B. J. Daniels: 
How do you raise bulls that can't be ridden? Horses that are gonna buck? And calves that can't be roped? That's the question I asked myself when I began researching raising rough stock for the rodeo. At a rodeo, the cowboy next to me commented on the quality of the rough stock and...that gave me an idea for my next book in my McCalls' Montana series.

The first book in that series, THE COWGIRL IN QUESTION, September 2004 introduces the McCall ranch family of Montana. Each book tells the story of  one of the wild McCall boys--the kind of cowboys fathers warn their daughters about--and the one all cowgirl McCall kid sister. There is trouble brewing in Antelope Flats, Montana and the McCalls are always right in the center of it.

Delores Fossen: 
For my upcoming Intrigue, SANTA ASSIGNMENT, to be released in November. 2004, I got to research stun guns. I had no idea there were so many different kinds. Also, because one of the characters in the book has acute lymphocytic leukemia, I researched the illness and bone marrow transplants. Unfortunately, I have a family member going through this so I had some firsthand information and a personal account.

Rita Herron: 
My August 2004 Intrigue, MIDNIGHT DISCLOSURES, is the sixth book in my Nighthawk Island series.   As far as research for the story and series, I’ve visited Savannah several times and have several books on the city. The Savannah Economic Authority actually has space on Skidaway Island that is being developed for research companies, and since my husband works in the medical research field, we were invited to tour it. This trip was the springboard for my idea for the series. With my husband’s expertise in the field, I do most of my research through him--yes, he’s a hotbed of ideas! I usually come up with the idea or premise and say, “How can I make this work?” Then he jumps in. It’s fabulous dinner conversation…

Linda O. Johnston: 
I currently have an Intrigue under consideration that I did some really fun research for.  Since part of it takes place in a fictional country along the Riviera, I just had to go and check it out for myself!

Mallory Kane: 
For my August release, BULLETPROOF BILLIONAIRE, the second book in the three book New Orleans Confidential series that debuted in July, I got to research my favorite place--New Orleans.  This time I needed to know just exactly how a native New Orleanian would eat crawfish, and how a person who'd never peeled a crawfish before would go about it. A tasty bit of research indeed! As it turns out, the scene I wrote was as much fun as the research, since my sexy hero Seth teases my heroine Adrienne by whispering instructions to her. For those of you who don't know how to peel and eat crawfish, it involves sucking and pinching--of the crawfish! 

Susan Kearney: 
For my November 2004 book, HIJACKED HONEYMOON, I researched what it would be like to crash in a helicopter in the middle of a national forest and then how to survive off the land. And for my December book PROTECTOR SOS, I spent time studying how to build a dirty bomb. Much of the book takes place on a sailboat. Luckily, I grew up sailing in Raritan Bay New Jersey and through parts of the Caribbean, so the terminology came easily and allowed me to focus on the setting, a private island off the coast of Maine, an area of the country that I'm not as familiar with.  But I always enjoy researching setting. Especially when it's so hot in Florida and I'm dreaming about cool weather.

Sylvie Kurtz:
For A ROSE AT MIDNIGHT, coming in January 2005, I fell back on my memories of what the winter carnival is like in Quebec City. There's such an air of excitement all over the city and I tried to convey that even within the spooky atmosphere of a gothic. For the book I'm working on now, EYE OF A HUNTER (2005), the third book in The Seekers series, I just came back from a visit to Maine where the heroine, Abrielle Holbrook, hides on a island for a short while.  It was fun to try to see things as Abbie would.  Visit my website, for an excerpt of the first two Seekers books and an update on upcoming books.

Dana Marton: 
For my current book, SECRET SOLDIER, January 2005 release, I had to research desert survival. I can name every poisonous snake that lives on the Arabian peninsula, know that if you dig 3 feet down in the sand it'll be 20-30 degrees cooler in the hole, and that you have to boil ants for six minutes to cook the poison out before you eat them. You just never know when some of this knowledge might come in handy! 

Julie Miller:
In my January 2005 Intrigue, PARTNER/PROTECTOR--the launch book for my Precinct mini-series--I had the opportunity to research a subject that has always fascinated me. Psychic phenomena. Specifically, I wanted to create a character who uses her psychic abilities to help solve crimes by "reading" a crime scene or piece of evidence to uncover leads in cases that have reached a dead end. I'm a huge fan of the SciFi, Discovery and History channels on cable TV, and have spent many hours watching specials--both documentary and fictitious--on psychic phenomena. My hubby has long studied such things, and what started out as an opportunity to sit down and spend some time with him triggered my own interest in ghosts, hauntings, psychic residue, protective crystals, etc. 

So, I confess, watching television is one way I do my research. I also did extensive reading in a Time/Life book, entitled PSYCHIC POWERS, which offered several real case studies of psychics helping solve crimes. Plus, I took a month-long online workshop led by a psychic through RWA's Kiss of Death (Mystery and Romantic Suspense Writers) chapter, and the presenter was terrific about answering questions as well as sharing well-organized, easy-to-understand, thorough information on many aspects of people with psychic abilities and how they use those gifts. My heroine evolved according to everything I learned, and intuitive Kelsey Ryan became a perfect foil for my logic-driven hero, Detective Merle Banning. Of course, since it's an Intrigue, the danger is high, the sexual tension is sizzling, the villain is a threat--and Kelsey and Merle work together (albeit reluctantly!) to save the day.

Tracy Montoya: 
My October 2005 release, the as-yet-untitled first book in my Mission: Family miniseries, is set in Los Angeles, where my brother Tom used to live. Tom is sort of like "Rain Man" when it comes to directions--he came to visit me in DC once and told ME how to drive to the monuments from National Airport even though he hadn't been to the city since he was ten. So every time I needed to describe a particular L.A. neighborhood, detail a brief driving route, etc., I'd just call Tom, and he'd give me a blow-by-blow of the streets and landmarks.

