kind of guy.

5)

6) Where do you get your ideas for your stories?

Let me surprise you! My ideas come from watching documentaries. Bet you didn't see that one coming. I can usually get three stories out of a 1-hour documentary. Scary! )

Do you have a theme running through your stories? What are your usual settings for your stories? What are they and why? The theme in my Time Guardian series is what can you believe about history or essentially reality. We all live our separate little lives, coming and going, overlapping each other's spheres of activity. So, why not stop and ponder why things are the way they are outside yourself? Even if it's only for the briefest moment in one of my fantasy romances. My settings usually fall in the present, in the UK, ending up in a Scottish castle where my Time Guardians hole up. ;) But the story about King Arthur, HE OF THE FIERY SWORD, primarily takes place in medieval Ireland. THE SPELL OF THE KILLING MOON occurs in medieval northern England. FORBIDDEN ETERNITY, SACRIFICIAL HEARTS, and NAKED ON THE STAIRCASE move around the present in the UK. The UK location has to do with the Scottish castle--owned by the only person other than the Crown who can maintain a standing army. And this person's standing army is composed of my Time Guardians. Hence, the location.

8) If you have a pen name, how did you choose it? If you don’t have a pen name, what would you choose if you decide to take one?

My pseudonym is numerologically a lucky rabbit's foot. I wanted a Scottish surname with all the numbers between 1-9 that gave me a full house. (Refer to Norman Shine's NUMEROLOGY). Skhye has an "h" because I needed a letter with its value to get all the numbers between 1-9... Long story. My Time Guardians time travel with numerology. It just seemed like a cool and lucky thing to mispell the name... It's almost impossible for me to type sky fast without an "h".

9) What part of the world is your favorite? Where would you like to visit that you haven’t yet?

Well, Scotland and Ireland have always been at the top of my list with Iceland and Easter Island. I'm quite fond of Central American pyramids after grad school. Other large monuments are equally appealing. ;)

"Don’t sweat the small stuff, Aron." Cowboy threw the knapsack’s wide flap open and glanced sideways at her.

Her eyes widened like a kid in sugar heaven. He plucked out a M68 grenade, his choice for her given it wouldn’t detonate until impact.

"These are jawbreakers." He placed the elliptical explosive on the counter and grabbed a stun grenade—a lightweight M451 explosive proving essential in blinding and disorienting bystanders with bright flashes of light and high-pitched sounds. "That’s your ultra-sour gummy bear." He placed the M451 beside the M68.

"And here’s your run-of-the-mill red hots." He pulled at one AN-M14—an incendiary grenade capable of burning at 2,200 degrees Centigrade for half a minute. He set the cylindrical explosive next to the others.

She reached for them.

Too fast. He grabbed her wrist. "Hold on, Lara Croft. You gotta learn the rules or your teeth will rot."

"Who’s Lara Croft?"

Nice twinkle of jealousy in her eyes. "A heroine in a story who lives and dies by weapons."

She stared at her reflection in the mirror and rolled those baby blues.

Laughing would only tick her off. "If you don’t learn to brush your teeth, you’ll wish you had. I’d hate for you to loose an arm." Or kill his heart if she died using an explosive improperly. Talk about blood on one’s hands.

Her reflection’s gaze locked on meet his. "Please spare me the analogy. Do these all blow Its to bits?"

"No." Revealing the grenade she had been using gave her a four to five-second window before detonation was not what he preferred to do.

Babes shouldn’t be airbrushed nor maimed. Women with curves and limbs rated right up there with breathing to men.

She scowled at him.

"Calm down." He pushed her arm back to her side and rooted around in the bag for the bomb ranking numero uno with terrorists.

Smooth and rough surfaces bumped into his hands.

He shoved them aside. "What you’ve been using was all I had at the time. Although the Soviet RGD-5 is exceptionally successful, I’d say you’re risking life and limb dancing with it in your pretty little hand."

"What?" she squawked like a goose.

Gods, he despised cranky geese. With the luck he’d run into lately, any second, she would change into a goose like in all those Celtic tales he was forced to read. Or were those swans? He shook the thought from his head, placed the SGD-5 next to the other explosives on the counter, and locked his gaze on Red’s ruby lips.

