We are super lucky to have the cute, sweet, adorable, & sickeningly prolific Katherine Garbera in The Dungeon today! :sunflower:

USA Today bestselling author Katherine Garbera is a two-time Maggie winner who has written more than 75 books since making her first sale to Harlequin (Silhouette) Desire.  Katherine is known for her sexy heroes, feisty heroines, and sensual stories.  A Florida native who grew up to travel the globe, Katherine now makes her home in the Midlands of the UK with her husband, two children, and a very spoiled miniature dachshund.

Flat-out, Kathy is one of my favorite people on the planet, & I always give a little squee! of delight when I realize I’m going to see her at a conference. :dancin:  I also give a little sob of disappointment when I find out she’ll be at one I’m not attending or vice-versa. :brains:

So please join me in giving her a big WIPs and Chains welcome while we ask her a few of Mistress Heidi‘s favorite questions & get to know her better. :offtoschool:

What is your favorite color?  Red

Favorite song?  “You and I Together” by Dave Matthews Band

Favorite movie?  My favorite movie of all time is the Fast & Furious Franchise.  My favorite recent release is The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

And of course, favorite book?  The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy and The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood

What was the first book in your chosen genre that you remember reading, or that made you want to write the same?  Fires of Winter by Johanna Lindsey made me fall in love with the romance genre. The Harlequin books by Jayne Ann Krentz and Elizabeth Lowell made me want to write for Harlequin.

What do you think of Heidi?  She’s great, right?  Heidi is the best. From the moment we met we’ve been good friends. I’m so lucky to know her! :wave:  [Note from Heidi:  Aww, you’re so sweet.  I feel exactly the same, y’know. :trickortreat: ]

How did you get started writing?  I started writing after my daughter was born. She wasn’t even six months old when I decided I better figure out what I wanted to do with my life and attended a Super Saturday in Ft. Lauderdale. The speaker was Elizabeth Lowell, and I talked about the workshop all the way home. The next Monday I started the book. I had permission to use my computer at work to write (since I was a receptionist, all I did was answer the phone, and my boss agreed writing made me “look busy.” :juggle: )

Tell us a little bit about The Call—i.e. your first sale.  It was March 7, 1996. The editor (Angela Catalano) called me to discuss my book and I thought, This is good. I was jotting down notes of everything she was saying and there was a pause and she said, “So we’d like to publish your book.” I yelped and said yes, that’d be great. Then I called every relative I had and everyone in my critique group, and my parents took me out for a special dinner. Then overnight I started to wonder if I’d made the whole thing up.  So when I got to work in the morning, I waited until after 9 a.m. and called the editor back; she took my call, and I made up something to say like I wanted to make sure you had my address since my little town doesn’t deliver to your door. She was very nice about it and when I hung up, I knew for sure, I’d sold my first book. :jumping:

Fill in the blank—If you like [blank], you’ll love Katherine Garbera!  If you like Jill Shalvis, you’ll love Katherine Garbera! …OR… If you like sexy, emotional reads, you’ll love Katherine Garbera!

Tell us about EYE CANDY and why we’ll love every word.

In Eye Candy, candy chef Hayley Dunham has vowed to own her thirties; she’s a successful business woman, good friend and dutiful daughter, yet she can’t help but want more. She wants passion… Fireworks… And one kiss with the hot cop next door shows her exactly who she wants those fireworks with.

Garrett Mulligan has always wanted to be a cop; he’s the kind of man who lives to protect and serve. But when an injury sidelines him and raises doubts about his return to work, he’s at his wits end until cute, flirty Hayley shows up to provide the perfect distraction…

[Further note from Heidi:  Oh, Kathy—you had me at “candy chef.” :happywitch: And also “hot cop.” :screamcartoon: ]

If your plane crashed in the Andes, would you convince the other survivors to eat Heidi first or last?  I’d convince them to eat her last. In fact, I’d need Heidi to help me lead the survivors off the mountain. :hellboy:

If you could write anything—whether in the same genre/sub-genre as you’re writing now or another—what would it be?  I love what I am writing now. I get to write glitzy emotional books for Harlequin Desire, sexy books for Harlequin Blaze, urban romances for HarperImpulse, and some fun surfer books inspired by my favorite movie franchise, Fast & Furious, for Tule Publishing. :burningwitch:

What are you currently working on?  I’m working on His Seduction Game Plan for Harlequin Desire. It’s the second book in a duet that is part of my “Sons of Privilege” series that I did for Desire back in 2008.

LIGHTNING-FAST LASHES:

Leather or lace?  Lace.

Devil or angel?  Devilish angel. :devil:

Angel food or devil’s food?  Devil’s food.

