Samhain Publishing

As many people know, I lived in Hawaii for three years. I have been back twice and it is now becoming a yearly (or more than yearly) visit for me. Why?Since the HARMLESS books are set in Hawaii for the most part,  I can write part of the trip off of taxes. This time, though, I got to do something extra special. I love going with my family and enjoying Hawaii, don't get me wrong. Our youngest was born there and such as military life, she was only 27 months old when we left, so she only has hazy memories and pics we show her. So the spring of 2010, that trip served the purpopse. This time, though, I got to take my best friend and personal assistant, Brandy Walker. We were on a mission, ya see. A mission to get some HAWAIIAN GOODIES.

It was definitely a different experience going to Hawaii with someone who had never been there.  I could show her all the different places that locals go, places I have mentioned to her, and just enjoy the beauty of the islands. I actually wish we had at least two weeks there so we could island hop, but that just wasn't going to happen cuz I think our hubbies would revolt, lol. One of the greatest things on the trip, and i think Brandy agrees with me, was the trip to the Aloha Swap Meet. It is THE place on Oahu to visit for all the Hawaiian goodies you want to take home. Entry fee is 1 buck per person and it is worth it. Brandy and I came home with so much stuff to give away, including my Big Giveaway for the Brenda Novak Diabetes Auction. And, when I meet up with the Harmless Addicts in New Orleans for Authors After Dark, I will have a bunch of goodies to give them straight from Hawaii. I am now convinced I need to do this once a year, but Mr. Mel is very skeptical for some reason. Check out Wayde's World Video on it. Safe for work and definitely a great overview!

But, beyond the goodie shopping, I wanted to show Brandy what I talk about in my books. Hawaii isn't just a place on the map. Not for the people who live there–just like Aloha is not a just aword. It is a state of mind, one that you can only appreciate if you take the time to pay attention. Along with the hustle and bustle that makes up Oahu, and it has 800K+ on that little island, there is an underlying state of mind. No one is really in a hurry, and you should always help your neighbor out.  One of the things I like to always point out, though, is that they are people. They are just you and me, and everyone else you know. They have the same problems, the same issues with family and work, but, there is that spirit there that just makes it so much easier to handle.

Another great thing is I got to show Brandy my favorite drive, a few of them in fact, and we even went to the Dole Plantation. I also stopped by my old stomping grounds of Hickam AFB where lived when Mr Mel was stationed there. A trip to Hawaii is not complete for the Schroeders unless we hit up one of the bases for Mongolian BBQ. It was a little crazier than normal this time, but for those of you who have never been, there is a table filled with fruits, nuts, veggies, and extras (brown sugar, ginger, etc) then you add whatever meat you want and they cook it for you. It is SCRUMPTIOUS. It also allowed us to stop by the Missing Man Formation on base. 

But as they say, all good things must come to an end. I am already trying to plan another trip back later this year so that I can pick up goodies for the next AAD, and I am really looking forward to it. It is one of the few places we lived where I feel the need to get everyone to love it…because there is so much there to love.

And, if you want to keep up with all things Hawaiian and Harmless, make sure you are an ADDICT.

Aloha and A hui ho,

Mel

Have you ever read the book (or seen the excellent television adaptation) about the beautiful but doomed Hugh Lygon (or is it Alastair Graham?) son of the exiled William Lygon. What about those wonderful detective novels featuring Eric Whelpton, or the ones with the penetratingly clever Dr Joseph Bell? No? Bet you have. I can’t believe you haven’t come across Sebastian Flyte or Peter Wimsey or Sherlock Holmes; I guess it’s just their ‘originals’ which confused the situation.

Many authors use their friends (or historical figures) as inspiration for their characters, perhaps influenced by their appearance, adventures, something unusual they’ve said or done. It’s nothing new – even Shakespeare is said to have based Yorick on Richard Tarlton. Certain authors seem to have made a habit of putting their friends into their stories – I’d have been very wary of getting too pally with Evelyn Waugh, you’d have been almost bound to end up in one of his books.
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In 2001, Shakira released her album “Laundry Service”.  On that record is the excellent song, “Underneath Your Clothes”.  Her lyrics tell us, “You own the place where all my thoughts go hiding, right under your clothes is where I find them”. When we read our romance novels, aren’t we all waiting for that scene where we finally get to see the secret underneath the hero’s clothes?

The first “secret” revealed by the undressing of our hero is to what extent our hero is muscled.  Authors commonly give us above average height heroes, but the men are put together on a spectrum of muscle mass.  My favorite hero body type depends on the novel setting.  I love a Viking to be a man that resembles something just this side of a wall.  Thick, muscled biceps should catch the flickering firelight as he lifts the fur mantle from his chest and lays it on the ground for his woman.  While calves don’t get much ink, my mouth always waters at the graphic description of buckskin breeches straining across my Regency heroes thighs.

