AJ's Tattered Pages

Welcome Writer Tess Morrison!

2012-02-24T07:13:00.001-06:00

I've been treated to a real special post today from my friend and fellow Wisconsite writer Tess Morrison, who recently had a new release come out from The Wild Rose Press! Whoo Hoo! Please give her a warm welcome, and while you're at it, check out Kissing Livvy!

I am so honored to have been invited to AJ’s Tattered Pages. AJ and I share a common background as we’re both from the same hometown in northern Wisconsin, where I still live. It seems every place I have visited has a flavor all its own and that can certainly be said for our neck of the woods. The people are the best you can find and to top it off we are surrounded by beautiful forests, crisp, clear lakes and flowages, and charming farms tucked into the rolling hills. I am inspired by what is around me every day!

‘Kissing Livvy’ was a joy to create. With this book I allowed myself the freedom to let my characters blossom into people that are just plain fun. People that know me always seem to want to know who inspired my characters. I know my family feels as though they come under scrutiny because of this. Usually I have to tell my readers that the characters are always a composite of how one person speaks, another’s behavior, another’s physical appearance, and so on. But there is one I cannot deny. Grandma Nell in ‘Kissing Livvy’ is my maternal grandmother. No doubt about it.

My Grandma, her name was Frances or Frannie, was wonderful, but what a character! I think she comes through loud and clear as Jesse Tully’s grandma. Writing her scenes was like having my grandma sitting right next to me. Thanks, Gram!

I am currently changing gears a bit and trying my hand at a piece of women’s fiction. The title is ‘Eye on the Sparrow’. It is a multi-generational saga about a family thrown off course by remains found in the back forty. I will keep you posted as to whether this is a go or not. So far, it’s been a challenge. But whether or not I have success with ‘Eye on the Sparrow’ or not, romance is too deeply embedded in my heart to be replaced. Romantic stories are where I can be funny and let loose all those steamy fantasies of mine. Please feel free to visit me at my website at tessmorrison.com. Oh, and if you do, you’ll find the recipe for the cookies the Tully family raves about in ‘Kissing Livvy’.

Here's the Blurb:

After an environmental protest goes awry, Livvy Sherman finds herself abandoned on Jesse Tully’s logging job. Taming the Tully men (and women) proves quite the wild ride. Jesse’s got his hands full with a struggling business, a cantankerous father, a troubled teenager, and a crabby grandma. Now he’s got this hippy-dippy protestor thrown into the mix. What more could go wrong?

AJ, thanks again for having me. All the best to you.

My pleasure to have you here, Tess!

XO AJOX

Alpha vs. Beta - The Hero Debate

2012-02-03T05:30:00.001-06:00

Welcome Jannine Gallant to Tattered Pages today, who brings with her a post near and dear to my heart! What say you, ladies? Are you an Alpha or Beta lover? Make sure to let Jannine know by leaving her a comment at the end of this post! Take it away, Jannine!

First of all, I’d like to thank A.J. for having me today. A.J. is a woman after my own heart. Her hero, Matty, is one of my favorites!

*AJ blushes* Awww...thanks, darlin. Gotta love me the Matty!

What springs to mind with the word hero? I bet most of you are thinking tall, dark, and handsome with a killer smile and a macho attitude. Whether he’s the sports star, the business tycoon, or the bad boy, he sweeps the heroine off her feet with his charisma and confidence. He’s the best at what he does—or is he?

I’ve described an alpha hero. We read about them all the time. He’s the man who makes us sigh with longing. Heck, my heroes have all been alpha men—until Daniel. My hero in Bittersweet, a historical romance set in Colorado in 1880, is Daniel Moran. He’s a farmer, the younger brother who lived in his vibrant older brother’s shadow. He’s steadfast and dependable, fiercely loyal, a hard worker, liked by everyone. Daniel is an unusual breed, a beta hero. The odd thing is, of all my heroes, Daniel is the one I love the most. Watching him struggle and grow throughout the book, seeing him put his beliefs before his desires, giving him that alpha moment in the end… Well, I hope you’ll read Bittersweet and tell me what you think of my beta hero.

So, let’s hear your thoughts. What do you look for in a hero?

Blurb:

Eight months after her husband is killed in a train robbery, Tess Moran knows she must pick up the pieces of her shattered life and build a future for herself and her infant daughter. Daniel Moran’s love for Tess is bittersweet. Acting on his feelings for his sister-in-law will betray his dead brother’s memory. Watching her search for love elsewhere may very well destroy him.

In 1880, life in rural Colorado is filled with hard work and simple pleasures, but trouble looms on the horizon. Together Tess and Daniel battle drought and the outlaw who killed the man they both loved, but the greatest challenge of all is finding solace for their battered hearts.

Excerpt:

Daniel followed her across the kitchen. He stood beside her in the doorway, looking out at the star filled sky. “It’s late. I’ll walk you home.”

“You don’t have to. Shadow is with me.”

“I’ll walk you home,” he repeated.

Only the scuff of his boots on the road and the sound of crickets broke the silence. Tess sighed.

“Tired?”

“Yes.”

He cleared his throat. “Why did Nathan come to see you?”

“He asked me to the dance at the Leightons’ barn raising.”

Daniel kicked a rock in the path and swore softly.

She stood still. “You’re the one who said there can’t be anything between us.”

“I know, but I’m only human. Did he stay long?”

“No, why do you ask?”

“I haven’t the right, I know. The way you looked with that wet chemise clinging to you—” His voice trailed off.

Tess blushed and was glad of the darkness. She hurried toward home, unable to outdistance her thoughts. “A gentleman wouldn’t mention it.”

“You were hysterical over Emily, and all I could think about was how beautiful you looked. I hated Nathan for seeing you that way.”

She stopped a few yards from her back door. The light shining from the kitchen window illuminated his face. His misery was clear.

“All it would take is one word from you, Daniel, just one word. Say it,” she pleaded.

“I can’t.”

She swallowed hard. “Then let me be happy with Nathan.”

He turned away. “I’m sorry, Tess. I’ll leave you alone.”

“Fine. Goodnight, Daniel.” Turning, she ran into the house before he could see the tears on her cheeks.

Find Jannine at:

Website: http://www.janninegallant.com/

Personal Blog: http://janninegallant.blogspot.com/

Group Blog: http://rosesofprose.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/JannineGallant.Author

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

Publisher Buy Link: http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=964

Thanks for stopping by, everyone!

XO AJ XO

Why I Write

2012-01-20T22:34:00.000-06:00

Once in a great while, something miraculous happens. Between edits, revisions and rewrites, all those moments when I'm banging my head in frustration or stomping around the house waiting for inspiration to strike, an email arrives in my inbox. Without a doubt, this is the moment every writer waits for. That split second when a reader who was touched by our words feels compelled enough to reach out and let us know how much they enjoyed our work. It's better than a chocolate sundae or even a contract offer. Heck, it's better than holding a copy of my latest book in my hands. Because the characters I create are a part of who I am. While writing, I laugh during their joys and cry when their hearts are broken. To learn someone else experienced that same journey...well, words cannot express how this makes an author feel.

Yesterday I received this review for Jezebel's Wish in my inbox.

Dearest AJ,

I thought you would be happy to know that you have spoiled me with your book as much as Matty spoiled Jezzy. :) As my mother has told you I have not read a book for fun since I was in Jr. High. After reading your book I now realize why. No one has been able to catch my attention long enough to complete a chapter, much less an entire book. I have recently finished your book and figured why not try another. Well all I can say is "I tried"! The next attempt was at "Title Deleted to Protect the Innocent". I'm sure it is a wonderfull book, but in no way was it as drawing and descriptive as "Jezebel's Wish". Your writing is amazing beyond words. The way you describe every emotion, every touch, every gesture, it's all so addicting. Anything that goes on with Jezzy, Matty, and Rev has so much detail as if the image was being painted in front of my eyes. So much expressed beauty, like the snow flakes flowing through the air sticking on everything in it's path. I look forward to your next book. The beauty not only comes from the story but the person behind the story with the power to touch the hearts of those around them.

Love Always -Stephanie age 22

P.S. I have been spreading word of your book like a wildfire. Also, this book should definitely be a movie :)

If you can tell me how a person responds to this, please do so. Because I am at a total loss for words. Thank you, Stephanie, for your incredible encouragement and love. Your email has left this otherwise verbose author in a complete state of stunned shock.

XO AJ XO

Triskaidekaphobia and Other Phobias

2012-01-13T05:30:00.055-06:00

Super awesome Jenna McClure is with us at Tattered Pages today, with a post about phobias! Little did Jenna know before writing this, she picked the perfect host. I'm scared of pretty much EVERYTHING, but number four on the list below sums up my biggest fear the best. What about you? Care to share your phobia with me and Jen??

Most people, if not everyone, are afraid of something. They may not admit it or they may not even realize it because they don’t come into contact with the object of their fear more than the one time it takes them to realize they’re afraid of it. But it’s there, hidden deep inside them in a dark, cool place they don’t like to visit very often. Fear is not usually a light topic of conversation people share over drinks on a first date, but it can result in some lively discussions, usually on which is scarier –snakes or spiders.

Or even what number inspires a morbid terror.

Take “triskaidekaphobia” for example. Merriam Webster defines this as “fear of the number 13”. That’s it. No other explanations, no other hidden meanings or no comments on why it’s such a sad, lonely number. Wikipedia, on the other hand, is a treasure trove of information on why this number inspires dread in some people and a healthy respect in others.

There are ancient Babylonian superstitions, myths about the number of apostles that sat with Jesus at The Last Supper and an old Viking legend about Loki being the 13^th god in the Norse Pantheon. Whatever one believes, and I’m not knocking any of them, the fear is legitimate. It all depends on what you believe.

Let’s talk about elevators and hotels or office buildings. Even if building has more than 13 floors, you won’t see the number 13 on the elevator panel (unless it’s an older building). You go straight from 12 to 14. So technically, the 14^th floor is the 13^th floor, but no one calls it that. And heaven forbid anyone working at the hotel refers to it as the 13^th floor because the poor guest would tremble in fear and not get a decent night’s rest!

I see triskaidekaphobia as a mere curiosity. I actually look forward to the times it falls on Fridays, the term for which is friggatriskaidekaphobia, with “Frigga” being the Norse goddess for whom Friday is named. And let’s not forget about Jason and his gruesome killing sprees that have fueled Hollywood for decades and spawned more movies than should actually have been filmed. Maybe Jason is more to blame for people fearing Friday the 13^th than anything else…

But what about other phobias? According to About.com, the 10 most common phobias are:

1. Arachnophobia: fear of spiders

2. Ophidiophobia: fear of snakes

3. Acrophobia: fear of heights

4. Agoraphobia: fear of situations in which escape is difficult

5. Cynophobia: fear of dogs

6. Astraphobia: fear of thunder and lightning

7. Trypanophobia: fear of injections

8. Social Phobias: fear of social situations (I had this growing up, only it was called “shyness”)

9. Pteromerhanophobia: fear of flying

10. Mysophobia: fear of germs or dirt (there was no such thing when I was growing up. Jeez, if you didn’t get dirty, it meant you weren’t playing right).

I have to admit, I’ve never heard of half of these. Good thing I never had to spell any of these in my 5^th grade spelling bee or I’d have been kicked out long before I misspelled “happiness”. No laughing please. Who comes up with these words? Okay, don’t answer that. I know most of them have Greek or Latin origins, but they’re really not pleasant to pronounce. Or maybe that’s the point?

Anyway, I digress…

Does anyone have any phobias they’d like to share? Maybe if you tell the whole world about them, it will lessen some of the control it holds over you. Okay, probably not, but it sounded good, right? Besides, maybe knowing someone else’s fear(s) will give you something interesting to talk about over dinner and drinks some night…

And no, your phobia does not have to be related to writing/publishing/promoting!

Jenna's latest release, Animal Attraction is available NOW through The Wild Rose Press and Amazon, (<-- click the links to go to the buy page) and based on the excerpt, no one should miss this one!

Environmental consultant Emmalyn Ashmore is outraged when she discovers the last minute replacement for the guest speaker at her annual conference is none other than Adam McLean, a cattle rancher, whose lifestyle represents everything she stands against.

Adam McLean has never met a more contrary woman. From the moment Emma opens her mouth, he knows she’s exactly the type of woman he doesn’t need in his life – ever.

But Fate has other plans, and as the sparks fly, Emma realizes there’s more at stake than just conserving the environment. She has to figure out how to conserve her heart, before she loses it forever.

Here's the excerpt~
It’s never good to make assumptions about people you don’t know,” Adam replied, throwing her words back at her.

She jerked her eyes to him, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Right. Sorry.”

Idly, he wondered if she was always this nervous, or if it was just him. Selfishly he hoped he had the same effect on her as she did on him.

“I know you’re a cattle rancher and all,” she started, “but I couldn’t let you leave without talking to you about your speech.”

He didn’t care for her opening words, but he liked her voice, so he concentrated on that. Besides, if he missed anything important, he’d ask her to repeat it. Over dinner, he mused as he continued to stare at her mouth. It was still moving, which meant she was still talking and he was still not listening, but she didn’t seem to notice.

Or so he thought.

Her lips stopped moving, snapped shut, then opened slightly. A brief, shrill whistle pierced the air. He jerked his eyes back to hers, and found her staring at him in angry disbelief.

If she didn’t look so mad, he might have laughed.

“Mr. McLean, were you listening to a word I said?”

Adam scratched his chin. “Sure. You said something about me being a cattle rancher, which I already knew, and then something about your impressions. But you kind of lost me after that.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “I was trying to talk to you about how misleading your speech was.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah? I must have missed that part.”

“I think you missed all my parts.”

“Trust me, I didn’t,” he drawled.

Here's where you can contact Jenna on the web:

Website: www.jennamcclure.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002055942584

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLYrD3PuaO8

Thanks for visiting with me today, Jenna! It was wonderful having you here!!

XO AJ XO

A Visit to Michelle's Happy Place!

2012-01-06T05:30:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Michelle Rodriguez, who brings us a fantastic post about how she became a writer! Ahhh...I am so in touch with this post, I can't even TELL you how much her words resonate with me. Thank you, Michelle, for letting everyone know we're not the only writing insomniacs out there!! Take it away, darlin!

The holidays have taken their toll. I am utterly exhausted from an overload of baking, shopping, wrapping, socializing, dealing with the kids. Too much! Every year the same hectic insanity leaves me recovering for days on end. This year was worse yet as I was left baking six kinds of cookies with a 3 year old running about and making a task that should have taken a day take two instead! Now add into that a social anxiety I can’t quite shake that comes to a peak on Christmas Eve spent with the in-laws and an autistic son who requires double the planning and preparation for any special occasion lest we have a major meltdown, and I’m sure anyone would call my fatigue justified. I’m supposed to be tired and worn out. Most people would try to sleep it off and hopefully spend days in languid recovery. And what do I do amidst all the chaos? I write a new story.

There’s a reason imagination is considered a gift. As children, we played pretend more than any other game. We were different people putting on fake makeup and silly costumes or singing like rock stars with light-up microphones and a radio. We were Barbie or Jem, acting storylines through 12-inch dolls. We were little pretend moms in our playhouses with plastic food, cooking dinner and making parents act like they were eating it. We had an imaginary place to escape to as we played. Then we grew up and learned reality is a lot more difficult to endure without a retreat.

Writing has always been my retreat from the real world. It’s more than a hobby; it’s stress relief and necessary to my well-being. Literally. At high school age when most of my classmates were hanging out and having parties, I was home writing romantic stories of a world I wished existed. I happily spent more of my youth in my fantasy world than the real one, and that carried on until I got married and had my first child. I was under some misguided impression that being a wife and mother meant sacrificing everything that made me “me”, and my fantasy world became a memory.

Then I had my son, and I got sick. And everything changed. The human body can only take so much without retaliating; for me, the complications I had after my son was born culminated in insomnia. It never sounds bad to say the word, but when you’re living it, it’s a whole different story. I barely slept. Every single night was a struggle. I did everything the doctors told me to no avail. Not even prescribed sleeping pills made me sleep. I was in a constant state of alertness and spent hours in the middle of the night crying just because I couldn’t rest. One would presume that after so long awake, you’d just be so exhausted that you’d have to fall asleep. Not so. I went whole nights with little more than 45 minutes of sleep and then spent all day taking care of a newborn. It was the worst time in my life.

