My Love Affair with Cary Grant

When I was just out of college, I lived and worked in New York City. One rainy spring, my favorite revival film house had a Cary Grant festival showing every single movie of his four decade plus career. Of course, I went to nearly every film, whether I’d seen them before or not. And with a career that stretched from the 1932 to 1966, that’s a lot of movies (75 or so, to be exact).

Spending so many hours with Mr. Grant, I have to admit I fell in love.

Today my first book is published: Marrying Mari. Every Tuesday in October over on my blog I review romantic movies starring the fabulous Mr. Grant. I do this because one of those movies, the Hitchcock-directed thriller Notorious, is not only my favorite Grant film and favorite romantic movie but the inspiration for one of the love scenes in Marrying Mari.

I didn’t plan for that to happen. It was a happy coincidence I recognized well after the fact.

I also didn’t plan that Mr. Grant would also be the inspiration for my character of Ethan Stone, one of Mari’s heroes (my other hero, Gabriel Pryor, is more a combination of Hugh Jackman and David Beckham). Ethan is sophisticated, handsome, self-confident and cool – not unlike the mysterious agent T. R. Devlin (Grant’s character in Notorious is so mysterious we never learn what the initials stand for). And the biggest challenge for both men – Devlin and Ethan – is meeting the right woman.

Well, meeting and then keeping the right woman.

In Devlin’s case, the right woman is a thrill-seeking playgirl as well as the daughter of a convicted Nazi traitor in post-war America; Alicia agrees to flush out more Nazis, and Devlin is given the task of sobering her up, training her and getting her into the Nazi stronghold in Rio de Janeiro. In Ethan’s case, the right woman is someone who doesn’t know the truth about her past; as a result, Ethan has to get through the lies to the truth, provoke Mari into believing him and then convince her to give him – and Gabriel – a chance.

Both characters – Devlin and Ethan – screw it up, of course. But that’s the reality of heroes: they’re not perfect, even when they’re charming, gorgeous and wicked smart. They should know better, but they don’t – and then our heroes fix the screw-up, beg forgiveness, try harder and make us fall in love with them all over again… which is the fun part of writing them.

Recognizing Ethan’s potential for screwing up his romance with Mari, a woman worth winning and keeping,  really gave me the “aha!” feeling while I was writing Ethan, because of course it’s all about what goes on underneath when it comes to our favorite heroes, isn’t it? Because as gorgeous, as smooth and as strong as a hero is on the surface, we really fall in love when we see what is under the surface, that he’s just “a fat-headed guy full of pain” (as Devlin puts it) who none the less shows up to do what’s necessary.

That’s what I wanted for Ethan: a man who’s had it all his own way for a long, long time… and now he might lose it all because of his own mistakes. To meet a woman who challenges him to change, to grow and become a better man. That’s fun to write.

So thanks, Mr. Grant, for the inspiration.

Elyse Snow

Hello everyone, and thank you Delilah for lending me your blog. I’m so happy to be back!

Last time, we talked women. Today, I thought we’d talk men. OK, women all over again, as well. You see, I got into a heated debate I mean civilized discussion, with a guy, about the type of men romance authors write. You know, the type all women secretly or rather not-so-secretly covet. We have, after all, devoted an entire genre to the man of every woman’s dreams. A Man, with a capital M.

A Man who is strong yet vulnerable, emotional even. A Man who is confident but sensitive and understanding when need be. Dependable, loyal and intelligent with a great sense of humor. A Man who is kind and courageous, who is endlessly creative and attentive in bed, successful in all his endeavors but never afraid to admit, even if sometimes begrudgingly, that they were wrong, and who, after acknowledging the error of their ways, will bend over backwards to make their loved ones happy for as long as they both shall live.

Not only is that hopelessly unrealistic, he said, the guy I was debating I mean having a civilized discussion with, it puts real men under pressure and it generates performance anxiety and it’s just not fair, pitting men against something that doesn’t even exist. He went on to say the species most likely to become extinct next was the Average Joe and complained how no one wants Joe and no one wants to be Joe, everyone wants to be and bed The Man.

I let him talk while a light bulb slowly lit up in my head. If The Man is not true to life, it’s not true to fiction, either, not anymore. The description of The Man fits every heroine as well, and The Man lives inside every real woman. Women are proactive in the family, their communities and the workplace. And they are agents of change, movers and shakers, independent in their choices in books, as well.

