I love my job. For more than twenty years, I’ve had the privilege of writing and publishing the stories that are always simmering at the back of my mind. My 100th Harlequin book, HUSBAND FOR A WEEKEND, will be in stores in April, 2012. It was such a thrill for me to mark that number, but there are still so many stories I want to tell …

Writing for Harlequin has been an honor and a constant challenge for me. Within the romance genre,  I’ve been able to write family dramas, romantic comedies, adventure, suspense … even stories about ghosts and psychics … along with the archetypal cowboys, private investigators, cops and docs. And all have had a happy ending, which makes me happy, too. I still have many projects in the works for Harlequin, including an August, 2012, release, HIS BEST FRIEND’S WIFE.

More than a year ago, another type of story began to “haunt” me. Sometimes when I looked in a mirror, I wondered what it would like to see a strange face looking back at me from there, or hear a stranger’s voice whispering from a corner of the room, or find myself with memories that aren’t my own.

That’s what happens to Amanda Holloway in my upcoming Kindle-only release, WAKE ME. Stripped of her own memories, and tormented by flashes of someone else’s life — and death — Amanda wonders if she’s going crazy or being driven by an outside force. Her cynical cop ex-boyfriend wants to know how she knows so many details of his on-going murder investigation, and a handsome musician with possible ties to that investigation wants to get to know her better. All Amanda wants is to reclaim her life and her own memories before someone silences both her and the voices in her head – forever.

WAKE ME was a different kind of story for me to tell, but I loved the challenge as the mystery unfolded in my mind and on my screen. Though it doesn’t quite fit into the romance genre I still love, I stayed true to my storytelling style and voice. I think my regular readers will recognize themes that have always been important to me — the importance of family, the immeasurable value of love, and the universal search for a safe place to call home.

I’ll let you know as soon as the book is available for purchase from the Kindle store (release price will be $3.99). It should be out within the next few weeks. If you don’t have a Kindle device, you can download the Kindle reader for free on your computer, iPad, iPod or smartphone!

I enjoy following several sports on TV, so I’ve seen quite a bit of football during the past couple of months. I’ve watched college bowl games and professional play-offs, and I’m looking forward to the upcoming Super Bowl (and, by the way, I totally called the teams who would be in it).  I also follow NASCAR racing (though not as faithfully as I once did), enjoy the “other” football, as it’s called here in the South — soccer, and am glued to the television every two years for whichever season’s Olympic games are being aired.

“Competitive reality TV,” as it’s dubbed on the website Television Without Pity, sort of continues the sports theme. I’ve never seen “Survivor” or “The Amazing Race,” but I do enjoy “Project Runway,” “Face Off” and some of the talent competitions – “So You Think You Can Dance,” “The Voice,” “American Idol” (which I haven’t watched much for the last couple of seasons). And though my husband teases me mercilessly for it, I absolutely love competitive cooking shows. “Top Chef,” “Chopped,” “Iron Chef,” various food network challenges — something about those flying knives and leaping flames and frantic shouts of “behind you, behind you!” just get my blood pumping. They’re fun, and I enjoy rooting for my favorite contestants to win.

Which made me think — how boring would a competitive writing show be? Let’s face it — while we all hope our product is interesting and exciting, writing itself is not a compelling spectator activity. We sit in a chair, stare transfixed at a glowing screen, pound on keyboards — hitting the backspace and delete keys repeatedly — occasionally argue with the voices in our heads. While some writers perhaps look beautiful and camera-ready as they work, I’m not convinced those exceptions are among my closest group of writer friends. Many of us confess to working in comfy, grubby clothes (p.j.s being the uniform of choice admitted in whispers), with hair tumbled every which way, no make-up and plenty of coffee, soft drinks and chocolate near at hand. Even when those sports or competitive reality programs I enjoy are blaring from the television, my computer is usually in my lap and I’m writing or editing or researching or making notes (while also keeping up with my Facebook friends). Despite that less-than-glamorous description of my career, hunky Mike Rowe is unlikely to visit me for his “Dirty Jobs” show (darn it) — because, handsome as he is, watching him sitting in a chair and typing for an hour would hardly be riveting TV.

