I have to confess. I am a hopeful romantic. I believe that love can conquer all. Even an Aztec demi-goddess like the one that terrorizes the hero and heroine and assorted others in a Mexican jungle in AZTEC GOLD.

The AZTEC GOLD novella was influenced by a business trip that I took to Mexico several years ago. I was able to visit some Mexican pyramids and learned about how the indigenous people in that area lived. You can see some photos from my trip and also find out about my fear of heights, as well as my climb to the top of the pyramid, by visiting the Carina blog

I also was able to read up on the gods and goddesses of the Aztecs and their way of life. All of those things inspired me to write not only AZTEC GOLD, but THE FIFTH KINGDOM, a romantic suspense that comes out from Carina Press in July 2012.

But what was even more fun was including some of my favorite things and hopefully some of yours. A strong heroine, although Cynthia has a fear of adventure (kind of like my fear of heights). A very alpha action-adventure guy in Rafael, Cynthia’s ex-love who had gone missing in the jungle thanks to the actions of that bad ass Aztec demi-goddess.

And even though Cynthia and Rafe have their issues, and have to stay alive somehow in a creepy Mexican temple, love does conquer all.

Thanks for taking the time to drop by! I hope you all had a great Valentine’s Day.

We have a little bit of a surprise giveaway today since I was lucky enough to get some early copies of THE LOST, the next book in the SINS series which will be out in August.

Leave a comment and you could win a copy!

Amazing what you can find on the internet when you do a simple google search…

Tomorrow and Wednesday, I’ll have two guest bloggers, but on Thursday I’ll be back with some really bad photos of my trip to Memphis (my daughter took the pics). And I have two gifts I bought there to give away. So, I need to dream up a special Elvis contest…

But for now, Happy Valentines, everyone! I’d love to hear what others did for you or what you did for yourself to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

On Friday night, I ate Chinese food with the fam. Not my favorite cuisine. I like a lot of spice. However, it’s always fun to get to the end of the meal and open those crunchy shells to read the fortunes inside. This time, mine made me smile.

Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it.
Autograph your work with excellence.

How strange and appropriate was that? I’m not one to dwell on what’s not real. Yes, I did stand in the dark during that last eclipse at 2:00 AM, hoping to soak up a little magic. Yes, I have been known to do a “hand spell” when I can’t sleep because I’m waiting for something to happen. Heavens, I’ve even been known to talk to the air, hoping some entity is listening and will grant me solace or a wish. What I don’t do is put too much stock in anything other than my own strengths.

However, every now and then, I get those little wake up calls. Those little coincidences that surprise, amuse and make me wonder. I told you about the feral cat I met and befriended on the night of that lunar eclipse. The last time I did a hand spell, I got a contract with Berkley. My confidence has been a little shaken lately, but now, I have an answer from the ether. Autograph my work with excellence.

Today, I’m blogging at Access Romance about, what else? Vikings!
Join me if you can. I’d love the company.
Access Romance

“The biggest sin is sitting on your ass.” ~ Florynce Kennedy

I’m hoping she meant that figuratively or I’m screwed.

It’s the day after Snowmageddon. We got a paltry five inches. Not that five inches isn’t enough to halt all traffic (including school buses!). Yesterday, I had the hellion and her kids here because they were “bored”. Like I’m the entertainment? Little high-pitched voices screaming, “She hit me!”, “No-ny! No-ny!” (she can’t say Nina), and the sounds of things crashing to the floor, sent the muse into hiding. I should have unpacked the Pack ‘n’ Play and given them both boxing gloves.

Still, no excuses. Today, I will pay the price with double the pagecount to make up.

I’m sure what Florynce meant was that the greatest sin is doing nothing. Doing nothing when it’s time to speak. Doing nothing when it’s time to act.

Well, I’m acting now. Just on my ass. 😛

Yeah, disturbing, huh? But wait, if you look long enough you… No, never mind. I don’t know why that picture seemed to call to me today.

I’ve been back in my vamp world the past few days, writing a quickie for Moses Brown from the My Immortal Knight series. No bats there either. The story’s coming very naturally. It’s fun, it’s sexy. I’m hoping to get to scary, but sexy might be all that Moses has. Poor man’s been waiting a long, long time for his Happy Ever After.

Snowmageddon’s supposed to be happening right now. Forecast keeps saying 6-8 inches, and that’s surreal for this part of the state. I’m hoping we keep our power, because being cooped up due to bad roads is bad enough. Being cooped up without Internet or TV—with two little ones—well, just shoot me now.

Small Town Charm

By Nikki Duncan

Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.
Sometimes you want to go where no on knows your name.
Sometimes the “where” doesn’t matter as long as one particular person knows your name.

In the Whispering Cove anthology, that place is the same for all our characters. It’s the small town of Whispering Cove, Maine where a group of friends shared good times and bad before splitting up to build their individual lives.

A couple of our characters never left that small town where old men sit on a street corner gossiping, where the town doctor still makes house calls, where the waitresses know the favorites of all the customers, and where secrets are non-existent. Others escaped to the “big city” with zero, or limited, intentions of returning…until three scheming granddads use a high school reunion to get their runaways home.

A fun part of this anthology was seeing the transformations the different characters made. In WICKED, my heroine Danica left Whispering Cove as an awkward girl wrapped in shyness. With a desire to return to her roots and raise a family with the values she grew up with, she’s returned with her medical degree, bought the town practice and has gotten a new look that’s helped her build a new confidence. When the plans for the ten year reunion get started, she gets excited about the prospect of seeing old friends…especially her high school crush Braydon Mitchell.

Braydon never suffered low confidence or for a lack of female companionship, but he really thrived once he left town, bought a sailboat to travel and live on, and became a regular fixture in the water sporting world. Extremely comfortable in his bad-boy image with a strong penchant for no-strings relationships he’s returned home for the reunion and a visit with his favorite grandparents. The last thing he expected was finding a knock-out doctor with the shy girl he’d barely known in school wrapped inside, or that she would remind him of the adventures a small town offered.

Planning and writing about Whispering Cove reminded me of my youth and growing up in a small town. So, when you’re reading stories about small towns, what’s the appeal for you?

Chat with Nikki and be entered in a drawing to win a digital copy of her backlist (winner’s choice). WICKED is currently available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. And at Smashwords, it’s on sale 50% off until the 13th when you use this coupon code: SM42G.

Check out more about Nikki by visiting her website at www.NikkiDuncan.com. You can also find Nikki on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/NDuncanWriter.