What Have I Forgotten?

When I was a little kid and we went on a family trip, my sister and I would roll our eyes at our mom. Why you ask? Dad was always driving and Mom would sit there all fidgetty before finally blurting out....did I turn off the coffee pot? Did I lock the back door? What about the iron? Did I turn it off and put it away? Yes, we'd roll our eyes because she did this every time we got in the car. Now, I truly sympathize with Mom. Looking back, I recall her doing EVERYTHING to get us ready to walk out the door. Dad would sit and watch her scurry around doing this, packing that, telling us to brush our hair or teeth. You know. Mom stuff!

Years later, I morphed into that fine woman and I can't tell you how many times I thought...Oh Lordy! I have become my MOM! There is just something about trips and traveling that turns a mom into a superhuman being who can do it all and often does it without any help. Are you hearing me out there, Moms?


This week I'm trying to get my act together to leave town on Thursday. I'm heading to the Ellora's Cave Romanticon and I'm pretty damn sure I'm going to forget SOMETHING. This time the packing isn't for the entire family but I swear, I'm just as frazzled. I started out with lists of clothes to take and then had to figure out which luggage to pull from the closet. I've been getting promo material ready PLUS making sure the honey has enough food stocked in the fridge so he won't starve while I'm gone. Sigggghhhhh.

So finally, I've narrowed down the clothing options and I'm doing a little mixing and matching. Considering I'm flying, space is severely limited so it's important to get it right. In the end though, I know it won't matter what I'm wearing! I have comfy shoes and I'll be with my friends, however I KNOW I'll head off and wonder if I've forgotten to turn off the damn coffee pot.

Won't be here on Friday because I'll be off partying with my friends. Anne and Kelley have promised to post something hot and deeee-lish for you so stay tuned and I'll fill you in on all the juicy deets next week!

"I don't even look at the cover"

The title of this post is what my oldest daughter said to me when I told her I couldn't wait to see a cover for my upcoming book "Body Rush", which comes out June next year. I personally LOVE getting new covers. It's a real thrill to see that image, it makes it real.

But when Kati said she doesn't care what's on a cover, it's the blurb that counts, it got me to thinking. Do you think this is a new generation thing? I mean, teenagers are all about gadgets. Cell phones and iPods. I'm pretty sure a lot of the books they read is based partly on the fact that their friend recommended it. When I asked her 'doesn't an appealing cover make you want to pick up the book and find out what it's about?' she sort of shrugged and said, 'Not really. It could be plain as dirt with only the title and the author's name and it would be fine with me.'

I had to stop and think back over the many MANY books I've read and I can honestly say there weren't that many that had plain covers. A few of Nora Roberts, a few Sandra Browns. But those were authors I bought because they were auto-buys, so in those cases the covers mattered little. Most of the authors I read these days have covers that made me want to know more. In fact, one of my newest favorite authors (who shall not be named) had such a horrid cover that it took one of reader friends to practically shove the book at me before I would even read it. She swore I'd love it. Finally, even though I hated the cover, I read the darn thing. Of course, I loved it!

So, I'm not like my daughter, I guess. Seems I AM a cover snob. That's not a good thing either. LOL Maybe it's because I like art in general. I don't know. But it's a sad, sad day to realize I'm not quite as open-minded as my kid.

Thankfully, this old dog CAN learn new tricks. From this day forward I vow to be a bit less picky. I'm going to make it a new rule for myself. Right underneath 'eat less chocolate' I'll be sure to read at least one book a week that has a plain/ugly/strange/ cover.

After all, it's always the unremarkable that ends up being...remarkable. :)

Gottcha Covered

Today I'm sharing one of my own covers for Gottcha Covered Saturday. I love, love, love it! It's the best feeling in the world to get a new cover that you love. My fantastic cover artist, Anne Caine did perfect keeping with the theme of the first book in this series, Satisfy Me. The water and trees in the background are just how I envisioned Last Chance, the tiny Southern Oregon town where the books take place. The couple are sexy and passionate, Just how Lindy and Ethan are in the story.

