Tag: Life

writing romance

Setting the Record Straight

I’m taking a moment away from writing, in spite of a looming deadline, to go over a few things because first, I am a dirty rotten procrastinator who puts off work, but mostly because some reader misperceptions have come to light and I really would like to address them. It seems the point of some scenes were misinterpreted. Here are the two specific instances I’m referring to… In Valentine Cowboys there is a scene in a calving shed.  The two young ranch hands have to help a young cow deliver her first calf because this is a high risk birth. The cowboys take care of their work while the heroine watches, and in the end, they have sex with the heroine right there in the calving shed. There are many reasons I wrote this scene. They are… 1) To show how these two young ranch hands had to, for the first time in their lives, handle a difficult birth on their own because their boss had been pulled away. The two young cowboys are hard workers, but they can be jokers at times, and to have them be completely responsible for the life or death of not only the cow […]

Writers' Tools of the Trade

Tools of My Trade 2012 Edition: Day 1 Sleep Machine

It’s been a full year since July 2011 when I did a weeklong series of the favorite tools of my trade. Things that make my life easier. Some for work. Some that do double duty for work and for play (because you know what they say about all work and no play). It’s time to revisit the topic. A year later, what am I still using? What new things have I discovered? And have I changed my mind about some of my last year favorites? Stay tuned all week and find out. Today’s featured tool is new to me and good for anyone, doesn’t matter if you’re a writer or not. You can use it daytime or nighttime. You can be 8 days old or 80 years old and use this tool. What is it? Sleep Machine Lite by SleepSoft LLC (www.sleepsoftllc.com) is a white noise app that I’ve fallen in love with. How did I find it? I was watching two authors I know chat on Twitter about how much work they get done while traveling. I chimed in and said I wish I could but I can’t seem to write when away from home. I also find I […]

Life, Romance eBooks

News and Novels–reality in romance

Sometimes my life, and my job, is really cool. Like this morning when I was anxiously waiting for the coffee to drip, one slow painful drop at a time, while the small television in my kitchen was tuned into the ABC morning news. Even in my caffeine deprived state, certain words from the newscaster captured my attention. Pirates/Navy Seals/Rescue. I knew without hearing more that in this day and age if there were pirates involved we were talking about Somalia. And if there was a rescue involving helicopters in that region of the world, that helo would be going to Djibouti. How was I so certain of this before I’d even heard, or read, the entire story? Because through my book research, through the contacts I’ve made in the active military world, I’ve had what is nearly, but not quite, an insider’s view of the Joint Task Force’s Camp Lemonier on the Horn of Africa in Djibouti, just miles from the Somalian border. I know there are special forces and there is always a squadron of US Marines maintaining heavy helicopters (CH-53s) there. I know what the hangers look like, the Cantina where the troops relax with a beer after a […]