Okay so it looks like I fell off the planet. Promise - I'm still here. The last four years have been ... hard. There's no other word for it. Everything is fine. I'm fine, but I've been the caregiver of my mom who has Dementia. Between her needs, work, etc I seem to have lost control of my time. I am still writing and am trying hard to get back to my blog.

In case you weren't aware Phaze and HSWF which where under the Mundania Umbrella have closed. I was smart enough to get my titles back before all this happened. I'm happy to say the three books I sold to HSWF have been picked up by Melange Books and are available through their Satin Books imprint. I have even sold a new title to them called Magical Quest due out in 2022

I have also been lucky enough to find a publisher for my Vespian Way series. I'm now with Blushing Books under the name of Bethany Drake. I have five titles out with them right now and am close to submitting two more. There's Desire's Destiny, Desire's Duty and Desire's Promise. Then there is two in my werewolf series, Tears of the Queen and Legend of the Tears. I have just finished the rough draft of the third book in the series and have plans for a fourth one the moment I submit it.

I'll probably still be sporadic here on the blog. Unless I win the lottery and can hire someone to help me I can't avoid it, but know I'm still here still working hard in the background and am hoping to do better at keeping my blog alive.

Barb:)



Tuesday, July 29, 2014

New Release By Katya Armock To Snarl or Snuggle



Blurb:
She just wants to make it through her whirlwind wedding. Too bad life isn’t cooperating.

Chloe thinks her life is just about perfect. She’s finally got her psychic abilities under control, her relationship with her father has never been better, and she’s finally marrying her shape-shifter boyfriend Jorge. But when a teenage shape-shifter in need of help leads Jorge’s rival to their door, Chloe’s perfect life deserts her. Chloe’s mother and grandmother find themselves in a psychic feud that leaves Chloe caught in the wake, and a woman with suspect motives insinuates herself into Chloe’s life. Throw in a shocking revelation about the origins of her family’s extrasensory abilities, and she’s not sure she’ll make it down the aisle in one piece, let alone live long enough for a happily ever after…

And she thought meeting her in-laws was tough.

Buy Links:

Special Sale on Book 1! To Hiss or to Kiss is $0.99 for a limited time.
Chloe can “talk” to animals…so why can she hear the thoughts of this hot, green-eyed man?
Abandoned by her mother and raised by a father who’d given up on life, Chloe doesn’t let anyone get close. Lucky for her, she can communicate with animals—telepathically. Animals are the only people she needs. When a suspected dogfighting ring comes to her attention, Chloe decides to do a little spying. In her rush to win the dogs’ trust, she almost gets caught.
Until a sexy stranger intervenes, and she finds she can overhear his thoughts. She’s never been able to hear people, and this man’s about as sexy as she’s ever seen. It’s more than intellectual curiosity that drives her to discover his secret: he’s a jaguar shape-shifter, and the presence of this cat among the dogs might be a bit too much to handle. But the animal attraction is just too hot to resist, and the passion between them makes both the sparks—and the fur—fly…
Buy links for To Hiss or to Kiss

Saturday, July 26, 2014

And my latest guest is...Victoria Adams!

I want to welcome Victoria Adams. First I’d love you to introduce yourself.

*waves* Hi readers. I'm Victoria Adams. I live in Ontario, Canada with my husband and pets. Daughter has grown up and is now teaching. I like to garden, cook and belly dance. I've been writing since I was little. Being an only child, long car rides were filled with making up stories in my head about the people I saw out the car window.

Tell us about your latest release.

About the title – A Guy and A Girl – at first it was just the working title but it grew on me and neither my cps or beta could think of a better one so it stuck. I am also biased to it as my daughter helped me with it. I mentioned I was stuck on creating a title for my story. She asked, "What's it about?"
 I replied, "A guy and a girl."
 She said, "Go with that."
 Ta da – a title is born.

