The writings and ramblings of Colette Saucier

Good morning! Welcome to Coffee with Colette .     Some of you might have noticed that I did not post a Sneak Peek Sunday this week. Alas, I have been busy helping my daughter move into her first house! Plus I have been completely overwhelmed with my soul-sucking day job. (For those of you who might not know, I was on disability for 10 weeks - so I had 10 weeks of work waiting for me when I returned! If you feel sorry for me, just get 10,000 of your closest friends to buy my novels so I can be a writer full time!) Hence, this week I will have to forgo all blogging here on Writings and Ramblings , although I will have a new post on Austen Authors this Friday. Lucky for you , I have the lovely and delightful Laurie White joining me this week, with her new release Twist of Fate ! She is a fellow Southerner and Sweet Cravings author, and I know once you hear about Twist of Fate , it's going to jump to the top of your TBR list! ~Colette   Twist of Fate S...

The Pulse and Prejudice Pop Culture Challenge is in full gear! I hope all of you are having fun searching for the hidden treasures throughout the narrative of the novel for your chance to win an iPad4 and CA$H Jackpot! As promised, periodically during the contest period I will provide clues as to where you can find one of the pop culture allusions within the prose of Pulse and Prejudice , listed on the acknowledgments page. Last month I divulged the first clue , which was probably the most difficult: William Faulkner . That particular reference is something of an homage to my ex-husband, as he is a Faulkner scholar.  He is also a wine connoisseur; so in keeping with the "former spouse" theme, today I'll give you a hint as to the location for the reference to the film Sideways . You will find it in Volume 3, Chapter 6 , just before Darcy and Elizabeth proceed up Oak Mount; and - to make it even easier for you - it is something Darcy says in response to a question p...

Welcome to my special Oscar edition of the Thursday 13! The 85th Academy Awards airs on ABC this Sunday, February 24th. In honour of this momentous event, I have compiled a list of thirteen of my favourite movie moments. I've done my best to avoid spoiling anything, but read (and view!) at your own risk... 13. A Few Good Men – Jessep: I felt that his life might be in danger once word of the letter got out. Kaffee: Grave danger? Jessep: Is there another kind? 12. Bram Stoker’s Dracula – Mina says, “Take me away from all this death!” and drinks Dracula’s blood to join him in eternal life. 11. Gladiator – “Are you not entertained!” 10. Monty Python and the Holy Grail – The argument about the velocity of unladen European vs. African swallows. 9. Casablanca - Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! [a croupier hands Renault a pile of money] Croupier: Your winnings, sir. Captain Renault: Oh, thank you very much....

Welcome to the Hump Day Hook Hop for February 20th, 2013! With this blog hop, each author posts one(ish) paragraph from a WIP or finished book for all to see and - we hope! - leave a comment. I have something new for you today: a short excerpt from a steamy romantic suspense I am writing with the working title of Lilac Lane (I'm terrible with titles). Mason is the police detective investigating a "suspicious incident" - on Lilac Lane - reported by Alicia, who is dealing with some major trust issues....        Mason laid a soft kiss on her mouth, tugging her bottom lip gently between h is teeth. He lifted his face just enough to look at her. In time, he could teach her to trust again, at least to trust him, but it would take patience and perseverance. He thought she might be worth the effort.      “If you want me to stop, ” he told her , “ if you really mean it, say ‘apple.’”      A licia furrowed her brow ...

Welcome to Coffee with Colette . Wait until you see this new release from fellow Secret Cravings author Layna Pimentel ! Oh, what am I saying?  You won't want to wait! The alchemy of romance and fantasy you'll find in A Gift From Fate is going to knock your socks off! ~Colette After colliding with a stunning vision in white, retired Staff Sergeant Brent Daniels offers to drive the beautiful stranger to a hotel for the night, but instead discovers he’s with one very lost creature. He’s bewitched by her sinful curves, her dark and mesmerizing eyes, and the pull at his soul with each minute passing. Nevertheless, he can’t shake the feeling she’s hiding something. Melpomene, daughter of Zeus, finds her handsome rescuer resembles the man who has continuously haunted her dreams. Before long, she’s in his arms, wanting more. Knowing their days are numbered, desperation leads her to reach out for help by an unlikely ally. Just how far will these two lovers go, and what wil...

Welcome to Sneak Peek Sunday for February 17th!  I cannot begin to tell you how thrilled I have been by the reception All My Tomorrows has received! Last month, it was voted a Top 10 Romance Novel of 2012 in the P&E Readers' Poll, and just this week, not only did it advance to the second round in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition, but also Austenprose named me "Debut Author of 2012" for All My Tomorrows ! In this scene, Alice and Peter are engaging in a little pillow talk, but it's not going exactly as Peter had hoped....      Alice shoved his chest but didn’t even manage to move him a millimeter. God, his chest feels good. “This is a one-night stand. I’m one of your bimbettes.”      “What? How can you even think this is a one-night stand? And why are you always talking about my ‘bimbettes’? I don’t even know what the hell that means.”      She shoved him again. Ugh. Better stop that . “T...

