1. I am allergic to Florida. Yes, I know that sounds nuts but there isn’t another explanation. I’ve been a stuffy, sneezing mess since I got here. Honestly? I look like death. If you are here and see me, please know I usually look (a little) better.

2. I’m rooming with Jill Shalvis. She totally cracks me up. It’s the first day and I’ve already had to stop her from going into the men’s room.

3. A lot of authors look thinner this year. Was there some secret author fast and no one told me? Bottom line: If there’s an author diet out there I would like for my fellow authors to share it with me.

4. Intrigue authors B.J. Daniels and Carol Ericson went out of their way to come up and say hello to me at the literacy singing. I am an Intrigue newbie and feel totally inadequate most of the time, so it was really nice of them. Lovely ladies.

5. Sold out of LEAVE ME BREATHLESS at the literacy signing. Also had a fabulous experience where a woman brought in a copy of WHEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO BAD BOYS, my first book ever, and asked me to sign it because it’s her favorite. Loved that.

6. Gave away a few ARCs of my November Brava release, IMPULSIVE. Love this book. I’m so excited for release day.

Tomorrow I kick off the PAN (published author) Retreat and get my Mentor of the Year award. I’m also meeting with my agent and attending about 50 parties. Good times.

“We’re going to go on a little fieldtrip to your hotel.” Kane poured another cup of coffee. “You just need to tell me where you’re staying.”

Annie figured he was taking this one to go. By her count, that made five. The guy must have a rock-hard stomach. At two cups, she tested her body’s tolerance. The hanging out and drinking part of her job never got easier. Alcohol or coffee, it didn’t matter. She preferred her own company. Just her and her camera and the room to explore.

“Well?” Kane asked when she didn’t cough up the answer.

There was no use in hedging. He’d figure it out, so she gave him the name of the beach resort where she stayed before boarding the yacht. She should have checked out by now. She’d get right on that as soon as she figured out what to do about not having any identification or a key or her stuff on her.

With the yacht missing, she needed everything in her room. She’d also need protection to escort her inside in case the same someone who pushed her into the ocean was waiting in there to finish the job. And Kane would fill the role of escort just fine. Once there, she’d figure out how to get him out of the way.

“After that visit, we’re going to the marina,” he said.

She couldn’t figure out if that was a good idea or a bad one. “Not to state the obvious, but the yacht isn’t there. It’s gone.”

“I’ve heard.”

She toyed with the sugar packets, piling them in a neat stack, knocking it down then building again. “Then what’s the point? We can see the water from your front yard. Lovely view, by the way. Oceanfront on a policeman’s salary? Hard to imagine how you managed that.”

“There was a time when people could afford to live here. I bought then. Before the overbuilding and before everyone from…where are you from?”

“Seattle.”

“Right.” He took a long sip. “Before everyone from Seattle barged in, acted like they were the first to discover the beach and ocean, and started building street after street of overpriced houses.”

She photographed the outdoors for a living. She understood the swell of anger and frustration when people took nature for granted or acted as if they owned it rather than borrowed it as a caretaker. “Bitter much?”

“Honest.”

“We don’t need to drive around the island looking for beauty. It’s right at your doorstep.” She had enough trouble without tracking down more.

He watched her fingers. His stare following the placement of every pink packet. “Yeah, but this way if you continue to lie, I can always open the truck door and throw you back in the water.”

She didn’t bother to deny the charge. “You don’t have to sound do damn happy at the thought. Where are we now anyway? I mean, I know we’re on Kauai, but where exactly?”

He leaned back against the sink with his ankles crossed in front of him. “Your new temporary home is in Kapaa.”

“Home? You keep thinking I plan to stay the night and hang out with you tomorrow.” She did, but that wasn’t really the point.

“That part isn’t up for debate. The only question is where. You can sleep on the front porch. The trade winds are cool this time of year and the waves tend to be loud, but you should be fine if you curl up under the deck chair.”

She refused to dignify that joke – and it had better be a joke – by responding. “How many bedrooms do you have?”

“Two. One for me. One for Derek. And you can’t have Derek’s room.”

She didn’t want to displace the kid, but still… “A gentleman would let me have his bedroom while he slept elsewhere.”

“Then you should have washed up on that guy’s beach.”

