Fall has to be the perfect time of the year.  The temperatures aren’t too hot or too cold.  The bugs are gone.  The explosion of colors on the changing trees is a feast for the eyes.  And then there’s the bountiful harvest of fall favorites like apples.  I always get carried away when I visit the pick-your-own-apples orchard.  On my kitchen floor, there’s a big bag of more apples than we can possibly eat before they start rotting.  Which, of course, means it’s a good excuse to bake.  Here’s a great apple pie recipe that’s quintessentially New England with its use of maple syrup as a sweetener. Enjoy!

New Feature…
If you like to add recipes to your personal cookbook, you might enjoy the new “recipe box” feature on my website. I’ve collected recipes for each of my books and placed them on cards you can download for your own use (well, actually, my webmistress did that J).

 ---------------

Writing News…
I’m between books right now. I just finished writing Sabriel’s story, Spirit of a Hunter, book 5 of the Seekers series for Harlequin Intrigue.  Writing it was tough, because it takes place mostly outside in the White Mountains and I’m no outdoorswoman.  I’m taking a short breather before tackling research for book 6, Noah’s story.  His story will take place in Seattle and deal with stalking.

As many of you have heard by now, Silhouette will cease publication of its Bombshell line in January 2007.  The books just didn’t find their readership.  And I truly believe this was a marketing error more than a reflection of the books’ content. Category romance readers expected more romance, and those wanting the kickass action/adventure that made Bombshells so unique wouldn’t think of looking for them in the bookstore’s category section.  I will definitely miss writing these action-packed, female-led stories, and it makes me sad to know that Detour will be the last of my Bombshells.

Here’s a peek at the cover for Pull of the Moon, my December release from Harlequin Intrigue.  It’s part of the new “He’s a Mystery” promotion. You can read an excerpt on my website, as well as an article on scams that was inspired by one of the characters’ variation on a Ponzi scheme.

---------------

Frequently Asked Questions…

Q:  Where do you get your ideas?

A:  The easy answer is everywhere. The truth is that it’s never one thing, but more of a collision of things that suddenly makes an aha! moment.  A few years ago, the local TV station ran a story about an old unsolved murder and that probably started the nugget of the idea for Pull of the Moon.  What if the child everyone assumed was dead wasn’t? A dd to that the many variations of the Anastasia story where women come forward, claiming to be the missing princess.  Then the snowball of questions starts—Who took her?  Where has she been all this time?  Why was she never found?  Why is she showing up after all this time?  What happened to her parents?  Who raised her?—and when it gets to the point where I have to know the answers, I start peeling away the layers of the people, their relationships and the suspense involved.

Letting the characters discover, as they journey through the story, that underneath the masks they wear for protection there’s someone worthy of being loved is the best part of writing (knowing the bad guy will always get his—unlike real life—is another plus).  And I hope that makes for a pleasant journey for the reader, too.

Q:  Why do you set your stories in small towns?

A:  I love small town life, so it makes it easier to make that landscape come alive in a story.  With its long history, New Hampshire is just ripe for ghosts and mysteries.  The rugged mountains and plentiful trees make a terrific background for a Gothic, especially in late fall after the peak of color, when the landscape can no longer hide its gray, hard and cold skeleton.  Along the various back roads with their granite walls, you can catch glimpses of huge Victorians that were once summer houses for the well to do.  When I was asked to make the hero for Pull of the Moon a “man of mystery,” this setting of an old house in a terrain that holds its secrets seemed a perfect reflection of Nick’s personality and the suspense surrounding him.  The setting should add another layer to the story, and for most of mine, the small town works best.

If you have a question you’d like answered, send it to me
and I’ll pick a couple of them to answer in the next newsletter.

---------------

Another great thing about fall—it’s really nice to curl up next to the fireplace on a cold night with a good book, a cup of tea and a piece of apple pie!

Keep reading!

Sylvie