Writers on television are often shown attending glittering parties, chasing criminals, meeting with long lines of adoring fans — but that’s not showing them at work. In fact, I often wonder when do those fictional authors actually write? Few of us can make a living scribbling a page or two a week — or even a day, for that matter. All kinds of adventures are taking place in our imaginations, but to share them with our readers, we have to separate ourselves from others and take on the solitary task of putting words to paper — or screen, to be more contemporary. Definitely not a spectator career.

Like all modern writers, I’ve been encouraged to have more of an on-line “presence.” This blog, the flashy website I’m going to have someday (really), a Facebook page and Amazon author page (both now in place – check them out!), and — gulp — Twitter. So, I started a Twitter account, wilkinsgina (the reverse already being taken). Other people seem to tweet often, finding interesting things to say and report. I stare at that blank screen that faces me so routinely, and try to think of something fascinating to send out into twitterspace. I’m enchanted by my artistic husband and our three brilliant offspring, of course, but I realize not everyone shares my enthusiasm for my family. I don’t care to discuss politics or religion, because those are private for me, and I’m not exactly a scholar of either, anyway. Some people seem to tweet their every move during the day, but that hardly seems appropriate for me:

“Sitting in my chair under an afghan, drinking tea and trying to convince my current hero to stop being a stubborn jerk.” Is that too many letters? Not exactly fascinating, anyway.

“Just wrote a complete paragraph and it’s a keeper!” Well, no. Only another writer would see that as a noteworthy accomplishment.

“Actually met my word-count goal today so I’m rewarding myself with a bag of M & Ms and the newest J.D. Robb thriller!” Big deal, I hear you all say with a groan.

So. I have a Twitter account. And a blog. And a Facebook page I also struggle to make interesting. Someday I’ll have a real website. Maybe. I hope you’ll all visit me in those places – I promise to do my best to find something worthwhile to say, at least occasionally.

But mostly, I hope you’ll enjoy the books I produce during my noncompetitive, undramatic work routine. My latest Harlequin Special Edition, DOCTORS IN THE WEDDING, is still available in stores, and the next, HUSBAND FOR A WEEKEND, will be released in April (click the Books Available Now! tab for details). Soon I’ll be able to announce the release of a Kindle-exclusive paranormal suspense novel entitled WAKE ME — I’ll tweet that release date as soon as it’s confirmed. Can’t wait to share details with you of that somewhat different story I so enjoyed writing as a challenge to myself.

Do you tweet? What do you like to read from the tweeters you follow? Feel free to contact me at any of the mentioned sources or leave a comment here. I love hearing from readers!

I received a Kindle Fire from my husband for my birthday/Christmas gift this year (those of us born in late December use that slash a lot). I don’t do product reviews often, but since this is both directly related to my writing career and a technological advance for me, it seemed relevant to discuss it here.

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve never owned an e-reader and that I had my doubts about reading “on screen,” considering my deep love of books. Then I tried reading a few times on an iPod touch — and discovered that I loved the freedom of having a book with me at all times, especially in the various waiting rooms where we all seem to spend so much time. The iPod screen is tiny, certainly, but it was still surprisingly easy for me to read on it. Our oldest daughter carries her Kindle reader with her on her bus commute to work — almost an hour each way — and has commented often about how it makes the travel time pass so much more quickly. John decided it was time for me to have a Kindle of my own, and he choose to order the Kindle Fire from Amazon.

The first accessory I bought was a cover. I choose a black leather cover with a bright blue lining from Belkin (approximately $35 from WalMart)  that also folds into a stand. I like this cover because it’s very slim, adding little bulk to the Fire, and had a good feel in my hand. I have to confess, I like the fact that when it’s open and I’m reading inside the cover, it feels like I’m actually holding a book. The photo above is a little dark, but you get the idea. Cover and all, the Kindle Fire is about the size of a paperback, fits easily into my purse (average size, I don’t like to carry the extra-large ones that make my shoulders ache), and weighs about a pound. Not bad at all.

