The amazingly prolific and talented Susan Meier is hanging out and dishing a Quick Six with us today! Not only is she sharing 6 fun facts, but she’s offering not one, but two books to one lucky reader!!! To win a copy of Susan’s Maid’s Duet:  Maid for the Single Dad and Maid for the Millionaire be sure to leave a comment.

Plotter or Pantzer?
I’m somewhere in between. Last year, I tried writing without an outline hoping it would make my work flow more naturally…and it did. After I spent three days trying to come up with an idea of where the next scene would go! So I’m a Plotzer. I create a story summary which is usually about a paragraph. Then I do a one-page “thing” of my four major plot points.
From there it’s all pants!

Chest hair or bare?
I’m a sucker for a decent dusting of chest hair on a solid, muscled chest! I can understand the appeal of a bare chest, however, in recent years I’ve been noticing a tendency for women to like men who don’t look like men. That puzzles me. I think the “fun” of romance/sex is in our differences! LOL

Champagne or beer?
Oh, dear heaven, I love both. Because each has its place. There’s nothing like a good champagne at a wedding, or when celebrating a success, or for breakfast when you’ve done the all-night thing…which I haven’t done in a while. But I am going to Vegas with my plot group this fall, so champagne may be in my future.

But I love a cold beer on a hot day, or with pizza, or Mexican food. Beer is life’s way of celebrating ordinary days. And let’s face it. We all have more ordinary days. But even so, ordinary days are wonderful. The sigh of relief after you’ve accomplished something simple like cleaning your bedroom. Or the few minutes you get on the back porch swing after a long day.

We sometimes have a tendency to let life pass us by while we’re waiting for something important to happen. I say celebrate it all.

Ocean or mountain?
Absolutely ocean. If I could I would live on the ocean. Most of my best memories revolve around vacations. Fresh fish…great restaurants. Getting a tan. Laying in the sun reading. Going into the sidewalk shops. Eating junk food on the boardwalks. Walking on the beach. Entertainment on the beach. Kites. Fun people.

Actually, I think fun people is the biggest reason I like the ocean. How can you not have a good time sitting in the sun, slurping something icy? Everybody’s in a good mood having a good time.

Plus, morning walks are great for sorting through life’s problems…or the problems in my books!

Car or plane?
I adore airplanes. I love the feeling of lifting off into the air. I love the solitude. Of course, one unruly passenger can ruin that. But usually things are peaceful and calm. Time in the air can be spent reading or just thinking about life, thinking through problems. Especially problems in my books. I’ve spent many a happy airplane ride coming up with a new story or puzzling through something that’s in the works.

Plus, who doesn’t love an airport? It’s a world unto itself. You can eat, watch the news, shop, browse books. Actually, the airport is the only place I read magazines. My life is busy so I don’t even buy magazines. It’s a real treat for me to spend my wait time first finding then reading a magazine. That’s how I found out that gray was the “in” color of nail polish this year. It made me long to be able to read magazines more often!

And there’s also people watching. I spent a Sunday afternoon this spring with a long layover in a major airport and had the time of my life watching people. Some people dress up. Some people dress down. Some people eat. Some read. Some talk on their cell phones and still others are clued to iPods and computers. There are families. Old people. Young people. Middle aged people like me. All going somewhere. It just makes me want to tap everybody on the shoulder and say, “Hey, where ya goin?”

Scary movies or romantic comedies?
I hate scary movies. I’ve never understood the appeal. My husband and daughter, however, live for them. I’m a romantic comedy nut. Movies like 27 DRESSES that are smart and fun suck me in and won’t let go. THE WEDDING SINGER and 50 FIRST DATES are two of my all-time favorites. I can (and do) watch those over and over again. Smartly written, beautifully acted, and fun. You can’t help walking away from a romantic comedy with a smile on your face and the sense that in the final analysis life is good…or at least to be laughed at.

Can a scary movie do that? I don’t think so. LOL

Susan Meier is the author of over 45 books for Harlequin and Silhouette and one of Guideposts’ Grace Chapel Inn series books, The Kindness of Strangers. Her books have been finalists for Reviewers Choice Awards, National Reader’s Choice Awards and Cataromance.com Reviewer’s Choice Awards and nominated for Romantic Times awards. Her book, HER BABY’S FIRST CHRISTMAS won the traditional category in the 2009 More Than Magic contest. THE MAGIC OF A FAMILY CHRISTMAS is a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence!

Her Pregnancy Surprise, her first release for the Harlequin Romance line, made both Walden’s Bestseller List for Series Romance and Bookscan. Maid for the Millionaire, Maid for the Single Dad and Country Twin Christmas are her 2010 releases.

Susan loves to teach as much as she loves to write and is a popular speaker at RWA chapter conferences. Can This Manuscript Be Saved? and Journey Steps, Taking the Train to Somewhere! are her most requested workshops. Her article “How to Write a Category Romance” appeared in 2003 Writer’s Digest Novel and Short Story Markets. Susan also gives online workshops for various groups and her articles regularly appear in RWA chapter newsletters.