Inkwell Guest: Debbie Christiana on Writing and Yoga

April 19, 2012 by

Hey, all! I’m pleased to welcome another guest today. This time, Ms. Debbie Christiana. She’s here to talk about yoga and writing. Cool, huh? Stick around and be sure to post a comment. If you don’t see it post right away, it’s held in moderation and I promise to release it ASAP.

Welcome, Debbie!

Hi, Michelle. Thank you for having me as your guest today. I’m Debbie Christiana and I love to write about all things paranormal.

Writing is a solitary profession. It’s also a sedentary one. We sit happily, on a good day, or frustrated, on a bad day, in front of our computers. Then there’s comfort food. To either help us through a bad day or celebrate a good day. For most of us, the food of choice isn’t a fruit, vegetable, or something healthy made out of soy. It’s full of sugar, salt, fat and calories. That’s what makes is so comforting.

I’m at the age, when my metabolism isn’t as young and active as it once was. I used to run. I loved it. Once again, my mysterious age crept up on me and I tore something in my knee, had surgery and listened as the doctor kindly told me I was too old to run on hard surfaces. The jarring impact was too much.

That’s when she suggested yoga. My mother-in-law swore the yoga she practiced each morning with Jack LaLanne in front of the TV in the sixties kept her in shape. So, I decided to try it.

The yoga studio and I hit it off immediately. The room was beautifully decorated, warm, inviting, with a soft scent of incense and lovely music playing in the background. That was a beginner class six years ago and most of us newbies are still at it. While I can’t do what this wonderfully flexible woman can do, and don’t aspire to, I am much stronger and able to do many postures I used think impossible.

Yoga has been around for thousands of years. Archeologists discovered ancient stone tablets, believed to be over 4500 years old, with engravings of yoga postures in India’s Indus Valley. It was brought to the west in the late nineteenth century and became somewhat popular here in America in the 1960’s, thanks to the aforementioned Mr. LaLanne and other pop culture icons like the Beatles. Yoga is a Sanskrit word which means, “to bind together.” In our practice, we connect our mind, body and spirit.

We close our practice with Om. Yogis believe Om is the sound of life, or the vibration that flows through the universe. We then bow to each other and say “Namaste.” Namaste represents the belief that we each have spark of the divine –whichever divine you believe in – inside us. This gesture acknowledges the divine in all of us.

There are many benefits to yoga, emotional, physical and spiritual. What I come away with after an hour on my mat is how light and stress free I am. Stress has been around since humankind has existed, but chronic stress causes many health problems. I feel much better equipped to handle the worries of everyday life when I practice regularly.

Yoga works for me. It may not for you. But I hope everyone has something they can turn to for a couple hours a week, to relax, renew and rejuvenate.

Namaste.

Debbie’s novel, Twin Flames, was released by Black Opal Books and is available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords and Black Opal Books.

EXCERPT:

Here’s a small excerpt from my novel when Marc, the hero, has an encounter with the ghost who lives with Natalia, the heroine.

“Natalia, are you in there?” Marc knocked on her door but there was no answer. He felt a cool breeze blow behind him and wondered what unexplained thing was going to happen next. When he looked down the stairs and saw the front door was wide open, he was relieved it really was a draft this time. He ran down the stairs, out the door to the front porch. He didn’t see Natalia or anyone. While he stood on the porch, the front door slammed shut behind him. As peculiar as it was, he couldn’t really say he was scared.

“Okay,” he said. “I’m out here. Now what?”

It felt like someone pushed him and he almost fell off the steps of the porch. He caught himself and sat down. Was he a skeptic when it came to the supernatural? He didn’t know what he believed about paranormal realm.

His head doctor was going to love this! He thought his biggest problem was getting his memory back. Could he be losing his mind as well? There was one way to find out.

He stood up. “This isn’t going to work. If you want me to go straight, touch the back of my head. If you want me to go left or right, touch my shoulder. There’s no need to push, all right? Is this about Natalia?”

Marc felt a tap on his head, so he walked straight back and up the hill through the grapevines. He reached a spot where he had to make a decision to go left or right, and felt a pat on his right shoulder. He walked down through more vines to the last row of grapes. There was nothing but woods.

“Now what?” He felt a tap on his head. “There’s no place to go.” Feeling a nudge forward, he walked into the woods. It was thick with hemlock trees and difficult to walk through. About a half mile into the woods, he saw an old shack and felt another pat on his head. He walked up to the door and knocked. When no came to the door, Marc turned to walk away but a cold blast of air in his face stopped him in his tracks.

“What? No one’s here.” He barely finished his sentence when a harder, colder gust of air came at him. “Why am I not surprised you and Natalia have the same temperament?” He knocked again.

“Look, there’s no one here. I knocked twice,” he said and suffered a good smack on the side of the head. “Ouch. All right, all right.” Marc turned the doorknob. The door opened and he went inside. Curled up in chair, he saw she had headphones on.

“Natalia,” he said loudly so she could hear him.

He watched her head pop up and stared at him, flabbergasted.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been looking for you since before we went to brunch.”

“How did you find me here?”

“I’m not sure.”

“That’s not an answer.”

BLURB:

She’d never met him before…or had she?

The last thing forty-year old Natalia Santagario expected was to be sitting on a Manhattan barstool ogling a man she’s never met, but swears she knows.

He didn’t know her at all…or did he?