What do ya think?

Pick the Alpha...This Guy or The Other One

Okay, I'm being silly. Of course, hunky, lickable Clive Owen is the alpha male here. Right? Earlier this week Anne was talking about Alpha heroes and I started thinking about it. Do we decide someone is an alpha male because of the way he looks? Been wondering. Now who's to say yummy Clive wouldn't run crying like a sissy girl at the first sign of trouble and we might be shocked to our toes to see this 'slobberly dude' ditch the bowl of cheetoes from his lap and leap into the fray like a ninja warrior!

You think?

I'm wondering if we equate way too many things to how a person looks. I commented the other day about the movie The Mist. I watched it with the family a few weekends ago. Hated the movie. Soooo not my cup of tea. Thomas Janes was fine looking as the Alpha hero of the movie that revolved around creatures lurking in a heavy mist. He is stuck in the local grocery store with his little boy and a host of other townspeople. Everyone who ventures out into the mysterious fog gets slammed by the alien creatures in the most intensely gruesome way possible. Now here's where I get to my dilemma on the whole Alpha Male thing. There was this character whom I called 'the little dude' through the entire movie. An assistant manager at the grocery store, he was small, wore glasses, seemed very unassuming. For the most part the store manager or others laughed at him, rolled their eyes at everything he said and basically treated him like crap. BUT.....when the bad stuff started going down, he was the first guy to leap into action. He blasted bad guys with amazing accuracy and dove into situations that left the big, bad tough guys shaking in their boots.

I loved him. After awhile, I began to kind of ignore the hero because the 'little dude" was just so kickass I couldn't wait to see what terribly brave thing he might do next.

Guess I'm wondering, why do we necessarily equate an Alpha Man with Alpha Looks? Are we really that shallow or are we just programmed to think of an alpha male as being gorgeous?

Happenings in the world of romance

There have been so many things happening in the world of romance that I felt compelled to talk about it.

On Monday I received the news that Kensington Publishing's editorial director, Kate Duffy, had passed away. It seemed to me that Kate helped jump start some pretty terrific careers. She was a serious force in this business. My only personal experience with Kate consisted of a rejection letter she sent me a few years ago. It was my first, if I recall, and painful as it was to read, Kate didn't send a form letter rejection, but a personal one. I appreciated that! Also, she had good things to say about my writing, ending the letter with the words, 'Keep working though, your writing has serious potential'. The publishing industry will not be the same without her.

In other news, I read an interesting article about piracy the other day that had me giggling. Over at agent Nathan Bransford's blog he discusses the issue of pirates being scammed. According to Nathan, "...a site that purports to contain all sorts of pirated material, including books, that you can download very easily and holy cow thousands of people have already done it. All you have to do is install the right software. And, of course, the software is a virus. Or they're phishing for credit cards. Or some other nefarious activity. I didn't stick around long enough to find out. But! There's nothing being pirated. Essentially: they're scamming pirates."

Am I the only one who finds that funny as hell? The pirates are getting screwed! That's justice, as far as I'm concerned!

The last bit I want to discuss is the iRex. Have you heard about the new ereader device that will have 3G wireless (Verizon) and you'll be able to buy it directly from Best Buy? You can purchase the ebooks off the B&N site, similar to the Amazon Kindle now. The thing I like about this is that it gives Amazon a run for their money. Competition is a good thing! Check it out here

To wrap things up...I want to say once more how sorry I am to hear about Kate Duffy. I never had the chance to work with her, but her name will certainly live on.

My Writing Evolution

By Jeanne St. James, erotic romance author

When I started writing many, many moons ago I wanted to write category romance. Yes, at that time I was an avid reader of Silhouette Desire. I also read historical romances but knew I didn’t have the patience to do all the research that should be done to write a historical that wouldn’t make readers want to wring my neck because it wasn’t factually correct. Since my neck is needed to write (amongst other things), I decided to write contemporary category romances.

