HelenKay Dimon's Blog, page 44

Winner!

The monthly contest winner for April is Tammy Ramey (comment #4 on the April 16th post). Congrats!!! Email me so I can get your prize out to you.

Perspective

Saw a link via twitter about the devastation in Alabama. I haven't been able to get this woman's post out of my head since I read it. Go here. If you're not one to click on links, just read this part:

We had a neighbour who used to trade food and recipes with my husband. She moved out at the end of last month to a house on Thirteenth Street. There is no Thirteenth Street. I saw three dead bodies in a three-block walk. They were just out there. No way of getting to them. Nobody coming for them.

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Snippet Saturday

Today's snippet topic is: talk me down. I love these scenes. The "okay, let's all calm down for a second" scenes. I probably have one (or ten) in every book. This one is from my short A PROPER SEDUCTION. The heroine, Lauren, was in a horrible marriage and is trying to take back her life, including her sexuality. She is jumpy and unsure. Justin is a more-than-willing partner…and he also happens to love her a little. Take a look:

The next night, Lauren stood in the wide hallway outside room twelve-eighteen and twirled the plastic key between her fingers. She had spent the entire afternoon thinking about Justin, which totally ticked her off.

In two weeks, most of her days would be spent working at her new job at Sibley Hospital. That day could not come fast enough. All of these empty hours meant having way too much time to relive old decisions and fantasize about Justin.

She'd actually picked up the phone twice to call him this afternoon and cancel their second night together. She'd put the receiver down just as many times without dialing. No matter how hard it was to stay focused on her original plan, she was going to do it.

The door opened, interrupting her internal debate. Justin filled the entrance. Not business Justin who worked long hours and wore a conservative suit with an expertise that suggested he should model them. Nope. This was sexy bedroom Justin. Barefoot, boxer briefs, wearing an open robe that revealed a bare, broad chest.

Everything about him gave off an air of relaxation, from the drink in one hand to the way he munched on a pretzel. Only he could make this look seem so hot.

He took forever to chew and then finally swallowed. "Are you coming inside the room or do you want to have sex in the hallway?"

She did a quick glance around her to make sure no one had heard his comment. "You're early."

"I was hungry."

"You sound like a kid."

"Not the first time I've heard that from a woman." He dropped his hand from the door and walked back into the room. Kept right on going until he sprawled out on the bed with his back balanced against the headboard.

Lauren followed him inside and refrained from slamming the door behind her. It was either move or stand there like an idiot, and she had done the immobile thing for five minutes already. But it took her less time than that to see the silver-covered dishes sitting on a rolling cart with a pure white tablecloth underneath. There was no mistaking what was under there. Food.

"You ordered room service?" she asked.

"Is that a problem?" Ice cubes clanked in his empty glass as he set it down on the nightstand next to him.

It was a disaster. Food delivery smacked of a date. He knew that. But this was a challenge of some sort. He was trying to get a reaction out of her. She decided not to give him the satisfaction. "No."

She reached for the tie on the side of her wrap dress. Since she did not have a scrap of underwear on under it, she doubted they'd be talking about dinner much longer.

But he stopped her. "You want to get right to it again, huh?"

"Is that a problem?" she asked, repeating his words back to him.

"Do you hear me complaining?"

No, but he wasn't exactly rushing to get her naked either. "You're already undressed."

"Mostly, that's true."

"Only makes sense for me to join you." She made a show of glancing around the food tray. "Unless you're more interested in eating."

"That's for after."

"After?"

"If last night was any indication, I'm going to need re-fueling before I can drive home." He shrugged. "Getting into an accident sort of kills off my relaxed, post-sex mood, if you know what I mean."

"You could have stayed here."

"Not without you."

The husky words spiraled right through her. Made her stomach go a little gooey for a second.

"You're flirting," she said, part of her hoping that was true.

"Is that a violation of some rule?"

"No."

"Good." He slid off the bed and came to stand in front of her. Fingers brushed against her hips as his gaze dipped to the valley between her breasts. "So, tell me what you want me to do tonight."

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Don't forget to check out the other Snippet blogs:

Lauren Dane

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Taige Crenshaw

Lissa Matthews

Emma Petersen

TJ Michaels

Announcement Time

I've been holding back a bit of news for a couple of weeks now. I didn't share it because I wasn't sure if it was okay to share it, but others have spoken and there was some joking about titles on twitter, so here you go….

I've been asked to write a novella for a holiday anthology from Carina Press. WAHOO!!! I am super excited about the book, this publisher and my editor. My fellow authors in the antho are fabulous – Shannon Stacey, Jaci Burton and Alison Kent.

The book won't be out until December, but I'm writing it now. It features former lovers, a lovable but clueless hero, a heroine who isn't quite settled and a Christmas tree lot. Now I'm off to pretend it's snowing…

Foreign Cover Ahoy!

My first Intrigue, UNDER THE GUN, has been translated into several languages. Copies from Finland, Norway and Sweden arrived yesterday – yay! Can I tell you how much I love seeing foreign editions of my books? Hint: very much.

This is the Norway edition:

The title is WITH ORDERS TO KILL, which I kind of love. Thank you, Harlequin.

