Changes

 

        Hello, gentle readers! Hope you are all well and staying safe!

        Today, I’m going to talk about change.

        There are some who like change…actually look forward to it. For them, it’s an opportunity and they’re willing (and eager) to accept that change.

        I’m not one of those. You probably already know that I am a creature of habit, of routine, and I have a really hard time with anything that upsets that routine. It throws me off because my days are carefully orchestrated, particularly weekdays. 

        Am I stuck in a rut? 

        Maybe, but with so many things going on, I really need my routines to get everything done. Weekday mornings are devoted to working on my latest story before heading into the day job, where anything can happen and usually does, but some reason, I am able to go with the flow! Saturdays are reserved for laundry and cleaning (that’s not to say I don’t clean during the week because I do, but Saturday is the big cleaning day for the inside of the house). Sundays are my outside chores, like weeding, watering the plants, grocery shopping and running errands if I don’t stop on my way home during the week). See? Nice routines. Easy Peasy.

        So here’s what happened to throw a monkey wrench into my routine. At the day job, we’ve been working from home on Fridays, which has been really nice. It’s a good day for that. Well, last week, that changed and we are now working from home on Tuesdays…and I can’t tell you how much that messed me up (not only me, but everyone I work with, my DH…and my dogs! They have their routines, too).

        But…

        I’ve decided to run with it because 1) I have no choice if I want to keep my day job, which I do, at least until I can retire; and 2) because shaking things up once in a while can be good for the soul. And might even be good for the brain.

        Why do I say that? Because I realized that, at its core, change is what I write about. Falling in love is a big change from the everyday, ordinary things. And that’s what my characters do. My heroes and heroines are going along with their lives as they know it then boom! Someone new comes along and shakes it up. In a big way! Maybe they’ve been looking for love but don’t think it’s in the cards for them. Or maybe they’re not looking for love at all and are happy with the way things are. 

        Then suddenly, it just…happens. They’re in love. They might not be expecting it. Heck, they might have given up on finding that someone special and then, just like that…the life they knew has changed!

        That’s what happening with Faith and Tysen in Wife Unexpected. They both have goals, neither of which involves falling in love. It’s happening anyway, almost against their wills. And it’s been fun (from my point of view at least).

        So, yeah, sometimes change is a good thing!

        One last thing before I get back to Faith and Tysen and turning their lives upside down. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we have new contributors to HEAT (another change!). Welcome Michelle and Darlene (I love pirates, too)!

        Stay well! Stay safe! And remember to spread kindness wherever you go!

Marie

Happy ITLAPD! (International Talk Like A Pirate Day)

Avast, me hearties! I'm Darlene Marshall, and I write historical romance with pirates, privateers, smugglers, and the occasional possum. In honor of this year's International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19, I want to give a shout-out to my favorite pirates, the ones Romancelandia refers to as "chicks in breeches."

I've been fascinated by pirates since I was a little girl, especially women pirates like Anne Bonny (pictured in the woodcut) and her bestie Mary Read. In the non-fiction Bold in Her Breeches, author Jo Stanley refers to these women as "transgressive rovers" and there were more of them out there than you might think

In addition to pirates Bonny and Read, historian Suzanne Stark says in Female Tars that there were 20 known cases of cross-dressing women in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the Regency Period when most of my books are set. If there were 20 known cases, how many more do we not have on the record? 

When I started writing Sea Change, the first in my High Seas series, I wanted a cross-dressing woman who goes to sea, someone who has to be able to hold her own on a ship full of men. One of the factoids from my research that interested me the most was this: If a woman's true identity was discovered, "he" was sometimes allowed to stay aboard ship if 1. they continued to dress and act as a man and 2. if they had particular skills like my like my surgeon/apprentice physician Charley Alcott.  One of these sailors in the historical record is "William Brown", an Anglo-African hero of the Royal Navy who continued to serve after their identity was discovered. William was too valuable as a Master of the Maintop to be discarded during wartime. 

Nowadays, of course, women serve with distinction in various navies around the world and when there are pirates about (as there still are), women may be going to sea with them. Transgressive rovers have always been with us, and when we are fighting off space pirates there no doubt will be bold people of all persuasions among them. So hoist your tankard of grog and toast the pirates past and future on International Talk Like a Pirate Day 2026!

Darlene Marshall writes award-winning historical romance set in the early to mid-19th c., mostly set around Florida and the Caribbean. She loves to hear from readers and you can email her at darlenemarshall[at]darlenemarshall[dot]com. Her books are available in French, German, English and Estonian. Marshall is Membership Director of Regency Fiction Writers, an organization for all authors of fiction set across the mid-18th to mid-19th c. She's also Section Leader for Erotic Writing at the Litforum.com. You can find her at her website www.darlenemarshall.com and on various social media sites wasting time when she should be writing her next book. She lives in North Central Florida, an excellent location for driving to the beach to do pirate research and drink mojitos.

Hello All!

Hi everyone! 

