Romance Writers Weekly: December 9, 2014

"Tis the season to be jolly" and crank up the old Christmas tunes. What a fun topic this week. Many thanks to Xio Axelrod for making us try and choose our favourite Christmas song. This is very difficult for me, mainly because I can never pin down just one thing as a favourite, and what might be top of the list this morning could be forgotten by this evening. 

Yes, I'm one of those people, where every second or third song that comes on the radio is "My favourite song in the whole wide world." What can I say? I like way more things than I dislike. 

So here's what I'm going to do. I'll list my top three Christmas songs, and we can all assume that this fluctuating list will change many times between now and old Christmas day. 

Now, without further adieu, here are some of my favs! (Videos included so you can sing along!)

The Cherry Tree Carol, by Jose Feliciano 

This song makes me cry every time I hear it. And while there are plenty of beautiful versions, there's no other like this. His voice and the guitar, the sincerity of it all, crushes me. And I love it. 

Oh Holy Night

Another classic carol that kicks me right in the heart strings. And still, it makes me smile as well. It brings back memories of a crisp winter night at the family cabin where my cousin and I belted this out at the top of our lungs. We thought we were the best singers ever! She's actually pretty great. Me, not so much. Anyhow, there are a lot of beautiful versions out there and I honestly have no particular favourite. But for today, let's say this version by Josh Groban is pretty awesome. I do prefer piano versions over huge orchestras, so this has a bit of both. 

Barefoot Santa Claus by Sonny James

So when I was a kid, I loved this song. These days my favourite kid christmas song is the Hippopotamus one, but there's no way I can lie and say that this wasn't what got my little feet tapping at Christmas time. So here it is, in all its barefoot glory!

Honourable mentions go out today to other favs including:

• Anything by Boney M
• Carol of the Bells
• The Mummer's Song
• Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
• Some Kenny & Dolly christmas songs

The Blarmling Dilemma (Hearts in Orbit Book 1)

By S.C. Mitchell

Buy on Amazon

Now pop on over and say "Jingle Bells" to S.C. Mitchell to see what he has on his list. And be sure to check out his brand new release, The Blarmling Dilemma. 

Romance Writers Weekly: December 2, 2014

It's time for the Romance Writers Weekly Christmas Cookie Recipe exchange! If you've come via Collette Cameron, I'm not sure we can top her spritz cookies but I'll try. 

Mmmmmm. Cookies. I love cookies no matter the time of year, but there's something about Christmas that just makes eating them so much more acceptable.

I'm blessed to have a husband that bakes all year round so there's never any shortage in our home. Last night in bed I said "What recipe of yours do you want me to post tomorrow?" Because let's face it, with a toddler, that's about as exciting as it gets in our bed these days. 

Anyhow, after much deliberation I've decided to go with his brownie recipe. Two reasons: They were already made so I could take a photo this morning of the real thing, and also, they are so good that they don't even need icing or ice cream or anything to add to them. They are moist, chocolatey, and decadent all on their own. And simple to make. Or at least that's what I'm told. Because I cook. He bakes. It's a great house we have. 

Don't judge. This was my breakfast this morning. I'll have a healthy lunch. I promise. 

Decadent Fudge Brownies

Ingredients

• 1  1/2 cup of flour
• 3/4 cup of rich dark cocoa (The better your cocoa, the better your brownies!)
• 1/2 tsp  baking powder
• 1 cup of  melted butter
• 3/4 cup of vanilla sugar (Vanilla Sugar. Simple to make. Poke a couple of long vanilla beans in a tall glass, fill with sugar, cover and let sit for a week. Mmmmm.)
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar
• 2 eggs

What to do

• Preheat oven to 350°F 
• Lightly butter and flour a 9 x 13” (23 x 33 cm) pan, shaking out excess flour. You could use cocoa instead of flour. This is a great alternative.
• Whisk flour, cocoa and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Set aside. 
• In a separate mixing bowl, whisk remaining ingredients. Combine both mixes and pour into prepared pan. 
• Bake for 25 minutes
• Eat! You can eat them warm with ice cream (my dad's favourite), eat them right from the pan with nothing on top (my favourite) or sprinkle cocoa or icing sugar on them. You can also spruce them up with icing, but trust me, they are perfect just as they are! 

