Hot in Here!

Is the weather hot or was it Diane’s sizzling excerpt? Whew, I don’t know, but just in case it’s the weather, I’m offering up my version of a Public Service Announcement for you as we head into the weekend.

Stay indoors and out of the heat. I know you want to be weekend warrior, jog, garden or any of those other things, but with the heat as bad as it is, you risk heat stroke.

Drink lots and lots of water. Staying hydrated helps your body maintain its right temperature.

If you have AC, turn it on, but be mindful of the drag on the power grid. So keep it at 72 instead of 68. With this heat, you’ll never get it to 68. Most AC units can only reduce ambient temperature by about 20 degrees (or at least I’ve been told).

If you don’t have AC, create your own version of swamp cooling. Put a low, wide bowl filled with water and ice cubes in front of a fan. Let the fan blow the air over the bowl and toward you. It’ll work. Trust me.

Go to the mall, movies or even better yet, the book store! They’ll have AC for sure. You won’t be able to pick up THE LOST though because that does not hit shelves until Tuesday.

Which brings me to . . .


OMG! I can’t believe it’s almost here!! Yes, I am excited about this one. It’s so different, dark and sexy. I hope you’ll love Adam and Bobbie as much as I do.

So to celebrate, we’ve got a mess of partying going in. Look for prizes and giveaways all week long at a number of different places!

Also look for the newsletter in the next few days with more information about the upcoming THE LOST release party and giveaway, which includes a chance to win a SONY E-reader, Copies of AZTEC GOLD and THE FIFTH KINGDOM, a THE LOST T-shirt as well as other fun prizes! Newsletter members will have an exclusive prize that will be added to the Grand Prize if they are the lucky winner. What’s the exclusive prize? How about a $25 gift card to your bookseller choice.

Not getting the newsletter yet? You can click here to sign up!

Also don’t forget we’ve got the fabulous Cynthia Eden coming on July 28th at 9 pm EST to help us party!

Hope you all have a great weekend and above all, stay cool and stay safe!

Catching up with you!

THE LOST paranormal romanceApologies on my randomness over the last two weeks. I’ve been struggling to catch up after RWA and a week of illness. I’m hoping to get back on a regular schedule tomorrow when I’ll have my dear friend and fellow author Diane Escalera with us. Diane will be chatting about her latest release, DANGEROUS DESIRE from Lyrical Press.

Look for the newsletter in the next few days with news about the upcoming THE LOST release party and giveaway, which includes a chance to win a SONY E-reader, Copies of AZTEC GOLD and THE FIFTH KINGDOM, a THE LOST T-shirt as well as other fun prizes! Newsletter members will have an exclusive prize that will be added to the Grand Prize if they are the lucky winner. What’s the exclusive prize? How about a $25 gift card to your bookseller choice.

Not getting the newsletter yet? You can click here to sign up!

I hope you’ve been enjoying the wonderful live video events we’ve been having. They have been so much fun and many thanks to the authors who have participated. If you haven’t been able to catch them while we’re live on camera, here is a little widget developed by the marvelous Book Candy Studios that will let you catch up on the events and trailers you may have missed. If you can’t see the widget below, you can click here. I’ve got some additional special guests coming up shortly and hope you can pop by.

Look for next week’s live event on July 28th when I have the amazing Cynthia Eden with me to chat about her latest releases as well sexy paranormal and suspense heroes!

Fun Friday!

So much going on that on this Fun Friday I’d thought I’d share some of the fun things that will be coming up in June and July!

Forever Romance is launching their Summer Book Club and it starts today! Visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ForeverRomance to chat with Jami Alden about her latest release, BEG FOR MERCY. I’ll be visiting them later in August to chat about THE LOST.

Speaking of chats, although you can’t really call these amazing live video events “chats” in my book, look for these wonderful live visits from some of my friends. You can click here to visit these events and ask us your questions, hear us share stories, you name it! Anything can happen during one of these live events.

    June 9, 9 pm – Lisa Renee Jones
    July 13, 9 pm – Larissa Ione
    July 28, 9 pm – Cynthia Eden
    August 11, 9 pm – Rachel Kramer Bussel

We’ll be having some more of these events shortly, so I hope you’ll pop into one and maybe even win one of the prizes we’ll be giving away, like a $10 gift card, autographed copy of STRONGER THAN SIN, tote bags, lovely handmade beaded bookmarks and a t-shirt!