Modern day heroes I like to picture longer and leaner.  A designer suit hangs well on the smooth swimmers body.  Once he tosses his jacket aside and rolls up his pressed white shirt, I want to see lean, corded forearms…perhaps a foreshadowing of territory farther south?

And what about when the sheriff finally puts down his gun and unbuttons his staid brown shirt.  I catch my breath imaging the rippling abs of a man who spends his tormented nights beating up the police station’s punching bag.  The open shirt shows us just a hint of the golden hair trailing down to the waistband.

There is one more treasure hidden beneath the hero’s clothes that holds appeal for many readers.  That certain appendage is difficult to blog about while “stopping at the bedroom door”, so forgive my puns.  Personally there are certain “lengths” that writers go to that push me out of the fantasy, but who I am to say that isn’t exactly what the next reader wants.  Needless to say, I am certain that no matter the words the author uses, each reader applies their own idea of proportion perfection to visualize the vampire lord’s “burden” when eases his need in his lonely marble shower.

Isn’t that part of the appeal in escaping into a romance novel?  Every romance reader can create “her territory” underneath the hero’s clothes. If the author insists her Viking is the hulk without all the green, how can she stop you from picturing 6’1” of lean flesh who could be Ryan Gosling’s body double?

~Margo Lukas

Half Moon Rising

"…a story too thrilling to put down." MrsGiggles.com

When I was pregnant with my son, my husband and I had a terrible time settling on a name for him. It got so bad I had a recurring nightmare in which we were at the church for his christening and we still didn't know what to call him. We eventually resorted to picking out a placeholder name—something we didn’t completely hate that we could agree to use as a last resort in the event we never did find something better.  When we finally came up with a name we both loved, it was a huge relief…for about a week, which was how long it took us to realize we'd each been spelling it a different way.

For the record, if he’d been a girl this would not have been a problem. We agreed pretty much instantly on what we’d call our daughter. And, four years later, that’s what we did. She hates it, however, and has been planning on changing it ever since she was about eight or nine. Which just goes to show that sometimes you just can’t win.

Other than that one time, however, I’ve never really had much trouble coming up with names for things or titles for books…until now. My most recently completed book (and please note, I use the word “completed” very loosely here) currently goes by the title Book Three or, as I like to call it, The Mess.

Descriptive?   You betcha, but not likely to sell very well.  I’m thinking my editor will have something to say if I  don’t  find something a little sexier than that before I turn the manuscript in.  I wonder how hard it would be to talk her into calling it Jason Christopher? You know, just as a last resort. Hey, it worked last time.

by Michelle Miles

HI! My name is Michelle and I’m addicted to movies. This is part of my 12-step program.

I grew up in the era when movies stayed at the theater for a year, you waited in line around the building to see the new ones, and it only cost $2.00 for a matinee. There was no Blockbuster and our VCR had the giant buttons and the pop-up thing where you inserted the tape. The remote was called a “clicker” because there were two buttons (on and off) that actually CLICKED. DVR wasn’t even a thought in our young minds and who would have ever imagined an entire movie on a shiny circular disk? And digital music? Dude. We had vinyl.

I’m a child of the early ‘70s. In high school, I had ‘80’s hair and acid wash jeans. The local hang out was the roller rink (that’s roller skates for those of you who remember) and I watched Sonny and Cher (and other variety shows). Fantasy Island scared the crap out of me, Love Boat was cool and Night Gallery and The Twilight Zone were two shows I always steered clear of. I thought The Lawrence Welk Show was dorky but my parents watched it anyway.

I saw Star Wars (the original 1974 release, mind you) in the theater at least five times. My big sister took me and whispered the scrolling opening in my ear as I saw and watched with wide eyes. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen. I can clearly remember saying, “I’ve seen it FIVE times. How many times have YOU seen it?” to my friends in school. I remember how shocked we all where when Darth Vader “got good” at the end of Return of the Jedi. I also remember how shocked I was when I realized, at the tender age of 9, that Han Solo and Indiana Jones was the same guy. Be still my pre-teen heart.

It was somewhere along that same time when I discovered the 1960s version of Star Trek. Of course by that time, they were in syndication. But then, in 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered. And a Trekkie was born. I dragged family and friends and just about anyone who’d go with me to Star Trek conventions. I got autographs of Nichelle Nichols, George Takai, James Doohan, and Patrick Stewart in my Star Trek Compendium.