A man would be a fool to let her play with the grenades. Her sweet small nose could be sliced off her face in a nanosecond. "The projectiles it sprays an area with aren’t kind on soft skin or anything living."

Her disgusted mask drained of color. "You mean shrapnel? I wasn’t thinking of flying dirks back then. Not to mention, I never saw one scrap of metal."

True. He hadn’t thought of shrapnel at all. For some reason, It turned into tangible preserves during a grenade explosion. But not one bit of metal landed in the deluge. He scooted one side of his butt onto the cold stone countertop.

"You know." He met her gaze. "Something’s odd here. It can attack us here or in the blister armor but never do we see one remnant of the grenade after it has exploded inside It."

Red’s gaze widened then narrowed with intrigue. She grabbed the SGD-5 and tried to cram it in her pocket.

No luck with those form-fitting jeans. Purchase your copy of NAKED ON THE STAIRCASE: in paperback HAUNTED HEARTS at http://tinyurl.com/ahjmz2 in e-format http://www.thewildrosepress.com/naked-on-the-staircase-p-980.html Thank you, Skhye for being my guest today. Good luck with your book. Ashley

Guest Blogger: Author J. K. Coi

Please welcome today's guest author J.K. Coi. It's my pleasure to host her and I hope you'll ask her lots of questions and make her feel welcome.

J.K. COI—LIVING WITH IMMORTALS

Yep, I live with Immortals. Huge, stubborn warriors who barely know the meaning of compromise and never give up until they get exactly what they want. Difficult to reason with and impossible to out-muscle...but at least they don’t scare my neighbours and eat me out of house and home. They don’t leave the toilet seat up or throw their torn, bloodstained laundry on the floor. I don’t have to wrestle any one of them for the television remote, and they don’t destroy my living room with their swords when they’re training.

They just do all of that in my head.

Yes, I’m probably a little bit crazy (really, what writer isn’t?) but I’ve read the self-help books, taken the 12-step program, and I’m finally willing to admit it to the world: My characters are real to me.

Then again, that’s not so strange. I hope that they will become real to you as well after you read my books. Because, you see, that is the goal of every writer. To create such compelling heroes and heroines, to paint such vivid pictures with words, that the story runs through your head like a blockbuster movie and stays with you long after you’ve finished reading. You should breathe in the scents and textures of that world, cry when the characters hurt, frown and throw things when they are insufferable, and laugh at their lame jokes just as you would for your sweet husband (*kidding, he’s hilarious*).

This is why I am proud to say that I live with Immortals. Like all of us real people do, these strong, alpha warriors have a past, and they have baggage that affects how they deal with others. They have experienced frustration, desire, happiness. My characters have suffered with me, grown and matured with me as we have hashed out their stories together. And I am happy, in turn, to be able to share that with all of you.

So I invite you into my world. Come and meet my immortals...

Dark Immortal (Book 3, Immortal Series)

Five years of happiness, erased in one vicious act of violence. Diana freed Alric from his prison and the insanity of his own mind, offering him the kind of love only a fool would deny. Now she lies broken and comatose from a vampire attack, locked deep inside herself where he cannot reach her. Awakening in a strange bed, Diana has no memory of how she got there. The huge, muscled man leaning over her is straight out of nightmares full of blood and pain. Married to him? It can’t be true…even if her body craves his touch, and the anguish in his eyes shatters something deep inside her. Alric has no intention of giving up on the woman who never stopped fighting for him. His one hope is that time will heal her mind. But with a demon god poised to tip the balance of power, time is not on their side…

© Dark Immortal (Book 3, Immortal Series) by J.K. Coi

Alric lifted a hand to her face, lightly trailing a curled finger down her cheek. Callused and rough, but warm on her skin.

She started, her gaze jerking back up to his. His hand was too large, like the rest of him. She knew very well there was little she could do if he decided to use that size and strength against her.

And so did he.

It should scare the crap out of her, but even so, she didn’t pull back from him.

