I know the holiday is behind us. We’re climbing free of the mountains of shredded wrapping paper and the tangle of ribbon. Our trees look forlorn and naked without the heaps of packages underneath them, and if we hear the saccharine strains of one more Christmas song, we’ll heave something heavy at the stereo, but I couldn’t leave the holiday behind without talking about my favorite Christmas tradition: the holiday movie!

In my house, it’s forbidden to watch Christmas movies before Thanksgiving. So by the end of November, pulling out the stack of DVDs is like opening a gift a month early. Holiday movies are a time for all of us to curl up on the couch under mounds of blankets with bowls of popcorn. We begin right after Thanksgiving with THE MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET—the original with Maureen O’Hara and Natalie Wood, of course. From there, each night brings a new jewel of Christmases past.
The classics:

WHITE CHRISTMAS with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye.
Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan in CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT.
THE HOMECOMING—a TV special that spawned the Waltons television series.
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE—no explanation needed

Then there are the ones we cherish from our childhood:

RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER
FROSTY THE SNOWMAN
HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS
A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS
THE CHRISTMAS STORY—“you’ll shoot your eye out, kid.”

And finally, newer additions to Hollywood’s celebration of the holiday:

CHRISTMAS VACATION
ELF
THE POLAR EXPRESS
THE SANTA CLAUSE
SCROOGED
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

As you can see, we spend a lot of nights this way!

Some families bake. Some stand in freezing lines of shoppers on Black Friday. Still others get together for caroling parties or to trim the tree. We all have our own ways of connecting during the season. My family chooses to come together to watch a host of feel-good Christmas films. And as I put away the decorations, sort through the presents, and eat the last gingerbread cookie, I know that next year will bring a return of a treasured tradition: the holiday movie.

Does your family have a special way to celebrate the season? Or a favorite movie you have to watch every year? I’d love to add to my list!

I’ve been really enjoying Glee (and sad that we’re a week or so behind the US here in Oz) but last week something happened on the show that made my writer self think “hmmmm.”  Now writing is all about creating a world and inviting the reader or watcher to suspend disbelief, step inside that world and stay there, so you don’t want them pausing to think “hmmmm.”

In Glee, there’s a teen pregnancy subplot (I won’t say who in case anyone is behind on the show).  And the episode I just saw had a big subplot around the fact that the girl is pressuring the boy for money to pay the medical bills that she’s intercepting and hiding from her parents.  Which would be fine except for the part in the episode or two before where her pregnancy became public knowledge in the school via the school’s gossip blogger. So I now have a lot of difficulty believing that her parents wouldn’t have found out when every kid in that high school and you can just bet some of them have told their parents (and it’s set in a small town) plus all the teachers know she’s pregnant.

Now, it’s not yet a big enough issue for me to completely give up on the show because it’s not a major plot and I love the rest of the show too much but if the writers don’t address it or fix it and keep playing the “secret” pregnancy angle, I can tell it’s going to bug me a lot.  For another thing, the girl in question is quite slim (so she won’t be able to hide it too long) plus she’s been kicked out of something that was a big part of her life, which would also be hard to hide from the parents.  So if they keep playing the story this way, they’re going to have to come up with a brilliant reason why her parents don’t know or I’ll be gnashing my teeth.

Even if they do fix it, as a writer, it’ll bug me a bit in the back of my mind.  The way that the fact that the writers of Gilmore Girls had Rory not know what a Birkin bag was when her rich boyfriend gave her one bugs me every time I watch the last series of Gilmore Girls. For those who’ve never watched Gilmore Girls, Rory and her mom Lorelei are complete pop culture divas, read lots of magazines and watch copious amounts of TV.  A Birkin bag was a big deal in a Sex and the City episode and they also feature regularly in fashion mags as they’re very hard to get and hideously expensive so I didn’t buy that Rory would be so clueless about one. Maybe at the beginning of the show when she was sixteen but not at twenty two. Again, it doesn’t ruin the show for me but it does kick me out of the world every time in that episode.  Which isn’t good. And in this case the bag didn’t even really play a role other than “rich boyfriend gives expensive present that impresses Grandmother”. It didn’t get lost or stolen and you never see Lorelei’s reaction (and Lorelei would definitely know what a Birkin was).  It’s never mentioned again. It was a complete waste of valuable story time.

