The Romance Studio Review

I was doing my Google thing, looking for anything new about my literary persona, and lo and behold found a review I didn't know had been written. Here's the gist of what Brenda Talley said.

Losing It is fast-paced...lighthearted. Kate Willoughby shows a playful side in this book. There are several characters that support the main couple; the way she describes a few of them is so spirited...

This book is wonderfully written...an easy escape from doldrums and leaves a really fresh, fun feeling within. I loved the book and the concept and believe anyone would enjoy it. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

She gave Losing It 4.5 hearts and I'm tickled pink.

Pamela K. Kinney Spotlight

Pamela Kinney, writing as herself and under the name Sapphire Phelan, has a flair for the dramatic. She's an actress and writer! I think it's great because both professions complement each other naturally. She leans toward paranormal and horror and has an enviable list of publishing credits. Read on to find out more about Pamela/Sapphire.

KW: If you had to live out one of your stories, which would it be? Why?

PK: I admit I imagine myself in most of my characters' roles, not all, but some. I think [I'd pick] "Soul Seduction" in Forbidden Love: Bad Boys. Meeting Branigan Darkman, my bad boy fairy, would be interesting as he is definitely bad. Also Iridescent Invasion--who doesn't want to stop alien invaders and save the world? LOL.

KW: I adore reading thrillers, but doubt I could ever write one. Is there a genre you’d like to write, but don’t think you could?

PK: I once thought when I was younger that I could write mysteries, but now I'm not too sure. It's not to say I might not try one day, but for now I don't think so. I never thought I could do a nonfiction book, as it's harder to write than fiction and yet, I just finished it and sent it off to the publisher.

KW: What was the genesis for Irridescent Invasion?

PK: Believe it or not, some truly bad science fiction movie that was on the SciFi Channel some months ago. There were these aliens that came to earth by metorite, got onto this train and began to kill people off. Though my alien isn't like those parasitic ones in the film. A germ of an idea came to me while watching it, I wrote it down, and the next day I began to type it all out.

KW: Which authors have influenced you, and how? Do you think you've absorbed any of their skill by osmosis or even by design?

PK: Ray Bradbury, Shirley Jackson, Laurell K. Hamilton, J. R. R. Tolkein, Madeleine L'Engle, H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, and Kelley Armstrong are among the few. Though heavily, I'd say Ray Bradbury and Shirley Jackson.

KW: What are you reading right now?

PK: Eragon by Christopher Paolini since the movie is coming out next month, and I like good dragon fantasy stories anyway. I'm also trying to read The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown since we bought the movie on DVD, though something tells me I'll see the movie before I even finish the book.

KW: I assume Sapphire Phelan is pseudonym. Is there any significance to that name?

PK: Sapphire is my birthstone (September) and Phelan is an Irish name I found in a baby book long ago, it means wolf. I used it for a character's last name in an erotic horror novel I have almost finished, and in the upcoming story, "Being a Predator is a Bitch." I thought it would go well with Sapphire.

KW: If you could only watch one movie again for the rest of your life, what would it be?

PK: Three actually for me: Day the Earth Stood Still, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes back (though I can watch all of the Star Wars films) and The Haunting (1963 version).

KW: What makes you angry? Happy?

PK: People who don't know what they're talking about when they don't have all the facts, and people talking on cell phones while they're driving, oblivious to everything, and then almost cause an accident.

What makes me happy is simple things, like a good book, a nice day, or being with my husband, or hearing from a reader that they enjoyed something I wrote.

KW: What’s your favorite possession?

PK: I'm proud of this expensive diamond ring I won long ago, but my faves are these two stuffed animals--one is a dragon that looks very realistic and the other is the Yoda my husband got me at Star Wars Celebration III last year.

KW: What is your fondest memory?

PK: Seeing my son for the first time after I just gave birth to him and the nurse had placed him in my arms.

Wow. That was a such a defining moment for me, too. Check out Pamela's release, Crimson Promise, with Lady Aibell Press. Also, visit her at her website and blog.

Sweet Sale!

I just got a fan-TAST-ic piece of mail -- a contract from Woman's World magazine for my story, "Sixteen Again." I'm so damn excited I can barely sit still. The story is due to come out in February, which surprises me because it's set during high summer, but oh, well. :D

Laptop Fashion

I want to get a skin for my laptop. Which of these do you like better? The Chinese character is "happiness."

My friend Robin Rotham blogged about me today. It just blows my mind that she liked my book that much. I SO love her. When I read what she said it warms the cockles of my heart, even though I don't know what the hell cockles are. :)

Shopping Opportunity!

Shop at Phaze and save save save!

Effective only on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, you can get 50% off on purchases through the Phaze cart using this code: SANTA50.