Explaining the story is easiest with the blurb –we authors sweat blood trying to write these things. Writing the book is so much easier.
Blurb – A Guy and A Girl
After an ugly past forced Hunter Connolly to escape to Europe, the talented hockey player is back in North America and determined to land a position with a professional team. But he can’t hide from his past forever, especially when his beautiful classmate, Chelsea, forces him to reexamine his life. Soon, hockey is not his first priority anymore.
Chelsea Henderson is a bright co-ed working towards her dream of being a professional dancer. She forms a unique friendship with one of her father’s newest recruits and would love nothing more than to take it to the next level. However, there’s just one small problem. He doesn’t know she’s his coach’s daughter.
Amid the deceptions, danger lurks closer than they could ever imagine. Will fate contrive to rip the young lovers apart? Or will Hunter and Chelsea have their shot at love?

Now I have a few questions for you – I have found readers do like to know fun things about us writers.
1.) Who is your favorite villain – it can be from a book (even one of yours), movie or TV show. And why?
Wow – I never thought about liking the bad guy. Hmmm. Oh – Angelus from the TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While his other persona – Angel - was one of the first hero vamps – Angelus has this delicious badness to his character. I watched all the shows with my daughter.

2.) Who is your favorite character out of your books? Why?
Robert – from Dancing in Circles. He is honorable and noble and even though life keeps trying to knock him down, he doesn't become bitter. But more importantly when Julie loves him, he doesn’t push that away. He accepts her love and finds the courage to love her back.

3.) What do genre do you write? What made you pick that one?
My writing style has taken a split between contemporary romance for adults and contemporary romance for new adults. What made me pick it – my muse. It's the style she wants to express herself with. I wish I could write mysteries, but my muse has other ideas.

4.)What are you working on now?
Having just released (or about to just release) a book, I must confess I'm not starting anything for a bit. I'm not the most disciplined of writers. Although I do have a weekly flash fiction that I post every Wednesday on my blog. That's always a fun writing exercise that allows me to challenge my creativity.

5.) What got you to start writing?
I was teaching high school at the time and two of my students (Jen and Ange) complained there was nothing to read. This was pre Twilight – pre Hunger Games. So I wrote Dancing in Circles, Book 1 of Circles Trilogy.

6.) Where do you get your ideas from?
My general response to this question is "my head", but I know that's not the answer people want. But I don't know where the ideas come from. Something I see or hear triggers a thought, which grows into an idea, which blossoms into a book.

7.) What would people who read your work be surprised to find out about you?
I have a second degree Black Belt. I got my first degree black belt when I was 45 yrs old.

8.) Do you have any special talents?
Eating chocolate. I'm pretty good at that. And I try to enhance that skill on a daily basis.

9.) What was the one piece of advice you received when you were an aspiring author that has stuck with you? Why?
Truly – I don't think I was ever given writing advice. I'm a private person and I don't discuss my writing with a lot of people. I just sat down and wrote my first book, then the next and so on. Strangely enough, I now teach a writing course and have been known to hand out advice, but I don't think I ever received any. At least none that stuck.

10.) If you could talk to any famous figure (present, past or fictional) who would it be and what would you talk about?
Miss Marple. I adore Agatha Christie. I have all of her books. I would love to sit down and have tea with Miss Marple. Ask her about her friend Dotty, and how she solved each of the mysteries and did she find the police rather annoying always thinking she was just a blithering old woman.

11.) What song would you say describes your life?
Oh, this one's tougher than the villain question. I'm not sure there is a song that defines me Рunless I go with the clich̩ РI am Woman РHear me roar!

12.) If you could come back as any animal – what would it be?
Thinking about how spoiled my cats are – a domestic house cat. A soft pillow, a warm ray of sunshine and a bowl of cream – life can't get much better than that.

Tagline
Lies, deceits and secrets - not a good way to begin a relationship.


