The Dynamic Trio - Blog

I’ll be doing a booksigning with Kate Davies and Stacia Wolf at the Waldenbooks at the Southcenter mall from 6-8 pm on Saturday, November 3! If you’re in the area, please come by and say hello!

Waldenbooks
270 Southcenter Shopping Center
Seattle, WA 98188
Phone: 206.248.0886

I’ll be signing my Chase Brothers books!

Okay, so I’m sort of a 15 year old girl when it comes to my heroes - I admit it proudly. Anyway. So when I was working on dirty/bad/wrong it was Julian McMahon and holy cow why not? Youtube, you’re my crack. And now, with Standoff, it’s Dominic Purcell who’s my sex muse for Cade Warden. Just look at him…

I’m exhausted. I’ve been lugging around planks of wood, posts and fencing tools all day, assisting Mr. Munro and his brother to make fences to protect newly planted trees from stock damage. Oh, and I laughed at Mr. Munro when he was attempting to drive in nails and missing the nail totally with the hammer. Not that I could do any better you understand. It’s not easy driving huge nails into posts. I fed my father’s cows raw carrots and can report they have long black, sticky tongues. Eek! I’ve definitely turned into a real townie. Anyway, Mr. Munro and I are home now and relaxing with an alcoholic beverage each. Roll on the work week so we can coast along and rest!

And in writing news, I’ve finally turned in Assassin, my next Middlemarch story. This one took a long time and quite a bit of work. Hopefully my editor likes it! Watch this space.

Two new book reviews to hand:

Peeping Tom - “Ms. Munro did an awesome job with PEEPING TOM. I enjoyed this book. It was well written, beautifully paced, and just the right length. I liked the “angst” that permeates the room when Tom and Felix interact. The sex scenes have just the right amount of heat to make them perfect. This is a good one to be recommended to all my shape shifter loving friends.” Ladybirdrobi, Romance Junkies.

Sex, Spies and Sapphires - “Sex, Spies and Sapphires is a well-paced, very clever story with three sexy key characters that desire each other, which heat up the sensual love scenes enough to melt your hard drive. Sarah wants both men, so she makes love to Thomas one day and Flynn the next. Shelly Munro has created a Mission Impossible plot with new twists and turns that will keep you guessing to the surprising end. This is a great story that I enjoyed immensely.” Rosemary, Joyfully Reviewed.

What did you do in the weekend?

The answer to this question is different for everyone - what do people want? And what are they willing to do to get it? This question’s really been on my mind lately. At the day job I hear lots of complaints and whining, but what are the whiners willing to do to change things?

Then there are the go-getters, the people who may not say much, but tend to end up obtaining their dreams.

Then there’s the folks who complain about capitalism, or talk poorly of people with money. But to me there’s absolutely nothing wrong with having money. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that the company I work for makes money, they couldn’t pay me. If they couldn’t pay me, I’d have to find someone that could. Right?

Then some folks complain that there aren’t enough people giving - but are they givers? There aren’t enough people volunteering, helping with this cause or that. But at the end of the day they sit in front of their TVs, soak up the news and simply complain some more.

I once asked the question, “What would you do if you had $20,000,000.00?” Many people said, “I’d give it to the poor,” or “I’d help so-and-so achieve their goals.” But my answer is an honest one - I wouldn’t give it to the poor. Why not? Because if a person doesn’t understand how to make money, they certainly won’t know how to keep it. So I’d help those who want to learn by supporting a business school or something like that. Then I’d invest in areas I’ve always wanted to, create a trust for my children and grandchildren, and turn that $20 million into $40 million.

If you wanna be an author, get that book finished. If you wanna be a successful entrepreneur, find your niche and go for it. Don’t take no for an answer. And be real with yourself about what you really want…and who you really are. If the go-getter is not you, that’s okay, too. Some folks are more cut out to help rather than drive. It takes all kinds to keep this world turning.

Okay, stepping off the soap box now…to continue pursuing my dream without complaint ;D

I hadn’t read a military romance for ages but the other day I just had the urge to pull one from my to-read pile. I’m also going through a Western themed splurge so I’m definitely thinking alpha male! Here are some of my favorite reads with military heroes.

1. Cullen’s Bride by Fiona Brand - a Silhouette Intimate Moment by a New Zealand writer.

2. Forget Me Not by Marliss Melton. This is the book I pulled out of my to-read pile. It’s the writer’s first book. Wow! I enjoyed it so much I’ve ordered the rest of her backlist.

3. On Danger’s Edge by Lise Fuller. This book won a RT Reviewer’s choice award.

4. Suzanne Brockmann - It’s hard to choose from Suzanne’s books. One of my all-time favorites is Letters to Kelly. It made me cry.

5. Lora Leigh - I’m a real fan of Lora’s so I’m adding her Navy Seal series to my list. The first book is Dangerous Games. Actually Amazon says this is book 2 so I’m slightly confused.