Welcome to the Hump Day Hook Hop for February 13th, 2013! With this blog hop, each author posts one(ish) paragraph from a WIP or finished book for all to see and - we hope! - leave a comment. The Dark Jane Austen Book Club has selected Pulse and Prejudice , the vampire adaptation of Jane Austen's classic love story, as their selection for February. Hence, I have chosen an excerpt from that novel for today's hook, which also references Lord Byron, to accompany the guest post I did for them this week, Darcy, Byron, and Vampires . Yes, yes, I'm sorry; it's long, but only because it includes a poem by Lord Byron! I promise to go shorter next week, and I forgive all the other Hook-ers who are too busy writing to read this excerpt. SPOILER ALERT!!!  In Pulse and Prejudice , eventually Elizabeth learns Mr. Darcy is, in fact, a vampire.  In this scene, she makes an attempt to tease him about it....      “You know, I recently read a poem about you,...

(Originally written last month for Austen Authors ; republished now in honour of Valentine's Day.)   "In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." These words first published 200 years ago - and just before St. Valentine's Day - perfectly express a theme found not only in literature but in our lives as well. The heart wants what the heart wants, despite any reasoning against it. Two central motifs dominate Pride and Prejudice : love and money. For some characters, the two go hand in hand, as with Mrs. Bennet's hope that a young man of large fortune "will fall in love with one of" her daughters. Even she is not so callous as to hope for marriage without love; and once Mr. Darcy has insulted the least favourite of her children, his ten thousand a year loses its luster. The association of the human heart to love and, indeed, all passions goes back...

Today I am a guest at the Dark Jane Austen Book Club discussing the inspiration for Pulse and Prejudice , their featured selection for February. Be sure to pop over there for a chance to win a signed copy... In this, the bicentennial anniversary of what is arguably the most beloved novel of all time, I am asked with increasing frequency, what on Earth possessed me to write a vampire adaptation of Pride and Prejudice ? Often this is asked of avowed Jane Austen devotees with a tone of incredulity, if not outright scorn. I would like to take this opportunity to put that question to rest:  Lord Byron made me do it. Continue reading Leave a comment on the Dark J ane Austen Book Club website   for your chance to win a signed copy of Pulse and Prejudice .

Welcome to Sneak Peek Sunday for February 10th!  Yes, the "official" Six Sentence Sunday may be gone, but now we have a new way to share little snippets every week. Today I present an excerpt from Pulse and Prejudice , my paranormal adaptation of Jane Austen's classic, which tells the story of Mr. Darcy - vampire. In this scene, Mr. Darcy is in conversation with his valet Rivens, discussing the plausibility of pursuing a relationship with Miss Elizabeth Bennet even though he is immortal....      “She will die before I will.”      “She will die before you regardless.”      Darcy paced his chambers in Rosings hours after Lady Catherine’s carriage had conveyed Elizabeth and the others back to the parsonage, each minute spent second-guessing himself and pondering how decisions made years ago might affect all his days to come.      Darcy stopped and turned to his valet. “And your wife? When you l...

Much ado is being made about the acquisition by Random House and Focus Features for Longbourn , a new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice from the servants' point of view, à la Downton Abbey . All I can say is, Bloody hell!  I wrote such a scene for Austen Authors as part of our P&P200 celebrations, and more than a dozen people told me I should expand it into a full novel. Now someone beat me to it - PLUS they are making it into a movie! (Novel, indeed! Hundreds of readers have said Pulse and Prejudice should be on the big screen, and this comes along and makes it look so easy!) Because that other novel has yet to be published, today I present the scene I wrote. If nothing else, perhaps it will whet your appetite for is yet to come... M rs. Hill rushed up the path from Meryton to Longbourn, anxious to bring Cook the ducks and spices required for the elaborate dinner Mrs. Bennet had planned for Mr. Bingley that afternoon. If only Mrs. Phillips had not detained her, b...

Welcome to the Hump Day Hook Hop for February 6th, 2013! With this blog hop, each author posts one(ish) paragraph from a WIP or finished book for all to see and - we hope! - leave a comment... The Dark Jane Austen Book Club has selected Pulse and Prejudice , the vampire adaptation of Jane Austen's classic love story, as their selection for February. Hence, I have chosen an excerpt from that novel for today's hook in case anyone might be interested in joining them in their reading! This scene (2 paragraphs - sorry!) occurs immediately after Elizabeth has rejected Mr. Darcy's first proposal, and we see his reaction after storming out of the parsonage.... Again, Darcy started towards the gate and then halted. He could go back and make her marry him, make her love him. He dismissed the idea in a moment. He did not want her to accept him unless of her own volition. He could, however, erase this entire sordid episode from her memory. No, neither would that do, as ...

Welcome to Sneak Peek Sunday for February 3rd!  Yes, the "official" Six Sentence Sunday may be gone, but now we have a new way to share! For its inaugural week,  I thought I would do something different and highlight a new feature here on Writings and Ramblings . The "In Short" section lists a few stories of varied genres for your reading pleasure. The following is an excerpt from "Quality Time" and is based on actual events... I pressed my foot harder against the accelerator. What time was it? The car clock mocked me by blinking 12:00 incessantly. Why hadn’t I worn a watch? Why didn’t I own a watch? My heart lodged in my throat, pounding : Guilt. Guilt. Guilt. I could envision their bodies, frail and bending in the wind, cold and shivering. How could I have been so cruel? I jerked the steering wheel to the right, screeched to a stop, and jumped from the car. You can read this short story (and others) in its  entirety by clicking on the...