Happy New Year!

And so another year comes to an end. I hope it was a good one for all of you, and that an even better one awaits.

That is the extent of my rumination on the New Year.

I'm a little out of sorts, like I usually am between books. I finished Anne Calhoune's novella Breath on Embers a few days ago and was blown away by how good she is. I suppose I ought to just go and buy everything else she's written that I haven't yet read, but I kind of like keeping those for days when I'm really desperate for something good. I'm not actually desperate yet.

Actually, I've been reading a collection of Nora Ephron's writings called The Most of Nora Ephron, and it's really great. Most of us know her as the screenwriter for "When Harry Met Sally" (one of my all-time fav movies) and "Sleepless in Seattle." But she did so much more that I wasn't aware of, a lot of journalism, but journalism that's written with her opinions and voice. The articles about the women's movement of the late sixties/early seventies are particularly fascinating. So I've been reading that in bits and pieces while searching for my next book to devour. No luck so far, just a couple of not-so-exciting samples read. I may just have to go back to an old favorite and re-read it. Which isn't such a bad way to fill the time. I often find new things to appreciate when I do that.

My husband and I have both been home together for four days straight, give or take some outings and errands, and we've been getting on each other's nerves a bit. I've been kind of twitchy and I feel bad about it. But we still come together when it counts, like when it's time to watch TV. We recently discovered "Friday Night Lights," a show that went off the air in 2011. The amazing thing is that it's all about football and yet not really about football at all. It's just a beautiful, wonderfully written show and I want everyone to watch it. In fact, it's a great lesson in good writing, because (at least in the first season, which is all I've seen so far) all the drama comes out of the characters' experiences and feels real and authentic. It's people dealing with life and it's not over the top or more dramatic than it needs to be, just dramatic in the best sense of the word. It's also charming and really funny. It keeps me riveted. It doesn't hurt that Kyle Chandler is a hottie and there are a bunch of hot football players. My husband loves Connie Britton, who plays the coach's wife, and I love her too, so I don't mind. There's something for everyone.

Anyhoo, that's what I've been into since I last posted. That, and writing. I'll tell more about how that's going another time. ; )

Make it Deep

There are many types of romances out there for us to read, but I'm just recently realizing the main thing that sets a romance apart for me. Good sex scenes are part of it, a big part of it, but good sex scenes grow out of emotional depth. That depth is what I want in a book, even one that's supposed to be sexy and escapist.

By emotional depth I don't mean just the ups and downs and agonies of falling in love, which anyone can write in a surface way, but an understanding of the complexity of people's motivations. A romance author has to throw together two people who are perfect for each other but aren't able to come together until the end of the book. Doing that in a way that makes sense and doesn't get annoying and contrived isn't easy. You have to be a sort of amateur (or maybe armchair) psychologist.

It takes a mature writer to understand the contradictions people have in themselves and how those interact with another character's, how that creates conflict and tension. I want an author who can take me into the depths of people's dreams and fears in an authentic way. When they do this, the sex is great because great sex grows out of the passion, fears and desires the hero and heroine bring to it.

The last few books I've really loved have all had this, and they were by three of my favs: Anne Calhoune, Cara McKenna and Ruthie Knox. These lovely ladies write crazy sexy romances with interesting characters whose motivations make sense and don't change in the middle of the book (oh how I hate that).

Right now I'm reading an historical romance – Where Dreams Begin, by Lisa Kleypas – that I didn't even know existed. I don't know how it's possible since I've been a fan of hers for years and always kept and eye out for her new ones, but there are actually several that I didn't know about. The amazing thing about Where Dreams Begin is that it will probably end up being a favorite. The hero and heroine are so likable and wonderful and the reasons keeping them apart make sense and are also layered in a way that feels real and difficult. Not all of this author's books have this same depth, and the ones that don't lose their tension partway through the book because of this. But when an author can sustain it, even after the h/h have sex, you have a winner.

I'm also psyched about this book because frankly, I have not been having an easy time finding historicals that I like. It's a genre I love, but I haven't fallen in love with one for quite a while. What I need is to discover an author who's been publishing a while so that I can lose myself in the dozens of titles she's already written. If anyone has suggestions, please send them to me!

My Muse

A few weeks ago my husband and I stopped by his parents for a few hours, and while we were there his mom handed me a photo in an envelope and said,"Maybe this will inspire your next book."