I submit to you that The Man is the type of person not only would we love to have as a lover and/or a friend, it’s the type of person each and every one of us aspires to be. The heroic journey we love to write and read about, the dream of the hero saving the day against all odds and finding their happy ending is the search for the champion in all of us. Not just the story we’d love to experience for ourselves and the kind of man we’d want by our side but the type of woman, human being, we’d like to be.

I admire The Man, or The Woman, because I aspire to be just like him/her. I write about them because I suspect you admire them too, and it’s a sweet dream, one worth cherishing, isn’t it? And I don’t believe in the battle of the sexes, that women are from Venus and men from Mars. I think we’re just earthlings with the same hopes and dreams, fears and desires. We face the same challenges and we want the same things. To be happy. To make someone happy. To love and be loved. To do the right thing.

Different costume. Same core. Truce?

Dita Parker is the author of a death-defying love and lust triangle set in the Big Easy titled Alex Rising, and Perpetual Pleasure, a hot and heavy novel starring a commitment phobic immortal and a stunt performer bent on showing her everything she’s missing out on (Ellora’s Cave Publishing). Dita lives in Scandinavia with her striking Viking and their children. She believes that sex is a positive life force, that love can last a lifetime, and that in 2014 Brazil will once again win the World Cup. To see how it all plays out, visit Dita’s Den.

With several days of intermittent Internet (love the alliteration!), I can safely say this is the biggest downside to living in the country—for me. I feel like I’m held hostage by the weather. I’m on satellite, and anytime cloud cover gets thick, the signals being passed between the satellite and my dish get interrupted. I can’t Facebook or Tweet, can’t check my email, can’t check to see how Tarzan & Janine is doing on Amazon…

But I do have plenty on my desk to take care of while I wait for a window in the clouds to open up so I can scramble and get a blog posted. I have books to write, pages to critique, submissions to read. Plenty, plenty…

Have you seen how well Tarzan & Janine is doing?

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to post a review. And thanks for clicking on those “Likes” and “Tags”. Sis and I are truly appreciative. And since you seem to like the book so well, it’s a sure bet we’ll be working on getting the next book out very soon. It’s written, but needs some revision. Shouldn’t take us long.

And thanks to everyone who voted and posted comments regarding the cover for Shattered Souls. My editor and I have been back and forth about it. I think we have something we love—all because you swayed me from my stubborn course!

Here’s today’s question. Have fun with it!

If you could have a free meal at any restaurant in the world, regardless of price,
which restaurant would you choose? What would you order?

One of the perks of being a romance writer is the opportunity to daydream about handsome, sexy men. I have the perfect excuse to sit at my desk, close my eyes, and envision candidates to star in a new story and fill the role of my heroine’s soulmate. Short or tall, light or dark, I know they’ll have muscles in all the right places and be a man I would fall for in a big way – if I wasn’t already happily married to my own Prince Charming.

But when I was writing my latest book, Deadly Memories, I didn’t have to stretch my imagination far to discover the identity of Trish’s dream man. Her college sweetheart was always the man destined to complete her life.

Her former lover, Greg Erickson is no ordinary hero. I write romantic suspense, so most of the men I write about fight for justice and morally or physically struggle with villains. But Greg fights a different kind of struggle. He is a modern hero, fighting cybercrime using his sharp mind and exceptional computer skills, not his fists.

The last time I wrote about Greg, he appeared in Beyond Paradise (Samhain Publishing, 2010) as a teenager smitten with Trish. Between the time of that story and the beginning of Deadly Memories, he went to college, made millions building and selling a computer security company, broke up with Trish, and married another woman. His marriage was typical of the poor choices we all make when we’re young. We know he should have married Trish, but until he was able to star in his own story, he couldn’t see the light.

I loved both Greg and Trish when I wrote about them before and wanted them to have a second shot at happiness. Trish believes her one chance for true love has passed her by and is resigned to a life spent alone. She’s been guarding her heart and focusing on her career. But when she meets Greg again, he’s a mature man, gorgeous and even more of a temptation than in college. The old spark re-ignites, and nature takes its course. If one of them doesn’t get killed as the story progresses, love may have a new chance to flourish.

