Sometimes Life Just Needs a Little Plaid

It's the Third Wednesday of the month, and you know what that means! Yes, another festive edition of The Clare and Chrissy Show. Join us over at Clare London's blog as we channel our inner Cher, count down the number of shopping days until Christmas, and regroup when our writing plan blows up in our face.

Pssst. Keep an eye our for our special "open forum" announcement, as well as a little bit of my New Age sneaking into the discussion.

In the mood for some sexy shorts? Clare London has you covered.



Experience more of the steamy romance between Zeke and Miles, the colorful couple first introduced in her novel True Colors. Start with AMBUSH on March 28th, then continue with PAYBACK, and SWITCH as they are released one a month to follow. Watch for them at Dreamspinner Press!

Clare and Chrissy: Happy 2012 and welcome to our first post of this New Year. For those new to our fun, we took January off and spent our time enjoying the month-long adventure that is the Clare London Birthday Blog Bash. Go ahead and swing by for a wide variety of posts and free fiction for all tastes. But now we've cast the inaugural confetti for 2012 into the air and coffee in hand, we are ready to start our February by getting *in the mood*.

 Chrissy: The question is, the mood for what?

Clare: Take a look around any store, scan the advertisements on the web, or watch any television commercial played during February and you might think you know the answer.

Chrissy: Subtlety is not an advertiser's strong point.

Clare: It's hard to miss all the red satin, candy hearts, and jewellery adverts coming at us from all angles.

Chrissy: Don't forget the phone ads. Because hey, nothing says Happy Sensual Valentine's Day to me like a cell phone.

Clare: That doesn't exactly ooze passion, doesn't it?

Chrissy: I suppose it *is* a vital necessity when it comes to phone sex.

Clare: And surely there's some study out there wanting to tell us the endorphins from talking on the phone are the same as those released during sex, or found in a good box of chocolate.

*pause*

Clare and Chrissy: Naaaaaaah.

Chrissy: But we're romance writers. And that means while the rest of the world is buying roses and chocolate at inflated prices, we need to channel a different kind of mood this February. We need to forget about our rose-petaled sheets…

Clare: …toss our satin thongs over the bedpost….

Chrissy: …and leave our inner Ho behind.

Clare: Yep, it's time to get in the mood to write our Holiday story for this year.

Chrissy: A ho' different mindset.

Clare: Chrissy…

Chrissy: You get it? Ho? And then Ho, ho, ho?

Clare: I got it. I got it. *rolls eyes* Now I want to forget it.

Chrissy: Pfffffft.

Clare: Most of us start out January with a plan for our writing in the year ahead.

Chrissy: *sings* Lists, glorious lists!

Clare: We might divvy our plan up via word count, decide on specific work lengths (say 2 novellas, 1 novel, 1 short), or just swear to finish up some of our old works-in-progress.

Clare and Chrissy: *groans*

Chrissy: But no matter our favorite method of planning our work, somewhere along the line we'll take a look at a variety of publisher's calls for submission and the accompanying deadlines.

Clare: Which is how we end up in the middle of the Valentine's Day Frenzy struggling to reclaim that Holiday spirit in time to meet deadlines than seem to end before we even send the kids back to school.

Chrissy: You might think it's easy, seeing as how it was just a month or so behind us.

Clare: And surely we might have actually been inspired during the festivities and planned for our next year's work?

Chrissy: Speak for yourself. Right now everything in me is striving for spring, and the sweet sweat of summer. I want tulips in my life, not poinsettias.

Clare: Balmy walks along the seaside, not dashes through the snow.

Chrissy: And as much as I love butterscotch schnapps and cocoa après ski, a tall strawberry daiquiri après swim sounds pretty darn appealing.

Clare: That's it. We’re heading to the Caribbean and not coming back until July.

Chrissy: In our dreams, sweetie. In our dreams.

Clare: So how do we set the mood and write something that's not even close to being on our radar?

Chrissy: Every writer has his or her own little trick. Some surround themselves with props. Imagine a miniature Christmas Tree with twinkling lights on the desktop, gaily wrapped presents; maybe even a bowl of potpourri to recreate that unmistakable Holiday mood and scent.

