Please help me welcome Jordan K. Rose to my blog today.  Jordan is giving away a $5 Starbucks card to one lucky commentor, so be sure and leave her a comment.

What is your favorite part of writing?

Believe it or not, I love editing. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy writing the first draft, but the editing process is my favorite part. I like to add the little bits of detail that make the story come to life and add depth to the characters and the conflict. I love to re-write!

Do you have critique partners?

I do have a critique partner. The wonderful and talented Kat Duncan. We met at a meeting for the New England Chapter of RWA a couple years back and have been together ever since. She’s been a gift. I highly recommend getting a critique partner to any writer. Of course, the key to a good critiquing relationship is not being afraid to say something doesn’t work and not getting offended when you’re told something needs tweaking.

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

Very unlikely. My characters are all organic and happily  grown in my imagination. To put someone I know in my book would be to force the story around a character and I just can’t do that. There are certainly traits from people I know in some characters or maybe a character acted exactly the same in a specific situation as someone I know, but that’s the extent of it.

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

Wow. This is a good question. I think the answer varies. I write character-driven stories so I think I do fine with the character development piece. Sometimes I question if my conflict is working. (That’s where having Kat around helps loads.) But I recall my editor asking me lots of “how does s/he feel about this?” questions when we edited Perpetual Light. And sometimes I knew how to demonstrate that very easily. Other times I didn’t have the slightest idea and struggled to get it onto the screen!

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

Vittorio is a vampire who’s tormented by the idea that his wife’s soul has never been at rest because of him. He struggles to keep from slipping over the edge and losing his own humanity while he tries to find a way to help her rest. One of his greatest strengths is devotion. He is eternally devoted to Lucia. He will find her and help her rest. Devotion is also a weakness for him. He is blinded to the reality of what she is and what she has done to him.

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

Lucia is a woman who is forced to realize she’s not just a human. She is a reincarnated vampire slayer who’s ordained to bring lost souls to The Light. She’s left with no choice but to kill her husband, Vittorio. One of her strengths is her ability to stand behind what she believes. She’s repeatedly reincarnated to get the job done. In this life, when she’s finally face to face with Vittorio, she actually accepts her fate and with his help begins to work toward an ending. Her weakness is her denial. She has not wanted to kill him. From the first moment she met him she no longer wanted to do the job she was tasked with and thus set her destiny to spin.

What genres are you drawn to as a reader?

Definitely paranormal, in particular vampire stories. I love to read in the genre I write. I love a good romance no matter what subgenre, but any vampire story will catch my eye.

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

I love to read in my genre because it makes me feel like I’m in the right place. That may sound odd, but when I read the stories of other writers, I feel like I’m part of a group, where I belong. Plus, I just love reading vampire stories.

Perpetual Light Back Cover Blurb

Fate is cruel. Especially when the one you’ve sworn to love for all eternity, the very soul who changed your destiny is the last person you should trust.

After more than three hundred years of running, Lucia Dicomano must make a choice.

Forced to take her place as a Pharo of Redemption, the divine slayer needs to master her forgotten powers. Lucia turns to Vittorio, the one vampire she’s failed to deliver from eternal damnation. But overcoming smoldering remnants of love, lust and anger aren’t their only obstacles.

Samuel, who may know Lucia better than she knows herself, hunts her with a fervor stoked by a thousand years of vengeful hatred. His plan—capture and enslave the weakened Pharo then take control of her elusive power.

Can Lucia trust Vittorio long enough to reclaim her powers? Or will she have no choice but to kill him and battle Samuel alone?

Hi! Thanks Cynthia for inviting me!

I write genie romances because I grew up in Bangladesh (in Asia) on spine-tingling stories involving ghosts and genies, from folktales to The Arabian Nights. So when I decided to write paranormal romances, I chose dashing djinns (pronounced “gin” it is what people in the East call genies) as heroes and sometimes heroines.

My most recent release, A Tale of Two Djinns, is an exotic Romeo & Juliet tale with warring genies, feminists, kick-ass action and sexy adult fun.

Akshay (Shay for short), warrior prince of the earth djinns, earns the title of Crown Prince at a high cost when he loses his best friend in a battle against ancient enemies, the water djinns. Heartsick, he escapes to Earth to mourn.

