Miss Snark unsnarky . . . Yesterday, Miss Snark (my guilty pleasure) posted this sad story, beginning: A good guy was gunned down in the streets of Brooklyn two nights ago. He was a cop doing his job, chasing a guy who turned out to be armed, dangerous, and really stupid. The stupid guy lived. Officer Stewart, father of two, husband, brother, son, didn’t. Read more about this senseless tragedy here and here and here. Which leads me to why I write suspense. It’s exactly what Miss Snark says . . . “Crime novels make sense of the carnage. There’s… Read More

One of my favorite movies is the musical 1776. Ken Howard played Thomas Jefferson, Howard DaSilva played Benjamin Franklin, and William Daniels (the voice of KITT in the old eighties show Knight Rider) played John Adams. If you’ve never seen it, you should. My hubby and I went to see it on stage in Sacramento and had fourth row center seats. The stage production was fantastic, too, but I never tire of seeing the video. 1776 recounts the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I’ll admit that I love John Adams, who was “obnoxious and… Read More

Natalie, Karin and I met for a weekend of brainstorming and wine. Practically at gunpoint, Karin MADE me plot out my option book. It was a story I’d been thinking about for awhile. Black market pharmaceuticals, mass murder, and a truly narcisstic villain with a God complex. I really didn’t know the hero, but I had a good grasp of the heroine’s backstory, why she did what she did, what haunted her, etc. Everything was pretty vague except for the opening scene, which took place in the middle of the Sierra Nevada mountains, north of Lake Tahoe, and basically was… Read More

Shhh, I have a secret. If you’re taking the on-line class I’m teaching about the hero’s journey for the AskAnAuthorAll loop for Romance Writers of America members, you can get ahead of the game. I’ve been watching my favorite romances all week, and one that I’ll be using extensively is FRENCH KISS with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline. I LOVE that movie. Other’s I’ll use as examples are WORKING GIRL with Melanie Griffith and Harrison Ford and WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING with Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. These aren’t the only movies, but if you watch one of the three… Read More

I have an admittedly macabre fascination with what turns people to the dark side. Perhaps that’s why Star Wars always held such a strong allure for me. The original premise of The Kill was that of a wrongfully convicted man released because of DNA evidence more than thirty years later seeks revenge on those who put him in prison. I say original because the book took on a life of its own and really became more about the real killer and how he managed to ellude police for so long. Shawshank Redemption is one of my all-time favorite movies, and… Read More

Publishing is an odd business. I’m still learning the ropes, but the more I know the more I realize I don’t know. For example, there is a lot of “hurry-up-and-wait” in the business. Considering patience is not my strong suit, can you imagine my frustration these last 20 months? I’ve often said me getting published is penance for my lack of patience. First, my sale came quickly–a week after my agent sent out my manuscript (now known as The Prey. This was in March of 2004. The book hits the shelves December 27, 2005. That’s a long time. I know… Read More

Yesterday over at the toberead blog, I posted a little thing about Random House making a deal with a production company to purchase film rights of Random House books, if available. As an author for Ballantine (an imprint of RH), I was of course intrigued. What author wouldn’t want their book made into a movie? The same author who says they “don’t care” if they hit the NYT list — one who lies. One of the caveats is that they’re not looking at the mega bestsellers (like John Grisham whose books are already turned into blockbuster movies); they’re looking at… Read More

I’m really a very nice person, but my thoughts aren’t always so pleasant. I tend to think of the most macabre thing that can happen in any given situation. When I hear a news story, my imagination goes wild. Even the most benign story has dark overtones. People have always been fascinated and repelled by evil. I think it’s hard-wired into us from the dawn of time. Look at Eve. She knew damn well she shouldn’t touch the apple, let alone take a bite from it. The lure of the serpent was powerful. In The Hunt my heroine thinks about… Read More

Karin gets credit for the name of this new blog. (Applause.) Titles are not my strong suit. I thought they were when I first started writing. My first manuscript I called Hot Latte because the heroine went to the corner coffeehouse every morning. Then I came up with the catchy Protecting Hart, which was my female-bodyguard-protecting-sexy-politician story. Watch Your Back was my attempt at a real mystery (as opposed to suspense). Then came Fatal Secrets . . . my paranormal romantic suspense set in the future. None of those books will be published. And the titles? I tried to resurrect… Read More