Author RaeAnne Thayne

2011-04-12T15:53:00.003-07:00

I haven't abandoned my blog, I swear. Okay, it's been, um, 7 months since I posted anything. I'm finding Facebook so much easier when I have five minutes to jot some thoughts. But I'm resolved to do a better job of keeping this blog alive. To that end, I'm posting an email I sent to one of my loops where someone posted a snarky comment, basically saying romance novels were idiotic and she couldn't believe anybody read that garbage.

Here's my response:

As a romance author of nearly 40 books, blanket criticism of the genre mostly washes off my back. I get the letters from readers ... people who tell me my books helped them through chemotherapy, mothers who escape into my stories while sitting beside their child's hospital bedside, teenage girls who tell me they've never picked up a book for pleasure until they read one of my books and now read all the time.

Everyone has different tastes, which I find wonderful! The romance genre alone is vastly wide-ranging, encompassing everything from paranormals to inspirationals to gritty romantic suspense to sweet small-town romances (which I write).

I was actually asked to give a lecture on the appeal of romance a few years ago at a local book festival. In it, I offered this quote from the aforementioned Barbara Samuels, from a keynote address at a national conference of Romance Writers of America. I know this likely won't convince anyone who continues to think romance authors are akin to the most creative crap throwers in the monkey cage (a Connie Brockway image I love!) but those who read and enjoy romances might appreciate it :)

"A lot of our critics think we are foolish women, spoiled housewives with not a thought in our heads for the greater good. They believe that our work adds nothing to the world, that our books are like so much candy, fine in their place, but bound to rot our brains and layer them with the fat that clogs real thinking.

"They are so wrong.

"We don't write romance novels out of some " foolish notion that the world is all sweetness and light. We write them in spite of the fact that there is evil afoot in the world. We write them in defiance of knowing how bad it is out there. We write romance because they are powerful acts of faith, acts of light in a dark world.

Romance novels are born of the sorrows of women – they protest, with great gentleness and deep firmness, the nature of evil. Romance novels are acts of tremendous bravery, a heart-felt dare to believe that a better world is possible. That love conquers all. That if there is enough love, it will finally blot out the darkness. We don't say that we know life is a bowl of cherries. We say that we will never stop believing in a world where beauty and honor, love and light prevail. Where a good man is honorable and treats his children well, and makes his wife not only his beloved, but his kin. Where women don't leave their babies in dumpsters, but tend them with great love. In our books, there is not a teenager who cannot be saved, no grief that cannot be healed, no challenge without an answering courage and hope.

"Is it the real world? No. Do we know that? Absolutely. Does that mean our vision of the world is false? No way. We do it though we know this is not always reality - but it is true sometimes, and that's a lot. We do it with the faith that the possibility exists. We dare to say, aloud, and with defiance: Love heals. Love counters evil. Compassion soothes an angry heart. Love heals."

2010-09-13T07:05:00.004-07:00

RELEASE DAY SEPTEMBER 28

I cannot wait for A COLD CREEK BABY to hit the bookstores two weeks from tomorrow. I honestly can't remember the last time I was this excited for a book release! I'm getting lots of great feedback from bookclub readers who get the Silhouette Special Edition books early. BABY also got a really terrific 4 1/2 star review from Romantic Times: "A solid plot, realistic, compelling characters and strong tension make this story hard to put down."

2010-08-07T10:09:00.002-07:00

GORGEOUS SUMMER AFTERNOON IN THE ROCKIES!

This is why I love living in Utah. We had a couple of commitments in Salt Lake City yesterday, spread out by several hours, so we decided to head up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Albion Basin, part of the Alta Ski Resort. We were thinking the wildflowers might be past their prime. Not at all! They were gorgeous, as this photo by my multi-talented husband attests. The lupine and indian paintbrush were lush and brilliant. Is it any wonder I find inspiration in the mountains?!

2010-07-13T21:10:00.005-07:00

New Cover for A COLD CREEK BABY!!

I'm so excited for this book release in October. The guy looks a little too clean-cut to be my Cisco (he has a very sexy tattoo on his forearm in the book that doesn't show up here) but I still like the cover.

What do you think?

2010-07-05T16:34:00.002-07:00

NEW TITLE!

I'm thrilled to announce my new single-title miniseries for HQN has a new series name and the first book now has an official title :)

The series, centered around a bead store in a fictional Colorado tourist town, will be called HOPE'S CROSSING and the first book, a June 2011 release, is called BLACKBERRY SUMMER. I'm so excited about both names and I'm having a great time writing the first book. My tentative title for the second book is WOODROSE MOUNTAIN. It's a January 2012 release.

2010-06-04T12:17:00.001-07:00

I hope you're all having a wonderful late-spring/early summer! Things here are lush and green and spectacularly beautiful. In the high desert, we have to enjoy May and June while we can before everything starts to dry out!

I wanted to give you all a (last-minute!) heads-up that I'm signing books tonight, Friday June 4, at the Barnes & Noble at the Gateway in Salt Lake City from 6-9 p.m. This is a group booksigning with Bob Mayer, Victoria Dahl and several other great authors. For more information, check out http://www.utahrwa.com -- I would love to see you there :)

Also, I'm very pleased to announce that it looks as if my entire H/S backlist has been made available in digital form. In the last few weeks, Silhouette has released all of my previous books as ebooks, as far as I can tell :) So if there's one of my earlier titles you've had a tough time tracking down, you can now find it in many different e-formats through various ebook retailers. Amazon, BN.com, eHarlequin, etc. Yay!

My other exciting news is that I'll be writing a new single-title series for HQN, a trilogy centered around a bead store in the fictional tourist town of Hope, Colorado. I'm so excited to introduce these stories and will definitely have more info for readers as the first release date, June 2011, draws closer. Right now the series is called BEADS OF HOPE and the first book is tentatively titled STRINGS ATTACHED. I'm not sure whether either of those names will stick but I'll let you know!

But never fear, I'm not turning my back on the good folks of Cold Creek. I also just agreed to write four more COLD CREEK books for Silhouette Special Edition -- the first one will be a December 2011 title and will feature a sexy police chief I'm introducing in A COLD CREEK BABY (SSE October 2010) which is the long-awaited story of Cisco and Easton. I just finished my last edits of BABY and I must confess, I'm crazy about Cisco and hope my readers fall for him too :)

So to sift through all the barrage of information ... here are my upcoming release dates for the next several months (titles/dates after the first three are tentative)

A COLD CREEK BABY -- SSE -- October 2010

A THUNDER CANYON CHRISTMAS -- SSE (Montana Mavericks) -- December 2010

STRINGS ATTACHED -- HQN -- June 2011

UNTITLED COLD CREEK CHRISTMAS BOOK -- December 2011

TANGLED THREADS -- HQN -- Jan 2012

UNBROKEN CORDS -- HQN -- June 2012

There will be three more SSEs interspersed in there somewhere but they haven't been slated yet. I will, of course, keep you all updated.

Thanks so much for your emails and especially for enjoying my books. You all make this crazy writing life so much sweeter!

2010-02-04T10:02:00.001-07:00

A COLD CREEK SECRET made the USA Today extended bestseller list -- #65. I'm so excited :)

2010-01-22T23:02:00.004-07:00

My new book is out!

I'm so excited that book two in my latest COWBOYS OF COLD CREEK trilogy is now in stores. A COLD CREEK SECRET is a February release from Silhouette Special Edition. Here's the back cover blurb: Just back from a tour of duty, all Major Brant Western wanted was a hot meal and a warm bed. What he didn't need was the stunning socialite in disguise who'd just shown up at his family's Cold Creek ranch. Scandal trailed bad girl Mimi Van Hoyt -- aka "Maura" everywhere she went. But once Brant discovered her secret, how could he turn her away?

Being stranded in the middle of a nowhere in a blizzard was not Mimi's idea of a fun time in the Tetons. Then why was she starting to think this sexy soldier could be more than her shelter from the storm? And the more determined Brant was to protect her and her unborn child, the more she believed that this honorable, irresistible military man was the only man for her."

I so loved writing Brant and Mimi's story. He was so serious and solemn and, more than anything, needed someone to show him how to have fun and laugh again. And Mimi was such a complicated character. She became one of my all-time favorite heroines! On the surface, they might have seemed complete opposites, but they were really absolutely perfect for each other.