Excerpt –
The clock moved to end of class with the slowness of a snail. Chelsea picked up her purse and books before following the class out of the door. One of the business administration students, whom Chelsea characterized as blue eyes, with big assets, stood in front of her. "Are you two dating?"
Chelsea blinked. "Excuse me?"
"You and Hockey God. That dark-haired, brown-eyed hunk of male heat."
"I met him at the coffee machine at 8:45 this morning."
The girl smiled, flicked her long hair over her shoulder and walked away.
Chelsea turned the corner and noticed Hunter ahead in the hall. A surge of protective jealousy washed over her. "Hunter! Wait up." She hurried towards him. "I'm meeting a friend for break. Want to join us?"
"Does break involve food? 'Cause I'm starving."
"Caf's this way, and so's my friend." Escorting Hunter down the hallway, Chelsea snuck several glances, checking out his muscular build, longish hair and rugged profile. At the cafeteria entrance, she looked for Kendall. "Much quieter here on first day of summer school. You should have been here at the beginning of the year. A total madhouse. Oh, there's Kendall."
She spotted her friend standing, open-mouthed, staring at Hunter. Chelsea nodded and waggled her eyebrows up and down, silently praying that her friend could read her mind and not mention her father, the coach. She led the way to the table. "Hunter, this is my best friend, Kendall."
He glanced between Chelsea and Kendall, frowned then shrugged.
"What?" Chelsea searched his face, trying not to giggle like a sixteen-year-old.
"Nothing. For a moment I thought I recognized you two. Probably still got jet lag." He dropped his books on the table. "Back in a sec. I gotta get something to eat."
Kendall grabbed Chelsea's arm and pulled her onto a chair. "That's...Cute-Butt from yesterday."
"His name's Hunter. We're in Communications class together." She bit her lip. "He sat next to me. I think the other girls are ready to rip my eyeballs out to get near him."
"Shit. I knew I should've taken that stupid course."
Hunter returned with a double order of toast and an apple. "What're you taking, Kendall?"
"Painting and sculpturing. I'm an artist."
From the wide-eyed stare and flushed cheeks, Chelsea would have bet a million dollars that Kendall bit back the question, "Can I sleep with you?" A twinge of anger grew as her friend turned her attention to Hunter. She struggled to dismiss it. "Hunter's trying out for the Vipers." Chelsea held her breath, hoping Kendall wouldn't blab on her. She didn't know a lot about hockey, but she guessed her dad had a rule about players dating his daughter.
"You're a hockey player?" Kendall hit her forehead with the heel of her hand. "Stupid question. You wouldn't be trying out for the Vipers if you weren't...a hockey player I mean. I think I got up too early this morning."
Chelsea tilted her head towards Hunter and patted his shoulder. "He was up at 6:15."
"May I ask why anyone would crawl out of a perfectly good bed at such a horrible time of the day?"
"Road work. Cardio." Hunter swallowed the last of his toast.
"This just gets worse and worse."
Hunter glanced at his watch. "I got Ecology next. I need the science department. Since you're my GPS, can you point me in the right direction?"
Chelsea shifted in her chair and pointed out the side windows. Oh my God, I'm his GPS. That's so sweet.

Where to find me. Feel free to email – Fb – tweet me – talking to readers is like eating chocolate
Blog – Victoria's Pages of Romance – http://victoriaadams.blogspot.com
Facebook - Circles Trilogy Page - http://www.facebook.com/CirclesTrilogy?ref=hl
Google+ - Victoria Adams
Plus – Triberr, Amazon Author, LinkedIn, SocialOmph, Goodreads etc



Thursday, July 24, 2014

A Quick Update

I want everyone to know I haven't stopped doing my writing down the bones posts but for the next month or so I will be hosting authors on Tuesday and Saturday so I'm going to suspend it until I'm done hosting the new releases. I worked hard to bring authors for my saturday interviews and have great guests lined up until the middle of september then I found out that some of my friends and I all have releases close to each other. So I'n also going to host them with their releases. We will go back to our normal programming but in the meantime please enjoy all the new books coming out this month.

By the way, yours truly will be going her own interview. Yes, I'm answering my own questions and it will be up on August 3rd so be on the lookout.

Barb:)

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Welcome My Guest April Marcom!

I want to welcome April Marcom. First I’d love you to introduce yourself.

Thanks, Barbara! I’m a young adult author/substitute teacher/mommy. My husband, 3 kids, and I live out in the country in central Oklahoma and love the peaceful seclusion. We share our home with 5 rowdy dogs, a cat, and a few noisy chickens. It’s a busy place, but a lot of fun.

