Even as I begin a new Amish series of squeaky-clean romances, the kind Beverly Lewis and Cindy Woodsmall have so successfully published, I delve into the secrets and temptations and human inclinations that my characters try to hide from God…the sides of our souls that scurry from the light. Envy, greed, murder, succumbing to temptation…we’re all in there! Our dark sides are never out of reach, really, and my characters in Willow Ridge will strive to admit and forgive these tendencies.

And then there’s the other me who writes erotic romances as Melissa MacNeal. Now that gives my pastor something to pray about! It also gives Christian and inspirational editors pause, and I’m fully aware they won’t buy my work because they feel anything sweet Charlotte writes about must surely be, well–tainted, by that other stuff I publish.

And I’m OK with that! I thank God every day that I’m such a diverse writer, and that this ability to write on both sides of the Dark line has kept me published over the long haul.
(And yes, I’ll eventually get to the Chocolate part I’m taunting you with visually!)

So even as I delve into the soul secrets my new Amish characters are dealing with, my November book, SEXUAL SECRETS, features Maria Palladino and the Darington twins…a 3-way romance they flaunt throughout most of the story, even though their decadence flies in the face of Victorian morality. Once this trio learns about Lady Darington’s dirty little secrets, however, the hero, Jason, decides he wants Maria all to himself and they’ll play it straight once they marry. I suspect that because they’ve given their “badness” a chance to play itself out, they’re ready to give “goodness” a chance…although poor Jude’s none to happy about it!

Is there common ground here? Something that reconciles the desire for redemption with our tendency to be wayward? I found it this morning! And rather than moralize or delve any further into the human condition, I’ll simply say: DARK CHOCOLATE. It’s all you really need to know about heavenly decadence–and here’s a recipe that would delight my Amish baking ladies while satisfying the SEXUAL HUNGER my Victorian lovers create! Devour a couple of these sinfully delicious dark-on-dark cookies and I’m guessing you’ll see the light (or you’ll just keep snarfing them and think “Hey–temptation! Is that a BAD thing?!”

DARK-ON-DARK COOKIES

1 ¼ C. butter or margarine, softened
2 C. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 C. flour
¾ C. Hershey Special Dark cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1 bag Hershey Special Dark chocolate chips.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter/margarine and sugar, then blend in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients and mix into the dough, adding the chocolate chips last. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased/parchment papered baking sheets and bake 8-9 minutes. Cookies will be soft and puffy. Allow to cool on the sheets about a minute, until they settle around the chips, and then cool on a rack. About 5 dozen.

Here’s pictorial proof that you can ply your writing trade in a stateroom: the new iPad and keyboard were awesome! Kept in touch via email, ripped up the sample chapters I’d stalled on to revamp them in a different POV, played a few games in the airport and listened to my iPod playlists. All with a gadget that slips into my purse. And now it’s a cool way to show off my trip pix, too!

Wow, what a trip we had on our Panama Canal cruise for 15 days! I’ve been keeping my tush in the chair writing proposals–and damn glad for the opportunity–ever since we got back, so this post will be brief and very pictorial! Just some highlights and observations about this voyage that took us in a huge circle: flew from St. Louis to sail from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Stopped in Montego Bay, Jamaica; Cartagena, Colombia; cruised the Canal for an entire day; Puntaneras, Costa Rica; and then Huatulco, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico before disembarking at San Francisco to fly home. A day at sea between each of those ports, with a balcony on our stateroom. Truly the trip of a lifetime!

Here’s the front end of our ship as we enter the Canal–and yes, that’s a freakin’ ROAD running in front of the first lock gates! How would you like to be the patient in that ambulance looking out the window?! The engineering of this lock and dam system has been in place for 100 years–so what happens to that road when it’s time for the ship to fully enter the lock? Each half retracts into the side walls! Oh–they stop the car traffic first!

And here’s the front end (helipad) of our ship when the lock wall’s about to swing open so ALL THAT WATER you see will float us up to the level required to get into the next lock. It’s a tight fit: we had about 6 feet forward and aft between us and those walls, and only 2 feet of leeway on each side.

A totally different vessel altogether: Neal and I rode a bamboo raft down a shallow, peaceful river in Montego Bay. Had a guy with a long pole guiding us around the rocks. He also rubbed soft river limestone into pumice and gave me a foot massage–that’s the white stuff you see on my feet, drying. Rinsed it off (and yeah, collected his tip!) when we got to the end point. Then we sampled piña coladas made with fresh pineapple, coconut they picked right there, and the local rum that makes everyone in Jamaica smile and say, “Yah, mon,” a lot.