Up next will be Cisco and Easton's story :) I'm writing it now and having a wonderful time wrapping up this latest series of Cold Creek books. As always, I'm going to be sorry to leave!

2010-01-22T22:58:00.002-07:00

I'm pleased to announce my book A COLD CREEK HOLIDAY has been nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice award for best Silhouette Special Edition of 2009. I so loved writing Nate and Emery's story and was absolutely thrilled the book was nominated! The award will be given out sometime in April. I'll keep you posted!

2009-08-28T06:35:00.002-07:00

My new book is out! A COLD CREEK HOMECOMING is a September release from Silhouette Special Edition and will be on shelves for about a month. Here's a sample of a quick Q&A I did for the SSE Authors blog at eHarlequin (and I'm giving away a copy of the book if you stop there and post).

* Where did you get the idea for A COLD CREEK HOMECOMING?

I've always loved reunion stories. It's one of my favorite themes and when I was coming up with the idea for a second trilogy in my ongoing COWBOYS OF COLD CREEK series, I knew I wanted one of my characters to be reunited with someone from his past. Because of his difficult history, my hero wasn't an easy teenager and I knew in high school, he had good reason for his reputation as a rough-edged bad boy. He had seen terrible things and that hardened him somewhat compared to others his age. The idea of the homecoming queen/studentbody president/head cheerleader having a secret crush on him all those years ago was undeniably appealing. Now he's back in Cold Creek and not sure if he's willing to bury the hatchet, even as he sees that his old nemesis Tess Claybourne, while still as lovely as ever, appears to have changed drastically.

* Tell us about the hero of the book? Why will we fall in love with him?

Quinn Southerland was a damaged kid who found his place in the world with a wonderful older couple, the Winders, who fostered him and two others, Brant Western and Cisco Del Norte, at their ranch in Cold Creek Canyon. Together with the Winder's niece Easton Springhill, the four of them were inseparable as kids. Jo Winder called them her Four Winds because of their directionally linked names. Quinn was driven and determined to make something of himself. He's found immense success in business in the Pacific Northwest but he drops everything to rush to his gravely ill foster mother's side -- and is stunned to find Tess Claybourne working as Jo's hospice nurse.

* Tell us about the heroine. Why is she the absolute perfect woman for the hero?

Well, in the beginning, Quinn would have considered Tess the last person on the planet he would have considered the "absolute perfect" woman for him. Tess treated Quinn abominably in high school. She had been fiercely attracted to him and when he rejected her, she didn't take it well. But that was years ago and life's challenges have shaped her into a far different person than that spoiled, petulant little girl. She wants desperately for Quinn to see the woman she has become and to give her one last chance. Throughout the course of A COLD CREEK HOMECOMING, Quinn begins to yearn for the serenity that seems to surround Tess.

* What can you tell us about the other books in the new series of Cold Creek books?

I'm finishing up the second book right now, actually. A COLD CREEK SECRET is a February 2010 release and features Army Maj. Brant Western, another of the Winder foster kids, who has returned to Pine Gulch while on leave from overseas service to take care of his own small ranch near the Winder Ranch. The peace he usually finds there is shattered when favorite tabloid socialite Mimi Van Hoyt crashes her Mercedes outside the gates of his ranch in the middle of a blizzard -- and then tries to connive her way into hiding out under the protection of the sexy soldier. Their story has been a blast to write and I'm loving them both!

The final book is still untitled and I don't know a release date but I'm guessing it will be sometime late summer or early fall 2010. Easton Springhill has loved Cisco Del Norte since the moment he showed up at her aunt and uncle's ranch as a grieving twelve-year old foster child. They shared one unforgettable night together several years ago but afterward he completely shut her out of his life as he wandered Latin America doing things she doesn't dare guess at. When he shows up out of the blue at her ranch, wounded and tormented, with a beautiful dark-eyed little girl in his arms, Easton must put aside her heartache and her questions to help him with the baby ... and possibly help Cisco -- and herself -- heal in the process.

And not to be too confusing, but in the middle of this new trilogy of books, I've got one more COLD CREEK book coming out that revisits the Dalton family, the subjects of my first COWBOYS OF COLD CREEK trilogy. A COLD CREEK HOLIDAY will be a December 09 release and will wrap up SSE's Famous Family promotion. The book features all the Daltons as well as a couple of newcomers to Pine Gulch, one with a secret that could change everything ...

* Why will readers enjoy this book?

I hope they will be touched and uplifted by Quinn and Tess's story, in the redeeming power of love and second chances! Even though there's a certain unavoidable poignancy to some parts of the book, the underlying theme is, I think, one of brightness and hope and healing.

2009-07-29T20:12:00.001-07:00

This made me laugh :) Since I've seen the movie twice, I guess you could say it's pretty true-to-life for me!

2009-06-18T11:06:00.004-07:00

COVER FOR MY NEXT RELEASE

I was surfing today when I should have been working (both activities are hard to do with my kids home for summer vacation so I have to squeeze every second I can!). I happened to stumble across the cover for my September 09 release A COLD CREEK HOMECOMING. What do you think? I like it, though the placement of her hands is a little weird, don't you think? And I'm not sure where the windmill came from, but okay. Since four of the main characters had the nickname of The Four Winds from their foster mother, I think it works. This was a very emotional book to write but I love the way it turned out and can't wait to start receiving reader feedback!

So what do you think about the cover? Would you grab it off the shelf or just wonder if she was checking the back of his head for goose eggs?!

2009-05-01T21:23:00.003-07:00

FORTUNE'S WOMAN IN STORES!

Dragging my head up from deadline insanity to let my readers know my latest book is in stores! FORTUNE'S WOMAN is a May release from Silhouette Special Edition and is part of the Return to Red Rock continuity, the latest installment of books that follow the very popular Fortune family. I loved this book! Writing a continuity book can sometimes be challenging because authors are given an outline of the characters and a few basic plot elements that have to be included to make the continuity work with the other books. Everything else is entirely my own but sometimes it's hard to make the story feel like it belongs to me ... but from the very first moment I started writing Ross and Julie's story, I loved them both!

Here's a little sample of a Q&A I did for the Silhouette Special Edition blog that tells a little about the book. You can read the whole thing at the blog or read an excerpt from the book at my website.

* Tell us a little about FORTUNE'S WOMAN.

This is Book 5 in the RETURN TO RED ROCK continuity that follows the very popular Fortune family. Ross Fortune is a private investigator with a troubled past. When his sister is accused of a terrible crime, he turns to lovely family therapist Julie Osterman to help him deal with the sudden demands of becoming instant guardian to his nephew.

* Tell us about the hero of the book? Why will we fall in love with him?

I loved Ross. He definitely reached out and grabbed my heart! He tries so hard to be tough and self-sufficient, not depending on anyone. But inside he craves the very thing he's fighting against, letting someone into his life.

* Tell us about the heroine. Why is she the absolute perfect woman for the hero?

Julie is strong and courageous, very much a caretaker. She sees past all of Ross's defenses to the man inside. She has been through a rough past, with a husband who died tragically, but she hasn't let that stop her from opening herself up to the world and embracing life.

* What life-lesson do your H/H have to learn before they can find their happily-ever-after?

Ross has to learn there is no weakness in depending on someone else for once, that he can find great peace and healing when he allows Julie into his life and his heart. Julie has to learn to trust her heart and realize that though Ross doesn't make it easy for her to love him, the payoff is worth it!

2009-04-17T08:19:00.006-07:00

A SLICE OF MY CULINARY LIFE

I recently discovered something that has changed my culinary life.

I've always wanted to make bread. When I was a girl, some of my best days were when my mom would bake. White bread with thick crusts, wheat bread with honey, swirls of each baked in a coffee can. She tried many different recipes -- with seven kids, anything that saved money was appreciated! I have wonderful cherished memories of running into our old Indiana farmhouse from the schoolbus to the incredible smell of baking bread and acres of those lovely loaves cooling on the table. We would slice a huge slab, slather it with creamy butter and then drizzle tons of plain white sugar all over it (don't ask me why. We were kids and figured everything tasted better with sugar on it!). My mouth is watering, just thinking about it!

But my life is a little different than my mom's was. I have a books I need to write, deadlines to meet, characters I need to explore. I have always just figured I don't have time in my life for all that mixing and kneading and rising and punching down.