Hemlock or arsenic?  Arsenic.

Blood, sweat, or tears?  Ugh! All of the above.

Boxers, briefs…or commando?  Boxers.

Cowgirl or missionary? (Hey, get your mind out of the gutter. I was simply asking what you wanted to be when you were growing up. :draccoffin: )  Cowgirl.  Oh, wait a minute—mind out of the gutter… When I was growing up, I thought I wanted to be a nun…until the seventh grade when I started noticing boys. :scaryspider:

Thank you, Kathy!  Just like you, that was delightful! 

And, My Darlings, in case you think great answers & a fabulous personality are all Kathy has to share today, you should know that she has also generously offered to give away an autographed copy of Eye Candy…known to Mistress Heidi as “The Book of the Sexy Six-Pack Abs.” :catwolf:

To enter, simply engage in conversation with Kathy in some way during today’s post.  Ask a question, leave a comment, agree with Mistress Heidi & me that Kathy is The Bomb, or spend a little time drooling over Eye Candy‘s sexy cover. :bloodyeye:

No postal restrictions, by the way, so everyone is welcome to enter!

Winner will be announced at the end of the week during our October 4th “Happy Sunday” post.

And remember that you can always visit KatherineGarbera.com to find out more about all her books—past, present, & future! :offtoschool:

Happy chatting!  I hope you enjoy your time with Kathy as much as I always do! :monsterbar:

I’m more than a little embarrassed to admit it, but this is probably exactly what it’s going to look like when I finally get around to moving all The Kittehs‘ stuff to the new house. :zombiegirl:

To say that I’ve got a couple of cat trees & more than a few pieces of cat-specific furniture is a frightful understatement. :skeletondoor:

Happy Sunday!  Have you had a good week, my Darlings?  Do you have some good stuff to share with us today that conveys your happiness & gratitude? Don’t be shy—we want to hear so we can be happy with you! :offtoschool:

This week, I AM HAPPY that I finally got around to opening the new vacuum I bought for the new house. Now, I’m not much of a cleaning lady, & because one of The Kittehs is petrified of vacuums, I definitely haven’t been much of a vacuumer in the past.  But the new house has carpeting—lots of carpeting—& the great carpet guys who came in originally to clean things up recommended that I vacuum on a regular basis.  le sigh. So I thought I’d give that a try with a vacuum cleaner that’s actually made for sucking crud off of carpeting. :zombiehand:  (FYI, I got a bagless one with a HEPA filter, because A.) the HEPA filter is supposed to be a real plus in “removing allergens” & B.) the most annoying thing about vacuuming is finding the right bags—am I right? :greeneyedmonster:  So I decided to skip that part altogether.)

Well…this is probably the first, last, & only time I’ll ever say this, but I unboxed the new vacuum, put it together, gave it a spin (wanted to do it at least once before The Kittehs move in, just in case), & it was actually really FUN! :burningwitch:  Maybe it was simply the novelty of a new toy, but it was zippy, easy to use, & really fun to watch the dirt collect inside the collection cup.  It also wasn’t nearly as difficult & didn’t take nearly as long as I expected to vacuum the entire upstairs. :squirrel2:

I AM HAPPY, too, that Mr. Handyman spent a day helping around the new house.  He put the bed frames together & got the mattresses put on, so the bedrooms are much more set up now than they were before.  (No more crashing on the sofa or sleeping on a mattress on the floor. :halloweenbatman: )  He hooked up my under-the-counter water filtration system, which I absolutely love & insisted get moved to the new house.  And the biggest, most important thing:  he built, from scratch, five inserts for the basement windows that are regular screen on the outside & rabbit wire on the inside—with a nice, strong wooden frame all around.  This is for The Kittehs; he did the same thing a while back at the old house, but a new house means all new windows with all new dimensions. :skeletondance:

I’m rabid about keeping The Kittehs safely inside, while still giving them access to fresh air & as much as the outdoors as possible—from a distance, of course. :blackcat:  So these special-made screens are absolutely fabulous & a real life-saver.  (Literally & figuratively.)  And Mr. Handyman is so good at building them…without judging me for my peculiar requests. :bloodyeye:

And finally, I will say that I AM HAPPY to have the riding lawnmower at the new house.  Y’all know how little I care about yard work or how tall the grass gets, but since the lawn there hasn’t been mowed since long before we bought the place, it was nice to take a stab at it & get a bit of it mowed down.  There’s still a lot to do, but since there are several much more important things to deal with at the moment, I’ll deal with it in stages. :windy:

So how about you?  This moving business may be monopolizing my life these days, but what exciting or simply gratitude-worthy stuff is going on with you?  Let us know so we can celebrate with you! :jumping: