Holiday Newsletter from Sizzle In The Snow Authors

I'm way behind on posting the Sizzle In The Snow newsletter due to my recent travels to California (twice). All eight authors are submitting wonderful holiday songs, recipes, memories, DIY projects, and more. Since the posts are lengthy and I'm attempting to catch up, I'll just share a portion of the last two newsletters. Enjoy the excerpts, Christmas songs, recipes, and memories. Follow us on Twitter at #sizzleinthesnow and watch for our eight-author Facebook Launch party in November!


Eight Authors. Eight Christmas Romances.

This Christmas season, Soul Mate Publishing and editor, Char Chaffin, presents Sizzle in The Snow: A Soul Mate Christmas Collection, an anthology available November 25th on Amazon and Soul Mate Publishing. The featured authors and their stories include:

• Beth Carter http://bethcarter.com/, Santa Baby
• Amy Deason https://amydeason.wordpress.com/, Second Chances: A Christmas Story
• Crystal Firsdon http://crystalfirsdon.com/, ‘Twas the Crazy Night Before Christmas
• CD Hersh https://cdhersh.wordpress.com/, Kissing Santa
• Kim Hotzon http://kimhotzon.com/, The Snow Bird
• Ryan Jo Summers http://www.ryanjosummers.com/, Tamed by Christmas
• Tina Susedik http://www.tinasusedik.com/, Operation Santa
• Cheryl Yeko http://www.cherylyeko.com/, Christmas Eve Surprise

A Christmas Song for You from the King himself!

Title: Blue Christmas

Song Link:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=elvis+presley+singing+blue+christmas&FORM=VIRE13#view=detail&mid=4B63C16C2001EFAE289E4B63C16C2001EFAE289E

A sneak peek of one of the eight stories . . .

By author Crystal Firsdon in her novelette 'Twas The Crazy Night Before Christmas!

Clara lay flat on her back, dead silent. A rock dug into her shoulder and she fought the urge to wiggle out of the way. The dirt beneath her was dry and chilly while a small pool of sweat puddled between her breasts. The stranger she’d met only a half hour earlier lay directly on top of her, propped up on his elbows on either side of her head, covering her body head to toe in a protective shield. Her hands were pinned between their chests and, no matter how hard she tried to still them, trembled.

He kept as much of his weight off her as he could, but their bodies still clung to one another. He lowered his head an inch and whispered, “Relax.”

Clara nodded. “What did you say your name was?” she whispered back. He’d never told her his name, just grabbed her from the store and ran like hell.

“Shhh.” His breath in her ear sent shivers down the side of her neck, and if they weren’t being chased by a couple of thugs with guns, she’d take time to enjoy the feeling.

She took a slow, deep breath but it forced their bodies tighter together, and dear God, she enjoyed it.

Which made her an idiot.

Maybe she should slide out from under him if the adrenaline rush affected her thoughts like that.

A Yummy Recipe by Author Cheryl Yeko

Rum or Bourbon Balls – Great For Christmas!

1 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

1/2 Cup White Sugar

3 Tablespoons Corn Syrup

1/2 Cup Rum OR Bourbon

2 ½ Cups Crushed Vanilla Wafers

1 Cup Chopped Walnuts (optional)

1/3 Cup Powdered Sugar

Place chocolate chips into a microwave-safe medium bowl. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute, stir and then continue to heat at 20 second intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth. Stir in sugar and corn syrup. Blend in rum. Add crushed vanilla wafers and chopped nuts. Mix until evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate until firm.

Roll the chilled chocolate mixture into bite-size balls. Roll balls in a mixture of ground nuts and confectioner’s sugar, or just plain confectioner’s sugar. Store in a covered container for a week before serving to blend the flavors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A sweet holiday memory by author Kim Hotzon 

There is one special Christmas memory that I’ll never forget.  As a teenager, I woke on Christmas morning to an announcement from my younger brother, who was only 3 at the time. “Santa built a house!” His wide-eyed exuberance brought me running to the front window. I wiped my bleary eyes as he pointed at the driveway. “See? Santa built you a house!” He jumped up and down in his excitement.  Gazing at the driveway, I was too stunned to speak.

