Author Archives: Cindy Woolf

Writing the Future by Lynn Crain

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Welcome Lynn.  I’m so glad that you could join me today.  Everyone please be sure and leave a comment to be entered into the prize drawing.

 

Many times during book signings or at conferences, I’ve been asked where I get my ideas. I’ve come up with some things that one might consider outside the box – way outside. Most of the time, I’m happy to tell people from my imagination and while this fact is true, I’ve usually taken something that is known and twisted it to an unknown.

Still, I’m sure many would like to know just where the germs of my imagination come from…well…I’m a science fiction affectionado from way back. I devoured authors like C.J. Cherryh, Isaac Asimov and many, many others as I grew up. These fine people told me what was possible for my future. If one looks at the history of today’s gadgets, you will find it in a science fiction novel somewhere. But I’m an author and need to think of some things on my own. I need to take what I know, look into the future and come up with a maybe to include in my books.

One of my mainstays that I read constantly is a magazine called Science News. Articles from there got me on a trend with nano-technology that I still use quite frequently today. This magazine runs the gamut of information from space technology to what’s happening in the human genome, all prime fodder for sci-fi tales.

Another place that I frequently turn to is a couple of web newsletters sent out by the Syfy channel called Device and their general newsletter to members. Device has given me more information on really obscure technology and then I play the what-if game to my heart’s delight. Some of the ideas don’t make it very far, and others find themselves winding their way into some of my storylines.

I watch every science show on TV that I can find. The Science Channel and the History Channel are two of my main sources as well. Each of them has a different perspective about something I love. TSC keeps me up to date with the latest, or close to the latest, discoveries from around the world. History keeps me abreast of where we’re been and the pitfalls to avoid.

I also keep a notebook of my more interesting finds. Like a screen that rolls up like a pencil. Or how nanites are changing the world of medicine. Or how bucky balls work. Or what a new world really has to have to be habitable with humans or anything from this world. Things that I might want to use in a book one day are all put in there when I find them, what websites and more.

My latest novel, The Harvester, has a heroine who has optics similar to those found in cameras in her eyes. She can see light spectrums that humans only dream about. She also has a bit of alien wear that has adapted itself to her use as a weapon of self-defense. Those ideas would never have come about if I hadn’t read an article or watched a TV show somewhere about the possibility.

The biggest thing writers of science fiction has to remember is that no matter what they produce, it must be believable in the world as we see it. Our world is changing so fast, computers purchased today are obsolete tomorrow, that even those who live in it are having a hard time adapting. Who would have thought we would have Tribes all connected to each other to help promote our writing as a group? Who would have thought that we’d be talking in 140 character phrases just 5 years ago?

Not I…and that’s what makes writing the future so fun…it’s never boring!

Lynn Crain has penned over 25 novels in romance in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and contemporary romance, general to steamy in nature. She always knew that writing was her calling even if it took years at other professions to prove it. She has belonged to EPIC and RWA for more years that she cares to think about. Currently, she lives in Europe while her husband of nearly 30 years pursues his dream of working internationally. Her state-side home is in Nevada where family and friends wait patiently for their return.

Her latest book, The Harvester, is due out from Shooting Star Books this month. You can find her hanging out at A Writer In Vienna Blog (www.awriterinvienna.blogspot.com) and various other places on the net (www.theloglineblog.blogspot.com; www.twitter.com/oddlynn3; www.lynncrain.blogspot.com ). Still, the thing she loves most of all is hearing from her readers at lynncrain@cox.net.

Silver Storm by Michele Callahan

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SILVER STORM

(Timewalker Chronicles – Book 2)

By Michele Callahan

 CHAPTER ONE

Friday,    5:17 A.M.

Glowing silver embers fell from the sky over Chicago and all of her suburbs.  The glittering snowflakes spread over the city faster than dawn could shoot its rays of new morning light.  The early risers, gasped in awe and cried at the unearthly beauty floating down over them like a billion falling stars.

Then the screaming began as everything and everyone, nine million people, burned to ash.

 

 

Three Days Earlier…

5:17 AM

Silence hovered over the water and a few moments of peace settled over Tim like a cool blanket on a hot July day.  He grinned and finished tying the spinner on his line.  The softly lapping water, smell of wet vegetation, and geese gliding around the edges of Hendrick Lake were as far from the deserted lab, blazing heat and gunfire as he could get.  Tuesday morning meant most people were back at work, leaving the lake and the best fishing spots empty…just the way he liked it.

Bandit curled up in her bed on the floor of the nine-foot aluminum boat, content to sleep for a few more hours.  The tiny Pekingese mix was used to his routine.  Fish.  Run.  Scan the news headlines every night for things he dreaded to see.  He’d sit at the computer and she’d curl up in his lap.  She did everything with him now.  When he’d flown home to bury his parents, she’d been a four-month old puppy he could fit inside his combat boot.  He’d come home on six months mandatory leave to ‘get his head back in the game.’  The top brass didn’t like the fact that his research was turning up nothing but rotten eggs.  Nothing was said, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know they hoped the death of his parents would push him deeper into the game.  He had nothing left now but a dog, an empty house and scars.  Lots of scars.

Bandit hopped up and yipped at him, happily wagging her tail as if to remind him that he had her.  And how dare he think he needed anything else?  The princess of a puppy had been his mother’s whim and a completely spoiled lapdog.  The tiny pooch had lived a life of luxury traveling in his mother’s purse everywhere she went.  He’d considered giving the pup away after the funeral, but couldn’t bring himself to do it.  That was four months ago.  The little girl wasn’t much bigger now, a whopping ten pounds soaking wet, but she kept him company, she was smart, she liked to fish, and she was the only family he had left.

“Let’s see what we can catch today, girl.”  Tim cast his line out over his favorite fishing spot and let the spinner sink a few inches before slowly reeling it back in.  The rhythm and monotony chased away the last of his lingering nightmares.

Bandit growled low in her throat and paced over her pillow, rumbling like a tiny electric toy stuck in the ‘On’ position.  The hair on her body started to rise, forming a round fluffy brown and white snowball with huge brown eyes Tim would’ve laughed , but then the hair on his arms crackled with static electricity as well and rose to attention like a thousand tiny soldiers.  The water puckered as if it were being hit by raindrops, but there were no clouds.  No rain.  No thunderstorms on the horizon waiting to zap him and his boat into oblivion with a stray bolt of lightning.

Tim reeled in his line and stashed the fishing pole in its spot along the side of his seat.  Bandit stood at rigid attention on her fluffy brown bed and continued to growl, a steady little rumble of warning that set his teeth on edge.  They were too exposed on the water, too out in the open.  He clenched his jaw to keep the stream of expletives from rolling off his tongue.

Perhaps this was a freak storm.  There had to be a perfectly good explanation, because if it were the boys from the lab, he’d be dead already.  No, whatever this was, it wasn’t normal.  His silence came as automatic as breathing.  He didn’t start the small trolling motor.  He took out a wooden oar and paddled smoothly for the tree line behind his house.  Two minutes, perhaps three, and he’d be under cover.  He hoped that wouldn’t be two minutes too long.

