I've not written contemporary romance in ages, but when I was starting out, I wrote three of them before I decided to write something more otherworldly.

This is a short snippet — the first meeting between h/H. Natalie Hall (heroine) just learned that her boss got fired, and she's apprehensive as she gets called to see Alex Damon. (She expects to be fired based on what her assistant told her).

Note: This is an uncorrected excerpt.

Someone with cropped black hair sat in an executive leather chair, facing the windows. Torrents of rain blurred the view of gray roads and red brake lights. A large tanned hand held a cell phone to an ear, but the voice was too low for her to eavesdrop. Natalie took a long breath and counted to ten, welcoming the respite before she had to face Alex Damon, the chairman and CEO of DDE's holding company, Global Strategies Corporation. She'd never seen him in real life, although there were plenty of pictures in glossy gossip magazines. Being one of the planet's most eligible bachelors and a self-made billionaire tended to make one's face well-known.

Finally he snapped the phone shut and swiveled around to face her.

“Yes?” His voice was a steely baritone that demanded an immediate answer with just that one syllable.

His entire body emanated authority and raw sexuality. The dark tailored suit he was wearing tried to throw a veneer of civilization over him, but failed. He would've been frightening if it weren't for the iron control in the winter gray eyes that said he ruled, not his primal instinct. She shivered as his gaze brushed over her, head to toe and then back up to her face. She had the most absurd feeling that he was undressing her with his eyes.

Nonsense. He was probably trying to decide if she would cry at bad news and whether he should delegate the distasteful task to someone else.

“I'm Natalie Hall. My assistant said you wanted to see me.” She noted with relief that her voice didn't betray her nervousness.

He frowned slightly, his gaze darting to her barren ring finger then back to her face. Most people didn't expect Asian when they heard the name “Hall”. For some reason it pleased her that she'd managed to surprise him.

He rose from his seat to his full height, which was impressive. He walked around the desk and extended a hand. “Alex Damon. Nice to meet you.” This time the baritone was more modulated. It slithered over her like strands of supple leather.

“Nice to meet you too.” Natalie shook his hand. It was slightly calloused and infused her cool skin with warmth.

He shut the door and gestured at a chair. “Please have a seat.”

“Thank you.”

She sat, putting her laptop bag and purse discreetly beside the chair and crossing her legs. She had the odd feeling that Alex was staring at them, but when she glanced up, he was busy pulling another chair from the other side of the office. God she was ridiculous. Of course he wasn't looking at her legs. They were her best asset, but he'd dated models with legs up to their armpits.

When he sat across from her, barely enough personal space remained to be polite. She could feel a delicious heat coming off his body, smell a whiff of spicy cologne. Something stirred in her, sexual and dangerous. She stomped on it. This wasn't the time, this wasn't the place, and he definitely wasn't the right man to be attracted to. Business and pleasure never mixed well.

“Your assistant told me you had a doctor's appointment,” Alex said, breaking her train of thought. “I hope you aren't coming down with something. You look a little flushed.”

She suppressed a surge of mortification. She was usually better at maintaining a professional façade.

“I'm fine,” she said, flashing him a quick smile. Danielle must have tried to cover for her, but Natalie could see that lying to this man would be a mistake. “There's been some miscommunication, and I apologize. I was in a fender-bender this morning.” She quickly added, “Nothing major, but you know how it is on the Beltway.”

He nodded, and she relaxed a little until he stretched his legs out. The fabric of his pants spread tautly over lean muscles, and his calves almost touched hers. The heat coming off him was like a furnace. She wanted to sink into it.

“Well, down to business. As I'm sure you've heard, there have been some changes here since I arrived this morning.”

It was her turn to nod. What was he trying to say?

“Ralph is no longer in charge of the operation. His replacement will come from Caissa Enterprises, one of Global Strategies' European subsidiaries.”

An executive from Europe. She didn't know what to make of that. There were undoubtedly people at DDE who were qualified to take over. But then this wasn't her company, and her opinion probably mattered very little to Alex.

“Since Vivien left with him, I have no choice but to rely on you. I believe you were her second-in-command?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Alex smiled. “Ralph's replacement is expected later this week. Once he's here, I hope you can help him with the transition.”

“I understand.” She suppressed a sigh of relief. So she wasn't going to be let go.

“You also need to brief me on some of the major projects. I plan to be more actively involved for a while, until I'm satisfied with the operational efficiency here.”

She blinked. Yesterday's edition of the Wall Street Journal had reported that he was returning to Shanghai to oversee several sweeping projects in the burgeoning Chinese market that could be very lucrative for Global Strategies. Although DDE was a profitable subsidiary, it was still only one of many mid-sized ones, not something that should consume much of his attention.

He shifted slightly in his seat, looking at her intently, and his legs brushed hers. She held her breath.

“Do you have any plans tonight?” he said.

She shook her head automatically.

Since her latest breakup six months ago, she'd devoted all her attention to work. Work didn't disillusion her like Marcus had. She still couldn't believe he'd proposed to another woman less than a month after they'd split up.

“Excellent.” A charming smile appeared on Alex's lips. “Would you like to have dinner with me?”

She shot him a sharp look. She didn't indulge in interoffice dating, no matter how delicious the man in the question was. It was the stupidest CLM — career limiting move — she could think of.

“I'd like to talk more about DDE, but I don't have time at the moment. We can discuss it over dinner. I hate to make you extend your work day, but unfortunately that's the only time I'm available.”

Despite his smooth tone, she couldn't shake off the feeling that he was amused by her silent response. Was he laughing at her for thinking that he might have romantic interests in her?

She straightened. “It won't be a problem.” I hope you won't be a problem.

“Eleanor — my assistant — will send you an email this afternoon. How's seven for you?”

“Fine.” She rose and shook his hand briskly, purposefully maintaining eye contact even as she felt her hand almost completely engulfed by his much larger and stronger one. Then she gathered her things and left.

Went to the pool today and tanned a little bit. I don't really like to tan, though my skin turns brown very easily, but I read some studies that getting vitamin D via sunlight can help you feel better, etc. Since I spend a lot of time indoors, I thought it might be good to get out a bit.

I don't know about the health effect, but my arms and legs are quite tan now. (I didn't tan my face…for obvious reasons…)

P.S. The studies / articles I've read about vitamin D:

• Vitamin D & depression
• Vitamin D & allergy
• Vitamin D & pregnancy complication
• Vitamin D & breast cancer

P.S.S. No, I don't have all the issues mentioned above, but I can get mildly depressed from time to time.

If you wanted to get the conference tapes but were hesitating over the price ($129.99 plus shipping and handling), here's a chance to get the complete set (DVD or CDs) on sale at www.billspro.com/order/rwa/index.html.

Promotional code for August is RAug9226. Mention that you're on Facebook and that you've seen Bill Stephens Productions Facebook page, and you can get additional $5 off. So that should bring the total down to $94.99 plus shipping and handling.

I found their shipping charges very reasonable, even if you live overseas. I already ordered my copy. If you have any questions, you can email them at ServeMe2@BillsPro.com. Their customer service is prompt and courteous.

P.S. As of August 19, their mp3 download page doesn't contain all the recordings from their master catalogue.

I'm not sure if you've seen it, but Linda Howard briefly discussed the trouble she's been having with her work due to her health issues on Facebook. I'm not surprised that less than good health can affect one's creativity and productivity and everything else so much. It doesn't even have to be something hormonal. Even something as non-specific as chronic pain can bring on numerous problems and kill productivity.

When little aches here and there let themselves known, I used to just forge ahead until my body went on a massive strike. It did for two months soon after I signed with Agent. It did again last year. After two devastating battles that lasted five months total, I've decided I cannot win against my own body. So these days I try to be kinder to myself, even though it's very hard, especially because I never used to have joint pain. My first instinct is usually to flog myself for being lazy or whiny or something.

So what do I do when I feel achy or fatigued? I allow myself a very short nap and half an hour of stretching. On top of that, I see my physical therapist at least twice a week to keep my joints in working shape. And I eat fresh fruit and vegetables every day. I should exercise more regularly as well, but one thing at a time.

What do you do to keep yourself healthy?

In the last two weeks I thought I'd read and relax, but none of that happened. Instead I got sucked into an epic historical drama with awesome larger-than-life characters, and I couldn't bring myself to read anything afterward. It's disappointing, but basically 007 Dukes and so on that I had on my TBR just lost their appeal.

I'm sure my appetite for them will return by the end of the summer at the latest.

