I just had to pop in quickly to say that my agent read Naked Edge this weekend and just called to tell me that I am ridiculous and have no sense of the quality of my own writing. This is very good news because I told her I thought Naked Edge was the worst thing I'd written so far.

She said she sobbed at the end and that she found the climax of the story every bit as nail-biting as was the climax of Unlawful Contact.

I have to give a shout out to some FOPs (that's an acronym for Friends of Pamela — you ken who you are) who have actually read the manuscript. The whole time I was writing it, I was thinking, "This sucks! This sucks! This sucks!" But these sweet FOPs kept saying, "No, it doesn't! Keep writing!" If not for them, I'd be out looking for my lost sanity.

I still want to do some minor revisions before I turn it in. This ghost-writing project is delaying that till the end of the month or early September.

How about an excerpt to celebrate the non-suckiness of the story (according to my agent and FOPs)?

Here's one I posted in my notes on Facebook. If you saw it there, sorry! And remember, Kat is a virgin — my only contemporary virgin thus far. And there are cultural reasons for this. But you'll see on March 2.

From Chapter 25 of Naked Edge

Kat willed herself not to break eye contact with Gabe, her heart pounding. He stared down at her, his pupils wide, the astonishment on his face turning to something darker, his brows bent in a frown.

He ran the pad of his thumb over her lower lip. “Are you sure?”

She couldn’t say when she’d reached this decision. Maybe it had been this morning when she’d prayed for him, looking for some way to help him regain the part of himself Jill had stolen. Maybe it had been that terrible afternoon when he’d saved her from being shot, proving his courage. Or perhaps it had been the moment she’d realized that the wind knew him, that he belonged to this land as much as she did.

Regardless, her heart had decided.

She had finally found a man who was worth it, a man she loved so much that going without him felt unthinkable.

“Yes, I’m sure.” She caught his hand where it cupped her chin and kissed his palm. “I love y—”

“Shhh!” He pressed his fingers to her lips. “Don’t say it. ‘Yes’ is enough.”

He ducked down as if to kiss her, then abruptly stopped, glancing around them. “No. Not like this.”

“Gabe?”

He stepped back. “Why don’t you go soak in a hot bath and pamper yourself a bit? The sun only set about an hour ago, so the water ought to still be fairly warm. There’s a camping lantern on the counter.”

Take a bath? Did she smell bad?

Something of her feelings must have shown on her face, because he leaned down to rest his forehead against hers. “Hey, trust me, okay? If I can’t be man enough to keep my hands off you like I should, then at least let me be man enough to do this right. I’ll tell you when you can come out.”

Confused, Kat walked into the bathroom, turned on the camping lantern, and shut the door behind her. She found herself staring at her own bemused reflection in the lantern’s half-light. This certainly wasn’t the response she’d expected from him.

If I can’t be man enough to keep my hands off you like I should, then at least let me be man enough to do this right.

What did he mean by that?

And then her pulse began to race again as she realized what was about to happen.

Gabe was going to make love to her. Tonight.

Suddenly, she was grateful for the extra time. What she’d said a few moments ago had been entirely spontaneous. She hadn’t stopped to think that it had been a couple of days since she’d shaved her legs or that she needed to brush her teeth or that she might want to take a bath first.

Quickly, she set her razor and a washcloth near the tub, then turned on the water, relieved to feel it was still quite warm. While the tub filled, she flossed and brushed her teeth and tied her hair up in a knot. Then she undressed and stepped into the soothing heat, noises coming from the other side of the door—the clanging of dishes, the opening and closing of doors and drawers, the creaking of floorboards, the front door opening again and again.

She might have tried to figure out what he was doing if she weren’t so nervous. Instead, it was all she could do to focus on shaving her legs, questions chasing one after another through her mind. How much would it hurt? Would she be able to have an orgasm with him inside her? Would he compare her to Jill and be disappointed? Would he push her away afterward as he had so many women?

Stop doubting, girl. Trust yourself. Trust Gabe. Trust that you’ve come to this place and time for a reason.

Her belly full of butterflies, she reached for her soap, inhaled its sweet honey scent and remembered how much he seemed to like it. Then she lathered her skin, trying not to worry about things she couldn’t control. She’d just pulled the plug from the bathtub drain and begun to dry herself, when he knocked on the door.

“Kat? Whenever you’re ready…”

Her heart gave a hard knock. Was she ready? After all these years was she ready for what was about to happen? She wrapped herself in a soft towel, drew a deep, calming breath. Then, without glancing at the mirror, she opened the bathroom door—and stared in amazement. “Oh, Gabe!”

The cabin had been transformed. The dirty dishes had been cleared from the table, and the kerosene lamps had all been stored away. Dozens of small emergency candles sat here and there on saucers and in bowls, the room warm with their radiance. Pine boughs had been wrapped around the bed’s four posters and its headboard, their scent fresh and enticing. The air was warm, a strong fire burning in the woodstove.



His gaze fixed on her, Gabe stood in the middle of the room, wearing only his jeans, the candlelight giving his skin a tawny glow, seeming to accentuate the ridges and valleys of his muscles. And Kat felt that familiar flutter in her belly.

Oh, yes, she was ready—for him.

He crossed the space between them in two lazy strides, slid his fingers into her hair, and undid the knot, spilling it down her back and around her shoulders. Then he brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “I can’t make any promises about tomorrow, Kat, but for tonight at least, I’ll do my damned best to be worth it.”