So my question is when does a writerly error or inconsistent plot idea become too much for you?  What will you put up with?  Personally I think a TV series has more leeway because they’re telling a much longer story than a book or a movie and I tend to think “hey they might fix this” if I like the rest of the world.  In a book I have less faith. How about you?  What throws you out of a world (other than times when you just don’t connect with the writing)?  Plot problems? Stupid characters? Anachronisms or contradictions in world ‘rules’? Do you have a short or long “wallbanger” fuse?

Photo credit (Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0)

Anyone who has known me for more than, oh, five minutes, knows that I’m a big geek girl when it comes to sci-fi shows and movies. I mourned the loss of Firefly when it was canceled before it even had a full season. Don’t even get me started on the powers that be who made that decision. SyFy is one of my favorite networks — home to Battlestar Galactica, the Stargate series, Warehouse 13 and Sanctuary. Even so, I hated when they canceled Stargate Atlantis after last season. But they got back on my good side with the new Stargate Universe (SGU), which is darker and more Battlestar Galactica-ish than SG-1 and Atlantis.

One of the tag lines for the show, spoken by Col. Everett Young, the ranking officer among the group that finds itself far, far from home, is “These are the wrong people in the wrong place at the wrong time.” What he’s referring to is the fact that an odd grouping of people find themselves aboard an Ancient ship billions of light years from Earth when they are attacked and have no choice but to escape through a Stargate (a stable wormhole, for the uninitiated). It shoots them out on a ship called the Destiny, and each week there is some new challenge to be overcome. But what did he mean by the wrong people?

Well, many of these people aren’t trained for a mission of this type. There are only two pilots among them — Young and Lt. Matthew Scott, who is very young for the amount of responsibility he suddenly has to shoulder, especially when they arrive on the Destiny and Young is badly injured. Then there’s Lt. Tamara Johansen, who literally isn’t supposed to be there. A medic, she was on the verge of leaving for medical school when the Icarus Base was attacked. Now she’s forced to become the chief medical officer on the Destiny without the appropriate training. Chloe Armstrong, an aide to her senator father, was just visiting Icarus when the attack came. She feels like she has nothing to contribute to the new situation since there’s not a lot of call for political aides. Add a bureaucrat, a math boy wonder who is there because of his video gaming success (trust me, it makes sense), a certifiable genius (played by the wonderful Robert Carlyle), and you have an interesting group of people flying through space on a ship they largely don’t understand.

Of course I like the show because it’s sci-fi, but it’s also the fish-out-of-water aspect that’s appealing. All of us who are writers have probably written such a story. Readers lap them up, and moviegoers seem to appreciate the story type as well. We like to see characters who are really out of their element find their way to success and happiness — whether that be a happily-ever-after love or a way back to Earth.

Anyone else here a big sci-fi fan? Are you watching SGU? What do you think? And if not, how about the fish out of water story? Do you like them? What’s your favorite?

Here’s a taste of what SGU has to offer.

We’re in tough times right now. Polarized more than any other time I can remember in my adult life.  I don’t know about you, but the news hound in me has gone into hiding.  Sure I want to know what’s going on, but I can’t abide all this bickering, talking over one another, all these so-called journalists calling people who oppose them liars — or worse.  And the rudeness.  It’s enough for me to turn off the tube and its vitriolic messages and say Stop the planet, I’m getting off here.

I can’t stand this CONFLICT!

While it’s painful in real life, it’s also the reason readers turn pages.  They want to be absorbed in people’s lives and to follow it through to its resolution.  Without conflict, you have no story.  And I think it’s hysterical to see a book rejected for lack of conflict when we are up to our eyeballs in it these days.

My point is, conflict does have its place.  Done right, the clash between characters can have readers holding their breath, particularly in romance, when left wondering, how can this couple possibly end up together?

I recently finished The Associate by John Grisham.  As a former court reporter, I love legal thrillers, and I usually have a lawyer or two in my books.  But in The Associate the young protagonist is being blackmailed, and as I read, I thought, why doesn’t he just go to his lawyer/dad and ask for help?

Probably because if he had, there would be no story, and the reader and the publishing world would be deprived of one of Grisham’s greats — and no doubt his next block buster motion picture.  We trust John Grisham to pull off the plot, and without giving you a spoiler, he does, in my opinion.

In researching ideas for conflict I came across a film that aptly applies — particularly in light of today’s world.  The Way We Were with Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford.  Produced in 1973, and directed by Sydney Pollack, the story, which takes place before and during the World War II era, surrounds star-crossed lovers — Katie Morosky and Hubbel Gardiner.  Morosky, a Marxist Jew (Streisand) and Gardiner (Redford) WASP — white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, are immediately attracted to each other, but engage in diverse political views, which eventually tear them apart.