After giving up on everything, I decided one day to pick up a pencil. “Opera Macabre” was the product of my rampant insomnia and ironically the cure. I had started the story years before and had set it aside when reality cut me off from my magical world of imagination. I can’t say why I thought returning to writing would help me. I claim God and destiny. But I read through the 60 or so pages I had written, and I just knew I had to finish it. I committed myself to writing something every morning before my son woke up. Since I wasn’t sleeping anyway, it wasn’t a sacrifice to get out of bed at 4:30 and work. And the more I recommitted myself to my creativity and fell into the story, the more I began to sleep!

My imaginary world is my happy place. When life reaches out and tries to claw at me, I now know that is the place for escape. I go there, fall into my current story or make a new one, and I shut out life. If I didn’t have my writing, life would overwhelm me, and considering the hardships I deal with everyday, it is a blessing to wake up at 4:30 and forget the real world exists for a little while.

People always tell me that they have no idea how I keep motivated and balance a singing career, a writing career, two kids and a husband. My little secret is that I can slip away every morning and I don’t have to be the wife, mother, singer, author. I can stop worrying about everyone else and my responsibilities. And nothing can touch me when I’m there. It’s playing pretend all over again. It takes the weight of life from my shoulders, so that by the time I have to face my day and run downstairs to deal with the kids, I’m rejuvenated and “me” again. Sometimes the best places that exist are the ones we create, and though they aren’t real, as we move in and out of their corridors, life seems sweeter and touched with imagination all the time. Even in the midst of chaos, imagination is an eternal blessing.

So now as I recover from far too many holidays and return to the regular stresses of day to day life, I do it with a new story in my head and anticipation for where my world of imagination will take me next.

Look for Michelle's latest release, Opera Macabre, available NOW in paperback from Amazon, as an Amazon e-book, or through The Wild Rose Press!

Count Aiden de Lazarus has grown apathetic to the world around him and the monotony of immortal life. Determined to regain his zest for vampiric pursuits, he chooses a mortal girl and bites her with the intent to drain her. Instead, her intoxicating taste and enchanting beauty stirs feelings he has long buried. Scared by such mortal feelings, he gives her to another vampire as payment for a debt.

After eight long years, Bianca is still living a cursed life—singing on stage in Alexi's profitable opera and enduring the bites of the undead as part of his undercover auction when the stage lights dim. Doomed to become Alexi’s vampire bride, her future is bleak.

Aiden is horrified to find Bianca still alive and Alexi’s prized possession. Her image has continued to haunt him. Now he must find a way to free her from the life he unwittingly condemned her to and prove that he, unlike the vampires she has known, can be a man worth loving.

Excerpt:

“Bianca,” he whispered provocatively near her ear, and felt her entire frame quiver in his grasp. With a wolf-like grin curling his lips, he bent nearer to that tempting pulse of her throat, but instead of biting her as he so ached to do, he grazed his lips against it, a feather light kiss, eliciting a soft, strangled gasp from her. Unable to help himself, he grew bolder in his endeavors and let the very tip of his tongue trail the same path.

Unwelcome and yet uncontrollable heat filtered through her body as it arched against him, desperate to get closer to that devil’s mouth. The voice in her head that should have been screaming at her to stop was only muttering fragments of musings, lost as well to the sensation, as she found herself unable to do anything but surrender.

Aiden burrowed his mouth against her throat, covering the sensitive flesh with seductive kisses. His tongue darted between his lips, teasing, tasting as she writhed fervently against him.

“Bianca,” he breathed again between kisses, “what is it that you want?”

“You!” she heard herself gasp out as though someone else had spoken.

“Oh? And what do you want me to do to you?” He gently nipped at her pulse, hinting at his desire, his hunger tearing at him to be satiated.

“Bite me… Oh, please devour me, Aiden!”

Here's where you can find Michelle on the web:

Website: http://www.michellegliottonirodriguez.webs.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michelle-Gliottoni-Rodriguez/313983835292688

Thanks for joining me today, Michelle!

It's been a treat hosting you at Tattered Pages!!

It's Release Day and HOME is HERE!

2011-12-28T05:30:00.004-06:00

YEE HAW! I am THRILLED beyond words to be a part of Calisa Rhose's blog tour for her release of HOME, and even happier still that I am lucky enough to have her on RELEASE DAY! (Psst...it's also her 27th birthday, so double congrats are in order...) Calisa is also hosting a give away, so don't forget to leave us a comment to be entered into the draw for a FREE e-copy of HOME! Without further ado, I give you my very dear friend and talented writer, Calisa Rhose!

Wow! I am SO, so excited to be back at Tattered Pages to celebrate the long awaited release of my own book! Thank you my lovely AJ, for having me here on this historical day! (Get it? HOME is a historical?)

I’m at two places today to celebrate the actual release of my first book!!! Leave a comment here and then hop over to Vintage Vonnie’s and comment there for another chance to win your copy of HOME! On all the blogs I guest on this week I’m counting down to the BIG party so I can announce the first winner!

So let’s get on with this countdown!!!!

DAY FOUR!!!

BLURB:

What could a gypsy and a Vietnam veteran have in common?

Silvertown’s outcast, Poppy Tippen, has loved football hero Sam “The Force” Callahan forever. But he never seemed to know she was alive. Now he’s home from the war and she suddenly finds herself comforting him from the demons of “that damn war.” Is his attention merely an escape from the haunting nightmares? Or does she hold the interest of the only man she’s ever truly loved?

Sam Callahan’s only solace from the war nightmares wrecking his life comes in the unlikely form of a gypsy girl with stigmas of her own. He’s known Poppy his entire life, but there’s something different about her now. Something special he desperately wants to hold on to. Can he convince her she’s the only thing he needs to put the past behind him?

EXCERPT:

“I’ll always want you, Poppy.”

Her head shook in automatic denial. “You’ll want a girl who fits your life. Not some gypsy with no family lineage to brag about. Your momma won’t accept that, either. She’ll make you choose someone like Connie, someone who fits into your world. Not the girl everyone avoids and whispers about behind her back. You’re gonna be the town’s doctor. You need an uppity wife who will make you proud.”

When Sam laughed, his chest shuddered against her back. Deep, husky, real. He turned her in his arms and looked down at her, smiling. “Poppy, do you honestly think I give a damn what people think? Look at me! I’m the town outcast, the survivor who should have died saving the others, not be here planning a future that includes a wife, a medical practice.

“I shimmy under park benches, run from my mother’s lipstick, for God’s sake. I wake up screaming and crying over nothing in the middle of the night, crawl under my bed and hide, shaking, until morning. Hell, I can’t even be a doctor because I haven’t finished school yet.”

“I didn’t know. It must be awful for you.” No matter how it hurt Poppy to know he used her, it felt much worse to know how he hurt alone. “The only time it isn’t awful is when I’m with you. When I think of you.”

*************************************************

Get your copy of HOME TODAY at The Wild Rose Press.

Find Calisa at her website/blog http://calisarhose.wordpress.com

On twitter @Calisa_Rhose and Facebook @Calisa Rhose

She loves to hear from readers so drop her a line at calisa.rhose@gmail.com

The day following the New Years Day party, on my blog, I will be giving away the first copy of HOME to one lucky commenter! The more you comment this week, the greater your chance to win!

To be entered for one more chance, tell me what “HOME” means to you in a comment.

Don’t forget to leave your EMAIL ADDRESS in all your comments this week! Be sure to come to my BIG SALE PARTY on my blog on January 1, 2012!

You can find the full tour schedule on my website at the link above.

Thank you so much for being my guest, Calisa! All the best to you on your release and I'm lifting my glass in honor of your first release!

The Stockings Were Hung...

2011-12-19T05:30:00.002-06:00

Debra St. John joins us at Tattered Pages today, with a Christmas post that will leave you all warm and fuzzy inside. She's also offering up a free .pdf of her latest Christmas story, A Christmas to Remember, so be sure and leave a comment to be entered into the draw! Take it away Debra!

It’s hard to believe Christmas is less than a week away. I think for the most part I have everything in order. The stockings are hung (on the closet doors since we don’t have a fireplace), the cookies are baked, the shopping is done (well, I might run out for one more thing later today), most of the wrapping is done (presents are under the tree), and school is done for the year.

Now comes the best part of the season. Sitting back from all of the hustle and bustle and just enjoying time with family and friends. Mom and Dad are back in town from their Florida winter abode, and we’ll see them at the end of the week. Over the weekend we attended the annual Christmas party of friends down the street. Christmas cards arrive by the handful everyday in the mail, bringing news of friends and relatives who are right here town, miles away, or halfway across the country.

Saturday morning we woke up to a light snowfall. Not enough to make things difficult, but enough to put some snow on the ground and bring visions of a White Christmas into our heads.

In the week ahead I have plans to catch up with some friends: lunch dates, movies, or just hanging out. Maybe one night the hubby and I will take a drive (or bundle up and make it a walk) around the neighborhood to look at the lights. We’ll also cuddle up and watch It’s a Wonderful Life and Christmas in Connecticut at some point. The lights from the tree will twinkle merrily in the corner of the room, while the shadows of candle flames will flicker on the walls, surrounding us with the glow and scent of Christmas.

It sounds busy, but these are the fun things. And there’s no schedule for them. Things can happen as they will or as we have an interest. For the next week, I don’t have to be anywhere or do anything at any certain time. Ahhhhh.

I plan on spending a lot of time curled up on the couch with a steaming mug of peppermint tea, a cozy blanket, and a good book (or several).

I’ve always loved Christmas stories, and this year I have one of my own out: A Christmas to Remember. For me it brought to the page the joy and wonder of this most magical of seasons. It has a cozy ski lodge, a sleigh ride, snow angels, and of course, kisses under the mistletoe!

Here’s an excerpt:

Sam's gaze drifted up, and his lips quirked.

“Well, this may help my cause.”

Her glance rose to the mistletoe dangling over their heads, darted to his, then briefly down to his lips, before meeting his again.
When his lingered on her mouth, a tiny hitch tightened her stomach.“So, why do people kiss under the mistletoe?” he asked softly, his voice as mesmerizing as his eyes.

“I-I don’t know.” Her words were as breathy as they had been up on the mountain earlier. This time she couldn’t blame the altitude.

Sam tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Something to do with Celtic tradition, isn’t it?”

A shiver slithered down Heather’s spine. “Maybe.”

She’d be hard pressed to come up with her own name right now, let alone the ancient history of some plant.

“It’s a nice tradition, don’t you think?” His thumb brushed her cheek.

Her lips parted.

“Did I ever mention I’m a very traditional guy?”

She shook her head. A wave of dizziness washed over her as he leaned closer. Her surroundings

blurred, until her vision narrowed to only his rugged features drawing nearer to her in excruciatingly

slow degrees.

His mouth finally closed over hers as his hand splayed across her back to draw her to him.

A Christmas to Remember from The Wild Rose Press.

by Debra St. John

www.debrastjohnromance.com

Newly single, Heather Morgan gathers her courage and decides to take a Christmas ski vacation on her own. However, the festive holiday atmosphere reminds her how dispirited and alone she feels. When she meets a mysterious stranger, her lonely vacation takes an unexpected turn.

Sam is at the resort at the urging of his brother, who thinks he needs to get out and have a little fun. Having no desire to get involved with anyone, Sam needs a way to get his brother off his back. The intriguing Heather seems like the perfect solution to his dilemma, so he makes her an offer she can't refuse.

Sam restores the joy of the season to Heather. Their time together is magical, something she'll never forget. Soon her feelings for him deepen beyond their romantic holiday fling. But Sam has a secret, one that could prevent the fantasy from ever becoming real.

Thanks AJ for having me here today. Merry Christmas to all! (Readers who leave a comment will have the chance to win an early Christmas present: a PDF of A Christmas to Remember, so be sure to leave your contact information!)

Thanks for stopping by, Debra! It's been a real treat having you here! Happy Holidays everyone!

What's In A Name?

2011-12-16T05:30:00.002-06:00

It's my pleasure to introduce Katherine Grey at Tattered Pages today, who brings with us a great post about naming characters. Take it away, Katherine!

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” A college professor once explained this line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as meaning names do not matter. The line was spoken by Juliet in reference to the Montague name as a way to imply that his name meant nothing or was of no importance. I’m not sure I agree with my former professor when it comes to the names of characters.

For me, main characters, and definitely in the case of the hero and heroine, have to have names that fit. The names define them in a manner of speaking. For example, an alpha hero just doesn’t seem very alpha if his first name is Bernie. (No offense to any Bernies out there.)

At times a character will come to me with their name already intact. This was the case of the heroine in my current work in progress (WIP). She came to me fully formed with her back story, her conflict, and most importantly (to me) her name – Olivia St. Germaine. Other times, characters will come with everything but their name and I give them one. Some times as soon as I say it aloud, it seems to fit and the character will smile at me and nod in agreement. Then there are the times when the character will back away, making the sign of the cross with their fingers at the sound of the name I’ve given them.

There are times where the name I’ve given them just doesn’t fit after I’ve started writing about them and I struggle to keep the name I gave them. Some characters tell me, “Stop calling me that, damn it. My name is…” which makes things easier. And then some characters go through a process of different names with their names changing the way a teenager changes clothes until we both get tired or the name finally seems to fit.

A secondary character in my current WIP started out as John. Four name changes later, I learned his name is David. The “Find and Replace” feature in my word processing program got a work out as I kept having to find and replace his old name with each successive new one. Finally David is happy and has become much easier to write.

So Mr. Shakespeare, with all due respect, I have to say, “A rose by any other name may still be a rose,” (I’m paraphrasing here, badly) but a character by any other name can be a completely different person.

Check out Katherine Grey's latest release IMPETUOUS, available now at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble!

Mateo de Montayas, an impoverished Spanish count, comes to England to recover a stolen family heirloom and to satisfy his hunger for revenge against the man who destroyed his family. Arriving in London, he learns his hated enemy died three years before but has left behind a daughter. What better way to retrieve the heirloom and exact revenge than to use her to his advantage?
Teresa Darlington will do anything to keep scandal away from her frail mother and prove her father wasn't a thief, even risk her reputation in a race to find the missing heirloom before the Count does. But she didn't count on falling in love with the man determined to ruin her family. Can she find the heirloom before he does and protect her family, or will her heart lead her in a different direction?

Excerpt:

Teresa cast a furtive glance around the darkened garden. Now that it was time to put her

plan into action, she wished she were any place but here. Had she finally allowed her impulsive nature get her into something she couldn’t get out of?

Determined to silence the fears clamoring within her, Teresa forced herself to go over all

Freddie had taught her in the last week. She checked her pocket for the stub of candle she

grabbed earlier.

With one last prayer, she hoisted herself up and through the window. A surge of adrenaline flowed through her as she realized she was in one of the two libraries the Marquess of Kingsbury kept well maintained. Elated that her memory had served her correctly, she wandered around the room, her hand trailing over the many bookshelves. If she could remember the layout of each townhouse on her list as well as she did this one, getting in and out of the houses would be one less worry.

Her hand on the doorknob, she took one last look at the window. Once she left this room, escaping without detection became even more dangerous. The handle turned beneath her hand. Stifling a startled cry, she backed away from the door. Hide! her terrified mind screamed. She raced toward the window.

As freedom loomed in front of her, a hand clamped around her arm and dragged her back.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Her body went limp with relief as Montayas’ deep tones filled the room. Yanking her arm free

with a nonchalance she didn’t feel, she moved closer to the window. “I’m trying to protect my father’s reputation just as you are here trying to ruin it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play the fool with me. I know you’re searching for the Pequena. How can you threaten to

expose my father as a thief when your property isn’t even in his family’s possession?”

Montayas glanced toward the door. “Be quiet.”

“You’ll not silence me. I want the answers I should have demanded when you first voiced your

ludicrous accusations.”

He clamped his hand over her mouth. “Someone’s coming,” he whispered, pulling her into

the shadows of the heavy brocade curtains. He glanced out the window and then back at the door.

Voices. Teresa heard them now. Still indistinct but louder.

Montayas gave her a warning look then removed his hand from her lips and positioned her in front of the window.

She struggled against his grasp. “What are you doing?” she whispered.

With one quick shove, he pushed her through the opening.

Barely suppressing a scream, Teresa fell through the air and landed on her knees with a soft

thud. The short fall stole her breath. Thankfully, the thick grass of the formal garden had acted as a cushion.

Seconds later, the count joined her on the lawn. He grabbed her hand and ran toward a small copse of trees. In the leafy shadows, he turned to face her. “Are you trying to get me killed?”

“Me?” she shrieked. “I didn’t just push you out a window.”

