Please welcome my friend Misa Ramirez. For a short time, we were in the same critique group here in Sacramento. We have a lot in common! Five kids, lived in Elk Grove (she moved to Texas!), and a love of writing. I was very lucky to read her debut novel, LIVING THE VIDA LOLA, a terrific mystery and fun romantic mystery set in Sacramento. It was also the book she was working on while in our crit group! How fun is that? Please welcome Misa!

I’m a minimal plotter. I get a nugget of an idea and run with it, seeing where it takes me and my story.

This is true whether I’m writing my Lola Cruz Mysteries, my new Magical Dressmaking Mystery series, or my romantic suspenses (A Deadly Curse, available now, or A Deadly Sacrifice, coming in May). My ideas usually stem from something I’ve read, heard about , or have in my memory banks. From there, it develops, often requiring research to flesh it out.

This was especially true when it came to writing A Deadly Curse. It’s based on the legend of la Llorona. As an aside, I’d written this book in its current form, but because of my other mysteries, I thought about restructuring it to be more of a mystery with a little quirk. I discussed it with Alex Sokoloff when we were at a retreat in South Carolina, and boy, oh boy, she did not like the light treatment of the legend of la Llorona! I remember feeling like I’d been scolded for not taking a legend seriously, when in fact I had already taken it very seriously and written about it. But she was right, ad I went back to the original book, tightening it and making it even darker, respecting the legend(s) and all they represent. It was definitely the right decision. Gracias, Alex, for sending me back to my original manuscript!

Back to La Llorona. My husband, Carlos, grew up hearing the story. His parents, tias, and tios, and every other adult around, would tell the kids the story. Their purpose? To frighten them enough so they wouldn’t wander off alone. La Llorona was the Mexican boogyman.

I first learned about the legend of the crying woman after I met Carlos (we’ve now been married 20 years and have five children, so la Llorona has been part of my consciousness for a long time). We’d go camping with his brothers and sisters and their spouses, sit around the campfire, and invariably, the stories would begin. Before long, a low, haunting sound would float through the air. La Llorona. It was as if the ghost was right there, her wails coming from the banks of the river through the trees.

It didn’t take long to figure out that it was my husband making the haunting sounds, but the legend itself was spooky and stayed with me from the first time I heard the story. A woman kills her children by drowning them in the river. After she realizes what she’s done, she drowns herself. Legend has it that the woman has been haunting riverbanks ever since, looking for her children. Kids are warned to stay away from the rivers so la Llorona doesn’t steel them, thinking they are hers.

Creepy.

Yet fascinating.

When I began plotting A Deadly Curse, I needed to learn more about la Llorona. Why did she drown her children? That, I figured, would inspire my plot. Little did I know that the legend of la Llorona was far more complex than I’d ever imagined.

What I learned was that there are actually four different stories behind the legend. My husband’s family knew only one of them. Everyone I’ve talked to since then has only known one, or possibly two different versions. No one has known all four of the stories.

The woman in each story was called something different:

La Ramera (the harlot)

La Bruja (the witch)

La Virgin (the virgin)

La Sirena (the siren)

Needless to say, learning about the four different stories set my plot in a new direction. The knowledge created new opportunities and obstacles for my characters, and I couldn’t have done a better job if I’d painstakingly plotted. Research opens doors for me, taking my stories in fascinating directions I couldn’t have created if I’d tried. The uncertainty and reveals during the process makes writing that much more interesting, albeit nerve-wracking, for me. I always have a roadmap, so I know where I’m going to end up, but f I don’t always know the exact route I’ll take to get there. And if I don’t know exactly where the story is going, I can’t leave an subconscious trail of breadcrumbs for the reader.

In my opinion, a great book is most often the result of clever and tight plotting, combined with discoveries made by the author during his/her writing process.

As readers, do you find some books to have too clear a path to follow and does that spoil the read? Conversely, do you find that some books ramble, going in too many directions, leaving you wondering if there was a roadmap at all?

Misa Ramirez, who also writes under the pseudonym Melissa Bourbon, can be found online at:

Stripping down characters on The Naked Hero, giving away free books at Books on the House writing about Killer Characters, and contributing to The Writer’s Guide to ePublishing.

She’s on Facebook and Twitter

She’s the marketing director for Entangled Publishing, teaches creative writing at Southern Methodist University-Cape, and teaches online with Savvy Authors.

