Today is my hubby’s birthday. Wish him a happy birthday in the comments!
I love you, honey. I hope you have a super day. 
Snippet Sunday for May 19, 2013
May 19, 2013 by 1 Comment
I know… I was doing “Six Sentence Sunday” but let’s face it. I’m just too verbose for that!
Here’s a little snippet from ONE KNIGHT ONLY, Book 1 in the Realm of Honor series:
Now that the adrenaline rush was over, Maggie thought she would collapse at any moment. Every muscle in her body felt as though it had turned to mush. Her hands still shook and her heart still stuttered in her chest. Once they were out of the lists, Geoffrey helped her down from the horse.
Elyne grasped her arm, holding her steady as she limped away from the lists. Her victory was short-lived, though.
“Sir Finian,” Lord Litonshire shouted in his nasal voice.
Maggie’s heart nearly stopped. Hadn’t she enough fear for one day? She turned to face him as he can running from the lists. “Crap.”
“Just what we need,” Elyne muttered.
“Can’t you use a Jedi mind trick on him?” Maggie asked.
“A what?”
“I suppose not.”
“Just don’t talk to him. I still have your glamour up.”
Before Maggie could ask how she was supposed to do that, Litonshire stopped in front of them. He looked her up and down, as though he didn’t believe the sight before his eyes.
“How did you do it?” he demanded.
Elyne placed her hand on Maggie’s arm as she shrugged.
“Sir Finian is feeling much better,” Elyne said.
The earl’s beady eyes swung from Maggie to Elyne and back again. “I thought you were too ill to ride.”
“He persevered, my lord,” Elyne answered.
I have a series!
May 17, 2013 by 2 Comments
I’m so excited to finally announce my big news! I’ve been waiting until I had the contracts in hand. And I do. They are now signed and delivered.
I have been offered and accepted a 3-book contract for my “knights” books with Ellora’s Cave for their Blush line. It’s officially a series! And the series title is… *drum roll please*
REALM OF HONOR
Isn’t that the coolest thing ever? I LOVE the series title. When searching for one, I brainstormed a bunch but my husband came up with this one. The others were too long but this one was just right. These are epic fantasy romance stories full of adventure, romance, elves, faeries, dragons and villains who want to destroy the Otherworld. This series is very special to me because I’ve always wanted to write fantasy romance and I’ve always wanted to sell on proposal. I managed to do both.
I love writing for EC and my editor. When I was a young, fledgling author I looked at the EC guidelines and knew that someday I would write for them. It took me nearly ten years to get here but I finally did it.
Here’s the official series blurb:
Chivalry, honor and bravery still thrive on the other side of the veil in the Otherworld, a mythical realm hidden from humans. Peace has reigned for thousands of years, but when a meddling Faery princess alters time, it sets into motion events that turn the Otherworld upside down. With the threat of war from long-dead and long-forgotten enemies, Elves, Fae and dragons are forced to take up arms together. And when the lives of the knights’ ladies are threatened, they will do whatever it takes to protect them.
Books 1 and 2 are currently available (One Knight Only and Only for a Knight, respectively). Books 3, 4 and 5 are coming soon!
Book 3, A Knight to Remember, is the story of Henry (Maggie’s father) and Queen Maeve. It was so much fun to write! How does a Fae queen who detests humans put aside those feelings to fall in love with a human masquerading as a Fae knight?
Book 4, A Knight Like No Other, is the story of Sir Drake and the Elven Princess, Sobriel. Sir Drake has lost his heart to the Elven girl but their match is forbidden by the Elven king. When Sobriel is kidnapped and her murder planned by an evil lord-regent who hates the Fae, Drake will put his life on the line to save her. Will her rescue be enough for the Elven king to grant his request to court his daughter?
Book 5, Her Fierce Knight, follows the story of Prince Ainthas. With his father ailing, he takes over the realm to fight the band of Fomorians who have been released from their watery banishment. Fire Elf and princess, Laerwen, comes to Ainthas to ask for help when her people are massacred by the Fomorians.
I have a lot of writing to do! Plus I intend to finish out my Guardians of Atlantis series as well as re-release the third book of my Coffee House Chronicles. I am one busy gal but it’s really in your best interest, beautiful readers.
One of the most powerful promotional tools an author has is word of mouth from fans. If you’ve read and liked my books, would you consider posting a review on Goodreads, Amazon and B&N? And tell your friends? If you HAVE posted a review, please send me the link and your mailing address and I’ll send you some swag!
Inkwell Guest: Morticia Knight and Sleepy Hollow Goes Erotic
May 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Hi, gang! Today I have erotic author, Morticia Knight!
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Gone Erotic!
Thank you Michelle for letting me commandeer your blog today! And don’t worry – no one is going to do the nasty with the Headless Horseman *wink*. I guess I should explain what this erotic classic stuff is all about. Well, my publisher, Total-E-Bound, has a line of books under the Clandestine Classic banner, which are all erotic retellings of classics. So far, we have had Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice, Tarzan, A Christmas Carol – which actually won the 2012 LR Café MM Romance award for author Em Woods – and many others.
