Meeting a President

If you could travel back in time to meet one deceased President, who would you choose? Today is President's Day and I started thinking about those I know a lot about from school and reading, and those I barely remember. Some lived long lives and held office for their full terms. Others weren't so lucky.

If I had to choose one, I'd pick Harry S. Truman.I've been to his museum and home, and was amazed at all this man accomplished. The Social Security Act passed in 1935, but didn't include Medicare. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed a bill activating Medicare, and Truman became the first American to receive a Medicare card.

After only a few months as Vice President, he became President on 4 April, 1945, after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He inherited an ongoing war, and made the critical and historical decision to use atomic bombs in Japan. That country wouldn't agree to ending their part in WWII, so Truman ordered bombs to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What a difficult decision it had to be, and I applaud his strength and conviction in doing so.

His term in office was troublesome, both at home and concerning our relationships with other countries. The war had ended, but not the infighting within our nation. Coupled with the beginning of the "cold war", Truman had opponents on all sides.

His re-election campaign seemed all but lost in 1948...until his historical train ride, a "Whistle Stop Tour", through the Midwest. A special railroad car named the Ferdinand Magellan, was a custom built car for Presidential trips. He'd walk out to the car's rear platform and speak to people every time the train stopped.

The Ferdinand Magellan was used a few more times after that, and then retired to the Gold Coast Railroad Museum in Miami, FL. In October, 1984, President Reagan used it for one day (October 12) as he revived Truman's historic railroad trip. Reagan traveled in Ohio to campaign. My husband worked at the White House at this time as a trip officer. The train ride was one of his trip responsibilities, and he was aboard during Reagan's ride.

Remember to honor our Presidents, whether you agreed with their political views or not. Enjoy the three-day weekend and time off but think about the men who've held office and the hard work they did while running our country.

Photos: Flickr: Nobueno's

Visit http://www.mariannestephens.net/ for information about my mainstream romance books. "Gone to the Dogs" is now available in print. "Anything You Can Do" releases on 19 February from http://www.breathlesspress.com/.
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSho7Mus4zo
Visit http://www.aprilash.net/ for information about my erotic romance books.

Need a strong Texas cowboy?

Yep. I'm going from Mexico and the Gulf on a yacht from my last book, LAID BARE, to getting in the saddle with a Texas bronc bustin' rodeo man!
Care to come along?
FALLING FAST debuts Feb. 23 at http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/
Here is a visual nibble of my newest cherry! Do turn up the volume!
Delish.
Plus the cover of this one is just as hot as the last one--and YouTube changed the thumbnail.
But do view it here...and on Resplendence's site. Better yet, buy a copy and look at it to your heart's content.

Coming Soon

A Brief Moment of Pleasure

Coming Soon from Resplendence

I wrote this novel 15 years ago. I was working toward my black belt rank, and came face to face with the invisible barriers that kept female students from reaching their full potential. Gender bias kept female martial artists from moving from a brown or brand new black belt up into the ranks. Those who managed to go beyond brown rank were often accused of "putting out" to get their black belt.

I was infatuated with a very hot Asian black belt guy, but never, ever let him know that, because if I had, his respect for me would have deteriorated totally. Others would have felt that I was "cozying up" to better my rank. It was not the best idea to allow personal affairs to detract from your martial arts. Inside the dojo/dojang, gossip was rampant about how this or that female got her black belt, etc. If you were serious about your MA, you didn't dabble in love affairs with others in the dojo.

Women were already considered unworthy by black belt males. The bias shown in this novel was very real, and was very painful for women at the time this was written. Today, the bias is not as prevalent, but in many dojos and systems, it will never go totally away.

Of course, many traditional systems now have eradicated gender bias. But in the back of the men's minds, a woman will never be capable of being as strong, fast, or smart as the male black belts. Women are tolerated. But through my years of traveling, photographing and reporting, as well as judging international competitions, acting as referee, and teaching, I met many wonderful females who were the heads of their own MA systems, and whose students were absolute perfection.

It is to these women that I dedicate this novel.

Fran Lee
(No relation to Bruce)

Release Day!

My Everything!

Coming today from Cobblestone Press:

http://www.cobblestone-press.com/

Blurb:

Security consultant Ben McCall is alone. His wife and unborn child are dead, victims of an assassination attempt meant for someone else. Grieving, he disappears. When his best friend is in danger, Ben resurfaces only to find his friend isn’t the target of a murderer, he is along with his sister Angel. On the night of his return, Ben unexpectedly comes face to face with a woman from his past. She needs his help. He learns that he needs hers even more.