It was ridiculously easy to download a book from the Amazon Kindle store (maybe a little too easy! It’s like living in a bookstore – dangerous for us book lovers). I had no trouble going to facebook or accessing my email. The settings were easy to find for brightening and dimming the screen, turning wi-fi off to save battery life and so on. On the whole, easy enough for even this techno-challenged mom to figure out. I’ve already read two books and two novellas on it, and honestly, I lost myself in the stories just as easily as I ever have. I’ve also read a hardcover book since Christmas (I’ve been on quite a reading binge), and I still love reading from a “real” book — but I wouldn’t carry it with me out of the house the way I can my Fire.

One of my favorite uses may very well be in the kitchen. Using the stand, I can display a recipe from allrecipes.com or one of the other sites I visit very often, set the little Fire out of the way on the counter, and refer to the displayed recipe as needed. I’ve done that several times already.

The Fire came with a free month’s subscription to Amazon Prime. One of the books I read was “borrowed” from the Amazon Prime library (you are entitled to borrow one book a month from the eligible titles), and I streamed a movie from the free choices offered. The film looked fine on the seven-inch screen and the sound was very acceptable from the speakers. Will I renew the Prime membership? Probably not, at least for now. I don’t order enough to make the free two-day shipping worth the (admittedly reasonable) cost, and I wasn’t excited enough by the range of book or video offerings to make it worthwhile for me, though that could change in the future. But I tried it all while I have it.

The battery life has been sufficient for me so far, though of course I haven’t really put it to the test. I had plenty of power to watch the two-hour film and then read a while before I noticed it was getting low. I think it said it would get seven or eight hours of use on one charge. Fine for my uses.

The only quibble I have so far?

That shiny screen and the resulting fingerprints make my somewhat OCD soul cringe! I spend a lot of time polishing with a microfiber cloth. Colors really pop on screen, but it does take some effort to keep it shiny.

If you don’t have a Kindle device, the Kindle app is a free download from your phone, iPod or iPad or PC from Amazon. Books are reasonably priced, and there are many, many free titles available! All in all, I can give this product two thumbs-up (and then scrub the resulting thumb-prints away with my handy polishing cloth). Thank you for my gift, John. I know I’ll get many hours of enjoyment from it (and thanks to the “kids” for Amazon gift cards — which will be put to good use in the Kindle bookstore!).

♥♥♥

Look for my Harlequin Special Edition, DOCTORS IN THE WEDDING, in stores, at Harlequin.com and for e-readers now! (Click the Books Available Now! tab above for details).

And be sure and “like” my facebook page (link at right) for occasional updates and comments.

Available now in stores, for e-readers, and at Harlequin.com.

Click Books Available Now! tab above for details.

Another busy holiday season has ended — all the decorations put away, too many sweets made and consumed. Although I very much missed having our daughter, Kerry, and her husband, Justin, with us this year (she was on call in Mass.), John and I still enjoyed having Courtney home from Seattle and David here for the holiday weekend on his medical school break. This was the first Christmas in her whole lifetime Kerry hasn’t spent with us, and her traditional place on the carpet in front of the tree seemed awfully empty. We understand the demands of her medical residency, and are so proud of her accomplishments — but we still might have pouted a bit to have one of our brood missing on Christmas. Still, we were able to connect by phone, so she was here in spirit. We did find out who’s been responsible for the before-dawn Christmas awakenings — without Kerry here, the rest of us slept in a couple extra hours that morning! And she always tried to blame her sister and brother …

David starts his second semester of medical school tomorrow. Later this week, Courtney will return to her busy scientific research career. It’s always hard to drive her to the airport and say goodbye until the next visit, but we’re proud of her for forging on in her work despite the challenges she has faced since her stroke on October 30, 2010. Still primarily confined to a wheelchair and with very limited use of her right hand, she still manages to live on her own and to make advances in her research. With post-stroke fatigue a constant challenge for her, some days are so hard for her that she wonders if she can get through them — and yet she continues to display courage and determination when it must be tempting to just give up. There are no words to describe how proud we are of her, and how grateful we are to the excellent doctors and therapists who work with her and encourage her. We know she will continue to make advances both in her recovery and her research during the coming months.