Last but certainly not least, here’s the guy I really wanted to bring home with me! Our Indonesian table waiter at dinner, Hasrul (hoss-RULE), called me by name the second day, no matter where we saw him working at other meals. For 15 days he took my orders, brought fabulous food, made me laugh as he chatted in cute English, cleared away the dishes and all those pieces of silverware only he and God know the use for, and was kind enough to keep showing us the dessert teaser tray without any remarks about how we really didn’t need those calories! What a guy!

When you read this, I will be on board the Celebrity Infinity (not pictured here), enjoying the final few days of a 15-day Panama Canal cruise! Operative word here is enjoying, as I love to cruise. This is how we’re celebrating anniversary #35 (so, see? We deserve this trip!) and while I’m really psyched about the full transit of the Canal and the other ports/shore excursions, it’s the seven days at sea, interspersed between ports, I’m really looking forward to.

Now, what’s this trip have to do with writing? More than you might think! Each time I cruise, I decide on people or places on board I want to check out up-close-and-personal, and I’ve learned to take along a few copies of my books (yes, they check you out for security reasons, to validate that you’re an author and not a terrorist…I so resemble a terrorist!) and ask the appropriate director on board for escorts to these areas, with personal tours. My Aphrodisia book, All Night Long, is set aboard a ship, and I have upcoming titles that include onboard romances, so everything I do and see on these trips is fodder for stories.

On earlier trips, I’ve toured the hospitals, the jails, the morgues (an oversized fridge with drawers) the laundry, the room where the surveillance cams are monitored–and I’ve visited the quarters and bridge of every captain I’ve ever sailed with, at his personal invitation, after he learned an author was on his ship). It truly amazes me, how these buff foreign guys in white uniforms love to show you around if you just ASK!

This trip? I hope to talk with any full-time residents aboard the ship–yes, because it’s a fascinating thing to me, that real people really do live the cruise ship life full-time. But also because given the right conditions, I could live that life in a heartbeat! And, because an upcoming book features a hero who’s in charge of security/surveillance in a Vegas casino, I plan to go behind the scenes in the ship’s casino with someone on the security staff to see what they watch for, what their equipment looks like, and to drink in any anecdotes they might tell…and you KNOW they have some!

We’ll also have access to some fascinating classes–like learning to navigate by the stars, the way ancient mariners did. And tai chi, gotta take that one. And cooking and wine-tasting and maybe even a Rosetta Stone foreign language class.

But mostly I look forward to finding a deck chair in the shade, or on our room’s verandah, and losing myself in a good book. I do that so rarely anymore–and isn’t that a shame? And I’ll have my iPad along, with the keyboard, because I’ve started journaling on it! And I might start my next book–and I might not! And I’ll spend a lot of time gazing over the rail at the wake the ship makes because that swirling water and foam absolutely mesmerizes me…yeah, I’m a cheap date and I’m easily entertained! And I’ll totally enjoy ordering from menus with NO PRICES on them, and trying foods I don’t cook at home.

So, while you’re reading this I’ll be doing any of those things, above, or something even more fascinating than I can imagine right now. And I’ll be able to respond to any comments or questions you might have, via my iPad! So let me hear from you!

I’ve spent the last week staring into space a lot…hitting the pool nearly every day…cooking and baking like I haven’t enjoyed for weeks…actually READING A BOOK that is not my own! Playing music with lyrics–loudly! For all practical purposes, I haven’t written a word, except emails, for a week now.

I have NOT stopped writing! Matter of fact, I’ve only begun: my completed book last week took me to the end of contracts with all of my editors.

While one of them–I hope!–will want the second book in my Love Secret series, and my Aphrodisia editor–I hope!–will want another couple of books, neither guy is committing to anything until he finishes my current projects with him. My previous Dorchester editor, now at Kensington, is open to something totally NEW from me, and my agent tossed me a COOL series idea, so I’m conjuring…

(How do YOU concoct stories? Keep reading–I might have a book for you!)

Oh, it’s so tempting to just PLAY! And I’m doing that, from what any normal observer could tell…but then, we writers are sly! Who knew that crocheting could be a great way to get my mind out of gear enough to hatch plot premises as my fingers fly? Who knew that gazing raptly at the moving surface of the pool would show me a key image that feeds into this new series proposal?