A scream of frustration rumbled up the back of her throat. “You’re infuriating.”

“Tough talk from a woman who claims to want to sleep inside tonight.” He rinsed out the coffee pot and dropped it in the sink.

“Were you fired for how you treat tourists?”

“One last time, I wasn’t fired.” He stepped back to the table and knocked over the pink packet wall she’d been building.

“Hey!”

“I’m the police chief and, from what I can tell, the only person you have on Kauai.” That sexy dimpled smile of his spread across his mouth. “So, left side or right?”

“Would it matter if I said I had no intention of sharing your bed?”

His grin grew even wider. “Not one bit.”

_____________
Don’t forget to check out the other snippets!

Jody Wallace
Mari Carr
Vivian Arend
Shelley Munro
TJ Michaels
Taige Crenshaw
McKenna Jeffries
Ashley Ladd

During deadlines and final edits and everything else that’s happened the last two weeks, I was offered a book contract. Wahoo!! I’m not quite ready to give away all the details yet, but I am wildly excited. This is a reality-based contemporary romance in the new True Vows imprint. The imprint kicks off in September 2010 with three terrific books by three terrific authors, including a book by one of my favorite authors (and dear friend) Alison Kent. My book comes out in March 2011.

Here are some details about my book…

(1) The couple is amazing! Once I heard who they were and read about their backgrounds and their road to happily-ever-after I agreed to write the book. No question. I’m in!

(2) My heroine has a secret and the book will expose it. [I bet that one got your attention, didn't it?]

(3) The book is based on real people, so not everything will come from my imagination. I take those building blocks and create reality-based fiction. My goal is to have you read along and fall in love with my hero and heroine as they fall in love with each other. And did I mention the heroine has a big secret…?

(4) This imprint is new and exciting and different. I’m thrilled to be involved.

And now back to writing my next Intrigue – explosions! kidnapping! shoot-outs! Man, I just love writing for a living.

BLOOD ON SILK by Marie Treanor

While in Romania researching historical superstitions, Scottish academic Elizabeth Silk comes upon the folk tale of Saloman, a seductive prince staked centuries ago, legend’s most powerful vampire. Now, in the ruins of a castle crypt, Elizabeth discovers supernatural legends that have come alive. Her blood has awakened him. Her innocence has aroused him. But Elizabeth unleashes more than Saloman’s hunger, and it’s going to unite them in ways neither could have imagined.

Thoughts?

There were a few things, in addition to my adorable hubby, family and dear friends, that got me through the last few weeks:

1. The Buffy marathon on the LOGO channel. Sometimes I just wanted a 15-30 minute break to do nothing. The Buffy marathon satisfied that need to zone out. I could tune in and stare, remember how much I enjoyed this series, and then get back to work.

2. My Kindle. Even though I didn’t have much time to read I could satisfy my book lust by going to the Kindle store, doing a quick browse and downloading a bunch of books in 10 seconds. The corollary to this is that I now fear opening the AmEx bill.

3. VIA Ready Brew packets of iced (instant) coffee from Starbucks. I’m usually a tea drinker but I do love a good coffee drink from Starbucks, preferably something more sugar than coffee. I found these awsome instant packets and fell in love. I tried the ones for hot coffee and, well, they suck but the iced ones are very good. I’ve had a big glass of iced coffee every day for the last two weeks. Brought me much joy.

4. Knowing I would eventually finish the book. Really, I can’t emphasize how much this one sustained me. I struggled with the pacing on this book. Ripped it apart, put it back together and then revised again. I love it now but – wowsa – it took a long time to get to this point.

So…if you’ve written me an email or called or whatever, I promise I’ll get back to you. This weekend is catch up time. I also plan to do some reading because my TBR pile (including the virtual one on my kindle) is scary.

Noah stood up and tugged Lexy along with him. “I’d rather dance with you than talk about her.”

“Fine but this means nothing.”

Noah pressed his chest against hers. “You keep telling yourself that.”

Lexy tried to keep her guard up but the smell of the soap on his skin and touch of his hands on the bare skin of her back kept breaking her concentration. When he hummed against her ear, the vibration traveled down to her flat shoes.

His nose fell into her hair. “You feel so good.”

