Happy Holidays

As the holiday fast approaches, I am reminded of how far behind I am.  This year has been a year of major changes and the last thing on my mind has been Christmas.  Yet, some as soon as Thanksgiving goes by, we seem to be on the fast track for Christmas -- and boy does the time go fast.

Every year it is a major ordeal in finding a Christmas tree as I am allergic to every kind except a Scotch Pine, which are very hard to find.  I know you are probably thinking just get a fake one -- I just can't bring myself to do it.  But after the long trek to find the needed Scotch Pine and the decorating, I love just sitting in the living room with all the lights off, but the Christmas tree.  Soft music in the background also brings me back to some of my best memories involving Christmas, whether they were from childhood or even more recent years.

This year we are cutting way back on presents.  It's not easy to do when Christmas has always been my favorite time of year.  But as I age I am finding the best gift is just to have my kids come home.  What is your favorite Christmas gift?  Stuck on what to give family and friends?  The gift of books is always the best way to go.


As always Crashing Hearts and Mirrored Deception are available for the avid readers in your life.

So, happy shopping and have the happiest of holidays.

Fall in New England

Well fall has officially arrived, weather-wise, in New England.  I woke up this morning to the inside temperature at my house being 58 degrees.  I love warm weather and this is definitely not it.  As I sit here wrapped in blankets and layered up, I long to be somewhere warm. I have lived in New England my whole life and I must say I have never enjoyed the winters, but as I get older, even this crisp cool morning has me wanting to run for a warmer climate.

Don't get me wrong, I love apple picking season, and the cool days that really only require a sweatshirt.  But as the cold seeps into my bones, I question why I still live in this region.  Yes, I know the answer to that.  I still have kids in high school that would kill me if I tried to move them to a different area away from their friends.  So instead, the count down begins to when I will be able to move to warmer weather.  Two and half years.....and counting.

In the meantime, the cold weather has me putting on the fireplace and curling up with my netbook.  This weather is a great time to get writing done.  Or if the case maybe, editing and/or self-promotion.  As I make notes of the story lines growing inside of me, I definitely have plenty to write for the winter.

So curl up to the fireplace with a nice hot cup of coffee and enjoy your favorite pastime, reading or writing if the case maybe and pass the winter warmly.

Spring has sprung

At least here in Northern California. The trees all have blossoms and the plants are starting to bloom. My Bird of Paradise plant has the most awesome bird-like, orange flower on it. The cherry trees are all covered in pink and white blossoms.

I find that my writing blooms when springtime comes. I look out my office window and see the cherry tree, all fuzzy with white and pink. The sky is a clear blue with puffy little white clouds and I don't need my desk lamp to start the day.

I suffer from seasonal affective disorder and my writing suffers too. I am all blah when it is gray, windy, and dark outside. I don't want to write a thing. I am a spring and summer child and love when it warms up and the seasons change.

Do you have different levels of writing progress due to the season at hand?

Jill James

Summer Reading

by Dawn Marie Hamilton

On the east coast of the US, Summer 2010 hit hot, hazy and humid with record temperatures. I stopped by the county library yesterday, and the reading room was packed. Are heat waves good for book sales?

Since I've been writing toward publication, I've met many other writers through my local RWA chapters and online writing groups, both published and unpublished. Need I mention, my TBR pile has grown and is threatening crashing to the floor? I managed to carve out some time to read over the last month. So what have I been reading?

Being of Scottish heritage, I have a passion for all things Scottish and love to read Scottish historical romances. I enjoyed Highland Dragon by Kimberly Killion. I met Kimberly through one of my Yahoo loops, Writers of Scottish Romance.

I also love paranormal romances heaped with great world building. And I prefer series. Series give me the opportunity to meet beloved characters again in follow up books. A couple of years ago, I was fortunate to attend a workshop on world building conducted by JR Ward and Jessica Andersen at the NJRW conference. Inspiring. I added their books to my TBR list and was floored when I read them. Couldn't put them down.

Lover Mine is the latest book in JR's The Black Dagger Brotherhood series. In preparation for the release date, I reread all seven previous books in the series. Great worldbuilding, great character development, great reading.

I most recently read Jessica's Sky Keepers, book three of The Final Prophecy novels. I'm looking forward to getting the latest release Demon Keepers in the mail. Where will you be on December 21, 2012?

So what are you reading? Let me know by leaving a comment.

Why Romance?

Why do I write romance? First of all, before I was a romance writer, I was a romance reader. Many people can tell you where and with whom they shared their first kiss. Many people can recall their first love. Romance readers will tell you they remember their first romance novel.

Mine was called Lily of the Valley. Published by Harlequin, it was sold with perfume by Avon. That's Avon the cosmetic company, not the publishing company. My mom bought it for my 13th birthday. As a new teenager I was ready to make the leap from fairy tales to romance novels. I still got Prince Charming, damsels in distress, and the much anticipated "happily ever after".

Not every book can promise that happily ever after, but romance novels do. Even if nowadays it is just happily for now. Every romance novel, true romance novel, ends on an upbeat and satisfying conclusion.

That happily ever after is why I choose to write romance novels. Just like I experienced in my first romance novel, I want to know I can give a reader that experience of true love, vanquished villains, the rescue in the nick of time, and "happily ever after".

So, when I decided to be a writer, I knew I would be a romance writer. We write what we love. We write what we read. My first try at a romance novel was a muddled mess titled, Passion's Price. I did not know any of the rules of writing or writing a romance. My heroine was a married woman, sold into white slavery by her evil mother-in-law, who then falls in love with her captor until he is killed in an earthquake and she can escape back to her husband who married another while she was gone. Whew!! I think that is called "everything including the kitchen sink" plot.

I would like to think my writing and "plotting" has improved since then and since I joined Romance Writers of America and my chapters. But just like Lily of the Valley, I will never forget my first romance story, no matter how many dust bunnies it is keeping company with under the bed.

You can find me at my website: http://www.jilljameswrites.com/ and follow me at www.twitter.com/jill_james and www.facebook.com/jill_james