Hard to believe it’s been two years since we threw open to the playground to all and sundry here at Writers At Play.  We’ve laughed and chatted with each other and with our many fabulous guests, we’ve shared our hunks, our successes and our recipes, and enjoyed many a fun Sangria Saturday here on the web!  What began as a chatty group of 20 or so unpublished authors has become a group of professional writers who, between them, now have over 50 books to choose from!

We love and support each other, and we had great fun sharing that love and support with you, our readers, but with success has come with greater demands on our writing time.  As much as we love hanging out with our readers and regulars on the playground, we’ve got books to write!

And so, unfortunately, we’ve come to the decision that while we love the blog, and we love everyone who comes to chat with us, we’re going to have to choose between the time we spend here and the time we spend on our writing. Big hugs to you all!! Thanks so much to all of you who’ve come on a daily basis to play with us, and please don’t be strangers - you can visit many of us on our personal websites and blogs, on Facebook or MySpace, even Twitter!

Beth Andrews
Carla Capshaw
Anne-Marie Carroll
Leslie Dicken
Terri Garey
Betty Hanawa
Stacey Kayne
Kathleen Long
Janice Lynn
Lisa Paitz-Spindler
Sheila Raye
Mona Risk
Anna Sugden
Paisley Kirkpatrick
Tawny Weber
C.L. Wilson

Line up for one last visit to the kissing booth, and thanks for hanging out with us on Writers At Play!

COLORFUL VEGETABLE SALAD 

6 cups broccoli florets
6 cups cauliflowerets
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 large red onion, sliced
1 can (6 oz) pitted ripe olives, drained and sliced
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
2/3 cup vegetable oil

In a large bowl, toss the broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, onion and olives.  In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine dressing mix, oil and vinegar; shake well.  Pour over salad and toss

TUNA CHEESE SPREAD 

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 can (6 oz) tuna, drained and flaked
½ cup finely sliced green onions
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Dash salt
Bread or crackers

In a bowl, combine the first seven ingredients; mix well.  Spread on bread or crackers.  (Yield 2 cups)

Earlier this week I posted a letter that my hero from The Nurse’s Baby Miracle wrote to the heroine over at eHarlequin. No, the letter doesn’t actually appear in the book at any point and was actually written specifically for that eHarlequin post. But ‘helping’ Caleb write that letter got me to thinking about love letters. When in school love letters are a fairly common part of life–or at least were back when I was in school. Now, maybe love text messages are more the norm? So I checked with my teens and seems love letters do still thrive, even my grammar school child says love letters thrive. But what about for those of us who aren’t ‘in school’ any more? When’s the last time you wrote a love letter? When’s the last time you received a love letter? Unless I count cards on special occasions, I honestly can’t remember. No, I don’t expect my hubby to write me long letters telling me how great and fab I am and how lucky he is to have me–but hey, if he wants to do that, it’s okay by me. But the thoughts and emotions and newness of love behind those letters, maybe the romantic in me does miss that a bit. So, I’m going to challenge each of you–write a love letter to the person in your life. Hey, you can even put a check yes or no box at the end and be as creative as you like on what you’re asking. LOL. But also, I’d love to hear about your favorite love letter and why or if like me, it’s been a while since you’ve gotten a ‘love letter’ then perhaps you’ll post ideas on ways for Caleb to win Natalie’s love and trust, things he can do. Here’s his letter to Natalie:

Dear Natalie,

Despite the fact you keep ignoring all my attempts at gaining your forgiveness, I know you haven’t forgotten the amazing weekend we met any more than I have. Yes, I screwed up that weekend in Atlanta during the 3 day breast cancer walk where we both volunteered as part of the medical crew. But you have to understand; when I met you, you took my breath away and I just wanted to be me. Not a widower who’d lost his first love to breast cancer, not a single father struggling to be both mother and father to his five year old daughter. I didn’t want the desire in your eyes replaced with sympathy, and let’s face it, women look at men who are fathers in a different light than men who are single and carefree. That weekend I wanted to be single and carefree. I wanted you to keep looking at me as if I was the sexiest man alive. That weekend with you left me feeling whole for the first time in years. You make me whole again, Natalie, something I’d thought impossible after Jamie’s death.

