Inkwell Guest: Debut Author Sean Conrad

May 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Hi, all. Please help me welcome Sean Conrad to the blog. He’s a debut author! Take it away, Sean.

Kickin' Out The Jams Book CoverWhen someone asks my wife and I where we live, we enthusiastically answer, “in our motor home.” Ninety percent of the time their reply is, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to do that,” or “You know, someday we’re going to do that,” or “That’s my life’s dream.” We just smile and think to ourselves, they have no idea just what it takes to make that happen. But we never rain on their parade with any discouraging comments.

Our dream began as far back as 1996 when we bought a used 20 year old Coleman tent camper. A year later, we sold it and bought a brand new tent camper and spent many a weekend roughing it in the wild. Within a few more years we graduated to a 26 foot travel trailer which towed nicely behind our Toyota Tundra pick up truck. Then in 2008, two years before we were ready to go full time, we made the commitment by purchasing a 40 foot 2005 Country Coach Inspire Class A 400 horsepower diesel pusher.

croppedmeWhen we look back to August 3rd, 2010, the day we went full time, we marvel at just what it did take to get to that point. Any of our fellow full-timers will tell you, it is not for sissies. Remembering all the garage sales, all the runs to the dump, the selling of the house and everything in it, renting a storage locker to put non-replaceable personal belongings, and the hundreds of other crucial details involved, we can confidently say, it was all worth it. We love it.

Since we’re not wealthy by any means, we knew we needed to keep our home-based business operating from the road. Let’s face it, diesel engines don’t run on air. Having spent over 30 years on the radio, I incorporated an audio and video production studio inside the motor home.  As we travel, we are able to produce radio and TV commercials, do voice-overs for many businesses across America, and operate a small advertising agency. Thanks to the internet and all the electronic gadgets we posses, challenges like getting a finished, 30 second TV commercial in to the hands of a TV station is as simple as clicking your mouse.

We also dabble in photography. This past summer as we visited Mt. Rushmore, Devils Tower, Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons. We snapped hundreds of incredible photos like the one we’ve included in this article. This one along with several others in a series are now available for purchase on the Dreamstime web site that sell photographs to magazines and ad agencies all over the planet.

One of the greatest advantages we’ve experienced in our travels is having the ability to not only visit kids, grandkids and friends in their scattered locations across the country, but being able to stay in their towns for weeks at a time, and in the comfort of our own home. There’s nothing like it.

We no doubt keep busy, but not too busy to write a book as we’ve traveled. If someone told me 10 years ago that I would become a published author, I would have encouraged them to seek professional help. But, I did.  On April 6th, my memoir, Kickin’ Out The Jams was released on Black Opal Books. It’s my story of survival from my wild and crazy days in radio as a disc jockey and program director in cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, Fresno, Waikiki and Tucson. There were good times; there were bad times and it’s all in the book (visit sean-conrad.com).

Hey, you do what you got to do to keep on trucking down the highways and bi-ways of this great country, know what I mean?

Where to Find Sean:
Website | Facebook

Where to Buy:
Black Opal | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Filed Under: Inkwell Guests, Writing Tagged With: , ,

Inkwell Guest: Missy Jane

May 16, 2013 by 2 Comments

Today I’m pimping my fellow EC author and Angel, Missy Jane and her book. I hope you’ll check it out!

toomuchtolose_msrAvailable from Ellora’s Cave on May 15th! The final book in the Love Beyond Barriers series by Missy Jane, Too Much to Lose.

Blurb:

Shayla loves her life in New York. She loves her job, her freedom and her friends. What she doesn’t love is going home to an empty bed every night. There’s definitely a solution for that in Texas…Ben. The only problem is she’s not certain she’s ready for another serious relationship.

Ben fell head over heels for Shayla almost from the moment they met and it was obvious the attraction was mutual. However, great sex is all she’s willing to give. She tests his patience at every turn and his endurance whenever they’re alone together. He doesn’t know what more to offer.

It might take a force of nature and the emotional past coming back to haunt her before Shayla realizes what they have is definitely Too Much to Lose.

A Romantica® erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

Buy it here!