I, along with probably thousands of fellow published authors, have some of those under-the-bed babies that I wrote way back in the beginning. But I learned quite a bit along the way.

Anyway, my point is that I wrote and wrote and wrote romantic stories intended to eventually submit to the editors of Silhouette. And the longer I belonged to Romance Writers of America (RWA) and the more writers’ conferences and seminars I attended I saw that dream fade into oblivion. Why? Because I heard it was hard to get in with a New York publisher. I was told you “need an agent,” and “so many writers are vying for sooooo few spots.” I became discouraged.

I had a manuscript almost done (I was good for “almost” finishing manuscripts – but that’s another story). I had entered it in several contests and either won or placed. But still I hemmed and hawed about finishing it and hemmed and hawed about submitting it to an agent, etc. I was a procrastinator. Boo. Hiss.

Now, along come epublishers and ebooks. I didn’t pay much attention. Then they start making a larger and larger splash. More and more writers are getting contracted with these “small publishers.” I poo-poo’d them still.

Eventually, I started to sit up and take notice. I can’t remember exactly when or why. Then I read some ebooks. Huh. I began to think that ebooks were here to stay. These epublishers were serious. And real publishers! Oh, and now they are making EREADERS! Ebooks are more cost effective and cheaper for the consumer. And, best of all, they are opening up the world of publishing to more writers and to different types of stories -- stories that a NY publisher may not touch with a 10-foot pole, but it is a great story none-the-less. In turn, the reader benefits: more variety, more authors, more ways to read a good book. And if they are limited in their time, they can buy a novella or a short story. Reasonably priced, mind you.

So on that note, I started writing erotic romances (again, a whole other story) and within a span of 6 months or so, I contracted THREE stories to publishers. I was finally living my dream. My first book, BANGED UP, is a male/female erotic contemporary romance with some elements of suspense. It released on September 21st and is available at Liquid Silver Books here. My second story, RIP CORD, a male/male erotic contemporary novella, is scheduled to release November 30th with Phaze. And then in January, my male/male/female interracial ménage a trois, DOUBLE DARE, is expected to release with Loose Id. Three great epublishers. Hopefully you will think they are three great stories. To read blurbs and excerpts of all three, or to get a sneak peek into current and future projects, please visit my website at http://www.jeannestjames.com or visit my blog at http://jeannestjames.blogspot.com.

You can purchase BANGED UP at Liquid Silver books here: http://www.tinyurl.com/bangedup

Villains, Anti-Heroes, and Bad Boys...Why We Love Them

Admittedly, I have a thing for bad boys. A lot of us do. There is something so compelling about them and I find myself wanting to "fix him", ask him why he feels he must do the things he does. Is it something in his past that makes him terrify and seduce almost simultaneously? Over the years, my favorite characters to watch in movies and television or read about in books have been anti-heroes and yes, sometimes villains.

Lately, I've been absorbed with the HBO series True Blood, based on Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Series and I can't take my eyes off of Eric Northman, the Viking vampire bad-boy, in the show. So yes, I'm firmly in Camp Eric. Why? Vampire Bill is super handsome, a southern gentleman and is totally yummy but the sad fact is, he just isn't a layered character. He lays everything about himself 'out there' and therefore, seems to have little depth. On the other hand, we KNOW Eric the Viking has a mysterious past. Outwardly he is aloof, distant, deadly and seductive, yet we see just tiny glimpses of humanity and wonder about them. We wonder about his story and what moves him.

Over the years, we've been treated to these delicious, intriguing characters and many times we are moved to tears when their stories are finally revealed to us. Several years ago, I got caught up in the HBO show Deadwood. Al Swearingon (played by Ian McShane) kept me rivetted. No he wasn't necessarily sexy but there was this outwardly evil/inwardly vulnerable aspect to the character. Perfectly played by McShane, we wondered at a man who could kill without blinking yet secretly, completely behind the scenes, do something GOOD. When his character was in a scene, he filled the screen. I felt the same way about Vic Mackey (played brilliantly by Michael Chikliss) in The Shield. Yes, we know he is bad and does bad things but every now and then we saw his good side and loved him for it.

