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Guest Post – Confessions of a Fangirl + Giveaway!
Confessions of a Fangirl by Marquita Valentine
Unlike my sister (who meets famous people while merely breathing), I haven’t met very many honest-to-goodness television/movie stars. Okay, okay…I’ve met one. Maybe two if you count the time I got an umbrella autographed by local weatherdude, Skip Whathislastname.
However, I think I made up for it in spades by not only meeting, but by being HUGGED by Colin Firth.
Oh hai, Mr. Firth!
Despite meeting one of the best smelling men on the planet, I didn’t squeal like crazy or faint (that honor belonged to the random guy beside me.).
Maybe it was because I’d already acted the fool like a complete fangirl in front of one of my favorite romance writers evah—Rachel Gibson.
Notice who’s not in the picture.
A few years ago (last summer) I was at my first Romance Writers of America Conference, with my name tag, shiny PRO Pin and business cards left in my room at the ready. There were book signings dedicated to different publishing houses at different times and days, so I hobbled due to the five thousand blisters from the heels I’d been wearing skipped to Rachel G’s table. While waiting in line, I rehearsed this speech in my head, with such epic lines like: I love your work. I love your heroes. I admire you so much. I want to be as successful as you. I love your hockey series.
Nice stuff, right? Full of love, love, love. L-O-V-E, love.
See where I’m going with this
Unfortunately, as soon as it was my turn I just stared at R.G., then blurted out I love you. Not I love your heroes, or your writing or your anything else. Just a big ole
I.Love.You.
Ms. Gibson looked for security smiled, then asked me to pick out a book for her to sign. Of course, I picked out the one I already had instead of the one I didn’t, waited for her to sign it, and ran away thanked her.
One day I plan on meeting Rachel Gibson again, and have a very nice conversation about her novels—I hope!
Thanks for having me today, Sue, at Romance@Random! Have you ever met a famous person and done something completely fan-girly around him/her?
Remember, every week 5 commenter’s are chosen to win a random free book -winners announced on Sunday! Good luck!
Marquita Valentine writes epic love stories that just happen to take place in small towns. You can find her usually on Twitter (www.twitter.com/marquitaval), bi-monthly on LadyScribes (http://ladyscribes.blogspot.com/) and sporadically on Facebook
(https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMarquitaValentine).
Katharine Ashe on Masks and Mischief
Just in time for Mardis Gras, author Katharine Ashe talks masks and all of the delicious trouble that happens when we don a disguise.
Do you remember the ball scene in Romeo and Juliet? It’s one of my all-time favorite Shakespeare moments, for two reasons. First, the ball is when the young lovers meet and fall into infatuation. Their words, their gestures, their desire for each other — so immediate, so intense — take them lightning-fast from touching, to teasing, to kissing. From there it’s an intoxicating spiral of emotion into full-blown love.
Delectable.
Second, I love this scene because in order to enter his enemy’s house, Romeo arrives masked. In disguise he believes he’s safe. He has no idea that he’s never been in greater danger. A paper mask, after all, is a feeble barricade against the power of love.
In a gorgeous rendering of that moment in the play, in the 1968 Franco Zeffirelli film, Romeo wears the mask until he sees Juliet. At that moment he removes it and she sees his face.
In seeing his face — his eyes full of her — she sees the real man behind the mask, heart stripped of disguise, vulnerable and ready to fall.
The story is, of course, set in an Italian city. Italians love wearing costumes, especially for their most famous of holidays, Carnevale — Mardi Gras.
I remember the first time I visited Venice during Carnevale. There were masks everywhere. No one was recognizable. You couldn’t tell the Venetians from the other Italians, or the Italians from the tourists. Old men were young, young men were girls, and girls were ancient sorceresses. Even the city wore a mask; confetti covered all, sprinkling pristine stone with rainbows of glitter that tangled in hair and floated on the canals like stardust come to earth.
I think masks are the biggest reason people love Mardi Gras. Sure, the holiday is about good food and drink and out of control partying. But Mardi Gras is much more than overindulging and cutting loose.
It’s about inversion. Turning the up side down, and the in side out. During Carnevale, poor men strut like gods while rich men fade into crowds. Peasants feast like kings and fools speak like wise men.
It’s insane.
But I write romance. And in the thrilling cliff-dive of falling in love, a little insanity can be a really good thing.
So I adore a hero in disguise, especially a disguise that flips everything we expect of an alpha hero on its head. Such a disguise convinces everybody he’s harmless, only to reveal — when it is most dangerous — that he is nothing of the sort. Nothing at all.
In my new book, When a Scot Loves a Lady (available one week from today!), London spinster Lady Kitty Savege has vowed to give her heart to no man, and she’s certain she has the measure of the Earl of Blackwood. He’s everything she doesn’t want: barbarian, rogue, incorrigible flirt. Yet every time he comes near, she is entirely at the mercy of her desire. She just can’t keep her hands off him.
So she fights it. He does too. With reasons of his own that include a secret mission, the earl resists and resists and resists. But their rational minds are no match for passion. And when his mask finally falls…
Insanity. The best kind.
Happy Mardi Gras!
Have you ever hidden behind a mask for a party or Mardi Gras, or perhaps for some bigger reason?
Katharine Ashe is an author of historical romance and a professor of European History. Visit her website to learn more.
what creates perfect chemistry? + Giveaway!