We had a breadmaker when they were all the rage and I used it once in awhile but it never quite tasted like that bread I remember as a girl. I just figured I had to resign myself to the occasional homemade loaf my wonderful neighbors bring over sometimes or the sourdough ciabatta my husband likes to buy every Saturday afternoon from a local bakery.

Until this earthshaking book I bought for my Kindle after being teased with it for weeks on the Amazon bestseller lists. Some of you might be familiar with it -- "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. I was intrigued by the concept but figured it was just another gimmick. And then on another board I follow, somebody was talking about it and posted a link to this article in Mother Earth News about it. I had to try -- and now I'm completely hooked!

I love this. It's an amazing concept -- that many of the traditional steps in bread baking can be eliminated. For their method, you mix all their ingredients by hand, let the somewhat wet dough rise for a couple hours and then put it in your refrigerator. When you want to make bread, you just take out a section (a batch makes four loaves), shape it, let it rest on a pizza peel and then bake on a pizza stone. I've made bread nearly every day for two weeks and my family is going crazy for it. The book has all kinds of recipes that all look delicious but so far I've only been brave enough to make the master recipe boule (see above. Does it look fabulous?!). Every batch tastes delicious -- fantastic crisp crust, moist inside, a bit of a sourdough tang after the dough has been in the fridge for a few days. Mixing it is easy-peasy. I don't have a stand mixer or a Bosch, I just use a wooden spoon and it's a breeze. Making a boule really does only take a couple of minutes, not counting letting the dough rest and heating your pizza stone and, of course, baking time.

What about you? Any of you bakers? Have you tried this method -- or something similar?

2009-03-30T12:24:00.005-07:00

MY THIRD RITA® AWARD NOMINATION!

I'm very thrilled to announce that my November book THE COWBOY'S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE is a finalist in the Romance Writers of America RITA Award. This is the premier industry award for romance fiction and I'm honored to be a three-time finalist now. My category this year is contemporary series romance ... and it's one of the biggest categories, with the most potential entrants. I read somewhere that something like 600 books would have been eligible for this category, though not every one was entered, obviously. Eight other books by fantastic authors are finalists in my category and the winner will be announced at RWA's national conference in Washington D.C. on July 18.

2009-03-17T07:00:00.006-07:00

ARE YOU KINDLING?

I've had my Kindle 2 now for ten days and so many people have asked me how I like it, I decided to post a brief review of the pros and cons of this nifty little device, as I see them.

PROS

* The screen is very readable and easy on the eyes. I've seen online in certain places that some have complained about the contrast (or lack thereof!) but I find it soothing and relaxing to read on it. As someone who spends all day on a computer, I need to give my eyes a break when it comes to recreational reading and the eInk screen does that beautifully. It refreshes quickly on page turns and I love being able to adjust the font size. When I'm tired at night, I can bump it up as big as I need it. When I'm fresh in the middle of the day or want to read more information at a time, I can bump it back down.

* Love the instant access to books (of course, I have a feeling my wallet isn't going to enjoy it as much!). It's very cool to be able to hear about a book, buy it with one click on the Kindle and have it appear a minute later. Like carrying around an entire bookstore in my pocket, something very dangerous for a booklover like me!

* I enjoy the pricing structure of books. I rarely feel I can indulge in buying hardcovers and I tend to usually wait until they're out in paperback or check them out from the library. When you read as much as I do, buying hardcovers new can be expensive and then you have the dilemma of where to store them all. But at less than $10 a pop for new hardcovers on the Kindle (with virtually no storage space needed!) that's not much more than the cost of a paperback. It's a little easier to justify buying them.

* Exposure to books I maybe wouldn't normally choose to buy and/or carry around with me. Because there's such a huge free backlist of books for the Kindle, from the classics to more recently released book giveaways by publishers, my Kindle now has 60 books. Many of them I would probably never have bought on my own but I'm being exposed to new authors and ideas because of the Kindle. Very cool!

* Love being able to carry a bunch of books around me and know I'll never have to deal with that dreaded fear of bibliophiles, having nothing to read!

NOW FOR THE CONS

* Expensive. It's a big chunk of change to fork over for something that might be fragile and is already outdated technology.

* Actually, one of the things I think is the most cool about the device is also something I consider a downfall -- the experimental web browser. I don't have an iPhone or even a laptop because I can be too distracted by the Internet. I'm finding that out with the Kindle. Just knowing the world is available at my fingertips can be a distraction when I'm reading. If I'm curious about a fact I read about, I can immediately go online to read more about it on the Kindle. Last night I was reading The Art of Fiction No. 5, a fabulous collection of excerpts from John Steinbeck letters published in The Paris Review in 1969. I found myself curious about how he died and how old he was when he died. Five seconds later, I was reading the Wiki entry about John Steinbeck, which lead me to linking to the Wiki entry about LIFEBOAT, the movie he wrote that Alfred Hitchcook directed. And so it goes. For someone with a short attention span, the lure of instant access to information can be deadly when it comes to reading a book! That's the very reason I can't work on a laptop, just on my Alphasmart, because I am too easily distracted. I need something that lets me write and only write. I'm not sure I'm thrilled about having that Internet capability in my leisure reading device.

* Insatiable avarice when it comes to books! I just want to put more and more and more content on the Kindle and find myself looking all over the web for books I haven't read. So far I think I've spent more time looking for new books to load onto the Kindle than I actually have spent reading on it!

That said, at this point my overwhelming response to the Kindle is on the positive side. It's a very cool device, one I'm looking forward to getting to know better :)

2009-02-24T14:27:00.004-07:00

Found this great quote the other day from Anna Quindlen and had to share it.

"Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination and the journey. They are home."

Anna Quindlen

2009-02-18T09:11:00.005-07:00

SOME FUN FOR ALL YOU BIBLIOPHILES

I finished my latest book Monday night (yay!). Since I finally had a few free minutes yesterday, I was hitting my favorite time-waster, stumbleupon, and found this really darling idea for a bookmark from a blog that borrowed from another blog. I've now made several of these and they work fabulously!

Basically, all you do is cut out a corner from an envelope and then tuck that over the page you're reading. You can add notes to yourself about the story or a cute little message or a good quote about reading or whatever. I thought it was a great idea and plan to make a bunch of them when I go through bills today :)

2009-02-11T21:20:00.001-07:00

It's always great fun to find new covers online that I haven't seen yet! Found this one yesterday. I won't have time until I finish the current book (hopefully this weekend!) to update my website but thought I would give readers an advance look here :)

2009-02-05T09:00:00.002-07:00

HAPPINESS IS ...

The February blahs have set in at my house. We have 18 inches of snow out front, are trapped by the mountains in an ugly bad-air inversion and like the rest of you, are being relentlessly bombarded with bad news after bad news.

But am I depressed? No way! Yes, I might be a Pollyanna but as I type this, I am thinking about all the reasons I have to be happy right this moment.

I have a wonderful little book called 14,000 Things to be Happy About by Barbara Ann Kipfer. My mom bought it for me years and years ago when I was going through a painful time and thought all the sunshine had been sucked away from my world. When I'm down, I can turn to this book and it invariably lifts my spirits and reminds me of how much I love life. It's a massive list, really, of all that's right in the world and helps me regain perspective and perhaps reminds me to open my eyes to everything good in front of me. Here are a few of those 14,000 things Ms. Kipfer lists:

blackberry tea
finding a place for yourself
chocolate buttercream frosting
the art of knowing what to overlook
cobblestone streets
making toast with homemade bread
soft, wet kisses and very big hugs
sighs and whisperings

I was reading a magazine the other day and they recommended one way to avoid stress in your life is to look around you and write down five things you see right this minute that make you happy. So I'm extending the challenge to you. Here are mine ...

• The sheer aesthetic beauty of my 24" silver iMac (yes, I'm bragging )
• The world (and my friends!) always at my fingertips through a high-speed Internet connection
• Ice cubes melting in cold, clean water
• Cinnamon and clove room spray
• The freedom and space and desire inside me to create

What about you? What makes you happy today, right this moment?

