THOSE DELICIOUS NEW WORDS

First roses from my garden collage

Is there anything more precious than new words? We love new roses from our gardens, new little starts that stick up from the warm brown soil in the Spring. We love new love, and what it feels like. We love meeting a new friend, or rekindling with an exciting old friend. Other new things I love: a new quilt pattern, new dress, colorful scarf, new haircut. I love new fabric or a great colorful fabric discounted! New bright red in my hair. New car! New jewelry, or a new candle scent or perfume. New shower gel! I love meeting a new reader who loves my books, or getting a great new review!

All these lush things are wonderful, and the most exciting of them all for me are New Words.

With new words, a new character develops. Like a chess game, the hunter and hunted meet, the warriors clash over a battle of wills. The Beast becomes the gentleman, and the Beauty becomes strong and supportive on her own. It's a classic tale of falling and having love burn so brightly in your chest that you just have to tell every stranger.

It's what makes a book something nice into something I gotta have!

It happens when I become the pro writer and not the amateur writer. It bashes through all obstacles and walls, limitations of funds, time, age, distance. I turned from being a reader who loved to read compelling books to wanting to create them. That creative process stimulates and excites everything in my world. It no longer is work. I ask my brain to be patient with the thoughts so I have the time to get everything down on paper. When I feel this way, I have to stop whatever else I'm doing and submit to that great spirit.

My beautiful music is even more beautiful. The colors are brighter. Scenes are more stunning. I wear loneliness like a badge and let the emotional energy spur me on to bring about a closure and connection that wasn't there before. My perceived lacks of the physical world I live in disappear in the fantasy life I create. My characters are my best friends and lovers. They don't leave. They love as fiercely as they play, with as much passion as I can imagine. I know there's even more off the screen of what I can hold at one time.

Bought this in Sao Paolo, Brazil

Today I give myself to new words. After all, it is World Book Day.  #LovetoRead

Of course, you could always watch Cinderella with someone you love, too.

So, here are some FIRST WORDS for you of a book called Paradise - The Search For Love (unedited):

I remember well the day John Gage stepped into my office. He had a whale of a tale about an island no one knew about, a white sandy beach with no telephones or internet, and a little thatched-roof bar tended by the most beautiful girl in the world.

            He called it Paradise.

            I hadn’t even looked at his paperwork, or how much money he had to invest. I didn’t look at what he did for a living. I just listened to him talk. His blue eyes and tanned skin, relaxed mode of operation, with his kaki pants and canvas slip-on shoes, two or three day’s stubble all painted a picture of a guy who was enjoying life. Way more than I was.

            Only remnant of his former life was the fact that he wore button down shirts, expensive ones too, with his initials on the sleeve, if you were ever to see them. He wore them wrinkled, right out of the dryer, or maybe off a clothesline somewhere, and rolled up to his elbows. He buttoned them one button too low, revealing a tanned and muscled torso. The guy was ten years older than I, but he looked ten years younger.

            I was helplessly hooked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzc_3arId8s
#LovetoRead

EASY TO START, HARD TO STOP

When I was a full time business coach, I used to tell my customers, you must be easy to start and hard to stop. Everyone thinks they start from way behind the curve. They've procrastinated and now when they have to start, they have to work through all the debilitating emotions of frustration and discouragement, before they can even begin their project.

And then there were those who wanted it all today, wanted to catch up in one sitting, who were so anxious to make headway, they too had to battle the range of emotions and frustrations that they felt held them back, due to their impatience. I often have that form of "startitis" - in fact, it used to plague me whenever I'd start a new diet. And the worrying over whether or not I would stick to it long enough to have results would overcome me and by 10 o'clock, the diet was blown. And then it makes it harder to start again.

But starting is just that, starting all over. My opinion is that it's 80% of the battle, just beginning. If I can put out of my mind all the other little self-talk that is unproductive and just plain not true in many cases, I can get that big locomotive fired up and begin my new project. By "new" it could mean writing new or editing. Whatever the project.

I used to use the illustration of getting a big locomotive running. It doesn't matter how hard we press on the pedal on that big engine. The thing will accelerate at a certain speed no matter what. If we've floored it and really jumped on the pedal (they probably don't even have one, but I use it for illustration), that big machine would only go so fast in such a period of time. The extra effort on our part is irrelevant.

On the other hand, there's this little thing called Momentum that begins once we are sailing down the rails. The weight of the machine and the forward motion help propel us further, even if we should temporarily take our foot off the pedal.

And that's where people have the hardest time. After they start, they get some success, and do happy dancing all over the room, and then forget to get back to work. I'd have business leaders achieve a windfall month of profits and then take the rest of the year off, and wind up behind what they did the year before. We used to say that earning a huge commission check was the surest detriment to many people succeeding. Just ask lottery winners. They'll tell you.

The magic happens in the not stopping. Notice there is no mention of talent. We all want to be so talented someone will come along and give us millions of dollars for that screen play, that novel, but in fact, the world doesn't operate like that. Somehow, even though others have struggled, our path will be smooth and easy.

You will have a ten times better chance of dying in a commercial plane crash than winning the lottery. Chances someone will pay you $1M for your book? I'd say even less.

