This is the first post Gena has made at Author Talk.  I’m wondering how much of a mistake this will be…

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First, I think it bears mentioning (again) that I wasn’t given enough scenes.  A travesty, I know.  Several videos back I realized my true calling: more camera time.  I thought, what better time to go for it than in front of witnesses?  Wrong!  After hearing rumors about sticks and murders, I decided not to push my luck and just took the measly bits I was offered.

From the very beginning of this shoot, one thing became very clear: Jill Monroe was right, authors are difficult.  (Would that actually qualify as two things?)   They leave before filming is over, demand water while I’m busy curling my hair, and become angry when my research about them and their books proves to be a teeeeny bit wrong.   (Who knew the name Jordan Dane would be given to a woman?  And really, I feel very strongly that Linda Goodnight wanted her true RITA feelings revealed.)

No, to be honest, filming with Jill was a blast.  Jordan and Linda were amazing sports, allowing us to insult and harass include them with smiles on their faces.  The audience, too, was top notch.  We didn’t have to pay them (much) to laugh at our jokes.   Next time, though, I’m paying extra asking the crowd to cheer for me and boo Monroe.  If I’m still alive, that is. . . 

Once again, thanks to Linda Goodnight, whose Winning The Single Mom’s Heart hits bookstores July 8, 2008.

Single mom Natalie juggles creating fantastic cakes for the Wedding Belles with raising her troublesome twins. But her hard-won independence means she won’t be decorating her own cake anytime soon….

Cooper Sullivan is a winner. He’s competitive and at the top of his career. A new job leads him back to Natalie’s door. Seeing her again after so many years makes Cooper realize that the only thing he never won—and the only thing that really matters—is Natalie’s heart…. 

You can visit Linda’s website here, her blog here, and buy her book here.

Jordan Dane’s latest, No One Lives Forever is already on bookshelves.

Born to a life pitted by violence, a man desperately seeks peace to move on. He’s fallen in love with a Chicago homicide detective, but just when he embarks on a new life, his old one comes calling. A mysterious and beautiful assassin barges into his downtown Chicago flat, attempting to collect on an old marker. She confesses the true identity of his crime boss father—a name kept secret by his mother—and begs his help to free the man kidnapped in Brazil. The ransom note gives him only ten days to attempt an impossible rescue. Will he risk his future to discover his past? 

You can visit her website here, her blog here and buy No One Lives Forever here.

To learn more about the Red River Romance Writers, visit their site here.

Posted by: Gena Showalter

This was something new for us - filming in front of a live audience.  

The Wet Noodle Posse asked me to write a up a blog on how Author Talk began, and answer a few questions.  You can view it by clicking here.

Friday we’ll have our latest Author Talk interview - you’ll get two authors with this one!  

There is a lesson in the Sharon Sala video.  A lesson you can clearly see when looking at me.  It’s better to film scenes where you’re wearing a hat AFTER you film the scenes without the hat.  My hair is not big at all, which, if you’ve seen our very first AT Extra, you know I prefer my hair large.  

Or the warning could be not to wear the big hat and hunter gear and acting silly in the car on the way to a taping.  I could issue this warning, but acting silly always trumps looking good.  

Despite refusing to wear that really cute horse costume we so happily brought along, Sharon Sala is the nicest person you’d ever want to meet.  Dinah McCall, well…say it with me.  Dinah McCall is kind of a bitch. It’s been said that authors will take some part of themselves and use it in a book - Dinah clearly asserted herself in The Healer, because just like the hero, Dinah was apparently raised by wolves.  She got irritated with the most harmless of questions.  

But Sharon’s lead character, Jonah Gray Wolf has the power to heal, and so someday, maybe he can use those skills on Dinah.

All his life, Jonah Gray Wolf has had an uncanny connection to animals and the power to heal the sick and wounded. Driven from the only home he’s ever known by those who wish to harness his gift for profit, he becomes a drifter, working in out-of-the-way towns, never staying long. It’s a lonely life, but Jonah knows he’s still being hunted—he can’t afford to get close to anyone who might learn his secret.

In West Virginia he finds Luce, a tough but beautiful loner who knows all about keeping people at a distance—a kindred soul with whom he might dare to make a life. But the hunters have caught Jonah’s scent again. Danger is coming to their mountain refuge—a confrontation that will be decided only by a force of nature.  

You can visit Sharon (and Dinah) on Sharon’s website here. Buy The Healer here and pre-order Aftershock, from Silhouette Nocturne here. 

That is clearly the sounds of a wood chipper I’m hearing in the background when I’m signing off.  I think I got out of there just in time before Dinah really got mad!

