1. Buffy Summers. What can I say other than that this character turned female empowerment on its head by proving women were capable of saving the world while still being feminine.

2. Eve Dallas. Tortured, strong, honorable and with a loving heart that grows with each IN DEATH story, J.D. Robb’s Eve is the ultimate powerful heroine.

3. Selene from Underworld. Kate Beckinsale totally rocked this role. I could watch the movie and its sequel over and over and over again.

4. Anita Blake. Some readers think Hamilton’s character went south with CERULEAN SINS, but early Anita is pure gold and not to be missed.

5. Rachel Morgan. This uber-witch from Kim Harrison’s Witch series touches your heart with your vulnerability, but raises you up with her desire to protect those whom she loves.

6. Paige Winterbourne. Kelley Armstrong’s heroine from the Magic series is a wonderful character trying to cope with being thrust into a role she hadn’t imagined for herself.

7. Gracie Hart. What can I say about Bullock’s interpretation of an FBI Agent who is totally not in touch with all things feminine. The transformation of this character is a must-see.

8. Anna Valerious. Kate Beckinsale makes the list again with this empowered female from the 2004 movie VAN HELSING. Tough and yet vulnerable, she has you rooting for a happily-ever-after with the always gorgeous Hugh Jackman in the role of Van Helsing.

9. Hermione Granger. Yep, you read that right. This pint-sized heroine packs enough brain power and magic to keep the men in tow.

10. Lara Croft. Wow, what can I say. Action, adventure and Angelina. Not to mention both Daniel Craig and Gerard Butler as potential love interests. Too yummy for words.

11. Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter brought class, sass and beauty to this role on the small screen. Filling her shoes in a movie version will be a hard act to follow. Could explain why so far this movie franchise can’t seem to get off the ground.

12. Supergirl. What can I say? I wish Superman’s little sister didn’t live in his shadow so much. Maybe she needed her own identity? Think of Robin becoming Night Wing. And why not Superwoman and not girl? But regardless, she ranks up there with the top kick ass heroines.

13. Catwoman. LOL! You thought I was going to say Batgirl didn’t you? Nope, this is one time that a villainess ranks up there, especially since in my hopefully romantic heart I kept on hoping for her to be redeemed and end up with Batman.

Hope you enjoyed today’s Thursday Thirteen. I welcome you to add any of your favorite kick ass heroines in the comments sections.

In Chapter 4, Maggie and the CSU are approaching the body of the murder victim.

For more chapters from THE WOLF WITHIN, you can click here or cut and paste this link into your browser:

http://www.caridad.com/?s=wolf+within

If you cannot see the excerpt below, you can click on this link or cut and paste the following link into your browser:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/36729984/THE-CALLING-Vampire-Novels-The-Wolf-Within-Chapter-4

I often write stories with kick-ass heroines who need to use pistols in their line of work. When deciding what kinds of pistols they are going to use, I ask myself the following:

1. Are they big women with big hands? Men can use larger weapons, but women will generally need guns that are smaller, lighter and more compact. Smaller guns will usually also have less recoil (and if you’re wondering why that’s important, take a moment to watch the video at the end of this blog!). In addition, a smaller gun will allow your trigger finger to reach the trigger which sometimes is difficult with a bigger weapon.

2. Is the woman physically strong in general? If the woman is athletic with good hand/grip strength, she might be able to handle an automatic weapon which sometimes requires you to move back a slide on the top of a weapon in order to clear a jam. The slide has a very strong spring and a weaker woman may not have have the strength to budge it. If that’s the case, consider using a revolver for your heroine. It’s easier to load and if for some reason one of the bullets does not fire, a pull on the trigger will advance the chamber to the next round.

3. Where will the weapon be kept? If it is being stored in a behind the back or shoulder holster and your gun has a hammer, that might not be such a problem. If the pistol is being kept in a purse and has a hammer, the hammer may snag on items in the purse. If the gun will be kept in an ankle holster, you will probably need smaller model, like a Glock 26, also known as a Baby Glock.

4. Also consider whether the gun is bulky or has a low profile. When undercover, you do not want a large gun that will be obvious and scream “COP!”

