The Moving Blog!

Yep, you're wondering where we all disappeared to, right? Well, to simplify our lives, we've combined our blog with our official website. Check us out! www.intrigueauthors.com

BEA Interview About Fear with Susan Kearney

Let's talk Bond, baby. James Bond.

If you’ve been working too hard this summer, you need to take a break and go rent Casino Royale, the latest James Bond movie. Have you seen it? I resisted for a long time because I wasn't sure about the new guy. I wanted to see Clive Owen in the role and my second choice would have been Hugh Jackman. And, too, the last few Bond movies have been so bad that I completely lost interest in the franchise.

Now that I’ve had a chance to see the new Bond in action, here’s my take...Clive, who? Hugh Jack-what?

I’ll just say it. Daniel Craig is the best James Bond ever. I said...ever. He is Ian Fleming's James Bond. Dark, driven and, at times, utterly vicious--the Bond that is described in both the movie and the book as ‘a blunt instrument’. This installment required a real badass with a side order of nasty and, boy, does Daniel Craig serve it up. I can’t even imagine (and don’t want to) any of the other Bond portrayers doing what he did in this movie.

Casino Royale is the beginning of Bond’s 007 career, before he became the suave, sophisticated secret agent. He’s realistic and gritty and doesn’t resort to the usual bag of silly gadgets and tricks that had begun to make the character cartoonish. And there's a pretty wonderful love story to boot. It is the love story—and the resolution—that creates the smooth, yet chauvinistic Bond of the future.

Still not convinced? Watch this clip and tell me this isn't one of the most romantic scenes in recent movie history?

Amanda Stevens
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The Daphne du Maurier Award!

by Ann Voss Peterson

I received some terrific news from Dallas last week. It seems my Harlequin Intrigue, VOW TO PROTECT, won the Daphne du Maurier Award for series romantic suspense!

Now this is very cool for many reasons. The competition. is very tough. I know, I've read many of the books mine was up against. It's judged by people who know and love romantic suspense, members of the nearly 1000 strong Kiss of Death Chapter of RWA. I've reached the finals four times, and this is my first win. But one of the very coolest parts about winning this award is that if I hadn't read Daphne du Maurier's REBECCA in my formative years, I probably wouldn't be writing romantic suspense now.

It might sound a little dramatic, but it's true. REBECCA was the novel that first introduced me to that delicious interplay of romance and suspense. It stuck with me during my college years while I was trying my hand at literary short stories. It nagged at the back of my mind during the brief time I wrote fairly pitiful screenplays. And when I sat down to write my first novel, the story was REBECCA set in the world of Quarter Horse shows (no, I never submitted that story to anyone...nor will I).

That story continues to influence what I write, and I've read it more times than I can count. And the award will have a proud place on my wall.

What are some of the books that have influenced you (in writing, in life, in...whatever)?

Where to catch some Intriguers this week

Wow! Things have definitely been quiet in here lately. But then, this week is the week of both the Romance Writers of America conference in Dallas, and the Thrillerfest conference in NYC--and many of the Intrigue authors are attending one of the other.

I'm at home this week, hunkering down with my writing during the day, and enjoying some family time with my son this week (his band commitments were scheduled long before I was sure of the dates for either conference, and besides, he's going to be a senior this year and I don't want to miss helping with and attending any of these last big events he has before he graduates!).

From other loops I've been on, it sounds as though some of our other Intrigue friends are doing well at both conferences! Winning awards (I'll let them share the details about their good news!), meeting with editors and publishers, presenting workshops, selling books and more! So that's something to look forward to.

In the meantime, if you need a fix of Intrigue, check out the two discussions going on at the Harlequin website at www.eHarlequin.com. Under the column, Simply Series, you'll find two ongoing discussions--one on reading Intrigue books, and one on writing them.

Hope to see you there!
Julie Miller
(only a week left on my summer book giveaway contest at www.juliemiller.org!)

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! To all our American friends. And I hope all our readers around the world have a splendid fourth of July wherever they are. Every day should be a good day, right?

I've been a longtime reader of Harlequin Intrigue, even before I became a writer for the line. And July marks the release of the 1000th book from Intrigue! So that's another reason to celebrate!

What are some of your favorite memories of Intrigues over the years? Either as a reader or writer. I remember back when the very first Intrigue came out--THE KEY by Rebecca Flanders. I was in college, looking for a quick, satisfying (affordable!) read to supplement my mystery and romance obsession, and to give me a break from studying and academic reading. I picked up THE KEY, thinking it sounded like a really good idea to read a romantic suspense book from Harlequin. And by the time I was done, I KNEW it was a great idea. I was hooked. No way have I read 1000 Intrigues, but I've read a good number of them, and I love how the line has evolved and stayed current with topics, fresh with new writers, and reliable with many of my author and mini-series favorites.

Happy 1000th, Intrigue!

Julie Miller

A Monster in My Backyard

There was a monster in my backyard where I grew up.

Okay, not literally in my backyard, but only a few miles away in the White River, a murky waterway that meanders through the swampy bottomland of northeast Arkansas. Tales of monsters and bizarre events have been a part of that area's folklore for centuries, but when I was a kid, a rash of sightings propelled the White River Monster—or "Whitey" as he's sometimes affectionately called—into the national spotlight.

The monster pump was primed, so to speak, a few months earlier with the release of the low-budget, pseudo-documentary film called The Legend of Boggy Creek. The subject of the movie was the Fouke Monster, a hairy, ape-like creature that supposedly harassed families living outside the small town of Fouke, Arkansas, near Texarkana. Most of the cast consisted of local residents, many of whom reenacted their encounters with the monster for the cameras.

So when "Whitey" began rearing his ugly head again that summer, we all prepared for our close-ups. And sure enough, a Japanese filmmaker arrived with the intention of bringing our version of the Loch Ness monster to the big screen. Hundreds of media interviews were staged, CBS sent a news crew, and the story was picked up by The London Daily News. Local merchants began to cash in on the hype by offering monster sidewalk sales and restaurants even added "Monsterburgers" to their menus.

At least seven sightings of the monster were recorded and one witness offered a blurred Polaroid snapshot he'd taken of the elusive creature. "As big as a boxcar and thirty feet long...gray all over...with fins," one excited witness reported. Others described the creature as being sea-serpent-like with a spiny backbone.Although the Japanese movie never came to pass (more's the pity...how cool would that have been?), the attention put our little neck of the woods on the map. The monster was so widely accepted that in 1973, the Arkansas Legislature passed a resolution declaring a section of the White River a "refuge" for the creature and banned anyone from "molesting, killing, trampling or harming" the creature in any way.

In 1991, I wrote Nighttime Guardian, a book which featured the White River monster.

That's one of the cool things about being a writer. You never know what will inspire you.

Amanda Stevens

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