"G" is for Garner Falls

(This will be a short-but-sweet entry, and I'm late enough with the Spanking A-Z Challenge, as it is. At this point, because like other writers I'm working on other projects, but hey, no excuses! LOL! As much as I can get done in the challenge, even if I don't go all the way to Z by June 30, I still want to stay in the flow with all of you, plus head over and read your blogs.)

So "G" is for Garner Falls...as in, a fictional town in Montana, where THE RANCHER AND THE BAD GIRL, takes place.

This was my first Western historical. Rather, the first one I've written, because I've read and enjoyed a huge bunch of them. In fact, tomorrow, my "H" entry will consist of a few historicals, Western and otherwise, that I have on my TBR list, and maybe you will, too, if you haven't already read them. I enjoyed doing this book and this time period so much that I'm not sure why I didn't go there with my characters sooner. Already I'm planning, getting the groundwork ready for another book set in that same era. What can I say? Cowboys rock.

So like I said...short but sweet! Check back soon for a character interview and also a snippet.

THE RANCHER AND THE BAD GIRL is coming soon from Blushing Books!

"F" is for "Foolish Little Details"

(By hook or by crook, I am going to catch up with this blog! LOL! Forgive me for my delay. I was sidetracked by my "civilian job," which had more drama than usual this week, and can you say, "How long until retirement????" Also, my grandson, that cutie, turned the ripe, old age of 4 this week, so we hosted his pool party at our house. My son and daughter-in-law did all the work; I just whipped up enough meatballs and pasta to feed the New York Yankees. Enough on that--on with the challenge! One more note: That's not a pic of me to the left, but I do dress something like that, with tops like that and denim Capris, and I'm also very attached to my phone and laptop, LOL!)

So "F" is for "Foolish Little Details," though it should really be named "15 Obscure & Quirky Things That Most People Don't Know About Me." Which most people probably don't care about, either, but they ARE foolish, little details, and I need an "F" for my A to Z Challenge. It'll do. So here goes!

1)     Under another name, I write vanilla romance and other genres.
2)     Even though I really am a Latina, I just *barely* can dance el merengue. However, before I die, I'd love to learn & master salsa dancing. I do listen to lots of salsa, so hopefully that makes up for my ineptitude with Latin dance.
3)     Some women love shoes; some love purses; I love both. I mean, really, can you ever have enough purses???
4)     In the same vein as No. 3, I love backpacks, especially the funky, teen-style ones. So cute and perfect for carrying your Ipad and notebook.
5)     I still do write a lot of first drafts with a pen and a notebook. Quaint, huh? But the techy side of me likes to write on the Werdsmith app on my phone, which I didn't think I'd ever use, but it's easier than I initially thought and comes in quite handy when you're at the doctor's and waiting to be seen.
6)     I am fluent in Spanish.
7)     My great-grandmother's name was America, like the actress, America Ferrera of Ugly Betty fame.
8)     Both of my grandfathers, maternal and paternal, hailed from Spain.
9)     While working in Sears at the age of 17, I dated their 18-year-old Santa, who was handsome and skinny under that red suit.
10)     My husband and I attended the same Tim Curry (best known for The Rocky Horror Picture Show) concert at New York's Bottom Line about a year before we actually met. Talk about fate! His date was a Tim Curry fan, as were my best friend and another girl who had me tag along with them that same night.
11)     I can make a mean Key Lime pie.
12)     I love writing and reading spanking romance. It's always fascinated me. That's a whole other entry, but I find it has helped me to grow creatively, because it's truly enjoyable to write.
13)     For my grandkids, I try to always keep cookies in the house. My daughter-in-law has given up scolding me for it. Hey, I'm a grandma. That's how we ROLL.
14)     I hate elevators, to the point that I actually always try to get a hotel room on the 1st or 2nd floors.
15)     Even though I'm in my 50s now, I am planning on someday (soon) getting a belly ring. While taking belly dancing, I noticed a few of my fellow dancers--even the older ones--wore them and just fell in love. I want one!