12 Days of Christmas with Vonnie Davis!!

2011-12-12T05:30:00.008-06:00

For those of you who haven't been lucky enough to yet meet Vonnie, she is one of those people who never fails to make me smile. I am lucky beyond measure to count her among my peers, and am delighted to bring you her version of the 12 days of Christmas. OH! And for one lucky commentor, Vonnie will graciously award a copy of her latest, Storm's Interlude, so be sure to leave me your name and email below!

AJ, my friend, thank you for having me as a guest today. I have to tell you, every time I stop by to see what one of your many guests has to say, I read the paragraph at the top of your blog. It’s very empowering—and I’m all for empowering women.

Because we have twelve days remaining until the big day when the packages we’ve carefully wrapped and hidden are torn into, I thought I would share with your readers my version of the “Twelve Days of Christmas.” Yes, AJ, I’m aware that traditionally the song begins on Christmas Day and continues. But those of you who know me know I do things my own way. It’s a bad habit I just can’t seem to break. So my version, boring though it may be, begins the twelve days before and not after.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me

Twelve eggs a whisking,

Eleven balls a-bouncing,

Ten oranges growing,

Nine…Nine…Mine…sorry, but I’m drooling,

Eight ounces wine for cooling,

Seven cookies stacking,

Six tiny chest hairs,

Five fans to cool me,

Four candy canes,

Three naughty wishes,

Two kitties snuggling,

And a partridge in a pear tree!

Never let it be said that I don’t know how to put you in the holiday mood. The heroine of my debut book, Storm’s Interlude, knows how to get Storm in the mood, too. Even when Rachel, a nurse, is unaware she’s doing it. I’d like to share part of a scene with you.

Show me where your headache hurts, Storm. I’ll see if I can help.”

He sat and then pointed to the areas of pain with his index finger. “Up the back of my neck into my head. Around my head. Behind my eyes.” He’d long since associated his heartburn to stress, now he was wondering if the headaches came from the same source, too.

She started massaging, using her trained thumbs at pressure points. “You get these often?”

“Yeah. Anytime I’m stuck in front of that computer for hours.” Or when I think about marrying Pilar. He blinked several times at that personal revelation. Why hadn’t he made that connection before?

“Maybe you need glasses.” She slowly worked her fingers up and down his neck and then across his shoulders, pressing in hard with her thumbs and gently rippling with her fingers. “You’ve got knots of tension back here. Big knots.”

She leaned over him and dug her elbow into his shoulder. He didn’t know which felt better: her massaging or her breasts pressed against his back. Scents of her perfume wafted in the air, luring and beguiling like a floral siren. Her breathing had quickened in his ear as she ministered to him. His had quickened in like manner. Every one of his senses homed in on Rachel. She was consuming him.

“My God,” he moaned.

“I know I’m being rough, but this is the best way to get these subscapulari muscles to relax. Your trapezes are so tight, too. Goodness.”

Her voice was deep and breathless with exertion, which only fueled his arousal. He closed his eyes. While her massaging and pounding of his muscles sent chills up and down his spine, the smell of her perfume, the sound of her voice, the feel of her breathing against his neck and his ear was inflaming his manhood to near madness. The warmth of her sensual touch was killing him. If he lived through this, he was heading for a cold shower. Hell, a dozen cold showers couldn’t undo the effect she was having on him.

“Tilt your head forward, Storm. I’ve never seen anyone so tense. Even your rhomboids are knotted.” She pressed against him more, rotating her elbow into his knotted muscles. “It’s almost as if the harder I massage, the tighter your knots get.”

No fake! His whole body was a mass of sexual knots. He glanced over his shoulder, taking in her determined expression, her teeth gritted as she pounded and elbowed his muscles into submission. She was clearly in nursing mode, clueless as to what she was doing to his libido.

“Rachel.”

She leaned forward and increased her pressure on his shoulder. “Can’t...talk...now,” she grunted.

“Rachel.”

“Maybe...maybe if I try from the front.” She hurried around the sofa. To his utter amazement, she crawled onto the sofa, straddling her knees on either side of his lap. “Lean down and put your head against my chest. Let me attack those knotted subs and traps from this angle.”

If she wasn’t the cutest thing, hell-bent on ridding him of his headache. If he leaned his head between her breasts, he’d be a goner. No male, unless he was six feet under and been there for twenty years, could take this.

“Rachel.”

“Come on, lean against me. Wish I had one of my wooden rollers to run over your muscles. Maybe I should go upstairs and get one.”

“Rachel.”

She finally stopped talking and peered into his eyes. He watched her slowly shift from nurse to woman. Saw her blink as awareness surfaced. Her blue eyes, wide with shock, shifted to his mouth. “I...ah...should...get off your lap.”

He placed his hands at her waist and shook his head. “No, you’re fine.” He slowly ran his hands up her back and sighed a kiss to her neck. She shuddered when his warm breath caressed her skin.

“This isn’t a good idea. I…I should move.”

“Stay...stay.” Storm’s hands sifted through her long hair. “Silk and curls. I’ve thought of running my hands through your beautiful hair.” She pulled back, her eyes searching his face, her lips parted. “I keep thinking of kissing you again.” His hands clenched in her hair and ever so slowly, he brought her face toward his. “Come here, mouse.”

His lips massaged hers, touching and sipping until a sigh escaped her lips. “You’ve been driving me crazy,” he groaned the words against her lips before he captured them, pouring all his desire and needs into the kiss.

She ran her hands up his chest, around his neck and into his hair. When she moaned, he pressed her closer. He’d meant only to kiss her one time, to taste her lips once more, but that objective was gone. Now he needed more, sought more and, by damn, would have more.

I’m giving away a free eCopy of Storm’s Interlude to one lucky commenter today!!! Everyone have a Merry Christmas season.

Buy Links are:

The Wild Rose Press – http://bit.ly/rcCIMa

Amazon -- http://amzn.to/pkkcLq

Whew! Thanks, Vonnie, for that most excellent post! I'm off now to get some Christmas cheer of my own! *eyebrow waggle*

An Interview with Novelist Georgie Lee!

2011-12-08T05:30:00.002-06:00

A dedicated history and film buff, Georgie Lee loves combining her passion for Hollywood, history and storytelling through romantic fiction. She began writing professionally at a small TV station in San Diego before moving to Los Angeles to work in the interesting but strange world of the entertainment industry.

Her traditional Regency, Lady’s Wager and her contemporary novella Rock ‘n’ Roll Reunion are both available from Ellora’s Cave Blush. Labor Relations, a contemporary romance of Hollywood is currently available from Avalon Books. Look for her ancient Roman novella from Carina Press and her novel of love in the golden age of Hollywood from Avalon Books in 2012.

When not writing, Georgie enjoys reading non-fiction history and watching any movie with a costume and an accent. Please visit www.georgie-lee.com for more information about Georgie and her novels.

I'm so happy to have you at Tattered Pages today, Georgie! Tell us how your writing career began.

I started out writing marketing videos and public service announcements for a small cable TV station in San Diego. I’d always dreamed of being a screenwriter so I moved to Los Angeles and earned my MA in screenwriting. I never conquered Hollywood but I’d always enjoyed reading romance novels, and one day I started writing one. It was a Regency romance and it went on to become Lady’s Wager, my first published novel.

Whoo Hoo! I love Regency romance. Is that the one romantic sub-genre you stick with, or do you write across lines?

I write both contemporary and historical and my historicals are set in many different time periods. I have one Regency and three contemporary romances currently available, and my ancient Rome novella is coming out from Carina Press in January 2012. I also have a sweet romance set in 1935 Hollywood coming out in 2012 from Avalon books.

Wow. Busy lady! Of these books, what can a reader expect in regards to heat level. Are we keeping that bedroom door open or closed?

Whether I write sweet or sexy always depends on the story and the publisher. My Avalon books are sweet romances where I close the door while my ancient Rome novella throws the door wide open.

Gotcha and good point. What are you working on right now?

I’m working on another Regency romance and starting to do research for an early Georgian novella. I also have a contemporary on the back burner waiting for me to solve a plot issue.

*chuckle* I have one of those myself. Funny how they hang around until that works out, isn't it? After finishing a manuscript, do you take some time off or dive right in to the next story?

I always have more than one manuscript going at the same time. When I get stuck on one, I will start working on one of the others. It helps take my mind off any plot problems so my subconscious can work through to a solution.

I JUST discovered this very thing myself. When one story is stuck, work on another. Great advice. What’s on your nightstand (or downloaded onto your Kindle) right now?

The Toll Gate by Georgette Heyer.

Does your husband ever read your work? And if so, what’s his reaction?

My husband always reads my work. He helps me make the men sound like men, and catch and fix plot problems.

Gosh, I love that! Good for him...and you! Okay, favorite cocktail?

Amaretto sour. I like sweet drinks.

What are your hobbies?

Reading, movies, reading, history, reading, thrifting and reading.

Any pets?

One semi-bald mutt who looks like a Cairn Terrier mix but the DNA test said he is mostly Maltese. I think the vet mixed up the blood sample.

LOL. Thanks so much for visiting with us Georgie! And now please read on for a little more about A Little Legal Luck, out now from The Wild Rose Press!

On St. Patrick’s Day, the last thing paralegal Lisa Brennan needs is another lawyer in her life, but when handsome attorney Daniel Wilson shows he’s a sweetheart in an industry of sharks, she’s intrigued. Daniel is impressed by the pretty paralegal and her desire to succeed despite a bad job, but with the pressure of running his own firm, does he have time for a relationship? Thrown together in the jury pool, Lisa must overcome her prejudices about attorneys to trust Daniel and get lucky in love.

Excerpt

“I’m hoping St. Patrick smiles on me today and I get picked for a trial.” Lisa laughed, finding the stranger’s upbeat mood infectious. “I’d kiss a lot of blarney stone to get out of work for a few days.”

He leaned forward, dropping his voice. “Then we must be the only two people here eager to do our patriotic duty.”

Glancing around the room at the bored women watching the morning show on the large overhead TVs and the college students absorbed in their i‑whatevers, she had the distinct feeling they were in the minority. “You want to serve?”

“I’m a lawyer, I know how important jurors are to the system.”

Her body tensed and the muscles in the back of her neck tightened.

Not all lawyers are like Lou, she reminded herself, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to relax.

Thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice her unconscious reaction as he held out his hand, and smiled, revealing perfect white teeth. “Daniel Wilson.” She grasped his hand, her skin tingling as his long fingers curled around hers.

Tattered Pages Welcomes Author Doris Lemke!

2011-12-05T05:30:00.041-06:00

Thank you so much for joining us today, Doris! To start us off, tell us about your writing routine.

I have a day job and an empty nest so I write in the evening (on the couch or on the lanai) and on weekends.

Sounds familiar! :-) Give us a taste of your favorite authors, those that inspire you to write.

I was of course hooked on romance by Gone With the Wind. But since then, Kathleen Woodiwis, Maeve Binchey, and Jude Deveraux.

Which is your favorite romance subgenre to read?

Any American historical romance.

We all know the world of publishing is fraught with highs and lows. How do you deal with criticisms or rejections?

With four books written and two published, I'm used to rejection. I simply look at the criticism if I'm lucky enough to have it, correct or dismiss as I feel necessary and move on to the next. I've dedicated one book to the principle of persistence and truly believe that if you don't quit, you will succeed--eventually.

What do you expect from the author editor relationship?

I expect them to treat me as a colleague, but also to challenge "red herrings" that I may have missed and give me expert advice on how to strengthen my work.

Okay, now on to the good stuff. Tell us a little about your latest release.

Passion's Spirit was a long-time coming. Years of stops and starts. But this story of forbidden love and racial tensions during a pivotal time in America's social and cultural development was a story that wouldn't go away. Sean, as the manor-born, privileged southern gentleman and Elena the mixed-race Spanish/Apache orphan determined to avenge the murders of her adopted white parents, are the perfect mix for a clash of cultures, races, and social status. So, as Sean and Elena pursue their often opposing agendas, they must learn to trust as well as love each other if they expect to survive an enemy who has waited a generation for his "pot of gold". Elena's mix of missionary Christianity and Apache spirituality, Sean's struggle to reconcile his responsibility to his family's ancestral plantation and his yearning to explore the West, and their life and death race with an enemy who's waited for, make for an exciting tale.

This sounds completely AWESOME! Care to share a short blurb or excert?

When Sean pulled away, Elena looked into his eyes wondering, is this what love feels like, or is it only lust? She decided that nothing as beautiful as the moment they’d just shared could be evil. But it could never be love, either. She had felt his passion press against her and ached for him to fill her. Now she was grateful he hadn’t.

They were from different worlds still at war with each other. He could never survive in her world and she refused to live in his.

As if he read her thoughts, he leaned into her, whispering so close to her ear that it could have been a kiss, “Why can’t you be Mary Louise? And I the Apache brave who will eventually claim you?” Then he turned to stare at the stream patiently following the course nature had carved out for it.

The question echoed in Elena’s mind. For a moment, his heart had beat to the rhythm of hers. The curves of her body had melted into the angles of his as they breathed the same breath and tasted each other’s souls. For a moment, they had truly been one body and one soul.

Now separated, the chilly breeze that stirred the pine needles at their feet told her that when she was with him, even angry, she was whole. And though he changed his moods faster than the mountain gods and was promised to marry a weak and silly white woman, part of her would always belong to this loco Gringo.

She also turned her gaze toward the river. “We can only be who we are.”

Holy cow, Doris, I LOVE that excerpt. Of the characters in the story, which is your favorite?

Elena is my my favorite. Orphaned, raised in a Santa Fe mission school and sent into the land of her enemies with a secret message that turns her life around, she remains true to both her Apache blood and her Christian upbringing. Her courage to both sacrifice and fight for love make her a true heroine.

Doris, this story sounds right up my alley. So, what are your working on now?

I have just finished a prequel to Passion's Spirit titled Passion's Secret, which brings the secrets, strengths, weaknesses and passions of the Langesford/O'Grady family to light. These books are part of a four-book series called Passion's Legacy and follows the lives, loves, and amazing legacy of this complicated and courageous family from one century into another. Passion's Secret will be released by The Wild Rose Press on April 20, 2012.

Uhhh…wow? Holy cow, that alone shows off that persistence pays off. So give aspiring novelists your biggest piece of advice.

Never stop learning, writing---and never give up on the dream. Nothing you write is ever wasted, so save it.

Here's a peek at the beautiful cover and blurb:

Passion’s Spirit is available in print and ebook on October 19, 2011 from The Wild Rose Press as a Cactus Rose Romance. Passion’s Spirit is the debut novel in the four-book, PASSION’S LEGACY series. Passions Secret will follow with a 2012 release date.

Untamed Hearts, Worlds Apart – Santa Fe, New Mexico 1892

Raised by Santa Fe missionaries, half-Apache orphan Elena Santiago has vowed to avenge her white, guardians’ murders the Apache way. But first, she must masquerade as a white woman to deliver a dangerous message across the country into the land of her enemies. And after one look at the untamed spirit behind Sean O’Grady’s smoky grey eyes, she realizes that her heart’s response to his body, more like and Apache warrior than a soft, white “gentleman,” is far more dangerous than the warning she carries.”

Sean O’Grady has always dreamed of exploring the Wild West, but at 25 years old, he’s put aside those dreams to wed his neighbor and run their two Georgia plantations. When Elena arrives looking and speaking more like a Spanish lady than an Indian mission girl, he wonders if she's really who she says she is. Is she a virgin or a vixen? The question taunts him as he struggles with feelings he’s never felt before. Feelings that could get them both killed.

You can find Doris on the web here: www.dorislemckeauthor.com and I am on Facebook and Linkedin.

That's My Story and I'm Sticking To It!

2011-12-01T17:56:00.002-06:00

I'm so, so, SO lucky to welcome Mary Campisi to Tattered cages, who shares with us a beautiful post about writing what is in our hearts. I couldn't agree more! PLUS, one lucky commentor will win an e-book copy of The Way They Were! Take it away, Mary!!

For years, when someone asked me what I wrote, I fidgeted, cleared my throat, and forced out the words, “I write romance and women’s fiction.” You can imagine the comments, the raised eyebrows, the little smirks that made me want to say, “No, wait! I write stories like Joyce Carol Oates…and Margaret Atwood.” That certainly would have squelched the look. Problem was, that’s not what I wrote. More importantly, that’s not what I wanted to write. If you are going to write a book, you had better darn well want to hang around with those people and their problems for three or four hundred pages…and in simple terms that can be anywhere from several months to years.

