Congratulations to Sabrina Shields and Rebecca Lord! They're my winners in the FRW Halloween Contest! Thank you to all who participated. I hope you had as much fun as the authors did!
Here's a photo of the prizes:
I also had a blast at the Murder on the Beach Mystery Bookstore on Halloween Night. Here's a few photos. :) Carol
I'm really excited about an upcoming road trip to Grand Tetons National Park, WY. I've been really fortunate to travel to amazing places during my lifetime along with fabulous photos, most on film/print. However, I got a photo scanner for my birthday so I plan on sharing my adventures and stories.
One of my fav places is Healdsburg, CA. I discovered it on my first trip to Napa Valley. My friend and I traveled over to Sonoma Valley. At one vineyard someone mentioned the beauty and wines of northern Sonoma so on impulse we drove up and explored Healdsburg. Not only did I love the beauty of the town but also I fell in love with Sephesio zinfandels. When we returned to the wine country last year we had to make the journey up there.
The town's population runs a little over 11,000. Three wine-producing regions (Russian River, Dry Creek and Alexander Valley AVA's) converge in Healdsburg. Towering redwoods ring the 19th century plaza. I love the shops and boutiques, especially the Powell's candy store with every treat imaginable from nostalgic to current favs. The wine tasting rooms are straight-forward and reasonable, but the one I have to visit is the one for the 100 year-old Seghesio winery. The first time I visited I tasted a peppery zinfandel that received a high ranking by Wine Spectator.
I hope you enjoy these photos of Healdsburg. :) Carol
When I was a girl scout we would gather around in a circle and sing:
Little did I truly comprehend at that young age the true scoop of friendship. After all, family is blood and those connections are complex, but ultimately a family's duty, loyalty, tolerance and love flows from being related.
A friend, however, can choose to walk away at any time and not look back. The connection is based on that mysterious karma of simply liking another person. A tenuous thread that could snap at any time or strengthen over the years. 
This fabric of my life is reflected in many of my books. The three law school friends in the Legal Weapons series who form a criminal defense law firm [Courting Danger, Courting Disaster, Courting Death]; Emma-Lee Dalton's relationship with her ailing college girlfriend in Chasing The Truth; and Gail Malloy's bond with Angela Rivera in Her Dark Protector. Although the women may differ on many things, they have each other's back. They listen, give comfort or a kick when needed. For them friendship is thicker than blood or water. 
It's almost an annual tradition, my receiving a jury summons. Once more I cooled my jets in the jury assembly room the entire day and was never called up on a panel.
However, during the lunch break, I took a few pictures as so many of my books have centered around downtown West Palm Beach. Years ago my office was in a buiding along Clematis Street, which is featured in both COURTING DANGER and COURTING DISASTER. I remembered all too clearly the smells emanating from the alley that ran behind the buildings on the north side of Clematis.
Here's a shot of the alley by the parking garage showcased in the first chapter of HER DARK PROTECTOR where Gail Malloy is in trouble when the mysterious Jason Hawke first appears.
I wrote in a frenzy to get COURTING DANGER out before the renovation of the old Palm Beach Courthouse was completed. Here's the outside of the restored building, which now serves as a museum, and the view from the balcony of the double-decker courtroom where the heroine Kate Rochelle hides during a climatic scene.
Weekly I play on a trivia team so obviously I love
information, from the well-known to the obscure. When developing the character of Jason Hawke,
the hero in HER DARK PROTECTOR, I wanted him to have a hobby that would reflect
his involvement in a secret justice society as well as reflect his wealth. I took a look at sports memorabilia and collecting
fighting implements, but then Jason ‘told’ me he preferred fighting with his
hands. Then I researched the world of
boxing. There’s quite a world of collectors,
from autographed photographs to fight worn gloves championship belts and
trophies.
Authors complete an art fact sheet to help the marketing and art deparments in placing the book and creating the cover. I've raved about Carina Press covers before as I loved the film noir quality of COURTING DISASTER and COURTING DEATH covers. However, to me the cover for HER DARK PROTECTOR is my best one ever. Did the Carina Press teams pay attention to the art fact sheet I submitted? You be the judge.
VISUAL
As I watch the Oscars, I think about the first movie I remember seeing. While I know I saw several Disney movies before, the one that first made an impact was the original 'King Kong'. I don't even recall how I managed to swing seeing it since I stayed up waaaaaay past my bedtime to finish watching it on the television.I'm blogging today about theme braiding and writing light bulb moments on Not Your Usual Suspects.
http://notyourusualsuspects.blogspot.com/2012/02/theme-braiding.html
:) Carol
I don't often post about the writing process as there are a lot of blogs with inciteful posts about writing. However, as I slide back into a writing frame of mind, working on a new book, I am aware of one different approach I use: sketching a book.
I already have an OneNotebook [electronic notebook] in process for HIS DARK GUARDIAN with GMC'S in process, research growing, etc. Over the weekend I curled up with sketch pad in hand and jotted notes. I started with one central plot idea in a corner and drew from there. Nothing has to make sense or be sequential as the sketch is not a chart. They're thoughts.
They may trigger notes to research; they may lead to taking a second look at a character. What they mean is the book starting to mesh together. I am a visual person and need to 'see' the ideas laid out. For a while I toyed with changing the hero's occupation but when I saw the fleshing of the theme, I knew I'd been right with the original decision.
My next step of the process is to draw columns for each major character and start listing various incidents and possible reactions to them. As I braid the events in the columns, the characters' themes emerge. In my latest release 'Her Dark Protector', the themes were justice is society's glue, law of the jungle, 'I am above the law', justice has failed. Depending on his/her theme, a character's going to take a certain action in response to a situation. Their reaction may cause another character to react, again in accordance to his/her theme, etc. :) Carol
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