He touched her with such gentle care, almost trepidation. As if he were more afraid of her, of what she might do, than she was of him. Curiosity rode her. If by some fantastical twist of fate this man was telling her the truth, then she would know from his kiss.

Won’t I?

More to the point, if he kissed her and she felt nothing, then they would both know it. She would be able to put aside the ridiculous uncertainty that continued to torment her once and for all, and maybe he would even let her go.

His gaze shifted to her mouth before he closed the distance. Warm, firm...but light. He was giving her all the time in the world to reject his touch and pull away. When she didn’t do so immediately, he groaned and leaned in closer. There was nothing demanding in his kiss, and yet she felt as if she were being marked, as if this one kiss could break down all of her walls and leave her shivering and vulnerable.

“Diana.” He murmured her name as if it were made to be uttered in his deep voice, his breath stealing between her slightly parted lips. His hand curved around the back of her head, holding her to him with the gentlest of tethers as he slid his tongue across her lips.

The kiss changed. From soft and unthreatening, to one that hungered—and dared her to feed the hunger. Accept it. Crave it.

Oh God.

Dark Immortal is being released by Linden Bay Romance (http://www.lindenbayromance.com/product-darkimmortal-7307-193.html) on February 15, 2009.

Please sign up for my newsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jkcoi/join, and visit me at my website for more information about upcoming books, chats, interviews, reviews, and all things Immortal: http://www.jkcoi.com. I’m also on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jkcoi and I blog at http://www.jkcoi.blogspot.com.

Thank you so much to Ashley for having me today!

J.K. Coi Immortals to Die For www.jkcoi.com

You're so very welcome, JK. I hope you'll drop by again. I've so enjoyed having you as my guest.

You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Guest Blogger: Author Emily Bryan

Please give a big, hearty welcome to my guest author today, Emily Bryan. She has a great article for us that all writers should read, IMHO. First, however, is my interview with Emily. At the end is an exciting excerpt from her latest novel.

How much time do you spend writing versus promoting?

It depends. Right now, with my 50day/50 blog marathon AND a looming deadline for my next project, I’m dividing my time pretty evenly. Each morning I start by checking my previous day’s blog, having my DH randomly pick the winner, and then I begin spreading the news about the current day’s blog. Once I’ve done all I can to make the blogtour work, I turn to my current WIP (my Christmas novella—It’s part of an anthology with USA Today Best Seller Jennifer Ashley and Alissa Johnson). I spend a couple hours in Writerland, doing all I can to thwart my hero and heroine before I reward them with love everlasting. If I’ve hit my target page count for my WIP, I spend some time writing ahead for the next week of blogposts, trying very hard not to repeat myself. I have some very loyal blog “touristas” and I don’t want to bore them.

While I’m walking my dogs, I kick around ideas for the next proposal. I run dialogue in my head while I fold the laundry. By the time, my DH calls to say he’s on his way home, I’m ready to leave Writerland and lounge around with him in the real world.

What part of the world is your favorite?

I have two and I can’t choose between them. One is the village of Hana on the windward side of Maui. It’s only accessible by a narrow road that snakes through miles of tropical rainforest, past bamboo thickets and waterfalls and views of the Pacific that are postcard perfect on each turn. I go to Hana in my mind almost every day. My other favorite is an isolated valley in the shadow of the Bear Tooth Range in Montana just outside the northeast entrance to Yellowstone. A creek riots down the mountainside and then wanders through the lowland, backed up with beaver dams into quiet pools. Wildflowers bloom in profusion, Indian paintbrush and Shasta daisies nodding in the tall grass. It’s the only place I’ve ever been that’s more beautiful than I remembered it each time I return.

Where would you like to visit that you haven’t yet? I’d love to go to Rome. The music, the art, the food and my daughter assures me the most handsome men in the world live there!

What is your most dearly held fantasy?

I would love to circumnavigate the globe. I fantasize about taking a world cruise with my DH, visiting exotic ports of call and making love in every time zone.

What would people be surprised to know about you that most are unaware of?

I have ridden an elephant. Is that surprising enough? Not a recommended mode of travel. They have very bony spines.