Everywoman

(Sorry about that! I'm a couple days behind on the Spanking A to Z Challenge. Hoping to catch up or, as Sesame Street would say, "This entry is being brought to you by the letters E and F!")

Let's talk about Everywoman. Of course, we don't call her that, and she comes in all different shapes and forms. She does all sorts of jobs and (if you write sweet romance) she ends up finding extraordinary and sweet love. Conversely, if you write erotica, she ends up finding extraordinary sex AND extraordinary love (with an HEA or an HEA-for-now). The really naughty ones end up finding a great hero who'll spank them, if their author happens to write spanking romance.  Everywoman always makes a fun spankee, or so I've found!

That's not to say the heroine who kicks butt in a romantic suspense as a cop isn't a fun read, because we all know she is. That would be the high-powered exec in high heels, the supermodel, the singing sensation, or the supernatural vampire or mermaid, that goes for them, too. I'm sure you could find lots of red-blooded and gorgeous heroes who'd be ready and willing to spank any of them, too, with just as fun results.

Yet this is in praise of the Everywoman. You would do her an injustice by calling her "an average woman" because no woman is average; there is something interesting to find in each woman: a secret buried in yesterday worth unearthing; how she brings love and tenderness into the life of some FBI agent or swashbuckling pirate or seasoned cowboy.

The reader can put herself in the place off the Medieval princess or the sultry alien from another galaxy, but she readily identifies with Everywoman. What you're probably saying, and you're right, is the heroine with the glamorous career or special talent or supernatural identity can also be revealed to be, at heart, an Everywoman. That is what makes the female spy vulnerable--finding that human part of her, finding out who the woman under the superheroine costume really is, and that's always even more enduring when the reader learns it through the eyes of an adoring hero.

Now I'm off to catch up with other blogs on the Spanking A-Z Blog Challenge!

D is for...Desserts

"Stressed" spelled backwards is "desserts." Coincidence? I think not! -- Author Unknown



And now for something totally different: Let's talk about desserts!

Save the earth. It's the only planet with chocolate. - Author Unknown 

Leave the gun; take the cannoli. - THE GODFATHER, 1972

When I'm no longer rapping, I want to open up an ice cream parlor and call myself Scoop Dogg." - Snoop Dog

Ah, sugar, ah, honey, honey,
you are my candy girl
and you got me wanting you - The Archies

Pour some sugar on me
Oooh, in the name of love
Pour some sugar on me,
C'mon, fire me up,
Pour some sugar on me,
Oh, I can't get enough - Def Leppard


And just for fun, match the dessert with the restaurant!

Match the Dessert:

Kahlua Ice Cream Pie
Black Tie Mousse Cake
Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie
Chocolate Thunder From Down Under
Warm Apple Crostada  


With its Restaurant:

Red Lobster
Outback Steakhouse
Olive Garden
On the Border
Chili's


Good luck! And remember: "Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart." - Erma Bombeck


THIS IS A BLOG HOP! Please click on the Spanking A-Z graphic on my sidebar & see more!

Cowboys and the Bad Girls Who Love Them

Are you like me in this aspect?

Not to tear down other kinds of romantic heroes, but there's something about the cowboy that just grabs you. This week, I was checking out titles of books I'd like to read (wanted for my Nook or Kindle app) and I'm drawn like a bee to honey when it comes to those cowboys.

Guess that would make us, as readers and/or writers, fall into the "bad girl" category, along with our heroes, no? Listen, there's something to it when even the villains--those cowboys traditionally dressed in black--can give you heart palpitations.

That got me checking out some cowboys-as-outlaws stories. I have to confess that I was watching THE LONE RANGER on DVD this week, just totally ignoring Johnny Depp's Captain-Jack-Sparrow-as-Tonto. Armie Hammer's watered-down Lone Ranger isn't much better, either.

But then here comes William Fichtner, that charming, blue-eyed character actor, as Butch Cavendish. Let me tell you, they have him made up exaggeratedly ugly, with a gold tooth, stringy black hair--the works. They also added a gruesome touch (which I won't mention just in case you plan on seeing this film) that is pretty much unnecessary, which I also ignored.