From 12/26 - 12/30, you can get 25% using this code: SANTA25

So, take advantage! :D

EPPIE Finalist!

Oh, my God! Losing It is a finalist in the 2007 EPPIE contest!! I'm flabbergasted. I sorta kinda thought I might have a chance, but was prepared to not make it. They announce the winners at their big conference, but I won't be able to go. My buddies from Liquid Silver Books have volunteered to leap up and grab it for me if I end up winning. That would be so awesome, but I don't want to get my hopes up. Anyway, now I have three months of nail-biting!

Haiku: Farewell to Babysitters

Date night at the movies
Two sons stay at home
Ah, the ecstasy

An Ass to Die For

Okay, dh and I just saw Casino Royale. (LOVE LOVE LOVE the logo for that flick. Making the O's line up and adding a seven as a gun below is brilliant.)

I just had to say that I loved this movie. I thought it was the best James Bond movie I've ever seen. I really enjoyed the departure it made from the usual camp they saturate those movies with. Daniel Craig was gritty and real instead of sophisticated and suave. And, as I mentioned in the title of this entry, the man has a world-class butt. Thankfully it was worth the $11 bucks (!!!) we paid for tickets. GO SEE THIS.

Celine Chatillon Spotlight

Celine Chatillon, a fellow Liquid Silver Books author, has published erotic romance, romantic comedy, inspirational, children's fiction, and how-tos. Talk about versatile! Her newest release is out soon, called Santa's Big Little Helper. It should be a fun read -- getting a hunk of manly man in your stocking? Sounds good to me! Let's find out more about Celine and what makes her tick.

Kate Willoughby: Tell me about your writing routine.

CC: I wish I had one—I used to, but it’s gotten rather sloppy as of late. On good days (with no interruptions) I try to write a while on my current work in progress before I go check my email… Email is a great time waster but a necessary evil since I have to keep touch with my publisher and the occasional fan who writes and cheers me up.

KW: One of your books is titled, Help, I'm Falling for the Vampire Next Door. If you could be a vampire, would you? Why or why not?

CC: If I could be a vampire-like creature from another planet that needed just a little blood for sustenance and not a “walking dead” soul-less vampire preying on people indiscriminately, I’d go for it.

It would be cool to possess all the magnetism the vampire traditionally is endowed with… and to be able to shapeshift! Wow, think of all the fun I could have with that ability. (I’d immediately shapeshift myself into Angelina Jolie or someone equally sexy.) Plus, I could hypnotize good-looking guys and lure them into my lair and have my evil way with them. It’s all good—bwahahaha!

KW: What has been the most difficult part of writing for you?

CC: Keeping myself from checking my email!

I would say the one of the most difficult parts of writing is trying to write something that I like yet it’s what my publisher wants to put out and it’s original. A compromise has to be struck somewhere in that mix.

Starting off with a great idea and then getting lost somewhere in the “dreaded middle” is a challenge at times. But the most difficult part is convincing myself to keep writing, even when my books aren’t selling well, or I’m not receiving any positive feedback. This is every writer’s roadblock. You want to throw in the towel, but a small voice in the back of your mind tells you to keep doing it. When the “voices” stop talking, that’s when you know you’re in trouble.

KW: Who in your life has supported you the most in your quest to be published?

CC: I’ll say my mother. My mom does not “get me” at all (she’s not a creative type) but she has supported me in my quest to become published. I can’t say she’s great at promotion, however. She lends her copies of my books to her friends instead of making them buy their own!

KW: Who are your top five favorite authors?

CC: I’ll take the fifth amendment on this one. I’m not sure I could narrow my list down that much!

KW: If you could do the nasty with anyone, living or dead, who would it be? Why?

CC: Definitely it would be somebody living… I’m assuming this is with someone other than my spouse and that you promise you won’t tell him, right? Right?

I’ll go with the current Doctor on Doctor Who. Watch him on Friday nights on the Sci Fi Channel. Tall, handsome and infinitely geeky—a winning combination in my book! I'd like to teach him a thing or two about something other than time travel...

KW: What’s your favorite animal at the zoo?

CC: It’s a toss up between the seals and the penguins. They’re both just so darn entertaining.

KW: The big decision you’re currently wrestling with is…

CC: Do I continue to publish successfully in electronic formats, or do I bite the bullet and approach agents again in order to land a print contract? I love the freedom of e-publishing, but I need the money a writer can make with a print contract.

KW: What TV show are you embarrassed to say that you like(d)?

Hmm, I’m not embarrassed to say I’m a rabid Monty Python, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Futurama or Red Dwarf fan. I guess I would be embarrassed to say I enjoyed Barney when it first came out—but it kept my toddler entertained.

KW: Tell me about your work-in-progress.