I have lots of plans for the coming year. My new Harlequin Special Edition release, DOCTORS IN THE WEDDING, is available this month, to be followed by HUSBAND FOR A WEEKEND  in April and BEYOND THE MORNING (title subject to change) in August. The latter two books, as well as the as yet untitled one I’m just starting this week, were inspired by the therapists we’ve met during the past year who’ve worked with Courtney. The previous medical-themed books were inspired by our other daughter’s adventures in medical school. My husband teases me about using our kids’ lives as material for my always-active imagination; I remind him that everything in life we see, read or hear is fodder for a writer’s busy fantasy life!

I’ll also be re-releasing quite a few of my early titles soon for Kindle (I’ll let you know when they’re available). And stay tuned for information about the release of my first paranormal suspense novel, WAKE ME. Can’t wait to share the details about that one with you!

May 2012 be a special and fulfilling year for all of you. I hope you’ll come back to visit me here and that you’ll find a few hours of escape and entertainment in the stories I so love telling for you.

I’ll be participating in a live chat with other Harlequin Special Edition authors from 7 to 9 December 14 at Harlequin.com. Those of you who know me through this blog are aware that I can be technologically challenged, so cross your fingers that I hit the right computer buttons during that hour — and feel free to join us to monitor my success! I’m sure it will be fun. I always look forward to chatting with readers and other writers.

Click the Books Available Now tab above for information about my next Harlequin release, DOCTORS IN THE WEDDING, which will be available January, 2012. And don’t forget to enter the drawing to take place on my birthday — December 20. Click the Enter to Win tab for instructions.

A week ago today, my husband and I delivered our daughter and son-in-law to the airport for their return to Massachusetts after a lovely week-long Thanksgiving visit with us. On our way back home, we stopped in to a local store to do a little Christmas shopping. While we stood in line to pay, we were greeted by a long-time friend, Elaine Payne, a recently-retired schoolteacher who was on her way for a luncheon with other retired teacher friends. It was obvious that she was looking forward to that gathering. Telling her to have a good time, we added that we would see her again soon. Two days later, her husband called to tell us that Elaine had suffered a massive heart attack. Yesterday, we stood by her bed in the cardiac critical care unit to share in a prayer with her pastor and several dear friends as we bade her a final goodbye. She was 59.

Elaine and her husband, Ken, have been our friends for more than twenty-five years, and we’ve spent many pleasant hours with them, even taking a few nice vacations together. John and Ken are especially good friends, sharing several hobbies and community activities. When our daughter was ill, when John’s dad and my mother passed away, when our house was hit by a tornado — all the difficult times in our lives — Ken and Elaine were the first ones there to offer help and support. A little less than two years ago, they lost their only child, their son, Thomas, and we grieved with them, having watched Thomas grow up along with our own children.

For twenty-eight years, Elaine taught special education in local public schools. She dealt with sometimes very difficult students, but she loved her job and I know she made a difference in very many young lives. If you’ve read my earlier posts, you know how much respect and admiration I have for dedicated teachers, and Elaine was certainly among that elite group. Even after her retirement, Elaine continued to work in the school, spending countless unpaid hours volunteering in the library. She was also very active in her church and other community organizations. She will be missed by many.

During this busy, bustling holiday season, I hope you’ll all take the time to appreciate each fleeting moment with your own family and friends. Thank you for letting me share a few memories of my friend with you here.

Our Thanksgiving leftovers are all gone now, and my daughter, Kerry, and I survived our yearly Black Friday shopping outing. We’ve headed out before dawn every year since she was twelve, with the exception of last year when our other daughter was just out of the hospital after her stroke. “Black Friday” is the day Kerry and I spend together shopping and having lunch out. She wanted to eat at Dixie Cafe this time; having spent the past two and a half years in New England, she was craving Southern food. Once again, the crowds we encountered were friendly and well-behaved, unlike the few ugly episodes shown on the news, and we had a wonderful day together. In a few days, she and her husband will be heading back north, where they’ll be spending Christmas for the first time because Kerry will be on call during the holidays. They’ll be greatly missed by their Arkansas families, but it’s been so nice having them here for Thanksgiving. Our other daughter will be home in two weeks to spend Christmas and New Year’s with us before going back to her job in the Pacific Northwest.

