Friday, August 31, 2012

Friday Spotlight- The Perfect Secretary by @MadisonJEdwards #TMPress @FictionWitches @turquoisemorn

Click image above for
$0.99 Short for Amazon Kindle

Sheila Adams, thrilled to be Troy Reid's personal executive assistant, wants to prove she was the right choice. She's the perfect secretary, who'll do anything to please both her bosses.

Warning: Graphic language and adult situations; intended for age 18 and over.
 
Reviews and Best Seller
"This hot little story sure did rev my engines! --The Romance Reviews


Amazon Best Seller - Top 100 Paid, Erotic Fiction





Top 10 Bestseller, All Romance Ebooks



What a deliciously erotic dirty bit The Perfect Secretary was. I'm still waving my hands over my laptop to clear away the steam. Yowza!
reviewed by Michelle ~ Another Look Book Reviews

I was shocked that even though The Perfect Secretary was 19 pages long, there was so much chemistry going on between the characters. I have to say this whole book screamed 'More' to me Ms. Edwards.
reviewed by Deb ~ Dark Diva Reviews


Author Bio: Madison grew up in small town Saskatchewan, population twelve hundred. By the age of ten, she’d read every book the local library had. Granted it wasn’t large, tucked in the corner of the local carpet store, but it sparked a love of reading that hasn’t diminished. Madison, her family and two spoiled cats, reside in London, Ontario. www.madisonjedwards.com

From the Author

The secretary / boss relationship almost automatically lends itself to a dominant / submissive relationship. This is what I tried to capture in The Perfect Secretary.
Ms. Adams appealed to me because she wanted Mr. Reid to be dominant, yet she didn't want to overstep her bounds as his executive assistant. Imagine her surprise when she finds out he had the exact same thoughts about her.
Mr. Reid also held strong appeal for me, because he didn't immediately use his position of authority to subjugate Ms. Adams to his wishes. He developed a rapport with her, and only after six months had passed, did he take the final step.
A true dominant/submissive relationship must have trust on both sides. Sheila and Troy have it in spades.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

#ThursdayswithTaryn- J.M. Madden aka @authorjmmadden


Thursdays with Taryn
J.M. Madden

What book(s) most influenced you as a writer? I remember reading Jessica Barclay’s Into the Sunset when I was a teenager, and starting to realize what man/woman love was all about. After I devoured that book, I started wading through my aunt’s boxes of Harlequin Presents. The women of my family are voracious readers, so it seems natural to me now that I am a writer.

What book do you read over and over again? I have to admit, I have three copies of Sherillyn Kenyon’s Dance With the Devil, and I read it every few months. That woman knows how to torture men. I read the BDB books a lot as well. I think you can find a lot of instruction in gut-check books like these.

Thursday Trio-
1)      Movie- The Man from Snowy River, followed closely by Pretty Woman
2)      Music- Pink, Rihana, Taylor Swift
3)      Decadent Dessert- Overloaded Pistachio cupcakes from Gigi, a bakery in Lexington

What’s the most interesting or bizarre bit of trivia you’ve learned from researching for a novel? Well, I’m investigating how paraplegics make love for an upcoming Veteran series, and one thing that they use is a sling for intercourse. I’ll leave the imagery to you guys.

Novel on your Nightstand:
Who/what are you currently reading? Teresa Reasor’s Breaking Through is currently bookmarked on my phone and I’m reading it every spare minute I have.

Whom would you cast as your Main Characters/Hero/Heroine if your book became a movie(can be anyone)? Well, Liam Hemsworth could play Matt perfectly. His hair needs to be a little darker, but otherwise he’s a perfect fit. As for the female, I envision kind of a Reece Witherspoon type of girl, a little clumsy/ditzy but with phenomenal heart.

A Needful Heart Blurb-

Matt Calvin has watched Gina’s beautiful behind sway up and down the doctor’s office hallway once a month for four long years, and it’s time to do something about his fascination. He’s not relationship material, but he doesn’t expect it to get that far. He just wants to talk to her, man to woman, and put himself out of his misery once and for all. Things never go as planned, though, and when fantasy crashes and burns into reality, Gina pays the price.

Gina doesn’t blame Matt for her injury, but she is appreciative when he steps into her crazy life to help out. Proximity fires sudden attraction between them and Gina can’t believe she’s overlooked the sexy carpenter for this long. Tattooed and intimidating, he’s not the type she’s normally drawn to, but something about him tugs at her heartstrings.

When an explosive situation develops and they have to save a little boy, Matt loses control of his tightly held anger. Though his heart aches, Matt walks away, both for Gina’s safety and his own sanity. It’s up to Gina to convince him love can heal any heartache.

