HelenKay Dimon

To all my U.S. followers:

It’s a time to take stock of what we have and be grateful. It’s also a time to think about others. So, if you have a moment, send good thoughts to the people of Mumbai. Hope, pray – whatever – for peace and stability.

SICK!! Sore throat, fever and a general icky feeling. Not happy.

For those wanting a rundown of holiday romance titles, including a fabulous review of TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT, check out Barbara Vey’s blog at PW.

Me, well, I’m climbing back in bed…

One of my favorite authors (and people) is Alison Kent. Her new release MAXIMUM EXPOSURE officially comes out tomorrow. I’m so excited to get my hands on this that I could squeal. I won’t, but I could. To celebrate, I have a little something special today. Alison has agreed to give away a copy of MAXIMUM EXPOSURE to someone who comments here today. The rules are below. Here’s the book info:

Finn McLain is no stranger to unusual assignments. But the gorgeous stranger who just asked him to photograph her for an erotic art exhibit-that’s definitely a first. Finn came to Miami to dig into the personal life of boutique manager Roland Green for a lovesick gallery owner, and hadn’t planned on sticking around. But the boutique’s owner, Olivia Hammond, has just made him a proposal that’s as hard to ignore as Olivia herself. She’s got caramel-kissed skin, a body that makes grown men tremble, and a wild sideline as an exhibitionist. Ooookay. Yet despite her willingness to “let people look,” Finn’s convinced there’s a hell of a lot Olivia’s not revealing. And that’s the most intriguing prospect of all.

Olivia has never been shy about using her sexuality to get what she wants. But then, she’s never wanted a man quite the way she wants Finn. What he thinks about her shouldn’t matter, yet it does. Through every candid photograph and every heated encounter, Finn is getting closer, intent on getting beneath her shell-and for once, Olivia is tempted to let him. But first they have to contend with the fact that Finn’s simple investigation into Roland Green is getting dangerously complicated … and Olivia isn’t the only person in town who’s not what she claims to be.

To win: comment here about Alison, her books or anything relevant and you’ll be entered. The only request is that you post on a blog/website about the book – a review, a comment, the cover, etc – by mid-November December (Thanks to Cindy for catching that mistake). I’ll pick a winner at random by Wednesday morning. Good luck!

UPDATE: The winner is LISA W. Congratulations!!! Email me and we’ll get that book out to you.

There was a sky-is-falling article at Publishers Weekly about sharply declining book sales at Barnes & Noble this year. The news is bad. Really bad. CEO Steve Riggio blames the lack of customer traffic as the problem.

I don’t doubt Riggio. The man is in charge and knows the numbers. I’ve heard the dire warnings on author loops. It’s just odd to me because my local B&N stores don’t seem to have this problem. At least not that I can see. I recently dropped into eight local bookstores (the chains – B&N and Borders) to sign stock of HOT AS HELL. Except for one, the stores were packed. Most had long lines. Apparently someone forgot to tell the customers that people are visiting bookstores right now.

I’m over at Michelle Buonfiglio’s Romance: B(u)y The Book Blog talking about alpha men. This is an offshoot of a conversation I had with Michelle at the RWA conference in San Francisco this year. There’s a big contest with many chances to win. Stop by and say hello.

UPDATE: The guest blog isn’t up yet at Lifetime. Until it is, go over and check out Lori Foster’s post at Running With Quills. She talks about her trip to California and includes photos. She also mentions she read HOT AS HELL and calls it “incredible” – yay!!! She’s also giving away some books, so go over there and see what’s happening.

In case you’re thinking of writing The Billionaire’s Secret Mistress or something of the sort, you better know you may have a problem. The economy is hitting everyone hard, including people worth a minimum of $20 million. Apparently these poor millionaries can no longer afford to spend as much on their mistresses. How sad…

I’m not sure what is more ridiculous about this Wall Street Journal story, the subject matter or the fact the newspaper published a story called Rich Cut Back On Payments To Mistresses. Hard to tell since that’s a pretty big race to the bottom on both sides. But, for the sake of realism, you need to keep certain facts in mind as you work on your Mistress plot. Specifically:

According to a new survey by Prince & Assoc., more than 80% of multimillionaires who had extra-marital lovers planned to cut back on their gifts and allowances. Still, only 12% of the multimillionaire cheaters said they plan to give up on their lovers altogether for financial reasons.
…
The most surprising stats in the study relate to gender and what might be termed “length of service.” Fully 82% of men in the study said they planned to lower the allowances to their mistresses, while more than three quarters planned to provide fewer gifts, less expensive gifts and fewer perks, like jet rides, resort vacations and top restaurant meals.

Women were far more generous to their paramours in the face of financial crises. Less than 20% planned to lower allowances, gifts and perks, while more than half planned to raise them.

Guess this is just one more way men and women are different.

I’ve spent the last few months being obsessed with the election and writing a book. During this time, I somehow missed what was happening over at Second Life.

Okay, to be honest I have no idea what the hell is happening at Second Life or what it even is. Something about a virtual world. All I know about this subject comes from a CNN story, Second Life Affair Ends in Divorce. This one captured my post-deadline attention. I’ve read this story three times and still am not sure what happened here.

