Julie Miller: Traveling is my favorite way to do research. I've been fortunate to travel abroad and across much of the U.S. I find it relaxing, rejuvenating and often inspiring. Many of my travel experiences have shown up in my books. I'd rather see and experience a location or event for myself than just read about it in a book or on the Internet. My travels often give me story ideas, as well. In my July Intrigue, Armed and Devastating, my heroine lives in an historic church that is being converted into a home. Last summer, on our family vacation in Kansas, we stayed at the home of one of my mom's friends--and they live in a small, remodeled church! The place was spacious and gorgeous, and as we explored, all the construction innovations and historical aspects they kept as part of the home's design gave me an idea for places to hide secrets and escape from bad guys. And thus, my heroine Brooke Hansford's home was born. And if the two aunts in the story bear some resemblance to my mom and her friend, well... ;)

This summer we're traveling south through Missouri and Tennessee. And since the Harlequin Blaze I'm currently writing is set in Tennessee, I have a feeling I'll get all kinds of inspiration.

Sylvie Kurtz: I like to wait until fall to travel--less crowded--so my only travel this summer will be to the RWA conference at the end of July.  I love to travel for story purposes. I went hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire to get the feel for the setting of Spirit of a Hunter.  I traveled to Seattle, and a friend generously showed me around town and helped me pick locations, for Honor of a Hunter.  I'm still trying to figure out how to use a visit to a French vineyard in a story....

Mallory Kane: Travel as research -- always a good idea. My June book, The Heart of Brody McQuade, is set in San Antonio. I've been there once, on business, and barely stuck my head out of the hotel, but I hope to go back some day. My husband and I were planning to travel to Wyoming for research for my Black Hills Brotherhood mini-series that's coming out April, May and June of 09. But a lot of life-stuff has intervened, so I'm not sure whether we'll do that or not.

On the other hand, we did recently get away for several days--to New Orleans! We stayed at the Bienville House on Decatur Street in the French Quarter. A picturesque old building that was converted into a bed and breakfast. None of the rooms are exactly rectangular. We felt like we'd traveled back in time (but with modern amenities.) We walked the French Quarter, ate at my favorite restaurants, and relaxed. It was wonderful. Plus New Orleans is always good for the muse.  I'm sticking close to home for the rest of this summer. I have 3 books to finish. In the fall, we may go to the Smokies for a week or so, for more relaxation.

Paula Graves: I drew from a trip to Colorado to help write the "on-the-run in the Rockies" scenes in my September book, Cowboy Alibi.  In the books I'm currently writing, the fictional setting of Gossamer Ridge is loosely based on the Guntersville, Alabama, area, a place I've visited many times to go fishing.   I think all writers take bits and pieces from their experiences to weave into the fictional fabric of their stories. Whether it's a fabulous European trip or a quick day trip to a favorite state park, something we experience on that journey will end up in a book.

Delores Fossen: I just got back from visiting a cattle ranch near San Antonio, and I'll definitely use what I saw and learned there in future books. I lived the first eight years of my life on a working ranch, but it was interesting to see how things had changed and how cattle management is handled on a large-scale basis. Okay, it was also very interesting to see all the cowboys. Not that I needed it, but the jeans-wearing cowboys were a great visual reminder of why I love to write Texas heroes--like Sgt. Egan Caldwell, for instance. Egan is the hero of my July Intrigue, Questioning the Heiress, and he's a Texas Ranger on the trail of a killer who's targeted a San Antonio heiress. Even though Egan doesn't have to wrangle any longhorns in the book, he still has that cowboy-cop attitude that I hope will transport readers to their own trip to Texas.

Patricia Rosemoor: This summer I'm doing two writing related trips -- Lake Geneva for a writers retreat and San Francisco for the Romance Writers of America National Conference.  Hopefully I'll see enough of San Francisco to put it in a coming book. In the past, I've done lots of vacations to research settings and information about a specific topic. A trip to Florida for Silent Sea. A wolf ecology workshop in Wisconsin for Never Cry Wolf. A mustang preserve in South Dakota for Touch Me in the Dark. A working ranch in New Mexico for my series, The Sons of Silver Springs.

Rebecca York: I use my travel experiences in my books all the time.  The idea for my July Intrigue, Soldier Caged, came from a trip we took to the Greenbriar Hotel in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia a couple of years ago.   In the 50's, the government paid for a new wing of the hotel with a secret bunker underneath. The bunker was for members of Congress to use in case of a nuclear attack. I have no idea how they were supposed to get there, but the bunker was maintained by a government team until 1992. The team posed as the telephone and TV maintenance crew for the hotel. That was 20 percent of their job. The rest of the time, they guarded the bunker and resupplied it. Sounds fantastic, doesn?' it? But it's true, and I got to tour the bunker. Naturally, all sorts of plot ideas started running through my head, and I came up with the idea for Soldier Caged,. I did move the bunker, though. It's still in West Virginia, but now the "back door" is through a huge natural cave (like some of the real caves in the area). It's also out in the wilderness, because I didn't want Jonah and Sophia coming out in a hotel where they could get a warm bath and a hot meal. I wanted them to be in a danger the moment they stepped outside.

Joanna Wayne: I love traveling. I find it renews my writing spirit and gives a spark to my creativity. Some of my favorite trips have been to Australia, Greece, Russia and a European cruise that stopped in ports in France, Spain and Italy. Venice was incredibly romantic. I also like traveling in the good old USA. This summer I'm traveling to England and Scotland with my daughter. Hopefully, I'll get lots of new story ideas.

One of my favorite places to visit is Orange Beach, AL. I like going in the fall when the summer crowds have thinned out and the winter visitors are yet to arrive. The beaches are almost deserted, perfect for long walks where the sand and surf really get the creative juices flowing. The book Another Woman's Baby was inspired by those trips. And, of course, the time I've spent on Texas ranches doing everything from fixing fences to rounding up cattle inspire many of cowboy books including the bestselling Four Brothers of Colts Run Cross Series. If you love suspense, romance and sexy cowboys, you don't want it! The final book in the series, Loaded, is available now.

Dana Marton: Since we live by a lake, we usually stay home for the summer. But I love fall vacations and shopping for last minute deals. So our 2008 vacation is still a surprise. We'll see who is offering the best deal when we are ready to go. My favorite vacation so far was Curacao, a small island 20 miles off the coast of Venezuela. I have a book outline for a story I'd like to set there. Now I only have to find the time to write it.

B.J. Daniels: I love summer and can't get enough it since summers are incredibly short in Montana. So we have been going to the lake just north of us every morning for three hours to race around and fish. It is great time spent with my husband and we always come home with lunch. :) We'll be making a trip to Yellowstone Park as we have a new baby coming in our family the middle of July. The end of August we'll be camping up the West Boulder (where part of The Horse Whisper) was shot to camp with my daughter and son-in-law on the creek. We also make trips north near the Canadian border to have dinner with our Hutterite friends who make some of the best food on this earth. :) We intend to grab as much summer as we can! Oh yes, I'm also writing a new Whitehorse, Montana series book. The next one, Montana Royalty, comes out in September.