But it wasn’t enough. Neither my imagination nor my need for more action/adventure/science fiction/romance was sated. So I began to write my own stories. I wrote fan-fiction. Everything from Star Trek to Indiana Jones to Bladerunner. I wrote about damsels in distress and inter-galactic wars. I commissioned friends to write with me. With one I did my own Indiana Jones illustrated comic books starring us (I SO wish I still had those!); with another we did Bladerunner stories. I even went so far as to play Star Trek role playing games with fellow friends.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, there you have me. I’m a nerd, through and through. I have learned to embrace this feeling of nerdom and accept it for what it is. I have learned that movies are special things that give you hope, dreams, love, chills, fear. They lift you up and open your mind to things you may never have thought about before. As I got older, I loved old movies and musicals, too.

I have a son in which I’m trying to instill a love of movies, as well. He loves the old Star Trek show and the Star Wars movies, too. I’m so proud.

I suppose my love of movies helped drive my love of books, too. And why I wanted to write. I’ve had movies (and voices) in my head for as long as I can remember. If I wasn’t a writer, I’d be in a straightjacket.

How about you? What types of things inspire you?

Michelle Miles is an avid movie watcher and writes fantasy, paranormal and contemporary romance. You can learn more about her books at http://www.michellemiles.net and follow her on Twitter @MichelleMiles.

I get asked a lot where I get my ideas for my books. I shrug and say, "Everywhere." I thought I should expand on that cryptic answer and talk about what makes my heart beat, and better yet, what makes it stop and swoon.

I'm an emotional person, get choked up at tv shows, movies, commercials, band concerts, books, and so on. It doesn't take much to turn on the waterworks, and I'm not sure if that's good or bad. What that means is I feel things deeply. My heart and mind are impacted by the world around me.

Let me give you an example. Recently I read an article about the guy in the pink tutu. Wha? It's the story about a man whose wife had breast cancer. He wanted to cheer her up so he took a picture of himself wearing only a pink tutu (ya can't see anything beneath the tutu, so they're not naughty pics). Then he took another picture in a different location, and again and again. Now he's publishing a book of all the pictures and the profits will go toward non profit cancer research.

That story made me choke up. That is LOVE y'all. Pure, joyful love from one man to his lady. (I'm getting teary-eyed writing this blog post about that story – ha!).

This is what inspires me to write – the world around us has that kind of love. When I write a book my heart beats fast, my palms sweat and I become a character in that book, feeling everything right along with them. I can't help it. It's how I'm put together.

My next Samhain release, ENDLESS HEART, is brimming with intense, raw emotion. Powerful stuff. I am a hopeless romantic. A sucker for a happy ending who gets indignant when there is no HEA. It's no wonder I am a voracious romance reader and author.

My husband thinks these books are a fantasyland and in a way he's right. They are fantasy – I mean it's fiction, right? LOL. If it wasn't fiction, the book would be a biography or something equally as ho-hum like non-fiction. *makes a face*

Inspiration comes in many forms and each day something new reminds me of just how amazing life can be. Rock on, world, and keep it coming.

The thing about going to print when your story has been out as an ebook for a year or more is that it feels a little anticlimactic. A little ho-hum.

Until…

Until you get that awesome box in the mail. It’s heavy, so you know it’s got books in it. Come on, which book-nerd doesn’t know the weight of books? Paper isn’t light for its size! Then you remember you haven’t ordered anything that would have so many books in it. So, what could it be? And realization strikes likes lightning. It’s the author copies of the book you wrote! It’s in print now! Holy crap, this is so freaking cool! See how quickly that anticlimactic moment turns around?

That’s when it’s time to rip that box open like you’re a kid at Christmas hopped up on candy canes.

Yes, this just happened to me last week. The series that Loribelle Hunt and I wrote, Forbidden Passions, is about to officially come out in a print anthology on May 1, but the author copies have already arrived (which usually means it’s available for purchase a little early too). So…yay for print! It really is beyond awesome to have something you wrote right there for you to hold. And maybe dance around with a little.

I don't watch a lot of TV or movies. The habit of not watching began back when our children were little and there was nothing on the TV except for 1 1/2 channels–living in the boonies can be a great motivator to find other ways to entertain yourself. Especially when the 1 channel that's clear is the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) in French.

I don't speak French.

But what I do, apparently, is tell stories. When the children were little I would tell them stories while we did things around the house and yard. I'd tell stories to distract them on the looooong drive into town to do groceries. And when we started taking them hiking and canoeing and on other adventures into the wilderness, I'd tell stories to keep their little legs moving farther than they thought they could possibly go.