A Deadly Curse at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

It’s May! (almost) And that means there are some fabulous MSW books heading to bookstores…

Blood Law by Karin Tabke

A captivating paranormal from a rising voice in erotic romance.

As undisputed Alpha, Rafael must choose a life mate to preserve the dominance of his Lycan pack. He never suspected his mate would be a human, the same wounded girl-woman he seduced from the brink of death.

Falon is a dangerous combination of Lycan and Slayer-bred to destroy his kind. She’s also a mesmerizing beauty whose sensuality tempts the warrior to take risks. Surrendering to their primal heat could destroy them both…for a vengeful foe awaits to take what is rightfully his by Blood Law.

Damaged by Debra Webb

It was supposed to be a simple assignment—follow a woman. As an operative with the elite team of Equalizers, Dakota Garrett had faced hell and lived. So why was he left with dead bodies, a kidnap victim and a damsel in distress?

Wannabe Colby agent Lucky Malone was in over her head. Only the dark stranger could save her and her kidnapped boss. But like Lucky, Dakota had demons that haunted him, a past that shadowed him. And this case forced him to face his biggest fear. Lucky would give anything to help the man she’d come to love, but her fate was in Dakota’s hands. Could he play the role he’d always avoided—hero?

Face of Danger by Roxanne St. Claire

Private investigator Vivi Angelino loves living life on the edge, but stepping into the shoes of a movie starlet to bait a serial killer isn’t just a thrill . . . it’s a ticket to the big time for her fledgling security firm. That is, as long as a certain risk-averse FBI agent stays out of her way-and out of her fantasies.

Assistant Special Agent in Charge Colton Lang isn’t above using his well-worn rulebook to stop Vivi’s latest walk on the wild side. But when they learn her client is involved in something far more insidious than bad acting, Vivi and Colt must work together despite the electrifying attraction arcing between them. For each new clue is bringing them closer to a high-profile crime with a dark and deadly truth at its core . . . and a cold, calculating murderer with nothing left to lose.

Raising Kane by Lorelei James

When a patch of ice sends attorney Ginger Paulson head-over-high-heels down a flight of stairs, she has no one to care for her young son and her invalid father—until lethally sexy Kane McKay shows up at the hospital, determined to prove his cowboy chivalry. Past experience has inoculated her against take-charge men, but even Ginger isn’t immune to Kane’s invasive charm and Built Ford Tough body.

For two years rancher Kane McKay has followed the Little Buddies mentoring program’s cardinal rule—hands off his Little Buddy Hayden’s mama. But one look at Ginger’s bruised body and Kane is through watching the stubborn woman take care of everyone but herself. The feisty, curvy redhead needs his help, and he’ll give her the hands-on type whether she likes it or not.

After Kane throws out doctor’s orders and issues his own demands—her full sexual submission—Ginger realizes Kane’s caring nature extends beyond just fulfilling her physical needs.

Can the former hell-raiser convince the gun-shy single mom to look beyond his past…toward a shared future?

Person of Interest by Debra Webb

Performing facial reconstruction surgeries for the CIA, Dr. Elizabeth Cameron provided new identities for agents whose covers had been blown. But someone wanted one in particular dead–and now she was in jeopardy.

Her only hope rested on the too-broad shoulders of Agent Joe Hennessy–the one man she swore never to set eyes on again.

Suddenly it became clear that Elizabeth was the pawn in a treasonous conspiracy–and as the danger around her escalated, she could no longer resist her sexy protector…

 Please give a warm MSW welcome to my very dear friend and debut author: Virna DePaul!

First, thank you to Karin for having me as a guest on Murder She Writes!  I’m excited to share some good news — even as I prepare for the launch of my debut novel, Chosen By Blood (A Para-Ops Novel), which releases on May 3, 2011, I’ve just learned I’ve sold what will be my seventh contracted book.  I’m writing paranormal romantic suspense for Berkley, and contemporary romantic suspense for Harlequin’s category line (Harlequin Romantic Suspense) and single title line (HQN).  My dream of being a published writer is really coming true…

But who knew it would be such work!?  I mean, it’s a dream, and yet there’s first drafts, revisions, and deadlines; copy edits and galley edits; marketing, promo and networking; balancing work with family, making ends meet, and keeping perspective.  Is all this really what I signed up for?

In short, yes.  It’s a dream, but it’s not easy.  So what?  Would I really appreciate how lucky I am if I didn’t work for what I want most? 

