I counted the books in my TBR pile. There are thirty-four stacked up. That’s a good thing. The last time I counted, there was something more than fifty. I’ve made headway. Or had. Until today. *whine* While I was out, the dust bunnies brought more books! NINE more, in fact. *headdesk* No, no, bad dust bunnies! Roxanne St. Clair’s first three Bullet Catcher books are on special this month, $4.99 each. (Yeah. Got all three.) Julie Leto’s new release, Kiss of the Phantom. I actually found this at a local B&N, though I got the only copy and all the other branches and the Borders all say on-line ordering only.

I also snagged Toni McGee Causey’s Charmed and Dangerous, the retitled re-release of her first Bobby Faye novel; the first two Eve books by S.J. Day–Eve of Destruction and Eve of Darkness; and two of Karin Tabke’s Blood Sword Legacy books, Master of Torment and Master of Craving. I need to find Master of Surrender, the first book in the series before I start reading them.

In addition, Harlequin is introducing a new Nocturne series. Direct from Merline Lovelace:

FLASH!!!!!

Lindsay McKenna, Cindy Dees, PC Cast, and Merline Lovelace are offering more than $1,000 in contest prizes to celebrate the launch of TIME RAIDERS, a thrilling new series of time travel adventures from Silhouette Nocturne.

Boogie on over to Time Raider Series right now and sign up for the TR newsletter! Rules and prizes for each contest will be published via the newsletter in conjunction with the launch of each book.

FLASH!!!!!

And now I have to get back to serious work. I’ve been dawdling and playing with the internet and blogs the last few days. Ifi is rebelling just a bit on Season of The Witch. I keep pulling her one direction and then she and Sade gang up on me and jerk me back the other. And the one time I WANT the scissors, she’s hid them from me.

On a more serious note, I went through the stacks “stickering” books. OKRWA has gold stickers that say, “Oklahoma Author” on them. We all carry them and when we come across a member’s books, we stick ‘em. So there I was, looking at all these books and thinking, “Some day, I’m going to walk into a book store and my books will be on the shelf! And somebody from OKRWA will put a sticker on them for ME!” Faerie Fate won’t, sadly, but it will still be fun to look at Amazon and Barnes & Noble and grin like an idiot because THAT’S MY BOOK! In the meantime, I’m going to do my absolute best to get Shadow Dance and Season of The Witch onto the shelves of a bookstore near you! Back to work. Ifi? Where are those dang scissors?!?

EDIT: I’ve fixed the link to sign up for the newsletter and contest for The Time Raiders Series!

“Bad boys, bad boys, watcha’ gonna do when they come for you!” Which of us haven’t had the romantic dream of reforming the bad boy by our love. And who said villains had to be ugly, dirty, slimy, out-of-shape non-drool worthy hunks of manflesh? Not me! Without further adieu, ladies, I spread before you our Saturday brunch. Pour your Bloody Mary (hey, these are villains…), or try some of that chicory coffee (nice and robust) and have some beignets because you have to have sweet with the salty, right?

First up, we have Erika’s nominees: Bullseye from Daredevil a la Colin Ferrell, James from Twilight as portrayed by Cam Gigandet (plus a bonus pic because OMG abs!),

She also suggested Thomas Gabriel in Live Free and Die Hard (Die Hard 4) personified by Timothy Olyphant, and the ever so yummy Michael Sheen as Luscious…erm…Lucian, king of the lycans in Underworld.

Next, we have three villains you might not have thought about. Fernand Mondego, played by Guy Pierce, in The Count of Monte Cristo–though this picture obviously shows him *out* of period dress. He made a yummy foil for James Caviezel’s Count. And while he usually plays a good guy, who can forget Jet Li as Emperor Han in The Mummy – Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. And speaking of Mummies, do you think Arnold Vosloo’s sexy-creepy Imhotep is worthy of our buffet?

