I'll Take Romance...

In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share my five favorite things about the romance genre. Hope you enjoy!

5. Romance novels are hopeful. In a world swimming in cynicism, it's nice to lose myself in a dose of hope for a while.

4. They aren't all the same. Despite their reputation, there are as many different romance novels as there are happy couples in the world. Though the outcome is often similar, the journey is always as individual as the people (or characters) involved.

3. The characters! I love getting to know people like Sam Starrett, P.J Morgan, Tess Gannon, Ethan Crane, and the Bridgertons through the pages of a book. (Bonus points if you can identify the authors or books these characters are from.)

2. The settings. I can travel all over the world - and beyond - when I read a romance.

1. The stories. Whether it's contemporary, historical, paranormal, m/m, suspense, futuristic - there is a world of genres tucked inside the Romance label.

What's your favorite thing about romance? Let me know in the comments, and I'll choose one poster to win a Valentine's gift!

Holiday Traditions

So in a few minutes the kids and I are off to the big city to watch the Nutcracker. I think this is the fourth or fifth year we've gone, thanks to my wonderful in-laws. All the cousins will be there, excited to see the show.

Afterwards, we'll go get pictures taken with Santa (can't waste the opportunity, especially since they'll all be in nice clothes!), and have dinner before heading home.

Then, later this weekend, it's time to hunt for a Christmas tree. (The picture is of a local tree farm that provided the White House Christmas tree a few years back.)

Just a couple of events out of a busy holiday season, but we all look forward to them every year.

What's your favorite holiday tradition? Remember, every comment is entered for a chance to win Margaret Mallory's fabulous new book, Knight Of Pleasure!

Presenting - Nine Naughty Novelists!

Today is the official kick-off event for Nine Naughty Novelists, a new group blog and author collective I'm participating in. We've got some great party fun lined up, including some amazing prizes, so be sure to stop by our blog to say hi! I'll be posting on Thursday, but every weekday for the next nine days you'll get to meet one of the Naughty Novelists and learn a little about us. Here's a sneak peek for you:




And here's a link to our blog. So stop by and say howdy!

Forty Facts About Kate - The Final Countdown!

Wheeee! Today is a day to celebrate. Let me count the ways (because that's all this week has been about, doncha know - counting!):

*It's my birthday!
*I'm finishing the Forty Facts today, which was WAY more complicated than I anticipated.
*It's my birthday!
*The regular soccer season is OVER TODAY!
*It's my birthday!

I'll be celebrating by watching soccer. And then going to end of season soccer parties. And I wouldn't have it any other way!

But setting all that aside, here are the final ten facts to round out the week of useless Kate information here on Kate Davies Blogs!

10. I don't drink coffee. Hot chocolate and tea, yes, but not coffee.

9. I love the smell of coffee brewing, however.

8. I have a really hard time spending money on myself. I've worked hard this year to overcome that issue. :)

7. I tend to be a night owl. Unfortunately, my personal schedule does not play nicely with things like public school opening times, work meetings, and hungry children. It's a conundrum.

6. The best advice my mother gave me, the advice I'll pass down to my children, is: "Don't forget to clean the lint trap." Seriously.

5. I have been a beta reader/critique partner to five writers since I started writing romance. All five have had at least one book published with Samhain. I'm fairly certain I had nothing to do with that fact.

4. A few years ago, I won tickets to the Rolling Stones concert through a radio call-in contest. The concert just happened to be held on my birthday. That one will probably remain hard to top for a while.

3. I was once left "home alone" while visiting relatives as a child. They all left for an event and forgot to bring me along. It took over half an hour before I noticed there was nobody else around. I was, of course, reading at the time.

2. I am really looking forward to enjoying my forties. No angsting over the change of decade - at least, not yet. ;)

1. I AM SO GLAD TO BE DONE WITH THIS THEME! *tosses confetti*

Thanks to everyone who hung in there through this random salute to my 40th birthday. Remember, every comment (or RT on Twitter) earns you another entry into my birthday giveaway drawing. So comment early, comment often, and stop by tomorrow to learn who won!

Forty Facts About Kate - Day the Third

So.

Ten more things to tell, huh?

Okay, here we go...

20. I love buying makeup and skincare products during bonus giveaway times, even though I rarely use what I get.

19. The last musical I was in was A Chorus Line. I played the "don't dance!" girl, who gets kicked out of the audition five minutes into the show.

18. My favorite car colors were used in the late sixties/early seventies, those eye-popping shades with fabulous names. Go Mango, Panther Pink, SubLime, and my personal favorite, InViolet (aka Plum Crazy).

17. I love, love, love my iPhone. Love it.

16. I've always thought Romeo and Juliet is the worst Shakespearean play to teach to high school freshmen. Two teenagers who kill themselves because they can't date? Please. Why not A Midsummer Night's Dream? The rotating crushes in that play would fit high school perfectly.

15. I once discovered a significant error in a favorite cookbook. Unfortunately, that meant I ended up serving raw chicken cordon bleu. (The half an hour cooking time had been left off the recipe, leaving the dish with only five minutes pan-frying on each side.)

14. Here's a sneak peek at my newest venture: The Video. Bonus points if you can identify which pic is my avatar for the group!

13. I once spent hours researching why the widows in the play Riders to the Sea wore red petticoats over their heads. AND I STILL DON'T KNOW.

12. Favorite pizza - a tie between Hawaiian and BBQ chicken.

11. Twenty of my top 25 most played songs on iTunes were purchased after I discovered them on YouTube.

One day to go! See you back here Saturday with ten final facts - and the last chance to post a comment and be entered to win!

Happy Loving Day!

June 12, 1967, was a significant day in the United States. That's the day the Supreme Court decided in favor of Richard and Mildred Loving in the case brought against them by the state of Virginia.

Their "crime"? Living together in Virginia AFTER being married in Washington DC. Why was it a crime? Because they were an interracial couple, and that was illegal in the state of Virginia at the time. In fact, it was still illegal in 16 states in the union in 1967.

(Sidenote: Good lord! That's only two years before I was born. There were still states with anti-miscegenation laws on the books then?)

But on this day in 1967, the Supreme Court struck down the state laws against interracial marriage. And today, the 12th of June is designated Loving Day, in support of multicultural families, and to celebrate the couple whose struggle helped grant Americans the right to marry whomever they want, regardless of race or ethnicity.

We still have a ways to go, but it was a giant step forward, and I wanted to say thanks to the Lovings, who have to be the most appropriately-named defendants in a Supreme Court decision, ever.

(And in any case, a romantic like me couldn't pass up a chance to celebrate something called Loving Day.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

EEEEEEE!!!!!!

My apologies to all everyone on the west coast of the US tonight. If you happened to sustain hearing loss from my unbridled squealing, it was certainly unintentional.

But I just had to squeeee. One of my best buds, and a fabulous writer, called to tell me she'd sold her first book to Samhain!

Yay, M!

So, I can't tell you the name of the book or when it's coming out or even what name she'll be publishing under. At least not yet, until everything is nailed down. But I can tell you I've read the manuscript, and it totally rocks, and I'm just counting down the days until it's out.

Anyway, I'll be back in a day or so once I finish this latest book (only 6K left to go! Whew!), with more fun news (and hopefully more deets on the sale). Hope everyone had an excellent holiday season, and that you have fun stuff to look forward to this weekend!