2009-01-29T08:15:00.005-07:00

FABULOUS FREE READS

Today's the day! Harlequin's year-long celebration of its 60th anniversary kicks off today when HarlequinCelebrates goes live! Here, you can download 16 free ebooks in many different reader formats, pdf, ereader, mobipocket, etc. Some of my own personal favorite authors are represented here, Merline Lovelace, B.J. Daniels, and many more.

I'm thrilled to have my 2006 Silhouette Special Edition DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT included among these great titles. I loved this book and I'm thrilled to share it with a wider audience. The book won Romantic Times magazine's Reviewers' Choice Award for best Silhouette Special Edition 2006 and was also given the RIO Award of Excellence for best short contemporary of 2006. Here's to a wonderful birthday celebration and another year of fantastic stories.

2009-01-26T09:42:00.004-07:00

I am in love with textures. While I was trying to redesign my website, I stumbled onto lots of fabulous creative commons textures at flickr. I really loved this one so I put my favorite saying on it and created some desktop wallpaper. It's a great reminder to me of why I write.

2009-01-24T07:46:00.002-07:00

DEADLINE ANGST

I've got a deadline in three weeks so my life is insane right now. I wake up panicking, I go to sleep panicking and I spend most of the day wishing I could somehow figure out a way to squeeze out four or five more hours of work time.

I found this quote today (yes, I should have been working. I know, already!). I thought it was particularly appropriate:

Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. -- George Orwell, "Why I Write" 1947

2009-01-21T13:16:00.003-07:00

JUST IN CASE YOU NEEDED A SMILE ...

Don't you wish you were five again?! This is a picture from this summer. For several days, my kiddo decided to break out one of his Halloween costumes (he couldn't decide the year before whether to be an astronaut or a cowboy, so he wore the space suit with a cowboy hat and went as a Space Cowboy). I don't know where the strainer and the spoon idea came from -- or the clown glasses. But it makes me smile every time I see it. I so wish I could capture that joy and delight, both in my stories and in my own life.

2009-01-12T09:24:00.003-07:00

HERE'S TO 2009

I don't know about the rest of you, but I was happy to put 2008 to bed this year. Seems like it was a rough one all the way around, full of angst and uncertainty and heartache.

On the other hand, I'm really excited for 20o9. I love putting up a new calendar in my kitchen and seeing all those blank squares of possibilities! I know there will likely be troubles along the way but I'm hoping the joys in store will outweigh the hard times for all of us!

Here are a few things I'm excited about for the coming year

1) Sticking with my New Year's resolution and regaining all those good lifestyle habits I was working on last year. I fell off the healthy bandwagon for a couple months over the holidays but I'm excited to be back on track now!

2) All the great books that are scheduled to be released! My shelves are overflowing already with my TBR piles, but like John Steinbeck said, "I guess there are never enough books!"

3) Great family times. I want to focus more on my kids and less on my stress. As the January snows pile up here, I'm thinking of planting a garden in the spring and enjoying summer evenings on the patio and camping trips and walks through the neighborhood.

4) All the great books inside me waiting to come out. Stories and characters are crowding through my head all the time and I can't wait to continue the eternal quest to get them right on paper (it never happens that they turn out like I want, but, hey, you have to dream!).

5) My book releases! I've got books coming out for sure in May and December. I haven't checked with my editor, but I'm pretty sure there will be another one squeezed in there between them. I also will have one of my favorite titles, DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT, released as a free eBook this year by Harlequin as part of a huge promotion to celebrate the company's 60 years of publishing great books. The book will be part of the http://www.harlequincelebrates.com website, which goes live on Jan. 29.

What are you most anticipating in the coming year? I'd love to know!

2008-12-09T21:08:00.007-07:00

Free holiday music at Amazon!

Hi everyone --

I hope you're all having a wonderful December. I'm very much in the holiday spirit right now (it helps that I had a Christmas book out this year). I've been listening to Christmas music non-stop. It's a good thing I have scores of holiday albums.

I'm now addicted to Amazon's free Christmas music. Every day in December, they're giving away a new Christmas mp3 -- everything from Barenaked Ladies to Bing Crosby. I've found some very cool music there. Just check out the link above to get you there.

And if you go to their main holiday download page, you can get five bonus tracks, including a fabulous choral version of Jingle Bells that my 11-year-old loves.

Happy listening!

RaeAnne

2008-11-18T16:45:00.004-07:00

DON'T BAKE THOSE COOKIES UNTIL YOU READ THIS!

An alert reader tipped me off to a mistake in my reader letter in the front of THE COWBOY'S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE. I printed a recipe for my favorite snickerdoodles and I think I must have been half-asleep when I sent it to my publisher (a not-uncommon situation here since I do lots of my work at night when the kiddies are asleep!). Anyway, apparently I listed baking powder when it should have been baking soda. It was right in the instructions but not in the list of ingredients. So here's the corrected version ...

SNICKERDOODLES

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup shortening (I use margarine, softened)

3 cups white sugar

4 eggs

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons cream of tartar

2 teaspoons baking SODA!

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup white sugar

2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon, to taste and preference

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C)

2. Cream together butter, shortening or margarine, 3 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla with electric hand mixer or in food processor.

3. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.

4. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.

5. Mix the 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough balls into mixture, place 2 inches apart on ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheets.

6. Bake 8-10 minutes until just firm (don't overcook!).

7. Remove immediately from baking sheets and enjoy!

2008-10-29T20:07:00.005-07:00

THE COWBOY'S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE -- on sale now!

I'm not yet into the holiday spirit this year but having a Christmas book released last week has sort of jump-started the process for me! I loved writing THE COWBOY'S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE, even if I was probably the only one back in March who listening to five different Christmas stations on Pandora to help me catch the mood!

I have to share a little inside story on the book. There's a scene in it that touched me every single time I read it -- when I originally wrote it and through every version of rewrites, line edits and page proofs.

It's the Christmas Eve scene when the heroine gives her oldest child something precious of his father's, who died a few years earlier (I won't give it all away -- you'll have to read the book!). Anyway, I wrote the first draft late one night and I couldn't stop crying as I wrote it. That happens to us crazy writers sometimes! I don't know why but I was very moved by the emotion in the scene so I'm sitting down in my office sobbing away and my husband comes down to tell me good-night. He gets that panicky look men get when they find us crying. He was so worried to find me in such a state and thought I was having my usual deadline-induced breakdown, the kind when I'm absolutely sure I'll never be able to write another book again .

I had to tell him, no, this was a good thing. It was just my people making me cry. If a scene spurs such a reaction in me, I can only hope it has a similar impact in my readers!

2008-10-15T21:51:00.003-07:00

I have a rather unique opportunity next week -- one that suddenly scares me to death! I was contacted a few months ago by the director of the Utah Humanities Council's Festival of the Book, who asked me to be a guest lecturer at the literacy festival, in its seventh year.

At first, I thought, "Sure! No problem. How hard could it be?" But as the date approaches and I've had a look at the lineup of lecturers, I'm doing a big, nervous gulp here. Not only am I the only romance author involved, I'm just about the only author of popular fiction and the pressure suddenly feels enormous.

What do you say to people who would rather be caught naked in a windstorm than have somebody spy them reading a romance novel?

My topic is The Appeal of Romance. I plan to talk about exactly that -- why romance novels make up more than a quarter of all books sold and outsell every other genre.

As I'm preparing my lecture, I've re-read my dog-eared copy of DANGEROUS MEN AND ADVENTUROUS WOMEN, the great book of essays by some of the lionesses of the industry like Jayne Ann Krentz, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Sandra Brown and Elizabeth Lowell. I've also scoured RWA conference keynote addresses from people like Barbara Samuels, Lisa Kleypas and Suzanne Brockmann. All of them have wonderful things tos ay about why are books are so popular around the world.

I don't expect to change anybody's mind but I would at least like to offer lucid, compelling reasons to read romance. And I would love to hear from you! Help me out here ... Please, I'm begging you! What do you love about romance novels? How do I explain the magic and wonder of becoming lost in a beautiful, life-affirming story?

I'm holding a drawing among everybody who responds. Two winners will receive their choice of either a copy of THE COWBOY'S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE, my November book that won't be on shelves for another few weeks, or anything from my backlist.

2008-07-22T12:30:00.001-07:00

RELEASE DAY!