5. You also need to consider the situations in which the weapon will be used. The first situation is one where you will require a lot of take down/knock down power. This refers to how much damage the bullet will do – in other words how efficiently it will take down your attacker so they won’t come back at you. .45 caliber weapons are quite effective at this, but remember #1 above about the size of the gun. It might be too hard to handle.

6. In a situation where there is a risk of collateral damage, your heroine may decide to change out her normal rounds with hollow-point bullets. Such bullets do a lot of damage on a human body, but because the bullet expands upon entering a target, it does not penetrate armor or walls very well. That makes it great for avoiding collateral damage.

Hope this information on picking a hand gun for your heroine was helpful. We’ll discuss rifles and shotguns some other day as well as different kinds of guns you may wish to use in your stories. After all, the weapons your hero chooses will make an impression on your reader.

But now, back to that pesky recoil issue. Sit back and get a gander of what happens when recoil gets the best of you!

If you can’t see the videos below, click on this link or cut and paste this link into your browser:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=girl+%26+gun+%26+recoil&aq=f

I remember him catching my eye in MOBSTERS, where he also starred with a number of other hotties, like Christian Slater, Richard Grieco and Costas Mandylor!

More recently I’ve enjoyed seeing him in MADE OF HONOR and ENCHANTED.

Hope you enjoyed today’s Guilty Pleasure.

Photo Credit: CynSimp@en.wikipedia.com

So here they are:

1. The first time I saw my daughter and held her in my arms.
2. Marrying my husband (that picture is the two of us on our wedding day!).
3. The day I became a United States Citizen.
4. Watching my sister graduate college (It was my mom’s dream for her girls to go to college but she didn’t live to see my sister graduate).
5. Receiving the call that someone wanted to buy my book.

How about you? Take a moment to share you’re most upbeat and happy moments in life.

Hope you all have a grand and beautiful weekend.

On to today’s Thursday Thirteen – Hot Cars for Heroes!

If you’ve visited before, you know that I love cars! There is just something about them that is totally amazing and at times, downright sexy. I mean, what would Batman be without the Batmobile? (Ok-muscles in a tight black outfit are totally sexy as well.)

So here’s a list of my top hot cars for heroes. I’m basing this not just on how sexy the car is, but how the hero or his kick-butt lady would look driving it.

1. 2010 Chevrolet Camaro – GM hit it out of the ballpark with this one!

Photo Credit: Nick Ares@en.wikipedia.com

2. 1968 Chevrolet Camaro – All the Bad Boys back in high school were always fixing these up while us Good Girls watched and dreamed.

Photo Credit:Rich Niewiroski Jr.@en.wikipedia.com

3. 2010 Jeep Wranger Sport – Only in a Jeep! for making those fast getaways over rocky terrain.

4. 2010 Aston Martin – Bond. James Bond. ‘Nuf Said.

Photo Credit: razvan.orendovici@en.wikipedia.com

5. 1953 MG – A classic Roadster

6. 2009 Chevrolet Corvette C6 – Sleek, sexy and fast, just like our heroes.

Photo Credit: GrantC@en.wikipedia.com

7. 1960 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible – Nothing better than driving with the top down and seeing the stars at night.

8. Delorean DMC – Best known for being Michael Fox’s ride in the Back to the Future franchise

Photo Credit: en:user:Grenex@en.wikipedia.com

9. Bentley Contintental GTC – Classy and yet sporty. For those getaways along the roads of Monaco beside a prince.

Photo Credit: Bobak Ha’Eri@en.wikipedia.com

10. Plymouth Prowler – Yummy!

11. Saturn Sky – Saturn will truly be missed.

Photo Credit: Reedred@en.wikipedia.com

12. 2011 Ford Mustang with Performance Package – Save a Cowboy, Ride a Mustang.

Photo Credit: Jamesthebard@en.wikipedia.com

13. Chrysler Sebring – My own personal ride!

Photo Credit: S 400 HYBRID@en.wikipedia.com

Hope you enjoyed today’s Thursday Thirteen. Feel free to let me know what are your top choices for sexiest cars.