What I learned later that morning, as my dad handed me a set of keys duct-taped twenty layers deep, was that he had re-commissioned an old car donated by the church, turning it into a shiny, fabulous set of wheels for his teen-aged daughter. He’d spent months, along with a family friend, detailing and overhauling the car, getting it ready in time for Christmas. I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams receiving a car on Christmas morning. Naturally, I squealed, standing in my housecoat on the driveway, as I ripped off the cardboard from a hundred boxes covering the car. The entire ‘box’ was wrapped up in a giant, red bow. To my brother’s eyes, it certainly looked like a house, though I had to explain to him that it was in fact a car. I was humbled, surprised, and delighted by the realization that others would go to such lengths to make that car into something special for me. My dad provided a lesson in giving from the heart that resonated deeply. The only condition given to me? I had to save up for car insurance!

How about a mocktail to kick off the holidays? This version is by author Ryan Jo Summers.

Pear Tree Mocktail

 

1 C ice

1/3 c pear juice
2 Tablespoons simple syrup *
2 Tablespoons lemon & lime juice  **
4 fresh mint leaves and 1 mint sprig for garnish

*Simple syrup is equal parts sugar and water heated until sugar dissolves. Yield will be the same amount of water used.

** lemon and lime juice is equal parts freshly squeezed lemon and lime juice to add acidity. 

Preparation: Put pear juice, simple syrup, lemon and lime juice, and mint leaves in a cocktail shaker and shake until well blended, about ten seconds. Pour with ice into sniffer or tumbler. Garnish with sprig of mint. Superfine sugar is a nice garnish for the rim of the glass and dissolves easily.

Stay tuned for more over the coming days.

NEW RELEASE: SIZZLE IN THE SNOW

I'm thrilled to be among eight authors whose novelettes (10,000 words each) will be featured in the upcoming Christmas anthology, SIZZLE IN THE SNOW, by Soul Mate Publishing. My story is entitled "Santa Baby," and I had such fun writing it.

Last spring when I saw the Call for Submission for this anthology, I immediately thought of five storylines. I happily started on one and was half finished with a sweet, heartwarming story when the editor, Char Chaffin, asked for a steamy novelette. Huh? Screech the breaks er, keyboard. My story was not steamy whatsoever.

So, what's an author to do except save the current document (as yet untitled) and start over with a blank page. I scratched my head trying to think of a steamy Christmas story that would still have a heartwarming happily ever after. I thought and thought and finally did it! I'm really happy with the result and hope you will be as well. It's unique as far as holiday stories go. :)

All of the SIZZLE IN THE SNOW authors are sharing recipes, DIY holiday tips, favorite songs, excerpts, Christmas memories, and more. I'm running hard to catch up since I've had an insanely busy fall. Look for those fun posts over the next couple of days while I catch up. Meanwhile follow us on Twitter at #sizzleinthesnow and stay tuned for our Facebook launch party in November!

I WON the RONE!! And a Recap of InD'Scribe 2015

I'm still walking on air after winning the RONE for THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS at the recent InD'Scribe Author & Reader Con held in Palm Springs, California. My debut novel won in the "Women's Fiction/Chick-Lit category." I couldn't be more excited or honored.

First, thank you to the readers, reviewers, and judges. This was a three-tier judging system based on reviews, popular vote, and finally, judging by industry professionals. What a thrill.

Anne Perry

To top it off, the conference featured Anne Perry as the first keynote speaker. Anne Perry!!! She had me at accent. I just love her British accent. Anne talked comfortably and openly about writing and her journey. It was riveting.

The second day our keynote speaker was Catherine Bybee who is not only a NYT and USA Today Bestselling author but also a cool chick! Her personal story had me in tears and motivated everyone. Her Weekday Brides Series is extremely popular and she gave everyone a copy.


