Weekly winners

Congrats to Matthew who won the redraw of "Scars on the Face of God" by CG Bauer. He's already been contacted.

And our winner for the copy of "His 7-Day Fiancee" by Gail Barrett is EllenToo. Please email me at admin.bookblog@gmail.com with your mailing address. I have to hear from you by next Thursday, May 14 or a new winner will be chosen.

Just a reminder, we're giving away a $20 gift certificate to whomever gives us the winning name to the Name our Blog contest. Rules can be found here. The contest ends on May 31.

And last, I never heard from our winner of the Rick R. Reed contest. So, if you're interested in winning an ecopy of VGL Male Seeks Same and you're over 18 (due to the content), then please email me at admin.bookblog@gmail.com with "Reed Redraw" in the subject. I'll pick a new winner on Sunday, May 10.

Interview with Gail Barrett

Jen: Readers, please help me welcome Gail Barrett to Book Talk this week. Gail, will you please share a short bio with us?
Gail: Certainly. I’m one of those people who knew by an early age that I wanted to be a professional writer, but thanks to a four-year stint living in Spain, I ended up getting a degree in Spanish Literature and teaching high school Spanish instead. As the years went by, I married my husband (who was a Coast Guard officer at the time), had two sons, got a master’s degree in Linguistics, and continued teaching. We lived all over the U.S., thanks to my husband’s career, and even spent two very fun years in the Bahamas (what a gorgeous place!). But no matter how much time passed, I never lost the desire to write. Then one day, I decided that if I was ever going to be an author, I needed to get into gear and start writing! It took me awhile, but in 2004 I sold my first book to Silhouette. My books have won various awards, including the Book Buyers Best Award, the Readers and Bookbuyers Best Laurie for Published Authors, Affaire de Coeur Magazine’s Reader/Writer Poll, and Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart. I live in western Maryland with my husband and a very quirky Chinook dog. My fifth book for Silhouette (His 7-Day Fiancee) is out right now.

Jen: Tell us about His 7-Day Fiancee and where it's available.
Gail: My current release is His 7-Day Fiancee, (May 2009) from Silhouette Romantic Suspense. This book is part of a new continuity series called Love in 60 Seconds, which celebrates Harlequin’s 60th anniversary. The series begins when a famous socialite from the powerful Rothchild family is murdered, and the family’s prized possession, a diamond ring worth millions, goes missing. According to Mayan legend, in the possession of the worthy, the famous diamond (called Tears of the Quetzal) brings true love in an instant, but in the wrong hands, misfortune strikes (thus the series title, Love in 60 Seconds). The series is set in glitzy Las Vegas where someone is plotting revenge against the Rothchilds–by eliminating them one by one. Everyone is scrambling to find the ring–and the killer–before the entire family ends up dead.

Each of the six books has been written by a different author, and I have the second book in the series. You don’t have to read the first book in order to understand mine (it is definitely a stand-alone book!), but you’ll know more about the other characters if you do.

His 7-Day Fiancee is about down-on-her-luck, single mother Amanda Patterson who goes to Vegas to start a new life -- and instead, gets sucked into the murder case involving the missing diamond ring. When mega-billionaire casino mogul Luke Montgomery offers her his protection in exchange for playing the part of his fiancée, Amanda accepts, but ends up mired in an even worse danger -- one to her heart!

You can find more information about the series and a complete list of the books on my website (www.gailbarrett.com), and also at: http://www.intimatemomentsauthors.com/books/love-in-60-seconds/

Jen: At what age did you discover writing and when were you first published? Tell us your call story.
Gail: As I said in my bio, I knew that I wanted to be a professional novelist by about the seventh grade. I got sidetracked with marriage, kids, teaching, etc., but no matter how much time went by, I never lost the desire to write. Getting published wasn’t easy, though, even after I started to seriously pursue it. I wrote six books and various partial manuscripts in about nine years before I sold.

My call story is a bit unusual. I submitted my manuscript to an editor at Silhouette, who rejected it. I was crushed. I’d had plenty of rejections before, but this one was especially hard because I knew that I’d finally gotten the story right, and that if this book didn’t sell, I might not ever become published. (And since I’d wanted to write since the seventh grade, you can imagine how I felt.) Meanwhile, another editor at Silhouette saw the manuscript in a couple of contests, including the Golden Heart. She liked it so much that she lobbied for it, and eventually bought it (with no changes!). That book, which won the Golden Heart, was Where He Belongs. It came out in 2005.

