Happy New Year!

NEWSFLASH: Imagine my shock when a fan in Florida alerted me of my untimely demise and begged me to “say it ain’t so.” I immediately checked my pulse, and am happy to report that I am very much alive and kicking. In fact, this morning as I walked home from the post office, somebody wolf-whistled. Boy, if I’m dead I’m a fine looking corpse…and when you die you go to Mississippi! But just in case I really am metabolically challenged (the politically correct term for dead), I urge all my fans to rush out and buy every copy of my books you can find. Imagine what they’re worth!

I'm delighted you stopped by for a visit. 2009 was a momentous year that included a Romantic Times Pioneer Award and the formation of a movie production company with Roy Turner ( web guru, filmmaker and dear friend) and Philece Sampler (actress, producer and dear friend). 2010 is going to be even better!

We've put together lots of fun stuff on this site and are working on more. If you don’t find out what you want to know from these pages, contact us, and Roy or I will get back to you.

BOOK NEWS…

Elvis and the Grateful Dead is in bookstores now. It’s the second of my Southern Cousins Mysteries from Kensington. Follow the Valentine gang you love - Callie, Lovie, Mama, Uncle Charlie and Elvis (who “Ain’t Nothin’ but a Hounddog”) - as they turn Tupelo’s Elvis Festival upside down with murder, mayhem and laughter.
Check out my Photo Album for some great pictures of the real Elvis Festival. Also, the September issue of Romantic Times has a great article on the booksigning I did at the festival.

Book one, Elvis and the Dearly Departed, is available now (as in, right this very minute) in paperback. Yippee! Grab your friends and hurry to your favorite bookstore.

Book three, Elvis and the Memphis Mambo Murders (scheduled for release Oct. l, 2010) is in production. I’ve already finished book four, Elvis and the Tropical Double Trouble, and I’m plotting book five. This is an open-ended series, so you can look forward to Elvis and the Valentine gang for many years to come.

Inquiring minds want to know about Jack’s breakup with Callie and his profession. Books two and three will give you some answers – and open a whole ‘nother set of questions! I’ve already plotted the long-term stories for all the Valentine gang, but your letters give me ideas and could actually sway me

NASCAR and Harlequin have cooked up a wonderful continuity series. Currently I’m writing book ten in the series, Shifting Gears. The hero is absolutely delicious. He takes me back to the early days of my career when I was writing five and six romances a year, My NASCAR hero, Andrew Clark, reminds me very much of Dirk in my long-ago Loveswept – Duplicity. It got rave reviews, and I think Shifting Gears will, too. !

Stay tuned for more details.

CONTEST...

Thanks to the fans who entered my Fall Extravaganza Contest and congratulations to the winners (posted on Fun Stuff). Roy and I will be cooking up a new contest soon. Stay tuned.

BLOGGING…

I blog regularly on www.SouthernAuthors.blogspot.com. My next blog date is February 5th. I’ll be online all day chatting with fans. Do join me. I love talking with you.

If you miss the actual blog date, you can still check out the archives and leave a comment.

I blog every 45 days, more or less, depending on who got sick and couldn’t blog or who had something they couldn’t wait to say. Gosh, I hope that makes sense. Sort of.

BOOK CLUBS…

This section is for EVERYBODY. It includes readers’ guides to the Southern Cousins Mysteries, free bookplates, a terrific new photo album featuring pictures of your book club parties, and much more.

If your club is reading one of the Southern Cousins Mysteries, you can call me during the meeting and I’ll chat with you about all things Elvis. Use the bookclub page to set that up.

Click the bookcovers on this page to find Ask Elvis. Yes, the sassy basset hound who thinks he’s the King reincarnated now has joined the ranks of Dear Abby and Heloise. Ask him anything. He might even tell you if Jack and Callie are getting back together. He’s in a mellow mood and he’s telling all!

BOOKPLATES….

These are FREE to booksellers, librarians, book clubs and all my readers. If you can’t attend one of my book parties, it’s a great way to have signed copies for yourself and your friends.

To receive your free bookplates, make your selection on the Fun Stuff and Book Clubs pages.

READ EXCERPTS...

The updated Books page has a printable booklist which includes current and out-of-print books. Check out the covers and excerpts for Elvis and the Dearly Departed and Elvis and the Grateful Dead.

APPEARANCES…

If I’m coming to your area for a book party, library lecture, or other event, I hope you can join me.

PHOTO ALBUM...

Roy and I love to show you what’s cooking on my book tours, conferences, etc. I’m waiting for copies of photos taken at a fabulous private writers’ retreat in St. Pete. I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you. Wait and see who was there and what we were up to!

THE MOVIE...

Alas, nothing new to report. Still, Roy, Philece and I are busy trying to get DRIVING ME CRAZY into production. Meanwhile, write and let me know who you’d like to see in the roles of Mama and Aunt Mary Quana.

CHARITIES…

Thank you for supporting the wonderful charities on this page. There are some great photographs taken during a mission trip of our newest addition - Faith in Practice.

EMAIL LIST…

Be sure to sign up for my email list.

And do keep writing. I love hearing from you. If you don’t hear from us right away, it means I’m in a deadline crunch and Roy’s on location producing with his latest film. If you don’t hear from us at all, it means the Cyber Monster has gobbled your email. It happens! Please try again. I want to hear everything you have to say.

I hope your holidays are safe and lovely!