The mysterious dark-haired woman at the end of the bar stops twenty-eight year old Marc Tremonti in his tracks. His head assures him she’s a stranger, but his heart tells him otherwise.

Together they embark on an adventure that will change their lives forever.

Their attraction instant and enigmatic, they undergo past life regression and discover that, not only have they spent hundreds of lives together as lovers, Natalia holds the secret to Marc’s puzzling birthmark.

But what should have been a joyful reunion is complicated by a kind, albeit confused, almost ex-wife, a bout of temporary amnesia and a mischievous ghost from their past.

What else could possibly go wrong?

BIO:

Debbie Christiana would sit in her room as a little girl and write stories about ghosts, unexplained events and things that go bump in the night. She combined her love of the paranormal with her fascination of unusual love stories and decided to write paranormal romance. Her novel, Twin Flames, was released in the summer of 2011 with Black Opal Books. In February 2012, her short story, The Land of the Rising Sun, was one of ten included the anthology BITES: Ten Tales of Vampires. Debbie is a member of RWA and Secretary of the Romance Writers of Connecticut and Lower New York. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and three children.

www.debbiechristiana.com
Twitter @DebChristiana
Facebook Author Page: Debbie Christiana

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Inkwell Guest: Jami Gray and A Writer’s Dream

April 17, 2012 by

I’m happy to welcome back fellow author Jami Gray. She visited the Inkwell once before.  She’s going to talk about her dream office. I think I can agree with her about her dream office. I would love something like that, too. :) Stick around and post a comment to say hi and tell her what you’re dream office (or room) would be.

A Writer’s Dream

I have a dream. It includes a beautiful book lined office where a thin 32 inch screen perches on a beautiful cherry wood desk. A white board filled with an intriguing complex story line graces a pristine white board nestled next to an impeccably kept filing cabinet where character sketches, world building details and future plots are all in their spots waiting to be used. The only sounds you can hear in this oasis is whatever music my muse and I have agreed on that day. No telephones, no cell phones, no other distraction would dare to intrude into this writer’s paradise. That’s my dream.

Here’s my reality—we turned an extra bedroom into an office and I have to share it. My roommate happens to be my techy geek husband who has more electronics than Nasa. There are no book lined walls (those are in my bedroom and downstairs), and I have two desks. One used to be our oak kitchen table when my knight in slightly muddy armor and I were first married (many, many moons ago) and the other use to be a lab table at a local university.

Why two desks? Because as much as I would love to say otherwise, my writing doesn’t quite keep away the pesky bill collectors or satisfy the healthcare gods so I have a job-that-pays-the-bills. Since I’ve been blessed with the ability to telecommute for over ten years, I need two desks. One to remind me of the cubicle world I came from and the other to hold my two laptops I use for writing. Yes, I know, another set of two. But the big laptop stays home and the smaller one is so much easier to carry around when I need to escape the loony bin.

The office has next door neighbors—the Prankster Duo. My two boys are just inches away and sometimes even the walls and locked door can’t seem to keep them out. The other day I gathered the men of the household and said, “I am going to write in the office. Pretend I’m not here, okay?” They all agreed and then suddenly suffered from severe memory loss. I had sat down, put on the headphones to drown out the battle cries I knew were going to erupt within the next few minutes, opened my latest work in progress, only to jump out of my chair when my youngest came up and hug tackled me. When they do sweet stuff like that you can’t yell, it’s just not…mom like. I took out one earbud and raise a brow in question.

“Hey mom, did you know that I just got (insert some gamer speak about armor and weaponry here)?”

“Umm, really? That’s great sweetpea, but see this, “ motioning to softly glowing screen in front of me, “I’m writing, remember?”

A quick peck on the check and he’s gone. I try to get back into the groove, only to have the door swish open and the hellhound trot in with his stuffed duck, Pate. He wants to play. I remind him, this is mommy’s alone time and throw Pate out the door and shut it behind him. Back in front of the screen, music playing, I’m back…until the phone rings.

This is my reality. This is why I have to pick up the smaller laptop and drive to the nearest Starbucks and stay there for hours on end. Otherwise it’s a never ending round of interruptions.

Most people dream of winning the lottery so they can travel the world. I dream of winning the lottery so I can have my own office. And not having to split my time between writing and a job would be nice too.

During the school year, it’s a bit better. The knight is out slaying dragons, the Duo is out raising havoc under someone else’s watch and the hellhound mimics a fur rug. I can get all my adult responsibilities of my job-that-pays-the-bills done and if I have some spots of time, I use it. Writing a paragraph here or there, sketching out the next chapter, or tweaking the last scene. But even so, I still have to make sure I set aside that one day a week where I get up and leave.

It took me years to get over the guilt of bailing on my hubby and kids for a whole day, but now I find it’s essential. Not just to my writing but to my sanity. I realize that where others may use that time to read a book, workout, shop, or hang out with friends, I use it for my alternate personality—the writer.

So for now, until we score that big pot of lottery gold and I get my dream office, I will hold my dream close and defend my two desks and duo laptops from the scourge of interruptions, carving words out one inch at a time!

About Jami

Growing up on the Arizona-Mexico border, Jami Gray was adopted at the age of 14 and suddenly became the fifth eldest of 37 children. She graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s in Journalism and three minors-History, English, and Theater. Shortly after marrying her techie-geek hubby (who moonlighted as her best friend in high school) she completed a Masters in Organizational Management from University of Phoenix Oregon.