Jen: Describe your writing in three words.
Gail: Intense. Emotional. Evocative.
My tagline is “Finding love on the journey home.” I write about characters on a journey of self-discovery who find where they belong in life.

Jen: Have you noticed your writer's voice has changed over the years due to your experience? If so, how?
Gail: My writing is getting faster and edgier. I’m not exactly sure why; maybe I’m becoming more impatient. I get very restless when I’m reading a book and there are more than a few paragraphs of introspection at a stretch, so I tend to cut out the slow stuff in my own stories. One thing I’ve noticed, though -- the books don’t get any easier to write with time. In fact, in many ways they are getting harder. Maybe I’m setting my standards higher.

Jen: How do you approach your writing? Do you plot or go with the flow?
Gail: I do a little of both. I have to know the major conflicts between the characters and what their growth is going to be before I can start writing. That’s crucial. I try not to plot too heavily because I like to let the characters tell me what should happen next. I’ve learned that I discover new things about the characters during the writing process, and if I’ve plotted too much, I am trying to force the characters to do what I want them to do instead of letting them act naturally.

Jen: How many hours a day do you write?
Gail: That depends how close I am to a deadline. In general, I write at least six hours a day. That soars when I near a deadline, though.

Jen: What is it about the romance genre that appeals to you?
Gail: I’m a real sap for feel-good romance. I love the sexual chemistry, the conflict, and of course, the happy ending. I don’t like books with graphic violence, and I hate feeling depressed for days after reading a sad story. I don’t think a book has to end in tragedy in order to be great.

Jen: Do you do anything special to celebrate a sale, new contract, or release?
Gail: Not really, but every time I complete a book, I go on a cleaning binge. That’s about the only time I actually dust my house and clean my desk (maybe I shouldn’t admit that....).

Jen: Who has inspired you as an author?
Gail: Oh, wow. There have been so many authors. Strangely enough, the one who got me to start actively writing was Jean Craighead George. I read her young-adult book Julie of the Wolves when I was teaching a middle school class. The story was so beautiful that it reminded me that I’d always wanted to write. She spurred me to action. The first romance novel I ever read was Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss (hot, hot, hot!!!). And the author who got me started on category romance was Emilie Richards, with Desert Shadows. I thought that book was so clever and fun to read that I formed the goal of writing for Silhouette Intimate Moments (which is now Silhouette Romantic Suspense).

Jen: Do you feel as if the characters live with you as you write? Do they haunt your dreams?
Gail: The characters definitely live with me and consume my thoughts. I worry about them all the time. Sometimes it’s hard to let go of them at the end of the book because I’m so attached and immersed in their world.

Jen: What has been your highlight of your career to this point?
Gail: I don’t know that I’ve had one particular highlight. Winning the Golden Heart was definitely a thrill, and doing a couple of book signings with Nora Roberts was also very cool. And I just found out that my last book, To Protect A Princess, is a finalist in the National Readers’ Choice Award contest, which is definitely a highlight. But truthfully, I enjoy every bit of this business. Just seeing a new cover on Amazon is exciting. I can waste an entire afternoon staring at a new book cover:)))

Jen: What do you do in your free time?
Gail: Well, obviously I read -- a lot. I also exercise and go on long walks in the woods with my dog. I love to travel, but I can’t do that as much as I would like. I’m a pretty quiet person. My not-so-secret passion is bagpipe music. My favorite group is Berrogüetto, a Spanish group, but I like anything Celtic.

Jen: What's next for you?
Gail: After my May book comes the final book in my Crusaders trilogy, but I don’t have the title or release date yet. I’m also under contract for another romantic suspense book with Silhouette after that.

