This is what I have in mind when I think Gabe Rossiter, my hero in Naked Edge. I figured that since I tortured you with Marc, I should torture you with Gabe, as well.

I grew up in a family of rock and mountain climbers, spending most every weekend of my childhood in the mountains watching guys get vertical. I even did some climbing myself, both alpine and rock. I never got into it the way my dad and brothers have, and, after falling 40 feet off Mount Ida and getting my free chopper ride to the trauma center, decided my feet belong on the ground, thankyouverymuch!

But I'm guessing not many of you have watched people rock climb and can't quite visualize what Gabe spends his time doing. I thought I'd share these intense (and sexy) videos so that you'd gain some appreciation for what it means to be a rock jock.

This one features a climber doing a traverse. He's not high off the ground, but it's hard to be upside down like that for long. Be warned, the song playing in the background is full of profanity. You might want to mute your 'puter and just watch...

This one shows a guy doing some crazy free-soloing high above deep water. If he fell, he might live. Then again, when you hit water hard, it's like hitting concrete.

There are other climbing videos on that site, if you want to watch them.

Have a great week!

Remember the tornado that tore through Windsor, Colo.? That's about ten minutes by highway north of me. It produced a huge hail storm here and a big thunderstorm in Boulder, where I was working at the time.

I noticed a bunch of people with workmen on their roofs along my street and asked my neighbor what was up. He said that our end of town had been declared part of the disaster zone from the tornado and that people were getting their roofs replaced from hail damage. I figured, well, I didn't have any hail damage. Or did I?

It's not like I go up on the roof, you know.

So I called my insurance agent and asked if they could check for me. And yesterday mid-day I got a call that my roof and chimney both need to be replaced because they're now structurally unsound due to hail damage.

Who knew?

I'm glad I found out before I got flooded out of the house by our first big snowstorm. It's been so dry here that there's no way I would have known. Freaky!


This is the final cover for Untamed.

I have in my possession the trimmed version of Untamed, which I must quickly read and get back to New York. I had one cut scene restored, and I asked to have a different scene cut in its place, changing the story on one key point. I think it was a good compromise. Ideally, the whole thing would be there, but having lost only 28 pages and not 100 is a relief. The epilogue will not be included at all, but will be available for immediate download, probably from my website.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm off to deal with insurance companies.

So one afternoon I'm sitting in my special writing chair, looking like a complete slob, answering email and piddling around with the epilogue of Untamed when I see my mail carrier, a sweet woman named Devona, walk up to my door with a bag in her hand and my mail.

Devona has delivered my mail since I moved to this address ten years ago. We've had a few chats out front by the mailbox. She knew when I sold my first book because I put "Pamela Clare" on my mailbox. She and I both quilt, and so we've talked about that, too. We complained about the weather — especially the epic six feet of snow that turned our street into an obstacle course in 2006 — and waved hello to one another many times. Needless to say, I'm always happy to see her.

But this was a little different. I opened the door, and as she was handing me my mail, she said, "I don't know why it took me so long to read your books!" And in the bag were my I-Team books. Speaking very quickly, Devona told me how much she had enjoyed them and asked me if I would autograph them. I was thrilled to do that, of course, and then I asked her which books I might have that she does not yet have. She left with a few historicals in that bag, as well.

As she left she told me I'm going to be a mega-bestseller one day. (I can only hope God was listening.)

She also mentioned that she has visited my website and this blog. So I'm hoping she might see this and pop in and say hello. Devona, if you do see this, please know you're welcome. And I'd love to know what you thought of the historicals, if you've had time to read them.

And thanks! Having a surprise book signing in my own living room was a lot of fun.

One moment Amazon had listed that Untamed would be out on October 28. The next is says it will be out in December. December! Well, I called my editor, naturally curious to find out when the novel that I spent nine months of my life writing, with much sweat and toil, would be available to you all.

And December is right.

D'oh!

So you'll be seeing balls like those above before you see Morgan's... His story, I mean, of course. So now I guess we'll have to content ourselves with more excerpts, right?

And though we don't have the java script worked out to enable you to pin the canoli on the I-Team hunk, thanks to Jenn J we at least have a suitable graphic! Thanks, Jenn! I laughed my butt off (yes, I am buttless now) when I saw this. :-)



You can click and drag all you want, but it doesn't move. That's okay. Click and drag anyway. Taste the cannoli if you must. Based on my own descriptions of the I-Team guys, this must be Reece — no tats or scars, no long hair.