Now, years later, she’s back in the Southwest where she’s outnumbered in her own home by two Star Wars obsessed boys, one Star Wars obsessed husband, and an overly-friendly, 105-pound male lab. Writing is what saves her sanity.

Shadow’s Edge: Book 1 of the Kyn Kronicles is out now and Shadow’s Soul: Book 2 of the Kyn Kronicles hits shelves Summer 2012.

You can find me at:

Buy Link: www.BlackOpalBooks.com
Website: www.JamiGray.com
Blogs: www.7EvilDwarves.wordpress.com or www.JamiGray.wordpress.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jamigray.author
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/JamiGrayAuthor

Book 1: Shadow’s Edge

Everyone fears what hunts in the shadows—especially the monsters…

It takes a monster to hunt one, and for Raine McCord, forged in the maelstrom of magic and science, she’s the one for the job. In a world where the supernatural live in a shadowy existence with the mundane, a series of disappearances and deaths threatens the secrecy of her kind and indicates someone knows the monsters are alive and kicking. Partnering up with the sexy and tantalizing Gavin Durand proves to be a challenge as dangerous as the prey she hunts.

When the trail points back to the foundation which warped Raine’s magic as a child, her torturous past raises its ugly head. Gavin and Raine sift through a maze of lies, murder and betrayal to discover not only each other, but the emerging threat to them and the entire magical community.

Book 2: Shadow’s Soul

Some nightmares are born of love…

Raine McCord has no problem taking down the monsters of the world, it’s one of the reasons she’s so good at her job. So playing bodyguard to Cheveyo, head Magi of the Northwest, as he consults with the Southwest Kyn should be an easy assignment. Unfortunately, simple task turns into a nightmare when Cheveyo is kidnapped and Raine is left for dead by one of the Kyn’s most feared beings, a Soul Stealer.

The Stealer’s attack leaves lasting wounds, undermining Raine’s confidence as a warrior and damaging her unruly magic. Her ability to heal her mind and spirit hinges on the one man who can touch her soul, Gavin Durand. Compelled to face the emotions raging between them, they must embrace not only their stormy relationship but their evolving magic to escape the twisted threads of murder and betrayal to find Cheveyo.

As Raine and Gavin come together and begin to unravel the complex web of secrets and hidden vendettas haunting the Southwest Kyn, they discover unsettling new truths that threaten their very existence.

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

Inkwell Guest: Zrinka Jelic

April 12, 2012 by

Hey, gang! Another guest today to talk about her latest.

Thank you for having me here today as your guest. My debut novel “Bonded by Crimson” has been released on January 28th, and it is available in all formats at Black Opal Books, Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble and All Romance eBooks.

To my surprise, readers often ask me if my heroine is me. So I’d like to talk about my favorite character, Kate Rokov. Kate is at the life crossroads with no clear direction. And although she is determined, she is also scared to take chance at anything in life. She knows she must take that leap in order for her life to change, for better or for worse and if she continues on the same path, where nothing exciting happens, she’ll feel as if she was buried alive. She is lonely and quite girl. No one knows she exits. When she can no longer afford the rent in the city, she is forced to act and leave her waitressing job for a nanny position in the Toronto’s suburbs. But she finds out the house she was sent to, is in total isolation from the nearest town. As soon as she arrives, strange things start to happen, but she dismisses them as lack of sleep and long drive. She also finds the three boys she is responsible for very irresistible, but their father as terrifying as he appears at first, is absolutely alluring. He is in a fog of his own and Kate discovers she must help him become involved in his boys’ lives. In helping him and the boys to become close, she finds she is hopelessly falling in love with her employer. Her job takes her to Croatia where she and her new family are from. There, her boss reveals his true identity. After initial shocks wears off and she accepts who he really is, she finds herself even more drawn to him. Their relationship progresses at the slow pace but when they finally come together, it is Earth shattering. Love is ensured and she accepts his proposal, but one greedy character is lurking around, plots and puts an evil plan into action. The events that follow would determine Kate’s fate and change her life forever once again.

BLURB

Love isn’t in the cards for her…

After her short failed marriage, Kate tries to rebuild her life and takes a position as a nanny to three small boys. She quickly grows to love them, but their father, terrifies her, while igniting a passion she didn’t know she possessed. Disturbed by his distant manner with his sons, Kate struggles to make him more involved in the boys’ daily lives. Her efforts are mysteriously supported by an entity that cannot really exist. Or can she? And if she does exist, is she really trying to help Kate, or just take over her body?

But when he deals the hand, all bets are off…

Six years after his beloved wife passed away, Matthias is still trying to become the father she wanted him to be. Not an easy task for a three-centuries-old immortal. His search for the ultimate nanny ends when Kate Rokov stumbles to his home and into his arms. The immediate attraction he feels for her seems like a betrayal of his dead wife, a love he’s harboured for over three hundred years. But when Kate is stalked by a deadly stranger, life he clung to in the past begins to crumble and break down. Can Matthias learn to trust and to love again in time to save his family from disaster, or will his stubborn pride destroy everything worth living for?

EXCERPT

He claimed to be immortal, but that was ridiculous…wasn’t it?

