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.

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?

It wasn't the volcano that almost trapped me at the airport

Musings from Florence: Part 4

In praise of Mussolini, people always say, "he made the trains run on time." It always seemed an odd thing to praise a dictator for, but after a week in Italy, I can see how it would be a trait that caught people's attention. Nothing is quite on time in Italy, but it doesn't really matter. The culture has a relaxed--a "tomorrow" way--of looking at the world.

It's a wonderful attitude, until you face it in the airport at 5 in the morning.

On the outward journey, the woman who checked me in messed up my final destination. My bag was going to go to the right place, but not me. When we realized the error, she pressed a few buttons, then shrugged.

"They will straighten it out in Frankfurt."

Uh? "Can't you..." I started but she was already waving the next person up.

Fortunately, the tomorrow-mood is infectious. "OK," I said and walked away. I'd deal with it in Germany. The Germans are nothing if not efficient. However, the tomorrow mood lifted by the time we landed in Frankfurt. Iceland was erupting, security lines were longer and more rigorous than I'd seen in years and I couldn't find a cup of coffee to save my soul.

So I went to the USAirways desk and asked about my final destination. They looked at my records, muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Italians," and said that they could get me to Chicago, but they couldn't print a boarding pass.

"You will have to get it in Philadelphia."

"But can't you--"

"No, we can't."

Knowing better than to argue with anyone before my first cup of coffee, I simply nodded and went to my departure gate. Eight hours later, we land in Philadelphia. Custom lines are short, security lines are long AND I cannot go through security to get on my next flight without a boarding pass. So I got to the USAirways gate outside customs. After explaining the problem, the woman called up my records. Her supervisor leaned over her shoulder, shook his head and sighed, "Italians."

"We can't print a boarding pass," the woman said, "because you're on a codeshare fight with United, but the gate agent should be able to get you on the plane."

"But...security won't let me through without a boarding pass."

"We've developed a procedure for this," she said, and went to a cabinet, pulled out a stack of pre-printed forms and gave me a special pass to get through security. Clearly, I'm not the first with this problem.

At the United gate, the agent looked up my records and sighed.

"The Italians will never die of stress," I offered.

"Unless someone kills them for causing it," she muttered and handed over my boarding pass.