Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins comes out today. It’s the third book in the acclaimed Hunger Games series. I’m excited to read it but also a little apprehensive. Like with any popular/famous series (Twilight, Harry Potter, etc.), there are so many expectations and hopes riding on that one lone last book. Yikes!

None of the bookstores around me did a midnight release party last night, which I think is a bummer. The midnight release party is my favorite new tradition. I’ve been to several of these over the years—mostly for Harry Potter books—and though I know it’s extra work and money for the bookstore, it’s really just such a cool idea.

First, because the other readers who are there at midnight are just as devoted to the books and excited as you are. So, it’s always fun to strike up a conversation with a stranger because you know you’ll have that in common.

Second, it adds that sense of an “event” to a book release. I mean, for those of us who write the books, release day is an event anyway—years of hard work coming to fruition on this one special day. So cool! But I like the idea of a party and special timing surrounding a book release—even someone else’s book—because it reinforces the idea that books are special, wonderful, and something to be excited about, you know? It’s not just movies that get the special midnight showings—books do, too!

Third, the kids love it. Remember being young and wanting so badly to stay up late because that’s when all the cool stuff happened? Also, I think there’s a bit of mind-blowing wonder when kids say to their parents, “I want to go out at midnight to get this thing I really, really want.” And the parents say, “Okay.” Yea for parents who support that love of reading…even if it is past bedtime!

One of my favorite memories is the first midnight book party I went to. It was for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I was just married, and my parents and my little sister came to visit. I found about the Books-A-Million midnight release party for HP4, and I told my parents I wanted to take my sister. She was eleven at the time. She was the one who’d introduced me to the Harry Potter series and told me I had to read them. She was right. : )

So, my sister, my new husband, and I piled in the car in our sweats/pjs and went over to the bookstore at 11:45 p.m. There were so many people out and about in the area, even though the rest of the shopping center was dark, and a definite buzz of excitement was in the air.

We got our copies of the book from a staff person, eagerly chatted with other buyers nearby while we waited in line, and generally had a blast. The store gave us “house” stickers, one for each of the Hogwarts’s houses so we could show our allegiance to our favorite. The cashier gave my sister her stickers, along with a set for “Dad and Mom,” meaning my husband and me. We accepted them without comment and laughed about it later with great delight that someone had mistaken us for parents and child. I was twenty-four at the time. (Now I’m thirty-four and she’s twenty-one, and I don’t find it nearly as funny when that happens!)

In short, it was a blast and a special memory for me. And I don’t want midnight book parties to stop just because Harry Potter is finished.

I realize it must be done in moderation or the midnight book party ceases to be special. But one or two a year for the books we’ve all been anxiously awaiting? Yeah, I think that’s just about right. : )

What do you guys think?

Hi everyone!

I just got back from doing something I haven’t done in just about five years. I went to the dentist. I know, I know! Five years?! I’m horrible, I admit it, but what can I say, life intervened.

At least life intervened the first couple of years, then fear got in the way the last few. I was certain I’d go to the dentist, have them take x-rays, only to discover I’ve got nine cavities need three root canals, and my gums look like something out of zombie horror movie.

And so I put it off. I started developing tooth hypochondria, where every little sensitive spot was a three hour torture session waiting to happen.

I put it off, and put it off some more. I made excuses. I haven’t got the time. I’d need to get a babysitter…. the list goes on and on.

Well today, I went to the dentist, and you know what? My teeth are fine!

All the fear, all the worry was for nothing.

I don’t know about you, but I do this all the time. I put things off and procrastinate because I’m terrified of bad news. Usually things work out, and the times when there was a problem, I found putting things off only made the problem exponentially worse. I always felt better when I pulled up my bootstraps and dealt with it.

So, if you are out there in writer land. Don’t put off finishing that book, because you’re afraid of what people will say when you do. Don’t put off getting it out there to editors and agents once you’re ready for that step. Do it! Sure, some part of the whole process might sting, but we’re never going to get anywhere if we don’t get out and do it.

Oh, and go to the dentist.

Happy reading everyone!

Jess

Winner announced in the comments! Thanks for participating.

I attended my first-ever RWA conference a few weeks back and pretty much had a ball. But I was tired when I came home. So tired. I had a week to catch up with my life and my writing before I was sequestered into the woods with 20+ family members and friends to a huge lakeside cabin with no Internet or TV. Now, I don’t generally watch much TV—that was one thing that had to go as I carved out time to write when I was working full-time. I keep up with the Kardashians through People magazine and online sources. But my Internet? That’s where I read local and national newspapers (yes, I’m contributing to the decline of print publications), hang with my writing friends, shop, blog and Tweet occasionally. I found it very difficult to relax in the sunshine, and actually snuck home twice to check my e-mail.

I’m glad I did get home, because the page proofs for Maggie Robinson’s novella Not Quite a Courtesan in Brava’s December release Lords of Passion arrived by Fed Ex. I worked on them during the vacation and sent them back like a good girl. And I also got a great review for Margaret Rowe’s Tempting Eden from Fresh Fiction. (to read it, click on the link) To celebrate the review and my return to civilization, I’ll give away a copy and some other goodies if you tell me what you’d miss most if you were in the woods incommunicado for a week!