These are just a few of my all time favorite villains. Who are your favorite bad boys or anti-heroes and why do YOU think we love them so much?

Feeling oddly disconnected

Maybe disconnected is the wrong word. I guess lately I've just been doing a lot of thinking. Over the past few weeks I've come to the conclusion that we are here on earth for a really short period of time. A blip really. We go through life doing and doing and doing, but we forget to stop and just feel.

Last night my husband and I took a moment and we stopped. We sat out on the deck with a fire going in the fire pit and listened to the wind blowing through the trees. We talked about important things, and nothing at all. Those moments are so far and few between though because we all get so busy with life!

When was the last time you watched the leaves fall to the ground or listened to the rain on the roof? Maybe smelling the fresh aroma of coffee in the morning or taking the time to read a good book? I don't know about you, but I tend to chug my coffee and I'm forever rushing through books these days because I have so little free time.

Just taking time to enjoy the little things seems so hard. We have to schedule it in, for crying out loud! I'm feeling like I need to take a weekend and just go away. Have you ever done that? Took an impromtu vacation?

How do unwind? Or rather, how do you force yourself to stop and smell the roses? Is there a trick and I'm just missing it?

***
In other news. I have two new reviews to share and I'm so thrilled I can barely sit still!

Lynn at Fallen Angels Reviews gives Tempting Grace 5 angels and says,

"Ms. Rainey ramps up the emotional conflict along with the sensual tension in her latest addition to her Vaughn Family Series. As usual, she takes a 100 percent alpha male, combines him with an intelligent, sexy woman and invites her reader to sit back and watch the sparks fly. "
read full review

and I got my first review for my menage (m/f/m) Reckless Exposure!

Valerie at Night Owl Romance gives Reckless Exposure 4 1/2 hearts and says,

"Reckless Exposure is one of those stories that makes the reader keep checking the page count to see how much story is left - because you don't want it to end!"

read full review

Gottcha Covered

We're back with more covers that caught our eye this week!


Anne's pick



Author: Jessa Slade http://jessaslade.wordpress.com/

Publisher: Signet Eclipse


My comment: I’ve never read this author before, but the hunk on the cover along with the tagline: “in a world where evil has broken free, she is the chosen prey”, sure grabbed my attention. It made me want to read the blurb, which is the whole point! Is this a new paranormal author for me? We shall see!


Kelley's Pick






This cover intrigues me. From the picture, I can't really tell what the book is about so it makes me want to read the blurb and find out.

Doo-Dads Needed

I swear! I don't know what's wrong with me lately. It's like the good-ideas faery swooped in during the night and stole my creativity while I was sleeping! Anyway, I need help and yes, some good ideas.

On October 9th I'm flying from Texas to Ohio for the EC Romanticon. I can't wait. Will get to finally meet my editor and my writing buddies. It will be such a fun trip and I can't wait. Here's my problem. On Sunday, the last day, we're having a ginormous book signing. I've been told it's a good idea to have little goodies to hand out. Now, I already have book marks and some beautiful oversized postcards featuring one of my covers with my titles and information on the back. So far so good. Still, I want to hand out something memorable. For weeks I've trolled websites trying to get ideas but so much of this stuff is really pricey PLUS, I have to find things that I can carry with me on a plane.

Most of my friends are driving to Ohio but not me. Since I'm in Texas, I'll have to fly and you can't take just anything on a plane and space is limited. I would love to hand out a small gift of some kind but I'm fresh out of ideas. Thinking of trolling Hobby Lobby for a few hours or maybe hitting the Dollar Store and hoping inspiration strikes.

Any ideas??? Something small, inexpensive, and fun! Sounds like a tall order to me right now.