You can also find A Needful Heart and other other stories on

You can find out  more about J.M. on her
Follow her on Twitter

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

#Writerly Wednesday- Need a Little Solitude & Quiet

Isn't this image perfect? Why don't you come sit with me for a while and take a load off. I know I need a break, how about you? What with the death in my family, traveling to visit my folks over the weekend, the sick kid (turned out to be sinus issues and not strep throat, thank heavens) and all the other things I played catch up with online- blogs, emails, Triberr, I think I'm going to take today off and rest. Well, rest and fit in much needed time for doing read-through edits on Love by Design so I can get it into the hands of others for Beta reading or editing, etc.

I really want to get this done so I can start sharing each book with you instead of hoarding them up in my little corner. I love these stories so much and I hope readers will love them as well. Just a matter of getting it in shape enough to do so. That's really hard to do when I feel like I'm being pulled a thousand different ways throughout the day and still feel I don't get squat accomplished.

Today I'm going to force myself into exile though- pull back and use all the energy I have into prepping the manuscript so I can move on to the next stop on this journey to self-publication. So much to do, so little time and that's why I'm going to take a step back today. My world sometimes feels like it's spinning miserably out of control and I know when to take a hint (my sinuses and throat told me so this morning).

Please feel free to leave me comments, encouragement, a kick in the britches...I'll check back in later before I head to bed tonight.

Have a wonderful Hump Day...
I can see the weekend from here

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

#TuesdayswithTaryn with Courtney Young aka @courtney825

Tuesdays with Taryn
Courtney Young


What book(s) most influenced you as a writer? Wow. This one is hard. There have been so many brilliant books that have inspired me in the past decade; I would have the say the Harry Potter series and Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice.

What book do you read over and over again? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling and So Cold the River by Michael Koryta.  The final book of the Harry Potter series tied up so many loose ends and each time I read it, I fall in love with the story all over again. ‘So Cold the River’ is an amazing read with paranormal elements, I just discovered this author and love his work and this book. 

Tuesday Trio-
1)    Movie-  Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (the book is great too!)
2)    Music- Anything by Frank Sinatra, I am an old soul!  
3)    Decadent Dessert- Chocolate chip cookies! I am very easy to please :) 

What’s the most interesting or bizarre bit of trivia you’ve learned from researching for a novel? For After the Woods, I heavily researched Vlad II Dracul.  Being an evil man who insisted on honesty, he placed a golden cup in center of the square of Tirgoviste.  No one ever stole the cup in fear of Dracul.

Novel on your Nightstand:
Who/what are you currently reading? I am reading Wilde’s Army by Krystal Wade and Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire. Yesterday I finished the Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness and it was absolutely amazing!

Whom would you cast as your Main Characters/Hero/Heroine if your book became a movie:Elisabeth: Emelia Clarke
Gabriel: Josh Bowman
Caleb: Chris Hemsworth
Gertrude: Emma Stone

Blurb:
After the Woods: Cerise Saga, Book 1
Elizabeth has visions induced by an antique music box that her dead grandfather owned decades before her birth.  A witch instructs Elizabeth to enter the woods and face her fears.  The events that take place After the Woods forever changes Elizabeth's outlook on the world.  She travels to unfamiliar places, meets strange characters, and even learns a little magic. While searching for the answers to her questions and subduing unwarranted visions, she begins to understand the inevitable changes that will soon take place in her life.  Elizabeth must ultimately choose between good, evil, and life or death, although her future may already be paved. 

After the Woods will be published by Curiosity Quills Press (www.curiosityquills.com).
Release date is TBA. 

Sunday, August 26, 2012

#sixsunday Six Sentence Sunday- Smells Like Freedom

(click above image to read MORE Six Sentence Sunday excerpts)
(Check out more by looking up hashtag #sixsunday on Twitter)

Welcome Sixers! Today is the first time I'll be showing up on the official list for Six Sentence Sunday. I wasn't sure how to do the linksy thing so I figured I'd give it a try for this Sunday. (I'm #150).

For those who might not know here's what 6 Sentence Sunday is all about-
Pick six (6) sentences from anything you like (it can be from a Work in Progress (WiP), something you recently sold, something you hope to sell or even something already under contract and available for purchase – and don’t worry, Six Sentence Sunday is for published AND unpublished writers). Then post them on your blog on Sunday. That’s all there is to it!
You can add yours link to their official list by signing up before midnight the Saturday beforehand.


Today, we're heading back into—

Love by Design

Jasmine Galloway sees beauty in all things but it’s not a thing of beauty when she meets Derrek Martin, a shallow, arrogant playboy celebrity. When her sister Juniper, a blockbuster actress, recommends her interior design business, Décor Dreams, to Derrek, it’s sure to be a disaster. Jasmine is uncertain she can hold her tongue and get the job done, but she takes it, never one to let her opinions of others stand in the way of professional success and she’s not about to let some pretty boy win her over whose ego is as big as his blockbuster movies. It isn’t long before Derrek’s gentle, affectionate manner and country boy charm gets the better of her. She curses herself for allowing the tabloid fodder to contaminate her impression of a man who might well put his designs on her heart.