Jen: Where can you be found on the web?
Gail: http://www.gailbarrett.com

I’m on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=1058752297&ref=profile

I also hang out on the eHarlequin message boards (the Silhouette Romantic Suspense loop):
http://community.eharlequin.com/forums/simply-series/suspense-and-adventure/silhouette-romantic-suspense

We have a new Silhouette Romantic Suspense authors blog and I post there as well:
http://community.eharlequin.com/content/silhouette-romantic-suspense-author-blog

Jen: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Gail: Yes. How do you feel about series? Do you like to read them? Have you ever read a continuity series written by different authors? If you like to read series, what is the limit on the number of books you’ll read (for example, do you prefer trilogies or series that last longer)?

Jen: Gail, thanks so much for being our guest this week. Readers, Gail is giving away a copy of His 7-Day Fiancee to a random commenter. So, leave a comment, ask a question and you'll be entered in the drawing. The winner will be chosen on Thursday, May 7 around 5 pm PST.

Excerpt from "His 7-Day Fiancee" by Gail Barrett

Luke entered the office, met the eyes of the guard on duty behind the desk. The balding man leaped to his feet. “Mr. Montgomery.” He tugged at the tie dangling from his beefy neck.

Luke nodded, got straight to the point. “What’s going on?”

“A woman said she was held up at gunpoint near the slot machines. I’ve pulled up the surveillance tapes. She’s in the next room.”

“Let’s see the tapes.” He rounded the desk as Ruiz lowered himself into his chair and keyed the bank of monitors to the proper time.

The screens flickered, and suddenly a woman strolled into view from a dozen angles. Her full hips swiveled with a seductive swing. Her high breasts shifted and swayed.

Luke’s gaze cut to her face, and his heart made a sudden swerve. Well, hell. It was the blonde he’d admired earlier in the lobby.

He studied her now with frank appreciation. She was on the tall side, slender, but the tight dress revealed her ample curves. She had long, shiny hair, sweetly rounded hips, the kind of killer legs that could fuel his fantasies for years.

He slanted his head. She wasn’t the usual overblown Vegas type, despite the skimpy dress. She seemed more natural, unstudied -- a rarity in Sin City, a place where illusions ruled.

She stumbled on the mile-high heels, regained her balance, and glanced around. The cameras caught her darting gaze, and his gut went still.

She looked furtive. Guilty.

Bad move, babe. Better to look nervous after the guy with the gun shows up.

As if on cue, a man appeared on scene. The newcomer kept his head bent low, his face carefully hidden from the camera’s view. His long, stringy hair swung past his jaw, hiding his features even more.

Luke’s gaze narrowed on the man’s pleated blue shirt and black bow tie -- the uniform his dealers wore. “Is he one of ours?”

“We don’t know yet. We’re checking the records now.”

He rubbed his stubble-roughened jaw, watched the episode play out. The galley doors swung open. A waitress stepped out, carrying a tray. The blonde crashed into her, then bolted off, while the man ran the other way.

He raised a brow. The blonde thought fast on her feet, he’d give her that much. “Who is she?”

The guard consulted his notes. “Amanda Patterson. Said she arrived in Las Vegas last week. She’s staying with her sister, Kendall Patterson, a dancer in your ten o’clock show.”

Luke thought back to the brunette he’d seen with her in the lobby. A dealer and a dancer. An inside job, then? Probably a scam to sue the casino.

The spurt of disappointment took him by surprise. He knew better than to expect the blonde to be innocent. This was Vegas. Everyone was on the make. Even the prettiest face masked a conniving heart.

The guard switched to another screen, and Luke watched the man exit the casino, still hiding his face. He checked the time on the tape. Twenty minutes ago. No point looking for him now.

“Let me know what the employee search brings up. Contact Legal, call the police. Get Martinez over here if you can.” He and Martinez went way back to their childhood in Naked City, the slums beyond the Strip. He could count on him to keep the story hushed until the Phoenix deal went through.

He turned, headed down the hall to interview the blonde. Chances were that this was an inside job, but he couldn’t rule the Rothchilds out. Harold Rothchild was buried in debt, his empire on the verge of collapse. Luke’s project would seal his doom.

Which was exactly what Luke planned.

Of course, if the Phoenix project failed, he would suffer instead. He set his jaw. Good thing he didn’t intend to fail.

He pushed open the office door, spotted the blonde standing by the desk. She turned toward him as he entered the room.

His gaze met hers. A sudden awareness shivered between them, and he hesitated in mid-stride.

