Laughter, to me, is so important - especially in books. It can lighten a tense moment, and keep a sad one from being too melancholy. It can give the reader a chance to breathe after something major has happened. Humor is something I incorporate into every book I write. My female characters can be balls out funny, or sometimes it's a little subtler.

Alex, the star of Dragons Prefer Blondes, has a very dry wit. She fights such darkness every day of her life that she has to find the humor in most situations whether it's running from paparazzi, slaying a dragon or planning her crazy friend's monstrosity of a wedding. When she's dealing with the super hot Jake, her love interest, she often uses humor to make it look like she doesn't care, but of course she does. Whenever she's dealing with Ginjin, a handsome dragon warrior, who thinks marrying her will solve his problems, she is the queen of sarcasm.

It surprised me how funny this very dark character was by the time I finished the book. Then I realized that most of the women, my friends and family I'm closest too, have this same trait. In the darkest situations they lighten the load with humor, and I do the same thing.

So how about you, do you use humor to diffuse situations? Do you know any good jokes? Who is the funniest friend you have and why? Tell me, I want to know.

I'm doing a treasure hunt contest on my Big Summer Blog tour. All you have to do to enter is make a comment here, or visit and make comments on any of the blogs on the list at www.candacehavens.com.

Candace Havens, Dragons Prefer Blondes, paranormal romance, Berkley, Penguin Books