And now it’s time to prepare for the next holiday.  I spent the past couple of days decorating the house while Kerry and her husband visited with his family in another part of the state.  I hung ornaments on two artificial trees. One is in the living room, covered with the many ornaments I’ve collected during the years (I pick up an ornament as a souvenir every time I visit a new place). The tree in the den (pictured above) displays wooden ornaments my husband has made on his lathe and scroll saw for more than a decade. My philosophy is that one can never have too many ornaments on a tree — if there’s a tip, something might as well hang from it! Every ornament has sentimental value for me, bringing back memories of Christmases past as I place it just so.

When I was a child growing up in rural Arkansas, we often cut down our own Christmas trees. I remember tramping through woods with my dad and my brothers, searching for the perfect pine or cedar. Of course, we would point to trees that had to be at least twelve feet tall, not quite comprehending that we had only eight-foot ceilings. Sometimes Daddy would overestimate, as well. I remember him having to cut the tops out of a few trees to make them fit in the room after he put them on a stand. We would watch Daddy struggle with the lights, then the four of us kids, supervised by our mother, would hang the ornaments and drape silver tinsel “icicles.” We quickly grew tired of the process and threw on clumps of tinsel that more resembled shiny hairballs than icicles. Still, no matter how crooked or clumpy our trees, they were always magical to our young eyes, as was the smell of sap and needles and the sounds of carols from the annual television Christmas variety shows.

Mother is no longer with us, and my own three kids are independent adults now, but I still cherish the Christmas memories of my childhood and theirs. It’s my favorite time of the year — which is, perhaps, why it shows up so often in my books. The story I just completed features a single mom who falls in love during the busy holiday season, and finds it hard to juggle family obligations, work demands and a new relationship with an man from her past. I’ll let you know the title and publication date soon. I’ll have two other Harlequin Special Editions available before that one — DOCTORS IN THE WEDDING in January, 2012 and HUSBAND FOR A WEEKEND in April, 2012.

For now, I’ll enjoy these last few days of Kerry and Justin’s visit, then it’s back to work on another book before the next set of festivities. I’ll try to remember to savor the moments this year that will become happy memories during future holidays.

♥♥♥

Don’t forget to enter for the special drawing to be held on December 20 (my birthday). In honor of the holiday season and my 100th book (my 99th Harlequin release), I’m giving away a book and a wooden pen turned by my very talented husband. Click the Enter to Win! tab above for details on how to enter.

I come from a family of game players. When I was young, my parents often had other couples over for card games and coffee. I would hang over the back of their chairs, watching and commenting and begging to play until they sent me off to play with my brothers (to my disgruntlement, since I thought I was so much more mature than the other children and should be considered an adult). Even after my three brothers and I moved out and started families of our own, holiday gatherings at our parents’ house usually included spirited games of Charades or Uno or Greed or Sequence. I still love playing board games and card games of all types.

Though my husband doesn’t share my passion for games, our kids enjoy playing when we get together now, and our son-in-law is another game player, so I’ve continued the tradition of pulling out the games boxes when we gather now for holidays. Apples to Apples, Settlers of Catan, Trains, Yahtzee, Phase 10 and Uno have all been spread on my kitchen table in the past few years, and we’ve whiled away many hours laughing and swapping good-natured challenges and insults.

Three years ago or so, I was enticed to open a facebook account by some internet friends I met through a television chat site. The reason they talked me into it? To play a game with them there. They sensed my weakness and took full advantage of it! I’ve enjoyed facebook for many reasons — primarily the chance to stay in contact with my far-flung, extended family members after the loss of my mother four years ago. Mom served as the “communications center” of our family, keeping me updated about siblings, nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins, and since I lost her, facebook has filled that void, for which I am grateful. Still, not a day goes by that I don’t get invitations to play new games with various facebook friends.

I have to admit, I’m often tempted. I do love to play, not so much to win — though I do enjoy the competition — but for the social aspect. Writing can be a lonely job, and chatting with my game friends is entertaining … maybe a bit too much so, at times. So, I have limited myself strictly to two facebook games. I can justify “Words with Friends” by telling myself I’m enriching my vocabulary and keeping my mind active — okay, maybe I’m looking for excuses. I play another little game in which my avatar can dress up and decorate imaginary houses with imaginary furniture I buy with imaginary money in an imaginary store and then visit the imaginary homes of my co-playing friends.

