Fill the Well Friday: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Michelle Styles explains how stepping out of your Comfort Zone can really recharge your batteries.

One thing that tends to hold back writers is fear of change. Most people if they were honest hate change. It is comfortable to stay as we are. It is often easier to give an excuse as to why you can't change. Why you haven't written those pages or why you can't possibly do things differently. Or even why you can't work on a single title project. Or submit something. There are always excuses and sometimes they seem like excellent reasons.
However, sometimes those excuses stifle you and smother your creativity. The comfort zone feels safe but it can also be a prison. You know you are not going to fail but the well is starting to run dry and that in itself can lead to failure. The things that helped are now keeping you penned in.
To step out of a comfort zone, you have to know where you want to head. Revisit your goals.
What fear is stopping you reaching your goals? And if there another way around that road block?Has something/some ritual become a crutch? Has some aspect become stale or are you merely afraid of what stepping out of your comfort zone would be like?
I am going to use my struggle with my weight as an example. For years, I have been trying to lose weight but not really succeeding. Some would come off but then I'd plateau or I'd make excuses and the regime stopped being a habit and started to be a chore. I slid back as mostly I was reasonably comfortable with me. Then at the end of August I was on my hands and knees and knew the moment had come. I had to get out of my comfort zone. I had to pursue my dream of becoming fit, rather subsiding into flab.  And I had to do it by doing the one thing I feared -- Dance Cardio. Cue The Tracy Anderson Method. I did her 30 Day Bootcamp and have now continued on with her Metamorphoses programme. The weight is no longer a struggle and I have discovered that rather than fearing the Dance Cardio, I enjoy it and look forward to it. My current weight loss is 28 lbs since 25 August. I feel so much more mentally alert and empowered.  But you do not want to know how far out of my comfort zone taking that first step and starting the programme was.
The same holds true for writing. It can feel strangely empowering to really face your fear and step out of your comfort zone. Mix things up and try something new. Do something you always said NEVER to. Get out of your comfort zone and try it.  For example: If you are a pantser, try writing an outline. If you are confirmed plotter, write without an out line. Try a different approach to creating your characters. If you thought collages were not for you, try doing a collage and see where that takes you. If interviewing your characters using a recording device.  If you don't know other authors, try going to authors' groups or even a conference. In other words, attack the problem by doing something different. Be open to new approaches. Sometimes even the act of doing something new will excite your creativity and you find all you needed was the jolt.
So if you are feeling stifled by your comfort zone and fear stepping out of it, attack that fear. Force yourself to change some aspect of your comfort zone. You might surprise yourself.
So what sort of creative help do other people fear?
Note I am going to take my own advice and try making a collage for my current wip.

Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical romance for Harlequin. Her most recent UK release was To Marry A Matchmaker (July 2011). You can read more about Michelle's books on www.michellestyles.co.uk.

Thursday Reading: The TBR-R Pile

Anne McAlister has stalagmites of books she hasn’t read in various rooms of her house. She intends to get to them someday. In the meantime, she has other books to read -- or re-read.

My cousin called me today to tell me he wouldn’t be meeting me in Montana, which is where I am while you are reading this. We talked a bit, and the topic rolled around, as it often does, to our respective grandkids. And I told him my daughter had said this afternoon that every day after school, her own daughter, age 11, came straight home and buried herself in a book.

My cousin said, “Ah, unto the third generation.”

He meant that I spent my childhood with my nose in a book. So did my daughter. And it looks as if the third generation is following her nose into a book as well.

It’s a lovely place to be. Some of my best friends are books. The only disadvantage is that I’ve discovered not just the joy of reading, but the desire to re-read as well. There isn't enough time in the world . . .

I don’t just have a TBR pile. I have a TBR-R pile. A To Be Re-Read stack of wonderful books that just keeps growing and growing and growing.

Lately, because I got a Kindle for my birthday, I’ve been stocking it with a bunch of favorite TBR-R books (in many cases for the low low price of $1.99 or less) and because they are there, I’ve been re-reading them. It’s like getting wonderful welcome visits from old friends.

I thought I’d share a few of the books I have recently re-read in the hope of passing on the goodness in case you haven’t read them yet – or maybe they’re in your TBR-R pile, too.