As you all know, there have been many classic stories retold already, whether in books or films. Typically, the original words have been discarded, and just the characters and some of the story have been retained more or less. What is different about Clandestine Classics – other than the erotic elements that have been added – is that as authors we can only add to the story – we cannot take away. So when you purchase a Clandestine Classic, you get every word the original author wrote, and you only pay for what the new author wrote.
It was a challenge – trust me on this. Not only did my story have to follow along with Washington Irving’s original tale, but it was also crucial that I write it in his voice so that the reader wouldn’t be taken out of the story. Each section needed to flow seamlessly from his words, to mine, and then back again. What made this particular classic a lot of fun, is what also made it the most difficult.
Irving had a very flippant and ironic style. When you pair that style with sex, it can come off wrong if you try to over-romanticize the sex scenes, and make them too serious. So there was a bit of a tongue in cheek (ahem!) tone that I maintained. It kept the sizzle, but never took itself too seriously. The genre ended up being an MMF ménage/Rubenesque story with some BDSM. The following excerpt includes both mine and Irving’s prose:
From The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving & Morticia Knight
In this by-place of nature there abided—in a remote period of American history, that is to say some ten to thirty years since, who can say for sure—a worthy wight of the name of Ichabod Crane, who sojourned or, as he expressed it, “tarried” in Sleepy Hollow for the purpose of instructing the children of the vicinity. He was a native of Connecticut, a State which supplies the Union with pioneers for the mind as well as for the forest, and sends forth yearly its legions of frontier woodmen and country schoolmasters. Ichabod was anxious to discover a haven where he might enjoy the freedom to express all of the enjoyments this life has to offer, for nothing can be said to be as wondrous as those activities that delight the senses, as well as the mind.
The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his person. He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weather-cock perched upon his spindle neck to tell which way the wind blew. To see him striding along the profile of a hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him for the genius of famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from a cornfield.
Yet his form was not entirely displeasing, especially when one so intimate as a lover might gaze upon Ichabod in his unclothed state. For there he presented a most stupendous appendage, not readily spied beneath his loose attire. He learnt whilst still a young lad that both ladies and gentleman appreciated this generous attribute, and he became quite adept at satisfying both genders, thus providing him with unusual advantages when it came to both love and hospitality.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is available now at all of the usual outlets, including:
Total-E-Bound Publishing | All Romance ebooks
Morticia Knight Author Bio
Erotic Romance author Morticia Knight enjoys a good saucy tale, whether it is contemporary, paranormal, historical, ménage, M/M or BDSM – she loves it all! One of her passions is bringing people’s fantasies to life on the page, because life is too short for even one boring moment. Her stories are volcanic in heat, deep in emotion, and sprinkled with doses of humor.
When not indulging in her passion for books, she loves the outdoors, film and music. Once upon a time she was the singer in an indie rock band that toured the West Coast and charted on U.S. college radio. She currently resides on the northern coast of Oregon, where the constant rain and fog remind her of visits to her family in England and Scotland when she was a child.
Morticia has a three-book series called Uniform Encounters set in the Southwest that features those yummy men in uniform coming out in 2013, and is currently working on both a Steampunk horror ménage, and a Sci-fi ménage.
Find her here:
Inkwell Guest: Sharon Buchbinder on Obsession
April 30, 2013 by
Hi, everyone! Today I have Sharon Buchbinder on the blog! She’s answering questions and talking about her latest, OBSESSION. Stick around – there’s a giveaway!
Hi Sharon! Thanks for joining us today on the Inkwell. You have a new book coming out –
Thanks so much for having me here, Michelle!
OBSESSION, a paranormal romantic suspense! Can you give us a blurb for that?
A desperate mother…
A Mexican drug lord…
A dangerous match.
A year after a barbaric childbirth, complete with a near-death experience and an encounter with her guardian angel, Angie Edmonds is just happy she and her son, Jake, are alive. She’s finally in a good place: clean, sober, and employed as a defense attorney. But at the end of a long work day, she finds herself in a parent’s worst nightmare: Jake has been kidnapped and taken across the Mexican border by a cult leader who believes the child is the “Chosen One.”
Stymied by the US and Mexican legal systems, Angie is forced to ask the head of a Mexican crime syndicate for help. Much to her chagrin, she must work with Alejandro Torres, a dangerously attractive criminal and the drug lord’s right-hand man. Little does she know Alejandro is an undercover federal agent, equally terrified of blowing his cover—and falling in love with her.
What made you want to write this story?
I have been fascinated by good versus evil and the supernatural since childhood. As a child, I wondered why so called “good” people could be so mean to me, and so called “bad” people could be so nice to me? I also wondered why there seemed to be so little justice in my world. Where were the angels when I needed them? As I grew older, I realized there are gradations of good and evil in the real world and in well-written fiction. A villain may love his family; a hero may have a fatal flaw. Even religious leaders can go off the rails, as we’ve seen in the past decade with the revelations of church scandals and cults that kill. Now we receive more in-depth coverage of these so-called “good” people and their failings on a daily basis. On the other hand, our news coverage of gang bangers and cartel bosses is one dimensional. I’m not defending the murders and violence, but I had to ask myself, if I grew up in that world, who and what would I be? Like many authors, my story grew out of “What if?” I put myself in the shoes of the people in the story and added a paranormal element to satisfy my need for justice. That symmetry gives readers what I hope is a satisfying ending.
