Hi Catanetwork fans. I’m Linda Thomas-Sundstrom, your guest blogger for today, and I’m so happy to be here among so many romance fiction readers and writers. See me waving?

First up, I’d like to say a little about my own background and my writing, because I am thrilled to my underpants to be writing paranormal romance – and getting published by three great New York publishing houses, Kensington, Dorchester, and Silhouette ( Nocturne). And then I have a couple of questions for you-all, and hope you will chat a bit, and share your opinions. Okay? Ready – set – go.

Delving into the mysterious:
My history with the paranormal goes way back. My love of the paranormal started when I was a kid, and my family would travel in a station wagon (remember those? Ours was a blue Chevy)  to and from the midwest to visit family. Since my dad had limited vacation time, we’d drive all night sometimes, and to pass the time, my dad would tell us ghost stories. (!) He’d tell us about phantom lights in the desert, and about old diners that were burned down, but refused to die.
Do you now see what started all this? So it was natural that my first book, written after my father died, but with his help from the Great Beyond,  was fantasy fiction dealing with Route 66 and diners that refused to die… and called Café Heaven -An Autobiography of the Afterlife (2002).

But my love of the paranormal was only kicked off there. I was a private travel guide in the summers for a British agency, and as a result spent a lot of time in Britain, going from ancient site to ancient site, then studying megaliths, stone circles, etc, from a more scientific angle.
“Paranormal happenings” were in my blood. for sure. And have been ever since.
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I can’t write anything that isn’t paranormal. No matter how hard I might have tried, early on, things just turned out mysterious. I gave in!

I think my Muse is a werewolf – because as a writer,  my paranormal species of choice is —- Werewolves.

Why? Because unlike vampires, sexy alpha Weres are human (sort of) most of the time. The heros in my current Nocturne series are ER doctors, detectives, cops, and even a deputy D.A. They try to lead normal lives and blend in… but just have that teensy little problem when there’s a full moon. Grrrr….

Still, you can curl up in bed beside a Were twenty-eight nights a month, without having to worry about being accidentally (or otherwise) drained of all your blood.

Plus, a nice, juicy werewolf is warm.  I mean, who doesn’t prefer warm on a cold winter night? To the pleasant scent of damp puppies, in comparison to the smell of potting soil or cedar coffin linings?

My Wolf Moons series from Silhouette Nocturne kicked off last year with two Nocturne Bites, Blackout and Wolf Bait. Now, those Bites are included in print this year as bonus material in this month’s  full Nocturne,  Red Wolf,  and also in its back-to-back sequel in March, Wolf Trap.

The series is all together in two books. And did you see the covers? Hot, sexy, yummy stuff!

I was chosen by the editors at Nocturne to be test-pilot for having my Bites in print as bonus material with the full books, and couldn’t be more thrilled. This way, e-book lovers, Kindle and Nook owners, as well as paperback  book fans, can find my books in every way possible.

Oh – and did I mention my January Nocturne Bite, just out – Moon Marked ? Also related to the Wolf Moon series, if not directly conjoined.

What’s the series about?
A rogue werewolf in Miami is biting innocent people. Eight people will come together because of such bites. Four couples emerge… and try to take this criminal wolf down. It’s dark, sexy fare in sultry Miami. Heat all the way around.

Please do check the books out. I’d love to hear from you about it.

Now—- ta da. My questions for you. Pick one or all. Pretend we’re at a party and getting to know each other through pleasant chichat. Go for it. Share.

1) Are you a paranormal fan? Or not?
2) Do you like your reads dark, or on the lighter side? (Yes, this is going to tell us a lot about you – ha!)
3) What is your preferred species, for paranormal fans? (Team Edward? Team Jacob? LOL)
4) Are you writing a book?

Oh, and — Have you perhaps read any of mine?  (Fingers are crossed, don’t you know!)

I hope you’ll join me today – and even want to win a copy of one of my books. Because one person will.

xo for now-
Linda
www.lindathomas-sundstrom.com

In the past I’ve helped several readers find old books that they’re forgotten the title of or the author’s name. Well, this time I’m stumped, so that’s where you all come in. Let’s help our fellow reader find this book/series.

“I am trying to find a series of books published by harlequin [Silhoutte] desire I believe. The stories are centered around the basis of a earthquake in California. The series is called morgans heroes or mogans mercenaries. can you help me with the authors name or a list of the authors. and names of the books in the series if possible. ”

If you have a clue, please leave a comment below. Thanks!

Though I’m a romance reader myself, I think as a writer I may read books a little differently now than I did before I was published. Now, along with the experience of enjoying a good read, I find myself analyzing how the author created those great characters, or asking myself what is it about that bit of dialogue that made it so great.

Even with more than 40 novels under my belt, I’m still trying to improve. So every book is also an occasion for study. This is great for my craft, but I wonder if I’m seeing books the same way the reader who read MY books see them — as entertainment, escape, recreation, etc. .

So when I come on a blog like this one with lots of active readers posting, I want to take advantage of the opportunity. I hope you’ll allow me to pick your brains a little.

What do you love to see in stories that you don’t feel you see enough of? What kinds of plots do you love and which ones are you tired of? What trends have you noticed in books that you like, and which would you just as soon see die a quick death?

If you had to use one word to describe the books you’ve labeled “keepers”, what would that word be?

For me, when I write a book, it’s all about the characters. In my newest release, The Father For Her Son, I was really intrigued by the idea of a guy who’d made a mistake coming back to try to make up with the woman he loved and the son he’d never met. A stand-up guy is always a hero to me.

