Broken is better.

Posted in Romance on November 5th, 2008 by Cynthia Eden

I don’t like perfect characters–whether I’m writing them or reading about characters others have created, I don’t want perfect. To me, people aren’t perfect. We all have pasts, secrets, and scars (emotional or physical) that make us unique. I like for the characters in stories to be like this, too.

I’m in the middle of writing a paranormal story now. (Okay, technically not the middle, more the last 1/4.)  My heroine is strong, with one crazy tough exterior, but her past has made her broken inside. Not perfect–no way.  She gets pissy, she acts sometimes before she thinks, and she hurts when she remembers what came before in her life.

Yeah, I like her.

There are some authors that I think can create some seriously wonderful broken characters. The first one that comes to mind?  Kresley Cole.  Wow–when I first read A HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER, I was blown away. Her hero–um, I don’t know if you can get more broken than that.  But he worked. He worked so well that I’ve re-read that book at least five times.

What about you?  Do you like “broken” characters?  And you have you read any good broken stories lately?

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Newsletter Winners

Posted in Romance on November 4th, 2008 by Cynthia Eden

A big THANK YOU to all of the folks who entered my newsletter contest! (What? You didn’t know I was running a newsletter contest in addition to my SIN A LITTLE contest? Ah, then you should sign up for my newsletter so you don’t miss out next time.)

The three winners are…Tiffany James, Kristi White, and Mary Lynch. Congratulations, ladies! I’ll be shooting you an email in just a few minutes so that you can claim your prize.

Again, thank you to everyone who entered this contest. And if you didn’t win, no worries–there are still plenty of chances to win in my SIN A LITTLE contest.

And, on a personal note…Happy birthday, Mom. Love you.

Now, I’m off to go vote!

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Booking It

Posted in Romance on November 3rd, 2008 by Cynthia Eden

Yep, I’m going to sneak this Booking It post in right before the deadline (um, that would be midnight since I like to post my Booking It items on Mondays).  As I write this post, the December issue of RT is right next to me…so many good books are coming out!

First up, Jeri Smith-Ready has a new book out. Actually, this is the last book in her Aspect of Crow trilogy, and it’s one I’ve been anticipating for quite a while. THE REAWAKENED is available now (though if you haven’t read the first two books, you should go snatch them up first!) and it is definitely on my buy-list.

Another book I’d like to read soon is WINTER KISSED. This one is a Nocturne, an anthology that features a story by Michele Hauf and one by Vivi Anna.   Winter themed paranormals–how cool.  🙂

Thinking about WINTER KISSED has reminded me…I’d love to read some more paranormal holiday stories. (I love a good Christmas paranormal!)  Years ago, I read A HOLIDAY OF LOVE (yep, holiday anthology) that included a paranormal story by Jill Barnett that–I’ll admit this without shame–made me cry.  It was such a great story. I think it may have been called “Daniel and the Angel.” True Barnett style. Funny, sweet, and, at the end, guaranteed to make the eyes water.

I want to find another Christmas story like that one!  Any recommendations?  Or, have you read that anthology, too? And what did you think?

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Vote!!! Pumpkin Face-Off 2008

Posted in Romance on October 30th, 2008 by Cynthia Eden

Update: So, according to Nick’s calculations (and taking MySpace votes into account)…we have a pumpkin tie.  🙂  Better than losing, I say!!  And, in case you were curious–pumpkin number one was mine (because I do love the scary) and Nick created pumpkin #2.

Okay, the carving is done. The guts are gone. The pumpkins…they wait.

We need some help picking a winner this year, so will you vote for the pumpkin you like the best?

Pumpkin #1

The same pumpkin, in darkness:

Time for pumpkin number 2:

Again, in darkness:

So, vote for the pumpkin you like the best.  🙂  Until the winner is determined, the husband will keep telling me that his pumpkin is better.

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The day before…

Posted in Romance on October 30th, 2008 by Cynthia Eden

Halloween is tomorrow! Ack!  I’m not ready! I’ve got to buy candy, carve pumpkins, have an annual carving contest face-off, and watch more scary movies!

This month passed way too fast for me. Sigh.  So now I can only imagine how quickly Christmas will zoom up on me. The good news? I’m making nice progress on my story.  🙂  I’m looking to finish the rough draft on this one in the next two weeks.  I’ve got an idea (okay, 2) for the next story(stories). One is in this series, about a demon bounty hunter.  The second?  Totally unrelated, but one I’ve wanted to write for some time now.  Luckily for me, 70 Days of Sweat is coming up, and,  I’ve decided I’ll definitely participate in that.  (I saw 70 Days mentioned on the lovely Lauren Dane’s blog yesterday and I knew Sven would be perfect to keep me motivated and focused during the holidays.)

And hey, don’t forget–I’ll launch my SIN A LITTLE contest on Saturday!  Check back for awesomely sexy prizes.

But for now…let’s talk scary movies.  Uh, huh–I’m in a scary frame of mind today.  I’ve been trying to think about the movie I think of as *the* scariest.  When I was a kid, Children of the Corn totally freaked me out.  Poltergeist made me afraid of both fuzzy TV channels and toy clowns.  And, as much as I LOVE my Friday the 13ths and Halloweens, well, they didn’t make me scared–they just kind of entertained in a very gory, slasher fest style.  The Ring didn’t scare me. When the chick crawled out of the TV, I was just kind of like, um, what?   Although, there was one Buffy episode, “Hush” that  creeped me out. Very good–I’d definitely recommend that one.

I don’t know–I’m having some trouble here.  If you’ve got a movie that absolutely scared you, to the extent you couldn’t sleep at night, will you tell me about it?

And, hey–later, I’ll post the carved pumpkins and you can vote for the best one.  The hubby and I love to battle our pumpkins!

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