2804Ms. Missy Jane is the alter ego of a married mother of four who was born and raised in Texas. A few years ago she finished reading a book by Mercedes Lackey and thought “Now, what if…” and a monster was created. Missy now spends most of her time lost in worlds of her own making, alternately loving and hating such creatures as vampires, shape-shifters and gargoyles (to name a few). When not writing, she spends her time reading, taking photos of her beautiful daughters and training her husband to believe she’s always right.

Excerpts from Missy’s paranormal and erotic tales can be found at her website and blog.

Missy can also be found online at:

Twitter | Facebook

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Inkwell Guest: Morticia Knight and Sleepy Hollow Goes Erotic

May 7, 2013 by

Hi, gang! Today I have erotic author, Morticia Knight!

thelegendofsleepyhollow_800The 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

TempMK PhotoMorticia 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:

Facebook | Twitter | Blog | Total E-Bound Author Page

Filed Under: Dusty Tome, Inkwell Guests, Writing Tagged With: , , ,

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!

Obsession_w7616_Full ResolutionHi 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!

SBB_Sandman Bookstore Headshot 3About 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

Filed Under: Dusty Tome, Inkwell Guests Tagged With: , , , ,

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.

V2013_latest - Version 2It’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!

DaleenBerryIt 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

Filed Under: Dusty Tome, Inkwell Guests, Writing Tagged With: ,

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.

Anya Richards Button

Tour long Giveaway: $10.00 GC for Amazon, B&N or ARe AND a copy of either Stone-Hard Passion OR Fleeing Fate

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

Dragon's ClaimExcerpt:

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.

Filed Under: Dusty Tome, Inkwell Guests Tagged With: , ,

Special Feature: Misty Evans and Kali Sweet

April 15, 2013 by

SweetSoldierHello, 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.

 

Filed Under: Dusty Tome, Inkwell Guests, Writing Tagged With: , ,

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!

Liv _2Thanks, 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.

9781440564147In 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).

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Inkwell Guest: Karen Rose Smith on Her Sister

April 7, 2013 by

Today I have a guest blog from Karen Rose Smith!

Her Sister ThumbnailWhen 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.

Karen with Hat scanned cropped medI’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

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Inkwell Guest: An Interview with Karilyn Bentley

March 1, 2013 by

Hello, lovely readers! Today I have fellow Plotting Princess on the blog – the lovely and talented Karilyn Bentley. She’s here to talk about her smoking hot new release, Warrior Lover. Oh and answer a few little questions for me. Please say hi to Karilyn!

warriorlover_w6832_300Your recent release is WARRIOR LOVER. How about a blurb?

As a Watcher, a guardian warrior of the Draconi, Enar has never fit in with his kind. When he sees Lily–the ideal Watcher’s woman–he instantly claims her, believing she will bring him the acceptance he craves. Falling in love with her was not part of his plan.

As her town’s outcast, Lily wants nothing more than to escape. When Enar locks a necklace around her throat and declares she belongs to him, she jumps at the chance to leave. Her excitement soon becomes trepidation when Enar won’t tell her what to expect in his world. But even her worry can’t overcome her growing attraction to him.

Soon Lily learns what life as a Watcher’s claim entails, and refuses to submit. To keep Lily, Enar must turn his back on everything he thought he wanted. Will he choose his people? Or the other half of his soul?

What do you find most intriguing about your hero, Enar?

He’s gruff on the outside but has a heart of gold and truly loves and cares for Lily, even when it means giving up something he wanted. And he really came alive for me. In Magical Lover (the first in the series), he took over the book to the point where my editor made me rewrite all of his scenes. He wanted to be the hero in ML. Since he needed his own story, I wrote Warrior Lover for him.

karilyn-bentleyWhy do you think readers will identify with your heroine, Lily?

Lily begins the story as an outcast who is unsure of herself and what she is capable of doing. As the story progresses, she learns to tap into her inner strength and changes how she sees herself. She becomes a capable woman able to take charge of her own life. We all should find that strength inside to better ourselves.

What do you think is most appealing about writing fantasy romance?