I pulled it out, took a look at it, and yelled "Holy shit!" right in front of my in-laws. Then I stared at it some more. It was a picture of my husband, aged 26, during a triathlon. He had just come out of the water and was running towards his bike when a photographer took his picture. The crazy thing is he looked like a typical romance hero – dark hair, strong law, broad shoulders tapering to narrow hips. All ripped, lean muscle. It's insane.

Don't get me wrong. He's still in great shape, but this is him in peak physical condition, and it's something to behold. On the way home I kept taking the photo out and looking at it, and I did the same for the next couple of days, dazed with lust over this younger version of my husband.

We've only been married three years, only known each other a little over four years, and I've sometimes wished we'd met each other when we were younger. But the truth is, if we'd met when we were a lot longer, we might not have hit it off. Sure, I would have still had the bloom of youth and he would have looked like the cover of a romance novel, but we're very different in a lot of ways, and I think those differences would have been starker when we were younger.

So instead I count myself lucky that we found each other at all, and I've put the picture (now framed) on my desk where he can inspire me with his never-ending hotness.

Get "Stirred Up" for 99 Cents

Stirred Up is on sale for 99 cents. It's normally $3.99, so what a bargain, right?

My Latest Crush

I have a confession to make. Sometimes I announce my intention to write a book that features such and such characters, or will take place in such and such a setting, and then I start writing and I completely change my mind. The lesson here is either to stop announcing things before I really know what I'm going to do, or to just go with the flow and hope that no one minds these changes of heart.

The latest is that I recently developed a whole new crush, this time on Ryan Bingham, the singer songwriter/former bull rider. He first came to my attention for being on the soundtrack of the 2009 movie "Crazy Heart," but it was only a couple of weeks ago that I finally downloaded one of his own albums. In the course of doing that and checking out his website for tour dates, I also got a look at him and realized that on top of having the kind of deep, raspy voice we ladies swoon over, he is also one sexy dude.

Go ahead, search Google images and see for yourself. I ain't lying. 

Naturally, I couldn't help thinking that a character inspired by this guy would make a great romance hero. But in what book? I was planning for my next series to take place in Maine, and he definitely does not belong in Maine. But he would make perfect sense in Las Vegas, and wouldn't it be fun if Beth, Cheryl's friend and the heroine of Sin City Book Three, got it on with a sexy singer like him? I had planned on her hooking up with Evan, Jason's friend, but that's not set in stone. 

Without even thinking it all through, I just started to write, indulging my fantasy through Beth. I figured I needed to to do it even if I ended up switching back to Evan, because my crush needed an outlet. Now I'm seriously into it, as is Beth, so this may just be a completely different book than I intended. But I love romances that indulge our fantasies while also somehow being believable, and that's what I'm after in every book I write.

This new crush does not in any way diminish my love of Viggo Mortenson, Timothy Olyphant or Justin Timberlake. There's always room for more, and some of these others may yet turn up as inspiration for other heroes. I also reserve the right to change my mind again, in the event that this book, for whatever reason, is not working with a sexy singer. I'll let you know if that happens. But whoever Beth's romantic interest ends up being, I promise it will be plenty steamy, and of course there'll be a happily ever after. 

Vacation's All I Ever Wanted

In precisely 42 hours I will be heading to Maine for a week-long vacation and I can't freakin' wait. I was never big on Maine, had only been there once or twice when I was really young, but last year someone let us use their cabin in Rangeley and we were instantly hooked on the area. We booked a different cabin as soon as we got home from our vacation last August, so we've essentially been waiting a year to go back.

The week we went last year, the town's little movie theater showed Jaws for free one night, and it was a blast. I think I really fell in love with the town that night, sitting in that dark theater with strangers and watching a faded print of that awesome movie, which I had never seen in a theater. It was scarier than I'd remembered, and I wasn't the only one who hadn't remembered, because a bunch of people brought young kids. (Note: don;t ever do this. Your children will be very afraid and probably have nightmares.)

Tangential note: I learned this past weekend that great whites usually attack from below, so you would rarely see a fin beforehand. I'm glad Spielberg ignored that little tidbit.

The reason I bring up my trip (besides being super excited) is that I've decided that after Sin City Book Three, I'm going to start a series that takes place in a town based on Rangeley. That way I can sort of live there all year long, or as long as it takes me to write the (probably three) books. I've already got some ideas for the characters (a hunky forest ranger, a b&b owner, logger, etc). I don't have a name for the series yet, but perhaps by the time I come home, I will. Suggestions are welcome.

