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New Website Goes Live!

It's up, it's up! Have a look, please. I love the colors, the layout, the easy access to Bravo info and to excerpts. Hope you like it, too.

New Website Update...

Having my website revamped by my amazing web people, WebCrafters . Things are really moving along now and the whole new look should be up by next week sometime--or at least, in the week after that.

I so cannot wait. Of course, I'll discuss how much I love it when it's finally up and running...

Did I mention I can't wait?

But while we do, here's a little Rusty Joiner. His name always cracks me up. But the way he looks always brings a happy sigh...

Cover for My December Book!

I like it. I've never like kids on covers or smiley people, but this has both. And still...I like it. I think it's that the kid really has something going on in her expression. That slightly smug, this-is-working-out-just fine look is perfect.

And the way the hero looks at the heroine? Priceless. Plus there's the pose, which is, as my dear friend Susan Crosby describes it, "a circle of touching," with each character touching the next.

Anyway, it's a good one, I think.

Back cover copy reads...


OOPS, SHE DID IT AGAIN!

Well, if lightning didn’t strike twice, then
how could a night of passion with her former
lover, Matt Bravo, leave Connie Lonnigan
pregnant with his child…for the second time?
They already had a beautiful little girl, and
they’d finally come to terms with their
can’t-live-with-can’t-live-without-each-other
relationship. And now this!

Texas tycoon Matt Bravo had let Connie slip
through his fingers five years ago, and he was
not about to make the same mistake again.
He had to convince her that he was the man
for her, now and forever. To make this a
Christmas to remember—for all four
of them…

Sadly, there is an error in this great copy. Heroine's name is Corrie, not Connie. It was too late to fix it when I caught it. And they have a new program they're working with on cover image and copy at Harlequin. Apparently, there are still issues with it.

But other than that...

Day Tripping...

You know, as in that old Beatles song. "She was a daaaayyy tripper. Sunday driver, yes..."

But then actually, we went on Saturday. Last Saturday. To Arcadia and Luther, Oklahoma. First, in Arcadia, we visite Pops. As in soda pop. From all over the world. Soaring glass walls with glass shelves lined with varicolored varieties of...pop.

Next, on to the Round Barn, which was, not surprisingly, round. And a barn. Here's one from outside.


And here's me inside on the ground floor. The M on my tank top? For Mensa. We went with the DH's Mensa group.
And upstairs, where they hold barn dances and even the occasional wedding.

Then on to Luther and the Tres Suenos winery. We sat out under the trees drinking wine, eating cheese and crackers. It was lovely. Sadly none of my pictures do the scenery at Tres Suenos justice.

It's nice to have a little break, get away. If just for the day...

Time Flies When You're...

...on a deadline. Finishing a book. Thinking about washing the windows.

Notice I said thinking. Hah.

Worried about the healthcare debate. Wishing you were in Vegas at plot group with your friends. Wishing the weather would change. Strange how when it's hot, I wish it were cooler--and when it's cooler...well, you get the picture.

News at Chez Christine is that I finished the Jericho Bravo book mentioned in my last post back in June. And it has a new title: A BRIDE FOR JERICHO BRAVO. Yeah, I loved the original THE REBEL AND MARNIE JONES. But the word Bride and the name Bravo both sell books. And well, you know, I like to eat.

Now I'm on to a new Montana Mavericks story with a sexy single dad hero--and a schoolteacher heroine. I'm thinking it will be fun. And so far, so good on the fun thing.

Also, recently signed a contract for six more Special Editions. Lots more Bravos coming your way. And somehow, 2010 is stacking up to be the Year of the Bride--title-wise, I mean. Four books coming out and three have "bride" in the title. Don't know how that happened, but it did!

Hoping to get a cover image for the upcoming December release soon. That one's called CHRISTMAS AT BRAVO RIDGE.

And that's my news for the third week of August. Keep cool, everyone!

Oh, and and here's a little hotness in a very good way....

Tom Jane. I really love Tom Jane.

Bad Boys and Big Bikes....

Motorcycles, I mean. Harleys. Choppers, particularly.

The book I'm writing now is about the bad boy of the San Antonio Bravos, sixth-born Jericho. Jericho has had a rocky past. He is also a genius. He designs and builds custom choppers of great coolness and beauty. Like the one at left, built by Thunderstruck Custom Bikes and named Paranoid. Totally fitting name, IMO. And what, specifically, is a chopper? Well, according to the Motorcyle Biker's Dictionary, it's "A style of motorcycle that appears deceptively light, has a greater angle on the front end than usually seen, and radical styling." The term is derived from former GI's back right after WWII "chopping" factory bikes to make them faster, removing all "superfluous" parts.

I'm using Gerard Butler as my hero image. Kind of handsome and thuggish at once. But I also kind of imagine Jesse James of West Coast Chopper fame in the mix, also.

Heroine is Marnie Jones. If you've been reading my books for a while, you first met Marnie when she was a tough, angry nine-year-old who swore like a sailor in SweetBriar Summit. Since then, Marnie has been tamed. She needs to rediscover her wild side.

I think Jericho is the one to help her with that...

I haven't done a biker guy (literarilly speaking, of course!) since The Midnight Rider Takes a Bride. That came out back in 1997. So I'm thinking it's about time...