And in my novella, “Melting Point” in Baby, It’s Cold Outside, I started with the idea that I wanted to write about an Olympic skier and went from there. Kristjan’s family really made him the man he is, so exploring their characters was fun, also.

So that’s what I like characters as well as interesting setting. Now I want to hear what you like.

I’m curious to see how many different opinions we get here and how many things you agree on.

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THE FATHER FOR HER SON
Harlequin Superromance
January 2010
Life hasn’t been easy for single mom Marlee Britton, but she’s proud of her ability to look after herself and her son. Then old flame Troy Denton shows up after seven years, wanting to be a father to his son. and to rekindle his relationship with Marlee. While Troy struggles to prove himself trustworthy, Marlee wonders how she can ever give her heart to the man who broke it so long ago.

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MELTING POINT” in BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE
with Jennifer Greene and Merline Lovelace
Harlequin Anthology
January 2010
Kristjan Gunnarson is Iceland’s first ever Olympic medalist. Coloradoan Stacy Bristol thinks he’ll be the perfect model for her new advertising campaign, but she isn’t prepared for the impact handsome Kristjan has on her. As she supervises filming around Iceland, Stacy fights her attraction to Kristjan. Can a down-to-business American and a footloose Icelander find love in the land of ice and fire?

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Bio:
Cindi Myers became one of the most popular people in eighth grade when she and her best friend wrote and illustrated their own historical romance novel. The manuscript was eventually confiscated by her English teacher, who told her she should spend her time learning to properly conjugate a sentence. Since then, Cindi has gone on to write more than three dozen novels, both historical and contemporary. She also teaches writing and is a popular speaker and workshop presenter. She produces a weekly market newsletter at www.cindimyersmarketnews.wordpress.com Visit her website at www.CindiMyers.com

One of the things I try to do with each royalty and advance cheque is donate to charity. I’m pretty darned fortunate to have good health, a wonderful family and a job I love. Giving back as a way to say thank you is something I really believe in. For example, after my last royalty cheque I made a donation to the local Health Sciences organization. My father in law underwent major surgery last June and it was our family’s way of saying thank you – and hoping that our little token might make life a bit better for another family going through illness.

Sometimes, though, work and charity meet. That was the case for me back in the fall of 2008 when I was researching the book I have out this month. I wanted to do something a little different with my cowboy and started researching rescue ranches. My googling put me on the trail of one such place right smack dab in the middle of Alberta, an area I was already familiar with (and missing quite a bit since we’d moved to the East Coast). So, when I went to Calgary for a workshop, I added a few extra days so I could visit Bear Valley Rescue.

Bear Valley started as a trip to a local feedlot, where Mike and Kathy Bartley went for 2 horses and came back with 12. That was in 2004, and in 2005 they became a registered charity. Relying on community participation and donations, they are home to many many animals – not just horses! – and try to foster out or find homes for as many as they can.

Their mission statement is:

- To save from slaughter usable and healthy horses and find them good homes
- To rescue injured or ailing animals from auctions and feedlots or abusive
situations and rehabilitate them, or alleviate their suffering
- To educate the public on the plight of unwanted or aging horses and other animals
- To network with other rescue organizations and provide support through these
networks for finding and placing distressed animals

I’m not going into the issues of horse slaughter or animal abuse; you can visit the Bear Valley page where they’ve provided lots of great links to find out more. What I will tell you is that Mike and Kathy are good people doing a good thing. The afternoon I spent touring the farm was lovely. It’s calm and peaceful, and you only have to watch Mike with the animals to know this is a labour of love. It doesn’t matter if it’s dogs, cats, horses, pigs, chickens or turkeys! Lots of noses got rubbed that afternoon as we visited, and I listened to their plans for providing more medical care as well as keeping up with the day to day expenses. Many of the horses are not in the best shape when they arrive, and there is a lot more to their care than feed.

A random idea to give my cowboy a “twist” turned out to be eye opening and a very enjoyable afternoon! Since my visit, Bear Valley has been added to the Canada Helps fundraising page (hooray!).

I’d love to hear about the charities close to your heart! Please post in the comments. I’d love for this to be a real “feel-good” day!

Award-winning Canadian author Donna Alward kicks off a brand new duet this month with One Dance With The Cowboy! Meet Andrew Laramie, the veterinarian who runs Lazy L Rescue Ranch, and his high school sweetheart, Jen O’Keefe. The Cowboys and Confetti duet winds up in March with Noah Laramie in Her Lone Cowboy.

You can catch up with Donna at her website : www.donnaalward.com or blog www.donnaalward.blogspot.com or on Twitter: @DonnaAlward

I recently read a great Harlequin Romance by Liz Fielding. I didn’t realize until I’d finished it that it was a sequel to another book. As we all know, category romances are here today, gone tomorrow.

Or are they?

With Harlequin and other publishers distributing many, if not all, of their titles in digital formats, it’s easy to catch up if you’ve missed a book in a series or find a new favorite author whose backlist you want to read.

So I turned on my trusty iPhone and downloaded the first book and am reading through it. Unfortunately, that evil cold and horrendous virus have greatly disrupted my reading schedule so it’s taking longer than normal to finish this book. Can I just go on record saying that a virus should never make you so tired and/or sick that you can’t, at the very least, read a good book. I mean, really, what are sick days for, except to catch up on your reading!?