There is never enough time to get everything done! I kept thinking that once the kids got off to college I’d have all this time and freedom and that was sort of true… but then they keep coming back! And bringing laundry and friends and bigger problems that have to be solved.

And then my dh retired so that ate up the time the kids freed up. He retired so that makes me retired, right? Ha! Housework, cooking errand-running didn’t retire and I still have a job. So I’m back to never enough time to get everything done and that includes reading.

I just read a review of the latest Harry Potter book by a reader who said she ran out to Wal-Mart, got the book then sat down for six hours and read it clear though. First to fall I envy her fast reading skills but mostly I covet the six hours she had to read!

I never get six uninterrupted hours to do anything! Am I alone on this? Do you all get nice big blocks of time to read? Or do you steal them somehow. How? Let me know! 

Mostly I grab a half hour here or there, maybe stretch it into an hour but that’s it. I read in bits and pieces, when I can find the time or sneak the time or lock myself in the bathroom. Yep, I’ve even resorted to thet! I wish I commuted to work so I could read there.

So what about you all? When do you get the chance to read? How much time do you get and do you have any little secrets I can use to find more time?

Hugs, Dianne
DianneCastell.com
The Morgue the Merrier 9/07

My two favorite hobbies!

Seems that whenever I read I get a sever case of the munches…which explains my recent affiliation with Weight Watchers. But that’s okay because I can still munch and read, I just have to exchange baby carrots for Fritos and dip or an apple for a Twinkie. Really miss those Twinkies.

So now my snacking is on a short leash, but back in the day of no taboos I found I ate in relationship to what I read.

For example in reading Sandra Brown’s French Silk I think I ate enough chocolate to put Hershey on double shifts to keep up. Then there’s the Stephanie Plum series and I go on my pizza binge and put Dominoes on speed-dial.

When I wrote The O’Fallon series set in Tennessee on the Mississippi River I think we had barbecue twice a week for months. And when I did Texas Bad Boys I went on a health-food binge because the heroine owns a spa.

So, here’s the question… Have you ever gotten cravings…food cravings here LOL…from a book? A movie? (After watching When Harry Met Sally I ate salad in restaurants for weeks!)

What is you fav book-munchie or drink?

I’ll draw a name from the responses for a The Morgue The Merrier Tote and a pack of M&Ms. 

Hugs,
Dianne Castell
DianneCastell.com

The Morgue the Merrier 9/09
Kensington Zebra
I’m Your Santa 10/08
Kensington BRAVA

Vacations are like writing a book. There are planners and pantsers. Planners are me. I plan months in advance down to what we do each day and where to eat etc. Okay, that’s a little anal. A lot anal, actually, and shoots spontaneity all to hell and back but then we’re not sitting in the car and wondering, Gee, what should we do today. I have maps and charts and reserved the house or car got plane ticket…whatever all done by January for a trip in June.

Then there are the pantsers who wing it. They throw the family in the car and take off for…out West. And all goes well and they have a great time and do the next thing out there and I am so jealous of them I could spit… Just like I’m so jealous of those authors who wing it and wind up with a great book.

Okay, so you’re going on vacation…somewhere, planned or unplanned and it will be great to get away. So, while your away do you ever plan on visiting places you’ve read about in romance books? Or seen in the movies?

There’s this movie, Something to Talk About with Julia Roberts and Dennis Quaid and there’s a scene in Savanna at a place called Six Pence. When I went to Savannah I ate there and sat at the very table. Fun!

And then there’s that bench that Forest Gump sat on in Savannah when he’s waiting for the bus. So many people came to sit on that bench it caused traffic jams and they had to move it. Same with the bird girl from Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil. They had to move that statue too.

I wanted to go to the top of the Empire State Building to see the sight but also because of An Affair To Remember. What about Gone With the Wind? Did you ever plan to visit a plantation? Go to Atlanta and visit Peach Tree Street? I think ever other street in Atlanta is Peach Tree Street. 