Now hop on over to see the most amazing lebkuchen recipe from Betty Bolte! This cookie is new to me but I guarantee we'll be giving it a go. 

Oh! And be sure to pop over to our Facebook party today. We're giving away books all day long! 

Romance Writers Weekly: November 18, 2014

Ah, holidays. My American friends are gearing up for Thanksgiving (we had that last month) and then next month, Christmas. And what's one of the best things about holidays? That's right—FOOD! This week we are sharing our favourite holiday recipe. I thought long and hard about how to approach this post. I could have posted some dishes that I like, but honestly, when I think holidays, only one thing come to mind. Jiggs Dinner. 

What's that, you say. (If you're not from Newfoundland & Labrador, that is.). Well, this meal has plenty of names. Jiggs Dinner is one of the most common ones. It's also called boiled dinner, cooked dinner, and my favourite, Pork and Cabbage. (Some also call it corned beef and cabbage.) Around my family we just call it Sunday Dinner. Although I'll eat it any day of the week.

In terms of holidays, this is what you eat for all the big ones. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, New Years, Paddy's Day. I kid. About Paddy's Day. Although it can be a great cure for a hangover. 

I challenge you to walk through any small town in Newfoundland on a Sunday and not be tempted by the smell of this dinner wafting out the windows of just about every house. 

My grandmother makes this every Sunday. She makes enough for at least 20 people. There have been times when we've had people eating in kitchen, the living room, and the porch. And don't get me started on the fights that can break out when there's not enough of one of the key ingredients to go around. I know I've done a fork duel with more than one cousin for the last bit of salt beef. 

So here we go. My holiday recipe for Jiggs Dinner - the visual version. 

Ingredients

Salt beef. If you don't have this, don't bother cooking because it's not Jiggs Dinner without it. This is basically cured bits of beef (usually the fatty scraps) that when boiled, retains a beautiful deep pink colour. I highly recommend you check out this link for the Old Pork website just to hear  "88 year old Nan" tell you about her bit of beef. 

Split Yellow Peas. You need this for the other critical dish, Pease Pudding. Don't bother inviting me if this isn't in the pot. :) Now, there's two main camps on serving this (plus countless other "true" methods). Some mash their cooked peas in butter (these are the people who need to try my Nan's pudding). And others, like me, are purists, and want our pease pudding in the nice round shape is comes out of the pot so we can slice it and fill our plates with mounds of it. 

Okay. This is also important. Here is Newfoundland, you'll hear us talk about turnip. A lot. And turnip must go in the pot. BUT when we say turnip, we mean Rutabaga. I think I was about 27 when I learned that the turnip I love isn't a turnip. The turnip we grow, not a turnip. Truth be told, I've never eaten a turnip. And yet, if you ask me my favourite vegetable, I'll tell you proudly that it's turnip. Cause 27 years of conditioning is hard to break. Plus, wouldn't it sound pretentious if I said "If I could be any vegetable in the world, I'd be a rutabaga." Or maybe pretentious isn't the word I mean either. ;) 

So there you have it. Your basic ingredients. Now you can get all fancy and add other specialty puddings. Molasses raisiin pudding is a favourite, as is blueberry pudding. And my aunt loves onion pudding. But I don't know how to make any of those so if you wanna get adventurous, go google those recipes. :)

But Victoria, you're likely wondering. What do I do with all of these wonderful root vegetables that have fed hardy Newfoundlanders for eons? Ahhhh. my friends. So simple. 

Cooking!

