Tote Bags 'n' Blogs

This is the year...

2012-01-28T01:04:00.000-08:00

January is the month when we make big promises to ourselves about what we’re going to do in this brand new year.

It feels as if we’re starting with a clean-slate, all the mistakes of the old year wiped away and it’s a chance to begin again, do something different, change our lives. How many of us have started a new year with the resolution that this is the year we’ll write a book, I wonder?

I know that I did that on a regular basis back in the day before I was published. It was harder then. There were very few books about how-to write. There was no internet where you could go for advice, no opportunity chat to authors, take a class.

When I wrote the first books that were rejected, I was on my own. I wrote three books — every word of 55,000 words — before I discovered that three chapters were enough. I don’t regret all that effort. Finishing a book is important. Imagine impressing an editor with your first three chapters and then having to finish the book if you had never done it before?

The only feedback I had was from the editors who read my early efforts. I still have the letters – they are very precious to me. Kindly editors told me what was wrong, pointed me in the direction of writers I should read — Sara Craven, Elizabeth Oldfield — and said they would be happy to read anything else I wrote, but there was no solid advice.

It’s more than twenty years since I received “the call”. I’ve published more than sixty books, won awards and had a wonderful career. It’s time to pay it forward, and Liz Fielding’s Little Book of Writing Romance is the book I wish I’d had when I first started writing. A primer. A book that helps the new writer to translate the story in her head into the written word.

How to grab your reader on the first page, tackle conflict, dig deep for emotion. How to give your reader a hero and heroine who had a life before your book begins, who are meant to be together — who don’t just fall in love because you put them together in a book — and who your reader can imagine having a life after they read the last page.

Real people, taking the journey of their lives.

Here Kitty, Kitty

2012-01-26T00:07:00.000-08:00

With the release of the fourth Dreg City book, WRONG SIDE OF DEAD, fast approaching, I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about one of my favorite things in the world: cats.

Yes, I said cats. Cats are wonderful. I've had a feline fur-baby in my life almost constantly for the last twenty years. They are beautiful, smart, sassy, and make terrific lap warmers on cold winter nights. But house cats aren't quite the focus of this topic. I want to narrow it down to an even more specific kind of cat—were-cats. Shapeshifters. Specifically, the Felia Clan.

Fans of the Dreg City series know that, aside from were-osprey Phineas, we haven't seen much of the various shapeshifter Clans yet—but that changes in WSOD. You get to meet a were-dingo, several were-bears, a were-ferret (don't laugh), and (*drumroll*) were-CATS!

Who doesn't love were-cats? Big, burly men who shift into gorgeous tigers? Or sexy females who shift into a lovely lynx? And besides the sleek prettiness of a Big Cat, they are ferocious in battle. Have you ever seen an Animal Planet special in which a lion takes down a gazelle? Dude…

But back to the book….teaming up with the Clans isn't easy for Evangeline Stone or any of her human friends, and neither is sharing command with a were-jaguar named Astrid Dane. She's tough, stubborn (sound like anyone you know?), but slow to temper (unlike someone you know). She's also joined by her brother, Marcus Dane. What do you need to know about Marcus? He's hot, alpha-tempered, Astrid's second-in-command, and he shifts into a huge black jaguar. Astrid and Marcus also share a bit of a complicated past with ex-Hunter (and human) Tybalt Monahan.

As a long-time fan of this moderately neglected species of shifters, I was eager to bring were-cats into the forefront of the Dreg City books, and WSOD gave me a terrific opportunity to do so. For those who've read ANOTHER KIND OF DEAD (Dreg City 3), you know that things changed. A lot. And WSOD is the aftermath book, where new alliances are formed, friends become enemies, and a whole lot of questions finally get answered.

And if the inclusion of two were-cats to the corral of Dreg City residents isn't enough to entice you to read, I have one more hyphenated word for you: were-seals (not the military kind).

Seriously.

So who is your favorite were-critter in literature?

Kelly

www.kellymeding.com

Grandma and the Prince - Part 32

2012-01-25T14:27:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time there was a shop girl and a wealthy man who fell in love. The shop girl was well past her socially acceptable sell-by date and, for that matter, so was the wealthy man. She sold (chocolates) (neckties) (flowers) and their paths crossed one rainy afternoon when he ducked inside the shop where she worked to escape the downpour.

"May I help you?" she asked in her shades-of-Brooklyn accent as he strode toward the counter.

"Have supper with me," he said in his shades-of-Bermuda accent, "and then I'll tell you."

They were married two weeks later.

Six months after that he died.

You probably know the rest. This is one of those urban legends that have been told and retold in as many languages and with twice as many variations as Cinderella. The poor little timeworn shop girl was suddenly a wealthy widow living a life she'd imagined only in the darkness of the local movie house as she munched popcorn and dreamed of the roads not taken.

But this time the story is true.

The shop girl's name was Ann and she was my Grandma Bess's aunt and rumor had it she owned a burgundy velvet pouch filled with emeralds.

I've told you about my Grandpa Larry and his fifth and last wife Bess. Bess was a widow with a young son, a tony woman who came from the right side of the Brooklyn tracks and married very well the first time. (Think Radio Shack connection, okay?) She and Grandpa Larry (my mother's father) met when he was on the rebound from my Grandma El (my father's mother) in 1953 and they married in 1954. Which happens to be the same year Grandma El married Grandpa Les in retaliation.

I was way too little at the time to know or understand what was going on beyond the fact that I seemed to have more than my share of grandparents. Three of each, if my count is right -- not a bad thing at all for an only child.

Anyway, Grandma Bess was part of my life for as far back as I can clearly remember and she was every bit as much of a grandmother as the ones I'd acquired through blood ties. She was a wonderful needlewoman whose stitching and knitting and crocheting projects always elicited well-deserved praise from anyone lucky enough to receive a finished object as a gift.

(Please remember that last paragraph.)

Time passed and we were fifteen years down the road. I was a madly-in-love newlywed, living with her airman husband in the wilds of Omaha, Nebraska a million miles from home.

We were poor. Oh boy, were we poor. Dead broke, for that matter. We barely managed to scrape together enough money each month to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. But we were young and in love and believed with every fiber in our bodies that love was all we needed.

And then Grandma Bess's Aunt Ann in Bermuda died and left one-third of her estate to Grandma Bess. The pouch of emeralds? Yep. Grandma Bess had full possession of them. I know it sounds like another urban legend but my mother got to see and touch them one Sunday afternoon and subwayed back to Queens in a state of advanced dazzlement. This was one urban legend that wasn't a legend at all.

So imagine my excitement when Grandma Bess phoned me to tell me to make sure I was home later in the week to sign for an insurance package that was heading my way. "It's not a big parcel," she said with a chuckle in her voice, "but I think you'll like it."

The emeralds!! I was dead sure of it. Everyone knew we were flat broke. I mean, we got down to three dollars in our checking account on more than one occasion. Grandma Bess had peeled off a couple of emeralds, wrapped them up, then sent them my way. A couple of emeralds wouldn't be missed, right? And what a difference they could make to us.

You can probably imagine the dreams I dreamed the next few days! We could pay the rent and the phone, buy groceries at the commissary, and have money left over to gas up the car and do it all over again the next month.

"Don't get your hopes up," my mom warned me on the phone the day before the package arrived. "Bess has a son and he has a wife who would look very good in emeralds."

But I wasn't listening. Or if I was listening I simply couldn't hear. I knew in my bones that our fortunes were about to change the second the mail carrier showed up at our front door.

Cut to the next day. My hand shook as I signed for the package which, to my dismay, seemed way too big to hold a couple of precious gems. Then again that could be clever camouflage on Grandma Bess's part to keep jewel thieves from sussing out the contents before they reached Omaha. I cut the string. I tore open the brown paper wrappings.

And I found an afghan.

A beautiful afghan -- all yellows and oranges and rich browns, my favorite colors at the time -- but an afghan just the same.

I steadied myself and took a deep breath. Okay. This is just another clever ruse to hide the emeralds. I luck into a fabulous afghan to keep the prairie winter at bay =and= some emeralds to boot.

Except there were no emeralds. My gift was the beautiful afghan and a tender, loving note.

But no emeralds.

I loved the afghan but I'd be lying if I told you that my eighteen year old self was anything but bitterly disappointed. I had never thought of myself as a materialistic sort (it was the late 60s after all) but I had to struggle to appreciate the time and love that went into the afghan and put aside the thought of the beautiful green stones with the hidden blue flame.

Years later when Grandma Bess was dying I helped her sort through some of her belongings. The Hummel figurines, the Wedgwood, the Baccarat crystal that had once graced her Aunt Ann's palatial home in Hamilton, Bermuda. side. Old letters and postcards. Stacks of finished needlework and afghans exquisitely stitched by Grandma Bess. And yes a faded burgundy pouch with six square cut emeralds bumping up against each other.

I don't know what happened to the emeralds but I have the letters and the cards, the needlework and the afghans.

