When my first novel Promise Me was first released, I got several messages from fans asking for Ronnie's story. Well, even though I'm presently working for Kimani instead of Arabesque, I thought it was finally time to give her a happy ending.
My next book is about chef Veronica "Ronnie" Howard, my main character Cara's best friend from Promise Me. One of my favorite shows on the Food Network are the Challenges, so I've decided to set this book around a similar competition for chefs, taking place in three stages and in three exotic locations, Las Vegas, Hawaii and Paris, France.
Ronnie's primary competition to win the substantial monetary prize is Ace Brown, a former Gourmet TV star who left his show, The Sexy Chef, featuring romantic meals and aphrodisiacs, to travel the world and work on a cookbook. He's an old friend of Ronnie's and when the pair meet up again, their chemistry is sure to reach a Boiling Point.
Hopefully you'll look for this novel, currently titled Boiling Point coming to bookstores in the Fall.
As I reviewed my latest manuscript, I noticed a terrible habit. I frequently began sentences with the word "but". I've always done this in fiction writing, but until now, I thought I was just blatantly breaking the hard and fast rules of coordinating conjunctions.
I'm relieved to say that's not the case. No wonder my editors never took them out. Apparently, despite the diligence of our grammar school teachers warning against starting sentences with the word "but", it is, in fact, perfectly acceptable.
The following web sites confirm this fact more eloquently than I ever could:
On Beginning Sentences with But
My April 2009 release, now titled Cosmic Rendezvous has gone through a long iteration of name changes. When I conceived the idea, the story was called Space Cowboy. This is because I got the idea when a good friend, who worked with my husband as an aerospace engineer, moved to Houston to train astronauts on a new spacecraft. We all teased her that she'd move to Texas and meet a Space Cowboy.
My editor didn't like that title because she felt it implied too much of a Western theme. So she and I tossed ideas back and forth, but it was finally something my husband suggested that we both agreed on. Mr. Right Stuff. This is a play on the old astronaut movie The Right Stuff, and, obviously, Mr. Right. We thought this was the perfect title, and I thought the matter was settled.
In July, my husband and I went to Houston to research the book and visit the friend who inspired the story. Apparently, while we were out of town, my editor sent a book cover mock-up with the title Cosmic Rendezvous. The e-mail got lost in the pileup on my return, and I didn't see it until two months later.
Even though I didn't feel it best suited the book, by then it was too late to change it. So, when you see countless references to Mr. Right Stuff in the text of the book, it's because that's what I believed the book would be called while I was writing it.
Anyway, I'm excited to have finally written a book related to my husband's job at NASA. Cosmic Rendezvous is the story of an aerospace engineer, Shelly London, who moves to Houston to train astronauts. Unfortunately, her job is complicated when she clashes wills with sexy hotshot astronaut Lincoln Ripley. Despite their constant bickering, they find it impossible to resist the chemistry between them. But, unexplained accidents plague their spacecraft, and they struggle to find out if their love and their mission will survive. I hope you'll go out and buy Cosmic Rendezvous in April 2009.
I haven't updated my web site in ten months. But, it's been a hectic year. I wish I could say that's going to change now, but the fact is, I just think my life is going to get more hectic. For one thing, I'm expecting a baby in March. And my editor is expecting a book from me in March.
I only just finished and submitted my April release—a month late due to terrible pregnancy-related migraines. Twenty-six days from now the proposal for my next book is due. So, I'm on the run. Not to mention installing hardwood floors and new carpet, doctor's appointments, my husband's birthday party and a pre-baby vacation to the Caribbean all this month alone.
Still, my web site is important to me, despite the fact that I'm never sure if anyone's actually visiting. I see the counter numbers going up, but who knows, those could all be potential spammers. Nevertheless, someone is buying my books, which means some of those people might be visiting this site. And, I'll try my best to keep adding content as much as I can.