Nothing gets the biological clock ticking (and elders lecturing) like almost dying in battle, so Maya, princess of the water djinns, travels to Earth for some no-strings-attached sex to fulfill her duty and produce an heir. But the beautiful and tough warrior gets more than she bargained for when she meets Shay.

Their not-so-simple one-night stand is interrupted by assassins and the world, as they know it, is changed forever. As Maya and Shay pull together to survive, both are determined to have their happily-ever-after and bring peace to their worlds — warring families, shadow assassins, and nosy busybodies be damned.

My parents, the original lovebirds in my life, are the reason why I love writing romances and Happily-Ever-After endings. So, A Tale of Two Djinns is dedicated to my late dad and my mom, and to honor them I’m donating 50% of the proceeds to UNICEF for education. So I hope you’ll check it out. And if you’ve read it, please tell others about it!

A Tale of Two Djinns is available at: Amazon      B&N Smashwords

Meanwhile, here’s a sample for you:

Patthar had died protecting him, now the water djinns would pay.

Akshay threw back his head and released his anger into the wind. A raw, primal roar ripped out from deep inside, charged from his throat. He called the molewyrms with vengeance.

Thunder roared back in answer. Rain spattered his skin like tears. The ground beneath his feet shook. What started as a faint tremble broke into bone-shuddering quakes. The earth split its seams and spat out mud balls and stone.

The rhaksha lurched in place, eyes wide with fear. Akshay leapt forward, slicing down with his sword.

With an ear-piercing howl, the mountain of ugly fell backward, landed with a wet splat. The air around the creature wavered and reality hiccupped. Instead of an ungainly rhaksha, a most uncommon woman lay in the mud.

A female in the battlefield? What the hell? Breath rushed out of Akshay. He twisted his descending blade at the last second so that it sliced through the fleshy part of her right arm instead of her throat. A muted cry of pain escaped from between her full lips.

Silver armor, like glittering fish scales, covered her head and slim body and, damn, she had legs that just kept going. Double damn, he’d always been a leg man. His gaze jerked back up and met terrified whiskey-colored eyes set in an elfin face of the most delicate blue of a robin’s egg.

Tremors wracked the battlefield as more molewyrms tore out of the ground. One appeared so near that a shower of mud covered Akshay from head to toe. When he’d wiped the grime of his face, the woman had vanished.

Author Bio

Rashda/Mina Khan is a Texas-based writer and food enthusiast. She is Rashda the food columnist by day and Mina the romance author by night. She grew up in Bangladesh on stories of djinns/genies, ghosts and monsters. These childhood fancies now color her fiction. Her debut novella, THE DJINN’S DILEMMA was published November 2011. A second novella, A TALE OF TWO DJINNS, came out March 2012. Meanwhile, she’s busy working on a third story.

You can find her at:

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/Mina.Khan.Author

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5234352.Mina_Khan

Blog: http://minakhan.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/SpiceBites

Now for the giveaway…drumroll please:

You can win a Kindle or Nook version of my first novella, an erotic paranormal romance published by Harlequin, THE DJINN’S DILEMMA, plus some cool genie swag — a signed postcard featuring the cover of A Tale of 2 Djinns, a genie lamp key chain and a packet of wildflower seeds.

To enter you can do one of several things or a combination for more chances:

1. Leave a comment with your email (earns you one entry).

2. Follow me on twitter (earns you one entry)…but tweet at me: “I’d love me some genie romance.”

3. Fan me on Goodreads and please leave me a message mentioning Genie Romance (earns you one entry).

4. Like my Facebook Author Page! (earns you two entries)

(If you do a combination, please mention all that you’ve done in a comment at the end of this post)

Please help me welcome Debora to my blog.  Be sure to leave a comment to be entered into the prize drawing.

Cynthia, thank so much for having me on your blog today! I’ve got my coffee and I brought you a chocolate doughnut…two of my favorite things to enjoy when I in being interviewed.

What genre to you write and why?

I write mostly time travel romance with the occasional contemporary tossed into the mix. My time travels jump through different periods of history, because I find it exciting always going to new places and times. I like to take my readers on adventures!