Tell us about your latest release.

In my teen romance, titled Good vs. Evil High, Kristine’s just been adopted into North Haven High, an ice castle hidden in the farthest reaches of the north for orphaned teenagers who possess an unfailing disposition for good. And she’s just in time for their Winter Competitions, a rivalry held each year between NHHS and Southland Cinder High, a school made up of the exact opposite sort of teens. Here she finds Knight, a Cinder she grew up with but lost contact with years ago. And even though it’s forbidden, she begins to fall for him. Of course, her North Haven boyfriend’s got a thing or two to say about that. But Kristine doesn’t care. She’s happier than she’s been in years as she gets closer and closer to the man she’s falling completely in love with and having crazy fun with her new roommates.
Unfortunately it’s short lived, because everything begins going wrong. Her school’s track star is attacked and left for dead. Knight’s snowmobile explodes during the Snow Riders’ brutal competition. And it’s enough to get the two schools’ headmasters thinking—maybe they should just call the whole thing off. As things spin further and further out of control, Kristine finds herself tangled in a mortally dangerous web of love, caught between a man willing to kill for her, and one who will die for the same cause.

Now I have a few questions for you – I have found readers do like to know fun things about us writers.

1.) Who is your favorite villain – it can be from a book (even one of yours), movie or TV show. And why?

I love Sirius Black from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkeban, but he turns out not to be a true villain. So I guess I’d have to say Poison Ivy from Batman. I love the colors, makeup, and outfits she wears.

2.) Who is your favorite character out of your books? Why?

Probably Katy from Young Love in Old Chicago. She’s the heroine’s sister and ridiculously outspoken for a girl of their time (1930). She’s hilarious, someone that would be a lot of fun to be around.

3.) What genre do you write? What made you pick that one?

I’ve written one middle grade story that hasn’t been published yet, but I tend to stick to writing young adult books. And there always has to be lots of romance. It might be because young adult stories are what I like to read. My teenage years were so fun, I wish I could go back to them sometimes. It’s almost like being able to relive them when I’m buried deep inside one of my stories as I’m writing it.

4.) What are you working on now?

After wrapping up a new adult romantic sci-fi novella, I’m throwing around some ideas and having trouble sticking to just one. I’m thinking something dark and spooky, with a bit of magic.

5.) What got you to start writing?

I’ve always wanted to write a novel, and I stopped and started different ones several times growing up, but I didn’t take it too seriously until a few years ago. As soon as I got going, it was hard to stop. I just loved doing it! And that love’s never diminished.

6.) Where do you get your ideas from?

All over the place. I can be watching a movie, listening to a song, or catching pieces of an exchange between others and get a random idea. I keep a list in my desk drawer full of story ideas and another with miscellaneous ideas I refer to at the beginning of each story I write.

7.) What would people who read your work be surprised to find out about you?

Maybe that most of my writing is done in the complete chaos of kids and dogs. Or that I don’t like to read books about romance, even though I can’t write a story without it.

8) Do you have any special talents?

Baking, fashion, and survival skills are all things I enjoy and feel reasonably confident that I have a fair amount of talent in.

9.) What was the one piece of advice you received when you were an aspiring author that has stuck with you? Why?

After Young Love in Old Chicago and before Good vs. Evil High, a friend of mine, Jane Nickerson, told me that what got her story into the hands of agents was a unique part of her story that helped it stand out against all the other manuscripts submitted. I always keep that in mind when writing a story now, the idea that it needs to be as unique as possible.

10.) If you could talk to any famous figure (present, past or fictional) who would it be and what would you talk about?

I’d like to talk to a pirate who’s famous for having plundered loads of treasure that’s never been recovered. Then he could tell me where it’s all buried. Ha ha!

11.) What song would you say describes your life?

Little Big Town’s Boondocks. All though I wasn’t raised out in the boondocks, I always wanted to live in them, and now that I do it feels like home. I never want to leave them.

12.) If you could come back as any animal – what would it be?