I hope you're having a great summer! I'm thrilled to announce that the final book in my Silhouette Special Edition trilogy THE WOMEN OF BRAMBLEBERRY HOUSE should be in stores today -- or in the next few days, anyway. Bookstores are supposed to shelve the new books today but sometimes it takes them a few days to get to it. A SOLDIER'S SECRET is the story of Anna Galvez, sister to a couple heroes I've featured in previous books (Ren and Daniel Galvez, two of my very favorite men!) and the last woman standing at Brambleberry House. Here's the blurb about it ...

"To find out who was claiming ownership of the only place he'd ever called home, Harry Maxwell knew he'd have to practice a little deception. So the wounded lieutenant changed his name a little. Altered a few facts. All for a good cause—get in, get the truth, get out.

Until he met the Brambleberry House heir presumptive. Anna Galvez was captivating in ways he hadn't even known existed. Still, after spending time with her, he wanted the house more than ever.

But only if she was in it…. "

I loved writing this book and wrapping up a series I so enjoyed creating. I loved the Oregon Coast setting, the gorgeous Victorian and of course the characters who filled it, both living and dead!

I also wanted to let any readers in the Bay Area know I'll be signing books as part of the huge booksigning for literacy that Romance Writers of America hosts each year at their annual conference. The signing is Wednesday, July 30, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the San Francisco Downtown Marriott. For directions and a complete list of the hundreds of authors attending, please visit the RWA website, http://www.rwanational.org/cs/literacy_autographing

All my best,

RaeAnne

2008-06-26T13:35:00.010-07:00

Summertime and the living is easy.

Right?

Not here, I'm afraid. During the other three seasons of the year, I always picture summer as a nice, slow inner tube float down a torpid creek, where we just drift on the current and enjoy the sunshine and the scenery. Ha! From the moment school ended at the end of May, we've been on Class V rapids, dodging precarious boulders and time-sucking whirlpools. It seems like we race from T-ball to Cub Scouts to family events to swim lessons. Last night alone, we had four commitments and ended up ducking out of two of them and squeezing the others in somehow (and somehow found time in there to keep the lawn watered, the kids fed and the minivan gassed up!).

I know it's all part of this season of our lives. In some distant, murky future, we will miss this chaotic time, when the whitewater slows to a quiet trickle of activity. That seems a long time away right now!

2008-06-07T14:41:00.004-07:00

Yay! I'm on the Waldenbooks bestseller list for the second week in a row with my latest book for Silhouette Special Edition, A MERGER ... OR MARRIAGE?. I had great fun writing this story, especially working with the other five talented authors involved in THE WILDER FAMILY miniseries. It's always a little tough to take a story someone else created and make it your own but I really came to love Richard and Anna (and especially Richard's little boy Ethan. What a heartbreaker!).

2008-05-31T20:42:00.004-07:00

I cut my boys' hair today for the first time ever.

Needless to say, it was a terrifying experience to grip those clippers in my hand and make that first plowing inroad into locks that needed snipping about a month ago. My stomach jumped with nerves as I watched the hunks of hair fall to the driveway and blow away in the wind.

The journey to the spot was born from my frustration at paying $15 a pop for buzz cuts in the summer (I'm a big tipper!). I decided this time to spend $30 for a home haircut set and try myself. I mean, how hard could it be?

Ha. Twenty minutes later, my stomach was still jumping with nerves, this time from looking at the jagged mess I'd made. It's a good thing my 10-year-old is nonverbal and has low vision. If he had seen himself in the mirror, I'm sure he would have stopped speaking to me all summer. The five year old was thrilled, however, despite the raggedy job I did trimming around the ears. He ran right in to show his dad. His exact words: "It's not bad for the first time!"

If I had just stuck to the clippers, everything would have been fine. They would have had okay cuts. But I decided to go crazy and try to trim the necklines and around the ears and therein lay madness! It's a good thing they like hats in the summer (though I was trying to figure out how I could get by with having the 10 year old wear one to church!).

I've decided that cutting kids' hair is a lot like writing a book. I thought it couldn't be that tough -- I could save money and the hassle of wrestling kids at the barbers by doing things myself. I read the instruction booklet but I didn't study, I just dived into things.

Lots of people tell me they want to write a book and I'm sure in the back of their heads, they are quite sure that if I can make a career out of it, anyone can. I agree ... I really do. But it probably won't be perfect that first time. Writing a good book is really a lot harder than it looks. It takes practice and experience to layer plots, to create vivid characters, to come up with snappy dialogue. You have to choose the right tools, you have to practice a great deal, and sometimes you have to know when to be satisfied with what you have created instead of taking a snip here and a clip there and ending up with a choppy disaster.

2008-05-30T22:19:00.002-07:00

All right, I've been putting this off long enough. It's time to update my blog! My life has been so hectic, I've let it slide (quite obviously!). I also had an ancient computer that made any kind of updating a week-long chore. But now I've updated my hardware and my software, my life has slowed (for the moment!) so I'm making a commitment to to keep up with my blog.

First off, I'm thrilled to announce my latest book is in stores now. A MERGER ... OR MARRIAGE? is a June release and is the final book in The Wilder Family miniseries for Special Edition. This was a great six-book series written by different authors and I was thrilled to write the finale. Here's the back cover copy:

"To snag a coveted promotion, financial whiz Anna Wilder has to close one last important deal: the takeover of her hometown hospital, Walnut River General. Black sheep Anna had never felt like she'd fit into the respected Wilder clan, and now her job was making the proposed merger personal -- especially when she met her opponent in the boardroom.
Richard Green was the savvy attorney -- and ex-love -- determined to foil her plans. After one unbelievable kiss years ago, Anna had run far away from her home, her insecurities and the man who made her pulse quicken. But perhaps her return was a second chance in disguise. Could Richard convince Anna that this merger was bad business ... and take over her heart instead?"

I loved writing this sweet reunion story! I really came to adore the characters and the entire Wilder family and I'm thrilled the book has already appeared on the Waldenbooks bestseller list!

I'm also pleased to announce that the final book in THE WOMEN OF BRAMBLEBERRY HOUSE will be out in August! In A SOLDIER'S SECRET, I at last get the chance to tell the story of Anna Galvez and hunky injured war hero Harry Maxwell, who comes to recuperate at Brambleberry House. It was such a joy to write a happy ending for Anna, and Max became one of my all-time favorite heroes! Of course, Conan the dog appears and there are a few ghostly encounters in store for Anna and Max. I actually cried writing the last page and saying good-bye to these characters I came to love so much through writing the series.

I also had a Mother's Day novella in a Harlequin anthology out last month. I know Mother's Day seems a distant memory but my story, A MOTHER'S HOPE is really a timeless story of love and redemption. The collection is still available at online bookstores and at eHarlequin.com.

I also wanted to give you a heads-up about my final 08 book. I just finished writing THE COWBOY'S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE, which is scheduled to be released in November. I so loved this story! I was able to return to Pine Gulch, Idaho, the setting for my COWBOYS OF COLD CREEK series and several of the characters I introduced in that series make a repeat appearance. It was so fun writing a Christmas book, though I imagine I very well might have been the only one creating Christmas stations in April on Pandora!

And one final bit of news ... I was humbled and thrilled to learn that my January 07 book HIGH-RISK AFFAIR is a finalist this year for the Romance Writers of America's RITA award in the contemporary series/suspense & adventure category. The winners will be announced in early August at a lavish awards celebration in San Francisco.

2006-11-14T16:58:00.000-07:00

BYE-BYE TROPICS -- I finished my Costa Rica story last month. And like from any good vacation, it's taking me a while to get back into the swing of things. This book was hard to walk away from, just because I had so much fun writing it. IN HOT WATER (my working title) is an August release from Silhouette Romantic Suspense and I have to admit, it was probably the most fun of any of my books. I loved the hero (very sexy biologist Ren Galvez) and the heroine seems like an old friend. Their story was a grand romantic adventure and I learned tons about the rainforest canopy, about sea turtles and about the incredible biodiversity of this small country. I feel like an expert now. If you're heading to the Osa Peninsula any time soon and need some info, I'm your go-to gal .

So in just the space of a few days, I've now jetted across several countries (in my mind at least!) and I'm now working on the first book in a new trilogy for Silhouette Special Edition, this one set in Cannon Beach, Oregon. It's a bit of a contrast to my system to jerk from steamy Costa Rica to the cool and moody Northwest but I'm adjusting.