Derrek Martin counts himself lucky his acting career took off shortly after his arrival in California. Even more since his parents’ deaths left him the guardian of his little sister. The new house is nice, but it needs a woman’s touch before he brings Paige out from Indiana to live with him. He knows his reputation in the tabloids depicts him far from who he really is, but he has never met with a more chilly reception than the moment he meets Jasmine Galloway, Interior Designer to the Stars. He’s sure she has read everything bad ever published about him and disregards all the good. His private life is simply that, private. Derrek intends to keep it that way—until he meets Jasmine.

Her blatant dislike for him pushes a button no one else ever has and Derrek finds he’s desperate to prove that he isn’t what the tabloids make him out to be. More than that, he’s determined to make her his leading lady, but will an ex with a secret steal the spotlight away?
****
Today we're heading back into Derrek's POV. He recently bought a house, a place he will call home with his little sister and a place that is not in the center of a bustling city-


He enjoyed the sounds around him. Creaks and pops reverberated through the old house as it settled for the night. He could almost feel the distance of the neighbors’ homes from his, setting him apart in a way that made him feel independent and alone, in a good way.
It was almost like being back in Indiana as a kid. The cool evening breeze stirred the curtains and blinds of the front windows while the aroma of flowers and foliage wafted in. It smelled like freedom.

 If you missed previous Six Sunday posts from Love by Design and would like to check them out-
Plastic and Fluff
Led Astray
Intrigued
The Wonderful Wizard of...
Visions
Smiling Back
That Girl is a Hot Mess!
Overzealous Puppy

From one of my other finished manuscripts in the other continuing
Pryce of Love Series- Perfect Recipe for Love-
Sunni Gives It Some Thought...
Ample Distraction

Saturday, August 25, 2012

#SCENTsational Saturdays- Favorite Number 8- Jovan Musk, Original

Experience the sexy feeling of Jōvan Musk for Women. A delicate floral accord of jasmine, neroli, and bergamot blends with the earthy, seductive scent of musk. This mysterious fragrance unleashes your own natural powers of seduction. It's what attracts.

Again, here I go with another Jovan fragrance. They apparently know what I like. This is a heavier, more sensual perfume that is best for an evening out with that special someone.

On account of the events of this past week, I think that's about all I have to say on the fragrance, but I will leave you with this video which always reminds me of my grandparents.

My grandfather passed in 1991, my grandmother, not until 1997. In the years after my grandpa died, she dreamed of him often. The dreams were always the same- she met up with him, across a field of flowers, at the creek to go fishing. She missed him so much and those dreams made her so happy- as though she stole from death for a moment what death had taken from her far too soon.

When she passed away in 1997, all I could think was that she and grandpa were reunited and they were somewhere fishing together, for always. Maybe it's sounds silly, but I like to think my aunt's sitting on the bank with them now, reunited with her momma and daddy.



Have a SCENTsational Saturday!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Turquoise Morning Press Celebrating Back to School! #TMPress

Click image above to go to Turquoise Morning Press's Bookstore
and don't forget to use your code for 30% off!

Just as you thought you were finished buying the school supplies, eh?

Well, don't forget that the kids need plenty of reading material. 

Check out our Young Adult and children's/middle grade books and keep checking because we have more coming this fall.

But don't stop at books for kids -- buy a few for yourself, too! And now is the perfect time because EVERY EBOOK* in our store is on sale at 30% off.

That's right. 30% off every ebook in our store, no matter the genre or price!

All you need to do is use the COUPON CODE BTS30 at checkout and you'll save 30% off your purchase. 

Fun, huh? Shop, shop, shop!
*Discount code does not apply to print books.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Ain't This Lovely? #Lovely #Blog #Award from @kenra_daniels TY!!!

This morning I was greeted by a comment on yesterday's #Writerly Wednesday- Shattered #poetry #writing post from Kenra Daniels nominating me for a Lovely Blog Award. She posted about it on her Blogs Are Lovely Things, Aren't They? post for today where you can learn 7 things about her and then go around and find out about 11 other authors (me included.) 

Thank you so much, Kenra! I'm honored!
So—What is the Lovely Blog Award, you might be wondering?