Building a whole new world. I like to escape into a different world, which is why I love paranormal, fantasy and historical romances. Something that’s completely different from the world I live in. And I’ve always wanted to have magic like Molly Weasley where I can wave my hand and have the dishes done. Or sprout wings and fly over cities and towns. Escapism is the name of the game for me. And what better way to escape than in a fantasy or paranormal romance?

Where do you find your inspiration?

I really wish I could put something cool here, like from my husband, or my editor, or my dog. But most of the time the stories just pop into my head. Only once did a character come about after a discussion. My editor and I were talking and she mentioned that a vegetarian werewolf would make an interesting character. She was right, as usual, so I wrote about one. Margie, the heroine in Wolf Mates, was an alpha leader with a small problem, she only ate vegetarian. In human form that is. <g> Other than that, I really have no idea when the stories come from. As long as they keep popping into my mind, I’m happy!

What else do you have in store for readers?

I’m currently working on the third book in the Draconia Tales series, Dragon Lover. And I have an urban fantasy hiding out, waiting for a rewrite.

When you’re not writing, what do you like to do?

Read, eat, spend time with the hubster, play the piano, go to the gym, attempt to grow things in the garden, and take the dog for a walk, although not always in that order. <g>

Where to buy:
Amazon

Find Karilyn at:
Plotting Princesses | Facebook

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Inkwell Guest: Michelle Snyder on Fairies

February 26, 2013 by

Hi, everyone. Michelle Snyder is a frequent guest here at the inkwell. I love having her because she always has wonderful posts. Today is no different. She’s talking about something I love – Fairies! Take it away, Michelle.

The Fairies of Once-Upon-A-Time

fairyMost of us have grown up surrounded by Fairy tales – stories about good fairies, bad fairies, blue fairies, tooth fairies, fairy godmothers, and some with names, like Tinkerbelle. These elusive little creatures flit in and out of our lives in stories populated with all manner of fascinating creatures. Dwarves, elves, giants, and mischievous little pixies are a few I remember from childhood stories. All these beloved characters have their roots in the same ancient culture, and take part in preserving the records of its history.

Once upon a time, long, long ago in northern Europe there was a time-of-little-sun. For a thousand years it was mostly overcast, the precious sun peeping through just enough to sustain life. This lack of sun, helped along by human biology, was partly responsible for the emergence of those who became known as Fairies. The sun provides warmth, but also vitamin D, which, among other things, prevents rickets. Dark pigmentation limits the intake of vitamin D, preventing overdoses. The lighter the skin, the more vitamin D is able to be absorbed. The people living in northern Europe during the time-of-little-sun would have produced lighter and lighter skinned offspring; those with darker skin, suffering from rickets, would not have lived long. These fair, almost white-skinned people were descended from the Maglamosians (ca. 7000 BC), and were referred to as the “Fair Folk”, and later, “Fairies”. They are the subject of stories such as Snow White, Snow Drop, and Rose Red.

The Fair Folk practiced oral tradition just as their ancestors had for thousands of years, and according to the translations by Duncan-Enzmann these records were produced mostly by women. They passed on their history and knowledge in stories accompanied by images. These “bedtime stories” survived suppression and destruction by enemies, and the loss of information over time. We have inherited these records as Fairy tales, compiled and retold by Grimm, Anderson, and numerous other sources.

It is said the Fair Folk dwelled underground, in “fairy mounds”, remnants of which can still be seen today. During the time-of-little-sun the weather was cool and damp. Peat grows fast in that environment, and did. It covered the hills, and then it grew over the homes sheltered by the hills. Peat is good insulation and these homes were cozy-warm. Villages looked as if they were underground, as did the people who lived in them. Fairy mounds still dot the landscape in Ireland, evidence of ancient Fairy villages. Why do fairies have wings? Visit my blog for the answer.