Clare: I can just see the men of my household if I try spraying a pine-scented freshner throughout the house.

Chrissy: We've talked with other authors who set aside a period of time and read nothing but Holiday-themed stories to get themselves in the mood.

Clare: Others watch classic Holiday movie favorites.

Chrissy: Or listen to their favorite Holiday music.

Clare: The trick is to trick your senses and recreate the magic of the season…

Chrissy: …even if you and your laptop are sitting on the beach under the tropical sun.

Clare and Chrissy: How about you? Authors, what are your tricks for finding that Holiday spirit out of season? Readers, do you enjoy Holiday-themed stories throughout the year, or do you prefer to match your reading to the calendar? Let us know what you think and win. Everyone who comments to this post will be entered in our random drawing to win some Clare and Chrissy Swag. One lucky Winner to be announced during next month's post.

pic credit: four seasons by vxside at deviantart

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December Winner: marasmine- Congratulations! Please email your mailing address to Chrissy at chrissymunder@yahoo.com for your festive Clare and Chrissy Swag.

Missed any of our posts? Follow the 'sticky' post for these rambles of ours HERE.

Reclaim your own Holiday spirit with our anthology release, Winter Warmers with Lou Harper, Josephine Myles, and JL Merrow.


Here's Chrissy! website // blog.


Here's Clare! website // blog.

There are dribs, drabs, drabbles, shorts, novellas, pdf's, links, the list goes on! Yes, it's her birthday, but we get the goods. Vist Clare London's blog and go wild at all the free fiction!

Be sure to wish her a happy birthday while you are there.

Suitably chuffed as I've now caught back up on Clare's Birthday Blog Bash. Being sick had kept me offline and I missed some great posts. I am especially pleased to have learned about several authors new to me.

Oooh, and on that other note: the heroine in my ranted about latest batch of reading has finally blacked out due to being strangled instead of being hit on the head. Not sure it's an improvement.

Join me as I put aside my ongoing search for a comfortable, supportive, yet reasonably priced sports bra, and twitter about Tweeting and my undoubted Magpie Syndrome over at the lovely and talented Chez London.

You know you've come to the right place. But it's January, the lovely Clare London's Birthday month, and since we at the Munder household are busy starring in our own version of the movie "Contagion" (be afraid, be very afraid) we're taking a break and offering instead the annual Clare London Birthday Blog Bash!

It's an entire month worth of authors and posts from a variety of genres. Grab your coffee, sit back, and start enjoying. Be sure to keep an eye out for my post there as well.

Baby, it's cold outside! Beat the chill with WINTER WARMERS - a seasonal anthology

Mulled wine. Butterscotch kisses. Hideous sweaters. Candy at the beach, or a trip to a sex shop in Amsterdam. And the man of your dreams, wrapped around you...

Winter warmers come in many shapes and sizes, from the tongue-in-cheek to the hot-as-hell. Enjoy a quintet of heart-warming tales of men loving men from Clare London, Chrissy Munder, JL Merrow, Josephine Myles, and Lou Harper that are guaranteed to leave you with a smile on your face.

One thing's for sure—it's going to be a red-hot Christmas!

Now Available: Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk / Smashwords / All Romance Ebooks

Visit the Winter Warmers' Website for upcoming event listings, Live Chats, and your opportunity to win a free copy!

Including today's blog post at Well Read by Clare London. 

Do you enjoy reading fiction set in exotic world hotspots? Or would you rather follow characters as they wander through your hometown? Come share your thoughts as we discuss the all-important story setting here.

Chrissy: Location, Location, Location. Yes, that wonderful catch phrase is not just for real estate anymore.

Clare: Aside from characters, names, and a kernel of an idea for plot, top of the authorly checklist is the question “where is my story taking place”.

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow, October 25th is the official release day for the final seven stories in the Petit Morts Series - including the latest tales by Clare London. Can't wait? Swing by JCPbooks.com for the pre-release sale going on now!