I'm excited to be joining the group here! I tend to use a lot of emojis and memes, and ellipses LOL so...my apologies 😁

I figured I'd start by introducing myself. I am Michelle McLean/Kira Archer and I write both historical and contemporary romance - over 30 books so far between the two names. One of which has been adapted as a Hallmark Original movie (Truly, Madly, Sweetly). And another (69 Million Things I Hate About You) was optioned by Amazon MGM last year. 

My historicals run the gamut of eras. I have everything from Highlanders to Regency to Wild West Gunslingers. Though lately I've mostly been sticking to Regencies.

Until recently, all my contemporaries were published under Kira Archer.

But my newest - releasing in March and co-written with the amazing Lisa Rayne - will be published under Michelle McLean. So, it's a whole new world for me and my pen names 😍 

A little about me - I grew up in California and have lived everywhere from the deserts of Utah to the tropical beaches of Hawaii to the gorgeous forests of the east coast. The oldest of five children, I am generally an organized mess with crazy eclectic tastes. I have a B.S. in History, a M.A. in English, an insatiable love of books, and more weird quirks than I’d like to admit.​

I'm a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl who is addicted to chocolate and Goldfish crackers (and Bomb Party jewelry...soooo pretty!), and I spent most of my formative years with my nose in a book. My non-writing hobbies include playing piano, diamond painting, regular painting more recently, decorating cakes, and bingeing shows with various members of my family (LURVE me some Ted Lasso!). I always have a book in easy reach, and my dream is to one day have a house with space for a library. With a secret bookcase door. I do not have too many books, despite what my husband says.

I do have a day job working in a high school library and it is a literal dream to be paid to play with books all day. I live in PA with my family, the world's most spoiled dog, and a cat who absolutely rule the house. 

I think that covers most of the basics. If you'd like to follow me or sign up for my newsletter, all my links can be found on my website HERE. Along with info on all my books 😊If anyone has any questions about me or my work, please ask away! 

~ Michelle

Last day for PASSION'S POISON by Lexi Post for only 99¢

Passion's Poison 

by Lexi Post

for 99¢ today only

Beatrice Rappaccini refuses to fall in love because she’s cursed with deadly orgasms, but when she meets Zach Woodman the chainsaw artist, her heart refuses to obey. 

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Beatrice Rappaccini is tired of the one-night stands that keep her alive. Tired of the illness she causes when she releases her sexual poisons into her partners. But when she meets Zach Woodman, everything changes. Desperate for what she can’t have, she puts her heart and life on the line, ignoring the anonymous letters warning her to stay away.

Zach Woodman, logger turned chainsaw artist, has the perfect life, but no one to share it with after the deaths of the women he loved. Fascinated by the sexually experienced yet naïve Bea, he promises himself he will end their hot relationship before fate takes another beautiful woman from the world.

But he discovers Bea has no idea how to have a relationship, and he is perplexed by her strange behavior, hippie mother, six fathers and her request to give him every man’s sex fantasy. It is only when he might lose her that he realizes he must make a decision that will break his heart either way.

About Lexi:

Lexi Post is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of romance inspired by the classics. She spent years in higher education taking and teaching courses about the classical literature she loved. From Edgar Allan Poe's short story “The Masque of the Red Death” to Tolstoy’s War and Peace, she's read, studied, and taught wonderful classics.

But Lexi's first love is romance novels so she married her two first loves, romance and the classics. Whether it’s sizzling cowboys, dashing dukes, hot immortals, or hunks from out of this world, Lexi provides a sensuous experience with a “whole lotta story.”

Lexi is living her own happily ever after with her husband and her two cats in Florida. She makes her own ice cream every weekend, loves bright colors, and you’ll never see her without a hat.

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Too Many Words In My Head

 

Hello, gentle readers! Hope you are all well and staying safe!

So, you all know that I’m working on Wife Unexpected, the fourth book in the Wives of Bravado County series, and I open that file every weekday to add more words to the story, but here’s what happened.

I’m going along, writing, deleting, rewording, trying again when all of a sudden, another character’s voice pops into my head. Now, I’ve been fully immersed in Faith and Tysen, hearing them talk to me (most times…sometimes they don’t say anything and I’m left trying to figure out what they want) but this was a different voice. Low and deep, kinda rumbling, a little on the hoarse side, but very pleasant…and persistent. Oh my gosh! So persistent!

"Write me!”

“Tell my story!”

Because I didn’t recognize this voice (no, hearing voices doesn’t  scare me because I hear the voices of my characters all the time. I’m not sure if other writers do. Maybe it’s just me.), I tried to ignore it. That didn’t work because it just became more insistent. And louder.

What was I to do? 

I was intrigued (and a little annoyed) by this persistent voice so I started asking it questions. You know—like who are you? Why are you talking to me NOW, when I’m knee-deep in another story? What do you want?

He just kept repeating ‘tell my story’.

“Well, I can’t tell your story if you don’t tell me who you are.”

Yes, I said this out loud. It was a good thing no one else in the house was awake, just the dogs, who are used to hearing me talk to myself.