So maybe leaving you funny cards and your favorite homemade cookies isn’t the best way to win your forgiveness for my omissions about the harsher realities of my life, but you keep avoiding me. I’ve asked you to reconsider, asked you out to dinner, asked you to forgive me, but you won’t budge from your stance that we were just a weekend fling. I swear at times I see fear in your eyes. Fear I don’t really understand, but would like to because our weekend together was amazing. Well, except for at the end when you shocked me by asking me to make you pregnant. I didn’t handle myself so well during that conversation, did I? You have to understand, Natalie. I watched my wife choose to continue her pregnancy rather than start treatments for her breast cancer. Because of that decision, she never stood a chance. In my head, I know her cancer wasn’t my fault, but I do blame myself for her pregnancy, for her delay in treatment. For her death. Logical or not, making a woman pregnant, risking hurting yet another woman I care about, is the last thing I’d ever choose to do.

My daughter is the joy of my world and I was wrong not to tell you about her. For five years it’s just been me and her against the world. The truth is I’m not even sure how to let someone in. Maybe that’s the real reason I didn’t tell you about her that weekend even after I’d realized you were special, that I didn’t want us to end. But I don’t talk about Emily with women, Natalie. I just don’t. At least, I never had until now. With you.

Here’s another funny card and one of Mrs. Baker’s delicious homemade cookies that are your favorite. Please forgive me, Natalie. I want you in my life. But what’s this I hear about you going for IVF? Now that you know how I feel about pregnancy, surely the timing is all wrong for you to even consider getting pregnant yourself? And is it my imagination or do you keep placing your hands over your lower abdomen as if you already are pregnant? That wouldn’t have anything to do with that glimmer of fear in your eyes when you look at me, would it?

Fondly,
Dr. Caleb Burton

So, please, let’s help Caleb out with ideas on winning Natalie’s love and I’d love to hear your thoughts on love letters. I’ll give away a book to at least one lucky poster (and mail it, I promise–I say this because I’ve been hauling around 3 packages to be mailed for…a few weeks now. Eek. Sorry). Thanks for playing along!!

(This post first appeared on Healthy Writer blog)

Really! I’m not very sporty, if truth be told. I love watching sport (hockey and football/soccer etc) and have played sport (I was good, but not great), but I’m not a devoted athlete. I have always enjoyed keeping fit, but I’ve always found it easier to keep up a regular routine if I do it with a friend. Whether it’s going to aerobics classes or swimming or going to the gym, I’m one of those people who starts off with great gusto and then needs the push of another person to stop me from crying off because I’m too tired/busy/cold *g*. The one thing I was committed to was Fitness Boxing, which I took up in the US with an awesome trainer - until we moved home.

As for running, it has never been my thing. Even at school, I struggled with the 400 yard run every year. It kept me from getting my Presidential Physical Fitness award, the few years I was at school in the US. I just don’t think my legs were made for running.

My lovely hubby, on the other hand, is a major runner. He’s completed the London Marathon and several half-marathons. He still runs them; he completed the Royal Parks Half-Marathon only last weekend. He regularly runs 6 miles or more several times a week.

What is the point of all this back-story, you ask? LOL.

Well, it’s to put my latest achievement into context. In July, I ran in and completed a 5k race called The Race For Life. It’s a run, solely for women, in aid of breast cancer, that is held in many cities around the UK. Yes, I ran 5k (3.1 miles). Check me out in this pic (behind the lady in light blue!)

How did this come about?

Let me start by saying that moving country is not good for the body or mind. When we moved out to the States, I put on 1 stone (14lbs). When I moved home to the UK, I put on another stone! Worse, moving home was so disruptive to my writing schedule that after six months, I was still struggling to put it back in order.

Now, I’m not one to mind too much what the scales say - but I do mind when I can’t fit into my clothes! So, earlier this year, I knew I had to act when even my ‘fat girl’ clothes wouldn’t fit. But what to do? There wasn’t a decent Boxing trainer around and I wasn’t up for starting classes. We had some gym equipment at home, but getting motivated to keep fit regularly was hard - especially with so much going on.

Then, one weekend, my lovely hubby’s daughters were down for a visit and the older one started talking about wanting to take up running. The younger one was keen too and before I knew it, the three of us had agreed to start running and training and to enter The Race For Life!

The problem was, we didn’t all live in the same area, so we had to train by ourselves and keep ourselves motivated.