Currently I’m working on a contemporary novel with some sci-fi and fantasy elements. It’s sort of a love story, but it takes a fairly unique tack on the subject. And it involves my love for a certain cult television show… See if you can guess which one.
_______

Hey, I liked Barney, too. He was goofy, but he had a great message for kids. Thanks, Celine! It was a lot of fun and, just for the record, I think you should go for print! Stretch those wings a little more. Visit Celine's blog or her website. Find her non-fiction here.

Joining the New Millennium

I have a laptop! I have a laptop of my very own. :) I finally got myself a computer that no one else can get dibs on. I'm so excited. My husband was so opposed because he wanted me to take his hand-me-down, but that wasn't flying with me. That thing weighs like fifteen pounds. Sheesh. Plus, it's like five years old. I'm a working, paid writer. I deserved my own laptop, and the kids need the family computer all the time now for their homework and research projects.

Anyway, hubby redeemed himself by having our computer guru install a wireless network at our house. So, I'm happily sitting in the dining room hooked up to the Internet. Very cool.

Built like a Linebacker?

My son dragged me to the computer just now to see the new trailer on Yahoo Movies for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He loves watching movie trailers. Anyway, I knew Daniel Radcliffe was going to look older, but man, what's with his neck???

Tina Holland Spotlight

Tina Holland, a fellow Liquid Silver Author, is doing something I very much want to do: write a series. Hers is called The Starving Artist series and damned if I'm not kicking myself for not thinking of that myself, since I love artist heroes so much. Ah well, my (first) series is likely to be paranormal anyway, so cest la vie! Anyway, this is NOT about me. It's about Tina, so read on to find out more about "The Naughty Dutch Girl!"

Kate Willoughby: Scenario: You are stranded on a deserted island for a month with the hero of The Pilot and the Pin-Up, Peter Kane. What three items would you take with you?

Tina Holland: 1) A book - not sure which one...so many to choose from.
2) A bottle of wine
3) A four poster bed of course.

KW: Is there any of yourself in the heroine of Last Virgin in Vegas, Gwen McIver, or is she purely a creation of your own imagination?

Gwen McIver has so much more confidence than I have, she is really more the friend I've always wanted. So confident, loyal, beautiful and all-around fun to be with.

KW: What was the genesis for Last Virgin in Vegas, your second book?

TH: When I wrote The Pilot and the Pin-Up, Gwen McIver and Lance another character cried out for their own story. I love Vegas...it seemed natural that I set it there. I visit the city annually. I love the energy there...and I don't even gamble.

KW: What is the most unusual place/situation in which your characters have had sex?

TH: In a short story I wrote for Kathryn Faulk's Bordella series, I have two characters that had sex in a pond under a waterfall.

KW: What was your favorite book when you were a child? What's your favorite book now?

TH: Beautiful Joe - It's the equivalent of Black Beauty for Dogs. Now hmm...looking over at bookshelf...I love Defy not the Heart by Johanna Lindsey...one of her best. I have many authors that I like.

KW: What are you reading right now?

TH: Currently I have bookmarks in Nerd gone Wild by Vicky Lewis Thompson and the Novel Writer's Tool Kit by Bob Mayer. I usually finish all my e-books in one sitting, so I don't have any to read there. Print books take me longer...I tend to carry them around with me...so read them whenever I have time. E-books I read when I block off some time.

KW: What did you want to be when you grew up?

TH: I wanted to be an anthropologist or archeaologist. I've always loved science. I could watch Discovery or Animal Planet most of the day.

KW: What was your last purchase?

TH: Bottled water and a Hershey's Caramel Bar...

KW: What's the craziest trend you¢ve ever followed?

TH: Parachute Pants...Ugh!

KW: If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would it be and what's the story you'd write about it? (You know, so you could claim the trip as a write-off.)

TH: Land of the Falling Lakes...Animals I love and it's in Eastern Europe. It's like one of the last places of Untouched Forest in the Ukraine I think. I saw it on Nature. Of course there are wolves and bears so I'll need to take a hero with me...
______

Ah, I can picture it now...sort of a souped up Hansel and Gretel thing, but without the sibling connection. Thanks to Tina for answering my wacky questions. Tina's second book is coming soon from Liquid Silver and if you'd like a freebie (who doesn't?) she posts "Rick the Dick" - a story she wrote for Kathryn Faulk's Bordella Series - every Friday on her blog.

Not Bowled Over

So, for the first time, Nora is not amazing me. I'm reading Dance of the Gods, the second in her Circle Trilogy, and am not as enthralled as I usually am with her writing. I'm thinking it must be me. Lord knows the woman can write a fantastic book (or 100+ books!) I think I've just become too familiar at last with her. The characters feel very familiar, just put into a different plot with some magical powers and an alternate world.

Anyone else out there less than thrilled by this series?