That one’s a little harder to rationalize. Basically, it’s paper dolls – but I always did love playing with paper dolls. When I’m stressed or blocked or just a little lonely for my scattered kids and other family members, I sometimes escape into my play world and decorate or chat with those friends I’ve never even met in real life. I remember hearing about those games a few years ago and wondering why anyone would get drawn into them, but I’ve found out it’s quite easy to do so, actually. Especially for someone who makes her living with make-believe, anyway, I suppose. I have to be careful not to spend too much time there, and not to be drawn into the hype to spend real money on those imaginary toys. And yet I’ve had fun with the game, and have “met” some truly lovely people of all ages and from several different countries.

Most of our lives are so busy now with work and families and chores and responsibilities, and watching the news can sometimes make us feel overwhelmed by fear and negativity. TV and movies, games, sports or — still my all-time favorite leisure activity — escaping into the pages of a good book can give us a chance to rest, reset, and ready ourselves for the challenges of the following day or the next workweek. Whatever your means of healthy relaxation, may you find time to laugh and play during the busy, bustling days ahead.

♥♥♥

Click the ENTER TO WIN! tab above for details about my newest give-away contest to celebrate a momentous release for me in January, 2012 (more information to come soon). I’m taking entries now.

♥♥♥

For occasional updates about my writing and books in progress, “like” my facebook page at the link provided in the sidebar to the right of this post. (I promise not to “spam” you with game requests there.)

Three and a half years ago, John and I helped our older daughter move to Seattle by driving a UHaul truck and pulling her little Saturn on a trailer. We traveled through Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Oregon before arriving in Seattle — several states we’d never driven through before — and we had a great time seeing that part of the country in the early spring. A year later, we drove the UHaul for our next daughter and her husband when they moved to Massachusetts, our path taking us through Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut (with a side trip into Rhode Island while we were in the area). Again, we loved seeing parts of the country we had only flown over before, watching the landscape and building styles changing as we moved farther away from Arkansas, where my husband and I have both lived all our lives.

Three weeks ago, John and I flew to Seattle to spend some time with our daughter, who survived a brainstem stroke a year ago this month. Still in a wheelchair most of her days, she needed some help with some things around her apartment, wanted us to accompany her to a few appointments and we decided to drive her little car home and sell it for her. She is unable to drive currently (she hopes to do so again eventually) and owning, insuring and parking a car are expenses she doesn’t need for now. We had a very nice two-week visit with her, enjoying the refreshing Pacific Northwest coolness after a brutally hot Arkansas summer, and then we set out last Tuesday for the drive home. We chose a different path this time — through eastern Washington into northern Idaho (breathtakingly beautiful), through Montana and the northeast corner of Wyoming, through South Dakota, down the border of Iowa into Missouri and home from there (with a few hours stop in Branson, three hours north of home, because I couldn’t bear to pass that close and not at least pop into some of my favorite places there).

Having never been to Montana or South Dakota, John and I had a wonderful drive home. We explored tiny, historic Wallace, Idaho, where we spent our first night at the vintage 1960s-era Stardust Motel. After a second night in Hardin, Montana, we whiled away several hours at the Little Bighorn battlefield in Montana, soaking in the somber atmosphere and the impressive scenery and imagining the sights and sounds of that terrible battle between two conflicting cultures. The museum there is fascinating, as was the short film that presented both sides of the conflict quite comprehensively. I haven’t studied Western history extensively, so I learned quite a few facts I hadn’t known before and found intriguing both as a writer and an American.