“Shit.”

The electrical buzz building in the air continued to grow stronger until he could hear the slight hum around him.  His skin prickled and the water on the side of the boat rose, forming hundreds of fluid stalagmites rising, bursting, and sinking back into the water faster than he could track them.

Earthquake?  E.M.P?  Geomagnetics?  Had those bastards finally done it?

The electric charge shocked him with static build-up every time he moved.  Time to get off the water before whatever was happening cooked him in place or worse.

He glided into the reeds only a few feet from shore and tried to figure out how he could get off the boat without touching the supercharged water.  Any second now he expected stunned or dead fish to start popping to the surface.  Maybe the Fish and Game boys were doing this for a count or culling of the lake.  He couldn’t imagine why they would, but they should’ve posted warnings. Bandit yelped and sank to her belly, whimpering and shivering.  A thunderous boom filled the air and a burst of silver light to his right blinded him.  Instinct drove him to the bottom of his boat for cover and his mind raced with possibilities.

A bomb?  Lightning?

Whatever it was ruined a perfectly good fishing trip.

As suddenly as it all began, it was over.  The super-charged air dissipated like it had never been and the hair on his arms returned to its usual resting place.  His clothes stopped crackling.  The water, roiling moments ago, returned to a serene and placid lapping against the side of his small boat.  The geese took up their honking as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.  Bandit suddenly leaped to her feet and jumped onto the bench seat he’d just dived off of.  Her curled tail wagged fiercely as she yapped at something just out of his sight.

Ears still ringing from the blast he pulled his ever-present knife from its sheath at his waist and lifted his head just enough to see over the edge of the boat.

Michele will be giving away a prize to one lucky commenter so be sure and leave a comment.

 

Join a Critique Group? Yes or No? with Mimi Barbour

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Join a Critique Group? Yes or No?

I’ve just joined a critique group! After six years of being in the business, I’ve decided why not. I’m a bit leery about the time squander though. Because if there’s one thing I’ve discovered, there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything on my to-do lists done. And those darn days go by way too fast.

But I’ve also learned that a writer can become too isolated, existing in a world of her/his own imagination, living in a little room with the computer as his/her only companion. Mind you, an author’s life today is quite different from what I can only imagine it would have been like years ago, and not that many either.

Having the responsibilities of promoting our work nowadays, we’re forced to interact over the Internet. These last years, I’ve been fortunate to meet wonderful people who have helped me tremendously. But that isn’t like being in a room with other living, breathing souls and sharing ideas, laughing and just being noticed.

Networking with other people who love the same pastime, that’s what I’m looking forward to.  Sharing ideas and helping each other. Giving and receiving confidence to try something new.

Of course it does help that the other three girls I’ve been invited to join are fantastic, funny, hard workers, task driven and with the same ambition of being multi-published as myself. It outta be a hoot…one I’m looking forward to immensely.

Are you in a critique group? Has it been a positive experience or do you feel as if you’re not getting anything out of it at all? That it’s a time drain?

Please leave your comments and your e-mail address so I can choose a winner for a free e-book copy of “She’s Me”. I’d love to add you to my newsletter list also. (Sent out only when I have news…I promise!).

I love to hear from readers anytime so please contact me: mimibarbour@hotmail.com

My website:  http://www.mimibarbour.com/

Or my blogspot:  http://mimibarbour.blogspot.com

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

Or on Facebook…

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

Blurb from SHE’S ME

A spoilt model, Jenna McBride, sits on a bench in 2007, pricks her finger on a rose bush and gets transported back to 1963 England to inhabit the body of chubby Lucy McGillicuddy. As her spiritual roommate, Jenna’s cynicism forces Lucy to adhere to a model’s lifestyle of sparse eating and physical exercise. Lucy’s body changes, becoming svelte and beautiful. Conversely, Lucy’s kind-hearted, generous spirit leaves a lasting impression on the temperamental fashion plate who exists inside her.

Lucy loves knowledgeable Dr. John, who has plans to help Jenna return to her own body. Jenna’s Business Manager Jake assists and mistakenly shifts into Dr John. Now the four spirits are vying over two bodies. Meanwhile, Jenna realizes an attraction for Jake, who’s very endearing, and she falls madly in love with him. While you giggle over their antics, these four characters will steal your heart.

 

Excerpt from SHE’S ME:

Jenna was heading to her special place, a wooden bench near the roadway where she could people-watch, one of her favourite pastimes. She liked to breathe in the scents from the pink roses that trailed over the trellis behind the bench and gave a fresh contrast to the natural greyness of the oak. Today the scene was framed by a sky bluer than normal. She meandered along toward the empty bench, Marnie close behind her. As she stopped to smell a particularly gorgeous rose, a thorn bit into the fleshy part of her finger, and she suddenly squealed with pain.

Strangeness settled over her as she sat to pull out the spine. As soon as her body touched the bench, a trancelike state began to take hold. Her mind felt numb, and later she would swear that her body floated away from her and disappeared in small drifts, like a cloud shifting.

Finally, she broke loose from these imaginings and turned to talk to Marnie, who was nowhere to be seen. She shook her head and reached up to rub her forehead, but when she touched herself she knew something was dreadfully wrong. It was as though she were having an out-of-body experience. Everything around her had altered. She closed her eyes and slumped further down on the bench. She twisted herself agitatedly, opened her eyes again and looked in every direction. It was then she realized that the road looked oddly different from the one she remembered.

She swivelled every which way, still seated because she felt weakened somehow, too weak to stand. And then she spied her dress and screamed. When she’d walked outside she’d been wearing white jean capris and a navy-and-white designer top, with a rhinestone-decorated white jean jacket to set off the ensemble.

Now, clutched in her shaking hands, her garb seemed to be a full-skirted, polka-dotted garment that hung down well past her knees and—what scared her silly—were the white gloves over her decidedly plump hands.

 

A word from the Author of The Vicarage Bench Series / Angels with Attitude Series

I’ve taken early retirement on Vancouver Island to spend my days and many nights hovering over my computer and spinning the stories that have been vying for attention over the years.

My husband is supportive and drags me out to feed me and plans occasional forays into the outside world. I have a son who makes me happy I was born a woman so I could be his mom, and a niece whose family adds to my full cup of happiness.

Gardening lights my inner fires, and I need no urging to get out into the yard when the weather dictates. I do have many hobbies such as quilting, crocheting, but alas – no time.

 

Centauri Series: The Complete Collection

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I’m doing a little promotion for my own book today.  I’ve put all three of my Centauri books – Centauri Dawn, Centauri Twilight and Centauri Midnight – together in one volume.  This does a couple of things for both of us.  It assures me that you, my reader, have all three books and it saves, you, my reader, money over buying all three books.