She was even more attractive close up. Her eyes were a deep, startling blue, as vibrant as the desert sky. She had pale, creamy skin, a smattering of freckles on her feminine nose. Her lips looked soft and lush.

She was pretty -- stunning if he factored in those world class legs.

But this close he could also sense an aura of vulnerability about her. She stood with her shoulders hunched, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. Dark circles shadowed her eyes.

The sudden urge to protect her caught him off-guard.

He frowned, shook himself out of his daze. This woman didn’t need his protection. For all he knew, she was here to swindle him. “Amanda Patterson?”

“Yes.” Her low, smoky voice slid through him, doing strange things to his insides.

He crossed the room. “I’m Luke Montgomery.”

“Yes, I know, I...” A blush crept up her cheeks. “My sister pointed you out earlier.”

He’d bet. He reached out his hand. She hesitated, then gripped his palm. The smooth, silky feel of her skin arrowed through him, deleting his thoughts. He gazed at her, held immobile by those amazing blue eyes. His heart beat hard in his chest.

After several long moments, he realized he was still holding her hand. He scowled, pried his fingers loose, annoyed by the effort it took. What was that about? He hadn’t been that affected by a woman in years.

And this one could be trying to deceive him.

Winners galore

Congrats to Bridget, our winner of a copy of South Side Hustler and Teresa, the new owner of Painting the Invisible Man. Both winners have been contacted.

We also have a winner in our contest with Delle Jacobs. flchen1 is the lucky commenter. I need to hear from her by next Sunday, May 10. In the email, please let me know if you want a download or print copy of Sins of the Heart. If your choice is print, please include your mailing address.

And last, I never hear from our winner from last week. So, if you're interested in a download of Scars on the Face of God by C.G. Bauer, please send me an email at admin.bookblog@gmail.com with "Redraw" in the subject. I'll pick a winner on Thursday, May 7.

Interview with Delle Jacobs

Jen: Will you please share a short bio with us?
Delle: Hi, Jen. Thanks so much for having me here today. I've enjoyed Book Talk and reading about authors and books. What better subject could there be than books?

These days I'm a stay-at-home writer, after a long spell of being a social worker working with troubled families and teenagers. I think- no, I know, writing kept me sane through all those years because I could always go home at night, sit down to my computer, and all the day's trauma and drama would vanish. Writing romance fiction is difficult enough and intriguing enough that nothing else could break into my concentration. By the next morning, I could once more face the day's challenges.

Sometimes now I miss all, but not too much. Now I live with a varying number of three generations of adult males- they come and go from far off places like Alaska. And there are the requisite two black writer's cats. But males and cats pretty much leave me alone to do my own thing, which after all these years is still writing.

Jen: Tell us about Sins of the Heart and where it's available.
Delle: Here's my favorite blurb:

The Cornish cliffs at dawn: Two ladies, one spyglass. Two naked men cavorting in the surf. One, icy-eyed Lord Edenstorm, is the man Juliette hoped never to see again. She has what he wants, the names of gold-smuggling traitors. He doesn't know, if she tells him, she dies. If she doesn't tell, she dies. Perhaps if she only pretends to help, she might survive. But what happens if deceit gives way to love? Is it possible to forgive the Sins of the Heart?

Sins of the Heart is available on April 28th through Samhain Publishing, and on Amazon, and through bookstores everywhere. It's also available as an ebook through Samhain.

Jen: At what age did you discover writing and when were you first published? Tell us your call story.
Delle: I tried to discover writing when I was four. I knew my letters and they made words and words made stories. But when I tried to write them, it didn't work. When I was nine, I tried typing, but the "plot" I had in mind went in the wrong direction before I even finished the first paragraph. I gave up in confusion. I didn't know then, that's how my creative process works. As a mature writer, I can sort through the assault of new ideas to find the best story, but as a child- no.

Eventually, once I felt my time was becoming my own again, I turned to serious writing. I love historical romance and that's all I want to write, but I hit the publishing world at a time when historicals suddenly wouldn't sell. I kept getting rejections, awful things like "great story, but in this tough market..."