What about you? What do you do to get yourself started? How do you keep your momentum fired up?

CINDERELLA LIVES!

Yesterday I babysat my two grandchildren. I'd finally received my copy of Cinderella, the new Disney movie that has outsold all other Disney movies to date. I wasn't able to see it in the theater, but when I stumbled upon the soundtrack, I had to have the movie. The three of us watched it.

This story is so important, not only because she gets the handsome prince in the end, although that is part of the happily ever after we like to read and write in romance. What was important to me was that it was the first story I heard that I can remember feeling the joy of belonging somewhere. Being wanted. Finding my magical doorway to the rest of my life. It was such an uncommon thought for someone less than three years old. I can remember it as if it was yesterday. It has colored everything I do, every choice I made in life since. And it started with a story, a little record player and a picture book to go along with it.

And a room by myself in the upstairs of my huge house. It was like Cinderella's attic. Where all the dreaming and magic happened.

One of the things that graces us when we age is that a lot of things fall away. We forget some hurts. We are smoothed over by the passage of time so that the sun comes out again after a long night, bad feelings and hurtful situations soon fade into the patchwork that is our lives.

One of my favorite songs is "Why Don't We Just Dance." I've used it in several of my SEAL books, because, when things are strange, when things are perched on a cliff of unknown height, when we aren't sure what to do, I think it's just a good idea to kick of your shoes and just dance. That's how the record ended, with the song, "So This is Love." and she is dancing in a beautiful ball gown in front of a crowd of people who wished they were dancing too.

Another favorite song of mine is The Dance, "I could have done without the pain but then I would have missed the dance." What a wonderful line that is.

I was Cinderella in those days. Every fibre of my being was forged into the romantic with rose colored glasses, a dreamer. I learned how to let myself feel. A gift from my three-year-old self to the woman I am today. I am grateful to that little girl who had the courage to take that first step out on the dance floor.

This week, we are launching a beautiful documentary called Love Between The Covers. I financially supported this film (if you scroll down slowly you'll see my name!). I did it because the story has to be told. When I started writing, I had no idea it would be so. It has made me a successful author who can support myself living just about anywhere in the country. It's also important that the world knows what romance does for us. It heals us. I want everyone to know this.

I took a writing workshop very early in my career, and developed the tagline:  True Love Heals In The Gardens Of The Heart. I wanted to have gardens in my website and use it on promotional things and was talked out of it. Experts. Some day I'll write a post on experts. Thank God I haven't listened to them all the time! And yes, sometimes you have to do things wrong first before you learn.

The story that I'm not ashamed to tell is that romance is good for us. You can read my posts of the last month, and just about all of them are on this subject. What happens to our brains, what happens to our general mood when we fall in love, deep, satisfying romantic love.

I watched transfixed as Cinderella danced in that beautiful blue dress, in the arms of the handsome price who twirled her and took her places she could not go by herself--but places she had dreamt.

I think we were meant to dance all our lives, just like we were meant to read about falling in love, letting it make us feel good. To whisper our love stories to the crickets and stars at night, to feel the old earth rotating slowly, oblivious of the passage of time. It all starts with believing in the dance of the heart.

WRITING COTTAGES: Sundays With Sharon

I've yearned for a writing cottage since the first publication of one of my novels in 2011. Just a place to dream, to play my favorite music, a place to take myself away to the fantasy of my stories. I can do that well with an empty house and a good set of headphones with some of my 50 days of music stored on my computer. I once read a writer's blog about how she set up her writing desk separate from all the rest of her "office activities" as a writer.

“Remain sitting at your table and listen.
You need not even listen, simply wait, just learn to become
quiet, and still, and solitary.
The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked.
It has no choice;
it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.”
Franz Kafka

A very necessary part of our routine in life is paying bills. I know some feel it's a spiritual experience, but for me, the opposite happens. For years I took care of paying all the bills and for the past year, my husband has taken that over, and I'm grateful. Still, there are things I have to take care of, certain bills, reservations, emails and "stuff" of writing that isn't fun. I don't include in that sending off SWAG, because I truly enjoy it, and often make it the first or second thing I do in the day. So having a dedicated place for just writing has become more important to me. I blogged about the idea earlier this year. There are places you an rent a cabin for a week or two or a month.

Whitby Island Writer's Refuge

I've toyed with using a shed from one of those improvement stores, and we put a deposit down on one. Like most projects around here, it grew to huge proportions as we calculated what it would cost to lay a slab, or build a perimeter foundation, or lay down rock and drainage. The cost of the shed turned out to be the small expense and we abandoned the idea.

An Airstream trailer was my next dream, and I began looking all over the country for some used ones we could refurbish. We thought perhaps getting one that could be towed by my Murano so I could take it to Bodega and Marin beaches for a day of writing would be ideal. New ones were prohibitive, but beautiful. Much more fun getting an older one and fixing it up like the gypsy inside me. But then we stumbled upon the rock wall project in our rear yard, which seemed a better idea for the overall value of our property, and in the design there was no way to put a ramp to

Heaven on wheels

the backyard. The alternative of writing in my driveway was not sexy enough. And then the cost of the beautiful walls and concrete patio shot up in price, and the budget fell short. I again pushed the idea aside.