The two girls trained using a book called “Running Made Easy”, which they swear by (and obviously works!). I went for a different method (recommended by lovely hubby) of running in stages, three times a week; increasing the distance a little every week, working up to the full distance. I used a cool website called ‘walk, jog, run’ (www.walkjogrun.net ) which uses Google Earth, to plot out a 3 mile route, with different interim stages. Eg I knew if I ran to the local garden centre (nursery) and back, that was just over half a mile, while the BMW garage was 1 mile and so on.

The first week was hell! I could barely make half a mile without being completely exhausted and gasping for breath. I felt awful. I knew I was reasonably fit, but I’m not a runner and that was giving me problems! I was miserable. What had I signed myself up for?

But, I had to keep going. I couldn’t/wouldn’t give up. I couldn’t let the others down! By this stage I’d also told a bunch of my best pals what I was planning and they were cheering me on. Having to report my progress to them was key to me continuing!

Then, my lovely hubby advised me to give myself permission to walk if I had to, but keep doing the distance. He promised it would get easier. Wise man!

The second week was indeed easier. By the end of the third week, I was running half a mile with no problems. Soon, half a mile became three-quarters and a whole mile!

Unfortunately, trouble set in with my left ankle. It didn’t like me running on anything but flat surfaces and seized up. In the old days, that would have been the cue for me to give up. But, I’d made the commitment, so I couldn’t. And I couldn’t tell those pals I’d given up either!

Also, I’d noticed that on days when I ran, my brain was clearer and I was writing better. I’d found this when I was boxing and was really surprised to see that it was true with the running too. That spurred me to really be strict with myself and those around me about my writing routine, and my running routine.

All that pain was worth clearly worth it!

So, I went to running shop and got a pair of proper running shoes, which were suited for the way I run (They videoed me running on a treadmill and discovered my feet roll out. My Nikes weren’t helping!). I also changed my running route slightly to run on flatter pavements.

By the end of the second month I was up to 2.5 miles! And come race time - I was running 5k three times a week.
Then, on July 5th, 2009, I ran the race. I not only survived it, but completed it in decent time. Crossing that finish line was amazing!

I haven’t lost much weight, but I have lost inches because my clothes definitely fit better. And that was really what counted.

And just last week, I finished a new writing project that I’m really proud of (hopefully an editor will love it too!)

So, what did I learn from all this?
1. I’m better at keeping to a fitness challenge if I’m in it with others.
2. I’m more likely to keep up a fitness challenge if I have a clear objective and a deadline. (ie I will run a 5k race on July 5th!)
3. Don’t try to do it all at once; bite-size chunks. Essentially, these are interim goals. Both the running book and my own training routine focussed on taking us to our goals one stage at a time.
4. Allow yourself to ‘fail’. If I hadn’t allowed myself the short walking periods, I’m sure I would have given up, because I couldn’t do it. It was more important to finish the distance, even if I did have to walk a little bit of it, than not to do it at all. And then, work on doing the whole distance.
5. Have the proper equipment and listen to the advice of experts! Sounds obvious, but how many of us don’t think we’re ‘serious’ enough for it to be worth spending the time and money?!
6. The fitter my body got, the fitter my mind got.
7. All of the above could be applied to my writing, as well as my running!
8. You can do it, if you put your mind to it!

What about you? Are you someone who finds it easy to stick to goals and plans, with your writing or with fitness and healthy eating, or are you like me? Do you have any tips that will help others achieve their goals? Are there any specific problems you have with achieving your goals and would like some advice?

**Prize Alert!! Thank you all for giving Anna such a rocking welcome to the Playground!! She has selected Dorthy to win a copy of Captive of Sin. Dorthy, please send your snail mail details to Anna at anna@annacampbell.info and she will get your prize off to you.**

I’m delighted to welcome back a Playground favourite, my very dear friend, award-winning author, Anna Campbell. She has joined us today to have some fun and celebrate her latest fabulous book, Captive of Sin.So, without further ado … here’s Anna!

Hiya WAPers! Thank you for having me to visit today. I always love swinging by you guys – with the emphasis on ‘swing’. Higher, higher! I always LOVED the swings. Tawny and Terri, get off the swings! It’s my turn!!!!!

The lovely Anna and I were discussing what we could talk about today. I offered a suggestion of something riveting like placement of commas in love scenes – you can never go wrong with a good comma, I think! Or perhaps even more riveting – the hyphen in Regency England. Now that’s something that will make the punters sit up and pay attention.

