So in honor of my newly remodeled website and blog, I’ve
decided it’s time to run a contest. There are four ways to enter, and you can
enter each one once, for a total of four possible entries.

.. ..

Prize: A free download of your choice from my backlist AND a
free advance reading copy of my next book, Stone
and Fire.....

.. ..

Dates: From Tax Day, April 15, to April 30. I’ll draw a
winner at random from all the entries on May Day or Beltain, May 1.

.. ..

How to enter: Go to my website: www.cindyspencerpape.com and read
the excerpts. You’ll find the names of four books that feature dragon
characters. Make a note of those titles!

.. ..

Method 1: Website: go to the “contact Cindy page in my site
and use the form there to drop me a note. In that note, include 2 of the 4 titles.

.. ..

Method 2: Blog: Go to my blog (http://cindyspencerpape@blogspot.com)
and leave a comment on one of my posts. Mention the word “Beltaine.”

.. ..

Method 3: Become my friend on MySpace. (http://www.myspace.com/cindyspencerpape)
(If you already are, then thank you—you’re a step ahead on this one.) Then leave
a comment with a picture of a dragon. If you can’t do pictures, the word “dragon”
will do the trick.

.. ..

Method 4: Join my Newsletter Yahoo group. (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cspapenewsgroup/)
 I promise there will never be more than
1 email per month, and it’s usually more like once a quarter. But if you join
between now and April 30, you’ll automatically be entered. OR, if you’re
already a member, just reply to this message! 

.. ..

There. Simple and easy to get four chances to win!

.. ..

Good luck, and thanks for reading!

.. ..

Cindy

And on the Eighth Day of Romance,

My True Love gave to me...

Eight maids a-cleaning

(my house!)

Do you want to win some fantastic holiday reading? If so come celebrate the Twelve days of Romance with 12 authors from Ellora's Cave, Total-E-Bound, Cerridwen Press, and The Wild Rose Press. Each day beginning December 8th and running through December 19th one of the twelve authors will tell what their "True love gave to them" on either their blog or website. There will be three lucky winners.

The prizes:

1st prize--6 books
2nd prize--4 books
3rd prize--2 books
All books and prize winners will be drawn randomly.

Collect all twelve answers and e-mail them to anny@annycook.com with 12 days of Christmas in the subject line to win some great books.

Anny Cook                     Winter Hearts

Sandra Cox                    Boji Stones

Bronwyn Green              Ronan's Grail

Heather Hiestand          Cards Never Lie

Barbara Huffert             Deal of a Lifetime

Amarinda Jones             Mad About Mirabelle

Kelly Kirch                     Time for Love

Cindy Spencer Pape       The Cowboy's Christmas Bride

Brynn Paulin                  Fallen

Jacquéline Roth             Access Denied

KZ Snow                        Mrs. Claws

Lacey Thorn                  Earth Moves

I was at a wedding a little over a week or so ago and ran into a bunch of people I hadn't seen in a while. I've dabbled in so many careers over the years that they automatically ask me, "So, Cindy, what are you doing now?"

It still feels odd to say, "I'm a romance author."

After all, it's still new enough that the royalty checks aren't exactly paying the bills yet. My wonderful husband, however, has no such compunctions. I was utterly thrilled when he proudly told everyone exactly what I was now. He even gave my card with my website to a few folks I didn't know very well. In his mind, it's not a transition thing. I'm published. Therefore I'm an author. And aren't I lucky that he's willing to put up with a lean year or two to give me this chance?

Like most writers I have been known to experience those "what the heck am I doing?" moments. Like today when I realized I had signed up to blog and I sat wondering what on earth I had to say that anyone would want to read.  I'm getting—just beginning to, but getting—the idea that people are willing to pay a few bucks to read my stories. That idea still astounds me, and in a way I hope it always will. But my stories are about cowboys or dragons or ghosts. I'm just an ordinary person. Every time I'm on a loop chat I'm still amazed that the "real" authors are talking to me. And some of them, amazingly enough, have actually read my books and liked them. That still makes me giddy.

I think a bit of my doubt stems from the fact that up until now, my books have been coming out in a slow trickle. One last December, another this spring, Dragon in the System in June and Beltaine Bargain, in August.  Starting in October, though, things will be speeding up and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. From Then through March, it's a steady stream. Today just as if to bolster my flagging confidence, my mother-in-law emailed, asking me to send up four copies of Crazy for the Cowboy for her cleaning lady's book club. They've read the first book and can't wait for more.

Wow. I guess maybe I am a REAL author after all!