Buy Link: http://amzn.to/rAc9h1

So, why did I fidget and want to hide my true passion? That silly need for acceptance, I’m sure. Everyone wants to be thought of as brilliant and cutting edge. While I do enjoy reading Joyce and Margaret, I don’t want to actually have to write what they do. That’s quite a lot of pretending to be someone I’m not. You see where this is going, don’t you? I would love heartfelt praise and page after page of great reviews, but I’ve got to write what’s in my heart—what I’m most passionate about. For too long, I worried about what the outside world said—editors, agents, the writing world—and I didn’t listen to myself. Then after one particularly stressful day of aimless wandering, I said, “Enough!” It came shortly after taking Barbara Samuel’s writing class where she told me I might be doing myself a disservice by looking too much at the outside world for both validation and direction. By tapping into my passions, (gardens, food, dogs), I would find the most success. Such a wise woman! I began to explore self-publishing opportunities and oddly or maybe not, months later, the book that has garnered the most attention and success in the self-pub arena, is the contemporary romance/women’s fiction one that challenged me the most….A FAMILY AFFAIR.

I write romance and women’s fiction about second chances and that one true, seeped in near insurmountable circumstances. There is almost always a morally ambiguous situation. I’ll clarify that:

In A Family Affair, the mistress is more likeable than the real mother. (Real families aren’t always the ones you know about…)

In The Way They Were, the heroine married one man but never stopped loving another as evidenced in the once a year letter she writes him, (which she’ll never send.) (Tragedy tore them apart, now destiny may bring them back together.)

In Pieces of You, a mother’s disappearance isn’t really a disappearance at all but a planned abandonment that leaves a son scarred for future relationships. (Sometimes hiding in the shadows is the only way to protect your heart.)

And my soon to be released, Pulling Home—The heroine loves one brother but marries another. (She’ll risk anything to save her child…even the truth.)

And lest you think these are fly-by-night ideas, most of them live in my head for years before they spill onto the page. A Family Affair (5 years), The Way They Were (3 years), Pieces of You (3 years) Pulling Home (10 years). Sometimes, the story isn’t ready or I’m not ready to tell it the way it needs to be told. Pulling Home morphed and changed several times until finally, finally, I got it the way I wanted it!!

Thanks for stopping by and a most heartfelt thank you to AJ for opening her cyber home to me!

Happy Holidays!

Mary

Here's a sneak peek inside The Way They Were!

He hasn’t spoken her name in fourteen years. She keeps a journal hidden in the back of her closet and permits herself to write about him once a year—on the anniversary of the first and only time they made love. They promised to love one another forever, but tragedy tore them apart. Now, destiny may just bring them back together.

At eighteen, Rourke Flannigan and Kate Redmond thought they’d spend the rest of their lives together—until a family tragedy tore them apart. Fourteen years have passed and they’ve both carved out separate lives hundreds of miles apart—hers as a wife and mother, his as a successful, driven businessman. But once a year, on the anniversary of her daughter’s birth, Kate pulls out a red velvet journal and writes a letter, which she’ll never send, to the man who still owns her heart. Once a year, on the anniversary of the first and only time they made love, Rourke permits himself to read the annual investigative report detailing an ordinary day in Kate’s life.

When a subcontractor at one of Rourke’s holding companies is killed, Rourke decides to pay the widow a visit and offer condolences, never dreaming the widow will be Kate. As they embark on a cautious journey of rediscovery, one far greater than they could have imagined, secrets and lies threaten to destroy their newfound closeness—forever.

Excerpt:

“He’s back.”

Kate’s brush slipped, smearing red paint onto the gray siding of the miniature dollhouse. Damn. She snatched a rag and began dabbing at the red spot.

“Kate?”

She dabbed harder as if she could blot out Angie’s words. “I heard you.”

“And?”

Kate glanced up, proud of the outward calm she displayed when her insides were a jumble of panic. “And what?”

“Oh for heaven’s sake, it’s me you’re talking to here, the one who sat up with you for three nights straight after that jerk left.” Angie swore under her breath and muttered, “He didn’t even have the decency to say good-bye.”

“It was a long time ago.” Fourteen years in July.

“Sure.”

Angie Sorrento was a pint-size dynamo with a giant-sized temper who swore in Italian and English and could carry a grudge longer than anyone Kate had ever known. The only grudge larger than the one Angie had for Rourke Flannigan was the one relegated to the ex-fiancé who skipped out on her three days before the wedding.

“Really, Angie. Fourteen years is ancient history.”

Angie’s dark eyes narrowed. “That’s what I’m worried about, Kate. Your history with Mr. Jerk.”

“There’s no need to worry.” Kate dipped her brush in red and filled in the trim along the roof. This house was a four bedroom cape cod, designed for Rachel and Jared Hennessy and their seven year old twins, Jeffrey and Jason. The family had relocated from Richmond, Virginia last year so Jared could teach sophomore English and coach basketball in Montpelier. Great family—devoted couple, beautiful kids, even a golden retriever named Jed.

Angie started up again. “Even if it weren’t ‘Mr. Holier than Thou, let me grace you with my presence in this Podunk town’ and even if said man-boy weren’t someone you’d been intimately involved with, I’d still be worried.”

“Unnecessarily.” Kate ignored the way her pulse skittered when Angie talked about him.

“You’re vulnerable.”

“Stop.” Her pulse tripled.

“You buried Clay five months ago. That makes you a lonely widow. The perfect target.”

“You watch too many Lifetime movies.” Had he heard about Clay? That was ridiculous, how could he have heard? She had no idea where he lived and now, suddenly, he was here. Why?

“Katie? Are you all right?”

No, she wasn’t. She hadn’t been all right since—Kate pushed the unwelcome truth away and glanced at her friend. “I’m fine.”

“Fine is code word for no. Look, I know you don’t want to talk about him, but there are some things you’ve got to know before this guy comes waltzing back into your life.”

“He’s hardly waltzing back into my life.”

“Steamrolling then. You just wait and see.”

“We haven’t seen each other since we were eighteen.” A marriage and child ago. “We’re strangers.”

“You were planning to marry the guy.”

Kate set down her brush and plastered the same expression she’d worn when well-wishers patted her hand and offered prayers for strength to endure her newly-widowed state. She’d never told Clay how much he meant to her, not really and now one freakish accident had stolen her chances of ever telling him.

“They say he kicks people out of their homes to get a deal.”

“That’s crazy. He would never—” She stopped. How did she know what he would never do? He was a man now, not a teenager.

“They say he buys the buildings dirt cheap, after he kicks the tenants out, and then renovates the places into posh apartments for his rich friends.” Angie crossed her arms over her small chest and tilted her head to one side so several black springs of hair bounced off her shoulders. “While you were watching Barney with Julia, I was watching him on E and seeing his face plastered in People.”

Rourke had always hated media in any form, said they made it hard to find a nugget of truth in anything. Kate started to shake her head in denial and ended in a shrug. What did she really know about him anymore? The truth slipped out again. Nothing.

“He flew to Sweden to have dinner with some beauty queen. And spent Easter skiing in the Alps.”

“Busy man.” While Rourke was globetrotting, she’d been burying her husband and trying to console her daughter.

“Still not married though plenty have tried to snag him.”

So, there was no wife.

“Here.” Angie slid a folder across the table. “Everything you need to arm yourself against Mr. Rourke Connor Flannigan.”

Kate glanced at the manila folder in front of her. “You make him sound like a villain.”

“If he gets to you again, you won’t survive.”

“Are there pictures in here?” Kate fingered the folder.

“Of course.” Angie let out an indelicate snort. “Okay, he’s drop dead gorgeous, I will give him that, but not much else.”

With a flip of the folder, she could satisfy fourteen years of wondering. “Maybe I’ll just take a peek—”

“Damn! Close the folder. Quick.”

“Why?”

“Because Mr. Jerk’s standing right outside.”

***

Rourke hesitated at the door of the little shop with scalloped pink and blue trim. Dream Houses by Kate. She was in there, the woman who had ripped his heart into tiny shreds, invisible to the human eye.

That was history. He was here to offer condolences, nothing more. But when he opened the door he realized two fatal errors; never engage on foreign ground and never underestimate the past.

She was more beautiful than the photo he obtained two weeks ago. A photograph couldn’t capture the aura of femininity, vulnerability, and raw strength that emanated from her. If he weren’t so good at masking his emotions, he’d be on the floor, sucking for air.

Not Kate. Other than a trimmed wariness flashing in the brilliance of her blue eyes and a slight flair of her delicate nostrils, she appeared unmoved. Where was the girl who had cried on his shoulder during Love Story?

She spoke first. “Hello, Rourke.”

Her voice swirled around him and threatened to pull him under. “Kate.” He hadn’t spoken her name since he was eighteen and the raw unfamiliarity of it burned his lips.

She opened her mouth to speak and Rourke zeroed in on her lips. Full, kissable.

“Well, if it isn’t Rourke Flannigan.”

He snapped his head up and glanced at Kate’s best friend. He hadn’t missed the censure or the distaste in her voice. Some things never changed. “Hello, Angie.”

She dismissed him with a flounce of wild curls and turned to Kate. “I’ll be in the back room if you need me.”

“Thanks.”

He waited until the she-witch disappeared and picked up a strip of miniature lattice, feigning great interest in the delicate wood, anything to keep from staring at Kate. “She never did like me.”

“She’s very protective.”

“Of course.” She always said I’d hurt you. He met Kate’s gaze and the years chipped away. Did I hurt you? Did I rip your insides apart? Did you think of me when you were lying in your husband’s arms?

“Why are you here?”

Was that a tremble in her voice? “Business. And my niece.” He hadn’t meant to mention Abbie, but two seconds with Kate and already his guard started slipping.

“Niece?”

There was a distinct tremble in her voice. Did he make her nervous?

“Rourke? What about your niece?”

“Gwendolyn was killed in a plane crash three months ago. I’m Abbie’s guardian. She’s having some adjustment issues and I thought Montpelier might be a nice break.”

She looked away. “I see.”

“I don’t know anything about being a father.” He slid into the chair opposite her workstation. “It’s damned harder than when we were kids. I think. Hell, I don’t know.”

“It’s never easy, being the child or the parent.”

“I can see why people opt for the childless route.”

Those huge eyes rimmed with emotion. “Some do.”

“But not you.”

“No.”

She was pulling him in, one whispered word, one doe-eyed glance at a time. He was not a testosterone-crazed teenager anymore. He had been surrounded by far more beautiful, more sophisticated women than the one sitting across from him with red paint smeared on her fingers and a smudge of red on her chin. But none of them were Kate. That was the problem. That had always been the problem.

“I heard about Clay.” He fidgeted with his keys, but couldn’t quite look at her when he said, “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.”

She bowed her head and for one absolutely insane second, he wanted to pull her against him and inhale the scent of her chestnut hair. Would it still smell like coconut? What the hell was he doing here? This wasn’t the Kate he remembered. This one was untouchable. What had he expected? That she’d gaze upon him with something akin to hero worship, like most other women did? He needed to get out. Now. He calculated his exit and just as he’d worked a strategy, he noticed his name in neat print on the tab of the folder lying in front of Kate.

“What’s this?” He slid the folder forward.

“Nothing!” She made a quick lunge for it, but Rourke snatched it away.

“Nothing?” He eased the folder open. “Hmmm.” He stared back at magazine and newspaper clippings of himself in various locations, with various women, all beautiful, all supposedly in love with him. Rourke scanned the printed dates and captions, then closed the folder and slid it back to her.

“Angie—”

“Would never make it as a private eye. That wasn’t just a Swedish beauty queen, that was the Queen’s niece.” He smiled and shrugged at her distress. “And the Alps,” he leaned forward to whisper, “heir to a makeup dynasty.”

“I see.”

But none of them touched my heart the way you did. “Kate.”

“Yes?”

“What happened to Clay?”

She looked away. “He fell fifty feet from a lift. He was always so careful.” Her voice cracked, “I just don’t understand.”

Rourke cleared his throat and fiddled with a piece of lattice. How much could a person make painting dollhouses? Enough to support two people? “Have the investigators finished their reports yet?” When she shook her head he said, “You should start receiving money once the investigations are complete.”

She coughed as though embarrassed to be discussing such an indelicate subject as money with him when she so obviously had little and he so obviously had plenty. He thought of the night they planned their future together, the Victorian house they’d build, the lake, the workshop for her artwork, the four children they’d have . . .

“I’ve been talking to a few people. They say I have options.”

That brought him around—fast. People meant lawyers, preyers of the weak and grief-stricken. Wasn’t it his humanitarian duty to inquire before she got herself mixed up in a scam? “What kind of people?”

She shrugged. “What kind of people surface at a tragedy? Lawyers, of course.”

“The cream of the crop, I’m sure.” Who? Give me their names.

“They’re not all bad.” She looked down at her hands and picked at the red paint on her finger.

“You need to be careful. There are too many ambulance chasers out there trying to make a case where there is none.” He laid a hand on the table, inches from hers. “If you want me to speak with them, I will.”

Her head shot up. “Why would you do that?”

“To help you.” It was such a smooth delivery, Miles would be proud. Was it true? The next words spilled out before he could yank them back. “I’m going to be here a few weeks, maybe several.” At least until I shut down these damn lawyers. He flashed a smile which warped into a straight line when she merely continued to stare.

“Why are you really here, Rourke?”

He remembered the way she’d cried out his name the first and only night they made love. Another truth snuck past the subterfuge in his soul and aimed a steady path straight at her. “Who are we kidding, Kate? We’ve got fourteen years of questions between us and I’m not leaving until every one of them is answered.”

Mary Campisi should have known she’d become a writer when at age thirteen she began changing the ending to all the books she read. It took several years and a number of jobs, including registered nurse, receptionist in a swanky hair salon, accounts payable clerk, and practice manager in an OB/GYN office, for her to rediscover writing. Enter a mouse-less computer, a floppy disk, and a dream large enough to fill a zip drive. The rest of the story lives on in every book she writes.

When she’s not working on her craft or following the lives of five young adult children, Mary’s digging in the dirt with her flowers and herbs, cooking, reading, walking her rescue lab mix, Cooper, or on the perfect day, riding off into the sunset with her very own ‘hero’ husband on his Electra Glide Classic aka Harley.

Find Mary on the web at:

website www.marycampisi.com

blog http://marycampisi.blogspot.com/

twitter https://twitter.com/#!/MaryCampisi

facebook http://www.facebook.com/marycampisibooks

2011 Silver Medal Readers Favorite Award Winner NOT WITHOUT RISK!

2011-11-30T05:30:00.003-06:00

A few weeks back, I finished Not Without Risk by Sarah Grimm, winner of the 2011 Silver Medal - Readers Favorite Awards, and afterwards I emailed her saying I needed MORE. More Justin, more Paige, more EVERYTHING. So Sarah graciously acquiesed and sent me this yummy post about her Hero, Justin Harrison. AND GET THIS! Sarah, has agreed to host a GIVE-AWAY! One lucky commentorwill receive a free e-book of RISK! Don't forget to leave me your email!

I very rarely base a hero's (or heroine's for that matter) physical description on a real person. Anytime I post photos of how I imagine my characters look, it's because I discovered the photograph, the actor or model, after I wrote the book. With the exception of one character...Sergeant Justin Harrison, my hero from my romantic suspense, Not Without Risk.

To me, Justin has always resembled one person: Country crooner and total sweetheart (yes, I've met him) Ty Herndon.

Check out that smile! Isn't he gorgeous?

*sigh*

Sorry, got lost for a minute there. Okay, with that visual in mind, let’s get to know Sergeant Justin Harrison.

What is Not Without Risk about?

Murder. Proving to myself and my colleagues that I was fit to return to active duty after a .38 punctured my lung. And how a sexy brunette, with the longest legs I’ve ever had the pleasure of having wrapped around my hips, changed everything.

What did you think the first time you saw the heroine, Paige?

That she was stunning—and that it had been far too long since I’d been with a woman.

What was your second thought?

She could be a killer.

Why did you become a cop?

I have no stomach for people who take advantage of others weaknesses or misfortune for their own gain. I can’t stand violence against others, especially women. And when bad things happen, someone needs to help restore order, solve the puzzle and uncover the identity of the bad guy. I’m very good with puzzles.

What do you like most about Paige?

Her courage and strength. Even injured and bleeding, facing the knowledge that someone wanted her dead—would stop at nothing to see it happen—Paige didn’t break.

If you could change one thing about her, what would it be?

Why would I want to change her?

What is your biggest fear?