In 1999, a good friend persuaded me to submit to Awe-Struck E-Books. I believed so strongly in my book, Fire Dance, knew it had to be published. It had elements in it the traditional publishers didn't want then, so e-books looked like its only shot. The Call from the editor, Kathryn Struck, was, in fact, an email, a sign itself of the changing times. I knew e-publishing would be a hard route. Still, I'm the kind of person who wants to be on the innovative, cutting edge of something new. So I did it.

It was almost a shock, after all the negatives I'd heard about e-books, that Fire Dance did so well when it came out in 2000, even getting great reviews at a time when most e-books were either ignored or roundly trounced.

Jen: Describe your writing in three words.
Delle: Don't miss it. Or how about this: Three words? Me?

Jen: Do you have any “must haves” with you while you’re writing?
Delle: I think I can write anywhere, any time, with anything that's handy. My laptop? I almost always have it. Notebooks? Research books? Probably, because I love research. Maps? I usually have one, depending on the setting.

I've been taking laptop everywhere, since 1995. I now carry a tiny MSI Wind that fits in my purse and weighs under 3 pounds even with the extra battery. Close at hand today are Roget's Super Thesaurus, a Maxi Atlas of England, English Surnames, and a few photo books of the English Midlands where I'm setting my current story.

Jen: How do you shut out disruptions?
Delle: Hot button! Just when I think I've got the family trained not to walk in and start chattering, I discover I'm wrong. What is it about a person typing on a computer that makes others think the work is mindless? If I don't want to make a really bad mistake, I have to stop and clasp my hands together to make them resist the urge to keep typing. I'm going to lose my train of thought anyway, but at least I won't also lose an entire day's work by making one wrong keystroke.

Jen: What’s the most challenging aspect of writing? Easiest?
Delle: Work is hardest. Play is easiest. Sounds trite, yes, but it's true. Writing is both. I don't think I've had more than ten days in all my writing years when everything came easily all day, but my hardest work has always ended up being my most exciting and best work in the long run. With every book, I set myself a challenge to do something beyond my abilities, or something I haven't done before.

Jen: What’s the most rewarding aspect?
Delle: The writing itself. That's even better than selling, or winning awards or even having cheering fans. But if I don't love the actual writing that much, how can I expect anyone else to love it?

Jen: Where do you draw your inspiration?
Delle: I think inspiration comes from everywhere, every place I go, every experience I have or read about, but most of all from people. Sins of the Heart began with a silly snippet in a dream that was much too contemporary for me to use. But it merged with a universal theme, a comparison between women in 19th Century England and women today in so many parts of the world who are deprived of basic rights simply because they are women and have no power. Add to that the terrible experiences of war, such as in Iraq and Afghanistan, and compare them with the experiences of men in the Napoleonic Wars, when war was truly an inhuman thing, and from all that, my hero and heroine stepped forth. Merritt and Juliette were the people who answered the questions I asked: What do people do to survive? How far will they go to save others? How much will they do for their countries? Most of all, how do people find in their hearts forgiveness for themselves, and for those they feel have wronged them? Not a lot has changed in 200 years. In many ways, Merritt and Juliette could tell the same story today, just in different ways.

Jen: Do you have a favorite character or one that you identify most with?
Delle: In Sins of the Heart, I found I was strongly identifying with both the hero and the heroine. But it's strange that once I finish with a book, my mind is ready to move on. There's always a character in each of my stories whose story is unresolved. In Sins of the Heart, it's Davy Polruhan, the dashing Cornish smuggler who thought he had everything, only to realize he'd lost it all. Now I'm completely enmeshed with him, and I'm planning his story, STRANGER IN THE NIGHT, which I think will be even more dramatic and adventurous than Sins of the Heart.

Jen: If your book was made into a movie, which actors would you choose to play the hero and heroine?
Delle: Hard one! I don't usually think of my hero and heroine as anyone else. Most actors and actresses I can think of are really too old for the parts now, and both my characters are blonde, which limits the field if there has to be a strong resemblance. But I'm not so tied to physical appearance as I am to character, so I think I'd see Sean Bean or Gerard Butler as my hero, and Kate Winslet perhaps as my heroine.

Jen: What’s the most interesting comment you have received about your books?
Delle: You really do ask hard ones, don't you? I had a friend tell me my book Fire Dance was very hard to read because it dredged up painful memories for her, but she finished it because she had to: it gave her a way to resolve her own unresolvable past.