What do you find appealing about writing paranormal romantic suspense?
I have always loved a good mystery, starting with Nancy Drew. The suspense pulled me in at every page, along with the romance with her boyfriend, Ned. In addition, paranormal events have played a role in my life since childhood. I have always accepted this alternate reality that many others do not experience or recognize. Their disbelief doesn’t dismiss my psychic experiences: dreams that come true, that I think of someone–and that person calls, and that I knew my sister was pregnant before she did. In the 1970’s while a psychology major at the University of Connecticut, I participated in telepathy experiments using the now famous J.B. Rhine Zener cards and other images. My “hit rate” as a receiver was statistically greater than chance occurrence. Curiosity and pragmatism took me down the paths of psychology (BA), neuroscience (MA in Psychology), Nursing (AAS) and finally, public health (PhD).
I like to write about the tension between the scientific and paranormal worlds. For many years, outside the realms of science fiction, horror and paranormal romance, it was felt that science, religion and the paranormal couldn’t coexist–much less cross into each other’s territories. However, Jeffrey Kripal, a highly regarded author who holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University, where he is also the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies, recently published Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred. This in-depth examination of four major figures, Frederic Myers, Charles Fort, Jacques Vallee and Bertrand Méheust, researches the links between religious experiences and paranormal reports. Kripal’s scholarship provides a solid foundation and gives other serious scholars permission to explore these intriguing relationships outside the realm of fiction.
Why do you think readers will identify with your heroine, Angie Edmonds?
Angie had a horrible childhood. Her father, a cult leader, was abusive, as was her mother. She overcame that childhood with education and became an attorney, only to fall victim to the disease of addiction. When she finds out she’s pregnant with Jake, she gets clean and sober. Angie turns her life around and becomes the model mother—and then her worst nightmare happens: Jake is kidnapped by her crazy father and abducted to his fortress in the Sierra Madre. She has worked hard, done everything right, things are at last good in her life and the bottom falls out. Every parent with a pulse can relate to the rage Angie feels, her desire to rescue her son, and her fury demanding revenge.
What did you like best about your hero, Alejandro?
Let’s start with the hotness and go from there. The cover doesn’t do this man justice. Romance trading cards are winging their way to me, and let me tell you, he is caliente! In addition to his (ahem) physical attributes, he has a heart. A big one. His ATFE handler has no clue Alejandro’s nephew was murdered and his step-brother maimed by the very cartel Alejandro has infiltrated. Like Angie, his fury is also demanding revenge. He can’t resist Angie because her wound reflects his. He calls it “the mother card.” However, if he falls for her, his cover could be blown—and he could be the next headless body in the Chihuahua desert.
What is your favorite genre to read?
Paranormal romantic suspense, of course! LOL! One of my favorite books of all time, my desert island book is The Eight by Katherine Neville. That book has it all: mystery, romance, suspense, conspiracy, a story that starts in the French Revolution and continues in contemporary times, and a supernatural chess board from King Charlemagne that could destroy the world if all the pieces come together. Whoa and hey, she had me at hello. I’ve read that book at least eight times. When I met her at a Mystery Writers of America conference, I had a horrible fan girl panic attack. She is an incredibly gracious lady.
When you’re not writing, do you enjoy any hobbies?
Fishing! My Facebook page is full of fishing pictures and videos. I know, sounds crazy, right? Fishing is hours of relaxation, interspersed with moments of sheer adrenaline. I carry a note pad and pen with me when I fish. Some of my best story ideas have occurred to me while holding a fishing pole in the Florida sun. Lest your readers worry, we fish with a captain who is an ardent conservationist, as are we. We catch and release.
What other exciting stories to you have upcoming for lucky readers?
I’m currently working on Kiss of the Virgin Queen, another paranormal romantic suspense, which is the story of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and the impact of their epic romance on their descendant, Homeland Security Special Agent Eliana Solomon, the Jinn Hunter. There are actually two stories in this book. Inspired by the structure of The Eight, I structured the story with chapters alternating between Biblical times (the 10th century BCE) and the present. I’ve been researching this book for three years, across four major religions. It’s my magnum opus, if you will. I’m at 30,000 words, with 60,000 left to go!
Where to buy:
Amazon
Check out the trailer!
About Sharon:
After working in health care delivery for years, Sharon Buchbinder became an association executive, a health care researcher, and an academic in higher education. She had it all–a terrific, supportive husband, an amazing son and a wonderful job. But that itch to write (some call it an obsession) kept beckoning her to “come on back” to writing fiction. When not attempting to make students, colleagues, and babies laugh, she can be found herding cats, waiting on a large gray dog, fishing, dining with good friends, or writing. You can find her at www.sharonbuchbinder.com
Paranormal Romance Guild Winner Best Mystery/Thriller, 2012
Where Sharon Buchbinder can be found on the Internet
Website/Blog | Amazon | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | The Wild Rose Press
Inkwell Guest: Daleen Berry on Why Do You Write
April 25, 2013 by
Today I have author, Daleen Berry! Please welcome her to the Inkwell.
It’s nice to say a few words on someone else’s blog, and Michelle is very kind for letting me do that. Thank you, Michelle!
Today’s topic is “Why Do You Write?” Your answer will give you a clue about your future as a published author. Not about whether you will be published, but about whether you should be. Or even need to be.
