Murder, Mayhem, A Good Beverage, & Chocolate

Fans are in for a treat today - TWO Carina authors in one blog post! First up, Bobbie (aka Sunny) Cole, followed by Caridad Pineiro!

Hi - this is Bobbie!  I am so jazzed at being a part of this fantastic group of writers. My first novel with Carina Press, Memories Of You, should debut approximately three months from now, and I am busy working on yet another romantic suspense for them called Lethal Lasagna.

I am often asked which writers or lines made me wish to pen my own romantic suspense stories. Remember the Silhouette Shadows? Sally Carleen aka Sally Steward was one of my first to read.

I also devoured anything by Maggie Shayne and the fabulous Anne Stewart. Then there were the classics by the likes of Phyllis Whitney, Georgette Heyer, and Mary Stewart.

If heroes who are dark, dangerous, and bad to the bone plus spunky heroines with a penchant for landing in hot water and taming those heroes are your cup of tea, stick around, because the writers in here have those for you...and then some!

Ah, yes, the title of this post also includes the word beverages. I love having a hot cup of cocoa, tea, or coffee while I write. It kills me that Starbucks' Casa Ciello is seasonal--absolutely pains me to have to wait for that to come out every winter. I'm also in love with the yerba mate an Argentinian friend, Jen, sent me - with a cool silver bombilla. With my favorite beverage of the day, I like chocolate. I'm not particular, although pal Anita tells me that we Americans use too much paraffin in ours! She says the Europeans have us beat on chocolate-making. Speaking of chocolate...I will leave you a recipe a friend sent at the bottom of the post!

So now you know who/what started me on the path to murder and mayhem and what it takes to soothe me as I write. Who are your favorite authors, and what is it about them that intrigues you and keeps you flipping those pages? (And inquiring minds want to know...coffee, tea, soda, or cocoa for you during winter months as you read?)

Now...here's Caridad!

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It somehow seems appropriate that I'm sharing blog duty today with Bobbie since my romantic suspense novel from Carina, THE FIFTH KINGDOM, has a link to one of her favorite things: cocoa!

You see THE FIFTH KINGDOM is set in Mexico and it's a story about a professor, Deanna Vasquez, whose archeologist mother abandoned her years earlier to go in search of Montezuma's tomb. Nearly 15 years later, a sexy CIA Agent, Bill Santana, posts himself outside Deanna's classroom with news that her mother has been kidnapped by a fringe group of terrorists. Why? The terrorists believe Deanna's mother has discovered the tomb and a powerful weapon contained therein. So what does a suspense set in Mexico have to do with Bobbie's favorite cocoa? Well the Aztecs believed the cocoa tree had been brought down from the heavens by their god Quetzalcoatl. The Aztecs named the drink made from the cocoa "xocoatl" and since the Aztecs did not have sugar, the beverage made with the cocoa was sometimes spiced with hot chile peppers to add flavor. The Aztecs even considered "xocatl" to be a health elixir and I can't argue with that!

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THE FIFTH KINGDOM will be available in the Spring of 2011, but in the meantime if you're looking for another taste of something spicy, my vampire novella from Carina Press, AZTEC GOLD, hits the shelves on January 3.

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The inspiration for both novels came from a trip I took to Mexico several years ago when I was able to visit some pyramids right outside Mexico City. I loved getting the feel of those ancient structures and the excitement as I walked down the Avenue of the Dead where so many had walked for centuries before me.
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Thanks so much for visiting today!

~ Caridad Pineiro & Bobbie Cole

CHOCOLATE CHILI RECIPE

(the quick version)

2 tbsp. oil
1 c. chopped onion
1 lb. ground beef
28 oz. can tomatoes
1 - 3 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. ground unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. pepper
16 oz. can kidney beans
1/2 c. chopped green pepper

In a heavy saucepan, sauté bacon; stir in oil and onion. Add meat and cook until brown. Add tomatoes, chili powder, ground chocolate, garlic salt, cumin, and pepper; heat to boiling. Add kidney beans and green pepper. Simmer covered 20 minutes.