I made up tales to distract my daughter when I had to comb out yet another tangle in her hair. Explaining how the Knotty Monster was the one who mischievously caused all the troubles kept her from wiggling or crying as I worked for far longer than any five year old should have to sit still.

I'm still telling stories.

These days I have to wait to see the reactions from the people who I'm trying to entertain. I'm not sure if they've picked up my book to distract themselves from a moment of personal crisis, or are just looking for a way to relax after a hard day. It's still story telling, and somehow, the same things I always put into the tales for my children go into the stories I share in books.

That good will win, that some times hard things happen, but we can move on and become stronger. That there is a happily-ever-after to be looked for. That somewhere, if we look for it, there is magic to be found in the world.

I'm glad I'm a storyteller.

~~**~~

Vivian has 26 books on the shelf here at Samhain (some ebook, some print) and she's working on the next 26 because she can't stop telling stories. You can find her as well at a lot of other places, including this coming week at the Romance Times Conference in  Chicago. Book signing Saturday, April 14. For more information, check out Viv's blog: 

Vivian Arend: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

The ideal romance features a sexy hero and an intrepid heroine. They meet. They fall in love, and they live happily ever after. But life is messy, and these days romance writers take a leaf from reality. They include some of the things we find in our own lives. There are divorces, remarriages, blended families. There are single parents with children, with pets.

Along with the man-woman thing, couples have to juggle children and pets and the courtship phase before they decide if they can take their romance further.

Some readers don’t like their romances polluted with children or pets. Some readers have enough children and pets at home. They don’t want to read about them too. For some people kids are the ultimate contraception!

Here are a few advantages and disadvantages of including children or pets in your romance:

1. Kids and pets need looking after all the time, which means romantic adventures require lots of planning in order to guarantee privacy.

2. Kids can’t be trusted not to blurt out things when they shouldn’t.

3. Kids and pets can make characters shine and show their softer emotional sides.

4. Kids and pets provide fodder for cute meets and sometimes matchmaking opportunities.

5. Kids are determined, and if they don’t like you, they’re sure to let you know. Their dislike gets in the way of romance.

6. Think of the worst time for a kid to interrupt, and they’ll probably time the interruption to the second.

7. Dogs have sharp teeth, and have no problem with using them.

8. Pets are easier to foist off on friends and neighbors.

9. Kids require babysitting if you’re going to move the romantic action somewhere other than home.

10. Romantic scenes usually have to take place in the bedroom. None of this trying out every room in the house, and forget the kinky stuff!

My personal thoughts on kids, pets and romance? For me, as a person without kids in real life, it depends on the author execution. Sometimes the stories work for me, and sometimes they don’t.

What do you think? Do you like romances featuring kids and pets? Dislike them?

 Shelley Munro is tall and curvaceous with blue eyes and a smile that turns masculine heads everywhere she goes. She’s a university tutor and an explorer/treasure hunter during her vacations. Skilled with weapons and combat, she is currently in talks with a producer about a television series based on her world adventures.

Shelley is also a writer blessed with a VERY vivid imagination and lives with her very own hero in New Zealand. She writes mainly erotic romance in the contemporary, paranormal and historical genres. You can learn more about Shelley and her books at http://www.shelleymunro.com.

Hi, all! Jennifer here.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. I really think the ENDING of a story is more important than the BEGINNING of a story.

I know there are some of you out there shaking your heads, but I feel strongly about this. I have read many a book that have started out slooooow and had no “hook” beginning sentence. That might have given me a niggle of doubt about the book, but I would read on, only to be sucked into the story by page 15 or so. So all was well and by the end I was happily satisfied by the read.

But, recently, I finished a book that had all the makings of the perfect read. It had great romance. Awesome humor. Creative storyline. Cool action. In short, I was LOVING this book.

Then I came to the ending…

I am not exaggerating when I say that when I finished and closed the book, I actually had a sick feeling in my stomach. And I’m sure if there was a mirror nearby, my expression would have resembled one who was just told chocolate causes cancer.
I eventually shook myself from the teetering brink of depression—after a few Hershey Kisses—and came to the conclusion of how important endings are in the stories we read and/or write.

WHY? Because the ending (good or bad) stays with you long after the book is closed. And that can ultimately decide for a reader whether they want to give that author another shot or not.
Something to think about.

What about you? Will an ending make or break a book for you MORE than the beginning?

Jennifer fancies herself a more prolific writer than she really is and has an unnatural tendency to use words like “fancies” and “prolific” when describing herself. Please feel free to check out her ebook, The Role of a Lifetime from Samhain Publishing and her recent Avalon romance Sunny Days for Sam–where she promises she didn’t use either of those words in her stories