One thing I enjoy about living where I do (Michigan) is the change of seasons. Now, I'd be perfectly happy to make summer two months longer and winter two months shorter, but I do love the transitions—both spring and autumn. We're just now getting the first cool days, and as much as I love my summer uniform of shorts and flip-flops, I'm actually excited to be getting out a couple pairs of jeans and those cute ballet flats I bought last spring and haven't worn since.

Maybe it stems from having spent too long in the academic world, but I tend to think of fall, rather than spring, as a time for fresh starts and new adventures. That crisp chill in the air makes me want to go for long walks after the lazy heat of summer.  I stock up on notebooks and pens right alongside my kids. (Being a writer is a great excuse for buying office supplies!)

So now I'm hoping that the change of seasons works its magic on my writing. The end of summer was a real slow patch for me, between vacations, viruses and having the kids overrun the house. Now that the routine is back in place, I'm hoping the crisp autumn breezes bring a new breath of inspiration. And maybe a swift kick in the pants.

I'm everywhere this week! Welcome to Cindy's mini-tour!

Two new interviews posted, both on blogs by fellow authors. So if you get the chance to go check these out, I'd appreciate it. I know both Anny and Amarinda love comments, and I'll be checking back, too.  I've also made/will be making several on-line appearances:

Monday I made an appearance at Anny Cook's blog: http://annycook.blogspot.com/2007/07/dragon-in-system-by-cindy-spencer-pape.html. She posted a lovely review for Dragon in the System and a fun interview. A new review also popped up at Coffee Time Romance:

http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/Dragoninthesystem.html I particularly liked the "even if paranormal is not your thing…" line!  Finally, Monday I was also at Romance Excerpts Only all day…you can go back and read gobs of excerpts from me and some friends if you missed it: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romanceexcerptsonly

Today is the newest interview at Amarinda Jones: http://amarindajones.blogspot.com/ She likes to call me Dragon Lady for some strange reason. ;) Scroll down to last week to see her review for Dragon!

Thursday…hmm you'll have to hunt that day—kid has an orthodontist appointment and I want to stop at ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Michigan State's Agriculture Expo while I'm in Lansing and look at the pretty draft horses. Something about those humongous critters really makes me smile. Maybe because they're the descendants of medieval war horses? But I usually try to stop in at Cerridwen Chat (or Cerridwenches) sometime during the day: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cerridwenchat and The Wild Rose Press: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheWildRosePress.

Friday I'll be at the CoffeeTime Romance Loop http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karenfindoutaboutnewbooks  from 11 am to 1 pm EDT. AND it's my day to blog at Goddesses of Storytelling: http://goddessesofstorytelling.blogspot.com/ Whew!

And of course, all month long I'm a featured author at The Romance Studio: http://www.theromancestudio.com/who2.php

So please stop by and say hello at one or more of these. And if you happen to bring Diet Coke, well…

I was recently challenged by fellow author Anny Cook to answer the following questions, first as myself, then as a character from one of my books: so here you go…

As author Cindy Spencer Pape:

1)  IF SOMEONE OFFERED YOU A CHANCE AT A THING YOU MOST WANTED BUT YOU COULD NEVER TELL ANYONE ABOUT IT, WOULD YOU TAKE IT?:Arrggg!  I'd like to think I could manage that...but I'm not really sure I could. 

2)  DO YOU DWELL ON MISTAKES OR MOVE ON? Dwell. And dwell. And dwell…but only if they're my own. Other people's mistakes I take in stride.

3)  WHAT TRADITIONS DO YOU FOLLOW?: Tons at the holidays, not so much, otherwise.

4)  DO YOU RESPECT GENIUS? Yup.

5)  DO YOU PREFER CHEMISTRY OR PHILOSOPHY? Much better at chemistry, but philosophy is probably more intriguing.

6)  DO YOU SHOP FOR CLOTHES? Doesn't everyone? (Batting eyelashes)

7)  DO PEOPLE KNOW THE REAL YOU? Some do. I'm pretty much a you-get-what-you-see kind of person.

8)  DO YOU FLIRT? Now and then, but just for fun.

As Author (and werewolf) Jonas Pierce from CURSES

1)  IF SOMEONE OFFERED YOU A CHANCE AT A THING YOU MOST WANTED BUT YOU COULD NEVER TELL ANYONE ABOUT IT, WOULD YOU TAKE IT? Hell, yes!

2)  DO YOU DWELL ON MISTAKES OR MOVE ON? You get over it. You move on. What else can you do?

3)  WHAT TRADITIONS DO YOU FOLLOW? The closest I get to tradition is wearing button-fly jeans.

4)  DO YOU RESPECT GENIUS? On the rare occasions I encounter it.

5)  DO YOU PREFER CHEMISTRY OR PHILOSOPHY? What the heck kind of question is that? Should I ponder it for a while? Or just douse it with sulfuric acid?