Where can we find you during the next year? 2009 is going to be a busy one for me. I have 2 releases—Vexing the Viscount on February 24^th and the holiday anthology at the end of October. Check http://www.emilybryan.com/Events.htm for updates on my blog tour and signings. I’ll be speaking at several conferences all over the country. Hope to see you along the way!

What is your best advice for pre-published and newly published writers? Almost everyone says they’d like to write a book. If you’ve finished a manuscript, you are light-years ahead of the writer wanna-be’s. Be proud of yourself. But at the same time, be teachable. Writing is an ocean. I’m still just dabbling my toes in the shallow end. There is always more to learn. Don’t give up.

For newly published writers, I’ll pass on the advice NY Times BestSeller Bobbi Smith gave me.

“Stay published.”

Writers are expected to be prolific. Be prepared to produce. If you let too long lapse between titles you run the risk of losing your readership. Work toward at least one title a year, more if you can manage it without sacrificing quality. Good luck!

Thanks for hosting me today, Ashley! I’d like to give away a copy of Vexing the Viscount to one commenter today, so be sure to leave your questions. My DH will draw the winner first thing tomorrow, so be sure to check back to see if you’re the lucky one!

And now for an excellent article from Emily with advice to heed.

Emily Bryan’s Fool-proof System for Avoiding Publication

Anyone can give you ideas to help you get published. Here's a few helpful hints to make sure you never have to worry about getting The Call.

1. Never finish a manuscript. Surely just your premise scrawled quickly onto the back of a napkin ought to be enough. It's the idea that counts.

2. Don't accept critique from others. It's your story. You should be able to tell it from the heroine’s dog’s points of view if you want. And be sure to ignore the publisher's guidelines. They want your manuscript double-spaced in Courier New 12 pt? Well, isn't that silly? You can fit twice as many words if you single-space. And if you use Ariel 8 pt., I bet you can cram even more on each page.

3. Never be willing to revise. Why mess with perfection? Your mother loves your story just as it is.

4. Agent-schmagent! Who needs another hand in your pocket? Sure, the publisher's guidelines require agented submissions, but that's just for those other less-inspired writers. Besides, if you're a tough negotiator on your advance, that editor will think twice about trying to cross you with pesky revision requests later.

5. Be as nasty as you can to other writers. After all, we're all going for the same finite number of slots. Leave the encouragement and mentoring of other authors to the Mother Theresa's of the writing world.

6. When you pitch, make sure you tell the editor how lucky he/she is to have found the next Nora Roberts. Of course, once she reads your 800,000 word manuscript, she'll realize how brilliant you are. But it never hurts to be cocky . . . er, I mean, confident.

7. Don't join RWA or some other writer's group. If they knew so much, they'd all be published. Besides, one of them might steal your idea for that genre-bending futuristic, erotic, chick-lit western mystery.

8. If you attend a writer's conference, be sure to stalk the editors. They like the attention. If you want to be totally memorable, shove your complete manuscript under the bathroom stall door to them. That'll get your work noticed! And I guarantee they'll remember your name. They might even tell their friends.

9. If you do finish a manuscript, make sure you don't start a second one before the first one sells. Just keep sending the same manuscript out to as many houses as you can, whether they publish your type of story or not. For good measure, if one editor at a publishing house rejects you, make sure you send it to all the other editors at the same house. Won't that first editor feel silly when the fifth editor buys your work? After all, it's not as if they talk to each other or, heaven forbid, consult with each other on their acquisition decisions.

10. Don't give away the ending in your synopsis. What better way to make an editor request the full manuscript than to finish up your outline with a coy, "If you want to know how it all turns out, you have to read the full manuscript!" Besides, they really need to read the whole thing to understand why you decided to kill off the hero on the last page.

If you follow these guidelines, I can virtually guarantee you'll never be bothered by a contract offer. However, if your goal is actually to see your writing in print, you might want to forget these rules or even do the opposite.

Happy Writing! And now an exciting excerpt from Emily's latest book:

Daisy masquerades as a French courtesan, she and Lucian are playing a very naughty card game!