My desire to have a traveling cottage isn't dead, just on hold until next year. I vow it will be done, even if I have to be helped up into it in a walker or by cane! Some day I'll have one. Trust me, eventually I get my way. And I'm not complaining. Life is a series of choices and then adaptation to those choices and circumstances beyond our control. That's where the fun is. I still have the dream, and that's even more important than having the cottage at this point.

So, for now, I purchased another computer and Thunderbolt Screen, and when I write, I sit at my adjustable desk. I can stand, or sit on the stool. I light my candles, and inspiration does come. I usually have two sleeping Dobermans at my feet, vying for attention, so I have a jar of cookies nearby to reward their loyalty. I don't pay bills or even do anything email-wise or business-wise on that computer. I don't even write these blogs there. It was expensive to do this, but ever since, I have found it to be liberating. I've written poetry here. Sometimes I do a little research for my stories, but everything I do is related to a current book I'm working on.

And like all of you, I'm still waiting for my Happily Ever After. But this is my Happily Ever After, for now. Doesn't it make the goal, once achieved, that much more delicious?

Jumping Out of Airplanes, Replanting Hydrangeas

I got a great quote this morning from Mark Divine, former Navy SEAL and now coach and Unbeatable Mind Academy founder, "I leaped into the dark abyss. Wind whipped by me, and the velocity of my jump picked up. With my eyes popping out of my head and a joker smile, I managed one thought: "this is either going to turn out really cool, or really shitty."


This really spoke to me this morning. Several years ago now, our family visited a skydiving facility in the San Diego area to celebrate a great family victory. I decided to try to push my own personal boundaries, doing something that was so way over the top scary, even death-defying, that it would change my life forever.

And since I was going, the rest of my family went as well. Another one of Mom's crazy ideas. 

It was crazy, crazy fun. I jumped in tandem with "Tigger" my hooked up buddy, and he showed me points on the horizon after we'd pulled the chute: Mexico, the ocean, San Diego, the training facility and cars that looked like grains of white rice. I felt the cold air against me and then felt it warm as I got closer and closer to mother earth. I have to say the welcoming she did for this scared and tired traveler was inspiring.

Coach Devine goes on to say that we sometimes need to make that leap of faith, to go for it, put ourselves in failure's way, to get the prize behind the door. The unspoken part is the small print that says, "or die trying." This is something every elite warrior knows, but not anything we dwell on.

My relationship to the earth is very strong. Being an organic gardener for over 40 years has taught me things about life, while watching plants grow, thrive, and yes, die. So, when I jumped out of an airplane at 13,500 feet, though I was with someone who was very experienced, it was a disconnect from all the familiar sensations of my everyday life, and a leap into something else. 

I have these big beautiful hydrangeas in our backyard. We're in the middle of a big project to make a space we can look at through our 13' roll up glass garage door-cum-dining room window. We overlook a forest, but one that had to be pruned and thinned. We have sudden oak death around us, and the bay trees are the carrier. So, about ten big trees are being removed. And so now my beautiful hydrangeas, some of them over ten years old, have to be moved to a more shady location. I am concerned for their roots, and their relocation, just like I was when I jumped out of the airplane with no roots. I resist change and will miss them if they don't make it. They have become a part of me.


The transition from the familiar garden in my backyard to something new and miraculous is hard for me. Maybe all change is hard for me. Maybe that's why jumping out of a plane was hard for me. But do I want to live my life with the routine of the ordinary, "quiet desperation" as Coach Divine says, or embrace: 

The more capable you are as a person, the bigger the challenge you must bring to yourself.

I have to say the answer to that question on this glorious Saturday in June is, yes. Yes. Bring it on. Now, where's the airstrip?

K is for Knowing When to Write

I've been lucky enough to be exposed to some pretty great writers. I look at this room, which is in Pacific Grove, California, and just sitting here in this restaurant makes me want to write. I came upon this place on the trip down the night before to hear my friend, Tina Folsom, speak to the Monterey chapter of RWA. On the trip down, driving through row upon row of recently harvested fields of broccoli and cabbage, the air was thick with that smell. If you've harvested a cabbage from your own garden, you know that smell. I used it in the prequel story I was finishing, SEAL Endeavor, which was the companion to Fallen SEAL Legacy. My characters go to Monterey to visit the aquarium, on their way to look at a drone in Silicon Valley.

I also got the idea for another romance, not in the series I've written so far, and got inspired to do a couple chapters towards that one I'll finish some time this year. A just for fun tale about a second chance romance with older lovers.

My friend Susan Speers recommended a book to me, Steal Like An Artist, and in this book it talks about all kinds of ways we get inspiration. It is true, no story is ever written in a vacuum. It is one of the reasons why I decided to go ahead and go to the RT Convention this year, when my rational brain says I need to get this book finished, and have too many other things to do. I've decided I cannot afford not to. I need the time with my peers, to be inspired, to share stories and methods, and just hear the hope and fun that comes from a gathering of writers. Despite any of the bad news recently, when writers get together, it generally is a wonderful time. And you never can beat the stories.