The Way We Were was a huge movie phenomenon when I was growing up.  I don’t think there was a dry eye in the movie theater when my friends and I walked out, each wishing this couple so obviously in love could work things out.  I also think it’s interesting that in the article I read, that Barbara Streisand wanted to do a sequel to the film, but Robert Redford said no.  I can’t help but wonder if The Way We Were wasn’t intensely painful for Redford, and perhaps he didn’t want to deal with the conflict.  Then again, I have no basis in fact as to my thinking, and I’ve been known to make this stuff up!

Which brings me to ask:  Am I just a Pollyanna type, who as my daughter says I need to “Suck it up, Soldier,” and deal?  Or does all this yelling and talking over one another bother you, too?  What are your thoughts?  Do you enjoy reading page after page of heart-wrenching conflict, or does a little bit go a long way?  Have you ever been rejected for lack of it?  Can you think of a book or a film that deftly defines the concept in its storyline?

I confess I love to read about conflict.  I even work hard to add it to my stories.  But all these people talking over one another in a professional medium?  All I know is that as a trained listener, it bugs me!  There’s a reason a judge says, “Please! One at a time!”

Conflict — I’ll save mine for the books.

For weeks, I waited for it. I planned my work around it, talked about it ad nauseam, imagined just how it would turn out. What would people say and do? What would they wear? And how would I feel when that moment finally came?

That’s right. I’m talking about Jim and Pam’s wedding on the American television show The Office, and when I finally sat down to watch last Wednesday’s episode and see this favorite couple of mine tie the knot, I was not disappointed. (WARNING: I did my best to avoid spoilers, but if you haven’t seen it and want to, you might want to wait before reading further.)

Jim and Pam's wedding

I’ll admit it: I love weddings. And it’s not the fanfare that makes my belly flutter when I see a couple exchanging vows. True, I like a pretty white dress at much as the next girl. But ten years ago, my brother and sister-in-law got married in my mother’s living room in their jeans, and I was as moved (if not more) as at a wedding where the bride wore a dress with a five foot train.

I can’t boil my love of weddings down to just one thing. Honestly, neither can I boil it down to two, but for the purposes of this blog, I’ll do my best.

I love that weddings are an opportunity for the couple to celebrate their love. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? And this is why I write romance. I love those stomach-pitching moments, those moments where your love-intense and unrestrained-is making chaos in your belly. Living in the “real world” means that we spend our days so often distracted from our partners rather than by them. We have dishes to do, laundry to fold, promotions to earn…blogs to write. None of this is terribly conducive to the longing glances of the stories we write (aka, the longing glances of our courtship). But a wedding day-whether it be ours or someone else’s-makes us feel that again, makes us remember why we’ve decided to make a life together.

My husband and I dancing during our wedding reception

We don’t need a wedding, however, to recapture that feeling. Weddings are about so much more than just the two people exchanging vows. They’re about community. They’re about the people who support you and love you and wish you well. They’re about the people who taught us to love and who keep us laughing when times get tough-because they will; this is, after all, a life we’re living.

Dancing with our friends

Jim and Pam’s wedding captured both of these to my delirious satisfaction. I promised I was going to try to avoid spoilers, so rather than say any more, I want to direct you to the YouTube video that must have inspired this episode of The Office. Like weddings should be, it’s pure joy!

JK Wedding Dance Entrance

A few nights ago I sat down to watch the latest James Bond installment, QUANTUM OF SOLACE. And if you haven’t seen it—rent it! Anyway, it got me thinking that as 007 Bond girls we had yet to mention—by even the tiniest reference—the gentleman spy who inspired our group’s name and our Nobody Writes It Better blog.

Now for those who don’t already know—not sure who these cave dwellers might be—James Bond was the creation of Sir Ian Fleming who wrote twelve novels and nine short stories featuring MI6’s super-spy. I don’t know anyone who’s actually read one, but I know plenty of people who’ve seen the movies. Repeatedly. And absolutely adore that perfect combination of aristocratic elegance and lethal instinct wrapped in a very easy on the eye package.

Sean Connery originated the on-screen Bond in 1962 and played him for six movies. To many he is the quintessential Bond. The one the rest try to emulate, if not surpass. Rugged, virile, and oh so smooth while sipping his martini—shaken not stirred.

The second Bond was George Lazenby. Remember him? I sure as heck didn’t. He hung around for only one movie before he departed for—what he thought would be—greener pastures and was promptly forgotten.