How has your experience with self-publishing been?

I have been thrilled so far with my self-publishing experience. I love being in total control of my cover and the content. Most of all, I love that I have the opportunity to write what calls to me as an author. Sometimes time travel romance is a tough sell in the traditional world of publishing, but with self-publishing I’m free to not only bring readers the time travels that I love, but I’m free to write in any time period I want, when I want.

Do you have critique partners?

Absolutely! I belong to an online group that I started 6 years ago, the Passionate Critters. We keep the group small and over the years we’ve evolved from strictly critiquing to a real writing support group. We share the ups and downs of the journey. Through them I’ve developed some pretty tough skin, which is a necessity when your books are out there getting reviews! They’ve also been wonderfully supportive of my decision to self-publish.

What is most difficult for you to write?

Hands down, my biggest challenge in each and every book is dialogue. I can hear the characters in my head, but when it comes to getting them talking on paper – I struggle. Normal speech, true to character and setting, is so important when you’re in another time and place. I find I spend a LOT of my revision time on adding dialogue and cleaning it up. Sometimes I find myself wishing my characters could just be telepathic…maybe someday.

Please tell the readers a little bit about your book.

 A Knight in Her Arms.

Hannah Falcon loves her job at the Natural History Museum in New York City. She doesn’t love her friends insisting she date more. When a man dressed as a medieval knight shows up in the museum, Hannah mistakes him as her latest blind date. She couldn’t be more wrong!

Do you have any words of inspiration for aspiring authors?

Just keep at it. Surround yourself with people that foster you dream and push the negativity of those that don’t away. Write everyday, even if it’s only a paragraph or two. Keep believing, keep learning the craft.

Thanks for having me today, Cynthia!

What inspired your latest book?

I have a fascination with mail order brides, and love to read their stories. I picked up a book on real mail order brides, and decided to write An Angel in the Mail.

What is your favorite part of writing?

Fleshing out my characters. I love to give them personalities, likes and dislikes. I give them little quirks, and characteristics that make them unique.

What is your least favorite part of writing?

Marketing. If I could just write, and let someone else do all of that stuff, I would be a very happy author.

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

I have a contemporary short story being released from The Wild Rose Press in July, about a cursed doll. Then in October, the third in my Oklahoma Lovers series, A Prescription for Love will be released from Soul Mate Publishing.

How has your experience with self-publishing been?

I plan to delve into the self publishing world this summer. I started a short story set at the end of the Civil War earlier this year. I plan to finish that, and get it self published sometime this summer. I want to try my hand at it. I already have my cover picked out, and the name of a formatter I plan to use.

Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

Everywhere and anywhere. Sometimes a line from a song, sometimes a movie, another book I’m reading. Sometimes a conversation I overhear while out and about. I never know when an idea will hit me.

Do you have critique partners?

Yes. I belong to two critique groups. I owe a great deal to my crit partners. My growth as an author has a lot to do with their input.

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

Not likely. I like to create my characters completely from my imagination.

Give us an elevator pitch for your book.

In 1861, newly penniless New York City society belle Angelina Hardwick is on her way to the wilds of Oregon to marry a stranger, while her husband-to-be, Nathan Hale, has been promised by the Bride Agency, a woman experienced enough to take over the chores, and deal with his five children.

Blurb:

An Angel in the Mail, set in 1861, unites newly penniless society belle Angel Hardwick and Nathan Hale, father of five, who is desperate for a wife to straighten his life out.  Nate’s looking for someone who loves children and can easily take over the cooking, cleaning and laundry.  Instead, he is getting Angel, whose culinary knowledge consists of weekly meetings with Cook to decide the family’s menu.

Angel is a strong-minded young woman, resigned to her fate, and determined to make the best of her situation.  But will her new husband allow for mistakes?  Or will he send her packing when she burns meals and misplaces his children?

Nate just wants a peaceful, well run household, without the distraction of an attractive wife.  However, his beautiful wife with a very distractible body is not giving him peace.  Somebody lied, because despite what he was told by the Bride Agency, this beauty knows nothing about running a home, but she sure sets him on fire at night.

Nate and Angel have to come to a working arrangement, overcoming problems between them. But will they be able to find a happily ever after with someone desperately working behind the scenes to destroy their relationship?

Buy Links

Links: http://bit.ly/KkLBra (Soul Mate); Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/JZghzM, and Amazon: http://amzn.to/MR3nnZ

How did you get started writing?

I started writing after I retired from the military, just as a creative outlet. My kids were small, so I started to record their antics. That kept me plenty busy!

What inspired your latest book?

My latest book, Hard Target, was inspired by two things. My mission trips to Bolivia inspired the setting, but my friend, a military policewoman, worked at an embassy in South America, and was kind enough to share some details with me. Her work inspired me to create a military policewoman as my heroine.

What is your typical day like?

My typical day, when I don’t volunteer at the local school, consists of my hubby bringing me coffee in bed before he leaves for work. (It’s true and it’s wonderful!) and then during breakfast, I answer emails and then begin my writing. I break at lunch and do some housework, then back at it for an hour, then finish up with more housework.  Not too much, as it gets in the way of writing. <G>

How has your experience with self-publishing been?

My experience has pretty much been middle of the road. I had terrible sales at the beginning and have learned to promote my work through Twitter, reviews, blogs and getting good covers and a beta reader to find all the mistakes. I have been steadily improving in sales but always keep upbeat, no matter what happens.

What is your favorite dessert/food?

My favourite food is shepherd’s pie, and for dessert, custard tarts. I’d be 500 pounds if allowed to eat them. That’s how much I love them. On a similar note, I dislike olives and cucumbers, but eat pickles and olive oil. Go figure.

Give us an elevator pitch for your book.

Hard Target is the term used for a military target. That’s what my heroine is, and she’ll do anything to keep her embassy safe. Then, ‘Anything’ showed up at her work one day.

Do you have a view in your writing space?  What does your space look like?

My office window looks out at my front yard, with Austrian pines and a barley field beyond. It catches the morning sun and is very peaceful.

Tell us a little about yourself and your latest book.

Hard Target is an espionage suspense set in Bolivia. It’s sweet only in that it isn’t sexy. But it’s gritty, and loads all the senses with the sights and sounds and smells of Cochabamba and the Andes.  I have been there twice and loved it. It’s not easy to live there, but missionary work is simply one of the more rewarding experiences a person can have. Just going and helping someone less fortunate is such a blessing to a life.

Did you have several manuscripts finished before you sold? If so, did you send them out yourself?

I finished a TON of books before I published. I had no support network, nor anyone to tell me about my writing. I was really writing blind and learned everything the hard way. So any of your readers who want to start to write should find an organization like Romance Writers of America, and a local chapter, plus some on line friends. There are also many freelance editors out there who are worth their weight in gold.  Use them.

I recently received back the rights to my first book, All For A Good Cause, and revamped it and made a great cover for it, too. So, writers, always look for ways to get your older stories back up there.

Thank you Cynthia for hosting me! You rock!  

EXCERPT

HARD TARGET

Chapter One

The bomb exploded at precisely six-oh-four in the morning. Its blast rocked through Sergeant Dawna Atkinson’s beat-up Fiat just as she entered the city’s largest square. Ahead, despite the early hour, the block hummed with people, people who were not all running away from the old school which housed the embassy.

No, a few were running toward the large building.

Her grip tight on the steering wheel, Dawna shook her head. Those civilians were either incredibly foolish or incredibly brave.

Or members of a drug cartel determined to undermine the strengthening democracy here in Bolivia. They’d already ruined the capital of La Paz for many foreign nationals and displaced ambassadors to other cities like Cochabamba.

She gritted her teeth. Tramping her foot down on the accelerator, she darted into the early morning traffic, now thick with post-explosion chaos.

Smoke spewed into the smoggy morning sky in a single, ugly belch, its source a black burning mound in front of the doors that led into the embassy’s enclosed courtyard. Snapping her attention back to her driving, Dawna steered the car into a narrow alley across the square from the embassy and leapt out. No time for her locking bar, normally a must in most South American cities. With any luck, someone would steal the old rust bucket and inherit all of its mechanical woes.

She threaded through the noisy crowd, her long, quick strides carrying her over the numerous cracks in the sidewalk that sliced through the park-like square. Loud Spanish voices bounced around her as she hurried past the white monument of some long-dead dignitary on horseback. Already, the acrid smell of burning metal and ancient building materials penetrated the growing warmth of the early July morning.

She pushed past an old native man, who coughed out something in Spanish. Charging through the rest of the square, she reached the area in front of the embassy.  There, she stopped Miguel Ramos, one of the vigilantes, a security guard, just as he raced away from the small door that led to the courtyard, the one used for foot traffic only. He’d worked the night shift and must have been leaving when the blast occurred. Surely he would know something.

“What happened?” she called out over the wail of approaching sirens. Her lungs tightened, reminding her that the air up here in the Andes was still too thin for her.

“A bomb, Sergeant,” Ramos panted, his lined features slack with horror. “Outside, at the front entrance.” His panicked gaze searched the noisy crowd, fast and needy, seeking something.

She grabbed his elbow. “Anyone hurt? Where’s the Ambassador?” Please God, let him still be at home. Last night, along with the Ambassador and his family, she’d attended a small private function at the far end of the city. They hadn’t left until after midnight.

Please God, let him still be asleep. Let today not be one of the days when he felt compelled to come to work early.

“The Ambassador is not here, Sergeant,” Ramos cut into her thoughts with sharp, accented English as he brushed himself off. “Very few people here. I don’t think anyone was hurt.”

Dawna sagged. Thank you, God. She wasn’t three weeks into her new assignment as Military Security Guard, not counting the few months supervising the installation of the security system, hiring her staff and preparing for the Ambassador’s arrival. Bolivia had a long and healthy relationship with Canada. She aimed to do her part to keep it that way. And, blast it, this was her chance to prove to her home unit that she was one of the best, despite the black mark on her record.

Someone shouldered her to one side. She spun, prepared to shove back, to stop whoever was invading her embassy, but caught her action in time to see a firefighter hauling a hose toward the smoke in front of the entrance.  The swarthy man barked out orders in Spanish. Behind him, a battle-scarred fire truck was still heaving to a stop.

Several more firefighters trotted in behind the first one. She turned to Ramos. “Is the embassy empty?”

“No, Sergeant. We have two vigilantes inside.”

“I want one of them armed and guarding the firefighters out here,” she ordered, pointing to the front facade. “And the other to do the same on the inside. Secure the rear door and arm yourself as well. I need you with me.” Dawna glared at the firefighters. Though not her job to order them around, she wouldn’t let them take over, either. One of them could easily be responsible for this blast, and right now could be preparing to storm the embassy. The Bolivian government had cracked down on drug trafficking, and several cartels had warned that they would punish countries interfering with their illegal trade.

With Ramos hurrying to obey her, Dawna turned the other way. A barrel-chested policeman, dressed in fatigues, herded the crowd back, as her gaze journeyed around the square with methodical precision.

Then it stalled. From the direction she’d come five short minutes earlier, a large SUV loomed. Her patience drained away as she recognized the wide vehicle. The Ambassador. Of course he’d come at the first hint of trouble.

BIO

Barbara Phinney retired from the military to raise her two children and soon turned her creativity toward writing. That’s when she asked herself, what was the hardest genre to write? Romance. Nearly twenty years later, she’s published in that genre, going on to final in several contests and take the plunge into the self-publishing pool, with Souvenirs, set in the shadow of the bridge to Prince Edward Island, on the warm beaches that inspire her. Barbara lives in Eastern Canada with her husband, several barn cats and some chickens. Her own brood has flown the coop.

BOOKS BY BARBARA PHINNEY

 Hard Target

http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Target-romantic-thriller-ebook/dp/B0077TPK5M/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330130148&sr=1-1%29

Deadly Trust

Silent Protector (Love Inspired Suspense)

Fatal Secrets (Love Inspired Suspense)

Deadly Homecoming (Love Inspired Suspense)

Keeping Her Safe (Love Inspired Suspense)

Desperate Rescue (Love Inspired Suspense)

Necessary Secrets (Silhouette Intimate Moments)

Trust No One (Silhouette Intimate Moments)

All For A Good Cause   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00847SMVU