THE FIFTH KINGDOMWhat else is happening in July? Well, a cool blog tour and last but not least, the July 11 release of my romantic suspense, THE FIFTH KINGDOM. I hope you’ll love this story about a sexy CIA Agent, an adventurous professor with family issues and an ancient relic with possibly mystical powers.

A Paranormal Moment from The Muppets

What paranormal writer doesn’t love a demon in the night doing all kinds of things with the peasantry? Check out this funny take from The Muppets on the classic STAND BY ME!

Also, congrats to Leanne, Rachel, Christine and Kym who won prizes at the live video event on Wednesday night. Thanks to all who came by. We’re working on the dates for the next video chats and I’ve lined up some fun authors to visit, like my Danger Women Writing buddies Lisa Renee Jones and Cynthia Eden. In July I’ll also have Larissa Ione visiting with me!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Busy Monday Morning!

I’m taking a break today from our usual Guilty Pleasure Monday because it’s a very busy Monday morning.

Take a moment to visit the Danger Women Writing Blog where Cynthia Eden is chatting about sexy heroes and offering up an ARC of NEVER CRY WOLF, her June 28th release from Kensington Brava, to one lucky commenter.

Using Random.org, I’ve picked two winners for my Getting to Know You Blog: Cindy L. and Jane T. both win STRONGER THAN SIN T-shirts, copies of STRONGER THAN SIN, bath gels and other goodies!! Please e-mail me your postal addresses so I can send out your prizes.

THE LOST Paranormal RomanceBut the fun and prizes don’t stop there! This morning I am over at Attacking the Page discussing how to write a sexy love scene. Drop by and leave a comment for a chance to win an ARC for THE LOST, the first book in my new paranormal romance series from Forever Romance.

Dark Waters and Deadly Pursuits

DARK WATERSWelcome today to the new website! I hope you like it and would love to hear from you about it. To celebrate there are lots of fun things going in, including the chance to win a $5.00 gift card for helping to pick the name of a new hero. Just choose one of the names below and leave your vote as a comment.

Also take a moment to visit with me at two blogs that I’m doing today!

Join me for a discussion of Deadly Pursuits at Cynthia’s Eden’s My Deadly Valentine blog tour! Then also join me at Ester Lopez’s wonderful blog where a chat about writing and STRONGER THAN SIN.

And now, please welcome my great friend and wonderful author, Gabriella Hewitt who is going to share DARK WATERS with us as well as chat about her new releases. I read DARK WATERS and it was fabulous!! I highly recommend it. Rico was a fascinating hero and the heroine, Frankie Montalvo, could definitely hold her own with the best kick-butt heroines out there.

DARK WATERS

A predator stalks paradise and she’s next.

On a tropical isle, Frankie Montalvo discovers roots to a past she never knew. Tales of witchcraft, missing girls and el chupacabra surround her, but it will take more than superstitions to scare her away. Determined to create her own home, she enlists the help of an enigmatic beach bum.

Special Agent Rico Lopez has been to the depths of hell and back. He returns to his native island of Vieques to forget an ICE mission gone wrong only to find himself caught up in the search for a neighbor’s daughter—a victim of the legendary el chupacabra. Paradise has a predator and all leads point to a dilapidated old plantation and one sexy as sin owner. Lying to Frankie is the only way to do his job, but is he protecting her or himself?

Does this name make my butt look big?

Seriously, finding the right name for a character is like finding jeans that fit. I agonize for days trying to find the perfect fit, trying on one pair after another. Some are too flamboyant, some too old-fashioned, some too ridiculous to contemplate that I have to wonder if they make my butt look big.

When I began Dark Waters, I spent a lot of time thinking up the perfect name. Not any name would do. I knew my heroine was a tough, feisty New Yorker who’d been knocked down by life more than once, but always got back on her feet. I wanted a name that captured that hard shell on the outside that hid a soft vulnerability inside. That’s when I hit on Francesca, a classic, elegant name that spoke to who my heroine could be in an ideal world. Shorten it to Frankie and it fit the reality of a woman who fought to hold on to everything she had.

