LOVERS ROCK WEEK (Day 3): Hosted by Chris Marie Green

UPDATE: The winner of THE PATH OF RAZORS by Chris Marie Green is Mariska. Please email your physical addy to contests(AT)knightagency.net.

How many of you out there wanted to be Princess Leia?

Was it because of her butt-kickin’ attitude? Because she got to swashbuckle-swing across a Death Star chasm with Luke Skywalker? Or perhaps you spent hours in front of the mirror trying to get your hair in those buns?

Nah. It was totally because she ended up with Han Solo, wasn’t it?

And that’s why I’m dedicating this Valentine’s Blog to a couple whom I consider to be one of the most romantic in existence—Han Solo and the Princess.

They had a rough start. She yelled at him a lot. She called his co-pilot a walking carpet. She even insulted Han’s spaceship (and you just don’t do that to a man). She blew a hole in the Death Star cellblock corridor just inches away from his goodies and told him to hop into the garbage chute.

And he damn if he didn’t like every minute of it.

Yeah, she shared a gross little kiss with Luke before she knew he was her brother. (Thank you, Star Wars, for warping my childhood with this and Luke’s sliced-off, castrated hand. But that would be a different blog entry.) Heck, I even started off adoring Luke Skywalker, too, with his non-threatening surfer dude amble and golly-willickers outlook, before The Empire Strikes Back came out and something went “twing” in my body. We all go from boys to more dangerous men at some point in our lives, and although I suspect Leia never did hold any lust for the Skywalker, she’s no different.

Like us, she couldn’t say no to the sparks—the scoundrel grin and low-riding holster.

I guess I love Han and Leia because, when she dished it out to him, it was because she didn’t know how the heck to deal with her feelings. When he gave it right back, it was because he wanted to get her to admit to her emotions. It was a game to him at first, and he didn’t even know what to do when he was confronted with how he felt about her. When she blurted out her love to him while he sank into the carbonite pit in Cloud City, all he could do was be a smart ass. (Oh, those immortal words of affection: “I love you.” “I know.”)


But no matter how many barbs were traded, you always knew that they had unflinching respect for each other, and that only grew scene by scene. Why else would Leia have been so disappointed in Han when he left the rebel base to take his bounty money to Jabba the Hutt just before the big Death Star attack? She knew he’d be an asset. (She also thought he was unbearably hot, but that’s beside the point I’m trying to make here.)

Their relationship is certainly a model for a lot of stories that we read, watch, and love today—especially in paranormals and action-adventure. Look at how Buffy and Angel worked together, wiping floors with vamp blood. Vaughn and Sydney put the bad guys away on ALIAS as they spied their way around the globe. These characters weren’t just in love—they were partners in every way, solving problems, saving the world, knowing that when the chips are down, both were capable of taking up each others’ backs.

Also, the heroes always seem to depend upon the heroines in a way that goes beyond warming the bed or heart. The heroes will send the heroines on the most dangerous of missions because they’re as good as any man, although the heroines always give the heroes more than any mere war buddy. My own urban fantasies definitely have that “Han and the Princess” dynamic, too. From Camille and Sarg in my first vampire book, The Huntress, to Dawn and The Voice in my Vampire Babylon series, there are many I-love-you-I-know beats.

May the Force be with you on this Valentine’s Day! Oh, and if you’d also like to spend some time with a giveaway, I’ll send a signed copy of THE PATH OF RAZORS, Vampire Babylon, Book Five, to one person who leaves a comment here. The winner will be randomly drawn and announced tomorrow afternoon.

Chris writes urban fantasy as Chris Marie Green and romance as Crystal Green.

BREAK OF DAWN, Book Three in her Vampire Babylon series, has just been reissued in mass market format and book six, DEEP IN THE WOODS, is hitting shelves March 2. To learn more, you can go a number of places—www.crystal-green.com, www.vampirebabylon.com, Chris’s blog, Facebook or Twitter at http://twitter.com/ChrisMarieGreen.