Strangely, though, Anna wasn’t that keen on either of these ideas. I’m still not sure why. Perhaps it’s something to do with going back to English weather after her life in the States! Or perhaps she has a pathological hatred of punctuation!

Actually none of that is true. Hey, I’m a writer, I’m allowed to make stuff up! In reality, Anna thought it might be fun if we played a game of five things you don’t know about… My favorite answer wins a signed copy of Captive of Sin, my November historical romance from Avon.

Which brings me to a word from our sponsor: This blog is brought to you by Anna Campbell’s delicious new release, Captive of Sin, now with extra Vitamin PHWHOARRRR! Start each day with a big bowl of Captive of Sin and your teeth will sparkle, your hair will shine and all your lottery tickets will win the jackpot. Not only that, but you’ll end up sitting with the naughty girls for the rest of your lives – and you know the naughty girls have ALL the fun! Captive of Sin – it would be a sin not to read it!

You can read an excerpt and see the blurb on my website at: http://www.annacampbell.info/captivesin.html

OK, five things you (probably ) didn’t know about Anna Campbell:

1. I wanted to be a ballet dancer when I was a little girl
2. I grew up on an avocado farm on Australia’s coast
3. I was a Jeopardy champion
4. I can’t drive
5. I have a silly sense of humor… Oh, you already knew that one? Sheesh! OK, something else – I had a horse when I was a girl and it was killed by a snakebite. Eeek!

Your turn! And remember there’s all the PHWOARRR for my favorite answer! A signed copy of Captive of Sin for the winner! Let’s have some fun!

STEAK CHILI 

1 ½ pounds lean round steak, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 ¼ cups water, divided
1 cup V-8 juice
½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook steak until no longer pink.  Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings.  Set meat aside. Saute onion and garlic in drippings for 3 minutes.  Return meat to pan.  Add tomato sauce, 1 cup V-8 juice, hot pepper sauce and spices; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 2 ½ hours.  Combine flour and remaining water; whisk into chili.  Cook for 10 minutes.  (Yield 6 servings)

Red Potato Wedges

4 medium red potatoes, cut into wedges
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 ½ teaspoons minced fresh rosemary or ½ teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon pepper

Place potatoes in a large bowl. Sprinkle with oil, rosemary, garlic powder and pepper; toss to coat. Place potatoes on a baking sheet coated with non-stick cooking spray. Cover and bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn potatoes. Bake, uncovered, 20 minutes longer or until browned.

It’s time to think about colder weather coming in and making changes in our cooking and eating habits.  My favorite when the winds are blowing and rain or snow is falling is a hearty soup.  Who has favorites for this time of the seasons?

 I stumbled across this information on a Scottish website and thought it was interesting enough to share.     Samhain (pronouced Sow in) started our traditions at Halloween.                                                     

1. Forget the US and their attempts at “spookiness”, Scotland is where the history is. As historian Ashley Cowie explained to The Hour, Halloween originated in the Celtic festival of Samhain.

2. Indeed, the Scottish tradition of ‘guising’ - literally going in disguise - can be traced back to Samhain, where people would use masks and decorations to disguise themselves and scare away evil spirits. So without us, there wouldn’t have been anyone dressing up as ghost and goblins every October 31.

3. Samhain also gives rise to the tradition of giving gifts given to the guisers, which were seen as sacrifices made in order to placate evil spirits. “Mummers” would dress up and perform plays in return for food and gifts - which all sounds a bit more elaborate than little Timmy telling a joke about why the chicken crossed the road, but you get the idea.

4. Candles and lanterns were used to keep the dead away from the living at Samhain - this tradition carried on in Scotland with turnip lanterns, though pumpkins then took their place (most probably because they’re easier to carve).

5. Cruden Bay, a small town on the East Coast a few miles south of Peterhead, was in the late 19th century the favourite holiday resort of a certain Bram Stoker. Slains Castle, which Stoker saw as “the castle of the dead”, was said to have inspired his novel Dracula, without which an entire troop of fake fang merchants would never have had jobs.

6. Dressing up as Frankenstein? Well an Edinburgh-born doctor, Dr James Lind, was said to have instilled his interest in the possibility of using electricity to reanimate dead tissue in his student Percy Shelley - later on leading wife Mary to channel them into her best-known novel.