6)  DO YOU SHOP FOR CLOTHES? I'm wearing them aren't I? So I must go to the store and get them. But I don't consider it a sport.

7)  DO PEOPLE KNOW THE REAL YOU? God NO!

8)  DO YOU FLIRT? Not with intent.

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a workshop given by Debra Dixon, author of the book, Goal, Motivation, and Conflict, which has become pretty much the backbone of popular fiction writing.  After flight delays and other fun and games, she did condensed versions of her three major presentations, "Goal, Motivation, and Conflict," "The Big Black Moment," and "The Hero's Journey." My expectations for the workshop were moderate.  I'm already familiar with the concepts of GMC and black moment, but I'd heard she was an excellent speaker, and I believe you can always learn something new.  That is exactly what I came away with from the first two portions—bits and pieces of new ideas to use here and there in the writing process.  Deb is an informative and entertaining presenter, and the material is great, but I'm a little too much of a seat of the pants writer to use charts and such to plot out my book.  No single process works for every writer, (which she was quick to point out herself, to her credit) and that just doesn't work for me.  I can however see myself going back and using the ideas she presented to rework problem areas or to unstick myself when I'm caught in a dead spot.  So by lunchtime on Saturday, I considered my money and time well spent. 

I didn't have fabulous expectations for "The Hero's Journey."  After all, I've known since grade school that for a story to be a story, the protagonist has to change.  So I waited, not with baited breath, but with pleasant anticipation for her to begin.  And then all my expectations fell away.

This wasn't a 'how to write a romance' talk—not really.  It was a 'what is a story talk'.  And again, to her credit, she did not claim the original ideas and material as her own. She began by citing the academic papers she's based her workshop upon. The workshop points out that in nearly every culture, stories and myths have twelve essential elements.  And that the function of myths in society is to provide hope.  They give the listener or reader a hope that there is life after death, a hope that good conquers evil, a hope that extraordinary effort brings extraordinary rewards.  In our society, popular fiction has that place.  People read fiction for hope—whether it is about love winning in the end, the cops catching the bad guy, or the little hobbit saving Middle Earth.

A good story must engage the reader mentally, emotionally, and on an instinctive level, just like an enduring myth.  We want to see our characters put through their paces before they get the reward at the end, and we want to watch the characters grow and evolve.  A good story takes the characters out of their comfort zone and forces them to change, but also shows them how to change and why they should.  Finally, that journey should be both inward and outward.  Ms. Dixon's workshop goes on to explain a great many more facets of an enduring story, but I'll let you discover the rest of this material for yourself.  Read her books, or take her class if you get the chance.  I highly recommend them.

Romance has a universal appeal, because a fundamental facet of human nature is the desire to find the perfect companion(s) with whom to share our lives.  We are not a species designed to live alone in an emotional sense.  But when we read about love and romance, we don't want to just see "Bob met Sue and they fell in love and lived happily ever after." We want our characters to work for it, fight for it, and be willing to sacrifice for it.  Because when all is said and done, we still need hope, so we still need our heroes/heroines.  And we still want to watch them earn their happily-ever-after.

Well, March brings the release of TWO new e-books:  Curses a paranormal set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, coming from Triskelion Publishing, and Crazy for the Cowboy a sort-of paranormal western, available from The Wild Rose Press.  To celebrate this doubly delicious month (and my birthday!) I'm giving away a gift box of absolutely decadent Mackinac Island fudge from Ryba's, the most famous fudge source on the island.  There are 4--count 'em--4 ways to enter!

1. Be my friend, and leave a comment on my MySpace page with the words "March Contest" in it, and the title and publisher of either of my March books.

2. Visit my website, www.cindyspencerpape.com, and send me a note off the "Contact Cindy" page, also including the phrase "March Contest"

3. Join my Yahoo newsgroup and send me a reply to any of my March posts off of that  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cspapenewsgroup/?yguid=287008033

4. Join me in any of the numerous chats I have scheduled, and ENTER any of the mini-contests I run on those.  All entries will automatically go in the big drawing on April 7th.  Chats scheduled right now include:

Romance At Heart: Live Chat Monday, March 12, at 8 pm (EST) www.romanceatheart.com

The Romance Studio: Live Chat Thurs. March 15, at 9 pm (EST)  www.theromancestudio.com

All Day Beach Bash (with fellow author Mary Martinez) at Fallen Angels Chatters: on Thurs. April 5: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FallenAngelReviewChatters/

I'm planning on picking up some others, probably at least one on the Triskelion fever loop, and one on the Wild Rose Press loop. Stay tuned for more information!