6. Kiss and Tell by Cherry Adair. I read this book ages ago and have been a Cherry Adair fan ever since.

7. Seven Days to Forever by Ingrid Weaver - another Silhouette Intimate Moment

8. Catherine Mann with her Wingman Warriors. Anything, Anywhere, Anytime is one of her books.

9. Denise Agnew writes great military heroes. Try Primordial.

10. Eye of the Storm by Maura Seger. This is set during the second world war and came out in 1985. I must reread it to see if it’s as good as I remember. Amazon says it’s a civil war story. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

11. All the Queen’s Men by Linda Howard - not strictly military. The hero John Medina is a CIA Black Ops Specialist.

12. Summer in the City of Sails by Shelley Munro - you didn’t think I’d leave out my own did you? The hero is a member of NZ’s SAS.

13. Unforgettable by Shelley Munro. Go on - buy me! I’ve been getting Five star reviews all over the place!

14. And one extra one - just for Mr. Munro. Any of the Sharpe books by Bernard Cornwell or if you prefer check out the DVD’s featuring the hunky Mr. Sean Bean. One of the recent Sharpe books is Sharpe’s Escape The stories are set in the early 1800’s.

Have I forgotten one of your favorites?

I’m teaching a class at work all week and have students who’ve flown in from Chicago and Germany. And I just heard the funniest damned story.

The German guy decided to drive down to Denver for an afternoon of sightseeing. Well, needless to say he got a little turned around and ended up in a seedier side of town. He looks up and sees some menacing looking guys and skimpy clothed girls. One of them flags him down and offers “assistance”

He says, “How do I get back to Highway 25?”

The young lady says, “Well, we’re on 33rd street, so, let’s see, 33, 32, 31…” and on she goes until she counts on her fingers down to 25. “I think it’s eight blocks that way,” she says.

But he’s trying to get to the freeway named I-25, not 25th street. So, he simply says thank you…but not before she says, “Hey, can I have a dollar?” So, this big, 6′ 4″ German guy is thinking ‘what the heck?’ But fine, he gives her a dollar and drives away before she can ‘offer‘ anything else.

Later down the road he finds himself going over the overpass for the freeway. A-ha, there it is! The freeway he’s looking for is directly below him. All he needs to do is turn around.

So he does a “U” turn…on a one way street with traffic coming at him. So all he sees are a bunch of white lights headed his way!

He did manage to get back to his hotel near Boulder in one piece, thankfully! And we had a good laugh this morning!

Gotta run!

Last night we took the kids to the pumpkin patch and had a lovely time. The weather warmed up and cleared although it was a muddy pit down in the field itself. Heaven for my sons. Of course we get everything weighed and see the “cash or check only” sign. Thank goodness the van had some cash and change in it or we’d have had to take a pumpkin back. Lawd, I can’t believe we didn’t even check beforehand. We do this every year, you’d think we’d know by now.

And then I wrangled them to eat, clean up and get in bed. Not easy when they’re all Halloween pumped.

I got 2142 written on Standoff last night. Cade is just about to meet our heroine. I’d originally called her Kate but I realize Cade and Kate is very close and sort of odd. Also I just wrote another heroine named Kate so I’m going to have to re-think her name. Still, it was a good writing session.

I also did some second round, quick edits on To Do List. I love finishing up a project! Although line edits are next so I’m not quite finished.

Anyway, more to do! I’ve got excerpts up at my messageboard! Don’t forget to enter the Raven Halloween Scavenger Hunt if you haven’t yet! Great prizes and tons of fun. YOu have until month’s end!!

Have you ever wondered what your cyborg name is? Yes, I know. A totally random question but someone has designed a quiz so you can find out.

Here’s mine:

Get Your Cyborg Name

Go on - check it out. You know you want to…

My daughter sent me this article and wanted to know what I thought. It’s about romance and the male perception of what women want versus what they really want. And, well, considering it’s an article written by a man for men about themselves, I thought it was interesting. Let me follow it up by saying I actually know a man similar to the one in the article. To this day he is a very nice guy. He married a real go-getter who was emotionally and financially supportive of whatever he wanted. He admitted that he was the nagger. Her job was to make most of the hard decisions, which she hated. He was emotionally needy and felt her individual goals took away time from him (even if she was sitting right there), and if there was a headache that prevented sex, he had it. Yet he left her. Why?

This article hit on what men think about this stuff. I’ll simply say the last paragraph did it for me. After I finished cracking up and laughing, I sobered and thought, “I wonder how many people would get this?” So…take a couple of minutes and read the whole article, then tell us what YOU think. No politically correct, half-truths required – you can tell it like it is. Is this article full of it? Or can you relate?

“Hey guys,

Imagine a 350 pound woman–who hasn’t bathed in a week. Now imagine she has hairy arms and legs, and a little mustache to boot. She’s missing a few teeth and doesn’t wear make up. Are you attracted to her? Probably not–I sure as heck ain’t. Why not?