Grace Adams is one of the walking wounded. Her husband died two years ago. One night she is incapacitated. A man comes to her aid. He’s the man she fell in love with years before, Ben McCall. As the passion between them reignites, Grace too becomes a target of the madman who stalks Ben. She, Angel and Ben must use their wits to stay alive as they fight a man desperate for revenge.

Sorry, no excerpt yet - should have it soon! In other news, Romance Junkies is holding a Valentine's Contest. It runs through March 31st. Here's the link to my offering -

http://www.romancejunkies.com/rjvalentinescontest/JuliaRachelBarrett.html

Happy Pre-Valentine's Day!

Love is in the air! Is this not the perfect time of year for us, the readers and writers of hotter than hot romance?

After much jocularity, I’m choosing to blog about my hubby. He’s sitting across the room as I type this. I will read it to him once it’s done and not post it without his approval. As anyone who read the dedication in Ageless Desires knows, he holds the lofty position of Head of Research and Development in my writing career. You can all take a moment and imagine his varied job duties!!

Recently, I’ve been testing his dedication. My WIP is a m/m/f love story. When I first discussed my idea with him, it was quite apparent he was uncomfortable with the m/m part of my proposal. He not only didn’t see the appeal, each time I talked about it, he didn’t participate and his body language screamed ‘shut up!’ I love the characters, the humor and the chemistry of the story so I persevered, despite feeling his loss in the creative process.

The other night, he agreed to let me read it to him. I was a nervous wreck! My throat was dry and I stumbled over the first paragraphs. And then the most wonderful thing happened. He laughed at the funny parts! He wholeheartedly complimented the hotty-hot parts and even offered some manly insight to a man only part!!

I certainly hope it's contracted, but his support means even more to me. God I love that man!
Tessie
www.tessiebradford.com

Feeling Entitled

“Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.”

Charles Bukowski.

I got lucky this week and got offered my second book contract this year. I was overjoyed until I realized the new contract came with one sticky little caveat. Management thought the working title of my book was not sexy or evocative enough. My title got the boot. My editor hinted that as soon I gave her a good title she would give me a contract.

I like a challenge. I loved the title I had but I also understood management’s decision. I jumped right in and wrote eight new titles and sent them back within half an hour.

“No” to all of them.

I wrote eight more titles.

Nope, I’m off track and not only that I’m in the forbidden word zone. I can’t use any of the words I want to use because those words are saved for authors writing in other genres. Those lucky bastards, I just hope they appreciate their free flowing hearts, clash, captive, slave, Master, secret, agreement, bonds…

Okay, I wrote eight more titles working under a different concept.

“No, the story’s a historical, you should choose something historical and descriptive but don’t use forbidden words that actually describe the situation. Make it sexy but don’t use the sexy words you’re not allowed to use. Those are for somebody else to use-not you.”

But it’s a culture clash story between a Celtic slave and a Roman Magistrate…

“No, don’t mention slave that’s for BDSM only. If you mention Celtic you’ll get a Celtic cover. You don’t want that. This is a Roman story…”

I just kept trying. My editor and I exchanged eight emails that day each chock full of new titles. Management wasn’t buy’n what I was sell’n. We finally got a title we could all live with but it was trial by committee.

Am I happy with the title? I’m happy with the book contract and the opportunity to learn the ropes on a historical. I’m also very grateful to my patient, helpful editor.

Has anyone else struggled with a title like this? I’d love to hear about it.

XXOO Katalina Leon

Walking On Air

Yesterday I received an email from Dawn at Love Romances Café letting me know that Heat Waves had been nominated for Best Contemporary of 2009. Can you say WOW! I was shocked. It only got better. As I was reading the nominees I noticed Spank Me Twice was up for Best Erotic Book of 2009. It floored me to be nominated for two awards.
I’m up against some awesome authors for the Contemporary award, but I swear just being nominated means everything to me. J
The voting begins the 15th. Once I get the information I’ll post it, in case you’ve read Heat Waves and want to vote. LOL

In other news I participated in my first book signing with eleven other authors last night. It was interesting. During the author bio the announcer talked about my nominations. Well! The funniest part was at the end. I was packing up my things when this older couple...I'm talking late sixties . early seventies comes up to me and says, "What was the name of that book? Smack Me Twice, Hit Me Twice?"
I looked at her and asked, "Spank Me Twice?"
"Yes. Yes, that's the one." She turns to her husband. "We have to go home and look that book up!"
I was rolling. It's nice to see they're still interested in sex.
The day kept getting better because when I got home I checked email and there was a contract for Dante's Desire.
Now how am I going to top that? LOL
Happy Tuesday Everyone!