Pamela Clare's Blog, page 44

As I write this, there only 25 days until Naked Edge is released, and I'm getting the butterflies in my stomach that I always get before a book is released. I know you other authors know what I mean when I say that a book's release date feels a lot like the day you send your kindergartener out into the big, cruel world for the first time. Books are our babies, and no matter what we write and no matter how hard we try to write the perfect, engaging story, someone will tell us our baby is ugly ...

I got a very touching letter recently from a young woman who was inspired in part by reading Hard Evidence to take on the issue of human trafficking through her college chapter of Amnesty International. It's a huge issue, a terrible problem, and, for those tragically caught up in it, a nightmare. It means so much to me that reading one of my novels helped to inspire this.

I've tried hard to include real issues and real topics in my novels. Yes, I know that many women turn to romance novels to ...

Things that happened today done in the style of SNL's video short "Like a Boss" (If you haven't seen it, it's utterly offensive and wonderful):

Went to an organic farm / Froze my fingers off / Held a chicken / Took some photos / Called a guy a douche-bag / Read some press releases / Tossed them in the recycle / Got free spatula (WTF?) / Wrote an article / Copyedited flats... And now I'm home.

In the middle of that, I got a phone call from my editor at Penguin.

Yes, today was a day for good news....

Sorry to have fallen off the face of the earth. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, and not necessarily in a good way. I've been busy dodging bullets. Allow me to explain...

I grew up in Boulder, Colo., and spent most weekend of my childhood hiking in the mountains or noodling around among the grass, chokecherry bushes and prickly pear cactus while my dad bouldered or practiced rappeling. It was a great way to grow up, and I learned to love the mountains. Imagine waking every morning to the sce...

Like a habitual offender, I found myself behind bars again.

Today, I went to the state's women's prison to interview pregnant inmates. As anyone who's read Unlawful Contact knows, women in prison has been a topic of interest for me for a very long time.

Back in 1997, I spent 24 hours as an inmate in the county jail in an effort to learn more about the experience women face while incarcerated. You can read all about that here.

Since then, I've covered incarcerated women's issues from lots of dif...

I had intended to interview Kathleen Givens about this book, but fate interfered tragically with those plans. So here is my long-overdue review of Rivals for the Crown.

Some of us love historical romance. Others love historical romance. And others just love history with a touch of romance.

Kathleen Givens' book Rivals for the Crown is the perfect read for those of us who find ourselves in the latter two categories, as well as anyone who appreciates beautiful writing and engaging storytelling.

Th...

Whatever I imagined the topic my first blog of 2010 might be, I hadn't imagined it would be this.

I spent the weekend out of town, ringing in the new year with friends, and was catching up on my Facebook posts and email when I learned that Kathleen Givens, whose books I cherish, died suddenly this past weekend.

I was just getting to know Kathleen on a personal level, but I've been a fan of her books since she was brought to my attention with a RITA win for Best Historical some years back. I lov...

When you're a child, a single summer seems to last forever. Now, decades seem to fly past me in the same amount of time it took to live a year. What's with that?

I just finished writing a 4,200-word retrospective on "the Aughts" — the name most of us media types are giving the past 10 years. We got into some fierce debates in the newsroom about the best CDs, TV shows and movies of the past 10 years. And it made me want to hear what you all have to say.

First, let me just say that any list of th...

When you're a child, a single summer seems to last forever. Now, decades seem to fly past me in the same amount of time it took to live a year. What's with that?

I just finished writing a 4,200-word retrospective on "the Aughts" — the name most of us media types are giving the past 10 years. We got into some fierce debates in the newsroom about the best CDs, TV shows and movies of the past 10 years. And it made me want to hear what you all have to say.

First, let me just say that any list of th...

For a lot of people, New Year's Eve is a time to cut loose, drink a lot and party. For me, it's always been a very reflective holiday, a time to look back at the past year — and my life, in general — and to face squarely my own shortcomings and to plan how I'm going to live a better life over the coming year.

It's always been a melancholy holiday for me, to say the least.

Even when I was a child, New Year's Eve was a reflective time for me. I'd watch Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve and try ...