So, in no particular order, here they are:

Persuasion – Jane Austen’s last novel – didn’t cost me a cent because it’s in the public domain. Of course I have Pride and Prejudice on there, too. But Persuasion is my favorite, possibly because Frederick Wentworth is my favorite Austen hero. I like quiet, contained, determined, competent men. I liked the fact that he could hurt at her rejection, could think her wrong-headed and even weak for letting familial duty guide her, and yet respect that about her, and then learn to fall in love with her all over again.

The Loves of Ruby Dee – my favorite of the wonderful Curtiss Ann Matlock’s books. I was so excited to find it available for ebook because now I can start recommending it again. For years it’s been hard-to-find and I’ve practically had to put a chain on my own paperback copy of it when I’ve lent it to friends. Why is it my favorite? I think because I so totally knew those men – Will and Hardy and Lonnie were just like the men I knew growing up. But as a child I only saw one side of them. Curtiss Ann showed them to me as multi-faceted, flawed, honorable, flawed, believable, flawed men. Did I mention they had a flaw or two? But wonderful as well. Or maybe their being flawed was the draw in the first place. No matter. I'm just glad to have it with me wherever I go now.

Perfect Timing – Jill Mansell is one of my favorite English authors. And Perfect Timing is a favorite of mine among her books. Poppy Dunbar was a lovely heroine with just the right amounts of uncertainty, determination, angst and compassion in her life . The book also had a wonderfully quirky cast of characters that Jill’s books regularly abound in. And it had Caspar for a hero. Caspar was terrific -- so clueless, so male, so believably self-absorbed until he finally woke up and realized what -- and who -- he really wanted in his life. It makes me smile just to think about it.

Frederica – I have a whole ‘collection’ of Georgette Heyer books on my kindle – 10 at last count. But Frederica was the first I bought because it was the first Heyer book I read. Loved it – all of it: the determinedly competent, managing heroine who tried so hard to make life work for everyone else all by herself, the gorgeous airheaded well-meaning sister, the brothers – Harry, Jessamy and, of course, the very memorable Felix, the “Baluchistan hound” Lufra, and especially the Marquis of Alverstoke who went from only caring about himself to caring desperately about everyone that Frederica cared about, but most of all about Frederica herself.

And of course there are Faro’s Daughter, Venetia, The Grand Sophy, Black Sheep, and The Convenient Marriage. All wonderful Heyer books that I’m re-reading with great joy. I could never see myself lugging the most of the collected works of Georgette Heyer through four airports, as I did earlier this week, but the kindle made it easy – and enjoyed every minute.

Match Me If You Can has been my favorite Susan Elizabeth Phillips book since I first read it. And I re-read it recently because I’m working on a matchmaker book of my own right now and I am trying to make sure that where SEP and I overlap in plot I don’t unconsciously overlap her people! So I’ve spent quite a lot of time with Heath “the Python” Champion and matchmaking Annabelle Granger. My re-read reminded me how much I enjoyed the book the first time around. It’s lovely to see how SEP has done things and then make sure I do what I’m doing differently.

I have more. I’ve stocked up with Kate Walker’s Constantine’s Revenge, Liz Fielding’s The Sheikh’s Unsuitable Bride, Anne Gracie’s To Catch a Bride, Kathleen Eagle’s The Last True Cowboy, Elizabeth Peters’ Trojan Gold, Trisha Ashley’s Twelve Days of Christmas. And there are more I covet, believe me.

I love spending time with old friends, even – especially – the ones I made in books.

Do you have a TBR-R pile? If so, what’s one of your faves to go back to? Or do you read a book once and that’s enough? Leave a reply and I’ll get Star, the Montana dog, to pick a winner to get a copy of my latest book, The Night That Changed Everything. She’ll pick on the weekend, and I’ll notify the winner in the comments section, so check back or drop by my blog and I’ll post the winner there, too.

Something else was happening the night that Demetrios Savas and Princess Adriana of Mont Chamion got married.

Find out how Edie Tremayne and Nick Savas turned each other’s life upside down in Anne’s latest, The Night That Changed Everything on the shelves now in UK from M&B Modern, coming to North America in November 2011 from Harlequin Presents Extra.

Author Spotlight: Rachel Bailey

Harlequin Desire author Rachel Bailey steps into the spotlight with news about her Oct release, what inspires her, and a giveaway too!

Bio:
Rachel Bailey developed a serious book addiction at a young age (via Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck) and has never recovered. Just how she likes it. She went on to gain degrees in psychology and social work but is now living her dream—writing romance for a living.

