All I Want For Christmas Is...

Woo-hoo! How's this for a stocking stuffer?

Get a Studs N' Spurs calendar at AllPosters.com - Mine's on its way! :)

Trick or Treat!

A special Halloween treat for you. Enjoy!

Josh Holloway, Hunk

Like a lot of romance novelists, some kind of visual inspiration really helps me along when it comes to creating my characters. Because of this, I spend a lot of time online searching for graphics, photos, videos, movies and music. I have dozens of photos on file and I'm always looking for more.

I had a really hard time finding a visual that was "just right" for my hero, Travis Santiago aka the notorious Santana in my historical western novel, Dangerous Desires. I'd been looking for months and months for someone to fit his profile.

Every now and then, I'd run across a photo of a model or an actor that I thought might work, but always there was something that just didn't click. So, you can imagine my joy when I ran across a YouTube video of the 38 year-old, 6' 1" hunk Josh Holloway, who's best known as the sexy, southern, bad-boy James "Sawyer"Ford in the ABC hit series LOST. I'm not a Lost fan, so I'd never heard of Josh Holloway. But when I saw him in the YouTube trailer, a light bulb went off. I'd finally found the visual inspiration I'd been looking for for all these months! He was a hunk, no doubt about it, but I didn't know anything about him. So, I decided to see what I could find.

I learned that Josh is quite popular. In 2006 he was voted the "HOTTEST HUNK ON TELEVISION" by In Touch Weekly magazine. In 2005 he was named one of People Magazine's 50 MOST BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE where he was listed along with superstars Brad Pitt, Angelina Jole, Orlando Bloom and Julia Robert. That's quite an accomplishment!

The former model was born in California but grew up in Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia, but after a year he left to pursue his modeling career. Eventually he ended up in Los Angeles where he landed a part in the comedy Doctor Benny. From there, he slowly began getting parts in well known TV series, such as CSI, Angel and Walker Texas Ranger.

He's been featured in magazines, such as Cosmopolitan, InStyle and Vanity Fair. He played a purse snatcher, along with Alicia Silverstone, in the 1994 Aerosmith video Cryin. This year, in addition to LOST, he will play Max Truemont in the upcoming supernatural thriller, Whisper , which is due to be released this November. AND he's the spokesperson for the mens fragrance COOL WATER by Davidoff. He's definitely got his plate full.

Impressive, huh? I'd say so. I'd say it's damn impressive.

For those of you who, like me, have never heard of Josh Holloway, I've listed a few links to some of his sites throughout this post. Also, for your viewing pleasure *grin*, below is the trailer I found on YouTube. It celebrates Josh Holloway's birthday and was put together by titacosta. I think he/she did a great job. I'm sure you'll think so, too.

Enjoy!

So, what inspires you when creating characters?

Sad News - Romance Novel Cover-Model Rob Ashton Passes Away

With great sadness I learned that Rob Ashton, well known romance novel cover-model, passed away Monday, August 26, 2007 from complications due to an extended illness.

This was very sad and unexpected news to many in the romance industry, and the news of Rob's death spread like wildfire within the romance writer and reader community. Notices were posted to online writers lists, websites and blogs and several Myspace bulletins broadcast the sad news with requests to re-post the bulletin, in an effort to spread the word and pay respects.

Not only was Rob a hunky romance novel cover model, in 1995 he was voted Romantic Times Mr. Romance. The title landed him a gig, among other things, along with model Linda Ryan, to pose for the cover of Janice Reams Hudson's 1996 novel, APACHE FLAME and his career took off. To many women's delight, the 6ft tall, black hair, hazel eyed, 197 lb hunk went on to grace many more romance novel covers. Some covers include:

You Belong to My Heart by Nan Ryan

Prince of Shadows by Susan Krinard

Captivated by Coleen Corbet

White Wind by Susan Edwards

The Pirate by Kate Hoffman

Lakota Dawn by Janelle Taylor

Apache Flame and Hawks Woman both by Janice Reams Hudson

Rob was also a dancer with the well-known and popular Chippendale's and traveled all over the world. Then, he entered the 1996 Mr. Romance contest and the rest, as they say, is history.