If you read historicals I bet you’ve wanted to visit an English castle or sail on one of those big sailing ships. Did you do it? Plan to? I went to a castle and it’s damp and dark and it kind of killed the idea I had in my brain of how neat a castle is. I was happy to go back to my hotel with hot running water.

So, the questions are… Are you a planner or a pantser with the vacations thing and have you ever visited a place you read about or saw in a move?

I have a totebag from our June Reader-Writer Get-together that I’ll give away and I’ll throw in a book from my back list.

Hugs, Dianne Castell

It’s nearly here…summer that is. Yippeeeee! Thank heaven! I am so tired of winter and snow and ice and cold and gray. Cincy gets lots of gray. But now the sky is blue, I’ve planted a bazillion flowers and summer is right around the corner. So, as seasons change does your reading preference?

What about those summer books. You know, the books for the beach or baseball books or roadtrip books? Do you read summer theme books in the summer? Does it put you in the mood to be more summery or doesn’t the season matter all that much what season is in the book. Do you read Christmas books anytime and beach books in the dead of winter? I do this, reminds me that it will…some day…be summer again.

Have you ever gotten a season idea from a book? Like a vacation book and you thought, Gee I think I’ll go there for vacation? What about a tradition? Ever make a family tradition from a book one of your own? I’ve done this. I can’t remember which book but the whole family went back to mom’s and dad’s for Sunday dinner. Now I do that with my own family. It’s worked out great. 

So, are there summer reads in your future? Trips? Traditions?

Hugs, Dianne
www.DianneCastell.com

Well spring is here and conferences and booksignings abound. I love these events, spending time with the authors and readers, chatting about writing and the best books out there. I spend so much time behind a computer that I get a little daffy, sometimes a lot daffy. (I should tell you about my Maypole)

Chatting online is great, of course. Gives me chance to connect to readers and authors around the world…literally! If it wasn’t for emails and chats and loops I’d never get to talk to the Aussie gals and the English readers or the ones in Germany, Ireland, Canada etc.

But, there’s nothing like chatting face to face if possible, least for me. It’s one of the main reasons Lori Foster and I have the Reader/Writer Get-together in June in Cincy and the main reason I go to RT and RWA.

But what about you? Is it important for you to meet the authors? Spend time, have them sign your books, chat? Some readers are fine with simply reading the books and the “who” behind the books doesn’t really matter. Do you want to know about her and her family and what’s going on in her life and how she came to write a certain book or how did she come up with such a horrid villain or wonderful hero.

Does who the author is really matter to you? And just how far are you willing to travel to meet her? There’s a gal coming to our June event who’s traveling all the way from Alaska. Now that’s far. 

Hugs, Dianne

Hi, everyone!
I wanted to be a published romance author for a really loooong time! Like nine years long. It was one of the thing I wanted to do before I died and the way things were going there for a while I thought the died part would win.  But then Harlequin American picked up Court-Appointed Marriage (their title not mine!) and I was off and running and then got picked up by Kate Duffy at Kensington. Thank, Kate!

‘Course there are other things on my ‘before I die” list like having kids, riding a motorcycle, having a horse and visiting the Gallipolis Islands. I did the kid thing four times over which is probably why I never got around to doing the other things. I’m still holding out for the Gallipolis.

So, my question to you all is… What is on your list of things to do before you die? Have any come true? Any in the works? I love knowing what others are dreaming about, makes me feel like I can get there too. That’s what happened with getting published. I found others with the same dream like Rosemary Laurey and Lori Foster and we did it!

Anyone up for the Gallipolis??