Some of you may know that Caridad means Charity in English (my nickname by the way), so we’ve got 2 of the 3 virtues here today! Are there any Faiths out there to make it all three?

Without further ado – my friend and fellow author, Hope Tarr.

A ROGUE’S PLEASURE, my romance debut novel originally published in print with Berkley/Jove, is getting its own second chance at love as an e-book release with Carina Press, Harlequin’s digital-first imprint and like any proud mama I couldn’t be more pleased. The reissue, which sports gorgeous new cover art and an editing facelift, went live on August 16th, two weeks short of what would be the book’s tenth anniversary. How cool is that!?!

A ROGUE’S PLEASURE is a Regency romp that I’m thrilled to be able to share with a new generation of romance readers. To get the soiree started, close your eyes—okay, don’t close them since you need them open to read this—or better yet open your mind to the clip-clop of horses hooves instead of sirens and honking cars.

It is Regency England, 1812. Napoleon is wreaking havoc in Europe, including Spain and Portugal where ousting the rightful royals and setting his sibling, Joseph Bonaparte, on the Spanish throne has catalyzed a sweeping grassroots national resistance supported by Britain and its Allies. On the home front, private coaches traveling between the countryside and London are prime targets for the rogues of the road: highwaymen.

Put yourself in the shoes, or rather the Wellingtons, of my hero, Lord Anthony Grenville. Recently returned from the Peninsular War with a gamey leg and a bad case of combat stress masquerading as ennui, you are in your private coach en route to London with your fiancée, Lady Phoebe Tremont, and her shrew of a mother. To drown out the droning of your soon-to-be mother-in-law, you think not great thoughts but rather mundane ones. Will the inn’s beef be soured again? Sigh. Might there be a decent claret to bespeak in lieu of the usual ale? Must I really marry this pretty but deucedly dull girl? You are not only thinking such thoughts but lost to them when a shout of “Halt! Stand and deliver!” freezes the blood in your veins.

Chelsea Bellamy must raise the sum of 500 pounds to ransom her beloved brother. Having exhausted all other avenues, she has taken to the road disguised as the highwayman One-Eyed Jack, accompanied by her faithful manservant, the real One-Eyed Jack. Outnumbered though he is and hampered with womenfolk, still Anthony isn’t going down easily. He isn’t going down at all. Beneath his fancy frock coat, embroidered waistcoat, and frothy shirt, he has a soldier’s spine of steel—and a heart in need of saving.

Huzzah,
Hope

Hope Tarr Photo Credit: Photo by BizUrban.com

The first ingredient is the characters. It’s important for you to know the kind of fighting experience that your characters have. Are they trained military or law enforcement? Do they have martial arts experience? What kinds of strengths or weakness do they have physically? How tall or short is each of the fighters? Each one of these will make the difference between your action scene being a bar room brawl slugfest or a well-choreographed and precise battle between two opponents.

The next item to add to the mix is location. Where is the scene taking place? Action that is happening on dry land is going to be very different than that occurring in wet sand or water. Will the combatants be at risk in the location, i.e., near the edge of a cliff? Are there any possible weapons that can be used at the location? On the beach, sand becomes a weapon when it is tossed in someone’s eyes. In a closed environment, such as an office, a heavy bookend or letter opener can be used as a weapon or as defense against an opponent.

Physics is the next important ingredient to add to your mix. How do bodies and things react to the application of force? It’s important to know how a punch will move the combatants so that you can plan for the next logical step in the fight. For example, a blow to the face will likely have an opponent’s head moving back and so following up with a knee to the face might not be possible. If you have any hesitation about the action/reaction that will occur, physically go through the steps in yourself in slow motion to make sure the physics of the scene make sense Also keep in mind the characters’ physical traits when doing so. The height, weight and the sex of the characters will make a big difference in the physics behind the action/reaction.

Next up in our recipe – Dialogue. I vaguely recall that one critic said of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that the only thing sharper than her jabs were her one liners. Good advice for any action scene with dialogue.