Daisy felt like a plucked string. Her whole body seemed to vibrate in concert with her breasts.

One side of Lucian’s mouth hitched upward as he slowly pulled back his hand.

Daisy bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out for him to continue. Who would have thought a woman’s nipples were so sensitive?

“And now, mademoiselle,” Lucian said, “I believe we have a card game to finish.”

Whether by accident or design, Lucian’s luck soured. Daisy found herself fighting to control the tremble in her hands as she undid his breeches buttons. More than once, her fingers brushed his hardened groin in the process.

What’s he got in there? A lead pipe?

He was still covered by his drawers, but only barely and he’d just turned up the losing hand.

He made a ‘tsking’ noise with his tongue and teeth. “Looks like I can’t draw a winning card to save my soul.”

“Oh, my dear Lucian,” she said. “I greatly fear this game is of no benefit to your soul whatsoever.”

“Maybe not, but the rest of me enjoys it immensely.” Lucian stood, the better to present his remaining buttons.

She willed her hands not to tremble as she unfastened one side of his drop-front fly. The thin cotton fell forward and the tip of him was exposed above the cloth.

She’d seen artistic representations of penises in terra cotta. The little Roman lamp sprang to mind. And a few in granite, most notably the one on the nude statue in Lord Wexford’s grotto in the center of his garden maze. There were even one or two displayed in quiescent form in the classical painting in Aunt Isabella’s boudoir.

But this was the first one Daisy had seen in the flesh. Of course, she could only see the head, the dark skin pulled smooth. Already, she could tell the little Roman lamp hadn’t been anywhere near life-sized. Lucian’s penis leaned toward her of its own accord, straining at its cotton prison.

“Remember,” he said, his tone husky, “in this game, what we can see, we can touch.”

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Vexing-the-Viscount/Emily-Bryan/e/9780843961348/?itm=1 http://www.emilybryan.com Thank you, thank you, Emily for being such an awesome guest today. Please stop by often. Ashley You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Discovering talent

What part of "emergency" and "hardship" don't people or corporations understand? Worse, why would they lie and placate and say "you'll have your money at latest by..." and then two weeks later, after the deadline, it's still not there? Worse yet, they keep changing their story so much your head spins. Obviously this happened to me recently. 2009's been a real nightmare so far, but luckily, it's turning out okay in the end. I missed several days blogging. I barely managed to get through the day job with a smile and not spilling my guts or having the screaming meemies, do some edits and finish stories for my editor, and drive without crashing. Someone got peeved at me for missing a blog and I'm truly sorry, but there was only so much I could hold together and I think I did pretty well. No, I won't get into the nitty gritty. I'll merely say the crisis was finally averted, at the last moment, and without help from the people who kept giving false promises. We'll be fine, but it was touch and go till the last moment. I hope never to have to go through that again. On a much happier, peppier note, I feel like I've discovered a wonderful new writer. I think I know what editors feel like when they find a new voice. One of my new critique partners is absolutely awesome. Well, not to put anyone down, several are quite good and another is also wonderful - but she already is published and has an agent so she's already been discovered. I suggested to the one in question to submit the story to one of my publishers. The story is extremely contemporary and also flowing over with emotion. It just grabbed me. I love it. It deserves to be published and soon. Her other story's fantastic, too, but this one in particular made me fall in love with it. Make sure you pop in tomorrow to my blog to visit with romance author Emily Bryan. We'll have a fun and enlightening day. You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Guest Blogger: Author Margay Leah Justice

Please welcome this week's guest author blogger, Margay Leah Justice. Make her feel at home by leaving questions and comments. I wouldn't mind some either. :)

1) What are your best promotion tips for other writers? What works best for you?

Word of Mouth/internet marketing. The internet is probably the best method of promotion at the disposal of writers today because word travels faster over the Internet than in any other form of media, in my opinion.

2) Where do you get your ideas for your stories?