The Fair Folk were descendants of the Vanir and Æsir, and were taught astronomy and natural sciences from childhood. Their knowledge of agriculture and navigation positioned them well; they were wise, and socially powerful. Because their knowledge was extraordinary the Fair Folk gained the reputation of having magical powers, and were both feared and loved. Centuries passed and legends of these fair-skinned, underground dwellers with magical powers resonated through history. They were immortalized in stories and legends; powerful Fairy queens and kings holding council on Fairy rings of mushrooms, raising their families in Fairy mounds. We have inherited these wondrous tales of Once Upon A Time, and, if we know how to see it, the history of a civilization that lasted thousands of years and still has descendants today.

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Inkwell Guest: Cinthia Ritchie on Writing Her Way To Romance

February 22, 2013 by

Hi, all. Today I have a guest! Cinthia Ritchie is here to talk about writing her way to romance. Stick around and leave a comment because she’s also giving away a copy of her latest, Dolls Behaving Badly from Grand Central Publishing. Contest is open until midnight CT Sunday.

dolls_behaving_badly_proofWhen I first began writing Dolls Behaving Badly, I was a single mother working two jobs and attending graduate school, and I was always exhausted, always on the verge of tears. We had just gotten a puppy (a puppy!), and it was energetic and stubborn and content on chewing its way through everything in the house, and each day I arrived home to find the couch or rug or desk leg gnawed to pieces.

Later, after I put my son to bed, walked the dog and (once again) ignored the dirty dishes littering the kitchen counter, I’d sit in the bathroom and read novels. It was my one escape, my one guilty pleasure, and the books I read were uplifting yet realistic, and always there was a romantic interest, and usually sex, not blatant sex but the hint of sex, like the flutter of lingerie over a bedpost.

I devoured these novels. I needed them, not just for the distraction but for the hope they offered: That somewhere, just over the clutter and mess of my life, was a door, and when I opened it I’d be transported to another life. I’d be thinner, in this pretend life, and my breasts would be bigger, my hair shinier, and soon I would meet a man, and he’d have shiny hair, too.

I began to write this fantasy, because lord knows I needed it. Yet the more I wrote, the more these illusions fell way to a grittier reality. Maybe it was because I was stuck there myself but I wrote from the middle, I wrote about a woman with a messy life who meets a man at the worst possible time, and neither has shiny hair or perfectly white teeth, and instead of running toward the sunset they sit in a cluttered anthropology lab and hold ancient bones in their laps. I cried as I wrote this scene (like Kathleen Turner, in the beginning of Romancing the Stone), I sobbed and sobbed, because it was one of the purest, most romantic moments could ever imagine.

Ritchie PhotoRomance is funny, isn’t it? Some of us dream of silk sheets and wine and a man with six-pack abs feeding us strawberries in bed. Others dream of hot trysts in mountain cabins or beneath a kayak or in the middle of a national forest. And me, I think that romance is a little of both: A blend of the ordinary mixed up with slow flirt of the extraordinary. But then again, I live in Alaska and wear hiking boots with sexy silk skirts, so many I don’t know anything about romance at all.

About the Author:

Cinthia Ritchie is a former journalist and Pushcart Prize nominee who lives and runs mountains in Alaska. Her work can be found at New York Times Magazine, Sport Literate, Water-Stone Review, Under the Sun, Memoir, damselfly press, Slow Trains, 42opus, Evening Street Review and over 45 literary magazines. Her first novel, Dolls Behaving Badly, released Feb. 5 from Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Purchase links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Excerpt

Thursday, Sept. 15

This is my diary, my pathetic little conversation with myself. No doubt I will burn it halfway through. I’ve never been one to finish anything. Mother used to say this was because I was born during a full moon, but like everything she says, it doesn’t make a lick of sense.

It isn’t even the beginning of the year. Or even the month. It’s not even my birthday. I’m starting, typical of me, impulsively, in the middle of September. I’m starting with the facts.

I’m thirty-eight years old. I’ve slept with nineteen and a half men.

I live in Alaska, not the wild parts but smack in the middle of Anchorage, with the Walmart and Home Depot squatting over streets littered with moose poop.

I’m divorced. Last month my ex-husband paid child support in ptarmigan carcasses, those tiny bones snapping like fingers when I tried to eat them.

I have one son, age eight and already in fourth grade. He is gifted, his teachers gush, remarking how unusual it is for such a child to come out of such unique (meaning underprivileged, meaning single parent, meaning they don’t think I’m very smart) circumstances.