Kate’s heart hammered. The experience seemed so real. A low moan escaped her and she bit her lip. Soon warmth surged through her, causing her body to go limp. Her legs gave way underneath her, but Matthias—or whoever this man claimed to be now—wrapped his arm around her waist. His sweet, musky scent clung to her. Ecstasy filled her and she felt as if she hovered in the air. If he intended to kill her like this, she could imagine no better way to die. A voice echoed through her mind, speaking of undying love in centuries old Croatian.

“Wake up,” he whispered close to her ear, his strong arms still locked around her.

“I don’t want to.” Her head wobbled, exuberant with sheer happiness, a kind she had never experienced before.

“You must.” He stroked her hair with tender fingers. “Wake up now.”

“No. I want to stay like this. Forever.” She focused on his handsome face staring at her through her haze.

His smooth cheek brushed against hers. “Me too, but you must wake.”

The fog lifted and his image appeared, clearly now. She blinked once. Twice. What had happened? She pushed away from him and flattened her back against the wall.

“You, you—”

“You,” he said, pointing at her, “asked for proof.”

AUTHOR’S BIO

Zrinka Jelic lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and two children. A member of the Romance Writers of America and its chapter Fantasy Futuristic &Paranormal, as well as Savvy Authors, she writes contemporary fiction—which leans toward the paranormal—and adds a pinch of history. Her characters come from all walks of life, and although she prefers red, romance comes in many colors. Given Jelic’s love for her native Croatia and the Adriatic Sea, her characters usually find themselves dealing with a fair amount of sunshine, but that’s about the only break they get. “Alas,” Jelic says, with a grin. “Some rain must fall in everyone’s life.”

Contact me @: www.bondedbycrimson.blogspot.com
http://zrinkajelicromanceauthor.wordpress.com/
Find me on: Facebook and Twitter
Watch the book trailer: Bonded by Crimson

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

Inkwell Guest: Alyssa Lyons and A Holiday Weekend in Lynchburg

April 10, 2012 by

Today, I welcome author Alyssa Lyons! Don’t forget to say hi :)

We just finish a holiday weekend here in Lynchburg, Virgina. The home of Jordan Davis and Grayson Trent in the Jordan Davis Mysteries celebrated two holidays. 2012 is one of those periodic years when the first night of Passover falls on Good Friday.

Over at the synagogue that Jordan and the children attend, Friday night was the night of the annual community Seder. This is the traditional meal where the story of the exodus from Egypt is retold explaining how this event turned the Children of Israel into a unified people. This year, instead of a catered meal, the synagogue members had a managed pot luck. Jordan, Gray, and the kids brought a Sephardic lamb main dish that was a specialty of Jordan’s mother.

A lamb shank and a roasted egg are placed on the ceremonial Seder plate in recognition of the Paschal lamb sacrifice made in the spring in the days when the Temple stood. During Passover, which lasts eight days, Jews don’t eat leavened bread or other baked goods. This is in remembrance of in which the haste the Jews left Egypt. One day they were there and next on the run, unable to wait for their bread to rise and therefore baked it still flat. At the Seder, they drink four glasses of wine in honor of God’s promises of freedom and deliverance.

If any of those symbols sound familiar, many Christians believe that the Last Supper was a Passover Seder and that Jesus used the unleavened bread and wine already on the table to illustrate his message. (Communion wafers are made from the same ingredients as is matzah.) Jesus is compared to the lamb of the Paschal sacrifice, and in some languages name of the Easter holiday is based on the word “Paschal.”

On Easter Sunday, the hundreds of churches in Lynchburg are packed with worshippers. Those with crosses on the lawn, usually draped with a purple stole, had a black stole on Good Friday and now a white stole on Easter to honor the Resurrection.

On Easter Sunday, Lynchburg shuts down. We say that nothing is open for business except Church, IHOP, the movies, and Walmart.

Ah, the movies. Jordan and Gray took the kids to see “The Hunger Games.” Oh, and they loved the movie. However, the family had read the trilogy together, so the movie and discussion afterwards was very spirited.

On Sunday night the Trents gathered in the family room to watch the first Sunday Night Baseball broadcast of the season. Spring Break begins on Monday, so the kids can stay up late, although Kiki fell asleep during the sixth inning and Gray carried her up to bed, their large Main Coon, BB, trailing behind them. And the war between Kiki and Paul over whom BB loves most continues.

You can read about Jordan’s adventures in solving crime “Southern Style” in Last Wishes, Clubbed to Death, & Stabbed & Slabbed.

You can reach Alyssa at her website and blog: http://www.alyssalyons.com
Her books are available at http://www.blackopalbooks.com and all major e-book retailers.

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Inkwell Guest: Melissa Groeling on Route 422

April 3, 2012 by

Today, I welcome fellow author Melissa Groeling. She’s here to talk about her upcoming release, TRAFFIC JAM, and driving down the treacherous Route 422. Stick around and tell Melissa hi, okay?

If you’re from eastern Pennsylvania, you’ll probably read this and nod your head right off your shoulders in emphatic agreement. You’ll agree that the state animal is not the whitetail deer. It is, in fact, those dreaded orange cones that begrudgingly indicate that the current highway you’re traveling on is merging from three lanes to one. The state flower is not the Mountain Laurel but the nose hair-curling perennial mixture of asphalt dust, bulldozer exhaust and steaming hot tar. The state beverage (honestly, I didn’t know there was such a thing) is unfortunately not milk, but the gallons and gallons of coffee that every driver must consume prior to getting behind the wheel and sitting in jammed-up traffic for five hours because really, you’re not going anywhere if there’s an accident or road construction. It’s pretty irritating that while other states can enjoy their scampering state animals and their blooming state flowers, we get stuck with dirty, smelly, inanimate objects that really serve no purpose except driving people nuts…no pun intended.