My favorite piece of advice for aspiring writers is this: be willing to be uncomfortable. For most of us, the “bad” is going to be there.  It just is.  You’ll experience it and you’ll recognize the “good” because of it.  For me, publication has been a journey of contrasts and contradictions.  And of course, since most everything in life is, I really shouldn’t have expected anything different. 

In Chosen By Blood, I explore issues like war and racism, but I also tangle with perilous situations involving desire and love and loyalty.  Here’s the blurb:

United by fate. Bound by desire.

Five years after the Second Civil War ends, humans and Otherborn— humanlike creatures with superhuman DNA—still struggle for peace. To ensure the continued rights of both, the FBI forms a Para-Ops team with a unique set of skills.

Leader of an Otherborn clan, half-breed vampire Knox Devereaux would do anything to find a cure for the anti-vamp vaccine slowly starving his people into extinction. When the FBI contacts him about leading a team of hand-selected Others on a mission to reclaim the stolen antidote, Knox accepts. His new assignment places him in direct contact with Special Agent Felicia Locke, the beautiful human he’s craved since their very first meeting.

I can’t believe the book is almost out!  I’m so excited, but scared out of my mind, too.  See, the contrasts never stop.

Other examples?  As I plan my very first launch party ever, I want a fun, casual event that’s still pretty and classy and special.  I want to celebrate my accomplishments with those I love but at the same time disappear into the woodwork and be anything but the center of attention. I write to express myself but also learn who I am.  Each word, each story, is a discovery.  Publication is the challenge, the outlet, the hurdle.  Being a “writer” is both pleasure and pain.  In short, life’s good and bad and everything in between and none of it would mean anything without the other.

 Those who know me probably think I’m nice.  Sweet even.  I can be, but I sure can be sour, too.  I’m a bundle of contradictions—shy but sexual, giving but stubborn and selfish, compulsive but a slob, ambitious but lazy.   And my favorite?  Amazingly average but sometimes surprisingly unpredictable, even to myself.  I write about murder and suspense but also emotion and romance.  I’m a lawyer who prosecuted criminal cases by day and let herself be swept away by HEAs morning, noon and night.  I believe in soul mates, true love, and crazy passion just as much as I believe marriage is hard work and that every couple should participate in counseling before things start to go wrong.

So that’s me.  A big, jumbled mess of emotions and intentions and action.  My stories, however, though layered, are far more tidy.  Character, conflict and arc all within 380 plus pages.  It’s far simpler than real life.  It’s fiction.  It’s entertainment.  It’s what keeps many of us sane!

I hope you’ll give my stories a try! I know many (if not all) of the authors on Murder She Writes have something in common with myself–We write about murder, but as a contrast to what we most believe in — the goodness of mankind and the triumph of love over evil.  Contrast and contradictions—accept and celebrate them! 

I’m giving away a Para-Ops tote filled with some special contrasting items to one commenter!  Dark, milk and white chocolate, a Para-Ops mug, sunglasses, and my e-books, A Vampire’s Salvation, a paranormal vampire novella, This Magic Moment, a contemporary romance, and my craft book with Tawny Weber, Love Writing: A Guide To Writing and Getting Your Romance Novel Published (Without Losing Your Perspective, Passion Or Sanity). 

Virna DePaul is a former criminal prosecutor who writes paranormal romantic suspense for Berkley (Chosen By Blood (5/11) Chosen By Fate (10/11)), and contemporary romantic suspense for Harlequin Romantic Suspense (Dangerous To Her (9/11)) and HQN (series launching in 4/12).  Please visit her at www.virnadepaul.com 

Excerpt from Chosen By Blood:

 Special Agent Felicia Locke knew the minute she saw the willowy dharmire that there was going to be trouble. She’d chosen the bar because it was as far from Pennsylvania Avenue and the J. Edgar Hoover Building as one could get and still be in Washington, D.C. With its spray-painted façade, dim lights, and ramshackle assortment of tables and chairs, the Black Hole was also light-years away from what a typical federal agent would consider reputable, let alone palatable. In its favor was the fact it served the best brandy in the state, strong and undiluted. That and some privacy was all Felicia wanted.

She’d just locked her car and was walking toward the bar’s back entrance when a dharmire, who couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old, stumbled around the corner of the building and into view. Felicia immediately recognized the female as half-Other; although she had a vampire’s silver hair and black eyes, her skin was sun-toasted, just a shade lighter than a graham cracker. She clung to the arm of a stocky man with no neck, squinty eyes, and slicked-back hair. The man pushed her against the side of the building and covered her slim body with his own.