I work as a waitress in a Mexican restaurant. This is a step up: two years ago I was at Denny’s.

Yesterday, I was so worried about money I stayed home from work and tried to drown myself in the bathtub. I sank my head under the water and held my breath, but my face popped up in less than a minute. I tried a second time, but by then my heart wasn’t really in it so I got out, brushed the dog hair off the sofa and plopped down to watch Oprah on the cable channel.

What happened next was a miracle, like Gramma used to say. No angels sang, of course, and there was none of that ornery church music. Instead, a very tall woman (who might have been an angel if heaven had high ceilings) waved her arms. There were sweat stains under her sweater, and this impressed me so much that I leaned forward; I knew something important was about to happen.

Most of what she said was New Age mumbo-jumbo, but when she mentioned the diary, I pulled myself up and rewrapped the towel around my waist. I knew she was speaking to me, almost as if this was her purpose in life, to make sure these words got directed my way.

She said you didn’t need a fancy one; it didn’t even need a lock, like those little-girl ones I kept as a teenager. A notebook, she said, would work just fine. Or even a bunch of papers stapled together. The important thing was doing it. Committing yourself to paper every day, regardless of whether anything exciting or thought-provoking actually happens.

“Your thoughts are gold,” the giant woman said. “Hold them up to the light and they shine.”

I was crying by then, sobbing into the dog’s neck. It was like a salvation, like those traveling preachers who used to come to town. Mother would never let us go but I snuck out with Julie, who was a Baptist. Those preachers believed, and while we were there in that tent, we did too.

This is what I’m hoping for, that my words will deliver me something. Not the truth, exactly. But solace.

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Inkwell Guest: Stormie Kent

January 28, 2013 by

Today I welcome fellow Ellora’s Cave author, Stormie Kent! She’s here to talk about her latest release. Stick around to the bottom because there’s a giveaway!

batlingrapture_msrThanks for having me on your blog today, Michelle.

Battling Rapture is my second release from Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc. The heroine of my newest release is a very capable and tough woman who ends up helping to run a survivor camp after Earth is invaded by beast-like aliens. At the start of the story I wanted to highlight her resourcefulness before I threw her into space and the arms of her handsome alien hero. He won’t have an easy time winning over this Earth woman. Take a peek at what life is like for Niki after the invasion and before her “rescue.”

Blurb:

Niki is captured by hostile aliens after Earth is invaded. Once a soldier, she is now a slave. She is sold to the highest bidder, and then lost in a game of cards to a tall Ordanian spaceship captain, who claims to have been sent to rescue her. They work together to survive the dangers of the United Universe, while Niki battles her desire for the only man to ever enflame her mind, body and soul.

Captain Rhine’s mission is to reunite the Earth woman with her family. Outmaneuvering beast shifters and a crazed stalker are the very least he is willing to do to keep her by his side. Her touch ignites his passion. Her scent drives his lust. Her strength eases his soul even as she challenges him every step of the way. In the end, Rhine understands, the biggest battle is for her heart.

Excerpt:

The following excerpt is for those readers who are 18 and over only.
Copyright © Stormie Kent, 2013
All Rights Reserved, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

She filled bags with medicines, needles and bandages. She saw a pile of hospital gowns and shoved those in too. She had a little of everything loaded into the packs, including soap, hospital toothbrushes and sheets. Their third salvage mission might be their last. The next time they came, the entire place could be vaporized. This was the only city for miles which still contained the original architecture and infrastructure—even if it was in ruins.

She walked to the gaping hole in the wall. Craters dotted the landscape. Some were filled with buildings, others with vehicles. The building across from her had the top two floors collapsed in. All the windows were blown out. She looked down. Movement caught her eye, and she quickly hid behind what was left of a pillar. She carefully peered down again and relaxed when she noticed it was only a pack of stray dogs.

At least it isn’t a lion or tiger from the zoo.

She heard a whistle, and then a man stepped into the doorway.

“You ready, Niki?” Antoine said.

“Yes, let’s get these down to the wagons and go get the others. I hope they found baby formula and ammunition.”