Now for the book review portion of our program:

I've been on a great streak the past few weeks. I didn't throw a single book down in disgust. I read Sarah Pekkanen's These Girls and I think it's terrific. Insightful, entertaining, and a good story about three women friends. Also a realistic portrait of what it's like to live in NYC. Or so I think. I've never actually lived there. It's not a romance but there are romantic elements.

For my next book I went in a totally different direction: the beautiful and heart-wrenching The Fault in Our Stars by John Greene. It had been recommended to me, and I knew I was in for a sad story, but it was so worth the read. It's a love story, in a sense, about two teenagers with cancer, so not a light read, but it's also uplifting in the way anything beautiful can be. I recommend it without reservation. I am not the only one, either, as it's won all sorts of awards and has a zillion reviews.

Next up, Ride with Me by Ruthie Knox. This romance is going on my faves list. I wish I'd written it. The story is fresh, the characters likable, and it's super sexy. The woman can write a sex scene, and she doesn't skimp. Plus she's a fabulous writer. I actually found myself re-reading sentences because they were so witty or nicely said or unexpected. I love romance novels, but I'm often disappointed, and it's rare for the writing to be good enough that I re-read them as I'm going. Ride with Me is only .99 right now, so take advantage.

I was terrified that Ride with Me was Knox's only book, but much to my delight she's written a bunch. So after Ride with Me I read About Last Night which was also great and refreshing in its characters and storyline, and I have a couple more of her books on my kindle for vacation reading.

So happy reading, and I'll see you here when I'm back. : )

Long Live "Dirty Dancing"

A couple of weeks ago on a hot Sunday afternoon during the heat wave, I happily sat down and put my tape (as in VHS) of the movie Dirty Dancing into our dual DVD/VHS player. Except my delight ended all too soon when the machine ate it.

I had insisted that we keep the VCR so I could watch the half dozen VHS tapes I still have. "But you never watch them," my husband argued. What could I say? I hadn't, not since I met him over four years ago, but I needed to know that I could watch When Harry Met Sally, Grease, Dirty Dancing, The Turning Point or Buffy the Vampire Slayer whenever I needed to.

This dates me, I know. Though I was very young when Grease came out and a good deal of it went over my head ("Mom, what does 'the chicks'll cream' mean?"), I was a teenager when Dirty Dancing came out. I was visiting our grandmother in Florida when I finally saw it, and it was on that trip that I finally, finally got my period at the age of fifteen. These two events, seeing Dirty Dancing and becoming a woman at last, are forever linked in my mind. 

I loved the movie and have loved it through countless viewings in the years since, even when I recognized its imperfections. It depicts Baby's sexual awakening (which I was still personally waiting for the first 20 times I watched it), and now even as a grown and married woman, it still does something to me, something akin to what I felt the first time I saw it. I feel the hope and yearning and the first flush of love because they are now part of the movie for me.

Now I don't expect everyone to love it, but I was shocked when a friend of mine, a fellow romantic as well as a former professional dancer, told me that she didn't get why people loved it so much, why it's such a cultural touchstone when it's such a silly, cheesy movie. I was shocked, until she revealed that she didn't see it when it was first released in 1987. In fact, she didn't see it until she was in her thirties. 

This made me think about how some things hit us hard because we discover them at a particular time and they imprint themselves on us. We then forever carry how we felt that first time we encountered them with us forever. The same is true with certain books we read when we were kids. I never read the Narnia books when I was a kid, and by the time I realized what I'd missed out on, it was too late to feel their magic, to believe them like I would have if I'd read them sooner.

Some of the things in Dirty Dancing went over my head when I first saw it. I didn't completely comprehend that this took place when abortion was illegal, or what that meant for everyone in the story (not to mention in the country at that time). I also hadn't known about the Catskills, and how it was a favorite vacation spot for New York Jews in the earlier part of the 20th century. Family's like Baby's went to resorts, but the movie A Walk on the Moon depicts working class Jewish families heading to the same place, only instead of resorts they got little cottages. Nothing fancy, just something away from the city. If you haven't seen A Walk on the Moon, you really should. Viggo Mortensen stars with Diane Lane and it's a smart, very sexy, bittersweet story. And Viggo is young and crazy sexy.

Speaking of Jews, I'm one, and I have decided to make the heroine in my next novel (the as yet untitled Book Three in the Sin City series) Jewish. That said, religion will be as important in this one as it is in the others, which is to say, not at all important. But it's more about having a little diversity, a slightly different culture and background to work with, and I thought that would be fun. Hence we'll be seeing more of Cheryl's friend, Beth Levine, not to mention Jason's friend, the (gentile) ER doctor Evan Hunter. They are in for some crazy times.