Sometimes, my story ideas come in my dreams, as the one for Nora's Soul did. Sometimes they start as random ideas where a turn of phrase catches my attention and I think, "What a great title for a book" - and of course, I have to flesh out the story to match the title. Sometimes, they come from events that have happened in my life or from the news. Story ideas are everywhere.

3) How much time do you spend writing versus promoting?

These days, I'm spending more time promoting than writing, but I usually spend at least five hours a day writing - on a good day.

4) Who is your favorite romantic hero and heroine (movies or books) and why?

Darcy and Elizabeth, the Keira Knightley version for the movie. There is just something so magical about that pairing. I like that she never backs down or apologizes for who she is or what she believes in and won't allow anyone to force her to follow conventions. And I love that he learns to accept her for those very traits and chooses her over society's expectations. Plus, they are just riveting when they are together.

5) What do you do to help other writers?

I pass on whatever information I can to them. When I discover great marketing ideas or tips or discover what works well for me, I pass on the information to my writing buddies so they can use it, too. I'm also open to offering guest spots on my blog and/or interviewing authors. I believe in the pay it forward philosophy.

6) What is your best advice for pre-published and newly published writers?

Network. The internet is your friend - use it. Promote yourself, make your name known. you'll be glad you did.

7) What do you like to do to de-stress? (other than writing) I come from a very creative family, so I knit, crochet, sew. And read. Courtesy of Margay, some helpful hints for writers.

After the Sale

By Margay Leah Justice

When authors first sit down to write, the furthest thing from their mind is how, several months or perhaps years down the line, they are going to sell that writing. In fact, if an author, in those early stages, even considers the idea of selling, he or she is more likely to be thinking about how they are going to sell that writing to a publisher, not the public. So it can come as quite a shock when, after the sale is made, said author discovers that he or she is now in the position of having to sell their writing to another audience – the reader.

Enter the Internet. In this age of digital everything, the Internet is the author’s best friend. If one is to go by the theory that word of mouth is a powerful sales tool, then what better way is there to employ word of mouth than the means by which most Americans connect these days? To pass on the word, you need to go where the people are and familiarize yourself with their modes of communication. Create a presence for yourself on social networking sites such as Gather, Myspace and Facebook, or create your own on Ning. Establish a blog on such sites as Blogger or Wordpress. Or, if that is too intimidating, why not tweet? You can follow or be followed on Twitter and the best part is, each message is only 140 characters long. Not only is that manageable, it’s fun.

The most important thing you can do for yourself as an author is to make your presence known on the Internet. Follow the blogs of other authors, comment on them, ask to do a guest post on their blogs. Find reviewer sites and offer your book for review. Hold a contest and offer your book as a prize. The possibilities are endless. So go out there and sell yourself. You are your own best advertisement.

Here is an excerpt from my debut novel, Nora’s Soul, available soon from Second Wind Publishing, LLC. Hope you enjoy it, Margay Leah Justice.

“I don’t want there to be any misconceptions or hurt feelings between us, Nora.”

The sound of his harsh voice snapped her attention back to him. “Misconceptions?” she repeated, confused. “About what?”

“About what you and my sister expect is going to happen here.”

“I don’t – “ Her protest died on her lips when he placed a fingertip over them, silencing her. She nearly choked on a shallow breath at the fireball of sensation that roared down to the pit of her stomach at that minute touch. Thankfully, he withdrew the finger before she could do anything really damaging to her pride – like suck it into her mouth – but the fiery sensation lingered in her stomach, quietly banking a fire of old sensations into full life.

“I don’t need a social secretary,” he said, seemingly unaware of her reaction to him. “If I did need a secretary, I’d find one through a headhunter, not my sister.”

“Okay.”

“And I certainly wouldn’t take one whose background is in social services.”

“Well, then, it’s a good thing I’m not here to be your secretary.”

“Good. Now that we’ve got that established, let’s move on.”

“Please do.”

Kyle ignored that last comment as he launched into his speech. As he spoke, he made a leisurely circle about Nora, pausing to lean toward her in punctuation of each sentence.

“I’m not looking for a wife or a new mother for my children – “

“I’m not – “

“ – so if that’s the little scheme you’ve got going with my sister, you can just forget about it now.”