That I won’t be able to protect Paige. I pushed myself, my body, too hard in order to get back to the job—the thing that defines who I am. Then I met Paige, and discovered something more important than being a cop. Injured, exhausted and facing one of the toughest cases of my career…I don’t know if I can do it, if I can solve it before the killer gets his hands on her. But I have to. I can’t lose the woman who’s shown me I have worth other than the job—the woman I’ve come to need as much as my next lung full of air.

Not Without Risk is available at both Amazon and The Wild Rose Press.

~*~

Sarah Grimm is an award winning author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. She lives in West Michigan with her husband, two sons and three miniature schnauzers. Between mom's taxi service, parts runs, and answering the phone for the family marine repair business, Sarah can be found curled in her favorite chair, crafting her next novel.

Find Sarah here:

Website: http://www.sarahgrimm.com

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

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SarahGrimm.Author

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SGrimmAuthor

I ALSO WANT TO MENTION AFTER MIDNIGHT!

Sarah's latest release which is also available through Amazon and The Wild Rose Press

Thirteen years—that's how long Isabeau Montgomery has been living a lie. After an automobile accident took her mother's life, Izzy hid herself away, surviving the only way she knew how. Now she is happy in her carefully reconstructed life. That is until he walks through the door of her bar...

Black Phoenix singer/front man Noah Clark came to Long Island City with a goal--one that doesn't include an instant, electric attraction to the dark-haired beauty behind the bar. Coaxing her into his bed won't be easy, but he can't get her pale, haunted eyes nor her skill on the piano out of his head.

Can Noah help Isabeau overcome the past? Or will her need to protect her secret force her back into hiding and destroy their chance at happiness?

Nancy Jardine Gets Interviewed!

2011-11-28T05:30:00.002-06:00

Poor Nancy subjected herself to an interview for Tattered Pages, and what a trouper for answering all of my questions -- not to mention she brought us a fabulous excerpt from Monogomy Twist!

Thanks for being with us today Nancy! To start things off, tell us how your writing career began.

What I call my ‘personal’ writing career has happened in fits and starts. In 1999, a contemporary romance went to Harlequin. A big fat rejection ensued…I abandoned romance writing. In 2003 a children’s novel (Romans in Scotland AD 83) was written, but was abandoned since a current archaeological dig was uncovering new facts…that ms went on the back burner! During late 2010 I got serious about my WRITING FOR PLEASURE. I reduced my teaching to 3 days per week. On ‘free’ days I wrote a historical romance: sadly it has been rejected twice. :-( By Dec 2010 I had also completed a new contemporary romance. I sent it to TWRP and by beg. March 2011 I signed a contract for ‘Monogamy Twist’! In Jan 2011 I did a complete rework of the archived novel for children. That full manuscript is currently being considered by a publisher in Cambridge, England.

How cool are YOU! Romance AND a children's book! Bravo! So, while writing in the romance genre, do you stick to one sub-genre or write across lines?

No, I don’t stick to one sub-genre. I’ve completed two contemporary romances, (1 published, a 2^nd recently contracted by TWRP) and one completed/ reworked historical romance. (I now think it’s much better than the rejected version!) My current WIP is another contemporary, but I have also started a family saga historical.

So, you've got a ton of projects in the hopper. Of the romances mentioned, what heat level are they? And while I'm at it, what heat level to you prefer to read? Are we keeping that bedroom door open or closed?

My TWRP published ‘Monogamy Twist’ is categorized as sensual. My niece-in-law, however, called it her ‘favorite bonkbuster’. My friend (since age 7) almost had a heart-attack when she read the sexy bits! My second TWRP Champagne Rose will probably also be rated sensual…but watch that space, it might be called spicy! Spicy is about my limit in both reading, and writing.

Give it to me Spicy! A girl after my own heart. So tell us, of the characters you created, which one is your favorite and why?

I really like Nairn in the newest TWRP contracted novel (not sure what the title will be yet). He has a lot of s*** heaped upon him at the beginning, but he resolves it in his (I personally believe) uniquely undaunted style. Sorry! No more sneak peaks of that plot!

DANG! You had me all frothing at the mouth there. I assume since you've got so many contracts out right now your super-busy. But have you ever considered self-publication as an alternative to traditional publishing?

How about a NO, and also MAYBE in around 5 years for my own novels if I have a stack written by then! Confusing? Well, I’m such a sucker! I’ve had my fingers burned already over self-publishing of my writing, but in a very different sort of way, for it was not novel writing. If profit from book sales is the main aim then I’ve a whole other self-publishing story to tell…if you’ve time to read it! I self-published years ago but for TOTALLY NON-PROFIT reasons (I’m cringing now!) In 1999 during my summer vacation of 6 weeks I volunteered to personally research/write/and create 50 packs of teaching materials for a special Millennium 2000 non-profit project commemorating my local Railway Locomotive Works (1898-1969). Each pack had 100 ‘letter sized’ photocopiable worksheets, all 5000 sheets physically printed and bound by me. Would you call that self-published? (BTW each pack also contained a CD Rom version-techie help from hubby with creating 50 of them-and a cassette tape of ex-workers ‘oral’ memories.) I loved doing it all but vowed I’d NEVER self publish again. By then I was regretting the NO PAY deal I’d agreed on since it was for ‘charity’. BUT GUESS WHAT? I was wrong about the NEVER. My 2005 summer vacation was spent writing my ‘History of Kintore School’. Again I’d volunteered, and there was no profit to me since it was for the village I live in and the school where I was teaching. (The School Fund got all the profit.) Lots of historical research was involved since the village school can be dated back to around 1506. I’m not joking, there’s evidence for this, and I had fun finding it! I self-edited the 100 letter sized pages; my hubby proof read. Again sort of self-publishing? NOSTALGIA RULED since the school had just moved to a brand new school building. I used the official opening day as the marketing target-400 copies were sold, but I truly was thankful that the school authority had helped to print and bind it. After that I said I’d NEVER EVER ‘self-publish’ again for no personal profit. Can I use these two projects as evidence of previous writing and publishing when I send out query letters to publishers for my current novels? Not really, since there was no ‘company’ as such who produced them! So self-publishing my own novels…in a few years…MAYBE.

Uhhh...Holy crap? Wow. This makes every other story I've heard about self-publishing seem like a stroll in the park. Determination does not seem to be your downfall, Nancy. That being said, what are you working on now?

My main WIP is a contemporary started late Sept. 2011, set in different European locations. Like my ‘Monogamy Twist’ this current work is a bit of a ‘history mystery’ (my working title). I have also plotted out, and tentatively started a family saga historical.

And after finishing this manuscript, will you take some time off or dive right in to the next story?

I usually promise myself a few days off to sort out all those little jobs that have been neglected. However, I’m not too good at managing that.

LOL Me either. Tell us what's on your nightstand (or downloaded onto your Kindle) right now.

Right Name/Wrong Man by Mona Risk, the MacLomanin series x4, A Broken Crhistmas and Cursted to kill both by Claire Ashgrove- await me on my Kindle and Adobe...and 4, early released to book club member, Harlequin Historicals in paperback (I get x 8 Harlequins a mongh now-used to get x16 but haven't the time to read them any more!)

Now for some fun stuff...

Which Superhero would you most love to date and why?

I tell you at my age and stage…any big hunk would do. I prefer not to tell you the why!

Oh pooh. Fine. Does your husband read your work, and if so, what’s his reaction?

He proof read my children’s novel quite happily, but I think he’s too scared to read my romances, though he says he’ll get around to them when he’s finished studying for his Masters Degree!

Favorite cocktail?

I love most liqueurs; most cocktails. My favorites had no real names but were produced at a hotel beach bar at the Al Bustan Palace, in Oman. I got to know the barman at the 4-7pm slot pretty well and he created me something new each evening. I’d pick whatever took my fancy that evening eg Aurum, Cointreau, Baileys, Kahlua, Tia Maria, Coconut rum…After my first choice he’d pick more items to add to my ‘base’, he shook ‘em all up, and they were FABULOUS!

That's totally cool! Got any hobbies you'd like to share with us?

Err. Don’t seem to have time. Reading: if I don’t do some leisure reading in a day (escapist novels) I go to bed feeling deprived. Gardening: which I avoid at times, but have to do as I’m the sole caretaker of our large garden. Ancestry: I’ve researched the Family Trees back to the 1600s. I now have 5 huge binders of details and use an on-line Ancestry program that takes up loads of my time!

That sounds like plenty of hobbies to me!! LOL What about pets?

If you don’t count my lovely husband when he’s three sheets to the wind? No, I don’t have any pets.

You're too funny, Nancy. Thanks so much for sharing with us all the special things that make you who you are!! And now (can I get a drum roll, please), on to Nancy's latest release, Monogomy Twist!

Excerpt:

“Rhia!” he snorted instead. “Of course it will. How could I ignore such a valuable property?”

Rejection and then disappointment flashed across her lovely face before she answered, “You’ve lost me.” Her gaze drew away. “Do you want it or not?”

“Rhia, please take heed,” Luke sighed, his voice enticing her to turn back. He didn’t dare touch her. And he did want it…but knew that wasn’t what she meant. He didn’t dare use his fingertips to turn her delectable little chin toward him, for he knew one fingering would never be enough. “It would be a crying shame to leave that house to rot for another fifty years. It’s a valuable house and valuable land. It could be converted to multiple uses for corporate business, or as a hotel facility.”

“Ah…future revenues?” Her eyes held that astutely impressive derision again.

His face crept closer, his lips only a pout away. “Rhia, you wouldn’t want to be responsible for that house to fall into even more disrepair, that house you’ve already professed to love? Would you?”

She was floundering like a non-swimmer in a forest puddle, indecision hovering over her gorgeous eyes. He was confident she couldn’t resist him. His libido kicked in triple time, but his resolve quadrupled.

“Would you want that on your conscience? Knowing it was your fault it happened?”

“My fault?”

He knew his propinquity was keeping her spellbound, but by her glower she wasn’t taking the flack. Her disgusted expression informed him in no uncertain terms what she thought about his last words.

You can find Monogomy Twist at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble

Here's a bit more about Nancy, and where to find her on the web:

Born in Glasgow, Nancy has lived in Scotland most of her life with the exception of 3 years when she lived in Holland, where she conveniently gave birth to 2 daughters. Convenient since elementary teaching was her profession (11-12year olds) and it was suitable to have a career break then. (Two months in Norway when the girls were under 5 doesn’t really count in the grand scheme of living in a country!) Nancy now spends her time writing contemporary romance novels having only recently given up teaching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJVzbrkJQzA

http://nancyjardine.blogspot.com

http://nancyjardineauthor.weebly.com

Blurb:

Luke Salieri thought he'd seen everything. But when he inherits a dilapidated English estate from a woman he's never heard of—and with quirky conditions besides—it’s a mystery he wants resolved immediately. There must be a woman out there who can meet his needs. But how far will he have to go to persuade her? Lucrative employment for a whole year? The job of researching the old house and its fantastic contents is enticing – but Rhia Ashton can’t see herself living with gorgeous Luke Salieri and not wanting his body as well. Can she live and sleep with him for a whole year and then walk away? Rhia has her own ideas about what will make it worth her while.

Four Days and Counting for Surrendor to Honor!

2011-11-21T05:30:00.003-06:00

I'm so happy to have Jannine Corti Petska with us today at Tattered Pages, celebrating her upcoming release of Surrender to Honor, the second book in her Italian Medival Series, coming out November 25th from THE WILD ROSE PRESS!

*YAY! CONFETTI! BELLS! WHISTLES!*

Here's a sneak peek at both books...

Blurb for Surrender to Honor (Book II):

Prima Ranieri seeks retribution for her family's death and loss of home and land. Her plans go awry when the heir to the powerful Massaro family returns home. After only one glance, Prima's attraction to him undermines her furor toward those she blames for her plight.

After a fifteen year absence, Antonio Massaro returns to Palermo to find a war raging between his family and the evil Falcone. His refusal to accept his rightful position as the head of the Honored Society carries serious consequences. The welfare of the people of Palermo is at stake. But one look at the beautiful woman Prima has become costs him his heart. She's a deadly distraction...one that jeopardizes her life as well as his own.

Excerpt

Prima and Antonio are out for a pleasure ride and stopped in an orchard. Prima sets Antonio straight on the matter of her marrying.

“Think you age is on your side?”

She bristled. “I am not yet beyond marriageable age, or hindered like an old hag. But do tell, why must I have a husband?”

“You need a man, Prima, for you are like a wild horse before it is captured and tamed.”

“Such an insult! I’ll not be compared to an animal. And neither must I be captured or tamed.” She jerked on Amica’s reins, startling the horse. Antonio held the leather lines, preventing the horse from bolting.

“You act as if you are the only person ever to lose family. This bitter revenge you carry will one day turn you into a mean and spiteful old woman. Give up your fight. Marry and have children.”

“And bring them into a world of greed and senseless killing? I’ll not birth a son who is expected to rule and dominate solely because he is a man. And I’ll not birth a daughter who will be forced to bend to a man’s will simply because she is a female.

Marriage is not a path I favor. I want the freedom to choose how I ride a horse and to decide on the clothes I wear.”

“Those ideas will bode ill for you, Prima. You alone cannot change a society.”

“No, but I alone can choose my path in life; and no man will ever take that away from me.”

Blurb for Lily and The Falcon (Book I):

Bianca degli Albizzi is outraged when sworn enemy Cristiano de' Medici asks for her hand in marriage. With her father's blessing, she weds the handsome warrior to end the war between Florence's two powerful families. But headstrong Bianca vows to teach her husband that loyalty cannot be bought...not even by seduction.

Cristiano, a well-known warrior with the wealth of a king, could have any woman he desires. But for the sake of peace he ends up with a defiant bride who awakens his deepest passion. Her vengeful scheming puts them both in peril, but is he prepared to sacrifice his life to safeguard the woman who has stolen his heart?

Excerpt:

In this scene, Cristiano and Bianca are betrothed and are out for a stroll with Cristiano's cousin and Bianca's sister as chaperones. The reference to the harlot's hose goes back to when he rode out of Florence to accompany Cosimo de' Medici to Padua, where he will be exiled. Cristiano had been stabbed in arm.

“Have you thought of me during my absence?”

“Surely you jest!”

“Then you have forgotten that I wore the harlot’s hose about my arm as I rode out of Florence?”

Bianca stopped abruptly, sputtering in exasperation. She paced two steps forward, two steps back, then whirled on Cristiano with eyes flashing. “You are undyingly arrogant.”

He simply shrugged, as if she had given him a compliment instead of an accusation on his character.

“Know you I would have preferred wearing your hose?”

Bianca blanched. She glanced about hastily as she prayed no one else had heard his ungentlemanly wish. It didn’t help that both Niccolo and Francesca seemed to find the comment amusing. Bianca raised her chin and directed her hostile gaze at the shine in Cristiano’s eyes.

“Is it your practice to wear women’s hose?” she asked pointedly.

Cristiano threw his head back and roared. When at last he contained his mirth, he replied, “Maiden, you humor me. I thank you.”

“Thank me not, my lord,” Bianca said, her mouth tight. As she flounced off, his iron grip yanked her back, forcing her to his side. They began walking again. Now and then he’d chuckle, deepening the color in her cheeks. She was surprised when he stopped and turned to look at her. Niccolo and Francesca went on ahead.

“Bianca, would you willingly marry me if I were not a Medici?”

She let her gaze sweep up the length of him and realized he was anxious to hear her response. Sighing, she replied, “Mayhap one day I would.”

“Your meaning?”

“I am only in my eighteenth year, my lord, and have years left to be free from one man’s rule.”

A new dawning came to light from her honesty. “Are you afraid you will lose your freedom?”

Bianca nodded.

At the entrance to an alley behind the bank Cristiano owned, he took Bianca’s hand and pulled her around the building. Backing up to the wall, he brought her into him, cradling her cozily between his hips.

“This is improper,” she protested.

“I care not, so do not burden me with propriety. I mean only to set your mind at ease, Bianca. The freedom you desire need not be lost to you Understand the importance our marriage will have on the Medici and the Albizzi.” He broached the subject, ever aware of her mistrust of his lineage. “We must proceed for the sake of Florence.”

“Mayhap you feel indebted to Florence, and I should as well. But marriage should be for lovers.”

A devil’s gleam came into his eyes. Bianca leaned back, but he pressed her into him, imprisoning her to his length.

“Then lovers we shall be,” he whispered. His mouth descended like a swooping hawk, closing over her lips in bridled passion. Carefully, he controlled his desire for her, restraining himself commendably, though he doubted she’d agree. Her inexperience enthralled him, and he wished he could understand how his intimate caresses affected her. Cristiano embraced her, glorying in the feel of her soft body stretching up his, thrilling to the knowledge that soon she would be his woman, no matter that Albizzi blood flowed through her veins.

Buy Link for both books in the series:

http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.phpmain_page=index&manufacturers_id=845&zenid=3ac5378e2b023b26a3a93185ddb8b947

And here's a little about Jannine:

Jannine Corti Petska was born in New York but raised in Southern California. Her parents' first language was Italian, and Jannine was raised in an Old World environment. She began writing romance novels when her three daughters were young and she was a stay-at-home mom. In-between writing and caring for her family, she tutored Italian, Spanish, German, and English as a Second Language at a local college. Although she loves placing her stories in medieval Italy, she has also written romantic tales of the cowboy in the American West. To find out more about Jannine, please visit her website. www.jcortipetska.com

Finding Inspiration (and a Ghost Story) in History

2011-11-18T05:30:00.001-06:00

It is my distinct honor and privledge to host fellow Wild Rose Press Author, Beth Trissel at Tattered Pages today, who shares with us some great pics along with the inspiration behind her latest release! Take it away, Beth!

My fascination with the past and those who’ve gone before me is the ongoing inspiration behind my historical and light paranormal romances. But in my recent release, the Christmas ghost story romance Somewhere the Bells Ring, I actually lived during the featured time period. Those of you who write contemporary won’t get why this is momentous, but the closest I’ve come to being physically present in any of my settings is the opening of my time travels before we head on back. But--wait for it--now that I’m old enough to be ‘vintage,’ I experienced life in 1968. An adolesent then, I remember it well, think hippies, some of the best darn rock music ever written, fishnet hose, Bonnie Bell lip gloss, the maxi dress, Vietnam, the definitive Romeo & Juliet film, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy assasinations that rocked the nation…to quote a country neighbor, it was a ‘right mixy’ era with a major cultural revolution going on. And yet, in many ways, a simpler time.

In addition to my nostalgia over the late 60’s is a poignant draw to the early 20^th century. Old family photographs taken before WW1 portray ladies in long white dresses going on picnics, playing tennis, or boating with young gentlemen wearing white trousers, striped jackets, and everyone in hats…then the ones taken during the war and after, styles changed but life was still gracious, apart from the war, that is. The tragic death of my Marine Captain grandfather who distinguished himself fighting during WW1 then died of a heart attack a decade later when my dad was only three spread through my generation like a ripple on a pond. I grew up grieving the loss of this amazing man I never knew and dedicated the story to him.

And then there’s the beautiful old Virginia homeplace where my dad was born and raised and I grew up visiting during the holidays that the home in this story is based on. To that, add a vivid dream that had me stepping back in time in that house and encountering a mysterious young gentleman filled with angst, and pondering what his story was for a good ten years before I finally wrote Somewhere the Bells Ring. Inspiration galore.

Blurb:

Caught with pot in her dorm room, Bailey Randolph is exiled to a relative's ancestral home in Virginia to straighten herself out. Banishment to Maple Hill is dismal, until a ghost appears requesting her help. Bailey is frightened but intrigued. Then her girlhood crush, Eric Burke, arrives and suddenly Maple Hill isn't so bad.

To Eric, wounded in Vietnam, his military career shattered, this homecoming feels no less like exile. But when he finds Bailey at Maple Hill, her fairy-like beauty gives him reason to hope--until she tells him about the ghost haunting the house. Then he wonders if her one experiment with pot has made her crazy.

As Bailey and Eric draw closer, he agrees to help her find a long-forgotten Christmas gift the ghost wants. But will the magic of Christmas be enough to make Eric believe--in Bailey and the ghost--before the Christmas bells ring?

I leave you with this pensive thought, ‘In a lifetime, there are many lifetimes.’

SOMEWHERE THE BELLS RING is available in ebook at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon Kindle, All Romance Ebooks, Barnes & Noble’s Nookbook & other online booksellers.

***If you leave me nice comments I will give away an ebook, pdf, ePub, or kindle, winner’s choice.

Ah...sweet, sweet Paris!

2011-11-17T05:30:00.002-06:00

I've always dreamed of going to Paris, and after viewing this post, I almost feel like I've been there! Thank you, Mona, for bringing us these breathtaking pictures and for sharing with us a GREAT excerpt from your latest release, RIGHT NAME, WRONG MAN, based in the land of romance. Ah...sweet Paris!

What do the words France, Paris, Eiffel Tower, Loire Valley, evoke for you?

Do you think romantic settings? Visualize historical chateaux? Imagine a kiss at the top of the Eiffel Tower? Prepare your camera to snap pictures of the amazing architecture? Get ideas from the fashion capital? Prepare yourself to taste and enjoy the French Merlot, Cabernet sauvignon, Beaujolais Nouveau, Bordeau... Are you feeling fuzzy, maybe a little drunk?

After many visits to France—I stopped counting years ago— I can still rhapsodize about Paris and its thousand attractions. The Loire Valley, known as "the Garden of France", was the favorite residence of the Kings of France during the Renaissance period. They made this peaceful countryside the setting for their dreams, and surrounded themselves with the greatest artists and architects of this era.

Chambord is truly royal and combined the dream of King François I with the imagination of Leonardo de Vinci. In this picture, I’m standing in front of the Chateau de Chambord.

Chenonceau, the Ladies’ Castle, is my favorite, built on a bridge across river Cher. King Henry II gave it to his mistress Diane de Poitiers.

When my husband treated me to a special thirtieth anniversary with a trip to the Vallée de la Loire and a two-day stay in an authentic chateau, I fell in love with the area and have never forgotten it.

RIGHT NAME, WRONG MAN, my new contemporary romance is set in this chateau. The count who owns the chateau is a handsome doctor adored by patients and nurses. Only one woman can’t seem to stand him because...

Chapter One

“Love you, Yves.” Marie-Beth Drake purred and cuddled deeper against her lover’s broad chest.

Already half-asleep, Steve squeezed her to his side, with a faint “Hmm”. Soon, his light snores filled the air.

Sated and relaxed, she stroked his silvery hair. “Love you—”

She froze.

What had she called him?

Oh God, oh God. Had she said Steve or… Yves?

Her fiancé grumbled in his sleep. She immediately yanked her hand away from his head. Her fingers flew to her lips and her stomach somersaulted. She couldn’t have whispered the loathsome name? She’d buried it long ago and forgotten the sexy French doctor and his charismatic smile.

Had Steve noticed the slip of her tongue?

Heart pounding, she studied his closed eyes and slightly gaping mouth. Not to worry. Her fiancé slept as peacefully as a man content with life—as he did every night.

Shivering with mortification, she slid out of his arms. Her throat ached with sudden dryness as she covered herself with a robe and rushed downstairs.

In the living room, she grabbed a bottle of Merlot from the bar, filled a glass and swallowed it, and poured a second one. Her mind in shambles, she settled on the sofa to organize her thoughts.

Hanging over the fireplace, her fiancé’s portrait focused a serious look at her. She blinked. “I don’t know how it happened. Honestly,” she groaned with an apologetic grimace.

Sultry images of the French surgeon obscured her vision. Yves smiling, his knuckles caressing her cheeks, his face reaching closer to hers. She snatched her head back and touched her lips, swollen from Steve’s kisses. And remembered Yves’s passionate embrace. “No, please.” Her world tilted on its axis.

Weary and confused, she emptied her glass. “You’re history. Gone, Dr. Malroux.” To think he’d left Boston the next day after the blissful night she’d spent in his arms, and never came back, never called the chubby medical student she’d been then. “No more crazy dreams or heartaches,” she scolded in a strangled groan.

Why did Steve have to mention his name a few days ago and ask her to participate in an exchange program of residents with his French colleague?

“Nope. Not interested,” she’d immediately replied, and Steve hadn’t insisted.

Training with Dr. Yves Malroux would tempt any residents but her. She’d hoped never to set eyes on him

again after she’d torn his picture into a hundred pieces.

With an automatic motion, she rotated the too-heavy engagement ring, token of Steve’s love and status. He’d forgotten to lock the five-carat diamond in his safe after their evening out. Dear Steve, in a few months, they’d be married, that is, if he didn’t ask awkward questions about her stupid blurt, and… She cringed, anticipating the worst.

After two glasses of wine, she’d developed a splitting headache. Torturing herself over the baffling mistake didn’t do any good. She was on call tomorrow and needed her sleep and a clear head to assist in General Surgery. She lumbered up to one of the guestrooms, sprawled on the bed and fell into an exhausted sleep.

“Oh Y-Yves, yes, yes.” Sweating and trembling, she bolted awake and clutched the blanket to her throat.

“Yves?” Heaving a deep breath, she shook off the haze of the haunting dream. Yves nuzzling her throat, kissing her open lips, caressing her naked flesh. Oh, God, am I losing my mind?

In the morning, she shuffled down to the kitchen. Steve didn’t mention anything unusual over breakfast. His satisfied smile contrasted painfully with her restless mood.

“You’re very quiet,” he said in a jovial voice that irritated her frazzled nerves. “Contrary to last night,” he added with a wink.

“Oh yeah?” she muttered, sloshing coffee over the table.

Buy Link: http://tinyurl.com/85o4wg7

“You mumbled and screamed and butchered my name several times. Eeeeve,” he mimicked with a strident tone before bursting out in laughter.

“Ah?”

If you’ve enjoyed this scene, the ebook is available at Amazon for only $0.99

Come along with Mary-Beth and Yves for a memorable armchair trip to the Loire Valley and Paris.

Thank you AJ for hosting me on your lovely blog.

Thanks for visiting with us today, Mona! And here's where you can find her on the web!

www.monarisk.com

www.monarisk.blogspot.com

A New Review for Jezebel's Wish!

2011-11-15T08:15:00.000-06:00

I had to share this with the world today. I woke up to this review for Jezebel's Wish waiting in my inbox!

"Jezebel's Wish" is an outstanding work of written art. I found myself completely engrossed into the fictional reality of this sweet romance. I review a number of books and find myself rather jaded sometimes with reoccurring lack of originality, However with that said, this book did something that a book has not done for me in a long time, and that is; this book made me cry. I highly recommend reading this. A.J. Neust's talent truly shines in this creative, romantic epic. If you are like me, you will find that you cannot help but pull for these love-torn characters and who knows, maybe you will find yourself crying a little right along with them.
Debbi Farmer

THANK YOU DEBBI FOR YOUR WONDERFUL WORDS! YOU TRULY MADE MY DAY.

If you are so inclined, you can read the actual review here: http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbookscomment.php?location=1862

Getting to Know Rachel Brimble!

2011-11-14T05:30:00.003-06:00

I'm psyched beyond words to have the talented Rachel Brimble with me today, with a guest interview and a peek inside Paying the Piper, her latest release from Lyrical Press! Welcome, Rachel!

Assuming you write in the romance genre, do you stick to one sub-genre or write across lines?

I write across lines - at the moment, I have two romantic suspense, one romantic comedy, one Victorian historical and two straight contemporary romances published. I like to alternate between contemporary and historical with each book. It keeps me fresh, interested and excited. I hope that's true for my readers too!

Oh, that's fabulous - and a really great idea. So, is the bedroom door generally left open or closed?

The bedroom door is most definitely open in my books - I suppose I would class the heat level at sensual to spicy. This is the heat level I like to read, too. The most important thing for me when I am writing or reading a love scene is the emotional connection between the hero and heroine and what they are risking or sacrificing in that moment. Once the hero and heroine make love, everything changes whether they initially realize it or not.

After finishing a manuscript, do you take some time off or dive right in to the next story?

Always dive straight into the next story - while working on one story, I am always making notes for the next so when I come to finish the current one, the new one is alive and running in my mind. I love nothing more than starting a new book! It's so exhilarating when you start that chapter one and have no idea how the book will end up. I am not a complete pantser but often only have a two to three page synopsis and character sketches when I start - past that, anything goes and I love it!

What’s on your nightstand (or downloaded onto your Kindle) right now?

I am usually reading three books at any one time - a hardback for reading in bed, a paperback for the bath and when I'm walking the dog (I kid you not) and a book on my Kindle for when I am out and about, sitting in cars waiting to pick the kids up, doctor's office etc.

I am currently reading:

Close - Martina Cole (hardback)

My Lover's Lover - Maggie O'Farrell (paperback)

Storm's Interlude - Vonnie Davis (kindle)

Favorite cocktail? Cosmopolitan every time! Yum...

Any pets? Yes, my beloved black Labrador, Max, is my third child and my constant companion. He is with me at every possible moment, whether I am writing, reading, ironing or taking a bath (he sits outside the bathroom with his nose under the door, lol!).

As well as Max, my girls have a hamster each who Max likes to traumatize when he thinks no one is looking. We are definitely a pet-friendly family. Love animals!

Buy Link

Nightclub manager, Grace Butler is on a mission to buy the pub where her mother’s ashes are scattered – except the vendor wants to sell to anyone but her. And the vendor happens to be her father…with a secret Grace will do anything to uncover.

Social worker and all-round good guy, Jimmy Betts needs cash to buy a house for three special kids before their care home closes. In a desperate bid for cash, he agrees to a one-time ‘job’ for bad-man Karl Butler. But in a sudden turn of events, Jimmy finds himself employed by Karl’s beautiful, funny and incredibly sexy daughter, Grace.

Their lives are so different except for one unifying thread – they are both trying to escape the binds of their tyrannical fathers. But is the key to their liberty each other?

Rachel lives with her husband and two young daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK. She started writing short stories about eight years ago but once her children were at school, she embarked on her first novel. It was published in 2007. Since then, she’s had several books published with The Wild Rose Press, Eternal Press and Lyrical Press. She recently acquired a US agent with her second Victorian historical. A member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of America, Rachel hopes to have a further two novels, one contemporary and one Victorian published in 2012.

When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family. Her dream place to live is Bourton-on-the-Water in South West England. And in the evening? Well, a well-deserved glass of wine is never, ever refused…

Realism About Independent Publishing

2011-11-08T07:31:00.001-06:00

FINALLY! Someone who doesn't shy away from giving me the straight lowdown about Indie Publishing and the dreaded nightmare that ensues! THANK YOU, MIMI BARBOUR, for sharing with us what I am sure would be my exact experience, should I ever decide to self-publish. For the rest of you, read on...and then don't forget to head on over to Mimi's blog and check out her 12 STEPS TO SELF PUBLISHING!

This month I have decided to join the NaNoWriMo group for the first time since becoming an author. Never before have I ever felt the need to force myself to do the one thing I love to do most of all—and that is writing.

But over the last while, my focus has been on my new release "My Cheeky Angel". A book I self-pubbed in September. I know a lot of us in the profession have chosen this route and don't get me wrong, I'm glad I did. I just wish someone would have told me about all the extra work it takes to be your own publisher.

Previously, being with Wild Rose Press, I would send in the second or third draft of my WIP to the editor and expect her to find all the errors that I'd missed. After we'd work together on the material, I knew it had gone through quite a few readings and would still be sent to a copy editor for the final check. By then my part was pretty well over. The cover would have been chosen and the book would just magically appear for me to blurb, blab and blog about.

Totally different for the Indie author.

Not only do you have to choose and pay the cover artist, but it's up to you to okay the final choice and select your own title. Also, when you're the boss, having the work edited is a completely different experience. There is a cost involved, which can be rather hefty depending on who you choose, and after the first go-around, it's up to you, the author, to deal with the final product. To make it perfect before the next step.

Right - the next step! (long heavy sigh…) This, for me, was the worst part. Trying to upload the readied piece to Smashwords. After multiple tries (…AND initially I was fortunate enough to have help) I still had to re-read the Smashwords Guide numerous times and re-do my formatting over and over before they accepted my work into their premium catalogue…which, trust me, you want to get into.

Then comes the Amazon experience (even bigger sigh!!). Many tantrums later, including some pretty bad language (halo definitely slipping here), too many glasses of wine over the dinner table while bitc…complaining to my husband and an inherent stubbornness that makes me dig in when many would give up, I finally conquered that monstrous mountain. To help others in this predicament, I wrote the 12 steps I followed that led me to success (which you can find on my blogsite http://mimibarbour.blogspot.com - just go to the left hand side and click on the October archives).