Dragging the heavy packs down the emergency exit stairwell was slow work. When they reached the ER entrance, they began loading the bags in the carts.

“I wish I knew how the aliens track us when we use cars and trucks. This would be so much easier without the horse and cart,” Antoine said.

“Just be happy we don’t have to hike back up the mountain with this stuff on our backs or pulling it behind us on a makeshift gurney.” She was slightly out of breath. Some of the bags she’d packed weighed more than she did. She pulled her gun from her hip. “You steer the cart. I’ll be lookout.”

There were four teams spread out all over the city. They needed to pick them up and make it back to the mountain by late afternoon without stumbling onto an alien hunting party.

She scanned the rubble for dead bodies. They tried to burn them when they could. If not, the animals—well, it was better if they burned the bodies. She refocused. She had a job to do. To make it back to camp safely, they all needed to use their heads, stay sharp and work as a team.

Their survival depended on it.

Want more? Click the link for another excerpt.

Now for my blog tour contest. Every eligible comment along my blog tour will be entered to win. All those who enter a positive comment here between now and 11:59 p.m. Eastern (USA) on February 1, 2013 will be entered in a drawing for a $20 Amazon eGiftcard. You must leave a valid email address in the comments to be entered. The winner will be announced the night of February 2, 2013 on my blog, http://stormiekent.wordpress.com.

Happy Reading!
Stormie Kent

Where to buy:
Ellora’s Cave | Amazon | ARe

Where to find Stormie:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Blog

Filed Under: Dusty Tome, Inkwell Guests, Writing Tagged With: , , ,

Inkwell Guest: Cynthia Owens and Playing For Keeps

December 20, 2012 by

Today, I welcome the lovely and talented Cynthia Owens to the blog! Please stick around for her post and be sure and say hi! Take it away, Cynthia!

perf5.500x8.500.indd Hello everyone, I’m Cynthia Owens, and I’m so pleased to be here to announce that Playing For Keeps, Book III of The Claddagh Series, has just been released from Highland Press.

The Claddagh Series is a series of historical romance novels set in Ireland and beyond. The first book, In Sunshine or in Shadow, introduced Rory O’Brien and Siobhán Desmond. He was a gambler. She was a valiant survivor of famine and tyranny. He was a landlord. She was his tenant. Theirs was a love that couldn’t be denied.

In Coming Home, Ashleen O’Brien showed an Irish-American war hero that you can find a home and a family in the most unlikely place.

Playing For Keeps is Katie’s story. This half-Irish beauty has finally returned to Baltimore to visit the family she barely remembers … and finds herself falling head over heels in love with a Shakespearean actor with a mysterious past.

Here’s an excerpt from Playing For Keeps:

“The Theatre Royale is obviously the place to be tonight.”

Lights dimmed; thunder cracked and rumbled through the theatre. Katie blinked as bright flashes of lightning illuminated the house. Then her breath suspended in her throat as the red velvet curtain slowly rose and, accompanied by eerie music, three bearded witches slunk onstage.

RSCN1034When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning or in rain?…

The magic had begun.

Lost in Shakespeare’s mystical otherworld, Katie drank in the lyricism of the Weird Sisters’ chants. A trumpet sounded off stage, and suddenly the words registered not only in her ears, but in her heart.

This is the sergeant, Who like a good and hardy soldier fought ’gainst my captivity.

That voice! As smooth as her father’s best Irish whiskey, it shot through Katie’s veins like a liquid flame. It was he. The height, the golden hair, his very presence screamed to her that it was he, Apollo. Oh, how very fitting that he should play the role of Malcolm, the bright young prince destined to be king…

He was magnificent in medieval plaid, his strong legs encased in woolen hose, his sword glittering at his side. His broad shoulders wore the plaid with pride, and when he turned to face the audience, she felt his smile like a blow to her heart.

The instant the house lights came up and she could see properly, she glanced quickly through the program.

Malcolm.………………………Lucas Howard

Lucas Howard. A fine, strong name, and somehow appropriate. Those golden eyes could pierce right through to a woman’s soul and strip it bare. Oh, if only she could see him again, hear his whiskey-smooth voice, see his dazzling smile aimed only at her.