Felicia’s prediction of trouble formed not because the man was ugly, but because he was unkempt and, considering the foul things he was saying, obviously uncouth. She’d never met a vamp who’d willingly suffer the company of someone so appallingly unrefined. It would be like asking one to wear jeans or, God forbid, drive a beat-up old truck down a public highway. As a rule, vamps didn’t do casual or tacky. Even so, she tried telling herself that maybe the girl just looked young. There was no accounting for poor taste, after all. But the closer she got, the more apparent it became that the dharmire was under the influence. Her silver pupils were dilated and glassy, and she appeared to cling to the man out of necessity rather than affection.

The man shifted to the side just as Felicia walked within ten feet of them. She saw the fine gold chain and pendant around the dharmire’s neck—a smaller, more feminine version of the one Knox wore and an exact replica of the one Noella had worn all her life. The same pendant Felicia’s best friend had been wearing on the day she’d died, a gaping hole in her chest where her heart had once been.

Felicia came to an abrupt stop and blinked her eyes several times to make sure she wasn’t imagining it. But no, it was real and it was a real bitch of a sign. Noella had died exactly one year ago today and it couldn’t be coincidence that, before Felicia even had a chance to get rip-roaring drunk while avoiding Knox at the same time, a female appeared who was from Noella’s clan—Knox’s clan—and in obvious need of help.

Thoughts of Knox assailed her. Had Kyle Mahone gotten in touch with him? She’d been fully briefed on the Bureau’s plan to add a new team to the FBI’s elite, super-SWAT group referred to as the HRT, Hope Restored Team. She knew that team was the crucial step toward stabilizing relations between humans and the Otherborn races they’d once fought. And despite her preference to stay as separated from Knox as possible, she knew he was the right choice to lead it. Most civilians craved peace now, but it was a constant, often bloody battle given the insurgents, humans and Others alike, that resisted.

On the other hand, Felicia thought, still staring at the man and the dharmire . . . There would always be individuals who just naturally preyed on those weaker than themselves.

Okay, okay. Message received.

No rest for the wicked.

I have a confession.

I love television more than the movies.

I never knew why until I started writing this blog tonight and realized that I also love reading a book series more than a stand alone.

Sure, on occasion there is an amazing movie that transcends the plethora of so-so productions. THE DEPARTED, for example. Or INCEPTION. Or CASABLANCA, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, and THE SIXTH SENSE. But more often than note, the movie is “good” but rarely “great.” (Had THE MATRIX or PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN ended after the first spectacular movie, I would have included them in outstanding feature films.)

There have been many great films produced throughout the years, but when you have one stand alone movie that’s it. It’s over. It has to be amazing, awesome, want-to-see-again thrills. The same thing goes for books. There are many great stand alone books that I count among my favorites: THE STAND by Stephen King; REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier; WELCOME TO TEMPTATION by Jennifer Crusie; and several of Nora Roberts big summer stand alones. (My mom just finished CHASING FIRE and thought it’s one of her best to date–how DOES that woman keep getting better after so many books? Amazing.)

But as I was glancing at my shelves of keepers, trying to find stand alone titles that are my faves, I realized that most of my favorites are because of a character in a series. Robert Crais’s Joe Pike. Michael Connelly’s Mickey Haller. J.D. Robb’s Eve and Roarke. Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli & Isles. Lisa Gardner’s D.D. Warren (and of course Quinn and Rainey!). My shelves are full of series. Karin Slaughter. Ridley Pearson. Even my favorite of Dean Koontz’s books are part of a series– the Odd Thomas books.

You might say most romances are stand-alones, and in one sense they are–the reader follows one couple who has an HEA by the end of the book. But even in romance, writers tap into the human need of connection–writing trilogies or connected series with recurring characters. We (the readers) don’t want to let them go. I get more email about what’s going to happen with Patrick Kincaid, a recurring character who hasn’t had his own book than I do with simple, “When’s your next book coming out?” Our own Rocki has created two amazing worlds with first her Bulletcatcher series, and now her Guardian Angelinos. Different heroes and heroines in each stories, but within the same world so you can follow them over multiple books.

Maybe it’s just me, I don’t know. But I equate my love of series characters with my preference of television to the movies.

