I’m very excited to have Tracy Cooper-Posey as my guest blogger today.  Her story is amazing—talk about taking a chance on love!  But, then, I’ve met her husband (when he was a contestant in the Mr. Romance contest) and I’m not at all surprised that it all worked out.

One commenter will win a PDF copy of Tracey’s hawt new book, Ningaloo Nights.  Be sure you include your email address so that I can send it to you.

Now, with no further ado…

I’m grateful to Toni for letting me guest blog here today. 

A fairly common theme running through Toni’s blog (yes, I read it regularly) is getting things done.  Achievement.  Especially, achieving big things and not wasting our lives.

That’s something I can relate to in a major way.  On October 4, only nine days ago—and a whole 13 years ago—I stepped on a plane holding the hands of my two little children, with a suitcase holding my worldly possessions, and moved from Australia to Canada to marry a man I’d only ever spoken to via the Internet and the telephone (you shoulda seen the phone bills!).

I’m still here.

Those two little kids are both taller than me now, and that man is now my husband and we’re indecently happy.

But the only reason I stepped on that plane in the first place was because I didn’t want to get to the end of my life and look back and regret having wasted the chance.  After all, it’s only distance.  I had a return ticket (they don’t let you into the country without one).  And yeah, it was a risk, but look at the pay-off if it worked out! 

Some of the bigger achievements in life do involve a bit of risk.  But if you look at the potential loss if things go wrong, it makes the risk easier to handle. 

I stood to lose very little.  So I gave up a rental house I was fond of…I could always find another.  I had to sell off several hundred books that I’ve never been able to replace to this day...but books aren’t bodily organs.  I can live with that loss, even though reading is a passion of mine.  Yeah, my kids were uprooted, but every time we’ve ever spoken about this “uprooting” they’ve always said they were glad about it.  They’re mature, worldly, stable, educated adults now, with a global perspective that they may have missed out on if I’d raised them “proper.” 

As far as I can tell, the biggest risk I took was a broken heart...and hell, we all risk that every time we fall in love again, don’t we?

The biggest lesson I learned from stepping on that plane is that life should be inhaled whole, not lived timidly.  Since then I’ve gone on to be published and now write full-time, and my husband to become a professional wrestler (a life-long ambition), and we try to make sure our lives are always heading in the direction we want them to go, rather than stagnating.  Our kids went through school being able to tell their friends that their mum (always the English spelling!) was a romance writer and their dad was a wrestler and watching jaws drop.

Whenever we feel like we’re reverting back into the “safe” mode, we try to shake ourselves up.  As a result, we tend to live a little outrageously and on the edge...but it’s never boring, and it’s certainly fun! 

-----------

Tracy’s latest book, Ningaloo Nights, set in Western Australia, her home territory.  Part of the Going Down Under series with Ellora’s Cave, the romantic suspense novel was released on October 9^th.  To buy the book or read an excerpt, click here.

New York cop Sherry Abandonato cashes in her savings and dashes to Ningaloo in remote north-west Western Australia to find her sister who disappeared ten days ago.
The only one with the skill to guide her to Derremawan is Mason Hayward, once an official guide, and still with a reputation for getting people out of trouble, but now the town’s bad man.
In a searing afternoon of unexpected passion, Mason strikes a bargain:  He’ll get her to Derremawan, if she agrees to go there with him unconditionally, on his terms, and his conditions. Sherry is astonished to find herself agreeing to the insane bargain, and worse, responding positively to the idea of three days of Mason Hayward dictating terms out under the Australian sun...

Today’s my day to post at the Deadline Dames.  Stop by for my politically incorrect contest, the announcement of the winner of the Vampire books from Monday’s post, and a chance to win three signed books!

I’m turning 50 in exactly one month.

It made me start thinking about all of those sentences that start with “If only” and “I should have.”  Which made me realize that I can still do all of those things.  It’s the second half of my life!

I also saw the re-run of Sex in the City in which Carrie bemoans the fact that she, as a single woman who has never had children, has been to dozens if not hundreds of wedding & baby showers, and dutifully purchased the gifts for which the recipients had registered.  She, however, never got a shower, so never got to register.  (She “registers” for a single pair of shoes with a price tag higher than my monthly food budget.)

I realized this applies to me.  I’ve never been married or had children either and, likewise, have bought a bazillion gifts from a bazillion registries.  As a WASP, I never had a bat mitvah, and my family didn’t throw me a high school graduation party, although my parents did buy me a set of luggage.  I took the hint, packed it, and moved out forthwith.

So I’m going to “register” for my 50^th birthday.

At 49, I don’t need china or linens and, although I’d love a nice set of stemware, there’s nowhere to put them.  So I probably won’t be able to register at one of the traditional venues (although I was pleased to see that Target has a registry – good for every budget).