Last week my book Power Struggle was released with Ellora’s Cave.

I truly never anticipated writing stories about BDSM when I started writing romance, but I’ve now written three. The first one, Sexpresso Night, was about a woman who entered into a D/s relationship with a man who was deliberately cruel, who used humiliation as a form of domination. Humiliation is one aspect of D/s that I will probably never include in my stories as a positive thing. In that story, Danya swore she’d never get involved with D/s again, but she finds herself unsatisfied with every relationship she has until she meets Carter. Of course he’s dominant but he’s a gentle, caring Dom and Danya finds her perfect match with him.

In the second BDSM book I wrote, Rigger, Shaela disapproves of BDSM even though her best friend Alek is into it. But she gets pulled into it when he asks her to model his Shibari bondage for the art photography book he is putting together, and she discovers her inner submissive.

In Power Struggle, I wanted to explore the D/s relationship from a different angle. In this story, Tori is an older woman (37 compared to Dev’s 29) and is a successful, powerful executive. At work, she has to be in control, but outside of work, in the bedroom, she likes to give up control. At her age, she’s had a few relationships, and most of them haven’t worked out because the men haven’t been able to deal with what she wants – to be dominated, bound, even hurt. She knows what she needs and she finds satisfaction with a play partner at Le Château, a BDSM club.

When she meets Dev, at first she dismisses his flirting because he’s younger. But the attraction between them is strong and she agrees to go out with him. When they sleep together, she sees how he likes to take charge in bed, and as they grow closer, she feels tempted to confess to him what she really wants. Dev’s not completely naïve, and he’s had what he considers dark fantasies about sex and bondage, but he’s never in his life hurt a woman, so this is shocking to him.

Power Struggle explores D/s as an experienced submissive falls in love with a dominant man who’s just learning about that side of himself, and explore the things they have to learn about themselves if they want to be together. I enjoy writing stories with the strong internal conflicts that BDSM can produce in the characters, and the journey of self-discovery the characters must take to find love and happiness.

Hey Everybody, I’m technically a day late but I’ve been a day late since returning from RWA last Sunday. Where I had a blast. For reals! It was great to catch up with all my friends and meet new ones! I came away pumped to write which I suppose is good because well, I’m in the thick of it with Declan’s book and working on revisions for the third Jaguar book…oy….all due in the next few weeks….

HOWEVER..

I have a new release this month from Samhain, BLACK DESTINY….

Here is the Blurb:

She will protect him at all costs, even if it means her life.

Undercover and on the run, Lily Black must protect the life of a hardened soldier. Alone on a desolate planet, separated from her sisters, she will make the ultimate sacrifice in order for him to live. She is a Black Opal and will do whatever it takes, including impersonating a man, to prevent her enemy, The New Order from assassinating the leader she’s sworn to protect.

Kerr Strome is a warrior with his back to the wall. His planet is in chaos, his life threatened at every turn. His enemies, The Serpentis are gathering and the only thing standing between the safe evacuation of his people and his enemy, are the elite soldiers he calls his own. Living in a lonely outpost there isn’t much to intrigue him, save for the newest addition to his team. A small fighter, known simply as Blackie.

As the two of them struggle to survive in a world gone mad, secrets are revealed and trust broken. They must learn to work together in order to claim a destiny just out of reach

This is the second in my time travel series for Samhain and I love it!

It’s on sale August 24th! I will be having a contest the week before it’s release so check my blog for details!

I also have a new cover to unveil! Weeeeeeeeeee! This is the cover for HIS DARKEST EMBRACE (click on this link for the blurb and first chapter!) the second book in my Jaguar Warrior series for Avon. It releases October 26th so put that on your calendar! What do you think? I am loving it…very different from a lot of the paranormal covers out there and that makes me happy!

So that’s about all that’s shaking in my world! There are some new releases I’m looking forward to. Among them, Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost, Water Bound by Christine Feehan, Deadly Fear by Cynthia Eden and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins….

what’s on your list?

Hi, everyone! I’m back from RWA and slowly recovering.

It was great to see everyone and to spend a good week talking books. I do so love books!

I posted my photos at my blog, but since so many of those pics feature the lovely Bradford ladies, I thought I’d post here, too.

If you went to RWA, what was your favorite part of the conference? (Other than the free books! My room-mate scored 157 books! Wow.)

First, an apology to all of you and to my fellow Bradford Bunch Ladies…I just realized that I missed my blogging day last month. It was in the middle of the book tour, and I just…flaked. I’m so sorry about that! It was a little bit crazy during those couple of weeks, and I should have made arrangements for someone to cover my day. Because, by that point, I was having trouble remembering what state I was in, let alone what day it was!

But I’m back now and things are slowly calming down. The book tour was AMAZING. My two main tour buddies were Kristen Tracy (A Field Guide for Heartbreakers) and Brent Crawford (Carter’s Big Break). They were fabulous, funny, and smart, and I’m so glad have had the chance to get to know them better.

