8 Weeks And Counting!

I was just getting my bookmark order ready for THE SAINT, and I realized it comes out 8 weeks from today! Wasn't it just yesterday that THE VIPER came out? Feels like it to me. I swear the time around the holidays just zooms by.

On a less fun subject and another approaching date, this weekend, in addition to enjoying the superbowl and working (deadline approaching), I'll be pulling my tax stuff together. Definitely the most depressing time of year. We use Quicken, and it's painfully easy to see where all the money "disappears" to. Oh well, at least I can drown my sorrows in plenty of Super Bowl beer. We're off to a friend's house for the annual Super Bowl party that we usually miss because we're skiing. Really looking forward to catching up with friends I haven't seen in a while.

Any Super Bowl festivities in your future or do you just like to watch the commercials on re-runs :) Anyone else dreading the tax bill this year? Please don't tell me you've already filed and are getting a refund.

The Lifeboat Test

I've been glued to the coverage of the Costa Concordia disaster the past few days and stunned by how the details have unraveled. It seems like there were failures on so many levels, and although it's difficult at this point to make any judgment of exactly "what happened"(so many stories to sort through) it seems that the Captain abandoned ship before all of the passengers had been evacuated. This, along with the number of reports that men were pushing past women and children to get off, really took me aback.

Now maybe it's because I spend way too much time reading (and writing) romance books with Alpha heroes, and it's probably not politically correct, but this feels so wrong to me. It's one of those situations where my modern woman sensibility can't explain my gut reaction. In a situation like the one that befell the Costa Concordia, I want men who to do the chivalrous thing and step aside for the women and children.

In the almost 100 years since the Titanic disaster (ironically the centennial is only a few months away), I think that might be one of the biggest changes. 100 years ago people didn't question the rightness of it--the men stepped aside. Not so anymore. I've seen a lot of comments from people saying: why should they? Maybe they're right. I'm not sure there is an intellectual explanation or one I can justify, and I'm sure I'd be begging my husband to come along with me in that situation, but it still somehow seems "wrong" to me.

I brought up the issue earlier on Facebook and mentioned that I kept thinking about my heroes and couldn't imagine Tor or Erik (or any one of them for that matter), jumping on a lifeboat before the women and children.

I've given an Alpha hero workshop with Jami Alden and Bella Andre a few times, and ironically one of the things I use to define what an Alpha hero means to me, is the lifeboat test. To me, an Alpha hero is the guy you most want on your lifeboat when the the apocalypse hits. He's the guy who knows what to do, stays calm under pressure, is tough, resilient, and a good leader. He's physically strong (to make you feel safe), capable, and dependable. In other words, he's Superman, Rambo, and MacGuyver all rolled into one--LOL. But what the Costa disaster points out is that for me, the guy I most want on my lifeboat is actually likely to be the last one to make it on!

What do you guys think of all this? Which member of the Highland Guard do you want on your lifeboat?

A Little Unveiling...

Thought I'd kick off the New Year by posting the new cover for THE SAINT (which you might have noticed on the sidebar--obviously Amazon is quicker than I am, LOL).

I knew they were tweaking the old cover (which is why I hadn't posted the first one), but I was thrilled to see a completely new pose/take on it. I've been touched by the Cover Gods yet again! But it's actually the fabulous people in the Art Department at Ballantine. They really put in overtime on this one, and I really appreciate it. I didn't love the way he was holding the axe in the first version, but this one is perfect. I also really like the misty background. And, uh, ya, the abs aren't bad either.

Before you ask, no I didn't get invited to the cover shoot. But I'm still hoping . . .

Happy New Year to everyone, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday break. I did a lot of writing, if not a lot of skiing. There was absolutely no snow in Tahoe.