Saturday, July 30, 2011

Which Adopted Greyhound Was Right For Us?

Right or not, Bubbles was our first greyhound, a wedding present to ourselves, and our first child. In mostly blissful ignorance we were matched with her by a man who found greyhound rescue to be a hobby that was just as rewarding, but more affordable than flying.

We didn't know much about the breed, but we eagerly listened to everything that experienced greyhound rescuer told us. We got our greyhound education primarily through one chance meeting at a vet and the greyhound adoption

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Thursday, July 28, 2011

World Building For The Reading Experience

At the Romantic Times convention in St Louis many years ago, I spoke with a vendor who had created soundtracks for the different romance genres.

Soundtracks to read by. Completely new concept to me, but they told me it was to create a mood, enhance the reader's expereince with the book. In essence, world building for the reader.

When you're at conventions like these as either a reader or as an author, (or both as was the case for me) you get to know those around you in the lulls when

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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

A Wrap on Paranormal Romance Novel Marketing

I must start today with a hearty THANK YOU to all the readers and Menage a Blog followers who stopped by the site these past few days! Getting to flirt, chat and connect with you made this an absolutely incredible experience! Your comments and quips kept me laughing, often loud enough to have my family wondering what was up.

Being in that incredible line up of authors was great - and reaching the top three for Final Flirt was HUGE!

But seeing Tracking Shadows at #1 in urban fantasy on

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Friday, July 22, 2011

Welcome BACK to Menage a Blog, part 2

Welcome to the bonus round! Thanks to YOU, I'm in the flirt-off with the fabulous Lacey Weatherford and Jacquie Rogers! This weekend we're offering something for everyone: fantastic books starring witches, cowboys, and the hottest smuggler in 2096!
While you were gathering up free books all week (from all those amazing, flirtatious authors) your comments here launched me to the top of the blog tour and ... <drumroll> ... you've launched Tracking Shadows onto the urban fantasy

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Thursday, July 21, 2011

Guest Author Lisa Phillips

I'm excited to welcome Lisa Phillips as today's special guest!

SPECIAL ALERT: Lisa will be at The Boutique Du Vamprye in the French Quarter, New Orleans, LA from 2-4 on October 29th. She will also be attending the Vampire Lestat Ball on the 28th, as well as The Witches' Ball after her signing on the 29th.

Trust me, this will be worth a road trip! Not only is Lisa a talented author, she's a gracious and wonderful person. (The costumes only add to her charm)

The author of Obsession

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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Welcome to Menage A Blog!

Welcome to Menage A Blog where the reader always wins! This is Stop #8 where you can indulge in an adventurous escape with a free ebook of my latest urban fantasy novel: Tracking Shadows.

Stop #7 was Judith Gaines with Perfect Copy: A chilling thriller with a premise sure to strike fear in your heart. With escalating tension on every page, some seriously twisted characters engage in an even more twisted plot. Fans of dark thrillers (and sexy scientists) will enjoy this novel.

Stop

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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Historical Habit For This Paranormal Romance Author

People are often surprised by my love of historical romance novels. Something about the genre just sweeps me away. From the humor of Julia Quinn to the intrigue of Amanda Quick, those hours of reading equal a little slice of heaven. They're not even a 'guilty pleasure' because I'll happily talk your ears off about characters, plots, rakes, gowns, heroines, horses, and more.

My guess is people find my historical habit surprising because I write gritty, action packed urban fantasy and

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Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Bonds of Adopted Greyhounds

It seems Boo has her own seizure dog. After fourteen days, we'd grown more hopeful that she was a one and done sort of seizure patient. I wouldn't say we were complacent, but every day without a seizure had become a small victory for all of us. Even Bandit had started to allow her out of his sight more often.

Then another grand mal seizure struck.

She'd just started going under, her mouth foaming, her back legs sliding on the hardwood in the hallway. She didn't make any noise, other

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Thursday, July 14, 2011

World Building Harry Potter Style

Oh, you had to know I couldn't resist a timely post like this! Not with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2 in theaters tomorrow! I'm such a fan of the books and movies. Professionally, I admire the extensive character development and outstanding, original world building. Personally, it's simply a fantastic series!

Our entire household are Harry Potter fans. Yes, even the dogs and cats because when one of us is reading the books it means hours of cuddle time for the furry

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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

World Building For a Writing Career, part 2

World building is vital to every nuance of a productive writing life. As a paranormal romance author, I carefully consider the worlds I build for my paranormal romance and urban fantasy characters to venture through. Additionally, I've learned (through much trial and error) to carefully manage my time and build my work environment to maintain the quality of my writing.

But then, when the paranormal romance novel is done, it's time to get busy with the world building necessary for marketing

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Saturday, July 9, 2011

An Adopted Greyhound Collection

One more reason for my addiction to the outstanding dog breed of retired, adopted greyhounds: 5 greyhounds in one room and no fighting, not even much grumbling. Even with a stressful situation like noisy fireworks.

That's five dogs with long legs, noses and tails and an average weight of approximately 70 pounds each. Yup, that means a lot of adopted greyhound cooperation.

We've been dogsitting for Ransom and Ozzie, a pair of greyhounds we adore, while their daddy took a well-deserved

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Thursday, July 7, 2011

Defining the Alpha Female Character

Recently an interviewer asked me to explain the difference between urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels and where my books fit in. I had to laugh because when I started the Shadows of Justice series, publishing was a whole different world and urban fantasy wasn't yet defined as such. Anything with a romantic element that wasn't contemporary or a space odyssey was labeled paranormal romance.

In the near future of 2096 Jaden Michaels (heroine of Justice Incarnate) is a kick-butt, alpha

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Tuesday, July 5, 2011

World Building for a Writing Career

Lily Tomlin said, "We're all in this together - by ourselves." It's a quote I keep in a place of prominence on my desk. Specifically those words are printed on a purple star courtesy of the fabulous Margie Lawson. It's a potent reminder for my world building of paranormal romance novels and my writing career.

I chose that star from a basket filled with quotes and encouragement in the goodie room at an RWA national conference years ago. While those words can certainly apply to many facets of

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Saturday, July 2, 2011

Adopted Greyhound Full of Love and Concern

Well, we had a bit of excitement this week. Our precious Boo, queen of our three-pack of adopted greyhounds had a grand mal seizure Monday afternoon.

It was terrifying as she started with foaming at the mouth and a twitchy lip, then suddenly collapsed in a full blown seizure that lasted about 5 minutes. Absolutely terrifying. I'd had no first hand experience with this and I fumbled, one hand on the phone dialing the vet, one hand on Bandit as we helplessly waited it out.

First, let me say

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