Get Ready for Alex!

I was on Amazon checking my rankings and I saw that Out of the Game, Book Three of the In the Zone series, is up for pre-order! The on-sale date is April 20, 2014 and I am so excited.

I've been working so hard on Alex Sullivan's story. It's funny how, when writing a series, you get to love a character so much that when you get around to writing "his" book, you feel pressure to make it a really good one. Like he's so terrific a person, he deserves something really spectacular.

In reality, all the books I write should be the best I can do, but from the moment he opened his mouth in Chapter One of On the Surface, Alex has always been a favorite of mine.

I have a Pinterest board devoted to Out of the Game, but if you don't feel like clicking right now, here's a picture of what I imagine Alex to look like.

I hope you are as anxious for Out of the Game to come out in April as I am!

Tasty, Tasty

I'm being featured at RomanceCooks.com today! It's a fun site where romance authors share recipes and books--two of my favoritest things in the world. If you like cooking, you should check it out. The recipe I shared, Asian Beef Lettuce Cups,  is cheap and easy.

I Lost My Podcast Virginity

The Royal Half and All the Kings Men are two powerhouses in the Los Angeles Kings community and I have long been a fan of their work. They are masters of GIFs and graphics and their wit is well-known to LA Kings fans like me.

In fact, if you heard the TV announcers talk about "That 70s Line"--Jeff Carter (#77), Tyler Toffoli (#73), and Tanner Pearson (#70)--that nickname was coined by The Royal Half on their blog.

See what I mean about their graphics? Hilarious.

Anyway, recently they asked if I would agree to an interview on their podcast. I was terrified to do it. What if they made fun of me, my books and/or the romance genre? Hockey fans are hardcore. I envisioned myself being a babbling, incoherent mess and condemned to knowing that anyone could download my meltdown from iTunes and have themselves a laugh riot.

However, I knew that this was a fantastic opportunity for promotion. I hoped that any embarrassment I felt would be offset by a few sales. Surely there were some readers amongst those combined 17,000 Twitter followers who might enjoy reading an escapist hockey romance.

It turned out to be totally fun. I did stumble some and ramble a lot. At one point I forgot my point and had to admit I had no idea where I was going, but while I didn't ace it by any long shot of the imagination, I didn't crash and burn. The guys--there were three of them, so my first foursome!--were gentlemen and very respectful. I actually adored their nervous laughter when we started talking about the sex scenes. And my sales got a very respectable bump that week.

Thank you, The Royal Half and All the Kings Men. You guys rock.

Without further ado, here is Episode 381, Kate Willoughby.

Baby in the Cup

It's exactly three months and two days since the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup, the most special award in all of sports. The elation is still with me. I anticipate another glorious season, especially since I'll be attending the game at which they will raise the banner in the Staples Center!

I remember the intense joy I felt when I saw that puck go into the net. I still get chills when I think of it. The on-ice celebration went on for quite a while and I thought I'd share a couple of my favorite images from that.

Here's one showing Alec Martinez and Kyle Clifford shortly after the winning goal. What is sweet about this picture is poor Lundqvist, defeated. I almost feel sorry for him. Almost.

Next, there is nothing cuter than a baby in the Stanley Cup and Kyle Clifford's baby, Brody, was so totally adorable with his fuzzy hair. It's amazing that the little guy was sleeping, but I remember when my kids were babies. They could sleep through a lot. Later, there was a family photo and, man, Clifford's wife is really pretty! She actually looks exactly like how I imagine the heroine of my work-in-progress would look. Her name is Emily Greene. Mrs. Clifford looks like an Emily, doesn't she?

Terms of Endearment #16

Turtle (v.) - to curl up and cover your head in an attempt to avoid being pummeled by another player.

Generally, this is looked upon as wimpy. Hockey's a tough sport and the players take pride in their ability to take punishment. However, some of the more skilled superstars are accustomed to being protected by their teammates and may be a little less tough.

It's hard for me to blame a guy for trying to protect his face and head from some other big, strong hockey player, especially if the person doing the pummeling is quite a bit bigger. I would do the same thing. However, I have felt embarrassment when I caught a guy on our team turtling. I was like, really, dude? Really?