Lately, I’ve been reading a mix of old favorites as well as brand new ones. Here are a few of the titles:

1. Sweet Starfire by Jayne Ann Krentz:  This is one of three books that she wrote back in 1994-1996.  The other two were Crystal Flame and Shield’s Lady. The paranormal genre didn’t really exist back then, but these books definitely fall into that category.  Seriously loved all three at the time and still do. She’s recently released them all in e-book format, so I have them on my Kindle even though I still own the original paperbacks, too.

2. Lone Wolf by Jennifer Ashley: The latest novella in her Shifter series.  I’ve really enjoyed all the books and novellas she’s set in her Shifter world.  Ellison, the hero in this one, was one of those secondary characters you run across where you hope he gets his own story–and the sooner the better!

3. Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts:  I love her characters so much. They leap off the pages, three-dimensional and the kind of people you’d like to meet some day.

Not sure what I’m in the mood to read next. If you have any recommendations, let me know.

Alexis

Last year we had a rainy, icky spring that lasted almost to the end of June.  This year has been far different.  I’ve loved watching all the flowers blooming like crazy.  Thought I’d share a few photos from my yard–the colors are sooooo vivid and pretty right now.  I especially like the yellow rhododendron.  The first year we lived in this house, it wasn’t there–maybe the prior owners cut it down to the roots or something.  Last summer, it poked up out of the ground–just a few leaves and that was all.  This year it’s really grown and actually bloomed.  Talk about persistence!
It sort of reminds me of how a book comes into being.  At first, there is just a blank page.  Then just the tiniest kernel of a idea starts niggling in the back of my mind, growing and developing until I know the characters and the story.  Finally, writing one word at a time (which is how all writing is done, after all), I end up with nearly four hundred pages of story.  All in all, after all these years, it still amazes me every time!

Enjoy your week,
Alexis

I’ve always thought Mother’s Day should be Women’s Day because there are so many wonderful women who play important roles in our lives–friends, sisters, daughters, teachers, and the list goes on.  So when I say “Happy Mother’s Day!” know that I’m grateful for all of you!

As I’ve mentioned before, I have a new contemporary series starting later this summer that I am very much excited about.  I now have the covers for the first four books in the series and thought I would share.  I’ve already posted the first one before, but I wanted to show the entire set so far! I know they are very different from my previous covers, but I really love these stories (and especially the heroes in them!)

Alexis

I know not all of you are baseball fans, but you also know that I am.  Big time!  And I’m one of those strange fans whose loyalty is once given is never taken back.  That means sometimes I cheering for a guy who plays on another team, even when their team is playing against the Ms.  This past off season one of my favorite Mariner pitchers was traded to one of our division rivals.  So guess who was pitching yesterday when we play the Anaheim Angels yesterday–yep, Jason Vargas.  He pitched a heck of a game, but we won when our right fielder belted one out to the bleachers.
On another subject, I’ve been enjoying the varying moods of the mountains to the east of us, especially at sunrise.  On Sunday, they looked small and mostly hidden by clouds. I doubt you could have even seen them if I’d taken a picture. On the other hand, Saturday morning they were gorgeous as you can see below.

Enjoy your day–I’m going to be see what happens next in the book I’m working on.  The couple just shared their first kiss.  I’m thinking things are going to take a turn for the worse a few seconds later–or at least a turn for the weird. 

Alexis

I’ve been working on several different stories for my new Snowberry Creek series, which is set in a fictional town south and east a bit of Seattle.  My dh was nice enough to take a long drive last week to snap a bunch of pictures of the area where I want the town to be. I love this one and thought I’d share.  This is what the foothills of the Cascades look like as they form the back drop of one of the valleys in the area.  I thought this small bridge was especially cool!

Beautiful scenery like this is one of the many reasons I love setting most of my stories in the area between Puget Sound and the Cascade Mountains.
Alexis

I just want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected by the events yesterday in Boston.  As horrific as it all is, what stands out for me are all the stories of heroic efforts from not just the first responders, but the ordinary people who stepped up at the moment they were most needed. Amazing.
Alexis

Sorry to be late posting this week, but I was gone part of the weekend and have been playing a bit of catch up on things.  I went to an all-day class given by Michael Hauge. He is a story consultant, author, and lecturer who coaches novelists, screenwriters, and others on storytelling it all of its forms–books, movies, etc.  It was an amazing class, and I got so much out of it, especially on the emotional journey a hero/heroine makes over the course of a book.
Mr. Hauge used well-known movies as examples because most of us were familiar with them.  The films he used included L.A. Confidential, Shrek, Hitch, The Wedding Crashers, and Titanic. Oddly enough (and this seems to shock some people), I’ve never seen Titanic, so I’m going to watch it soon.  It will be interesting to see it in the context of what I learned in the class.

I also wanted share a picture we had taken with Michael at the end of the day: (from left to right) Darlene Panzera, Michael Hauge, Rebecca J. Clark, me, and Rachel Grant.

Enjoy your week!
Alexis

I think Phil, the official groundhog, has had a tough time of it this year. It can’t be easy for him to accurately predict when spring will finally put in an appearance.  A week ago, I posted a picture of the 3+ inches of snow we got, which was the only real snow storm we had all winter. I took this picture of the flowering cherry trees with the snow capped mountains in the background from my deck on Sunday morning.  What a difference a week makes!
For those of you in the northern hemisphere, has spring finally arrived where you are? I hope so, because warm temperatures, blue skies, and pretty flowers really make a difference in how I feel about life in general.

Of course, the fact that baseball season is finally here doesn’t hurt!

Alexis

Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate the holiday!