But one of the best was a review: "His Majesty, the Prince of Toads is a wonderful, awful book." When I read that, I jumped up cheering because she got exactly what I wanted her to get. Just like my heroine, when the hero swaggered into the story, she wanted to slap him. And she was cheering when he got what was coming to him, and cheering even more when the hero grasped that he was wrong and set out to change his ways and win back the heroine's heart.

That's what writers want most, I think– for readers to "get" their story. When that happens, we feel like we're really a part of the huge community of readers, the community of humanity who possess a common spirit.

Jen: What's next for you?
Delle: Hawaii? Oh, you don't mean travel, did you? But I have to go there to be sure I've got the Hawaiian part right in my Historical Fantasy, SIREN, which I've just finished. I'm also finishing a medieval paranormal romance, SIDHE, based on the Celtic concept of the ancient faerie folk called Sidhe. Then there are sequels to my two Samhain releases, which are nearly done. I've never done series before, so that's a challenge.

Jen: Where can you be found on the web?
Delle: I do all the usual, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter. Also several blogs and community sites like Wet Noodle Posse, Writers and Readers of Distinctive Fiction, where I also review books, Rose City Romance Writers.

My own blog, IN SEARCH OF HEROES, is my favorite internet place, where I work hard at always providing my readers with something interesting and valuable. The search for heroes is, after all, what romance is all about, for there's a hero in all of us, and we're all looking for something bigger than ourselves, in one way or another.

For my next book release, I'm posting a new contest on my blog: "The Most Beautiful Place on Earth", in conjunction with Earth Day. But it will be ongoing for five weeks. What's your most beautiful place on earth? Show us with a photo. Win a prize and promote the best cause on earth, the earth itself! Look for it at http://dellejacobs.blogspot.com on Tuesday, April 28.

Jen: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Delle: I'm really curious if readers like sequels and series. And how about heroes and heroines who have had other loves in their lives? Historicals still seem to me to be so limited in scope, but our modern age doesn't really have a lot of patience with clueless virgins, and I don't want to write them. So where do you think I, and other historical authors ought to take our stories?

Jen: Thank you Delle for visiting Book Talk this weekend. Readers, Delle is giving away a copy of Sins of the Heart (either a download or print copy, winners choice) to one lucky reader. The winner will be chosen from the comments on Sunday, May 3 around 5 pm PST.

Excerpt from "Sins of the Heart" by Delle Jacobs

The sea was yellow gold as the sun dropped toward the horizon, a quiet plane of precious metal that melted into silvered sand, and as far as the eye could see, changed from gilded sea to brilliant amber sky. All the world was silver and gold.

The horses paced across the wet sand, their steps muffled, disturbing the metallic sheen that settled back to serenity in the little rounded puddles they left behind. Only the quiet huffing of the horses’ breath and the faint screech of gulls far out from the shore broke the silence.

She had long ago loosened her bonnet and let it fall behind her, to feel the delicate breeze in her hair as they rode. Beside her rode the man with silver eyes and golden hair, his face dark in the shadow, as silent as the quiet water. It had been his idea to ride along the shore, taking advantage of the long beach created when the tide ebbed. But low tide was a curious thing that made one believe in the forever of an instant. She had come along, appeasing him because…Was it because she must keep him occupied, to keep him from making discoveries about the people she loved?

Oddly, though. She had come to expect, almost to want his companionship. Never knowing when he would turn the quiet of the moment into some strange demand that ruined all that was beautiful. Or if he would not. Perhaps today was one of those times when he would remain silent, or trade the silence for small, beautiful words.

He was, in so many ways, a strange man. He did not court her. But he shared beautiful things with her, often in silence, as if he accepted or believed they saw them the same way. She wondered if they did. Did he see and feel the colors with the sort of passion that invaded her?

They reached the headland that separated this beach from the next, and he pulled ahead. Here, their ride must come to an end.

“Don’t go there,” she said, and reached for the bridle on his bay.

“Is that a cave?” His head inclined in the direction of the sharply jagged cove tucked between two cliffs.

“It’s called Colliver’s Cove. They say it was used by Robert Colliver, but they also say Robert Colliver left Looe in his youth and never returned. Both could not be true. They also tell tales of men who drowned because a high sea came up and caught them inside. When the tide comes in, the cavern floods.”

