T-R-O-U-B-L-E Tour

I would like to thank Sable for stopping by again.  I gave her ten questions to answer.  Here are her answers...

Top ten things you don't know about me:

1.  Cotton or Silk?

I am definitely a cotton person.  I love the cool, crisp feel of cotton.  Former Texas Congressman and presidential candidate Phill Gramm was quoted as saying, “Half the world doesn’t know the joys of wearing cotton underwear.”  I do.  Hey, it breathes – feels like you are air conditioned in interesting places. 

When I’m fantasizing about myself in a sexual situation – I always imagine me wearing white, cotton, barely-there babydolls with peekaboo eyelet over my breasts.  I am Creole – so my skintone is a bit darker and my hair is black – so it works for me. 

In all of my books – my heroines dress like me.  They wear cotton sundresses, cotton camisoles and white eyelet boudoir sets.  The cotton aspects reflect a sweet, wholesome, yet – cuddly persona that I like to create for my girls.  Most of them are innocent, yet have faced tremendous challenges that their heroes help them overcome.  And the white cotton helps me define their character.

So – cotton – the fabric of our lives – that’s my opinion, too.    

2.  Champagne/beer/wine?

Gee – none of the above.  I drink Mike’s hard lemonade.  I will concoct me a bellini with red wine, occasionally.  But – my all time favorite – hey, I’m from Texas - is a margarita.  I keep margaritas mixed up in the frig all the time.  One of my favorite things to do is sit on my front porch and sip a cool, frozen drink.  It can get hot where I live in central Texas and I love to rock on the porch, drink in hand, wearing a cotton short set with my cats draped over the banisters like ivy. 

Drinking for me is a way to relax at the end of the day and maybe plot a little on my books.  The only other time I drink is when I go to a Mexican restaurant – so I guess I’m a boring drinker.  

3.  Plotter/pantser

Ah, an age-old writer’s question.  I write a lot – and pretty fast.  I am just finishing up my tenth book and I have to admit that I do plot – I have to have a skeletal idea of the book and where I want it to end up.  But my plots never stay firm.  I love to give my characters free rein and see what they do.  My heroes – those Texas good ole’ boys – they can get out of hand sometimes.  In the sequel to T-R-O-U-B-L-E, My Aliyah, my hero just would not behave.  He is a Texas Ranger – a sexual Dom – an arrogant, sexy-as-hell rascal who has a dry sense of humor and the idea that he has all the answers.  I hooked him up with a female Mossad agent who could beat him at all of his own games – and he didn’t know how to handle her.  He fussed and faunched and flirted – and I thought I knew exactly what he was going to do.  But – in one scene – he snuck in the back door with a bouquet of wild flowers behind his back.  He surprised the hell out of the heroine and me.  So – on the whole – I am a panster.   

4.  Describe your work space

My work space is very small.  I lay in the recliner with the laptop on my tummy.  That’s my workspace – wherever the recliner is.  Presently, it’s in the living room in front of the big screen TV and I do write while my family watches television and I am absolutely oblivious to it.  But – I can’t stand to hear music playing while I write.  Strange. 

While I’m in the recliner, I have my red wiener dog lying cuddled up to my side – lying hip to thigh like a big salami.  He thinks he is supporting me – and he’s right.  To my left there is a small table where I keep a Diet Dr Pepper – ever at hand.  And usually there is a bag of BBQ fritos and a large sour pickle.  But – I can write anywhere – as long as I have a recliner and a laptop.  So I’m shopping for an RV – recliner will travel.

 
5.  Cowboys or Saints?

Saints – all the way.  I am originally from New Orleans.  My heart belongs to New Orleans.  Now, I will address my love for Texas in the next segment – but Louisiana is in my blood.  When Katrina hit New Orleans, I felt like somebody I loved more than life had died. 

And the Saints epitomize to me the heart and drive of New Orleans.  They will survive.  Now, the only problem I have had with them is Reggie Bush.  And I like Reggie Bush.  But he did go up against my Longhorns in the National Championship the year Vince Young worked his miracles for Texas.  Reggie Bush took the Heisman that year – when I thought it belonged to Vince Young.  And Vince Young went on to beat the crap out of Reggie Bush to give Texas the National Championship.

So, when I watch my Saints play – I have to separate my feelings a bit.

Because, when it comes to football - I bleed orange.  Mack Brown, Colt McCoy, Jordan Shipley - - - Texas is it at my house.  Now, I’m talking the University of Texas here.  We are part of the Texas nation.  As Mack Brown says – We Come Early – We Stay Late - We Be Loud – We Wear Orange.

The Cowboys – I can take them or leave them.

But – the Saints and the Longhorns – they are my boys.