How's your August so far?

Thanks to Nadia for having me here today!

Nadia asked me to blog about my experience as an indie author and how it's working out. In some ways it's working out great. In other ways it's definitely not easy. I'm not sure if authors who are traditionally published get a rulebook or not, but I know that indies don't.

We're expected to know the rules going in both socially and from a business angle. We're expected to know how to interact with our readers and fans, with reviewers (positive and negative), and with the online publishing world in general.

From the beginning, I've been a very opinionated indie. I'm someone who isn't afraid to speak my mind about things. Sometimes this gets me into drama. Sometimes it earns me enemies or just people who “will never read me now”. That last part sucks, since as an indie, I need readers or I won't make it. I don't have somebody else's marketing department to help push me to a wider audience. Though I realize many traditionally published authors don't have that nearly as much as they'd like or need either.

I'm on a very steep learning curve, not just in publishing, but in social interactivity… how much to market, when to stop, what lines not to cross, and which lines to cross. Sometimes being seen as controversial is a good thing. It gets me exposure I wouldn't have normally had. It gets me talked about. It ultimately gets me sales.

Sometimes the fallout isn't as good. And even when it nets me sales, it also nets me stress and drama.

So my experience has been a mixed bag. On the one hand, I really love self-publishing. I love being in control of the entire process, hiring a cover artist, picking my own editors, and telling the story I want to tell with no apologies. In romance there are a lot of formulas. Many publishers want a certain number of sex scenes occurring at certain points in the story. They want a certain heat level. They have rules about what language you can use. Etc. etc.

I didn't want to be stifled in that way, and so that's been another wonderful thing about being indie.

I've met a lot of really cool, talented, and self-possessed indie authors like Moriah Jovan, R.J. Keller, M.T. Murphy, and Kait Nolan, to name just a few. Each of them has a different way they go about being indie and slightly different goals and motivations.

I love running my own business and keeping all the profit.

I really love being a part of an indie movement in authorship that should have happened back when it became cool to be an indie musician or indie filmmaker. But it's happening now. So that's what matters.

Initially a lot of people told me not to do it, that it was some sort of career suicide. I never felt that way, since I could just start over with a new pen name if I didn't like how things went for Zoe. I didn't want the pressure of traditional publishing and deadlines and such. The irony is that I've learned a lot about myself here, including that I often create my own pressure and chaos no matter what road I'm on. And it's not something I can avoid by merely taking a different aesthetic path.

I ignored the well-meaning advice of those who told me not to go indie. I saw a future in indie authorship and particularly in ebooks. I started growing my audience and marketing my work. One of my little marketing projects is the Zoe Who? series, which is a youtube cartoon series about my self-publishing journey poking fun at the publishing industry, romance, and myself (lots of material there, LOL).

I try to be genuine, looking for that line between being genuine, and maintaining some level of emotional privacy. It seems to be overall paying off, since more people seem to be attracted to me than repelled by me.

Right now, as an indie, I live pretty naked because I talk a lot about my experiences as a writer and as an indie in particular. There are a lot of things I struggle with including “how should I present myself?”, “how should I engage?”, “when should I disengage?” that often become the topics of blog posts because I know I can't be the only author who feels this way, who feels sometimes the creative flow shuts off from too much Internet connection.

I try to form genuine connections with readers and people on Twitter, Facebook, and through blog hopping because we all want connection and if someone likes you they are more open and receptive to checking your work out. This has opened a lot of doors to helping overcome reader objections and getting my work read by an ever-widening audience.

My three novellas, Kept, Claimed, and Mated, generally hang out in the top 1,000 of the overall Kindle store, out of over 700,000 titles. I'm very proud of that, but I have a long way to go.

I'm constantly growing. This growth takes place in my writing and how I package my work. I recently had the novella covers slightly revamped by my cover artist to look more polished. (I had designed those particular covers originally.) The growth is also ongoing personally in how I handle the various emotional changes involved in putting work out there without a net or rulebook.

Hopefully my experiences help someone else who wants to do the same things.

Overall, it has been an incredibly rewarding journey and, yes, I would go indie again. And I want to stay indie forever.

You can find Zoe at:

http://www.zoewinters.org
http://zoewinters.wordpress.com
http://www.twitter.com/zoewinters