Below are excerpts from each of the books.  I hope you enjoy them and to thank you for stopping by, I’m giving one paperback copy of Centauri Series: The Complete Collection to two lucky commenters in the US.  If you are outside the US you’ll receive a Smashswords coupon.  So be sure and leave a comment to be entered into the drawing.

 

EXCERPT FROM CENTAURI DAWN BY CYNTHIA WOOLF

Always the same dream. He called to her. “Princess Dayanara.” His voice was like rich, silky caramel, floating down her mound of ice cream. It did strange things to her insides. She yearned to hear him say her name again and again.

It was so hot and he was so sexy. Hot. God, she was hot. She kicked the blanket off her leg. But he was just a dream. A fantasy.

Something…someone…touched her leg. This wasn’t a dream! The hand she felt hot against her skin was real. She jolted awake. The warmth she felt in her dream turned to a cold sweat.

A man stood beside her bed. Not just any man, but the man from her dreams. Tall, dark, with chiseled features. Handsome with broad shoulders and abs to die for. His face came into focus and his gaze captured hers. Color of the deepest ocean, so blue as to seem almost black in the faint light that surrounded him, she struggled to look away.

Sitting bolt upright, she screamed, then scrambled backward over and off the bed, landing with a thump. She hit her back and shoulder.

The man leaned over the bed, his large size looming down over her, blocking the light from the window.

She scrambled backward, struggling to get to her feet.

“Are you injured?” His voice washed over her. He sounded familiar, like she should know him, but she didn’t.

He came around the bed and she bounded over it to the other side. As he closed on her she glanced quickly around and looked for a weapon, any weapon. Her hand landed on a small pink lamp. It had sat next to her bed since she was five, keeping her safe from the boogeyman. She grabbed it, pulling the cord from the wall and held it in front of her like a sword. “Who the hell are you? Get out of here before I call the police.” Her voice was rough from sleep, edgy from fear.

He moved closer to her, reaching out a hand. Not with malice, but with something else. Concern? “Princess you’re going to hurt someone. May I assist you?” he asked, chivalrous.

Princess. He must be a nutcase.

She yanked at the straps of her gown, resettling them on her shoulders and pulling the bottom down as far as it would go but it was too short to cover much.
“Stop.” Her voice shook, though she tried to steady it. “Don’t come any closer.”

“You must listen. You must come with me.”

She screamed at the top of her lungs. “Help! Help! Help!” What was wrong with the people in this building? Were they all deaf?

“Princess.” His voice washed over her like warm chocolate, comforting her. That wasn’t right. Why wasn’t he attacking her? The soothing voice didn’t stop her. He was a stranger. In her bedroom. “Help! Help!” she screamed, keeping the pink lamp aimed at him.

She lunged across the bed, reaching for the telephone.

“Now, Princess, please calm down.” He reached for the phone, and ripped it from the wall. “I mean you no harm, but we must talk and there is little time.” He fell to one knee, bowing in front of her.

Her eyes wide, she swung the pink lamp at him at him. He deflected the blow with his forearm as he stood, denting the lampshade in the process.

“Princess. Someone is going to get hurt if you do not allow me to speak.” He wrestled the mangled lamp from her. “Hear what I have to say. Please,” he implored. “You must return home. Immediately.”

“Help! Somebody help me!” Screaming, she kicked out at him with her foot, tried to take his head off but her skills were no match for his. He blocked her kick with one arm, grabbed her leg with both his hands, flipped her completely around and back on to the bed.

“No one can hear you. Stop screaming.” His voice never rose. He sounded…exasperated.

Somewhat reassured that he didn’t attack, Audra stopped to catch her breath. Breathing hard, she rolled to her back, the sheet cool beneath her and eyed him from top to bottom. “You look like you just came from a Star Trek convention.” And just like the man in my dream.

Could it be?

 

EXCERPT FROM CENTAURI TWILIGHT BY CYNTHIA WOOLF

Anton needed an escape. All this happiness made him nauseous. In the last two weeks since the announcement of his brother Darius’ wedding to Audra, Queen of Centauri, he’d witnessed more kissing, smiling and cheerful familial festivities than he could stand. Now the ceremony was finally over. All he had to do was manage to not look so grim as he survived these last few hours of dancing and merriment.

Taking advantage of a lull in the festivities, Anton pulled Darius and Audra aside. “I’m leaving tonight.”

Audra took his hands in hers, the soft fabric of her wedding dress brushed against his legs. He forced his feet to remain planted. No need to offend his new sister by moving out of arms reach. “Are you well enough to leave?” she asked with a frown. “This isn’t going to be an easy mission for you.”

Anton used the one argument he knew Audra would not stand against. “Sweet sister, I’m well enough. The sooner I leave, the sooner I’ll find Jondalara and bring her home.”

Audra leaned up and kissed his scarred cheek. “Anton, how will I ever be able to thank you?”

Regardless of his own internal agony, it had nothing to do with Audra and Darius. He couldn’t stop a genuine grin escaping. “Name this baby after me.”

Audra slumped against Darius. “Baby?”

Darius held his new wife close to his side. “What baby?”

Anton smiled then chuckled. Should he be upset that his brother had made love to his lifemate, even though she was to have been Anton’s bride? Maybe, but he could not. It was too difficult to find your lifemate and impossible for a Coridian man to resist her once he found her. “It appears you two already had your wedding night.”

Audra’s hand automatically went to her stomach. Nothing was showing, there was no bump, not that it would have shown under her wedding dress anyway. “But, but…how could you know? I don’t even know yet. I mean I haven’t…” Audra sputtered, unable to voice the words.

Darius laughed, rich and loud, uncaring that he was drawing attention to the three of them. “It is one of his gifts, Sweetheart. Ask my mother sometime what happened when he was five and told my mother to expect me.”

Oblivious to everyone else, Anton knew they were in love. Audra leaned again into Darius and he wrapped his arms around her. “A baby,” she sighed and rubbed her stomach. Then she turned back to Anton, the happy bride gone and only the Queen remaining. “I don’t care what it takes, bring my sister home.”

Audra had found Anton half dead in Zelton Slavarien’s dungeon after escaping Slavarien herself. She was resourceful, his sister-in-law. He’d been beaten to within an inch of life and tortured in many other ways by Slavarien who wanted to know where Audra was.

He heard the doctors, while he was in the med tech unit, say how lucky he was. That a few more hours and the damage would totally have been irreversible and he would have died. He wished he had, along with the rest of his company of soldiers. They’d been sent to bring back Zelton Slavarien for trial, but just outside his citadel a trap had been laid. One designed to capture Anton and solicit information from him in any way possible. Torture was the preferred method employed by Slavarien.

She’d saved what was left of his miserable life. He’d do this one thing for her before he let the darkness and guilt over losing his men in the ambush, claim him. He and Darius both knew the odds of survival were low, of finding the princess even lower. But he’d demanded the mission anyway. The planet Delaz was a long way off, a lifetime from the world he knew. And a return to the dominion of the evil Slavarien family.

None of it mattered.

He’d find Jondalara or die trying. This was the one thing that Audra wanted above all else, the one thing he could do for her to repay his debt.

“I will, Your Majesty. I will bring her home to you.”

 

EXCERPT

CENTAURI MIDNIGHT by CYNTHIA WOOLF

“Audra, please. You’re my queen, but you’re also my friend. You must grant me this last request. Let me go after him. Please you know how much this means to me.” Tensign Kiti Dolana paced the Her Royal Highness’s beautiful sitting room. Bile rose in her throat and threatened to strangle her. Finally, she collapsed into a chair its soft cushions swallowing her as she sat across the small, highly polished and gleaming, coffee table from the Queen of Centauri.

The Queen, pregnant with triplets, her beautifully distended abdomen disallowing much frivolous movement, reclined on the couch. She sat up to pour the tea but had trouble reaching the tea pot in the middle of the coffee table. “Kiti, would you pour our aeta? I’m a bit like a beached whale right now.” Audra was anything but a beached whale. Kiti knew the colloquial term from her study of Earth.

Her queen was radiant. Her long, chestnut hair fell in waves to her waist, gathered on one side of her head. Her clear silver gray eyes shone bright in her pale face. She wore a beautiful royal purple empire-waisted dress that highlighted her pale features. She was beautiful. Kiti remembered a time, on their trip back to Centauri from Earth, when she’d not thought so, because she was jealous.

That was before Audra’s marriage to Darius, when she’d still been betrothed to Anton. Kiti had thought herself in love with Anton. They’d been seeing each other for years, and Kiti was jealous of Audra. Some of the things she’d said had been unkind, but Audra had seen her jealousy for what it was and forgiven her the words. They were now best friends.

Kiti poured the tea and continued to beseech her queen. “Audra, you have to let me go after him. Tybold killed my brother, Joridan. His actions directly led to Anton being captured and tortured. I need to see they both get justice. They deserve it.”

“And you are sure it’s only justice you seek?” Audra softly asked.

“Damn it, Audra.” Kiti got up and paced the room again. Her long black hair, tied in a high tankipa tail, swung back and forth, slapping against her back with each step. The thick, plush carpet kept her boots from clicking on the floor. “I’m begging you to let me go with Garrick Marcus. It’s not just revenge I need. I need closure. I’m the one who should deliver Tybold to the authorities.
Garrick Marcus is the best captain in the fleet and I know Darius is sending him after Tybold. Joridan needs us both to avenge his death. To bring his murderer back to Centauri for justice to be served.”

“Kiti, are you combat trained? We don’t know what to expect from the Gregarians. By this time, Tybold could have convinced them we are conquerors and he’s their only salvation. We don’t know. It could be a suicide mission. I don’t want to lose my best friend.” She went on. “I know you’re grieving. Joridan’s loss and Lara’s return has been very hard on you.”

“Stop.” Kiti held up her hand. “I know what my life has been like. I mourn the loss of Joridan and I’m still angry about Anton’s capture and torture. Joridan was my little brother.” she smiled at that. “Even though he was a head taller than me, he will always be my little brother. I still smell Joridan’s scent in his room. Sometimes it’s so fresh it’s like he just passed by.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I miss the closeness that Anton and I once shared, but I do not bemoan him finding Lara. I’m very happy he found his lifemate. It was something he never thought to do. After the torture both Anton and Lara suffered at the hands of the Slavariens, it’s amazing they found each other. I wish I had a lifemate out there somewhere.

“Audra, I’m a historian and anthropologist, but first I’m Dragonera. Of course, I am combat trained. All Dragonera are. We are the Royal Guard. The best soldiers Centauri has. For that matter, the best anywhere.”

“You’re right, but I worry anyway. Must be my maternal instinct.” Audra patted her abdomen.

Kitty smiled at the thought of Audra as a mother. She would be a good one, even if she was a might over protective. At least she was of Kiti. Kiti could only imagine how she would be with her own babies.

“You know the people of Gregar are centuries behind us technologically. I’m the only person who can go on this mission that knows anything about their culture.”

“I don’t know,” Audra hesitated.

“Admit it. Garrick needs me.”

“We don’t interfere in the development of other planets’ civilizations. You know that.”

“Tybold has already interfered. I say we’ll be evening the odds for the tribes involved. And it’s not as though Gregar doesn’t know we exist. They already trade with other planets. Just because they’re not our technological equals doesn’t mean they aren’t advanced.”

Kiti saw Audra hesitate again before she answered. “I’ll have to confer with Darius before I can give you my answer.”

At that moment Darius came in accompanied by Garrick, Anton and Lara. The three men were in their Dragonera uniforms as was Kiti, the only differences being the color blocking. All wore the royal colors of amethyst and cream. Darius and Garrick wore amethyst uniforms with cream colored sleeves, denoting their status as starship captains. Darius’ uniform also had a cream colored stripe from the left shoulder to the waist, denoting that he was Captain of the Royal Guard. As a general in the Royal Army, Anton’s uniform was solid amethyst. Lara, Audra’s twin sister, still had the tanned skin from someone who’d spent too much time in the sun. She wore the House of Danexx royal colors like everyone else did. Hers were an amethyst jumpsuit and long cream colored duster. Kiti’s uniform was solid cream. Her rank as Tensign was denoted by a patch on her left arm.

“What do you need to discuss with me?” Darius asked as he took his wife’s arm and helped her to rise from the couch. She gave him a quick kiss. Darius rubbed her stomach then bent and said, “Hello, my children. Are you being nice to your mommy today?”

Kiti swore he expected an answer.

“If you don’t quit that people are going to think you’re crazy,” said Audra.
Darius laughed and kissed her abdomen.

“I am. Crazy in love with my wife.”

Lara made gagging sounds. ‘Will you two remember that you have an audience?”

“All right. But you and Anton are just as bad as we are,” Darius said to his soon to be twice over sister-in-law.”

“Never,” retorted Lara. “No one is as over the moons as you two.”

“I don’t know, I’m pretty much over the moons about you,” said Anton waggling his eyebrows at her.

The banter was not aimed at Kiti. She didn’t think the two couples even remembered they were not alone. Kiti glanced at Garrick, who rolled his brandy colored eyes at her. “Audra, the mission.” She reminded her queen to hurry by tapping the comulator at her own wrist.

“Oh, yes. Darius, Kiti has requested to be assigned to go with Garrick to Gregar, to apprehend Lord Tybold. I told her I would discuss it with you.”
“I don’t know if she will be needed,” Darius responded.

Garrick spoke for the first time since entering the room. “I think an anthropologist would be very useful on this particular mission. Tensign Dolana would be a definite asset to me in bringing in Tybold.”

“Thank you, Garrick.” Kiti was warmed by his words and agreed with him one hundred percent.

“Very well,” said Darius. “You will receive your orders tomorrow. In the meantime, can we eat dinner? I’m a starving man.”

My Wedding Ring

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The GRAND prizes for the ENTIRE hop is:
1. A Kindle Touch
2. A $60 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble giftcard
Please make sure to leave a comment that INCLUDES your email address to be entered into the drawing for the GRAND prize, no email address, no chance! So leave it!

Now there will be two winner of my blog in this hop.  I’m giving away 2 copies of my Centauri Series: The Complete Collection in paperback, each of which is a 18.99 value.  Remember to leave your email in the post to be entered to win one of the grand prizes listed above.  You can win on my blog and still win the grand prize, so take a chance and leave a comment with your email address.  The paperback copies are for US only.  Outside the use you will win ebook copies.

 

We don’t make a huge deal out of birthdays in my family.  Never had any parties as a kid, just do a cake of our choice with the family.  Until my 40th birthday.  My husband, who was not my husband at the time, threw me a surprise birthday party.

He had it at my mother’s house and had me meet him there for dinner after I got off of work.  It wasn’t unusual for us to have dinner with her, so I didn’t think anything about it.  I figured she’d made me my favorite cake, German chocolate, and we would have dinner.  A nice quiet birthday.

Imagine how surprised I was when I walked in and my whole family and several of my friends were there waiting for me.  I couldn’t believe that all these people had managed to keep the secret and surprise me.  My family especially. We tend not to be great secret keepers.

Then I got presents from everyone.  It was lovely.  I was excited and happy.  My  husband then gave me a small square box and he was on his knee’s in front of me.  Everyone got quiet.  I unwrapped the box and slowly opened it.  My mouth dropped open.  Inside was the most beautiful…fly for fishing that I’d ever seen.

Disappointed.  You bet.  He knew it too.  His joke was funny though.  So funny, I pushed him over.  He laughed and came back up on his knees and handed me another ring box.  I wasn’t so cautious this time, figuring that it was another fly.  He ties them as a hobby.

I was wrong.  Inside this box was a beautiful emerald ring.  It wasn’t an engagement ring, but it was close.  He asked me to marry him about six months later and got married about six weeks after that.

My family and friends gave us our wedding.  One of my friends did the cake, one did the flowers, another the food.  My nephew did the music and another one did the pictures.  I have a very talented bunch for family and friends.  It ended up costing us about $800 including the judge and my dress.  And it was a beautiful wedding.  I got lots of compliments on how fun the wedding was.

As a side, note.  Don’t ever get an emerald in a ring.  They are a soft stone and break very easily.  That’s what happened to mine.  About nine years after we got married the stone broke and fell out.  I was devastated.   We had used the ring I got on my 40th birthday for my wedding ring.  That was 2005.

We were in Estes Park, Colorado which is only about an hour from where we live, not long after than in a cute little jewelry store and I saw this ring that I fell in love with.  It had a huge pink spinel stone, which is a sapphire, and a swirl of opal.  It was gorgeous.  My dear husband bought it for me so I’d have a wedding ring again.  That was in 2007, eleven years after we got married.  It’s still as gorgeous and strong today as it was when he bought it for me.  We go back to Estes Park at least once per year to get it cleaned and checked.  It always looks so beautiful and sparkling after they clean it.  It truly lives up to the name they gave the design.  Verve.

An interview with Nancy Lee Badger

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How did you get started writing? The week my son came home from a tour of duty in Iraq, the stress lifted and my pencil began writing. I wrote longhand then raced home from work each night to type it into my computer (I was a 9-1-1 dispatcher with free time between calls)

What genre(s) do you write in and why? I am guilty of writing what screams in my head to come out. My first two books, published the same day by two different publishers, were a contemporary romance set in New York, and a paranormal set on an island in ancient Scotland. I have written romantic suspense, a military short story, too. I have an idea for a regency historical set in London and Scotland, but that will have to wait.

What inspired your latest book? For my husband’s birthday in March 2011, I took him on a three-day trip to South Carolina. Our first stop was to the Fort Sumter National Monument in the middle of Charleston Harbor. I started thinking it would be a great setting for a paranormal historical story. SOUTHERN FRIED DRAGON was born.

How much time do you spend promoting your books?  It feels like all I do is promote, but how else will I get out the word? Especially with e-books. There are over one million e-books available at Amazon, and I want my book, my cover, my name to catch someone’s attention and make them click ‘buy’. I have released three books since August, which gives me a lot to talk about. Between guest articles, interviews, Twitter, Facebook, and the like, I spend half my time on promotion.

How has your experience with self-publishing been? Scary, exciting, awesome, and scary. Oh…did I repeat myself? Again, promotion is the key. I had a professional cover made, which cost $$, but important. I asked others who are successful self-publishing for tips and received several. Authors are helpful to other authors. I also try to ‘pay it forward’.

What is your favorite dessert/food? I try hard to stay away from desserts, but it is a battle. I did hear one of those TV Doctors recommend dark chocolate with chili (the chili is supposed to jumpstart a sluggish metabolism). Who knew it would taste good? I keep a bar in a baggie in a desk drawer and reward myself.

How likely are people you meet to end up in your next book? I have a shirt that says ‘Love me or you’ll end up in my next novel’. I might have been thinking about a couple of my fellow firefighters when I wrote LOVE TO THE RESCUE since I filled it with accidents, rescues, and forest fires. In my historical story, SOUTHERN FRIED DRAGON, I set the story during the months preceding the first cannon shots that started the Civil war, and mentioned a couple of generals by name, but the main characters are ‘make believe’.

Tell us about your hero.  Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses. Lt. Shaw Stenhouse is a military man. Even when his life is in danger, and my heroine demands to fly him to safety, he refuses to leave his men.

Tell us about your heroine.  Give us one of her strengths and one of her weaknesses. Dru Little had the courage to leave her homeland, Scotland, and to forsake her dragon nature to search out a new land, and find love.  She also knows she should not take chances of being seen flying around Charleston Harbor, but she loves throwing seashells at the men building Fort Sumter. She is rather young, can you tell?

Do you have any words of inspiration for aspiring authors? Do not try to do this alone. Use critique partners, join a writing group (either one that meets in person or on-line), attend writing conferences, or take on-line workshops. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. We published authors don’t bite.

Do you or have you belonged to a writing organization?  Which one?  Have they helped you with your writing?  How? I joined Romance Writers of America when I had a book ready to submit to a publisher. Trust me…join them BEFORE you have that first book written. I was doing it all wrong, and that book did not sell. RWA has 145 chapters. Even if you live in the Alaskan Tundra or the swamps of Louisiana, you can join a group and keep in contact via the internet. Beside my local chapter that meets monthly, I am a member of Fantasy-Futuristic & Paranormal Romance Writers, and the Celtic Heart Romance Writers. Those two are on-line chapters of RWA. With their support, I have sold five manuscripts to two publishers, and self-published two books.

BOOK BLURB

Amid cannon fire, and the threat of Civil War, love and trust will find a way.

Dru Little flew away from her home in a cave beneath a Scottish Island to end her lonely existence and find companionship across the sea. Her journey in late 1860 has led her to the modern American city of Charleston, South Carolina. Hiding her true self, she takes over the life of a serving girl and enjoys the hard life working in a tavern near the wharves. She has no idea that her life will turn upside down in a dark alley the moment a handsome soldier saves her life.

Lieutenant Shaw Stenhouse has his own worries. Southern secessionists are talking up a storm in Charleston. His fellow Federal soldiers are suddenly at risk from the community they are here to protect. The possibility of civil war takes a backseat when he saves a comely lass from drunken sailors. A good deed and a stolen kiss put a smile on his face until the threat of war becomes a reality. Their instant attraction proves disastrous when Dru spots her former lover, the Black Dragon, working for General Beauregard and the southern troops. As the clandestine group plans their attack on Fort Sumter, and Shaw’s soldiers, she takes to the sky.

Dru fights against the threat of detection, while she fears losing Shaw’s love. What will he do when he finds out that she is a powerful Scottish dragon Hell-bent on carrying him to safety? When Shaw discovers her hiding inside the heavily guarded fortress, thoughts of espionage—and worse—catapult the two lovers into danger from many sides.

When her former lover threatens Shaw, Dru must decide which is more important: protecting another of her kind, now nearly extinct, or protecting the human male, the man she has come to love.

Excerpt Link  http://bit.ly/yCGoqX

Title:  SOUTHERN FRIED DRAGON

Author:  Nancy Lee Badger

Genre: Paranormal Historical

Length: 30,000 Word Novella

Amazon ASIN: B0074CX7SE

Buy Link: http://amzn.to/zgv30B

 

More About Nancy

After growing up in Huntington, New York, and raising two handsome sons in New Hampshire, Nancy moved to North Carolina where she writes full-time. Nancy is a member of RWA, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, Fantasy-Futuristic &Paranormal Romance Writers, and the Celtic Heart Romance Writers. Nancy also writes romantic suspense as Nancy Lennea and is a proud Army Mom.

 

Website: http://www.nancyleebadger.com

Blog: http://www.RescuingRomance.nancyleebadger.com

Twitter:  @NLBadger

Facebook: http://on.fb.me/v12gxG

GIVEAWAY

Nancy’s earlier release, DRAGON IN THE MIST, was honored as a 2012 Readers Choice Award recipient when it won 1st Place in the Silken Sands Self-Published STARS Literary Contest. One lucky person who leaves a comment will win a DRAGON IN THE MIST ebook!   

 

Writing the CHRONICLES OF KASSOUK – by Vijaya Schartz

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Please help me welcome Vijaya Schartz to my blog.  Vijaya will be giving away a copy of her book, Noah’s Ark, to one commenter, so be sure to leave a comment to enter the drawing.

 

About Vijaya Schartz:

BIO: Born in France, award-winning author Vijaya Schartz never conformed to anything and could never refuse a challenge. She likes action and exotic settings, in life and on the page. She traveled the world and claims she comes from the future. Her books collected many five star reviews and literary awards. She makes you believe you actually lived these extraordinary adventures among her characters. Her stories have been compared to Indiana Jones with sizzling romance. So, go ahead, dare to experience the magic, and she will keep you entranced, turning the pages until the last line.

 

Find all Vijaya’s books on Amazon at:

http://www.amazon.com/Vijaya-Schartz/e/B001JP7UJ4

You may have to search individually for the new ones, which may not be on her author page yet.

 

Writing a romantic science fiction series requires stamina. When I started writing WHITE TIGER, the first book in the series, I had no idea it would develop into such a sophisticated saga. But now it’s done. The last book closed the full circle.

 

Out today, NOAH’S ARK (A Prequel), is actually the very first book in the series, since it’s the story of how it all began. This prequel explains how human settlers happened to be on this far-flung planet, out of reach of any contact with Earth. This particular novel, unlike the others, portrays Earth people with advanced technology.

 

WHITE TIGER (award-winning novel) is out today in print and has been available for a while now in eBook. It is set several centuries after the prequel. By then, the human population has lost all technology and reverted to a medieval society.

 

NOAH’S ARK: A Prequel

 

When Trixie’s starfreighter, Noah’s Ark, drops out of jump space in an uncharted part of the universe, she believes the M‑class planet on her viewer represents hope and salvation for her motley crew and the ragtag settlers aboard her ship.

Kostas, ex Space Marine, the expert survivalist recruited for this expedition, doesn’t believe in coincidences, and knows that when something looks too good to be true, it usually is.

Everyone on this voyage to seed a new planet with life, is running from something, and harbors dangerous secrets… including Trixie, who vowed to never let a man control her life again. As for Kostas, he would get lynched on the spot if anyone suspected who he really is.

But on this seemingly abandoned planet, others are watching, herding them for evil purposes… And when the truth emerges and secrets unravel, Trixie and Kostas will have to fight for survival, for freedom, and for the right to love…

 

WHITE TIGER: Book One

 

On the frozen plains of Kassouk, where a few aliens rule a medieval Human world, Tora, Human warrior trained by tigers, seeks her father’s murderer. But what she finds at the point of her sword confuses her. How dare Dragomir, the handsome Mutant, question her bloodline and her loyalties? And could a new enemy control the savage hordes of the fringe?

Dragomir offers to help, but Humans and Mutants are forbidden to fraternize under penalty of death… Should Tora trust her mind, her instincts, or her heart?

In the vortex of war, treason and intrigue, among blizzards, avalanches and ambushes, will Tora solve the mystery of her father’s death and unveil the secret of her birth? Can she and Dragomir escape persecutions long enough to save their planet from the invaders and fulfill their destiny?

 

Reviews for White Tiger:

 

“…an exceptional tale that belongs in a place of honor on keeper shelves everywhere.”
Johnna Flores – Coffee Time Romance – 5-cups rating

 

“…this is one futuristic that you do not want to miss!”
Naomi – Fallen Angels Reviews – 5 angels – Recommended Read

 

“…kept me enthralled from the first page…a thrilling science fiction romance”
Marlene Breakfield, Paranormal Romance Reviews

 

“…unique and extremely well constructed”
4 1/2 stars – Tami Brady at Book Ideas.com

 

“I’m adding this to my ‘keeper’ shelf and on the ‘to be re-read’ list.”
Niniri Theriault for The Road to Romance

 

“…fast-paced story that draws the reader in and keeps him/her reading… The characters’ personalities are believable and well rounded.” 3 1/2 Tigers – Michelle Thomas

 

If you like to read these books in the right order, now that the prequel is out, it should be: NOAH’S ARK (prequel) – WHITE TIGER(Book One) – RED LEOPARD (Book Two) – BLACK JAGUAR (Book Three) – BLUE LIONESS (Book Four).

 

Hope you enjoy reading this series as much as I enjoyed writing it for you.

Interview with Heather Long

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INTERVIEW QUESTION FOR GUEST BLOGGERS

1.      Tell us about your current series.

I have several series at the moment.  I have a paranormal western romance series called Fevered Hearts that follows the lives of the Kane and Morning Star families.  The Morning Stars are all survivors of the Spirit Fever. The Fever struck and killed whole towns, but the survivors are changed. One is a shape shifter, another a fire starter and still another is a healer.  They do their best to live away from others, until meeting the Kane family.

Other series include Forbidden Legacy, a paranormal romance set against the backdrop of the Fae coming out into the world.  Coming soon are Always a Marine, a contemporary erotic series of shorts featuring retired and current Marines discovering love and passion and The Fortunate Buddha, an erotic romantic suspense and fun adventure series.

2.      What inspired your latest book?

Brave are the Lonely was actually born during the writing of Marshal of Hel Dorado.  Cody’s grief over Scarlett choosing Sam in that book and Kid’s aggravation with a number of events and their both leaving at the end of the first book set the groundwork for the second.  You could say every loner, cowboy movie I’ve ever watched inspired the rest.

3.      What is your favorite part of writing?

My favorite part of writing is diving into the story and experiencing it as I am writing.  The first three chapters are always the hardest, but everything after that just lets me immerse into the story.  Then there’s that moment when we arrive at the last third of the book and that’s a wild ride, I can rarely even slow down my writing much less stop.  That’s fantastic.

4.      What is your next project and when will it be released?

I have two books releasing in April.  The first is Once Her Man, Always Her Man, a 1NightStand contemporary erotic short from Decadent Publishing in early April and an erotic romantic suspense The Love Thieves releasing in mid-April.

5.      What advice do you have for other authors wanting to self-publish?

Edit. Edit. Edit.  Have a critique partner.  Then invest in an editor. It can cost you to get a good, solid pair of eyes to review the manuscript and clean it up for you.  You want to present a polished, professional manuscript and the best possible read for your readers.

6.      Tell us about your hero.  Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses.

Cody’s strength and weakness is his strength of character.  He’s extremely stubborn and set in his ways.  His loyalty to his family and even to Mariska while he struggled with his feelings about her is reflective of that strength.  His temper, however, is something of a true weakness.  When he is enraged, he has a hard time seeing past the moment.

7.      Tell us about your heroine.  Give us one of her strengths and one of her weaknesses.

Like Cody, Mariska’s stubborn tenacity serves her well and makes her a survivor.  But her temper leads to impulsive, rash decisions that cost her more in the long run.

8.      What genres are you drawn to as a reader?

I love romantic suspense, mystery, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, romance, paranormal romance and just about every genre I can lay my hands on. I love to read. I love fiction and non-fiction. I love historicals, I love court room dramas, and more,

9.      Do you prefer to read in the same genres you write in or do you avoid reading that genre? Why?

I avoid reading in the same genre as a current manuscript. If I am writing paranormal romance, I don’t read them. If I am writing contemporaries, I skip reading those.  This lets me stay fresh and keep a fresh perspective.

10.   What are you currently working on?

I am working on the third Forbidden Legacy novel for Siren-Bookstrand.

 

Author Bio:

Heather Long lives in Texas with her family and their menagerie of animals. As a child, Heather skipped picture books and enjoyed the Harlequin romance novels by Penny Jordan and Nora Roberts that her grandmother read to her. Heather believes that laughter is as important to life as breathing and that the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus are very real. In the meanwhile, she is hard at work on her next novel.

 

Blurb:

When death seemed preferable…

Mourning his mate drove fevered wolf shifter Cody out of Texas, but a brother’s need drags him back from the brink.

…and good deeds never go unpunished…

Gypsy princess Mariska only wants to protect her people and her freedom, but a dangerous choice puts her on a collision course with an angry wolf.

…the best thing that could happen to him…

When Cody touches Mariska, his wolf cannot escape the hunger that fills him.  For Mariska, Cody’s touch brings her a pleasure she never imagined, but is it enough to heal his fractured soul?

…was the last thing he expected.

As danger stalks all three of them, they must confront who they are or risk losing Cody forever.

His wolf. His woman. His way.

 

Excerpt:

“Cody,” he murmured. “Keep it together, man. She really didn’t mean for this to happen.”

He bit back the growl at Kid defending Mariska. The wolf disagreed, but Kid’s pain was too raw for this argument. Shushing him, he fed the powder into the water and then forced it down his throat. Two draughts later, Kid’s spasms quieted and he kept the water down. Remembering her advice to get as much water down him as he could, he carried Kid over to the river’s edge, cool, fresh water helped and little by little, Kid’s pallor retreated.

Once he settled him back by the fire, he built the ashes back up. The warmth would help, blankets, too. The strength of the boy’s beating heart quieted the panic pacing through the wolf. Then and only then did he and the wolf look back at Mariska.

Her mussed black hair hung around her face like the curtain of night parting. The morning sun, already halfway up the sky, turned her skin to pure honey. He’d barely noticed her the day before, save for the fire spitting in her eyes. Her obvious irritation irked Cody, after all, hadn’t he saved her from an uncertain fate?

Kill her.

The wolf’s visceral response puffed through him, the fur sliding back and forth beneath his skin, but he caged the wolf’s fury. Lashed to the wagon wheel, the woman presented no real physical threat.

Why had her people left her like that?

Family came first. He was not one of the Kanes with their strange ideas about elevating women to a position of worship. He appreciated their nature where Scarlett was concerned. It satisfied him that she would be treated with gentle, tenderness. She would want for nothing among the Kanes. But Cody nor any of his brothers would have abandoned her.

The wolf’s snort agreed with him.

They’d have burned Dorado to the ground if they’d had to, killed every man in their way to retrieve their sister. Had Cody discovered the Kane brothers drugged and unconscious with Scarlett the culprit, he would have taken care of the problem and moved on, taking her home.

So why had her people done the opposite? What father left his child, vulnerable and alone, with two men who would be in their rights to take whatever they wanted from her?

Rage surged inside of him. Muscles tense, Cody stalked toward her.

Kill her.

Judging Historical Romance Contests by Jannine Corti Petska

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Please help me welcome Jannine Corti Petska to my blog.  Jannine will be giving away an ebook copy of her book, Surrender to Honor, so be sure and leave her a comment.

Judging Historical Romance contests for the Unpublished

 

Maybe it’s because I was an English junky in my former life, but I’m a stickler for grammar and punctuation. Now I’m not saying I’m perfect. Far from it. Often rules fly out the window when writing fiction. A writer’s style comes into factor here. But the simple and most basic rules of the mechanical side of written English (United States English) are easy to find. If you don’t recall what you learned in school, there is definitely no shortage of books explaining comma placement, proper punctuation for dialogue, misplaced modifiers, run-on sentences, and a zillion (a bit of an exaggeration <g>) other rules. So no excuses allowed, especially since the majority of writers have access to the internet.

I began judging romance writing contests in the late 1990s. Over the last 10 months, I’ve judged a few contests for historical romance writers working toward that often elusive goal: publication. The one glaring mistake (and the reason I was prompted to write this article) in almost all of the entries was punctuation—more specifically, the comma. The second is a tie between incorrect dialogue punctuation and run-on sentences. While not giving an all-out lesson here, perhaps more like tips, I would like to make unpublished writers aware of how a judge views their poorly punctuated entries. Just remember, all of the following are my observations only.

In judging the pride and joy of a writer, I try to be supportive while gently reminding her where and why punctuation is or is not necessary. I find each story I read has merit and could well be published one day. The writer, however, shouldn’t submit an entry to a contest without making certain it’s polished and shining brightly. This goes beyond the plot and character depth. The entire picture must be complete. If it’s not, scores could be quite disappointing. But do not feel down and out. Think of the judge as your silent critique partner and take her suggestions and comments as a challenge to perfect your creation.

Here are a few reasons for using (and not using) commas:

*They are not periods and do not signal the end of a sentence.

*Overuse of the comma leads to long, long sentences and confusion. They should be used before a conjunction (and, but….) that links two independent sentences together.

*Use commas after long introductory clauses and phrases, as well as after items in a series. (Her coat was short, red, lightweight, and stunning.)

*Know when to use commas in restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses.

The list goes on, but the above are the main errors I often see. Here are a few more:

—Review the rules for exclamation points! Use them sparingly in your work. One entry I judged used exclamation points as if she’d found a sale on them and bought out the store. By the time I finished reading the entry, I was exhausted.

—Go easy on dashes and know the difference between when to use them or ellipses.

—Learn how to punctuate dialogue. I cannot stress this enough. And begin a new paragraph for each speaker.

—Idioms can kill a story. One writer used them without fear. Unfortunately, it read like she’d used every idiom in the book to tell her story. I don’t mind a few, as long as they were in use in the period of your story. On this same note, historical writers must know when certain words came into use. Don’t refer to someone as “dude” in a medieval. The best book for this is English through the Ages. I’ve been told Webster’s Ninth Dictionary gives word origins although I haven’t used this source.

Obviously, there are many other rules to be aware of when writing. Using grammar and punctuation correctly could make the difference between a perennial slush pile inhabitant or a sale. Below are three books that might help you. Keep in mind, not all of these may speak to you. Go to a bookstore and peruse similar books to make sure you’re comfortable in how it approaches English grammar and punctuation.

The old stand-by book is Elements of Style, Strunk and White

My go-to book is A Writer’s Reference by Diana Hacker.

Another good one is The Everything Grammar and Style Book by Susan Thurman

Not all judges will tell you what you want to hear. After all, you’ve just given birth to your literary baby. You’re showing her off to the world. Why would there be anything wrong with her? When more than one judge points out a problem area, then it’s advisable to take a closer look at the reason behind it.

I’m a firm believer of entering writing contests, more so if you don’t have a critique partner. When I joined RWA in the mid-90s and dipped my toes into the contest waters, I was a nervous wreck. Upon return of my entry, I looked it over with a critical eye, thinking the judges had lost their minds. I’d get angry. So I’d put the entry aside for a few days until I cooled off, then I took a second look at the comments. Some seemed absurd (you’ll know them when you see them), but the ones that weren’t are what helped me learn the craft. In the end, you must do what is best for your story. And grow a thick skin, a piece of advice I received the first time I entered my work in a contest.

One last note: Read your work aloud. It’s the best way I know of for catching a multitude of mistakes. And never rely on your spellchecker. It doesn’t tell apart words like he/she, he/her or know/no. The list goes on.

SURRENDER TO HONOR, book 2, Italian medieval series
Blurb

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 stop 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.”

Buy link, ebook:

http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=176_138&products_id=4695

Paperback:

http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191&products_id=4702


Interview with Taryn Blackthorne

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Please help me welcome Taryn Blackthorne to my blog today.  Taryn will be giving away a copy of her book to one lucky commenter.  So be sure and leave a comment for an entry to win.

How did you get started writing?

I got my start in writing by storytelling. When I was a kid, I used to put on plays for my babysitters, my Barbies were always horse trainers or sorceresses or psychics. My best friend and I invented the Red Hawks and White Hawks, two imaginary groups of defenders of the world and we’d go on adventures. We were the leaders, of course. My writing just naturally developed out of that.

What genre(s) do you write in and why?

I write in paranormals mostly. I have a few futuristic and a couple of contemporary, but the magical/mystical elements always find ways to creep into my writing, no matter how hard I try to write ‘straight’.

What is your favorite part of writing?

My favourite part of writing is … all of it, I suppose. I love drafting, I love editing, I love making something from nothing and having it all appear from my brain, knowing that without me, this couldn’t have been born. Egotistical? Maybe, but it’s what I like. I guess I’m a bit of a control nut. Okay, there, I admitted it. Really I love trying to figure out the world I live in through the characters on my screen.

What is your favorite dessert/food?

Chocolate or fresh apples with cinnamon sprinkled on them. Mostly chocolate (anything chocolate falls into this, so cake, pie, brownies, bunnies, fondue…excuse me I have to go to the kitchen).

How likely are people you meet to end up in your next book?

I get teased about this all the time by my non-writerly friends. I’ll get this look on my face and my best friend Deb always moans and says ‘that’s going into a book, isn’t it?’ But to tell the truth, it’s not the people who end up in my work. I don’t know any real werewolves or wizards, people who’ve been possessed by ghosts or spirits or anything. I’ll pick out dialogue, a movement with hands, the way people look at their spouse or kids. That’s what ends up in my books. And of course, the occasional stupid move I do, like tripping up stairs or pushing a pull door.

What is most difficult for you to write?  Characters, conflict or emotions?  Why?

Fight scenes are VERY difficult for me. I’m not a fighter. I have to ask people who know how to throw a punch, people who are more connected with their bodies than I am. I live too much in my head, everyone who knows me tells me this. I break out chess pieces, dolls, anything to help me block it out and get it right, make it feel real.

What is your writing routine like?

A good day starts off at 6 am. Get up, coffee/tea, breakfast, shower and force my eyelids open. Try to be at the desk by 7am. Emails, blog updates, Twitter hooked up and I’m generally ready to start the word count goal by 8am. Then I hit the #1k1hr people on Twitter and go until I hit 3500 words or 11:30/noon. Then its run errands, interact with real live humans and kitties and other normal stuff. After supper I try to hit the books a bit (professional development for writers should be never ending…I call it research and EVERYTHING can fit in here if you do it right J).  I might go back to the drawing board if I had trouble in the am, or I might write some more if I’ve had trouble hitting my word count. But mostly, that’s it. I try to take weekends off, but if I haven’t hit my weekly count then I’m working the weekend too.

 

Are you a member of any writing organizations and, if so, have they helped?

I’m a member of the RWA and my local chapter (Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada, or R-wac as we call ourselves) they have helped immensely! I love having people I can bounce ideas off of, ask questions about self-publishing and just network with. I’ve improved immensely in my writing from their book recommendations alone!