So, when do we write? Every day. It is the sort of discipline that separates us from the hobby writers. Anyone can write, should write, has something to say. Writing helps us heal. Helps us get in touch with other readers and writers. But if writing is a profession and not an occasional thing taken on by whim, it should be done every day. The knife has to remain sharp.

Like in my SEALs, they train every day. They train even though they may not be deployed for six months or more. They train like they're going overseas next week. That's how you prepare.

Writing is the same. Who knows when this day would produce a character that you need, some secondary character who could take over and become the hero or heroine in the next book? I love it when that happens.

But again, that doesn't happen unless we write every day. Some days it is a blog. Most days, it is a chapter or two. And that's what makes it a profession. It becomes our mission. The more we do it, the better we get.

So when do we write? All the time. Every day.

Don't forget to catch the other A-Z Blog participants by clicking here.

On The Road Again

What was supposed to be a romantic weekend in Monterey with my husband has turned into something else. I've done a lot of adjusting these days. And gracefully. He came down with a bug, and, rather than expose me and others to it, decided to stay home.

I'm here to hear my friend, Tina Folsom, speak to the Monterey RWA chapter today. And, as luck would have it, we are going to be able to spend a little more time together, which I love doing with this prolific and creative writer who has inspired me greatly.

I was on my way last night to Moss Landing, and got lost, which is where all the real adventures lie, don't they? Between rows of brussels sprouts and lettuce, dodging the big trucks and farm workers finishing out a week of toil in the fields, I felt lucky to be alive and able to watch, life just go on. Don't know what excites me so much about brussels sprouts, but those beautiful plants did it for me. Row after row of perfectly formed, dark leafy green goodness, appearing to lack the aphids my plants often have. I sometimes wonder if it is worth it to even grow them in my garden. I've invested in scores of ladybug tubs, and though voracious eaters, I'm still stuck with those stubborn aphids. I refuse to spray.

Had dinner at Haute Enchilada, which was a really fun place, and managed to have an abstinent seafood dinner with local vegetables done to perfection. I picked out a dark corner, got out my laptop and worked on some social networking things.

I'm trying to finish my next SEAL book, Fallen SEAL Legacy, and I'm still about 20k from the end. I have about 40k words I won't be using, but can use on other books. Not since my first book have I had to re-write so many chapters, but I've strengthened the story, and some things just take longer. I'm relaxing into that.

And what has happened? You can guess, if you know me well. Another story has come over me, and I'm taking notes so I don't forget key points when I get ready to write it, which won't be now until next year. It is another contemporary series, but with older H/H, and involves a heroine on a road trip after the death of her husband. No, this is not in any way biographical. My husband is, thankfully, very much alive. But I got to "feeling" this story as I listened to a lot of Pat Metheney, some new music by Lyle Mays and other things on the Sirrius Satellite network, which is the best thing about my new car.

Road trips give me time to think. So, while there was that momentary "aw shucks" when my husband told me he wouldn't be going, I knew I'd make something productive and fun out of it. Have laptop will travel. I write well on the road, unlike lots of other writers. I don't like everything in its place. I like variety, and get inspired by new places. And then I come home, for what I hope will be a home stretch where I can really polish up and finish this puppy.

These are pictures and a little of the feel of this area. No, there are no pictures of the looming power plant. Makes the growing brussels sprouts, art galleries and eclectic places like The Whole Enchilada or Haute Enchilada even more special. After all, we don't live in a vaccuum. And I'm very grateful for the electricity which allows me to write, and to have readers find me.

I can't imagine a life of standing by the side of the road hawking my books to bicyclists or horse and buggy goers. Life would indeed be different. I won't have time to stop by again on my way to the meeting. I'm sure today will be just as filled with great memories.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend, wherever you are.

Welcome Gennita Low and her Hot SEAL Hunks!

I'm totally jazzed to round out our stable of great military romance writers by bringing you Gennita Low, a three time RWA Golden Heart finalist. All my books at Amazon refer to her books (I can only hope it's vice-versa) as a good buying decision. And I'm sure it is.

Learn from one of the best how she got started writing Military Romantic Suspense. And you won't believe what she does for her day job. Honest.

Welcome, Gennita, and please tell us what inspired your military romance journey?

I started writing military heroes by accident. I was in love with medieval romances, the ones with swashbuckling knights, kings, noble ladies and wicked queens. When I used to travel and backpack overseas, I’d visit the castles and walk though every nook and cranny, imagining life within those walls centuries ago. Intrigue and romance—all that blood and gore and yet, noble quests and knightly duty too—among that breed of men who went off on their mighty horses.

Yum.  

I totally agree. It's like you can feel the heart and courage of those warriors speaking to you through the centuries. Great place to begin.