Now wait a minute. Of course I want to be published. Isn’t that the only reason to write?
That’s exactly what I thought you would say. And as a matter of fact, no, publication isn’t the only reason. In fact, I’d say the most important reason to write is because you love to do it—and cannot imagine any other way to spend your free time.
There are two more reasons to write. Write because you believe—with every ounce of ozone in our atmosphere—that you have: a story worth telling, or something to say that can make a difference. In the sense it will enlighten, educate or inspire your readers to act differently.
I write because of the first reason. I seek publication for the second reason: to inspire, educate and enlighten. But when I write, I also try to tell a good story. One worth telling, and hopefully one that will leave people happy they read it.
Asking yourself the question “Why do I write?” can help you understand if writing is more important to you—or if becoming published is. Because the latter isn’t necessary for the former. And the former won’t necessarily lead you in a linear path to the latter.
So unless you’re a college professor looking for tenure, publication should be the last thing on your mind.
Whoa, are you kidding me? I want to make a living at this. I want the freedom and independence that comes with writing.
Yes, I hear the dismay in your voices. But no, I’m not kidding. Because the truth is, very few published writers make a good enough living to sustain themselves and their families. (That’s why many of them have a day job, and write on the side.) Fewer still get rich from a writing career or publishing contract.
I truly believe the goal of writing should come first—while the goal of publication must come second. And no, that isn’t an overly obvious statement. I know you can’t get published without first writing something to be published.
When I say worry about writing first, publishing second—if at all—I’m suggesting you’d be better served to focus on your skills as a writer. On grammar and syntax and making your language lyrical for readers. On putting one cohesive sentence after another, so your thoughts flow well. Then repeat those steps for paragraphs and chapters and so on. Until your writing shines. So people will actually want to read what you’ve written. So your words, your story, or even your message will propel them to keep turning the pages. Until they’ve turned the very last one.
People who think all published authors lead exciting lives, and thus aspire to this profession for that reason, are wrong. Even what looks like excitement—flying to exotic locales, attending writing conferences at the beach—is not exciting. It’s fun and it’s interesting, but even more than that, it’s a lot of work. Packing your bags once a month to leave your home and family behind for a trip that’s sure to test your mettle with cramped legroom, long lines through airport security, and even more work (if you’re a public speaker like I am or even if you just plan to sign books) is not exciting.
Now don’t get me wrong. I love what I do—but it’s hard work. I’m sure most published authors who do this will say the same thing.
However, publishing your written words—no matter the form or how you do it in today’s smorgasbord of publishing choices—and seeing your name in print, is exciting. When I saw my byline on my first newspaper article, I was so excited I still remember how it felt. And that was 25 years ago.
But if you’re looking to publish so you can experience adrenalin-rushing excitement, I’d recommend you become a NASCAR driver, instead. Because that’s exciting!
It is true that some—a small sliver of us—published authors experience the level of excitement many people equate with the writing profession. But my guess is that many people aren’t after excitement. Instead, it’s fame they crave—the kind that can come with being a published author. People like Maya Angelou, Frank McCourt, Stephen King, Agatha Christie, J.K. Rowling, and a few others (in comparison to the total number) have experienced that fame.
Most of us haven’t—and won’t. Instead, we will continue to write because life would be far less enjoyable if we didn’t. Downright boring, even. If we find out what we’ve written is a great story, or contains a powerful life lesson, we might decide to go for broke—look for a literary agent, be picked up by a publishing house, or simply publish what we’ve written all on our own.
In the meantime, we continue writing. Because for many of us, the act of writing is its own reward.
Where to find Daleen:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | LinkedIn
Purchase links: http://www.sisterofsilence.com/Home/About
Back to Nature
April 22, 2013 by
This weekend, husband and son and I drove east. We were headed to my sister’s to deliver some furniture. It’s a good long drive, too. Three hours one way in the car. Such is life in Texas. You can drive three hours from Dallas/Fort Worth and not hit the border.
It was beautiful day. The weather was perfect – in the mid-60s. The sun was out. We were so glad it wasn’t hot yet. Perfect Saturday driving weather.
My sister lives on some acreage with goats, chickens, sheep and alpaca! I loved the alpaca – THEY ARE SO CUTE! And the baby goats are precious too (yes I know they’re kids). Oh and there’s dogs and cats, too. Lots o’ animals.
Being out there gave me a chance to put my new camera to use. Plus I got a basket of chocolate for bringing out the furniture. It was win-win! Today I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite shots. Enjoy!
How I track my words
April 18, 2013 by
Someone in the comments of my Tracking Words post asked me how I do this. So I thought I’d take a second to write down my process. It’s a little anal. 
Every book I write is different and my process for getting started is always different but one thing I do that’s the same is I track my words on the first draft. This could also include editing, as well, since I tend to edit and write at the same time.
I have an iPhone so when I start a new book, I open the Notes app and start a new page. I name it whatever shorthand I’m using for the book title and then “tracker”. Then I put the date. Then the total word count of the day. Sometimes I start a project without putting down word count and rather than try to reinvent that, I just start with whatever I have.
You can see an example of this in the graphic here.
I record my word count for the next day and then subtract what I did the previous day to give me the total words.
