My Christmas Anthology!

What about this cover, guys? This is the Christmas Anthology I'm participating in, releasing this November! You can read the small blurb on my Books page. I really love it!

WHATA BAND!

Am I the only one (besdides my daughter!) who loves these guys? They are so cool! And adorable! I had to do a look-up to see if they were in fact a true band and that I'd just missed 'em. Nope! They are actors--and the lead is Canadian/Frenchman (and cutie!) Eric Violette. He has a (sexy!) French accent, so his lyrics are dubbed over for an American version, but he is in fact a singer/actor/guitar player. Not so sure about the other guys but I LOVE their commercials/songs! My favorites are the Seafood Restaurant/Pirate and the Renaissance Faire. LOL! Gosh, no matter what we're doing in the house (almost!) we hear that crazy thing and stop to run and listen/sing along! You can (if you're obsessive like me!) go to this website, listen/watch the commercials and sing along with the lyrics! Love that Eric!!! http://www.freecreditreportband.com/

TESTING!

Okay guys--I think I'm having problems with my blog, so if you could take sec and just post--anything--even if it's just HI! I'd appreciate it! If you can't post, then please send me an email at hauntedromances@yahoo.com !

THANKS!

TRAVIS FIMMEL!

Travis Fimmel looks rather young here, (I'm not robbing the cradle TOO much--he was born in '79!) but I absolutely ADORE him in A&E's The Beast (along with kick-butt Patrick Swayze!)!! My LORDY, that Travis is cute! His character, Ellis Dove, is a deep-undercover cop, and he has that Billy-Bad-Butt attitude, like no one intimidates him, and nothing scares him. Like there's nothing he cannot do. Yet he also has a soft side--he is really protective of Patrick's character and looks up to him.

LOVE THAT! :)

I've not been able to find much on Travis--including pics from The Beast. Hopefully, soon! He also played in a WB series, TARZAN--something else I can't find much on, other than YouTube. I think the production was stopped on that one, but if I can get ahold of what bit of the series was aired, I'll buy it! He's a fantastic actor who hides his sexy Australian accent pretty good. :) (that always fascinates me--the hiding of one's true accent!)

If you haven't watched an episode of The Beast, give it a go! It is PHENOMENAL! :)

Heroines and Cool Careers!

As you can see, I'm not very good at alligning my pictures! Sorry!

Heroines are a fun, challenging entity for me. I don't like them too "In Your Face", I certainly don't like them wimpy, but best of all, I love them to have a cool and unique career. They have to have the just-right balance of sweetness vs. aggressiveness--not an easy balance!

I'm sort of dragging up the back of the line here by JUST NOW jumping on the CSI bandwagon. Oh my GOSH! I LOVE LOVE LOVE CSI! Miami is my favorite. My daughter and I will watch episode after episode! (ahem, when I'm not writing!) Calleigh (the top picture) is one of my favorites on CSI: Miami. She's cool, knows her stuff, and yet has that great sweet/I-can-kick-your-butt type attitude. LOVE CALLEIGH!

One of the fun things about writing is this: ALL the cool careers that I'm too old to pursue? I can now simply live vicariously through my heroines! FUN! Take for instance, Rachel Weisz (pictured in white shirt and with BRENDAN FRASER!). WOW. Not only is she a cool archaeologist (AFTER she was a Librarian, of course!) and gets to smooch her super-cool and sexy archaeologist (AFTER he was a treasure hunter!) guy, Rick O'Connell (sigh, Brendan!), but she is again, that perfect mixture of sweet/kindhearted vs. "don't make me come in there!" I love her character as Evie. One of my favorites!

But there's also the very cool career as a demon hunter, as Rachel showed us in Constantine (pic in white shirt). LOVED her in that movie (as well as Keanu!).

I've had one of my heroines be a mystery novelist( Amelia from Highland Knight- (see pic of Kim Lenox! Ain't she gorgeous?!!!), a forensic archaeologist (Andi from Spirited Away), a geneologist (that was Ellie, and for the most part her career didn't surface during the book), a professional ghost-ouster (Allie in MacGowan's Ghost), and lastly Emma (from Thirteen Chances) who is a wedding photographer. Lots of neat careers! And these are just to name a few.

You may be wondering about the super-hip and adorable violinist (last pic). I stumbled across Emilie Autumn while researching another heroine (I'm keeping that one a secret for now!). She is a PHENOMENAL violinist who mixes the classicals with modern-day rock. It is AWESOME! And her music is totally an inspiration for a character I'm working on...

What sort of heroine do you like to read? Are there certain careers that really pull you into a story? Let's hear some of them!

Better yet...what do you want to be when you grow up? :)

WINNERS ANNOUNCED!!!!

Hey Everyone! Here finally are the winners of my Blog Valentine's Day Contest and my Big Valentine's Day contest!

For the Blog: ABBERS! Congratulations! You've won a signed copy of MacGowan's Ghost and another of my releases, your choice! Or if you've already read MacGowan's Ghost, but prefer 2 of my others, just let me know! Send me your preferences, name and mailing address to: hauntedromances@yahoo.com CONGRATS!

And for my Big Valentine's Day Contest! The winner is...Emmy Maguire! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! You've won my big V-Day contest! Send me your mailing address to: hauntedromances@yahoo.com . Humongous congrats!

Now don't ya'll forget--I still have my February Contest running for MacGowan's Ghost's release. If you haven't entered, go to my Contest page, follow the directions, and ENTER! :) I'll be running this contest through the end of the month! The winner will be listed on this blog, as well as my Contest Page.

CONGRATS AGAIN TO THE WINNERS! And thank ALL of you for playing along! I love hearing your favorite movies/quotes/scenes!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!! And a Contest!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

A reader recently wrote to me to say Brendan Fraser (up) was one of her favorite actors, and another wrote to me and asked what/who gave me inspiration for my hero (Christian of Arrick-by-the-Sea) in Thirteen Chances.

Well...Christian sort of took on a look all his own, but THIS particular picture (of Brendan and Alicia lip-locked) is what inspired me throughout the writing of Thirteen Chances. I enlarged it and had it centered on my story board, which sat right in front of me while I wrote. I don't know...I think it is just the sweetest, sexiest kiss picture! Sigh! I love Brendan Fraser! :)

In my second novel, Into Thin Air, I had a small internal scene with the heroine, Ellie, who was recalling the Best Kiss Ever in the History of Kisses. It was recently pointed out to me that I left one very important kiss out: the kiss between Wesley and Buttercup! Doh! How could I? I just recently watched The Princess Bride and man--I love that movie! :)

So even though I have a Valentine's Day contest running from my contest page, I'll run another small one right now: Post a comment to this blog and let us know your favorite couple or kiss scene! I'll run this contest through Sunday, and Sunday evening I'll post the winner. I'll offer a signed copy of MacGowan's Ghost and any of my other novels. Woohoo!

Okay, and for those of you who have entered: My February Contest will run through the end of February, and my Valentine's Day contest will run until midnight TONIGHT. Sunday morning I'll announce the winner here, and it will also appear on my Contest Page. :)

Good Luck! And Happy V-Day!!!!