She lives on a piece of paradise on Australia’s east coast with her hero and four dogs, and loves to sit with a dog or two, overlooking the trees and read books from her ever-growing to-be-read pile.

Welcome Rachel! Diving right in, can you tell us a little about your latest DESIRE? What inspired it?
Return of the Secret Heir is the story of JT Hartley, the half-brother to the heroes in At The Billionaire’s Beck & Call? and Million-Dollar Amnesia Scandal (though it easily stands alone). When I was originally planning this series, I knew I wanted the last brother’s story to be a reunion story, but didn’t know the details.

Then one night when I was still writing the first brother’s story, I was lying in bed in that almost-asleep state, and the whole story of JT and Pia’s teenage affair came to me. I could vividly see her bright red hair and a seventeen-year-old JT on the motorbike he’d rebuilt from scrap parts. Could feel the forces against the town princess dating the boy from the wrong side of the tracks, and the tragedy when it falls apart.

I jumped out of bed and started writing notes. I had about 4 pages of handwritten notes before I went back to bed and none of that history changed between then and their book being finished. It was as if I’d got to the heart of it that one night, half asleep. It usually takes me more planning to get a backstory right, but this one just flowed.

I'm all envy with that kind of writing magic! And the story sounds fantastic. Let's have a look at the blurb...
Return of the Secret Heir

He's returned for a fortune and is confronted by memories. Though tycoon JT Hartley is a success in his own right, he's set on claiming his share of his late father's legacy. But first he has to get past the estate executor - none other than Pia Baxter, a woman he's never forgotten.

Theirs had been a fast-and-furious union that ended all too suddenly. And though desire still courses between them, JT knows starting anything with Pia again is just asking for trouble. His future is set in stone. But even the best-laid plans are no match for true passion.

For those readers as tempted as I am, here are the buy links...
Harlequin Barnes & Noble Book Depository Amazon

What’s in your TBR pile and why?
Frederica by Georgette Heyer, because I’m on a mission to read all Heyer’s books and this is next one.
The Secretary’s Secret by Michelle Douglas, because it’s her latest and I love her writing.
The free books from tryharlequin.com because I’m hoping to find a new-to-me author I can glom.
A Kiss to Seal the Deal by Nikki Logan. She gave me a copy (lucky me!) of this a while ago and I’ve been dying to get to it.

When the writing is done, how do you kick back to relax?
Usually the first thing I do when I hand a book in is lie back and watch a DVD. I’m pretty exhausted when I submit a book, so DVDs are perfect. I like something that will take all day – like the BBC miniseries of Pride & Prejudice, or North & South.

But for more regular relaxing, one of my favourites is to sit on my verandah (which overlooks gum trees filled with native birds, and hills in the distance), with my dogs at my feet, and a book by a fave author in one hand and chocolate in the other. Bliss!

Do you see yourself in any of your characters? Can you tell us which ones? Were you surprised to find yourself there or was it intentional?
In Return of the Secret Heir JT has my taste in penthouses!

But more seriously, Pia is the third daughter in her family, and feels like she needs to live up to her sisters. I’m also a third daughter, and when I was a teenager, I had that same sense of needing to be as good as them. It was something I intentionally gave Pia to add depth to her turmoil as a teenager when she’s deciding between keeping the boy she loves or doing what she thinks is the right thing. Also, she has my cat, Winston. Winnie died about five years ago, so it was beautiful to see him living in Pia’s apartment.

Are any of your heroes (physically) inspired from actors? If so who?
All of them! I make a collage before I start a story, and actors are great to use for the heroes and heroines because I can get photos with a range of expressions. Musicians and models, for example, are harder to get with that range.
For my latest three books, I used:
Ryder Bramson: Clive Owen (At The Billionaire’s Beck & Call?)
Seth Kentrell: Richard Armitage (Million-Dollar Amnesia Scandal)
James Marsden: JT Hartley (Return of the Secret Heir)

When you write, how many projects do you generally have going at once?
Usually only one main project. But, like other authors, I also will have line edits or other work that needs doing on books already handed in. And I always have some preliminary work going on future books. So, I might be writing book A, thinking about book B in my downtime, and collaging book C when I have a break. That way, when I come to writing a book, the characters are more like old friends and I know them well.

