I am *so* guilty of making excuses for things I don't get done... for example I was supposed to post a blog yesterday and I didn't...sure I could say that it slipped my mind or that I was too busy or that I didn't have anything to blog about but those would be excuses when the bottom line is that it was my turn. Dianne offerred to blog for me today when I was reminded because I had already given the excuse of why I might not get my post done today and I almost said yes...would have said yes except that I watched an amazing young man named Kyle Maynard on Oprah yesterday who recently wrote a book called NO EXCUSES and ya know why? (Okay I have to pause here because I'm sitting here crying just thinking about him) Swallow, sniff...okay deep breath:

Because this kid was born with only two major joints... neck and shoulders. He is missing legs and arms below where his knees and albows should be. His parents( God how did they know this would be the best thing...and how did they have the courage to do it) never gave him any special help or prevliges. Kyle learned to do everything on his own using what he had. Period.

I was blown away by this kid.

He said that he never made any excuses. The tag line for his book (that I'm going to buy) is:

"It's not what I can do. It's what I will do."

Kyle is going to be on 20/20 tonight and his website is http://www.kmaynard.com/. You have got to watch and check out his website. After hearing him speak and hearing his gut-wrenching story you will never make an excuse again. Kyle went to do accomplish amazing things... played football, is a champion wrestler, and goes to college. He can type faster than most people with hands! He is truly an inspiration.

Did any of you guys see him on Oprah? Please give me your thoughts.

Nothing Lasts Forever, Right?

I have an ongoing series. It's called The Hunters. It is erotic romance, it's paranormal, it's a lot of fun to write. The first book, The Hunters: Tori and Declan came out almost two years ago from Ellora's Cave in ebook. Since then, six books have been released in ebook format. There's two print books out now, each containing two of the ebooks. The fifth story, The Hunters Ben & Shadoe will be out in print any day now.

I recently signed a two book contract with Berkley. This is going to be a spin off series from my Hunters books. The first book there is called Hunting the Hunter and it's scheduled for release in 10/06. Long way off...for now, though, the other Hunters books are still available through Ellora's Cave.

The Hunters seem to be pretty popular with the EC readers. Every week I get lots of emails
When will Mike get a story?
Are they going to be more Hunters?
Is Leandra going to have a story? Is she going to have a story with Mal?
Is Mal going to get is his own story?
I hope you keep on writing the Hunters forever....

Okay, yes, I love getting these emails. That means I did something right. I wrote a series good enough that readers like it. But uh...I can't write it forever.

Which brings up today's topic... SERIES!

I don't think any author should write a series forever. I mean, won't they get bored? Right now, I have roughly two more books planned in this series. Leandra and Mike~MIKE... Not Mal. Mal wasn't ever going to be paired with Leandra. He had his own mate from book 2. He didn't know it then, but I did.

And I also knew in book 4 who Leandra was going to fall in love with. What can I say, I like making them suffer. And nobody would make her suffer quite like the man she tried to kill. ;o)
So Leandra & Mike. Then Mal & Kelsey. I haven't started either of them. Right now, my brain is a little tired from the Hunters' books. It needs a break. I plan on writing Leandra's story first and then Mal's. After that, unless somebody just jumps out at me, that part of the Hunters world may draw to an end. I do have the spin off series with Berkley that I'm working on. The first book is done. The second book is contracted and in the works. I have sketchy ideas for two or three more books if they are interested.

I will tell you, I'm pretty excited about the Berkley Hunters. The world is do indepth, there's a lot of suspense...and I'm also scared to death. What if it falls flat...what if it sucks...but that's just part of it. I did something different~for me~with that book. I just have to hope it works.

I love vampires. I love werewolves. I love anything paranormal, out of the ordinary, but if you keep writing in that world for too long~doesn't that make make it become just a little more ordinary? That's why I don't think series, in general, can last forever.

Here's my reasoning...

• They can get boring for the reader.
  

I'm a reader too. I can't tell you how many series I fell in love with and for the first five or six books, I jumped on them the minute they came out. Books seven, eight and nine...eagerly awaited, but I no longer mauled the manager if she didn't have them sitting on the shelf for me. Book ten...eh, I could wait a week or two. By eleven, twelve and thirteen, well, I was reading them at the library and waiting for paperback, or not even buying them anymore unless it was in the trusty old used bookstore. There are a couple authors who are exceptions to this rule. But in general, for me, after the first few books... well, I will still enjoy them, but I just don't devour them the way I used to. Series can get old. They can get stale. I don't want to see that happen with any of my books. Although I'm sure some people will think it has happened, or that it will happen. It's all a matter of opinion.

• They can get boring for the author.
  

YES...this is entirely possible. It's not an issue now, but I get bored writing in just straight romance, which is why I write all over the spectrum. I don't just write contemporary. When, I write paranormal, I don't just write vampires. I don't just write werewolves. I don't always make the guy the vampire. Or the werewolf. That does tend to be the norm. I've also killed off my main characters. Now I've brought them back ~G~in a new world, in a new body, sometimes with a striking red dragon as a sidekick, but I get bored doing the same thing. So it's safe to assume I'll eventually get bored writing in the same series.

• You start seeing too many similar things on the market.
  

Right now, the market is full of paranormal books. That's fine. But I like trying new things. Sooner or later, I'm going to wrap things up just I can try to veer off in a different direction. A few weeks ago, my agent looked at a proposal that she said was different from anything she had seen before. Paranormal, yes... more in the realm of dark fantasy, but definitely paranormal. I like being different.