Prime suspect: Route 422.

It’s a four-lane stretch of insanity that’s the only connecting route from Hershey to King of Prussia. Along with every other wild-eyed, coffee-swigging maniac, you’re fighting not to get rear-ended, tailgated, cut off or caught up in the fifty thousand on-ramps from various towns that the Paved Road of Pandemonium happens to pass through. And that’s not to the mention the local wildlife. You want to know why the Pennsylvania state animal is an orange cone instead of the whitetail deer? Take a drive down 422. All along this Highway of Mayhem lies your answer. I’m still not quite sure why people say that Pennsylvania has a deer population problem. They’re all over 422.

Literally.

You have to mentally prepare yourself for your first time driving on 422. It’s not like going to the supermarket. This road will alter your mind. It will rearrange your insides and you’ll never be the same again. Now at one point before you exposed to 422, you probably saw yourself as a good driver; mild-mannered, considerate and always waving when someone lets you in front of them.

But like most Crazed Lurkers of 422, once you merge into its dark embrace, you can feel the change come over you. Your brain suddenly stops. Your heart begins to slam in your chest. Your palms slip-slide in sweat on the steering wheel and before you know it, your right foot is slamming down on the gas pedal and you are flying. Cars around you are practically standing still as you leave them in the dust. And all the while, in the back of your mind, that little rational voice, the one that always stops you from jumping out of airplanes or clothes-lining your boss, is screaming at you, demanding to know just what in the hell do you think you’re doing!

And there’s no explaining it. Even when the veil is lifted and you can suddenly see again once you get off at your exit, you can’t come up with any scientific explanation. It’s something like an out-of-body experience. It has to be. It must be. It’s not healthy. It’s damn near terrifying.

You may think that I’m being overly dramatic about this whole thing but I’m telling you. You will be a changed person if you drive on 422. You will see things that you’ve never seen in any other part of the country and your car will do things you never thought possible.

Beware, good people. Beware.

Excerpt from TRAFFIC JAM
Coming May 2012 from Black Opal Books

Her train of thought stopped abruptly as she passed her sister’s room. The door was open but there was no sign of her. Curiously, Val peered inside, the shopping bags on the floor by the bed catching her eye. She frowned then her eyebrows rose when she saw the hot pink iPod on the night table.

Where in the world did she get an iPod?

Before Val could stop herself, she stepped inside the room. She ignored the flash of danger zone in the back of her mind as she picked up the small device. Then she looked down into the closest shopping bag and saw something black and leathery.

What…

“Val.”

She bit back a scream as she whirled around.

Find Melissa on the Web

Blog: http://melissagroeling.blogspot.com
Twitter: @stringbean10

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Inkwell Guest: Mona Karel Rants

March 27, 2012 by

Today I welcome anothe inkwell guest, Mona Karel. She’s here to talk about social media, the IRS and Social Security. Heavy stuff! :) Stick around for the end of the post where she has an excerpt of her latest. Take it away, Mona!

Has This Facebook Thing Gone Too Far? 

In my non writing work life, I’m admin and bookkeeper for a small innovative solar related firm. Which means I do the non techie stuff–trust me what I understand about solar trackers was learned on the job, and resides in that small fuzzy space in my brain not reserved for writing or dogs. VERY small fuzzy space.

Even so, when I’m working, I’m working. That’s my personal contract concerning any job. So when I am sitting in my chair at PSTC, I’m concentrating on purchasing, bill paying, payroll and filing (the last only under duress, when I can no longer find anything.) Part of payroll includes filing state and federal taxes and reports. Lots of reports. At the end of the year, those W-2 forms everyone receives come from a bookkeeper or payroll admin filling out the little blocks, and the W-2s have to go to IRS along with the W-3 overall report. Goody, more paperwork to keep us all busy.

Fortunately there is SBO-that’s Small Business something with an “O” that allows us to file that paperwork on line, a blessing for part time bookkeepers who can get overwhelmed with deadlines. So, here I was at the end of January, merrily filling out the SBO forms, printing off the reports for our files, then clicking the “submit” button to send it all off to the government. And what do you think popped up on the screen? “Like” us on Face Book if you enjoyed this experience.

Really??? “Like” a government agency? Since when did Social Security become a social networking entity? Sure enough, Social Security has a Face Book page, complete with silly pictures of people in Star Trek uniforms. (https://www.facebook.com/socialsecurity)

But seriously, do we really want to get warm and fuzzy with the IRS? Which, by the way, does have a Face Book page, with 3,746 likes even though the page is only a definition from Wikipedia. What in the world is there to “like” about the IRS? Do people really think clicking that button is going to get them leniency in an audit? Even more interesting, the SSA Face Book page has 32,387 “likes.” For sure very few of those people are commenting on the postings. In fact some of those comments can be pretty funny.