I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Barbara

www.barbarabretton.com

Of Truths and Legends

2012-01-24T00:30:00.000-08:00

I’ve written, or am in the process of writing, three very different paranormal romance series. My Feral Warriors series is about the last nine shape-shifters in the world, each of whom shifts into a different animal, and their battle to keep the Daemons from once more rising. In my Vamp City series, a young woman stumbles upon a dark and deadly vampire utopia—a world whose magic is crumbling. A world she alone can save.

And then there’s my Esri series. In this one, an ancient evil has found its way back into our world and the only ones who can stop it don’t know it exists.

It’s the Esri series I want to talk about because, well, book three, A Warrior’s Desire, comes out today. I thought you might be interested in hearing how I came up with the idea for the series in the first place. Because that ancient evil I mentioned? They’re the Esri, the creatures at the heart of the legends of fairies and elves.

I’ve heard it said that every legend has, at its heart, a kernel of truth. Now the ‘truth’ may be as simple as, yes, there was once a great Saxon warrior by the name of Arthur. Did he live in Camelot, have a magician called Merlin as a friend, and sit at a round table? Hard to say since there were no video cameras or even literate witnesses around at the time to record the details. When it comes to oral history, it’s a near certainty that facts are going to get embellished, misinterpreted, or flat out changed to suit the storyteller. As my beloved grandmother used to say, “Why should I tell it the way it happened when I can make it so much more interesting?” (Guess where I got my storytelling talent from?)

Fairies and elves are a good example of how legends morph and change. In most of the original tales, both were the size of humans, decidedly wingless, and generally dangerous. Over the generations, the stories have changed to the point where modern culture portrays them as benevolent tiny winged creatures or pointy-eared dwarfs.

I’m a daydreamer, I’ve always been a day dreamer, but I’m also an intensely logical person. So, some years ago, when I stumbled upon a book of ancient faerie beliefs and realized that as recently as the 1800’s many very learned people absolutely believed fairies were real, I got to thinking. What if there really was a kernel of truth in these old legends? What if, long, long ago, there really were faeries in this world? My logical mind promptly took over and started firing off questions. What happened to them? Why were they here? Why aren’t they here any more? How, over the centuries, have the original facts been twisted and changed as original facts always are? And, best of all, what would I do if suddenly faced with irrefutable fact that the creatures at the heart of the legends had returned? Not cute little Tinkerbells, but man-sized, malevolent beings bent on the enslavement of the human race?

And so the Esri were born. In Book 1 of the series, The Dark Gate, the first Esri in fifteen centuries finds his way back into the human realm and wreaks havoc on modern day Washington, D.C. The hero and heroine have to accept the impossible in order to stop him, and come to realize there’s truth in the old legends after all. In Book 2, I flip that realization a bit when one of the Esri, a dangerous, dark-haired, part-human known as the Punisher, infiltrates the human realm to destroy the only humans who can stop the Esri invasion, only to realize humans are a far cry from the mindless creatures his own legends have portrayed. One human, in fact, steals his heart and changes his understanding of everything he’s known, including himself.

In book 3, A Warrior’s Desire (the one that comes out today), the back cover says it best: Former navy SEAL Charlie Rand embarks on the most dangerous mission of his career when he dives through a portal to rescue the only person who knows how to seal the gates between the Esri faery land and the world. But meeting up with his guide and companion through the adventure, the beautiful Tarrys, turns out to be his true revelation. As the pair traverses the dangerous plains, the Forest of Nightmares and the crystal mines of Esria, they’re pursued by beings who seek to kill Charlie and enslave Tarrys. But the greatest danger of all becomes the love that grows between the couple, a love that threatens to doom their mission to save humanity.

And in book 4, Warrior Rising (which will be out March 20^th), enemies turn into lovers as Harrison Rand and the Esri princess, Ilaria, fight to keep the evil Esri king from destroying both worlds in this action-packed conclusion to the series.

Have you ever wished one of the old legends was actually true? If so, which one? Or, conversely, what legend or fairy tale would you most hate to discover was real? I’ll give away signed copies of the first two books in the Esri series, The Dark Gate and Dark Deceiver, to three commenters. And don’t forget to check out my website, www.pamelapalmer.net, for more on all my series including excerpts, character bios, and laws of the world.

What Do Regencies and Paranormals Have in Common?

2012-01-23T00:30:00.000-08:00

Hi, Everyone! Blogging is one of my favorite things because I love chatting with readers about books, reading, and writing. So feel free to join in today and offer a comment or two. I’ll be giving away the winner’s choice of a Guardians of Ascension novel as well as a choice of wing-based, hand-crafted earrings! In addition, I always include romance trading cards of all four novels in my winged vampire series, a bookmark, and a couple of postcards. And this is an international giveaway, so please, join in the fun!

Though most of my work to date has been in the Regency era, I’m often asked how in the world I made the switch to paranormal? But the fact is, it never felt like much of a stretch to me. For one thing, three of my Regencies included Greek mythological characters (and that was way before Sherrilyn Kenyon’s fab Dark Hunters series) and I also wrote a vampire Regency novella, which was a blast and a half!

However, beyond that, historicals and paranormals share one major thing in common: world-building. In the same way that I helped my Regency readers to feel like they were living during the time of curricles, muslin gowns, snuff and masquerade balls, I’ve worked just as hard helping my paranormal readers experience the vampire world I’ve built. In my Guardians of Ascension series, for instance, I created wings and flight, a different take on the vampire mythos, an array of powers that so far doesn’t seem to have an end in sight, and most importantly tough leather battle gear for my warriors, including super sexy black leather kilts! *Tssss!!!*

I also think that both Regencies and Paranormals have wonderful alpha males. My vampires are warriors and all my Regency heroes were titled men: viscounts, earls, the occasional marquis. I think if you added up the number of ‘lords’ I created in my Regencies, I may have bestowed more titles than any single monarch in British history! Alphas are wonderful to write as well: they’re strong, but usually isolated and just need a good, powerful woman to bring them down a peg or two in order to open up that stubborn heart to love!

In recent years, I left my Regency world behind—just temporarily, mind you—and have focused on the pleasure of writing my vampire series. Guardians of Ascension is set in a world of ascending dimensional earths of which there are six known dimensions. Perhaps because I wrote Regencies for so long, it was a natural thing for me to include social aspects to this world as well, like the various philosophies of my ascenders, the reverential aspects of sharing blood, as well as the potential abuses, the war, the effects of the war on my overworked, but oh-so-hunky warriors, and even what it’s like to raise children on Second Earth.

Above all, however, I write romance no matter what the genre. So, each novel in either my Regencies or my Guardians of Ascension focuses on one couple and their struggle to find love within all the challenges of the world in which they live.

BORN OF ASHES, my current release, is the fourth book in the series and came out on the 3rd of this month. It features a blood slave, Fiona, who has been rescued by the Warrior Jean-Pierre. Because she was a slave for a hundred years, she has a mission to in turn rescue other women.

I have to say that it’s been hugely satisfying to write a series, something I haven’t done before. The continuing characters become like olds friends and with each successive book I always try to take a moment to bring forward, even if it’s just in the space of a paragraph, one of the couples from a previous novel.

I love to talk about writing in general and my winged vampire series specifically. Please ask me anything you like but I always want to know what you’re favorite romance novel of all time is and what has made that book so special for you!

To learn more about the Guardians of Ascension, go to: www.carisroane.com

Caris Roane has published over fifty Regency romance novels and novellas under the pen name, Valerie King. In 2005, Romantic Times gave her a Career Achievement award in Regency Romance. Having had a long-time love affair with vampires, Caris tackled the paranormal genre and built a unique vampire world based on ascending dimensional earths. Her series is called Guardians of Ascension.

The first novel of the series, Ascension, debuted in January of 2011 and has been nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer Choice Award in the category of Vampire Romance. Burning Skies was released in May, and the third novel, Wings of Fire, hit the shelves in September. Her novella based on the series, Brink of Eternity, released July 12^th as a $.99 e-read! And most recently, on January 3^rd, the fourth novel, Born of Ashes, opened the New Year. The fifth novel, Obsidian Flame releases on April 24th. Caris lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her two cats, Sebastien and Gizzy.

Reflection

2012-01-22T00:30:00.000-08:00

Hi, all! It’s nice to be here. I’d like to thank Lee for inviting me. My name is Opal Carew and I write erotic romance. I also write steamy romance as Amber Carew.

This time of year, I like to sit back and take a few moments to reflect on what I would like to achieve in the coming year, and beyond. It’s tempting to just follow along my current path without really thinking about it, letting things happen by default, but if I just follow the path blindly without thinking about where I’m going, isn’t it like riding a boat without steering? Drifting along where the current takes me?

I’m currently in the middle of a six book contract with St. Martin’s Press, with deadlines more or less set and I have two novellas to write for Samhain, and that’s more than enough to keep me busy for a year, but are there other things I should be doing to make my career successful? And what about the other aspects of my life?

I think the real question is what can I do to make my life happier? That happiness could be a result of many things. For instance, making my career more successful (or fun), spending more time with family, reducing my stress level, or improving my health.