I love to travel, though I don't get the chance as much as I would like. I think one of the truly magical things about being a writer is the opportunity it provides me to absorb all these wonderful places without actually being there. I've written about lots of places I've never been. Now that I've spent months researching Costa Rica, you can bet I'm adding it to my personal must-do list. I've also written about places I've visited before that somehow have seeped into my consciousness and become a part of me. The Oregon Coast is one of those places. Three years ago we spent a memorable week camping along the coast. What a gorgeous place! I'm re-living it all now as I write this story, remembering things that have slipped from my mind, and learning new things I'll keep with me for our next trip.

I find almost as much joy being a reader and visiting all these places through the wonderful words of others. What about you? What's your favorite place you've never been?

2006-10-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

WRITING AND BABIES

My husband sent me these quotes today and they're most appropriate for my life right now since I'm desperately trying to wrap up the Costa Rica book that's now five days late and counting. The last big push in trying to finish a book is much like the last miserable stage of childbirth, when you just feel like there's no way under heaven you can pull this thing off, no matter how hard you try. It's too tough, it's too much work, it hurts too @#$ bad. That's where I am right now, so these quotes very much resonated with me.

"I write the way women have babies. You don't know it's going to be like that. If you did, there's no way you would go through it." -- Toni Morrison

"Writing books is the closest men ever come to childbearing." -- Norman Mailer

2006-09-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

RADIO DAYS PART DEUX

Okay, I've officially made my radio debut (not counting the junior high school news broadcast I used to deliver for my drama class). After their kind invitation, I decided to go ahead and do the MATT AND ELLIE SHOW coming live from the U.K.

It was wonderful fun. I'll admit, I was nervous beforehand. When I'm nervous I have a tendency to a) either talk so fast nothing makes any sense whatsoever, sort of like one of those auctioneers or b) stumble around with lots of hemming and hawings and "you knows".

This actually went quite well (considering that the moment the phone rang with Matt and Ellie on the other end, my three year old starting screaming. But I ran down to my office and shut the door and left him preoccupied with Blues Clues for the 8 or 9 minute interview).

The only technical glitch was that I couldn't really hear them very well, though listening to the webcast, I actually sound quite literate.

Matt and Ellie were both lovely. She sounded just like Kiera Knightley and he was funny and interesting. All and all, it was a great experience and I'm very glad I did it.

If you'd like to listen the broadcast, you can find the MP3 at:

My interview is about 42 minutes into the broadcast.

2006-09-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

FALL COLORS

My husband took this in the mountains this week. I think it's stunning! It was even featured on the evening news last night. The weatherman always shows weather-type pictures and this was a featured photo.

2006-09-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

OUR DEEPEST FEAR

We were watching Akeelah and the Bee a few weeks ago and this quote just reached out and grabbed me by the throat. I had to look it up in its entirety. It's by Marianne Williamson and I've printed it up and stuck it by my computer to remind myself to see the greatness in myself and those around me ...

Our Deepest Fear
by Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

© Marianne Williamson, 1992

Found in "A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles" Harper Collins, Chapter 7, Section 3, 1992.

2006-09-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

RADIO DAYS

Bizarre request in my inbox today. In 2002 I had a book called THE VALENTINE TWO-STEP, the first book in my Outlaw Hartes trilogy. It featured Ellie Webster and Matt Harte and their matchmaking daughters who are best friends and want their parents to marry. I've written like 15 books since then and barely remember the plot of the thing but today I was invited by two UK radio DJs to come on their show and talk about it. Apparently there's a programme called the Matt and Ellie Show in the UK. I guess they must have googled their name and come up with my book so they want to talk to me about it.

I'm not sure what to do. I listened to the teaser on their website and it sounds like they have a lot of fun but I'm not one of those incredibly lyrical speakers who can be spontaneously clever or funny (now my husband, he could do a great job on a radio show. Maybe I should have him impersonate me! If only his voice were a little higher). I'll probably eventually do it -- publicity is publicity, right? -- but today I'm angsting a little. What do you think? I have dreaded fears of a Daily Show type interview where I end up looking like an idiot.

Here's their website if anybody wants to give me an opinion ... http://www.mattandellieshow.com

2006-09-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

SLACKER CITY

Okay, I've decided I must be the world's worst blogger. I've had gentle reminders from a couple of readers that it has been a long time since I've blogged anything. I knew it had been awhile, but imagine my surprise after checking my blog to find I apparently haven't had anything to say since April! My apologies for being such a slacker. I can only say it's been a pretty intense summer and I've been running in a hundred different directions.

But school has started again (happy day!) so I hope I'll have a little more time for some of these minor details like finishing my book that's due in a few days.

As intense as the summer has been, it's also been wonderful, one of those rare and precious seasons that seem to reinvigorate the senses. I've had great time with family -- my own kids and my extended family -- and I feel like in a lot of ways I've discovered great joy in writing again.

I've always loved to write but juggling a pretty intense home life and a busy writing career often has left me more exhausted than enthused about the prospect of trying to create anything. Something has changed in the last few months. I find myself loving the process again, rediscovering the wonder of creating a story out of nothing but my imagination.

I'm working on finishing my Costa Rica story that I talked about early in my blogging days and I've had wonderful fun with these characters. The hero is truly larger-than-life and the heroine is funny and spunky and flawed. Every time I sit down to write, I'm transported to a lush, gorgeous jungle and caught up in their adventure. It's different from any story I've written -- maybe why I've been enjoying the process so much!

I expect to be insanely busy the next few weeks trying to finish IN HOT WATER so I may not blog as often as I like, but I swear it won't be six months again before my next entry!

2006-04-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

THE JOYS OF READING

I'm trying to come up with a PDF of some printable bookmarks to put on my website. I didn't want to just be a publicity tramp and put my upcoming books on them so I'm looking for good quote about books. I've found some great ones, quotes that remind me how very much I love books and reading. How fortunate I have been because I developed a love of reading at a very early age (I'm not very crafty but I stitched a sampler for my mom a few years back with an old saying: More blessed than me you will never be, for I had a mother who read to me.

Anyway, I found this quote today when I was looking for book quotes. It's a little long for a bookmark so I'll post it here. I'll let you know when I finish the bookmark project and post it to my website ...

There are books so alive that you're always afraid that while you weren't reading, the book has gone and changed, has shifted like a river; while you went on living, it went on living too, and like a river moved on and moved away. No one has stepped twice into the same river. But did anyone ever step twice into the same book?
* Marina Tsvetaeva

I would love to hear your favorite quotes about reading or books.

2006-04-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

My baby turns three today!

I'm having a tough time believing he's that old. Seems like only yesterday, he was a plump little thing wearing sunglasses and lying under the bilirubin lights at the hospital. Now he's a plump little thing galloping around the house in his new Bob the Builder T-shirt!

It amazes me how one little man seems to infuse so much energy and joy into a family. The four of us were a pretty happy unit before he came along but this one just seems to have finished the circle.

I know people who don't have any children and claim they have no desire for them. If that is their choice, fine, but I'm sad for them. I wouldn't trade one single day spent as my kids' mother. Even on the days when my 15 yo wants to argue about everything from whether 4 ounces of milk is enough for breakfast to whether her homework is technically done if she only has one more algebra problem to do (it's not!). Even on the days when I'm heartsore and weary after the 8 year old is having a bad night and not sleeping well and I can't figure out what's wrong. Even when the 3 year old dumps the flour container and the sugar container and three boxes of cereal all over the floor.

Sure, it makes my writing life a challenge. Most days I don't have a second to write until after the younger two are in bed. Unlike my husband, night has never been my most productive time but I've had to learn to adapt. When I have a deadline, I don't have a choice. If that's the only time I've got, that's the time I have to use! But it's certainly not easy. Until I had kids, I never realized it was literally possible to fall asleep at my computer, my fingers still moving convulsively on the keyboard.

Still, they're worth all the sacrifice and the late hours and the lack of sleep. My 3yo ran to me first thing this morning, threw his arms around me and asked if I wanted a birthday hug or a birthday kiss. I chose both. Wouldn't you?

2006-04-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

DEATH AND TAXES ...