THEN because I’m super anal and want to track how many words I write in a week/month, I have a spreadsheet where I keep track of this as well. I plug in the daily word count and do the same subtraction to give me the total count for the day, then add up the daily count to get the total for the week and so one.
This is probably an imperfect system but it works for me and I can see what my progress is and how I’m doing. My goal is to write 5000 words a week. Sometimes I make that. Sometimes I exceed it and sometimes I miss the mark altogether. But it gives me a guideline of where I need improvement and pushed me to write faster.
Inkwell Guest: Anya Richards on Dragon’s Claim
April 16, 2013 by
Hi, all! Today I’m featuring fellow Ellora’s Cave author Anya Richards with her newest, DRAGON’S CLAIM.
Tour long Giveaway: $10.00 GC for Amazon, B&N or ARe AND a copy of either Stone-Hard Passion OR Fleeing Fate
Blurb:
Book three in the Unveiled Seductions series.
Talathion Frostbane was tasked with saving his people and took on the responsibility unflinchingly. Yet all it takes to throw his entire existence into chaos is one encounter with the wyvern-shifter he spurned two hundred years before. The passion between them is as strong as ever, but there’s no escaping the expectations of the clan. And giving in to the all-consuming desire for the dragonkin would have devastating consequences.
When Hervé Cinq à Sept travels to the Fey city of Leaich, searching for answers after someone tries to kill him, what he finds rocks his world in a variety of ways and leads him down a path of inescapable hunger. As he finds himself on his knees, lost in desperate need and heading for heartbreak, he realizes why, as a species, the dragonkin no longer believe in love. It’s so easy to lose everything—pride, independence, control—when the one you want to claim can never be yours.
Where to buy:
Ellora’s Cave
Excerpt:
The wyvern had always been handsome. As a young dragon just past his majority he’d shown evidence of the man he’d become. But then his beauty was that of youth—fresh, brash and still somewhat unformed. Now, in the prime of his life, he was no longer beautiful but absolutely, completely magnificent. Time had scourged all softness from his face and left it fierce and powerful with a calm strength Talathion found compelling. His shoulders seemed broader, his chest and arms more muscular, another sign of the changes maturity had wrought. The tattoos above his ear and peeking out from beneath the collar of his black shirt gave him an aura of danger, of being a man unafraid to stand out.
Just looking at him gave Talathion a shock of excitement, yet it was the wyvern’s eyes, their expression, he most wanted to see. From the moment they’d met, from the very first time he’d looked into that emerald gaze, it had haunted him. Sometimes those eyes danced with laughter, at other times they were serious or coolly arrogant, but no matter the expression they were always enthralling. And when the eyelids drooped, veiling but not concealing the flash of dragonfire, the unmistakable sexual energy surrounding Hervé flared hot and wild…
Talathion closed his eyes, thankful Hervé’s attention had been focused on whatever he was doing. Their time together had been so long ago it had no bearing on the present. And undoubtedly his reminiscences had been altered by the vagaries of memory.
I can’t let old longings deflect me from what needs to be done. I have to get back to Leaich.
Yet just that quick glance at the man who’d stolen his heart at a time when he could least afford to give it made his flesh tingle, the muscles beneath grow taut and hot. A sudden, heightened awareness of his nakedness beneath the covers made his fingers clench into fists. He tried to ignore the pressure building in his groin, but was glad of the quilt bunched across his lap as his cock stirred and began to rise.
“So, are you hungry?”
In ways I don’t dare admit to.
About Anya:
After living a checkered past, and despite an avowed disinterest in domesticity, multi-published erotic romance author Anya Richards settled in Ontario, Canada, with husband, kids, an adorable pup and a cat that plots world domination, one food bowl at a time. Her slightly darker alter-ego, Anya Delvay, emerges occasionally to write erotica.
Interested in all things historical and hysterical, Anya describes herself as intensely curious, (although the word ‘nosy’ has been bandied about) and a life-long people-watcher. Using what she’s discovered about people, places and various weird and wonderful things, Anya has written contemporary, historical and paranormal/fantasy romance novels, novellas and short stories for Samhain Publishing, Ellora’s Cave, Cleis Press and Spice Briefs.
To find out more, please drop by Anya’s website at www.anyarichards.com, follow her on Twitter or like her on Facebook.
Special Feature: Misty Evans and Kali Sweet
April 15, 2013 by
Hello, beautiful readers!
Today I want to pimp one of my favorite authors (and friend and critique partner!), Misty Evans. She’s released Sweet Soldier, the third book in her urban fantasy series. I’ve read it and it’s awesome and very kick-ass. So if you like urban fantasy, get ready to sink your teeth in THIS! I love this series. It’s action-packed with a dash of romance. Kali is a great heroine!
Where to buy:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords
Blurb:
Armageddon is coming and it’s up to me to stop the Four Horsemen and their heavenly army of angels. Unfortunately, one of the Horsemen happens to be my rock star boyfriend, Radison Beaumont. At least that’s what his ex-fiancée, Parker Burkett, claims.
Parker wants revenge on me for stealing Rad and she’s working with my archenemy, Queen Maria, a succubus who wants me back in her court of supernaturals. The only way I can stop them and the coming biblical apocalypse is to recruit an army – an army led by the king of hell.