Well, it’s the big V Day! And as romance readers and writers this is our day too! We get to celebrate romance, falling in love and staying in love. It takes hard work to do that last part. No relationship in or out of books survives without nurturing and constant attention.
We’ve all given lots of prezzies over the years to underline how much we truly care. In books the hero brings flowers, the heroine bakes or wears sexy lingerie or wears the lingerie while baking. In one of my books the heroine gave the hero land to build a runway so he’d fly back to see her. In another the hero gave the heroine a gun to keep her sleazy ex at bay.
So the question today is… What do you think was the best present you gave the hero in your life? Or what was the best present from your favorite book?

Have a fun day. Hugs and valentines, Dianne

PS: I have calendars with my upcoming covers. Anyone wanting a calendar just email me at DianneCastell@hotmail.com with your snail address.

Thought that might get you attention on a cold January day.

In my books the sex scenes are usually any place but in a bed because the hero and heroine never quite make it there. In fact, of all the sex scenes I’ve written I think an actual bed was involved maybe two times. So now I’m doing something different in this next book, an actual Valentine Seduction scene. A real planned event with a bed!

Since this is virgin territory for me (sorry about that, couldn’t resist) I need some help. I need suggestions.

Do you think it’s better when the hero or the heroine plan a seduction?
What about a place? Where would be your ideal place to plan a seduction? Castle? Tent in the woods? Tree house?

What about accessories? Candlelight? Roving minstrels under the window? Wine? Beer? Grape juice? Propel (I’m addicted to that stuff)?

Attire? Should the hero or heroine dress for the scene? Something from Fredrick’s of Hollywood? A towel? A robe? A lacey hankie? Nothing?

What about fluffy blankets? Silk sheets?

Now’s the time to plan your perfect seduction scene…and share it with me. 

All suggestions are most helpful and to show my appreciation for these great suggestions I’ll pick two names form the posts and give away copies of Texas Bad Boys.

Not the Christmas variety but the TV variety. I really like this show, least I did.

Ann Heche has a great delivery, the stories are captivating, Ben’s the hunk of hunks as are several of the other men onboard. But… two weeks ago one of the characters was reading a romance book and it was referred to as her dirty little secret.

What! I was so mad my hair fried. There’s a blog at the Men in Trees website and I posted my displeasure, actually I was plain pissed.

Did anyone else see the episode? Was anyone else mad? I bet the writer of that series never read a romance in his/her life!

I get this from time to time, how I write smut or dirty little books. The comment catches me completely off guard and I don’t know what to say. Sooo, what I’ve done is practice a response. While I’m brushing my teeth I rehearse my comeback, “If you don’t know the difference between smut and romance I feel sorry for your husband/wife.” Maybe the next time I’ll be ready!

So, my question is. Did those of you who saw the episode get angry as I did? And what do you say when you get hit with the smut comment? Got any more suggestions for me?

Hugs, Dianne

Howdy, everyone!

We all have our favorite Christmas romance stories and our favorite Christmas romance movies, so my question today is…do you follow this up in real life or are you a lost cause like me? Do you go out of your way to make Christmas romancey or are you just lucky to survive the whole ordeal? I’m going to really try this year to add some romace to Christmas and not just in the Christmas anthologies I’m working on!

There’s the mistletoe thing and that’s always fun provided you don’t get caught under it with Roving-hands Harry or Wet-kisser Clyde. Yuck! But with Mr. Right-guy it’s just the thing. But what else?

With Christmas being so nuts it’s hard to make time for the romance…or is it? Do you buy special sexy lingerie for a little spice? I have Ho-Ho socks does that count? I consider it a major feat when the tops and bottoms of my jimmies actually match!

What about special food? Do you buy special wine, chocolates, deserts for just you and your honey to share when the kids are asleep or the guests have gone home? I bought a can of cashes and gave my dh a handful, but I think I need to do better!

And wine? I don’t drink so we shared a glass of cranberry juice this morning. Least the color was right. I’m totally pathetic in the Christmas romance department unless I’m writing it. I use up all my energy there. Got any ideas I can swipe? Anything will be a huge improvement!

Thanks, Dianne