And then there’s ripping up my stack of GQ and other magazines–and last night one of those guys in the ads made me suck air and say “OH MY GOD!” out loud as I gawked at his photo. Needless to say, the new series has its first hero now, once I figure out this hottie’s name and who he is. Collaging still works for me: that collection of provocative faces on my bulletin board, beside my computer desk, is often the prod I need to keep writing when I’m nor sure where the story’s going or why I thought it was so freakin’ wonderful when I proposed it! Those focused, intent faces belong to real people–at least in my head–and they get pretty relentless when I think I have nothing more to say about them.

Pretty soon the Tarot decks will come out and I’ll start noodling with character/situations. The images–the colors and facial expressions, and the way the people on the cards land…how they might be looking at each other, like they’ve got secrets…often triggers story for me.

Come Monday, the 8th, my agent is lunching with this editor to brainstorm this series idea, if she likes it. I think it’s especially auspicious that they’re doing this on my birthday! And meanwhile I’ll keep noodling…waiting for my agent’s report and reactions.

Care to share YOUR method for conjuring? It’s always fun to hear how other writers spin their webs from thin air and imagination! Tell me your favorite ways to make the magic happen, and if I tap you with my wand you can pick any book you see at CharlotteHubbard.com or MelissaMacNeal.com. And thanks for playing along!

Now…back to waving my wand…

How long since any of us watched the woods fill up with snow? I’m in Deep Deadline mode this week (polishing SEXUAL HUNGER, due out this fall!), but our snow last night had me gazing out the back window and playing with the color of the twilight sky, until I wrote “with the snowfall, our dusk shimmers like a pale blue pearl.” Hey, if Bob Frost can rhapsodize about snow, so can I!

Remember how you LOVED snow when you were a kid? My husband’s converting his family’s oooold slides on his scanner now, and this photo tickled us both. The drifted snowbank was probably two feet taller than he and his brother–I’m sure the boys were more excited about this than their dad was!–but aren’t we glad somebody got out the camera?

My Border collie, too, loves the snow. We play Frisbee in it (with 5 Frisbees!) We walk the loooong way around the neighborhood, to see what other dogs are out…to check our “peemail” in the snow piled at the end of driveways. Thanks to Ramona I get out of this chair and out for some air–good for us both! Saw a snowman this morning, and the branches for his arms were open wide in excitement! I was glad those kids got out to play last night!

And I love the sight of evergreens in their lacy nightgowns, and the way the snow coats the tops of bare tree branches like white frosting, and how the evening glows just from the light of snow on the ground. The world is hushed and muffled and less hurried…and just the sound of that makes me smile up at the moon, to watch the snowflakes drift down to my face.

Thanks for letting me share this! What’s YOUR take on the winter we’re having?

Create beauty—and share it.
Think sexier, live sexier.

Have you noticed that the second one gets a little harder as time goes by?! I’ve been married to the same guy for nearly 35 years now, so the habits have sorta piled up . . . while the assets have sorta dropped down. But it all starts in your head, right?

So I’m making a conscious effort to buy some new clothes, to (gasp!) shave my legs more often, and to be “in the mood” more readily. You’d think being the author of erotic novels would make that spark automatic, but you know what? Sex—and stories—all get pulled out of thin air. If you can dream it, you can achieve it, not? (Maybe I should put my current story collage, featuring Johnny Depp and Sean Penn, beside my bed . . . ya think?!)

The first goal, about creating beauty, came to me because I realized how many hobbies and activities I once enjoyed that have gone by the wayside—and how, while my husband has time to watch football, or play with his new scanner, or whatever, I always seem to be picking up the house. Or catching up on little writing business for my NINC office. Or answering emails. Or yeah, composing blog posts.

Where did that FUN time go? Why don’t I read for sheer pleasure anymore? I don’t even want to think about how long it’s been since I took a craft class or went to a movie!

Why is that? Where is my time going???

Since you’re reading this on your computer, you have my answer, don’t you?

I’m keeping it simple, but daily, this goal tending. I’ve simply decided to STOP the busy, have-to-do-it stuff by around 8 p.m.—to walk away from my office so I can devote those last couple of hours before bed to something I really LOVE to do.

I’m working on a wild, colorful afghan for a niece—creating beauty to share. Already have another pattern in mind for the next one, because working with color revives my spirit.

I spend an afternoon a week in the sound booth at the state library for the blind, recording my books—LOVE doing that, although it pays nothing. But I’m creating beauty to share.