What does this have to do with writing Paranormal Romance? Well, it was pretty surreal to see an autographed photo of George Takei on the SSA page. But more to the point, social media has become a major part of book promotion in this brave new world of boutique publishers, self publishing, and smaller budgets for the larger publishing houses. Whether we like it or not, we need to have an author page as well as a blog to keep our names in front of the book buying public. Problem is, with the barrage of information thrown in the faces of our readers, sometimes our messages can get lost in the shuffle. Especially when most of us would really rather be writing.

All we can do is the best we can, which is why I’m visiting today with Michelle–THANKS for inviting me! Having gotten that rant off my chest, let me use the last few words of my blog to introduce you to Mykhael and Kendra’s story “My Killer My Love.” Mykhael is an immortal enforcer for the Atrahasis, overlords of the sacred places in the universe. Unfortunately there’s a power struggle among the Atrahasis, and Kendra is singled out as someone who has desecrated one of the sacred places on Earth. Nothing could be further from the truth, but it’s pretty hard to argue with immortals who have unlimited power. Until love steps in, giving a jaded immortal a second chance at happiness.

EXCERPT:

Once the woman slept he moved more freely. With the stealthy tread of a stalking wolf he searched the darkening rooms, letting his senses hunt for a specific location. He settled in a corner window seat, bathed by the moonlight inching its way toward her bed. Many puzzles existed here, and he knew he was not yet prepared to face them.

He breathed deeply, then more slowly, his body becoming motionless. The atmosphere around him thickened, a silent wind lifting his hair away from his face, then dying abruptly. After a long moment of hushed tension, he emitted a sound of exasperation. The answers had never come to him easily before, why should now be any different?

He studied the woman. Even in her sleep, her thoughts spoke to him in unclear muttering, a not unpleasant sensation. He wondered about the part he had been sent to play, and knew the ending would not be as originally planned. He could no longer think of her as he had been instructed.

This small, fearful female had given him something he had forgotten existed. She had given him back his laughter. For that alone he would protect her beyond life.

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Inkwell Guest: Bev Irwin

March 22, 2012 by

Hi all! Welcome back to the Inkwell for another guest. Today I’m hosting Black Opal author, Bev Irwin. She’s going to talk about goals and persistence (as she notates below *grin*). Hope you’ll say hi to let her know you were here. :)

Take it away, Bev!

Hello everyone. Thanks for coming to visit, and thank you Michelle for inviting me.

I’m so excited to be able to talk about my new releases. Yes, I did add an ‘s’ on that word. My first release, GHOSTLY JUSTICE, a paranormal youth novel will be released on April 14th with Black Opal Books. The second, also with Black Opal Books, MISSING CLAYTON, a women’s suspense, will be out later this year.

I want to talk about goals and persistence.

Do you have goals? Of course you do. We all do. Mine is to be on the best seller list and have financial freedom so I can travel. I love traveling. Just yesterday I went on a fantasy trip to Paris and sat in a cafe and had coffee and crepes. Tomorrow, who knows where I will be. That’s the great thing about being a writer, we can go as far as our imagination will take us. But I do have my suitcase open and ready for the real thing comes along.

Where would you go? Would it be in real time or are you a time traveler going into the past or the future, or another realm. Tell me.

My journey took another step closer to my dreams last September.

What an amazing fall I had. After years of writing, taking course, being in writing groups, entering contests, sending off to agents and editors, IT finally happened. I GOT A CONTRACT!

Soul Mate Publishing offered me a contract (don’t you love that word) for my first novel (not the first one written), WHEN HEARTS COLLIDE. I got that offer in September and the release date was to be in November. My first birthday present that year. But it was delayed to December so became my first Christmas present.

Then, on Oct 30th I received a very apropos offer from Black Opal Books. The day before Halloween and I get an offer to publish GHOSTLY JUSTICE my paranormal youth novel. That was my second contract. I’ll tell you my witches cape and my curly toed black boots were doing a happy, happy dance. I did some wicked flying on my broom that week.

Then, I couldn’t believe it, a few days before Christmas, I got another contract offer from Black Opal Books. This was for my women’s suspense novel, MISSING CLAYTON, that will be coming out later this year. WOW!

So, remember, your dreams can come true! Believe!

Work hard, take courses, join critique groups, enter contests, submit your baby to the horrors of being rejected. Broaden your shoulders, edit again and again, send it out there. One day you will get THE EMAIL or THE CALL bringing you that one step closer to your dreams.

But most of all, don’t quit. Persistence pays off.

So tell me your dreams and goals, or write them down. SEE THEM HAPPENING.

About Bev

Award-winning author, Bev Irwin, lives in London, Ontario, with three assorted cats. One that hid in her car when she moved from the farm and two others dropped off by her daughter on two different occasions. Her three children have flown the coup, but her granddaughter, Jasmine, is a frequent visitor.

As a registered nurse, she likes to add a touch of medical to her romance and mystery novels. She writes YA, children’s, and poetry. She prefers spending time in her garden, writing, and reading to being in the kitchen.

Her debut novel, WHEN HEARTS COLLIDE, a contemporary romance, came out in December of 2011 with Soul Mate Publishing under the pen name of Kendra James. Her YA paranormal, GHOSTLY JUSTICE, will be released by Black Opal Books on April 14th, 2012. MISSING CLAYTON, a suspense novel, will also be published with Black Opal Books later this year.

These are some of my books.

In His Father’s Footsteps

This book will be on Kindle when Bev figures out how to format it properly.