With t.v., the viewer doesn’t have to have a complete “story” in the macro sense. Yes, we need a resolution to the immediate one-hour situation, but we know we’ll be visiting the characters again next week. We look forward to finding out what’s happening, even against the backdrop of whatever genre we’re watching.

Some television shows have limited character growth. Most of the crime shows are limited in this scope. Though I love LAW & ORDER: SVU and over umpteen seasons Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler have grown as characters, but the show is primarily about the one hour story, not the characters who populate it. In this regard, it’s the one exception in my television preferences. I’ve given up on CSI and CRIMINAL MINDS and many other shows because there was little to no character growth–or if there was, it was a sudden change necessitated by a cool plot in one or two shows.

When I first seriously started writing, I had three kids and worked full-time. The only way I could make the time to write was to give up television. I did–for three years. Television had become a habit, because there was a lot of crap on. The early 21st century hadn’t yet seen the explosive growth of cable television series. The good shows (like DEADWOOD) were on paid television, which I didn’t subscribe to. I found that series on DVD. Or they weren’t promoted or supported (like FIREFLY) which I discovered only after I saw the movie SERENITY.

When I started watching television again, I did it first by watching a complete season on DVD. I’d missed a lot in giving up the tube for three years, that I needed to catch up on what was popular. I watched VERONICA MARS on DVD with my teenage daughters and LOST and DEADWOOD with my husband. I fell in love with television all over again, but on my terms.

When I got my Apple TV and started downloading seasons from iTunes, I realized there was still a lot of crap out there — but cable was coming into its own. I discovered LIFE (thanks Toni!) which unfortunately was cut short to only two seasons by short-sighted television executives who didn’t know a good thing–oh, wait, LIFE was NBC. Network. No duh, they were making a lot of crap, no wonder they didn’t see a good thing! And JUSTIFIED (FX), SUPERNATURAL (W/B) and now THE KILLING (AMC). And more.

What do all these shows have in common? Character. Not only characters, but characters who matter. Characters who are flawed. Characters who screw up and do the wrong thing for the right reasons or the right thing for the wrong reasons. Characters who are growing and changing in each and every episode. Characters we connect with. And one more critical factor: story.

You can’t have a solid series, even with great characters, even with Timothy Olyphant, without the backbone of a good story.

Nothing stood out more clearly to me than the blend of story and character than when I saw LUTHER.

Philadelphia Inquirer reviewer Johnathan Storm summed it up best:

“With the tormented Luther, it’s sometimes tough even to identify who is the cat and who is the mouse. Writing and acting come together to produce characters, more than stories, who are powerful, surprising, ambiguous, and all that other stuff.”

While I disagree that it is the character MORE than the story, I think that because the characters were so real that they BECAME the story. It was seamless.

LUTHER is a BBC show that I would never have discovered if not for my cousin Ginny mentioning it when I was visiting her and my great-aunt. So thank you Ginny!

LUTHER best illustrates my point because it is a limited mini-series. Six episodes (though I read they are producing two two-hour episodes for later this year) that have a complete story arc within the episode, and a continuing (and complete) story arc over the six-episode season.

Maybe Matt Roush with TV Guide is more succinct:

“This bold British import is among the best TV I’ve seen in a mediocre (on network TV, anyway) fall season. Fast-paced, constantly surprising and darkly entertaining, Luther is about as far as you can get from a cookie-cutter procedural.”

I wouldn’t say that LUTHER is better than JUSTIFIED … it’s different. I went into the series knowing it would end in six episodes (it was only later I discovered the two future shows.) It hooked me from the beginning, when Luther is chasing a child predator who had molested and killed many young girls. He’d left one of his victims in a box and she would die if Luther couldn’t get the bastard to talk. Luther chases him and the killer falls and is hanging precariously off the edge of a catwalk. Luther stands over him and demands to know where the girl is. He knows that the killer will not tell him if he’s safe, so he lets him hang. And keeps him hanging until he knows the girl has been found and is alive.

And keeps him hanging a beat longer. Another beat.

He falls.

Brilliant, daring television.

LUTHER isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t have to be. What it must do, and does better than most shows I’ve seen, is draw the viewer into the lives of not only the main character but the people who surround him. Alice Morgan, the brilliant sociopath who John Luther knows killed her parents but can’t prove it, is the mouse to his cat . . . or is it the other way around? (Honestly, she is better than Hannibal Lechter. Just as smart, but subtle.) And Luther’s estranged wife (no, I didn’t like her any more than I like Winona in JUSTIFIED) was perfectly played (for a weak-willed don’t-know-what-I-want female who did, fortunately, redeem herself in the end.) His partner Justin Ripley, a rookie I adored–young, idealistic, with a conscience that both supported Luther and criticized him when warranted. He played by the rules, but at the same time believed in his senior partner. And Ian Reed, Luther’s best friend and staunchest supporter and . . . more. I don’t want to give anything away.