Lucifer’s not about to help without getting something in return, and following anyone’s orders – even his – is not my style. I’m turning my inner demon loose on Parker, Maria, and the Horsemen – and saving the humans I love at the same time.
Did you miss the other two in the series? Check them out!
Revenge is Sweet (Book 1): Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords
Sweet Chaos (Book 2): Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords
About Misty:
Misty Evans was bitten by the writing bug when she won a contest in 4th grade with an essay about her dad. Today, she writes the best-selling and award-winning Super Agent Series and Witches Anonymous series.
Misty is currently at work on the next books in both her series as well as her new Lost Worlds series from Carina Press. She likes her coffee black, her conspiracy stories juicy, and her wicked characters dressed in couture. To learn more about Misty and her books, visit www.readMistyEvans.com, www.magicalmusings.com or follow her on www.twitter.com/readmistyevans.
Inkwell Guest: Liv Rancourt
April 9, 2013 by
Hi, all! Allow me to welcome fellow writer Liv Rancourt! She’s talking about weather and books!
Thanks, Michelle, for giving me the chance to appear as a guest on your blog. I love connecting with new readers!
I’ve been cruising the interwebs this morning, and it seems many, many people have opinions about the weather. Some are celebrating the fact that spring has sprung; others, not so much.
Sometimes it snows in April…
Prince had a point with that line. Of course, he was referring to how changeable relationships can be, but I want to take it in a bit of a different direction. When you’re writing, regardless of the length of the piece, the weather is as much a part of the setting as the rooms your characters move through.
Quick, which blond telepath likes to sunbathe in her bikini as soon as the sun comes out and considers a tan part of looking pretty?
Hint: Her ex-Viking boyfriend NEVER tans.
Charlaine Harris does amazing things with her Louisiana setting, making Bon Temps so realistic it just has to be on a map somewhere. As an example, there are a couple scenes in Definitely Dead where Sookie and Quinn are in her cousin’s New Orleans apartment, and the muggy heat reaches right out and grabs me here in soggy Seattle.
In Devon Monk’s Tin Swift: The Age of Steam, an awesome steampunk paranormal, the story is set in late fall somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, and the cold weather becomes as much of a threat as any of the enemies Cedar Hunt and his friends are facing. It increases the tension, because not only to they have to get away from the bad guys, they have to do it before winter starts to get serious.
And no one can predict when that blizzard’s going to happen.
Because, like the line from Prince’s song, sometimes it snows in April, and you have to be familiar enough with your location to know the little quirks that’ll make it ring true. I had a good learning experience while at a wedding in Aspen, Colorado. I’d never been to that part of the country, but the late September sunshine was absolutely gorgeous – warm but not hot, blue skies, and gorgeous gold-leafed aspen trees everywhere. On our arrival, the bride and groom gave every guest a gift pack that included bottled water and Chap-Stick. See, between the altitude and the clear skies, the air was really dry. I’ve never been a bigger fan of Chap-Stick in my life.
As a writer, I wouldn’t have known that without experiencing it, though I don’t mean you have to physically travel to your location before writing about it. (After all, Stephanie Meyer did a pretty decent job creating Forks, WA without every visiting.) You do need to do enough research to nail the details, or at least some of the details, to make the setting ring true. Then make your Seattle gloom or your oppressive humidity or your threatening blizzard work for you, to add another dimension to your plot.
So what about you, lovely readers? Do you live in a place where it snows in April? How do you go about researching something as subtle as the weather for your stories?
Peace & sunscreen,
Liv
My newest book, Forever & Ever, Amen, is available from Crimson Romance, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and ARe.
Sometimes you have to break the rules to do what’s right.
About Liv:
Liv Rancourt writes paranormal and romance, often at the same time. She lives with her husband, two teenagers, two cats and one wayward puppy. She likes to create stories that have happy endings, and finds it is a good way to balance her other job in the neonatal intensive care unit. Liv can be found on-line at her website & blog (www.livrancourt.com), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/liv.rancourt), or on Twitter (www.twitter.com/LivRancourt).
Tracking Words
April 8, 2013 by
At the end of March, I reviewed my 2013 goals to see where I was and how I was doing. I had put down that I wanted to write 2000 words a day or 5000 words a month. I always do a tracker for each project I start but I really didn’t now how many words per week/month I was getting down. Because I’m totally anal, I put together a progress tracker just to see how I was doing. I was excited by the results.
Here’s where I ended up for the first three months of the year:
January – 19797
February – 18829
March – 43694
Wow. March was a big month for me! I was determined to finish one of my works-in-progress.
Here’s how that breaks down:
I finished my third Knight book in February with a final word count of 83205. But I was also writing the secret project, which I finished in mid-March. I was determined to get that book done by the time I went to the Dallas conference. I completed that at 85399. But I was writing a lot during a two-week stretch. I did over 12,000 words one week and over 11,000 words the next. As soon as I wrapped up that book, I started on my second Atlantis book.
I’m exhausted just reading about it all.
Here’s the most telling data of all. I start tracking progress in July 2012. My year-end total for those months was 72396. At the end of March 2013, I’m at 82320. So what this tells me is I need to keep shooting for 5000 words a week (I only write during the week; not on weekends). If I can do that, I’ll end up with 20,000 a month and a whole lot of new material. That’s what counts, right?
What the tracker illustrates to me is I have improved my output quite a bit. I’ve also managed to train myself to writer faster and more. Now if I could just train myself to write better and perfect, all would be right with the world.
Inkwell Guest: Karen Rose Smith on Her Sister
April 7, 2013 by
Today I have a guest blog from Karen Rose Smith!
When I wrote HER SISTER, I knew it was a departure from the type of book I usually write. It’s women’s fiction with romance and mystery. But is it really so different?
One element that has always characterized my books is family relationships. Whether I’m writing the ultimate romance or adding a mystery or suspense plot, family trumps all.
There are many reasons for that. Although I was an only child, my extended family was large. My parents and I lived with my grandfather and aunt until I was five and then my parents built a house next door. I ran between the houses as if they were both “home.” On summer mornings I can remember hearing my aunt sing while she made breakfast. When I was home sick from school, I stayed with my aunt and grandfather until my parents got home.
My paternal grandfather’s house was on a corner lot. My neighborhood friends and I had the run of both properties to skate around, to ride bikes around, to pretend and imagine and create scenarios that we brought to life. Sundays were usually spent with relatives. Decades old elms cascaded over park benches where my aunts and uncles would sit and talk. My dad had nine brothers and sisters, so someone was always coming and going, bringing food, cooking food, laughing and enjoying a glass of wine. My favorite cousin became a confidante as we grew older into teenage crushes, discussed favorite music and even wrote a script together.
On my mom’s side of the family I had seven uncles and aunts. They were scattered a bit more so I didn’t see them as often. But every Friday evening my parents and I would drive to my grandparents’ house to pick up fresh food my grandmother had purchased for my mom at the farmer’s market. They lived in a row house across the alley from the market. My grandfathers’ barber shop was on the first floor. The living room was on the second floor but we hardly ever used it because around the huge dining room table was where all the conversation swirled. On those Sundays we weren’t visiting with family next door, we drove to my other grandparents’ house for supper. This was life. Everyone was connected.
I’ve lost my parents now and most of my aunts and uncles. With those losses, memories become even more precious. In HER SISTER, I drew on memories of my uncle’s farm where my dad and another uncle worked too. They raised tobacco. I remember going out with them on a flatbed trailer being pulled by a tractor. I helped push the tobacco leaves onto laths before they were hung in the barn. I can still remember the sun on my face, the smells of harvesting, the enjoyment of feeling free on that farm. In HER SISTER, this was Amanda’s background. One summer she shared it with Max when they fell in love.
So to write this book, I analyzed what happened when a family fell apart because their three year old was abducted. Then I imagined what could happen as they found their way back to each other in the midst of another crisis.
After writing romance for twenty years, last year I sold a mystery series. I found the genre fit perfectly and I love the challenge of devising puzzle pieces that fit together to weave a story. So in HER SISTER, I decided to combine everything I like best about writing–an emotional plot with romance and mystery.
I hope you enjoy it, too.
Karen Rose Smith’s 80th novel will be published in 2013. Her latest, HER SISTER, is a women’s fiction indie-published e-book. In December, STAGED TO DEATH, her first mystery, will be released from Kensington books.
Where to find Karen:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter
Where to buy HER SISTER:
Amazon
Release Day for Tempting Eden! #paranormal #romance + Giveaw@y
April 5, 2013 by
Hello, all!
Today is the official release day of Tempting Eden! It’s my sexy paranormal romance that launches a brand new series of seriously hot guys from Atlantis! It’s available in eBook from Smashwords, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. But stick around. There’s a giveaway!
Blurb:
Eden doubts a trip to the Bahamas will make her forget her cheating boyfriend, empty bank account and dead-end job. But when her best friend insists the trip is what she needs to forget her troubles, Eden can’t refuse the all-expenses paid vacation. Little does she know a new kind of trouble awaits.
As an elite Guardian of Atlantis, Sabre is on a mission to bring back human females from the surface. The lost continent’s lead geneticist wants to impregnate the women, mixing Atlantean DNA with human genetic material in order to save their dying race. If Sabre refuses, his sister will be killed. Despite his revulsion to such a mission he has no choice but to obey.
When Sabre walks out of the sea and finds Eden on the beach, he can read her deepest fantasies loud and clear. At first it’s enough to simply bring them to life, touching her to ecstasies she’s never before experienced. But when his heart falls under her spell he knows he can’t take her back to the scientists and a life as a guinea pig. He intends to keep her for himself…no matter the price.
Excerpt:
Eden found herself alone with the sweaty, leering man. He reeked of three dollar cologne and too much beer. He wore a cheap polyester shirt in the most obnoxious print she had ever seen unbuttoned to show off what little chest hair he had.
All that was missing was a thick gold chain complete with a gold medallion around his pencil neck. He had cornered her in the kitchen, leaning his elbow on the counter and telling her grotesque jokes in the hopes of making her laugh.
I’m in hell.
Could this get any worse? He was the third guy to hit on her in less than an hour.