An Excerpt

I don't even have a cover yet, but I thought I'd post a peek at LOCKED AND LOADED, my August release and the third in my Mystery Men miniseries. This is Adam's story. Adam is the computer nerd with the expert shot. Maddie is a woman with trust issues and a reason to be wary.

"You could have killed me by accident," Maddie said.

"I've got good aim." Adam glanced around. "I think we're clear here ."

Anger flooded through her and exploded, spewing with enough strength to break her. "You are supposed to be a computer guy."

"Sometimes I am."

His shrug just made her more furious. "What are you the rest of the time?"

"An agent with the Recovery Project. I work for Rod Lehman."

Just like that her anger evaporated. Melted right out of her. "Rod?"

"There are three things you need to know right now. Ready?" Adam didn't wait for a reply. "Rod's missing. You're in trouble. We have to go."

She thought about strangling him with her good arm. "You killed two men—"

"Three."

She shifted to her right and glanced around him. The third body lay just feet away from the spot where Adam had curled up around her on the ground. She stared at him again. "Were you shot?"

He looked offended by the question. "Of course not."

Massaging her injured shoulder made it throb even harder, so she stopped. "Right. How silly of me."

"And it's Wright."

She looked him over for signs of blood, wondering how a guy could take out three obviously trained killers and not suffer anything more than a wrinkled shirt. "Do you have a head injury or something?"

"The name is Adam Wright, not Wallace."

That little tidbit ticked her off. "And I'm just supposed to believe you?"

"Yes."

Her fury was ridiculous. She knew that. She lived under an assumed name with a life she never wanted and certainly didn't earn. She had no right to judge him. But now she understood she couldn't trust him and that ticked her off. He'd taken out a trio of guys with guns, but she still didn't know who was on what side.

And she could not depend on him to be honest. The only thing that saved him from a knee to the groin was the way he threw out Rod's name.

"Is anything about you real?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

New To Me

I've seen the book THE TROUBLED MAN by Henning Mankell everywhere lately. Many of the reviews say he's a better writer than Stieg Larsson (THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO). I haven't read Mankell, so I can't comment on that assertion. I can say I read an article about him in Entertainment Weekly and was intrigued from the first paragraph. The paragraph:

Henning Mankell has been beaten by French police and arrested by Israeli commandos. He's worked on a Swedish merchant ship, at a Paris musical-instrument shop, and as the artistic director of an African theater company. He spent years living in the middle of a long, bloody civil war in Mozambique. And he's managed to find time to write some 40 books, which are available in 41 languages and have sold almost 40 million copies around the world. "I have been accused of many things in my life," says the 63-year-old Swedish author. "But never of being lazy."

Can't argue with that. I actually feel kind of lazy now. Back to work…

Crime Pays

There was an article in the UK's Guardian over the weekend about how much the top British and American crime novelists have earned. These are the highest earnings of all time (I think). The income figures include books, film rights, etc. I was a bit surprised some of the folks have earned this much, but that's probably envy talking.

The U.S. list:

John Grisham $600m

Dan Brown $400m

Patricia Cornwell $300m+

Robert Ludlum $300m

Michael Crichton $300m

Michael Connelly $250m

Thomas Harris $150m

Elmore Leonard $100m

Ed McBain $75m

James Ellroy $50m

The British list:

Ian Fleming £100m+

Agatha Christie £100m

Jeffrey Archer £70m

Jack Higgins £50m+

Ken Follett £50m

Dick Francis, just under £50m

Ruth Rendell £30m+

Lee Child £30m

Ian Rankin £25m

Alexander McCall Smith £20m

I'd be happy to earn a fraction of those numbers. Heck, I'm thrilled when anyone anywhere buys one of my books. Can't really imagine this level of sales.

Good News!

I'm still recovering and getting caught up after the RT Convention, but I do have some news…

My release NIGHT MOVES is a finalist in the 2011 Book Buyer's Best Contest sponsored by OCCRWA. Yay!! This is the fourth year in a row I've been a finalist in this contest. Needless to say, I love this contest.

Also, a reader sent me a link to an online article, What To Read When TV Crime Drama Disappoints. It names three romantic suspense authors – me, Kate Brady and Tara Janzen – as authors to read. Specifically:

HelenKay Dimon: Love snappy dialogue, non-stop action and a strong mystery? I recommend reading this author. You will fall in love with her heroes.

I love returning to good news!

Conference Thoughts

I am at the RT Convention and having a great time. [Sorry, don't mean to rub it in.] Have had some ridiculously fun meals, been on panels with very smart women who make me so proud to read and write romance, met authors I love and a few new-to-me folks who charm the pants off of me (not literally), and have had far too little sleep. I have also had two interesting experiences. I apologize in advance for sharing them. Ready?

1. While getting into an elevator, the door slammed shut on my hand and now it hurts and my fingers are tingly. Good news is that I can move my hand again, which is something I couldn't do right after. But, really, who gets injured by an elevator door? Me. Just me.

2. Our hotel room toilet exploded. Think about that for a second… Yes, awesome roommate Stephanie Feagan (who has a YA debut coming soon as Trinty Faegen) and I were sitting there, heard this news and when we went into the bathroom saw that the toilet had exploded. Water (let's hope it was water) was everywhere and the room smelled like sewage. Yeah, you're jealous.

Will give more RT details soon but am hoping the incident portion of the convention is over.