L. to R.: Founder of InD'Tale Mag: TJ MacKay,
me, and author Catherine Bybee

We also attended a variety of workshops on everything from writing about sex to indie publishing. I learned a great deal from the author panels and made many friends from around the globe. Authors descended upon Palm Springs from many states, Canada, England, and other countries. It was thrilling to meet them and hear about their journeys.

There were also book signings, author luncheons, and dancing every night! To top it off, there were male cover models!! Female models, too, but the guys?! Come on.

I was also fortunate to meet several fellow authors from Soul Mate Publishing--Alina Field, Janna Shay, Darcy Flynn, and Sue Berger. What fun to meet them, as well as many of my author friends from Facebook in person!!

Proof there was a book signing!

There really was a book signing and workshops all day long for three days, but I thought you'd enjoy seeing the lighter side of the conference. InD'Tale Magazine  did a stupendous job with their first-ever conference. I can't wait until next year.


Cover model Michael Foster & me!

Hubby fake choking said model

Canadian author and fellow WF writer
Ev Bishop and me as Marilyn

The women who made it happen.
Tonya & TJ!!
 





Masquerade fun with Darcy Flynn
 

L. to R.: Me (as Marilyn) with fellow
Soulies Darcy Flynn & Alina Field



First Annual InD'Scribe Con

Palm Springs or bust!

Nearly 100 authors and hopefully triple that amount of readers will descend upon beautiful Palm Springs, California, from September 17-20, 2015. I'll be one of the signing authors.

There will be parties (yes, parties and male models!) Thursday night is a "Dress Like your Favorite Movie Star" party. I'm going as Marilyn Monroe. I have the white halter dress from a sixties-themed party I held for my husband years ago. I just need to add red lipstick, bling, heels, and maybe a mole. :)

Friday during the day will be book signings and workshops. Friday night is a fun blog hop with everything from Arabian Nights to Hoedowns.

Saturday will include more book signings (did I mention loads of SWAG?!), workshops, and the coveted red-carpet RONE awards dinner and ceremony. I'm beyond humbled to be a finalist in the Women's Fiction/Chick Lit category and am honored that reviewers and fans voted for my debut novel, THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS. Thank you very much!!!

I believe there's a breakfast on Sunday and then we'll probably all collapse in one happy heap. Come and see us if you're in or near Palm Springs, California!

A Laborious Summer

Since it's Labor Day weekend, (and since I haven't posted in way too long), I thought I'd tell you about my laborious summer. Actually, it has been a lovely, albeit extremely busy summer. Let me explain the play on words for "labor."

A few months ago, I wrote a novelette (10,000-word story) entitled "Santa Baby" for possible inclusion in the Soul Mate Publishing Christmas anthology. And I was thrilled to learn my story was one of seven that was selected. Funny thing is, I wrote about a woman in labor on December 23. She's all alone. No boyfriend. No father. Until... Well, you'll find out soon enough. Look forward to many blogs, prizes, and parties from all of the authors this November!

Interestingly, the month after I wrote "Santa Baby," my daughter told me she's going to have her first baby! Pretty amazing timing, right? We're very excited and are in full tilt mode for the upcoming baby shower, planning, and the precious bundle.

I also started a new novel a few months ago, currently titled STRANDED IN PARADISE. The title will most likely change. I have a really good one in mind if my publisher will let me use it!! I really love the hero, Ty, who has a very cool profession! I can't wait to tell you about it. And the villain, Derek, is a total jerk. I love creating nasty people, it seems. The heroine is Pepper who is an unemployed, unlucky-in-love daycare worker.  I'm about 85 percent finished with the first draft, then I'll tackle edits and the dreaded synopsis. My novel is set on a beautiful, serene island in Florida that I want to visit and hope you will as well.

We went on a two-week vacation with three sets of family members in Arizona and California and saw the famed "Standin' On the Corner" in Winslow, Arizona (by the Eagles), the Lowell Observatory, the infamous Meteor Crater, and of course, Hollywood! At the observatory, we were able to view Venus during the day and learned a maintenance guy who loved astronomy took tons of photos and was the one who discovered Pluto. A young girl from England entered a contest and named Pluto. Fun facts.