It takes three hours to make Jiggs Dinner. Let's say you want to eat at 6 pm (because that's what I did yesterday!). Here's our handy timeline. 

3 pm: Put a big boiler on the stove. Use the tallest, biggest pot you have. You're going to be putting a lot of food in here. Fill about half way with water. Start to boil. Cut up your salt beef, trimming off a lot of the fat. For the sake of this post, let's say you're having six people for dinner. So make sure there's enough for each person to have a nice choice cut. You are NOT GOING TO SALT YOUR WATER because there's enough salt in this to pickle your ribs. As for your split peas, grab a cloth pudding bag (if you don't have one, cut the corner off an old pillow case and use that), pour in the container of peas and tie your bag loosely. Not super loose, but not too tight. You want to give your peas a chance to expand, but still form a pudding. I'm not gonna lie. There's trial and error involved here. Here's what it should look like. Pop it into the pot and then go read a book. 

4:30 pm: By now you'll have cut up cabbage up into nice big chunks. Toss it in the pot. If your water seems a little low, add some from a hot kettle. If you have cabbage lovers, you'll want a fairly big head. 

5:15 pm: Add your turnip and carrots. Keep carrots whole unless they're massive, in which case, cut them in half width wise. Have your turnip in nice large chunks as well. One turnip should be good unless they're small. I always get a turnip about the size of a honeydew mellon. I tend to do one carrot per person unless I know I have some major carrot lovers coming. 

5:30 pm: Add your potatoes. Two per person and an extra one or two for the pot. 

6 pm: Take it all out. I put potatoes on a big platter, carrots on their own plate, cabbage goes in a strainer over a bowl so the water drips out, turnip goes into a bowl and you mash it with butter and pepper, salt beef gets it own plate (you might need to cut it smaller), and the pease pudding goes on another.  

A NOTE ON MEAT!

I haven't mentioned meat. This meal is typically accompanied by a roast of some sort. Turkey, chicken, pork, moose, grouse, goose, whatever you like, fill your boots. Yesterday, I cooked for my parents. They brought a roast and gravy. We had moose. Mmmmmm. Delicious! 

Thank you Mr. Moose for living so we could eat. I always feel bad thinking about where my meat comes from, but I do prefer knowing it lived in the wild and was doing its natural thing until his life ended. 

Finally, pile all your food on your plate, slather it in gravy if you have some (and you like it) and enjoy. Make sure you go back for more!

Confession time. When I cooked yesterday, I didn't have cabbage. Forgot to get it. And I forgot to get turnip greens, which are awesome. So I used brussel sprouts, which I hate. I put three teeny ones on my plate just to pretend so the wee one would eat his. Here's what's on the plate, clockwise: Carrots, potato, pease pudding, salt beef, yucky brussel sprouts, a huge piece of moose roast and mashed turnip. The hole in the centre of the plate is because when I was talking up dinner I was imaging piling my greens in there. So I left a space for respect. :) 

Either you now want to try this, or you're wondering, why did I just spend this much time reading about a boiled dinner? Either way, head on over and see what delicious treat Raine Balkera has in store for you! And see you next week!

Romance Weekly: November 11, 2014

Before I begin today I just wanted to take a minute to remember in the blogiverse the sacrifice of so many men and women who have given their lives, their health (physical and mental), their courage and their time to keeping us safe. Thank you. 

---

This week we're back to the good old three questions, and we have Eden Ashe to thank for it. Without further fanfare, let's get down to it. 

1. How much free reign do you give your characters during a story?

As much as needed to get the story out there. Mind you, I do have a pretty solid idea of who the main characters are so they don't get up to too much trouble in my head. 

2. Have your characters ever done something so out of the blue that not only changed your story, but changed the tone and maybe even the genre you were originally going for? (Like your contemporary romance turned into a spicy paranormal)

Not yet. I'm a pantser writer for sure, but a lot of the story already exists in my head. I know what has to happen, it's what goes on in the middle that can be surprising. Still, I think I keep my head pretty nailed in my genre so it doesn't get out of hand. 