I enjoyed writing Deadly Memories and bringing Greg and Trish back together, because I’m a hopeless romantic. I firmly believe there is someone in this world for everyone, and when two people are meant to be together, neither time nor past mistakes should keep them apart. He was her perfect mate. And putting them together gave me an opportunity to create a happy ending.

Writing romance has a lot pf perks. The warm feeling I get knowing I’ve told a story about love triumphing despite all odds and two people finding each other despite monumental conflicts, is worth all the hours of hard work that go into the writing of a book.

And now that my characters are happy, I can go back to that other perk. Daydreaming about hunky men I might want to meet in my next story.

Thanks to Delilah for inviting me to be her guest.

Kathleen Mix is the author of six novels of romance and romantic suspense. To read more about her books, or buy a copy of Deadly Memories, visit her website at https://www.kathleenmix.com.

 Short Excerpt:

A millimeter at a time, his fingers moved to her nape, lightly toyed with her hair.

The interior of the car became totally devoid of oxygen.

His hand cupped her cheek, his thumb slowly caressed her jaw, and his eyes took a long, lazy trip over her body. “You’ve matured into a beautiful woman. That dress, and the body in it, drew a lot of male attention tonight.”

Fire licked through her bloodstream. Goose flesh tingled on her arms.

She knew she should bolt for the house, but her feet were cemented to the floor mat. She held her breath. Waited.

His gaze locked with hers. Smoldering. sexy. He was remembering making love in the past. She could see it in the way his pupils glazed, darkened, and dilated.

Her mind flew in a similar direction. That little voice inside her whispered. I still want you.

As if she’d said the words aloud, he smiled devilishly, then leaned over and ever so slowly claimed her mouth.

The rush of sensations brought tears to her eyes. His taste, his warmth, the electric thrill of his lips touching hers. His firm mouth pressing, his tongue probing, her body melting. She clung to him as if their last kiss had been yesterday, as if he was still hers to savor forever.

She wanted to weep for the pleasure, weep for the memories of loss.

He broke the kiss, drew back a bare millimeter. His breath was hot on her skin. He whispered in a voice like dark honey, “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

I’m late posting! I was supposed to have Virginia Cavanaugh as my guest today, but there’s heavy cloud cover here. I live in the boonies and have to rely on satellite… grumble… I’ll have Virginia here on Tuesday instead, so that will work out fine.

Thought I’d pop in and let you know that yesterday’s impromptu poll was a success! And my editor didn’t kill me for bringing the decision to you! Whew! She loved the idea of getting your feedback and all your comments were a huge help. Top choices were #6 and #3. I gave her a synopsized version of what you liked and didn’t about all the covers. She’s going back to the art department to have them tweak both #6 and #3 to see if they can make improvements. I had to give up my dream of the edgy cover (#2). See? I can listen too. 🙂

But y’all want to know who won the Amazon gift card, right? I used a random number generator to make the decision. I loved all your comments. Thanks so much for pitching in.

The winner is…commenter 34…Kathleen! Kathleen, send me an email to arrange delivery of your prize!

I’m talking about covers, of course. My publisher will likely be VERY UNHAPPY to see these draft covers on my website, but I can’t make up my mind. Or rather, I have, but I’m getting stubborn about what I want. I don’t like most romance covers. Even my own. And maybe you can guess which one I love when I say it POPS and is completely memorable. But I don’t have a typical romance reader’s taste.

So, I’m bringing the covers to you. What you choose may not be the final, but it will help me tell my publisher what readers love. So vote. You can make two choices. And if you leave me a comment telling me why you loved your choices, you will be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift certificate. You only have today!! I will close the poll this evening so I can answer my editor. Thanks for your help, everyone. At the bottom of the page, I’ve posted my version of the blurb for this book so you can see what it is all about.

 Loading ...

#1 #2
#3 #4
#5 #6

A bloody handprint on the inside of a mirror forces a disgraced ex-cop to seek help from two former lovers, her ex-partner and a powerful sorcerer, to stop a murderous demon

*~*~*~*~*

Private Investigator Caitlyn O’Connell lost it all—her plum job as a detective for the Memphis PD, her partner and lover, and her own self-respect—to booze in an attempt to drown out the voices in her head. When her ex-partner drags her to a murder scene where she’s his only real lead, she knows it’s time to face her greatest fears and harness the inherited gifts she’s always rejected. That she’ll have a chance to prove she had damn good reasons for shutting Sam out of her life is just icing on the cake.