“Tell my story,” came the answer again.

So here I am, sitting at my computer at 4:30 in the morning, arguing with a voice inside my head (and yes, talking to myself).

“Who are you?”

I hear laughter and that lovely voice says “Ryland Harper.”

Ryland Harper. Ryland Harper. I know that name (and I should because I name all my characters) and then it hits me, like a cast-iron skillet upside my head. He’s the hero in Mrs. Marlowe and The Monday Man, the fifth story in the Matchmaker Mischief series. Holy cow! I haven’t even written the fourth story yet!

“Why are you here now, Ryland?” I asked (the dog, my big girl, lifts her head from the futon and just stares at me, blinking her beautiful and confused brown eyes.) “You know I’m not ready for you yet.”

“Don’t care. You gotta write my words before you forget.”

And so I did. Easiest (and fastest) 900 words I’ve ever written (in less than an hour because I have limited time in the morning).

Ryland was happy and quieted because he’d gotten his way, but not before telling me he’d be back and I was able to get back to Tysen and Faith.

I guess it pays to listen to the voices in your head even if you’re not ready for them.  

And that’s all for me. Stay well! Stay safe! And remember to spread kindness wherever you go!

Marie

WATCHING THE EARL by Lexi Post preorder is available for 99¢ for a limited time!

Watching the Earl (Courting a Curious Lady: Book 6) 

by Lexi Post 

is available for a 99¢ preorder, but only for a few days.

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She’s ruined. He’s lost it all. A perfect match?

Lady Georgina is devastated. The lord who said he loved her, ruined her, then married another. Now her parents are desperate to keep her situation private by marrying her off to the first willing man no matter who it is. But even then, everything depends on her keeping her shame a secret…and she’s never kept a secret in her life.

Lord Philip Durham has lost it all on a sure bet. Desperate to save his father’s legacy and keep his situation hidden, he agrees to marry a woman with a large dowry. Discovering she’s also ruined only makes him more determined since it’s fitting penance for his past failings. Being forced to make a life with her, and thereby raising his family’s reputation, will satisfy both of his goals.

However, Lady Georgina appears to have goals of her own, including digging into his awkward family dynamics and returning to London for the remainder of the Season. As she becomes more confident, she seems to rise from the ashes of her old life like the mythical Phoenix. But can he avoid being burned or will her transformation bring him down in flames?

Releasing September 25th

Catch up on all the Curious Ladies

About Lexi:

Lexi Post is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of romance inspired by the classics. She spent years in higher education taking and teaching courses about the classical literature she loved. From Edgar Allan Poe's short story “The Masque of the Red Death” to Tolstoy’s War and Peace, she's read, studied, and taught wonderful classics.

But Lexi's first love is romance novels so she married her two first loves, romance and the classics. Whether it’s sizzling cowboys, dashing dukes, hot immortals, or hunks from out of this world, Lexi provides a sensuous experience with a “whole lotta story.”

Lexi is living her own happily ever after with her husband and her two cats in Florida. She makes her own ice cream every weekend, loves bright colors, and you’ll never see her without a hat.

Website

Lexi Post Updates

Lexi’s Legends

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BookBub

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Work In Progress

 

        Hello, gentle readers! Hope you are all well and staying safe!

        It’s a beautiful morning as I sit down to enjoy my first cup of coffee and write this. It’s still hot, but this is summer in Arizona…and it’ll be hot for a while. That’s okay. The air conditioner is humming away so I’m staying cool. They say you get used to the heat, but I’ve been here forty-five years now and I can honestly say, no, I haven’t gotten used to it. Still, I can’t imagine being anywhere else.

        It’s been a busy week (it always is between the day job and the home stuff) but I feel like I accomplished a few things, especially on the writing front. I am 42K words into my current work in progress (Wife Unexpected, the fourth book in the Wives of Bravado County series). Now, whether these are good words or not remains to be seen. I am wondering if I somehow got off track, which is entirely possible. Like the last book I wrote (The Madam & Mr. MacLean), I did not write an outline or plot points so I’m winging it…and of course, writing the scenes as they come to me then puzzling it all in as I go. I may have mentioned before that I don’t write in a linear fashion. Believe me, I’ve tried, but it doesn’t seem to work for me.

        I can also report that I have viciously (yes, viciously!) ripped out entire pages in this work, sometimes one paragraph at a time, but more recently, several pages all at once. Does that make me want to cry? Yes. Yes, it does. The words don't always come easy. Sometimes they are dragged kicking and screaming from my brain so deleting them is devastating.

        Still, I am happy with what I have so far. Reasonably so. I’m trying to incorporate everything my editor has taught me (hahahaha, yes, it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks!). I have a list of words I’m trying to avoid. It’s a pretty long list and I never realized before how much I depend/use those words and that just makes it so much harder, but I’m willing to learn to make my stories better.

        And that’s about all for me. Wife Unexpected isn’t going to write itself so I should get back to it before the rest of the day takes over. Stay well! Stay safe! And remember to spread kindness wherever you go!

Marie