A peacock. To me, it’s the most beautiful animal in all the world. And I would love being able to spread my wings and soar through the air.

Thanks for stopping by April. Good luck with your book! Here's the link to April's webpage:



Excerpt:

Fifteen minutes later, my roommates and I wheeled our suitcases into an empty elevator. Connie didn’t have to ask where we were going.
“What did you guys bring to do while we’re in the air?” Harmony asked, practically bouncing on her heels.
“Magazines and my sketch pad,” Sassy said. “I’m gonna get to work designing my dress for next year’s dance.”
“I brought my notebook and A Guide for the North Haven High School Student,” I said.
“We’ve all got cons,” Nadine added. “What else do we need?”
Harmony gave us incredulous looks. “Man, it’s a good thing you have me. You’d all be bored out of your minds after an hour if I weren’t here. Don’t you remember last year?”
Nadine and Sassy looked at each other. “Yeah, I pigged out and slept it off. Then we were there,” Nadine said.
“That’s not fun. I brought games and puzzles, a notebook we can fill up with everything about our trip, and stickers and markers. I even brought a flashlight and a sheet we can huddle under together and tell ghost stories. This year we won’t get bored.”
Sassy and Nadine laughed as we got out of the elevator. “You’re right, Harmony,” Sassy said. “What would we do without you?”
“I think it sounds great,” I said.
We were met by chaos in the giant underground hangar. Students were everywhere. The many jets were parked in a row beside one wall, with their doors open and stairs leading up to each one. A few kids would stop and ask a teacher a question, then head to the jet they were told to get on. But most of them were moving or standing around talking.
“Let’s go ask Miss Tripside which one we’re in,” Sassy said. We made our way to the tall, boxy woman with her head down, skimming through the papers she was holding. “Good morning, Miss Tripside. We were wondering where we’re supposed to go.”
She looked up at us through square spectacles. “Good morning, girls. Let me have a look here. You’re all in the west wing, right?”
“Uh, huh.”
She flipped through several papers before she stopped. “Here you are. Harmony Foxen, Nadine Rodriguez, Sassy Johnson, and Kristine Fayre, you’re all in Jet Seven.”
“Thanks.”
We walked toward the jet with a white seven painted on the wall behind it and saw Mr. Westhyme standing in the doorway. “We get you?” Nadine asked. We climbed the stairs, leaving our suitcases with all the others. Each one was tagged so they wouldn’t get mixed up.
“Sorry, Nadine, but you’re stuck with me all the way to the Southlands and back.”
“You’re my favorite pilot. You know that.”
Mr. Westhyme chuckled. “I’m just pulling your leg.”
We walked into the same jet I’d been picked up in, this time with a huge extension to the table and lots more chairs. Not to mention the ten other girls already inside.
Miss McCree walked over to us as we sat in a circle on the floor beside the edge of one long sofa. “Hello, lovelies. You remember where the toilets are, Kristine, behind the stairs there. But if yah’ get sleepy, you can go through those doors you always see me comin’ in and out of, and there’s a load of pull-out beds. It’ll be too crowded for sleepin’ in here, I’m afraid.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“Good morning, students,” Connie’s voice came over the speakers. I sat up on my knees to look out a window and saw that everyone outside had stopped to listen, too. “The time is seven-fifteen a.m. We will set out in fifteen minutes. Please load the aircraft you have been assigned to as soon as possible.”
“Fifteen minutes to takeoff!” Harmony said.
Three more girls walked into the jet, followed by Mr. Westhyme, who shut the door and locked it behind him. “Looks like everyone’s here,” he said. “What do you girls say about taking off a little early?”
A chorus of “Yeah!” went up from everyone.
“I’ll check with Headmaster, but I don’t think he’ll mind. We’re all ready to get there and start the Winter Competitions, right?”
Another loud chorus of “Yeah!”
Mr. Westhyme climbed the stairs and disappeared into the cockpit.
“See why he’s my favorite?” Nadine said.
We got up to sit on the end of the sofa for takeoff.
I twisted my neck around to look out the window behind Harmony and felt a shiver pass over me when I saw that boy, my little stalker from the frosty garden. He was watching me again, both of us turning away at that moment.
“Good morning, passengers,” Mr. Westhyme said over the intercom. “Headmaster has given us the all clear. If you haven’t already done so, please get in takeoff position.” I scooted back just before the straps wrapped across my chest.
“All students and faculty, please clear the runway, as Jet Seven is initiating takeoff,” we heard Connie say. Kids began running toward the side of the building the jets were on as the engine started. We moved forward and turned to the left slowly and carefully.
Once we got to the end of the room and began the incline, we really sped up. And then we were shooting forward and climbing into the dark morning sky.
I waited for the belts to release me from their grasp to say, “Could we go ahead and get under your sheet, Harmony? There’s something I wanna talk to you guys about.”
“Sure.” Harmony reached in the pack she’d brought and pulled out a folded blue sheet as we walked to a corner of the room. “Everyone turn on your cons.” We pulled them out of our bags and pockets and turned them on. “Harmony Con, stay.” Harmony looked at us, so we each did the same thing. “Here, Nadine.” Harmony handed a corner of the sheet to Nadine and they draped it over the cons. The only problem was that the floating sheet tent was a couple of feet off the ground. We instructed our cons to move down until the problem was solved.
Then we climbed inside. “Someone’s following me.”
“At North Haven?”
“Yes…” I told them about the times I’d seen him before and that morning.
“It does sound strange, but why would somebody want to follow you?” Nadine asked.
“I don’t know, but what if he keeps it up?”
“First let’s see who the mysterious man is,” Sassy said. “Sassy Con.” The sheet rested against her back as her con moved down.
“What can I do for you, Sassy?” Connie asked. It felt like she was talking way too loud, since the rest of us had been speaking so quietly.
“Please show us all the male students at North Haven.” Her con lay horizontally in front of her so we could all see the screen. A row of guys with names, birthdates, and enrollment dates beside them came up. “Tell me if you see him.”
I scooted closer to Sassy and watched as she swept her finger over the screen. We got through a bunch before I saw him. “That’s him.” I pointed to the freckled brunette with a small gap between his front teeth. Everyone leaned in to get a better look.
“Henry Lancaster,” Sassy read. “He’s only been here eight months. Must have been recruited pretty soon after last year’s competitions. I’ve never seen him before.”
“I have,” Nadine said. “He’s in my algebra class. It seems like he has a really hard time talking to people, so I’m not sure he has any friends. We could confront him about why he’s always watching Kristine.”
“No,” I said, thinking it sounded like he had a hard enough time already. “Maybe it’s some weird coincidence. I just wanted to see what you guys thought.”
“I think we should wait and see if it keeps happening,” Harmony said.
“Yeah, it could be a crush,” Sassy winked. I hadn’t thought about that.
“Don’t worry,” Nadine said. “We’ll help watch out for him. If he really is following you all the time, we’ll notice, and then we’ll confront him together.”
“You know we got your back, girl,” Sassy said, sending us all into a fit of laughter.
Harmony reached into her bag and pulled out a flashlight. “Now, who’s ready for a ghost story?”