How do you manage your ideas for new stories before you’re able to really sit down and work on them?
I make notes in my “Ideas” file. I try to get down as much of the detail as I have in my head, then I let it go and focus back on the story I’m writing. Though, I’ll probably think about it when I’m in the shower, or driving – then I add those new bits to the pages in the ideas file. When I come to work on the book, I’ll have lots of details and probably have done a collage by then too.

What appeals to you most about writing Category?
To me, category novels are like a piece of dark chocolate. An intense shot of deliciousness. I love reading single title as well, but they’re for a different mood – more like a steamed chocolate pudding: warm and gooey and yummy and I just want to sink into it.

In terms of writing, I love category because the intensity is fun to play with.

What inspires you?
Masterfully written books or movies.
Beauty – a gorgeous sunset, the brilliant blue sky behind the gum trees around my house, a sublime painting.
Being happy. You know those moments when you feel full of peace and happiness? I find them really inspiring.

What’s the best piece of advice you have to offer to an aspiring author?
Join a writing organization like RWAustralia, RWNew Zealand or RWAmerica. Without a doubt, the best thing I did for my writing. If you’re already a member, then make sure you take advantage of the services they offer. Eg., RWAust and RWNZ have a critique partner scheme so you can get feedback on your writing. RWAust has back issues of its newsletter available on the website full of craft articles. RWNZ and RWAust have face to face groups. All three have contests to get feedback on your work and maybe land it on an editor’s desk in the final judging. And the best part is meeting like-minded people!

Rachel, thank you so much for chatting with us today. Is there anything else you'd like our readers to know?
To celebrate the release of Return of the Secret Heir, I’ll give away one book to a random commenter. It can be Return of the Secret Heir, or one of the connected books: At The Billionaire’s Beck & Call? or Million-Dollar Amnesia Scandal if you’d prefer.

Thanks for having me visit at the PHS!

Contact links to keep up with Rachel Bailey:

Website: www.rachelbailey.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachelBaileyAuthor
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/RachelBaileyAus

Temptation Tuesday :: Beach Retreat!

The Pink Heart Society editor Jenna Bayley-Burke escaped reality for a writing weekend on the Oregon coast with  Love Inspired's Terri Reed and Romance's Melissa McClone. They used every moment of their time away -- even forgoing sleep!

Friday

Putting Emotion in Your Writing -- audio workshops from RWA 2011 conference while being chauffered to our coastal getaway. Spacious door-to-door service provided by Rose's Mom's Van (aka Melissa did the driving)

Goody Bags -- a buy-your-own option @ the outlet mall. Melissa & I got matching purses (the deal at Coach was that good) and prizes to take home to the kids.

Setting The Scene -- arrived at Blessings By The Sea and staked out bedrooms -- Terri opted for the darkest room, Melissa took one for the team and slept in the skylight room, I have an ocean view!

Ready Set Write -- Write until your stomach demands food! Melissa won the round with over 1K.

Dinner -- Mo's of course. You may be thrown out of Lincoln City if you don't Mo's at least once. The garlic cabage and shrimp salad? Way better than it sounds.

Myofascial Techniques for Writers -- Terri showed us the tricks she learned to ease the aches caused by hours of writing using a tennis ball and a golf ball!

Writing Romantic Comedies - Screenplay Mastery by Michael Hauge -- We used the DVD to map out the internal arcs of our latest stories, pausing and discussing as we went.

The second day of our Write Away adventure began early...which was odd considering how late Michael Hague kept us awake the night before. But this wasn't a weekend vacation...we're working like mad women!

Saturday Agenda

1K1HR - The Twitter hashtag phenomenon proved helpful even without Tweeple. Sit down, focus, and let the fingers fly!

A Little Help From Our Friends - The joy of having other writers around is when you're staring at a blinking cursor and you're stuck...you can verbalize the problem and have crackerjack brainstormers at the ready. Hero has no motivation...we can help with that!

Character Study - After raining words down on the page we took a field trip to the casino to try out for Wheel of Fortune. Oh yeah, this is part of our job!

Standing in line we saw all sorts of people...and then they let us into the show...there is something about trying out for a gameshow that has people wearing the 'gameshow contestant' persona.

Would you bellydance on a stage in front of strangers? Most had this uber-excited, beyond animated face they slipped on as soon as they made it to the stage. Fascinating!

Taking Chances - If you're in a casino, gamble a little. Get in touch with the thrill of winning and the agony of losing. But don't gamble more than your Starbucks habit costs. That's just silly.

