It is a beautiful day here in Florida. Mid-80s with a light wind. The sky is a bit overcast so it is not as bright as one would expect on a spring day, but still nice.

And I am trying to write a winter holiday scene.

It’s tough to get in the holiday spirit when I’m wandering about in flip flops and shorts, but you gotta do what you gotta do. So I have been playing Christmas music (Hot Cop is not amused) and eyeballing one of the Christmas boxes in the garage, you know, to add to the festive feel. But it still feels very, very far away from Christmas.

A friend of mine in Colorado told me it’s been snowing this week where she is. I have been half tempted to hop on a plane and head her way just so I can breath in that crisp air and watch the flakes fall to the ground.

The situation reminds me of the story of howThe Christmas Song came about. It was a hot summer and Mel Torme and Bob Wells were in the studio together and Mel noticed a notepad with a few lines written on it. He asked Wells about them and Bob explained he was trying to “stay cool by thinking cool” and this had written down some things that made him think of winter and Christmas.

Apparently, this sparked something in Torme and the rest of the song was reportedly completed in under an hour.

Now, I don’t know if the same success will come about for my story as it did for The Christmas Song, but I like the idea of thinking cool to stay cool or, in this case, thinking festive to write festive.

Have you ever had to work on something completely out of season?

I am back in Deadline Mode, which also means I am honing my expert procrastination skills to avoid meeting said deadline (if my editor is reading this, it’s all a lie and I am diligently working at my keyboard. Really.)

It turns out that some of my fellow authors are also in Deadline Mode and we decided to make a little friendly competition of daily word counts. Suzanne Enoch, Emily March, Connie Brockway, and Barbara Freethy are all part of it and we post daily word counts, some smack talk and potential distractions (see Oreo thread.) For us as writers, it is a great way to motivate and challenge on another while hopefully keeping on track. For readers, it might be an entertaining glimpse of the silliness our brains turn into around this time.

So do you have a group of co-workers or colleagues that help keep you on track and motivated? Are you distracted by Oreos or parakeets?

I am rewriting one of my earlier books and I need a title for it. I thought “What better way to come up with a title than to ask my fabulous readers?”

So below are the suggestions I received from my Facebook page and we have voting up there, but for those of you NOT on Facebook, I thought I would also post this here to let you vote for your favorite as well! Leave your vote in the comments below (voting will close Thursday, December 20th!)

To help you out, here’s the story:

Our heroine, Moira MacDonald, is on a mission. Her beloved older brother, Malcolm, the heir to the family estate, has been abducted and is being held for ransom. Believing that the abduction is a ruse by her uncle to gain control of their estate, Moira is determined to find her brother and set him free before he is harmed. She believes he is being held in an isolated island in the icy north of Scotland, and the fastest way there is by ship, so off she goes to secure the help of Malcolm’s boyhood friend, Derrick MacLean, who gave Moira her fist kiss at the tender age of thirteen.

What do YOU think the book should be called?

THE PIRATE’S KISS

TO PLEASURE A PIRATE

PROMISE OF A PIRATE

THE SEA LAIRD

TO ENCHANT A PIRATE

TO LOVE A PIRATE

These last few weeks have been so filled with fun that I have been doing the happy dance!

First, I want to thank everyone who helped spread the word about the release of How to Capture a Countess! I am overwhelmed with all the statuses, tweets, reviews and likes everyone posted. Because of all of you, my wonderful and amazing readers, HtCaC hit #19 on the NYT best seller list!

SQUEEE!

Now, to officially announce the winners of my giveaway:

Michelle B was the Grand Prize winner of a $200 online bookstore gift card

Beverly G won the $100 bookstore gift card

and goodie packs of books and things go to Chelsea K, Kelly T and Kimberly R!!

Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU to all of you.