My hero had to stand up to Frankie in every way because he was the one man who could see beneath that exterior armor she wore so carefully. But he wasn’t going to take her by storm. He’d charm his way inside until she never knew what happened. Rico was a name that conjured up washboard abs and a sexy grin and Frankie didn’t stand a chance. This guy was sex on a stick, yet when it came to danger he protected his own…and that included Frankie.

My other method of madness is to find someone, a person I know or a relative to name other secondary characters after. My neighbor Karla got bumped off in Dark Waters (She thought it was hysterical and what better way to thank her for editing my Spanish) Frankie’s last name, Montalvo, comes from my best friend in elementary school (She thinks it is so awesome because she is married now and her last name is changed). Yes, I pay homage to those I love by immortalizing them in books. HEHEHEHE (evil laugh)

Currently, I’m working on my Shadow Warrior series, which is loosely based around Aztec mythology. They are contemporary paranormal romances that include a mix of suspense and plenty of intrigue from the gods. The first of the novellas, tentatively titled Out of the Shadows, has sold to Samhain Publishing. The second novella is in the final stages of editing and ready for submission to the editor and I’m ready to bang out the third. As I planned out the fourth novella, I realized that once again I was stuck. I needed the perfect name for my heroine.

So I mentioned this dilemma to my family and my cousin said she would love it if I used her name in a book. (Victoria is sweet and loving and beautifully blonde, which is exactly the opposite of the character I am contemplating). Then it dawned on me. Eureka! What better way to get the heroine’s name than to ask my friends and family to pick the name for me?

I put out a call for others to name the 4th heroine in the Shadow Warrior series. I got some wonderful entries and found a winner. A Celtic word that means “fire” –Enya!

You might be thinking, “This name is not ancient Aztec. Blasphemy!” True, but Zyanya is and it means “always, forever” and I thought this name fit perfectly. Since the story is a contemporary paranormal romance and she is an immortal firecracker, I figured she would want to blend into modern society, so I named her Enya.

Well guess what? I need a hero’s name!

Description: He is an immortal warrior who has battled demons, Aztec gods, and bad styles of the 1770’s, 1880’s and 1990’s. He’s tall, dark, and shaven (bald is beautiful). He is strong, ruthless and has a soft spot for damsels in distress (and kittens too but don’t let anyone know). He has the ability to shift into a black jaguar and with one look he can make you do bad, bad things.

I’m going to help you out a bit. Below are some names I am considering. Vote for your pick in the comment section and be entered to win a $5.00 gift card.

Mateo – short for MATLAL: Nahuatl name meaning “dark green; or net.”
Teo – short for TEOXIHUITL: Nahuatl unisex name meaning “turquoise” or “precious and divine.”
Alan – short for ACHCAUHTLI: Nahuatl unisex name meaning “leader.”

¡Buena suerte! Good luck!

Gabriella Hewitt
www.GabriellaHewitt.com
Excitement. Suspense. Passion.
Dark Waters ~ Available Now ~
Order at Amazon

Visit Gabriella Hewitt!

Wicked Wednesday – Wicked Fun

I know you may be here for an excerpt, but we’re in the midst of celebrating my 25th publication – STRONGER THAN SIN. What that means is lots of opportunities for you to win some fun stuff at various places!

For starters, drop by the Borders True Romance Blog. We’ll be picking three winners from the comments to receive signed copies of STRONGER THAN SIN and SINS OF THE FLESH.

Here is a link to the blog:
http://bordersblog.com/trueromance/2010/10/27/guest-author-caridad-pineiro-giveaway/

Also visit with me later in the day at SingleTitles.com where I’ll be talking about how to have a career in publishing.

Finally, we’re having a Halloween Bash today at the Dangerous Women Readers’ Loop. Tons of fun prizes from all of the Dangers Women authors, namely, Cynthia Eden, Donna Grant, Jennifer Haymore, Lisa Renee Jones and lil’ ol’ me. Just click below to share this image and join the group if you’re not already a member!

Share Danger Women Readers’ Loop www.dangerwomenwriting.com