Linner - If you miss lunch because you're standing in line for a gameshow and are now starving out of your mind...linner is in order. We reccomend an ocean view so you can catch the surf, kites, and playful kittens.

Nurture With Nature - Nothing fills the writer's well quite like appreciating the beauty of nature. Our weekend setting gave us amazing opportunities to appreciate the beach, sunsets, cleansing rain...we even arrived back at the house to a momma deer and her two babies!

Ready Set Write redux - After our field trip, we were all ready to get some words on the page again. Sit down, start typing and go until you're stuck and need a little help from our evening entertainment.

The Outer Journey with Michael Hauge - Michael was so good to us last night we invited him back to the DVD player for another round. We were happily plugging along - character, desire, goal, key turning points...and then he lost us completely by rushing through everything after the point of no return. Drat!

The Writer's Journey with Chris Vogler - We brought another man to the living room, and tried to stay awake through the 12 stages. We tried very hard.

Uniting Plot and Character Arc with Michael Hague - Opting to give Michael another chance since he'd been so good to us the night before, we gave the audio recording of one of his workshops from the last RWA conference a chance. Thank goodness. This time he redeemed himself as he traveled through Empathy, Wound, Set-up, Opportunity creates the preliminary goal, which leads to the new situation, Chnage of Plans, Progress, Point of No return, Complications, Set-back, Final push, Climax, Aftermath.

And then...since it was well into Sunday...we opted to start again tomorrow.

One would think that after two nights of working post-midnight would call for sleeping in...but all three of us had our computers fired up by seven! Talk about using every minute!

Sunday Agenda

Jumpstart Your Mind :: Caffiene is a writer's friend. It can get words on the page even when the writer has had very little sleep. Coffee or tea, hot or iced, pick your poison and get to work!

Fuel Your Writing :: m&m's. The breakfast of best-selling authors. Really.

Ready Set Write Finale :: It may take four tries to figure out where your book opens, but once you know, you can write forward. See you soon, #1K1HR.

Explore Settings :: If you go to the beach and don't get your toes in the sand...you're not allowed to return. I don't make the rules. We took the mandatory walk because we didn't want to be blacklisted. Thes are the sacrifices we make for art. 

But seriously, setting needs to be as well-thought out as your characters. Let your character look around their environment, not just in front of them. Yes, the ocean is beautiful, but so are sandy beaches, sandstone cliffs, logs of driftwood, and even weathered staircases. Don't let your setting get flabby, make it work!

Sendoff :: We had such a fabulous, productive weekend. I think we'd all planned on getting more words on the page, but we all shifted gears and instead of focusing on word count we focused on making our stories as strong as they could be. We may not have pounded out the pages, but now that we know where our stories are going...we'll rock.

We agreed we must do this again. See you in January, Blessings By the Sea!

Jenna's juggling the last few weeks of having the taller kiddos home for the summer, getting the small one ready for preschool, and finishing the road trip book right now. Until it's ready, be sure to check out her latest. Private Scandal is ripe with secrets, sass, and sensational sex. Keep up with Jenna's spin on things on her website & blog

Male on Monday: French Heart-Throbs

Our regular columnist Annie West is currently in France! Research is soo hard...

Being excited about this wonderful travel opportunity she decided to it was time to give the Male on Monday a French theme. So here are details of are some fave French actors for you to enjoy.

I thought this blog would be easy. A couple of photos, very few words and meanwhile I could enjoy my own French adventures. Wrong! My list of actors for inclusion kept growing and I had to keep pruning. Did I include only those who were handsome or those who seemed to have character? In the end I had to compromise with a couple of my favourite French actors and others I know friends adore. Sadly I had to leave out some for sheer lack of space. Like Daniel Auteil and Yves Montand.

So, to get us started, here's Alain Delon. A little long in the tooth now but a true heart throb for a generation. The son of a butcher, he was expelled from school six times before working as a waiter, salesman and porter in a food market and even spent time as a parachutist in the French marines. He's a friend of Brigitte Bardot and has his own brand of perfume. As for his films - I know you'll have fun looking them up yourself.


Ah, Christopher Lambert is the son of a French Diplomat who was posted to the USA when Christopher (Christophe) was born. He was educated in Switzerland and used to date Prince Stephanie of Monaco. As for his intense gaze (particularly noticeable when he played Tarzan), it's apparently the result of myopia at an early age. He often plays intense, highly focused characters. You might remember him in 'Highlander'.