He promised he’d be back by the full moon. But that was days ago and Jason Sharmon’s father hasn’t returned from his prospecting trip. Now the fourteen-year-old must battle the Ontario North and his own fears to find his father. He encounters several obstacles including a wolf encounter, a raging river, and a fall down a cliff. After finding and caring for his injured father, Jason learns to believe in himself and his own abilities. He and his father learn to accept their differences and mend a troubled relationship.

If you witnessed an accident on a lonely stretch of highway, would you stop or continue on your way? For nurse Molly Tanner the choice is clear. Risking her own life, she pulls the seriously injured driver and his young daughter from the car. When Pearce begs her to pose as his wife to keep Gracie from foster care, memories of her unhappy childhood rush back. But can Molly keep up the charade without her own secrets being discovered and her heart from being shattered?

Fifteen-year-old Daria Brennan doesn’t want to hear people’s thoughts. She doesn’t want to see ghosts or talk to dead people. And she definitely doesn’t want to help Amanda solve her forty-year old murder. But Amanda wants revenge, and Daria is the first human contact she’s had since the day she died. Now the killer is after Daria and her friends. Can they solve this Amanda’s murder in time, or will they become the next victims?

COMING SOON! Release date April 14, 2012

You can read excerpts of these books at my website. Browse, read some poetry if you wish.

Find Bev around the WWW:

www.bevirwin.com
www.blackopalbooks.com/
www.kendrajames.net
www.soulmatepublishing.com

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Inkwell Guest: Empi Baryeh

March 20, 2012 by

Today, I welcome Empi Baryeh. She’s here to share her words of wisdom on writing. Stick around for the bottom of the post for a an excerpt and a contest!

Confessions of a Real Life Author

Hi everyone. First off, I want to thank Michelle for allowing me to take up space on her blog as I celebrate the upcoming release of my novel, Chancing Faith.

The journey to publication has been long, and, a lot of times, less glamorous than one might imagine; because for any author who doesn’t write for a living, life often gets in the way.

Someone once asked me how I juggle between life, family, work and writing. The truth is, I haven’t found the perfect balance. There are times when it seems easy, and other times it feels like there just aren’t enough hours in a day.

I have full-time job, and for a new author that can really put a strain on my writing. It basically means I have to fit all my writing in the couple of hours between getting home from work and going to bed. But those few precious moments have to be split between getting something quick to eat, catching a favourite show on TV or reading a book. Of course, there’s weekends, which again pits writing against grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, meeting up with friends etc.

My not-so-perfect-routine is to read a book on my commute to work in the mornings, because reading is a necessary part of writing. If I arrive early enough at work, I read another book (an ebook on my computer while having breakfast); I slip in some reading and mild plotting during lunch, provided I don’t meet up with friends for lunch. On my commute back home, I think about what I’ll write about that evening and try to plot the scene/chapter in my mind.

On a good day, I’ll be suitably inspired by the time I get home to sit down for a couple of hours to write. I usually fix myself a quick meal, so I don’t spend half of my evening in the kitchen when I could be writing. Let’s not forget, there’s also the whole world of social networking that I must attend to. Some days, I’m just too tired to do anything more than clear my mind and watch TV while sipping a glass of wine or juice – all the while cheering on (read: envying) my SAHM author friends who are churning out thousands of words every day (yea, the writer’s life is a lonely one).

What about you? What’s your routine? Maybe we can all share and pick a few lines from each others’ journal. I look forward to hearing about your life as a writer. If you aren’t a writer, don’t feel left out. Share with me, how you manage all the balls you have to juggle in your day-to-day life.

Have a wonderful week!

Empi

***

About The Author

Empi Baryeh is an author of heart-warming, sweet and sensual African and Interracial romance. She lives in the city of Accra in Ghana, where most of her stories are set. She speaks French and a teensy bit of Spanish.

Her debut novel, Most Eligible Bachelor, came out in February and is available from Evernight Publishing and other online book retailers. Chancing Faith is her second novel, which comes out in Print and eBook on 31st March, 2012.

Visit Empi Online:

Blog: http://empibaryeh.wordpress.com
Website: http://www.empibaryeh.webs.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/empibaryeh
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/empibaryeh
Twitter: @empibaryeh

COMING 31ST MARCH, 2012, FROM BLACK OPAL BOOKS CHANCING FAITH BY EMPI BARYEH

Blurb:

He didn’t do short-term relationships…

American ad exec, Thane Aleksander, doesn’t date co-workers either—until business takes him to Ghana, West Africa, and he meets Naaki. Now he’s at risk of breaking all the rules. Can he stop this headlong fall before it’s too late?

Until he met her!

Naaki Tabika has a burning need to prove, to herself and others, that she’s more than wife and mother material. To do so, she’s prepared to give up everything for her job. Meeting Thane, however, makes her want to get personal. But falling for her boss could destroy her career. Will she be willing to risk it all for the one thing that can make her truly happy?

Two divergent cultures, two different races, two career-driven professionals, only one chance at true love—will they find the faith to take it, or will their hearts be sacrificed on the altar of financial success?

Excerpt:

Thane knew he was in for it now. He could hardly believe he’d really done it…

He’d kissed Naaki. Kissed her! What the hell was he thinking? Thane tossed his jacket aside and yanked off his tie. Of all the stupid—

Raking his fingers through his hair, he muttered a curse. The urge to hit something assaulted him with a force that should have surprised him. The perfect punching bag would have been his own body, since it was apparent that he needed to pound some sense into his skull. Right now, the only thing pounding was his heart as it threatened to burst out of his chest, throbbing partly out of anger but mostly from his pulsing desire.