So, when I started to write seriously, of course I picked a knight as my hero. A group of knights at a border town fighting an invasion of bad guys…Vikings…yeah. Then, umm, something took over. I couldn’t stop myself. I created a captured woman as a heroine. Not just any captured woman, mind you. No, she was this long-haired, kick-ass, going-to-turn berserker warrioress. She was my Chiang Pei-Pei, a Chinese actress from the 60s (also the bad guy in Crouching Tiger) who excelled in kung-fu movie parts as the lone female fighter coming into town to kick some ass. I had no idea why my heroine appeared but man, did I enjoy writing her doing some mighty fine sword-wielding in my medieval tale J.

The only trouble was, every agent and editor about died laughing at my poor historical submission. I didn’t blame them. I even called it my histErical because I knew my characters were not acting very “standard” medieval. I had quite a few suggestions to change the heroine to be more “lady of the castle” because she wasn’t very believable.

Oh, that's funny. Not that it didn't hurt and frustrate you. So glad you didn't give up.

This was back in the days when “kick ass” wasn’t even considered part of any allowed description of the heroine. She could wield a weapon but she couldn’t kill. She could be the baddest assassin in the business, but only in name, like those virgin widows in historical romances, you know, the ones whose dead husbands were impotent or gay, so the heroines were still pure for the heroes. So, one day I was reading this romantic suspense; this time, the “tough” female “assassin” was not just a fake one who really didn’t kill, she was also a virgin. And oh, she couldn’t stand the sight of blood. I remember the bump on my head that day from repeatedly smashing my head on the desk while reading.

I take it you healed properly. And knocked some sense into yourself at the same time...

It was then I decided that, no matter what, I’d write the kind of action-packed story I wanted. One of my neighbors, an avid reader, told me my hisTErical knights reminded her of a hero, Zane McKenzie, a character in Linda Howard’s book.

My turn to say Yum. YUM.

I went to the UBS and bought the book the next day. Zane McKenzie, oh my. Handsome, lethal and seductive. And a navy SEAL. A complete package of hunk tied with a big bow.

It occurred to me how I was wasting a gold mine in my own backyard. I was a roofer. I worked with men. My partner was an Airborne Ranger. He had many friends in the military. Here was hands-on research material right under my nose and I never thought to mine that!? More head-desking ensued.

I took out my rowdy knights and polished them anew, giving them a different uniform. I decided my heroines were going to be the way I* wanted to read smart and tough women; they wouldn’t be held back by the usual “rules.”

Writing military action/adventure romantic suspense wasn’t that different from my love of writing medievals. I had military action. Political/spy intrigue. Men having pissing contests. Big battle scenes. And of course, I could now insert my beloved long-haired warrioress in various dangerous forms, upsetting that cart filled with all those alpha males. Writing had never been so fun.

Exciting!

My first serious single title manuscript I submitted with great success was Into Danger. It finaled in, and won, many writing contests. I sold the book to editors with the blurb “Navy SEAL on dry land vs the world’s most dangerous female assassin.”

Love it.

To my delight, I have readers out there who love my kind of women and men. I went on to write my navy SEAL trilogy, the Crossfire series. So, when you read my stories, just think of my froggers as medieval knights with flippers!

Here are the new covers to my Crossfire series. The second editions have new scenes in them. My books are action/adventure and set overseas. The subject matters are serious. My characters are flawed. But they are passionate men and women, with a sometimes dark sense of humor. I hope you enjoy my SEALs and the women who love them!

Excerpt from PROTECTOR:

Jazz had never hiked with a woman this long before. He had to admit it, he had had doubts about Vivi’s stamina, but she had once again proven him wrong. They had traveled at a fast click the past four hours and she had only stopped once, to take off the soggy and muddy socks he had given her. They kept an eye out for signs of life, that roving gangs weren’t nearby. Sometimes, Vivi explained, the bandits traveled this far up the mountain.

I’d rather go barefeet,” she’d told him.

You might cut yourself,” he’d warned.

I’ll take the risk. Besides, we’re far away enough to stop soon to signal T.”

It was getting very muggy again. He watched Vivi wipe away perspiration on his sleeve, leaving a smear of dirt on her cheek. He offered her a drink from his small canteen, then pointed at the canopy of trees nearby.

As soon as we’ve activated your locator, we’ll head over to the shade and wait.”

Sounds like a brilliant idea.” She smiled. “If I weren’t so tired, I’d race you over there. Besides it isn’t fair that you have shoes.”

Most women would complain about the dirt and the heat, but Vivi had not only kept up with him, but also injected humor in the situation. He grinned at the sight of her blackened feet.

I offered to carry you,” he reminded her.

For four hours? You wouldn’t be quite this perky,” she lightly mocked back as she handed back the canteen.

He made a face. “Please. SEALs aren’t perky.”

She grinned, then eyed a specific area of his body. “If you say so,” she said. Without warning, she started taking off the black shirt. She unhooked the front of her bra and worked a finger inside the cup, giving him glimpses of her nipple. When she looked up, her eyes had a definite twinkle. “It’s getting perky again.”

Jazz’s lips quirked. “That’s my personal locator,” he informed her.

She laughed. “Do you think, while we wait, you can get Perky to help me find something?”

Oh yeah. Definitely.

Buy Links:
You can purchase Protector here.
You can purchase Hunter here.
You can purchase Sleeper here.