During all that work, I promoted through every means available. I had decided that one of the best ways to advertise would be to open my own blog. Big headache for a computer illiterate non-techie like me! But, a lot of fun once I knew what the heck I was doing. I won't go into all the other promoting steps I followed because I've written them all down in a blog that I will be posting at a later date. Needless to say, the days flew past and I worked more hours during this time than ever before.

I guess the worst part of this whole procedure is that I never found a spare minute to write. Plots were flowing as usual, and I'd jot down notes, stick them into a growing pile then get back to letting people know that my new book was the one they really wanted to read.

Which brings us back to the reason I wrote this blog. I finally realized that even though I was pretty good at the promotion stuff, mostly because I love meeting new people and making new friends, I missed doing what I loved best. Working with new characters to give them a story. So…I signed up for a month of writing and I'm as happy as a kid taking the first lick of a triple-decker ice cream cone.

Have any of you tried the Indie route? Did you find that your career flipped to publishing first, promotions second and writing a thing of the past?

I really enjoy having visitors to my website, so please check in at http://www.mimibarbour.com/ and join my newsletter for a chance to win a free copy of my latest release.

Or follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/#!/Mimibarb

Or on Facebook…

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mimi-Barbour-Fan-Page/203964072966134

Because My Cheeky Angel is the first book to my new series "Angels with Attitude" I've made it available at all major outlets for $.99.

Hugs…Mimi

My Cheeky Angel Blurb:

Annie Hynes is a tomboy. Naïve and love-starved, she’ll soon to be celebrating her big 3-0. Something needs to be done! Celi, her ‘down-to-earth’ guardian angel appears to help kick-start Annie’s big change—her looks, her job, her whole life. By taking a managerial position with a sophisticated shoe manufacturer, Annie becomes embroiled with her new associates and hooked on the power of big business. Unfortunately, her exhaustion from overwork forces her to ignore old friends, and her lapse places someone she cares about in terrible danger.

Social Worker, Tyler Jones, previously hurt in two relationships, signals disinterest in women, and only wants Annie in his life as a good buddy. Oh yeah! And to help with his mixed-up street kids. Perversely, once her life alters, he misses her like hell. In one sweet night of loving everything changes. But, due to an overabundance of nightcaps, she doesn’t remember the night he can’t forget.

And here's a peek between the pages:
Monday morning, getting ready for the daycare became a major battle with a mocking, unseen presence. Every one of the outfits she normally wore got vetoed. Her overly casual clothes, strewn in every direction, indicated how few items in her closet would be appropriate for when she eventually became employed in a sophisticated office. The baggy style she’d stuck to for years concealed her body, and when a person strives to go unnoticed in the world, the tomboy look does the job. It isn’t chic, but it is safe.

“Didn’t anyone ever explain to you that a body such as yours warrants feminine attire?”

“A compliment? You must be in a good mood.” Annie had given up talking to Celi out loud when it was simpler and a lot less weird communicating with her mind.

“Don’t push it. I’m just sayin.”

“You must be the strangest angel in heaven. Just my luck to get a maverick.”

“Hey! I’m an Angel first class. Count yourself lucky.”

“Now I know you’re kidding. I watch ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ every Christmas, as I’m sure you’re aware of.”

Finally, settling on a pair of snug jeans she seldom wore, Annie wrestled over the choice of her top. A new white blouse hung from one hand, and the safer, often worn t-shirt fluttered from the other. She faced the mirror and waffled.

“Why did I ever buy this silly ruffled thing?” she grumbled.

“Because it’s pretty and modern, so wear the darn thing already.” Celi popped to life in her favorite yoga stance at the end of the unmade bed.

“Why don’t you have any wings? I’ve often wondered about that.”

“They’re at the drycleaners. Look, quit stalling and get dressed.”

“Why don’t you talk like other people? I can hear your words in my mind, but your lips don’t move.”

“Why, why, why. You’re worse than a child.”

Annie stopped what she was doing, stuck her hand on her hip, and glared at the diaphanous form.

“Fine. It takes enough energy to appear, why waste more speaking when I don’t have to?”

“It’s very disconcerting.”

“Quit stalling and put the blouse on.”

“You’re a bully!”

“And you’re beautiful. Look!” Magically, the garment draped her form. The white emphasized her tanned skin, and she had to admit that the new fashion suited her. She buttoned it and stepped back.

“It’s supposed to be worn with the top few buttons undone.”

She undid the first one.

“One more.”

“One button, okay! Two? That’s indecent.”

“Indecent? Give me a break. You look very much the way any twenty-nine-year old city girl in this century looks.”

It would be easier just to follow directions, she supposed. If she didn’t the button would unexplainably fall open all day long anyway.

Before she could change her mind, she put on the earrings she’d bought to go with the blouse and slipped her feet into the fancy sandals that lay hidden in her closet after a shopping trip months earlier. She checked out her shiny cap of black hair, which had stiffened from the setting lotion applied earlier, and now stood up in a perky ‘do’. The darkness highlighted her unblemished skin, and brought her face to life.

Annie turned to Celi for final approval, but the angel had disappeared. “Thanks, Celi.” Only a faint fragrance of perfume answered. A scent Annie instantly fell in love with permeated the air around her hair. She’d have to ask Celi for the name of the product and wear it everywhere. It could be her personal smell for success.

A tinkling sound drew her attention to her dresser and there sat a tiny, rhinestone studded blue bottle.

“You’re the best Celi, you really are.”

Get Out Your Kleenex...

2011-11-06T05:30:00.031-06:00

Cuz this one is a real tear-jerker...

Please help me welcome fellow author and super-talented novelist, Elaine Cantrell to Tattered Pages, with a post on one of her latest releases, A New Dream. I'd go on and on here, but I just read this post, and quite frankly, she says it waaaaay better than I do. Thank you so much for sharing this with us, Elaine. A New Dream sounds brilliant. Oh, and as a transplanted Wisconsinite, I have to add: Go PACKERS! :-)

Have you ever had a big dream? Did your dream come true? Matt McCallum, the hero in my novel A New Dream, had a big dream. He wanted to play for the NFL, and guess what? His dream came true. He had everything he’d ever wanted. A dream career, plenty of money, the adoration of thousands of people, and he was engaged to Stacey Thomas, one of the hottest women anywhere. And he lost it all one bright summer evening. What happened to Matt? Let’s listen to the interview that aired on Saturday to find out.

Henry: Good evening. Welcome to Saturday Night Roundup where you’ll be the first to know what’s worth knowing in the sports world. My name is Henry Ross, and this is my co-host Chris Alexander. Chris, we have a sad story to report tonight.

Chris: We sure do, Henry, and I can’t think of anything I’ve hated more to announce.

Henry: Before we get to our feature story, I’d like to replay an interview we did just a few weeks ago with Matt McCallum, a kicker for the Green Bay Packers.

They turn in their chairs and watch the interview on a monitor behind them.

Henry: Welcome to Saturday Night Roundup. Chris, who’s our guest for this evening’s interview?

Chris: Henry, we got lucky. Matt McCallum is in the studio to do an interview for us.

They stand up and shake hands as Matt enters the set.

Henry: Matt thanks for taking time to talk to us. Did you always dream of playing pro-football?

Matt: Yeah, I did. From the time I was a kid, all I thought about was football.

Chris: In other interviews you’ve commented on how much your father supported you.

Matt: He did. Dad saw every football game I ever played.

Chris: Did you pick the Packers, or did they pick you?

Matt: They picked me. I was their first round draft pick, and I’m sure glad of it. Coach McCarthy is great to play for.

Henry: Do you ever take off that Super Bowl ring? If any sports fan in the country doesn’t know, Matt kicked the winning field goal in the Super Bowl to win the game for the Packers.

Matt: (grins) No, I haven’t taken it off yet.

Chris: (points to a picture on a monitor) This picture was taken as the team left the field after their Super Bowl victory. That’s a mighty pretty girl you’re hugging.

Matt: (laughs) Yeah, that’s Stacey. We got engaged a few weeks ago.

Henry: Congratulations. She’s a beautiful woman.

Matt: Thank you.

The monitor goes blank and both Henry and Chris shake their heads.

Henry: Football fans, last night Matt and his fiancée were in a car crash. Stacey is fine, but Matt was hurt pretty bad. His right leg was amputated right above his knee according to coach Mike McCarthy. In a statement released this morning, McCarthy said, “We’re going to miss Matt. He was a great athlete with a wonderful future in front of him. Along with the team, I wish him the best.”

Chris: I’m sure Matt would appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers. Cards can be sent to the Packers who’ll forward them to Matt.

A New Dream is available for at Astrea Press or at Amazon

A New Dream is now on the publisher’s best seller list!

Thank you so much, Elaine for being with us today at Tattered Pages! I have no doubt that A New Dream will remain on the publisher's best seller list for months to come.

Tattered Pages Welcomes Author Amber Leigh Williams

2011-11-04T05:30:00.001-05:00

You gotta read this. Seriously. Amber served up an incredible post about her herorine, Calli Morlani, and all the things that make her tick. But that excerpt?? PEEL ME OFF THE FLOOR! Whew! This one's definitely going on my TBR list, Amber! Glad you could be here today to share!

Bet it on my Heart

ANTE UP!

Keefe Ridge's bronc-busting days are nearly over. Despite that and the fact that he is slowly making his dream business venture a reality, Wayback's wildest cowboy doesn't see any reason to settle down. He is even willing to bet that marriage isn't in the cards at all for him.

Agent Calli Morlani came to Wayback on a mission: to bring Stella Ridge back to Hollywood. When Stella refuses, she dares Calli to take in some local color and see what Wayback has to offer. Whether that includes Stella's devastatingly charming brother becomes irrelevant once Calli finds herself in bed with him - in more ways than one…

Will it take a tough city girl to make the Wayback playboy finally fall long and hard? Or will Keefe give Calli a reason to stay? Place your bet!

Hi AJ! Thanks for having me, Calli and the gang here at Tattered Pages! Over the past year or so I’ve rediscovered what a delight it is to watch characters grow organically as I’m writing their story. I love finding out their quirks and eccentricities along the way. While writing my western romance trilogy, the Ridges of the Wayback, TX, the eccentricities of the Texas cowboys and their fiery heroines couldn’t have been more fun. It was while I was writing the character of Bet it on my Heart heroine, Calli Morlani, that I couldn’t resist compiling all these intriguing characteristics into character interviews!

It was a joy, as a writer (and a country girl myself), setting up the predicament that would make Calli, a tough businesswoman and city woman to the bone, come into close contact with the quintessential cowboy, Keefe Ridge. Throwing a city slicker into situations only a country boy like Keefe could navigate is a recipe for storytelling delight J

Calli, however, has a different opinion….

Name: Calli Morlani

Childhood Ambition: To not have a boy’s haircut (father was a barber), and to work in show business.

Fondest Memory: Going to the movies every week with my stepfather while my mother worked the late shift.

Soundtrack: Anything but country music. Please.

Retreat: Fiji

Wildest Dream: To make it to Hollywood. Which I did. And building my own agency from the ground-up. Which I also did.

Proudest Moment: Signing my first A-lister, Stella Ridge…the reason I’m stuck here.

Biggest Challenge: Wayback, Texas

Alarm Clock: Usually a Samsung. My first morning in Wayback it was the rooster who lives next door to The Dew Drop Inn. Who the heck keeps chickens as pets, I ask you?

Perfect Day: The day I leave this godforsaken place? No, I’m kidding. Sort of.

First Job: Peeling potatoes at my mother’s restaurant.

Indulgence: Keefe Ridge. Nom. And Godiva. (Send immediately care of Stella Ridge at 1 Middle-of-Nowhere Lane, Wayback, Texas. Thank you.)

Last Purchase: A Stetson. I can’t believe I just said it.

Favorite Movie: The Godfather

Inspiration: Elizabeth Taylor

When I’m mad I: smile. Think “crocodile.”

The good news is that eventually it’s not just Keefe Ridge who gets under Calli’s skin. It’s, surprisingly, the town of Wayback and the family she uncovers there….

Excerpt:

"Are you a gift from God or do they make all the men like you around here?"

"What’re you talking about?" he asked with a chuckle, threading his fingers through hers and pulling her close, navel to navel.

"You ride a horse like a Trojan warrior," she pointed out. "You happen to look like one, too, minus the hat and boots. You’re ninety-nine-point-nine-nine percent charm. And you also happen to be a fabulous dancer." She tilted her head curiously. "All that’s missing is ‘Great Kisser.’"

He lowered his lips. They brushed hers as he murmured, "Got that covered."

Her eyes drifted to a close while he lingered a breath away, teasing her. That fresh smell of his wrapped her close and warm. "Of course, you do." Her lips parted under his to accept the full depth of his smoldering kiss. The hands she’d twined at the nape of his neck fell limp on his collar. Her head bowed back into his cupped palm as his tongue danced over hers in firm, languid strokes.

Heart pattering, breath stalling, she hardly noticed the hum that escaped her throat. His hand was trekking down her back, long fingers inciting the skin underneath the zipper of her dress.

The song ended, but she didn’t break away from him when applause sounded around them and people began to nudge past them on and off the dance floor. His hands gripped her hips as the kiss intensified. Good God.

Amber Leigh Williams is a multi-published romance author, former Secretary of the Gulf Coast Chapter of RWA, and a monthly contributor to The Roses of Prose and Sweethearts of the West. Her first western romance, Blackest Heart, was the 1^st Place More Than Magic Novella in 2009 and her historical romance, Forever Amore, was nominated for Best Book of 2009 by Long & Short Reviews. She is represented by D4EO Literary Agency and lives on the Gulf Coast with her husband and their three labs. Visit her on the web at www.amberleighwilliams.com!

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

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ALeighWilliams

AudioLark Cover!

To learn more about Calli and her story, Bet it on my Heart, visit this page on my website and read the reviews. Purchase Bet it on my Heart in ebook at The Wild Rose Press, Barnes & Noble or Amazon! The audio book is available now at AudioLark!

When Is It Time to Let Go?

2011-11-01T05:30:00.000-05:00

I am completely honored to host Cherie Marks at Tattered Pages today, who brings us a post about Letting Go. I think we've all been there at one time or another. She's also hosting a give-away for a free e-book of Into the Fire, her latest release from The Wild Rose Press. So, be sure to leave a comment to be entered into the draw! Take it away, Cherie!!

Into the Fire

I’m very proud of Into the Fire, my short story with The Wild Rose Press, but my first novel I wrote for publication will never see the light of day. Most published authors have these manuscripts getting dusty under a bed or saved to a file that hasn’t been opened in several years. Occasionally, these are dragged out just so we can assure ourselves this story was not meant for human eyes, and we tuck it away again when our beliefs are confirmed.

That first manuscript was a learning experience. It shaped my voice as a writer and became my first completed novel in over ten years. I’m thankful for the time I spent writing that story and those characters. They’ll always be like real people to me, and the feeling of writing The End can’t be beat. Yet, after six fruitless contest entries and a couple agent/editor rejections, I finally let it go. Throughout my lifetime, the most difficult choice I’ve ever had to make is deciding whether I should “let go” or “hold on” a little longer, and writing a novel is no exception.

But how do you know when it’s time to “let go?”

Critiquing is the name of the game, and all writers have to play if we’re going to win in the end.

Lately I’ve felt very blessed, but one of the greatest blessings has been the amazing members of Kentucky Romance Writers of America. They have been supportive beyond the call of duty and kicked my writerly butt when needed.

At a recent meeting, we critiqued each other’s back cover blurbs. What an experience that was. Let me assure you I appreciated every minute of their attention to my writing, but they didn’t hold back when highlighting the plot holes in my current work-in-progress. True, it was difficult to hear what they had to say because just like one of my fellow writers pointed out, each rejection feels like someone is slapping your baby, but in the end, this is a story I’ll hold onto, and the advice they gave will make this a stronger, better story that readers hopefully won’t have an urge to throw across the room.

It’s important to let writers and readers (even some who aren’t writers themselves) give an honest critique of your work. You may not always like what you hear, but you’ll gain invaluable perspective into a reader’s perception of your novel, and you’ll learn when to let go and when to hold on a little longer.

So how about it? Any unpublished manuscripts under your bed? How did you know to let go? Or what encourages you to hold on and keep working on a manuscript? Leave a comment and your e-mail address to be entered to win a copy of Into the Fire.

I love to hear from readers, writers, and in-betweeners, so please e-mail me at authorcheriemarks@gmail.com

Into the Fire Excerpt:

Months after he stole her affections—then her executive chef position—Shyann and Luke meet again under sizzling circumstances, competing head-to-head on a televised cooking show called Kitchen Twist. Each arrives with a motive: Luke intends to win back Shyann’s heart, even as she wants closure on the not-so-tasty heartbreak he once served up.

Luke knows culinary masterpieces require a delicate touch, but that knowledge is tossed out with the leftovers as he works to show Shyann he’s not such a bad guy. Now he pushes his skills to the limit to win the competition and satisfy a bet.

Can two top chefs resist each other as they move out of the pan and into the fire?

Here's the Blurb:

His hands burned with awareness of where they rested. His pulse raced, and her lips were mere inches from his. As if time stopped completely, they stared at each other, and for the life of him, Luke couldn’t seem to remember why he’d come in here.

Shyann shook off the haze first. “Let me go. I can get this without you.”

Against his need and with exaggerated motion, he pulled his hands away. She stumbled and eyed him suspiciously but went back to jumping for a high box.

Although he appreciated the bounce of her breasts each time she leaped upward, he forced himself not to stare, gathering some of his ingredients instead. But after watching for a few more seconds, with an irritated grunt, he reached around her, grabbed her target, and handed it to her.

“I said I didn’t need your help.”

“Fine, I’ll put it back.”

His hand touched the box, and she pulled it behind her. The motion caused their bodies to collide again. Her liquid brown eyes blazed up at him, and even as a small voice in the back of his brain screamed he didn’t have time for this, he couldn’t seem to pull away. She looked so damn soft and vulnerable, and all he wanted to do was step out of the way of her win, give it all to her because she deserved it. But first, he wanted to kiss her, a long, hot, turn-their-knees-to-jelly kiss.

Into the Fire Amazon BuyLink: http://tinyurl.com/3f7vfnp
Into the Fire TWRP BuyLink: http://tinyurl.com/3mfn3zj
Blog-- http://www.cheriemarks.blogspot.com
Facebook-- http://on.fb.me/qRl1lD
Twitter— http://twitter.com/cheriemarks

Alternative Hero Material

2011-10-27T05:30:00.006-05:00

It's my crazy great pleasure to have Lynne Marshall at Tattered Pages today, with a fabulous post about alternative heroes. I CAN'T WAIT to see comments on this one~ And be sure to leave one, cuz Lynne is hosting a give-away!

As romance readers, we’ve gotten used to reading about heroes who light up the room when they enter. They’re gorgeous and little birdies go tweet tweet tweet around their heads whenever they smile. Without spending any time at the gym, and while eating anything they want, they still manage to be cut and wash-boarded. Did I mention they are moguls, top-notch surgeons, millionaires and/or undercover cops, and even though every woman on earth drools over them, they only have eyes for the heroine?

Ah, the power of romantic fiction. Sigh.

What about regular guys? Aren’t they worthy of our undying love, too?

Inspired by reading AJ Nuest’s book, Jezebel’s Wish, where the heroine, Jezzy—what I call an alternative heroine—is far from the norm in the perfect looking, today-girl, I-can-have-it-all-type departments, I got an idea for this blog. So here’s my plan, I’d like to talk a little about alternative heroes, the not-so-perfect men who still manage to win over our hearts in our favorite books.

Anyone ever read Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer? Will Parker was skinny, homeless, and out of work at the tail end of the great depression when he stumbles into Eleanor Dinsmore’s life by answering her ad for a husband. She thinks Will is a bag of bones and as the story plays out, she helps fatten him up, and turn him into the man he is destined to be. Did I mention she is a widow, pregnant, and has two other children, and is in great need of a man to help her work her land?

That scenario doesn’t sound very sexy does it? Well, I’m here to tell you that book will grab you by the collar and pull you into its depth faster than any Stetson clad Texas billionaire.

Suz Brockman wrote a guy named Ken “Wildcard” Karmody who was only five-feet-eight, in Out of Control, one of her Navy Seal Series. Not your average hero material, you suggest? Let’s just say you’d be wrong about that statement, too.

Recently, I read a fun book called Wanna Get Lucky? by Deborah Coonts, where the hero turns out to be a cross dressing nightclub entertainer in Vegas. This was a harder stretch for me because I kept imagining him with waxed eyebrows whenever he and the heroine got up close and personal.

I’ve got one more alternative hero I’d like to tell you about. His name is Tyler White, and he is an over forty, has-been singer on his comeback tour in One for the Road, my current release with The Wild Rose Press. He’s big, six-feet-four, a bit out of shape, he smokes, and has blood pressure issues. Is that your idea of a hero? Probably not. The last thing he’s interested in doing is falling in love with a forty-six year old widow while renting her forty-foot RV for his cross country tour. Without spoiling the story, I’ll just mention that while challenged by D’Anne and the trials and tribulations of being on the road twenty-four-seven with his band and a picky widow, not to mention a mystery he needs to help solve, he becomes the man he was meant to be…a true hero.

I don’t have any problems with dreamboats as heroes, but once in a while I like to spice up my reading life with grittier characters who have realistic flaws, guys like Will, Ken, and Tyler White. How about you?

Tell us who your favorite alternative hero is from either a book or a movie, and get your name in a drawing for your choice of either a print or e-book gift coupon for One for the Road from Amazon.

Lynne Marshall (www.lynnemarshall.com) is a multi-published author of Medical Romance for Harlequin Mills & Boon, with an upcoming Harlequin Special Edition, Courting His Favorite Nurse, due out 3/12. Her current release is a full length contemporary romance, One for the Road, from The Wild Rose Press

Lynne believes it’s never too late to fall in love, and that second chances are gifts from life which are not to be squandered.

Tattered Pages Welcomes Author Silver James!

2011-10-24T05:30:00.003-05:00

Thank you so much for being here, Silver. Tell us how your writing career began.

English class in the eighth grade. In a spiral bound notebook with a black and white plaid cover. I would scribble madly and then slip it to my best friend, Angela, so she could read it. Titled “The Talisman”, the book was a time travel wherein two teenage girls were transported to King Arthur’s court. And fell in love with two lovely knights. With much hi-jinks and hilarity along the way. Needless to say, it was abysmal. Luckily, I grew up and learned more about the craft. ;-)

Oh my gosh, that's an awesome story. So you started out in the time-travel romance genre. Are you still there?

I often describe myself as a cross-genre writer. My reading tastes are eclectic so I had no choice but to chase after my Muse in my writing. Paranormal and Urban Fantasy, Romantic Suspense with paranormal elements, SciFi and Fantasy, straight mystery, and even a couple of straight contemporaries have all shown up in my WIP pile.

Wow! So what heat level do you prefer to write? What about the heat level you prefer to read? Are we keeping that bedroom door open or closed here?

As a reader, I tend to skip over the lusty parts. There are only so many ways to insert Tab A in Slot B. That said, if a writer gets into the emotions of the participants, that’s a different story. As for my own writing, a lot depends on the story and the characters. I have some that go behind closed doors. I have others that will ignite a room and never do more than simply look at each other.

Sounds awesome! Of the characters you created, which one is your favorite and why?

That’s like picking a favorite child. I guess it’s a good thing I only have one of those. LOL Taking the easy way out, I’m going to say whichever character’s head I happen to be in at any given moment. Right now, that’s Rory MacDermot, the hero in my current WIP. He’s surprised me on more than one occasion.

I love it with my characters surprise me. That's gotta be the best part about writing. Have you ever considered self-publication?

I have, yes. I have two series, an Urban Fantasy and a Romantic Suspense, my agent is shopping around. If no one bites, I’ll be very tempted to go the self-pub route. I believe very strongly in these series and would like to see them out there in the “wild.”

It is VERY intriguing, I agree. What are you working on now?

I’m working on the final book in my Faerie Trilogy with Wild Rose Press. FAERIE FOOL revisits many of the characters from the first book, FAERIE FATE, though in this lifetime, rather than the past. I still have elements of reincarnation, time travel, and those wonder feuding fae, Abhean and Manannán mac Lir, mucking about in mortal lives.

After finishing a manuscript, do you take some time off or dive right in to the next story?

That depends on the To-Do list from my agent. When I finish a manuscript, I send it off to my critique partner, so I don’t work on it again until she sends it back. I might take a day or two to read a book, because it seems like I never have enough time to read for pleasure. However, there are times that Iffy, my Muse, is running around waving her scissors and threatening dire results if I don’t leap into the next project.

LOL! That's too funny! Gotta love Iffy! What’s on your nightstand (or downloaded onto your Kindle) right now?

What’s not? *looks guilty* My TBR pile is HUGE—I mean like over a hundred books. I’m currently working my way through Regan Hasting’s VISIONS OF SKYFIRE and Kat Henry Duran’s EMBRACEABLE YOU from the Class of ’85 Reunion series from The Wild Rose Press.

Too many books, not enough time, my friend. Which Superhero would you most love to date?

Uhm…none of them. Men in tights aren’t my thing. Sergeant Rock? Now HIM I’d go out with! (Does anyone besides me even remember Sergeant Rock?)

Uhhh...not me. Anyone else? What about your husband Has he read your work?

He does if I ask, though he used to read my WIPs quite often. He is wonderful to brainstorm with, and I find that much more valuable than his thoughts on my writing.

Favorite cocktail?

Margarita on the rocks with lots of salt. MmmMmmm, good!

What about hobbies?

Hobbies? Who has time? *gigglesnort* Okay. Seriously. I read every spare moment I have. I used to needlepoint and I did some handpainted clothing once upon a time. But then I started writing in earnest and that’s my…passion. It is both job and hobby and all-consuming attention whore.

I hear ya there. Any pets?

I am owned by a full-blood Newfoundland dog (all 150 pounds of him!) named Cooper, a half-Newf/half-Golden Retriever named Boone who is the doobie of all dogs. Boone’s mantra is, “Can’t we all just get along? So pet me!” And of course, there is Adidas, the cat who rules us all.

Thanks for being my guest, Silver! Glad to have you at AJ’s Tattered Pages!

Thank you for inviting me, AJ. I’ve enjoyed my time here at Tattered Pages. And to celebrate my work on the final book of the Faerie Trilogy, I’m giving away the first book, FAERIE FATE to one lucky commenter, picked at random.

Whoo Hoo! Hear that, folks? Keep reading to learn about Silver's Give-Away, FAERIE FATE!!

BIO: With a rampant imagination aided and abetted by a Muse who runs with scissors, Silver James loves to share the stories created in that vast comic void pretending to be her mind. Over the course of her lifetime, she's been a military officer's wife, mother, state appellate court marshal, airport rescue firefighter and forensic fire photographer, crime analyst, technical crime scene investigator, and writer. Retired from the “real world” now, she lives in Oklahoma and spends her days at the computer with her two Newfoundland dogs, the cat who rules them all, and myriad characters all clamoring for attention. To find out more about Silver, visit her at www.silverjames.com

BLURB:

If you could go back, do it over again, would you take a chance to find true love?

What if you had no choice?

On her fiftieth birthday, the faerie catapult Rebecca Miller a thousand years into the past to find her happily ever after with Ciaran MacDermot, Chief of Clann MacDermot, the last Fenian warrior in his line. In the twenty-first century, Becca is old enough to be Ciaran’s mother. In the tenth, she’s young enough to be his bride.

The fae forgot to mention one slight stipulation. The lovers must be bound before the Festival of Light, or Becca will forever disappear into Tir Nan Óg, the faerie Land of the Ever Young.

Will they discover the binding words before time runs out and they’re torn apart forever? Or will their eternal love defeat their Faerie Fate?

Without the words, history is doomed to repeat itself.

EXCERPT:

The little clock she’d received as a present on her twenty-fifth birthday whirred and chimed the time. One small, tinkling chime. Two. Finally, twelve in all. Midnight between March twentieth and March twenty-first. The vernal equinox. The day when light and dark, good and evil, love and hate all balanced on the finely tuned axis of mother earth.

Voices, strange with lilting accents, whispered somewhere in the darkness of her dream.

****

“She sleeps,” said a soft voice, feminine, one Becca didn’t recognize.

“Aye,” said the second voice. This one was deep, male, arrogant.

“Will she remember?”

“Nay, she’ll not.”

“How then will she know what to do?”

“She’ll know.” He sounded confident.

“What of him?”

“Aye, he’ll definitely know now. He should have known the last time, but she was too afraid, and he was too full of himself.”

“What is so different this time?” She was skeptical.

“She was young then, not matched well to him. Now, she’s no young soul. She’s had all those lives without him, the lonely nights, and the ache in her heart for all time. This time, she has courage born in the fires of suffering. She’ll know not to run from him, but to him.”

“You’re sure with the knowing of it this time?”

“Aye.”

“And, if it doesn’t work?”

“Ciaran dies. Again.”

A sharp intake of breath came from the woman. “That cannot happen. Too much went wrong the first time.”

LINKS:

Website: http://www.silverjames.com

Twitter: @SilverJames_

Wild Rose Press Page (buy links): http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=674

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Silver-James/e/B003NTF5IW/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1319131880&sr=8-1

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Silver-James/122400874477832

Hi, AJ. Thank you so much for inviting me to visit you here at Tattered Pages.

Sex or Not to Sex, That is the Question

2011-10-20T05:30:00.000-05:00

I canNOT tell you how honored I am to have my dear friend and fellow Wild Rose Press author Calisa Rhose with me at Tattered Pages today!

Thank you for having me into your cyber home, AJ. I’m all a titter to be here!

When I first began writing, back in the dark ages, I wrote about love. There’s always a HEA in my books. However- there wasn’t always sex. Did the characters have it? Who knows? I pretty much just left that to the netherworld of the imagination of the reader.

There’s something I began to understand about myself and writing much later on, though. I care what others think. Maybe I care too much. I cringe to write sex scenes, so what someone else thinks affects my writing. I read sex scenes, well, mild sex scenes. Erotic would never find a place in my vision. Yes, I’m a southern gal. Nana (my gramma) taught me that sex belongs behind a closed door. Therefore, I was ashamed to read about it. Desires were my bravest venture. So, write about sex? Me? When the universe spins backward!

Then some writers and I started a critique group, Chapter By Chapter. *wave hello Twinkies!* I’m sure some of you have heard of erotic author, Chloe Cole (Christine Bell). Maybe some of you have heard of LC Chase, M/M author (also writes a killer ‘straight’ vampire). Chloe’s short stories were my first adventure into erotics, and she and LC’s Three To Tango, a ménage, was another first for me.’ Okay—so my kindle blushes as much as I do with all the body parts stored within. I don’t necessarily ‘like’ to read erotic, but I know it takes as much talent and work to write as my romance does. I respect the authors as much as any.

But the point is—not every writer is the same. Not every book has sex. That doesn’t make them any less good, and visa versa.

In April I was offered my first contract. It’s been a relatively short journey, and a fairly smooth one for me from beginning to write to first sale—but in December HOME will be released with The Wild Rose Press. I’m an author! It feels strange still to say that and know it isn’t just that I write—which was in itself was my proudest moment to be able to admit to—but I sold a book. I’m published! Guess what? You won’t find sex in HOME. What you will find, I hope, is sizzling sexual tension and sensual love bordering on sex. I didn’t plan it that way, it’s how my heroine demanded it—who she is. And we all know to listen to our characters.

Does that mean I never learned to write sex? Well, I do what we’ve all been told to do. Write every day, practice moving outside my comfort zone. So, yes; I can write sex scenes now. I owe it in part to those steamy sex gurus who write erotic. Yes, I read it now. What writer worth their weight in paper won’t try new things? I’m not saying an inspirational writer should pick up a Chloe Cole book- not at all.

But even sweet writers should read something they wouldn’t normally write just for the experience in sensuality. Because let’s face it—erotic authors can write some kinda sensual!

I can now write, and let someone else read, sex scenes. Mine will doubtfully ever be part A goes into part B scenes, but the door is open a crack. Just a crack.

What about you? What is writing outside your comfort zone, and do you read it?

Thanks again AJ, for letting me come and ramble all over your Tattered Pages.

****

Small-town country girl Calisa Rhose has been writing since she was a teen in central Oklahoma. It wasn’t until 2005 that she realized if “they” can do it there’s no reason why she couldn’t write and get published, too. That realization began her journey into the world of publishing. After a cross-country move with her husband and their three grown daughters (plus families) back to her home state, Calisa dove into her writing. She joined RWA and the local chapter OKRWA. Since that day she has been more determined than ever to see her name in lights. She intends to nurture others and continue to grow as an author.

She’d love to hear from her readers at calisa.rhose@gmail.com and you can visit Calisa at

www.calisarhose.wordpress.com

Find out about her first book HOME on the Bookshelf page.

Twitter and Facebook her.