The words your combatants exchange should be like body blows, short, precise and stinging. Nothing slows down an action scene more than long discussions between the various combatants. In general, it’s probably best to keep dialogue to the beginning and end of the scenes – the first to incite the action and the latter to help transition to the next scene in your book.

Likewise, internalized dialogue as the characters fight should be kept to a minimum. Although the character may be in a life or death struggle, your action scene is not the time for the character to have her life flash in front of her eyes. As with spoken dialogue, keep internal thoughts to a minimum and have them up the ante in the fight. For example, if the heroine knows there is a weapon nearby, have a quick thought flash through her brain about how to reach that weapon or how to use it. Or spice the scene with a thought about the heroine’s reaction to either receiving or connecting with a punch.

Hand in hand with dialogue is the narrative in your scene. Much as with dialogue, keep it short. Short sentences create tension and move the scene along. If you’re doing an action scene correctly, there isn’t room for long winded narratives about what’s happening, except to possibly set up or end the scene (more on that later.). Also think about using elements of deep POV to heighten the tension and keep the action moving, namely, a new paragraph for each thought, action or punch. For example:

A sharp jab to the nose had his opponent reeling backward.

Mick charged ahead.

A left hook glanced across the man’s cheekbone, but landed with enough force to daze him. Mick’s opponent dropped the sharp-edged broken bottle and it shattered against the concrete floor.

Blood dripped from a cut on the man’s temple and nose as he swayed, eyes glassy. Unfocused.

Mick cocked his arm to deliver the coup de grace.

Last but not least, the final ingredients in the recipe are the beginning and ending of your action scene.

When it comes to the beginning of the scene, keep one very important thing in mind: Does the action make sense in light of the characters, location, weapons, and story line? I always think about that scene in Indiana Jones when Jones is challenged by a rather large and muscular man. Bull whip in hand, Jones realizes he is no match for his opponent – until he pulls out his gun and shoots the man.

Like Indiana Jones, a smart hero knows when to back off and avoid a fight unless it’s absolutely necessary. Heroes who charge in without a thought to their own safety or possible collateral damage come across as too stupid to live.

Where do you start the scene? The best place to do so to keep the reader turning pages is to start the scene at the end of the chapter before. Make them turn the page to see if the hero will engage in combat.

Where do you end the scene? That’s a hard question and really requires you to do one thing – write the entire scene from start to finish. Then find a good place smack in the middle to insert a chapter break, usually at a place just a millisecond before a punch will be landed or a knife will be thrust (see the example above with Mick – Did he throw that last punch? Did you want to know what happened next?).

Keep the reader wondering about what happens as it will force them to turn the page. At the start of the next chapter, resume your action scene.

One other important thing to keep in mind when it comes to ending a scene — Remember that a real hero won’t inflict damage above and beyond what is necessary. Doing so diminishes her in the eyes of the reader and that’s the last thing you want to do. Even justified lethal force can be difficult for readers, so keep that in mind so as to not put off people. For example, in the above scene with Mick, Mick may have determined that his opponent was no longer a threat. The next chapter can open with Mick deciding to just walk away from the fight rather than inflicting any more punishment.

By combining the above ingredients, you have a recipe for writing fast-paced action scenes that will keep readers turning the pages.

If you want more great information related to writing about fight scenes, martial arts and other cool self-defense info, take a moment to visit my friends at Attacking the Page!

If you’re wondering why I have Michael on the brain again, take a moment to visit my author spotlight at the wonderful Joyfully Reviewed website.

Michael first caught my eye as Logan Cale on DARK ANGEL, but I absolutely love him as Agent Anthony DiNozzo on NCIS!

Being a hopeful romantic, I had always wanted the Tony character to end up in a relationship with Kate. Of course that became impossible when they killed her off.

Now I’ve set my sites on Ziba as the most likely candidate for Tony. Let’s hope they don’t write Ziba out either, although as Michael commented in one interview, the NCIS really stands for “No Character is Safe.”

Let’s hope our movie-loving, wise-cracking totally sexy Tony is spared such a fate.

Michael Weatherly Photo Credit:
SpecialWindler@en.wikipedia.com