Here's the buy link: http://www.fireandiceya.com/authors/aprilmarcom/gvehigh.html

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

New Release By Adriana Kraft! #rhacafe



The Heist, by Adriana Kraft
Romantic Suspense: 80,000 words 


BLURB

A heist? A murder? It’s villain’s choice.

A special-order art theft? Tedious, but seamless – until small town museum director Kara Daniels calls in the experts. Furious her favorite trio of priceless impressionist paintings has been stolen from its traveling exhibit on her watch, Kara is determined to save not only the paintings, but her future in the art world. She’ll stop at nothing to entrap the thief.

Ted Springs knows the underbelly of the criminal world a little closer than he might like—but he’s turned it to good advantage, first as a police officer, and now as detective for the Upper Midwest Arts Council. His job? To guarantee the security of the valuable paintings in the Council’s traveling exhibits.

Heat sizzles when Ted and Kara collide—can they work together, before it’s too late?

REVIEWS
Five stars at Amazon and Goodreads: “The sex is hot and I loved the phone sex scenes. Never did I expect the ending. It was brilliant. The Heist is a winner!” Sheila

EXCERPT

“I and my staff have already done fairly thorough background checks on all the museum employees,” Ted said.
“Oh.” Kara scowled. “I’m not sure I like that.”
“But you expected it?”
“Of course. At some point.”
“I believe in being efficient. Even before certain added incentives.”
“I can always change my mind. I don’t know a thing about you.”
“You know enough. I have large hands.” Ted chuckled when she winced. “I’ve worked for the Upper Midwest Arts Council for five years.”
“And before that?”
“I was a Chicago cop.”
“Oh.”
“I went into the army right out of high school and completed my BA degree at U.I.C. while on the force. Funny, isn’t it? While you were working on your MA at the University of Chicago, I was patrolling the streets of Hyde Park and South Chicago.”
“Really?”
“That’s right.”
“Maybe we bumped into each other.”
“I highly doubt that. I wouldn’t forget bumping into you. Remember?”
“Oh, right.” Kara’s flush returned.


ABOUT ADRIANA KRAFT

Adriana Kraft is the pen name for a husband/wife team writing sizzling romantic suspense and erotic romance. The award-winning pair has published over thirty romance novels and novellas to outstanding reviews. Romantic pairings include straight m/f, lesbian, bisexual, ménage and polyamory, in both contemporary and paranormal settings.

ADRIANA KRAFT ON THE WEB



Ohh this one sounds good - and now available - yeay!
Barb:)

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Meet My Guest: JoAnne Myers!

JoAnne is back and with her own set of questions...


Welcome JoAnne!

Tell us a little about what you are working on or have coming out? My biography true crime anthology, Twisted Love,   has been released through Black Rose Writing.

How would you describe yourself using only five words? shy, awkward, quiet, plumb, ambitious

Do you have any guilty pleasures? food/desserts

If we asked your muse to describe you using five words, what do you think they would say? quiet/shy/ ambitious, helpful, friendly

Name one thing readers would be surprised to know about you. that I suppress my feelings

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? French Riviera

How do you get yourself in the mood to write?  just think of something to start a story with whether that be a character or setting

If someone hasn't read any of your work, what book would you recommend that they start with and why?  my fantasy anthology “Loves’, Myths’, and Monsters’,”  because it stars characters that are not often written about, such as the Mothman, the Chupracabra, mermaids, a demonic cellmate, a love curse, and reincarnation.

Is there something special you do to celebrate when one of your books is released?  have a steak dinner

Could you tell us a couple of favorite books that inspired you to write? Charlotte’s Web- Black Beauty



Blurb for “Twisted Love” available here: http://www.blackrosewriting.com/other/twisted-love

            A collection of true crime cases from Ohio and surrounding states, featuring riveting cases of obsession, lust, murder, secret lives, and sexual depravity. It showcases the chilling reality that homicide investigators know all too well: the last face most murder victims see is not that of a stranger, but of someone familiar.
            Whether only an acquaintance or a trusted intimate, such killers share a common trait that triggers the downward spiral toward death for another: they are masters at hiding who they really are. Their clever masks let them appear safe, kind, and truthful. They are anything but — and almost no one can detect the murderous impulses buried deep in their psyches.
            In these shattering inside views of both headlined and little-known homicides, I, the author, speak for vulnerable victims who loved or befriended the wrong people.
            My book begins with the startling investigations, of the kidnapping and murder of young wife and mother Autumn Renee Williams. In March 22, 2011, a small-town alley was the setting for this ambush and kidnapping.
            What really happened to the victims depicted in “Twisted Love”? Baffling questions remain unanswered, for hundreds of people. If anyone had detected the depth of depravity within these psychopathic killers, perhaps their victims who loved or trusted them would have been saved. In these riveting cases of obsession, lust, murder, secret lives, and sexual depravity, I expose the twisted truth behind the façades of Twisted Love-12 cases of love gone bad.