Riding a wave of inspiration, I'm working on a couple of story proposals for novels the likes of which I've never written before. No, I won't even hint at what they're about. I did turn in the proposal for my next historical, but I might end up writing something completely different...

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Thanks to those of you who played along with I-Team trivia. I hope you all had fun with it.

Strangely, I thought that the Round III questions were the most difficult, but everyone got perfect scores. Which means that the scores basically stayed the same as before. So, the winners to the I-Team Trivia Contest are:

First Place: Ronlyn
Second Place: Stef
Third Place: Christi
Fourth Place: Tena and JennJ (tied)

CONGRATULATIONS!

And now for the answers to Round III's questions:

1. What variety of martial art does Julian practice? Aikido

2. Where did the whistleblower first ask Kara to meet him? At an abandoned warehouse near Quebec and Smith roads.

3. What did Tessa get accused of trying to steal as a little girl? Books — because she wanted to read. (Poor girl!)

4. Where was Alexi Burien born (town and country)? Gzel, Russia (I'm so blown away that anyone got this.)

5. What kind of weapon does Reece carry in his briefcase when he realizes Kara’s life is in danger? A Sphynx .9mm

6. What’s the name of the secret operation lead by Julian that frees the sex-trafficking victims at Pasha's? Operation Abolish

7. Who taught Marc the ins and outs of sex (be specific)? Ms. Meadows, the English teacher

8. Where does the newspaper hide Kara after she’s attacked in her home (be specific)? At the Loews Hotel.

9. What is Sophie’s phobia? SPIDERS! Can you blame her? Horrid creatures!

10. What does “el-wop” mean? Life Without Parole — good times... NOT!

All four of you get some kind of prize. Email me so we can figure out what it is. I know some of you have all of my books, but some don't. And there are other things, like samples of "Marc" and "Sophie" perfume.

Congrats again to the winners!

Now what game shall we play next? Pin the cannoli on the hero?

I am so sorry to have vanished. The paper got unexpectedly busy. I had a special edition dropped in my lap. When you're going to press Wednesday and by Monday have no clue what's going in the paper, you have some long hours ahead of you. Trust me on this.

I'm also very behind on emails. I apologize and hope to catch up soon!

First, before we move on to Round III, let's look at how the cumulative scores add up:

First Place — Ronlyn
Second Place — Steff
Third Place — Christi
Fourth Place (still tied) — Jenn and Tena

For Round II alone, Ronlyn and Steff tied, Christie came in second and Jenn and Tena tied for third.

What you have to know is that these scores are separated by single points and, in one case, a half point. So it's very close, with Ronlyn a nose ahead of the competition.

And here are the answers to Round II:

1. What does Kara call Reece’s sister?
Malibu Melanie

2. What kind of weapon does Julian carry normally?
A .357 SIG Sauer — the weapon of choice for federal law enforcement

3. What’s the name of the prison-made tool Marc uses to break out of handcuffs?
A shim

4. What’s the name of the chief of police in this series?
Chief Irving

5. What’s the name of the strip club Julian visits under cover where girls are being used as sex slaves?
Pasha's

6. What is Sophie’s favorite way to make chocolate chip cookies?
Chipless chocolate chip cookies (everyone got this one right — LOL!)

7. What are the two names of the corporation behind the pollution in Kara’s investigation and Reece’s tire-burning bill?
TexaMent and Northrup.

8. What is the name of the gang leader who warms to Tessa and helps her unravel the identity of the villain?
Syko

9. Where do Marc and Sophie first make love?
Colorado Monument

10. What last name was Tessa born with?
Tessa Bates. Her full name is Tessa Marie Bates.

And now for Round III questions (drum roll):

1. What variety of martial art does Julian practice?

2. Where did the whistleblower first ask Kara to meet him?

3. What did Tessa get accused of trying to steal as a little girl?

4. Where was Alexi Burien born (town and country)?

5. What kind of weapon does Reece carry in his briefcase when he realizes Kara’s life is in danger?

6. What’s the name of the secret operation lead by Julian that frees the sex-trafficking victims at Pasha's?

7. Who taught Marc the ins and outs of sex (be specific)?

8. Where does the newspaper hide Kara after she’s attacked in her home (be specific)?

9. What is Sophie’s phobia?

10. What does “el-wop” mean?

Good luck!!! Please get your answers into my email Inbox by no later than 11:59 PM on Sunday!