Her best friend, Gillian, meant well bringing her here. After Gillian’s winter-long nagging Eden had finally agreed to all expenses paid getaway to Crooked Island in the Bahamas with her, her boyfriend and several others. Eden knew her friend wanted to make her forget her broken heart and her wrecked life. To relax and cut loose Gilly had said. To get away and forget it all. Even if it was for a week. She wouldn’t take no for an answer either—she’d handed Eden the plane ticket.
Eden had a passing fancy for all things Atlantis. She looked at the trip as a way to imagine herself as someone different. An archeologist on a trip to find artifacts. A diver plunging to the depths looking for evidence. It sounded so much better than unemployed data analyst. She’d done a little island exploring pretending she was searching for the lost city looking for a stud who could take her away from it all.
It had been six months since her two-year relationship had ended in disaster. She thought her long-time boyfriend was about to pop the question. Instead she got a different surprise—finding him in their bed with his face firmly planted between another girl’s legs.
It had nearly destroyed her. Sent her spiraling into a dark depression.
She’d tried to survive by pouring herself into work. But even that had come to an abrupt end when her company downsized leaving her unemployed. With virtually no savings the late bill notices came next followed by the repossession of her car and the eviction notice. She had no family to turn to for help. Her life was a shambles.
I’m pathetic and in hell.
Eden hated the memories as much as she hated the stifling atmosphere in the small confines of the kitchen. It was the one room in the house where the music didn’t thump through her bones. Unable to bear another dirty joke she quaffed her martini and set the empty glass next to the offending man’s elbow.
“Excuse me, Tom, won’t you?”
“It’s Tim,” he corrected, unflustered. “And I wasn’t finished with my story yet. As I was saying we’d boarded the boat when the weather kicked up—”
She brushed by him to make her escape out of the kitchen.
“Where you going, babe?”
She gave a half-hearted wave in response.
“Okay, so I’ll call you.”
Pretending not to hear him splutter she threaded her way through the crowd, her eye on the prize—the exit. She caught a glimpse of a couple making out in a corner. Others chatted and laughed or danced as close as they could get without actually having sex. It turned her already-sour stomach to see them. The music was too loud, the air acrid with cigarette smoke, sweaty bodies and beer. She needed away from the house before she suffocated.
“Where are you going?” Gillian snatched her by the arm as she reached the door.
“I need some air,” Eden said.
Do you want to read more? Are you enticed? I’m giving away one copy a lucky commenter today! Contest ends at midnight CT tonight and then I’ll have my kiddo draw a name.
Reality Check
April 4, 2013 by
I’ve been remiss in blogging this week. The days seemed to have gotten away from me. I know you all missed me terribly, didn’t you?
This past weekend I attended the Dreamin’ in Dallas conference sponsored by the Dallas Area Romance Authors (DARA), of which I’m a member. I have to say it was a really fun time. Friday night we kicked it off with a multi-author book signing (I don’t know why I always want to make that one word but I think is should be!). Sales were dismal. When you’re an M and you sit almost at the back of the room…well…I think people were exhausted by the time they got to me. I sold one book. Two if you count the one my husband bought.
But I had a good time anyway. I sat next to Angi Morgan and fellow Plotting Princess Sylvia McDaniel. We had a great time chatting with each other and the folks that strolled by.
Saturday was all about workshops. I attended several good ones including one by Mark Coker of Smashwords. Sadly his time was cut short and he didn’t get to finish his presentation. I was amazed by the stats he posted, though, about the eBooks on Smashwords.
I also had pitch appointments. Three different outcomes: one was meh about the book but asked for 30 pages and a synopsis, one was more enthusiastic and asked for the first three chapters and a synopsis and the third one was quite enthusiastic and asked for the full, synopsis and a blurb on books two and three! I was super excited about that. 
So I’m in a holding pattern while it gets one more read-through by the CPs.
The great thing about going to these events is getting to talk to new people and old friends and learning new stuff. I love going to conference and spending time with my other writer friends. They’re all very inspiring in different ways. And it makes me feel…authorish…when I get to spend time with them. It was a reality check to get back home Saturday night and realize it was over. Conference crash. That’s what I’m calling it. I’m always sad when it’s over.
In other news… TOMORROW is officially release day of my erotic paranormal romance, TEMPTING EDEN! This is the first of my Guardians of Atlantis series. I’m currently writing the second book, SEDUCING EVE. Wait until you see the cover for that one. Zowee, it’s hot!
Here’s a blurb about the book:
Eden doubts a trip to the Bahamas will make her forget her cheating boyfriend, empty bank account and dead-end job. But when her best friend insists the trip is what she needs to forget her troubles, Eden can’t refuse the all-expenses paid vacation. Little does she know a new kind of trouble awaits.
As an elite Guardian of Atlantis, Sabre is on a mission to bring back human females from the surface. The lost continent’s lead geneticist wants to impregnate the women, mixing Atlantean DNA with human genetic material in order to save their dying race. If Sabre refuses, his sister will be killed. Despite his revulsion to such a mission he has no choice but to obey.
When Sabre walks out of the sea and finds Eden on the beach, he can read her deepest fantasies loud and clear. At first it’s enough to simply bring them to life, touching her to ecstasies she’s never before experienced. But when his heart falls under her spell he knows he can’t take her back to the scientists and a life as a guinea pig. He intends to keep her for himself…no matter the price.
Come back tomorrow for FUN and PRIZES!
Socializing