BIO:

Gennita Low roofs during the day and knows how to kill 600 different ways with tools.  It's no surprise then that she writes romantic suspense as an outlet for her daily frustrations with male workers.  Navy SEALs and spies are her favorite personal choice for mayhem and assassins.  Her latest series is called Super Soldier Spy, with Book Two titled Virtually Hers. When she isn’t working or writing, she’s the prisoner of three mutant poms and a mutant squirrel.

Gennita's Website




Thank you, Gennita. Your stories sound awesome. I'm going shopping today to pick all of them up. Let's see if we get some great questions from our audience. What would you like to know about Gennita, her heroes, or her writing?

Welcome Military Romance Writer Dahlia Rose

I am thrilled today to host military romance writer Dahlia Rose. See below for information on free drawing.  

Welcome, Dahlia Rose. Tell me how you got started writing military romance? How many books have you written?

Dahlia: I started writing military romance for my husband when he was stationed in Iraq. Then he was just my fiancée and he and the platoon he commanded was one of the first into war when Iraqi Freedom began. He was almost killed twice, Once in Najaf and in Fallujah by IEDs. We still have the helmet where a bullet creased it in a firefight.  He and his friends were my heroes and I began writing them little stories to keep their spirits up. They were printed out, passed around, kept in packs became wrinkled and torn then stuck back together with tape. Each week I’d send them a new short and they would download the file and print when they could. By the time he came home I told him I wanted to quit my job and take up writing full time. He supported my decision and when that first acceptance letter came, not only did my family celebrate but my soldiers did as well.

So far I’ve written over eighty books both novella and novels. They are primarily military contemporary or paranormal.

Outstanding. What a story. I'm so happy you first wrote for our fighting men and women before you released them to the general public. Perfect. Why do you think these Alpha military heroes (and heroines) are so popular? What makes them heroes?

Dahlia: It's because they keep fighting and surviving, not just in war but when they come home. A lot of people think that after the war is over they can come home and go back to normal. They can’t. The adjustment period is long and a lot of relationships do not survive. The happy ending we give these hero and heroines I think actually gives readers hope that they can make it.  A lot of my readers have military backgrounds or are married to military personnel.  I had one reader approach me at a convention and she embraced me in a big hug. She looked at me and said thank you, "because in your books they aren’t drones, they aren’t forgotten, they are heroes and they are happy." I came to find out she lost her husband in the war and she started to read my books because she heard I wrote military romance. So it's not just the war that makes them heroes, is the constant fight and never giving up that really leaves a mark.

Well said. My heart goes out to that woman. How do you compliment the heroine to a strong alpha military guy? Do you write them strong? Compliant? Kick-butt?

Dahlia: Yes I do, my heroines are strong because I cannot write a weak woman. In my opinion women in general are not weak but a woman who takes on a relationship with a military man has to have an extra dose of strength.  My heroines are sassy, yet soft when they need to be. Watching your man walk away carrying a 50lbs pack and knowing he will be gone for months has to be the hardest thing. Knowing he may never come home, but they do it with such strength and pride, it's breathtaking to watch. But just wait until you see them coming home, see how they embrace their men, watch the love that passes between the reunited couple, with the children between them. Trust me, I don’t think anything can compare. My first kiss with my hubby when he came home was in the middle of Penn Station with a bunch of soldiers around. Memorable and magic, it still makes me breathless to this day. I’m not a compliant woman, I kick box and can kick butt (laugh). I think my women are the perfect combination of sweet and spicy.

  

Sounds like the perfect combination. Do you like writing in series, or single? 

Dahlia: I like them both, Honestly all my books start out as single titles, but then I see a way to add more and they become part of a series. The Army Beasts series was meant to be one book and we’re up to about seven now. My dragon warriors were meant to be the same. Now I am working on number five of a series of twelve. I let the muses take me where they may but sometimes I have to rein them in. There are so many ideas I have jotted down that have the potential to be series. If I don’t draw the line somewhere each book would be at least a three-book trilogy. 

Who is your favorite character you've created? Why?

Dahlia: My favorite character of all my books is Lieutenant TJ Taggert in Paradise Found. I loved his character, I loved the alpha in him and the sassy back and forth that Kelly gave him. They complimented each other perfectly and he was the first military hero the readers fell in love with. He was as unique as his name and I re-read my own book just because I fell in love with him.

Do you find it easier to write the bad boys or the good boys? I'm assuming both are heroic, but which ones are more fun to write?

Dahlia: I think my heroes all carry a bad boy trait but honestly it’s the bad boys that make me shiver. I have to redeem them and it turns me on watching them develop and learn to care about these heroines. In the end that bad boy trait helps them save their women. 

What about the heroines? Do you find it easiest to write the bad girls or the good girls?

Dahlia: My bad girls are usually skanks, (LOL) someone for the readers to dislike and for the heroine to one up. I love my heroines to be good girls, a little prissy to blend with the sass. I always like them to have to be taken down off that pedestal just a little bit by the hero. It usually leads to an amazing first kiss and the heroine knowing that she is in trouble when it comes to her attraction for the hero.

If you could have a date with one of your characters, which one would it be and why? Where would you go?