6.  Texas or Lousiana?

I am a perfect mix of two cultures.  Louisiana and Texas – it’s hard to say which has been more influential for me.  Let me take them one at a time.

Louisiana is mysterious.  I grew up staying with my grandmother a lot.  And she lived on a slow moving dark-green bayou with Spanish moss hanging from the trees.  Alligators would swim up to the dock in the back and I got in trouble several times because I would bring the baby alligators in the house and hide them in the bed with me. 

I grew up believing in things that most people don’t.  The supernatural is entirely normal where I am from.  I ghost hunt for a hobby –if that tells you anything.  It was nothing for the old people on my street to attend mass in the morning and go home and make mojo bags in the afternoon.  So, my paranormal books are straight out of my life – I know hoodoo.

And the food – my lands!  I’ll talk about it more in my next segment – but Louisiana people can cook.  I make mean gumbo and jambalaya and redbeans and rice and etoufee.  And I like crawfish better than shrimp..

But, Texas – I’ve lived here since I was nine.  But I stay about half my time in Louisiana.  Texas has made its mark on me.  I raise bulls – I can stand still while a two ton bull runs at me at breakneck speed.  Most everyone else would be running for the hills.  But I raised those bulls – by hand – since they were tiny calves.  And I brush them and kiss them and I know they are going to slide to a stop and we’ll touch noses.  They’re my babies. 

And the men - - all of my heroes are cowboys.  Contemporary cowboys.  Texas Good Ole’ boys who drive pickup trucks, wear tight levis that make their erections look like luscious speed bumps – land sakes.  Texas is more than just a state – it’s a state of mind.  Now, I don’t agree with its politics.  I am a liberal - so wild, weird Austin is where I am happiest and most accepted.  But all of Texas is rich in history and diversity and you can find mountains and lakes and deserts and deep pine forests and you can drive from sunup to sunset and not make it across the state.  Texas is big and the weather is hot – but so are the men.

So – my answer – both.      

7.  Favorite food –

I am a foodie.  I love to cook.  And I’m good at it.  I can make grown men weep with delight at my cooking. 

And I cook two main types, of course – Cajun/Creole and Tex/Mex.  My favorite food to eat is gumbo.  I make it from scratch – my roux cooks in a huge iron skillet in the oven and I add the sacred Trinity (bell peppers, onion and celery) and chicken, andouille sausage and shrimp.  It’s good the first day but better the second.  On Mondays, I cook red beans and rice – because that’s what you’re supposed to do. 

But I can also make burritos and brisket that will bring you to your knees.

So, I have proven the fact that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach – but there are other delightful places I like to please on him as well.

8.  When did you start writing? 

I have been writing for about three years.  My first novels were self-published on kindle and I made enough to support myself that way.  The industry treated me very well.  I advertised, blogged – got to know people and made many friends, as well as built a decent reader base.  But I wanted to try being ‘traditionally’ published.  So, I am – I have sold 5 books to Secret Cravings Publishing.  TROUBLE is out now, and A Wishing Moon will come out in a few days, with three more to be released by the end of January.  But I also am still self-publishing.  My most popular series is Hell Yeah! on kindle and I get about 3 letters a day from new readers urging me to write faster and finish the next one  - so HER MAGIC TOUCH will be out on kindle in October. 

9.  If money were no object, where would you like to live?

If money were no object, I would maintain three homes.  The first would be an apartment in Austin, so I could walk to Whole Foods and see the tower on the University of Texas campus from my window. 

I would also have a house in the Garden District of Louisiana near Tulane University so I could ride the street car to the French Quarter and eat supper at Emeril Lagasse’s.

My third residence would be in Georgetown, Colorado.  It’s supposedly one of the most haunted places in the U.S.  And it is certainly one of the most scenic.  I love the mountains in Colorado.  There is a house there that actually has a stream running under it – I want that house.  I can just imagine that they have a glass floor where you can watch the water rushing beneath you.  Now, I haven’t figured out what they do when the water rises – maybe the house floats – who knows.  But if money were no object – I guess I could solve that problem.

  
10.  What's next for you? 

I have four Works In Progress – one for each of my series.  And they will all come out next year.  I am also starting a new series and the first book will be entitled Burning Love.  It stars a hero who was inspired by the Sons of Guns TV program.  He owns a gun store in Louisiana and hunts alligators for fun.  He will be my first non-Texas hero – but for me – it’s just going home. 

Don't forget to stop at Deep in the Heart Romance http://www.deepintheheartromance.com/ for the next stop.  I would like to thank Sable for stopping by today.  Don't forget to leave your name and email for a chance to win a copy of T-R-O-U-B-L-E.