3. Do you have one character in your head that is sort of boss over all the rest? Or do you decide who to work on and when?

I write the story from start to finish, and often the only points of view I use are the hero and heroine. Or in the case of my Forever Geek trilogy, just Jillian. I'm the boss of them all. 

Short answers this week, but sadly, I guess I keep too tight a reign on everyone to have any big secrets to spill. The only time a character went in a different direction for me was Asher during his first appearances in Against Her Rules. Look how that turned out. He became hero of his very own book (21st Century Rake!)

So let's hop on over to the ever-fun Christy Carlyle and see if she's the boss of her characters. 

Romance Writers Weekly: October 28, 2014

This week we are telling ghost stories, real or true. And boy, do I have a tale for you. We were instructed to keep it to under 300 words, so I apologize for skimping on the truly creepy stuff. I could write thousands of words about this tale. 

True story: 

I lived in a haunted house.

The cream house in the centre housed four apartments. I lived on the top floor for a terrifying 8 months. I took this image from Google Earth street view.

The first indication was a huge fight between my sister and I. She claimed my drunken friends and I had nothing better to do that keep climbing up to the 3rd story apartment I was renting and trying to scare her. I told her drunk gals in their early 20s have better things to do with their time than scare baby sisters.

Next indication, my roommate called me frantically one evening to tell me there were about 50 people gathered outside the old victorian house that was now home to several apartments and they were all pointing up at our windows. Turned out it was the local Haunted Hike. What the heck?

Over the eight months we lived there, doors inexplicably opened, the grate in front of the fireplace would often be found on the other side of the room, footsteps lurked outside our door, odd electrical things would happen (my electric piano came on one evening when it wasn’t plugged in), my roommate claimed he was attacked by a hag that tried to choke him, and our cats were freaked out all the time.

But the worst, and most common haunting, was the cries of the babies. Yea. We’d wake to what sounded like babies crying in our chimney. No one in that house had children, let alone babies. Then one day my dad was talking to a retired cop who told a tale of a woman who murdered two babies in an apartment downtown. She burned their wee bodies in the fireplace. The apartment? Mine. I still get chills when I think about it. The only thing that makes me feel better is knowing she was caught. Was she the evil presence that attacked my roomie? 

Have you ever had a ghostly experience? 

Share it in the comments!

Now, pop on over to S.C. Mitchell and see how he's going to scare the bejebus out of us. I'm anticipating a terrifying piece of fiction from him. 

Romance Weekly: October 21, 2014

Hope everyone is enjoying their autumn. This week's challenge has a little bit of seasonal wonderfulness to it, at least in word choice. The creative Ms. Mishka Jenkins came up with this week's challenge: Write a love letter. (Let’s go with 400 words or less). Has to include the words- Sweet, Pumpkin, and Brush. I can't wait to see what the other authors in this group come up with. I wish I could say I was surprised by the direction my letter took, but now that I read it again, I know I'm not. This is a real love letter, to one of the two loves of my life. 

---

Hello my sweet boy,

Maybe one of these days you’ll be sorting through the archaic archives of my website and come across this letter. Perhaps it will be a surprise for you. Or perhaps I’ll have told you all about it at some point. If you’re a grown man by now and I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of your life for this long you likely know that your mother is terrible at keeping secrets.

I think this challenge was supposed to be fiction, but as I sat down this morning, all I could think about was you and the little person I watch you becoming. Right now you have the most angelic face. You also have the most evil laugh. Dancing, singing and drumming seem to be your favourite things this week. And you still hate getting your hair washed. When I come near you with a brush you’d think I was about to chop your head off. I love your little blonde curls, but if this keeps up, I might have to go against my own wishes and get your hair cut.

