Busy, busy, busy

I haven't blogged in a bit, and those plans I had to change the look of my blog have fallen by the wayside. Here's what I've been doing...writing!

I've been filled with a new sense of wonder as I set to work, turning a page blank save for a blinking cursor into words to what I hope will be compelling story. I've been buoyed by the modest success of The Heat of Heat since its release four months ago and reader response to it. I have an eagerness to stop dawdling about all my story ideas and actually get the darn things written. Finding the box that contains disks with my old manuscripts, plus figuring out how to open a document saved in an ancient version of Word in 1999 into Word 2007 only increased my drive to get going.

Next up will be a revised, updated version of my second romance, A Love of Her Own. It amazes me how much the world has changed in a dozen years. The car the character drove, her lack of a cell phone...these references are terribly outdated in 2011. I also thought about having the hero and heroine make love earlier in the story, more in keeping in current reader tastes, but I decided against this. The story seems to be flowing just right, and the characters are behaving the way they've been drawn.

I'm still reading over it and making revisions and am about 60% of the way through, so I'm still open, of course. Anything that needs changing to strengthen the story will be changed.

A Love of Her Own should be available for sale later this spring through Bunderful Books (available at online retailers only), and will be offered in eBook format only.

I'm going to share part of a review someone wrote on one of the popular reader review sites with regard to The Heat of Heat:

"The different pace of each of the three romances was very appealing, because it attested to the fact that falling in love is an experience that's very different for everyone. The Heat of Heat was a beautiful and engaging reprieve from the 'pack and shack' and 'hump 'em and leave 'em' approach to relationships today. It is definitely MUST READ material."

This reader understood precisely what I was trying to do...appeal to romance lovers in general with a story that had something for everyone. Now, can you blame me for wanting to create more stories for readers after reading such a wonderful review?

What's your take on the hero and heroine hitting the sheets earlier and earlier in romance novels? Do you a) like it, b) feel it makes the book less romantic, or c) does nit not matter as long as the behavior fits the characters? I'd love to know!

A Happy Easter to all!