It's tax time and I've spent the last two days going through receipts. I have an odd reaction to tax time. I dread it passionately, mostly because I find nothing sucks away my creativity like spending hours focusing on numbers and expenses. I also hate it because it feels like such a crap shoot. I never really know if I'm going to get a refund or end up getting stuck for a huge tax bill until my tax preparer flips her computer monitor around and shows me whether I've got a smiley face or a frowny face on the form! I always go with this huge ball of dread in my stomach. There's nothing worse than having to pay someone 400 bucks to tell me I owe the IRS a whole bunch more.

So dreading taxes is not the odd reaction I was talking about. I don't think there's anything abnormal about that -- most people do. While I loathe the process as much as the next person, at the same time I find myself enjoying going through my old checks and expenses and remembering. It's the one time I can look back at the year and relive some of those experiences. The special birthday dinner at a favorite restaurant. The campsite we always stay at in Island Park, where I took my 2 year old innertubing down the Buffalo River. The keyboard drawer I bought for myself on eBay that has made my writing time so much more ergonomically comfortable.

Still, I'll be glad to have it over Wednesday when we meet with our tax preparer. Maybe I'll even take my husband to dinner somewhere afterward, so I can look at the receipt for it next year when I'm doing taxes!

2006-04-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

My free online read goes live today! Starstruck is the novella I wrote for the eHarlequin website and I had so much fun with it. This story features two characters who appear very briefly in the various books of THE COWBOYS OF COLD CREEK. The hero, Justin Hartford, is a former Hollywood hunk who just wants a quiet life on his Idaho ranch. The heroine, Ashley Barnes, is his daughter's kindergarten teacher. Justin used to be her girlhood crush. Now she thinks he's just a self-absorbed jerk -- until she gets to know him.

You can read the story here ...

http://www.eharlequin.com/cms/onlinereads/readsToc.jhtml

And talk about it here ...

http://community.eharlequin.com/webx?50@419.p8SyaeXaOFP.2435744@.4a83a2b9/3

2006-03-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

BOTTI ON THE WAY ...

I'm buying Chris Botti tickets today. Can't wait! He's coming 2 days before my birthday and even though our grand Alaska cruise in May is supposed to be my birthday present (and Christmas and anniversary and birthday for the next decade or so!) when I found out my favorite trumpeter is coming, I had to buy tickets. I love Botti. His music is the absolute best writing music on the planet. It just carries me away. LIGHT THE STARS is actually the title of one of his songs. I was listening to it as I was writing the proposal for the book and so I used that as the title of my proposal. My editor loved it and wanted to stick with it for the book. I'm very glad titles can't be copyrighted!

2006-03-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

STICKY CHICKEN

I cooked a great roast chicken last night (if I do say so myself!). It's a recipe I've been wanting to try for awhile that I've seen all over the Internet and I finally happened to have a whole chicken on hand. I'm all about slow-cooking meals. There's something so comforting about having delicious smells fill the house all day, the anticipation of knowing something good is around the corner, and the relief at not having to stress during the dinner hour to get everything ready.

Give this one a try!

MIMI'S STICKY CHICKEN
©Mimi Hiller, 1985-2001

This is the best and easiest roast chicken you've ever tasted. It seems a little strange, but it's the only one my family will eat, and company loves it, too!
2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon paprika

3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 whole roasting chicken, about 3 pounds

1 cup chopped onions

Combine all spices (first 8 ingredients) in small bowl.

Rinse chicken, inside and out. Drain well.

Rub spice mixture over skin and the inside of chicken.

Place in a resealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to roast, stuff cavity with onions.

Place chicken breast side down in roasting pan.

Roast uncovered at 250ºF (that's not a typo...it's really 250º! Anything over 225º is safe as long as the chicken reaches an internal temperature of at least 155º, which this does, and more) for about 5 hours. Baste occasionally with pan juices or until pan juices start to caramelize on bottom of pan and chicken is golden brown.

Serves 4.

2006-03-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

QUOTE FOR THE DAY ...

"Writing is a hellish task, best snuck up on, whacked on the head, robbed and left for dead."
-- Ann-Marie MacDonald, author, The Way the Crow Flies, 2003

I had a 10 page day yesterday (yippee!) but today is Friday so I'm sure I won't get much done. That's the way it goes.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

2006-03-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

Reviews are funny creatures. When I get lousy ones (and I've had my share -- including one memorable 1 star rating from Romantic Times that left me depressed for weeks!), I tell myself they don't matter and it's only one person's opinion anyway. When I get good ones, I want to yell it from the rooftop and make sure everybody knows. They like me. They really like me. Or at least my current book

I got a good one this week. I found out my May book DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT received 4 1/2 stars and is a Top Pick for May from RT. This is a big deal to me -- only my second Top Pick from the magazine, although their reviewers generally give me favorable ratings (the aforementioned 1-star slamfest notwithstanding!). I've been fortunate to have a couple books be nominated for the top Intimate Moments of the year by their reviewers and have twice been nominated for a Career Achievement Award.

I haven't actually seen the review as I don't subscribe to the magazine, just buy it in the bookstore the months I have a book out. If anybody gets it and wants to share, I'd love to see it.

So back to reviews. Most of the time I find them interesting learning experiences, even when the reviewers don't like my books. Sometimes they're ego-strokers. Sometimes I just shrug them off and wonder if the reviewer even read the book in question. I agree with Joyce Carol Oates: "Critics sometimes appear to be addressing themselves to works other than those I remember writing."

My favorite quote on critics is from Noel Coward: "I love criticism just so long as it's unqualified praise."

I have a little thicker skin than that but I must admit, it's validating when a reviewer seems to understand what I was trying to do with a story. DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT is my 20th book and though I'm fond of all of them, writing this one was a particularly magical experience. I loved the characters and the situation and the strength they found within themselves to face their challenges. It's nice to know at least one other person liked it too!

2006-03-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

LEAVING THE TROPICS ...

I mailed off my Costa Rica proposal today. What a great feeling! I'm especially excited about this one -- love the characters, love the story, love the sheer adventure of it. I spent far too much time researching the story because I was having too much fun looking up websites and dreaming.

But the fantasy is over for a while and now it's back to the cold. Though it's technically spring, we've had snow for the last week. To make matters worse, even when the weather warms up, as I have high hopes it will soon, I'll be stuck in winter for awhile as my next book is set in Utah in January.

Ah well. I'll always have Costa Rica to look forward too -- assuming my editor likes the idea!

2006-03-18T08:11:00.000-07:00

THE BEST INTENTIONS ...

Yesterday was a day off from writing for me.

I didn't intend it to be but it's always a little tough for me to get anything done on Fridays. My 8yo has early dismissal that day, which means I can't take the 2yo for our regular drive to get him to nap (yes, at almost 3 he thinks he's too big to nap so I have to trick him into it! He always sleeps in the car so his sneaky Mom schedules a little drive just about every afternoon when possible. I take my AlphaSmart and park somewhere in the mountains or the foothills overlooking the beautiful Cache Valley and write without distractions).

Anyway, that's usually not an option on Fridays since the 8yo gets out early. Instead, we decided to go to see the matinee of Curious George (very cute movie). I figured I would try to work in the evening, which is my usual time to write and just about the only relatively sure thing. Relatively is the key word there. Too bad for me, the 15yo's plans for the night fell through. I didn't want her to sit around by herself doing nothing all evening and being bored so we rented another DVD after the boys went to sleep -- Elizabethtown. Bizarre show but very engaging. I loved the characters in it and loved how the Kirsten Dunst character showed Orlando Bloom the beauty of life and how much he had to live for.

While I didn't write a word, I don't consider it a wasted day. I got some new ideas for what to do with my Costa Rica proposal that I'm trying to finish this weekend and I had a great time with all three of my kids.

2006-03-17T09:39:00.000-07:00

AND THE WINNER IS ...

kimw!

My 2yo pulled your name out of the hat (okay, the bowl) and you win a copy of your choice of my backlist, or LIGHT THE STARS since I now have the author copies. Email me at rthayne@xmission.com with your address and your choice.

Thanks everyone for participating! Check back as I'll be doing another drawing in a week or so :)

RaeAnne

2006-03-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

My author copies of LIGHT THE STARS finally got here! Wahoo! This is almost as exciting as when I sold my first book a decade ago! The very first line I targeted was Silhouette Special Edition and it's so very cool to have my first book for the line coming out :)

2006-03-15T10:20:00.000-07:00

FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE ...

