Caridad Pineiro® Romance Author
NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Romance Author
By this time of winter, my cabin fever has set in and I am so ready for spring! I love being outdoors. I love flowers and plants and the taste of sun warm tomatoes straight from my yard. Sigh. One of the things that keeps me going until then is the Philadelphia Flower Show! I can’t wait to go this year!
So today’s throwback is to the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show. I’ll have lots of photos for you the second week in March.
I remember when I wrote THE LOST and one of the opening scenes including Spottie, the hero’s pet beagle. In the original version of the scene, it wasn’t quite clear whether the shapeshifting hero drained the dog of life and everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, said “Don’t kill the dog!”
I had never meant for the hero to harm the dog and he didn’t, but I had to make sure that was obvious in the scene. Since it was a gflashback to the hero’s youth, that was the only appearance of Spottie. Here’s a photo of the real Spotty who was my husband’s childhood pet.
Now, while working on #2 in the AT THE SHORE contemporary romance series, I realize that I’ve never really had a book where a pet plays a real role in the story line until now.
Meet Dudley, Jonathan Pierce’s terrier that he rescued from the shelter.
You’ll first encounter Dudley in #1 in the series – ONE SUMMER NIGHT – but it’s in the second story that Dudley really seems to bring people together. There is just something about this cute, smart and obedient pup that breaks down barriers.
The power of pets to do that isn’t something new. There have been various articles that tout the marvelous benefits of pets in helping people to heal emotionally and physically. When you’re feeling down or alone, what’s better than the love freely given by your cat or dog? I confess I have a turtle also, but it’s not very easy to cuddle up to her (or him?)
I’d love to hear about your pets and how they make your life better!
Sorry to miss Man Candy, but I had some family things to handle. In the meantime, I’ve been furiously working on #2 in the At the Shore Contemporary Romance Series which more and more is feeling like “A Goodbye Summer.” Or least that’s the title for now. LOL!
For a long time I was a pantser and never wrote an outline. That ended for me years ago when I started writing series and needed to have an outline of not only the first book, but the connected books in the series. But for me, even an outline has a lot of give because of the characters and what I want to get across in the story.
For example, I’ve just gotten to a pivotal point where the hero and heroine are about to take that leap and I could have approached it in various ways. In fact, I wrote a good chunk of the scene but decided that it just wasn’t the feeling I wanted to convey for two people who were once lovers, but haven’t been together in nearly a decade. Sure there’s physical attraction there and I found myself fighting it as much as the characters were fighting it.
Which led me to a different scene because the characters were telling me there needed to be more to have them make that leap to lovers once again. There needed to be a deep emotional connection to bring them together at that particular moment.
Sometimes the characters will lead the way and as a writer, you need to give them the space and experiment with what they’re telling you to do. If it doesn’t work, there’s always the delete key and a chance to let them lead you down a different path. You’ll know in your gut when you’re on the right road with them.
Yes, you read that right! And now thanks to Icelandic broadcaster Nutiminn and the Icelandic Cat Protection Society, you can watch the kittens in their dollhouse-like habitat. The habitat has hidden cameras to record the kitten antics and they are, in a word, adorable.
To see a live feed of the kittens at play, click here to visit Nutiminn’s live feed.
Just in case they’re asleep, and boy do cats sleep a lot, here’s a compilation of the best of the kittens! Click here if you cannot see the Nutiminn kitten video below.
My hubby, daughter and I are like the Three Musketeers and her awesome boyfriend is our new Fourth Musketeer! We always have lots of fun together and one of the places where we have fun is Disneyworld. In this picture, we asked our daughter to ham it up and make believe she’s afraid of the monorail. We thought she was pretty convincing. How about you?
Sorry I wasn’t with you earlier this week, but I took the opportunity of a long weekend to plant my butt in the chair and do a marathon writing session on #2 in the AT THE SHORE contemporary romance series. This book is tentatively titled DANCED ALL NIGHT, but I’ve really been rethinking that title based on the themes that are emerging as I plow more and more into the book.
The hero and heroine of the story, uptight lawyer Connie Reyes, and laid-back surfer dude inventor Jon Pierce, are like oil and water. Dynamite and a match. Despite that, they are perfect together and it’s been really interesting so far showing how they came together a long ago summer (wow – another possible title concept) and where they both are now.
I love second chance at love stories like this one, especially when there is an unexpected surprise as well. I suspect that these two characters are going to have yet more surprises for me as I write their story.
Since this book happens at the same time as ONE SUMMER NIGHT (a true writing challenge), you’ll get to see more of Maggie and Owen from that story and also check out the hero and heroine for #3, unromantic wedding planner Emma Grant and sexy chef Carlo Texeira. It is a stand alone story, however. No worries on that one.
Anyway – if you’ve ever wondered what my winter writing place down the shore looks like, here it is! In the summer you’ll find me out on that little balcony amidst the flowers that I plant.
Yes, I have cabin fever and I can’t wait for the warmer weather. Philly Flower Show is up next in March, but recently I went to a local orchid show at Dearborn Market in Holmdel, NJ. Great place with great food and garden items! If you’re in the area, check it out.
Click here if you cannot see the flower photos below or go to this link: https://youtu.be/ldlttJBh8uM