“I don’t have any ‘little scheme’ going with Joelle - or anyone else, for that matter!”

“Glad to hear it,” Kyle said, his tone belying his words. “Let’s move on, shall we?”

“Oh, please do.”

“I live alone. I like that.”

His breath skimmed her right ear as he leaned in close to her, front to front. She tried not to shudder at the pleasurable sensation it sent shimmering down her neck and into her stomach, where it joined the fire still banked there. She feared that she failed miserably. She almost didn’t hear his next words in the aftermath of the sensations he aroused in her.

“I throw my clothes on the floor when I undress.” He slipped around her right shoulder, but circled close to it – too close. “I leave the toilet seat up. I squeeze toothpaste from the middle. I sleep in the nude.” He leaned over her shoulder. His lips pressed to her ear, his breath searing a path down the left side of her neck now that, oddly enough, brought chills to her spine. “I like that.”

As the chills rippled through her, Nora swayed, slightly off-balance. Kyle righted her equilibrium with a quick, painless jab of his knees to the backs of hers. Then he pulled back, abruptly, completed his circle as he drilled home his point. “I don’t want anyone picking up my clothes. I don’t want anyone putting down the toilet seat or telling me where to squeeze my toothpaste.” He paused to quirk his lips in what could almost pass for a smile at the suggestive statement. “And I don’t want anyone buying me silk pajamas. I don’t want to be reformed.” He leaned his face so close to Nora’s then that his features filled her entire realm of vision. “Got that?”

Well, of all the arrogant, insufferable – ! Nora was trembling with rage by the conclusion of Kyle’s little speech. Just who the hell did he think he was, anyway, making demands like that?

“That’s what I missed about you all these years, Kyle,” she said with hard-won calm. “That charming personality.”

Kyle smiled then, but it was just a flexing of the muscles; there was no warmth to it. He leaned nearer to Nora, the tip of his nose in a position to touch hers should either of them make the slightest movement. It was an oddly intimate pose; a slight twist to the left, or a slight twist to the right, and their lips would be touching, even if no other parts of their bodies were. But the heat of his body – emanating from his skin in a wonderfully male scent that reminded her of warm summer days at the beach – did touch her; like a brand, searing another impression of him on her heart. The urge to melt into him wasn’t as hard as the urge to pull away; it took all of her strength to resist it. Oh, no, she wouldn’t give him that.

“Oh, I can be very charming.” He dropped the smile. “Or not.” Withdrawing, he stared down his nose at her, pointed a finger toward her collarbone. “Your choice. Just remember this – I don’t want to be seduced.”

“Oh, I don’t think there’s any chance of that,” Nora said, her voice so thick with sarcasm she nearly choked on it. She thought she detected a flicker of something – admiration, perhaps – in his eyes when she stated, “I’m here to take care of your children’s needs, not yours.” But whatever she thought she saw in his eyes was gone before she could name it. Must be my imagination, she decided.

“See that you remember that.”

“Oh, I will.”

They faced off for an eternal moment, two battle-scarred warriors at an emotional impasse. Each waiting for the other to flinch first. When that didn’t happen, they simultaneously relaxed their stances, as if by some silent agreement.

Kyle took a wary step backward. His eyes never left her face. “Good. Then there’s nothing left to discuss. Is there?”

“Just one thing,” she said when he would’ve turned away. She ignored the annoyed look he cast over his shoulder as he paused on his flight up the stairs. She started down the hall toward the sounds of merriment emanating from the kitchen, but paused when she came abreast of Kyle on the stairs. “I take my responsibilities very seriously.” She hesitated, for effect, then drove the statement home with, “All of them.” And then she was gone, leaving Kyle to stare after her in wonder.

Coming Soon from Second Wind Publishing, LLC

http://www.secondwindpublishing.com/

You can find me at http://margayleahjustice.com, http://www.facebook.com/home.php, myspace.com/margay1122, http://margay1122.gather.com/, and I also Twitter at http://twitter.com/Margay.

Thanks Margay! What a great guest you've been and what an awesome excerpt. Many happy sales. Please come again.