Edenstorm leaned forward in his saddle. He planted a fist on his hip and narrowed his eyes as he studied the small, dark opening that marked the top of the cave.

“Don’t go in there,” she said again. “There are many ways to be killed on the Cornish Coast. That is one of them.”

His ghostly silver eyes studied her for a moment, then he dismounted. He held his hands up to her and she slid down, his hands catching around her waist. They turned back to the beach they had just left.

He stopped, scanning the distant horizon where the sun dropped lower in the sky and began to tinge the gold with pink.

“If you painted, how would you paint this?”

“Rapidly. Soon the sun will go down and we will never see it quite this way again.” She swept her hand in an arc along the horizon. “It is not simply golden, anywhere. It is only the way the many colors work together that makes it so.” She pointed to a distant promontory. “Look over there. Even the rock in the distance is bathed in gold, yet none of it is truly the color it seems.”

He stood there, his eyes intense and hazy, darkening to smoky pewter. She was aware of the scent that was his, so close and mingling with the salt of the sea and flesh of horse, with leather and brawn.

“I could never paint,” he said, his voice as soft as fine doeskin. “But I could never forget this. If I could paint, I would paint you, bathed in gold, just as you are right now. The color of your hair gleams like tiny strands of golden light.”

He took one of her curls into his fingers, then slipped a hand into her hair. A tangle of longing twisted and turned in his eyes. “I’d want to capture the light shining in your hair and playing across your face, the softness of your lips.”

“How do you know they’re soft?” she whispered.

“I just do.” The pad of his thumb crossed over her lower lip. “Yes, soft.”

She gasped as his lips touched hers, but not from fear or outrage, but because she had not known her own longing. Had not known the feel of his arms circling her and pulling her close to his body where she could feel all his firmness as if she flowed into it, his kiss deepening and stroking in ways that set her afire inside. Her heart raced with the pounding of an unexplainable wildness within her, the heat she had not understood that had been building from the moment she had first seen him on the beach.

Review: "GoneAway Into the Land" by Jeffrey B. Allen

Reviewed by Melissa Cornwell

This book was absolutely amazing! Jeffrey Allen has created a world that is both magical and mysterious. The characters have the most extraordinary courage. Ellie and John represent a very important factor in everyone's life, and that is family. Their determination to find Marny is astounding. I was captivated at once by these characters, and by the plot of the novel. It hooked me in and didn't let go. I became enchanted by the Land and the characters there. I can imagine a colorful and wonderful world. The detail in this book is so exact. I felt like I was actually there in the book, traveling in the cars and tasting the desserts.

Jeffrey Allen takes a children's world and applies it to adults, reminding us that we are never too old to do certain things, and that we will always have that inner child. Children and their imagination should never be underestimated. Through John's character, we see that children are just as capable as adults, and that there are certain times where adults just don't get it. As I read this book, I remember that excitement and determination that I had as a child, as well as pure enjoyment of just doing something, which I think we lose as we become adults.

Excellent book! I look forward to more of Jeffrey Allen's work.

2009 Auction for Diabetes Research

This is the 5th year for author Brenda Novak's Online Auction for Diabetes Research. Authors and publishers and many other people and companies have donated items to be auctioned off for this charity.

Readers and authors can bid on lunch with a favorite author, an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of an anticipated release or an agent evaluation of your book.

Last year the auction raised over $250,000. Hopes are to break the $300,000 mark this year. Please join me in visiting the auction and helping support this charity.

http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/Home.taf

Name Our Blog Contest

Jessica and Jen are looking to revamp the blog in the coming months... not the content, but the look. And with the change, we want to change our name. But, we're having trouble coming up with something fun, catchy and short (and Book Talk is overused!). This is where you come in.

This month we want your suggestions and ideas on names for the blog. Feel free to post as many suggestions as you'd like (and you can suggest multiple names in one comment). If more than one person suggests a name, the first person will get credit for it. Please be original, don't pick something that is already in use and keep in mind that we cover all genres of books and don't specialize.

At the end of the month, we'll pick our favorite and the winner will win a $20 gift certificate to their choice of bookstore. And I strongly suggest you leave your email address in your post in case you're chosen as the winner.