As part of this process, I make a list of goals. Some are very specific, with clear steps, and some are very broad. Some are life achievement types of goals. Clearly, those are bigger and may carry over years.

The great thing is, over the years I see these goals manifesting. For instance, my big dream used to be getting published, and that finally happened several years ago. Now it’s being a New York Times bestselling author. That goal goes on the list every year. Another was to be an award winning author. Previously, I’d never won anything, but over the past two years, I’ve won three awards, and this year I’m a finalist for the RT Book Review magazine’s Best Erotic Book of 2011 award. Also, I might not be a NYT bestselling author, but my short story, THREE, hit #15 on Barnes and Noble in August.

An example of a very specific, easily attainable goal was to submit to a publisher a series of sci fi erotic romance novellas called Celestial Soul-Mates that I’d had on the backburner. The first two stories were written and the other three drafted. I just had to send them out, but I never seemed to find the time. After two years on my goal list, I finally did it, and now they’re being published by Samhain. The third in the series, PASSION PLAY, came out a few days ago.

Another goal I added last year was to write some erotic short stories. I love to write short stories, so they would add some fun to my career, and with the growing popularity of eBooks, there’s now a bigger market for short fiction. So while struggling with one of my books a few months ago, in an attempt to free my creative block, I sat down and wrote a short story. Ideas started to flow and I came up with the concept for a series, called Red Hot Fantasies. I published the first story, THE MALE STRIPPER, two days before Christmas, and THE STRANGER a couple of days ago.

I find that over the years, this process has helped me find success and happiness, in my career and in my personal life.

What about you? Do you have a planning process that works for you? Do you have any secrets for finding success that you’d like to share?

I’m giving away a copy of The Male Stripper, the first story of the Red Hot Fantasies series, to FIVE lucky people. Just leave a comment to be eligible to win.

Please join me on Facebook: Opal Carew or Amber Carew

Best,

Opal

www.OpalCarew.com

www.AmberCarew.com

Dark and stormy nights

2012-01-21T00:05:00.000-08:00

Arguably one of the worst opening lines is “It was a dark and stormy night.” But when an elementary school teacher in Northeast Ohio gave her sixth grade class that line and told them to write a story, an author was born. An author who grew up with a keen interest in all things paranormal. I don’t remember how old I was when I first read Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but I was hooked. I think I’ve seen every Hammer Horror film that Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing were in, and while I don’t necessarily like straight horror, throw a little romance into all that gothic angst and I am so there.

So it was only natural that when I started writing, seriously writing for publication, that I went straight to paranormal romance. And I’m so excited about my Warriors of the Rift series with Grand Central Publishing. The first book, KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, comes out February 1^st. It has a vampire hero and a half-demon heroine and a supporting cast that includes werewolves, elves and even a werebear. Set primarily in the Scottsdale, Arizona area, the series combines paranormal elements with suspense and romance.

The second book, HEART OF THE WOLF, picks up the storyline where KISS leaves off, with a werewolf heroine and a human cop. I’m just about ready to start writing book three, HEART OF THE DEMON which features a demon hero and a fey heroine.

Warriors of the Rift: Once a generation, the rift between the paranormal world and the human world opens, allowing supernatural entities to cross. Vampire, demon, or shapeshifter, they can save the world–or send it spiraling into chaos.

So, tell me. What’s your favorite type of paranormal, and why? To celebrate the release of the first book of the series, we’ll draw a name from all the comments and that person will receive an Advance Reader Copy of KISS OF THE VAMPIRE and a bookmark and magnet.

Cynthia Garner
http://cynthiagarnerbooks.com

***Shannon wins the ARC for Kiss of The Vampire!! Congratulations, Shannon! Please send an email with your full name and mailing address to totebag@authorsoundrelations.com so we can get the prize in the mail! Thank you!***

So You Say You Want to Publish Your Own Book… by Jenny Gardiner

2012-01-19T20:12:00.000-08:00

It's been nearing two years now since I decided to self-publish a novel. Back then it was in the early days of indie publishing, and I made the decision based on instinct, purely because I'd gotten a Kindle for my birthday that previous December and was so hooked on the convenience of it, the ability to acquire new books within a minute's time, the elimination of tons and tons of paper waste that was endemic with the publishing industry, etc. I just knew if I loved this cool, new (and then overpriced) gadget, then others would too. And I knew once the price came down on it lots of people would be on board. I'd decided the time was upon us when I heard that Apple would be launching this new product called an iPad soon. That was the magic bullet to bring the price down on e-readers so that people would buy them.

It was slow-going in the early days. That first year I hardly sold any books. Hardly anyone owned e-readers. Plus it was hard to determine the proper pricing--it made sense for an e-book to be cheaper than a book that is printed, but how much cheaper? Hard to know. And it seemed that those who owned Kindles were looking for free content. Maybe to save money after shelling out $350 for a Kindle? hehehe

Have I learned a lot in the past two years? Oh, if only you knew…

There was a time when I wanted to stay parked firmly in the camp of publishing with New York houses. That's the way it was supposed to be. But something happened along the way: times changed. New York houses changed (well, actually more like they failed to adapt, which led to their becoming much more irrelevant). It went from a reasonable proposition to an unrealistic one. More and more houses were putting all the demands on authors with little-to-no risk on their part. If a book didn't sell gangbusters, it was automatically because the author somehow failed. Which we all knew was baloney. But it was easiest to blame the most vulnerable in the trail: the writers. Advances became so small as to be almost insulting: once upon a time an advance would enable an author to write from book to book without quite starving to death. But advances were becoming so small that it was the equivalent of working a minimum wage job for about a week: clearly not enough to sustain someone. Authors were busily working their tails off, building a healthy mountain of debt and not ever seeing much money for their efforts (while readers falsely believed writers were living it up like the Kardashians!).

But then Amazon decided to offer authors what no one else had truly done: respect. In the form of a legitimate level of royalty payment. Enough to help pay for groceries! Imagine! Granted, it was part of their multi-pronged attack against the industry-slash-attempt-to-curry-favor-with-a-susceptible-population. But hey, I admit, I was completely vulnerable! Throw the possibility of actual wage-earning my way and I'll foam at the mouth! I have no pride!

But what I hadn't expected that I love about publishing myself is that I have control over my career again. No longer am I at the mercy of vagaries over which I have no control. No editors who leave in the middle of a book, leaving you essentially unrepresented for your book's publication and floundering in no-man's land. No houses who lose interest in the novel and neglect to promote it. No IOUs on royalties stuck in this mysterious accounting category known as "reserves", which means you'll never see a penny of it. Basically no one to blame but me if it doesn't do well. But now I have an artist's palette of options to try to fix that if it doesn't sell: change the cover. Change the descriptive jacket copy. Try various promotions both within Amazon and without. If the book doesn't sell, it's not dead in the water as it once was with a New York house. It just calls for some refining. Tweaking. This was a new concept: rather than sit passively by while my home was engulfed in weeds, with indie publishing I was able to take proactive measures to spruce up the curb appeal and ensure that people were interested. This is a great gift that Amazon has given authors. And one that benefits readers. For far too long authors were shut down with terrific books simply because they didn't fit within the narrowly prescripted terms of their genres and those of bricks-and-mortar stores: i.e. if it couldn't be easily categorized on a shelf, it wasn't going to find a home. But now if you write a book that transcends genre descriptions, one that might be part suspense, part women's fiction, and part sports narrative, well guess what? Somewhere on Amazon, you'll find your readership. Chick lit, once considered the graveyard for all eternity for writers, has returned with indie publishing: we knew the readers existed. It's just that publishing houses refused to take a chance to publish that type of novel after they'd killed the genre. It's a whole new world in publishing, and I'm so happy to be in the frontier of it, taking charge, owning my career again.

Over the past two years I've become a scholar of sorts, learning the ins and outs of independent publishing, trying to discern what works and what doesn't. There's a lot of trial and error, and there isn't always a simple answer. Plus it's true, rather than devote all of my time to writing, I'm having to divide it in order to focus also on trying to succeed in this New Publishing World Order. But hell, even if publishing through "legacy" New York publishers I was spending much of my time with marketing and publicity, sucking away time I'd otherwise spent creating worlds as a writer. At least now I'm doing it while earning an actual living, which is a good thing, if nothing else because it enables me to continue to be a writer. And that's a good thing.

So if you're interested in checking out my indie-published books, here they are!

and others I have with other publishing houses:

and coming very soon:

and please come visit me on twitter and Facebook here and here

Do You Believe In Legends?

2012-01-19T00:21:00.000-08:00

Morning, everyone! Thanks for having me here today and letting me talk about my new paranormal release IMMORTAL HOPE and the legend that it’s based on, the Knights Templar.

CENTURIES AGO,

Templar knights defied the archangels and unearthed the copper scroll, revealing the gates to hell. Cursed for their forbidden act, they forever roam the earth protecting mankind from evil. But darkness stalks them, and battles they fight bring them ever-closer to eternal damnation. One promise remains to give them salvation – the return of the seraphs.