Roger Moore picked up the role in 1973 and ran with it for seven movies. He’s the Bond I remember from my childhood. Suave, not a hair out of place. My only hang-up—I can never picture him really being licensed to kill. He seems more likely to be schmoozing poolside with Holly Goodhead than fighting super villains.

Timothy Dalton came on board in 1987 for a mere two movies, although I just learned he was actually wanted for the part back in 1968, declining it on the grounds he thought he was too young. He had that sexy but deadly look for certain. Unfortunately his tenure was short lived, and Pierce Brosnan took over.

Remington Steele anyone?

He hung around for four movies, but the increasingly over the top special effects action left me cold, and I drifted away. Until now!

The current actor to take on the larger than life character of James Bond is Daniel Craig. And I have to say he is what my ideal hero is made of. A tough as nails bad-ass. Ruthless yet vulnerable. And blue eyes that cut like a knife. Some complain that these characteristics are exactly what make him unsuited as Bond who, after all, has long been known more for his sophistication, high-tech gadgets, and the perfect cut of his tailored suits. But I want my James Bond like I want all my heroes in fiction. Raw. Dark. Tortured. Flawed.

Do you agree? Which is your favorite Bond? Your favorite Bond movie?

Drop me a line, and this Bond girl will pick one winner to receive a copy of my latest release, DANGEROUS AS SIN.

If you’re a writer, you’ve undoubtedly heard that editors and agents like to see a lot of white space in manuscripts—translated as go heavy on the dialogue.  That’s because readers love dialogue, which ultimately creates a faster paced novel.  I’m not referring to the how’s-the-weather variety of conversations but rather pithy, witty repartee.

My bio page at the 2009 GH multi-author blog http://RubySlipperedSisterhood.com lists my Ruby Sister nickname as Ruby Queen of Snark.  Granted, I may not be the actual QUEEN of sarcasm, (I think that official title was claimed by someone known as Venomous Kate, the author of an abandoned blog, queenofsnark.com), however, I rank at least as high as a princess or duchess in the art of snark.  My mouth has gotten me—and my characters—in serious trouble on more than just a few occasions.   Therefore, it’s no big surprise that I’m also a devotee of novels and movies with snappy comebacks.  One of my favorite old TV shows is The Golden Girls.  I love Dorothy’s (Bea Arthur’s) snide answers to Rose’s (Betty White’s) dumber-than-dirt questions.

Since I’m inevitably drawn to books and movies rife with clever quips, there’s little wonder I have trouble keeping irreverent wisecracks out of my serious family dramas.  I suspect that’s part of the reason I’m a two-time winner of the Golden Heart award and still unpublished.  In 2003—the first time my work was a finalist in a contest—I received the following comment from one of my judges:  “What a terrific voice!  Great dialogue—I SEE these people sparring—like Spencer Tracy & Hepburn.”  Hepburn in this plot plays a heroine who discovers she has a half-sister with leukemia-not exactly a funny situation.

In my experience, a few great lines of dialogue can be the difference between a good movie or book and an exceptional one.  And even if profound or snappy remarks don’t make the film great, they at least make it memorable.  For example, who could ever forget the lines “You had me at hello” and “Show me the money!” from Jerry MaGuire.

Some quotes from movies have become so renowned you can immediately identify the film from them.  And a few have been quoted so often they’ve become clichés. To illustrate, let’s play a little game.  I’ll list lines from ten different movies, and you guess their titles. (But don’t post the answers and ruin the fun for everyone else.  I’ll list the ten titles later this evening.) Since I’m a romance junkie, most of them are—duhhh—from romances, but a few aren’t.  On some of them, I’ve include two or three lines from the movie because I loved them all so much I couldn’t choose.

1.  “Stores are never nice to people.  They’re nice to credit cards.”

2.  “Oh, yeah, you blend.”

“This is a tough decision.  Get my a** kicked or collect $200.  Hmm . . . I think I’ll collect $200.

“Now, I ask you.  Would you give a f#*% what kind of pants the SOB who shot you was wearing?”

3.  “You can’t handle the truth!”

4. “Now I can see I bring out the worst in you.  Just let me stop you from saying something you’ll torture yourself about for years to come.”

“I wanted it to be you.  I wanted it to be you so badly.”

5.  “You make me want to be a better man.”

6. “Your boss is the Chief Executive of fantasy land.”

“Let’s take him out back and beat the s**t out of him.”

“Just stay away from DuPont Circle.  I hear it’s murder this time of day.”

