My Favorite Things: Atlantic City Edition

• Eating dinner at Bobby Flay's Steakhouse, then running into Bobby Flay at the Borgata nightclub later that night. (My partners in crime decided that he, tragically, was not a good dancer, but I didn't find his moves so appallingly bad.) We also saw that Giles guy from Dancing with the Stars. Yes, he is just as pretty in person.
• Gazing with rapt adoration at the biceps on the hunky Australian drummer in the hunky Australian band, Jet, whilst screaming and jumping and crowding the stage (Down with the Fire Marshall!). I almost want to list this one twice. This was DEFINITELY a favorite thing.
• The very friendly, very patient, very Jersey-Italian guy who explained craps to us even as we watched his chips trickle away to nothing. Dude, do you know what the odds are like in that game? You gotta be a masochist to play craps.
• Blackjack tables that are full at five a.m. Full of the inebriated and the dedicated and the desperate. There is nothing like people watching at five a.m. in Atlantic City.
• Wandering on the boardwalk on a sunny Sunday, nearly being run over by those little push-cart rickshaw thingies and posing in front of the elephant at the Trump Taj Mahal for pics I will probably later come to regret.

Leah Braemel's Birthday Bash

It's Leah Braemel's Birthday Bash and she's letting me come over to play! Stop by her blog and tell me what you like about shape-shifters, vampires, or whatever defines your favorite romance sub-genre! One lucky commenter will win a brand-spanking-new-download of Serengeti Heat!

http://leahbraemel.blogspot.com/2009/07/vivi-andrews-rrrrrowr-baby.html

Hey Lookee, It's that Other Novella! Remember That One?

Good morning, world! I got a review today. For The Ghost Shrink, the Accidental Gigolo & the Poltergeist Accountant. Remember that story? Dude, does it feel to anyone else that it released forever ago? Five months. That's positively ages! Time flies, boys and girls. Anyway, new review at Joyfully Reviewed! CHECK IT OUT.

The reviewer wanted a more sexified cover, but (okay, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to spill this, so if I get in trouble it was you guys who made me say it and I am innocent, innocent!) there was another, super gorgeous, uber-sexy cover that was considered at one point and nixed because it was totally wrong for the feel of the book. It's a comedy, y'all. And I think capturing the feel is key. I love my covers. Natalie Winters is a goddess - as I believe I may have stated once or twice in the past.

The reviewer also thought my heroine should be medicated, which had me snorting and saying, "Yeah, possibly." I guess I'm hard to offend this morning. Especially when they also said I had "laugh-out-loud humor." That is easily my favorite thing for a person to say about that book. You can get away with a lot if you tell me I made you laugh embarrassingly in public.

Good Press!

Doncha just love it when people say nice things about the romance genre? When they aren't being all snarky and condescending, (*cough, Matt Lauer interviewing Danielle Steele on the Today Show, cough*) but are actually representing popular fiction as something people with brains might actually enjoy engaging in? Isn't that neat?

USA Today has an article today about smart chicks who read & write romance. Since a couple of the smart chicks featured are two of my ALL TIME FAVORITE authors, Eloisa James & Julia Quinn, of course I had to read every word. (Coincidentally, I'm on an Eloisa kick at the moment, devouring the latest two Desperate Duchesses and have every intention of finding out What Happens in London with Julia as soon as I'm done...)

In the article, when they talk about people giving you that look when they find out you read (or write) romance, the one where they immediately lower their estimation of your IQ by fifteen points... yeah, I know that look. I was valedictorian of my high school. National Merit Scholar. Graduated from a top twenty University that is consistently ranked above several of the Ivies. I'm in freaking Mensa for chrissake. Suffice it to say, I'm smarter than your average bear. And I love romance. So stop looking at me like that!

The Top Ten Obsession

Good morning, minions! I'm over at the Damned Scribbling Women blog this fine day, gabbing about release days, best seller lists, and the Top Ten Coolest Things about Being a Writer (according to yours truly). Swing by and say hi!

Web Site Story

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

TAKE ME Contest

Check it out, y'all! All this month the fabulous Shelli Stevens is hosting a big ole contest at her blog! Lots of chances to win, lots of books to be won! Don't miss out, go today!

Author Interview: Robie Madison

Hello, faithful reader! Today I welcome award-winning erotic romance author Robie Madison to the blog! She's here talking about her new release, The Man of Her Dreams, a Shifting Dreams novella.

Welcome, Robie! (Applause!) I'm so glad you could join us today to give us some insight into your recent Samhain release. Now, let the interrogation begin!