In honor of my one-year novel anniversary, I held an online Reader Appreciation Event for fans of THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS. We had a fun, three-hour party and I gave away tons of swag. Readers are why authors write and I love giving back to them.


Finally, I'll be attending the InD'Scribe Reader & Author Con in Palm Springs, California Sept. 17-20. I'll be signing books with about 100 authors, meeting readers, and attending the RONE awards gala. I'd love to see you there! And for those of you who voted for THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS, I'm beyond humbled. Thank you.

It has been a frenzy of a spring and summer. I think I'll take a nap.

CASTING CALL for THURSDAYS AT COCOONUTS

 

Here we go with another weekly challenge from one of the talented authors of Romance Writers Weekly (RWW). This week, Victoria Barbour http://victoriabarbour.com/blog asked us to create a cast of characters from our new release or WIP. I hope you made it over here from Jeanne McDonald's blog at https://authorjeannemcdonald.wordpress.com/

In my newest release, THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS, I have quite a cast of characters and know who would be IDEAL to play them in a movie. See if you agree or feel free to suggest your own cast. Here goes:

Suzy - A wedding planner who can't find her own wedded bliss. She's a motherly single mom who is still pining for her high school boyfriend and faces the ultimate betrayal on her wedding day. She single handedly deals with neurotic brides and a horrible, pretentious mother of the bride--all with a smile (mostly). To play Suzy, I'd suggest Amy Adams. She looks like the perfect wedding planner who could handle my crazy brides.


Alex (Alexandra) - A bank marketer who falls for a sexy bad-boy cop. Alex is a beautiful blonde professional who is a savvy businesswoman but falls for a married officer who may be stalking her. She also has a "touch" of OCD and is habitually late. Reese Witherspoon would make a fantastic Alex. I could see her in the boardroom, being sexy and harried all the while having serious chemistry with the cop.




Hope - A fun high school guidance counselor who is adored by her students. But Hope hates her body, her frizzy hair, and is straddled by hippie parents. She loves her BFFs, Alex and Suzy, but wishes she had one-ounce of their sexiness. Hope faces many trials with her hippie parents and discovers a secret that almost went to the grave. Melissa McCarthy would make such a great Hope. I can just see her dealing with the hippie parents, Larry and Montana, and the students would love her!




Sgt. Tony Montgomery - A sexy bad-boy cop who has a cheating wife. He falls for Alex but won't leave his marriage because of his young son, Joey. Tony has a few secrets of his own but that swagger, chiseled jaw line, and icy blue eyes pretty much let him get away with anything. I don't KNOW who would be best for Tony. He needs to have dark hair and be tall. I describe him as a younger, taller George Clooney in my novel. Any suggestions? Maybe a taller Adam Levine? I know Adam's a singer but he has the right look. Feel free to suggest an actor to play the cop! Thanks to Leslie for suggesting Ian Somerhalder for one of her characters. He'd make a great Tony/cop!

Okay, that was fun. And, by the way, my novel is available on Amazon at

tinyurl.com/l9m26ht

THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS has gotten over sixty rave reviews! I can't tell you how much that excites and humbles me. Thank you! Please comment and then hop over to see the cast of characters for  Carolyn Spear at http://www.carolynspearromance.com/blog

Leapin' Lizards

 

 

Challenged by the talented attorney-author Veronica Forand, the writers from RWW are supposed to write a 100-word fiction story using these three words: Coffee, Spring, and lizard. I wrote my story in 15 minutes and it's exactly 100 words. Enjoy! I hope you made it here from Veronica's page  http://www.veronicaforand.com  then head over to read Susan Scott Shelley's flash fiction at http://www.susanscottshelley.com/#!blog/c1cod

 

“That lizard is so sluggish.” Julie sipped her coffee. “He hasn’t moved in an hour.”