7.  “Ditto.”

8.  “Uhh—that you’re the only living heart donor.”

“We were up to our elbows in your underwear drawer.  It was like touching the Shroud of Turin!”

9.  “You’re crème brûlée.  You can never be Jell-O.”

10. “Life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you’re gonna get.”

How did you do?  If you recognized seven out of the ten, I’ve made my point.  Relevant, entertaining dialogue is one of the most important elements of a good book, and crafting it can be one of the most difficult skills to master.  Naturally, being cursed with the smart aleck gene, my preference leans toward witty retorts.  It’s why Susan Elizabeth Phillips is one of my favorite authors.  Nonetheless, dialogue doesn’t have to be funny to make an impact. Examples 3,4,5,7, & 10 from above are great examples of how dramatic, romantic, or profound statements can stick in our minds.

Witty repartee doesn’t just happen.  It takes revising and polishing to perfect the thrust and parry of the ping-pong dialogue that makes our characters’ conversations larger than life.  Readers love and admire that the hero and heroine always know the perfect thing to say at any given moment. (Unless, of course, the heroine happens to be Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail.) 

Have you ever noticed the movies you watch over and over and the books you enjoy rereading are usually ones with great dialogue?  Now it’s your turn to share those titles.  What are some of your favorite lines in them?  What kind of dialogue do you prefer—dramatic, witty, poignant, etc?   Which authors can you rely on to deliver entertaining or compelling dialogue?

Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing

I was saddened to hear last night of Patrick Swayze’s passing. It wasn’t unexpected since he’s been so ill with pancreatic cancer, but it was still a blow. Even though I didn’t know him personally, in a way it hurt to know he was gone. His turn as Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing is forever attached to my teenage years. The movie came out when I was 17, and it was the first time I ever went to see the same movie twice in the theater. I enjoyed his work in Ghost and the mini-series North and South in his pre-Dirty Dancing days, but it’s the role of the summer resort dance instructor who falls for the sheltered girl visiting with her family that I most identify with him. Hey, it’s an opposites-attract romance, and that’s the kind of story I adore. When he and Jennifer Grey’s “Baby” Houseman danced together on stage, I couldn’t stop watching. When he said, “Nobody puts Baby in the corner,” who among us didn’t think he was the most perfect guy ever?

Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You

Which brings to mind another actor lost too soon — Heath Ledger. I’m still incredibly sad every time I think of him being gone, of us never having the opportunity to see another Heath Ledger film. He was talented, good-looking, by all accounts a nice person and devoted father. And the first role of his that won me over was another opposites-attract romance — as Patrick Verona in 10 Things I Hate About You with Julia Stiles. He was the bad boy to her good girl, and that’s what made their falling in love so great. Ledger went on to other roles I also love and will continue to watch over and over — in A Knight’s Tale, The Four Feathers, and his phenomenal work in Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight.

I wondered why we often feel so incredibly saddened by the deaths of people we don’t really know, but I think it’s because of the way they’ve inhabited their characters for our enjoyment makes us feel as if we did know them. They shared so much of themselves with us that it’s impossible not to feel grief when they’re no longer there.

My sister and I were chatting online last night about Swayze, and we both feel the need to watch Dirty Dancing again. Until then, I’m going to pull out my well-worn CD of the soundtrack (I totally wore out a cassette tape version right after the movie came out). Maybe today I’ll work out to tunes like “Hungry Eyes” by Eric Carmen and “I’ve Had The Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warner, the song most identified with the movie. Maybe I’ll even sit back and listen to “She’s Like the Wind” performed by Swayze himself.

I’ll leave you with a little tribute and trip down memory lane.

As a writer, I usually prefer a hermit-like existence. So, what did I do when offered the chance to take part in a movie? Grab it, of course! It’s amazing the extent some writers will go to avoid writing. *g* If I was the talented Lori Foster, who writes a fabulous series about mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters, perhaps I could have called it research. But since I’m not, I simply called it Gail’s playtime away from family and writing.

The movie set for Unrivaled had it all – exciting mixed martial arts action, a love story, and a spectacular new experience for moi.

I learned important moviespeak such as, ‘Crane Aware’ – crucial for avoiding a knock-out blow when the sneaky crane-mounted camera swoops alarmingly close.

I also gained a new appreciation for the hardworking folks in the movie business.

Forget my preconceptions about movie directors being uptight shrieking tyrants. Warren Sonoda, the Director for the film, Unrivaled (formerly listed as King of the Cage on the IMDb website), handled his work in a manner that expressed respect for his cast and crew – a behaviour that was noticeably reciprocated by those who work for him. 