When you got The Email offering to publish The Man of Her Dreams as part of Samhain's Shifting Dreams anthology, what did you do to celebrate?

You mean after I let out a victory cheer that could be heard by my writing friend all the way in Wisconsin? :) I printed out Angela James’s email telling me The Man of Her Dreams had been selected for the shifter anthology at Samhain Publishing just to make it more real. LOL Then I told my family—in case they hadn’t heard the victory cheer. Then I called or emailed a few other writer friends who’ve kept their fingers crossed for me. By the time I got to the celebratory dinner, it was a little anticlimactic. LOL

The Man of Her Dreams is quite literally about the man of Megan's dreams. What inspired you to write this novella?

New story ideas often come to me in a scene that keeps playing over and over again in my mind, adding more details each time. If you follow my blog, you know that I attended a Dream Retreat a month ago and that dreams are an important feature in several of my books.

Put those two concepts together and you have one of the inspirations behind The Man of Her Dreams, which opens with a nightmare involving a wild stallion. This nightmare sequence is one of the first scenes I wrote—so the darn thing would get out of my head! :) It is a dream the heroine, Megan Jones, is well aware she’s in, but can’t stop. Uncovering the answers behind why this nightmare haunts Megan led to a series of “what if” questions…and the rest of the story.

The Man of Her Dreams is set in a rather extraordinary locale. How important is the setting in your books?

Very. LOL Actually, this is one “problem” I had with writing The Man of Her Dreams. From the nightmare scene, I knew the story took place, at least in part, on the bank of a river. The question was—which river? I’ve been to the U.K. several times, but my memories were rather vague when it came to river banks. :) Fortunately, around this time I had a fabulous opportunity to visit Wales for two months. It wasn’t long before I discovered the village where the hero, Owain Deverell, hangs out and the river beside it—Trefriw on the banks of the Conwy.

What do you find attractive in a hero?

I’d have to say—a man who isn’t afraid to take a risk, especially when it comes to the heroine and love. :) Of course, the kinds of risks my heroes take often lead to greater conflict with the heroines! Owain Deverell’s bargain with the Fairy Queen in a bid to end his cursed existence is an excellent case in point. Owain doesn’t want Megan to learn who—or should I say what?—he really is. Oh, and his “real” identity isn’t what you think! :)

What do you look for in a heroine?

Well…I’m rather partial to spunky, kick-ass type heroines. The kind who won’t take any guff from the big, tough Alpha hero. The kind who aren’t afraid to get in the hero’s face and tell him a thing or two.

Megan Jones, the heroine of The Man of Her Dreams may appear to be a “mild-mannered” web designer, but in pursuit of some answers—and a good night’s sleep, LOL—she flies across the Atlantic to confront Owain. And that’s before she learns that he isn’t just a figment of her dreams. :)

What’s next for you? Are there more mystical shifters in the works?

Sigh, so many ideas—so little time.

Don’t know if this will be my next book, but…Owain’s best friend in The Man of Her Dreams is Rhys the Pendragon. Six four, shoulder-length black hair, piercing black eyes, brooding dragon shifter—yeah, I could definitely see me writing his story. Stay tuned. :)

Best of luck with The Man of Her Dreams and all those future shifter releases, Robie! Thank you for letting me pick your brain! Hopefully the procedure wasn't too invasive.

Read on, Dear Reader, for more about Robie's current Samhain release:

The Man of Her Dreams
by Robie Madison
ISBN: 978-1-60504-614-3

Three days. One wish. If the Fairy Queen keeps her promise…

A Sexy Shifter Story

Workaholic web designer Megan Jones exudes sensible and practical by day, but in her dreams she truly lives. Her nights are filled with erotic trysts with a dream lover—who also defends her against the dangerous wild stallion of her nightmares.

When she inherits a Victorian-era Welsh locket, she opens it to a shocking revelation. The tiny portrait of a black-haired man with a sardonic smile is none other than the man in her dreams. There’s only one way to learn the truth about him—head to her ancestral home town in Wales.

A member of the ancient race of Tylwyth Teg, Owain Deverell has spent the last 170 years suspended between man and beast—punishment for loving a human woman. Weary of his cursed existence, and longing to be more than the object of Megan’s dream desire, he strikes a bargain with the Fairy Queen. In exchange for retaining his human form, she grants him three days to win Megan’s unconditional love.

Or remain the object of her nightmares. Forever.

Click HERE to read an excerpt.