At the time that I’m writing this blog, I’m sitting on Lora Leigh’s couch in my jammies, surrounded by a menagerie of dogs and cats. Yesterday was Lora’s Book Club meeting in Hagerstown, MD and I had a great time!

Approximately forty readers attended. The meeting began with sandwiches, chips, sodas, and conversation. I knew and recognized some of the readers who’ve previously attended one of Lora’s Reader Appreciation Weekends. We talked about covers, writing, choosing cover models, real-life inspiration, the genesis of a story, writing multiple genres… and so much more.

For me, this face time with other readers is so important, as both a reader and as a writer. It’s fun to share a love of something with like-minded people. That’s not to say that we agree on everything (for example we talked about novellas and how some readers love them and some readers don’t), but being able to look at a topic from so many different angles is invigorating. It’s also valuable.

A couple of bigger topics we discussed were what impact romance novels have on younger women who read them. What responsibility does an author have–if any–to portray heroines as strong, capable, smart, and sexually empowered? Do the heroines we write about reflect the strength of character and confidence that we’d like our daughters to have? And what about young men? Can they take something positive away from reading romance novels? Are we writing the type of heroes we’d like men to emulate? It was great, thought-provoking stuff.

I don’t know of any book clubs in my area, but I’d love to find one. In the meantime, what are your thoughts on some of the topics we touched on? Are you a member of a book club where you live?

Two commenters will win a copy of my new contemporary digital novella, ALL REVVED UP, in their choice of format.

Happy Monday!

No golden statues here, but we are giving out a host of prizes to our readers and commenters!

SiNn, commenter #8, is the winner of a $10.00 gift certificate to her favorite online bookstore! Contact Deb at debraewebb@aol.com for details!

Jen’s winner of the $15.00 Starbucks gift card is B.E. Sanderson. Congrats B.E.! Email Jen at Jenapodaca@aol.com with your mailing address.

The winner of a signed copy of AFTERTIME is Shanae Russell, commenter #4.  Please email your mailing address to Sophie at sophie@sophielittlefield.com.

Commenter #21 . . . . Miranda! You’re the winner of the $25.00 gift
certificate to the online bookseller of your choice. Please email
allison@allisonbrennan.com with your email address where you can receive
the certificate. Congratulations!

Congratulations MicheleKS (commenter #2) who won a signed copy of UNFORGIVABLE on Laura Griffin’s blog Friday! Please email laura@lauragriffin.com with your address.

Time to place your bets. What are your Oscar predictions this year? If you’re like me, you haven’t managed to make it to every single one of the nominated movies. But even if you’ve only seen a handful, it’s still fun to watch the awards, see everyone in their finery, and get caught up in the drama of it all.

As a former Chicagoan, my favorite film critic is Roger Ebert, so I hopped onto his Web site to check out the full list of nominations. And athough I remember this change being made, I was startled to see so MANY nominees for best picture. In case you’ve been living under a rock (or have other things to do besides follow Hollywood news and fawn over celebrities) here are the nominees: Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King’s Speech, 127 Hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, and Winter’s Bone.

Now, I think I may have seen 10 movies this year, but since a bunch of them were animated, my list does not exactly line up with this one. Maybe that says something about my taste in movies. But not having seen a film will not stop me from predicting its fate! I am going to go with The King’s Speech for best picture, mainly because I hear the other frontrunner is Black Swan and I know far too many people who saw that film and had a very lukewarm reaction.

As for Best Actor, I’m also going with Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) although I was very impressed with Jesse Eisenberg in the Facebook movie. For Best Actress, there are some big names nominated (Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman, Jennifer Lawrence, Annette Bening, and Michelle Williams) and in this particular category I am guessing Natalie Portman. What do you think?

For Best Supporting Actor, I would love to see Christian Bale win for his role as the druggie brother in The Fighter, but I also really enjoyed Jeremy Renner as the bad boy sidekick in the movie, The Town.

Of all the categories, I think Best Supporting Actress will be most interesting this year. I am hoping for 15-year-old Hailee Steinfeld who blew me away in True Grit. Also impressive was Amy Adams as Mark Wahlberg’s tough girlfriend in The Fighter. A friend of mine swears the award will go to Helena Bonham Carter from The King’s Speech (are you seeing a trend here? That movie is getting lots of buzz, and I’m glad because I’m a fan of old Colin.)

One part of the show I always look forward to (no, not the lame introductions) is the musical performances. I will never forget Alison Krauss performing two songs from the Cold Mountain soundtrack. This year’s performers include Randy Newman and Gwenyth Paltrow. I’m not sure how exciting that will be, but we’ll see. Let’s at least hope they can remember the words to their songs.

One thing I know will be fun is hearing all the snarky comments about everyone’s clothes as they grace the red carpet. Who do you think will have the best dress? Or even more fun, the worst?

Make an Oscar prediction and be eligible to win a signed copy of my latest release, UNFORGIVABLE! And FYI, the awards will be broadcast at 8 p.m. ET and 5 p.m PT Sunday on ABC, with Anne Hathoway and James Franco hosting.

Three times in two days I’ve been asked who would play my characters in a movie. I have a few I absolutely know–like Timothy Olyphant as Sheriff Nick Thomas in SPEAK NO EVIL. Or Timothy Olyphant as the sociopath Theodore Glenn in KILLING FEAR. Or Timothy Olyphant as Sheriff Tyler McBride in TEMPTING EVIL. Or . . . well, he can pretty much play any character he wants to Yes, I’m a bit obsessed.

Timothy Olyphant as hero:

(BTW, JUSTIFIED is the best show out there today–just FYI if you haven’t seen it! It’s on F/X. Wednesdays at 10 pm)

Someday, I would love to go through all my characters (villains and heroes and heroines) and decide who I think would be best at portraying them. But it would take me all night . . . and then some! So I decided to focus tonight on the main characters in the Lucy Kincaid series.