Dahlia: Oh man I can only pic one? Ok fine, It would be Nate from the book Black Gold. He’s sexy and strong. He doesn’t take crap from anyone, especially his father who thought money bought entitlement. Nate was down to earth, ready to get his hands dirty and just be a guy. Not to mention he was military and if you go look at the cover, that’s how I see him in my mind. We’d go to some little Honky-Tonk in Oklahoma right outside Fort Sill where the food is not the greatest but the drinks are made well and the beer is cold. We’d play some Shania Twain on the jukebox and dance the night away. Then just before it closes we’d slow dance to You’re Still The One. Yes I’ve thought about that one a lot (Laugh)

If you could go to a desert island with two companions, who would you bring? What would you do there? What would you bring if you could bring anything?

Dahlia: I would go to the island with Kalv from my book, A Dragon’s Heart and Vampire Eric from True Blood. Ha! I know you weren’t expecting that. One for the daytime and one for night. There we would keep each other’s company doing things that we only write in books. Of course they’d be cheesecake there and other decadent treats and when we do finally get bored and want some excitement. We can fly to the closest city then return to our seclusion anytime we want. But since this is a fantasy, in real life I’d have to bring my husband because he can McGyver anything.  Romance with him on a desert island is worth ten times any fantasy.

Sounds like you married a keeper, Dahlia Rose! Pretend you have just sold your 100,000th copy of one of your books. What will you do to celebrate?

Dahlia: That’s easy, Vegas party with me and a few close friends and VIP tickets to the Thunder From Down Under Show. Seriously have you seen those guys?

As a matter of fact, yes. They are intense, just the way I like them. Tell us something about you that most people wouldn't know or guess about you?

I can be reclusive…people see me in person and on social networks and they think I am very vivacious and I am, but in a true Scorpio fashion, I can be moody and stay in my own space for days.

Who are your favorite authors/books?

I Love JD Robb’s In death Series. To Kill A Mockingbird is one of my all time favorite books. I love to give in to a good thriller or horror novel. Dean R Koontz and Stephen King grace my bookshelves along with Kay Hooper’s Bishop series. I read avidly anything about the criminal mind, and delve into the mind of serial killers. I know, I know-- Creepy but I also do have to feed my dark side. I don’t like writing a book without my research being as accurate as possible.

What are you working on now?

I am working on my Holiday releases for 2012.

Army beasts Christmas (Dahlia Rose Unscripted)

Yule Tide Mischief (Amira Press)

Seal of Honor (Sugar and Spice Press

Christmas Three (Dahlia Rose Unscripted)

My newest book will be released on October 13^th 2012 with Sugar and Spice Press. And Baby Makes Three is the follow up book to Baby on Board. In this book Lieutenant Brody Gillis and Nurse Marie Watson get the chance to have their happily ever after.

 

Excerpt: Army Beasts 2042

He never got to finish the sentence. Sofia slammed her hand against the table and pointed at him. “Let’s me make this crystal clear… My father does not let me do anything. I have a stake in this just like everyone else. I live with a primal animal inside me and I’m being hunted for it just like every other second natured soul.”

He held his hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, okay lass, no need to get your knickers in a twist.”

“Yeah there is,” she glared at him. “Because while you are wiling away here drinking and carousing, others are dying. I didn’t get to my last mission in time. The mother wouldn’t go willingly or let her child be taken. Do you know what the Cleaners did? They blew up their house with them inside. Called it a gas leak and blamed it on the mother not using the new stoves that are on the market and sticking to old fashioned natural gas.”

“Limey bastards,” he muttered. “Let me guess the sales on that new flash heat stove skyrocketed.”

She pointed a finger at him. “Bingo and the automated food module with those pre packaged meals that aren’t made of anything thing real. Those had a rise in sales as well. Who ever heard of meatless chicken, meatless hotdog, meatless sausage and bacon tasting delicious?”

“Please let me enjoy my meal without thinking about that processed food,” Lachlan said. “They are planning to open two factories in Scotland, we are one of the last few countries with farms. Real milk, chickens eggs and so forth not costing so much that only the rich can buy them.”

“In New York, things like that cost a pretty penny,” Sofia said. “Where we live, we get all that and we have our own gardens with vegetables and fruit trees. It’s amazing there.”

“Don’t you miss the city life, being around people? Going out shopping doing things other women your age do?” Lachlan asked.

“I was never the perky shopping type. I was a tomboy. I grew up around the Army Beasts. By fifteen I could break down a nine-millimeter and put it back up in thirty seconds. I fired my first fifty caliber at sixteen and learned hand to hand combat by eighteen,” Sofia explained. “My mom was a soldier before she met my father, and she was one of the first to teach me how to take care of myself.”

“No boyfriend waiting for you to come home?” Lachlan asked casually. He had to admit to himself he was testing the proverbial waters of her relationship status.

“Why would you ask that?” Her eyes narrowed to suspicious wary slits..

“No reason. It just seems your life can be very lonesome sometimes, the way you live,” Lachlan answered. “I’ve been a lone wolf for a long time, I know the feeling.”

