HelenKay Dimon

Dear Universe, Karma Divsion:

Clearly I have upset someone. Being sick for four solid months was one thing. I blamed non-existent allergies and refrained from complaining. But the landslide of silliness over the last week cannot be ignored. The check engine light in the car, the loss of electricity in the master bathroom followed by news that the entire room is improperly wired, the sudden inability to hold anything without dropping it – dishes, glasses, my latte – even the non-stop rain when we normally don’t get any. Honestly, it’s been more than a little annoying. Then last night you went after my laptop. I was able to beat you on that one thanks to the restore function. But, really, what the hell?

I am tempted to get feisty and say “bring it on” but that doesn’t seem so smart. So, instead, if you would forward your list of demands for my release from this circle of bad karma that would be appreciated.

Sincerely,

HelenKay

Yeah, I know it’s been a few days. Thanks to all who emailed to check on me. I’m fine. I had a looooong run-in with bad karma. More on that tomorrow…

For today I’m over at Access Romance blogging about Josh Updike’s luck with the ladies and this article. Stop by and say hi. At the very least, read the article.

The first category romance I ever read was written by Susan Mallery. In fact, when I first started reading romance Mallery was the only category romance author I bought. I’ve read her ever since. Over the last few years she’s hit it big with books on the NYT bestseller list. Yay for her!!!

When checking out her upcoming releases I saw a series of hers that looks very different, much more women’s fiction oriented. I’m thinking this might be a launch of a new phase of her career though it does look like she’s still writing books with more traditional romance covers. The first in this new series is SUNSET BAY and the cover copy goes like this:

What if you got another chance at the life that got away?

L.A. accountant Megan Greene has a successful job, a handsome cardiologist fiancé, and a doting father. Surely they make up for her estranged sister and hypochondriac mother…and a niggling sense that something, somewhere, got lost along the way. But then Megan’s life falls spectacularly apart. Faced with the knowledge that neither her father nor her fiancé are the men she thought they were, she is loath to trust Travis — the high school boyfriend who never quite left her heart. But his reappearance stirs dreams she once reluctantly packed away, and forces her to confront her relationship with her sister — a bond that has been strained to the limit but has never quite broken. And amid the turmoil lies the promise of a future Megan never expected — one that may turn out to contain everything she really needs….

Sounds good to me.

I’m re-reading a historical romance. It’s an old favorite. About halfway through I could no longer ignore the heroine’s description of the hero’s eyes as tawny. Thinking what the hell color is tawny? I gave in an looked it up.

According to wikipedia it’s “a pale orange-brown” and an online dictionary referred to it as yellowish brown. I gotta say I don’t find either one of those images all that appealing. Certainly not attractive enough to use the word over and over again in a book. How about brown…or dark brown…or, I don’t know, any eye color that doesn’t include a tinge of orange and yellow. Yuck.

There is a study out there on every imaginable subject. In this study psychologists say that women with prominent chins are more sexually active and aggressive. You would think men would like that, but no. Apparently men are less likely to find women with this feature attractive because men view it as a sign of masculinity and infidelity.

Follow all of that?

Current activity: Reading through a stack of category romances.

I tend to go through these cycles where I can’t get enough Harlequin Intrigue, Blaze and Desire. That’s not the secret. The secret is that I have a weakness for a certain romance theme. Some love secret babies or reunited lovers. Me, well, I love the marriage of convenience. I have no idea why, but if that’s part of the plot I will read the book.

This weakness tends to be a bit of a problem since I far prefer contemporaries to historicals. In historical romance, the marriage of convenience is easy to fit into the plot without looking forced or silly. But there just aren’t that many circumstances where a marriage of convenience makes sense in the modern world. The most likely scenario is one where the heroine must marry the hero in order to save the family ranch, farm, business, etc. The “marriage by accident” is ofen a substitute for this. But I want more.

I am determined to find a different scenario and write a contemporary marriage of convenience plot. Just haven’t come up with one yet. In the meantime, I read on.