The last thing Sam Pierce wants is to revisit his painful relationship with Cait, but she’s the only lead he has. Sam doggedly follows Cait into a dark world filled with magick and unholy terrors as they search for killer wraiths and the demon who commands them.

[If it helps, this isn’t an erotic book. Sexy, yes, but slanted more toward a paranormal romantic suspense!)]

Sometimes The Story Practically Writes Itself

Maybe this isn’t true for all authors, but I find that each of my stories has a story of its own, and they’re all different. Of course, the stories we write are all different, but they’re different in more ways than that. Certainly some of the things we write are better than others, but authors are rarely the best judge of the quality of their own works. That isn’t really what I mean, anyway. Some stories are more popular and sell better than others, it’s true, but almost no one can ever figure out all the factors that go into that. That’s not what I mean either.

I’m talking about the actual process of creating the work. Some stories are easy to write and some aren’t. Some of them I sort of zip through, and some of them I agonize over.

Most stories start when a couple of the thoughts, feelings, trivial facts, and odd conceptions floating around in an author’s head meet, rub against each other, and start giving off sparks. A few of them begin to coalesce into a situation that has story potential.

I like to open a story at a point where the main character has either just discovered she has a problem or when that problem has reached a crisis point. Frequently my protagonist has to make a life-changing decision, take a big risk, or do something questionable to solve a problem.

When I begin writing, I generally know what that opening scene will be, and what the major problem or crisis faces the main character is. I usually have an idea of the setting, the other main characters, and how I want the whole thing to resolve. What I don’t always know is all the stuff that happens between beginning and end.

That can be a major issue when I hit a roadblock or reach a point where I just don’t know what to do next.  Generally in those cases I take a walk, go to the gym, brainstorm, let it sit a while. Sometimes one or more of those will work, but often I just have to press on with little idea of what comes next, or retire from the story temporarily and work on something else.

But every now and again I get a gift—a story that just flows from one scene to the next, laying out a plot that moves in the classic rising action, climax, aftermath, rising action, etc. routine.

My upcoming release from Ellora’s Cave, SECRET SANTA SIR, is one of those stories. The idea occurred to me just after last Christmas when my daughter was talking about their office Secret Santa gift exchange and how some gifts had been deemed inappropriate. That proverbial little light bulb went off in my head. Suppose a young woman with secret, kinky yearnings gets a surprise gift from an unexpected Secret Santa—an offer to help her explore those kinky desires in a reasonably safe way? Would she go for it? And where might it lead?

I knew I had twelve days to take my heroine from a dubious and frustrated to accepting and on the way to being in love with the man behind the Secret Santa identity.  When I began to write, it just seemed to pour out onto the screen. I always seemed to know what the next scene would bring, when the major events would happen and how it would move from one scene to another until it got the end.  It’s a short novel and I wrote the entire thing in just a couple of months.

It doesn’t happen that way for me very often, but I’m thrilled when it does.

Blurb for Secret Santa Sir (Available November 23^rd): When Maggie Marino gets a note from a very unofficial Secret Santa during the office’s holiday gift exchange, she’s surprised to be tempted by it. This Secret Santa offers to help fulfill her wilder sexual fantasies, those fantasies she’s never admitted to anyone else. Normally the very professional, uptight Maggie wouldn’t consider doing anything so risky. But she’s at a crossroads in her life. She wants a husband and family, but she also has kinky sexual fantasies and none of the nice guys she’s dated so far have moved her. She agrees to her Secret Santa’s proposal, and her first few anonymous encounters with him are a revelation, showing her levels of sensuality she’s never experienced before. But when she meets the man behind the gifts and the glorious kisses, her life gets seriously complicated. As she begins to fall in love with him, she’s faced with having to make a decision between her longing for husband and family, and continuing a relationship that fulfills her in ways she never believed possible.

About Katherine Kingston:

Katherine Kingston has written somewhere around two dozen erotic novels, novellas, and short stories.  Most of her novels and novellas are currently published by Ellora’s Cave, but she has one novella with Whispers Publishing, and has had stories in a number of print publications. Her stories cover a range of genres from historical to paranormal to science fiction and contemporary. Most of them include hot, kinky sex, particularly BDSM.  Learn more about Katherine and her books at her website: https://www.katherinekingston.com .