It’s October here and Halloween is just ten days away. As usual, I’m behind schedule and have no costume for you. If you ever stumble upon pictures of you dressed as a two-year-old Aristotle, you’ll know mommy and daddy wrapped you in a bed sheet at the last minute and tried to pass you off as a philosopher. Man, I hope I don’t end up doing that to you. But in case I do, I’m sorry!

My head is always full of ideas of great and wonderful things for us to do. Roast pumpkin seeds, rake all the leaves into a big jumping pile (this failed not only because of my lack of initiative, but because Hurricane Gonzalo blew them all away), go to the museum… but our days seem to get lost in long snuggly naps and never-ending games of chase and “One more book!”

Every day you surprise me with something new, and I think it’s fair of me to speak for Daddy too when I say that watching you grow and learn and become a little person with will and thought and purpose astounds us. We love you. We love how you change. And we look forward to a lifetime of watching you blow our minds.

Love always,

Mommy

---

I can't wait to read the letters everyone else wrote this week. I wonder how many will be fiction, and how many real? I love seeing the way we can all start at the same place and end up in so many different places. Let's start with Leslie Hachtel and see what kind of love letter she has for us. 

This is the face that I wake up to each day. :) 

Romance Weekly: October 14, 2014

This week we're talking dates. Bad dates. Dare we even say disaster dates? Collette Cameron wants us to share our stories, or if we've been blessed to only have had great dates in our lives, make one up. I wish I had to make one up. But nope. I've had my share of stinkers. But here's the worst.

In case this is your first time reading a blog post by me, there's something you should know. I live in Newfoundland, which is an island off the east coast of Canada. There's only a half a million people on this island even though we're about as big as California and we have some very remote villages with nothing around for hours other than equally small villages. Point is, you don't have a lot of options for date destinations. 

So it's the early 90s. I'm 16 and a guy I'd had a crush on for years had asked if I wanted to go for a drive with him. He didn't call it a date. I don't think anyone used the word date in that community. But when a seventeen year old boy asks a girl to go for a drive, and there's no other friends coming along, that's a date. 

I was so excited. I mean, I think I first dreamed of marrying him when I was eight. And finally, I was getting my chance. I had visions of him driving us to a spot overlooking the ocean. Maybe we'd listen to the radio. Maybe we'd kiss. Heck, maybe we'd even get out of the car and go for a romantic walk hand-in-hand in the moonlight, the sound of the water gently crashing along the rocks. Yea, I was a romantic even then. 

When he turned off the highway onto a dirt road in the opposite direction of the water I wondered where we were going. And then I saw the sign. Provincial landfill site. More commonly known as the dump. Yes, friends. His idea of a great romantic evening out was parking at the local dump where we would, if we were lucky, get front row seats to the black bears feasting on the garbage. 

I'd read plenty of Sweet Valley High and Harlequin books by then, and no where did the guy ever say "Hey baby, I've got a romantic night of bear watching planned for us up at the dump tonight." 

Did we kiss? No. Did my years long crush float away on the stench-infused wind that blew over the dump that summer night? Hell yea. And did we see bears? Oh yes we did. Right until I demanded we leave when one looked like it was about to walk on top of the car. 

Ah. Teen romance. Some guys just don't get it. Now let's hop over to the always wonderful Sarah Hegger who is sharing a disaster date from a work-in-progress. 

Had it been daylight, this is the sort of romantic backdrop I would have been witness to. 

Romance Weekly: September 30, 2014

As we say here in Newfoundland, "I'm smudderin' with the cold" so if there are typos out the wazoo today, please forgive me. My head feels like it's in a vice and there's a thunder storm in my ears. So without any preamble, here we go. I don't know who to thank for this weeks questions. I could do some internet digging but my head won't abide it. 

1.) Was there a defining moment in your life when you knew you were going to become a writer? If so, what was it?