7. It is said that Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous horror story Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was based on the case of Deacon Brodie - an 18th century Edinburgh man who was a respectable businessman by day, but a thief by night who was eventually caught and hanged.

8. Oh, we also have some of the best traditions, including ‘dooking’ for apples, which may have its origins in witches being dunked.

9. So is eating treacle-covered scones hanging from a string - we’re not too sure what that’s to do with, exactly, perhaps there used to be some treacle-covered ghosties back in the day?

10. There’s also a host of spooky activities to be getting on with on Halloween itself - including the Zombie Walk in Glasgow, the HAIRST Halloween festival in Huntly which will have a torchlight parade and even a Thriller dance-off in the town square the next day, and the Celtic Samhain Festival at The Scottish Crannog Centre in Perthshire which highlights all those delightful old traditions.

I know that Paisley is in charge of the recipes around here, but found these recipes on the web, and they totally tickled my funny bone! Perfect for a Halloween party, and oh-so-easy to make:

STRAINED EYE BALLS

Ingredients:

6 eggs
6 oz. whipped cream cheese
7 oz. green olives with pimientos
Red food coloring

Place the eggs in a saucepan and cover them with cold water. Cook over high heat until the water begins to boil. Then turn the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Place the cooked eggs in cold water. When they are cool enough to touch, crack the eggshells all over by rolling them on a hard surface. Peel away the shells carefully and cut the eggs in half widthwise. Remove the yolks and fill the holes with cream cheese. Press an olive into each cream cheese eyeball, pimiento facing up, for an eerie green iris and startling red pupil! For a final touch, dip the tip of a toothpick in red food coloring and draw broken blood vessels in the cream cheese (I mean, why WOULDN’T you draw the broken blood vessels?)

BOOGERS ON A STICK

8 oz. jar of Cheez Whiz
Green food coloring
25 to 30 pretzel sticks

Melt the Cheez Whiz in the microwave or on top of the stove. Allow the cheese to cool slightly, then stir in about three drops of green food coloring, using just enough to turn the cheese a lovely shade of “booger green”. Dip and twist the tip of each pretzel stick into the cheese, lift out, wait 20 seconds, then dip again, repeat if you want to. When your cheese lumps reach an appropriately boogerish size, set the pretzels down on waxed paper. Allow to cool at room temperative for ten minutes, or until firm. Gently pull off the waxed paper, and arrange on a serving platter (hopefully, one that looks like a nose!). LOL

*WINNER ALERT* - Lisa Freeman from Post #1 has won an autographed copy of SILENT NIGHT, HAUNTED NIGHT!

Lisa, send me your mailing address at terrigarey@gmail.com, and congratulations!

(I posted this blog on my personal pages yesterday, so I apologize if you’ve read it, but since I feel just as giddy today, I’m posting here, with an extra “added challenge”.)  

It’s book release day! It’s book release day! Squeeee!!

Ahem. Ok, got that out of my system.

My fourth spooky novel is now in bookstores, just in time for Halloween! Squeee!!

(Ok, so maybe I didn’t quite get it all out yet. )

In fact, maybe I never will get over the fact that I, the girl who grew up with her head in a book, now writes books for other people to enjoy. That’s why I wanted to become a writer, you know - to give back some of the joy and pleasure and downright escapism that books have always given to me.

I’ve always been an avid reader - still am - in large part because no matter how bad things get, I can always pick up a book and be temporarily transported somewhere else. To me, a good book should be like a movie in your head, except far better, because with books, your imagination allows you to to make the characters and the settings appear exactly as you want them to - no need to worry about bad casting or bad acting, because you - the reader - are the director.

So far, one of my favorite things about being a writer is being able to create memorable characters: Nicki Styx, Joe Bascombe, Sammy Divine, Bijou, Caprice, Spider, and the various restless spirits that populate all my novels. They’re not real, but they feel real to me, and I try to make them real for the reader, too. (It’s called “suspension of disbelief”, which is a fancy, opposite-speak way of just saying “believable”.)

I think I need a little suspension of disbelief myself today, because I just can’t believe that my childhood dream has come true again, for the fourth time.

Did I mention that Silent Night, Haunted Night is in bookstores now? Squeeee!!!