Before her common sense kicked in, her hands slid up his arms to rest behind his neck. “One dance.”

“Mmmm.” He buried his face in her naked shoulder. Licked his tongue against her waiting flesh.

Everything around her swayed then disappeared until all she heard was the underlying beat of the music and shuffling of their feet against the patio. No people. No talking. No laughing. Nothing registered in her unfocused mind. The world consisted only of his hands, his heat and the rumble of his voice against her skin.

With every circle they danced, her resistance dropped. One more step and they would have to find a private red rock somewhere. And that could not happen. “We should-”

“Go to your room.”

His husky voice snapped her the rest of the way out of her haze. “No.”

“Lexy.”

“Noah,” she snapped right back at him, mimmicking his annoyed tone.

“You’re killing me here.”

She tried to pull away but he held on. “This is a mistake.”

“But it feels so damn good.”

Yeah, what he said. “That’s the difference between being a kid and being an adult.”

The corner of his mouth kicked up. “Not getting laid?”

She decided to ignore that. “We’re dancing.”

“It’s called foreplay.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at that one. “You’re such a guy.”

_____________
Don’t forget to check out the other snippets!

Lauren Dane
Mari Carr
Vivian Arend
Shelley Munro
TJ Michaels
Taige Crenshaw
McKenna Jeffries
Ashley Ladd
Emma Petersen

Rhyne Abbot is fierce, brave, and used to a life of isolation on her father’s spread on the outskirts of Reidsville, Colorado. But when, overcome with sickness, she collapses, she knows she must return to town if she is to have any hope of recovery. Only there is no place for her but the new doctor’s home, and he wants more than just to heal Rhyne. He wants her hand in marriage.

Doctor Cole Monroe’s hands are already more than full with his orphaned little sister to look after, and yet somehow he can’t resist the magnetic pull of Rhyne’s bewitching eyes—or her tempting kiss. But convincing her to trust him won’t be easy. For Rhyne’s heart needs as much tender care as her ailing body. And the only cure is the thing she most fears: to let herself fall in love…

I’m not sure that back cover copy would normally grab me, but it does here.

1. Authors I always buy – There are folks I buy regularly. I go to their websites and click on the “Coming Soon” section, see what’s coming up and then add books to my Amazon Wishlist. If I’m in the bookstore, I actively search out the authors’ names and see what’s on the shelves.

2. Covers – I’m a sucker for a great cover. If it captures my attention either online or in a store, I will read the back cover. I am totally an impulse buyer and have often purchased books based on the look of them.

3. Excerpts – Never read them. Never. For whatever reason, this is not how I buy books.

4. Reviews – I place ZERO emphasis on Amazon and Goodreads reviews. I’ve had two odd personal experiences that led me to this place. First, a woman got angry over something I said on this blog (it was actually me quoting something someone else said) and then emailed me to say she was going to go give one of my books a 1 star review on Amazon in retaliation…and then she did. She even managed to make it sound like she had read the book and hated it. She later removed the review and apologized after she realized she had gone down an odd path, but I learned a lesson. I got another wake-up call to reality when someone gave one of my Intriques a poor review on Goodreads and then emailed me privately to ask me how I sold the Intrigue and to praise it. Uh, okay. That is not to say all Amazon and Goodreads reviews are worthless. Many are well written and honest and I appreciate those, they just don’t influence what I buy.

5. Reviews Part II – I do read reviews at a few online places. Glowing reviews and poor reviews there don’t really influence my buying either. I check out the reviews mostly because I’m looking at covers. If something in the blurb interests me, I’ll try it.

6. Ads – I don’t pay much attention to those banners on websites, but I do check out bigger ads like those on Smart Bitches. In fact, this weekend I bought The Secretary’s Bossman Bargain by Red Garnier solely because I saw it at SB. I didn’t know Garnier was writing category romance and probably wouldn’t have known had I not checked out the ad.

7. Author websites – I look at author websites all the time. Really, all the time. I’ll be on an email loop and someone will have their website URL under their name and I’ll click on it. I’ll see from Publishers Marketplace that someone sold a book and I’ll search out the author’s website. Clearly, I’m nosy. This is also why I get upset when author websites are way out of date. It ruins my fun.

And now I must get back to writing or I will not have any new books to sell.