Her neighbor, Sylvia, ignored the comment and snipped Hibiscus blooms. “I love Spring.”

Julie studied the lizard. “Do you think he’s alive?”

Her friend peered at the statue-like lizard. “Not sure but he certainly has good balance.”

Julie walked inside to answer a ringing phone. With warp-like speed the lizard crawled across the screen, onto the wicker patio table, and into Julie’s pink coffee cup. Sylvia covered her mouth to keep from screaming—or laughing.

Julie reappeared. “What’s wrong?”

“Um, apparently Mr. Lizard likes lattes.”

NEW RELEASE: NOBODY'S ANGEL by Sarah Hegger

 

I'm pleased to host RWW author friend, Sarah Hegger, who is releasing a new contemporary, NOBODY'S ANGEL, on March 31, via Zebra. Isn't her cover fantastic? I'm definitely adding her newest novel to my TBR list. Congrats, Sarah!

Blurb

In this evocative new series from author Sarah Hegger, a woman returns home after a long absence—and wonders if two wrongs really can make a right...

Nine years ago Lucy Flint ran away to Seattle, taking her friend's boyfriend and leaving her high school sweetheart without a word of explanation. Now she's back in Willow Park, Illinois, to help care for her ailing father—and it's no surprise that her ex, Dr. Richard Hunter, is still angry.

Still, she's a different Lucy now. Sober, wiser, ready to make amends to the long—make that very long—list of those she mistreated during her wild younger days. Falling for Richard all over again would mean wreaking havoc in both their lives and possibly squandering her opportunity for redemption. But here, in the place where everything went wrong, is the one person who always felt right, and a second-chance that could be the best mistake she ever made…

Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnj4IHOhcuU

Sarah's Bio (one of the coolest I've ever read!) 

 

Born British and raised in South Africa, Sarah Hegger suffers from an incurable case of wanderlust. Her match? A hot Canadian engineer, whose marriage proposal she accepted six short weeks after they first met. Together they’ve made homes in seven different cities across three different continents (and back again once or twice). If only it made her multilingual, but the best she can manage is idiosyncratic English, fluent Afrikaans, conversant Russian, pigeon Portuguese, even worse Zulu and enough French to get herself into trouble.

Mimicking her globe-trotting adventures, Sarah’s career path began as a gainfully employed actress, drifted into public relations, settled a moment in advertising, and eventually took root in the fertile soil of her first love, writing. She also moonlights as a wife and mother.She currently lives in Draper, Utah, with her teenage daughters, two Golden Retrievers and aforementioned husband. Part footloose buccaneer, part quixotic observer of life, Sarah’s restless heart is most content when reading or writing books. She loves to hear from readers and you can find her at any of the places below.

 

Link to Follow Tour:  http://www.tastybooktours.com/2014/12/nobodys-angel-willow-park-1-by-sarah.html

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22494932-nobody-s-angel?from_search=true

Buy Links:  Amazon | Barnes | ITunes | Kobo

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nobodys-Angel-Willow-Park-Romance/dp/1420137395

B&N:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nobodys-angel-sarah-hegger/1119742529?ean=9781420137392

iTunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/nobodys-angel/id928922851?mt=11

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/nobody-s-angel-8  

PRIZES!!!

Rafflecopter Giveaway (Including: (1) $20.00 Amazon Gift Card, (3) $10.00 Amazon Gift Cards, Five Print Copies of NOBODY’S ANGEL (Or Digital for Int. winners))

Link to Rafflecopter Page, http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/NTIxYWM0YzhjYmFkNDc1MDkxYzA3ZDNmMjhhM2RjOjYzOA==/

Thanks for stopping by to read about Sarah's new release. Feel free to ask her questions in the comment section.

 

 

Cover Reveal for RWW Author Friend

I'm pleased to help fellow RWW author Andrea Fenichel reveal her new cover for DECEPTION. Congrats on a fabulous cover, Andrea!
 