And here are two more of Erika’s late entries for our menu today: The scrumptious Craig Bierko as the down-right cold Timothy from The Long Kiss Goodnight, and a normal pic of Craig, just to show his yummyness. (Those dimples are to die for. Just sayin’…) And finally, James Caviezel, who also walks in the light and the dark, as Carroll Oerstadt in Deja Vu.

And last but not least, the ultimate bad boy villain with the heart of gold, your favorite pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow.

Enjoy, ladies! Once again, all you have to do is point and click to get the full version of the pics. So…who do you vote for as sexiest villain?

RMLs. Romantic Male Leads. My heroes. *long feminine sigh with much heaving of bosom* Earlier posts touched on Ciaran, Duncan, and Rory, my three hotties in the Tir Nan Og trilogy. I thought I’d throw out a few examples of sexy men who may (or may not) be the visual inspiration for upcoming heroes. A reminder–Click on the picture and a lightbox window will open with the full-sized photo available for your perusal.

First up, we have George Eads of CSI fame. Who knew what was lurking beneath those baggy BDUs. George is my inspiration for Gabe Montreaux, my sexy Public Defender from Waltzing Matilda. Gabe is a bayou boy who can go from “aw shucks” to “shark” in the blink of an eye. He has a huge chip on his shoulder and Matilda Gerard is just the Assistant District Attorney to take him down a peg or two. Only it never really works out that way, does it? *bwahaha*

Have you watched the Transporter movies? Or the The Italian Job? Or any number of others. Yeah. Jason Statham pushes some buttons for me and this picture is probably a good clue as to why! Jason is the eyecandy I’m currently focusing on as I revise Blood Moon, the werewolf novella I’ve pulled out of mothballs. This would be Sergeant Major Ian McIntyre–Mac. Oh yeah. He is an Alpha Wolf in all caps! Major Hannah Jackson definitely has her hands full of him. *ahem* With him. That’s what I meant.

This hottie is Goran Visnjic. How many are still watching ER? He burst on the scene way back when and then played the bad guy in Practical Magic. Yeah. I might eat the worm for him. *blink* Tequila, ladies! Jeez, get your minds out of the gutter. May I introduce you to Sinjen? Sinjen is a former Knight Templar, now college professor, murder suspect, and vampire. Sade Marquis, my savvy FBI agent from the Penumbra Papers Season of the Witch has a hard time keeping her hands to herself. Duty before pleasure, Agent!

And last but certainly not least!! Mark Harmon from NCIS. I love a man who gets better with age. I have no name for this character yet, but he’s the love interest of an older character who embarks on a Road Trip. With a Newfoundland, a Siamese cat, Kokopelli, and Coyote Angel. Don’t ask what my Muse was smokin’ that day!

So, ladies? Who’s your inspiration?

Welcome! Time for Saturday Brunch. On the menu today? Mimosas, Men, and Merriment. Pull up a comfy chair and check out our request for heroes from yesterday. We here in the shadows aim to please. If I’m lucky and I did this right, if you click on the thumbnail, you’ll get the full picture in all it’s…glory.

First up, since Erika can’t make up her mind, we present, Rick O’Connell, Jayne Cobb, the Wolverine, and Ironman for your dining delight.

For Janet, we have an oldie but a goodie. This would be Jack T. Colton, soldier of fortune extraordinaire from the classic, “Romancing the Stone.” I soooo need to watch this movie again. What a great romance! Too bad writing a book like this plot would be borderline plagerism. *sigh*

And last but not least, here’s Agent Seeley Booth for Liza. Yeah, buddy. Booth can scrub my back. Any. Time. He. Wants!

In fact, I probably wouldn’t kick any of these guys out of bed for eating crackers! Which brings us to dessert. I’ve “mixed” up an old, tried but true recipe for a hero, too. Anyone who’s read this blog for long knows that I love Adrian Paul as Duncan McLeod (there can be only one!) in Highlander and Daniel Day-Lewis as Nathaniel in Last of the Mohicans.. Scroll back aways and you can see pics of them. Today, I present another hero. Can you guess who’s behind that mask?

