Sorry to be so late with this post today.  My sister was in a car accident.  The car was totaled, but, luckily, she wasn’t hurt.  (Okay, I think Bobbie feels like a truck hit her, and, um, it did, but no bones are broken and I think that’s fabulous.)

Something else that I think is fabulous?  Bobbie was alone in her car when the accident happened. She has two girls, and I’m just so thankful they weren’t with her.  My sister has a toddler, just a few weeks older than my son, and she’s usually in the back seat of Bobbie’s car, buckled in her safety seat.  According to my mother, who was on scene right after the accident, not much was left of the back seat.

Very, very glad and thankful that her toddler wasn’t with her–very glad that neither of her girls were in that car.

Will resume normal blogging tomorrow.  🙂

For my birthday, I received a glorious present–a gift card from Books-A-Million. Ah!!!  Now, I’ve been holding tightly to this card, waiting with much anticipation for the arrival of certain books. And, finally, those books are coming…

I’m hoping to use my card to make a few purchases soon:

1. Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione.  This one looks great!  A demon doctor?  I like!  Here’s part of the blurb that I stole from Amazon:

In a place where ecstasy can cost you your life . . .

She’s a demon-slayer who hungers for sensual pleasure-but fears it will always be denied her. Until Tayla Mancuso lands in a hospital run by demons in disguise, and the head doctor, Eidolon, makes her body burn with unslakable desire. But to prove her ultimate loyalty to her peers, she must betray the surgeon who saved her life.

2. Reckless by Saskia Walker.  I love reading Saskia’s stories.  She has such an amazing descriptive style—you can feel her characters and see the settings.  Love her!  (And I love this book cover, too!)

3. Jaded by Karin Tabke.  Now this woman can write some fabulous stories about Hot Cops.  🙂  Fabulous!  Lately, I’ve been loving romantic suspense novels–and this one holds the promise of being a great read.  Karin has her own inside knowledge about cops–she’s married to one!  So I think if anyone knows how to research a cop story, well, it would be her.

4. Turbulent Seas by Christine Feehan.  Okay, I’m going to have to wait over another month on this one–but I can’t wait to get my hands on it!!!  This is Joley’s story (if you haven’t read the series, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about, but if you have read it–come on, Joley!!!).

5. Warrior by Angela Knight.  The first Secrets story I ever read was by Angela Knight–I’ve been hooked on her tales since then.  GREAT twist on time-travel!

Summer is such a great reading season, isn’t it?

What books are you itching to get your hands on? What books do I need to add to my TBR list?

(And, hey, quick note–I’m blogging over at Divas of the Dark today. If you get a chance, drop by!)

Happy Friday the 13th!!  Ah, I love these special Fridays–because I know that later tonight, when the wee one is asleep, I’ll be able to curl up on the couch (or, grr, hop on the glider) and get my very long fix of a Friday the 13th movie marathon.  Jason, here I come!!

Why do I love horror movies so much?  No clue.  Maybe I like to be scared–a safe scared.  Maybe it’s that kick of adrenaline I get.  Whatever the reason, I’m hooked.

I don’t think I have a “favorite” horror movie of all time.  Some folks do, not me.  As long as the flick isn’t too gory (or doesn’t take place in an insane asylum), I’ll watch.  There’s just something about an insane asylum that turns me off the movie…

Do you have a favorite?

When I first start a book (and, um, yep, I’m in a starting-a-book frame of mind), I don’t create a full-on character sketch for my hero, heroine, and my secondaries.  Some people do. They write pages and pages of information–and if that is your process, hey, more power to you!  I firmly believe each writer has to follow the method that works best for her/him.

For me, I like to think that I create a mini-sketch.  And when I start this sketch, I don’t begin with physical characteristics for my hero or heroine (those come a bit later).  Instead, I start with fears and weaknesses.

I begin with the heroine. What does she fear?  Everyone fears something.  When I start to figure out what she fears, then I start to get a handle on her.  Find the fear, then find the cause.  Often the “cause” will lead to my important background information about the character.  Ex.  A heroine who has four thick locks on her front door. She triple checks them before bedtime. Why?  When she was a teen, an intruder broke in and murdered her parents.  (Hey, I’d be triple checking the lock, too!)

Now, granted, fears don’t always have to be so dark.  It could be a simple fear of snakes or heights–I think these fears personalize characters.

Weaknesses personalize them, too.  Got an all-powerful shifter who rocks at kicking ass?  Well, he has to have a weakness. Doubt that it will be a physical one, but he needs an emotional weakness. Even Superman has a weakness, okay, two (cryptonite and Lois Lane).

Thinking about fears and weaknesses will often lead me to the full plot of my book.  It’s a nice, dotted-line path that  like to follow.

And since I’m talking about fears and weaknesses…do you have one you want to share?  🙂  Feel free!

I’m blogging today over at The Bradford Bunch–talking about Bad Boys and giving away an ARC of Everlasting Bad Boys.  So, if you didn’t win an ARC in my newsletter contest (and those ARCs have all been mailed, by the way), then hop over and leave me a comment for a chance to win.

In other news…I’m working on a new project now.  When I write a book, the beginning is always the most challenging part.  Often, I’ll have two or three false starts as I try to get a beginning that really works for me.  If the beginning doesn’t “feel” write, I’ll write an alternate introduction–and if that one doesn’t work, then I’ll write one more.  After that, I take a break from the story a bit and go back later and read each intro.  At that point, I pick the one that flows the best and go from there.

If you’re a writer, what’s the most challenging part of the story for you?

And if you’re a reader, what kind of beginning really grabs your interest?