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An oldie, but a goodie from year one of Attacking the Page:

We already reviewed how you can use fighting terminology to make your action scenes more interesting in the Add PUNCH to your Action Scenes post.  More specific words add power to your pages.  This week we’ll focus on kicking.

Kicks are stronger than punches because leg muscles are larger than those in the upper body.  In the Fight Like A Girl self-defense seminar, we teach women to use kicks, which engage the strongest part of her body, her legs, against her attacker’s weakest targets, which fall in a straight line from his nose to his groin.

Other styles of martial arts may have additional, less common kicks, but these are the basic kicks in kenpo karate.

Front snap kick – a quick kick that utilized the snapping of the knee joint for power. The toes are curled back and the ball of the foot is used as the weapon. Knees, groin and stomach are common targets.

Front thrust kick – a stronger kick using a forward thrust from the hip to add power. The weapon can be the ball of the foot, the entire sole of the foot or the heel, depending on position.

Roundhouse –  a turning kick with the rear leg. The fighter turns 180 degrees, using the top of her foot or shin bone as the weapon in a sweeping arc.  The roundhouse is a strong kick due to the torque created by the twisting of the fighter’s body (similar to a golf club or baseball bat swing), but has one big drawback. Since it has a wide arc, the opponent can see it coming.

Side kick – The fighter draws her knee to her chest and fires the kick outward, stomping her heel and/or blade of her foot on her attacker.  The sidekick is very strong due to the engagement of most of the major leg muscles.  Side kicks are debilitating just about anywhere, but I love the knees and ribs as targets.

Stomp – A variation of the side kick and just what it sounds like. You heroine can stomp on her opponent’s instep. If you like, she can scrape her shoe all the way down his shin on the way.

Hook kick – The foot is extended beyond the target. The lower leg is drawn back in a hamstring curl, striking with the heel of the foot. Not terribly powerful but very sneaky if executed properly.

Knee strikes are effective blows when your heroine is too close to fire off a kick. You all know the best target for knees is the groin. But consider knees strikes to the face or abdomen if your opponent is bent over.

The standard kicks above can be combined in a series. Each of these kicks can also be done while spinning and/or jumping as shown in many TV shows and action movies. For some awesome karate fight scenes, check out the Transporter 2. Jason Statham has a background in martial arts that enables him to performs his own fight scenes.  Although the usefulness of these fancy kicks in a real fight (as in not choreographed for film or TV) is questionable, they sure are fun to watch.

Linde is the winner of the Grand Slam Kindle Giveaway of Melinda Leigh and Robin Perini.  See original contest post here.

Congratulations! Please contact Melinda at melindaleighauthor(at)yahoo.com with mailing instructions.

When I started writing romance, all my ideas were geared toward the Harlequin and Silhouette contemporary romances. Then one day, my toddler daughter gave me the first line of my first single-title book. A couple of years later, I wrote the first 16 pages. Two years after that, I wrote the book. The heroine was a spy, her soulmate a cursed dragon. There was a lot of fighting and weaponry and alpha-type males and kick-ass females.

When Silhouette Bombshell was announced, I practically gushed glee. I wrote and submitted a few books and partials before Bombshell closed, and by then I was hooked. Every book since has been romantic adventure.

Which is kind of weird, because I used to abhor violence. In college, two of the biggest fights I had with my now-husband were over letting kids watch violent programming and having a gun in the house. My stance on those hasn’t changed in context, but whoa have I changed when it comes to entertainment. I’m not sure if it’s because empowerment often underlies action movies and TV shows, or if there’s something more primally attractive about a strong guy who’s capable of vulnerability wielding a pistol with confidence.

In my current (non-paranormal) romantic adventure, Behind the Scenes, the hero is not an alpha male. He’s actually pretty good at fighting his instincts and letting Kennedy do her job to protect him.

Rogan watched the group striding toward them and weathered a surge of adrenaline. The guy and two women wore nearly identical expressions of determination, and though he’d watched them come in and knew they were with the new security team, they didn’t inspire warm fuzzies. More like fight or flight. The bodyguard who’d been assigned to him for weeks stiffened and stepped forward, putting himself in front of Rogan. He checked his instinctive move to the side to see better. Being protected wasn’t coming easy to him, but he was learning.

The tall brunette in jeans and a leather jacket seemed to be in charge. She held out a hand to Rogan’s bodyguard.

“Kennedy Smyth, SmythShield. This is my team.” She gestured to the group that had fanned out around her. “Anything we need to know?” she asked the bodyguard, who shook his head.

“It’s all in the briefing report.”

“Okay, then. We’ll take it from here. Thanks.” She patted the man on his upper arm, closing in on Rogan and dismissing her predecessor.

Whether it was the patronization, the touching or the dismissal, Rogan wasn’t sure, but the man’s face darkened an instant before he grabbed Kennedy’s arm, swinging her around. Her guy—about half the size of the one he was replacing—crushed Rogan back against the wall, shielding him. Somehow, in that second, his old bodyguard wound up on the floor, Kennedy’s foot on his neck and his arm twisted between her hands. The other female SmythShield operative shielded Bailey, while Bailey’s former bodyguard laughed.

“Nice work,” the guy on the ground said, grudgingly. Kennedy let go and helped him up, and the guy on Rogan eased off so he could at least breathe.

“Just testing,” his former guard said in a clearly insincere apology.

“SmythShield doesn’t need to be tested.”

He shrugged. “Reputation sometimes exceeds ability.” He motioned to Rogan and Bailey. “They’re all yours.”

“Thank you.”

Dismissing him for real this time, Kennedy turned to Rogan and his costar. “Let’s try this again.” She flashed a smile, and gone was the warrior she’d been a moment ago. Rogan was impressed despite himself. He wouldn’t have guessed she had any charm in her, from the way she’d taken control.

“I’m Kennedy. We have a three-person personal detail on you two and M.J., where the threat has been focused. We’ll be doing pretty much what your last personal security did, but we’re probably more intense. Similar rules. You don’t go anywhere without one of us. You don’t enter a room, outside of this building, without one of us checking it first. If you see anything suspicious or of concern, signal us. We’ll be watching. Don’t worry about looking paranoid. You won’t get laughed at. Youwill get scolded for not communicating with us. Got it?”

They nodded, Rogan suppressing an ill-advised grin. Kennedy focused on him. “You have any problems being guarded by a woman?”

“No, ma’am.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You have problems being guarded at all?”

“No. I understand the stakes.” Not that he thought they were that high, but cooperation was the smart approach to take.

She nodded, seeming to believe him. “How about you?”

Bailey squeaked and shook her head. Kennedy nodded again, and introduced the people with her. They split up a moment later, the sturdy-looking Stacy following Bailey to makeup, Clay taking up position next to Rogan.

Rogan watched Kennedy stride toward the catwalk, not realizing how focused his attention was until Clay touched his arm.

“You need to go to makeup?”

“No, I’m done.”

“Okay.” He stood at ease, waiting. Despite his smaller size, Rogan had a feeling Clay was better trained. Something about the loose-but-ready way he held his body, or the way he seemed to take in all the movement around them without getting distracted by it. Or maybe it was just that Rogan got the sense Kennedy Smyth wouldn’t stand for less.

“She married?” he asked before he knew he was going to.

“Nope.”

Rogan waited, but Clay didn’t say more. His gaze went back to where Kennedy now stood talking to a tech and examining some piece of equipment. She wasn’t his type. But damned if he didn’t find himself intrigued.

Behind the Scenes
Carina Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | AudibleYou can learn more about Natalie and her books at her website, eHarlequin, Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook. She blogs with four other obsessed passionate Supernatural fans at Supernatural Sisters, with a number of fantastic romance authors at Everybody Needs a Little Romance, and just to hear herself talk at Indulge Yourself.

She also has a paranormal romantic adventure out now, if that’s a little more your speed:

Under the Moon
Entangled Publishing | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

It started out as a carpool just like any other car pool.  Rayna & I were headed to our monthly meeting of Liberty States Fiction Writers.  On the way, we passed the time plotting a paranormal story.  Funny thing happened. The story was good. We looked at each other, each thinking the same thing: we should write this.

So we did.  AMAZON HEAT releases in January 2012 from Carina Press. The novella cover just went up on the coming soon page.

2 years ago…

Driven by grief to find a cure for cancer, Elizabeth DeMarco left Logan Spencer to accept a position on a research expedition to the Amazon rainforest. Kidnapped by guerrillas, she was saved by a secret all-female civilization, the last of the ancient Amazons. But Elizabeth discovers she’s traded one form of captivity for another.

Today…

Logan never stopped searching for Elizabeth. While consulting in the remote Brazilian interior near where she was kidnapped, Logan suffers what should be a fatal fall. Near death, he’s collected by the Amazons and magically healed. Elizabeth is the first person he sees as he wakes.

But there’s no time for a joyful reunion. The Amazons’ mystical medicine is rapidly changing Logan. They want his DNA and plan to take it—and then kill him. Logan and Elizabeth must escape before dawn or Logan—and their second chance at happiness—is doomed.

Find out more about Melinda and Rayna at their websites, melindaleighauthor.com and raynavause.com.

Yay!  Book prizes for Monday’s blog are:

Jenn Nixon & Linde – SHE CAN RUN

Gwen Hernandez & EllieAnn – IN HER SIGHTS

Congratulations!  Please email attackingtp@gmail.com with your mailing addresses so Robin and I can send your books out!  We hope you enjoy reading our stories.

Everyone who commented on Monday is going into the “hat” for the KINDLE drawing on December 10th.  The last stop on our tour will be our Thirteen Thursday posts at Caridad.com on December 8th.  Don’t forget to stop by and comment in order get an entry into the KINDLE contest.  (see details of the entire contest on our post from Monday, November 28th)

We hope to see you Thursday, December 8th at Caridad.com.

Attacking the page. Hmmm.  Olivia Carver, the heroine in my book Under Fire, does this. Olivia is a Coast Guard helicopter pilot.  Her twin brother, an undercover officer, was murdered by a drug cartel and she won’t stop until she finds the man responsible for his death.  She meets Rico Cortes, a DEA agent, deep undercover in Miami’s drug world, and possibly the one man who can help Olivia. Rico’s cover is blown, and Olivia is the only one he can trust. Together they infiltrate a drug lord’s inner circle with Olivia as bait.

Olivia insists on going under cover and Rico is like, what makes you think you can handle yourself?  He asks her to prove she can do it. The sexy undercover agent isn’t the only one who wants to know if she can handle it. The readers want to know. She may be the best pilot in the world but, if I put her in hand to face combat – her hand, the bad guys face–  and proficiently using weapons and a knife, she’s going to need some skills. I believe it’s the responsibility of the author to show the characters level of proficiency. I REALLY don’t like it when a middle aged housewife is able to kick and punch the beegeesus out of a bad guy because she saw a Jackie Chan movie. And good golly, please, not to many details in action scenes. I want to know a character can do it. I don’t need step by step instructions how to do it. Besides, my theory is the more detail the bigger margin of error.  I’m not a helicopter pilot. Truth be told, I’m really not fond of them.  All the info in Under Fire comes from research.  I spent hours researching and it translated to very few lines on the page. Enough to put you in the helicopter with her. Not tell the reader how to build one.

I put Olivia in some intense situations so I sent her to Bodyguard training. Yes these schools do exist.  In the following excerpt Olivia explains what she learned.

Olivia ran her fingers across several of the weapons on the counter and shelf. “Where’s your toothbrush radio and exploding briefcase?”

He ignored the comment. “You know how to use any of these guns?”

“Umm.” She nodded. “All of them.”

“What? The Coast Guard taught you how to use these?”

“Nope.” She continued to finger the weapons. “A private aerial combat school in California.”

“You’re shitting me.”

She didn’t answer.

“Sounds like a cover name for a mercenary school.”

“It is.”

“The Coast Guard sent you to mercenary high?” he asked incredulously.

“No. Paid for it myself.”

He folded his arms across his chest and whistled.

She shrugged. “They taught weapons, self defense methods and survival. The course was a month long, 24/7. I had to live at the facility. I took leave.”

“So, what? You take a certificate from mercenary high to your commanding officer and say ‘look what I can do’?” He laughed.

She gave him a disgusted look. “My certificate says I am a qualified bodyguard. That I’m highly qualified in helicopter operations—everything from a little passenger helicopter to the civilian version of a Blackhawk. I am skilled in volatile combat situations and making rescues.”

“Tell me what mercenary high taught you to do when things go wrong.” He needed to be sure about her training.

“In the air or on the ground?”

Again he was impressed. “Ground. Tell me what you do in a capture situation.”

She sat on the stool, silent for a moment. “Of course, best thing is not to be taken. Am I by myself or is the person I’m protecting with me?”

Rico smiled. “By yourself.”

“Chaos theory—what can go wrong, will. Eat when you can, even if you think the food may be drugged. Sleep every minute you can. You need energy for an escape and during a rescue. When you make an escape plan, think of everything that can go wrong. Prepare for the worst. Look for the most difficult avenues of escape. They are less likely to be guarded. Attack first, don’t wait to be attacked.” She paused thoughtfully. “Most 9mm hand guns take the same ammo, some the same magazine. No guns available, find something, anything, to use before you have to use your hands. The longer the better. When you’re close enough to strike with a hand you’re in real danger of injury yourself.”

“Tell me what you can use as a weapon.”

“Basically anything. Phone and electrical cords can be used to strangle, trip and tie up. A rolled up newspaper, a magazine is better, jabbed into the Adam’s apple, nose or eye can kill. Soft tissue places are best. Never the balls—unless it’s too good to pass up.” She grinned. “If you grasp an earlobe and pull upward hard enough, the ear will come off like you’re unzipping it from the head—” she raised and lowered a shoulder, “—so I’m told. Never use a knife over­handed. Thrust underhanded like a softball pitch. Just here.” She touched herself below the breast. “The blade goes in and up into the heart. I learned three different ways to break a neck.”

“Go on,” he prodded.

“Leave a trail.”

“No, you don’t want anyone tracking you down.”

“Not that kind of trail. Signs you were there. Fingerprints up high. Prick a finger, smear blood, wipe it up. Luminol will pick it up later. Bite marks in wood or leather surfaces are good to leave also.”

Have you read Under Fire? How much of this training did Olivia use in the book?

Rita grew up in Florida, married a Marine, lived around the country and traveled the world. Back in Florida she writes about extraordinary women and the men they love.