The thing is though, if you start seeing too many books on the market, sooner or later, won't the readers get bored with it? There needs to be a variety.

• There are other stories the author may want to write.
  

Lots of them. I know I have other ideas brewing. I have two books left in the Mythe world, possibly more. I still want to write more books in fantasy worlds. I have a two book suspense series that I want to pitch to Berkley that I haven't even started. and I can't until I finish Finding the Hunter. And if the editor is interested the proposal my agent sent her, then there's another book I have to finish before I can start these two.

But nope... sorry. The Hunters won't last forever. That's the bad news.
The good news...
The Hunters as you know them aren't lasting forever. I'll write more in that world, but the books will be different. The focus will be different. My writing style is changing-people who read Hunting the Hunter will see that.

I hope people like the changes. I'm really proud of this newest Hunter book. Nothing stays the same, right?

The Emmys!

The Emmys!

AWK! Okay I admit it I’m a DH junkie...that’s Desperate Housewives in junkie talk.
Every Sunday my kids—who aren’t kids at all because they’re all twenty-something, have jobs and don’t hit me up for money—come home to mooch dinner. And that’s great as long as they leave or sit quietly by nine o’clock so I can watch DH.

So I ask you...how can four gorgeous wise-cracking gals with really, really great clothes who get into more trouble—they sure don’t live in my subdivision--get aced out of Best Comedy by some suburbanites with wardrobes GoodWill would be ashamed of? I know it’s not about the clothes but maybe it should be, least a little. Ever wonder where the people on Everybody Loves Raymond shop? Scary isn't it that such a store exists.

Well, what do you think? Did the right TV shows/actors win the Emmy or not?

What about Best Drama? Lost! Okay, I don’t get it. I’m...lost. I keep thinking that show’s about people getting stranded on a tropical island. But then they find Polar bears and hatches in the ground and something’s out to get them and a guy walks who was in a wheelchair and people lose their memory and they take the kid on a make-shift raft out into the ocean—would you put your kid on a makeshift raft in the ocean? There’s something going on that I don’t get. But it won an Emmy so somebody’s getting it.

Then there’s Boston Legal. Denny Crane, Alan Shore. The two most sexist men on God’s earth. I love it! The camaraderie between these two guys touches the heart. Thelma and Louise do law.

House won for best writing but the main character is so crabby. Is anyone in life really that crabby and not been pushed in front of a bus? I have nightmares about him being my editor someday. And the gal from Medium won for best actress and that’s good because there’s got to be some upside for seeing dead people all the time and living with the crabbiest husband ever. Probably related to that guy on House...I bet I get both of them for editors!

And Monk won! Everybody loves a neurotic. Gives us all hope that even if we are nuts...and we all are...we can make it.

So, what do you think about the Emmys? Agree, disagree? Wouldn’t watch TV if your life depended on it? Can you explain Lost to me?
Diann Castell...who really wants a dress like the one Gabi wore on the Emmys. Actually I'd like to have a body like the one that went under the dress! I probably got a better chance of winning the Emmy.

Desperate Authors Meet James Denton

As many of you guys already know, (because we tell everyone we know and even strangers)sister author Dianne Castell and I spent the night in a private suite with James Denton, Terri Hatcher's love interest on the wildly popular Desperate Housewives. Well, okay, we didn't *actually* spend the night with him.... more like the evening and okay it was a suite at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio and there were there friends and family of his there (including his very cute brother, David) and our friends Judy Flohr and Jody Geison, but why focus on the details, right?

I wasn't nervous meeting him one bit and of course I said amazingly clever and pithy things to him so that he hung on my every word and even began taking notes for future story lines when he found out that I was a rich and world famous author. By the end of the night Jamie (that's what his friends call him) wanted to leave his gorgeous wife and two adorable children and run away with me. Let me give you an example of how clever I was by reliving the moment that we met. The door to the suite opened and there was a camera the size of Alaska pointed in my face and and James Denton extending his hand:

Jamie: "Hi, I'm James Denton."

Pithy me: "I know."

Jamie: Blinking at me expectantly.

Pithy me: Blinking back.

Jamie: "This is where you're supposed to tell me your name."

Pithy me: Still blinking while trying desperately to remember my name while the huge camera records it all for the evening news. Dianne and Judy are waiting behind me no doubt hoping to be as clever as me.

Jamie: Grinning and now shaking his head.

Pithy me with a lightbulb moment: "Oh, I'm LuAnn."

Actually, after the first few moments of being nervous, Jamie and his brother David were so warm and welcoming that we all relaxed and had an fun evening. He posed for about a thousand pictures, autographed anything we wanted and even posed with our books. To top it all off the money we bid for the evening with him was for charity so it was all good.

So excited about this new blog...

I'm really jumpin' with enthusiasm about being on a blog with these incredible ladies.  Our discussions are going to be fun and maybe sometimes a little out there and I don't know why that appeals to me...but it does. :)

 

Hugs,

Lucy

http://lucymonroe.com

Vamps and Scamps

Welcome to the blog.

We plan on discussing a variety of topics and we hope you'll join in! There's a variety of authors here, from adventurous historicals and fun, flirtatious contempororaries, breath stealing romantic suspense and heart-pounding paranormals, each author here has something different to offer.

The stories range from sweet and sultry to the dark and steaming erotic romance. You can check out our websites through the links at the side. If you have an idea for something you'd like us to discuss, or just a general question, feel free to email us.

Thanks for dropping by and we look forward to seeing you here often!