“That’s you, not me. I’m fine with my life.” Her answer was abrupt. “When can we leave here? The intel is the Cleaners have to have already notified the authorities here in East Lothian.”

“I would prefer the cover of nightfall but if we must leave I know a place,” he answered.

Sofia nodded, “I’ll get packed and we can head out. I want to be able to check out this new place and find some higher ground in case anything happens. I’ll contact my dad when we get settle in.”

“How do you stay on contact outside the network?” he asked.

She eyed him before saying, “We have our ways.”

Lachlan stood and threw his dish in the sink in frustration. “Eventually you have to trust me, Sofia Johnson. You come into my home and tell me to come with you. You want my trust and don’t want to give me yours.”

“That comes in time. I’ve never had to trust anyone except my family,” she retorted.

That statement grated on his last nerve and he grabbed her shoulders. “Well then I suggest to learn to trust me, lass. I tend not to deal well with people who want a one-sided relationship.”

A low growl came from her throat and he saw her eyes flash. Eyes of a mountain lion replaced her human ones. He growled as well, allowing his wolf some free reign.

“Let go of me,” Sofia said through gritted teeth.

Lachlan considered and then released her before stepping back. “You need to consider this, Sofia Johnson. Until we get back to your so-called sanctuary, we’ll have to depend on each other. It might be prudent to remember the Army beasts can’t help you here. I’ll go get my things together. We’ll be ready to go in five minutes.”

“Lachlan…”

He didn’t turn around, but kept moving toward the stairs. “I’ll be ready, Sofia. I just hope you are.”

Being so close to her just reinforced the fact that he wanted her, his wolf wanted her. It didn’t take learning about each other over a candle light dinner. Desire between shifters was almost an instantaneous reaction and he knew she felt it too. Lachlan hoped she understood that he honestly hoped she was ready. Because when he wanted something, he sure as hell got it. Sofia was at the top of the list as of now.

* * * *

So this is what it felt like to find someone that makes your heart beat way too fast and the instinct to make a fierce fire in your blood. Sofia was no shrinking flower. She’d run missions from the time she was eighteen. More than once she’d met someone in a crowded bar while looking for the next subject, another face on the list that never seemed to end. But she was able to walk away afterward with no muss or fuss, just a roll in the hay and some sexual comfort. There would be no way she could walk away from him if they made love. She could smell the mating pheromone in the air when he grabbed her. It flared his nostrils and she saw his eyes flash to his wolf. She was in big trouble because that one action made her panties wet and she wanted to offer him her neck. A move of submission, one she could not afford. Sofia refused to allow herself to be that weak, to be mated was for another time when shifters were allowed to roam free, not now. She was putting the last of her items in her duffel when Lachlan burst into the room.

“We’ve got to go, love,” he said. “Company is downstairs and they’re not here for tea.”

He meant the cleaners of course and she shoved the last of her shit in the bag quickly.

“How the hell did they get here so fast?” she snapped. “I thought I was at least a day ahead of those bastards.”

“No doubt had some help from Walker,” Lachlan snarled.

“The rental car is out, luckily the paperwork it was rented under is solid, but I don’t want to risk the chance of them testing my saliva just because I came out of your pub.”

“They don’t have you on record?” Lachlan asked.

Sofia shook her head. “My father, well all the men in our group made sure that when they had children no samples were ever taken that could not be destroyed. Immunizations and all health related issues were handled on the compound by a trusted friend.”

“It sounds like you’ve lived a hard, paranoid life,” Lachlan said.

Sofia gave him a cold look. “My father knew eventually this would happen. Imagine if all shifter DNA was in the system… You don’t even know how long this conspiracy has been going on so don’t talk about what you have no clue about. While you were drinking a pint and trying to get your hands up the lasses skirts, we were fighting a war.”

“Whatever you say,” Lachlan murmured.

“We can’t go out front or back. They’ll be surrounding the place.” Sofia reasoned out loud.

Lachlan shot her a grin. “I’ve got this covered. Come with me.”

She was following him out the door when he turned suddenly and grabbed her neck. He kissed her hard and winked before saying, “By the way, I didn’t have to try hard to get my hand up their skirts. They were always willing to lift them for me.”

“You need to be taught some manners,” she said as he turned and walked away. “Next time you grab me without permission, I may just bite your fingers off. Mountain lions have very sharp teeth.”

Purchase Army Beasts by clicking here.

Author Bio:

Dahlia Rose is the best selling author of contemporary erotica, suspense and paranormal romance. She was born and raised on a Caribbean island and now currently lives in Charlotte, NC with her four kids who she affectionately nicknamed “The children of the corn,” and her biggest supporter/long time love. She has a love of erotica, dark fantasy, sci-fi and the things that go bump in the night. Books and writing are her biggest passion and she hopes to open your imagination to the unknown between the pages of her books.

Thank you, Dahlia Rose. We are so happy you stopped by today and tempted us with these yummy books. One lucky commenter will win a copy of one of her American Hero Trilogy books. To be eligible, please include your email address in your post, encoded.

So how about military heroes? What do you, the reader, love about them? What do you want to see more of (or less of? LOL). Do you have any questions for Dahlia Rose? Do you have a favorite military branch and why?