(Pardon me while I do a little dance ) Okay, back to reality, and here’s your challenge: When it comes to ghosts and spirits, are you able to “suspend disbelief” enough to accept that they exist? If you actually saw one, what would you do? Would you tell someone, or keep it to yourself for fear of being seen as a crazy person?

One lucky commenter will win a “hot-off-the-presses” copy of SILENT NIGHT, HAUNTED NIGHT!

Joining us today is Ellora’s Cave author Debra Glass. Tell us about yourself, Debra.

Growing up in the south where the air is thick with stories steeped in legend and truth, I came by my love of romance novels honestly. Well…sort of. At an early age, I pilfered from my grandmother’s extensive library and have been a fan of the genre since. A full time freelance writer, I especially enjoy combining history, mystery and a touch of taboo to weave stories with unforgettable, haunted heroes. I live in Alabama with my sexy real life hero, a couple of smart-aleck ghosts and a diabolical black cat.

What’s your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part of being a writer is getting to go to work in pjs. Second to that, I have always had stories playing out in my head and it’s natural to me to put them on paper. I love being able to do what I love best and share those stories with the world.

What’s your least favorite part of your job?
Writing can be a very solitary business. I wouldn’t call it lonely but in order to do it, I have to be very self-motivated.

Did you ever imagine yourself doing this when you were growing up?
Oh, most definitely! I drew picture books before I could write words. My mother has a copy of a story I wrote about a seahorse when I was eight and I have folders full of ghost stories I wrote in grammar school.

If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?
I joke that my day job is writing and I moonlight as a tour guide. I started a ghost walk tour in my hometown and during the week of Halloween, I escort people to the local haunted sites and tell ghost stories.

What book are you reading now?
Dead Until Dawn, Charlaine Harris

What was your favorite book as a child? Why?
My favorite childhood book was 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey by Kathryn Tucker Windham. Ms. Windham is an Alabama storyteller with the most lovely southern accent. I always enjoyed her creepy tales steeped in legend and truth.

Sexy heels or comfy flats?
When I go out, I love to wear my favorite pair of wicked stiletto boots. At home, I’m a typical Alabama girl – bare feet!

Heroines – Spicy or sweet? Heros – Cowboy, vampire, or minister?
I love a spicy heroine. I enjoy the banter between a strong heroine and an alpha hero. In choosing between cowboy, vampire, or minister, I’d have to take the vampire. I love the idea of otherworldly power and the strength the vampire has to have not to devour the heroine.

What would you like God to say to you when you arrive at the top of the jungle gym?
Welcome back!

What’s your favorite word? Least favorite word?
My favorite word is “dangerous.”
My least favorite word is any buzz word currently being bandied about.

Your favorite Romantic movie?
The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Swings or merry-go-round?
Swings.

Winter or Summer?
Summer, summer, summer. I hate to be cold.

Hot coffee or Iced tea?
Neither.

Bad boy or Good boy?
I like a nice, healthy mix. Bad boys can be selfish and good boys can be boring.

Leather or Lace?
Leather.

Modern rock or classic?
Modern.

Slacks or skirts?
Either.

Hard assed heroines or sweet and soft ?
My heroines are a mix of strength and vulnerability.

Hot sexy love scenes or sweet romance?
The hotter the better!

Vampire, werewolves or ghost?
Ghosts! My Phantom Lovers series feature a trio of ghostly heroes that I adore. In Lucid, the hero is the ghost of Lord Byron. I love writing a historical hero into a paranormal romance.

What was your favorite game to play as a child?
Kick the can.

Who’s your favorite hunk?
Daniel Craig.

Which women inspire you?
My mother and grandmothers. They were all strong women when women were supposed to be meek. They taught me that I can make my own way in the world.

Favorite location for a romance?
I set my current release, Lucid, in the Villa Diodati where Mary Shelley was inspired to write Frankenstein. The house, on the shores of Lake Geneva, is hauntingly beautiful and a wonderful setting for a ghostly romance.

In my current release, Lucid, the hero is the rakish ghost of the Regency era poet, Lord Byron. Rather than being frightened by the ghost, my heroine is intrigued. Have you ever seen/experienced a ghost? What was it like?

One lucky commenter will receive a free download of Lucid which is available at Ellora’s Cave.

Thank you for joining us today, Debra. You can find more of Debra Glass’ books at her website. Debra can be reached via her the link on her website.