Then he reached down, tugged off her towel, and let it fall to the floor.



-----

The rest of that scene will be available on March 2. (Is my sadistic side showing?)

Crestone Needle (14,197) and Crestone Peak (14,294)


This is what my brother Robert and my father spent this past weekend climbing. For my bro, these are the last two fourteeners — mountains the summits of which are 14,000 feet above sea level or higher — that he needed to summit in order to have climbed them all. Congratulations, Robert! My father has been climbing since he moved to Colorado in 1966, and he's now 65. His stamina amazes me. So congrats to him, too! He still has two more fourteeners to climb to have done them all.

Crestone Needle is rated among the most difficult peaks in the state, while Crestone Peak is rated among the difficult peaks.

Colorado has 53 14,000-foot peaks — more than any other place in North America. By contrast, Canada has only 15. Alaska has 21, I believe. And my brother has climbed the two in Washington State, as well as Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere at 22,841 feet.

Did I mention at some point that I come from a climbing family?

There are people in Colorado who love to "bag" peaks. They try to climb them as fast as they can or keep a checklist. I've always found that distasteful. It doesn't really seem respectful of the mountains to turn it into a competition. My brother and my father just love to climb. In fact, one day when he was bored, my brother climbed his own chimney. I'm not joking. I came outside, saw him and asked, "Is that a first ascent? What are you going to name that route?" But I digress...


My brother climbing one of the Crestones. Notice how high that is at the top — and apparently they didn't use ropes.

In addition to climbing the fourteeners, they've climbed a lot of the state's many, many thirteeners and the peaks that are 14,000 or higher but aren't counted as fourteeners because the saddle between them and the next highest fourteener is less than 300 feet wide. (Those are the rules.)

I gave up mountain climbing after I fell. Actually, I re-climbed that mountain — Mt. Ida — just to show that I could, and then gave up climbing. I prefer hiking now to anything seriously vertical. I have to say it was cathartic to put details about my own fall into Naked Edge. And it was fun to have a hero who climbs. I got to put in lots of fun climbing lingo.

I'm so glad they made it to the top and back down safely!

The chapel at Ithaca College


Thanks to all of you for your kind words about Wubbit. It's amazing how much a person can miss a beloved pet, isn't it? Both Benjy and I keep setting aside lettuce leaves for her and stopping on our way out the door, thinking, "Did I check the bunny?" Our living room looks very strange without her big bunny chalet. We're just glad she passed peacefully. She deserved that.

Right now I'm working on a ghost-writing project about which I can share nothing. It's an interesting experience to angst about someone else's book for a change. I'll be busy with that through the end of the month, at which time I'll take one last run through Naked Edge and then send it to New York.

Then I'll start my next project, focusing on King Arthur in our time. I hope to work on it at the same time as Connor's story. I don't know if I have the RAM to manage that, but we'll see. I don't want my Rangers to get left behind, but the pressure is on to write romantic suspense.

Benjy leaves for New York tomorrow night. He's a sophomore at Ithaca College, where he studies filmmaking. I hate it when he's gone, but it's important he go to the best school he can for his education. Tuition is due Aug. 17. YIKES! Fortunately, most of his cost of attendance is covered by scholarships this year.

Last Friday, I gave myself my first day off in ages and spent the entire day watching back-to-back episodes of True Blood that I'd purchased from iTunes. I don't have television, so I had no idea what it was until my sister sent me a link to a YouTube clip of the character Erik in the shower. I saw Alexander Skarsgård and fell in love. So I devoured the entire first season, and though I felt guilty for doing nothing that day, it was probably time well spent. Every once in a while, even writers need a break.


Rub-a-dub-dub, a hunk in the tub

Now, about True Blood. I don't like all the blood and the gore, I will admit that. To me, there's absolutely nothing sexy about sex that includes being bitten and having blood dribble all over your neck and mouth. Ew. But the characters are really engaging, and the suspense is solid. And, yes, many of the men are HAWT. So now I have to wait patiently for Season II. Perhaps that will give me time to catch up on The Tudors.

R.I.P. sweet Wubbit

Just a quick update to say that I'm finished writing Naked Edge and am now editing and revising the manuscript, with a goal of getting it to New York ASAP. The publication date is still March 2010. I'm hoping that sticks. Sometimes they bump up my titles once they get them, but I doubt that will happen this time.

In other news, my son Benjamin who lives with me came down with H1N1 which he caught from someone at work. So he's been home, sick, since Wednesday. He's now fever-free, however, and on the mend. I'm taking an anti-viral medication to prevent me from catching it, as I'm asthmatic and wouldn't bounce back the way he has.

On a deeply sad and personal note, Wubbit, our bunny friend of 12 years died during the night. Two days ago she quit eating and drinking, and curled up in her cage. She had no sign of obvious sickness, no injury, and I knew she was dying. I chose not to take her to the vet because I didn't think they'd be able to do anything, and I didn't want to scare her. She lived much longer than the average bunny lifespan (6 to 9 years), and overall was a very healthy critter. It's going to be really hard for Benjy (who is still asleep and doesn't know she's gone) because she's been our pet since he was 7 years old.

I'm very busy right now with a ghost-writing assignment so that's slowing me down on revisions for Naked Edge. It's interesting. I've never done this before, so it's completely new to me.

I hope everyone is well.