Wild Wild West’s discussion questions are up at the Cherry Forum’s Bookclub, discussion opening Nov. 15. Currently the bookclub is discussing the fabulous Cathy Mulvaney’s Something Wicked. Cathy is a smart and innovative author and a tough act to follow. I’ll have to tapdance a lot.

The Wicked Writers Halloween Contest is underway with a trick or treat bag of fabulous prizes! Join Wicked Writers and answer a few questions (answers found on author websites) to win lots of Wicked reading.

Finally, I am pondering heat ratings. TwoLips reviewed Ellora’s Cavemen Seasons of Seduction III and rated us 4.5 Kisses and a Red Hot Chili Pepper. This is, interestingly, the same heat rating they gave Yule Be Mine, which is published under the Ellora’s Cave mainstream imprint as hot but not erotic. Catalyst, under the same imprint, has also been listed as erotic by reviewers. And Miss Lonely Hearts, just released, isn’t listed as Red Hot, although it has multiple explicit sex scenes that include bondage (handcuffs) and the use of sex toys. So…how helpful are heat ratings?

In my own opinion, all of my books are erotic romances. Some have more explicit language than others, some have more, um, innovative elements, but all of them are what I consider erotic; nothing below the heat level you’d find in a Blaze or Brava. And yet they are labeled everything from “romance” to “erotica”. I think it’s the kind of thing that by its nature is hard to define.

Of course, I think everybody should read Miss Lonely Hearts and come back to discuss whether or not it’s an erotic romance.

Happy Halloween! If you’re going out tonight, stay safe and warm.

Love, larceny and lies…plus hot sex with handcuffs!

When is a love letter not a love letter? When it’s mail fraud. Or in this case, female fraud.

Jason Alexander is one angry Alaskan, and he’s out to get his woman; the letter-writing Lolita who’s running the Miss Lonely Hearts con game in his bailiwick. She’s taking lonely Alaskans for a roller-coaster ride and cashing in on love. When she hits his adopted home, the patrons of his bar The Last Resort, the retired gambler takes it personally and goes out for justice.

Cassandra Adams has just been dumped by ex-fiancé number two. She’s fed up with Romance Roulette and ready to trade her rosy daydreams for hardheaded practicality. The logical solution? She’s going to search the classifieds for the mail-order marrying man she wants.

She thinks she’s found him in Jason, alias Alex Sanders. He thinks he’s hooked Miss Lonely Hearts. And the regulars at The Last Resort think it’s high time Jason got married, so they’re not about to clarify matters when they discover his mistake.

Together Jason and Cassandra will have to cut their way through the tangle of love, larceny and lies to unmask Miss Lonely Hearts and find a happy ending that’s a sure bet.

Available now at Samhain!

OK, I tried to come up with a spooky Halloween poem and apparently I have used up all my brain cells with Real Work (TM). So you get this spooky story from the dark corner of my hard drive that answers the question all writers get asked: Where do you get your ideas? *cue spooky music*

The Place Stories Come From
copyright 2007 Charlene Teglia

I found Ross standing by the window in his living room that overlooked the city. It was night, and the view from the height of his penthouse revealed a sweeping city nightscape of earthbound red comets trailing rushing automobiles in their linear city-block orbits. Manhattan’s stars twinkled on Broadway; the celestial ones weren’t visible. Ross stood with his back to me, looking down over the city, hands stuffed in the rear pockets of his neatly tailored trousers.

He didn’t look as happy as I had expected; as anyone might reasonably expect. Here was a man surrounded by the outward trappings of success who had just attained the highest professional recognition for his work. He was no starving artist; his luxury penthouse was a far cry from a dusty garret. Well, it surprised me, and something in his stance made me hesitate to approach him.

I stood there, too far in to back away, caught in the atmosphere enough to sense the uncertainty of his mood; there weren’t any lights on, and that decided me. I shook off the strange mood and switched on the lights.

“Ross! Tell me you’re thinking through a new plot,” I said in deliberately cheerful voice. “I just came to tell you that the reviews of your last novel are full of praise, and The New Yorker wants a short story.”

These are words an agent expects a client to greet with some enthusiasm.

Not so Ross.

“Splendid,” he says in a sepulchral tone, hunching deeper into himself.

“You sound like I just told you the book bombed and no reputable publisher ever wants anything to do with you again.”

“It would be better news,” Ross tells me in a very quiet voice.

I realize he’s serious.

I try to laugh it off, anyway. “What’s this? Don’t tell me you have writer’s block and can’t find a new story?” I’m halfway serious, and thinking that maybe I can stall The New Yorker long enough for Ross to get over his slump, or maybe I can interest them in another client. I like Ross, but agents have to eat, too.

“No,” Ross murmurs, with a smile that doesn’t reassure me. “I know where to find a new story.”
(more…)

Ellora’s Cavemen Seasons of Seduction III garners a Recommended Read from Fallen Angel Reviews!

And for Earth Girls Aren’t Easy, 5 Angels! Reviewer Misa says, “I had such fun reading Charlene Teglia’s Earth Girls Aren’t Easy. It is a delightfully funny and deliciously erotic book that I will revisit over and over. It’s not often that I read a story that makes me laugh out loud and shiver with desire at the same time but this one delivers the goods.”

Novel Journey interviews Dean Koontz. Go read!

There is nothing I can add to that. Must write! Hope everybody’s having a good weekend.

Edited to add: NJ Walters posted a fabulous review of Miss Lonely Hearts in her blog. Woot! Thank you, NJ.

There’s a drive underway to help out a CA fan who lost everything in the fires, including all her books. She likes hard SF, urban fantasy, fantasy, especially anything with vampires, and alternative history like Turtledove. Connie Willis, Kim Harrison, LK Hamilton are some of her faves. If you have spare copies of books or author copies to donate, please comment and I’ll give you the address to ship books to. Help a reader out!

Since the Oct. 30 release date is looming (already!), I thought I’d dedicate this 13 list to MLH.

1. I got to write about a place that gets more rain than the Hoh valley.
2. I like the way the bar serves as a community gathering place
3. I like the characters
4. I like stories about con artists and con games
5. I like the everybody-plotting-against-everbody-else dynamic
6. I like Alaska
7. I like Jason
8. I like the humor
9. I like Holgas
10. I like the ugly dog
11. I like the hot stuff
12. I liked revisiting the Sirens, even peripherally
13. I love the cover!