Rob was more than just a handsome face, he had other interests besides posing for photo shoots and romance novels. He was a website developer and helped create his own official website. He loved communicating with his fans and added a chat forum, so he could do just that. He liked motorcycles, and enjoyed riding with his father, who, says Rob, had a huge impact on his life.

He loved helping with charities and collected teddy bears, along with his long-time friend, Kelli Salkin (Romance Model, RT Convention and other romance related Web Designer), at the 2001 Romantic Times convention in Orlando for the Hugs with a Heart charity.

Rob completed a Real Estate course and received his Realtor's license. He was a personal physical fitness trainer and created the EUROPEAN NUTRITIONIST, an online training and certified Euro Nutrition program done via Live Cam.

He was a friendly, down to earth, modest man with a big heart that overflowed with love and kindness. To prove that, read the following quote by Rob. It was taken from the 2001 Romantic Times article, UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH ROB ASHTON:

I believe that destiny and free will actually coexist at the same time and that everything we do is part of our destiny. We are all here for a reason, and we repeat behaviors to learn from them and grow. I believe there's a lot more to this life than just what's seen, and as I grow, I find that my priorities have changed and that there are some truths that are as real as gravity, although unseen; there are laws of the universe that apply to us all. For example, what you put out comes back to you even more, so. On my site we're giving to several worthwhile causes-not because it's the thing to do, but because it's about real people caring, sharing, giving, and helping those who need it, and it returns in much greater amounts...that's what life is really about!

Rob was a talented model and he was a kind and generous man. My prayers are with his mother and his extended family. Rob will be sorely missed.

Godspeed, Rob.

*SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT*

Kelli set up a special message board which is linked from Rob's website, where you can post your goodbye's to Rob and your condolences to his family.

Kelli will be compiling posts from the message board for a special Romantic Times memorial commemorating Rob, so keep your eyes peeled and your ears open.

Click to visit Rob Ashton's Website and the Message Board

Visit Kelli's Web Design Myspace page

Visit the Rob Ashton Myspace Dedication page

James Purefoy, Hunk

I spent the better part of my morning today looking up information and photos for James Purefoy.

For those of you who don' t know who he is, I'd say he's best known (at least to me) for playing the part of Mark Antony in the HBO series Rome.

The more I searched for information on James, the more interested I became. I found that he played in a lot of films and theatre. More than I knew. He even played Edward Thane/Blackbeard in the 2005 BBC movie Blackbeard: Terror at Sea. I also discovered he's a true romantic. Read the quote from him below and you'll see what I mean...

In the July 4, 2001 Newswatch, Wild West End column:

"There was one woman whom I was absolutely infatuated with, but she had no interest in me. I was very young at the time and thought the way to prove my love was to write a book for her. It ran for pages and pages and I had it bound in leather to give to her. But it still didn't have the desired effect. I can't remember what the book was called or even what it was about. It doesn't matter now."

Be still my heart.

Poor baby. You can write a book for me anytime. You don't even have to get it bound. Hell, you can even use a piece of toilet paper, the back of a candy wrapper...I'm not picky.

Seriously, though. The first time I noticed James was in HBO's Rome. I'd never seen him in anything before that (or, at least I thought I didn't) until I went to one of his websites and realized he played Sir Thomas Colville The Black Prince of Wales with Heath Ledger in A Knights Tale. At the time, I had noticed James. What woman wouldn't? But he had a small part, and I hadn't seen him in anything else before that.

The reason I got on the James Purefoy kick in the first place is because the first thing I saw when I woke up this morning and turned on the television was his handsome face playing Reese Witherspoons hunky husband, Rawdan Crowley, in the movie Vanity Fair. I couldn't help but think, "God he's hot!" And oh boy, is he.

As soon as I figure out how to post additional pictures to this blog, I will upload more. His websites have tons of them, and I got a few really good ones. In the meantime, take a look at another one of his websites that I happened upon. This one has, IMHO, much better information and photos.

There's also a MySpace page for James, so, if you're into MySpace, pop on over and add him as a friend.