Lunch with 10 Awesome People: The first response!

Mel and his late wife, Anne Bancroft

I just got the most awesome rejection letter from... *drum roll* ...Mel Brooks and his assistant, Shelby Van Vliet.

I'm thrilled that someone actually read my letter and I got a response. 

Poor Mel is too busy to write me personally, but he thanked me for my kind words and kinder invitation.

Mel! Take a vacation now and again!

Ten Awesome People: The Lunch Project with Kenneth Branagh

The third person on my Lunch Project is the ridiculously talented Kenneth Branagh.

I first saw him in his version of Henry V, released in 1989. I have always loved Shakespeare, but this version was something completely mind blowing! Fast, passionate, relentless - at no point did he let the weight of the "Shakespeare Mystique" drag down the pace. I have been a fan ever since (not rabid, because I'm not crazy that way).

I want to pick his writer and director brain. I'm fascinated with pace and brilliant characterization. I want to know what he's learned about storytelling in his years of work.

What is your favorite Kenneth Branagh work?

10 Awesome People: The Lunch Project with Mel Brooks

I sent my second letter in my Lunch Project to the awesome Mel Brooks!

Who wouldn't want to have a meal with this ground breaking comic? He references such crimes as the Inquisition, the Holocaust, race relations, and fraud with grace, flair, and incredible comedic timing.

I re-watched Blazing Saddles last month - my first time since I was in my early twenties. What a brilliant satire! And of course, he pokes fun at movies that take themselves too seriously.

Wish me good luck! I hope he accepts my invitation.

Lunch with 10 Awesome People

Here's my list of 10 Awesome People

1. President and First Lady Obama
2.  Kenneth Branagh, writer, actor, director, producer
3. Pam Grier, actress
4. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves
5. Gala Darling, blogger, Radical Self Love guru
6. Andy Serkis, actor, known for his motion capture work
7. Fran Walsh, co-writer and producer of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies
8. Robert Shaye, the founder of New Line Cinema
9. Mel Brooks, comedian, actor, director
10. Gloria Steinem, activist, feminist

Now that I've found addresses for them all, I need to figure out how to get to their various locales! And when! After all, it's not a real invitation to lunch if I don't include an actual date.

These awesome people range from LA to New Zealand to New York to London.  Looks like I have some fun traveling ahead. :)

Ah, scheduling. The hardest part of any endeavor.

Greetings from the Slush Pile

Every author has to cut scenes she loves from a book. Today we visit one cut from Dracula's Secret. I loved the sensuality and the ideas of traditional femininity. But it slowed down the plot to a snail's pace, so it had to go.

***

      Valerie examined the headless body in front of her. This might be the most difficult thing she had ever faced. She touched the pit of her neck, the rest of her petrified by the sight.

      The dressmaker’s dummy, dressed in exquisite sunset orange European silk and cream-colored lace, paralyzed her.

      Jane’s Vanity was a small, unassuming, and thoroughly intimidating lingerie store. The vampire took a hesitant step towards the door and clutched the door handle. Her vision wavered. Hundreds of years of habit held her outside the store. Valerie had never worn any sort of sexually attractive undergarments since she’d begun dressing as a woman. Her quest had kept her focused on the all-consuming goal. Her expensive outerwear had been an investment in camouflage and disguise. Honesty forced her to admit that she had bought her dragon-embroidered coat for pleasure.

      Now she had the chance to wear something for pleasure. A terrifying thought.

      Fearlessness, she reminded herself as she swung open the gleaming door. A little bell rang cheerily as she entered the tiny store. As Valerie stroked a Belgian lace parasol, a small drama unfolded before her.  A shy-looking Indian woman swung a pink silk gown off the rack and held it in front of herself. The color brought out the gleam of her thick black hair and brought a healthy warmth to her brown skin. She smoothed the fabric against her body as she looked in the mirror.

      Valerie licked her lips at the sound of skin on silk, heat building in her belly. Centuries as a man had given her a deep seated appreciation of women.

Want to read the real story of Dracula? Read Dracula's Secret!

Amazon , Barnes and Noble, Kobos

Courting the Chippendale's dancers.

Last week, I did something I'd wanted to do since I was in high school:

I saw the Chippendales show!!

Me and the boys. Aren't they wonderful sports?

 The venue was at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas. What a group of talented men - they can sing, they can dance, they can make taking off a pair of gloves incredibly sexy.

I asked their dance captain if  I could interview him. Of course, the Chippendales are an internationally renowned dance troupe, and I'm a romance writer, but I really want to know their opinions on a number of subjects. Here are the questions I came up with before (and after) the show.

1. Chippendales has been at the forefront of women's sexual liberation since 1979. How have the shows and the fantasies changed? What remains the same?

2. What three pieces of advice would you give to men to be more confident in their sexuality?

3. Quite frankly, the men of Chippendales know how to work in front of a camera. Can you share the secrets of how to pose??