Author Bio:

I have been a long-time resident of southeastern Ohio, and worked in the blue-collar industry most of my life. Besides having several novels under my belt, I canvas paint.
When not busy with hobbies or working outside the home, I spend time with relatives, my dog Jasmine, and volunteer my time within the community. I am a member of the International Women’s Writing Guild, Savvy Authors, Coffee Time Romance, Paranormal Romance Guild, True Romance Studios, National Writers Association, the Hocking Hill's Arts and Craftsmen Association, The Hocking County Historical Society and Museum, and the Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center. I believe in family values and following your dreams. My original canvas paintings, can be found at: booksandpaintingsbyjoanne.com

Other books by Jo Anne:

"MURDER MOST FOUL" a detective/mystery anthology
"LOVES', MYTHS' AND MONSTERS'," a fantasy anthology
"THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY," a biography true-crime
“POEMS ABOUT LIFE, LOVE, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN”
“WICKED INTENTIONS” a paranormal anthology

Other books soon available:

“FLAGITIOUS,” a crime/mystery anthology available in August





Thursday, July 10, 2014

Writing Down the Bones: Common Plotting Faults and What to do About Them

Found another one of those gems. There is no author attached to this so I don't know who to give credit to but please enjoy.

  • Symptom: Story line wanders - never seems to go anywhere.
  • Diagnosis: Author has started writing their story without any clear idea of its direction.
  • Treatment: Give the main character a stronger motivation and make things more difficult for them. Recommend you rewrite without looking at the old version.
My comment: Now I'll be honest I'm a pantser not a plotter so I can't say that I have a clear cut direction when I start but I always have a goal to work toward and I figure out how I want to reach that goal pretty quickly.

  • Symptom: Story is confusing - too many characters - too much going on.
  • Diagnosis: Author has not decided who the story belongs to, or hasn't figured out how focus the narrative on their main character.
  • Treatment: Reduce the number of characters - replot and rewrite.
My comment: Remember most of these handouts were written in the 80's and for romance writers. So many people wanted to write for Harlequin that a lot of these thing were aimed at that. In romance you're supposed to keep your cast of characters down to the hero, heroine and nemesis, maybe a side kick or two (best friends, relative, that sort of thing). More than that and you could have been rejected because it didn't fit the norm of the time. But you don't want to have a lot of walk on characters. It does get confusing for your reader trying to keep up with all of them. In Dominated by Desire I had several walk on characters who said a few things then never showed back up again. They became Fridon who is now one of my larger characters in my The Vespian Way series.

  • Symptom: Plot looks complete, but the story seems pointless.
  • Diagnosis: The author has forgotten that their reader needs to care about the main characters and care about what happens to them.
  • Treatment: This isn't a plot problem. All you need to do is go back and build your characters more.
My comment: Your characters need to be as three dimensional as possible. They need to be real to your readers. They need to bond with them and root for them when all the odds are against them.

  • Symptom: The ending disappoints.
  • Diagnosis: The ending is disappointing because it is too obvious. The author didn't plan ahead for the ending.
  • Treatment: Don't treat the just the ending. Go back to the beginning and replot.
My comment: You do need to know where your story is going, have that climax always in your mind. As you write your scenes you should be asking does this lead me to the climax? Does it foreshadow something important? Does it develop my characters or their relationship?

*This one was hard to put in my own words and I felt some of the items listed were a bit harsh - that's my personal opinion.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Shameless Bragging!! Cover reveal! Stolen Desire - book 7 of the Vespain Way

I am so excited to be able to reveal my newest cover today! The book is due out July 29th 2014. This is the seventh book in the Vespian Way series.

Here's the blurb: When Heather is confronted with her time traveling self she fears the worse. The woman came to warn them of a terrible accident but something isn’t right. The visitors her future self says are there to help only wants to kidnap her and kill her mate. Using her mind she tries to protect her friends and family. Yet she wakes up as a prisoner after seeing the ship Storm is in blow up. She is now alone, and trapped. Somehow she has to figure out a way home and hopefully reverse all the horrible things that have taken her family from her.

Are you ready? Here's the cover!