If you haven’t already, definitely check out our videos from the tour to see the shenanigans we were up to while on the road. You can find them on the video section of the UnRequired Reading Facebook page.

(My favorites are the Luggage Saga Parts One and Two and the one where Brent “drinks” from the river–EW!)

Oh, and I should mention The Ghost and the Goth, my debut YA novel, is now available in stores! Can I just tell you how surreal it is to walk in and see it there with all the other books? I LOVE that. It never gets old!

In other news, I sent in the revised draft of the sequel to G&G in the wee hours of July 1, and we’re moving forward! The new title is Queen of the Dead (instead of Princess Poltergeist), and I hope to have cover art to share soon.

And finally, just a quick thank you to everyone out there who has read G&G and told a friend, blogged and/or tweeted about it. I really appreciate the support.

Until next time…which I PROMISE not to forget.

So my new series at Samhain is called Holding out for a Hero. I thought it would be a lot of fun to write a series about brothers who live in a small town that their ancestor founded. And each brother made a choice early on to go into some kind of ‘heroic’ career. One’s a Sheriff, one’s in the army, and one’s a firefighter.

Men in heroic careers can seem a bit sexy to some women. Heroes in books are already protective of the ones they love, and when you give them a heroic career, well it can just up the sexiness. Which is why I thought it’d be so much fun to write this novella series.

I’m heading out of town, but I thought I’d have a contest on the Bradford Bunch. I’ll draw a name of Friday night when I return and the winner gets a copy of Going Down or another ebook off my backlist. Just leave a comment on here about what kind of hero you find sexy. Doesn’t have to be a ‘heroic’ career guy. But let me confess my sexy hero… I’ll admit it. I’ve drooled over my share of military men.

One man wants her heart. The other wants her dead…

Holding Out for a Hero, Book 1

Eleanor Owen needs to get out of Chicago and quick. It’s not that she doesn’t want to obey the subpoena to testify against her drug-trafficking ex-boyfriend. It’s making it to the witness stand alive, should a dirty cop make good on his threats.

Tiny, remote Wyattsville, Oregon looks like the perfect place to disappear, but it’s hard to blend into the woodwork when one of the town’s infamous namesakes sends her heart racing. Worse, Mr. Tall, Hot and Packing is the town sheriff, which means she should stay as far away from him as possible.

Tyson Wyatt is positive the sexy new girl in town is hiding something. Question is, what? He vows to feel out her secrets—including what she feels like beneath him. Preferably naked. Until then, he’s not buying the story she’s selling.

Their chemistry is sheet-melting hot, and Ellie realizes much too late that the man with the badge is as dangerous to her heart as her ex is to her life…

Read an excerpt here

Now Available at Samhain Publishing

Buy on Kindle

So I’m going to my first RWA conference ever next week! People will realize my author headshot was seriously photoshopped! But I’ll be wearing a name tag with my two personae, Maggie Robinson and naughtier Margaret Rowe, to quell the confusion. I can’t wait to meet online friends and make new ones. I’m taking some of my family and my friend Claudia and her daughter, and they will spend the day at Disney while I attend workshops and lie down with a cool cloth across my forehead.

I’ve got some interesting stuff to give away (I paid attention when I asked what you all like for author promo here), including this cool first-chapters excerpt book. I can’t take any credit for the clever title and design (that would be Courtney Milan) but I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

Who’s going to Orlando? What are your tips for getting the most out of attending a gigantic convention? Is there a big enough cool cloth for me?

…for a blog topic? Desperate enough to turn to my dear friend Google for some entertainment. I’ve been so busy writing like crazy on my WIP (Just finished rough draft! Yay!) I haven’t had time to think about blogging!

Let’s type in the first few words of random questions and see what we get… 

How do you…

make a heart on Facebook?

make out?

know you’re in love?  (Aw!)

get pinkeye?

delete a friend on Facebook?

Why is my…

poop green ? (eew)

computer so slow?

poop white ? (double eew)

question mark a é ? (can I tell you how long that drove me freakin’ nuts???)

eye twitching? (Why yes, it is)

Why do…

men like breasts?  (Apparently the answer is simple: “We like them because they are there, and we don’t have them. Not to say that we want to have breasts of our own, so much as we just have this uncontrollable urge to fondle yours.”  http://www.egodriven.net/men/7.htm

men have nipples?

we dream?

girls wear thongs?

cats purr?

Where is…

Chuck Norris? (Seriously? Who wants to know that?!)

the Love lyrics?

Justin Bieber from?

My Mind lyrics?

Santa Claus right now? (Duh. The North Pole.)

Who does

Ali pick on the Bachelorette?

Archie marry?

Justin Bieber have a crush on? (Gah! Enough Justin Bieber!) ?

Canada trade with?

Macbeth kill?

What is

a group of dolphins called?

the smallest country in the world?

my ip?

3G?

love?  (The age old question  all romance writers want to know!!  Answer according to Google:  a 1993 dance track by the singer Haddaway popular with club DJs!!)  You know you wanna hear it!!