Embittered by his purpose, Merrick du Loire must honor an ancient pact and bring peace to his cousin’s soul. When he stumbles upon history professor Anne MacPherson, he discovers she possesses a sacred artifact that marks her as a seraph. Duty demands he set aside his personal quest and locate the knight she’s fated to heal. As he struggles with conflicting oaths, Anne arouses buried hope and sparks forbidden desire that challenges everything he’s sworn to uphold.

Anne has six weeks to complete her thesis on the Knights Templar. When Merrick takes her to the Templar stronghold, he presents her with all she needs—and awakens a soul-deep ache, he alone can soothe. Yet loving Merrick comes with a price. If she admits she's destined for him, her gift of foresight predicts his death.

IMMORTAL HOPE is the product of a lot of research and a lot of speculative fiction. We all know, per history, that the legendary knights went to the Temple Mount and found something in the tunnels beneath. What that something in has ranged from the treasure of Jerusalem to the essence of Christ and those myths, those legends, have firmly rooted themselves into our culture.

But when I designed IMMORTAL HOPE and the companion books in the series, The Curse of the Templars, I didn’t want to travel the path Dan Brown and so many others have. I didn’t want to speculate on what the knights found – even though that question is used to ground the reader throughout IMMORTAL HOPE itself.

What fascinates me more as a historian is what happened to the Knights Templar.

Here’s the facts: They were founded between 1118 and 1119. They built mesmerizing Cathedrals. They acted as ‘bankers’ for nearly every European throne. They were rich and powerful with members claiming kingships. They owned their own navy fleet, built roads and trade routes, their battle skills were invaluable. In short they had strength and power, physically and politically, and enough numbers throughout their network to found their own country.

Then, after existing for two hundred years, they virtually disappeared. The night before hundreds were arrested, an entire fleet of ships, ripe with the Order’s wealth, vanished. Templar members and leaders were arrested and tortured into confessions. Leaders held in Chinon were pardoned in secret… and then executed anyway.

Why, is the driving premise in IMMORTAL HOPE. Anne MacPherson, the heroine, speculates it related to the Church feeling threatened.

There are other theories about what may have happened to them, but scholars are leaning more and more toward the Templar being a threat to the French Throne and the Church. Still, the mysteries surrounding them leave history ripe for speculation.

- Some people believe the Knights Templar took refuge in Portugal, becoming the Knights of Christ

- Theories amass that the members of the Templar quietly joined ranks with the Knights Hospitaller

- Speculation exists that the Templar united with the King of Scotland, sharing the mutual ban of excommunication, and took refuge in the North (Rosslyn Chapel verifying this)

- Treasure hunters believe the Knights Templar journeyed to North America and hid their treasure here (Oak Island Money Pit)

- Historical record indicates a strange turn of events in Switzerland around this time when a mighty fighting force entered, and Switzerland became the ‘closed’ country it is today.

I tend to believe the latter – that the knights moved into the mountains. They had the banking skills, the political connections, the power to defend their territories, the know-how to operate at governmental levels.

But what about you? Do you believe the legends? One in particular perhaps?

Or do you believe in the truth, according to Merrick du Loire, cursed commander of the North American Knights Templar:

The Curse

In 1119, nine knights rode with Hughes de Payens to the Holy Land, becoming the Knights Templar. All were bound by marriage or by blood. Eight were recorded over time. The ninth vanished into history.

Beneath the legendary Temple Mount, the knights uncovered holy relics, including the Copper Scroll—a document written by Azazel’s unholy hand. For their forbidden digging, the archangels exacted a sacrifice. The knights would spend eternity battling the demons of Azazel’s creation, but with each vile death they claimed, a portion of darkness would enter their soul. In time, they would transform into knights of Azazel, warriors veined with evil, destined to fight against the Almighty.

Yet an ancient prophecy remained to give them hope. When darkness raped the land, the seraphs would return. Female descendants of the Nephilim would carry the light to heal their dying souls.

Centuries have passed. Azazel’s might grows to intolerable limits. With the acquisition of eight holy relics, he will gain the power to overthrow the Almighty.

Six Templars stand above the rest in duty, honor, and loyalty. But each is haunted by a tragic past, and their darkened souls rapidly near the end. As they battle both the overwhelming power of evil and the nightmares of lives they left behind, the seraphs are more than tools to victory.

They are salvation.

Thanks again for having me here today!

~Claire

www.claireashgrove.com

www.toristclaire.com

TWITTER: @ClaireAshgrove

Claire will be giving away a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and a second $25.00 Amazon.com gift certificate to a second randomly drawn commenter at the end of the tour. Be sure to follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning! Click the Blog Tour badge for a complete list of blog stops.

http://claireashgrove.blogspot.com/p/immortal-hope-blog-tour.html

Where Did Winter Go?

2012-01-18T01:07:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how it happened, but clearly winter has decided to skip southern NJ and go to other parts of the country instead. As I write this, a MAJOR winter snowstorm/blizzard is heading for Seattle. . . SEATTLE? Around here? Well, after a Halloween weekend surprise snow, we've had nothing! I am seriously not happy. Then my azalea bushes began to bud and three blossoms even showed up a day later. 65 degrees in December is simply not acceptable.

It's this time of year that I get at least a couple of wonderful, hunker-down reading days during snowstorms or just after it. I make a nice pot of tea and curl up with a good book. . . or two or three. If the weather is really bad, I could spend two whole days on the couch. Ah, those are good times.

Not this year -- 2011 has slipped into 2012 and there's no sign of winter! Spring will bring its flowers and nice(r) weather and outside activities and I will have missed my significant winter reading time.

So, at this point I'm hanging my hat on the only guilt-free reading day that's possible -- I've been called for jury duty next week. Since it can be difficult or inconvenient to bring my laptop and attempt to get some writing done, I can only bring along a book or two and simply sit and read through the day while waiting to be called to the courtroom.

Either way -- it's pretty bad when I have to rely on winter storms or jury duty to get some quality reading time for myself! LOL!

How about you? How do you carve out reading time for yourself? Is it weather-related (more or less in winter or summer)? Is it job-related? Some other way? Post a note and I'll be choosing two commentors to each receive a copy of the special Mills & Boon release - ROYAL WEDDINGS THROUGH THE AGES - an anthology of seven stories about historical royal weddings. (It's only being released in the UK so it is SPECIAL!)

Terri is working on her next Harlequin Historical release (returning to the MacLerie Clan in the Highlands of Scotland!) while re-publishing her first four books that include 3 time-travel romances and one historical. Visit her website for all kinds of info about her and her books and events!

First Lines And More

2012-01-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

I’m writing today with only one hand, and the left at that, courtesy of a shifty horse and a Mexican beach.

How’s that for an opening line? And an unfortunately true one. Try typing with your non-dominant hand sometime and marvel at how difficult a familiar keyboard becomes. So please pardon my brevity and all the typos!

My accident was a fairly common one, falling backward and stupidly using my hand to break my fall. But Mexico was gorgeous and one of my favorite places to be in winter. I crave sun and warmth this time of year. Perhaps that’s why I’ve placed my witchy Malcolm characters in California—so I can soak up their heat as I write!

Since I’m supposed to be chatting about my book and not my boo-boos, here’s the opening line from LURE OF SONG AND MAGIC: Hollywood’s hottest producer seeks former teen sensation to find kidnapped son.

Hard to pack an entire story into one line, but I tried! And lest you’re left with the impression that this is a romantic suspense, let me assure you that Pippa and Oz are far too strong-willed to let plot get in the way of their conflict, or their romance. But have pity on my injured wrist and go take a look at the excerpt if you doubt me: http://patriciarice.com/Lureexcerpt1.pdf

Sourcebooks is offering books to two lucky commenters. To start things off, why don’t you tell me if you like a touch of paranormal in your books and why or why not.

I blew up my last Facebook page but I’ve started another at: http://www.facebook.com/OfficialPatriciaRice Stop by and check out the pics from my Mexican adventure! I’m accident prone, so Like the page and you can follow my misadventures.

If you prefer, you can reach me through my blog at http://www.patriciarice.blogspot.com or by stopping by my website at http://patriciarice.com/ and Twitter hasn’t kicked me out yet: https://twitter.com/#!/Patricia_Rice

So let me know how you like LURE and what you’d like me to do in the future (besides fall off horses). More Magic books? Historicals? Contemps?

***Marybelle and Maureen are the winners! Congratulations, ladies! Please send an email with your full name and mailing address to totebag@authorsoundrelations.com so we can get the prize in the mail! Thank you!***

Lisa Dale - A Little Contest To Celebrate My New Release

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Hope your 2012 has got off to a beautiful start, with a fresh burst of optimism and many things to look forward to as the year goes on.

I'm having an especially nice new year because I've just released a new book, A Promise of Safekeeping!

Keep reading to see if this is the kind of story you're in the mood for.

A Promise of Safekeeping is a story of how the human spirit triumphs over darkness--even over itself.

Nine years ago, Lauren Matthews prosecuted the case of a lifetime. But her error in judgment sent an innocent man to prison. Now Arlen Fieldstone’s finally been released, and Lauren has only one thing on her mind: asking forgiveness. But how can she make up for nine years of his life?

To get to Arlen, Lauren must first get through Arlen’s best friend, Will Farris. Will hasn’t forgotten Lauren from those days, and hasn’t forgiven her for destroying his best friend’s life. He is Arlen’s keeper—protecting him from suspicious neighbors as well as from Lauren.

In the steaming summer streets of Richmond, Virginia, three people’s lives collide. Lauren needs forgiveness. Arlen needs hope. And Will? He needs something too, something that no one can know—especially not Lauren…

I'm really excited to share this book with you. As I wrote, the characters became deeper and deeper, the story taking on new shades and colors...it was mesmerizing. I hope it will be the same for you.

Will might actually be my favorite hero ever. He’s strong on the surface, but he has a deep vulnerability that I can’t give away here. When the book opens, every woman he’s ever dated has run away from him. He is wary of Lauren at first—with good reason, since she put his best friend in jail. But when he warms to her, he begins to wonder if she might be the one woman who is strong enough to bear his secret, if he can bring himself to tell it.

There's a second love story in A Promise of Safekeeping too. It's between Arlen (the ex con), and the wife who divorced him when he was pronounced guilty. Although it seems as if his wife gave up on him, there’s hope: As much as Arlen is thinking about Eula, she’s thinking about him too.

To celebrate the release of my new book, I'm giving away a copy of Slow Dancing on Price's Pier, my release from last year that was a Top Pick and Barnes & Noble and Bookpage magazine. U.S. addresses only, please.

To enter, just answer this question:

In A Promise of Safekeeping, Will is an antiques collector. What do you collect?

Good wishes for every blessing in the New Year,

Lisa Dale
www.LisaDaleBooks.com

Georgette Heyer:Biography of a bestseller

2012-01-15T00:49:00.000-08:00

One of the first things I learnt as a teenager who wanted to be an author was that if you wanted to learn about authors and how they truly worked read an in depth interview, in particular read a Paris Match interview. The advice was fine as far as it went. But some authors were notoriously private. Georgette Heyer being a prime example. She didn't do interviews and hated the whole author as a personality thing. Up to this year there has only been one biography by Jane Aiken Hodge which I kept meaning to find and read.
One of my Christmas presents from my husband was Jennifer Kloester's new biography of Georgette Heyer. It has been a thoroughly splendid read. As a working author, I can really identify with some of Georgette's struggles. I found it interesting how she reworked some of her short stories into novels and how long it took her to discover her *true* voice. I was also interested to learn the background to her novels. I already knew about her fantastic approach to research and had made several educated guesses to various influences on her plotting and therefore was pleased to learn more.
I found it interesting that she wanted to withdraw from publication several of her early books. Thankfully she was unable to suppress These Old Shades as it is one of my favourite of her books. I loved reading about her struggles and how sometimes characters wouldn't come. It is also interesting to see her unique problems. for example, the naming of characters was important to her and once a name was settled on, she had difficulty in changing. Bath Tangle posed a particular problem as she discovered late on that she had used a real title for the hero and had to change.
Kloester also explores Heyer's world view and how that influenced her writing. For example, Heyer didn't really believe in women working outside the home and so did not really explore this facet of Regency life. Heyer also had a tendency to layer her own Edwardian viewpoint and sensibility into the Regency world she portrayed. It is one of the things about being a historical novelist -- in many ways you are holding up a dark and shadowy mirror to your own time.
If you are interested in how authors work or where ideas come from or indeed some of the struggles authors go through when they are trying to manage their career, Kloester's biography is a good place to start. If you happen to be a Heyer fan, then you are in for a real treat.

Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical romance for Harlequin Historical. Her next book will be His Unsuitable Countess (August 2012 UK and US) You can read more about Michelle's books on her website www.michellestyles.co.uk

The End of a Series

2012-01-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

I’ve heard a lot of readers bemoan the end of a series that they loved. Many readers want to keep reading about those characters they’ve come to love over the span of a couple of years. They don’t want to give up that relationship yet. Writers feel the same way.

We mourn the loss of characters that have been in our lives for years and any times, years longer than it took to get them on paper and publish. When I first heard authors talking about how sad they were to be done with a series, I was unpublished and naïve. I had hundreds of characters and plots running through my head. Once I was done with a book or series, I would just move on to the next one.

Silly me.

When I first started writing Every Night I’m Yours, I feel in love with my characters. All five of my heroes and heroines. By the time I finished writing One Night Scandal, I was still in love with them, albeit a little weary of their constant involvement in my life. But I was at a loss of what do to next.

It took me several attempts at writing a synopsis for my agent. Nothing I put down was really “calling” to me. I was sure I didn’t want to write another series revolving around regency women. But as I tried to edit the first few chapters, I realized my heart wasn’t into this next series.

For some reason, watching the History Channel (when there is history on it, not reality shows) tends to get my creative juices flowing. When I was watching something about the history of witches, they mentioned the term Wise Women. My brain latched on to that tidbit. It turns out that wise women were the healers on the lands and practiced some pagan rituals. Because they had knowledge, many were declared witches and killed.

So my crazy brain took that and said, what if there some of these women still around in during the regency period and were still healers on the estates of peers? And what if they still performed some rituals only because it’s what their mothers and grandmothers had done for centuries? And what if the one of the heroes wanted nothing to do with his wise woman because his first wife had died in childbirth at the hands of the wise woman? And my brain just kept going.

Soon, I had another series revolving around three women. Here we go again. I’m currently working on my Wise Women series. The first book, tentatively titled, Bewitching the Duke will be an ebook release from Kensington in 2012.You can find me at www.christiekelley.com.

How do you as a reader feel when you get to the end of a series? Do you hate to let go or are you anxious to start another series? I’m giving away a signed copy of the first book in my series, Every Night I’m Yours to one commenter.

Christie

www.christiekelley.com

***Melissa is the winner for a copy of EVERY NIGHT i'M YOURS! Congratulations! Please send an email with your full name and mailing address to totebag@authorsoundrelations.com so we can get the prize in the mail! Thank you!***

Friday the 13th

2012-01-13T01:02:00.000-08:00

by Tawny Weber

Did you know today is Friday the 13th? I ask because there are many a'day that I'm clueless to the position of the calender. But those fateful Friday's do tend to snag my attention. Not because I'm superstitious (although I suppose I am), but because I've always had the best luck on Friday the 13th. And this year, we get 3 of them! I can't wait to see what happens :-)

Now I know many people see this day differently. It's supposed to bring bad luck. Kind of like black cats (I have two). There are enough people with a phobia of the date, that it has it's own name: friggatriskaidekaphobia (say that three times fast). But, like I said, it's usually one of the best luck days of the year for me. When I was 17, there was a boy I had been crushing on for months. He finally asked me out on Friday the 13th. I've gotten raises on Friday the 13th. I've found killer sales deals on Friday the 13th. I've written record page counts on Friday the 13th (which might tell you what I'm trying to beat today *g*).

Maybe it's because I've seen Friday the 13th as a lucky day since I was a teenager, that I've always managed to draw good luck to me. Which is what the characters in my newest release, SEX, LIES AND MIDNIGHT, do. They make things happen. The hero is an FBI agent who is 'lucky enough' to make contact with the one person guaranteed to bring him in the inner circle of a notorious con man. The con man's daughter. He's even luckier when she needs an escort home. For Maya, it's great luck that she finds a gorgeous, sexy guy who's perfect for distracting her arch-nemesis. And even luckier? He's free and willing to come home with her. Neither would say it's luck, though, so much as that they see opportunities and make the most of them.

So my question is this... Is luck something we create because we believe in it? Or is it something that's there whether we believe or not-but some of us are just too stubborn to realize there's bad luck happening that we aren't paying attention to. Do you have any fun Friday the 13th stories to share?

Be sure to leave a comment to be entered in the drawing for an autographed copy of SEX, LIES AND MIDNIGHT!

Tawny Weber has been writing sassy, sexy stories for Harlequin Blaze since her first book hit the shelves in 2007. When not obsessing over deadlines, she’s shopping for cute shoes, scrapbooking or hanging out on Facebook and Twitter. Come by and visit her on the web at www.tawnyweber.com

In December of 2011 Tawny launched her Undercover Ops series with SEX, LIES AND MISTLETOE. The second book in the series, SEX, LIES & MIDNIGHT is on shelves in January 2012, quickly followed in February by SEX, LIES & VALENTINES. You can read the first chapter of SEX, LIES & MIDNIGHT on her website, too – all you have to do is join the Reader LoveFest! Be sure to follow Tawny on her Holiday Survival Tour as she celebrates these three books with tons of fun and a chance for readers to win a $100 giftcard!

At Long Last

2012-01-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

I love European settings in books. I don’t know what it is about them and in essence the people that draws me in. It has that…Je ne sais quoi type of sensation. The thing I can’t put my finger on. It’s probably why I’m writing a new steampunk series for Carina Press set in 1850 London.

I’ve been to Germany and Austria and the Netherlands. I loved it there. I could wax poetic about the way I felt when roaming the cobblestone streets or touring the spectacular cathedrals and castles. But no one wants to hear my poetry…trust me. I long for the day that I can go back to those places, and add more to my touring schedule…places like France and Ireland and Scotland. I really want to travel through France. My sister lived there in a tiny village for a few months and I envy all the stories she has about her time there and the pictures of all the quaint towns and people she met along the way.

I long to see Paris, and Marseille, and Nice, and Lyon, and Nouveau Monde. Say what? Nouveau Monde? Yes, that’s right. It’s that picturesque city where the Otherworlder community has congregated. Vampires and lycans and witches, and even humans live in relative peace and harmony in the beautiful progressive city. It has much of the same look and feel of Lyon, with a long and wide river winding its way through the bustle of the city. You should go there. It’s gorgeous. Just watch out for the nightlife…they just might bite.

Nouveau Monde is the city in France that my next Nocturne A WOLF’S HEART takes place. It’s book six in the Valorian Chronicles and the last book. Here’s a little bit about it…

Gabriel Bellmonte let his first love slip away, while loyalty to his kind kept him in Nouveau Monde fighting crime. But now the seasoned Lycan investigator has been handed his toughest assignment yet. “Shadow Elise Leroy’s every move,” is his order from above—something Gabriel will do with pleasure. Except his lingering attraction for Elise could be his downfall. She has returned a glamorous, successful actress, who now finds herself the target of a twisted stalker...and in need of 24-hour protection.

Gabriel is skilled at what he does, but he’ll need to sharpen his fangs against a formidable foe. Because he can’t risk the consequences to his reputation...or to the enticing little diva who has dramatically reclaimed his heart.

What kind of settings do you love? Europe? Asia? Good old America? What kind of settings do you long for? Share your thoughts and I'll give away an eBook of GLIMMER to one person who leaves a comment!

Vivi

www.vivianna.net

A Holiday Reading Feast!

2012-01-11T00:02:00.000-08:00

by Anna Campbell

Oh, the bliss of the summer holidays here in Australia. As I write this, just before Christmas, I'm really looking forward to a couple of days of complete sloth over the Festive season. Of lying by the pool. Of snoozing. Of knocking a few books off the TBR pile.

Every year, if I possibly can, I take the time off between Christmas and New Year. Here in Australia, basically the whole country shuts down and I don't see why I should be any different.

I stockpile special books for these days as I love to curl up with a couple of really luscious reads and enjoy my leisure time.

This year is no different (I hope. Touch wood. Salt over my shoulder). So I thought I'd share some of the books I'm really looking forward to. There are others on the pile but these are the five that caught my attention first.

First is a book I read ages ago in manuscript and absolutely adored. It's the perfect Beauty and the Beast story - and as a lot of you know, that's far and away my fave fairytale. It's the second in Christina Brooke's Ministry of Marriage Series, MAD ABOUT THE EARL. Beastly Griffin (except he's mega yummy under the beastliness) and beautiful Rosamunde have such a rocky road to love when they embark upon their arranged marriage that you won't be able to put this book down. I'm looking forward to revisiting this delicious love affair and losing myself in Griffin's arms...uh, story!

Another luscious historical on the TBR pile (and another one with a beautiful blue cover!) is DESIRED by one of my long-time fave authors Nicola Cornick. This sounds like such a sexy, tug of war between duty and desire. And I already know which one is going to win. I always close Nicola's romances with a big happy sigh. Look forward to the same reaction with this one.

Tawny Weber writes wonderful sexy, saucy, smart contemporary romance. SEX, LIES AND MISTLETOE is the start of a new three-parter for her and it sounds wonderful. Intrigue, forbidden attraction, lots of flirty fun. I can hardly wait.

While I'm on a category kick, I'm really looking forward to the latest Sarah Morgan. Have you read her? I think she writes the most brilliant classic Harlequin Presents (marketed here in Australia as Sexy and believe me, these books just bristle with sexual tension!). The latest is ONCE A FERRARA WIFE... (love the elipsis!) which sounds like a passionate reunion story. I devour Sarah's books in one gulp like chocolate - can't imagine this one will be any different!

At the moment, I'm reading a lot of crime to go with my romance and a series I've really got hooked on is Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon Mysteries.

Anna, the principal character, is a middle-aged widow who works as a ranger in a series of national parks across America. The descriptions of landscape and environment are extraordinary, so vivid that you actually feel like you're there. FLASHBACK is the next one I'm due to read. It's number 11 in the series and what's a nice benefit of these later books is that Anna has mended her broken heart to the point where she's have a very nice romance with a sheriff at her latest national park. I love a bit of romance to go with my murder ;-)

So do you get to catch up with your reading over the Christmas/New Year break? What did you read that really made you sit up and pay attention?

The good, the bad and the way better than expected… Kandy Shepherd

2012-01-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

Was 2011 a good or a not-so-good year for you? At the turn of the year, I was concerned by the number of people, both around me and on social media, saying 2011 had been a terrible year for them. It made me think about my year past. I concluded that—although the world situation was an ongoing cause for concern—it hadn’t been a bad year for me, though there were some ups and downs.

I like to think the beautiful rainbow over our farmhouse brought it good luck and saved it from destruction by fire.

DOWN

Last July, a fire at our farmhouse destroyed the kitchen and caused severe smoke damage to practically every possession. Thankfully, no human or animal was hurt. Months of angst, disruption and inconvenience followed. We are only just this week moving back in.

The insurance company was fabulous. They provided a “disaster recovery” team who cleaned and restored what they could and a builder to replace the kitchen and make repairs. What can’t be restored we can replace. Looking around the beautiful new kitchen, carpets and window coverings in the newly-painted rooms, we think maybe the silver-lining part of this dark cloud turned out to be pretty substantial!

Lots of rain plus sunshine equalled magnificent roses in my garden

DOWN

As a family, we seemed to catch every cold and flu going around—despite having flu vaccinations. I swear I felt ill for half the year! My teenage daughter had mononucleosis (glandular fever) twice. Would we ever get better?

Of course we did. My daughter successfully got through her first year at university. Medical tests concluded that there is nothing seriously wrong with any of us. So reassuring!

I learned to cook Thai food--yum!

DOWN

After a long wait for confirmation, a two-book contract with a big publisher didn’t happen for me. Very disappointing. But that’s publishing for you.

Excited by the surge in indie publishing, and with some trepidation, I decided to self-publish my contemporary romance The Castaway Bride. To my ongoing amazement and delight, it became a Kindle bestseller. The Wall Street Journal recommended it in its "Reader’s Guide to Self-Published Big Sellers". I’ve gained lots of wonderful new readers. Now that really is an “Up”!

My Kindle bestseller

Over the course of twelve months, there was much to celebrate: ongoing friendships; my pleasure in my family; the joy from my animals; good books read and movies enjoyed; new recipes tried and enjoyed; the biggest and most beautiful roses I have ever grown. I’m hoping for more ups than downs in 2012—not just for me, but for you too.

Happy New Year!

Just looking at them makes me feel happy!

What about you? Any particular ups and downs for you in last year? Any hopes for 2012? I’d love to hear about them!

Please leave a comment for a chance to win a signed trade paperback copy of my contemporary romance Home Is Where the Bark Is published by Berkley Sensation. Be sure to include your email address if you want to be in the draw.

Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction.

http://www.kandyshepherd.com

Amelia's Introduction

2012-01-09T00:30:00.000-08:00

So Gwen Hayes was supposed to guest blog today at Tote Bags ‘n Blogs but she all “I’m busy. Ame help a girl out.” So here I am. My name is Amelia, my peeps call me Ame, and I guess I’ll be your guest host today.

Okay, so about me. I go to Serendipity High in Serendipity Falls, CA. Basically, our town is located on a portal between realms which means we attract all kinds of paranormal riffraff on account of the portal is cracked. But it’s also super cool because it’s like a hotspot for otherworldly adventures. Personally, I’m way into the metaphysical, so I love the energy of living so close to a portal. The vibe is really conducive to honing my psychic powers, but it also amplifies the charge for demons and, well, purveyors of dark power. You take the good with the bad, you know?

Besides knowing how to stake an errant vampire or vanquish a creeper demon, my other passion is environmentalism. My friends aren’t as into it as me. And by that I mean, they pretty much don’t pay attention at ALL to their carbon footprint. I think part of the problem is that most people don’t realize how easy it is to make little changes that make a difference. I mean think about it…if just one house on every block in your city switched to a push mower instead of a gas powered one, that would make a huge difference in fossil fuel use in your town right? What if that happened in every town in your state? Your country? See where I’m going with this? That’s just one easy change…but if you don’t have a lawn or whatever, you can still make a difference.

For instance, this year for Christmas, I made my super special witch brew all-purpose cleaner for my parents. Since my chores sometimes include cleaning the bathroom or kitchen, I was doing it for myself as much as them. I mean, I don’t want to inhale a bunch of chemicals or dry out my fragile skin, right? And even if you don’t have magic powers like me, you can still make up your own brew. You might just want to leave out the eye of newt. It will still clean just as well, I promise. You can also make a spiffy label—be creative!

Ame’s All Purpose Cleaning Potion

1/4 cup vinegar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon Borax

1 teaspoon liquid soap (go organic! Dr. Bonners is a great brand)

10 drops lavender essential oil

10 drops rosemary essential oil

5 drops tea tree essential oil

1 oz eye of newt (optional)

Warm water to fill 32 oz spray bottle

· Dissolve Borax in vinegar and lemon juice

· Add soap

· Add drops and newt

· Transfer to spray bottle

· Fill rest of bottle with warm water--slowly so it doesn't foam up.

· Say an optional blessing and feel good about yourself every time you reach for your non toxic brew instead of skeezy chemical laden, not to mention expensive, bottle of hazardous material

About the Author: Amelia is a character from the Falling Under series by Gwen Hayes. The sequel to Falling Under, Dreaming Awake, was released on January 3, 2012. For more information about Gwen, Ame, and Serendipity Falls please visit www.gwenhayes.com or follow Gwen on Twitter http://twitter.com/gwenhayes

Laptop Limbo : : Anne McAllister

2012-01-08T02:00:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year that I should be making resolutions and cleaning my house after holiday celebrations and, according to my editor, finishing my book.

And I will – but first I need to find a laptop.

My laptop, Charley, whom I have loved for the nearly three years I’ve had him because he is light and fast and responsive, seems to have a fatal illness which hours of assiduous customer service and a complete wipe of the hard drive and a return to factory specs do not seem able to put right.

It could be the fan. The fan makes a terrible grinding whirring gasping noise. And then it’s silent, and I can’t think that’s a good thing for Charley. I fear he will over-heat. So I shut him off. Then when he’s cooled down, he comes back on and behaves for a while, and then he begins to groan. Also not a good thing.

I am not conversant in laptop-speak, but when even though I can personify my laptop to the extent of giving him a name, when he begins to talk to me, I worry. I fear for either my sanity or his health. My sanity seems pretty good at the moment, so it’s Charley’s health that is definitely in question.

I have a friend who thinks he might have a fan he can put in my laptop. But in the meantime, because while I love Charley, I realize his life span may be limited, I am looking at laptops. (I don’t say ‘replacement’ in his hearing, but you know what I mean).

So, do you have suggestions? Recommendations? Commiserations?

Any of all of the above?

This is what I’d like: a 13” or 14” laptop with a fast processor (Windows, not Mac because I do stuff that I would have to change everything for if I got a Mac, even though I am sometimes tempted). I’d like it fairly light-weight and I’d like it to survive being dragged to the library and the coffee shop and where I teach my genealogy class when I’m not writing romances.

Another Charley, basically.

But unlike Charley, I don’t think I want to take this new one on serious long trips. I used to do that. Then I got a netbook and it was so much less stressful, not to mention ‘heavy,’ that I’m leaning toward that for travel.

I took Charley to New York a few weeks ago and he did fine. But he stayed in the apartment once we got there. When I took him to Washington DC last summer, he stayed in the hotel room after the first day because he was too heavy to schlep across the mall every morning and back every afternoon. So I’m thinking a new one doesn’t have to stand up to the bangs and bumps of travel the way Charley did.

I want good customer service, which I have had with Dell. So I have no complaints there. But that isn’t to say someone else doesn’t also have good customer service, though apparently some don’t.

My daughter, who has a laptop of a different brand that begins with T, is not at all enamored of their customer service. “What service?” she has been known to shriek.

So, I would welcome recommendations and suggestions. Or warnings.

Either one will help me narrow things down. I am leaning toward the Dell XPS 14z. Do you have one? Do you know anyone who does? If so, I’d love to hear about your experiences. Forewarned is forearmed and all that.

Besides, if you warn me and I do it anyway, you’re entitled to say, “I told you so!”

Anne is working on a Christmas book. She’d better hurry and finish it because, as her editor says, “It is rather tied to a particular time of year, Anne.” Er, yes.

Her next title, Savas’s Wildcat, will be an April 2012 Presents Extra. And her most recent book was The Night That Changed Everything, out last November from Presents Extra.

Regency New York City

2012-01-07T00:30:00.000-08:00

Despite my having had a love affair with all things Regency and London since I was in high school, I will admit, I have had a much longer obsession with all things known as historical New York City ever since I first saw the movie Annie as a girl.

After seeing the movie, I wanted to know everything there was to know about New York. Everything.

So my father let me loose in our local library at the age of nine and without even knowing what I was doing, I researched the history of New York City with such a determined passion that I ended up stumbling on a much grittier side of New York than what was shown to me in Annie. It was known as the Five Points. I even found words I didn’t understand. Like Prostitution. My father was horrified and told me to forget about New York AND research. But the Five Points stayed with me ever since.

When the movie Newsies came out, just as I was finishing high school (yes, I’m dating myself here), it came calling to me again in a way that sent me back to the library. There was just something about historical New York City I couldn’t let go of and it wasn’t until now that I found the stories in my head to fit the stories I saw in my youth. I wanted two very different worlds to collide (not just poor versus rich, orphan versus parents, street kid versus authority, but everything versus everything) and in my Rumor Series, I’m ensuring it.

Forever and A Day is my version of the Price and the Pauper, yes, but you will also notice that my heroine is actually a feisty, older version of Annie, with red hair to boot. Forever A Lady is my twisted version of the Newsies. Only I’m going with buff, older men toting pistols, instead of boys toting newspapers. And Forever A Lord is my version of the movie Cinderella Man. Only instead of setting it in the Depression, it’s set against the savage, underground boxing rings of Regency New York with a journey that takes our hero into the upper crusts of London society as a bare knuckle boxer where he will become what he has always been...a Lord.

So now I open up a question to you. Which is YOUR favorite New York set movie or book? Comment for your chance to win a signed copy of FOREVER AND A DAY! This giveaway is open to both U.S. and International readers.

Delilah

www.delilahmarvelle.com

***Sheree is the winner of FOREVER AND A DAY! Congratulations, Sheree! Please send an email with your full name and mailing address to totebag@authorsoundrelations.com so we can get the prize in the mail! Thank you!***

And Now For Something Completely Different

2012-01-06T00:30:00.000-08:00

Greetings readers! And thank you for having me, Lee.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Julianne MacLean and I’ve written 15 historical romance novels. I started at Harlequin where I wrote two westerns and a colonial romance set in my home province of Nova Scotia. I then moved to Avon/HarperCollins where I wrote nine historicals set in the late-Victorian period. Now I’m with St. Martin’s Press, my dream publisher, and I have just released a Highlander trilogy that came out last year.

Today I’m going to tell you why an author who is successful in one genre might branch out and try something completely different, which is what I did with my recent novel THE COLOR OF HEAVEN, which I released hot on the heels of my first two Highlander books.

It’s a very different type of story compared to my sexy Highlander romances with sword-wielding alpha males and *ahem* titillating love scenes.

The obvious difference is that it’s a mainstream contemporary novel written in first person rather than third.

Also, it’s based on a few life-altering events in my own life. The first is a car accident, which I was very fortunate to have survived. My car was totaled, and only a bank of trees stopped me from rolling off the edge of a steep cliff.

Ever since that day, I have asked myself - what if? What if I had not walked away unscathed? What if I had died?

I explore that issue in the novel when the main character skids off an icy road and lands upside down on a frozen lake. She’s not as lucky as I was, however, and has a near-death experience that changes her world forever.

Sometimes, as writers, we simply need to branch out and try something new. I had been writing historicals for more than a decade, and I just needed a change of pace. You know what they say: a change is as good as a rest. After writing THE COLOR OF HEAVEN, I did feel rejuvenated because it was a nice departure from my usual research and settings. When I finished it, I felt as if I had refilled my creative well, and I was ready to dive in to a new historical trilogy, which I am working on now and enjoying tremendously.

I hope you will give THE COLOR OF HEAVEN a try, and if you do, please write to me and let me know what you thought.

So tell me - do you like it when an author writes something completely different? Are you inclined to follow that author into a genre you don’t normally read? Or not?

One lucky commenter will win a $25 gift card from either Amazon or B&N – winner’s choice. The winner will be announced next Wednesday and I will also post the winner’s first name on my website contest page, which I hope you will visit anyway for another chance to win something - an autographed print edition of ADAM’S PROMISE, one of my early Harlequins.

And please join me on Facebook where I love to chat with readers!

Julianne

www.juliannemaclean.com / www.evmitchell.com

***Ana is the winner of the $25.00 giftcard! Congratulations, Ana! Please send an email to totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your full name and choice of eBook retailer (Amazon or B&N?) so we can get the card to you! Thanks to everyone else who commented!!***

What's in a Name?

2012-01-05T00:03:00.000-08:00

Hi, Anne Gracie, here. I was taking a little break from a mad whirl of blogging and writing and I picked up Jessica Hart's Secret Princess. I hit page 9 and suddenly I was TOTALLY distracted!

Raoul the Wolf...

It's just a name without so much as a shadow, a throwaway line, a distant ancestor, of the heroine, but what a name! I want him.

I want to write his story.

I know nothing about him, but ... sigh....

Why do I have to fall for the heroine's ancestor?

I haven't even met the grumpy Scottish hero and I'm sure he'll be fabulous but oh, Raoul the Wolf.

Is it the fault of Mary Stewart, do you think, that I imprinted on Raouls young? Ascribing heroic qualities to all Raouls?

Wolves, too, though that's not her fault — I've always been a dog person.

Anyway, to me, the combination of Raoul and wolf is irresistible.

It helps that I have never met a real live Raoul. Or a wolf, for that matter.

Still, I yearn for Raoul the Wolf.

I wrote a Dominic Wolfe once, but still, Rrraoul... that growly French sound.;)

Shakespeare said, "that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet" and that might be right, but I don't think roses would be nearly as romantic by any other name — spikethorns, or babiesbottoms, for instance, or even indefatigables, because roses are strong plants that can endure a great deal of neglect. In the Australian bush you'll often see an old, abandoned farmhouse where all that remains is ruined stone chimney and a rose bush or two, planted no doubt by some pioneer woman who wanted a bit of beauty in her hard life.

It's the same with writing. Names matter, and naming characters is harder than you might think. You might know exactly what your story is about, some exciting idea that you know is going to be fabulous, and you start writing... and it's flat and dead. All the elements are there, but for some reason your hero or heroine hasn't sprung to life; they're just going through the motions, sulking, refusing to be heroic, or even interesting.

Silly as it sounds, often the reason is you've given them the wrong name. I once started a book with a heroine called Serena — she was smug and dull and I hated her. I renamed her Tallie and she sprang to life and the story was off and running.

I've tried to name a hero Adam on several occasions. I have no luck with Adams. They invariably turn out to be Nicholas or Sebastian or someone, and I once tried to write a Francis but he declared he was a Hugo. Names are important.

In my new book, BRIDE BY MISTAKE, it was the heroine who was stubborn about her name. She insisted she was Isabella, even though I didn't want her to be — the name Isabella is already taken by a very special member of my family. I tried other names on her, but no, she refused to budge on it: she was Isabella, or Bella.

I should have known then she'd be a handful. It doesn't take Luke, my hero, long to discover that either. He'd married her eight years before, during wartime, when he was a young Lieutenant of nineteen — tall, dark and beautiful as an angel, a warrior angel. Isabella was only thirteen, in desperate peril and fleeing a hateful, forced marriage. Luke saved her by marrying her himself. He didn't think anything of it — he didn't expect to survive the war, you see. (That's my hero in the pic — well it's Rufus Sewell, but he's also my Luke.)

But the war is over, and Luke's application for an annulment was refused. Now he must return to Spain and fetch the bride he had almost forgotten. At least, he thinks, after eight years in a convent, she will be docile and obedient. . .

Background to the excerpt: Luke and Bella are leaving the convent. Luke, expecting Bella to have a lot of luggage, had brought a donkey but it's not needed.

"What are you going to do with the donkey?" she asked.

Luke mounted his own horse. "Miguel can take him."

The boy, hearing his name, looked up. "Take him where, señor?"

"Wherever you like. I don't need the donkey after all."

The boy's eyes widened. He clutched the donkey's lead in his grubby fist and glanced from Luke to Isabella and back at Luke. "How much?"

"Nothing. It's a gift," Luke told him.

"A gift ?" The boy's eyes gleamed then the excitement faded. "Señor, my mother would not allow such a gift. You paid her already, most generously."

"They may be poor but they have their pride," Isabella said softly to Luke. She said something in the boy's language and Miguel turned to Luke in surprise. "Is true, señor?"

"Tell him it's true, Lord Ripton," Isabella said with a hint of a smile.

"It's true," Luke said, hoping it was.

Miguel's face split in a brilliant grin. "What a place England must be! Thank you señor, may you have many fine sons, many fine sons!" he told Luke enthusiastically. "My mother will be so happy. With a donkey I can collect more wood for winter. With a donkey we can carry goods to market."

They set off, the convent community clustered in the gateway calling last goodbyes and waving. Miguel and the donkey ran along beside them for a short while, waving, whooping and wishing them even more fine sons, until Isabella shouted a final goodbye to Miguel and urged her horse into a canter. She had an excellent seat

Luke followed, and in a few minutes they were alone on the narrow, winding road, heading down the mountain, leaving the convent and the village far behind.

After a while the track broadened and Isabella slowed to a walk. Luke brought his mount alongside her mare so that the horses were walking side by side.

"Not finding it too tiring?"

She gave him a surprised look. "Not at all."

He pulled out a flask of cold spring water and passed it to her. She unstoppered it, drank and handed it back to him with a murmured thanks.

He was about to drink, when a question occurred to him. "What did you tell Miguel about the donkey?"

"Just that it is an English tradition for a bridegroom to give a male donkey as a gift." She added with a glimmer of mischief, "To ensure a son, you understand, donkeys being... well endowed."

Luke, in the act of drinking from his flask, choked. She gave a gurgle of laughter and rode ahead. His demure convent bride.

So Bella is a handful, and she leads Luke a merry dance, which is exactly what Luke needs. I loved writing this book and I hope you enjoy Luke and Bella's romance as much as I did.

Now, returning to Raoul the Wolf. Who is he, do you think? Portray him in 10 words or less. I'll give a copy of BRIDE BY MISTAKE to the most fun portrayal — as long as you remember he's mine, all miiiine. (Or Jessica Hart's.)

www.annegracie.com

Join me on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/1annegracie

Tweet with me: https://twitter.com/#!/AnneGracie

***Eli Yanti is the winner of BRIDE BY MISTAKE! Congrats, Eli!! Please send an email to totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your full name and mailing address so we can get the book to you!
Thanks to all for stopping by!***

A Magickal Journey

2012-01-04T00:30:00.000-08:00

Thank you Lee for having me here!

My path as a writer has been a strange and winding one. Never boring.

After all, 32 years ago I started out with sweet traditional romances and worked my way up to sexier romances and now witches, and vampires, and demons, oh my!

Funny thing is some people think I’ve only been writing for a few years since they don’t know me before my Hex and Demon series. Now I’m putting out many of my backlist books showing my readers there’s many sides to me. And isn’t that scary!

And fun.

I like to think my readers can identify with my characters. I know I do. Friends say I’m most like Jazz, my first witch. I know she’s said and done things I’d love to do. And a few that I have done. I have bunny slippers that tend to end up in odd parts of the house. I swear I can hear them screaming if one of my dogs drags them around the house.

So what does that say about me? I love my paranormal world? It’s real to me. No, I don’t hear voices. Well, yes, I do and if I don’t listen to them the book doesn’t go the way it should. :} So it’s a good thing.

While an excellent story is necessary, I’ve always felt it’s the characters that make it ‘real’.

Are the characters in a book important to you? Do they make you hungry for the next book?

For one lucky commenter I’m offering a signed copy of A Demon Does It Better along with some witchy goodies.

Linda

www.lindawisdom.com

***Congratulations to Alainala for winning a copy of A DEMON DOES IT BETTER!! Please send an email to totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your full name and mailing address so we can get the prize to you!***

Hooray for Bollywood!

2012-01-03T00:30:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, my dad introduced me to Bollywood movies and I became hooked on the razzle dazzle: the music, color, drama, theatrics, romance and the sheer spectacle.

At the time I thought ‘wouldn’t it be great to recreate some of that Bollywood magic in a book?’ And that’s how Shari, Amrita, Rakesh, Drew, Anjali and the entire cast of BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD strutted into my mind, demanding their eclectic tale be told.

BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD is a mix of contemporary romance/ romantic comedy/ chicklit/ women’s fiction. A bit like a Bollywood flick, it has a little of everything: secrets, intrigue, romance, self-discovery, deception and colour, loads of local colour including Bollylicious Indian food.

When I read, I love getting swept away in a vivid setting. What about you?

To be in the running to win an e-book of BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD, share your favourite exotic setting here in the comments.

(I’ll be back to choose a winner in a week.)

In the meantime, I love chatting and you can find me:

Website: http://www.nicolamarsh.com/index.html

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/NicolaMarsh

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NicolaMarshAuthor

Blog: http://www.nicolamarsh.blogspot.com/

Busted in Bollywood:

Shari Jones needs to get a life. Preferably someone else's.

Single, homeless and jobless, Indo-American Shari agrees to her best friend's whacky scheme: travel to Mumbai, pose as Amrita, ditch the fiancé her traditional Indian parents have chosen. Simple.

Until she's mistaken for a famous Bollywood actress, stalked by a Lone Ranger wannabe, courted by an English lord and busted by the blackmailing fiancé.

Life is less complicated in New York.

Or so she thinks, until the entourage of crazies follows her to the Big Apple and that's when the fun really begins.

Shari deals with a blossoming romance, an addiction to Indian food and her first movie role, while secretly craving another trip to the mystical land responsible for sparking her new lease on life. Returning to her Indian birthplace, she has an epiphany. Maybe the happily-ever-after of her dreams isn't so far away?