Guest Blogger Louisa Edwards Steams Up the Kitchen!

UPDATE: The winner of Louisa's A RECIPE FOR LOVE cookbook giveaway is fleur! Please email your physical addy to contests @ knightagency.net (remove spaces). Thank you to everyone who participated :)!!!

Hi, Everyone! It's so nice to be hear at the Knight Agency blog. Thank you for having me as a guest!

I was raised in the South, where it's considered bad manners to show up at someone's house empty-handed, and since CAN'T STAND THE HEAT is all about fabulous food, I've brought a recipe for you all! We're going to make lamb hash. I don't know about where you live, but up here in northern Ohio where I am now, it's already getting chilly. This old-fashioned hash is a perfect early fall dinner--hearty enough to be comforting on a cold day, but not so heavy that you feel like hibernating after!

The concept of a hash was originally intended as a delicious way of repurposing leftovers. In this case, the original recipe calls for 3 cups of cooked lamb, chopped. With just my husband and me, I don't often find myself roasting a leg of lamb and needing to deal with the surplus. However, I love hash so much that I think it's an end in and of itself, so I adapted the recipe for ground lamb, which is readily available at a lot of grocery stores.

Lamb Hash (Adapted from THE NEW YORK TIMES COOKBOOK by Craig Claiborne)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter

1 large onion, minced

2 tbsp chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley

2 slices bacon, cooked till crisp, then cooled and chopped

1 1/2 lbs ground lamb

1 cup canned beef broth

1/2 canned tomato sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup heavy cream, approximately

2 tbsp finely grated sharp cheese, like Parmesan or Gruyere

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Heat a large, heavy skillet (one that has a lid and is safe for both stovetop and oven) over medium high heat until the pan is almost smoking, then add the ground lamb. Stir the lamb with a wooden spoon to break it up, add salt and pepper to taste, then cook until all pink is gone. You'll get better color and caramelization if you don't stir the lamb too much, and if your skillet is large enough to give the meat plenty of room to sear rather than steam.

Remove the lamb from the pan and drain on paper towels. Allow to cool.

Wipe out the skillet and return to stovetop. Add the butter and melt over medium heat until the foam has subsided. Then add the minced onion, garlic, and chopped bacon. Stir it around to coat everything in the melted butter, then add the lamb, beef broth, and tomato sauce. Salt and pepper the whole thing, cover the skillet, and bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasoning.

*The recipe can be completed up to 1 day ahead of time up to this point, then the hash can be brought to room temperature and then refrigerated. To reheat, bring the hash back up to room temperature and preheat the broiler before continuing.*

Lightly butter 6-8 ramekins (depending on their size) and portion the cooked hash into them. Cover each portion with a tablespoon of cream and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Brown under a preheated broiler.

Served with a simple green salad and a good vinaigrette, this hash makes a lovely lunch or light supper. And the individual portions make it attractive enough to serve to guests. We drank an Oregon Pinot Noir with it, which was delicious.

Enjoy! You'll find more recipes like this in the back of my debut book, CAN'T STAND THE HEAT, and at my website, www.louisaedwards.com, where you'll also find excerpts, deleted scenes, and a free short story! Come visit me anytime.

Bon appétit,

Louisa Edwards

LOUISA'S COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY!!!: To win a cookbook filled with Louisa's scrumptious recipes, along with those of some of today's top chefs, leave your name in the comments section. This special contest will be open all weekend! The winner will be announced Tuesday morning, September 8th.

Guest Blogger Jessica Andersen: Who Scares You?

UPDATE: The winner of SKYKEEPERS by Jessica Andersen is maered! Congrats! Please email your physical addy to contests @ knightagency.net (remove spaces from email addy). Thanks for hanging out with us Jessica! Fab post! And thanks to everyone who participated. BTW, we have another great guest blog and giveaway planned for next week with a wonderful new mystery writer -- so stay tuned!