Genre: Paranormal Historical Romance
Date of Publication: July 7, 2015 Available for Pre-order: Amazon- http://www.amazon.com/Deception-Demon-Hunters-S-Fenichel-ebook/dp/B00ONTR7WS/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 Barns & Noble- http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/deception-as-fenichel/1120611640?ean=9781616505622 Kensington- http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/book.aspx/31375

Blurb:
When Demons threaten Regency London, only a Lady can stop them. Lillian Dellacourt is beautiful, refined and absolutely lethal. She’s also the most feared and merciless demon hunter in The Company. She’s come a long way from the penniless seamstress’s daughter sold to the highest bidder, and it wasn’t by trusting a man, let alone an exiled Marquis with more on his mind than slaying the hellspawn . . . For Dorian Lambert, Marquis de Montalembert, being sent to keep track of Lillian is no mean task. He’s wanted the fiery vixen since he first heard of her five years ago. But wooing the lady while fighting the demon uprising is no easy feat, especially when the lady’s tongue is as sharp as the Japanese sai blades she favors for eviscerating the spawn of hell. These two will have to learn to trust each other fast, because the demon master is back, and he’s planning to turn Edinburgh into a living hell…

About the Author:
A.S. Fenichel gave up a successful career in New York City to follow her husband to Texas and pursue her lifelong dream of being a professional writer. She’s never looked back.
A.S. adores writing stories filled with love, passion, desire, magic and maybe a little mayhem tossed in for good measure. Books have always been her perfect escape and she still relishes diving into one and staying up all night to finish a good story.
Multi-published in erotic paranormal, contemporary and historical romance, A.S. is the author of the Mayan Destiny series, Christmas Bliss and many more. With several books currently contracted to multiple publishers, A.S. will be bringing you her brand of romance for many years to come. Originally from New York, she grew up in New Jersey, and now lives in the East Texas with her real life hero, her wonderful husband. When not reading or writing she enjoys cooking, travel, history, and puttering in her garden.

Connect with Andrea here:
Find A.S. Fenichel Web Site- http://asfenichel.net/
Blog - http://asfenichel.net/blog/
Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5154640.A_S_Fenichel Twitter - https://twitter.com/asfenichel
Tsu - https://www.tsu.co/ASFenichel
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/A.S.Fenichel
Google +1 - https://plus.google.com/113195747154467378107/posts
Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/asfenichel/boards/

Rafflecopter Giveaway!
Code for Rafflecopter giveaway.< a class="rcptr" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/bb0ebfb10/" rel="nofollow" data-raflid="bb0ebfb10" data-theme="classic" data-template="" id="rcwidget_fxvb3y95">a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Hopeless Romantic

On this Valentine's Day Eve, I'm feeling a bit romantic and somewhat sappy and sad because I won't be with my sweetie on the most romantic day of the year. He's going on a long boating trip so I'm on my own. I'll be fine. I have plenty to do and even plan to go out, though, I don't want to appear desperate and sit at a bar wearing a red dress. Okay, maybe I'll wear black. :)

My love for Valentine's Day and all things romance goes way back to elementary school when we would take shoe boxes and decorate them with red and pink tissue paper, little hearts, and "x's" and "o's." Then, my mom or dad would cut a slit through the top (so my schoolmates could drop Valentines inside) at our school party. It was an exciting time--picking out the Valentines I wanted to give to my friends, signing them using my best penmanship, deciding whether I should write "Love, Beth" on a few special cards(!) and then waiting with great anticipation to see which Valentines I'd receive in return.

As an adult, I took a small group communication class in college. Once, we all took a handwritten test called the "Abigail River Story." The professor asked us to read the story and rank the characters from our least to most favorite. I was the ONLY student in class who preferred one character, Abigail. At the end of class, the professor told us what each character symbolized--money, sex, family, and power. Guess what Abigail represented? Hopeless romantic. Yep, that's me. This might explain why I love writing happily ever afters!

What are your fondest Valentine's Day memories? Are you also a romantic? Happy Valentine's Day!