Damned if he didn’t still want her in his arms. She made him feel like a teenager—and not in a good way. Vulnerable wasn’t a desired state of mind as far as he was concerned. He sat down with the adjoining door in full view, still unable to comprehend how he’d dropped his guard. How he seemed so willing to let down his defenses around her.

He’d panicked in the elevator, allowed himself to be captivated. He’d worried about her, touched her as if he cared. She’d kissed him back, moaned against his lips and his knees had gone weak. He could have made love to her right there in the lobby. He could care about her, and caring was the last thing he could afford to do.

Dammit. Naaki wasn’t a woman you got involved with on a whim. He needed, at all cost, to avoid her—the woman who’d so easily brought him to his knees, who’d caused his body to come alive and made him want—

Just want.

***

Buy Links:

Chancing Faith is available for pre-order at the following sites:

Look out for Chancing Faith on Amazon and other online booksellers from 31st March.

Contest:

Empi is giving away a free ebook each week for her blog tour. All you have to do is leave a comment. At the end of each week, Empi will select one lucky winner. Each blog you comment on gives you one vote, so the more blogs you comment on the greater your chances of winning. The prize is the winner’s choice of an ebook copy of either Most Eligible Bachelor or Chancing Faith.

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

Inkwell Guest: Pepper O’Neal

April 28, 2011 by

Hi, everyone! Today, I’m pleased to welcome fellow FF&Per Pepper O’Neal to the blog talking about her newest release, Blood Fest: Chasing Destiny. You’ll want to stick around for this one. :)

Please note: Your comment may go into moderation but I’ll approve as fast as I can.

Ever had one of those weeks? Seven days that only happen in your nightmares, or better yet, only happen to other people—you know, those people who, unlike you, of course, really need to get a life.

I was tooling along thinking things were going just dandy. I had my second book coming out, my office was clean, my paperwork organized, and my taxes done. I mean, my life was handled. Then I got a frantic call from my editor. Her assistant had discovered some plot problems both she and I had missed in my book, Blood Fest: Chasing Destiny, which is due to be released by Black Opal Books on April 30, 2011. That’s this coming Sunday, folks, in case you didn’t realize it, and my editor wants revisions at five minutes to midnight on dooms day?

I was so sure she was wrong, I laughed. I’d already considered that problem and fixed it before the last edits. So in my self-righteous, tolerant to editors, frame of mind, thought, “She’s crazy. I’ll just go through and highlight the places where it’s fixed.” Uh-huh. Guess what? I searched through the book, only to discover that, oops, much to my chagrin, I hadn’t fixed it after all. Not only hadn’t I fixed it, I’d based a couple of major plot points on something that not only didn’t work, it couldn’t possibly work.

To put it mildly, I freaked. I called my editor back in a panic. And of course, the first thing she does is tell me not to panic. Excuse me? I’m way past panic here, in fact, my blood pressure is currently through the roof. “Relax,” she says. “We’ve got a couple of weeks, and luckily it’s the ebook that’s being released on April 30th. The print book doesn’t come out for another few weeks. So there’s time.”

Obviously, my editor is not an author, because she doesn’t understand the severity of the problem. I’d written a paranormal/romantic suspense, and my world doesn’t work! This book was done. Done! I’d finished the damn thing, and now I find out it’s not done. Not only isn’t it done, it has to be undone and then redone. Okay, deep breath. All I have to do is take out what doesn’t work and put in what does. Simple, huh? No, not really, because first I have to figure out what will work and how that will affect all the other elements of the story.

What did I do? Well, in my other life, I’m a researcher, and I know about experts. So I did the only thing I could do. I called an expert. In this case, friend, fellow author and paranormal world builder, LJ DeLeon. And the first thing she says? You guessed it. Don’t panic.

So, we talked it through, and she helped me figure out how to make what doesn’t work, work. Okay, I tell myself, I can do this. It may take me some 18-hour days, but okay. It’s worth it. This was Thursday. Friday I get the flu, and as I’m lying in bed with my emesis basin, I’m telling myself not to panic. It’s not a lot of comfort, but, hey, it’s what everyone else says.

Now as I’m writing this blog, I’m taking a break from going chapter by chapter and ferreting out all the little places where the plot and characters are affected by what doesn’t work. You wouldn’t think telepathy would make such a difference in a plot, would you? Well, let me tell you, it does. So, in case I’m still buried under a mountain of manuscript papers on Sunday, April, 30th, here’s some photos representing some of my characters: the hero, Roman, a half-Vampire/half-Lycan; the heroine, Chase, a half-human/half weretiger; and the sidekick, Drake, a weretiger. My critique group has a betting pool going on whether or not I’ll make it in time for the book to be released on schedule. Right now, I can’t decide whether to put my $20 on my making it, or not making it.

Visit my website: http://www.pepperoneal.com

Learn more about Blood Fest: Chasing Destiny at: http:www. http://pepperoneal.com/blood-fest-series/

Read an excerpt of Blood Fest: Chasing Destiny at: http://pepperoneal.com/blood-fest-series/excerpt-chasing-destiny/

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