Great question, don’t you think? What creates perfect chemistry? In relationships of course!
I think about the books I’ve read, and what makes the story so enjoyable, and most of the time it deals with the characters and their interaction . . . .
For example, in RIDE WITH ME, our recent debut original Loveswept release, our H/H, Lexie & Tom were just like peas in a pod — not initially at first, oh no, Tom was quite the curmudgeon, but later on . . . wow! My favorite scene was one that Ruthie wrote involving the characters and hot sauce — Tom & Lexie were eating lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Tom challenges Lexie to a contest . . who could eat the hottest hot sauce and live to tell about it *G* — the scene is hilarious! This gives you a direct insight into what their relationship is all about — fun dialogue, sexy scenes — RIDE WITH ME is, such a romantic story!
What about Maya Bank’s book, IN BED WITH A HIGHLANDER – the banter between her H/H, Mairin & Ewan is attention grabbing — from the start you see Mairin’s strength & spirit unfold in their heated exchanges – great book & awesome series!
So here’s a question for you! What do you define as ‘perfect chemistry’ – feel free to share examples – Happy Romance!
remember, every week 5 randomly chosen winners win a FREE book – winners announced on Sunday!
QUIZ – answer all of these questions to win – Good Luck!
Hi everyone — been a long time since we’ve done a Quiz — I was not a great test-taker in school, were you? There were some kids in my class that really knew how to take a test – I over-analyzed the questions — urgh, then would usually answer wrong! Oh well, such is life.
Hopefully you all will do better than I me! Ok, here we go — answer these 5 questions correctly & you’ll win all THREE of Stefanie Sloane’s Regency Rogue series — sound like a plan? Here we go — Three lucky randomly chosen winners will win all Three of Stefanie’s books – winners announced on Sunday!
Which is the first book in Lara Adrian’s Midnight Breed series?
What is the name of the hero in Suzanne Brockmann’s recent E-short release?
Which two authors, first names begin with an ‘M’ & they write Scottish historical romances?
Her next Hardcover release is in May, 2012, is called THE PROPOSAL, who is this author?
This author serves as a captain in the Army and wrote her first romance book and published it last year. What is her name & the name of her book?
What is love? + Giveaway!
What is love?
By Cassandra Carr
We romance authors think we have love all figured out. But do we, really? Consider this famous passage from Sense & Sensibility:
Mrs. Dashwood: Why so grave? You disapprove her choice?
Marianne: By no means. Edward is very amiable.
Mrs. Dashwood: Amiable? But?
Marianne: There is something wanting. He’s too sedate. His reading last night…
Mrs. Dashwood: Elinor has not your feelings. His reserve suits her.
Marianne: Can he love her? Can the soul be really be satisfied with such polite affections? To love is to burn – to be on fire, like Juliet or Guinevere or Eloise…
Mrs. Dashwood: They made rather pathetic ends, dear.
Marianne: Pathetic? To die for love? How can you say so? What could be more glorious?
So what is love? Should we all be burning? Should we be on fire? Or is it something different? And how does love change over time?
Psychologists define three distinct phases of love: lust, attraction, and attachment. Lust is simply that “I need this person to mate with me NOW” feeling you get when you first notice someone in a sexual way. Attraction is the next step, when you can’t get your lover off your mind, when you can’t see their flaws. At this stage, love truly is blind. Then, after a time, you settle into attachment. Couples in attachment are oftentimes the ones facing problems and struggles because they’ve been together for a while and have discovered their partner’s faults. This is also the time when external forces–money problems, children, etc complicate the relationship.
How long does each stage last? Lust is the shortest and attachment is longest stage. Lust usually turns into attraction within a few months of meeting someone, and attraction turns to attachment after the couple has been together for a while, and oftentimes happens within the first year or two of marrying someone, living with them, or even seeing them exclusively. Is it a bad thing that lust turns into attraction and then into attachment? Yes, and no. Couples in lust tend to say they’re very happy, but the most long-term happiness seems to come from attachment. So like in many things in life, there are two sides to the coin.
What do you think? What is love?
BIO:
Cassandra Carr is a multi-published, award-winning erotic romance writer with Ellora’s Cave, Siren, and Loose Id who lives in Western New York with her husband, Inspiration, and her daughter, Too Cute for Words. When not writing she enjoys watching hockey and hanging out on Twitter. Cassandra’s book Caught was recently named Best BDSM Book 2011 by LoveRomancesCafe.
BLURB FOR IMPACT:
Professional bull rider Conner Raub hides a secret from the world. He’s a Dom. When he meets a submissive on tour who pulls at his Dom tendencies, he fights to deny his true self, believing his colleagues will condemn his lifestyle.
Jessica Talbot is new to the BDSM scene and the bull riding tour, but after seeing Conner come to the aid of a submissive being mistreated in a club, she sets out to have him for her own. After their first night together she asks him to train her to submit and he refuses, afraid to mix business with pleasure. But Jessica isn’t deterred. She’ll do whatever it takes to make him realize he can have it all—a career, true love, and the BDSM lifestyle he craves.
–
Cassandra Carr
“It’s a job. It’s not a hobby.” — Rosellen Brown
For more information about Cassandra, check out her website at http://www.booksbycassandracarr.com, “like” her Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCassandraCarr or follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Cassandra_Carr.
