Archives for “Sabrina Jeffries”

I don’t write many dukes. As a matter of fact, I’ve written only three in my entire 35-novel career (43 works, if you count the short stories and novellas). I’m not even sure why. I just haven’t. But I notice that there are writers who write lots and lots of dukes. I assume it’s because they [...]


Okay, so I don’t play with them, but I HAVE them. Is that weird? I like having little fake people around me. My former assistant used to be creeped out by dolls, however, and I know that a lot of people are. I must confess that  for me it really depends on the doll (Chuckie [...]


Okay, you won’t understand my blog title unless you’re a Neil Diamond fan, but it fits my subject. Because, you see, I WAS a Neil Diamond fan in my youth. And then I wasn’t for years and years, and then a few years back I became one again. Why? I. Don’t. Know. I’m hoping to [...]


Yes, I know I’m behind the curve on this. Yes, I know every author and their mother (maybe even their father) has a street team. But I thought it would be fun, so I’m doing it, too. For those of you who are even more behind than I am, a street team, according to Karin [...]


 I just got back from RT, where I met lots and lots of readers (and booksellers and other authors, but mostly readers). It was so much fun! And here’s why I love it: They talk about characters as if they’re real. They notice things about my books that I don’t notice. They remind me that [...]


I saw Thor for the first time last month. I enjoyed it moderately. But after watching it, I confess I didn’t get why everyone is so gaga over Chris Hemsworth. I mean, he’s cute and all, and I do like his blue eyes. But he’s blond. And I just don’t go for blonds. In fact, I [...]


Believe it or not, April Fool’s Day jokes go back a long, LONG way. Someone did a spectacular one in 1860 when they invited people to watch the washing of the white lions at the Tower of London. The prank apparently drew lots of people; the only problem was that by 1860 the lions had long [...]


Many Cajun recipes begin with “First you make a roux”: crawfish étouffée, gumbos of all kinds, jambalaya. Roux is sort of the Cajun equivalent of white sauce–flour browned in oil until it is just this side of burned. Roux is essential. The thing is, everyone makes their roux differently. I make it the way my [...]


I didn’t mean for it to happen, honestly. My writer friends and I went over to B&N for coffee during our girls’ night out, and we behaved as usual, talking, laughing, enjoying being together. We were in the coffee shop (this is important–pay attention). I went to get more coffee, and a gentleman in a [...]


Yes, my revised version of By Love Unveiled, which was first published in 1993 under the name of Deborah Martin, comes out tomorrow. Just so you’ll know, here’s what I did in revising it: Tightened up the writing (gee, I’ve learned a lot in 20 years; who knew?) Made some of the motivations more believable [...]


Recently I saw the movie Knight and Day (yes, it has Tom Cruise in it–I was sucked in by the opening, forgive me, but at least I saw it free on TV!). It had everything that ought to produce a good romantic comedy–likable characters, a quirky plot, good pacing, and most importantly, a happy ending. But [...]


Lord knows I love a pair of killer pumps. I used to walk, run, and dance in stilettos. I don’t know if I just didn’t feel pain back then or somehow I was able to ignore it. These days, stilettos are what I call my “sit down shoes.” I only wear them if I know [...]


Cilantro is the Spanish word for the leaves of the coriander plant (it’s also sometimes called Chinese parsley). It’s used the world over under different names, so I grew up being forced to eat it occasionally. Believe me, I wish I could like it. It’s IN everything–my favorite Mexican food, my favorite Thai food, my [...]


I start out my mornings (sometimes in the dark) looking at these steps. It’s a bit hard to tell from this picture, but it’s four steep flights that snake between houses to take you to the next street (I live in a hilly location). Once you cross that street above, there is yet another set [...]


Do you ever get obsessed with a song? And no, I don’t mean those earworms, where you hear a catchy tune and can’t get it out of your head for a while. I’m talking about a song that you like so much that you listen to it all the time. That you hear it in [...]


I’m sure I’m not alone in having made some new discoveries this year. Some of them were good, some of them were bad (for me), and some of them were downright weird. But they will (partly) define my year. So let’s share our new discoveries. Here’s mine: Best new-to-me show: Rizzoli and Isles. I just [...]


It is entirely appropriate that I am blogging on the day the world ends because I’m married to a man who’s been predicting doom and gloom since the day we met. He’s not as bad as those survivalists you see on TV, but he does expect “the end of life as we know it” to come [...]


I’ve collected these through the years, so I thought I’d share. Dried Christmas trees are a serious fire hazard. Not really. Yes, if you had a short in your wires (and most lights these days are made not to do that) and it threw a spark, you could conceivably start a fire if your tree was [...]


Yes, that’s a chemise on my cover. And yes, I had to raid my historical Barbie dolls to get a miniature stocking and drawers. The funny thing about it is–hanging stockings wasn’t a custom during the Regency. Not in England. Our image of English Christmases is based on Victorian England, not Regency England. The customs [...]


Since we’re heading into the “big” holidays, here’s a quick quiz about what your holiday preferences are, just for fun: Thanksgiving (for Americans and Canadians): Turkey dinner or something else? (Chinese food, anyone? Anyone?) Stuffing or Potatoes or both? Home-cooked or take-out/catered? Pumpkin pie or pecan pie or both (or other)? Your house or someone [...]


I knew that would get your attention. Okay, so most of my Barbies are either fairly traditional or historical. I have ten: one in a kimono, one in Thai costume, two in cool designer evening outfits, a cancan dancer, a flapper doll, a Scarlett O’Hara dressed in Victorian period costume and one dressed in the [...]


As many of you know, I have a Christmas book coming out today. The day before Halloween. And no, my publisher doesn’t have some evol plan to confuse you about holidays so you’ll start your Christmas shopping early. Oh, wait, yes, they do. But there’s another legit reason for it. Really. Christmas merchandise has a [...]


Okay, Christmas is still a ways off, but I happen to have a Christmas book coming out in two weeks, so I’ve been thinking about the season already. I even have a video for my upcoming book, though it’s kind of short, just a teaser. Anywho, when I was writing this book, I had one [...]


Finally, I thought when I heard about this, a diet I could embrace! A lady claims to have lost 85 pounds eating only at Starbucks. Holy Shades of Jared Fogle and Subway! This sounded good to me, since I go there every day anyway. But then I read what she had for breakfast (oatmeal and [...]


It never ceases to amaze me the many things that lodge in our collective unconscious that simply aren’t true. We just like them, so we keep repeating them over and over. Recently, I found some of these myths, one of which my stickler-for-the-truth Trivia Superman husband told me and was shocked to learn wasn’t true. [...]