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...

The Passing of Icons...

How sad is this? Both of them gone on the same day.

Whatever one has to say about Michael Jackson in recent years, well, he remains one of the great musical geniuses of our time.

And Farrah, well, she had that hair before extensions. She was a totally luminous presence. I remember back in the '70s, when I went to New York to be on the stage and ended up mostly waiting tables, I would ride the F train back and forth from our railroad flat in Cobble Hill and sometimes it seemed like every woman on the train had hair done to immitate Fawcett, and was reading Sweet Savage Love. Ah, those were the days.

You will be missed.

A Correction...

Well, the sex thing didn't work out--the blog on writing sex, I mean.

Instead, on Saturday, June 20 at the Prairie Chicks Write Romance blog, I'll be talking about plot group, about how it works and how great it is. Hope you'll drop in.

Come and Visit Me...

...on three other blogs this month.

Thursday, June 4: NovelThoughts. This is the lovely Fatin's blog, featuring author interviews and commentaries. The wonderful AztecLady is temporary host this month. Post a comment to my blog there to win a signed copy of The Bravo Bachelor.

Saturday, June 20: Prairie Chicks Write Romance. This is an excellent writers' blog. I'll be talking about sex--well, about writing sex, I mean.

Hope you'll drop by...to one or to both!

And also, as every month, you can catch me the first and fourth Tuesdays at my group blog, the Silhouette Special Edition Authors Blog.

Happy Blogging to all!

List-o-Maniac--and proud of it

Did you ever see that old movie, MY DINNER WITH ANDRE? In it, two artsy types share a meal. That's what the movie is--the whole movie: a dinner with Andre. Andre, tall, skinny and intense, talks about how hopeless life is, how there's nothing to look forward to.

The other guy--plump and goodnatured--Wally, I think was his name, argued that he got a certain everyday satisfaction from making lists and doing the tasks on the list and then checking the tasks off the list.

I'm so Wally. I keep a clipboad on my desk. It holds a stack of lined sheets of paper. I love to fill a lined sheet with "things to do." You know...

--Renew Drivers License
--Wash towels
--update website
--shred
--organize book closet
--file
--J&M info 2 M&D
--wash windows


I love crossing out the tasks when I accomplish them. I cross out with yellow hilighter. A life coach I once had years ago called that "giving yourself the sunshine." Corny? Oh yes! Satisfying? Even more so.

While I was writing the most recent book, the list kept getting longer and longer. But last week, I finished that book and sent it off to my publisher. I've been giving myself the sunshine ever since. My list could almost be all sunshined up.

But then, there's always something more to add. Plus, I hate washing windows. I'm avoiding that one. Even getting the sunshine isn't enough to tempt me to get to work with my rags and Windex. Thus, my list is forever incomplete. I rather like that.

Do you make lists? Do you find them satisfying...?

Great Review and Today Show Does Romance

Well, this is my Newsblog, so here's a little news!



Jane at Dear Author really liked The Bravo Bachelor. You can read her lovely review here. Jane doesn't fool around--or pull her punches--so I'm really pleased that she enjoyed this book.









Also, the Today Show did a nice little piece about how Romance is booming during the current recession. For those of us who have been around since the dawn of time, this is no surprise. Romance sales went through the roof back in the '80s, too, when times were rough. Because, after all, Romance is a great escape. For under ten dollars, you, too can be swept away! Coolest thing to me about the Today piece was that they interviewed the wonderful Margaret Marbury,Executive Editor of Mira, Red Dress Ink and Spice, three of Harlequin's mainstream imprints. Margaret stood in front of an amazing cover image as she spoke. Yes, that would be the cover of The Stranger and Tessa Jones. You can check that out here.

Hope you all had a lovely Easter. Ours was rainy, but cozy. We cooked and read and watched the Masters golf tournament.

And Yet Another New Cover...

Got this off Amazon. No back cover blurb available yet. This one comes out in June.



No, it's not terribly...imaginative. But the truth is, it's a scene I proposed for the art work, so the lack of imagination is totally my fault. Good news is they both look almost exactly as I picture them. And it's beautiful, I think. And, well, I really like it.

Can't wait to see this book in print. It's a sort of modern-day Romeo and Juliet story. The Bravos (him) and the Cabreras (her) have been feuding since the 1950's, when James Bravo won the family ranch from the Cabrera patriarch. So, of course, a Bravo and a Cabrera must fall in love!

What do you think?