Next we've got Olivier Martinez. Familiar? He once sold a living selling jeans - long before he was acclaimed one of France's sexiest men. An ex-boyfriend of Kylie Minogue, he's quoted as saying "I like Paris. My problem is I don't like Parisians." He was raised in Paris and lives there... Now that's an interesting outlook. He's known to many for his role in "Unfaithful".

Then there's Gaspard Ulliel. The baby of this group, he was born in 1984 and started acting at the age of just 12. His mother is a runway show producer and his father is a fashion designer. These days Gaspard is the face of Lonchamp, purveyor of leather and luxury goods. He's another who's been listed as one of France's sexiest men.

Vincent Cassel is the son of well known actor Jean Pierre Cassel. He has a taste for rap music and breakdance and enrolled in circus school at the age of 17. He's apparently good at Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art and he's often cast as a villain. He's quoted as saying "I love playing baddies". Somehow I get the feeling life would never be boring with Monsieur Cassel.

Gerard Depardieu. How could I leave him out? Here's a photo of him in his youth. He's almost a one man industry and a legend. He started his acting in a small travelling theatre after leaving school at 13 and training as a printer. He's an accomplished wine-maker who owns two restaurants in Paris. He's quotes as saying "I never really like the characters I play. I only come to love them afterwards." I wonder if any authors feel like that?

We'll end with Jean Reno. Though a French citizen he was actually born in Casablanca to Spanish parents and only moved to France at the age of 12. He speaks Spanish, English, French and Italian. For years he specialised in playing villains and tough guys. He can certainly do that 'don't mess with me' stare to perfection. More lately he's branched out into romantic comedy and action adventure.

Do you have a favourite French actor? Or have you never seen any French films? Does anyone have suggestions on where to start for those who haven't tried any - old black and white classics or something more modern?

This month Annie's hero Amir features in GIRL IN THE BEDOUIN TENT. He might not be French but he has the looks, panache and the seductive technique you'd expect in a heart throb. Plus he's definitely hero material. The book's UK edition is still on sale online and it hits Australian and New Zealand bookstores in October. For details of the story, to read an excerpt or find links to buy it, go to Annie's website. You'll also find a new contest on Annie's site also with a French theme.

Wild Card Weekend - Julie Leto

Thanks so much to the Pink Heart Society for allowing me to guest blog on the Wildcard Weekend!

And since it’s so aptly named, I thought I’d trot out a real wildcard of a guy...Danny Burnett, the sexy hero of my latest Blaze, TOO WICKED TO KEEP.

Admit it.  He’s cute...in a Keanu Reeves with a smirk kind of way.  Honestly, when I first conceived of Danny, I saw a young George Clooney.  In fact, his name came from the plotting session I did with the Plotmonkeys .  I likened him to Danny Ocean from Ocean’s Eleven and so the name Danny kind of stuck.  And it fits.

He’s a scoundrel.  He’s a thief.  He’s spent the majority of his life conning and scamming people.  It’s not just an art or a profession—it’s a way of life.  So he has no regrets when he gets a job to steal a painting that has been out of circulation since the 30s...even if it means seducing a rather naïve heiress named Abigail Albertini.  In fact, seducing her is the best part!  Never mind that she’s no match for his skills.  Never mind that she’s engaged.  Never mind that breaking her heart will be the ultimate outcome of his scam.

Never mind...until he does the deed and realizes that in all the scheming and scamming, he’s fallen in love.

This is a book about redemption.  This is a book about revenge.  This is a book about ripping off the masks you’ve worn your whole life and discovering the real person within.  Actually, this became a theme of the entire Legendary Lovers series, of which TOO WICKED TO KEEP is the third and final book.

I never intended it to be a theme, though I maybe should have been since the series surrounded three male descendants of the real California bandit who inspired the fictional character of Zorro.  Whether portrayed by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Guy XX or Antonio Banderas ::swoon::, this character has embodied the idea of the double life and of facing the reality of who you are and what you really want.

And of course, it all happens because of a woman.  Isn’t that always the way?  (It should be!)

So what do you think of scoundrel heroes, men who have done wrong in the past and now have to reform...or not.  Who are you favorites in books, television or film?

If you comment, you will be entered to win a copy of the first two books in the  Legendary Lover series, TOO HOT TO TOUCH and TOO WICKED TO KEEP.  If in the US, I will sign the copies.  Outside the US, I need to be able to ship via Amazon.com.