A while ago as I headed to the train to go to my day job as usual it was still dark outside. Yet this time as I arrived at the end of my block I glanced up as I always did to look at the train another block away. But this time my breath paused as I took in the view before me. A full moon hung over the train tracks. A train was just pulling in under the this full moon. It was breathtaking.

I paused to take in the moon. That soft glow casting everything is a mystical looking light. It was surreal and wonderful. Not to mention inspiring. What is more romantic than a full moon bathing down on you?

I continued on my way to the train as the moon continued to shine. I had a spring in my step and the feeling it would be a great day. As the day wore on the feeling stayed with me. The day did turn out to be a wonderful one.

McKenna Jeffries
http://www.mckennajeffries.com/
…. sensual, edgy, unexpected

Blog: http://www.mckennajeffries.com/blog
Chat Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/McKennaJeffriesList
Free Reads Site: http:/ /www.satinnotes.com/

Conquering Jazz - What’s a woman to do when she unwittingly makes a tantalizing proposition to her best friend?

Be brazen, bold and set some ground rules. Her offer. One night of carnal bliss. No emotion allowed.

His counter offer. A continued affair to fulfill all their sexual cravings.

His hidden agenda. Conquer to make sure their affair never ends.

Buy here at Liquid Silver Book.

About a month ago, I found myself rewriting the same chapter over and over again – actually editing my editing. I was stuck, going nowhere, wedged into the corner of a mindless cube with no exit door in sight. Out of curiosity, I investigated and discovered that some pretty well-known authors have suffered from this same affliction: George Gissing, Samuel Coleridge, Joseph Mitchell, even F. Scott Fitzgerald. When I calculated that it took thirty years for Harold Brodkey to publish The Runaway Soul, I realized that I needed to find a solution, and fast. Now these suggestions may not be your answer, but after undergoing self-induced therapy for one week, I managed to lose my block before I completely cracked.

Rage. If you’re deleting chapters or filling trash baskets, screaming and stomping won’t get you anywhere – although it helps to clear the cob webs and release pent up frustrations. Just don’t make this a habit or you might find yourself residing in a padded cell.

Inspiration. The spark of genius might be flittering about just beyond your reach. Go for walks, see a movie, read books. Sit in the park with your eyes closed, listening to the world around you. But should you chose to do this, don’t ignore the flashers, pickpockets, and hookers milling around or the police officers who might ask you to move along.

Escape. If you can’t find something to inspire you, calm your frustrations with a distraction – whether it be lunch with friends, a weekend getaway or an around the world trip. But wherever you end up, don’t forget to bring home something other than leftovers and laundry to help rekindle your thoughts.

Re-engage. Reread what you’ve already written, the notes you compiled, the outline you struggled to complete. Become reacquainted with your characters and rescue them from a fate worse than avoidance.

Purpose. Remember what drove you to write this story in the first place. However, if you were purely financially motivated, hopefully you have someone very patient in your life that’s helping to pay the bills.

Linda Yoshida, aka Kaylin McFarren, is a rare bird indeed. Not a migratory sort, she prefers to hug the West Coast and keep family within visiting range. Although she has virtually been around the world, she was born in California, relocated with her family to Washington, and nested with her husband in Oregon. In addition to playing an active role in his business endeavors, she has been involved in all aspects of their three daughters’ lives – taxi duties,
cheerleading coaching, script rehearsals, and relationship counseling, to name but a few. Now she enjoys spending undisciplined time with her two young grandsons and hopes to have many more.

Although Kaylin wasn’t born with a pen in hand like so many of her talented fellow authors, she has been actively involved in both business and personal writing projects for many years. As the director of a fine art gallery, she assisted in furthering the careers of numerous visual artists who under her guidance gained recognition through promotional opportunities and in national publications. Eager to spread her own creative wings, she has since steered her energy toward writing novels. As a result, she has earned more than a dozen literary awards and was a 2008 finalist in the prestigious RWA® Golden Heart contest.

Kaylin is a member of RWA, Rose City Romance Writers, and Willamette Writers. She received her AA in Literature at Highline Community College, which originally sparked her passion for writing. In her free time, she also enjoys giving back to the community through participation and support of various charitable and educational organizations in the Pacific Northwest.

You can visit Kaylin online at www.kaylinmcfarren.com or visit her book’s website at www.flahertyscrossing.com.

Hi, everyone. I’m so glad to be here blogging with you. My 70th romance will be released this year and I’m excited about that.

Whenever I write a blog, I like to give a few details about myself. I live in Pennsylvania but the Southwest is my favorite place on the planet. The scenery fills me up creatively and spiritually the way nothing else can. Cooking is my favorite hobby and I once won second place in a national Bisquick contest! I find recipes can be as interesting to put together as plots. Early on—in my teens—I wrote poetry and began a book manuscript. Music fed my creative bent then and still does today. Favorite singers? Taylor Swift, Adam Lambert and Josh Groban. What can I say? My tastes are eclectic.

I’d love to discuss my Baby Experts series with you. The fourth book in the series, THE TEXAS BILLIONAIRE’S BABY, will be released at the end of February with Silhouette Special Edition.