I don't think so. I've always written stories and believed that one of these days I would have a book in print. I guess that's the optimist in me. My first short story was published when I was in grade six, so I suppose I had an over-inflated ego after that. lol. Seriously though, I think any writer knows somewhere deep inside that they have a story to tell that begs to be written. I think just by sitting down to get those words on paper makes us a writer. Now an author, that's a whole different question. Maybe someone will ask that in the months ahead. 

2.) When you write a story do you see it unfold as one big picture, or do you add layering in subsequent drafts?

It unfolds in one big picture for me. Editing is where I take out the nonsense, or add some more substance. But the story is the story. 

3.) How many drafts do you usually write before you send your work to your editor?

One, maybe one and a half. Quite often my editor gets a draft at the same time my crit partners do. On Geek God I waited until I'd heard back from all my crit partners before sending it to her. I should check with her and see which approach she prefers. :) 

Blah. I've done my duty. Now I"m going to send you off to visit Dani Jace and I'm going to go make some honey lemon tea and steam my head. See you next week when I'm hopefully feeling much better. 

Romance Weekly: September 9, 2014

We're back to three questions time here on the good old RW blog hop. Thanks to Beth Carter for this week's gems. I think I'm most interested in seeing everyone's answer to the third question this week. If you've landed here from Collette Cameron's blog, you've seen hers and I wish I'd come up with that answer myself. Ah well. Let's get going, shall we, and see what I can come up with.

1. What’s your favorite aspect of novel writing? Dialogue? Setting? Conflict? Narration? Explain.

This is easy. Dialogue. I love the banter between characters. Maybe it's because I talk a lot myself, (and to myself!) but I think so much character is revealed through what they say. And what they choose not to say. So I suppose what I like writing best is dialogue both spoken and in the mind. Here's an example of what I mean from my current WIP, Geek God (available for pre-order I might add!) 

_______

“Oh. What’s up tonight?” Please let that have sounded casual. Just because my head is screaming: What? You’re not staying?

“Dungeons & Dragons.”

You know when your face reacts before you have a chance to get your shit together? That’s what’s happening right now. I think my eyes might have even bulged. I want to sound cool, but I can’t help myself.

“Adults play D&D?”

“Plenty of us do. What do you think happens to the kids who played it in their parents’ basements when they grow up?”

“They grow up?” My cousin played that game when he was a teenager. He and a group of his nerdy friends all hanging around a table rolling dice and talking about orcs and not letting girls play. Nerds. Geeks. Whatever. I wondered now if he still played.

“And how is it any different than still playing video games?”

“It’s totally different.”

“It’s not. It’s way more social than hanging out home alone with just a TV and console. I’m hanging out with people, talking, eating, drinking and having fun.”

What’s curious in this discussion is that he’s not getting angry or embarrassed. He seems to have no problem with admitting that he does this.

“How does it work?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your game. How does it work?”

I don’t know if I’m asking because I want to know, or if I’m just trying to keep him here a bit longer. One thing is certain. It’s clear that he’s not interested in me that way. If going and playing a geek game with his geek friends seems better than hanging out with a woman who’d done her damnedest to look as sexy as she can, then I’ve already lost this battle.

He might look like God’s gift to women, but clearly there’s a very good reason why he’s single.

What if he’s gay? Maybe Dungeons & Dragons is code for an all-male orgy.

_____

2.How do you choose the setting for your plot? Are they always similar settings or does it vary? (i.e., small town, big city, castle, etc.)

There's no secret about my setting. It's always Newfoundland in some way. Even if I have my characters travel a lot (like Jack and Daphne in Hard As Ice) my books are Newfoundland stories. I mean, look at this. How can I NOT write about this setting? 

3.I’m a big six-word memoir fan. (Hemingway even wrote one.) Describe your writing day using just six words.

“Moments of insanity. Hours of despair.”

And there you have it. Another week here and gone. Be sure to pop over and see Carolyn Spear's answers. Her six word answer is also very very true. Also, I think her website is beautiful! If you think so, you should tell her. 