I've recently started listening to streaming radio stations. I used to listen a little here and there but until we moved into the new house a year ago I only had a dial-up connection so any audio experiences online were choppy with lots of frustrating "buffering" messages. When we moved, we set up all the infrastructure for an ethernet network between our two family computers (my office and the one in the kitchen) but we didn't have it all hooked up until recently so my office was without internet access.

Now I have it, though, and I'm absolutely hooked. I've always listened to music while I work and have a pretty extensive CD collection but my writing music needs are pretty specific. I like instrumental music best since I tend to focus too much on the words and singing along. Classical music puts me to sleep. Jazz is my favorite but it can't be too acidy or my head starts to hurt (My all-time favorite writing CD is Kind of Blue by Miles Davis!).

I'm loving internet radio! Whatever mood I'm in, whatever kind of scene I'm writing, I can find a station playing just the right kind of music.

One of the best new finds is Whisperings -- http://www.solopianoradio.com -- This is a great station when you just want background music, nothing that takes a lot of concentration.

I also love http://www.smoothjazz.com. Another favorite is the smooth jazz station at sky.fm and I also like radioiojazz.

Still, when I'm working alone late at night, I must admit I go back to an old favorite and listen to KUER, the public radio station from Salt Lake City -- http://www.kuer.org -- for really tasty jazz. They've been my favorite station for years but I could only get them on a tinny-sounding old radio in my office. It sounds fabulous through the speakers on my computer.

What are your favorites stations broadcasting over the net?

2006-03-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

FREE BOOK!

Today's the last day to enter my blog contest. Anybody who responds to a post on my blog by midnight tonight, March 15, is automatically entered in a drawing -- the winner will receive their choice of any book in my backlist (or if the lucky winner wants to wait until LIGHT THE STARS is out, that can be arranged too!).

Respond early and respond often :)

2006-03-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

INSPIRATIONAL WORDS OF THE DAY ...

Family Circle is not my favorite magazine but I got a free subscription when we built our new house and signed up again for our satellite TV service. The April issue had some fabulous quotes -- I've cut out the whole page and I'm going to put it in my office but I thought I would share. I need the inspiration from every one of these ...

"Anything's possible if you've got enough nerve." -- J.K. Rowling

"If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big." -- Donald Trump

"If you force yourself to stretch a little, you will astonish yourself." -- Twyla Tharp

"Success is falling nine times and getting up ten" -- Jon Bon Jovi

"I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence I can reach for; perfection is God's business." -- Michael J. Fox

"High expectations are the key to everything." -- Sam Walton

Push yourself this week! Who knows what you can achieve :)

2006-03-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

My heart is grieving today.

I found out yesterday the 7 year old son of friends of ours passed away Saturday. Braxton Saunders was in my 8yo's class last year and they share many of the same therapists and doctors. Braxton had the sweetest smile, even as he struggled with more challenges than any child should have to endure.

This one hits far too close to home. The community of parents who have children with special needs is small and close here and each loss of one of these angels-on-earth is shared by us all.

Please keep Brandy and Kris Saunders in your prayers.

2006-03-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

Cute guy in a hard hat ...

My 2 year old loves to shower in his hard hat. Don't ask me why! Life is never boring with him around.

2006-03-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

I just finished LORD PERFECT by Loretta Chase. It was .... perfect! I loved the characters, loved the story, loved how absolutely right Benedict and Bathsheba were for each other. This is a fabulous book. I love every one of those Carsington men!

I so love sinking deep into a story like that, something that happens very rarely. I must confess to a little guilt as I finished the book when I should have been working. The 2yo fell asleep on the way home from the doctor (he's got an eye infection and apparently some kind of hemorrhage from it). He's still sleeping but the 8yo has early dismissal on Friday and will be home in fifteen minutes so now there's no time to get started with anything. I guess I'll have to work tonight.

2006-03-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

I went to a Mary Kay party last night.

My friend was throwing it and I couldn't come up with a good excuse to wiggle out, try as I might. I have to admit, it was fun to talk to my friends, have a facial, put on all the girly gunk and try out new makeup colors. But I'm afraid I'm a tough sell for your average Mary Kay consultant. I've been using the same basic stuff since I was about 13 (Cover Girl Clean Makeup in Natural Ivory, if you have to know!). While I've used some MK stuff before and liked it well enough, I'm just not the kind of person who can put twenty different things on my skin. I just don't have the patience for it, I'm afraid. I go slightly cross-eyed with boredom just blow drying my hair!

So the consultant, who was very nice and energetic, brings out the jumbo bag of product. The Have-it-All bag or something like that and it's $300. Only sixty dollars a month for five months. Gulp. All I could think about was the new AlphaSmart Neo I want, since my old 3000 is wearing out from overuse. For that much money, I can buy the Neo ($220!) and about three years worth of Cover Girl.

Off to the doctor now -- both the 8yo and the 2yo have colds. This a.m. the 2yo woke up with not only icky eyes but one that's got an acute red spot on it. :::sigh::: I spend half my life at my pediatrician's office ...

2006-03-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

PAPA, CAN YOU HEAR ME ...

My husband sent me this quote the other day. I love it and had to share ...

"All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that it all happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. If you can get so that you can give that to people, then you are a writer."

--Ernest Hemingway

2006-03-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

SNOW ON THE BEACH

I've been in Costa Rica the last few days. Sandy beaches, fringy palm trees swaying in the ocean breeze, waves gently lapping at the shore. Ahhh, Paradise.

Not really, alas. Physically, I'm still in my messy house in Utah with two out of three kids sniffly and cranky, laundry to do, and a miserable spring blizzard lashing snow against the window. But in my head, I'm on that beach sipping virgin piña coladas with a couple of my new best friends.

I'm plotting my next book, a Silhouette Intimate Moments. And, you guessed it, I'm tentatively setting it in a tropical location.

This is my favorite part of the whole writing process. It always seems like a miracle to me -- three days ago I was finishing my last project and panicking because I had nothing else in mind for a proposal that's already overdue. And then overnight, the characters appeared in my brain, poked me awake and said hello. They're still a little hazy, like ghosts that don't quite have full substance and form yet, but I can work with hazy! I love that I have a world of possibilities in front of me where I can take these characters. I imagine it's the same thing a sculptor thinks as she looks at a hunk of clay or an artist facing a blank canvas.

Anything is possible right now in the genesis of this story's little universe.

I'm waiting for the author copies of my 19th book, LIGHT THE STARS, for Silhouette Special Edition, which will be showing up in stores next month. It always amazes me when I leaf through the pages and realize this is something I created, completely out of my own mind. I never quite know how it happened, how something that started as just a tiny kernal of an idea became this tangible thing I can hold in my hands, these characters who seem absolutely real to me now. It's a heady, powerful thing!

So I'm now heading back to paradise. I'll let you know if I decide to come home!

WHAT I'M READING: Lord Perfect, by Loretta Chase. Loving it so far!

2006-03-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

Hi and welcome to the world of my tangled thoughts. I'm learning as I go, so please forgive any blog faux pas!

On one of the email loops I'm on, the subject of happiness has come up, specifically as it pertains to romance readers and writers, and I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Are we necessarily happier than those literary folks who can't seem to abide a satisfactory ending to a book? Those who worship novels of gloom and despair?

I have to think the answer is yes, as a whole (okay, I know some romance writers who drive me crazy with their negativism so this might be a sweeping generalization. But I'm sticking to it!). Romance novels are about hope, about joy, about affirmation of all the things that make life wonderful. Certainly our books have pain and suffering and angst in them. But they're ultimately about triumphing over those hardships (or sometimes just learning to accept them) in order to find joy. A belief in a happy ending is faith that we can wade through the muck we all must face to reach the prize.

I believe I'm a pretty happy person. Sure, I have moments of self-doubt, moments of grief, moments of worry and stress. But then I remind myself how incredibly blessed I am to be living a life I dreamed about for so long. I have three wondeful kids, a husband I adore, and a career I (mostly) enjoy.

One of my favorite country songs is Darryl Worley's song "Awful Beautiful Life" The refrain says it all. "I love this crazy, tragic. Sometimes almost magic. Awful, beautiful life."

That's what life is about. Pain and tragedy. Magic and beauty. It's all one crazy, jumbled package.

And I love it!