I could see Lucy as a television series more than on the big screen, because there are so many plot possibilities to “stand alone” even under the arc of the first book, LOVE ME TO DEATH. So if I was casting her series, here are some of the actors I would look at:

Lucy Kincaid
Lucy is a survivor, older than her years, Cuban-American, and very serious. She’s also smart, athletic, and prone to panic attacks that she hides from her family. She’s compassionate and resourceful. She’s lost her ability to relax and have fun, without serious prompting.

I had no one in mind, until I started watching DETROIT 187 and then Natalie Martinez seemed to fit the bill. She’s not exactly how I picture Lucy, but I think she could get into her personality very well. However, her boobs may be too big.

Other actresses that came to mind: Evangeline Lilly (LOST) (except for the light eyes)

Or Rebecca Hall

Sean Rogan
Sean is a genius, can be lazy, a “reformed” bad boy/ladies man. He is a geek in many ways (he loves his gadgets) and he is probably too attached to his car (a black Mustang GT.) He has a love-hate relationship with law enforcement, hates bullies, fights for the underdog–even if it means breaking the law. He likes to have fun–his motto, “Work smart, play hard.”

Most of the actors I like for Sean are too serious . . . he’s Irish, dark hair and blue eyes. But these come to mind:

Milo Ventimiglia. Probably not buff enough, but I just adore him

Joshua Jackson. He can do serious and laugh.

Ryan Reynolds. Just . . . I don’t know. He has a great look, but might be TOO light.

Ian Somerhalder might be too serious, but he has a terrific look and smile and an edge I love. I could see him as Sean

And D.J. Cotrona, also from DETROIT 187. A great look, but maybe too short for Sean. He might actually work better for Patrick . . . though Patrick looks more Irish than the rest of his family.

Then there are the secondary characters for the series.

FBI Agent Noah Armstrong, a by-the-book former Air Force Raven who doesn’t like Sean because he’s a Rogan . . . and Noah has had run-ins with Rogan’s.

Maybe David Anders? I’ve loved him ever since ALIAS, and thought he was one of the best characters on HEROES.

And the head vigilante (not to give away any spoilers by naming him), maybe Dylan McDermott. Not a lead role, but absolutely pivotal and a potential scene stealer.

Kate Donovan, Lucy’s sister-in-law . . . how about January Jones?

And FBI Agent Suzanne Madeaux in KISS ME, KILL ME–early 30s, blonde, beautiful, with attitude, I think Kristen Bell would be perfect.

And remember . . . KISS ME, KILL ME, book two in the Lucy Kincaid series, went on sale Tuesday. My mom thinks it’s even better than LOVE ME TO DEATH. RT Book Reviews 4-1/2 star review said: “[A] riveting new series. … Lucy continues to be a fascinating and enticing character, and her ongoing development adds depth to an already rich brew of murder and mystery. Brennan rocks!”

So now, tell me . . . who do you think should play the Lucy? Sean? Noah? Kate? Patrick? Dillon? Anyone else? Let’s have some fun, share your thoughts (no spoilers!) and someone will win a $25 gift card to the bookstore of your choice.

Yesterday was release day for Allison and me – the day our latest books ventured out into the world.  Will you join me in a virtual toast to these two lovelies?

—– My agent warned me a long time ago that on the day my first book came out, I would go to the door, fling it open, step out onto the porch and…the world would not have changed much. The letter carrier would still be delivering mail. The clouds would still drift across the sky. The kids would still need to be fed and the dog would keep eating shoes and life would go on, pretty much as it always does, and it would be up to me to celebrate on the inside, remembering that I had accomplished something wonderful – I had written a book!

I’ve taken this to heart and every time a book comes out – AFTERTIME is my fourth – I spend some of the morning in reflection, remembering how lucky I am to do the work I love, and how my heartfelt effort can change the world in some good and meaningful way.

And then I take the rest of the day off

Leisure is not something that I’m very good at. I find it hard to step away from the desk, even harder to “do nothing” even in lovely places like beaches and parks and outdoor cafes. But with a very little effort I was able to come up with a perfect to-do list for a day away from writing. I managed to fit in several of my favorite things – and I took pictures so I could share them with you!

First things first: the day dawned bright and sunny, after a week of nearly non-stop rain. And as you can tell from the picture I took while running errands, the cherry blossoms are out. So the first thing I did was to take a walk and really drink in the beauty of Northern California.

Next stop was my favorite meal of all, a burger and yummy salty fries. I love In’n'Out as much as anyone but my release day treat is a Nations burger – and a giant Diet Coke. (I “gave up” Diet Coke almost exactly a year ago with Toni, but over time that sort of turned into a twice-a-week habit, rather than a 64-ouncer every single day. Progress, not perfection!)

While I ate lunch, I read a book – not just any book, though, one pulled from my “when I have a chance” pile. There are so many books that I “should” read for one reason or another, that it’s a real treat to read an old favorite author for no reason other than I was in the mood.

Next stop – the movies! To me there is nothing more decadent than a matinee in the middle of a weekday. I went by myself, and the choice was obvious – don’t you agree that Liam Neeson is the ultimate umm-numm-numm for grown-up ladies? And “Unknown” was a pretty good thriller, to boot.

After that my day was a little more structured, but no less wonderful. I got to go to a music lesson with a brand-new driver at the wheel, and then I watched a scrimmage of the high school varsity lacrosse team – Go Wolves! Especially that darling number 60!

All in all, it was a perfect day off. How about you? How do you spend “me” time? One commenter will receive a signed copy of AFTERTIME!