I treated myself to a hardcover novel before Christmas, and gee, I’m reading it while it’s still on the bestseller list! Didn’t let it get lost in my TBR pile this time!

I took out two sweatshirts I bought long ago, plus that book on how to make appliqué jackets out of them, so I can create unique, beautiful tops from my stash of sewing scraps.

I WILL find a local class on glass fusion (after I meet my March 1 deadline) because I know I’d love to learn that new craft.

And I’ll keep trying new recipes and foods. And I insist on using my four colors of Fiesta ware for every meal—even when it’s just me eating a quick lunch before I get back to my manuscript. That’s beauty I share with me—and that counts!

Simple goals to liven up my life . . . and yeah, they get me off my butt and out of range of this computer. And we can only imagine how that might contribute to that second goal of living sexier, not?

It’s your turn now! Share YOUR goals here! Everyone who reads this can use a few new ideas. And meanwhile, I wish you your best year ever in 2010! May this be the start of a prosperous and productive new decade for all of us! God bless us every one!

Once again this year I’ve crammed my deep freeze with nearly 120 dozen yummy Christmas cookies! I send them to my agent and editors for gifts, I donate them to my church by the boxful, and I deliver cookie buckets to my sibs and family, and trays to my friends around town (including booksellers, my travel agent, etc.). Baking this many cookies takes time (and money!) but it’s my way of telling the people in my life that they are worth my best efforts…and maybe it’s a little ego boost when somebody asks, “You are bringing lots of your bourbon balls and turtles, right?”

Considering the stuff that’s flying around in the publishing world right now, I invite you to fill your home with the sweet, spicy aroma of this Williamsburg Gingerbread—a historical recipe I’ve baked for years. Immerse yourself rolling the dough and playing with your cookie cutters—great therapy!—and then enjoy the results! For a cookie with a neat secret, try the Hidden Chocolate Cookies, another of my faves because each contains an Andes mint!

And to top it off, I’ll give you my recipe for buttercream frosting! And I’ll wish you a Merry Christmas–or whatever holiday you celebrate—and see you here again in the New Year!

Williamsburg Gingerbread (7-8 doz.)

½ C. softened butter (no substitutes)
1 C. sugar
3 T. cinnamon, 1 tsp. ground cloves, 2 T. ground ginger,
1 T. lemon flavoring
¾ C. evaporated milk
5 C. flour
1 ½ T. baking powder
1 C. molasses

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the spices and milk. Alternately add the flour, powder, and molasses to make a thick, wet dough. Press into a large ball, wrap in wax paper or
plastic wrap and chill several hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll chunks of the dough on a well-floured
surface and cut with floured cutters. Be patient—the dough is moist and sticky. Bake about 8 minutes (I recommend using parchment paper, which can be reused for the entire batch of dough), until cookies are set, for a soft, chewy, totally awesome ginger cookie. Cool, decorate, and store with wax paper between each layer.

Hidden Chocolate Cookies (2 dozen…I triple the recipe)

½ C. sugar, ¼ C. brown sugar
¼ C. shortening (like Crisco)
¼ C. softened butter or margarine
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 2/3 C. flour
½ tsp. baking soda
24-30 Andes mints, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening, butter, vanilla and egg, and then add the dry ingredients. Shape 1 T. dough around each mint, sealing edges to form an oblong cookie. Again, I recommend using parchment paper on your baking sheet. Bake 2” apart, 7-8 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool. Spread frosting on tops of cookies and then dredge in sanding sugar, jimmies, etc.

Buttercream Frosting (frosts a layer cake or several batches of cookies)

½ C. shortening (like Crisco)
½ C. butter (no substitutes)
½ C. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon flavoring
1 2-lb. bag of powdered sugar

Measure shortening, butter, and liquids into mixer bowl and begin
to mix with about 2 C. of the sugar, working more in once you’re
past the splatter stage. Takes the whole bag of sugar to make thick
buttercream that holds its shape. Tint with paste or gel colors.
Freezes well.

It all started with the premise…what if identical twin sisters were dissatisfied with their husbands’ performance in bed, so they switched? Since historicals were my first love as a writer, I was tickled to set this story in Victorian London—partly because husband swapping would’ve been a little easier then, if not entirely . . . moral.

Ah, but in fiction, we sometimes overlook those little details, just as Colette and Camille quickly shove aside any qualms about their dirty little secret. Colette’s husband, Heath, is a man of, shall we say, larger-than-life proportion and stamina, while poor Camille is married to an old codger who, yes, saved her from a tawdry life in the Paris backstreets, but he’s full of himself and . . . limp. Rutledge also happens to be Heath’s father!