And while Idris Elba as John Luther was the core of the show, it only worked because everyone rose to the challenge. The writing was sharp, the acting top-notch, the stories psychologically terrifying and interesting, and the character development deep and real.

Perfect? No. But without watching it again, I wouldn’t be able to point to the flaws. As an American, some of the British rules were a bit different. Cops don’t all carry guns, for example. And sometimes they talked so fast that, with their accents, I couldn’t quite understand everything they said. But I got the gist, and didn’t need sub-titles

What I loved most of all, however, was the relationships. Between Luther and his estranged wife, Zoey. Luther and Alice. Luther and Ian Reed. Luther and his partner. Luther and his boss. And how they all interacted. How each episode stood alone, but built the foundation for the last two episodes.

Writers, mark this down as the next series you watch. Less than six hours of time, it’s worth it. Crime show fans? Mark this down as a thrill ride with great characters you won’t want to end.

After watching LUTHER, I knew exactly why I preferred series to stand-alones, and television to movies. Character depth and growth against the backdrop of a great story.

It just doesn’t get any better than that.

So tell me — what television series stood out so much that it reignited your love of t.v.? What book series is a must read as soon as the book comes out?

As an aside . . . this weekend we’re starting a new hopefully monthly feature of guest bloggers. So come visit us on Saturday and say hi to my friend Misa Ramirez!

I’m cheating today…I’m so so so behind on my current project, it ain’t funny, I feel my editor looking over my shoulder impatiently tapping the calendar, I’m getting “what the hell is the book about?” emails from fans, the jacket copy isn’t done, hell, the book isn’t done…so today, all my creative energy needs to go into the project, rather than penning a stunningly poignant/funny/inspiring blog post — snort — okay, on my very best days my blog posts don’t fall into any of those categories.

My 9th Rough Riders title, RAISING KANE, releases in print next Tuesday, May 3rd!!! And since that’s not my blog day, well, hello Lorelei James pimpage on April 27th instead. Lucky you, eh?

Here’s another fabulous cover that the hugely talented Scott Carpenter at Samhain created for me:

Oh, and a description of the book? Why, I’m so glad you asked!

RAISING KANE — Rough Riders Book 9 — Lorelei James — Samhain Publishing — May 3rd, 2011

She surrendered the reins. Now he’s raising the stakes.

When a patch of ice sends attorney Ginger Paulson head-over-high-heels down a flight of stairs, she has no one to care for her young son and her invalid father—until lethally sexy Kane McKay shows up at the hospital, determined to prove his cowboy chivalry. Past experience has inoculated her against take-charge men, but even Ginger isn’t immune to Kane’s invasive charm and Built Ford Tough body.

For two years rancher Kane McKay has followed the Little Buddies mentoring program’s cardinal rule—hands off his Little Buddy Hayden’s mama. But one look at Ginger’s bruised body and Kane is through watching the stubborn woman take care of everyone but herself. The feisty, curvy redhead needs his help, and he’ll give her the hands-on type whether she likes it or not.

After Kane throws out doctor’s orders and issues his own demands—her full sexual submission—Ginger realizes Kane’s caring nature extends beyond just fulfilling her physical needs.

Can the former hell-raiser convince the gun-shy single mom to look beyond his past…toward a shared future?

Warning: Contains one sweet and hot hunk of cowboy manflesh who uses every sexual trick in the book to render a sassy, fast-talking attorney speechless and put a new twist on the term “binding arbitration”.

I got a great review last week, from someone who read all of the Rough Riders books back to back — 10 plus a novella, plus a short story — and the review, well it was glowing. Which always makes this neurotic writer happy.

But……there’s always a but, isn’t here? She HATES my titles. I’m like…but they’re supposed to be quirky, funny, corny, country, cool…that’s the freakin’ point — they’re different, than say, oh, another book titled _____.

SO………..let’s have a contest. Tell me the book you loved with the worst title, and I will toss your comment into Kane’s cyber cowboy hat and give away a personally signed copy of RAISING KANE that I received last week.