Following a three hour delay at the Wyoming/South Dakota border to replace a tire ruined when something punctured the side (we still don’t know what), we continued on to Keystone, S.D., to see Mt. Rushmore, arriving there in time to view it both in waning sunlight and then after dark with the lights on the faces. We spent that third night in Rapid City, then put in many hours of hard driving the next day to make up for the lost time with the tire, though we couldn’t resist spending a couple of hours at famous Wall Drug in Wall, S.D. (home of free ice water and nickel coffee — if you haven’t heard of it, look it up — fascinating place! I’ll spare you the photo here of us posed sitting on a six-foot tall “jackalope.”) After staying just outside Kansas City, Missouri that night, and our short stop in Branson, we were home by eight p.m. on Saturday — tired but feeling so blessed to have experienced even more of this amazingly diverse country.

It’s funny that we used to dread long car rides, seeing them only as a means of arriving at a destination when we couldn’t fly. Now that all three of our children are out on their own, John and I both love setting out to see new places, new landscapes, to chat with friendly strangers along the way, to stand at the site of events we’d learned about in long-ago history classes. We’d still like to go back to Yellowstone and the Badlands (two stops we had to pass by because of time restraints), and up into Minnesota and Michigan someday. Next fall, we’d like to drive up into New England to visit daughter number two and her husband and see the foliage (we’ve never been north of Massachusetts, so Vermont and Maine would be on that agenda).

But for now, it’s back to work on another Harlequin Special Edition. My next book, DOCTORS IN THE WEDDING, will be available in January, 2012. This will be a momentous release for me (more about that in my post next week, as well as details for the next contest).

Don’t forget to check my re-releases for Kindle and Nook, and through eHarlequin.com! And for occasional updates, “like” my facebook page (click the Contact Me tab above for details).

Until next week …

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Cover Art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited.

® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.

I have to admit to being technologically challenged. This simple blog requires all of my computer skills (hence, the spaces between the lines of the copyright message above – can’t figure out how to remove them). Web pages confuse me. Facebook befuddles me every time the setup changes (which seems to be often). Twitter? Haven’t even tried. I still carry a “dumb phone” — it makes and takes calls and texts quite well, but does not access the internet.

To paraphrase Leonard “Bones” McCoy — “I’m a storyteller, not a computer whiz!”

So, it should come as no surprise that I was a bit slow coming around to ebooks. Clinging to my treasured library of hardcovers and paperbacks, I couldn’t imagine reading on a screen, when I spend so many hours a day staring at a computer screen for writing. Every so often, when my shelves overflow, I gather bags of books to donate to the local shelters or other deserving organizations, but I still have a lot of books stashed in closets and cases. When I travel, I always try to find extra space for books – which has become increasingly difficult as airlines limit more and more the amount we can carry on or even check. I have sat many times in waiting rooms, wishing I’d remembered to bring along a book, having read every year-old magazine within my reach.

And then last year my son gave me an iPod Touch for Mother’s Day. I’d used the iPod Nano before, but this was the first time I’d had the capability of downloading a book to carry with me using iBooks or Kindle format. Just as an experiment, I bought a couple of books from iTunes, downloaded the Kindle app and bought a couple of books there. And even though the screen is very small, requiring a lot of page-turn swipes – I love it. A book is always at hand, and I have pulled that little reader out more times than I can count already. I’m even catching up on some old classics I enjoyed years ago (many of them free downloads). Now I’m looking at Kindles and Nooks and other readers, thinking maybe I’m ready for a somewhat larger screen.

After her stroke, my older daughter found herself spending more time commuting to work by bus, so she decided to invest in an e-reader. After trying out several formats in the local stores, she chose a Kindle because it was lightweight and easiest for her to operate with the use of only one hand. She uses it everyday to pass the time during her forty-minute-each-way bus ride. I’ve noticed more and more people reading on various types of devices in waiting rooms, on planes and buses and in coffee shops. With pocket and purse sized readers and instant downloads, books have become more portable and available than ever. What a joy for us avid readers!

Quite a few of my older books that were formerly out of print have been re-released under the Harlequin Treasury imprint. They are available for Kindle and Nook and through eHarlequin.com. I love knowing that some of my favorite older stories (such as A VALENTINE WISH, my first “ghost story” romance) are now available to readers again. More titles should become available in coming months.

I will always enjoy curling up in a chair with a new hardcover or paperback and a cup of my favorite tea, but it’s lovely to know that I can have a selection of books always at hand wherever I go now. Bring on that waiting room!