So imagine the little escapades in that mansion where these four Bentleys live, in separate wings. And figure in the ladies’ maids and the cook, who immediately realize what’s happened but keep their mouths shut.
And then mix in a dark, exotic stranger who comes to London on a devious mission . . . spies on the twins in their couturier shop, under the guise of having them design his fiancee’s wedding dress and a costume for an upcoming ball. Hadrian Swann and his beloved are not what they seem—and they’ve come to cash in on a Bentley secret that makes our twin heroines look downright angelic.

And Rubio Palladino, London’s most celebrated trance medium, sees the whole affair on another plane entirely! Rubio is an artsy sort who can’t go anywhere without making an entrance in his flashy clothes, and he’s also a continuing character in the companion piece to SEXUAL SECRETS, which I’m writing now! It’ll be called SEXUAL HUNGER, out next fall, and it features twin heroes!

Meanwhile, YOU have an opp to win a free copy of Camille and Colette’s story!

I’m a newbie on Facebook, so I’m looking for friends! Post a note on my wall about getting a copy of SEXUAL SECRETS—and send me a friend request! It’s yours, autographed! Not on Facebook? Be among the first three to email me from my website, asking for a book—that would be www.MelissaMacNeal.com.

Are we having fun yet?! Hope you enjoy my story as much as I enjoyed concocting it!

My feelings about NINC Goes Platinum last week? Totally awesome! And totally gratifying for the Board and Conference Coordinators: we remember a time when, if we didn’t have x-number of registrations, we couldn’t justify spending NINC funds on a conference no one wanted to attend. The economy seemed so bleak . . . many members were between contracts . . .

Until—Ta DAH!—we created that half-price stimulus package and set up a star-studded Forensics Day. Added in some midnight ghost tours for a little woo-woo by a full moon, and just kept packing in the programs. Who ever dreamed we’d need an overflow hotel? We attracted several new members and coaxed a lot of non-conference types to come out of their caves for the first time in YEARS.

And can you IMAGINE? I heard NOT ONE COMPLAINT about speakers, or our visiting editors and agents, or the relevance of our topics! The food got raves, and the Drury was so wonderful several members want to have another conference there! Never have I met a more cordial, efficient hotel staff, from the managers to the guys revamping our meeting rooms between sessions, to the gals who cleaned up after us at breakfast. Beautiful lobby with lots of tables and upholstered chairs for chatting. Three free drinks each evening, and popcorn in the lobby! Even the notoriously grumpy among us felt amazingly upbeat and recharged as we reconnected with longtime friends and made new ones.

Instead of telling us to “write the book of your heart” and that they’d “know it when they see it,” our publishing pros gave us informative, insightful views on the future of the book. How writers and houses would be affected once e-readers came down in price and the digital market finally took off like a shot.

The most interesting prediction? That this technological overturning of publishing as we know it will not REPLACE print books. Just as mass market paperbacks threw the hardback industry into a tizzy in the 1950’s, digital media is providing a new FORMAT option for our stories. The transition might feel like a rollercoaster ride these next couple of years, but it will also provide amazing OPPORTUNITIES for writers who choose a “write-your-own-adventure” mindset.

And gee, some of us even attended social networking
sessions on Facebook, Twitter and Squidoo–and came away thinking we could DO that! And still have time to write!

Maggie Osborn’s wonderful “history of NINC” got our Saturday night gala off to a humorous start. And after we recognized Harlequin’s 60th anniversary and enjoyed a fabulous buffet, publicist Scott Manning had us howling over anecdotes from his career.

Even the Annual Meeting was well attended…perhaps because our sealed envelopes promising a major gift enticed so many to show up. Karen King won our drawing for a free conference fee for next year, when we’ll be “Brainstorming on the Beach” at the TradeWinds Island Grand resort in St. Petersburg!! Mark your calendars for October 6-9th and plan to be INSPIRED, RENEWED, and RECONNECTED with your Inner Writer—and probably your Inner Kid, too!

And speaking of kids! Our Kritters for Kids drive was SO successful we needed three “little red wagons” plus a large flatbed cart to carry all our toys and books into the Children’s Hospital! What a heartwarming, hopeful place. Many thanks to all who donated!

And many thanks to all who made this NINC Goes Platinum event such a spectacular success!