Posted by: Jill Monroe

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it at least five times, authors are difficult interviewees.  Here you get two authors for the price of one.  Since the price is free, I’m not sure what kind of a bargain you’re getting.  Anyway, you get the first author Sharon Sala, but you’ll also get Dinah McCall, who quite frankly acts like she was raised by wolves…  

Look for Behind The Scenes Next Week!

Today marks the release of Kresley Cole’s 5th book in her Immortals After Dark series.  If you haven’t watched the original video, you can view it here.   

Usually when we shoot an Author Talk, we have about 20 minutes worth of material.  I prefer a 4 minute video…something I’ve not yet managed, but a girl can dream.  Most of this extra footage is just re-filming the parts where Gena curses, but sometimes we have just too much of something.  Here’s more of Gena’s interpretation of Kresley’s career through dance.

Kresley tells me she’s a Rita Winner, but I have my doubts.  In Dark Desires After Dusk she tells the story of a vampire.  Yeah, I know.  I’ve never heard of them either. 

Cadeon Woede will stop at nothing to atone for the one wrong that will haunt him forever. But once he secures the key to his redemption, the halfling Holly Ashwin, Cade finds that the woman he thought he could use for his own ends and then forget haunts him as much as his past.

You can find Kresley on the web here and buy Dark Desires After Dusk here.

Posted by: Jill Monroe

Author Talk Special Correspondent on the Scene, Gena Showalter, has been interviewed by the wonderful ladies at Raven Radio.  Several questions centered around Author Talk, and Gena shares the story about how Author Talk began.  You can hear to the interview here, and view the lineup of authors who’ve been interviewed in the past by visiting here. 

As a writer, wardrobe is an important concern when going to work.  Pajamas?  The robe?  Sweats?  This interview with Dr. CJ Lyons provided a new options - scrubs.  I cannot believe how comfortable they are.  Plus, there are all these pockets - a million places to stuff thing.  It’s really a whole new world.  

But the best thing about scrubs…when you wear them, people think you’re important.  Try it - go to the grocery store in scrubs.  Hit the mall - no one thinks you’re underdressed, they just think you’re cool.  

I borrowed my scrubs from a friend, a dental hygienist.  Dr. Lyons pointed out a rather large stain on the pocket, which she said was against OSHA standards (as it should be).  Of course on the way home, I had a really hard time focusing on my driving because I just couldn’t stop thinking about that stain.  What heinous procedure performed on some sad soul caused such a potent bodily fluid to leave its permanent mark on the top? (Ugh - I’ll be right back.)

I did try to tell CJ that the human body had 2006 bones, but she was pretty sure that there were only 206.  That’s probably the kind of stuff you learn in medical school.  I’m sure at one point during the interview, Dr CJ was thinking to herself, “I passed my MCAT, years of medical school, crushing student loans and residency…only to be interviewed by these two?”

But to make CJ feel better, we reminded her that she’s a Romantic Times TOP PICK, and Publisher’s Weekly said, ”A spot-on debut….Lyons delivers a breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller.” 

About Lifelines: The lives of four women will intersect as they meet the challenges of saving lives, finding love and developing friendships despite their differences and the secrets they each try to protect.

The bonds these women form surpass mere friendship as they become each other’s heroes, helping to save lives, avoid heart ache and face their worst fears.

You can visit CJ’s website here, her blog here and most importantly, purchase Lifelines by going here.

Posted by: Jill Monroe

Jill and Gena interview Dr. CJ Lyons about her cutting edge (yes, I said cutting - she’s a doctor, right) medical thriller.

From Lifelines: July first, the most dangerous day of the year.

I only thought authors were dangerous, but couple that with a writer doctor and you have one scary situation.  Look for the Behind The Scenes on Monday.

PC Cast’s Warrior Rising, or Warrior Riiiizing as more commonly pronounced, was released this week.  In it, PC retells the story of the Trojan War.  Now before you jump to conclusions, this book is not about THOSE kind of Trojans.  Rather, it’s about some war that took place in China or Africa, a horse may have been involved…I don’t know.  I do know that PC Cast is a fabulous writer and she can make a book, even if it’s not about THOSE kind of Trojans fantastic.

PC and her daughter Krissy were in our third Author Talk video.  The comments Gena and I receive about this episode are varied, but one thing is for certain - teenagers hate me.  I’ve been called anything from rude, stupid to a mahjor bitch (yes, that’s the spelling used).  Feel free to join in on the fun of calling me something nasty by visiting here.

You can purchase PC’s book here and visit her website here.

Posted by: Jill Monroe