The answer is simple: as men, we’re attracted to a certain set of visual cues in women. While they vary slightly from guy to guy, when we see a stunning woman we can pretty much agree she’s stunning, and when we see one who was beaten about the head with the ugly stick, we pretty much agree about that, too.

Now, what would you think if the woman I just described said, “Looks shouldn’t matter to men–they should like me for who I am.” You’d probably think she was off floating around Uranus, because there’s no man on earth who’s going to like her for “who she is.”

The same thing happens with men all the time, but they never know it. I hear men say over and over, “I don’t want to learn to be a ‘naughty boy,’ I don’t want to change my personality, I think women should like me for who I am!”

This is the exact same thing to women as the attitude of the 350 lb woman is to men. See, attraction isn’t created in women by looks–it’s accomplished by being a self assured MAN with a wicked sense of humor who knows how to “give her a good time in a [naughty] way,” define authority in the interaction, create sexual tension for her, then slowly “amp” that tension up, all the while being “predictably unpredicatable.”

A lot of guys don’t like to hear this. They want to be “nice guys,” kiss women’s butts, put them on a pedestal, buy them lots of gifts, and let the woman decide what direction the relationship is going to take. This is the male equivalent of being a 350 pound woman, because women HATE to be around guys like this. There’s no tension whatsoever. Women love [sexual] tension, and make attraction decisions based on whether or not that delicious feeling is present, just like we make attraction decisions based on looks.

When I explain this to some guys they comment on “how sad” it is, or “how women are all messed up.” Oh please–this is like saying the law of gravity is soooo unfair. It’s not good, it’s not bad, it’s just what is. When you acknowledge in it, and revel in it that’s when you begin to get massive results. Relationships of all types are based on giving the other person what they want–you make her feel attraction in the way she wants to, and she’ll dress sexy for you in front of your friends, fry your circuits in the bedroom, and go out of her way to make you feel like a man. But if you don’t give her what she wants, she’ll find a guy who will, and drop you like a hot potato.

So, next time you’re talking with a desirable woman, remember to create attraction for her by giving her what she wants–not what you think she should want. Otherwise you’ll just be another 350 lb woman masquerading as a guy.

On with the fun… -John Alanis”

So, whatcha think?

TJ

On one of the boards I’ve been on for years and years, a new member came on and had some questions about romance as a genre. I see these types of questions a lot and almost always by people who don’t read romance or read one back in 1985 and somehow think they know enough garnered from other people who don’t read romance or read one thirty years ago to make sweeping generalizations about it.

One of the main comments was something about why don’t romance authors make it easier for men to pick up books they feel comfortable reading in public.

The thing is, it’s not my job to make your being an adult easier. It’s not my job to help you realize you shouldn’t have to apologize for your preferences, especially to people who don’t bother to understand what they’re judging to begin with. It’s your job to read whatever the hell you want and stop worrying about what some total stranger three seats behind you on the bus thinks.

I don’t care that authors over at a certain well known fantasy writers’ board spend at least 40% of their time whining about romance and how they’d hate it if their books got shelved in romance. I do care that my readers are treated with such little respect except when their hard earned book dollars are spent and help many of those authors sell through and continue to get new contracts. But all I can do is respect my own readers and be true to my craft. I don’t care that recently a sci-fi lover took women to task for “ruining” the genre. My guess is, having never actually touched a real woman, he’s confused about what we are and what we do.

The deal is, the world is full of people who can only find pleasure by tearing down what other people do, like, write, eat for breakfast, wear on a date, etc. A lot of those people have blogs. In the end, what matters to me is what I do. What the people I care about do. If a stranger on the bus thinks it’s a hoot when I read a romance novel in public, who’s problem is that? Because it’s not mine. If I can’t walk up to the register at my local bookstore and buy a book because of the cover being silly, that’s not the fault of romance or cover art, that’s my issue. If I let people make themselves feel better at my expense because they write X and I write romance and therefore I’m not as literary or clever or whatever, that’s my fault. I’d rather just give em the hand and pick my book back up.

I *like* to read romance. I *like* to write romance. I read a host of other genres too, I love a well told story.

My response to the folks who haven’t read romance but hate it, or haven’t read anything since 1985 is to shut up and pick up Jenny Crusie’s Welcome To Temptation. Or Nalini Singh’s Slave to Sensation. Or Elizabeth Lowell. Or Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Ain’t She Sweet. Oh or JD Robb’s Naked In Death. In other words, if you’ve read more than one romance book thirty years ago, you might be able to state these “ooh icky kissing junk” things with more convincing argument. Or not. You might just find that there are some really excellent authors out there telling some wonderful stories about people. Either way? It’s not my job to make you feel better about your ability to read a book in public or not. And if you feel askert about having your book put in the romance section instead of rejoicing in your book deal, you have way worse problems than I can possibly solve.

Find the joy people. Like what you like and don’t apologize.