Before I go into detail about my new novel, I’d like to tell you a little about an older one. I once wrote about a heroine with a port-wine stain on one side of her face. She was a trauma make-up expert and had to grow out of her own insecurities without make-up in the course of the book. One of my editors then suggested I not write other books with “issues.” For a while I listened to the underlying message—don’t deal with serious subjects in romances. But as each book was published, I realized the only way to keep my plots challenging as well as interesting for me was to add an aspect to each book that made it unique. Throughout my career, I’ve mixed more serious books with lighter ones, sensual ones with blatantly sexy ones. With all of them, I try to keep emotion the key driving element.

In THE TEXAS BILLIONAIRE’S BABY, my hero, Logan Barnes, is worried about his toddler son who isn’t yet walking. Daniel was a preemie and his mother died to save him. My heroine Gina Rigoletti has returned to Sagebrush, Texas after years away to make peace with her past…as well as with Logan. When she was eighteen she fell in love with him but left him because of a threat from his father and for the dream of a future for herself and her sister. A developmental baby expert now, Logan hires Gina to help Daniel learn to walk. Old feelings come rushing back for both of them.

Gina once left Logan and he can’t forget that betrayal. On Gina’s part… She holds more than one secret that could destroy the new bond they forge while working with Daniel. After Gina left Sagebrush for college—Logan never knew his father threatened her—she was date-raped.

This romance is about healing the past but also healing a trauma that has never seen the full light of the sun. Gina’s love for Logan and his for her becomes the sun Gina needs to let fourteen-year-old wounds heal.

THE TEXAS BILLIONAIRE’S BABY is a book about babies and a single dad…about supportive women friends who are heroines in The Baby Experts series. It’s about an old Victorian house in fictional Sagebrush outside of Lubbock that appears to have started a rumor—any women who lives there will find true love. It’s about lasting love and new love and the healing power of mutual honesty.

I’m ready to discuss any aspects of my blog. I want to thank all my readers for your support during my career. If you are a new reader, I hope you enjoy the plunge into my booklist and find reading each book a pleasure and an emotional experience.

Have a great day.

Karen Rose Smith

To buy THE TEXAS BILLIONAIRE’S BABY, go to:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=The+Texas+Billionaire%27s+Baby&x=8&y=17

Visit www.karenrosesmith.com  for more information on The Baby Experts series.

Stop by Karen’s Facebook fan page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-Rose-Smith/113599841764?ref=ts

From Arctic wolves in winter in Legend of the White Wolf, to red wolves and wolf pups in spring in

Seduced by the Wolf,

and gray wolves in the fall and winter in Heart of the Wolf, Destiny of the Wolf and To Tempt a Wolf,

all that’s left is the season of summer to share a love of wolves, werewolves, that is. So in the next two books, Taming the Highland Wolf and Dreaming of the Wolf, are set in the summer months, the first in Scotland, and the second in Colorado.

Wolves are content during any season, anywhere, as long as they have their mates, families, can hunt, and play, and relax, just like werewolves.

Just think, if you play your cards right, you can enjoy the company of a hunky alpha male werewolf year round!

I’ve enjoyed exploring the nature of wolves in different locations, at different times of the year, and with different kinds of wolves. In my current work in progress, Taming the Highland Wolf, I’m even talking about yet another type of wolf. Which always translates into a new kind of werewolf, because with my werewolves, they are based on real wolves when in their wolf coat.

Even though real wolves might not have any preference to season, being that family and food are high are their priority list, werewolves and their human halves do have preferences for seasons. Or, even if they love some more than others, the different seasons make them feel…differently.

In autumn, when the air turns chillier, as long as they’re not living in the hot summer climates where no season is much other than warm, hot, hot, and hotter, wolves enjoy the invigorating cooler breeze ruffling their fur, the hint of snow, the thrill of the hunt.

In winter, with nice warm fur coats, it’s fun to romp in the snow, oblivious to the cold and wet, less of a problem for them slipping on ice either the way their feet spread out to counter the slickness.

In spring, the grass and flowers and pups take center stage, a time for rebirth, growth, and change.

And in summer, winter fur coats are shed and lighter coats are worn, the hot lazy sunny days make for hot lazy summer wolves.

But not in my stories! Every season is filled with mystery, romance and adventure. In Destiny of the Wolf, Lelandi describes Devlyn as being winter-chilled, dark and brooding. She thinks of herself as autumn and pumpkin pies and fall leaves.

I love spring myself, as the temperatures aren’t too beastly hot and the flowers are just beginning to emerge. I feel a spring in my step with having to wear fewer heavy clothes. So I’m all for spring.  But I love late autumn also, though we don’t get much in the line of fall colors. If we did, I’d really love autumn. Here, it’s the break from the sweltering summer heat, and if we’re lucky, some rain showers to help green up the parched land of summer.

So what kind of wolf would you prefer and what is your favorite season? Would the wolf of your choice prefer your favorite season, or another?

One lucky winner, Canada or US, is eligible to win a copy of Legend of the White Wolf just by answering my questions, OR by asking me one!

Thanks for joining me on my seasonal jaunt into the world of wolves…and werewolves!

Terry Spear
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male!”

www.terryspear.com

http://www.wickedlyromantic.blogspot.com/

http://casablancaauthors.blogspot.com/

http://fierceromance.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/home.php?ref=home

http://shapeshifterromance.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/legend-of-the-white-wolf-being-shipped/#comment-4502