Incredibly, I witnessed no diva tantrums for Smarties in the dressing room, an incident I believed was commonplace on movie sets.  Heck, I would have demanded Smarties, wouldn’t you? Instead, I watched this crew and cast work seamlessly together, putting in long hours under hot lights without complaint. This held true from Igor, the janitor, to Hector Echavarria, the Executive Producer and main character of the movie.

It’s no secret I enjoy watching MMA. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a few fighters in the past and it always amazes me how sweet and approachable these athletes are and how they always make time for their fans. The picture of me with Rashad Evans was snapped at the end of a long twelve-hour day. And when I left the set, he was still there making sure that all who wanted their picture taken with him weren’t disappointed. The same was true of Keith Jardine and no doubt would have been the same had I been there the day Forrest Griffin was on the set.

The director describes the movie, Unrivaled, as ‘A Rocky for today’s MMA fan.’

It’s clear that MMA plus romance equals a winning combination. Lori Foster’s not to be missed SBC series, published by Berkley, is a treat for both MMA fans and romance readers.

I asked Lori how her series came to be and what the reader response has been to the fighter heroes in her stories.

“As a huge fan of MMA and the UFC, I couldn’t help wondering how these dedicated guys managed to fit romance into their lives, and how they’d be in a romantic situation once they fell in love. So far, readers have loved the books and I get inundated with wonderful posts, letters and emails – many times with readers telling me that they’re now fans of the sport too!”

I love these covers! You can check out all of Lori’s books at www.lorifoster.com

So, when can you watch Unrivaled and possibly catch a glimpse of my movie extra debut? Sadly, we’ll have to wait until December 2010 for its release.

Have you ever been part of the movie process? If so, I would love to hear about it.

Harlequin has released books with NASCAR and baseball heroes, and Lori Foster and Berkley have given us the fabulous MMA hero. Are there any other sports heroes you would like to see in a romance novel?

Why I Like Romantic Adventure

Ever since ROMANCING THE STONE, I’ve loved romantic adventure. To me, the genre is slightly different than romantic suspense because the focus isn’t on finding the bad guy. Many times romantic adventures are a quest, and if there’s a bad guy, he’s the competition, the time table the hero and heroine have to beat. Here are my top reasons for loving romantic adventure:

1. Forced proximity. I love when the hero and heroine HAVE to be together. He’s her bodyguard, he’s responsible for her, she’s stuck there because of a storm. They learn more about each other when they deal with each other every part of the day.
2. The quest. More often than not, I’ll buy a book BECAUSE of what the characters are looking for, a map, a treasure, an item of historical importance. If it’s a real object, I’ll enjoy the bits of history. If it’s fictional, I’ll marvel at the author’s imagination.
3. Remote locations. Because, let’s face it, treasures are hardly ever in the middle of the city. I love jungle-set stories in particular. Must be because of all those years of watching Tarzan movies on Saturday afternoons.
4. Fast pace. One problem after another keeps me turning pages.
5. Quick wit. I love when the characters get in seemingly insurmountable trouble and have to get out of it.

Some of my favorite adventure movies include romance, though some end badly. Still, I find these movies inspiring.

1. Indiana Jones (1 and 3 in particular.)
2. Romancing the Stone. Duh.
3. The Librarian movies on TNT, with Noah Wyle from ER.
4. Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life
5. National Treasure

Do you enjoy romantic adventure? What are some of your favorites?

My new romantic adventure, Beneath the Surface, is out today from Samhain Publishing.

In retrospect, perhaps archaeologist Mallory Reeves shouldn’t have delivered the divorce papers to her estranged husband mere weeks before her marriage to another man. She knew seeing Adrian again would stir up memories, but she didn’t expect so many of them to be good, not after the mess they both made three years ago. She also didn’t expect to want to stay at the dig site on the Yucatan Peninsula. But the lure of the ancient ship and, yes, her sexy ex provide more of a draw than the white picket fence she thought she wanted. Marine archaeologist Adrian Reeves has good reason to trust no one. His former partner—and former best friend—made off with his last archaeological find. And his wife left him, frustrated by his obsession for professional revenge. Now both Mallory and his nemesis have returned, and it can’t be an accident that they’ve turned up in the middle of the most important excavation of his career. Seeing her again unearths old pain—and rekindles never-forgotten desire. Now he has to decide if he can trust Mallory again. More importantly, if he can trust himself with her.