Romance Weekly: August 12, 2014

Welcome friends to another week of Romance Weekly. I love Tuesdays. Why? Because I love popping around to see what all my fellow RW pals are saying. I also love the comments they leave. And I love having the push to blog, because let's face it, I suck at it most of the time. If you're popping over from Meggan Connors' blog, what do you think of her alien encounter at Starbucks idea? I think it's great! 

Now, on to our questions of the week! 

1. Does humour help or hinder you in your creative process?

I try not to think about it. I like it when readers say they laugh while reading my books, but I honestly don't try to set out to write funny things. Certain situations or phases might strike one reader as funny, while another might laugh at something else. I like that there's humour in my writing, but it's not deliberate. If I had to think about being funny, it would definitely hinder my process. Plus, I'm not funny in real life. At all. I'm much better with the written word than the spoken. Trust me. 

2. What is a favorite go-to book or movie you use to unblock a problem in your writing?

It depends on the piece I'm working on. When I was stuck on Asher's story in 21 Century Rake, I listened to Sean McCann's "Help Yourself" album a lot. With Geek God, I got a bit obsessed with The Mindy Project (and I'm now in love with Danny Castellano), which helped because it showed me that even smart girls can be stund (that's a Newfoundland word ya today!) sometimes. But for the most part, I don't go in search of things to help. Rather, I talk it out with my fellow writers or hubby. And I just keep writing scenes until something makes sense to me. 

3. What’s the most inspiring book you’ve read this week or month that’s generated a new idea?

LOL. My last inspiration came from the Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook. Seriously. Cause I play it weekly, and one night as I lay in bed wondering why I was stumped with a WIP, a new idea came to mind. And it's totally based on my real-life geek existence, and D&D. That's where the Forever Geek trilogy idea came from. 

Admittedly, my answers this week are kinda blah. Great questions, I just didn't have earth shattering answers. Still, I love my Tuesday blogging and the pals that go with it so instead of skipping out because of lack-lusted answers, I just barrel on. :)

See you all next week. And in the meantime, pop over to one of the newest members of the Romance Weekly clan, Xio Axelrod, and see her answers to these questions. I think this might be her very first week blog hopping with us! Yay Xio! 

Romance Weekly: July 29, 2014

I've missed the last few weeks because I was on holiday in Ireland. But what a great week to come back. Today we're doing things a little differently. Instead of answering three questions, we're just tackling one great one. 

What are your top ten romances of all time?

I'm going to keep my answers to books, because if I were to incorporate movies and real life and plays etc, my list would go on forever. So here they are in no particular order because I can't refine my mind that much!

The Time Traveler's Wife

By Audrey Niffenegger

Buy on Amazon

Gone with the Wind

By Margaret Mitchell

Buy on Amazon

Ten Things I Love About You

By Julia Quinn

Buy on Amazon

A Duke of Her Own (Desperate Duchesses)

By Eloisa James

Buy on Amazon

Rules of an Engagement

By Suzanne Enoch

Buy on Amazon

Outlander

By Diana Gabaldon

Buy on Amazon

Into the Wilderness

By Sara Donati

Buy on Amazon

Forever Amber (Rediscovered Classics)

By Kathleen Winsor

Buy on Amazon

The Hazards of Hunting a Duke (Desperate Debutantes)

By Julia London

Buy on Amazon

The Parson's Daughter

By Catherine Cookson

Buy on Amazon

As I was making this list, I was amazed with how easy these titles popped to mind. And I know why. There's a trend with all of these romances. Each and every one of them was recommended to me by my grandmother, my muse and mentor in all things related to romance novels. She's why I write. She's why I read. And she's why there's still a gaping hole in my heart whenever I think of her. I write using my real name because I'm proud of what I write. But if I ever do need a pseudonym, it will be her name I use. 