And a very special shout out to my Guru Guy! Today is his birthday. Happy Birthday, Justin! I hope it’s a wonderful day and my present to you is to not ask any tech questions.

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In case you missed it on 60 Minutes, this is what Andy Rooney thinks about women over 40:


60 Minutes Correspondent Andy Rooney (CBS)

As I grow in age, I value women over 40 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, ‘What are you thinking?’ She doesn’t care what you think.

If a woman over 40 doesn’t want to watch the game, she doesn’t sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it’s usually more interesting.

Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won’t hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it’s like to be unappreciated.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40.

Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest. They’ll tell you right off if you are a jerk, if you are acting like one. You don’t ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it’s not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress. Ladies, I apologize.

For all those men who say, ‘Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? here’s an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it’s not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!

Andy Rooney is a really smart guy!

Today marks the debut of a series I’ve been eagerly awaiting! I don’t have my copy yet–The book is in the mail. Well, actually it’s in Brown. Er..WITH Brown. Enroute from somewhere to here in the next three days. This means I have to get my edits on Faerie Fate done because once BLOOD MAGIC gets here, I’m not doin’ a dang thing but reading. Want to know more?

THE HUNTER AND THE HUNTED

In the days when powerful witches used their magic to shield humanity from demons, their allies and guardians were a group of men gifted with preternatural abilities of their own–the witch guardians. But when a band of witches traded their humanity for demonic power, the ancient bond was broken, and the guardians became the hunters.

Darcy MacAlister knows nothing of demons or magic. But this beautiful young woman is about to discover the truth about her past . . . and her future. For she is a witch–not just any witch, but the key to breaking the curse that has plagued witches and the men who hunt them. For if a hunter kills an innocent witch by mistake, the price is no less than a piece of his soul.

Axel Locke, gorgeous leader of the Wing Slayer Hunters, has sworn never to shed the blood of the earth witches who have resisted the temptation of demonic power. But when his sister is cursed by a demon witch, he discovers that Darcy MacAlister may hold the cure–if she can master her newfound powers in time. When the chase begins and Axel and Darcy come face-to-face, this hunter must weigh his soul against his honor–and against his heart.

About the Author
Award-winning author Jennifer Lyon always wanted to be a witch. Since her witch-powers never materialized, she moved to plan B and now creates magic in her books. She has written several mystery series, and now lives with her husband and three sons in Southern California, where the horrendous traffic affords her plenty of time to dream up stories.

I’ve read the excerpts, baby! My hands are itching so bad! Want! Check out Jen at Jennifer Lyon Books. And get the book! I insist! Appletinis for all!

I’m all about the romance, you know. If you have someone special, enjoy them.  If you don’t, here’s a special present just for you.

What is your favorite romantic moment in a movie? Or a book? What scene–what hero and heroine wrap around your heart and won’t let go? I can think of several but the one I always come back to, and sigh over, is the scene in Last of the Mohicans when Nathaniel tells Cora to be brave. Standing there soaked to the skin in that cave behind the waterfall, knowing either of them might be killed, he took her in his arms and kissed her. From the very depths of his longing, he told her, “You submit, do you hear? You be strong, you survive… You stay alive, no matter what occurs! I will find you. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far, I will find you. ”

DUUDE. That just sends chills down my spine!

So tell me? What line or scene does it for you?

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I know what I’m doing this morning. Just sayin’!

What’s your favorite thing to eat in bed? Leave a comment and be entered in February’s SHARE THE LOVE contest.

Welcome to Penumbra’s February contest. In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’ve opted to SHARE THE LOVE. The rules are simple. Comment on a post and your name is entered to win, and entered EVERY time you comment. This month’s prize is a $25.00 gift certificate to the Greater Good Network stores. In between reading and commenting, SHOP NOW and pick out your favorite items to support Breast Cancer, Animal Rescue, Child Health, Literacy, Hunger, and the Rainforest. Share the love because that’s what romance is all about!

Winners are announced on the first day of the month and will be listed on the contest page if you miss the announcement.