Super Dad

I hope you all got the chance to spend some time with the fabulous Fathers in your life this last weekend. I spent the weekend at yet another soccer tournament with my family. That makes for a grand total of 5 tournaments over the past 4 weekends with 2 different teams. Just in case you were counting. Lord knows I am! 

While I enjoyed spending the weekend with my husband, who just happens to be a fabulous father himself, I missed seeing my own father on Father's Day. If you've followed my blog for a while, you may know how close I was to my mom before she passed away a year and a half ago. But she wasn't alone in raising me and my three siblings. She had a bit of help from my dad.   

Mom & Dad ~ photo taken by me ~

Dad's a good ol' country boy. Born in a farming town, Dad's idea of mowing the grass was to plow it under with a tractor we had sitting around. As a former cop, his green thumb feared nothing. He tackled snakes with the same finesse as he did with pesky gophers. 

And boy, did he have a sense of humor. My older sister loves to tell the story of Dad taking her to school dances in the back of his black and white patrol car. Thankfully, I was spared the same horrifying social death. By the time I was born, Dad had retired and gone back to work as a truck driver. 

Looking back on my childhood years, I've come to understand just how spoiled my little sister and I truly were. My parents doted on us, so much so that we were convinced Mom and Dad would be terribly lonely if they didn't have one of us with them at all times. Come Saturdays, when it was time to run errands, my sister and I would split up. One went with Mom and the other with Dad. My poor parents never had a free moment to themselves. 

About 12 years ago, Dad had a debilitating stroke which left him permanently paralyzed and suffering from dementia. He'd already had 3 heart attacks and a triple bypass. Before Mom passed, we really thought we'd lose my dad. He'd been diagnosed with congestive heart failure and his health, what was left of it, was rapidly declining. Within less than a two week span, Dad improved and Mom suddenly was gone.

Though he now lives in a convalescent home, and has no memory of my mother's passing, I am grateful everyday that he is still in my life. He constantly supported my many crazy artistic endeavors and instilled in me a true love of learning. He, alongside my mother, kept me grounded in a time when it could have been very easy to let my whims carry me away.

I will forever be grateful to my father for making me who I am today. Thanks Dad!

Romance Weekly: #LoveWriteChat

Welcome back! Sorry I've been such a slacker recently. School and soccer have been sucking up all my time. Both are just about over as of this weekend, so I promise to be better next week. This week's questions come from Kim Handysides, and boy, are they good. Let's jump right in. 

1.  What’s your ideal: alpha or beta and why? 

Yikes! You mean I have to choose between them? Can't I just have one of each? Or how about both traits all rolled up in one hot guy? 

In my experience, both literary and real life, every man believes he's an alpha male . . . even when he's not. Take this cute guy for example. He looks tough but would rather roll over and let you scratch his belly than take down an intruder.

Usually alpha males are swoon worthy, make for a hot date, and even hotter sex. I love a tough guy who's in control but has a heart of gold. His people skills might need to be spit shined on page 1 of nearly every romance book I've ever read, but by the end, he grudgingly does the right thing and turns out to be a big ol' softie. Alpha males make for the best book boyfriends. 

But in reality . . .

Beta males are the ones you want to marry. There's a lot less stress and jealousy involved. As an added bonus, they typically go out of their way to keep their woman, and/or family, happy. Fortunately, I married a beta. Just don't tell him that. He thinks he's the alpha in the relationship. Gotta love the man. 

2.  Do you have a male buddy or mate you use for confirmation or inspiration when crafting your heroes? 

My next hero, Mateo, will be loosely based on a male friend I recently reconnected with. He's a hot military guy with a very romantic heart. Think 6 pack, tattoos, and sultry smile. Mateo will be a wounded ex-Marine who tries to throw his weight around in all the wrong places. Sophie, the principal of a local school, won't back down and orders Mateo to serve something even worse than detention . . . community service at her middle school filled with rowdy, hormonal pre-teens. Will hormones get the best of Mateo when placed in close proximity to Sophie? Can she heal his wounded heart?

Beyond that, no. Even asking my husband to read my manuscript is embarrassing for me. 

3.  What does any hero have to do to win your heart?

I'm a total sucker for a rough around the edges hero with a strong protective nature. Any man who rescues a woman or a child is a good guy in my book. Then again, I am a romantic at heart. I love reading stories about cowboys, and guys with a badge. Who doesn't like a hot guy with a crooked smile and a dirty mind?

Next up on your weekly blog hop is Jeana E. Mann.  http://jeanaemann.net 

Romance Weekly: #LoveWriteChat

Writers, especially of the romance variety, can be an interesting breed. Just how different are we? Keep on reading to find out!

For those of you who are new to the Romance Weekly blog hop, each Tuesday a rowdy horde of romance writers spill all the intimate details about their writing process.  This week's questions come from Victoria Barbour. If you found me by way of J.J. Devine, welcome. I hope you'll enjoy your stay.

Alright, it's time to dig in and get our hands dirty. You ready? Me, too!

Question #1:  Have you always written Romance?

Actually, no. I have dabbled in writing short plays and stories for kids. Unfortunately, I had no idea what I was doing at the time, and have some pretty hefty edits to make before any of those stories see the light of day again. 

My mom was the one who encouraged me to write romance. When I was a teenager, vacations were filled with camping, fishing, and reading. Dad and my sister fished while Mom and I read. As soon as my mom was done reading her book, she'd shout, "DONE!" and chuck her romance book at me. It became a contest to see who could read the fastest. She really fostered my love of reading, and later writing. Over the years, Mom  dropped not-so-subtle hints that she thought I should try my hand at writing a romance story. I supposed she figured I'd had enough disastrous romantic mishaps of my own to keep me writing for years to come. I guess Mom's always do know best, huh?

Question #2:  How do you deal with critiques about the romance genre?

Shortly after I published Redemption For Liars, a female co-worker and I somehow found ourselves on the topic of romance novels. She was telling me that her friend had been reading "one of those trashy smut books". 

I had to laugh. "You do realize that I write those trashy smut books, right?"

She looked completely baffled. "No, you don't. It's not the same thing."

But it was. Call them what you like: smut books, trashy stories, or bodice rippers, I'm proud to call myself a romance writer. 

Question #3:  What’s the one thing about our genre you’d like people to know?

Writing well is tough to do. But writing romantic suspense is downright damned hard. Don't believe me? You try developing two different main character POV's and their love saga, and then balance that with a villain and his/her mystery or suspense plot. Two different story arcs have to be seamlessly woven together so that one can't exist without the other. It ain't easy!  

Even simple story lines take a ton of work. The amount of research, world-building, and character development can be a daunting task. It's not as simple as just tossing two characters together to see if they fall in love. There has to be some semblance of believability to it, which can be tough to do. Every detail has to be thought out and then worded just so. Women want to feel as if they are the one falling in love, like every feathery kiss is igniting their own skin. They don't just want to get to KNOW the main characters, they want to BE the main character. 

You know, now that I think about it . . . In a roundabout way, we keep wives horny and marriages together. No need to cheat when you can read a book to get the same feelings! 

Ok, so maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but there's got to be some sort of statistics out there to back me up. 

Well, that's it for today. Come back next week for another healthy dose of Writer's Weekly. Up next on the Blog Hop is Eden Ashe. Oh, and don't forget to enter the Romance Weekly Giveaway for a slew of prizes, including a Kindle Fire preloaded with a ton of free e-books for your reading pleasure. Click on the link below to enter. 

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