Every Wednesday night, I eagerly tune in to watch the exploits of teen PI Veronica Mars on UPN. Now, I’m not a teen (yeah–won’t be seeing those days again!), so why do I watch a show about high schoolers?

Simple: The characters are absolutely amazing. The plot twists often leave me suprised (this is a big feat for me–heck, it’s gotten to where I can predict the endings of shows like CSI, Law and Order, and Medium within the first five minutes of the show). But don’t get me wrong–I love all those shows I just mentioned, but, even more than I love them, I love surprises.

And I get my surprises with Veronica Mars. Apparently, I’m not the only one drawn to watch the blond’s exploits. Recently, in teasers for the show, a nice voice-over said something along the lines of : Stephen King can’t take his eyes off her. Ohhhh…I’m in company with Stephen King…how utterly fabulous.

But…back to why I like the show:

First, let me start with the characters. There aren’t any one dimensional characters on this show. Everyone has extraordinary depth–let me give you an example: The first time I saw the sheriff’s character, I thought he was pure evil–obviously a guy on the take who didn’t care about the citizens of his town. He was good-looking, self-involved, and had a wickedly nasty personality. I liked him, of course, but then…he evolved (as generally happens to all the folks on the show). I soon discovered the sheriff had a troubled past, and I learned that sometimes, he actually does try to do the right thing. Sure, the guy’s still crooked, but he’s crooked, wounded, sarcastic…and just plain fun now.

And as for the leading character…Veronica might just be 18, but she has all the attributes of a powerful heroine. She’s smart, spunky, and can deliver one-liners that would make comedians envious. She has knows how to take care of herself–Veronica doesn’t need anyone to rescue her–the chick carries a tazer!

In addition to the characters, I love the show because of the amazing plots. No, there’s no petty teen drama. Murders occur. Buses are sabotaged, babies are kidnapped, and, sometimes, Veronica gets locked in freezers…But no matter what happens, the show is geared to generate maximum suspense. Each week, the show ends in such a manner that I’m left desperate to know what will happen next time. Can you say awesome ending hook?

So that’s why I like Veronica Mars. The show’s a perfect recipe for a book–strong characters, great hooks, tension-generating plots.

If you haven’t checked this show out, I would highly recommend it (um…in case you didn’t get that from my gushing post!).

Everybody always seems to be talking about rules these days. People love to say what should and shouldn’t be done.

Phooey. I say if you can make the story work, do anything!

Unless, of course, you’re writing a horror story…Then, well, then you must follow the universally understood scary movie rules–as stated by Randy in the Scream flicks.

The rules are as follows:

1. Characters who have sex won’t survive. (Whoa–good thing that rule doesn’t apply to romance novels, huh? The hero and heroine would be such goners!)
2. Characters will not survive if they drink or do drugs. (Another uh-oh for romance land–I read about tons of characters drinking wine or beer–good thing a Jason-like killer is not on their trail!)
3. A character who says, “I’ll be right back” won’t survive.
4. Everyone is a suspect.

And here are some sequel rules from Scream 2:

1. The body count is always higher.
2. The death scenes are always much more elaborate, with more blood and gore.
3. Never, ever, under any circumstances assume the killer is dead.
(Note: Randy’s character didn’t exactly get to finish this line in Scream 2, but the intent was so there.)

Yep, those are horror rules.

And, you know what? Those rules make me really glad I write romances…

If you love vampires, then you have got to check out this ultimate vampire book list. There are approximately 3000 titles listed–very cool!
Go see if you’ve missed any titles by your favorite author–or go find a new author to try!

Everyone knows that alpha males are super popular in romance novels. They’re the kings, the real rulers of the romance industry roost. And, of course, you don’t just see the alphas in romance books–you can find them in movies (ex. pretty much every role played by the super talented Vin Diesel) and in television shows. Folks just seem to love those alphas!

But, lately…more heroes are emerging. Vicki Lewis Thompson has written an interesting series of books about unlikely, downright nerdy heroes–and those books are flying off the shelves. Apparently, women don’t just go wild for the big, strong, tough guys…they also like the smart, sensitive ones, too.

Well, in addition to the alpha and beta men, there is another hero type out there that I really enjoy. I don’t have a cool greek name for him, so I’ll just call him the “drunken pirate.” Yes, I said drunken pirate. You see…the hero that I’ve enjoyed the most in the last three years isn’t a guy who has tons of muscles or even tons of brain power. Instead it’s a man who weaves when he walks, a man who appears to be in sore need of a bath. A man, in short, who is my drunken pirate–or, as many of you may know him–Captain Jack Sparrow.

When I originally went to view Pirates of the Caribbean, I anticipated that Orlando Bloom would the strong, romantic lead–and, of course, he was. But…as much as I enjoyed good old Will, Captain Jack Sparrow stole the show for me, and I found myself thinking it be a heck of lot more fun to sail off into the sunset with him than to stay with the good-looking Will.

So…what? Did I go crazy? No, I don’t think I did. I think I just fell for the allure of an unusual hero. Don’t get me wrong–I still love my alphas, always will. But…oh…my drunken pirates are close second on my fav list. And I’m waiting, eagerly waiting, for the next drunken release: Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man’s Chest.

I saw Failure to Launch last Saturday night, and, I must say, I thought the movie was absolutely hilarious.

Yes, Matthew McConaughey was sexy–after all, he is the sexiest man alive–and, as always, I loved listening to his drawl. But, despite Matthew’s appeal, I really felt his character’s friends were the ones who stole the show.

I don’t want to give away any important movie details, but I will say that every time Matthew got together with his buddies, I knew something funny would soon be happening. The three guys made a great group: one was the suave charmer (Matthew), one was a nature boy, and the third was a nerdish computer guy.

Sarah Jessica Parker did a good job, too. But, I found myself liking the charcter of her friend more than I actually liked her. The secondary characters really ruled this flick.

Failure to Launch followed the perfect romance formula–it began with action, it introduced the hero and heroine quickly, the secondary characters were loveable, there was a black moment–movie-goers got to wonder if the lovers would be separated, and, finally, everyone got to live happily ever after. Yep, in my book, a perfect romance. And a very fun movie.