Instead, I think I’ll make a web page and recruit my sister as the contact person to keep track of what’s been purchased and what’s still outstanding.  And I’m going to choose some really unconventional stuff. So far, I’ve only decided on four things:

1. A big, honkin’ party
2. Sky diving
3. Bunny slippers
4. This hair straightening thingie I saw on an infomercial. Apparently, you just hold it anywhere near your head and voila! You look like a super model.

For today’s contest, I am giving away a copy of The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance and a signed copy of Kerrelyn Sparks’ All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire.  Enter a comment telling me what you think I ought to put on my gift list, and I’ll pick a name at random to win.

The winner of last week’s contest for 5 signed romance novels is Tracy Deluca!  Tracy, email me using this link and send me your mailing address.

During the month of June, I told myself I wasn’t blogging because my virtual book tour was taking too much time.  During the earlier part of July, it was because I was “on vacation,” and then attending the RWA National Convention in Washington DC.  Earlier this week, it was because I was getting a detailed synopsis for the next Mercy Hollings books revised and sent to the editors.

So I should be out of excuses.

But, somehow, that just doesn’t seem to be the case.

Recently, I watched a movie called He’s Just Not That Into You.  It’s a cute romantic comedy, based on a self-help book by the same name.  The primary message of both is simple: If a man really wants to be with you, he’ll find a way to do it.  He won’t lose your number, or, if he does, he’ll take out an ad in the paper. He won’t be too busy—he’ll skip poker night and tell his mother to hire a plumber to fix her leaky sink. He’ll leave work early or show up late. He won’t be too tired to get together or too broke to take you out somewhere.

The book and the movie are both about dating, but I think the message applies across a much broader spectrum, at least for me.  It’s this:  If I really want to do something, I’ll find a way to do it.  If I don’t, it’s pretty easy to find an excuse.

When you’re as overbooked as I am, excuses are amazingly easy to find.   But, even though my extreme business over the past few days has recently kept me from doing laundry, giving the (visiting) dog a flea treatment, and figuring out why On Demand doesn’t work on my cable, I have managed to read a couple of novels, bake a batch of cookies and give myself a pedicure.  And, even though I’m supposed to be dog-sitting, I’m pretty sure I’m going to find a way to see the new Harry Potter film in the next couple of days.

You can help me with one of my undone chores: Sorting and storing all of the books I picked up at the RWA National Convention.  A random commenter will win today’s prize: Category Romance Novel Extravaganza!  It includes the following books: Harlequin Presents -The Sheikh’s Defiant Bride  by Sandra Marton, Harlequin Intrigue - Big Sky Dynasty (signed) by B.J. Daniels, Silhouette Special Edition – Fortune’s Woman (signed) by Raeanne Thayne, Love Inspired – Her last Chance (signed) by Terri Reed, and Harlequin American Romance – Waiting for Baby, (signed) by Cathy McDavid.

Quite a haul for some romance lover!

Today’s virtual tour appearance is brought to you by Silk and Shadows, a website by four authors who “like their romance on the dark side.” One of them, Allison Chase, is a good friend of mine, and I was delighted when she asked me to be a guest.

I did, however, have a major snafu...I once again misread the timer and ran out of time, just as I was in the middle of a Tarot reading for my friend Cindy Cruciger, who writes the hysterical blog Computer Colonics.  So, I did a separate video just of the tarot reading, and here it is.  Check it out, and check out Cindy’s wonderful, horrible, funny, twisted blog.  Oh, and her terrific novel, Revenge gifts.

An assortment of links you might need:

Link for tour (with address for SASE's): http://toniandrews.com/CryMercyTour.htm

Toni's TV show: http://toniandrews.com/SoManyBooks.htm

Cry Mercy Trailer: http://tinyurl.com/75vl4s

Links to purchase the book:

Mira Books (discounted while they last!) http://tinyurl.com/oe8tkd

Amazon Link:  http://tinyurl.com/CryMercy

Amazon UK Link: http://tinyurl.com/prh6ej

Barnes and Noble: http://tinyurl.com/pxrx9f

Indigo Books (Canada): http://tinyurl.com/qcycaf

Rendezvous Romance (Australia) http://tinyurl.com/r4g56z

Least expensive place to buy (out of print) Beg For Mercy: http://tinyurl.com/r82mtk  and Angel of Mercy: http://tinyurl.com/ob9sv5

Whew!  Only day 4, and I’m already tired.  Today’s episode of Cry Mercy, the Tour appears on the Darque Reviews website.  This is a terrific site if you love Urban Fantasy – Kimberly Swan is a prolific reader and reviewer.  Click HERE to see the appearance--I answer questions about reprints and the revision process, and do another Virtual Tarot Reading.

For upcoming appearances, go to http://www.toniandrews.com/CryMercyTour.htm  Don't forget to send me a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope in order to get your signed book plate!

See my Video Blog on www.DeadlineDames.com