I also did a lot of reading about private investigators, since my hero is a P.I. I didn't need to research the heroine, a "crunchy" literature professor, since she shares my background somewhat--my degrees are in English lit. and I work for an environmental and social justice magazine!

Ann Voss Peterson: 
To research the story I have coming out in April of 2005, DESERT SONS, (written with Rebecca York and Patricia Rosemoor) I spent a glorious day hiking in the foothills of the Sangre de Christo mountains north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The scenery was incredibly beautiful, rough-hewn desert with a lush snow-capped mountain range backdrop. A wonderful, solitary, relaxing day--until I spotted what had to be the tracks of a mountain lion! Needless to say, I made much better time on my trip back to the lodge. And the experience gave me a first-hand understanding of the fear my characters feel in the story!

Kelsey Roberts: 
For CHASING SECRETS (April 2005), I actually met with and spoke to a couple of people involved (on the fringes, of course) with a militia movement.  This is a pretty huge departure from my safe, gated community.

Patricia Rosemoor: 
One of the things I said I would never do is write cops as my hero or heroine because there's just so much to know and I hate getting things wrong.  But somehow I found myself writing a Chicago detective heroine for VELVET ROPES (July 2004) and a federal agent heroine for ON THE LIST (August 2004). Luckily, I've developed relationships with four police officers--a former graduate student from my writing classes, his buddy who works for the Chicago Police Department, another writer/Chicago cop, who I expect will be published any time now, and a congenial cop at the zoo where I volunteer. So it took lots of emails and personal discussions to get not only the procedural facts for both books but "cop think"  just right. In addition, I use different Chicago neighborhoods for my Club Undercover books, and both of these used south side neighborhoods I didn't know, so my dh and I spent a couple of days driving and wandering around and having some great meals in those neighborhoods. I also rely on some great internet sites to fill in the little details I'm still missing. To me, researching for a story makes my work so much more fun.

Dani Sinclair: 
The most unusual research I've ever done on a book was to find out if a bull could fall in love with a cow. Somehow I found my way to a rancher's chat list and unbelievably, there was my exact question from a puzzled rancher. Several sources said yes, absolutely. The bull will service all the cows, but will always return to one specific cow when he's finished. Bovine romance. Who knew? So it was my hero and a bull to the rescue at the climactic scene. Fortunately, SECRET CINDERELLA, my February 2005 release didn't involve anything quite so challenging. For this book I attended a police-sponsored meeting on pickpockets and con artists. Ah, the glamorous life of a romance author.

Amanda Stevens: 
Joanna Wayne, B. J. Daniels, and I met for our yearly writer's retreat at a condo in a rather remote setting in Washington State. Taking a break from our brainstorming sessions, we hiked back into the woods for a ways. The scenery was breathtaking--we're talking mountains, waterfalls, fern grottos--but also a little unsettling, as if we were the only people around for miles. Stopping to admire a particularly treacherous-looking waterfall, we all began to get this sort of creepy feeling, as if suddenly we weren't alone anymore. It was a very strange and interesting experience, and back in our condo that night, we plotted THE MISTS OF FERNHAVEN, a ghost series for Intrigue which will be out in 2005. Needless to say, that waterfall plays a huge role in at least one of our books.

Joanna Wayne: 
Research for my latest book took me to one of the ancient above-ground cemeteries on the edge of the French Quarter in New Orleans, walking down dark French Quarter streets and night, and on a drive into the bayou country south of the city. The cemetery trip included a visit to the gravesite of legendary voodoo priestess, Marie LaVeau. Fascinating research indeed. The book is A FATHER'S DUTY, the third and concluding book of the New Orleans Confidential series. It hits the bookstore in September. But let me warn you, the story is as eerie as the research.

Rebecca York: 
The research for my next Intrigue--SPELLBOUND--was a blast. The book is set in the Louisiana bayou country, and I drew on recent trips I'd taken to the Crescent City and its surroundings to immerse myself in the evocative atmosphere of the area. My husband and I toured antebellum plantations and stayed at  two plantation houses near Lafayette. I used them as a model for Belle Vista, the home of my hero who is forced to live on the estate because he's under a voodoo curse. Of course, the Voodoo Museum in New Orleans was another one of my research stops. The only thing I missed was getting my fortune told, but I'll do that next time I'm in town.

SIGNING: Kelsey will be giving a workshop and signing books with the Authors of the Treasure Coast at the Blake Library in Stuart, Florida on August 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

HEATWAVE, the launch anthology for the Code Red series, is also still on the shelves. Joanna's contribution is the novella, "No Known Cure," a story of what happens when an ER doctor transmits a deadly virus to his own daughter. It is an emotional yet sensual story of romance and family drama.

Rebecca York was also the guest of honor at the Writers' Weekend in Seattle right before  RWA.  This created a hectic trip for Rebecca.  She gave a Keynote Speech and a talk on “Creating Suspense and Tension” in Seattle, then flew directly to Dallas where she and Laura Resnick gave a workshop at the PAN Retreat on “Selling the Book of Your Heart.”  Rebecca's talk was based on her writing and selling KILLING MOON, her first single title paranormal romantic suspense for Berkley.
 
 

• B. J. Daniels has an on-going contest on her website

• Susan Kearney is giving away an autographed copy of her May Harlequin Intrigue®, DEFENDING THE HEIRESS.  Enter here. 

 
• Mallory Kane has an on-going contest to win copies of her backlist Harlequin Intrigues®.  Click here to enter. 

 
• Delores Fossen will be giving away an autographed copy of her Intrigue, VEILED INTENTIONS. Enter here. 

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