Anyway, there's a scene where he goes and talks about getting "a taste" of the Lone Ranger's love interest, talking to her all low and dangerous and sexy bad guy-ish, all with that yummy Western twang, and that's it! I'm off to check out/buy/put on my TBR wish list anything with cowboy outlaws.

Conclusion? It ain't totally about the looks. Cowboys just have that magic, that attitude, that virility that earns them their rightful place in the romance genre. And that's whether he's a rancher, a rodeo star, or a soon-to-be-reformed outlaws.

A romance with a cowboy and his bad girl--or a good girl with some bad girl seasoning--is as delicious as a sinfully silky chocolate cake topped with a dollop of ice cream...only without all the calories! Bon appetit!!!

B is for...BOHANNON

When making up my list for the A to Z blog hop, I had no problem coming up with my entry for the letter "B". Hell on Wheels' Cullen Bohannon, all the way, baby!!!

To give credit where credit is due, this whole show is well written. I mean, knock-your-socks-off, rock-your-world kind of well written. I can vouch for at least the first 2 seasons, which my husband had watched previously but re-watched on Netflix so that I would catch up. Looking forward to seeing Season 3 and upcoming Season 4.

Every so often you come across a show like this, in between all the dull and unimaginative dreck that passes for TV today. Hell on Wheels, a historical Western that revolves around the building of the railroad, is peopled with well-rounded and amazing characters that are multi-faceted and come to life, thanks to great writing and an equally awesome cast.

But right now, I'm just going to focus on the amazingness (is that a word?) that is Bohannon, the male lead played by the very talented Anson Mount. Outlaw, cowboy, gunslinger, mystery man, smokin' hot romantic hero. You have GOT to see the interaction between him and "The Fair-Haired Maiden of the West," Miss Lily Belle, played by the lovely Dominique McElligott. Bohannon is definitely Alpha, interestingly one of those damaged heroes, rebellious, brave, and I'm running out of adjectives to describe a hero who can leave any woman breathless!

If you haven't seen the show yet, you HAVE to give it a try. Just be warned: ALL the characters will pull you right into the story, just like a book that takes hold of your heart and imagination and refuses to let go.

Enjoy!

Alpha Males

Years ago, a book reviewer rained praise on an earlier romance I'd written (under my other pen name). She only had one chagrined little criticism: The hero is unnecessarily dominant.

Really?! Any lover of spanking romance fiction is probably chuckling at that, because you know exactly what that statement was alluding to. Yes, amazingly enough, that typically politically correct New York editor had allowed me to get away with a spanking threat.

A threat, mind you. At no point had the heroine actually been turned over the hero'a knee (though, granted it would have made the book more fun!), and he'd made the threat (directed towards the heroine) in passing to a different character. But since it was 1999, long after New York publishing had decided spanking saucy heroines was a Big No-No, my hero was slapped with the dubious title of "unnecessarily dominant."

Recently I read a review on an upcoming film, where the male characters--all but one--were slammed for being ineffectual, weak, and of totally no use to the much stronger female characters. This is pretty much a trend in Hollywood, which as everyone knows has also mostly done away with spankings in movies and television shows. It's no surprise that the Alpha Male--Mr. Strong & Hunky himself--has been replaced by male characters who are considered dumb (or, conversely, overly intellectual Beta Males), and sometimes even afraid of the female characters, taking charge of nothing.

But then, with the advent of the Internet and ebooks, spanking made a comeback into romance novels. More accurately, spanking romance fiction was born. The Alpha Male was back--and that baby has never looked better! An actual, whole new genre was born, starring strong, take-charge AND smart heroes (my favorite Alpha has a sense of humor)....who are also dom when they need to be.

Come to think of it...why can't the Beta male, like ClarkKent, rip off his glasses, tear open his shirt and reveal that he's got a bit of the Alpha in his heart? Now that would be exciting! And what a great time to be a romance heroine!