I’m so happy that you’re as excited about Jed Hill being on the cover of Breaking Point as I am. As I sat basking in the shadow of his biceps, I remembered that in this case, I also have a physical model for my heroine, Natalie Benoit. And here she is.

Natalie had her I-Team debut in Unlawful Contact, taking Tessa’s place on the cops and courts beat. She keeps to herself, and we don’t know much more about her other than that she’s from New Orleans and that she lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. In Naked Edge, Kat senses something tragic inside Natalie, but we never get a glimpse of what that is. But in Breaking Point, Natalie’s story, we do.

I’ve posted a couple of excerpts on this blog here, and here and read the back cover blurb here, so you all know how the story starts.


So tell me — do Zach and Natalie make a nice couple? I think they certainly would make beautiful babies. And if they do, you just might have a front row seat. D’oh! Did I just say that?!?

I’m not sure how often I will be updating my blog over the next few weeks. I think I need to take it a bit easier than I’ve been doing. I seem to have a good day and then a bad day. I think the bad days come from doing too much on the good days. So...

In the meantime, however, you’ve got Zach and Natalie.

By the way, Natalie Benoit has a Facebook page, for those of you on FB. (If we’re not friends, hunt me down!) She’s been talking about taking a trip to Mexico...

I just got confirmation from my editor that the photo shoot with Jed Hill happened and that he will be the model on the cover of my next I-Team book, Breaking Point. So, everyone, feast your eyes on Zach MacBride. Not sure what he's doing with boxing gloves. Maybe as part of staying fit — after all former Navy SEALs who become Deputy U.S. Marshals still need to stay in good shape — he took up boxing.



And football, too. Why not? Strap into some shoulder pads, grap a pig skin, skip the T-shirt and the athletic cup (he ain’t wearing one), and get hot and sweaty tossing the ball around. I’m all for that.


Though I think it’s safe to say that Jed Hill deserves the Gold Medal for Obliques, he has a beautiful body over all — and a beautiful face. I love the intensity of his gaze. I love the masculine jawline. I love the full lips.

The man is, in a word, purrfect. And he is the perfect Zach.

Neither my editor nor I have seen any of the art yet, but when I have something to show you, you know I will.

So, you ended up with an MTM anyway — just several hours late.

Who cares if it's May 7? Last night it snowed. It had melted by the time the sun was high in the sky, but it's still nippy with the possibility of more snow ahead.

Ah, yes, springtime in the Rockies.

Tulips do look pretty in the snow. And so does my lily of the valley, which is just beginning to bloom. Those flowers are so precious and tiny. I have to get down on my knees in the grass to sniff them. I’m sure that makes a lovely sight.

Out in the veggie garden, I have six-inch high broccoli plants, as well as arugula, spinach, romaine lettuce, mixed greens and Swiss chard. When Benjy gets home — and when it actually gets warm — we'll open a second bed and plant tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, peppers and squash.

One zucchini plant only, and even then... At the end of the world, there will be zucchini and cockroaches, as I’ve always said.

I’m taking a moment to breathe. The past two weeks have been a whirlwind. Big papers, special editions, bills in the Senate, hassles in the House, new five-book contract. After we heard that the Department of Corrections was attempting to gut or kill the bill, I found myself getting super stressed out, and that's just not good for me.

We have reached a compromise with them. I'm very reluctant to compromise because I feel that some important aspects of the bill have been removed. Right now it contains about 85 percent of what I originally put into it. But when they start removing phrases like "so as not to cause the inmate additional pain or suffering" you have to wonder WHY. I still don’t understand.

The House Judiciary Hearing is Monday morning. I'm first up to testify. It could be on the House floor as early as that afternoon and could pass the House by Tuesday. Then it will go into conference committee, where the two sponsors and others try to work out a compromise on the two different versions of the bill. Once they do that, both chambers have to approve the changes. And then, finally, it goes to the Governor.

It's been a real education for me to see how things work behind the scenes at the Capitol. I think along the way I've managed to annoy everyone who's been involved with the bill. Me and my temper. Oh, well.

But I'm trying to let go a little bit. I can't write books if I'm stressed out of my gourd and have a migraine. So...

I'm starting Chapter 4 of Breaking Point today. Bad things reach something of a peak for Zach and Natalie in Chapter 4 — and then begin to turn around. Right now, they are just voices in the darkness for each other as they talk through the wall of a place out in the desert where they’re being kept prisoner.

I hope you all have a great weekend. Thanks for your support here and on Facebook regarding the bill. The debate on the House floor will be available via live streaming. I’ll post the URL when the bill is about to come up.