But of course, that was silly. Lucas Howard was probably as unaware of her as she was conscious of him. She was nothing to him but a potential member of a prospective audience, a ticket sale to add to the theatre’s coffers.

With that depressing thought, she pasted on a smile as the first guests arrived at their box.

…Let us seek out some desolate shade, and there Weep our sad bosoms empty.

The voice, filled with such powerful grief and longing, sent shivers dancing along Katie’s spine. She stared hard through her mother-of-pearl opera glasses, cool against her heated fingertips. His presence on the stage was compelling, his attraction undeniable. As she let her gaze wander for a fleeting second, she saw many pairs of opera glasses pointed in the same direction.

She’d be willing to bet all her winnings at last year’s Galway Races that most of them were pointed at Mr. Howard.

She soon became absorbed in the play once again. And it wasn’t only because of Lucas Howard. The entire cast was superb, particularly the lovely blonde actress who portrayed Lady Macbeth, and the older actor—it was he who had swept into the White Rose with Lucas—in the role of Macbeth.

But in truth, Katie only saw Lucas.

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Inkwell Guest: Vicki Batman on Holy Moly! It’s a Naked Tree!

December 18, 2012 by

Today I’m pleased to have one of my favorite people here today – the lovely and talented Vicki Batman. She’s here to talk about her newest release, Twinkle Lights.

Take it away, Vicki!

Christmas Tree in the SnowHoly Moly: It’s a Naked Tree!

What would our favorite holiday tree look like without Christmas lights? I’m thinking…natural. (But really, naked.)

How did lighting of our tree come about? From Wikipedia we find in 18th century Germany, trees were brought in the house and decorated with candles, fastened in place with melted wax. Edward H. Johnson, an associate of Thomas Edison, had tree bulbs the size of walnuts especially made for his home on Fifth Avenue. By 1930, electric lights became the replacement for candles. In the U.S. by the 1960s, most people began decorating the outside of their homes.

Kinds of lights: twinkle lights, holiday lights, and mini lights. In the UK, they are called fairy lights.

Red and Green Christmas Tree LightsToday, most lights are C6, C7, C5, C9, mini and LED mini, 5MM wide angle, raspberry (a small faceted globe shaped bulb). Want an easy way to decorate? Try net and icicle lights. And then, for the odd places, we have battery powered ones.

In my holiday story, “Twinkle Lights,” my heroine loves, loves, loves Christmas. She always buys a real Fraser fir, adorns it with vintage decorations, and of course, twinkle lights.

Here’s a tiny excerpt:

Just before the bell could ring again, I yanked the door open and my jaw nearly hit the floor.

“Ho-ho-ho,” the bearded man with the pillowed tummy said. “Merry Christmas, young lady.”

A giggle burst from me. “How fantastic. A visit from my favorite guy. Quick”—grasping his coat, I tugged him over the threshold—“come in before my date sees you.”

Twinkle_Lights333x500“I hear you’ve been a very good girl this year.” Santa Cameron shrugged off his faux goodie bag, and I laid it on the tan-checked, club chair. While adjusting the classic, red jacket into place, he came closer to my tree and said, “I think you got the best one, Paige.”

“Thank you, sir. You’re the expert.”

“That I am.” He ruffled some branches, releasing the incredible fragrance. “How do you keep it fresh?”

“It drinks.”

“Yeah, I know. A lot of water.”

“No, it drinks.”

His white eyebrows came together in a V. “I’m not understanding…”

“Vodka. An old family recipe.” I lifted my shoulder. “Seems to work.”

“Vodka? Lucky for you, it isn’t tipping over. Ha-ha.”

So here’s to all of us who wrestle a tree in place and place the decorations on it. May your holidays be merry and *twinkle* bright.

Find Vicki Batman clutching a diet Coke in one hand while trying to figure out where the darn ornaments would look best on her Fraser fir. She also makes appearances at her blog  and Plotting Princesses. “Twinkle Lights,” a fun, romantic story is available at Muse It Up Publishing or Amazon.com.

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