The explanation from the good people at CNN:

Second Life allows users to create alter egos known as “avatars” and interact with other players, forming relationships, holding down jobs and trading products and services for a virtual currency convertible into real life dollars.

It sounds as if we have a couple who got married in real life and then their avatars (online personnas) got married on Second Life, but the folks are now separated due to infidelity…or something like infidelity:

Amy Taylor, 28, said she had caught husband David Pollard, 40, having sex with an animated woman. The couple, who met in an Internet chatroom in 2003, are now separated.

Yeah, that says “animated” woman. It would appear the avatar hubby – not the real one – got busy with an avatar prostitute:

Taylor said she had caught Pollard’s avatar having sex with a virtual prostitute: “I looked at the computer screen and could see his character having sex with a female character. It’s cheating as far as I’m concerned.”
…
But Taylor told the Western Morning News she had subsequently hired an online private detective to track his activities: “He never did anything in real life, but I had my suspicions about what he was doing in Second Life.”

Pollard admitted having an online relationship with a “girl in America” but denied wrongdoing. “We weren’t even having cyber sex or anything like that, we were just chatting and hanging out together,” he told the Western Morning News.

I have so many questions, like:

1. Why does Second Life need avatar prostitutes? Are avatar men not getting any action in the virtual world or something?

2. Did this real life couple actually have a relationship ouside of the virtual world?

3. What exactly is happening in the news that this is a story in CNN?

4. Why wasn’t I smart enough to invent something like Second Life?

5. And, most importantly, since I love to waste time online why am I not on this site?

Anyone?

I should read comic books. Things are happening and I’m missing them. Specifically, according to USA Today, Batman will soon be no more. He’s been on the way out and now superstar author Neil Gaiman will finish Batman off.

Helping to bury Batman will be best-selling novelist Neil Gaiman, who created the goth-cult Sandman comic 20 years ago.

Gaiman is writing a two-issue tribute to the character, starting with Batman #686 and tentatively titled Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, due in February.

I’m assuming this is a good thing or DC Comics wouldn’t be doing it. Probably has something to do with refreshing the brand and garnering new interest just as the movies managed to do. Still, seems sad somehow. The good news is that Gaiman blogs today and says this of the USA Today article:

A slightly odd Batman article in [USA Today] — I’m not exactly misquoted, but I’m not sure I’d entirely endorse any of their conclusions.

So, there’s hope for Batman fans…I think.

In honor of my recent booksigning with Lori Foster and the meeting I attended yesterday where she was a terrific speaker, I thought I’d talk about my favorite Lori Foster book. I found Lori through Jayne Ann Krentz. I pretty much read anything by JAK. Her book PERFECT PARTNERS was one of the first three romances I ever read. I got hooked on the genre thanks to JAK, Julie Garwood and Linda Lael Miller. Since their books actually did change my life, I buy whatever they publish and always will. It’s the very least I can do for woman to whom I owe so much.

So…Lori was in an anthology with JAK. That’s how I found Lori. The book was called CHARMED. I really liked Lori’s writing style, loved the Winston brothers, and started checking her website and buying her books as soon as they came out. Then I read TOO MUCH TEMPTATION. Loved. It. From there I started reading the Brava imprint, later decided I wanted to write for Brava, submitted to Lori’s online Brava Novella Contest, got chosen as a finalist…and the rest is history. Another life changing event, this one guaranteeing that I will be a Lori Foster fan for life.

If you missed TOO MUCH TEMPTATION the first time around, the good news is that it’s now out in mass market (ie, smaller size and cheaper). Let me tempt you – get it? – with the copy:

Grace Jenkins has had little experience with men—feeling too awkward and insecure to free the passionate woman inside her. But that hasn’t stopped her from dreaming about Noah Harper. Gorgeous, strong and darkly sexy, his rough edge beneath the polish promises no mercy in the bedroom. When Grace learns Noah’s engagement has ended in scandal, she shyly offers him her support and her friendship. But Noah’s looking for something extra…

Noah wants Grace—badly. He wants to possess those curves that go on forever, to savor her sweet innocence, to take her to the limits of white-hot desire…again and again. What he doesn’t want is anything more complicated than that, and he knows Grace is a woman who deserves better. Grace, however, knows exactly what she wants—the kind of ecstasy only Noah can give her. Brazenly, she accepts, and Noah promises to make all her secret fantasies come true…

And, yes, the hero in TOO MUCH TEMPTATION is named Noah. The hero in my current release, HOT AS HELL, is named Noah. That’s actually not an accident. I just adore my HOT AS HELL Noah, and I loved Lori’s Noah. These guys are very different, but it seemed fitting they share a name.

Enjoy!

For those in the San Diego area looking for something to do this evening, I’ve got an idea for you. I’m part of an author panel/booksigning with three amazing (and bestselling) authors: Lori Foster, Chris Marie Green and Christie Ridgway.

Let’s just sit back and smile about that, shall we?

The discussion/booksiging is at the Mira Mesa Barnes & Noble (10775 Westview Parkway, San Diego) at 7:00 p.m. Stop by and say hello.