Choosing Novel Settings

It's Tuesday which means the Romance Writers' Weekly blog hop is hopping away. This week's question was posed by the lovely and talented Brenda Margriet.  http://www.brendamargriet.com/blog/romance-writers-weekly-whats-up-with-settings-lovewritechat 
Brenda asked her fellow writers how we choose our settings and whether they are real or fictional, no matter the genre. I hope you made it over here from Elizabeth's blog http://elizabeth-janette.blogspot.com

In THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS, my characters live in a town called Crystal City (fictional) and is set in Missouri (real). Crystal City is mid-sized and loosely based on my home-town of Springfield. Side note: Since I have cops in my novel, I tried out different names to make sure the abbreviated version of Crystal City Police Department (CCPD) would sound okay over a police scanner! I do enjoy the familiarity of writing about places I know but also like the challenge of creating entirely new worlds, people, and places.

As far as my three main characters' job settings, they're all very different and only one is similar to my real-life experience.

Alexandra (Alex) is a bank marketer who gets involved with a sexy bad-boy cop who may be stalking her. I was a bank marketer and did date a cop (cough, cough). Many of her duties such as creating branding campaigns, chairing 8 o'clock Monday morning marketing meetings, writing television scripts, and getting promoted to VP all happened to me.

Hope is a high school counselor. Of course, we ALL went to high school but I've never been a teacher nor a counselor, so Hope is completely fictional. She has hippie parents (I didn't have those either) but I loved the seventies and wanted to incorporate that decade. Hope also hates her looks, hair, and compares herself to her gorgeous girlfriends. Who doesn't do that?!

Suzy is a single mom who is a wedding planner. I, too, was a single mom for many years. As far as Suzy's company, Weddings By Suzanne, I've never been a wedding planner but discovered I thoroughly enjoyed coming up with themed weddings--and creating neurotic brides and a nasty, pretentious mother of the bride was icing on the ol' wedding cake.

So, the long answer to the question posed is a little of both--I used a few real-life experiences and settings but the vast majority of my novel is fictional. I hope you'll comment and then head over to Gemma's blog at http://gemmabrocato.com/blog I was lucky enough to meet Gemma/Heidi when we both went to Kansas City to hear Stephen King talk. What a great time. Meeting the fun, sweet, prolific Gemma and hearing SK on the same day! Wow. It's not often that authors who live in other cities, states, and countries get to meet, so this was a big deal. I'll never forget her first words when I walked into the B&N coffee shop. "I'd know you anywhere." Sweet.

Please follow the fun, quirky, talented RWW writers on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RomanceWritersWeekly?ref=bookmarks or Twitter at #lovewritechat.

New Year's Resolutions & Goals

First of all, I apologize for not blogging lately. Good grief. I thought it had been a month but it has been over TWO months. That's terrible but we have hosted family for Thanksgiving, Christmas (doesn't everyone?) and flew to Arizona to be with grandkids and more family. It has been a hectic fall. I'm ready for some routine and normalcy.

Now, for my timely (haha) New Year's Resolutions and Goals:

 * Finish and submit my sequel to THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS. I'm currently at about 30,000 words last I checked. The working title is either COWBOYS AT COCONUTS or MEET ME AT COCONUTS or something else entirely. Any ideas? Maybe I'll have a contest.

 * Submit one (or two) picture books. For months, I've been SO close to finishing SOUR POWER. I just need to tweak it a bit and get it to my publisher.

 * Write a novella (a first!) I am excited about this one. I like writing shorter stories and have several ideas. I just need to harness them.

 * Get back on my exercise routine. I used to work out four times a week. For years! A massage therapist messed up my knees two years ago and I really got out of my exercise routine. I miss it.

* Get organized. I’m a mess lately. My files are in shambles. My photos are all lumped together. I have boxes of books and swag in my office. Don't even ask about my closet. Oy.

Now, that I'm holding myself accountable by putting these in writing, feel free to yell at me if I don't comply with them. And what are your resolutions? Do you make them? Keep them?