Now, enough of my emotional ramblings. I sure didn't think I was going to get sappy making a list. I think I'll pop on over to the brilliant and lovely Brenda Margriet now the once and see what fabulous list she concocted for us. 

Romance Weekly: June 24, 2014

Thanks to Collette Cameron for this weeks questions, and thanks to Jo Richardson for linking to me this week. At the time of writing this post, her post wasn't live yet so I can't give you any insight on her answers (in case you didn't land here from her blog!) but I'm sure they are awesome? Why so sure? Because while here on the blog you get to know us authors, we are also getting to know each other pretty well, and I'm thrilled to say that the Romance Weekly group of writers are turning into some pretty great pals. So yay for that. And now, on to this weeks questions: 

1. How do you respond to someone calling your writing smut or demeaning your work in some other way?

Luckily, no one has dared call my work smut to my face. If they think it, then in all likelihood they haven't even read my books. There's a difference in demeaning the genre, which happens (see this post) and demeaning my work in particular. The most I've had happen is well-meaning people ask me when I'm going to write "a real book." That hurts a bit. My books are real books. I know they mean when are you going to write the historical fiction that you've been thinking about for years. But what they don't realize is that even those books are romances. I just smile, try and educate them on the romance genre, and move on. 

2. When critiquing or beta reading, do you ever find the voice of the other author creeping into your writing?

Not really. I wish I had a longer answer here, but I don't. 

3. What’s one quirky thing you do or must have around you while writing?

I make faces and touch myself. NOT that way! Geesh. Dirty minds! ;) But I find I'm mimicking the actions of my characters to see how it feels, how to describe it, etc. I also wiggle in my chair a lot and wiggle my fingers above the keyboard as I think. I'm a bit of public show when I'm writing in a coffee shop, I bet! 

And now, let's head over to Veronica Forand to see how she's answered these questions. She's new to the group so she'll likely have a fresh new take on these questions. AND a big congrats to Veronica, who just signed a three novel contract with Entangled Publishing! Well done you! I'll be pimping her books when they come out, you can be sure of that! 

Speaking of pimping, just a tiny reminder about the Passionate Kisses Boxed Set, just .99 cents right now for 10 novels. 

And Collette Cameron's The Vicount's Vow is also on sale for .99 cents. You should get both of them. :) 

Romance Weekly: June 17, 2014

Did you think I was going to abandon my Romance Weekly ladies (and one guy!) with all my Passionate Kisses promo? NO WAY! This group rocks. And if you read right to the end this week, you'll see a rafflecopter link that will give you a chance to win lots of books by all the Romance Weekly authors. 

Now, let's get to it!

When writing your novel, do you know how it’s going to end before you write, or do you write from start to finish?

All I ever know is that if it’s romance, it’ll all work out in the end. How I get there is a mystery to me. When I plot things out, I get stuck. I find I’m trying to force the story along rather than let it develop at its own pace.  My current WIP is a bit more plotted, just because it’s a fleshed out version of a story already told in one of my novels. But even now, knowing the ending isn’t helping me get there.

How do the people you know impact your writing? Are you influenced by friends and family for your characters?

I try not to put people I know in my stories. But that’s not to say that certain traits or phrases might not show up. I think I put much more of myself into the books than I do of others, with the exception of my husband. There are certain bits of dialogue he’ll read and he knows exactly where those words came from. But other than us, I try to keep reality out of it. I have some people in my life who keep reading thinking that they are going to show up, but knowing that, I do my best to make sure they never do. ;)

Describe the hero in your current WIP in three words.

I have three WIPs. And three heroes. But the one who’s on my mind tonight is Will Walsh – SCORCHING NAVY ALPHA

If you enjoyed this weeks questions, pop on over to visit their author, Ms. Dani Jace, to see how she answered her own musings. I expect nothing less than profound insights. ;) 

And, as I mentioned, here's the rafflecopter link for all of our giveaways, which we are going to draw for in July when we celebrate our six month anniversary. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway