26 June 2010

A friend sent me this

Vuvuzelas: annoying people since 1660.






24 June 2010

Two world wars and a world cup


I am suffering from football fever. The World Cup has seriously distracted me from writing and almost every other endeavor. There was a moment in the Algeria/US game Wednesday that wasn't certain I would survive.

I'd love to be in South Africa right now. Even if I couldn't get tickets to the matches, just being in a host city is a fantastic experience. I was in Frankfurt just prior to the 2006 World Cup for a business meeting. Not only was the airport mayhem, but football fever ran high throughout the city.

The pictures are of an impromptu pep rally on the medieval city square. The English contingent was strong and loud. The lads were singing song after soccer after song, including "Never Surrender, Never Give Up." I was waiting for the banned song (the one where they sing, “If you won the war, stand up.” All the English then stand up, hold their arms out like an airplane and taunt the Germans.)

A number of police officers were enjoying the festivities, but they were also waiting around to see if the banned songs were sung.

Fortunately, everyone behaved--at least that day.


06 June 2010

Well, now, that's sexy

When I showed off the cover for my upcoming book ENTHRALLED the other night, comments ranged from "Well now, that's sexy" to "steamy!"


Seeing the cover for the first time is alway a thrill, and while the characters depicted are never quite like I pictured them, I've decided that's a good thing.


For instance, is it me, or does my hero look a little bit like Bradley James, who plays Arthur in the BBC show Merlin?


As cute as Bradley is, he's not quite how I pictured William, my hero. So my first thought when seeing the cover art was: But he doesn't have the Norman haircut that I gave him in the book.


On second look, I decided that was a good thing. After all, have you seen a Norman haircut? 


It's not pretty, and I've always wondered if the knights of old looked at the Bayeux Tapestry ten years later and wondered, "What was I thinking?" 


So why did I give my hero that kind of style?


Well, not only was it styling in the 12th century to look like you put a too-small bowl on your head and cut around it, but my hero also needed to look the part more than most.


William of Ravenglas is Saxon. To get ahead, he not only has to be a superior knight, but he needs to blend in. Of course, with a sister like Ami, blending in his impossible. But that's a story for another blog.






ENTHRALLED will be released Oct. 22. 


To claim her, he must abandon home, duty, and honor—or reveal the secret of her Sidhe heritage and risk losing her forever to dark magic…


William of Ravenglas wants only one woman—his foster sister, Ami—but she is promised to another, a fate sealed by his father’s recklessness. Resolved to her forfeiture, he forges a dangerous path to bring stability to the house of Ravenglas, balancing the secret demands of the queen against loyalty to the king.


Ami, true sister to Aedan ap Owen the minstrel, refuses her fate. She wants William. But when his kiss awakens her dormant magic, it triggers cascading events that sweep her into the queen’s fiendish web and threaten William’s life. Now Ami must learn to control her fey powers or watch William die. But with a mystery lover in his past, even if she succeeds will he truly be hers?