Rules for the Lovely Blog award are to thank the blogger who nominated you, give seven facts about yourself, post the blog award badge on your site, and nominate 11 noteworthy blogs, notifying them you did so.  So, here we go:
  1. I met my husband online through one of those early dating sites. We talked for about 2 months before we met in person. A lot of my friends and family were concerned for my well-being meeting a stranger, but two months later I moved to be with him and his 2 1/2 year old son. Building a strong marriage from a relationship with a practical stranger is hard work and it's not always been easy, but the fact that we've been together nearly 11 years means something in my book.
  2. I can pick things up with my toes- pencils, pens, paper. I've been teased that I have "lobster claws" for feet, but I don't care. I claim to have inherited that ability from my father, who can pinch a plug out of you with his toes, while my mom can't.
  3. I once lost a thumbnail. When I was a child, somewhere around 4-5, maybe 6, I wanted to help my grandpa with the room he was building onto the house. I hit my thumbnail with a hammer and smashed it. Over several days, wearing a bandage to hold it, my thumbnail loosened and fell off. Luckily a new one grew back in it's place.
  4. Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. I love all the seasons, but once we hit that shift between summer as we ease into fall I find myself at my most creative. I feel inspired. I wax poetic (as I did yesterday). I get wistful and emotional as the world seems to slow down, readying for the cold days of winter and nights snuggled up inside where it's warm and cozy. I feel connected to this time of year and Mother Earth in a way I don't throughout the rest of the year. The colors and smells and atmosphere envelopes me.
  5. I love to bake homemade pizza. This love started when I was around 19 and got my first job working at Little Caesar's. From making the dough and rolling and kneading it, to dressing the pizza with sauce and toppings and cheese, it's cathartic for me.
  6. Lilacs are probably my all-time favorite flower. Mostly because when I was growing up, my mom had lilacs along the side of the house outside my window and when they bloomed in the spring, I could lay on my bed and smell them through the open window. I'd love to have my lilac tree outside my bedroom window in my own house. Might have to think on that and see about planting some out there. ;)
  7. Last but not least, I love to paint. Not like Bob Ross-let's-put-a-happy-little-cloud-or-shurb-in-this-corner, but like shove-all-the-furniture-to-the-center-of-the-room-and-give-the-walls-a-facelift kind of painting. When I was around 18 my parents let me choose wall colors for my birthday since I was still living at home with them. I chose a pastel lavender- a really soft pale lavender and then I picked what to me looked like sea-foam green but was called porcelain green for the trim. My colors were still in keeping with my love of lilacs and I also had one of those "travel trunks" that was a green with purple metal trim. (which I still have). I've slowly started getting the rooms in my house painted, but so far only the living room got a nice new coat of a pale sage green. Time and money, money and time- got to have a little of both for painting cause that's an all day job.
Okay, so now that I've shared a little about me that you might not have known before, let’s see whose turn it is to reveal 7 things about themselves…

I Knew a Brave Soul Who was a #Miracle on Earth

(Left: me with my Aunt Debbie when I was maybe 2-3 years old)

I just lost someone very special in my life this week. My mom's baby sister, my Aunt Diggy- as I called her until I could pronounce Debbie. After that she became my Debbie Roses (though her middle name was simply Rose). My memories of her are always of a vibrant, outgoing, caring young woman.

When I was growing up, she was just as much a role model for me as my mom and my cousin Carol (who I call Bubba). I always associate the three of them with the 3 Musketeers- "All for one and One for All"  because though two were sisters and one was not, they were thick as thieves.

I wouldn't trade these three women for the world because a lot of the fabric of who I am is woven from the things I learned from them about life and love, so this is a very sad time in my life. In some respects, I probably chose my pen name because of her. Raye is my middle name, but she always called me "Miss Raye" when I was a kid.

"Whatcha doing Miss Raye?" "How's it going, Miss Raye?" "I love you, Miss Raye."

Somehow I think that was in the back of my mind when I chose Taryn Raye as my pen.

 (Right: Debbie with my Grandpa's dog, Molly)

Growing up, we spent almost every Saturday down at my grandparents' house and my aunt still lived there with them. I remember walking along the edge of the road near the mailbox with her to pick flowers for my mom when she was in the hospital having my baby sister when I was three. And I've heard the story a hundred times how the flowers were full of fleas and my mom had to throw them away. I will continue to tell that story to my daughter, so that it keeps the memory alive.

From the time I was old enough to stayed overnight at my grandparents, I slept in Debbie's twin size bed with her as well as a few cats and dogs. Staying all night at Thanksgiving or during winter months was brutal, as her room didn't have a coal or wood burning stove, so we were piled up beneath electric blankets and stacks of quilts. If you had to get up in the night to use the bathroom you'd better hope you had thick socks on to keep your bare feet from smacking the ice cold wood floor that only had a few scatter rugs. Brrr....

I remember climbing over old car bodies in the junk yard with her to go find a can of liniment for a cut and helping gather eggs from the chickens. I remember her insistence on saving a little runt out of a litter of pigs and naming him Wee Willy and putting him in a pen out behind the house. I'd run straight through the house every Saturday to go bounding out the backdoor to see him and he'd run up and down the wire fence like a puppy excited to see his playmate.

(Left: Being silly)

She and I spent a lot of time doing adventure scavenger hunts under rocks for roly-polys and ants and other things in wildlife that she thought were interesting and it created in me a sense of wonder about nature and the world around me. I learned about the life cycle of mosquitoes standing on an upside-down slop bucket while peering over the wooden beams of the cows' stall— Cows she had named Fred and Barney, much to my grandpa's dismay. (As he would have said- you don't name it if you're going to eat it.)

She shimmied up apple trees at my grandpa's urging to get me little sour green apples to eat with salt and scared as I was (am) of wasps and stinging bugs, she'd never kill one. She would catch it in a jar or a cup and release it outside. "They're just as scared of you as you are of them," she would always tell me. (I'm still not sure I believe that when I get dive-bombed by a wasp in my house. LOL)

(Pictured at right- My mom, Grandma & Aunt)

She loved the horses, mules and ponies my grandpa had and I remember when Big Kurt (the largest red mule I'd ever seen) kicked her and bruised her up badly. I remember when she worked at the Dollar Store and would pick us up a box of Fiddle Faddle when I'd ride with my uncle to go pick her up from work.

The majority of my time at my grandparents' was spent in her room, playing dress up with her make-up, pretending her bedroom was my grown-up apartment. I sat in front of the dresser with the large round mirror and put on lavender eyeshadow and pink blush and painted my nails with her Love My Nails "Candy Kisses" iridescent pink polish.

(Left: when she was in for a visit once)

 I listened to her record albums. I read her short story about a young woman who was trying to take care of the farm and her brother after their parents died (she wanted to be a writer and that inspired me) and I typed things on her Brother typewriter. I rifled through the books on her book shelves. In fact, that's where I discovered V.C. Andrews' Dollanganger Series- Flowers in the Attic and the other 3 books scared the bejeebers out of me, but I loved them. My momma had to MAKE me give them back, but then Debbie turned around and gave them to me because she didn't plan to read them and she knew how much I loved them.

My aunt was kind, loving and nurturing, always caring for strays and runts and things that she didn't think could fend for themselves. She married and moved away to western Kentucky before I was grown, but we always looked forward to her visits "back home" and it was cause for celebration. She was like sunshine bottled in human form and could brighten and cheer you up, even when it didn't seem possible.

My aunt wanted children, but by the time she married and tried, she discovered she couldn't have children because of Endometriosis. Still, she took in cats and dogs and birds and loved them as her babies. She taught me how to do plastic canvas and other crafts when I went down and spent a week with her one summer when I was maybe fifteen or sixteen.

(Right: playing my mom's N64 video game)

That was before the accident when she fell into the glass china cabinet doors and lost so much blood before the ambulance got there that we almost lost her. Though she lost the feeling in her left hand, she did learn to live with her disability rather than letting it hinder her.
 
The most devastating blow came in 2004 when she started having problems with her speech, memory and had swelling in and around her eye. It turned out to be a brain tumor, Stage 4 and though they were able to operate and remove the mass that was causing the swelling and motor skill issues, they weren't able to get it all. In fact, the doctors never gave a time frame with which to base her life expectancy because at Stage 4, as bad as it was, even with surgery and aggressive chemo and radiation, the doctors didn't think she would survive.

This is how I know I knew a brave soul who was a miracle on this earth. She stuck with the chemo and radiation though it made her sick as a dog and not always as strong as she tried to be. She adapted to a diet, that though odd to most everyone else (black olives with their juice and buttermilk for breakfast, for example) that nourished her and fed her body and kept her at a healthy weight. She had faith and hope and she survived. She locked horns with the cancer and she was winning. Well, winning as well as you can when cancer is that far gone.

So this is in memory of my aunt—Rest in peace Aunt Diggy, knowing we will love you always and will never forget your bravery, your strength, your faith, your smile or the size of your heart.

I believe Miracles exist.

When diagnosed with brain cancer, the doctors gave her no time frame. But she was blessed with time, as that was 8 years ago and we were also blessed to get to keep her around that much longer.

We love you and will miss you~Forever and always yours~ "Miss Raye"

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

#Writerly Wednesday- Shattered #poetry #writing

This morning's Writerly Wednesday will be just free flowing thought/poetry because I need an outlet for some built up emotion.

Peering through the darkness
My mind stumbles over
A sliver of yellow light

Dust motes swirling, teasing
So distant, yet so tangible
That I reach out, grasping at a shadow

A shadow of what once was
That slips through my fingertips
I follow it down a long gray hall

The golden fragment
Twists and spirals
Beckoning me with a seductive ripple

Taunting me to remember
That time, that life so long ago
That love that once was mine
 
I come upon a pane of glass
Transparent yet tarnished
A window on my past

Wipe away the dust and time
I see his face, his smile, his eyes

 I catch my breath
I taste the salt
A heart arrested in my chest
Unbidden tears demand to fall
 
Fingers skim the icy surface
A pop, a crackle, then
Shattered!

A desperate cry escapes my throat
Air forced from lungs
I breath again
 
The heartache just too raw
The fractured images splinter out
Left with only reflections
Staring back

Shards of memories
Frozen
In moments trapped forever
In my heart

(copyright Taryn Raye August 2012)



Have a great Hump Day!
I can see the weekend from here!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

#TuesdayswithTaryn- @jemima_pett #author of #childrens #adventure series #trilogy The Princelings of the East


Tuesdays with Taryn
Jemima Pett

What book(s) most influenced you as a writer?
Lord of the Rings and The Dragonriders of Pern (all of Anne McCaffrey’s books) probably.  I love the feeling of getting to know a world and the people in it.  JK Rowling once said something about Harry Potter being for people who loved detailed worlds.  That’s me!

What book do you read over and over again?
Lord of the Rings.  I often skip Frodo & Sam’s adventures though.  Also Skallagrigg which is the saddest book I know and everyone should read it.  Pride and Prejudice can stand a lot of reading, and when I picked up Black Beauty recently having not read it for 20 years, I found a whole new meaning in it.  It’s just as relevant to animal care today.

Tuesday Trio-
1)      Movie- Local Hero or Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines
2)      Music- Just one piece?  You’re kidding.  Either Simply Red or Beethoven’s 9th. Although I did get up from the sofa to dance to Elton John at the Queen’s Jubilee concert in May.
3)      Decadent Dessert- Summer pudding with Ronaldo’s Black Pepper Ice-cream (it really works, especially with strawberries!)

What’s the most interesting or bizarre bit of trivia you’ve learned from researching for a novel?
How much energy it takes to make one can of zero-calorie cola.  I can’t remember what it was now, but it was something I’d been wondering about for years.

Novel on your Nightstand:
Who/what are you currently reading?
I’ve just finished Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief– he’s been on my list of Children’s/MG to read for a while.  I get diverted by all the great indie books out – next up is one by Sean N Noonan for ages 7 to 107, which sounds like my target audience – The Curse of the Grimlees.  I’m saving Claude Bouchard’s Barry McCall thriller series for a McCallfest weekend!

Whom would you cast as your Main Characters/Hero/Heroine if your book became a movie?
Fred & George – I found this very difficult.  A  boy-next door style with a bit of geek would do George well.  Fred needs someone similar with a bit more Viggo Mortensen about them.  Yes!  Viggo for Fred and the guy that played Faramir, David Wenham, for George
Hugo-Mariusz – Nathaniel Parker or Humphrey Bogart (thinking ahead to Book 4)
Lupin - Hugh Grant
Nimrod – Cate Blanchett
Victor    Cute but not ‘handsome’.  Victor is the favourite of a lot of people, both those that have only read the books and those that have only met him online.  Ah, Ewan MacGregor!


(Click Image to Left for Amazon Kindle)

The Princelings of the East is a trilogy relating the adventures of unlikely heroes Fred and George. Two innocents abroad, they solve problems caused by unintended consequences, commercial greed, and blind prejudice—and still find time to engage in troubled love affairs and nearly blow themselves up with their own inventions.

In the third book, The Princelings and the Lost City, Fred has made a commitment to his true love, Kira, but must win her father’s approval. George, meanwhile, is near to fulfilling his destiny, but gets sidetracked by the arrival of a new flying machine. A simple journey to introduce Kira to their home castle turns into a case of kidnap, mistaken identity, heartache, and the discovery of a totalitarian society hidden in the forest.

The Princelings series is a fantasy adventure for good readers age 10 and upwards, that combines the charm of The Wind in the Willows with a world reminiscent of Anne McCaffrey's Pern. It will be enjoyed by animal lovers as well as those who enjoy an imagined world where power struggles, self-interest and prejudice can be overcome by hard work, friendship and a little bit of talent.

Also available-
B&N- Coming November
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Monday, August 20, 2012

#MemoryLane Mondays- Make Those Moments Count


Life and death are on my mind right now and I keep thinking about how to make moments count in my own life as I'm growing older and beginning to lose loved ones close to me. I understand that death comes to us all, but some deaths hit harder and closer to home than others. Growing up I lost a great-grandmother, two grandfathers, a grandmother, my aunt by marriage and an uncle. I've lost distant relatives and close friends and that loss still hurts because I keep those who are gone close in my heart at all times. They might be gone, but they are not forgotten. I know of course that, inevitably, I will lose others as well who are closer to me, but I don't relish the idea and try not to dwell on it. We are all given just so much time and this matter really makes me stop and think about how wisely I'm using mine.

So often, I believe that we forget to make moments count as we live them. We don't intentionally take it for granted, but as we go about life, there are things that fill us with joy or sorrow and we carry it with us and remember it with fondness or regret later. There isn't always a a camera to freeze-frame the Kodak moments, there isn't always video, other than what plays out in our minds.

Life is such a precious gift. The relationships and people we encounter who have been blessings as well as curses. The ones who shaped who we are or taught us lessons that helped us move forward into becoming the person we're meant to be, or inspire us to be more than we think we are.

When we encounter those who shape us, mold us, inspire us- those who love us, it's hard to be reminded of our mortality and it's something most of us refuse to face- that someday that person might be gone- gone from our lives or perhaps gone from this world. And yet there is the hope that we will encounter them again in some distant future or space in time.

Remember to tell those you love how much you love them. Now. Share with them the things you don't want to go left unsaid. Hug them and kiss them and remind them that they have a friend in you and that you love them in return. We're not alone in this world, so show your kindness- share your heart and try to make those moments count.

This post was slightly inspired by one of the new songs from Ben Taylor's Listening Album, but also because of the failing health of a few people I know and care about who may not be long for this ol' world. Be a blessing to those around you. Love them deeply and never let them forget it!


Sunday, August 19, 2012

#sixsunday Six Sentence Sunday- Plastic and Fluff

Good morning Sixers.

The six sentences I've currently been sharing each Sunday come from the first book in my Love By Series, which has yet to be published, called Love by Design, which I'm working edits on at the moment- Here's the blurb-

Love by Design

Jasmine Galloway sees beauty in all things but it’s not a thing of beauty when she meets Derrek Martin, a shallow, arrogant playboy celebrity. When her sister Juniper, a blockbuster actress, recommends her interior design business, Décor Dreams, to Derrek, it’s sure to be a disaster. Jasmine is uncertain she can hold her tongue and get the job done, but she takes it, never one to let her opinions of others stand in the way of professional success and she’s not about to let some pretty boy win her over whose ego is as big as his blockbuster movies. It isn’t long before Derrek’s gentle, affectionate manner and country boy charm gets the better of her. She curses herself for allowing the tabloid fodder to contaminate her impression of a man who might well put his designs on her heart.

Derrek Martin counts himself lucky his acting career took off shortly after his arrival in California. Even more since his parents’ deaths left him the guardian of his little sister. The new house is nice, but it needs a woman’s touch before he brings Paige out from Indiana to live with him. He knows his reputation in the tabloids depicts him far from who he really is, but he has never met with a more chilly reception than the moment he meets Jasmine Galloway, Interior Designer to the Stars. He’s sure she has read everything bad ever published about him and disregards all the good. His private life is simply that, private. Derrek intends to keep it that way—until he meets Jasmine.

Her blatant dislike for him pushes a button no one else ever has and Derrek finds he’s desperate to prove that he isn’t what the tabloids make him out to be. More than that, he’s determined to make her his leading lady, but will an ex with a secret steal the spotlight away?
****

Today I'm picking up nearly where we left often. Contemplating Jasmine, Derrek ponders over the difference he can sense in her compared to the starlets he's encountered since moving to California. Hope you enjoy and have a wonderful Sunday.

He didn’t think Juniper had ever mentioned her sister at all, but he still had to wonder if he had slighted her in some way he wasn’t aware.
Indeed, he hoped not.
Her very presence made him feel more at home than he had in all the time he had lived in California, even with her prickly demeanor.
The tales he heard about narcissistic starlets in the business were never-ending.
The extravagant shopping trips on Rodeo Drive and those tiny rats they toted around in expensive handbags, masquerading as dogs.
As if that weren’t bad enough then they also had their collagen treatments and fake boob jobs. He knew with a glance, which ones were largely plastic and fluff.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

#SCENTsational Saturdays- Through the Years- Love's Baby Soft


I'd swear this was one of the very first perfumes my parents gave me for Christmas as I was approaching adulthood. Caught somewhere in the middle of being a child and a grown woman, I supposed loves is a very good "transitional" perfume. I haven't smelled it in a while, but I'm tempted to get a bottle of it, just as I did for the can of Skin Musk, which I've really been enjoying. Funny how taking a trip down memory lane is a wonderful reminder of who we were before we became who we are.

This does have a soft powdery scent, but not something so loud that you'd feel suffocated by it's sweet floral and woodsy tones. This perfume was introduced the year before I was born (don't ask)...and is still a very popular fragrance, even now, so it definitely has staying power.

Heck, I might have to get it simply to share the experience with my own daughter. My mother shared it with me and now it's my turn.

I looked up commercials for Love's Baby Soft, but honestly the ones from the 70's were downright embarrassing and silly and there weren't any I could find from when I was growing up in the 80's, so instead I offer you The Supremes...so lovely!



Have a SCENTSATIONAL Saturday!

Friday, August 17, 2012

All Bets Are On Anthology featuring Remember My Love from @turquoisemorn @FictionWitches #TMPress

$2.99 on Kindle
(click image above to purchase on Amazon)

Blurb:
Some might say placing (and winning!) a win, place and show bet—a trifecta—is the triple threat of racing, and to the winner goes the spoils. In this Kentucky Derby themed short story collection, All Bets Are On! the trifecta may include romance, mystery and even murder! We’re betting you’ll find a story or two to savor as you sip a mint julep, study the daily racing form, and pick out your Derby hat. We hope you enjoy.

Remember My Love by Cheryl Norman
The Winner by Jan Scarbrough
Going The Distance by Margaret Ethridge
As Luck Would Have It by Christina Wolfer
Glynda’s Dare by Shanon Grey
Whiskey’s Sweet Revenge by Krista Ames

Thursday, August 16, 2012

#ThursdayswithTaryn, Guest #Author C.C. Marks @CCMarksWrites author of Edge of Mercy


Thursdays with Taryn
C.C. Marks
Please help me welcome my fellow KY author (who is also an Indie) C.C. Marks, author of The Mercy Series. She just recently released the first book in the series- Edge of Mercy and is currently working on the next one (which I'm eager to get my hands on). I had a chance to sit down and read Edge of Mercy the weekend before last and all I can say is that it pulled me in from the start.

I'd never really given much thought to what dystopian meant before, but as I read Edge of Mercy, I could see the story playing out in my mind's eye as the characters came to life. The setting is in our world, but in the not so distant future, which they call home. It's a far cry from the world we know now.

I found the story in the same vein as movies I love such as Night of the Comet, Mad Max, Prayer for the Rollerboys, Aeon Flux, City of Ember, Logan's Run, Akira, The Fifth Element, I Am Legend, Book of Eli, and The Chronicles of Riddick. The list could go on and on of ones I hadn't realized were dystopian in their own way and I found that I LOVED this story just as much and could see this as a movie in its own right someday.

From the beginning you feel a kinship with Charlie and the seriousness of her plight. Survival means deception and secrecy, even to those she's grown to care about. Her life, her baby sister's life and her very existence, hangs in the balance of the day-to-day and striving to keep her secret from all in the community. Her secrets are just the tipping point when compared to the secrets of the Council and the horrible deeds and truths that are behind the infection that has turned humans into monsters. This is not a world I would ever wish to face, but at the same time, I found myself rooting for Charlie to find a way around the "rules" of the Council, to find a way to escape the horrid fate she will face if the truth of her identity is revealed and hoping that she can evade the dire consequences and come out unscathed on the other side. Being this is a series, that journey is only just begun and I look forward to reading the next book in the very near future.

Please enjoy C.C.'s answers on this Thursday with Taryn and if dystopian stories are your thing- check out Edge of Mercy. You'll enjoy it!

What book(s) most influenced you as a writer?
That’s a toughy. So many books were influential. As a romance writer, I loved reading books by Johanna Lindsey, Julie Garwood, and more recently, Kresley Cole and Rachel Gibson. But most influential would have to be Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. It was probably the first romance (*spoiler alert: doesn’t have a happy ending) that really wrung me out emotionally.

What book do you read over and over again?
As a card-carrying book-nerd, I have to admit the book(s) I’ve read over and over again are the Harry Potter series. I just love the humor, the hero journey, and the imaginative world shared in these books. Such great reads every time.

Thursday Trio-
1)      Movie- Shakespeare in Love
2)      Music- Anything by Paramore
3)      Decadent Dessert- Cheesecake Factory’s Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

What’s the most interesting or bizarre bit of trivia you’ve learned from researching for a novel?
For my short story, Into the Fire, about two top chefs with a romantic past who go head-to-head on a televised cooking competition, I had to research so much about the terminology used by a professional chef. Devices like salamanders (the heat lamps that keep food warm while it’s waiting) and cooking methods like suvee (where food is sealed in a bag and put into a hot water bath) were interesting to learn about. I haven’t attempted what I learned in my own kitchen yet, but I understand the chefs on the Food Network a whole lot better now.

Novel on your Nightstand:
Who/what are you currently reading?
J. M. Madden’s A Needful Heart

Whom would you cast as your Hero & Heroine if your book became a movie?
Charlie is the heroine, and I picture Chelsea Kane (she had a short stint on Disney Channel’s Jonas Brothers show) with a very short hairstyle.

I have two heroes—Thomas would be played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zeke would be played by Zac Efron.

(click image at left for Amazon Kindle version)

Blurb:


Charlie hides her true identity, but her very presence places everyone around her in danger. With no other choice but to remain where she is, she stays with a community that might not be as benevolent as it appears. In this new and dangerous version of the world, where a friend might be an enemy and an enemy might be a friend, seventeen-year-old Charlie protects her baby sister and herself from grotesque monsters outside the community as well as human ones inside. Will the truth she discovers about her protectors save her or ultimately doom her to a fate worse than death?


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