Hello, and thanks to the awesome Knight Agency for inviting me to visit and talk about SKYKEEPERS: A NOVEL OF THE FINAL PROPHECY!

One randomly selected commenter will win a signed copy of NIGHTKEEPERS or DAWNKEEPERS, which are the first two books in this sexy series of paranormal thrillers. And, of course, SKYKEEPERS is in a bookstore near you!

Here’s the blurb:

Ancient prophecy holds that 12/21/2012 will bring a global cataclysm. Mankind’s only hope lies with the Nightkeepers, modern magic-wielding warriors who must find their destined mates and fulfill the legends to defeat the rise of terrible Mayan demons in the last few years leading up to 2012.

In SKYKEEPERS, Michael Stone is a man with a dark secret that has skewed his magical abilities dangerously toward the underworld. Seeking redemption, he sets out on a perilous mission to save the daughter of Ambrose Ledbetter, a renowned Mayanist who died before he could reveal the location of a hidden library. The Nightkeepers must find the library before their enemies gain access to its valuable cache of spells and prophecies.

Sasha Ledbetter grew up hearing heroic tales of an ancient group of powerful magi who were destined to save the world from destruction. She never expected that her bedtime stories would come to life in the form of Nightkeeper Michael Stone, or that she’d hold the key to the warrior’s survival. As Sasha and Michael join forces to prevent the imminent battle, sparks of attraction ignite between them, and they’re forced to confront the unexpected passion that brings them together … and also tears them apart.

This series (and particularly this book) often looks at what makes people afraid. In the largest sense, the overall arc is about the fear of death and endings: The Nightkeepers are fighting to keep the world from ending, and to keep themselves (and future generations) alive. But more, it’s about the fear of failure: The Nightkeepers’ parents sacrificed themselves in an effort to short-circuit the 12/21/2012 countdown, but it continued and their children grew up orphans, in many cases not realizing their true natures. Now reunited, the modern magi are struggling to find their footing amidst new magic, ancient prophecies, and things that go bump in the night.

Within each story, the hero and heroine must deal with more personal fears. In SKYKEEPERS, Michael fears the loss of control—of his temper, his soul, the situation around him … and his heart. Likewise, Sasha fears change, growth, and learning the truth about her father and herself.

I think we can all relate to these fears, some of which might reflect back on our own lives. The concept of a relatable fear is in part what makes us (as readers) connect with a story, even if it’s about something that might not be part of our daily lives, such as Mayan magi, or vampires, or aliens … The world of the story might interest us, but without a relatable character, it’s just a world. It’s the characters that help us connect.

Beyond the ‘big picture’ stuff, smaller fears can become important details that help bring characters to life. In the fourth book in this series (DEMONKEEPERS, April ’10), the hero is recovering from a demonic possession that kept him trapped inside his own skull for nearly a year. As such, he emerges badly claustrophobic, to the point that he avoids his own couch because its soft, enfolding cushions and high arms make him feel trapped.

Most often, these small details about a character emerge as I’m writing the story. Sometimes I don’t even know why someone has a certain phobia at first, only to see it later and think, “Duh. Of course!” But by the same token, (as a writer) don’t be afraid to think about your characters’ phobias and use them as quirks, or clues into that person’s backstory. As part of this, I’ve always thought that it’s interesting to look at the wide variety of phobias out there, and think about where they might stem from, and what interesting behaviors those fears might create.

Me? I’m afraid of spiders … specifically, of big brown spiders crawling into my ears (this stems from a baaad incident with a pair of earmuffs). I’m also not a big fan of heights or bridges.

So tell me … what small, strange thing scares you (or one of your characters) and if you’re willing to share … why???

Remember, all commenters are entered to win! The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon. For more info on Skykeepers and the rest of the Keepers books, check out www.JessicaAndersen.com.

And the Winner Is...

Congrats to Crystalgb!


She is the winner of the Jessica Andersen & J.R. Ward Book Giveaway and will receive a copy of NIGHTKEEPERS and LOVER ENSHRINED.

Thank you to everyone who participated.